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Chapter Two

Under Pressure

The air was warmer, the acidic smell wasn't as strong and eventually it disappeared from his sensory memory altogether. When he no longer felt Eleven's hand on his arm – he knew something was different.

The fervour within unleashed when he realised he was back home, in his own room, with no acquaintance in sight. He almost pulled his hair out in fury.

"No…No – no – no – no – no…NO!"

He pounded a fist against his bed, growing frustration breeding something ugly yet all too reminiscent to Will. He'd suppressed it a long time ago – in regards to his feelings for the girl he'd never met. After all it was almost inherent to blame himself over the small things in his life, but this felt far too close for him not to have done something – not to at least have tried something.

Footsteps echo out from near his mom's room. Now he'd done it.

Soon enough, they reach the door to his room and she flings it open without so much as a knock.

The utter relief spelled in her eyes says it all.

Even adults can fear the worst – but his mom collects herself, readying herself to console him as she bends down to him on the floor. Will can't bring himself to fall into the same patterns tonight.

He's trying to hide that life-sucking leech he threw up a few minutes ago in his slipper beside the bed, before he turned up in the Upside Down.

"Will, what happened?"

"It was just a nightmare Mom. I'm okay I swear."

His mom remains patient and willing by his side. Will sighs and urges her to go back to bed.

"Honestly I'm fine. It's happened now so I should be okay for the rest of the night."

Joyce is dejected to say the least, but knows when she's in a losing battle and decides that pushing it may only force her son into a corner that she never wants him to be in again.

"If you're sure sweetie."

She hugs him close and he eagerly responds so she doesn't suspect anything worth investigating herself. He knows just how to top it off too.

"I love you Mom."

"You too Will."

Slowly she leaves him as he sits on the bed and waves her awkwardly out. Once the door clicks shut, the relief washes over Will, falling back to lie down incorrectly, staring up at the ceiling, pondering his predicament.

A few moments later, he sits up in disappointment. Looking over at his alarm clock, the bright red numbers read 4:32 AM.

Will won't go back to sleep after that revelation, and his heart is pounding as he glares at his slipper. He's going to actually enjoy killing one of these things for once.

And it pushes him back to why he issued such resentment in the first place.

She's alive and somehow fighting fit, in the Upside Down.

He wished he got a better look at her but then he just had to start coughing up. Her face is certainly etched into his memory.

His body expands when it becomes clear as to how he'll pass the time.

Will picked up the slipper and placed it on his bed. He had to keep an eye on it no matter how focused he became on his sketchbook.

He tended to use a large pad so he had the freedom to work with as much space as he could, but knows he would probably start writing next to her picture as a way of getting everything he needed down on paper. Too many people had come across his pad and never once hesitated to go through it without permission. People treated journals and books differently, especially when there was writing in it. People respected the privacy of books, pads were way too open to put aside and leave alone.

That was how his friends had been with his work from experience anyway.

And he couldn't have them coming across this information…yet. Will could have been hallucinating – he'd never actually seen a picture of Eleven, so he couldn't be sure if it was actually her or how he'd pictured her from a vivid description that guys had given when Mike wasn't around.

So as he drew from memory, her facial features were edited with an eraser from time to time, the natural light from the sun was starting to come up, condensing those few hours left to reveal the sun rising up.

By the time his mom came knocking to check on him again and to get him up for school, the slug thing had tried to leave his slipper eight times, he had a definitive sketch of Eleven's face and hair, as well as some side notes to the encounter in which he allegedly met her.

Her button nose was accentuated by the shadows that her small flashlight created in the dark of the Upside Down, and her eyes, a deep brown colour that somehow expressed a thousand unsaid words waiting to burst. Her bone structure shaped her face to be effortlessly elegant. Years of exposure to the Upside Down had made her skin different, tinged sickly almost – but he could tell she had an olive tone to her complexion even with the damage done to it from the Upside Down atmosphere.

That is, if this was Eleven.

While the creatures of the Upside Down were probably not powerful or sentient enough to adopt sly tactics like that of shape shifting, Will didn't think it wise to rule out the possibility.

Though it was undeniable, the sensation akin to his mother's gut intuition.

Will knew no monster could convey so much all at once. The girl he'd met knew him, even if only through others and while checking on him when he was first stuck. Her silent euphoria of meeting anyone who was like her and meant no harm – who could contribute as little intelligent conversation as saying her name in shock and shortly after cursing as a result, and someone she knew as well, must have been indescribable after so long in isolation – in such an unhealthy and disturbing environment.

Will was the only one not to give up on her completely after everyone believed the likely situation. Maybe he was finally being granted some confirmation so that he could cling onto his faith in Eleven's living status with validity. Will closed his eyes briefly – and stopped seeing his missed opportunity and turned it around to be more optimistic. An opportunity to gather all he knew from that event.

Eleven was still alive. She aged and grew with them – she wasn't some morbid image Will's guilt complex had fabricated to showcase his remorse for his helper. Maybe he could see her again – and help her get out while he was at it.

