No Secrets Between Partners

By Adalanta

Disclaimer/Author's Note: The characters in this story are the property of Third Watch and NBC, I'm just borrowing them for a bit. This story came to me the other night after I watched the rerun of "History of the World" on A&E. I got to thinking about how (or even if) Bosco would tell Faith about his hostage experience. If you haven't seen the episode, that's okay. This story should still make sense (at least, I hope it will). Anyway, hope you all enjoy. Please feel free to leave a review or send an email to adalanta14@yahoo.com. I look forward to hearing what you have to say!

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Officer Faith Yokas sat on the bench in front of her locker and finished lacing up her shoes, double-knotting them as usual. When she'd been a rookie, just two weeks on the job, she'd lost a robbery suspect and nearly broken her nose when her shoelaces came untied during a chase. Ever since then, double-knotting her shoes had become a daily ritual. Not that she was superstitious or anything – it was just a safety precaution.

"Hey, Faith!" Bosco called out as he rushed into the locker room with just three minutes to spare before roll call.

That's my partner, she thought sarcastically, rolling her eyes as he hurriedly got dressed. Late as usual. "Hey, Bosco. You eat too much turkey yesterday, or somethin'?"

"Yeah, right," he replied, and then laughed. "Well, I did spend some time in expensive restaurant, as a matter of fact."

Faith waited patiently by his side for more details, but her partner remained silent. Bosco just finished buttoning up his shirt without saying anything else.

"Uh, okay," she muttered after a full minute of silence. That's weird. "Hurry up, Bos. We're gonna be late."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Just give me another sec." He quickly grabbed his shoes from the bottom of his locker and slipped them on. "Come on. I'll tie them while the Lieutenant's talking."

Once inside the briefing room, Bosco and Faith took seats near the back so Bos could (hopefully) escape Lieu's notice while tying his shoes. Fortunately, the Lieutenant was running a little late. That's a first, Faith thought. Normally we're the last ones in.

Faith watched Bosco bend over to finish his laces and saw Ty Davis lean over close to him from the next seat over.

"Hey, Bosco." She heard Davis say. "I heard you were pretty smooth yesterday."

Faith couldn't make out Bosco's response, just saw Davis snicker and nod before straightening up. Huh. Wonder what that was all about!

"Okay, people! Nothin' much to say today, except get out there and get busy! Hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving, but it's over now and it's back to work." The Lieutenant paused for a moment, his face scrunching up like he didn't like what he was about to say. "Oh, one more thing. I'd like to take a second to say something that I thought I'd never say." He stared straight towards the back of the room. "Boscorelli, good job yesterday. I'd never have thought you had the patience."

Bosco's face turned bright red as he glanced down at his desk and nodded. Faith just stared at him in confusion and disbelief. The world must be coming to an end. She thought, stunned. Lieu actually complimented Bosco! What the hell happened out there yesterday?

"Uh, thanks, sir."

The Lieutenant nodded as well. "All right, you guys. Dismissed."

"Bos?" Faith called as he made a beeline for the door. "Wait up!" She practically had to job to catch up with him. "What's the rush?"

He shrugged. "Nothin'. I just feel like walking fast today, that's all."

"Uh huh."

They arrived at their squad and hopped in, Bosco in the driver's seat. They rode in silence for a while before Bosco said anything.

"So. How was your Thanksgiving?"

She sighed and glanced out the window. She knew that he would eventually ask her about yesterday, but she'd hoped that he would have waited a little while longer. She hated telling him about her family life – especially when she complained. After all, Bosco didn't have much of a family to speak of, good or otherwise. Oh, well. He's gonna find out about it sometime. "About normal, I guess," she said shortly.

He looked at her sympathetically. "That bad, huh?"

"Yeah. You know – the usual. Fred got drunk, insulted my brother, and stayed in our bedroom while the rest of us ate." She shook her head, frustration and anger making her words sharp. "And don't even get me started on my brother!" She turned her gaze back out the passenger side window.

"Sorry I brought it up, Faith."

She twisted back around to look at Bosco and saw the compassionate look in his eyes. "Thanks, Bos. My family isn't exactly the Brady bunch."

"No," he agreed, his expression serious, "but they're not the Addams Family either."

She couldn't help it – it was such an absurd comment that she laughed. She laughed so hard her stomach started to ache and her eyes started to tear. "Oh, god, Bos," she gasped helplessly. "Only you would say somethin' like that." She wiped the tears from her eyes and cheeks, trying to regain her composure. When she finally got enough control to look at him without laughing, she fired his original question back at him. "So, how did yours go?"

