American Heroes: A Stranger Things 3 Fic

Mike's House

"Holy shit!" Lucas cackles into the wind, zigzagging about the street on his bike. "That was insane. Are you alright?"

Breathless, Will nods. He can barely think, his mind going every which way, dizzy and light-headed.

Lucas frowns, staring forward. "I can't believe they shot at us."

"What do you expect? They carry around massive guns. Did you think they wouldn't use them?"

"I don't know. It's worse knowing my sister's still there. Would they shoot a ten year old?"

"I hope not." Slowing down to catch a breath, Will gestures back to the mall. "We don't know that the Russians have found them yet. For all we know, they could be taking the Russians out one by one."

"Erica? Taking out Russians?" Lucas lets out a laugh. "That would be a sight to see. Anyway, come on. Let's get to Mike's house before the Russians do find them."

They pick up speed on their bikes, zipping through streets and backyards. They bounce over a curb and turn down a dark road. Will glances up at the flickering street lights.

"Oh, shit!" Lucas shouts as someone rushes out of the trees and sprints in front of them. They swerve to the side, their bikes screeching, and tumble onto the pavement. Will stumbles to his feet, catching sight of who ran in front of them before they disappear back into the woods. Billy.

"Are you alright?" Lucas asks Will, but it's obvious he's not. All Will can think of is that night on Mirkwood, riding home from Mike's house. Looking up from his bike light to see it. The demogorgon. Crashing his bike on the side of the road. Running for his life. He starts to tremble, his breath growing unsteady, quickening and becoming so shallow he's afraid he won't be able to breathe at all. He reaches out, grabbing the handles of his bicycle to steady himself. He squeezes his eyes shut, clutching onto the handles as visions of the demogorgon and the Upside Down flood his mind.

"Will? Will, are you okay? Will!" Lucas grabs Will by the shoulder, staring into his eyes. "What is it, Will? What's wrong?"

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Will grasps Lucas's arm. "I'm... I – I just..."

"It's okay." Lucas keeps his hand firmly planted on Will's shoulder as Will steadies his breath.

"I just saw... in my head.... I saw the – the demogorgon."

"Oh, man..." Lucas glances to the ground before looking back at Will. "Are you alright?"

Will takes a deep breath in, then out. "Fine, I guess."

"Okay, well, do you want to take a minute before we head over to Mike's?"

Shaking his head, Will climbs back on his bike. "No, it's fine. We have to figure out what happened to Dustin and the others."

Lucas agrees, and they resume their ride to Mike's house. After a moment of silence, Lucas looks to Will. "You know, back there I was talking about Mike and Eleven being star-crossed lovers or whatever? What I meant was, they may be obsessed with each other now, and they're all each other can think about, but after awhile, they'll calm down. They won't be like this forever is what I'm saying."

"Okay, Lucas."

"When I first met Max, she was all I could think about, but things have calmed down."

"Lucas."

"Yeah?"

"I get it. You don't have to explain."

"Okay."

The light in Mike's basement is on when Will and Lucas arrive and knock on the door. It opens immediately. Mike ushers them inside, closing the door swiftly. "Where's everyone else?"

Will notices a cut above Mike's eyebrow, but doesn't ask where it came from. "That's why we're late," Will says, peering around the room. Max and El are asleep on the couch, curled up in each other's arms. "We don't know."

"What do you mean, you don't know?"

"The room," Lucas explains, "it was some sort of elevator. Dustin, Erica, Robin, and Steve all went inside, and next thing we knew, they were screaming."

"They saw something in those boxes," Will says. "I don't know what because the door closed on them then, but Robin said there were metal containers."

"Are they still there?" Mike asks.

"Yes. We tried to get in contact with them, but the signal wouldn't reach. That's why we think the room's an elevator. We were going to tell you guys to come to the mall and help us get to them, but you didn't answer, and we got chased down by Russian guards-"

"They started shooting at us," Lucas adds.

"We had to get out of there, so we rode here as fast as we could."

Mike, taken aback, puts his hands on his forehead. "They shot at you? Are you okay?"

"We're fine," Will assures him, "but I don't know about the others. They could be taken captive for all we know."

"Shit." Running his hands through his hair, Mike glances at El and Max on the couch. "Shit, what are we supposed to do? Should we go to the mall? El's drained, and Max isn't doing so good either. I don't know if they should come. Should they?"

Will shakes his head. "The mall doesn't seem safe right now. The Russians are probably on high alert now that they've seen us."

"Then what?" Lucas asks. "We can't just leave them there."

"I know, but I don't know what to do."

"We can't leave a Party member in jeopardy," Mike says, still looking at El and Max.

Letting out a groan, Lucas throws his hands up. "Well, what do you suggest?"

"We need to contact them somehow. Maybe if we get close enough to the mall..."

"The signal won't reach because of how far down they are," Lucas says.

Then, what could they do? Climb down the elevator shaft? Impossible, especially since they can't get the doors open. They need to contact them. They need to get their signal to reach far enough. A light goes off in Will's brain. "Cerebro," he says.

Mike and Lucas's eyes light up, Lucas snapping his fingers.

"If that can reach Utah, it'll definitely reach Dustin and the others," Will says.

Lucas's smile drops. "If it even works. Dustin couldn't even get in contact with Suzie, remember?"

"No, but it does work. I told you, Dustin and I were able to hear the Russian transmission on it. If that was coming from below the mall, the signal is definitely strong enough."

"Should we go now?" Lucas asks.

Will looks to Mike. "What about Max and El? Should we wake them?"

"No, they need to rest. After everything that happened in the sauna, El needs to recuperate."

"Oh, yeah. What happened?"

Mike shrugs. "We were right. Billy is the host. He got away, but not before he nearly strangled El and cut Max's face."

"Is that what happened there?" Will gestures to the cut above Mike's eyebrow.

"Oh, that. Yeah. Billy punched me."

Lucas winces. "Ouch."

"Are you okay?" Will reaches to Mike's cut but realizing what he's doing, pulls his hand away fast, hoping Mike and Lucas didn't notice. Out of the corner of his eye, Lucas gives him a funny look. Will's cheeks grow pink.

Not seeming to have noticed, Mike replies, "Oh, believe me, I'm fine. El and Max, on the other hand..." He huffs. "Anyway, Cerebro. We can get El and Max later, but I think we should go now."