Two Weeks Later
It took Will about four days to get released from the hospital. Teenage hormones along with memory exposure to the upside down made recovery much easier this time around. The Military had requested that EL and Will stay here specifically as 'Government Assets' They provided the Byers with a home and a living stipend for the "foreseeable future." Whatever that meant.
The Wheelers were here because Mike's father still had a job, despite all the destruction. Mike's father had also refused to leave unless the government agreed to pay double their home value in disaster relief. The letter they received last week said that they didn't qualify. After some choice words for the Reagan Administration, the Wheelers decided to remain in Hawkins.
Mike, Will and El made the best of it. Mike had invited them over to play some games. Something to take all their minds off what had been going on. He had invited Dustin and Lucas out of courtesy, knowing full well those two were not likely to come over. All three of them had tried to reach out but it wasn't much use.
Mike and Will laid on the floor next to each other. El wanted to sit cross-legged across from them to "Hide her cards." She smiled as she watched Will and Mike interact. It had been so long since she'd been able to see anything like that. She was curious how best friends worked. Max had said she and El were best friends. That was only one frame of reference. These two boys had been friends for years and years.
Mike took a sip of coke and laughed when he played a reverse card. Uno was his favorite card game. Will laughed. He rolled over onto his back and put his feet up on the sofa.
"This game sucks man." Will giggled.
"You only say that because you never win." Mike smiled. He gave Will's shoulder a playful shove.
"How did you like the game, El?" Mike asked.
Will looked at her from upside down on the floor.
"I still don't get it." El said honestly.
When she showed her confusion. It occurred to Mike that they didn't really play games when El was around. It was usually just Mike and El hanging out or something awful bringing her back into the group.
"I wish Dustin and Lucas were here." Will sighed. "We could play D&D and teach El more about it."
"Yeah. It would be nice. I don't know if Dustin would want to though. I kinda don't want to. Because-" Will heard Mike take a shaky breath. "Eddie-it would feel bad to play without him."
"Oh shit, I'm sorry Mike. I just forgot." Will said. His words were seeking reassurance.
"No, that's not your fault-I-I just-he was so cool as a DM and he-he took us in like lonely strays. It was nice to play again."
Will took those words in stride. He knew Mike needed social contact. Will was naturally solitary. He was built for that. Mike just wasn't. He got lonely and bored very easily. Often he would come to Will's house and rant about something from school or Nancy or his parents. Will would sit there drawing pictures and then look up every now and again, telling Mike everything would be okay.
"I'm glad you found a new party Mike." Will said, meaning every word.
"Really?" Mike asked, raising his eyebrows.
"Yeah. You've always needed a group and D&D was your big thing." Will answered.
"You're not upset?" Mike voice filled with concern.
"No. Why would I be?" Will looked up at Mike. "And before we get too distracted, you were a great DM." He smiled warmly at Mike who looked away.
"Oh yeah sure." Mike said. There was sadness in his voice.
"No, really Mike, you were. A Dungeon Master's job should be to make the campaigns fun and they always were man. Always." Will rolled over to his side, propping his head up with his arm. "Like, do you remember the first character I ever rolled with you?"
"Not really." Mike admitted, trying to think back.
"It was that Barbarian, you know, the one with five base intelligence." Will giggled, remembering the campaign that had followed.
"Oh yeah! What was his name again?" Mike's face exploded into a huge smile. "It was-" Mike was thinking and it was so cute that Will didn't interrupt. His own face widening into a smile as Mike struggled. Finally satisfied, Will filled in the blank.
"It was Fabuloso because he was dumb but he had really high charisma and was extremely pretty." Will laughed.
"Haha, oh yeah. He was so dumb he had to hold hands with my character because he kept trying to grab shiny stuff that was always, always, traps." Mike giggled remembering back then. They had quickly discovered that with such low intelligence, Will's character would die or get the party killed. So the hand holding strategy was born.
"Do you remember the one campaign when Dustin and Lucas were thieves?" Mike grinned.
"Oh god, not that time!" Will laughed.
"Dustin kept rolling Natural 1's. Then he rolled a 1 on a tripwire trap while trying to sneak past guards. So I made his character fall over the trap, set it off and let out a huge echoing fart down the hallway which alerted all the guards." Mike was laughing so hard now that his face was red.
