Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Nancy was just beginning to fret about them when the four kids pretty much fell through the front door. Night was gathering fast and she didn't wan them out there alone. Not with everything going on. Joyce and her mam had come back enraged after confronting Lonnie and her dad about the Will's funeral. Nancy was under no illusion that what had just transpired was the final nail in the coffin for her parents marriage, and all she felt was relief.

When she'd been only a few years younger than Mike was now, she well remembered asking her mam for a divorce for her birthday, because could see just how miserable the man made her. It was better late than never. Her mam would do better without him of that she was sure.

She could hear Joyce talking to her mam in the kitchen as they made the four of them a cuppa each. Nancy was in the dining room looking at The Wall where they'd kept all their notes and ideas, Jonathan was out in the shed fetching the badger traps.

Dustin had found a tiny kitten from god knows where and he and Ellie were cooing over it on the sofa. Mike and Lucas were also in the kitchen making a huge round of jam on toast for everyone before they all came together to try to put together a plan from what they'd come up with at Eddie's place.

Once Jonny was back inside they gathered around the kitchen table to make sure everyone could offer up suggestions as the plan took shape. Mike and Lucas were filling socks with nuts, bolts, and washers from the shed, Joyce was counting out shotgun pellets. The kitten was asleep in Ellie's arms.

Toast in one hand and a mug of tea in the other Nancy began, "We're just waiting on Eddie with the flammables and the blood, we're gonna see if the blood attracts the creat—

"Demogorgan." Mike corrected her. She wanted to throat punch him.

"Creature. Then when it shows up we're gonna test Eddie's theory about fire, because we know from when it came through the wall the other night shotgun pellets don't seem to do as much as we hoped… Jonathan is gonna lay the badger traps to see if they stop it long enough to see if it reacts to fire. Then when it tries to open a gate to get away, we use it to rescue Will and Holly."

There were nods from those gathered round the table as she finished what she was saying, her mam was smiling at her in a way that she'd never seen her do so before.

I'm so proud of you, Karen mouthed across the room. Nancy's heart swelled.

"We can't bring back Babs, but we can make sure we bring back Holly and Will." Jonathan gave her shoulder a squeeze as rapid fire knocking rattled the front door.

Joyce got up and moved to answer it.

In strode Eddie, black denim jacket frayed, patched and studded, curly mowhawk in disarray, several water pistols under one arm and a canister in the other hand. Traipsing behind him was Steve in his grey St Micheal's windcheater, sporting a very recent black eye and bruised cheek carrying a metal bucket.

Nancy could barely comprehend the fact that her boyfriend was literally bringing up the rear. In fact she'd near enough forgotten about him until that moment. The leaflet that Jonny had given her decrying her as a cheater still folded in the back pocket of the jeans she was wearing. There was going to have to be a conversation at some point once all this shit was over and done with that was for sure and certain.

"Greetings fellow adventurers!" Eddie flashed a smile, whilst Steve gave a sheepish finger wave, as she moved towards him.

"What's he doing here?" Jonathan bit out sounding extremely miffed, as he stood up from the dining room table.

"Well, long story short, I met him at the supermarket whilst I was on my way to get the blood and he offered me a ride." Eddie explained waving the stuff he was holding as evidence that he'd needed help.

"You can't just invite any random off the street to help us!" Dustin squawked, that tone of voice he deployed in full swing.

"Excuse you, spud, Steve was there when Princess Violence and him saw the monster—"

"Demogorgan." Chorused the kids.

"I refuse to call it that. They don't even look the same." Eddie attempted to wave away the kids insistence like it was an irritating fly. "He saw the monster round the back of his house. He's already involved." The punk looked like he wanted to cross his arms but they were full, so instead he flailed awkwardly.

"So, what are the water pistols for?" Lucas asked, curiosity etched across his features.

"I'm so glad you asked, young sir. You see, we simply fill them with the paraffin and squirt them at the opponent, and Stevie's—"

"Steve." Steve glowered, at him as he turned to close the front door.

"Stevie's trusty Zippo does the rest." Eddie grinned at Steve appearing to know he was actively pissing him off.

"It would make using the paraffin more accurate and there would be less waste…" Her mam mulled the idea over.

Steve was staring at the telly a confused frown on his face.

"It's called a television, Steve, haven't you seen one before?" Sneered Mike.

"Um, did you know there's a TV repair van sitting outside your house?" Steve told as he looked around at the strange gathering of people, it had been left on as the kids had come over to the table to go over the plan.

Joyce and Karen rushed to the window and peered outside.

"I take it that the telly has been—" Steve began.

"There's people getting out the back of the van!" Squeaked Joyce.

"Everyone out the back!" Her mam called out.

"Head to my place, no one knows it exists!" Eddie shouted over the signs of panic unfolding in the house.

Nancy grabbed the spiked cricket bat from the table, Jonathan stuffed the shotgun pellets in his pockets and took the gun. The kids were going for the kitchen to escape out the back, Dustin placing the kitten in the sleeve of his jumper for safe keeping before taking Ellie's hand. Mike and Lucas had grabbed the socks off the table as the back door was kicked in followed by the front.

Nancy's heart was in her mouth as a couple of soldiers and at least half a dozen people in suits swarmed into the Byers' bungalow. Mike and Lucas were shouting, Dustin was shielding the a terrified looking Ellie with his tiny body. Joyce and her mam were trying to block the men coming through the front door.

"You can't come in here without warrant!" Joyce spat.

It suddenly occurred to Nancy that these must be the people that had taken Ellie away from her mother, that had experimented on children, as she couldn't be the only one if her number was eleven. These were the people responsible for Will and Holly's disappearance, for Babs' death. They really wouldn't give a shit about things like warrants, they'd also tried to kill Benny simply because he'd been kind to Ellie.

She was so angry; how could these people think they could get away with this. They treated people as things. And that, she realised was the true evil in the room. Not a creature just trying to find it's next meal. These people were the real monsters, this was the face of real evil.

A slim man with white hair and an air of superiority broke out from the others, making his way towards Ellie.

"Thank you for taking such good care of our special girl..." The man said pleasantly, making her skin crawl.

Nancy was right beside Steve now, as he and Eddie had been moving away from the front door to try and make their way out the back when the suits had burst in. A plan suddenly struck her. They all had weapons in hand, and at the ready and were somewhat prepared, for what they had originally planned, it was simply going to happen sooner rather than later.

"I won't let you touch her!" Her mam tried to push herself between the man and Ellie and Dustin.

Joyce joined her, "Over my dead body." She told the man who towered over her.

