When I First Met U

A better Papa?

The man started getting closer to her location, she wanted to move, but she couldn't. She was scared of whoever the man was, she didn't know what he wanted from her. She was scared until he got to where she was and, she just looked up at the big and tall man. He didn't look scary, he looked nice and friendly like how Papa used to be.
He gets on one knee to look at her closer, she doesn't know he found her so easily, and she was afraid that he would return her to Papa. The man didn't take her back to Papa instead he took her to a wooden cabin in the forest so she can hide a little longer. "Why did you take me here?" She asked the man. He looked down at her when he took her to the cabin. "I took you here to protect you," He says to her. Her eyes widened at his answer.
"To protect me from what?" She asked him. "From dangerous people and things, kid," Hopper says to her. "I don't even know who you are and you don't know me!" She frantically snapped, walking back and forth. He smirked and placed his hand on her head, "You might seem like I don't know you, but I do know you, I asked Mike," He said. "Y-You asked that Mike guy?" She asked making him nod.
"I bet you are still hungry because cereal isn't going to fill you up," He says to her. He walks over to the stovetop and the fridge."Hey, kid, do you want Eggos with whipped cream on top" He said. "O-0kay," she said nervously sitting down on a chair. He was warming up her Eggos and humming to himself. She picked up the tone and started humming too.
"You are better than Papa," She said to Hopper still munching on the cereal she took from Mike's house. He stopped what he was doing, "Better than your Papa oh, I don't know if I am," He says to her. "You are, sometimes Papa wouldn't make us eat for his experiments because some of those take days on end," She says to him. He doesn't say anything and starts to plate her Eggos. He grabs the syrup as well to see if she would want any on Eggos.
"Wait you are from- -" His voice trails as he notices her face has gone a little pale. He places the plate down and looks at her sincerely. "Hey, just you know, I am not bringing you back there so you have to worry about him hurting you ever again," He says taking her hand carefully. She smiles at him, and takes the Eggos with her then disappears into a spare room in the cabin. He smiles as she eats the Eggos in silence.
"Keep that door cracked three inches, Kid," He says making her get up and roll her eyes. She cracks the door open, "Thank you," He says to her. "I need to make sure you are in there and safe," He says to her which made her slight annoyance fade. "How long are you planning to keep me here?" "As long it is safe for you to come out to the public," He says to her.
She finishes her Eggos, returns the plate back to Hopper, and goes back into the room to sleep. "Nighty night, Kid," He says at last. She smiles at him, closing the door behind her, but leaving it cracked. She gets on the bed and starts to drift off to sleep. He gets up to his cop car and goes to the store.
He walks into the store and finds the Eggos, some clothes in her size roughly, and more food for his cabin. Finally walks up to the cashier, "Buying clothes for your daughter, Sheriff Hopper?" He nods his head and purchases what he needed. Walks to his car and makes his way back to his cabin.
He made it back to the cabin carefully and quietly. He hoped he didn't wake her, when he peeked into the door, he saw she was still sleeping soundly. He fills his fridge and then walks to his room to fall asleep himself. He is going to have a long day tomorrow so he is getting his rest in. The next day he gets up to make breakfast for himself and her.
"You really seem to like those Eggos, huh?" He asked her with a semi-mouthful. She nodded with a smile and her mouth was filled. "You tell me when you finish the plate so I can wash it up, and I'm thinking about putting you in school," He says wiping his mouth clean. He grabs his coffee cup and finishes his leftover coffee. She raised an eyebrow, "What's school?"
"A school is a place where you learn and make friends," He says finishing his gulp. "I don't have a name to go by in that place called 'school' anyway," She says quietly sipping her milk. "Ok then I'ma give you a name," He says. He stood there thinking of a name while she played with her feet under the table. When he finally got one he smiled at her, "How about Jane?" "Yeah, I like it", She says.

A's note: We know that in the cannon story Mike introduces El to one of the teachers at Hawkins, but we are changing it up a little here so instead of Mike, it's Hopper doing that. :)