Disclaimer:
Third Watch is the property of NBC. All the characters appearing in Gargoyles and Gargoyles: The Goliath Chronicles are copyright Buena Vista Television/The Walt Disney Company. I do not own the shows, or any of their characters, and are used here without permission… money is not made from this fic (but oh boy do I wish!). All songs and lyrics posted within the story are the property of their respective owners. Any resemblance to actual persons or events is purely coincidental.
Warnings: Profanity, violence, deals with the issue of
rape
* ~ * ~ *
23rd Precinct
Elisa sat at her desk, having just finished partially filling in a report after working the last six hours of her shift on a rape-homicide case, that was still wide open. Ordinarily, she would just work robberies, but the woman involved had been the girlfriend of a fellow police officer that had unfortunately lost his life in the September eleventh attacks the year before. She was Tempany Beckett, a woman with a shady past involved in the world of prostitution and drugs. Elisa had met her three times, and had asked Elisa for her help to quit that life. And so, she did… or at least, as she had thought. The man who had raped and then murdered the red-headed woman was a client and drug dealer, so Elisa knew at this moment that somehow Tempany's lifestyle had reverted to the way it was prior to her helping her.
"Hey, Maza… you listening?" Her partner, Matt Bluestone, interrupted her thoughts. She looked up to see his concerned face looking back at her. "I've been calling your name for the last few minutes, and you've just been staring at that paper."
Elisa looked down in front of her; it was the coroner's report of Tempany's autopsy. She closed the manila folder up, and pressed it aside, getting to her feet. "Yeah, sorry."
"Don't be. But you know, Chavez already warned you, don't make this case personal."
"It's hard not to," Elisa replied, her tone somewhere between bitter and confused.
The last four months had been tough, Matt understood that, but this was Elisa, she was the strongest person he knew. At least, in the emotional sense. So it was hard to just watch her let her slip like it seemed she was doing. "Come on partner, let's hit the street, the air will help you clear your head." She looked up at him with a quick smile, and then walked past him. Matt watched for a few moments, his heart ached to see her this way, so distant, hurting so badly.
They went out to her car down in the car park, climbed in and were soon on their way. Their first call led them to a small apartment on the upperside of Central Park, where it was reported was the last known residence of Marshall Reid, a twenty-three year old drug dealer, and the prime suspect in the Tempany Beckett homicide case. Arriving on scene, they were met with the presence of an empty patrol car.
Walking past the car and up into the front of the worn building, the duo made their way up to the third level, apartment fifteen. "Hello, Marshall Reid!" A voice called from just down the hall, Elisa and Matt saw two uniformed officers knocking on their man's door.
They approached, Matt showed his badge to the woman officer, while the male continued to knock on the door, "Boz…" she said to her partner, tapping him on the shoulder.
He turned to her first, where she nodded toward the detectives, his head turned in their direction and he stood up straighter. "Elisa!" he said, shock, astonishment and surprise in his voice.
"Oh my… Boz. This is…" Elisa smiled at him, shaking her head in disbelief. "Of all the beats…"
"It's been a while."
"Eight years, at least, almost nine."
Faith and Matt looked at their partners, then looked at each other, curiosity on both their faces. "Man … wait, you're here for Reid as well," Bosco said, motioning to the door to his left.
"Suspect in a homicide," Matt spoke up for his partner, she looked at him and he just smiled knowingly back. "Doesn't appear like he's home though."
"No, the SVU asked us to call in, he's wanted in connection with three rapes in the last fortnight."
Elisa shook her head. "That bastard."
"Tell me about it," Faith spoke up, Matt nodded.
There was a silent few seconds, then Bosco turned back to the door beside them and thumped loudly. "Marshall Reid… NYPD! Please open the door!!" he shouted, then waited. Nothing. He tried the handle of the door, but it was locked, as to be expected. Quickly, he lifted his leg in such an angle, then brought his foot down and kicked the door open. He grinned, having got it on the first try. Faith shook her head, her weapon at the ready and waited for her partner to bring his own revolver out.
