DISCLAIMER: I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

A/N: Just a friendly warning that this chapter has some very intense moments.

Chapter 9

His phone was ringing and he could hear it but he couldn't reach it as something was holding him back. Andy opened his eyes and saw Sharon sleeping on top of him and he smiled to himself. His phone was still ringing and he hated to disturb Sharon. He glanced over at the clock by their bed. 4:45 it said. He carefully positioned Sharon off of his body and reached over to grab his phone off of the night stand. "Yeah, Provenza what is it?" Andy said as he answered the phone. "There's another dead body discovered, same M.O." Provenza said back to him. Andy sighed. Sharon stirred and woke up. "What is it, honey?" she whispered to him. "Text me the address, I'll meet you there" Andy said and then hung up his phone. He then looked over at Sharon. "He killed another one" Andy said to her as he got up and started to get dressed. "I'm coming with you" Sharon said as she got up as well. "No, you don't have to be there. It's just a crime scene, Sharon" Andy said to her as she moved in to the closet next to him and grabbed some clothes to wear. "Nonsense, besides I'm your Captain, and your boss. You can't give me orders" she said back to him, gave him a smile, and then closed the door to their bathroom leaving him standing in the bedroom, alone. He hung his head and shook it. He then got dressed.

They made their way downstairs and Sharon went in to the family room and saw that both Rusty and Gus were up. "Hey, did we wake you guys?" Sharon said to them. "No, actually I had to get up early because I need to head in to the restaurant before it opens at 7" Gus said to her. "What's going on?" Rusty asked Sharon. "We got called out again, another body" Sharon said to Rusty. "Same person?" Rusty asked her as he followed her in to the kitchen. Andy was standing there with his keys in his hand waiting for Sharon. "We don't know yet. Anyway, if you could tell everyone later. We will keep in touch, okay?" Sharon said to Rusty. "Okay, um, be careful" Rusty said to the two of them as they headed out the back door. Rusty sat down at the kitchen table and sighed.

As they pulled out of their driveway, Andy pulled up next to one of the cars stationed outside their home. Sharon rolled down her window and Sergeant Ray did the same. "Everything okay, Captain?" Sergeant Ray asked them. "We got called out to a crime scene, Sergeant" Sharon said to him. "Don't worry Captain, Lieutenant, we got your house covered" Sergeant Ray said to them and then they drove off towards the crime scene. "Where was the body found?" Sharon asked Andy as he drove them to the scene. "Between Hawthorne and Selma, in a vacant lot behind a building" Andy said as he turned on Hollywood Boulevard. "His picture is plastered all over the place, why can't we find him?" Andy said frustrated with everything. They pulled up to the scene and parked the car. As he and Sharon ducked underneath the crime scene tape, Andy looked around at the area. They walked up to Provenza who was speaking with a patrol officer. "Ah, Captain didn't know you'd be coming too" Provenza said to Sharon. "Yes, I decided to tag along" Sharon said as they proceeded to where the body was discovered.

"Uh, before you look at the body, you need to know that something was discovered on it" Provenza warned both of them as they walked over to the body. "What was discovered?" Andy asked him. "He wrote the Captain's name on the body" Provenza said to Andy as they came up to the body. Kendall was there and the body was covered with a sheet. "Let me see" Andy said to Kendall as he leaned down and Kendall pulled the sheet away. Andy stared at the body and Sharon looked as well. "Captain?" Provenza said to Sharon and Sharon walked over to where Provenza was leading her. "Time of death?" Andy asked Kendall. "Maybe two hours ago?" Kendall said and then covered the body back up. Andy stood back up and looked over to where Sharon had gone to. He saw her talking with Provenza.

Andy then looked around to see where the police line was and saw a crowed gathering. He kept getting closer to the crowd and started to scan for Johnny there. He saw a man, similar to Johnny standing there across from him. "Hey! Hey you!" Andy called out to the guy. The guy then turned around and started running away. Andy chased after him along with two patrol officers. Andy chased him all the way to Highland and Hollywood where the two patrol officers tackled the guy. Andy pulled up and he was out of breath. The two patrol officers pulled the guy up, and Andy got a better look at him. "That's not him" he said to the patrol officers and started to walk away. The patrol officers brought the guy back to the crime scene and placed him in a patrol car. "Dammit!" Andy cursed as he stopped on the sidewalk to catch his breath. He was leaning over his knees when he heard someone come up to him. "I'm fine" he said as he thought it was one of his colleagues.

