Author's Note: Hey guys, my muse has been working in overdrive and I finally got a new chapter out! Hope you enjoy it! Oh, and another small note in this story, remember in this one, CT Finney didn't die like he did on the show. I wrote him getting murdered in prison before they had him die on the real show. Anyway, got that out of the way!

Rating: PG-13

Summary:As if Bosco's life couldn't get any worse after being shot, he's been forced to pair up with Finney, a rookie fresh out of the academy. Things get interesting as the days pass, will they be good for each other or will it be a complete mistake?

Special Thanks: Cosmic Castaway yet again for her marvelous words of advice and helping me add and take out things that'd make this story that much more enjoyable! Thanks CCA. I'd also like to thank all of you who have replied and given me great feedback, couldn't have wrote this story without you!

Disclaimer: Still don't own anything from Third Watch, I just like to borrow them for entertainment and then give them back!

Responses to reviewers can be found at the end of this chapter.

Deep Blue Chapter Eight: So Soon

Faith decided that it was probably best for them to talk in person. She liked to see his face and his expressions, since he always tried to hide a lot over the phone. She noted his appearance as he opened the door. He didn't look good, he was as pale as a linen sheet.

"Damn Bosco, you look like you've seen a ghost." She walked through the threshold and sat her purse down on the end table near his couch. "What's going on?"

Bosco ran his hands through his hair. "You have no idea how much truth was in that statement you just said." He then stopped, thinking about what he saw and if she should tell her or not. "Never mind." He walked into the kitchen, "You want a drink or something?"

She shook her head no. "No, all I want is for you to tell me what's going on."

He took a long drink of water and sat the glass down next to the sink. This was going to be harder than he thought. He never liked admitting that he had a problem, but him "seeing" Mikey was a sign that he definitely needed to reach out to someone. "I..realized tonight that something isn't normal with me." He gritted his teeth.

Faith folded her arms over her chest and cocked her head to the side. "I'm listening."

He paced back and forth, his uneasiness evident as he tried to spit the words out for her. "I realized my lifestyle isn't going well."

"I see. What made you realize this?"

His eyes widened as he looked at her. His heart skipped a beat. He wasn't sure if he should tell her or not. "This was a mistake Faith. I'm sorry I called you over here but go home." He turned to walk to his bedroom but she quickly grabbed his arm, turning him around. Her strength surprised him, making his heart jump.

"Bosco, what the hell is going on?"

He jerked his arm away. "I can't tell you."

"Why?"

He leaned against the wall. "Because no matter what I say you won't believe me anyway. Just don't let me waste anymore of your time and go home. Get some sleep."

"How do you know that I won't believe you?"

He gritted his teeth, unsure how to answer that. "Because I'm not even sure if I believe it or not. Just give it up Faith. Go home!" He watched as she just stood there. "I'm not going to ask you again. Just go."

She nodded. "Okay Boz." She turned to leave, hoping maybe eventually he'd open up to her.

Grace and Finney didn't realize how much they had walked, and didn't even keep track of the time. The sun began to come up, and they both stood at the edge of the river, watching it. Finney smiled. "This is like the first sunrise I've actually been up for in a long time."

"Me too." She leaned in closer to him. "I never stop and take the time to see how beautiful things can be." She smirked. "Talk about corny moment 101."

He put his arm around her. "It's ok. I never stop and admire things either." His face grew serious. "Will you come to my father's funeral?" He hated bringing his death back up but it was on his mind.

She nodded. "Yeah, if you want me to be there."

He squeezed her hand as they started to walk farther down the river. He looked at his watch. "I guess we should be heading back home. I've gotta go to my mom's and help her with the arrangements."

She yawned. "Yeah, as much as I don't want to we should." They reached her house quicker than they thought. "I had fun tonight Brendan."

"Thanks for walking with me, it was quite refreshing."

