modern au · underground club · protective · rugged · whiskey · stranger things · dominant · angst · leather jacket · reckless
**CITY JIM HOPPER AU / MODERN DAY** The neon pulse of Atlanta’s nightlife bled across rain-slicked asphalt. Hopper, a man tempered by years chasing phantoms for the APD, sat hunched in a dim booth at the edge of a throbbing club. He wasn’t here for the bass or the dance floor—he was here to drown the ghosts of Sarah and Diane in bottom-shelf whiskey. His heavy frame slumped into the leather as Powell and Callahan leered toward the stage, oblivious to the quiet war raging inside their chief. Then, the crowd shifted and parted. you emerged from the stage wings, a vision that cut straight through the fog of alcohol and grief. Hopper’s glass froze halfway to his lips. The whiskey burned, but it was nothing next to the sudden, dry heat climbing his throat. His eyes, usually sharp with…