American Heroes: A Stranger Things 3 Fic

Rabid Rat

Will's mind is buzzing with thoughts when he opens the front door. A secret Russian code sent from here in Hawkins? What are the Russians even doing here? Does it have something to do with that cold feeling he got at Day of the Dead and in the field before they set up Cerebro?

Will is surprised yet relieved to see his mom isn't home. He had been afraid she would be worried that he hadn't called since he stayed late at the mall. Instead, Jonathan is sitting on the couch examining photographs. He looks up at Will when he shuts the door.

"Hey, Jonathan." Will takes a seat next to his brother. "Where's Mom?"

Jonathan lifts a shoulder. "No clue. She wasn't here when I got home."

Will peaks at the photographs Jonathan has in his hands. All of them seem to show a rat running around and jumping at the camera.

"Will..." Jonathan sets the photos down on the coffee table and rubs his hands together. "Did something happen today? Mike and Lucas came by here earlier looking for you. They told me they wanted to say sorry for something they said, but they didn't tell me what it was."

Will crosses his arms.

"What were they apologizing for?"

"It's nothing. Just a fight we had."

"What were you fighting about?"

Will hesitates. Should he tell Jonathan? If he does, then he'll have to go into why he was so angry at Mike. He can just say it was because they were ignoring him since that was part of it, but what if Jonathan realizes he was jealous of El? He didn't want Jonathan to suspect anything.

Jonathan narrows his eyes. "Will, you know you can talk to me if someone says something mean to you. I know I haven't been around as much this summer because of my internship, but I promise you can come to me if something happens. I'll always listen to you, Will."

"I know." Will stares forward at the rat photographs to avoid looking at his brother. "It's just... sometimes I don't want to tell anyone. Sometimes I need to keep things to myself, at least for a little while. Sometimes I need to think things over before I tell anyone anything."

Jonathan leans back, staring up at the ceiling in silence. "Okay," he says. "I get it. Just don't go too long without telling anyone anything."

Smiling, Will hugs his brother. "I know."

Jonathan looks back at his photographs.

Leaning over the coffee table, Will asks, "What are these anyway?"

"Some sort of rabid rat Nancy and I were looking at."

"Rabid rat?"

Jonathan shrugs. "Yeah. It's got rabies or something. It was eating Mrs. Driscoll's fertilizer."

Will squints at the photographs, trying to make out what he's seeing. The rat definitely looks crazed, but rabies? He's not sure about that. There's definitely something eerie about it, but Will can't put a finger on what exactly that is.

Will and Jonathan go to bed after a few minutes. When his head hits the pillow, all Will can think about is the secret Russian code.