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I.
Hopper was happy to be back, obviously. Anything would beat almost a year of Russian prisons. And he was even reinstated as the chief of police, which was nice. Had a job to come back to, which would help with raising El. And he could use his position to protect her and the other kids when there was trouble, and when there wasn’t, he had plenty of time off duty to spend with his little girl.
And, well, when there weren’t creatures pouring out of a rip in the fabric of spacetime, then there usually wasn’t much trouble. A few loitering charges, maybe a domestic violence call, some shoplifting.
Drug deals.
As soon as he turned the corner, he saw a twentysomething man book it out of the back alley. Subtle , he thought sarcastically. Strangely, he only saw one person flee, which means the other person went in the opposite direction, which was unlikely as the other side was a dead end, or they was stupid enough to politely wait for a cop to catch them.
Peaking down the alley and seeing Eddie Munson address him with a small wave, not even pretending to be contrite, he saw it was the latter.
“Hiya, Hop!” He said excitedly, walking directly to the side of his car as if he was talking to a friend rather than about to be arrested. Which, well, they got along. Fighting interdemensional monsters together does that to people. And Hopper personally made sure the kid’s name was cleared so he could graduate and not get thrown in an asylum or prison, and he’s good to the kids, and Hopper’s maybe had to really clench his jaw and look unimpressed a couple of times when he overheard Eddie making tasteless jokes. And they both end up at the bi-weekly dinner/get together/Upside Down Decompression Meetings, so they see each other more than they probably would otherwise. “What brings you to this part of town this evening?”
But he doesn’t have a soft spot for the kid. Eddie’s a menace. And he will arrest him if need be.
“Munson,” Hopper started, not looking forward to whatever the evening would bring. “Please tell me you don’t have enough on you for me to hit you with a trafficking charge.”
“Now, Hopper, El says friends don’t lie.” Eddie responded.
Of course.
Hopper sighed. “Get in the car. Don’t make this harder than it needs to be.”
To Hopper’s surprise, he did just that. Didn’t even try to deny what he had been doing and just walked to the back with an expectant look, waiting for him to unlock the door (what a shift from when he had to arrest Munson two years ago and the kid - really just a kid, then - spat in his face).
Hopper decided he could probably take a little bit of pity on him.
“Don’t tell anybody, but if you want, you can ride up front. No cuffs. If you wanted to kill me, you’ve had plenty of chances to poison Joyce’s spaghetti.”
“And risk the kids getting hurt? Do you know me at all?” But he opened the passenger side door and sat down, crossing his arms over his chest but otherwise perfectly polite.
It was quiet on the way back to the station, Eddie staring out the window and Hopper trying to figure out how to address the inherent awkwardness of arresting one of your kids’ babysitters.
As he pulled into the parking lot and shut the car off, motioned with his hand for Eddie to stay seated.
“Didn’t take you for the type to rough someone up before an interrogation, Hop. Especially since I’ve been such a good little criminal.” Eddie said, but he clearly didn’t believe that was actually about to happen, he just had the biggest mouth Hopper had ever seen.
Ignoring his, Hopper cut right to the point. “The kids said you were trying to straighten yourself out.”
Eddie deflated. “I was.”
Hopper didn’t look at him. “I don’t want to have to tell them you have to stop coming around. I can’t do anything about the older kids, but El’s my daughter. She’s had enough happen to her. I don’t want to expose her to that.”
“Please don’t tell them.” Eddie said, sincere for the first time in the conversation.
“I don’t want to, and I like you, but you know I have to protect the kids.”
“You know why Chrissy was in my trailer that night?” Eddie said, and he had only gotten the broad strokes, but he can probably guess where this was going. “It wasn’t a Satanic ritual - I mean, duh, you know that - and she sure as hell wasn’t cheating on her boyfriend with me.”
Hopper grunted, as if to say, ‘go on.’
“She was buying drugs. The hard stuff, the stuff even I wasn’t stupid enough to carry into goddamned high school.” Munson said, which, it probably wasn’t the smartest to admit he used to bring drugs into the school on a regular basis, but he had more important things to think about right now. “I left her alone for two minutes to grab my stash, and when I got back she was on the ceiling. If you don’t think I think about that every time someone asks me for an eighth of weed, you’re insane.”
“Then why are you still doing it?” Hopper asked, but deep down, he knew the answer.
