Chapter Text
“Suzie! This is Dustin. Do you copy? Over.”
Silence fell over the hill in the middle of the woods once again, returning it to its usual state of peace. The woods hadn’t heard this much noise in one place since nearly two years ago, and only once, when it had been overrun by search parties hunting a missing boy.
But that was two years ago and a distant memory to the quiet town. Now, it was July 1st and the blazing heat of summer was finally waning with the daylight. Night fell on Hawkins, and silence with it. Or, it would, except–
“Suzie, this is your Dustin. Do you copy? Over.”
Night fell on Hawkins, and silence with–
“Suzie–”
“Dustin, come on, she’s not here.”
Dustin turned to Max, ignoring the annoyance radiating from her in waves. “She’s there, alright? She’ll pick up.”
Will sat up from where he had been laying in the grass, watching the stars. “Maybe Cerebro doesn’t work.”
“Or, maybe, Suzie doesn’t exist.” Lucas sat up as well, crossing his arms.
Dustin rounded on his friend, “She exists!”
“She’s a genius and she’s hotter than Phoebe Cates? No girl is that perfect.” Lucas retorted.
Max swiveled to face her boyfriend. “Is that so?”
Lucas stuttered. “I mean– you’re perfect. I mean, like, per– perfect in our own way– in your special– in your own special way.” His words died out. Seemingly resigned and at terms with the failure, he flashed her an apologetic grin.
Max broke into a smile, unable to force him to suffer anymore. “Relax, I was teasing. I’m obviously perfect and Dustin is obviously lying.” She stood and pulled Lucas up with her. “Come on, Don Juan.”
Dustin watched them begin the trek back down the hill, hand in hand, away from Cerebro and him. “Where are you going?”
“Home!” Max called back. She continued on, not looking back.
Lucas dragged behind her, shouting to the pair. “See you at Mike’s?”
“Yeah, I’ll be right behind you! Meet you there soon!” Will yelled in response.
Lucas threw a thumbs up in the air and continued stumbling after Max.
Annoyed, Dustin turned to Will. “Mike’s?”
“Yeah, the welcome home sleepover?” Will said. He waited for recognition to cross Dustin’s face but found nothing. He sighed. “Mike didn’t tell you? It’s for you!”
Dustin rolled his eyes to look up at the sky. “Couldn’t even be bothered to invite me to my own sleepover.” After a moment, his face flashed determination and he crossed his arms. “Well, fine. Their loss. It’s just you and me, Byers.”
Will offered him a small smile, laying back down in the grass. “Maybe she just hasn’t had a chance to set up her radio tower?”
“She doesn’t need one. Cerebro can send messages that far and receive them from this far.” Dustin took his seat by Will, his back to the speaker.
Lifting himself on his elbows, Will suggested, “Maybe her drive was farther than yours. I mean, it only needed to be a few hours longer for her to still be on the road.”
“No, she lived closer to the camp than I did.”
“Well… maybe she broke down?”
“What?”
“Like her car. Maybe they broke down.”
“Is that supposed to be reassuring? No, she didn’t break down, that’s…” Dustin trailed off. With a sigh, he turned back to his friend. “You believe me, right? You believe Suzie’s real?”
“Yeah, of course.”
Dustin rested his chin in his hands with a grunt of appreciation and began to stare at the dark woods surrounding them. His mind wandered off to two years before, a little boy missing in the trees, pursued by a faceless monster…
“Hey, Will?”
“Yeah?”
“You can go home, y’know. It’s getting late, and—”
“I’m not going to leave you here all alone.” Will said pointedly.
“You sure?”
“Positive.”
Dustin smiled. “Thanks.”
“‘Course. What are friends for, anyway?”
The pair shared a smile. Maybe that summer wouldn’t be so bad after all? Even if–
A sudden burst of static and sound made them jump, spinning to face the noise. On seeing nothing– no monster or mad scientist or mouth-breathing bullies– they realized there was only one possible source: the radio.
In his excitement, Dustin tripped over it and landed with a dull thud.
“Is it her? Is it?” Will knelt next to him, wide-eyed.
“Suzie? Suzie, is that you?” He ignored Will’s question in favor of the radio, but received no response for his efforts.
Instead, a deep, grumbling voice crackled through the speakers. The two shared bewildered glances before turning their attention back to the garbled broadcast.
After a moment, Will hesitantly shook his head. “I’m assuming that’s not Suzie.”
“No! She’s not a middle-aged Russian man, Will.”
“Wait, Russian? Do you think that’s what that is?”
Dustin shrugged. “I don’t know, that’s what it sounds like.” When Will didn’t answer, he prodded, “Remember last year when Mr. Wheeler got super paranoid that there were terrorists squatting in the house next door, but it was just that Russian transfer student arguing with his mom on the phone?”
“Yeah…”
“Didn’t he sound kinda like that? Just… younger?”
“Yeah… but, Dustin. Why is it in Russian?”
The two shared a frown. Will scratched the back of his neck and suggested sheepishly, “Uh. Maybe the exchange student grew up?” When he received nothing but a glare in response, he raised his hands defensively. “Well, I don’t know! I’ve never intercepted a Russian broadcast!”
“We need to record it! We need documentation of this discovery!”
Dustin fumbled for his backpack, digging for a tape recorder. Will watched silently.
After recording until it seemed the message had begun to repeat, the pair decided to call it a night. Walking down the hill side by side, Dustin finally broke the comfortable silence.
