One more chapter after this one and I think we're done here.

As usual the characters aren't mine, not that that's the way I want things to be, but oh well.

For Deb

Getaway 9

Coffee - as usual, that word was Bosco's first conscious thought for the day. If he smelled coffee, his alarm hadn't gone off and the automatic timer on the coffee maker in his apartment had started without him.

Birds? Bosco thought opening one eye. Birds weren't something he usually heard in the city. Looking around he remembered the birds were sea gulls and he wasn't in New York anymore. He sat up rubbing the sleep from his eyes and looked out to see the sun peeking over the horizon. Closer to him, he saw Faith on the deck watching it rise.

He couldn't believe he had slept through the night with the door to the screened part of the deck open. He never could sleep with a window open back home. Clutching the sheet around his waist he moved toward the end of the bed mesmerized, watching Faith sip her coffee.

She'd wrapped her robe around her legs and feet and sat with her chin resting on her knees. She tilted her head to the side and her hair fell over her shoulder. It was longer than he remembered. It looked softer than he remembered. A part of him wanted to just sit there watching the colors of the sunrise play over her features - the same part that wanted him to get up and go run his fingers through her hair.

He reminded himself that that part of him is always the part that got him in trouble and quietly moved to his dresser. He slipped on shorts and a tee shirt then took a minute to make sure his hair wasn't sticking out in every direction. Everything in place, he joined her on the deck.

"Hey," Faith said with a smile before returning her attention to the sight before her.

"You sleep okay?"

"Pretty good. Coffee?" she said offering him her cup.

He took it from her, finishing what was left as he sat down beside her.

"I called Fred."

"Yeah? He still mad?"

"Mad's probably an understatement. He's comin' down here to get me," Faith said leaving out the reason Fred gave.

"So we got today. You wanted to walk down to your mailbox thing?"

"I don't know. It's pretty far. You don't have to babysit me, Bos. I can make it on my own if I take breaks along the way. Why don't you have some fun?"

"Why don't ya think I'm havin' fun?"

"Listen to me bitch an' complain in the car, scarin' off all your prospects and you can't tell me ya had fun carryin' me around all over," Faith said leaning back in the chair.

"I've been listenin' to you bitch an' complain for ten years, why should now be any diff'rent?"

Faith sent him a withering glare as her only answer.

"I wouldn't be here if I didn't wanna be, Faith. We're partners. You called, I came. That's what partners do."

"That's not what I did for you," she said quietly.

"You want some breakfast? I'm starvin'," Bosco said vaulting from his seat.

"I'll make breakfast," Faith said catching up with him at the door. "I can make breakfast," she argued pulling him to a stop in the doorway.

Bosco looked into the green fire in her eyes and decided he was tired of arguing with her. He let his head thud against the door frame. "Make breakfast," Bosco said never moving his gaze from the bottom of the balcony above. She was standin' too close. This was never a problem at home, he thought as he motioned her to go inside.

He followed her in taking one of the stools from the breakfast bar and putting it next to the stovetop for her. He put the eggs, bacon, and bread on the counter then sat down across the bar from her.

"The stool's a good idea," Faith said as she set about making breakfast.

"Told ya I was more than just a pretty face," he answered trying to get things back to where they were when they talked on the balcony the night before.

"Who ever told ya you had a pretty face?" Faith asked blinking innocently.

"Ha ha, you're a riot."

"But ya love me anyway, right," Faith said quoting what he always said to her. A stunned silence settled over them as Faith pretended scrambled eggs required all her attention to cook properly. She heard Bosco shifting off the stool and walking around the bar to stand in the kitchen with her. She held her breath as she looked up to meet his gaze.

"Why don't I make some sandwiches and we'll start off for that place you wanna go to after breakfast? It'll be fun," he said expecting an argument.

"Okay just not too much jelly."

"There's no such thing as too much jelly."

"You wanna take a rest yet?"

"I'm good," Faith answered. For the first time in months, she didn't feel like snapping when someone asked her that question. She was wearing new sandals instead of the tennis shoes she'd worn in all the months of her recovery. The sun was bright, the sky was blue, nobody was yelling, nobody was asking her to change - she could get used to this.

Looking ahead she saw a woman sitting on the sand with a sketch pad. Faith smiled when the woman looked up.

"Beautiful day to sketch the waves," Faith commented.

"It is beautiful here isn't it? I don't get out here enough. That bridge scares me to death, but I needed a break," she replied. She looked back down at her sketch pad and started to draw again.

"What a beautiful butterfly," Faith said looking over the drawing. It was a black on white sketch, but the detail was so true she could imagine the blue of the wings outlined on the page.

"Looks like it's about to fly off," Bosco said smiling down at her.

"Here, why don't you take it," she said pulling the page from the book and handing it to Faith.

"Thank you, but you worked so hard on it. Are you sure?"

