IT'S BEEN a year and half a year since the gates split open, since Max fell into her coma, and since Hopper finally came home to his two kids. James was stuck here, due to the whole quarantine stuff that was implemented by the military, and so he couldn't return back to New York. He was just thankful he didn't leave anything important behind, so everything he needed was right here. In Hawkins.
He was sleeping peacefully with his boyfriend at the Harrington's home, arms wrapped around his boyfriend's waist. And then the alarm started blaring. He groans, burying his face into his pillow, "Steve." He whined and his boyfriend laughed, sitting up. He reached over, shutting off the alarm, it was way too early. Like 4:30 A.M. early. Why? Because they had to get going to work, set up everything, and get Robin on the air. "James." Steve whispered, leaning down and putting a hand to his back.
"No." The Hopper grumbled quietly and the Harrington smiled. "We gotta go to work." He whispered, leaning closer and that's when James finally opened his eyes. "Sun isn't even up yet." He whispered and Steve simply leaned in, pressing their lips together in a little kiss, before pulling away, smiling faintly.
"Remember last time we turned off the alarms... slept a little longer? Robin gave us so much shit." He said and James hums, pulling him even closer. "Yeah. I remember. She yelled at us and blamed us for the crawl not being done on time." He murmured to Steve, before kissing his boyfriend's neck as the Harrington chuckled, brushing his hands over James' upperback. "I'm just tired... sorry. I was up later than you last night." The Hopper whispers, looking up at him and Steve frowns at that.
"Why?" He said quietly, his hand brushing gently over James' cheekbones. "I don't know... just couldn't sleep I guess." He murmured and Steve smiled, leaning closer. "Could've woken me up so I'd help with that." He said and James raised his hands, kissing his boyfriend passionately. They ended up still being late, showing up to work fifteen minutes past the time that they were supposed to, only getting a knowing look from Robin when they got there.
They made the perfect trio for the Squawk, Robin loved talking without interruption so she was the on-air host, with Steve helping her by working the sound effects or handing her records to play, and James, well, he ran the whole damn thing, writing scripts when needed, and even worked on the technical difficulties they faced, which was a lot with the military around.
In the soundbooth, Robin was seated at the chair, "goodmorning Hawkins! This is WSQK The Squawk!" She said, then Steve squished the rubber chicken. "It's looking like a pretty regular day in Hawkins. Fifty-five degrees, low chance of rain, medium chance of arrest, high chance of helicopters. But general benality aside, it's an exciting day for me," Robin turns to the other side, "your friend, entertainer, and DJ, Robin Buckley... Nice to meet you! A.K.A. Rockin' Robin!" She pressed play on the music.
"And why is it a big day for me, you ask?" She asked as James handed over the applause soundtrack to Steve who took it, "well, it's my 500th broadcast. Yeah, you heard that right, folks. Five-double-O!" She said as the applause track plays in the background.
"Which means it's been even longer since you've heard the sultry voice of Jimmy "Fast Hands" Lee. But while Jimmy was fleeing Hawkins even faster than he moves those hands," at that, Steve pressed the other sound effects tape which was a woman screaming, "yours truly was watching slack-jawed as the earth split open beneath her feet and coughed up that tsunami of mysterious dandruff. And now, I'm stuck here with you, my fellow quarantine compatriots. And if I can be brutally honest, I couldn't be happier. Because when you really think about it, why would you want to live anywhere else?" Robin asked as she looks over at James.
The Hopper was standing by the door, sipping a mug of coffee. "I mean, what town on Earth can match our very impressive military-to-civilian ratio? And those free mandatory medical checkups?" She whispered mandatory, "I mean, very cool. 'Cause after we inahled those springtime snowflakes, I mean, who knows what's wrong with us? Maybe we're fine, maybe not." Robin goes on, and Steve plays the next soundtrack, a man coughing.
