~There's a New Sheriff in Town~

AN: This is an AU story idea that has been stuck in my head and trying to get out for years. It is set in the Old West but also within the first season of Major Crimes with some dialogue from the show.

Disclaimer: I sadly own nothin' of Major Crimes, nothin'!

He strolled down the creaky boardwalk, his foot fall landing heavily on the worn wood. He was in town to see an old friend. As he hit the top step of his destination, he heard heated words coming from inside. From the raised voices, he knew who was arguing and figured he'd better run interference before it escalated into something more. He quickly stepped into the old dark dusty building, closing the door behind him. Andy Flynn knew it was serious when he heard Provenza loudly threaten, "I want a transfer."

Mayor Taylor turned his glare from the intruder back to the grumpy deputy and in a commanding voice, he demanded, "you stay here or you retire! Now, you want to hand me your badge?" When there was no answer, the furious man pushed his way passed them, "I put her here for a reason. Just do your job." There was a quick burst of sunshine as he opened the door then slammed it, leaving them alone in the dimly lit room.

The room was silent. When Andy saw the redness fade from his friend's face, he finally dared to ask, "What are you so upset about?"

Provenza grumbled, "it's a crappy way to make a living, dealing with the worst this town has to offer and not being in charge."

Andy couldn't help but snicker, "you haven't been in charge for eight years."

"Yeah, but now I'm mad about it!" He threw another one of his personal items from his desk into a box. Frustrated, Provenza said, "Flynn, it's that woman." He turned to his longtime friend and used his fingers to count. "After four wives, five divorces, six chiefs, three partners and two parakeets... who lived a lot longer than I expected them to. I just don't want to be forced into another long-standing, unhappy relationship."

The telltale sound of boots and the spin of the spurs attached to them echoed from down the back hallway. As the steps got closer, Provenza's eyes widened. He knew who it was because no one else walked like that. He cringed when he heard, "I completely agree."

There was a pause, nobody moved. Feeling the tension building until it became too much, Andy decided to make an exit in a hurry. "I'm gonna get a cup of coffee. I'll be heading out." He flipped the piece of straw that was between his teeth to the other side of his mouth as he tipped his hat saying, "Ma'am." Turning back to Provenza before he left to say, "see ya around, maybe."

Sharon watched the tall stranger leave. She had never met him before, but there was something oddly familiar about him. She felt drawn to him, as if she had known him for a long time. To keep her boots planted where she stood and to not follow the man, she leaned back on the desk behind her, crossed her arms and faced her deputy asking, "should I say how much I appreciate your service and your experience? Should I remind you that we, both of us, are probably dealing with misconceptions about each other? Can we improve our work relationship through dinner and a drink?"

"God, no! Look, Sheriff, this isn't just about you. After all I've given to this town, anyone else besides me sitting in that chair," Provenza pointed at the empty seat behind the main desk, "is an insult and it's not fair."

She narrowed her eyes in disbelief as she asked, "you have been a deputy for how long, and you're still expecting life to be fair?"

"Look, if I stay, I'll only complain and point out your mistakes," he admitted smugly.

Standing with her hands behind her back, Sharon asked curiously, "Aren't you experienced enough to speak your mind with me and remember my rank?"

Provenza put on his jacket and stretched out the sleeves with a jerk. "Well, of course I am. The problem is, I don't want to. This whole situation, it... it just sucks."

Sharon nodded in agreement, "it does a little, I know. Look, why don't you agree to stay on here, only... only until you find someplace completely fair to work." Heading over to her desk, she spun back around saying, "think about it," before continuing her steps. She went over to her new desk to get acquainted with her surroundings. She heard the door close behind him, but when she turned she noticed his box of items was still on his desk, so maybe there was hope he was willing to work with her. As Sharon settled in her chair, she let out a sigh. She had come here to make a change in her life, but she wasn't so sure it was a good idea anymore. It wasn't the fact she wasn't liked by her colleagues, she was used to that. She just wasn't sure if she fit into this small tumbleweed town.

