Plus C'est la Même Chose
By Maquis Leader

Rated R

Author’s note: This story is set in the Season 6: Reloaded universe. It stands alone and you don't need to read the other chapters before you read this one. Please see the note on the main page.  Yoshi's name is completely my own invention and the French is from an online translator... *crosses fingers* . Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose (The more things change, the more they stay the same.)

Previously on Third Watch

Every rookie learns that there's only one thing worse than being a rat, and that's turning on your fellow officers. For the blue wall to stand firm, trust is all they have. It's a crime that cannot be forgiven.

Episode 65: Plus C'est la Même Chose

“This is the part I hate. Sitting and waiting.” Faith shifted, trying to get comfortable. They’d dropped off Bosco’s Mustang at the precinct house, trading it for a nondescript sedan. The car was typical NYPD issue, dull and ordinary looking. The seats were also typical – as in uncomfortable.

“All that work and now we just sit.” She stretched out her legs as best she could. Only someone as short as Jelly would consider it ample leg room.

Changing cars had meant explaining to Lieu what they were doing. Lieu had insisted on clearing it with Stick first, but the Captain had no issue with them tracking down Yoshi. He’d not only okayed the sign out, he’d given them his blessing.

“At least in the RMP the seats were comfortable.”

“If you don’t shut up, I’m going to shoot you.” Bosco cracked open one eye. “I’m trying to catch a nap over here.”

“How can you sleep?” The thought of being so close to catching Yoshi was making Faith antsy as hell.

“Because I didn’t get enough sleep last night.” Unlike Faith, Bosco was better at sitting and waiting. It wasn’t the same as waiting to do something. They were doing something; they were just sitting and waiting to do more.

“Oh, yeah? Your date with Grace went that good?”

“No. I mean yeah, but no.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Normally I can translate pretty well, but I didn’t understand a word of that.”

“Yes, the date was good, but no, not like you’re thinking.” Bosco felt his face flush and he turned away, hoping Faith wouldn’t see.

There was a rush of relief and Faith wondered where that strange feeling had come from. You’ve just gotten used to worrying about him too much. “You’re not telling me you’ve lost your charm, are you?”

“It’s complicated.”

It dawned on her that Bosco was probably self conscious of the scars on his body. “Bos, you know the scars aren’t really that bad.”

“The scars don’t have anything to do with it. We’re – we’re just taking it slow, that’s all.”

“Slow?” If the locker room talk was true, Grace was – if not in Nichole’s league – at least within view of the ballpark. “Seriously?”

Bosco squirmed uncomfortably in his seat. He and Faith had always talked about everything, including their sex lives. Which had left him with some horrible mental images of her and Fred. But this time, now that he’d admitted to himself that he loved Faith, Bosco wasn’t sure he could talk about sex with her anymore.

“Bosco, you don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.” For some reason Bosco didn’t want to share. It hurt, but she didn’t let it show.

“Nah, it’s okay.” It wasn’t, but he wanted his life back to the way it once was and that including talking about his love life with Faith. “I’m trying something different. Gracie and I both are. Instead of doin’ the usual one night thing and then pretending it never happened or screwing like rabbits all the time, we’re going real slow.”

“So you mean your dates have really been – “

“Mostly just dates.” He nodded. “Hard to believe, right?”

“Impossible is more like it.” Hurt flashed across his face and Faith apologized. “Sorry, Bos, that was habit, you know? I’m a jerk.”

“Yeah, well, you learned form the best.” He grinned at her, letting her know all was forgiven. Tough love meant having thick skin.

“So, um… you haven’t been to bed with her yet?” And why do I care? Faith kicked herself mentally. “Never mind, that’s too personal.”

“Since when is there anything too personal for us?”

“True.” God knew they’d talked about things that would make a shrink jealous.

“We have, a couple of times. But last night she got called into work. That crazy chick Carlos is dating, what’s her name – “

“Holly?”

“Yeah, her. She took off on vacation at the last minute. Somebody from midnights filled in for her and then they called Gracie in to work the midnight shift.”

“So, no quickie before she went to work?”

“Nah, I didn’t want to do that. It didn’t feel right to screw her and then drop her off at work. Though I’d bought her dinner so technically…” He grinned.

“Bosco, the gentleman.” She grinned back. “Who’d have thought it?”

“We still got to make out, it was like being back in high school.” A smile covered his face as he remembered Grace’s flushed face the night before. Her lips had been pink and swollen, her eyes all dreamy and unfocused.

Jealousy bit her hard and sharp, taking her by surprise. Faith curled her hands into fists, her nails digging into her palms. She wanted to smack that happy look off his face – or replace it with one she’d caused.

Bosco didn’t notice, he was gazing past her out the window again. “It’s kinda nice, though. Building a relationship isn’t something I ever thought I’d be doing. Being honest and all, it’s new.”

