Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Third Watch. And any opinions expressed by them in this story are in no way a reflection of the people that do own them.
Authors Note: Thanks again for all the reviews. Here's the chapter that you've been waiting for...Bosco at the Pink Parrot. Enjoy.
Previously in this story: Sully gives out false information to Cruz, which sends Bosco undercover to a gay bar. Faith learns that Ty's girlfriend has been arrested. She also learns that Cruz is behind the complaints that got her suspended.
~Chapter nine~
Bosco pulls into the parking lot of The Pink Parrot. He wore the toughest looking outfit that he had, and of course, a baseball cap and sunglasses. He watches the door to check out the clientele that is going into the bar. Most of the guys going in look normal. No one is holding hands or anything...but they seem to be walking a bit too close to each other.
He keeps telling himself he has to do this...he is just under cover. He has to prove himself to Cruz. He tells himself this will help his career...and that if someone hits on him...it will blow his cover, if he beats them to a pulp.
He waits nearly a half an hour before he works up the nerve to go inside. His biggest fear is that someone will recognize him...but then, that would mean that they were here also. He heads to the door and walks in. It is so dark that he has to remove his sunglasses. There are about twenty guys in the bar, and they immediately eye him up and down. 'Jag-off fagots...you wish you could have someone as manly as me.' he thinks to himself.
He walks up to the bar and starts to order a Heineken...then reconsiders. The commercial says "grab a heinny". Not sending out that message.
"I'll have a Bud." he tells the bartender, as he climbs onto a bar stool.
How the hell is he suppose to find someone named William, when he doesn't even want to talk to anyone. Everyone seems to be staring at him. Maybe it's his imagination...but...holy shit...that guy is coming over. He looks straight ahead nervously.
A man approaches Bosco and says, "Hi...I've never seen you in here before. My name is Allen. Can I buy you a drink?"
Bosco turns abruptly in his direction, and with a threatening glare he growls, "No! Get the hell away from me you rump ranger."
Allen backs away from him, startled, and raising his hands in a stop motion he says, "Whoa buddy. I'm sorry. I guess I misread you." He turns to walk away but then turns back and offers a friendly warning. "You may not know...being as you're new here...but...most guys come here looking for companionship. Uh...male companionship."
Surprised by how startled Allen was, Bosco realized that he had over reacted and blew his cover. He'll never get information once they know that he isn't gay. Hell, they may run him out of the bar. Cruz's words keep running through his head: "If you want to work ACU you have to learn to turn a situation around...think quick on your feet. If you can't do that...then you'll never be able to work under cover."
Bosco quickly changes his tone. "Hey man I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at ya. I'm...ah...going through a break up...and uh..." He swallows hard. "Let me buy you a drink. To apologize."
He thinks to himself, 'Oh my God...I'm buying drinks for a fudge packer.'
Allen says. "No...that's alright. No hard feelings."
Bosco thinks, 'You got that right...nothing's feeling 'hard' over here. But he says out loud, "No really man. Sit down...let me buy you a drink." He motions for the bar tender to come over.
Allen says, "No that's ok...you probably want to be alone."
"No...have a seat." Bosco says...but he thinks, ' Right. A minute ago you wanted me bad, now you're tryin to play hard to get.'
The bar tender comes over and asks Allen, "What'll ya have?"
"I'll just have what he's got." Allen says.
'You wish.' Bosco thinks to himself.
[Back at the precinct]
Faith looks over the reports that were in Sully's file. One of them is from forensics and it is about the book bag that contained the money found in Sully's apartment. The odd thing is that there were no fingerprints found in the obvious places, and Sully's fingerprints were not found at all. Also not present, were finger prints from the man identified as the bomber.
They did find a partial fingerprint on the inside of a pocket, inside the bag, and it belonged to a guy named Billy Tarnell, a small time criminal, who is known to be a numbers runner for a Bookie named Salvatore Buttarozzi. A post-it note, written by the detectives, and attached to the file, says that Tarnell is in the wind.
Another report that she finds interesting is from the bomb squad, noting that there was no detonator. The explosion was caused by the impact of the truck, into the building. There was an explosive devise attached under the hood of the truck that exploded on impact, igniting the explosives that were loaded in the back. No one could have seen that unless the hood was open. Obviously the camouflaged guys were lying about a detonator.
