Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Will is distraught.

Not the ‘oh my gosh I have a gazillion tests tomorrow and it’s already 9pm’, type of distraught.

No, this is the ‘my sister just got taken away by a secret government testing group that take children away and test on them for superhero type powers; for the second time’, type of distraught.

El had just got taken away in a black van, and they can’t even do anything about it. After the two agents were stationed to watch them, all they can do is wait. They can’t even leave the house for a simple walk.

Plus they have to deal with a high Argyle who decided to visit because he was bored. And because he was too high to go to work.

Will tried his best to think of ways that he could possibly go and rescue her, but with the two couch potato agents it became impossible.

He already talked with Mike about how Mike’s feelings for El and what he thinks about what’s going on, but he needs to talk with Jonathan. Oh gosh that is going to be hell.

Will’s thoughts were abortively stopped by a slow hesitated knock at the door.

“Hey Will. You in there?”, Jonathan creaked the door open and whispered Will over hesitantly. Will raised his eyebrow and sat up from the bed. Walking over to meet Jonathan at the door.

“What is it? Did something happen?”, Will’s voice cracked slightly. Jonathan had a crease to his brow that shouted uncertainty.

If he was looking like this then that means something was up.

“The um….agent Harman guy wants to speak to you.”, Jonathan led Will out of the door to the living room where the two agents were waiting for them. Mike and Argyle sat on the couch looking just as confused and uncertain Jonathan does.

The two agents turned towards them as they entered; motioning for them to sit down. Oh no.

One of the agents, agent Wallace, sighed as he looked at Jonathan and then at Will as if contemplating on what he should say.

The silence itself was already speaking volumes as is.

Thankfully the silence was filled, but not with what they wanted to hear.

“We were given an order to take William Byers to meet with Dr. Owens. He wishes to speak to him about subject 011. There will be a car arriving soon to take him”

“You aren’t taking Will anywhere!!” Jonathan shot up from the couch to protest. He immediately walked in front of Will to hide him away from the agents views.

Mike looked back and forward from Will to the two agents with widened eyes. A slight bit of anger crossed them as his brows knitted together.

“If you even think about taking Will you are going to have one hell of a time trying because we aren’t going to allow you.” Jonathan sneered.

“Listen here boy-“, agent Harman tried to intercept but was immediately shot down as Argyle spoke.

“Woah brochachos, you don’t have to get so loud. Keep calm and hear the air”, yeah he was high. So high that he was still sitting down relaxed on the couch as if he had just got home from a long day of work.

Jonathan bent down and wrapped his arm around Will’s back as to prove his point that they would put up a fight. Their mom had left him in charge to take care of his siblings, and Mike.

He wouldn’t allow some government agents take away his little brother. He had already failed them once; he wouldn’t fail them again.

“I’m sorry, but Jonathan’s right. We won’t let you take Will anywhere!”

Will looked up surprised to see Mike in front of him too. He had his fist clenched so hard his knuckles were turning white.

The agents tried to reason with them why they needed to take Will, but they weren’t having it. Or Mike and Jonathan weren’t having it; Argyle was just watching the whole thing play out like it was some reality TV show.

William Byers and the No good, awful, chaotic day.

All Argyle did was nod along while he stared off now watching the moving pictures on the box; not even paying attention after one of the agents walked off to answer the now ringing phone.

Soon after agent Harman finished his phone call and walked back, the arguing had come to a brief hold as Jonathan dragged Will to El’s room.

He slammed the door behind him and paced around the room muttering out loud about how stupid the whole idea is.

Although, Will wasn’t paying attention to the whole ordeal as it unfolded. The thoughts in his loud too loud; blocking out the noice Jonathan was making.

This could be it. He could talk to Owens about El and maybe reason with him into letting them see El. This was his one shot to help El.

“Will.”

It was risky going alone, but if he went he could get more answers.

“Will?”

The doctor wouldn’t hurt him, right? He did help him when he was Mind flayed or whatever Dustin called it. He also got them a new house so they could start fre-

“Will!”

Will snapped his head to the right where Mike was shaking his shoulders trying to get his attention. When had Mike come into the room?

“You alright there Will?”

Mike and Jonathan looked at Will concerned. Jonathan was now kneeling in front of him he noticed.

“I…uh..sorry…what did you say?”, Will scratched the back of his neck a little embarrassed that he was caught not listening.

“We were asking you about what you thought about this whole thing?”

“I..um. I think I should go.”, Will could barely get out.

Mike immediately tried to protest, but Jonathan cut him off trying to let Will speak.

“It’s complete bullish-“, “Shut it Wheeler”, “But!”, “Let him speak, jeez.”, Jonathan scoffed at Mike. Mike backed down and huffed his cheeks. Cute.

“I know it’s probably a bad idea, but we could get answers about El. I could also try and reason with Dr. Owens into letting us see El or even tell us what is going on.”

Jonathan rubbed his face and stood up facing towards the door at first. As he looked towards Will he looked scared and hesitant.

He didn’t want to put his brother in any type of danger. He couldn’t lose him too.

He bent back down and put his hands on Will’s knees. Rubbing slightly as if to calm his nerves.

“I don’t trust them to keep you safe. Mom trusted me to keep you guys safe. I already failed El, and I can’t fail you.”

Jonathan stroked the top of his head lightly. Yeah he was definitely nervous.

“If I let you go with them…I want you to protect yourself. If anything fucking seems even a little bit off, I want you to run.”

Will nodded his head and hugged Jonathan. Will glanced to his right and made eye contact with Mike.

Mike had the same hesitant expression as his brother. Will wouldn’t lie and say it wasn’t nice seeing Mike with such a caring look on his face, but he immediately shook the idea out of his head.

Mike was dating his sister it would be wrong for him to like her boyfriend. Besides they are best friends, and Mike likes girls not other boys. If only he felt the same way.

Will’s thoughts returned to his head as he now contemplated on what he would ask or say to the doctor. I mean how bad could it go wrong?

….

“Sir. We have the information on the Byers family.”

“Good. Leave it on my desk.”

A folder full of reports and pictures was placed on the Colonel’s desk. The Colonel slowly read through all the information on the Byers family.

From Joyce Byer’s marriage with Lonnie Byers to their involvement with the incident at the Star Court Mall.

It was all too mysterious, but the one thing that didn’t make sense was William Byers disappearance.

Disappeared on November 6th 1983 while riding his bike on his way home. He was pronounced dead after they reportedly found his body in the Hackett’s Quarry.

There was an autopsy report and everything which said the verdict for his death was drowning. But the boy was alive. Something had to be missing; a bigger picture.

No one came back from the dead. Unless they were never dead at all.

He shuffled through the pages until he pulled up a report from the Hawkins National Lab. What was supposed to be known as a small hospital until Martian Brenner turned it into a child testing zone.

The reports they were able to recover from the Hawkins National Lab about William Byers visits seemed odd. He wasn’t sick or injured, but he was going back frequently.

Plus he wasn’t going to the hospital for the visits; he was going to the Hawkins Lab. If he was going there then that means it wasn’t for petty checkups.

And there was no way that he didn’t know it wasn’t a hospital. After his apparent death his mother sure of wanted to take her son to go to the best hospital in Hawkins, not some junk fake one.

