RR: 'Just Hold On...'
a RoundRobin fic written by Demelza and Kich
Disclaimer: Third Watch is the property of NBC. We do not own the show, or any of its characters. All new character's are the creation of Demelza and Kich.
Dedication: To Angie, who beta'd this fic for us! Big hugs, thanks Angie!!
* * * *
It was the beginning of Bosco and Faith's shift as they made their way to the west end to respond to a call about a body being found in the alley off Howard and Peter. "I hope this body isn't all mashed up and shit like last time," Bosco said in disgust.
"Yeah, I nearly lost my breakfast," Faith responded. When they finally made it there, they both got out of the car and walked up into the alley. As they walked farther into the rat-infested ally, they saw no body--not even a blood stain.
"What the hell?" Bosco asked in frustration. "It was a freaking fake call the whole time!" Bosco was pissed.
"Not really, Officers. You may remember me, Officer Boscorelli, I'm the man you put in jail for a long time," a man said from behind them.
Bosco and Faith both turned around, each of them with their hands on the holster at their hips. "And who the hell are you?" Bosco demanded, looking behind the man for a moment, seeing two other men walking up
behind him.
"Darian Grant.... you busted me for..."
"Drugs and illegal weapons possession," Faith said, remembering.
"Not to mention prostitution," Bosco added.
"Yeah, well I didn't really like that trip to the slammer. You know how nasty it is in there? Oh, of course you don't. That's why I have to do the things I'm about to do to you!" Darian said with a smile as four men popped out from the garbage containers and grabbed hold of Bosco and Faith.
"Let me go!" Faith screamed as a big brute of a man around six foot three, and extremely well built grabbed hold of her, covering her nose and mouth with a chloroform filled cloth. Within a matter of moments, she stopped struggling and fell unconscious in his arms; the echoing shouts and screams from her partner faded away, and soon the same thing happened to him.
* * *
Faith was the first to wake up from the chloroform and looked around
the room. " Bosco?" she asked as she tried to move. She found herself tied to the wall right next to Bosco, who was still out cold. " Bosco!" she called out again but got no response.
He too was tied to the wall in the dark room only lit by a tiny window on the right far corner.
Faith looked around her, trying to make out something in the room, but it was too dark, and all she could make out was the silhouette of her partner next to her, and boxes packed on top of one another beneath the window... the window that was too small that even if Bosco were awake, neither could escape out of, even if they hadn't been tied to the wall.
Then a soft moan came from Faith's left side where Bosco was tied to the wall. "Bosco ...you okay?" Faith asked and waited patiently for a response.
"Yeah, I'm fine except for this big ass headache. What about you?" Bosco asked tiredly.
"Headache... that chloroform... I wish I could just..." she said, squirming, trying to get free from the rope gripping deeply into the skin of her wrists. "Get out of here..." she finished, wincing badly when the rope burned her skin as she twisted her left hand and tried to pull her
hand out. But it was too tight to break free. "Bosco, why don't you try to break free?" Faith suggested.
"I'll try," Bosco said as he started to squirm.
Suddenly the door flung open and the four men that had held them and Darian entered. "Oh, I see you're trying to escape. Well, I guess we'll have to teach you a lesson for that," Darian said with a smirk.
A switch on the far side of the room where the men stood was flicked, and a single light hanging from the rotten brick ceiling above turned on. Darian flicked his fingers and two of the large men went over to Bosco, and it was each man was slamming a loud and heavy punch into his stomach that both officer's realised their vests had been removed prior to their being put into the room and tied to the wall.
"Stop it! Leave him alone! Stop it your gonna kill him!" Faith screamed as she watched her partner take the beating.
"Oh, but that's the point, don't you see? Here's the catch: it's slow and painful, that's the way he's gonna die and your gonna watch it all unfold," Darian said as the two men continued punching Bosco.
Finally the harsh beating subsided and Bosco's body slackened, his body weight caused his hands to be harshly cut by the rope. As the men left, Darien stopped and turned. "Oh, and I'll be back shortly to deliver more horrifying beatings to Bosco." Darien walked up to Faith and untied her. "You can try to make your partner feel better." With that he left and locked the door behind him.
Faith dropped to her knees, not doing anything as Darian left, switching the light off and leaving them in the dark again. Slowly, she turned around and climbed to her feet, rushing to her partner. "Bosco..." she said as she checked his pulse. It was steady, but she knew he wouldn't be able to hold out for much longer if those beatings continued the way Darian had promised they would.
Faith finally untied Bosco and slowly followed his limp body to the floor where it came to a rest. Bosco slowly let out a soft moan.
"Bosco... please open your eyes," Faith said with tears in her eyes. "Bosco...?"
Bosco slowly opened his dark eyes and tried to focus on Faith's eyes.
"Faith..." he gasped out.
"Easy Boz..." she said to him softly, helping him sit up against the damp brick wall behind him. "You've got a nasty cut..." she said, removing a white handkerchief from her pocket and dabbing the cut on his upper left cheek, just below his eye.
"Owww...." he winced, pushing her away. But Faith continued attending to the wound, when she'd finished, she sat back. "Thanks..." he said, hoarsely.
"You know that he's gonna keep this up...and you..." Faith said but couldn't finish her sentence.
