Author: Kelly
Disclaimer: I own nothing, all of the characters and everything.
Summary: Bosco has some decisions to make. Inspired by this from a forum:
"I think Fred couldn't deal with Faith's relationship with Bosco.Even though they were not romantically involved, they were there for each other in ways that Fred could never be. I think it really started going down hill when Faith failed the sergeants test because she was worried about Bosco. Fred had pinned a lot on Faith getting off the streets and them having a more "normal" life. Fred went out for a walk to cool off and when he came home he found Bosco talking about his 9-11 experiance and breaking down crying in Faith's arms.Imagine the kind of trust someone like Bosco needs to have before he could allow himself to cry in front of you. It was a very intiment moment.Faith and Bosco had an emotional connection stronger then anything she and Fred had and he knew it."
Timeline: third season sometime
Chapter One/Three
It was just another day for Maurice Boscorelli and his parther Faith Yokas as they patrolled on the Upper East Side. So far it had been a quiet shift, nothing out of the ordinary going on and it was nearly Christmas so apart from that, they had no problems. Faith yawned as she turned the RMP into the next street, Bosco watched her with interest then looked out the window. He was the kind of person who got bored very easily. "So..do you have presents for the kids yet?" he asked trying to get some conversation going.
"Most of them," Faith answered while keeping her eyes on the road ahead. "But I don't really have the time so I've left Fred with that job. Besides," she continued calmly. "He seems to know what Charlie and Emily want more than me."
"Well…" Bosco said quickly. "I got some great gifts for them." He gave her a grin. Faith glanced to him then visibly tensed up. He didn't hesitate to notice this action. "Something wrong Faith?"
"Nope," Faith answered not looking back at him, slowing down as she approached a cross walk.
"Oh yeah?" he asked unconvinced. "Then why are you so tense?"
"I'm not tense."
"Fred not delievering the goods," he carried on with an amused expression.
"I am not tense," Faith said.
Okay, Bosco decided watching his partner carefully. It wasn't anything to do with not getting any sexual activity but it was certainly something to do with Fred, he opened the window and leaned an arm on it once it was down. His eyes ticked down to the steering wheel. "Yes you are," he replied, her hands holding the wheel so tight that her knuckles were turning white. "Look at your hands, if you hold that steering wheel any tighter it'll be…"
"Shut up Bosco," Faith said choosing to ignore him, she carried on driving once the people had crossed the road and the lights had changed.
"Talk to me Faith."
"It's nothing."
"Hey if it bothers you," he said gently. "Then it must be something."
"Just quit it Bosco," Faith replied getting increasingly annoyed.
"No I won't, now spill it." Bosco stared at her, he knew she would crack sometime and tell him. She was his best friend and Bosco wanted nothing more than to know she was all right, Faith always forgot that sometimes he knew her better than she knew herself and this was one of those moments. "I'm waiting."
Faith started praying for a call to come through, anything that would change the subject. Perhaps if Bosco had the chance to shoot someone, or call someone a jag-off then maybe it would make him forget all about this. Bosco didn't enjoy this silence at all.
"Is Fred hitting you?" he asked, the words leaving his mouth before he was even aware of it.
"What?" Faith asked alarmed.
"Is Fred hitting you?" Bosco repeated, actually meaning it this time. Faith could not believe that he had just asked her that question, surely he thought more of that about her husband and shook her head slowly as if the mere thought of it were absurb.
"Of course not."
"Then what Faith," Bosco said pressing even more. "Something is obviously wrong and I wanna know what the hell it is." How was she going to come out with this, Faith's jaw set and she quickly pulled the RMP over in the first convienant place and killed the engine. Once she had done this, she tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear that had come loose and took a deep breath. Faith turned to him.
"Fred doesn't want you coming round anymore," she finally confessed.
Bosco allowed all this to sink in for a few moments and frowned. "What! Why!"
"I don't know," she said with a small shrug, sitting back and hiding her face behind her hands. This weren't the way Faith wanted to break it to him but he was talking about Christmas and obviously wanting to see Emily and Charlie to give them their gifts.
"Is he drinking again?" Bosco continued like a dog with a bone. Fred had no problems with him before so why suddenly now.
"No it's just…he just doesn't want you coming around anymore."