The grin on his face froze for a microsecond before he replied. "Oh, you know. Just a normal day, I guess." He kept his eyes on the road ahead, watching the traffic.

"Really?" Faith asked, doubt coloring her voice. There's something he's not telling me.

"Really."

"Okay." She paused, letting him think she wasn't going to pursue the matter. "Oh, by the way. What was Lieu talking about at briefing?" She glanced over at him and watched his expression.

He frowned, "Oh, that? That was nothin'."

Warning bells went off in her mind. That does it – two 'nothin's' in the same hour. He's definitely hiding something.

"And what, may I ask, was this 'nothin'?"

He squirmed a bit in his seat, suddenly uncomfortable with her questioning.

She waited in eager anticipation, grinning inside like a cat about to pounce on its dinner. This has got to be good for him to be squirming.

"Bos?" she said firmly, speaking to him in the exact same tone that she used with her kids.

He sighed. "Okay, okay. Geez! It was a domestic disturbance call."

Her heart sank. For a minute there, she'd thought she'd had him. Well, I guess this is just gonna take a little more time and effort than I thought. "And?"

"And what?"

Narrowing her eyes, she glared at him. Uh, oh. He's giving me that angelic choirboy look. There's more to this, I know it! She paused to think. Hmm. Maybe it's time to use another angle. "And I thought we were partners, Bosco."

"What are you talking about?" he asked, confusion written all over his face. "Of course, we're partners!"

"Okay, then. Tell me what happened," she ordered, and then rushed on as he opened his mouth to protest. "If you really are my partner, then there are no secrets between us. Spill it, Bos."

"Awww, c'mon, Faith," he hedged.

"Spill. It. Now," was the only reply that he got.

She watched him stew for a minute, hands grabbing the steering wheel with a white-knuckled grip, jaw clenched tightly. He was clearly unhappy with the way the situation was going.

"Fine. You win." He flipped on his left turn signal and rounded a corner. "What do you want to know?"

"I want to know what on earth could've happened to you that would make the Lieutenant compliment you in front of everyone!" She cried in frustration. She took a deep breath to help calm herself down. "Was it just a domestic disturbance?"

He shook his head. "No, but it did start out as one."

"Well," she prodded when he stopped. "What did it turn into, then?"

"A hostage situation."

"What? Did you call in the hostage negotiators?"

"Noooo."

She stared at him. "Why not? That's standard operating procedure." She cocked her head, curiosity flooding her body.

"Um…I couldn't."

"Why the hell not?" She was now thoroughly confused. If he didn't follow SOP, then he'd have been getting chewed out this morning, not praised!

"I…I was a hostage." He spoke softly.

Faith froze, staring at him in horror. Her heart nearly stopped beating from the shock. It took a long moment for her to pull her scattered wits together enough to say anything. "W-what?" she stuttered. "What happened?"

Bosco shrugged like it was no big deal and spoke nonchalantly. "Some poor guy named Leonard had a problem with his family and confronted them over their Thanksgiving dinner at the Four Cloves restaurant." He paused to pull over by the sidewalk and parked the car.

Well, she thought, dazed, during the silent interim. That explains his crack about the dinner at the expensive restaurant. I thought he was joking! She focused her mind back on her partner as he continued to explain.

"Anyway, things got a little crazy, and he pulled a gun on me in the middle of the restaurant – right next to his family's table. He let everyone else in the place go except his family, me, and a waiter who'd made him angry by trying to get the gun away from him. I couldn't really do anything except try to talk him out of it. He had my gun, too."

He ran a hand through his short, dark hair and finally looked at Faith, the first time he had done so since he had begun his story.

"How long did it last?" she asked.

He stared up at the ceiling of the car and talked to himself as he figured out the exact time. "Hmm. I got called there at about five, and he gave up about a quarter after twelve."

"Seven hours?!" she shrieked. She'd only thought the situation was a brief thing – an hour max. "You were stuck in there for seven hours, and no one called to let me know?!"

"It was your day off, Faith. No one thought to."

"I don't care! Someone shoulda called!" She was furious, the red-hot anger flowing through her nearly made her blood boil. She couldn't – just couldn't – "I was sitting down – eating turkey! – while you were trapped with a crazy man holding a gun! Why the hell didn't someone call?! You coulda been shot or – or killed, and I wouldn't have had a clue!"

