LilaGrace: You are very welcome... Yes, I prefer angsty Tom... LMAO... Wow, no I do not think that... Yes, I love vulnerable Tom... And gay couples are cute...

Disclaimer: I own nothing

"You okay Tom?"

Tom nodded his head; he wasn't okay, he knew that, but he wasn't about to admit that to Doug. Because Doug didn't have time for him and his problems anymore; Doug had Clavo now, and needed to put all his attention on the young boy. Besides, Tom was twenty-five; he could take care of himself.

"You sure? You look like kinda pale..."

Doug held a sleeping Clavo in one arm, and a suitcase in the other; this was full of the small boy's personal possessions, since the two officers had lost all of theirs.

"I'm fine Doug, just tired."

"Oh, well, okay," Doug replied, placing Clavo down in one of the plastic airport seats. "You can sleep on the plane."

"Yeah," Tom mumbled, knowing he probably wouldn't.

"Okay, I gotta go get us cleared through, since we got him," Doug gestured at Clavo, "Now. Can you watch him a second?"

"Yeah, yeah sure," Tom mumbled, sinking into the seat beside Clavo and groaning.

"You sure you-"

"Fine," Tom snapped. "Just go, I wanna get outta here."

"Yeah, fine," Doug replied, walking away. Under his breath, he muttered, "If looks could kill..."

----

"Tommy, you want window or aisle?"

"Uh, aisle, window; it doesn't really matter to me."

"Okay, good. I was thinkin' I should take the aisle seat, in case Clavo's gotta go to the washroom."

"Oh right," Tom replied, "Right, sorry, you go ahead and take it."

"It's okay, no need to apologize – not like you got your name etched intro the seat."

Tom mumbled something and sunk into his seat; he stared at Doug as he buckled Clavo into the seat in between both of them. Luckily he was still sleeping, and only mumbled something incoherent in his sleep when Doug brushed the seatbelt across his stomach as he locked it into place.

"All set," Doug grinned. "You sure you're okay Tom?"

"Yes," Tom replied angrily. "So stop askin' okay?"

"Sorry," Doug responded sheepishly, raising his hands in a gesture of apology. "Just makin' sure."

"You've already done it," Tom answered, his tone more gentle now. "It's annoying."

Doug laughed, grinning at the younger man. "Yeah, guess I was kinda pesterin' you huh?"

"S'okay," Tom mumbled. "I'm just glad to be getting' away from here."

"Yeah, me too," Doug agreed, sitting down in his own seat.

Tom sighed and nodded; he was tired and exhausted and really was glad to be going home. He leaned his head back against the seat and had just closed his eyes when a feminine vice echoed throughout the plane, "Will all passengers please fasten their seat belts and prepare for take off."

Tom wearily opened his eyes and clumsily pulled his seatbelt over his lap and locked it in place; hopefully he would be able to get some sleep. With one last glance at Doug, Tom's eyes shut and his head fell back against the seat; maybe he would get some sleep, after all.

----

Tom groaned as somebody shook his shoulder; all he wanted to do was sleep.

"Tom–Tommy, wake up," a voice hissed and Tom slowly opened his eyes, blinking away the crusted remains of sleep. "What?' he asked, leaning forward and letting out a sharp cry of ow as something cracked in the back of his neck.

"We're home," Doug responded cheerfully, a goofy grin plastered on his face. Clavo was still in his seat, except now he was awake and staring at Tom with excitement in his eyes; he was pulling at his seatbelt, trying to get 'free'.

"We-we are?" Tom asked; had he really slept the entire way back?

"Yup, now c'mon, let's get off this thing," Doug responded, unbuckling Clavo and lifting him out of his seat. With the boy once against nestled in his arm, Doug stepped back, giving Tom the space he needed to stand and stretch.

"I got the suitcase," Tom offered, reaching up and pulling said object down; it wasn't heavy, but Tom's body, mainly his limbs that would be useful, didn't seem to want to work. He dropped the suitcase immediately, and with a jolt of fear, was gone.

Tom, upon the dropping the suitcase, fled, afraid Doug was going to be mad at him for screwing up. So he pushed passed the older officer quickly and was soon off the plane. Except he didn't know where to go, or how to get anywhere. Defeated, Tom slumped into a chair, hunched over with his head between his legs. He had dropped it, and now Doug was going to be mad and... And Tom didn't know what would happen but he was sure it would end in pain.

"Tom!" a voice shouted but the wanted man ignored the call; he just wanted to sink into the chair; to become a part of the inanimate object and disappear.

"Damn it Tom!" the voice called again, then in an angrier tone, "Get the Hell away from me man, this kid belongs to me!"