"That can be arranged." The man told her lightly, "Eleven come here."

"Her name's Ellie. She's not a number, you nonce!" Dustin snarled. With that distraction going on Nancy grabbed the bucket of blood from Steve and threw the contents over the nearest people in suits making them gasp.

The sticky metallic stench of blood filled the room. Immediately the fairy lights, lamps and ceiling lights began to flicker and pulse so rapidly it made her feel sick. Any one of their friends who had a weapon raised it, as the others in suits looked around them bewildered.

Suddenly the ceiling began to bulge, an eerie yet now familiar chittering filled the room. The people coated in blood didn't stand a chance as the gate in the ceiling opened up and the faceless thing dropped from above them.

"Get out now!" She shouted, as the people in suits tried to protect themselves and their leader from the creature, who was swinging its claws wildly at them, its petal like maw open, hundreds of teeth catching the lights as they flashed as it snarled. The first gun shots rang out.

Steve had grabbed her hand and Eddie's arm, practically dragging them through the house after the others, her mam had Ellie in her arms as they fled the Byers' place into the woods surrounding it. Once they could no longer see the house behind them, they paused to catch their breath and make sure that they had everyone.

Steve finally let go of her and Eddie.

"Aww, I knew you liked me, Tiger." Eddie purred, making Steve rear back in the moonlight like he'd been bitten. Eddie cackled and handed him the water pistols, then began to rummage through his pockets until he produced a torch from the inside of his jacket.

He flashed it at everyone there as Joyce made sure they were all accounted for. They could still hear gunshots ringing out from the Byers gaff.

"Follow me." Eddie told them as he started moving off in to the woods.

She found herself walking alongside Steve as they navigated branches, roots, twigs and brambles. It was a chilly night and their breath crystallised around them as made their way through the quiet trees. She wrapped her arms around herself and rubbed her hands on her arms to try and keep herself warm.

Steve noticed, of course he did, he had always been attentive of her. He immediately began to shrug his jacket off so that she could wear it.

He held it out to her. She gave a him a tight smile as she took it, it swamped her but it was warmer than nothing.

Nancy took a deep grounding breath, "I— I know about the posters, I'm assuming that it might be you behind it?" She said quietly, trying to make out his facial expressions in the limited moonlight filtered through the leafless trees.

He hung his head then swallowed with an audible click, before he nodded, "Yeah, um, yeah, it was. I came over to the Byers' earlier in the week to apologise for how I was about Babs and find out how you were doing. I saw Jonathan comforting you and just assumed the worst. I'm so sorry, Nance, what I did was terrible."

"I don't know if I'm ready to forgive you for it, but it looks like karma has already delivered it's retribution." She waved her hand at his face.

"Yeah, I tried to stop Tommo from leafleting the college and he gave me a pasting that Munson stopped." He huffed a soft, rueful laugh. There was a quiet pause as they both felt the weight of what Steve had done. "I don't think I'm the sort of person that your looking for, Nance, I don't this is working…. Do— Do you think that maybe we could just be friends instead?"

A sad sigh escaped her, even though she knew that this was the right thing to do for the both of them, was what she wanted, with everything that was happening right now it just felt like it was more collateral damage from the fallout of everything that had transpired that week.

She reached out her hand and took his, "I'd really like that, Steve." She gave him a soft smile. "And for your information, I really don't feel like that about Jonny. He's like a brother to me. It'd just be weird."

"I think he might have a bit of a thing for you though…" He looked over at the other teen.

"He's gonna be disappointed then." She gave his hand a squeeze.

*

As Eddie led the way through the woods his mind a buzz with what he'd just witnessed; a fucking monster dropping out of the ceiling, Men in Black in their town where fuck all ever happened, the fact that someone he'd thought was a total princess was bad ass to the core and had dumped a bucket of blood over the MIB to cause an inter-dimensional crossover, Steve was brave as fuck, whilst Eddie had froze on the spot in the face of everything Steve had gone full paladin and dragged both his own, Eddie's and Wheeler's arses out of there. Eddie's fear response was to freeze and be as quiet as possible, it came from a childhood living with an alcoholic dad who could be very unpredictable after he'd been out on the lash.

He looked over his shoulder, the lovebirds seemed to have made up. They were holding hands, Nancy wearing his jacket as he shouldered the punk as fuck cricket bat she had been holding ready to take down the monster.

The four young uns had clustered between the two mums and Jon, his mum holding Jonny-Boy's hand, Eddie didn't blame her, if you'd lost one son to all this crazy shit you'd be terrified of losing the other one. The Toothless kid had his arm round Ellie, a tiny kitten sleeping in the cruck of her shoulder. He felt protective of her too, the MIB could fuck right off if they thought they could just come in and take her away.

Only they once got into Eddie's place and they all had a brew each, did the group really start to talk to each other. The log burner was lit and roaring to warm everyone and the carriage through.

It was Eddie who broke the quiet initially, "At least we know blood works…" Eddie said leaning against the wooden counter top in what passed for his kitchen.

"And bullets not so much…" Steve said not looking up as he carefully wrapping the barbed wire, he'd found outside, around the spiked cricket bat. His tongue was poking out the corner of his mouth in concentration. It was kinda sweet.

"We need to decide what to do next, we can't give up now…" Ms Byers' voice wobbled as she spoke.

Mrs Wheeler put her hand over her friend's.

"We aren't, pet, we've just had a set back that's all." She reassured her, though her own eyes looked wet in the firelight.

"We know that gates open in the Byers place easily, but we also know that the Demogorgan is attracted to blood in the locality because of the bodies we found near the lake. We also know that there's a gate at the power station, right? So, why don't we recreate what we just did in the Byers' gaff in the lobby of the power station? Copper said there's one in the cellar there. Is he correct, Ellie?" He looked over at the quiet girl, who nodded.

"That's a great idea, that way we don't have to worry about opening a gate because there's one already open. If we create enough havoc it'll give you the chance to get into the other world." Nancy looked at her mam and Joyce.

"We need to call someone… they can help us without putting Ellie in danger. How do we do that with the phone lines being tap—" Karen stuttered to a halt as the door to Eddie's place swung open and Wayne stepped inside looking confused.

"Don't let me interrupt, you're only taking up my living room." He said gruffly toeing off his boots.

Eddie had forgotten it was Saturday in the rush of everything that had happened and his uncle had gone into Nottingham to see Benny in the hospital not to work for his shift.