The things she’d heard about Grace were right there on the tip of Faith’s tongue. The rumors about her and Finney, about how she’d warmed the beds of half of Bed-Stuy. She could crush the budding relationship by feeding Bosco’s jealousy and shattering his fragile ego.

As if sensing her thoughts, Bosco turned to face her. “I know Grace’s no saint, Faith. We’ve talked about it and we’re pretty much the same, you know? Looking for something but never sticking around long enough to find it.”

“I just don’t want you to get hurt, Bos.” She choked down all the bad things she wanted to hurt Grace with. Again, Faith had to wonder why she felt so jealous and again she decided it was just over protectiveness.

“I know.” He jerked forward suddenly in his seat. “I think that’s her.”

“Grace?”

“What? No! Yoshi’s wife!” He pointed out the windshield.

“Oh.” Shoving Grace out of her mind, Faith leaned forward and searched through the kids streaming out of the school. Glancing at the photo they had of Connie Badalamenti, she fixed the image firmly in her mind and began looking over the adults picking up their children. “That her? With the red shirt? Hair in a pony tail?”

“I think so.”

They watched the woman in question lead two boys to an older model Ford. A teenage girl was already waiting in the front seat of the car, a bored expression on her face.

“That’s the right number of kids -- about the right ages, too.” Bosco started the car, easing out into the slow moving traffic. Easing was the polite way to described how he forced a woman with four kids in her shiny PT Cruiser to slam on her brakes when he pulled out in front of her.

“You see that? She flipped me off! Lady, think about your kids!”

“We’re supposed to be inconspicuous, Bos.” Faith tightened her seat belt.

“These women drive like NASCAR drivers, nobody’s gonna notice me.” To emphasize his point, he pointed out a large SUV bullying it’s way into the line waiting to pick up children from school.

It was a cutthroat competition when it came to picking up or dropping off in front of a school, Faith had always preferred to walk Emily and Charlie the short distance to their schools. That way she saved her stress for work.

Bosco followed the Taurus, keeping two or three cars between them at all times to keep her from spotting them. It wasn’t likely that she’d been trained to spot a tail, but better safe than sorry.

Calling in the license plate, Faith waited until downtown came back with the info on the car. She smiled and set the radio down. “It’s her car. DMV still has it listed at the old address.”

“Doesn’t matter, we’re about to find out the new address.”

They hadn’t wanted to arrest Yoshi in front of his kids, although if he’d actually been the one to pick them up from school, Faith doubted she’d have been able to hold herself back -- never mind Bosco. Instead, they’d banked on Connie picking them to where Yoshi was hiding.

“We’re gonna need a warrant.” Bosco reminded her as he slowed the car when the Taurus pulled over and parked in front of a run down apartment building.

Nodding, she lifted the radio to her lips. “55-Detective to 55-Sargent.”

“55-Sargent, go ahead 55-Detective.”

“We need to request a warrant to pick up a suspect.”

“Name?” The sergeant sounded bored. Dealing with warrant requests and paper work was how he spent the majority of his days.

“Yoshikima.”

There was a long silence before the sergeant came back. “Who?”

“Yoshikima, Kiro Yoshikima.” Faith squinted at the address on the front of the building. “The address is 415 -- “
“I think that’s an eight.” Bosco corrected.

“Say again the name, 55-Detective.” The sergeant asked.

“You heard it right the first time, Sarg. The address is 415 -- “

“I’m telling you that’s an eight.” Bosco insisted.

“Yokas, are you sure it’s Yoshi?”

Bosco and Faith stared at each other as Lieu’s voice crackled out of the radio.

“Yokas?”

“Yes, sir. We’re pretty sure.”

“I can’t get a warrant on a pretty sure.”

“We followed his wife -- she picked their kids up from school and we tailed her to an apartment building in -- hey!”

Bosco pulled the radio out of her hands. “Lieu’s on, which means the whole house is listening.”

“So?”

“So? You want to lose this collar? You want Cruz flying over here to screw things up?”

“Yokas!” Lieu called from the radio.

Faith chewed her lip thoughtfully. If the whole house was listening in, then Bosco was right. Chances were good that someone -- most likely Cruz -- would rush over and try to grab Yoshi out from under them.

“Yokas! Damn it! What’s going on?”

“Just a sec, Lieu.” She pulled out her cell phone and Bosco nodded in approval. “I’m having trouble with the radio. I’ll call in to the desk.”

“Make it quick.” If Lieu knew she was stalling, he didn’t let on. “I’ll be waiting for your call.”

“Impatiently.” Bosco added.

“No doubt.” Faith dialed the desk number for the 55, not surprised to have Lieu answer on the first ring. “Hey, boss, we followed her to 415 West Settlement Avenue.”

