Bosco's stomach sunk with fear as he approached the familiar front door of Faith's apartment. The signs of a break-in were immediately evident to his trained eye; the screwdriver indents to the left of the dead bolt were obvious to anyone looking and as he tried the knob he could tell it had been jimmied. He immediately reached for his off-duty gun located in an ankle holster on his right leg and slowly opened the front door.
The apartment was dark and the dim hallway light was enough to cast a dim glow across the floor of the apartment. Bosco stepped over the chain that had been cut from the top of the doorframe and proceeded down the hall towards the room that Emily and Charlie used to share. He could hear angry whispers coming from inside.
Bosco was overwhelmed. He moved from the right-hand side of the hallway to place his back against the wall opposite Emily's bedroom door. "This can't be happening, he thought. Just breath." Bosco sidestepped until he was almost to the doorway, the bathroom was to his immediate right. He steadied himself with one last deep breath and just than the unmistakable sound of a flushed toilet filled the air as the bathroom door swung wide and no other than Dante the jag off emerged.
"Let us feast my Brethren!" He all but sang as he stepped out with both arms extended in the air from his sides. Bosco made his move. Grabbing Dante from behind he secured both his arms and held his pistol to the young man's neck. Moving with lightening speed he pushed the boy forward while shouting for Emily.
"Emily, are you okay? Where are you? Speak to me".
He had already pushed Dante into the room and turned on the light in a matter of mere seconds. He surveyed the scene carefully. Emily was lying on her bed, her right arm dangling over the side and secured by a tourniquet at the top. A young boy was leaning over her while a girl sat on her bed pinning down her shoulders. There was another guy standing near the closet, he looked slightly less goth than the rest, and more than a little afraid.
"What the hell?" This coming from the genius by Emily.
"What the hell is right!" Bosco all but screamed. "Now you two get over there." He motioned with his gun for them to move by the boy near the closet. Both of the teens looked to Dante before Bosco spoke again, "Don't look at him, he isn't the one in charge here. I AM! Now get up and MOVE!" He was still shouting angrily and the teens moved quickly away from Emily, who seemed to be more than a little out of it.
"What's wrong with her?" he spat into the back of Dante's neck.
"We have to complete the ceremony, she wants to be bled."
His voice was even creepier than Bosco remembered. "Shut-up!" He said to his hostage, turning towards the others. "Did you drug her? Is she on something?" The two who had been near Emily; the two "preparing" her said nothing. Bosco was beginning to panic slightly at the sight of Faith's daughter sprawled on her bed. It was too familiar to past events and Bosco had not liked the effect those had had on her mother. "You guys better speak up or he will get it I swear!" At this the youngest in the group, the most uncomfortable by far spoke up:
"It was just a little Ambien, I stole it from my mom's house."
"Silence Tigre." Dante shouted all too suddenly, catching Bosco off guard.
"My name's not Tigre it's Tyler and he's got a gun to your neck David".
"My names is Dante and you will pay for you stupidity."
During this lovers feud Bosco has moved to the phone in Emily's room and was already speaking to someone at dispatch. "Yes, we need police and a bus forthwith at this location." He finishes the call and pulls his cuffs from his back pocket. He looks around and finally tells Dante, "Bend over."
He moves him the end of the bed and cuffs the boy's ankle to his wrist. Turning, he barks: "You three, sit down on the ground, No TALKING". Feeling that he has the situation contained Bosco attentively turns to Emily. "Em, Em wake up honey." He gently pats her cheek and strokes her forehead. "Em, talk to me, it's me Bosco, I'm here". He rips off the tourniquet and places her arm beside her on the bed. "Emily, wake up".
Not two seconds later Carlos and Levine are standing in the doorway. "What happened?" concern was evident in Carlos's voice, he recognized Emily from over the years.
"She's been drugged, Ambien," was all Bosco could manage. "I don't think she's been cut, but you should check."
Suddenly Carlos's eyes grew wide as he spotted Dante at the end of the bed. "Yeah, we will" he assured Bosco. Holly was busy saying "Hi" to the three others in the room when Carlos asked her for the bag. Just as Bosco took a step back from the bed and took a deep breathe of relief the older of the two guys lept to his feet and darted out the door. Bosco was torn between chasing the teen and protecting the medics, he knew he had to stay put. Luckily right at that moment the husky John Sullivan was working a double shift and responding to the call from a fellow officer in trouble. The boy ran smack into his bulletproof vest and fell back into the hallway.
"Evening Bosco, you alright?" Sully started as he picked up the perp and threw him back in the room.
"Yeah, I think I'll be ok Can you cuff these guys?"
"My pleasure" came Sully's gruff response. "That's Emily right?" he asked, fearful of the answer.
"Yeah" Bosco responded, running his hands through his hair. "How am I gonna tell Faith?"
"You won't have too." Sully stated, "When your call came in Faith had just left the precinct, and the Boss went to pick her up and bring her over. She should be downstairs any minute."
At this point Carlos and Holly were taking Emily out on a stretcher. Sully had cuffed two of the three remaining youth and Bosco offered to take them down, worried what he might do if left alone with Dante. However, two other cops came down the hall to assist Sully leaving him free to follow Emily downstairs. Bosco could see a sea of lights out the apartment window.
The night was getting colder and Bosco was worried when Emily didn't seem to respond to the cool air. She was wheeled across the street and into a bus right as Lieu's marked RMP pulled onto the scene. The passenger side door was open before the car even stopped. Faith, her face labored with obvious panic and fatigue ran towards Bosco. "Where…is…she…?" she cried as she fell into the arms of her ex-partner, her best friend.
"She's in the bus". Bosco answered, placing his hand on the back of Faith's head and swaying gently to try and soothe her. "She's gonna be just fine", he whispered, "just fine."
Faith was gasping for breathes between sobs and Bosco realized this was the second time he'd seen her this way tonight. The first was on the tape, the second was almost too much for him to handle. She gently pulled back and started walking towards the bus. Bosco stayed close behind and she reached back to take his hand.
Emily's color had improved remarkably and she looked to be taking a peaceful nap. Carlos looked to Faith and spoke with firm compassion, "She is going to be absolutely fine, no physical problems whatsoever."
Faith covered her mouth and said "Thank you, thank you so much". She reached into the bus and clasped Emily's hand.
"We are gonna get going in just a few secs, of course you can ride along." Carlos said has he walked towards the front of the bus.
Faith slowly let go of her daughter's hand. She turned to face Bosco and really look at him for the first time since she got there. "Bosco," she began "There is really nothing I can say to tell you how grateful I am for what you have done for me tonight. I will owe you for the rest of my life for keeping my daughter safe. Thank you for being where I needed you to be precisely when I needed you to be there."
"I think I could say likewise" Bosco said with a nod and the intense stare that only he can give. "I am here for you, I want to always be here for you."
His words brought her back to another time; a moment earlier in their lives when Bosco had spoken these words with only one variation. This time it sounded more like a question. "I want to always be here for you". He knew that he had pulled a lot of crap, but you know what, so had she. Faith climbed up in the ambulance and looked down at Bosco standing on the ground below.
"Yes" she smiled, closing the first door. "You should do that." She slammed the other door shut as Bosco gave her a grin that she hadn't seen in far too long. "I didn't think I would ever say this, but thank God that tonight Bosco was Bosco", she thought to herself, "I don't know what I would do without him."
He thudded twice on the back of the bus with his open palm and turned to shout with pride: "Hey, I need a lift to Mercy, I got someone there who needs me".