Grace waited for him to kiss her but he didn't attempt it, so she did. She leaned in, giving him a small peck on the lips. "I'll see you later today." With that she closed the door, leaving him alone on her doorstep, lost in his thoughts. He let out a deep sigh, and started off to his house. Today was going to be hard for him. Today was the day he and his mother would decide where they'd lay his father to rest, for eternity.

"C'mon Swersky, are you going to make me ride the desk until Finney gets back from his leave?" Bosco couldn't believe he had to work the desk for a second day in a row.

"No, I'm making you do the desk again because you still look like shit. I don't want to risk anything, not right now." Swersky walked into his office, hoping Bosco wouldn't follow him. Unfortunately Bosco was persistent.

"I got plenty of rest last night." Bosco moved a picture frame a small ways across Swersky's desk, and Swersky was quick to put it right back where it was. "I'm gonna go crazy staying on the desk."

"And I'm going to go crazy if you don't get the hell out of here and start on that paperwork. Now go!" Swersky edged him out, closing the door in his face.

Bosco walked to his desk, spotting Faith down the hall. "Hey Yokas."

She nodded, waving a small folder. "Bosco. You okay today?"

"I could be better. How about you?" This situation was growing more awkward by the second. Bosco wanted to find the quickest exit, but seemed to be trapped.

"Got a new murder case I'm starting. Why does Swersky have you on desk duty?"

"Finney is out because of his father's death and he doesn't wanna let me ride alone." He saw Faith's confusion. "Don't ask me why either."

Faith knew exactly why but she could tell Bosco didn't want to even press the matter. "Okay, well then I guess we should go have lunch or something. Maybe you can tell me what has you bothered. Call me when you are ready to take your break." She turned to walk away.

Bosco muttered under his breath, "That's highly unlikely."

Finney knew that this day was going to be so awkward, but it had to be done. His mother's face was so swollen and red from staying up all hours the night from crying. All day he stayed by her side, holding her hand tightly as they looked at burial plans for his father.

"Did you know your father used to talk about being cremated?" His mother wiped her nose with a Kleenex as she stared down at the table.

He leaned back in his chair, letting go of her hand. He didn't know what to say back to her, so he let that comment hang in the air. "Ma, we need to make a decision. We've been looking over all these plans for 4 hours."

"Will they be burying him with honors?"

Finney shook his head. "Yeah they will. Just because he was being accused of something, he was murdered. Being accused doesn't mean he did it."

She stood up, letting more sobs come out. "Everyone is going to live with that wondering though. Did he really do what they said he did? Now we'll never know."

He remained sitting down as he looked up at her. "Mom, he is your husband. The man you love. He didn't do those things. How could you even think that?" Deep down Finney knew he did wrong, but his mother should be shielded from those things. What good would it do now if she knew?

She buried her face in her hands. "I don't know."

After another hour of contemplating his mom finally made a decision on the type of casket and where he'd be buried. The funeral was scheduled for the next day. His mother wanted to get it done quickly, to get it over with so she could at least try and go back to her normal life, though she wasn't too positive about it being 'normal'.

Finney stared at himself in the full-length mirror on the back of his closet door, running his hands over the buttons of his dress uniform. He wasn't sure if he could do this, go out and face his fellow co-workers and friends. He knew that his father's superiors knew the truth about his father and the bad deeds he did, and that was yet another reason for them to look down on him. He grabbed his hat off of the nightstand and walked down the stairs, greeting his mother at the bottom. He couldn't even stand seeing her, it was more awkwardness than he ever wanted to experience for the rest of his life.

"You ready Brendan?" She asked as she put her arm through his.

"As ready as I'll ever be."

The ceremony was beautiful, they had set it up well. Finney couldn't get it out of his mind how his father died though, murdered in a prison cell. The whole time his mother stayed by his side, never letting go of his arm.

When the 21-gun salute rang out she nearly cut his circulation off from gripping him so tightly, but he stood strong, being her support since she needed it the most. He could see in everyone's eyes that they felt sorry for his mother and him, but he didn't like it. He was almost thankful when the ceremony was over. Now hopefully they could put it behind them, and he could get back out on the streets and start over.