"In the entire kingdom apparently. It almost ended the campaign right there." Will was laughing hard now too.
"No wait, no wait. Remember the ogre?" Mike tried to breathe out between laughs. "The ogre is supposed to help you guys in some of the early parts because the Monsters are a little strong. So I'm thinking, nothing bad can happen. The only big character trait is that he hates magic. Like, a lot. It says in the module book. Then Lucas is like, gee, I think I can move faster if I don't have to carry this magic bag with me." Mike laughed hard enough that Will decided to add something to the story.
"He just throws it at the guy. Here." Will mimes throwing something.
"I'm just sitting there like-oh no-oh no. So I check the book and I had to do two rolls. One to see if the ogre figures out it's magic. Then another to decide the consequences if he does." Mike could hardly breathe. "And so I roll the first time and boom natural twenty. I'm sure you heard my 'oh no' then. Now, not only does he know the bag is magic, he's going to leave the party no matter what happens with the next roll."
"I think the next roll is the first time I ever heard you say 'shit'." Will was shaking with laughter.
"Yeah, the next roll was fucking Natural 20 again and so now I have to-according to the book 'rid the party of said item which must be either impossible to retrieve or very dangerous.' So I follow what it says and have the ogre take the bag to the edge of a cliff face they're on and-and-and-he just chucks the thing into the ocean. The whole bag. It has two quest items in it. So the whole campaign is just fucked." Mike inhales a huge breath to get control of himself.
"Lucas was like, 'oh man, sorry guys'. Holy shit. We never let him carry anything after that." Will lays back laughing and blowing out a sigh. "Mike those times were so amazing. I miss them."
"Yeah Will, me too." Mike said catching his breath. Both boys wiped tears from their eyes.
"Do you guys want some of the leftover pizza? I'm hungry." El spoke suddenly.
Not missing a beat and a chance to mess with his sister, Will replies.
"Hi hungry, yes we would love some left over pizza." Will starts to move to get up.
"Shit El, I'm so sorry, I-we-oh man. I'm so shitty." Mike scolds himself while also moving to get up.
"Mike, it's fine. Totally. It was nice to hear stories even if I don't get it. Especially ones that make you both laugh like that. I've never heard you do it that much." El said following the two boys into the kitchen.
"Wait, really?" Mike asked perplexed.
"You have to remember Mike, it's kinda been all drama since we were twelve." Will said.
"Yeah I guess, but I figured we laughed a bit more than that." Mike seemed shocked.
"Never like that." El affirms.
The three started to grab a few pieces of cold pizza each. Mike's dad entered the kitchen from the self closing door that lead to the bedrooms.
"If you are all going to eat more pizza, would you finish it please? There's not enough room in the fridge." Mr. Wheeler stated retrieved a snack from the cupboard and headed back to his bedroom. Mike assumed the snack was for his mom.
"Sure thing Mr. Wheeler." Will said beaming a bit too much.
"You are such a kiss ass, Will." Mike shook his head.
"What? Your dad is nice." Will whined.
"See?" Mike looked at El. "Kiss ass, like I said."
El looked down at the counter and smiled but said nothing.
They all sat in the living room and ate their pizza with fresh cans of coke to drink. There was a late night scary movie on. Will didn't like scary movies but sitting next to Mike made him feel a bit braver. Then Will started to get a little uncomfortable. It started with smelling Mike's deodorant. Then feeling the warmth from his body heat. Will have given anything to lay on Mike's shoulder. Anything. Then without warning, he heard Mike call his name sharply.
"Will, come on, wake up." Mike's words were a whisper but Will thought they sounded angry.
"Oh god Mike, I'm sorry, I didn't please don't-" Will tensed so violently that he went completely still.
"Will, it's alright. I was just going to help you lay down on the couch so you can get some sleep." Mike said.
Mike had always done this, Will was the first to fall asleep anytime he stayed over. Mike would either bring a blanket and throw it over him or pull him by the feet to a laying position on the couch if Will had fallen asleep there. Will felt Mike's hands grab him around the ankles. Will blushed with embarrassment. He was glad the only light was the soft glow from the TV.