“Prospects for a guy who flunked out of high school twice aren’t great normally. Tack on murder charges, and you’re kinda screwed, even if you did magic them away.”
“No one will hire you.” Hopper stated simply.
Eddie shrugged, and smirked at him, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “Court of public opinion. Nothing you can really do at this point. And you know I can’t leave those kids now, as much as I wanted to get the fuck outta Hawkins before all that went down. And the government apology stipend helps, but Wayne and I were barely getting by before. We need the money, and no one seems to care as much that I killed somebody when I’m the one with the best shit in town.”
Hopper sighed. “You know you could have talked to us. We all know you’re innocent, we would have tried to help.”
“No offense, Hop, but I’d rather die than join the force.”
Hopper actually laughed out loud at the idea of Eddie Munson becoming a cop, of all people. “No, but some of us are almost respected in town.”
Eddie was silent for a moment, before admitting, “You’ve all already done so much. I wanted to prove I could do this myself.”
Hopper smiled, “You don’t have to, though.”
Eddie looked at him, and smiled back, “I know.”
Hopper pointedly hit the ‘unlock’ button and looked away. “Oh, no, it looks like the person - who I have never seen before and probably will never again, and definitely not at the Byers’ house later this week - sprinted away before I could charge them with anything. I can be really incompetent sometimes, everyone knows that. Oh, well, better luck next time.”
Eddie stared at him like he just walked on water. “Are you sure? Don’t you have paperwork to fill out, or -”
“Kid, don’t worry about it. Go, before I change my mind.” Hopper said, and as he watched Eddie open the door and climb out, he said. “See if the video rental place is hiring. Buckley’s going to Smith in the fall, right? El says Steve’s been working there for almost a year, he could probably call in a favor for you.”
Of course Steve would call in a favor, but only if Eddie asked. The kid was kind of oblivious if you didn’t hit him over the head with things.
Eddie’s face brightened, as if he hadn’t thought about that. “Good idea. Will do, Hop.”
“And Eddie,” Hopper said, “ don’t let me catch you again.”
II.
It worked, apparently, because a few weeks later the normal dinner turned into a Eddie-Got-A-Job celebration, and he didn’t catch him on the streets again. Which is really what matters, Hopper didn’t care if the kid spent his days eating bonbons on Steve Harrington’s couch, as long as he wasn’t getting wrapped up in something the kids could be exposed to. They had enough trouble.
So Eddie stopped dealing, or at least stopped where Hopper had a chance of catching him, and his main exposure to him once again became weekly dinners.
For a while.
He gets a call out to The Hideout on a Thursday night, which is strange in and of itself. That dump is in the seediest part of town, and they usually don’t call the cops if anything does happen. Bad for business, and the patrons didn’t tend to be people who trusted them anyway. For him to be called, it was probably pretty bad.
It was bad - a bar fight that clearly got out of hand, he’s going to have to call at least one ambulance - but not nearly as bad as he was expecting. Seeing four familiar faces sitting near the bar, he could figure out what happened.
Nancy must have freaked out once bottles started being broken, and called him. Seeing her and Harrington, specifically, made him feel like he’d walked into the wrong establishment. Buckley was a bit less of a shock, if only because he saw her as one to go against the grain, socially, so he wouldn’t be surprised if she was in some seedy little club to see some band, but she didn’t exactly look comfortable here. Munson, of course, fit right in. He probably told Nancy that, if she insisted on calling Hawkins PD, to send Hopper alone.
He was wondering why that part was so insistent.
Based on the fact that Eddie was also clutching his guitar for dear life, as if to protect it from any projectiles thrown their way, he could also guess why they were there and who suggested it.
He would probably shut the place down and arrest them all for underage drinking, if nothing else - all Henderson could talk about the last time he saw the kids together was the age-appropriate party the kids were throwing for Eddie to celebrate his 21st, and he was the oldest of the group - if it were anyone else. But, well, they had fought monsters, they were probably old enough to have a beer while they listened to their friend perform. He’d let it slide.
Wheeler, Buckley, and Harrington all shot up the second they saw him, heading towards him. Munson followed at a much more leisurely pace.
“You know the rules, Munson.” the bartender cut in, “You squeal, you ain’t welcome here. That goes for you, too. Not just your little friends.”
The three closest to him stopped, looking between the bartender, Eddie, and him. This place clearly meant a lot to their friend, and one thing Hopper knew they could do was keep their mouths shut around authority when it came to protecting people they loved. They wouldn’t ruin it for him, if the bartender didn’t let up, none of them were gonna say a word.
