Thank you for your time in reading this story. I was going to finish it some chapters ago but... what the hell. Welcome back to Hawkins. ;) Thanks for your reviews as always.

crazytime000: Hey... Jimmy the cowboy won :_D

AnnieRavenclaw707: Thank you for being such a wonderful beta-reader ;)

Chapter 24: Welcome to Hawkins.

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Three weeks had passed. Weeks in which the world had changed. It was strange to think about how your life can change so much and so quickly.

Joyce looked out the window of the moving truck. It was not very clear that this was the right thing to do. She didn't understand how Hopper could miss a place where he had suffered so much. They had barely just rescued him from the Soviet laboratory in Hawkins, and he wanted to go back? Why?

They had talked a lot about it, too much, until exhaustion. If something got into his head, Hopper would do anything to get it. He had tried to convince her to come back. In every possible way. Every. Possible. Childish. Way.

The last straw was realizing that no matter how hard she tried, she could never return to normal. Not in that house. Damn, she wasn't even able to get into her kitchen. She couldn't live in a place where she knew someone had died. Not when every corner reminded you of that distressing moment. Hey, can you pass me the salt? Where is it? Yes, right there. Right in the same place where they beat you up while you bled? No, wait. It's in the other closet, where I almost got shot. It was ridiculous.

It was then when Hopper took the opportunity to tell her that Gary already had a house ready in Hawkins. The worst part was when they joined forces between him and the kids. It was evident that the only one who didn't want to go back there was her. Jonathan didn't care about Hawkins, but he had a good reason, with even a name, Nancy. And that was enough for him to join forces with Hop's evil plan.

On the other hand, Will hated the new school, and of course, he wanted to see his old friends again. And El, well, this is when Hopper almost regretted his suggestion, horrified. The girl just wanted to be with Mike. Three inches away were better than miles away, right?

That's when Hopper called Gary again. He needed him to find another house, as far away as it was possible from the Wheelers. He didn't care if he was on the outside of town or in the middle of a mountain. God, sometimes, Joyce wondered who was the most immature of all, the kids or him.

Joyce leaned against the window of the vehicle. They were getting close. The landscape behind the windows was more and more recognizable. Her brow furrowed thoughtfully. The woman had only agreed to that madness when Hopper, after infinite attempts, managed to find the right speech. 'Joyce, it doesn't matter where we are. What matters is that we are all together.' Together. It was a very simple word. It sounded good but incredibly strange.

Her eyes watched as a sign began to draw on the side of the road. 'Welcome to Hawkins'.

Hopper looked at her out of the corner of his eye. There was too much silence in the truck, and although he had enjoyed driving with Jim Croce's voice in the background, he was beginning to be concerned about Joyce's mood.

He released one hand from the steering wheel to warmly take her. "Hey,"

Joyce squeezed his hand, intertwining her fingers with his. "Hop, I don't think it's a good idea. Maybe if we call Gary again, we can still go back and,"

"Joyce," He quickly interrupted her, "Everything is going to be alright, okay?"

She nodded, but when Hopper tried to get his hand back, she didn't release it. "But what if it doesn't go well. I can think about a million reasons to think it will go wrong."

For a moment, he looked away from the road to look at her. "I have a very good one for you."

"Oh, yeah?" Needless to say much more. In the past few weeks, they had learned to speak with their eyes, and words were less and less necessary. Hopper approached her to steal a quick kiss from her lips before turning his eyes back to the road.

"Puahgg..." A voice said behind them. "Seriously, could you stop now? You're disgusting." Will said from the back seat. El laughed at his side, she had to admit that it felt very strange to witness that, but the more she saw it, the more she liked it. After all, she had the perfect excuse. If Hop ever reproached her for kissing Mike, now she could blame him for doing the same with Joyce. It was great. An infallible plan that she was wishing she could implement as soon as possible. How much was left to get to Hawkins?

Joyce cleared her throat, they had forgotten, for the umpteenth time, that the children were in the back seats. She looked ahead and could see the town in the distance. Also a service station with a small restaurant next to it. The Standford restaurant. She knew it.