Suddenly, the front door opened with a crash. It brought her mind back to what she should be doing, her job. Another deputy Sharon had met earlier and a younger blonde man she didn't know were dragging in a kicking and screaming pile of dirt. She jumped up from her seat. "What is going on here?"

The two men pushed through the doorway and sat him in an empty chair. "This is the third time Rusty has run away from home this week."

Sharon looked at him and asked, "and you are who?"

"Sorry, Ma'am, my name is Buzz. I own the bicycle shop a few doors down." He heard the new sheriff was in town, but he wasn't expecting someone so pretty and refined. It was hard not to stare. Luckily, he had a juvenile delinquent to distract him.

Before Sharon could return the greeting, the kid laughed, "what kind of name is Buzz?"

"You mean compared to Rusty?"

The smug look dropped off the boy's face and when he tried to stand, a hand on his shoulder stopped him. "It's not my home."

Buzz informed her, "The parents he was put him with, won't take him back."

Rusty slumped in the seat and huffed, "that is fine with me. They were terrible."

Sharon turned her attention to the teenager and asked, "What's the problem?"

"Living with complete strangers, that is the problem and they were, like telling me what to do all day long, even like what I could eat. They would make me go to bed 9:00 every night."

"So, you were tortured." Sharon looked between the two frustrated men and said, "I will take care of him." She sat back down in her unfamiliar chair.

He watched the new lady Sheriff sit down. To him, it seemed like she felt out of place, which reminded him to ask. "Look, I know the other person, whose chair you're now sitting in was fired or whatever, but I need to speak with him right now or just let me go."

Needing him to understand that letting a child just walk out wasn't an option, Sharon tried to explain, "Hmmm...um…right, Rusty, you are too young to live unsupervised."

With that, he almost jumped out of his seat to argue. "I lived unsupervised for months, and nobody cared. I can handle it."

Sharon looked him up and down, she could tell he had been living on the streets and she wouldn't allow it to happen to this boy again. "Well, that was before I arrived and I am now here to safeguard this town and the people in it, including you. It's not safe for a juvenile on the streets alone. You will stay here or stay where I decide to put you."

Rusty shook his head vehemently as he rushed his words, "No! I don't have to do that."

She ran her hands over the wooden desk, which was hard for her to believe was hers. She tried to center herself before saying, "ohhh, yes, you do. We have to keep protecting you until we can find something more permanent."

He pointed at her, "No, I am not doing that, and you can't make me."

"Oh, yes we can make you, and we will make you. Until then, we need to find a safe place for you to stay." Sharon wondered which was worse arguing with a teenager or a criminal.

With a sneer on his face, Rusty said, "Look, I...I don't know you, really, but I don't like you. So, I'd rather just deal with the old sheriff, please."

Sharon was getting tired of everyone wanting the person she replaced back. "Well, I'm afraid you're standing at the back of a very long line. Unfortunately, the person here before me retired. So, I am all you got."

"What?" Rusty stormed across the room to try and get outside, but Deputy Tao stepped in his way of the door.

Sharon was beside the boy a second later. She was an inch from his face and using her motherly firm tone she told him, "knock it off and I mean right now or the next place you go will have locks on doors and bars on the windows." She pointed to the jail cell behind him as she asked, "Do you want to spend the next two years in there?"

Tao watched the young kid's face go pale. He had to admit he was a little afraid of the new sheriff in town. He was sure she was going to be a force to reckon with. He gave a slight smile thinking it was just what this town needed. He decided to help out by suggesting, "don't worry, Sheriff, he can stay with me for a few hours and play with my boys. Kevin is near his age."

Feeling relieved, Sharon let out a quiet sigh. She really had no idea what to do with the young man, so she took her deputy up on the offer. "Thank you, Mike. I can come get him later after my shift."

After the door closed and the ruckus of an irate teenager faded out of earshot, Sharon plopped gracefully into her chair. It had been one heck of a day and it was only her first. She wasn't sure what she had gotten herself into and now to top it off she had to pick up an ungrateful child to take home with her. She felt bad for Rusty, he really only needed someone to care about him and to give him a chance. Even with their arguing, she saw something special in the boy. She lifted the Stetson hat off her head and set it on her desk to run her fingers through her hair in frustration. Before placing it back on her head, she rubbed her forehead. She was sure she felt a headache coming on.