“418.” Bosco insisted.

“You’re sure he’s there?” Lieu asked.

“No, but we’re hoping.” She could hear someone speaking with Lieu in the background.

“We need an apartment number for the warrant. Can you get one?”

“We’ll try. Give us five minutes.” Closing her phone, Faith tucked it in her jacket pocket. We need to get the apartment number.”

“I can get it. Be right back.” He grinned at her as he got out.

“Be careful.”

“Whatever.” Jogging up to the apartment building, Bosco went inside.

The mailboxes were just inside the door and he scanned the names printed on them. Badalamenti 47C. “Bingo.”

On his way out, he bumped into someone coming inside. The guy eyed him suspiciously. “Who the hell are you?”

I’m the guy who just found out my girlfriend’s underage.” Bosco sighed and did his best to look sad. “I knew she was young and hot, but I like ‘em legal, you know?”

“If just barely.” The man laughed in agreement. “Who is she?”

“Sarah Badalamenti.”

“Oh yeah, she’s a hot little thing, but she’s only sixteen.” He shook his head.

“She told me she was nineteen.” Bosco leaned in and whispered. “Too bad I didn’t find out ‘till after, you know what I mean?”

They shared a lewd laugh. “How’d you find out?”

“She’s been telling me stuff that don’t add up about where she’s at all day. So today I tracked her down and saw her getting out of that car -- “ Bosco pointed out the Ford. “With this old lady telling her to do her homework or she’s grounded.”

“Ouch! Too bad, buddy.”

“Yeah.” Bosco let his shoulders sag. “I thought about marching up to 47C and giving her a piece of my mind, but what the hell, there’s plenty of fish in the sea, right?”

“Exactly, to hell with her.”

“Later.” He walked back to where Faith was waiting in the car.

“Well?”

“We were both wrong, it’s 419, the paint’s all chipped off. 47C is the magic number.”

“What the hell was all that with that guy?”

“Just guy talk.” He grinned at her. “Cars and girls.”

“Typical.” She flipped open her cell phone.

At the 55, Lieu was glowering at the phone, willing it to ring.

“Lieu, it’s my case.” Cruz leaned on the desk. “This is my bust.”

“Funny, I don’t see you out there asking for a warrant.”

“Yoshi was my guy -- he was on my team.” She insisted. “I’m the one who got screwed over because of this guy!”

“Really?” He crossed his arms over his chest. “So that was you lying there in a coma for months? That was you learning how to walk again? Strange, I don’t remember it that way.”

“I’m not saying Bosco doesn’t deserve a piece of this, but this is my collar. He’s using my file on Yoshi!”

Lieu leaned down, his eyes meeting hers. “The file was Lieutenant Miller’s, he gave it to Bosco and Yokas, and they’ve done all the work! This is their collar, are we clear on that?” When Cruz didn’t answer, he thumped his hand down on the desk. “Are we clear?”

“Yeah, crystal.” She turned away, wondering how she could find out where Bosco was.

Sully and Davis walked into the lobby and up to the desk as she walked away. “You wanted to see us, Lieu?”

“I’m going to need you to deliver a warrant to 55-Detective.”

“What, the big shot detectives can’t get their own warrant?” It was said with a grin, but catching the grimness of Lieu’s mood, Sully quickly sobered. “What’s going on?”

“Bosco and Yokas think they’ve tracked down Yoshi.”

“Seriously?” Davis whistled softly. No wonder there was a crowd at the desk.

“Seriously.” The phone rang and Lieu snatched it up. “Swersky.”

“Lieu, it’s 419 West Settlement avenue, apartment 47C.”

He wrote it down on the warrant he’d gotten from his desk. Technically, they weren’t supposed to have pre-signed warrants. Technically, some judges were happy to cut through the red tape and give a few trusted officers a small supply. He was one of those few on Judge Halsted’s list. “Where are you at?”

“Just down the street.” Faith looked out the window at the building they were parked in front of. “415. Brown sedan.”

“I’m sending 55-Charlie with your warrant and 55-David for additional back up.” Lieu handed the warrant to Sully. “Look for a brown sedan sitting at 415. No lights or sirens. It’s out of our precinct, so keep a lid on it. By the time they find out, we’ll have Yoshi back home.”

“Yes, sir.” Sully tucked the warrant into his pocket and headed out the door, Davis hot on his heels.

The two officers driving 55-David were just pulling up as they exited the building. Davis leaned in the window and filled them in on their task. They gave him the thumbs up and backed their RMP back out into the street.

Cruz watched the two RMPs pull away, a calculating look on her face. She pulled the keys to the unmarked car she was using from her pocket. Hurrying to the car, she opened the door to find Manny sitting behind the wheel.

Looking up from his paperwork, he smiled at her. “Hey there, Sarge.”

