We've been partners for so log, so I guess I shouldn't be so surprised that she came to me and asked to be my partner again, even after I almost got her killed.. I remember the last words I said to her that day...
"You're the only one, Faith I don't have anybody else"
It was true.. I didn't have anyone else that I could turn to, I only wish I had seen it before... before I became obsessed with getting involved with A/C... Faith had seen it all along, she had tried to warn me but I was too bullheaded to listen to her, I guess I had been listening to her for so long, her words just became irrelevant to me, just went in one ear and right out the other. It was because of me not listening to her that nearly got her killed, I don't think that I will ever live that down, I will always carry the guilt, I guess that is why I never asked Swersky to put us back together I don't think that I could face her again, I didn't deserve her trust, her friendship, hell I didn't deserve her, the only think that is going to come out of this is her getting hurt again and I don't think that I could live though that again
I guess I don't have a choice now... Looking over in the passenger seat I see Faith sitting there playing with her nails, a nervous habit she has always had when we don't have anything to say to each other.. or in this case we just don't know what to say to each other. It's been a quiet night so far, a few domestics here and there, a Break and enter that turned out to be a kid crawling though his window when he became locked out and a nosy neighbor who couldn't mind their own business... I turn my attention to the road as my mind searches for questions to ask her....
"So, how's Fred and the kids?"
She jumps slightly at the mention of her husbands name.. ever since the shooting they grew tighter, Fred wouldn't let me near her again.. and he had every right to, I mean I nearly killed his wife and the mother of his kids...
"The Kids are allright I guess, Em is driving me insane with her cell phone.. her friends always contact her with those Text messages.. and she has this ring on it that every time she gets a message it beeps and it drives me insane... Charlie is growing way too fast for my liking.. he is going to be thirteen next month and already I am trying to figure out how the hell I am going to afford a party for him this year... he wants to go out to that Go Kart place.... And Fred... well Fred is Fred..."
Her voice catches in her throat as she said his name.. something is wrong... should I ask? Or would that leave me facing her wrath and a snappy remark about me minding my own business... I decide against it and let the question slip past my mind.. but I know that there is more that meets the eye there... I know Faith better than I know myself sometimes.. there isn't something right in the Yokas household, making a mental note to myself to ask that question later if I have the chance I turn into the parking spot for one of our favorite diners for our meal.
55
Our meal passed us by way to quickly.. well actually we were ripped out of it by a distress call.. I hate getting a 10-13 over the radio.. it always means that one of us is in trouble and it was Addams and Knightly who were in trouble.. they were in the middle of a bust when the John pulled a gun on them and shot Addams.. both suspects got away but not before Knightly winged him with a good shot to his shoulder, so now we were looking for a couple of males, one with a gunshot.. if he was stupid he would show up at Mercy and save us all the trouble but alas nothing... Faith and I were first on the scene when we got the call (just because it was it was two streets over from the diner we were eating at) Faith and I took David and escorted Holly and Grace to Mercy with Addams in the back, they got him pretty good, from what I saw they shot him once in the chest and again in the belly, I heard Grace say something about a sucking chest wound.. that didn't sound good so they had to get him to Mercy and fast so we offered a full escort to get him to Mercy...
Swersky came up behind us as we watched them work on Addams.. we had been in the academy together, Faith myself and Gerry, Gerry and I were always in competition with each other for everything that we did.. who could run faster, who could climb higher, and there was Faith.. right behind us, so pissed off about us teasing her that she outran both of us on the final run, laughing at us as we tried to catch up to her...
"You two interested in some overtime? We need to catch who did this to Addams"
Faith without missing a beat agreed to pull a double and I was right behind her, we both wanted to find who did this.. and if I got to them, we if we got to them first they had better pray to some higher deity that Faith finds her cool somewhere because I will kill him for doing this to my friend...
55
I look at the clock on the dash and blink a couple of times when I read that its only 2am... we have 5 more hours go... I sigh and decide that I had better get more caffine into my system or I am going to tell Faith to start ducking calls so I can grab a nap...Looking over at Faith I laugh softly to myself as I see that she beat me to the punch and is cat napping against the window.. it takes me back to the days where we worked the first watch... Faith was still a new mom by then and with Fred drunk all the time she had to watch the kids when she was at home with them and well with a 2 year old and a 6 year old it makes it kinda difficult to get some decent sleep in.. trust me I didn't envy her one bit.. so whenever we were quiet like this I would drive and she would nap with her head pillowed under her arm, against the window.
Finding a Drive thru, I pull up and order two coffee's making sure that they get Faith's right.. she gets all cranky when they make it wrong, I am almost tempted to add an extra shot of milk in there just because I want to hear her voice.. I don't care if its complaining but the sound of it is soothing to me. Pulling the coffee through the window I open mine and take a sip, the smell fills the car and beside me a sleepy Faith stirs from her slumber against the window... Hearing her sigh I hand a coffee over to her, she takes it with a sleepy thanks and we are off again, looking for the jag-off who shot Gerry.
