#one day she realised how my hair looks like broccoli and now the nickname is linked to my appearance instead of an embarrassing moment

[tagsecretsanta]

From @Psychoseal

to @avengedbiologist Secret santa does not won this fic, full credit to the author above

Scott is exhausted. Running his hand through his prematurely greying hair as he exits Thunderbird One, the only thing running through his mind is the thought of a long hot shower and the largest pot of coffee on the Island. 

All Scott has ever known in his life is responsibility. He doesn’t even remember the peaceful years before Virgil was born and his life flipped upside down. Before Virgil was born, he had a number of names. Sunshine, Sweetheart, Darling, Scooter are just a small sample. But then everything changed. And his name became “Scott don’t” “Scott don’t put the stickers on the baby. Scott don’t feed the baby your broccoli. Scott don’t climb the furniture.” 

But he learned to love Virgil, and by the time his youngest brother was born his new nickname was smother hen! 

Scott can even remember his first grey hair. He was nineteen and had just gotten witnessed his thirteen-year-old brother fall from the barn roof in a dare gone wrong. That first grey hair he named Gordon! 

Once he has escaped to the safety of his room, Scott quickly strips off his clothes before climbing under stream of fresh almost boiling water. He is so tired he doesn’t even realise that the water is dying his skin blue as he lathers shower gel into his hair, his eyes closed happily as the water helps him to relax. Finally. 

Flicking the water off, he strings a large fluffy towel around his hips. 

Then screams. 

A scream so loud it brings Grandma running up two flights of stairs from the kitchen and barging into his room. “Scott?” she gasps, struggling to catch her breath. The rolling pin she was using to make the pie crust still in the hand. “What happened?” 

“Gordon!” Scott growls. “Where is he?” 

“London with Lady Penelope on vacation and has been all week, I don’t think this is one of his” Grandma reminds him gently. 

“Never jump to conclusions Smurf” Virgil says having also heard the screams, and come running, stopping short when he spots his big brother and bursting into laughter. “Think, who have you annoyed recently, then follow the trail to the culprit” 

“Annoyed? I never annoy anyone” Scott splutters in protest. “I am going to borrow your bathroom to get rid of this ridiculous dye” 

“Sure Smurf just let me do something really important first” Virgil says, and before Scott has the time to run, Virgil snaps a photo of him and runs away laughing. 

“Grandma!” Scott protests, he can feel a new grey hair emerging. 

“Go and get a shower, I will have a word with Virgil” Grandma replies leaving him to his thoughts.

Scott’s thoughts are not pleasant, and involve drowning the responsible brother in boiling oil, or tarring and feathering them while he films their humiliation. Googling cruel and unusual punishment ideas once he is back to normal and hiding out in his own room, Scott smiles at some of the ideas and regrets the vote he lost to build an island jail for his wayward siblings. 

Lying back on his bed, his head resting on the pillow, Scott stares at the ceiling in the ever-increasing gloom of the early evening, but he doesn’t get up to put the light on, but he can’t sleep. The frustration with his brothers isn’t receding the longer he lies here. Revenge is the only thing he wants! 

*TB*

Gordon is back from leave the following morning. Carrying a bag full of gifts for his family. All neatly wrapped. 

“Where is everyone?” he asks Virgil who is the only one in the kitchen. 

Virgil doesn’t answer him while he focuses on draining his coffee instead. “Mmm, that is better! What did you ask Squid legs?” 

“Where is everyone?” Gordon repeats. Rolling his eyes and pouring himself a coffee.

“Alan and Scott are still in bed. You need to apologise to Scott. He didn’t think your prank was a good idea!” Virgil says. 

“What prank?” Gordon asks. His eyes wide and innocent.

“The dye in his shower head. How did you pull that off anyway? You weren’t even here” Virgil asks, he is impressed despite himself. If Gordon has evolved to pulling pranks remotely, then the whole island is doomed! 

“Oh that. I just gave Alan the instructions and told him where the joke kit is hidden. Alan is the guilty party, not me” Gordon insists.

“IT DOESN’T WORK LIKE THAT!” A voice booms from behind him, causing Gordon to startle and almost drop his coffee. 

“Smurf, hi” Virgil says, trying to dissipate the tension building between his two brothers. 

“I KNEW YOU HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH THIS” Scott roars at Gordon.

Gordon rolls his eyes picks up one of Grandma’s scented candles and throws it at Scott’s head. “Lighten up Smurf” he says before running from the room, Scott on his heels determined more than ever to pound the brat! 

Gordon runs up the stairs and out the main doors to the pool.

“No running by the pool Fish” Scott shouts at him, that thing in his brain telling him to protect his younger brothers kicking in again. 

Gordon once again is one step ahead of him as he dives into the pool, and swims across to the other side, before climbing up and continuing to run down to the beach still pursued by Scott, who can’t outswim him and he knows he can’t break an important safety rule. Gordon is fast, but Scott is angry and determined, and he catches up to him, tackling him to the ground. 

“What on earth?” Jeff asks in exasperation. “Gordon you only had one job!” 

Gordon struggles under Scott’s weight, as his eldest brother is now sitting on his chest, pinning his shoulders to the ground with his arms. “I got him here didn’t I?” 

“Let him up Scott please” Jeff asks.

“What’s the magic word?” Scott asks Gordon. 

“Abracadabra” Gordon replies. 

“Scott” Jeff asks again.

And Scott knows that this is the best he can hope for as he rolls off his brother and allows him to stand. “Why are you here?” he asks his dad. “And what did you mean when you said you got me here?” he asks Gordon, now thoroughly confused by the whole matter. 

“Come with me, and you will find out” Jeff replies cryptically. 

Scott follows his father and brother along the sandy pathway leading to a small cove Gordon discovered during his first summer on the island, before he stops in his tracks at the scene in front of him. 

All his favourite people in one place. something that rarely happens in his family. His brothers, even John, are all sitting on the floor around the preparations for a bonfire, yet to be lit. 

“Scott come and sit down” Grandma calls him over. There is a smile on her face, as she pats a spare piece of sand next to her. Scott does as he is told, even though he is confused by what is happening. 

He hasn’t even noticed a large pile of gifts, all neatly wrapped nearby where Alan is sat chatting to Colonel Casey. 

“Why is everyone here?” he finally asks, unable to resist the temptation any longer. 

“I TOLD YOU HE FORGOT!” Gordon cries gleefully. 

“Forgot what?” Scott asks, racking his brains desperately for anything he might have missed. It definitely isn’t Christmas as the villa’s not been decorated. And it isn’t one of his brother’s birthdays as there is no way he would be allowed to forget those. Alan still drops gift hints for months before the big day.

“Hand it over John” Gordon says holding his hand out for his winnings. John reluctantly hands over a twenty dollar bill. 

“Will someone please tell me what the heck is going on?” Scott asks. Unable to take the laughter any longer. 

“What day is it?” Virgil asks, trying to help him out. 

“Erm Wednesday?” Scott replies. 

“It is Saturday Scott” Virgil replies rolling his eyes. “How about the month?” 

Scott knows this one. As it was Alan’s birthday recently. “March” Scott says this time confidently. 

“It’s April” Virgil says. 

“No it isn’t. Alan’s birthday was the other day” Scott insists. 

Virgil takes pity on his eldest brother. “Scott it’s the fourth of April. This is your birthday party!” 