"And I won't make it, yeah, I know," Bosco said as the wound on his cheek started to bleed again.
"I hope they can find us. Too bad they took our radios in the alley,"
Faith said.
"Yeah," Bosco said as he stood up and walked to the other side of the room to look at the window and see what he could do. "Faith..." he whispered.
"Yeah?" Faith asked, looking towards Bosco. "Bosco, you okay?" she asked.
Bosco blinked at her twice then collapsed.
"Bosco!" Faith said louder, shaking him, trying to wake him. But nothing worked. Realizing that he was out cold, Faith took the time to look around her. When the lights were on earlier, she had noticed a shelf on the wall with what looked like an old transistor radio. Not that it would work, ever, she thought to herself. It was smashed to pieces.
She rose to her feet again, quietly 'feeling' her way over to the shelf. She knew she was there when her foot kicked the metal bucket at the base of the shelf. She swore under her breath for having made the noise, and felt for the radio, but just as her hand touched the metal, the door to the room opened again.
"So how are we in here?" Darian asked. He looked to his left and saw Bosco on the floor and went over to investigate him. "Oh, I see he couldn't handle the beating, that's great," he said as he started to unbutton Bosco's shirt and put his hand under it and pulled it back out, covered in blood. "Oh, wow that's really great, wouldn't you say?" Darian asked with an evil grin.
Faith had already turned around and was charging after Darian when the man stood up to face her, "You leave him alone you son of a bitch!" she screamed, swinging her fist.
Darian moved out of the way and she missed, throwing herself off balance. "Now, now, Officer Yokas...." Darian taunted, "You don't want anything worse to happen to him do you?" he asked, pointing to Bosco.
"You do anything else and I'll kill you!" Faith warned.
"Oh yeah?" He snapped his fingers again and one of the men placed a hand on Bosco's stomach and started to press on it, putting all his weight on it.
Bosco stirred then let out a born chilling scream of pain and agony.
"Stop it! Please just stop!" she yelled and Darian snapped his fingers again and the man stopped and they all left.
"Don't get all comfy. I'll be back."
The moment the door closed, Faith dropped down in front of Bosco, crying, "Oh god Bosco, what are we going to do? We have to get out of here..."
"H-how?" Bosco asked, swallowing.
"The radio..." Faith said, but Bosco shook his head. "Why not?"
"They'll hear us," he replied, swallowing again, this time in more pain. "If we call over our frequency, they'll hear us on our radios. It's too risky."
"It's practically the only way," Faith said with Bosco's head in her lap as she smoothed out his damp hair.
"I...need to tell you somethin'. ." Bosco said in pain.
"What is it?" Faith looked at Bosco.
"I...I think ....about you all the ..time and...I am glad I ...got stuck with you as..as a partner..and that will..will...never ch..change," Bosco said.
"Oh, Bosco, thank you," Faith said. "Same here."
"If...I don't make it...I want you to have this," Bosco said, opening his little case that was the third on in the back on his belt and took out a beautiful ring.
"Bosco... no... don't..."
He swallowed, and placed it in her hand, and with his other hand he closed her fingers tightly over it. "I want you to have it."
"No, Bosco, I can't do that.. it's yours..." She went to give it back, but Bosco held his hand tightly over hers, and she knew not to argue anymore. "But I can't...."
"Give it to Emily then, Grams gave it to Ma... Ma gave it to me... I want you to have it, and when you think it's the right time, give it to Em... please Faith... I got no one else to give it to."
"Bos..." Faith whispered. Bosco' s body slackened. "Bosco?" she said shaking him, fear clenching at her. "Bosco?!" she said a little louder. She checked for a pulse and found none. "Oh god Bosco!" she screamed as she began CPR. "Breath.. dammit ...breath!" she said as she started to breath for him.
The first breath for him didn't work, so she breathed once more...again it didn't work. After using three compressions on his chest, about to use a fourth, Bosco gasped for air... he was alive, she cried out happily inside. "You ass, don't do that to me!" she said, hitting him in the arm as tears flowed down her cheeks.
"H-hey... don't hit the living dead..." he teased, taking in a few quiet breaths. "Oh, thanks for saving my ass again. Most people would have just said 'yeah, well no one did like him' and leave me,'" he said, teasing Faith even more.
"Shut up and don't talk like that," Faith commanded, still crying.
Bosco quietly apologized, and just looked up at her. He hated to see her cry, no matter the reason. And here she was, crying over him... he'd never thought he could really trust her the same, after finding out that she had been keeping secret the fact she had cancer. But now, right here and now? She was the only person in life he could ever trust, or would ever allow himself to trust.... no matter what.
"Hey what are you doing?" Faith asked as Bosco fidgeted in her lap.
"I'm trying something," Bosco said.
"And that something would be what?" Faith asked.
"Something," he replied. He started to roll onto his right side, and then stood up very very slowly.
"What the hell?" Faith asked as she realized what that something was. "Bosco, what are you doing?" she asked as Bosco walked over to the corner of the room, a quizzical look on her face when he walked back over to where she was, holding his rib cage carefully, and in his free hand was his bulletproof jacket. "Where did you find that?"
"Idiots put it on a hook... on a hook!" he said, a hint of excitement in his voice. With Faith's help, he sat back down on the ground again. "The left pocket…there's a knife..." he said, and Faith took the jacket from him to look for it.
