Title: Homecoming 2

Author: kim1989

Pairing: Bosco/Faith

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: None this time

Summary: Chapter 2 of the follow up story to Getaway

A/N: I own nothing TW related except a really cool coffee mug and a bumper sticker ;)

Homecoming 2

"Mary, where's Bosco? Is he okay?" Faith asked as she strode across the emergency room. She looked around quickly to see if any of the brass had shown up at the hospital. She let out a sigh of relief when she saw that it wasn't serious enough for even Lieutenant Swersky to have shown up. She made out the duty sergeant pouring a cup of coffee in the lounge before turning back to the nurse.

"For now, he's fine, but if he keeps givin' my nurses a hard time he's gonna wish that car had hit him harder," Mary answered. Faith noted the lopsided grin that softened her words.

"So he's okay?"

"He's got some stitches in the back of his head - too bad we couldn't stitch up that mouth of his - and he's got a mild concussion. He's in exam two. Maybe you can talk him into stayin' the night," Mary answered.

"Thanks," Faith said walking past the desk. She took a few deep breaths as she calmly walked toward the curtained area. This was the first time he had been hurt when she wasn't with him - at least as far as she knew. She remembered seeing him outside in the hall when she'd come back to the hospital with the so called phantom pain.

He'd had a bandage on his forehead, but he'd stood outside the door until Fred had turned around and glared at him. She'd seen on the news later that he'd been there when Judge Halsted's car had exploded. She'd seen him move away, but he hadn't left. She saw him looking around the corner when they'd wheeled her toward a private room. She remembered feeling disappointed when he didn't come to her room when Fred went back to work.

It struck her that no one would have called him, told him she was okay. No one ever called her if he'd been hurt. As she listened to him argue with Sasha, she realized that Fred might have had a point. He's fine, she shouldn't have come. After the trip and her divorce, this was going to start the rumor mill churning. Even though everything had been completely innocent so far, no one would believe it. Did it matter?

"Bosco, don't make me cuff you to that bed," Sasha said.

"I'd love to see ya try," Bosco grumbled.

"You want me to call your mom? Or better yet, let me call your mystery date," she teased blocking Bosco's escape attempt off the side of the bed.

Faith smiled peaking around the curtain. How many times had she been standing between Bosco and freedom in this emergency room? She noticed he was still wearing his shirt, but he was clutching a blanket to his midsection. Their eyes met over Sasha's head when she stepped into view. She watched his expression go from glad to worried and back again before Sasha turned around to see who had stopped Bosco from trying to escape.

"Faith! Am I glad you're here! Did the doctor call you to convince him to stay?" Sasha asked smiling.

"Um, yeah, somthin' like that. You okay, Bos?"

"Proctor took off with my pants and won't give 'em back," Bosco complained.

"I'm gonna go get some coffee. If he tries to get outta that bed, shoot him," Sasha joked as she moved to the door.

"Sure thing," Faith said waiting until she had left to pull the curtain to block the view of the two of them from the hall. Then and only then did she cross the room and take his hand.

"I told Sullivan to call so you wouldn't be worried not so you'd come down here. It's only four stitches," Bosco whispered kissing her hand.

"'Only.' You only got hit by a car. What'd ya expect me to do? Why'd Mary take your pants? Did you do something to your legs too?"

"It wasn't a car. It was a two seated lawn mower. And they were over reactin'. They had to x-ray everythin' even though I told 'em nothin' was broken. You shouldn'ta come down here, Faith. It's bad enough that Sully knows I was goin' to your place after work. He thinks I'm the reason you and Fred are gettin' a divorce."

"We knew that's what people'd think. It's not true, that's all that's important. Mary says they want ya to stay," Faith said leaning over to kiss his forehead. She noticed the fading scar there. From that day? She took a step back dropping his hand. It wouldn't be good if Sasha or the duty sergeant came in and caught two officers holding hands.

"It's nothin'. I've had worse and not stayed. It's just my head," he said grinning up at her.

"I can't see where that'd be a problem for you either, Boscorelli. Yokas? What're you doin' here?" Lieutenant Swersky said looking from one to the other as he approached the end of the bed. Faith stood with her hands stuffed in her pocket, he mouth opening and closing as she tried to think of the right thing to say.

"Uh, I was goin' out for a drink with Yokas after the shift to celebrate her comin' back to work tomorrow and I had Sullivan call her to tell her I'd be late," Bosco supplied as Faith nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, Sully told me not to come, but I guess I thought the doctors here might need some help convincin' him to stay," Faith added grasping at the straw that Sasha had provided earlier.

