Hi again… my first story was so well received by everyone that I thought I'd try another one. Hope you all enjoy this one. Tom and Doug are sent undercover in a prison to try and find out who's selling the heroin that's causing the deaths of the inmates…

Chapter 1: The Case

Tom Hanson opened his eyes and sat up in his seat, stretching as he tried to ease the stiffness in his body. Blue is definitely NOT my color, he thought with a laugh as he looked down at his standard issue prison uniform. He looked over at his partner Doug who had fallen asleep with his head against the window. God, this guy can sleep anywhere! Hanson let out another chuckle as he looked at his friend dressed in the same ugly blue uniform that he was wearing. Doug didn't seem to mind the bumpy ride that they were forced to endure to the prison. They had been on the bus for an hour already and no matter how hard Tom had tried, he couldn't fall asleep with all the bumps in the road. So instead of sleeping, which his partner obviously had no problem doing, Hanson thought back to earlier in the week when they were in Captain Fuller's office learning the details to their latest case.

"I'm sending you guys into Chase County Federal Prison." Fuller stated as his two young officers sat before him. "They've been having problems with several drug-related deaths in there for the past couple of months." Fuller paused and looked up at his team. "Four to be exact."

Tom looked over the file that was sitting in his lap. "Someone's manufacturing bad drugs?"

Fuller nodded in confirmation. "Seems that way. The coroner has linked all of these deaths to a very potent, lethal form of heroin." Fuller stood up and came around to the front of his desk where he leaned against it and looked both of the undercover officers straight in the eyes. "Someone is selling these guys a heroin that is 98 pure… this is something that we haven't seen out in the market yet. I want you guys to find the source before anyone else winds up dead."

Doug looked over at his partner and smirked. Oh shit, thought Tom. He new exactly what was coming before Doug even opened his mouth. Here we go again, he thought. However, Tom couldn't help but return the smile. "Heh!" they yelled in unison.

"Looks like the McQuaid brothers are back." Doug said with a smile.

Fuller couldn't help but to let out a small chuckle and said, "God help us with you two on the loose!" His face became serious however as he returned to his seat and added, "The ring leader inside seems to be a … Josh Matthews. I want you guys to watch your backs around him though. He's dangerous and wouldn't think twice about getting rid of you, especially if he makes you as cops."

Tom looked up at his captain. "What's he in for?" Tom asked, but really didn't want to know the answer.

Fuller answered, "He beat a guy to death for sleeping with his girlfriend."

Tom rubbed his face and sighed, "That's just great."

Doug slapped Tom on the back, making him jump. "Don't worry Tommy… I'm your big brother, Doug McQuaid. I'll protect ya!"

Tom rolled his eyes and punched Doug in the arm, "Geez, thanks a lot. I feel so much better now!"

Fuller cleared his throat and stood up. "Seriously guys… this is a dangerous case and I want you to use your heads while you're in there. Word is out that some of the prison guards could be involved as well.. Be careful and watch yourselves. If by any chance your cover is blown, get out. Understood?"

Tom and Doug stood up to leave. "Okey dokey Coach." Tom said as he shut the door behind them.

Tom nudged Doug just as they pulled into the drive of the prison. It was a large, dark looking brick building that was surrounded by a 10ft. chain link fence. Tom noticed the coils of barbed wire that topped the fence and the two guard towers that stood at opposite ends of the prison yard. He counted four armed guards patrolling in either tower. He looked at Doug, who was rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, as the bus came to a stop just inside the gate. "Ready to join our fellow inmates?" Doug whispered to Tom as they watched an armed guard board their bus.

"As ready as I'll ever be." Tom answered.

The guard was quite tall. Maybe just over 6 feet tall and had muscles in places that Tom didn't even know you could have muscles. Tom thought he looked quite rough and even scary as he held his gun in front of his chest. "Welcome to Chase County Federal Prison boys." He said as he stood aside for the men to exit the bus. "You're in for the ride of your lives." He added as Tom and Doug made their way past him.

Once outside the bus, the prisoners were shackled around their ankles and handcuffs were slapped onto their wrists. Eight prisoners in all followed the armed guard up into the entrance of the prison, none of them saying a word. Once inside they were lined up against a wall inside a small room. The shackles were removed, as were the handcuffs. "Time for your strip searches boys." The guard from the bus was joined by three other rough looking guards. They all eyed the eight young prisoners carefully, as if they were enjoying what was about to happen.

Tom quickly looked over at Doug and whispered, "This is not my idea of fun!" Doug only had time to think about a reply as one of the armed guards walked over and stood in front of Hanson. He towered over Hanson, being almost a good foot taller than the young officer.

"Do you have something you'd like to say boy?" the guard snarled.

Tom looked up at him, ready to play the part of a McQuaid brother. "I said that I bet you guys just love having to strip search us all." Tom smirked at the guard and smacked his gum obnoxiously. "You probably get your jollies off it, don't cha?"

The guard was not pleased with the smart-assed boy in front of him. He smiled back at him and positioned his baton roughly under the boy's chin, forcing it up. "I'm going to enjoy wiping that smug look off your face, boy."

Doug stepped forward to protect his partner, only to have Tom put a hand on his arm. He gave him a look to say that he could handle this on his own. Then he swatted the baton away and stared the guard down. "Don't call me boy." Tom said, playing the part.

