章節 30: 30. Check up (Hopper, Mike and El)
A/N: Hey... That was a tired hey because I just got home and wow second day of school and this semester is already kicking my ass. This is for IDon'tKnowHer who wanted Hopper checking in on Mike. I hope you all enjoy it! BTW, holy cow, I did not expet last chapter's massive response lol. Okay, so the majority of you want no baby, so I'll go with that. But do not fret my 'yes baby pls' followers, I want to write that version too, so it'll be like an AU chapter. Be patient for those two! I've been giving you guys so much angst... and guess what? This chapter is the same!
PROMPT: Hopper pays Mike a visit to check up on him after El visits him in the Void while she's still in hiding.
The minute he entered the cabin and saw her eyes shine with tears, he knew she had visited him again.
He sighed deeply, putting his hat on the coat hanger behind the door, and walked to her as she sniffled, the static sound of the TV mixing with his heavy footsteps.
"How's he?" Was the first thing he asked her as he sat down on the couch behind her.
She kept sniffing, wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her (his) flannel shirt, and then she turned those doe eyes he was realizing he was a sucker for on him.
"Sad," She mumbled with quivering lips. "In the basement. Talks to me."
"He's still doing that?" He asked as he leaned back with a quirk of his eyebrow.
She nodded. "Misses me."
"Yeah, I know." He sighed as his head rolled back to rest on the back of the couch, his eyes closing in tiredness.
It wasn't the first time El tried to (kind of) bribe him into letting her out. She always seemed to know which topics or which people to bring up so he knew how much she was missed. His grinch heart tightened every time she sadly pleaded him to let her out, but if he wanted to keep her safe (and he did), he had to suck it up and not fall for those puppy eyes.
"When?" She whispered cautiously.
That was a tough question.
"Soon," he responded, sighing heavily as he scratched his balding head. "Soon, I promise."
Her eyes brightened up and she sat up straighter in the floor; his heart tugged when a hopeful smile began stretching her lips, and then she stood up to join him on the couch.
"Check?" She asked, folding her legs Indian style as she sat down next to him.
"You want me to check up on him?" He asked for confirmation, and when she nodded hastily, he knew it was the least thing he could do. "Okay, kid. I'll check on him tomorrow."
.
.
.
Ted Wheeler was an idiot.
A stupid, foolish, gullible, boring, but (thank fuck) patriotic idiot.
Say anything about 'this is for the country', and the man will have his hand on his forehead faster than you can say America.
Although the man was pretty much useless, it made Hopper's job easier when he came to check up on Mike.
"Say no more, Hopper, come in," Ted said as he lowered his hand from his salute and closed the door behind him. "He's in the basement."
As much as he was easy to fool, Karen Wheeler was the opposite.
"Oh, hey, Hop," she smiled when she saw him. "What are you doing here?"
"Routine check." He smiled blandly, trying to make this quick.
"Oh," her smile dimmed, and her eyes sharpened as she understood what he was doing in her house. "You want to see Mike again?"
"Yeah, you know how it is with these things," he tried playing it cool, acting as the broody Chief who wanted this to be over. "Need to keep an eye out for them."
Since the first time he came to the Wheeler house, his story had been that the bigger fishes in the city had been concerned about the safety and after state of the people affected by Will Byers' pseudo death. Karen had been suspicious ("Since when does the government care about these kids?" She had asked skeptically. "Karen," Ted had interrupted her with a frown on his wrinkled face. "They always have been concerned about the kids. They're the new generation; someday they will be serving for this country like they do. The government knows that and they show it by keeping an eye on them now. Isn't that right, Chief?" He had turned to him with a salute and Hopper was tempted to break his hand off if he did it again), but he had won her over with his over-it-already mood.
"Alright," she smiled again, but it didn't reach her eyes anymore. "You can go on, I guess. He's down there. He never leaves the basement now." She laughed softly, but he could see some of her concern bleed through her nonchalant attitude.
"Thanks." He nodded, and then he was walking past her, through the white door and then down the stairs.
His eyes fell on the dark blob of hair on the couch, and then Mike Wheeler's face appeared underneath that raven hair.
"Chief?" He asked curiously.
"Hey, kid," He greeted awkwardly. "How are you?"
"Is this another therapy session?" Mike huffed as he lay down on the couch again, going back to fiddle with his Supercom. "Because if that's what you're here for, then you can save it."
Hopper rolled his eyes, walking through the basement, touching knick knacks and old stuffed toys to buy himself some time.
The parents he could deal with. A few big words and some imposing threats, and he was done; but Mike was a kid. And once he saw the near-depressed boy, his I'm-the-Chief-and-you-need-to-listen attitude washed away. Here, he needed to be patient and understating, not pushing too hard but not letting him go easily. He needed to act as if he was dealing with El; only the girl made this easier because she actually lived with him, and trusted him implicitly. This kid barely knew him, and the few times they actually interacted were the ones where monsters were out in the world and little Will was talking through the lights.
"I know," he began, sighing heavily as he inspected a fluffy pink bunny. "That you don't want to talk about it, but I need to report back to—"
"Then you can tell them that I'm fine. Everything is fine," Mike exclaimed grumpily. "Everything is fucking daisies and rainbows, and nobody is suffering and everyone is fucking happy."
