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xtremeroswelliaTitle: Wherever You Will Go series, fic #29: Inabsentia (1/2)
Authors: Demelza and X_tremeroswellian
Email(s): demelza81@yahoo.co.nz and X_tremeroswellian@yahoo.com
Disclaimer: The characters don't belong to us. They belong to Edward Allen Bernero and John Wells and a bunch of other people that we've never met before. Please don't sue.
Rating: PG-13 for language and sexual content
Summary: Stanley tries to reassure Emily and Charlie that their mom is okay. Meanwhile, as they struggle to deal with Faith's absence, Bosco and the rest of the officers from the 55th continue their manhunt for Fred.
Spoilers: Up through and including "The Unforgiven."
Inabsentia (Part One)
The soft piano music filled the kitchen in from the living area where everyone at Emily and Charlie's aunt and uncle's home were seated for breakfast. Emily felt unease settle in her stomach as she watched the uncomfortable looks her aunt and uncle exchanged. They'd been acting strangely ever since the following morning after she'd arrived. There were hidden conversations exchanged that suddenly stopped the minute either she or Charlie walked into the room. She knew something was going on, could tell by the reassuring words they were given every time they asked why they were there still and neither their mom or dad had come to pick them up.
"Uncle Stanley," she began as he sat down at the table. She waited until she had his full attention. "When is Mom coming to get us?" she asked, giving him a serious look.
At that moment, Joan looked across at her niece, saddened. She, however, remained silent.
Stanley hesitated, glanced at his wife, then back at Emily. "I'm not sure, Em," he admitted.
Charlie looked up from his bowl of cereal. "She is coming back, right?"
"She has to," Emily shot at her younger brother, quickly giving him an apologetic look. "She wouldn't just leave us."
"She is coming back, honey," Joan said, consoling Charlie.
"Your mom loves you both very much," Stanley said quietly, wishing he knew where his sister was. It had been four days and he hadn't heard from her since the night she'd called and asked him to take care of the kids and Santa for awhile. Bosco had called every day, in fact, Bosco had called about five times every day, hoping that Faith had contacted Stanley, but to no avail.
"Then why hasn't she called?" Emily asked, her voice strained.
He opened his mouth to respond, closed it, then opened it again. "Your mom had to take care of some things, Em."
"Is Mom okay?" Charlie asked worriedly.
Stanley shifted his gaze to his nephew, feeling helpless. "Yeah, she's fine, Charlie," he said, hoping to God that was true.
"She'll be back soon, we promise," Joan told them both, giving them reassuring smiles each in return.
"You can't promise that," Emily spat back, pushing her bowl of milk and cereal away from in front of her, not wanting to eat.
Ryan looked over at his cousin sympathetically, but remained quiet.
"Emily," Stanley said gently. "Your mom has *not* abandoned you. She is coming back."
She didn't say anything back at him, just stared at her bowl and started to cry.
"Aw, honey..." Joan sighed, shaking her head as she looked over at Stanley. She turned back to Emily, she went to say something else when the young girl got down from the table and ran into the living room.
Stanley sighed and closed his eyes, leaning back in his chair. Where the hell are you, Faith? he wondered, massaging his temples.
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Alex stood with her back against the wall, watching the others, vaguely hearing their only too repetitive discussion of what happened to their colleague those nights back. She wished the gossip would come to a stand still, but it seemed there were those only too eager to hear about what was going on. Especially to a cop.
She sighed, glancing over to where her colleagues, Kim and Carlos stood, their hands joined together, though visibly hidden to everyone except those who knew about their relationship.
Just then, Lieutenant Johnson came into the room, quietening everyone instantly. He looked around him, as if suspscious of what was going on, then frowned as he glanced over at the three firefighters sitting around the table. "Make sure the trucks are fully loaded," he ordered, evidence that he didn't want a repeat of last week's incident of being low on supplies happening again any time soon in his voice. He didn't wait for a 'Yes sir', instead, he turned and walked back out.
The moment he was in his office, the gossip started up again, mostly coming from the firehouse loudmouth, Jimmy Doherty. She rolled her eyes.
"Why would she stay with the guy if things were so bad?" Jimmy asked, glancing around the room.
"Maybe she thought he'd change," Carlos said to himself.
"They have kids together, right?" DK asked, frowning as he sipped his cup of coffee.
"Yeah, two," Alex said.
"Maybe that's why she was staying," he suggested.
"Yeah, because that's a great reason to stay with a guy who beats you," Jimmy said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.
Walsh frowned. "Maybe she thought that because of the kids, he'd stop."
"It was still stupid," Jimmy said, shaking his head.
Kim shot him a glare, but remained silent.
Carlos wanted to tell his colleague to keep that opinion to himself, but he didn't.
"Look, none of us really knows what her reasons were for staying, and it's not really any of our business," Doc said quietly.
"What I don't get, is why no one knew it was happening," Walsh commented, glancing over at Alex, then to Kim and Carlos.
Kim swallowed hard, then looked at Alex and Carlos before looking at the floor, feeling guilty.
Jimmy sat back in his chair. "It must not have bothered her too badly."
"What?" DK glanced at him, frowning.
He shrugged. "How bad could it really have been if she was willing to stay with him? Maybe some part of her enjoyed it."
"Asshole," Alex wanted to scream at him, instead she mumbled it to herself.
"You're out of line, Doherty," Walsh growled.
"Very," Kim said angrily, glaring at him.
"Whatever," Jimmy mumbled, standing up.
Just then, Lieutenant Johnson walked back into the room. "Hey, I thought I said I wanted those trucks resupplied," he told them angrily, his eyes focused on the three firefighters.
"We're going," DK said, rising to his feet and giving Jimmy a dirty look as he walked by.
Kim waited until all of the firefighters had left the room before letting out a sigh and taking a seat at the table. She propped her forehead up with one hand.
"Kim? You okay?" Doc asked, concerned.
"Yeah. I just feel guilty," she answered softly.
"It's not yours, or our fault," Carlos said gently, walking over to her.
"Isn't it?" she argued, looking up at him. "We *knew* something was wrong, we knew that that bastard was hurting her and we didn't do a damn thing to stop him."
"We didn't know what we could do," he replied. "You and Alex both went to talk to her, remember? You tried to...to make her see that other people knew, and something needed to be done."
Kim shook her head. "We should have done more."
Doc sat down beside her. "What more could we have done? We couldn't force her to leave him. It's her life. She had to be the one to ask for help," he pointed out quietly.
"And," Alex began, walking over to her distraught colleague. "She knew we were here, if she needed help," she said, trying to help her friend not feel so guilty.
"I know," Kim conceded, shaking her head with a sigh. "The part that really worries me is that she's out there somewhere and no one knows where and Fred's still on the loose."
"They'll catch him," Doc said assuringly.
Carlos swallowed hard, sitting on the opposite side of her. He took Kim's hand in his. "And Faith will be fine," he said gently, brushing the hair out of her face.
"I hope you're right," she said softly.
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Gusler sat in the roll call room two seats down from Bosco. The room was dead silent, just as the locker room and the hallways had been for the past several days. Ever since...ever since Officer Yokas had been been attacked by her husband and disappeared later that same night from the hospital. Everyone kept staring at Bosco, waiting for something to happen, for him to say that she'd been in contact with him, that she was okay. But he'd said nothing, not a word to anyone.
And the man looked...exhausted. He was pale and his eyes were red-rimmed and blood-shot. Gusler wondered if Bosco had slept at all since that night. Probably not, he thought. He'd probably been out searching for her every free minute he had.
His thoughts drifted away from Bosco and turned to Faith. She'd always been nice to him, more kind than most of the officers. Not that they'd been rude to him, but he was the newbie and the newbie tended to get kicked around until he'd proven himself. But she'd never treated him like that, not once. She'd been respectful toward him since the beginning and he honestly liked her. She was a good person. And what her husband had done...Gusler's hands balled into fists just thinking about it. His ponderings were interrupted as Lt. Swersky cleared his throat and called their attention for roll call announcements.
"Just a few things and I'll dismiss you," Lt. Swerksy said, his voice tense. Gusler noticed their boss looked more than a little tired himself. "We got a call from the 22nd Precinct this morning. They're looking for a man named Donald Raymond, who's under suspicion for committing an arson-related murder a few days ago. Sgt. Christopher is handing out pictures of the man. The shots are from a video camera across the street at a gas station at the time of the fire."
Gusler took one of the pictures and studied it briefly, shooting another look toward Bosco as Swerksy continued to talk.
Sully glanced at the picture Christopher handed him and Davis, then he handed it over to his partner, looking down at Bosco, who didn't even bother to look at the picture in front of him. His mind obviously elsewhere.
Lt. Swerksy cleared his throat again, his voice tense as he spoke. "And as I'm sure you're all aware, there's still an outstanding warrent for the arrest of Fred Yokas. This case takes top priority." He glanced around the room, his gaze landing on Bosco. "You're all dismissed. Be careful out there."
Davis glanced at Sully, then at Bosco, worried.
