St. Joseph's School for Boys

Fandom – 21 Jump Street

Pairings – none, gen.

Warnings - ?

Rating – pg-13

Disclaimer – I do not own the characters of 21 JS. I am not making any money off this fiction. I'm merely playing in someone else's sandbox.

Summary – The McQuaid brothers are back; this time they're stuck in a home for run away boys do to the abusive situation at home. Meanwhile, they investigate the mystery of several boys at the home going missing. The rest of the gang helps out.

A/N – Out of all the episodes (except two where JD's character is in the spot light) I love the ones with the McQuaid brothers. I always wanted more fic with this cover. It's just so much fun to write Tom and Doug being total dicks. So, here is classic 21 Jump Street fic. And not for the last time am I glad I was born in the 80's even though I remember more of the 90's instead. ;) And on another note; I'm not fond of teenagers, this I blame on my siblings being stupid. So while I know that not all teenagers suck, my attitude about them may become quite apparent. This is weird because I do converse with teens on a regular basis online. And it makes things awkward when I do find out because I'm in my mid twenties. So, I think this reflects teenager's because I'm drawing from experience where my siblings are concerned.

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Chapter 2 – Fight Fire with Fire

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Teenaged boys, Tommy decided, sucked.

They were loud, obnoxious, stank to high heaven, had horrible table manners and did stupid things because they were triple dog dared to do stupid stuff. Tommy also decided that he was an angel as a teenager. His parents never had to worry about where he was or what he was doing. He went bowling on Wednesdays for Christ's sake; and that was with an adult bowling league as well who just liked that they were winning for once and didn't care if they owed their wins to the fifteen year old Tommy Hanson; he had tried to get lucky on Prom Night – which didn't happened because some idiot shot and killed his Dad. That put a bummer in the rest of the school year until he did graduate. And even after that, his Mother didn't have to worry about him doing drugs or drinking under aged. She complained about it.

Oh she loved that he wasn't doing bad stuff; but somehow she expected him to do those things because of the grief he kept inside him over his father. Tommy just decided that playing the saxophone in his bedroom and getting good grades so that he could go to the Police Academy was better than sneaking out of the house late at night, binge drinking and trying to get some girl pregnant.

Doug's child hood, as far as Tommy knew was totally different. He was a rascal and made all sorts of mayhem. How he decided to be a Police Officer was a mystery that Tommy didn't ask about because Doug was so closed off about his family. Tommy could see why they fell into the older brother/younger brother rolls when they took on the McQuaid covers. He was naturally more quiet and subdued than Doug. Well, he had his outbursts. But normally he just didn't care about what students or teachers said about him or Doug; Doug kinda cared, but not enough that they did anything abut it.

That is, until now.

So, there they were standing in the play ground, with nothing to do and Tommy is almost out of bubble gum and really wants to smoke – the one thing he did take up after his father's death but no one knew about it – thinking about the case, their covers, his childhood trauma…and this kid decides to pick a fight.

He is half Doug's size, has no muscle and is trying to take Harold's place. He probably figured that since Harold couldn't take on the McQuaids, he could. Tommy and Doug stared at the kid in utter surprise.

"Did you hear what he said, Tommy?" Doug asked. His hands were already fisted. Tommy popped his gum.

"Yeah," he glared, "he said our Mamma ran off because our Daddy isn't man enough for her,"

"Them's fightin' words," Doug took a step forward.

The kid hadn't thought this through at all; he hadn't any buddies to back him up and even if he did Tommy had taken out a whole slew just that very morning. The two took menacing steps towards him. He tried to hold his ground.

"What do you think we should do?" Doug asked.

"Beat him up but we'll probably be sent to Juvie for aggravated assault," Tommy replied.

"How about…we hang him from the flag pole?" Doug grinned. Tommy's dark eyes lit up with glee.

It took them only five minutes to grab the kid, yank his pants up and then hoist the kid up the fifty-foot flagpole by his boxers only. The kid held onto the rope for dear life while yelling for someone to help him. The group of kids on the ground laughed and some said the Pledge of Allegiance.

"We salute you!" Tommy yelled. The two made as if they were blowing on invisible dice before giving said dice a roll and walked off. Both hooting in laughter about the prank they just pulled.

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Mr. Marsh watched from the window of his office; "those two have some spunk," he muttered.

"You're not going to do what I think you're going to do, are you?" a small, mousy man asked from behind. He was Mr. Dan Sullivan. The English Teacher.

