Okay, let me see if I can explain this without it sounding too crazy. . .a 21 Jump Street fic. Hanson based but everyone else is on board, including Officer Booker.
Rated "T" for language and some adult situations further down the road.
Warnings: Eventual drug use/abuse.
(I am writing in a new character, a new female officer, she's a partner for Booker and Hanson's eventual love interest, please don't hate me or the story for bringing in a female OC, I know it sounds Mary Sue-ish and annoying - but I promise to make it believable and realistic and interesting. Well, at least I promise to try. *runs away and hides*).
There will still be lots of angsty, h/c, JS goodness, Hanson - things. This story will be embarrassingly long. . .if you thought TMF was long, you're in for a huge surprise. Basically, I'm going to write in some of the JS episodes but throw in my own ideas as well. Some things you'll recognize from the show, other things are entirely mine. The beginning is set during the, "Fun With Animals" episode, though I envision it taking place during the first season rather than the third, and I've changed some other things around as well. When/if I bring in other episodes, they will likely be out of order - but hopefully I will recreate them enough so that it won't be too weird or annoying. Other than that, all I can hope is that you'll give it a try and hopefully find something in it you like.
Updates will be unpredictable and I apologize for that. I'm not asking for reviews, necessarily, but I know of no other way to gauge whether or not anyone is reading and/or getting anything out of what I write, so if you have it in your heart, even the tiniest comment or note is appreciated. More than you know.
/
They met on a day when all hell was breaking loose down at the station, the day when the permanent staff was returning from their temporary summer work, a day - if Tom Hanson remembered correctly - when the remodeling that was supposed to be finished a month earlier was still receiving its finishing touches, all coinciding with the very day that they were all still waiting to hear word on whether or not Jump Street was even going to remain in operation for the coming year. Doug Penhall, his partner, was gone, having remained over in Intelligence after picking up a lot of work there during the summer and subsequently deciding he liked it enough to contemplate a possible career switch. So, the day he met her, the day he actually first set eyes on Angela Williams was memorable to him in a variety of ways, but interestingly enough, not one of those ways had anything to do with Angela herself.
That would come later.
What he did remember about their initial meeting was how pissed off he was at his new "partner." Booker. Dennis Booker. Not that Booker was "new." He'd been at Jump Street a little over two months. Nor did Hanson consider him his partner in any way, shape or form, even though Penhall was gone for now and perhaps forever. But Fuller had paired the two of them up for this particular case, something involving a racial situation at Bradington High. Hanson had worked with Booker before, but minimally. Their paths tended not to cross, either in the workplace or outside of it, and that was completely fine with Tom Hanson.
Simply put, Hanson didn't like Dennis Booker.
Didn't trust him.
Not even a little bit.
The guy, for all practical purposes, got under his skin. Whether he was trying to or not, and Hanson suspected he was trying to more often than not. That Booker got some kind of charge out of rattling Hanson's cage, that guys like him - guys that thought their crap didn't stink - were always trying to see whose buttons they could push just for the hell of it, to make themselves feel above everyone else. Hanson had seen his act from day one and had been successful in dealing with him when he had to. Civility. At most. That was Hanson's one and only concession to him. And Booker, for the most part, had let him be, had found other ways to amuse himself once he realized Hanson wasn't an easy target.
Of course, that had all been before Fuller had stuck the two of them together on this case.
Before Hanson had a chance to experience first hand what Dennis Booker was truly all about, not just his mouth but his actions, his way of dealing with the case they were on.
Now Hanson had a whole bunch to say about Dennis Booker, and none of it was civil.
He'd barged into Fuller's office just after seven that morning, an hour before he and Booker were due over at Bradington. Everyone else - Hoffs, Ioki, even Booker - were already sitting around the bullpen, Booker noticeably making his moves on Hoffs, which only served to piss Hanson off even further. But he'd pretty much ignored all of them, recognizing that this would probably be a good time to get Fuller alone, while Booker was putting the make on Judy and before they both had to check in with Fuller.
