28- I Found Him, Then I Lost Him

Summary: Joyce finds Hopper after the blast before the Russians do.

Requested by: Section8grl

Joyce squeezed her eyes shut.

She was going to do it.

She was going to kill Hopper.

She needed to throw up.

Instead, Joyce turned the keys, killing Hopper.

When she opened her eyes, Hopper was gone.

No body, nothing.

She wasn't sure what she was expecting when she had opened her eyes.

Hopper's lifeless body, maybe a body that was still lightly breathing.

Or him climbing up the stairs, about to make a stupid comment.

It didn't really make sense that there wasn't a body though.

I mean, sure it was going to be a hot blast that could have incinerated him.

But really?

Just no body?

Nothing to actually say, Jim Hopper is dead.

This didn't make sense.

Maybe she was just grieving, maybe she was crazy, but Joyce fought the door open and headed down to look around.

Joyce really didn't want to see him dead.

But she couldn't accept that he disappeared into thin air.

Joyce cautiously scaled down the metal steps, an eerily silence in the air.

She went down to the bottom of the structure, her body becoming more tense and defensive with each step.

"Hopper?" she whispered, not expecting anything.

But there was something.

A grunt.

Joyce speed walked toward the sound, immediately stopping when she got there.

There, laying in what looked like a very painful position, was Hopper.

"Hopper!" Joyce ran the rest of the way to him.

"Hey." he slurred.

"Are you alright?" Joyce asked.

Hopper gave her his best, are you kidding me, look.

"Right, you probably aren't." Joyce babbled.

"Joyce." Hopper mumbled.

"Yeah." Joyce crouched down.

"I don't think I'm going to make it."

It became stone silent.

Any eeriness was gone.

It was filled with sadness, guilt.

"No," Joyce demanded. "No. You survived the blast, you'll survive this."

"I don't think so." Hopper said, a dazed look in his eyes.

"But, I didn't get that date." Joyce said softly.

"So now it's a date?" Hopper joked.

Joyce chuckled.

"Yeah, it meant a lot to me."

"Well, I'm sorry I don't think I'll make it."

"Please, no" Joyce pleaded.

"It'll be okay Joyce."

"I can't lose you." she whispered, tears threatening to fall.

Hopper paused.

"I can't lose you either." his voice became more and more painful. "That's why I protected you."

"But I can't protect you now." Joyce defended.

"That's ok." Hopper murmured. "I don't need protecting."

Joyce sadly smirked at that so not true sentence.

She opened her mouth to say more when there was another sound.

Footsteps cut through the silence, faded voices of Russians along with them.

"Go, Joyce." Hopper said urgently.

"But-"

"If they catch you, they'll kill you." Hopper was gripping her arm with all his strength.

"But what about you?" Joyce asked.

"I'm a goner." he said sadly.

"No! I'm not leaving!"

Hopper was fading quickly, he looked half dead already.

"Please?" he begged. "For me?"

Joyce hesitated.

The footsteps and voices were coming closer.

Joyce slowly got up.

"Joyce?" Hopper whispered.

"Yeah?"

"Take care of El, okay?" Hopper sounded as if he was on his last breath.

"With my life." Joyce promised. "-Bye Hop."

"Goodbye, Joyce." Hopper murmured, eyes closing.

The footsteps were reaching them.

Joyce turned away, climbing up the steps quietly, out of the Russian base.

Tears were streaming down her face.

Her thoughts drifted to Hopper.

When they were in high school, being morons.

When Hop moved.

When Hopper came back to Hawkins.

When Joyce stormed into his office, exclaiming Will was missing while he thought he was skipping.

When Hop did everything he could to try and find Will.

When he volunteered to go down and look for Will with her.

When he saved her son's life.

When Hopper tore her away from Bob's dead body.

When Hopper came in, just a week ago asking for the hundredth time to go on a date.

When Hopper got in a fight with the mayor.

The way Hop looked at he when she was explaining the magnet theory.

Him yelling.

Oh, the yelling.

He'd been doing it the past week nonstop.

It had annoyed the heck out of her.

But what she'd give just to hear him yelling again.

Joyce headed out to the parking lot, looking for her sons.

She found her youngest, hugging him tightly.

Joyce saw El wandering the parking lot, looking for Hopper.

Oh, El.

She made eye contact with her.

El knew the moment they did.

She started crying.

Joyce wanted to say that maybe Hop wasn't dead, because who just disappears out of thin air?

But that wasn't true.

She'd seen his weak body.

She'd heard the Russians coming.

If she did the math, Hopper was dead, no matter what.

Joyce kept her final promise to Hopper.

She took care of El.

She grieved with her, when the young girl started screaming, crying, or being oddly quiet, Joyce was there.

That is, until 8 months later, when a strange doll showed up on her front step.

It had an unbelievable message in it.

Jim Hopper was not dead.

AN: I hope you liked it, Section8grl! Requests are open! Happy Stranger Things Day!