Author's Note:

Hello folks! Don't hate me for the hiatus, I actually have been writing this for a bit. In fact, this entire piece was written within a week of the finale. It's just that I hated season six, or whatever season that was, so very much that it made me give up. After the finale was aired I had no muse, thus I stopped writing (out of sight of mind and so forth). I have debated for nearly two years between publishing this as is or waiting till I get the creative spark to finish this chapter. Well…it's been two years and I ain't seen no spark! I felt like I was cheating my readers by putting an unfinished product out there, so I've kept it to myself. You see, there really is no conflict (conflict: aka what makes a story interesting) in this chapter yet, because I never got to it. In the end I decided to go for and just publish it. I took off about 3,000 words worth of story towards the ending, because that part was truly unfinished; literally stops mid-sentence. Unfortunately, that happens to be some of my good stuff, but oh well. Maybe a spark will…you know.

So, without further ado!

Enjoy!!!

This Way

"Let's get somethin' to eat."

"I can't eat after this Bos."

"After what, all we did was run around the block? I think we should go somewhere else next time 'cause if we keep runnin' around these buildings I guarantee you some nut job will be waiting on us in one of these alleys."

"Next time, Bos I don't know about a next time. That-that right there just sucked."

"It wasn't that bad. All we need to do is keep it up and we'll be breezin' around here in no time flat."

"We, since when did this become a team effort? I don't know about all this we stuff either."

"Hey no one twisted your arm to come out here a'right? You're the one who said we should do this together so put up or shut up."

"Shut up Bosco."

"Fine."

"Good."

"I'm hungry."

"Then go eat something!"

"Come with me."

"No! I told you I can't eat after this."

"No one said you had to eat Faith, just come with me."

"I don't want to go anywhere Bosco. What I want is to walk very slowly up my apartment steps, 'cause my ass hurts, and then I'm going to take a shower and pass out on my bed. I don't wanna go eat."

Bosco eyed her for a moment and shook his head. "Man, you got some serious issues."

"What?"

"All I ask is that you come with me to get some food and you rip my head off. Anger management Faith, anger management."

Faith blinked at him incredulously as he wagged a finger at her. Bosco sat down on the steps next to her and nudged her with his shoulder.

"C'mon Faith, it's just around the corner. They just made everything fresh and we'll be the only ones there."

"Whatever Bosco," she mumbled.

Bosco nudged her again and she rolled her eyes. "C'mon I'm buyin'," he said and hopped up.

"I'm not eating," Faith replied and stood slowly.

"So you keep telling me."

She fell in step with him as they made their way over to the cafe on 3rd. The wind picked up a notch and they both moved closer together so that they were walking shoulder to shoulder. Faith glanced at him and wondered when he was going to stop wearing that band-aid on his face.

They soon came to the intersection of 3rd and Houghton and waited until a few, early morning commuters cruised through the yellow light before they crossed the street. Faith glanced up at the all black building, the Three Mile Café, as they walked towards it. Bosco was right, there was no one in the café or on the street; even the pigeons were still asleep. Her fingers gripped the bronze spiral handle and swung the door open. A small bell sounded somewhere in the back, alerting the staff to their presence. They stepped into the café and where immediately inundated with the smell of freshly baked goods. Despite her earlier claims, Faith's stomach rumbled approvingly.

Bosco eagerly rubbed his hands together and crossed the small foyer. A large man with a sizable gut, dressed in all white, slung a towel over his shoulder and watched them approach from behind the bar. He was the type of guy who most mistook for slow and overweight, but was really the kind who was all hidden muscle and could seriously kick your ass. Bosco thought he would look more appropriate with a butcher's hat, a cleaver, a bloody smock, and some poor creature that had been born on the wrong farm. The should-be-butcher eyed Faith with slow appreciation and she managed to feel both disgusted and slightly flattered at the same time.

"Mornin'," he boomed.

Bosco glanced up and nodded in his direction. Where was he from? He couldn't quite place the accent. "How ya doin?"

"Not bad. What can I get f'you?"

"Uh, just need a minute," Bosco replied.

Faith sidled up next to him and peered into the bake case. "Oh wow if gluttony's a sin, then book me a ticket to hell. Oh Bos that one has real cream in it, I bet it's delicious."

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't you just crying about not wanting to eat?"

Faith shot him a dirty look and went back to ogling the bake case. "I feel fine now, don't question me."

"Whateva. Yeah uh-Ike," he said reading the man's name tag, "I'll take two strawberry danishes, a bear claw, and um a slice of that banana bread—that any good?"

Ike looked up from the register and glanced down at Bosco, "What the banana bread?"

"Yeah, most people's tastes like crap."

Ike shrugged, "Yeah its fine."

Bosco nodded and stuffed his hands down his pockets. He waited a beat and glanced at Faith who was still staring into the bake case. "Faith I think it's actually shrinking away from you."

Faith straightened up and smiled uneasily at Ike. Ike's somewhat sour demeanor changed into a lecherous grin as he unabashedly looked her up and down. Bosco frowned at the man, but neither of them took notice. "Um, I'd like just a fruit salad—how fresh are those?"

"As fresh as you wannit t'be sweethawt," Ike said. Bosco sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Right, I'll take a fruit salad and a croissant."

Ike smiled and punched in her order on the touch pad without taking his eyes off of her. "That it?"

Faith smiled uncomfortably, "Yeah that's it."

"What, a skinny little thing like you and that's all you're gonna eat?"

"A skinny little…," Bosco muttered.

"That's it Ike," Faith said markedly cutting off his advances.

"Right, that's gonna be…$12.69," Ike said, rolling the last two digits over his tongue with great emphasis.

Bosco balked and looked at Faith, "Jesus, is this what breakfast is going for over here?! What do you put in the dough, gold?" he said and slapped a twenty on the counter.

"Hey McScrooge, you're the one who said we should eat here so quit complaining," she told him.

Ike took the twenty and stuffed it in the register. Bosco watched as he reached for the change and the dollars seemed to disappear into his meaty hands. Looking at the size of them he wondered if the guy even had to put any force into his punch to do damage. Hell, the weight of those hands alone had probably broken plenty of faces in their time.

Bosco pocketed the change and nodded, "Thanks."

"Yeah, take a seat and I'll bring y'stuff out in a minute."

Bosco followed Faith to a table situated by the window and close to the gas fireplace. He looked around and wondered what the interior designers had been going for; charming Tuscany, cozy French, or traditional American. None of the themes seemed to flow or follow one another. It was a nice café, but the design theme was just a little off.

