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: Thanks to everyone for the continued support and feedback - it means a lot, it really does!
"I don't remember getting a call for here!"
Faith eyed her current partner. "We didn't." she replied. "I just need to stop for a few minutes."
Faith parked the squad alongside a curb and left Gusler sitting in it, staring after her. She scanned the field of kids, who were running and laughing, happy that school was out for the day, hoping to catch a glimpse of Charlie or Emily.
As Faith entered the school yard she heard Gusler yell after her, "Hey! What if we get a call?" She turned around and waved dismissively before continuing into the yard.
Faith gazed around at the kids. Several of them stopped what they were doing and stared at her. Faith smiled at them, hoping her presence wasn't making them too nervous.
"Mom?"
Faith whirled around as she heard the questioning voice. Emily stood a few feet away staring at Faith, almost in disbelief.
"What are you doing here?" Emily asked. "I thought you weren't allowed to see us."
Faith smiled at her daughter and felt an almost overwhelming desire to hug her. "I know sweetie." she said. "But I had to see you before you left for your trip."
Emily's eyes bored into Faith's head and she didn't say anything so Faith continued. "Are you excited about going to Disneyland?"
Emily shrugged. "Sure, I guess."
"I really miss you." Faith said, holding back the tears that were threatening to spill over. "I'm so sorry."
Again Emily shrugged. "Everyone's okay." she said. "Isn't that all that matters?"
Faith shook her head and began to reply when another young girl ran up to Emily. She examined Faith and said, "What's up Em. You in trouble with the cops now?"
Emily rolled her eyes. "No, it's my mom."
"Your mom? I thought she wasn't allowed to see you." the girl said as though Faith couldn't hear her.
"Yeah well, she just wanted to say hi." Emily said to her friend. Then to Faith she said. "Look Mom, I gotta go. I promise that I won't tell Dad you were here."
Emily started to leave and Faith called after her. "You don't know where your brother is do you?"
"Check by the swings." Emily said. "He and his friends like to dig holes and stuff there."
Emily and her friend took off across the field and Faith zeroed in on the set of swings in the distance to her left. A group of young boys were crouched down, pushing a toy truck over small dirt hills.
"Charlie?" Faith said as she spotted her son. Charlie looked up and immediately the truck was forgotten as he ran up to her.
"Mom!" he said happily. Faith knelt down and hugged him. "Hi sweetheart." she said as she ruffled his hair.
"Did you come here to arrest someone?" Charlie asked.
Faith laughed. "Nope, not this time!" I came to see you and Em. I wanted to see you guys before you went away."
"I'm already packed all packed." Charlie said proudly. "We get to go on an airplane!"
"You're not scared are you?" Faith asked, her voice filled with concern.
Charlie shook his head and did his best to look brave. "Nope. Dad said that the pilots will shoot anyone who tries to take over the plane."
Faith looked at her watch and then back at her son. "It's 3:30." she said. "You know you're supposed to be home by 4:00."
Charlie frowned. "But I want to stay here with you!"
Faith smiled sadly. "I know sweetie, but you know what? I've got to go. My partner is waiting in the car."
"Bosco?" Charlie's face lit up.
"No, remember I told you that Bosco's in the hospital?"
"Oh yeah." Charlie replied and frowned.
Faith hugged him again and then stood up. "Have a good time at Disneyland." she said and waved to Charlie's friends who were looking at her in awe.
As Faith walked away she heard Charlie say. "My mom has a gun! She can beat up anyone!" proudly to his friends.
___________
Faith unlocked the door and slipped inside the apartment. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw a figure sprawled out on the couch. Moving quickly she flipped on the lights and breathed a sigh of relief when she recognized the person.
Bosco moved slightly when the lights came on but didn't wake up. Faith quietly hovered over him, as though inspecting him for damage. His face was set in a grimace like he was in pain and Faith didn't doubt that he was.
