Author's Note: Hey everyone. I am so sorry that it's been so long since the last update, that's my fault. My muse kinda left me and a lot has been happening lately. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter! - Jamie

Title: How Things Seem (Sequel To Knights Reunited)

Authors: Jamie552 (writes Bosco) and Starbright (writes Faith)

Summary: Three years after the party at Haggerty's, Bosco and Faith are married and living happy and normal lives. But Bosco gets offered something he can't refuse...

Disclaimer: We, sadly, own nothing.

I made my way up the driveway, feeling increasingly miserable with every passing second. Never in all my life had I ever been more ashamed of myself. What I'd said to Faith had been completely inexcusable, and hearing her on the phone telling me to come back made it that much worse. The fact that she could stomach talking to me after a display like that showed how special she was…and here I was, throwing it all away.

Climbing the front steps, I came to a stop at the door. I sighed and knocked loudly. It was after midnight, but I didn't care. Within moments, the door to the house opened and Davis appeared, blinking his tired eyes in the harsh beam of the porch light. "Bosco?"

"Yeah."

"What…are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here?" I narrowed my eyes at him. "Because of this damn assignment you asked me to do, I'm now officially homeless. I'm staying with you."

"Staying with me?"

"Yeah, staying with you." I pushed past him and made my way into the dark foyer and on into the living room. Every single light was off as I tossed my duffle bag onto the couch, shedding my jacket. "Where are Sasha and the girls?"

"At Sasha's mother's place." Davis lightly closed the door, turning to face me as he rubbed his eyes wearily. "What happened?"

"What do you think? You told me Faith couldn't know about it-"

"Yeah…and?"

I sighed, spinning around to look at him. "And…I probably said the meanest and cruelest thing to her I ever could've said."

"What did you say?"

"That she was too old to have kids."

His eyes widened slightly and he shook his head. "Why the hell would you say that?"

"I don't know! It just came out!"

"She kicked you out?"

"Yeah…then called and practically begged me to come back, saying that we could work through it." Sighing, I plunkered down onto the couch and rubbed my face with both hands. "Look what I've started, Davis."

"This is my fault." He said softly, sitting in the recliner across from me. "I should've let you tell Faith. I mean, it's Faith after all, right?"

"She can't know, it's not safe for her to know."

"So what are you gonna do?"

Lowering my hands, I looked over at him in the darkness of the living room. "Leave it be…at least until this is all over."

"Are you gonna be able to do that?"

"I'll have to try. If she thinks I'm mad, she'll keep her distance…she can't be near me once I start."

He slowly nods his head, looking down at the floor. "You guys'll work it out, you know that, right?"

I remained silent, staring into the darkness in front of me. Would we work it out? I had no idea. There would be a tension there that hadn't been there before; there would be a lot of mending to do once I returned home. I'd never been good at mending things…

The following morning I found myself standing in Davis' kitchen, watching the coffee machine move slower than I'd seen any other coffee machine move. Letting out a sigh, I bent over, resting my head in my arms on the counter; I'd woken up with a headache.

"You ok?"

Hearing Davis' voice, I lifted my head and swallowed. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"You know that when you watch it, it takes that much longer."

Having no clue what he was talking about, I furrowed my brow and looked over my shoulder at him. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"The coffee?" He motioned to the coffee machine, the pot only less than half full. "It's like watching water boil…takes a long ass time."

"I have all the time in the world, Davis." I said softly, resting my head back on my arms. "Got nothin' to do."

"Actually, you have a lot to do. My lieu wants to meet you today."

"Oh, wonderful."

I heard him chuckle as he moved to stand beside me, leaning back against the counter. "He's a good guy…you'll like him."

I remained silent, focusing on the dripping black coffee. I found it hard to believe that I could like anyone who'd created an assignment like this; now, granted, I'd agreed to take part, but as always, it was someone else's fault. I sighed, slowly closing my eyes.

Davis looked down to the floor and cleared his throat. "Things'll be ok, Bosco. With Faith, I mean."

"They better be ok."

"They will be. You guys always work through your problems…and you have since the beginning."

"Well, marriage changes things, Davis." I said quietly, opening my eyes. "Things are different than they used to be when we were just partners; it's a lot more complicated."

"I can imagine. I'm sure if I'd married Sully, things would've gotten complicated."

I couldn't help but chuckle, standing up straight and turning around, leaning back against the counter. "Yeah, but for a whole different set of reasons."

"True."

I shook my head, crossing my arms across my chest. "I just…see Faith as a different person now, that's all."

"Well, she's your wife."

"Yeah, I know." A smile spread across my face. "I know."