He'd also managed to ignore the person standing in Fuller's office - the young woman standing in front of Fuller's desk, apparently in some sort of conversation with him. Hanson had obviously seen her there, but his irritation with Booker, and to a lesser degree Fuller, was so great at the moment that Hanson hadn't really cared who was standing there. He'd plowed his way into the office, shut the door behind him and pushed his way right up to Fuller's desk right next to the stranger already standing there. "I don't know if you know this or not," Hanson said, without preamble. "But you've got me partnered with a certifiable whack job and it'd probably be in everyone's best interest to pull me off the case before someone gets hurt."
Whatever conversation had been going on between Fuller and the young woman was effectively killed at that point. They both stared at him, the stranger not moving a muscle, Fuller with a frown on his face. "Hanson, I'm a little busy here at the moment," Fuller said. "I'm sure whatever you have can wait."
"Captain, I have to leave here soon, and no, I don't think this can wait." For the first time, Hanson turned and acknowledged the other person in the room. "Sorry to interrupt, but this won't take long." He'd wanted to ask her to leave for a few minutes, but he knew that would be too bold, Fuller would have his head if he tried something like that. He was hoping she'd take the hint on her own, would volunteer to step out for a few minutes but if she didn't Hanson really didn't care, had no problem if this complete stranger listened in while he went off on Dennis Booker.
"Officer Williams, this is Officer Tom Hanson," Fuller said, virtually ignoring Hanson for the moment. "Hanson, I'd like you to meet our newest recruit to Jump Street, Officer Angela Williams. Officer Booker's new partner."
His emphasis on the these last words were not lost on Hanson. Booker's new partner. For Christ's sake. Here he was, about to start spilling his guts about what a maniac Booker was and Booker's new partner was standing right in front of him. Shit, that would've been bad for him. Fuller would've been unappeasable had that happened.
On the other hand, maybe this - Officer Williams - deserved to know exactly what she was getting herself into, what kind of lunatic she was going to have the misfortune of being partnered with.
"Hi," Hanson said quickly, barely nodding in her direction. He really didn't have the time for this, really needed to talk to Fuller before he had to go off and spend another day with Booker on a case that could very well be in danger of being blown because of Booker's bullshit on the job. If he had to, he would go ahead and start talking about what he needed to talk about, whether or not Booker's new partner was standing right next to him. He'd be careful, he'd be discreet, that much he could do so as not to make things even more uncomfortable for either his boss or the unknowing stranger in the room, but one way or another he was going to talk to Fuller about what he needed to talk to him about.
"Hanson, you'll have to wait outside for a few minutes," Fuller said, and Hanson could tell from his tone that there would be no argument with him. He silently cursed and turned to leave but the new officer - Williams - quickly reached her hand out and smacked it firmly against Hanson's arm, hard enough so that he knew she wanted him to stop. "It's o.k., I can go out and wait," she said, but she wasn't looking at him at all, she was speaking to Fuller, her superior. "I don't mind."
"Thanks," Hanson said, stepping in before Fuller had the chance to veto the offer. "I won't be long, I promise."
She still hadn't really looked at him, was still giving her full attention to Fuller, her captain, the one who, ultimately, was the one she would be answering to, beginning right this moment and continuing on as long as she was under his command.
Hanson could see that she'd been trained well.
Perhaps because of the new officer's submission or maybe because he knew, in the end, it would be better to deal with Hanson now, before it got out of hand, Fuller nodded to her. "Just a couple of minutes at most," he promised. "Grab a cup of coffee if you'd like, the coffee maker is in the corner to the left."
She took her hand off Hanson's arm and headed toward the door. "Thanks," Hanson said once more, this time trying to sound sincere because he meant it, was appreciative of the fact that she'd so willingly removed herself from the situation when she clearly wouldn't have had to.
For the first time, she'd looked right at him and while she didn't smile, her expression softened. "Sure," she answered, and then she was gone, the door quietly clicking shut behind her.
And once she'd been out of sight, she'd been out of Hanson's mind, his thoughts immediately returning to Booker and the case and all the crap that was going on with that.
