Disclaimer: I do not own 21 Jump Street or its characters. They belong to Stephen J. Cannell and Patrick Hasburgh. I'm just borrowing them.
Thanks for reading and reviewing! Thanks for waiting! Sorry this update took a million years. Work got SUPER DOOPER busy for longer than I thought it would. I got my life back this weekend, yea me! So hopefully, updates will be more frequent. Thanks for all of the encouragement and awesome reviews!
Chapter 12: Things In Between
Penhall dipped his brows, briefly impressed by the spray of spring flowers arranged in a tall glass vase on Judy's desk. "Whoa! Hoffs been holdin' out on us?" He pointed to the bouquet. "Hey Hanson, do you see this?" He asked with no reply. "Hey! Iok!" His eyes darted in Harry's direction and his voice deepened. "Who is he?"
"I don't know." Ioki shrugged before hopping on the corner of Tom's desk. "She hasn't mentioned anyone since she dumped the last dude." He grabbed the silver slinky from the desk and began toggling it back and forth in his hands. "But, this one's gotta be pretty crazy about her."
Penhall gently sifted through the blooms, unsuccessfully searching for a card. His attention gradually moved from the flowers to the papers on her desk. He moved them around, until finally moving to the lap drawer of Judy's desk. He shuffled her things around until he found an envelope a little larger than the typical greeting card that accompanies a floral arrangement. His eyes widened when he thumbed through the contents of the envelope. "Holy…"
A sly smirk spread across Harry's face after noticing Penhall's expression. "Yeah"
"I already don't like this guy." Penhall growled. "Hanson? Have you seen these?"
Hanson's attention was focused on the pencil in his hand. He tapped the tip of the pencil to his desk and stood it up before guiding it back down to the eraser, oblivious to the conversation taking place in front of him.
"Those are close enough to catch a foul ball." Harry chuckled with a twinge of envy.
"These are close enough to hear the conversations in the dugout! Too bad their Cub tickets though..." Penhall tossed the envelope on Hanson's desk and shouted. "Who is this guy?"
Harry shook his head and chuckled. "She'll be out of the Captain's office in a few minutes. Ask her then."
"I'm gonna." Penhall sat in the chair next to Hanson's desk before jamming in thumb into his chest. "I'm fine with her dating and getting all of that out of her system before we settle down, but this looks serious." He glanced over at Hanson before kicking his head back. "Hanson? Why are you so quiet over there anyways?" After several seconds of silence, Penhall frowned at Ioki. After Ioki's mirrored expression, followed a shrug, Penhall waved his hand in Hanson's face. "Hey! Earth to Hanson, man…we're talkin' to you!" He chuckled.
Hanson's thinking scowl quickly turned to one of annoyance. "What?"
Penhall threw his hands up to about the height of his shoulders. "Oh, nothin', we're just trying to figure out who Judy's mystery guy is,…but…uh… you keep playing with your little pencil there."
"Uh-huh," Hanson slowly bobbed his head while staring at the eraser at the tip of the number two pencil he'd been bouncing on his desk. "I'll sharpen it later." He gradually looked up as soon as his pencil stopped bouncing. "Listen, do you think Fuller will pull you in as the foil in this De La Plante case? Because…"
"Are you kidding me?" Penhall smoothed his hand over his face in irritation and mild surprise. "We're trying to figure out who's trying to get close to the future ex-Mrs. Penhall and you're talking about your case?"
Hanson released a deep sigh. "I'm sorry, Doug." He tossed his pencil down and eased back in his chair. "Let's talk about something more productive than figuring out a way to wrap up my case." He bit his lip while briefly glancing up at the ceiling before looking back at Doug. "Let's talk about your excellent babysitting skills." He frowned knowingly. "Ever get…uh…paid for that Dougie?"
Penhall glared annoyingly at Hanson while pointing his finger at him. "What is your problem?"
"I want to get some work done, and suddenly that's a problem?" Hanson growled while rising out of his chair. "Penhall, you've been playin' Mr. Mom all week for some married Stewardess that decided to get back with her husband just when she didn't need you anymore."
"Hey!" Penhall rose to his feet. "She had every intention of giving me a chance."
Hanson's frown deepened. "She was using you."
Penhall raised his shoulders while thrusting his hands forward. "She was…"
"Using you." Hanson quickly added.
Harry lifted his brows in agreement before noticing that his partner was finally walking his way. "Hey Jude!" Harry smiled brightly. "You ready?"
"Yeah," Judy's eyes shifted between Hanson and Penhall, eventually landing on Hanson. One sweeping glance at him and she immediately knew it was going to a long night. "Everything okay?"
Hanson cleared his throat, shoved his thumbs in the back pocket of his jeans and cut his eyes at her. "Peachy"
"Lucy!" Penhall shook his index finger at her, while stepping aside and using his best Spanish accent. "You got some splainin' to do!"
Judy frowned in confusion while peeking around Penhall. Her eyes grew wide and she covered her mouth to conceal the sight of her jaw dropping smile. She shot a quick glance at Hanson before moving over to her flowers. "They're beautiful." She skimmed over the bright blooms.
"There wasn't a card," Penhall smiled bashfully once he caught Judy's scolding glare.
"PENHALL!" Judy shouted.
Penhall innocently shrugged. "It's not like I was looking for one or anything."
Judy nodded unconvincingly. "Right"
"Those tickets to see the Cubs play here in a couple of weeks are pretty awesome." Harry scratched the back of his head and blushed once her agitated eyes moved to him. "Not that we know anything about the tickets or anything."
"You too Harry?" Judy exasperatedly huffed.
Penhall chuckled nervously. He looked over at Ioki, while pointing his head toward the door. "How 'bout we grab a table?"
"I'm way ahead of you." Ioki slid down from the desk and began walking out the door, ahead of Penhall.
Judy turned her attention to Hanson and a warm smile inched across her lips as she softly stated. "Thank you, but don't you think you're skating on pretty thin ice here Hanson? Eventually, I'll have to produce an actual guy."
Defeat washed over his face as he strolled over to her. Hanson's hand lightly grazed the side of her cheek as he searched her gaze. "They're not from me." He allowed his hand to fall into hers, before heading toward the door. Judy opened her hand to the sight of the small sealed card that came with her bouquet.
.
