"How's your face?" His voice is sarcastic, and I don't answer at first.

"My face is not even in the top ten of your priorites right now," I say and he looks like he wants to laugh.

"Oh yeah, what are my priorities? Because I think that a child who's being abused at home is in there somewhere. Do enlighten me."

"I am not being abused. And I am not at all close to one of your priorities. For one, you have to continue to find Will Byers. Two, you have to find the monster that took him. Three, you have to visit Joyce Byers so she can show you how to talk to Will. Four, you s-"

"Will Byers is dead. We just pulled his body from a lake. Can you not understand that?!" Jim Hopper looks from the road and toward me, "There was no monster, no long armed no faced creature. Just a lost boy."

"No," I insist.

"No?" He seems super ticked off, and I know I should stop arguing, but I also know that Will Byers is alive.

"No." I stare into his eyes, "Will Byers is alive. If you'll just let me show yo-"

"No! I'm taking you straight home. Where do you live."

"Can't tell you that." I say rebelliously, staring at the front window as he shakes his head.

"I'm a cop, you have to tell me. Do you want to be arrested?"

I roll my eyes, "No."

"Then you'll tell me where you live."

I sigh and give in, telling him my address. He adjusts his route and I stare out the window, lost in my head.

"You know, when I grow up, I'm gonna be a cop," I say thoughtfully, and Hopper almost slams on the breaks in reaction.

"What? You want to be a cop?"

I turn to him and raise an eyebrow, "Well don't be so surprised."

"You're the most troublemaking kid I've ever met, I'd expect you to grow up and be a bank robber or some kind of car theif."

I roll my eyes and scoff, "Oh ha, ha." He looks down at me and I fiddle with my thumbs.

"Well, you see." My voice is quiet, but seems loud in the empty car, "I feel like if I'm a cop, I could help people who have to go through personal problems."

I avoid eye contact with Hopper, and continue my train of thought, "people who won't tell anyone, because of course they won't. I want to be able to help the people that can't ask for it, you know?"

"I don't want to leave them to have to go through what they do." I sigh, then turn to him angrily, "And also, if I even think there's a sliver of a chance that a lost boy is still out there, then I'll continue looking until I die."

Hopper looks at me, then back at the road, "You blow my mind sometimes, kid."

"I tend to do that a lot, apparently." I cross my arms as I see the lights of stores fly by. "Do you hate me?"

Hopper seems to do a double take between me and the road, spulttering and frowning, "Why would you think I hated you?"

"Because I'm a troublemaker."

Jim Hopper scoffs, shaking his head, "I don't hate you. I just think you could be more than you are now. You remind me of how I was when I was younger. Exactly how I was...."

"Really?" I say, disbelieving.

"Yup." Hopper smiles in memory, "I was a troublemaker, that's for sure. I don't think I ever stole a police car and crashed it into a tree-"

"I had good reason," I say smugly.

"Right, sure. But I was a bad kid." He moves around the toothpick in his mouth as he talks.

"You calling me a bad kid, Chief?" I ask and he smiles.

"Well, I thought you were. But I'm not an idiot, I know what is happening to you at home. And I'm gonna confront your father about it."

My eyes widen, "What? No! Nothing's happening at home."

"Then why is your face ten times worse than before you went home that one day?"

"I was mugged," I say.

"In the middle of the night?" He asks and I add detail to my lie.

"That's usually when mugging happens," I snap. "I left the house because I needed some fresh air, and my arm hurt from the crash. I walked around the block, and two guys took my wallet. I was fine, and I'm fine now."

He raises an eyebrow at me, and I'm careful not to break my stare.

"I'm still coming to the door and confronting your parents about this." He says, one hand on the wheel and the other hanging out the open window.

"No," I blurt out, quickly regaining my posture, "There's no need. My parents are divorced, I live with my dad. And he's not home, he's on a work trip for the weekend."