He hadn't even been sure he could recall her name at that point.
He knew he couldn't describe what she looked like, they'd barely looked at one another.
Officer Angela - something.
Jump Street's latest recruit.
Booker's new partner.
And though he hadn't known it yet, Hanson's future wife.
/
Her first day as a police officer. At least officially. It wasn't starting out exactly as she'd pictured it, but then again, just about everything in her life up to this point rarely had. The station - given the deceptively hip name of Jump Street - was filled with people running around, none of them appearing to know what they were supposed to be doing. Fuller's office was temporarily located on the second floor, but it wasn't really what one could consider a separate floor, more like a loft space, really, where the captain's office and the locker rooms were housed. But at least it was out of the way of the chaos taking place downstairs. Officer Angela Williams took a minute to lean over the railing and observe the craziness taking place below her, not so much because it held that much interest for her but because she was trying to calm herself down, settle the nervousness that had managed to lodge itself in the pit of her stomach. A cup of coffee, like Fuller had offered, sounded heavenly but she knew it would do nothing to improve the tension thrumming within her, would undoubtedly make it worse. No, best to just stay away from all that right now, at least until things calmed down, or at least until she calmed down.
It didn't look as if anything in this particular station was going to calm down anytime soon, just based on what she was seeing. Not only was everyone below her still madly rushing about seemingly trying to do whatever it was they needed to do, but that scene she'd just witnessed in Fuller's office - the young officer brazenly interrupting a meeting his commander was trying to conduct without even flinching just a little - made her wonder what exactly went on in this station, if everything was as random and disorganized as it seemed.
Not that it mattered - this was where she'd been assigned, dysfunctional or not. She didn't have much choice or say in how anything was being run - or not run, given how low her status was on the totem pole at this point.
Recent Police Academy graduate.
Twenty-two years old.
Female.
Inexperienced.
And that wasn't even counting the resume on her personal life.
No, best to just not think too hard about anything at the moment, other than to be grateful to have this chance at all, especially when there were several times when it looked like all odds were against this ever coming to fruition. There was no sense in getting caught up in the politics and nonsense going on here - every station, every division had them, it was just best to do one's job, keep one's nose clean, do what one was told.
The door to Fuller's office opened and Angela turned slightly, expecting Fuller to call her back in and resume where they'd left off. Instead, Fuller charged out, leaned over the railing Angela was leaning against, his black eyes rapidly searching the scene below. "Booker!" he called, when he'd apparently spotted who he'd been looking for. Startled, Angela looked down at the sea of people below them. Hadn't Booker been the name Fuller had said was to be her new partner?
They waited, Fuller looking decidedly more aggravated.
"Booker!" he called again, but this time, there was no playing around, no mistaking the irritation in his tone nor the follow-up command when he'd gained the attention of the person he'd been trying to get. "Now!"
This time, Angela caught sight of who this Booker was. A tall, dark-haired young man jumped down from the desk he was sitting on - not his desk, from the looks of it, but some female co-worker's - glanced up at Fuller and waved. And smirked.
Shit, Angela thought, watching as he slowly sauntered toward the stairs. One of those. And that's my partner. God, I hope not, that'll be just about the last thing I need. . .
"It shouldn't be too much longer," Fuller said to her. "Just something I need to get cleared up with these two." It wasn't an apology, Angela had the feeling that Fuller didn't go for apologizing in too many instances, but some of the harshness had evaporated from his voice, at least for the moment.
"That's fine," Angela reiterated, and it was, this was a police station, things were bound to come up all the time, it certainly wasn't his fault that he had to take care of whatever it was he was being asked to take care of.
He definitely didn't look happy about it, though.
Then again, neither had the officer she'd just vacated the office for.
Great, she thought. Just my luck, I get stuck with the department asshole as my partner.
Wow, nice attitude there, Williams. Nice job making snap judgments and everything. Real mature.
Of course, as a police officer, they were forced to make snap judgments all the time. Often in life or death situations.
