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, I have nothing you'd want.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Faith develops a rather unusual ability.
Faith looked up from the newspaper as the locked clicked and the door opened. Surprise registered on Fred's face when he saw his wife sitting on the couch. "Faith, baby, it's only 9:00, why are you home?"
Fred hung up his jacket and moved across the room closer to Faith. "What the hell happened to your face?"
Faith folded up the newspaper and tucked it down the side of the cushion. "I got hit by a door at work today, so they gave me the day off."
"Did you go to the hospital? I mean, I'm not doctor but that looks pretty bad."
"Bosco took me to the ER. Don't worry Fred, I'm fine. They gave me a CT scan and everything checked out."
Fred's face darkened a bit. "Was it Bosco that hit you with the door?"
Faith sighed and nodded. "It was an accident, he didn't know I was behind it."
Fred scowled and made his way over to the fridge. "The kids in bed already?" he asked, pulling open the door and peering inside.
"Emily's listening to music and Charlie's reading." Faith stood up and went into the kitchen with Fred. "You, umm, you got something in the mail today." she said and placed a hand on her husband's back.
Fred jerked his head up, hitting it on the freezer door. "Did you open it?" Fred looked at his wife and rubbed the back of his head. Faith slowly nodded.
"Baby, I can explain." Fred said.
Faith crossed her arms and leaned against a counter. "I'm listening."
_______________
Faith pulled open the door to the locker room and ran inside. "Here she comes to save the day!" Bosco sang to himself as she entered the room.
"You're late." Bosco said out loud. He was straddling the bench and cleaning his gun.
"You always say that Bos, but you're still sitting in here too!"
"I was waiting for you. I wanted to ask you if you'd talked to Fred about the um...thing."
Bosco holstered his gun. "Just say penis enlarger you moron. You can say the word penis, it's just Faith." He smiled and looked at Faith expectantly.
Faith made a low noise in her throat that sounded suspiciously like a growl. "Yeah, I talked to him about it last night. Not that it's really any of your business."
"What did he say?" Bosco stood up and straightened his gun belt out. The handcuffs jangled a bit as he moved the belt around.
"You really want to know?"
"Sure."
Faith pulled her vest over her head and fastened the straps. "He said that he bought it because he was worried that he wasn't 'satisfying me' any more. I'll admit it's been a while since we've...been intimate and I guess he was kind of freaking out."
Bosco nodded his head. "I wonder if those things really work." He glanced down at his crotch. "Not that I really need one." He smirked and continued nodding his head.
Faith felt her face flush at that particular thought of Bosco's. "So anyway, I told him that it really wasn't necessary." she said and buttoned up her blouse. "It's not him, it's me."
Bosco groaned. "You didn't really tell him that it's him, it's you, did you?"
"Yeah, why?"
"That's such a crock!" Bosco exclaimed. "That always means that it's actually the guy's fault!"
Faith twisted her hair up and slid the barrette through it. "No, it actually is me! I just haven't been in the mood for a while. It's got nothing to do with Fred not satisfying me. Fred of course, thinks it's because I'm never home and I spend all my time with you or something ridiculous like that."
Bosco raised his eyebrows, "Score one for team Bosco!" he thought triumphantly and was about to say something aloud when the door to the room opened and Swersky stuck his head in. "Boscorelli, Yokas! What the hell are you two doing? You missed roll call!"
"Sorry Lieu!" Bosco called out. "We're running a little late today!"
"I want to see you two in my office ASAP!" The door slammed shut.
"Great." Bosco griped. "Probably more hooker patrol. You look terrible by the way."
Faith a ran over her face. There was a large purplish bruise on her cheek. "I know, I tried to cover it with makeup, but nothing was working."
"You sure you're okay to work today? I mean, that was a pretty hard knock you took yesterday. Just tell Lieu you're feeling dizzy or something."
"Bos, I'm fine. Let's just get out of here, talk to Swersky and find out what our punishment is going to be."
______________
So far Faith's day had been pretty terrible. She could barely look her husband in the eye in the morning, she had been late for work and to top it all off, she and Bosco were put on foot patrol for the day as punishment for being late and missing roll call.
"Dammit, I really need new shoes!" Bosco's mind was screaming in pain.
Faith looked over at him and noticed that his limp was growing more pronounced with each step he took. "Your feet bothering you Bos?"
Bosco looked up at her and winced. "Yeah, my shoes are breaking down inside and they're killing me. I think I have a blister the size of one of those Himalayan mountains on my heel."
"Let's stop, sit down for a while." Faith suggested and they walked a few more feet until they reached a bench on the sidewalk. Bosco sat down with groan.
"Why don't you just buy new shoes?" Faith asked.
Bosco brought one leg up and began taking off his shoe. "I don't have the money! My car's still sitting in the shop, waiting for the parts on order to come in, and I've been using my neighbour's toilet or holding on until I get to work. I have to fix those things before I can think about paying for new shoes!"
He set the shoe down on the bench next to him and pulled the sock off his foot. "Oh that feels good." he thought and wiggled his toes around.
Faith cocked her head and noticed the angry, red blister that had popped up on his foot. "Ouch." she said and Bosco shot her a glare.
"Ouch doesn't even begin to describe this!"
Faith sighed and looked around. "Look Bosco, there's a shoe store the next block over. Just put your shoe back on and I'll buy you some new shoes."
"She's kidding right? She can't afford to buy me new shoes." Bosco looked perplexed.
"Are you serious?" Bosco asked and rubbed the arch of his foot.
"I'm serious. You need new shoes. If we don't do something, you're going to be crippled before the end of this shift."
Bosco pulled the sock back on and winced as he stuffed his foot back into the shoe. "She wants to buy me shoes!" he thought happily and Faith sighed inwardly.
