"You won't believe this." Sharon begins talking when she nears her bedroom door, only to see that her son who was once on her bed, has since vacated it, "Rusty?" She calls out, worry begins to rise within her when she doesn't promptly receive an answer, "Rusty, where are you?" She tops when she hears the refrigerator door close. She walks to the kitchen, "What are you doing up?" She sets the bottle of pills down.
The young man grips onto the counter top, "I was thirsty." His hand trembles slightly as he brings the glass of ice water to his lips.
"You couldn't have waited fifteen minutes?" Sharon gently touches the middle of her son's back, "Just leave that there, I'll carry it."
"I can't sleep all day." Rusty shakes his head, "It was more than fifteen minutes."
"Honey, you're sick. Staying in bed is just what you do." She smiles softly to him, "I can make us popcorn and we can watch a movie or watch whatever it is you want."
He sets the glass of water back on the counter, "Kay." He smirks, knowing he'll find the bloodiest, scariest movie he is able.
"When you're ready, I can make you some soup."
"That sounds like a bad idea." Rusty places a hand over her shoulder as they slowly return to the bedroom, "You were saying something when you came in, what was it?"
"Yes." Sharon pauses, trying to remember what she was going to say, "Oh." She giggles softly to herself for a moment, "Sorry." She shakes her head, "So, I go over to Quinn's with the intention of making sure nothing was in the way for when...whatever, and I see this very handsome man standing there with the kids."
"Have a crush on Quinn's boyfriend?" He smirks.
"Wait until you see him, you'll see how much I'm telling the truth." Sharon continues to walk with him back to her room, slowly, "So, I don't really get who this guy is, or why he's there. I do notice that he's wearing pajamas and is holding Finn."
Rusty smiles more, "He lives there."
She nods, pulling down the covers of the bed in her bedroom for him to climb in, "He lives there. Has manners, gentle, great with the kids. She may have actually picked herself a good guy. Who would have thought..." Sharon takes her shoes off before sitting on top of the comforter at his feet, "About six feet tall, mixed complexion...ever so slightly darker than the twins, muscular, and eyes that were like...turquoise."
He chuckles softly, "You should let Andy know he has some competition."
"Oh, stop." She playfully pats his leg, "I'm going to go and get your water and these charcoal pills that Tate gave to me for you."
"Your new young boyfriend prescribed you medication for me?" Rusty smirks.
Sharon rolls her eyes as she stands, "They will help you feel better, quicker."
"Good...because this kind of sucks."
"I suppose it would." She leans down, kissing him at his hairline before going back to the kitchen.
Sam watched his mother as she moves about her FID co-workers as their boss. He had never seen her in such a powerful position before. Able to fire other officers just for one little mistake, sometimes. It was incredible. People feared her just by the mention of her name and position. All of eight, he sits on the edge of her desk in her office, holding his hand held gaming system though not paying much attention to it. She made her way to the connecting conference room to her office. Sam was thankful he could continue to watch.
A tall, silver haired man jumped to his feet, "Are you kidding? Of course the guy had a gun. If he didn't have a fucking gun, I wouldn't have shot him." The man yelled.
Sharon sat there patiently, a neutral expression on her face. "Lieutenant Flynn, you're making a scene. If you would like me to hear you out and reassess the case in a timely fashion, it would be in your best interests to sit down...and quiet yourself."
"Taylor didn't call you?" He yelled again, speaking with his hands.
"It doesn't matter what Captain Taylor does. he is completely irrelevant in this matter. He cannot say or do anything to jeopardize this case. He did not call me, however. Now. I have a seventy-two hour deadline that I need to meet in order to close this file. I would like for it to be over sooner than you would. She watched as he sunk back into the chair, "Thank you. Now, the gentlemen you shot and killed, you say had a gun on his person at the time of the shooting. Correct?" When the man nods, she continues, "Were there any distinguishing features to this gun? Could you tell the caliber or did it possibly have a decorative handle?"
Flynn leaned back into the seat, angry this was all going on. "Ivory handle. Silver barrel. Almost looked fake until he spun the barrel."
"See? Was that so hard, Lieutenant?" Sharon offered him a soft smile.
