Chapter Text
The funniest thing, Will thought as Vecna finally got to him, was that he expected it. He knew that he had an odd connection with the Upside Down, that even all the way in California he could hear it calling for him, and he wished, wished, wished he could finally be left alone for once.
Yet, even as Will understood that he was likely to die, he was glad. Glad it was him, and not his friends. Glad it wasn’t Mike.
(Glad that he’d finally be gone, and wouldn’t have to do it himself.)
The minute they entered Hawkins, on their way to help the others with their plan to stop Vecna and save Max (luckily they’d had just enough time, and weren’t forced to stop and help from afar, like El wanted to), Will felt his headache, previously mild, become unbearable.
He kept the pain to himself, not wanting to needlessly worry anyone - and besides, this couldn’t be Vecna, right?
The others had said that Vecna only needed four people, and Max was the fourth, wasn’t she? So it was highly unlikely that Will would become the next victim, as Vecna already had Max right where he wanted her.
So Will kept quiet. There was no need to tell anyone - let alone Jonathan, who Will knew would instantly jump to conclusions.
When he heard the ominous four chimes, and spotted the grandfather clock eerily staring at him outside the window of the car, he considered changing his mind.
(He kept it quiet. No one cared, anyway.)
Will grinned as Dustin and Lucas pulled him into a hug instantly outside of Max’s trailer.
“Dude, it has been forever,” Dustin exclaimed, grinning back at him. “Once this is all over, you have to tell me everything.”
“Same goes for you,” Will responded easily, smiling at the boy. He frowned slightly when he spotted someone with long hair and a Hellfire Club shirt - that must be Eddie, who Dustin talked about in his letters. The person who was in charge of their new D&D party, even though Will didn’t join a new one in California.
No. Will wouldn’t be annoyed. Just because they hadn’t wanted to play D&D with him, and had joined a new party the moment he left didn’t mean he would be petty. There was a lot more at stake now, anyway.
“How was California?” Max greeted, giving him a little wave as she rewound her Walkman.
“Not as great as you said it was,” Will joked, giving a small laugh as she looked offended, before the sombre atmosphere returned. “How - how are you doing?”
Max scowled, likely annoyed with being asked that constantly. “I’m fine. Got Kate Bush, so I’ll live.”
Will gave her a small smile, before removing himself from the group and finding the bathroom.
He could feel a tickle in his throat, and he still hated coughing in front of people just in case he coughed out those things again.
Staring into the mirror, he unconsciously noted his nose was bleeding. Another symptom of Vecna, he supposed.
He didn’t understand. Why was Vecna trying so hard with him? He had his four victims in line, it would just take longer for him to focus on Will.
(Will ignored how Vecna would probably have more joy in killing Will. He could hear Vecna in California, hear how much he wanted Will back in the Upside Down, how exciting his death would be. He had thought it was the Mind Flayer, at first.
He wished it was the Mind Flayer now.
Yet, truthfully, Will didn’t care if Vecna chose him.
It meant that Max would live, she wouldn’t have to needlessly risk her life. She had people who loved her and cared for her wellbeing, after all. Will didn’t have that, so he was the perfect sacrifice.
Will could feel Vecna’s joy at these thoughts. He hated how the monster seemed to be attached to his mind.)
He wiped the blood away quickly, hiding the tissue in the bin so that nobody would see it if quickly throwing something away.
He turned around, jumping as he came face to face with Mike.
“I was looking for you,” was Mike’s explanation. He leaned uncomfortably close to Will, and glanced at the blood lining the sink that Will had yet to wipe away, almost seeming panicked. “You okay? Was your nose bleeding?”
“I - no, no,” Will assured him, “that was there when I got here.”
Mike raised an eyebrow, but ultimately left and walked out. It was evident he didn’t believe Will, yet even more evident that he just didn’t care. Jonathan walked in quickly after Mike left.
“Hey,” he said, quickly walking over to Will and cupping his face, looking him over. “Mike said your nose was bleeding?”
“It wasn’t,” Will said shortly, moving his face away from Jonathan’s hands. “And why would you care, anyway?”
Will didn’t know where the words were coming from. Maybe it was because his head was pounding, and he was tired, exhausted, and nobody had noticed yet. Maybe it was because he was done with everyone ignoring him until he was in danger, or at risk of dying.
(Maybe it was because he wanted to distance himself from everyone, so that it would hurt them less when he eventually passed soon.)
Jonathan paused, face frowning, before it eased out. “Yeah, you’re right,” Jonathan said, moving his hands away from Will’s face instantly, as though he had touched something disgusting. “I’m glad you finally figured it out! At least I can stop this charade.”
