"The Road Less Traveled"

Author: carmen085

Email: All Third Watch characters are property of the NBC corporation and its affiliates while all original characters appearing in this story belong to me.

Spoilers: Up through and including most of SEASON TWO.

Summary: A deadly arsonist threatens friendships and loyalties at the 55 while an unlikely stranger helps Bosco overcome the worst day of his life

Chapter Three

Am I that strong

To carry on

I might change your life

I might save my world

Could you save me ?

When Bosco woke up on the morning of March 11, 2001, he had ever reason to expect that it would be just another normal day. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary as he showered, dressed and left for work. The shift itself had been quiet as his mind drifted back to earlier when they were parked under the FDR. If only he hadn't taken that call. If only he had considered his partner. If only he had actually taken the time to think before springing into action. Then they wouldn't be where they were now. They would probably still be parked under the highway; him sitting on the hood, her choking back tears in the RMP. But for whatever reason, life had chosen this path for both of them, and for better or worse neither Bosco nor Faith would ever be the same again.

In all his life, Bosco never thought that one day he would be begging for a second chance from some perp. If he were to die on the job, he had always imagined that it would be more heroic in nature. Never like this. Never at the hands of such filth. Never in a dark ghetto hallway. Never with his own gun. Never so alone or afraid. Yet here he was. Pinching his eyes shut more tightly, Bosco just wanted everything to be over.

Physically, he was nearing a pinnacle of terror that was absolutely mind blowing. Heart pounding violently, his breathing became severely erratic as he had little control over himself at this point. It was a state of being that could only be understood through experience. Then, just when he thought his body may explode under the tension, a metal ping resounded in the hallway. Within a split second the perp fell limp against him as the Glock harmlessly slide down the side of his face.

Panting like a dog, Bosco struggled to comprehend what had just happened. At first he thought that maybe he was dead and that metal ping was the sound of the gun. Quickly, dismissing that idea, he knew that the gun would have sounded more like an explosion than a simple metal ping. Despite this conclusion, however, he still couldn't quite wrap his head around what had just happened. He felt like he was alive, though he still wasn't sure. Fingering his forehead carefully, a chill went down his spine as he felt the indention that the Glock had made. While he was relieved to be in one piece, Bosco cringed at the horrific memories that he would now have to live with.

The perp was huge. Gathering all his strength, Bosco pushed the larger man off of him and to the side. For the first time since he had been attacked, Bosco took a deep breath of cool air. Despite foul odor of urine, Bosco thought the air smelled wonderful. It was cool and soothing against his battered lungs as he finally realized just how heavy the perp had been. Coughing loudly, he estimated that the larger man was probably at least two hundred and fifty pounds. That was a lot of weight on his chest for a very long time and he hoped that he didn't have any broken ribs. Lying on the cement floor, Bosco took a few more deep breaths as he struggled to place everything that was going on.

Someone was in there with him. He could hear them breathing.

The metal ping. They had a weapon. Probably a pipe or something. Panic gripped his body once again as he remember his gun. It was on the floor somewhere. Within a split second Bosco was on his feet groping blindly in the darkness. He had to find that gun. Thankfully, his fingers quickly came in contact with the cool metal handle. Ok…now all he needed was a light. His Kell light was long gone, though, he remembered the pen light in his front pocket. Still quite uncoordinated, he struggled to unzip his jacket pocket. Tears of frustration involuntarily sprung up in his eyes as Bosco rarely lost this much control. It was a helplessness that he could never quite get used to.

Bouncing the meager light from side to side, his eyes eventually came to rest on a young boy. Breathing a sigh of relief, he guessed that the kid couldn't have been much older than eleven. A metal baseball bat hung loosely in his left hand as he stared at the young officer inquisitively.

Laughing a little Bosco allowed the tension to simply melt away, "What…what's your name, kid?"

"AJ," the young man replied matter of factly. Abruptly turning his gaze toward the fallen perp, a new wave of interest struck the boy. "Is he dead ?"

Bosco was somewhat chilled not by the question but by the way that it was asked. So flat and uncaring, it became all too apparent that this young man had seen his fair share of tragedy. Bending over, Bosco placed two fingers onto the criminal's neck.