"I'm glad I've got you two together. I was gonna talk to you about this tomorrow before shift, but since you won't be in, and that's an order Boscorelli, I want you to know I've got some reservations about puttin' you two back together in 55-David. There's a lot of speculation 'bout you two after your little road trip and your divorce. If there's somethin' goin' on, I need to know. You know the regulations," Swersky said sternly.

"Lieu, there's nothin' goin' on. If you split us up, everyone's gonna assume there is. We're partners. We had a rough time with the whole Cruz thing, but we worked it out. We haven't broken any regulations, boss, and we won't," Bosco said sitting up best he could.

"You agree with that, Yokas? Nothin' goin' on?" the lieutenant asked fixing Faith with a stare that seemed to penetrate into the back of her skull.

"Nothin's goin' on," Faith answered. Technically it was the truth. So far no lines that could get them in trouble had been crossed. They'd been blurred and maybe stretched a little, but not crossed.

"Fine, but I better not hear otherwise. Next, Boscorelli, I'm gettin' complaints from the nursing staff. You're stuck here so you better get used to it. You live alone, you're stayin'. Concussions are nothin' to screw around with," Swersky said stabbing a finger in Bosco's direction to make his point.

"My kids are gone, so he can stay at my place. He can take Charlie's bed," Faith blurted as all eyes snapped to her.

"You're takin' him home with you and you expect me to believe nothin's goin' on?" Swersky asked his eyebrows raised in disbelief.

"It's the least I can do. I mean, he took me all the way to North Carolina so that I could recover," Faith quickly covered.

"I'll get Mary to release your pants. Don't make me regret this," Swersky said before walking out the door.

Faith handed the prescriptions Mary had given her to the Pharmacist. She snickered when he called her Mrs. Boscorelli and told her he'd have it ready in ten minutes. Guess it wasn't only ditzy blondes who assumed they were married. "You wanna sit while we wait?"

"If I'm stayin' over at your place, I need to get a few things," Bosco said pushing away from the wall he'd been leaning against.

"Tell me what ya need and I'll get it," Faith said picking up a basket from the stack.

"You don't haveta take carea me all the time," Bosco replied taking it from her.

"I know that, but it doesn't mean I don't want to."

Bosco nodded a half smile on his face as he remembered saying those same words to her. He handed her back the basket then took her free hand giving it a squeeze. They wandered through the store picking up the essentials - tooth brush, deodorant, razor.

"Guess what I got today," Faith asked as they walked down the aisle.

"My head already hurts. Don't make me use it," he replied tugging her close for a quick kiss. He'd wanted to do that since the moment he saw her in the emergency room.

"Wouldn't want you to strain yourself," she teased. "I got the final papers. Fred already signed 'em. I just haveta turn 'em into the lawyer, he gives 'em to the judge, and that's it."

"You okay with that?" Bosco asked suddenly nervous. He slipped his arm around her waist hoping it wasn't for the last time. If she changed her mind, he'd have to let her go. He felt like his heart was waiting to hear her answer before deciding if it wanted to beat again.

"I should be upset. I shouldn't feel like everythin's finally right. My mother called me today to remind me how I'd failed, but I don't feel like I've failed at all. I'm happy. Fred's happy. The kids are happy. How can it be a failure if everybody's happy?" Faith said leaning her head on his shoulder.

"You'll let me know if you're not, right? You'll tell me if you're not happy?" Bosco asked quietly.

"I promised you'd be the first person I called," Faith replied pulling away. She smiled, taking his hand again as they continued walking.

"So this time tomorrow you'll be a free woman. Too bad ya gotta work."

"Technically, I'm already free," Faith replied pulling him into the family planning aisle.

"Are you sure?" Bosco asked turning her to face him.

"You are stayin' over tonight. It's only smart that we should plan for just in case," Faith said blushing slightly.

"Just 'cause I'm stayin' over doesn't mean I can't control myself. Your cold shower works just as well as mine does," Bosco said pulling her close again.

"We decided to wait until everything was final and technically, everything is. You're not the only one tireda cold showers."

"I didn't want ya to think I was expectin' anythin'," Bosco said taking a small box of condoms off the shelf.

Mischief gleaming in her eye, Faith took the small box out of the basket where Bosco had tossed it and replaced it on the shelf. She picked up the largest box they had and dropped it in. "I'm expectin' a lot myself," she said squeezing his behind before heading back to the pharmacy.

Stunned, Bosco watched her go. Then picking up another box, he followed her smiling.

Neither of them saw someone lurking nearby, watching and listening to every word.