The notes written by the detectives, seem to indicate that the statements by the young men were in no way accurate and must have been fabricated. The investigation is looking good for Sully.
Faith makes a note that they need to find Billy Tarnell, or at least find out why he fled.
**************
Ty is inside the interrogation room, talking to Jackie. She explains to him through tears what had happened, and that she doesn't know how the drugs could have ended up in her trunk. No one else has a key to her car. But all her tail lights were unplugged. Ty reassures her that he is getting her out. He promises to get to the bottom of what happened, and he will also have a word with the officers that booked her and refused to notify Ty that she asked for him.
Ty leaves her and goes to get Faith. She is at the desk, still looking over the information that she copied from the file, with Gusler hovering around her. Davis asks her if she can come to the interrogation room, so they can talk privately. She asks Gusler to cover the desk for her, and follows Ty to the room.
"I need to get my hands on some bail money and get her out of here." Ty tells Faith.
"Ok. She can wait up front with me, while I start the paper work to get her released."
"Then I'm gonna need to get her car out of the impound. Can you do that for me?" He asks.
"I can do the paper work, but I don't think I can get around the impound fee."
"Ok. I'll get money for that too. Someone unplugged all her tail lights so that she would get pulled over...to insure that the drugs in her trunk would be found. I need to find out who did it and how they got into her trunk."
"I got an idea. I'll put the paperwork in to have the car checked over by forensics. I'll slide it in with all the vehicles that were towed from the shootout and have it charged to Cruz's unit. I have a friend down there. Maybe I can get her car in and out quickly before anyone notices...but she may be without a vehicle for a few days."
"That would be great. Finger prints, tamper marks, what ever they can find." Ty says.
"I found out some stuff too...about Sully's problem. The detectives have actually figured out that the guys we caught, fabricated the story about seeing a detonator. They also found one fingerprint on the book bag from Sully's apartment. It didn't belong to Sul or the bomber."
"Who's was it?"
"A skell named Tarnell. Billy Tarnell. He runs numbers for Buttarozzi. We need to find someone who would know where Billy might be and why he disappeared from the face of the earth."
"You think he's involved?"
"I think...someone rolled him for the money he collected for Buttarozzi. It's money that can't be reported stolen, and somehow it ended up at Sully's place. Now he is in trouble with his boss, so he's in the wind hiding from Buttarozzi...making it all untraceable." She tells him confidently.
"Sounds feasible. We need to find him, and have him tell us who rolled him. Then we'll know who set up Sully."
"Right. Oh...I found out who has been calling in and reporting me. We had a girl in lock-up that filed a complaint against Cruz, for making her and her friends make the calls for her, in exchange for not being arrested."
"It was Cruz that got you in trouble?" Ty says shocked. "There is something seriously wrong with her."
"Yah...can you believe it? Once that girl found out that witch wasn't planning to bail her out of here, she turned on her and confessed to the phone calls."
"I guess you're lucky then, that Cruz is so nasty that she wouldn't bail the girl out of jail, or you'd never have found out."
"True. Good thing I never told Cruz she was here." Faith says, then giggles as she walks away.
[Back at the Pink Parrot]
Allen picks up his beer and tips it towards Bosco. "Thanks."
They sit for a few minutes in an awkward silence until Allen asks, "So...this breakup you're going through...were you together long?"
"Umm...about a year I guess." Bosco is working a cover story through his mind, so he can gain Allen's trust. He will talk about his relationship with 'wild Nicole' but call her Nick. Then he can start questioning Allen about who this William may be. Once he finds him, and who he is meeting, he can get the hell out of here.
"So do you feel that the relationship is really over...or is this something that can be mended?" Allen asks.
"Oh...it's over." He says taking a swig of his beer. "Nick threw me out. Brought my things to where I work and tossed them at me. And asked for my key back."
"Ouch. It's always harder when they end it in front of other people. You don't get to hash it out or say the things you need to...you know, to get it off your chest."
"Yah...exactly! Left me standing there speechless...looking stupid." He is all proud of himself. He is pulling this off nicely.
Then, as Allen sets his beer down, his hand brushes Bosco's hand accidentally, and he asks casually. "So...are you out on the street? Do you need a place to stay?"
