Warning: Slash (homosexual content), rape, depression, suicidal thoughts, child abuse, domestic violence – and whatever other angst I can manage to work in. If you don't like this, don't read it, for flames only serve as a source of amusement for me.

Rating: T

Disclaimer: As much as I would kill to own Tom Hanson and Dennis Booker, I don't. And I don't own the rest of Jump Street, either. Too bad for me.

A/N: If anyone has any thoughts/ideas/suggestions for the prequel I'm about to start writing, please tell me in your reviews. I make no promises about being able to include things, but I absolutely love being given ideas.

estelswolf - Well, I'm flattered that you like it this much :-D As I've said in other reviews, characterization is a huge deal for me, so... thank you! As for your suspicions about Dennis, well, they'll be laid to rest with this update, as a matter of fact. And I think I'm going to start writing the prequel soon.

daizia - Okay, I get ya now ;) I'm a little slow sometimes :-P You're not reading anything wrong, don't worry >whistles angelically> There will be more dealing with Dennis's mother and that whole situation, and you'll see why he reacted that way about his father. Regarding how far the thing with Greene will go, well, all may not be as you expect ;)

Chloe - He's not trying to be mean, he just doesn't quite know how to deal with everything that's happening. Our boy has... issues. :-P Yeah, coming out was hard, but there's an additional reason you aren't entirely aware of.

xobabiigirl54 - Thanks! The party's going to be very interesting... I hope

Just A Fan - A mommy that's shocked is a mommy that understands, huh? That's an interesting thought ;) And we'll see more of Dennis's mom. As for Hanson getting the door slammed in his face, well, he understands - though not as well as he will. Regarding the booze, well... >whistles angelically>

Rosepetal - Yep. Poor Hanson, poor Booker, and evil, evil Joanne ;)

Chapter 11

"What time's this party start tonight?" Tom leaned against the locker next to Joanne's. The later, the better; never would be preferable. But he didn't have that kind of luck.

She jumped, her eyes going wide as she shoved something back into her locker. Then she gave him the coy smile he'd begun to dread over the last few days. "Whenever you get there." She ran her fingers across his chest, and it was all he could do not to grab her hand and push her away. Apparently, no one had ever taught this girl the virtues of playing hard-to-get.

"No, seriously; I gotta give my parents a hand with something after school." What he needed to do was head back to the Chapel so he could be there when Doug and Dennis reported in. Something needed to be done before Booker got himself in over his head, and he hoped Doug would listen to him.

She pouted for a second, then gave him another smile. "That's okay; good things are worth the wait." She moved closer to him, wrapping her arms around his waist, and looked up, batting her eyes. What B-movie had he wandered into?

"Uh, yeah. I'm, uh, glad you think so." As the bell rang, he glanced down the hall. "I gotta go." He started to move away, but she tightened her hold on him.

"Don't I get a kiss?"

What had he done to deserve this? He leaned over, brushing his lips quickly against hers. She clearly wasn't pleased, but she did release him. "See you at lunch," he called over his shoulder as he walked away.

"Love you."

He literally froze mid-stride, almost falling over because of the delay in his foot hitting the floor. You gotta be kidding me. Maybe he could fake a head injury before tonight.

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"I think Hanson's getting in over his head." Judy frowned at him and Joanne where they sat across the room. "You know, she spent fifteen minutes in the locker room talking about the sleeping arrangements for the next two days?"

Harry raised an eyebrow at her. "The 'sleeping arrangements'?"

"If you can call them that," she replied dryly. "Let's just say, Hanson better take a nap tonight, because he's gonna need to be up all weekend watching his behind."

He let out a low whistle. "Y'know, I've been watching Joanne, and I think Tom's right. Something very weird is going on with her."

Hoffs turned to face him. "So help me, Harry, if you're just realizing that, I'm telling Fuller I want a new partner."

Ioki glared at her. "Ha ha. Very funny."

"I'm serious! That girl has been doing everything she can to get into his pants since the day she met him. He's gonna have a hell of a time this weekend."

"You think we should be ready to run interference?"

She rested her chin in her hand. "I don't know. I think Hanson's right that she knows something, and right now, he's got the best chance of finding out what, and I don't want to blow that. But…"

"But, you don't want him to get himself into trouble, especially considering the whole thing with Bartero he just got out of," Ioki finished for her. "Jude, Hanson can fend off a teenage girl."