She shut the door and quickly ran around to get in on the other side. “Follow Charlie and David.”

When he sat there, smiling at her, she reached over and turned the key in the ignition. “Come on!”

“I’d love to, but I need to finish this report.”

“To hell with the report! Let’s go!”

“Sorry, you know how the boss is about the paperwork.” Manny shut the car off and went back to his report. “It’s ’i’ before ‘e’ except after ‘c’, right?”

“Manny, I’m your boss, and I said let’s go!”

“Maritza, you know I can’t do it.” He set the paperwork aside. “You heard Lieu, this isn’t our collar.”

“The hell it isn’t!” Her jaw clenched so hard her teeth hurt. “This son of a bitch turned on us! On my team -- my people! He tried to kill us!”

“Nobody’s arguing that. But you’ve had almost a year to find him and you didn’t. Bosco and Yokas did.”

“I don’t care! Yokas has no right! He hurt me -- I deserve to bring him in!”

“No, Maritza, he hurt your pride. But Bosco -- “ Manny shook his head. “Yoshi stole a part of his life, scarred his face -- no, Bosco deserves this.”

“You don’t understand!”

“You’re wrong. I do understand. You gotta let it go.”

“To hell with you!” She shoved the car door open and got out, slamming it so hard the widow rattled.

Manny watched her stalk back inside the precinct house, sorrow in his coffee brown eyes. Maritza would never overcome her selfish need to compete with Faith Yokas. Someday it would get her killed.

“Ready?” Sully asked softly.

The others nodded. Davis and Bosco each stood to one side of the door, their guns out and ready while Faith positioned herself directly in front of the peephole. Hopefully a blonde woman at the door wouldn’t be seen as threatening and someone would open the door. Sully moved behind Faith where he wouldn’t be seen through the peephole.

Knocking firmly, Faith hoped it would be Yoshi or Connie. She really didn’t want to kick the door in and run into the apartment with their guns out and screaming like there was a mass murderer inside. Not in front of his kids. No matter what Yoshi had done, his kids didn’t deserve to be traumatized.

Behind the door, they heard the TV volume go down and someone step up to the door. Faith turned her head as if looking back down the hallway. Anyone looking out the peephole would see only the side of her face.

The door opened and a woman looked out past the chain. “Yes?”

“Connie Badalamenti?” Faith asked. “Can I come in? I’m Det --”

Before Faith could finish, Connie spotted Sully. Her eyes widened and she shoved the door shut. “Kiro, run! Run!”

“Crap!” Sully moved Faith aside and shoved on the door. It didn’t budge.

“Outta the way, Sul.” Bosco backed up and aimed a hard kick at the door just below the door knob. “Police! Open up!”

The ancient door jamb surrendered to brute force, the screws holding the chain ripping free. Connie screamed as the door swung open and crashed against the wall.

“Get down!” Bosco shouted as he rushed into the apartment. He swung his gun to cover the room, wincing as he saw one of Yoshi‘s sons sitting on the sofa, eyes wide and frightened. “Everybody down!”

Behind him, Sully, Davis, and Faith charged in, shouting the same warning. It was chaos to everyone but them. They’d been in this situation too many times, worked too many of these things together to let the noise bother them.

Connie fell back for a moment before charging at Bosco, her arms outstretched. “Run, Kiro! Run!”

She didn’t have a weapon, but Bosco knew she could still be dangerous. He’d worked enough domestics and DP’s to know. If he took her down, he’d end up feeling guilty as hell. If he didn’t, she might keep him tangled up long enough for Yoshi to get away.

Luckily, Faith took the decision out of his hands by intercepting Connie and knocking her to the floor.

“Get down! Everybody down!” Bosco scanned the small living room. There were two doorways and a hall. “Yoshi, come on out, we know you’re here!”

“I’ve got the door to the left!” Davis rushed toward the doorway.

“Kitchen!” Sully headed for the other doorway.

In the hallway, Bosco met Yoshi’s other son and the boy cowered away from him. Lowering his gun, he pointed back toward the living room. “Go sit on the couch and be quiet. Everything’s okay.” The fear in the boy’s eyes tore at his heart, but he’d have to wait and feel guilty later.

Kicking open the first door he came to, Bosco found himself nearly jumping out of his skin as Yoshi’s teenage daughter screamed. She had a headset on and had obviously not heard the chaos that was going on in the apartment. He jerked the muzzle of his gun toward the ceiling, telling her to go to the living room the same as he had her brother. She ignored him, staring wide eyed.

He left the shrieking teenager and headed for the next door. Kicking it in, he found an empty bedroom. “Damn it!”

“He isn’t here?” Faith had caught up to Bosco. “The other rooms are empty.”

“One more door.” he pointed down the hallway with his gun.

