Coming Home
By Kadi
Rated: K+
Disclaimer: This is not my sandbox, but I do enjoy it so.
A/N: As always, thanks to the wonderful beta deenikn8 and the twin kate04us.
WARNING: Character illness & death. Not main character, depending on POV, but a death just the same.
Chapter 1
It was looking like a case of teenage hijinks gone wrong. What started as a series of pranks had resulted in the death of a nineteen-year-old boy. The victim was the nephew of the Deputy Mayor, and so a lot of pressure was being placed on Major Crimes to close the case, and to close it quickly. A group of thefts and vandalism had been plaguing the fraternity houses at USC. Cars were broken into and spray-painted, bicycles were dismantled, and one of the houses had been toilet papered while lewd messages were written in paint on the doors and windows. Campus police were unable to find those responsible, or even come up with any leads, and so they had turned the matter over to the LAPD.
The case was still being investigated when a body was found in the pool at one of the houses where a break-in was also reported. Two of the young men occupying the house had returned late to find the house trashed and their fraternity brother floating in the pool. From his state of dress, the defensive wounds on the body, and the obvious struggle that had taken place inside the house, it looked as though their young victim was at home at the time that their suspects had chosen to vandalize the property.
It was obvious that those responsible had something against Greek Life, but it was unclear what that was in the beginning. Now that the case involved a murder and Major Crimes was involved, they had managed to find out a little more about the vandalisms. They pulled traffic cameras on the streets near the houses that were hit, and were able to narrow down a list of possible suspects.
The sound of the Captain's heels clicking against tile could be heard as she returned from updating Chief Taylor. As usual he wanted more answers than they had at present. He was feeling the political pressure of the case. Pressure that he mostly brought upon himself, but that did not change the facts that they were dealing with. The Mayor's office wanted answers. Sharon had only a precious few to offer them. Her team was only just beginning to piece this case together. It was going to take time to solve it.
Sharon paused just inside the Murder Room. Everyone was hard at work running down the evidence that they had and putting the witness statements together. They were outlining the connections between their suspects and the Frat houses that were hit leading up to the murder. What they had were three college kids that had been kicked out of a fraternity house two years before. One of them had since flunked out of college and the other two were barely hanging on. Sharon didn't want to spook any of them before her team had an opportunity to bring all three in for questioning. If they could get even one of them to crack, they would have what they needed. In the meantime, every one of her detectives was working hard to sew this case up. They always did.
It had been a long few days, however. The first had been spent learning about their victim and his housemates. They had tracked down alibis and witnesses. Then they had learned about the vandalisms happening in the area, and it was a matter of pulling those case files and digging into two cases at once. They were all running on very little sleep and a great deal of coffee. They had taken a small break that morning, Sharon had sent everyone home to shower and change, but within a couple of hours they were all back and hard at work again. She glanced at her watch and sighed. In another few hours she would dismiss them for the night. The Chief may want answers, but he would not get them if her people where so exhausted that they could not think clearly.
With that decided, Sharon rolled her neck and shoulders and strode toward her office. She was only a few steps away from it when Andy turned in his chair and stood. She could see the tension in the long lines of his body. He moved slowly, muscles stiff from having sat in one position too long. A small, understanding smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. Thoughts of taking him home and rubbing his shoulders in exchange for having him wash her hair were so enticing that she was almost tempted to dismiss everyone right then. Sharon stamped down on that urge; there were still a few more workable hours that they could squeeze out of this day before she gave in to her exhaustion.
She tilted her head at him instead and clasped her hands in front of her. "Yes, Lieutenant?"
Andy nodded toward her office. "You have a visitor," he said quietly. He watched her gaze swing to the open office blinds. Surprise and delight lit her face upon finding Ricky seated in a chair in front of her desk. Those emotions effectively chased away the shadows of fatigue. "He showed up a couple of minutes after you left to go see Taylor," Andy continued. "He seems a little…" He couldn't put his finger on it. The elder of Sharon's two sons was usually far more laid back. Ricky could be a pain in the ass when it came to protecting his mother, sure, but what son wasn't? He had a way of keeping things from her that he shouldn't, but on the whole, as far as personalities went, the kid was pretty easy going. "I don't know," Andy said finally. His hands found his hips as he shook his head. "He's bothered by something, I guess." Which was pretty obvious since the kid was in a quiet, and almost grim mood. Add to that, they hadn't known that he was driving down. Ricky usually called ahead.
