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 is the nest story picking up around 2 months after the events in Sidelined. It's now getting close to Christmas (I know, I usually have my stories stay with the current month but things got a little crazy and Sidelined took a long time). Anyway, hope you enjoy this story.

Chapter 1

The streets of LA seemed different to him after being gone for so long. He had been here once before, but that was a long time ago when his brother still lived here. He had just moved to LA a month ago, wanting to start a life for himself like his brother had. As he walked into the bar, he noticed that it was decorated for Christmas already, it was only the first week of December. There was garland strung with lights around the bar itself and icicle lights hung down from the ceiling. He walked up to the bar stool and waved the bartender over to him.

"What'll it be?" the bartender asked him. "I'll have a Budweiser please," he spoke with a southern accent that he couldn't hide. "You got some ID with you?" the bartender stated as he looked at the young man in front of him. "Yep," the man said and pulled out his wallet, showing him his Georgia Driver's License.

"You here on business?" the bartender asked as he placed the bottle of Budweiser on top of the bar. "Sort of, I guess you could say that," the man shrugged his shoulders as he took a sip from the bottle. The bartender left him to tend to his other patrons. The bar was getting busier as the night went on. The man still sat there on the bar stool, watching everyone around him. He was on his third beer of the night and finished it, leaving the bartender a tip on the bar top and walked out of the bar.

He stepped outside and walked down the street to his apartment that he was renting. It was smaller than his brother's but it served its purpose. He needed a place to rest and think things through. A month ago he had run into someone at the local gym who had asked him if he was new in town. He of course, said yes, and the guy showed him around, introducing him to other people.

"I'd like you to be my errand man, you know, take care of things I need taken care of," the guy informed him after about two weeks of meeting him at the gym. Gun shots coming up ahead of him brought the man back to the present and he stood alongside one of the buildings, not really seeing anything but a body lying on the street.

He ran up to the body and saw that the person was shot, most likely dead, and that's when three squad cars pulled up in front of him and the officers jumped out of the cars and had their guns drawn down on him. "Don't move!" one of them said. "Show me your hands!" another one gave him orders and he complied.

"I didn't do anything," he told them in slurred, southern twang. One of the police officers approached him and placed him in handcuffs. He then did a cursory search on him and found a gun on the inside of his pants. "You didn't do anything, huh?" the police officer stated to him and then placed him in the back of a squad car.

"I want to talk to Brenda Leigh Johnson of the LAPD!" the guy demanded as he sat in the back of the car. The police officers all looked at each other while a few of them were tending to the crime scene. "Who?" one of them asked. "Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson, tell her that Grady Reed is asking for her," Grady told them as he sat in the back of the car. "Kid, she no longer works for the LAPD," an older officer informed him as he slumped down in the seat.

Detective Williams was called out to the scene and saw Grady still sitting in the back of the car as he approached the scene. "Is this the kid who's asking for Deputy Chief Johnson?" Williams asked the patrol officer and he nodded. "Is he saying anything else?" Williams added as he took a look around the body, as the medical examiner's office was at the scene as well.

"What types of casings were found at the scene?" he asked another officer. ".45" he answered him. "Huh, and the gun our guy was carrying was?" Williams asked him. "9 millimeter," the officer stated. "Sir, we can arrest him for concealing a firearm," the officer added. "Oh don't worry, we will certainly be doing that, plus I want to know why this kid is asking for a Deputy Chief that no longer is working here," Williams turned around and headed towards the body.

He looked over the dead body lying on the ground as the medical examiner was doing his report. "You got an ID on our victim here?" Williams asked as he knelt down. "John O'Malley, 46 from Los Angeles," the medical examiner stated as he looked up from his report. "O'Malley, as in an assistant DA?" Williams asked and then saw his wallet and ID next to him. Williams shook his head as he stood up.

He pulled out his phone and dialed a number. "Yeah, get me Chief of Police Pope, please," he stated in the phone as he walked back to the patrol car.

Two hours later, the phone was ringing as Andy and Sharon were lying in bed together. "Is that mine or yours?" she asked him as she rubbed her eyes with her hand, trying to wake up. As she moved off of Andy, he let out a groan. She reached over to the night stand and grabbed Andy's phone, handing it to him. "It's Provenza," she whispered and then layed back down on the bed.

Andy took the phone from her and ran his hand over his face as he sat up. "This better be good," he stated on the phone as he answered it. "Well, good morning to you too," Provenza grumbled. Andy stood up and started walking towards the bathroom. "Did we get called out or something, or is this just a friendly wake up call to get you home?" Andy asked as he turned the light on. "Someone shot an assistant DA on the streets outside the Hamilton building tonight," Provenza informed him. "Shit," he mumbled.

