Stranger Things One-Shots and Imagines

Justice for Bob

JOYCE
It had been a month since the event that was Will's possession and closing the gate. Hopper and El had fixed the cabin. Bob was helping me pack up the house. After so long, and so much trauma, I made the decision with Bob to move. I couldn't live with myself if Will was constantly reminded of his past and all the terrible things that happened to him.

The house had been put on the market, so Bob and I started packing. We first tackled the kitchen. Once it had been cleaned and packed up, I watched as Bob walked towards the bathrooms, taking a box with him. I went into the living-room, opening up a box to get started. We had a giant bin full of things that we were leaving behind, whether those things were being thrown away or donated. The couch and other chairs had already been packed into the moving truck parked out on the driveway.

I cleaned the floors and the windows, putting pillows and other miscellaneous objects into the box I had prepared. Opening the cabinet underneath the tv, my heart dropped when I saw the small box full of tangled Christmas lights. Picking up the lights, I moved the box onto the table behind me.

The colourful Chrismas lights lit up all around the room, guiding me to the cabinet underneath the tv. Grabbing the plain white Christmas lights, I sat inside the cabinet, my eyes closed for a second.

"Will." I spoke, barely whispering.

"Are you here?" I asked, hoping for an answer. The lights in my hands lit up, brightly shining as I exclaimed in joy.

"Okay, good, good, good, good." I whispered, trying to remain calm. I was contacting my boy through the Christmas lights.

"Are you...um, blink once for yes, twice for no. C-Can you do that for me, sweetie?" I asked as the lights blinked once.

"Oh, good boy. Good boy." I felt overjoyed that I was talking to Will, even if it was through the lights.

"Baby, I need to know...are you alive?" I was barely able to stop myself from crying. The lights blinked once.

"Are you safe?" I asked, feeling slightly better as the lights blinked once again.

"I need to know where to find you, honey. Where...where are you? Can you...can you tell me where you are?" I was still crying, whimpering as I struggled to get an answer.

"Please, baby. I need to find you. Tell me what to do. Please just..." I stopped talking when I realised that I'd only be able to get answers for 'yes or no' questions. I needed to find a better way of communication.

"Will..." I muttered to myself as I looked at the large pile of tangled Christmas lights.

I needed to put my past behind me. I chucked the lights back into the box as I threw that box into the bin. The lights were a reminder of my darkest time, knowing that Will was alive, but not knowing how to get to him.

I continued to clean the living room. Everything was either in the bin, or in boxes, ready to pack into the truck. Moving onto Will's bedroom, I opened his door, seeing the massive space in his room that once held his bed. It had been put into the truck. I packed up his books and other objects. When I reached the pile of things on his desk, I noticed a huge pile of paper. Carefully lifting the papers up, I realised what it was. All the pieces of paper were pictures of the map of Hawkins that Will had drawn nearly over a month ago.

"I know that shape. It's Lovers' Lake. It's Lovers' Lake. I get it." Bob smiled as he walked around the house, constantly looking at the pictures.

"Okay, I get. That's Lake Jordan. And if that's Lake Jordan, then you can probably find..." Bob kept walking, until he stopped.

"...yeah, that's, uh, Sattler's quarry. And if you just follow it naturally...it moves to..." He kept walking, Will, Mike and I following him.

"...the Eno River. And there it is. That's the Eno, do you see it?" Bob asked as Will, Mike and I looked at each other, confused.

"Okay, so the lines aren't roads. But they act like roads. And they act like roads 'cause when you follow 'em, you'll see...they don't go over water." He tried to explain what he was seeing.

"And that's the giveaway. That's the giveaway. Ha!" Bob smiled.

"Don't you get it? It's not a puzzle, it's a map. It's a map of Hawkins." Bob's reveal shocked Mike, Will and I.

"Right, Will?" Bob asked as he looked at Will for confirmation. Will just looked at us with confusion.

Ripping up the pages, I threw them into the garbage bin, not wanting to ever see them again. I finished packing up the rest of Will's room, Bob having finished the bathrooms, Jonathan's room and our room.

After hours of work, the entire house was empty. Everything was either in the giant bin, or packed up into the truck.

"You ready to go, Joyce?" Bob asked as he kissed my cheek.

"Yep." I locked the front door. Bob got into the truck, having connected my car to the back of the truck using Hopper's help.

Will and Jonathan hugged their respective friends. Mike, Dustin and Lucas all hugged Will.

"Time to go boys." I spoke as I pulled away from a hug with Hopper.

Will and Jonathan got into Jonathan's car. Within 5 minutes, we were driving out of Hawkins. I felt sad leaving, but it needed to happen. We wanted a fresh start. We needed a fresh start. Bob held my free hand as I drove the truck, Will and Jonathan behind us.