Flynn stands, "Doesn't matter if it's hard or not. Your job is to make our jobs a living hell. Always looking over our shoulders no matter where we turn because one step could be our last. One little mistake. How does it feel to know everyone here hates you..." He slammed his chair into the table, causing her to jump as he made his way out of the conference room.
Sam bit his lip, watching her. No one should have to hear that. Not even his mother. He sets his system on the desk and uses the other door to run out of her office, chasing the man.
Flynn stood at the elevators, arms folded. A sour expression painted his face as he watched the numbers lighten and darken, showing how close the car was.
"Hey, Mister." The boy yelled at him, putting on his best angry face, "Mister Loudmouth." He calls again. It was a term his grandmother would always call him. He thought this would be the perfect time to use it.
The man looked over, "Yeah?"
"You need to go and apologize to Captain Raydor." He points, speaking calmly yet projecting to get his point across.
Flynn shook his head, "Scram, kid. I'm busy." He looked back up to the lights, "Besides, I only give apologies to people I mean to give them to."
Sam angrily walked closer, "You don't tell people mean things and you don't speak for the whole entire Police. You're mean with a red face and a big mouth and if you weren't mean, you wouldn't get in trouble." He kicked the man as hard as he possibly could in the shin.
"What the fuck, kid." He hissed, grabbing his leg.
"Go and apologize!" The boy yelled again, breathing heavily through his nose, his hands balled into fists.
Sharon jogged of her office, wearing her heels, when she noticed her son wasn't at her desk like he was before. She sighed, grabbing her son and pulling him back, "Oh my God. Lieutenant Flynn, I'm so sorry. Are you okay?"
"Get your crazy ass kid away from me." Flynn glared.
She swallowed, knowing the response wasn't going to be receptive, "Samuel, apologize to Lieutenant Flynn."
"I only give apologies to people I mean to give them to." Sam glared, throwing the man's words back into his face, turning from his mother and walking back to her office.
"Lieutenant, I-" Sharon paused, motioning to her son, "Are you really okay?"
"I'm sorry, Captain." Flynn mumbled, "Don't punish the kid too much. He's right to stand up for his mother." He moaned softly as he put his leg back down, limping slowly into the elevator. He nodded to the woman as the doors closed.
Sharon stood there a moment, not exactly sure if she heard him right. Did he just apologize to her? Their third meeting in a month and he's apologizing. The corner of her mouth turned up slightly before she walked back to her office.
"Mom? You home?" Sam called out, walking into his mother's apartment, "It's your favorite biological son."
"In the bedroom." Sharon replies, not too loudly as to cause Rusty's headache to return. She strokes her foster son's hair, almost absently, glad he's managed to fall back asleep.
He walks to the room, standing in the doorway, "Hey." He grins, walking around and kissing his mother on the cheek, "What's wrong with him?" He motions to his brother, "Looks like shit."
"Sick...he's had a really rough night." She sighs, "Be nice, please." Sharon slowly slips out of the bed, and motions her elder son to the living room.
Sam follows intently, taking his jacket off and tossing it over a chair as he passes, "He need anything? Ginger ale, Saltines, Applesauce?"
"I have all of that. He's fine." Sharon shakes her head, then pulls him into a tight embrace, "How are you? I haven't seen you in months. It would be nice if you called more often...visited your niece and nephew..."
He nods, "Yeah, I've been great, actually." He grins, "I got my house back in San Diego, I've been made a manager on the building site, and I've met someone."
"You have?" She draws out, a smirk at the corner of her lips, "Tell your poor, old, information deprived mother all about it." Sharon motions for him to sit on the sofa, taking a seat next to him once he does, and holding his hands between her own.
"You should visit sometime. You would love it." Sam nods, watching her, "Three bedroom, balcony leading off of the master bedroom, a yard."
"Sammy, I've been to your house." Sharon shakes her head slightly, loving just how excited her son appeared.
"I have two dogs now. A little one and a bigger one, both still puppies. Jocko and Millie. I rescued them from a shelter drive." He grins still, "And it's...everything is perfect."
"Oh, honey, I'm thrilled." She rubs his arm gently, "Tell me about this someone you've met. Is she nice? What does she look like?"
Sam looks to her, pausing a moment, "How about a glass of wine first?" He stands, slowly edging his way into the kitchen.
The smile fades slightly, worried, "Why?"
"Wouldn't you like a glass of wine?"