Faith quietly studied Bosco while he looked around the room. His features were sullen and unreadable. "Penny for your thoughts?" she queried.

Bosco looked at her and smirked, "Just a penny? How about $12.69?"

Faith felt her cheeks color and she smiled. "No seriously, what's up? What're you thinking about?"

"Why so curious?"

"Bos, remember that whole conversation we had about you not talking to me? Well this is one of those moments, so don't clam up on me now."

At that moment Ike appeared from the back room with their trays. He set them down on the bar and delicately tapped the silver bell next to the registers. "Foods up," he called out apathetically.

"I'll get it," Bosco said and slid out of his chair. He returned quickly and took his seat across from her. Spreading a napkin in his lap Bosco peered fixedly at the glistening bowl of ripe fruit. "That actually looks good."

Faith nodded and popped a piece of watermelon in her mouth. "Yeah it is, and that looks like a sugar rush from hell," she replied, pointing to his pile of baked goods.

"Don't knock it till ya tried it."

"Oh I have," she said and speared a rather plump strawberry, "that's why I have six chins and a tire around my waist."

Bosco raised his eyebrows and decidedly took a hunk out of his danish. After thirteen years he'd finally learned his lesson. There was no way in hell he'd follow the bait into that territory.

"So, back to you," she said.

"I dunno what you want me to say," Bosco said around his danish, "I'm fine. I feel fine, I'm sleepin' fine. As much as it pains you to hear, I'm not gonna have a sob story every time I talk to you. We don't have to have deep, meaningful conversations all the time. Nobody does that anyway that's such a girl thing."

"Bosco I am a girl."

"Yes I noticed, I think that's your problem," he said and took another hunk out of his danish.

"Problem, how is me being a girl—excuse me, a woman a problem?" Faith asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Well, let me see. All women, including you, think that they have to squeeze out every life story a guy has every time they talk. See chicks get mad when you tell 'em that there's nothing on your mind but football, the weather, and the next time you're gonna get laid. Then they take it personally because they think you're lying. Why won't you talk to me? We never have conversations anymore. Is it me? Why are you lying—what's happening to us? Yak, yak, yak. You're all the same," he said dismissively. Faith cut her eyes at him and kicked him hard underneath the table. "Ow! The hell was that for?!"

"For being a jackass. So did you make the appointment or not?" she growled.

Bosco rubbed his throbbing shin and scowled at her. "Yes mommy, I made the appointment. It's on Wednesday at 11 a.m. would you like to come with me and hold my hand?"

"Do you want me to?" she asked seriously.

He shook his head and fished out the banana bread beneath the other pastries. He stared down at his plate but didn't touch his food.

"Bos, what is it?"

Bosco shrugged and stole a quick glance at her. She had her patented let me in I'll fix it look on her face and he knew that she was about to start squeezing. How could she always tell when he was bothered by something? Was he that transparent?

"Nothin' Faith." She fixed him with her raptor glare, wrong move. Was the room getting smaller or was it just him?

"Hey, we talked about this. You don't have to make this like an AA meeting. We can be here and we can just talk. Bosco please…"

She waited several moments and almost lost hope before he spoke. "I'm wasting my time," he ventured.

"How?"

"Going to my doctor's appointment," he explained, "I'm wasting my time." Bosco paused and looked her in the eye. His leg started to bob up and down like it did when he became uncomfortable. "They're just gonna tell me the same thing as last time."

"What did they tell you?"

"The same shit about not improving, stuff like that. And it makes me not want to go—I know," he said putting up his hands defensively before she could say anything, "I'm still going. It's just…I'm sick of hearing it. I don't want anybody to tell me how bad I'm doing and I know that's what's going to happen when I go in there."

Faith watched him staring forlornly at his pile of food. He sighed heavily and sunk lower in his chair. The leg bobbing had finally ceased and he rested it against hers. "Bos, just think of it like this. You've been holed up for several weeks not doing anything and not taking care of yourself, so of course they'll tell you that. But keep in mind that now you're taking control and being proactive."

Bosco nodded slowly and stole two grapes from her bowl. He chewed for a moment and took another glance at her. "Will you…uh will you keep running with me?" he asked tentatively.

Faith sat up a little straighter and smiled at him. "Yeah, I promise."

He nodded and took a bite of his banana bread. "Mmmm, thanks Ike, this actually tastes like crap."

Faith covered her mouth and laughed. "You want some of my salad?" she asked and pushed the bowl towards him.

"Yeah, why not? We're being proactive now, right?"

"Right," she said and let him pick out all of the grapes.

------------------------

'Annnd that's all for the Wickup Show! This is Wick Nelson sayin' good mornin' and good day New York! Thanks for listening to WQ—' The alarm clock shut itself off even before Faith managed to raise her fist in the air. It could have been a simple electrical trigger, but more than likely it was from having its snooze button hammered in unmercifully thirteen times a week. The door slowly creaked open and a rumpled looking teenager slouched sleepily in the doorframe.

"Mommm…" Emily croaked.

"What?" Faith mumbled.

"Get up, it's 5:30. You told me to get you up, so I'm getting you up, now get up…I'm going back to bed."

"Just…five more—"

"Nooo!" Emily moaned, "I'm tired Mom, I have to sleep! He's gonna be here any minute and I refuse to let you blame me this time."

Faith rolled onto her back and winced. "I hurt," she moaned.

Emily rolled her eyes. "Then don't do it." Her mother had been crying about her aching body for twenty-four hours nonstop and she was sick to death of hearing about it.

"Can't, I promised him."

"Fine, then get up!"

Faith moaned another protest, but rolled herself into a sitting position anyway. Every joint and muscle screamed as she did so. Yesterday morning had been the first hardcore exercise that she'd had in quite awhile, and her body was not appreciating it at all. Faith cursed herself for having promised Bosco. She was getting to old for this crap.

"Alright Emmy, I'm up. Thanks."

Emily grunted and slogged back to her bedroom, shutting her door loudly. Faith glanced at the clock and idly wondered if she had time for a shower; the hot water would work wonders on her sore muscles. Already 5:33 not a chance. Normally she would have gone for it because Bosco was forever running late. She never would have guessed that he would show up fifteen minutes early and gung-ho to run like he did yesterday. Bouncing on his heels and done up in new sweats, Bosco had frowned at her as she stood puffy eyed in pink pajamas. To say that she was surprised to see him would have been a gross understatement. She really didn't think he was all that serious about starting a running routine at six o'clock in the morning. Yet, there he was and soon here he would be again.

