Of Cops and New Friends?

Somewhere in West Virginia

2 Months later-

The last few weeks of travel had been hectic but freeing for Mike and El. They had some issues in the beginning. Adjusting to living in a car had taken some time for both of them, especially with El's pregnancy symptoms. Now at give or take three months pregnant her emotions were…well scary at times, she'd go from laughing to crying to yelling at him for simple things before apologizing but he took everything she threw at him, sometimes literally. Telling her everything was alright. He did it because it was natural and also because his pregnant girlfriend could fling a car when mad so yeah best keep her happy. And also she had to pee, a lot. He'd pull over and stop whenever she had to go wherever they were. She had even gotten a baby bump. It was definitely noticeable now but she could still cover it up somewhat successfully with a jacket. But considering it was August, it was uncomfortable to wear one.

He couldn't help the smile as he thought about it(the baby not the heat). After a while they slowly got the hang of it and even started to enjoy the routine and craziness of it. They had driven through Indiana taking their time down the back roads, setting up camp off the beaten track when they could. About two weeks in he used the rifle for the first time since leaving. They had pulled down an old logging road to set up camp. They hadn't seen a sign of a single home or anyone for hours. When he woke up and had seen the herd of deer through the thicket he grabbed the rifle he had in the tent with them. He dropped a nice size male first shot. The shot had woken up El and by time he had quartered it, hid the remains under some bushes and put the meat in the cooler, she had camp packed up and they hauled ass out of there before anyone came to investigate the shot if they heard it. (I don't condone shooting out season but like I said liberty's) They smoked most of it when they stopped the next night. They still had some left in the cooler.

Seeing the sights as they drove through the countryside, even a few cities was nice as neither had ever left Hawkins before. They had stopped in a city in Ohio to drop off their emancipation paper to be filed, at separate court houses, which they were and surprisingly no one asked any questions. While in town he had bought a few books on pregnancy and how best to take care of her and the baby. They would find a doctor when they settled down. They would stop every few days to stock up supplies, mostly food, gas and prenatals for El and stay at an inn or motel for a real shower and bed every few days, making sure only he was seen. He had come to enjoy those days thoroughly. One, because he got to shower with warm water and two, which was his favorite, was because of El hormones being all over the place, she was well horny, all the time. Although a problem with those same hormones was they caused her to feel bloated and caused her breast to swell. In her words she didn't feel 'pretty'. He took great care many nights making sure she knew how untrue that was and she was already pregnant so there weren't any issues with it as long as they were careful. He understood the book's meaning when it talked about a 'pregnancy glow' as she definitely had it. They never stayed more than a night, not wanting any questions asked why two teenagers were traveling and staying in a motel.

Only one problem had come up with the law after leaving. They had just made it through Columbus, Ohio, one of the bigger cities they had been too. (Towards the beginning of July remember they've been crisscrossing everywhere.)The two of them were on the interstate thankfully when a state trooper pulled them over. When he'd seen the blue lights behind them both were nearly having a panic attack. He pulled over to the side and waited. As the younger trooper got to the window you could tell he was surprised to see two kids in the car. Even with Mike's growth spurt you could tell he was still young. The Troopers' shock didn't last long before he said the age-old line.

"I'm Trooper Moore, license and registration."

Mike grabbed his license and registration that was clipped to the visor. "Here you go Officer."

Trooper Moore took both from him and started looking them over. He asked the question they were both dreading, but thankfully Mike had a plan.

"Where are you kids heading?"

"We're heading to New York sir. School just got out a few weeks ago and we're going to visit my sister who goes to NYU. She's got a small apartment off campus that we can stay at." Mike said with a smile.

Trooper Moore looked at Mike before leaning down to look at El in the passenger seat. Luckily she had been taking a nap before waking up to the sirens and had a small throw blanket covering her stomach. El looked at him with a smile.

"And what's your name miss?" He asked in a polite tone.

"My name's Jane sir." El replied

"What's your full name?"

"Jane Hartin sir." She said

The Trooper nodded his head before asking "What is your relationship with Michael here?"

"He's my boyfriend. We've been together almost three years sir."

"Okay. Do you have any ID Miss Hartin?"

"Uh… no sir. I'm still not very comfortable driving so I haven't gotten one yet." She said with an apologetic look, hoping her small lie worked.

