𝓟𝓵𝓮𝓪𝓼𝓮 𝓢𝓽𝓪𝔂 *{𝓐 𝓙𝓸𝓹𝓹𝓮𝓻 𝓢𝓽𝓸𝓻𝔂}*

August

TW: homophobia, homophobic slur, mention of child abuse

(Hopper's POV)

"I wonder if he'll like this?"
He was awaken by a voice, Joyce's voice. He sat up ever so slightly, and saw her in the corner of their room, her new police uniform on and ever so tight against her body. He bit his lip to keep a loud moan from coming out of his body at the hot woman before him.
"I can't wear it like at work, but just for when he wakes up-" Joyce turned ever so slightly, though that was enough to catch him staring at her. "O-Oh! Hop...did you just wake up?"
He nodded. "W-What are you wearing?"
His more pressing question was if she was wearing a bra or not, but he glanced down and got the answer to his query from her nipples pushing the thin fabric up.
"Do you like it?" She walked slowly towards the bed, placing one leg after another.
"Yes. Oh god yes, Joyce." He jumped up out of bed. He didn't tend to be one to be immediately awake in the mornings, not without coffee, but he was in no way groggy this morning.
He pinned Joyce to the bed, rubbing her cheek with one hand and her side with another.
"God, you're a turn on." He grinned. "You don't mind going quick, do you?"
She shook her head no.
"Good." He nipped along her jawline, slowly shifting his lips down to her neck, under the collar of her shirt, his full body weight pressing against the petite woman.
"Careful, Hop!" Joyce let out in almost a squeak. "Don't want them to notice."
"They won't. Promise." He whispered, pressing his lips against her ear as he did so, before returning to the crook of her neck, leaving behind a few dark bites before pulling away for breath, admiring his work.
"Wow." He let out quietly, "That's not gonna be easy to hide."
"Jesus, Jim." Joyce shook her head, smiling nonetheless. "My first day at work and I'm gonna be covered in hickeys. Powell and Callahan are gonna tease us about this, aren't they?"
He sat besides her body. "Eh. As long as you just ignore their 'oh, so you and the Chief banged last night' jokes, you'll be fine. There more like an annoyance, likes tiny flies."
Joyce giggled at the flies part. "I should probably loosen this." She motioned down to her clothing
"Yes, definitely." He didn't want anyone to get to look at Joyce in the state that she was in at that moment. That was for him only, though he didn't say so out loud, fearful it might sound obsessive.
Joyce pulled on the edges of the navy shirt until it was just loose enough for it to not be stuck against her figure, and, with a bra now on, for her nipples not to be showing.
"Here, quick. The kids are probably up by now." She threw his uniform at him; an exact copy of hers, but it was beige and had his name on the tag instead of hers. She could've poked his eye out with his badge if she had tossed it wrong, but he didn't stay on that topic for too long inside his head, and didn't bring it up. Joyce was right, he could already hear the faint footsteps of their kids, and soon the ones creating the footsteps would begin to call for them, wondering why their parents weren't downstairs already.
He finished pulling his pants on at the moment they got to the stairs. Honestly, he almost tripped over the second to last stair because his pants weren't fully on his hips.

(Joyce's POV)

