(AN) 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.

Trigger Warning: Abusive Parenting, Parental Bullying, etc.

This piece will have some great Mike Wheeler and Jim Hopper interactions—one of my favorite themes. Please enjoy reading. (A/N)

Short Fiction 4: Someone To Be There For You: Hawkins Public Library, Spring 1985

Jim Hopper was not often in the Hawkins Public Library, not least of all due to his rocky relationship with the librarian. She could certainly hold a grudge, and he didn't really blame her for being annoyed. This Saturday was an exception, however, because there were things Hopper had to finish up in the newspaper room. He was making sure that no photos existed in the Hawkins Library that could endanger his adopted daughter. So far, he hadn't found anything too worrying, but he was ready to pocket any document that was too risky. Perhaps he was being paranoid, but El wasn't home this morning and paranoia is never unfatherly behavior.

The Chief was surprised to see a familiar face behind the shelves of books on a Saturday afternoon. It didn't take him long to recognize the face his daughter could not stop talking about: Michael Wheeler. The kid was sitting alone in the back of the library with a stack of books next to him, but that it wasn't the kid's aloneness—though that was strange—that drew his attention. The Wheeler kid was sitting with his chin resting on his knees, tear-tracks and puffy eyes that stared off into space marring his face. He had seen the boy distressed before, but only when he was recovering from his year of separation from Eleven or when he was worried about her safety.

Though he tried to put up a hard face in front of the kid under normal circumstances—he was unofficially dating his daughter—but he couldn't pretend that he didn't like the boy. He was a loyal friend and never let El experience anything but happiness if it was in his power. Thus, he had to walk over and see what had happened to this kid, and he did so. Reaching his side, Hopper leaned down before saying, "You alright Wheeler?". The boy jerked his head quickly to look up at the man standing before him. There were a few unshed tears in his eyes, and he gaped in surprise.

"Chief," Mike said quietly, the surprise not fully dissipated yet. "I'm okay," he continued with no conviction.

"Come on kid; let me give you a lift," the Chief said with unexpected kindness in his voice.

The man was even more surprised when the kid said "Okay" and stood up to walk out with him. He had at least expected some of Wheeler's characteristic sass. Now he was more worried. The boy stopped to check out the stack of five books he had with him, and Hopper gave him a curious look.

As they walked out of the building, Hopper questioningly remarked: "You didn't look much like reading back there." The boy looked down at his feet while they walked, and nodded his head gently.

"They're for El," he said softly with a light blush, "She heard someone on TV talking about Agatha Christie and I told her I would pick up some of her books." Somehow this made Hopper feel even more for the kid: he was clearly hurting but still managed to put Eleven first. When they reached his Blazer, Mike put his bike in the back and got into the passenger seat. Hopper looked over at the boy and saw his mood completely unchanged.

"I've got to stop by my office for a moment; that okay?" the Chief asked.

"Yes, sir," Mike replied. They drove quietly and when they reached the police station Hopper motioned for him to come inside. The kid looked around uncomfortably at the station, and followed Hopper into his office. Once inside, Hopper guided the boy to sit in one of the chairs across from his desk before sitting next to him.

"You gonna tell me what's going on kid?" Hopper asked while trying to look him in the eyes. The boy only continued to look downwards towards the floor.

"It's nothing, sir. I'm fine," Mike finally replied unconvincingly.

"No, it's not. Don't give me that line. Now let's talk for real," Hopper said assertively. "What happened?" he urged.

"I just had another fight with my dad," Mike said after a long pause. Slight realization dawned on Hopper's face as he thought over what Mike had told him. Ted Wheeler had always been a cold man, even back when they were in school. The Wheeler family was one of the wealthiest in Hawkins—not a remarkable record but not nothing—and their kids were never the most or least happy. Regardless, Hopper couldn't help but believe Ted was a lousy paternal figure. He never gave the impression that he cared where his children were or what they did, only how they affected his image.

