DISCLAIMER: I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

A/N: Here's the next story! This story takes place a couple of months after the events in "Vanished". We join Sharon, Andy, and the rest of the group towards the end of Summer. Enjoy!

Chapter 1

Sharon woke up on a Saturday morning and rolled over on to her side. She reached out her hand to touch Andy but to her surprise, he wasn't there. She sat up and glanced over at the clock. It was 3:30 in the morning. Andy's side of the bed was cold. She swung her feet over the side of the bed and grabbed her phone. She saw that there was a text message from Andy an hour ago saying that he had dropped off Provenza at his house and was headed home.

Provenza had asked Andy to go out last night to watch the Dodgers game at a local hangout they used to frequent. Andy was reluctant to go but Sharon thought he should as he and Provenza hadn't had a chance to hang out since the whole Ally Moore incident three months ago. They were not on call this weekend which was another reason she encouraged him.

Sharon stood up from their bed and put her robe on. She made her way out of their room, in search of him. She walked over to Matthew's room and opened the door, slightly, to peek inside. She saw Matthew sleeping and Moxie on his bed, but no sign of Andy. She closed the door and headed down the stairs to see if he was downstairs.

The light in the kitchen was on and she saw the Dodgers hat that Andy wore out last night hanging up on the coat rack in the hallway. She knew he had made it home, now she just needed to find him. She decided to try the family room first and as she walked in, she saw him lying on the couch. As she got closer, she could smell the faintness of alcohol. A million things rushed through her mind at that moment.

She walked over to him and saw the bruise under his eye and the dried blood on his bottom lip. "Andy!" she whispered to him and touched his shoulder. He opened his eyes and looked at her standing over him. "What happened to you?" she asked him. He slowly sat up and rubbed his hand over his face, forgetting about the bruise for a second and took a deep breath.

"We may have gotten into a little altercation last night, or this morning," he told her, wincing as he glanced at his watch. "Why do you smell like alcohol?" she demanded as she stood there. "A guy dumped his beer on my clothes," he started to explain. "I was going to throw them in the wash when I got home, but the headache from this black eye I got won instead," he added. She stood there and he saw it in her eyes. "Sharon, I didn't drink," he said as he placed two fingers on the bridge of his nose. She believed him. "And how did you get that, exactly?" she asked as Andy looked up at her.

"I picked up Provenza last night to go to his favorite place to watch the Dodgers game. Everything was going fine. He ordered his drink. I had a cranberry soda and we watched the game," Andy explained to her. "About halfway through the seventh inning, a loud discussion could be heard at the table next to us. I'm not sure what they were discussing at the beginning but it was getting out of hand," he stated as she helped him stand up from the couch.

They walked out of the family room and towards the kitchen. He was still telling her what had happened. "So, I'm not sure who threw the first punch but somehow, Provenza and I get involved in the scuffle, or to put it better, I got involved in the scuffle as he just stood there trying to get the guy off of me," he told her as she went to the freezer to get an ice pack out.

"Anyway, the owner called the cops and patrol came out and arrested the group, Provenza informed them who we were and we went downtown with them, just to give them our statements and for them to take a picture of my eye," Andy said. "They could have taken your statement at the scene," she stated as she wrapped the ice pack in a kitchen towel. "I don't know, Provenza ended up filling a report out as well and we spoke to the Watch Commander," he told her. "Did you seek medical attention?" she asked as she turned around to look at him.

"No," he mumbled and then she took his hand and led him to the mud room where the washer and dryer were located. "Why not?" she questioned him. "Because," he shrugged his shoulders not really giving her an answer. She helped him strip out of his clothes. She pulled his shirt up over his head carefully not to injure him further. She looked his chest over to see if there were any other bruises on him. "It's just my eye," he whispered to her. She looked at his eyes to see if he had a possible concussion but his eyes looked normal in size.

She then threw his shirt in the washer. His pants and boxers joined them shortly after. She handed him a clean pair of boxers and his sweatpants from the dryer. He put them on and watched her take the rest of the laundry out of the dryer and place it in the basket. She then started the washer.

She led him back into the kitchen and picked up the ice pack she had prepared. "Come on," she said to him as she returned to the family room. He followed her and sat back down on the couch. She placed the ice pack on his eye and he hissed at the coldness. "Keep that on," she told him and then she reached over to the coffee table and picked up his phone. "What are you doing?" he asked her as he watched her with one eye open. "Calling my second in command," she simply said and clicked on Provenza's name. Andy laid his head on the back of the couch and let out a small groan.

Provenza reached for his phone as it blared on his night stand. "We better not have a call out," he mumbled as he tried not to wake Patrice. He squinted at the name on the phone and saw it was Andy calling him. "Hello?" he answered the phone expecting it to be Andy. "Lieutenant Provenza, why does my husband have a black eye?" she demanded. "Ye gods!" Provenza groaned as he situated himself and sat up.

"Commander, now there's a perfectly good explanation for that," he tried explaining to Sharon. Andy held the ice pack to his eye and watched Sharon stand next to the couch with her hand on her hip. "Oh, I already heard it!" Sharon said back to Provenza. "I'd like to know why you didn't call me when this happened?" she asked him. "Oh, well, we didn't notice his eye turning black until we got to Central. After we were done there, I just told him to drive me home and get back home to you," he answered her.