"Morning Mom!" She and Hop were ushered to the table by their eldest son, where Will placed down a plate in front of her, and El placed one down in front of Hopper.
"W-What is this?" She asked no one in particular.
"It's for your first day at work." El answered, and all the kids sat down in their direction.
"Aw, thanks you guys." She spoke very briefly, before shoveling food into her mouth. Hopper followed her, doing the same.
"Wat-do you guys-" Hopper asked, mouth full.
Jonathan immediately knew what his dad was about to ask, and brought over three more plates, with food similar to theirs. "Don't worry, we made extra for ourselves."
The room was quiet for the next few minutes after that, with all of them eating in peace. In silence, you can really hear yourself think, which, for her, was not a good thing.
She was excited about her new job, of course, but it also felt...almost cursed. Like heading back to the scene of the crime. The crime of what Belle had done, of course, there was about a million crimes that she could be talking about, but she meant that one. She wondered what it was like for Hopper, to have to work there every day. It wouldn't be the same feeling for her, given that she hadn't been the one stuck in the situation, but she was at least sure that he must feel some sort of chill every time he walked into his office, like Belle was watching him. She hoped her now being there would help. If he even needed help, given that this was all created in her head and what not, but she would help. Somehow.
With the kids spending the day at the mall and Jonathan going over college plans yet again with Nancy, they were free to head straight to work, with it just being the two of them in the car.
Her legs were bouncing with anticipation, despite anxieties causing her to double check that she looked decent multiple times. Her uniform had been readjusted from how it was earlier, she know wore a bra, and she had made sure the cuffs on her shirt covered what marks couldn't be hidden by the simple blue cloth. Everything felt like it was a dream, even after she had re-read her name tag a million times. Mrs. Byers.
Her badge gleamed in a similar way to her name, most likely being made out of the same or a smilier gold material. It felt odd attached to her shirt, to her, but it also felt right. This was where she was supposed to be. Yes. Maybe? Hopefully.
They soon reached the Police Department, her new place of work. Her body was still shaking as she stepped out, thus making it near impossible to walk.
"You okay?" Hopper asked, innocent.
"Yeah, yeah, just-" She rubbed the back of her neck, "-nervous."
"No need to be. Look," Hop pointed to two empty parking spots beside them, "Powell and Callahan aren't here, they won't tease us. We can just get a case to work on from Flo, hopefully, then go on our way."
"I get to work on a case? On my first day?" She asked, excited but also curious, "I thought I would just be doing paperwork."
"Well, I am the boss, so I can pull a few strings." He winked, causing, once again, a blush to spread across her face. She had to get rid of it quickly though, she was about to go into her new office after all.
Hopper made a point to open the door for her, being a gentleman and all, and walked in behind her. The place looked exactly the same that it did before, this time just a little more empty, and the smell of hot coffee wasn't flowing through the air. The only person there was Flo, who was sitting at her desk drinking tea and filing through folders.
The second they stepped through the cowboy-styled door, their presence was sensed by the older woman. "Oh, there you lovebirds are! I was wondering if you two slept in."
"And you said we wouldn't be teased." She jokingly shot back at Hop, who just shrugged.
"Anything this mornin', Flo?" He asked, reaching for a doughnut, his hand getting swatted away by hers.
"Oh yeah! That's what I forgot. Mr. and Mrs. Murphy are waiting for you in your office, says that their son ran away."
Mr. and Mrs. Murphy. That was Connor's parents. That immediately caused her to worry. What could've happened to Will's boyfriend? Maybe they were over exaggerating, and he was just hanging out with his friends and ignoring them; given how she's seen them treat him, she wouldn't be surprised. He could've actually ran away, which would not surprise her either. She understood being under so much pressure from your parents that you just burst, but she wondered if Will knew about this. And if he did, then was he hiding Connor, maybe even in their house? Jesus Christ, they would all have to go to court, and could be convicted of hiding a runaway...
Her anxiety express stopped suddenly when Hopper spoke again, "Okay, we'll go deal with them."
Hopper walked back through the door, her trailing him, and he opened the door to his left, revealing his office, with two people sitting inside it. One, a man in a business suit carrying a briefcase, the other, a stern-looking woman who you could tell from the messy hair and outfit was a mother, but was definitely on the rich side compared to her.
"Finally!" Mr. Murphy complained loudly when he saw her and Hop coming in.
"Sorry for the wait." Hopper muttered, flashing them an insincere, apologetic look, "What seems to be the problem?"
"I'll tell you what's wrong! Our son's run off again, probably with your pest of a son!" Mrs. Murphy yelled. She had the urge to scream back that it was no wonder he ran off, with her being such an ass, but she just smiled sweetly and gripped her fist under the table, where no one but Hop could see it.
"Well, I can assure you that my son has nothing to do with this, but we will look for him." Hopper spoke with a calm tone. She knew his blood was boiling, but he couldn't punch these people in the face, because, you know, they were probably so rich they would sue the hell out of him.
"You better." Mrs. Murphy...well, it wasn't much of a threat, but it had the tone of a threat, so she would declare it as her snapping and move on. The women then turned to her, eyeing her up and down. She had to bite her lip to keep herself from fidgeting too much. She knew she was judging her. Hell, she was sure a lot of people were about to judge her for wearing the police uniform. Well, then she would just have to prove that she was a great detective to them all.
After the two had left, leaving it just her and Hop, he spun his moving chair to the side so he could sand up, and pulled a fresh manila folder out of a cabinet.
"So," She asked, rubbing her hands together, "where do we start?"
"Well, since there's nothing on file about Connor, since he's a literal child," Hopper laughed about his own joke, "we're gonna have to do patrol around the town. First the streets, then the forests, then surrounding town. He couldn't have gotten far."
Yeah, he was right. Connor couldn't have gotten far. Unless he got a ride, which in that case, could mean he was literally anywhere in the world. Teenagers were allowed to get on planes by themselves, but that would mean-no, no Joyce, just find the kid. This is a case. You can't stress.
"What about a search party?" She asked. She could recall from Will's case that there had been a search party.
"I'll tell Flo to form one if we need more backup." Hopper turned his eyes away from the desk, where he had been writing up what Connor's parents had said and putting it in the file, and to her. "Don't worry, darling. He's probably just gotten annoyed at them. This isn't Will."
Shit. She must've looked more stressed about this than she realized. Either because she thought about 'The Incident: Part 1' as she had labeled it (there were five parts, if you were wondering) or because she knew she had to prove herself by solving this case. But solving this case might not do anything good. She was a detective now, part of something bigger. Their job was to keep people safe. Wouldn't this just hurt Connor more if they brought him back? The family would just sweep everything under the rug, as people with money usually did. But what about Will and Connor's relationship? They were in love, despite all odds, and this would defiantly break Will's heart if they were forced apart. She wasn't sure what to do.
Nevertheless, she followed behind Hopper as he did what they were supposed to do: get into his car, then drive around town to see if they could spot anything. And of course, no. Nothing
"Do you think Will-?" She didn't want to think about her son being involved in this, but it was his boyfriend.
All Hopper could do to reply was shrug his shoulders. "Honestly, I don't know, Joycie. We should probably, eventually, check, if we don't find anything else."
She sighed. She knew they had to. Despite every inch of her mind and body screaming at her not to, she knew this was what she had to do. For justice right? Right? Even though the likelihood of her having to put her son's' boyfriend in handcuffs, she didn't have much of a choice.
Hop didn't want to do this either. His frown and furrowing brow, eyes glaring at the road, told her so. She hadn't seen a look like that in a year, not since Starcourt. It was mix of pure annoyance and anger, though what type of anger could vary. This time it seemed to be anger at the world, but she'd seen it range from anything at anger at his car to even anger at her. That was a fun day.
"Can you call Flo, get her to get a search party." That was only barely a question, and only because it was her. If it had been anyone else, they would've probably been yelled at.
She knew her walkie-talkie would've already been set to call Flo at her desk, so all she had to do was press the button on the side to get Flo's voice to come through it.
"Hello?" Flo asked.
"Yes, this is Detective Byers. Chief needs a search party for the Murphy case." She tried to speak in the strongest, most commanding voice ever. It felt weird, but she wanted to sound important.
"Yes, of course." Flo answered, then the line went silent, or nearly silent, since there was still a buzz.
She set it back into the cup holder closest to her, and noticed they were already moving. "Are we going back to our house to see-"
"Yeah. I hate the fact it's the only lead, but it's the only lead, so we have to." He sighed, gripping the wheel tightly.

