AN: this is the last chapter of this part. Like always it took me some time to upload it all. So I decided to post the last three chapters all at once. Recently I have been reading these early parts myself again, trying to get inspired to write. I still like this au universe I created and have always been so grateful for the lovely reviews of readers telling me they enjoyed the story. I feel bad for there being so many gaps in between posting.

Some of you know I have to deal with depressions, which unfortunately means nine out of ten times that I lack energy in doing the things I like, contacting friends, writing, posting. So I actually feel guilty when it again took me months to upload something new, while it was already in my doc manager. That is why I posted the remaining chapters all at once today. If there are still readers, they at least can read the end of the part.

There is a part 5 ready and finished. I am willing to post it. Just let me know, if there are still readers interested. I guess I would try to post several chapters at a time then, maybe break it up in four parts so you would not have to wait so long. So just let me know, as it is still on my pc and I would have to upload it into my doc manager.

Thank you all for your support!

Not my characters, just playing with them.

Chapter eighteen

Unbuttoning the first two buttons of her blouse, Sharon tried to shake off the feeling of all those eyes burning at them, while they had escorted Dr. Haskell from the hospital to the police station. Her father had been one of them. His unapproving look got to her the most. Telling herself over and over again, that she was doing the right thing. She was doing her job, trying to get justice for a murdered child.

The warmth of Andy's hand on her back radiated through her. It felt comforting.

"Raydor's here."

Her heartbeat increased. Sweat breaking out. She didn't know what it was all of a sudden.

"I Need a few more minutes."

Her voice was soft. Andy reacted by stroking her lower back.

"That's okay… take the time you need, just join me when you're ready. We're in interview room one."

Sharon nodded, feeling one more reassuring touch from Andy.

She didn't have to warn him for Jack. She didn't have to tell him that Jack would do anything to unnerve him. Try to use the fact that Andy was a hot head. Sharon knew Andy well enough to know that he wouldn't risk the opportunity to nail this guy for what he had done. She had faith that Andy could control himself.

"Where's Flynn?"

"Interview One, Commander."

"Didn't he lawyer up?"

"Jack just arrived."

"And Flynn went in alone, …Is that wise?"

"Andy won't risk this case."

Hamilton wished he could have the same faith in Flynn. Unfortunately he'd seen him blow up on more than one occasion and that was without sitting opposite to his girlfriends ex. At this point he wasn't even sure whether Sharon would make a lot of difference. He'd better go to the observation room, see what was going on.

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Andy sat down, he saw Raydor's eyes shift, probably searching Sharon. The frown between his eyes indicating that he wondered where she was. It shifted his focus. Sharon must have known it would. She must have known Raydor would wonder about where she was, him thinking about a reason for that, would distract him from his clients defense.

Andy chose to completely ignore Raydor and focus on Haskell. The man still had the highest word about it being an outrage. He didn't listen to his rant, just focused disinterested at the file in front of him.

It irritated not only Haskell, but also his lawyer. Everyone probably had believed he'd be the first to lose his temper, but it was Raydor, banging with his flat hand on the table.

"Now I know you're unaware of this concept, but time is money and my time is very expensive."

Andy looked up for a few seconds, before he looked back into the file.

This wasn't how he'd planned it, but now he decided to wait for Sharon to start his questioning. It would help if Raydor would be a bit unnerved.

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Sharon splashed some water in her face. Ending with a long stare in the mirror. She shook her hair loose, ran her hand through it, deciding to leave it be. Should she close the buttons or not? She couldn't shake the thought that she was using her appearance to unnerve Jack. Was it professional? Would he believe she was using what was once between them? Should she even hold it in account? With any other lawyer it wouldn't matter how she dressed, how she wore her hair. She wouldn't over think the matter. She would just enter that interrogation room. Maybe that was just what she should do.

The clicking of her heels was the only sound she focused on, as she didn't want to hear the sound of her own heartbeat. The corridor seemed endless. Sharon didn't know what to expect in that interview room. All the evidence was listed up in her brain. She just didn't know yet how to corner Haskell. He'd been so extremely careful. That was also the reason why they'd found nothing more than circumstantial evidence.

Sharon took a deep breath while she put her hand on the door handle. She had never been this nervous. Sharon knew what catching this guy meant to Andy. She knew she couldn't let Jack get to her, as it would hurt Andy probably more than her. She better toughen up as she doubted whether this would be the last encounter with Jack. He worked as a defense lawyer, she was bound to run into him.