Rushing to it, Bosco kicked it open, allowing Faith to charge in. they were being more reckless than usual, but they’d left the rational part of themselves out in the hall. The last room was a small bathroom with a flowered shower curtain hiding the tub. The bathroom appeared to be empty.

“Son of a bitch!”

“No, no, she yelled at him, he’s gotta be here!” Bosco went back out into the hallway. “Sully, any sign of him?”

“No!” Sully yelled back. “Hang on!”

Keying open the radio on his shoulder, Davis checked in with the officers waiting in the alley beneath the fire escape. “David says nobody’s come out that way.”

“He’s still in here. In a closet or something.” Bosco started into the empty bedroom. A shriek from Faith spun him around and sent him running back to the bathroom.

“Get back in here, you bastard!”

Bosco skidded to a halt, not quite believing what he was seeing. Faith was standing in the bathtub, hanging onto Yoshi’s legs as he tried to climb out the small window above the tub.

“Get back in here!”

“He was in the shower?” A laugh came from Bosco before he could stop it.

“Bosco! Help me!”

Stepping into the tub, Bosco grabbed a leg. “He’s slippery!”

Yoshi must have been taking a shower when they got there. He probably hadn’t realized they were in the apartment until it was too late and then waited until they‘d left the bathroom to try to climb out the window. He fought them as they tried to haul him back inside.

“Yoshi, give it up!” Frustrated, and angry because her new shoes were wet, Faith reached for the one thing she knew would get Yoshi’s attention.

A shriek hurt Bosco’s ears and he cringed. Instinctively, he knew only one thing could make a man scream like that. Yoshi offered no further resistance, allowing them to pull back inside. He fell into the tub with a wet thud, clutching at his privates.

“Get up!” Bosco hauled him up by one arm. “Get the hell up!”

Sully peered cautiously around the door jamb and peered into the bathroom. Spotting Bosco, Faith, and a naked Yoshi standing in the tub, he shook his head. “I don’t even wanna know.”

Stepping out of the tub, Faith grabbed a handful of Yoshi’s hair and pulled him to him out of the tub. “Let’s go -- come on!”

“Wait -- wait -- “Yoshi protested. “I didn’t know anybody would get hurt! He just wanted names!”

“For what? Easter baskets?” Bosco stepped out of the tub. Grabbing Yoshi’s shoulder, he spun him around and punched him in the face. “What the hell did you think he was going to do?”

“I didn’t know -- I didn’t know!” Cowering back, Yoshi tried to protect himself as Bosco threw another punch.

“He murdered my brother, you son of a bitch! He tried to kill my mother -- “ Anger that he’d locked away came pouring out and Bosco began throwing punches wildly.

When Yoshi fell to the floor, Bosco delivered a kick to his ribs before Faith could pull him away. As much as she wanted to let Bosco beat Yoshi to a pulp, they’d only end up in trouble. A few bumps and bruises they could get away with, internal injuries would end up with IAB getting involved.

“Let it go, Bos.” She shoved Bosco back a step. “He’s not worth it.”

Panting, Bosco leaned against the sink. “He killed Mikey -- I oughta put a bullet in his head -- “

“I’m not disagreeing with you.” She looked down in disgust at Yoshi still cowering and crying on the wet linoleum. “But he’s not worth it.”

“Maybe it is -- “ The image of Mikey’s body -- headless and lying in the trash rose up. “Maybe it is -- “

Faith was thinking the same thing, but she’d been lucky to get a ‘get out of jail free’ pass the first time. There wasn’t likely to be a second one offered.

Grabbing a pair of sweat pants off the top of the clothes hamper, she threw them at Yoshi. “Put these on.”

“Please, Yokas, don’t do this -- you know what’ll happen!” Yoshi crawled to her and wrapped his arms around her knees. “They’ll kill me -- you know what they’ll do to me!”

“You should’ve thought of that before you took Mann’s money.” Wrenching herself loose, she kicked him away.

Not trusting himself to keep away from Yoshi, Bosco stepped out into the hallway.

“Things under control in there?”

Looking up, Bosco spotted Sully at the end of the hall. He nodded. “How about in there?”

“The wife’s cuffed, the kids are upset but quiet. Are we going to take her in, too?”

“I dunno, I hadn’t even thought about it.” Bosco rubbed his chin.

“The kids’ll go to Child Services.” Sully reminded him.

“Crap.” That was something else he hadn’t thought of. Up until now, the kids had just been a means to an end. What happened to them after Yoshi was caught wasn’t something he’d even considered.

Faith pushed Yoshi ahead of her as she came out of the bathroom. His hands were cuffed behind his back, and his head was down.

“Faith.” Bosco put a hand on her arm. “What about the kids?”

Before she could answer, Yoshi interrupted. “You can’t send them to Child Services! They’ll go to foster homes! Bosco, please, don’t do this to my kids!”