(Hopper's POV)

"This sucks." Joyce grumbled, staring out the window.
He didn't respond, but agreed none the less. This sucked. They shouldn't have to do this. Will was his son, their son. He wasn't doing something bad. But the law said he was, and the two of them were the ones stuck with the gold badges, so if they wanted to keep their jobs, they had to do what the law said.
He knew what this would spiral into: a scandal. He could already see the blood headlines ranting about the Chief's son being a fag. Their words, not his. Guess the boy's relationship wasn't going to stay a secret for long, but then again, in this town, secrets are never truly secrets. It's just a matter of time before everyone knows. It always starts out with just a few people knowing, but soon enough, somehow, everything crumbles to pieces. He could feel his world beginning to fall, all because this world is too ignorant and stupid to realize that hating people to this extent, was just stupid in itself.
He had never hated the sight of his own house this much. He remembered back when he first bought it, oh how he was so excited for Joyce and her family to be able to stay in Hawkins. He would have never guessed that he would have to break into his own house to catch his son hiding a 'criminal'.
"Are you sure about it?" He asked Joyce, who was climbing out of the car, focused on trying to pull out her gun. "Also you don't need a gun, we have keys."
"I'm sure. Also I wanna kick down the door, please." She jokingly begged.
"We are not kicking down the door. Do you know how much that's gonna cost?" They began to banter as they approached the door.
"Please, it'd be so cool!" Joyce argued.
"No." That was the last thing he said about the argument, and added again, "Are you sure you wanna do this?"
"Yes." Joyce answered probably way too quickly and seriously. "We should probably be quiet."
"Joyce."
"I mean, should we record this or-"
"Joyce. Joyce!" He exclaimed, then quieted down. "You're treating this like this is a real case, with a real crime. What is going on with you?"
"I just-I don't want people to look at me like I don't deserve to be a cop." She muttered, almost under her breath. "You saw how Connor's mom looked at me."
"Who gives a shit? Darlin, you are an amazing detective. Don't listen to what she said." He turned to the door, and started to unlock it as quietly as possible.
"Thanks." He could hear the blushing of her face in her voice.
The door was soon pushed open, and started sneaking into their house. Stupid creaking wood floors. If he knew he would have to sneak into his own house at some point, he would've replaced the floors with rug, not wood!
"Do you think there gonna come here?" Connor whispered to someone, presumably Will.
"Connor, I don't know." Will sounded tired. Not angry, just tired. "Maybe? They probably think you fled the state."
Connor sighed in relief, "I'm sorry for dragging you into this. If I get caught-"
"-which you won't."
"If I get caught, Will, you're gonna be in trouble too, you know that right?"
"Yes. I know that, darling, I just don't care." Will deadpanned. Yep, that was his son.
"Will!"
"I know, I know," He heard Will's body flop down onto cushions, "I just-I love you. Those bastards hurt you, and I will stop at nothing to make sure you're okay."
Joyce looked at him, grinning. That was most definitely something he had said in the past.
"We should-" Joyce tilted her head towards the living room.
"Yeah, yeah." He sighed, and came out from behind the wall, in what he now had to admit was kinda a creepy way. I mean, imagine your father just popped up from behind a wall. Weird.
"Dad!"
"Chief!"
Both of the teen boys' reactions went off at once. Without either him or Joyce having their guns out, the pair of lovers were already scared.
Will was scared of him. Will was scared of his own dad. He knew himself that he wasn't going to do anything to the two of them; not after what Joyce said and what he'd just heard, but his son was scared, nonetheless.
"Will-"
"Don't touch him!" Will grabbed Joyce's old ax, which had been hidden underneath pillows, and pointed the blade towards him. "Don't. I'm sorry, but I'm not letting you hurt him."

