Disclaimer: No infringement to the true owners of Third Watch is intended. I am receiving no profit from the characters or situations of Third Watch. Disclaimer: I do not own or receive profit from the characters or situations of the television show Third Watch. I believe that Warner Brothers and possibly NBC get all of that stuff. I write this stuff exclusively for the fun of it!
It had been something of a bizarre call for all of those involved. In fact, they still were not sure of all the facets to this strange crime that had played itself out in the huge waterfront warehouse that was now swarming with police officers, paramedics and firemen. All they knew for sure was that drugs had been involved, a fire had started, and a hostage had been killed. Sully stood over the lifeless body of the young woman and silently wondered if she had had a family. A husband? Children? He allowed himself to wonder for only a little while and then protected himself by stopping the thoughts. He had been a cop long enough to know that empathizing with the victims could be harmful to his psyche.
Ty looked on the body, and Sully could see the same wondering thoughts behind the younger man's eyes. Ty was a good cop, but he didn't have all the survival instincts that Sully had obtained over the years. Sully walked over to his partner, took a sip of his coffee and then cleared his throat.
"C'mon, let's see if Faith and Bosco have found anything. The detectives will take it from here," he said as he distracted Ty by nudging him with his elbow. When Ty looked up, Sully saw a wounded look behind the other policeman's eyes.
"C'mon," Sully said again kindly. Ty sighed and then shook off the feeling of despair he had begun to feel. He had a job to do.
***
Carlos and Kim sat in a doorway away from the main shuffle of the investigation. They felt out of place here where the only victim that needed attending to was dead, but they had been notified by dispatch to stay at the warehouse until it had been completely cleared by the police. If any suspects were still in the building, additional injuries might be sustained and it was only safe for the two paramedics to remain on scene.
"Man, this is such a waste of time," Carlos muttered with exasperation. The warehouse had been cleared once by the cops, but some overzealous rookie had been sure that he had seen a figure fleeing a far, dark corner. Now here they were, waiting for the now obviously safe warehouse to be looked over a second time.
Kim silently agreed with Carlos, but she held her tongue. She didn't particularly care where she spent this shift as long as she got paid for it. She had taken an overtime shift to help compensate for Doc's absence as he recovered from the injuries he had sustained in the street-side basement last week. But she also needed the money, and if that meant she was forced to sit in a warehouse doorway sipping coffee and waiting for the cops to go over the area a second time, she'd take it.
Jimmy strolled by looking tired and sooty, and she nodded to him.
"Hey Jimmy. Where was the fire? We weren't here to see it."
Jimmy looked up to the open, second landing of the warehouse and motioned in its direction with a tired hand.
"Up there. It got a little hairy for a while, but it's over now." He noticed Kim's coffee and looked at it longingly. It was late, and his tired body craved the caffeine.
"Hey, can I have a sip?"
"Oh, sure. Here take it. I don't want anymore." Kim said as she handed over the cup of steaming coffee.
"Thanks." Jimmy replied and sipped it gratefully.
"Man, this is so boring!" Carlos exclaimed.
Kim noticed a ruckus going on in the center of the first floor of the warehouse. Bosco was yelling something unintelligible to Sully while Faith and Ty were attempting to hold him back. Kim smiled and felt her heart lighten a little as she realized that some things could always be counted on.
"Tell that to Bosco," she said and then laughed loudly.
Carlos shook his head with disgust.
"You know, he gets on my nerves," the paramedic said sharply.
Jimmy's smile joined Kim's laughter in response to Carlos' cynical statement.
"Who doesn't get to you, Carlos?" he asked and then discovered that he was genuinely curious.
"Well look at him!" Carlos yelled. "He's always in an uproar about something, and he's such a hothead."
Kim's laughter became lighter and louder.
"And you're not?!" she exclaimed sarcastically.
Carlos chose to ignore her comment.
"And you know, it's all a macho act. Did you know that he's afraid of the dark? I mean, a grown man, afraid of the dark," the young paramedic said, and a hint of revulsion tinged the tone of his voice.
"Bosco? Afraid of the dark?!" Kim asked with disbelief. "I need proof before I believe that one, Carlos," she stated and then turned her back on her companion.
"I'm serious! You should have seen him in that cellar last week when the flashlight went out. He was shaking in his boots!"
