Testing Faith
By CeraMac24
CHAPTER ONE
SEPTEMBER 25TH, 2002
This is the day that it began. I will try to remember everything exactly as it happened. I owe it to you, see, because once the trial starts, the facts may be twisted and stretched so much that the truth will become unrecognizable, even to me. You deserve the truth, for I am unsure of how it will be told later on. Rest assured that this is the actual account of what happened and how I got to be here.
One side note, before I start, is to please keep an open mind. We are all humans and we make mistakes. Some can easily be forgotten, others, not so much. This will, without a doubt, change my life forever. Nothing can go back to the way that it was. And for that, I am truly sorry.
************************************************************
Coming back from vacation is like slowly ripping a Band-Aid off an old wound. It is painful and agonizing, but sooner or later the pain wears off and you are back to your normal routine. Well, I can officially say that I was at the beginning stage of this process. Fred and I had just come back from a week's stay at a bed & breakfast in West Chester, Connecticut. Emily and Charlie had stayed with my mother. Fred and I were off to enjoy seven days of uninterrupted bliss. I had never felt so pampered in my entire life. I had almost begun to forget the dirty dishes, unpaid bills, and all around hectic existence we had left behind in the city (and at my mothers).
Don't misunderstand me, please. My kids are my life and I would do anything for them. Everyday I put on a uniform and risk my life to give them a better world. One not filled with guns, drugs, lies, and deceit. If I could make their world one big bowl of sugar, I would. They are the two most important people to me in this world.
Anyways, so before Fred and I knew it, the week was over and back to New York we came. (The Band-Aid ripping begins.) And off to work, I went.
I walked through the front doors of the precinct, plowing head on into Swersky.
He recovered first. "Faith! Welcome Back!" he said.
"Hey Lieu. It's good to be back." I lied.
He grinned. "I'll bet it is."
He caught me, and I smiled. "See you during roll call." I said and started to head back towards the locker room.
"Wait!" he said. I turned around.
"I got you a new partner."
"Already?"
"Yeah, with Bosco gone, we could afford to take a transfer. I think you'll like him. Sully's got him today, with Davis being off. He starts with you tomorrow."
"What's his name?"
"Mitchell." Lieu said. "Officer Guy Mitchell."
************************************************************
I have to stop here to reflect on something. I always thought that when you first hear of a person that ultimately changes your life, you'd feel it in yourself, somewhere. Something goes off inside of your head, whether it be a feeling of caution or comfort. Looking back, I don't remember any such feeling when I first heard his name. Not even when I finally met him. And since then, I have always wondered why.
************************************************************
"Officer's Yokas and Mitchell, stick around for a minute." Swersky said at the conclusion of roll call. All the officer's emptied out of the room leaving myself, Lieu, and one very tall, very young, stranger.
"Faith Yokas, I want you to meet Officer Guy Mitchell. He transferred from the force in Rochester. We're lucky to have him." Lieu said. Mitchell held out his hand, which I politely took. In this frame of two seconds, I studied this man who would be my partner. He was tall, over six feet, and had a great build, broad shoulders with nice arms. His face, however, was the most intriguing part of him. His dark eyes were filled with mystery and wonder. He smiled at me and I realized that this was his weapon. He had the most unbelievable charm. I pulled my hand away and spoke.
"It's nice to meet you." I said.
"The pleasure is all mine, really. Lieutenant Swersky has told me nothing but wonderful things about you, Officer." He smiled.
Damn, he's good.
"All lies, I'm sure." I said. Lieu came around from the podium and stepped between Mitchell and me.
"Faith, you don't give yourself enough credit. Only you would have been able to put up with Boscorelli all those years!"
"I heard that!" By some coincidence, Bosco had walked by the door as Swersky said those words. I found it very amusing.
"Ahh," Swersky said, waving off Bosco with his hand and turning to walk out the door. "I KNEW you were out there!"
"Whatever," I heard Bosco say.
Lieu had gone, leaving just Mitchell and myself alone in the roll call room - together.
