Author: Kate Anderson
Email: sam_loves_jack@yahoo.ca
Disclaimer: The characters are not mine! They belong to Edward Allen Bernero and John Wells and um, some other people! No money is being made from this work. Don't sue!
Rating: PG-13, just be on the safe side
Pairing: Bosco/Faith, UST - eventual romance
Spoilers: None, I think (??)
Summary: After a criminal attempts to attack Faith's kids, Faith finds that her life is changing.
Author's Notes: A huge thanks to everyone who's given me such great feedback!
You want to drive or shall I?" Faith asked as she and Bosco got a cart at the grocery store.
"You can drive." Bosco said.
Faith and Bosco had finished at the police station and Faith was assured that the guy would be kept behind bars. They had then headed for the nearest store to pick up some things.
As they strolled up and down the aisles, Faith began to notice Bosco throwing an inordinate amount of junk food in the cart. "Hey Bos, what's say we get some real food." Faith said and attempted to put the bag of chips back on the rack.
"No way." Bosco said and threw the chips back in the cart. "You gotta have chips and stuff when you're watching movies."
"Watching movies?" Faith parroted.
"I was thinking that maybe tonight we could just rent some movies. You know, have a movie night."
"Movie night?"
"Are you just going to repeat everything I say?" Bosco asked, feeling a little frustrated.
"No." said Faith. "I just never pegged you as the type of guy to have a movie night."
"I happen to like watching movies, just so long as they aren't chick flicks."
Faith shrugged and quickly pushed the cart out of the snack aisle. Bosco ran after her with a bag of cheezies in one hand and licorice in the other. Faith slowed down once she reached the cleaning supplies aisle. "Hey Bosco." she said, picking up a tub cleanser. "Ever hear of this stuff?"
Bosco chose not to dignify that question with an answer and mutely watched as Faith tossed the cleanser in the cart. "I can't keep my eyes closed indefinitely in the shower." she said.
It took them another twenty minutes in the grocery store and soon they were loading bags into the trunk of Bosco's car. "There's a corner store just down the road from my place." Bosco said. "They rent movies there. I thought we'd stop there on the way back."
"Sounds fine to me." Faith said. "We can't take a long time in there though, the frozen stuff will melt."
"It's freezing out here Faith. I don't think that stuff has a hope in hell of ever melting."
"You'd be surprised." Faith replied.
____________
"I can't believe that I let you talk me into watching this movie." Bosco said, looking disgusted at the screen. "What does she see in that guy?"
"Shhhhh!" Faith hissed. "It's just getting to the good part."
"I knew we should have rented the other one." Bosco said, not really caring about the good part.
"God, you're just like Fred!" Faith said.
Bosco wasn't sure if he should be insulted or upset that he reminded her of Fred. Wisely deciding to keep quiet, he tried to turn his attention back on the tv screen but instead found himself looking at Faith out of the corner of his eye. She looked fairly relaxed and at least the movie seemed to be making her happy.
Bosco sat and fairly twiddled his thumbs for another thirty minutes before the movie ended. Faith smiled and got off the couch, stretching her back. She reached down to pick up various bowls and glasses from the coffee table but Bosco put a hand on her arm. "I'll get those. You look beat, why don't you just head to bed." he said.
Faith looked at him gratefully. "Night Bos." she said and headed towards the bathroom.
Bosco grabbed the bowls and put them down on the kitchen counter. They had almost polished off the bag of chips and the bag of cheezies. Bosco looked into the bowls and decided their contents weren't worth keeping, so he dumped them into the trash.
After he'd collected the glasses and loaded everything up into the dishwasher, he returned to the couch and flicked through a few channels before stopping on ESPN and catching up the latest scores. A while later Bosco realized that Faith was still in the bathroom and that the water had been running for quite a long time. He got up and knocked on the door.
"You okay in there?" he asked. The water shut off and he heard a few clunks before Faith's voice replied, "I'm fine."
"You aren't cleaning my bathroom are you?" Bosco asked.