One of the first things they were taught at the Academy was to trust their instincts because very often, that was all they had.
And her first impression of this Officer Booker weren't particularly favorable.
She didn't have time to think anymore about it, the dark-haired officer, Booker, came bounding up the steps and, completely ignoring her, slid into Fuller's office. Someone shut the door but not completely, and Angela found that, if she resumed her spot at the railing right next to the door, she might be able to hear anything being said. She was, after all, curious, especially to know why the first officer - the extremely good-looking one with the thick chestnut colored hair and the fiery brown eyes but whose name she couldn't remember at the moment - was so irked with whoever he was irked with.
Possibly this guy who'd just been summoned, this Booker, the guy who looked like he had a perpetual smirk on his face, another guy who was not bad looking but who resembled Angela's ex just a little too closely for comfort.
In the end, she stayed where she was, resisted the temptation to ease her way over to the partially open door and, well, eavesdrop. It wasn't that she was above that sort of thing, but it just didn't seem like the best idea, her first day as the rookie undercover cop, to pick up the rap as the department spy.
She didn't have long to wait; Fuller came out a couple minutes later and motioned her inside. The dark-haired smirker was sprawled on the couch, looking completely disaffected; the chestnut-haired one was standing by Fuller's desk, still looking decidedly pissed.
"Officer Williams," Fuller announced pleasantly. "You've met Officer Hanson. Now I'd like you to meet Officer Dennis Booker. Your new partner."
Hanson. That was the name of the really good-looking one.
Booker. Her new partner.
At Fuller's pronouncement, Booker suddenly jumped to his feet. "Who is this?" he demanded. "I thought Hanson and I were partners."
"For this case." Fuller's voice was still pleasant, but Angela could hear the edge that had crept into it. "But Williams is your new partner after this case is finished."
Booker looked at her, the smirk gone from his face, replaced with a look that Angela could only describe as annoyance. "Uh, no," he said flatly. "I don't usually partner with chicks."
"I'm sure Jude would disagree with you on that one." Out of the corner of her eye she saw the other one - Hanson - shake his head. She didn't have time to give it any thought, mainly because her amazement that someone would actually make that kind of a statement about not partnering with "chicks" right in front of her was all she could focus on. She knew she hadn't heard wrong - Hanson's snickering comment was a distant confirmation, but she didn't need any confirmation.
"Well, I don't usually partner with assholes, but I guess there's a first time for everything."
The words were out of her mouth almost before she thought them, and while she knew it was possibly bad to be spouting off like this in front of Fuller - her superior of less than one hour for Christ's sake - she had no regrets about the words themselves, they were most definitely called for and she absolutely had no qualms about directing them toward the smirking sexist pig standing in front of her.
Her new partner of less than five minutes.
Hell of a start there, Williams. Maybe Brad's right, maybe you aren't cut out for this.
She heard Hanson - possibly the only one in the room she hadn't made a shitty impression upon yet - give a snort of laughter and, no matter what happened after this, knew she'd always hold at least a modicum of gratitude for his small show of support.
Booker looked at her, the smirk replaced with a frown. "You always talk to your partners like that?"
"Do you?" She refused to back down; there were very few women in the Police Academy, even fewer on the force, and she'd been taught by the few that were there that she couldn't back down, not one inch, not ever. It would be the only way she would survive such a male-dominated arena and it appeared as if her first test had already been handed to her.
"Hey, I just meant that this case that Tommy and I are on - it's not necessarily one where a chick - female police officer - should be involved in." The smirk returned as he continued to oil his way out of his previous words. "I'm sure Tommy here would agree with me."
"Don't bet on it," Hanson answered, and Angela suddenly began to get the gist of what was going on here, that Hanson had some kind of beef with her new partner, something to do with whatever case they were working on, but probably extending further than that from the looks of it, especially given what a piece of work Booker seemed to be.
"All right, now that everyone's met one another, I think my meeting with Officer Williams has been delayed long enough. You two should get going otherwise you're going to be late."
