10.

The next few days pass without incident. Will spends most of his time in Mike's basement, with Mike and El. Lucas is often with them too. Having been convinced to leave the hospital, he seems to have glued himself to Will instead, waiting for the signal he can return to Max's side. He carries his supercomm with him and Will knows for sure that there's another beside Max's bed. Every so often, he catches Lucas sneaking glances at it, or double checking it's tuned to the right channel and the volume is switched on. Even though he knows it's not going to happen, Will finds himself listening out for Max's voice breaking through the static too.

At least hourly Lucas asks him if he can feel anything. Will can feel something, he always can, but he knows his friend means any sign if Vecna has switched from Max back to him. And so, with every no he gives, he adds an apology. Lucas seems to shrink further into the couch each time.

Erica spends more time in the basement with them than Dustin does. In some ways it makes sense. Lucas is her brother and she's worried about him, just like they all are. Dustin is dealing with his grief for Eddie by volunteering at the school with Robin and Steve, or by himself if they decide to take a breather. But Will can't help but wish the original party members were together for what could be his final few days.

He's trying to not think like that. El says their plan will work and he trusts her. But it's hard to contain his own anxiety when his mom's is through the roof and she won't stop fussing over him, as if making sure he wears an extra jumper is going to protect him from Vecna. Jonathan is not much better, pulling him into chat after chat to make sure he's really okay with the plan and not just going along with it to please everyone else. Even Hopper followed him and El into the Wheeler's basement one day, much to Mike's disgust.

And then there's Mike. Ever since he found out what Will nearly did with the gun, Mike's been finding every reason possible not to leave his side. They've not talked about it directly since their conversation in the shed, but logic tells Will that Mike's worried he's going to try it again. He can feel his best friend's eyes upon him constantly. It's suffocating but also kind of nice to be Mike's priority again.

Even now, with the basement at its fullest, Mike is still staring. Will's spine tingles with the force of his gaze. He's convinced everyone must have noticed Mike's behaviour, but hopefully they just assume he's gone into overprotective mode again, like when he was recovering from the Upside Down or started having those episodes.

Accidentally, he meets Mike's eyes. He swallows. Now they're connected, it feels almost impossible to look away. They'd not talked about their kiss either, neither the first mutual kiss nor Mike's attempt at a second. Of course Will wanted to let Mike kiss him. In a different world, he would have. But Mike's with El, straight, and with intentions that while well-meaning, would get them both hurt further down the line. That's not to mention what the two of them were doing in Vecna's twisted vision. It feels like that's the one part of preventing that future that Will has any control over. If he doesn't kiss Mike, he won't end up murdering his friends and family.

The weird thing is, he's known for years that nothing could ever happen with Mike. But that one glimmer of hope, a few seconds of kissing that simultaneously felt like forever and yet no time at all, and it's as if another piece of him has broken. Another chip off an already fractured heart.

At that thought, something else inside him shifts. There's a pressure in the back of his neck, an ache across his shoulders and an icy coldness flooding through his veins. A sense of dread sits on his chest, pushing down on his lungs, making it feel as if he can't breathe. He wonders if he might pass out.

"Guys," he says. His voice comes out so quietly he can barely hear himself among the chatter in the room, but Mike notices. Of course he does.

"Will? Shut up, everyone!" Mike's fingers close around his arm. "What is it?"

Will lets himself fall into Mike's gaze and talks directly to him. "I can feel him. He's back with me."

Mike's grip tightens, and then it's suddenly not just Mike who has a hold of him. His friends are surrounding him, El's face in front of his, scrutinising his eyes, Jonathan trying to hug him but can't reach because Lucas and Dustin are doing the same. The noise is claustrophobic. He grounds himself by focusing in on Mike's hand, which hasn't moved despite the two of them being jostled by the others, the cool of his fingers, the slight sharpness from nails that are overdue a cut. It helps him think clearly. In the chaos, someone has to.

"The plan," he says. "Go on, do it."

"Will-"

"I mean it, Jonathan!"

He sees the look of resignation on his brother's face and feels a stab of guilt. He knows through his fractured memories that Jonathan struggled to witness what happened to him last time, and besides, he knows how he'd feel if their positions were reversed. But they'd all agreed these precautions were for the best, and Jonathan was the one Hopper had entrusted the equipment to.

He holds his hands out behind his back and shifts himself at an angle on the couch so Jonathan can reach. His brother takes his hands and gives them a quick squeeze before manoeuvring them into position. Will feels the cold metal against his wrists.

"Okay?" Jonathan asks.

Will pulls, experimentally. "Tighter."

There's a sigh. The cuffs click into place. His wrist bones grate uncomfortably together. It's a reassuring kind of pain.

Jonathan appears in front of him. Will tries not to look at the piece of material in his hand.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive," Will replies. He bites the inside of his lip hard, determined not to show everyone how he really feels. Like a criminal. Or a caged animal.

Jonathan hesitates, then moves back behind him. He sweeps the hair of his forehead and then Will gets a flash of black as the blindfold waves in front of his eyes while his brother tries to position it. He swallows nervously. Without making the conscious choice, he uses his last moment of sight to seek out the eyes of his best friend. Mike gives him a tight smile, but Will's spent years looking at that face and he can see the fear written between his eyebrows and in the nervous twitch of his jaw. It's the last thing he sees before the blindfold obscures his vision.

Mike and El lead him out of the house. As far as he can tell from the noise, or lack of, neither of Mike's parents are around to question them. They'd decided it was pretty believable that they were playing an elaborate game, but it was better not to put them to the test.

