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He remembered the whole thing in perfect clarity. Vecna dropping Will like one does when disinterested in a toy, turning and walking back away like Will was nothing, the demogorgon pulling itself back out of the ground and snarling at him, mouth flaps opening in an ungodly screech before lunging claws first.
All Mike had been able to do was close his eyes and throw his arms up in a futile effort to protect himself from the maiming he was sure was about to happen.
That was when the unholy screeching began. The lack of claws tearing though him and the noise was enough to have him slowly lowering his arms, eyes opening slightly then shooting wide when he came face to face with a wailing Demo. The creature was twitching in midair, like it was trying to move, but something was holding it in place. The creature’s fucked up body proportions were highlighted by the flickering truck headlights behind him. He stared for a second in something akin to wonder.
His gaze slowly dropped back towards the centre of the compound, and his heart skipped a beat.
Will.
Will wasn’t on his hands and knees, staring at the floor anymore. Instead he was standing, looking in Mike’s direction with one hand outstretched towards the Demo. It wasn’t like El’s. Her hand usually was palm facing whatever she was attacking. Instead Will’s hand was almost curled back towards himself. Mike’s mind idly noted the difference, comparing it to one pushing force out away from herself and the other almost pulling it back towards himself.
Mike felt almost frozen himself, like moving would break Will’s control would break whatever was happening and he’d be ripped apart. So he was stuck, staring in shock at his best everything. Despite the distance, he could see Will shaking, and could tell that Will’s fingers were half clenched, like he was holding something.
He could tell that Will’s eyes were… different. Almost completely white - similar to Henry - to Vecna.
Will’s other arm struck out suddenly, fingers half clenched similarly and his face contorted more, looking almost painful now. Will’s head snapped upwards, staring sightlessly up at the dark sky. He was trembling harder now, and Mike took a small step forward, ready to run over to him, but was distracted by the Demo in front of him as it screeched louder, clearly annoyed that he had gotten closer to it.
Then the Demo started levitating, similar to what Dustin and Lucas had described to him, and he took a step back again, eyes fixed on the twitching mass of flesh.
It was horrifying to watch in a way, as its body was forcibly straightened, it’s disgusting head tilted back as it wailed louder.
With several sickening snaps, its bones broke, angles causing them to push through the thin skin before it dropped like a marionette. Mike stared at the body for a second longer, before his attention snapped back to Will.
Will was on his knees again, head down and hands out to either side slightly, fists clenched tightly. Mike tried to call his name, but the words wouldn’t come. The air was mostly silent now, save for the crackling of fire and the ragged gasps of dying men. None of that kept Mike’s attention though. That was reserved solely for his best friend. Slowly, his hands loosened, and he started to look up, eyes slowly returning back to the hazel that Mike was so familiar with. He was still breathing heavily, and slowly raised one hand to wipe at the blood starting to dribble out of his nose.
Then he wavered, seeming to sway slightly, and Mike took off, skirting around Demo’s body and crashing painfully to his knees next to Will as passed out, making sure he fell against Mike’s body instead of hitting his head. Even through his jeans and other layers, he could feel that Will was shaking still, and when he grabbed Will’s hand he winced at how cold and clammy it was.
Joyce dropped next to him, one hand gently touching Will’s forehead. She frowned at how cold he seemed, but kept her hand there as she looked around. Mike did as well, hoping that the military men hadn’t seen anything, and that none of them would be coming after Will like they were El.
“Will, honey?” Joyce then called, shaking Will’s shoulder gently. Will didn’t react, so Joyce tried shaking him harder, worry starting to shine in her tired eyes when Will still didn’t stir.
She tried once more before sitting back.
“We need to get out of here,” Mike didn’t look up as he spoke, instead still watching Will. He attempted to shift so that he was supporting Will more, but his shoulder was starting to play up, the one that had been slammed into the wall back in the bathroom. Moving it hurt, and he had a feeling that trying to lift Will would make it worse, but he wasn’t about to make Joyce carry her son. Will dwarfed her now anyway. Before he could try to actually lift Will and stand though, Joyce laid a hand on his good shoulder.
“Stay there, I’ll get a car and we can try to drive out.” Mike shook his head.
“I can do it.” He insisted, looking up at her. Joyce frowned sympathetically at him.
“Your shoulder looks bad Mike. I don’t want you messing it up more,” Mike went to protest more but Joyce shook her head, “I need you to stay with Will, I can get some car keys from one of the men, and see if I can get one of the gates open.”
“ Okay,” He relented, settling back down and moving so that Will was laying properly, with his head on Mike’s legs.
It was then that one of the doors across the compound opened. Both of them twisted to look, with Joyce starting to edge one hand closer to one of the guards' guns.
