Chapter Text
It had almost seemed like an anti-climax the moment they started driving through familiar terrain. The sign Mike was all too familiar with, the woods where they had spent hours in searching for Will years ago. They were home again, but nothing about being home felt safe anymore; they were walking into a battlefield.
Mike carefully looks up, forcing his eyes away from the window to look back at the rest. Owens had managed a lift getting them across the country in hours, while Argyle had taken the van back to California. He never agreed to sign up for the risk, and he couldn’t exactly leave all the way to Hawkins now. They understood, but Mike and the others didn’t have the luxury to just not go.
They had loved ones in Hawkins… his mom, Holly, the entire party, his sister, everyone they loved was in danger. Joyce was of course still at a conference in Alaska, and Mike understood both the relief and the fear Will felt to not have her here when they were, once again, going to be fighting for their lives.
El was… quiet, still processing everything that had happened in the last few hours... days even. From the rink, to the prison, to finding out papa was still alive. They had cleaned off the blood hours ago already, and the only reminder of what had just happened were the bruises and her shaven head.
Mike looks down at El, who was currently resting against him, and completely wiped out from the events. The blood from her nose was also cleaned, and she had quickly fallen asleep on Mike’s shoulder after they crossed over the first state line. She had been dozing ever since, and Mike could only look at her.
Mike swallows at the sight, knowing what her hair represented. Not how he liked it, not what he thought was beautiful, but what it represented to her. It meant freedom; it meant that she was out of the lab, able to make her own decisions, her own choices and be something more than a number.
And Brenner had taken all of that away from her again.
Mike takes a deep breath, waiting anxiously as Jonathan continues to drive through the streets of Hawkins, not drawing any attention luckily. Nobody spoke, all too tense. They didn’t need to speak either way, they knew where they were going right now; to the rest of the party.
And hopefully they were fast enough to stop anyone from dying.
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*
“And then-” The whisper was so soft, barely audible in the room. Nobody dared to look at her for long, all shaken up and too stunned to say anything. Steve looks down, throat tight because he had almost lost her. He knew she wasn’t his girlfriend anymore, and he didn’t love her like that anymore.
But they had grown so much closer over the years, he couldn’t imagine losing her. Losing any of them.
“He showed me my mom… and Holly…. Mike…. and they-” Nancy lets out a sob, shaking her head softly as if she couldn’t continue for a moment. She breathes in shakily, and Steve frowns.
“Okay, but… he’s just trying to scare you, Nance. Right? I mean….” Steve looks up finally, eyes meeting with Nancy’s. “I mean, it’s not real.”
“Not yet,” Nancy softly rebuts. It was real to her, she had seen it. It was going to happen. Four chimes, four gates….. all across Hawkins… It was real. Max was right, he had shown his plan to them all along. Maybe some sick twisted sense of irony that even Vecna couldn’t control himself.
And perhaps he was just gloating over them; why else would he reveal himself to Nancy without killing her? Reveal his plan only to get Eleven to come to him? He was warning them of what was going to come for a reason, did he want El to fight him? Maybe he knew that he was going to win.
She can’t voice her question, not because there were too many but-
Nancy jumps up, eyes widening and snapping to the door when someone knocks suddenly. The rest of the party is immediately on their feet as well, all frantically staring at each other.
“Shit, what do we do?” Steve curses.
“Did anyone follow us here?” Dustin asks, but Lucas shakes his head.
“No one,” Lucas points out quickly, and Robin scrambles to her feet as well.
“And why wait so long?” Max points out, and Steve curses again.
“Okay plan, you kids, hide, I’ll answer,” Steve points out.
“I’ll open the door, it’s my home, it’s easier to explain,” She explains, brushing past Steve and walking over to the door.
“Mayfield, wait-” Steve tries to call out, snapping his mouth shut the moment the girl opens the door, and she’s too late to stop them. Steve gasps, but instead of the police, Vecna, or really anyone else he would’ve suspected to come right now… it’s four familiar, tired but very much alive faces.
Max seems to halt for a moment as well, taking in the appearance of the four in front of them. The first thing she could focus on was El, and her hair, or rather; her lack of hair.
“Your hair-” Max breathes out.
“Can we come in?” Mike asks instead. “We don’t have much time,” He adds quickly, and Max nods numbly.
“Mike?” Nancy calls out as Mike walks into Max’ home with the rest of them.
