"Faith!"

She wasn't answering him. She never, never, didn't answer him. Her voice was always there to reassure him, to remind him that she was there, that she would always be there, and that he was never alone.

"FAITH!" He tore through the warehouse, blue-gray eyes wide and wild and frantic with fear as he searched for her. She wasn't answering him. She always, always, answered him.

"FAITH! Please!" He begged, not caring how terrified he sounded as he raced between aisles and leaped over boxes, desperate to find her.

They had been through so much together, as 55 David. Bosco and Faith had always been an unlikely pair, a team unlike anything the 55th Precinct had ever seen. A nearly perfect combination of fire and ice, they were. Bosco was the fire, Faith was the ice. His fierce temper and sometimes overwhelming need to be 'the' hero was balanced by Faith's calm demeanor and caring nature. Yin and Yang, they were. Dark and light. Fire and ice. That was just…them.

"FAITH!" His scream echoed back at him, magnifying his desperation ten-fold as he stumbled and nearly fell. Regaining his balance with athletic precision, Bosco stopped and looked back, wondering what had tripped him. His breath caught in his throat when he realized what it was.

Taking a few rapid steps back, he dropped to a crouch and touched his fingers to the floor, feeling a chill run through him when his fingers came back wet. Sticky. Covered in bright red blood. Blood that was still…warm.

Bosco snapped his head up, blue-gray eyes searching until he found what he was looking for. Springing back to his feet, he raced up an aisle, his eyes locked on the floor as he followed drop after drop after drop of blood. It wasn't the blood of the perps; it couldn't be. They were both outside, dead as doornails. Bosco had been searching the perimeter when he heard the gunfire. He had come back in time to see both of them running towards him, firing back towards the building…and his partner. He dropped both of them before they knew what happened.

"Faith? Faith!" He bellowed again, nearly falling on his face as he slid around a corner. He took two steps then froze with shock when his brain finally registered what he was looking at. His heart stopped at that moment; he was sure of it. He couldn't move. Couldn't breathe. Couldn't think. Finally a combination of training and adrenalin snapped him out of it, and he was at her side a moment later.

"55 David to Central, 10-13, shots fired. Officer down. I repeat, officer down. I need a bus here, NOW!" Bosco's eyes filmed over with grief as he pulled the limp form of Faith Yokas into his arms. Letting his eyes scan over his surroundings, he could tell that his partner hadn't even seen it coming. Hell, he hadn't.

The call was routine, as routine as it gets. Perimeter alarm for the warehouse. No big deal. They never were. Bosco and Faith had split up to check the perimeter, trying to make it go faster so they could get on with taking care of the other calls holding for their district. She had found an open door, had called back to him to let him know she was going in. He had thought nothing of it, telling her he'd finish with the perimeter then he'd be there to help. Less than a minute later, the shooting started.

"55 David, 55 Charlie on scene. Where are you?" Sully and Ty. Thank the gods.

"Inside, Charlie. Back right corner, near the west door." Bosco barely heard Ty's reply as his focus went back to Faith. He could hear the wailing of sirens filling the air, drawing nearer by the second as rapid footfalls echoed in the silent warehouse.

"Bosco!" Sully's rough voice echoed through the structure, nearly making Bosco wince at the intensity in the old beat cop's voice.

"Back here, Sully!" He called, and the two officers rounded a corner at a jog, turning into a dead-sprint when they saw Faith and Bosco. Ty slid down at Bosco's side, grabbing Faith's feet before getting up as Bosco supported her upper body. Moving in tandem, they swiftly moved Faith through the aisles, Sully on the radio as they hurried to get their comrade out of the building.

Bursting outside, Bosco cringed as the screaming sirens of the two ambulances barreling towards them assaulted his ears. Sully waved at them frantically as Ty and Bosco kept moving, Bosco still speaking to Faith in a desperate attempt to get some sort of reaction from the wounded female officer.

The ambulances came to a rubber-burning halt, and Doc, Carlos, Kim, and Bobby were out and running towards them a moment later. Ty and Bosco kept moving until they met their paramedic counterparts, depositing the injured officer on the stretcher as gently as they could. Questions were asked and medical jargon ripped back and forth between them, then the stretcher was being pushed towards Doc's bus.

Bosco was right at their side, holding Faith's hand as the noise faded to nothing around him. Nothing mattered to him anymore, only Faith. Everything slowed down, like he was running through mud, but he barely noticed. All he saw was Faith, her pale face, the blood that kept leaking from…hell. He couldn't even tell where.

Slowly he raised his gaze to the paramedics. He looked at Doc, could see the black medic shouting at his Filipino counterpart and could see Carlos yelling back as he leaped into the driver's seat, but he heard nothing. Doc seemed to turn, so slowly, to look back at Faith as he shined a penlight in her eyes, speaking to her, but the words never reached Bosco.

His body rocked from side to side as Carlos hit the gas, heading for the hospital like a bat out of hell, but it was all a blur to him. He reached his other hand to grasp onto Faith's, lowering his head as he brought her hand to his forehead, then he rested it there. The flashing lights reflecting through the windows faded as the world bleached to white around him, and Bosco knew nothing more.

Please…just let her be okay…

A/N: Oh the JOYS of utter boredom...and a Third Watch spree...unfortunately I only have the first two seasons available to me. Le sigh.

Oh well. This story was yet another plot bunny inspired burst of madness. I can't focus on any of my stories lately. Damn. Anywho...I really, really want them to release the other seasons of Third Watch. That show is flipping AMAZING.

Judging by the rather thready plot I have in my mind, this one will only be three chapters, max. Not quite a one-shot, but not a long story either.

As always, love if you will, hate if you must. I will take anything that you care to dispense.

Until we meet again...

Kani