"Yeah, yeah," Jimmy said dismissively. "Is this just another of your tricks, Carlos?"
"I swear it's true! C'mon, I'll prove it to you."
"Where are you going Carlos?" Kim called out as the other paramedic began to walk the perimeter of the dark warehouse.
"Just c'mon! What else are we going to do while we wait for nothing to happen. I promise, it'll be fun."
A mischievous glint entered Jimmy's eyes and he shrugged.
"The fire's out, the building is pretty much cleared. He's right, we're just waiting around for nothing. C'mon, it'll be fun, and what's the harm?"
Knowing that she was being a bit unprofessional, but also aware that Jimmy was downright irresistible when he was being mischievous she followed her two companions.
***
Bosco was angry. He despised calls like this where an innocent was dead and those responsible had escaped. For that reason he fumed and hollered at anyone and anything in his path. When Sully and Ty had approached him and asked if he and Faith had seen anyone, he had gone off on the older officer. Some small part of him had realized that he was being unreasonable, but for the most part he had enjoyed the complete release that the shouting offered him. It had felt good to take his frustration out on an individual who was standing right in front of him and who had not disappeared into the shadows as their suspects had. He had stormed off to the far side of the warehouse, and as he had left he heard Faith apologizing to Sully for him.
Faith approached him now and regarded him with a mixture of irritation and concern.
"You know, Sully's a good guy. You shouldn't take it out on him."
He knew she was right, but he refused to admit it.
"I don't care!" he yelled. "He was questioning us like we were a two rookies who couldn't find our own guns in their holsters not to mention two disappearing suspects!"
"He was just asking a simple and reasonable question, Bozz! God will you just calm down! You're going to have a heart attack before you turn 35 at the rate you're going, do you know that!?"
He forced himself to calm down when he heard the exasperated tone to her voice. He realized that she was as upset by the outcome of this crime as he was, and so settled down a little bit so that she would have one less thing to worry at her mind.
"Okay, okay. I know you're right," he assured her.
"Damn straight I'm right. I'm always right," she said with a smile that she reserved only for her hotheaded partner.
He was about to respond when he heard Carlos call his name and beckon him over to where he, Kim and Jimmy stood with barely concealed anticipation. He shrugged to Faith and then sauntered over to where the paramedics and the fireman waited. Faith and her thoughts stayed where they were and turned to survey the disastrous scene of the warehouse crime gone bad.
The mischievous threesome had found an extremely dark storeroom closet that one of the cops had assured them had been thoroughly searched for both suspects and evidence. It had been cleared of both and thus was the perfect room for their plan. They stood by the room's doorway now and waited for Bosco to reach them.
"Hey Bosco," Carlos called out again. "Was this storeroom cleared? Kim and I have been watching the second search and didn't notice anyone check this room out."
Bosco strode up to the dark room and peered into it distrustfully.
"If you weren't sure that the room was cleared, what are you idiots doing standing right near it?" he asked with disgust. The three compatriots wisely chose to remain quiet, but they could scarcely contain their laughter.
Bosco shook his head and took his flashlight off his belt.
"Will you guys just stand back?!" he said with irritation. "What if there's a maniac waiting right behind that doorway?"
Jimmy, Carlos, and Kim made a fake move away from the doorway, but when Bosco proceeded to enter the room, they moved forward. Quickly they grabbed the police officer's flashlight, nudged him into the room, and pushed the door shut behind him. All three were laughing as they leaned heavily on the door to keep Bosco from exiting the room.
"You know, he's going to kill us," Kim said suddenly.
"You're probably right," Jimmy responded.
"Yeah, but it'll be worth it," Carlos said with a laugh.
Suddenly Bosco began to throw himself against the door of the room in an effort to budge it.
"Okay, this isn't funny guys," he yelled in a voice that was quickly becoming panicky.
"Hear that?" Carlos asked. "See, he's scared. A grown man who is a NY police officer no less...afraid of the dark!"
Jimmy and Kim laughed, and Bosco's yelling became louder and more desperate.
"Maybe we better let him out," Kim suggested.
Jimmy abruptly stopped laughing.
"You know, he really does sound upset," the fireman said.
"I think we'd better let him settle down first," Carlos said. "He still has his gun, you know."
Bristling with maternal instincts, Faith was suddenly looming over them. They had not even seen her coming towards them.