(Joyce's POV)

She looked at the reflection of Hopper's face in the grey ax, expression somehow remaining emotionless. The knife-like silver wavered as Will's hands shook. He wouldn't hurt them, his tears told her enough, but he wasn't scared to use it as leverage. He really was like Hop. Desperate to protect what he loved.
Hopper. Damn it, what was he gonna do? He was the chief, fucking up a case on purpose could get him in a lot of trouble; hell, he'd probably be fired. Would he actually arrest his own son?
"Will-Will, please." Hopper put both his hands up in defense. "We're not gonna do anything."
"How do I know that?!" Will screamed, "You're cops!"
Took the words right out of her head. She looked at Hop, trying to predict his next move.
"Will, here. I'll prove it." Hopper, voice cracking, set his badge and gun down. "Now...?"
The two boys looked to her, and it took her a second to remember that she had a gun and badge too. She set the two items next to Hop's, and looked back to her son and his boyfriend.
"Okay." Will set the ax down. "You won't take us in?"
"No." Hopper said
"Why?" Connor titled his head at the question.
"Look, we may be cops, but you're in the right here." Hop said, "I'm sure we can get enough evidence to get you guys cleared."
"You think so?" Will asked, voice filled with hope.
"Well, given that Connor has bruises all over his body and you-" Hopper pointed to Will, "can give a statement that he didn't have those bruises before last night since you two spent the night together."
"But I helped him hide, would they even hear me?"
"If they won't listen to you, they'll at least listen to me." He insisted "Or Joyce. They'll take a statement from one of us."
"What about my parents? If I know them, they're gonna be persistent." Connor asked.
"We might actually be able to accuse them of child abuse." She thought out loud, and turn to Hopper to get his opinion.
"You're right; do you have any siblings that might testify against them?"
Her heart was racing quicker than minutes before, but she couldn't figure out from what-the terrifying anxiety of being caught going against direct orders on her first day, or the adrenaline that was pumping through her body thanks to the amazing situation they were in. Not that Connor's parents being abusive and him having to flee from his house was a good thing, not at all, but she felt like she was on a TV show. A Chief and a detective, going against the law for their family, that just sounded like some dramatic cop show that Hopper would watch, like Magnum P. I.
"My sister." Connor snapped his fingers as the idea came flying out of his mouth. Wait, he had a sister?
She said as much, and Will answered, "Yeah, she's a bit older than us, so she's not really around."
This felt like some soap opera where people just kept gaining random siblings.
"Was she there last night?" Hopper's voice interrupted her confused thoughts.
"Yeah, I got into a fight with my parents." Finally, an explanation about all of this! "They were angry at me for spending time with Will, calling me...they called me a fag. Zoe, my sister, defended me-they hit her too, so she probably be glad to testify against them."
"Okay, so where's your sister?"
"I...don't know. I think she left too, probably after me."
More questions flooded into her head, "Wait, then why aren't they looking for her.
"She's older, and she's always out with her friends or her boyfriend. And she's 'the better child'." Connor put 'the better child' in air quotes. "She probably also left a note."
"I'm sure we can get her to come; we are cops." Hop suggested.
"She won't come if its just cops. I'll have to be there." Connor said.
Will immediately interjected, "But your parents could be there."
"It'll be a risk I'll have to take." Connor squeezed his boyfriend's hand. "They won't hurt me, not in front of cops."
"Do you want me to be there? Just in case?" Will asked. She thought to mention that it might not be the best for Will to be there, given that their whole relationship is what caused this (not saying that them being together is a bad thing, she's glad they're together, but it did technically start all of this), and it seemed that Connor's parents seem to know about him and suspect him of dating their son, but this was too cute of a moment, so she didn't.
"Yes, please." Connor asked
"Of course, darling." She resisted being an annoying mom and making a comment or an 'aww'
"Well, I guess that's that then. Joycie, can you grab Jonathan's camera? We should have physical evidence of Connor's injuries." Hop turned to Connor, "As long as that's okay."
"Yeah, that's okay." Connor shrugged.
Hopper nodded to her, and she, taking the hint, ran upstairs and into Jonathan's room. It felt weird, being in her adult son's bedroom, given that it was similar to a blank canvas. She did end up finding a camera, the one that the family used for things like Christmas and Halloween. It would take too much time to print photos and get them through the dark room and such. There were too many steps and too little time, so filming it was easier. They could just play it back on a TV.
"Okay, grabbed the camera." She spoke coming down the stairs, then handed the hunk of technology over to Hopper when she was back at his side. "Thought it'd be easier to just film it instead of waiting for prints."
"Good idea, detective. Where should we start?" The last question was more directed at Connor than at her.
"Well, I got bruises everywhere, so I guess just start on the face, then my body. I should probably-" Halfway through his own sentence, Connor pulled his shirt over his head and tossed the flannel to Will. "There. Now it's easier."
"Holy god." Will muttered very loudly, biting his lip so hard she worried it'd bleed.
