If you take out the monsters, the government conspiracies, and the impending sense of doom, being chief of police in Hawkins isn't a bad gig, Jim Hopper thinks to himself.

It's two days since the gate's been closed. The government's running around like a chicken with its head off trying to cover for everything that's happened in the lab. From the vines, to the tunnels, to getting rid of the human and non-human bodies. For all of it. It would've been funny if these weren't the guys in charge. No wonder saving the day falls on a washed-up cop, a stressed-out single mom, and a handful of teenagers to save the world.

It's not all sunshine and roses though. The day after closing the gate El woke up with a fever. It's gone down today but she's still feeling pretty sick. Hopper wanted to stay home with her but he couldn't risk it. For one, as light as the current workload is in the police department, he's still chief of police. He has to be there. Secondly, and most importantly, the government may be inept but there are a lot of them. He wouldn't put it past them to have everybody involved in their little stunt a couple of days ago to not be under surveillance. If he took another day off, that would only make the government have to track him down and, inadvertently, get El discovered. Paranoid? Maybe. But it's only paranoia if they're not out to get you.

Paranoid thinking, unfortunately, pays off this afternoon. Flo tells him someone from Hawkins lab is calling him. What are the odds this isn't normal police duties and not part of the cover-up? Whatever this call will be, Hopper hopes it doesn't take long. He promised El he'd be home early and he really didn't want to leave her alone. She saved the world; someone should be there to take care of her.

"Hawkins PD," Hopper says answering the phone.

"Jim. This is Owens," the voice on the other end of the phone replies back.

"Owens, how's the clean-up going?"

"It's going… Listen, I needed to talk with you, Jim. I did what I could but I couldn't keep you out of it. Some people higher up in the food chain needs to talk with you," Owens says.

Couldn't keep you out of it. That should mean only he's on the hook and not El.

"Sure, I can swing by the lab and talk to your bosses," Hopper offers.

"They would need to talk to Joyce too."

"That should be doable."

"And, also, to the kids."

And there it is, that's why Owens was burying the lede. Well, Hopper's not going to let that happen. He's going to keep the kids insulated from this mess.

"Wait, why the kids? They were nowhere near the labs."

"They know Mike and Will were at the lab, Jim. They also found candy wrappers at the farm."

"It's a farm, people work there. People eat candy, especially just after Halloween."

"It was found inside the tunnels, Jim. Along with some equipment left behind, presumably, for burning the vines. The prints on them match the kids. Either way, just being associated with Will they would still be called in to see what they know. It's better to comply."

There's an unspoken Sorry from Owens' statement. Owens didn't seem like Brenner, he seemed to actually have a conscience so Hopper believes him when he said that he tried to keep the kids out of it. Even despite the overwhelming evidence of them being involved.

Hopper doesn't blame the kids for leaving those things behind. They weren't soldiers, they were a pack of middle schoolers led by a high school senior with a concussion. It's a pack of children led by slightly older children. The fact that no one got seriously hurt in the tunnels was a miracle and Hopper isn't going to fault them for not cleaning up. Not when there are vines, monsters, and toxic spores in the air. If they didn't go into the tunnels, the lab might've been overrun with those monsters and the gate would've remained open. Hell, it might've been what freed Will from whatever was possessing him. It was dumb, it was stupid, but it was necessary. It was brave.

No, Hopper blames himself. He's a war veteran, a homicide detective, and the chief of police. He's a grown-ass man. He should've made sure the tunnels were clear. No. He should've made sure they weren't put in a position where heading into danger is the best option. It's his job to keep the town safe. To keep them safe. He gets a monthly paycheck doing just that but he failed them when it mattered most and, now, they are on the government's radar. Again. It's not the first time he failed them.

He just wishes he can keep these kids safe.

With a heavy sigh and a resigned voice, Hopper replies on the phone, "That might be tough wrangling everybody into the lab. We'll have to talk with everybody's parents and it might raise suspicion."

"We would prefer we not to involve them. We believe the parents are still unaware of the activities of their offspring. It would only draw unwarranted attention. With the way they rallied around Will with this incident and the last one, all of them visiting the Byers house wouldn't be unusual so the powers that be wants to meet there. It's near the lab, away from prying eyes. Perfect location, according to them. Could you get everybody gathered together today?"

Hopper wants to push back to protect the kids but he has to admit, that when it comes to cover-ups, the government knows best. It's a good plan. The location is private and easily accessible. Perfect place for a covert meeting which should bother him but that's another thing entirely. They're also right about the kids. When he dropped by to check on Will yesterday almost everybody was there. The only people missing were the Harrington kid and the Mayfield girl.