"One, Two,-" Mike pulled with a strange strength that made Will's heart skip. "Three. How's that, good?" Mike asked.
"It's good. Sorry." Will apologized.
"Don't worry about it dude. I'll be right back. I'll get you a blanket. El's gonna sleep in the basement. I'll be here on the camp mattress." Mike pointed to the middle of the living room.
Will figured he must have been out a while. He didn't see El and the little coffee table that normally sat in front of the couch had been moved toward the wall. He let his thoughts drift about how nostalgic this was. How much he missed it. How much he wished it could always be this simple. The last thing he felt before sleep took him was the warmth of a blanket over him.
Mike asked if that was okay but Will was already asleep.
The whole house would wake up a few hours later to Will's horrific screams.
"OH SHIT-OH FUCK-SOMEONE HELP-SHIT." Will shouted having shot bolt upright on the couch.
"Will, what's wrong?" Mike questioned. Terror in his own face as his hands clasped the boy's shoulders.
"DAMN IT-" Will shouted, forcing his eyes closed.
Mike could feel the soaking sweat through his best friend's shirt. He heard thundering footsteps from the hallway and El burst through the threshold.
"Will, Will, it's El. Go to sleep Will. Sleep." El said laying her brother back down. Mike's parents soon joined them all along with his little sister. Mr. Wheeler turned on a lamp by the couch.
"I'm very sorry Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler. It's a night terror they happen sometimes. I'm going to stay with him. I should have warned you all. It's been so long since he had one like this." El Explained.
She recognized the dampness across his skin. It was very common as a symptom of a psychic feedback loop. She'd have to watch him now for the next few hours. Try to keep him under so he didn't become confused and hurt himself or someone else.
"Will he be okay now?" Mrs. Wheeler asked.
"He should be now." She answered softly.
"Well, at least it's the weekend, Everyone back to bed now." Mr. Wheeler commanded, turning off the lamp.
That might have been easy for everyone else, but El and Mike stayed up. El because she had to keep Will safe. Mike stayed awake because the terror of waking up so suddenly caused a massive adrenaline rush. Eventually both of them did fall back asleep.
Will was startled awake by Mike shaking his shoulder. Will's jump caused Mike to smile apologetically as Will looked up at him confused.
"Sorry man, didn't mean to scare you. There's waffles and sausage in the kitchen. Made them myself. Come on it's just after 10 o'clock in the morning." Will pushed himself to a sitting position on the couch, yawned and rubbed his eyes aggressively.
"Okay, I'm up." Will groaned sleepily.
Mike suddenly yawned.
"Aw bitch, you shared." Mike said grinning.
"Sorry." Will said, pushing up from the couch and heading into the kitchen with Mike. There were two platters with waffles hot from the waffle iron. Mike's mother was proud of that thing. The waffles were easy, the sausages not so much as most of them had burned parts on them. They were still edible though. Both boys brought plates into the dinning room and set the table. Mr. Wheeler was sitting is his usual spot, reading his news paper. El was silently eating three big huge waffles and staring off into space.
"Dad, would you like a waffle?" Mike asked in an unintended motherly tone.
"You made them?" His father asked flatly, turning a page of his newspaper.
"Yes." Mike replied equally flat.
"Then no." his father replied just as flat as his question.
Mike stuck his tongue out at his dad as he set a fork and knife out for Will.
"Mike Wheeler, don't stick your tongue out at me." His father said without ever looking at his son. "You're not ten anymore."
Undeterred Mike walked over to his dad's chair. From behind the newspaper where no one else could see, Mike stuck his tongue out again, even adding sound to try and goad his dad. He wasn't sure it would work until he saw the slightest little smirk on the corner of the man's mouth.
"Sure Michael, I will have one waffle with a ring of readi-whip. Just a ring, if you come back here with a mountain of it on my waffle, so help me son, this belt will come off." Though expressed in the same even tone Mike was pleased with the reaction.
Mike disappeared and returned quickly with his father's request.
"You're in a good mood today, what did you do? What broke?" Mike's dad asked as he cut into his Waffle with one hand.
"Nothing like that. I guess I just got some good sleep." Mike answered.