"Nice to meet you, partner," Booker said, with just the slightest wink and Angela didn't miss the way he now quickly looked her up and down as he slid past her. "Maybe I'll catch up to you later."
Great. Now he was trying the other approach, the "let's-put-the-moves-on-the-new-female-officer" approach to see if he could charm his way into her good graces, if not her bed. If she would've tried any harder, Angela didn't think she could've managed to find a worse partner.
Hanson passed by her as well, but he didn't look at her and she could tell he was still irked, the irritation on his face apparent. He really was rather good-looking - quite the opposite of Booker, who was decent but definitely too similar to Brad for comfort. Of course, the last thing she needed to be doing was standing here on the first day of her new job behaving like a fifteen year-old, deciding which of her co-workers was better looking than the others, particularly given her own failed marriage and other assorted - issues.
"Quite an introduction to your new partner," Fuller said once the other two were gone, the door closed behind them. For the first time that morning, Angela saw the hint of a smile cross his face. "I think you'll handle him just fine."
That was funny, she'd been thinking the exact opposite. "I'm pretty good at taking care of myself," she answered. That was a half-truth. She was doing all right with that now, the taking care of herself business, but that had been a completely different story when she was married.
"That's good to hear," Fuller said. And then he moved off the subject of new partners and began giving her the rundown on what to expect while working here, forms to fill out, where to find this and that. He called in another female officer - Judy - whom Angela got a good feeling from right away, the exact opposite of what she'd thought and felt when she'd met her partner. Booker.
But she didn't have long to think about any one thing, the day was busy and there was a lot to take in, and by the end of the her first official day at Jump Street, Officer Angela Williams had the distinct feeling that while she'd taken a lot of things in, she still had very much to learn.
Of course, she also knew she'd learned a whole lot more in her first fifteen "unofficial" minutes at the start of the day with Officers Booker and Hanson than she would've learned with all the official training in the world.
/
Booker was already waiting in their unmarked car, sitting in the driver's seat, when Hanson finally made it downstairs into the parking lot.
Fuck.
He got in and slammed his door shut, refusing to look at him. He might have to finish this case with him but he didn't have to interact with him when they weren't on the job, and Hanson had no intention of talking to him any more than was necessary.
Booker started the car. "How old are you, Hanson? Sixteen?"
"Shut the fuck up," Hanson answered stonily.
"No, really," Booker went on. "Jesus, why the hell are you running to Fuller and crying about every little thing? I'm getting tired of getting called into his office like we're in high school for real."
"Then start doing what you're supposed to and quit acting like the damn high schoolers you're supposed to be playing," Hanson shot back. He really wasn't in the mood for this shit - not now, and not with Booker. Jesus, it had always been so easy when Doug was here. There was never any of this renegade crap, this having to babysit his own fucking partner on top of having to babysit the kids in school, and Hanson was weary of it. He'd been weary of a lot of it before Booker arrived, but without Penhall here, his patience level was about zero.
Though maybe that would change, now that Booker's new partner had come on board.
But for now, Hanson had to get though this case one way or another, with Dennis Booker.
"You've gotta act the part to get it done," Booker said. The ever-present smirk was back on his face. "If they think you're a narc, they'll never talk, never slip up. I would've thought you'd know that by now, Tommy-boy."
"Just - shut up and drive," Hanson said. "You're giving me a goddamn headache. The sooner we get this thing done, the sooner you can ride off into the sunset with your new partner. Just - try not to fuck anything up where it's going to get us into anymore trouble."
"Yeah, my new partner," Booker said, the smirk deepening into what Hanson could only describe as a leer. "I'd hit that running."
What a fucking moron. "A friendly word for you," Hanson said. "'Sexual harassment'. You'd do well to brush up on what it means in the workplace."
"That's two words," Booker said. "And thanks for the 'friendly' advice, but I think I know how to deal with my new partner."
Fuck it, Hanson thought. What did he care if Booker got himself in trouble or not? It might be the best thing for him, actually, if Hanson thought about it.