"Guess again, Andy" Johnny said to Andy as he shoved a gun in his face. Andy looked at the gun and then looked up at Johnny. "Slowly come back up, that's it" Johnny said to him as he reached and took Andy's gun out of his holster. "What do you want?" Andy asked him. "You and I are going to take a nice walk over here and then we are going to slowly drive away" Johnny said to Andy. Staring down the barrel of a gun was not what Andy wanted to do this morning. He knew if he got into a struggle with this guy, that it could not end well. Andy did what he was told and walked with Johnny. Johnny directed him over to a car and he got inside. Before Johnny got in the driver's side, Andy quickly turned his phone on vibrate and dialed the last number that called him. He then turned the volume down so Johnny wouldn't hear. Johnny then got in the car and started to drive, keeping the gun pointed at Andy.

Sharon looked back to see where Andy was at but didn't see him anymore. "Where's Andy?" Sharon said out loud to Kendall and anyone else in the area. "I don't know Captain, he was here a second ago and then he headed over to where the crowd was building" Kendall said as two other technicians moved the body. She turned around with the worried look in her eyes and Provenza knew as well. Just then, Provenza's phone rang and it was Andy. "Hang on Captain" Provenza said and then he answered his phone. "Flynn, where are you?" Provenza said over the phone but didn't hear just Flynn's voice. Provenza walked over to Sharon. "I think he's in trouble" he said to her as he placed the phone on speaker and they listened.

"So where are you taking me?" Andy asked Johnny as Johnny drove them down Hollywood Boulevard. "Oh, don't worry Andy. We'll be there soon enough" Johnny said as he drove. Andy just hoped his phone wouldn't die on him and that the call to Provenza would stay connected long enough for them to trace it. "You know, why go through all of this? Why did you kill those innocent women?" Andy asked him. "I told you why. You ignored me, and kept ignoring me, so I needed to do something to get your attention" Johnny said back to Andy. 'Great, this guy really is psycho and now he has two guns' Andy thought to himself as they continued to drive.

"Mike, can you trace Andy's phone? It looks like Flynn was stupid and our murderer just took him" Provenza said to Mike who came over to where they were standing. Sharon glanced at Provenza and shook her head at the comment he made. Mike opened his phone and began a trace. Buzz then came over to where they were standing. "Captain, I got him taking the Lieutenant on video" Buzz told Sharon. "What?!" Sharon said to him. Buzz then played back the video footage and Sharon watched as she saw Andy chase someone from the crowd. "That's what I got, but here's surveillance footage I tapped in to" Buzz said and then he played that video. It showed Andy on the corner of Hollywood and Highland coming to a stop and he was catching his breath. They then see Johnny come up to Andy and stick a gun in his face. Sharon's heart dropped when she saw that. Then they watched Andy walk over with Johnny off the screen. "That's all I have" Buzz told Sharon. "Thank you Buzz" Sharon said to him as she pulled out her phone.

"Chief, sorry to wake you but we need back up right away, Lieutenant Flynn has been kidnapped by our killer" Sharon said to Chief Howard over the phone. "We are tracing the phone right now, Andy kept an open line" Sharon explained to Chief Howard. "Hopefully, his battery doesn't die" Mike said quietly to Provenza as Sharon kept talking with Chief Howard. "You said to let you know if I need anything with this case, Chief. Well, I need my Lieutenant back" Sharon said in a shaky voice and then she handed her phone to Provenza. "Here, I can't right now" she said to him. Provenza took her phone. "Yes Chief" he said and then listened to what he was telling him as he kept his eye on Sharon. Sharon was now watching the trace on Mike's phone, silently praying that Andy would be okay.

