AN: by now apologies begin to sound lame, so I'm not going to do that although I am sorry. Let's just say RL is messing up my time in the fandom. I hope you will enjoy.

A big thank you goes out to my beta glistening sun! Without her help I'm not sure I would have been able to post this chapter already.

Still rated M

Chapter thirty-five

Andy smiled as he entered her room. He had just met her mom in the hallway. They were taking shifts at Sharon's bedside, just so they could have a shower and eat something in between. It was amazing to see how much better she already looked after only a day. She still looked pale, but that ash grey hue had disappeared. She still looked a bit tired, but she smiled at him.

"You showered."

"So did you..."

He smiled at her, while running his hand through her wet hair.

"Hm-mm and brushed my teeth."

"You look good, hon."

"I'm sorry, I must have really smelled yesterday."

The dock worker had thrown up. Neither Cohen and Zygerski had stayed inside for long, found themselves excuses to leave the container. He hadn't smelled anything. He loved her. You didn't care about smells then.

"Only focused on how happy I was to see you alive. How's your head?"

"Still pounding, but don't tell daddy, okay? He'd have me drugged up. I've been in and out of consciousness the entire time I was in that car trunk. I want to be awake as much as possible."

"As long as you get some sleep too. Okay?"

"I will."

"Your body is still weak. Did you eat anything while you were in there?"

"No."

Andy sat down.

"That hollow feeling kept growing, until my stomach cramped constantly. I didn't believe the hunger would be so bad."

Andy looked sad. She hadn't been talking about the pain when her parents were around. He could understand ,since her mom would already tear up when she looked at her bandaged wrists. Her dad was worried, period, checking her vitals all the time.

"The odds were against you."

"You found me just in time.. I ran out of water."

"How did you get that water in the first place?"

"There was a small bottle in the trunk, it was half full."

"Sick son of a bitch."

"I guess it would work for his explanation right? I've been thinking. That container was about to be transported, wasn't it?"

"Yeah."

"If anyone would have found me or my body, he could have said he hadn't known it would be shipped. He'd left me water. He had come to get me, but then the container had disappeared. The evidence would have backed it up."

"It's sick, but he thought of everything."

"He's smart, I need to give him that."

"Half a bottle. You were in that trunk too long."

"I used my own urine to fill it. The water diluted it and I hoped I wouldn't get sick. I only drank a few drops when I was on the verge of passing out from dehydration. When I began to ran out I didn't dare do it again since I knew my kidney's were beginning to deteriorate. I had sharp pains in my back."

She swallowed.

"The thirst was awful. I began to see things, hear voices, I was so out of it."

He could see the despair still lingering in her eyes while she thought about her ordeal.

"I'm so glad I found you."

He squeezed her hand.

"I knew you'd come, or at least try everything in your power to find me. It was so hard not to give into the pain and exhaustion though. At one moment I just wanted it to be over."

Emotion filled Andy's eyes.

"I'm sorry it took me so long."

"Landry planned it well."

"I lost precious time in the beginning. Took me almost two days to figure out you were even missing. Kicked your door in by the way."

She chuckled at his lopsided grin.

"At that time I even believed you'd be angry with me, call me overprotective. Fucked up after that, hauled Raydor in for questioning."

"Jack?"

"He was arguing with you right before you disappeared. Lost more time because of my own damn ego, my personal feelings for the guy."

Andy looked down, she knew he worried about her reaction. That she would be angry with him for going off on Jack.

"You followed procedure, Andy."

"No, I brought him in because I don't like the guy. Deep down in my mind I knew he wouldn't physically hurt you. He loves you. I lost time because of that."

Sharon reached for his hand. She could imagine what his state of mind must have been. All out of worry for her. She could not be angry with him for that. She knew Andy disliked Jack. For several reasons. She knew one of those reasons was because Jack had hurt her. She would have been more surprised if he hadn't lashed out at him.

"It's okay… I don't care what you did, really…"

Andy looked up confused. This was the last reaction he had expected.

"You did it all to find me."

"God, have I missed you."

Andy gave her a big smile, acting on impulse he bend over her and gave her a kiss on her forehead, his lips lingering there for a couple of seconds before he abruptly rose when the door opened.

Sharon stared at Andy in confusion, the blush coloring his cheeks, caught as if he had done something wrong. She ignored who had come in, simply because she wondered about his reaction.

"Commander."

"Flynn… Glad to see you're already feeling better, Elliot."