"I believe he and I need a good talk," he answered defensively, hoping to set things straight between them.
"Bosco…don't go making anything out of this," she said moving her hands from her face and setting them down in her lap.
"No Faith," he said, anger seething just beneath the surface as he finally looked at her. "I need to know why." Faith gave him the exact same look she used on Emily and Charlie when they wouldn't do as they were told but this time, she allowed the look to soften marginally.
"You wanna know why?" Faith asked with a tired expression. Bosco just gave a nod in response. "He thinks you're a bad influence on the kids, especially Charlie."
"What?" he asked for clarification. How could this be possible? "But…but they love me."
"I know that," Faith answered gently.
Bosco swallowed trying to contain his emotions, he felt a combination of anger and sadness. He wouldn't afford to be shut out of Faith's life, or her kids. Sometimes they were the only things he had going for him and he couldn't lose that. This fact made the next question he was about to ask the hardest: "Do they know about it?"
Faith couldn't bear to look him in the eye and chose to look out of her window. "Not yet." Bosco stared at the dashboard for a while and noticed Faith had grown quiet and the silence between them had become extremely tense.
"When did Fred decide this exactly?"
"He picked Charlie up from school and oh the way home someone got in their way," Faith said gently looking back to him with a small smile. "He called the guy a jag-off." The smile faded, she obviously had found it amusing. "Charlie said it and Fred hit the roof completely."
"He could have heard it anywhere," Bosco said then looked out the window to someone absently throwing bricks at their RMP. "Hey jag-off how about I throw some bricks at you? Huh?" he said while making a show of undoing his buckle, the kid soon ran off down the block. "Man I hate kids," he muttered then saw Faith look at him. "Like that little jag-off I mean."
Faith watched him with a sad expression as the realisation dawned on her but that was the thing, she could never remember Bosco using his mouth around her kids. "Yeah," she said quickly. "He probably picked it up from school."
"Yeah," Bosco said quietly. Faith gave him a small smile, she only wished she were as convinced as she sounded. Fred had been so wound up about it that they had spent the entire night arguing and it had come to a close when he refused to have her partner round anymore.
"You guys didn't fight did you?" Bosco asked, although he already knew the answer. Faith straightened up and forced herself not to look at him, the woman didn't need to say anything because Bosco could read her so well. And what's worse, she knew it. "Maybe you could ask for a new partner."
"Why?" Faith asked.
Bosco didn't like this solution as much as he did and normally he came over as selfish and had no consideration for anyone. Faith Yokas, well she was an exception in his book and if her being happy mean him standing down gracefully then that was the answer. "I'm ruining your marriage Faith."
"Of course you're not Bosco," Faith said trying to reassure him and rested her head on the steering wheel, closing her eyes tightly. "I'm doing that all fine by myself."
"Only because you defend me and my actions constantly," he said stating the obvious. "If you get a different partner, I won't be as much a part of your life. Fred will stop bitching and god knows Charlie and Emily don't need their parents separating through any fault of mine." Bosco had never been good with all this honesty crap and he wasn't even sure he was doing a good enough job of it, he reached forward and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Faith."
Faith pursed her lips together tightly and convinced herself not to cry, forced herself not to let the tears fall. She couldn't let Bosco do this, he was her partner and that was all there was to this friendship. They were great friends and she couldn't understand why Fred was threatened by it. "Bosco…"
"Everything will all right once I'm out of your lives," Bosco continued now he was set in that frame of mind.
Faith sat up straight and looked up at him, tears in her eyes. "No it won't," she said angrily. "It won't solve anything." Bosco looked at her with an expression that made her heart literally melt; he slowly removed his hand.
"Please don't cry Faith," he said, he wasn't good with women crying all over the place. Faith tilted her head to one side then looked back out the window; he moved his hand under her chin so she had no choice but to look at him.
"All I am saying is it's better if I'm gone." She shook her head slowly and wiped away the tears she had allowed to fall in her moment of weakness. Faith composed herself and reached for the keys to start the engine. Drawing in a deep breath, she went to speak but was interrupted when they got a call over the radio. They both listened in.
"55 David is on the way," Faith answered calmly then looked to Bosco. "10-52," she said while pulling away. "Sounds like another domestic one."
"Great," Bosco said sarcastically. "My favourite."
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