The guard was beginning to enjoy this. "What's your name, boy?"

Tom looked at him and said, "Tom… Tom McQuaid." He smacked his gum once more. "What's it to you?"

Doug watched as the two exchanged stares. Man, Tommy… I've never seen you portray the part of a McQuaid so well. Bravo partner, bravo. His admiration was replaced with a look of anger though as the guard stepped forward and without warning rammed his baton into the stomach of his partner. He went to help his friend only to have one of the guards grab his arm and pull him away.

Tom felt the baton ram into his stomach and he doubled over, the breath knocked out of him. Another blow to his back sent him to his knees. He heard the guard snicker and say, "Well, Tommy McQuaid… let me be the first to say welcome and that I hope you enjoy your stay here." He then leaned down and grabbed Tom's hair and yanked it so that the young officer was looking up at him. "We don't put up with smart asses here, so if I were you, I'd learn some manners."

Tom was finally able to catch his breath long enough to let out a "Fuck off" to the guard. Apparently the guard did not appreciate his "manners" however as this was met by his face being smashed into the floor with such a force that he blacked out.

Doug struggled in the grasp of the guard that was holding him. "You son of a bitch." His threats however were met with the guard laughing at him. The guard responsible for taking down Hanson marched over to Doug and said, "Maybe you would like to join your brother?" Doug struggled, but remained quite. It wouldn't do them any good to be in the same condition as Hanson. He worried as he looked over at his partner. Tom lay perfectly still and wasn't making any attempt to get up. Come on Hanson, get up. He willed his partner to get up, move, do anything. "Why don't you take on someone your own size?" Doug shouted into the face of the guard. He looked at his nametag and read H. Fitzgerald. I'll remember your name buddy. If it's the last thing I do, you'll get what's coming to you for what you did to Hanson.

Fitzgerald patted Doug on the cheek. "In due time son." With that he walked over to Hanson. Hanson was beginning to stir as he was coming to. Fitzgerald bent down and grabbed Hanson's hair once more. "I'll be watching you McQuaid."

Hanson was barely able to make it to his knees when he was yanked up by his hair. Shit, he thought… as if my head didn't hurt badly enough. Then, as quickly as he was grabbed, he was set loose and stumbled back onto the floor, fighting the dizziness that threatened to take over him. He decided to keep his mouth shut though for the time being. He was in no shape to go a second round with the guard.

"Get up McQuaid. Time for your strip search." Fitzgerald laughed, as Doug was able to help Tom to his feet. He kept the grip on Tom's arm as he swayed a minute, then was able to stand on his own. "I'm fine Doug. It's okay." He tried to reassure his friend. Doug looked at him with concern and then sighed. "Okay" he said and stood in line behind Tom.

The prisoners were all searched one by one and then were shown to their assigned cells. As Tom and Doug followed Fitzgerald down the long hallway, Doug began to feel a slight panic rising through him. He had almost forgotten about the small problem he had… he was claustrophobic and didn't want to be shut in that small cell that he was now facing.

"Home sweet home boys." Fitzgerald said with a laugh. He pushed Doug in and then shoved Tom a little too hard, as he fell onto the cell floor with a dull smack. Tom picked himself up and watched as the cell doors were banged shut. He looked up at his partner who was desperately looking around the cell. It dawned on Tom at that moment what the problem was. "Hey, Doug… look at me man. You're going to be fine. I just need you to concentrate on our job here, ok?"

Doug took a deep breath, trying to stop the feeling that he was going to hyperventilate soon. "O..Okay Tom. I can do this." He took another deep breath and looked at his partner. He thought if he could focus on something else other than the walls closing in, he could make it through this. "How's your head?" He reached up to examine the bloody bruise that was forming on Hanson's forehead. "Does it hurt a lot?"

Tom winced as Doug's fingers brushed his forehead. The truth was that he had one hell of a headache. "Yeah… it hurts like hell." He smiled and added, "Guess I shouldn't be such a smart ass, huh?" He shook his head but stopped as it only sent a throbbing pain through his skull. "Ugh… that was stupid."

Doug pulled Tom over to the cot in the cell. "Lay down and rest for a while… hopefully you don't have a concussion or anything." Tom did as he was told and took the top bunk. He let his body flop onto the not so soft mattress and thought about the events of the past few minutes. He heard Doug lay down on the bottom bunk and hoped that he was handling his claustrophobia. He didn't think he could handle the guards and Doug freaking out on him at the same time. "You alright Doug?" He heard Doug roll over in his bunk.

"Yeah… How's your head?"

Tom rubbed a hand gently across his face. "Still there. It's going to take more than that to shut me up." He said with a laugh. Just then something dawned on him. "I wonder if Fitzgerald is in on the drug scene here?"

Doug thought about this a moment. "He could be… but I'm hoping not. I don't want to think about what would happen if we cross him again."

Tom sighed and agreed with Doug. He hoped that he didn't have to deal with Fitzgerald again either, but somehow he seriously doubted that today would be the last run-in with him. As his eyes began to get heavy, he found himself praying that he wouldn't be on the wrong end of Fitzgerald's temper again. Tom rolled over, careful not to jar his aching head, and tried to put those thoughts out of his head as he waited for sleep to overcome him.