Sully glanced over at Bosco as they stood up, ready to head out. "Bosco, have you heard from Faith yet?" he asked.
Bosco looked at him painfully for a moment, knowing all eyes were on him, waiting for an answer, and when he didn't reply and headed out of there, Sully and everyone else knew he hadn't.
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Emily sat in the living room with Charlie. Their aunt and uncle were in the other room, apparantly discussing what to wear to dinner the next night, but she knew they were really talking about her parents. Why did they think they could hide it, that's what she wanted to know. She sighed, and looked over at Charlie where he sat at the opposite end of the sofa. "You know they're talking about Mom and Dad, don't you?" she asked.
"Yeah," he answered, playing his cousin's GameBoy.
Emily sighed again. "We're old enough. And she's our mom," she said softly.
"They're not gonna tell us, so you may as well leave it alone," Charlie grumbled, frowning as Mario fell down a hole.
"Don't you care?"
He sighed and put his game on pause. Then he looked at his sister. "Yeah, of course I do."
"You don't sound like it," she replied, hurting.
"What do you want me to say? That I don't think they're coming back for us?"
"No."
"Then, what?"
"That...never mind," she said, looking away from him.,
Charlie sighed again and looked away. "What do you think happened?"
"Dad," Emily said flatly, no care for his name in her tone.
He turned his head to stare at her. "What?"
She didn't say anything back.
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Davis stared out the passenger window of 55-Charlie for a long time, then finally turned his head to look at his partner. "You really think he's out here somewhere on the streets? After what he did?"
Sully looked over at him. "Honestly, I hope he's face down in a gutter somewhere with a 9mm in the back of his head," he said, his voice dead calm.
"He's got to know we're looking for him."
"Yeah, well I hope he does," Sully added, his voice growing darker.
Davis hesitated, then looked out his window again. He dropped his voice. "You think she's with him?"
Sully slowed the car down suddenly. "There's no way in hell she'd go back to that..."
He swallowed hard. "And if she's not there by choice?"
Sully didn't know how to respond to that.
"I mean, it's a possibility right? He's missing, she's missing...no one knows where either of them are. We have to consider everything, don't we?"
Unfortunately, the younger officer was right. "Yeah. But, not in this case."
"How do you know that?" Davis asked, hoping his partner was right.
"Because if that son of a bitch is within 100 yards of Faith, I'll personally kill him," he replied, looking back at his partner.
"Yeah, unless Bosco finds him first," he muttered.
Sully nodded. "Either way, as long as he's got police issue bullets changing the way his DNA works."
Davis simply nodded his agreement.
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Bosco was the first to climb out of the squad as he pulled the car to a stop outside Stanley's house. He could hear Gusler asking why they were here and who's house it was, but all his reply was 'You'll see,' and that was that. He walked up the front steps to the door and rang the bell. Please, please make him have heard from Faith, please God, please! But as the door opened and he saw the hopeful, but quickly fading to grim look on his partner's brother's face, he knew the other man hadn't. Still, he wanted to be sure. "Hey. Have you...heard from her yet?"
"No, nothing since Friday." Stanley sighed heavily. "You want to come in?"
Bosco looked back at the man, then glanced over at Gusler who stood a few steps behind him. "Yeah," he replied, turning back to Stanley. "You don't mind?"
"No, come on in." He stepped aside to let his sister's partner come in, then glanced out the door at Gusler. "Please, come in."
"Thanks," Gusler said quietly, still not sure where they were or who this man was.
Bosco walked in, stopping just inside the room before he turned back to Stanley. "How are the kids holding up?" he asked.
"They're....okay. But they're asking a lot of questions that I don't have answers to."
Bosco nodded, understanding. He then turned to his partner. "Gusler, this is Stanley, Stanley, Steve Gusler. Stanley's Faith's brother," he explained.
Gusler's eyes widened. "Nice to meet you." He reached out and shook the man's extended hand.
Stanley nodded at him. "Likewise." He turned to look at Bosco again.
"So she hasn't called, at all?" he asked again.
"No." He lowered his voice. "What happened, anyway?"
Bosco swallowed, glancing over at Gusler, who seemed like he wanted to know the details, too. Should he tell, that's what he wondered. God knows he wanted to, but if Faith hadn't told Stanley, maybe she didn't want him knowing. But then, it was all over the precinct, he was bound to find out, one way or another. "Fred, he ah...he beat her," he said, his voice shaking.
"That son of a bitch!" Stanley cursed angrily, shaking his head, his fists clenching at his sides. "He's in jail now, right?"
"No," Gusler spoke up, his voice nervous.
"The...son of a bitch ran, all the precincts are out looking for him," Bosco then said. "He won't get away with what he did."
Before Stanley could respond, Emily and Charlie came down the stairs.
"We heard the doorbell ring, is Mom--" Charlie began before he saw who was in the room. "Bosco!" He ran over and threw his arms around his mom's partner.
Bosco hugged Charlie back, but not without feeling surges of guilt rush over him. "Hey kids, how are you two holding up?" he asked them both, glancing over at Emily, who looked like she was about to cry. He didn't know what to say to make her feel better, except wish in his heart that her mom was back here with her kids.
"Have you seen Mom?" Charlie asked worriedly.
Bosco crouched down in front of him. "No, Champ, I haven't. But I'm sure she's okay," he tried to assure him.
Emily took two small steps towards her brother. "Why'd she have to leave?" she asked.
He honestly didn't know how to answer that.
"Is she okay?"
"Kids, why don't you go see if your aunt Joan would like to go out for ice cream," Stanley suggested.
Bosco swallowed. "I'm sure she's fine," he said, hoping himself that was the truth.
Emily stared at him for a long moment before heading to the other room.
Charlie frowned, then followed his sister.
"Sorry about that," Stanley said to Bosco with a sigh. "I just don't know what to tell them."
He rose to his feet. "It's fine," he replied. "There's..." he began, but he cut himself off, knowing he would be out of line if he told him what he wanted to.
"What?" he asked, frowning.
Bosco turned to Gusler. "Could you...wait out in the squad?" he asked.
"Uh...sure." Gusler quickly turned and headed outside, closing the door behind him.
"What's going on?"
Bosco paused for a moment, then let out a breath. "I think Fred...tried to...I think he tried to...rape Faith," he said finally, swallowing.
"What?" Stanley said, his eyes widening in disbelief.
"When I arrived at the apartment, the bed was all...he'd torn at her shirt," he swallowed again. "We have to get that bastard. I think that's why...why she's in hiding."
"You better find him before I do," Stanley said, his voice low, quiet. "Because if I find him, I'm going to kill him."
Bosco looked back at him, a dangerous glint in eyes. "Oh, don't worry. I'll find him."
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Davis sat at the wheel of the squad, his mind preoccupied with his relationship with Alex, the thought of any man having ever hurt her in the way Faith's husband had abused her making his blood fuel in his veins. It wasn't right that any man, woman, anyone, should ever hurt someone like that. He let out a breath, his thoughts fading out as his partner's voice came in. He glanced over to where Sully sat, cell phone at his ear as he talked with Tatiana.
Now there's a good working relationship, he thought happily. They'd spent the better part of the last half hour on the phone, talking about the various cravings Sully had been having in sympathy for Tatiana. And if she needed anyone to vouch for her the truth in her husband's claim, he would be the first to put his hand up and list off the forty bucks worth of food he'd brought in the last two days, *alone*.
"Davis, turn here," Sully said, holding the phone away from his ear for a moment.
Davis looked at his partner, then quickly did as his partner had said. "What? What is it? Is Tatiana okay?"
"Yeah. Yokas's place is that way," he replied.
He stared back at him. "What?"
"I want to check her apartment out," Sully answered. He pressed the phone to his ear. "You still there?"
"Yes," Tatiana replied on the other end. "What is it, John? What's wrong?"
He hesitated. "I just have a feeling that Faith's husband isn't as smart as we're giving him credit for."
Davis hid a snicker.
Tatiana was silent on the other end. "What are you going to do?"
"I don't know," he admitted, tensing as Davis pulled the car up in front of the Yokas's apartment building. "Listen, Tatiana, I gotta go, okay? I'll call you back in a little while."
"Okay, take care, John. I love you," Tatiana said back.
"Love you, too," he said before he hung up. He looked at Davis and took a deep breath. "Let's go."
The younger officer nodded. "Yeah, sure," he replied, hesitantly, before putting the squad in park. He waited.
Sully reached for the door handle of the passenger side and opened it. Then he climbed out and headed for the front door.
Davis followed behind his partner, the words, 'we shouldn't be doing this, we should be out there looking for him, not playing watch dog for an empty apartment' running through his head.
Sully ignored the call from his partner as they walked into the building and made their way up to the second level of the apartment building. There was a twist in his stomach and he had a gut feeling that there was something, or someone up in the apartment. All bets were on Fred, and he sent a warning in his head to the guy that if he was there, he was going to wish he wasn't.
He approached the door and waited until Davis was at his side before he knocked on the door. "Police!" he called, knocking harder.
