"You doin' all right?" Bosco asked as they crossed the mall from Independence Hall to the Liberty Pavillion.
"Don't you start with me, Bosco. I can do this on my own," Faith replied scowling.
"This attitude of yours is gettin' old ya know that?"
"You're a real jerk, ya know that?"
"Fine, see ya in there then," Bosco said increasing his pace. Faith watched as he disappeared inside the building.
Faith all but growled and her scowl deepened as she determinedly made her way to the Pavillion. Being a weekday and nearly closing time, there were very few people milling about. She entered in time to hear the tail end of a conversation between Bosco and a park ranger.
"Thanks, I owe ya one," Bosco said putting his badge back in his pocket before turning to Faith. He was grinning from ear to ear.
"What are you smilin' at?" Faith asked warily. She'd seen that particular lopsided grin and twinkle in his eye before. Her eyes immediately narrowed piercing him with an assessing glare before her eyes traveled to the park ranger who stood smiling behind him.
"Right this way, officer," the ranger said cheerily turning to lead the way.
"What's goin' on?" Faith inquired her scowl giving way to suspicion. What had Bosco done?
"They don't let just anybody touch the bell anymore, but since you were wounded in the line...," Bosco trailed off at the icy glare Faith leveled at him. "Please, Faith," he whispered leaning closer. At the pleading look in his eyes, Faith could only nod. Nod and roll her eyes as they followed after the ranger.
Faith leaned her crutches against the railing then grasped it for balance. She smiled up at the ranger in embarrassed gratitude when he took her other arm to help her forward.
"Hey, you don't need your crutches all the time? If you can walk why've I been carryin' you all over the place?" Bosco said moving to her other side.
"I just need 'em for balance and sometimes my legs still get a little weak. Anyway, I only asked ya to carry me once if ya remember. The rest has been your idea. I was beginnin' to think you were comin' on to me," Faith teased reaching forward touching the cold metal.
"Ha ha ha, very funny," Bosco replied putting his hand next to hers on the bell. He turned his head to watch as the scowl she'd worn most of the day softened. She traced her fingers over the ridges and bumps of the bell before returning his stare. Was he blushing because he got caught staring? Unbelievable.
"It's good to see you're recovering. Did they catch the guy that shot you?" the ranger asked innocently breaking the moment. Both hands dropped from the bell as Faith's eyes moved over the floor. Bosco cleared his throat, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.
"No, not yet," Bosco replied. "So ya ready to go? I'm gettin' hungry."
"You're always hungry," Faith said, the scowl returning to her face.
"You gettin' tired? You need me to carry ya again?" Bosco asked once they were outside.
"I need to sit for a minute," Faith said moving to sit on a bench. Bosco sat at the opposite end as they watched the sun set behind the trees and buildings of Philadelphia.
"Are we gonna talk about what happened?"
"No, Bosco, we are not gonna talk about it," Faith replied pushing herself to get back on her feet and started toward the car.
"But, Faith...," Bosco said moving to stand in front of her.
"But, Faith, nothin'. Mind your own business, Bosco. I'm not talkin' about it. Period. Now move," Faith yelled.
"It is my business," Bosco said forcing her to look him in the eye before turning and walking quickly away.
Faith sagged back onto the bench. If he couldn't walk with her, he could wait for her. She swatted the tear that had escaped down her cheek away staring blindly into the distance. She didn't want to talk, she wanted to forget.
Ten minutes later, she watched as Bosco's car pulled to the curb near her. She watched as he slammed his door and opened the passenger door before striding across the grass to where she was sitting. Without a word, he scooped her up, carried her to the car, and plopped her into the passenger seat. After a trip back to the bench for her crutches and locking them in the trunk, he got back behind the wheel.
"We're gonna talk about this, Faith," he said before starting the car and pulling into traffic.
"Faith? Faith you sleepin'?" Bosco asked looking over at Faith through the darkness. She hadn't sighed or grumbled in at least an hour. The only explanation in Bosco's mind was she had to be sleeping.
After touring Independence Hall and seeing the Liberty Bell, they'd had dinner. Bosco did his best to lighten the mood. He didn't want to fight. He needed to talk to her, but obviously she wasn't ready yet. Instead he focused on talking about where they should go and what they should see. After several -"it's your vacations" and "whatevers," Bosco had finally let the conversation dwindle into silence. Once back in the car, Faith had stared out the window retreating into her hostile vacationer act.
Bosco knew it was an act. She had fun today. He also knew all that walking in the tours had worn her out. She probably fell asleep before they were out of Delaware. Looking at his watch he realized it was getting close to midnight. Time to stop for the night. Did he spend twice the money and get two rooms or did he just make sure they had two separate beds in one room? If Faith was awake, she'd probably say two rooms, but she wasn't and it was his Visa bill.
He pulled into the first decent hotel he saw. She didn't even move a muscle when he shut off the car. He took off his jacket covering her with it before softly closing the door. She was still sleeping when he returned five minutes later with a key to the last room in the hotel. He hadn't had a choice of one room or two, so he had a good excuse when Faith woke up. Luckily it was on the ground floor.