The general flipped through the pages looking for the “doctor” who looked over William Byers. He stopped at a page with a written report over William Byers checkups.

The report itself seemed entirely like a cheap fake copy. Even the Hawkins police would have sured noticed it wasn’t real. It seemed as it was set up as a therapy report more than anything else.

There was a bunch of stuff that seemed off for a regular check up between doctor and patient. If he could see who was-

Bingo, Dr. Sam Owens.

The supposed “doctor” who worked for Martin Brenner at the Hawkins National Lab. If Dr. Sam Owens was looking after William Byers for “medical reasons” then that must mean William Byers is connected to all of this some how.

Could it be his mysterious disappearance back in 1983? Or could it be something to do with Subject 011; Jane Hopper.

He set down the papers and grabbed the phone on his desk. Dialing the numbers and waiting for an answer.

One beep

Two beeps

“Hello? This is ——, state your business.”

“Yes this is Colonel Jack Sullivan. I want you to give me all the information you have on William Byers and his disappearance on November 6th, 1983 to his reappearance on November 13th 1983.”

“Yes sir, we will get right on it. Is there anything else?”

“Yes, get me two group of agents ready.”

If knowing Dr. Owens, then he’ll want the girl separated from everyone. He’ll try and hide her and anyone she knows away from any public eye.

The chief of Hawkins Police Jim Hopper, was the exact same.

If he does that then it would take longer to find them, and they can’t let that happen. They already have to deal with the “situation”; and if word gets out of Hawkins then they will be in bigger trouble than they already are in. The best plan of action is to get the girl before Owens takes the her or anyone else out of state.

They’ll just have to intercept that plan first.

“I want you to send one group of agents to the Byers residence in Lenora Hills California and another group on the road watching for any suspicious looking vehicles heading out.”

“Copy that sir. I’ll send the agents out at 12 EST time.”

The Colonel hung up the line and stood up from his chair. He walked over to a pin board at the end of the room and looked at all the pictures hung up on it.

He grabbed a red pin and put another picture up on the board. He tangled the strings around the pin and smirked at his achievement.

“William Byers, let’s see what you have to offer in this puzzle of a mystery.”

….

Will stumbled as he packed a small bag of supplies for the road. It wasn’t much, but if anything happened it should help. Maybe.

As he finished up his bag he noticed the rolled up painting beside his dresser drawers.

He forgot he didn’t give Mike the painting while they were at the airport. How could he? Would Mike even like it? Would he think it was weird if he just gave him a painting he had taken all summer to paint?

Will tucked the painting under his arm and put his bag around his shoulders. As he walked out of the room he noticed that everyone was waiting in the living room.

Everyone except for one, Mike. He placed his bag down on the sofa and excused himself real quick. He walked through the hallway and stumbled upon El’s open bedroom door.

Mike was sitting on the corner of El’s bed looking at the letters he and El transversed with throughout the summer.

“Knock, knock.”

Mike snapped his attention up at Will and relaxed his shoulders. Why were they tensed?

“Hey. You leaving now?”,Mikes slight pause in his sentence sounded as if he was worried or even maybe unsure.

It honestly sounded nice hearing him sound worried. Even if it was probably meant for El.

“Yeah I’m about to head out soon. They have someone with a van waiting outside for me already.”, Will sat down on the other side of Mike.

“You know you don’t have to go, right? Even if it is to get information on El we can still find another way to get it. We could even sneak out if we have too!”

Why isn’t he on board with this? I thought he would agree with me about this. Wasn’t he just he freaking out about El earlier? Will sighed Internally. He would figure this out later.

“I’ll be fine. I can take care of myself. Besides they said he just wants to talk with me and that’s it. I can get information about El and be right back”

“That’s not the point Will! You could get hurt. And do you really believe them to keep their word?” Mike looked up from El’s papers and met Will’s eyes finally. And oh. This isn’t about El, but me.

“You honestly trust them to keep their word about all this and not drag you off somewhere else? They’re the ones that took El, remember?”, Mike continued his rant.

“I’m not saying I trust them fully. I’m saying I trust them with not killing me. Owens helped me when I got out of the Upside down, and he also helped us move here.

Will sighed. Why is it always him who is left with talking this idiot into things?

“So I’ll trust him just this once. He wouldn’t have helped me back then If he was just going to do something horrible to me now.”

Mike looked back at the papers in his hand and put them down behind him.

“You know this just sounds odd right? Owens wants to speak with you about El after they take her away. I mean come on it just sounds like a fake ass lie to me.”

Mike throws his arms out as to try to prove his point further. And Will wasn’t gonna disagree with him either. It did sound like a really bad lie and a disaster waiting to happen.

Will knows for sure something will, one hundred percent happen if he goes, but right now this is his only chance to possibly getting his sister back.

They sit there contemplating for what feels like ages. The clock on the wall slowly ticking away as to try and fill the awkward silence between them. That is until Mike speaks.

“Isn’t that the paper you had at the airport?”

Now that snapped Will out of his thoughts right away. He didn’t even notice he brought it with him when he was going to find Mike. He had thought he put it down with his stuff, but he must have held onto it on accident.

Will brought it in front of him. If he gives Mike the painting now, won’t it seem odd?

“Oh yeah this is just the painting I painted for you all summer long. I painted it because I love you even though you are currently dating my sister.”

Yeah, he immediately swiped that thought out of his head. How would he tell him though? Could he tell him how he feels without really telling him?

Maybe he could.

“Yeah it’s a painting that El commissioned me. It was actually for you.”

“For me?” Mike looked taken back as Will handed the rolled up painting towards Mike.

“Yeah, El asked me to paint something for you to show you how much you mean to her.”

Mike unrolled the painting and looked mesmerized by the dragon and the little people.

Which hey, they were their Dnd characters! Did El know their Dnd characters, No. Mike doesn’t need to know that though. He may just think El asked him to paint something he loved.

“You see there.” Will pointed at his character with a shield with a heart on it.

“You are the heart you help keep the team together. Our leader.”

Chapter Text

“And El needs you.”, Will concluded his speech. Or what felt like a speech.

A speech of lies. That’s what it all was. Well, not all of it. The feelings were real, just not who they were from.

“El loves you, and she needs you.”, Will sighed softly to himself. Before he could continue though; the door opened.

“Kid hurry up or they’ll leave without you. They don’t have all day.”, Agent Wallace leaned into the doorway.

“Jeez man can’t you see we are talking?”, Mike scoffed at the agent. Clearly annoyed with his interrupting entrance.

“Kid I could honestly care less right now just hurry it up.”, he walked out of the room with a slow drag in his step as if he was trying to see Mike would argue back.

As soon as he was out of range from the doorway Mike tapped Will’s shoulder. He stared into Will’s eyes with a small reassurance.

In an instance Mike’s arms were around his body hugging him. He rested his chin on his shoulder and Will froze. His thoughts were spiraling.

He slowly lifted his arms and accepted the hug fully. I wish this could last forever. In his arms comfortable and warm.

We very awkwardly broke the hug and Mike started to fidget with the painting in his hands; careful as he didn’t want to accidentally rip a hole or chip the delicate paint.

“I’ll be fine. We’re in high school now, I can take care of myself just fine.”, Will tried to reassure Mike this time.

