Back for awhile. I'm writing like there's no tomorrow, and I promise to chapter whenever I can.

Enjoy!

'You're early today, Bosco.'

'Yeah.'

Faith tightened her gunbelt around her waist and checked that her nightstick was in place. She had a feeling she was going to need it.

'You think we're going to have more luck tonight?'

'Yeah.'

Sully shut his locker. 'What's up with you, Bosco? No smartass remarks today?'

'Buzz off, Sullivan.'

'I'll take that as a no. See you guys in roll call.' He walked out, his partner following. Shaking her head, Faith grabbed her hat and jacket.

'Come on, Bos. We'll be late.'

He was oddly silent as they emerged from the station house to pick out their cruiser. Faith was a little unnerved by this but refrained from commenting. It was natural he'd be worried about his brother. For all his bluster about not caring, she knew he did. She started the vehicle and turned on the roof lights to make sure none of the bulbs had burnt out. Bosco checked out the cage behind the front seats. Sometimes odd things got lodged in between the barrier and the metal that held it up.

'All set?'

'Yeah.'

She nodded silently and got into the driver's seat. It was apparent to her that his mind was too much on other things to focus on driving. He plopped himself into the vehicle without a word.

'You think he'll be around Fifth Avenue?'

'Maybe.'

'We'll find him.' Faith said, hoping she sounded more confident than she felt. Mikey could be nearly impossible to find if he didn't want to be found.

'What do I tell Ma?'

'What is there to tell her?'

'If we don't find Mikey. What do I tell her if, he's the next body we find in an alley somewhere. What do I say when I have to tell her that I couldn't protect my own brother from the people he knows?'

Faith glanced over quickly and saw that he was staring at a point somewhere ahead of the RMP. 'You won't have to tell her anything like that. We'll find him, safe and in one piece. I promise.'

'Don't.' Bosco looked at her. 'Don't promise me anything. Especially not about things you can't make come true.'

'I – Bosco, nothing is going to happen to your brother. Okay?'

'Yeah.'

She gave up and sighed. They had to find Mikey.

'NYPD, open up.' Bosco rapped at the door with the butt of his nightstick, sounding bored. Faith waited a couple of paces behind him. They were responding to their third domestic disturbance in nearly two hours. The last two had been resolved without any arrests or charges. Sadly typical, Faith thought. The evidence was painfully evident, but nothing ever got done to put a stop to it.

'Open up!'

Again silence from within. Her partner rolled his eyes and sighed. If there was anything he hated more than stupid criminals, it was people wasting his time. He started to turn away from the door in disgust when there was a loud crash from inside the apartment. Somebody starting screaming obscenities over the noise of a child crying.

Bosco's face turned to stone as he wheeled around and planted his boot against the door. 'Police! Get on the floor!' He yelled, nightstick in hand and Faith right behind.

The living room was chaos. A shattered vase lay in pieces on the carpet and there was evidence of other broken items scattered around the room. The woman was curled up in a ball on the couch, blooding leaking from numerous cuts on her face and hands, likely from the glass vase. The man was standing over her, fist raised. His intentions were clear. With one last shout of "Police!", Bosco darted forward and swung his nightstick.

The woman screamed as the man fell in a heap, both hands grabbing at his knee. She came to her feet with startling speed and lunged at Bosco. Faith caught her and pulled her back, doing her best to calm the woman down. Bosco stared down at the man on the floor.

'I said get down, jag-off.'

'Don't hurt him! He didn't mean it! Don't hurt him!'

Bosco looked up at the woman and Faith was saddened by the anguish in his eyes. ' "Don't hurt him"? Lady, he stays here, you're gonna get smacked around again. You really want that?'

'He didn't mean it, he's just angry at me, it's all my fault!'

'Yeah, those bruises and cuts all over you are all your fault.' Bosco prodded the moaning heap on the floor with the end of his nightstick. 'Get up, you're going to jail.'

'Nooo! Don't take my Harry, he's not bad – '

'Shut up,' Bosco muttered, reaching down to haul the man to his feet. 'C'mon, jag-off, there's a nice seat in our car waitin' for you.' He slapped the handcuffs on the man's wrists and gave him a hearty shove toward the door. 'Move it.'

Faith released the sobbing woman, who sank to the floor. Without a word, she followed her partner out the door, taking care to pull it shut behind her.

'Feeling better now?'

'Yeah.'

'That really wasn't necessary.'

'What? Giving that guy a little tap on the knee?'

'That and arresting him.'

'Come on, Yokas. He was asking for it.'

'How?'

'What, you didn't see the guy standing over her with his hand back? If we hadn't gone in, it would've just gone on and on. It always does.'

'You know she'll just bail him out.'

'That's her problem, not mine. I've done my job and locked him up. Maybe that will be enough to shake him up.'

Faith just shook her head. There was rarely any use in arguing. She just kept walking, alert for anything suspicious. Mikey had to know they were looking for him. They'd mentioned his name enough the day before that word was sure to have spread like wildfire.

A piercing whistle rent the air, its source hidden by the press of people on the sidewalk. Bosco was instantly on alert, scanning the sea of faces for the whistler. The whistle came again and Faith saw somebody bolt away from a small paper bag that was lying against some stairs.

'Bosco, a runner!'

'I got him!' He was already flying away down the street, pushing people out of the way. She knew she wouldn't be able to keep up and ran instead for the RMP parked a couple blocks back.

