"Hey, whoa, slow down!" Steve yelled, clutching the door as Hopper took a sharp turn.

"You were the one who said they wanted to go on a ride-along!" Hopper shouted back, his foot pressing down on the gas pedal. The lights on the truck flashed outside the vehicle, illuminating everything in red, white, and blue, and the wail of the siren echoed off the buildings.

"I said a ride-along, not a race-along!"

"We got a call!"

"For a cat up a tree!"

"The cat could be hurt!"

Their back-and-forth went like this until Hopper's truck finally skidded to a stop in front of a brick house with a large tree sprouting from the front yard.

"Admit that you just like abusing your authority so that you can speed," Steve said, giving Hopper a knowing look once he had re-righted himself in his seat. 

Hopper glared at Steve with his lips tightly pressed together before he turned to open his car door and jumped out. "Are you going to help me or not, Harrington?" Hopper called to Steve as he walked around the front of the truck.

"How the hell did you and Sarah share the same DNA," Steve grumbled to himself before he popped his door open and joined Hopper beside the tree.

Steve and Hopper looked up to find a Siamese cat stuck in one of the highest branches. It stared down at them with its golden eyes until it grew bored and began licking its paw.

"Oh, thank goodness you're here, Chief Hopper!" a woman's voice called out to Hopper and Steve. Their eyes moved from the tree to the front door of the house where they watched Ms. Henderson come rushing towards them. "A mean old dog got loose and chased poor, little Tewsie up a tree! I would have had Dustin help me but he's at school."

"No problem, ma'am," Hopper said with a tip of his hat. "Steve and I will get Toes--"

"Tews," Ms. Henderson corrected him.

"--Tews down."

"Oh goodie!" Ms. Henderson smiled and clapped her hands together. "I'll go get you boys some lemonade!"

As Ms. Henderson rushed back into the house, Steve turned to Hopper and whispered, "And how exactly do you plan on doing that?"

Hopper traced his eyes back up the trunk of the tree and shrugged. "It's just a cat. How hard can it be?"

"For the millionth time, waving your hand around and yelling, 'Come get the mousie!' doesn't work," Hopper snapped at Steve.

"Well, I don't see you coming up with any other ideas!" Steve retorted, lowering his hand back to his side. "The ladder didn't reach, and the cat toys and treats didn't work!"

"I've got one idea," Hopper grumbled. He paced around the base of the tree, his eyes fixed on Tews, who was busy batting at a leaf with his paw. "This cat is an asshole."

Hopper kicked the tree with his boot, sending a reverberation up the trunk until it hit the branch Tews was on. Tews dug his claws into the bark and hissed down at Hopper.

"Are you really going to get into an argument with a cat?"

"Maybe I am," Hopper huffed. His eyes were still fixed on Tews, who he almost swore was smirking at him.

"If Sarah were here she could just zap the damn thing down in a portal," Steve sighed and crossed his arms across his body. A stray breeze picked up and ruffled Steve's hair, sending a shiver throughout his body.

A silence filled the air between Steve and Hopper at the mention of Sarah. Their grieving had become easier as time passed, but they still felt the pain of her loss everyday. And today especially, it being what would have been her 22nd birthday. Being together was their unspoken way of both celebrating and coping.

"Have you boys had any luck?" Ms. Henderson's voice broke the quiet void as she brought them out yet another tray of lemonade.

"Not yet, Ms. Henderson," Hopper replied sullenly.

"Oh, my poor Tewsie is probably so cold and scared!" Ms. Henderson cried. She blotted at the corner of her eyes with a handkerchief that she pulled from her jacket pocket.

"I think that smug jackass is just fine," Hopper muttered under his breath. Steve, having heard him, immediately smacked him on the arm.

"I'm sure he'll come down eventually." Steve offered Ms. Henderson a reassuring smile. Ms. Henderson half-heartedly returned the smile before grabbing Steve and Hopper's empty lemonade glasses and bringing them back inside.

Hopper sighed and sat down at the base of the tree. He began plucking strands of grass from their roots and tossing them aside. Steve joined him momentarily, crossing his ankles and leaning his head against the rough bark.

"How's the new job going?" Hopper asked Steve after a few moments of silence.

"You mean working for my dad?" Steve scoffed. "Oh, Just peachy-keen. I think I almost liked slinging ice cream better."

"Well, you could always quit and become a police officer," Hopper suggested.

Steve chuckled to himself before answering, "I can't even get a cat out of a tree, I don't know if I'm cut out for police-work."

"Hey, I'm not faring any better," Hopper laughed. "Clearly there's more to it than just rescuing jerk cats. You're creative and good at thinking on your feet. You can't exactly carry a spiked bat on duty, but I think you can hold your own pretty well too."

"So what you're saying is...that you and I would be partners?"

"Oh god no, I'd put you with Callahan or Powell before I'd make you my partner," Hopper laughed again. Once his laughter died down, he glanced over to Steve and caught his eye. "I just think that you should do something that makes you happy. She would have wanted that for you."

Steve nodded his head solemnly. "I suppose you're right."

Just then, a loud noise from above sent Steve's and Hopper's necks careening back. A fearful look coated their eyes as they watched Tews come barreling down the tree towards them. Hopper didn't have enough time to move out of the way before Tews landed on his head, his claws digging through his hat and into his scalp. Hopper shot to his feet and began racing around the yard in a mad dash to get the cat off while Steve stood to the side with his hand pressed over his mouth as he tried his hardest to hold back laughter.

Eventually, Tews jumped down from Hopper's head and ran inside the house just as Ms. Henderson opened the front door.

"Oh, thank you so much!" Ms. Henderson cried as she reached down to grab the angry ball of fur and cradle him in her arms. "Tews and I really appreciate your help!"

"No problem, Ms. Henderson! Say hi to Dustin for us!" Steve called to her. He followed after Hopper, who had already begun walking back towards the truck. His hat was hanging halfway off his head and his hair stuck out from underneath.

As the two clambered into the truck, Hopper imparted one last piece of wisdom before starting the vehicle and driving back to the station: "I fucking hate cats."

☆ ★ ☆

𝑨𝑼𝑻𝑯𝑶𝑹'𝑺 𝑵𝑶𝑻𝑬: 𝑯𝒐𝒍𝒚 𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒔, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒈𝒖𝒚𝒔, 200𝑲! 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒈𝒖𝒚𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒔𝒕! 𝑰'𝒎 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒑𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒔 𝒐𝒓 𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝑰 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒈𝒖𝒚𝒔 𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌𝒔! 𝑳𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒚 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒕 𝒈𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝑪𝒂𝒏𝒗𝒂, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒚 𝒏𝒆𝒂𝒕!

★ ☆ ★ ☆ ★