Spider-man, Spider-boy and Spider-El |Stranger Things AU|

~part IV., chapter 21.~

"The surgery was a sucess, Will's still asleep, he really needs that rest, but he'll be okay," Dr. Owens informed the group of people patiently waiting for those information.

"Can we see him?" Mike asked anxiously.

"I don't see why not," Dr. Owens said with a smile, leading the group over to Will's room. He was peacefully sleeping on the bed.

"So, what happened to my boy? What did they do to him?" Joyce, the only one from the group who didn't know Will's secret, asked Dr. Owens.

"Well, looks like whoever abducted him tried to perform some sort of surgery, but Will managed to somehow escape in that state," Dr. Owens stated as if it was a mirracle.

"W-what state?" Joyce asked, she didn't see her son when they brought him in.

"With his chest torn open as they do with corpses in mortuary, I'm surprised he didn't bleed out," Dr. Owens explained, Joyce gasped as more tears started rolling down her cheeks.

"But why my son?" Joyce let out through sobs.

"Probably just bad time, bad place thing," Hopper sighed, helping Joyce sit down.

In couple hours, the room was getting empty, everyone was calm as Will was safe for now. Eventually even Joyce was sent home to get some rest, Mike was refusing to leave and he was willing to stay overnight, and they let him because of Hopper's influence.

In the morning, Gareth came over with breakfast and coffee, giving Mike a warm smile.

"Did you even get any sleep?" Gareth asked, handing Mike a bag from bakery.

"Yeah, two hours," Mike replied with a smile, Gareth sat next to him, handing him one of the coffee cups with a smile.

"You can calm down, you know? He's safe now," Gareth said, looking over at Will's regulary moving chest.

"But for how long?" Mike said anxiously.

"Forever, hopefully," Gareth replied with a smile. "He's lucky to have you, you know?" Gareth continued, looking over at Mike, "Most boyfriends would give up looking on their own and left it to the police, you didn't. And now you're staying here until he wakes up, maybe longer."

"Yeah, it's stupid, I know. I just love him too much," Mike sighed, watching Will with a soft smile.

"I'm really jealous of what you two have," Gareth stated, "Will wouldn't get with anyone even when you two didn't speak for over a year. He also said he'll never do the hero thingy again, but the moment you were in danger, he jumped in to save you," Gareth explained with a smile, "And you, you never gave up the hope. Dunno how long you had crush on him before, but you'll probably stay loyal forever. I really want that kind of relationship, you're lucky you have each other."

"I'm sure you'll find your Will too somewhere," Mike said, giving Gareth a smile.

"Yeah, sure hope so," Gareth smiled, then looked back at Will. "You want me to keep you company or do you still cannot stand me?" Gareth asked, giving Mike a teasing smile.

"I never said that," Mike protested with a smile.

"But you propagated the idea, for real," Garet stated with a raised brow.

"Okay, maybe I didn't like you because someone told me you and Will were dating," Mike admitted with an eyeroll.

"I wish," Gareth let out, Mike gave him a glare, but the two laughed about it.

"What I was going to say is, you're not as bad as I thought you'd be. And if I'm to be nice, you're actually kinda cool to hang out with," Mike said, looking out of the hospital window, oposite from where they were sitting.

"I'm flattered," Gareth said, placing his hand over his chest. Mike shook his head with a smile.

"Yeah, don't ruin the moment," Mike chuckled.

"Oh, we were having a moment, shit sorry," Gareth quickly said, making Mike laugh again.

"You really are something else," Mike stated, giving Gareth a smile.

"I get that a lot, but you're also something else, in a good way," Gareth said with a shrug.

"I get why Will liked hanging out with you," Mike stated, "You can make even the worst moments less terrible."

"Wow, I... thanks," Gareth let out, taken back by the sudden wave of compliments.

"I'm glad you were there for him when he didn't want me around," Mike let out, Gareth gave him a sad smile.

"He did want you around, he was just scared you'll get hurt because of what happened to his brother. That's why he pushed you away, to protect you, I guess," Gareth explained, for a moment tears filled Mike's eyes and he looked over at Will's peaceful face.

"He's such a sweetheart, he never deserved any of that shit to happen to him," Gareth continued, Mike just nodded.

"I wish it would have been me instead," Mike sighed, taking Will's hand in his.

"Sometimes I do too, I thought what would it be like if he didn't miss that bus," Gareth replied, also watching Will peacefully sleep.

"I was thinking, it was all just a coincidence. What do you think would happen if he didn't miss that bus?" Mike asked.

"Someone else would get bitten, probably. But, how was the spider there anyways? I mean, the lab wasn't doing experiments anymore, so how did the spider get there?" Gareth asked the right questions, Mike did bother with that a few years back, so did Jane, but the only conclusion they along with specialists from the lab, got to was that the original spider had a child somewhere, which seemed unlikely alltogether.

"No idea," Mike replied, "the doctor thought it may be a descendant of the first spider, but me and El think that's bull."

"Yeah, I wouldn't believe that either," Gareth replied with a nod.

"I didn't think I'll see you two together," the two looked over at Will who was looking at them with a smile.

"You're awake," Mike said, going to hug Will, but Gareth stopped him.

"Careful, the injuries aren't fully healed and it's gonna hurt," Gareth warned, Mike sat back down.

"Sorry, I'm just glad you're okay," Mike gave Will a smile.

"Me too, sorry I worried you," Will said, grabbing Mike's hand.

"It's okay, you didn't do anything wrong," Mike said with a smile, Will smiled back gratefully.

"I'll go call your mom, she wanted me to tell her when you wake up," Gareth said, giving Will a smile, Will nodded.

But Joyce Byers wasn't the only one Gareth called. Soon all of Will's friends and Hopper with Owens were in his hospital room too.

"So, it was Brenner?" Hopper asked for about the fourth time already.

"Yeah, Brenner and some other people, but I dunno who they were," Will explained again.

"Hop, leave him alone, can't this wait?" Joyce said, giving Hopper a glare.

"Sorry, I'll go look for that ass," Hopper put his hands up in surrender and backed out of the room.

For the time being, Will decided to keep all the details to himself and not bother the people who care about him and are just glad he's okay, he'll tell them later.