Chapter Text
One moment, Will was being lifted into the air as Vecna approached him, talking to him directly. The next thing he knows, he’s let go of the tight grasp around his neck, his mind and senses still not caught up to the movements of reality, and then he sees someone in the distance, a tall, lanky figure, Mike. His best friend since forever.
He remembers the day they became friends. Swinging on the swing set at school, a boy in a blue jacket comes up to him and just asks, “Do you wanna be friends?” It wasn’t a grand thing, but at the time, it meant everything to young Will.
Memories flashed in his mind; they were playing ‘Dungeon!’ one day in the basement, starting his interest in games like D&D. Will was interested in a lot of things; drawing was one of his best-practiced skills, and he would color and draw endlessly as a kid.
The fort he and Jonathan made in the woods, ‘Castle Byers,’ was one of his drawings that he had shown Jonathan as an idea that they ended up building together. All of these memories showed him how he had forgotten what it felt like to be himself. He was loyal, smart, and creative. He was a ‘sorcerer.’
In his eyes, he could see Mike, the boy just in front of him. Something was different; this was a different view of him. The Hive Mind. In another mind's eye, he sees Lucas in the tunnels; in another mind, he sees Robin in a field in front of a truck. All of them braced for an attack from the Demogorgons in front of them.
His arms snap to grab at the Demogorgons; his body moves with his newfound power to control the puppet strings. Once he had each of the Demogorgons in his grasp, he lifted them into the air, and they screeched. With a swift move of his hands, he cracked them apart. Their bones splintered as they snapped in unnatural directions.
As the bodies of the Demogorgons fell, Will fell to his knees. Scraping them on the ground with force, though he couldn't care less right now. Regular vision comes back to him as he feels his nose start to drip with blood. Mike is staring at him; he’s sure his mother is as well. He doesn’t fall over, but he does brace himself with his arms to the ground.
He hears footsteps rushing towards him, then a light touch to his shoulder from long slender fingers, then another pair of fingers grabs his head, just as his mother's frantically searching face appears in his vision. His mind is not processing the words being said to him as he looks up at Mike to confirm that he’s not hurt badly, and once he sees that, he lets himself pass out.
The next moment, he’s in a moving vehicle, lying on his side, head on something soft, someone soft. Mike. He was lying on top of Mike’s thighs, and as he slowly came to, he felt movement in his hair, fingers carding through the frayed, dirty edges of his hair. Just as he was fully aware of the movement, it stopped almost as if sensing that Will was conscious of it.
Will tensed up at this, mostly hoping that he would continue the soft gesture. Just then, he hears a small whisper, “I’m so glad you’re okay.” Then the fingers continue moving gently through his hair. Calming him down enough to let his heart flutter.
He was in and out of consciousness after that; Mike helped him walk into the WSQK and lie down on a couch in the basement. Moments pass before he feels a hand grab his, gently holding it, awakening his senses. He opens his eyes to see Mike sitting on a coffee table in front of him. “Hey, how are you feeling?”
Sitting up slightly, still holding onto Mike's hand, he responds, “I'm fine. Is everyone else ok? Lucas? Robin?” Mike doesn’t quiet him, but his soft gaze does. He waits for an answer, trying to look away from his best friend, who’s looking at him with pride, like Will had just done something so incredible it made him proud.
“We met Lucas and Robin here; they’re upstairs trying to get ahold of the others. Dustin, Steve, Nancy, Jonathan, Hopper, and El are all MIA. We think they may all be in the Upside Down now.” Will slumped down a bit. “We also lost the kids to Vecna. He dragged them all into portals, into the upside down. Almost like we made it easier for him.”
They sat in silence for a moment, Will taking in the information. They failed; they needed to regroup, but half of their group was missing. Great. Sighing, Will starts to sit up, and as he does, Mike pulls his hand away to grab water from the table, handing it to Will.
As Will takes a sip, he looks at Mike and notices his face is scrunched up, like it usually is when he has a question or is thinking too hard. Mike does eventually ask, “What was it like to do whatever that was? Do you even know what you did to the Demogorgons?” Mike asks incredulously.
