(AU) I do not own Stranger Things or any related media, characters, or trademarks. This is a work undertaken entirely for my own satisfaction and the enjoyment of readers.
This is an idea that has existed in my mind for a long time, and I'm going to take a risk on it. A note of warning is necessary: the "Spiritual" tag applied to this piece should be taken very seriously. This fiction will contain direct Christian references and themes. If that's something you don't like, I recommend you check out my other fictions (which are secular) or the numerous other wonderful pieces in this fandom. The idea of this story is not to force my beliefs onto readers, but to relate the fandom back to themes in my own life.
I hope you enjoy this piece, and thank you for reading. (A/N)
Chapter 1: Spring and Summer 1985
It had been several months since the Snow Ball, and Chief Hopper was now used to driving a group of rising high-schoolers to his secluded cabin. This Sunday was no different in nearly every regard—he was parked at the Byers' residence at 10:00 AM and the mob of El's friends had loaded into his back seat. There was one difference that he noticed: "Where's Mike? I'm not going to be the one explaining to El why her little 'boyfriend' isn't with us!".
"Don't worry, sir. He's coming later; we'll explain to El," Dustin said quickly.
"Where is he, though? It's not like him to be late for a visit," Hopper asked. He was used to the "Wheeler boy" being nearly unbearably punctual with him.
"He's at church; it's Sunday," Will said softly. That was not on the list of excuses Hopper was expecting.
"The Wheelers go to church?" the Chief asked.
"Yeah, they do now. They quit going years ago, but Mike and Holly started going again during the 353 days. She had a bunch of friends who went to the children's thing, and now Mike's parents are in marriage counseling at the church. Apparently, it's working; now they're active again," Lucas explained at length. Hopper simply nodded along with the story—he had noticed Karen and Ted not ripping each other's throats out anymore.
"Is the boy pretty serious about it?" Hopper asked.
"Yeah, Mike's pretty sincere about it. He wouldn't be late to see El if he wasn't," Dustin said. Hopper nodded again.
"I haven't been in a church in years," Hopper said more loudly than he had intended.
"Us either, sir," Will, Dustin, and Max said. Lucas shifted uncomfortably before speaking up.
"My parents take us to an AME church in Indianapolis every month," the boy said nervously.
"No need to look so nervous, kid," the Chief said.
"Well, you have a bit of a reputation around town for really not liking church, sir," Lucas said. Hopper just grunted in response before continuing the drive in silence.
"Where's Mike?" were the first words out of El's mouth when they reached the cabin—of course.
"He's coming a little bit later today; he's with his parents and sisters at church. Nancy promised to drive him over as soon as they were done," Max said. The two girls had warmed up a little over the past half-year, but it was still a little awkward.
"Do you know what church is, El?" Will asked.
"Yes; it was in the history book and encyclopedia Hopper gave me," she said—hesitating a little on the word "encyclopedia." Nodding in understanding, the group settled into a round of conversation and eventually into a movie marathon. A couple of hours later, they heard a person walking through the woods and up the porch steps. The knock confirmed that if must be Mike. As she ran towards the door, El disengaged all the locks with her mind. "Mike!" the girl exclaimed. "You look pretty," she said when she noticed Mike's clothes.
"Thanks, El," Mike said with a blush. "I probably should have changed before coming, but I didn't want to lose any time," he continued. The two kids embraced tightly before pulling back and entering the cabin fully.
"Hey there kid," hopper said from the kitchen entranceway. Mike looked over at the Chief nervously.
"Hi Chief Hopper," Mike replied after a moment of silence had passed.
"How was church?" the man asked with an unreadable expression on his face.
Mike looked terrified before stuttering a response: "It was—it was—good, sir."
"Why so jittery, kid?" Hopper asked with confusion.
"You do have a reputation," Dustin said, confirming Lucas' earlier statement.
"What have you heard, kid?" Hopper queried Mike.
"Well—I know you punched a Minister in the face a few years ago," Mike said hesitantly.
"Oh—you heard about that, huh. I clearly underestimated the gossip capabilities of this town. Don't worry Wheeler, I haven't made a habit of roughing up religious types. It was a one-time lapse of judgement. I had just gotten back here, and there were some nasty things happening in y personal life," Hopper trailed off in the middle of his explanation. The awkwardness in the room was palpable before the kids returned to their collection of movies.
Sitting by his side, El asked Mike: "So what do you do at church?". He reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded pamphlet—a bulletin—before handing it to the girl. She whispered a few questions to the boy, which he tried to answer the best he could.