Ignoring how Will was staring at Connor like he wanted to make out with the boy, Hopper began filming.
"Okay, here's the bruises on Connor Murphey's side." Hopper narrated the filming. "And these are the ones on his arms....and on his chest...and on his back...and on his face."
That was all the marks, so he stopped filming after pulling the camera out of Connor's face. "Okay, now let's head to the police department."
"A-Are you sure we have enough evidence?" Will asked, still squeezing onto Connor's hand. He had been squeezing his hand while they had been filming the video, and they were still holding hands.
"Yes." Hopper clicked the tape out of the camera, and handed the camera to her. "Can you get his sister?"
"Yeah, can I take the car?" She asked.
"Yeah, we can walk." Hop agreed.
She nodded, "I'll go put this away."
She retraced her steps up the stairs all the way back to Jonathan's room. She just set it down on the bed, then went back downstairs. She was greeted with an empty room and silence. They must've already left, and given that she had requested that they left the car so she could drive around and find Connor's sister Zoe, there were no sounds of them leaving that was loud enough to be heard from upstairs.
She found the keys left on the table, and a note telling her what she had already guessed, that they had left to go to the police station.
She grabbed the keys and went outside to the car, opening the door and began to drive around. She had a feeling that Zoe was hanging around the graffiti wall (for some reason all the teens hanged out around one specific wall) in between RadioShack and Melvands.
And yep, she was right. There, she found a guy and a girl with hair similar to Connor's making out. They immediately began to run when they saw a cop car, which was suspicious to say the least, but she caught up.
"I'm not here to arrest you!" She exclaimed. Oh yeah Joyce, that would definitely get them to stop. That doesn't sound suspicious at all!
She played the last card, the only thing that actually ended up working. "It's about your brother, Connor! He needs your help!"
That got Zoe to leave her boyfriend's side and come forward. On closer inspection, you could honestly not tell that she was related to Connor. They had the same hair and eyes, sure, but even those differed. Connor's hair was always out, having the light from the sun bounce off of it and causing each strand to have a different shade of blonde than the next, while Zoe's remained hidden under a hood, as if it was a wall, keeping her safe. Her eyes seemed more bitter than his, angrier and more resentful. And with their outfits-completely different. Connor always had on jeans and bright shirts, which always seemed to have stains of red or yellow paint. Zoe stood before her, wearing black ripped jeans and a zipped up leather jacket over her hoodie, which also seemed to be black.
"What does he need? What happened?" Zoe asked. She seemed worried, but her facial expression didn't chance. Meanwhile, her boyfriend just stood in the background.
"We need you to tell the police about your parents."
Zoe immediately went cold. Or colder, if that was possible. "I can't."
"Why-"
"Do you know what they'd do to me if I told the police what they do?! They'd kill me!" She yelled "If I ratted them out, it'd just make things worse."
She sighed. Guess that she would have to use the only card she really had for a situation like this, cause she had to convince a teen girl to rat out her parents for abusing her and her brother every other week. "Listen, kid, I understand."
"Don't tell me you understand! That you know what my life is like!" Zoe screamed, "Every single cop always tells me that, but it's always a god damn lie! You've never had to live in fear, had to hide in your room and learn to lie on your toes to keep yourself safe! So I'm not getting involved in this."
Zoe began to retreat back to her boyfriend, but not before she yelled, "Wait! Please. My parents were the same."
Zoe turned on her heels, wind blowing her still-exposed hair. "Oh yeah?! Well-"
Not wanting another long and dramatic monologue from a teenage girl about her terrible life, she cut her off. "When I was a little kid, my dad was always drunk and barely spent any time with my mom and I. My mom though if I were a perfect daughter then he would want to spend time with us instead of at the bar. No one ever knew about my parents' problems besides Hopper."
"The chief?!"
"Yeah. We were best friends back in the day." God, that made her sound old. 'Back in the day' sounded way too close to 'back in my day'. "I had to beg him not to go to the police when he found out they hit me. I really wish he had. My parents forced me to marry my ex, they forced me to stay in Hawkins and have kids. My point is, please don't let your parents control your life."
Zoe didn't say anything, so she, assuming her little speech did nothing, began to walk away, tail between her legs, but then, from behind her, the girl piped up. "Wait."
She turned, and waited for Zoe to continue. "What would happen, if I did help you guys?"
"Well," She tried not to grin, given the grim reality of why they were having this conversation. But she knew she had Zoe enticed. "You two would probably go into a foster home nearby."
"That wouldn't be too bad..." Zoe muttered under her breath, barely audible, but loud enough so she could hear it, then, in that split moment, made her choice. "Okay. As long as your promise that Connor won't get hurt-"
"-He won't-" She added in