"Hop. What if we stop for a moment to refuel?"

"But we are almost there."

"Yes, but-"

Hopper did not want to pressure her. He knew perfectly well that it was a way to delay the inevitable. Do anything before entering Hawkins. He thought that giving her that ridiculous lifeline was a trifle they could afford, and he was also a little tired from the trip. "Ok then. A little gasoline will be good for the truck, after all, we have to return it."

"Great. I was getting hungry." Will said to an impatient El who just rolled her eyes in annoyance.

Hopper looked at the gas pump, lost in thought. It was almost a quarter of an hour since they had finished eating. He couldn't believe it took them so long to get dessert while he filled up the gas tank, so he took a deep breath, and thought that he could afford the enjoyment of contemplation.

After all, he was in no rush to arrive, but he had been living alone for a long time that it was weird to have to be waiting for what, his family? The thought made him dizzy. El had been a great step in his battered life, but now it was a real mountain to climb. He was so engrossed that he was slow to hear a small commotion coming from the small parking lot next to the restaurant.

His instincts made him turn his head towards the noise, and since he had no better thing to do, he approached the tumult. His surprise was huge when he saw a new police Blazer parked there. New model. It abruptly dawned on him that his old car had exploded in the middle of nowhere.

Suddenly, he began to think that maybe Joyce was right about all this. That dose of reality had slapped him hard across the face. What did you expect? Life goes on and Hawkins would not stand still for you.

He got closer to the parking lot and saw how two policemen, whom he did not know, were holding a young boy. It had to be very serious. What had that boy had done to need three policemen, and two of them holding him as if he were a true criminal. What had happened at Hawkins in the past few months? It was a boring town, he did not even remember what had been the last serious arrest he had had to face. The worst he remembered was the disappearance of Mrs. Larsons' garden gnomes. A great loss, of course.

He walked over to the scene in front of him, almost like a habit. The boy continued to protest until he turned to him and suddenly fell silent. Both were shocked.

"Steve?" Hopper asked, surprised to see the boy in that situation. Yes, of course, he remembered that the young man was incredibly annoying, but he was not a criminal, and in his opinion, any childishness he could have done did not deserve the treatment he was being given.

"Well, well ... are you speechless, Harrington?" The third policeman said. He was wearing a brown uniform and a damn gold badge on his chest. The new chief, Hopper presumed. "Who is this? Your father?" The chief asked, looking curiously through the lenses of his sunglasses.

Steve was unable to articulate a word. He thought he was seeing a damn ghost. Had he been hit so hard that he was starting to see visions?

Hopper approached the one he called his substitute. He just wanted to take a good look at him. He was a small, clean-shaven guy with fairly short hair, something unusual, and out of fashion in those years were wearing short hair was synonymous with illness or boring.

"May I ask what he's supposed to have done?" Hopper said looking at the plate on his shirt. "Chief ... Hartman?"

Hartman smiled self-reliantly. And put his hands on his waist. "Well well ... this idiot thinks he is above the law. Disrespect of the authority is a crime, Mister…?"

Hopper narrowed his eyes. He expected something more substantial. Disrespect for authority? Harrington? What had he done? Call him a moron? It was ridiculous.

"I think this must be a misunderstanding. Harrington is not a bad boy, he's just a little bigmouth, nothing more." Hopper said in disbelief. He supposed it might be a little warning, but he had seen that one of the policemen already had handcuffs ready in his hands.

"I don't think so. And if you don't mind. We have work to do." Without further ado, Hartman turned around, ending the conversation.

Hopper snorted angrily. Not that he was trying to help the young man, but seeing that injustice simply boiled his blood. "Work to do? Scaring kids is your damn job?"

The chief stood still. "Excuse me?" He said turning to face Hopper, and this time he took off his sunglasses to get a better look at him, revealing brown eyes that looked incandescent.

"Can you repeat that? Sir?" He said in a rather intimidating tone.

Hopper was certainly not going to be threatened, least of all by someone of the worst sort.

"What? Didn't you get enough attention as a child that now you're trying to abuse your authority? Why don't you mess with someone your own size? Scare kids, what a shame."

