Title: A Break in Beantown (1/?)

Disclaimer: All characters are the property of John Wells and Edward Allen Bernero. I wish they were mine but unfortunately they're not.

Summary: Sully, Ty, Bosco and Faith attend a police conference in Boston.

Author's notes: While taking the bus to see the finale of "SAFE," I was determined to work on "Punish the Children." The bus ride proved inspiring in a quite a different direction though lol. (the whole odor on the bus thing is fact-based - hee hee)

******

Chapter One:

Ty and Sully Take the Bus

"Sul...look at all these people." Ty stared in dismay at the long line weaving in and out between the ropes...students, business people, a woman with a baby in a carriage and two other little boys who were smacking each other behind her back. "I thought you said it wouldn't be crowded."

"Well, I didn't think it would be. Guess I was wrong." Sully shrugged carelessly. "It'll be fine, Davis. Don't worry about it."

"I can't believe we're taking the bus," Ty grumbled as he dropped his duffel bag onto the floor. "Bosco and Faith get to fly, but we're taking the bus? Is there some reasoning behind this, Sul? I'd love to understand it. Really I would."

Sully shook his head. "It'll be good, Davis. I remember taking bus rides as a kid. Once we took a bus to D.C. It was a great experience. You've never done this before, have you? You'll see."

"Oh yeah, right." Ty supposed he had only himself to blame. When Sully had told him a couple of days ago that they were taking the bus, he could have changed the travel plans, but the departmental paperwork had already gone through and he hadn't felt like going through all the hassle of changing things. Now he regretted it. "I should have flown in with Bos and Faith and let you take the damn bus yourself."

"I'm beginning to wish you had too," Sully retorted. Ty's constant whining was beginning to get on his nerves. "Will you give it a rest, already? We're taking the bus, Davis. It's done. Deal with it."

"Fine." He'd be quiet, at least for now, but he still wasn't happy about it. Bus rides did not equal fun in his book. He should have just made the travel arrangements himself. At least they were flying home, but even so, he had no idea what had possessed Sully to make such a stupid decision.

Bosco had laughed his ass off when he heard the news. "What did I tell you, Davis, way back when you were a rookie?" he had asked, chortling gleefully. "I told you to get away from Sullivan, but you didn't listen and now you're takin' the bus."

"Bosco, leave him alone." Faith had admonished her partner, whacking him with a newspaper as she gave Ty a sympathetic look. "I bet it won't be that bad."

"You want to trade places with me?" Ty had asked. As he recalled, Faith had never answered his question.

He was brought out of his thoughts by Sully's elbow jabbing into his ribcage. "Get your ticket out. They're opening the doors."

The long line of people started to slowly move along and finally they boarded the bus. It seemed to take forever to move down the aisle, which was clogged with people who were trying to stow their baggage in the overhead compartments. The bus was almost completely full, but luckily they found a couple of seats together in the second to last row of the bus.

"I want the aisle," Ty demanded. Bad enough they were going to be squeezed into the seats. He was at least going to have some legroom.

"That's fine. You take the aisle," Sully replied wearily. He was willing to agree to anything if he could only get a little bit of peace and quiet.

"I will." Ty waited for Sully to sit down, then seated himself beside his partner. The legroom wasn't really as bad as he had imagined, but it was by no means spacious, especially for a four and a half hour trip. He couldn't help but envy Bosco and Faith who were going to arrive in under an hour. "Whatever happened to that diet and exercise program you started?" Ty asked as he squirmed around in the seat, trying to find a comfortable position.

Sully shot his partner a deadly look and Ty mumbled an apology, realizing he was beginning to push things a bit too far.

After a few more minutes of waiting, the bus finally began to move. Sully unfolded the newspaper he had been carrying and began to read while Ty sat quietly observing some of the other passengers who were seated in their general vicinity. The woman in front of them was talking on her cell phone. Every few moments or so, she would break into an annoying, high-pitched cackle. The guy directly across the aisle from them was already seemingly in a deep slumber. Ty couldn't help envying his ability to fall asleep that quickly, especially in light of the cackling cell phone talker.

