Chapter Text
Michael Wheeler had always known he was going to die in Hawkins. His grandfather had, his great grandfather had, the grandfather before that, whose name he didn't even know, had and so on and so forth. When the Upside Down opened up, his first thought wasn’t that he was afraid of death. It was that at least this way he wasn't going to die alone. He was going to die a hero.
But life has ways of fucking with you.
Because Mike did not die a hero. Even worse, Mike didn’t die. He didn’t face Vecna and overwhelm him with his radical empathy or whatever heart Will had convinced him he possessed. He just stood there and watched as Will and El saved the world. As Nancy dragged little toy soldiers across a map and ordered everyone into place. As Max and Lucas overcame Vecna’s supernatural hold. Jonathan, for God’s sake, Jonathan, brought Holly back with the help of Steve and Dustin. So yeah, saving the world is great and all, but it also left Mike feeling kind of like a loser.
So, what happened next? Well, Mike buried his father. Or really, Nancy did and Mike pretended not to care. Pretended he felt the same apathy for Ted that Ted surely felt for him. And after that, Mike broke up with his high school sweetheart, the strongest person he’d ever met. When he ended things, El didn’t even cry. She just nodded in that sincere, wide-eyed way of hers, standing on the Wheeler’s porch and not inviting herself in. Then, the Hopper-Byers moved back to California, and Mike watched the van pull away with the same empty stare all his friends had grown accustomed to. This time, no one tried to hug him goodbye.
Slowly, everyone trickled out of Hawkins. Max and Lucas went to college together in Chicago, bought a couple cats, and slowly forgot to call. Nancy and Jonathan headed to San Francisco to work in journalism and photography. Steve and Robin roadtripped across the country until they settled in Arizona, exploring canyons together, writing stupid blog posts, and breaking hearts in Phoenix. Eventually, only Dustin was left, but even he didn’t look at Mike the same anymore.
So Mike did the only thing he knew how to do: Keep going. Because time wasn’t stopping, so why should he? Mike taught Holly DnD and spent his afternoons playing dungeon master for a bunch of seventh graders. He got a part time job at the video store. He helped Dustin restart Hellfire Club. He graduated (without the honors he’d hoped for) and went to Hawkins State, where he studied screenwriting, an objectively useless degree that suited his objectively useless life. After that, Dustin became a physics teacher at Hawkins High, so Mike began teaching English at Hawkins Middle. On his first day of class Mike had rolled up his sleeves, accidentally exposing his Demogorgon tattoo, and one of his students had asked how he’d ever thought of such a strange looking monster. Mike had looked him dead in the eyes and told him didn’t have to imagine it. No one laughed, so he moved on to introducing Lord of the Flies.
Now, it was 1995, and Mike was sitting with Dustin in the corner of a shitty bar called The Meathead that served overcooked steak and cheap beer. They’d been coming here every Thursday since senior year of high school, but every time Mike entered, the smell of weed hit him like the first time. Today, he lingered in the doorway for a moment, resisting the urge to pull his chipped red lighter from the pocket in his worn leather jacket. The owner had given him the lighter the day after the portal to the Upside Down was destroyed, the first time Mike had ever entered the establishment. At the time, he was desperate to get away from all the tears of joy. Yes, he was happy. But more than that, he was numb, out of body. A ghost watching Will embrace him. He felt like everyone knew something he didn't; everyone had hope that he didn’t.
But today wasn’t about the past. Today was about ranting to Dustin about how liking Toy Story wasn’t childish and crying in theatres definitely wasn’t either and relating to Woody was totally normal actually. Mike walked in and slid into their usual booth in the back, trying to ignore the regulars. They always acted like he was one of them, a useless alcoholic possessed by some strange melancholy. But he wasn’t. He was a mandated reporter, someone who owned a pair of khakis. Sure, he had some tattoos, but not in a college-dropout kind of way, in a tribute-to-what-I’ve-overcome kind of way. Whatever.
Dustin arrived five minutes later, curls sticking out of his ponytail, looking harried and excited as he always did after a lab day. “Mike! Dude you won’t believe what happened—I totally scared the shit out of some jock with my pendulum trick. It stopped inches before his nose!”
Mike laughed wryly. “And you say you don’t have favorites.”
“I don’t have favorites, Michael. I have least favorites. Get with the program.” Dustin drummed his fingers on the sticky table, squinting at the bar through the low light and smoke. “So what are we drinking tonight?”
“I dunno man, Guinness?”
“Yeah yeah, alright.” While Dustin ordered for them, Mike leaned back and started mentally recounting his experience with Toy Story. But by the time the drinks came, Dustin was already onto a different topic. “So, how are you feeling about the big wedding?”
Mike rolled his eyes. “She made me a bridesmaid, Dustin. How do you think I’m feeling?”
“She’s always been a feminist,” Dustin said without sympathy. “You’ll look good in pink.”
“Nancy said I could wear a suit.” Mike curled his fingers about his beer defensively. “I’m not gonna be like… some lame girl catching the bouquet alright?”
Dustin’s brow furrowed in that awful, kind way that made Mike’s stomach twist. “I dunno, would it be such a bad thing? Fran and I wouldn’t mind some more alone time. Not that—not that we don’t love you, man. Just, y’know… I’m saving up for a ring and it would be nice to feel like you weren’t so… isolated? Not that you’re isolated, isolated. Just that you don’t go out much? Or at all?”