"Hiya, Wayne…" Eddie smiled at the older man sheepishly, he put the kettle on once more and found his uncles favourite mug with Hagar the Horrible on it. "Um, you're never gonna believe this but…" He looked around the room at everyone gathered there, and knew that Wayne would be able to help, he'd been waiting for this moment all his adult life. "… you were right. About the power station. It's— It's a front. They're experimenting on kids in there and we— these ladies need you're help."

"Eddie!" Hissed several people there.

Wayne frowned and then weakly sat at the small table that his uncle had made himself out of half a door.

"That's— That's where the missing kiddie-winks have been taken?" Wayne asked as Eddie handed him a cuppa.

"Not quite…" It took around an hour to get Wayne up to speed.

"You have powers?" Was Wayne's first question once they had dumped the avalanche of information on him. Ellie nodded quietly her eyes large with distrust. Eddie didn't blame her, with her upbringing and her abuse at the hands of the men around her, she would be distrustful of new people especially blokes. Eddie had been the same when Eddie had found himself being shipped into kinship care with Wayne after the school had reported him missing. He'd been found at home hungry, dirty and trying to care for Al who hard returned from a two week bender reeking of puke, and having pissed himself. "Would you show me?"

Ellie looked over to Ms Byers and Mrs Wheeler, who nodded.

"Why don't you check on Will, chick?" Joyce suggested.

She nodded once again, but didn't leave Dustin's side. Mike got up and went to the small radio that was by the sink and tuned it until all that filled the room was static. Ellie pulled down the rainbow pastel bobble hat over her eyes and sat up straighter. After a few minutes she developed a slow nose bleed out of one nostril.

"Is that normal?" Wayne asked, concern lacing his voice as he looked uncertainly around the room, putting voice to Eddie's on worries for the girl.

"It is when she's using her powers." Lucas told him. Eddie felt a bit better, but surely it couldn't be good for her if it was causing her to bleed. He caught Steve's eye, this was the first time they'd been witness to seeing someone with superpowers try to use them, he gave him a tight smile before he too returned to watching the little girl with concern.

Painfully long minutes passed before finally the sound of slow rattly breathing emitted from the crackling radio. Fear tingled up Eddie's spine and goosebumps prickled down his arms at the uncanniness they were witnessing.

"Will." Mike whispered, more to himself than to anyone else it seemed.

The sound of the breathing stopped. Ellie pulled her hat up and cuffed at her dripping nose. Her large brown eyes were swimming with tears.

"I… cannot find… them, only hear them… Something is wrong." She told them haltingly.

A sob escaped Ms Byers, "Is there anything that they used to do at the lab to boost your powers?"

"The bath." Ellie responded ominously.

"I'm guessing it's not like an ordinary bathtub?" Steve asked her gently.

She shook her head. Beside her Dustin was frowning. He suddenly piped up, "Like a sensory deprivation tank?" Ellie's eyes widened in a look of confusion. "Is it dark, with warm water so you can't see or feel anything?"

Ellie nodded. She really wasn't a big talker. Eddie felt honoured that she'd opened up to him in the woods as they had tried to find Nancy and Jonny.

"We need to get hold of Mr Clarke." Dustin told the others.

They spent the next couple of hours devising a plan to contact those they needed to without using a phone that had to go through Hawkins-Upon-Trent switchboard.

"You lot look knackered," Wayne commented, "Why don't you get some kip whilst I go see a pal of mine about some more blood. The butchers'll be closed with it being Sunday tomorrow."

"The sprogs can sleep in my room." Eddie offered, he stood and stretched before leading the way into the other tram car which had been sectioned into two bedrooms a small hallway between the two. Eddie's room was a clutter of posters of the Sex Pistols, The Damned, Black Flag and Discharge, a homemade banner with his and his mates' band, Panic Button, written on it, his unmade bed a mess of thick ex army blankets and a paisley eiderdown, the rest of the room contained a collection of amps, and his guitar, his cherry red Avon Rose Morris with black pick guard and controls, that was the only thing he'd ever stolen for himself when he and his dad were on the nick in someone's gaff to feed his dad's addiction to booze. His dad had beaten the shit outta him when he refused to give it up to be pawned for the dosh so his dad could go on a bender.

Before he'd gone to live with Wayne Eddie had slept with his arms and legs wrapped round it every night in case his dad tried to take it from him. He'd run back home from school, if he'd gone that day, to make sure that it was still there.

The social worker had come to take him into kinship care, after his dad had been missing for two weeks. Eddie was so hungry he'd taken to putting ketchup in a mug and pouring hot water over it and calling it soup for something to eat. The only thing he'd cared about taking with him was his guitar. When Wayne had picked him up from the station he'd been lousy with nits and Wayne had shaved his head to get rid of them. He then hadn't cut it until he'd shaved the sides to create his mo earlier in the week.

He realised that the kids were all staring at him like owls, as the intrusive memories faded into the background of his life once more.

"Are you sure you aren't on drugs?" Dustin squinted at him suspiciously.

"I fucking wish!" Eddie snorted with a derisive eye roll. He waved his hand at the unmade bed, "Make yourselves at home…" and then unceremoniously picked his and Wayne's black and white cat, Blackbeard, off the bed to make room for them. He pointed to a wooden chest at the end of the bed, "There's more blankets in there if you need them, but no nosing about."

He turned to go, Blackbeard, tucked under his arm when a susurrus erupted behind him. So he rounded on them, "I'll know if you do, and if I ever DM for you I'll kill of your characters and make you roll with a disadvantage." He threatened. "Apart from you, Ellie, because I know you'd tell me if these little wankers went through my stuff." The shy girl preened from his praise.

He left the room and went back to the living space, his uncle and the two women were getting ready to leave to get the things they needed to start the plan for getting inside the lab. Wayne had lent them some coats as their thin clothes wouldn't cut it given the cold outside. He placed Blackbeard on the floor and he made his way to lay on the rug in front of the log burner.

"Will you four be ok looking after that lot?" Mrs Wheeler asked as she pulled open the door. All three adults looked worried about leaving them given what had happened at the Byers' bungalow.

"We'll be fine, mam. They don't know that anyone's here." Nancy reassured her.

"If anything happens, grab the kids and leg it." Wayne told them. Eddie nodded.

They left the tram carriage and Eddie reached into his pocket and produced a packet of fags which he offered around the other three teens. Jon and Steve both took one, he held out the lighter and they both lit up.

Steve closed his eyes as the nicotine hit his system, then he sighed the smoke out. His shiner and the bruise stood stark against his features like someone had vandalised a work of art. Jonny and Nancy were talking softly to one another, he noted the worry tinging their voices. They were probably talking about the fact that Ellie couldn't locate their siblings when she had previously.