Andy looked out the window and saw them pulling up to an industrial park near downtown. He knew exactly where they were and hopefully, so did Sharon and the rest of the team. Johnny got out of the car. "Get out!" Johnny said to Andy as he also stepped out of the car. It was still dark out and the sunlight was just skimming the surface. Johnny came around to the other side of the car and grabbed Andy by his jacket. "Come on, we're going inside" Johnny told him and they walked into one of the buildings. "Do you own this place?" Andy asked him. "No, it's abandoned, no one comes down here anymore" Johnny said to Andy as he shoved him inside. There was a table and chairs set up in the middle of the room. "I thought you said no one comes here" Andy said to him gesturing to the table and chairs. "Oh, Andy I set that up for us, you see. One step ahead of you" Johnny said to him. "Have a seat" he pointed to the chair, all the while pointing the gun at Andy. Andy took a seat. "So what do you want to talk about?" Andy asked him as Johnny took the seat across from him at the table. Johnny just smiled at him.

"The signal stopped!" Mike yelled out to everyone gathered. "Where did it stop, Tao?" Julio asked him. "Looks like at an industrial park, between Alameda and Mill streets and 6th and 7th streets" Mike said. "Chief Howard is sending Commander McGinnis and her SWAT team to the location we tell them to go to. Now, I don't want anyone going off on their own to rescue Flynn. We wait for SWAT, understood?" Provenza said to everyone. "Yes" Julio said and then they headed for their cars. "Captain, Buzz is going to drive you over there in your car" Provenza told Sharon as they were walking. Sharon got in and waited for Buzz to get into the driver's seat. "We're going to get Flynn, Captain. I promise" Provenza said to her and then they drove off. They went lights and sirens through the streets of Los Angeles and when they got closer to the location, they went silent as they pulled up and waited for SWAT to show up.

Sharon looked out her window at the area where they pulled up. It was a desolate industrial park and there was no one around. There was one building that had a door and they assumed Andy and Johnny were inside there. She hated waiting for SWAT but knew they were the professionals in these types of situations. The thought of what Andy was going through right now went through her mind and she shook her head. "Captain?" Buzz said to her. She quickly wiped the tears from her eyes before she turned to face him. "Yes, Buzz?" she said to him. "He's going to be fine" he said although he didn't know what to say or if he could guarantee that at all. She debated contacting their kids at this moment. She didn't want them to worry if she told them. But on the other hand, she wanted them to know in case something did happen. She pulled out her phone and quickly texted Rusty. 'Tell the adults that Andy's been taken by the murderer we've been chasing. Tell more later'. She then placed her phone in her pocket and got out of the car to join her team. "What's the ETA on SWAT, Lieutenant?" Sharon said to Provenza. "Twenty minutes" Provenza said back. Sharon stood next to Provenza as they waited. "I sent Julio and Amy over there to look around. "Sir, there's only one entrance into the building. This place looks abandoned" Julio said to Provenza as they came back to the cars. Provenza nodded. He was still holding his phone. Andy's phone was still connected with his and they could hear everything that was being said.

"You do know that my division is going to notice me missing and they probably are going to start looking for me, if they haven't already" Andy said to Johnny as they sat at the table. "Oh, I'm counting on it, Andy. But they are going to be too late. You see, this is the end of our little game. I win, you lose" Johnny said to Andy. Andy looked at him and hoped that Sharon and everyone else was coming soon for him because he was really getting tired of listening to this guy. "You know what it's like to lose, right Andy? You've hit rock bottom, what twenty years ago about?" Johnny said to him as he got up and started walking around facing Andy. "I've lost a lot, as well" Johnny said to him. Then he stuck the gun in Andy's face and then kept walking around him. "But you also know what it's like to win, am I right? Sharon, she's quite something isn't she?" Johnny said to Andy as he got up to his face again. "You leave her out of this!" Andy spat back at him. Johnny laughed. "Oh, did I hit a nerve? There's something you're not telling me" Johnny said back to Andy and he just sat there. "What's the matter Andy, are you out of her league?" Johnny said as he sat back down across from him.