“I know that, but what happens if something, well I don’t know, happens? The Upside down could be opened again for all we know. Hell, that could be another reason why they took El!”, Mike put the painting down beside them.

“You could get hurt again.”, Mike looked almost scared. A look of uncertainty somewhere lost in his eyes.

“I promise I’ll be fine. Crazy together, right?”, Will held out his hand and Mike gladly took it and pulled him back into another hug.

“Crazy together. And I’m sorry for acting like a jerk.”, Mike eventually said. Really now?

Well, Will wouldn’t deny Mike was being a jerk at the Rink O’ Mania, but would he say it to his face? Yes, he one hundred percent would. Will he? No, no he won’t.

“It’s alright, besides I also acted like a jerk.”, Will pulled back from the hug again. He wished he didn’t have to break it. If only.

“No—no I was the jerk, I should have been a better friend.”,  Mike admits. Wow. Who knew Mike had it in him?

“Mike you-.”, Someone knocked on the doorframe grabbing both of the teenagers attention.

“Hey brochachos, those really uncool agent guys are being totally inpatient. You may want to hurry up, but hey, I ain’t judging.”, Argyle extended each word as if to sound cool. Which totally made him sound more high than he already was.

“Guess I better go.”, Will got up from the bed and turned his attention back to Mike as he followed.

Argyle scooted out of the Way as Will and Mike walked out of the room and back to the living room where indeed the agents were standing in the middle of the room.

Their arms crossed and agent Wallace tapping his foot lightly on the ground as if to show they were waiting there for a long time.

Will walked to the coach and grabbed his bag as the agents both sighed and headed straight for the door.

“Will.”, Jonathan stepped in front of Will as he went to follow. Jonathan put his hands on Will’s shoulder and ducked his head down slightly so he could stare into his eyes.

“You be careful out there you hear me. If they try to make you do something you don’t want to I want you to scream and run, and if they hold onto you I want you to fight back.”, Jonathan said in a stern voice.

“I won’t be able to be there with you and I’m afraid you may get hurt, but I know you’re strong. You’re a Byers, we don’t give up even if they tell us no.”, Jonathan smiled at the end of it.

It was true. Since the beginning if someone told them something they didn’t think was true they would try and prove them wrong. If something wasn’t in their odds they would change it.

For instance mom with my supposed death, Jonathan with the Mind flayer incident with Mrs. Driscoll, and me when I was in the Upside down.

It may not be a real Byers motto exclusive, but I wold say we own it. Including mom and El; those two really own it.

“Yeah, I will.”, Jonathan pulled Will into a tightening bear hug. Which Will won’t lie, it made him lose just a little breath.

As Jonathan let Will go he fixed the strap on his bag and he made his way to the front door.

“And don’t forget to eat something!”, Jonathan yelled to Will as though he was barely even out the door.

“Thanks mom.”, Will said sarcastically before he walked fully out the door. It was a nice day outside with the sun beating down onto the black pavement below.

Agent Wallace and agent Harman were waiting in front of a white van with the door wide open. Totally not suspicious at all.

Will stepped in front of the door and slowly took his bag off his shoulder before the front door opened revealing another agent.

“I got it kid don’t worry. You can sit in the front or back if you like. I promise I don’t bite.”, the man chuckled.

The man reached his hand out as to motion Will to hand him the bag, but Will just slung it back around his shoulder.

“The names Miller I’m one of,” he bent down to Will’s ear, “Owens agents, here to take you to him.”, he straightened back up and rocked onto the back of his heels.

Not so agent like I guess. And his voice sounds mor southern, not like the other agents Owen has hired.

“I’ll sit in the front if that’s alright.”, Will eventually coughed up.

“Sorry to interrupt you Miller, but the kid can’t know where he’s going. He could tell someone where the girl is.”, Wallace interrupted. Man I really don’t like this guy.

“And you think this young fellow is just gonna waltz around yelling out the location?”, Miller laughed.

Wallace’s face scrunched up at the comment and he turned his back towards Miller. “Do what you like. He’s in your hands now.”, he said as he walked back to the front door.

Agent Harman patted Will on the shoulder and soon followed. But as he was about to enter the house he turned around and smiled at Will.

“Don’t worry kid, we’ll keep your family safe. You just make sure to come back in one piece, alright? I don’t need your brother trying to scratch at my throat again.”, Harman turned back around and entered the house once more.

“Welp I guess it’s just you and me kid. Hop on in the front and we’ll get this show on the road.”, Miller said with a pep in his step as he plopped into the divers side.

Will followed and put his bag down at his feet so he could make sure if something were to happen he could access it easily. It may just be full of some snacks and stuff, but he did make sure to put in that pocket knife Jonathan got him for his 14th birthday.

———

Two hours. It had been two hours and he is already sick of being in this car with him. At first agent Miller seemed like a nice guy.

He was sure better than agent Wallace, but at least agent Wallace knew when to shut up. The whole two hours the agent hasn’t stopped singing off key to some music on the radio and talking about the most random things ever.

At first he would try to start up small conversations, which I answered them, but as soon as he saw I was losing interest in the conversations he started pulling out the most random conversations I have heard of.

One he kept going back to; was the time his daughter started to eat crayons anytime they were around her. And let’s just say Will lost count at the 22nd time he repeated it.

Now he was trying to tell a story about his time with his wife back in Louisiana, but Will wasn’t really paying attention.

He was staring out the window at the landscape thinking about how nice it would’ve to draw something. Even though there isn’t really much to the landscape, he would still draw it if it meant keeping him occupied.

Will closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. He faced the front window and decided he officially hated the idea of choosing to sit in the front.

He watched as the signs passed by with different advertisements. He even saw a Surfer Boys pizza advertisement. But all that driving would soon come to an end.

As they passed by a sign saying “welcome to Nevada”, Will spots another van. This time however, it was black.

Will watched as it passed by them but payed it no mind. Maybe it’s a company van or something. But wouldn’t it have a logo on its side?

It had seemed agent Miller had caught on to Will’s uncertainty with the van. Because as he adjusted his mirror his eyes widened. He sucked in a harsh breath and cursed.

“You may want to lay low and hold on kid. I ain’t gonna go fast, but I’ll speed up a little and hope it doesn’t catch their attention.”, Miller put more pressure on the gas and the car sped up a little.

Although as he checked the mirror again his brows punched even more and he pulled to the side slowly. He reached over where Will was and opened the glovebox.

In there was a black handheld gun with a full magazine right beside it. Oh no.

“Keep your head down kid, and if I say run. Then you better haul your ass out of here you hear me?”, he grabbed the gun and magazine; cocking the gun and turning of the safety.

Will kept his head down and leaned down in the chair. Waiting for what felt like five minutes a guy was Ali’s up to the driver side window. Agent Miller rolls it down.

“What can I help you with sir?”, he tries to put on a nice and polite voice, but whoever it is on the other side doesn’t answer.

“Look I have places to be and if you don’t move we’re-.”, a gun goes off. But it wasn’t agent Millers.

Blood splatter onto Will’s face and the agents body slumps forward and down into the seat as the gun falls out of his hand.

