Title: Through the Fire (2/6)

Author: X_tremeroswellian

Email: X_tremeroswellian@yahoo.com

Disclaimer: Not mine, but I wish they were. Okay, well, I don't wish Cr*z or Fr*d were mine. Ed Bernero can keep them ;)

Rating: PG-13 for language, violence and sexual content

Spoilers: Up through and including "Crime and Punishment II"

Summary: Sergeant Cruz's true plans for Bosco are finally revealed and they're not good. Will Faith be able to help him? Or will she be too busy trying to protect her own family?

Distribution: My site, Only Time

Category: Story

Subcategories: Drama/angst/friendship...could evolve into romance, but we'll see ;)

Feedback: Is essential to every writer. Helps keep the muses flowing.

Author's Note: I know I'm in the middle of writing "Between Time" and my 'There For You' series, but this story was demanding to be written and wouldn't leave me alone until I gave in.

Author's Note II: The song is "In the Air Tonight" by Phil Collins.

Dedication: For everyone who dislikes Sgt. Cruz as much as I do. This is not to confuse the wonderful actress, Tia Texada with her character.


* * *

And I can feel it coming in the air tonight, Oh Lord
I've been waiting for this moment for all my life, Oh Lord
I can feel it coming in the air tonight, Oh Lord, Oh Lord
And I've been waiting for this moment all my life, Oh Lord, Oh Lord

Well I remember, I remember don't worry
How could I ever forget
It's the first time, the last time we ever met
But I know the reason why
You keep your silence up
No you don't fool me
The hurt doesn't show; but the pain still grows
It's no stranger to you or me

And I can feel it coming in the air tonight, Oh Lord...

* * *

Through the Fire (Part Two)

"Is she okay? Is she awake?" Bosco demanded as he stood up and faced Nurse Proctor.

"Easy, Bosco. She's conscious and alert and none of her injuries are life-threatening."

"So she's okay?"

"She has a dislocated shoulder, a couple of cracked ribs, a mild concussion and a lot of cuts and bruises." She looked like she wanted to say something else, but she hesitated.

"Proctor?" he prompted.

"We're getting ready to run another test, but you can go in and see her before we begin." She wouldn't meet his eyes.

"Wait, what kind of test?" he asked, worried.

"Go talk to Faith," she answered, her voice low. She turned and walked toward the nurse's station.

Bosco stared after her for a long moment. Then he took a deep breath and walked down the hall to exam room #2. He squeezed his eyes shut tightly, leaned his head against the door, doubt flooding his mind. Would she even want to see him?

Without pondering the question too long, he raised his hand and knocked lightly.

"Come in," he heard her say.

Bosco swallowed hard, opened the door and stepped inside, his gaze instantly locking on her. He saw the surprise on her face that quickly changed into confusion. "Hey."

"Hey," she said back, staring at him.

He closed the door behin dhim, shoved his hands into his pockets. "How you feelin'?" he asked, wincing at all the bruises on her face and neck.

She dropped her gaze to the blanket covering her. "Looks worse than it is," she said with a shrug.

He nodded doubtfully. "Proctor said they were getting ready to do some other test?" He waited for her to respond and when she didn't, he said, "Faith?"

She lifted her gaze to his. "A rape kit."

Bosco felt like someone punched him in the stomach. For a moment he literally couldn't breathe, he simply stared at her in shock. "What?"

"Bosco--"

"You were--"

"No," she cut him off. "At least, I don't think so."

He swallowed hard and leaned heavily against the door. "Then why--"

"Just in case. Because I was unconscious for awhile."

"Faith, what the hell happened?"

She opened her mouth to respond when there was a knock on the door. It opened a moment later and he quickly moved to avoid getting hit. He turned and saw Proctor standing there, holding a box that contained the contents of the rape evidence collection kit. "Faith, are you ready?" she asked.

Faith closed her eyes momentarily, then opened them again. "Yeah."