Faith found the knife and placed it in Bosco's hand. "What are you gonna do with that?" she asked, hoping that he wasn't thinking about using it on Darian.
"I want to..." Bosco said, sitting up a little more comfortably, his breathing slow, his chest heaving with each breath. "Bottom of my shoe... the sole..." he said, handing the knife back to Faith.
"What?"
"Some gum..." he said, laughing, but it hurt so badly he stopped.
Faith hit him in the arm again, "Idiot...."
Bosco offered her a half-smile. "Protect yourself," he told her seriously, the smile fading. He took a breath and let it out as pain etched its way up through his rib cage. "I don't wanna see you hurt, Faith."
"Bosco, I won't be hurt..." Faith said and was interrupted by the creak of the rusty old door opening. Bosco quickly grabbed the knife and placed it in his pocket.
"Oh, I see you're up, Officer Bosco," Darian said as he stepped up to Bosco.
Bosco and Faith both looked up at the man, his dark features grinning maliciously down at them. "Boys..." He snapped his fingers, and two of his goons stepped out from the shadows behind him.
"What, you're gonna... make your 'boys' do your... your dirty work for
you?" Bosco asked between breaths.
"And get my knuckles or bruised and bloodied?" Darian stepped back, "I don't think so." "Boys do your work!" Darian said.
The men lifted Bosco up by the collar and started to strangle him. Bosco pulled the knife out and thrust it forward, into the gut of the big brute that had him by the throat. Within a matter of moments the man was on the floor, the bloodied knife still in Bosco's trembling hand. He looked at the other guy and stepped towards him. The man backed away.
"Oh I see you found something that may very well get you killed even more painfully," Darian said as he stepped towards Bosco.
"Back off!" Faith yelled, stepping in front of Bosco and grabbing the knife. They both knew she could handle herself well in a situation like this, having trained for it countless times. "Stay the damned hell away from him...." she commanded, swinging the knife in a show of warning.
Darian lunged towards Faith, but Bosco yelled and stepped in front of her with his back towards Darian. The next thing Bosco and Faith knew was that Darian grabbed for Bosco, pulling him back against him, laughing as Faith stood there with the knife in her hand, "Come on... come get me... awww, poor baby, don't wanna hurt your partner?" He laughed again, this time in hysterics, taking a knife out of his own pocket. He flicked it open and held it against Bosco's throat, "One slice, and it's all over...."
"No, okay what do you want?" Faith asked, trying to remain calm.
"Faith, screw that! Just stab the bastard!" Bosco yelled as a flare of pain went through him.
"Oh, go right ahead, Faith, that will be much more fun," Darian said with a smile.
"You bastard," she said, tears flowing down her cheeks. "Why are you doing this?"
"Revenge, you stupid bitch, or haven't you been paying attention?" he asked her, his voice laced with sarcasm. "No, it seems you haven't...very well... how about a lesson?"
"Let. Him. Go." She said each word clearly.
"It's two against one, you won't win..." Darian spouted off, pressing the knife firmly against Bosco's throat. "You see this vein right here? If I make a small incision, there's a chance he might still live....for awhile. But if I cut right the way across.... whoosh!! You'll be wiping up his blood for weeks to come.... interesting, don't you think?
"Please let him go!" Faith pleaded.
"My ass, Faith! Kill him!" Bosco yelled.
"I dare you; I really dare you!" Darian tempted Faith.
"Kill him, dammit! Kill him now!" Bosco was screaming.
"What are you waiting for? Kill me and see what happens," Darian said, pressing even harder on Bosco's neck with the knife.
"No..." Faith shook her head, and Darian jerked Bosco back, blood appearing on his neck. "You son of a bitch!" she screamed, lunging forward.
Just as she did, Darian dropped Bosco and thrust his knife at her.... for a whole single moment, silence fell on the room. An eerie silence.
A painful gasping noise came from Darian.
"Oh my god," Faith whispered in horror as Darian fell to the ground. The knife came so close to stabbing her, too. "Bosco..oh god Bosco!" Faith screamed as Bosco lay on the ground holding his neck.
She dropped to the ground next to him, the knife in her hand dropping heavily into the murky blood puddle beneath Darian. "You're gonna be okay..." she told him. "It's going to be okay, just hang in there. Let me see," she said as she slowly pulled Bosco's hands away from his neck and found that the knife had indeed cut Bosco. "Oh man stay here, Bosco, I'm going to get help." Faith got up and was back in the room 15 minutes later.
"Bosco, they're coming just hang on, okay?" Faith soothed.
The other goon in the room went over to his 'boss'. Darian was dead, he declared. "You killed him...." he said to Faith.
And it was at this moment she realized, there was still the matter of dealing with him, and the other two goons that were here. "Your friend... he's still alive?"
"Michael, my cousin... yeah.... man, this shit just wasn't meant to happen, we thought it was just gonna be roughing up a couple of cops...nothing like this shit... oh god, what a fucking mess.... oh shit I'm gonna go back inside.... I know it."
"Yeah, well trust me you deserve to go back," Faith said as Doc and Carlos came through the door.
"Oh man what happened?" Doc asked as he tended to Bosco and Carlos tended to Michael.
"He got cut," Faith said with tears in her eyes.