He was alive. Somewhere deep down, Bosco wished that he had been dead. Now, in addition to living with the memories he would also have to live with the knowledge that this piece of shit as still out there on the loose. Bending down, he held the criminal's limps arms behind his back as he cuffed his wrists together. There…that was better. Somewhat satisfied, he felt the situation swing back under his control.

"No, he's not dead." Shrugging his shoulders AJ looked somewhat disappointed.

"Oh well, I put a good hit on him, though." Bosco was disturbed by the way this kid viewed death. It was uncharacteristically casual in so many ways. Shaking it off, he reminded himself that this was the projects. Everything was different here.

"You sure did," advancing toward the kid Bosco inwardly cringed as he saw the boy back away. Stopping a safe distance away, he squatted down so that he was looking AJ in the eye. "I'm Officer Boscorelli. If you're ever in trouble tell the cops to call me, ok? Officer Boscorelli…remember that, alright?"

Nodding a bit, the young man returned Bosco's unblinking stare. Extending his hand, he looked at Bosco expectantly. "Deal…" His hand shake was firm and serious, Bosco thought as the boy turned to leave.

"Son of a bitch…" Fear tricked down his spine as he realized that the perp was coming to. Moaning and cursing the larger man struggled to free his hands from the sturdy nickel cuffs.

"You're not goin' anywhere, jag off." Reholstering his gun, Bosco struggled with his conscience. It was dark, they were alone, no one would know if he gave this dirt bag one swift kick in the ribs. Then again, if he did that he would be no better than this jag off. He was just to angry to walk away, though.

"Hey, pig…where's that bitch partner of yours when you need her, huh? What a dyke…" Laughing loudly the perp continued to taunt Bosco with his one and only true weakness. "She probably got her ass shot…" That was it. Morals went out the window as Bosco planted his foot deep into the criminal's side. "What the hell," coughing he struggled to breath, "What….is this…Rodney King?"

Breathing deeply, Bosco struggled to regain his composure. He couldn't get out of hand with this or IAB would be up his ass for the rest of his career. Yanking the perp to his feet, Bosco roughly drug him out of the hallway. "C'mon…hurry up, jag off."

Tripping all over the place, the perp couldn't seem to walk a straight line. Bosco's patience was already thin and this was not what he needed. At least he could breath deeply without choking on the stench of urine. Looking toward the sky, he realized that it was starting to get dark out.

Faith.

She was probably wondering what happened to him. Keying the radio he attempted to contact his lost partner. "Yokas…where are you?" Nothing. "Yokas, I'm gonna need some help back in the alley." Silence. Becoming slightly panicked, Bosco wondered if she was alright. Softening his voice, he nearly begged her to answer. "Faith…it's Bosco. Are you ok? Where are you?" Static. Scene after horrible scene flashed through his mind as he silently contemplated all the terrible things that could have happened.

"Ok, that's it. Get up." Still rolling around on the pavement, the perp laughed evilly. "Jesus Christ…GET UP!" Jerking the larger man to his feet Bosco began walking briskly across the courtyard back to the street side of Claremont Village. He had to find out what happened to Faith.

Davis had to fight back the urge to vomit when Jimmy and his crew pulled the roof off exposing Faith for the first time. She was a mess. Blood everywhere, he was sure that he could see splintered bones protruding from her body. Breathing deeply he put his own discomfort aside as her gaze remained locked on his face. Forcing a reassuring smile, Davis did anything he could to keep her calm.

"Ok, Faith we're going to slide you out onto this backboard now." Jumping in the back seat, Doc made sure that the C-collar was securely in place. Careful to keep her neck absolutely still, he placed both hands on either side of her face. Then, in one swift motion Doc, Carlos, Jimmy, and Davis pulled her from the wreckage. The pain was so intense that Faith began sobbing loudly.

"Oh God…Oh God…please don't hurt me…Oh God…please, Doc, just leave me alone. Please." Her body withered in pain as the medics strapped her to the backboard.

"You're going to the hospital, Faith. Everything's gonna be ok." Glancing back up at his partner, Doc conveyed the gravity of the situation with his intense stare. "We gotta go, Carlos. Start her fluids once we get her in the bus." All but running the medics quickly loaded Faith in the ambulance. A little unsure of what to do next, Davis decided to hang back and find Bosco. "You coming, Davis ?" Doc glared at the young officer questioningly.