It was just a question. But it sent Bosco into a homophobic panic, making him loose his concentration, and start babbling. "NO!...no, no. I uh...I have my own place...I didn't live with her...him...with Nico...uh...Nick."
Bosco thinks, 'Shit. I just blew my cover...again. Damn it.' He closes his eyes, and says, "Look...I can explain." ...although he really can't. He is getting himself in deep, and now he is thinking, 'I'm gonna get my ass beat by a bunch of Sallies.'
He looks over at Allen, and to his surprise, Allen lets out a laugh and grins at him. "No need to explain. I know what's going on here."
"You do?" Bosco says timidly.
"You've never been with a guy. You date women, right?"
"Yah." Bosco says cautiously.
"I went through the same thing you're going through. The embarrassment...the anger. You like women, but you can't get along with them, and you can't commit to them."
"Yah...exactly."
"They want your attention...whenever 'you' just want to watch a ballgame."
"Right." Bosco says feeling relieved.
"Then when you try to give them your attention, they say you're smothering them."
"Yes." Bosco says, thinking; 'this Allen guy really gets it.'
"You like to be around them but they'll never do what 'you' want to do...shoot pool, go to a basketball game, play poker. They drag you to the mall, and plays, and fancy restaurants. You just want sex with them...you can't be 'friends' with them." he says making the quotes in the air with his fingers.
"Man, that's exactly it...in a nut shell." Bosco says nodding his head in agreement.
"That's why you're here...you know that deep down inside, the problems you have with female relationships are all because you want to be with a man...but you are afraid to come out. The important thing is...you've made the first step. I went through the exact same struggle. You just need time to really understand what you're feeling. So I'll sit here with you, and if any one else comes over, I'll tell them you're with me so they leave you alone until you are comfortable with your feelings." Then he pats Bosco's hand.
Bosco's eyes, which are wide open in a glazed stare, dart quickly around the room, to see if anyone just saw that. He thinks to himself, 'I should be relieved...now I have a cover again, but...Oh my God...I just found out I have homosexual feelings towards women, and I'm sowing seeds with a fanny farmer.'
[Back at the precinct]
Faith is busy at the desk with all her paperwork when her cell phone rings. She answers it to hear Sully's cheery hello.
"Hi...you're in a good mood." She says smiling.
"Yah...I'm enjoying my time off. Is that little weasel, Bosco, around?"
"No. He was sent on a mission by Cruz. I saw her come back to the house over an hour ago. He called in a location on an undercover code."
"Good. I hope he's where I sent him." Then he lets out a laugh.
"Is he out chasing his tail?" She asks smiling.
"I hope someone is chasing his tail." He laughs again. "I let them believe that a guy named William is meeting someone at a bar, who is going to lead them right to Buford. The bar is The Pink Parrot."
Faith laughs so hard that everyone around the desk looks over at her. "Oh, I wish I could see that."
Still laughing himself, Sully says, "I'm going over there now. I'm suppose to go to find this William...but Bosco isn't suppose to know about it. So he'll have to explain to me, why he's in a gay bar with out giving away the fact that they are bugging me. I'm really gonna have fun with him."
"Oh Sully...remind me never to piss you off." She says catching her breath and wiping a tear from her eye, "I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. I want to hear all about it later. Plus...I have some good news to report."
"Ok...I'll call you later."
"Right...have fun."
[Shortly]
Sully pulls into the parking lot of the Pink Parrot. He recognizes the unmarked ACU cruiser in the parking lot. Grabbing an old police file off the front seat, he walks into the bar and glances around. There are twenty or more guys, sitting around talking casually.
He is looking for Bosco, and then he spots him, sitting at the bar...with a friend. Sully can't help but smile, but as he approaches the bar, he puts a straight face on as he motions the bartender over. He walks up to the left side of Allen, so that Bosco will be facing him when he talks to his friend.
Bosco is staring straight ahead, as Allen drones on about relationships. Bosco needs to think of a way to change the subject and talk about the people in the bar, to see who Allen knows. He needs to find William. He glances around the bar thinking that no one in here looks like they would know, much less work for, a skell like Buford. Except for that big, over weight guy at the bar that looks like... Bosco freezes. Oh my God...it's Sully! He never considered the fact that Sully was coming here.
The bartender asks Sully, "What'll ya have?"
"I'm looking for a guy named William Tanner. I was told he was going to be here."