"Bosco, hey Boz can you loosen up a little so I can help?" Doc asked as he tried to take Bosco's hands from his neck but they were tightly wrapped around the wound. As Bosco unwrapped his hands, Doc let out a low whistle. " It's deep." Doc said as he probed the area.
"Will he make it?" Faith asked with concern written all over her face.
"I don't know right now," Doc said honestly. Suddenly blood started to seep through Doc's fingers and Bosco began to gasp for air. "Damn it..." Doc cursed, grabbing a swab from his bag and applying it to Bosco's wound, "Faith, hand me the bandage there..." he said, motioning toward the bag.
"My hands..." she went to argue, but he told her, 'Hurry!' She grabbed the bandage quickly and passed it to Doc, who applied it atop the swab.
"I want you to hold this here while I go get the stretcher, do you understand?"
"Yes!" Faith replied angrily, hating being treated like some 'kid'. "Bosco just hold on a little loner please do it for me." Faith pleaded as Carlos was still attending to Michael. Doc finally returned with the stretcher with Sully and Davis right behind him.
Faith just looked at her hands as Doc attended to Bosco. They were all bloody from stabbing and killing Darian. It scared her--she never stabbed anyone in her whole life until now.
The next few minutes seemed to take forever as Davis helped Doc load Bosco onto the stretcher, and while Sully arrested Michael's brother.
Davis and Doc carried the stretcher with Bosco out of the building, and loaded him into the waiting bus. Michael was taken out by Carlos and Alex, who had since arrived on scene with Kim.
"Hey, Faith, you go.." Davis started, but Faith firmly said that she would be behind them driving the squad car which Sully and them found and Davis drove it to the place. "Okay, then if you want it that way then it's okay with us," Doc said closing the door to the bus.
* * * *
In the hospital, Bosco was rushed to surgery.
It took almost four hours before the doctor came out, a grim, uncertain look on his face. Faith stood up, having changed out of her uniform by now, the blood on her hands gone, but she could still 'feel' it there. "How is he?" she asked.
"He'll make it, but I'm worried.... he might not be able to talk for several days, maybe a couple of weeks."
"Can I see him?' Faith asked.
"Yes, you may and he still doesn't know about the no talking for weeks," the doctor said and left her to go into Bosco's room.
The inside of his room was filled with equipment to keep him alive. A tube that always seemed to find its way down Bosco's throat was down it again.
As Faith entered the room she could see that Bosco was still asleep, so she pulled up a chair next to the bed, sat down and stroked his damp hair. "Hey Bosco, can you hear me? If you can, open your eyes," Faith said but he didn't open his eyes. "Bosco, please," she whispered as she started to shake him gently.
Bosco still didn't wake up, so Faith sat back in the chair, just watching him. He was breathing okay, but his face was swollen, and bandages were wrapped around his head. "God Boz, what are we gonna do?"
She reached up and gently touched the bandage that wrapped around his neck. "What are we gonna do, huh?" Faith asked, bowing her head so it touched her chest. The next thing she felt was a hand grasping hers. She looked up and saw that Bosco's hand was wrapped tightly around her wrist but his eyes were still closed. "Bosco?" Faith asked. Still he didn't open them 'til he started to stir and then he opened them to the world around him. "Hey, how are you feeling?" she asked.
As Bosco tried to speak, he found that nothing would come out he tried and tried but still nothing. He gave Faith a panicked look.
"It's okay, Bosco, the doctor says you might not be able to talk for a couple of days, maybe a couple weeks," she explained in a soothing tone. Bosco seemed to relax after that, loosening his grip on her arm, but still holding onto her. "Gotta admit, the quiet time will be nice for a change." She laughed, but got a serious look back from her partner. "Sorry." She took a deep breath. "Bosco, I'm sorry that I couldn't do anything," Faith started to apologize, but Bosco placed his hand over her mouth. Faith looked at after he let his hand slide away from her lips. "I love you Bosco," she said in a whisper.
Bosco looked at her in amazement, and sank back against the pillow underneath his head.
Faith looked away shyly when Bosco leaned back, a confused and still very amazed look on his face. "I can't believe I just said that..." she said in the same low tone to herself.
Bosco wore a smile on his face, and was just looking at Faith, she knew he was... but she didn't want to turn around to face him, well... she did, but didn't at the same time.
Bosco looked at her with love written all over his face. "I bet you liked that didn't you?" Faith asked as she finally turned to face him.
His face was all red.
"Oh my god, Bosco, look at you," Faith said, laughing now. Bosco's eyes stayed the same, squinted because of the big smile he wore. "Oh, Bosco, you love me, too, don't you?" she asked and Bosco nodded slowly. "Oh, I knew it…the looks you have been giving me these past few months..."
A cocky smirk appeared on the corner of his lips as he raised one of his eyebrows slightly. "Why didn't you ever..." she went on to say when Bosco sat up suddenly, touched the side of her face, and gently caressed her cheek.
"Fa-aith..." He got out in a very low, hard to understand breath of air. It hurt to even try speak, so Faith touched his lips to stop him. But he moved her hand away, and grabbed her forearm causing her to buckle forward close enough to land a kiss on her lips.
When Faith was finally able to get out of Bosco's grip, she touched her lips and looked back down at Bosco.
She smiled.