Hope for Will Byers, had been renewed with a vigour he hadn't felt since he returned from the Upside Down.

"Every morning I drive out of my way to pick you two up and you can't even stay awake to talk to me."

Dustin sent Lucas the finger and Will doesn't even respond. He's fast asleep, clutching a sketchbook like a teddy bear to his chest; his bag is stuffed at his feet, behind the passenger seat.

Mike raises a brow to Lucas, who sighs in return over dramatically for effect. "Ungrateful, that's what you all are."

Mike snorts, trying to get his longer limbs settled in Lucas' Cimarron. He's grown used to his mother's station wagon. Despite it lacking in "cool", it never depleted in comfort when he grew longer – though sadly, not broader.

Dustin cleared his throat before making a suggestion.

"If you don't mind dropping me off to the diner so I can miss homeroom that would be sick."

"Why would you miss homeroom? You actually like homeroom," Mike argued.

"Yeah well," Dustin groaned tiredly, stretching his arms out with a satisfying look on his face, only to return to one of displeasure, "Donovan figured out that Cassidy Fox also likes attending homeroom and I'm not in the mood to be his punching bag so he can show off to the only girl who doesn't know me as Toothless Henderson."

"I forgot to eat this morning too."

Lucas shook his head at his supposedly sleeping buddy Will in the rear view mirror.

"You're too good at playing possum Will. So what, we're just going to skip homeroom?"

"It's not like missing one homeroom is going to tarnish our records," Dustin declared, "Besides,

Will hasn't eaten – Mike probably had the full Wheeler special so we'll just discount his part in this equation-"

"We ran out of coffee this morning – I could use one of those –"

"Now Mike is part of the equation," Dustin proudly asserted.

"Only because it's in your favour," Lucas disputed half-heartedly.

"I'll tell Mrs. Robins I was late this morning so you don't lose your spot in her very ruthless hierarchy of favourites," Will spoke up again. Mrs. Robins had been heading to the convent to be a nun only to see herself teaching Trig and becoming one of the many homeroom teachers of Hawkins High. Will didn't make much of an appearance in her list, although he wasn't disruptive and he was polite so she never held him with ill regard either. Lucas was her favourite due to his interesting concern for religious faith while being quite scientifically conscious.

Hanging out with a bunch of nerds and geeks surprisingly didn't help his cause.

"If we must rebel – fine."

Lucas instead turned left, heading toward Benny's Diner instead of right toward Hawkins High and Dustin was genuinely amazed that his justification worked on one of his most stubborn friends. But then he finally absorbed what Lucas said.

"If this is rebelling then we're a bunch of Joanies."

Will awoke fully at hearing this and Mike turned in the passenger seat to look at Dustin in the back. Even Lucas was visibly taken aback by the expression. What would have capped it all off was Lucas hitting the brakes too hard for all the drama, but Lucas was a very cautious driver in everyday traffic.

"What?"

"You'll be a certified Joanie if you ever use that term again."

While Will was clearly exhausted from God knows what, he didn't fail to deliver in regards to what Dustin's friends all thought. Lucas burst out laughing and Mike followed with no lack of enthusiasm shockingly.

Will had his head stuck in his sketchbook when his food arrived, a plate of eggs, bacon, French toast with berries covered in syrup. His stomach growled greedily at the sight. Most mornings were rushed these days and he hadn't had the same taste for breakfast unless it had been a Saturday morning with his mom or brother. School mornings tended to be quite queasy moments for Will, but having given himself the time to adjust and go slowly, he was quite ready to fill up for the day ahead.

Mike was nursing a coffee with cream and Dustin had a very specific favourite in Benny's classic waffles that all he had to say was "the usual" and even the new servers knew what he was talking about.

Lucas was picking at a bowl of fruit uneasily. "Was this really a good idea?"

"It's one time Lucas," Mike reassured tiredly, with Dustin jumping in before tucking in to breakfast, "If you haven't noticed, I'm doing us all a favour."

"How?" Lucas gestured somewhat.

"Will looks like something out of Dawn of the Dead and Mike isn't far behind. I'm doing a civic duty for these two fine citizens of Hawkins."

Lucas chewed on a piece of pineapple and carefully looked at both Mike and Will while slowly coming to much the same conclusion. "Okay, you have a point."

"I don't look like a zombie," insisted Mike firmly.

"I feel like one," Will quietly admitted with no reluctance for the term, slowly taking in his breakfast, though ever grateful. He straightened up a little when he catches sight of someone at the entrance from their four-person booth.

"Looks like Cassidy had the same idea."

Dustin reacts the most to this news, as he attempts to make himself less detectable once he catches her taking a seat at the diner bench alone. He came off violently inconspicuous but she never glances over at them.

She's often alone, which is peculiar for how much attention she garners from some of the most unlikely admirers such as a school bully that had yet to outgrow his detested middle school role.

Otherwise she is swept back into the background like everybody else in Hawkins.

Will seems to get back into his breakfast, welcoming the distraction upon his friends, fiddling with his sketchbook underneath the table on his lap. Mike and Lucas watch on curiously as their curly haired, broader friend is doing some odd things in order to remain cool.