The look on Faith’s face matched his own feelings and Bosco knew she hadn’t considered all the consequences either.

“Crap.”

“Yeah.” Bosco shoved Yoshi down the hallway.

In the living room, Yoshi collapsed at Connie’s feet. Their children huddled around them crying.

“Lieu’s wanting an update.” Davis told them. “What do I tell him?”

“Tell him we’re bringing Yoshi in.” Bosco looked at Faith.

In his eyes, she could read the message. What the hell do we do with the kids? She shook her head slightly.

“I’ve got an idea.” Sully told them. “Technically, we’ve only got a warrant for Yoshi, right? There’s nothing that says we have to take her in right now.”

As Sully said, technically they were there only to bring in Yoshi in. Once they went back to the house and filed their reports, charges would be filed against Connie and a warrant issued for her. She wasn’t -- technically -- a wanted felon. Yet.

The days that the system would take to do all of that would hopefully give Connie the time to find family to take her kids in. or for her to take them and run.

“Unless you’re wanting to take her in for assaulting an officer?” When Faith shook her head, Sully reached behind Connie to unfasten his cuffs.

Connie rubbed her wrists, looking fearfully at them. “What are you going to do?”

“We’re going to let you go, for now. You need to see if your parents will take your kids. Child Services would rather let them stay with family instead of putting them in foster care.” Sully told her.

“My parents -- they didn’t want to have anything to do with me after I left with Kiro.” she shook her head. “His parents are dead. We don’t have anyone else.”

“I suggest you make up with your parents. Ask them if they really want their grandchildren to be with strangers instead of family.” Bosco knew the pull of family was the one thing that could make her parents cave. They might be angry with her, but hopefully not so much that they wouldn’t take their grandchildren in.

“Am I going to jail?”

“Maybe. Probably.” Sully thought back over twenty years of police work. “Typically, with no previous record, and not assaulting a police officer or otherwise interfering with the arrest --”

Bosco and Faith caught his emphasis and nodded in agreement. They’d leave that out of their reports.

“Then you should get probation.” Sully finished.

“I was just being overly aggressive when I kicked the door in.” Bosco said.

“And I was ensuring her safety and ours by grabbing her.” Faith agreed.

“Great. Now that we’ve got that settled.” Davis thumbed the switch on his radio. “55-Charlie to the house.”

“Davis! What the hell is going on down there?”

He grimaced at the volume of Lieu’s shouting that close to his ear. “We’ve got Yoshi in custody and we’re on our way back in.”

“Forthwith!”

“Yes, sir.” Davis looked at the others. “Well?”

“Let’s go.” Bosco grabbed Yoshi’s arm and jerked him to his feet. “You -- you’re definitely going to jail.”

“Wait!” Connie scrambled up from the couch. “You can’t take him! You know what happens to cops in jail!”

“Yeah, well, he ain’t a cop no more.” Bosco pushed Yoshi toward the door.

Davis paused as he followed them out. “Ah… about the door… you better call the super.”

In the hallway, the man Bosco had talked with earlier was among the gawkers. “You’re a cop?”

“Yep.” Bosco answered.

“Wow. You’re really pissed about her lying to you, huh?”

When they turned down King toward the precinct house, they saw RMPs were lined up on both sides of the street.

“Looks like every squad in the 55 is here.” Faith turned to smirk at Yoshi. “Guess somebody figured you deserve an honor guard.”

As they approached the house, each RMP they passed flipped on its lights and gave a high pitched warble of its siren. The ambulances parked in front of the firehouse kicked on their lights and sirens as well, and even the big fire engine with the Tazmanian Devil grinning from its grill gave a blast of its air horn in a show of solidarity.

“You’re a big celebrity, Yoshi, enjoy it while you can.” Bosco parked their plain sedan in an empty spot that had been left directly in front of the door.

“Why don’t you just shoot me now?” Yoshi stumbled as Bosco pulled him out of the backseat. “I’m not going to last a day in jail -- you know that.”

“Yeah, I know that. But you know what -- “ He leaned down into Yoshi’s face. “I don’t care. That’s still one more day than my brother got.”

Inside, they pushed Yoshi through the crowd of officers and up to the desk. Lieu looked him over as if he was a cockroach that needed crushed. “What’ve you got, Bosco?”

“Kiro Yoshikima. Wanted for accessory to conspiring to murder police officers, attempted murder of police officers, and generally being scum.”

Lieu nodded and smiled. It wasn’t a pleasant smile. "Process him and lock him up.”

“I’ll do it.” Cruz stepped up to the desk. “Thanks for bringing him in, Bosco.”

“Are you kidding me?” She’d done some outrageous things, but this was beyond anything Bosco expected.