“Nancy?” The younger boy stops, staring at his older sister. His eyes widen at the sight of her, tears streaking down her face and mixing in with the dirt. Her eyes looked haunted, scared for her life but so relieved to see him. Nancy sprints over to him, immediately engulfing him in a hug.
Mike lets out a small noise of surprise, stumbling just slightly but quickly regaining his footing.
“You’re alive-” Nancy gasps, holding Mike close and stroking his hair.
“Of course I’m alive,” Mike whispers, hugging his sister back. “Nancy what happened?” Mike asks, and he hears a nervous chuckle behind him.
“It’s uh, let’s just say it's a long story,” Robin says, nervously standing on the spot. Mike pulls away from Nancy, letting her greet Jonathan and the rest. Max and El were hugging tightly as well, and even Will was wrapped up in a big group hug, and Mike could swear he could see Dustin tearing up because of it.
It has been 8 months since they’d seen each other after all, and now with everything that had been going on…. Nancy reaches out for Mike’s hand, unwilling to let him go completely and squeezes it. Mike looks down at the hand, squeezing back.
“Nancy what happened?” He asks, and Nancy seems to take another shuddering breath before sighing, leading Mike and the rest back to the living section of Max’ home. They sit down, and Mike glances at the rest to see everyone settle in again.
“He got me… Vecna,” Nancy whispers softly, shuddering at the thought of Vecna.
“Vecna, what Vecna? Are you okay?” Mike seems frantic again, concerned eyes trying to see any injuries on his sister. But aside from some scratches and the dirt, there was nothing to be seen. Nancy grabs Mike’s hand again, calming him down. Of course he knew who Vecna was from D&D.
But that didn’t mean any of them had any idea that they had been calling him Vecna, and what Vecna actually represented. Still, it was clear to Mike that it wasn’t anything good.
“I’m here….” Because really, she couldn’t say she was okay, and she didn’t have the energy to lie, not right now. “Vecna’s from the Upside down,” Nancy tries to explain.
“He’s from D&D,” Dustin explains quietly to Jonathan and El, for which Mike was grateful because he couldn’t focus on anything but making sure Nancy was alright.
“One,” El whispers suddenly, and Mike snaps his head towards the girl, confusion on his face.
“Vecna is One?” Will seems to be the one to connect the dots, eyes going wide when El nods softly.
“Hold up, what’s with the number?” Eddie cuts in, and Mike glances at the rest of the party.
“How much does he know?” He asks, and Eddie lets out a dry chuckle.
“Oh Wheeler, I know more than enough to send me to the asylum,” Eddie says cynically and Steve groans.
“He knows everything, including about El,” He supplies, and El blinks a couple of times with an almost confused expression on her face.
“Will someone please explain why Vecna is number One?” Robin cuts in, and it seems that that is enough for Nancy to understand, and she gasps out loud at the realisation.
“The lab,” She whispers, staring at El with an open mouth. “Vecna is number One, like El, he came from the lab!” She deduces, and El seems to wait just a moment before nodding.
“Not from the lab,” She denies though, because he wasn’t, he wasn’t originally from the lab. “He’s Henry Creel too,” She adds, and the rest of them gasp at the revelation.
“Holy shit-” Dustin curses, and even Max seems shocked.
“So I was possessed by Henry, who’s actually number One, and we’re calling him Vecna,” She says, a hint of hysteria in her voice. Robin curses, bringing her hands up to her head with a bewildered expression.
“Holy shit-” She mutters. “Holy shit! That’s why … and the Creel house.. how did we miss that?!” Robin exclaims, but the rest of them were too stunned as well. Even Mike, Will, Jonathan and El were trying to wrap their head around the new information, as it suddenly all started to make sense.
They knew about Henry and number One, El had told them. She had also told them what happened in the past, and what Dr. Brenner had told her just before he died because of the military people. How Henry murdered his mother and his sister, and then failed to murder his father because he didn’t know his limits.
Just like El when she had exerted her powers, and he had fainted before he could kill the father. A father who was now blamed for the death of his wife, his daughter and eventually his son who slipped into a supposed coma after the attack, and then eventually died. When in reality, nothing like that happened.
Victor Creel did not kill his family, and Henry Creel did not die in the hospital. He was taken by Dr. Brenner, and recreated. That’s why El existed; a recreation of Henry’s powers.
All of them were looking down, unable to speak for a moment. There was too much information all too suddenly. The revelation of who Vecna really was for the Hawkins gang, and what Vecna had done in these last few days for the California gang. And they knew… four chimes… four gates…. four nights..