Sighing heavily, Ty began fidgeting in his seat again until Sully turned towards him and gave him a long look.

"Sorry," Ty said. "It's just not very comfortable."

Sully rolled his eyes. It was like traveling with a child. "It's really not that bad. Don't you think you're overreacting just a tad?"

"No."

"Just..." Sully struggled to think of something to keep his young partner occupied. "Why don't you work on your speech?" Ty was going to be giving a presentation on youth and community policing. It was a pretty big deal and Sully was actually quite proud of him.

"Yeah okay, that's a good idea." Ty got to his feet and dragged his duffel bag down from the overhead compartment. He then rummaged through it, finally pulling out a notebook and pen. The first thing he did was reread the pages he had already written. His presentation was starting to come along, but he still had a lot of work to do on it.

Sully cast a sidelong glance at his partner, satisfied to see that he had finally settled down. He turned his attention back to the newspaper, hoping the quiet would last for a while.

Ty's thoughts started to come together and he began to write, or to attempt to write. It seemed that every time he put his pen to paper, the bus driver would hit a bump, causing his pen to skip across the page. "Dammit!" Ty exclaimed, failing for the third time in a row to legibly write the word 'neighborhood.'

"What's wrong?" Sully didn't really care to know, but he was pretty sure he'd find out regardless. It wasn't like Ty was keeping things to himself.

"This bus is too damn bumpy."

Not really having an appropriate response, Sully glanced down at his watch, then went back to reading. It was going to be a long ride.

******

Ty worked on his speech for a good hour before he tired of it and put it aside. Resuming his people watching, he couldn't help but notice the amount of people who kept traipsing to the back of the bus to use the tiny bathroom. "Man, didn't any of these people go before they got on the bus?"

"Maybe they have weak bladders," Sully muttered. Couldn't Ty keep himself occupied at all?

The more people who used the bathroom, the more Ty became aware of the distinct odor of urine, which seemed to hover in the air. "Sully," he whispered, gently nudging his partner with his elbow. "I smell pee."

"God, will you stop?" Sully glared at his partner in obvious irritation. "I can't believe you're acting like this. I swear, Bosco would be less aggravating to travel with than you are."

"Oh you think?" Ty couldn't help laughing. "I'd love to see you and Bosco on a bus trip together. Hell, I'd pay good money to see that."

"I think your money is safe," Sully remarked.

"Whatever...I still think this bus smells..."

"It's your imagination."

"No its not." Ty shook his head adamantly. "You honestly can't smell that?"

Sully inhaled deeply and then wrinkled up his face in disgust as he got a healthy whiff of what Ty was referring to.

"Oh yeah, now you know what I'm talking about," Ty said with a grin.

"Just don't breathe," Sully muttered. He was thankful as could be that they were going to be flying back to New York. This bus ride was nothing like his childhood memories.

Deciding that sleep might be the only real way to deal with the rest of this trip, Ty closed his eyes in an attempt to drift off. No sooner had he accomplished this when the bus abruptly came to a stop at the side of the road. The bus driver got up and began walking rapidly along the aisle towards the back of the bus.

"Oh man, this bus reeks" the obviously disgusted driver stated as he opened the door to the bathroom. "Damn! Someone forgot to put the toilet seat down!" He slammed the bathroom door shut and headed back to the front of the bus. "No one use that bathroom!"

"This bus sucks," Ty stated, narrowing his eyes at Sully. "In the future, if we ever have to do anything like this again, I'm in charge of the travel arrangements."

Receiving no response from his partner, Ty managed to arrange his body into a semi-comfortable position and closed his eyes again, praying that he would fall asleep. Fortunately for Ty, and Sully as well, Ty did manage to doze and he didn't stir until the bus hit an exceedingly hard bump. Luckily, Sully's quick grab saved Ty from landing in the middle of the aisle.

