"Captain, I..um..., Flynn and I will stay here tonight 'til the kid turns up, and he will. He'll turn up."

The squad just watched as their Captain bowed her thanks and left the room. All of them were feeling awful, but none as much as Andy Flynn himself.

"I never realized..." Provenza started.

"Realized what, Sir?" Sykes asked innocently.

"I never realized the Wicked Witch had such a heart."

"She's got a heart." Andy said quietly, "and it's breaking for that kid. She loves him and I think this only showed her how much."

"You didn't let her down, Flynn"

"Didn't I? The kid was with me. I lost him on my watch. How am I not responsible?"

"Kids run, especially with his background. We'll find him, though. Something tells me that young man would rather be with her than on the street. We'll find him."

Flynn nodded and returned to his desk.

Around him the squad was getting mobilized. Sanchez tapped Sykes on the shoulder, "Come on, time to do what we do best."

"We're going after him?" Sykes asked naively then caught herself, "of course, right. We're the best so they need us on the street."

Provenza thanked the pair as they left, "Stay in touch so we know what's happening."

Taking the hint, Tao and Buzz nodded to each other. "We'll see what the security feeds in the area give us," and off they went to join the search.

"I should be out there too," Flynn said, running his hands through his hair.

"What are you going to do out there? You're no good to anyone, look at you."

"Thanks, you really know how to help a guy."

"I'm serious, look at you, you look like..." Provenza trailed off, looking at Flynn with curiosity and sudden realization.

The silence hung for a moment then Flynn looked up at his partner, "I look like what? Out with the insult already so we can figure this out."

"I wasn't thinking of an insult. Never mind." Provenza shook his head and went back to his desk.

"What?" Flynn knew something was off and wasn't going to let Provenza walk away that easily.

"Oh, nothing," Provenza tried to wave it off and picked up the phone so he didn't have to deal with Flynn.

Andy couldn't be bothered pursing Provenza. He was distracted anyway, and felt like a tiger caught in a cage. He sat down for a few minutes, then was up on his feet, then he walked the length of the squad room, punching furiously at his phone to get any contact at all to give him an update. At one point he even walked into the Captain's office and just stood there for a few minutes. That was where Provenza found him.

"You're going to have to shake this off or you'll be no good to her."

"How do I shake this off?" Flynn asked him, and then the full weight of Provenza's words sunk in, "wait, no good to her? No good to who?"

"We both know who I'm talking about. The 'who' you can't get off your mind. The 'who' you would be with right now if you thought you could."

"Listen Old Man, I lost the kid and I'm trying to keep from jumping out that window and going after him. Why'd you tell her I'd stay here with you through the night until the kid returned? I should be out there."

"No you shouldn't," Provenza shook his head.

"And what makes you so sure of that?"

"Because you're acting like you lost your girlfriend's son and your guilt is messing with your thinking, that's why." Provenza spoke with a little more force than he probably needed, but he had to get the point home.

Flynn stood there for a few minutes, stunned speechless by Provenza. Finally he opened his mouth to argue, but all that came out was an astonished, "What?"

"Look Flynn, I'm many things but I'm not blind. That woman became head of this department and suddenly you are her loyal companion and not the trouble making hot-head you used to be just a few weeks before. She says jump, you say how high. She starts having a thought, you step in to finish it. She walks out of the room, you're a few feet behind like the dutiful consort. I didn't see it right away, probably because I was so damn mad that she was here, but I'm seeing it clearly now. You'd do anything for her and it's killing you that you let her kid go, even though you had no way of knowing it was going to happen.

"That is insane!" Andy bellowed, partially grateful to have the distraction and partially wanting to put Provenza's head through the wall. "She's my boss. She's your boss."

"Don't remind me," Provenza muttered as he turned and walked out of the office with Flynn hot on his heals.

"Just because I feel awful, you think I've got feelings for her?"

"That's the thing," Provenza started rummaging through Flynn's top drawer as he spoke, "you don't usually feel this awful when it's just anyone. That woman has you tied around her little finger, and you don't even see it. A ha!"

Flynn stopped to see what Provenza had found, then rolled his eyes when he realized what it must have been.

"A trophy" Provenza said triumphantly as he held the small red beanbag in the air. "She shot that gun almost two years ago, and you still have the beanbag you picked up from the scene."

"That proves nothing. She's a great shot and there's a lot of story to that little thing. I'm saving it for a time when I can really get milage out of it."

"Right, and after rattling around in this whole office like you were a ball in one of those pinball machines, you finally calm down in her office. Coincidence, I'm sure," Provenza said sarcastically.

"You are reading too much into this," Flynn shook his head and tried to shake off the edge he felt.

"Right, and am I reading too much into the number of times she says 'Lt. Flynn, you're with me'? You are her favourite to take into interviews or into the morgue, a really romantic place I'm sure."

Flynn was ready to argue the point, but then started to chuckle, "Oh I see what you're doing here, you're trying to get me out of my own ass about this whole Rusty thing, aren't you. Either that or you're trying to get me on your side against the Captain, when there is only one side to begin with. Stop messing. Look, I appreciate the gesture, but I'm not going to be okay with this until the kid is found."

Provenza just shook his head, "You've got it bad."

"And you're full of crap, Old Man. Look," Flynn said, grabbing his phone from his desk, "you said we would stay, I didn't agree. Thanks for the distraction, but I'm going back to the bus depot to see if something comes to me. Call me if you hear anything."

Flynn didn't bother to wait for Provenza's reaction, he just headed out the door.

Alone, Provenza shook his head, "This would never have happened if I was in charge."