Silence had fallen over the two of them before Hopper asked: "Can you tell me the details?". He reached out his hand and tipped kid's face up so that their eyes met. One tear slipped out before he began to tell the story in a shaky voice.

Mike had just come home from school on Friday with a report card in hand; the quarterly report card came out right before Spring Break. His parents looked at him expectantly at dinner that night, and he handed it to them with a small gulp. They took the card and read it carefully before Ted looked up at him seriously. "What is wrong with you? Another D in PE? I thought we told you to pull your grades together," the man said angrily. During the year El was gone, Mike's grades had slipped significantly, but now they had returned to their normally high status. He had managed to earn nothing but A marks in his academic subjects, but PE had always been a weakness for him.

"I worked really hard to do that. The rest of them are up," Mike said nervously to his father. The man only seemed to get more annoyed as his wife just looked over at Holly.

"What's wrong with your PE score? It should be easy enough to fix that. It's not like you're succeeding at any sport either; you should be able to accomplish something," the man continued reprimanding.

"I'll try to fix it next quarter; I promise. I did accomplish a lot this time, though. The A/V Club," Mike started before getting interrupted.

"I don't want to hear about that stupid little club again, Mike. Playing around with toys isn't going to get you anywhere in life! It's probably why you're stuck with that bunch of freaks you hang around with," Ted said.

"My friends aren't freaks!" Mike shot back hotly.

"Please; the only people you hang around with are the Byers' f***** and those two other weirdos! You need to try harder to keep good company," he man said with a coldness that only infuriated Mike's heat. "You need to start acting more like a normal kid," Mike's father finished.

"What do you mean?" Mike asked nervously. He hadn't been expecting this tonight. They had this conversation several times over the years, but it managed to take him by surprise every time.

"You don't play any sports. You spend all your time doing whatever b***s*** you do with your little freak friends: the endless games and the rest of it. Why can't you be more like me? I acted like a normal person, and didn't waste my life like this!" Ted Wheeler ranted.

"What?" Mike stuttered out.

"You're such a worthless disappointment," he shot back coldly before walking out of the room and leaving his son to his emotional pain. Nancy looked over at her brother with a worried expression before he bolted from the room, running to the basement quickly. She decided to let him work this out on his own until he returned to his bedroom later. Huffing as she saw her mother make no move of her own, Nancy retreated to her bedroom. Karen Wheeler was too exhausted to even bother with this latest problem—besides—she had a bath and a book to get to later that evening.

Mike curled up in the small fort that stood in the basement and cried silently before falling asleep. Early the next morning, he got up and changed. He was able to leave the house before anyone else woke up, leaving a note for Nancy so that she wouldn't worry. She's the only one who would anyways. That's when he left for the library.

Hopper looked back at the boy in horror. He had been a father two times now, and he could never imagine inflicting that kind of cruelty on a kid like that. Mike had turned his gaze back towards the floor as a few more silent tears slipped out. The two sat in silence before Mike moved suddenly towards the door, "I'm sorry for bothering you," tumbling from his lips. Hopper realized he had been silent too long and grabbed the boy's arm quickly.

"Wait Mike. It's okay," the man said slowly as he pulled the boy back to his seat. His heart broke yet another time when Mike looked back at him with fear, and he didn't even try to resist his urge to pull the kid into a hug. A few shaky breaths came out of the boy as he cried silently. "It's gonna be alright kid. I'm so sorry. It's gonna be alright," the Chief whispered.

Pulling back, Mike managed to stutter out: "I should be able to handle this." That struck a chord in Hopper and prompted him to query further.

"Has something like his happened before? Is this how your father acts towards you kids?" the man asked gently. He didn't want to scare the kid any further. Mike looked towards the Chief with uncertainty, and the man noticed that he kept glancing at his badge worriedly. He didn't want to get his father into any trouble, and he was here talking to the Chief of Police. Hopper quickly unfastened the badge from his shirt and put it under his hat. "Please tell me Mike. You can trust me," Hopper said just as gently as before.