Will stared at the body until his door was being yanked open and two pairs of strong arms yank him out of the seat. They drag him to the front of the car and toss him not so gently to the ground.

Will puts his arms under him and pushes himself up as a shadow falls upon his body. As he looks up he sees a rugged looking man with a gun strapped against his chest and a pistol in his hand.

He kneels down to Will’s level and smirks.“Found you.”, a sudden pain on the side of his head, and everything goes dark.

———

“Colonel Sullivan speaking.”

“Yes this is squadron, A, Lenora, we have captured two people. One agent working for Sam Owens, and the kid you told us to find.”

“Good, take the kid and put him in his own room. We can’t have him talking to the other two yet. Oh and make sure to do it before he wakes up, you got that?”

“Yes sir, and the agent?”

“Put him in for interrogation. We’ll get every last drop of information from him even if we have to go to certain measures.”

———

It was dark, and awfully cold. His head throbbed and so did his side. His head however had to be in the absolute worst pain he has ever felt in his life. It felt like he was having the worst migraine imaginable.

It felt like someone had knocked him on the side of his head with a bat or something . He reached up for the side of his head only to find his hands were handcuffed together.

Will quickly sat up from where he was laying and opened his eyes. His head spun a little, but he immediately shook it off in favor of trying to see where he was at.

He was in a small plain white room. A short metal table and chair was on the opposite side of the room and the table seemed to be bolted to the floor and wall.

The ground was a darker shade of white and the ceiling had two semi bright lights. The bed however was just a metal frame with a mattress on top. No blankets or pillows what so ever. Guess they don’t want him using stuff against them?

He swung his feet over the edge of the bed and his feet made contact with the cold tile floor. He looked down at his body and noticed he was now in what looked like a hospital gown type shorts and top. When did they do that? How long was I out? Where is he?

As Will got up and off the bed to “explore”, even though there really wasn’t much to explore in such a small room. The door opened.

A tall dark man in a military jacket and dress pants; with medals on his left side pocket walked in. Will backed up to the wall behind him as the man continued to step forward.

He stopped at the desk and dragged the chair in front of him. He sat down slowly as to not wrinkle his clothes before he spoke.

In a low deep voice he said, “I know this may not seem ideal, but I need you to cooperate with us. You need to tell us all you know about the girl.”

“What?”, Why did they want to know about El? What did they want with her?

“The girl kid. You need to tell us what she is and where she is, and don’t you even try to lie kid. This is a serious situation that if I’m being honest with you I would cooperate with myself if I was you.”

Will shakily shook his head from side to side. “I can’t, and I won’t tell you anything. She is my sister and that is all I will ever tell you.”

“Kid what’s going on is bigger than you may think.”, he sighed, “innocent people are dying out there and you are just letting the murderer run free.”

“She’s not a murderer!,” Will screamed at him. The man sighed once more, but with a hint of annoyance this time.

“Kid she is a murderer. People are dying and it all leads back to her.”

“It’s. Not. Her.,” Will snarled. “It’s people like you who are killing others.”, he pointed at the man.

The man stood up abruptly and marched over to Will. He grabbed his arm and yanked it up towards him so they were face to face.

“I am losing my patience with you. You tell me where the girl is now or so help me you’ll be joining the agent Sam Owens sent to watch over you.”, the man spat out at Will’s face.

“Well maybe you tell me what the hell is going on and then I’ll decide if I want to tell you Jack shit or not.”, Will argued back. Wrong move.

The man yanked Will to the side throwing him to the ground harshly. A resounding thud echoed through the room.

“You wanna get snarky with me boy then you can join the others here while you’re at it. Besides, there are some things we wanna see if you have in common with your supposed “sister” of yours.”

“ Something a few test won’t make come to light. Welcome to your new home William Byers. Because you aren’t leaving this place anytime soon.”, the man marched out of the room and slammed the door shut. A loud beep and click sounded meaning the door was locked.

Will say up and scooted towards the wall. He brought his knees up to his chest and laid his head on them.

Soft sniffles could be heard through out the room. But little did Will know, this was only the beginning.

He should have just stayed home.

———

What if something happened to Will? That thought spiraled throughout his head.
After they ran from the Byers house from the whole shoot out they drive until they got to a junk yard.

Now they were burying the agent Harman guy. He bled out in the car before he could give them the phone number for Nina, whoever she is.

But that wasn’t what he was freaking out about, no he was freaking out about Will. It hadn’t even been ten minutes after Will left before bullets flew throughout the house.

The only thing he could grab while they were running was his bag and the painting Will gave him. Thankfully during the commotion the painting wasn’t ripped at all.

If the painting had ripped he doesn’t know what he would have done. Probably freak out more than he was now.

He was digging a hole for a dead guy who was laying in the back of the Argyle’s guys van, and all he could think about was Will.

He should have convinced him to stay, or at least try to convince them to let him go with him. He knew something felt off about it all, but he didn’t think this would happen.

He knew he was worrying a bunch, but he couldn’t even start to compare it to how Jonathan probably felt.

He looked worse than him. The whole ride to the junkyard he kept quiet with his head to the window. If you were to listen closely you could hear a muffled sob come from the passengers seat.

What could he do to help? He knows how close Will and Jonathan are. They’re brothers for gosh sake of course he would be so worried. But why does them being so close kind of make him feel jealous?

Why is he so worried about Will, and not as much El? I mean he’s worried about El, but not “worried” like he is with Will. I mean Will is his best friend of course he would be worried.

As long as he remembers he had been by his side. It might have all changed when Will moved to Lenora, but they have always been best friends. They would always be at each others houses having sleepovers or playing Dnd together.

So I think he has a reason to be worried. Sure he may have started to grow a little overprotective of Will, but that’s just what friends do, right?

It’s not like he thinks of Will differently than he does of Dustin and Lucas. He cares for them too, but why does he care about Will more? Why does he think of him more?

His soft looking pink lips. His bowl cut that he’s had since they met. His eyes that seem to hold the world. And especially his laugh. He could listen to him laugh for hours. His small freckles that show whenever the sun comes out and shine upon his face.

And his smile. His little crooked smile that he use to flash when he used to live in Hawkins. How he could look at that smile and never get bored. Oh and how could Mike forget about- No!

Mike stopped the thought spiraling through his mind. It’s wrong. That’s wrong you can’t think of him like that. You have a girlfriend, remember?! You don’t want to be seen as a fag now do you?

Mike mentally slapped his head as to try and shake out the thoughts, but for some reason they just stayed there. Pictures of Will flashed throughout his mind.

Thankfully for Mike a tap on his shoulder helped him shake them away temporarily.

“You alright?”, Jonathan asked Mike with a slight rasp in his voice. Must have been from his silent cries in the van.

“Yeah, I’m doing fine. Why do you ask?”

“Because you dug the hole to fit two people not one.”, Mike looked down at the hole and in fact he did dig that much.

He was so lost in thought he hadn’t been watching how much digging he had done. Guess he’ll have to put some dirt back before they put him in.

“Here I’ll help you.”, Jonathan bent down and grabbed an extra shovel. They started to scoop up the dirt they had thrown out and put almost half of the dirt back by the end of it.

But the awkward silence throughout them doing it didn’t help. Although Jonathan did speak once or twice before going silent once again.