Proctor glanced at Bosco. "You can wait out in the waiting room or the hallway. Unless you wanted him to stay," she said, looking at Faith.

Bosco turned to look at Faith, who shifted uncomfortably.

"No, it's fine, I'll be okay."

"Okay. I'll...be outside, waiting," he said quietly.

"Bosco?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you call and tell Fred that I'm okay?"

"You want me to have him come up here?"

"No. Not yet. Just tell him that I'm all right and that I'll call him as soon as I can."

Bosco nodded.

"Thanks."

"No problem," he told her.


Faith kept her eyes focused on the ceiling during the pelvic exam. The last forty minutes had been the most humiliating forty minutes of her life. In all the cases where she'd had to escort victims of sexual assault to the hospital to have a rape kit done, she'd never once had a clue what going through one was actually like.

First Proctor had collected the clothes she'd been wearing in case there were traces of semen or other DNA evidence on them. She'd placed them in a large plastic bag, along with the plastic gloves she'd been wearing when she took them from Faith. Then she had Faith stand in the middle of the room on a white sheet while she'd combed her hair and pubic hair with small black combs, which she'd placed in separate, labeled bags. Then Proctor had folded the sheet up and placed it in a plastic bag, as well. Then there were fingernail scrapings and blood samples taken, and then oral, anal and vaginal swabs done, all placed in separate air-tight containers in the rape examination kit box.

Proctor had had to call a doctor in to perform the pelvic exam since nurses weren't trained to do that. And since there were no female doctors working that night, Dr. Thomas had been called in.

"How are you doing, Faith?"

She swallowed hard and turned her head to see Proctor still standing beside her with a concerned look. The emotions reflected in the other woman's eyes brought all of her own emotions crashing down around her and she struggled to control them, blinking back tears as they formed. "I'm okay," she lied.

She wasn't okay; she was far from okay. She'd been brutally assaulted physically--if not sexually--by two men, two fucking *cops* from her precinct. The emotions whirled up within her and she was forced to look away from the sympathy the nurse was extending.

Faith closed her eyes tightly, willing herself to focus on breathing. She felt Proctor squeeze her hand gently. She'd forgotten that the woman had held her hand out when Dr. Thomas had come in and Faith had gripped onto her without really thinking about it, and had apparently been holding her hand ever since.

She was grateful for the nurse's calming presence, even though a few weeks ago, she'd commanded Bosco to arrest her. She winced at the memory.

That night had *not* been one ofher finest moments. In more ways than one.

Faith shoved the thoughts away when Dr. Thomas stood up. She opened her eyes and looked at him, feeling sick to her stomach as her heart thumped rapidly against her chest and she waited for the man to speak.

He gave her a reassuring smile. "I don't see evidence of any sexual activity."

She laid her head back against the pillow, letting out a breath she hadn't even realized she'd been holding. She said a silent prayer of thanks along with a promise that the next Sunday she didn't have to work, she'd go with her husband to church.

"I'd like to keep you here overnight, just to keep an eye on your head injury. If all goes well, you can be out of here by tomorrow evening."

Faith nodded slightly in agreement.

"Okay. I'll make sure that you're in a regular room within an hour or so. If you need anything, feel free to have one of the nurses page me," Dr. Thomas told her.

"Thank you," she said quietly.

He nodded and left the room.

Proctor squeezed her hand once more, then let go. "How's your shoulder feeling?"

"Sore," she answered.

The nurse nodded. "I'll see what we can do about getting you some more Vicadin. Are you ready to see Bosco?"

Bosco.

Faith felt her stomach clench once more. God, what am I going to tell him? she wondered, starting to feel a twinge of panic.

//"All you have to do is keep your mouth shut and pretend you never overheard that conversation that Sgt. Cruz had today. Because if you don't, I promise you that your daughter will pay the price. And there won't be a thing you can do to protect her."//

Fear washed over her. How was she going to protect her daughter and warn Bosco of the danger he was in? There had to be some way, but how?