"What's she reading?" Dustin asked, as he's suddenly interested in analysing Will's French Toast.

"20,000 Leagues Under the Sea," Lucas answers.

"So. Cool." The compliment comes out sounding more like a gripe.

Mike finally catches on to why he's reacting like this.

"You like her don't you?"

Dustin blanched and shrugged his shoulders; "Sure we'll call it a simple crush on the coolest girl ever in Hawkins. What of it?"

Lucas can't help but snicker. "You picked the most voluntarily unavailable girl in Hawkins to have a crush on? You of all people – you can't see that this is clearly an act, like she's perpetually living in a Brat Pack movie?"

Dustin readily defends the girl who might not know he exists.

"No one can keep that up for more than a year – this is born and bred cool."

Mike bites his lip, trying to hide the grin that threatens to break out on his face worse than Troy Donovan's acne over the last year. "20,000 Leagues is kind of lame based on what most people but us think man."

Lucas looked pleased to see his best friend contributing to what must be the most unlikely revelation they would come across in a week that tended to plague them with nothing but lukewarm discomfort and suffering every year. He would drain this opportunity of all the juice it had.

"And she wears librarian style glasses to read too – why would you force yourself to be even more of an outsider unless you were just trying to prove a point?" Lucas pushed on.

"She didn't have a choice with the glasses actually. Her old ones broke just after she moved to

Hawkins and those were the only ones that had her prescription."

They all look at Will as he prompts them with this new information. He's swallows a gratifying bit of egg and bacon that had been stabbed on his fork with precision.

"And she enjoys reading more because she hasn't connected properly with anyone here yet I think. That and she always has something hard to hit guys like Troy with if they approach her…I think she actually is a little bit odd."

As they look at each other questioningly, Lucas takes it upon himself to bring it up.

"How do you know that?"

"I was her partner for an English project last year. She liked the band T-shirt I was wearing – Jon's Rolling Stones shirt – and I started to find out some stuff through the couple of times we actually talked."

Dustin's mouth is hanging open quite a bit.

"You've never mentioned this before," Mike pointed out.

Will slowly shrugged and attested, "You guys never asked."

"Next time you secretly befriend the coolest girl-"

"Debatable-" Lucas interrupted.

"-Just tell us," Dustin said exasperated.

Will had his hands up in defence, "I will next time."

Admittedly, Will didn't think this was treasured knowledge, but then again he hadn't quite understood the hype around Cassidy. She was nice to him, so there was that and they both had similar tastes in music and arty brothers in New York – but the same factors that enamoured Dustin hadn't quite done the same things to him.

Will tried to never turn down that forbidden alley in his thoughts, but he had to consider that things weren't staying under wraps anymore. Only a few hours earlier he had actually come face to face with Eleven.

Everything seemed to be up for grabs now that the unusual on goings of the past were coming back to his reality.

After an interesting foray into disobedience by eating at Benny's instead of going to Homeroom, the boys drifted through their sophomore classes without a hiccup ahead.

Will had taken up his brother's advice and had a nap in Nurse Gregson's office on the sick bed. He looked worse for wear even after a fulfilling breakfast and surpassing Homeroom, but his growing resemblance and similar voice clearly got to the Nurse who appreciated his brother more than he originally understood.

Turned out some framed artsy outdoor black and while shots in Gregson's poor excuse of an office came from Jonathon's summer before Junior year, when he had an exclusive shoot with her grandchildren. She never subscribed to the forced nature of stock studios with different backgrounds and positions for everyone in the family. She thought they might be worth holding onto now that he was "going places". Will missed out on an hour of Gym that day.

His nap was before lunch and so Will was somewhat rested by the time he took a seat at a cafeteria table in a corner that mostly kept him and his friends out of sight and out of mind. His tray was piled with the usual school lunch fixings since he'd found a chunk of something unknown in a slice a year ago – and they let him off by giving him a second heaping of mac and cheese and mash potatoes with an extra slice of tomato in his salad. This time he got another pudding cup too. Ms. Sloane had remembered him disappearing and seemed to pick up that it was around this time in the year.

Mike was looking rather sour, although that wasn't too concerning considering all they were thinking about, but this time it had nothing to do with lingering memories, rather their present problems.

"I can't believe Johnson made me do an extra five laps – and what kind of excuse is 'your legs are longer so you have an advantage'? I'm just as pathetic now as I would be with a smaller stature."

"He did that to me last year when these babies started to look bigger," Dustin brought up his arms. His baby chub had stretched out over the last couple of years. "Forced me up the rope twice to prove my genetics wasn't making me a fraud."

"What the hell does that even mean?" Lucas questioned mockingly.

"Don't know, but I don't think Indiana requires their Gym teachers to know lickity split about biology, so that could explain it."

Lucas gave a short laugh and turned to see Will had joined the three. His face faltered a little as he realised his friend had missed the last class.

"And where were you before?"

