GRACE

PART SIX - Final part.

That evening in the locker room Davis sat staring into his open locker listening as Sully rifled through his belongings.

"Dammit!" he snarled, banging his locker door shut with such force it made all the others rattle.

"What's up Sul?"

"That lottery ticket I bought," Sully griped, "I figure it's gotta be a good one after what happened today, but now I can't find it!"

Ty frowned. "Didn't you put it in your pocket?"

"Yeah, I thought I did," Sully replied. "Ah what the hell. It was probably a dud just like all the others."

Ty looked thoughtfully down at his left hand. "Maybe..." he murmured.

"You say something Davis?"

Ty shrugged. The premonitory nature of the dream had saved him, saved them; he had no doubt about that. He assumed that was the reason he'd had it. But when the image of Gracie in her father's arms waved him goodbye once more, he couldn't help feeling a certain amount of discomfort. What if her existence had somehow depended upon him being involved in that accident?

He dismissed the thought sharply as crazy talk.

Ty slammed his locker shut and was following Sully out just as Faith and Bosco were walking in.

Bosco had his gaze glued firmly to the floor, and brushed past him with barely an acknowledgment.

"Tough watch, huh?" Ty said to Faith.

"Yeah. Not one of the better ones," she replied.

Ty regarded her quietly for some moments. Her face looked tense, her eyes sad. He'd heard on the grapevine that things were a little difficult for her at home, and he guessed working with Bosco probably didn't make things any...

He stopped the thought in its tracks as the memory of their beautiful daughter crept into his mind once more. The sudden pang of guilt he felt caught him by surprise.

"Hey, heard about your lucky escape today," Faith was saying.

"A lucky break I guess," he shrugged, barely able to look her in the eye. He continued on his way without another word.

As he walked Ty tried to shake the feeling of guilt that had begun to stir in him. Some part of him seemed determined to believe that by saving himself from the future he had seen in the dream, he had robbed others, specifically Faith and Bosco, of the chance to experience real happiness.

Sully stood on the sidewalk outside the precinct house waiting for him.

"You still haven't explained how you knew that van was gonna run the lights," his partner growled.

Ty regarded him quietly for a while and then replied: "I saw it in a dream about a month ago."

Sully gave him the look Ty had expected he would.

"You're kidding?"

"I'm not man, I swear. I had this dream..." He stopped, unsure as to whether he wanted to give Sully any further details.

"You gonna tell me about it?"

"Why? It's just a dream, right?"

"One that saved our asses, Ty!" Sully exclaimed.

Ty stared down at the ground for some time.

"Do you believe in Fate Sul'?"

"Today I sure do," was the reply.

"Do you think that if something is meant to happen, it will, regardless?"

Sully regarded him carefully. "I don't know Ty. You gonna tell me what this is about?"

"It's just, there were some other things I saw in the dream that I'm not sure are going to happen any more." He shrugged. "I'd kinda like them to."

It was Sully's turn to shrug. "If it's meant to be, it's meant to be, Ty. Like it was meant to be we'd be standing here talking instead of lying in a hospital bed or a morgue somewhere. You had that dream for a reason, it saved us and that's good enough for me. Let the future take care of itself."

Ty nodded thoughtfully.

"Come on, I'm gonna buy you a beer," Sully said, moving off.

"Just the one?" Ty inquired as he fell into step beside his friend.

"Two maybe. What the hell, you deserve it."

A few days later Ty stood waiting at the bottom of the steps by the front desk with Faith Yokas, listening as Swerskey read their partners the riot act on the landing above.

It had been a busy watch, with barely enough time to breathe between incidents, and there were still three hours of the shift to go.

"He threatened Faith and took a swing at Sully. What the hell was I supposed to do?" they heard Bosco protest.

"Threatening to shoot the gentleman's balls off WASN'T an option Boscorelli!" Swerskey retorted loudly.

"Any other bum and it would have been fine," Faith grumbled. "Just 'cos this guy has a bit of money and a few connections, Bos gets dragged over the coals."

"One set of rules for the rich, Yokas, another for the poor," Ty mused.

Faith said nothing. Ty turned to find her staring fixedly at the steps in front of her, lost in her thoughts. An image of her wrapped in Bosco's arms, her face alight with laughter taunted him.

"Hey Faith, can I ask you something?" he said suddenly.

Faith looked up and fixed her eyes...Gracie's eyes...upon him.

"Sure."

He took a deep breath, fully convinced he was out of his mind for asking the question he was about to. "What do you think of the name Grace for a little girl?"

Faith regarded him with a look of faint amusement in her eyes. "You been hiding something from us Davis?"

"What? No!" he yelped. "Friends of mine...you know...trying to decide on a name..." he answered as nonchalantly as he could while at the same time feeling like a lame ass.

"Actually, it's funny," Faith smiled. "That was the name I chose if I'd had a girl instead of Charlie. Grace Eve."

Ty stared at her. "For real?"

"Yeah," she nodded and added softly "I've always liked the name. If I ever have another baby and it's a girl, that's what I'd call her."

A wide grin began to spread across Ty's face.

"What the hell are you smirking at Davis?" Bosco snarled as he made his way down the stairs towards them.

"Nothin'" Ty replied, still smiling.

Bosco turned his attention to Faith.

"All set?" he inquired of her.

"Yeah, just gotta have a word with Rattray over there then we'll hit the road," she replied.

Ty watched Bosco as he waited for Faith near the door. For the most part he scrutinised the passing parade that filed by him through the doors of the precinct house, but Ty noticed Bosco's eyes flick Faith's way on more than one occasion. Faith finished her conversation and made her way over to where her partner stood. When she reached him Bosco turned to her - and for the briefest moment their eyes met.

Ty stared. Had he not known what to look for he might have missed it, but there it was. The look. Just as he had seen it in the dream.

He felt the grin on his face broaden into a wide smile as Gracie danced for joy in his thoughts.