A/N: Inspired by a tumblr post, and very AU. For the sake of my sanity, all characters are in their mid-thirties (Sharon, Andy, Brenda, Mike, Provenza) or late twenties (Amy, Julio, Buzz). Hope everyone likes it!

~oOo~

Los Angeles was quite a strange city, but he supposed it would do. He was starting over, and where better to start than a city known for beaches and aquariums that he could share with his little girl.

"Daddy, come on! We're gonna be late!" Nicole Flynn exclaims, grabbing onto her father's hand and pulling him towards the door of their apartment, "I don't want to be late on my first day, come on Dad!"

"Okay, okay Nic we're going!" He replies just as excitedly, scooping his daughter up in his arms before heading for the studio.

~oOo~

If it wasn't for Nicole's constant pestering, there was no way he would have enrolled her in ballet. All of the ballerinas he'd met in his thirty-some years of life had been rude and in his opinion snobbish, and there was no way he wanted his daughter to grow up that way. But the studio seemed nice enough, and so had the online reviews. How bad could it be? After all, the studio was named "Open Arms Studio," not something ridiculous like "Twinkle Toes."

"Daddy come on!" Nicole exclaims again, letting go of his hand and running up to the door of the studio, "Dad!"

'I'm right here sweetheart." He chuckles, taking a few larger strides to catch the door as they entered, "Let's get you all settled in."

Nicole stops as soon as she enters the studio, and it takes all of Andy's self-control to stop himself from knocking the four-year-old over. The studio is immaculate, and all four walls and the ceiling are made of mirrors. Andy has to do a double-take when he sees a figure making her way across the room, as she seemed to have materialised out of nothing. She wore a pair of black leggings and a loose blue shirt, her bright auburn hair pinned up in a messy bun.

"Hi, I'm Sharon." She extends her hand to Andy and then kneels down to Nicole's height, offering the youngster a small smile, "And you must be Nicole." She grins, "Welcome to Los Angeles."

"Thank you." Andy offers her a smile when she stands to meet his eyes, "I'm Andy Flynn- by the way."

"It's very nice to meet you." She replies, "I'll work with Nicole for a few hours, could you come pick her up around noon?"

"Actually, uh," why hadn't he thought this far ahead? "I'm starting my first day today with the LAPD, so I don't know when I'll be able to come pick her up and you can't keep her all day." Andy sighs, "Come on Nic." He reaches for his daughter's hand and she immediately starts to cry.

"No, Daddy I want to stay here!"

"Shh, it's okay little one." Sharon kneels down to Nicole's height again, gently running a hand through the girl's hair, "Mr. Flynn, she can stay with me all day; it isn't a problem."

"Are… are you sure? I don't know when I'll be done at the PAB and I'd hate for you to have to babysit her all day. I can pay you extra if you want me to-" Andy pulls his wallet out of his pocket when Sharon stands up again, pushing his wallet back towards him.

"It's fine, I promise." She nods, her dark-rimmed glasses sliding down her nose as she does so, "I have a son and a daughter actually, and they're both around her age. It wouldn't hurt for them to socialise a bit." Sharon shrugs, "Just stop by whenever you finish up at work, we live in the loft upstairs." She adds as they both glance up into the overhead mirrors, "Honestly, it's not a problem."

"Now I see why you call this place Open Arms." He chuckles, "I'll see you soon Nicole." Andy kisses his daughter's forehead before heading for the door, "Thank you Sharon."

"My pleasure." She smiles as Andy exits the studio, disappearing into the busy Los Angeles street.

~oOo~

And he thought New York was hectic. The bustle about the large staging room was baffling, the way the lieutenants and detectives hurried about quickly without even seeming to notice him.

"Hello... I," Andy raises his hand and gently grabs onto the arm of an older man as he walks past, "I'm Andy Flynn, the new lieutenant."

"And I'm busy." The short man grumbles in response, "Go find the chief. She should be around here somewhere."

"Oh… okay." Andy replies as the man hurries away. Andy peers through the large glass-paned windows to find a blonde woman sitting behind a desk, a red pair of glasses perched on the edge of her nose, "Are you the chief?"

She quickly gets up from her seat and opens the door for him, "Lieutenant Flynn?" She asks in a strong southern accent as she extends her hand, "Welcome to the LAPD. I'm Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson."

"It's nice to meet you, chief." He nods in response, "Is it always this busy around here?"

"No." She shrugs, a smirk creeping across her face, "This is a training exercise for them."