"Faith?" Proctor's voice startled her out of her frantic thoughts.

She swallowed hard, a forced smile on her face. "Yeah, I'm ready," she said. The second lie she had told so far that night. How many more would she have to tell before all was said and done?

"Okay, I'll send him in." Proctor picked up the rape evidence collection kit box and left the room.

Faith pulled herself up with her uninjured arm so that she was in sitting position. Think, she commanded herself, running a shaky hand through her hair.

The detectives were sure to show up soon, not to mention all the questions that Bosco and Fred were going to have. She had to come up with some idea of what she was going to tell everyone. It wasn't like telling the truth was an option, not if she wanted to make sure her kids stayed safe. Because there was no doubt in her mind that Cruz would follow through on the threats her goons had made.

There was a knock on the door.

Time's up, she thought, her heart sinking.

"Come in," she said, her voice distant even to her own ears.

The door opened and she looked up to see Bosco lingering in the doorway, his gaze locked on her face. His hands were stuffed into his jean pockets, something he only did when he was nervous.

She saw the fear in his eyes and was thrown for a moment.

He looked like he watned to say something, but he remained silent. She could practically feel the tension he was feeling just by looking at him.

It suddenly dawned on her what he was wanting to ask, so she answered. "It was negative."

He released a breath. "They're sure?"

She nodded slowly. "There's no evidence that I was sexually assaulted."

Bosco closed his eyes. "Thank God," he muttered. He opened his eyes and looked at her again, walking closer to her bedside. "How ya feeling?"

"I've had better days," she replied, grimacing as her left arm ached.

"Should I get Dr. Thomas?" he asked immediately.

"No, I'm fine, the painkiller's wearin' off." She laid her head back against the pillow and gazed at him. He still looked nervous and uneasy and she knew he was trying to figure out what to do. She hadn't seen Bosco like that more than a handful of times in all the years they'd known each other, and every time she had it was when she or someone he cared about had been hurt in some way.

"Faith, what happened?" he asked finally, meeting her gaze.

She swallowed hard. Before she even had a chance to respond, she caught sight of movement in the doorway. Her eyes widened as her husband walked in, his face pale.

Bosco turned to see who she was looking at.

"Baby, are you okay?" Fred whispered, walking over to her. He reached out and touched the side of her face gently, wincing.

"Yeah, Fred, I'm fine," she said quickly with a forced smile.

"Are you sure? What did the doctor say?"

"It's nothing major. A couple of cracked ribs, a mild concussion, some cuts and bruises."

"Why's your arm in a sling?"

"Dislocated shoulder. They had to pop it back into place." She glanced at Bosco for a second and saw a pained expression on his face.

"They gonna keep you?" Fred questioned, worry in his tone.

"Yeah, just tonight for observation." Faith suddenly felt a new onslaught of anxiety take hold of her. "Where are the kids?"

"At home. Emily's with Charlie and I talked to Mrs. Hall and she said she'd keep an eye out in case they needed anything," he told her gently, brushing some hair out of her face. "What happened, Faith?"

At that moment there was another knock on the door. She glanced up and saw Detective Hall and Detective Newcastle.

Great, she thought.

"This a good time, Officer Yokas?" asked Detective Hall.

Faith drew in a deep breath. It's now or never, she thought, her mind trying to come up with answers to questions she knew they were going to ask. "Come in."

The detectives nodded to Bosco, who looked less than enthused to see them.

"How's anti-crime treatin' ya?" Detective Newcastle asked, chewing on a piece of gum.

"Can't complain," he answered shortly, folding his arms across his chest. He shifted his gaze to her again.

She couldn't look at him for long before focusing her attention on the detectives. Not if was going to be able to do this and make it believable. He'd see right through her.

"How are you doing?" Detective Hall asked, his tone quiet as he looked at her.

