This was written for hetbigbang 2015 community. It is unbeta so all mistakes are mine.
A/N: This story is set between the end of season 3 and the beginning of season 4 so Shandy is not CANON yet.
GHOST TOWN
When it all falls, when it all falls down
I'll be your fire when the lights go out
When there's no one, no one else around
We'll be two souls in a ghost town
When the world gets cold
I'll be your cover
Let's just hold
Onto each other
When it all falls, when it all falls down
We'll be two souls in a ghost town
Ghost Town- Madonna
Captain Sharon Raydor knew she had work to do. The files on her desk were there as a reminder her, but her mind was elsewhere. It had been since her lieutenant and friend Andy Flynn left for his lunch break.
It had been a quiet morning even though they had a case. They had been stuck for days and with no new evidence and no new information, it was getting more difficult to find a breakthrough, something that could put them on the right track again. The case was slowly getting colder and colder by the minute and they didn't want that. Robert Carlton, their victim, couldn't just be another forgotten number case in a box. His family deserved more than that.
The team was brainstorming in front of the whiteboard when I voice interrupted them.
"I see nothing ever changes around here…" they all turned their heads around and saw a woman standing by the entrance with a smile on her face. "Well except the new offices look tidier."
"Carol!" Andy Flynn jumped from his seat and rushed towards the woman enfolding her in a big warm hug.
"It's good to see you too, Andy." The blonde woman put her arms around the tall man and returned the hug.
The rest of the team exchanged looks with their eyebrow raised wondering if they knew who the woman was or what her relationship with Andy was. The only one who seemed to know her was Provenza and he nodded his head at her with a smile and a small wave.
"Am I late?" Andy asked as he separated from her and checking his watch. He knew that when they all exchanged ideas and discussed the case, usually time passed without them realizing it.
"No, no." She reassured him put a hand on his arm. "I just wanted to see the new place and where you worked. It's certainly different from that small office you and Bobby used to share with the smoke stained walls and the horrible smell of rotten food."
Andy chuckled. "Yes, it's definitely an improvement."
Sharon observed them from where she was leaning against the empty desk next to Andy's. The woman had long strawberry blonde hair and a warm friendly smile. She was maybe a few years younger than her, but her face didn't have the sign of the passing of time. They looked comfortable around each other and Andy introduced her as Caroline Keaton to the room. Everyone said hi to her and when it was her turn, Sharon put on her best smile on her face and shook her hand.
"Is it okay if I leave for my lunch break?" Andy then asked her implicating that she was going to spend his lunch break out with Caroline.
Sharon kept smiling even though she felt a pang of jealousy creep inside her. "Sure. There's nothing we can do here for now. Enjoy your lunch."
As soon as they had left, she walked inside her office and closed the door behind her ignoring the questioning looks of her team. She had been hiding in there for nearly over an hour now.
Her mind was filled with questions. Who was that woman? But more importantly: who was she for Andy?
Since things quiet down after Stroh's escape, they had been going out on their no-dates at least a couple times of a week and never in one of their outings did her mention going out with someone else. Not that he should have. She had no claim on him. They were friends. Very good friends, that's it. Those were the words they told his daughter Nicole when she thought (or more like Andy let her believe) that their relationship was more intimate. And yes, things were beginning to change. And extra smile here, a longing touch there, hands caressing each other, but that was it. And then hell broke loose. Stroh escaped and Sharon kept every minute of every day searching for him and protecting her adopted son, Rusty. Maybe she had been too distracted that she didn't see that she had lost him. She had lost him even before she really had him.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on her door. She shook her head and hid her emotions again.
"Yes?" She called out.
The door opened and she saw it was her boss, Assistant Chief Russell Taylor. "Captain, if you could come to the murder room, please." He ordered without any preamble.
Confused, Sharon got up and followed him outside.
The rest of the team interrupted what they were doing and had their attention on them. Raydor could see discarded pizza boxes and carton glasses around the room. Buzz must have gone to get some food. It was strange that they didn't invite. She wondered if they had known that she had wanted to be alone and why.
"There's been a murder similar to ours near Los Angeles National forest." Taylor announced. "The local sheriff told us we can go and check it out, see if it can be the same MO."
Raydor had opened her mouth ready to send Julio, Tao and Buzz to the scene when Taylor interrupted her. "I want you to go, Captain."
Sharon raised her eyebrows surprised. She was team leader; she rarely went to the crime scenes or in the field, only when it was necessary. That's why she had a team.
Sensing her hesitation, Chief Taylor explained. "It is a small local town. They media are already there. If they found out about the similarities and they connect the dots, they will scream serial killer before we even had the chance to verify it. Chief Pope wants every to be dealt with before there's going to be unnecessary chaos. You are the best diplomatic member of Major Crimes, Pope wants you there."
She nodded. She couldn't really disobey orders. Maybe going away and being separated from Flynn would help her with the pain he was feeling right then. She looked at lieutenant Tao. "I'll…"
In that moment they heard the ding of the lift and Andy Flynn came back from his lunch break. , fortunately, without his companion.
