HAPPY NEW YEAR!

It's 2014 – how did that happen? This year, not only am I celebrating my 8th year living in London but I'll be turning 27 in June. Depressing! Nah just kidding, bring it the frak on!

So my plan to get as much writing done as possible over my two week Christmas break didn't quite go to plan... understatement? Ok fine! I spent the whole time eating way too much food, indulging in (way too expensive) cabernet and whiskey, playing with my nephew (we played a lot of Hulk and Spiderman, fine by me!), blowing my savings in the Christmas sales and finally, forcing my mom to watch Major Crimes... we had a slight falling out when she said she didn't like Sharon Raydor (collective gasp) but she came around and the cataclysmic rift created between us was healed. All is right with the world.

So while I'm impatiently waiting for the next episode to air I thought I'd distract myself by sitting down and getting this chapter finished. So here it is! I think I should point out that in this chapter you might find that Sharon and Provenza interact slightly differently than they do on the show. My reason being that Provenza seems to know a lot about her, such as knowing her daughter is a ballet dancer and what company she dances with. That to me means that they share a relationship where they can comfortably talk to each other about their personal lives. So as we don't see that much on the show (sad face) I thought I'd explore it here. I really do love fanfiction! And on that note, I'm actually looking to get involved with some MC communities and getting to know a few people – anyone have any recommendations?

Anyhoo, I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year and I wish you all the best for 2014!

Lillibet x

P.S. if I haven't been able to thank you personally then thank you to all that have left reviews and added this story to your favourites. And also to everyone that stops by to read – thank you!

Lower than the Ground

Sharon and Flynn stepped off the elevator and strode through the doors that led to the morgue. Provenza and Tao were waiting for them and Sharon turned to Tao first for an update.

"I have Amy, Julio and Buzz going through missing person reports pulling out all males that went missing in the area. I don't want to narrow the search any further until we get a full report on the bodies we've found," Tao said, handing Sharon a file. She opened it and was greeted by a photograph of Michael Hall. "I pulled his file for you, thought you might need it."

"Thank you Mike," she said looking up at him. He smiled slightly then turned on his heel and headed back to the murder room.

"Three bodies huh?" Provenza asked when it was just the three of them. "Do you think Helen knew?"

"I don't know," Sharon said with a grimace. There was a lot she didn't know; she hated that feeling.

"I still think we should take a look into Helen, find out what she's been up to since her father was put in prison." Flynn said crossing his arms over his chest.

"Helen was 11 when her mother was murdered, even younger when she helped her father bury her brother. What are the chances that she had anything to do with the older body Doctor Horton found?" Sharon looked at both Lieutenants but they each avoided her eyes. She wondered if she was being too protective of Helen. The thought crossed her mind that had this been anyone else she would have had someone run a full background check on her. She wasn't being objective... she couldn't jeopardise the case because of her feelings for Helen.

"Andy," his name brought his eyes up to meet hers. "Run a check on Helen and her husband Joe."

"You think he could have had something to do with it?" Flynn asked with a frown.

"Simon Hall had someone he worked close with at his cafe," Sharon explained. "I think it might have been Joe and if it was, he will have been around for the murders."

"I'll have someone look into it," Andy nodded, glancing quickly toward his partner.

"I want you personally to look into this," Sharon said quietly. "If Helen knows more than she's letting on then I want you to find out what you can as quickly and discreetly as possible. She willingly came to us; I don't want to break that confidence."

"Sure," Andy nodded again and strode toward the elevator, leaving Sharon and Provenza alone.

"You think I'm too close to the case," Sharon stared at the No Entry sign above the morgue door, purposefully avoiding looking directly at Provenza.

"I didn't say anything," he said with outrage.

"Well you were doing it very loudly," she looked pointedly at him and Provenza held her gaze for a moment. "Just say it, whatever it is that's on your mind."

"It's not that I think you're too close," he started, stepping toward her. "I think you're feeling responsible for what happened."