But it might not, not if it meant the new female officer got sick of his act and quit, leaving Hanson stuck with him. Hanson shook his head. What really needed to happen was for Penhall to come back.
/
"They need anymore cops in Intelligence right now?"
Doug looked up from the telescope he was looking through - some kind of undercover work he'd been holed up doing for the past few days, crammed in some dank room with little more than surveillance equipment and a dorm-sized refrigerator inside. To Hanson, it seemed like a comedown from Jump Street - and a depressing one at that - but then again, Penhall didn't have to deal with Booker and his bullshit, so maybe he was actually a step ahead of Hanson.
Penhall looked at him. "You serious?" he asked. "You'd hate it here, Tommy."
He was right; Hanson would hate it, the tediousness and routine of it, the being stuck in the same place for hours, days, even weeks in some cases. "I think I hate my new partner more."
"Who, Booker?"
"Who else? That guy - he's an ass, Doug. He's pretty much single-handedly blown this case we're on and now I'm stuck trying to see what I can salvage from it, if anything."
"It happens," Penhall said, trying to soothe him. "I mean, we've all had cases we've misread and then fucked up. Maybe you need to give him the benefit of the doubt."
"Maybe if he wasn't such a dick, I could."
"Are you really serious about wanting to leave Jump Street?"
Hanson sat down with a sigh. "No, not really. But I don't think I can stand working with that guy another day. Hopefully after this case is finished I won't have to. They've brought in a new recruit to partner with him. At least that's what Fuller said."
"You're going to be working by yourself?"
"I think Fuller is hoping you'll be back at the end of the month. I'm not going to lie, I hope you're back at the end of the month."
Penhall smiled at that, but didn't say anything. "So, when are you coming back?" Hanson prodded.
"I - I don't know that I am," Penhall said. "I mean, my new captain thinks I'm aces here and this just seems to be a good fit for me." He motioned vaguely around the room. "I like it here."
It hadn't really occurred to Hanson that Doug might not come back to Jump Street, that he might actually like what he was doing now, that they wouldn't go back to being partners. Because, even without Booker in the picture, the thought of not having Doug at Jump Street was pretty much - something Hanson didn't want to think about.
"You growing up on me, here?" He tried to say it lightly, jokingly, but it came out more seriously than Hanson intended. But, fuck it, this was serious, Penhall not coming back to Jump Street.
And Doug knew it. "Naw," he said. But he wasn't fooling himself, wasn't fooling Hanson, for sure. "I don't know," he added gently. "Maybe."
And really, what could Hanson say? Doug had a right to move forward with his life, take whatever path his career wanted to go down for the time being. Still. That didn't mean Hanson had to like it, or even want to contemplate it. "Yeah," he said. "Okay."
"I haven't ruled anything out yet," Penhall said. "So, who's the poor sap they've hooked up for Booker?"
"It's a "her" actually. Angela, I think, was her name. I can't even remember what her last name is." He smiled at the memory of her calling Booker an asshole in spite of himself. "She didn't seem to hit it off with him. Not that I blame her. She's going to have her hands full."
"Better her than you," Penhall said.
"Yeah," Hanson said, and that brought to mind what he'd been thinking about earlier. "Hey, I need you to do something for me."
"Shoot."
"I need you to use your connections and check out Booker." He raked his hand through his hair. "I need you to use your 'intelligence' since you're being all 'intelligent' and all."
"Ha-ha," Penhall said. "I'm not really supposed to do that, you know."
"C'mon, Doug. That's never stopped you before."
Penhall smiled a little. "What exactly are you looking for?"
"I don't know. Whatever you can come up with."
"Okay. I'll see what I can do." And it was that easy. Then again, it always was with Penhall, because Doug was smart and aware and genuine. Trustworthy.
Something Dennis Booker totally wasn't.
And despite feeling better that Penhall was going to check into things for him, it couldn't erase the heaviness Hanson felt at not having him as his partner for the moment - and maybe for good, if Hanson thought about it.
Yeah, better not to think about that right now.