“He’s mine.” She grabbed Yoshi’s arm. “He was on my team -- we’re the ones he screwed over.”

“You’re completely unbelievable.” Faith slapped Cruz’ arm away. “Bosco and I bust our ass on this case -- “

“Which nobody else was interested in working -- “ Bosco put in.

“And now you wanna take the collar?” She stepped into Cruz’ space. “Over my dead body.”

“That can be arranged.” Cruz snarled.

“You tried that once, bitch -- “ Dropping her hand to her gun, Faith leaned in closer. “You didn’t get the job done.”

“This time, I will.” Cruz’ hand drifted to her own gun.

“Whoa! Whoa!” Bosco had been through this scene before and he couldn’t stand a repeat. He shoved Cruz back against Manny, who grabbed her arms and pulled her away.

“Now listen up!” Lieu slammed his hand down on the desk hard enough to make his coffee cup jump. “Yokas and Boscorelli are the ones who did the work! It’s their collar! Everybody else needs to get their ass back to work!”

The crowd of officers began to break up, giving Yoshi one last look as they left. A few patted Bosco on the shoulder, silently acknowledging a job well done.

Grabbing Faith’s arm, Bosco pulled her with him as he pushed Yoshi toward the lock up. Whatever else happened, they had a routine. He’d do the grunt work while she started the paperwork. A partnership made in heaven.

He glanced back over his shoulder and spotted Cruz glaring at them. Sometimes made in hell.

Captain Elchisak looked up as Bosco and Faith walked into his office. He put down the reports he’d been reading and gestured to the chairs in front of his desk.

“You wanted to see us, boss?” Bosco was sure they were in trouble. He didn’t know what they’d done, but there must be something.

Faith on the other hand, was equally sure they weren’t in trouble. It was a clean collar, with no complications. Their reports made no mention of Connie doing anything other than opening the door and being shoved out of the way. Stick might have read between the lines, but he’d been around long enough to understand why they’d left her with her children.

“I’ve been going over the reports since the two of you have been promoted.” Stick patted the stack of folders. “You’ve both done some good work. I’m proud of both of you.”

“Thanks, boss.” Bosco ducked his head, embarrassed by the unexpected praise.

“See there?” Faith chided him. “I told you we weren’t in trouble.”

“Far from it.” Stick smiled. “Although I guess Bosco’s been here more time to get his ass chewed than even I can remember.”

That was true enough. Bosco shot Faith a dirty look as she snickered.

“I have to be honest, there were times when I thought Faith’s promotion was a mistake.” When her eyes widened, Stick hurried to explain. “You got off to a rough start, but you’ve improved as time went by. Especially -- “

He reached for a folder he’d set to one side and flipped it open. “Especially since Bosco came back on duty. According to Jelly, you’ve spent a lot of time consulting with Bosco about the cases that you and Jelly have been working on.”

“Is that wrong? I mean -- “ She shot a glance at Bosco who shrugged helplessly. “I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to do that.”

“Faith, there’s nothing wrong with talking to another detective. There haven’t been any cases that needed confidentiality to that extent.”

“Your performance has been markedly improved since Bosco’s return. I’m not certain if it’s just a matter of his being back on duty -- but your confidence has improved as well.” Stick closed the file and opened another. “Of course with Bosco, confidence was never an issue.”

Bosco tried unsuccessfully to hide his smirk.

“According to Sergeant Reyes, Bosco’s performed well from day one, making good decisions and clean arrests. Although his report writing does leave something to be desired.”

It was Faith’s turn to smirk, and she didn’t bother to hide it. Bosco’s report writing skills -- or rather, the lack of skills -- was legendary.

“Reyes has noted, like Jelly, that the two of you tend to get together and discuss your cases. Again, there’s nothing wrong with that, but it tells me we need to make some changes.”

Changes? Fear grabbed Bosco by the throat. Was Stick going to transfer one of them? “Boss, we won’t do it anymore -- if it’s -- “

“Today the two of you took it upon yourselves to work a cold case -- and Anti Crime cold case at that -- “

“We were on our own time!” Faith protested. “We’re not asking to get paid!”

“Can I finish?” Stick closed the folder and leaned back in his chair. “Lieutenant Miller told me he’s passed the file to you, I approved the two of you checking out a car, so there’s no problem as far as I’m concerned. Sergeant Cruz has a different opinion, but she doesn’t run things around here, I do.”

“Thank God.” Faith muttered under her breath.

“It’s clear that some changes need to be made. Normally I wouldn’t allow a rookie detective to be partnered with another detective who’s technically still a rookie herself. However -- “ He waited, watching as the two of them grew more nervous by the moment. “However, I think in this case, it’s the best thing to do. Starting tomorrow, the two of you will officially start working together again.”

“Working together? You mean -- partners?”

“I’ve always been amazed at how quick you are, Bosco.” Stick smiled.