He then turned to Will's plate and noticed he had one waffle on it with some syrup and had only taken a few small bites.
"Will are you sure that's enough?" Mike asked a little too loudly causing Will to flush with embarrassment.
"Yeah, I had enough pizza, I don't really-" Will protested.
"You're a growing boy Will, have some more." Mr. Wheeler said sternly, indicating that he didn't want to be ignored. He watched Mike continue to try and talk with Will quietly this time.
"But Mr. Wheeler, You hate when we eat your food." Will stated, sounding more like a question.
"Will, you're pretty much a member of this family, we budget our food accordingly." Mr. Wheeler said. His voice was warm which caused both boys to raise their eyebrows.
After some continued coaxing from Mike, Will finally relented and let his best friend bring him more food. They all ate in silence. Mr. Wheeler was the first to get up and put his dishes away in the kitchen. Coming back into the dinning room, he put a hand on his son's shoulder.
"You're doing the dishes. You can have your friends help. Your mother is out running errands. Don't leave the house unless someone comes to pick you up. Will, strange girl Mike likes for some reason, that goes for you also." Mr. Wheeler said directly.
"Her name is El, Dad." Mike said in an annoyed tone.
"Whatever son, I'll never remember that. Keep it quiet. I want a nice weekend." Mr. Wheeler left the room as both Will and Mike started gathering the dishes.
"El, could you give Will and I some time alone? Since you and I talked this morning." Mike asked settling some dishes in the sink.
"Sure. I'll just head back to your room?" El asked.
"That's fine. You can play my Nintendo if you remember how it works." Mike said not looking up from working on the dishes.
Mike and Will worked in silence for some minutes. They'd done the dishes together before but Will was confused as to why El was sent away. Then after he finished drying the plates, he started on the silverware. It was then that Mike spoke.
"Will, could you come here for a second?" Mike asked. His pitch giving away how nervous he felt.
Mike was nervous. He didn't know how to do this, he knew he needed to. It was only right. He didn't know why he got so hung up about it. Will was just the kind of guy who needed these things. Ignoring his nerves he stepped forward and gave Will a hug. A real one. The one he should have given him when they left for California. The one he could have given at the airport and then didn't. Or got cold feet when he saw El.
Mike's chaotic thoughts stopped. Now in the hug he was okay, but that's when he noticed how stone still and nervous Will seemed.
"Will, it's okay to hug back." Mike said softly. "I owed you this for a long time." Mike felt Will slowly put his arms up to complete the hug. When Will finally made the commitment to the hug, Mike relaxed. Then he felt Will start to shake with sobs.
"I'm sorry. I made everything so fucking weird." Will whispered.
It wasn't really true. It was Mike's own problems that had started to come between them.
"No, no Will, really if I-I don't know. If I had my own stuff together we would have been fine. Instead I kept finding ways to let you down. I want you to know I am here. Whatever is going to come next. Don't put this all on yourself okay?"
"Yeah." Will lied. "I'm glad you're with me."
Mike took in Will's scent and warmth and suddenly realized he really should have done this more. It wasn't just pleasant, it relaxed him. He found it difficult to let go. In fact, Will was the one that ended their hug. Will Sniffled a few times as he pulled back and turned back to dish drying. Feeling a little abandoned, Mike washed the last of the dishes and left without saying a word.
Will was left aggressively pulling a towel across the silverware in his hand. He shook his head in frustration.
'This is so fuckin' stupid. Does he even really understand me? Let alone what this is doing to me? I hate this.'
As his emotions heated up he found that that spot at the back of his neck actually started to hurt. It built up and then, realizing he was getting bad he left the kitchen and headed to Mike's room. Seeing the door was cracked Will just let himself in.
"Hey you should knock man, you scared us." Mike complained.
"Yeah you-Will?" El asked realizing something was off.
"El, I don't feel right." Will said. He was starting to sweat. It felt like his neck was on fire. He groaned and then the room spun.
"Mike, grab him." El said getting up from the floor. He did as instructed and helped her lay Will down on his bed. "It's more feedback, Will. Sleep." El said putting her hand on Will's head. He fell unconscious She looked confused. She sat on the side of Mike's bed. Mike sat in his desk chair in front of her.