When she'd been by to see him that morning the doctor had told her that they were keeping him one more night. Either they'd changed their minds or Bosco had discharged himself AMA.
Faith caught herself yawning so she moved away from the couch, intending to turn off the lights and head towards the bathroom. Unfortunately as she walked past the table, her foot caught on a chair and when she tried to yank the foot free, the chair came crashing to the ground.
Faith stood very still, praying that she hadn't awoken Bosco. She glanced over at the couch and saw his head peering over the back at her.
"Think you could have made more noise?" Bosco said.
Faith returned the chair to its standing position and went back over to the couch. "Sorry." she said. "I didn't mean to wake you."
"Yeah, so that's why you decided to wrestle with my chair?"
Faith laughed then her expression grew sombre. "I thought you weren't being released until tomorrow." Faith said.
Bosco shrugged. "They had a sudden rush of critical cases. I guess they needed the bed so they kicked me out. Gave me a prescription for painkillers and put me in a taxi."
Faith noticed the pill contained on the coffee table and nodded. "How do your ribs feel?"
"Sore as hell." Bosco replied. "Even with those things." he said, gesturing to the container.
"Why don't you sleep in the bed." Faith said. "It will probably be more comfortable for you than the couch."
"I'm not really sure that I could move right now." Bosco said. "It feels like my chest is going to crack open just when I breathe."
Faith winced as she felt Bosco's pain. "They shouldn't have released you from the hospital." she said. "I'm taking you back there tomorrow if it doesn't get any better."
"I'll be fine." Bosco said. "Just don't move me! Anyway, how was your day?"
"Fine I guess." Faith replied. "I was riding with Gusler."
"He say anything about me?"
"He said he was sorry to hear about what happened... I stopped off at Charlie and Emily's school this afternoon."
Bosco looked surprised. "Did you see them?"
Faith nodded. "Emily just blew me off but Charlie was happy to see me. I had to see them Bos. I couldn't let Fred take them away without at least saying goodbye."
"Hey, he is bringing them back you know."
Faith rubbed her hand across her face. "Sometimes I'm not so sure." she said quietly.
Bosco moved his arm slightly and winced as pain shot through his chest. "I'd hug you." he said. "But I'm afraid I'd pass out."
Faith gave him a small smile. "Thanks Bos. I think I'll head to bed now."
"Watch out for those chairs on your way through." Bosco said. "I hear they can get pretty vicious."
____________
The next day, Faith left Bosco laying on the couch with a large glass of water and his pills beside him. She'd tried all morning to get him to go back to the hospital but he kept insisting that he was okay. He tried to cover up the obvious pain that he was in but Faith could see it in his eyes. She'd left him with specific instructions to either call her or the paramedics if the pain became too much for him to bear, but she knew that she wouldn't hear from him.
As Faith entered the locker room she heard Davis' voice say, "I'm telling you man. I heard from Haggerty in the 32nd that he saw the two of them kissing down at the park."
Sully laughed. "That's impossible Davis and you know it. He was still in the hospital, how could he have been kissing her in the park?"
Faith froze as she realized that Davis was talking about her and Bosco. "Hey, I'm just saying what I know." Davis said. "Maybe they let him out early and Yokas decided to take him to the park for a little R&R."
"You gotta stop putting so much faith in rumours Davis." Sully said. "Because they're just that, rumours!"
Faith decided that she didn't want to hear anymore of that conversation so she loudly banged the door behind her and strode into the room. Davis looked up at her with a somewhat frightened expression on his face and Sully greeted her cheerfully.
"How are you doing?" Sully asked. "I went by to see Bosco this morning but they told me that he'd already been released."
Faith saw Davis shoot Sully a sly 'I told you so' look and she said. "Yeah, they released him yesterday. He said they needed his bed, so they kicked him out."
"He doing okay?" Sully asked.
"I tried to get him back to the hospital this morning. I don't think he got much sleep last night, he's in a lot of pain."