Drinking this coffee isn't doing much for helping me stay awake, Faith looks over at me and sees me rubbing my eyes..
"Do you want me to drive Boz? You're too tired to continue.. I should be fine for a while.."
Pulling into an ally I get out and slump into the passenger side of the car as Faith slides behind the wheel, letting my head roll back against the back of the seat I sigh and feel Faith look over at me.. I can feel her eyes burning into me as I sink deeper into my seat
"Takes us back to working the first watch huh?"
I had to laugh because she just said what I was thinking earlier when I saw her sleeping against the window I laugh softly to myself and marvel how we can think what each other is thinking and say it before the other one does... I guess when we have been partners for so long I know what she is going to do before she does it... and the same with me.. just last week we caught a weenie wagger Faith knew exactly when to pull me off of him... we both hate perverts like that especially when they were flashing children, we both get emotionally involved when it comes to kids... both of us hate seeing bad things happen to them, but I think that it effects Faith worse than I do because she is a mother, for me I guess its because I don't ever want a kid to see what I did when I was growing up...it forces them into growin up too fast.
"All units in the 5-5 respond to a report of the shooting suspect heading south on 112 and Arthur"
Faith sits bolt upright as I realize that we are sitting three streets south of there... I get out of the car and park myself on the side of the building, sure enough I see a figure runnin our way so I back into the ally where we had parked and wait, watching as he gets closer and getting ready to pounce.. Faith is behind me, her gun drawn, I know that she will have my back if I miss... but then again I have never missed, but I am seeing new shades of red as I see Gerry bleeding on the ground, with a cry of rage I leap out at the Skel and nail him bang on, taking him to the ground, he cries out in surprise and turn him over to see that he his shirt is bloodstained at the shoulder and he grimaces and yells in pain as I pull him over.
"AHHHH WATCH THE SHOULDER PIG!"
Pig?? Oh no he didn't!!
I cant hold back now as I pull back my arm and wail on him, seeing nothing but Gerry being loaded into the bus, Holly holding her hand on his wound, blood everywhere and now I have the word Pig resounding in my ears...
"...ts enough Bosco, stop, that's enough BOSCO ENOUGH!"
I feel Faith pulling me away from the now bloodier heap of crap quivering on the sidewalk beside me as I lean up against the wall, Faith pulls him to his feet and cuffs him, leading him back to the waiting RMP she shoves him in the back and after the beating he just took from me, he wasn't going to show any resistance for fear that she might let me loose again. Breathing heavily on the hood of the RMP I have my head hung low, exhausted after releasing such energy on the asshole who just called me a pig.. I always get tired after delivering a beating but tonight it's a little worse.. it could be because I haven't had any sleep yet...
"Boz?... Boz are you allright?"
Faith puts her hand on the side of my face and I can't help but smile as she gently pulls my face up to hers, the warmth of her palm feels nice on my cool skin, closing my eyes I relish in this brief show of affection, since she came back there hasn't been too many of those, but thank god things are starting to get back to normal in David. I nod and climb into the passenger seat of the car, slamming the cage as I hear the sniveling from behind me, vaguely remembering a promise to give him something to cry over if I heard another sniffle out of the backseat, the sniveling stops aside from the occasional sniffle. Faith takes her radio and calls into Central telling them that we caught the suspect and we are on the way back to the house with him.
We get him back to the house and I look at the clock, its 3:30, I start with the processing and get the sorry sack of dung that shot Gerry into a holding cell while we process his prints, its doesn't take long because we get a rap sheet as long as Lady Liberty, so that makes it easier for us to put him away, the Sarge comes up to us and tells us that just because we caught the Jag-off doesn't mean we get to go home early...and then I get a good look at the Sarge... its Christopher... shit.. no wonder he is being so anal about it, I guess the final nail in that coffin was when Faith and I got trapped in that basement with a wounded Doc and Christopher tried to cover it up... well after what Sully told the Chief he has been shoved on permanent nights until he can "redeem himself", I haven't seen him since then. The clock on the wall now says 4:30am and Faith and I wont get off to 7 when the second watch comes in.
55
"That's it.. I cant do this anymore.. Faith we're ducking calls I don't care if we have to lie about where the hell we are... I will puncture a tire if I have to but we...."
"shhhhh you had me at Ducking"
"Hey that's my line"
"Yeah well I can use it cant I? Were partners after all"
I laugh and curl up against the window of the RMP drifting silently in a light slumber as I hear Faith turn off the RMP I look up and realize that she parked under our bridge, I sigh and close my eyes while Faith reads her book by the light of the lone street lamp that illuminated her side of the RMP leaving mine in darkness.