Bosco smiled back.
the end
comments? questions? feel free to send them to us!
a RoundRobin fic written by Demelza and Kich
Disclaimer: Third Watch is the property of NBC. We do not own the show, or any of its characters. All new character's are the creation of Demelza and Kich.
Dedication: To Angie, who beta'd this fic for us! Big hugs, thanks Angie!!
* * * *
It was the beginning of Bosco and Faith's shift as they made their way to the west end to respond to a call about a body being found in the alley off Howard and Peter. "I hope this body isn't all mashed up and shit like last time," Bosco said in disgust.
"Yeah, I nearly lost my breakfast," Faith responded. When they finally made it there, they both got out of the car and walked up into the alley. As they walked farther into the rat-infested ally, they saw no body--not even a blood stain.
"What the hell?" Bosco asked in frustration. "It was a freaking fake call the whole time!" Bosco was pissed.
"Not really, Officers. You may remember me, Officer Boscorelli, I'm the man you put in jail for a long time," a man said from behind them.
Bosco and Faith both turned around, each of them with their hands on the holster at their hips. "And who the hell are you?" Bosco demanded, looking behind the man for a moment, seeing two other men walking up
behind him.
"Darian Grant.... you busted me for..."
"Drugs and illegal weapons possession," Faith said, remembering.
"Not to mention prostitution," Bosco added.
"Yeah, well I didn't really like that trip to the slammer. You know how nasty it is in there? Oh, of course you don't. That's why I have to do the things I'm about to do to you!" Darian said with a smile as four men popped out from the garbage containers and grabbed hold of Bosco and Faith.
"Let me go!" Faith screamed as a big brute of a man around six foot three, and extremely well built grabbed hold of her, covering her nose and mouth with a chloroform filled cloth. Within a matter of moments, she stopped struggling and fell unconscious in his arms; the echoing shouts and screams from her partner faded away, and soon the same thing happened to him.
* * *
Faith was the first to wake up from the chloroform and looked around
the room. " Bosco?" she asked as she tried to move. She found herself tied to the wall right next to Bosco, who was still out cold. " Bosco!" she called out again but got no response.
He too was tied to the wall in the dark room only lit by a tiny window on the right far corner.
Faith looked around her, trying to make out something in the room, but it was too dark, and all she could make out was the silhouette of her partner next to her, and boxes packed on top of one another beneath the window... the window that was too small that even if Bosco were awake, neither could escape out of, even if they hadn't been tied to the wall.
Then a soft moan came from Faith's left side where Bosco was tied to the wall. "Bosco ...you okay?" Faith asked and waited patiently for a response.
"Yeah, I'm fine except for this big ass headache. What about you?" Bosco asked tiredly.
"Headache... that chloroform... I wish I could just..." she said, squirming, trying to get free from the rope gripping deeply into the skin of her wrists. "Get out of here..." she finished, wincing badly when the rope burned her skin as she twisted her left hand and tried to pull her
hand out. But it was too tight to break free. "Bosco, why don't you try to break free?" Faith suggested.
"I'll try," Bosco said as he started to squirm.
Suddenly the door flung open and the four men that had held them and Darian entered. "Oh, I see you're trying to escape. Well, I guess we'll have to teach you a lesson for that," Darian said with a smirk.
A switch on the far side of the room where the men stood was flicked, and a single light hanging from the rotten brick ceiling above turned on. Darian flicked his fingers and two of the large men went over to Bosco, and it was each man was slamming a loud and heavy punch into his stomach that both officer's realised their vests had been removed prior to their being put into the room and tied to the wall.
"Stop it! Leave him alone! Stop it your gonna kill him!" Faith screamed as she watched her partner take the beating.
"Oh, but that's the point, don't you see? Here's the catch: it's slow and painful, that's the way he's gonna die and your gonna watch it all unfold," Darian said as the two men continued punching Bosco.
Finally the harsh beating subsided and Bosco's body slackened, his body weight caused his hands to be harshly cut by the rope. As the men left, Darien stopped and turned. "Oh, and I'll be back shortly to deliver more horrifying beatings to Bosco." Darien walked up to Faith and untied her. "You can try to make your partner feel better." With that he left and locked the door behind him.
Faith dropped to her knees, not doing anything as Darian left, switching the light off and leaving them in the dark again. Slowly, she turned around and climbed to her feet, rushing to her partner. "Bosco..." she said as she checked his pulse. It was steady, but she knew he wouldn't be able to hold out for much longer if those beatings continued the way Darian had promised they would.
Faith finally untied Bosco and slowly followed his limp body to the floor where it came to a rest. Bosco slowly let out a soft moan.
"Bosco... please open your eyes," Faith said with tears in her eyes. "Bosco...?"
Bosco slowly opened his dark eyes and tried to focus on Faith's eyes.
"Faith..." he gasped out.
"Easy Boz..." she said to him softly, helping him sit up against the damp brick wall behind him. "You've got a nasty cut..." she said, removing a white handkerchief from her pocket and dabbing the cut on his upper left cheek, just below his eye.
"Owww...." he winced, pushing her away. But Faith continued attending to the wound, when she'd finished, she sat back. "Thanks..." he said, hoarsely.
"You know that he's gonna keep this up...and you..." Faith said but couldn't finish her sentence.