“It can’t be. I would know if it was April already. Gordon is this an April fools’ joke?” Scott asks, turning his attention to Gordon, who is sitting on Lady Penelope’s lap while she hand feeds him grapes. “And can’t you do that in private?” 

“Nota April foolsh joke” Gordon confirms, his mouth full of half chewed grape.

“Ugh swallow first” Scott tells him disgusted, and still not convinced that it really is his birthday. 

“Scott, it really is April. And it really is your birthday. I am sorry I gave Gordon the job if getting you down to the beach, but happy birthday son” Jeff tells him. “We are worried about you though. You have been working far too hard recently. You missed Gordon’s April fools’ day prank because you were on Mars with Alan. it was a good one this year too” he adds.

“What did he do?” Scott asks. Remembering that this is Jeff’s first April fools’ since he got back from the Oort cloud. 

“Snuck into the GDF headquarters and left a notice on the board advising on a Chewbacca Roaring contest and to call my phone and leave a voicemail with their best effort and that I will judge them tomorrow. He even managed to set my phone to go straight to voicemail and put a message on it repeating the contest instructions.” Jeff tells him grinning. 

“And you found that funny?” Scott asks. 

“I did. And I have picked a winner already. Gordon will be paying the fifty-dollar reward though!” Jeff says. 

“Worth it” Gordon says with a shrug. “But Scott, seriously open your presents already!” 

Scott is still sceptical but he also knows that Colonel Casey and his father wouldn’t play a practical joke on him, maybe it really is his birthday.

Picking up the first gift from the pile. Scott knows without looking at it that this was wrapped by Gordon. It is wrapped in bright yellow paper and covered in so much tape he knows that it will take him hours to get in to! Sure enough the label reads “Yo scotty. Have fun getting into this. Love your favourite brother�� 

“Hey look, he’s picked your gift Gords” Alan says with a grin, grabbing his phone and loading up the timing app. “Ready Scott?” he asks. 

“Ready for what?” Scott asks.

“Our party game; let’s see how long it takes you to get into the present. My guess is thirty-five minutes” Alan replies. 

Scott knows that he should play along, this has always been one of their favourite traditions. An invention of Gordon’s the first year he was old enough to wrap gifts. “Fine. Start the count” he says. 

“GO!” Alan calls. 

Scott tries to slide his nail under the tape but it is impossible. He can’t deny that Gordon is the master. Turning the badly wrapped gift over in his hands, looking for a way in Scott gets more and more frustrated as the minutes tick by, and starts to chew his way in, finally biting a hole through the tape and into the paper. 

“How long?” Gordon asks the official timekeeper.

“Six minutes, thirty-five seconds” Alan replies. “Dad and Colonel Casey have been eliminated from the game” 

“You all had bets?” Scott asks, he is laughing now though. Finally starting to relax.

“Of course” Jeff tells him. “We have been planning this for weeks” 

Scott is now working on making the hole bigger, sticking his thumb in and wriggling it about. the contents are confusing, as whatever is in here feels slimy. 

Pulling out a piece of still wet seaweed Scott is confused. “Seaweed?” he asks Gordon. 

Gordon grins at him. “Yep and there is something else in there too” 

Scott pulls out the rest of his gift. A book. 

“Stop the clock Al” Gordon says. 

“Eleven minutes, twenty-two seconds” Alan announces, checking the contest list for the closest. “Hey Virg, you won!” 

Virgil jumps up from the floor to do his victory dance, pumping his fist in the air and twirling around until he falls over his own feet. Picking himself up and spitting out sand, he turns to Scott. “What is the book Scott? I don’t think Gordon has ever even opened a book let alone bought one for someone else!” 

Scott examines the books cover. “1001 of the weirdest laws in the world” he realises that one of the pages is bookmarked. Opening the book Scott reads the highlighted passage “In New Hampshire, it is illegal to collect and carry away seaweed at the beach, but only at night.” 

“You didn’t?!” Scott asks, eyeing up his brother. “You went to New Hampshire in the middle of the night to get seaweed even though it is illegal?” 

Unrepentant, Gordon nods. “Yeah I even borrowed thunderbird one. Do you like it?” 

“Like it?!” Scott asks spluttering with laughter. “Only you Gords. Come here” 

Gordon scrambles to his feet from Lady Penelope’s lap and runs over to Scott, who grabs him by the waist and tackles him to the ground. “Of course I like it! Who doesn’t love gifts that have been gathered illegally?” 

The rest of Scott’s presents are more normal. A painting of Thunderbird One over the Island from Virgil, which will look great above his bed. “Thanks Virg. I love it” He says, now with genuine enthusiasm. 

“The cavern quest expansion pack” Scott says opening up his gift from Alan. 

“Yeah, I am going to need that back once you are done” Alan says. 

“Sure” Scott replies, handing it over. He does not have the time to play mindless video games. 

Alan rolls his eyes. “Scott. You have to play it first. Come and see me tomorrow and Kayo and I will teach you” 

“You know I don’t have the time” Scott reminds them. 

“You do, we cleared your schedule for the rest of the week. You are on vacation and we are going to teach you to have fun!” Alan insists.

“I know how to have fun” Scott insists. 

“Scott, your idea of fun is doing paperwork, nagging me and cleaning your room” Gordon tells him. 

Making the only decision that will allow him to keep his dignity, Scott ignores Gordon and goes back to his presents. This one is from Grandma and turns out to be vouchers for an evening out at his favourite restaurant. “Thanks Grandma, but can I leave Gordon and Alan here to eat your lasagne, they really like the way you leave it frozen in the middle but burn the top layer.” 

“Scoooooo-oooooott!” Gordon and Alan whinge in unison. 

“Call it big brother’s revenge!” Scott replies with a grin. 

Their pouting doesn’t last long as Scott unwraps his gift from his father. 

Shocked by the contents, Scott just stares at him. 

“Well?” Jeff asks.

“I can’t” Scott insists. “International Rescue needs me. They need me” 

Scott has been raising his younger brothers for so long, he has not had a proper vacation in years. But this states he can have a whole month away from all the worry and stress. 

“We can cope. The GDF are going to take care of some of the simple rescues. The hood and the Chaos Crew are all safely locked away in the newly rebuilt Hex prison. I don’t think they liked the irony of being locked up in a prison they blew up!” Jeff says. “It is okay to admit you need a break Scott” 

Scott can feel tears welling up in his eyes, and it his father who makes the first move, wrapping his arms around his eldest son, who has been so strong for so long. 

“We love you Scooter” Jeff says. “You have held this family together beautifully, but please let me help you” 

Scott nods. His head still buried on Jeff’s shoulder. 

“If I do, please don’t let Gordon have Thunderbird one!” Scott says, trying to inject some humour into the situation. 

“Oh I don’t know; he did a g-g-great job while you were on Mars. A-a-apart from the unauthorised t-t-trip to New Hampshire” Brains says.

“Oh don’t forget the drone he crashed into the Eiffel tower” John says. 

“And the flood in the hangar when he was trying to clean off the mud off after he had to rescue the three explorers from a mudslide in Italy” Virgil says.

“Stop it, or he will never agree to leave” Jeff says. 

“Where am I going to go?” Scott asks. 