"Never heard of him...but I don't really know people by their full names." The bartender says.
Sully pulls a picture out of the file and shows it to him. "Maybe you'll recognize his face. Although, this is an old picture."
"No...I've never seen this guy in here. I'd know. He don't really fit the clientele. What did he do? Is he in trouble?"
"No. I work for a law firm. I can't give you details...you understand...but it involves a will. And lets just say...if he has a running tab here...you want me to find him."
Bosco is trying to listen to what Sully is saying, but at the same time, he is ducking behind Allen, so that Sully's doesn't see him. Allen finally notices and stops in mid sentence.
"What's wrong? What are you doing?" Allen asks.
"Nothing...I gotta...I need to...ah..."
Sully tells the bartender, "Ya know...I'm off the clock now. I think I'll have a few cocktails and see if he shows. Let me have a pink Lady."
Bosco is desperately trying to find a way to get out of the bar without being noticed by Sully. But all of a sudden , Sully goes out of his way to look around Allen, puts his hand over his mouth and gives Bosco an over dramatic look of surprise.
"Hey...don't I know you?" Sully says stepping closer.
"No. No ya don't." Bosco says, putting his hand up to block his face.
"Yah...I think I've seen you around. Do you ever go to Peter and Paul's? It's a bar over on Alexander street." Sully says to Bosco.
"No...I've never been there."
"Well...anyway...I'm looking for this guy. Maybe either of you have seen him." Sully says holding out the picture.
Allen and Bosco look at it and they both say no.
"Well, while I'm waiting to see if he comes in...do you mind if I join you?" He calls the bartender over and orders a drink for both of them. Bosco tries to say no, that he can't join them, but Sully steps right over next to Bosco and gets into a conversation with Allen.
"This is a nice bar." Sully says.
"You say you go to Peter and Paul's? I go there a lot...I've never seen you." Allen says accusingly.
"Well I haven't been there in a while. I've been in a relationship for about five years. But I'm single now...and I'm starting to get into the mix again. Say...I don't suppose that either of you two are single, are you?" And as he says it, he leans against the bar, slipping his arm against Bosco's back and steps in closer to him.
"No...we're together." Allen says a little protectively, as Bosco's face turns white.
"Oh...well, my loss. But you guys make a nice couple. How long have you been together now?"
"Almost a year." Allen says, putting his hand on Bosco's hand, sending him into shock.
"Wow...almost a year. I can't tell you how surprising that is to me." Sully smiles big at Bosco. "I mean, the way young couples break up so easily these days." He wraps his arm around Bosco's shoulder and gives him a squeeze.
Bosco looks as though he wants to melt to the floor and slip through the cracks. How could he not have realized that Sully would be coming here too. He says, "Look...I really gotta go." Pulling his hand away quickly and trying to slide off the bar stool.
"Oh no. I just bought you a drink. Stay. I was just getting to know you better." Sully says, sliding Bosco back onto the stool by his belt.
"I swear I know you." Sully says to Bosco.
Bosco is crawling inside himself. He doesn't know what he's going to tell Sully that he was doing in this bar. He can't give away the fact that he is here looking for the same man as Sully...or Sully will know they are bugging his place. He could say that he is here undercover too, but Allen is telling Sully that Bosco is dating him, and has been for a year. He's never gonna live this down. Never.
Sully snaps his fingers. "I got it...you were on the main float in the gay pride parade! Am I right?"
"No! I wasn't in..."
"I know who ya mean!" Allen says. "That was Michael Skabinski...and yes...they do look a lot alike. The same build."
Sully gives Bosco a huge, ball busting grin, and says, "That must be why you look familiar. I never forget a cute butt...and that physique..." He says stepping back and looking Bosco over, "I could just eat you up."
Bosco says again, "I really gotta go."
Sully sits him back down on the stool again. "Wait till I tell the guys at work about this place."
Bosco's eyes pop open wide. "No. I wouldn't do that. Don't mention this to anyone."
"Oh don't be shy...this is two thousand three...it's surprising how many people live an alternative lifestyle. People you'd 'never' have guessed." He grins at Bosco again.
"I gotta go." Bosco hops off the stool and gets right in Sully's face. "If I were you...I wouldn't mention this bar to anyone, especially people you work with." He says in a threatening tone. Then he storms out of the bar, with Allen following asking what's wrong, and can he have his phone number.
