Chapter Text
Dust. So much goddamn dust. Mike bit back a cough, tightening his grip around his best friend’s waist, fighting to keep him upright and conscious. Blood trickled down his forehead, mixing with the goddamn dust. He tried to blink it away. Tried not to see. Not to think. Not to think about the bone-chilling, soul deep fear he had felt when the demogorgon lunged for him. Not to see what flashed before his eyes when he was sure that he would never open them again.
Will stumbled, putting even more of his post-growth spurt weight onto Mike. He gritted his teeth together, determined not to falter. They just had to keep going. One foot in front of the other. Through the tunnels and back to The Squawk before the dust above ground cleared and the military realised they were missing. Easy.
“Come on, Honey,” Ms. Byers said from Will’s other side, “just a few more steps. Just a few more.”
She tried to take on more of his weight, but it only made their already precarious situation even worse. He was barely able to walk as it was. She likely didn’t realise how much Mike was shouldering until Will’s full weight transferred over to her. Mike clung onto him, dragging him close again, stopping him from collapsing entirely. His muscles were screaming, and he was thankful for the agony. It stopped him from thinking.
“Mike?” Will’s eyes fluttered open after the almost-fall.
“Yeah.” Mike tried not to sound too out of breath. “Hi. Are you- I mean, can you walk?”
Will nodded, trying to regain his unsteady footing. “Sorry.”
“Don’t you dare apologise.” Ms. Byers sighed, rubbing his back as he wearily tried to begin holding his own weight again.
Mike kept an arm tightly around him and fixed his gaze straight ahead. He forced himself to focus on his burning muscles, his pounding head, his dry eyes— anything but the singular power he had witnessed less than thirty minutes prior. He honed in on Will’s ragged breathing so he wouldn’t have to hear the sick crunching and squelching sounds of the demogorgon being snapped like a glow stick above him. It was a sound he knew he would never forget. Will coughed weakly, subconsciously dropping his head onto Mike’s shoulder.
Mike’s heart squeezed painfully in his chest. “Are you conscious?”
Will stumbled, once again forcing himself to straighten up. “Yeah. Sorry.”
Mike just nodded. He always knew that Will was a sorcerer, that he had some innate magnetism—innate magic—that held the whole party together. Everyone thought it was Mike, but it never was, not really. Whenever Will was missing things fell apart, and it became painfully obvious that Mike had no idea what the fuck he was doing. Yes, he always knew that Will had some sort of intrinsic power… but this? Mike didn’t know how to reconcile the raw power of the sorcerer with the aftermath of a boy who could barely walk.
“Oh, thank god,” Ms. Byers said shakily.
The exit had finally come into view, forcing Mike out of his thoughts.
“Have you got him?” she asked.
“Y-yeah. Totally.”
She ran ahead, jumping up to the small ladder and forcing the trap door open. “Quick!”
“Are you still conscious?” Mike asked softly.
Will nodded with his eyes closed, taking a deep breath in before opening them resolutely.
“Cool. Okay, let’s go. Are you sure you’ve got this?”
“Yes, Mike,” Will said, having the audacity to sound exasperated as they shuffled on.
Ms. Byers hoisted herself up through the exit and looked down, stretching her hand out for Will. He looked up wearily with unfocused eyes, as though the short climb back to the surface was an insurmountable task. The exit was a foot above his head, and there was a small ladder a few feet off the ground. Under normal circumstances it would have been no problem.
“Come on, Will. Just climb up and take my hand!” Ms. Byers shouted. “Mike, help him up.”
Will turned his head, looking at Mike with tired eyes. He was more capable than any one of them gave him credit for. Mike had known it long before what happened at the Mac-Z, he just wondered when everyone else would start seeing it too. He resolved to ignore Ms. Byers, knowing that he risked death by doing so.
“You said you’ve got this.” He smiled, gently shoving Will towards the exit.
Will shook his head, exhaling in a way that almost sounded like a laugh before grabbing hold of the ladder. Mike still stood too close behind him, his hands hovering over his waist, ready to- to what? He sighed, taking a step back and letting his arms fall to his side. If he says he’s got this, then he’s got this. He watched on as Will painstakingly began his ascent.