The two officers were the first inside, followed by the two detectives. The search was immediate, and nothing or anyone was found. It rung back memories of the apartment Bosco and Elisa had searched the last time they had seen each other. The four officers met up in the living area, Faith was calling a report into the radio, while Bosco spoke with the detectives. They explained their case, and he nodded a lot, understanding. "This was his last known place of residence, but the file said he was registered in the tenants log downstairs with the Landlady in Ninety-nine. He left, but has still being paying for the room," Bosco explained, "I just don't understand why you'd rent an apartment, if you never used it."
Elisa nodded, and soon their trio's attention was drawn to Faith. "Five-five David confirm, we'll be there ASAP." She let go of the radio on her shoulder and turned to her partner. "Sexual assault, Central Park West."
"Damn," Bosco, Elisa and Matt said at the same time. "What do you bet it's our guy?" he asked Elisa, as the four of them left the apartment, heading along the hallway.
"It depends on the MO. With Tempany Beckett, he left a distinctive burn mark on the base of her neck of a small dragon with a dagger in its chest, the inscription, 'Love Hurts' in Latin engraved beneath it."
With that last bit of information, the four of them made their way back downstairs to their respective vehicles, and arrived at Central Park West together a short while later. As the cars pulled up, Faith could see the ambulance team there. She looked in Doc's direction, seeing the sickened look on his face. She and Bosco were first to the ambulance. A young woman was crying in the back, and Alex Taylor was treating her. Seeing Bosco, the woman began wailing again and he knew that he better leave it up to Faith to talk with her.
While she talked with the victim of the crime, he walked over to Sully and Davis, who were already on scene and talking with a young couple who had perhaps been witness to the attack. "He was hitting her, I yelled out for him to stop, at first he didn't… I shouted again, louder…" The boy swallowed, "I'm never gonna get it out of my head." He looked at his girlfriend, she was shaking, looking up at him with pleading eyes. He turned back to the officers. "Can we please go home now?"
Davis looked at Sully, who nodded ever slightly. "You can." Davis turned back to the couple. "We'll be in contact," he told them.
There was a moment where the boy just looked back at him, but he slowly turned around, leading his girlfriend away.
Bosco took this time to step up to his colleagues. "So, do we know who did it? What'd this guy looked like?"
Sully solemnly shook his head, "Too dark, the kids didn't see anything, just the silhouettes."
"Damn it."
"We'll catch him, Bosco. We will," Davis assured the officer, but he just looked away, over to the ambulance, Faith was walking in his direction, stopping for a moment when Elisa and Matt stepped over to her. She said something, then pointed toward Bosco, Sully and Davis. Then Faith continued, Elisa and Matt walking along with her.
"She never saw his face," Faith told them all as she stepped over. "He wore a balaclava." Those four words shot rage and disappointment through each officer standing there.
Elisa was about to begin speaking when a man wearing a royal blue suit walked over. "Detective Stabler, SVU. Who were the officers first on the scene?" he asked, at that moment, Sully and Davis walked over to him. "Can I have a word?" the officer asked, nodding to the left, over by where a female officer stood, also wearing a suit, talking with Doc.
Matt walked over there too, he had questions in regard to this and the other rape cases that needed going over in relation to his and Elisa's own case.
Bosco turned to Elisa, who also turned to face him. "Guess this is where we part ways again," she said.
"Good seeing you again," Bosco told her, nodding after she did. "Take care, won't you?"
Elisa smiled. "Promise, you too."
He just smiled back, watching as she walked over to her partner. A slight smile escaped his mouth, and so he dug his hands deep into the pockets of his jacket. "You okay, Boz?" He heard Faith ask, which broke him away from his thoughts.
"Yeah, just fine," Bosco replied, not meeting her gaze. He took in a breath and then began walking along the path, back to their squad car.
Matt turned just to see his partner Elisa step up by his side, "Did you tell him?" he asked. She just looked up at him, not saying anything. "It might have helped if you did."
"Leave it alone, Matt."
"Fine, but don't come bitching to me about it."
Her chocolate brown eyes looked up and met his cool blue gaze, "It's the past."