Faith rummaged through her closet and pulled out her new jogging suit. It was a dark blue set with a thick white stripe going down the sides. The top was nifty with a deep hood and had the kind of sleeves that were complete with quasi gloves on the ends. Normally Faith wouldn't have taken a second glance at it; she didn't even know what wicking fabric was. But Emily had made fun of her old ones and insisted that they go out and buy another as soon as possible. Since when had she stopped being trendy? Faith held the jogging suit up for closer inspection and thought back to the previous morning.

"Mom, I think it's time to consider getting some new clothes."

"What are you talking about? There's nothing wrong with this."

Emily raised her eyebrows and shrugged. "Okay Mom, whatever you say."

"What? It's just a jogging suit."

"Yeah but, that doesn't mean it has to look shabby. I mean it's a little small…"

"It is not small, it fits fine Em," Faith replied indignantly, although it did feel a little snug in certain places.

"Right, that's why I can clearly see the crack in your butt and your stomach, is like really hanging over."

"Emily!"

"What? You asked me what was wrong!"

"Yeah, I didn't say insult me."

Emily rolled her eyes and turned to her mother as she walked towards the bedroom door, "Oh, and you might want to check out another sports bra too. You boobs are kinda—"

"Emily!"

"What? I'm just sayin'," she said and walked away.

Faith slipped into her clothes and then stood in the mirror inspecting her bottom and lifting her breasts to different heights. "Damn know-it-all kids," she muttered. Just then she heard a knock on the front door. She moved hurriedly from her room, grabbing her keys, water bottle and running shoes on the way out.

"Just a second," she whispered and undid the latch.

"Mornin' sunshine," Bosco said loudly.

Faith put a hand on his chest and pushed him into the hallway. "Shhh! Emily's sleepin' Bos," she said closing the door softly. "Not to mention the whole neighborhood." He apologized and she bent to slip on her shoes. As she laced them up a low whistled escaped his lips.

"What?" she asked.

"New clothes, tryin' to look hardcore, huh?"

"I'm not trying to look like anything. I get up yesterday and my daughter tells me she's embarrassed to know me."

"Why?"

"Emily thought that my jogging suit was outdated, and that's putting it nicely," she said as they began walking down the hall.

"What're you talking about it? There was nothing wrong with it."

"I know that's what I'm saying!" she cried not catching his sarcasm. At least someone agreed with her. "Aw man, my butt hurts. Does yours hurt?"

"Getting a little personal aren't we?"

"Oh please."

Bosco pressed the down button for the elevator and gave her a sideways glance. "Yes, my ass hurts like hell. Along with everything other part of my body, but that'll all pass as soon as we get in shape." The down arrow lit up and the doors chimed and parted for their entry. Bosco ushered her forward and stepped in behind her. Faith pressed the lobby button and when it didn't respond she tried again and then began punching the button impatiently.

Bosco grabbed her wrist and pressed the button gently. "Little high strung this morning Faith?" It immediately lit up and the elevator began its decent. "Just takes the right touch," he informed her. He gave her a smile and merrily began whistling a tune that sounded like a bad copyright infringement of Spoonful of Sugar.

Faith threw him a dark look, that went unnoticed, and wondered what in the hell he was so happy about. It was six o'clock in the morning for crying out loud! She ground her teeth, resisting the urge to throttle him while screaming and demanding to know exactly how he had managed to talk her into getting up before the crack-ass of dawn, just to go jaunting around the park, when she could be sleeping. But she wasn't sleeping, she was currently locked in an elevator standing next to Mary Poppins. And wasn't it his fault that she was cranky and in intense pain anyway? Damn right, she told herself. Who in the hell does he think he is? Thinks he's so goddamned smooth, 'the right touch'. Smart-assed, overgrown punk; I'll knee you in the balls! Six o'clock in the fu—

"Hey! Earth to the mother ship, you comin' or you gonna stand there all day?" Faith blinked in surprise and realized that Bosco was looking at her from outside of the elevator. She blinked again and felt heat beginning to creep up her neck.

"What do you think?"

Bosco gave her a puzzled look that said 'what's with you' as he waited for her to exit the lift. They walked down the front steps of the apartment building in silence. It was still cool in the morning, the summer had yet to enter and bring with it its stifling heat. The wind blew hard as they passed rows of parked cars and Faith wished she had worn something a little heavier. They had both decided to start going to a small park that was several blocks from her home. Bosco had been surprised to learn that even though Faith had lived in the neighborhood for her entire life, she'd never been to it.

'Sure I've passed by it' she had said when prompted. But when he asked why she'd never been in it she responded by saying that she'd had better things to do than lie in grass all day.

Bosco had grown quiet during the walk and she found herself wondering what he was thinking about. Her muscles were still sore, but the walk was beginning to warm them up and Faith was starting to fully wake. She had to admit to herself that it was actually kind of nice just to walk somewhere in New York without pushing through throngs of people. Besides the occasional fellow jogger, she and Bosco were utterly alone in this quiet, sleeping world. Faith smiled a little and caught Bosco looking at her out of the corner of her eye.

"What?" she asked him.

"Nothin', what are you all happy about?"

"Nothin'," she replied and continued to smile. Bosco raised his eyebrows at her, noting her polar mood change and shrugged. He'd never understood women, no matter how hard he tried.

"Well Sunshine, since you're so happy, what'd you say we jog over to the park? Then all we got to do is stretch and after that we can start."

Faith stopped cold in her tracks and stared at him. "Jog?" she asked, "As in jog to the park?"

"Yeah, to the park, why?"

"Won't that defeat the purpose of going to the park?"

Bosco frowned and stepped back to where she stood looking very rigid. "No, we jog to the park, stretch, and then run. What's the problem?"

"Problem hmm…that would be the part where we run, and then run again," Faith said flatly.

Bosco waved her off and shook his head. "No Faith, we jog to the park, stretch, and then we run. You see the difference—the jogging and then the running? One's a warm-up and the other's the workout."

Faith cut her eyes at him and huffed. "Terrific," she grumbled.

Bosco noted with keen interest that he'd just witnessed another polar mood swing. "Alright…then c'mon." Bosco looked at Faith, obviously meaning for her to follow him into a jog. She scowled hard at the back of his head and let him take the lead.

Even though they had only been going for less than ten minutes once they came in view of the park, Faith felt like it had been an hour. Her legs burned, her lungs were on fire, and her heart felt as if it were going to explode into tiny shards. Bosco pulled up just at the gates and bent over to catch his breath. She slowed to a walk and continued past him, swatting him on his back as she went.

"Stand up," she said not looking back, "you'll breathe better that way."