He sat next to Steve on the bench seating, his uncle had re-utilised from when the carriage had been a working tram, to create the sitting area of their abode. He slung an arm over the back and put his socked feet up on sixties style coffee table Eddie had found on the side of the road.

Steve bristled at the incursion into his personal space and lent forward his elbows on his knees, his foot tapping rapidly. He took another drag on his cigarette.

"I think we may have made my uncle's decade." Eddie huffed a laugh. "Telling him that all the conspiracy theories he's come up with regarding the town are true. It'll be better than Christmas for him, no wonder he was eager to help."

"At least one of us is happy to be involved in all of this." Steve shook his head, a small smile gracing his lips."We should really get some sleep, we should take shifts so we aren't too bollocksed to be useful tomorrow."

"Good idea, Steve, I'll take first shift." Nancy volunteered.

"Only problem there, Stevie-boy, is the fact that there is nowhere to sleep." Jonathan swept his arm around the small sitting space. Eddie noticed Steve's cheeks heat with a blush of shame and Eddie didn't like to see it. He didn't expect to feel protective towards the rugby lad and the feeling caught him off guard.

"Well, there's my uncle's room, I don't mind topping and tailing." Eddie shrugged.

"I'm ok here, thanks for offering though, Munson." Steve replied politely. "That way I can take the shift after Nancy and not disturb you."

"Come on, Jonny, let's get some kip." Eddie indicated the door to the other tram carriage with his head. Maybe the lovebirds wanted some time to themselves away from the teen who'd tried to take indecent photos of one of them. Jonathan reluctantly stood up and joined him.

They headed into Wayne's room which was neat as a pin with a tapestry of his own making on the wall behind the bed, which was simply a double mattress on wooden pallettes to keep it off the floor, just like Eddie's in his room.

Jonathan stood awkwardly next to him, so Eddie took the initiative and flung himself on to the bed, then tossed a pillow down to the other end before pulling all the blankets on top of himself. He heard Jonathan huff a sigh before he felt the bed dip as he gave in and began to make himself comfortable.

*

The first stop on Karen, Joyce and Wayne's list was the for Scott's house. They'd looked up his address in the phone book before they'd left the Munson's home.

The plan was to drop Joyce off at Scott's and get him going on the task of making a sensory deprivation tank somehow so that they didn't have to spend time wandering round a hostile environment looking for the kids.

She and Wayne were heading out of town they needed to get the Ives. If they were going to bring down the lab at the power station it was only right that they were involved in someway. Terri deserved the opportunity for retribution. However, they couldn't phone them from town in case the phone lines were tapped, they didn't want to give the scientists a heads up that they were on their way, they needed the element of surprise.

It didn't take too long to get to Scott's house, the roads were deserted at near ten at night. They kept a careful look out for stray TV repair vans and anything else that seemed out of place.

Once they got to Scott's place, they could see the glow of the telly through the curtains of what Karen presumed was the living room window. Joyce got out the car and quickly trotted up the garden path to knock on the door, nervously shifting her weight from foot to foot. Karen could imagine her jumping at noises. It didn't take long for Scott to answer the door, Joyce practically threw herself inside and slammed the door behind her.

Now they knew that Joyce was safely in Mr Clarke's abode, Wayne pulled off the curb to start making their way out of the village, the next stop was a farmer that lived just off the road that the Ives lived on. Apparently he was a buddy of Wayne's and was eccentric enough that Wayne stopping by in the middle of the night for some blood wouldn't trigger too many questions.

Unlike Karen now, "Soooo, where exactly does your acquaintance get buckets full of blood?" She enquired trying to keep the judgement and trepidation from her voice.

Wayne huffed a laugh, "This in't no serial killer shit, he killed a deer and drained it of blood so he could butcher it. I was supposed to come over tomorrow to pick up some venison for me and Eds. I did some carpentry for him earlier in the summer and he said he'd save some for me when he culled some of the deer on his land."

She felt so much more at ease now that she new they weren't headed out to some house of horrors where she was going to meet a sticky end. She made nice by asking Wayne about his cosy, quirky home, how he'd come up with the idea, if he owned the land, how he'd learnt to live off grid.

The man was fascinating, he knew so much about living frugally, foraging and how to repurpose almost anything. Before she knew it they were turning off the road and pulling in front of a three storey Georgian looking farm house with a collection of outbuildings.

"Wait here, I won't be long. James will be having a night cap around now, so it won't be too much of a social call…" Wayne told her with the door open and one foot out of the drivers door.

Wayne knocked and waited politely. She saw the man open the door, he was older than Wayne by quite a bit from the looks of things, they headed over to one of the outbuildings and they were soon heading back. Wayne had a plastic bucket in one hand and parcel of brown paper in the other. He shook the other man's hand and the farmer went back into his house. Wayne passed her the covered bucket and he started up the car's engine.

Around fifteen minutes later they were outside the Ives' moody brick Victorian place. The lights were off and the dilapidated place sort of gave her the creeps even though Karen knew that inside was welcoming. There was the same car on the drive than there had been the last time she had been here, she assumed it was Becky's.

She knocked on the door and kept knocking until the hallway light came on inside. Becky opened the door looking sleep rumpled but alert, her wavy hair in disarray.

The lights inside were already flickering, and she knew that Terri must be awake and wondering what was going on.

"I've just opened the door, give me a chance for fuck sake!" Becky shouted into the house. "Nosy cow." She huffed under her breath then looked at Karen expectantly.

"Sorry to disturb you so late at night, Becky, but we need yours and Terri's help and we couldn't call you as the phone lines in the village are being tapped…" Karen hurriedly explained.

"Jesus, you sound just like Terri." Becky stood to the side to allow Karen to enter the house, a resigned look on her face.

As soon as Karen was inside she began to explain their plan.

"Let me throw some clothes on and get Terri out of bed and dressed and we're there." Becky told her. The lights in the house hadn't stopped flickering as Karen elaborated what they wanted to do.

"Pack it in with the lights, we aren't going to forget you!" Becky yelled as she took the stairs two at a time.

"Do you need a hand with Terri?" Karen called after the younger woman, she felt like a spare part. The lights flashed indignantly.

"Just get her some clothes out, her room is the one at the top of the stairs." Becky told her. Karen rushed up the stairs, she knocked on the first door she found and when the lights flickered she entered.

"Hello." She gave the woman in the bed a small wave, though she appeared to be absently looking at the ceiling. "I'm going to turn the light on, close your eyes, it'll be bright."