A moment later the door opened and Fred stood in front of them, arms folded across his chest, a scowl on his face. "What?"
"You son of a..." Sully breathed out, feeling like the wind had been knocked out of him. He'd had a hunch the bastard was in there, but that he *actually* was? "I'm going to kill you, you selfish bastard!" he threatened, walking towards the man.
"What the hell is your problem?" Fred demanded.
Davis just stared at him in disbelief.
"What the hell is my *problem*!" he shouted, grabbing Fred by the scruff of his shirt and slammed his fist into Fred's face. "You are, you waste of air!"
"Get the fuck off me!"
"Like you got off your wife when she asked you to!?" Sully demanded, pulling the bastard to his feet and punching him in the face again. "Is it nice, huh!? Is it nice to think you can do what you want to a woman!?"
Fred struggled and threw a punch at Sully, but missed. "It's none of your fucking business! She's my wife!"
Sully grabbed him by his shirt again, only this time he slammed him hard against the wall. "It's not my business!?" he screamed, reaching for the gun at his belt, but his hand quickly fell on his flashlight and he pulled it out, striking Fred across the head with it. He stood over the man, his hand still clutching onto his shirt, covered with the dripping blood that came from his bloodied mouth and teeth. "It is my fucking business!" He struck him again.
Fred looked up at Davis. "Are you gonna let him do this? This is police brutality!"
Davis simply raised his eyebrows. "All I see him doing is trying to subdue a man resisting arrest," he replied calmly, shrugging his shoulders.
Sully pulled Fred back up to his feet, his eyes intent with anger. He then shoved the man back further into the living room, though he fell flat on his face and struggled as he tried to get back up. "Davis, can you close the door?" he asked, but the question was more direct, an order. He turned his attention back to the man begging him to leave him alone. "If you think for one minute I'm going to just let you get away with what you did, you're wrong!" He threw his flashlight aside and removed the nightstick from the loop on his belt and proceeded to strike Fred across the back several times, his actions swift as he then kicked him in the stomach. "Do you like that, huh?" he shouted, his rage fuelling inside of him as he reached down and grabbed him by the collar. He shook his head, then punched him in the face.
"Sully. Sul," Davis reached forward and grabbed his partner by the arm before he could punch Yokas's husband again.
Sully pulled away from his partner, then stared down at the bloody mess that was Fred's face. His breathing was deep and he lifted his head to look at his partner again. "Cuff him," he said, while he placed his nightstick back into its loop.
He nodded, feeling slightly relieved, though he knew Fred deserved everything he'd just gotten. He knelt down and none too gently snapped the cuffs around the man's wrists. "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law..."
"I want to call my wife," Fred snarled. "And I want to press charges against that fat bastard!"
Davis yanked him up by his collar and leaned forward. "You're not getting anywhere near your wife," he whispered harshly. "And no one cares what happens to you. You think what Sully did was bad? Just wait until Bosco gets a hold of you. You'll be lucky if you can even move in time for your bail hearing!"
* * *
Part Two
Alex stood on the sidewalk in front of the firehouse, leaning against the building as she stared up at the sky. So much had been going on recently that she hadn't had time to think, much less relax. She heard a car coming down the road and turned to look. It was a police car and as it got closer, she realized it was Ty and Sully, pulling up outside of the precinct. She was about to call out to her boyfriend, see what they'd been up to during their shift so far, when she saw Sully get out of the squad and open the back door. He yanked a prisoner out and her eyes widened as she saw that the prisoner was Fred Yokas.
Her heart skipped a beat and without even realizing she was doing it, she quickly crossed the street and caught up with the officers before they went inside. "Ty!"
Davis turned around immediately, while Sully continued inside, shoving Fred forward when he tried to free himself from his grip. "Hey, Alex..." he said, not sure what to do, go after Sully, or stay and talk. He stayed.
"You caught him?" she asked with wide eyes as she watched Sully push him into the building.
He nodded. "Yeah," he breathed out.
"Was Faith with him?" she asked, not sure if she wanted his answer to be yes or no.
"No, she wasn't," he replied. "Thank God. He was acting like nothing happened."
She shook her head and looked away. "So she's still missing then," Alex said softly.
Davis sighed. "Unfortunately, yeah," he said back, his voice lowered. "How are things in the house? Rumor wise?"
"You don't want to know," she replied, grimacing. She glanced around. "Does Bosco know? That you found Fred?"
He shook his head. "Not yet. Listen, Al..."
She looked up at him. "Yeah?"
"Can we get together later tonight? Maybe, us, and...Carlos and Kim...get away from work, just hang out and have some fun?"
Alex smiled slightly. "Yeah, of course. Haggerty's?"
"I was...thinking, something a little more...homey..."
She looked at him in confusion. "Uh...ok...but why?"
"It's my mom's fifty-second birthday. She asked if me and a few guests wanted to come over after work for an informal get together," he explained, hope in his eyes as he looked back at her.
"Oh. Okay, sure. Yeah, I'd love that." She gave him another smile.
"Alex! We've got a call!" Kim shouted from across the street.
She sighed. "Dammit."
Davis smiled, the first for the day. "You take care, and I'll get back in there, make sure Sully hasn't put Yokas' husband in a coma."
"Yeah, well, for the record, I hope he did." She smiled back. "Be careful out there. I'll see you tonight."
He laughed. "Yeah, you too. Later," he said, kissing her on the lips before watching her carefully as she crossed over the road to the bus. He let out a sigh.
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Bosco walked into the station house later that afternoon with Gusler right behind him. They'd had an easy tour so far, no real calls that impeded their searching for Faith, despite the fact that the search had been fruitless. After four days of searching, contacting all the friends he knew of hers, all her family, following every possible lead that he could come up with, it was starting to become very apparent that Faith wasn't going to be found. At least not until she wanted to be.
He took his service cap off and ran his fingers through his hair in frustration as he made his way toward the locker room. He was halfway there when he realized that everyone was staring at him. "What's your problem?" he snapped at an officer across the hallway. He searched his mind for the guy's name, but couldn't remember it.
"You haven't heard?"
"Heard what?" he demanded, annoyed.
The man swallowed hard. "Sullivan and Davis arrested Officer Yokas' husband earlier."
Bosco stared at him in disbelief. "What?"
"He's in lock-up right now."
He turned to look at Gusler, his jaw set.
Gusler opened his mouth. "Sir?" he nervously asked, seeing the rage in the other man's eyes.
Bosco didn't say a word to the younger man as he dropped his service cap on the floor, curled his hands into fists and walked down the hallway toward lock-up. He barely noticed who was working the desk. "I need to see Fred Yokas."
Without a word of protest, the officer handed over the key to the cell.
Bosco closed it in his fist so tightly, his hand drained of color. He sensed that Gusler was following him, but he didn't care. He stalked down the hall, ignoring the nasty remarks from other prisoners as he stood in front of the last cell. And glared at Fred's back, which was toward him.
Gusler looked around the room, wanting to say something, suggest he not do anything drastic, but he swallowed hard when he saw the other man in the cell turning toward them both.
"Jesus, Boscorelli, what the fuck do you want!?" Fred hissed.
"Your head on a platter," Bosco answered darkly, unlocking the door to the cell.
"Piss off!" he shouted back, moving backward in the cell until his back touched the cold and damp wall behind him. He shifted his eyes to the young officer at his side. "This is police brutality and you know it!"
Gusler's face stayed the same. "He hasn't done anything," he replied quietly.
Bosco's face twisted into a smile. "Yet," he added, stepping inside the cell and closing the door behind him.
"Get out," Fred said, pleading in his tone as he swallowed hard. "I've done nothing to you!"
"You've done nothing to me?" he repeated, his tone completely devoid of humor. "You've done nothing to me?" He raised his voice, taking a menacing step toward Fred. "It's not what you've done to me that you're going to be sorry for, you fucking asshole!"
"Stop him!!" Fred squealed, his voice almost gargling as he stared in fear at the young officer who still stood there, not saying or doing anything. He turned back to Bosco. "I didn't do anything!!"
Bosco's eyes narrowed and darkened, his mind flashing through the events of four nights ago, seeing the fear in Faith's eyes, her whole body shaking as she sat curled up on the floor of her bedroom, bleeding, hurt. The images sent rage spiraling through his body and without another moment's hesitation, he grabbed Fred by the collar of his shirt and slammed him up against the wall. "You no good son of a bitch!"
He let out a loud 'oompf', pain going through his entire body. "Get. Off. Me!" he screamed.
"Oh, I've only just begun," Bosco informed him. He threw him down on the ground and kicked him in the stomach.
"Help!"
"Shut up!" Gusler hissed, a part of him feeling bad, but the other part of him somehow relieved to have his part in revenge for Officer Yokas' abuse.
Bosco grabbed him off the floor and slammed him into the wall again. "If you really think anyone here is going to help you, you're sorrily mistaken, asshole. See, cops are like a big family. You hurt one of us, we hurt you. And I am going to hurt you, Fred. I'm gonna make you pay for everything you've put her through."