"No, no you go. I'm gonna find Bosco and then we'll be there." Slamming the back doors of the bus closed, Davis gave he window a hard tap as Carlos sped away.

Deciding that nothing more could be done, Davis got into his RMP and went back up the street to brief his partner. Since he left to help Faith, a bus had already taken the original victim to the hospital. Sully was busy interviewing anyone who would give a statement as Davis parked the car behind him.

Nodding politely to his interviewees, Sully flipped the memo book closed. "We'll be in touch if we need anything else." Turning to Davis, his face was etched with concern, "How is she ?"

Running a nervous hand through his crew cut, Davis struggled to convey what he had just seen. "It's bad, man. Real bad." His description did little justice to the carnage of the accident, though, at the moment he couldn't think of anything else to say.

Shaking his head, Sully stared at nothing in particular as he too struggled to find the right words. "Did Bosco go with her to the hospital ?"

Not trying to conceal his distaste Davis looked at Sully a but incredulously. "Bosco ? I don't even know where the hell he is. Last I saw of him he was chasing that perp back into the alley."

"You mean he doesn't know about Yokas ?" Sully had trouble believing that Bosco wouldn't be there for his partner. Despite being an annoying jackass, Bosco was always there for Faith when she needed him. It was one of the few things that Sully admired about the man.

"No. I can't even raise him on the radio," biting his tongue to keep himself from saying something unnecessarily harsh Davis narrowed his eyes in anger, "He's probably off playing super cop somewhere."

All but dragging the larger man, Bosco was desperate to find out what was going on out on the street. Rounding the corner he spotted Sullivan and Davis as well as various other emergency personnel gathered near where he had left Faith.

"Sully ? What the hell happened out here ?" The perp fell to his knees as Bosco let go of him and stepped out of the courtyard onto the sidewalk.

Neither Sully nor Davis could hide the look of surprise on their faces. Turning away for a moment, Davis felt somewhat guilty. He really had no idea what was going on. Sighing, the young officer knew that what he was about to tell Bosco would probably destroy him. "Bosco. Where were you ?"

Out of breath from the walk he looked between his two friends searching for any hint of where this conversation was headed, "I was…inside chasing this son of a bitch," gesturing toward the perp a look of worry crossed his face, "Why ? What happened ?"

Both Sully and Davis exchanged unsure glances, "Something happened, man. To Faith."

He felt sick. He knew something was wrong. "What ? What are you talking about, Davis ?"

Stepping in front of him, Ty wanted to tell Bosco what happened before he got a good look at what was left of 55-David. "There was an accident, ok, and Faith was hit…"

"No….don't say that. She's ok. Just….just let me get her on the radio…just wait…" Trying not to loose it in front of everyone, he turned away. Pinching his eyes shut he wished that everything about this day would go away.

Placing his hands on Bosco's shoulders, Davis forced his colleague to look at him. "She was awake when they took her to the hospital. Wouldn't stop asking about you….But it was bad, Bosco….really bad." All the color drained from his face as he leaned heavily against the car. Head in his hands, he had no idea what to do or say next.

Leaning back next to Bosco, Sully stared at the younger officer's pallid face and shaking hands. Silently, he wondered if maybe that was how he looked when Ty Sr. had been shot. Swallowing hard, he realized that this situation was now in his hands as one look at his partner told him as much. Avoiding any and all eye contact with Bosco, Davis pretended to be engrossed in the nonexistent architecture of the projects.

"C'mon, Bosco, we're going to the hospital." Taking the initiative, Sully gently guided his colleague toward the passenger side door of 55-Charlie.

A part of Bosco didn't want to go to the hospital. He didn't want to see his partner lying in the bed bloody and broken all because of him. He didn't want to be there if things went wrong. He didn't want those images in his head for the rest of his life. But the better half of him knew that he needed to be there. If Faith was hurt or scared he needed to be by her side like a partner or a friend should be.

Suddenly he remember the perp still laying on the sidewalk. "Who's going to take him ?" Jumping into action, Davis was relieved that he could do something useful that didn't entail any further involvement in their present situation.

