Time After Time (a Stranger Things fanfiction)

The Bargain Store

"The Bargain Store"

Love is all you need to purchase all the merchandise

And you can easily afford the price

- Dolly Parton

The bar was nice and quiet when Hopper walked in, just the way he liked it. Everything back to normal, no more freaky things happening in the dead of night, no more kids disappearing—or reappearing. As far as Hopper was concerned, things could stay this way from now on.

And the man at the table in front of him was, he hoped, going to be responsible for making sure that they did. Doc Owens looked pretty good for a man who had been mauled by a mythical beast and left for dead a month ago.

He smiled as Hopper shed his jacket and slid into the booth across from him. "Chiefo."

"How's the leg?"

"Better. Pretty sure my football career's over."

Hopper chuckled. He always had liked this guy, suspecting that underneath the lab coat was someone who just wanted to be left alone to go fishing.

Owens pushed his plate across the table toward Hopper. "Hey, you want some of this? There's no way I'm going to finish it."

Reuben sandwich. It looked really good. But Hopper waved it away. "No, I'm, uh, on a diet." When Joyce got over Bob, as someday she surely would, Hopper intended to be there and be ready, be the man she deserved.

"Well, you're a better man than me," Owens observed. "Hey. I have something for you." He reached into the bag next to him, took out a plain white envelope, and slid it across the table to Hopper.

Opening it, he found a birth certificate ... for Jane Hopper. His girl now, officially, one hundred percent. He hadn't expected this. Not at all.

"Congratulations, Pops."

Hopper looked across the table in confusion. "I thought ..."

"Sometimes I impress even myself."

Hopper was damned impressed. He wouldn't have thought Owens had that much juice, or the willingness to use it.

"Still," Owens continued, "I'd let things cool off for a while if I were you."

"How long's 'a while'?"

"You want to be safe? I'd give it a year."

"A year?" El was going to go out of her mind waiting another year before she could get out of the cabin. Forgetting his resolve, Hopper picked up half of Owens' sandwich and took a big bite. It tasted as good as it looked. Helped him think things through a little, remember some things he had heard mention of. "What about one night out?"

"One night?"

"Yeah. How risky would that be?"

"What's so important about one night?"

"Doc. You ever been a teenage girl?"

Owens gave a small laugh. "Can't say as I have, no ... but I get your point. Give her a night. Make it a good one. And then keep your heads down."

"What if there are ... problems?"

"Problems? What kind of problems?"

"Any kind of problems. Lasting effects on the other kid, for example, or ... anything else."

"I'll give you a number. Call it only in emergencies. And Chief?"

"Yeah?"

"Take care of her."

"I intend to."

After he had finished off his half of the doc's sandwich, Hopper took his leave, hoping he would never have to see the guy again, but grateful for everything he'd done for them. He drove to the cabin, where a small restless person was pacing the porch.

She watched him as he approached, those big expressive eyes fixed on him.

"I've got something for you," he told her, reaching into his jacket pocket and taking out the envelope. He watched her open it, reading the words.

"Jane Hopper."

"Yeah. You're my girl now. That okay?"

She smiled. "Yeah. It's okay." Tucking the paper back into the envelope, she returned it to him for safe-keeping. "Can I go see Mike?"

Hopper really didn't want to tell her this part, but he had promised, no more secrets, no more lies. "Not yet. Owens thinks for your own safety we need to keep you out of sight for a while longer."

"How long is a while?"

"A year."

Her face paled dramatically, her hands clenching at her sides, her eloquent eyes staring at him in dismay.

"Okay, it sucks. Yeah. No question. All right? I'm not going to pretend it doesn't. But it won't have to be like last time."

Those eyes stayed fixed on him, dark with suspicion.

"We can work out something where you can see Mike—probably here, where it's safest—and sometimes the others, too, okay?"

"Joyce?"

It made him happy that she liked Joyce so much. "Yeah. Her house is almost as safe as this one. We can go there sometimes."

Hopper was glad to see some easing of the tension in Eleven's shoulders.

"I did manage one concession."

"Concession?" she repeated.

"A concession is a loosening of the rules, as a favor. I think I heard that a little event is coming up, something called ... a Snow Ball." He grinned as Eleven's face brightened appreciably.

"I can go?"

"You can go. I tell you what. Let's make it a surprise. We'll get Joyce to find you a dress, and help you get ready, but we won't tell the other kids, just let you walk in. Think about Mike's face when he sees you there. That sound good?"

Eleven nodded. "Yes."

"And you can live with the year, if we make some concessions?"

"I can."

"Okay." He grinned, happier than he'd been in a really long time. She was his now, officially, one hundred percent. And it felt damned good.