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Jim Hopper has a secret, a secret he swore he would never tell, he certainly never thought it would come out because of Eddie Munson. Hopper had never liked Eddie Munson, one too many arrests for possession had soured him to Hopper permanently.
All that was before he started dating his son. After Steve had taken a monumental beating from Hargrove, they had to take Steve to the hospital, but the hospital would not release Steve without someone at home. But Steve said his parents were never home, Hopper seethed at the nerve of these people but had invited Steve to come to stay with him and El while he recovered. After Steve left and went home he made sure to check up on him at least once a week. When he came back from Russia he convinced Steve to move in with him and El, It was perfect it allowed him to spend time with him without revealing his secret.
Which leads him here to walk in the door after another long tiring day trying to clean up the town as the newly reinstated chief of police, to find that Munson boy on his couch with his tongue down his son's throat. Steve shoved Munson off of him and started to say
“Hop-'' but Hopper was already out the door and on his way to Joyce's house. He went to Joyce for many reasons, one being their blooming relationship. Two he could trust her to be upset about his son and Munson for the right reason being that it's his son and Munson and not because they're two guys. He can also trust her discretion on this matter considering Will and Jonathan for that matter. And most importantly three she's one of six people on earth who know his secret. The others are Elizabeth, Murray, Diane, Jane, and himself.
So he could trust her to give him advice on how to tell Steve it's okay that he likes guys but just not that guy. Sitting on Joyce's rickety old couch, he told her all of this after checking that Will and Jonathan were out of the house. Joyce laughed at his expense, and Hopper got defensive.
“Well Joyce excuse me, for not wanting my son to date a guy who took three tries to finish senior year, and who I've had to arrest six times, Joyce six times!” he exclaimed irritably
“I'm sorry, I'm sorry” Joyce wheezed through her laughter
“Hop have you considered that maybe there was more to him than just that? I mean Steves got great taste. I mean Nancy’s a catch, and Robin is delightful even if now I understand their steadfast refusal to date.
So maybe their more to Eddie than you think, Maybe trust that Steve is an adult who can make his own choices on who's a good match for him or not.'' She soothed but she then continued
“But like can you imagine you were scared to tell the only parent who's ever shown any love or affection for you and he tells you it's okay you like boys just not that boy ahahah '' Joyce trailed off into hysterical laughter.
And horror dawned on Hopper
“Shit” he breathed and was out the door faster than you can say “Vecna is dead”
If he knew his boy which Hopper did he'd already be packing his bags thinking Hopper didn't want him there anymore, which couldn't be further from the truth.
He hopped in his truck and raced home. If he broke a few traffic laws on the way then that's his own business. On the way he thought about his secret, he may not have told Steve yet but it may be the time. However, that same fear is always holding him back, what if Steve never wants to see him again and hates him for staying away? No, he has to tell Steve the truth, that he is his biological father.
The story goes like this, In ‘66, right before he was drafted to Nam’ he had a brief love affair with Elizabeth Banichi. A woman whose parents were Italian immigrants, but came from the wealthy part of town, because her father was half the town's landlord.
He imposed a strict reputation on Elizabeth, so their relationship was made to be completely secret. Her father tried to arrange a marriage between Eliza, as he called her, and Richard Harrington. She had come to say goodbye to him the night before he left, and they forgot to use a condom.
Months went by in the war before he received a letter from Eliza. Informing him she was pregnant and the baby was his, but since he was at war and her father would never approve, she would marry Richard. The night she found out she was pregnant, about three weeks into her pregnancy, she went to Richard accepted his proposal, and slept with him. Two weeks after that, she took another pregnancy test acted surprised, and told Richard the baby was his. They were married three days later.
She told him in no uncertain terms that while he had been a fun distraction, should he try to interfere with her perfectly constructed life, she would destroy him in court. He believed her, she had gone to law school and was a practicing lawyer. Hopper didn't know he had rights, even if Richard was on the birth certificate a DNA test would show the child was his. he didn't know and was dissuaded away from fighting for his son.
Eliza wrote him another letter three months after that informing him their son had been born and that Richard had put his name on the birth certificate. She told him their son was 8 pounds 13 ounces, and that he was 22 inches long. She pleaded with him to not wreck Steve's life and that he and Richard were already bonding.