"No one really knows for sure." She says as Steve picks up his own mug of coffee to take a sip. "After all, this was a "natural phenomenon never before seen by man." A phenomenon now covered up by a giant, metal Band-Aid. Quite the eyesore, but hey, great for sledding. Though seriously, kids, stop sledding on the giant steel Band-Aid. You are going to kill yourselves. And also, the men with guns. They don't like it, not one bit." Robin said as James looks at Steve who's already staring at him.
He smiled faintly at him. "While we're on the subject of things not to do, please steer clear of the Military Access Control Zone, A.K.A. the MAC-Z, or as I like to call it, the Big Mac. I have no idea what's going on in there, but I have a gut feeling there's a pretty good reason they'd like you to stay away." She emphasizes. "But hey, the rest of Hawkins is still there for you to enjoy. Someday soon, they're gonna let us out of here. In the meantime, be thankful this is your home, study for that test, enjoy that TV dinner, and go on that date. Which, by the way, is exactly what yours truly is doing tonight." She sounded proud with a smile on her face.
"That's right. Rockin' Robin has a date, ladies and gentlemen." She laughs as Steve pressed the rubber duck, making it loudly screech and the Buckley looks over. She looks away, rolling her eyes and taking a deep breath. "And now, who is this lucky someone? Well, don't be so nosy, kids. They know who they are. That is, if you're listening, which I hope you are. Because this next one, it's for you, babe." She said before tapping the button to play the record.
James gave her a little nod, about to leave the sound booth, when the control board began malfunctioning. "Woah. What's going on?" She asked, looking around. "What the hell?" James set down his mug, rushing out the room with the other two following him. "We told you to stop thumbing your nose at the military!" Steve scolded Robin. "I was reiterating their goddamn rules, encouraging compliance!" The Buckley said as James tried to fix the signal.
"Right. No sarcasm there." The Harrington remarks, watching James turn the knobs. "Said the dingus with the rubber chicken." Robin pointed at Steve's chest. "Can you just try to contact Dustin?" James turned to them, before looking back at the controls and Steve listened, "these are very serious people, Robin." The Harrington told her.
"Shit, shit, shit, shit." James kept muttering, his brows furrowed together as he tried his best. "Henderson, do you copy? Henderson?" Steve said into the supercomm. "Yeah, I copy. God, you sound swell. Let me take a wild guess. You're not calling to wish me good morning." The Henderson replied not long after. "Well, no, it's not exactly a good morning. We've got a situation down here at the Squawk. The signal, it's... it's gone all wonky. I think Robin finally pissed 'em off." Steve explained to the boy.
"Doubtful. She was encouraging compliance." At Dustin's response, Robin looked over, "told you!" She said and Steve rolls his eyes. "The remote radio head's the more likely culprit." The Henderson replied so James looks over, confused. "The remote what?" The Harrington asked. "Just read the manual, Steve." Dustin told him. "Come on, that thing might as well be in Greek." Steve complains.
"Then learn Greek! I can't always be there to solve your problems for you, Steve." Then nothing. "Henderson?" The Harrington said and James stood up straight, no longer fidgeting with the stupid knobs. "Learn Greek," Steve repeated what Dustin said, looking over at his boyfriend, "you heard that tone. You heard that, right?" He asked as he tossed the supercomm to the couch. "Hmm, yes, let's ground him." James said sarcastically, before walking away.
"Where did we put that dumb manual?"
authors note HAIIIII JAMES AND STEVE ARE BACK AND IM SO EXCITED.
i can't believe it's been 3 years and 7 months. 😭 like whattt! and the wait for s5 was SO long and it all came out so rushed 💔
sorry for taking the entirety of january off, i had some family stuff. and also i was SO pissed off after that finale 😔
i'm so excited though!! i have most of the season already all planned out 🫶🏼 (bc i already rewatched for my will byers fic)
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𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐲
Fanfic✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* steve harrington being the chief's son, james hopper didn't really have much to do, he would mostly sit outside and write, half of the time his dad would get drunk, leaving him to fend for himself but then gets caught up in the mess that...