"I've had two kids. This is nothing," Faith said, not willing to let them think her weak. She'd worked too long and too hard at earning and keeping respect as one of the only female officers at the 55th to blow it now.

Hall smiled slightly and glanced at his partner.

"You okay to answer some questions?" Newcastle asked.

"Yeah," she answered, relieved that her voice was calm and steady compared to her emotions.

There was another knock on the door and everyone turned to look. The detectives were blocking her view of the doorway.

"What are you doing here?" Bosco asked, his eyes widened slightly and his eyebrows raised as he greeted the newcomer.

"I heard about what happened. Thought I'd come by, see how Officer Yokas was doing and offer my assistance with the case," a familiar voice said.

Faith narrowed her eyes as Sergeant Cruz walked over and stood beside him.

"Any help you can offer would be great, Sarge," Hall told her.

"Thanks," Bosco said quietly.

Cruz smiled at them. "No problem. Anything to help one of my own." She nodded to the detectives, then turned her gaze to Faith. "How are you?" she asked.

"Peachy. How are you?" Faith responded cooly, holding the other woman's gaze.

"Just hoping I can help put these bastards away."

Yeah, right, she thought, fighting to keep her anger under control.

"Can you tell us what happened, Faith?"

She forced herself to look at Detective Newcastle. "I was on the subway headed over to Officer Boscorelli's apartment because I needed to talk to him about something. When the car pulled to a stop at the 22nd Street Substation, I got my purse and stood up to get off. As I got to the door, I felt someone press a gun to my back." She watched her husband's face drain of color and she felt guilty. "He told me not to turn around and not to scream. He made me move onto the subway platform, then forced me to walk behind one of the stairwells."

The detectives exchanged a look, then Hall nodded for her to continue.

Faith bit her tongue and glanced up to see Cruz staring at her, her eyes narrowed, a warning look in their murky brown pools.

She felt a rush of of intense hatred for the woman and she shifted her gaze to Bosco momentarily.

He stood there, waiting for her to continue, a mixture of worry and anger in his blue eyes.

"He ordered me to hand over my purse. I refused," Faith lied.

"Why did you refuse?" Newcastle asked, confused.

"My badge and gun were in my purse. I was afraid they'd kill me if they found out I was a police officer."

"They?" Hall repeated.

Oh, fuck.

She thought quickly. "Yeah, the other one told the man with the gun to hurry up. That's when I realized there were two." She gazed at the detectives, trying to determine if they were buying it. She was relieved to see no hint of doubt on their faces, then chided herself for thinking there would be. Why would they have any reason to think she might be lying? She was a respected officer on the force with no real record or history of misdoings, and she'd been attacked. Of course they would believe her when she told them about her attackers. They had no reason not to.

"Go on, Faith," Newcastle urged.

She took a deep breath. "When I refused to hand over my purse, the guy tried to jerk it off my shoulder, and when that didn't work, he grabbed my arm and twisted it behind my back." She lifted her injured arm in its navy blue sling for illustration. "I tried to fight back, but he kicked my legs out from under me and kicked me in the ribs a couple of times. The next thing I knew I was waking up in the hospital." She swallowed hard, folded her hands and rested them on top of the blanket covering her.

"And you never saw either of the perps?" Hall questioned.

"No."

The detectives exchanged a look, then turned to her again. "We're gonna do everything we can to catch these bastards, Faith."

"Thanks, Barry," she said quietly. But good fucking luck. She lifted her gaze to her husband's face. He looked on the verge of crying and her stomach clenched. Dammit. She should have insisted he leave the room during the interview.

"Feel better," Hall told her as he and Newcastle left the room.

She watched them go and coughed suddenly, causing pain to radiate through her ribs.

"I'll go get some water," Fred said instantly, turning and leaving the room.

Faith's eyes moved to Cruz, who had a tiny smirk on her face. She narrowed her eyes, her hands clenching involuntarily.

"Your kids around here somewhere?" Cruz asked innocently, glancing around.

"No, they're not," Faith answered tensely.