“Mike, could you give him a hand?” Ms. Byers asked, irritated.
“Mom, I’m fine,” Will mumbled, clinging onto the ladder.
“No you are not. Mike, help him!”
Mike rocked back on his heels, pretending not to have heard her. She sighed loudly as Will slowly made his way to the surface, grabbing onto him as soon as she could. When the exit was clear, Mike followed, letting the trap-door slam shut behind him. The sound of it made him jump. He felt like an idiot. Thankfully no one was paying him any attention.
Will was sitting on the grass trying to catch his breath. Fresh blood dripped from his nose. He turned his head away, hastily wiping it with his sleeve. Ms. Byers kneeled beside him, rubbing his back as she whispered words of affirmation. Mike felt just about ready to collapse on the grass beside them. He squinted at radio tower across the field- god, it was so far away. He swallowed down the unfamiliar panic welling in his throat and hated himself for it.
“Are you okay?” he asked, turning his focus to Will instead. It was as good a distraction as any.
Ms. Byers glared up at him. If looks could kill.
“I’m fine!” Will insisted.
“Let’s just get inside,” Ms. Byers snapped, walking ahead.
Mike nodded, holding out a hand, which Will took, using Mike’s quickly fading strength to pull himself back to standing. He secured an arm back around Will’s waist, ignoring how his muscles screamed in protest. Mike had a sudden vision of himself collapsing in the middle of the field, never to wake again. Ms. Byers would save Will, at least. Probably after stepping over Mike’s dead body.
God damn Will Byers and his stupid growth spurt. When had he become so… solid? Mike tried to shift their position, but there was nowhere for them to go. Nowhere but onwards. He may have been half-way delirious but he swore that they’d been walking for an hour and the damn radio tower hadn't gotten any closer. He was aching and sweating and still damp from the burst pipe and he probably smelled like shit, which was stupid as hell to worry about, but if he didn’t worry about that then he would worry about Will and then he would remember the demogorgon and the sick feeling in his heart when he knew he was going to die and-
“Thanks,” Will said weakly, snapping him out of whatever the fuck his brain was doing to him.
“Huh?”
“For not giving me a hand back there.”
Mike smiled despite how near death he felt. “I knew you had it. Anyway, I was right behind you. I would have caught you if you slipped.”
Will really laughed then, and Mike wondered if they might survive this after all.
“I really would have,” Mike paused for a moment, “probably.”
“Sure, Mike.” Will smiled, and when his head ended up on Mike’s shoulder again, he didn’t dare to ask questions.
Time began to pass more quickly then, and they made it to The Squawk. Ms. Byers knocked on the door in a specific pattern of bangs and taps, and the door crashed open from the inside.
“Lucas!” she exclaimed, pulling him into a one-sided hug.
He looked like he’d seen a ghost, or a demogorgon. “The- the kids. They’re gone,” he said roughly.
“I know, Lucas, I know. Same thing happened up here,” Mike said sombrely.
He shook his head. “The demo- I don’t know what the hell just happened, but whatever it was was not normal! We’ve never seen anything like this before, guys. Never.”
Will winced, and Mike averted his eyes from Lucas’ haunted gaze, going inside and immediately making for the stairs.
“Is he- Mike? Is Will okay?” Lucas ran after them.
“He just needs to rest,” Ms. Byers said wearily. “Are you okay?”
Lucas didn’t reply. They all stumbled down the stairs, and Mike rather unceremoniously dumped Will onto the old couch in the basement. He winced again before curling in on himself. Mike backed away, standing off to the side with Lucas while Ms. Byers sat with her son.
“What happened, Mike?” Lucas asked in a hushed tone.
He sighed heavily. His brain felt too weak to try and explain, but another more primal part of himself just didn’t want anyone to know. He couldn’t stand the thought of anyone in The Party looking at Will how they all looked at El when her powers went too far. The urge to protect Will from such judgement was sudden and all-consuming. Mike was confused by its ferocity. He swallowed thickly, trying to understand.
