She was in the middle of a wonderful dream when she felt small fingers poking into her shoulder. She couldn't bring herself to open her eyes just yet but the pokes became more and more difficult to ignore. The little hand was now shaking her shoulder and she finally opened one eye to see who the heck was waking her up in the middle of such an amazing dream.

- Mama! Wake up! Wake up!

- What is it honey?

- Are you alright? Emily sounded very concerned.

- Yes, honey! I am alright, I was just sleeping. What's going on? Sharon tried to sound as reassuring as possible, feeling that something was up with her baby.

- I thought the man had hurt you Mama… you wouldn't wake up! The poor thing had tears in her eyes, she was worried that another man would hurt her mother again.

- Emily sweetheart…

Her heart skipped a beat when she realized how scared her daughter was. She sat up and gestured with her free hand to invite her on her knees. Andy was surprisingly still deeply asleep.

- Honey, what happened with your father won't happen again, I promise. We were arguing about something that made your dad feel upset and frustrated. He then didn't control himself and hurt me. But you know what? He was wrong to do that. Even when we're really upset we can't hurt people. That's why he's not here right now.

- Yes but who's that mama? Is he gonna be upset with you too?

- Of course not, honey. This is Andy, he's a friend of mine. I've known him for a few years, he's very nice. We're working together now, that's why he came to visit.

- Then why is he sleeping on the couch?

- Well, it was too late yesterday night, so we both fell asleep. Do you feel better now?

- A bit. Your shoulder still hurts?

- Sometimes… it's getting better and better! Don't worry, honey, mama is just fine and I won't leave you ever again.

Emily was reassured, she could tell, and as a mom she was so glad she had that quick interaction, a chance to cuddle her daughter, making sure she was relaxed and not scared anymore. Usually, mornings were mother-daughter time for them but today felt a little different because they had been apart for two full weeks… and Andy was there snoring too. Surprisingly, Sharon didn't freak out when she realized Emily had caught them sleeping in each other's arms on the couch. He was just a friend after all. A friend who gave her goosebumps. The conversation they had the night before was hard and painful, but she felt protected and loved with him. He said just what she needed to hear so that she could finally feel at peace with their story.

Andy started fidgeting and Sharon gestured towards the bathroom suggesting to Emily to go brush her teeth. The kid was no fool, she knew her mum wanted some time alone with her so-called friend.

- Hey… grumbled Andy, blinking against the light.

- Good morning! Had a good sleep?

- You have no idea. My best night since forever!

Sharon couldn't help but look him in the eye, randomly searching for some remains of the tenderness they had the previous night.

- Oh sorry! I slept in… was that Emily I just heard? I hope I didn't scare her!

- Don't worry about it, I didn't mind… you were such a comfortable pillow…

The corner of her mouth curving up, for once Sharon seemed relaxed, her posture showing him she felt at ease in his presence. He had missed her more than he could ever bring himself to admit. Andy's smile was now frank and genuine. If only they didn't have to go back to reality.

- Welcome back, Captain Raydor! I'm glad to see you've recovered well.

- Thank you, Chief.

- How are your children?

- Slowly forgetting about the recent events but as you must know, it's complicated for children of such young age to process and understand the situation…

- Of course, I understand.

- Anyways, thank you for asking, Chief. What have I missed?

Sharon was glad to be back at work, to finally be able to focus on anything but her future ex-husband and her traumatized children. Also, it was a good opportunity to keep seeing him from afar. His last visit home was indescribably wonderful but more than she could take. After their breakfast that morning, his wife called in to check on him. That's when it hit her hard. For a split second, she crossed the line forgetting about the rest of the world. They spent the evening talking and exchanging sweet and affectious touches, loving nicknames but they forgot about reality and it was eventually catching up with them.