“You know it’s not your fault.”, Mike stopped scooping up the dirt so he could look up at Jonathan.

“What?”, what was he talking about? What did he mean it wasn’t his fault?

“About Will. It’s not your fault about Will going. And I know you blame yourself as much as I do for letting him go on his own.”, Jonathan took in a deep breathe before continuing.

“I know I shouldn’t be this worried. I mean we don’t know if he has gotten in some sort of trouble or not. He could be out there talking to that Dr. Owens right now for all we know.”

“What I mean to say is, well, that we have to look on the bright side for right now. Will’s out there, hopefully safe. And we are here burying a dead guy. Right now we need to focus on finding this Nina person.”

“If we find Nina; we find El and Will.”, Mike had to agree with Jonathan. They didn’t know if Will was in any sort of trouble or not.

For right now they just have to hope for the best.

“Yeah.”, Mike agreed and once again he mentally slapped himself. Really Mike all you have to say is “yeah”? After that whole conversation?!

“Oh man,” Argyle grunts far off behind them from the van. Guess he’s not high anymore.

He approaches Mike and Jonathan as they start to lower the body into the hole and put dirt on top of the agents body.

“Okay. This is not how it’s supposed to go, okay?”, he screeches out loud.

“Oh man, oh man, oh man. This is so messed up! The dudes probably got a family and kids and all that shit.”

“We gotta tell the cops, we gotta lay it all on ‘em. The whole superpowered girlfriend, bad government dudes, the upside down demension planet thing!”, Mike and Jonathan immediately cut Argyle off with a resounding, “No!”.

However, he still continues his rant as he walks up to Mike and grabs his right shoulder.

“- maybe cops can help us find out where she is. Cause they’re gonna kill her man. And if they kill her, they’re gonna kill us.,” Mike actually considers it for a second, but he knows better than to go to the cops with all this. They just shit at them for heavens sake!

Thankfully, Jonathan tries to cut Argyle’s rant off again. Saving Mike from actually fully considering the option.

“Hey!”, he tries.

“Actually they might kill us before they kill her!”

“Argyle!”, Jonathan yells. Doesn’t work

“Don’t know what order they wanna go!”

“Listen to me! Hey!”

“Eeny meeny miny moe shoot her by her wanna go!”

“Argyle!”, he shouts one last time.

“What?!”, Mikes glad that’s over.

“Listen like I told Mike we can figure this out, okay? We just gotta open our minds.”

“Open our minds!”, there we go again, “That’s an open grave in front of me man!”, Mike sighs and continues to shovel the dirt on top of the agents body.

“You want me to open my mind?! What are you talking about?!”

“Listen. Hey, dude! Hey!”, Jonathan grabs Argyle by the shoulder and shakes him violently.

“Just relax okay?”, Jonathan says out of breath. “Why don’t you just go in the van, and do your thing, huh?”

“Purple Palm Tree Delight.”, Argyle nods.

“Right.”, Jonathan nods back while Argyle chuckles out an exhausted laugh.

“It’s all worn off.”

“Yeah it’s just all worn off.”, Jonathan agrees as Argyle turns and heads back to the van.

“I’m all emotional.”, he says in some what of a whisper. “I’m Sorry”. He breathes out heavily.

“You’re fine.”, Jonathan pats him on his back.

Mike looks at Jonathan and lifts his brow as if he was saying “really?”. Jonathan just waves it off as they finish up the very last bit of dirt.

After they finish Mike ventures off on top of the cars and sits down with a drink to cool off some. Jonathan however brings out a map to mark where they are at and try to figure out where we should go next.

Awhile after the silence fills the air Argyle comes back out of the truck with a pizza box and some type of wire.

He watches as he tears the box up and makes a cross with the cardboard. He wraps the middle of the crosses body with the wire and sticks in through a little hole in the pizza box.

“Hey does anybody know the dead dude’s name?”, Argyle blurts out loud catching Jonathan and Mikes full attention.

“What?”, Jonathan questions.

“The dead dude. I’m making him a headstone.”, he faces the cardboard towards them as to show them what he had made.

“You do realize we spent all morning “hiding” the body.”

“Well, I’ll just write, uh, ‘Here lies unknown hero agent man’. Yeah. Saved Argyle, Jonathan, and Mike from certain death.”, Mike smacks the front of his forehead.

“You.. you’re gonna write our names on the pizza box?”, Jonathan remarks.

“They’re pretty common names.”, Argyle goes back to the headstone to write on it.

Jonathan looks up to Mike and they just stare at each other with a questioning look.

He turns back to Argyle, “Okay, dude. Uh, do your thing I guess.”, he turns back to the map on the hood of the car. Whispering a “Jesus Christ”, to himself with a sigh.

As Argyle tried to write on the box Mike watched intently. He noticed the pen he was using was the same on the agent gave him. The unknown agent man gave him that exact pen that he was using to write on a cardboard pizza box headstone.

Why did he give him the pen before he died? In second thought, why did he give him a pen that didn’t work? Unless.

Mike hops off the top of the car and marches toward Argyle. Jonathan picks up on Mike behavior and walks with him towards Argyle as he snatches the pen out of his hand.

“Hey man, I’m using that.”

Mike turns the pen over and unscrews the tip. He turns it back over his hand and taps it. A small rolled up piece of paper falls out onto his palm.

“What is it?”, Jonathan asks. As Mike unrolls the paper a number comes into view.

“It’s the number. We’ve had it this whole time.”, he laughs. How could they be so stupid. They’ve had it this whole time and they didn’t even think to question why he gave them the pen!

“We’ve got his digits man?”

Mike hands it back to Jonathan and they head to the hood of the car where the map Jonathan was looking at was laid out.

“Here.”, Jonathan pointed at a road in the map. “There should be a pay phone somewhere along this road.”, he dragged his finger along the map and stopped at a marked part of the map. That must be where they’re at. Not too far.

“Guess this is where we start.”, Mike looks up and Jonathan and nods.

Jonathan fold sup the map and they walk towards the van. They shout for Argyle and hop into the van. Jonathan hopped into the drivers and Argyle in the passengers seat while Mike sat in the back.

“Hey man we just got here.”, Argyle complained.

“Sorry man, but we’ve gotta make a call to make.”, Jonathan starts the van and heads back onto the road.

“Ooo, are we gonna call some hot chicks?”, Argyle chuckles.

Jonathan looked up at the mirror with a raised brow to look at Mike as he shrugged. He focused back onto the road ahead and continued the drive.

Don’t worry El, Will, we’re coming for you. Wherever you guys may be.

———

Two days. Or that’s the time Will thinks passed by if he was going off of the meals they brought in and left at the door.

So far the only people who had some into the room were the people bringing in the food and that was it. He was also let out a few times to use the restroom, but each time a couple guards with guns accompanied him. But all in all nothing else had changed.

To pass the time he just kept repeating the lyrics of songs him and Jonathan both listen too. That’s all he could really do while he was in there. And surprisingly the man from before hadn’t come back yet to question him more.

One new thing Will did notice however was something he wished he never looked at. On the side of his hip in big numbers was a tattoo. It was written vertical and if you were to read it you would have to turn your head to the side.