“Oh, Honey,” Ms Byers whispered in a shaky voice. “Tissues? Someone, please-”
Mike welcomed the distraction, scrambling to grab some and shoving them into her hand so she could dab at the fresh blood on Will’s nose.
“Holy shit,” Lucas murmured. He frowned. His eyes flicked back and forth as he put the pieces together. “Did he-”
“Save us all? Yeah. Yeah, he did,” Mike said tightly.
“But… I was nowhere near you guys. I-” Lucas cut himself off, and Mike saw the final puzzle piece slam into place. “The eye of Vecna-”
“Lucas,” Mike warned, “just… go find some- some blankets, or something. Okay?”
Lucas wandered off with wide-eyes. He looked miles away. Mike just sighed, trying to hold it together for everyone’s sake. He wanted to sit down. He wanted to lie down, preferably on a very soft bed that would swallow him whole. He knew that if he did, he would never get up again. So instead he rocked from foot to foot, hovering like a Shadow while Ms. Byers fussed over her son.
When Lucas came back, it wasn’t a blanket he held in his hand.
“Who?” Mike asked, taking the walkie from him.
“Murray and Robin. Their truck is screwed. They’re stranded.”
“Shit.”
“The kids with them are all gone too. Ya know, in case we still care.”
“Woah.” Mike reeled back. “Where did that come from? Of course we care, Lucas. Come on.”
Lucas just shook his head. “Yeah. I just- yeah. Whatever.”
Mike stared at him for a moment longer before pressing down the button on the walkie. “Robin? Murray? It’s Mike. Are you there?”
“Oh my god, holy shit, it’s- yeah, dude, it’s Mike. Hey Mike. Listen, the craziest shit just happened to us you won’t believe it, honestly I don’t even really believe it, I think at this point a shared hallucination is the most logical explanation-” Mike held the walkie away from his face as Robin rambled on, waiting for an opportunity to reply.
“Is that Robin?” Will asked form the couch, propping himself up to listen.
Mike nodded, finally able to reply. “We’ll explain everything soon, okay? Just… where are you?”
She tried to explain their location before Murray interjected with a more succinct version. “Please hurry,” he said slowly. “This girl is bleeding out over here.”
“I- I’m not! That’s a gross exaggeration!” Robin shouted from somewhere in the background.
“Get. Here. Fast.” Murray enunciated. “Over and out.”
A dark silence settled over the room, and all four of them stared at the walkie in Mike’s hand like it was a grenade.
“Mom,” Will said in a shaky voice.
“No.”
“Mom!”
“No, Will. I am not leaving you, are you crazy? No. They’re within walking distance.”
“Yeah if they weren’t hurt and had an hour to spare!”
“Forty minutes max.”
“Mom!” Mike thought that was the most Will had ever raised his voice. “Robin could be really hurt!”
“I’m here, Ms. Byers,” Mike interjected, “if you wanna go pick them up quickly. I’ll… stay with him. Lucas too.”
She hesitated, pressing her palm to Will’s forehead. He shoved it away.
“If she bleeds out in some god damn field in the middle of nowhere-”
“Okay! Alright, Will, okay,” Joyce conceded with a weary sigh. Mike clearly wasn’t the only one who sensed Will’s growing hysteria. “She means a lot to you, I understand.”
Mike blinked, frowning. When had that become common knowledge? Ms. Byers stood up, leaning down again to envelop her son in a hug before walking quickly towards the door.
“Watch out for him,” she warned Mike, snatching her keys and jogging out to her car.
“When do I not,” he muttered under his breath.
The slam of the front door echoed through the building, and there was a beat of silence when it faded.
“I need to go see Max,” Lucas said, breaking it.
“Now? Mike asked, confused.
“I- I have to. Those kids… Mike, they just disappeared. They got dragged away by those- those god damn monsters! Right in front of me, Mike. They trusted me to protect them, and I didn’t.”
“Yeah,” Mike softened his tone, “yeah, I know. It’s… horrible.”
“It’s beyond horrible, it’s- it’s fucked! They trusted us!”
His grief hit Mike deep in the chest, and he reached out to pat him on the shoulder. “I know. This is super fucked. But we’ll find them, Lucas. We’ve done it before.”
