AN: It has been a long time coming this new part. Although it was finished for quite some time, I found the need to rewrite it, because I was never really happy with it. I still haven't finished all the rewrites, but I will try to post regular updates. Now the readers who have been following this series for quite a while now, are probably saying, yeah right, sorry! I always intent to post regular, but life always gets in the way. I can only make a promise to try.

I wasn't planning on posting it until I had finished all the rewrites, but I certainly could use this little world I created today, to escape in after the last eps. I haven't even watched them yet, I only know what I have read on tumblr and twitter. I just know the fandom is very upset.

I hope this chapter and the promise of more updates soon will help a bit! A big hug to all of you out there.

Then a thank you to Glistening Sun for all the hard work she did as a beta on this chapter. All mistakes left are mine.

And I guess what's left is a disclaimer that these characters aren't mine, blah blah. You know the drill. ( I have never even bothered before, but someone told me I should, so, although I might add that Andy's ex was called Sandra by me long before, the man who's name I don't even want to mention here, came up with that one ;)

Rated M for gruesome crime scene in this one and you know what in later chapters.

I hope you all will enjoy and I won't disappoint you all! I really love these characters and I will continue loving them.

Chapter one.

Andy quickened his pace when he heard the sound of her clicking heels right around the corner. He had the grin of, a fool in love, on his face. This morning he had called her to wish her a good morning. leaning against his kitchen counter, her slightly sleepy voice mesmerizing him while they were talking about simple things like how much she had enjoyed his cooking the evening before.

They had only managed to pull away from one another when he had heard her stomach rumble. Sharon had been slightly embarrassed. He had insisted on cooking for her and later they had laughed About how much they already seemed like an old married couple. In the end they had blamed it on them living together during her little undercover operation.

They had agreed to take it slow. Although she had offered him to stay the night, he had gone home. He wasn't going to risk ruining this by rushing into it. He wanted to wait for the right moment, not some quickie on the couch. Besides that, he had been already clear about his feelings for her for quite some time, but she was still new to it. He would let her take the lead.

"Hey."

Sharon stopped, staring at his huge grin.

"Hey."

Her smile made her eyes sparkle, igniting this surge of electricity combusting at his nerve endings, giving him a warm tingly feeling all over his body. Andy was still unsure about where the boundaries lay at the station. They were partners. In theory he was her superior officer. There were rules about being in a relationship with your subordinate. For the time being they had better avoid intimacy, although just looking at each other did already say enough. He was afraid that even a blind man could see they were in love now.

Thinking about what would happen next, gave him an uneasy feeling in his stomach. He didn't want to lose her as his partner. They were a great team. Stupid rules. He was sure they'd be able to keep their work and their private life separate.

"It was nice to hear your voice first thing in the morning."

"Glad you liked it."

It surprised him that she closed the distance between them. The loving smile on her face made him feel weak in the knees. She was in love alright giving him this bubbly feeling inside. He still had to learn to give in to it. He had been suppressing his feelings for so long, he had to tell himself all over that it was now okay to show her his feelings. She loved him too. Their arms touched. It was agony to be this close to her, but unable to kiss her. In retrospect it was good they were interrupted.

"Here you are…"

Hamilton looked at the intense gaze shared between them. They had trouble to break it and divert their attention to him. He guessed that they had made up again. Great, he needed the two of them on top of their game and they only managed to be that if they were on the same page.

"Great, the two of you made up."

They both frowned in confusion as though they didn't know what he was talking about. Something between them had definitely changed.

"I've got a case for you. Just came in, couldn't find you though."

"The DA wanted my report, Sir."

"And I was looking for Sharon."

Hamilton smiled. "Of course."

Andy scowled. "We can do without the sarcasm, Hamilton."

Sharon practically froze beside him. She would never talk back to a superior officer like that.

"The case?"

"Cedar's…"

Sharon stared straight ahead. That was the hospital her father worked at. "What happened?"

Her voice was full of worry, so Andy put his hand on the small of her back slowly rubbing his thumb back and forth.

"Don't know any details yet. Apparently human remains were found in the medical waste container."

"Uhm, isn't that supposed to be in there? This isn't about some nurse or intern freaking out, right?"

"Not according TD. I want you two on this case."

"My father works there."

"I'm sure you can keep private and work separate, Detective Elliot."

Sharon nodded ready for more instructions. It was always exciting to start a new case.

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Sharon was rubbing her feet, ignoring Andy's smile. She knew he would ask her why she was wearing heels when they made her feet hurt.