Vecna was going to strike again tonight, they only had mere hours before Vecna would claim another victim. Mike glances up at Max silently, but she refuses to meet his gaze, or maybe she didn’t even realise. But they all thought the same thing, Max would be next, and the music might not be enough.
Dustin takes a deep breath, breaking the silence. “So what’s the plan?”
*
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*
“And then phase 4-” Dustin continues his plan, glancing at Max. The redhead seems to have been caught a little off-guard, but her eyes immediately harden when everyone stares at her.
“We kill the fucker,” She finishes with a glare, and Lucas nudges her gently. Almost as if he was trying to catch her attention but she wouldn’t give it. Too focused on the battle ahead, too focused on the prospect of encountering Vecna again.
“So what do we need?” Robin asks, and the group seems to collectively frown.
“Weapons, a lot of weapons,” Nancy says.
“Another cassette player, and batteries,” Dustin points out, which did not help their confusion. Dustin glances at Will, who seems uneasy at the attention. Max seems to make the connection first.
“Vecna targets those with trauma,” She mutters, looking up at Will with an uneasy look. It wasn’t a stretch that Vecna would switch to someone with more trauma than her, someone who was already connected to the upside down in the first place. There was a silence as everyone seemed to realise it too.
Will…. Who had spent months being a puppet for the mind flayer, who had been stuck in the Upside Down for days when nobody knew what it was, and all alone. He had a connection to the Upside Down that they couldn’t ignore. And a scenario they needed to prepare for in case Vecna truly switched to him.
“So we split up, get the weapons, get the cassette and Will’s favourite song and then prepare,” Lucas points out, and Robin puts up her hand nervously.
“Yeah uhm, just one problem, we don’t really have anything to drive with, how are we getting there without being seen because you know Eddie is still a fugitive,” She rambles, and Eddie shudders slightly at that but quickly tries to hide it.
“I can get us a ride.. Technically-” Eddie mentions.
“You got a car somewhere?” Steve frowns, looking at Eddie sceptically. Eddie shrugs.
“Well not a car exactly,” He adds, and Max takes in a sharp breath.
“Mr and Mrs Craddock? With the RV?” She asks, and Eddie nods. “Aren’t they going on a holiday like today?” She adds, and that seems to silence them for a moment.
“Maybe we should check to see if it’s still there?” Lucas suggests, and they look back at the group for a second before they nod at the idea, they needed a way out. “Erica?” Lucas asks, and the younger girl nods wordlessly, getting up to walk after both Lucas and Max to go look for Mr and Mrs Craddock.
Max already knew that they weren’t going to leave her alone, not with Vecna around. And most definitely not with Vecna targeting her specifically.
“Okay so we need teams, three groups,” Jonathan proposes as Max, Lucas and Erica leave the trailer, glancing at Nancy. Three groups, one to stay in Hawkins, and go to the Creel house to lure Vecna in. And the other two groups would be going to the Upside Down. One group to draw out the bats, and get them away from his lair.
And then one last group to actually go into Vecna’s domain, and hopefully kill him for good before he could kill Max, and before he could complete his plan.
“I’m going into the Upside Down to kill him, I won’t let him win,” Nancy says with a determined look on her face.
“I’m going with Nancy,” Jonathan immediately adds, and Nancy sends him a soft but grateful smile.
“Count me and Harrington in, we’re going too,” Robin points out, and Steve nods.
“And I’ll be the bait of course, along with Henderson here,” Eddie chuckles tightly, and that only left one group-
“I’m going with Nancy,” Mike calls out, staring at Nancy with a hard gaze on his face.
“Absolutely not,” Nancy shoots back, staring right back at her little brother.
“I can’t protect you if I’m not with you, Nance-” Mike tries, but Nancy shakes her head. Fear was clawing at her throat, visions entering her mind again. He showed her everything…. Too much at once. She saw Hawkins in ruin, burning and people screaming, she saw the destruction he was going to bring.
But most importantly, she saw her family, her mom, her sister, and Mike. All dead in the chaos. And she couldn’t, she couldn’t handle that.
“And I don’t have to protect you if you’re save here in Hawkins-” Nancy tries but Mike cuts her off.
“Nobody is safe until Vecna is dead, Nancy,” He points out, but Nancy shakes her head. Still, it’s Steve who speaks up first.