Everyone began to slowly walk away, going on with their day but he and his mother just sat and stared at CT's headstone. This is where his father would stay for eternity, away from everything, in the hard ground.

"Do you think your father is in heaven?" His mother continued to blankly stare at the cold stone.

Finney pulled her into a hug, feeling her tears soak into his skin. "Yeah, I think he is mom." He took in a deep breath, looking up to the clouds that had began to form over them. "Ma, we better get going, it looks like it might rain." As soon as he said that it began to sprinkle.

"Yeah, let's go home." She walked up to his headstone, placing her hand over his name. "I love you CT."

The next day Bosco had never been so happy to see Finney walk through the locker room door, basically for the fact that he didn't want to be on the desk yet again. But then he had mixed feelings, wondering if it was too soon for Finney to be back in the car. "Hey Finney." Bosco gave a small wave as he went back to changing.

Finney nodded to him, slamming his duffel bag down on the bench. Sully couldn't believe what he saw. "You back so soon?"

"Yeah, I am."

"Swersky actually Okayed it?"

Finney didn't look up from his clothes as he smoothed them out before putting them on. "Yes. Is that a problem with you?"

Sully leaned against the lockers, making a small clanking sound from his weight. "It just seems weird."

Finney looked up from buttoning his shirt, his anger already flaring. "I came in thinking I wouldn't have to explain myself to anyone. But do you want an explanation? Because here is my damn explanation. I had to get out of the house okay? What good would it do for me to stay in for a few days longer?" He slammed his locker door and walked out, leaving the rest of the officers in silence.

"You better keep an eye on your partner Bosco before he lets his anger get all of us killed." Sully spoke as he too exited to the role call room. Bosco didn't reply as he finished getting ready. Talking to Finney would only make it worse in his eyes; it was best to just let this blow over for now.

Bosco watched out on the street and then looked at his watch. It had been a good 30 minutes and neither of them had really spoken to each other. There was the common 'hello, how are you doing' conversation but nothing more, and frankly it was bothering him. He did like silence, but sometimes it just made people crazy.

"You getting hungry?" Bosco asked as he shifted his weight in his seat. The shift had barely started, but at least he was trying to get Finney to talk.

"Not really." Finney just kept his eyes out his side window, wondering in his mind why he was back but he wouldn't admit that out loud. He just didn't see the use in being at home any longer, seeing his mother's pain.

Before Bosco could say anything else the radio cut in, "5-5 David, respond to the corner of east 23rd, alarm has been reported going off in vicinity."

"Scratch that idea anyway." Bosco queued his radio. "10-4 central."

When they pulled up to the store they parked across the street, making sure that if there was a perp inside he wouldn't see their car. Bosco saw how suspicious it was, trying to see inside the store.

"There's two inside." Finney replied, staying low. "Looks like one has a gun."

Bosco nodded, turning his head to speak into his radio again. "We need backup at this location central."

"5-5 Charlie is en route."

Bosco watched intently, also trying to keep his focus on Finney whom he was worried about. That's when both the perps exited the store, each with a duffel bag full of what was probably money or stolen goods. Bosco came from behind the car, holding his gun up.

"NYPD, freeze!" He tried looking with his peripheral vision to see if Finney was covering him, but he didn't see him.

The leader of the two's face could not be seen, but his eyes wrinkled and Bosco could tell that he was smiling from underneath his ski mask. "You think you are going to take both of us down?"

Bosco didn't want to turn around and see where Finney was for being worried that either one of them could pull out a weapon and quickly use it on him. "Just drop your bags and put your hands up. I've got backup on the way."

"Are you sure you can wait that long? We might just decide to cap your ass right now."

Bosco kept wondering, 'where the hell is Finney, and why is it taking Sully so long to get here?' "You don't want to do that. Don't make things worse for yourself." That's when the leader lifted his gun up, and a gunshot rang out.