"Hm." Sharon's lips pursed in thought. Ricky didn't like to come to her with his troubles anymore. He spoke to Emily about them, or Rusty occasionally. For the most part, he handled it himself. Her son was trying very hard to be the independent and mature adult that she had raised him to be. It was a little difficult at times to remind herself that he was only doing as she taught him. Sharon had a hard time remembering that with all three of her children. "Maybe he is reconsidering that job offer," she suggested. The most pressing issue on Ricky's mind the last few months was an offer that he received from a software firm in Seattle. It was an excellent opportunity, but he was happy where he was. He didn't want to leave Palo Alto, and he liked the work that he was doing. Sharon hadn't liked that it would take him even further away from her, but he would still only be a few hours away by plane. "I will find out." She looked up at Andy again and touched his arm before she moved in to her office.
It had been a couple of months since they had seen Ricky. The last time he was down was to help with the move. After many months of discussion and searching, she and Andy had found a home that they wanted to share. It was a townhouse on the beach that had been foreclosed on. Gavin had told her about it before it was even fully on the market. It belonged to one of his clients who needed to liquidate assets quickly, and while he could not give her any of the details, he promised that the house had not been involved in any illegal doings. Prior to that conversation they were looking at houses in Silver Lake and Echo Park. They had looked at condos downtown and a few very nice apartment complexes with units for sale. Sharon wasn't sold on the idea of having a yard. It was why she had bought her condo to begin with. Andy had liked to spend time working in his, right up until the moment that he sold his house and moved in with her while they searched for something bigger. It was a compromise that they had taken into consideration when searching. Andy didn't want to live in a condo or apartment complex, he didn't like the idea of living so close to others, but Sharon didn't want the yard upkeep. It made for some very interesting conversations. They also needed to consider Rusty, and room for the other children, when or if they visited.
The result was six months of searching, while boxes were stacked along one wall in her dining room and the rest of Andy's things were in storage, before Gavin had come to their rescue. Sharon wasn't initially sold on the townhouse either, and neither was Andy. It sounded as if it might be too much for both of them, and not something that either of them could readily afford, even with pooling their resources. They had to keep in mind that Sharon was putting Rusty through college and retirement was looming ever closer for the both of them. They had only agreed to take a look at it upon learning that the asking price was well within what they had budgeted.
Two months later, it was theirs. It wasn't too big, but there was room enough for everyone. It was right on the beach, something that they hadn't thought they would like, but found that they were enjoying immensely. They had a little bit of a commute in the mornings, but it wasn't terrible, and well worth the fact that they had a home that now belonged to the two of them. Well, the two of them and Rusty, although he spent more of his time at Gus's apartment than he did at home.
If Sharon's other children had any reservations about their mother moving in with her boyfriend, they had faded by the time that the move actually happened. By that point they had been together for almost two years, and even Rusty was calling it the most logical choice they could make. Ricky was glad to help, and spent a weekend transferring boxes from one location to the other, while the movers did the heavy work. He hadn't visited since; they were all busy in the weeks that followed.
Sharon stepped quietly into her office. The door closed with a click that had Ricky's head turning. She smiled brightly at him. "I wasn't expecting you."
"I know." Ricky pulled his long body out of the chair and stepped around it. He wrapped his mother in a hug when she moved closer, and if he held on a little longer than usual, he decided that was okay. "I'm sorry to just show up in the middle of your case like this."
"You should never be sorry for visiting." Sharon leaned back and took a moment to study him more closely. His eyes were guarded, and the usual light in those coffee brown depths was absent. She tipped his chin up and sighed. There were circles beneath his eyes. His skin was pale. Sharon's lips thinned. "Ricky, what is wrong? Why is it that I feel like you are not just popping in for the weekend to say hello?"
He looked down for a moment. His shoulders, stiff and tense though they were, slumped. These days Ricky felt so much older than his twenty-eight years. His expression saddened as he met his mother's gaze. He didn't know what to say, or how to even begin. These last few weeks had been very long, and very hard. He wished he mentioned it before now, and he knew that would be a conversation all on its own. For right now, Ricky only had one thing to say. "I found dad."
Sharon's brows rose as surprise settled over her. Her lips parted but there was no sound forthcoming. She stared at her son. The sadness that was surrounding him was almost a tangible thing. If she reached out, she thought she might be able to place her hand in the thick cloud of it. "Let's have a seat." She gestured toward the chairs in front of her desk. She took one of them while Ricky sat across from her. Sharon leaned forward, on the edge of her seat and touched his hand. "I didn't know that you were looking," she said quietly.