"That teenage girl is nuts, Harry. And Hanson thinks she killed her sister." Judy kept her voice low. "Look, he said he's going to go back to Jump Street after school; we can talk to Fuller then, the three of us, and see what he thinks."

"I think you're blowing it out of proportion," he told her. "Hanson will be fine; he can handle himself."

"I don't know, Harry. I just have a bad feeling about this."

"Yeah, I know. But meanwhile, what if she's innocent, and it was somebody else who killed Leslie, and we're spending all our time watching her?"

She didn't answer as she watched Hanson stand up, Joanne following suit. As they walked toward the trash bins, she saw the girl reach down and grab his ass. "Y'know, I don't think it's funny anymore."

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Doug was the first person Hanson saw when he got to the Chapel and when he walked up to him, instead of bringing up his and Dennis's case, he said simply, "Hit me."

Penhall looked at him like he'd lost his mind. "Have you—" He glanced past Tom, and Hanson turned to see Harry come in with Judy right behind him. "Has he flipped?"

"Maybe," Ioki answered.

"I think Joanne's getting to him," Hoffs offered.

"Damn right she's getting to me," he spat out as they made their way toward Fuller's office. Once they'd reached the doorway, he went on. "I swear, Coach. I don't know if it's because of her sister's death or what but I really think this girl's gone off the deep end."

"Someone's gone off the deep end," he heard Doug muttered. "But I think it's him."

"I'm gonna deck you."

"A minute ago you asked me to do that to you," he replied. "See what I mean?"

"That's because if I have to deal with Joanne all weekend, I'm gonna kill her and plead temporary insanity."

"Permanent insanity."

Tom sighed. It figured Dennis would pick that moment to arrive. "Thanks a lot."

"No problem." His boyfriend smirked as Fuller cleared his throat.

"Am I being included in this little conference? Or should I vacate the premises?"

For a moment Hanson thought about reminding the Captain he'd been talking to him, but thought better of it and instead went in and flopped down on the couch against the wall. Fuller eyed him for a second, then said, "Make yourself comfortable."

"I will. Thanks." Tom gave him a big, fake smile, then moved his legs out of the way so Hoffs could sit down. "I hate this case, coach."

"So I noticed. What's going on, Hanson?"

"I really think she's crazy. I know her for an hour and she glues herself to my side. It's been a week and she won't let me out of her sight. This morning, she tells me she loves me. I don't know if she lost it after her sister died, or if she's been like this all along, but…"

"She told you she loves you?" Hanson reveled a bit in the incredulity in Ioki's voice, until the man went on. "She must be insane."

"Yeah, have her hospitalized," Penhall agreed. Hanson hid a smile as Judy smacked him in the back of the head.

"Let's try to keep this on track, shall we? Where do we stand? Ioki?"

The Vietnamese man dropped into a chair. "Greg and I went out for pizza last night; I couldn't get him to talk about what he said about Joanne the day of the fire, but he did talk a little about Leslie. He didn't say much, but one of the things he did mention was that she and Joanne weren't getting along. That was one of the things they were fighting over."

Hanson leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees. "They were fighting over her not getting along with her sister?"

"The bruises – the reason I thought there might be some abuse? Greg finally told me he tried to get Leslie to tell him what happened to her, but she wouldn't. He threatened to go after her stepfather, and she started screaming at him to stay out of everything."

"What's that got to do with Joanne?" Hoffs asked.

"He asked if Joanne knew, and she told him that Joanne wouldn't tell him anything; he said that at the time he thought it was for the same reason Leslie wouldn't." He paused. "Kids are awfully closed-mouthed about abuse. But he said that the way Joanne acted after Leslie was hit by the car made him wonder if Joanne had something to do with what happened."

Judy scowled. "Does this not make sense to anyone else?"

Tom shook his head. "Not at all. You get anything else, Harry?"

He shrugged. "That's it."

Fuller just nodded and turned his attention to Judy. "Hoffs? Anything?"