"Lose that cocky smile, Andy."

He glanced at her briefly, before returning his gaze towards the road.

"Why wear those damn heels if they kill your feet?"

"That's something men just don't understand."

Andy laughed.

"I'm kind of expecting a foot rub when we get home, you know." Sharon smiled.

The ease she felt with him, the feelings between them, it all still amazed him. Home. Where was home? They had only recently admitted their feelings to one another. Home? Her place or his? Although she seemed quite relaxed at his place, he could imagine that he would be the one moving in with her.

Suddenly there was an awful silence. Andy was staring into space. She could tell his brain was working overtime. He was so used to keeping his thoughts to himself after he had spent so long hiding his feelings from her.

"You know you can tell me what's on your mind now, Andy."

He felt a bit embarrassed, because she had so easily noticed that he was keeping something from her; this discussion inside of his head.

"Andy, did I say something wrong?"

"No, I was just thinking…"

"Hm-mm…"

That humming sound of hers still made his blood run faster.

"Do you want me to come to your place? Or would you like to come to mine?"

So that was what was on his mind. Where was home? Home for him was somewhere else than home for her. At least that's how he saw it. They had agreed to take it slow. They hadn't talked about moving in with each other, because that still seemed to be far away. She didn't care where home was. They would go wherever they felt like. During her relationship with Jack it had worked out very well. Some days they stayed at his place, on other days he came to her apartment, whatever was more convenient. It had worked out for the both of them, so she hadn't given it much of a thought, but maybe it wouldn't work like this for Andy.

"Uhm, I don't know. Do you prefer one?"

He didn't. Why was he making such a huge deal out of this? Was he making a bigger problem out of this than it was?

"Andy, I know you want to take this slow, but maybe we should just stop thinking and let things happen. We practically lived together during the past month. Relax. You're not going to ruin things."

She was right, he was still acting forced. Leaving last night had been his idea. His mind had told him to leave, though his heart had wanted to stay. Even now his mind was working overtime, stopping him from acting on his feelings.

"Sorry."

Her eyebrows wrinkled, the open look in her eyes telling him she didn't understand what he was apologizing for.

"I think too much."

Sharon smiled, gently squeezing his thigh.

"Yes, you do. Guess you had to restrain yourself for too long, hm?"

"Yeah."

"Just act upon your feelings. You can't go wrong, Andy. I'm already in love with you."

"I love you." Andy looked at her with dreamy eyes.

"Hm.. Now keep your eyes on the road, honey."

Sassy, real sassy. She was right, he had to allow himself to love her now.

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TD was all over the place. Sharon took in the scene. The tape closing off the crime scene; the men in the protective suits, the small numbered signs indicating evidence. The man in the corner, probably the one who found the body, was easily recognizable by the grayish pallor of his skin and haunted look in his eyes. He would be the first they would unleash their questions on. That would have to wait though. First they had to listen to whatever TD had come up with.

Sharon swallowed. The smell was awful. It had to be all that medical waste in the container. Andy shot her a concerned look, she forced a smile to reassure him. She would be fine, she should be able to deal with this. To make it even worse, Reese from TD was in charge today. That guy had it in for her. She had helped put his buddy, Landry behind bars. That was the problem. There was still a lot of hostility towards her. She always felt like walking on eggs around him. Unfortunately he wasn't the only one. Landry still had lots of friends within the LAPD - even after they had found out about his dirty little business. It wasn't easy. They didn't bother to hide their hostility towards her. She tried to not let them get to her.

Andy felt the tension radiating from Sharon. Why did it have to be Reese of all people today? That guy had it in for her and wouldn't pass up an opportunity to act like a complete ass. Andy tried to breathe slowly to contain his anger. He shouldn't act like the overprotective boyfriend, that would not help her.

The smell was awful. Even the coffee he had drunk that morning was trying to fight its way back up. He wished Sharon was keeping her distance today. The smell didn't promise anything good. He had years and years of experience and it would be hard enough for him. Unfortunately Sharon could be extremely stubborn. She probably felt like she should be able to handle this.

"The body's in there." Reese nodded at the container. A step ahead of him, Sharon beat him in looking at it first, keeping herself strong for Reese.

Sharon braced herself trying to prepare for whatever it was she would see in that container. There were organs, skin tissue. She willed herself to breathe through her mouth; that should contain the nausea. Her eyes scanned the container, shock making her to forget her breathing pattern. She saw a leg and then an arm. So small. The torso, a child's torso. Still so small. She felt bile forcing its way up from her stomach. Sharon began to hyperventilate, while she was trying to force the food back down. When she realized she couldn't, she saw what was the small head of the child and pushed herself backwards from the container.