***
Authors Note: Thanks again for all the reviews. Here's the chapter that you've been waiting for...Bosco at the Pink Parrot. Enjoy.
Previously in this story: Sully gives out false information to Cruz, which sends Bosco undercover to a gay bar. Faith learns that Ty's girlfriend has been arrested. She also learns that Cruz is behind the complaints that got her suspended.
~Chapter nine~
Bosco pulls into the parking lot of The Pink Parrot. He wore the toughest looking outfit that he had, and of course, a baseball cap and sunglasses. He watches the door to check out the clientele that is going into the bar. Most of the guys going in look normal. No one is holding hands or anything...but they seem to be walking a bit too close to each other.
He keeps telling himself he has to do this...he is just under cover. He has to prove himself to Cruz. He tells himself this will help his career...and that if someone hits on him...it will blow his cover, if he beats them to a pulp.
He waits nearly a half an hour before he works up the nerve to go inside. His biggest fear is that someone will recognize him...but then, that would mean that they were here also. He heads to the door and walks in. It is so dark that he has to remove his sunglasses. There are about twenty guys in the bar, and they immediately eye him up and down. 'Jag-off fagots...you wish you could have someone as manly as me.' he thinks to himself.
He walks up to the bar and starts to order a Heineken...then reconsiders. The commercial says "grab a heinny". Not sending out that message.
"I'll have a Bud." he tells the bartender, as he climbs onto a bar stool.
How the hell is he suppose to find someone named William, when he doesn't even want to talk to anyone. Everyone seems to be staring at him. Maybe it's his imagination...but...holy shit...that guy is coming over. He looks straight ahead nervously.
A man approaches Bosco and says, "Hi...I've never seen you in here before. My name is Allen. Can I buy you a drink?"
Bosco turns abruptly in his direction, and with a threatening glare he growls, "No! Get the hell away from me you rump ranger."
Allen backs away from him, startled, and raising his hands in a stop motion he says, "Whoa buddy. I'm sorry. I guess I misread you." He turns to walk away but then turns back and offers a friendly warning. "You may not know...being as you're new here...but...most guys come here looking for companionship. Uh...male companionship."
Surprised by how startled Allen was, Bosco realized that he had over reacted and blew his cover. He'll never get information once they know that he isn't gay. Hell, they may run him out of the bar. Cruz's words keep running through his head: "If you want to work ACU you have to learn to turn a situation around...think quick on your feet. If you can't do that...then you'll never be able to work under cover."
Bosco quickly changes his tone. "Hey man I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at ya. I'm...ah...going through a break up...and uh..." He swallows hard. "Let me buy you a drink. To apologize."
He thinks to himself, 'Oh my God...I'm buying drinks for a fudge packer.'
Allen says. "No...that's alright. No hard feelings."
Bosco thinks, 'You got that right...nothing's feeling 'hard' over here. But he says out loud, "No really man. Sit down...let me buy you a drink." He motions for the bar tender to come over.
Allen says, "No that's ok...you probably want to be alone."
"No...have a seat." Bosco says...but he thinks, ' Right. A minute ago you wanted me bad, now you're tryin to play hard to get.'
The bar tender comes over and asks Allen, "What'll ya have?"
"I'll just have what he's got." Allen says.
'You wish.' Bosco thinks to himself.
[Back at the precinct]
Faith looks over the reports that were in Sully's file. One of them is from forensics and it is about the book bag that contained the money found in Sully's apartment. The odd thing is that there were no fingerprints found in the obvious places, and Sully's fingerprints were not found at all. Also not present, were finger prints from the man identified as the bomber.
They did find a partial fingerprint on the inside of a pocket, inside the bag, and it belonged to a guy named Billy Tarnell, a small time criminal, who is known to be a numbers runner for a Bookie named Salvatore Buttarozzi. A post-it note, written by the detectives, and attached to the file, says that Tarnell is in the wind.
Another report that she finds interesting is from the bomb squad, noting that there was no detonator. The explosion was caused by the impact of the truck, into the building. There was an explosive devise attached under the hood of the truck that exploded on impact, igniting the explosives that were loaded in the back. No one could have seen that unless the hood was open. Obviously the camouflaged guys were lying about a detonator.