"What are we waiting for?"

She heard Jack's irritation, while she stepped in. Andy looked up at her, making eye contact, ignoring the other two in the room, which probably irritated Jack even more.

Jack looked from Andy at Sharon. So they had waited for her. He couldn't imagine why she would be later. "So what was so important that you couldn't come on time? Highly unprofessional, my dear."

She only glanced at him brief, while she sat down, smirking at his remark. Andy relaxing next to her, as a response. She would just have to show him, she was able to handle Jack. That she wouldn't let him get to her, no matter what.

Jack's patience began to wear off, as the deafening silence prolonged. Had Flynn been irritating, Sharon made his blood boil in many ways these days. His eyes were glued on her, whether he wanted to or not. The same attraction as the first time he met her was still there. She ran her hand through her hair. The auburn, colored a fiery red in the bright light of the interrogation room. It was her hair that had first caught his eye the night he met her.

Sharon noticed Jack had missed Andy's question to Haskell, as he was staring at her. She never understood his obsession with her hair. Or was he staring at the two buttons she had left open? Being unnerved with her made him miss another question. Sharon knew it would annoy him. Jack would be angry with himself and that would make him lash out at them. For now it didn't matter, as Andy had managed to get Haskell on edge. And that's exactly where she wanted him to be. She wanted Haskell angry and frustrated, so he'd talk, even when Jack undoubtedly would advice him not to. They needed to aggravate him into a confession.

"You had an affair with Ireen Jensen."

Sharon's voice pulled him into the present. "Don't answer that."

Sharon turned her head towards Jack. "That wasn't a question, it was a statement. Mrs. Jensen has confirmed the fact…." Jack wanted to say something, but she wouldn't let him interrupt her. "So did Mrs. Haskell, the hospital staff and your client himself, may I add. So…Alice knew you? You met?"

"Don't answer that."

"Yes of course she knew me. "

Jack shot his client an angry look, for not listening to his advice. Haskell must be over confident, convinced they didn't have a thing on him.

"Alice was killed in the hospital."

Jack frowned at the fast change in topic. "Is that news? It was where she was found wasn't it?"

"We've found Alice's blood in the basement, where the students practice. Do you work there?"

"He's not going to answer that."

"I don't mind. Of course I do, so does every other doctor at the hospital. Ask your father."

Sharon smiled tight. A shiver running down her spine at him mentioning her father. The idea that they were friends made her feel sick. Sharon knew he meant to unnerve her, but it wasn't going to happen this time. "Why did Ireen end the relationship?"

Andy knew Haskell probably wouldn't answer, but he wanted to keep a certain kind of pace in the conversation. Haskell only stared, back to being on guard. Time to confuse him again. "You use latex gloves, Dr. Haskell?"

Haskell looked confused back at Sharon. What kind of questioning was this? Jack didn't get the sudden jumps either.

"Of course, wearing latex gloves is procedure during operations."

"Have you ever been at Ireen's house?"

"Is there a way we're going with this? Cause I'm telling you, the way this is going I'd say you're on a fishing expedition and you've got nothing to hold him on. So…"

Andy ignored Jack simply cutting his sentence off before he could speak another word. "Have you ever been at the Jensen home?"

Jack narrowed his eyes, as they were simply ignoring him. "He's not going to answer that, Flynn."

They didn't have to, they knew they had been there after Alice's death.

"You've been there, you know where she lives, Ireen confirmed that."

Andy locked his eyes on Haskell's "You went to the Jensen home. You knew Ireen was alone with Alice. You saw her play in the garden. She'd seen you before. Her mommy's friend. She'd come to you…"

"This is all unfounded…"

Sharon didn't have time for Jack's appalled ways of reacting. "You use a certain brand of latex gloves." Haskell now looked at her and that was just fine. She wanted him to look at her. "Just for the record, that wasn't a question either, we already have that confirmed." Sharon smiled smug.

"So?" Haskell shrugged trying to look indifferent.

His voice wasn't as steady as it was before. It was a small change, but she noticed anyway. So did Jack, wanting her to focus on him too desperate.

"Sharon, are you serious?"

Sharon looked innocent at Jack, pretending she didn't know why they found her line of questioning odd. "You have easy access to the anesthesia, the tools, the medial waste schedule, the student basement, the gloves…"

"So does every other doctor at the hospital." Haskell's voice was slightly elevated, his frustration growing.