They hadn't heard from Jack much in the last eighteen months or so. Sharon had heard a few things, rumors mostly. She knew that he had managed to get himself out of that lawsuit the previous year, filed by the client that he allowed to remain wrongfully jailed while Jack built a stronger case against the LAPD. It hadn't truly surprised Sharon. Jack had a way of landing on his feet. She hadn't truly thought about it much at the time. Sharon was very busy that winter. There were more pressing worries on her mind. She had needed to get Rusty through the Slider trial, and then there was Andy's health. Sharon hadn't thought about Jack again until a few months later when she heard that he had taken a leave of absence. Not long after that, Ricky and Emily both mentioned that they hadn't heard from their father and he was not returning their calls.
To Sharon it felt par for the course. Jack came and went in their lives like the tide. He was there, and then he was gone, and there seemed no real way to hold on to him. She ached for her children, but she was long past any ability to bridge the gap in their relationship with their father. That time had come and gone. While she was sympathetic to their hurts, and furious with Jack, she was, as Rusty had said, Switzerland.
"Emily wouldn't let it go," Ricky said quietly. "She was really worried. I tried to tell her that he was probably in Vegas somewhere, gambling away whatever money he made working at the firm." Ricky sighed. He ran a hand through his hair. "She didn't want to hear it. She kept saying that he changed. This time he meant it, really meant it. You know what Emily is like…" Ricky had fewer memories of their father from when they were young. He mostly just remembered him being gone. He remembered promises to come to birthdays or Christmas, only to be disappointed when that didn't happen. He remembered the arguments, and the way that his dad would show up in the middle of the night, drunk and yelling, and blaming their mother for everything. Ricky remembered the disappearing acts and watching his mother try to be strong for them, while she cried in her bed at night. He was a lousy father and an even worse husband, but he was what they had. Ricky tried to give him the benefit of the doubt. He was still their dad, but it never surprised him when he found out their dad was off the wagon, or that he was being an ass. It didn't surprise him when Jack disappeared either.
Emily had all the good memories. That was the advantage of being older. She remembered daddy riding her around on his shoulders, and taking her for ice cream. She had ballerina dolls and bedtime songs. Some how, for her, that seemed to make up for all of the disappointments that came later. When Jack told her that he changed, she believed him. When he disappeared this time, Emily wanted to find him. She didn't believe that he was off on a bender, and even if he was, they should help him. Ricky wasn't convinced of that. They couldn't help someone who didn't want their help. Jack had to want it, but for his sister, he had looked.
"Yes I know," Sharon said quietly. She gave Ricky's hand a squeeze. Emily was her daddy's little girl. She would always be his princess, and Ricky was the child who had come along when their marriage was already beginning to crumble. It wasn't long after he was born that Jack left her for the first time. Ricky was all hers. She knew that he tried to be a good son, respectful and loving of his father, but like her, Ricky couldn't live his life waiting for what may never come. He wanted to be present in his life, not simply wait for it. Ricky's sadness was making her ache. There was a tense knot in her stomach that made it clench painfully. Sharon drew a slow breath before she finally asked, "What did you find?"
Ricky tilted his head and looked away from her. Shame settled over him. It turned his ears red, but it was sadness that had his eyes welling with tears. He shook his head slowly and concentrated on breathing. "This time she was right," he whispered. "Dad hasn't been gambling or drinking. He really didn't go that far."
"Ricky." That alarmed her more than anything else. Sharon reached out and tipped his chin up again. Those red, moist eyes tugged at her heart. She felt dread settle over her. It was a cold fist that wrapped its way around her heart. Sharon felt the sting of tears behind her own eyes at the sight of her child's despair. "Where is he?"
"A treatment facility. He's sick." While Ricky gazed back at her, a single tear made it's way down his cheek. "There's a cancer center in Palm Springs. Dad's been living there while…"
He trailed off but Sharon leaned forward. Her stomach was twisting painfully. There was an ache in the back of her throat. "While what?" She almost didn't want to ask it. Her voice hitched and she almost choked on the words. Cancer. Both of Jack's parents had died of cancer before the age of sixty. She really had not believed that he would be affected, not with the way that he always seemed to rebound from everything.
Ricky's jaw clenched. He exhaled quietly before he continued. "He found out about it last March. He didn't want anyone to know, so he left the city. His oncologist referred him to the place out in the desert. It's um…" Ricky looked down again. "It's in his pancreas. Stage four, and it's moving pretty fast. They were pretty aggressive with treating it, but with this kind… I guess there isn't a lot that they can do."