“Anywhere you want son” Jeff replies. Still holding him in his embrace. “We can talk about it after the party. Now how about you open some more presents, then we can get the bonfire started and grill some breakfast” 

Scott doesn’t make an effort to move from Jeff’s side, but happily opens the rest of his presents. Finally realising that they are right, he has been so wrapped up in the problems of the world that he has been carrying that weight on his soul, and it is slowly crushing the life out of him. Maybe, just maybe he can take a vacation. 

*TB*

The party lasts all day, thank you to the organisational skills of his family there are no emergency call outs, as Eos is forwarding the calls to local authorities and the GDF. The sun is starting to set, but the party is still going strong. Gordon and Lady Penelope have disappeared somewhere more private, but everyone else is there.

Alan is in charge of the music. Having set up a playlist and letting it go.

“GUYS COME ON! THIS IS MY FAVOURITE” Alan calls when the introduction to his favourite some comes on. “LINE UP” 

No one moves as the opening lines of the macarena start up. 

Alan grabs Jeff’s hands and pulls him into a standing position. “Come on dad, pleeeeeeaaaaassssssse!” he begs, giving his father the wide doe eyed start that no one, not even the great Jeff Tracy. 

“Okay fine show me what to do” Jeff replies. 

“Great! Okay Scott, Virgil, John, Grandma, Kayo, Parker, Brains, Colonel Casey” Alan calls while he starts going through the movements of the dance.

Virgil is the first to join in. knowing that Alan needs this just as much as Scott does. Taking his phone, he tries to contact Gordon. A family macarena isn’t the same without the family fish. 

“Hey Virg, what’s up?” Gordon asks. 

“Where are you?” Virgil asks. 

“Thunderbird one with Pen” Gordon replies. 

“Please tell me you’re just giving her a tour” Virgil asks facepalming. 

“Sure” Gordon replies with a shrug.

“Anyway stop it, and get back to the beach, we are having a family dance off” Virgil says. 

“You know I am going to win right?” Gordon asks, ringing off without giving Virgil a response. Pulling his shirt back on, he helps Lady Penelope zip back up her dress before they hop down from the pilots seat and exit Scott’s plane before running hand in hand back to the beach. 

“The macarena?” Gordon says with a grin. “Put it back to the beginning Al” 

Alan skips the track back to the start, and Gordon takes centre stage. Wriggling his hips before jumping up into the air crying “HEY MACARENA!” every single time. 

Even Parker and Grandma join in. the move on to the cha cha slide and the YMCA before collapsing into a heap on the floor laughing. 

“What song next DJ Allie?” Kayo asks. Even she has relaxed, her hair no longer in its customary tight pony tail but falling loosely around her shoulders. 

Alan grins before jumping up to his feet and skipping over to his phone. 

“No way. This I draw the line too!” Kayo says as the opening to baby shark starts to blare through the speakers. 

“SCOTTY SHARK DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO! Gordon starts. “SCOTTY SHARK DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO” 

John is the first to join in. “SCOTTY SHARK DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO” 

Jeff joins in too “SCOTTY SHARK!” 

Kayo groans, but she knows when she is defeated.  “VIRGY SHARK DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO VIRGY SHARK DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO VIRGY SHARK DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO VIRGY SHARK!” 

This is the version of the song Jeff would sing to Alan and Gordon to get them to sleep after their mom died. It never got them to agree to go to sleep but became a family tradition along with their bedtime stories. 

“JOHNNY SHARK DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO JOHNNY SHARK DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO JOHNNY SHARK DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO JOHNNY SHARK! 

Lady Penelope is looking at the boys and Jeff like she has never seen them before while they do the baby shark song dance like the madmen, she always suspected they are. But she can’t help but join in. 

“GORDY SHARK DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO GORDY SHARK DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO GORDY SHARK DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO GORDY SHARK!” 

“ALLIE SHARK DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO ALLIE SHARK DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO ALLIE SHARK DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO ALLIE SHARK!” 

Lady Penelope stops there she has no idea what will come next, as there is no way they will hunt prey! 

“TRAPPED IN A CAVE DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO TRAPPED IN A CAVE DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO TRAPPED IN A CAVE DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO TRAPPED IN A CAVE” 

“LET’S GO SAVE DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO LET’S GO SAVE DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO LET’S GO SAVE DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO LET’S GO SAVE!”

“SAFE AT LAST DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO SAFE AT LAST DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO SAFE AT LAST DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO SAFE AT LAST!” 

“You guys are too adorable” Lady Penelope says. 

Night has fully fallen now, and with it the boys’ inhibitions and dignity have evaporated with the daylight and they are now dancing their way through whatever song that comes on. Wild songs that see them dancing round the fire all holding hands and laughing. Slow songs which Lady Penelope and Gordon take centre stage for, dancing like their the only two people in the world. Fast songs they dance wildly too. 

“Is anyone going to bed?” Jeff asks, just after four o’clock. The fire is starting to die down now, and with it the temperature is dropping. He is starting to feel the chill in the air and he can tell by looking at Alan who is standing over the dying fire, rubbing his hands together to keep them warm that he is not the only one. 

No one protests, as they tiredly march back to the house, Scott and Virgil taking the time to make sure the fire is out. 

*TB*

“So, Gordy Shark” Lady Penelope says once they are alone in Gordon’s room. “Want round two of what we got up to in Thunderbird One?” 

Gordon grins before he strips his shirt off and jumps into the bed. 

*TB*

Scott leaves for his vacation the following afternoon, carrying one rucksack full of everything he is going to need for his trip, after forcing all four of his brother’s sign a contract that they will tell him immediately if he is needed. 

There is an immense feeling of relief as he gets settled in the cabin he has rented, looking out of the window at the sun glittered lake. This is the perfect place, miles away from civilisation and the problems he deals with every day. 

The only issue he faces here, is will he want to return to that chaos when his dream holiday is over?

[odd-birds-and-booksellers]

Prompt: Set after 16x16 - Alex treats his child as a patient but doesn't initially know. Meredith or someone was looking after them but when Jo turns up and he realises.

Anything Like Me 

Alex sighed rushing along the hallway he was being paged in every other direction today. Honestly, he was too old to be rushing around like an intern but he knew the game, the new guy always got the runaround, it was their way of seeing what he was made of and Alex was made of tougher stuff than this, he could handle scut for a few days.

When Izzie had announced her plans to move her and the kids up to San Jose with her stupid podiatrist boyfriend just so he could work for some second rate football team Alex was less than pleased, he really didn't fancy up and moving again but there was no way in hell he was gonna stay in nowhere Kansas without his kids there, he'd even considered moving back to Seattle, at least there be people there he knew but ultimately he'd decided he would be too far away from the kids, he'd had to accept that it was a life he just didn't have the option to go back to anymore. Instead, he decided on San Franciso, he had actually been offered a pretty good job and it was a close drive to the kids without having to feel like he was a spare part in his own family. He'd tried dating again, he'd been single two years now and honestly, it just didn't seem to interest him, how many loves do you get in life, he was a pretty fortunate guy there was no way that kinda love was coming around again. It's not like he was bitter about it, no he was thankful for his time with Izzie, they had made two beautiful children that made his whole world spin, and he was so grateful to have a lifetime of memories to look back on with Jo, he was lucky to have those memories not everyone is so fortunate. 

Grabbing hold of the tablet he punched in his code to see his next patient. Kit Wilson, 5-year-old, male, open head wound. Wilson...it was a pretty common surname, one he’d come across time and time again but he couldn’t help the jolt of pain that ran through him each time he saw it. It’s not like she wasn’t in his thoughts every day because she was, but seeing her name there made his heart hurt just that little bit extra. 