"Whatever you say, partner," Matt replied, placing a hand on her shoulder for a moment to show his care. Then he removed it, giving her a warm smile.
* ~ * ~ *
The rest of their shift saw Bosco and Faith assisting in two domestic disputes, directing traffic on the site of a four-car motor vehicle accident which, in itself, took three hours to clean up. They filled out incident reports from their double shift the night before, and again with tonight's shift, including their help on the hunt for Marshall Reid, and their then arrival at the scene of the rape of Tracee Kirtley, a twenty-seven year old college senior on her way home from a friend's house when the attack occurred.
The end of the shift came just after eleven. They were on the way back to the station house when a car sped past at least thirty miles per hour more than the recommended speed limit, especially in the wet conditions that hit the city hard.
The chase lasted only a short while, with the white Toyota Corona smashing into a power poll when the driver lost control in the slippery conditions. Bosco and Faith climbed from their squad car and made their way over to the car, both their weapons at the ready in case anything was to go down. They had to take that precautionary measure in this kind of situation.
Edging their way so that they were nearer to the car, suddenly the passenger side door opened. Faith froze in her steps; Bosco was on the driver's side of the vehicle, looking through the window with his weapon trained on the man that was crawling out of his car on Faith's side. Slowly the man rose to his feet, his rugged face, bleeding forehead and sadistic grin looking back at her. "Sir, please put your hands above your head," she commanded.
In hearing this, Bosco edged his way around the front of the car and the poll it almost wrapped itself around, he was surprised the man in question had survived the impact seemingly unscathed.
With his hands on his head, Faith then asked him to turn around, which he did without question or argument. Slipping her weapon back into her holster, Faith stepped over, removing the cuffs from her belt and proceeded to bring down one of the man's hands. She had just brought his arm down behind his back, when he swung around, gripping one of his arms tight around her throat and pulling her gun out and pointing it to her head.
"Put the gun down, and let her go!" Bosco ordered him, cocking his own revolver. "Now!"
"Bitch rammed me off the street," he replied in his rough deep voice, he pressed the tip of the gun firm to Faith's head, causing her to wince badly and whimper in pain, tears filling her eyes. Her heart raced, just looking back at Bosco, as if her whole life was just flashing by before her eyes. "My wife, I'm gonna kill her!" He grinned, and soon maniacal laughter came from his throat and out his mouth. The man was a delusional psycho; those were the same words that Faith kept running through her mind. She tried to release herself from his grip, but he just pulled her against him tighter. "Come on honey, don't fight it… I told you, you and I are meant to be for eternity." She squirmed at those words, and again when he pressed his filthy, bloodied lips to the side of her head, just above where the tip of the gun pressed heavily into her skull.
"Let the officer go, you've already got speed violations, abduction and assault, you don't want to add murder to those charges," Bosco explained calmly, but inside his heart was pounding at a faster rate than he could even begin to try and count. The man looked back at Bosco like that of a man who had no moral equities, his eyes told Bosco everything about him, they gave him away. His life was less than normal, abusive father, druggie mother…
There was a moment when Faith thought the man would let go of her when he pushed her forward, but he pulled her back, slamming the butt of the gun in his hands into the side of her head. She dropped to her knees, her whole world spinning, flashing from black to gray, over and over again. There was an eerie gun shot and the sound of a body collapsing to the ground behind her. She felt her world losing control, but then supportive hands grabbed her, pulling her back so she was leaning against the strong person that sat behind her now. "Oh god Faith…" Bosco's voice said, cradling her shivering body in his arms. "I thought I was going to lose you."
Faith pushed away from him, turning around so that they sat facing each other. But her head was still spinning like crazy and she just fell against him, her face on his shoulder. She could feel his strong hands rubbing up and down her back, hugging her tightly to him. There were sobs, and she knew they were coming from her as she cried there in his arms.
Within a matter of minutes, Doc and Alex arrived on scene, shortly followed by Sully and Davis. They loaded the body of the man who had actually shot himself in the head, right after he hit Faith. Doc was preparing basic papers, while Alex treated Faith's head wound.