Moore looked at both of them for a moment before nodding his head again. He handed Mike his papers back. "I pulled you over cause your right tail light is out. I'll give you a warning this time, just make sure to get it fixed. Okay."

"Yes sir." Mike happily agreed.

"Could you point us towards the nearest auto parts store officer?" He asked

The Troopers nodded "Sure just go up four exits, get off, take a right, drive about a mile and it'll be on the right. Can't miss it."

"Thank you sir."

"You're welcome. Take care of her and you two be safe."

"I will sir."

Let's just say Mike hadn't ever changed out a brake light that fast.

Besides that scary moment the only real problem they went through on their journey was being homesick. El, or Jane as he started calling her in public so she'd get used to it, went through it most. She missed home a lot but she took all the comfort he gave, thanking her pregnancy for not making her hate his touch( not the sexual kind) when he would just hold her at night. So yeah that was their life for the last few months. As of now their Chevy was tearing down a single lane highway in West Virginia listening to tunes on the radio and Mike swears they're not lost…

"Were lost." El stated with teasing humor.

"Were not lost." Mike said back with a smile.

"Yes we are." El replied in a sing-song voice.

"No we're not." he said, copying her voice.

"Then where are we? Hmm."

"Uh...huh fine were lost. But I swear the sign back there said there was a town up ahead."

"Uh huh that was an hour ago." she said in a 'I told you so' way with a smile.

"Yes but it's got to be here somewhere, there hasn't been a connecting road or even another car since before that." and as if the universe couldn't help but mess with them, the car made a weird noise as it jerked and slowed down letting some white steam out the hood. Mike let out a swear as he pulled over to the dirt side and the car came to a stop.

"Well that can't be good." he said exasperatedly.

"No shit sherlock." Mike looked at her at that, her vocabulary and idioms had gotten better over the years but she still took him by surprise sometimes. And he quite liked it when she talked like that, it was kind of hot. He gave her a sly smirk as he turned the car off. They both step out onto the deserted road, walking around to the front of the car, Mike popping the hood open taking a step back as a cloud of steam comes pouring out. He stepped up to take a look at what the problem was. He found it quickly.

"Shit, one of the coolant lines is busted." (i don't know Engines)

"Can you fix it?" Jane asked worriedly.

"Yeah but not here. It's gonna need a new one. Huh, what do you wanna do? Do you want to set up camp here or try to get to town now?"

El thought about and well the thought of a real bed was too tempting.

"I think we should try to make it to town."

"Alright. We should hide the car, we don't want anyone messing with it." considering what was in it.

They moved the car into the tree line, since it was a surprisingly flat area. They grabbed their packs from the back seat, setting them aside. Mike grabbed the 45 from the glove box putting it behind his back under his long sleeve flannel and his shirt along with putting an extra mag in his pocket, just in case. Mike put a camouflage tarp over the car tying it down. They put branches in front of it to block the view from the road. They grabbed their bags stepping back out onto the road. Mike made a note of the closest mile marker as he did so.

"We should get going, hopefully we'll make it to town before nightfall."

"Okay, let's go." adjusting their bags they headed off.

They walked for hours, taking breaks so El could rest and yes pee. No cars had passed them and the worst part was as the sun got lower, the clouds got darker and just like that mother nature laughed at them as it started raining. Within minutes they were soaked. As two soaked teens came over the next hill in the road, they noticed the trees gave way to what looked like farmland on one side. Mike spotted a light in the distance as the sun set and darkness set in. As they got closer he saw it was a dim light coming from inside a barn, he didn't see a house around but the darkness and rain were not helping matters. He glanced over at El and noticed her starting to shiver in her soaked clothes. She was wearing only a simple t-shirt under her denim jacket covering her stomach with jeans and boots on, along with a simple cap she used to keep the sun out of her face. He needed to get her out of the rain. So he made a split decision. He grabbed her hand leading her over to the fence. He picked her up and set her on the other side before following suit. They dashed across the empty pasture to the barn, lucky enough for them the door was unlocked.

As the two stepped into the dry and slightly warmer space out of the wind and rain the first thing they came to realize was they weren't alone. There weren't any people but what there was, were horses. Four of them. Apparently the building wasn't a barn, it was a stable. The horses looked curiously at them before going back to their stack of hay. Mike led a shivering El farther into the stable. At the far end there was an empty stall with just hay scattered on the floor. Thinking they weren't going to find anything better Mike helped El out of her wet clothes leaving her in just her undergarments.