She flicked the light on and headed over to the white painted chest of drawers, pulling out things that would be easy to get on along with some underwear. Once she got what she needed she then took them over to Terri's bed. The woman was blinking, trying to adjust to the light.

"Do-do you need me to help you up? Blink the lights for 'yes'." Karen instructed her. The lights did as Karen asked and she aided Terri to a sitting position as Becky came into the room.

"Arms up, Terri!" Becky told her sister. Karen turned her back on them to give Terri some privacy as Becky took off her nighty. She listened to Becky give Terri instructions and when she thought that Terri had her underwear on she turned round. She then followed Becky's lead to get the joggers and warm layers on her that she'd brought over to the bed.

Once that was done Becky pulled her hair into a ponytail and they led Terri from the room and down the stairs.

"I'm sorry, Terri has one pace setting and it's slow." She complained at her sister as the lights flashed in annoyance.

Karen sat Terri on the lower step so Becky could get her own shoes on as Karen helped Terri with hers. Becky pulled out a wheelchair from an under the stairs cupboard and pulled open the door. Karen helped Terri up to standing then guided Terri out the front door after Becky. Wayne was already out of car stubbing out a fag with his shoe, before opening the boot to accommodate the wheelchair.

Becky aided Karen to get Terri in the back before she got in herself, leaving Wayne and Karen to get in the car.

"Is that that little girl's mam?" He asked quietly, a soft sadness to his voice. "They do that to her?" Karen nodded. "Bastards." He turned and got into the car, Karen ran round the other side and got into the passenger seat, making sure that the lidded plastic bucket was secured on her lap.

She turned to the two women in the back, "Keep your eyes out for TV repair van's or anything that doesn't look right." She told them, the car's interior light blinked in the affirmative making Wayne jump.

"Let's get this show on the road." He turned the key in the ignition and the car came to life. The drive back to Hawkins-Upont-Trent was none eventful, though it felt like forever to Karen who felt desperate to get back to Wayne's home to fetch the kids.

Finally they pulled to a stop outside of Scott's home. There was a police car outside of it. Karen's heart sank as she ran to the house to make sure that they hadn't been compromised as Wayne got the wheelchair out out of the boot. Joyce must have been looking out for them because she was opening the door as soon as Karen got to it. Becky helped Terri out of the car and into the wheelchair that Wayne had unfolded. Together they descended on Scott's house.

Joyce led the introductions to Scott who looked out of breath and sweaty, and was joined by Inspector Hopper. Apparently they'd needed a lot of rock salt and the only place that had any in the village was the police station. When Terri found out that the kids would be coming here the lights flickered so erratically that Scott was concerned his fusebox would blow.

It was decided that Wayne, and Joyce, using Scott's car, would go and fetch the kids so that they could get everyone.

Whilst they were gone Karen helped the Inspector and Scott to get his bath tub filled with warm water so salty an egg could float in it. She needed the distraction to keep her mind from worrying about the kids. She lost count of how many times she'd gone up and down the stairs, her arms and back ached by the time Scott deemed the tub ready.

Becky had found her way around the kitchen and had a pot of tea ready for when they pretty much collapsed in Scott's living room. Karen noted that the curtains were open and the armchair Terri was occupying had been turned so that she should see as soon as the kids turned up.

Karen went over to her, feeling anxious about the kids, they should be here any minute now. As usual Terri looked vacant, like she wasn't existing in this world at all. She crouched down, "Do you want a cuppa, duck?" She rubbed Terri's arm to see if that would gain her attention but it didn't. "Blink the lights for 'yes'." They flashed once. Karen held a mug to the other woman's lips and she slowly took the drink. She could hear Scott and Becky conversing behind them with the Inspector's gruff voice occasionally joining in .

Karen felt the kinship she had with this woman, both their children had gone missing, had been taken because of the lab and the experiments they had performed. Suddenly the lights began to flickered and didn't stop, briefly Karen looked around the room in case any of the walls were bulging to indicate a creature was trying to break through from the other world. Then she saw the kids walking up the drive towards the house, Nancy's arm protectively over Ellie's shoulder, and a lump formed in her throat in empathy for the woman beside her who was finally, after all these years, going to meet her daughter.

She turned the armchair back round so that Terri could see the girl as soon as she came into the room. Becky was hovering in the doorway flicking looks over at them and back into the hallway, shifting her weight from foot to foot anxiously.

Finally the kids started to come into the living room, Joyce was kneeling beside Ellie as she introduced her to her aunt, two of the older boys, her daughter's boyfriend Steve and his friend Eddie were hustling the kids though into the adjoining dining room so that the Ives could have some privacy.

Joyce and Becky gently turned the young girl towards Terri as the lights continued to flicker. Ellie walked slowly up to her mam and placed her hand gently over hers. "Mummy…" It broke Karen's heart. Terry didn't respond other than tears beginning to fall, the blinking of the lights began to lessen and then stopped. Ellie looked between the three women. "She is like me?"

Karen nodded.

"She was so excited about meeting you finally, Ellie. That's why it was like a disco in here." Becky explained.

"Disco?"

"A party with flashing lights and music." Becky elaborated. "She's been waiting ever such a long time to finally meet you." The younger woman's voice hitched and her eyes were shining with unspent tears.

Ellie gazed at her mam sadly. Karen noticed one of Scott's lamps blinking calmly on and off, near the door to the hallway, she went over to it frowning and it stopped. As she did so the light in the hallway began to do so, so she went out there, then the same thing happened with the light on the landing upstairs.

"Karen?" Becky called to her uncertainly.

"I think Terri is trying to lead us somewhere…" Karen told her, peering up the stairs. "Bring Ellie, maybe she wants to show us something."

The three of them climbed the stairs. Once they were on the landing the ceiling light stopped blinking, and the one in the bathroom began to flash. They went inside, the bath she, the Inspector and Scott had prepared was waiting steam rising off it.

"Mum wants to talk…" Ellie told them ominously.

*

Not all of them could squish themselves into Mr Clarke's cramped bathroom, so only one of Ellie's relatives and Karen were in the bathroom whilst Mr.Clarke was on the landing waiting in case he needed to adjust the salinity or temperature of the bathtub.

Dustin and the others were clustered around the dining table with a walkie-talkie and a notebook waiting for Ellie to make contact.

"This is the weirdest way I've ever spent a Saturday night." He heard the Steve bloke complain. Dustin scoffed.

"I'd say it's in the top five for me…" Eddie told him, he could hear the smile in his voice and he bit back a laugh.

"Wha—" Steve started.