Bosco looked up gasping heavily, "Since when are you the expert?"

Faith continued walking into the park with her hands cinching her hips, "Common knowledge."

The wrought iron arches of the gates spiraled above their heads and Bosco followed her under them. A small statue of a man standing proudly atop a hillock stood in the middle of the path just beyond the entryway. Faith glanced at the rusted nameplate and could barely make out the name Gatston.

"Hm, Gatston wonder what he did."

"Who cares?" Bosco retorted. "Just some geezer nobody remembers that they decided to name a park after. And what's with that anyway? Why do people insist on makin' asses out of themselves and spell park wrong?"

Faith peered curiously at him over the foot of the statue. "Bosco, what are you talking about?"

"Park—it's supposed to be spelled p-a-r-k, not p-a-r-c; buncha idiots."

Faith stared at him in amazement and held her tongue, "Yeah, pretty stupid…" Bosco nodded his agreement and hawked an enormous glob of snot into the red rubber mulch that surrounded the statue. She looked at him in disgust and moved away from the monument. He met her on the other side and they began walking towards the cement path that skirted the large green. Faith pointed to a small cropping of trees a little ways beyond the path and suggested that they move over there. Bosco nodded and the two crunched across the gravel and onto the smooth pavement.

The grouping of trees that Faith pointed to was a cozy nook made up of stunted oaks. Their large trunks were so twisted and bent that it looked as if the trees were bowing grandly to one another. They stopped under the great branches and set their water bottles down at the foot of the largest tree. As they moved beneath the small canopy, birds and squirrels loudly made their territory known to the pair bellow.

Bosco arched his back and grunted as it popped audibly. He glanced up into the trees and noticed that a large volume of animals were staring down at them. "If one of those birds' craps on me I'm gonna be pissed. And you—yeah you squirrelly. You even think about droppin' that and I'll break every bone in your little paw. Yeah, and tell all your little chipmunk pals too. I can climb a tree faster than your moth—"

"Bosco!"

"What?"

"What the hell is this, a safari?!"

"Calm down, don't get your panties in a twist! I'm letting 'em know what's what; so when they crap on your head, don't come crying to me."

Faith glared at him and partially unzipped her dark blue jumper. "You gonna lead or what?"

Bosco sighed and walked over to where she stood. He held her eyes for a few seconds and then led them through a series of stretches that moved muscles Faith didn't even know she had. During the stretch she moaned and complained about the difficult positions and her lack of flexibility. Bosco wasn't much better off than she, but towards the end she felt guilty when she caught him wincing. It suddenly occurred to her how painful all that movement must be for him; over the past few months he hadn't really moved at all. He had lost much of his muscle mass, his endurance, as well as his range of movement, and here she was complaining that she couldn't touch her toes. From that moment on, Faith vowed to hold in her complaints as long as he did; because if anyone had a right to do it, it was Bosco.

After working their hamstrings for what felt like hours, Bosco announced that they had finished their last stretch. Faith moaned in relief and Bosco flopped onto his back and let his breath out in a whoosh.

Faith watched him lying in the thick grass and crossed her legs beneath her. "A'right, are you ready?"

Bosco sat up and scratched the underside of his jaw. "Yeah, so this thing is about a half mile loop," he told her and gestured to the path surrounding them.

"Uh-huh."

"So I think we should run two laps around. Make it a quick mile."

"A quick—a quick mile? How is a mile quick?"

"You know, just set a good pace. You just gotta find the groove between jogging and sprinting. Trust me it won't take long. When I was with the Rangers we…"

Faith rolled her eyes and tuned out the rest of his speech. That had to be the six thousandth time she'd been subject to his 'when I was with the blah' stories. She waited the appropriate amount time before she stood and brushed off her bottom. Really she knew he was finished when he hawked another piece of his lungs onto the previously unmarred grass.

"So charming," she muttered to herself. Bosco didn't catch the comment and went on to reach in his pants to 'readjust himself' without even checking to see if she was looking or not. Faith shuddered and walked up a slight slope onto the paved path. Bosco joined her and did a few more quick stretches as if he were about to run a 10K.

"Alright, I'm going to time us," he said and set his watch.

"Just remember Bos, this isn't a marathon and I'm not your army buddy. Got it?"

"Sure," he said unconvincingly. "Alright ready…go."

Bosco set the pace even though she knew he would go too fast for the both of them. She tried to concentrate on her running form rather than the burning pain in her lungs. In through the nose, out through the mouth, in through the nose out through the mouth… They pounded the cement underfoot, sweeping past multitudes of benches and watchful pigeons. Around the third turn Bosco began to slow and Faith caught him favoring a stitch in his side. Part of her wanted to demand that they stop and take a short break or just quit altogether, but she knew him and knew better. Bosco was not the kind to be coddled; so they pounded on.

They rounded the last of the first stretch and passed by the entrance. One more to go, Faith told herself half hoping that her legs would be inspired by the thought and move faster, but they weren't having it. There was a sizeable gap between the two of them even though they had both noticeably slowed. She had never wanted to stop so badly in her life. So what if she was getting a gut? Who cared if she sat at home on her days off and watched TV? Did it really matter if she was just barely running faster than Sully these days? Sitting on her couch and growing five more chins was certainly more preferable to enduring this pain.

Finally, oh FINALLY! Faith thought when she caught sight of the gates and the statue. PRAISE JE-SUS! Just another hundred meters and then she could collapse in a heap and tell Bosco how much she hated him. Faith began to let her stride out and pumped her legs faster even though they burned in raw agony. In fifty meters she had come within a few strides of Bosco. By the time they were twenty meters away they were running side by side. She was going all out now pushing forward in a fury. They passed the statue together, slowed to a jog and then stopped.

They leaned heavily against one another as they made their way over to their tree. Faith wasn't sure who was holding up whom, but she was relatively certain that if one moved away the other would fall over. The trees were no less filled with animals than they were before. In fact it looked like the whole neighborhood had come out to see the spectacle. They all chittered and cawed as they walked below. Faith sunk heavily to the ground and splayed herself against the tree. Bosco bent over at the waist and tried to get his gasping breaths under control.

"Oh…my…God," she said as her chest heaved.

Bosco sat down hard on his butt and checked his watch. "Whew, 8:59. We'll have to get the time down."

"Whyyy," Faith moaned dryly to no one in particular.

"Because we're being proactive," he said and leaned back on his elbows.

"I hate you."

-------------------------

Bosco and Faith gathered their things and headed out of the park. Although it was a beautiful day outside, she couldn't say that she was all that sad to leave. The horde of staring squirrels and chipmunks were starting to give her the creeps.

