DISCLAIMER: I do not own these characters. They belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

A/N: The only characters that are mine in this story are Matthew and Moxie, which show up in this chapter. Also, this story will start to go a little AU, just warning. I try to stay close as I can with the characters and what we know about them. Also I have to thank MCTVFan for a little insight into Sharon's character. Thank you

Chapter 2

After having a meeting in Chief Howard's office between Sharon and Captain Hayes, Chief Howard was frantically searching for some headache relief. He searched his top drawer of his desk and found some pills and took them. He was relieved that Captain Hayes had left his office and that only Sharon was there now. She knew that he had a heart attack a few years back because he shared that with her when Andy was in the hospital. "Are you okay, Chief?" Sharon asked him. "Yes Captain, I'm fine" he said to her. "So where are you and your team at on this case?" he asked her and she began to tell him.

"So there's a child missing in all of this?" he asked her as he went over the paperwork. "Well, we don't know for sure. Nothing in Rebecca's background suggests that she had a child but writing several checks to the Foundation for Early Childhood Education in Echo Park suggests otherwise" Sharon had said to him. Just then, there was a knock on Chief Howard's door. Julio walked in and told the Captain and Chief Howard that they may have found something. Sharon got up from her chair and rushed out of Chief Howard's office following Julio. Chief Howard did the same and caught up with them in the video room.

"We found surveillance, ma'am, from a building across the street from the donation center where the body was found" Julio started to say as Buzz put the pictures up on the video screen board. The video showed the woman, Rebecca, standing with two other people and seemed to be talking to them. Then an argument broke out and the video showed Rebecca getting beat up by the two unknown people. "Okay, so we are now looking for two assailants in this case" Provenza said to the team as they all went back to looking at the screen. The two unknown people then walk away towards Lemoyne Street but the camera doesn't get a good look at them. "Pause it Buzz" Sharon said to him. "There, can you blow that up?" she asked him. "I'll try Captain but the quality of this video isn't that great" Buzz said as he tried to get a better picture on the two assailants.

Buzz continued to play the video for the team and as the team watched it, they could not believe their eyes. From out of the shadows, a little kid walked up to the body of Rebecca. You can see on the video that the little kid is trying to get Rebecca to wake up but nothing happens. Sharon looked on at the video that was playing before her eyes and it started to break her heart. Andy glanced over at Sharon and he could see tears forming in her eyes. 'Yep, this was going to be a hard case now' Andy thought to himself. Sharon glanced over at Andy and then looked down. She did not need him to see her vulnerable right now. She quickly composed herself before anyone else saw. They needed to find this kid and soon. Next on the video showed the kid looking up at something and then a dog came into the scene. The kid and the dog then walk off the view of the camera. "We need to find that child, now!" Sharon's voice cracked as everyone got up and headed back to their desks. Andy stayed behind to make sure that Sharon was okay. He placed his hand on her shoulder. Sharon was looking intently on the screen that showed the child wandering off.

"I was hoping that we would have an easy day today" she whispered to him as she stared at the screen. "Sharon, we don't even know who this kid is on the screen. He could be anyone for all we know. There's nothing in Rebecca's background that suggests she had a child and that Foundation for Early Childhood Education couldn't give me an answer on who Rebecca was" Andy advised her as she started to walk out of the room. They headed back towards her office. She passed everyone who was working on trying to figure out two things: who the people were in the video that attacked their victim and who the kid was at the end of the video. Sharon's phone had beeped. She had texted Rusty earlier to let him know that they had caught a case and were probably going to be home late. She just got back was a response from him saying 'okay'.

"Lieutenant Provenza, will you join Lieutenant Flynn and me in my office" Sharon demanded as she walked in to her office. Andy followed her in and waited till Provenza entered before shutting the door. "I want to call the Foundation for Early Childhood Education back and demand to know why they don't know who Rebecca is" Sharon suggested but before Provenza could interrupt her, she continued on. "And, I want patrol looking for the child and the dog in the area of the donation center." Provenza looked at her to see if she was done and when she didn't say anything back he answered, "Yes Captain". "I want the two of you in here when I speak to the director of the childhood place" she responded as Andy handed her the phone number. She dialed the number and waited for someone to pick it up.