"Too bad. I wanted to see if your daughter was okay." The sergeant shrugged lightly.

"Why wouldn't she be?" she challenged.

"After the bank robbery. Kids take stuff like that kind of hard. I hope she's all right," Cruz replied easily, her voice overly-sweet.

"She's fine." Faith locked gazes with her and refused to look away.

Cruz smiled. "Glad to hear it." She glanced at Bosco. "I'll see you at work in the morning." She looked at Faith again. "Hope you get out of here soon. Say hi to Emily for me." Without another word, she left the room.

She stared after the woman for a long moment until her view of the door was suddenly blocked as Bosco moved into her line-of-sight and stared at her. She lifted her gaze to meet his and her heart sank. She may have managed to fool the detectives and even her husband, but Bosco knew her too well. One look into his eyes and she knew that he knew she'd lied. She should have realized that he would see right through her the same way she always saw right through him when he wasn't being honest.

"Okay. So do you wanna tell me what really happened?" he asked, gazing at her steadily.

She swallowed hard and diverted her eyes. "I have no idea what you're talking about," she said, her voice low.

Bosco folded his arms across his chest. "Come on, Faith. Something's not right."

"Yeah, I was attacked and I'm laying in a hospital bed. Of course something's not right," she answered, trying to throw him off guard with sarcasm.

He narrowed his eyes. "Are you doin' this because of the whole thing with Miguel?" he demanded, an accusatory note to his tone.

Faith glanced up at him, startled that he'd brought that up. "No."

"Because that had nothing to do with you, you weren't working the case. It was none of your business, Faith!"

She stared at him, hurt by the harsh tone of his voice as he stared back at her. "Bosco, it has nothing to do with that." At least not directly, she thought.

"Right. I'm sure you're not pissed that I wouldn't fill you in on all the details for once. So what, I don't tell you everything about my life, so you don't tell me anything about yours?" He shook his head. "Oh, wait. That's how it's always been, hasn't it? I have to tell you everything, but you can leave out any details you don't think I need to know like the fact you had cancer!"

She opened her mouth to reply, but he cut her off before she had the chance.

"Well, you know what? I'm sick of it! I'm glad to be working anti-crime just so I don't have to be around you anymore. And the next time you need help, I won't be there." Without another word, Bosco turned and headed for the door.

How could she let him leave without trying to warn him of the danger he was in? An idea suddenly struck her. Tears in her eyes, she swallowed hard. "Bosco, wait!" she pleaded.

He stopped walking, but didn't turn around to look at her again.

A tear slid down her cheek and she reached up to brush it away before taking a deep breath. "You know how sometimes...sometimes it's really foggy outside? I mean, like really foggy, so bad you can't see anything. And you're in your car and you're driving and you come to this intersection. But the fog's so thick, you can't see if anything's coming from the other direction. You want to go on, but you're afraid of getting into a wreck. Sometimes you have to roll down your window and listen more carefully and pay really close attention because if you don't, you're gonna end up in a really bad car pile-up."

Bosco turned around to look at her, his eyebrows furrowed, a blank look on his face. "Faith, what the hell are you talking about?"

She met his gaze and held it. "I'm saying...listen more carefully, Bosco. Pay attention," she urged, her eyes pleading with him to understand.

They stared at each other for a long moment.

The door opened and Fred stepped inside. He walked over to her, a glass of water in his hand. He must have seen the tears in her eyes because he looked up and between her and Bosco. "Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine," she said softly, not moving her gaze from Bosco's. "Remember what I said," she whispered.

Bosco stared at her for another moment, then nodded his head slowly. Without another word, he turned and left the room.

Faith leaned back against the pillow, feeling her heart aching along with all of her physical pains.

"What's wrong, Faith?" Fred questioned, concerned as he reached down and picked up her hand.

"It hurts," she said softly.

"Your arm?"

She looked at him, a sad smile on her face. "That too," she whispered.