"Sounds like both girls would smoke a joint or two after school, but nothing more than that. Something weird, though. I've never seen cheerleaders this closed-mouthed. Usually they're too air headed to know when to shut up." Hanson choked down a laugh; as much as he owed Judy for mocking him the last few days, she'd probably kill him if he said word one about the cheerleading thing.

"All three of you are going to that party this weekend, right?"

"Captain—"

"Get whatever you can out of her, Hanson, but don't get yourself into trouble. I don't want to come into work sometime next week to another message like the one about Bartero."

"Glad we're agreed."

"You two—" Fuller pointed at Judy and Ioki, "stick to him as much as you can, without blowing your covers. I don't know that this girl is crazy, but she may very well be unbalanced – and if she did kill her sister, that means she's dangerous regardless. Now, I want a report from at least one of you twice a day, starting tonight. Make sure I get it, or Penhall and Booker'll be crashing the party."

"What fun." Hanson shot his boyfriend a look as Fuller shifted gears.

"How's your case?" Booker gave a short laugh and the Captain stared at him. "Something amusing I should know about?"

When neither Dennis nor Doug spoke, Hanson decided to answer for them. It might be safer that way. "They don't agree whether they have a case, coach."

"That so." The older man frowned. "Someone care to explain?"

"Penhall thinks the kids are lying, that they're just trying to get revenge. I don't." There was no mistaking Booker's clipped tone, and Tom wondered for a second if this conversation was going to end in blows. There was a good chance, the way Dennis had been going the last few days.

"The guy flunked 'em and they're pissed."

"They're pissed because of what he did after he flunked them."

"Whatever you say," Doug muttered.

The Captain cleared his throat. "Just the facts, please," he said pointedly. Tom would have smirked if he didn't know how strung out Dennis was over the case – and over Doug's disagreeing with him.

"I got a study date with Greene for Monday."

Fuller nodded, but his expression didn't change. "Whose idea?"

"His."

"Right." Hanson winced at Penhall's comment, knowing that would be the last straw for Booker.

He was right. "What is your problem, man?" his boyfriend snapped, pushing off the door he'd been leaning against.

"Why don't you tell me? You were more than willing to yesterday," Penhall shot back.

At that, Fuller's chair went back and he stood up, bringing a hand down hard on his desk. "Enough, both of you. I want to know what's going on without any outside commentary."

It was clear they both wanted to pursue it, and equally clear that neither dared bring Fuller's wrath down on his head. In the end, it was Dennis who started talking first. "He told me he'd have preferred to start 'tutoring' me sooner, but he had plans."

"All right. Be there, and be prepared to bust him the second he starts on you. Penhall, you too."

"Yes, sir." His displeasure with the situation was obvious, and, with his eyes, Hanson pleaded with Doug not to push it.

The captain, however, chose now to acknowledge the tension between them. "Now, someone feel like telling me just what the problem is with this case?"

Penhall answered first. "I haven't seen anything that looks like these kids are telling the truth. They spend lunch time talking about how much they hate the guy. There's nothing there."

"No." Hanson could hear the anger in Dennis's voice, and cringed inwardly. "You just don't know what to look for." Every word was clipped, and as he felt Judy tense beside him, Tom knew she'd picked up on it too.

"I've been through this before, Booker, and I don't feel like watching another person's life go down the toilet because the department screws up."

"It ever occur to you that even though that guy was innocent, this one might not be?"

"Actually, yeah. It did. But I'm telling you, I don't believe it."

"And I'm telling you you're wrong."

From the tones of their voices, it sounded like they'd had this argument before. Hanson looked to Fuller, expecting him to intervene, but the Captain didn't move or speak.

"What makes you so damn sure?" Penhall snarled.

Dennis, who'd been staring at the floor, raised his head slowly, and Tom was a little unnerved by the hard look in his eyes. "You don't want to know."

"Penhall," Hanson warned, rising slowly. The man ignored him, eyes fixed on Booker.

"Try me."

"Doug." Tom tore his gaze away from Dennis to look at Judy as she spoke. "Doug, stop it."

"No. He's spent the last week telling me I'm wrong every damn time I turn around. I want to know how he got so smart. How about it, Booker? How do you know I'm wrong?"

"Because I've been there." Tom froze where he stood, and it was only when he felt Judy's hand tighten on his arm that he realized he'd heard correctly. A moment later, Dennis left the office.