"No!" Fred screamed, simultaneously coughing on the saliva in his throat as he backed away.
He wrapped his hands around Fred's throat. "You don't think you deserve to pay for what you've done?" he asked darkly.
He tried to move away again. "I didn't do anything...."
Bosco punched him in the stomach, renewed fury flooding through his veins. "You hurt her!"
Fred crippled over, the pain from Officer Sullivan's beating earlier making him that much weaker and unable to respond. "I didn't!" he choked out.
"You lying sack of shit! I saw her! I saw what you did to her, what you've been doing to her! And I'm not going to let you get away with it!" he growled.
He pulled back, this time drawing his arm back in a swift motion, hitting Bosco in the face. "Let me get away with it!?" he taunted, then laughed.
Bosco was thrown off for a moment by Fred's punch, but then his eyes narrowed. "That's right, Freddie boy, at least have the fucking guts to fight with a man!"
"A man?" Fred laughed, pushing him backward. "You're no man!"
"I'm more of a man than you'll ever be," he informed him, his hands still balled into fists at his side. "You're nothing but a lowlife coward."
He laughed. "No, you think you're some fucking God-send, there to save Faith! She doesn't want or need you! I give her all she needs," he said back, his voice bitter, a wry grin on his face.
"You have no idea what Faith wants or needs. And all you've done is ruin her life." He pulled his nightstick out of his belt and slammed Fred in the knees with it.
He dropped to the ground, reeling in pain. "Ruined hers!?" he hollered. "She ruined mine!"
Bosco struck him in the ribs with the baton. "Shut the fuck up! You're only making this worse for yourself!"
"Sir..." Gusler's shaking voice came in.
"I'll have yours and that fat bastard's job for this!" he screamed.
He hauled Fred to his feet and slammed him up against the wall, his head smacking against the concrete with a loud thud. "Stay away from Faith! So help me God, if you so much as get within three blocks of her ever again, next time, I won't just beat you, I'll kill you. And I'll make sure they never find your body," Bosco whispered, glaring at Fred intensely for a long moment. Then he let go of Fred's shirt, letting him drop to the ground. He stalked out of the cell, locked it again, and stormed off down the hallway, leaving Gusler to stare after him.
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Stanley was sitting on the sofa with Charlie, and Ryan on either side of him. Down on the floor at the other side of the coffee table, Emily was drawing on a sheet of paper. He could barely make out what she was drawing, but knew deep inside it was something for her mother. He frowned when he saw the young girl's lip start to quiver. He knew she was thinking about her mom, and worried about her well being.
Just like they all were.
He was just about to get ready and ask the boys if they wanted a popsicle when the doorbell to his home rang. Frowning, knowing they weren't expecting visitors, Stanley excused himself as he stood up from the sofa and then made his way to the door.
He unhooked the chain and turned the deadlock, but as he opened the door he felt like his heart was struck with brute force. Pain and fear surged through him as he saw his sister standing there, pale and weak. She was wearing glasses, and he thought for a moment in hope that he wasn't seeing bruises on her, but they were there. Faded, but still visible. "Faith..."
Faith swallowed hard and stared at him for a long, silent moment, unable to speak. "Hi," she said finally, her voice barely audible.
"Come in," he told her, his voice shaking as he stepped aside. "God you look...terrible...what did he do to you?"
She opened her mouth to speak, but couldn't find the words. "Can we just...talk out here for a minute?" she whispered, not stepping inside.
He swallowed, then stepped outside, pulling the door closed behind him. "Sure...we can..."
She instantly took a step back to give him more room and she looked at the ground.
"Faith...?"
She swallowed hard. "I'm really sorry that...just...for everything."
"Don't be...I'm just glad you're..." He was going to say 'okay', but stopped himself. "Safe now."
She hesitated. "Would it be okay, if...the kids and I stayed here for awhile?" she asked softly.
Stanley nodded. "Yeah, of course. There's always a place here for you."
"Thank you." She finally lifted her gaze to meet his, despite the fact she was wearing sunglasses in a small attempt to hide the red-rims around her eyes, and the shadows underneath them. Most of her bruises had faded and she'd been able to successfully cover up most of the rest of them, but the bruise on her forehead where she had stitches was still very visible. "Are, uh...are the kids here now?"
He nodded again. "Yeah, they're in the living room with Ryan. Emily's...really been missing you."
Faith drew in a deep breath. The thought of seeing her children right then was overwhelming and more than a little frightening. Would they hate her, not really want to see her? She swallowed hard again, determined to face them. She owed them that much. "Can we...go inside now?" she asked softly.
"Yeah," he said, smiling slightly. He pushed the door open, and motioned for her to go in before him.
She closed her eyes for a moment, then stepped inside the house, her gaze immediately locking on her children. She stood there silently for what felt like an eternity. Then Charlie looked up. His eyes widened.
"Mom!"
Emily's head lifted instantly, her eyes staring in disbelief for a moment before they filled with tears.
Charlie rose to his feet and ran over to her, throwing his arms around her tightly.
She squeezed her eyes shut, wrapping her arms around him, as well. "Hi, baby," she whispered.
"Ryan," Stanley called to his son as he closed the door to the house. He motioned with a nod that they go to the kitchen, before he walked through himself.
Emily got to her feet, every part of her shaking as she slowly made her way over to her mom and Charlie. "Mommy..." she cried in a whisper. She swallowed. "I missed you!"
Faith lifted her head and looked at her daughter. "I missed you guys, too," she whispered, holding her arm out to include Emily in the hug.
She walked into her mom's embrace, closing her eyes tight as her arm wrapped around her.
Faith kissed her daughter's forehead lightly and pulled her closer.
"Where've you been?" Charlie asked, pulling away from the hug as he looked at her.
"You're not going to leave again, are you?" Emily asked, looking at her brother.
The breath caught in her throat and tears stung her eyes. "No, baby, I'm not...I'm not gonna leave again," she said quietly.
"Good!" she cried, hugging her mom tighter.
"Are we going home now?" Charlie questioned, a slight frown on his face.
Faith bit her lip. "No, we're not going home, sweetie."
"Why?" Emily asked.
"When are we going home then?" he asked in confusion.
She took a deep breath. "Maybe we should all sit down on the couch so we can talk, okay?"
"Where's Dad?" Emily asked, her voice shaking.
Faith squeezed her eyes shut, then stood up slowly, holding onto each of her children's hands. She gently guided them over to the sofa and she sat down. Charlie sat down on the other side of Emily, who sat next to her. "I know that you two have a lot of questions, and I'm gonna try to answer them all, okay?"
Charlie shot a glance at his sister, but remained silent.
Emily nodded.
"All right." She drew in another deep breath, trying to think of where to start. She looked from her son to her daughter, no words coming to mind.
Emily looked over at her brother, her chest rising as she inhaled. She then looked up at her mom. "What happened to you?" she quietly asked.
Faith reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her daughter's ear. "I needed some time to think, sweetie," she said softly.
Charlie frowned deeply and looked at Emily.
"Was it Daddy?"
She swallowed hard and nodded slowly. "Yeah, baby." She took a deep breath. "Your dad and I are...we're gonna be getting a divorce."
Emily looked over at her brother, not saything anything.
"Did Dad hurt you?" Charlie asked quietly, looking up at her.
Faith bit her lip. "Yeah," she said softly. "He did. But he didn't mean to, Charlie."
Emily stared at her mom. "Then why would he hit you?" she asked, pain in her voice.
She opened her mouth to deny it, not wanting to admit the truth to her children, not wanting them to know that their father had hurt their mother. But she couldn't lie to them, not anymore. She closed her eyes tightly and rested her head in her hands for a moment. "Em, your dad and I...we've been having a lot of problems lately. And you're right. He hit me." She tried to give her daughter a reassuring smile, but couldn't do it. "But the problems between me and your dad...they have nothing to do with you or Charlie. He loves you both very much."
"If he loves us, why did he have to hurt you?"
Faith's eyes filled with tears. "Your dad's...very angry with me. But it's not anything to do with you or your brother, okay?"
Charlie swallowed hard, tears filling his eyes, too.
Emily shook her head, crying. "No, if he loved us...he wouldn't have hurt you!"
She reached out to put a hand on her daughter's arm and flinched when Emily pulled away. "Baby, sometimes...sometimes adults, parents, fight and have problems and they can't live together anymore, but...that doesn't mean that your dad doesn't love you."
Emily just shook her head, not accepting that.
She closed her eyes again, temporarily giving up.
"So...where are we going to live?" Charlie asked, frowning as he tried not to cry.
Faith hesitated. "Here, for awhile, at least. After that...I'm not sure."
"We're not going home?" Emily asked.
"I don't know," she answered softly, more tears flooding her eyes. She wasn't sure she could go back to that apartment, especially to live there again. "I don't really know what's going to happen now, Em. I'm sorry," she whispered.
Wordlessly, Charlie wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her tightly.
Seeing the tears in her mom's eyes, Emily cried more as she too hugged her mom.