Hopper grunts and continues driving, turning off onto my street and into my driveway. He parks the car and jumps out fast while I fumble over the handle, opening it and stumbling out. I jog over to him as he rings the door bell, trying to get in front. He blocks me off, and Steve opens the door while I grab the Chief's arm and push on it. Steve sees me behind the cop, and sighs.

"What has Liz gotten herself into this time, sir?" He asks, his acting is better than mine, and he puts on a convincing show.

"Nothing severe. I'm just here to ask a few questions, about the cause of her facial injuries." Steve looks at me, and I give him a wide eyed stare, not knowing what to say. I try to mouth that I was mugged, but Steve glances back to Hopper and stutters a bit.

"Uh, sure thing. Come on in." I follow Hopper inside my house, but he stands between me and Steve, so I can't whisper to him our made up story. We sit in the living room, and I try to get next to Steve, but Hopper places me beside him.

"So, is the guardian or owner of the household here tonight?" Jim Hopper gets right to the point, not even bothering to introduce humself.

"Like I said, m-"

"I've heard from you already, now I'm asking your brother." The Chief's penetrating stare bores into Steve's eyes, but they remain relaxed.

"Our father is on a conference trip for the weekend, he'll be back monday night." Steve is so far safe.

"All right, so do you know the story on how her face got like that?" Hopper gestures to my face and I lean back to mouth the words to him, but Hopper catches me and leans back too.

"No, I don't know the entire story," Steve plays it safe, "She just came home and it looked like that. She wouldn't tell us how it happened."

Hopper glances at me, and I stare at my hands, knowing fully how screwed I am in this situation.

"I ca-"

My lie is immediately interrupted by the Chief, who knows what I'm up to.

"No, no. You keep your mouth shut. It's not your turn." He turns to Steve, "What's your name, son?"

Steve clears his throat, "Steve Harrington, sir."

"Okay, Harrington." I bury my face in my hands, holding my breath and hoping that Steve says the right things, "I know you know what happened to her. So tell me, what's the story?"

"Well, sir," Steve's charm is our last hope, and his stalling is evident in his tone of voice. "I think it was when she was walking home from school. I had driven home because she had needed to talk to a teacher after class. The walk home is pretty long, forty minutes or so. And she came home all scarred up. I helped her out as best as I could, but her face didn't look too good by the end of even my greatest efforts."

The phonyness in his voice was unbearable, using long words and intricately placing them in a polite way. It was so fake, it almost made me more worried than the fact that he got the story wrong. Almost.

Hopper looks at me, and I gulp.

"Well your sister had a different story." Steve visibly tenses, "And I know for a fact that this event had to have happened at night or early morning because I saw her before and after those times. Basically what I'm saying is, you're both lying to me."

"What does it matter about my face?" I say stupidly, "It's not important and it's none of your business."

"If it's anyone's business it's mine!" Hopper shouts and I scoot back on the couch, failing my attempt at holding my own, "Now! Are you two gonna tell me what happened or not? Because if you don't, I'm gonna have a serious talk with your father, and trust me, it won't end well."

I blink stupidly, and Steve sighs.

"I think you should go," He says, "Whatever happens here is much less important than finding that lost boy. So I suggest you get your priorities in order and continue your search."

"The boy is dead." Hopper says grimly, "We found his body in a lake."

"That wasn't him." I can't help my stubborness seep through.

"Kid you have to stop your dillusions. Your friend isn't coming back."

"He's alive," I say firmly, "And I won't stop until we find him."

"Well it's a lost cause." Hopper stands up and walks out of the room, me scrambling to follow him. He opens the door and puts on his hat, "Don't think this is over. I'll be back Tuesday night to speak with your father."

And with that he slams the door, Steve entering the room and running a hand through his hair.

"Shit."

AUTHOR'S NOTE~~~~~

Hello people,

Short chapter, not much action. There'll be more action stuff in the next chapters, so stay with me.

Question: Are you team Steve or Jonathan and why?

Aloha