The other two waited to hear what he had to say as Will shrugged his shoulders, "I didn't sleep well last night…I took a nap in Gregson's office. Was Johnson asking after me?"

"No, but you didn't give us a heads up either man," Mike admitted.

"Yeah," Will said tiredly, "Thing is if I did, you'd all find a way to try and join me, and there's not a lot of space in Gregson's sick bay."

Mike didn't seem to be appeased by this response, but Lucas and Dustin wouldn't press further, because it wasn't worth getting into during school.

Just while Will was halfway through lunch, something else figuratively painful decided to come up instead.

The universe wanted to create some chaos where it shouldn't be made.

"And here I thought the queer had done us a favour and gone off the deep end for good this time."

Mike stood up from their table with no hesitation and Lucas wasn't too far behind him. Dustin lamented through his effort but seemed unbothered by Troy's existence today.

If Troy was angry enough to attack any of them in the cafeteria, he'd likely be suspended, or depending on his track record of getting caught, his parents sway with the board and how much the school was willing to put up with, expelled.

If he attacked Will, then that was another story entirely.

After the events that were still mysterious to the teenagers in Hawkins, Will was sort of untouchable on most accounts. After all, it was kind of screwed up to go after the kid who disappeared, died and then came back with no real explanation.

That didn't seem to stop Troy, who was still pissed after three years and seemed to pick up where he left off once he figured out a few months later that their greatest protector was gone. That Troy hadn't clued together Mike had a soft spot for their super powered companion gave them some solace when it came to these intense moments when met with the bully and his growing circle. The guys didn't know what might happen if it turned out that Mike was reactionary in a violent manner as well as his classic sacrificial convention.

"Take a hike Donovan."

Dustin, who once more took his seat next to Will, his means of protection in a theoretical way, was sure that this complex that Troy Donovan suffered from should have ended the day a strange girl telekinetically broke his arm, moments after he held a knife to Dustin's face.

But stupidity was stubborn, and Dustin wanted this to be a war of words, since Mike's loyalty tended to throw him headfirst into idiotic action too. And Troy could sometimes keep up without doing any real damage with words.

"Big talk from you Toothless."

"Your spiel hasn't aged well, as we can all see now," Dustin pointed to his grown in teeth, "and we can't be assed trying to entertain your old material any longer."

Lucas looked wide-eyed toward Dustin as he shook his head at his nonchalant friend. Will looked surprisingly pleased with this development and remained seated. Mike's glare never seemed to avert from Troy.

Troy pushed Lucas out of the way and Dustin was grabbed by the collar, making a strangled gasping noise as Will stood up as well. James was already smugly glaring down Lucas who was a few inches shorter than him, and a guy named Brock who joined the group not long after freshman year shoved Mike back into his seat. This left Will as their extra guy.

"God, what is your damage Troy?"

If Dustin speaking as condescendingly as he did to his permanent school bully had gathered the masses in interest in the school cafeteria, Will's voice, no longer breaking, standing ready and questioning Troy's actions certainly held them all to attention. It was eerily quiet as everyone watched on in anticipation.

Dustin was shoved back into his seat as Troy moved to Will, deliberating on what his next move should be. Slowly his smile erupted into that of a glower. Figuring it should put him in unease, he was thrown to see the challenging glare remain stony on his features.

"You're my problem – your existence is my constant problem Byers – and I wish that you stayed six feet under where the rest of the fags are."

Whispering spewed forth around them as everyone processed what Troy had said aloud.

"Shut your mouth-"

"I've got this Mike," Will interrupted.

Mike looks mildly distressed by Will's conviction, but let him be once he sees a look he'd never imagined from his friend before. Vulnerable, runt like Will, was fine just on his own for once.

Will looked into Troy's eyes as he smiled in realisation. Troy Donovan had always been fascinated with Will's potential lifestyle.

And at one point he'd been scared of what he was too.

Then everything changed, for the worse and those unsettling thoughts for a boy surrounded by people who could never understand were completely pushed away after what he'd experienced.

Will's fears were growing over his undeniable difference between who his friends had crushes on and who he'd found attractive over the coming years, but then he saw hope for the first time, in the form of something that took priority over societal concerns.

Will couldn't give a rat's ass anymore.

He clutched onto his bag, and decided he needed to make this final if he was ever planning on focusing on helping Eleven, at least making some progress on a way back for her. It was the least he could do for the three friends who were willing to get abused alongside him.

"You know Troy, if you think that your bullshit has me shaken anymore, you have no fucking idea what I have lived through."

Will paused for a moment as he started to see the cogs working in Troy's mind, questioning whether this was a threat or a statement. Will didn't wait for him to reach a result.

"No matter how much testosterone you try to squeeze out, you are nothing to what nearly killed me. So go ahead. Hit me. See if I fucking care."

Troy adjusted himself from the pure surprise he was attempting not to convey to the crowd that was beginning to gather properly. Will didn't need to persist; he just was stony, prepared for what was inevitable.

Troy smirked as he set himself up for impact.

"Well, you asked for it fairy."