"Oh, hello my name is Captain Sharon Flynn from the LAPD. Is this Director Stevens?" she inquired to the person on the other end of the phone. "Director Stevens I need to ask you a couple of questions over the phone, is that okay?" Sharon asked and then started to go into her questions. Andy had smiled when she introduced herself as Captain Sharon Flynn. This was the first time she addressed herself professionally with his last name. She had told him when they had gotten their marriage license that she was going to change her name and that they would work out the details at work later but he didn't really think she had done so. Come to think of it, she did sign her name as Sharon Flynn on the paperwork for HR last week. Her nameplate on her desk still said Captain Sharon Raydor on it. Andy noted in his head that he would have to change that soon. Provenza looked at Andy and could tell he was deep in thought and smacked him in the shoulder. "Ouch! Why'd you do that?" Andy let slip out loud. Sharon looked at the both of them and then returned back to the person on the phone.

Sharon wrote down the information that the director had given her over the phone and hung up. Andy and Provenza were sitting across from her at her desk. Andy gave her an inquisitive look. Sharon leaned forward and placed her hands clamped together on her desk. "Rebecca does have a child" she revealed to the both of them. Andy and Provenza both looked at each other and then back at Sharon. "How come we didn't know about this?" Provenza asked. "Because, Lieutenant, the child doesn't have the same last name as Rebecca" Sharon pointed out. "The child's name is Matthew Gomez, and he is 8 years old" she stated to them. "Gomez is the father's last name" Andy replied and Sharon nodded in the affirmative. "So where's the dad?" Provenza questioned.

"He died in Afghanistan" Amy stated to them as she put the picture of Luis Gomez on the Murder Board. "He was a Sergeant in the US Army and was there on his second tour of duty when his group was ambushed in the hills" she revealed to everyone as she read the notes out loud. "Did anything in Rebecca's financials suggest that she was getting a pension from the US Army?" Sharon questioned Amy. "Nothing Captain, it seems to me that the two of them were not married" Amy suggested. "So what was she doing at the back of a donation center at midnight, and why was Matthew there with her?" Sharon asked everyone as she stared at the surveillance picture on the Murder Board.

"We need to find that child soon!" she told everyone. Provenza stood up and gathered his jacket. "We will go out with patrol and look for the child, Captain" he stated to her. "I'm going too" Sharon insisted. "We will split up into teams and search all of Rebecca's known residences and look for Matthew" she informed her team and they nodded and headed out. "Everyone be careful and stay safe" she added. Andy walked over to where Sharon was standing. "Ready?" he asked her. She nodded and they left.

The team was dividing up the list of known addresses. Amy and Mike were going to head over to the address on Rosemont Avenue. It was a long shot as Rebecca hasn't resided there since 2014, but they checked it out anyway. Provenza and Julio traveled to the house on Scott Avenue. As they pulled up to the house, they noticed a white truck that had graffiti written all over it. "We are in Echo Park Locos territory sir" Julio said to Provenza. "Great" Provenza muttered to himself as he got out of the Explorer. Patrol met them there and they did a cursory search of the property, but came up empty handed. "The locals are watching, sir" Julio said to Provenza as he pointed out the group that formed on the corner of Scott and Parmer Avenues. "Would you like me to ask them if they know anything?" Julio asked Provenza. "Why not, it can't hurt anything" Provenza shrugged his shoulders.

Julio walked over to where the crowd had gathered and asked the people if they knew Rebecca Norris. Only one person came forth as knowing her but she told Julio that Rebecca moved out of this area 3 months ago due to gang violence. Julio thanked her and returned back to the car where Provenza was standing. "She said that Rebecca moved about 3 months ago from this area due to gang violence" Julio said. "Only to be murdered south of here" Provenza grimly stated. "Perhaps the Captain and Flynn are having better luck than we are" he said as they pulled away and started to drive.

Sharon and Andy were heading to Rebecca's last known address. Sharon was pretty disturbed by the fact that Robbery/Homicide really didn't investigate this murder the way they should have. Andy could tell that this case was going to be a tough one, but now with a missing child involved, he hoped that they would find him soon. They pulled up to Rebecca's last known address on Redesdale Avenue, which was in the Silver Lake area more so than Echo Park. Both Sharon and Andy got out of the car and informed patrol that they just wanted them to look on the outside of the house while Sharon and Andy knocked on the door. Heck maybe if the kid was there, he would answer the door. Andy and Sharon made their way up to the front door and knocked, but there was no answer. "Would an 8 year old kid lock the door if he was home?" Andy questioned as he tried the door handle. It was not locked and Sharon and Andy entered the house. They had extenuated circumstances to conduct their search.

As Andy made his way into the house, Sharon followed closely behind him. They did not want to frighten the kid if he was home so their guns were not drawn. Here's hoping they would not regret that decision if someone else was in the house. The TV was on but the voice was lowered as they walked past it in the house. They made their way around room to room searching for Matthew. They passed the dining room table and saw some food laying out. "Matthew are you home?" Sharon asked out loud, but got no response. They went towards the kitchen and saw a mess on the stove. "Matthew, we are the police and we are here to help you" Andy tried but got no answer as well. Just then he heard a noise coming from the back bedrooms. Andy went down the hallway first before Sharon and entered the room. "Matthew?" he called out again. "Matthew, we are police, it's okay" Sharon said in a friendly tone.