The notes written by the detectives, seem to indicate that the statements by the young men were in no way accurate and must have been fabricated. The investigation is looking good for Sully.
Faith makes a note that they need to find Billy Tarnell, or at least find out why he fled.
**************
Ty is inside the interrogation room, talking to Jackie. She explains to him through tears what had happened, and that she doesn't know how the drugs could have ended up in her trunk. No one else has a key to her car. But all her tail lights were unplugged. Ty reassures her that he is getting her out. He promises to get to the bottom of what happened, and he will also have a word with the officers that booked her and refused to notify Ty that she asked for him.
Ty leaves her and goes to get Faith. She is at the desk, still looking over the information that she copied from the file, with Gusler hovering around her. Davis asks her if she can come to the interrogation room, so they can talk privately. She asks Gusler to cover the desk for her, and follows Ty to the room.
"I need to get my hands on some bail money and get her out of here." Ty tells Faith.
"Ok. She can wait up front with me, while I start the paper work to get her released."
"Then I'm gonna need to get her car out of the impound. Can you do that for me?" He asks.
"I can do the paper work, but I don't think I can get around the impound fee."
"Ok. I'll get money for that too. Someone unplugged all her tail lights so that she would get pulled over...to insure that the drugs in her trunk would be found. I need to find out who did it and how they got into her trunk."
"I got an idea. I'll put the paperwork in to have the car checked over by forensics. I'll slide it in with all the vehicles that were towed from the shootout and have it charged to Cruz's unit. I have a friend down there. Maybe I can get her car in and out quickly before anyone notices...but she may be without a vehicle for a few days."
"That would be great. Finger prints, tamper marks, what ever they can find." Ty says.
"I found out some stuff too...about Sully's problem. The detectives have actually figured out that the guys we caught, fabricated the story about seeing a detonator. They also found one fingerprint on the book bag from Sully's apartment. It didn't belong to Sul or the bomber."
"Who's was it?"
"A skell named Tarnell. Billy Tarnell. He runs numbers for Buttarozzi. We need to find someone who would know where Billy might be and why he disappeared from the face of the earth."
"You think he's involved?"
"I think...someone rolled him for the money he collected for Buttarozzi. It's money that can't be reported stolen, and somehow it ended up at Sully's place. Now he is in trouble with his boss, so he's in the wind hiding from Buttarozzi...making it all untraceable." She tells him confidently.
"Sounds feasible. We need to find him, and have him tell us who rolled him. Then we'll know who set up Sully."
"Right. Oh...I found out who has been calling in and reporting me. We had a girl in lock-up that filed a complaint against Cruz, for making her and her friends make the calls for her, in exchange for not being arrested."
"It was Cruz that got you in trouble?" Ty says shocked. "There is something seriously wrong with her."
"Yah...can you believe it? Once that girl found out that witch wasn't planning to bail her out of here, she turned on her and confessed to the phone calls."
"I guess you're lucky then, that Cruz is so nasty that she wouldn't bail the girl out of jail, or you'd never have found out."
"True. Good thing I never told Cruz she was here." Faith says, then giggles as she walks away.
[Back at the Pink Parrot]
Allen picks up his beer and tips it towards Bosco. "Thanks."
They sit for a few minutes in an awkward silence until Allen asks, "So...this breakup you're going through...were you together long?"
"Umm...about a year I guess." Bosco is working a cover story through his mind, so he can gain Allen's trust. He will talk about his relationship with 'wild Nicole' but call her Nick. Then he can start questioning Allen about who this William may be. Once he finds him, and who he is meeting, he can get the hell out of here.
"So do you feel that the relationship is really over...or is this something that can be mended?" Allen asks.
"Oh...it's over." He says taking a swig of his beer. "Nick threw me out. Brought my things to where I work and tossed them at me. And asked for my key back."
"Ouch. It's always harder when they end it in front of other people. You don't get to hash it out or say the things you need to...you know, to get it off your chest."
"Yah...exactly! Left me standing there speechless...looking stupid." He is all proud of himself. He is pulling this off nicely.
Then, as Allen sets his beer down, his hand brushes Bosco's hand accidentally, and he asks casually. "So...are you out on the street? Do you need a place to stay?"
It was just a question. But it sent Bosco into a homophobic panic, making him loose his concentration, and start babbling. "NO!...no, no. I uh...I have my own place...I didn't live with her...him...with Nico...uh...Nick."