"Are you sure you want to hear any of this Chief?" Mike asked carefully.

"Hopper; right now, I'm just Hopper," the man said back with a smile. Mike returned the smile with less intensity, but continued to tell him everything. Ted Wheeler had never been verbally supportive of any of his children, and this was not the first time he had told his son how much a "worthless disappointment" he was. Karen Wheeler was too busy or too apathetic to do much about him, leaving the kids mostly at his mercy when he wasn't asleep or watching TV—which was admittedly the largest part of the time.

It was the last thing he said about his mother that hit Hopper the hardest though: "She doesn't really do anything as long as he keeps his promise not to hit us anymore." This was followed by several moments of silence; it was clear that Mike was finished with his story.

"Anymore?" Hopper asked worriedly.

"Yeah, he used to hit Nancy and me when we made him upset. He hasn't in a while though," the boy said shyly. The shock on Hopper's face only masked the anger that burned beneath. Suddenly a knock came from the door, and he turned his head to look at the offending noise. Getting up, he patted Mike on the shoulder before walking over and opening the door. It was Flo, and she was trying to get him back to work.

"Flo, I can't right now. Consider me off for the rest of the day," Hopper told her. She looked ready to argue, but then noticed his badge missing from his uniform shirt and the tear-ridden boy sitting in the office. Flo nodded before going back to her desk. Reentering the office, he sat down with the kid and wiped a couple of the tears off his face.

"Sorry about that Michael," Hopper said. The boy was surprised to hear his actual name coming from the man's mouth, and he finally looked him in the eyes. "Has he ever hurt your little sister?" Hopper asked solemnly; he had to know.

"No! He stopped hitting any of us right before she was born. If he ever hit her, Nancy and I wouldn't hesitate to do something about it. We'll protect her," the boy said fiercely. Hopper never stopped being impressed by this kid's willingness to sacrifice for people he loved whether it was El, his friends, or his little sister.

"It's okay kid," he said with a squeeze on the boy's shoulder. The two of them sat there in silence for a few minutes, before Hopper began speaking again. "You ready to go kid?" he asked. Mike looked up at him in silent fear; Hopper immediately knew what he was afraid of. "I'm not going to take you home. Don't worry about that."

"Thank you, sir. Thank you," Mike said before throwing his arms around the man. They walked out of the police station together after Hopper reattached his badge. Getting back into the Blazer, Hopper began driving towards the cabin. "I'm sorry, Hopper," the boy said softly.

"What?" the Chief asked.

"I'm sorry for the way I acted when El came back. You did the right thing, protecting her. I was too stupid to see it then, but you were right," Mike said with his eyes facing his lap.

"It's okay kid. You missed her a lot. I understand that, and I don't resent you for the way you felt," Hopper said softly. Mike looked up at him with such gratitude that the Chief pulled over for a moment. "I know I've given you a hard time when you're with El. That's what a father is supposed to do, but don't take it to heart kid. You're a good guy, Wheeler. You can come to me anytime you need to. You know that, right?" Hopper spoke sincerely.

Mike looked at him with a smile and yet another tear—this time a joyful one—before responding: "Thank you." They hugged yet again before Hopper resumed driving. When they arrived at the cabin, Mike looked questioningly at the man.

"Go ahead. She'll be thrilled to see you," the man said. Mike shot up and ran to the door. When it opened, he found himself wrapped in El's tight embrace. Watching the two kids, Hopper realized that from now on he had two kids to look out for; he didn't mind one bit. Mike stayed at the cabin for several days over the break, and Hopper gave him a small hug when he dropped the kid back at the Wheeler residence.

(AN) I really enjoyed writing this story. I love Mike the most out of all the Stranger Things characters, and I really enjoy Mike and Hopper moments. It is extremely possible that I'll continue this story in one form or another in more one-shots: what do my readers think? Please leave an answer in reviews.

Thank you for reading, and please leave a review with any thoughts, comments, or suggestions. (A/N)