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 thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed this fic. It was my first Third Watch fanfic and your support means so much to me! Thanks!! :-)
Bosco banged loudly on the door. Faith stood behind him, her breathing was fast and erratic. The door to the apartment next to Fred's opened and an elderly lady stuck her head out. "There was a lot of yelling in there earlier," the woman said, "I was going to call the police but then it stopped, so I didn't bother."
Bosco looked at the woman, his hand poised to knock again. "Go back inside ma'am."
The woman narrowed her eyes at Bosco. "I think the man in there drinks. You should probably call the police."
Bosco banged on the door again, this time louder. "We are the police ma'am!" Faith said. "Now please got back into your apartment!"
The woman sniffed a bit and then closed the door. Bosco reached behind to his back and drew his gun from the waist of his jeans. Faith's eyes widened but Bosco looked at her reassuringly. He reached out and twisted the doorknob. There was a soft click and the door swung open.
Inside the apartment all the lights were off. Bosco stepped cautiously inside. "The living room is empty." he said and Faith followed him in. A recliner was in the corner, surrounded by empty bottles. Fred had kicked Johnny Walker's ass again.
Faith stepped towards the hall, her shoe squishing on the carpeting. She looked down and saw a large wet area and two dead fish. A glass aquarium was illuminated in the glow from the streetlight. It was shattered.
Faith felt her own gun pressing against her waist and with a trembling hand, she drew the weapon. She was prepared to shoot the father of her children if it came down to that.
"They must be in the bedrooms." Bosco whispered, sliding up against Faith. "Does Fred own a gun?"
"Not before. He might now." Faith whispered back. She tried to steady her shaking hands.
Together they moved down the hall and approached a door. Large block letters proclaimed it to be Charlie's room and to keep out. Faith recalled Fred bragging on the phone how their new place had three bedrooms.
Faith turned the doorknob and pushed the door open. Wishing she had brought a flashlight, she squinted into the darkness. A rather large lump on the bed moved ever so slightly. Bosco stood behind Faith - he saw the movement as well.
Faith moved towards the bed. Her foot accidentally hit a stack of books and they came crashing to the floor. The lump under the covers flinched. Faith reached out and pulled the covers back. Instantly small feet began kicking her and Charlie started screaming.
Faith gasped as Charlie landed a kick on her stomach. Bosco had moved in and was trying to grab the flailing child. "Charlie, it's mom!" Faith said, drawing in a deep breath.
Charlie stopped moving and his screams ceased. Bosco held onto him. "I thought you were dad!" Charlie wailed and he began to cry.
"Mom? Bosco?"
Faith turned to see her daughter standing in the doorway, holding a baseball bat in her hands. She dropped the bat and ran towards Faith. Faith grabbed her and hugged her.
"Sweetheart, where's your father?" Faith asked, brushing Emily's hair back from her face.
Emily shrugged. "He left about an hour ago. I think we was going to buy more whisky. He told me and Charlie to stay in our rooms and to not answer the door. I heard you knocking but I thought it was dad, and he locked himself out."
Faith closed her eyes for a moment and then opened them to look at Bosco. He was looking back at her, his arms still around her crying son. "Charlie, Em, you guys need to pack a bag. Take some clothes and your toothbrushes." Faith said, "Let's get you out of here."
While the kids packed their bags, Faith turned on the lights in the apartment and looked around. The place was trashed. The Christmas tree lay on its side, the ornaments smashed on the floor. Faith drew in a shuddering breath and felt Bosco move in behind her.
"He will be punished." Bosco whispered into Faith's ear.
Faith nodded. "I know he will."
Charlie and Emily appeared, clutching their backpacks in their hands. Emily stepped over the ruins of her aquarium and took her brother's hand. Faith smiled at them, and then the four of them left Fred's apartment.
_____________
"Yes, I understand. I'll be right down." Faith hung up the phone and looked at Bosco. He raised his eyebrows.
"What was that all about?"
