SCENE TWENTY-TWO

Tom Hanson

Mark was found guilty of all twelve casualties. We're waiting to hear what he was sentenced, but Fuller said Mark was looking at life in prison or the death penalty. It was over now. Mark was behind bars, without a means of escaping, and Doug and I took a brief break from the force. We took the vacation that Fuller tried giving us beforehand. Instead of going to the countryside, where we were placed originally, we headed to Orlando, Florida. We wanted the sun, the ladies and Disneyworld – hey, we were only human.

After our few weeks of vacation, we went back to work at the chapel. It was weird walking into that building. Doug and I had been through so much, it was even on the news (without any video or pictures), and had received so much attention. All we wanted was for things to go back to normal, but by the looks of it, that wasn't happening any time soon.

When we walked into Jump Street's quarters, everyone hushed and stared. People asked if we were okay, said it was good to have us back, or they said nothing at all and looked at us with wide and curious eyes. Doug nudged my elbow and nodded towards the people.

"This is kinda weird." he remarked.

"I know." I replied, diverting my attention to the floor.

"It'll pass, right?"

"I hope so."

"Hey, Hanson!" exclaimed a familiar voice. I looked up and saw Judy rushing toward me. She took me in a hug and kissed my cheek. "Penhall, how's it going?" Ioki right behind her, she moved to hug Penhall as Ioki moved in to hug me.

"It's goin'." I answered, a nervous smile on my face.

"Things haven't been the same without you guys," Ioki said as he pat Doug on the back.

"Yeah, things have been real quiet." Judy chimed in. Then with a laugh she added, "And there's been plenty of candy around!"

"'Ey, that reminds me!" Doug rushed over to my desk and ruffled through my candy drawer.

"Penhall!" I moaned, rushing behind him. "Get your own for cryin' out loud – not even a minute when we get back and…"

"Mhm." Doug poked his head up and turned to me, a Snickers bar nearly half-eaten.

"…Doug you're like a…" I tilted my head as I attempted to think of the right description.

"Garbage disposal?" Ioki laughed.

"Yeah, that's it!"

"Hey now, let's be reasonable." Doug pat his stomach. "I'm a growing boy. I need my nutrients."

"Yeah, but do you have to steal mine?" I joked with a laugh.

"Penhall! Hanson!" Fuller called as he poked his head out of his doorway. "Come on in."

"Do you think he's gonna grill us for the entire not-staying-out-of-the-Mark-and-Sid-thing like we were told?" Doug asked.

"Probably."

"What do you think he's gonna do?"

"Probably throw out our candy. He has a stash of his own, you know."

"Does he really?" Doug inquired, his eyes suddenly lighting up.

"Mhm." I started for Fuller's office. "And he's got Kit Kats in his."

"Nice!"

We walked into Fuller's office and shut the door behind us. Fuller watched as we sat down, wearing a stern expression.

"Welcome back, guys." he said, offering a quick smile. Then it was back to the strict look on his face. "You did good work. It's nice to see a team so driven to bring justice to this country."

"Thank you, sir," Doug started only to be cut off by Fuller's deep voice.

"But," Fuller said. Oh, that 'but' was going to be harsh. "You were out of line by not following orders."

"Sorry, sir…" I sadly stated.

"Let me finish, guys." The stern expression on his face was gradually replaced by a kind smile. "But you booked Mark and you took care of things as best as you could. So we're going to overlook the fact you didn't stay out of the way."

"So we're off the hook?" Leave it to Doug to ask the obvious.

"Not exactly," Fuller reached below his desk to retrieve a rather large stack of papers. He sat them on the desk and leaned back in his chair. "That's all the paper work that needs to be done for Mark's case. Judy volunteered to take care of it, but I insisted that you boys would be more than happy to do it."

Ah, so that was it. Paper work. Lots and lots of paper work. I would rather serve a three-day suspension or something similar, but this? I could deal with paper work.

"Oh, of course, sir." Doug said enthusiastically. Wait, Doug was actually happy to do paper work? Something was up… "But you know, sir this is going to take a lot of energy." Oh geez, I knew where he was going with this.

"Yes it is," asked Fuller, slightly confused. "Which makes you two best for the job."

"Yes, and to get that energy we need a quick pick-me-up. So I was thinking if it wouldn't be too much trouble…"

"Doug?" Fuller asked.

"Yes sir?"

"You're not getting into my candy."

"Yes sir."

"Come on, Doug," I got up and placed my hand on his shoulder. "Let's start this paper work. I think I have a few candy bars left."

"See, this is why I love you, Tommy." Doug slapped my back and followed me out to our desks. "Such a giving person!"

"Yeah, yeah." Yeah so giving. "I really need to buy a lock for that drawer."

"…'Ey, Tom?" Doug asked in a sudden serious tone.

"Yeah, Doug?"

"I'm glad you're okay."

"I'm glad you're okay, Doug."

"Yeah. 'Cause it was real… wet." Doug teased, recalling our discussion from before. I rolled my eyes and gave him a light shove.

"Here I was thinking you were being all sentimental!" I laughed.

"I was! Very sentimental! I just wanted to say it's nice to see that you're dry."

"Hey, at least I don't wrestle around with convicts and let them sleep it off."

"You're just jealous 'cause you don't have the 'it' factor." Doug joked.

"Yeah, you're right. If you have 'it' then I don't want it." I pushed the stack of papers towards him. "You go ahead and start, I'm going on my lunch break."

"Hanson!" Doug called. "It's only 9 in the morning!"

"Then I'm goin' for a coffee break."

"You take one more step and I'll…" Doug warned. "Well then you can just forget about bowling tonight."

"You don't bowl, Dougie."

"Yeah well I was gonna."

"No you weren't."

"Yeah I was!"

"Were you really?"

"…Maybe." Doug shrugged.

"Nah you weren't!" I slumped back into the chair. "You wanna?"

"If you stay here and don't bail on me. This is some major paper work, Hanson, you leave me now, by the time you come back I'll be buried in it."

"Alright, but only for the sake of bowling." I took one of the papers from the top and grabbed a pen from the drawer. "Need a pen?"

"Nah, I'm gonna go out for a second." Doug said as he got up.

"Where are you going?"

Doug looked at me, a wide smile dancing at his lips.

"I'm going on a coffee break."

I just laughed. He might have bailed on me, but Doug meant well. He could make me laugh and I could make him laugh. We always had a blast together and were dedicated to each other when it came to being partners in the force. I couldn't imagine reliving the last few weeks with anyone else. We looked fear in the face and laughed. Well… not so much laughed as cried like babies, but we cried together. We looked out for each other. We survived this together. Despite the fact he was a sugar fiend, Doug was a great friend. He saved my life. I owe him everything for that… just not my candy.

FIN

(Author's Note: Thanks to everyone who read my story! Also, special thanks to all of those who reviewed! Your words of praise and encouragement were wonderful. Another story is in the works, so stay tuned!)