If you had asked me a year ago what I thought about street patrol I would have said it was fine but I longed for real police work. Today, my feelings on that have changed. I'm not saying whether that will change but for now, I'm happy working with Faith again.happy being partners.happy being friends.

Part of being friends includes knowing another person as well as or sometimes better than you know yourself. Faith is good at that. She knows me like the back of her hand. She knows when things are good and she knows when it's not so good.and she know when I've screwed up. She knows when I need to talk and she lets me know without pressuring me to do so.

Lately, I've felt that there's something on her mind.something she wants to talk to me about. But, so far she's kept it to herself. Today, however, was another day and maybe today she'll talk.

She was wrong about me...okay maybe not wrong just a little off. It took longer than a week for me to start ducking calls. I remember the day. It was our eighth day back as partners. I hadn't done it for myself. I just thought that she was close to opening up and I wanted her to have every opportunity without some stupid ass interrupting. But, instead of talking to me about whatever was on her mind she responded to a call and we were on our way to some dumb domestic call.

The bond that Faith and I share is still there. It's probably still very strong. It could be stronger if she'd only talk to me about whatever is on her mind. It reached a point that last night, I mentioned it to Nicole. The two of them have talked on occasion. I know there was a time that Faith didn't care for Nicole but since she was able to get through to me about the Cruz situation, they seem more open to one another. Nowhere near to what I'd call best friends or even close friends but more cordial.

Lately, I've thought a lot about Faith and me and all the stuff we've been through; partly because I've struggled with trying to get her to talk to me. She talks, don't get me wrong. I just wish she'd talk to me about what's bothering her.

So, like I said, last night Nicole met me after work. We went out for a beer. While we were sitting there, Nicole asked me what was wrong. I avoided the question but then Nicole and Faith have one thing in common; they're both women. Great observation don't you think. So, I told her what little I knew. Maybe it's a girl thing I'd said. Maybe she'd talk to Nicole.

We'd decided that I would ask Faith is she wanted to go for a drink. Once there, Nicole would join us. I'd leave the two of them alone to go call my ma and Nicole would hopefully get Faith to open up. She'd suggested that maybe I should wait til Faith had a beer or two. She might open up more after a beer.

During our shift, it started snowing. At first it was just light snow but over the next hour, it got heavier. Faith and I returned to the station so she could change from her wet shoes to her boots. I waited in the RMP. As I sat there waiting, my mind wandered back to our most recent call. It'd been a domestic call.a rather stupid fight between some guy and his wife. Something about that call stuck in my mind. While Faith was inside, it hit me. When she returned, my suspicions were confirmed. Something had been different about my partner. Something was missing. That something was a wedding ring. I swallowed hard, trying to conceal my thoughts while I figured out what to do.what to say.

The rest of the night we fielded call after call...mostly traffic accidents involving people who had no valid reason to be on the streets. On nights like this I wondered why people who be out in weather like this. I was baffled why parents would drag small children out into this weather. What could possibly be that important?

Our shift ended, just not soon enough for me. Still, it was too soon. The number of calls had distracted me from my earlier discovery and I still had no idea what to say to Faith.

As we got out of the car, something struck me. Unlike a thought this was wet and cold and was followed by another that whizzed past my head. I looked over my shoulder to see Jimmy and D K laughing their asses off. Six weeks.that's all it took. Six short weeks and life was back to normal. As normal as life got for Camelot.

I ducked behind the RMP, scraping snow from the hood of the car. Packing it into a snowball, I turned my attention back on the bucket boys. Ty soon joined me as Sully headed inside. We circled around parked cars, squatting down between two as we zeroed in on our targets. Ty, two cars over, came up firing, three snowballs smacking into Doherty's head. Our plan would have worked if it had not been for two small problems. One was Taylor, the other Zambrano. I'd failed to see the bus return. In the time Ty and I roamed between cars, the two paramedics had been right behind us. While Ty was bombarding Doherty with snowballs, Alex and Kim tackled me. Standing on snow covered ground without my boots, they caught me off guard. My feet went out from under me as the two of them tumbled on top of me.

Ty and I weren't the only ones circling around. D K had done so as well. On the steps of the precinct, he grabbed an unsuspecting female. As I brushed a face full of snow from my eyes, I zeroed in on a sudden scream. It wasn't a frightening scream but rather one from my partner being taken hostage by a firemen.

As I packed a snowball, Doherty did the same. I came up ready to fire to hear only to hear his threat.

"Put it down Bosco or she gets it," he replied, a snowball aimed right for Faith who was laughing so hysterically I'd forgotten all about Kim and Alex who once again knocked me to the ground.

Our rescuer would be none other than a tall blond dressed in a fur coat and obviously little else. Ty began bombarding Alex and Kim from behind, sending the two of them back to the firehouse. With the two of them gone, I made a daring rescue attempt for my partner. Okay so she took care of the two of them herself with a little help from Nicole. Either way, Doherty and D K were getting an eyeful. As Nicole worked her magic, I grabbed Faith from their clutches. The two of us made our escape, ducking inside the station.

It was fifteen minutes later when I reappeared, somewhat warmer and a whole lot dryer. Faith hadn't been buried in snow as I had so she hadn't taken quite as long to change. I found her on the steps outside with Nicole. I stood in the doorway for a minute or so just listening to the two of them laugh. For a moment, I'd forgotten all about the missing ring.

Seeing me in the doorway, the two of them got to their feet. Faith took one look at me and started laughing.

"I don't believe you let two girls take you down," she replied, Nicole laughing with her.

"So this is the thanks I get for rescuing you?" I asked, doing my best to appear hurt.

"Rescuing you? From where I was standing it looked like you needed rescuing," Faith replied.

"Obviously it was a traumatic experience tonight and your thoughts are a little clouded," I explained surprisingly while keeping a straight face.

Nicole glanced at her watch, suddenly deciding she had somewhere to be.

"Call me later," I replied as she gave me a quick hug before taking off.

"Thanks for your help tonight," Faith called after her. Nicole turned, waving as she smiled and then laughed.

"So you want a ride home," I questioned Faith.

"You offering?" she asked.

"I can't very well leave you out here on your own. You never know when you might be taken hostage again."

Faith couldn't hold back a laugh when I mentioned the word 'hostage'.

"Oh no Bos. We couldn't have that now could we? I'll take that ride but I'm only agreeing because I'd hate for you to get attacked again by two maniac out of control women."

"No big deal," I replied with a shrug. "Happens all the time. I'm used to it."

Faith and I made our way to my car. I was happy just hearing her laugh although I knew that was probably just a cover. Inside she was probably a range of emotions. I had no plans that night, just planned on being with Faith. With any luck, she'd talk to me.tell me what was going on in her life.what happened between her and Fred.and why she was no longer wearing a wedding ring. I didn't want to pressure her but something told me that I wouldn't have to. Nine years, five days a week, eight hours a day.you think I'd know her by now wouldn't you? I was about to find out.

to be continued..