"Absolutely. I've got to get back to work so it was nice meeting you," the woman said rising from the sand. She picked up a bag of M&Ms stuffing them in her purse before shaking the sand off the blanket she'd been sitting on.

"Yeah, you too," Bosco answered watching her walk back toward the populated part of the island.

Faith looked down at the butterfly again then started walking again. "You mind?" she asked Bosco indicating that she could use some help with her balance. Bosco only smiled taking her hand and guiding it to rest on his arm. He picked up the picnic basket they'd found in a cupboard in the cottage.

He looked happy she thought returning his grin. She felt the comfort she'd felt in the car the day before return. Why can't I feel this way at home?

They got to Bird Island just before noon. She sighed with relief when Bosco spread the blanket on the sand. Faith laid down looking up at the wispy clouds floating by through her pink sunglasses. Why she hadn't replaced them when they stopped at the store, she really couldn't say. They were comfortable too was her best guess.

"So what did you write for your message? What did you want to tell your kindred spirit?" Bosco asked lying back on the opposite her on the blanket.

"I couldn't think of anything that would fit on one piece of paper," Faith said turning her head to find him looking at her.

"Oh come on, name one thing other than gettin' new sunglasses," he encouraged.

"I like these sunglasses," she said trying to make out a recognizable shape in the cloud like she used to do when she was a kid.

"That's not what you said when I gave them to you."

"Well I was mad at you at the time. You wouldn't take me to the train station."

"Admit it, Faith. This is much better than pickin' your vacation destination from a train schedule. The train doesn't stop on Bird Island you'll notice."

"Much better, definitely, but you didn't haveta do all this."

"I did have to," Bosco replied fighting back the urge to ask the questions he didn't want the answers to. He didn't want to ruin this peace they'd found. Instead he forced the conversation back onto neutral territory. "So what wish do ya wanna have come true."

"I dunno. There are so many things that need to change. I don't think there's a good way to fix most of it."

"Tell me 'bout it," Bosco said smirking as he opened the basket. "Hungry yet?"

"I could eat," she said accepting a sandwich.

"You're thinkin' too big. Maybe you should just think about one step at a time, ya know?" Bosco offered around a mouthful of peanut butter and jelly.

"Yeah, but which step," Faith said taking a bite of her own sandwich.

"Maybe that's what you need to ask the guy in the box."

"Maybe you shouldn't talk with your mouth full. That's gross, Bos," Faith joked happy they could still talk like this after everything that had happened.

"Why'd ya call me? Last time I saw you, you told me to get lost," Bosco blurted.

"You were the only person I knew who could carry me down a fire escape," Faith answered smiling over at him trying to keep the conversation light and fun as it had been. Seeing his serious expression as he stared up at the sky, she immediately felt guilty. "Because I knew I could count on you to be there."

"I coulda said no," he said fear coiling inside him. Did she know? He looked over at her but all he saw were the lenses of those stupid pink sunglasses reflecting his image back to him.

"Yeah, you could have, but you didn't."

"We never talked about what happened in that room. Do you remember anything?" Bosco asked instantly wishing he could snatch the words back. He sat up wresting his arms on his knees as he mentally kicked himself. If she didn't remember, she was gonna ask him what happened now. He would have to tell her.

"Yeah, Bos, I remember."

He hung his head down for a moment, chuckling. "I figured that's why you told me to stay away," he mumbled.

"That's not why. I was scared."

"Yeah? Me too," he said running his fingers through the sand.

"I'm pretty sure if I hadn't told you to go, Fred woulda left me right then and there. I was scared of bein' paralyzed and alone," she confessed.

"You wouldn't have been alone, Faith. I meant what I said. I don't know when it happened, but when I saw ya lyin' there, I couldn't let you go without you knowin'. It was selfish a me, but I won't say I'm sorry, 'cause I'm not. You should know by now I won't try anythin'. It's been years and you never knew - did you?" he asked glancing over at her. He shook his head not really wanting an answer. "Anyway, once we get back to the city, everythin'll go back to the way it was. You got nothin' to worry about," Bosco said pulling off his shoes then he stripped off his shirt. Without another word or pause to hear if Faith had any reply, he sprinted across the wide stretch of sand and into the water.

Faith sat up and watched Bosco swim farther and farther out. She was almost glad he'd run away again. It was too much to talk about, too much to think about. Still, she had questions of her own. He'd loved her for years? It didn't make any sense. How could she have missed that?

She picked up the drawing of the butterfly studying the lines trying to push the niggling thought away that kept insisting that she hadn't missed it. If she was honest with herself, she had to admit she knew. She knew and she ignored it in order to keep her marriage together.

"Hello, Mrs. Boscorelli, isn't it? I'm Erin. I rented the cottage to your husband yesterday."

"Uh, no, we're not married. I'm Faith remember. We just work together," Faith said trying once again to get through the vacuous space inside Erin's head. "He's out there swimming."