"I'll call for another car and then take him in. It's no problem, I'll catch up with you guys later at the hospital." Sully knew that Ty had had enough the moment he told him about Faith. Only being on the streets a year and a half, Davis was still considered a rookie and situations such as these were still new and very frightening. Feeling a wave of pride wash over him, he thought that his young apprentice had done all that he could for one day.

As Sully threw the car into a sharp U-turn, Bosco finally realized what the collection of emergency personnel at the other end of the street were doing. As they got closer to the wreckage of 55-David, his heart sunk. There was hardly any sign of a car left at all. Squinting his eyes he thought that he could barely see the emblazoned unit number on the rear bumper. 5649. That had been his and Faith's car for four years…now it was nothing more than a heap of crumpled metal and broken glass. Eyes wandering, he landed on the much less damaged white paneled truck. Anger began to boil in his veins as he caught sight of the driver, standing relatively unscathed near the rear. The man looked to be about forty or so with a beer belly and graying black hair. Looking twice, Bosco couldn't help but to notice the relaxed, uncaring look on the man's face. His posture was slouched as he gestured erratically in the air. He was drunk. The realization hit Bosco like a ton of bricks as the anger inside of him caused beads of sweat to roll down his forehead.

"Stop the car, Sully."

"What ? What the hell are you talking about?"

"STOP THE GODDAMNED CAR !" Not waiting for a response, he threw the door open and jumped out of the moving RMP.

"Bosco? Bosco !" Dumbfounded that his colleague would do something so stupid, Sully was quick to put the car into park. This was not something that they needed right now.

The inebriated truck driver had no idea what was coming when Bosco lunged at him from behind. In a flash both men were on the ground throwing punches. Naturally, Bosco had the upper hand as he pinned the driver down against the wheel well of the truck. Not caring one bit about the consequences he would face, Bosco walloped the man's face mercilessly. Driving his knee into the driver's groin, he wrapped his hands around the man's neck in a tight choke hold. Bosco took pleasure in seeing the driver's eyes bulge out of their sockets as he struggled to get a breath of air. Leaning in close, Bosco screamed in the man's face, "Do you know what you've done? You worthless son of a bitch ? Do you know what you've done !"

"Jesus Christ ! What are you doing ?" Glancing over his shoulder Bosco's eyes fell on the stunned face of Jimmy Doherty. "Get off him, Bosco !" Using all his strength, Jimmy pulled his friend off the defenseless truck driver. Landing in a heap, Sully arrived just before Bosco turned his anger onto Jimmy. Laughing a little, Jimmy called out after his colleague, "You'll thank me one day, Boscorelli !"

Sully kept a tight grip on Bosco's left arm as he all but drug him back to 55-Charlie. "We don't need this right now, Bosco. I know you're upset but beating the snot out of that guy is not going to help anyone."

"Let me go, Sully…I swear," voice low and threatening Bosco attempted to wiggle free of his co-worker's strong grasp. Shoving him back into the car, Sully slammed the door angrily. This was unbelievable. Getting in behind the wheel, Sully glared at Bosco with contempt.

"That was really stupid, you know. There were news reporters back there…IAB is.." Not in the mood for a lecture Bosco cut him off short of IAB

"Save it Sully. We need to get the hospital." This wasn't over, but for now, he was right, they had to get to the hospital. Reluctantly pulling out, Sully sped off toward the hospital.

Angel of Mercy Hospital was exactly fifteen blocks away from the scene of the accident. Not much of a journey by New York standards, though, it seemed to take forever for them to get there. Each agonizing block seemed longer than the last as Bosco played scene after horrible scene over again in his mind. He had no idea what to expect when he got there and the thought that she might already be gone terrified him.

When Sully pulled up to the ER, part of Bosco wanted to stay in the car. He didn't want to see Faith in all that pain. He didn't want to see her weak and vulnerable. That just wasn't her. She was always the level headed one, the controlled one, the strong one; and he was always just the opposite. Taking a deep breath Bosco now realized that the roles were reversed, and the second he walked through those doors he would have to be the level headed one, the controlled one, the strong one.