"Calm down, Faith," Bosco interjected.

"Calm down?! You're telling me to calm down? Oh, that's great!" She smashed her fist against the dash in front of her. "Ouch!" she cried and clutched her throbbing right hand to her chest. Oh, that was smart, Yokas! She railed against herself. You're acting just like Bosco. First you get mouthy, and then you punch something. She closed her eyes tightly and tried to calm her heart and slow her breathing. When she'd finally gotten her temper in check, she turned to stare at her partner.

"When were you planning on telling me?" she spoke quietly, pinning him to his seat with her piercing glare.

"I…I didn't want you worrying about me. You've got enough on your mind without me adding any of my problems. I didn't tell you because I knew you'd overreact."

"Overreact? Well, if you call giving a damn about my partner's safety overreacting, then, yeah, I guess I am." She forced her anger back down and tried to concentrate on the issue at hand - the hostage situation. She could berate Bosco later. And believe me, I will!

"Was anyone hurt?"

"Yeah, the waiter. Leonard freaked out when he came too close and shot him in the leg. It wasn't too bad, though."

"He shot someone?" Her voice rose an octave. "Oh, my god!" She swallowed convulsively, but it didn't help - the lump in her throat was still there. "How far away were you when this happened?"

Bosco looked at his hands, still clenching the steering wheel. "About four feet," came the soft voice.

"Oh, my god," she whispered, eyes wide. "Are - are you okay?"

"Yeah."

He answered too quickly for her to believe him. She reached over and laid her hand on his right shoulder.

"Bosco," she said softly. "It's me you're talkin' to here." He still wouldn't look at her, gaze glued to his hands on the wheel. She slowly raised her other hand to his chin, gently turning his head until they sat face to face.

Searching his brown eyes, she shuddered at what she saw - what she thought she'd never see in Bosco's eyes.

Fear.

"Remember what we just decided, Bos. We're partners. There are no secrets between partners, okay? Talk to me."

He sat there, motionless, staring beyond her left shoulder, unwilling to make eye contact. Suddenly, his body seemed to deflate. His eyes shifted and focused on her face, directly into her eyes.

"I…I never really thought he was serious," he stammered. "Sure, he had a gun - he had two guns - but I never…never thought…that he would actually shoot. He just seemed so confused, ya know? But - but when he shot that waiter, I looked into his eyes and saw pure desperation. He'd realized what he had done. That there was no going back." He closed his eyes, unable to look at Faith as he spoke in a voice roughened with emotion. "For that split second, I thought he was going to shoot me right there, point blank…" He drew in a shaky breath. "I thought I was going to die."

"Oh, Bos," she whispered and drew him to her in a hug. As she held him tightly in her arms, she silently thanked God for watching over her best friend, for helping him stay calm in a situation that would try the bravest, most patient person in the world. She thought back to all the times that Boscorelli had made some stupid comment that enraged a suspect or had flown off the handle at the smallest provocation. It was a miracle when he held his temper in check for an hour or two with her around…but seven hours? And without her? She'd have thought that was impossible!

She couldn't hold back a small chuckle. Bosco drew back slightly to look at her, curiosity and confusion warring for supremacy on his face. It only made her want to laugh harder. Smiling, she explained. "I was just thinking back on what Lieu said this morning."

He grinned back, the familiar, sarcastic Boscorelli regaining his equilibrium. "Yep. I'd never have believed I had the patience either." He shrugged. "Ya must be rubbin' off on me, Faith."

"I've got one more question for you, Bos."

"What's that?"

"Did you eat anything while you were there?"

He laughed, "Yeah, I snagged a few bites when no one was lookin'." His eyes sparkled at her mischievously. "I was hungry, Faith! Besides, I could never afford to go there any other time. It's too expensive." He sat there staring off into space. Faith could see the wheels in his mind working. "I wonder what Leonard's got planned for Christmas. Who knows, maybe he could go crazy in some other ritzy place - like Carmen's. I've always wanted to go there."

Faith whacked him in the arm, being careful to use her left hand, instead of her sore right one. "Forget it, Bos," she ordered jokingly. "I'm gonna make sure you're at my place for Christmas and especially for New Year's Eve. From now on, you're spending your holidays with me."

"Why?!"

"Don't complain. It's for your own safety."

"Gee, thanks, Yokas," he muttered sarcastically.

"Don't mention it." She grinned as he pulled out of their parking space. "After all, that's what partners are for."