"They seem pretty serious about it." He looks at her skeptically as she takes a seat behind her desk and motions with her hand to the chairs opposite her.

"They don't know it's an exercise." She grins again, "So Lieutenant Flynn, what brought you to LA?"

"Personal things." He responds vaguely, "And I transferred from New York, so I'm used to working in big cities."

"Personal things?" She questions in her twangy accent, "Now what does that mean exactly?" She adds, reaching into her desk and removing two chocolate cakes, placing one in front of him as she unwrapped her own, "Not to be too personal or anything, I just like knowing what my team's weaknesses are."

"Yeah, um, okay." Andy clasps his hands in his lap and watches as she eats her chocolate cake, his still sitting unopened in front of him, "I just went through a divorce, and then I got the offer to come out here. I figured maybe a fresh start would be good."

"I understand that, believe me." She rolls her eyes and lets out a contented sigh as she picks at the cake with her fingers, making Andy slightly uncomfortable, "Here's the case they're working, try your hand at it." She pushes a folder towards him, "They're all too focused to be friendly right now, but I'll introduce you later." She nods, "Welcome to the force Lieutenant Flynn."

"Thank you chief." He nods in response, opening the case file as he headed back out into the murder room.

~oOo~

God, were his co-workers amateurs? Andy asks himself with a chuckle as he reads through the incident report yet again. Why hadn't they figured it out yet?

Gingerly tapping the folder in his hands, Andy cautiously steps towards the chief's office before quietly knocking on the door, "Chief?"

"Come in lieutenant." She glances up from her stack of papers, "How can I help you?"

"I… I think I solved the case."

"There's no thinking in police work, either you solved it or you didn't." She replies sternly, "Would you like to try again?"

"Yes, chief." Andy exits her office and closes the door before knocking on it again, "I solved the case."

"You did?" She drawls and looks up at him surprisedly, "Do tell."

Andy sits down across from the blonde and opens his folder, laying all of the paperwork out in front of her, "Okay, here's the incident report from the first responder: Janet Cirillo, 37, found shot in an alley on Fifth Street at 03:30 AM. The left heel of her shoe was broken, her wallet was missing, and she had defensive wounds on her arms, all of which indicate there was a struggle. When her phone was traced, it was off, but the last ping came from Joe's Bar in town. I went to the bar and interviewed the owner, asking him if he saw Janet or if anyone was with her. He said he saw her around 03:00 AM with a tall caucasian male who looked to be between 30 and 35. Thankfully the owner had a video camera, so I was able to run facial recognition on the man that was in the bar with Janet." He takes a deep breath and shuffles the papers on the desk until he finds the one he was looking for, "Facial recognition came back to Andrew Wilson, 32. From there I was able to find his address and bring him in for questioning. He confessed to the murder, and had this been a real case I would have contacted the Deputy District Attorney to set up a trial date and plea deal if possible."

"Wow." She replies in her strong accent, taking off her glasses and sitting them down on her desk, "I am impressed Lieutenant Flynn, very impressed."

"Really chief," Andy sighs and rubs his temples, "that was pretty easy I-"

"Chief! We solved the case!" The same short man from earlier bursts into the office, three other officers following him, a similar manila folder in his hands, "We even got a confession!"

"Well isn't that nice, Lieutenant Provenza?" She drawls amusedly, "Have you met Lieutenant Flynn yet?"

"Briefly." Lieutenant Provenza waves his hand dismissively, the other officers whispering quietly, "But chief you really should take a look at this."

"Actually," she smirks for a moment, clasping her hands together on the top of her desk, "Lieutenant Flynn already solved the case." She muses, "And it was an exercise. That should say something about your skills, the fact that our new lieutenant was able to do on his own what all of you could hardly do together."

"Actually I… Uh," Andy stands and turns to face his co-workers, "I'm not new new, I worked robbery-homicide in New York City."

"Yeah well," Provenza begins with an eye-roll, "this isn't New York City."

"You're right about that." Andy clasps his hands together in front of himself, "In New York, my colleagues and I were able to work together."

"Lieutenants." Brenda reprimands quietly, watching as the two men eye each other like two boxers in the ring, "I suggest you watch yourselves. You're going to have to get along. This is a high priority unit and you'll be spending a lot of time together. For those of you who haven't met him yet, this is Andy Flynn. He's joining us from New York's robbery/homicide. Flynn, these are your co-workers, Amy Sykes, Julio Sanchez, Mike Tao, and Louie Provenza." Andy offers a small wave and a meager hello to the group, their scrutinising gazes making him even more uncomfortable, "Follow me out and I'll show you your desk." Andy offers the blonde a nod, thankful that she was providing him with some semblance of an escape.