"So what are you gonna do for the rest of the day," she asked as they strolled out of the park.

"Dunno, catch a shower…eat—you wanna go get something?"

"Yeah."

"How about we not go back to that place? Ike seemed a little on the stalker side, huh?"

Faith laughed and nodded. "Well there's a restaurant about a block north of here. They sell hot food and they've got a bakery."

A little while later they slid into a booth at Jarrett's All-American Diner, but everyone called it Jad's for short. Bosco picked up the menu and skimmed through it. A waitress sauntered over to them and gave them her best 'tip me well' smile.

"Any coffee for you today?" she asked positively beaming. Bosco figured she was either new to the business and had yet to be broken, she knew how to work customers for tips, or she was on drugs. No one smiled that hard.

"Yeah, I'll take a cup," he said. Faith shook her head and went back to reading the menu.

As the waitress went for a coffee mug Bosco looked out the window. The sun was shinning brightly now, seeming to flood the entire city with light. More people were awake and out, walking their dogs, ambling to work and going about their routines. Bosco looked at Faith and admired the way the light was catching her hair again, making it shine and shimmer. Was this going to be their routine? Getting up and each being the first person the other saw every morning? Just being together like they used to be…

"Bosco you're staring at me again," Faith said without looking up.

Bosco blinked and quickly looked out the window. "I wasn't."

"You were."

"Here you go sir," said the waitress and she placed a steaming cup of coffee in front of him.

"Thank you," Bosco said. That small comment alone appeared to up her wattage by ten percent.

"Have you decided what you want to order?"

Faith set her menu down and looked up at the slender girl. She glanced at her name tag, Angelina and nodded. "I'll have the Aussie Salad, a small croissant, and a large water with no ice, please."

Angelina nodded vigorously as she scribbled down the order. Bosco screwed up his face and looked at Faith. "What the hell is that?"

"And for you sir?" Angelina asked and turned her wattage up another notch.

"Bos, just order."

"Uh yeah, take a bear claw, eggs scrambled hard, two orders of bacon, an order of sausage, and toast—with grape jelly," he added quickly.

"Jesus," muttered Faith.

Angelina nodded, scribbled and grinned. "Sure, I'll have that out to you in a few minutes."

"Thanks," said Faith. "You know you're gonna have a heart attack if you keep ordering those cholesterol specials."

"Don't you worry about it, so what the hell is an Aussie Salad?"

"It's just a fruit salad with kiwis in it," she replied.

"So why do they call it an Aussie Salad?"

"I don't know Bos! Maybe they grow kiwis in Australia. How should I know?"

Bosco leaned forward and whispered, "Hey, is it me or is she starting to creep you out?"

Faith snorted, "What cause she keeps smiling like a freak?"

"Yeah, it's just weird."

"Well she wasn't smiling that hard at me, I'll tell you that," she said and winked at him mischievously.

Bosco grimaced and sunk down in his chair, "Aw don't say that!"

"What Bos, I thought she was your type? Tall, dumb, fifteen—"

"Stop it," he hissed and kicked her foot underneath the table, "I never dated a fifteen year old. That's just wrong and nasty."

Faith nodded and looked at him earnestly. "Sure, but the tall and the dumb part are right up your alley then, right?"

"Hey I don't date dumb chicks—"

"Here you go sir," Angelina set down two plates in front of Bosco.

"That was quick," he said trying not to look up at her.

Angelina said nothing, but grinned widely at him instead. She glanced at Faith and her smiled dimmed just the tiniest bit. "And I'll have yours out in just a few," she told Faith and walked away.

"Well I guess the cook's fast…just shut up Faith," Bosco muttered and tried unsuccessfully to hide from the blatant grinny stares he was getting from their waitress.

Faith looked from him to Angelina, tilted her head back and cracked up.

-------------------------

"Hey you."

"Hey baby," Faith called out to Emily. She stepped through the door and kicked off her shoes. She was pretty much used to wearing heels everyday, but every now and then there were times when she wanted nothing more than to suit up in the old familiar.

"So how did it go?" Emily asked from the kitchen. She glanced up from chopping vegetables and watched her mother cross the small foyer and slide wearily into a dinning room chair.

"Oh, the hearing?"

"Mmhm."

Faith let out a deep sigh and looked up at the ceiling. "They cut him loose."

"What?"

"I know I know I couldn't believe it. After all that, he was acquitted of all charges."

Emily looked flabbergasted, "But they have his DNA. Couldn't—couldn't they just…they let him go?"

"I know," Faith said again jadedly.

"Mom I'm so sorry."

"Me too Em," Faith nodded and shifted her weight in the chair. "I told that to the mother of one of the girls he'd raped. I'd practically assured her that this guy was going away for good. I mean I just knew we had 'im…but they set him free. You should've seen the look on her face, on all their faces. We lost the case and now that bastard's back in the free world. I failed all those mothers and their families…all those girls." Faith looked miserably at the tabletop and thumbed the soft, worn leather of her wristwatch.

Emily wiped her hands on the kitchen towel and moved towards Faith. Their relationship had taken a new turn since the divorce less than a year before and they were constantly entering territory that had previously been unvisited. This too was new to her. Faith was not the kind of person to show deep emotions in front of her children. Emily wasn't used to offering comfort or just being there emotionally for her mother. In truth it made her see Faith in a new way, almost like she was a real person and not just 'mom'. In turn this made her grow to respect and understand her mother even more.

"Mom, I made some linguini with pesto sauce. When's the last time you ate?" Emily made her way over to the table and sat down adjacent to her mother. The lines in Faith's face where more pronounced and it seemed like all of her features where pointing downwards.

"Oh thanks sweetheart, but I'm…I think I'm just gonna call it a night and go to bed. Okay? I'm sorry baby," Faith said apologetically. She gave her daughter a small smile, but it didn't come close to reaching her eyes.

"No it's okay, mom. I know you're tired, but it'll be in the fridge if you get hungry later. If you need anything will you let me know?"

"I'll do that. Thank you so much Emmy, I'll see you in the morning." Faith stood and smoothed her hand over Emily's hair. As she walked away her movements were slow and leaden. It looked like the world had bested her today.

"Mom?"

Faith blinked tiredly and turned to her daughter. "Yes?"

Emily paused for a second and then launched herself at her mother and held on tightly. She pressed her nose against her neck and inhaled. She smelled Chanel No. 5 and then underneath that, the bone-achingly familiar smell that was all her mother. It took her racing back to her childhood where she had spent many hours safely encircled within those arms and surrounded by her smell. She would always long for that.