Andy opened the closet door to find a scared little boy and a black Labrador dog. "Matthew?" Andy asked as he bent down to him. The boy looked up at him and nodded his head 'yes'. Andy looked back at Sharon and let out a deep breath of relief. Sharon did the same as she came over to see where Matthew was sitting in the closet. "Hey buddy, why don't we get you to come out here and sit on the bed" Andy said in a soothing voice. As Andy stood up, he put out his hand for Matthew to take. Matthew grabbed onto it and held it for dear life as Andy lead him out towards the bed. The dog followed the two of them and sat next to Andy. Sharon looked the boy over to make sure he wasn't injured. "Are you injured Matthew?" Sharon asked the boy quietly. The boy nodded 'no' as Sharon looked at him. He was scared and his clothes were dirty.

Andy texted Provenza on the phone to let them know that they had found Matthew at the Resdesdale house. 'Thank goodness, good work!' Provenza replied to him and also told him that they were going to meet them there. As Sharon was talking to the boy, she asked him if he was hungry. "Yes" Matthew said in an even quieter voice. He looked like he could use a bath, but other than that, seemed to look okay according to Sharon. Matthew reminded the both of them of Andy's step-grandsons. The dog put his paw on Andy's hand as Andy went to look at the dog. "What's your dog's name Matthew?" Andy asked him. "Moxie" Matthew replied and then clinched on to Andy's arm as Andy tried to stand up. "Don't go, please" Matthew pleaded in a small voice. Andy looked at Sharon and then back at Matthew and knelt down to his level. "I'm not leaving you, Matthew. I just need to tell the nice police officers that we found you safe and I'll be right back, I promise" Andy said and then gave the kid a wink.

Matthew looked at Sharon who was now sitting next to him where Andy got up. "What's your name?" Matthew asked her. "My name is Sharon and that is Andy" she said as she pointed to where Andy was now. "We are both police officers and we were looking for you. We wanted to make sure that you were okay" Sharon started to tell the boy. "My mom is dead" Matthew said quietly and clung onto Sharon's side. Sharon pulled him in for a hug to comfort the boy. "I know" she whispered to him trying to soothe him as he cried. It broke her heart. Moxie jumped on the bed and placed his head on Sharon's lap. Andy walked back in to see the scene in front of him with Sharon comforting the boy and the dog lying next to her.

"We are going to take you to where we work at the police headquarters and get you cleaned up and fed, how does that sound?" Sharon said to Matthew. "Can Moxie come with us?" Matthew asked innocently and looked at both Sharon and Andy. Andy looked at Sharon and then back at Matthew. "Of course" he said to him. Andy placed a leash on Moxie's collar and the dog walked with him by his side. Sharon went to look for clothes for the child and packed a bag for him. Sharon and Matthew were right behind them when the rest of the team showed up outside. Matthew clung to Sharon's side as new people showed up. "Don't worry Matthew, these guys are with us" Sharon bent her head down to him. Matthew nodded but didn't let go of his grip on Sharon.

"We are going to get him back to the office and get him some food to eat" Andy started to say to Provenza. "The dog too?" Provenza looked at him with a questionable look. "Yes, don't worry, I'll put him by your desk" Andy chuckled to Provenza and then opened the door to the Explorer and the dog jumped in the back seat. "Don't you dare, Flynn!" Provenza shouted back to him. A patrol officer was carrying a box of items that he thought the Captain and the Lieutenant would need. "Ma'am, here you go" he said as he handed her the box of dog items. "Thank you" she said back to the patrol officer as she had gotten Matthew settled in the back seat as well. Sharon placed the bag for Matthew in the back of the car.

"Can you sit here with me?" Matthew asked her. "Oh, um sure" she replied and got in the back seat as well. She felt sorry for the child and wanted to comfort him, but she also had to protect herself. She made sure his seatbelt was on. This boy was scared but somehow knew the police officers were going to help him. After Sharon sat in the back with him, Matthew reached out for her hand and Sharon held it. Andy got in the car and looked over at Sharon. She glanced over at him and smiled. Andy smiled back and then looked at Matthew. His eyes were already closed as his head was against Sharon's left arm. Andy drove back to their office, thankful that they found the kid.