"I was on the case..."

"As the kid's babysitter," Provenza said softly. Sharon glared at him and he held his hands up in surrender. "I'm not saying that you didn't help, because you did, it's well documented. I'm just saying that you were a rookie to homicide, you were following orders and nothing you did puts you at blame here."

"I was in that house with the girls," Sharon said after a moment. "I was with them every day for almost three months. Why didn't I know about this? Helen and I became very close. I just feel like I should have done more. If only I'd pushed her to talk about it she might have told us what happened during the first investigation."

"Or she could have clamped up with you like she did with everyone else," Provenza argued. "She trusted you because you never pushed her. You allowed her the space she needed to come to terms with what happened and because of that she trusted you. If she hadn't, she may never have come to us about Michael."

"And now we're treating her like a suspect," Sharon said quietly. Provenza gave her a sympathetic look and before he could speak anymore on the matter she shook her head, indicating that the conversation was over for now.

Sharon paced the corridor, every now and again looking toward the neon sign that still signalled that the morgue was off limits. Provenza had sat down on the bench and was leaning back, his hands clasped behind his head, his eyes focused on the floor, his foot tapping to a silent tune. Sharon glanced at him every time she walked by him, envious of his ability to relax at such a time. Her mind was racing. She was growing impatient at being held back from seeing the evidence found in the basement, concern for Helen, anger at herself... she knew she needed to learn to let things go or she would end up burning our fast. Even now, she could feel her exhaustion taking over her body and the stress had been building in the form of a headache. But she couldn't just let it go. She wanted to keep going until she uncovered every bit of evidence, every body was discovered, every person connected interviewed and every possible lead followed. This was the third time that the LAPD was coming into contact with this house and family and she wanted to make sure that it was the last.

"Would you sit down?" Provenza broke through her thoughts and Sharon jumped at the sound of his voice. "You're like a caged animal and you're damn well annoying me."

Sharon glared at him but Provenza returned her look with a stubborn one of his own. She tilted her head at him and only when it became clear that he wasn't going to back down, she lowered herself to the bench next him and crossed one leg over the other.

"You need to..."

"If you're going to tell me to relax I'd recommend you think twice about it," she interrupted him.

"I'm just saying..." he began but her look quickly cut him off. He shrugged and gave her a somewhat impish smile. She shook her head and leaned back, her arms folding across her waist.

"I'd prefer it if you didn't," she gave him a sideways glance, tilting her head down to look over her glasses at him. She pursed her lips to prevent herself from smiling. Provenza shrugged again and looked up at the No Entry just as the light went out.

"Show time," he muttered, pointing to the door.

Sharon glanced up too and when she realised what Provenza was referring to she jumped from her seat. As she made her way to the morgue doors Doctor Morales stepped out, followed by Doctor Horton.

"What do you have for us?" Sharon asked Morales when he peeled off his protective face mask.

"Preliminary results show the males were aged 15 to 23," Morales said, letting out a deep sigh. "The first we pulled out show facial markers that match those of the Hall family, we're still waiting on DNA results but we're fairly certain what they'll show."

"How did he die?" Sharon asked, folding her arms over her chest. Morales looked toward Horton who had removed his own mask. He was handsome in a warrior kind of way, his shoulders were broad, his blue eyes and blonde hair making him seem of Viking decent. He was perhaps in his late 30's but he beamed with a confidence of someone much older and more experienced than he.

"There are no visible markers on the bones," Horton started. "Whatever was done to him were flesh wounds, possibly organ damage but now that the flesh has decayed, we'll never know for sure unless the killer confesses."

"So we have no evidence that Hall is connected?" Provenza asked with his usual frustrated air. Sharon eyed him discreetly and he shrugged at her.

"There is some staining on the bones so I will be able to tell you where the fatal wound occurred," Horton said, his eyes landing on her. "I can't give you an exact cause of death but I might be able to give you some possible scenarios."

"Whatever you can do to help Doctor," Sharon said with a nod.

