This is another long one for you guys :) Hope you enjoy! In this chapter we have some McQuaid fun as well as some progress with their case and we also get inside Penhall's head a little. Next chapter we will be back inside Hanson's head I promise! Looking forward to writing chapter 11 yay :)

Also again its super late and I am super tired so I apologise for any potential spelling and grammar errors.

Also to the guest reviewer (Sed)- Thankyou so much for reading and reviewing! I'm glad you're enjoying it. And yes I promise I have lots of Hanson darkness planned and partially written that I am super excited about sharing, so I hope you stay with me, it will be worth it I promise :)

Chapter 10

… Not always what it seems …

The McQuaid brothers had just finished torturing their Biology teacher, a favourite past time of theirs. Just as they delighted in standing up for the little guys who got picked on by the school bullies they quite enjoyed expanding the sometimes small minds of their teachers. Challenging their perceptions about the kids they had written off as bad eggs. Forcing them to revaluate their world views. Today Mr. Keens had decided to try and embarrass the boys seeing as they hadn't done their homework as usual. Not that the McQuaids were easily embarrassed. Today however the brothers managed to turn the tables and embarrass Mr. Keens, a teacher they had heard had a reputation for shaming kids he had a disliking for.

"Question nine Tommy, can you help me out?" Toms head snapped to the front as he was ungraciously startled from his contemplation on why on earth Doug had kept Toms state the other day to himself.

"What? Don't you know the answer? You're meant to be the teacher. You're meant to tell us all about this science shit," The best thing about using the McQuaid cover was that they didn't have to bother keep up their grades or pay attention in class. However this often back fired on them as teachers like Mr. Keens were constantly harassing the officers trying to prove to their classes what hot hots they were. I'll show this idiot thought Hanson.

"Yes McQuaid, but unlike you two the rest of the class and myself have already completed the homework. I just wanted to make sure that since you thought you were already too smart to do it, that you do in fact know the answers."

"Oh ok then, in that case I will help you out,"

"Tell us then Tom, what is the formula for photosynthesis," Tom got up and wrote his answers messily on the board.

He then turned threw the chalk onto the ledge where he had found it and walked over to the teacher's desk and proceeded to sit on it crossing his legs, grinning cheekily.

"Mr Keens was smiling widely also, "You have written, 6CO2+ 6H2O →C6H12O6+ 6O2,"

"Don't forget that you need light and chlorophyll sir," he interrupted mockingly.

"Even so your answer is incorrect I am afraid. You have missed a product Mr. McQuaid. But well done for trying. Frankly I'm surprised you even know how to write let alone know half of this equation. Maybe Douglas can help you out with your mistake though?" he said sure the other dopier McQuaid would be easier to make a fool out of.

"I would help him sir but he already wrote the right answer," at this comment the teacher laughed and wrote the correct answer on the board verbalizing what he wrote. "6CO2 + 12H2O → C6H12O6 + 6O2 + 6H2O,"

"Well yes sir that answer is also correct," Doug continued in a patronizing tone, Tom rose from his relaxed position on the front desk and took the chalk from Mr. Keens hand and proceeded to cross out parts of the teachers equation, Doug spoke for him "You see the equation can be simplified accounting for net water consumption,"

Tom handed the chalk back to the teacher who looked completely taken by surprise, giving him a wink before returning to his seat.

"Now if you don't mind I would really appreciate if we got back to going through the homework sheet because as you pointed out earlier I didn't get a chance to do it at home and would really appreciate it if the class would continue sharing their answers with me," Tom said smirking as he lifted his legs up onto the table in front of him, obviously not about to write down anything anyone had to say in his non-existent exercise book.

"We wouldn't want to miss anything that might be on the test sir." Doug said as he too assumed a position that displayed his disinterest with the class, slouching forward on his desk. The classed laughed as Mr. Keens went and sat back down on his desk looking slightly flustered.

"Yes onto question 10, ah Jamie what did you get down?".

Half an hour later as the class was silently reading through a chapter of the text book or in the McQuaids case catching up on some sleep the bell sounded. Evn though the brothers may not have been paying attention they were still the quickest out of their seats and out the door. Unfortunately as they were just about to reach freedom for the day Mr. keens called them back into class.

He waited until everyone left before having a stern word with the brothers, "You too need to smarten up, your attitudes may get you through high school but it won't get you very far in the real world. So I honestly don't know what you are playing at because it's clear to me that you are both far more intelligent than you lead everyone to think."

"Maybe we're just sick of teachers like you telling us we are worthless and are going to go nowhere in life." Hanson returned staring directly into the teachers eyes. "So we just decided it would be much easier on everyone if we just believed it and started living up to peoples high expectations of us," Tom was thrilled to see the surprised but impressed look in Mr. Keen's eye. The short silence that followed further proved to Tom this teacher felt confronted by his honesty. He hoped maybe in the future he would think back to this encounter, he hoped he had changed this one teachers approach to kids like him.

"You are obviously both smarter than that. But if you are adamant on proving me wrong by insisting on throwing away your only opportunity to get an education, please refrain from doing it in my classroom. I won't put up with it again. You may leave now."

With that the men both left the classroom and headed for the student parking lot where they had planned to meet Mathew.

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"Took you long enough, come on lets go we don't want to be late," Mathew said slightly flustered.

"We're exactly are we going" Doug asked as the three got into Hanson's car.

"That fast food joint across from the cinema," Mathew replied regaining his composure.