"Shhh!" Nancy glared at them, and they all went back to staring at the walkie-talkie.

"Mummy?" Came Ellie's voice of the airwaves.

"Ellie? Is that your name?" An unfamiliar voice asked, Dustin assumed it was the woman who was staring into space in the living room.

"They called me Eleven."

"They didn't even give you a name?" Dustin swallowed the lump in his throat at the sound of the hurt in the woman's voice.

"Benny gave… me my name… when I ran away." Ellie explained.

"I was going to name you Claire, but Ellie suits you. I'm so happy to finally meet you, baby."

"Me too, mummy."

He heard a sob behind him and looked over his shoulder to see the punk wiping his eyes. Steve was awkwardly patted him on the shoulder as Wayne pulled him into a hug even though his nephew towered over him.

"It's ok, lad. Let it out. I got you." He heard Wayne murmur in the quiet room. Joyce had her arm over Jonathan's shoulder and was stroking his hair, her brown eyes glassy.

"You can always find me here if you need me, now lets help these people find their children." The woman said. "Concentrate on what they look like, pet."

The was nothing but static for a few minutes and then Ellie's voice rang clear from the radio receiver on the table.

"I see a window… it is high up… there are veins… on the wall." Ellie said, "There are… books behind them." She gasped and a thrill of fear ran up Dustin's spine. "I see them… they are with the veins… they are alive…"

"Well done, Ellie, I— I think they're in the library archives, you need to—" Ellie's mam's voice cut off, and a deep growl cut through the connection before static filled the airwaves once more. The kids ran from the dining room to gather at the bottom of the stairs.

"Is Ellie ok?" Lucas called up sounding panicked.

"She's fine, we're just getting her dry!" Karen called out. "Start getting everything together we know where to go now."

There was flurry of activity as they made sure those that were going to the power station had everything they needed to succeed in their quest to finally bring Will and Holly home.

Hopper, Terri, Karen, Joyce, and Becky were going out to the lab, leaving Wayne and Mr Clarke to look after the kids at his house, it was nearly four in the morning, but they didn't want to miss the element of surprise.

The kids helped to load up the jam sandwich which was parked outside Mr Clarke's house, with the weapons, they had brought over with them and the blood that Wayne had fetched.

Wayne and Mr Clarke were going to look out for them whilst the other adults tried to get through the gate at the power station. Dustin was anxious about whether or not they'd be to replicate what happened at the Byers, whether it had just been a fluke, they hadn't had time to see if that was the case by replicating the experiment, on the other hand he didn't want to waste any more time getting Holly and Will back home. It sounded like they were in trouble, but at least they were together.

They watched the police car pull away with the others inside and Mr Clarke locked the front door. He checked in on Ellie as he walked into the kitchen, she was on the sofa, kitten in her lap looking washed out. Mr Clarke, Wayne and Eddie were making everyone a mug of hot chocolate when he got in there.

"Mr Clarke, do you have anything Ellie can eat? She gets really drained when she uses her powers and needs to eat something." He enquired.

"Check the freezer…" Mr Clarke instructed him.

Dustin went over and began to rummage through the small freezer box in the top of Mr Clarke's fridge. He found something he'd only ever seen in adverts. A Viennetta. "I didn't know you were posh, Mr Clarke! I've only ever seen this on TV!" He pulled it out as Mr Clarke chuckled.

"I was saving it for Christmas but this seems like a better use for it than that. Why don't you take some spoons into the living room and share it with the others." Mr Clarke told him kindly.

"Really?!" Dustin couldn't believe his luck. He opened the draw Mr Clarke had indicated, grabbed some spoons and took his prize into the living room where the other secondary schoolers and teens were.

"You better save me a bit, spud!" Eddie called after him, loading mugs of hot chocolate on to a tray.

Dustin placed the Viennetta ceremoniously on the coffee table and passed the teaspoons around to those who wanted to try it.

"Holy shit! Is Mr. Clarke loaded?" Lucas squawked swiping a spoon off Dustin as he made sure Ellie had one.

"Who's gonna try it first?" Mike asked causing an immediate squabble.

"Jesus Christ, leave it out it's too early in the morning for that shit. Sit your arse down, I got this." Steve stood over them with his hands on his hips as Eddie came in with a tray of steaming mugs. Steve pointed his finger at each of them in turn and began to recite the age old playground rhyme, "Ib, dib, dog shit, you, are, not, it." Eddie cackled as he overheard what what happening.

"Real adult there." Mike told him sourly as he realised he was out. Eddie grabbed a spoon and sat down looking eagerly at the ice cream treat. Steve went round again and again until it was just Dustin and Ellie. Dustin ended up with the first go, and he gave the honour to Ellie as she needed it more than him.

She pushed her spoon through the layers of ice cream and wafer thin layers of chocolate, then placed as spoonful in her mouth, her eyes lighting up with delight, "Mmm!"

Once she'd had her turn it was no holds barred, the Viennetta never stood a chance. It was gone in less than five minutes as the five of them tackled it.

When it was gone he sat close to Ellie, their shoulders and thighs touching as they sipped their hot chocolate. There was a low hum of talk from a round the lamp lit living room. He took a deep breath, here goes nothing…

"Would you like to go to the Christmas disco at the school with us lot? It'll be a right laugh, we can dance to Slade and Wizzard…." He rambled nervously at Ellie. He knew it wouldn't be right to ask her as boyfriend and girlfriend as she was only just beginning to understand the concept of friendship let alone anything else.

"A party with… flashing lights and… music?" Ellie asked, her head tilted in curiosity.

"That's right!" Dustin told her with a big smile, she looked delighted that she'd got it right. "Mike looks like a right twat when he dances it would be a shame to—"

"I would like that." She smiled at him.

Dustin told her all about what a school disco entailed, Ellie's eyes were large with wonder as he talked.

*

The police car came to a halt at the barrier to the power station, Karen swallowed dryly watching from the back seat with Becky and Terri as Inspector Hopper began to talk to the guard.

"I need a word with your man Brenner." He told the security guard as he came out of the hut. The man went for the walkie-talkie at his hip as sparks began to fizz from it making him yell and drop it. He rushed over to the booth and the radio and controls inside began to smoke and the barrier lifted, Hopper gunned the engine and the police car shot forward. The guard rushed out of the booth and shouted at them to stop.

Karen looked over at Terri she wore the same blank expression she always did, only there was a ribbon of blood coming from one of her nostrils. Just like she'd seen with Ellie when she exerted herself with her powers.

Karen's apprehension grew as they drew nearer to the ominous looking building, still lit up like a Christmas tree even at this time in the morning.