Bosco thinks, 'Shit. I just blew my cover...again. Damn it.' He closes his eyes, and says, "Look...I can explain." ...although he really can't. He is getting himself in deep, and now he is thinking, 'I'm gonna get my ass beat by a bunch of Sallies.'
He looks over at Allen, and to his surprise, Allen lets out a laugh and grins at him. "No need to explain. I know what's going on here."
"You do?" Bosco says timidly.
"You've never been with a guy. You date women, right?"
"Yah." Bosco says cautiously.
"I went through the same thing you're going through. The embarrassment...the anger. You like women, but you can't get along with them, and you can't commit to them."
"Yah...exactly."
"They want your attention...whenever 'you' just want to watch a ballgame."
"Right." Bosco says feeling relieved.
"Then when you try to give them your attention, they say you're smothering them."
"Yes." Bosco says, thinking; 'this Allen guy really gets it.'
"You like to be around them but they'll never do what 'you' want to do...shoot pool, go to a basketball game, play poker. They drag you to the mall, and plays, and fancy restaurants. You just want sex with them...you can't be 'friends' with them." he says making the quotes in the air with his fingers.
"Man, that's exactly it...in a nut shell." Bosco says nodding his head in agreement.
"That's why you're here...you know that deep down inside, the problems you have with female relationships are all because you want to be with a man...but you are afraid to come out. The important thing is...you've made the first step. I went through the exact same struggle. You just need time to really understand what you're feeling. So I'll sit here with you, and if any one else comes over, I'll tell them you're with me so they leave you alone until you are comfortable with your feelings." Then he pats Bosco's hand.
Bosco's eyes, which are wide open in a glazed stare, dart quickly around the room, to see if anyone just saw that. He thinks to himself, 'I should be relieved...now I have a cover again, but...Oh my God...I just found out I have homosexual feelings towards women, and I'm sowing seeds with a fanny farmer.'
[Back at the precinct]
Faith is busy at the desk with all her paperwork when her cell phone rings. She answers it to hear Sully's cheery hello.
"Hi...you're in a good mood." She says smiling.
"Yah...I'm enjoying my time off. Is that little weasel, Bosco, around?"
"No. He was sent on a mission by Cruz. I saw her come back to the house over an hour ago. He called in a location on an undercover code."
"Good. I hope he's where I sent him." Then he lets out a laugh.
"Is he out chasing his tail?" She asks smiling.
"I hope someone is chasing his tail." He laughs again. "I let them believe that a guy named William is meeting someone at a bar, who is going to lead them right to Buford. The bar is The Pink Parrot."
Faith laughs so hard that everyone around the desk looks over at her. "Oh, I wish I could see that."
Still laughing himself, Sully says, "I'm going over there now. I'm suppose to go to find this William...but Bosco isn't suppose to know about it. So he'll have to explain to me, why he's in a gay bar with out giving away the fact that they are bugging me. I'm really gonna have fun with him."
"Oh Sully...remind me never to piss you off." She says catching her breath and wiping a tear from her eye, "I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. I want to hear all about it later. Plus...I have some good news to report."
"Ok...I'll call you later."
"Right...have fun."
[Shortly]
Sully pulls into the parking lot of the Pink Parrot. He recognizes the unmarked ACU cruiser in the parking lot. Grabbing an old police file off the front seat, he walks into the bar and glances around. There are twenty or more guys, sitting around talking casually.
He is looking for Bosco, and then he spots him, sitting at the bar...with a friend. Sully can't help but smile, but as he approaches the bar, he puts a straight face on as he motions the bartender over. He walks up to the left side of Allen, so that Bosco will be facing him when he talks to his friend.
Bosco is staring straight ahead, as Allen drones on about relationships. Bosco needs to think of a way to change the subject and talk about the people in the bar, to see who Allen knows. He needs to find William. He glances around the bar thinking that no one in here looks like they would know, much less work for, a skell like Buford. Except for that big, over weight guy at the bar that looks like... Bosco freezes. Oh my God...it's Sully! He never considered the fact that Sully was coming here.
The bartender asks Sully, "What'll ya have?"
"I'm looking for a guy named William Tanner. I was told he was going to be here."
"Never heard of him...but I don't really know people by their full names." The bartender says.