Lucas shook his head. “This is different. Maybe they’re with her somewhere in that maze.”
“With Max?”
Lucas nodded. Mike paused, not willing to shoot down his precious hope.
“I just have to go to her.”
“Yeah, I mean, if that’s what you have to do. Just be careful,” Mike said with a frown, wondering how clearly Lucas was thinking.
“Be careful!” he scoffed, shaking his head.
“Hey, I mean it man! Who does it help if we act like reckless idiots now? We’ll think of a plan and we’ll get those kids back, we’ll kill that bastard once and for all, alright?”
“This never should have happened. We shouldn’t even be in this position right now!”
“I know, okay? I know! But the kids- Lucas, there was nothing we could have done to stop that from happening,” Mike said clearly.
“Maybe we couldn’t have,” Lucas whispered, glancing down at Will.
Mike’s expression hardened. “What did you mean by that?”
“Nothing.”
“No, what the hell did you mean by that?”
Lucas’ jaw twitched. His eyes were filled with sorrow and confusion. Mike wanted to punch him in the face.
“Nothing, Mike, okay? But if you want to… just pretend like everything is normal then go ahead! But every one of those kids had a family, and their lives will never be normal again. Never!”
“Yeah, I know, my sister is one of those kids! My parents are in the god damn hospital, in case you forgot,” he said with a cynical laugh. “My life is one of those lives that will never be normal again! Actually, none our lives have ever been normal since Will was taken, so, fuck you man. Fuck you.”
Lucas stepped back. “If the eye of Vecna couldn’t save them, what chance do we have?”
Mike really wanted to punch him in the face.
“I have to go see Max.”
“Go then! Leave!” Mike screamed, turning away with clenched fists as Lucas ran up the stairs.
The door slammed for a second time, and now the silence was truly deafening. Mike’s chest heaved with indignation. Blood was pounding in his ears. His hands were shaking. He had to hit something. He tried to steady his breathing instead.
“You should go easy on him,” Will said quietly.
“Shut up,” Mike muttered, but there was no bite behind the words. He was just so damn tired.
“I get why he blames me. I- we failed.”
“I don’t. And we didn’t,” Mike insisted. “It’s not over. We’re going to find those kids, we’re going to find Holly, and we’re going to kill Vecna.”
Will sighed. “You don’t feel him like I do, Mike. His… power. He’s always been there, inside me, you know? But now… he’s everywhere, and so am I, and I don’t really understand where he ends and where I begin anymore. So, yeah. I’d blame me too.”
Mike stopped breathing. He looked over at where Will lay on the shitty couch, messy-haired and human. “Well, you saved my life. I mean, you saved everyone’s lives by the sound of it.”
Will didn’t reply.
Mike cleared his throat. “I knew you were a sorcerer.”
“What I did… it didn’t feel like magic.”
Mike dared to slowly approach the couch, gritting his teeth as he lowered his aching body onto the floor. He crossed his legs, pressing his back against the shitty coffee table so that he could face Will. It felt important to really hear what was being said.
“What did it feel like?” he asked in a hushed tone.
Will closed his eyes, frowning. Mike stared at him, waiting for a reply. He held his breath again and counted to sixty in his mind. He wondered if Will had fallen asleep, wondered if he should shake him awake. He raised his hand, reaching out for a moment before dropping it again. Maybe he just didn’t want to talk about it. That made sense. He felt like a real idiot then. He was about to open his mouth to apologise when-
“It felt inevitable.”
“I mean… yeah. You’re, like, the chosen one.” Mike replied far too quickly. Will’s eyes were still closed. “I just mean that Vecna, The Mind Flayer, whatever else— it saw something in you that wasn’t in anyone else.” He leaned forward, trying to project that this was actually meant to be a compliment. “You thought you were a cleric, you thought Vecna gave you these powers… but maybe he just saw them in you. Maybe… maybe he had to make you believe that he had power over them, over you, because if he let you see that you’re really a sorcerer, that you have your own power… well, maybe he knew you’d be able to beat him.”