Emily still held on tight and whispered firmly in her ear. "You haven't failed anyone mom. Not one person. You did everything right and it's not your fault that he's out. Don't you ever think it's your fault. If the world was right then he would be in jail where he belongs. But it's not and that has nothing to do with you. It's people like you that try to protect us. It's people like you who take the night shift just so the rest of us can sleep safely. So, thank you for being who you are mom thanks for keeping me safe."

Faith's eyes were wide and shiny with tears as she pulled back and cupped her daughter's face in her hands. Oh how this girl had grown, how she loved this girl! "I love you Emily," she said and her voice warbled.

"I love you too mom, very much." Emily leaned forward and kissed her mother on the corner of her mouth. "Go to sleep," she whispered and then nudged her gently in the direction of her bedroom. Faith caressed her cheek and kissed the top of her head.

Later that night she lay in bed drifting in and out of sleep and wondering when her daughter had changed. She had expected that she would be able to witness the changes in her maturity level, but instead they seemed to jump out and make themselves apparent at the most unanticipated moments.

Faith had been beaten down by the day's events. She had expected that she and Jelly's thorough investigation would provide the much needed evidence for the prosecution team. The entire investigation had seemed rock solid, so much so that even the judge was rumored to favor their argument. When the jury had called out the verdict, Faith was unprepared for the shock. She had spent weeks collecting evidence and helping the prosecutors make their case impermeable. Throughout the short hearing, the defense had been unable to poke holes through any part of their case—they were completely in the clear. But then for some reason, the jurors had it in their heads that Nick Poccetti had not indeed raped fourteen underage girls and killed six of them. No, it seemed that the rapist-killer was innocent.

The announcement had sent a thunderbolt racing through her body and set her nerve endings on fire. It unnerved her that people could dismiss such compelling evidence in a case as sensitive as this one. Declining Jelly's offer to take her out and get them both smash drunk, Faith dragged herself home. She didn't want to get drunk. Drunk never really resolved anything; it just blurred the lines a bit until the morning. And when that morning came you ended up with the same problems you had to start out, only nothing had been done about them, and to top it off you were usually hung over and wishing someone would just kill you.

So she'd come home and found her daughter cooking the two of them a meal. Emily was a surprisingly good cook and Faith loved her linguini. She hadn't been expecting that tonight, they usually reserved the cooking for weekends and Faith's off-days. What a sweetheart Faith thought as she sleepily fingered a loose thread on her blanket. Emily had turned into such a thoughtful person lately; she really turned her cards over. Their relationship had begun to grow since the divorce. They could actually hold conversations together that weren't just about the surface stuff. Faith was surprised to discover that Emily actually cared about what went on in her day, what she thought about things and how she was feeling on many different levels. It shocked her to think that once she'd had an obnoxious teenager who wanted nothing to do with her and now, all of a sudden, she had this loving young woman. She was blown away by Emily's words tonight and it was those words and those feelings that kept her awake.

She loves me, she thought, she really does love me. Emily and Faith had said and done things to each other that would encourage otherwise, but tonight changed her. Tonight she knew that her daughter loved her not only as her mother, but also as a person.

-------------------------

Emily hovered over her mother's bed and shook her again. "Mom…mom wake up. Mom get up its Bosco."

Faith opened her eyes and squinted at Emily over her shoulder. "What?" she asked groggily.

Pressing the mouthpiece of the phone against her chest Emily pointed to it and said, "It's Bosco, he wants to know if you're going for the run this morning?"

Sighing she sunk back into the covers and shook her head. "She says no, she's really tired," Emily translated. "Uh-huh…yeah I think so, hold on a sec. He says he heard about what happened yesterday. He wants to know if he can come over and bring us breakfast."

"Umm I'm a little—"

"She says yes, she'll be up soon—"

"Emily!"

"Yep, okay…yeah…no I don't think she likes that one anymore…mmhm amaretto. Right, see you in a bit." Emily pressed the talk button and glanced down at Faith.

"What mom? All you're gonna do is mope around all day. You might as well get up and do something."

"Emily I'm tired. I haven't slept that much and I don't feel like seeing anybody," said Faith irritably.

"I know that's why he's bringing you coffee. And it's just Bosco mom, it's not like you have to entertain him," she said as if Faith should know this.

Faith scowled and rolled over obstinately. "I don't want to see anyone today…and I have a headache…" she said from beneath her covers.

"You do not have a headache, get up and put some clothes on. Or at least get up. He wants to come over and make sure you're okay. I think that's nice. Aren't you always complaining about how insensitive he is?"

Underneath her mountain of covers, Faith blinked. Where had she learned to throw things in her face like that? Well she didn't get that from me, that's for sure, Faith thought dishonestly. She was right though, bringing them breakfast was quite nice of him. A few years ago she would have scoffed in disbelief at the idea of him making such a gesture. But he'd changed—he was, well sweeter now, sweeter in the sense that Faith has never known him to actually be sweet. Sure he would do things for her like tell her she was a good mother, cop, and all that stuff. He would listen to her rag on and on about her life and visa versa, but he'd changed. He wasn't as loud as he used to be, every word from his mouth wasn't about how great and mighty he was. Now they held conversations, real adult conversations.

They'd been through a lot in the last year. Faith thought about it for a minute and realized that they were becoming closer in a way that they never had before. Next to Emily he was the first person she saw most mornings. Since they had started their morning runs there wasn't a day that they didn't talk to each other. They didn't run every morning, but even on their off days Faith still ended up waking up before seven am (which irritated her because Bosco had been training them like they were in boot camp and now she couldn't sleep past seven) and sometimes talked with him on the phone over a cup of coffee.

Emily watched the lump under the covers and debated whether or not she should throw the phone at it. Using her better judgment she decided it wise not to piss off a grumpy bear—better to lay out some honey instead. She sat down on the bed and pulled her knees up to her chest. "Mom are you really not going to get up? I know you don't want to see anybody, but he sounded kind of worried about you—well really worried actually…" Emily waited patiently for her words to sink in as the lump rustled around under its canopy.

"Well, that's okay I guess. I'll call him and tell him that you don't want him to stop by. I mean by the time he buys all that stuff and drives all the way over here in the traffic, he's likely to want to go home anyway. Besides, he's probably got better things to do. Yeah so don't worry about it mom, it's just Bosco right? I'll go ahead and phone him…" Emily said and pressed the talk button for good measure.