Mike sighed. They’d had this conversation a million times. “I go out. I’m here with you.”
“Yeah, yeah, right,” Dustin nodded. “It’s just, don’t you wanna go out with other people sometimes? There’s a bowling league at Hawkins High and I’m sure you can join us. It’s been a good way to meet people.”
“I don’t need to meet people.” Mike hated sounding whiny, but really how could anyone expect him not to when Dustin was talking so condescending? “I need to… direct a movie. Meet Tarantino. Write the next Spider-Man comic. I don’t have time for girls.”
Dustin nodded. “Yeah, girls, right.”
Mike wanted to throw his Guinness Lite all over Dustin’s stupid fake-neutral face. “Yeah, Dustin, girls. Y’know, women. People with tits.”
“I don’t think they appreciate being called people with tits.” Dustin finally laughed, eyes crinkling. “Fran might, though.” He bit his lip to contain a dumb smile. “She’s always been a bit of a freak.”
“Yep. That’s you two: freaks.”
“Seriously, though, are you going to wear pink? Because if so I’ll bring my camera and we can do a sexy photo shoot. Gift it to the newlyweds. I bet Jonathan would even get you on film. Your legs are stunning.”
“Shut up.” Mike was smiling though, for the first time all week.
Later that night, Mike sat on the couch in his apartment, legs crossed up on the cushion and a cup of instant ramen nestled between his thighs. He was watching Reservoir Dogs again, trying to decide if he was Mr White or Mr Orange to no avail. All the lights were off, but the photos on the walls still gleamed in the streetlight’s orange glow. He positioned them across from the window, specifically so his favorite one, of him and the original Party leaning over to watch the roll of a D20, was always illuminated. He was about to work on his new screenplay, a loosely accurate retelling of the Upside Down, when the phone rang. Mike sighed, loath to leave his comfy perch on the coach, but got up to answer it.
“Mike Wheeler,” he said.
“Jesus, I didn’t expect you to pick up so quickly. What are you doing at home at 8pm on a Thursday anyway? Aren’t you always out with Dustin?” Nancy’s voice, scolding as it was, brought a soft smile to Mike’s face. Weirdly, he felt like they’d grown closer ever since she left Hawkins. Not having to share a bathroom can do wonders for a relationship.
“Yeah, usually, but it gets dark so early now we just decided to call it. What’s up?” A bit of broth dribbled down his chin as he shoved noodles into his mouth.
“Well, it’s not a big deal if you can’t, but I was kind of hoping that maybe you’d be willing to come up to San Francisco early? Our venue cancelled at the last minute, and now Jonathan wants to do something in the backyard, but we can’t set everything up on our own. Argyle offered to help, but you know he’s in Japan for a couple months doing some weird spiritual awakening thing. I feel bad bothering Mom and Holly’s busy with school. Joyce and Hopper would be happy to come but honestly, much as I love them, hosting them is way too much work. If you’re not available we can move the wedding…”
“No, no,” Mike said. “I can get some time off, my principal is really happy with my milestone scores this fall. And you were super excited about having the wedding right before Thanksgiving so it would be a big reunion. When do you need me?”
“Thank you so much! Come up whenever you can, I’m happy to cover the plane ticket. Maybe you could leave Saturday?”
“Sure.”
“Oh Mike, you have no idea how much this means to me,” Nancy sounded almost choked up. “I’m getting so emotional lately, I know. But I haven’t seen you in so long, and everything is going so fast. I’m just so glad you’ll be there. You’re my little brother, and I feel like sometimes I’ve left you behind in Hawkins, that I haven’t protected you like I should have.”
Mike stared at the black TV, blinking furiously as though Nancy could see him now. As though she would make fun of him for crying like she had when they were kids. “Uh… yeah… it’s nothing.”
“It’s not nothing, Michael. It’s a huge sacrifice and we’re very grateful.” Nancy’s voice faded for a moment as she yelled something across the room. “Jonathan will be so relieved, too. We already have Will, but just the three of us weren't nearly going to be…”
Mike froze, suddenly possessed by the urge to fix his thermostat. Was it always so damn warm? “Sorry, did you just say Will’s coming?”
“Uh huh, didn’t I tell you he’s been staying with us? Berkeley tuition is no joke... ” Nancy didn’t seem to really be listening anymore, probably already looking at flights. “It’ll be good for you two to catch up, especially since we’ll all be family now.”
Mike dropped the phone and hoped Nancy couldn’t hear the thud. He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying not to feel sick. The idea of Will Byers of all people being his family was repulsing, especially after how he had acted after they defeated Vecna. Will was a lot of things, complicated conflicting things, but family wasn’t one of them. “Family?”
Nancy laughed. “Don’t sound so upset about it. You’re not related or anything, it’s just that we’ll all be spending more time together. The Wheeler-Byers, right?”
“Right,” Mike said dully. “Well it was good talking, Nance. I’ll see you soon, okay?”
Mike leaned back until his neck was craned to face the ceiling. Sometimes, the light flickered and he thought the Demogorgon was coming for him. Sometimes he was thirteen again and everyone he loved was going to die tomorrow. Sometimes he was eighteen and realizing he was never going to leave Hawkins. Sometimes Mike was everywhere, but tonight he was still. Even the Demogorgon didn’t scare him as much as Will Byers, his best friend who hadn’t called in nearly eight years. The one person who haunted him more than anyone.