“Holy shit,” Lucas staggered into view, looking somewhat pale and walking stiffly, but alive at least. There was blood on his top, and dust and dirt all over him but he was still moving, hurrying closer to the trio. “What happened? I mean, me and the two kids were attacked by two Demo’s, and they dragged the kids away, but–”
“LUCAS” Erica’s voice was shriller than normal, on the basis of her screaming to be heard across the compound. Lucas waved back at her in hopes of reassuring her. The younger Sinclair then must have resumed her scramble back to the ground, having only popped up when she heard Lucas.
Lucas continued hobbling over, face set in determination, but he started moving quicker, urgency seeping into his movements as he finally saw Will. “Is he..?”
“Unconscious, but he’s alive. I don’t think he’s hurt,” Mike gestured him over and Lucas obliged, going and sitting next to him. “But we’ll need to talk about what happened later. We still need to get out of the compound and there’s no way we can carry Will through the tunnels.”
“Plus, if you were attacked with the kids then I’m worried about Robin and Murray. You said you couldn’t get a hold of them?” Lucas nodded, suddenly looking exhausted.
The both of them sat in silence for a minute whilst Joyce looked for car keys, only looking up when Erica ran over, sitting next to Lucas to check him over quickly before going to see if she could figure out the gates so they could actually leave the compound.
Finding an operational car was proving more difficult than planned though, as most were dented, flipped, or on fire. At that point, Erica had opened the gate and had taken to looking with Joyce, much to the older woman’s distress. Joyce couldn’t say anything though, Erica was too headstrong and willful to listen. She’d also pointed out that she’d seen the entire massacre already, so she might as well help whilst the boys stayed with Will.
Mike had started wiping the grime off Will’s face with the corner of his sleeve, all too aware of Lucas staring but he had decided that he didn’t care any longer. He’d spent so long trying to hide, trying to pretend with varying levels of success.
El had seen through him like he was glass, had sat him down two weeks into re-entering the hellscape that was Hawkin’s and told him that it wasn’t going to work. He’d feigned innocence but she’d just smiled sadly.
“He’s missed you just as much as I have, Mike,” She’d explained, looking at her hands as she talked. “But I think that you missed him more than you missed me,” She started getting misty eyed as she spoke, but shook him off when he tried to comfort her. “Yes, you missed me, but in all your letters and calls, you always talked about Will. At first I was confused,” She had started to falter over her words. “But talking to Jonathan and Joyce and Hop helped.” El had finally smiled, a small wobbly thing that made Mike feel so shitty. “I will always be here Mike, as your best friend, but I think girlfriend and boyfriend is not a good option, not for us.”
After that, things changed, but not as much as he expected. The world still spun, the Upside Down still existed. Mike did too, and as time passed, he realised that El had been right. He still saw her before a crawl, still sat next to her. They still laughed with each other and were teased by Dustin and Lucas, but things were easier. Not as strained, no longer tense. El was one of his best friends, but she wasn’t his person.
That was Will. It just took him a very long time to realise that it was okay.
So Mike sat, gently rubbing at a stubborn bit of dried blood on Will’s cheek, trying not to cause the small cut to start bleeding again. He resolutely ignored Lucas’ staring as he moved to another patch of dirt, thinking over everything that had happened, past regrets and moments where he’d noticed stares lingering, a touch that lasted longer than normal.
He’d been in metaphorical hell trying to figure out what it all meant, and now there was even more to sift through, with Will suddenly able to do things that only El could do previously. But Mike would be there for him this time, every step of the way, ready to hold his hand out should Will falter or fall.
“You stay where you are, or I can and will figure out how to use this thing.” Erica’s warning made him look up, and Lucas jumped next to him, starting to stand up when they both registered that Erica was holding one of the guards guns at a member of the military who’d sat up. She'd clearly been watching how others held weapons, because she looked like she kinda knew what she was doing. A pair of hands shot up, pale face becoming paler when Joyce hurried next to her, a stolen pistol also aimed at the man.
“I can help you get out of here, your friend is hurt, right? I know where the spare vehicles are kept. I won’t breathe a word to anyone once you leave either! Just got to be quick, reinforcements are on their way.” Joyce glanced back over to Mike and Will, expression hardening in a way Mike rarely saw.
Next to him, Lucas sat down again, keen eyes watching everything. Mike tried to pull Will closer to him, ready to protect him whilst he couldn’t protect himself.
“Show me. Please.” She requested, lowering her gun somewhat. Erica kept the machine gun trained on him as he stood up though, and Mike knew she was probably itching to at least try it out.
Everyone watched as the man led Joyce to one of the unmarked buildings and typed some sort of passkey in. The door opened soundlessly, and the guy slid inside, Joyce stayed outside for a second, gaze flickering between the open door and her son. Soon enough though the familiar sound of an engine started up and Joyce moved as an unmarked truck drove out. The driver’s window was down and he poked his head out.
“This is the most inconspicuous vehicle we have. W–”
“We’ll take it. Give me the keys.” Joyce held a hand out.
Mike and Lucas shared a glance before looking down at Will, who was still unconscious, still too pale, and nodded to each other. Lucas stood up first, and with Mike’s help, was able to have Will half sit half lean against him, hands holding near his armpits. Mike then leaned down and grabbed Will’s legs, so they were carrying Will between them.