Turning the corner Alex smiles finding his patient sat up in the bed, dish towel wrapped haphazardly around his head with a toy truck in hand, vooming over the bed while who Alex assumed was the mother sat by his side, texting anxiously away on her phone. Alex frowned slightly wondering what was more important than her son as she continued to pay closer attention to the phone the boy beside her. Over two decades as a doctor and still patients and their loved ones could surprise him.  “Hello, I’m Doctor Alex...and who do we have here?” 

“Oh,” The mother jumped up dropping her phone in her on to the bed as she stood. “This is Kit, he slipped over in the kitchen and hit his head on the open door...it’s my fault really I should’ve closed it but I was trying to get hot chocolate off the stove and…”

“Okay okay...” Alex shushes her gently, flashing his classic Alex Karev smile that always seemed to calm the mothers. “I’m sure it was just an accident, how about we take a look and see what we can do...how does that sound Kit?” Alex turns to find the little boy staring up at him intensely, his little nose scrunched up as he narrowed his eyes on Alex. 

It was kinda strange but honestly, Alex had had weirder experiences. “Okay...sound good to you Mom?” He asks turning back to young women. 

“Oh...me? I’m not mom...I’m the nanny...mom is on her way through, she works across town at another hospital actually but she’s on her way.” She nervously runs her hands through her hair barely pausing for breath as she looks between Alex and the phone in her hand. So that’s who she’d been texting so furiously. 

“Okay...well let’s take a look at this head wound huh?” Alex asks, moving around the table, he smiles brightly at the boy who seems to give Alex his complete focus as he slowly begins to pull back the makeshift bandage. “I’m gonna check out this cut on your head okay little dude? It might hurt a little bit okay?”

The little boy nods slowly as Alex examines the wound, it doesn’t look too deep, maybe a few stitches at most. “My mom calls me Kit Kat...” he whispers gently after a moment making Alex chuckle lightly, a kid named after candy...he liked it...it was unusual but he liked it. 

“Really? That sounds like a pretty cool nickname. You know that my favourite candy bar...” Alex grins, gently wiping away the dried blood so he could get a better look, hoping the conversation would be enough of distraction to keep the kid calm.  

“Yeah she told me that...” the little boy nods fervently, turning back to his toy trucks again. Alex shakes off the odd comment not giving it much thought, clearly, the boy meant his mom had told it was her favourite candy. Alex doesn't know what it is but he feels like he knows the boy, he'd only been working here two weeks there was no way he'd treated him and forgotten already, he wasn't that sleep-deprived was he?

“Okay well, it looks like we’re gonna need a few stitches here Kit Kat...erm nanny?”  Alex clears his throat, nodding to the woman who looked like she was now close to tears as she typed away on her phone. 

“Sophie...” she filled in looking up suddenly. “Are you sure just a few stitches...erm his moms a doctor and she said I should insist on a CT scan to be safe.” 

Alex grimaced, his lips set in a straight line as he tried no to groan out loud, there was nothing he hated more than absentee parents but absentee parents with demands really pissed him off, maybe she was a doctor but just because she could diagnose a cold or prescribe cream for a rash didn’t mean she could tell him what to do. “A CT could take a while and it’s only a shallow cut really...if he feels sick or any headaches then we could take some more tests but right now let’s get these stitches in."

The nanny nodded, slipping back down into her chair the girl looked so nervous Alex almost felt bad for her, she visibly shook when she'd handed over the boys medical forms.

“Hey...don’t worry about it okay..accidents happen, you should see the scars my kids have.” He gives her shoulder a reassuring squeeze watching her take a few deep breaths before turning back to Kit. “Okay Kit Kat...have you ever had an injection before?”

“Mhmm” The boy nods perking up a bit, “yeah and my mommy said I was weally brave and we got doughnuts after.” He grins licking his lips. “Do you have doughnuts?” 

Alex laughs, a full chuckle making the boy giggle too, he swears this kid was a boy after his own heart. “I don’t have doughnuts but I’m sure we could find you something nice after...maybe even a Kit Kat if that’s okay with Sophie here?” Alex whispers glancing at Sophie who smiles in agreement. “Okay so you’re gonna feel a tiny pinch from this injection and after that, you won’t feel anything at all...”

The boy's eyes widen dramatically, leaning up in the bed. “Not anything...at all?” he whispers. 

“Just around your cut, I mean" Alex clarifies, trying not to laugh again as Kit nods, letting out a shaky breath, his little hands squeezing onto the metal bar on the side of the bed as he squeezes his eyes shut.

“Nothing is as bad as broccoli...nothings as bad as broccoli...nothings as bad as broccoli.” The little boy begins to chant to himself over and over again making Alex stop in his tracks.

“Nothings as bad as broccoli.” Alex joins in making the boy peek one eye open. “You’re right dude nothing is bad as broccoli...ready?” 

Alex marvelled at how well the little one sat there, he was pretty brave kid Alex will give him that, he was pretty much still the entire time Alex was doing his stitches mumbling his little mantra over and over to himself the whole time, Alex had even joined in mumbling it along with him. When Alex was finally finished he stepped, letting the nanny pass him so she could examine Kit for herself.

“You were really brave there dude..” Alex smiles offering his hand out for a high five, “it wasn’t as bad as broccoli right?” Alex mumbles ruffling Kit's hair gently as he cleans up. 

“His mom just parked. I’m sure she’ll have some questions.” Kate mutters, peering over from behind Kit.

Alex nodded, from the sounds of it this mom wasn’t gonna be one he wanted to deal with, no doubt an overreacting parent who’d googled symptoms before arriving, maybe he could send someone else to explain the aftercare. “Okay well, I’ve got to go round on a few post-ops...I’m gonna send someone down to do your aftercare and explain any questions mom may have.” 

Sophie just nodded, turning back to Kit, she put on bright smile handing Kit a water bottle from her bag as she spoke: “What do you say Kit...say Thankyou.” Sophie encourages Kit, who’s eyes are still trained on Alex, narrowed little skits analysing his every move, it was a bit intense if you asked Alex but hey kids can be pretty weird.

“Thank you, Dr Alex” 

“You’re welcome Lil dude...try and avoid the corners of cupboard doors for a while okay.” 

---

“Hey Kit Kat” Jo rushed into the room having followed the directions from one of the nurses at the front desk, catching sight of her poor babysat up in a hospital bed made her stomach twist, just the thought of Kit being hurt in any way sent her heart racing. If Jo had things her way she'd still be carrying him around on her hip like he was a little baby, never leaving her sight. She’d been in constant contact with Sophie since she’d called to say Kit had been an accident, she almost crashed on the way over here trying to text her back.

“I got stitches mommy look..” Kit excitedly pointed towards the gash across his head which had been neatly stitched up. Jo relaxed instantly he seemed so calm and happy and here she’d been expecting hysterics. It might have been her mommy brain going into overdrive but when she’d heard Kit crying out through the phone her heart had stopped so it was surprising to see how calm he was now. 

“Oh, you did…” Jo mumbles flashing a smile his way, glancing briefly at Sophie who was sat in a chair on the other side of the bed, the young girl looked so nervous, she’d only been working for Jo for two months and clearly, the whole ordeal had shaken her. “Good stitches too...almost as good as mommy.” Jo mumbles, brushing back Kits unruly hair to get a good look at the work, it was excellent she couldn’t really fault it, she probably couldn't have done better herself. Sophie had taken Kit to the closet hospital to home but it wasn’t the hospital Jo worked at, and Jo wasn’t sure how equipt this hospital was, she was terrified they’d have sent some inadequate intern to scar her baby permanently. 