"Hey," Hopper frowned as he finally turned towards him. "What's wrong?" That always did the trick.
"What's wrong?" Mike laughed sarcastically, sitting up. "What's wrong?! Nothing's wrong! No," he laughed again, but Hopper knew there was nothing funny in it. "Nothing's wrong here."
"Kid," he sighed deeply again (he seemed to be doing that a lot), sitting down in the space his legs had vacated. He threw a pointed glance to the floor above them, and then around the basement, gesturing to the empty (save from them) room. "You can talk."
Mike looked up at him with narrowed eyes, a big scowl in his face, but then he actually saw him crumble. His shoulders sagged, his face unpinched, and then his shaggy hair was hiding his features as he lowered his head.
"It's hard," He admitted in a quiet voice. "Everything is back to normal. Everyone's back to normal, except me," Mike leaned back, rising his head and looking deep in thought. "Don't get me wrong, I'm really happy that Will is back. All of us are. But sometimes I feel like nothing ever happened," His hands gripped his knees and he swallowed drily. "Everyone brushes it aside. Dustin and Lucas keep on as if they didn't see that... thing in school. The only time they actually talk about it, it's when Will's mom picks him up to take him to the Doctor's. Nancy… I tried reaching out to her, but she only said no and now she locks herself in her room all the time." He shrugged, and Hopper could see him hurting over it.
"Teenagers," Hopper sighed. "Your sister's just… confused."
"No," Mike frowned. "She's just an asshole. She's always just snuggling up to Steve Harrington, pretending everything's fine and nothing even remotely weird tainted her perfect little life."
He spoke in such a harsh tone that Hopper actually inched away from him. "Maybe she's dealing with it in a different way."
"She's not dealing with it! Nobody is!" Mike snapped, standing up to pace in front of him, "Everyone moved on as if we didn't fight a fucking monster! As if those bastards didn't put Will's fake body in a casket—"
"Hey!" Hopper butted in, hissing angrily. "Keep your voice down."
"As if she didn't happen!"
There it was.
Mike fell quiet, swallowing again as he turned around with his hands in his hair, his back to Hopper. The Chief worried his hat in his hands, waiting for the growing pre-teen in front of him to pull himself together a little, like he always did when he came here.
"It's so hard," the words came out shaking, his developing voice making them break as he turned around with tears in his eyes, and Hopper scooted forward when he caught sight of the brightness in his dark orbs. "Pretending she wasn't here for that week. I have to pretend that I'm sick, or that I'm just not in the mood when my mom asks 'what's wrong' over and over, because I can't tell her. I have to pretend to be fine, even if I'm not, and I'm so sick of it, and I miss her!"
He suspected Michael didn't want him to see him cry, so he turned around again when the first tear fell, and Hopper had that paternal instinct that was resurfacing again (thanks to her) to hug the boy; to hold him and sooth his aching little heart; to let him get it all out, to tell him it was fine, she's alive, and she'll come out soon, and I'll make it easy on you, kid.
But he couldn't.
He couldn't because her safety was more important. He was learning that she was rapidly becoming the priority in his decisions, in his thoughts, and in his life. Because even though he felt sorry for Mike Wheeler, she came first.
So he settled for clearing his throat, watching as Mike looked longingly at the blanket fort in the corner. "I know this is hard, kid. But you need to understand that everyone has a different coping mechanism. Maybe Dustin and Luke—"
"Lucas." Mike interrupted, looking back at him with shiny eyes. He walked over and sat down next to him again.
"Dustin and Lucas," Hopper repeated with a roll of his eyes. "Are so traumatized by what happened that they just want to move on from it. Your sister lost a friend, too. Have you thought of that?"
Mike looked at him with what was looking like a guilty expression, but then his gaze hardened, and he lowered his eyes back to the buttons on his Supercom.
"Why don't you just…" Hopper sighed, eyes to the ceiling as he listened to the footsteps above them. "Try focusing on the good things. Focus on Will, and how he's alive; how all of you are alive. Don't dwell on the bad things, okay, kid?" That was what he'd done after everything with Sara happened. Of course, he didn't really follow his own advice, so he hoped Wheeler was actually smarter than him.
Mike said nothing, only tweaking the antenna of his walkie-talkie, and Hopper knew their conversation was over. He sighed heavily, standing up as he put his hat on his head again.
"Think it over, Mike." He placed a heavy hand on the boy's shoulder in goodbye, but again, the kid kept himself muted.
He sighed again, walking to the stairs, and when he was in the middle of them, he looked back at the kid. "As for her…"
Mike looked up with wide eyes, Supercom forgotten in his lap and Hopper contained himself from spilling the beans at the kid's hopeful look.
(Don't fall for the puppy eyes)
"She's in a better place now, Mike."
He resumed his walk, leaving him alone in the basement, watery eyes and quibbling lips on his mind.
A few months from that day, Mike Wheeler would try to pummel him as he screamed his throat raw. Betrayal and hurt and you hid her from me, and you piece of shit, and different coping mechanisms, and how many talks did you lie to my face?! But for now, Hopper said goodbye to the Wheelers, got inside his cruiser, and made his way back to the cabin. There was a little girl waiting for him that needed to still be protected; even if the boy who gave her a home for the first time had to be the one to pay the price.
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