Davis pulled on his jacket and hit Sully on the shoulder. "I'm gonna go to roll-call." he said. "I'll save you a seat." Sully nodded and watched his partner leave.
"Faith," Sully said. "You didn't hear what he was sayin' earlier did you?"
Faith opened her locker and starting taking off her shirt. "I might have." she replied.
"He doesn't know what he's talkin' about." Sully said. "None of them do."
Faith turned around to look at Sully. "It's okay. I mean, I know that I wasn't makin' out with Bosco in the park yesterday."
"That's not all they're saying." Sully said.
"Do I want to know the rest?" Faith asked as she did up her vest.
"Probably not." Sully replied. "I know you've had a rough couple of weeks." he said. "If you want me to talk to Lieu about getting you a few days off..."
Faith shook her head. "I'm fine. Besides, I've already got Thanksgiving off. Fred and I were planning on taking the kids to my mom's but now..."
Sully nodded and put a hand on Faith's shoulder. "Say hi to Bosco for me." he said. "You'd better get moving. Christopher's gonna use your ass for target practice if you're late."
"He's in a good mood today I take it?"
"Oh, he's in fine form." Sully replied and left the locker room.
Faith finished getting dressed and then hurried to the roll-call room where she found Gusler had saved her a seat. She only half listened to the cases that were on the board and barely heard Swersky when he told her to remain behind.
As the rest of the cops shuffled out of the room to collect their radios, Faith approached Swersky. "Yokas." he said. "Why don't we talk in my office."
Faith nodded, a sick feeling coming over her. She followed him to his office, ignoring the questioning stares of the other officers. "Have a seat." Swersky said as he closed the door to his office.
Faith sat down. "Yokas. I was hoping that I wouldn't have to bring this up, but I've been getting reports from some of the other officers regarding some questionable behaviour as of late."
"What are you talking about?" Faith asked, hoping that he hadn't heard the rumours as well, even though that was highly unlikely.
"There have been reports that you and Officer Boscorelli are involved in a, well, a less than professional relationship."
Faith groaned and wanted to go and bury her head in the sand somewhere. Instead she said, "I'm aware of these rumours Lieu and I can assure you, there is nothing going on between myself and Bosco!"
"But you are living together."
Faith nodded. "He offered to let me stay until I could find a place of my own. That's it. I was not kissing him in the park yesterday."
Swersky's eyebrows lifted. "Oh? I hadn't heard that one."
Faith stared at him. "What did you hear?" she asked, hoping that she wasn't sounding too insubordinate.
Swersky coughed. "Let's just say it involved you and him and a backseat."
Faith felt her leg twitch and she stomped her foot. Swersky looked at her as though he were afraid she was going to kick him. "Let's just forget about it." he said. "How is Boscorelli doing?"
"He's home from the hospital." Faith said. "But he's still in a lot of pain."
"Tell him not to come in until he feels up to it." Swersky said. "He'll be on desk duty or lock up for a while though."
"Yes sir." Faith said and moved to stand up.
"One more thing Yokas. You're down for having Thanksgiving off, you still okay with that?"
Faith thought briefly about saying that she'd work that day but then found herself nodding. "Yeah, that's fine." Maybe she would make herself and Bosco a nice dinner that day.
"You're dismissed. Go join your partner, he looks ready to piss his pants out there." Faith looked through the window and saw Gusler standing in the hall looking anxiously in at her.
As Faith left the room, Gusler handed her a radio. "I picked one up for you." he said. Faith affixed it to her jacket. "Thanks Gusler, you ready to roll?" she asked.
He nodded then asked, "What did Swerksy say to you?"
Faith pushed open the door and stepped outside. The cold air bit at her face and she breathed in. "Nothin'." she replied. "Hey, you want to drive today?" she asked.
Gusler looked at her as though she'd suddenly sprouted another head. "Are you serious?" he asked.
"Sure. You gotta drive sometime, why not start today?" Faith tossed him the keys and tried not to smile as he missed catching them and they landed with a clang at his feet.