After moving the car, he carried their bags inside. Leaving the door open, he went back for Faith. She was still sound asleep.
"Faith wake up. You can't sleep in the car all night. Come on, Faith," Bosco said shaking her shoulder.
"Bosco? What're you doin' here?" Faith mumbled with the puzzled expression of someone not quite awake.
"I drove you here. Can you walk?"
"Where are we?"
"Maryland - come on Faith I'm tired too and I'd like to get some sleep."
"Where in Maryland?"
"Somewhere in the middle. Do ya want me to carry ya again?"
"That's nice," Faith mumbled snuggling deeper into the jacket and closing her eyes.
"I'll take that as a yes. Dammit, Faith, I'm not Hercules here. You're gonna have to help me out," Bosco said shaking her again before moving her feet out of the car.
"Bosco?" Faith mumbled again.
"Yeah, Faith," Bosco said unable to keep the impatience from his voice, but doing his best.
"What're you doin' here?"
"I'm a figment of your imagination. Let's go," Bosco said pulling her forward and over his shoulder.
"Well be quiet or you'll wake up Fred," Faith mumbled letting her arms hang loosely down his back.
"I'll remember that," Bosco chuckled putting her on the bed closest to the bathroom. He took the spread off the other bed and put it over her. He made his way out to his car making sure everything was locked up and retrieving her crutches for in the morning. He picked up his cell phone from the back seat and headed back inside the room.
It rang the moment he turned it on. Looking at the caller id, he saw the familiar number of the station house. He went back outside, flipping it open as he went.
"Boscorelli? Where the hell you been? I've been tryin' to get you for nearly six hours!" Lieutenant Swersky bellowed. Bosco had to hold the phone away from his ear.
"I've been on the road boss. Did they deny my vacation request?"
"No, Bosco, but you gotta come back to the house," Swersky said more quietly.
"Why? What happened? Somebody die? Is it my Mother?" Bosco said feeling his heart squeeze painfully in his chest. He thought of all the people and the reasons the Boss would be calling him.
"No, no nobody died. We don't think anyway. It's Yokas. Somebody abducted her this afternoon. Her husband found a window open in their bedroom when he went to check on her about two o'clock this afternoon. We canvassed the neighborhood and somebody saw a man carrying Faith down the fire escape and takin' off in a white and blue car. The description we got was caucasian, about six feet, dark hair, muscular build," Swersky related all in one breath.
"Six feet tall? Really? Who gave you that description?" Bosco said chuckling.
"Boscorelli, are you sayin' your 'family emergency' was runnin' off with your partner of ten years? How long has this been goin' on? Did you two once think about her family in all this?"
"It's not like that, Boss. Yeah, she's here with me, but she's not 'with' me. She's sleepin' or I'd put her on the phone. I'll have her call home in the morning okay? Just call off the dogs."
"Where are you? I'm sendin' a squad to get her. Her family's worried sick."
"We're not in the city, Boss. We'll be back in a few days. Don't worry. Everythin's under control. Night, Boss," Bosco said hanging up the phone. Yeah, right, he was gonna tell Swersky where they were after he spent the whole damn day carryin' Faith around. She was the one who wanted to get away from her family. He also wasn't givin' Fred the opportunity to kill him in his sleep after he tracked us down, he thought going back inside.
Bosco looked down at his phone to see that he had fifteen messages. He turned the phone back off, putting it on the table between the beds. He took one final look at Faith who had started mumbling incoherently in her sleep before lying back on his own bed. He was too tired and too sore to even think about changing. He fell asleep almost instantly.
For the first time in years it wasn't his own nightmares that woke him up, it was Faith's. Her eyes were squeezed shut and she was curled in a ball as if she were in pain. Tears were streaming down her face. It took him a beat to realize she was sleeping and not in physical pain.
"Faith, you're safe," Bosco said moving to sit on her bed. "You're okay, Faith. Wake up."
"Bosco? Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, Faith," Bosco said brushing the hair away from her face.
"Okay," she replied grabbing his hand. She rolled over onto her other side never really waking. She still had his hand clutched in both of hers.
"Everythin's okay now," Bosco said trying to retrieve his hand. When she wouldn't let it go, he leaned back against the headboard of the bed, watching her sleep. He wondered if she remembered what happened in Nobel's room after she was shot. Ever since she told him to leave when she was in the hospital, he couldn't help but worry that she did remember.
He ran his free hand over his face and through his hair trying to fight off the memories. Uncomfortable, he finally slid down carefully wrapping his other arm around her. He buried his head in her hair as he remembered the last time he'd held her. She was covered in blood. She kept closing her eyes. He thought she was going to die, so he told her. He didn't want her to die without her knowing. It was wrong and it was selfish, but he'd told her then he kissed her. "I'm so sorry, Faith," he whispered kissing the back of her head as he hugged her. Maybe this memory would keep the other from haunting him he thought as he drifted off to sleep.