The three of them sit in the back of the van Hopper acquired for them, Jonathan driving. Even though they're seated now and he doesn't need a guide, El and Mike remain either side of him, their arms linked through his. He knows they must be able to feel him shaking but neither of them mentions it. He's grateful for that. Admitting out loud how scared he's become, would make the whole thing feel too real.

"Hey, you remember the first movie we saw together at the cinema?" Mike asks, out of the blue.

Will does. He also knows what Mike's attempting. "Yeah. It was The Muppet Movie. Your mom took us," Will replies, to pacify him. "That's not going to work though, Mike."

"What's not going to work?" El asks.

There's a silence.

"Mike's trying to check I'm still… me," Will says. He looks towards El when he speaks, even though his eyes are covered. "When the Mindflayer had me, I forgot stuff. Temporarily. But-" he turns his head towards Mike, "Vecna knows everything. He'll be able to answer your questions, even the hard ones. Especially the hard ones."

"Then how would we know?" Mike asks.

Will's almost glad he can't see the look on his best friend's face. "You'd know."

"He'd want to kill me," El adds.

Will shudders.

Against his side, he feels Mike do the same.

It's not a comfortable journey and that's only in part due to being on the floor and able to feel every bump the old van drives over. The blindfold disorientates him and makes him dizzy, and his shoulders are already beginning to ache from being in an unnatural position with his arms behind his back. Will trusts El and Mike and Jonathan implicitly, but he still feels vulnerable unable to see or freely move. He keeps breathing deeply, trying to stay calm so that he can keep of track of what Vecna's doing and raise the alert if he's about to take control before they're ready for him to.

"We're here," Jonathan announces from the front.

Will doesn't know where here is. He can't know, just in case Vecna manages to use him to lore a pack of demodogs here to fight and destroy, like he had that day in the lab. He remembers the feeling of having his words controlled, the flashes of fear and regret as he fought back, the guilt when he was himself again and learnt that Bob had died. It suddenly feels like a big mistake to be risking all of that again.

He hears the back doors of the van open, and there's a pull on both arms as his friends move to help him out the vehicle.

"Wait!" he says.

"What is it?"

"I-" He tries desperately to find the words, but however he phrases it, however many times he tries to say I can't do this, he realises he can't do the alternative either. This could be there only chance to stop Vecna and he's not going to get in the way of that. They just need to be careful. "Can you double check the blindfold's in place?" he covers. "Feels a little loose."

He feels hands at the back of his head and his head is tugged backwards slightly as the knot is tightened. "It's fine," El tells him. "Safe."

He stumbles as they step out the van, the three of them clumsy, Mike's elbow ending up in his side. He has no idea how far the three of them are walking like this, uneven due to height differences.

Even with his eyes covered, he knows the second they're within view of his mom. She lets out a shriek and then he hears footsteps. She takes him into her arms and he stumbles slightly, off-balance from having his arms behind his back.

"How are you doing, baby?"

"Fine," he mutters into what feels like her shoulder.

She strokes his hair. "I'm so proud of you. I love you so much."

"We all do," Jonathan says gruffly, from somewhere nearby.

It hits him. They're saying their goodbyes, just in case. Fear rocks through him so violently it feels like someone's hit him. He falls further into his mom's embrace and a loud sob slips from his mouth.

"Oh, sweetheart."

"I'm scared, Mom."

"We'll be right here to look after you just as soon as we can," she promises.

"It's not that. I'm scared he'll make me do stuff, like before. I don't want you to get hurt, any of you."

"Don't you worry about us," Jonathan says.

"I'll be there," El says. "I won't let him do any of that."

Reluctantly, he lifts his head off his mom and turns, hopefully to face El. The blindfold feels wet against his skin. "If anything goes wrong… I want you to know it's not your fault."

"I can do it."

"I know. But just… just if."

He doesn't know what is going on around him, which looks are getting exchanged between who, but then Hopper clears his throat.

"You ready to get started, kid?"

Will takes a breath. "Yeah," he says. It comes out shaky but he's past trying to pretend he's okay.

He feels a hand on his upper arm and he lets Hopper guide him a few steps forward and manoeuvre him until his back hits a firm surface, a wall or a pillar. He stands, willing his legs not to give way as they fasten a chain around his chest, tying him to whatever's behind.

"Do we have to do this?" his mom asks.

She's crying. He can tell.

"It's okay, I… I don't mind," he says. It's not exactly a lie. He'd rather be tied up than left free, giving Vecna a head start.

"That feel okay, kid? It doesn't hurt?"

"No. No, it- it feels okay."

"Okay." Even Hopper doesn't sound himself. "Then I guess we're ready."

Fear crashes into Will's chest. The room's spinning, even though he can't see it.

"Everybody needs to leave," El says.

His mom whimpers. Her arms come around him one more time. He wishes he could give her a hug in return. He wishes she'd never let go. But she does.

Then someone's hand grabs onto his and he knows without having to ask that it's Mike. The fingers squeeze his. He squeezes back as hard as he can.

He listens to the footsteps as everyone leaves and then the firm shut of the door and what sounds like a key being turned in a lock.

"It's time," El says.

He wants to say something, okay or good luck or goodbye, but nothing comes out. He scrunches his eyes tightly shut and concentrates on the spot of the back of his neck. He takes himself back to the worst memories and wraps himself in the thoughts he usually tries to push away, thoughts about being different, being weak, how his friends are only with him out of pity and how he should have died years ago in the Upside Down.

The pressure in the back of his neck intensifies and there's a sharp pain inside his head. He doesn't fight it. He embraces the pain, concentrates all his thoughts on the exact spot it's coming from. He feels very lightheaded and then very sick. There's a sudden flash of red and then there's nothing at all. Nothing but darkness.