Chapter Text
Robin is standing in the hospital doorway, Coke fizzling on the ground, with the most maniacal grin Will has ever seen plastered on someone’s face.
“Holy shit, Will,” She exclaims, “I knew this was coming at some point, but not this fast!”
Will grimaces, and is about to answer her, but spares Mike a glance.
Mike looks…on the verge of a panic attack—his eyes are darting and his breath has swallowed.
Then he remembers that Mike doesn’t know about Robin, like at all.
Fuck.
Will reaches for Mike’s limp hand and squeezes, “Mike—Mike, it’s okay, I swear. Robin doesn’t care, she isn’t going to tell anyone.”
Slowly, Mike raises his gaze and meets Will’s eyes, searching for physical confirmation.
With Will’s hand gripped firmly around his wrist, he can still tell Mike’s heart rate has barely calmed down.
Robin juts in, “Heya, Mike…Awkward timing, am I right?” She nervously pushes out a laugh, “If it makes you feel better, I like boobs, like I really like boobs, and—”
“Robin!” Will looks exasperated, but her random blurt out seemed to have calmed down Mike, who was now gazing at her like an agape pufferfish, eyes blown wider than before.
It’s silent.
Robin breaks the tension first, “I want to talk to you both about this later, if you’re up to it—and as much as I’d love to have this conversation right now—I have a feeling everyone’s coming back right around now.”
Mike seems to have ignored her last sentence, still hung out on his newfound queerness.
“You’re gay? Like actually?” He breathes out, bringing up a shaking hand to muss his inky curls.
“Yeah, very.” Robin still needs to figure out how to sound less sarcastic, but the point still makes its way across.
Nervous giggles spill from Mike, and Will’s worried he might be going mental.
“All this time, I thought you and Will were flirting—and I was jealous over nothing! How stupid does that sound?” Mike looks on the verge of tears, overcome with the crash of new emotions flooding into his brain stem.
Will recalls the nightmare he’d had in the Wheeler house a few weeks prior, and begins to recite the same tactic his lovely, panicking new…boyfriend(?) had used on him.
His grip on Mike’s wrist tightens as he tries to ground him, “Mike, deep breaths. Nothing’s wrong, okay? I need you to breathe, please.”
He meekly nods.
“In.”
“Out”
“In.”
“Out”
The cycle repeats until Mike’s heart rate has substantially slowed for the second time in 10 minutes.
Robin looks at the both of them in awe, “Jesus, if that isn’t the most coupley-shit I’ve seen in a while, then I don’t know what is.”
She adds on, “Sorry, I know talk way too much, but I’m so happy to officially pronounce you the second homosexual couple in Hawkins!”
Mike, now pacified, shares a confused glance to Will, “The second?”
“Vickie and I are sort-of a thing, though I don’t know how our relationship is going to fair, with me ditching our past two dates trying to save the world…” The look of love is not lost on Robin's face, but she looks sheepish and worried, a nervous twinge taking over her voice.
Will feels awful for Robin.
She shouldn’t have been dragged into this.
None of them should’ve.
He’s about to offer sympathies, but the door swings open as the remaining members on the rightside-up shuffle back inside.
The two boys immediately jump apart, and part of Will’s body mourns for the lost body heat and comfort.
Joyce looks less rigid, the smoke she religiously inhaled like a Mormon with dirty soda, clearly had calmed her down, “Alright, I hope we got the most out of our small recess, but we gotta get to planning.”
“Is there a way to get in contact with anyone in the Upside Down?” Lucas asks.
“Dustin’s down below with them, so I’ll have to work out some techy-shit,” Robin grimaces, “Can someone lend me their walkie-talkie?”
Joyce hands hers over, and Murray narrows his gaze between the brown and black haired boys, the cogs already spun to perfection in his creepy little mind.
“Aha!” he smiles, which startles everyone, and he amends himself with their curious stares.
“Oh, it’s nothing of importance right now. Just remembered something.”
Well, caress Will gently with a chainsaw.
Murray had seen clearly through their bullshit.
Mike looks freaked out again, shocked and upset that another person has figured them out so fast.
Will feels like he should care more about being found out—and while he obviously doesn’t want the entirety of Hawkins breathing down their necks, he’s… alright with Robin and Murray being in the know.
Mom and Jonathan could wait.
Right now, they needed to regroup the squad.
Static fills the room as Robin pumps her fist into the air, “I think I got it! Does anyone copy?”
No one responds.
And then suddenly, “We’re here! This is Dustin—we found El and Hopper, over.”
Mike unceremoniously rips the walkie-talkie from Robin's hands, “Where are you guys in the Upside Down? Is there any way to get out?”
The signal is choppy, and Dustin’s response keeps cutting out, “...Trying to figure that out…El is okay…very tired…making a gate…”
Will glances over to Mike at El’s name, but the grimace Mike currently dons doesn't change at the mention of his ex-girlfriend.
He has no idea why that comforts him.
The two groups speak back and forth, updating with tidbits of information.
No one mentions Will’s newfound powers yet.
The Walkie-Talkie crackles again, but the voices are clearer, “El’s better now…making the gate! Should be in the cemetery.”
Mike responds, “Meet us at the hospital, we need to plan, now.”
The second the hospital room door swishes open again, Joyce tackles her older son into a ferocious hug, sending him stumbling.
“Mom! Mmph—I missed you too!” Jonathan chokes out.
He then makes eye contact with Will, concern drawn over his face, “Why are you in a hospital bed, is everything alright?”
Honestly, Will didn’t know why he was still in the cot.
Yeah, he was still in some pain, but it was very much bearable.
Will grinned sheepishly, “Oh, I’m fine…But—”
Mike, awe overtaking his features, blurts out, “Will has powers!”
Realizing, he covers his mouth “Oh shit! Sorry, Will!”
Blank stares encompass the faces of every single person recently returned from the Upside Down.
“What do you mean, powers?” Jonathan breathes out, shocked.
Will fills in the details, “We were at the military base, and then hordes of Demogorgans attacked us and took the kids…Vecna was there too.”
Everyone looks queasy.
He inhales shakily, “And then…I had another vision—I saw through the eyes of the Demogorgons as they were about to pounce on Robin, Lucas, and… Mike.”
The recently returned are still slightly confused.
“Some part of me acted on instinct or something, I don’t know, and I felt myself tapping into Vecna’s power supply, like I was channeling it.
He continues, “I was using my hands to control the movements, but when I went to incapacitate them, the Demogorgans started snapping apart…like how Vecna takes his victims.” He mutters the last part out, but the point still stands.
Will has powers, and they are Vecna’s.
His newfound abilities finally begin to sink in with the crowd.
“Holy shit, Dude!” Dustin exclaims, “That’s fucking sick!”
Steve glances at El, then sighs, “So we’ve got another psychic kid?”
“Oh my God,” mutters Jonathan, rubbing his forehead, “Why my brother, why?”
Nancy soothes his shoulder, clearly overcoming the shock of Will’s latest update as well.
Eleven looks at Will for a long time, mutual understanding and empathy shared between them.
Hopper’s eyebrows are furrowed, but he makes no comment, sliding to Joyce and wrapping an arm around her.
Joyce notices, and Will can visibly see the relief flood from her when she knows everyone she loves is safe, and within her hawk-eyed eyesight.
Will’s glad everyone seems to have taken the news well, but they’ve got bigger issues to worry about.
“This turn of events sure does help!” Offers Murray.
“Yeah,” breathes Mike, gazing lovingly at Will discreetly, “it sure does.”