“I’m so sorry Jo it’s all my fault I turned away for a second and I…” Sophie looked like was about to burst into tears as she continued to speak so fast she almost made Jo's head spin. 

“Hey hey it’s okay,” Jo mumbles leaning over placing her hand on her shoulder. “Honestly this little monster keeps you on your toes...hmm hey buddy.” Jo grins brushing her hand along Kits cheeks, before turning back to Kate and giving her a reassuring smile. 

“Mommy?” Kit whispered as Jo shifted him along the bed so she could sit next to him, her hand still brushing softly across his cheeks as he laid against her side, his favourite truck clutched tightly in his hands. 

“Yes, baby?” 

“He's here.” The boy mumbles quietly running the wheels of the truck up Jo’s arm, squirming slightly as she pressed a row of kisses across his head.

“Who’s here?”

Kit looked up at her, god he looked so much like his dad it physically hurt to look at him sometimes, his little brown eyes and unruly hair, that stupid grin that melted every preschooler's heart, oh he was definitely his father's son. “The man from the pictures...you know before I was in your tummy…” He whispers, making Jo frown, looking back at Sophie who shrugged equally confused. 

“Hey Kit Kat...look what I” Looking up at the interruption all the colour drained from Jo’s face as she made eye contact with the one man she thought she’d never see again. Oh god, this is what Kit was talking about. There stood Alex Karev, six years older and a little greyer but still the same man. He was here now in San Francisco and he’d just called her son...their son by his nickname as if he knew him. 

"Alex?"

Alex had been sending an intern down to talk to Kits mom when he’d remembered he'd promised Kit a sweet treat and usually he'd brush it off no doubt his parent would be fussing over him in no time but there was something about this kid that had a hold of Alex, he just couldn't seem to bear the idea of letting him down. He couldn’t quite explain why he had such a sweet spot for the kid, but he was pretty sure he had seen his eyes before, he’d seen so many people over the years maybe he’d treated him before hell he’d been doing this long he could’ve treated his parents before but he couldn't quite place what made Kit feel so familiar. 

"Jo?"

“Dr Alex…” Kit cried reaching out for him, squirming out of Jo’s grip, reaching for the chocolate bar that slipped from Alex’s grip. 

It felt like being shot all over again, a piercing pain knocking the air from his lungs as Alex tried to work out the maths in his head...it didn’t matter though, the scared look on Jo’s face was all the confirmation he needed. That’s where he knew the eyes from, they weren’t Jo’s, no they were his own, he’d been trying to figure out who he knew that looked like Kit when all he’d needed to do was look in the mirror.

“Look mommy it’s the man from the pictures…” Kit grins looking between Jo and Alex completely unaware of the intense unspoken conversation going on between his parents.

Jo nods her eyes never leaving Alex’s, quirky setting in as she watched him tear his watery gaze down to Kit and back up to Jo. “Yeah, it is baby.” She whispers hitting her lip gently as she stroke Kits hair back, one arm wrapping protectively around him. 

Alex just stared at the two of them, all the puzzle piece fitting together making his head hurt as he tried to comprehend what was happening. Kit was his son. His son. His and Jo’s son. 

I tried you know...anyway I made this into two parts and part two is a whole lot more emotional so stay tuned.

Thankyou for reading it is as always so very much appreciated.

[dcbicki]

Can you make a short story of mileven kissing and hopper sees them!

This is everything but short. It’s over 5k words and, like, I’m not even sorry about it. The ending is pure, unadulterated fluff and I make no apologies for that mess either. To sum up, this thing chronicles a solid decade of their life, with some years left out because I didn’t wanna overdo it. I kind of took the prompt, ran with it, and now it’s probably nothing like that you wanted but there’s another one of those in the works. Enjoy!

When they’re thirteen, Hopper doesn’t worry much when he catches them locked in an embrace by the front door. It lasts a little while longer than it should but it doesn’t trouble him. Things change as they get older, though.

But, when they’re twenty-three, and they build a home, Hopper no longer has anything to worry about.

Observations of a Halfway Happy Hopper

When they’re thirteen, he catches them in an embrace by the front door. It lasts a little longer than it should, but Hopper doesn’t worry too much.

Mike had come over to help her with her reading, and Hopper hadn’t batted an eye when they’d ventured into her bedroom to work. Door pulled ajar, chipper voices carrying out into the living room where he was settled in watching a game, he hadn’t thought twice about leaving them alone.

At thirteen years old, there aren’t many shenanigans they can get into with a parent one room over. It’s not like the door is closed. It’s not like they’re that way inclined anyway.

They’re still kids for the most part - still playing that weird Dungeons and Demons game (or whatever it was called), still using their pocket money down at the arcade.

He likes to think they’ll stay this way for a while, for another year at least, that they’ll keep their youth and keep playing nerdy board games. But he was that age once, too, and he’s not delusional enough to think they aren’t at least curious about certain things.

“Mike kissed me.”

She tells him this one day, when they’re sat at the dinner table in the cabin. He has a mouthful of broccoli and peas when she says it, and he nearly chokes.

“When?”

“Last year.” El ducks her gaze, almost timid, but he can see the clear smile that starts to form on her lips as she pushes at the peas on her plate with her fork, shuffling them around absentmindedly, “Two days ago.”

Two days ago, it’d been the Snowball; that goddamn middle school dance she’d been talking about for well over a year, that goddamn dance the boy had asked her to last year and hadn’t attended without her.

(Hopper remembers the night of the ‘83 Snowball quite clearly because it consisted of, for the most part, Eleven channelling Mike through some miraculous combination of black cloth and television static. Apparently, the boy had opted to stay home instead of going to the dance, and, as Eleven had told him once she’d wiped away her tears and cried into her pillow, it was because of her. Not because he blamed her, but because he refused to go without her. Because he was waiting for her.) (Hopper had felt for the boy that night.)

He’s not sure when or where she learnt what a kiss was, if she even knew what it means (when well-intentioned), but he’s pretty damn certain it has something to do with those soaps she watches all the time. They’re setting her up for disappointment, that much he’s sure of.

“OK.” He can’t really say much more than that. It’s not that he’s surprised, or that he’s unnerved, he’s just… fine with it.

Mike kissed her last year before Hopper became her legal guardian. Mike kissed her last year before Hopper was someone of importance in her life. He has no right to be mad.

He’s her dad now (or at the very least the closest thing she’s ever gonna get to having a normal parental figure in her life). And, while he’s not thrilled, he can’t be mad at them for kissing two days ago either. (He’s well aware he’s to blame for keeping them apart for so long.)

They’re thirteen, and any kisses shared between them are harmless, fleeting, and Hopper doesn’t think much of their closeness.

Only, when they’d finished working and Mike had been on his way out, they’d stopped in the front doorway and spoken in such low voices that Hopper couldn’t help but want to eavesdrop. There was something so strangely charming about the way they interacted.

“I’ll see you next week?”

Eleven nods, and before Hopper can even turn the page of the newspaper he’s pretending to read, she’s pulling the boy in for a hug. She’s just a couple inches shorter than Mike, and it’s noticeable when the boy wraps his arms around her waist and pulls her into him.