"From what I'm told, the last shipment didn't even make it to the pick up point," Mr. Marsh fumed. He turned away from the window and wailing kid on the flagpole.

"And you're going to use the McQuaids to get the job done?" Mr. Sullivan asked.

"They'd be perfect if I could trust them, no, I'll have to break them down and the build their trust in me. Once I have gained their undying gratification, they'll do anything for me," Mr. Marsh smirked. He steepled his fingers and pursed his lips.

"They seem to be tough kids," Mr. Sullivan said nervously.

"You just make sure the stuff is made and packaged properly, Mr. Sullivan, I'll take care of the McQuaids," Mr. Marsh threatened.

That is Mr. Sullivan's queue to get out.

0000

"Do you think we over did it?" Tommy asked. He stood at the sinks in the locker room and fiddled with his white do-rag. A toilet flushed and Doug slammed through the stall door and made a beeline for the sinks to wash his hands.

"Nahw, he did say shit about our folks, or don't you remember?" Doug gave Tommy a raised eyebrow look via mirror. Tommy sighed and spat his overly chewed gum into the garbage can.

"Well, I guess it's fine, has someone let him down yet?" Tommy asked.

"The kids ain't gonna do that, but the teachers might," he shrugged. Tommy nodded. It was important – now that they had established a reputation – to keep said reputation or risk the legend of the McQuaids to die a horrible death right here and now. If that happened and word got out to other schools, if they had to go undercover like this again, they'd be a laughing stalk; Tommy just hoped the kid didn't fall down and get broken legs or worse, died.

"It's fine, if you want we'll go out there and give the kid a chance to make it up to us, you know, be our own personal slave," Doug opened the door and he and Tommy exited the bathrooms to an empty hallway.

"We haven't seen all of this place, have we?" Tommy asked quietly.

"Mid-night adventuring then?" Doug smiled excitedly.

"Good thing we're good at sneaking around," Tommy grumbled. They made their way upstairs to the dorms.

0000

Tommy and Doug McQuaid are not the most patient people when there is a carrot in front of them and they want to eat it so badly. Their afternoon is filled with dumbed-down classes of English, Math and Science. Tommy had been called by one teacher to answer a question and deliberately gave the wrong answer even though, of the two of them, he was smarter. They skidded by with flying colours at every turn annoying the teachers but not doing anything to get into trouble on their first day at the school. They had to get a rudimentary map going for their evidence file. Plus, it always helped to know the lay of the land.

And for once Tommy found himself wishing to actually be in the cafeteria of a school that served pizza – no matter how burnt – with soda than the swill they got at dinner that night. It was like a scene out of a Charles Dickens novel with all the kids lined up in their shabby clothing. One kitchen worker handed them a bowl of soup and some bread was plopped in it. Tommy had read articles about prisons in other countries that made their own bread and soup and that it was the best thing the prisoner's were ever served; well, Tommy thought that put this place to shame as he and Doug sat down to eat.

The brother was an ugly brownish-grey colour with the bare minimum of vegetables. The bread could have been saved if it hadn't been plopped right in the middle of the bowl. Tommy and Doug frowned. They weren't the only one's. But they knew they couldn't just up and walk away. It wasn't like a normal undercover job. This wasn't a nine to four school. This was twenty-four-seven and they both knew that they had to eat the bread-soup concoction.

It looked better than it tasted. Tommy was hoping for a watered down version of vegetable soup. But it tasted like dirty dish water with salt. They ate as fast as they could because this was just nasty.

"I think I'm going to puke," Doug muttered as low as he could so only Tommy could hear him. The teacher's on the other hand looked on their food with a bit of mirth. The smells collided with each other, and Tommy wished the teachers didn't eat in the same area as the students. They had shepherds pie that night. It smelled home made and even a bit like his mom's.

"Wow…I've only read about this in books," Tommy sighed. He was hungry. The half ladle of soup and bean sized bit of bread wasn't enough to hold anyone over. And that's when thoughts of breaking into the kitchen that night seemed more than a little bit appealing. But, it'd be noticed.

"We should check out the basement tonight and then scram for some real food," Doug suggested. Tommy nodded. If anything, it meant for a few moments he could be himself and not the wiseass cover he had for this assignment.