"Oh honey." She pulled him to her and wrapped him in a tight embrace. Sharon felt the shudder that ran through her boy, but thought she could feel herself trembling too. "I am sorry," she whispered as she stroked his back. She didn't know what to think. This was the man that she had once loved more than anything, who had given her the child that was in her arms. Sharon cupped the back of his head and pressed her lips against his temple. "Did you see him?"
He nodded silently. Ricky laid his head against his mother's shoulder and held on tightly. For just a little while he wanted to be a little boy again and let her chase away all of the monsters beneath his bed. If only it were that simple. "He didn't look like dad," he whispered. "They've um… they've got him with Hospice now. It won't be long, maybe a few weeks?" Ricky lifted his head and looked at her. "He's all alone. I didn't tell Emily. I didn't know what to say."
Sharon cupped his face in her hands. Her thumbs swept away his tears. How could he tell his sister this? That their father was so very, very ill, and this time he would be leaving them for good, although quite against his will. She smiled sadly. Her own eyes were moist with tears. "I will tell her," she said. "You do not need to worry about that. I will take care of your sister."
"Mom, what do we do?" Ricky felt as helpless as he looked. His dark eyes were wide. This was a question that he had been stumbling over in the days since he learned of his father's location and fate. "He's up there all alone. He didn't tell anyone. He went up there to die alone. What are we supposed to do about that?"
"I…" For once Sharon had no answers. Her mouth opened and closed and she leaned back. She clasped Ricky's hands in hers and studied them. She thought of Jack and his pride. He did usually like to nurse his wounds in private. He would not want to present a weak front to the world. However, to disappear and die alone, that was simply taking it to the extreme. Whatever she thought of him, however their marriage had finally ended, no one deserved to be alone at the very end of their life. Sharon squeezed Ricky's hands again. "We will talk about that with Emily. Right now, let me get my things. We will go home and we will call your sister. We will decide what to do as a family, okay?"
"Okay." Ricky looked around her office again. "What about your case? It seemed like it was a pretty heavy one that isn't going to be over for a while. Mom, if you have to work—"
"Nonsense." Sharon swept her fingers beneath her eyes to smooth away the moisture. She stood up and shook her hair back. "My team can more than handle this. If they need me, I will be reachable by phone. You and your sister are far more important." She cupped his chin and smiled down at him. "I cannot promise that we will fix it, darling, but we will handle it."
"I know." Ricky wrapped a hand around her wrist. He closed his eyes and sighed. "What about Andy?" Suddenly she was running off to figure out how to handle her ex-husband's crisis and leaving him holding the bag at work. How was that going to go over?
"Oh, you do not have to worry about that." Sharon waved a hand through the air. She shook her head as she left him and walked around her desk. "Andy is going to understand." They had both come in to this relationship with pasts that carried a good deal of baggage. "If anything, he will be more upset about being stuck here and not actually helping." While Sharon began gathering the files and her laptop she tilted her head to the side. "I do need to tell him, however. Ricky, will you ask Andy and Lieutenant Provenza to step in here, please? I will bring them up to speed and then we will get out of here."
"Sure." Ricky stood watching her. He had his hands tucked into his pockets. "Mom, I'm really sorry about this." He felt like he should be able to handle it on his own, but after seeing his father, he was at a complete loss. Nothing had ever prepared him for this. He was expecting to find Jack drunk, or broke, or quite possibly both. He hadn't expected to find him frail, sick, and dying. It was the very last thought that had been on his mind when he began tracking his father's whereabouts.
"Ricky…" Sharon looked across the desk at him. There was a deep sadness in her gaze. "Do not ever be sorry for coming to me when you need help. It is exactly why I am here. You will never be so old, or so independent, that you cannot come to me. Do you understand?"
His head bowed but Ricky nodded. "I know, it's just that… it's dad. You spent a long time separating yourself from him. I feel bad that I'm pulling you back in."
Her hands stilled as she tucked her things into her bag. Sharon thought about it for a moment. Her lips pursed and finally she shook her head. "Ricky, I have known your father for almost my entire life. This is nothing that you should feel sorry for dragging me in to. Whatever else might have happened between us, this relationship goes back more years than I can really count. Besides, I am still your mother, and nothing else is more important than that. Understood?"
"Yeah." It still didn't feel great. Ricky still felt a little guilty about it. At the same time, he was relieved to have been able to tell his mother what was weighing on his heart, to have her there to help them find the right path. "I'll send the old guys in." Ricky turned and walked toward the door. He stopped just in front of it. "Mom." Ricky looked back at her. "We were lucky to have you. All of us."