They don’t talk, and Hopper’s curiosity peaks when he hears the smallest of whimpers from the girl. It’s more of a squeak than a sob though and, despite his conscience telling him to let them be, he cranes his neck from his spot on the sofa and glances over at them.

He can’t be sure if they’re kissing, but from the way El is clutching at the boy’s sides, fingers digging in, and the way Mike’s hands are cupping her face, threading through her hair, Hopper thinks it’s safe to say that this is more than just a hug.

They’re thirteen though, and he isn’t mad.

But when Mike leaves a moment later, after offering up a quick goodbye to the man himself, Hopper pulls up the girl when she’s on her way over to the fridge. He stops in front of the stove, one hand on his hip, his face the picture of authority, “No more of that, okay?”

He’s her dad now, so he has to lay down some ground rules. (Well, some more.)

“Ruler number four. No kissing in the house.”

She just stares up at him for a minute (but it feels like an hour), and just when Hopper thinks she’s going to fight him on this, her eyes roll and she shrugs. “Fine.”

“Fine?”

“Fine.” El nods, and he’s proud of himself for winning this round, “We’ll just kiss at Mike’s house.”

She ventures off then, after stealing an apple from out of the fridge, and Hopper is left with a headache.

Damn kids.

When they’re fourteen, he realises he has to crank things up a notch. They’re outside the high school, where he’s parked waiting to drive El home before he returns to work, and Mike’s hands are caging his daughter in against the front of the old building.

There’s nothing really alarming about it, and, from the way El is giggling and looking up at the growing boy as though he’s the best hing since sliced bread, Hopper doesn’t think he needs to be loading up his shotgun anytime soon.

He tries not to watch them, tries to pretend he isn’t sat just twenty feet away from where his teenage daughter’s quite clearly flirting with her boyfriend.

He’s not fuming as a father should probably be, but he’s still relieved when Mike lifts one hand from off of the wall. Only that hand finds the side of El’s face within seconds, and suddenly they’re kissing. And Hopper has to look away, avoid the temptation to honk the horn and tear them apart.

They deserve to spend some time together, right? After all they’ve been through, they deserve a little freedom, right? Wrong. He’s pretty sure El’s gonna end up spending most of the weekend at the Wheeler kid’s house anyway, with their band of misfits dorks, so he’s not even a little bit sorry when he slams his fist down on the horn and watches as their jump apart.

Their foreheads are still touching though (he’s pretty sure), and El’s hands hold onto the collars of Mike’s windbreaker as though she’s clinging on for dear life. She says something to him, but Hopper can’t lipread, and soon enough she’s bounding over to the Police truck with a smile on her face, leaving an awestruck Wheeler in her wake.

He doesn’t even dare to ask.

“Can’t you two do that when you’re inside the school?” He grumbles, watching as she straps herself in, pulling the seatbelt tight, “Or does it annoy your friends as much as it annoys me?”

El grins, leaning over to toss her bag onto the back seat, “Mike says we can’t do it in school.”

“Well, when Mike is Chief of Police, or when he has a daughter then he can have a say.” Hopper snorts, “Just get it outta your system before you come home, okay?”

“He says we can’t because teachers don’t allow it and otherwise we’d get detention.” She informs him, “And he doesn’t think you want me to get detention.”

“He’s not wrong.” Hopper admits with a slight tilt of his head, “How about you just don’t do it at all then?”

“Ever?”

“At school, no.”

“But on the weekends?” El asks, and he nods in confirmation with a sigh and ‘sure, kid’, and she leans back in the passenger seat, content, “Halfway happy.”

Good.

“Mike asked me to be his girlfriend.”

She tells him this later, when she’s mid-homework and her hands are toying with a wooden ruler, and Hopper’s just a little bit confused. He’d assumed they were already official, or going steady, or whatever the hell it was the kids called it these days.

“And what did you say?”

She shrugs, nonchalant but he can tell she’s bursting with glee on the inside. She’s never been very good at hiding her emotions, “I said yes,” she starts, “and then I asked him to be my boyfriend because you say everything is a two-way street.”

(He won’t lie and say he isn’t proud of her for that.)

“Good.” Hoppers licks his forefinger and his thumb, turns the page often case-file he’s working on. “As long as you’re happy.”

“I am.” El’s voice is soft, sweet, and he can’t help but smile, even while staring down at the mugshot of a local store thief, “Full happy.”

Goddamn kids.

When they’re seventeen, he’s become accustomed to always seeing them in such close proximity to each other. They’re never far, rarely apart, and he’s fine with it. But he’s thrown when, one night, Flo gets a call from someone down at the quarry who says they saw the Chief’s adopted daughter getting into the back of a brown station wagon by the creek.

Instead of loading his shotgun with enough bullets to riddle the Wheeler kid with holes, Hopper just heads down to that place they oh-so-appropriately nicknamed Lover’s Lake without a second thought, and he’s fuming by the time he spots the car.

At that age, teenagers are crafty, ballsy, and they’ll come up with ingenious ways to outsmart their parents and sneak out of the house. At that age, they’re knowledgeable and impressionable but all the while aware of the consequences. At that age, they’re curious and horny, and Hopper is just about ready to punch someone in the goddamn face.

His clenched fist thumps against the side of the vehicle (about five times), and it takes a few moments and few little high-pitched shrieks from the backseat before someone tosses the door open, making Hopper take a couple steps back.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” He sounds angrier than he feels, but his face is anything but apologetic, “It’s eleven o’clock at goddamn night on a Monday. What the hell are you doing, kid?”

El is pulling up her socks, right up to her knees, and she settles her gaze on Hopper’s boots.

“Talking.”

“Talking?” He wants to shout, wants to shake some sense into her, but- “Wheeler.”

“Chief.” The damn kid’s head of messy hair is in view now, and Hopper narrows his eyes in on the boy. “We were just- I was-“

“Goddamnit, don’t say another word.” Jim sighs, breathing heavily through his nostrils, and his eyes close for just a second or two, “I don’t wanna hear it. El, grab your crap. I’m taking you home.”

With a small huff, she reaches over to pick up her muddy sneakers, laying a hand on Mike’s wrist. He looks upset and Hopper thinks that he maybe he overestimated the gravity of their little nighttime hangout. (Either that, or Mike’s just being dramatic.)

He gets his answer after a silent car ride home, when El slams the front door shut and stares up at him, clearly irritated.

“What now?” Hopper grimaces, almost mocking, “You mad because I dragged you away from boyfriend before you could do something stupid?”

“His parents are getting a divorce.”

Oh.

“That’s what we were talking about.” She tells him, and her shoulders drop, “His dad is gonna move out, and his mom is gonna sell the house, and he was crying when he called me earlier.”

“His parents are getting a divorce?”

Shit.

“His parents are getting a divorce.” She repeats, again, confirming.

Double shit. “And you were, what, comforting him?”

“Yes.” El swallows, and she plops herself down on the sofa, trying to avoid making a noise as to not wake anyone in the house. Joyce and Will were probably already asleep.

(The four of them had only been living together for a few months, after Hopper had finally popped the question and Joyce had finally agreed and they’d finally sorted their shit out.)

“Mike said he loves me.”