Sharon looked at Provenza who didn't say anything and then she glanced down at the ground. "Where the hell is SWAT at?" she cursed. Just as she said that SWAT pulled up. "Finally" Provenza said as he looked over at Sharon. She looked broken, almost, but showed no emotion other than previously in the car and once at the crime scene. He knew that her heart was breaking for Andy right now but they had an important job to do, getting him out alive. He walked over to where Commander McGinnis was and met her outside her vehicle. An ambulance pulled up as well on stand-by. Sharon was still holding Provenza's phone as she walked up to meet the commander and her team. "Ann" Sharon said to her. "Sharon, I'm sorry to hear Lieutenant Flynn was taken hostage" McGinnis said to her and Sharon nodded. "We have an open line" Provenza explained to her. "Is the suspect talking with us?" McGinnis asked. "No, we don't think he knows Flynn's phone is on" Provenza said.

"We got the blueprints of this building and it looks like there's only one way in and out" McGinnis said to Sharon and the rest of her team. "Now, my men are going to set up point here and here. We'll need eyes inside first before we do anything" she explained to them. "Captain, your people can be behind my team, but my team takes the lead on this one" McGinnis stated to Sharon. "Of course" she answered back. "Alright, let's move out. I need eyes on the suspect right away" McGinnis called out to her team and they dispersed and took their points.

"Captain" Provenza said to Sharon. She turned around and looked at him. "Don't you dare tell me to stay here and wait, Lieutenant" Sharon said to him. "That thought never crossed my mind" he said back to her as he shrugged his shoulders. They continued on behind a SWAT team to a location across from the door. Another team set up behind a car, closer to the door and Julio and Amy were with that team. Buzz was told to stay at a safe distance which he willingly did. Mike was up with one of the teams on the roof.

"Oh, what's she gonna do when you don't come home tonight? Huh?! She'll be the grieving widow, taking care of Matthew all by herself" Johnny said to Andy as he stood back up. "How do you know about Matthew?" Andy said back to him. Sharon could still hear their conversation. She silently hoped to herself that Andy didn't do or try anything stupid because this Johnny person sounded unstable. "How do you know about Matthew?" Andy asked him again.

"Funny thing, I've followed your career, Andy from Robbery/Homicide to Priority Homicide to Major Crimes. I covered the crimes that you solved and always tried to get the story first, but you never gave me those exclusive ones. I tried and I tried but never was good enough. So then I made it a point to get to know you better. Found out about your daughter and son and then when you went through your divorce, very sad. It was a joy to see you so furious whenever IA would walk on to the crime scene and your team was there. Then later, the way you and the Captain were getting along, almost too well. I was at the courthouse after she shot that guy, felt sorry for her and tried to get an inside scoop but, the LAPD had no comments. All I wanted was the story, but you wouldn't give me the time of day, Andy. So I needed to get your attention" Johnny said to him as he scratched his head.

"By killing innocent women?" Andy said to him. "It brought you to me, didn't it?" Johnny said to him as he walked over to him and placed the gun in his face. "And I got your attention now" Johnny said as he looked at Andy and then backed off. Andy looked back at Johnny and then they heard a noise on the roof. "What's that?" Johnny said. "Pigeons" Andy said to him. "No, that's too loud for pigeons Andy. Oh, I think your police friends have finally arrived" Johnny said as he walked back to Andy and sat down.

"I got eyes on our suspect, he's holding the Lieutenant at gun point and they are sitting down at a table with chairs" Perez said over the radio ,which Sharon also heard. Her heart was in her throat right now, pounding away. Provenza glanced at her. "Everyone hold your positions, only when you have a green light do you take the suspect out, is that clear?" McGinnis called over the radio. "10-4" Stuart answered along with everyone else over the radio. McGinnis glanced over at where Sharon was. "The suspect is getting up and walking around to the Lieutenant" Perez stated. "Captain, I think we need to establish a line of communication, see what he wants" McGinnis said to Sharon. Sharon didn't know if that was a good thing to do because Johnny was unpredictable and she didn't want Andy to get harmed. "Hang up Provenza's phone and you dial his number on your phone, then Lieutenant Flynn's phone will ring again" McGinnis said to Sharon. Sharon glanced at Provenza and did exactly that. She opened her phone, ignoring the messages from their kids and dialed Andy's number.