"I'm sorry," Faith whispered again, burying her face in her daughter's hair as she hugged both of her children tightly.
Authors: Demelza and X_tremeroswellian
Email(s): demelza81@yahoo.co.nz and X_tremeroswellian@yahoo.com
Disclaimer: The characters don't belong to us. They belong to Edward Allen Bernero and John Wells and a bunch of other people that we've never met before. Please don't sue.
Rating: PG-13 for language and sexual content
Summary: Stanley tries to reassure Emily and Charlie that their mom is okay. Meanwhile, as they struggle to deal with Faith's absence, Bosco and the rest of the officers from the 55th continue their manhunt for Fred.
Spoilers: Up through and including "The Unforgiven."
Inabsentia (Part One)
The soft piano music filled the kitchen in from the living area where everyone at Emily and Charlie's aunt and uncle's home were seated for breakfast. Emily felt unease settle in her stomach as she watched the uncomfortable looks her aunt and uncle exchanged. They'd been acting strangely ever since the following morning after she'd arrived. There were hidden conversations exchanged that suddenly stopped the minute either she or Charlie walked into the room. She knew something was going on, could tell by the reassuring words they were given every time they asked why they were there still and neither their mom or dad had come to pick them up.
"Uncle Stanley," she began as he sat down at the table. She waited until she had his full attention. "When is Mom coming to get us?" she asked, giving him a serious look.
At that moment, Joan looked across at her niece, saddened. She, however, remained silent.
Stanley hesitated, glanced at his wife, then back at Emily. "I'm not sure, Em," he admitted.
Charlie looked up from his bowl of cereal. "She is coming back, right?"
"She has to," Emily shot at her younger brother, quickly giving him an apologetic look. "She wouldn't just leave us."
"She is coming back, honey," Joan said, consoling Charlie.
"Your mom loves you both very much," Stanley said quietly, wishing he knew where his sister was. It had been four days and he hadn't heard from her since the night she'd called and asked him to take care of the kids and Santa for awhile. Bosco had called every day, in fact, Bosco had called about five times every day, hoping that Faith had contacted Stanley, but to no avail.
"Then why hasn't she called?" Emily asked, her voice strained.
He opened his mouth to respond, closed it, then opened it again. "Your mom had to take care of some things, Em."
"Is Mom okay?" Charlie asked worriedly.
Stanley shifted his gaze to his nephew, feeling helpless. "Yeah, she's fine, Charlie," he said, hoping to God that was true.
"She'll be back soon, we promise," Joan told them both, giving them reassuring smiles each in return.
"You can't promise that," Emily spat back, pushing her bowl of milk and cereal away from in front of her, not wanting to eat.
Ryan looked over at his cousin sympathetically, but remained quiet.
"Emily," Stanley said gently. "Your mom has *not* abandoned you. She is coming back."
She didn't say anything back at him, just stared at her bowl and started to cry.
"Aw, honey..." Joan sighed, shaking her head as she looked over at Stanley. She turned back to Emily, she went to say something else when the young girl got down from the table and ran into the living room.
Stanley sighed and closed his eyes, leaning back in his chair. Where the hell are you, Faith? he wondered, massaging his temples.
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Alex stood with her back against the wall, watching the others, vaguely hearing their only too repetitive discussion of what happened to their colleague those nights back. She wished the gossip would come to a stand still, but it seemed there were those only too eager to hear about what was going on. Especially to a cop.
She sighed, glancing over to where her colleagues, Kim and Carlos stood, their hands joined together, though visibly hidden to everyone except those who knew about their relationship.
Just then, Lieutenant Johnson came into the room, quietening everyone instantly. He looked around him, as if suspscious of what was going on, then frowned as he glanced over at the three firefighters sitting around the table. "Make sure the trucks are fully loaded," he ordered, evidence that he didn't want a repeat of last week's incident of being low on supplies happening again any time soon in his voice. He didn't wait for a 'Yes sir', instead, he turned and walked back out.
The moment he was in his office, the gossip started up again, mostly coming from the firehouse loudmouth, Jimmy Doherty. She rolled her eyes.
"Why would she stay with the guy if things were so bad?" Jimmy asked, glancing around the room.
"Maybe she thought he'd change," Carlos said to himself.
"They have kids together, right?" DK asked, frowning as he sipped his cup of coffee.
"Yeah, two," Alex said.
"Maybe that's why she was staying," he suggested.
"Yeah, because that's a great reason to stay with a guy who beats you," Jimmy said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.
Walsh frowned. "Maybe she thought that because of the kids, he'd stop."
"It was still stupid," Jimmy said, shaking his head.
Kim shot him a glare, but remained silent.
Carlos wanted to tell his colleague to keep that opinion to himself, but he didn't.
"Look, none of us really knows what her reasons were for staying, and it's not really any of our business," Doc said quietly.
"What I don't get, is why no one knew it was happening," Walsh commented, glancing over at Alex, then to Kim and Carlos.
Kim swallowed hard, then looked at Alex and Carlos before looking at the floor, feeling guilty.
Jimmy sat back in his chair. "It must not have bothered her too badly."
"What?" DK glanced at him, frowning.
He shrugged. "How bad could it really have been if she was willing to stay with him? Maybe some part of her enjoyed it."
"Asshole," Alex wanted to scream at him, instead she mumbled it to herself.
"You're out of line, Doherty," Walsh growled.
"Very," Kim said angrily, glaring at him.
"Whatever," Jimmy mumbled, standing up.
Just then, Lieutenant Johnson walked back into the room. "Hey, I thought I said I wanted those trucks resupplied," he told them angrily, his eyes focused on the three firefighters.
"We're going," DK said, rising to his feet and giving Jimmy a dirty look as he walked by.
Kim waited until all of the firefighters had left the room before letting out a sigh and taking a seat at the table. She propped her forehead up with one hand.
"Kim? You okay?" Doc asked, concerned.
"Yeah. I just feel guilty," she answered softly.
"It's not yours, or our fault," Carlos said gently, walking over to her.
"Isn't it?" she argued, looking up at him. "We *knew* something was wrong, we knew that that bastard was hurting her and we didn't do a damn thing to stop him."
"We didn't know what we could do," he replied. "You and Alex both went to talk to her, remember? You tried to...to make her see that other people knew, and something needed to be done."
Kim shook her head. "We should have done more."
Doc sat down beside her. "What more could we have done? We couldn't force her to leave him. It's her life. She had to be the one to ask for help," he pointed out quietly.
"And," Alex began, walking over to her distraught colleague. "She knew we were here, if she needed help," she said, trying to help her friend not feel so guilty.
"I know," Kim conceded, shaking her head with a sigh. "The part that really worries me is that she's out there somewhere and no one knows where and Fred's still on the loose."
"They'll catch him," Doc said assuringly.
Carlos swallowed hard, sitting on the opposite side of her. He took Kim's hand in his. "And Faith will be fine," he said gently, brushing the hair out of her face.
"I hope you're right," she said softly.
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Gusler sat in the roll call room two seats down from Bosco. The room was dead silent, just as the locker room and the hallways had been for the past several days. Ever since...ever since Officer Yokas had been been attacked by her husband and disappeared later that same night from the hospital. Everyone kept staring at Bosco, waiting for something to happen, for him to say that she'd been in contact with him, that she was okay. But he'd said nothing, not a word to anyone.
And the man looked...exhausted. He was pale and his eyes were red-rimmed and blood-shot. Gusler wondered if Bosco had slept at all since that night. Probably not, he thought. He'd probably been out searching for her every free minute he had.
His thoughts drifted away from Bosco and turned to Faith. She'd always been nice to him, more kind than most of the officers. Not that they'd been rude to him, but he was the newbie and the newbie tended to get kicked around until he'd proven himself. But she'd never treated him like that, not once. She'd been respectful toward him since the beginning and he honestly liked her. She was a good person. And what her husband had done...Gusler's hands balled into fists just thinking about it. His ponderings were interrupted as Lt. Swersky cleared his throat and called their attention for roll call announcements.
"Just a few things and I'll dismiss you," Lt. Swerksy said, his voice tense. Gusler noticed their boss looked more than a little tired himself. "We got a call from the 22nd Precinct this morning. They're looking for a man named Donald Raymond, who's under suspicion for committing an arson-related murder a few days ago. Sgt. Christopher is handing out pictures of the man. The shots are from a video camera across the street at a gas station at the time of the fire."
Gusler took one of the pictures and studied it briefly, shooting another look toward Bosco as Swerksy continued to talk.
Sully glanced at the picture Christopher handed him and Davis, then he handed it over to his partner, looking down at Bosco, who didn't even bother to look at the picture in front of him. His mind obviously elsewhere.
Lt. Swerksy cleared his throat again, his voice tense as he spoke. "And as I'm sure you're all aware, there's still an outstanding warrent for the arrest of Fred Yokas. This case takes top priority." He glanced around the room, his gaze landing on Bosco. "You're all dismissed. Be careful out there."
Davis glanced at Sully, then at Bosco, worried.
Sully glanced over at Bosco as they stood up, ready to head out. "Bosco, have you heard from Faith yet?" he asked.
