American Heroes: A Stranger Things 3 Fic

Trapped

"Scoops Troop, do you copy?" Mike says into the walkie-talkie, pacing back and forth in front of the mall fountain. Will watches him from where he's sitting at a table with Lucas, Max, and El. "Scoops Troop, do you copy?"

Although he knows he wasn't completely in the wrong, Will can't help feeling guilty about everything that went down with Mike, and now he's starting to feel guilty for feeling guilty.

"Are you okay?" Lucas asks from beside him, playing with his slingshot. Will pulls his eyes away from Mike, only to realize Lucas, Max, and El are all staring at him.

Will raises an eyebrow. "I'm fine."

"You don't seem fine."

"What does that mean?"

"It means you've been acting weirder than normal." Lucas knocks his slingshot on the table. "I know there's the stuff with Mike, but if whatever else you're hiding from us is bothering you, we can help."

His mind jumps to his supposed powers, which he still had to talk to El about. But he can't do that now. Not with everyone else around. "It's nothing, Lucas. I'm fine."

"Scoops Troop," Mike continues by the fountain, "I repeat, do you copy? We're trapped in the mall and in need of emergency transportation."

Lucas puts down his slingshot and looks Will dead in the eyes. "You didn't seem fine when you were bleeding out of your nose."

His cheeks burn. "I don't want to talk about this."

"Then what do you want to talk about, Will? Do you want to talk about Mike? Do you want to explain what's really going on between you two?"

"Lucas," Max hisses, tilting her head towards El who's staring at everyone with furrowed brows.

"Scoops Troop, do you copy?" Mike's voice echoes. "Billy has found us. He has disabled our car and we are trapped in the mall. Repeat: Billy has disabled our car and we are trapped in the mall."

When neither Lucas nor Will say anything, El frowns. "What do you mean by what's really going on between them?"

"Nothing," Will says quickly. "We've just been fighting, that's all."

"But what happened?" El asks. "Before you were fighting, what were you going to talk to me about?"

"I just-" Will worries his lip. "I just wanted to tell you what was going on, I guess." He shakes his head, hearing Mike's voice when he said you haven't been a very good friend yourself. The tears in Mike's eyes. "Maybe Dustin's right. I should apologize to him."

"Um, what? No." Leaning forward, Max grabs Will's hand and squeezes it. "You're not going to do shit. The only one who should be apologizing is Mike. He has no right to treat you like garbage, so you shouldn't let him."

"He's not really treating me like garbage; it's just... he's confused." Sighing, Will nods to Lucas. "What do you think I should do?"

"Honestly? I have no clue." He puts a hand up. "I mean, I want everyone on good terms, too, but Max has a point. Mike was the one who pushed you, not the other way around, so it is only fair that he apologizes to you."

Will groans the loudest he's ever groaned before and drops his head in his hands. His friends pat his back.

"But maybe Dustin is sort of right," Lucas adds and raises his hands quickly when Max eyes him. "About trying to figure out your shit, I mean. He's not right about apologizing to Mike. No way. Both of you have to be willing to talk to each other in the first place for him to apologize. But I do think figuring out how to work with each other right now is the smart idea. It's better that you guys can at least handle being near each other without fighting. In case we all need to work together to defeat the Mind Flayer."