After the kids had left—driven home by Jonathan and Steve—El turned to Hopper. "I want to go to church with Mike next week," she said to the man. He sighed; this is what he had resigned himself to as soon as he figured out that the Wheeler boy was religious. There was no way something so obviously important to the boy wouldn't be of interest to El.
"Are you sure you want to do that?" Hopper asked cautiously. He didn't have a reason to legitimately deny the girl—things had been deemed safe a couple of weeks ago. She looked up at him for a moment before nodding her head. "Alright then, I'll take you there next Sunday. Do you know where it is?" Hopper said.
"Yes," she said and handed Hopper the bulletin Mike had given her.
A week later, Hopper's Blazer pulled up to the parking lot next to Hawkins United Methodist Church. Mike was standing outside of the building waiting for them. El ran up to him when she got out of the vehicle. Hopper stayed in place next to his truck. "You coming in, dad?" El asked.
"No, kid. I'm going to stay out here. I assume she's in good hands with you boy?" Hopper said.
"Yes, sir. I understand, sir," Mike said before leading El into the building. She was momentarily overwhelmed by the colors and number of people inside the brick structure. A man in a suit handed her a bulletin of her own before a woman in a suti leaned down to greet her.
"Good morning dear; I don't think we've met. My name is Diane; what is yours?" she asked while extending her hand.
El recognized the gesture from Lucas and took the hand, answering: "Jane Hopper."
"Oh; you're the Chief's new adopted daughter. It's a pleasure to meet you Jane. Good morning Michael; are you friends with my new friend Jane here?" the woman asked.
"Yes; you could say that," Mike said with a smile. Diane only nodded with a knowing smirk.
"Come on El; we can sit with my parents and sisters if you'd like," Mike said. She nodded quietly before following him into the sanctuary. Mike had tried to explain everything to her, but the experience was something different. El noticed Karen and Ted in a pew not too far from the middle of the room. Sliding in to sit between Mike and his mother—she smiled shyly at Karen Wheeler. The two of them had become acquainted over the last two months, but El was still a little nervous—she now knew how Mike felt about Hopper.
"I'm happy you wanted to come with us today," Karen said with a motherly smile.
"Who is this young lady?" and elderly couple from the pew behind asked. Before Mike or El spoke up, Mrs. Wheeler responded with a smirk.
"This is El—Mike's girlfriend," Karen said. Both teens blushed brightly, which caused the adults to laugh softly. The service begins; El doesn't quite understand everything going on but she thinks she grasps the basics. She especially enjoyed the music. After the benediction closed the service, she noticed everyone walking down a flight of stairs.
"Where are they going?" she asked Mike.
"We eat lunch together after worship. You want to go ask Hopper if he wants to join us?" Mike said, immediately getting a nod in response. They told Mike's parents to go ahead, and walked to the door. When they reached the parking lot, Mike shouted to a standing Hopper: "You want to join us for lunch?".
Hopper looked hesitant, but one look at El's face forced his hand: "Fine. I'll come, but there'd better not be any singing, Wheeler." They walked into the building where the trio nearly ran into a man in a black robe.
"Oh—hello Reverend Landry," Mike said.
"I've told you Mike—you can just call me Paul. No need for all that formal stuff," the man said with a smile before turning to Hopper and El. "Hello Chief Hopper—I believe we've met. I think I remember hearing that your name is Jane; is that right?" he said to them in turn.
"Yes, sir," El said. She liked the kind looking man. Hopper had looked like he was viewing a ghost the entire time, but now he met the middle-aged minister's eyes.
"Yes, yes—we, ah—we've met before. I'm sorry about that by the way," Hopper said.
"Sorry for what?" the other man asked.
"You don't remember? The last time we met I punched you in the face," Hopper said, astounded. Realization dawned on Mike and El simultaneously.
"Oh yes that; water under the bridge! No real harm done," the minister dismissed the tension easily. "Now, I believe we are all late for lunch. We'd best get down there before they form a search committee," he joked. They entered a large room with lots of tables and chairs, where the people from upstairs had gathered to eat. Mike led Hopper and El over to a table where his family and a few other people were sitting.
"Hey Chief!" Karen greeted loudly. The man returned her welcome with slightly less vigor. Discomfort dominated the conversation at first, but eventually Hopper warmed up to the people at the table. When they were done and Hopper and El had reached their vehicle, the girl looked up at the man with a grin on her face.
"Will we get to come again next week?" she asked hopefully. The man looked back at her carefully before responding.
