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"Free Bird"

For I must be travelin' on now

'Cause there's too many places I've got to see

- Lynyrd Skynyrd

When Will and Eleven came home from the party, Mike was with them. He worried about the two of them almost as much as Joyce did, and so he often rode his bike home with them when they were together, just to reassure himself that they were safe. Mike had gone through so much these past couple of years, Joyce thought, watching the three of them from the window as they talked, straddling their bikes. All of them had, but Mike's pain had been so much inside him that she thought it got overlooked. Hopper certainly had overlooked what Mike went through—but that came as much from Hopper's own pain as anywhere else, she knew. She hoped Mike had forgiven him.

She opened the door, startling them, hating to see the fear in their eyes before they recognized her. This was the right decision, she thought. Not for Mike, and she hated that, but for El and Will. And herself.

"Why don't you guys come inside. You, too, Mike. There's something I want to talk to you about."

They exchanged glances at the seriousness of her tone, then leaned their bikes against the porch railing and came inside.

"Hot cocoa?"

"It's summer, Mom," Will said, in that teenager tone she both hated and loved.

"I know, but … cocoa's always good. Right?" Joyce looked at El for confirmation, and was rewarded by the girl's shy smile.

The three of them took their seats while she measured out the cocoa powder and poured the hot milk over it. Setting the cups and the bag of marshmallows down in front of them, Joyce sat down and took a deep breath. "So … I've been thinking. About—school starting, and Eleven, and … everything."

Mike looked at her over his untouched mug, his eyes big and dark in his thin face. "You're leaving, aren't you?"

Will and Eleven both looked sharply at Joyce, who nodded.

"I … think it's best. A fresh start, somewhere that no one knows—anything about us."

"Somewhere that no one can find El."

Mike had given this as much thought as she had, Joyce recognized with some surprise. "That's right. Hopper—he left me custody of El, so legally, we're okay, but … if someone came for her, I don't know if I could—" She reached for El's hand. "I would fight, you know I would, and I would come for you, but I'm not Hopper."

Eleven nodded solemnly.

"So I think we need to go away. Somewhere outside of Hawkins. Besides, everyone should see someplace new in their life, and I—I never have. I want more than that for my boys, for Eleven. Maybe even for myself." Joyce looked down at the placemat in front of her, embarrassed to be saying something so personal to them. But maybe they needed to know.

"I … think that's okay, Mom," Will offered hesitantly.

"Me, too." Eleven's voice chimed in softly. "Where?"

"Maybe ... California?"

"California?" Will looked across the table at Eleven and then back at Joyce. "We could learn to surf."

"I just wish …" El and Mike looked at each other across the table, stricken. There couldn't even be any wordless communication between them across the miles, Joyce knew. Since the night Hopper died, Eleven's powers had been absent. She knew the girl was afraid they would never come back, and they would have to talk about that eventually.

"Me, too," Mike said. His eyes were huge in his thin face. "But you have to go."

"We'll call. A lot," Joyce promised him. "And … come back for visits. We will."

It wasn't much. It wasn't much at all. But Mike knew the dangers they faced here as much as she did. Better, really—he had walked the halls of the school with Will, knew what the other kids were capable of saying, and doing, to kids who were different. He nodded. "I know. And maybe Nancy and I can come visit you." He forced a smile. "I've always wanted to see California."

Joyce would have been very surprised if Mike had ever given California a thought before today, but she appreciated his gallant attempt to be strong. She'd have to talk to Nancy, make sure she looked out for her little brother. He would need her, and Lucas and Dustin and Max, more than ever, once El and Will were gone.

"It won't be for a while yet," she assured them all. "I've got to make some plans, get the house ready to sell …" If it would sell, which was hardly a given. Her own reputation, the house's isolation, the strange things that had happened to the Byers family in the last couple of years, all gave the house a certain air of menace. She had faith in Gary, who was the best realtor in the county, but that didn't mean he could produce a buyer out of thin air.

She could see that Mike understood that "won't be for a while" likely meant weeks, at best. They'd have to leave in time to get settled before school was too far along, and they were deep into the summer already.

Getting up from the table, she left them to their cocoa, to low murmurs of conversation that she closed her ears to. They were brave, they were strong. They would get through this. But it wouldn't be easy, for any of them.