Hopper sighed. The guy with the stab wound hadn’t gotten up yet, even though the bleeding had stopped. He checked for a pulse when he walked in, to make sure he was stable, but he was gonna have to call for that ambulance soon, and he wasn’t looking forward to the paperwork if he couldn’t get any witness statements.
“Come on, Johnny,” Eddie shot back. “Hopper’s cool, he’s helped me out a few times. Why do you think I said to send him? I mean, I know he likes his pig outfit a bit much, but he’s a pretty stand up guy. And the guy who started it hadn’t even been in here before.”
The bartender looked him over as Eddie talked and Hopper pretended not to be offended, considering.
“But, if you don’t trust me, I guess you’ll just have to find a new band to play here.”
The bartender rolled his eyes. “You’re lucky I like you, Munson.”
Apparently, that was approval enough. Johnny himself wouldn’t talk, of course - bad for his reputation - but he got a pretty good idea of it from the kids.
Turns out, a guy passing through - the guy Hopper had to call the ambulance for - decided to stop in and stir up trouble. He picked a fight with a regular, someone who was much bigger than him. The guy threw the first punch when the regular didn’t bite, which caused some of his friends to help attack the guy. Turned the entire place into chaos, apparently, but only minor injuries. The out-of-towner confirmed the story when he woke up at Hawkins General. Pretty open-and-shut case, at least.
All things considered, a much easier night than he expected when he got called out.
III.
Hopper had met Susan Hargrove a handful of times before. Luckily, they were mostly for completely innocuous reasons - her daughter was his kid’s best friend, they were bound to discuss where their kids had gotten off to, if nothing else.
(And if Munson wasn’t the only one who he’d let off with a warning, that was no one’s business but their own. She promised she’d try to get better, and El told him that Max said she wasn’t drinking quite as much. If she got caught for public drunkenness again, though, he was throwing the book at her.)
That being said, they weren’t exactly close. Jim personally thought it would be a bit awkward to make friends with any of his kid’s friends’ parents, barring Joyce. It was far easier to lie about how their children were in mortal peril every nine months on average if he didn’t have to make small talk over dinner.
So when his secretary poked his head in on a Tuesday morning to say that Ms. Mayfield was here and hoping to discuss something, he feared the worst.
What went through his head in the moments it took her to walk down the hall ranged from terrifying ( oh, god, something from the Upside Down took Max, Susan saw, she probably doesn’t think anyone will believe her ) to the tragic ( Neil’s back, Neil’s back and Susan’s going to accept him even though he knows he’s not good for her or Max, and Susan knows that too, but- ), but when she arrived, she only looked determined. Walking authoritatively to the seat on the other side of his desk, she sat down and calmly pulled out a folder from her bag, before looking him directly in the eyes.
The veneer cracked, but only slightly.
“Hi Jim,” she said with a small smile.
He smiled back, just a bit. “Hi, Susan,” He said, “What can I do for you?”
She handed him the folder. “Owner of the park is trying to raise rent. Most of the tenants can’t afford that kind of increase.”
Hopper saw the problem. Rent increases were inevitable, of course, but these were suspiciously, concerningly high. An additional zero high.
There wasn’t a lot he could do, personally.
He told her as much.
“I know,” she said, biting her lip. “We just wanted to make sure everything we did was…above board. That maybe you could help us out a bit, as a friend to some of the residents.”
Hopper raised an eyebrow.
“Nothing illegal!” Susan corrected quickly, “I know some of us have a bit of a reputation, Jim, but we’re good, hardworking people. We want to fight back, but we all saw what happened last year with everyone who was protesting the mall. That can’t happen to us, we’ll lose our homes. We just want to make sure we won’t be arrested.”
The eyebrow came down. Understandable.
“I’m glad you came to me,” He said, “Technically, you should have gone to the mayor, but he can be a bit stingy with handing out the proper documents. Let me just -” He opened one of his desk drawers and handed her a stack of paper. “Here you are. Start with that - it’s a request to protest. Fill it out and return it to me, I’ll personally make sure it’s filed correctly.” The new mayor was better than Kline, but he was still horribly classist. And Hopper did care about Max and didn’t want her to lose everything for a second time, saying nothing of the other residents. “If that doesn’t work, come back and we can explore options. If nothing else, I’ll make sure everyone’s protected if anything goes south.”