And even though it stabbed Will's heart, when Jonathan finally admitted it, he felt something in him relax. His heart felt calmer, even. Now he didn’t have anything holding him here.
(If Jonathan felt this way, then it would be unsurprising that his mom felt the same too. Besides, she was off in Alaska, she hadn’t checked on them at all. Maybe she was trying out the ‘Lonnie’ path - no. She would never do that. She loved Jonathan.)
“Okay,” Will breathed out softly. “Okay. That’s fine, then. You might as well leave.”
He turned back to the sink, to brace himself for what he would inevitably have to do now. He was at peace now, relieved even as he heard Jonathan’s footsteps leave.
Then his surroundings changed.
Fuck, Will swore to himself. It wasn’t real. It was just Vecna.
“You fucking fairy - I can’t believe I raised a fucking queer,” Lonnie spat at him, and despite Will knowing it wasn’t real, he still cowered like the coward he was behind a chair.
Will could smell alcohol, clear as day, from Lonnie’s breath, and he hid even more behind the chair.
No, no, no, no, his childlike mind chanted, already in the mindset of his younger self.
“Well?” Lonnie roared, tossing the chair hiding Will out of the way. “You aren’t going to deny it? You’re just a dirty fairy?”
“I - I -” Will stuttered, flinching back away from Lonnie as the man spat in his face.
“Of course you are,” he said scathingly. “You’re a fucking freak.”
Will felt tears fly down his face, but he didn’t deny it. He couldn’t, not anymore.
With all the abuse he had faced throughout his years, he just couldn’t take it anymore, couldn’t take how his simple existence was apparently harmful to others.
Lonnie morphed into Mike.
“I can’t believe you,” he scoffed. “You’ve been using me, haven’t you? You became my friend because you’re a queer. You were trying to take advantage of me, weren’t you?”
Will felt sick to his stomach. Not Mike. Why did Vecna have to use Mike against him?
“No - no, Mike, it’s not like that,” Will insisted, sobbing as Mike accused him of things he would never, never consider. “I would never take advantage of you, I swear. You’re my best friend, Mike - and I couldn’t do that to El!”
“Sure,” Mike scorned, rolling his eyes. “Like you haven’t been trying to separate El and I since I arrived in California. Fucking freak.”
Will didn’t have a chance to reply, to beg for Mike’s forgiveness, before the scenery changed one final time to the Upside Down.
No. He couldn’t be back here again.
“Will Byers,” Vecna greeted, slowly walking up to Will. If he really wanted, Will could run away, try and escape Vecna’s grip, if for a bit. It was worthless in the end. “Finally in my grasp.”
“Why?” Will asked, voice hoarse from his tears. “Why torture me like this? Why not kill me straight away?”
“Why?” Vecna mocked, stepping closer to Will and caressing him much like Jonathan had, not even moments ago. “All the more fun for me. But I suppose you’re right. Your time is finished.”
He held his claw-like hand to Will’s forehead, digging in and causing small droplets of blood to escape. Will let out a small cry, forcing his eyes shut so no blood would travel into them.
“Nobody’s coming to save you,” Vecna crooned in an almost soothing tone. “Nobody cares.”
Will didn’t waste his breath arguing. There was no need.
“I’m so glad you’re going to be my final victim,” Vecna purred into Will’s ear. “That girl may have trauma, but you? Will Byers, you were always planned to be my final victim, and you walked straight into my trap.”
And it was sad, but Will was glad at those words. If, somehow, he survived this, Max would be safe from Vecna. After all, Vecna would no longer settle for the second choice, not when he was available and in Hawkins.
“Darling you’ve got to let me know.”
Will was confused. Music?
He vaguely recalled music being the only way to save somebody from Vecna. But why were they trying to save him, of all people?
“Should I stay or should I go?”
Jonathan had certainly told them what song to choose, Will almost laughed with how predictable he himself was. His favourite song hadn’t changed from when he was in the Upside Down for the first time.
(Even despite the song reminding him of his trauma, it still comforted him. He was half convinced, back then, that the song had saved him from death. Now, with the reveal of Vecna, he was even more certain it had.
He had a bond with the song, almost. It had saved him once, it was going to save him again.)
“If you say that you are mine.”
He could see the portal opening - he hadn’t even made it to the bathroom in the real world, it seemed. He had already risen in the air, Jonathan still desperately reaching to him to try and pull him down.
Will went to wrench himself from Vecna’s grap, before he reconsidered.
Did he want to go back? Was it worth it - to feel the pain he had felt before?