The Inspector pulled up right outside the entrance and they all got out, Karen grabbed the wheelchair out of the boot and opened it as Becky and Joyce helped Terri out of the car. Hopper took the weapons and handed them out. Joyce had the sawn off shotgun, Karen had the nailed and spiked cricket bat, that was now unrecognisable considering one of the kids had tightly wrapped it with barbed wire at some point, Hopper had the bucket of blood and his police issued truncheon. Becky and Terri were placed in the centre of them as the entered the building.

The security guard at the desk clocked them immediately, standing as if he was going to stop them before deciding to raise the alarm. They kept going, pausing shortly before the double doors to the side of the front desk, which were locked. It didn't take long the suits to begin to rush through them though, the Inspector threw the bucket of blood across the foyer coating the front desk and the security guard in its contents. Karen held her breath, nothing happened for several seconds and she was beginning to think the first time must have been a coincidence when a guttural growl sounded from behind the desk and the wall started to bulge as the strip lighting started to blink rapidly. The suits attention was grabbed entirely as one of the creatures began to pull itself through into the building.

This was their cue, they made for the open double door and into the corridor beyond. The quiet beyond the chaos in the foyer was eerie, the overhead lighting began to blink in a calm manner in the opposite direction to which the Inspector was trying to lead them. Karen had seen it before when Terri had wanted to lead them to Scott's bathroom and knew in her gut that they needed to take this detour. It was why they had brought the Ives with them in the first place.

Taking Joyce's elbow she jutted her chin to show her what she'd noticed and the group changed course, they followed the slow blinking overhead lights through the creepily bland and featureless corridors, until the ceiling light flashed on and off outside one particular door.

The name plate on the door read Dr Martin Brenner. The Inspector roughly shoved the door open, the same white haired man from Joyce's house stood up from his desk. Initially he looked angry at the intrusion, but when he saw their weapons he had the sense to blanch.

"What is the meaning of this?" He asked, superiority wavering.

"Retribution." Becky spat from her place behind Terri, her hands on the handles of Terri's wheelchair. "For what you did to my sister and her daughter." Karen renewed her grip on the bat, ready to take the life of a man who treated people like they were nothing more than toys at his disposal, she saw Joyce shoulder the shotgun in her peripheral vision and Inspector Hopper remove his truncheon from its holder.

Brenner opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out. His eyes suddenly rolled up into his head and his body started seizing, blood seeped from the corners of his eyes like tears. Slowly he rose from the floor as blood also trickled from his ears and corners of his mouth. The lights flickered so much that Karen could hear the pings of electric working its way haltingly through the circuitry.

Finally when his feet were at the same level as his desk. Brenner's body went slack and he crumpled on the floor beside it. The Inspector went over and checked his pulse. He gave Terri and Becky a solemn nod to indicate that he was indeed dead. Karen was stunned, she couldn't believe what she'd just witnessed.

"Did you know Terri could do that?" Whispered Joyce turning to look at the woman staring into space in the wheelchair.

"Absolutely none, she's a dark horse. Terri always did like to keep her secrets close to her chest." Becky stared at her sister, her eyes wide with awe.

The sound of an alarm blared in the corridor. Karen concluded that the creature was now on the loose in the building.

"You two stay here and lock the door, we'll be back." He told the two women. He opened the backpack he had with him and produced a set four of glass bottles with a clear liquid inside and a piece of cloth stuffed in the top, then placed a lighter beside them on Brenner's desk.

Becky placed a hand on Karen's arm, "I hope you get your children back safely." She told her, then turned and began to look through the drawers and filing cabinets.

They left Brenner's office quietly, making as little noise as possible so as not to draw attention to themselves. The Inspector led them down a stairwell until they couldn't go any further down, the air was thick with what looked like dandelion fluff. The alarm wasn't sounding this far down.

"Cover your faces, we don't know if that shit's toxic." Inspector Hopper told them as he pulled one the double doors open.

They did as he instructed, pulling their jumper's over their noses in a weak effort to protect themselves. In the corridor the stuff drifted through the air like snow, before the next set of double doors there appeared to be an air lock with yellow hazmat suits inside it.

They let themselves inside it and began to get into the yellow hooded suits that lined the wall.

The Inspector helped them into the suits and handed them the weapons, before they helped him into one too. They would need him to help them bring the two kids back home.

Once they were suited and booted they stepped through the last set of double doors.

Nothing could have prepared Karen for what was on the other side of those doors; the room was filled was eerie blue light emanating from a hole in the wall that was filmed in pink viscera and ringed with black pulsing vines that looked more like veins spreading into the room. The specks hung in the air drifting in the unseen eddies and currents they couldn't feel inside the ungainly suits they wore.

Looking over to Joyce she found the other woman already looking back at her, Joyce reached out her hand and took Karen's in hers. The unspoken message of knowing Joyce would rather do this terrifying thing with her than anyone else filled her. They were inseparable, they were each other's person and they'd be by one another's side no matter what happened beyond this point.

The three of them approached the fleshy opening in the wall, she and Joyce shared one more look before pushing their way through into the world beyond.

Her stomach somersaulted as her world turned on its axis, she almost fell as she tried to find her feet. Joyce steadied her just before she stumbled, and despite the terrifying situation she'd found herself in, her heart skipped a beat.

They paused as they got their bearings. They were outside, with the corrupted version of the lab behind them. The woods spread out before then with the village beyond it, though it was difficult to make out in the half light that existed here. They made their way forward hoping that whatever was happening inside the lab in their world was keeping the creature busy.

They began their walk up the drive way of the power station to get to Meadow Lane so they could walk into town. The world was eerily silent, with no birds or wildlife. The trees skeletal and in a state of slimy decay, Karen could feel the cold seeping through the thin skin of the hazmat suit and wondered at how the kids had survived this dead world for so long. There wasn't even a breeze, it was dank and still.

Making it to the road of terrace houses that lined Orchard Street, where Dustin lived, on the edge of town was no problem, it only took around ten more minutes to get to the centre of the town where the library was across from the police station. It set Karen on edge that they hadn't encountered any of the creatures and no obstacles to get to this point. It almost felt like a trap.

On entering the library they made their way rapidly to the stairs down to where the archives were kept. They ran through the stacks checking every nook and cranny for the kids. They finally found them under a high window wrapped in a tangle of those strange vines.

Karen struggled to take in the horror of it, the vines were inside the kids mouths, they were inside the kids, she swallowed the response to heave.