"What the hell do you three think you're doing?!" she yelled. As she did so, Bosco's efforts to open the door increased and his yelling became more frantic. Faith wasn't sure what was transpiring here, but she didn't like it. "Open that door and let him out!"
The three mischief-makers complied, and Bosco suddenly burst out of the room. His eyes were huge and frenzied, and he was visibly shaken. He took a deep, but shuddering breath before he lunged for the nearest exit from the warehouse.
Faith studied Carlos, Kim, and Jimmy angrily but said nothing for a moment.
"Are you all crazy?!" was all she could manage to say when she found her voice.
"Faith, we didn't think he'd get that upset," Kim said. She was clearly upset and regretful, but Faith would have nothing of it.
"Well that makes it all better!" she yelled.
"Honest, Faith. We didn't mean any harm," Carlos tried to placate her.
"Just stay away from him," Faith responded and strode out of the warehouse to find her partner.
She found him sitting in an alley adjacent to the warehouse. She kept her distance since she wasn't sure what to expect from her unpredictable partner, but she observed him intently. His back was to a wall that was wet and slimy and his hands were pressed to his head. His breathing was fast and heavy, and Faith was instantly concerned.
"Bozz? You okay?" she asked quietly.
He stood up at the sound of her voice and began to furiously pace up and down the alleyway.
"No, I'm not okay!" he yelled back angrily. "God! Are they idiots?! What the hell are they thinking? Who does that to someone? "
Faith realized that her partner was terrified and although she didn't completely understand why, she knew she would have to be careful. She stood quietly as Bosco ranted.
"Do they know anything about it? Do they know anything about closets and dark places? God! I'd like to see one of them spend all night locked in a closet while their mother was getting beat up! I'd just like one of them to know how that feels! They'd never pull a stupid stunt like that again!"
Suddenly realizing everything that had occurred when Bosco had been forced into the dark storeroom, Faith made a move towards him. But before she could get near him, she heard a gunshot echo loudly in the alley. She reached for her own weapon and dived behind a dumpster. Once there, she peered into the dim light of the alleyway and looked for her partner.
"Bosco!" she screamed.
The voice that yelled back to her was not her partner's, and the words it spoke chilled her to the bone.
"Clear out of here, or I swear to god he's dead!"
It had been something of a bizarre call for all of those involved. In fact, they still were not sure of all the facets to this strange crime that had played itself out in the huge waterfront warehouse that was now swarming with police officers, paramedics and firemen. All they knew for sure was that drugs had been involved, a fire had started, and a hostage had been killed. Sully stood over the lifeless body of the young woman and silently wondered if she had had a family. A husband? Children? He allowed himself to wonder for only a little while and then protected himself by stopping the thoughts. He had been a cop long enough to know that empathizing with the victims could be harmful to his psyche.
Ty looked on the body, and Sully could see the same wondering thoughts behind the younger man's eyes. Ty was a good cop, but he didn't have all the survival instincts that Sully had obtained over the years. Sully walked over to his partner, took a sip of his coffee and then cleared his throat.
"C'mon, let's see if Faith and Bosco have found anything. The detectives will take it from here," he said as he distracted Ty by nudging him with his elbow. When Ty looked up, Sully saw a wounded look behind the other policeman's eyes.
"C'mon," Sully said again kindly. Ty sighed and then shook off the feeling of despair he had begun to feel. He had a job to do.
***
Carlos and Kim sat in a doorway away from the main shuffle of the investigation. They felt out of place here where the only victim that needed attending to was dead, but they had been notified by dispatch to stay at the warehouse until it had been completely cleared by the police. If any suspects were still in the building, additional injuries might be sustained and it was only safe for the two paramedics to remain on scene.
"Man, this is such a waste of time," Carlos muttered with exasperation. The warehouse had been cleared once by the cops, but some overzealous rookie had been sure that he had seen a figure fleeing a far, dark corner. Now here they were, waiting for the now obviously safe warehouse to be looked over a second time.
Kim silently agreed with Carlos, but she held her tongue. She didn't particularly care where she spent this shift as long as she got paid for it. She had taken an overtime shift to help compensate for Doc's absence as he recovered from the injuries he had sustained in the street-side basement last week. But she also needed the money, and if that meant she was forced to sit in a warehouse doorway sipping coffee and waiting for the cops to go over the area a second time, she'd take it.