Together they managed to get Will over to the truck, where Erica was already sitting in the back seat with the back door wide open, ready to help them get Will in and secured. The military grunt was nowhere to be seen, and Joyce was already in the front seat, hands at ten and two but eyes tracking their progress in case they needed the extra help.
The duo managed with help from Erica, and soon Mike was in the back seat again, Will’s head back on his lap and Erica keeping his legs still. Lucas had hopped in the front, but turned to look behind him at the three of them.
The drive back to WQSK was quiet, almost tense. Joyce had originally sped out the compound, but had slowed down as it disappeared in the rearview mirror.
“So… are we gonna talk about what happened?” Erica had finally asked, leaning so that she could look at Joyce. Before anyone else could answer her Joyce had shook her head.
“When we’re safe, and we know if Robin and Murray are okay. Then we’ll talk about it.” Erica had sighed, obviously not pleased with the answer. Lucas turned to look back at them again.
“Does it have anything to do with the Demo dying like one of Vecna’s victims?” Mike nodded.
“Yeah. And if the theory I’m working on is correct, then Robin and Murray will want answers too.” Mike saw Will kill the Demo that had lunged for him, and he also remembered the odd hand and head movement that seemingly hadn’t done anything to the monster in front of him. If Mike was correct, then Will might even be more powerful then El, able to attack things without being close to them.
If– When Will woke up.
“Right.” The truck lapsed back into silence after that, only broken by Joyce shifting gears as she drove. The drive itself wasn’t long, but it felt like it took years. The longer Mike sat, the more tired he got, the more various aches and pains made themselves known. He kind of just wanted to go to bed and sleep for a year, wake up and have everything be fine. Holly wouldn’t be missing, his mom and dad would be fine, Hawkin’s wouldn’t be swarmed with military personnel while some freak tried to tear it apart from an alternate universe.
Murray was outside when they finally arrived, passing someone in a car something through their open window and waving as they drove off. He then started walking over to Joyce as she stopped the truck and climbed out, already half berating her half complaining at her, one finger pointing accusingly in her direction, but he stopped bothering her when they just ignored him in favour of helping Mike get Will out without anyone hurting themselves any further.
“Wait, what happened? Where are the kids?” He’d moved to stand beside them, hands hovering uselessly as Joyce took Will’s arms and Mike again grabbed his legs.
“We’ll explain everything later. Move.” Joyce was rarely this short with people, but it’d been at least an hour now and Will hadn’t shown any signs of waking. Mike knew he was worrying about it as well.
Will was too pale, too still. Mike swore his breathing was too shallow. There was sweat beading on his forehead. All in all he didn’t look good. He looked sick, like when he was possessed.
The main issue was trying to get Will down the stairs into the basement of WQSK. There wasn’t a way for two people to safely carry him, so Lucas grit his teeth, apologised in advance and carried Will like a princess down the stairs and laying him on the sofa. Robin had shot up from where she was perched on one of the cushions, moving gingerly and favouring one side.
“What happened? Is he okay? Are you okay?” She looked up as everyone else followed Lucas down, Joyce immediately crouching by Will’s head, one hand holding Will’s as she smoothed his hair down.
“You’ll be okay sweetheart, you can wake up now, you’re safe.” She was whispering the words, repeating them and other similar phrases. Mike came to join her, kneeling next to her with his eyes fixed on Will’s face. Joyce then nudged his shoulder, the one that wasn’t currently hurting like hell, and he looked at her, then at everyone else. They were watching them uneasily, and Mike sighed, sitting back on his heels.
“So like, what actually happened? ‘Cuz I’m kinda still processing, and you all kinda look messed up, and Will’s clearly down for the count - and also there are like, no kids at all so that’s probably really bad, but there was also this Demo - and it attacked me but then it like froze and –”
“ - had all its bones snapped like Vecna does with his victims?” Lucas finished her rambled sentence, sharing a look with her that had Mike sighing again. “And one of the Demo’s at MAC-Z died similarly, so you guys must have seen it.”
Mike nodded slowly, and ran a hand through his hair. He shared a look with Erica, who’d snuck in and perched on a crate, then looked back to Joyce, who nodded just once, almost like she was giving him permission.
“It was Will. He was the one who killed them all. Vecna appeared, said something to him then dropped him and walked away as the Demo’s dragged the kids off. Then, one came back. It looked right at me, jumped at me but…”
“It froze, in midair.” Robin guessed, she had shuffled closer to Will, eventually perching on one of the arms with a hand on Will’s leg. Mike nodded.
“Yeah. Will had a hand out. He stopped them, all of them. He saved us,” Mike was aware of how fond the words sounded, but he was too tired to care. One hand reached for Will’s unoccupied one, taking it gently and squeezing it, like he could reassure Will even though Will was unconscious. “He’s a hero.”