"And I won't make it, yeah, I know," Bosco said as the wound on his cheek started to bleed again.
"I hope they can find us. Too bad they took our radios in the alley,"
Faith said.
"Yeah," Bosco said as he stood up and walked to the other side of the room to look at the window and see what he could do. "Faith..." he whispered.
"Yeah?" Faith asked, looking towards Bosco. "Bosco, you okay?" she asked.
Bosco blinked at her twice then collapsed.
"Bosco!" Faith said louder, shaking him, trying to wake him. But nothing worked. Realizing that he was out cold, Faith took the time to look around her. When the lights were on earlier, she had noticed a shelf on the wall with what looked like an old transistor radio. Not that it would work, ever, she thought to herself. It was smashed to pieces.
She rose to her feet again, quietly 'feeling' her way over to the shelf. She knew she was there when her foot kicked the metal bucket at the base of the shelf. She swore under her breath for having made the noise, and felt for the radio, but just as her hand touched the metal, the door to the room opened again.
"So how are we in here?" Darian asked. He looked to his left and saw Bosco on the floor and went over to investigate him. "Oh, I see he couldn't handle the beating, that's great," he said as he started to unbutton Bosco's shirt and put his hand under it and pulled it back out, covered in blood. "Oh, wow that's really great, wouldn't you say?" Darian asked with an evil grin.
Faith had already turned around and was charging after Darian when the man stood up to face her, "You leave him alone you son of a bitch!" she screamed, swinging her fist.
Darian moved out of the way and she missed, throwing herself off balance. "Now, now, Officer Yokas...." Darian taunted, "You don't want anything worse to happen to him do you?" he asked, pointing to Bosco.
"You do anything else and I'll kill you!" Faith warned.
"Oh yeah?" He snapped his fingers again and one of the men placed a hand on Bosco's stomach and started to press on it, putting all his weight on it.
Bosco stirred then let out a born chilling scream of pain and agony.
"Stop it! Please just stop!" she yelled and Darian snapped his fingers again and the man stopped and they all left.
"Don't get all comfy. I'll be back."
The moment the door closed, Faith dropped down in front of Bosco, crying, "Oh god Bosco, what are we going to do? We have to get out of here..."
"H-how?" Bosco asked, swallowing.
"The radio..." Faith said, but Bosco shook his head. "Why not?"
"They'll hear us," he replied, swallowing again, this time in more pain. "If we call over our frequency, they'll hear us on our radios. It's too risky."
"It's practically the only way," Faith said with Bosco's head in her lap as she smoothed out his damp hair.
"I...need to tell you somethin'. ." Bosco said in pain.
"What is it?" Faith looked at Bosco.
"I...I think ....about you all the ..time and...I am glad I ...got stuck with you as..as a partner..and that will..will...never ch..change," Bosco said.
"Oh, Bosco, thank you," Faith said. "Same here."
"If...I don't make it...I want you to have this," Bosco said, opening his little case that was the third on in the back on his belt and took out a beautiful ring.
"Bosco... no... don't..."
He swallowed, and placed it in her hand, and with his other hand he closed her fingers tightly over it. "I want you to have it."
"No, Bosco, I can't do that.. it's yours..." She went to give it back, but Bosco held his hand tightly over hers, and she knew not to argue anymore. "But I can't...."
"Give it to Emily then, Grams gave it to Ma... Ma gave it to me... I want you to have it, and when you think it's the right time, give it to Em... please Faith... I got no one else to give it to."
"Bos..." Faith whispered. Bosco' s body slackened. "Bosco?" she said shaking him, fear clenching at her. "Bosco?!" she said a little louder. She checked for a pulse and found none. "Oh god Bosco!" she screamed as she began CPR. "Breath.. dammit ...breath!" she said as she started to breath for him.
The first breath for him didn't work, so she breathed once more...again it didn't work. After using three compressions on his chest, about to use a fourth, Bosco gasped for air... he was alive, she cried out happily inside. "You ass, don't do that to me!" she said, hitting him in the arm as tears flowed down her cheeks.
"H-hey... don't hit the living dead..." he teased, taking in a few quiet breaths. "Oh, thanks for saving my ass again. Most people would have just said 'yeah, well no one did like him' and leave me,'" he said, teasing Faith even more.
"Shut up and don't talk like that," Faith commanded, still crying.
Bosco quietly apologized, and just looked up at her. He hated to see her cry, no matter the reason. And here she was, crying over him... he'd never thought he could really trust her the same, after finding out that she had been keeping secret the fact she had cancer. But now, right here and now? She was the only person in life he could ever trust, or would ever allow himself to trust.... no matter what.
"Hey what are you doing?" Faith asked as Bosco fidgeted in her lap.
"I'm trying something," Bosco said.
"And that something would be what?" Faith asked.
"Something," he replied. He started to roll onto his right side, and then stood up very very slowly.
"What the hell?" Faith asked as she realized what that something was. "Bosco, what are you doing?" she asked as Bosco walked over to the corner of the room, a quizzical look on her face when he walked back over to where she was, holding his rib cage carefully, and in his free hand was his bulletproof jacket. "Where did you find that?"
"Idiots put it on a hook... on a hook!" he said, a hint of excitement in his voice. With Faith's help, he sat back down on the ground again. "The left pocket…there's a knife..." he said, and Faith took the jacket from him to look for it.