Andy tried to gather himself steering the conversation away from his actions. Andy cleared his throat before he addressed the Commander.

"Did you find anything?"

"A foot print."

Hamilton said it under his breath, he knew it wasn't much.

Sharon said what all of them were thinking.

"Circumstantial evidence."

"Sometimes a lot of that can build a strong case, Elliot. There will also be your testimony."

Sharon knew her testimony wouldn't hold up in court. They would need more evidence.

"We'll need something for a search warrant first."

"How about his bruised up torso. Sharon kneed him in his stomach."

"He'll only claim it happened on duty, Flynn."

"Give me five minutes with him in an interrogation room."

Hamilton rolled his eyes. Sharon looked at him and shook her head. The silent reprimand he had already become accustomed to. He raised his eyebrow.

"Don't I deserve some credit here for not beating the crap out of him yet?"

Sharon smiled.

"Sure… Seriously I would prefer Landry behind bars instead of you."

"Listen to your partner."

Hamilton believed that life had become so much easier, when Sharon Elliot joined their division. Andy Flynn was a brilliant cop, but he had problems with authority. Elliot was calm and rational while Flynn was a hothead with a short fuse. And she was the only one he listened to.

Andy looked at Sharon, her smile. He'd been so afraid he would never see her smile again. It took a great effort not to find Landry and beat him up for what he'd done to her.

"We're waiting for additional tests. See whether there's sand that can make it more conclusive. Maybe the shoe's a certain brand. Something that will get us that search warrant we need. Something to put some pressure on him. We'll have to be a bit more patient.

Hamilton looked at him when he said the word 'patient'.

"I'll keep you up to speed. I assume you stay here?"

"Hm-mm."

There was no question about that. As long as Landry wasn't sitting in a jail cell he wouldn't leave Sharon alone.

"Take it easy, alright? Take the time to recover."

"I will, thank you for coming, Commander."

Sharon looked back at Andy when Hamilton left.

"Will you promise me something, Andy?"

"What would you like me to promise you, hon?"

"No matter how this evolves, you won't go after Landry yourself."

Andy took a deep breath. He was tempted to promise her the moon. How could he not? Landry hurt her though. He would not let anyone hurt her. Landry had tried to kill her. What did she want him to do when he'd walk into him? Just turn the other cheek and ignore him?

"I can't do that."

"Please…"

"Honey you know I'd promise you anything ... But I don't know what I will do if I run into him."

"Andy."

"He tried to kill you."

"I'm very much aware of that, believe me."

She sounded hurt.

"I don't want you to get into trouble."

"I won't, he will miraculously run into a wall, or into my fist."

"Andy, you can't."

"Well, if he can call this a 'prank', I most definitely can."

''It won't solve anything."

Andy rose from his chair. He could not understand how she could be this calm under these circumstances. Frustrated he paced the room.

"Andy I understand it's frustrating you."

"Do you have any idea how scared I've been? Scared that I wouldn't find you in time. That when I would find you, you'd be dead. That I would have to tell your parents... that I would have lost you too. I've been scared, Sharon."

Her eyes teared up when she saw the emotions in his eyes. She had never seen him this vulnerable. His emotions all in the open like this. She didn't know how to deal with it. She felt guilty for putting him through all this.

"I've been scared too, Andy."

Tears made her voice tremble. Andy watched her quickly wipe them away.

"I'm sorry…"

He'd been only thinking about himself. That was just awful.

" I'm sorry … Of course you've been scared. I'm sorry… I can't believe I'm taking my frustration out on you."

Andy shook his head and turned his back to her. He was being an ass. How could he behave like that with her?

Sharon saw his muscles tighten as he turned his back to her. He stared out of the window and the silence became awkward. It felt like he was shutting her out emotionally, like he was burying his feelings so deeply, she couldn't reach them.

"Andy?"

She bit her lip. She didn't want him to keep all his feelings inside. He should show his emotions to her. If he was angry he should yell at her. If he was feeling like crying, he should cry. He should be able to show how he felt. They were friends, partners.

Her hands gripped the edge of her mattress, grimacing as she pulled herself up. She tried to breathe slowly, as it felt like she was using up all of her strength by just moving her legs over the edge of the bed. It seemed like in a matter of seconds Andy had build this wall around him. She closed her eyes, wiggling to the edge, tentative as she reached for the floor with her toes. She hadn't been on her feet for quite some time. Would she be strong enough? Sharon clenched her jaw, pushing herself up from the bed with her arms. She felt a bit dizzy and out of breath, but she managed the four steps towards Andy, laying her hand on his shoulder blade.