A loud beeping filled the kitchen and Davis let out a breath as he went over to the coffee machine, carefully lifting the pot out. "Here you go, pal…my specialty."

"Can't wait."

"Don't be sarcastic, or you won't get any."

I smiled lightly, holding up my hands. "Didn't say a word."

"Good…keep quiet over there."

The morning went on quietly, the coffee receiving all of our attention. I found myself feeling better as the hours passed, my headache dulling and my fatigue leaving me. After we both showered and dressed, we found ourselves in Davis' car, driving in the direction of the 53. The city was wide awake already, cars and buses whizzing by, the sidewalks bustling with people.

A normal Thursday morning in New York. Well…normal for everyone else.

I had no idea what that day would hold in store for me. I had no idea what Davis' boss was gonna say or what he was gonna throw me into. I kept telling myself that I was ready for anything, that I was prepared for anything; but I couldn't stop my stomach from turning. Absentmindedly, I reached down and put my hand on my gun, which was sitting in the waistband of my jeans; I let out a breath and relaxed at the familiar feeling. Davis looked over at me, furrowing his brow slightly. "Whatcha doing?"

"Nothin'"

"Nothing?" Taking one hand from the steering wheel, he motioned towards where my hand was resting on my side. "You got a cramp or something?"

"What?"

"Your hand? On your side?"

I looked down at my hand and sighed, resting in back in my lap. "No…just…checking for my gun, that's all."

"Your gun?" I nodded, turning to look out my window. Davis chuckled lightly. "You and that gun, Bosco."

"What?"

"Nothing…just, I don't think you'd be complete without your gun at your hip."

"And what's wrong with that?"

"Nothing's wrong with that."

"Where's your gun?"

"In a lock box…in the trunk."

I shook my head, scrunching up my face. "Well, that's helpful."

"Unlike you, Bosco-" Davis started, glancing at me. "I don't plan on using my gun every two seconds."

"Shut up, Davis."

He laughed lightly and we fell silent as we continued our commute to Davis' house.

Finney was waiting in the Anti-Crime office with Breda when we got there. He sent us a tired smile as he stood from his chair, holding out his hand to me. "Hey Bosco."

"Hey Finney." I said, returning the handshake.

"So I'm guessing that you've agreed to-"

"Be a mobster?" I interjected hotly. "Yeah, I've agreed."

A silence fell and Davis cleared his throat looking over at Breda. "Morning, sarge."

Breda looked up from her paperwork and smiled. "Morning, boys."

"Lieu around?"

"He's in a meeting with someone from head office…shouldn't be too much longer."

"Cool." Davis motioned down the hallway. "We're just gonna wait in the office, ok?"

Breda nodded, sending me another smile. "No problem, I'll call you when he's ready."

"Thanks." He started down the hallway and I fell into step behind him, Finney bringing up the rear. We soon entered the small office and Finney closed the door as I took a chair. After opening the blinds and flooding the room with light, Davis took the other chair, rubbing his eyes wearily. "Crap, I'm tired."

I slowly nodded my head. "And just think, you didn't spend the night on that couch…I did."

"I've spent the night on that couch a couple times, Bosco."

"Yeah, when he pisses Sasha off." Finney said, grinning. "I've been on my couch a couple times, too."

"With Grace, I'm not surprised."

"What's that mean?"

Davis laughed, shaking his head. "It means nothing."

"Well, it must mean something."

"It means that Grace doesn't take your crap." I said, looking over my shoulder at the younger man. "She'll kick your ass outta the bedroom if you upset her." Looking back at the floor, I added, "Faith is that way, too."

Davis, not missing a beat, chuckled. "Well, that's Faith…never takes anyone's crap, especially yours, Bosco."

"How, uh…did Faith take everything, Bosco?" Finney asked softly, looking over at me. "Is she ok?"

"She doesn't know what's going on, Finney, because you told me not to tell her." I replied tersely. "And no, she's not ok."

"Bosco, take it easy, alright?" Davis said quietly, placing a hand on my shoulder as he leaned towards me from his chair. "Finney doesn't know what happened."

"Why, what happened?"

"Nothing."

"What do you mean, nothing?"

I sighed and rested my head in my hand; Davis looked over my shoulder at the younger man and cleared his throat. "Nothing happened, Finney, ok? Drop it."

Finney finally took the hint and remained silent and I signed again, swallowing hard. "How long is this gonna take, Davis?"

"Not too long, he just wants to meet you and introduce you to the assignment; the key players, the locations and the particulars."

"The locations?"

Davis nodded, looking down to the floor quickly before looking back up at me. "Yeah, where you'll be living…you can't live at home, can you?"