"What the heck is feedback, is he going to be okay?" Mike asked worried.
"It's like….do you know the rub the balloon thing?" El gestured a motion with her hand over the side of her head.
"Rub the balloon?" Mike repeated then as he repeated it, it dawned on him. "Oh shit, you mean static electricity, right?"
"I think so. But anyway, feedback is what happens when you use your powers without proper self restraint. That energy builds up, a lot. For me it happens as a nose bleed because my power is different from Will's. His scar from One is still attached to One in some way. We guessed about the nightmares being so rare in California because the upside down doesn't reach that far." El explained.
"So he's building up too much power or something." Mike stated.
"It's hard to explain unless you have powers. It's like a different set of senses." El was unsure if she should keep talking because Mike's body language had changed.
"How do you put him to sleep like that? Why do that?"
"Simple really you just ask the brain to increase the sleep hormone and the person goes to sleep. It doesn't hurt if you're worried. As for why? Feedback that gets too strong can cause confusion and halu-sa-halu-" El got hung up on a word so Mike finished it.
"Hallucinations. So like he might see us as bad guys?" Mike's tone became even more worried.
"Yes." El said turning to her sleeping brother. "Usually these things don't ever happen during the day. Maybe it's because he's back in Hawkins." El said, putting a hand on Will's shoulder.
"It probably is." Mike agreed. "Can we stop it some other way?"
"Not sure." El admitted in a deeply worried tone.
"Damn it. Come on Will, you have to let us help you." Mike said in a soft voice.
"Will finally asked me for help three months ago." El said, her own frustration was evident. It'd taken coaxing from both Joyce and El to get him to even listen. He was afraid El would go through his mind and see his thoughts. She couldn't really do that, at least not to her knowledge. She could see through his eyes but not regular memories. Then she remembered Max.
'Oh god' El's thought made her tense.
"No, that's wrong. I just did it with Max in the battle with One." El corrected herself.
"Well maybe if you did look, we might be able to help him." Mike encouraged.
"No, I can't do that. He's so….scared in his head. I touched it once. On accident. He'd know if I went snooping around." El's defeated tone was confusing to Mike. "Like….if someone saw him….I don't know." El breathed in. "Mike, Will has protected and helped me all this time. I won't betray him like that. I won't do it." Her voice started to rise.
"Okay, okay, I get it." Will held up his hands defensively. "I just don't know how to help. He used to tell me everything. Maybe I got too distracted by you." Realizing how that came off, Mike tried to backtrack. "That's not, I'm sorry. It's just, it's hard to balance these things and I suck at it." Mike stared at his hands.
"You can always change. It's never too late. That's what Joyce says." El clasped Mike's right shoulder.
"But look how much he's got hurting him." Mike said in a whisper. "He'd rather cross into a monster filled dimension without me than open up." Mike leaned back in his seat. "I really don't know how to help." Tears filled his eyes but he rubbed them away quickly.
Meanwhile, Will wasn't asleep. At least not in the traditional sense. He found himself in a sea of red. He recognized this place as the upside down. He thought he would be afraid. He wasn't, not in the least bit. He thought about speaking because the silence had begun to bother him. Will Byers who liked silent solitude found this place a little overwhelming. Clearly it was not the upside down that he knew.
"Hello Will." A soft voice called. Will instantly recognized it.
"Max?" Will asked his face scrunched in confusion.
"Yes, it's me. I need you to come to the hospital and make contact with me, using your powers." Max responded directly and icily.
"Okay. Right now?" Will Asked.
"No, wait ten years. Yes now." Max said annoyed. This was Max alright.
"Alright then, I'm on my way as soon as I wake up." Will said dutifully.
"One last thing, everyone needs to be there. Or at least as many as you can manage." Max's words still lacked emotion but Will didn't sense any deception in her right now.
Then as if he was pushed into a pool, he snapped awake. The sensation of falling lingering for a few seconds.
"Mike, El-" Will groaned. His throat was dry.
Both of them shot up to the side of Mike's bed.
"These things-the recent problems-it wasn't feedback El, It was Max." Will said weakly.
"What?!" El asked a little loud.
"I'll explain everything but right now I need to see Max. You need to call Mom and Hopper. Mike, you need to get as many of our friends as you can over there."