Susan took the documents and smiled again. “Thank you, Jim.” she said earnestly. “I hope I won’t have to see you again, but if I do, I look forward to working with you.”
“Of course,” he responded, “Protect and serve, right?” and it only came out ever so slightly bitter.
“Right.” Susan said firmly, stopping his thoughts in their tracks. Huh. “You know, no one else believed you would help.”
Jim laughed self deprecatingly, “Yeah, I probably wouldn’t have a few years ago.”
“But you are now.” Susan said, stopping him in his tracks for a second time. “You’ve grown. And Munson knows that, which is why he told me to come to you before anything else.”
That caused him to take pause. “Munson?”
“Yeah,” Susan said, “He moved after his charges were dropped, but he still watches Max sometimes, when Steve’s busy.” Or with Steve, Jim thinks, but doesn’t vocalize. The two were rarely seen apart, these days. “Everyone else kind of just wanted to cause problems until the owner gave up, and I didn’t know what to do. Munson suggested you. Even Max didn’t mention you, said it would probably be useless. But Eddie was said, just talk to him first, he’s a good guy. It can’t hurt. Even if he doesn’t want to help, he’ll do anything to prevent paperwork later.” She finished with a wink.
Munson had a point. Working with Susan and the other tenants would only help all of them in the long term, even if they didn’t ultimately win the fight. And while the kid’s main goal was probably to help his neighbors, this probably would prevent some scuffles later on. This helped him, too. Which Munson probably also figured out.
Huh. Jim still knew how to put the pieces of a little mystery together.
He was starting to see a pattern.
IV.
It was going to be a rough week. As rough as any that included some interdimensional beings, even if it didn’t have the threat of world-ending disaster looming overhead.
Deaths in the community were always rough. Worse when it was a child. Even worse when he couldn’t blame it on the government.
One of the kids on Maple (none he knew personally, thank god) took a nasty fall down the stairs, resulting in a broken neck. The only one home at the time was the older sister, who was sixteen, so now he has to figure out if this was the result of some sibling fight, neglect, or an honest mistake. He was going to have to question the traumatized family in their time of mourning, which was never fun. And then he was going to have to go over the details of the case, probably overnight, and stare at evidence until something starts to make sense.
He was only a year younger than El. Jesus.
Staring at the grisly photographs in front of him, he sighed. He was going to have to bring all of this home, and he really didn’t want to expose El to it. He was just going to have to lock everything away, but the cabin was small, and he wasn’t exactly used to dealing with something like this with people in his space, so -
He heard a slight knock at his door, causing him to jolt up. It was definitely well after 4:30, so it should be someone from the office, unless it was an emergency.
It wasn’t.
“Hey, Hop.” Steve Harrington said quietly, offering a small wave.
He knew Steve well enough at this point, he thought, that if someone was in danger, he wouldn’t be quite as awkward.
“Hey Harrington,” he said, trying for a presentable, welcoming smile. “What’s up?”
He looked around the office for a bit, his gaze refusing to meet Hopper’s. “Lucas saw the crime scene on the way home from school. Said it looked real bad. Erica said George wasn’t in school today. We figured something happened.”
He wasn’t supposed to discuss open cases, but he knew Steve, and by extension the kids, could keep their mouths shut. He can probably let the cat out of the bag, it was going to be hitting the papers soon, anyway. And he’d bet money that, when it does, it wasn’t going to be anyone in their little world-destroyer-prevention-squad that leaks it. “George broke his neck on the stairs. He was dead on arrival.”
“Shit.” Steve said, letting out a large breath of air. Then, he finally looked at Hopper. “Are you okay?”
He was surprised by the question. Typically, Hopper was the one to check up on everyone. Apparently, Harrington is extending the parenting to actual adults. It was sweet, if not a little condescending - this wasn’t the first time he dealt with a nasty accident. “You of all people should know that I can deal with this, Steve.” He said, gentler than he would with anyone over the age of 25.
“I know.” Steve responded quickly, “But it’s still tough, right?”
He let out a breath, deflating. “Yeah, kid. It’s still tough.”