On his side indicating he was as branded similar to El was the numbers 019. That’s why he felt a slight pain there when he first woke up. The tattoo was big, but it looked like they left room as if to put something else.

Does this mean they’ll test on him like what Mr. Brenner did to El? Will he be an experiment or an information tool?

Suddenly the door swings open. He snaps his head up from where he was laying on the bed to see two guys dressed up in black combat like outfits.

They both start heading for Will where he is sitting up on the bed. He jumps from the bed and tried to run to the back of the room away from the men, but he is grabbed before he could go anywhere.

Will struggled in the two guys’ arms. They were both way stronger than Will by a long shot. However that didn’t mean he wouldn’t go kicking and screaming. He would keep Jonathan’s promise he had made back at the house.

As they dragged him through the halls he thrashed as best as he could while watching his surroundings.

Everything was gray compared to the white room he was in. The walls seemed as though they were made of thick metal and the hard floor underneath them looks like you could get a concussion if you were to hit you head on it.

They passed by a bunch of rooms with a variety of different people in them. However other all had one or two things in common. They had people dressed in military attire and people dressed in white lab type coats.

As they passed they watched him with a slight look of curiosity and another look Will can’t quite put his finger on. Right now it wasn’t his main worry. His main worry was where are they taking him?

At that point he had stopped thrashing around and excepted being dragged. So he knows they’re not staring at him weird for that.

About what felt like ten minutes of them dragging him through the halls they come across two large white doors where two guards are stationed at. A large red light was at the top of the door indicating it was locked.

“019.”, the guard holding Will’s right arms says. The two guards at the door look at him then one of them swipes a card into the door.

The light above turns green and the two guards open and hold the door while the other two continue to drag him in.

In this hallway however the walls turned from a deep gray to a light gray. They passed by two rooms specifically that Will read the plaques on the doors. 021-D and 022-C.

“So there are others.”, he thought to himself. I’m not the only one here. Wouldn’t that have to mean they are experimenting on us?

They pass through another set of doors just like the one before, but this time someone was waiting for them.

“Glad to see you could join us Byers.”, he starts off.

“Just so you know”, he bent down towards Will’s face, “I told you this would happen if you didn’t cooperate.”, oh how Will really hates this guy.

“You would have done it anyway.”, Will snarls back to his face.

“Just like what you’re doing to those kids. Cause god forbid that some adults wanted to be part of your little experiment or whatever the hell is going on here.”, oh how the guy didn’t like that.

He stood up all the way and motioned for the two guards to him. They both stared at the man until he motioned again. This time they dropped him harshly to the floor.

The man grabbed his hair and yanked it upwards in a painfully fast motion. Will shouted in pain as it was pulled and grabbed onto the man’s arm to try and make him let go.

He pounded on the man’s arm as he was forward and through the now open doors. He kept dragging him by his hair until they were by a railing in an open room. Where he was dropped and the pain from being yanked stung.

He grabbed onto the rail and with tears in his eyes; Will looked up and his eyes widened in pure horror. There were glass tanks lining the room with different creatures from the Upside down. People in lab coats were walking around writing things down on clipboards and talking to each other.

There were a couple metal tables with some of the creatures strapped to it being cut opened and their organs being placed on metal trays.

Three large white containers with stairs going up the side leading to a door that led to who knows where. But there was something there that he feared the most.

The man grabbed Will by the chin and made him face him.

“This, o, one, nine is where you’ll join them. From now on you’re not William Byers do you hear me?”, when Will doesn’t reply he shakes his chin and squeezes harder.

“Do you hear me!”

“Yes.”, Will whimpers as more tears start to spark up.

“For now on, o, one, nine. You are part of Project FG. Your task, that you ‘will’ complete. Is talking to that thing.,” he points to the large glass tank in the mildly of the three white containers. Will follows his eyes. Now the tears were falling for real.

In the large glass tank was a black moving mass. Something Will wished to never see again. The Mind Flayer.

“And we know you can, and you will. We also want to see what else you can do. But first we’ll start with removing whatever you’re hiding in your neck.”, what? Will was confused. What was he talking about? Something in his neck? He doesn’t remember anything being placed in his neck.

“What? What do you mean?,” the man scoffed at him.

“Don’t play dumb kid. The chip in the back of your neck.”, he let go of Will’s chin and pointed it at the back of his neck.

Will put his hand over where he pointed. When did. No. He never got something implanted. At least not to his knowledge. Unless he got it when he was at the Hawkins Hospital when he was flayed.

“Flayed?”, the man questioned. Will’s thoughts yes widened. He must have said it out loud on accident, and the man could see that. He grinned with a mischievous grin that told him he had just messed up.

“This just keeps getting more and more interesting, now isn’t it.,” he cackled. Oh how he is starting to hate this guy even more than he already did.

“You know for a kid you’ve got an annoyingly smart mouth.”, the man retorts.

Will lightly hit his head into the railing. He really has to stop saying his thoughts out loud.

“I’m fifteen. I’m not a kid.”, Will snaps back.

“Fifteen is still a kid, but don’t worry you won’t be treated like a kid no more.”, with the way he said it Will could only image what he meant.

“Take him to his new room.”, the man called out to the two guards that were behind them. They were the same guards who had dragged him all the way here.

They approached him and the hooked their arms under his pulling him up and off of the ground. Will tried to yank his arm away but they held onto it in a deathly grip that was for sure going to leave a bruise.

They were l adding him out when the man spoke again.

“Oh and kid.”, Will didn’t turn to acknowledge him as he spoke.

“It’s Colonel Jack Sullivan. Not man or this guy.”, and with that he was dragged out once again. As the doors closed Will could have sworn he heard him say something about else.

This time he was led to a new room. Said room was located by the two rooms he had passed by earlier when he was dragged through.

His room was to the right of the room labeled 022-D. His was 019. Which didn’t make since when you looked at the numbers.

The only number missing was twenty. Was there someone originally here? And why was he given a lower number and a different letter? Why is there a letter on theirs but not his?

The two guards unlocked the door and pushed him into the room. When they locked the door he turned around kicked the door at the bottom as he banged on it.

“Let me out!”, he screamed, new tears arising. He bangs on the door until his palms starts to hurt. His tears finally drying.

He slides his back against the door and sits down on the ground and once again brings his knees to his chest.

He rests his head in his knees and looks around the room. The room is similar to the other one he was in. A metal desk along the wall nailed into the ground and a bed with just its frame and mattress.

In here however was multiple cameras in the room facing towards the door. A sink and toilet on the corner with a curtain, and a cabinet on the wall with a shelf.

On the shelf was a few books. Probably some type of military book or something if he had to guess.

The very last thing that was different was the color of the wall. Now the color of the wall was a dark grey fading into a lighter grey. It was almost black, but wasn’t at the same time.

Yeah he officially hates this room even more. He would rather take the other room than this.

As he sits there his thoughts start to spiral together. Everything starts bombarding him at once. What will they do to him? What did they mean he has a chip in his neck? Was this all a set up?

He gripa his hair and tucks further into his knees. It was all too much. So much had happened in such little amount of time. Too much information to comprehend all at the same time.

But as Will sits there he hears a small tapping sound. At first he thinks it’s the sink and ignores it, but a small whisper quickly caught his attention.