Faith ran a hand through her hair. It was tangled but she didn't care. "That was a sergeant from the 12th precinct, they arrested Fred for a DUI about twenty minutes ago. I have to go down there, tell them not to let him out on bail."
"Who would bail him out anyway?" Bosco asked.
Faith shrugged. "He's got friends some place. Maybe Melissa would post bail, I don't know."
"Do you want me to come with you?"
Faith shook her head. "I want to do this alone Bos. Besides, you should stay here in case the kids wake up."
"What do I tell them if they wake up? They're going to want to know where you went." Bosco looked a bit worried.
"Don't tell them anything." Faith replied. "I'll talk to them when I get back. I shouldn't be long."
Faith pulled her boots and jacket back on and taking the keys for the mustang, she headed out the door. She felt exhausted and wasn't looking forward to facing Fred again.
____________
"I'm Officer Faith Yokas from the 55. I need to speak with Fred Yokas." Faith told the desk sergeant. "He was brought in for a DUI not that long ago."
The sergeant nodded. "We spoke on the phone. I'll take you to lockup."
Faith followed the man down a hallway and to the cells. Fred sat in one, his head buried in his hands. Faith felt sick looking at him. The sergeant rattled the bars. "Hey Fred, you've got a visitor!"
Fred looked up and groaned when he saw Faith. Faith stepped towards the cell, her expression was cold. "What the hell do you think you're doing." Faith said, her voice barely above a whisper. "Emily called me, she was scared Fred. She was scared to death of her father!"
"Go away Faith." Fred said. He rubbed his temples. "I don't have to talk to you."
"I should have known that you'd start drinking again. As soon as the going gets tough, you turn to the bottle. What happened this time Fred? You lose your job?"
"Shut the hell up Faith!" Fred said loudly. He stood up and faced her through the bars. "You don't know the first thing about my life!"
"If you couldn't handle it Fred, you should have called me! If you couldn't handle being a father to our children, you shouldn't have taken them away from me in the first place!" Faith fought to control the tears that were threatening.
The sergeant stood impassively listening to the drama that was unfolding in front of him.
Fred grabbed the cell bars with his hands. His eyes were glassy and he stank. Faith almost stepped back, but she held her ground. "I'm not bailing you out Fred." she said quietly. "You're staying in here. You can die and rot in here for all I care."
"Melissa left me."
Faith blinked and looked at Fred. "What?"
"Melissa, my girlfriend. She left me. Said that I wasn't good enough for her and she left me Faith."
"That's why you started drinking again?"
Fred sighed. "I don't know Faith, probably."
Faith shifted her weight to her other foot. "Am I supposed to feel sympathetic for you now? Because your girlfriend got a clue and left you? It's not working Fred."
"God damn you Faith! I didn't mean to scare the kids! I wasn't thinking, I was just..."
"Drunk out of your mind?" Faith supplied. "Bosco and I went the apartment Fred. I saw what you did to the place."
"Go away Faith." Fred said softly. Faith continued to stare at Fred. "I said go away!" Fred roared. Faith took a step back and the sergeant touched her on the shoulder.
"Maybe we should go now." her said. "We can talk at the desk."
Faith nodded mutely and followed the sergeant back to the desk. Fred sat back down on the bed in his cell and placed his head back in his hands.
______________
"The kids are still asleep. I checked on them a few minutes ago." Bosco said as soon as Faith entered the apartment.
Faith threw off her jacket and sat down on the couch. Bosco joined her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "What happened?" he asked softly.
Faith shrugged. "He'll stay in jail for a while. Then there will be a court hearing and I'll be granted temporary custody of the kids. If Fred goes to rehab and gets cleaned up, they'll be another custody hearing and then..." Her voice trailed off.
A tear rolled down Faith's cheek and she wiped it away angrily. "I should have done something earlier. I should have known this was happening. Fred blames his drinking on Melissa leaving him."
"it's not your fault Faith." Bosco pulled her towards him, wrapping her up in his arms. "For all you knew, the kids were happy and safe with him. You shouldn't have to doubt him all the time. He should have been more responsible."