Sully pulls a picture out of the file and shows it to him. "Maybe you'll recognize his face. Although, this is an old picture."
"No...I've never seen this guy in here. I'd know. He don't really fit the clientele. What did he do? Is he in trouble?"
"No. I work for a law firm. I can't give you details...you understand...but it involves a will. And lets just say...if he has a running tab here...you want me to find him."
Bosco is trying to listen to what Sully is saying, but at the same time, he is ducking behind Allen, so that Sully's doesn't see him. Allen finally notices and stops in mid sentence.
"What's wrong? What are you doing?" Allen asks.
"Nothing...I gotta...I need to...ah..."
Sully tells the bartender, "Ya know...I'm off the clock now. I think I'll have a few cocktails and see if he shows. Let me have a pink Lady."
Bosco is desperately trying to find a way to get out of the bar without being noticed by Sully. But all of a sudden , Sully goes out of his way to look around Allen, puts his hand over his mouth and gives Bosco an over dramatic look of surprise.
"Hey...don't I know you?" Sully says stepping closer.
"No. No ya don't." Bosco says, putting his hand up to block his face.
"Yah...I think I've seen you around. Do you ever go to Peter and Paul's? It's a bar over on Alexander street." Sully says to Bosco.
"No...I've never been there."
"Well...anyway...I'm looking for this guy. Maybe either of you have seen him." Sully says holding out the picture.
Allen and Bosco look at it and they both say no.
"Well, while I'm waiting to see if he comes in...do you mind if I join you?" He calls the bartender over and orders a drink for both of them. Bosco tries to say no, that he can't join them, but Sully steps right over next to Bosco and gets into a conversation with Allen.
"This is a nice bar." Sully says.
"You say you go to Peter and Paul's? I go there a lot...I've never seen you." Allen says accusingly.
"Well I haven't been there in a while. I've been in a relationship for about five years. But I'm single now...and I'm starting to get into the mix again. Say...I don't suppose that either of you two are single, are you?" And as he says it, he leans against the bar, slipping his arm against Bosco's back and steps in closer to him.
"No...we're together." Allen says a little protectively, as Bosco's face turns white.
"Oh...well, my loss. But you guys make a nice couple. How long have you been together now?"
"Almost a year." Allen says, putting his hand on Bosco's hand, sending him into shock.
"Wow...almost a year. I can't tell you how surprising that is to me." Sully smiles big at Bosco. "I mean, the way young couples break up so easily these days." He wraps his arm around Bosco's shoulder and gives him a squeeze.
Bosco looks as though he wants to melt to the floor and slip through the cracks. How could he not have realized that Sully would be coming here too. He says, "Look...I really gotta go." Pulling his hand away quickly and trying to slide off the bar stool.
"Oh no. I just bought you a drink. Stay. I was just getting to know you better." Sully says, sliding Bosco back onto the stool by his belt.
"I swear I know you." Sully says to Bosco.
Bosco is crawling inside himself. He doesn't know what he's going to tell Sully that he was doing in this bar. He can't give away the fact that he is here looking for the same man as Sully...or Sully will know they are bugging his place. He could say that he is here undercover too, but Allen is telling Sully that Bosco is dating him, and has been for a year. He's never gonna live this down. Never.
Sully snaps his fingers. "I got it...you were on the main float in the gay pride parade! Am I right?"
"No! I wasn't in..."
"I know who ya mean!" Allen says. "That was Michael Skabinski...and yes...they do look a lot alike. The same build."
Sully gives Bosco a huge, ball busting grin, and says, "That must be why you look familiar. I never forget a cute butt...and that physique..." He says stepping back and looking Bosco over, "I could just eat you up."
Bosco says again, "I really gotta go."
Sully sits him back down on the stool again. "Wait till I tell the guys at work about this place."
Bosco's eyes pop open wide. "No. I wouldn't do that. Don't mention this to anyone."
"Oh don't be shy...this is two thousand three...it's surprising how many people live an alternative lifestyle. People you'd 'never' have guessed." He grins at Bosco again.
"I gotta go." Bosco hops off the stool and gets right in Sully's face. "If I were you...I wouldn't mention this bar to anyone, especially people you work with." He says in a threatening tone. Then he storms out of the bar, with Allen following asking what's wrong, and can he have his phone number.
***