Someone cleared their throat not too far in the crowd and it was evidently so tense that people were eager to listen and be silent for the first time in a while. The person who had coughed pushed themselves through.

Cassidy Fox was revealed, long, shiny black hair, her librarian style glasses slipped into her thin and baggy green sweater. Same as she was that morning, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was in her hand, her bag on her shoulder.

"Do you really want to go ahead with this Donovan?"

Troy looked between her and Will and maintained his threatening stance. The crowd watched on and waited, biding their time for the climax to hit so they could feed their guilty pleasure. A fight in Hawkins High School hadn't happened in a few years and spectators had been relatively patient until the opportunity arose. It was this churlish desire that caused some to question Cassidy coming forward. It only encouraged Troy.

"Why shouldn't I? Every one wants to see the show. Just stay out of it babe."

"None of these people are on your side," she mentions, unimpressed by the pet name he used for her.

This brings Troy to frown.

"How about this? I don't fucking care if they're on my side Fox."

Cassidy closes her eyes in disbelief and as he's getting ready to punch in Will, which feels like an overhyped effort when she speaks up.

"Karma will care Troy."

Some of the cafeteria spectators burst into laughter, but Cassidy didn't falter from the ridicule. They think she's trying to be noble by using hippy logic to calm the tension. But none of what's in her condemning eyes suggests that in the slightest. And Troy is actually capable of seeing beyond the surface of her message unlike everyone else.

He looks pissed off beyond measure, but Troy looks disgusted toward Will instead.

"Get out of my sight fairy."

Will looks to his friends as they get up and surround him, grabbing what they needed. Even they couldn't gain the power to be left alone entirely after that very dangerous incident. Brock and James look super confused as they waited for some kind of explanation from Troy who refused to divulge them with one.

Lucas and Dustin are on either side of Will as they somewhat drag him out of the cafeteria with Mike trailing behind them, taking one careful look to assess just whether they were in fact safe from physical harm.

Troy started up a rant about how he wouldn't need to calm himself down if the fairy just stayed away. Mike took a deep breath, knowing Will has already dealt with his demons and didn't need to loyally and sometimes stupidly step in for him anymore. If there was anything he felt from this bizarre escape – it was total and utter pride. Will had done something none of them could do before now and he had surely gained everyone's respect after being pitied for so long, and it was enough to drown out the sound of a bully's beaten nonsense.

That was until that nonsense struck a chord Troy Donovan had never aimed for before.

"At least that crazy tramp bitch of yours stayed in the ground."

All four of them broke in their tracks, as the doors to the cafeteria that they'd just exited swung back and forth until they finally slowed to a stop.

There was just one beat as his three best friends in front of him looked perfectly disturbed by what they'd just heard and then it transitioned into something they'd considered but were certain wouldn't happen before now. Fear of how Mike might act from this fresh blow.

Mike's face twisted into something reminiscent to when they watched said girl disperse in their middle school science classroom. But it slowly grew into something they'd never seen before - like he couldn't control something scary within. Dustin and Lucas looked ready to sedate him as Will stood in wait for what might be the most unforeseen mess that could have come of all of this that he'd tried to so hard to suppress.

Turning swiftly on his heel, Mike dropped his backpack on the ground and he burst through the cafeteria doors once more.

"Oh no," moaned Dustin.

The three went back in after him as Mike Wheeler stormed through a bunch of people and approached a rather preoccupied Troy Donovan and punched him square in the jaw.

The dispersing crowd rallied around the two once they realised their need for violence was being sated after an underwhelming performance due to someone else stepping in. Troy fell to the ground in front of Mike. James and Brock, the next threat to Mike, were held back by a pursuing crowd of teens, eager to witness their very own colosseum sport in action.

"FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!"

And Mike didn't hesitate from continuing after the one punch. Landing on top of Troy, effectively holding him down to take his next hits, Mike pounded his fists to Troy's torso.

Troy cried out, clearly unused to being on the other end of his treatment. Mike wasn't the strongest person in the world, so all he could use was anger and adrenaline combined – as his sister taught him.

Nancy had become a world of knowledge in basic defence and handling a gun. She'd bestowed him with some of these tips the summer before last before she first went off to Columbia. While it wasn't exactly Bruce Lee/Jackie Chan wisdom, it was realistic advice for events such as these, and now that he'd avoided allowing Troy to get a hit in, he was able to stop and start this confrontation.

He aimed one last time for his nose for good measure, and felt the crunch of breaking bone and cartilage bouncing around. Blood gushed in an anticlimactic way, but Mike felt it on his knuckles nevertheless. This was when he recalled being eventually pulled off by his friends.

It was all a haze for him, as though he left his body and woke up again when in the principle's office waiting room. He felt his hands were cold and saw they were wrapped in ice packs covered in dishcloths.

"The unexpected vigilante hero returns to the present."

Mike regretfully looks at Will, who is sitting with him and sighs. "If I'm here then where is Donovan?"

"Sick Bay, obviously - maybe the hospital, probably the hospital. It all depends on how bad you did his face in."