"Thanks, Sul." Ty glanced out the window having no clue where they were. "We almost there?"

"Yep shouldn't be much longer," Sully replied. It might not have been that much longer, but the last half hour of the trip was the worst. The odor in the bus seemed only to have strengthened while Ty slept. To make matters worse, there was a ton of traffic and the frequent starts and stops of the bus along with the driver's uncanny ability to hit every single possible bump was taking its toll on Ty's stomach. As he stared out the windows that could not open, Ty could hardly wait to get off this godforsaken bus so he could stretch his legs and breathe in some fresh air. If he could help it, he was never riding a bus again.

******

"We're pretty nice to meet Sully and Davis like this, don't ya think?" Bosco flung his arm over the back of Faith's chair and took a sip of his iced white chocolate mocha. "Mmm...this is good." He was in a great mood. His and Faith's flight had landed ahead of schedule. They had rented a car and then checked into the hotel, which had far surpassed both of their expectations. The hotel was located right in the heart of downtown Boston. After Bosco and Faith had settled in, they had decided to do a little exploring. They had walked along some of the Freedom Trail then had walked through the Public Garden admiring the colorful flowerbeds along their path. Bosco had even let Faith convince him to take a ride on the Swan Boats. He had felt a little bit dorky, sitting behind the giant swan as the boat slowly cruised through the small lagoon, but Faith had really enjoyed it and it wasn't like anyone he knew was going to see him.

"I'm sure they'll appreciate it," Faith replied quietly. The hotel was only a short walk from the bus terminal. They could all walk back together and after Sully and Davis had settled in, the four of them could go out to dinner.

"Bosco...no rubbing it in about the bus, okay?" Faith warned. It was a safe bet the bus ride hadn't been the most pleasant of experiences. She doubted either man would be in the mood for Bosco's taunts.

"Faith, would I do that?" Bosco gave his partner an angelic smile. "How could you even think such a thing?"

"Experience," Faith replied, looking back at him suspiciously. "I mean it, Bos. Don't."

"Oh fine." Bosco sulkily took another sip of his drink. Sometimes Faith just didn't know how to have fun.

"There they are." Faith stood up and pointed towards the two officers who had just exited a terminal gate.

Bosco looked over to where Faith was pointing and even he lost his desire to give them a hard time when he saw them. Both men looked exhausted. They were walking stiffly and Ty was looking a little green around the gills.

"Ty, Sully, over here!" Faith called, waving to attract their attention.

"Hey, Sul, Faith and Bosco are here." Ty heard Faith's voice first and gestured wearily in their direction as he started to walk towards them.

"Hey guys," Faith said, a big smile on her face. "How was the trip?"

"Dandy," Sully muttered sarcastically while Ty didn't say a word.

"You okay?" Bosco asked, glancing at Ty.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Ty nodded. "I'm sick of buses and bus terminals though. Let's get out of here."

"Follow us." Faith beckoned them to follow her and they started along their way. "The hotel is really nice. They're certainly not sparing any expense for this conference. You're going to love it."

"Yeah, I'm kinda surprised actually," Bosco stated. "Who would have thought we'd be stayin' in the lap of luxury?"

"Almost like a little mini vacation," Faith said, smiling happily. It really was like a vacation for her and she planned to make the most of it. They would go to some of the workshops and lectures and of course they'd be there for Ty's presentation, but there would be plenty of free time for sightseeing and to have a bit of fun. She was actually pretty excited about it. She couldn't remember the last time she'd had a break like this, some time to herself, away from Fred, away from the kids. Not that she didn't love them, but everyone needed a little bit of time for themselves once in a while.

Faith's enthusiasm proved contagious and Ty found himself smiling at the obvious excitement in her voice. Then once they were out of the terminal, into the fresh air and sunshine, he felt better and his mood improved immensely. "Hey, Sully, I think we're going to have a great time here after all," he said, grinning over at his partner.