She loved him but she had no right to do that to his family. Captain Raydor, with her VERY thick rulebook, failed her own values and couldn't help but feel terribly guilty, if not a little disgusted by her own actions. That's when she decided that it was time for her to put distance between them and focus on her children. She wouldn't be able to see her reflection in the mirror ever again if she became someone's lover, the second woman of a man. And this didn't have anything to do with Jack, because after what he did to her and her children, she would never again consider herself his wife and felt like she didn't owe him anything anymore despite their marital status.

Returning home that day, she felt relieved to have gone back to a more normal life after 3 long months of struggle and trauma. Her psychologist warned her that 3 months was barely enough for her to recover both physically and psychologically, but she couldn't care less, she needed to reconnect with her life, particularly her job that made her feel stronger and in control.

Jack was still nowhere to be found. Despite months of hard search, Major Crimes was still clueless and Chief Pope was done with spending the department's money on a case that was prone to never be fully solved. Jack was stupid and arrogant, a true scumbag, but a lawyer nonetheless. He probably found a suspicious way to stay in the dark and make himself forgotten for a while. He defended more criminals than innocents and must have inspired himself from them. Sharon then knew the day and night protection that had allowed her to sleep so quietly would be removed anytime now. Pope was a nice persona but to keep it real, he had to constantly focus on numbers and she had to admit that it was objectively a waste of money when the criminal left and didn't commit a single mistake in months.

Anxiety was now her most loyal companion, always there with her, working in the back of her head. She had to set a plan, a way to protect herself and her children from Jack, should he ever decide to pay them a visit. She was still experiencing post-traumatic stress from her fall in the stairs. Her bruises were long gone, but she was still very sensitive to people touching her or grabbing her, even just brushing her arm was a start-off to panic. It was exhausting to function with panic attacks happening regularly. Still, she needed to work, do something else than face her anxiety all day long. She knew that no one would come to save her this time. It was her goal to reach and she would be able to do it eventually even if she had to fight tooth and nail until her body couldn't take it anymore. Over the years, she had gotten stronger and stronger, facing difficult and lonely times, she knew she could make it. So, every night after work, she would wave goodbye her nanny, feed her children, tuck them into bed and prepare herself for the upcoming battle that was awaiting. It could be looking for another place, or taking self-defense classes, elaborating an escape plan if he ever penetrated her apartment. Night after night, it was slowly getting concrete and ready for execution.

Andy couldn't be happier to see Sharon back on track, ready to work. He knew that she wasn't as luminous and happy as she used to be, she had a lot on her plate right now. Even if he had preferred to stay away from her, he couldn't care more. That talk at her place late that night had made him feel closer to her, closer than he had ever been in the past. He finally knew why she ran away from him so mysteriously 10 years ago. Somehow, although it was terribly wrong to think that, he felt hopeful again. All these years, he had managed to convince himself that he was so mad at her for what she did to him, but he was actually only devastated to have to keep living his life without half of his soul and body, his heart torn. He was mad at her for abandoning him and forcing him to envision another life with another woman whom he'd never love completely because she was his one and only until his last breath.

This morning, he went to work tired. The last weeks had been difficult because Nicole was having really bad nightmares and waking them up every night. He was glad to have a chance to finally be his father, reassure her, hold her in his arms after one of her scary nightmares. After all, he screwed up the chance to do that when she was younger, but now that he was sober and back to being able to take his parenting duties, he wanted to be there for her every step of the way. After all, it was unfair on poor Nicole to pay the price for an unworking relationship between her parents. He had tried his best to love Charlotte, she was crazy about him and seemed very nice. He then gave it a shot, thinking he just had to move on after his break-up with Sharon. He could realize now how stupid it had been from him to mislead that poor girl because she was really and truthfully in love with him, seeking for a serious involvement and he could bring no such thing to her. The problem was, she got pregnant and he felt forced to tie the knot although his heart was screaming for Sharon. Alcohol had played him a tricky number and before he knew it he was addicted to that feeling of oblivion, numbness where he could finally forget the lie he was living in. Eventually, he overcame his addiction but not because his heart felt better, he just got used to his lies and even came to almost believe them for a split second.