He didn't know she lied, he didn't know Richard was only present at his birth out of necessity and couldn't care less for the boy he thought was his son. She closed the letter by telling him they named their son, Steve. She enclosed a picture of his son, a picture he still has in his wallet to this day.
After that he had lost most of his will to live, he barely scraped through the war alive and when he came home he barely kept himself alive. He worked nights at the plant and drank himself to sleep in the morning, he was slowly killing himself. It was on a booze run one morning that he met Diane, she had seen something in him that made her ask if he was alright. And that was all he needed in that moment to spill everything to her, she had comforted him and walked him home. They hung out more after that eventually he got it together enough to ask her on a date, and she accepted.
Things got better after they started dating, and Hopper quit drinking so much. He quit his job at the plant getting a job as deputy at the Hawkins police station, eventually working his way up to sheriff. But a day never passed where he didn't think about his son, growing up just on the other side of town completely unaware of the truth.
He saw him sometimes playing basketball at the park with the Hagans boy or at the grocery store with his nanny. He wanted to reach out but he was so scared, and he didn't want to hurt his son and uproot his life so he stayed quiet and asked for more patrols near Loch Nora hoping to catch a glimpse of his son.
He proposed to Diane on the day they found out she was pregnant. He was present for every doctor's visit, stratified every midnight craving, and was attentive present, and supportive through her whole 12-hour labor with Sara. The doctor said he had never met a father so attentive. He missed everything with one child he wouldn't miss a second with the other.
Now that he had a sister, Hopper wanted to tell Steve even more. It had gotten to the point where he had parked outside of Hawkins Elementary waiting for school to end so he could talk to his son without having to deal with Eliza and Richard. Then the bell rang and startled him, made him realize what he was doing, and he drove away before he even caught a glimpse of his son.
He didn't know that Steve was just going home to an empty house with just a note with money for pizza, and a promise to return three days later for company.
After Sara got sick and he had to move away from his son, it became harder and harder to not fall back on old habits. And when she died, and he moved back to Hawkins without Diane, and he saw that he had completely missed his son's 3-7th grades. and that when they ran into each other he barely recognized him, he just broke. He may have retained his job as police chief, but he fell further than he ever had before, his doctor had given him antidepressants to help him cope, but he took well above his recommended dosage, and he eventually went to Reefer Rick and got something to numb the pain.
Years passed in a chemical state, he may not have been on top of his game but he would look out for his son whenever he could in whichever way he could. For example, when calls of noise complaints and underage drinking at the Harrington house came in he went a little bit easier on the host than he would if it were anyone else. Everything changed when Joyce Byers barged into his office one day ranting about her missing son.
He didn't learn until after in the hospital that Steve was involved at all, he saw his son waiting in the waiting room with his face busted in half, he had gotten into a fight with Byers, and when he went to apologize to sucked into a fight with the Demogorgon or whatever it is the kids are calling it.
He wanted to shake him, he barely survived the loss of one child he couldn't survive losing another one. But Steve was fine in the end he seemed to be improving as a person, he stopped hanging out with those assholes and the parties stopped. Hopper had mixed feelings about it, he was proud of him for growing as a person, but on the other hand, it took away his excuse to see him.
Over the next year, he focused his attention and befriended the girl who had helped the boys last time and tried his best to keep an eye on Steve without alerting him that something was off. When he got a call about rotten pumpkins and learned that Will Byers was losing memories, perhaps it was too much to hope that both his son and daughter would be able to stay out of it. but at least he was able to take comfort in the fact, that he would stay with El, and Steve would be safe at the Byers with the kids. That was of course, until he arrived at the Byers's house and found his son barely standing, beaten to nearly a pulp, and Hargrove lying unconscious on the floor.
If he had been a bit rougher than necessary when shoving Hargrove in the car to the police station for his parents to pick him up then that's his own business. After the deputy drove off with Hargrove, he wasted no time in packing up his kids in his truck and driving to the hospital.
