Serve & Protect

Chapter 9- Hank BUTCHER

Your eyes snapped open, and you sat at up breathing heavily from the lingering nightmare. Cold sweat covered your shaking body, heart pounding as you looked around the room suspicious and paranoid that the horror of your nightmare had followed you here, but then you remembered you were in the cell.

Hank had been in your house. The letter. The soap. It was all real.

Fuck.

Cautiously you stood up on trembling legs, your body involuntarily shivering as you rubbed your face with your hands trying to fully awaken. You stumbled out the cell, willing your legs to cooperate as you made your way to the bathroom because screw using the toilet in the cell.

You avoided your gaze in the bathroom mirror knowing you probably looked about as good as you felt before you returned to the cell and changed into your work uniform.

You were sitting on the edge of the old mattress putting on your boots when someone entered the station. Figuring it was just Flo setting up at the front desk, you ignored it and continued putting on your shoes when suddenly Hopper walked down the corridor, but very quickly came to a halt when he saw you sitting on the bed.

"Uh, trouble at home?"

Lifting your head, you found the Chief now leaning against the open door of the cell with an amused but slightly worried expression.

You sighed, "yeah, something like that."

Hopper's face twisted into confusion, so you leant down and unzipped your backpack before grabbing the plastic bag with the bar of soap inside. You tossed the bag over to Hopper across the cell which he caught in one hand, still looking confused.

He looked through the clear plastic bag at the white soap inside but frowned when he noticed the bite mark on the side of it.

"You know, when the packet says coconut flavoured, it doesn't actually mean it tastes like coconuts."

You raised your eyebrows, "okay, firstly, how the hell do you even know that I have coconut scented soap?"

Hopper averted his gaze from you, focusing back on the soap in the bag but you didn't miss the slight blush to his face at your words.

"I spend hours with you in the patrol car. You usually smell like coconuts. Figured it was a fair enough assumption. But back to this, why did you eat your soap and how does that relate to you sleeping in the station?" He questioned, swiftly changing the topic.

"I didn't." You simply answered.

"Huh?"

"I didn't eat the soap."

"Then who did? The boogeyman?"

You stood up, "someone a lot more terrifying than the boogeyman."

Hopper just stared at you in confusion before his expression suddenly dropped and realisation hit him.

"Hank?"

"Don't know who else it would be. So, yeah."

"He was in your house?" Hopper questioned, his voice hardening as he stared down at the soap in sudden anger.

"I didn't see him. He must have done it while I was at work." You answered thinking back to last night. "I-I don't know what to do."

"I'll tell you what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna arrest this fucker." Hopper stated sternly before he turned around and began to march out the cells.

"Wait, Hopper. Hopper!" You called out, jogging after him.

He ignored you and walked into the office where Callahan and Powell were sitting by their desks talking shit instead of working. The second they noticed the Chief enter the room, Powell grabbed the nearest folder on his desk and pretended to be reading whereas Callahan practically fell out his chair trying to get his boots off the desk in a hurry.