"We found something on the other two bodies that will be of more use to you," Morales said after a moment. Sharon stared at him, her skin tingling in anticipation that they had something to follow up on. "Why don't the two of you suit up and come in?"

Sharon didn't need to be asked twice. She strode through the morgue doors quickly, accepting the coveralls from Doctor Horton and allowing him to tie the top while she wrapped the ties around her waist and tied them in front.

"Doctor Morales tells me you've worked on this case before," he said as Sharon tucked her hair into the collar of the protective suit. She turned slowly and looked at him, trying to keep her face unreadable.

"Not this case exactly," she said in a neutral voice. "But I am familiar with the family."

"It must be hard," Doctor Horton said with a sigh. Sharon stared at him for a moment, keeping her face and eyes unreadable.

"What is?" She asked.

"Having a case come back to haunt you like this," he replied. Sharon felt herself grow defensive as he spoke. "In my work... I'm used to uncovering skeletons that are hundreds of years old. Some have died of natural causes and some died under suspicious circumstances but the point is; they happened long ago in our history. I'm removed from what happened. There is no one that needs to be punished for what happened to them." He gave her an admiring smile. "I couldn't do what you do."

Sharon felt herself relax immediately but her face must have registered her surprise because Doctor Horton chuckled. She smiled slightly. "I'd like to say that it gets easier with every case you work," she said after a moment. "But that would be a lie."

"You don't need to tell me that," he said with a grin.

Feeling slightly self-conscious under his gaze, Sharon tucked her hair behind her ear and stepped around him. Provenza was waiting for her by the doors to the autopsy suite. She looked at him but Provenza wasn't looking in her direction; instead he was watching Doctor Horton with a suspicious frown. Sharon cleared her throat and shook her head only enough for him to see. Provenza held the door open for her and as she passed he leaned in to her ear.

"What was that about?" He let the door go after they walked through, leaving Doctor Horton to open the door for himself.

"Nothing," Sharon whispered. "We were just discussing the case." Provenza made a disapproving noise in the back of his throat and Sharon eyed him out of the corner of her eye.

"And?" He pushed.

"And nothing," she said quietly as she watched Doctors Morales and Horton manoeuvre two of the bodies into the centre of the room so that they were side by side. "We talked about our work."

"If you ask me, that's not all he wants to talk to you about," he mumbled under his breath. Sharon gave him a side long glare.

"Well nobody asked you," she said with a hard voice but she knew she wasn't able to disguise the amusement in her eyes. She watched a smirk appear on Provenza's face and she shook her head as she walked toward Doctor Morales. "Tell me what you have Doctor."

"This is the first body we pulled out of the grave after we discovered Michael Hall. We've put an estimated time of death of 38 years on this one," Doctor Morales indicated to the body closest to them. "Doctor Horton believes this boy was 18 years old at the most. We can tell from his bones that as a child he was malnourished and may have been abused."

"He has a variety of breaks and fractures, some of which were obviously never treated," Doctor Horton pointed to the left section of ribs. "These fractures for example would have been very painful and it would have taken weeks to heal. And without proper treatment you can see that the fractures healed at an odd angle. This boy may have walked with his left shoulder slightly hunched over."

"Are you sure this happened during his childhood and not a result of murder?" Provenza asked.

"It's had years to heal," Doctor Horton said. "They all have. The bones have fused back together."

"There is only one break that happened at the time he was murdered," Doctor Morales said with a knowing smile. "His jaw."

"His jaw?" Sharon asked, taking a step closer to the body and looking down at the skull. "Was he alive?"

"These dark stains on his teeth indicate he was bleeding," Doctor Morales held the jaw bone up to the light for them to see. "He may have been punched repeatedly."

"Do you have cause of death?" Sharon asked softly.

"We found this belt in his grave with him," Doctor Morales picked up an old leather belt and handed it to Sharon. "This one was around the victim's neck."

