When Sharon saw Agent Howard waiting for her in her office the next morning, she shot and inquisitive look to Sanchez, who replied with a shrug of his shoulders. She knew that the FBI still needed to debrief Andy, but she didn't expect Agent Howard to be sitting in her office waiting for her first thing Monday morning.
When Agent Howard saw her approaching her office he stood to greet her, "Good Morning Captain."
"Agent Howard what can I do for you this morning?" Sharon said putting her things down on her desk.
"It's urgent that I debrief Lieutenant Flynn first thing this morning. I know that you are just getting into the office, but would it be possible for you to accompany me?" Agent Howard said with urgency in his voice that sent a slight chill through her.
"Of course, would you mind if Lieutenant Provenza joined us?" Sharon said, knowing that Provenza would like the opportunity to check on Andy.
When they arrived at the hospital, Agent Howard didn't waste any time questioning Andy. As Sharon listened to the two of them she couldn't help but to think that something just wasn't right. When Agent Howard finally looked over at her, he could tell by the questioning look on her face that she knew there was more going on. "What's wrong Captain?" he said.
"Why do I have the feeling you already knew that Zarek was the leak?" She said crossing her arms in front of her chest
"The moment Lieutenant Flynn left for the hospital I had Agent Fornell working to find the leak. We found enough evidence to suggest that Agent Zarek was the leak, but we need Lieutenant Flynn to confirm it. The issue is we have not seen or heard from Zarek for the last 24 hours. I have agents watching his house, but it looks like the Cartel is tying up all their loose ends." Agent Howard said turning to Andy.
"Let me guess I'm their last loose end?" Andy said with an irritated look on his face.
"Yes. That is why it was so urgent that I meet with you first thing this morning. We need to make arrangements to ensure your safety." Agent Howard said ready to hear all of Andy's objections.
"I'm going to be out of here in a day or say. I don't need a babysitter; I can take care of myself." Andy said a coldly.
"Lieutenant I already spoke to your doctor and he has already said that you need to have someone with you for the first week or so." Agent Howard said looking over at Provenza.
"Oh no. There is no way I'm taking care of this big baby," with a smirk, he looks over at Sharon. "The Captain will have plenty of room by the time he is released. Why can't he stay with her?"
Before Sharon even had a chance to protest, Agent Howard interjected. "Lieutenant Provenza, that's actually a good idea. I will leave the three of you to work it out. You let me know what is needed from the FBI and I will make it happen. I will have an Agent outside this door until you're released Lieutenant and then we will have once posted outside Captain Raydor's house."
Provenza stood in shock. He was only joking trying to get a rise out of Sharon, but when he saw the look on her face as Agent Howard backed up his theory, he knew he was in trouble. "Tell you what, I will leave the two of you to work this out," nodding goodbye to Andy he said, "I will wait for you at the car Captain, take your time."
When it was just Sharon and Andy left in the room Andy wasn't sure what to say to her. He could tell by her reaction that she didn't think it was a good idea. He knew that she loved him, but even he had to admit that the two of them living together would be a step that he wasn't even sure he was ready for. Watching her stand there, he could tell that her mind was working nonstop. She was running through all of the possible issue and trying to find a resolution to all of them, when broke her train of thought by speaking.
"Stop worrying about it; I will take care of it. My sister has been wanting to come visit for a while and I always put her off. It's no big deal." Andy said smiling at her.
"It's not that I don't want you to. I don't know how Rusty will take it, moving Maddie here had him feeling a little out of sorts. I'm just worried that if you move in he will feel like I'm pushing him out. Right now I think he fancies himself as the man of the house." Sharon said hoping that Andy wouldn't notice the nervousness in her voice.
"You should probably get going. If you leave him out there to long the old fart might have a heatstroke," Andy said pulling her towards him.