Suddenly a hand shot out from the covers and grabbed her wrist. "Alright, alright you win! Jesus H…" Faith muttered a few expletives and sat up. She looked blearily around the room and frowned at Emily who was looking quite pleased with herself. Stumbling away to the bathroom she snarled and cast her a dirty look.

A short while later Emily heard a familiar knock on the front door. That was quick, she thought and clicked the mute button for the TV. She uncurled herself from the sofa and got up to answer the door.

"Hey Em," Bosco greeted her quietly. "Is she…?"

Emily ushered him into the room and helped him with one of the bags. "Yeah, no it's okay you don't have to whisper, she's up."

"Yeah? How's she doin'?"

Emily shrugged and grabbed a few plates from the cabinet. Jelly and Faith had been working on that case nonstop for weeks. It was all she had talked about, thought about, and dreamt about. It was her first big case, and it had just been throw back in her face.

"She's okay…well she's really bummed out actually."

"Oh," he said softly and busied himself with setting the table. Emily kept eying Bosco with curiosity and wondered why he was so quiet. They pulled out the food and coffee and arranged them on the table. Bosco went to wash his hands in the kitchen sink and Emily took a seat at the table.

"Should we wait for her?"

"No, it's okay. I don't know how long she'll be. How'd you get over here so fast?"

"I own a Mustang," he replied as if this answered everything. He took one of the coffee cups out its carrier, popped the top off and took a sniff. "I don't see why people get so jazzed up about this coffee. It just tastes like hot boiled piss."

"Ew Bosco that is so nasty!"

"Well it does," he said and took a sip.

"That's because you drink it black. Steamed milk, sugar, flavor shots, you know all the good stuff? That's what makes it taste good. Don't know why you put yourself through all that." Emily pulled a smaller cup, with the word Chai scribbled on the side, and took a tentative sip.

"See that's what all the bean freaks at Starbucks say. I tell 'em that coffee wasn't made for all that crap. It should only be drunk one way, black. If it tastes bad, then it's their fault. All their over priced shi—I mean crap," he said hastily and turned slightly pink. Emily continued sipping her tea and waited for him to continue.

"I paid damn near four dollars for a medium coffee! Then preppy little teenyboppers on uppers tell me what I want is a Grande. I don't want a freagin' Grande, I want a medium. Why did they have to go and reinvent all the sizes?" he ranted.

"I know, who thought of that? I think it's really lame, but people get so bent out of shape about it," Emily replied.

"You mean Bosco gets bent out of shape about it," Faith said as she walked over to the table wearing her bathrobe.

Emily watched her mother sit down at the table and wondered what she had been doing in the bathroom for so long. She hadn't gotten dressed and it didn't look like she had even bothered to run a comb through her hair. She only hoped that she had at least brushed her teeth. Faith and Bosco smiled at each other and despite her bedraggled appearance, he didn't seem to notice.

He passed Faith the container of fruit salad and placed a porcelain bowl in front of her. "Have some," he said, motioning for her to serve herself and slid a small plate of croissants next to the bowl. Faith smiled at him appreciatively and nibbled on a croissant.

"So, what brings you over to these parts? Emily tells me you were afraid I might jump out of a window or something," she said with a half smile. Bosco appraised her for a moment and took stock of what lay behind the surface of her eyes. She was sad, that was easy to see, tired, disappointed too.

"You wanna talk about it?"

Faith studied the bowl of salad and shook her head. "No," she sighed, "not really much to say about that, is there? A killer's back on the streets, everyone else got screwed…I dunno…" she shook her head.

"You worked really hard on—"

"Bos please, I don't want to talk about it, please," she said softly. A tumult of protests threatened to force their way out of his mouth, but he only pursed his lips and nodded.

A weighty silence fell upon the table. Bosco played with the edge of his table mat and Faith stared at her food. Well this is going swimmingly well, Emily thought irritably.

"Yeah, so Bosco how's that SS Chevy rolling these days?" Emily asked innocuously.

Bosco blanched and gripped his coffee. "What are you talking about?"

"Your car…you know the Chevy?"

"I don't own a Chevy. I ride in a 1969 Mach I Mustang. Chevy's are for puss—I mean…Chevy's are absolute and total crap. Who told you I rode in a Chevy?! That's actually insulting Emily…"

Emily smiled and nodded stupidly as he launched into a five minute tirade on why Chevy's were trash and how could she possibly think that he rode in one, etcetera. Well, at least it took the edge off the whole situation. Bosco had nothing on his mind but cars and Emily even saw her mother give her a grateful wink.

A short while after his rant, Faith excused herself to go get dressed. Emily munched on her banana nut muffin and looked around at Bosco warily. He didn't seem to care anymore about the supposed car incident and had seated himself in front of the TV, clicking through the channels feverishly. She decided that it was safe to be near him, so she curled herself into the overstuffed easy chair.

"Bosco?"

"Yep?"

"Thanks for coming over, I appreciate it and so does she."

Bosco swiveled his head to look at her and nodded. "Sure Em and uh…sorry about that whole car thing. I just now realized that you were um drawing the attention to yourself. So, um thanks for that… I guess."

Emily smiled seeing how uncomfortable he was with giving and receiving complements and making apologies. No wonder he made such blunders in the social world. The man had absolutely no grace. "It's no problem," she replied and tucked a curly lock behind her ear.

They sat in front of the television for a while and ended up watching more blurred shows than anything, because Bosco couldn't stay on one channel for more than three seconds. Emily stretched and yawned lazily and checked her watch.

"Oh!"

"What?" Bosco asked.

"I told Deena I'd be there at twelve! Shit—I mean damnit—crap!" she cursed and sprang into action.

"Language!" he cried.

"Oh like you can talk."

Bosco nodded, she did have a point, and resumed flipping through channels. Emily jogged to her bedroom and then stuck her head in the bathroom without knocking. Steam billowed out and Bosco heard her telling Faith that she was going out and would be back later in the evening.

She hurried past him to the door and then doubled back. "Bosco."

"Hmm?" he asked and looked up at her. Before he could even duck she placed a quick kiss on his stubbly cheek.

"Thank you for staying."

"Sure," he said gruffly and turned quickly so she wouldn't see how furiously he was blushing.

"See you," Emily called and shut the door.

Bosco stood up stretched and sauntered over to the table to grab another croissant. He stuffed half of it into his mouth and checked his watch. The game would be on soon and he idly wondered what Faith was still doing in the shower. He continued flipping through channels and landed on some Discovery Channel show about sex.

The narrator's voice was low and sexy and Bosco thought they had no business putting this stuff on TV at a time when some innocent child could easily watch it. Yet despite his inner objections he watched transfixed as they showed moving slides of a couple having sex in a MRI machine. He was so engrossed in the show that he didn't realize that anyone else was in the room until someone breathed very close to his ear.