Jimmy strolled by looking tired and sooty, and she nodded to him.
"Hey Jimmy. Where was the fire? We weren't here to see it."
Jimmy looked up to the open, second landing of the warehouse and motioned in its direction with a tired hand.
"Up there. It got a little hairy for a while, but it's over now." He noticed Kim's coffee and looked at it longingly. It was late, and his tired body craved the caffeine.
"Hey, can I have a sip?"
"Oh, sure. Here take it. I don't want anymore." Kim said as she handed over the cup of steaming coffee.
"Thanks." Jimmy replied and sipped it gratefully.
"Man, this is so boring!" Carlos exclaimed.
Kim noticed a ruckus going on in the center of the first floor of the warehouse. Bosco was yelling something unintelligible to Sully while Faith and Ty were attempting to hold him back. Kim smiled and felt her heart lighten a little as she realized that some things could always be counted on.
"Tell that to Bosco," she said and then laughed loudly.
Carlos shook his head with disgust.
"You know, he gets on my nerves," the paramedic said sharply.
Jimmy's smile joined Kim's laughter in response to Carlos' cynical statement.
"Who doesn't get to you, Carlos?" he asked and then discovered that he was genuinely curious.
"Well look at him!" Carlos yelled. "He's always in an uproar about something, and he's such a hothead."
Kim's laughter became lighter and louder.
"And you're not?!" she exclaimed sarcastically.
Carlos chose to ignore her comment.
"And you know, it's all a macho act. Did you know that he's afraid of the dark? I mean, a grown man, afraid of the dark," the young paramedic said, and a hint of revulsion tinged the tone of his voice.
"Bosco? Afraid of the dark?!" Kim asked with disbelief. "I need proof before I believe that one, Carlos," she stated and then turned her back on her companion.
"I'm serious! You should have seen him in that cellar last week when the flashlight went out. He was shaking in his boots!"
"Yeah, yeah," Jimmy said dismissively. "Is this just another of your tricks, Carlos?"
"I swear it's true! C'mon, I'll prove it to you."
"Where are you going Carlos?" Kim called out as the other paramedic began to walk the perimeter of the dark warehouse.
"Just c'mon! What else are we going to do while we wait for nothing to happen. I promise, it'll be fun."
A mischievous glint entered Jimmy's eyes and he shrugged.
"The fire's out, the building is pretty much cleared. He's right, we're just waiting around for nothing. C'mon, it'll be fun, and what's the harm?"
Knowing that she was being a bit unprofessional, but also aware that Jimmy was downright irresistible when he was being mischievous she followed her two companions.
***
Bosco was angry. He despised calls like this where an innocent was dead and those responsible had escaped. For that reason he fumed and hollered at anyone and anything in his path. When Sully and Ty had approached him and asked if he and Faith had seen anyone, he had gone off on the older officer. Some small part of him had realized that he was being unreasonable, but for the most part he had enjoyed the complete release that the shouting offered him. It had felt good to take his frustration out on an individual who was standing right in front of him and who had not disappeared into the shadows as their suspects had. He had stormed off to the far side of the warehouse, and as he had left he heard Faith apologizing to Sully for him.
Faith approached him now and regarded him with a mixture of irritation and concern.
"You know, Sully's a good guy. You shouldn't take it out on him."
He knew she was right, but he refused to admit it.
"I don't care!" he yelled. "He was questioning us like we were a two rookies who couldn't find our own guns in their holsters not to mention two disappearing suspects!"
"He was just asking a simple and reasonable question, Bozz! God will you just calm down! You're going to have a heart attack before you turn 35 at the rate you're going, do you know that!?"
He forced himself to calm down when he heard the exasperated tone to her voice. He realized that she was as upset by the outcome of this crime as he was, and so settled down a little bit so that she would have one less thing to worry at her mind.
"Okay, okay. I know you're right," he assured her.
"Damn straight I'm right. I'm always right," she said with a smile that she reserved only for her hotheaded partner.
He was about to respond when he heard Carlos call his name and beckon him over to where he, Kim and Jimmy stood with barely concealed anticipation. He shrugged to Faith and then sauntered over to where the paramedics and the fireman waited. Faith and her thoughts stayed where they were and turned to survey the disastrous scene of the warehouse crime gone bad.