Provenza got out of bed and walked out of the bedroom so that Patrice didn't wake up. "Do you want to hear the story or did Flynn tell you that already?" he asked her as he closed the bedroom door and walked into the hallway. "Andy told me that there were a group of guys that were sitting at the table next to you and they got too rowdy and started a fight. He did not tell me exactly how he got a black eye," Sharon said to Provenza as she kept her eyes on Andy sitting on the couch.

"Yes, right, the group of guys were loud and started a fight with another guy. This happened right next to us and Flynn stepped in and tried to calm down the situation. Things escalated quickly and the next thing I saw was Flynn getting punched in the face and the guy jumping on top of him," Provenza started to explain. "Well the cops came and broke it up. They arrested the guys who started the fight and I informed them who we were. They asked us to come down to the station with them and we did," he stated.

"I mean we didn't even get to see the rest of the Dodgers game and it was tied going into the seventh inning!" Provenza added although Sharon was not amused. "The next time you two get into a fight, I would appreciate being notified about it," Sharon said. "Of course, Commander," Provenza stated. "Good night Lieutenant," Sharon said and then hung up Andy's phone.

She turned her attention back to Andy as he sat there on the couch holding the ice pack to his eye. "Here, let me see it," she said softly as she gently removed the ice pack from his eye. She looked at him and shook her head. She gently touched his face and around his eye. Andy hissed again and his face winced. "Sorry," she whispered to him. "No, I'm the one who should be sorry," he said to her.

"Here, why don't we go upstairs, you can sleep in a bed so that your back isn't hurting you when you're sitting on the bleachers watching Matthew's baseball game at 10 am. "Oh, that's right," Andy groaned as Sharon helped him stand up from the couch and they walked over to the stairs. "I forgot he had a game this morning," he mumbled to her as they climbed the stairs to head to their room.

This would be Matthew's eighth game since he started his little league this summer. And it would be the third game that they would be able to attend since they weren't on call this weekend. Matthew had been taken to his other games by Rusty or Nicole when Sharon and Andy couldn't make it due to work. He didn't mind that but always enjoyed it when they were able to come cheer him and his team.

Andy climbed into bed and was joined a couple seconds later by Sharon. She waited until he was settled in before finding her usual spot, curled up into his side and laid her head on his right shoulder. Her hand was running slow circles on his chest and his breathing pattern changed. She could tell he was falling asleep as she kept doing that until she heard him lightly snoring.

She worried about him. He would always be an alcoholic. That's what he told her in the beginning, and she knew that. He's worked hard over the years to keep his sobriety. Why did she think that he would take a drink, especially last night when he went out with Provenza to watch a Dodgers game? She trusted him with everything so that should not be an issue.

If he was going to drink it would have been after they found that nine year old boy buried in the state park, killed by his own father because he didn't want his ex-wife to have custody of the child. He had gone to his meeting the next night when they came home after closing that case. So why did she automatically jump to the conclusion that he would drink last night?

Could that still haunt her from her previous marriage to Jack? She thought about that. Andy was definitely not Jack, in any way. She sighed and felt Andy's arms pull her in closer to him. She closed her eyes and eventually fell asleep.

That morning, Andy woke up with a headache and let out a slight groan. Sharon shifted in his arms and lifted her head up to look at him. "Are you in pain?" she asked him as she lightly touched his face. "I have a headache," he mumbled as he tried to sit up. Sharon shifted off of him. He then sat all the way up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He sat there for a couple of minutes. "Do you want me to get you anything?" she asked as she rubbed his back.

"Yeah, a time machine so I can re-do last night and not go out with Provenza," he chuckled. She smiled and then wrapped her arms around his back. "I'm sorry," she said to him as she gave him a kiss on his neck. "I'll go downstairs and get you some Tylenol and another ice pack, why don't you go take a shower and let the water relax you a bit," she told him. "You could relax me," he said to her as he tried to turn around.

She smiled as she moved off of the bed and stood in front of him. "Your eye doesn't look that bad, I thought it would be much worse this morning," she stated as she looked at him. "Yeah, well," he started to say and then they both heard a knock on their door. Sharon walked over to their door and opened it.

Matthew was standing outside in the hallway with his baseball uniform on already. "Good morning, sweetie," she greeted him as he walked into their room. "I'm going to go get you that stuff. I'll be right back. Be careful with Dad, Matthew," she said as she left their room. Matthew walked over to Andy. "Why did Mom say to be careful with you?" he asked Andy as he walked closer to him.

"What happened to your eye?" he asked him. "Yeah, well, last night when I went out with your Uncle Louie, there was a fight at the place we were at and I got punched trying to break it up," Andy explained to him. Matthew sat on the bed next to him. "Does it hurt?" he asked. "A little bit, but Mom is going to bring something for the pain," Andy stated and then stood up from the bed.

