AN: I'm re-posting this story. There are no major changes with the story line though some parts were rewritten and I fixed some mistakes I found along the way.

Outside the Camelot fire station, Kim Zambrano walked over to the ambulance parked outside. The previous shift had washed it but Kim had now doubt that the inside of it desperately needed cleaned out. Not to mention, the required inventory check needed to be completed. She knew Alex would be out shortly to help with the task.

As she opened the back door of the ambulance to start the inventory check, Kim glanced over toward the police department as the officers started coming out to take up their patrols. Sully and Ty walked down the steps and head for 55-Charlie. Ty saw her and waved. She waved back as she saw Faith walk out of the building. There was still no sign of the officer she was hoping to catch a glimpse of though.

Kim noticed Faith glance in her direction and then start across the street. She didn't think much of it as the two of them had been acquaintances for the last few years, having went out for drinks from time to time after work. She would even venture to say that she could have been friends with the female officer if the two of them spent more time together.

"He's still inside talking to the chief," Faith told her as she approached the ambulance.

"Who?" Kim said trying to sound like she really didn't know what Faith was talking about. She wasn't sure why but she didn't want everyone to know about her newest relationship yet.

"Bosco, who do you think?" Faith replied, with a smile. "So you two are really serious, huh?"

"Great, what am I, the talk of the 55 precinct locker room?" Kim said.

"No," Faith said quickly. "I ride with Bosco for eight hours a day. We talk. He really likes you Kim. The only thing the other guys are suspicious about is that he isn't talking about all the women he's been with but he isn't bragging about you or anything. Actually I think the silence is driving them all up the wall."

"Well, I guess that is something," Kim said.

"What's wrong, Kim?" Faith said, feeling that there was something that the paramedic wasn't saying.

"I love him, Faith," Kim said, surprised by the sound of the words. It was the first time she had told anyone that."All the time I've known Bosco, I never thought I would say that but spending time with lately . . . I've just gotten to see the real him. He's great with Joey."

Faith smiled. "Boz, has a soft spot for kids," she said, thinking of her partner's interaction with her own children. To Emily and Charlie, Bosco was sometimes more of an uncle than her own brother was.

Kim smiled. That was definitely something she had discovered about Maurice Boscorelli in the month they had been dating. "For now, I've just told Joey that Bosco is a friend from work. If I get hurt, I can deal with it, but I don't want to put Joey through that."

"You have some doubts about the relationship, then?" Faith asked.

"I don't know? I just can't seem to get any kind of commitment out of him, other than the fact that, at least he isn't out with other women. Last night, just to see what his reaction would be, I told him some other guy had asked me out. He actually told me to go out with the guy if that is what I really wanted to do." Kim sighed. She wasn't sure she was putting her feelings into words right. She decided to try another tract. "I guess I want a real relationship. To have a real family. Not be a single mother. Bosco seems to be happy with us dating. Like he doesn't want the responsibility of a family. I want something more, Faith."

"Give him, time Kim. If you really love him, just give him time," Faith told her. She knew stuff about Bosco's past that no one else did. But it wasn't her place to tell Kim about her partner's past. It had to come from Bosco when he was ready.

Kim looked at Faith. She knew the police woman knew stuff that she wasn't saying. Kim also knew it wasn't fair to push the issue. Faith had after all known Bosco longer than she had. She and her co-workers had often even speculated how Faith could put up with Bosco. Kim was beginning to figure that out but the last thing she wanted to do was cause any problems between Faith and Bosco. For now, she would just have to trust the other woman's advice on blind faith.

"Faith, you ready?" Bosco called across the street as he came out of the station.

"Yeah, coming," Faith called. "If you ever need someone to talk to I'm willing to listen," Faith said to Kim.

"Thanks."

Kim watched as Faith crossed the street to join Bosco by 55-David. She caught Bosco's eye as he waited by the RMP, and he gave her a quick smile and a nod, which she returned. She kept watching them as the two cops got into their RMP and drove away. It wasn't until the car was out of sight that she climbed into the back of the ambulance to start the inventory. She hadn't been at it long when Alex joined her.

"55-David, we have a report of a domestic disturbance at 34 2nd street, 4th floor, apartment nine,"

"10-4 central," Faith said into her radio.

"Wonderful," Bosco said half under his breath as he hit the siren and sped up.

"Seems pretty quiet from out here," Faith said as they got out of the car in front of the apartment building.

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, they heard the sound of broken glass as a potted plant came flying out of a fourth floor window, landing not far in front of the squad car.

