It barely registered in Sharon's mind that she ran down flights of stairs with her gun drawn and her feet bare. Her hands didn't shake, her mind was focused. Her kids were in trouble.

Training and maternal vengeance had taken over her mind. No one was going to get to her kids. No one was going to harm them. And if they were hurt, a single scratch, Sharon would put a bullet between the responsible party's eyes without hesitation.

The moment she reached the door she heard Rusty cry out. "LAPD!" she yelled as she slammed the fire extinguisher against the hand of the door. She couldn't even recall picking the fire extinguisher up or thinking about how she was going to use it. It was just suddenly in her hands and beating down the door.

"Help! Help!" Rusty screamed, but she heard nothing from Riley, or even Phantom. It only took three blows before the door came open and she dropped the fire extinguisher reaching for her gun. Somewhere in the back of her mind she was listing all the rules she was breaking, all the protocols. Screw them. She barely had time to taken in that Rusty was okay as they boy scrambled to his feet and pointed toward the hallway. "He's in there! Sharon he went in there!"

His voice was almost shrill as he armed himself with a camera tripod, but Sharon kept moving. Her kids wouldn't be safe until this man was gone. She edged her way toward the door and just before she reached it, gun shots exploded. Bullets whizzed by her much closer than they had come in a very long time, if ever. She pulled back, turning her face away from the damage before spinning and squatting in front of the door from the opposite doorway, firing a zigzag of bullets through the door.

Waiting barely a second, she pushed the door open and cleared the room. The balcony window was open and she all but ran to it. She could see him as he ran down the sidewalk.

"Get him away from the window!" she heard a familiar voice demand but her mind was too foggy to decide who it was. "Check on Riley. Radio for an ambulance."

"I see him!" Sharon called, her voice business while her thoughts shot to reasons why they would need an ambulance.

She felt someone beside her but she didn't take her eyes off of the man through her gun sight. "Suspect is in the open. He is on foot. Heading east. We need a perimeter now…"

Sharon lowered her gun and wished she could just drop it to the floor as she moved back through the bedroom door to the hallway. She tried to catch her breath as she looked for Rusty. He was crouched on the floor next to-

Riley and Phantom?

She rushed over there, taking the spot beside Rusty and closest to Riley's head. Her hands ran over Riley's face. She was warm, a layer of clammy sweat covering her body, but no blood.

"It looks like he hit them both with a sedative," someone to her right said. It should have made her feel better, knowing that Riley would wake up, but she was already thinking about what was going to happen next. What there options were anymore.

Part of her was sure Taylor was going to intervene and send Riley and Rusty off to some boarding school somewhere without her permission. As much as she dreaded the idea, she had to keep her children safe.

"Captain?" she turned her head but didn't really see who was talking to her. Her mind was too clouded with emotions. "FID is going to need to talk to you…"

"Earth to Sharon?"

Nicole's voice nearly made Sharon jump as she turned to look at the young woman staring at her with a smile on her face. Sharon returned the smile somewhat forcibly. "I'm sorry, did you say something?"

Riley giggled as Andy flicked flour in her face earning a truer smile from Sharon as she continued kneading the dough for pizza. Their favorite meal when they went over to Andy's for dinner was homemade pizza. Normally it was just Rusty, Riley, Sharon and Andy, but today they had Nicole too since her husband and step-sons were on a "man's trip". Rusty wasn't there yet either, but he was coming by after he spent some time with his mother.

"No, I was just wondering where you went," Nicole replied brushing hair off her forehead with a decently clean spot on her wrist.

Sharon shrugged. "I let my mind go off on things sometimes." She dared a glance over at Riley who had her hair tied back into a long French braid and a hair band in to keep her bangs out of her face. Those blue eyes were sparkling as she moved over to the stove and started stirring the sauce as Andy had instructed her to.

Nicole followed Sharon's eyes to the blonde girl. The first time Nicole had met Riley she had been quietly tucked behind Sharon was they entered her wedding reception. It wasn't the first time she saw her, after all she was very curious who the woman and children were that sat next to her father. But the wedding reception was different. The twins were matching subtly. Riley's cream dress red sash went very well with Rusty's suit with a red shirt and cream tie. At the time Nicole had thought that it was probably true that Sharon picked out the outfits since she was so obviously stylish with her modest lavender dress that looked so absolutely stunning on her as well match her father.

Her dad introduced her to "his friend" Sharon and Sharon's foster kids Riley and Rusty. Rusty offered a less than enthusiastic but polite hello while Riley's was more timid than anything. The girl's bangs hung in her face to block her right eye as she pushed them away nervously. Like a good brother, Rusty moved closer to her, nudging her with his shoulder. Nicole watched with the slightest amount of envy when her father put his arm over her shoulders for a moment before running a hand down her hair.

It was at that moment that she realized her father was not the same man she knew him to be. This was not the drunk whom her mother cried over, this was not the man who she mostly knew from his absence, no this was a man who offered support to fragile subjects.

But that fragile girl she met on her wedding day was not nearly as soft and shaken as she was before. Rusty wasn't the same attitude bubbling just below the surface boy either.

"I can't imagine how you dealt with everything for the past two years," Nicole mused quietly, shaking her head. "I mean, my boys may haven't been with me for that long, but to know they were in danger…"

Sharon repressed the shiver that ran down her spine. "They're safe now," she said with finality. Except for the fact Sharon Beck was back in their life and she was halfway waiting for that shoe to drop. Still, she could pick up those pieces, she couldn't heal bullet wounds.

"Why are you always on your toes?" Andy teased as Sharon noticed Riley was standing in revele`. "Doesn't that hurt?"

Riley grinned at him and shook his head. "No, because you all are so much taller than me I have to be on my toes for my head to come up to you chin!"