“What if Mr. Wheeler was right?”
Will snorted. “What, you think one of Mike’s neighbors is a Russian terrorist?”
“No! I’m just trying to think why they would send a message here . They wouldn’t send a message in Russian to Hawkins unless someone was here to hear it, right? What if… Hawkin’s neighbors are Russian terrorists…?” Dustin wiggled his fingers conspiratorially.
Will sighed, resigned. “Wouldn’t be the weirdest thing for us to accidentally get involved in.”
“Exactly!” He cheered. “Hey, isn’t it funny that as soon as they all leave to do boring normal stuff, we intercept a secret Russian message? They’re gonna be so jealous!”
The pair shared a laugh, adjusting their backpack straps and settling back into silence.
This time Will spoke up.
“I’m sorry today wasn’t what you expected. I didn’t think that everyone would… well…”
“Not care?” Dustin smiled, but it quickly faded at Will’s knowing look.
“They care.”
A raised eyebrow. “Well, I know you do. You’re here .”
“I don’t think they meant to be like that, I mean-– it’s been like this all summer.”
“Sneaking off to suck face is one thing. I haven’t seen them in a month! They could take a break for one day. Have they been leaving you behind this whole time? To go make out, or whatever?”
“It’s not like I want them to take me with them. I don’t need any more reasons to bleach my eyes.”
Dustin shook his head. “So you’ve spent the last month alone.”
“They were there sometimes—“
“If they’ve been acting like that the whole month then you might as well have.” Dustin threw an arm around Will’s shoulder and pulled him closer. “And I just spent the last, like, four hours obsessing over my girlfriend just like them. I doubt that’s what you hoped for when you thought your only other friend was coming home soon.”
“It’s fine, Dustin, really. I had fun. And anyway, now we have this secret Russian message to crack.”
“Yeah. That’ll keep us busy.” He grinned a toothy grin, then added, “Hey, can we stop at mine first? I need to grab some things before we go to Mike’s. And you can let your mom know where you are.”
Will agreed easily.
They talked the whole way to Dustin’s, who watched Will dial home from where he slumped against the wall.
“Hey– oh! Hi, Jonathan. Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you up.” Will paused for a moment, listening. “No, I know… Not a bother, I know, I know. Is mom there? …She’s still working?”
Dustin started dozing quietly, head drooping to his shoulder.
“…No, I’m okay. I just wanted to let you know I’m staying at Mike’s house tonight. I’m kind of planning to be there for the next few days, is that cool?”
Seemingly satisfied with the response, he grinned and answered, “Okay, Jonathan. I love you, too.” He laughed at whatever his brother had added and huffed, “ I’ll be safe! …Maybe you should worry about being safe. I know you and Nancy have the house to yourselves.” He hung up with a giggle before his brother could respond.
Will turned around-– only to be met with quiet snores coming from a heap of a boy on the ground. He snorted and knelt down to shake his friend awake. Dustin jumped and yelped, looking around before his eyes settled on Will. “Oh, hi. Ready to go?” He rubbed his eyes in an attempt to wake up.
Will shook his head with a disbelieving smile. “You don’t look like you even have the energy to bike down the driveway, forget Mike’s house.”
“I’m just so tired.” Dustin groaned.
Will rolled his eyes. “So go to bed. We’ll work on the message tomorrow.”
Despite his sleepy state, Dustin recoiled. “You’re still gonna go to Mike’s?”
“I already told Jonathan that’s where I’m going.” Will stated with a shrug.
“Well, I don’t want you to bike there alone. You don’t exactly have a good track record.” Dustin ignored Will’s raised eyebrows and suggested: “Sleepover here?”
Though he hated being babied, Will knew all the coddling was just his friends’ way of showing they cared. Even before the whole Upside-Down Ordeal, they protected him— whether he needed them to or not. And they did their best to be casual about it to satisfy an illusion of independence, but Will appreciated it either way. When he put his pride aside, he knew his friends didn’t think him weak or incapable– they just wanted him to be safe.
“Sleepover.” Will smiled.
“Do you need to call home again? Let them know the change of plans?”
Will thought carefully and answered, “I mean, it’s not much of a difference. And I’m pretty sure Jonathan is busy now…”
“Alright!” Dustin got to his feet, cheery in his delirium. “We’ll work on the message tomorrow. Ooh, you know who could help us?”
“Who?”
“Steve!”
“You really think he could help us?”
“Well… I don’t know, but I haven’t seen him in a month!” Dustin whined.
Will rolled his eyes fondly, following Dustin to his bedroom. “We’ll see him first thing tomorrow, sound good? And then Steve ‘The Hair’ Harrington can save the day and solve the mystery of the evil Russian transfer student.”
The two giggled at each other, bumping shoulders as they fell side by side into Dustin’s bed. They tumbled under the covers without bothering to change into pajamas. The light switched off, and the pair settled into the quiet calm of the soft sheets and soothing darkness.
Dustin suddenly shuffled to face Will and poked his side. “Hey. We’re the only two left in the Party without dates.” He clicked his tongue at the look he (rightly) assumed Will was making and corrected, “Without dates who we can actually see and ignore our friends for.”
Will raised an eyebrow at his friend's antics, then dropped his eyes to where he knew Dustin had reached a hand out towards him.
“This summer, we stick together. You and me, Byers.”
Will grinned, taking Dustin’s hand and shaking it. “You and me, Henderson.”
They settled back into the quiet and slept easily, side by side.