"Not anymore, no."

The door to the room opened suddenly and a man around Swersky's age entered. I looked up at him; he had salt and pepper hair, as well as a goatee, and a soft smile on his face as he shook Davis' hand. "Davis, good to see you."

"Good to see you too, sir." Davis nodded at me and I stood from my chair, holding out my hand to the other man. "This is my close friend, Officer Boscorelli from the 79. Bosco, this is my boss…Lieu. Corrigan."

"Nice to meet you, sir." I said politely, shaking the man's hand. "I've heard a lot about you."

The older man smiled at me. "Good things, I hope." Glancing at Davis and Finney, Corrigan turned back to me. "I just want to thank you for agreeing to do this…it must be hard to leave your family on such short notice."

I remained silent but looked down to the floor. Davis said, "Yeah, it was kind of a last-minute thing."

"But, it'll all be worth it once it's over."

At that moment, I wanted to shout at him. I wanted to say that when it was over, I had to go home to my wife and beg her for forgiveness. Davis, thankfully, spoke first, "Hopefully, it won't take too long."

"Yes, that's right, we have to stay positive, don't we?" Corrigan let out a breath and made his way around the desk, sitting down in the comfortable looking swivel chair. Folding his arms across his chest, he said, "Boscorelli, I want to make something clear right from the beginning, alright?" I nodded, leaning back in my chair. "I want you to understand that no matter what happens, and no matter what you may have heard, you will not be abandoned in this, ok?"

"Can you guarantee me that?" I asked seriously, locking eyes with the older man. "Can you guarantee that me and my family will be taken care of?"

"I give you my word."

Davis sat down as well, leaning forward in his chair. "Sir, how are we gonna keep watch on Mrs. Boscorelli? She leaves the house everyday."

"Where does she work? I don't think you ever told me."

"She's over at Major Cases."

"Major Cases, huh? Well, I don't think we have to worry about watching her while she's at work…that seems pretty secure to me."

Nodding, Davis said, "Sir, I told Boscorelli that we'd be briefing him on all the particulars today."

"Yes, that's right." Sitting forward, Corrigan folded his arms on the desk and looked at me. "So, tell me what you know, Boscorelli."

"I don't know much." I said, rubbing my forehead. "I know that there's a drop Tuesday night and that it's gonna consist of illegal weapons, possibly narcotics of some kind."

"Do you know who's behind it?"

"The mob…I don't know which family."

"The Ellero family is supplying the weapons, but we don't know who the buyer is. We think that it's another family out of Washington, but we can't be sure."

"We worked with the Feds a couple weeks ago and got a phone tap in Tony Ellero's house," Davis added, looking over at me. "That's how we know about the drop date."

"And from that tap you couldn't get the buyer?"

"He never mentioned it."

"That's why you're going in, Boscorelli." Corrigan said, pointing at me. "We need you to go in and find out who the buyer is-"

"How do you expect me to do that?" I asked hotly, scrunching up my face. "You think that they're just gonna let me into their circle? Let me hang around and hear those conversations?"

"You need to gain their trust."

"And how do I do that?"

"Tony Ellero owns a restaurant over on 3rd…creatively enough, it's called Tony's. You'll go to that restaurant, posing as a potential buyer for some of the leftover weapons he has from the sale." Corrigan motioned to Davis, who passed him a manila folder from one of the far filing cabinets. Opening the folder, the lieu continued. "We're giving you 10 000 dollars cash, with which you'll make the purchase. While your making the purchase…that's when you start fidgeting your way into Ellero's circle."

"And you think buying a couple automatics is gonna win the trust of one of the most paranoid people in New York?"

"We're hoping."

"Well, that's reassuring."

"Have a little trust in us, ok?" Corrigan smiled and gently closed the folder. "Now, what I suggest is that you spend the day with Davis and tonight we'll get you into your apartment."

Davis nodded. "Is there a time you want us back here?"

"Around 11:00 is fine."

Within moments, we'd left the office and were heading back outside, Finney a few paces behind. Davis was watching me outta the corner of his eye, took a deep breath and finally said. "Are you ok with all this?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"Yeah, you do."

I slowly stopped walking and turned to face him, shoving my hands into the pockets of my jeans. "I'm committed now, Davis. There's no going back."

"I can take you home and help explain all this to Faith if that's what you want, Bosco. You know I'll do that."

"I know you will…but I've agreed to do something, so I'm gonna do it."

He slowly nodded and motioned towards the car. "Let's get something to eat, ok?" I nodded in return and we all piled into Davis' car, my thoughts racing as he merged with traffic.