"Go out with me tonight." he said.
"Excuse me?"
"Well, I figured since we're going to be partners, I thought we should at least make some type of effort to get to know one another."
I remember thinking how stupid it was that I thought he was making an advance on me before. Clearly, I thought at the time, he just wanted to get to know his partner. I felt foolish. I let out a small laugh.
"I'd love to, but I already have plans tonight. It's girls night out on 56th and 8th. Besides, we'll have plenty of time for life stories tomorrow during down time."
He seemed to accept this explanation. "You better get going." I said. "You don't want to make Sully wait for you."
He gave me a small nod and left the room. I picked up my hat and jacket from the desk that I had been seated at and walked out of the room myself.
I ran into Bosco out in the hall after meeting with Lieu and Mitchell.
"Faith!" he called after me.
I smiled at the sound of his voice and turned around. "Hey yourself."
"I heard that you were back today."
"One of your informants up in Anti-Crime?"
"Are you ever gonna to stop?" he asked.
"I doubt it. You'll come to your senses sooner or later and realize that you had it good down here with me." I joked.
"Yokas-." His smile was gone. I hated it when I pushed a joke too far with him.
"Bos, I'm kidding."
He looked down. "I know. I just don't want you to feel that this has anything to do with you. You're not the reason I left. This is just something I have to try out. No regrets, remember?"
"I said that, didn't I?" I recalled the night he first told me about the full-time position opening up. He and I both knew that he was great at the job, and he needed to take this opportunity or he would always wonder what could have been. I had told him that a life full of regrets was no life at all. (You should take your own advice, Faith.)
"Listen," Bosco said, pulling me back to reality. "I have a message from Jesse, in case I saw you before she did. She says to tell you that, in celebration, it's girls night out tonight and that you two are to meet those Bucket Brats at some bar on the corner of 56th and 8th after the shift."
"Yeah, I ran into her in the locker room and she mentioned something about it. She was running late, so she couldn't finish. What's the celebration for?" I asked. We started to walk over to where I got my radio.
"My crazy sister and her friends have entered some stupid beauty pageant."
I took my radio and laughed at the mental picture Bosco placed in front of me. "This 'aughta be great fun!"
I said good-bye to my ex-partner, placed my hat firmly on my head, and walked towards the RMP to begin my day. It had been a long time since I had gone solo. Perhaps it wouldn't wear me out on my first day back.
************************************************************
After the shift, I was changing in the locker room with the rest of the crew when it started. Being a woman, I should have sensed trouble right away. He had walked up behind me, and tapped me on the shoulder.
I turned around, surprised at how close he was. He had something between his fingers. He held it out to me.
"I think you dropped this." Mitchell said.
It was my locket from Fred that had been waiting for me when we got to our room at the bed & breakfast. The inside showed a small picture of the two of us and then one of Emily and Charlie. The front of the locket was engraved with our wedding date. I took the locket from him and our hands touched, briefly. I looked up to find him staring intensely into my eyes. I was taken aback. Suddenly, I realized that this was happening in front of my co-workers. Everyone must be staring, I thought. I wanted to make it stop, but I didn't know how. I was frozen in place.
I think that Jesse noticed how extremely odd this situation had become, because she got up, walked over, and took hold of the necklace in my hand, breaking the spell.
"Did Fred give you this?" she asked, in a loud voice, examining the locket.
"Uh, yeah." I managed to get out. My face felt very flushed. Guy had walked back to his locker and proceeded to get undressed. I don't remember any of the other faces in the locker room. They might have been paying attention or they might not have been. All I remember is Jesse going on and on about the locket and it's aura of romance.
"Oh, your wedding date is engraved on the front! How romantic!" she exclaimed. She opened it, revealing the two pictures. "Man, you guys are one hell of a family."
I managed a weak smile. She purposely was going a little overboard, but I did nothing to stop her. I wasn't sure what had happened back there, but I do know that at that moment, I never wanted to find out.