Sharon remained calm. "But you use this particular brand."

Jack interfered. "Anyone could have taken Dr. Haskell's gloves. Maybe even to incriminate him. Like I hear it you have a lot of circumstantial evidence. Darling, this won't hold up in court."

"We've found traces of that particular brand of gloves on Alice's remains."

"Which someone could have used to incriminate my client!"

"Or not."

Sharon locked eyes with Jack, as he suddenly leaned over the table, not moving an inch.

"Take this to court and I'll rip your statement to pieces."

Jack's voice was low and threatening, but she couldn't care less, she certainly wouldn't back away. She only smiled. "Hm…."

Then Sharon looked back at Haskell. She didn't have to deal with Jack, she didn't have to focus on him. "It wasn't all we found. You wanted to punish Ireen."

"I love Ireen."

Sharon smiled his statement away. "You have a skin problem, don't you? That's why you wear this brand of gloves. You're allergic to the other brands."

Jack laughed, but it was a desperate one. "Sharon you can be stubborn all you want, but…."

Once again Sharon ignored Jack. "DNA doesn't lie. You know about how special a DNA signature is, as a doctor I mean?"

The world of medicine was a lot further than they were, but she counted on Dr. Haskell not knowing that. He was a heart surgeon, probably not that interested in the criminal aspect of the medicine world.

"We've found traces of the latex gloves you use, on the dissected parts of Alice Jensen's body. You killed that little girl, because she was a problem!" Sharon gradually raised her voice, she saw drips of sweat form on his forehead. She wouldn't let go off his eyes.

"There's no precedent for DNA evidence…"

Sharon silenced Jack before he could continue. "There's going to be a first time for anything." Sharon shot Jack a death glare, while she pushed the file over at him. It was a total bluff, but she hoped it would give Haskell the last nudge.

"She kept us apart…"

Jack cursed his client giving in. "Don't."

Haskell didn't listen anymore. Sharon had pushed him too far. "I already filed for my divorce, I couldn't back out. You've got no idea what I gave up for Ireen. I was willing, am willing. I love her so much. That child just kept pulling her back to Roger! I needed her to stop interfering. I wanted all ties to be severed. She's still grieving now, but you'll see she come back to me. I had to do this. Ireen and I belong together. "

Jack's breathing elevated, while he flipped through the pages, looking for proof of what Sharon had implicated.

"Phillip, stop… Phil…"

"I just had to get rid of her. It was the final sacrifice to make, so we can be together."

Sharon could only stare. That just sounded like a very disturbed man.

"Dammit Phillip, shut up. There's no such thing as them being able to find a DNA signature. They've got nothing on you."

Sharon crossed her arms in front of her chest and leaned back. "We do now…Your client just confessed, Mr. Raydor." She smiled smug, not impressed at all by the fury in his eyes. "We have it on tape, I'll be more than happy to play it back for you."

"This won't hold up in court."

"Oh I believe it will. Dr. Haskell was read his rights, twice. You can even hear it at the beginning of this tape. He asked for a lawyer, we waited for you… We did everything according the book. "

Sharon rose from the chair to call in the officers who would escort Dr. Haskell to central booking. It was finally over. She had outsmarted Jack, and if it hadn't involved the death of a child, she would have felt so good.

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Sharon and Andy both had left Jack behind in the interrogation room, to oversee Haskell would be escorted properly to central booking form where he'd be send to jail.

Sharon whirled around as she suddenly felt a firm grip on her arm.

"You're not getting away with this, Sharon!"

She looked him straight in the eye. "I believe I already did, Jack."

Her voice was calm, only infuriating him more.

"This won't hold up in court."

Sharon was so done with him. "When will this get through your head? He confessed Jack, out of his own free will. Now it's not my problem that you couldn't handle your client."

She raised her eyebrow and he looked only more furious.

Jack got in her face. "You lied. You pressured him with evidence you did not have. It's nowhere in this damn file."

"I didn't say it was."

"You shoved it towards me."

"Did I tell you it was in the file? No I did not, Jack. I can't help you both simply assumed it…"

"You implicated…"

Sharon shook her head. "No."

"You said there was DNA evidence, Sharon!"

"No, I didn't. Feel free to listen to the entire tape. I never said we found DNA evidence."

She had outsmarted him, played them. It made the blood boil in his veins out of utter frustration.