“No children in the Upside Down, Wheeler, you’re benched, again,” Steve says, and Mike frowns. A scandalous look on his face as he remembers the conversation they had almost two years ago around Halloween when Will was still possessed, and El had disappeared again to close the gate.
And the only thing they had been able to do was go into the tunnels to draw them away from her, to give her the chance to close.
“So why is Dustin allowed in the Upside Down?” Will calls out, turning his head away from El, who was still sitting silently next to him. She already knew her role, and where she was needed. She was supposed to be with Max, keeping watch and making sure that she wasn’t going to be caught by Vecna.
Her role was simple, she may not be able to actually defeat Vecna. He had years of experience over her, and the only reason she had won those years ago was because he hadn’t been able to use his gift for years. He was out of shape, and not in the best condition he could be in.
Not now, with every kill he was getting stronger. He had the combined power of over 10 other experiments, Patrick, Fred… Chrissy.
But it didn’t matter. El didn’t need to actually defeat him to win. She only had to keep Vecna from killing Max, make sure that she wasn’t going to die and make sure that Vecna could not complete his plan. She just had to hold him off long enough for the other group, Steve, Robin, Jonathan and Nancy to get to Vecna and kill him.
So she stayed silent as the rest continued to argue.
“Eddie can’t go alone, someone needs to help him set everything up,” Robin points out but Mike shakes his head.
“I want to fight,” He says, looking between both Steve and Nancy, as if either one was going to relent.
“And I don’t want you shitheads to die. I feel responsible for you, okay?” Steve almost snaps.
“So you risking your life is okay?” Will asks, desperate eyes looking at Jonathan.
“I’m the older brother here Will, and I’ll be okay,” Jonathan tries to calm his younger brother. Will looks close to tears, and Jonathan tries to smile. “We faced worse, didn’t we? I’m still here,” He says.
“Besides, there’s no way I’m giving you a gun, that car ride was traumatic enough,” Steve points out, and both Eddie and Erica seem to frown at the mention, not Robin, who almost smirked despite the situation. Clearly she had heard the story before.
“Why not?” Mike calls back.
“Because you can’t shoot one, Mike!” Nancy throws back, a little louder than she anticipated. Mike flinches slightly, and the room immediately grows cold.
“I just… I don’t want you to die,” Mike whispers, and Nancy softens at that, staring back at her not so little brother. Sometimes she would forget… just how much Mike really cared about her. They were typical siblings, they fought with each other, annoyed each other, maybe even ignored each other.
But they still loved each other. And maybe they weren’t typical siblings, because not many siblings had gone through what they had gone through.
Nancy slowly reaches out, grabbing Mike’s hand. “I don’t want you to die either, you’re my little brother,” Nancy points out, and Mike nods slowly, looking down at their hands. “And I need you to be safe, I can’t lose you,” She adds, and Mike is silent for a moment before squeezing back.
“Gross-” He croaks out, and Nancy huffs out a broken laugh, shaking her head fondly.
“I’ll be back, Mike, I promise,” Nancy says, and Mike looks up again, slowly nodding.
“I still don’t like it,” He whispers, and Nancy chuckles at that. But before she can say anything, the door to Max’ trailer opens again and Max walks in with Lucas and Erica.
“The RV is there,” She announces, glancing at everyone around the space. “So are we doing this or not?”
*
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*
The entire car ride was incredibly tense, almost uncomfortably so. They all knew and understood that they were about to do something incredibly dangerous. And as Robin has suggested, they might not all make it back alive. El might not make it out alive, not able to hold on long enough for the rest to kill Vecna.
And the plan might even fail, and they would all be doomed anyways. Mike glances at Nancy with an uneasy look on his face. He feels hopeless, knowing that the moment he stepped out of the RV, there was no way that he would be able to protect Nancy anymore. What if she didn’t survive?
What if Vecna woke up too quickly and would kill Nancy before she could protect herself? And really, what was there to protect herself with? If El already couldn’t defeat Vecna then what chance did they have with a shotgun and some Molotov cocktails? There were so many things that could go wrong.
Mike shudders slightly at the implication, and Nancy looks up with an equally concerned expression. She looks at the rest, but they were sitting together just with the two of them while Steve drove the RV to the Creel house. Nancy reaches out carefully, grasping Mike’s hand again.
“I’m not going to die, I promise,” Nancy whispers, ignoring the looks from the rest of them. “And knowing you’re safe, I can focus on killing Vecna,” She adds, and Mike nods numbly.