By CeraMac24
CHAPTER ONE
SEPTEMBER 25TH, 2002
This is the day that it began. I will try to remember everything exactly as it happened. I owe it to you, see, because once the trial starts, the facts may be twisted and stretched so much that the truth will become unrecognizable, even to me. You deserve the truth, for I am unsure of how it will be told later on. Rest assured that this is the actual account of what happened and how I got to be here.
One side note, before I start, is to please keep an open mind. We are all humans and we make mistakes. Some can easily be forgotten, others, not so much. This will, without a doubt, change my life forever. Nothing can go back to the way that it was. And for that, I am truly sorry.
************************************************************
Coming back from vacation is like slowly ripping a Band-Aid off an old wound. It is painful and agonizing, but sooner or later the pain wears off and you are back to your normal routine. Well, I can officially say that I was at the beginning stage of this process. Fred and I had just come back from a week's stay at a bed & breakfast in West Chester, Connecticut. Emily and Charlie had stayed with my mother. Fred and I were off to enjoy seven days of uninterrupted bliss. I had never felt so pampered in my entire life. I had almost begun to forget the dirty dishes, unpaid bills, and all around hectic existence we had left behind in the city (and at my mothers).
Don't misunderstand me, please. My kids are my life and I would do anything for them. Everyday I put on a uniform and risk my life to give them a better world. One not filled with guns, drugs, lies, and deceit. If I could make their world one big bowl of sugar, I would. They are the two most important people to me in this world.
Anyways, so before Fred and I knew it, the week was over and back to New York we came. (The Band-Aid ripping begins.) And off to work, I went.
I walked through the front doors of the precinct, plowing head on into Swersky.
He recovered first. "Faith! Welcome Back!" he said.
"Hey Lieu. It's good to be back." I lied.
He grinned. "I'll bet it is."
He caught me, and I smiled. "See you during roll call." I said and started to head back towards the locker room.
"Wait!" he said. I turned around.
"I got you a new partner."
"Already?"
"Yeah, with Bosco gone, we could afford to take a transfer. I think you'll like him. Sully's got him today, with Davis being off. He starts with you tomorrow."
"What's his name?"
"Mitchell." Lieu said. "Officer Guy Mitchell."
************************************************************
I have to stop here to reflect on something. I always thought that when you first hear of a person that ultimately changes your life, you'd feel it in yourself, somewhere. Something goes off inside of your head, whether it be a feeling of caution or comfort. Looking back, I don't remember any such feeling when I first heard his name. Not even when I finally met him. And since then, I have always wondered why.
************************************************************
"Officer's Yokas and Mitchell, stick around for a minute." Swersky said at the conclusion of roll call. All the officer's emptied out of the room leaving myself, Lieu, and one very tall, very young, stranger.
"Faith Yokas, I want you to meet Officer Guy Mitchell. He transferred from the force in Rochester. We're lucky to have him." Lieu said. Mitchell held out his hand, which I politely took. In this frame of two seconds, I studied this man who would be my partner. He was tall, over six feet, and had a great build, broad shoulders with nice arms. His face, however, was the most intriguing part of him. His dark eyes were filled with mystery and wonder. He smiled at me and I realized that this was his weapon. He had the most unbelievable charm. I pulled my hand away and spoke.
"It's nice to meet you." I said.
"The pleasure is all mine, really. Lieutenant Swersky has told me nothing but wonderful things about you, Officer." He smiled.
Damn, he's good.
"All lies, I'm sure." I said. Lieu came around from the podium and stepped between Mitchell and me.
"Faith, you don't give yourself enough credit. Only you would have been able to put up with Boscorelli all those years!"
"I heard that!" By some coincidence, Bosco had walked by the door as Swersky said those words. I found it very amusing.
"Ahh," Swersky said, waving off Bosco with his hand and turning to walk out the door. "I KNEW you were out there!"
"Whatever," I heard Bosco say.
Lieu had gone, leaving just Mitchell and myself alone in the roll call room - together.