He’d expected this years ago, and, truthfully, he’s surprised it’d taken the Wheeler kid this long to admit it when it’d been clear on his face for five long years. But obviously he’s going through some stuff and-

“He said he loves me, and he said he doesn’t want to end up like his parents.” Her feet kick up on the coffee table and Hopper stands by the sofa, keeping his distance to avoid aggravating her, “He was crying.” She closes her eyes, tosses her head back against the cushions, and presses the balls of her hands against her eyes.

“You love him.”

She moves her hands from her face an inch, peering up at him through glazed eyes, “Fully.”

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“For thinking you were being normal teenagers when I should know better. Neither one of you is normal. None of you. You know you’re special, El, but Mike… Mike isn’t just some kid and I think I forget that sometimes. He’s good.”

“I know.” El takes a deep breath, and he’s never been more regretful, “That’s why I love him. That’s why you should, too.”

He appreciates the Wheeler kid, he does. He’s honestly not sure there could ever be anyone better suited for his daughter than that nerdy, mop-haired little shit, “I’m sure I will. One day.”

(He won’t admit it until some years later, but Mike Wheeler is the son he never asked for got nonetheless, the other half of the package deal that Hopper signed for when he adopted Eleven.)

“I’m gonna go find him.”

“What?”

“You said he was upset, right?” She nods, and Hopper messes with the hat in his hands, “Then wake Will up, and help him set up a sleeping bag or whatever in his room, and I’m gonna go find find Mike.”

“Thank you.”

Hopper doesn’t reply, but he ruffles her hair, kisses the top of her head, and he’s back out the door before she can stop him.

Fucking kids.

When they’re eighteen, he starts to worry.

“Mike asked me to prom.” She’d told him one time, a couple weeks before the homecoming, back when she was still trying to settle on a dress.

“Are you going?” He’d asked, already knowing the answer. He’d slid an plated Eggo across the table, watching as she laid out a napkin.

With a nod, El stabbed the waffle with her fork, “Duh.” She’d bitten at the waffle then, mouth full as she spoke, “Max says that’s when people have sex.”

“Max said what?” He had to stop forgetting to load that freakin’ shotgun.

“That people have sex at homecoming. For the first time.” She’d taken another bite, bigger this time, and stood up to discard the rest.

“But you’re-“ He didn’t want to know, he just wanted her to be safe. “Right?”

The girl raised a brow, almost amused at his line of questioning, “I’m fine.”

“OK.”

Weeks later, he finds her sat alone in the back of the diner. Once Benny’s Burgers, the place had been taken over by new management. It was fresher now, much more like a 60s diner.

Or, at least he thinks she’s alone. Mike comes out of the bathroom, hands rubbing down his jeans, before Hopper can approach his daughter, and he instead chooses to watch the scene before him.

It’s only lately that he’s taken in the boy’s growth spurt, Mike now standing almost as tall as the man himself. His hair’s still a mess though, and Hopper isn’t sure how El can see his face half the time.

(He’s gonna get him a freakin’ hairbrush for Christmas, he’s decided.)

He watches as Mike leans over the table, kissing the top of El’s head before saying something quiet, just soft enough to make his daughter’s face light up, and Hopper has seen enough.

He orders his coffee and pancakes, pretends he doesn’t notice when the growing man pulls up beside him.

“Chief.”

Mike greets him, and his fingers are tapping some sort of rhythm along the greasy countertop, his wallet on the side.

“Wheeler.” Hopper acknowledges him with a nod of the head, “You ready for college?”

He’s heading out next week, all set for the University of Indiana. It’s not far, and it’s not a huge change of scenery. But Mike will be living in a dorm, and he won’t have his friends around, and he won’t have El there. (She hasn’t decided what she wants for her future yet. And that’s fine.)

“Pretty much.” His eyebrows are drawn, and he’s quite clearly lost in thought. Hopper knows that look.

“Mike?”

“Yeah?”

“You’re gonna be okay.” He reassures the young man, patting him on the shoulder. He’s all lanky arms and awkward posture and freckle-faced and Hopper’s still sometimes in disbelief that this is the boy his daughter has chosen to love.

“Thanks.” It’s sincere, and Hopper’s proud to admit he actually kind of loves this kid. He’s good.

The waitress reemerges then, and Mike orders a strawberry sundae (and it’s obviously for El because it’s her favourite), and Hopper isn’t ignorant to those little square foil packets in the boy’s wallet.

Shit.

“Kid?”

His eyes are still on the condoms, and Mike quite literally freezes up when he catches on to what Hopper is staring at, “Oh.”

“We’re not gonna have anything to worry about, are we?”

“Well, no.” Mike’s eyebrows dance, and his face flushes some kind of crimson colour, and Hopper can only chuckle. “I mean- We used-“

“OK.”

“OK?”

“Yeah.” The chief of police waves a hand, “You’re a good kid, I trust you. And I trust her. And I trust you’re both smart enough to be smart about these things.”

“We are.”

“Good.”

Fucking teenagers.

When they’re twenty, they’ve been living in different cities for roughly two years. Hopper isn’t surprised they’ve made it this far, isn’t surprised they’ve handled the long distance thing impeccably well for two youngsters on the brink of adulthood.

When Mike comes home for Christmas break that second year, he shacks up with Lucas (who’s also in town for the holidays) in a nearby hotel. His mom and Holly are in an apartment these days, and Nancy’s already called the guest room and, short of staying with his dad and his new girlfriend, renting a hotel room is the best option.

(Lucas says it works out better for him, too. And when they check into their room, he lets slip that he’s transferring to U of I next semester and the boys are ecstatic at the prospect o spending more time together.)

Max visits from California, and Dustin comes home from Michigan, and Will pops in from New Jersey, and the whole little nerd squad is back together again.

They’re together on Christmas Eve, and a little bit on Christmas, but New Year’s eve is the day he can’t get the group out of his house. Until Joyce tells everyone to go home and get dressed up for the party.

“Mike asked me to move in with him.” She tells him that afternoon. The boys went back to the hotel to change a couple hours ago, and El has been messing with her hair for a good twenty minutes.

She’s been working in the library for well over a year now, and Hopper doesn’t think he’s ever seen anyone so happy to be surrounded by books all day long. But she still lives with him and Joyce, and Mike has moved into a one-bedroom studio, and he understands her plight.

The boy’s been working in some tech job for a while, and he’s making money between classes and Hopper isn’t as opposed to the idea of her moving out there to live with him as he thinks he should be.

It’s risky, letting her go across the state to live with her boyfriend when the government could start hunting her down any day, any minute now. But, while it’s foolish to even be considering it, he’s actually considering letting her go.

She’s old enough now, surely.

“Do you want to?”

It’ll be cramped, and they’ll be in each other’s space twenty-four-seven, but Hopper thinks they can handle it.

“I think so.”

“Then I think you should do it.”

“You don’t want me to stay?”

“I want you to stay if you want to stay. If you want to go off and live with Mike, then you should do that. You’re not a prisoner, El. I’m not going to force you to stay if you want something else.”

“Then I want to go.”

“Then I guess you need to tell Mike.” He smiles, and he pulls her face into his chest for a hug, chuckling when she protests (with a giggle), says he’s smudging her makeup.

When the boy comes back later that evening, all fresh and spruced up for the New Year’s countdown, Hopper can’t help but notice the way his face lights up much like El’s does when the roles are reversed, when Mike tells her something good.

He picks her up, and kisses her, and she giggles, and Hopper is proud of them.

Goddamn youngsters.