“I took control of the Hive Mind. I was the one pulling the strings of the Demogorgons. I could see you, Lucas, Robin, all of you were in danger, and I…” Will pauses for a moment, wondering if he should mention the flashbacks he had. “I saw memories of mine; they were flashing through my head, giving me a mental boost, I guess.”
“Memories flashing before your eyes?” Mike looks at him worried. “Yeah, I saw you when we became friends, when you asked if I wanted to be friends on the swing set so many years ago. Us playing board games, my family, and my passions all give me mental clarity into who I am or was as a kid. I don’t know; it's not quite clear to me what it was all for.”
Mike twiddles with his own hands, and as he goes to say something, Will looks up at him, noticing the slight ghosting of red on his cheeks. “You really thought about me, to give your powers a boost?” The blush on his cheeks suited him well; he looked cute.
“Of course I did; you’re my best friend, Mike.” Something about that made Mike's face scrunch up; as he was about to say something, he got interrupted by Joyce walking down the stairs, Robin in tow, mouthing ‘Sorry’ at Will.
“Will, honey, are you feeling ok?” She comes over to him, practically pushing Mike off the table in her hurry. “I’m fine, Mom, just feeling a bit overwhelmed and drained.” Which wasn’t a lie; he was mostly fine, save for the sting of his knees and bones, a mind filled with static, and a slight ache all over.
“Ok, honey, if you start to feel worse or anything, you let me know. Can I do anything? Get you anything?” Joyce was rubbing Will’s arm in a way to comfort him; surprisingly, it did. “I will, Mom, thank you. I don’t need anything right now.”
She pulls him into a hug to fully seal the conversation, and she gets up. “I’m going to continue trying to reach the others. We’ll need to come up with a plan or at least think about what to do next.”
With that, she walks up the stairs after getting a nod from everyone. “Mike, you should get a snack or something for Will; Steve hid the peanut butter boppers upstairs somewhere if you can find them.” Robin’s attempt to get Will alone made Mike look annoyed at the idea of that. “Why can’t you get it?” Mike took his seat back on the coffee table, arms crossed as he faced Robin.
“Just go, dipshit. I want to talk to Will, alone.” Mike rolls his eyes but makes his way upstairs for a moment. “Protective much? Anyway, how are you holding up, dude?” Robin stays standing just to the side of the couch. “I remembered what you told me about not needing someone else; I just needed myself. I literally had flashbacks of my childhood like a film. It helped me tap into the Hive Mind and save all of you from getting attacked.”
“Holy shit, so that was you? I just saw a Demogorgon floating and then die right in front of me. Are you able to tap in now?” Will shakes his head. “No, I haven’t tried, but the Hive Mind gets stronger the closer they are, so it’s probably a good thing I can't; it means we're at least safe right now.” Will, still sitting on the couch sipping his water, asks Robin, “How are you doing with your crush on Mike?”
Will has a graceful spit take and whips his head around to stare at her. “I can’t, I don’t—” Robin then comes over to the couch, a hand of reassurance on his shoulder. “It’s soooo obvious, and honestly, you two would be perfect for each other. If you ever need someone to talk to about him, you know where to find me.”
“Do you think he knows?” Will asks softly, “Mike? Knowing something? Highly unlikely; he’s too dense to see it.” He sighs in relief, but his heart stings at the notion that Mike might not feel the same. “Hey, it’ll be alright; you literally killed a Demogorgon with your mind. I think you can handle a teenage boy.”
Huffing a laugh at that, Mike comes back down, another furrow on his face, annoyed that he had been kicked out. “Found the boppers and a few other snacks and things. How was your talk?” Jealousy was present in his voice; even Will could hear it. Making him smile a little.
“He was just telling me how much of a badass he was killing Demogorgons with his mind!” Will turns to roll his eyes as he goes to stand. “Alright, alright, I get it; killing 3 Demodogs at the same time is cool, but we need to get started on the next move.”
“3 Demodogs?! I only knew about the one in front of me, Will; you are a total badass.” Robin exclaimed as they walked upstairs to reconvene with Joyce. Things are going to be excruciating from here.