By the beginning of February, Sharon and Rusty were settling into their new surroundings. Sharon had started her new job, and Rusty had started school. Sharon discovered one thing that was very different was her time. She now had time that she hadn't had working as a police captain. Because she was head of a department, she worked somewhat normal hours. She was on the floor some, but she did a lot more of the ordering and management of the department, which she was finding to be enjoyable. Sharon knew she was good at paperwork, and she was good at management; both skills were coming in well for her now. Because she now had more time on her hands, she was able to give back more at the local church. One of the additional stipulations Sharon had made was that she needed to still attend the Catholic Church. There was one in their town, and she and Rusty started attending the first Sunday they were in town. Rusty hadn't attended as much with Sharon back in LA, but here, he seemed to enjoy going with her now, in part because they had no one else; it was lonely starting over, and he enjoyed Sharon's company. Rusty also enjoyed the priest, but he'd liked the one in California too. Sharon told Rusty she thought it was the sense of community. People were glad to meet them and welcome them into the congregation. Sharon was glad to jump in and help with the needs of the church.

"What are you baking?" Rusty asked as he wandered into the kitchen early one Saturday morning.

Sharon looked up from the counter where she was adding ingredients. "I'm making several things for the church bake sale," she smiled.

"I thought you didn't have your cookbooks?" he asked.

"I don't," she sighed, "but, I'm trying a few new recipes. I looked up several, and I found some that were similar to things I used to make at home."

"Oh," he nodded as he got a glass out of the cabinet and poured himself orange juice. "I don't get why they wouldn't send your cookbooks and recipes."

"Hmm," Sharon nodded, "well, some might have just been an oversight. They were focused on our clothing and other personal items. The recipes, well, some are family ones, and maybe that was a problem too. I remember how to make a few things simply because I made them over and over, so I already wrote those recipes down over there," she gestured to a notepad on the table, "but, I guess otherwise, we're starting from scratch."

Rusty nodded, "You don't happen to remember the lieutenant's pasta sauce, do you?"

Sharon smiled brightly at Rusty, "That was the first one I wrote down. Andy was always insistent on making it himself, but he would talk through the recipe as he made it. I also went to the store with him on many occasions to purchase the ingredients.

"Cool," Rusty smiled. "That sauce was good, is good," he corrected himself. "It's better than anything we ever made."

Sharon scoffed at him, while Rusty stared back at her. "Fine," she rolled her eyes, "you're right."

"Can you say that again?" he grinned. "If only your team could hear you now." Sharon swatted toward him with the kitchen towel, and Rusty moved quickly away from her. He inspected the oven and turned back to her. "Muffins? What kind are those? Blueberry? Can I have one when they are done?"

"Yes, blueberry. Those are a boxed mix for now. I only have patience to start from scratch a few recipes at a time. I'm also making banana bread, oatmeal cookies, and brownies."

"Nice!" Rusty smiled. "Domestic Sharon comes out in Ohio."

Sharon rolled her eyes again, "So, tell me, how is school so far? You've been there now almost a month."

"Oh yeah," Rusty nodded as he sat down at the table to speak to Sharon while she worked on the baked goods, "I forgot to tell you. Well, I didn't forget. You came in late after work last night, and I guess I'd already fallen asleep."

"Yes, remember, I went to church for that meeting about this bake sale," she gestured.

"Right," he nodded. "So, yesterday in chemistry lab, this idiot almost blew up the place. He obviously has no clue what he was doing and almost added the wrong chemical. What a moron," Rusty said as he shook his head.

"Was everyone alright?" Sharon asked as she spun around to look at Rusty. She looked to him in panic.

"Oh, yeah, now we're fine," he rolled his eyes. "The professor caught it in time, but then we got a 15-minute lecture and diagramed explanation of why that was a bad idea. I didn't move to the middle of nowhere to be taken out by an idiot in chemistry lab."

Sharon just nodded as she listened, "I'm glad you are okay."

"Thanks, me too," he nodded.

"Have you made any friends?" she asked.

