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He knew there was somebody else there; he couldn't see or hear them, but he could sense them. Something in his mind triggered; there was somebody else here.

A shuffling of footsteps came closer and all that ran trough Doug's mind was, "Protect Tommy, gotta protect Tommy." And his eyes snapped open.

When he had first sensed the presence, his subconscious had awoken and for a moment he had thought Tom had awoken. But Tom was behind him, and the shuffling was in front. This had sent off alarms in his mind and he'd fully regained consciousness; he needed to protect Tom from whoever was in this room.

And his eyes snapped open.

The officer's eyes snapped opened and he sat upright, trying to focus his gaze on the intruder.

A kid. He was just a kid.

He could still cause harm, though.

The kid moved nearer to Doug, but still kept his distance. Doug shifted forward; this kid may have been trying to distance himself from the two officers, but Doug still didn't trust him and planned on keeping him as far away from Tom as possible.

An expression of shock fell across Doug's face as the boy removed his hat; it wasn't really a threatening gesture, and the officer was wondering what the Hell he was doing. So he watched as something was pulled from the hat and placed on the ground.

Then the kid was gone as fast and as cautiously as he had come; taking quick strides yet making as little noise as possible. Doug watched him until the door was once again shut and locked, then reached for the item placed on the ground.

Food.

Doug smiled gratefully; he and Tom hadn't eaten since they had gotten here and was glad someone had had the decency to give them food. He moved backwards to the wall and sat beside Tom, unwrapping the package. He broke off a piece of the pita-like bread and bit into it as he lightly shook Tom. As Doug had expected, the younger man awoke with a start, fear invading his features. He passed over Tom's portion, which Doug had made bigger on purpose, and watched as he ate. Tom looked like shit.

"I'm fine," Tom spoke up, finishing his portion of the offered food.

How did he keep doing that?

"You sure? You look pretty pale and earlier-"

"I'm sorry," Tom cut off. "About earlier; about snapping at you. It's just, you always blame yourself for other people's mistakes. It just kinda pissed me off."

"Yeah it did," Doug responded with a smile. "And I guess maybe I do do that. But you're my best friend Tommy. And I'm your partner; which means I go to the same schools and learn the same stuff as you. I knew as much about what was going on down here yet I still asked you to come. I shouldn't have."

"I probably would of come anyways, once I found out what you were doing," Tom responded, looking at Doug. "Because you're my best friend. And I'd do anything to help you. Shit man, you're practically my brother!"

"Yeah? So if I ever decided to sign up for that big brother thing, could I pick you as my little brother?"

Tom laughed. "Don't even get me started on that; you screwed me over on that too, remember?"

"Hey!" Doug protested, "I was just lookin' out for you. And what happened to you being here not being my fault, huh?"

"Who knows," Tom replied. "Gone with my sanity, maybe?"

Doug looked at his friend; had he just hinted that he was going insane. Because Doug didn't want to be stuck here with Tom if he planned on going psycho on him.

"Relax, Penhall. I'm not gonna go crazy on you. Not yet, anyways."

"Yeah, good," Doug smiled. Then his expression became serious. "Where'd they hurt you?"

Tom stared at Doug, surprised at the change of topic. "I'm fine," he repeated.

"Yeah? You didn't seem like you were so fine earlier."

"Well I am, okay?" Tom responded heatedly. "So drop it."

"Yeah, okay. I'll just ignore you then next time you say you're hurt, because apparently when you are hurt, you're actually just fine," the older man responded with just as much anger.

Tom's face fell and he looked at Doug, eyes shining with pain. "I didn't mean it like that," he whispered. "I just don't wanna talk about it."

"Yeah, okay. But promise me you will soon? Please."

"I can't Doug. At least I don't know if I can," Tom answered, dropping his head between his knees.

Doug sighed. "Then at least promise me you'll try when you think I can."

There was a brief moment of silence which made Doug wonder if his friend had fallen back asleep. But when the barely audible answer came, he knew he wasn't.

"Yeah, I promise," Tom mumbled so low that Doug almost missed it.

But he didn't.

Doug smiled at the response. Now all he had to do was wait; wait for Tom's answer; wait for a way out of here; and wait for anything else that would prove to be helpful.

TBC...