American Heroes: A Stranger Things 3 Fic

Nerd Stuff

"Yeah, but he didn't seem to understand it."

"What exactly is the context here?" Lucas leans down then whispers, "Mike knows you like him, right?"

Sighing, Will nods. "Yeah, unfortunately, he does. He's suspected it since our fight at my house after you two apologized to me, and I told him that night at the cabin. When Erica overheard us. I didn't mean to tell him. It just sort of... spilled out. Now he hates me."

"He doesn't hate you," Dustin says. "He's just... being stupid. He cares about you a lot, you know that."

"It doesn't feel like it." He takes a breath. "I told him I didn't want to be friends anymore."

"What?" Lucas widens his eyes while Dustin waves his hand.

"I completely understand," Dustin says, "but maybe you two should talk it out."

"We've already tried. It doesn't work."

"But you can't just stop being friends because of this. I mean, you're Mike and Will. You guys have been friends since forever, the longest out of all of us. Don't let that go just 'cause of some stupid fight."

"Dustin, you understand that it's not just some stupid fight, right?"

"Okay, okay, I get it, but don't you think we all need to be on the same page in case something happens with the Mind Flayer? Fighting with each other will only make things worse."

"It has nothing to do with the Mind Flayer, Dustin. Mike and I, we're-"

They all go quiet when Mike appears beside them. "Hey, Will, can we-" His eyebrows draw together seeing Lucas and Dustin both staring at him. "What's going on?"

"Family discussion," Lucas says, Dustin and Will averting their eyes.

Mike's eyes narrow. "Am I missing something?"

While Will looks at the ground, Lucas and Dustin shrug. Erica, who had been watching Hopper gathering guns off the Russian guards' dead bodies, walks over to them. "Well, that settles it. He's gonna die. They're gonna die."

"Yep," Dustin says, "most likely."

"You guys survived," Will says, his eyes still on the ground and trying to ignore Mike's ice-cold stare.

"Barely. We-"

Mike, frowning, clears his throat, and Will can tell he's looking at him when he says, "Did you say something?"

"Mike," Dustin says, "now's not the time."

"What did he tell you?"

"Come on, Mike," Lucas says.

Mike is glaring at him when Will glances up. "Will, what did you say?"

He stares back at Mike.

"What did you say?"

"Wouldn't you like to know." He's taken aback, his breath hitching, when Mike shoves him.

As he stumbles, Dustin jumps between them and puts a hand on Mike's chest. "What the hell are you doing, Mike?"

Ignoring Dustin, Mike scowls at Will. "Tell me what you told them."

"Just leave me alone," Will mumbles.

From where they're sitting at the table, El and Max get to their feet. "What's going on?" El asks. She and Max approach the four boys and Erica, eyeing Mike. Max glances between Mike and Will with a frown on her face like she's trying to figure something out. She nudges Will's shoulder, but he shrugs her off.

"Nothing," Mike grumbles, storming off to another area of the food court.

El glances at the others. No one meets her eyes. Seeing her, Will wonders if he really should talk to her about his supposed powers, especially after what he did to the fountain lights.

Nudging Will's arm, Max gives him a look, tightening her lips and gesturing after Mike. Will knows she won't stop bugging him if he doesn't explain what happened, but he can't mention it to El. "Hey, El," he says in a soft voice. She turns to him. "Why don't you see if Mike's okay?"

She frowns, about to reply, but closes her mouth and follows after Mike anyway.

Looking at Will, Max lowers her voice. "What was that about? Did something happen?"

Will lets out a sigh. "I'm stupid, that's what that was about."

"Hey, no, you're not," Lucas assures him.

Dustin pats him on the shoulder. "Yeah, Mike's just being an asshole. He'll come around."

"What was that?" Erica asks.

"Nerd stuff," Dustin says.

She rolls her eyes. "You're so weird."

"Erica," Lucas warned.

"Keep saying my name, see what happens."

"Hey, heads up," Hopper tosses a walkie-talkie to Dustin from across the court. "You can navigate, just from someplace safe."

"It's not that simple."

"The signal won't reach," Erica adds.

Dustin holds the walkie-talkie up to Hopper. "Not with this. You need something with a high enough frequency band to relay with the Russians' radio tower. But for that to work, you need someone who has both seen their comms room and has access to a super-powered handcrafted radio tower, one preferably already situated at the highest point in Hawkins. Oh, wait." He smiles. "That's me. If you want us to navigate, you got us. But we need a head start... And a car."