Faith found the knife and placed it in Bosco's hand. "What are you gonna do with that?" she asked, hoping that he wasn't thinking about using it on Darian.
"I want to..." Bosco said, sitting up a little more comfortably, his breathing slow, his chest heaving with each breath. "Bottom of my shoe... the sole..." he said, handing the knife back to Faith.
"What?"
"Some gum..." he said, laughing, but it hurt so badly he stopped.
Faith hit him in the arm again, "Idiot...."
Bosco offered her a half-smile. "Protect yourself," he told her seriously, the smile fading. He took a breath and let it out as pain etched its way up through his rib cage. "I don't wanna see you hurt, Faith."
"Bosco, I won't be hurt..." Faith said and was interrupted by the creak of the rusty old door opening. Bosco quickly grabbed the knife and placed it in his pocket.
"Oh, I see you're up, Officer Bosco," Darian said as he stepped up to Bosco.
Bosco and Faith both looked up at the man, his dark features grinning maliciously down at them. "Boys..." He snapped his fingers, and two of his goons stepped out from the shadows behind him.
"What, you're gonna... make your 'boys' do your... your dirty work for
you?" Bosco asked between breaths.
"And get my knuckles or bruised and bloodied?" Darian stepped back, "I don't think so." "Boys do your work!" Darian said.
The men lifted Bosco up by the collar and started to strangle him. Bosco pulled the knife out and thrust it forward, into the gut of the big brute that had him by the throat. Within a matter of moments the man was on the floor, the bloodied knife still in Bosco's trembling hand. He looked at the other guy and stepped towards him. The man backed away.
"Oh I see you found something that may very well get you killed even more painfully," Darian said as he stepped towards Bosco.
"Back off!" Faith yelled, stepping in front of Bosco and grabbing the knife. They both knew she could handle herself well in a situation like this, having trained for it countless times. "Stay the damned hell away from him...." she commanded, swinging the knife in a show of warning.
Darian lunged towards Faith, but Bosco yelled and stepped in front of her with his back towards Darian. The next thing Bosco and Faith knew was that Darian grabbed for Bosco, pulling him back against him, laughing as Faith stood there with the knife in her hand, "Come on... come get me... awww, poor baby, don't wanna hurt your partner?" He laughed again, this time in hysterics, taking a knife out of his own pocket. He flicked it open and held it against Bosco's throat, "One slice, and it's all over...."
"No, okay what do you want?" Faith asked, trying to remain calm.
"Faith, screw that! Just stab the bastard!" Bosco yelled as a flare of pain went through him.
"Oh, go right ahead, Faith, that will be much more fun," Darian said with a smile.
"You bastard," she said, tears flowing down her cheeks. "Why are you doing this?"
"Revenge, you stupid bitch, or haven't you been paying attention?" he asked her, his voice laced with sarcasm. "No, it seems you haven't...very well... how about a lesson?"
"Let. Him. Go." She said each word clearly.
"It's two against one, you won't win..." Darian spouted off, pressing the knife firmly against Bosco's throat. "You see this vein right here? If I make a small incision, there's a chance he might still live....for awhile. But if I cut right the way across.... whoosh!! You'll be wiping up his blood for weeks to come.... interesting, don't you think?
"Please let him go!" Faith pleaded.
"My ass, Faith! Kill him!" Bosco yelled.
"I dare you; I really dare you!" Darian tempted Faith.
"Kill him, dammit! Kill him now!" Bosco was screaming.
"What are you waiting for? Kill me and see what happens," Darian said, pressing even harder on Bosco's neck with the knife.
"No..." Faith shook her head, and Darian jerked Bosco back, blood appearing on his neck. "You son of a bitch!" she screamed, lunging forward.
Just as she did, Darian dropped Bosco and thrust his knife at her.... for a whole single moment, silence fell on the room. An eerie silence.
A painful gasping noise came from Darian.
"Oh my god," Faith whispered in horror as Darian fell to the ground. The knife came so close to stabbing her, too. "Bosco..oh god Bosco!" Faith screamed as Bosco lay on the ground holding his neck.
She dropped to the ground next to him, the knife in her hand dropping heavily into the murky blood puddle beneath Darian. "You're gonna be okay..." she told him. "It's going to be okay, just hang in there. Let me see," she said as she slowly pulled Bosco's hands away from his neck and found that the knife had indeed cut Bosco. "Oh man stay here, Bosco, I'm going to get help." Faith got up and was back in the room 15 minutes later.
"Bosco, they're coming just hang on, okay?" Faith soothed.
The other goon in the room went over to his 'boss'. Darian was dead, he declared. "You killed him...." he said to Faith.
And it was at this moment she realized, there was still the matter of dealing with him, and the other two goons that were here. "Your friend... he's still alive?"
"Michael, my cousin... yeah.... man, this shit just wasn't meant to happen, we thought it was just gonna be roughing up a couple of cops...nothing like this shit... oh god, what a fucking mess.... oh shit I'm gonna go back inside.... I know it."
"Yeah, well trust me you deserve to go back," Faith said as Doc and Carlos came through the door.
"Oh man what happened?" Doc asked as he tended to Bosco and Carlos tended to Michael.
"He got cut," Faith said with tears in her eyes.