"-I'm in." Zoe, for the first time since she had met the teen, which, to be completely fair, was only a minute ago, smiled. That must've been where all the similarities went to, because now, with the girl grinning, was the first time she could see how she and Connor were related. It was almost like a splitting image of the boy she knew so well, just a little more edgy and less...male.
"What about your boyfriend?" She pointed behind her to the guy who, for no rational reason, was still standing there.
"Oh yeah." Zoe spoke as if she had forgotten her boyfriend was even there, which was highly likely. She turned back, and yelled at the guy, "You can go home babe!"
"Okay babe!" The guy responded a second later, then climbed into the cherry-red dent less convertible and drove off. Huh, she had a feeling that car hadn't just been abandoned there. If it had, would it have been wrong for her to try and steal it? It doesn't really matter, the car wouldn't even have had the keys in them, but damn, it was a nice car. It must've been a hand-me-down, cause there was no way a teen would be allowed to just have a car that expensive. Either that, or the family was crazy rich.
Once he was gone, Zoe turned back to her with newfound confidence. "Okay, let's go."
She smiled, and walked out of the dark alleyway, allowing the girl to follow her. It wasn't a long walk, she could see the police department from here, so there was no point in making a scene and bringing Zoe there by police car. She could just pick Hopper's car up later.
She knew that they were both about to walk into war. She had to calm her nerves enough to just keep her body moving, but she knew said nerves would be thrown into a tizzy the second she stepped into that building. Hopper would be there, of course, to protect her and their family, but he wasn't always enough. Words would still seep through his defenses and hurt her, and there wasn't any way of stopping that.
Once they were only a few steps away from the front door, she turned back to Zoe, "You still sure you're okay with doing this?"
"Yes, yes, now let's go inside before I change my mind."
She chuckled. She didn't want to sound amused at the situation, but she remembered saying something similar to Hopper not too long ago, when he had asked if she really did want to go on a date. It was like staring at a mirror. A mirror that made you younger, angsty, and have darker hair.
She opened the door for Zoe, and even before she herself stepped inside, she could hear Connor and Zoe's mom yelling, "Where the hell have you been?!"
She cringed, and reluctantly followed her.
"Oh great, she's here too." Mrs. Murphy rolled her eyes.
"Hey, you leave her alone." Hopper, swiftly, came to her side; quite literally, she might add. He, as the saying 'came to her side' depicted, he stepped to her right side and put an arm across her, trying to defend her. "Just-come with us, to the interrogation room."
"Why do we have to?!" For crying out loud, this woman sounded like a whiny kid. "You found our son, just give him whatever punishment and then we'll take him home."
"You have to because we're the police." Hopper's voice went dark. "So, you'll do what we say. Follow us."
"Jesus, power-abusive much?" Mrs. Murphy mumbled. Hopper had just began to walk towards the room she assumed was the interrogation room (she believed this mainly because of the sign on it that read 'interrogation room'), so she was the only one that heard what she said.
She was just so tired of this woman's shit, so she just turned around again and said, in the fakest and most sugar-coated voice ever, "I'm sorry, did you say something you'd like to repeat?"
"I-" Mrs. Murphy began to say, but instead decided it was better to say nothing, which she had to give it to her, was a smart choice, and she, like her husband and kids, just followed Hop into the room, with herself trailing behind so she could shut the door.
Mr. and Mrs. Murphy took the two chairs that mirrored Hopper's chair, while Connor and Zoe, in what seemed to be an instinctive move, stood behind them, backs straight and hands behind their backs, like they were soldiers in the army. Poor kids.
"Now, are you going to tell us what you're going to do with our son? Also, why did you drag Zoe into this?" Both teens flinched when their father mentioned them, as if prepared to be hit.
"We dragged Zoe into this because we have evidence of abuse." Hopper said, leaning forwards and folding his hands.
"What? That's ridiculous! Why ever would you think that?" Mrs. Murphy lied through her teeth.
"Because the day after my son hang out with our son, he was covered in bruises." Hopper explained. "We know you had reasons to be angry with him. You didn't like him hanging out with Will, so you got into an argument. Zoe got involved, defending Connor. And, as you always do, according to Connor, to get your children to listen to you, you hit him until he listened. When they both ran away, you were more worried about Connor, because you knew if we found him, he would have evidence that you hit him."
"How dare you accuse us of that! We never-"
"Just admit it Mom!" Zoe screamed.
"So what if I did? You have no distinct evidence. Who knows that Connor didn't get those marks from school or something?"
She let out a frustrated sigh. "He didn't even go to school today! And who cares if we don't have videos or anything of you doing it. Connor said you did it, and you have no proof otherwise!"
"Oh sweetie," The woman spoke in such a condescending tone that it made her want to punch her, "how did they ever allow you to be a cop? A judge would care. Your argument holds no water, so if you don't mind, I'm just going to take my children home, okay?"
"Don't talk to her that way!" Hopper growled
"Oh, you're dating the chief. That's how you got this job."
Mr. and Mrs. Murphy began to stand, but Connor objected. "No. I'm not going home."