Will didn’t open his eyes. Mike shook with mania-tinged exhaustion. He still felt the closeness of death. He was coming down from a massive adrenaline rush and his brain felt like mud. He should probably stop trying to string together a coherent sentence. Unfortunately for Will, due to the aforementioned mania, the filter between Mike’s thoughts and his mouth was temporarily out of service.
“And… and today, when you saw- your mom. I mean… yeah, when you saw your mom in trouble. Maybe it triggered something that’s always been inside of you. Something big, something even Vecna is a little scared of. Because I know you said it didn’t feel like magic, but you- it sure as hell looked like magic, Will.”
Will’s eyes were still firmly shut. Mike awkwardly cleared his throat, mentally chastising himself for not keeping his goddamn mouth shut as well. He leaned in closer, staring at Will’s face. His eyes were darting back and forth beneath his eyelids and his jaw looked tight.
“Will?” he asked.
No reply. He reached out to gently shake his shoulder. Nothing.
“Will? Will!?” He got up on his knees, grabbing both of Will’s shoulders and shaking a little more forcefully.
A thin trail of blood ran from his nose again, and he suddenly shot up with a ragged gasp, knocking Mike back on his ass. He started coughing and Mike scrambled to shove a handful of tissues at him.
“Are you okay?” he asked, trying not to show how worried he was.
“Yeah, I-” he broke off into another coughing fit, turning away from Mike to spit into one of the tissues. “Ugh. That was so disgusting. I’m sorry.”
Mike blinked. “Did you just cough up blood?”
“No, no. It’s fine, just- bleeding nose when you’re lying down, you know? I think it got in my throat a little. Gross.” Will shuddered, coughing into the tissue and clearly trying not to gag. “Sorry, oh my god. This is actually so gross.”
“Can you not apologise for, like, coughing up blood, Will, seriously?” Mike almost wanted to laugh. “Are you good?”
“Yeah, fine. Sorry, I think I fell asleep for a bit. I don’t know.” His speech sounded a little slurred.
Mike nodded, unsure whether to be relieved or not that Will had missed his rambling speech. They both jumped when the upstairs door slammed open. Mike shuffled back until he was pressed against the coffee table again.
“It’s us!” Ms. Byers shouted down the stairs.
“Don’t shoot!” Robin joked as they all came into view.
They had definitely seen better days. Robin’s jacket and shirt were ripped and they were both streaked with dust and mud. Blood was trickling down the side of Murray’s face as he helped her walk. It looked like there was a large gash in her side.
“Robin!” Will gasped, leading to another coughing fit. Mike handed him more tissues.
“Will!” Ms. Byers exclaimed. “Are you okay?”
He ignored her, sitting up straight to watch Robin cross the room. She let go of Murray’s arm, walking—limping—over to him with a smile shining across her face. He blinked away tears and smiled back, reaching out for an easy hug that she gladly collapsed into. Mike watched the exchange, pressing back into the edge of the coffee table until it hurt. He stared at them, unblinking, confused, trying to stop the gears from turning in his brain.
“What you said- you helped me find the strength, Robin,” Will blurted out, almost incoherently. He was hugging her tightly now with tears freely flowing down his cheeks. “You were right, and- and it was horrible. It was dark, and it was cold and it was ugly, but it was me. It was all of me, and it didn’t feel like magic but I don’t think it has to feel like magic, it just has to feel real, and-”
“Woah woah woah, calm down, breathe, let’s breathe,” she said, clearing her throat like she was near tears as well. “You’re bleeding on me, Byers.”
Will flinched back, scrambling to cover his nose with another tissue.
“It’s okay, what’s a bit of blood?” Robin smiled. “Battle wounds.” She pulled up her shirt, gesturing to the ugly looking cut in her side.
Mike thought she probably would have been fine to walk. He sniffed, pulling his knees up to his chest and turning away from whatever the fuck was going on in front of him. Unfortunately whatever the fuck was going on behind him was equally confusing. Joyce was staring at Murray with wide eyes, not-so-subtly jerking her her head towards Will and Robin, mouthing something that he clearly wasn’t picking up on. He looked over at them as well, then back to Joyce with narrowed eyes. She held her hands up as though expecting an answer. He just shrugged and snapped his head back towards the couch, staring right through Will and Robin like he was trying to figure them out. Mike followed his glare.