Bosco looked at him painfully for a moment, knowing all eyes were on him, waiting for an answer, and when he didn't reply and headed out of there, Sully and everyone else knew he hadn't.
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Emily sat in the living room with Charlie. Their aunt and uncle were in the other room, apparantly discussing what to wear to dinner the next night, but she knew they were really talking about her parents. Why did they think they could hide it, that's what she wanted to know. She sighed, and looked over at Charlie where he sat at the opposite end of the sofa. "You know they're talking about Mom and Dad, don't you?" she asked.
"Yeah," he answered, playing his cousin's GameBoy.
Emily sighed again. "We're old enough. And she's our mom," she said softly.
"They're not gonna tell us, so you may as well leave it alone," Charlie grumbled, frowning as Mario fell down a hole.
"Don't you care?"
He sighed and put his game on pause. Then he looked at his sister. "Yeah, of course I do."
"You don't sound like it," she replied, hurting.
"What do you want me to say? That I don't think they're coming back for us?"
"No."
"Then, what?"
"That...never mind," she said, looking away from him.,
Charlie sighed again and looked away. "What do you think happened?"
"Dad," Emily said flatly, no care for his name in her tone.
He turned his head to stare at her. "What?"
She didn't say anything back.
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Davis stared out the passenger window of 55-Charlie for a long time, then finally turned his head to look at his partner. "You really think he's out here somewhere on the streets? After what he did?"
Sully looked over at him. "Honestly, I hope he's face down in a gutter somewhere with a 9mm in the back of his head," he said, his voice dead calm.
"He's got to know we're looking for him."
"Yeah, well I hope he does," Sully added, his voice growing darker.
Davis hesitated, then looked out his window again. He dropped his voice. "You think she's with him?"
Sully slowed the car down suddenly. "There's no way in hell she'd go back to that..."
He swallowed hard. "And if she's not there by choice?"
Sully didn't know how to respond to that.
"I mean, it's a possibility right? He's missing, she's missing...no one knows where either of them are. We have to consider everything, don't we?"
Unfortunately, the younger officer was right. "Yeah. But, not in this case."
"How do you know that?" Davis asked, hoping his partner was right.
"Because if that son of a bitch is within 100 yards of Faith, I'll personally kill him," he replied, looking back at his partner.
"Yeah, unless Bosco finds him first," he muttered.
Sully nodded. "Either way, as long as he's got police issue bullets changing the way his DNA works."
Davis simply nodded his agreement.
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Bosco was the first to climb out of the squad as he pulled the car to a stop outside Stanley's house. He could hear Gusler asking why they were here and who's house it was, but all his reply was 'You'll see,' and that was that. He walked up the front steps to the door and rang the bell. Please, please make him have heard from Faith, please God, please! But as the door opened and he saw the hopeful, but quickly fading to grim look on his partner's brother's face, he knew the other man hadn't. Still, he wanted to be sure. "Hey. Have you...heard from her yet?"
"No, nothing since Friday." Stanley sighed heavily. "You want to come in?"
Bosco looked back at the man, then glanced over at Gusler who stood a few steps behind him. "Yeah," he replied, turning back to Stanley. "You don't mind?"
"No, come on in." He stepped aside to let his sister's partner come in, then glanced out the door at Gusler. "Please, come in."
"Thanks," Gusler said quietly, still not sure where they were or who this man was.
Bosco walked in, stopping just inside the room before he turned back to Stanley. "How are the kids holding up?" he asked.
"They're....okay. But they're asking a lot of questions that I don't have answers to."
Bosco nodded, understanding. He then turned to his partner. "Gusler, this is Stanley, Stanley, Steve Gusler. Stanley's Faith's brother," he explained.
Gusler's eyes widened. "Nice to meet you." He reached out and shook the man's extended hand.
Stanley nodded at him. "Likewise." He turned to look at Bosco again.
"So she hasn't called, at all?" he asked again.
"No." He lowered his voice. "What happened, anyway?"
Bosco swallowed, glancing over at Gusler, who seemed like he wanted to know the details, too. Should he tell, that's what he wondered. God knows he wanted to, but if Faith hadn't told Stanley, maybe she didn't want him knowing. But then, it was all over the precinct, he was bound to find out, one way or another. "Fred, he ah...he beat her," he said, his voice shaking.
"That son of a bitch!" Stanley cursed angrily, shaking his head, his fists clenching at his sides. "He's in jail now, right?"
"No," Gusler spoke up, his voice nervous.
"The...son of a bitch ran, all the precincts are out looking for him," Bosco then said. "He won't get away with what he did."
Before Stanley could respond, Emily and Charlie came down the stairs.
"We heard the doorbell ring, is Mom--" Charlie began before he saw who was in the room. "Bosco!" He ran over and threw his arms around his mom's partner.
Bosco hugged Charlie back, but not without feeling surges of guilt rush over him. "Hey kids, how are you two holding up?" he asked them both, glancing over at Emily, who looked like she was about to cry. He didn't know what to say to make her feel better, except wish in his heart that her mom was back here with her kids.
"Have you seen Mom?" Charlie asked worriedly.
Bosco crouched down in front of him. "No, Champ, I haven't. But I'm sure she's okay," he tried to assure him.
Emily took two small steps towards her brother. "Why'd she have to leave?" she asked.
He honestly didn't know how to answer that.
"Is she okay?"
"Kids, why don't you go see if your aunt Joan would like to go out for ice cream," Stanley suggested.
Bosco swallowed. "I'm sure she's fine," he said, hoping himself that was the truth.
Emily stared at him for a long moment before heading to the other room.
Charlie frowned, then followed his sister.
"Sorry about that," Stanley said to Bosco with a sigh. "I just don't know what to tell them."
He rose to his feet. "It's fine," he replied. "There's..." he began, but he cut himself off, knowing he would be out of line if he told him what he wanted to.
"What?" he asked, frowning.
Bosco turned to Gusler. "Could you...wait out in the squad?" he asked.
"Uh...sure." Gusler quickly turned and headed outside, closing the door behind him.
"What's going on?"
Bosco paused for a moment, then let out a breath. "I think Fred...tried to...I think he tried to...rape Faith," he said finally, swallowing.
"What?" Stanley said, his eyes widening in disbelief.
"When I arrived at the apartment, the bed was all...he'd torn at her shirt," he swallowed again. "We have to get that bastard. I think that's why...why she's in hiding."
"You better find him before I do," Stanley said, his voice low, quiet. "Because if I find him, I'm going to kill him."
Bosco looked back at him, a dangerous glint in eyes. "Oh, don't worry. I'll find him."
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Davis sat at the wheel of the squad, his mind preoccupied with his relationship with Alex, the thought of any man having ever hurt her in the way Faith's husband had abused her making his blood fuel in his veins. It wasn't right that any man, woman, anyone, should ever hurt someone like that. He let out a breath, his thoughts fading out as his partner's voice came in. He glanced over to where Sully sat, cell phone at his ear as he talked with Tatiana.
Now there's a good working relationship, he thought happily. They'd spent the better part of the last half hour on the phone, talking about the various cravings Sully had been having in sympathy for Tatiana. And if she needed anyone to vouch for her the truth in her husband's claim, he would be the first to put his hand up and list off the forty bucks worth of food he'd brought in the last two days, *alone*.
"Davis, turn here," Sully said, holding the phone away from his ear for a moment.
Davis looked at his partner, then quickly did as his partner had said. "What? What is it? Is Tatiana okay?"
"Yeah. Yokas's place is that way," he replied.
He stared back at him. "What?"
"I want to check her apartment out," Sully answered. He pressed the phone to his ear. "You still there?"
"Yes," Tatiana replied on the other end. "What is it, John? What's wrong?"
He hesitated. "I just have a feeling that Faith's husband isn't as smart as we're giving him credit for."
Davis hid a snicker.
Tatiana was silent on the other end. "What are you going to do?"
"I don't know," he admitted, tensing as Davis pulled the car up in front of the Yokas's apartment building. "Listen, Tatiana, I gotta go, okay? I'll call you back in a little while."
"Okay, take care, John. I love you," Tatiana said back.
"Love you, too," he said before he hung up. He looked at Davis and took a deep breath. "Let's go."
The younger officer nodded. "Yeah, sure," he replied, hesitantly, before putting the squad in park. He waited.
Sully reached for the door handle of the passenger side and opened it. Then he climbed out and headed for the front door.
Davis followed behind his partner, the words, 'we shouldn't be doing this, we should be out there looking for him, not playing watch dog for an empty apartment' running through his head.
Sully ignored the call from his partner as they walked into the building and made their way up to the second level of the apartment building. There was a twist in his stomach and he had a gut feeling that there was something, or someone up in the apartment. All bets were on Fred, and he sent a warning in his head to the guy that if he was there, he was going to wish he wasn't.
He approached the door and waited until Davis was at his side before he knocked on the door. "Police!" he called, knocking harder.
A moment later the door opened and Fred stood in front of them, arms folded across his chest, a scowl on his face. "What?"