"C'mon, Bosco." Urging him along, Sully waiting until Bosco snapped out of his trance before proceeding toward the entrance. Just like his colleague, he too dreaded walking through those doors. Despite any attempts to make light of the situation, twenty years worth of experience caused a lump to rise up in his throat any time he thought of Faith. He'd seen things like this before and knew damn well how they usually turned out. Eyes tilted toward the sky, he watched as low gray clouds rolled in and silently wondered how such a nice day had turned so crappy.

As usual the ER was like a bee hive. Nurses, doctors, paramedics bustling here and there. Searching the faces, Bosco looked for anyone familiar. Nothing. The one time that he desperately needed information he couldn't find a single person he knew. Wandering around a bit, he finally ran into Proctor.

"Where is she, Mary ?" Taken completely by surprise, the veteran nurse stopped dead in her tracks. It had taken over a half an hour but they'd finally gotten Faith stable enough for the OR. Despite this, however, things did not look good. Most of her ribs were crushed, her liver was lacerated, there was massive internal bleeding, and Morales was fairly certain that she wouldn't make it out of surgery. Nonetheless they sent her up in hope of a miracle.

Now Proctor struggled to find the right words. She didn't want to lie yet the truth was too much to bear. She could barely understand the injustice of it herself let alone explain it to someone else. "Oh…uh…Dr. Morales will be out in minute." Brushing past him quickly, Proctor busied herself behind the desk.

Bosco was pissed. He wanted answers and wasn't getting them. "Proctor, where the hell is my partner?" Picking up the phone, the nurse pretended not to hear Bosco. Sully looked around uncomfortably as he searched for a way to calm his friend down before this situation got out of hand too.

That was it. He was going to do whatever it took to get answers. Taking one good swipe, he cleared the entire desk of charts. Landing on the linoleum with a loud clank, the hefty charts fell apart as papers scattered all over the floor.

Biting down hard on his tongue, Sully stared at he mess on the floor as only one word came to mind. "Crap."

Everyone within earshot stopped to stared at the spectacle as Bosco whirled around looking into each of their face. "Please…my partner, Faith Yokas, was brought here. I need to know where she is…can someone…please," desperation laced his voice as his pleading eyes scanned the stunned crowd.

"Hey, what the hell is going on out here?" Hearing the commotion all the way back in the trauma bay, Dr. Morales instantly decided to investigate. When her eyes landed on Bosco, though, she needed no further explanation. Groaning she rubbed her face, this was going to be a long day. "Come with me, Bosco." For the first time that day, Bosco finally felt like things were going his way. Morales would take him to see Faith and then everything would be alright. Numbly following her onto the elevator, he barely noticed that Sully has chosen to hang back and patch things up in the ER. Although he didn't realize it at the time, Bosco would one day understand how much his friends had did for him that day.

The surgical waiting room was spacious and comfortably, though, for all he cared it could have been broom closet. Nonetheless he forced himself to sit still and listen to Morales. "Bosco, you need to calm down, ok. I know this is hard for you and you probably feel like you're going crazy but right now you need to wait. Faith is in surgery. When they brought her into the ER she was awake but very confused. She's lost a lot of blood and most of her bones are broken. Her ribs are crushed and she's having some difficulty breathing." Bosco had to fight to stay there and listen to such terrible things. Gripping the arms of the chair his knuckles turned white as some sort of unseen inertia threatened to push him out the door and far away from this entire nightmare. "Now, we have the best surgeon available in there working on her, but I have to be honest with you, Bosco. It doesn't look good."

It doesn't look good. Four words that he never thought could be so devastating. Sinking into the chair he struggled to comprehend the magnitude of the situation. "Listen, Bosco, I need to get back down to the ER but I'll come back up and check on you in a little while. The surgeon will be out as soon as he's done so just sit tight until then." Sinking further into the chair he barely noticed her leave the room.

Never in a million years did Bosco ever think that something like this would happen to him. Over the past four years he'd seen other people's partners hurt or killed but despite all this he never thought that something like that could happen to him. Bad things are always for someone else…that's the way we all think. But on this day, Maurice Boscorelli became someone else's "someone else" as the dark shadows of misfortune crept out of obscurity and into his life.

TBC……

Above lyrics are from Fuel's "Falls on Me"