"You spoke to soon," Bosco said heading for the front door of the apartment building at a run. Faith was right behind him as they ran up the stairwell.

As they came out onto the fourth floor, it was apparent in which direction apartment nine was. All they had to do was follow the noise. They heard a man shouting and a woman screaming and other noises from something hitting something else.

Bosco stopped in front of the door and knocked, yelling "Police" loudly as he did so. The noises from within the apartment didn't change. He tried a second time with the same result.

As Bosco got on one side of the doorway, he glanced at Faith who was up against the wall on the other side of the door. Both officers had their guns out. Bosco silently mouthed, '1-2-3', to his partner and then kicked open the door.

"Police, nobody move," Faith said loudly as she and Bosco burst into the apartment to see a woman on the floor. The woman already had multiple visible injuries. A man stood above her, a baseball bat clenched in his hand. The bat was already in mid swing.

Without thinking, Bosco rushed to put himself in between the man with the bat and the woman on the floor. As the bat came swinging toward him, he grabbed the bat in mid air, feeling pain shoot up his arm as he did so. Despite the pain, he still took the man by surprise and was able to yank the bat away from the guy.

"Arms in the air," Faith told the guy, still pointing her gun at him. The man looked at her, then glanced back at Bosco, who now held his bat, and quickly put his hands in the air

Bosco put his gun away and then said into his radio, "Central, 55 David. We need a bus at this location." He tossed the bat aside and then took out his hand cuffs.

"Turn around and put your hands on the wall" Bosco told the guy, who slowly complied. Once Bosco had the guy secured and was reading him his rights, Faith also put her gun away and then quickly knelt down on the floor next to the woman and checked on her condition.

As Bosco turned around and saw the woman on the floor he felt sick to his stomach. All of a sudden thoughts of his childhood came rushing in. His Dad beating his mother till she was black and blue. Him and his brother hiding afraid to make a sound because they knew he would do the same to them if their Dad could get his hands on them. The sound of his mother crying long into the night as he lay in his bed trying to go to sleep.

Bosco roughly grabbed a hold of the guy and spun him around. "Why don't you take a look at your handy work you son-of-a-bitch. You know it doesn't take much to beat up on someone smaller and weaker than you," he said angrily.

"Boz," Faith said in a calming, yet warning tone. She knew her partner was about to loose it. Part of her couldn't blame him but she really wasn't in the mood to pull her partner off another handcuffed prisoner. Not today.

"You're a worth less piece of trash," Bosco said to the guy as he roughly led him out of the apartment. Faith wasn't sure it was such a good idea to leave her partner alone with the guy but she also couldn't leave the woman until the paramedics arrived.

"Victim is in the living room," Faith could hear Bosco say from out in the hallway. Seconds later Alex and Kim made their way into the apartment. The two paramedics knelt down next the woman as Faith got to her feet.

"I'll be outside," Faith told them, wanting to follow her partner. Alex gave her a quick acknowledgment but didn't stop from her assessment of the woman.

Walking out of the building, Faith was relieved to see Bosco putting the prisoner in the back of the squad. Once the guy was inside, he slammed the door shut, a little harder than was necessary. He turned and leaned against the car, his back to the guy, his eyes looking up toward the fourth floor of the building.

"Bosco, calm down. We put an end to it," she said softly coming to stand beside him.

"No, we didn't Faith. The only way he's going to stop beating on women is if he's dead. Hell, she probably won't press charges and he won't even be in jail long for what he did."

"We've done what we can..."

"No we've done what the law says we can do but the law doesn't care about the victim's in domestic abuse. Not until it's too late," Bosco said, cutting her off.

"You should get that looked at," Faith said quietly, changing the subject. She was referring to the hand, which he had grabbed the bat with. Already, Faith could see bruising on the palm of the hand and wrist and the wrist looked to be swollen.

"I'm fine," Bosco said shrugging off his partner's concern. It really didn't hurt that much right then. However, Bosco knew once the adrenaline wore off he was going to regret grabbing that baseball bat.

As Kim and Alex came out of the building with the victim Faith said to him, "Why don't you go to the hospital with them, Boz. I'll take this guy in and then join you there."

Bosco just nodded. He knew Faith didn't trust him too much with being alone with their prisoner. He couldn't blame her. A part of him wanted to just take the guy into an alley somewhere and beat him senseless.

"You coming with us?" Alex asked as he approached them.

"Yeah, Someone needs to be there to take her statement and talk to the social worker," Bosco told her helping them load the stretcher into the ambulance.