The mischievous threesome had found an extremely dark storeroom closet that one of the cops had assured them had been thoroughly searched for both suspects and evidence. It had been cleared of both and thus was the perfect room for their plan. They stood by the room's doorway now and waited for Bosco to reach them.
"Hey Bosco," Carlos called out again. "Was this storeroom cleared? Kim and I have been watching the second search and didn't notice anyone check this room out."
Bosco strode up to the dark room and peered into it distrustfully.
"If you weren't sure that the room was cleared, what are you idiots doing standing right near it?" he asked with disgust. The three compatriots wisely chose to remain quiet, but they could scarcely contain their laughter.
Bosco shook his head and took his flashlight off his belt.
"Will you guys just stand back?!" he said with irritation. "What if there's a maniac waiting right behind that doorway?"
Jimmy, Carlos, and Kim made a fake move away from the doorway, but when Bosco proceeded to enter the room, they moved forward. Quickly they grabbed the police officer's flashlight, nudged him into the room, and pushed the door shut behind him. All three were laughing as they leaned heavily on the door to keep Bosco from exiting the room.
"You know, he's going to kill us," Kim said suddenly.
"You're probably right," Jimmy responded.
"Yeah, but it'll be worth it," Carlos said with a laugh.
Suddenly Bosco began to throw himself against the door of the room in an effort to budge it.
"Okay, this isn't funny guys," he yelled in a voice that was quickly becoming panicky.
"Hear that?" Carlos asked. "See, he's scared. A grown man who is a NY police officer no less...afraid of the dark!"
Jimmy and Kim laughed, and Bosco's yelling became louder and more desperate.
"Maybe we better let him out," Kim suggested.
Jimmy abruptly stopped laughing.
"You know, he really does sound upset," the fireman said.
"I think we'd better let him settle down first," Carlos said. "He still has his gun, you know."
Bristling with maternal instincts, Faith was suddenly looming over them. They had not even seen her coming towards them.
"What the hell do you three think you're doing?!" she yelled. As she did so, Bosco's efforts to open the door increased and his yelling became more frantic. Faith wasn't sure what was transpiring here, but she didn't like it. "Open that door and let him out!"
The three mischief-makers complied, and Bosco suddenly burst out of the room. His eyes were huge and frenzied, and he was visibly shaken. He took a deep, but shuddering breath before he lunged for the nearest exit from the warehouse.
Faith studied Carlos, Kim, and Jimmy angrily but said nothing for a moment.
"Are you all crazy?!" was all she could manage to say when she found her voice.
"Faith, we didn't think he'd get that upset," Kim said. She was clearly upset and regretful, but Faith would have nothing of it.
"Well that makes it all better!" she yelled.
"Honest, Faith. We didn't mean any harm," Carlos tried to placate her.
"Just stay away from him," Faith responded and strode out of the warehouse to find her partner.
She found him sitting in an alley adjacent to the warehouse. She kept her distance since she wasn't sure what to expect from her unpredictable partner, but she observed him intently. His back was to a wall that was wet and slimy and his hands were pressed to his head. His breathing was fast and heavy, and Faith was instantly concerned.
"Bozz? You okay?" she asked quietly.
He stood up at the sound of her voice and began to furiously pace up and down the alleyway.
"No, I'm not okay!" he yelled back angrily. "God! Are they idiots?! What the hell are they thinking? Who does that to someone? "
Faith realized that her partner was terrified and although she didn't completely understand why, she knew she would have to be careful. She stood quietly as Bosco ranted.
"Do they know anything about it? Do they know anything about closets and dark places? God! I'd like to see one of them spend all night locked in a closet while their mother was getting beat up! I'd just like one of them to know how that feels! They'd never pull a stupid stunt like that again!"
Suddenly realizing everything that had occurred when Bosco had been forced into the dark storeroom, Faith made a move towards him. But before she could get near him, she heard a gunshot echo loudly in the alley. She reached for her own weapon and dived behind a dumpster. Once there, she peered into the dim light of the alleyway and looked for her partner.
"Bosco!" she screamed.
The voice that yelled back to her was not her partner's, and the words it spoke chilled her to the bone.
"Clear out of here, or I swear to god he's dead!"