"Oh, I'm sorry. You did tell me that. So you're a police officer too?" Erin asked dropping a towel on the sand a short distance away.

"Yeah, NYPD."

"It must be nice working at the same place as your boyfriend," she said shedding her shirt and shorts.

"We're not together. I'm actually married to somebody else."

"Oh well, so you wouldn't mind if..." she said pointing out in Bosco's direction.

"No, not at all. I mean, he's single and everythin'. Go ahead. No worries," Faith encouraged. She felt that same twisting in her heart she'd felt when she saw him leaving with Cruz and Anti-Crime. She'd told Swersky she couldn't work with him anymore that day. It had hurt to see him moving on without her more than the words that led up to her decision to ask for a new partner.

"Thanks," Erin said stripping off her bikini top.

Faith's jaw dropped open as she watched Erin enter the water and swim out toward Bosco. She watched Bosco smile when she swam close. He looked like he was expecting her to not have a top on Faith thought looking back down at the butterfly.

She traced the edges with her finger determined not to pay attention to what was going on out in the ocean in front of her. He was a grown man and she wasn't his mother and she wasn't his wife she reminded herself. Like he said, nothin' would be different. Nothing could be different.

Laughter out in the water drew her attention back to them. She knew she couldn't keep sitting there watching. Getting up she tried to remember where the brochure said she would find the Kindred Spirit Mailbox. She carefully made her way over a dune and began her search.

It didn't take her long to locate it. It was a black metal mailbox on a short post sticking out of the dune. She could see notebooks and envelopes containing the more private dreams evidently. She still didn't know what she wanted. She didn't know what could make everything right. She sat next to the box, looking at her butterfly feeling a little silly for believing a mailbox could make difference in her life.

Still, it was almost as if she needed it to be true. She needed something or someone to take away some of the crushing weight she felt every time she thought about her family, her job, her life. If her kindred spirit would answer her, maybe she didn't need to know what dream she needed to come true. Maybe the spirit would just know she thought as she slipped the sketch of the butterfly inside the box.

"Hey, Faith, is that it?" Bosco asked.

"Yup," she answered closing the box. "Where's your friend?"

"She hadta go back to work. You ready to head back or you wanna hang out here a while longer?" he asked plopping down in the sand next to her.

"You sure you don't wanna swim some more? The natives seem very friendly around here," Faith said slipping off her sandals and wiggling her toes in the sand.

"Erin said that when the moon's full like that they swim late at night. Most of the tourists are gone by then. I saw 'em out here last night when I was runnin'."

Now she knew why Bosco wasn't surprised that Erin was topless she thought concentrating on her toes.

"You okay?" he asked pushing a strand of hair that had fallen forward back behind her ear. His hand lingered there as their eyes met and held for a heartbeat. Bosco's hand fell to the sand beside her and the spell was broken.

"Yeah, fine. I should get back and pack. Fred's gonna be here tomorrow - probably early," Faith said pulling her sandals back on.

"Yeah, Fred would get here early," Bosco said clearing his throat. He stood reaching out to help her up.

"Thanks," Faith said slipping her hands into his. They were rough from the sand and completely enveloped hers as he gently pulled her to her feet.

"The dunes are kinda steep here," he warned.

"They were easier goin' down that's for sure."

"How do ya wanna work it?"

"I'm okay, you don't haveta always take care a me."

"You're right, but that doesn't mean I don't want to," Bosco mumbled. He slipped his arm around her waist and helped her over the crest of the dune.

"Okay," Faith said quietly then before she could think, her arm went around him, her head resting on his shoulder.

Unable to resist and maybe unwilling to listen to the voice inside his head that screamed "married" at him, Bosco rested his cheek against her hair as they walked along. They were almost back to the cottage when Faith pulled away.

"We forgot the picnic stuff," she said turning back toward Bird Island.

"It's okay. Erin took it back for us. She said she'd drop it on the stairs. You need a rest? You walked farther just now than you've walked all week."

"I didn't even notice, but yeah I think I am a little tired," Faith answered.

"We're just about there. Come on," Bosco said turning his back to her and squatting down.

"Really?"

"Yeah, really. Come on," Bosco insisted.

"Okay," Faith said slipping off her sandals. Taking them both in one hand, she put her arms around Bosco's neck. He linked his arms under her knees and stood up, Faith on his back.

"You know what? I think I do wanna go swimmin' some more," Bosco teased running toward the water. He splashed in the surf.

"Don't you dare! This water's freezin'," she yelled laughing as a wave crashed against Bosco's legs spraying them both with water.

"That's even better and I don't think they'll try to arrest us if I drop ya here," Bosco threatened.

"No, please don't let go," Faith pleaded clinging more firmly to his shoulders.

"You're no fun," Bosco conceded walking out of the water. They were laughing as he jogged toward the cottage.

"Bos, put me down," Faith said suddenly serious.

"What'sa matter?" he asked letting go of her knees and turning to face her.

"Fred."