Steve was so concussed that he was losing some hearing and had they waited any longer to take him in he very well could have died. and the hospital wouldn't let him go home without someone there to make sure he wouldn't die in sleep or something horrible like that. Hopper had not looked forward to talking to Eliza or Richard but he had asked Steve for their number so they would come pick him up. Steve had told him
“They are in Greece right now so it doesn't matter”
“How much longer will they be gone for?” Hopper asked clenching the phone in hand tightly
“Like three months I think,” Steve said, Hopper exhaled heavily
“They leave you alone for three months at a time often” He asked desperately trying to keep his voice calm
“No,” Steve said, Hopper felt his body relax,
“It's usually more like six months this was a relatively short trip” Steve continued, Hopper felt himself flood with rage, he had spent every day since he found out about him wanting to tell his son the truth and be a father and be there for him. and they kept him away just to leave their son alone. Even though he didn't want to know he asked for more
“How long are they usually home for, when they're home” he gritted out
“Oh, like three days' ' Steve said, Hopper is pretty sure he'd never been this angry in his life, but he managed to pull himself together enough to tell the hospital that he would look after Steve for a few weeks after he recovered.
He once more packed up El and Steve into his truck, but this time he drove to the Harrigton house. When Steve ran inside to pack a bag for the next few weeks, he told el the truth and swore her to secrecy. He told her that yes while friends don't lie, sometimes mooting the truth is okay as long as you aren't hurting someone. She seemed skeptical but agreed to keep his secret.
The few months that followed afterward were some of the happiest of his life, he had both El and Steve under one roof. and he was able to parent him in the way he always wanted to. But eventually, Steve had to go home, he told Hopper that his parents were going to be home soon and that they get mad when he's not at home when they are. And after Steve left he couldn't convince him to come back.
He spent a few months only seeing his son in passing. he heard he graduated but wouldn't go to college, he didn't particularly care whether or not his son went to college, but he shuddered to think of how Richard would react. He heard through the grapevine that Steve had started working at the mall. But Steve was hard to track down, it appeared he was avoiding him.
once again he considered telling him but was stopped in his tracks by Joyce and her magnets. Somehow Murruy had puzzled out his secret, and his weird sort of references about it forced him to come clean to Joyce. She was surprised but very supportive. He was not happy to see the state either of his children were in when they met up and was even less happy to have to be separated from both of them. It was a small consolation, however, that his son would be far away from the action.
Then Joyce had to blow the machine and he spent a year in a Russian prison. When Joyce got him out and he reunited with El, he had tried to reach out to Steve but he seemed ridiculously hard to track down.
It wasn't until their second fight with Vecna/Henry/One, they wouldn't give a straight answer on his name, that he was able to get Steve to talk to him. Steve had once again acquired a head injury, it seemed he was collecting them, and once again needed someone to look after him for a time. So once again Hopper offered for Steve to stay with him, but this time Steve declined said he would be fine on his own, and that Hopper didn't need to worry about him. Like that isn't what he spends most of his time doing, worrying about his kids.
When Hopper told him it would be no trouble at all, he got the reason Steve had been avoiding him. Richard and Eliza had raised him with the thought that his mere presence was a burden and that they wished he wasn't there. just when he thought he couldn't hate Richard and Eliza more, they kept on surprising him.
He managed to get Steve to stay with him for the being, however, though just a tiny bit of emotional blackmail. working the fact that he had just escaped from a Russian prison and needed to buy a house with all the nice hush money the government had given them all for their troubles and that he needed his help readjusting to life.
While it felt a little slimy his bribe had worked and he had both of his kids under one roof once more. That was three months ago, right after the earthquakes Eliza had called Steve and informed him that she and Richard would not be returning. but that he was not allowed to keep staying in the house, so long as he instead to continue to be a disappointment to them and not take a job at Richards company all the way in Boston where they’re spending their off time now.
So Steve was stuck with him a fact that made Hopper very happy, he was out of prison, had both of his kids under one roof, and icing on the cake El had finally come to her senses and dumped Mike Wheeler for good this time. But all that was until Munson started getting closer to his son, he wasn't blind he saw the look Munson sent Steve's way, he just never thought that his son would feel the same way about Munson.
He was taken out of his reverie by pulling up outside of his house, he had gotten so lost in thought that he had completely forgotten to make a game plan of how to talk to him. well guess he was flying in blind. Hopper took one more deep breath to steal himself before walking in the front door. munson and Steve were nowhere in sight, that's okay he expected that Munson and Steve were probably in his room. Hopper started making his way there.