"Bosco, hey Boz can you loosen up a little so I can help?" Doc asked as he tried to take Bosco's hands from his neck but they were tightly wrapped around the wound. As Bosco unwrapped his hands, Doc let out a low whistle. " It's deep." Doc said as he probed the area.
"Will he make it?" Faith asked with concern written all over her face.
"I don't know right now," Doc said honestly. Suddenly blood started to seep through Doc's fingers and Bosco began to gasp for air. "Damn it..." Doc cursed, grabbing a swab from his bag and applying it to Bosco's wound, "Faith, hand me the bandage there..." he said, motioning toward the bag.
"My hands..." she went to argue, but he told her, 'Hurry!' She grabbed the bandage quickly and passed it to Doc, who applied it atop the swab.
"I want you to hold this here while I go get the stretcher, do you understand?"
"Yes!" Faith replied angrily, hating being treated like some 'kid'. "Bosco just hold on a little loner please do it for me." Faith pleaded as Carlos was still attending to Michael. Doc finally returned with the stretcher with Sully and Davis right behind him.
Faith just looked at her hands as Doc attended to Bosco. They were all bloody from stabbing and killing Darian. It scared her--she never stabbed anyone in her whole life until now.
The next few minutes seemed to take forever as Davis helped Doc load Bosco onto the stretcher, and while Sully arrested Michael's brother.
Davis and Doc carried the stretcher with Bosco out of the building, and loaded him into the waiting bus. Michael was taken out by Carlos and Alex, who had since arrived on scene with Kim.
"Hey, Faith, you go.." Davis started, but Faith firmly said that she would be behind them driving the squad car which Sully and them found and Davis drove it to the place. "Okay, then if you want it that way then it's okay with us," Doc said closing the door to the bus.
* * * *
In the hospital, Bosco was rushed to surgery.
It took almost four hours before the doctor came out, a grim, uncertain look on his face. Faith stood up, having changed out of her uniform by now, the blood on her hands gone, but she could still 'feel' it there. "How is he?" she asked.
"He'll make it, but I'm worried.... he might not be able to talk for several days, maybe a couple of weeks."
"Can I see him?' Faith asked.
"Yes, you may and he still doesn't know about the no talking for weeks," the doctor said and left her to go into Bosco's room.
The inside of his room was filled with equipment to keep him alive. A tube that always seemed to find its way down Bosco's throat was down it again.
As Faith entered the room she could see that Bosco was still asleep, so she pulled up a chair next to the bed, sat down and stroked his damp hair. "Hey Bosco, can you hear me? If you can, open your eyes," Faith said but he didn't open his eyes. "Bosco, please," she whispered as she started to shake him gently.
Bosco still didn't wake up, so Faith sat back in the chair, just watching him. He was breathing okay, but his face was swollen, and bandages were wrapped around his head. "God Boz, what are we gonna do?"
She reached up and gently touched the bandage that wrapped around his neck. "What are we gonna do, huh?" Faith asked, bowing her head so it touched her chest. The next thing she felt was a hand grasping hers. She looked up and saw that Bosco's hand was wrapped tightly around her wrist but his eyes were still closed. "Bosco?" Faith asked. Still he didn't open them 'til he started to stir and then he opened them to the world around him. "Hey, how are you feeling?" she asked.
As Bosco tried to speak, he found that nothing would come out he tried and tried but still nothing. He gave Faith a panicked look.
"It's okay, Bosco, the doctor says you might not be able to talk for a couple of days, maybe a couple weeks," she explained in a soothing tone. Bosco seemed to relax after that, loosening his grip on her arm, but still holding onto her. "Gotta admit, the quiet time will be nice for a change." She laughed, but got a serious look back from her partner. "Sorry." She took a deep breath. "Bosco, I'm sorry that I couldn't do anything," Faith started to apologize, but Bosco placed his hand over her mouth. Faith looked at after he let his hand slide away from her lips. "I love you Bosco," she said in a whisper.
Bosco looked at her in amazement, and sank back against the pillow underneath his head.
Faith looked away shyly when Bosco leaned back, a confused and still very amazed look on his face. "I can't believe I just said that..." she said in the same low tone to herself.
Bosco wore a smile on his face, and was just looking at Faith, she knew he was... but she didn't want to turn around to face him, well... she did, but didn't at the same time.
Bosco looked at her with love written all over his face. "I bet you liked that didn't you?" Faith asked as she finally turned to face him.
His face was all red.
"Oh my god, Bosco, look at you," Faith said, laughing now. Bosco's eyes stayed the same, squinted because of the big smile he wore. "Oh, Bosco, you love me, too, don't you?" she asked and Bosco nodded slowly. "Oh, I knew it…the looks you have been giving me these past few months..."
A cocky smirk appeared on the corner of his lips as he raised one of his eyebrows slightly. "Why didn't you ever..." she went on to say when Bosco sat up suddenly, touched the side of her face, and gently caressed her cheek.
"Fa-aith..." He got out in a very low, hard to understand breath of air. It hurt to even try speak, so Faith touched his lips to stop him. But he moved her hand away, and grabbed her forearm causing her to buckle forward close enough to land a kiss on her lips.
When Faith was finally able to get out of Bosco's grip, she touched her lips and looked back down at Bosco.
She smiled.
Bosco smiled back.
the end
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