She was taken a little by surprise at that. Sharon shifted where she stood. She smiled gently at him and felt tears sting her eyes again. "Ricky, I was lucky to have both of you." She watched him nod and walk quietly through the door. Sharon stood there for a moment, completely unmoving. Her gaze slowly drifted back to her desk. She studied the items that were spread out across it without truly seeing them. Alone now, her mind was racing. Whatever end she thought that she and Jack might eventually come to, this was not how she imagined it.
The sound of her office door opening again drew her out of her thoughts. Sharon looked up as the senior two Lieutenants stepped into her office. Provenza looked suitably curious, but Andy wore a concerned look. Her gaze swept between the two of them quickly before she continued placing her things her brief case. Afterward, Sharon lifted her purse and laid it on her desk. "I am afraid gentlemen," she began carefully, "that something has come up. Lieutenant Provenza, I am leaving this case with you. I am certain that you will continue to work diligently to solve it…" She paused momentarily and met his gaze, "as well as provide regular updates to the Chief."
There was a slight warning in her tone. Provenza rolled his eyes. "Yes, of course." He placed his hands on his hips and watched her pack up. "Everything okay with the kid?" The son had shown up out of the blue and now she was running off. That was enough unlike the Captain to concern him.
"As a matter of fact, it is not." Sharon rested her hands on her briefcase and looked at the two gentlemen in front of her. "There has been a family emergency. I cannot say more than that at the moment, but my attention is needed elsewhere. I will explain my absence to Chief Taylor, and I will be reachable on my cell if I am needed," she assured him. "I was planning to send everyone home in two hours, if there were no further leads, and pick up fresh in the morning."
Provenza nodded once. That was a sound plan, and one that he was already considering too. They were all tired as hell. The case was going nowhere so fast that a good night's sleep would get in its way. "We'll do that." He gestured helplessly with his hands. "I hope everything turns out okay, Captain." There was more that was definitely not being said. He looked back and forth between her and Flynn before he shook his head and left the office. Idiots.
He waited until Provenza was gone before he took a step forward. Andy's brows had drawn together in a deep frown. He braced his hands on one of the chairs in front of her desk and leaned toward her. "Sharon, what's going on? Is Ricky okay?" Something was definitely bothering the kid, and he could tell that she was upset by it too. If he didn't miss his guess, she had been crying. That bothered the hell out of him. There wasn't much that would make her cry, at least not in this setting. Yeah, she teared up at sappy old movies, and some of their cases really got to her, hell they got to them all. At the end of the day, when she was wearing that badge, she wore a mask that few were allowed to see beyond.
Sharon drew the strap of her purse over her shoulder and lifted her brief case. "No, Andy, Ricky is not okay." She walked around the desk and stopped beside him. She touched his arm when he straightened. "Jack is sick. Ricky found him in a hospice facility. We need to tell his sister."
"Shit." He ran a hand over his face. That was not what he expected to hear, but then, when was news like that ever expected? Andy shook his head, at a loss. He didn't much care for the guy, but he didn't exactly wish him ill either. Well, not entirely. He might have entertained a few thoughts about cracking a chair over his head, but this was something entirely different and much worse. Andy never wished him dead and certainly not like this. "Dammit, Sharon. I'm sorry…" He didn't know what else to say.
"So am I." Her hand slid down his arm to his wrist. Sharon gave it a squeeze before she moved away from him. "I will see you in a few hours?" She might be leaving him with work to deal with, as Ricky had so eloquently pointed out, but it would not be long before he was home with her again.
"Yeah," Andy nodded slowly. He shrugged as he turned. He followed her to the door and pulled it open for her. "If nothing happens here. I'll pick something up for dinner when I cut out of here." He doubted anyone would really be hungry, but they would need to eat. He stopped her with a frown before she could leave the office. "You okay?"
"Hm." She shrugged at him. "How could I be?" Sharon smiled gently at him. "I will see you soon."
Andy shoved his hands into his pockets and followed her only as far as his desk. His eyes tracked her movement as she left the murder room, heading once again down the hall in the direction of the Chief's office. He didn't envy her that conversation, but nothing could stand in Sharon's way when it came to her kids, not even Taylor. Andy shook his head as he turned back to the work waiting for him. He caught Provenza's eye and sighed. He would tell him later. Right now he wanted to wrap up what they had left to do and get out of there. There were more important things waiting for him at home.
-TBC-