"Oh my god…" Breathed Joyce beside her. The three of them rushed to the children pulling the vines off and out of them in a rush of fluid and bile. Holly looked so tiny and pale that Karen thought that she was dead, she ripped the face covering of the hazmat suit from her head so she could press her ear to her little girl's chest. She was cold, so very cold and her clothes we wet with slime. She wished that she'd thought to bring blankets. She screwed her eyes up to focus her attention when Holly suddenly began to splutter and retch beneath her.

She pulled her little girl into her arms and rocked her as tears streaked down her face in relief. Her heart dropped when she realised that Joyce and Hopper were trying to breath life back into Will. Her body was taut with anxiety until he abruptly rolled to the side and vomited copious amounts of liquid out of himself. She could hear Joyce sobbing as the Inspector pulled the boy into his arms and stood. She mirrored him holding Holly close to her chest, they needed to get out of here.

As they left the building Karen couldn't help the nagging feeling that they were missing something, as they hadn't seen hide nor hair of anything since they had stepped foot into this world, she couldn't help but wonder who or what had brought the kids there and why. Was it the monsters? Why had Will and Holly been spared and Babs hadn't, why had she been killed, what had stopped the creature from enacting the same fate on hers and Joyce's kids.

It made her feel uneasy as she carried her baby girl through the grim underworld that enacted the horrors of the past week on their small town. They made their way through the dimly lit alternate dimension, wending their way through to the power station, the kids clutched to them. Joyce with the shotgun ready should they need to defend themselves.

Karen's arms ached with the strain of holding her play school age daughter for so log, not that she would complain about that for all the tea in China, not now she had her back. Neither Holly and Will had regained consciousness, so she knew they weren't out of the woods yet.

The power station loomed in front of them, she could see the shadows of people moving around beyond the fleshy film that had knitted itself closed after they had forced their way through. She didn't know whether they were friend or foe, and the thought that they might have to fight their way out of the lab filled her with dread. She would do it, because they had come this far and they needed to give their kids every chance at a normal life.

Joyce volunteered to go first, thrusting the weapon she carried through the pink skin that divided the two worlds. She saw her shoulders sag with relief from whatever she saw on the other side.

The Inspector and Karen followed her through to find a group of scientists waiting for them with gurneys, behind the glass screen in what seemed to be a control room were Becky and Terri. Becky waved to them as she mouthed, "They're safe," to them.

People in lab coats and masks swarmed them, taking Holly from her arms and strapping her to the wheeled medical bed.

"We're going to take her up to the infirmary." A woman told her, "You can come with us. We'll need you tell tell us what condition they were in when you found them." There was a huge flurry of activity as the kids were taken upstairs by the medical team to attempt to stabilise them.

Before the rounds and rounds of interviews and questions both individually and as a group began, a plump older gentleman introduced himself to the three of them as Dr Samuel Owens, Sam for short, he was taking over from Brenner and wanted to foster a far more transparent and open relationship with them now that they had become involved with the research that was happening here in Hawkins. He seemed spry, curious, thoughtful and kind. He was in charge of the kids care and their well-being, but he'd also taken over the beleaguered experiment that had taken place at the lab. He promised a new way of doing things, though Karen felt that the proof would be in the pudding.

Finally they were allowed to leave to see their other kids, though Joyce and Karen had made a pact that one of them would always be there as the other attended to their other children.

*

Mike jiggled his foot in the foot well of his mam's Volvo, he felt a mixture of excitement and anxiety about seeing Holly and Will for the first time since they had been rescued. His mam had said that Holly hadn't spoken since she had woken up, didn't want to play and was terrified of being left alone which was why she and Will were in the same room at the lab.

She'd also told him to expect Will to be quieter than he usually was, but Will had always had times where he hadn't wanted to talk when he felt overwhelmed by things so that wasn't too unusual.

He was just happy that they had managed to get Will back. He couldn't imagine what the world would be like without him in it, without his best friend who had been his whole world since they had been babies. All of his best memories, and now some of his worst, were about Will. His mam had said that they were expecting Holly and Will to be home for Christmas, and with the announcement that his mam and dad were planning on getting a divorce, they were going to spend this year with the Byers. He couldn't wait.

They pulled up outside the ominous looking building and he, Nancy and Karen got out. They followed his mam through the foyer, where a security guard pressed a button to release the double doors to the side of the large desk she sat behind.

Beyond them was a maze of corridors that looked exactly the same, he had no clue how anyone would find their way around without getting lost. They finally came to a set of double doors that was prefaced with a sign saying that they were entering the Medical Bay.

Mike's heart was in his throat by the time his mam was holding the door open to the room where Holly and Will were staying.

Joyce and Jonathan were on the other side of one of the beds, Holly in Joyce's lap as Jonathan and Will played Snap. Will turned at the sound of the door opening and his face lit up on seeing Mike. Mike's breath caught in his chest and joy rushed through him at the sight of his best friend, he ran up to him and wrapped his arms round Will as Will's wrapped around him. Their laughter echoing around the room, he turned his head so his face was in the cruck of Will's neck so he could breath him in. He was home. Will was Mike's home.

That was when the realisation hit him. he went rigid as became aware that he wanted to kiss Will rocked his world, making him feel sick. Surely that couldn't be right, surely it was just a byproduct of feeling so happy that his best friend was back from the dead and safe. That was it. It didn't mean anything. He wasn't gay or owt.

They spent the rest of the afternoon talking together; Mike ultra aware of every time their body's touched and their fingers grazed each other's. He kept catching Will looking at him, he knew that must be thinking that he was acting oddly and didn't want Will to think it was because of everything that had happened to him. That didn't matter, what mattered was that Will was here and alive.

He was so grateful when Joyce left the room to go and fetch Lucas and Dustin so that they took could see Will for the first time. That way Will's attention wouldn't be entirely on him.

They burst through the door talking rapidly and going over everything that had happened since they'd last seen each other and for the first time in his life he was glad to share Will's company. Usually he was happiest when it was just the two of them and he was stunned to realise that he had been jealous of having to share Will. He suddenly felt so claustrophobic; the room was too small, his friends too loud, the smell of the antiseptic and cleaning chemicals overwhelming. Suddenly his heart was racing so that his thrumming heart beat was all he could hear. His breath came in snatches and he was covered in a cold sweat.

Without his permission his feet were suddenly carrying from the room and into the corridor beyond. He heard his mam calling his name, as he legged it down the hallway until he came to a stairwell. He ran down the steps until he saw a sign saying he was on the floor with the reception. He pelted though the double doors, through the lab's foyer and out into the cold winter air. Where he finally felt he could breathe.