When they arrived back at the PAB, Matthew was out like a light so Andy carried him into the elevator while Sharon had the leash of the dog and the box patrol gave them. They rode the elevator in silence. Andy glanced over at Sharon who was looking back at Matthew the whole time. Another child witness they had on their hands from a brutal crime. When they arrived at their floor, they stepped out and headed towards the Murder Room. Andy brought Matthew into Sharon's office and laid him on the couch there. He then placed a blanket over the kid. The dog jumped on the couch too and laid next to Matthew.

"Okay, so what's next?" Andy asked Sharon as he pulled her in for a hug. She looked exhausted now. "We need to find the killers but we also need to take care of Matthew" Sharon sighed as Andy held her. Andy had left to go to the break room to see what he could gather up for Matthew when he woke up. He was sure that the kid would be hungry. He told Sharon that he was hungry when they had found him. That was an hour ago and the kid must have been exhausted as he fell asleep right away. He returned to Sharon's office with some food and Matthew stirred on the couch. The dog woke up when Andy came back in and was wagging his tail. "Someone's happy to see you" Sharon chuckled. Andy went over to pet the dog after he had placed the food on Sharon's table in the office. Matthew woke up and ate the food that Andy had brought. Sharon had eaten too, and so did Andy. Afterwards, Andy took Matthew to the men's room and got him cleaned up and changed his clothes while Sharon went over some paperwork on her desk.

It was getting late and by the time everyone came back, it was past 8 o'clock at night. Sharon hated to call DCFS but she wanted to let them know that there was a child involved in their latest case and it looked like there were no known relatives around. Cynthia had come down to their office to assess the situation. Sharon was still set up for emergency foster care. Julio was too, but when Matthew woke up and Cynthia spoke to him, he wanted to stay with Sharon. Sharon nodded at the boy and Cynthia filed the necessary paperwork needed.

Sharon stepped out of her office while Andy stayed in there with Matthew and Moxie. She walked over to where Provenza was sitting and informed her team that they should go home, get some rest, and then come back tomorrow morning to continue to look for those two assailants that were on the video. They all agreed and left the office to head to their respected homes. Sharon walked back in to her office and saw the sight before her. Andy was sitting on the couch with his head leaned back. His eyes were closed. He had Matthew tucked under his arm, eyes closed, close to his side, and the dog was sleeping on both Andy's and Matthew's lap. She smirked to herself and woke up Andy.

"Hey" she whispered as Andy woke up. "Hi" Andy whispered back. "I sent everyone home and I think we should do the same" she continued to say in a whisper. "Okay" Andy replied as he started to get up careful not to wake Matthew. The dog woke up and jumped off the couch. "I got him" Andy stated as he lifted Matthew into his arms to carry him. "Be careful Andy, I don't want you hurting anything carrying him" Sharon said to him. Andy flashed his trademark grin at her and they were ready to leave the office and head home. "Where's Matthew and the dog going to sleep once we get them home?" Andy asked Sharon as they stepped into the elevator. "I'm texting Rusty to let him know we are leaving and that we are bringing home an 8 year old child, he will understand" Sharon answered back.

They arrived home at the condo and Rusty greeted them at the door to help with anything they needed carried. Matthew was still sleeping and Andy carried him to Rusty's room. The dog had followed them. Sharon walked with Rusty to the kitchen. "Are you sure you are okay with this?" Sharon asked him. "Yes, he's a kid and he needs a place, he can stay in my room. Anyways I cleaned it up and there is nothing laying around so the dog is good too" Rusty said to Sharon. She was so proud of him. She placed her hand on the side of his face and smiled. After all, it wasn't so long ago when she brought him to her condo for the first time.

"He's definitely out for the night" Andy came back and met them in the kitchen. Rusty left to go sit on the couch where he had his pillow and blanket all ready. He was finishing some homework. Andy walked up to where Sharon was standing in front of the sink and wrapped his hands around her waist. "Let's go to bed" Andy whispered into her ear. Sharon smiled and took Andy's hand in hers and walked down the hallway. "Good night Rusty" she called out to him quietly. "Good night" Rusty said back and continued to work on something.

Sharon had then peaked her head in the room where Matthew was to see how he was doing. She saw he was sleeping peacefully and the dog picked its head up to look at Sharon. "Good night Moxie" she said to the dog and closed the door behind her. She headed towards their bedroom where Andy was getting ready for bed. She changed her clothes, climbed in besides him, and he wrapped his arms around her. "What's the matter?" he asked in a whisper. "Nothing" Sharon said, her mind not willing to be shut off even though they were home. "Get some rest honey and tomorrow we will get a fresh start on catching the bad guys" Andy said as Sharon settled back into his chest and closed her eyes.

TBC