Escape ~ S.Harrington

94} Traumatic Rescue Mission

(I've never had to write a content warning in before, but I thought it was best if I did for this chapter. This chapter takes a deep dive into Will's mind and his trauma; the thing the Duffers were too scared to do in the show. Most of it is manipulated by Vecna, but some of it is real memories for Will. I chose to use strong language—notably the f slur—because it felt fitting for the time and it added intensity to the hatred Will was shown. It also deals with lots of homophobia and hate on top of that. If anything I mentioned is a sensitive topic for you, just skip the chapter and read the AN at the end for a brief recap. Please put yourself and your mental health first.)

Jenna opened her eyes to find herself back in her mind once again.
I'm so done with being in my head.

She walked back through all of her memories until she reached her shared space with Steve. She looked to her left to find the door to Will's mind was still open.
Thank fucking god.

She entered to find complete chaos, even though she wasn't even in a memory yet. She saw the screen she'd formed so Will could spy on Vecna. Looking at it, it was all grainy and fuzzy. Within the graininess, though, something started to emerge. As she leaned closer, a vine shot itself out at her, trying to pull her in. She immediately electrocuted it, causing it to retract back into the screen.
What is going on in here?

She turned around to find the door into Will's memories covered with vines. Before she could overthink, she just opened the door and stepped inside. Once through the doorway, she was met with his memories, except they were all covered with vines; just like the Upside Down.
Fuck... I really hope this isn't going to be like my memories.

She traversed through, going through door after door, noticing each memory as she went becoming more and more distorted, until she reached the end. The one place where Vecna had no hold or control over Will: his childhood. All around her were the same memories that she'd seen the first time she helped Will fight back against Vecna. He looked so happy. All he cared about was DND, drawing, and hanging out with Mike. Finally, she approached the last door—or one of the last two. One looked normal, like it would send her to his body, while the other had the same vine-covered appearance. She opened the vine-covered door and entered Henry's mind. It was a recreation of the Upside Down where she assumed Will had been taken to back in '83. Up against the wall, Will was covered in vines and was passed out with blood streaks cascading down his face from his eyes.

"Will," She exhaled, happy she'd finally found him. She walked up to him and placed one hand on either side of his face, "I'm going to get you out of here."
Upon closing her eyes, she was sent into a vision or memory of sorts.
"Hey," Lonnie sat down next to Will at the dinner table. Will looked like he couldn't have been older than six, "Whatcha drawing?"
"Me and Mike," Will continued to scribble.
"Doing what?"
"Well, I'm a superhero who's going to save Mike from zombies."
"Superheroes normally save damsels in distress."
"Well, I'm saving Mike."

Lonnie aggressively got up out of his seat and slammed the chair against the table, muttering under his breath, "Does that kid talk about anything other than Mike? Fucking queer, I swear. Just like his brother."
Will curled up into himself as he continued to draw before finally giving up and crumpling the paper up into a ball and throwing it out. She could hear his thoughts as he marched to his room.
I'm so stupid...

Before she had time to absorb anything, she was thrown into another memory—another one involving Lonnie.
"Come on!" He patted his hand into his baseball mitt, "I'm open. Throw it to me!"
Will pulled the baseball out of his glove and threw it as best as he could at him. The ball fell short, landing on the ground.
"Maybe you're better at catching," Lonnie picked it up, "You ready?"
Will shook his head no, but Lonnie threw it anyway. Will saw it coming straight for him. Before he could move the mitt up to his face, the ball smacked him right in the eye.
"Oh shit," Lonnie dashed inside and grabbed a bag of frozen peas, holding them to Will's eye.
"Stop crying," He rolled his eyes, "Boys don't cry."
"But it hurts," Will sobbed, "It really hurts."