Finally, Steve inched into his office. Hesitantly, he started, “Look, I know El’s probably the kid I’m least close to,” Which caused Hopper to stifle a snort. If they were grading on a curve, sure, but he still caught El asleep under Steve’s arm after a movie night at least twice. Harrington was just a magnet for children who were traumatized by the Upside Down, and all the kid’s parents knew it. “But if you need any help…I’ve got a huge house. If you’re busy, she can stay over for a few days. I’ll make her waffles and let her swim in the pool, it’s heated, it’ll be like a little vacation for her. I don’t even charge! I just want to make sure she’s safe while you’re busy. She’ll be okay, I promise.”
Steve knew that Hopper was protective of his little girl, especially since he’s been back. He doesn’t let anyone babysit, he even gets nervous when he asks Joyce to stop by the cabin when he’s going to be home late.
What Steve doesn’t know is that Hopper has him on speed dial, for the inevitable time when Joyce is busy and something comes up for him at work. He’s his third choice, because he knows that Steve could and would defend any of the kids in the face of certain death, which is a hell of a lot more than most of the babysitters he knows.
He wouldn’t tell Steve that, though. Not even after another round of torture in a Russian prison.
He rubbed his face before responding. “You sure you can handle a psychic teenager? She’s not as sweet when you tell her to eat her vegetables.”
“That’s just a normal teenager.” Steve rolled his eyes, “I told Dustin not to pick the lettuce off of his burger the other day and he called me a dumbass.”
Hopper smiled. “Fair enough. Thanks for the offer.” He hesitated before saying, “Can I drop her off after I get home? I want to at least tell her what’s happening.”
“Of course!” Steve said. Then he hesitated a bit in return, “Um. One other thing.”
If he was planning on keeping her up until two in the morning or something, Hopper may have misjudged him. “Yes?”
“Well.” Steve said, looking like he was causing himself physical pain to get the word out.
Like he knew, whatever he was about to say, might make Hopper angry.
“Eddie. May also be there. If that’s okay. With you.” He said, although it definitely wasn’t in the form of a question.
He knew Steve was practically Munson’s best friend at this point, he’d be more perturbed if Steve told him he’d keep Eddie away. And he saw Munson with the other kids all the time, and he was fine, why would Steve -
Oh.
Oh.
Never let it be said that Jim lost the ability to read between the lines during his time in a Russian prison.
“Hey,” Jim said, directing Steve to look towards him. Which was probably a good thing, the kid looked like he was going to start panicking if Hopper hadn’t said anything. “That’s fine, too, okay? Just don’t let her see or hear anything.” And, after thinking about how that sounded, he said, “Which I would say no matter who else was gonna be there, got it?” He looked right in Steve’s eyes, then, to make sure the boy knew he knew what he had meant, and he was fine with it.
They had enough issues with monsters from another dimension. He wasn’t gonna throw a fit just because a few members of their group were, maybe, a little bit bent.
Steve relaxed, then, for the first time since entering his office. “Oh thank god.” Steve said, “I was just going to tell him to fuck off for a few days, or just wait for you to come to me, but Eddie said you’d probably be fine with it, and it was his idea for me to offer, so -”
Jim knew how this went at this point. “Well, tell him thank you.” Then, what the hell? “He’s a smart boy, Harrington, don’t let him go.”
Steve blushed, but he was smiling.
(And if El complained for a week that Eddie’s Eggo extravaganzas were better than his - His had chopped up peanut butter cups and gummy bears, dad! - well, no one had to know he smiled out of fondness at the mention of the guy but him.)
V.
He still couldn’t fucking stand Mike Wheeler.
Sure, Mike was certainly on his best behavior since he came back. But El seemed guilty about how she behaved before, and Mike didn’t want to make his girlfriend upset. But that wasn’t respect, it was fear.
That being said, the kid seemed to be…overcompensating, as of late. He looked into his eyes and referred to him as ‘sir.’ He politely offered him sides before everyone else at the group dinners. Once, he even kindly asked how Hopper’s day at work was.
(If he saw Munson smile and subtly give Mike a small thumbs up when that happened, he didn’t comment on it, but he definitely figured out what was going on.)
When Mike pulled him aside during a movie night at the Beyers’ and asked if he could date his daughter, so sorry he didn’t ask before, that was an oversight, Hopper had had enough.
“Kid,” He started, “Look, it’s okay. As long as you’re good to her, I don’t care.”
“But-“
“I just want you to respect me as her father.” He said firmly, “Which you’re doing now. As long as you’re not a little shit, we’ll be okay. Trust that I also have her best interests at heart, even when her best interests aren’t your best interests.”