She stood against the side of her and Bosco's squad car. "You'll need at least four or five stitches," Alex explained, cleaning the area around the wound, and dabbing it gently. She removed a bandage from her kit and had Faith hold it in place. "Which means a hospital visit, perhaps a stay, for the night, so we can keep an eye on your concussion."
Faith swallowed. "Really, I feel fine."
Alex partly smiled. "You might feel fine, but that would be the drugs I just gave you. I'm sorry, Faith, you'll have to stay the night. It's pretty bad."
Realizing it was an argument she wouldn't win, Faith nodded. "Boz'll drive me down there."
"Good. You're quite lucky the wound wasn't as bad as many of them that I've seen. Some of the weapons retrieved from attacks have had brain matter on them."
"Eugh. That's disgusting." Faith squirmed. "Now you're really making me feel ill."
"Sorry. I'm just saying, you're lucky." Alex took one more look at the wound, then reapplied the bandage, having Faith hold her hand over it to hold it in place. She closed up her kit and stepped back. "I'll check in on you when my shift is over." Faith just nodded, and then watched as the paramedic walked back to the ambulance.
Within minutes, Bosco had finished explaining what had happened to Sully and Davis, who were writing up the report of the incident and then went over to the squad car where Faith still stood. "Come on, let's get you to hospital."
* ~ * ~ *
They arrived at the hospital not long later, Faith was seen by Doctor Robert Foreman and after being stitched up and having various scans and x-rays of her skull to be sure there was no fracture or permanent damage she was then admitted to hospital for the following twenty-four hour period.
Faith had her own private room, and lay in the bed dressed in the gown the hospital provided, and a blanket over her legs to keep her warm. Her head had a numb aching, but was otherwise okay. Especially considering.
Bosco stood in the doorway, just looking in, Faith knew he was standing there, but looked to her left, out the window. Not that she could really see much. "Don't give me that look, Boz," she told him, knowing that he was giving her that same look he gave her every time something went wrong during a confrontation like the one they had with the driver of that vehicle.
"It's all my fault," his voice soon said, she could hear, and in some levels, actually feel the pain in his voice. "I could've gotten you killed, Faith."
"It wasn't your fault, we did everything the right way."
Bosco walked into the room with heavy footsteps, Faith turned to look at him. He was standing right by the side of her bed, his hands at his sides. "I could have lost you tonight."
She reached her hand up and took his in hers. "We did everything right. No one's to blame."
He shook his head, sitting on the edge of the bed at her side, still holding her hand. "I was so afraid, and I've never been that afraid before in my life… not even when pop, and ma…" His voice intensified in anger, but he shook his head, getting rid of those memories and looked at Faith more intently.
"It's what we do, it's a risk of the job," she explained. "I'm still here, aren't I?"
"Why am I even trying…" Bosco shook his head angrily, pulling his hand out from her hold. "You're not the one who bore your heart to someone who doesn't care that same way back… you don't understand."
Her voice was hurt, angry. "Bosco, I do care about you."
"But not in that same way, I got it. I get it." Bosco pulled away again as she went to touch his hand.
Faith sat up straight in the bed, looked right at him, stretched out her hand and gently caressed his cheek. "I care about you Bosco, in a way I never knew I could… and in such a way, I… in such a way I know I shouldn't." There was a moment's silence, and she swallowed, slowly removing her hand.
But just as she brought her hand down, Bosco soon had his hand over hers, placing it against his chest. Faith could feel his heart beat through his black t-shirt. It raced fast, and as their eyes met, it seemed like his heart slowed right down, their hearts beating as one. He framed her face with one of his hands and brought her lips to his in a silent kiss.
Faith pulled back a little, looking into his handsome face, and smiled. She then put her arms around his neck to pull him closer for another kiss.
Close
your eyes, give me your hand, darling
Do you feel my heart beating?
Do you understand?
Do you feel the same?
Or am I only dreaming?
Is this burning, an eternal flame?
I believe, it's meant to be, darling.
I watch you when you are sleeping.
You belong with me.
Do you feel the same?
Or am I only dreaming?
Is this burning, an eternal flame?
'Eternal Flame' by Atomic Kitten
to be continued ;)