Mike's head fell back against the wall melodramatically.

"You just hulked out on the guy. No one would say he didn't deserve it though. Fox is in there now pleading your case."

"Why is she doing that?" Mike asked perplexed.

"Because Donovan's parents are in denial of how much of a dick he is, and this isn't the first time this has happened," Will mentioned, "– except last time, Donovan managed to get the upper hand again and claim self defence while some kid spent his time in the sick bay. Other than your Mom owning the PTA, you need some unbiased witnesses."

"Are you a biased witness?" Mike responded, as the pain of connecting his knuckles to Donovan's jaw was beginning to set in and not feel like any ache he'd felt before.

Will shook his head in humour as he tightened the dishcloths around Mike's hand. "I'm a crucial witness, considering I de-escalated the situation in the first place."

"Which was super badass before I went and ruined it."

Will shook his head adamantly. "Oh I felt badass when I was doing it too. But Mike, no one blames you for losing your shit."

The door to Principal Martinez's office opened to reveal Cassidy Fox once more and Mike was beginning to see it as an omen of sorts.

Cassidy caught sight of them and she walked past them toward the door. Once she held it open to let herself as Mike watched her with an unconvinced frown and Will seemed curious more than suspicious, she paused. Looking over at the two teenagers she was clearly conflicted.

"I'm never one for violence…but Donovan clearly struck a nerve with you on purpose – and that was some bullshit."

Mike blinked a couple of times in confusion. He responded uncertainly, "Thanks?"

She nodded jerkily, and finally left the waiting room, the door closing softly behind her.

"Will, you're next," Principal Martinez called to him.

He got up and left his friend to deal with his own thoughts as he entered the Principal's office.

After a good ten minutes of a detailed account with some follow up questions from Principal Martinez, Will left the office and swapped with Mike. Will was meant to go straight to his next class, but as he left the waiting room into the school hallway, the cool of the linoleum lined floors taking away his sweat induced by anxiety, an uncomfortable lump grew in his stomach.

Karen Wheeler was at the other end of the hallway, having just turned a corner from the school entranceway.

Will was in her sight and knew he couldn't avoid some sort of a pre-talk to confirm or deny her worst fears for this emergency meeting about her son getting into a fight. She hurried her steps toward the fifteen year old boy and looked a little manic.

"Will, please tell me he isn't badly injured?"

"He's bruised his knuckles Mrs. Wheeler. And maybe his feelings were hurt before his knuckles hurt."

She looked relieved only for that to change.

"How bad is the other boy?"

Will's face scrunched up at the memory. Troy was an absolute mess after Mike made mince meat of his nose.

"He's got a broken nose, and a broken ego. Maybe some heavy bruising – I don't know, it happened all so fast."

A hand shot through her hair with discontent. "Who did Mike do this to Will?"

"Troy Donovan."

Then her features had a whole new set of emotions. "He's been giving Mike trouble for a while hasn't he? Mike didn't just lash out at some random kid?"

"Since middle school."

Karen Wheeler straightened herself up once she gathered all the necessary immediate information to calm her before she had to put on the right face to confront Mike's actions and punishment on top of that.

"I guess I'm not coming over tonight, Mrs. Wheeler?"

This took her out of her reverie as she shook her head in disbelief. "Mike may be in trouble Will, but that doesn't mean I stop keeping an eye on you while your mother is working. You're still staying for dinner."

It wasn't a polite question but a firm statement. Will knew Mrs. Wheeler had been really thrown after getting the call from the school about Mike if she wasn't keeping up appearances with him.

He went off to class as she entered the waiting room.

Karen was ushered in with the receptionist's say so and knocked impatiently on the wooden door with freshly printed black letters.

"Come in," came a voice very familiar to Karen Wheeler.

She didn't hesitate to push her way in, only to startle her son in the process.

"Mom?"

Karen looked at Michael sternly for a moment as he regained some composure in light of why he was in the office in the first place. He figured she might have understood, but the act was quite hard to look past as a parent with pacifying beliefs.

"Karen, I'm glad you could make it."

Principal Martinez gestured for her to take a seat beside her son, of which she now noticed his injured hands and felt a suddenly pang of maternity take over.

"I'm sorry Harriet, I have to check on this for myself."

"Of course."

"Mom it's not that bad-"

"Michael, now is not the time," Karen said hastily as she carefully unwrapped the makeshift dishcloth bandages, holding up ice packs around his knuckles.

They were undoubtedly bruised, and she watched as her son tried not to flinch when she took his hand that was worse off, his right hand, the defter of the two he had, to see his knuckles had split and were red with raw skin. Even if she was of the opinion that they shouldn't be used for what he evidently did not half an hour ago, she figured he held up pretty well in comparison to what she'd seen of her brother when he'd been in school fights.

"Nurse Gregson says it's only a matter of being gentle with his healing," reassured Principal Martinez.

"I must thank her for her care when I see her next."

Rewrapping the dishcloths with the ice packs around her teenage son's knuckles, seething again as they covered his right hand particularly.

