21 Jump Street (Tom Hanson)

After a 48-Hour Shift: Doug's Version

August 1990
Doug's POV

It's been about a month since Tom jumped ship to work for the DEA. It was hard on all of us. He was my brother, but he was the love of Mickey's life. I had never seen her so happy, until she met Tom. They are two of my closest friends, I should have known they were seeing each other when they were keeping it a secret. Tom ended up telling me just a month before Fuller found out, but hey, at least I was first.

Mickey has been taking his absence real hard. I would never call her a hermit to her face, but she rarely left her home unless it was to go to work. There was a dark period where she just stayed in bed eating peanut butter, for about nine days. She's a sweet girl with a lot more life to live, she doesn't deserve to be sulking in her apartment over something that was out of her control. Over some guy. I'm not Tom, and maybe I don't know the whole story, but I would never have left Marta, no matter what the DEA was offering me.

I had just finished booking a kid for bringing weed to his school and started to head out the door when I noticed Mickey filling out a paper with the receptionist. Since she was already out and about, I managed to convince her to come along with me to have dinner with the rest of our team at a nearby pizza shop. She said she would come as long as I drove, which was not a terrible request.

The whole crew was there waiting for us. I slid into the booth next to Mickey, while Judy, Ioki, and Booker sat on the other side. A pizza was ordered and delivered to us hot and already sliced.

Booker was telling us about his adventures with his new job. Now, he works at a Japanese company that hired him to investigate suspicious insurance claims. I tried to pay attention, but honestly, it was just going in one ear and out the other. I was just there to enjoy the pizza and the company of my friends.

In an attempt to at least pretend like I was paying attention, I had my eyes focused on Booker the whole time he was talking. In my head, I was thinking about how hot this cheesy pizza was and how my tastebuds were probably burned off.

I noticed Booker's eyebrows stitch together and he paused in the middle of his story to say while chewing, "uh-oh, where'd she go?"

I followed his eyes to Mickey and saw that her arms were crossed on the table top and her head was resting on her arms. Her face was hidden, tucked into the crook of her elbow, but her slow breathing told me that she was asleep. We have only been sitting here for ten minutes and Booker already bored her to death.

"Mick? You good?" I asked and placed my hand on her shoulder. I shook her slightly, and she didn't move. She was out like a light.

"I think she's asleep," Ioki stated and took a bite of his crust.

"Oh, guys... she had that 48-hour shift today," Judy reminded us.

"They're still doing that?" Booker asked. He chuckled and said, "damn, that's rough."

"Shit, I completely forgot," I said in a soft voice so I didn't accidentally wake her. I immediately felt terrible for forcing her come to eat with us. She was practically falling asleep while standing up when we were at the station, I should have noticed. I really need to be more observant.

"One of us should take her home, huh?" Booker suggested and patted his greasy lips with a napkin.

"I don't know where her keys are," I stated.

"Probably in her pocket. I'll get them," Booker offered and leaned forward.

"No!" Me and Judy said at the same time. Booker peered at the both of us with a puzzled expression and settled back in his seat again.

"Hell no," I said firmly.

Booker's eyes bugged. "What?"

I cleared my throat and said, "I don't think she would appreciate getting groped."

"I'm not going to grope her," Booker hissed. "Geez. What kind of person do you think I am? I'm just going to frisk her. Big difference."

"Hell no!" I barked.

"Why do you keep saying that?" Booker asked.

"Because I don't like the words you're saying," I stated.

"Probably not a good idea when she's asleep," Judy said, "if I woke up to someone doing that to me, they'd leave with a black eye."

"Fine. Then I'll just take her to my place until she wakes up," Booker offered and started to slide out of the booth.

There was no way in hell I'd ever let that happen. It's not that I don't trust Booker, but I don't trust Booker. I know that he would never do anything to her, but Mickey does not need to wake up to some shirtless guy flexing his muscles while making her breakfast. I care about her too much to make her suffer through that.

"No, I don't think so, guy," I snapped. I looked down at her and said, "I'll take her home."

"Why you?" Booker asked, almost offendedly.

"'Cause I've been her friend for years. She doesn't even like you all that much," I stated.

"Yeah, she does. Come on," Booker said with a sneer.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked and let my eyebrows droop over my narrow eyes.

"We are friends," he stated confidently. "I got her boyfriend out of prison, remember?"

"We got her boyfriend out of prison," I corrected him.

"Oh, please, you couldn't have gotten him out without me."

My voice began to rise, "you are just lucky he didn't have to do more time—"

His voice matched mine and he said over me, "I got him out of jail!"

"—because of that stupid stunt you pulled!"

"I lost my job because of it!"

"Not my problem-o!"

"Guys!" Judy shouted, which shut us both up. She looked at the two of us and said, "stop fighting."

Booker and I glared at each other until he broke it. He said calmly, "look, I'm just trying to do right, okay? I've got no hidden agendas, and I do care about her. I know it might be hard for you to believe, but I'm a pretty good guy."

I clenched my jaw and gulped the words I wanted to have spill out of my mouth. Mostly because he had a point. He really isn't a bad guy, but he's just a guy that's easy to hate. Maybe it's just his stupid tank tops, or his annoying mannerisms, or dumb his hair, or his stupid stupidness.

"We should probably bounce," I said with a gentle sigh. I brought my attention back to Mickey again and I leaned down close to her ear. I almost wanted to scream to wake her, but that would have been a little too mean. Instead I rubbed my hand up and down her back and said in a calm yet firm voice, "hey, Mick. Wake up. Hey, come on."

She groaned and lifted her head up gently. Her eyes were still closed but she looked like her ears were on. She grumbled, almost inaudibly, "what?"

"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty," Booker smirked and took a gulp of his soda.

Mickey grunted in response.

I said to her, "we're leaving."

She grunted again to tell me that she understood. We are such good friends, I recognize her grunts. I got out of the booth and so did she, but she was quite slow. I would bet that she was half asleep. I thanked everyone for coming, and I swiftly guided sleepwalking Mickey to the car. As soon as she sat down and I closed the door, she passed out again against it.

I really didn't think she'd want tickets to Bookers gun show. I remember walking to his apartment during a one night stand, and he didn't have a shirt on. Not necessarily something I'd wish for one of my best friends to be plagued to witness as well. I'm such a good friend.

🤌I wish I included more Mickey and Booker moments in this series :/
🤌Did you guys watch the spin-off show Booker? I think there was just one season.

Thank you for reading ☺️