"Yes, you are." Mr. Murphy sternly said.
"No. I'm not letting you push me around anymore!" He yelled, probably so loudly he was heard in other rooms
"Connor Henry Murphy, you are coming home and that is final!" His mom grabbed his arm and yanked him in the direction of the door, but he continued to fight.
"I'm sick of this! I'm sick of being told to hate the parts of me that aren't perfect. I know we're just two disappointing children to you," Connor motioned to Zoe and himself. "but I don't care! I have people in my life who love me for who I am! And yes, I am gay. But why should that matter?!"
"You know why!" Mrs. Murphy shot back. "It's unnatural! You're supposed to like girls!"
"I don't care what I'm 'supposed' to do, because you know what, Mom, Dad?" Connor, by now, had tears rolling down his cheeks and hitting the cold, hard concrete floor. "I'm in love with a boy! I love Will, and there's nothing you can do that could change that."
This was adorable. To be fair, it would probably screw with the case, since in court they would have to say that they were together, and thanks to that they, in reality, sadly wouldn't get a fair case. But Connor declaring his love for Will like this was some sort of romance book was adorable.
"Fine! Be like that!" Mrs. Murphy yelled, and walked towards the door. "Zoe! Come on!"
"Nope, I'm not going either." Zoe put her hands up, and joins her brother at his side. "I'm used to having to hide from you guys, but I draw the line when you hurt Will!"
"Ugh, fine!" Mrs. Murphy began to drag her husband, "I'm going to a real police station, not this shit hole with shitty detectives!"
Wow. She didn't eve change the curse word. Creative.
The two adults stormed out, leaving all the teens, along with her and Hopper, in the darkly-lighted room. Connor was clearly on the verge of tears, his whole body shaking and his head burrowed into Will's shoulder. Will's expression just displayed numbness, not knowing what emotion to feel, whether it be sadness or fear of anxiety or joy, but he knew that he had to comfort his boyfriend. Zoe looked dazed, shocked at what she had just accomplished; she had finally stood up to her parents, but at what cost?
And her? Well, she had no idea how the fuck she was feeling.
She didn't even have to look at Hopper to know that he was thinking the same thoughts as she was-this was not the end. Sure, they got Zoe and Connor out of that house, but like their mother had threatened, she would be back soon enough, with much more power. She wasn't sure how long this victory would last, and neither did he.
"Come on kids, let's go home." Hopper, a tired smile spreading across his face, opened the door, signaling to all of them to walk out.
The first to greet them was Powell and Flo. Powell looked worried, while Flo just continued to stir her cup of coffee, which, considering the time of day, she probably shouldn't be drinking.
Powell was the first to speak, "We saw the Murphys storming out of here. Raving about some lawsuit or what not. What did you two do?"
She shrugged, "Our jobs. She just didn't like it."
That got a laugh out of both Flo and Hop, along with the kids. The only one that seemed to take this seriously was Powell
After saying goodbye to Flo and Powell, Hopper got all of the kids into the backseats, while the adults, AKA her and Hopper, took the front seats, with him driving and her taking shotgun
The drive home was silent-the only sounds came from the backseats, and those noises mainly included sobbing and whispering calming words.
She let out a long sigh, and rested her head against the window. As the different cars and trees zoomed past her view, she thought back on her first day. What a shitty first day. She had just probably gotten the entire Hawkins police department in huge legal trouble, and she hadn't even made one single arrest. Sure, she knew that Hopper would argue that most people didn't make an arrest on their first day, but she just wished that she had something to show for all the trouble she had gotten them in.
"Joycie?" Hopper, seeing that something was clearly wrong, asked her. "You okay?"
Not wanting to tell him the truth, at least in front of the kids, she just kept with the plain. "Yeah, I'm okay. Just tired."
"Okay." He knew that wasn't the complete truth, but also could figure out that she didn't want to talk about it, so he didn't push any farther.
When they arrived home, it was already approaching five—they have left the station at four thirty, and now it was only a minute away from the next hour. Johnathan, along with Nancy and a good chunk of the party, were waiting for them inside.
"Dude!" Mike, Dustin, and Max all ran over to Will and Connor. "We heard what happened!"
"I have to admit, that was really cool." Max commented.
"I would suggest not to get arrested. It's not as cool as it sounds." Connor admitted.
Hopper piped up, "Seriously, please don't. I don't have enough time to bust all of you out of jail."
That got a good laugh out of everyone. It was true though, with the small-yet-annoying crime throughout Hawkins being annoying enough, they didn't need paperwork about Max breaking into the arcade after it had closed or Mike stealing videogames on top of all the paperwork they already had from the everyday common theft and wild parties.
"Do you guys want dinner?" Jonathan asked once the laughter had died down. "You guys are probably tired."
"Oh yes, thank you sweetie." She shot a smile at Jonathan, then took Hop's hand and told the group, "We're gonna head upstairs for a bit."
"Okay!" No one questioned it, and just returned to talking amongst themselves about the events of the day.
The coupe took the stairs up to their room, where she flopped face-first onto their bed.