Kim climbed in the back with the patient while Alex and Bosco climbed into the front seat. As they speed through the streets of New York Bosco couldn't get those thoughts of his childhood out of his mind. He briefly glanced back at Kim. They said the violence was hereditary. That kids who grew up seeing that kind of violence were more than likely going to act the same way when they grew up. Did he really want to take that chance? Was there a demon inside of him waiting to come out?

They arrived at the hospital and Bosco followed the group at a short distance, trying to stay out of the way. He followed them as far as the nurse's station in the ER. He would wait there until the doctors were done working on the lady and he could get her statement.

Kim and Alex came back out a few minutes later with their stretcher heading back to their ambulance. As they passed Bosco, Kim hesitated a moment.

"I'll be right there," she said to Alex, who nodded and continued for the ambulance. "You should get that hand looked at," she told Bosco quietly.

"I will eventually," Bosco told her not able to make eye to eye contact with her. He had no doubt Faith wouldn't let him leave Mercy without having a doctor look at it.

"Are you okay, Boz?" Kim asked. The worry was evident in her voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he told her trying to put on a smile. He had a feeling it wasn't all to convincing. "I'll talk to you later," Bosco told her hoping she would get the hint and leave. The last thing he wanted to do was talk. His feelings and emotions were a raging storm within and he needed time to sort them out.

"Okay," Kim said clearly worried but not wanting to push it. Especially not here in the middle of the ER.

Faith and Bosco spent another hour waiting around the hospital to take the woman's statement. Bosco had been right. The woman refused to press charges, telling the officers that it was only a misunderstanding. That her husband didn't really mean to hurt her and she had just pushed him too far. Faith was surprised at her partner's ability to hold his tongue and not tell the woman exactly what he thought of that excuse. When they left a social worker was still talking with the woman.

After getting the statement, Faith made Bosco let the doctors check his wrist out. Amazingly nothing was broken. Dr. Morallis gave him a prescription for some pain medication and put a brace on his wrist which he was suppose to wear for the next couple of days. Faith had her doubts as to whether or not he would have it on the next day when he came into work, if he kept it on the rest of the shift.

When they were done at the hospital, they made their way back to the station house. There was a whole lot of paperwork to be done.

"It just makes me sick," Bosco said suddenly on the drive back to the station house breaking the silence that had been between them. "No one should be able to treat someone else that way."

"We can't fix all the problems in the world Boz. There are just too many," Faith said.

"It still doesn't make it right," Bosco said angrily.

"I never said it did," Faith told him.

"No , I guess you didn't," Bosco said and then fell into silence again.

Back at the station house they hurried through the paperwork, both of them preferring to be back out on the street that stuck around the station. Luckily they didn't have to respond to any more domestics for the rest of their shift.

At the end of her shift, Kim Zombrano walked across the street and stood by the blue mustang parked there. She had no doubt that anyone who saw her there would start to wonder what was up with her and Bosco and though they had wanted to keep their relationship quiet, at this point she didn't care. She wanted to know how he was. She wanted to know where they stood.

She didn't have to wait long before Bosco came out of the station house in his street clothes. When he saw her, Kim could tell that he deliberately slowed his steps down.

"Hi Kim," he said cooly.

"How's your hand," Kim asked?

"Okay. Doctor said it just bruised. Nothing broken."

"That's good," Kim said. She could feel the tension between them. Taking a deep breath, she just asked the question that she was really here to ask. "Are we okay, Bosco?" she asked quietly, trying to make eye contact with him but like at the hospital he wouldn't look at her. The silence scared her and part of her wished that she had never asked the question. The tone of his voice, when he finally did speak, scared her even more.

"I'm sorry, Kim," he said quietly and Kim really could hear the regret in his voice. Something inside her told her that part of him really didn't want to say the words he was about to utter. "I don' think we should see each other any more."

"Why," she asked?

"I just don't think it's going to work between us. We're too different," he told her hoping she couldn't tell he was lying. He had never cared for someone like he cared for her. However, she deserved so much better than him. "I'm sorry," he said again quickly.

He stepped past her and got into his car before she could see the tears that he could feel starting to form in his eyes. He drove off leaving her standing there in the dark. He didn't see the tears that were streaming down her face but even so he knew he had hurt her. But it was better if he hurt her now then to try to live with what might happen if he stayed with her. He didn't want to find out if he was capable of doing what he despised so much in others and as he drove home visions of the domestic call from earlier today played in his head.