When neither moved, Will spoke again.
"Now, this is important. This is about One I am certain of it." Will said. He laid his head down trying to wash the dizziness away. Then he realized who's bed he was on. Will rolled out his side and was preparing to get up when he inhaled a rather large amount of air. Catching a whiff of Mike's shampoo on Mike's pillow. It was a mix of something sharp. Not like the sweeter scented ones Will used.
Will got up slowly to make sure he wasn't unsteady. El and Mike each took an arm and helped him get up.
"Come on, let's head to the kitchen phone." Mike suggested.
Will was unsteady as he walked. He tried to lean on El somewhat because he didn't want to be too close to Mike right now. Mike helped Will sit down in a chair near the phone so Will could offer input in the conversations.
First up was Joyce and Hopper. They agreed to meet in about 25 minutes from the end of the call. Next was Steve, Robin and Jonathan who were all working. They agreed to meet at the hospital. It was the end of their shifts anyway.
Will was scared if he was honest, being outside the hospital he knew he was going to go back to the upside down. This time it could be a lot more dangerous. Steeling himself against his fear, he jumped out of the bed of Hopper's truck. They all went inside. Dustin and Lucas were there already. A short argument with the staff and pretty much everyone squeezed into the hospital room. Will was beside Max's bed as Lucas gave way.
"Are you able to do something? If she was talking like you said-" Lucas begged.
"Lucas, I don't know anything right now. I need to speak with her first." Will said as softly as he could manage. Looking at his friend with sorrowful eyes.
Then in a blink, Will turned back to Max, his eyes pure black pools now.
"Max, I'm here now, can you hear me?" Will asked softly, squeezing her hand.
In a handful of seconds Will knew he wasn't in the hospital anymore. He was back in the place he had met Max earlier.
"Hi Will, thanks for getting here so fast." Max said as she closed the distance with him. "Will, you're going to save the world."
"I-what-hold on." Will stammered.
"Please, let us talk for now. We have a lot to say." Max said.
Then Will saw maybe 10-20 people approaching him in a circle. He got defensive and tried to pull his mind back. They were in a circle about 20 feet away from the center where Will stood.
"The upside down isn't what any of you think it is." Max blew out a strange breath. The upside down is a ocean of pure conscious thought. It is aware of itself and was invaded by the One when Eleven pushed Henry though that first gate. What she didn't realize is, as soon as he entered our realm he was making it sick. He was poisoning it."
Will looked at all these people and started to realize that they were people that had been killed here in the upside down. A few he recognized. Then he panicked.
"Wait, Max if these people are dead and you're here-" Will tensed as he tried to end the question.
"I did die, for a little bit there. I can go back when the upside down heals itself. Until then my mind is stuck where Vecna took it. But again, this is not important, so please focus." Max got a few steps closer and Will's posture became even more defensive.
"The upside down has been trying to get rid of Vecna because he was poisoning it. They couldn't. He was a conduit for the psychic energy here. Unsure of what they should do, they waited. Then you appeared Will Byers. Haven't you been wondering why you were able to survive six days in the upside down? This without being caught for nearly the entire time?"
"It was this place. It reached out, tried to help you get through the barrier between dimensions. Then they made sure you'd survive his possession of your body. For the most part they just tried to contain Vecna. Will, you are the only one that can become an avatar for the upside down. They will give you the power, you just have to trust them and use it."
"How? we don't even know where he is." Will shot back.
"You won't need to. And for you to understand that, I must first apologize for what is about to happen." Max took a few steps back, keeping eye contact with Will. "I'm sorry Will. Time was and is running out. We no longer have the time to wait."
Now Will was in a different place in the upside down. Everyone was here. No. Everyone was here, that's not right, why were they hanging by vines? Why are they all panicking? What's happened? Will can't catch his breath. He's been tricked. This has all been a trick and now everyone is going to die because of him.
"Will! Run Will! RUN WILL!" His mother screams.
"That's not possible." Will whispers. Come what may now, Will Byers will not be running even when this fight is over.
"Please do not fear, young Will Byers. We have not betrayed you." A voice bellowed in the back of his head. "Are you ready to fight?"
"I am. How do we begin?"