(Hopper's POV)

He chuckled, having just seen his girlfriend flop right on top of the bed, despite the wooden edges. "You okay?"
"I'm so tired." It was muffled by the mattress and blanket, but he could make out what she had said.
"Yeah," He smiled, and sat down next to her, "long day."
After that, a long, maybe an entire minute long, passage of silence fell upon them, and when he was about to ask her if she was okay, Joyce interrupted him with a sob
"I-I was so worried..." She choked out into the bed beneath her. "I thought we were gonna lose Will. And Connor."
He sighed, and laid down next to her. "Yeah, I was scared too."
"We're gonna get sued. And it's gonna be all my fault." Joyce turned so she was laying on her back, while her hands tried to wipe away the tears rolling down her cheeks.
"Hey. Hey." He pulled her hands away from her face and held them close to his chest, getting her to look at him with red, bloodshot eyes. "It will not be your fault. She might not even go through with those threats, but if she does, it won't be your fault. You did the right thing, some people are just massive shit holes."
Joyce chuckled, though with tears still running, it sounded like a snort. "She really was."
He chuckled, and went on. "Look. I can't promise you everything is going to be okay. That would just be lying. But I'm gonna be here every step of the way, and so will everyone else who loves you."
"Thanks." Joyce smiled, tears still running.
"I love you, Joycie." He placed a kiss on the tip of her nose
"I love you too." Joyce giggled. "We should probably head downstairs. Jonathan probably has dinner ready."
And he did. When they came back out of their rom and walked into the kitchen, Jonathan was setting down plates of pizza for each and everyone there, from actual family members to Will's friends who had just not left.
They sat down and ate with the group-they didn't speak much though. He could tell Joyce was too tired to talk, and he could honesty agree. The day had been long, and they didn't need to speak, the kids took care of that for them. So they just sat there, pretending like they weren't holding hands under the table by trying to seem as active in the conversation as possible, while also just wanting to fall asleep right there and then.
Which, afterwards, they did. They left the older teens to do the dishes, told the kids goodnight, then went straight back to where they had been before dinner. He didn't even know if Will and El's friends were planning to stay for the night. If they did, fine. If they didn't, also fine. He just wanted to sleep.
"Hop." He heard Joyce mutter. "Are you still awake?"
"Yep." He sat up, "What's up?"
"Snuggles please."
He smiled, and complied, lying back down and wrapping his arms around her small body. "What time is it?"
Joyce took a second to glance at the clock on the nightstand at her side, then replied, "Almost seven."
"And we're already tired? Jesus we're old." He laughed, mostly at himself. "Remember when we'd used to stay up late and go to parties?"
"Barely." Joyce admitted. "I cannot remember the last time I thought I was cool."
"Well," He kissed the top of her head, "If it makes you feel better, I can remember the last time I thought you were cool. Like, a minute ago."
Joyce laughed, "Oh, Hop, you flatter me."
"I'm serious. We may not go to parties or do drugs or drink-actually, we still do that." Joyce giggled before he continued, "Whatever. We may not do cool things, but we're still cool. At least, you are."
"You're pretty cool too, Hop." Joyce insisted. "In a totally badass way."
He chuckled, "Yeah, that is true. I am pretty cool."
That got a good laugh out of Joyce. In a day full of misery, he was grateful that she had smiled, for both his sake and her own. She, hopefully, felt better after his joke, and her smiling would always make him happier.
After her laughter died down into a light sigh, Joyce said, "We should probably head to bed. Who knows what tomorrow will be like."
He, while reaching over to turn the lamp off. "That's the life of being cop. Sometimes you wish that there was literally anything to do, and sometimes everything goes to shit."
He had no idea how she reacted to that, since he turned off the lights, but he took her sighing and laying down on his chest as sort of an answer-she felt like today definitely was the latter.
"Trust me. It's fun sometimes." He mindlessly began to play with her hair as she began to trace his chest.
"Sometimes?" Joyce retorted.
He shook his head. "You're never too tired to be sarcastic, are you, Byers?"
"Nope." He could hear the grin in her voice. "I mean, the job's fun. Just the people..."
"Yeah, people suck." He admitted with a shrug, "But you get to spend all day with me in my uniform, so that's kinda a win for you."
"Oh really, Mr. Stare At My Ass All Day." Shit. She noticed.
"Well...." There was no point defending himself, so he tried to use what he could. "It wasn't all day."
Joyce laughed, leading him to say more. "But can you blame me, Joyce? You look amazing."
Joyce, with a smile on her face, laid a soft kiss on to his lips. This wasn't a lustful or strong kiss like the type that would lead to a full make-out session-it felt like if domestic life was a style of kissing. He felt safe, like nothing bad would ever happen to him or his family.
"Night, Hop."
"Night, Joycie."

A/N: Hello everyone! Sorry I haven't been publishing much. I've been super sleep deprived thanks to school, which makes writing so much harder. I do plan on finishing this story, but it might take a while. I've also been working on another Jopper story and others. 

Hope you've enjoyed this chapter!

-scoopstroop2020