He took off his shirts, pants and boots, throwing both of their clothes over a railing in the stall to dry. He opened his pack taking a military style wool blanket out and put his gun in the bag, thanking that their packs were waterproof. He moved the hay into a pile and sat down on the floor, holding the blanket up as he gestured for El to sit with him. As she sat down he wrapped it around her body, covering her smaller frame completely. He wrapped his arms around her pulling her close, giving her his body heat. They had dry clothes in the packs but he needed to warm her up before putting them on. But as they snuggled up together in the corner of the empty stable, the soft sound of rain hitting the roof and the soft breathing of their neighbors mixed with their exhaustion of their hike slowly lolled them into sleep.

If you asked Mike what the worst thing to wake up to was, he'd have to say the sound of a short double barrel shotgun being cocked was definitely at the top of the list. His eyes snapping open at the sound. His head whipped up, all signs of sleep gone. There standing in the opening of the stable they were in, pointing the aforementioned shotgun at him was an older man, probably a little younger than Tom, maybe late 40s, wearing a well worn jacket, t-shirt tucked in his jeans, cowboy boots and a cap on his head. He looked confused but obviously wasn't taking any chances after finding two almost nude strangers on his property. Mike's eyes snapped down seeing El still sleeping cuddled up to him before going back up. His hands came from around El, slowly putting them up in a sign of surrender as he spoke quietly.

"Uhh...we weren't trying to steal anything. We broke down a few miles from here. Got caught in the rain. I just wanted to get her out of the rain so we took shelter here. Honestly we weren't planning to steal. Please don't hurt her." Mike didn't want anything to happen to El and figured honestly was the best solution to the current situation. The man glanced around the stall, looking at clothes hanging up, before settling on their bags next to them.

"What's in the bags?" the man spoke up for the first time. His voice was deep but not as much as Tom's.

"Mostly clothes, a couple bucks and few other supplies." Mike replied quickly.

"Dump them out." was his short demand.

Mike reached over to El bags, carefully emptying it next to him with one hand on a part of the floor not covered in hay. A bunch of clothes, a map, a book, a bundle of pictures, a stuffed lion and a few femanine products spilt onto the floor. The man nodded his head before gesturing to the other one. Mike was contemplating opening that one considering what was sitting on top of everything. He made a decision as he picked it up but instead of opening it he carefully tossed it to the man's feet. Keeping his hands in view he spoke

"I'd rather not dump it out, not stupid. It's open, on top." the man narrowed his eyes at him for a second before slowly bending down. His eyes never leaving Mike's as he put a hand in the bag, the shotgun still trained on him, the man felt exactly what Mike was talking about as he pulled the Colt out. The man gave it a once over before putting it behind his back. He stood back up and stepped back. Before he spoke again...

"What's a kid like you carrying such a thing around for?" he asked as the shotgun was slowly lowered from him but still ready. Mike, seeing this as a good thing, put his hands down wrapping them back around El who was still sleeping away. Mike thought about the question as he moved a stray curl from El's face as he looked back up.

"A man's gotta protect his family." Mike says sincerely. It was something Tom had put in his head. He wasn't a boy anymore, yes he was young but a man and he needed to protect his family. Even if she didn't really need his help, he'd do everything he could to protect her.

The man gave him a curious and surprised look at his answer, as he glanced at El. "I see. I can respect that." The sound of a hammer being decocked filled the air as he rested it on his shoulders. He took his cap off as he scratched his head "Well my old lady would give me hell if I left the two of you out here freezing. Get yourselves dressed, we'll go up to the house and you can tell us your story. Think it might be interesting. Ma should have breakfast ready, get some warm food in the young lady. I was only out checking the horses after the storm and saw your tracks coming inside. How about it hmm." he offered in a kinder voice.

"Yes sir." Mike says, accepting the offer.

"Names John Cooper. Call me Cooper." the now identified Cooper says before stepping away.(cookie to whoever guesses where I got the name from).

As Mike watched him step away he let out the breath he'd been holding as he gave El a light squeeze. He wiped his face before gazing down at El. He liked watching her sleep, not in a creepy way though. She just looked peaceful when she slept. As if all the worries of the day just slip away. He watched for a moment longer but knew he needed to get her up. He carefully shook her on the shoulder trying to wake her.