For heaven’s sake, he hadn’t even considered he was being possessed by Vecna when Jonathan had said those nasty things. Did he want to go back and risk being forgotten by his friends until his next death-inducing circumstance came about?
“I’ll be here ‘till the end of time.”
He couldn’t do that to Jonathan. Maybe he felt the same way as fake-Jonathan, but Will always had an out if he did feel that way.
He struggled in Vecna’s strong hold, before he eventually fell to the ground after kneeing Vecna in the chest, the creature hissing.
“So you got to let me know.”
He ran as fast as he could towards the portal, silently begging for his body to hold out. He couldn’t hear anything that people were saying, if they were saying anything, but he could see Jonathan’s face.
That was all he needed to convince him to continue running.
The pure anguish on Jonathan’s face, the tears streaming down, unafraid of the people around him making fun of him. He looked like he was screaming, and he eventually fell to his knees and he stared helplessly at Will’s body, still in the air.
Snap. Will’s arm had bent at a crooked angle.
“Should I stay or should I go?”
Will closed his eyes right before he exited the portal, readying himself for the pain he’d feel when he left.
It was less excruciating than he had expected, although nothing would be worse than the Mind Flayer exiting his body.
He’d landed in someone’s arms, Jonathan if he had to take a gander, and Will quickly turned and hid his face in his brother’s jacket.
Jonathan was sobbing into Will’s hair. “Thank fuck you’re safe,” he whispered to the boy, “never scare me like that again. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you.”
Jonathan lifted his head up, looking into his brother’s tearful eyes. “I’m never leaving you alone again,” he vowed. His eyes were red, but for once from tears.
Will gave Jonathan a shaky smile. “I’ll try my best not to scare you,” he promised quietly, “but I don’t have the best luck.”
After a moment, it seemed the others had all recovered from their temporary shock of seeing Will’s almost death.
Dustin was crying, and he instantly ran to Will and gathered him into a hug while he was still in Jonathan’s arms, being mindful of his hurt arm.
Lucas bounded over at the same time, checking Will over as he gave him a hug, wincing at his arm and the bone clearly protruding, but ultimately left it. They’d sort it out after everyone made sure Will was okay.
Max was without her Walkman and headphones. Will suddenly realised her headphones were the ones he was using, and he took them off instantly, taking Should I Stay or Should I Go out of the Walkman and replacing it with Running Up That Hill.
“What are you doing?” Jonathan demanded, taking Should I Stay or Should I Go from Will carefully, cradling it as he tried to snatch the Walkman as Will threw it to Max, who caught it instantly, frowning. “You need that!”
“So does Max,” Lucas argued, not shocking Will who knew he would have to explain what Vecna had told him.
“I don’t think I do,” Max retorted, throwing the Walkman back to Will. “Vecna’s clearly changed targets, right?”
“No, no, no, no,” Lucas instantly said. “We’ll find two Walkmans, and both of you are going to listen to music. No stupid sacrifices, Vecna’s targeted both of you.”
“No, she’s right,” Will said in a small voice. Everyone turned to him, paying attention. He flushed lightly. “I, er, when I was talking to Vecna - or, well, he was talking to me. He was saying that he wanted me to be his final victim, that Max was his - his second choice.”
He closed his eyes, not wanting to see Jonathan’s face at this next part.
“Apparently because I’ve survived the Upside Down, and I have trauma as well, I’m a better victim. Max is safe, for now, because he isn’t going to settle for her when I’m here. So when we do that plan, to trap Vecna, I need to be the bait.”
Jonathan immediately protested, other voices joining in though Will couldn’t tell who.
“Well I’m not wrong, am I?” he demanded, opening his eyes to see Jonathan’s watering again. “He isn’t going after Max anymore, so I’m clearly the next best bet. He told me. In the original plan, it was Max, so now it has to be me.”
Jonathan was clearly blind with rage as Will spoke, he wasn’t seeing the logical part of Will’s words (and everyone else was ignoring the not-so-logical parts).
As Will looked over to Max, she looked sad, but nodded.
Even she knew that he was a better choice than her, if given the chance. After all, he was more expendable.
(Mike looked at Will from afar, too afraid to go to his friend - best friend, if he even deserved the title - to fight against his stupid, stupid words.
Even El had gone over, although she viewed Will like a brother now, so that made more sense. She was brushing Will’s hair back as she wiped tears that he didn’t even notice falling down his face.
Mike stayed back with Steve, Eddie, Robin, Erica, Argyle and Nancy. He could see their confused looks, why wasn’t he going to comfort his friend?
He couldn’t convince himself to move a single step.)