______________
"Yikes lady, what happened to your face?" A small child looked at Faith and scrunched his face up. Faith smiled at the kid and then winced. Smiling made her face hurt. "Did you get hurt when you arrested a bad guy?"
"Yeah something like that." she replied.
The child smiled at her. "I bet you're a real good cop. My daddy doesn't like cops, but I do. They're our friends. That's what they told us at school."
"Speaking of school, why aren't you there?"
"My mommy's taking me shoe shopping!" the child exclaimed gleefully. "So I don't have to go to school today!"
"Where is your mommy?" Faith glanced around the shoe store and noticed a young woman a few aisles over. "Is that her over there?"
The child nodded. "Yup, that's her."
"Maybe you should go over there with her. She might get worried if she can't see you." Faith suggested. She just wanted to get rid of the bothersome kid.
"My mommy doesn't care. She knows that I won't go anywhere or talk to strangers."
"I'm a stranger. You're talking to me."
The kid looked at Faith as though she were the stupidest being to ever crawl the earth. "You're a police officer. I can talk to you! Is that your partner over there?"
Bosco was standing in front of a mirror, checking out a pair of shoes at all angles. "Yeah, that's my partner." Faith replied.
"I saw a show once, about two police officers." the kid said. "They were a man and a lady just like you two."
"That's nice." Faith shifted her weight over to the other foot and tried not to sigh.
"And you know what?"
"No, I don't know what."
"They were in love!" The child looked at Faith seriously. "Are you two in love?"
Faith resisted the urge to roll her eyes, sling the child over her shoulder and deliver the little brat to his mother. Bosco had been listening to the conversation as he admired himself in the mirror and he was apparently very interested in hearing her response.
"In love?" Faith repeated. "It depends on what love is, I suppose." she said, hoping that answer would confuse the kid enough that he wouldn't push the issue.
The child bit his bottom lip and nodded. "On the show, the man and the woman kissed a lot. Do you kiss him a lot?"
Bosco coughed and pulled another pair of shoes off the shelf. Faith's eyes widened. "Uh, no. I don't."
"Oh, okay." The kid looked almost disappointed. "I'd better go see my mom. She might need help picking out a pair of shoes for me!" He ran off down the aisle.
"Nosy kid." Bosco said. "What do you think of this pair?"
Faith looked down. "They look fine Bosco. You must have tried on a hundred pairs already."
"I wonder if she does love me."
Faith continued to stare at Bosco's feet. She was wondering the same thing.
_______________
With Bosco's new, rather expensive, shoes the rest of the shift passed relatively quickly and painlessly. They sat in the locker room, not really having anything to talk about. Bosco, of course, was babbling away but he didn't know that Faith was listening in.
"Thanks again for the shoes." Bosco said, breaking the silence. "I really appreciate that."
"No problem." Faith replied. I just won't be eating for the next month, she added silently.
"So, uh...have you got all the decorations and stuff for Charlie's party yet?"
"Not quite. I have a few balloons and streamers but we still need to get a banner and candy for the goody bags. It's still a few days away, there's no rush on it."
Faith sat up and grabbed her jacket from her locker. Bosco was debating on whether or not to invite her for a drink. If he asked, she'd have to say no. She needed to go home to Fred tonight, whether she actually wanted to or not.
"You up for a drink tonight?" Bosco pulled on his own jacket and looked at Faith.
Faith shook her head. "I think I'd better take a pass on that one Bos."
"Right, she's probably gotta go home and bang Fred." Bosco looked faintly ill.
"Maybe tomorrow night. I had a nice time when we went the other night." Faith said, hoping to make Bosco feel better and get him to stop thinking of her and Fred.
"She had a nice time? Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"
"You're a great dancer." Faith continued with what she'd been saying. "We should dance again."
"Yeah okay." Bosco half smiled and then zipped up his jacket. "I should get going. Hopefully my cabbie tonight isn't the same one I had this morning."
"Get another crazy one?"
"I think they're all crazy, but this one smelled bad. Kind of like a combination of old gym socks and smoked meat." Bosco said.
Faith wrinkled her nose. "That's kinda disgusting."
"Tell me about it. So yeah, I'll see you tomorrow." Bosco pushed open the door and waved to Faith before leaving.
With Bosco gone, a blissful silence settled over the room. She breathed in and exhaled slowly, trying to get herself relaxed before she had to go home and face Fred.
______________
Faith unlocked the door to her apartment and pushed it open. As she stepped inside, a pair of arms wrapped themselves around her. "Hey baby." Fred whispered and nuzzled her ear.
Faith disengaged herself from Fred's arms and looked around the apartment. There were lit candles everywhere and a bottle of wine, with two glasses was on the coffee table. "The kids are staying with Mrs Hall tonight." Fred said and tried to kiss her. "I thought maybe that we could..."
Oh God no! Faith's mind screamed at her. She tried to think up a viable excuse for not wanting to be with Fred, but nothing was coming to mind. "What's wrong baby?" Fred asked. He was getting frustrated with her obvious lack of enthusiasm.
"I'm just really tired tonight Fred."
"God dammit Faith! You're always tired!" Fred looked a bit peeved.
"Bosco and I were on foot patrol today." Faith replied. "So I was on my feet all day."
Fred tried to kiss her collar bone but Faith pulled away. "Then you'd better get off your feet." Fred replied and took her hand. "Sit down on the couch. I'll rub your feet for you."
"Fred I..."
"You what?"
Faith stood rooted on the spot, staring at her husband. "I can't do this." she said quietly.
"Can't do what? Sit down?"
"No, I can't be with you right now. I'm going to bed." Faith didn't even look at Fred before she ran down the hall and slammed the bedroom door.