"Strangled?" Provenza asked, looking at the belt that Sharon passed to him.

"Maybe," Doctor Morales said cryptically.

Sharon looked at Provenza and he shrugged. "Maybe?" She turned back to Morales who was smiling again.

"There's no way to tell if he was strangled," he said. "We only have the position of the belt to go on and when we move onto the next victim..." he turned to Horton and indicated for him to take over. Sharon and Provenza followed Horton as he moved to the next body. He pulled the cover back to reveal the skeleton and Sharon looked up at both Doctors.

"This is how he was found?" She asked.

"Oh yeah," Doctor Morales said.

"Hooking the belt under the victim's chin and tying it on top of their heads would have done two things; they wouldn't have been able to talk and they wouldn't have been able to breathe properly." Doctor Horton said. "Once the belt was on them they would have floated in and out of consciousness."

"Could this have killed them?" Sharon asked, leaning down to get a better look at the belt on the victim's head.

"Perhaps over time," Doctor Horton said with a shrug. "The brain would have shut down eventually from oxygen starvation. He would have lapsed into a coma before dying."

"Is there any evidence that these men were kept alive long enough for that to happen?" She asked, looking up at Horton.

"Looking at the first body I would have to say no," Doctor Horton moved toward the first victim and Sharon followed. "If the victim had been kept alive after whatever injury led him to bleed then the wound would have healed, there would be no staining. To me this indicates that the victim was killed soon after receiving the injury. And if I had to hazard a guess as to what killed him then I'd assume he was strangled with the belt."

"But without the flesh it's hard to give you a definitive answer," Doctor Morales added.

"However, this is what I do Captain," Doctor Horton moved around the table to stand in front of her. "I figure out cause of death when there is no evidence, I do not have the advantage of being told what was done to the body, I have to piece it together. It takes time but if you give me it, I promise you I'll be able to find out what happened to your victims. And I might even be able to give you some factors that can help you identify them."

Sharon looked over at Provenza who raised his eyebrows in thought. "I don't see what harm it can do," he said.

"Alright," Sharon turned back to Doctor Horton. "As long as it's ok with Doctor Morales that you use his lab."

"I'll have him set up," Doctor Morales said, looking excited at having the other doctor stay on.

"You'll keep me informed of your progress?" Sharon asked the two men.

"Will do!" Doctor Morales called over his shoulder as he strode from the room, indicating for Horton to follow him. But before he did, Doctor Horton looked down at Sharon.

"I'll bring up the reports myself, Captain," he said. Sharon gave a stiff nod and a slight smile.

"Thank you Doctor Horton."

"Call me Owen," he smiled and quickly left the room, following Morales to the lab to begin his study. Sharon watched after him for a moment and she sensed Provenza's eyes on her from behind.

"Yes?" She asked without turning to look at him.

"Call me Owen?" He repeated in a slight sing-song pattern. "I don't like him," he grew serious.

"You're treating him like a suspect," she finally turned to face him.

"Maybe we should be," Provenza said. Sharon rolled her eyes and moved out of the examination room.

"For what? What has he done?" She asked as she pulled the protective suit off and stuffed it in the bin. "Being friendly isn't a crime."

"Friendly? Is that what we're calling it now?" Provenza raised his eyebrows at her and smirked. Sharon rolled her eyes and headed for the elevator.

"Are you coming?" She called over her shoulder as she entered the elevator. She held the doors open as Provenza walked at a leisurely pace, his grin still plastered on his face. Sharon tried to secure her face in a frown but she couldn't quite fight the urge to laugh. It didn't seem the time or the place to laugh or to joke around but she was thankful for it. Thankful for Provenza and his arrogant walk and presumptive looks. Because for a moment, she was able to forget what a mess this case was but when her phone started to vibrate and she answered it, the hesitant tones from Julio jarred her senses.

They'd found more bodies...

So I hope you enjoyed this latest instalment. Thank you for stopping by to read and I'd love to know what you thought xxx