Faith sniffled and buried her face on Bosco's shoulder. A sob wracked her body and Bosco gently rubbed her back as though she were a small child that he was soothing. "It's over now Faith." he murmured. "You can start over again, and we'll do it together."
Faith's body shuddered and Bosco pushed her hair back and kissed her neck. He continued to kiss her, occasionally murmuring things in her ear until she stopped crying. Then he held her as she fell asleep. He listened to her slow, steady breathing for a while before nodding off himself.
_____________
"Can we have some champagne?" Emily looked at her mother hopefully.
"Yeah mom, can we?" Charlie piped up, also looking at Faith with a hopeful expression.
Faith looked at her children and then over at Bosco. He was smiling and shrugged. "I don't see why they can't have any, mom."
Faith shot Bosco a mock glare. "Fine, but only a little bit. You two are hyper enough without it!" She took two small glasses from the cupboard and poured a small amount of champagne into each.
Charlie and Emily took the glasses and while Charlie hesitantly sipped at his, Emily tossed it back and handed her glass over to Faith. "Can't I have a bigger glass?" she asked. "I'm not a baby like Charlie."
Charlie scowled at his sister. "I'm not a baby!" he said loudly.
"Oh yeah? So that's why you cried when Donald Duck didn't hug you at Disneyland?"
"I wasn't crying because of that! I was crying because a bee stung me!"
Faith laughed and shook her head. Bosco was sitting at the kitchen table with an amused expression on his face. He was still getting used to having kids around, but for the most part, he was doing okay.
"How much longer is it until midnight mom?" Charlie asked and then yawned.
Faith looked over at the clock on the wall. "Ten minutes." she replied. "Do you want to turn on the tv and watch the ball drop?"
"I don't see why we didn't just go to Times Square in the first place." Emily muttered. "All my friends were going."
"Emily, we've been through this before, we'll go to Times Square next year. I wanted us to stay home this year." Faith said with exasperation. Charlie put his glass down and ran over to the tv and turned it on.
"Turn it up!" Emily called over to her brother. Charlie turned up the volume and the sounds of orchestral music filled the apartment.
"Turn it down!" Faith yelled. "It's too loud now!" Charlie turned down the volume, just a bit.
Bosco got up from his chair and stood next to Faith. He held a glass of champagne in his hand and took a small sip. "Good champagne." he commented.
"Should be, it cost close to fifty bucks. You could have gotten the cheaper stuff, I wouldn't have cared."
"It was worth it." Bosco said and hugged Faith.
Emily had sat down in front of the tv and was trying to see if she could spot any of her friends in the huge crowd. "Em, I don't think you'll see anyone you recognize." Faith said to her daughter. "You probably have a better vantage point of the celebrations right where you are now."
"I don't care." Emily replied, not taking her eyes off the screen. "I still want to be there."
Faith sighed. Charlie was also staring at the screen with his sister. "It's a bit like Where's Waldo." he said. "I'm good at that. Who are you looking for Emily?"
Emily reached over and shoved her brother away. "Go away. Go bug mom and Bosco."
Charlie made a face at his sister and abandoned the tv. "Can I have more champagne mom?"
Faith shook her head. "No, but you can have some grape juice and pretend it's champagne."
Charlie didn't look impressed but went to the fridge and pulled the juice out. He filled up a tall glass with it and then went back over to his sister. "Look at how much I got Emily!" he said, holding up his glass.
"That's grape juice moron. It doesn't have bubbles."
Bosco laughed and Faith sighed again. They stood together and watched as the countdown in Times Square began. The ball dropped and he grabbed Faith and kissed her. "Happy New Year Faith." he said and smiled at her.
Emily pushed Charlie and his juice spilled onto the carpet. Faith ignored it and kissed Bosco back. "Happy New Year Bosco, I hope you enjoy your new life!" she said and as the fireworks began in Times Square, Emily hit Charlie with a pillow and Faith and Bosco held each other close.