Thanks so much for all the wonderful reviews. As promised, this chapter is really represented in two parts, I shaould have the second part up soon.

Thanks for reading and enjoy this chapter!

~Joey~

-A Fine Balance-

Chapter 10 A

The air was completely still, no one willing to make any sudden movements in fear of setting off another round of random gunfire. Sully and Davis held their positions, the rise and fall of their chests counting out the torturous seconds of agonizing indecision.

"Davis," Sully glanced apprehensively at his partner's bloodied arm, which had, to this point, been taking the least precedent in his list of concerns. "How bad are you hit? You okay?"

Davis looked at him with somewhat of a lost _expression for a few seconds before registering on what, exactly, Sully was referring to. As if reminded of a nuisance, he shrugged off the concerned questioning, "Yeah, it's nothing, I'm fine."

"It doesn't look like nothing," Sully replied, not raising his voice but communicating a deeper concern despite his recent neglect towards the issue at hand. "You sure?"

Ty felt slightly annoyed by Sully's motherly prying and shot him a look of disgust. "Sul, would I be standing here right now if that bullet did anything more than just grazed me?" he spat in irritation.

Sully raised his eyebrows in an implied 'excuse me' _expression, which Davis promptly ignored and focused his attention on manipulating the gun in his hands, trying to block out the slow, building ache that cramped his left arm.

"Sullivan, can you see anything from your angle?" the third cop asked, his composure much more evident than his rookie partner's.

Sully craned his neck around the perimeter of the door, carefully not allowing himself to expose too much of a target. "Nah," he answered, shaking his head with a hint of frustration, "I can't get a clear view to the front. Maybe we can work towards the side and see if there are any windows to get a glimpse through."

Davis nodded and immediately proceeded to inch his way towards the corner of the building, not once letting his hands loosen on the cold steal of his loaded weapon, his index finger pressing hazardously on the trigger.

The bitter cold was biting at his face and chest, not making his quest to take deep, steady breaths any easier. He quickly cast a glance over his shoulder, assuring himself that the other three -or at least two- capable officers still supported his decision to round the corner.

Despite his best efforts to remain a silent stalker of his prey, every carefully thought-out step broke the silence with the crunch of hard, frost covered snow separating beneath his feet. Davis cringed at the unavoidable noise, making an effort to creep forward on the balls of his feet to reduce the noisy giveaway.

He pressed his body against the sharply frigid steal and then quickly moved around the corner, eyes constantly surveying the land for any sign of a threat. Once he was almost certain he had been unspotted, his efforts were rewarded by the sight of a large, square window only feet away from his current position.

"Sul," he whispered into his radio without removing his stare from the glass pane, "There's a window about halfway down the side of the building. I'm gonna see if I can get some sort of view of"

Davis' quiet transmission was rudely interrupted by another rapid round of untamed bullets. He instinctively dove to the ground in the direction of the other officers, who were safely positioned around the corner, an obvious blind spot to their assassin.

"Davis!" he heard his name screamed by his frightened partner.

Davis was suddenly blinded by the backlash of snow that had been propelled through the air by bullets that were colliding with the ground mere inches from his face. Fear consumed his mind, playing with his better sense and adding to his feeling of hopelessness, leaving him incapacitated in the ferocity of the moment.

A firm, strong grasp latched onto his forearm and roughly yanked his body forward across the rough, frozen ground.

"Jesus Christ! Where the hell did he come from?!" Sully screamed, no longer concerned about keeping a quiet, undetected profile.

Davis gasped, unable to formulate a response for his partner's distraught question. The burning sting on his face and in his eyes was completely overridden by the relief coursing through his trembling body.

Sully shook his head, lowering his chin into his chest while letting out a breath that he was unaware he had been holding, "We're in way over our heads."

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

Faith reached out and absentmindedly placed a hand on Bosco's shoulder, but remained focused on the scene in front of them, her concern for her partner only taking a backseat to her inquisitiveness as to what deadly actions had transpired over the last few minutes.

She couldn't see any officers other than those who had just arrived, and she dreaded that those on the scene already, might have been the intended targets of the recently fired bullets. The setting appeared to be frozen; no one was making any move to pursue their objectives any further. The silence was accentuated by quiet, but clearly deciphered, gasps coming from her partner.

"Bos?" she gently whispered, his obvious suffering and loss of control stealing her attention from the whirlwind of thought racing through her uneasy mind.

He didn't respond. His eyes, unfocused and glassy, were clouded with fear and uncertainty. His defenseless posture conveying his terror for his sudden loss of words and poise.

Bosco felt his good knee go weak and he gripped onto the hood of the car before his leg completely gave way under the weight of his body. Immediately, there were hands around his waist, assisting in supporting his trembling form. He heard himself gasp, but the small, forced intact of oxygen only seemed to fuel the continual burn in his lungs, resulting in another wave of sharp pains to shoot through his battered ribs and back.

Without any notion of how the events actually took place, Bosco came to the realization he was sitting on the hard, frozen ground, his eyes coming into focus on his outstretched legs which were precariously resting on a pile of freshly fallen snow.

He reflexively gasped again, the pain increasing to such a level of intensity that he could feel nausea building in the pit of his stomach. Wrapping his arms tightly around his aching body, he moaned slightly and tried again to take another breath, despite the obvious increase in discomfort it would stimulate.

Faith's voice broke through Bosco's haze of perplexity and direct confusion, causing him to jolt back into the dreaded world in which he had gratefully escaped for even just a few gratifying moments. He struggled once more to inhale deeply and satisfy the craving burn in his oxygen-depleted lungs.

Faith was glaring it him with a mix of concern and curiosity, her eyes staring determinately at her struggling partner.

Bosco swallowed, trying desperately to shake off the overwhelming sheet of panic that threatened to snap his last shred of sanity that he was relying on and clinging to for dear life.

"Iuh."

A fleeting look of relief brushed across Faith's features, "Are you okay? You just sort of collapsed?"

"Yeah," Bosco whispered, trying to avoid eye contact at all costs while bracing his arm against the ground to use as a support while he struggled back to his feet.

Faith grabbed her partner's elbow to substitute as the foundation for most of his weight while he attempted to arrange his feet underneath him.

Before Faith could begin questioning Bosco on his sudden crumble, another series of spitting gunshots imposed its presence on her thoughts.

Bosco shook off Faith's grip on his arm and resumed his position against the hood of the truck. He squinted his eyes against the blinding sun reflecting off the sleek veil of snow covering every inch of the surrounding ground. When no movement could be detected, Bosco glanced over his shoulder slowly, careful not to aggravate his tension-cramped muscles.

He jumped at the sudden, sharp sounds of bullets that once again were being fired at the unknown, his heart sinking further into the depths of despair, his hands automatically clenching at fear and anger, knowing that the chances of his mother being returned alive were slimming with every new bullet that was released from its chamber.

Silence resumed once again, but was short-lived, broken by the sound of rolling tires coming up from behind them. Bosco snapped his head to the left again to see three unmarked vehicles come to a stop only a few feet behind Faith's truck.

TBC I'm almost done part B and it should be up shortly enough. Thanks for reviewing ;)