He asked Sinclair, Henderson, and the younger Wheeler to fill him in on what happened after they split up that night. They told him the tale of how Harrington protected them from Hargrove and how he led them in the tunnels. Hopper's pretty sure the boys are leaving something out of their story but he leaves it alone. Harrington kept the kids safe, the only one hurt was himself. Hopper heard the Wheeler girl chuckle something about Harrington being a 'damn good babysitter' and Hopper agrees.

He also heard from the Wheeler that can shoot that Harrington was at the high school the other day. He apparently went to school like it was a normal weekend. He doesn't know what kind of parents would let their child go to school that same day in the state that the kid was in. Harrington's beat-up face alone would've signaled a sane person to let him stay home but apparently not.

He also heard from her that Harrington almost got in a fight with Hargrove in the school parking lot. Yeah, that same Hargrove. The one who beat his face in early that morning. And Harrington wanted to go for a second round in the afternoon? If it was 1983, Hopper would call him an idiot and move on with his day but ever since the last Upside Down incident the kid has cleaned up his act. Since that day, the station doesn't get any of the usual calls about an out-of-control party at the Harrington house. There are also no calls about him getting into trouble though his usual accomplices of Hagan and Perkins and all the other so-called popular kids are still going at it.

No, the Harrington kid had changed. He didn't get into any fights after his run-in with Jonathan so why now? Revenge? Bruised ego? Self-defense? Then Wheeler mentioned the Mayfield girl was with Harrington at the high school and, suddenly, all pieces of the puzzle clicked into place. He was doing a repeat performance of what got him the bruises on his face in the first place. He was protecting a kid. Damn good babysitter indeed.

It would've been impressive if Harrington didn't just trade in one vice for another. His reckless, self-destructive teen partying phase turned into his babysitter with a martyr complex phase. Hopper would have to watch out for that and watch for Billy Hargrove, he seemed like trouble. The kids already had to deal with actual monsters, they don't need to be worried with human ones as well.

"Yeah, I'll see what I can do," Hopper replies on the phone.

"Thanks, Jim. Call the lab when they're all gathered and we'll head there quick."

The line goes dead and Hopper sighs before getting out of his chair. He's the government's little errand boy now. Great. All hopes of getting off work early to come home to a sick kid have been crushed. This debrief and NDA signing is going to take forever and he has to go last so he can be there for everybody. He can't trust the government types to put the kids' best interest at heart and, though he's pretty sure he has the whole story, who knows what the kids suddenly admit under government scrutiny.

He closes the door to his office and brings down the blinds. He picks up his radio and tunes it to the frequency set in his cabin. Hopefully, El isn't asleep and is within earshot of the radio. He presses down on the radio and calls out, "Hey, something came up in the office. I'm sorry I don't like leaving you alone, especially now, but the lab wants a meet and greet with everybody and I have to be there for them."

He moves his fingers off the button and there's a moment of pause before the radio produces a series of beeps, "- -.- (OK)."

"You feeling better?" he asks again through the radio.

"-. - (NO)"

"I'll do my best to get home early. Don't forget to eat and take your medicine. I'll see you later."

" - -.- / -... -.- . (OK BYE)"

Hopper thinks that's the best he's going to get out of a one-sided conversation. He sighs again before tuning his radio back to the proper police channels. Opens up his blinds and walks out of his office. He greets Flo with a nod as she catches her eye at her desk and heads towards exiting the station. On to the Byers house.

The drive to the Byers didn't take long. Hawkins isn't a busy city so there's no traffic. The most he's encountered are a bunch of high schoolers speeding home. Classes must have just ended. Normally, he'd pull them over but he has bigger fish to fry. As Hopper sees the Byers house from a distance, he spots a red car already parked in the house's driveway.

Hopper remembers seeing that same red BMW this morning. He was on his way to the station, and he spotted a bush of red hair walking down the side of the road that looked suspiciously like the Mayfield girl from the other day. The side of the road is no place for a kid, especially at that time. Hopper was sure she would've been late for school. He was about to pick up the kid himself when that red BMW pulled up right next to the girl.

He was cautious about the car at first but, turns out, it was just Harrington. He can hazard a guess why the Mayfield girl was walking on the side of the road but he has no clue how Harrington fits into all this. If anything, he thinks that Harrington would've opted to stay away from the girl considering it was her brother who gave him those bruises on his face but the kid is stubborn, he'll give him that. He watched the car follow the girl for a bit before the girl turned to the driver, flashed a smile, and got in the car.

With no reason to get involved, he drove past Harrington's car and headed to the police station. Hopper's glad somebody was looking out for the Mayfield girl. Harrington's really living up to that babysitter title the older Wheeler mentioned. He parks next to Harrington's car and prepares himself to deliver the bad news to the house filled with people who just saved the world.

It's government cover-up season and they're the guest of honors. Again.