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Fuller was in his office when he heard a ruckus out in the main office area; then the voice of Penhall and Hanson "shushing" each other. He rolled his eyes. He hoped the two knew what risk they were putting the case on by coming back before they had any proof of anything. One day wasn't enough to get anything done.

He rose and crossed the room to open the door. It was gloomy outside his little office. And yet there was Hanson and Penhall fingering through files at Judy and Ioke's desks. So maybe they were on to something. But what? He wondered.

"What are you two doing here?" Fuller asked, surprising both men who spun around and looked as guilty as a five year old trying to sneak a cookie from the cookie jar.

"We didn't think you'd be here so we thought we'd check ourselves," Hanson coughed to cover the awkwardness.

Doug nodded his head; "what he said, Coach."

"And you don't think anyone at the school will find that suspicious?" Fuller pursed his lips. Hanson and Penhall toed the floor with their shoes.

"Well…maybe," Hanson gave in at last.

"But we can handle them, we've traumatized a few kids all ready," Doug offered. Hanson popped his elbow into Doug's side for that one. Fuller gave them both the "you had better tell me what is going on before I kick your asses and make you regret ever being born" look. Which had Doug caving faster than Hanson could deny anything.

"Well, the King of the Mountain challenged us this afternoon, I had him in a choke hold while Tommy here kicked his fella's tail. And then some other kid tried to do the same thing, only he was stupid and didn't have anyone to back him up. So we hung him up on the flagpole by his undies," Doug explained so fast that the words blended into one another and it was semi-hard for Fuller to understand the whole explanation.

"Okay, so you're hoping that you scared them enough that if they did wake up and find the two of you sneaking out that they wouldn't tell?" Full asked, doubt covered his face and the two officers' deflated a lot by that. Both looking dejected.

"Ummm…"

"It's a calculated risk," Hanson muttered. He ran a hand through his un-kept, dark brown hair.

"It's been one day, it can't be that bad," Fuller shot back.

"They don't feed anyone near enough to do anything," Hanson replied, solidly. There was the boy Fuller knew and liked.

"Yeah, it's like a soup line from the Great Depression at dinner. The teacher's get the good stuff," Doug hopped onto that bandwagon.

"Plus, the classes are crap," Hanson put in hurriedly.

"So it's a bad school; at the end of this when we find out why those boys died we might be able to get an investigation going," Fuller said. "but the two of you need to be on your toes, so that means going back and getting some sleep before morning classes start,"

"Okay," Hanson sighed, knowing that he and Penhall had lost the battle before it had even started.

"Sure thing, Coach," Doug yawned.

"And as for our end of things, we're no closer than we were before. I think it's all up to you guys," Fuller informed them gently. Then he ushered them out to his car. They wait in the back seat while he locked up and then he drove them across town to the school. The two quietly got out of the car, and didn't slam the door; not wanting to chance waking people up. Slowly, Fuller drove away.

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Tommy stared up at the building and bit the nail of a finger since he was out of gum. It was dark and foreboding. The woods that stood off and around the perimeter of the school yard was seething with eyes of creatures Tommy thought he'd left behind in his childhood.

They scaled the brick wall since the iron fencing was rusted and made a ton of noise if anyone even poked it with a finger. Once over the wall, they waited in the shadows to see if anyone was out investigating. After five minutes of this they slowly made their way to the school. Crickets sang all around them. The wind blew through the trees and an owl hooted above their heads.

"I wish I was home right now," Tommy whispered.

"With a beer and a good game," Doug agreed.

"Is it ever worth it?"

"Always,"

0000

Morning came faster than Tommy or Doug cared for; it was like being back in the Military Academy. The alarm clock struck six and then gave a loud, long whistle. Kids popped up from their beds, rushing to dress and make up the beds in the way the staff liked.

Tommy and Doug groaned and swore vengeance on that stupid clock as they followed everyone else in the morning rituals. And just like a Military Academy they all had to stand by the beds and wait for a teacher to inspect their spaces. Today, Mr. Sullivan had the honor of doing this job. He walked in with a cain in one hand. He twirled it and several kids near him watched nervously; the cain came close to clipping one kid on the ear. He ducked away just in time.

Tommy glanced at Doug who watched Mr. Sullivan closely. Doug always became a bit more protective when they were the McQuaids. Tommy chalked it up to Doug not having a stable childhood or even siblings to take care of. Not that he could say much on that front either since he too was an only child. Well. Things could be worse.