"You son of a..." Sully breathed out, feeling like the wind had been knocked out of him. He'd had a hunch the bastard was in there, but that he *actually* was? "I'm going to kill you, you selfish bastard!" he threatened, walking towards the man.
"What the hell is your problem?" Fred demanded.
Davis just stared at him in disbelief.
"What the hell is my *problem*!" he shouted, grabbing Fred by the scruff of his shirt and slammed his fist into Fred's face. "You are, you waste of air!"
"Get the fuck off me!"
"Like you got off your wife when she asked you to!?" Sully demanded, pulling the bastard to his feet and punching him in the face again. "Is it nice, huh!? Is it nice to think you can do what you want to a woman!?"
Fred struggled and threw a punch at Sully, but missed. "It's none of your fucking business! She's my wife!"
Sully grabbed him by his shirt again, only this time he slammed him hard against the wall. "It's not my business!?" he screamed, reaching for the gun at his belt, but his hand quickly fell on his flashlight and he pulled it out, striking Fred across the head with it. He stood over the man, his hand still clutching onto his shirt, covered with the dripping blood that came from his bloodied mouth and teeth. "It is my fucking business!" He struck him again.
Fred looked up at Davis. "Are you gonna let him do this? This is police brutality!"
Davis simply raised his eyebrows. "All I see him doing is trying to subdue a man resisting arrest," he replied calmly, shrugging his shoulders.
Sully pulled Fred back up to his feet, his eyes intent with anger. He then shoved the man back further into the living room, though he fell flat on his face and struggled as he tried to get back up. "Davis, can you close the door?" he asked, but the question was more direct, an order. He turned his attention back to the man begging him to leave him alone. "If you think for one minute I'm going to just let you get away with what you did, you're wrong!" He threw his flashlight aside and removed the nightstick from the loop on his belt and proceeded to strike Fred across the back several times, his actions swift as he then kicked him in the stomach. "Do you like that, huh?" he shouted, his rage fuelling inside of him as he reached down and grabbed him by the collar. He shook his head, then punched him in the face.
"Sully. Sul," Davis reached forward and grabbed his partner by the arm before he could punch Yokas's husband again.
Sully pulled away from his partner, then stared down at the bloody mess that was Fred's face. His breathing was deep and he lifted his head to look at his partner again. "Cuff him," he said, while he placed his nightstick back into its loop.
He nodded, feeling slightly relieved, though he knew Fred deserved everything he'd just gotten. He knelt down and none too gently snapped the cuffs around the man's wrists. "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law..."
"I want to call my wife," Fred snarled. "And I want to press charges against that fat bastard!"
Davis yanked him up by his collar and leaned forward. "You're not getting anywhere near your wife," he whispered harshly. "And no one cares what happens to you. You think what Sully did was bad? Just wait until Bosco gets a hold of you. You'll be lucky if you can even move in time for your bail hearing!"
* * *
Part Two
Alex stood on the sidewalk in front of the firehouse, leaning against the building as she stared up at the sky. So much had been going on recently that she hadn't had time to think, much less relax. She heard a car coming down the road and turned to look. It was a police car and as it got closer, she realized it was Ty and Sully, pulling up outside of the precinct. She was about to call out to her boyfriend, see what they'd been up to during their shift so far, when she saw Sully get out of the squad and open the back door. He yanked a prisoner out and her eyes widened as she saw that the prisoner was Fred Yokas.
Her heart skipped a beat and without even realizing she was doing it, she quickly crossed the street and caught up with the officers before they went inside. "Ty!"
Davis turned around immediately, while Sully continued inside, shoving Fred forward when he tried to free himself from his grip. "Hey, Alex..." he said, not sure what to do, go after Sully, or stay and talk. He stayed.
"You caught him?" she asked with wide eyes as she watched Sully push him into the building.
He nodded. "Yeah," he breathed out.
"Was Faith with him?" she asked, not sure if she wanted his answer to be yes or no.
"No, she wasn't," he replied. "Thank God. He was acting like nothing happened."
She shook her head and looked away. "So she's still missing then," Alex said softly.
Davis sighed. "Unfortunately, yeah," he said back, his voice lowered. "How are things in the house? Rumor wise?"
"You don't want to know," she replied, grimacing. She glanced around. "Does Bosco know? That you found Fred?"
He shook his head. "Not yet. Listen, Al..."
She looked up at him. "Yeah?"
"Can we get together later tonight? Maybe, us, and...Carlos and Kim...get away from work, just hang out and have some fun?"
Alex smiled slightly. "Yeah, of course. Haggerty's?"
"I was...thinking, something a little more...homey..."
She looked at him in confusion. "Uh...ok...but why?"
"It's my mom's fifty-second birthday. She asked if me and a few guests wanted to come over after work for an informal get together," he explained, hope in his eyes as he looked back at her.
"Oh. Okay, sure. Yeah, I'd love that." She gave him another smile.
"Alex! We've got a call!" Kim shouted from across the street.
She sighed. "Dammit."
Davis smiled, the first for the day. "You take care, and I'll get back in there, make sure Sully hasn't put Yokas' husband in a coma."
"Yeah, well, for the record, I hope he did." She smiled back. "Be careful out there. I'll see you tonight."
He laughed. "Yeah, you too. Later," he said, kissing her on the lips before watching her carefully as she crossed over the road to the bus. He let out a sigh.
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Bosco walked into the station house later that afternoon with Gusler right behind him. They'd had an easy tour so far, no real calls that impeded their searching for Faith, despite the fact that the search had been fruitless. After four days of searching, contacting all the friends he knew of hers, all her family, following every possible lead that he could come up with, it was starting to become very apparent that Faith wasn't going to be found. At least not until she wanted to be.
He took his service cap off and ran his fingers through his hair in frustration as he made his way toward the locker room. He was halfway there when he realized that everyone was staring at him. "What's your problem?" he snapped at an officer across the hallway. He searched his mind for the guy's name, but couldn't remember it.
"You haven't heard?"
"Heard what?" he demanded, annoyed.
The man swallowed hard. "Sullivan and Davis arrested Officer Yokas' husband earlier."
Bosco stared at him in disbelief. "What?"
"He's in lock-up right now."
He turned to look at Gusler, his jaw set.
Gusler opened his mouth. "Sir?" he nervously asked, seeing the rage in the other man's eyes.
Bosco didn't say a word to the younger man as he dropped his service cap on the floor, curled his hands into fists and walked down the hallway toward lock-up. He barely noticed who was working the desk. "I need to see Fred Yokas."
Without a word of protest, the officer handed over the key to the cell.
Bosco closed it in his fist so tightly, his hand drained of color. He sensed that Gusler was following him, but he didn't care. He stalked down the hall, ignoring the nasty remarks from other prisoners as he stood in front of the last cell. And glared at Fred's back, which was toward him.
Gusler looked around the room, wanting to say something, suggest he not do anything drastic, but he swallowed hard when he saw the other man in the cell turning toward them both.
"Jesus, Boscorelli, what the fuck do you want!?" Fred hissed.
"Your head on a platter," Bosco answered darkly, unlocking the door to the cell.
"Piss off!" he shouted back, moving backward in the cell until his back touched the cold and damp wall behind him. He shifted his eyes to the young officer at his side. "This is police brutality and you know it!"
Gusler's face stayed the same. "He hasn't done anything," he replied quietly.
Bosco's face twisted into a smile. "Yet," he added, stepping inside the cell and closing the door behind him.
"Get out," Fred said, pleading in his tone as he swallowed hard. "I've done nothing to you!"
"You've done nothing to me?" he repeated, his tone completely devoid of humor. "You've done nothing to me?" He raised his voice, taking a menacing step toward Fred. "It's not what you've done to me that you're going to be sorry for, you fucking asshole!"
"Stop him!!" Fred squealed, his voice almost gargling as he stared in fear at the young officer who still stood there, not saying or doing anything. He turned back to Bosco. "I didn't do anything!!"
Bosco's eyes narrowed and darkened, his mind flashing through the events of four nights ago, seeing the fear in Faith's eyes, her whole body shaking as she sat curled up on the floor of her bedroom, bleeding, hurt. The images sent rage spiraling through his body and without another moment's hesitation, he grabbed Fred by the collar of his shirt and slammed him up against the wall. "You no good son of a bitch!"
He let out a loud 'oompf', pain going through his entire body. "Get. Off. Me!" he screamed.
"Oh, I've only just begun," Bosco informed him. He threw him down on the ground and kicked him in the stomach.
"Help!"
"Shut up!" Gusler hissed, a part of him feeling bad, but the other part of him somehow relieved to have his part in revenge for Officer Yokas' abuse.
Bosco grabbed him off the floor and slammed him into the wall again. "If you really think anyone here is going to help you, you're sorrily mistaken, asshole. See, cops are like a big family. You hurt one of us, we hurt you. And I am going to hurt you, Fred. I'm gonna make you pay for everything you've put her through."
"No!" Fred screamed, simultaneously coughing on the saliva in his throat as he backed away.