Provenza gave Andy all of the information over the phone and he quickly got dressed in a suit. As he stepped out of the bathroom, he saw Sharon sitting on the edge of their bed. "Go back to sleep, honey. I'll let you know more when I get to the scene," he told her, walking back into their closet to grab a tie.

Sharon stood up and met him outside the closet door. "Why don't you tell me what information you have now and then I'll meet you at the office?" she slowly ran her hands up the tie that he had just placed around his neck. Andy chuckled and shook his head. "You are one stubborn lady," he leaned down and kissed her on her lips.

"Hmm, yes but I think that's why you like me," she said as they broke apart. "That's not the only reason," he smiled at her and went back into the bathroom to finish getting himself ready. He thought back to October, when she had gotten shot and the aftermath of that. He was glad that she had been cleared by her doctor and that so far, everything was going well.

She followed him into their bathroom and watched him finish getting ready. "So, a body was found outside the Hamilton building downtown, the man was shot to death, apparently he was an assistant DA, and there's a possible suspect in custody right now," Andy informed her, turning around to look at her when he mentioned the job of their victim.

"Assistant DA? Was Andrea notified?" Sharon asked, wondering what had happened. "Uh, as far as I know, the DA's office has not been notified," he told her as he placed his suit jacket on and walked past her. She stood in the door frame with her arms around her body, wearing one of Andy's dress shirts that she had quickly pulled on while he spoke to Provenza on the phone.

Sharon then made her way to their closet and started to gather some clothes for herself. "Why didn't you tell me this as you were getting dressed?" she told him as he looked over to her direction. "If an Assistant DA was murdered, I think the Commander of Major Crimes needs to be at the scene as well," she quickly walked into the bathroom to get herself dressed.

Andy huffed as he ran his hand over his face. "I'll go make us some coffee," he called out to her as she got dressed and walked out into the hallway. He stopped in front of Matthew's door and opened it slightly to see the boy was still sleeping. Moxie was as well and Andy closed the door. He made his way downstairs and went into the kitchen, quickly making coffee for the both of them.

Sharon stepped out of the bathroom, dressed in a black suit and white blouse to match Andy's tie, and gathered her items. She then stepped out into the hallway and made her way to the guest bedroom. Emily had been staying with them since she got her job with the LA Ballet and Dance Company a month ago.

She had flown back to New York City a week after Sharon had been cleared to return to work and settled her apartment and belongings there. She had moved back to LA and was searching for an apartment. Sharon opened the door to the guest room and woke Emily up.

"Sweetie?" she shook her shoulder and Emily stirred awake. "Hmm, what is it Mom?" Emily woke up and blinked her eyes a couple of times, trying to focus. "Andy and I got called out, so would it be possible for you to take Matthew to school this morning?" Sharon asked her. "Um, yeah that's fine. I have rehearsals at 10:30 this morning so that shouldn't be a problem," Emily rubbed her eyes as she looked at her mother.

"Thank you dear," Sharon bent down to kiss her head and then left her room to join Andy downstairs. She walked into the kitchen and Andy had placed the coffee in their to go mugs. He handed her one and she smiled, taking it from him. They locked up the back door of the house and walked over to the garage.

"Emily is going to take Matthew to school this morning, if we are still at the office with this," Sharon told him as he opened her car door. He nodded and made sure she was sitting before he closed her door and got in on the driver's side. He started the car and glanced at the clock inside. This was not what he had planned at 3:30 in the morning on a Wednesday, two weeks before Christmas.

They arrived at the crime scene, downtown, and made their way over to the patrol officer. "Commander Flynn and Lieutenant Flynn," Andy informed him as he wrote their names down on the log sheet. Sharon walked slightly ahead of Andy, making her way towards Provenza. Provenza turned around when he saw Buzz pointing at him.

"Commander, I didn't expect you to come with Flynn," he told her, meeting her halfway. "Lieutenant, what do we know so far?" she got right to business. "Well, ADA O'Malley's body was discovered outside this building, three patrol cars responded to a shots fired call from an apartment across the street, pulled up in front and found his body, along with a man standing over him," Provenza informed her as they walked towards the body.

"Did anyone notify his family yet?" Sharon asked him. "No, according to what I knew from dealing with him, his parents are deceased and he's an only child, no next of kin," Provenza answered her.