"So, how about you. Are you ready for your game this morning?" Andy asked him as he walked over to the bathroom. Matthew followed him and watched Andy look in the mirror inside the room. "Yes! I think we are going to win this morning. We are playing the Cardinals and they aren't a very good team," Matthew explained as he continued to watch Andy. "Well, never underestimate a team due to their win-loss record, they just might surprise you in the end," Andy told him.

Andy kept looking at his eye in the mirror. It was now turning a nice purple shade color underneath his eye. "Are you and Mom going to be at the game?" Matthew asked him as he hung out in the bathroom. "Yes, we will be taking you there and watching your game," Andy smiled at him. "Yeah!" Matthew was excited to hear that. "Why don't you go downstairs and get some breakfast while I get ready and I'll meet you down there," Andy told him so that he could take a quick shower. "Okay," Matthew said and then walked out of the bedroom.

Andy walked over to the shower and turned the water on. A few seconds later, he was still standing outside when Sharon came back in to their room. "Here is some Tylenol, and an ice pack for when you are done with your shower," she said to him as she placed both items on the sink shelf. "Thank you," he muttered to her as he stripped down. "I'm going to go help Matthew now, holler if you need anything else," she smiled to him and blew him a kiss.

He smiled as he watched her walk away and then he turned to step into the shower. The water felt good as it pounded his aching back and muscles. As he was standing in the shower, he thought back to their conversation this morning. Why did Sharon automatically jump to the conclusion that he had a drink? "Because you smelled like alcohol, you idiot," he scoffed to himself. But did she think that after twenty years of sobriety, he would throw it away for one night out with Provenza?

Andy let the water relax his muscles and then he stepped out of the shower and dried himself off. He then took the Tylenol that Sharon had left him and got dressed. Wearing a Dodgers t-shirt and a pair of jeans, he headed down the stairs carrying the icepack in his hand. Sharon looked at him as he entered the kitchen. "The icepack belongs on your eye, not your hand," she sweetly said to him. "I know," he sighed as he sat down at the kitchen table and then placed the icepack against his eye.

"The swelling went down so I don't know why I still need this," he said as he placed the icepack on his black eye. Matthew finished eating his breakfast. "I'm going to take Moxie out in the yard," he rushed as he placed his bowl in the sink and then ran to the back door. Andy and Sharon watched Matthew and Sharon shook her head. She then turned to Andy and gave him a little smile.

"How are you feeling now?" she asked him as she grabbed his hand and traced her thumb over his fingers. "Still sore but I'm getting better by the minute," he smiled at her. He then took his icepack off and placed it on the table. Sharon stood up and let go of his hand. "What would you like for breakfast?" she asked him. "Hmm, how much time do we have?" he said and she shook her head. "How about some fruit and cereal?" she said to him. "Fine," he sighed and watched her walk over to the island where the bowl of fruit was sitting.

Sharon sat back down and ate breakfast with Andy before she retreated upstairs to get herself ready for Matthew's game. She took a quick shower and got dressed in a pair of jeans and a Dodgers shirt so that she matched Andy. She then headed downstairs and Andy was filling up a water bottle for Matthew. Andy turned around and saw Sharon walk into the kitchen. She smiled and he smiled back at her. She walked over to him and gave him a kiss on his cheek. "Hopefully your eye heals before we go back to work on Monday," she said to him and then went to get Matthew's baseball bag.

Matthew's baseball game started at ten o'clock and they arrived at the ball park around nine-thirty. Matthew ran off to join his team and Sharon and Andy had found a spot on the first row of bleachers to sit. Sharon sat next to Andy and they held hands as they watched Matthew's team warm up for the game. "I'm surprised Rusty didn't want to come to this morning's game," Andy said as he continued his light caress of her hand. "Hmm, he said he had some things to do this morning to get himself ready for a big case that Andrea has on Monday," Sharon said as she leaned her head against his shoulder.

Andy glanced over at Sharon as she watched Matthew and the other kids warm up. He decided that he needed to ask her why she jumped to the conclusion she did this morning when she saw him on the couch. "Sharon?" he quietly said her name bringing her out of her thoughts. She looked at him. "Why did you think I would throw everything away for a drink last night?" he asked her, not sugar coating it at all. She sighed at his bluntness and licked her lips but didn't answer him.

He looked into her eyes. "I'm not Jack," he said and she knew that. "I know," she said as she ran her free hand against his arm. "Hi Sharon, Andy!" one of the kid's mothers called out to them as she made her way up the bleachers. Sharon looked over and waved at the woman. She then returned her focus to Andy. "I'm sorry that I jumped to that conclusion right away, and didn't give you the chance to explain," she told him. He looked at her and then gave her a quick kiss on her lips. "I just want to make sure we're okay," he whispered to her. "We are," she smiled at him.

The bleachers started to fill up with parents and the game was getting ready to start. Matthew was playing center field and everyone clapped as his team took to the field. The pitcher on Matthew's team threw his first pitch and the game was underway.

Meanwhile, a food vendor was at the park setting up for the day. He was moving things around and wheeled his cart to the designated spot. He set everything up and waited for his first customers to show up. He had a perfect outfield view of the game that was currently going on. He reached down to turn the propane tank on and started to get things ready. He did not see the wire going around the tank to the back where there was a small box attached to it.

TBC