The door opened and Faith's face appeared. "It was truly disgusting Bos. I realize that you're a guy and guys don't care if their shower has streaks of dirt running down the tiles, but if I have to be here, it's gonna be clean."
"I was going to get that done tomorrow." Bosco said. "Before I go into work."
"Well, now it's done and you don't have to worry about it." Faith said with a note of satisfaction in her voice.
"Besides." Bosco said. "I thought you were going home tomorrow."
Faith's eyes clouded over a bit and she shrugged. "Doesn't seem to be much point in going home if there's no one to go home to. Like you said, the place is a mess. I'm gonna have to clean it up sometime and talk to Fred. He can't afford a place that like with just his salary either, so I don't know what we're going to do."
"You're welcome to stay here as long as you like."
"You sure I'm not cramping your style?" Faith asked. "Because I know how embarrassing it would be to bring home a girl only to find me asleep in your bed."
Bosco shrugged. "Who needs a bed? I've got a couch and besides, it's closer to the door."
Faith looked almost horrified and Bosco had to laugh. "Don't worry." he said. "I promise, no chicks while you're here."
Faith rolled her eyes. "You'd better get back to your scores." she said. "Don't want you to miss anything important." And then she shut the door again.
____________
It was two days later and Faith's last day off work. Bosco came home and found her on the phone yelling at someone, presumably Fred.
"I called because I thought we should talk!" Faith yelled. "Not to get into a screaming match!"
Faith held the phone a distance away from her ear and Bosco tried to go about his business, pretending that he couldn't hear every word Fred was saying.
"I've been gone, what three days now Faith and you're already shacked up with that jag-off partner of yours?!" Fred yelled.
Faith cast a glance in Bosco's direction. "I'm not shacked up with him as you so eloquently put it." Faith hissed. "I'm just staying here until I can figure out what the hell I'm supposed to do with myself."
"Yeah, you keep saying that Faith." came Fred's reply. "I'm not sure I believe you."
Bosco grabbed a can of soda from the fridge and headed for the couch. On the coffee table lay a pile of papers. Bosco picked them up. Divorce papers, already signed by Fred.
"You can't do that to me Fred!" Faith said, her voice trembling. Bosco hadn't heard what Fred had said before, he must have lowered his voice. "Can I at least talk to them?" Faith asked sounding a bit pathetic.
Bosco turned on the tv but kept the volume low, partly so Faith could talk on the phone and partly so he could hear what was going on. "Hi sweetie." he heard Faith and knew she was talking to one of her kids. "How are you doing?"
Bosco suddenly felt bad for listening in on Faith's conversation with her kids and turned the volume up louder. He turned around and looked at Faith, hoping that the increase in volume wasn't bothering her. She didn't seem to notice.
Finally Faith hung up the phone and joined Bosco on the couch. "Whatcha watchin'?" she asked. Bosco shrugged. "Not much. Just flipping around."
"Have a good day at work?"
"You actually think I could have a good day while babysitting some kid who thought it might be fun to become a cop?" Bosco replied.
"Gusler that bad?"
"He gets nervous about directing traffic Faith. That kid can't do anything! I need someone out there who's not afraid to grab the perps by the nuts and throw 'em around a bit."
"I'm back tomorrow."
Bosco looked towards the pile of papers on the table. "You wanna talk about it?" he asked. "You and Fred seemed to be in fine form tonight."
"He's suing me for full custody of the kids Bos. Can you believe that? Plus, he says he's keepin' the apartment."
"After all that happened there? How's he gonna pay for it?"
Faith shrugged. "Says the kids need at least one stable factor in their lives, he doesn't want to pull them out of their school."
"That guy's a certifiable whack job Faith. He can't keep you away from your kids forever."
"I miss them." Faith said. "He let me talk to them, briefly. Charlie said he wants me to come home. You wanna try telling an 8 year old why his mother isn't coming home?"
"What did Em say?"
"She was a little more reserved. I think she does blame me for what happened." Faith said with a sigh.
"You wanna do something tomorrow before our shift?" Bosco asked.
"Like what?"