"I no longer have any in my house. Why would I need a glass of wine, Samuel?" She takes her hands away from him, folding her arms, "Are you in trouble?"
"Trouble?" He laughs to himself, shaking his head, "Why would I be in trouble?" When his mother just looks to him, unsure of what to say, he continues, "Why don't you have wine anymore?"
"We don't need wine at the moment, Samuel. I need you to tell me why I need it in the first place." Sharon watches him intensely.
Sam shrugs, "To calm your nerves maybe..."
"Sammy, I am your mother. I brought you into this world after twenty-seven hours of hard labor. If you do not inform me of exactly what is going on with you in the next two minutes, I will take you out of this world." Her eyes soften as she tilts her head to the side. Her voice cool and calm, matched with a smirk.
"That's not even fair. What do you threaten Rusty with?"
"Samuel."
He sighs, sitting next to her again, "Fine." The one foot that rests over the edge of the sofa bounces with his toes, not necessarily intentionally, but without even realize he's doing so. Not even because he's nervous, "I'm not in love with a woman, Mom." His words slow, almost calculated.
Sharon huffs a soft laugh before breaking into a full giggle, bringing her hand up to cover her mouth as she usually does.
"Not exactly the reaction I thought I was going to get from you."
"Oh honey." She starts to calm down, placing her hand on his bouncing knee to calm him as well.
Sam continues to watch his mother, "For the record, I'm pansexual."
"That's a new one." Sharon nods, "Honey, I don't care who you fall in love with as long as they take care of you. That's all that matters to me. Here you had me worried." She sighs, comfortably sinking back into the chair with a genuine smile on her face.
"You're Catholic." He attempts to make a point.
"My best friend is a gay lawyer who always needs a scarf to match every outfit, as well as a different pair of glasses every day because he'll never wear the same pair twice in one week." She retorts, "Really, honey. I don't care...as long as you tell me all about them and don't keep them as secrets like your sister likes to do. Though, since the two of you share everything with one another and you don't think I know about it, I'm betting you knew about him already."
Sam shakes his head, "Not this time."
Sharon sighs softly, "She's being so secretive about this one." She stands, walking to the kitchen, "Glass of water, hon?"
"Do you have juice?"
"Orange, apple, or white grape?"
He turns in his seat to look to her, "I'm gone for like...nine or ten months and you suddenly have a juice buffet."
"They were here while you were here." She shakes her head, "For the twins."
"Apple." Sam smirks, "Hear from Dad?"
"Yes, he's over your sister's place right now." She answers simply, her voice low.
He furrows his brow ever so slightly, "What else..."
"What?"
"He's over Quinn's and what else?"
Sharon shakes her head, "Nothing else. Why does there have to be something else?" Her voice is too light, obvious to anyone who can hear her that she isn't telling everything. She carries the drinks back into the living room, setting his on the table and taking a sip of her own.
"And what happened to Rusty last night?" Sam wets his dry lips with his tongue before biting them together from within his mouth.
"Don't worry about it." She glances to her watch, sighing softly, "I have to call Andy and tell him I can't go tonight."
The young man leans back on the sofa, "Andy? That's still a thing?" When he receives a scowl from his mother, he continues, "Christmas Eve party like last year?"
"Yes, but hopefully he'll understand that I must cancel. I'm not leaving Rusty while he's so ill."
"Mom, go. I can take care of Rusty. Might give us some brotherly bonding time." Sam smirks, nodding, "Besides, I want to ask him about what happened last night."
"Which is exactly the reason why I'm staying here-" She looks to him over her glasses.
He laughs to himself, "I'm kidding. I'm kidding, I swear."
"You are not."
"I am." Sam stands, "Do I need to do a Scout's honor?"
Sharon begins to giggle as she speaks, "Honey, you dropped out of the Boy Scouts when you were ten. It doesn't really hold much clout with me anymore." She sighs, rolling her eyes slightly with a smirk, "Andy and I are taking the twins, which means we will be back early, but if he needs me, Samuel...You call me."
"You know I will." The young man watches her, "Go and start picking out clothes or whatever else you need to do." Sam smirks, "Really knock 'em dead tonight, Mom. I have no doubt that you will, but sometimes you need a little reminding."
She pats his hand as he gently presses it on her shoulder when he walks by, "I love you too, honey."