"Yeah. You're right."

Hartman gestured to the other policemen, who quickly released Steve. Hopper thought it had been too easy. He was wrong, of course. Nothing in the past few months had been easy. Then, the policemen approached him, and the one with the handcuffs did not keep them. What the hell.

"Hey, what the fuck do you think you are doing?" He demanded unnerved.

Hartman put on his sunglasses back. "You have the right to remain silent."

"You're kidding, right? What are you accusing me of?"

"The assault on a law enforcement officer."

Hopper widened his eyes. "That's a lie! And I even have a witness," He looked around searching for Steve, but the boy had vanished. Seriously? Damn toupee with legs.

"You, sir, have verbally attacked an agent of the law. I suggest that you don't continue doing this show, or I will have to file more charges against you. In this town, the law is respected."

Hopper watched the other policeman approach him with the handcuffs, and then the air lacked in his lungs. The endless days in the Russian jail, the interrogations, the pain, and the agony were still very fresh in his memory. Everything always started with handcuffs, so he felt threatened, just imagining being imprisoned again didn't let him think clearly. No way that was happening to him again. No way! His fist went straight to the policeman's jaw.

The other officer and the chief grabbed Hopper from behind and without further ado slammed him hard against the hood of the car, holding his arms tightly. "Son of a bitch," Hop mumbled as he felt his wrists cuffed.

Steve ran like hell to another point opposite the parking lot. His BMW was parked there.

"You won't believe it." He almost shouted, as his hand ran through his hair wildly.

"What are you doing here?" Asked a boy hidden behind Steve's car. "You won't have regretted the plan, right? We agreed that you were not a chicken, remember?"

"Hey, hey. Henderson! Hold on. I did it exactly as we planned it. But, something went wrong." Steve fought back.

Dustin sighed. "You are a chicken. The plan was very simple. You just had to anger the chief and let yourself be arrested. What could go wrong?" Dustin began to move his arms pretending to be a chicken.

"I'm not a chicken!" The older boy defended himself, and this time he was shouting.

"Of course you are!"

"Hey, he just arrested someone else. That wasn't planned!"

"Seriously? How likely was that to happen? It's impossible! Steve!"

"How could I know that they would arrest the chief. It still seems strange to me. He looked like a fucking ghost!"

Dustin chuckled. "What are you talking about? The chief has arrested himself. Seriously, Steve, I told you not to drink any beer before starting a mission. I always tell you!"

"Not the chief, chief! ... I mean ..."

"Dustin? Steve?" Said a voice behind them.

They both turned as if caught red-handed. "Holy shit!" Dustin exclaimed surprised to see Will and El, along with Joyce and Jonathan. "HOLY SHIT!" He repeated, still in shock, but soon his smile welcomed them.

El was the first to react and ran to hug him. "I'm so happy to see you!" She exclaimed.

Dustin pulled away happily but soon his smile faced away, concerned. "What are you doing here? Is everything ok?"

Steve looked at Jonathan, uneasy. "How did you find us? We're on a secret mission."

"Steve!" Dustin protested. "It stops being secret when you say we're on a secret mission!"

Will laughed. "Well, because you were shouting in the middle of the parking lot?"

Joyce looked around them, her eyes were a bit worried. "We are looking for Hop, have you seen him? He was refueling the truck, the truck is there but… we couldn't find him."

"Hop? Do you mean ... Hopper?" Dustin asked confused.

"Yes, Henderson. Hopper, the big bear, came on, catch up." Steve retorted, taking the opportunity to snort at his friend.

Dustin crossed his arms. "You've seen Hopper, alive, and you haven't told me!"

"Well, that's what I was trying to tell you," Steve replied, rolling his eyes.

"Where is he?" El asked sharply. Her yellow duckling mode was on.

Steve looked at her, lost in words. "Eh ... well ... ehhh..."

"Steve?" She tried again.

"The police arrested him." He confessed, with a very low voice.

"What?! How? Why!" Joyce exclaimed incredulously. She knew that going back to Hawkins was not a good idea. It never was!

To be continued.