Bosco saw the leader fall to the ground in his own pool of blood, and his partner so scared that he dropped everything he had on him and practically walked up to be cuffed. He turned around to see Finney with his gun still aimed at where the man once stood. He was still pretty upset about Finney not backing him up at the beginning, but he was thankful he came through at the end. 5-5 Charlie had barely pulled up.

"What happened?" Sully asked as he and Ty walked up to the scene.

Bosco holstered his gun. "Showed up one second too late, Sul."

That night after the shift ended all Bosco could do was think about Finney and how he froze out there. It wasn't the Finney he was used to. He was very happy that when it was time he did the right thing, but Bosco should never have to wonder where his partner would be in the heat of things. He waited patiently for Finney to come in to change and leave. That's when he'd confront him, maybe he could get some answers.

His thoughts were interrupted by the squeaking of the door and the site of Finney coming through the threshold made his heart beat faster. "Finney, we need to talk."

Finney nodded as he went straight to his locker. "What now?"

"About today, at that robbery."

Finney sat down on the bench and began to untie his boots. "What about it?"

"Well for starters, why the hell didn't you back me up? I was there with two guys, outnumbered, and you were nowhere to be found." He paused. "Out on the street, you gotta know who is going to have your back."

Finney ran his hands over his hair. "Honestly, I have no idea what happened. I have no excuse or explanation."

"I know exactly what it is, but you won't admit it. You came back way to early Finney. You need to take some more time off."

Finney put his hand up. "Stop right there Bosco, I'm fine. It won't happen again."

"I'm sorry, but I can't trust your words. You need to take more time off. I can't trust you right now." Bosco turned to walk away. He said what needed to be said, hoping Finney would somehow take his advice.

Finney was left alone in the locker room, his thoughts overtaking him. He really had no reason why he did what he did, but he knew sitting at home would make things worse. "I'll be back tomorrow." He said to himself as he finished and left, going wherever his feet would take him.

TBC….

Responses to Reviewers

Jayne 190: Man it's reviews like yours that make me feel awesome as a writer. I'm happy to see that my interactions are working, because at times that can get very hard! Hope you enjoyed this chapter just as much. I sort of had Finney and Bosco split up more in this one. Thanks again!

Arodloverus2001: Yeah you thought Bosco was going to get help didn't you? Haha, just another twist in the story for ya since Bosco is pretty complex! Thanks for your review!

Thirdwatcher: I'm so happy everyone is liking the Mikey scene. I was so skeptical when writing that, but I guess it turned out to be okay! Thanks for yet again reviewing my story for me. I owe ya!

3wfanatic: I love to hear that you like my writing! Makes me want to jump and down with excitement, but I won't do that..haha. Yeah, the shipperness just isn't for me I guess, but it's god to hear that you like it how it is. Thanks a lot!

Quacksd: Yeah you know how the saying goes, "all good things must come to an end" though I'm not saying my story is "good" but this too has to end, just hopefully not so soon. If you keep leaving reviews like you did this might last a lot longer than planned! Hehe thanks!

Kika-sama: That quote I had Mikey say, "Keep up the road you are on and we will be united sooner than you think" is just something I put in to make Bosco realize that he's not doing too hot. Just to add a little more angst to it..muahaha. Your English is fine, a lot better than people I know where it is there first language so it's great. Thanks for your reply and your interest, I appreciate it!

Will Stewart: Yay! Finney is so awesome, I understand where you come from when you say you love him a lot! He's kick ass and youthful to boot! Hehe! Thanks for your review, you are great!

FinneyLover: Ahh, so you think my story is the best? That's so awesome! I'm glad you think that way! I agree, the world does need more Finney (giggles) And about the Cruz/Finney relationship..Hmm sorry but I don't think I'm going to do that seeing as I'm not the hugest Cruz fan around..lol. I'm thinking I like him with Grace, but hey ideas are awesome to share. Thanks!

Again I thank everyone who has sent awesome emails and replied to this. I owe all of you and I appreciate it more than you can imagine! Happy reading!