"You can take Flynn. There's a helicopter waiting for you to take you there."
"What's going on here?" Flynn only heard his name and the word helicopter.
"You and the captain are going to for helicopter trip." Provenza sniggered updating his friends. He was glad that it wasn't him. He hated flying on those things. He had old cars that looked more secure than those flying mechanic birds.
"A helicopter? Why can't we drive?" Flynn frowned.
"Flynn? I could go with someone else… Tao or…" Sharon Raydor ignored them. She wanted to get away from him not spending more alone time with Andy.
Flynn snapped his head towards Sharon still frowning. Why didn't she want him to go with there?
"I said Flynn." Taylor looked at the captain carefully. "Is there a problem here?" He narrowed his eyes.
"No, of course not, Sir." She swallowed hard. She didn't want people to get suspicious. "I'll get my bag ready and Lieutenant Flynn and I will set off shortly." She finally looked at him and she could see that he knew something was wrong. Great, now she was going to have to spend the short flight there dodging his questions. She sighed and walked towards her office to get her night bag that was already there for emergency which had some extra clothes and toiletries. She also wanted to call Rusty to let him know that she was going away. Maybe if she was lucky it was going to be nothing and they would be back before night.
When she walked back out again after talking to her son, she noticed that lieutenant Flynn was missing again.
"He went to get his bag from his car." Provenza explained when she saw her questioning eyes. "He said he was going to meet you directly at the helicopter pad."
"We might have to stay there the night. It is unlikely that we'll get all our answers before the end of the day. If it is the same MO and the same killer we will see how to organize the data and operations. Maybe Skye could join us and you, Lieutenant, could keep everything here under control."
"First let's see if it's our killer. You and Flynn might be going over there for nothing. You know how Pope is." Provenza grumbled.
"Yeah, maybe…" She paused. "If you could…"
"Watch over Rusty while you are gone?" he finished for her.
"Yeah."
"I thought Cooper's team was doing that?"
Sharon glared at him. Rusty didn't know that she had put agents to watch his back while Stroh was on the run. He didn't want a security detail and she had gone behind his back. Yes, she felt guilty about that, but it was better than to have to bury her son because she hadn't taken all possible precautions.
"I will ask him to spend the night on my couch. I will imply that he doesn't really have a choice."
"Thank you Lieutenant." She smiled. He always sounded so grumpy, but she knew he cared.
She found Andy in front of the door leading to the roof where the helicopter pad was. They could already hear the strong rumor of the engine running and the recognizable sound of the propellers.
"Are you ready to go?" He smiled at her with his boyish grin that melted her heart. But this time she gave her only pain.
She opened the door without answering and greeted the pilot who was waiting for them.
"Officer Pride, Madame." He shook her hand. "I'll be your pilot today."
"Thank you officer." And the young man helped her get in the helicopter. He then turned towards Lieutenant Flynn and nodded at him as Andy lifted himself up and took a seat next to Sharon.
Andy put his protective gear on and then helped Sharon with her seat belt.
"Thanks." She muttered just for courtesy and he really didn't know what was wrong.
The pilot took his seat and then the helicopter took off. It was going to be a short flight, so he didn't need a co-pilot.
"Okay, what's going on?" Andy suddenly asked after more than fifteen minutes of silence.
"We're going to a crime scene that might be connected to our case."
"I don't mean with this. You know what I mean. What's going on with you?" He replied annoyed.
"I don't know what you mean. Nothing is wrong with me."
"What did I do?"
"Nothing."
"Then why are you pissed at me?" He shouted so she could hear her over the loud noise.
"I'm not angry, but if you continue acting like this I will be in a second." She gave him the famous Darth Raydor glare. She knew he was hunting for something, but she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of making her talk.
"You were fine this morning. We even talked over coffee. What happened between then and now?"
"Andy, leave it alone!"
"So there is an IT!"
She looked outside the window and watched the trees underneath them. She could feel his demanding eyes on her, but she ignored him. She was certainly not going to have that conversation there. Never, if she could help it.
Andy finally looked away with a sigh. He wasn't going to have his answers now. Hopefully they would find a minute to talk later.
Suddenly the helicopter shook violently. Sharon tightly gripped her armrests as the turbulence continued.
"There's some wind. Hold on tight." The pilot told them through the earpiece.
She had completely forgotten about the earpiece and microphone. Sharon wondered if he had heard their conversations. All her worries disappeared as alarms went off all around the cockpit and Officer Pride struggled to take control of the vehicle.
"Winds up to 50 knots!" the pilot shouted. "Control, can you hear me? May Day, May Day!"
Sharon and Andy looked at each other scared. He took her hand in his and squeezed it tight.
"It's going to be okay." He mouthed, but those were his last words.
"We're going down! Brace yourself for impact!"
The helicopter was going down fast. Sharon could feel her heart starting to race in her chest. Her hand in Andy's was sweaty and her mind went to her children thinking if she was going to see them again and what would happen to Rusty if she died today. Her body rocked in the seat, the trees were getting bigger and bigger as they went down. Suddenly Andy's body covered hers. That was the last thing she felt before everything went dark.