Will frowned down at Robin’s not-that-bad totally able to be walked off injury and she pulled her shirt down, reaching out to ruffle his hair like he was some goddamn dog.
“It doesn’t hurt,” she insisted, shoving Will aside and making herself comfortable on the couch beside him. “Now, not that I don’t love this vaguely confusing reunion, but can someone please tell me what the hell just happened?”
Will winced, adjusting his position to give her space to sprawl out.
“Hey Robin?” Mike began cautiously. “Maybe you should let him lie down?”
Will and Robin answered simultaneously:
“I’m fine.”
“He’s fine!”
They looked at each other and burst out laughing. Mike stared at them, stone-faced and hot-chested. There was no way in hell that this was what it looked like. No goddamn motherfucking way. Nope. When would they even have had time to- ugh. To what? Mike would rather wrestle with a demogorgon than think about it. Wasn’t she too old for him anyway? She was probably just taking advantage of his sweetness. Not that Mike thought he was sweet. Just- objectively, he thought that some people—some girls—may use that word to describe him. He wondered what Steve thought about it all. Whatever it all was. Mike did not want to know. It was nothing. Will would never just take a break from the potential end of the world to find a damn girlfriend. That would be… irresponsible. If anything he was probably under the questionable influence of an older woman.
“Hang on, where’s Lucas?” Ms. Byers asked, looking around.
“Umm,” Mike began, trying to remember what was going on outside of the couch in front of him, “he’s gone.”
Robin gasped, sorrow immediately replacing the laughter in her eyes. “No-”
“Not gone as in gone. He’s in the hospital,” Will quickly clarified.
Robin clutched her chest, melting into the couch. “Holy shit. Don’t you do that to me Wheeler! Holy shit! Is he okay?”
“In the hospital visiting Max, he’s fine,” Mike clarified further.
“He had a hard time after we lost the kids. He couldn’t be here,” Will said, avoiding Mike’s eyes.
Silence settled over the room as reality began to sink in.
“We have some first aid gear here, Robin,” Ms. Byers said softly, pausing to take in her surroundings. “I think our best bet is to camp out here for a bit, until we can get hold of Hopper and the others. Then maybe we can get some more supplies from his cabin.”
“Oh my god, like a slumber party, so fun!” Robin exclaimed, once again failing to read the room. Everyone looked at her stone-faced. She didn’t seem to notice. “Lots of time for someone to tell me what the hell just happened.”
Mike stood up too quickly, stumbling slightly as the room temporarily spun around him.
“Are you okay, Mike?” Will asked.
“Fine. I’ll find some blankets. It’s cold.” He stormed out of the room. Let explaining things to Robin be someone else’s damn problem.
He stomped up the stairs, half aware that he was behaving like a toddler as he searched all around for anything that could pass as a blanket or a pillow. Of all the horrors he’d witnessed, all the death and destruction, the only thing ringing through his ears was the dissonant melody of Will and Robin’s laughter. He ripped a shitty moth-eaten blanket out of some cupboard before slamming it shut again.
“Are you really okay, Mike?” Ms. Byers snuck up on him.
He jumped back at the sound of her voice. “Jesus! Um, sorry Ms. Byers. Yeah.”
She smiled. “Sorry for sneaking up on you, I’m trying to find that first aid kit for Robin.” She paused to open a random drawer. “And I’m sorry for being so hard on you earlier.”
“No, you’re worried about Will. I get it. I am too.”
“You’ve always been a good friend to him,” she said warmly, rubbing his arm.
Her words opened up an uncomfortable pit in his stomach. He tried to smile at her anyway, nodding before quickly moving on to a different area of the building. Maybe that’s all Robin was, a really good friend. Will deserved that, especially considering Mike’s behaviour when he moved to California. He could have been better. He could still be better. It felt like there had been a strange tension between them recently, a glass wall that he could never fully cross. Even after technically living together for the past 18 months, they weren’t the same kids in the basement that they had once been. Something had shifted, and he supposed he only had himself to blame. He sighed, tearing open a high-up cupboard a little too forcefully. He swore when a pile of musty blankets and pillows fell onto him.