"Jane...Jane you need to wake up beautiful. Come on." he says, using her name not knowing if Cooper could hear, as he keeps shaking her. Eventually she starts to sture in her sleep as her eyes slowly open. Her half asleep eyes roamed the room as everything from the day before came back. She moved her eyes to Mike as spoke.

"Hey there my sleeping Pixie, did you enjoy your sleep?" Mike says

"Yes." was her sleepy answer.

"Ok, we need to get up. We've got company." Mike says getting straight to the point.

"Who?" the sleepiness in her eyes disappearing as he said that.

"The owner of this building. I'm guessing he was a bit surprised to find two teens sleeping in his stables. He said get dressed and he'll take up to his house. Offered us some breakfast. We should probably get going." Mike answered. El just nodded her head as she left his arms so they could stand up. El walked over to her now dry clothes dropping the blanket as she did. Mike stood there for a moment watching her walk away.

"Damn Pixie, you should dress like this more often." He let out in a low voice as he stared at her enticingly sexy pantie clad bubble butt. El glanced over her shoulder with a mischievous look in her eyes.

"Pretty she that's what got us in this situation." she teased back with a flirtatious look.

"Good point.'' Mike agreed, nodding his head as she started putting on his spare clothes as they were bigger than her own and would hopefully cover up her stomach enough. "But still it's a good look on you." Mike says, while putting on his own still slightly damp clothes.

El rolled her eyes as she finished putting his spare clothes on and started packing her bag back up and throwing her wet clothes in there as she replied. "Well maybe if you're good you'll get to see the rest later." she says in a suggestive voice as she stands up finished. Mike couldn't keep the shit-eating grin off his face when she said that. He stepped over to her, bringing her into his embrace. "I'll do my best." she smiled leaning in giving in a chaste kiss. "You do that." Mike let a laugh out as he grabbed his bag off the floor. He knew all that time she hung out with Max was a bad idea. It made her such a tease, he loved it.

"Let's go." he says with a chuckle, grabbing her hand.

"Okay." El says. Before stepping out she wrapped the blanket back around to help hide her baby bump. And she was still cold. As they both stepped out of the stall, they made their way to the front door hand in hand. As they got closer El got her first look at Cooper. He looked nice enough but she was always cautious around new people.

The two of them stopped a few steps away from him. Cooper stood leaning against the door frame of the now open stable doors. Cooper watched them as they approached. He pushed off the door stepping toward. He glanced at El.

"Hello Miss, it's nice to see you awake. Names Cooper." Cooper introducing himself

"Hi. My name's Jane. This is Mike." El says shyly with a small smile.

"Nice to meet you Jane. Come on let's get up to the house. We can talk more there. Don't want the wife to get worried." he says. They both nodded their heads agreeing.

"Okay." Cooper says as he began leading the two lost teens to the farm house.

The three of them made the trek on a dirt road to the farmhouse. Following Cooper's lead. The house sat back on a hill a ways from the road, shielding it from the road and stable, which is probably why they didn't see it the night before. The sun was barely up in the sky showing the early hour. Which didn't surprise Mike, farmers were up with the sun. As they finally made it to the house Mike and El gave it a good look. It was a decent size two story house with a porch. (AN think the farmhouse from Interstellar) The siding was faded white but the house gave off a homey feel to it.

Cooper kept walking towards the front door, they ran to catch up as he reached the steps. He pulled the screen door towards him with a squeak and opened the front, the two stopping at the door. They could hear a woman's voice coming from inside, asking him what had taken him so long. The two of them stayed their nerves as they cautiously walked in. The room they stepped into, the door screen door shutting behind them, was the kitchen. The woman that had been talking looked up at the sound. She was in her late 40s or so. She had what looked like red hair with a bit of grey in it up in a bun and kind brown eyes. Her face had signs of laugh lines, which showed a life of smiles. She had on jeans and a simple red blouse. She looked at them curiously.

"Oh... hello. And who might you be?" she asked in confusion but with a small questioning smile.

"Uh.." the two of them lost for words.

"I went out to check on the horses after the storm. Found these two sleeping in one of the empty stalls." Cooper says cutting in to answer his wife.

"That's Mike and Jane. Apparently they broke down a few miles down and got caught in the rain." he continued taking a sip of his coffee.