"Faith?"
"Yeah Boz?"
"You mentioned the kids earlier when I asked you how everyone was doin... you never mentioned Fred.. are you two allright? I know you well enough to sense that something isn't right there.."
my voice trails off and slowly I see the book start to lower as Faith looks ahead to the waterfront. And then I see the lone tear streak down her cheek, she tries to conceal it by quickly wiping her eye but I know that there is defiantly something amiss here, reaching across the seat I place my hand on her knee.. that is when I hear the sob...
"Faith what happened?"
"He's gone Bos... the night your brother died.. he took the kids and he left me... leaving no note to say where he had gone to.. only that he would call me when he was established... he never told me where he took the kids... and then I got a phone call lastnight from him, tellin me to meet him at that diner over on 104th, I asked him to come home.. I begged him to come home with the kids, and I tried explainin why I had to do this, why I needed to be a cop, that it was part of who I was and that I had never turned my back on the family.. we have... had been together so long.. I told him that I still loved him, that we were supposed to be a team... Bos... "
Faith is full out crying now.. it breaks my heart to see her in such pain...
"That's when he told me that he had met "someone" Bos.... He admitted that he had cheated on me.. but I didn't find out anymore because I cleared off the table and he paid the bill.. well more like threw money on the table and walked out.. I haven't heard from him since then."
Her head falls forward as her shoulders shake with her sobs.. I knew that things were a little cool in the Yokas household but I had no idea that her coming back would tear her family apart like this.. I knew that her and Fred were close when she got shot.. he never left her side for a moment, taking care of her when she needed support, kept her safe.. tried to convince her to take disability but Faith wouldn't have it.. she wanted to be on her own, she needed to come back.. and coming back to me.. no wait demanding to come back to me, to ride in David, well I guess that is what put the final nail into the coffin that was the Yokas marriage, it was the whole Rebecca thing that put it in the ground.. and now Faith was sting here beside me underneath our bridge, falling apart at the seams..
"I'm sorry Bosco.. you have enough in your life without my worries.. I didn't mean to dump this on you"
Dump it on me? For Faith I would go to the ends of the earth and jump off the highest cliff for her... I would rather die than see her hurt in anyway..
"Faith don't you ever think that you cant tell me anything.. I am your partner Faith.. I have always been there for you... I will always be there for you.. its ME Faith I am not just some schmo that walked in off the street.. you can tell me anything and I will listen to you.. offer advice...I...."
I cant say it... I cant bring myself to tell her what I really feel.. Damnit Maurice why the hell cant you say it.. you have said it tons of times.. but then again that was in a room by yourself while you lay awake at night in the darkest hours when sleep eludes you.. you can only think of her..
"you what Boz?"
Faith's voice causes me to turn shades of red that I don't think that I have ever turned before and for some reason I am glad that its night, and that the light is on her side.. I cant bring myself to tell her.. but I have to.. she isn't going to leave me alone until I tell her.. taking a deep breath.. its now or never.
"Faith... I have been your partner for almost 13 years... I have seen you pregnant.. I have seen you cry, laugh, I have seen you at your best and worse.. and there is no person that I respect more than I respect you, what Fred did to you was wrong and I don't think that ever I would have ever seen it coming... especially takin the kids with him and leavin in the middle of your shift.. but with him leaving know this.. I will always be there by your side Faith, if you need someone to be there with you in court, I will be there, if you need someone to talk to in the middle of the night because you cant sleep, I'll be there, if you need anything, anything at all Faith, you call me and I will be there.. I will be there Faith because I love you and I hate to see you hurt like this.."
I blurt out the last part of that speech so fast I don't think that she even heard it.. but judging by the way her head snapped up and looked at me she did...
"What did you just say Bosco?"
"Faith I am sorry.. I had to say it.. its all that I could say... and its true... I have always respected you and the only thing that kept me from revealing how I truly felt was Fred.. I knew that you were married and I wouldn't do anything to ruin that but now that he's gone I had to tell you... I should have waited..."
Silence fills the car as I lean my head against the window and close my eyes.. hopefully I will have dreamt all this.. that I just didn't say what I said... but if I did I had better figure out a way to fix it and fast.. the last thing that I want to do is ruin what I have re-built between us..
The beep from Faith's watch causes me to open my eyes and look at my watch its 7:00.. finally we can go home... and right now I think that I should go home.. shoot myself in the head for shoving my foot in my mouth like that and then never come out to see the light of day again. Faith starts the car and we make our way back to the house riding in silence.