When he arrived at Steve's door he heard what sounded like wrestling animals, oh god he hoped they went having sex in there. He raised a hand and knocked on the door, calling out
“Hey Steve, are you in there, can we talk?” he heard a noise of panic and a few whispered words that couldn't make out. Before Steve called out Shakliy
“Yeah sure come in” he twisted the knob and the door swung open, to reveal Steve and Munson not having sex, but rather shoving Steve's belongings into bags. Steve turned to him, the expression on his face was the same as when he faced down Venca for the second time.
“Just not the face yeah can't take another concussion,” Steve said
“Huh” Hopper eloquently responded puzzled
“You're gonna hit me, yell at me to get the fuck out ill leave, and well pretend it didn't happen in group settings. I know the drill, I'm asking you not to hit me in the face, I don't know how many more concussions I can take” Steve explained,
Hoppers's heart sank at the thought Steve would think him capable of doing that, but that sadness turned to rage when he realized that it wasn't fear on Steve's face it was resignation. hopper realized then that Richard and maybe Eliza too had hit his son. Hopper had thought on many occasions in his life that he had been angry before, but this truly makes them all seem like mild frustration in comparison. he wanted nothing more than to march over to Richard and Eliza no matter where they are and kill them right then and there. However, Hopper was taken out of his murder plans but Steve seemingly uncomfortable with the silence spoke again.
“Just get it over with dude I can't stand all the waiting”
"I'm not going to hit you, Steve," Hopper said, Munson's shoulders relaxed slightly and he continued packing Steve's bags it seemed he realized it was not his conversation to have. it was Steve's turn to be puzzled,
"What?" Steve asked
"I said I'm not going to hit you, and I certainly don't want you to leave" Hopper reiterated
"But why?" Steve asked
"Because I love you" Hopper answered it was the truth but he had never said it out loud before
"Wh wh what?" Steve stuttered, Hopper took a deep breath steeling himself for what he would do next
"Steve I'm your father," he said
Steve blinked
"No," he said
"What do you mean?" Hoper asked a little okay a lot scared
"You can't be my father Richard's my father," Steve said looking at Hopper searching his face for something some sign of deceit Hopper guessed. hopper reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet flipping it ocean and showing Steve the image he always carried with him.
"Tha tha that's my baby picture my mom said she only made two copies one for herself and one for my dad, the only way you could have that-" Steve trailed off and landed heavily on the bed
"Is if I was telling the truth," Hopper finished for him "I'm not lying Steve, I am your father and I do want you to stay" he finished
Steve seemed lost in thought
"I need some time. To think I'll be back" Steve said standing up and grabbing just one bag a simple overnight bag from Munson's hand
"Where will you stay?" He asked
"I'll stay with Eddie, I'll be back as soon as I know what to feel" Steve promised, and he and Munson left the house. Hopper walked almost in a daze to the living room before collapsing onto the couch, the day finally taking its toll on him. The secret he kept for so long finally getting out, against his will his eyes dropped shut and he fell into a deep fitful sleep.
In the end, it took two days for Steve to come back. Hopper came home from work and found Steve sitting at the kitchen table staring at a mug of coffee in his hands. there was another mug sitting in front of the seat across from him, Hopper guessed that there was where he wanted him to sit.
As he walked into the room Steve's eyes snapped up to him but quickly snapped back down to his coffee, Hopper took the seat across from him. They sat in silence for a moment before Steve broke it.
“I talked to my mom” He said it so quietly Hopper wouldn't have heard him if the room wasn't as deadly silent as it was
“What did she say” Hopper hestainly responded, In truth, he didn't want to hear what Eliza had to say about him. but Joyce had told him, to listen to whatever Steve had to say and let it all out, Apparently it was the only way to move forward apparently.
