Mike, Will and Oscar were sat in the back of the car as they drove to the coordinates Suzie gave them. Argyle was high so Jonathan was driving.
Things were still kind of...tense. Mike's leg wouldn't stop bouncing as he stared out the window, anxiety flying off him.
Will gave Oscar a look, nudging his head towards Mike. A clear 'say something' gesture.
Hesitantly, Oscar opened his mouth to speak, trying to figure out what to say. Suddenly his tongue felt very awkward in his mouth.
He looked over at Will again for help, but Will just raised an expectant eyebrow.
"Um...you know, when uh, when this is all, over and stuff. We should like..." Oscar thought for a moment. "Go on a real double date, you, me, Will and El."
Mike glanced at him, nodding a little. "Yeah, that'd be cool." He looked back out the window.
Will was giving Oscar a 'are you kidding me?' look. Pure judgement.
He shrugged his shoulders helplessly and Will glared at him.
Oscar let out an annoyed breath. "And..." He continued hesitantly, getting Mike's attention again. "Maybe you and I could do something, just the two of us, little quality brother time."
Mike smiled a little. "Really?"
"Well yeah. I-I don't know what but, I know it'd be fun." Oscar continued, feeling a little encouraged. "And um...for what it's worth...I quit smoking."
His eyes widened.
Oscar took a deep breath. "Mike...I never want to be the one that causes you pain. You and I...we were meant to look out for each other, for when boyfriends and girlfriends can't." He insisted with a small smile of his own. "We're twins, we're like...each other's built in best friend, and nothing's ever going to change that, okay?"
Mike grinned at him. "You seriously quit?"
"I gave Eden my cigarettes before we left and damn is she right I'm regretting it." He chuckled. "But at the same time...I'm not." He sighed. "It's...gonna be hard. I might blow up at you guys a few times so...sorry in advance." He told them sheepishly.
Will smiled. "We'll be expecting it." Mike nodded.
"The point is, I know...I've been a pretty crappy brother this last year," Oscar admitted. "And I also know you're really scared that you think you've lost El or something but, but you haven't." He insisted kindly. "She needs you, she will always need you."
Mike swallowed hard. "...You think so?"
Oscar smiled. "Totally. I need you, don't I? We all do. You're like..." He snapped his fingers trying to think of how to describe it.
"The heart." Will chimed in with a grin. "The heart of our party."
Mike's eyes widened.
"Exactly." Oscar nodded. "You're our leader Mike, and our heart, and if we lost you?" He scoffed. "I don't think we could cope. Hell, I think El would blow up the world in vengeance."
Mike chuckled tearfully, quickly wiping his eyes. "Jeez, why do you always know what to say, Scar?"
"Uh, cause I'm your brilliant twin brother?"
"A brilliant pain." Will muttered.
Oscar snapped his head around to glare at him. "Excuse me?"
"Nothing." He said innocently.
Mike laughed at their antics, which made Oscar smile.
Jonathan took a glance at them using the mirror, and found his own soft smile forming.
~~~
"Should be on our right." Mike told him.
"There's nothing there." Jonathan protested.
Oscar huffed. "Pull over before we get even more lost."
Jonathan complied and stopped the car, getting out to look at the map.
Meanwhile Argyle was calling for Nina, who he was convinced was a person in his high state.
"Dudes, come check this shit out!" Argyle called to them, pointing down at something.
Oscar scowled. "What is it?"
"You gotta see it to believe it my dudes!"
"Swear to God if it's pointless I'm gonna kill him." Oscar fumed.
Will and Mike exchanged a knowing look. "Withdrawal symptoms." They said in unison before following after Oscar.
"Check it out, signs of life." Argyle gestured to the tracks in the road. "These aren't normal tire tracks, they're fatties."
"Military." Mike gasped.
They bolted back to the car and started following the tracks.
~~~
It was a little hard to miss the mess of broken cars up in flames in the middle of nowhere.
And stood in front of it all, was El. Her hair was shaved off, back to a buzzcut, and her punk makeup had been washed off. She also had a strange collar around her neck.
Mike threw himself out of the car. "ELEVEN!"
El seemed to snap out of whatever trance she was in and turned to see him, eyes widened. Tears sprung into her eyes as Mike tackled her in a hug. "Mike." She whimpered, hugging him tightly. "It's really you."
"It's me." He breathed. "I'm really here." He assured her, pressing his forehead against hers as his own tears of relief formed. "Everyone's here."
El turned to see Oscar and Will grinning at her, tears in their eyes. She choked out a sob and hurried to hug them.
"A-Are you okay?" Will asked with worry when he saw the collar.
She nodded tearfully. "I-I'm okay." She looked at Oscar. "...Are you?"
Oscar choked out a laugh. "Worry about yourself would you? I'm fine. I quit smoking."
Her eyes widened, she looked over at Will curiously.
"He told me before." Will explained.
El merely smiled at them.
"Guys, we've gotta go." Jonathan broke in, frowning. "We've gotta get you out of here." He told El.
That's when her collar unlocked, making her eyebrows furrow. She hesitantly removed it and turned to look at Dr. Brenner, who was on the ground holding the remote that controlled it, he had a gun wound.
El slowly approached him, kneeling down to hear his final words.
"Eleven...I need you to understand...that...everything I did..." Brenner struggled to talk as blood built up in his mouth. "I did for you..." He sniffed. "Please, tell me you understand..."
The others watched silently, it was taking everything they had to not interfere, to not scream at him or try and hurt him for the things he's done to her.
El stared down at him, tears running down her cheeks. "...Goodbye, papa." His eyes widened.
She didn't say another word. Merely turned away, and did not look back.
They got in the car and Jonathan drove off in a hurry, according to El, they needed to get to Hawkins by that night.
Time was running out for their friends.
YOU ARE READING
Same Blood, Different Feelings ~OC x Will Byers~
Fanfiction(CURRENTLY WAITING FOR SEASON 5) Meet Mike's twin brother, Oscar Wheeler. Sadly despite being twins, Oscar inherited more of Nancy's looks than Mike's, which made sense considering he was technically born with a female body, but that won't stop him...