Karen exerted a tired sigh and said bluntly, "What happened – and how bad is it?"

Principal Martinez wasn't sure how to begin, a clash of disbelief and uncertainty of all the details forcing her down to the main points.

"An argument between Michael and his friends and Troy Donovan and his friends was beginning in the cafeteria when a couple of the kids managed to quell it from getting out of hand with violence."

Karen looked very perturbed at a missing detail.

"Where were the teachers on duty when this was happening?"

Martinez sighed when she remembered that Karen had the senses of an eagle when it came to details. "While the cafeteria was calm a teacher on duty took a cigarette break. I know Karen, it's being dealt with, believe me."

Karen shook her head incredulously, but didn't stop the meeting for this detail as the Principal continued.

She had received every detail of the original de-escalation, to the two groups being separated by their own means, only for Mike to attack the teenage boy antagonising Will Byers originally.

Karen looked questioning toward Mike. Principal Martinez watched as one of her better students shrunk under his mother's stare.

"Michael, you can wait outside, I need to speak with your mother in private."

Michael looked stunned at the casual tone his Principal had for him considering he'd done the most damage to another student in the last decade. He nodded and stood up stiffly. As he reached the door, he quickly looked back.

"May I ask what my punishment is, Principal Martinez?"

Principal Martinez gave a breathy laugh, imparting more surprise that this was the same boy who laid into one of her more troublesome students with hardly a scratch in return. This was not the words of a violent youth heading down the wrong path. "Since you asked so politely…"

Mike turned to face her properly as she settled it in her mind.

"After listening and reviewing the accounts of yourself, Mr. Donovan, Mr. Byers. and Ms. Fox, I've concluded that you'll have to attend Saturday detention, this weekend. In that detention you're required to write up an essay on why violence isn't the answer, and you can hand that in to me first thing Monday morning."

Mike's heart slowed down to an agreeable speed and he nodded in acceptance. He had expected far worse than that. A note on his permanent record, suspension, and if she had been incredibly strict and inconsiderate of first time offenders, expulsion. Mike couldn't truly believe his luck but tried to emanate a stoic demeanour.

"Thank you Principal Martinez."

Once he was out, Karen let her head fall into her hands.

"There's something you're not telling me Harriet."

"Because it's deeper than I think I'm permitted to know."

Karen frowned at hearing this. "My son beat up Patricia Donovan's kid, who hasn't ever held forgiveness as a virtue so she's going to be a treat when she "runs" into me. I mean how deep could this really be?"

Principal Martinez sighed. An appeal was probably the only way she could translate this mishap.

"Michael is a good kid, an A+ student, contributes to the school, AV club member, State Science Fair participant. Scott couldn't recommend him or those boys more when they transitioned over from the Middle School. When it comes to the problems these kids have in these halls, and there are many, Michael is quite passive – and it's good not to worry about every single student under my care…but something caused him to react that way – to do that to Troy Donovan, a student who has been a problem since his last year Elementary and flexes a hot tempered tongue when he pleases, that most of the kids can ignore him because his attacks haven't had the same impact as they used to."

Karen didn't have any input for this comment, too immersed in sensing much the same thing as she looked over the last few days. She had noticed a change in her son, and she had a feeling it had to do with that week back when he was twelve but she wasn't sure it was appropriate to bring these private and remarkably strange affairs to Michael's Principal unless absolutely prompted to.

"Is there anything different at home Karen?"

"Other than Nancy leaving for College last year, nothing. It was an adjustment for Holly, but Michael is satisfied with hearing from her when she calls home every other week."

Principal Martinez was disappointed nothing could be discovered from there.

"I was hoping I wouldn't have to do this," Principal Martinez pulled out a notebook of her own and brought out her reading glasses. She flipped to the page she'd written down in last and her index finger found the passage she'd found stuck with her most.

"When recording Ms. Fox's account she mentioned that Mr. Donovan said something that may have triggered Michael to become violent, and be mindful, the language is…colourful. "At least that crazy tramp bitch of yours stayed in the ground"."

Karen held in a gasp at the malicious combination and her heart picked up when she realised what had caused all of this.

"Oh God, Michael," she said, as her hand began to cover her mouth regretfully.

Principal Martinez waited with baited patience and Karen rubbed her temples before dragging out a sigh. Truthfully she didn't know how to explain it, when she was never exposed to the full story and much of it was still a mystery to her to this day. But she knew it was still a very sensitive subject for her boy.

"Three years ago, Michael lost a friend very dear to him, a girl, and I…didn't know her very well – her home situation wasn't good at all. I think she was sick, which explains the early passing. The only thing I really know is that she was fearless because Troy met her and when he tried to hurt Michael, she broke his arm."

It was the most she could ever get out of Michael, and she had seen the distinctive light in his eyes when talking about the story of a confrontation where he ended up victor just once before, all because of a quiet, yet protective girl. And just when the reality came crashing in once more, he'd become a shell of who he used to be.

Thankfully, time did heal him a little bit – but clearly the pain of this girl's memory didn't leave entirely.

