I am so sorry for taking so long to update this story. My vacation kind of snowballed and before I knew it, it had been three and a half weeks since I last wrote. Good news though, I am back and I am refreshed and ready to finish this story.

I want to thank everyone that was so supportive despite my little leave of absence and I can only hope that I can return the favor with some decent writing. I do want you to know though, that your support means so much to me and really is the major contributing factor to my motivation to continue. Thanks again.

And Sarah, you make every chapter possible and I cannot reiterate this enough, THANK-YOU SO MUCH!

Enjoy, my friends!

~Joey~

-A Fine Balance-

Chapter 8

Bullets were released from every direction - each officer firing at the unknown with no distinct direction or destination for the dangerous pieces of shrapnel.

Ty felt the presence of an enormous pressure that forced him to the ground with such intensity, that he wasn't sure when his body would be able to regain the compulsory function of breathing. The sharp, deafening noise of bullets missing the soft target of a body, and connecting with random pieces of metal, filled the previously tranquil air, accompanied by the occasional scream of terror or pain. The two sounds nearly inseparable, but distinctly different in their deliverance.

Gradually, the firing slowed and finally ceased. No one made any move to investigate, each person taking the necessary time to assess and survey the damage. Davis lifted his head and attempted to straighten his body, which retorted when he pulled his arms away from his stomach. He glanced from one arm to the other, his eyes settling on the wet patch of fabric, saturated by blood.

He froze in fear, completely unsure of the depth of his injury, but also not willing to take any unnecessary chances that could possibly cause more extensive damage.

The other three officers were also beginning to withdraw from their respective trances, all at different speeds and all consumed by different levels of fear-induced, paralyzed states. Sully had quickly been convinced that if he had suffered any injuries, none were serious enough to warrant any further attention, and he started scanning the room to check on the others, starting with Davis.

Sully followed his partner's eyes to the wound that had captured his attention. Its positioning didn't look too bad, but it was often hard to tell through the clothing. He shifted his glance back to Davis' eyes in an attempt to read just how severely hurt the young cop was - not wanting to verbalize his questions in fear that they were still being hunted from above.

Davis' eyes were wide with fear, then quickly narrowed in disgust, as if he had been insulted in the worst possible way. Had the circumstances not been so tenuous, Sully would have laughed at his partner's sudden change in demeanor, knowing that Davis had come to the conclusion that the wound would not be his doom, but rather a pain in the ass.

Sully looked to the other two officers, who each made eye contact, neither looking like they were facing death. Convinced that he had enough functional manpower to pursue their attacker further, Sully slowly pulled his feet underneath him, not relieving his eyes from the staircase above.

The others all followed his lead. The only sound that could be heard was the click of empty clips being replenished.

Sully took two careful steps towards the stairs, waving his right arm towards his back, gesturing to the others to form an allegiance directly behind him.

As he was completing his third step towards his destination, Sully jumped at a voice coming from above, breaking the eerie silence.

"DON'T!"

All four officers froze, no one was able to see above the halfway point of the staircase, assuring the anonymity of their attacker.

"I swear I'll shoot her! Don't come any closer!"

Davis nudged Sully from behind, and the two officers at the front of the line lowered their weapons in response to the threat.

"Drop your weapons…" there was a slight pause in the man's erratically voiced demand, "Do it, or I swear I'll kill her!"

Sully bent his knees, purposely leaning over as far as possible, trying to use the movement to his advantage and hopefully catch a glance of the perp.



With a subtle shift of his eyes, Sully was able to capture a quick, albeit clear, look at the man standing at the lip of the top step. He was a middle-aged, white man with what looked like some sort of ancient piece of artillery - something that would usually be spotted in an antique shop. Sully was often at the receiving end of jokes referring to his choice of gun, a little six-shooter that he had been using for as long as he could remember, but this guy had him beat.

Realizing that the man could probably only see his feet, and maybe Davis', from his position at the top of the stairs, Sully carefully turned around and motioned to the fourth officer in line, to tip-toe outside and call for help. The cop, who didn't look much older than 20, seemed relieved and spun around, immediately retreating towards the back door.

**********************

"WHAT?"

Bosco felt a chill sweep from his feet through his chest and settle with a bang in his already pounding skull.