“I still don’t like the plan,” Mike says, and Nancy smiles softly, glancing at El who was sitting close to Max and Lucas.
“El needs you too, and I need you to be safe as well. You saw what those bats did to Steve already,” She points out and Mike nods again.
“I know,” Mike says, hesitating for a moment. “I love you, Nance,” Mike adds, and Nancy softens at that, smiling.
“I love you too, little brother,” She adds, because it was the truth, she loved her little brother no matter how annoying he could be. And especially now did she need to say it. She knew all too well that she, despite her reassurances to Mike, may not return home from the Upside Down today.
Mike needed to hear it, she needed to say it to him. Nancy squeezes his hand again, and before they can say anything else, the RV comes to a stop. Both Wheeler siblings look up, staring at the rest in a silent conversation. It was time. Erica and Lucas pick up the lanterns they had bought, along with the bags that they needed, pens and papers, flashlights and some weapons just in case.
“Hey-” Dustin calls out, a nervous tremble in his voice. “Stay safe okay?” He says, glancing particularly at Max. The girl nods, not trusting her own voice to speak and she opens the door of the RV to jump out, followed by the rest. Mike takes a deep breath, squeezing Nancy’s hand one last time before standing up.
His hand felt empty the moment Nancy took hers back, and Mike walks to the door, stopping. “Nancy?” Mike glances back at his sister one last time. “Don’t miss, okay?” He says, and Nancy huffs out a laugh before Mike climbs out of the RV.
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*
“So that’s why I’m here,” Max continues steadily, loud enough for all of them to hear. Lucas was nervously glancing at his girlfriend, still holding the headphones tightly and the song ready to play. Mike glances to the side, seeing Will with a similar cassette player on him, headphones already covering his ears just in case.
The song Boys Don’t Cry was already set up, and all they had to do was press play the moment he was taken.
“Because…. I just want you to take me away,” Max says, and Mike turns to the girl with worried eyes. He hadn’t seen her before all of this, and honestly he was scared to see it. But more scared to think that their plan might fail. “To make me disappear.”
Max’s voice was still shaking slightly, anxiously waiting for the moment he would strike, and Vecna would curse her again. The group knew everyone was in position, both Lucas and Mike were holding flashlights to signal to Erica the moment they needed to. And they would alert Dustin and Eddie to begin.
“Come on you asshole, I’m right here-” Max spits out, and Lucas shifts slightly, but still, nothing happens. “Take the bait,” She adds through gritted teeth.
“It’s not working,” Will suddenly speaks up, and Mike turns to Will with alarmed eyes. They couldn’t speak, they weren’t allowed to say anything while they were inside.
“Why are you talking?” Max asks, turning to the side to look at Will with a frown.
“Because it’s not working, we both know it,” Will points out, and Mike reaches out for Will, putting a hand on his shoulder to get him to quiet down. Instead, Will snaps his head towards Mike. “Because Mike’s plan sucks, and we’re all going to die because of him,” He hisses, and Mike stumbles back.
For a moment he doesn’t even believe he was hearing things correctly, because Will would never say that to him… right?
“W-Will?” Mike asks, almost confused. Maybe he heard it wrong… maybe Will didn’t mean it like that.
“You’re right, I mean, did you really think it was a good idea to sacrifice Max?” Lucas agrees, fully turning to Mike. Even Max was now turned around, climbing to her feet.
“Do you really hate me that much, Mike?” She asks, fury in her voice but her eyes betrayed her. There was sadness in there, betrayal because Mike wanted her to die, because Mike was okay with sacrificing her. Mike’s eyes widened, taking a step back.
“N-No-” He stammers, trying to look at El. She would know, she would understand that he didn’t want to do this. He didn’t even make the plan on his own! But the girl was glaring at him with cold eyes. “You all agreed with the plan, I said you didn’t have to!” He tries, and El climbs to her feet as well.
She wasn’t taking her eyes off him, and she put her hand forwards. Mike flinches, but before he can do anything he feels his body lift up slightly.
“You want her dead, you want my friend dead-” El speaks in a dangerous voice.
“No! I don’t, I don’t want her to die!” Mike tries, struggling in El’s grip but there was nothing he could do.
“Liar!” Max yells.
“How could you, Mike?” Will shakes his head with a disgusted look on his face.
“Friends. Don’t-” El grits her teeth, raising him higher up in the air. “Lie!” She yells, blasting him backwards and through the wall of the Creel house.