The rest of the car trip continued in silence. Mathew sat in the passenger seat and was obviously mentally preparing himself for the coming meeting. Doug sat in the back seat and found himself examining his partner from the corner of his eye. Tom stared out the front window making, he made all the right adjustments for the road and traffic that they met but it was obvious his thoughts were far away. Doug saw every now and then him shake his head or cringe like he was taking part of a conversation that no one could here but him.

Doug's mind also drifted, as be began contemplating the dispute he had with a tipsy Hanson at the chapel and whether he should have told Fuller. Every time he went through the reasons for and against telling his Captain he decided against it. He was certain it wasn't some sort of desperate cry for help. 'Was it?' and he couldn't stand the thought of Fuller being furious with Tom, even though he knew he had the right to be! Hell, Penhall was furious. But he knew Fuller wouldn't have been able to forgive Hanson so easily. He would have taken him off this case for sure and Doug knew Hanson wouldn't be able to accept that.

Also Tom needed a friend, Penhall didn't want to risk pissing him off and leaving him with no one to talk to and no place to go when he couldn't sleep at home. As Ioki was working through his own problems and Tom had confided in Doug previously that he had never felt comfortable discussing his issues with Judy. Or as he had described it 'waving his insanity in her face'. Doug suspected this had something to do with his suspicion that Tom had a crush on her since he started working at the chapel. He had never admitted it to him but Doug was sure of it. So apparently was the rest of the office, with Sal having taken numerous bets about who would make the first move. Penhall had been lucky enough to get some long odds by betting on Jude, as he knew his partner better than anybody. He knew Tom's bravado was all for show and when it came down to it he would be too shy and too honorable to actually come onto her. Doug could tell Tom thought that she was too good for him. It saddened him to think Hanson thought so little of himself but he knew there was nothing he could do to change the way Tom felt. So he had let the issue be.

They had finally arrived after battling with the traffic for 15 minutes. While getting out of the car Doug had decided for the 3rd time that day that he had made the right decision regarding whether he should tell his captain. 'He's going to be fine" he thought, reminding himself that Tom had in fact been in a good mood all day.

They walked into the Lily's All You Can Eat Buffet and immediately spotted their target, due to how out of place he looked surrounded by parents with prams and cute elderly couples who were all preoccupied with their food. They headed straight over to sit with him, Penhall making a short pit stop for a plate of spring rolls.

"What?" he demanded when he saw Tom staring at him disapprovingly "I paid fifteen bucks to get in here and well, I'm hungry,"

"You're always hungry McQuaid," Mathew said verbalising what Tom was thinking as the three boys sat down at the mystery man's table. Both officers did their usual surveillance of the suspect without realising. Committing to memory his average height, brown eyes, light beard and mid length black hair that had a few greying streaks.

"Excellent! Young and dumb just the way I like 'em," the man said at the blank stairs and silence he was receiving. "I'm Gordon," he said before waiting for the boys to introduce themselves.

"Well ok, let's get down to it then since you guys obviously love small talk," he said in reply to more silence. "My friend told me you were up for some more work?"

"You heard correctly then," Doug said in confirmation.

"Excellent because the last guys I had working for me I had to dispose of, they were far too nosy for their own good. So when I heard there were some more high school kids looking for some action I knew my business wouldn't have to suffer for long."

"Yep we are your boys" answered Mathew this time. The officers glanced at each other slightly confused. Something about this guy didn't seem right. He may have been saying all the right things but he seemed way to open and way to friendly.

"I trust you already know how it works," he said eyeing Hanson cautiously beckoning him to speak next and break his silence.

"Well not really, we haven't been told any details as of yet. Do you want to elaborate for us?" Penhall responded trying to pry for some details.

"Wow he really is thick," he said with a laugh gesturing towards Penhall, he quickly turned serious again when he realised no one was laughing with him. "You pick up the product from me and drop it where you are told, no different from what you have been doing." Mathew was surprised at what Gordon was proposing but still seemed perfectly happy to go along with it, but he saw that the McQuaids were not impressed.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Tom said honestly exasperated. Firstly he was pissed off that they had been fooled but mostly he was seething at the fact he had wasted a trip to Doug's and his good night's sleep on this idiot.

"What the fuck is wrong with you, sit back down," Gordon said irritated and nervous about the scene Tommy was creating.

"Shut up, I don't have to listen to you. You're just another low life that wants to use us! " He said controlling his initial anger and funnelling his frustration into an argument that would be useful to their case. "We don't want to deal with you, were not okay with taking another step sideways, let's go," he said forcefully. Mathew got up immediately while Doug pouted and shoved his mouth full of spring rolls before strutting out behind Tom.

As they left the diner Doug was expecting Gordon to call them back and promise he would help them meet his boss, as he assumed that was what Tom was hoping for. Doug had taken the same approach on numerous occasions and it had brought him much success. However when they were allowed to leave in peace the officers knew Gordon would be of no use to them. They knew the reason he didn't call them back over wasn't because he was too loyal to his boss but because he didn't know who his boss was.

Even though the afternoon was not as fruitful as they had hoped they were greatful that at least they had been able to confirm the theory they had formed about their case. With that small victory under their belts they allowed themselves to enjoy the evening and agreed to see a movie with Mathew. Afterwards they revisited the all you can eat buffet for dinner. It was after everyone's third plate of rather ordinary and very greasy food that Mathew suggested next time they have a job they try their luck and ambush whoever picks up the drugs where they leave them. Tom and Doug took some convincing but after some bickering they realised it was the best and only way they could think of to make sure they met with someone of importance. As, as much as they loved the McQuaids both of them were very ready to hang up there bandanas for at least the next 6 months.

Thoughts ? :)