Sharon got an hour of relative quiet before the front door was once again opened, but this time it was with a quiet creak. She looked up to see her head deputy sit down at his desk. She raised a brow in question. "I did the nightly rounds. The town is fairly calm tonight," Provenza said as if he hadn't threatened to quit a few hours earlier. Her only acknowledgement was a nod and then she went back to her paperwork. Inside she smiled, glad he was staying on. She would need his help learning the ins and outs of this town if she decided to stay that long.

As darkness settled over the land, there was noise outside the jail. Both Raydor and Provenza looked at each other. Knowing him well enough already, she knew that he wasn't going to jump up and investigate it. He went back to his newspaper as she got up and hurried to the door. Cautiously, Sharon pulled it open, keeping a hand on her gun. Seeing no one, she carefully stepped outside checking all directions as she went. Nothing was there except a horse, who was agitated and lathered, as if it had been running a long way.

She got barreled out of the way from behind her. "Hey, that's Flynn's horse!" Provenza called out in disbelief. "What's she doing here without him? Laura wouldn't come back here on her own unless something happened to Andy."

They stepped closer, but the horse was skittish and jerked away from them. Sharon reached her hand out for the beautiful chestnut horse to smell the back of it. When the horse didn't pull away, but came closer, she slowly stroked its nose and her calm voice soothed the troubled horse. Soon the powerful animal was rubbing its head up against Sharon's shoulder. "She's beautiful," she said more to herself but loud enough for anyone to hear. As she ran her hands through its mane, she noticed something on the saddle. She turned the horse to the light from the open doorway and asked, "is that blood?" Hearing her deputy's intake of breath, she turned to him and was concerned he didn't look surprised that the owner of this horse could be hurt. Something else was going on around here, she thought. Sharon narrowed her eyes and inquired, "Who is this Mr. Flynn? Was it the man who you were talking to earlier?"

Provenza shrugged, "he's just a rancher who has land on the outskirts of town. He did mention a few times something about having some rustlers stealing a few head of cattle and messing with the rest of the herd trying to start a stampede. He had been trying to scare them away."

Sharon listened as she noticed her horse, who happened to be tied up to the hitching post in front of the jail, moving closer to the disturbed mare. Her Silver Dapple, who was almost a salt and pepper colored Stallion, nuzzled up to the deep breathing steed as if to calm her down. He took a drink out of the water trough then pushed up against the other horse beside him to encourage her to drink too. After a few seconds, they were both getting their fill of water. Sharon was relieved because she could tell the female had been running hard, was in a panic and needed to cool off. She turned to her second-in-charge and asked, "What did you say her name was?" When he just stared her, Sharon rolled her eyes and added, "The horse's name? You did say her name, right? Maybe she can lead us back to this Flynn guy and we can find out what happened."

Provenza huffed, "the idiot named his horse, Laura. He rambled on and on about how she just looked like a Laura to him and how there was sadness in its eyes that…. E'gads, I don't know. You'd have to ask him about it." The horse snorted at hearing her name. "Sheriff, just so you know, I don't run or ride, but I'll go around town and ask questions here. I'm sure the low-life's in Sanchez's Sultry-Doll Saloon will have some answers."

"Fine, I'll go, you look after the town." Sharon swung her leg over her horse, who was still getting acquainted with the beautiful runaway mare. As she settled in her saddle, she wondered if her deputy was actually going for information or if it was for the drinks or possibly the ladies of the evening there.

"What? Shouldn't you wait until you can get some back up or find some men to go with you?"

Provenza asked. He didn't care for the woman, but he didn't want her to get hurt riding off on her own in the darkness.

Sharon just rolled her eyes again, "I'll be fine. Just find out what you can around here." With Flynn's horse's lead tied to her saddle horn, she nudged her horse to head out. When she quickened their pace to a gallop, it left her deputy coughing with dust in his face.

~TBC~

A/N: Thank you to lissianne for betaing for me, for her continued support and the support of some absolutely amazing friends within this fandom!