“Bosco, we’re partners again!” Faith reached over and grabbed his arm.

“With a few provisions.” Stick interrupted. “You’ll report to Jelly. He’ll decide what cases you work on and he’ll be overseeing your reports.”

“And bitchin’ about it.”

“And bitching about it.” Stick agreed. “But you’re going to listen, Bosco. He’ll be reporting back to me on your progress and if you screw up, I’ll separate the two of you.”

“Oh, no, no, we’ll be good! We’ll be perfect!” Bosco rushed to assure him. “Right, Faith?”

“It’ll be like old times.” She agreed.

“That’s what I’m afraid of.” Getting up, Stick walked around his desk to shake hands with them. “Congratulations. Now get out of my office.”

Bosco scrambled for the door, he’d been in here enough times to know the quickest escape route.

“Thanks, boss.” Faith paused in the doorway and looked back. “You won’t be sorry, I promise.”

Smiling, Stick motioned for her to close the door. I know I won’t.

It was after eleven by the time the two of them made it back to the 55 after taking Yoshi downtown to Central Booking.

“Need a ride?” Bosco pulled the keys to his Mustang out of his pocket.

“Sure -- oh, wait.” Faith spotted John leaning against his car. “I think I’ve already got one. Come on, let’s tell him the good news.”

“Oh, yeah, right.” He forced a smile as he followed her to where Miller was waiting.

“Did you hear?” Faith stepped into John’s embrace.

“That you caught Yoshi? Of course I did.” He hugged her tightly.

“Not that, the other thing.”

“That Cruz was spitting nails?” Releasing Faith, John, pulled her against his side.

“She was, but not that, either.”

“I can’t think of anything else.” Offering his hand to Bosco, John winked. “It’s been a quiet day.”

“You’re such a smart ass.” She slapped his chest playfully. “Bosco and I are partners again.”

“I did hear something like that. Are you sure you want to put up with her, Bosco? She’s pretty high maintenance.”

“It’s nothing I haven’t been doing for the past thirteen years.” Anger boiled up, hot and vile tasting. What made this jagoff think he could tell him anything about Faith?

“I’m not that high maintenance.” Reading the anger in the midnight blue eyes and the taut lines of Bosco’s body, Faith rushed to put the fire out. “Bosco’s taken good care of me all these years. Who knows what would have happened to me without him.”

As she expected, the praise turned Bosco’s anger down to a low simmer.

“Why don’t I take you out and buy you dinner to celebrate?” John asked.

“It’s a little late for dinner, it’s more like breakfast time for us.” She elbowed him.

“Oh, hey, you too, Bosco.” John added quickly.

Going out with Faith and Miller and watching the other man slobber all over her wasn’t Bosco’s idea of how to cap a good day. Looking for a way out, he spotted Grace coming out of the fire house. “Nah, you two go on. I’m supposed to meet Grace when she gets off.”

“Well, bring her along.” John told him. “We’ll have a private celebration.”

“Yeah, if know Davis, he’s already planning something loud and drunk. The kind of party that the only reason nobody calls the cops is ‘cos they’re already there.”

Faith was right, but Bosco didn’t feel like celebrating with Miller around. He’d take her to their favorite diner for lunch tomorrow. He might even spring for it. “That’s okay, you guys go on. I promised Grace some time alone, just me and her.”

There was disappointment in Faith’s eyes, and he almost reconsidered. Then Miller raised a hand to Faith’s face, gently brushing her hair back.

“See you tomorrow.” He turned and walked away, not looking back even as Faith’s reply floated to him.

“Gracie!” He called out to her as he neared the firehouse.

She turned and smiled as she spotted him. “Maurice, hey, I heard the good news! Congratulations!”

“Thanks.” Taking the two large bags she was carrying, Bosco hefted them onto his shoulder. “What is this, laundry day?”

“Some of us don’t get to dress in casual clothes when we work.” She leaned close and kissed him. “Too bad I didn’t get a good look at you in uniform, I bet you were hot.”

“I was.” Why be modest, it was the truth.

Laughing, Grace slid her arm around his waist. “So, did you stay late to give me a ride?”

The lie popped right up, but Bosco pushed it back down. He and Grace were playing the honest game. “Actually, no. I just got back from Central Booking. But I spotted you when I came out and thought I’d come ask if you wanted to go to breakfast.”

“Breakfast would be good.”

Unlocking the passenger door of the Mustang, Bosco opened it for her. A smile curved her lips and she gave him a quick smile before sliding into the seat.

Walking around the car, he settled into the driver’s seat. “You know… I make great scrambled eggs.”

“I like scrambled eggs.”

The Mustang roared to life, tires squealing in protest as it pulled away from the curb and headed for home.

(originally posted on 7/21/06 as chapter 65)

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