“Hey. You alright over there?”, a voice whispered through the wall.

“If you hear me just lean your head towards the door to talk. They don’t really think to into it.”, a slight pause followed.

“The names Farzan. Or Zander, but if you want to know my number it’s 022-D. Don’t ever call me it though.”, Will laughs. Yeah he wouldn’t want to be called a number either. El doesn’t really like it when people call her Eleven.

“What’s your name kid?”, Farzan asks.

“Will, Will Byers.”, Will replies.

“That’s a boring ass name.”, Farzan laughs. It echoes loudly through the wall. Do they not hear sound with the cameras?

“What do you mean my names boring? Sure it’s basic but it’s better than Farzan.”, he bites back with no real anger.

“Hey! Actually, you know what, I can’t disagree with you on that one.”, he chuckles.

“So where are you from?”, he asks.

“Lenora Hills.”

“Ooo you’re from Cali now? Any hot guys or gals there?”, he says in somewhat of a southern accent. Now that question confused Will. Not in a bad way, but the fact he said both guys and girls. Was he like him?

“Wha, what do you mean?”, he stuttered a little bit.

“Guys and gals, you know. Man and women. Boys and girls? Do you not refer to them in that way or somthin’?”, maybe he is like him. But why was he just throwing it out there? Doesn’t he know how he’ll be treated. Will sure knows and he hasn’t even told anyone.

Well Jonathan might know. He hasn’t said anything yet, but he might have a clue. Or maybe he doesn’t.

“No it’s just. You said both guys and girls, so does that mean, well, that you like both?”, he winces at the end of the sentence. If he was wrong then he may have made they only one that has actually kindly talk to him mad.

“Yeah both. Why you got a problem with me asking for both? You ain’t some type of homophobe now are you?”

“No!”, Will shouted back a little too loudly. He winced and slowly looked towards the camera in the corner of the room. Nothing.

No sounds from outside either also. With that he turned back towards the door to hide his face from the camera again.

“Sorry. No it’s just.”, how should he phrase this?, “Well, where I come from it’s not such a welcoming place. If you know what I mean?”, hopefully he understands it.

“So you’re from a homophobic town. Got it, but you still ain’t answering the question. You a homophobe or not?”, I thought him yelling ‘no’, was the answer?

“No I’m not. I’m also.”, he paused. Could he really say it out loud? Even thinking about it plagues his mind. The consequences of saying out loud how different he is.

How he could be shunned out of his home or even worse the town he lives in. The people he knows turning away from him and worse, Mike leaving him.

“So”, Farzan starts. “You like me in some way ain’t you? Don’t worry your secret is safe with me.”, he pauses. “What’s your name again?”

“Will.”, he responds back with a smile. Guess he isn’t alone.

“Will.”, he test on his tongue. “Yeah I’ma forget your name a bunch of times.”, he laughs. Will laughs with him. They laugh for a while and to be completely honest, Will already misses this. To laugh with someone.

He knows he’ll be missing a lot more as time will go by, but these little things may help it be more bearable.

“You know”, Will starts after they are done laughing. “I told you where I’m from, but you didn’t tell me where you’re from.”

“I’m from Hudson Valley.”

“New York?!”, and Will didn’t think the people in here with him would be from that far away. he thought the people in here with him would be from neighboring countries or towns. Not countries two thousand and something miles away!

“Yep. Me and Aife are both from New York. Although she’s from Long Island.”

“Aife?”, Will questioned. Was that the second person with them?

“Sorry I forgot to introduce you to Aife. We’ll I would, but she’s on the other side of my wall. So that wouldn’t work out.”, he fake coughed at the end of it.

“Anyways back to me living in New York.”, he started again. “All you really need to know about it to create your own picture of it is what it’s known for.”, he pauses before continuing.

“Let’s just say there’s this huge debate over gay and lesbian rights. There’s a bunch of places there that will accept you, and some that won’t.”, so that’s why he didn’t hesitate to ask the question. Will thought about him maybe being from somewhere more accepting than he was from. Must be nice living somewhere like that.

“But usually it’s pretty nice there. Unless you count the homicides and all that.”, okay maybe he takes that back.

“Yeah I’m not gonna ask any questions.”, Will slightly laughs.

“Yeah that may be for the best.”, Farzan laughs with him.

After a while their conversations started to slowly decrease as time passed by. Both of them growing tired.

“Hey Farzan?”, Will asks.

“Yeah Will?”

“Thanks. For talking to me.”

“Don’t worry Will I’ll always be here to talk with you. But I do have to say things may get worse here as days goes by.”, he pauses.

“The first few days are usually calm because they’re doing minor testing, but me and Aife have seen what the next test after that will be. And they’re not good.”,

Will knew that it wasn’t going to be fun or nice. El hated being tested on when she was back at the lab. Sometimes she would wake up from nightmares while they first moved to Lenora.

Most of the time she would walk to his room and ask him if she could sleep with him. Will never turned her down and if she ever had anymore in the future he will always be there to comfort her.

However now it may be harder to do that with him here and her god knows where.

“Yeah. I saw it. It’s the big white container things correct?”

“Yeah. But hey. You’ve got me and Aife to back you up. Even if they most likely will make sure we never see each other.”, he laughs a little bit to try and lighten the mood.

“Thanks Farzan.”

“Zander.”, he corrects. “Call me Zander. My friends usually call me Zander.”

Will smiles. Even if Far- Zander and the mysterious Aife are stuck here with him. He might as well be friends with them. Besides if Aife is anything like Zander, he thinks he might like her also.

“Hey Will?”, Zander asks.

“Yeah?”

“Is it alright if I call you Byers?”, now that was a little weird.

“Sure, why?”

“Just feels right.”

“Yeah. Yeah you can call me Byers.”

“Well then Byers, guess it’s time to go to bed. Who knows what will happen tomorrow, good or bad.”, sounds of shuffling echo through the room beside him.

“Yeah, good night Zander.”

“Night Byers”

And with that he is left alone once again with his thoughts. Zander has a point. They don’t know what tomorrow will bring, good or bad. But if Will knows one thing for sure. Is that he isn’t going to like it.

———

The next morning Will is woken up to yelling coming from inside the other room. He scrambles off his bed and heads to the wall. As he places his ear against it he hears Zander yelling at someone.

The yelling is muffled so Will can’t hear what he is saying. The yelling gets quieter meaning he must be being taken somewhere. But as the yelling gets softer; footsteps get louder. They were heading straight for his door.

Will scrambles away from the wall and stands up. He watches as the door opens and two guards come in.

“Are you going to come easily or will we have to drag you?”, one of the guards asked.

Will clenches his fist and sighs. He knows if he fights he will just get thrown to the ground and dragged off. But he also knows if he doesn’t fight then it makes him look like he gave up.

But ultimately Will picks the ‘not getting thrown to the ground’, option. He lets the guard lead him out of the room with their hand around his biceps.

They walk into the same direction they handled him the other day. The room full of containers and tubes.

As they walk him in and down the stairs to the right of the bars. Will sees three sets of chairs lined up next to each other.

There were two sets of guards around the chairs with their guns out and ready. In two of the chairs however, were two kids.

On the far left was a girl with long brown hair that seemed to reach to her elbows. She had a slight build and she looked pissed.