"I don't know. Head down to the waterfront or something. Just get away from it all for a while."
Faith smiled. "You know what Bosco, I think that's the nicest offer anyone's made to me for a long time now."
___________
It was a sunny day, cold, but sunny. Faith was sitting on a park bench while Bosco threw stones into the water. "Aren't you gettin' cold just sitting there?" he asked.
"My toes are getting a bit numb." she replied.
"Let's walk." Bosco said.
Faith stood up and the two of them began to walk. "Bos?" Faith said.
"Yeah?"
"I just wanted to thank you for being so supportive the last few days. You've been great. I promise that I'll start looking for a place of my own soon."
"No rush." Bosco replied. "It's kind of nice to have someone else in the apartment for a change.
"You mean someone you haven't tied to the bed?"
"Hey! I resent that implication Faith." Bosco said. "Seriously, you're welcome to stay as long as you want."
"You sure?"
"Let's see, in three days you've cleaned my entire apartment, kept my kitchen well stocked, and mended the holes in my shirts. What's not to like about having you around?"
Faith laughed and then checked her watch. "We'd better get heading over to the station." she said. "Lieu wanted to talk with me before roll call."
"Yeah? What about?"
"Ah, he didn't say. Probably just wants to make sure that I'm alright before sending me out into the streets."
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine! I just want to get back to doing my damn job. I'm tired of sitting around your apartment all day sewing up your ratty shirts."
Bosco threw Faith a glance and then started to head back towards the car.
___________
"You wanted to see me?" Faith asked as she entered Swersky's office.
"Yokas." Swersky said. "It's good to have you back. How you been holding up?"
"I'm fine Lieu. Just anxious to back out there."
"Boscorelli's been a real pain the ass these last few days. It's a relief to have you back. I have no idea how you manage to put up with him all day."
"It's an acquired skill." Faith replied.
"You sure you're ready to be back out there?" Swersky asked, looking directly at Faith.
"I said I was anxious to get back out. I'm fine."
Swersky nodded. "Well, you'd better get changed. Roll call's in ten."
Faith left Swersky's office and headed for the lockers. "Faith!" called Sully as she entered the room. "Good to have you back."
Faith smiled and looked around. "Bosco not here?" she asked.
"Been here and left. Must be eager to be back with his partner." Sully replied.
Faith opened her locker and took off her sweater. She reached for her vest and put it over her head. "Hey Yokas!" called another voice, one that Faith recognized at Ty Davis'.
"Davis." she said with a smile.
"Glad someone's back to whip Bosco's ass back into line." Davis said.
Faith pulled on her blouse and buttoned it up. "Was he really that bad?" she asked.
Sully and Davis nodded. "Worse." Sully replied.
Faith grabbed her jacket and hat. "No need to worry about him anymore." she said and left the locker room.
Faith entered the room and spotted Bosco already seated a desk. She sat down next to him. "This has to be the first time you've ever been early for roll call." she said teasingly. "I wanted to talk to you down in the lockers, but Sully said you'd already left."
"What about?" Bosco replied.
Faith opened her mouth to speak but then Christopher walked into the room. "Yokas, back so soon?" he asked. "I would have thought you would have taken more time off, considering what happened."
"It's my job." Faith replied, gritting her teeth.
"Seeing as how you're the only that can keep Officer Boscorelli here in line, it's good to have you back. One more day without you and Bosco would have found himself riding a desk or doing lock up."
Faith leaned closer to Bosco. "Geez Bos, what did you do while I was gone? Everyone seems to be after your ass."
Bosco rolled his eyes. "Nothin'." he replied.
The rest of the third watch shuffled into the room and orders were given. Bosco and Faith were told to patrol their sector as usual. As they headed for the RMP Faith asked. "So you really aren't going to tell me what went on while I was stuck at home?"
Bosco shook his head. "Nope." he said and opened the driver's door.
"Okay. Have it your way." Faith said and sat down in the passenger's seat. "Central, this is 55-David, we are 10-98."
"10-4 55-David." came the reply and Bosco began to drive.