Tilting her head she made eye contact with him. "I'd like you to let go of my arm."

Jack didn't move an inch, kept staring at her. Maybe they both realized at that moment exactly how far apart they grew.

"Now, Jack."

Andy had stayed out of the conversation until then, but now he walked slowly towards them, squaring his shoulders. "Do you need help, Raydor?"

Jack's angry eyes switched towards Andy. "Stay out of it, Flynn. This is something between Sharon and me."

Andy shook his head. "You believing that was your first mistake, Raydor. You played the game, you lost, deal with it."

Jack ignored Andy, looking at Sharon. "This isn't over yet."

"Yes it is and it is time you accept that." Sharon pulled her arm from his hold and didn't even flinch as he stormed passed her.

"… or prepare to get your butt kicked."

Sharon doubled over with laughter, as she heard Andy's remark.

Smiling Andy closed the distance between them, wrapping his arms around her shaking form. Sharon rested her forehead against his chest and he smiled huge.

"You did and amazing job, hon."

"Good work, Flynn, Elliot."

Andy released Sharon from his hold, creating distance, knowing that Sharon would be uncomfortable otherwise. She wanted to be professional and he couldn't blame her for it. Sharon was already under scrutiny, just because she was a young woman joining the force.

"It was all Sharon."

Andy knew she couldn't handle being in the center of attention, but she deserved it. Hamilton smiled, Flynn was different than the others. He didn't mind giving Sharon all the credit she deserved. Fact was she had a major part in solving this case and he was glad she was a part of his team.

"Flynn, why don't you see to it that our suspect was booked correctly, start on the finishing reports. I'd like to talk to Elliot for a moment."

Andy could feel Sharon's body tensing, nervous. He was sure she was worrying without reason, so he simply nodded at Hamilton. His hand brief touched the small of her back, making eye contact, so she would see his reassuring smile.

Sharon fidgeted with the buttons of her blouse, lingering in front of the Commander's desk. All kind of thoughts running through her mind. Insecurity, not knowing whether to sit down or not, an anxious feeling in the pit of her stomach. The need for Andy suddenly so big. He was her anchor so many times, it seeped in, without her even realizing it at first.

"Have a seat, Elliot."

Sitting down wasn't calming her nerves one bit. Sharon rather not have a lengthy talk. She wanted to finish the reports and tell the Jensen's they could finally bury their daughter's remains. Lengthy talks were serious and that only made her more nervous. Hamilton's habit of deafening silences, wasn't helpful at the moment either.

Hamilton frowned, taking her in. "Are you alright?"

"Y..yes, I'm fine, Sir."

"This case became personal on many levels…"

"I'm sure I'll have to face Jack more often than just today. I better get used to it."

"You played well."

"I don't like playing games over the death of a child. Jack made it personal, turned it into a game. I only did my job."

"You stayed professional. That speaks for you. A lot. I'm glad to have you on my tem."

"I'm glad to be here, Sir."

Hamilton nodded, a smile curving on his lips. "Everything okay between Flynn and you?"

A blush covered her cheeks.

"I'm not asking for details, Elliot, don't worry."

"We're fine."

Hamilton knew he wasn't going to get any more out of her. Sharon was so private in her thoughts. With the background she had, he could only imagine this was the first time she had a chance at discovering the big bad world around her.

"Is everything okay at home?"

For a moment she frowned confused at him.

"Your father seemed upset."

"He was…. and he was wrong. It's up to him to admit that."

"Sometimes it's hard to not let the job interfere with home."

"It will be alright."She smiled polite. Her way of telling him in a nice way to butt out.

"Alright. Now go wrap up the case, so you can take a well deserved day off."

Sharon smiled more brightly now, pushing herself up from the chair. The doorknob already in her hand, when Hamilton called her back.

"Elliot?"

She turned around. "Yes, Sir…"

"Detective exams are coming up. Just give it a try." Hamilton nodded encouraging.

Sharon nodded, not thinking too much about it. She might as well give it a try. It might be useful in a few years. Andy looked up from his typewriter, seeking her eyes. Silently questioning whether everything was alright. A reassuring smile had him return to the paper in front of him. In silence they typed their report, thinking about the time they'd be able to spend together the next day. The last days they'd been more like the partners they used to be. Sharon was in need to feel him fill her, his heat engulf her. She wanted them to connect in every way possible. Just be Andy and Sharon for a while and forget about the gruesome reality of their jobs.