He wrapped his hands around Fred's throat. "You don't think you deserve to pay for what you've done?" he asked darkly.
He tried to move away again. "I didn't do anything...."
Bosco punched him in the stomach, renewed fury flooding through his veins. "You hurt her!"
Fred crippled over, the pain from Officer Sullivan's beating earlier making him that much weaker and unable to respond. "I didn't!" he choked out.
"You lying sack of shit! I saw her! I saw what you did to her, what you've been doing to her! And I'm not going to let you get away with it!" he growled.
He pulled back, this time drawing his arm back in a swift motion, hitting Bosco in the face. "Let me get away with it!?" he taunted, then laughed.
Bosco was thrown off for a moment by Fred's punch, but then his eyes narrowed. "That's right, Freddie boy, at least have the fucking guts to fight with a man!"
"A man?" Fred laughed, pushing him backward. "You're no man!"
"I'm more of a man than you'll ever be," he informed him, his hands still balled into fists at his side. "You're nothing but a lowlife coward."
He laughed. "No, you think you're some fucking God-send, there to save Faith! She doesn't want or need you! I give her all she needs," he said back, his voice bitter, a wry grin on his face.
"You have no idea what Faith wants or needs. And all you've done is ruin her life." He pulled his nightstick out of his belt and slammed Fred in the knees with it.
He dropped to the ground, reeling in pain. "Ruined hers!?" he hollered. "She ruined mine!"
Bosco struck him in the ribs with the baton. "Shut the fuck up! You're only making this worse for yourself!"
"Sir..." Gusler's shaking voice came in.
"I'll have yours and that fat bastard's job for this!" he screamed.
He hauled Fred to his feet and slammed him up against the wall, his head smacking against the concrete with a loud thud. "Stay away from Faith! So help me God, if you so much as get within three blocks of her ever again, next time, I won't just beat you, I'll kill you. And I'll make sure they never find your body," Bosco whispered, glaring at Fred intensely for a long moment. Then he let go of Fred's shirt, letting him drop to the ground. He stalked out of the cell, locked it again, and stormed off down the hallway, leaving Gusler to stare after him.
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Stanley was sitting on the sofa with Charlie, and Ryan on either side of him. Down on the floor at the other side of the coffee table, Emily was drawing on a sheet of paper. He could barely make out what she was drawing, but knew deep inside it was something for her mother. He frowned when he saw the young girl's lip start to quiver. He knew she was thinking about her mom, and worried about her well being.
Just like they all were.
He was just about to get ready and ask the boys if they wanted a popsicle when the doorbell to his home rang. Frowning, knowing they weren't expecting visitors, Stanley excused himself as he stood up from the sofa and then made his way to the door.
He unhooked the chain and turned the deadlock, but as he opened the door he felt like his heart was struck with brute force. Pain and fear surged through him as he saw his sister standing there, pale and weak. She was wearing glasses, and he thought for a moment in hope that he wasn't seeing bruises on her, but they were there. Faded, but still visible. "Faith..."
Faith swallowed hard and stared at him for a long, silent moment, unable to speak. "Hi," she said finally, her voice barely audible.
"Come in," he told her, his voice shaking as he stepped aside. "God you look...terrible...what did he do to you?"
She opened her mouth to speak, but couldn't find the words. "Can we just...talk out here for a minute?" she whispered, not stepping inside.
He swallowed, then stepped outside, pulling the door closed behind him. "Sure...we can..."
She instantly took a step back to give him more room and she looked at the ground.
"Faith...?"
She swallowed hard. "I'm really sorry that...just...for everything."
"Don't be...I'm just glad you're..." He was going to say 'okay', but stopped himself. "Safe now."
She hesitated. "Would it be okay, if...the kids and I stayed here for awhile?" she asked softly.
Stanley nodded. "Yeah, of course. There's always a place here for you."
"Thank you." She finally lifted her gaze to meet his, despite the fact she was wearing sunglasses in a small attempt to hide the red-rims around her eyes, and the shadows underneath them. Most of her bruises had faded and she'd been able to successfully cover up most of the rest of them, but the bruise on her forehead where she had stitches was still very visible. "Are, uh...are the kids here now?"
He nodded again. "Yeah, they're in the living room with Ryan. Emily's...really been missing you."
Faith drew in a deep breath. The thought of seeing her children right then was overwhelming and more than a little frightening. Would they hate her, not really want to see her? She swallowed hard again, determined to face them. She owed them that much. "Can we...go inside now?" she asked softly.
"Yeah," he said, smiling slightly. He pushed the door open, and motioned for her to go in before him.
She closed her eyes for a moment, then stepped inside the house, her gaze immediately locking on her children. She stood there silently for what felt like an eternity. Then Charlie looked up. His eyes widened.
"Mom!"
Emily's head lifted instantly, her eyes staring in disbelief for a moment before they filled with tears.
Charlie rose to his feet and ran over to her, throwing his arms around her tightly.
She squeezed her eyes shut, wrapping her arms around him, as well. "Hi, baby," she whispered.
"Ryan," Stanley called to his son as he closed the door to the house. He motioned with a nod that they go to the kitchen, before he walked through himself.
Emily got to her feet, every part of her shaking as she slowly made her way over to her mom and Charlie. "Mommy..." she cried in a whisper. She swallowed. "I missed you!"
Faith lifted her head and looked at her daughter. "I missed you guys, too," she whispered, holding her arm out to include Emily in the hug.
She walked into her mom's embrace, closing her eyes tight as her arm wrapped around her.
Faith kissed her daughter's forehead lightly and pulled her closer.
"Where've you been?" Charlie asked, pulling away from the hug as he looked at her.
"You're not going to leave again, are you?" Emily asked, looking at her brother.
The breath caught in her throat and tears stung her eyes. "No, baby, I'm not...I'm not gonna leave again," she said quietly.
"Good!" she cried, hugging her mom tighter.
"Are we going home now?" Charlie questioned, a slight frown on his face.
Faith bit her lip. "No, we're not going home, sweetie."
"Why?" Emily asked.
"When are we going home then?" he asked in confusion.
She took a deep breath. "Maybe we should all sit down on the couch so we can talk, okay?"
"Where's Dad?" Emily asked, her voice shaking.
Faith squeezed her eyes shut, then stood up slowly, holding onto each of her children's hands. She gently guided them over to the sofa and she sat down. Charlie sat down on the other side of Emily, who sat next to her. "I know that you two have a lot of questions, and I'm gonna try to answer them all, okay?"
Charlie shot a glance at his sister, but remained silent.
Emily nodded.
"All right." She drew in another deep breath, trying to think of where to start. She looked from her son to her daughter, no words coming to mind.
Emily looked over at her brother, her chest rising as she inhaled. She then looked up at her mom. "What happened to you?" she quietly asked.
Faith reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her daughter's ear. "I needed some time to think, sweetie," she said softly.
Charlie frowned deeply and looked at Emily.
"Was it Daddy?"
She swallowed hard and nodded slowly. "Yeah, baby." She took a deep breath. "Your dad and I are...we're gonna be getting a divorce."
Emily looked over at her brother, not saything anything.
"Did Dad hurt you?" Charlie asked quietly, looking up at her.
Faith bit her lip. "Yeah," she said softly. "He did. But he didn't mean to, Charlie."
Emily stared at her mom. "Then why would he hit you?" she asked, pain in her voice.
She opened her mouth to deny it, not wanting to admit the truth to her children, not wanting them to know that their father had hurt their mother. But she couldn't lie to them, not anymore. She closed her eyes tightly and rested her head in her hands for a moment. "Em, your dad and I...we've been having a lot of problems lately. And you're right. He hit me." She tried to give her daughter a reassuring smile, but couldn't do it. "But the problems between me and your dad...they have nothing to do with you or Charlie. He loves you both very much."
"If he loves us, why did he have to hurt you?"
Faith's eyes filled with tears. "Your dad's...very angry with me. But it's not anything to do with you or your brother, okay?"
Charlie swallowed hard, tears filling his eyes, too.
Emily shook her head, crying. "No, if he loved us...he wouldn't have hurt you!"
She reached out to put a hand on her daughter's arm and flinched when Emily pulled away. "Baby, sometimes...sometimes adults, parents, fight and have problems and they can't live together anymore, but...that doesn't mean that your dad doesn't love you."
Emily just shook her head, not accepting that.
She closed her eyes again, temporarily giving up.
"So...where are we going to live?" Charlie asked, frowning as he tried not to cry.
Faith hesitated. "Here, for awhile, at least. After that...I'm not sure."
"We're not going home?" Emily asked.
"I don't know," she answered softly, more tears flooding her eyes. She wasn't sure she could go back to that apartment, especially to live there again. "I don't really know what's going to happen now, Em. I'm sorry," she whispered.
Wordlessly, Charlie wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her tightly.
Seeing the tears in her mom's eyes, Emily cried more as she too hugged her mom.
"I'm sorry," Faith whispered again, burying her face in her daughter's hair as she hugged both of her children tightly.