Wheeler looked at his shoes. “She’s just - she’s really important to me. And you’re really important to her. I should have realized that before.”
Jim looked at him, perhaps seeing him for the first time. “I know. But you’re just a teenager. Listen to the adults sometimes.”
Mike, meeting his eyes, said, “Okay.”
Perhaps he would be fine with this kid as his future son-in-law.
“And Mike,” he said as the boy walked away, “Tell Munson that next time he’s giving advice on how to woo parents, he doesn’t have to tell you to come on so strong.”
Mike froze, “How did you -“
“Lucky guess. Just tell him, would you?”
He’d met the elder Harringtons in passing a few years back, at some benefit. This routine was going to work even less on them. Best to try to limit the kid’s embarrassment at the inevitable meeting.
+I.
He was on his way into work when it happened.
The diner had the best coffee in town, better than he could make and far better than the sludge at the department. When he woke up early enough, having a cup with some bacon and eggs was one of his few splurges.
This was the first time in months when he’d managed to time it so El was at school on time, but he still had enough time to stop before he had to get to the station. It was an enormous stroke of luck he even heard about it, never mind that he was a witness.
Eddie was also at the diner, bright and early, at seven in the morning. For some reason, this was the most shocking part of it. If someone told him Eddie Munson, of all people, was the type to get up early and have breakfast out before work, he’d eat his own hat. And yet.
And yet.
The moment he walked in, Eddie saw him, offering a small wave. He waved back, of course - he wasn’t an asshole. He’d seen the kid only a couple of days before, he wasn’t going to pretend he didn’t know him. Sitting at the counter a few seats down from Munson, he ordered his usual from Dawn, and tried to wake up while he waited for his food and sipped from the cup offered to him.
It didn’t last. Of course it didn’t, he wasn’t that lucky. And neither was Munson, apparently.
Jason Carver was also an early riser. At least, that’s what he inferred when the guy walked into the establishment before anyone should realistically be awake, just to rough up Munson.
“How can you even sit here?” The guy started. Hopper had hoped that the cover story would work, but apparently not. “She’s never going to sit here again, and everyone knows you had something to do with it -”
“Look, man, there’s shit you don’t know, but I swear -” Munson responded, and, god, this clearly wasn’t the first confrontation. He should have been paying closer attention.
“Carver.” Hopper piped up, almost despite his better judgement. He continued before he could stop himself, “If you have a problem with how the investigation was conducted, come to me. In the meantime…Munson, is this guy bothering you?”
He looked at Eddie imploringly. Eddie looked from him to Carver before responding, “No, Hop. Just a misunderstanding.” After holding his gaze with Carver for a moment, the other boy left, muttering about how the system was corrupt.
Sure.
They both ate in silence for a bit.
“Thanks.” Eddie mumbled a few moments later. “Jason’s been kind of on my shit, maybe he’ll leave me alone now.”
Hopper looked at his mug of coffee before responding. “You know you could have come to me.” He said, “You send enough people my way, you should know I’d try to help if you asked.”
Eddie looked at his pancakes instead of at him, dragging his fork through the syrup instead of eating anything. “Well. I know you care about people. More than most cops here. But I didn’t know if that really included me just yet.”
Hopper turned towards him. “It does. Come to me, kid. If they ever try to start shit again.”
Eddie smiled at him - a genuine one, for once. “Thanks, Hopper. I’ll be sure to do that.”
“And.” Hopper sighed deeply. He didn’t want to discuss this, but if not now, when? “Thanks for the help around town. You’ve made my life a bit easier, god help me.”
Eddie’s smile turned a bit more pointed. “Hop, what are you talking about? I’m just your friendly neighborhood deliquent.”
They both knew that was a lie.
“If I see you dealing to any of the kids, they’ll never find your body.” Hopper said.
It was an empty threat, of course. The only time Eddie’d give anything harder than milk to the kids was if he knew they’d get something more dangerous somewhere else, and both of them knew it. And, well, at that point, Hopper couldn’t even blame him.
They both had the kid’s best intentions at heart, is what he was saying. Even if the outcome wasn’t the same. Even if he’d have to grit his teeth if it ever came to that. He probably wouldn’t even ban El from seeing the guy.
They both pretended otherwise. “Of course.” Eddie responded. “See you Friday?”
Hopper nodded, paid his tab, and headed out.
Munson wasn’t that bad of a guy, all told.
He could do with a bit of subtlety, though.