“She said she didn't even know who you are, but it was a lie, she couldn't give me a clear reason as to why you had the picture though, she got pissed at me and hung up when I said that though,” Steve said starting at a whisper but voice raising to near shouting by the end
“Tha-” Hopper was cut off by Steve continuing
“So knowing her that proves it, because heaven forbid that I know something that fundamentally changed my life because it would cause her any level of inconvenience. How how could she be so selfish” Steve was on a roll now yelling and white knuckle clenching the mug in his hands
“She's always like this prioritizing herself over me” Steve turned to him
“Did you even know, did she even tell you, how long did you know how long did you know you were my father and you didn't tell me”
“I fuck I've known the whole time Steve” He saw the look on Steve's face “But I never told not because I didn't want to, I wanted to every day I thought about telling you but I just here” he pulled Eliza's letters out of his back pocket, he had pulled them from the safe secret place he had kept them over the years. When Steve left two days ago Hopper had thought he might want to see them. Steve's eyes scanned the letters before looking back up at him, he hesitated for a moment before asking quietly
“Did you want me?” Hopper didn't waste a second before saying
“More than anything else in the whole world”
“And she kept me from you knowing that?” Steve asked again
“Yes” Hopper responded
“Okay, where do we go from here?” Steve asked
“Well you keep staying here and we work this out as we go along, if you don't want to nothing has to change” Hopper offered it's not what he wanted. he wanted to be a father to his son and for his son to call him dad and everything else but he wants his son home more. Steve swallowed and nodded.
“Yeah okay yeah,” he said, Hopper was about to say more before Munson burst out from the pantry door. was he there the whole time?
“Whew what a relief I'm so glad that's over” he declared loudly, Hopper seethed as the moment was over and he was about to say something to Munson before he saw the highly relieved expression on Steve's face. He would let it go for his son, though he guessed they would continue this conviction later.
Later turned out to be three days later during a comfortable family dinner, of Steve, El, and Hopper. as El was talking about her plans with Max over the weekend. When she was interrupted by a loud insistent banging on the door. they all made eye contact with each other before all rising and walking towards the door, Hopper took the lead and sighed, the hazards of having the most sacrificial people in their family all in one place.
Hopper looked through the peoplehole and gasped as he stood back for a moment deciding what to do. He was saved from having to decide however when she started to speak
“I know you're in there Steven, Jim, let me in” She yelled
“Mom” Steve uttered surprised, Hopper looked to Steve and when he nodded Hopper opened the door and in stormed Eliza Harrigton nee Banaichi. She looked shockingly similar to twenty years ago she had barely aged a day. hopper suspected plastic surgery either of her own free will or from Richard's strong insistence. Seeing her next to Steve for the first time reminded Hopper just how alike the pair looked.
they had the same big brown doe eyes almost too large for their faces, the same tan skin littered with moles, the same mouth shape, the same eyebrows, the same jaws, same voluminous hair Eliza’s was significantly longer though, The only thing that looked different between the two were their noses but that might just be because steves nose had been broken several times.
Eliza was cursing in Italian gesturing widely Hopper had been expecting Eliza to pay him a visit likely as angry as she is now since he told Steve. he understood and wasn't that angry he figured her marriage was falling apart and he rather she yelled at him than anyone else. however, with a start, he realized she wasn't yelling at him she was yelling at Steve. now Hopper didn't speak Italian but clearly, Steve did because he would flinch every so often when it was clear she had leveled an insult that had hit home. Steve looked on the verge of tears, and Hopper decided to intervene
“What the hell are you doing” he shouted at her
“Scolding my son, not that it's any of your business” she shot back and even though he had about a foot on her when she turned to him, he had to resist the urge to shrink back in fear. he can't imagine what it was like to grow up with her.
“Well considering he's my son I think it is my damn business” Hopper shot back despite her glare
“Your son your son, you don't know Steven You weren't involved a day in life he didn't know you were his father until five days ago-” Eliza ranted at him but was cut off
“And whose fault is that” Steve said so quietly it was barely audible, Eliza turned back to him
“What did you say, Steven?” She asked gritting it out through clenched teeth
“I said and whose fault is that '' Steve said, clenching his shaking hands into fists and squaring his face. It was the same expression he had when he faced Vecna/Henry/one. Hopper was proud his son had shown remarkable Strength standing up to someone he feared, he was also very angry that the person his son feared was his one damn mother but there wasn't anything he could do about it now.
“How dare you Steven, We raised you, fed you, and put a roof over your head and this is how you repay me” She yelled at Steve getting up in his space but he didn't flinch back
“What do you mean you raised me Hopper raised me more than you ever did and that was before I even knew the truth” Steve yelled back, Hopper's heart swelled as his son defended him, but it quickly dropped as Eliza responded
“You ungrateful brat I should have aborted you when I had the chance” That was enough for Hopper, it's fine to make that choice when you're pregnant. and he wouldn't have begrudged her an abortion if she had chosen that when she was pregnant. but saying that to your child is another thing entirely. It seemed El agreed because before he could get up to move her from the house, she started moving backward seemingly against her free will. He watched with glee as she tried to fight against it.