Andy followed them and stopped as he saw Sharon bend down to get a closer look at the body of ADA O'Malley. She covered her mouth with her hand as she looked over the body and stood up, glancing at Andy and then at her team. "You mentioned a man was standing over the body when the patrol cars pulled up," Sharon spoke to Provenza.

"Yes, a young man, in his twenties, he had a 9 millimeter hand gun on him," Provenza informed her. "But it looks like he was shot with something bigger than that," Sharon stated. "They found .45 caliber casings around the body and scene," Provenza stated. "And there were tire tracks on the street, SID is trying to get a make on the tire tread, ma'am," Julio informed her and she nodded. She continued to look around the crime scene.

"Who is Amy interviewing?" she asked. "That was the person who called 911 to report shots fired," Provenza stated. "Gather all the information you can here, I also want to speak to the man they picked up from the scene here," Sharon told him, as she stood there with her hands in her pockets. "Patrol is holding him at the PAB. I was told that he was asking to speak with Deputy Chief Johnson when Detective Williams arrived on the scene," Provenza pointed to where Williams was standing.

Sharon walked over to where Williams was standing leaving Andy and Provenza where they stood. "I thought I told you not to wake her up?" Provenza mumbled. "Kind of hard to do that when you call in the middle of the night and she wakes up and hands you the phone," Andy muttered back to him. "Her first real case back from medical leave, I just wanted her to ease back into things," he added. "She's been back at work for a month now, how much more easing into things do you want?" Provenza asked him and Andy flashed him a look.

"Detective Williams, I understand the young man found at the scene was asking for Brenda Leigh Johnson, is that correct?" Sharon didn't miss a beat asking him. "Um, yes, that's what the patrol officers told me. The guy is on his way to the PAB for your team right now," Detective Williams stated. "Did you recognize this guy?" she asked standing there with her hands in her pockets again. "No, never seen him before," he answered as he pushed off of his car. "If you guys got this under control, I'd like to get back to my wife," he told her as he made his way around his car.

Sharon watched him leave as Andy walked up next to her. "Detective Williams still giving you problems?" he asked her as he placed his hand on her back. "Hmm, only the usual," she sighed. "Kendall is moving the body of ADA O'Malley to the morgue now, did you want to go to the morgue or back to the PAB?" Andy asked her as she turned around to face him. "I really want to know who this person is who was asking for Brenda," she said. Andy nodded. "Okay, I'll let Provenza know that we are heading back to the PAB," Andy told her, gave her a wink, and walked back to where he had left Provenza.

Sharon stood there overlooking the scene in front of her. This was going to be a long case. They needed to figure out what cases ADA O'Malley had been working on, and if his life was threatened by anyone he had prosecuted. She also had to contact Andrea and inform her what had happened. She saw Amy walking towards her.

"Anything interesting from our 911 caller?" Sharon asked Amy. "No ma'am, they just heard shots fired and looked out their window, saw the body and called 911," Amy told her as Sharon watched Andy walk towards them. "Lieutenant Flynn and I are heading back to the Murder Room, I'd like for everyone to meet up there when you all are finished here," she told her. Amy nodded and walked away to join the others.

"So, Provenza said that he's going to meet us at the Murder Room, after the body gets to the morgue. He wants to make sure that Doctor Morales takes this one asap," Andy informed her as they walked back over to their car. "I'm going to have to notify Andrea about this," Sharon sighed as she sat inside their car. "Yeah, that's going to be a hard one," he didn't envy that she wanted to be the one to tell her, but knew that he would be right with her when she did. He closed her car door and walked over to the driver's side and slid into the driver's seat.

"I'll be right there with you when you tell her," he offered, knowing that she would appreciate that. "Hmm, thank you," she looked over at him as he started the car and then grabbed his right hand in hers and held it as they drove to the PAB.

"You sure you're up for this case?" Andy asked her as he drove down the street. "What do you mean?" she asked him. "Uh, well, this is our first case since you've been cleared medically," Andy said quietly. "Andy, I have been back at work for over a month now, I'm fine," she smiled, knowing that he was still worried about her.

"I know that," he said as he turned the car down another street. "But," she muttered and Andy glanced at her. "But, as your husband, I worry about the people I love," he told her. "And as my Lieutenant?" she asked, giving a small smile to him. "As your Lieutenant, I can advise you on not to push yourself too much," he answered her and then pulled the car into the parking garage.

He parked the car and got out, walking over to Sharon's side and opening her door. He handed her his hand and she took it, stepping out of the car. "Who would be asking about Brenda?" she wondered, asking him as he closed the car door. "Well, whoever it is, they don't know that she hasn't worked here for six and a half years," Andy said as they walked towards the elevators.

TBC