A couple of seconds later, Andy's phone vibrated. Johnny heard something buzzing as he looked around. "What's that?" Johnny asked him as he pointed the gun back at Andy. "My phone, they are trying to establish communication with you, Johnny" Andy said as calm as he could be. "Well, I don't want to talk to them" Johnny said as he looked at Andy. Andy reached into his pocket and pulled his phone out. "What are you doing!" Johnny said, shaking the gun at Andy. Andy placed his hands up. "Whoah Johnny, I'm just getting my phone out, that's all" Andy said as he placed the phone on the table and kept his hands up. "It's going to keep vibrating until you answer it, Johnny" Andy said to him.

"Perez, what do you see?" McGinnis asked him. "Lieutenant Flynn pulled the phone out and the suspect started acting all crazy" Perez stated back to her. Sharon looked at McGinnis and then at Provenza. She didn't like this at all. "Call him again" McGinnis said to Sharon and she dialed his number again. "Johnny, you need to answer it" Andy said as he pointed to his phone on the table. Johnny walked over to the table and hit the answer button, and then placed the phone on speaker while he watched Andy.

"Hello?" Johnny said. "Hello, this is Commander McGinnis of the LAPD, whom am I speaking with?" McGinnis said over the phone. "Just call me Johnny" Johnny said. "Okay Johnny, I understand you took a LAPD officer as a hostage" McGinnis said to him. "Yeah, that's right" Johnny said as he smiled at Andy. "Well, I need to ask you how Lieutenant Flynn is doing?" McGinnis said to him. "He's fine" Johnny said. "Good, that's good Johnny. I need to do something for me" McGinnis said to Johnny. "Oh yeah, what's that?" Johnny asked her. "I need you to let go of Lieutenant Flynn for me, drop your gun, and walk outside with your hands up" McGinnis said over the phone. "Do you think you can do that?" she asked him. "Oh, no, I don't think so" Johnny said but then he thought of something. "Is the lovely Captain Sharon Flynn there by any chance?" Johnny asked. "Yes, she's here" McGinnis said. "I would love to speak with her" Johnny said. "I told you to leave her out of this" Andy said back to him and then Johnny punched him in the face. "Lieutenant Flynn just got punched in the face" Perez stated over the radios. Sharon took a deep breath as McGinnis nodded and handed the phone back to her.

"This is Captain Sharon Flynn" Sharon said over the phone, holding her breath after. "Oh, hello Sharon, you have quite the man here" Johnny said and then placed the phone over to Andy. "Say hello Andy" Johnny said to him. "Sharon" Andy said over the phone and it almost brought tears to Sharon's eyes. "Andy" she whispered. "Listen Sharon, Andy here has been holding out. He hasn't explained why he's being so protective of you. Do you know why?" Johnny said to Sharon as he glanced back at Andy. "No I don't" Sharon said. "Hmm, that's a pity. You both seem so good for each other. Both divorced, with kids, at the LAPD. Both tenacious in your work. Huh, who would have thought" Johnny said to her. Sharon closed her eyes. "Please let Andy go" Sharon said back to him. "Uh, no, but nice try Sharon. I don't think I'm willing to let him go just yet" Johnny said back to her.

"What do you want?" Sharon said to him. "What do I want? What do I want?" Johnny said back in a louder voice. "I wanted what every reporter wants, the big story to break their career wide open, and Andy here couldn't even help me with that" Johnny said to her. "Look, whatever story you want I'll give it to you" Sharon pleaded with him. "Um, no I think it's too late now. Oh, well that's too bad. Hmm something's going to have to be done here. Ok, Sharon since Andy here hasn't been helping me and you seem to be stalling, I'm just going to have to kill him" Johnny said. Sharon's eyes went wide. "No, no! Johnny!" she said over the phone. Johnny laughed as he looked at Andy and then hung up the phone. He tossed the phone back to Andy. "Perez, status?" McGinnis said over the radio. "The suspect is grabbing the Lieutenant and heading towards the door now" Perez said over the radio.

