Tom had only just taken a seat behind his desk when Doug Penhall, his friend, co-worker and occasional undercover brother, burst into the chapel and bellowed out a greeting.
"Isn't it great to be back?" He said, crossing the room in three strides and planting a sloppy kiss on Tom's cheek.
"Is it?" Tom grunted, wiping feverishly at the side of his face.
"Sure it is," Doug insisted, slamming his helmet down on the desk. "The birds are singing, the sun is shining, and the team is back together and ready to," (he put on a booming, theatrical voice), "protect America's youth!"
"Yeah, well, nothing's final yet, is it?" Tom replied unenthusiastically. "They might still shutdown the program."
"Technicalities," Doug replied, waving his hand dismissively. "You gotta think positive, Tommy."
Judy Hoffs breezed into the room.
"Hey guys," she smiled. "Have a good summer?"
"Hi Jude," Tom and Doug called in unison.
"It was okay," Doug replied in answer to her question. "Me and Dorothy took a trip up to the coast; rented a cottage."
Judy gave a little noise of approval. "Picnics on the sand, fun in the surf; sounds good," she sighed dreamily.
"It rained nearly the whole time," Doug admitted. "But it was still pretty good… when we weren't arguing."
"How about you Tom," Judy asked.
"Don't tell us; you spent the whole time at the bowling alley?" Doug quipped.
Tom shrugged his shoulders; "I just did… summer stuff." He replied.
"Like…?" Judy pressed him for details.
Tom let out a sigh; "Visited my mom, caught up with some people, slept in late, went bowling—"
"Ha! I knew it," Doug said, pointing an accusing finger.
"Hello everybody," Harry Ioki came into the chapel, "Ready to impress?"
"No," Tom grumbled, sinking a little lower into his seat.
As of this morning, the Jump Street program was on probation. The powers that be were still not convinced that it was deserving of the funding it received, and so they were sending someone to investigate and evaluate its importance. The whole situation had Tom miserable and worried; he didn't want someone leaning over his shoulder while he was trying to work.
"Well, you better get ready," Captain Fuller called out from his office, obviously he had heard every word of the conversation.
The Jump Street team gathered inside his doorway, watching as he thumbed through one of the many files on his desk.
"What time does the spy get here?" Doug asked.
"Ms Robbins isn't coming to spy on us, Penhall," Fuller replied, not lifting his eyes from the paperwork.
"Then what would you call it," Tom demanded.
"Look guys, I'm not happy with the situation either," Fuller said, finally looking up at them. "But if it means saving the program then I'm going to bite my tongue and prove my worth, and I suggest you all do the same."
"I can't stand it," Tom said. "I can't stand them holding an axe above our heads like this. Why can't they just get it over with, and decide whether or not they want to shut us down."
"Isn't it better that there giving us a chance to show them what we do?" Judy pointed out.
"I'd rather just know one way or the other," Tom said, shaking his head. "Anything's better than all this waiting around."
"I can assure you, I'll make this as quick and painless as possible."
The whole chapel turned to look at the young woman who had just come in. The spy had arrived; dressed in a black skirt-suit and matching pumps.