There was no sign of Bosco or the skel he had been chasing when she brought the cruiser to a sharp halt near where they had first spotted him. A little irritated, she flicked off the siren and cruised around the corner. People paused to stare at the flashing roof lights, then continued on their way. Come on, Bosco, where are you?

She got her answer when he bolted straight into traffic, hard on the heels of the runner. Screeching brakes and blaring horns marked their passage across the busy street. Faith cranked the wheel around hard and pulled into the space left by the stopped traffic. If she was lucky, she could cut the guy off before he got to the other side of the street.

There was a flash of motion on the left side of the cruiser. Faith flinched and stomped on the brake pedal as the runner ploughed full-on into the vehicle and tumbled across the hood. She stared through the windshield, her heart racing at the shock, for several long moments. Bosco pounded to a stop in front of the RMP and grabbed the man's jacket to haul him up.

'That'll teach you to run from the police. Get over here.'

'Take it easy, Bos. He might be hurt.'

'So what? He didn't hit that hard. He'll be fine. Where's Mikey Boscorelli?'

'I don't know!'

'That's not an answer.' Bosco pressed the man's sweating face into the heated metal of the cruiser's hood. 'Where's Mikey Boscorelli?'

The man cried out and struggled to push away from the hood. 'Madison Avenue! By the bridge!'

'What building?' Bosco demanded, keeping the man's face down.

'Bosco, stop. He's getting burnt!'

'It's an apartment. Just around the corner from Fifth. 1126, Apartment 3A.'

'That better be accurate.'

'Enough, Bosco.'

'Get outta here.' Bosco pulled the man upright and gave him a shove. 'I wouldn't hang around, if I were you, if you're lyin' to me.'

The man staggered off, one hand pressed against the side of his face that had touched the cruiser's hood. There was a smirk on Bosco's face as he walked round the RMP to drop into the passenger's seat. Faith remained on her feet, oblivious to the incessant pinging sound that announced the driver's door had been left open. She was a little shocked at Bosco's tactics. He wasn't usually that… what word best fit how he was acting? Reckless? Ruthless, maybe? But this is about his brother…

'Are we goin' or not?'

His impatient question jolted her back to reality. She realised that people were staring and she got back into the cruiser quickly. 'Yeah, we're goin'.'

The RMP rolled to a stop outside the apartment building. Both officers inside in looked up at the shabby building tucked in between well-kept structures.

'What a dump.' Bosco muttered, and Faith was inclined to agree. Someone had done a sloppy paint job on the street-facing side of the building. The old paint showed through patches of the top layer, giving the building a polka-dot look.

'All right, let's go.'

Faith let her partner get out first. 'Five-Five David to Central. We'll be 10-89 for a house-call.'

'Ten-four,Five-Five David. 10-89 at 1623.'

'Bosco, wait up.' Faith trotted after her partner, who was already at the front door of the apartment building. He waited long enough for her to get within two paces, then elbowed open the door and vanished inside. She sighed and hurried after him.

Halfway up the second flight of stairs, they heard a distinctive pop. Instinctively, the pair crouched down, weapons sliding automatically out of holsters. Bosco crept up the stairs, cautious now, his partner right behind. Like always. He thought.

'Five-Five David to Central, shots fired at this location. 1126 West 138th. Request backup.'

'Ten-four, David.'

Faith moved up the stairs, carefully to avoid making too much noise.

'Five-Five Charlie en route. ETA three minutes.'

'Ten-four Charlie.'

Third floor landing. The two officers spread apart, covering the hallway as they advanced. The apartment they were looking for was at the far end. Finding cover if a shoot-out erupted would be next to impossible. Faith swallowed a tiny seed of fear and touched her chest, reassuring herself that she'd remembered to strap on her vest.

There was another shot, much louder and closer this time. In the distance, sirens were wailing. By the time Sully and Davis got on-scene, she hoped that the situation would be defused.

The two officers reached the door and flanked it. There wasn't any sound from within. Bosco drove his shoulder into the thin wood of the door, which splintered easily. He and Faith stormed into the living room, both shouting at the startled occupants to get on the floor. One man was already down, two bullet holes in his middle. The others were yelling at the officers, who were yelling at them. Somebody jumped to his feet, swinging his arm up. There was a third pop. The yelling continued as the man toppled backward onto the couch. Faith heard someone shouting into a radio, calling for a bus, and realised that she was hearing herself make the call. Bosco was covering the occupants, finally facedown on the carpet. Sully and Davis were there, searching each man for hidden weapons. When did they get here? They're supposed to be three minutes out.

'Yokas.'

She became aware of her racing heartbeat. The adrenaline was pumping through her veins, lending her energy. Have I just been standing here? Her gun was like a dead weight in her hand. She glanced down at it, then slid it back into its holster. What happened? Somebody had shot the man who'd drawn on them, but it couldn't have been her. She would have known if she had pulled the trigger.

'Yokas.'

Bosco's hand on her arm caused her to look up. 'What?'

'Sergeant's here. He wants your gun.'

'My gun?'

'Yeah. You fired at the guy, remember?'

I did? 'Yeah, yeah, I remember. Right.' Faith felt strangely dazed. Why can't I remember squeezing the trigger, or feeling the recoil? Why can't I remember the slide clicking back, ejecting the spent cartridge? She redrew her weapon and stared at it for a moment before ejecting the magazine and locking back the slide. Sergeant Christopher took it without a word.

'Hey, you all right?'

'Yeah, I'm fine.'

Bosco's face lit up. 'We got him. He's here. We got him.'

'Got who?'

'Mikey.'