I'm so sorry for the delay! With everything happening in RL at the moment, I totally forgot about this. Enjoy these next parts and please review.

Faith watched as ESU sealed the area, feeling helpless as she sat on the hood of the RMP. She felt like she should be doing something to help her partner, not sitting there doing absolutely nothing. She looked around, seeing the handful of colleagues that had stayed after the initial call, even though there was nothing they could do. Davis and Sully were helping to put up barriers to ward off the large crowd of onlookers that had gathered. Faith wanted to yell at them all, scream that her partner was in there and it wasn't a free show, but she just continued to sit on the hood of the car and watch the store.

"How many weapons does Boscorelli carry?"

She started at the voice, turning to see Walters standing beside her. It took her a moment to digest the question. "Uh, two. His nine millimeter and a back-up in an ankle holster."

"Okay, so it's safe to say that the perp now has two, possibly three weapons."

Great, she thought. Way to make me feel better, Sergeant. She nodded. "What's the plan?" she asked.

"Well, he's not talking much at the moment, except to scream at me. All we can do is wait for him to calm down enough to tell us what he wants."

She snorted. "You think he's gonna stay calm with Bosco in there?"

"Well your partner better keep his head or he'll lose it, permanently. This guy's on the edge and I don't think it'll take much to send him over."

Faith's stomach lurched at the sergeant's warning. When had Bosco ever managed to keep his mouth shut? She felt her hands start to shake more and gripped them tightly in her lap. God, don't do this to me, she silently prayed. "Have you seen him?" she asked. "Talked to him?"

"The sharpshooter can see Boscorelli. He looks unhurt. So far, the guy won't let me talk to him." The man's face softened for a moment. "I'll keep trying, Yokas. We'll get him out of there."

Faith nodded, but didn't reply. She'd been around long enough to know that it was the gunmen that wrote the script, not the good guys.

Ow, ow, ow, Bosco cursed internally. Rita, the pregnant woman beside him, was currently having a contraction and consequently clutching his hand in a vice-like grip. "Keep breathing, Rita," he whispered, trying to remember anything he might know about childbirth. Sadly, it consisted only of what he'd seen in the movies and he knew that wasn't necessarily realistic.

"It hurts," Rita groaned.

"I know," he lied. "But you're doin' great." At least I hope you are. "So, is this your first baby?" he asked, trying to take her mind off it.

She nodded. "And last if this is what happens," she replied, relaxing by his side. "Have you got any kids?" she asked.

Bosco thought of the baby that Faith was carrying. Technically he did, or at least he had one on the way. But he didn't want to explain to this lady that his partner was pregnant and considering getting rid of the baby. "No," he finally told her. "I don't."

"How about someone special?"

He couldn't help but smile. "There is someone, but it's complicated."

The woman opened her mouth, no doubt to ask why, when the gunman walked around the corner. "Stop talking!" he growled. "Or I'll make it so you'll never talk again. Got it?"

"Listen, man, she's in labor. You need to let her go so she can get to the hospital."

"No one's leaving!" he shouted. "You got that! No one goes anywhere until I get my deal."

Bosco held his hand up, watching the dangerously swinging gun in concern. "Okay, take it easy."

"They want to talk to you. Why is that?"

"They just want to make sure I'm all right, make sure everyone's all right." He reached out a hand. "I'll tell them you haven't hurt us. That you don't want to, okay?"

"This is a trick! You can't trick me!" he shouted.

"It's no trick," Bosco assured him. "You can listen to what I say."

The man hesitated for a moment and then nodded. "Fine," he said, thrusting the phone at him. "But you try anything then you're gonna get it!"

Bosco nodded and took the phone with his free hand. "Someone wanted to talk to me?"

"Boscorelli," came the relieved voice on the other end. "This is Sergeant Walters. Are you okay?"

"Yes, sir, I am uninjured."

"Good, good. What about the other hostages?"

"There are two civilians, both are unhurt but one is in labor."

There was a curse in his ear. "You're not serious."

"As a heart attack."

"You keep a cool head in there, you hear me? You sit tight and let these guys do their job."

"Okay, you've talked enough," the gunman said, ripping the phone out of Bosco's hand. "You stop chatting to your boy and get me my deal!" he shouted, before hanging up the phone.

Faith had the feeling something had happened, but couldn't summon the energy to get up and see what it was. There'd been no movement from the shop and there'd been no sound of gunfire, so that meant that the gunman hadn't surrendered or used his - or Bosco's - weapon. She knew she should find out, that it could be important, but she wasn't sure she could hear them tell her that Bosco was taking a beating or the gunman had done something else to make an already bad situation worse.

Faith saw Davis walking over to her, a reassuring smile on his perpetually happy face. "They just talked to Bosco. He's okay."

Faith felt herself deflate at the news, letting out a long breath. "Thank God."

"How you doin'?" Davis asked.

Faith glared at him. "How do ya think I'm doin', Davis?" she snapped.

He held his hands up at her harsh tone. "Hey, I was only asking. Bos'd have my head if I didn't make sure you were okay."

She gave a sad smile. "He was going to get me something for my morning sickness," she told him. "I don't even know if he knew what would have helped. He's been really sweet like that."

"We talking about the same Boscorelli?" Davis joked.

Faith smiled, just as she knew she was supposed to. Then she looked down at her hands, before looking back up at him. "He said he talked to you. About the baby, I mean."

Davis nodded. "Yeah. I wasn't tryin' to pry or anything." He shrugged. "He just looked kinda lost."

"It's okay," she assured him. "He needed someone to talk to and I'm glad you were there to listen."

"So the two of you talked last night, after I dropped him off?"

She nodded. "You know, it'd be so much easier if he was being an ass about it."

"I think Bosco's ready to step up to the plate and be a father, Faith. Don't write him off as just feeling obligated. I think he cares about that baby." He paused. "And I know he cares about you."

She smiled a little. "Is that your subtle way of tryin' to tell me you think I should keep this baby?"

He shook his head. "No, that's my subtle way of tryin' to tell you that the father of your baby loves you and you can't use him as an excuse to have an abortion."

Tears pricked her eyes. "What if that's the only reason I have left?" she asked.

"Then you have your answer."

Bosco wiped at Rita's brow, frowning at the amount of pain she appeared to be in. He knew labor was supposed to be painful, but was the amount of pain she was in normal? He had no idea how to help her and his frustration at feeling so helpless was mounting. He really didn't think he'd be able to hold his tongue much longer. Hell, Faith would never believe he'd stayed cool as long as he had.

"I don't want to have my baby here," Rita choked out, as she finished yet another contraction. "I want to be in a hospital with doctors and nurses..." she groaned. "And drugs!"

The gunman glared. "Would you shut her up!"

Bosco glared right back. "She's having a baby! You can't expect her to be quiet about it. If you'd let her go, then you wouldn't have a problem."

The gunman turned the gun on them. "I won't tell you again, no one's leaving here until I get my deal! So if you don't shut her the hell up, then I will!" he raged and pulled the trigger.

Bosco reacted on instinct, diving over the woman just as the bullet impacted with his back.

TBC