"Oh you poor dears. My name's Mary Cooper. Call me Mary. Come. Sit. You two look hungry, I made plenty." she says waving to the empty chairs. They hesitated for a second before setting their bags down and taking a seat. The Cooper's on one side and them sitting side by side on the other. The two looked at the spread out on the table. Mary had made quite a bit of food. There was scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, a few different fruits, a pitcher of oj and one of coffee. Simple but nice. They looked lost before Mary handed them plates. Not knowing what to do their stomach made the decision for them letting out growls. Filling up their plates and digging into the home cooked meal. Mike took a sip of his cup of coffee sighing while shaking his head at El. Cooper and Mary were confused at the exchange as El still had the blanket wrapped around her shoulders but all El could think was 'Damn caffeinated coffee.'. Living with Hopper, El had developed a taste for coffee and even Mike knew not to get between her and her coffee. No caffeine was one of the only parts of her pregnancy she didn't enjoy, besides missing her damn Eggos™. So El just signed and stuck with orange juice. Silence permeated the air, minus the occasional scraping of silverware and Coopers folded up newspaper he pulled from somewhere. It wasn't long before it was broken by Mary.

"So...can you tell us about yourselves. What are you two doing way out here in these parts." she asks

"Uh...well before breaking down we were kind of lost. Before that it's kind of a long story." El gave him a smug smirk at his admittance before going back to her food.

"Could you tell us exactly where we're at?" Mike says. Conflicted on telling why they're out there.

Cooper spoke up from his newspaper. "We're 2 miles outside the town of New Haven, West Virginia."

"Yes and we have plenty of time to hear your story." she spoke warmly with a smile.

Mike was still conflicted on what to tell them but the decision was made for him by El next to him.

"We...we...we" she started but stuttered

"It's okay, take your time sweetheart." Mary told her.

Mike reached over taking her hand, to tell her it was okay with him. But he knew it was her choice on what to tell them. Even with his comforting touch she still found it hard to find her words. So El dropped the blanket and slowly stood up. Even with Mike's oversized clothes she was clearly pregnant.

"I'm with child." She said quietly. Her hands on her belly.

Mary brought her hands to her mouth in surprise and Cooper dame near chocked on the coffee he took a sip of, he knew there was an interesting story but that wasn't what he was expecting.

"Oh dear child. You're pregnant?" Mary says as more of a statement than question.

"Yes." El says simply.

Mary and Cooper looked at Mike. Before they could even ask he answered.

"Yes. I'm the father. And i'm not going anywhere." Mike says, squeezing Els' hand.

"How'd this happen? Besides the obvious." Cooper asked

Mike rubbed the back of his neck as he answered "Well one night it kind off just happened, I'm mean we took every precaution beside not doing it was taken and we were both happy and willing..." he paused as pink dusted his cheeks in embarrassment at the next part as he looked away and continued " and i'm not putting any blame but i...i couldn't say no to those eyes." El blushed at the end, knowing what he was talking about.

Cooper snorted at his words. Mary turned to him with a frown. "This is not a laughing matter. This is serious." she says

"I know love. I'm a little disappointed but I understand what he's saying." Cooper said with a smirk, turning back to Mike.

"She gives you those sparkling innocent looking eyes and you just can't help but agree to what she asks. Sound about right?" Cooper says

Mike looked at him in disbelief, the pink still on his cheeks. "Yes yes that's exactly it! She gives me that look and it's like like I turn to mush and just can't say no! Finally someone who gets it." Mike exclaims glad to know somebody understood. He'd never blame El, but those eyes of hers were dangerous. Every time he sees them he can't help but want to make her happy.

Mary looked at her husband with an incredulous look on her face." John, what in the blazes are you talking about. What do you know about his reasoning?"

Cooper looked at wife with a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Because that look he's talking about is the same look you had before we got Lisa." he says, barking out laughing at his wife's now red face. She smacked his arm "Oh shut up you." Mary looked back at the now known expecting parents while her husband continued laughing.

"What do you mean by precautions, what kind?" she asked. It was El who spoke up.

"When i turned 15 my step mom had me start birth control and…" her blush coming back full force "and any time we were together Mike always used protection just in case."

"Yeah. It's kind of like a uh, like a miracle of circumstance." Mike says honestly a blush also on his face. He always saw El and now their soon to be child as a miracle in his life.

"Yes. I can see it being a miracle given the circumstances. Why don't you start at the beginning. How'd you end up here?" Mary says

Mike and El looked at each other. He squeezed her hand and she nodded.

"Well it started a little more than 2 months ago…." as he went into their story. Not knowing about the things that had been happening back home.


AN: Please Review