Andy's eyes widened as he saw the shock in her eyes, her grave face, his own eyes diverting from her running away, towards the container. With two steps he was at the container, looking in, wanting to see what had caused Sharon to run off like that. A child. Dammit. That fucker Reese. He could have had the decency to warn them. This was even worse. It was such a small child. Cut up into six pieces. His own stomach turned at the image. He had better get to Sharon.

He shot Reese an angry look. He felt like beating him, but his need to see how Sharon was doing stronger than, his need to release his anger. He had to be with her, not in an interrogation room with Internal Affairs.

Andy tried to determine where Sharon had run off to. She was probably feeling sick. She wouldn't throw up out there, not wanting to hear Reese going off on her for contaminating his crime scene. She had probably run back to their car.

That's where he found her, her hand clutching onto the hood of the car, while her body was doubled over. He heard the retching sounds. Andy put his hand on her back, rubbing it slowly.

"Honey, you okay? Ssh…"

He wanted to take her in his arms, but she was still throwing up.

"Easy… easy…"

Patiently he kept stroking her back, until she slowly moved up. He saw her pale face, the moistness in her eyes, traces of vomit still in the corner of her mouth. She looked embarrassed, glancing down while he handed her his handkerchief, so she could wipe her mouth clean. Instinctively he wrapped his arms around her, immediately feeling her body trembling like a leaf.

"Andy, I smell."

Ignoring her protests he pulled her closer, holding her tight against his chest, his arms carefully wrapped around her. Rocking her his lips brushed the top of her head.

"It's okay."

"They'll have a field day."

"He should have warned you, the bastard."

Her head shot up, her eyes filled with fear.

"You didn't hit him, did you?"

"Should have."

"Andy."

Frustration was all over her voice, her face. He was now glad he hadn't beaten Reese or they might have had their first official argument.

"He did that on purpose. Probably threw up himself earlier. A child, mutilated like that. I'm sure a lot of officers wouldn't manage to keep their food down. No reason for you to be embarrassed, hon."

"Did you look at the body?"

"Yeah."

He pulled her back closer.

"Who would do something this sick?"

"I don't know. Guess that's for us to find out."

She wouldn't rest until she caught whoever did this.

Andy shot Reese an angry look, almost daring him to say something, to give him a reason to punch his lights out. The man chose caution and kept his mouth shut.

Sharon avoided the container. The thought of what was in it made her feel tense. She could relate to the shock in the eyes of the man who had found the mutilated body. She approached him with a gentle, compassionate smile.

"I'm Sharon Elliot, LAPD…"

"John, John Dickens."

His voice was trembling, he was still in shock over his gruesome findings. He had to be used to a lot as the transporter of medical waste, still this had him all shaken up.

"Could you describe to me the events leading up to you finding the body?"

"I uhm I don't know…"

"Is it procedure for you to open the container?"

"No, not really…"

"Why did you open it?"

"This hospital was scheduled later in the week. But our planner mixed up some hospitals this week. I opened up the container to see whether it could wait being picked up until next week."

Sharon nodded. Whoever cut up the little child hadn't expected the container to be taken today. By the time it would have normally been taken, the body would already have been covered up by the other medical waste disposed into it. This was important. Whoever the killer was had knowledge of the transport schedule or access to it.

"Thank you. You've been very helpful."

Sharon turned to Andy.

"The container wasn't supposed to be picked up today. Whoever did this had knowledge of the transport schedule".

Andy sighed. That didn't exactly rule out a lot of people since the crime scene was a busy hospital.

"Hey pretty lady! You look pale, everything okay?"

She was glad Nichols was the one called to the scene. Where others would have been sarcastic he was genuinely concerned .

"Still a bit nauseous."

"It's a child."

Nichols sighed, padding Sharon's shoulder.

"Children are the worst."

"Especially this one. Whoever did this cut the little one into six pieces."

Sharon felt the bile rise up if it was even be possible that she had any food left in her stomach. She was breathing slowly to not throw up again. Nichols had a concerned expression.

"Flynn, why don't you get Elliot out of here. Let me do my job. I'll let you know when I know more."

Andy thought Nichols was probably right. It would be best to leave, Sharon still didn't look too well. She could definitely use some fresh air and a change in scenery.