Rusty shrugged, "A few here and there. I did submit some stories to the school paper. I'm hoping they'll let me write more for them. If nothing else, I told them I'd enjoy doing some of the editing right now. This guy, Dave, who is in my psychology class told me a group of them play chess at the coffee shop in town on Thursday evenings. I might try it next week. I had on my chess shirt the other day, and he asked about it. I've really missed playing chess."

"I know you have," Sharon nodded. "Remember, they told you chess was fine as long as you didn't get into tournaments and such."

"Yeah, yeah," Rusty waved. "I know. I asked Dave about this group, and he said it's just some people from town. Sounds promising."

"Well, I'm sorry I'm not a better chess player. I have tried. It's just not my thing," she looked to Rusty with an apologetic smile.

"I know," he nodded. "That's one of the times I didn't mind having the lieutenant around the condo. He was always up for a game."

"He was," Sharon smiled at the thought and turned back to her baking. Andy. She missed him.

Back in LA, the team was trying to adjust to their new normal. The department left Sharon's job open, classifying it as a leave of absence for the time being, but with that, Major Crimes still needed someone in charge. Taylor spoke to Provenza, and the two finally compromised. Provenza would be the officer in charge, almost like he was as the incident commander at a crime scene, but the division would be evaluated often by Chief Davis. Provenza HATED conceding on that point, but Taylor hadn't given him much room to negotiate. Winnie Davis was disliked by just about everyone in the building, and she seemed to let her title go to her head. Taylor put her over Major Crimes until the department could get a better handle on Sharon's situation. Truthfully, no one, even Taylor, wanted to suggest she wasn't coming back.

"Flynn, where were you last night?" Provenza exclaimed as Andy walked in for the day. Andy threw an irritated glance toward Provenza before he ignored him and kept walking. "Flynn? Did you hear me? Where were you?"

"What? Are you my keeper? I might have to report to you here, but I don't when I walk out those doors at night," he snapped as he sat down at his desk. He turned slightly, almost as if he was expecting Sharon's door to open. He sighed and looked back toward the team, noting that her blinds were still closed, and her office was dark. He'd done that. He couldn't stand the sight of her blinds open, of seeing her desk, and while Provenza had been told he could have the office, he didn't want to move either. No one wanted to address Sharon's absence. So, after a few days of agony, of staring at her office, he had stood up from his desk in the middle of the day, gone into her office, snapped shut all the binds, and he'd come out and closed the door. Andy gestured with his hand, holding up the one item he'd collected from her office, Sharon's desk nameplate, and he put it on his desk. The team had watched the whole scene, and no one said a word. After Andy had closed Sharon's office and moved her desk nameplate, no one from the team had gone in there since.

"I'm not your keeper, but I still am your best friend. Why, I don't know," Provenza grumbled. The team chuckled as they looked from Andy to Provenza. "Plus, lately, you've been the last one here. You never used to be the last one here."

"Well, things change," Andy sighed as he looked to Sharon's nameplate. He shook his head and looked back to the team. He knew they were worried about him. "Look, I'm fine. I was busy last night."

"Were you drinking? Flynn, I swear if you were," Provenza stopped when Andy held up his hand.

"No, I didn't have a drink. I haven't had a drink, promise. Sharon might actually show up and let me have it if she thought I was drinking. I won't do something that stupid," he told them.

"I could see the captain doing that," Julio grinned. "I can almost hear her chewing you out."

The team continued their quiet chuckle. They all missed her. She was their boss, their friend, and it wasn't the same. It didn't help that when Winnie Davis blew into the office, she barked out orders. She wasn't as smart as Sharon, and the team had all noticed that too.

"Lieutenant, have you been eating?" Amy asked, her concern evident in her voice.

Andy held up his hand again, "Look, I'm doing okay. I won't lie and say I'm doing well, but I'm okay. I just wasn't home last night."

"Where were you? I waited at your place until after midnight, and even your meetings are over by then. You didn't come home, and there is no way the sad puppy you are right now was with another woman," Provenza pointed to Andy. "By the way, you are out of chips, beer, and frozen pizza."