"Enjoying the show?"

"GAAH! Did you have to do that?!" he screamed at Faith and hastily changed the channel.

"Bos I thought you knew how that stuff worked. The way you were all slack jawed and looking sideways, one would think you were a virgin. You been lying to me all these years?" she asked and laughed.

Bosco cut his eyes at her and wished that his face would stop burning red. It wasn't everyday that someone caught you watching other people having sex, even if it was 'educational'. "What took you so long?"

Faith shrugged and leaned into the same chair that Emily had recently vacated. Bosco flipped through the channels with no real ambition and kept a steady watch on her from the corner of his eye. Her hair was wet and hung in straight sheets on her shoulders. She wore a white long-sleeved t-shirt and green cotton pants. Dangling one of her slippers from the tips of her toes she stared absently at the TV. Bosco continued channel surfing and flew past a show with what looked like an orange ball of fluff running at the screen. He paused suddenly, eyes ready and alert, and quickly backtracked through the channels. A smile came to his lips and he sat up straighter, staring at the screen with a crazy gleam in his eye.

"Oh no Bos what are we watching?" she asked and squinted at the ball running towards the screen. "This is one of those damned animal shows isn't it? No way, I can't handle that today."

"Handle what?"

"In five minutes you're going to go nuts; we've had this discussion this before. I'm not in the mood to hear you and your animals, especially not today."

"Faith—c'mon Faith! I just want to watch this show I haven't seen this one. Seriously, what'd you think I was gonna do, check out some chick flick on Lifetime? No way, we're watching this—and nobody's gonna get worked up about it either. So just calm down and relax."

"You're the only one who's going to get worked up," she muttered. "Are there any croissants that escaped your ravenous tape worm?"

"Yeah."

Faith pushed herself up from the easy chair and moved over to the table where a lone croissant lay on a crumb littered plate.

"Bos I thought you said this one escaped."

"It did, it's there isn't it?"

"Yeah, but you took a bite out of it."

"How you figure I took a bite out of it?"

Faith sat down next to him on the couch and tore off a small piece. "Uh gee, 'cause I've been watching you eat for like ten years Bosco. I know you. So why are we watching this again?"

"Because it's educational now be quiet."

Faith dusted the crumbs off her fingers and pulled her knees up to her chest. Well, this so wasn't bad, she may have been watching some boring show, but at least she had company. What was so exciting about a sloth taking its sweet time climbing up a tree anyway? She glanced at Bosco and sighed. They'd probably end up watching this crap for the rest of the day.

"Yeah, here it comes baby," he whispered.

"Hm? Here what comes—OH! Oh God Bos you could have warned me!" Faith cried as a cheetah leapt onto screen out of no where and took a viscous swipe at the slow moving sloth. What the hell was this a sick joke? Crazy people must watch this!, Faith thought and then looked at Bosco.

"Faith look you're missin' it!"

"I don't wanna look! Why the hell don't they shoot that bastard?!"

She heard a small, almost inaudible, cry and looked up. The sloth hung onto a branch and looked pleadingly into the camera for help. Below him a cheetah swung like a pendulum on its hindquarters. The weight of the cheetah began pulling them both down, but the sloth held steadfast onto his branch. Once he let go, both Faith and the sloth knew it would be over. The cheetah's claws slipped deeper down into his flesh and tore the already jagged gash longer. She saw the white glint of bone but it was quickly covered by a fresh wave of the sloth's blood. Another small sound escaped his mouth and Faith wondered if he was crying. Without warning the sloth silently let go and both animals plummeted to the ground. The cheetah recovered quickly but the sloth remained lame and looked off into the distance as if waiting for the uninvited guest to begin feasting.

"Oh my God Bos…this is horrible. You watch this?"

Bosco nodded enthusiastically, but did a double take when he saw how watery her eyes were. Oops, not helping… he thought. He cleared his throat and scooted closer to her until they were shoulder to shoulder. "Hey," he said and patted her thigh awkwardly, "don't get upset about it, s'not that bad. Just the way of the jungle you know?"

Faith responded with a tiny pitiful whimper. "The jungle…do you think that's what we live in Bos, a jungle?"

"What're you talking about?"

"Well, the cheetah, he's clearly a predator. He stalked that sloth that was going about his business as usual and out of no where he rips his legs off. Now that sloth didn't do a damn thing to him. Didn't curse him, spit at him, throw him the finger—I don't even know if they have a middle finger… Okay I'm rambling. But my point is that isn't this the same thing that we see everyday on the streets? Isn't this the same thing that Pocetti did? He preyed on those innocent little girls," she said and her voice went up an octave.

"What did those kids do to him Bos? Nothing. And what about the system, the system that's supposed to be just and fair and give a damn? What good did it do anybody? It's no better than those fucking camera guys watchin' that poor, defenseless sloth getting murdered by that fucking cheetah and doing nothing about it! Nobody gives a goddamn Bosco. Nobody's lookin' out for the little guy anymore. You get up and you do the job and this is the shit that happens. This is it Bosco. So should I bother trying anymore? What goods it gonna do if everybody just acts like animals?"

Bosco stared at Faith and a few seconds passed before anyone spoke. He picked up the remote and shut off the television. "Hey," he said softly and touched her shoulder.

"We just worked so hard on that case," she whispered.

"I know."

"I let everybody down." Faith sniffled softly and a tear spilled over and slid down her cheek.

"You didn't let anybody down," he murmured and pulled her head to his shoulder and let her cry. "A'right, can I say something, just one thing?"

"What?"

"You're still a good cop…and other people suck," he said matter-of-factly.

Faith smiled and leaned back onto his shoulder. "Thanks Bos."

Bosco squeezed her shoulder and said to the top of her head, "You know it."

"So does this mean we get to watch a different channel?"

"Uhh…"

"Bosco."

"What, I didn't say no…per say…I mean there are different shows on this channel you know. Like the next one see," he said and powered on the TV. "See, the next up's Animal Precinct. It's in New York and it's about cops who bust perps for abusing their animals. It's got a kick ass chick, she's a cop, trust me you'll like her."

Faith lifted her head and stayed curled up next to him. They watched the preview of the upcoming show and she sniffed and raised her eyebrow. "So now instead of watching a sloth get ripped into ribbons we're going to watch emaciated dogs and kittens parade across the screen. Tell me, how is this better?"

"It's got guns, lights and sirens."

"You are a shameless, shameless man."

--------------------------