"Andy we can't, someone could come in," Sharon said allowing him to pull her towards him. Before she knew it, his lips brushed softly over hers. He placed his hand on her hip pushing her slightly so she would sit on the side of his bed making it a little more comfortable for him. She allowed her body to move towards the side of the bed as she felt his tongue glide slowly over her lip. She leaned in more to deepin the kiss, when a slight moan escaped her mouth as she felt his tongue intertwining with hers. Knowing that they couldn't continue at the rate they were going, she put her hand on his chest and leaned back. "I should get going," said breathlessly.
The ride back to the office was an awkward silence. She knew that she should say something to Provenza, but she couldn't find the right words. To her surprise when he put the car into park back at the station, he sat there for a brief second before saying, "Listen Sharon, I was just joking about Flynn staying with you. I had no idea that Fritz would agree to it. I will stay with Flynn, it's no big deal."
"It's ok, we will figure something out. Andy said something about his sister coming to stay with him." Sharon said feeling guilty for making him suffer the entire way back to the station.
"His sister, are you kidding me. She hasn't spoken to him since his mother's funeral, when he showed up drunk." He said in his usual grumpy tone.
"But he said she had been asking to come see him. Why would he lie to me?" Sharon said realizing that Andy was giving her away out without her feeling guilty about it. "I will stop by and see him on my way home tonight and work everything out," she said getting out of the car.
Since Major Crimes had not caught a case yet, everyone spent the afternoon catching up on paperwork, which worked out good for Sharon because her mind wondered all day about the situation with Andy. She knew that there was no way that Andy could stay with Provenza; they would end up killing each other.
She let out a heavy sigh and picked up her phone, "Gavin, how are you? Yes, I know I have been meaning to call, but things have been so crazy. Well actually, I need a favor. I sign the closing paperwork and get the keys on Wednesday. I need a good decorator and I need one fast. Someone that I can give a basic idea of what I want and let them take it and run with it. Oh, and someone that will work well the Rusty and Maddie, they can have their rooms done any way they want."
"Well sweetie, you called the right person. You need Stella, she is FABULUS! I will text you her info just as soon as I get out of court this afternoon. "Gavin said with a quick goodbye.
It was nearly 5:00 pm when she looked at her watch thinking, "It's now or never," as she headed to go get Rusty and Maddie from the break room. "How about we grab something to eat before we go see Andy?" she said stepping into the break room.
She watched the two of them eat, waiting for just the right moment to approach the subject of Andy moving in with them. Finally, she decided that there was never going to be the right moment. "I talked with a decorator this afternoon. She will be meeting us at the house Wednesday night. The two of you can tell her how you would like your bedroom's decorated. How does that sound?"
"Cool," Rusty said in between bites.
She was a little shocked that Maddie didn't seem excited about it. She had thought that a young girl would love to decorate her bedroom anyway she had wanted. Feeling the slightest apprehension from Maddie made her think twice about tell them about Andy however, she swallowed down a drink of water and continued. "There is something else I would like to run past the two of you. As you know, Andy doesn't really have any family here and the doctors can't release him yet from the hospital because he lives by himself."
Rusty's head jerked up quickly. He knew exactly where this was going and he didn't like it. He was finally coming to terms with having Maddie there and now she wanted to move Andy in too. He couldn't help but feel as if things were moving too fast. A new kid, a new boyfriend, why would she need to keep him around anymore? Now she would have Andy and Maddie, her own little family.
"We wouldn't have to come to the station anymore after school would we?" Maddie asked grinning from ear to ear.
"No, I suppose you wouldn't," Sharon said watching Rusty.
"Rusty, would that be ok with you?" Sharon said trying to sound calm even though she was nervous as hell.
"Yeah, sure it's your house. You can move whoever you want into it." Rusty said without looking at her.
Her chest tighten as his words bruised her heart. She knew he didn't mean to hurt her, but she hadn't expected him to revert to the old Rusty. The Rusty who wouldn't put his clothes in the spare bedroom closet, the Rusty who pushed her away every chance he could. Her mind was racing. What was she going to do? How was she going to fix this, she had to have a solution by the time they arrived at the hospital.