"Change of plans Andy. You and I are going to walk out of here and we will see what our fate brings us" Johnny said to him as he held the gun at Andy's head and they walked to the front door. "You're crazy, you know that?!" Andy said to him. Johnny held Andy's right arm behind his back. "Are you ready to die, Andy?" Johnny asked them as they got closer to the door. "I've got nothing to hide from" Andy spat back to him, which surprised him. Johnny laughed and they proceeded. He told Andy to open the door, carefully and slowly. Andy did and they slowly walked out. Andy saw SWAT as his eyes readjusted to being outside. The sun was up now. He was searching the crowd for Sharon and finally found her. Their eyes met and then Andy closed his eyes as Johnny dug the barrel of the gun into his head. "Don't make any moves or try anything fancy!" Johnny yelled out. "Or else Andy here goes bye bye!" he yelled out again to everyone there.

Stuart looked through his scope and had a clear shot of the suspect in his sights. "I have a clear shot" he said over the secured channel so only McGinnis could hear him. McGinnis looked over the situation in front of her. "Take it" she said back to him. Stuart pulled the trigger and Johnny fell to the ground behind Andy. Andy ducked as soon as he heard a shot go off and then turned around to see Johnny laying on the ground, dead. SWAT moved ahead to make sure Andy was okay. "Lieutenant?!" one of the SWAT members called out to Andy. "I'm fine" he said to them. "Clear" was called over the radio and Sharon jumped up and ran over to where Andy was standing. She embraced him and he held her tightly. They were both trembling. The hours long standoff was over. Sharon looked at him, and ran her hands through his hair and on his face, down his chest. "I'm okay, sweetheart" Andy whispered to her. "I'm just making sure" Sharon said back to him. They moved out of the way of SWAT clearing the suspect. Andy turned around as they cleared Johnny of any more weapons he had on him. They pulled out Andy's service weapon and unloaded it. Since it was taken by the suspect, it had to go downtown first and be cleared before it could be returned to Andy. "Just make sure I get it back" Andy said to them and then walked with Sharon over to where Provenza was standing.

Andy shook Provenza's hand. "What took you so long?" Andy asked Provenza. "Don't ever pull that crap again, Flynn" Provenza said to him as he continued to shake his hand. The rest of the team joined them. The paramedics walked over to them, but Andy waved them off. "I'm fine" he said to one of them. Chief Howard pulled up to the scene and walked over to them. "Lieutenant, glad to see you are okay. A word, Captain?" Chief Howard said to Andy and then to Sharon as he walked away. Sharon looked back at Andy and then followed Chief Howard. "What's going on?" Andy asked Provenza. "Ah, she kind of disobeyed an order from Howard earlier, sir" Julio told him. "See, you're rubbing off on her" Provenza said to Andy as they watched Chief Howard and Sharon talk.

Before Chief Howard could say anything, Sharon started talking. "Chief, before you say anything I want to apologize for my behavior earlier this morning" Sharon said to him but Chief Howard held up his hand. "Captain, before you say anything more. I would have done the same thing if it was Brenda that was taken" Chief Howard said. "Look, I want you and your team back at the PAB for a debriefing and then go home, get some rest, and don't come back to work, until maybe mid-morning tomorrow, got it?" Chief Howard said to Sharon. Sharon looked back at him in disbelief. She thought she was going to get reprimanded instead. "Yes Chief" Sharon said and then went back to join her team. Chief Howard then walked over to Commander McGinnis and congratulated her on a job well done.

Sharon walked back to where Andy was standing with Provenza and ran her hand up the side of his face. There was a bruise forming where Johnny had pushed the gun into Andy's head, but that would go away. She informed her team what Chief Howard had told her and they all started to walk to their cars. Andy enveloped Sharon in his arms and just held her until Provenza told them it was time to go. They then walked over to their car. "I can drive, Andy" Sharon said to him but he shook his head at her. "I got it" he said and got in the driver's seat. "I'm glad you're okay" she said to him as he started the car. He smiled at her and then they drove back to the PAB for their debriefing. His mind was still racing over the whole ordeal and he hoped that he could hold it together for Sharon's sake.

TBC