Faith pulls into the parking spot at the house and gets out of the car, leaving me sitting in silence. I knew that I should have kept my mouth shut... instead I came out and said what I truly felt.. in a way I felt better about saying it but Faith's reaction to my confession squashed that good feeling that I had earlier about catching Gerry's shooter. Getting out of the RMP I run into the house, keeping on Faith's heels, I need to keep an eye on her but then I also have to make sure that I stay my distance.. that is if I don't want to get hurt, seriously hurt, catching up to her in the locker room I open my locker and barely have time to pull on my shirt before Faith walks past me and out the door, shit that isn't a good sign at all, pulling my shirt over my head and shoving my uniform in my gym bag I run out the door after her.
She isn't anywhere to be found but I know that she is walking so she couldn't have gotten far.. the train stop that she takes is three blocks away, starting my mustang and closing my eyes at the familiar sound of the engine roaring into life I put it into gear and take off looking for Faith.
I find her walking quickly down to the station, her head down and then I catch her hand reach up and wipe her left eye, pulling up beside her I reach over and honk the horn at her while trying to roll down the window, she looks up at me and then keeps walking.
"Faith get in, you've been up to long, you need to get some sleep, get in the car, I will take you home."
Realizing that I am right she reluctantly gets into the car, she closes the door and I take off for her apartment, at least I am assuming that she still lives there. Pulling up to the front gate of her building she takes off her seatbelt, she still hasn't said a word to me and I cant take this silence anymore, reaching over I place my hand over her arm, fully prepared to receive any blow that she may throw my way but instead I hear her take a sharp breath as she turns around towards me.
"Faith.. I'm sorry... I didn't mean to do this to you.. I didn't mean to tell you so soon after finding out about Fred... but it just came out.. I'm sorry... but please talk to me... Faith I cant stand having this silence between us.."
My heart jumps when I see her hand slide off the door handle and sits back in the seat and sighs.
"Bosco... what you said to me I never would have expected to hear coming from you.. I mean you have had so many girls.. I mean so many that I heard about, that you saying that to me took me off guard.. I am so confused right now but there is one thing that I have had the chance to think over, I see that you are my best friend Bosco.. you have always been my best friend, always looking out for me when I needed someone you were there.. you always had my back and hell you even put me in my place as many times as I have put you in yours... did you wanna come up for a coffee or somethin?"
I park in her space.. hell Fred isn't going to be usin it and turn off the car smiling as she gets out and closes the door behind her, making sure that the car is locked I run after her as she holds the door open for me. Opening the door to her apartment I couldn't hold back the gasp... I had been in here so many times and this time it didn't even look like her apartment.. the couch was the only piece of furniture left in the living room.. the entertainment unit was bare save for a small TV on the stand, the stereo system is gone.. the kitchen set is gone too. I couldn't help it, I walk through the apartment and the sights that meet my eyes makes my jaw drop, the kids rooms are empty there is nothing on the walls.. nothing save some old posters on the closet door... the beds are missing there are no clothes lying on the floor.. there is no desk in the corner of the room.. nothing.. there are all the marks on the carpet marking out where everything had been... looking across the hall into the other bedroom I see the same thing.. there is no bedroom set.. all of Faith's clothes are there in a lonely dresser and that's it there is nothing left.. he took everything.. I don't know why but I stuck my head into the bathroom.. there was only one toothbrush by the sink next to a freshly opened tube of toothpaste, there was a new bottle of shampoo in the shower.. and an empty drugstore bag in the trashcan.... Good lord he took everything that he could think of down to the bar of soap.. I knew this because there was a new one sitting on the side of the sink. Turning back to the living room the first thing I do is hug Faith.. I don't know why I did it.. but it seemed like the most natural thing in the world to do
"Faith.. god I am so sorry you have to go through this.. where have you been sleeping"
"The couch"
"you cant stay here... you need a bed.. you can use the spare one in my place... you cant keep sleeping on the couch it isn't good for you..."
I don't get to finish my sentence because I am too taken with Faith, she had put her hand on the side of my face, the soft flesh of her palm against my cheek felt like I was being touched by fire.. closing my eyes I lean my cheek into her palm, without realizing it I bring my hands up to her face and placing one on each side I bring my face in closer until I feel the soft brush of her lips over mine, I hear her breath catch in her throat at the same time mine did, the moment my lips left hers I felt her head move closer to mine again as she kisses me full on the mouth, I hear her moan softly under the kiss as I feel the electric shocks run over my body. I feel her pull away from me and her breath is ragged and short as she whispers in my ear..
"Bosco... I love you too... I just never realized it..."
I felt her arms wrap around my waist as she lays her head on my shoulder... pulling her closer I breathe in the scent of her hair.. it smells like apples... and I silently thank god that Faith loves me back.. I don't think that I could take another rejection from her.. pulling her to the couch I wrap her in my arms and with her head still resting on my shoulder she falls asleep and I pull the blanket over us and follow suit..