Tom looked up at this outburst, and saw that Doug was struggling to keep Clavo out of the grip of a security guard. "Hey!" he called, standing and rushing over. "We're cops you idiot!" he shouted, trying to push the security guard away. "We obviously got him back here legally, or else we wouldn't be comin' outta this plane with him!"

Doug stared at Tom, surprised. He hadn't expected that.

"Tom man, just show him the slip we got, and your passport." Doug was now struggling to calm down Clavo, who had started crying at the sudden angered argument.

"Oh, right,." Tom mumbled, glaring at the security and digging through his pockets and pulling out the required information. "Here," he hissed angrily, shoving the paper into the guard's hands. "Look. We're legal."

The guard quickly looked over the papers, then shrugged apologetically. "Sorry, I never knew-"

"Well you do now," Tom hissed, walking away quickly.

"Sorry 'bout that," Doug said to the man, "He's had a rough couple of days."

"You're just getting' back from Salvador?" the guard asked. Doug nodded, adjusting Clavo in his arms; he had stopped crying, but was shaking a little.

"Then it's understandable," the guard replied. "Take good care of them both then. And good luck." The guard walked away then, and Doug turned his attention to Tom; he was once again slumped in his seat, head down, and Doug sighed; Tom's mood swings were coming more frequently, and more so was the anger. And it worried him, because Tom rarely ever became that angry without an extremely good reason. Then again Doug thought. The guy was trying to take Clavo away. Seemed like a pretty good reason to get angry. Yeah, except the Tom Doug had first known would never get pissed off like that and get into the face of an authority figure unless there was an extremely, honest to God, plausible reason. And this just didn't seem to cut it. Then again, this wasn't the Tom Doug had first met; this was a changed man, and Doug wasn't sure what to expect.

----

"I called Fuller."

Tom nodded but didn't say anything.

"You should tell him."

"No," Tom whispered. "No Doug, you can't-you can't tell him. And I'm not, I can't... Please," Tom whispered, struggling with what he was trying to say.

"Why?" Doug asked. "What if you caught something, huh? You'll have to tell him, especially if you get sick because of it."

"No!" Tom yelled. "Damn it Doug, I-I was raped," Tom whispered, his tone laced with pain, fear, and anger. "It's not somethin' I want people to know about."

"I understand. Will you at least go to the hospital then?"

"I-I don't-"

"Then I'm tellin' Fuller. If he knows, then you'll have to go-"

"I hate you," Tom hissed angrily. "You're such a fuckin' bastard." Then he stood heatedly and walked away quickly, leave Doug alone, and unable to follow.

"Tom! Damn it Hanson!" Doug yelled, sitting down angrily. He knew there was a pretty good chance Tom had caught something and he really wanted his friend to see a doctor. Instead he had made the younger man hate him. Great, smooth move Penhall he thought to himself bitterly.

----

"Doug?" a soft female voice asked. Doug looked up and found himself staring into brown eyes. "You don't know how good it is to see you Jude," he said, relieved. It was nice to see a familiar face.

"Where's Tom?"

"Uh. Washroom, I think," Doug lied. "I'll go look for him, watch Clavo."

Doug stood and started to move away when Judy's questioned repetition of the name stopped him. "Clavo," he repated, "Marta's nephew..." Seeing Judy's confused expression, Doug laughed and continued, "I'll explain later, once I found Tom."

"Uh, okay," Judy replied nervously.

"Where's Fuller," Doug asked quickly, realizing the older man was nowhere to be seen.

"Got held up at work. He sent me instead."

"Oh, okay." Doug knelt down in front of Clavo and began speaking in Spanish, introducing Judy, "Estes es Judy, mi amigo," he started. "Ella va a permanecer con usted mientras que busco Tom, autorizacion?"

Clavo nodded slowly, then looked at Judy curiously, then back at Doug. "Judy?" he asked.

"Yup," Doug nodded, ruffling the boy's hair. "Estare detras, prometos."

Clavo nodded, then turned and smiled at Judy. "Hola Judy," he greeted. The young woman laughed and responded with her own "Hola Clavo."

Doug smiled at th two as he stood and headed towards the washrooms, hoping he would find Tom; the next few months were going to be tough, but Doug would make sure that he got Tom and Clavo through them. It would just take time.

Interpretations:

Estes es Judy, mi amigo: This is Judy, my friend

Ella va a permanecer con usted mientras que busco Tom, autorizacion: She is going to stay with you while I look for Tom, okay

Estare detras, prometos: I'll be back, I promise

Sequel is called Paper Wings...