“Oh also you might a have a message waiting from Richard when you get home though I wouldn't look forward to it if I were you” Steve called as she was shoved out the door, She opened her mouth to respond but was cut off but the door slamming, el wiped her nose.
As soon as she was out the door Steve broke down crying, horrible ugly sobs that shook his body, he sank onto the floor, knees hugged up to his chest. Hopper walked over to him and sat down beside him holding him, whispering
“It's gonna be alright son, it's alright”
—-------------------------
December 25, 1987, 11 months later,
Hopper, Steve, Joyce, Jonathan, Will, and El were all having breakfast together. They were going to exchange presents after breakfast, Eggos for el and bacon and eggs for everyone else. Joyce and her boys had moved in with Hopper and his kids three months ago when they got engaged, the wedding date is set for mid-March.
There had been a few adjustments, El and Will got on like a house fire, and Steve did well with both El and Will, as did Jonathan, but Steve and Jonathan's relationship was strained at first. with the pair almost coming to blows again at one point. But they talked it out and have now behaved like real brothers do, fighting one second and watching TV together sharing a blunt the next.
After Eliza had left and Steve had calmed down, they spoke again with Joyce present as essentially a translator. He realized that when he told Steve nothing had to change if he didn't want it to Steve had heard that he didn't want to be his father, and that misconception was quickly corrected.
It took them almost a year but they were finally at a place where they were both comfortable and happy. Steve refers to him as his dad to other people, but still calls him hop to his face. He heard through the grapevine that Richard and Eliza were getting a divorce, but that the division of assets would take forever because they had no prenup and both had very good reason to end the marriage. Eliza had 20 years of a lie against her, but Richard had twenty years of affairs against him. Apparently, they had to be kept separated so they don't claw each other's eyes out.
As they cleared the table Steve spoke up on his way to the sink with his dishes
“Oh yeah I invited Eddie and Wayne over for dinner tonight hope that's alright”
While it was alright for Sgteve to bring his boyfriend to dinner. Jonathan was bringing Argyle, and El was bringing Max and her mom, and Will would have brought his boyfriend but he couldn't get out of the Wheeler family Christmas dinner hopper silently celebrated when he heard. but Hopper still hated Munson with a burning passion. The boy had been on his best behavior and seemed to make Steve happy but Hopper didn't want Munson interrupting his first Christmas with his son, but before he could say any of that Joyce answered for him
“Of course Steve don't worry about it” Hopper shot her a look and she shot one back, and Hopper backed down.
After they assembly line did the dishes, Steve brought the dishes from the table, Jonathan scrubbed, Will rinsed, El dried them, and Hopper and Joyce put them away. they went to the living room and under the tree was a veritable mountain of presents, El and Will took a seat right by the tree, with the older kids and their parents taking a seat on the couch.
Joy and laughter were spread as presents were exchanged, As the pile started to dwindle Will pulled out a thin wide gift wrapped in blue sparkly paper with a bow on the front.
“It's for you hop, from Steve,” Will said handing it over, but he was intercepted by Steve
“Let's leave this one for last, yeah?” he said tugging the gift from Will's hands and clutching it to his chest,
“Allllllllrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiggggghhhhtttt” Will said and el pulled another gift from the pile
“Joyce this is for you, It is from Will and Jonathan,” she said, and the rest of gift giving went smoothly, Steve's weird reaction to the gift was forgotten under miles of wrapping paper. However, when everyone got up to leave Steve asked Hopper to stay behind, Steve waffled a moment before stealing his nerve and handing over the package, looking anywhere but Hopper's eyes.
Hopper unwrapped the gift and found an updated birth certificate for Steven Harrigton-Hopper, with Jim Hopper listed as the father. Hopper found himself tearing up.
“You don't like it of course you don't like it, I'm so so-” Steve was cut off when Hopper pulled him into a crushing hug. As he held his son, Hopper had one thought maybe it wasn't such a bad thing thing or even a bad thing at all that his secret came out. He had his son in life and the truth was out and he had Munson to thank for it. Even if he still hates Munson more than Wheeler.