Quietly astonished, Principal Martinez closed the book. "Well, I'm glad you told me Karen. Michael can leave early today."

Inside, Michael was a mixture of emotions. He was elated nothing terrible was going to happen to him as a consequence for his actions – he wasn't even asked to apologise to Troy and he felt like that would be a slap in the face if that came up in the proceedings of his punishment.

But his mind had been drifting to what caused him to land one in Troy's face for the first time ever. Mike didn't tend to stick up for himself but gallantly accessed a stupid bravery somewhere in his veins when his friends were in mighty peril. He didn't often fight unless he had to stand ready in defence, but they'd never escalated to the point where someone was hospitalised. And he half expected that someone to be him had he ever ended up in such an affair.

Avoiding her for the last year as a way of getting by had caused this. He had thrown himself headfirst into a fistfight where the opponent didn't get one hit in, because Troy Donovan had forced him headfirst into thinking about her undeniably. Mike would never think she was gone completely from his thoughts; there was always an Eleven lingering in the back, always present – just on mute for the most part so that he could stay sane.

If Mike constantly pictured her dead and rotting somewhere he couldn't reach her – or dying and cold where he couldn't find her – it tore at Mike now. Because thinking of her in the present meant taking in all the factors – all the questions and all the messed up images of the scenarios she'd be in because she wasn't prepared whatsoever for the horrors of this world and yet was equipped with the abilities to keep her alive from potential danger.

The elements could have had their way with her though.

Mike forced himself not to punch his gut in utter disgust so as to not disturb the receptionist into thinking he was having a mental breakdown.

He wasn't, not really.

His jaw was clenched uncomfortably, his leg bouncing up and down with anxiety, and he hadn't realised this entire time because Eleven was front and centre in his thoughts in an environment where he couldn't be vulnerable, couldn't risk anyone outside the immediate group he trusted to see him cry. Teenagers were ruthless – enough not to care for the reasons for someone's melancholy, and especially to kids like him – who blended into the lockers and played Dungeons and Dragons in a basement that would eventually grow a musk of teen boy if not well maintained to his mother's desire.

While thinking about Eleven brought him to the breaking point, he figured thinking about how his Mom would punish him over this uncontrolled lashing out prevented him from drowning in his mind.

His Mom understood at the most necessary times, like when Will went missing. She let him stay home from school when it was clear it was affecting him while he built up a lie about being sick.

But this was a little different than skipping a day of school.

Mike stood up when his Mom left the office with Principal Martinez.

"You're going home early today Mike. I'll see you Saturday for your detention," Martinez sent him off.

Mike couldn't quite comprehend how everyone was being civil with him after he'd been so brutal to Troy. Even his Mom looked less angry with him, only somewhat worried.

This started to worry Mike too.

Once he had his stuff from his locker, he got into the passenger seat with his mother pulling away once he buckled up at her insistence.

"You know I'm disappointed you resorted to violence."

"I'm sorry Mom."

"And I wish you'd exercised some sort of, I don't know, breathing techniques before getting into – into fisticuffs with that little asshole."

"I know – I shouldn't have..."

Karen took a turn and Mike's mouth hung open, empty of the excuses he was about to spout and the promises he'd never do it again. Karen Wheeler – homecoming queen and enviable house Mom, cursed.

"Oh don't act so surprised Mike. That kid's had it coming for years – I'm just shocked it was you who dealt it."

Mike nodded. He supposed everybody would be surprised that tepid Mike Wheeler beat up Troy of all the people. He was shocked he had it in him. But he saw the immediate alarm that took over his friends after they'd soaked in just what Troy had said. Maybe they'd seen it in him before he could ever comprehend it.

His mother seemed to be ruminating, probably much the same as he was – and he knew she never once advocated for his type of actions. This was solely on him, yet he wasn't the only one who would see problems from it.

"I hope this doesn't get you in any trouble Mom," Mike spoke sincerely, as he looked at his hands.

"Oh sweetie, it won't," she reassured him. It was the first time she'd fully understood him, but it was something.

"But Mom, you actually like being in the PTA and helping out and if this takes you away from that-"

While at a red light, she took his hand in hers and looked to him directly.

"Patricia Donovan is in for a rude awakening if she thinks this will do anything to my position in the PTA. And first and foremost, I care for you three – always. And it's the best thing I can do on this earth."

Mike swallowed a lump of guilt away – she was doing her best to calm him down, but even he knew his sweet yet overly involved mother was confident with her place in the world.

"Besides – what he said to you Mike…I'd find it hard not to throw a dictionary where it counts."

"Martinez told you?" Mike groaned, but she held tight onto his hand.

"Of course Mike. And I wish you would tell me more to be honest."

He nodded subtly and looked out the front window.

"Mom?"

"Yes sweetie?"

"It's green."

Author's Note:

"What is your damage Heather?" is one of my favourite lines in a film ever, and Heathers full of the best lines.

Figured it was a "Like Mother, Like Son" situation.

Also if you're in need for some music during your reading, anything remotely 80's will do.