"I suppose that could work if you're really sure you want to. I mean, do you really believe all that stuff?" Hopper asked.
"What do you mean?" El asked.
"Do you believe all of that stuff about God and Jesus and miracles? Do you really understand what it all means, and what about all that Methodist stuff?" Hopper asked. El paused for a moment before answering.
"I don't understand it all, but Mike said no one does at first. They'll teach me about it. I believe them though; I believe Mike and all those kind people," El said sincerely.
"Fair enough, kid," Hopper said before driving away.
Hopper brought El to the church every week and some service events. After service one week, El was stopping to say goodbye to Paul Landry when he handed her a small bag. "What is it?" El asked him. She glanced inside and saw books.
"They're books, Jane. Mike mentioned that you had never gotten the chance to go to church education, and I know you like to read. There's a Bible in there along with some history and overviews of what we believe. I thought you might enjoy being able to move at your own pace," the minister said.
"How long can I keep them?" she asked quietly.
"No. That's not what I mean; they're all yours. I want you to have and read them for as long as you want them. Then you can keep them or share them with someone else," Landry said. El looked up at him gratefully before giving the man a hug. It was the next week when the man announced his imminent movement to a UMC in a suburb of Indianapolis. El had read about the circuit system in one of her books, but she was sad to see the man go.
After the day's activities had finished, El and Mike walked over to Reverend Landry to say goodbye. "Reverend Landry, I wanted to thank you for everything you've done for both of us. You really helped me when life got dark; you remined me that there is always light—unceasing hope. Thank you, sir," Mike said.
"Thank you so much Reverend Landry. I'll miss you," El said.
"I've told you both that you can call me Paul. It's been one of my life's greatest pleasures to see you both grow in life and in faith. I'm not really supposed to tell you, but the new minister assigned here by the bishop is the Reverend Dr. Arleen Kendall. I know her from divinity school, and think you'll like her. Best wishes to the both of you," Paul Landry said before he began to walk away.
"Sir!" El said quickly. He turned back to meet her gaze. "El—that's what my friends call me. See you again one day, Pastor Paul," she said.
"The Lord be with you," Rev. Landry said.
"And also with you," they both said.
"Here it is, El. The church decided to put up a commemorative plaque to remember Pastor Paul. There's a John Wesley quote on it. You remember him, right?" Mike said as he led her to a spot in the narthex.
"I remember reading about him. He founded the Methodists—like here," El said. She walked up to the plaque on the wall and read the quote aloud: "Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can."
"It's one of my favorites. Pastor Paul was the first person to introduce me to it," Mike said.
"It reminds me of you, Mike—the day you found me in the forest," El said softly. Mike faced downward to look her in the eyes, and pulled his girlfriend into a hug. They then sat together with the Wheelers; the new minister had arrived.
The Reverend Dr. Arleen Kendall was very popular with the congregation at Hawkins UMC. She was remarkably eloquent, and El could immediately see shy Pastor Paul was so sure of her. The town of Hawkins was less taken with her. She was the only female clergy member the town had ever had, and rural Indiana was slow to accept change. The reaction had been mostly passive-aggressive: a few mean-spirited editorials and letters to the editor in the local newspaper. That was until this Saturday in August, when Hopper found himself at the church in a more official capacity.
Driving up to the building, he saw a group of people including the Wheelers gathered around the side of the building. When he neared the crowd, Ted Wheeler stepped forward and spoke: "I'm glad you're here Chief Hopper. Some barbarians left a nasty note on this wall and threw a rock through the Reverend Dr.'s office window. Something must be done about this!".
"Ted, wait a moment. I'm not pressing charges either way, and I would encourage the church trustees to do the same," Arleen Kendall said. Several of the men and women around her murmured in agreement.
"Are you sure?" Hopper asked.
"Yes. Whoever did it didn't hurt anyone, and it is our role to forgive them. Jesus told us to forgive, and he has given us his forgiveness," the minister said.
"Can I see what they wrote?" Hopper asked. The group moved aside and he saw the words spray-painted on the wall: "Sit down and shut up b****." He then noticed Mike and Holly walking over with a bucked and sponges.
"John Wesley said, 'What one generation tolerates, the next generation will embrace.' I suppose we're not yet at the toleration level, but one day we'll get there," she said with a smile.
(AN) Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed this and can look forward to another couple of installments. I am working on RAFF, and actually have a chapter sitting in my drafts folder.
Please leave a review. I would love to hear your sincere thoughts about characters, plot, writing style, and anything else. (A/N)