He spun as fast as he could to at least view Faith's facial expression, seeing as how she was far too engaged in the news to take a moment to inform him on what events could be so shocking.

Faith felt her jaw slacken and then noticed that Bosco was analyzing her every expression. She abruptly shut her mouth and turned her back to her partner, providing her a little time to regain her composure before she had to break the news.

Bosco watched Faith reach behind her back to hang up the phone, and waited for an endless eternity for her to turn around. Faith didn't appear to be making any such movement and Bosco found himself beyond frustrated, yet unable to form words to ask her questions… or yell at her for delaying the inevitable.

"Bos, that was Swersky."

Bosco felt a lump forming in his throat and hot tears stinging his eyes, threatening to spill. Did he really want to know?

"They know where your mom is." Faith finally turned around, to find that Bosco had resumed his previous position, his back now turned to her.

"And?" Bosco asked unsteadily, raw emotion present and unavoidable in his quiet question. He found his chest had tightened to an extent that made it difficult to breathe, a sensation that was not foreign to him by any means.

Faith walked around the front of the table, suddenly feeling courageous enough to face her obviously upset partner.

"Bos," she said softly, while sitting on the coffee table in front of him. His chin was against his chest, eyes set on his hands which were fidgeting nervously in his lap. "She's alive."

An audible, shaky sigh immediately followed the statement. Faith cleared her throat, not wanting her partner to feel too relieved only to experience the despair and disappointment that would undoubtedly accompany her next sentence.

"That's not it, Bos."

Bosco made a move to wipe away any stray tears that might have escaped his lids, despite his greatest efforts to suppress them. He blinked a couple of times to clear his vision, and then looked towards Faith, his eyes swimming with a unique mix of curiosity and anxiety.

"What? What else? Where is she?"

"She's…" Faith fumbled with her choice of words, simply trying to avoid inspiring any false hope in her vulnerable partner, "She's in her apartment."

Bosco was getting frustrated, unable to see how the news could be considered good, bad or indifferent.

"But she's not alone."

As calmly and carefully as possible, Faith attempted to relay the information Swersky had given her. Bosco's expression was unreadable. His brain was on sensory overload and he couldn't quite place his feelings and thoughts in any sort of order that would allow him to form sentences.

"Bosco," Faith interjected, interrupting his disorganized thoughts, anger and impatience consuming her voice to form a verbal slap on her partner. She recognized her uncalled-for harshness, and modified her tone to sound more understanding, "Talk to me, please. Tell me what you're thinking."

"I'm thinking we gotta go," he stated, promptly dragging his failing body into a standing position, and making his way to the door.

Faith watched, wondering if she should object, but ended up nodding with a sigh, "Okay."

*****************************

Sully felt a nudge from behind, and resisted the urge to slap Davis. This was one of those times where it paid to wait. Being glory hungry in this situation, would only result in more bullets.

Davis noticed the sideways glare he got from Sully in response to his prodding. He couldn't understand why they weren't doing anything. Surely, something had to be done… he just had no idea what, exactly.

"Where is he? What have you done with him?"

The questions were spoken in a shrill, emotionally wrought voice, and both Sully and Davis shot each other questioning glares.

"Who are you talking about, sir?" Sully was happy to simply stall until ESU made it's grand entrance, but he was quite curious as to what the lunatic was referring to. Perhaps he was convinced some aliens had stolen his baby or best friend. At least the mental instability would explain why he was holding some innocent woman hostage in her apartment after trashing her bar.

"He said he was coming back to get me. What did you do to him?! Where have you taken him?! He would have come back unless you had taken him!"

Sully recognized that the guy was getting a little too passionate, and passion usually resulted in stupidity… which in turn meant more bullets. He held out his arm and pushed Davis back a little before resuming the conversation with the perp in as calm a voice as he could muster, "I'm sorry, sir, I don't know what you are talking about. Who didn't come back?"

"She TOLD me! She told me her son was a cop. I know you've got him. If you don't return him, perfectly safe and sound, I WILL kill her!"

Davis shuddered at the crude remark. 'Please let ESU get here soon,' he thought to himself.

"You're going to have to tell me who you are talking about, sir."

"MY SON!"

TBC. Thanks so much to those of you reviewing. It means a lot to me ;)

And careful, don't jump to conclusions as to where this is going. I know it's been a while but think back to the beginning…