On her right was a boy with blond hair that was messily swept to the side. It seemed he had been in a scuffle with the amount of new bruises along the side of his face and arms.

He must have been fighting with the guards a lot to look like that. Was he the one he had heard this morning? If so then that means he must be Zander.

His thoughts were temporarily put aside as he was shoved in the chair to the right of the boy.

He looked at Will with a look of confusion until his face lit up with a look of hope. He smiled at Will and then turned towards the girl to his left. He tapped her leg with his foot until she turned towards him.

He leaned his head back so she could see Will. Her face also held a questioning look, but unlike the boy she had a look of pity on her face as she realized he was probably there for the same reason they were there.

She also corked a small smile onto her face. Maybe it was to show him she was nice or to try and reassure him. It helped Will a little, but the pit in his stomach wasn’t going to settle anytime soon.

And this Colonel guy wasn’t going to help it anytime soon. As they sit there in silence Will takes his time to get a better look at the room they were in.

Since he was now on the ground floor he could see the tanks better. Each tank held some creature from the upside down. They were submerged in redfish liquid and seemed to be either dead or in some type of stasis.

Some tanks had what looked like sticky notes stuck on them with stuff written on them, reminders, warnings, who knew. Will for sure didn’t want to know.

A loud clang echoed through the room catching the attention of everyone. People paused what they were doing to see who had entered so abruptly. As the sound of leather boots hit the floor getting louder with every step the only thing Will could think about was how fucked they were. He knew exactly who it was.

Will and the other two kids beside him stayed facing forward until the Colonel entered their line of sight stopping in his tracks right in front of him. He had a look of disgust that looked like it could be carved into a pumpkin for Halloween. Such disgust and anger made him look like he was looking at some serial killers and not three kids.

He slipped off his black leather gloves and shoved them into his pockets before speaking. “From here on, you three will be our soldiers.”, ‘Okay, straight to the point.’, “Something is coming. Something we can’t fight with our fists and guns by themselves. We may have the firepower to withstand this, however, you three are a piece in this game that can change our 30 percent to a 100 percent.”

Will looked down at his lap to try and contemplate on what he had just said. Pieces, game, firepower? He wanted soldiers not experiments. Not kids who were apparently “different”. They were there to be taught how to be weapons.

Will’s breathing sped up slowly with every new thought. Weapons. Weapons. They were to be weapons. A harsh cough cough startled Will out of his thinking.

Will looked up at the Colonel. He looked like he was losing his patience. “As I was saying”, he continued, “ you three will be the ones to take down this evil. You three will be put in training for your “different skills.”, he sneered.

“There will be some short tests you will undergo but you will mostly be in training. You however”, he pointed at Will, “will go under quite a few more test. We need to know what you can do exactly.”

With that said he motioned one of the guards over. The guard marched over and lent the Colonel his ear. As he whispered the guard kept glancing over at them.

At one point his eyes widened in shock but he quickly changed it to hide it. It was too late, they had already seen it.

Will casted there other two a fearful look. The boy- Zander looks at Will and mouth’s something that he can’t quite interpret. It looked like he mouthed “we are in this together” or something like that.

When the Colonel was finished the guard hastily paced back to his spot. He looked to the other guards and waited a few seconds before nodding.

In a snap all six of the guards leaped forward and held down the three of them. Aife screamed for them to let go as Zander scratched and bit at the arms holding him.

Will tried to yank their arms off but their grip was made of iron. The two guards holding him looked up at the Colonel waiting for some type of signal.

When he nodded the guards yanked him out of the chair and began to drag him away. Will dig his heels into the ground but the two guards were to strong.

“Will!”, Zander yelled as he fought the two holding him down. He tried to leave get up from the chair he was being forcefully pushed into, but he couldn’t move an inch.

Will watched as the two guards holding him down pull him up and to the ground knocking the wind out of him.

He tried to get up but one of them puts their knees to his chest pinning him to the floor.

Will shouts for them to stop but he is helpless. The door closes and there isn’t anything he can do now.

Will is dragged to a new area he hadn’t seen yet. Will tried to memorize the layout as he went hoping it would help him if he ever got a chance to escape.

Which was now seeming less likely every passing minute and conversation that, that Colonel guy keeps showing up to.

He is dragged right of his room doors and left of the room with the tanks in it. They pass a new section of rooms with new labels of letters and numbers; FF-1, FW-2, DR-3.

Each door looks slightly different from the other. Some were looked to be made of a solid dark and scorched metal while others looked to be made of iron or steel.

Will hoped that those doors weren’t for them. How Will will soon see how he hoped wrong.

Soon the two guards stopped in their tracks in front of another hallway. This one was dark and eerie. The smell of chemicals and what seemed like hydrogen peroxide.

The smell burned his nose as he just struggled there. They weren’t moving anywhere; they stayed in that spot, right there, waiting. As each passing second went on Will’s stomach dropped more and more.

The smell of hydrogen started to get closer and closer until the sound of boots started to echo down the hallway. A shadow of four men in white scrubs appeared before them.

As they approached them a cold chill ran throughout his body. The hairs on his neck stood up and he was frozen.

He could feel a slight tremble vibrate through his arms and to his body, but they weren’t his. Will looked up to the two men holding him. Both of the men were struck with fear. Their eyes and body betraying their tough man look.

The violent shaking was coming from them, they were scared. Whoever these people were, whatever they do must not lead to anything good.

With each step the shaking never ceased its rhythm, with each step the grip on his forearms righted just a tiny bit, with each step a minute was added, a long painstakingly footsteps on solid floor was added.

As the men got closer a faint whisper reached his ear. It was repetitive and quiet as if the barer of the voice didn’t want anyone far away hear it.

“I’m sorry”, it said repeatedly, “I’m so sorry about this”. The voice tingled his left ear as who Will knew was the guard on his left spoke. Not even a few seconds after the guard on his right joined in.

“Four”, the guard repeated, over and over again, one after another. What does he mean by four? Was it some type of sign for him, or was it just something personal to the guard to help him calm down?

Right now however he couldn’t worry about that. What he had to worry about was the four men that were now a few feet in front of them.

The guards stopped their muttering and straightened their backs. They stood like statues with their heads held high in a show of what would be seen as respect, but what Will could see as fear.

With the four men closer he could take in their full appearances, boring. They all just wore simple white coats with blue and black scrubs with light blue name tags. Just regular people you would see at a regular hospital and faces you could see walk past you at the supermarket. Nothing special.

“This the kid?”, one of the four men huffed. The guard on his right nodded and stretched out my arm towards the people.

One of the men at the back of the group came forward and grabbed my arm yanking it towards him, but I didn’t go forward much with the other guard holding on. The guy at the front of the group looked up at the guard still holding on to my arm.

“Is there a problem?”, his head tilted as he clicked his tongue.

“N-no, no problem at all, sir.”, stuttered the guard.

He continued to stare at the grip the guard had on Will’s arm, as if willing for him to continue.

But the guard let go of his grip on Will and Will was tugged forward into the group of men in coats. As they pulled him away; Will watched as the two guards stood there and got further and further away.

A sad smile plastered on their faces, but only if you were really looking. As the doors closed around Will all he could think about was what lied in store for him now.