Andy sighed, "Funny! I don't eat any of that!" He ran his hands through his hair, "Fine. You're right; I didn't go home. I stayed at the condo."

"You stayed at the condo?" Mike repeated. "Are you talking about the captain's condo?"

"Yes! I was at Sharon's condo. I'm trying to clean out the place, that is, whatever the feds didn't take. She wanted me to get it rented, and to do that, I need to remove the rest of her personal items. I've been staying there most nights. I would rather go there than go home. Home feels lonely which is ironic because it's always been my home, alone. I just need to be close to her."

"Oh, here we go," Provenza rolled his eyes. The two men knew each other well, and Provenza, while he might sound insensitive, knew how to drag Andy out of his own pity party. "Flynn," he pointed to him again, "may I remind you that sleeping over at a woman's place is only a good thing if the woman is actually there? We had to watch your cat and mouse game for over a year. You two were prim and proper, and the moment she's gone, you're sleeping at the condo. You might want to rethink that statement; you'll give yourself a bad rap."

"Oh, stuff it, Provenza," Andy snapped at him.

"Well," Provenza gestured, "if she was still here, you two would still be flirting your way around the office. Nothing would have changed, and we would have to watch the painfully slow movement of your relationship. Flynn, we know you loved her, but you can't t hide in her condo. That isn't going to bring her back."

"Do you think I don't know that?" he snapped. "I'm trying to do what she asked. She asked me to look out for the kids and to take care of the condo."

"Sir, would you like some help? That might make it less painful and speed up the process," Julio offered.

"No," Andy sighed as he waved them off. "Thanks, Julio. I'm almost done. I did Rusty's things first. That wasn't as hard, but I miss the kid. I'm almost done with Sharon's things. More of her personal items were left, which is one of the reasons it's taking longer."

"Lieutenant, what are you doing with the captains' furniture?" Buzz asked.

"The realtor suggested renting it furnished, so that is the plan, he explained.

"Well, if you want any help, I'm available," Buzz nodded. "Where are you putting their personal items?"

"Oh, everything is going to my garage and guest room for now. I'll deal with it further down the road if I have to do so," he explained. "Thanks for the offer, Buzz, everyone," he nodded to the team.

"You think they are okay?" Amy asked. The team hadn't talked about the situation much. It had been too painful.

"Yeah," Andy nodded. "I think they are safe. Knowing Sharon, I know they are safe. Emotionally, I can't imagine. Well, I know what it's like for me, and I still have you guys and the kids. Sharon and Rusty left everything."

"I can't imagine leaving my family," Mike shook his head. "Andy, have you spoken to the captain's kids? How are they?"

"Oh, well, yeah, I've spoken to them. "Actually, I'm going to use some leave next month to fly to New York. I'm going to meet Emily and Ricky there. We thought it was better I go to them. Sharon left letters for them she didn't want to send, and I did promise to check on them. Emily's got a performance, and I've only seen her dance once. I'm looking forward to it. Taylor approved it," he looked to Provenza as if to explain why he hadn't asked him. "Look, I promised myself that I'm going to make more time for family. Sure, they aren't my kids, but Sharon can't be a mom to them right now. We all know they struck out in the dad department, so I'm happy to help. We all miss her, and being with them is the next best thing. It's not just Sharon's kids, either. I'm going to spend more time with my kids, and I'm going to just get out of this city more, away from the dirt bags of LA. I'm going to travel some and try to get my head squared away. I spoke to Taylor because I have this plan to use some leave each month. Provenza, he just approved it yesterday, so it will be on your desk. I have over a year of leave I've accumulated, so I'm going to start using it. Sharon would want me to do that."

"Well, anything that keeps me from having to look at your face," Provenza gestured.

"Right back at ya," Andy snapped. The team was quite for a few moments while everyone let things calm down between the men. Provenza didn't let the silence last.

"Flynn, since we are finally talking about this, please tell me that before she left, you told the captain how you felt? You've been hiding behind it too long, and it would be like you to send her off and not say a word!" Provenza exclaimed.

Andy turned and glared at Provenza, while the team waited. "Yeah, for your information, I did. I finally had the courage to tell her I love her."