“All good, Mike?” Ms. Byers called from across the room.
“Yup. Found the blankets.”
“Wonderful! I found the first aid kit, I’ll meet you back down there.
He shook an ugly blue blanket off of his head and glared at the pile around his feet. Maybe if he had written more letters, if he’d never put D&D on the back burner, if he hadn’t been so fucking insistent on growing up so quickly— maybe then he would still be the good friend. He kicked the stupid blankets and sneezed when a cloud of dust billowed up. Whatever. Good friend or not, he still didn’t have to like Robin. He scooped up a pile of blankets and precariously carried them downstairs. The conversation down there faded into earshot.
“-part of me, or I’m part of him, I don’t know. But I do know that I feel him, differently than I ever have before,” Will finished.
Mike dumped the blankets in a pile on the floor. No one looked his way.
“Holy shit, Will,” Robin said softly. “That’s badass. And terrifying.”
“Now that, Will Byers, is one hell of a story,” Murray added.
Mike rolled his eyes and went to grab the rest of the blankets. When he came down a second time, Murray was sitting against a wall pressing a pad of gauze against his head and holding a walkie in his other hand, probably still hoping for an update from The Upside Down. Robin lay on the couch with her feet in Will’s lap while Ms. Byers inspected her wound. He dumped the rest of the blankets down, thinking about sorting them into makeshift beds.
“Ow!” Robin yelped.
“Lie still, Robin!” Ms. Byers chastised. “I have to disinfect it.”
“It hurts! Okay, you know what, you can shut up.”
Will was laughing again. He was also holding a tissue to his nose again. He needed to rest.
“I didn’t say anything,” Will laughed. “Do you need me to hold your hand?”
“You, Sir, can take your superpowers and your sarcasm and shove them right up your-”
“Robin!” Ms. Byers exasperatedly cut her off.
Will pressed his lips together, holding back more laughter as he reached out for Robin’s hand. She took it and squeezed her eyes shut.
“Okay Joyce, go,” she demanded, “now or never!”
Ms. Byers rolled her eyes fondly at her son before getting to work on Robin’s stupid little scratch. Mike was shaking again. He started throwing blankets and pillows aside, roughly sorting them into sleeping areas and trying to zone out Will and Robin’s disturbingly out of place giggles. How could she possibly stomach light-hearted conversation at a time like this? She was a psychopath. It was the only logical explanation. He kicked a pillow across the room with a little more force than he’d intended, and everyone suddenly turned his way.
“Mike, are you doing alright over there?” Ms. Byers asked.
“Yeah. Fine.” He went to grab the kicked pillow and threw it down where it was supposed to be. “Don’t you think we should be doing something?”
“We are. We will be,” Ms. Byers promised, “but Will needs to rest.”
“Great,” he began, throwing aside the same ugly blue blanket that had landed on him upstairs, “so maybe we can let him do that. Robin can deal with her little scratch somewhere else.”
Robin pointedly looked down at her impressive gaping wound and opened her mouth. Will shook his head and she closed it again. For whatever reason that only irritated Mike even more. His face felt hot and his heart was pounding, he was still shaking too. He even felt his teeth chattering. He tried to clench them together and ignore the awkward silence that he had created, messing around with the stupid blankets some more.
“He’s going into shock.” Murray said from right beside him, making Mike jump. He touched Mike’s forehead and narrowed his eyes. “He’s all clammy. Really cold and pale. He’s shaking like a leaf too. Shock.”
Mike slapped his hand away. “Really? After everything I’ve seen you think this is the final straw?”
“You almost died, Honey. I don’t know if you’ve ever been that close before,” Ms. Byers said softly.
“Okay? And?”
“I was reading this article recently about the effects of cumulative trauma-” Robin began.
“Jesus. Shut up. Please.”
“Mike!” Will chided.
“It is more than okay, I’m always being made aware that I talk too much,” Robin said quietly.
Ms. Byers tutted. “It has been a difficult day, we are all on edge.”