"Go out with me tonight." he said.
"Excuse me?"
"Well, I figured since we're going to be partners, I thought we should at least make some type of effort to get to know one another."
I remember thinking how stupid it was that I thought he was making an advance on me before. Clearly, I thought at the time, he just wanted to get to know his partner. I felt foolish. I let out a small laugh.
"I'd love to, but I already have plans tonight. It's girls night out on 56th and 8th. Besides, we'll have plenty of time for life stories tomorrow during down time."
He seemed to accept this explanation. "You better get going." I said. "You don't want to make Sully wait for you."
He gave me a small nod and left the room. I picked up my hat and jacket from the desk that I had been seated at and walked out of the room myself.
I ran into Bosco out in the hall after meeting with Lieu and Mitchell.
"Faith!" he called after me.
I smiled at the sound of his voice and turned around. "Hey yourself."
"I heard that you were back today."
"One of your informants up in Anti-Crime?"
"Are you ever gonna to stop?" he asked.
"I doubt it. You'll come to your senses sooner or later and realize that you had it good down here with me." I joked.
"Yokas-." His smile was gone. I hated it when I pushed a joke too far with him.
"Bos, I'm kidding."
He looked down. "I know. I just don't want you to feel that this has anything to do with you. You're not the reason I left. This is just something I have to try out. No regrets, remember?"
"I said that, didn't I?" I recalled the night he first told me about the full-time position opening up. He and I both knew that he was great at the job, and he needed to take this opportunity or he would always wonder what could have been. I had told him that a life full of regrets was no life at all. (You should take your own advice, Faith.)
"Listen," Bosco said, pulling me back to reality. "I have a message from Jesse, in case I saw you before she did. She says to tell you that, in celebration, it's girls night out tonight and that you two are to meet those Bucket Brats at some bar on the corner of 56th and 8th after the shift."
"Yeah, I ran into her in the locker room and she mentioned something about it. She was running late, so she couldn't finish. What's the celebration for?" I asked. We started to walk over to where I got my radio.
"My crazy sister and her friends have entered some stupid beauty pageant."
I took my radio and laughed at the mental picture Bosco placed in front of me. "This 'aughta be great fun!"
I said good-bye to my ex-partner, placed my hat firmly on my head, and walked towards the RMP to begin my day. It had been a long time since I had gone solo. Perhaps it wouldn't wear me out on my first day back.
************************************************************
After the shift, I was changing in the locker room with the rest of the crew when it started. Being a woman, I should have sensed trouble right away. He had walked up behind me, and tapped me on the shoulder.
I turned around, surprised at how close he was. He had something between his fingers. He held it out to me.
"I think you dropped this." Mitchell said.
It was my locket from Fred that had been waiting for me when we got to our room at the bed & breakfast. The inside showed a small picture of the two of us and then one of Emily and Charlie. The front of the locket was engraved with our wedding date. I took the locket from him and our hands touched, briefly. I looked up to find him staring intensely into my eyes. I was taken aback. Suddenly, I realized that this was happening in front of my co-workers. Everyone must be staring, I thought. I wanted to make it stop, but I didn't know how. I was frozen in place.
I think that Jesse noticed how extremely odd this situation had become, because she got up, walked over, and took hold of the necklace in my hand, breaking the spell.
"Did Fred give you this?" she asked, in a loud voice, examining the locket.
"Uh, yeah." I managed to get out. My face felt very flushed. Guy had walked back to his locker and proceeded to get undressed. I don't remember any of the other faces in the locker room. They might have been paying attention or they might not have been. All I remember is Jesse going on and on about the locket and it's aura of romance.
"Oh, your wedding date is engraved on the front! How romantic!" she exclaimed. She opened it, revealing the two pictures. "Man, you guys are one hell of a family."
I managed a weak smile. She purposely was going a little overboard, but I did nothing to stop her. I wasn't sure what had happened back there, but I do know that at that moment, I never wanted to find out.