When they’re twenty-three, there’s nothing he can do about it anymore (not that he would want to even if he could.) They’re inevitable, and he has no complaints when they’re locked in an embrace on the front step of their new house.

“Mike asked me to marry him.”

She says this, twisting her hands in her lap, and he can tell by the way she’s looking up at him that she’s waiting for his reaction with held breath.

(He doesn’t mention the fact that Mike came to see him months ago, came to ask for his approval and El’s hand in marriage. He doesn’t mention that the boy (no, the man), had invited him to lunch, stammered his way through a whole speech only to end up sliding an heirloom ring across the table and waiting for Hopper to just get the gist.)

(He doesn’t mention the way he’d held back a belly laugh, inspecting the shiny little ring in the little velvet box as though he’d been the recipient. He doesn’t mention the way he’d shaken Mike’s hand in approval, giving him his permission, and told him, “It’s not me you should be asking”.)

“You say yes?” Hopper eyes her, and he has half a mind to just pull her into a congratulatory hug before she even announces the news.

“What do you think?” El smiles, and there’s a hint of a blush rising to her cheeks, and he’s so fucking proud of her.

He nods, twice, and then his arms are open and he’s hugging his daughter for the millionth time.

But she’s older now, and she’s not a little girl anymore, and she’s not frightened by anything the world could throw at her.

She has her family, and she has her friends, and she has Mike. She has Mike, who embodies both; the friends she’s made over the years, the family she’s built over time.

She’s come so far, and she’s overcome so much, and she’s grown up so much that Hopper can hardly believe it sometimes.

“I’m gonna marry him.”

“I know.” Her dad tells her, and he places both hands on her shoulders, leaning down to her level, “I’ve known since you were both thirteen years old.”

They get married a few months later, down by the lake.

Nobody questions the decision, not after Dustin informs them all that the drop at the quarry is where El became an official member of the Party, saved Mike’s actual life and cemented the strange bond they all seem to share. Nobody questions the decision, because El plans her wedding with Nancy and Max and Joyce, and they all understand just how much every little thing means to her.

When the cake’s been cut, and everyone’s danced, and the married couple have officially made their getaway, Nancy pulls Hopper aside.

She’s holding a glass of champagne in one hand, and a pair of strappy black heels in the other. There’s a small smile on her lips, and she’s kind of swaying side to side, and Hopper is positive she’s trashed.

“Meet me tomorrow.” She hands him her glass then, and he takes it, just long enough for her to pull a folded piece of paper from her cleavage. Nancy snatches her champagne back, swapping the note over for the glass, “I need your help.”

He eyes the paper, unfolding it and staring down in bewilderment at the neatly written address in fading blue ink.

Joyce is back at his side before Nancy can say anything else, and two flutes are passed back to him as the younger woman whisks his wife off for a quick dance.

When morning comes, and he’s halfway recovered, sobered up, he heads on down to the address Nancy provided him. She’s stood out front when he gets there, hands on her hips, impatient and imposing.

“You’re late.”

“You didn’t give me a time, Wheeler.” He reasons, and only then spots the moving van in the driveway of a small suburban house. “What is this? You asking me to moving you with you? I’m flattered.”

It’s a small, white, picket-fenced house in a quaint neighbourhood. The neighbours houses are similar, but they don’t quite match. This one though, this one has something charming about it. There’s something awfully precious about the lace curtains hanging in the windows, and the pale green fence that leads to what he can only assume is a garden.

“It’s your daughter’s home.” Nancy tells him, and her eyes glimmer with something close to tears, her smile broad.

“No.” Hopper frowns, and suddenly the house is blurry, “No, see, there’s a ‘Sold’ sign,” he takes a couple steps over onto the patch of grass, knocks at the sign with his knuckles, “right here.”

“Who do you think bought it?” She blinks, challenging. Her arms cross over her chest, and she crinkles her nose with an amused grin, “Mike made her a home once before. You didn’t think he’d do it again?”

That nerdy, mop-haired little shit.

“He bought a house?”

“I mean the mortgage is pretty hefty, but- Yeah.” She shrugs, comes to stand beside him as he admires the front of the building. “My nerdy little brother bought your magic daughter a house.”

“Does that meant the next step is what I think it is?”

Nancy laughs, offers a simple, “maybe,” and he can’t help but join her. He’s getting older now, and his hair is greying, and he won’t lie he isn’t looking forward to becoming a grandpa someday. He’d make for a pretty cool one, he thinks. He can tell the kid war stories from ‘Nam, and all about being stuck in another dimension and the kid can just laugh him off.

It’s their choice, though. It’s El choice. He’s just glad he’s been fortunate enough to be her guardian through everything. He’s just proud of her, of who she’s become.

“Okay, big guy.” She taps him on the shoulder, far from the teenager who once got caught by the cops hoarding bear traps and gasoline cans in the trunk of a car, “You need to help me unpack.”

Mike had told her all about the house, and it’d been Nancy’s suggestion she hire a van and unload their stuff while they were on their makeshift honeymoon down in California, spending time with Max and Lucas. She’d enlisted Hopper and Steve (deputy sheriff, these days) to carry some of the heavier stuff, and Steve and Joyce were on their down with reinforcements.

Just as Steve’s car pulls up in the driveway, leaving a fair amount of space between the truck and the curb, Hopper takes in a deep breath. He rubs his hands together, rolls up the sleeves of his plaid shirt, “Okay.”

It’s a couple days later when Mike finally pulls up to the new house and, as warned, Nancy and Hopper are waiting by the front doorstep.

The look of absolute shock, awe, that crosses El’s face when realisation hits is something that’ll probably stick with Hopper until the day he dies. Her eyes widen, and she cries, and she hugs Mike so tightly that nobody thinks she’ll ever let go.

Nancy welcomes her new sister into the Wheeler family with a gift she’d been making in secret for years. She’d enlisted Jonathan’s help back in New York, scrapbooking together a picture album filled with memories of the whole party, the kids and the teens and the adults. It’s simple, but perfectly put together. She adds pictures from the wedding, writes in swirly, fancy penmanship over the album’s white cover, ‘Part One’, and she ties ribbon around the book to as though to wrap it up as a present.

When El takes it with a smile and a hug, eliciting a laugh from her sister-in-law, Hopper doesn’t think it could ever belong in anybody else’s hands.

If Mike is the glue that holds the party together, then she is the film coating that keeps them safe, from harm and from pain.

So, when Nancy is keeping herself busy in the new living room, placing the photo album on the middle shelf of the coffee table, and Hopper is left on his lonesome in the hallway, he can’t help but look over at the couple in the doorway.

They’re barely through the threshold, still just on the doorstep, but El’s face has never made Hopper feel so whole, complete.

“Halfway happy?” He asks, breaking the connection between the two. (They have the rest of their lives). It’s worth it just to see her smile.

“Full happy.” El nods once, twice, and her hands slide from Mike’s chest to his neck, pulling him closer now. “Mike?”

The young man hums, brows crinkling as he admires her face, watching as she chews at her bottom lip and sighs.

“I’m happy I’m home.”

“Me, too.” He tells her, and it’s the quietest Hopper has ever heard him. He’s good, Mike Wheeler.

When El pushes up on her tiptoes to kiss her husband, Hopper takes that as his queue to leave. She’s happy, and he can’t ask for anything more than that.

He grins, turning back around and venturing into the living room to lend Nancy a hand.

Goddamn kids.