"Andy…."

With a jolt Andy turned around.

"What are you doing out of bed?!"

He caught her when her legs gave up on her.

"Easy… easy…"

He wrapped his arms tightly around her keeping her up on her feet.

"You shouldn't be out of bed."

Yes she realized that now, as she had collapsed against his chest, out of breath.

Andy didn't know what to do with her so close to him, to feel her warmth, to smell her shampoo. His heart was racing. His lips too close. This was what he had so desperately tried to avoid, any form of closeness, physically and emotionally.

"Easy, are you alright?"

She nodded, but she clutched his arm since she couldn't stand on her feet.

"You shouldn't have gotten out of the bed."

"I'm sorry. I understand you've been scared… and I understand you're angry."

"I'm not angry with you, hon."

Andy sighed as he bend down a bit so he could lift her up and carry her towards the bed.

"I'm just very frustrated that this guy will be getting away with all this. Here you go… comfortable?"

"Hm-mm… I want him caught too, Andy… and he will be. We'll figure it out."

He hovered over her and stared into her eyes. He knew she was right. They would have to be careful the last thing they'd need was this guy escaping his punishment, because they'd made a procedural error. Him getting physical with him would work in Landry's favor.

As the door opened Andy and Sharon both looked sideways. Andy only realized he was still hovering over her when he saw the look on Raydor's face. Slowly he got up, hands in his pockets while he looked at the scene Raydor staged in front of him. He looked a bit ridiculous with the flowers in his hand. He made a spectacle of walking over to Sharon, taking her chin in his hand, while he pulled her close, so he could kiss her. Andy could tell it was a one-sided kiss, Sharon caught by surprise.

Sharon pulled away from Jack, a bit out of breath, as he had surprised her with that kiss. She laid her hand on his chest, trying to maintain the distance that was between them. He wasn't bothered by it, smiling his usual charming smile, chattering on about how happy he was. That her dad called him to tell him that she was okay, that he'd been so worried about her.

Andy took a deep breath, the guy just kept talking and talking. Once again he was hearing a lot of 'I's'. He'd been so worried about her. He neglected to tell her though that he'd been practically arranging her memorial service already.

Jack looked up annoyed, as he heard Andy take a deep breath.

"Do you have to be here?"

Andy cocked his eyebrow.

"Yes, he has to be here, Jack."

Andy couldn't help but smile. With that tone of her voice, Jack better think twice about what he was going to say to her next.

"I want him to be here."

"Sweetheart…"

Sharon only stared at him. He knew it was no use to continue this.

"I can't believe you're really okay… You are okay, right?"

"I'm fine, Jack."

It was ridiculous how easily the guy accepted that. He wondered why the man even asked as he was already busying himself with the flowers he bought her. Andy was so glad she broke up with the guy. He wouldn't have been able to bear it if Sharon had married Jack. He couldn't think of a way how he could make Sharon happy. Andy wondered whether Jack even knew her.

"Maybe a nurse can find a vase."

"Just put them there. The nurses are busy."

Jack swallowed down his annoyance.

"What are you doing here anyway? Shouldn't you be out there arresting the sicko who did this? That is your job, isn't it?"

"My colleagues are working on the evidence."

"Evidence."

"Yeah that's the little necessity you need when you arrest someone. I thought you'd know that as you are a lawyer."

Jack narrowed his eyes focusing back on Sharon.

"You didn't see who did this to you, sweetheart?"

Jack looked all concerned, touching her cheek.

"I did. My testimony wouldn't be enough though, because he would just get himself some slick lawyer to undermine it. We need more proof."

Jack stayed quiet. That's how Sharon knew she was right about that. Jack had probably already come up with several ways to undermine her testimony in his mind.

Andy couldn't believe what a jackass the guy was. He could at least tell her that wasn't the case, even if it was a lie.

"Sharon…"

"It's okay. I know what you're thinking... and that's alright. "

By now she had accepted that he was a lawyer and he dealt with the law differently than she did.

"They're looking for evidence, right?"

"Yes, of course."

"Well they weren't so keen on looking for you."

Sharon looked at Andy. She could tell by just looking in his eyes that Jack was telling the truth. It had been just Andy searching for her. She smiled sadly at him.

"Hamilton wanted to, but the mayor pulled the plug."

"He allowed you to continue the search?"