“And he’s going into shock,” Murray added.
“I am not going into- whatever.”
“I’ll stop talking, if it helps!” Robin suggested.
“It does. Thanks,” Mike answered coldly. He knew he was being a dick. It felt like he couldn’t stop himself.
Will sighed and quietly apologised to Robin. Not quietly enough. Why were they not on the same team? They had promised to be on the same team. Mike felt like he was going crazy, or maybe he was the only sane one in a mad fucking world. He couldn’t sort through or process anything that had happened. Death was still looming over his shoulder; he would never forget what it felt like to realise that the end was now, and the one person he needed to talk to about it was miles away. Behind a glass wall.
He hated himself for not holding it together. For a moment he was petrified that he would start sobbing like a child. He had to get away from the smell of antiseptic, from the sound of laughter and the redness of blood. He looked down at his hands, they were gripping a blanket so tightly that his knuckles were white. He dropped it like it had shocked him and made for the stairs. Some paladin he turned out to be.
Everyone called after him, their voices overlapping sounded like a war zone. When he got upstairs he just kept walking. One foot in front of the other. There wasn’t anywhere to go. He crashed open the first door he came across, finding himself in a small storage cupboard. The walls were stacked with tapes and there was barely enough room to turn around. He sank down onto the dirty carpet and pulled his knees to his chest, pressing his eyes into them until he saw stars. The door slammed behind him and he was in complete darkness. He had to remind himself to manually breathe. His pounding heart was echoing through his skull like a death knell. How was he supposed to get through a day that he was never meant to see?
He wanted to go home, stumble into the kitchen, and fall into his mother’s arms like he was still a little kid. But she was barely hanging onto life in some cold, sterile hospital room, and the walls of his kitchen were still splattered with her blood.
And now Will Byers had a girlfriend. It felt like the final nail in a coffin that held the rotting remains of his childhood. Like a line in the sand he never realised he had been dreading since he was six years old. He pressed his knees harder into his eyes, telling himself that the prickling behind his eyelids was caused by the pressure. He would not cry. Not today.
“Mike?”
He nearly leaped out of his skin at the sudden intrusion, looking up like a deer in headlights as Ms. Byers opened the cupboard door. He blinked about a hundred times to try and bring his vision back into focus. She was holding a tartan blanket, looking down at him like he was the most pathetic puppy at the pound.
“Mike, why on earth are you hiding in a closet?”
“I’m- what? I’m not hiding. I think it’s a storage cupboard,” he rasped, clearing his throat when he realised how rough he sounded. “I’m good.”
Her pathetic puppy look got even worse, and she sat down beside him with her back against the open door. She shook out the blanket, forcing it around Mike’s shoulders. He clung onto it tightly, trying not to show how much he was still shaking. Ms. Byers shot him a sympathetic glance and started rubbing his back. Mike tried not to lean into it.
“What’s going on, Honey?” she asked softly, in a voice that reminded him so much of his own mother.
His throat felt tight. He could feel his eyes stinging. He shook his head and tried to swallow it all down, he tried so damn hard.
“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Ms. Byers reassured. “You’re a good kid, Mike. You’re a strong leader, and your mother would be so proud if she knew how you handled yourself today. But even the leader gets to have a tough time after a near-death experience. No one is expecting even half of what you expect of yourself.”
“I’m not-” he was cut off by the traitorous tears starting to spill down his cheeks.
“Come here.” Ms. Byers pulled him into a hug, and the floodgates opened.
He clung to her like he was seven years old, like she was his own mother. Sobs tore from his chest. He felt like he was being ripped in two. His body felt cold and weak and he shook more violently than he ever had before. He bit the inside of his cheeks until he tasted blood, trying not to make a sound. Ms. Byers rubbed his back and consoled him without judgement. He buried his face in her sweater, smelling Will's laundry detergent. It only brought on a new wave of tears.
“It’s okay, Mike, you’re allowed to let it out,” she reassured softly.
He knew he would be humiliated come morning. He would have to beg her to never speak a word of this to anyone, and he would probably never be able to look her in the eyes again. But in that moment? He just needed a mom.