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"Open Arms"
So here I am
With open arms
Hoping you'll see
What your love means to me
- Journey
Hopper had said no to the kids accompanying him and Joyce to the Russian installment in the basement of the mall, and that was it. He was the authority here, and what he said went.
At least, so he assumed. He started looting the Russian corpses in preparation for shooting himself some Russkies. He really wanted to get the big one—this time he'd shoot him in the face, see if he survived that—but he equally didn't want the big one finding him until after the gate was closed and El and Will were safe again.
From the other side of a plastic plant, he heard the littlest kid—Lucas's sister?—announcing loudly, "Well, that settles it. He's gonna die. They're gonna die."
"Yep, most likely," Dustin agreed.
What did they know? They were just kids, Hopper thought, conveniently forgetting that these kids had been through everything he had and come out the other side.
He kept moving, looking for more Russian guns, while the kids hung out in the center of the food court and chattered away about whatever they'd been up to. Meat monster? Given everything from the past couple of years, Hopper should have been worried about that; but somehow the Russians seemed like the more real and present threat. Maybe that was because of Alexi, poor bastard.
Picking up a walkie-talkie, he thought about the kids again. Damn it, they weren't wrong. They had been down there, they knew the lay of the land. It was stupid to ignore that resource, stupid and arrogant, and Hopper was trying hard not to be that guy anymore. He grabbed a second walkie and headed for the knot of kids.
"Hey. Heads up!" He tossed the walkie at Dustin. "You can navigate, just from someplace safe."
"It's not that simple," Dustin told him.
"The signal won't reach," added the little loud-mouth girl.
Dustin gestured with the walkie. "Not with this. You need something with a high enough frequency band to relay with the Russians' radio tower. But for that to work, you need to have someone who has both seen their comms room and has access to a super-powered handcrafted radio tower, one preferably already situated at the highest point in Hawkins."
God, when this was all over, he really was going to have to sit down with this know-it-all geek kid and get a tutorial. They made him feel so old and out of it, and he wasn't having that.
As Hopper stared at him, Dustin grinned. "Oh, wait. That's me. If you want us to navigate, you got us. But we need a head start."
Hopper nodded. Anything to get Dustin to stop talking.
Dustin and Erica looked at each other, and Dustin added, "And a car."
"Fine." Over Dustin's head, Hopper hunted down the extra licensed driver in the room. "You. Kid. Harrington."
"Steve!" Dustin shouted. "You good, man?"
"I am all good."
Hopper had his doubts—the Harrington kid and the other girl in the sailor costume had seemed pretty out of it since they'd arrived at the mall—but he didn't have a lot of other options. He needed Jonathan and Nancy to look out for the other kids. "Kid, you okay to drive?"
Harrington blinked a couple of times, considered the question, and nodded. "Yeah. I'm okay."
"Great." Hopper tossed him the keys to the purloined car. "This is Todd's car. Try to be nice to it."
"Who's Todd?"
"The guy whose car you're about to drive."
"Right. Okay, kids, let's go!" Harrington headed out, followed by Lucas's sister and the girl in the sailor suit. Dustin lingered long enough to say good-bye to the others before following them.
"We won't let you down, Chief!" he called over his shoulder.
Hopper was tempted to be sarcastic at him, but the truth was, these kids never had let him down. He really didn't think they were going to start now.
Once the first group of kids were safely gone, Murray took Jonathan and Nancy to a table and started showing them how to get into his bunker. Joyce drew Will aside.
"Mom, I can stay," he told her. "I can help you!"
He was such a great kid, and she loved him for being willing to stay, but not this time. "Listen to me," she told him. "I need to end this, but I will be back before you know it, okay?"
"I don't know, Mom."
"No, listen, you're gonna be safe there. It's—it's far away from all this. You just stick close to your brother and—and do whatever he says. No matter what. Okay?"
"I'm not worried about me, Mom, I'm worried about you."
Joyce blinked in surprise. Her? After everything he'd been through, he was worried about her? "Oh, honey, I'm gonna be fine. Okay? I'm gonna be fine." She put her arms around him, closing her eyes, thinking about her baby boy, and the sunny toddler, and the bright talented small child, and now this tall young man who was scared for her when he was the one this Mindflayer wanted. She was so very proud of him. She held him closer, and she could feel Will beginning to pull away.
"Okay, Mom. That's enough."
"I'm gonna be fine," she repeated.
"Okay. Mom, I can't breathe. You're suffocating me."
Joyce heard him, but she couldn't quite seem to make herself let go. If she held on long enough, maybe it would all just go away.
Finally, Will managed to disentangle himself, holding her by the shoulders. "Really, Mom. You take care of yourself. Don't do anything stupid."
She smiled. "Aren't I supposed to be saying that to you?"
"Maybe later. When everything's normal again."
"I look forward to that."
Will smiled.
Hopper sat with his arm around El, listening to Will and his mom. Joyce was so good at being a mom—so much smarter and more capable than she had ever given herself credit for being. He was glad that her boys saw that.
"You okay?" he asked El.
"My battery's low, but … it will recharge."
"I know it will, kid. I know."
"I can fight," she told him, and he could see in her face again the force that had closed the gate the first time. She could fight—she was the toughest person he knew.
"Better than any of us," he agreed, thinking how lucky he was to get this chance to be her dad. "But right now," he added, "I need you safe. This thing is after you. It's not after me. You understand?"
El did understand, he could see it in her face. He could also see that she was scared and tired and angry and he wished he could offer her some security, a rest before the next big thing, instead of a long dark drive to a smelly weird guy's bunker.
Hopper reached out, brushing her hair back off her face. "Hey. I need you to understand."
She looked at him, not wanting to, wanting to stay and fight and finish this herself, and God, did Hopper know what that felt like. He'd trusted her to do the job last time, and she had. But now she needed to trust him. After a long moment of looking into each other's eyes, she nodded, and Hopper nodded back.
"Okay?"
Then, from across the food court, they heard Mike calling them. "We should probably go."
Hopper agreed, but … he wasn't ready. Not yet. He sighed heavily. And El reached over and put her arms around his neck and clung tightly, like she wasn't ready, either. Like maybe he'd been a good dad. He held his girl tight, so he could always remember what this felt like.
And he let her go. With a last exchange of nods and smiles, she turned to Mike, who helped her stand, and, with Max, led her out of the mall to safety.
Hopper called after them. "Mike?"
The kid turned, waiting to be yelled at, but Hopper was all done with that. Hopefully for a long, long time.
"Be careful," he said softly.
Mike nodded, and then they all headed out, these brave kids who had faced so much that kids their age shouldn't have to face, who would look out for each other.
Joyce came to stand next to Hopper, Joyce who was so much braver than anyone had ever guessed she was, and she exhaled, her face set as she watched her sons leave. Hopper wanted to tell her how much he admired her, how much he loved her—hell, he wanted to kiss her. But this wasn't the moment, and if he so much as opened his mouth, he was going to cry, which wasn't what any of them needed, so he promised himself he would tell her later.
She frowned at him. "What?"
"Nothing." He cleared his throat. "Let's go."