"I didn't ask for his permission."

Hamilton smiled, as he entered.

"No, he didn't. He threatened to quit his job."

Sharon looked shocked from Hamilton at Andy, who mouthed 'thanks' at him. She shook her head.

"Was kinda determined to find you, hon."

Jack almost felt sick to his stomach. Trying hard to ignore this sickening closeness between the two of them, by steering away the conversation.

"Are you ready to arrest someone?"

"No not yet. The foot print came from the sole of a shoe you can buy just about anywhere. Sand didn't bring us much further either. "

"So we've got nothing."

"Not yet."

Andy walked towards the window trying to vent his frustration.

"There must be something."

Sharon could tell Hamilton felt pressured by both hotheads in the room. One was pacing the room, the other one was firing questions at him. She felt pity for him while her mind tried to come up with a plan. Landry had been too smart. He hadn't left behind any evidence, there would be nothing to tie him to this case.

"Does he know I've been found?"

Jack and Hamilton looked at her.

"I'm sure there's a rumor going around the station. If he doesn't know yet, he'll find out soon enough."

"Do they know I'm alive?"

"Need to know basis, like any case."

"Make sure he does."

Andy turned around, eyes widened, as he knew exactly where this was heading.

"No."

"Andy."

"NO. We're not going to use you as bait."

Jack looked shocked as well now.

"Bait? No, no, no , no… She was not suggesting that."

Andy looked at him unbelieving. How long had Jack known her?

"Yes she was, pal."

"No."

Sharon sighed.

"If he knows I'm alive, he'll come to me, warn me…"

"Or finish the job."

Sharon shook her head.

"Too many witnesses."

"Not gonna risk it."

"I don't often agree with him, Sharon, but I don't want you to do this."

Sharon narrowed her eyes at Jack's tone.

"It's not up to you, Jack."

"It's dangerous and I won't have it."

Sharon looked shocked, raising her eyebrows.

"You won't have it? I don't have to ask for your permission Jack. I can do whatever I want. This is not up to you."

"You're my… "

"Nothing. We're over, Jack, remember? That's why you're not included in the decision making."

Jack stared at her, but Sharon stared him down as well. She would not back down She won the staring contest as he walked out angry.

Sharon looked back at Hamilton and Andy. They'd been very quiet while the argument developed between Jack and her.

"So how are we going to do this?"

"We won't."

Now she was staring at him.

"Staring me down is not gonna work on me, hon."

A tight smile formed on her lips.

"And this is my business since you are my partner. "

She wanted to open her mouth, but Andy stopped her.

"And there is of course the tiny detail of me being your superior officer…"

He flashed her a cocky grin.

"You know he won't leave it at this. He will just be even more thorough next time. "

"There won't be a next time."

"Will you camp out on my doorstep? Besides, we're in a dangerous profession. Accidents happen. I could get shot in the line of duty. He won't give up."

"We'll just need to catch him on that other stuff, figure that out."

"I have already figured that out, there's not enough proof."

"There has to be."

"He's been too smart. Andy there is no other way."

"It's a bad idea."

Sharon looked at Hamilton. Andy outranked her, but he wasn't the most superior officer in this room.

"Do you believe he'd say something incriminating?"

Andy's eyes widened.

"I do. He's got an ego. He believes he can push me and he believes he can get away with it. I don't believe he feels threatened because I've survived, there's no hard evidence and he knows it."

"So will he admit that to you?"

"If I push him."

"And there's the part I don't like. Last time you pushed him, you ended up in the trunk of a car."

"I'm very much aware of that."

Andy sighed.

"He's smart, he'll know you'll be wearing a wire."

"I won't."

Andy threw his hands in the air.

"That's …."

"That's what he would expect."

"If he as much as touches you I will beat the crap out of him!"

Hamilton knew Sharon was up to it, but the risk was too big. They would have to find another way.

"The risk is too big."

"But…"

"It's too big, Elliot. We have to find another way. In the mean time I don't want you alone, Flynn you will stay here until we've come up with something better. "

Sharon looked away. There was no way to go around her Commander's orders. If he said 'no', it would be indefinite. Andy was undoubtedly relieved. She was too frustrated to look at him.

Andy gently touched her chin with his fingers the moment Hamilton left.

"Hey,… we just want you to stay alive…I don't ever want that guy hurting you again, hon."

Her features softened with tears in her eyes. She was so tired of this fight, it was time this guy was caught for everything he had done.