~oOo~

By the time Andy was finally able to go home, it was almost 9:30. He sighs and flips open his phone, dialling Sharon's number as he unlocks his car and starts it.

"Hello?" Sharon answers with a yawn.

"Hi." Andy grins to himself, "It's Andy Flynn. I'm sorry it's so late, I'll be right over to pick up Nicole."

"Oh, don't worry about it. She's an angel." Sharon responds, "She's with my kids right now, they were watching a movie and all three of them fell asleep on the couch. It's quite a sight." She chuckles fondly, looking to the trio on the couch as a grin graced her lips, "How long will you be? Have you eaten dinner?"

"Maybe five minutes. And I'll make something when I get home." He adds, "Thanks for keeping her all day, I really appreciate it."

"I'll see you in a little bit." Sharon returns, "Drive safe."

~oOo~

The camaraderie he and Sharon had shared on the phone was strange, but he had to admit he enjoyed it. Andy couldn't remember the last time he found someone he just clicked with, and he was glad to at the very least have one friend in this godforsaken city. Andy parks his car and walks briskly to the door of the studio before ringing the doorbell. He shoves his hands into his pockets and lets out a deep breath, rocking back on his heels as he waits for Sharon to answer the door.

"Hi." She opens the door for him and smiles, her auburn hair framing her face as she closed the door behind them, "The kids are all upstairs; I couldn't bring myself to wake them." She shrugs as a grin covers her face, "Just wait until you see them, so precious!" She giggles as she and Andy make their way up the narrow staircase and into the second-floor apartment.

"Wow." He says quietly once they enter the apartment, "You have quite the setup here."

"We make it work." Sharon shrugs, trying her hardest not to take Andy's statement as an insult.

They didn't have much. That was and had been a fact since the moment Jackson Raydor decided to overturn their lives. He took what he could, in either cash or the education Sharon had paid for, and then he left. Left them with just enough to barely pay the bills every week, barely. Sharon smiled for her children, stayed strong for them just as she always had. But it was wearing on her, and she could only disguise that fact for so long. Managing the studio brought in enough money for groceries, but it wasn't easy. She was still waiting for her 'big break.' For all her hard work to pay off, so her children could live in a real house, not some half-rate apartment.

"The kids are all on the couch in the living room." Sharon smiles, "All of the rooms are connected." She explains, "We use these curtains as doors, it's easier in the summer when it gets too hot. Oh, why am I even telling you this?" Sharon dismisses herself, leading Andy through the kitchen where they had entered, then through the dining room and finally to the living room, "Just look." She sighs wistfully, crossing her arms over her chest and smiling brightly at the three sleeping figures, "That's my son, Ricky, and daughter, Emily." She whispers, pointing to the children on either side of Nicole, "They were watching E.T." She explains, "And also, Nicole is very good at ballet."

"That's good to hear." Andy smiles at the children as well, "It may be the only good thing she inherited from her mother." He sighs and bows his head.

"I'm sure that can't be true." Sharon responds softly, reaching out and squeezing Andy's arm reassuringly as Nicole stirs, "She's an amazing girl."

"Thank you." He nods appreciatively, "I'm doing my best with her. I just wish I had my son too."

"Your… son…?" She repeats cautiously.

"Is in New York with his mother." Andy answers Sharon's unspoken question, "That was what he wanted."

"I'm so sorry." Sharon looks up at him sadly, "I didn't know."

"Now you do." He shrugs, "You're probably the only one in this city that knows anything about me."

"Likewise." Sharon shrugs with a smirk, "God, I just don't want to wake them." Sharon sighs as she looks back to the sleeping children, "I don't think I've seen them this calm in a long time."

"Don't wake them then. I'll pick up Nic and carry her out to the car. Problem solved." He beams proudly.

"Do you need help with her?" Sharon whispers quietly as Andy picks up Nicole and cradles her in his arms.

"If you could get the doors that'd be a help." Andy replies, his eyes never leaving his daughter even as they made their way down the narrow staircase and back into the studio. "Thank you." He offers Sharon a warm smile as he steps out into the street, "Thank you so much. I'll see you tomorrow?" He asks hopefully as Nicole rubs her eyes.

"I'd hope so." She quips with a crooked smile as she locks the studio door, "Good night Andy."

"Good night Sharon." He responds before turning away from her and loading his daughter into the car.