Mr. Sullivan calmly strolled through the dorm until he came to them; Tommy wished he had gum to chew on nosily just to annoy the man. The cain twirled and both men watched it suspiciously. Though Tommy also watched for out side threats; preferring for Doug to concentrate on the main threat to their well being right now.

"Tuck your shirts in, boys," Mr. Sullivan said chirpily at them. Tommy and Doug exchanged a look. Tommy rolled his eyes.

Neither moved to do as they were told. The rest of the student body watched closely. All the new kids were tested like this; no one told them so, but these two seemed to have been around the block a couple of times. Harold watched more intently than the other kids, even stepping out of line to get a good view.

"Well?" Mr. Sullivan asked, annoyed at not being obeyed right off that bat.

"Tommy!" Doug growled, giving Tommy the signal to mouth off.

"We don't conform," Tommy said when pushed by his older brother. He threw Doug the bird. Doug cracked his knuckles in reply. The kids gasped audibly. They didn't know the McQuaids very well, but they never would have thought that the brothers would actually fight each other, even if they were pretty hands on and pushed each other around a lot.

"Is that so?" Mr. Sullivan asked. Tommy blinked at the smaller man and was almost hit with the cain for his refusal. Tommy ducked out of the way. Doug stepped forwards and grabbed the cain from Mr. Sullivan; and in front of everyone, he broke the cain in two over his knee.

Tommy clapped his hands, grinning as Doug threw the pieces of wood onto the floor. Doug stepped forwards threateningly; "Don't you ever try and hurt Tommy again," then he tweaked Mr. Sullivan's nose.

He and Tommy exchanged their signature hand shake and yelled; "The McQuaid Brothers! Ha!"

They pushed past the teacher and decided that breakfast was better than hanging around the dorms for more trouble. Though, breakfast was just as depressing as supper the night before, only this time they couldn't sneak out and get hot dogs at Rocket Dog. They had to go to class.

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Tommy wasn't surprised when Mr. Marsh called him and Doug to his office. They were made to sit on the hard bench for twenty minutes before Mr. Marsh called Tommy in for a one-on-one. He smiled gently as the brothers gave each other worried glances. Good, that was exactly what he wanted from them; their fear.

"Have a seat, Thomas," he gestured to a wooden chair that was just as uncomfortable as everything else in the school. Tommy glanced blankly at the chair before sitting down.

"Now, Mr. Sullivan isn't happy that your brother broke his walking stick," Mr. Marsh said as he sat down in the comfortable leather chair behind his desk.

"Sully almost got me with it, that's why Doug got mad and broke it," Tommy replied, slightly cockily, and yet he was aware of the danger he and Doug could be in if he didn't handle this meeting well.

"You see, that puts me into a situation I don't want to be in. You guys are new and I understand that your scared and wondering what'll happen to you. This is just for the interim, until the Social Workers can figure out if you're to go back to your family or to a foster home," Mr. Marsh steepled his fingers, he sounded as if he really cared. Tommy wasn't going to fall for it though. Too many boys had disappeared from the school and ended up dead – Tommy felt that some how Mr. Marsh knew about it.

"I know," Tommy nodded, deciding that going with it for now was the best thing to do.

"And Doug making trouble will possibly make it worse, maybe they'll split you up," Mr. Marsh pointed out. To anyone else that'd be a huge threat. Tommy, however, knew that even if the McQuaids were a cover, the two brothers would find ways to find each other and stay together. He wondered if he was crazy for letting to fictitious people get to him.

"Sully swung his cain at me," Tommy frowned, "Doug and I only have each other, we don't rely on other people because all they do is shit all over us. So, whether or not it was the wrong thing to do, Sully should've known that trying to hit me would result in Doug getting in his face," Tommy ranted and stood.

"You can say all that bullshit if you want," Tommy went on, "but I don't buy it. No one cares about us!" and then he slammed out of the office. Doug popped to his feet as soon as his younger brother came into view. They both ignored Mr. Marsh calling after them. Instead, they both made for their math class.

Mr. Lake was in mid lecture when the two crashed into the room. The door knocking back and then forwards as the two boys passed him by and made for the back row of desks.

"Is everything all right?" Mr. Lake asked. Tommy was so tired of the fake concern that he sneered at the teacher.

"Yeah," Doug folded his arms and took his seat, "Marshy didn't have enough time to write us a note."

Tommy swung his legs up and onto the desk, and then proceeded to ignore everything and everyone.

TBC