Smoke -- Jim Hopper

54. MAYOR KLINE

Hello, I'm back, I literally got so busy all of sudden smh :/ Also sorrrry this chapter is not up to my usual par as I'm going through a terrible writer's block its lacking in a lot of places, but I needed to get something out lol

***Also when the scoop troop plot is posted this chapter will be repeated twice, but different (again if that makes no sense, yall will see what I mean when we get there)

Anyway, enjoy! again sorry a short chapter, there isn't a lot of large scenes with Jim and Joyce that can be added into without it getting to be too much if you catch my drift. No worries next chapter we will meet Alexei if all goes to plan!

not edited

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Jim and Natalie broke their hug and shared a smile. Natalie leaned forward and hissed him on his chin, "we better get going."

Jim nodded and gave her a wary look, "Natalie," he began.

"Oh no, I made you promise that I could still come with you," she said with a scowl.

He sighed, "but you're pregnant, honey, who knows what we're going to run into. I wouldn't know what to do with myself if something happened to you or to our baby, Nat."

She shook her head, "I know, but what if something happens to you? I wouldn't know what to do either if I stayed here and you got hurt."

Jim rolled his eyes, "okay, enough with the guilt trip. I will say this- if I tell you to go or stay because something is dangerous you have to listen, okay?"

She nodded, "yeah sure."

"Natalie," Jim warned.

"Okay, fine I'll listen for once, now let's go. Joyce is probably about to blow a fuse from waiting so long."

Jim chuckled and wrapped his arm around her and they both went outside and into the car. Joyce turned around in her seat and looked at Natalie expectantly.

"I told him," she said.

Joyce grinned, "good, congratulations you two."

Natalie and Jim both shared a warm smile with each other, and Jim started the car. Just like always he floored it all the way to the station. Natalie gripped onto the armrest tightly, her eyes wide as he flew through a stop sigh.

"Wanna slow down there buddy?" she said nervously.

"Huh?" Jim said not even glancing over and then realized how fast he was actually driving, "oh yeah, sorry." He parked at the station and practically jumped out of the car, "you two stay here I'll be out in a minute."

Natalie and Joyce nodded, they both knew he was best at searching through his own organized mess of paperwork. Jim slammed the door shut and raced into the station, nearly pushing Callahan out of the way who was holding a cup of coffee.

"Watch it, Chief!" he said and rolled his eyes before slowing getting into his patrol car and driving off.

Joyce and Natalie shared a look and laughed with each other. Just as fast as he was in, Jim was back out a cigarette in his mouth and a rolled paper in his hands. He opened the door and got in, scowling.

"Looks like we're gonna pay a visit to good Mayor Larry Kline," he said sourly and turned on his car and began heading towards City Hall.

"Oh great," Joyce said, "of course he would be tied into this too."

"He is pretty sleazy, so I'm not really surprised," Natalie added as Jim parked the car.

They all got out and entered City Hall. It was empty, not a soul in sight. All that could be heard was the sound of their shoes hitting the tile as they walked towards the mayor's office. Natalie grabbed Jim's arm lightly and he looked down at her, his eyebrows furrowed.

"What are you going to do?" she asked.

"Whatever it takes to get him talking," he said, "the guy who beat me up last night was here the other day. He was walking out of Larry's office, so they clearly know each other."

Natalie nodded, "okay, well be careful, Larry can strip you of your title if he gets ahold of the Hawkins post," she warned, knowing Jim was probably going to go wild on Larry.

Jim softly smiled at her, "Larry won't be making any calls to the post, no worries, Nat. I've got it under control," he said as he opened the door and let her and Joyce walk in first.

Larry's secretary, Candice, greeted them with a smile, "do you have an appointment with Mayor Kline?"

Jim shut the door and shook his head, "no," he said before walking into Larry's office and locking the door.

Natalie and Joyce stood awkwardly in the waiting room as they started to hear Jim's and Mayor Kline's voices rise in volume. Natalie flinched when she heard a body slam into the door loudly followed by a groan of pain.

"Larry!" Candice shouted, she ran towards the door and tried to open it.

Natalie quickly turned towards Joyce, "pull the line from the phone," she hissed quietly.

Joyce grabbed the phone and yanked the line just in time as Candice tried to dial the police.

Joyce smirked, "who are you going to call the police?" she said and looked towards the door where Jim was in.

Suddenly, the door opened and Larry came flying through the door, his nose bleeding heavily.

"Larry!" Candice screamed moving towards him, but Natalie blocked her, raising an eyebrow at Jim who shrugged.

"He just hit his head, he's fine," he said and pulled Larry up by the scruff of his shirt and dragged him out of the room. Natalie and Joyce following close behind.