Nicole smirked. It was true, the girl was just so tiny. Granted Sharon wasn't exactly short and Nicole herself was even taller. It was like the whole city of LA towered over the petite girl. Then again… Rusty wasn't very tall either.

"It's all that ballet," Andy reasoned with a big smile. "You going to give Emily a run for her money?"

At the mention of the real ballerina in the family, Riley gave him a get real look. "I'm in musical theatre, Andy. I'm not a ballerina."

Sharon cleared her throat lightly. "No, but you're becoming quite the triple threat." The big smile Riley gave Sharon was one that Nicole could remember getting from the boys when she managed to say just the right thing at just the right thing. Riley moved over to stand next to her pseudo mother and leaned against her soft cashmere

There were a lot of notes that Nicole found herself taking around Sharon. It was obvious that Sharon had control of almost every situation but never to a degree where she was controlling people. There was so many subtleties that she would plant and just remind people she was there was their biggest supporter and number one fan.

"Sharon? Riley?" Rusty's voice called from the front door as he let himself into Andy's home. Nicole quietly mused how comfortable even the kids were with coming and going, but no her father was no dating this woman.

"In the kitchen!" Andy called for them.

In an instant Riley was running around the island in the kitchen, scaring the huge sleeping dog on the couch. "Did you bring-" she tripped over the edge of the rug causing everyone hold their breath until she steadied herself and continued. "it?"

Sharon let out her breath as she shook her head. Dance had not improved Riley's grace. "Bring what?" she dared to ask. In the past, she had learned that sometimes things between the twins were just better left between them. They had their own odds and ends of entertaining each other with crude jokes and sometimes props.

Riley's giggles told Sharon that the answer was yes.

"Riley!"

"Oh God! How did you find it?!"

"Hey! I waited for you to take a bite, give it back!"

Sure enough the girl came running back into the kitchen with both Rusty and Phantom following her. There was some sort of wrapper in her hand before she tucked it behind her back and grinned up at Sharon. "Do you trust me?"

"Oh how I hate that question," Nicole groaned shaking her head.

"It's a question you will only learn to hate more," Sharon replied before she returned her attention to Riley. She offered her hand out and Riley pouted, realizing that Sharon was not going to play her game. Riley slapped a candy bar in Sharon's hands. A What-Cha-Ma-Call-It. The sight of the old fashioned candy bar mad both Sharon and Andy smile.

"This are from before your time," Sharon mused breaking off a corner and sticking it in her mouth.

"The lady who used to teach me piano would give me two, one for me and one for Rusty. They were usually a little out of date. Apparently her son used to fill vending machines or something." Riley reached to take off another piece but Sharon pulled it away.

"After dinner," Sharon chided making Riley pout.

Rusty chuckled to himself as he fell into step beside Nicole. "How much longer until we can throw these things in the oven?" he asked as Andy spread sauce over the rounded dough.

"Just got to pick toppings-"

"Extra cheese-"

"And pepperoni!"

The twins grinned at each other while Sharon rolled her eyes. Normally she would demand some vegetables but it wasn't a battle worth having when they both seemed to be in such excellent moods.

While the pizza cooked, Sharon made herself comfortable on the couch next to Andy, Phantom was at her feet while Riley laid next to the large dog on the floor. Nicole had claimed the more stylish arm chair while Rusty chose the most comfortable one.

Nicole couldn't help but imagine her mother's comments if she had seen this. Or perhaps her lack of comments. She would probably be stunned to silence which was a rare moment for her mother.

"So how's school going, guys?" Nicole asked smiling as Sharon handed Andy a mug of tea instead of the coffee he had requested. It really was like they were a family.

Both twins shrugged simultaneously. "It's school."

Sharon smirked at the look on Nicole's face when the twins managed to do something so in sync without so much as a glance at each other. They also didn't find it nearly as interesting as everyone else in the room did.

"I'm glad to be out of St. Joseph's soon though," Riley added sitting up and looking at Nicole. "No more uniforms!"

"The uniforms aren't that bad," Rusty countered.

Riley rolled her eyes. "Says the person who gets to wear pants." The girl leaned into the back of the couch, ending up right beside Sharon's legs.

The whole evening was one of the most normal family experiences Nicole had ever had with her father. Riley and Rusty had really enjoyed themselves as well, and by the look on their faces they knew how lucky they had gotten.

After dinner, Sharon chose to bow out early and take Rusty and Riley with her since they had school the next morning. Nicole hugged her before Andy walked them out. Nicole watched from the window as he hugged Riley tightly and clapped a supportive hand on Rusty's shoulder before they climbed into one car. Both her father and Sharon watched as the kids backed out of the driveway before they turned to each other.

There was an ever gentle smile on Sharon's face as Andy said something. Her hand went out and brushed down his bicep to his wrist before his caught her hand with his. Nicole smiled at their tenderness. They would be embarrassed to know that she was watching all this, but she couldn't help her curiosity.

A few more words were said before Andy leaned in and pressed a gentle kiss to Sharon's lips. They smiled at each other for a few seconds before Andy pulled the driver's door open and allowed her to climb in. They laughed a little bit more before Sharon leaned in for one more kiss before sitting down in her seat and Andy shutting the door.

Andy almost had a skip in his step as he smiled to himself, his eyes downcast in thought as he moved back to his front door. As soon as he walked through the door, Nicole stood leaning against the wall grinning at him.

"Just friends, huh?"

Andy rolled his eyes and put his arm around his daughter's shoulders. "Some things are more complicated than they seem."

Nicole hummed. "And some things are never as complicated as we'd like to think they are."

Out of curiosity is there anything you all would like to see in this story with Riley and Rusty?