Hello everyone!

I'm feeling so much better now! Thank you all for your kind words and well wishes, you're such beautiful people.

After my illness, and taking into consideration the amount of food (by which I mean chocolate), alcohol and nicotine I polluted my body with over Christmas, I decided to do a detox this week. Nothing but raw foods and smoothies and I have to be honest, I'm only a day into it and already I'd give anything for a great big bowl of pasta with meat and veg. Only five more days to go! I can do this!

So tonight is the final episode of Major Crimes. My excitement level is so gargantuan that it's not even readable on a graph! But that also means that we have months of waiting for season 3 to start (I just gave myself excited butterflies at the thought of season 3 – so sad!). But at least we'll have glorious amounts of fanfiction to keep us occupied and I'll have you guys to keep me sane! We can pass the time together :D

Anyway, thank you to everyone that has read this and are continuing to read. The response has been amazing and your support means the world to me. I hope you enjoy this next chapter. This might be the last lighter themed chapter for a little while, it's about to get dark and dirty...

Lillibet x

Lower than the Ground

"I'm just saying the guy's just a kid," Provenza said as he and Sharon walked through the doors to Major Crimes. "He can't be that much older than your own son."

"Where exactly are you going with this, Lieutenant?" She asked, turning to face him. Provenza smirked and lowered his voice.

"Just giving you some friendly advice," he said conspiratorially. Sharon rolled her eyes and turned away from him.

"Your advice is not needed on this occasion," she said, walking toward her office. She knew he was following her and she sped up her steps only to almost walk into Flynn as he exited her office. "Andy..." she breathed his name in her surprise and smiled. He eyed her curiously and she watched him look between her and his partner.

"What happened?" He asked.

"That kid Horton wants to get to know the Captain a little better," Provenza said with a smug look. Sharon glared at him.

"Do you have something for me Andy?" She asked, pushing her way into her office and ignoring Provenza's comment.

Sharon moved around her desk and sat down heavily. When she looked up she was relieved to see that Provenza had stalked toward his own desk and Flynn had followed her into her office. She leaned back in her chair and looked up at him.

"You ok?" He asked.

She gave him a weak smile. "I'm fine," she said.

"'Cause I can talk to him for you," he offered. Sharon frowned slightly.

"To Provenza?"

"I meant Doctor Horton," Flynn corrected her. Sharon couldn't help the giggle that bubbled out of her and she looked up at him.

"Oh Andy," she smiled. "There's really no need to speak to Doctor Horton, or Provenza," she added with a chuckle. Flynn smirked as he sat down in the chair in front of her.

"'Cause you know that if you ever need anything, I'm your guy." He looked at her with those sweet, sincere eyes and Sharon found herself smiling at him again. "You know that right?"

"You're my guy," Sharon repeated with a nod then slipped into business mode. "So what do you have for me?"

Flynn picked up a file from her desk that she assumed he had been leaving for her when she bumped into him at her door. He opened it and handed her the autopsy report of Julie Hall.

"This is the only thing that has jumped out at me so far," he said, pointing to a paragraph halfway down the first page. "So far there's nothing suspicious in Helen or Joe's backgrounds but when I looked into Julie's file... it says here that she slit her wrists."

"Yes, I remember hearing about it at the time," Sharon said as she read the paragraph Flynn had pointed out to her. "Wait..." She looked up at him with a frown. "She had a high dose of Valium in her system?"

"According to the police report, Julie's roommate said she often took Valium to help her sleep when she was nervous or stressed. But when I checked the evidence logs, no Valium was ever collected from the crime scene."

Sharon flipped through the file to find the evidence log and just as Flynn had said, there was no sign of Valium. "Was the roommate a suspect?"

"Solid alibi," Flynn said with a shake of his head. "The medical examiner suggested that Julie could have taken the Valium to make herself drowsy so that she wouldn't be able to feel the blade."

"I'm amazed she was even able to keep her eyes open long enough to drag the knife down both arms as deep as she did," Sharon observed as she flicked through the crime scene and autopsy photos.

"One thing the autopsy report does say is that a few days before she died, Julie received a blow to the head. I'm trying to track down hospital reports to see what happened but this report says that it was enough to cause some swelling to her brain, which will have put some pressure on her eyes." Flynn paused a moment and Sharon allowed the information to sink in. "She may have had blurred vision," he added. Sharon sighed and laid the files out on her desk so they could both look at the photos.

"So, before she committed suicide, she was attacked badly enough for it to affect her vision... that's a lot of anger. Could someone have figured out who she was? Or who her father was?" She looked across at Flynn who was staring at the autopsy report, deep in thought. "What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking... that Helen could have offed her," he lifted his eyes up to meet hers. Sharon could only stare at him for a few moments.

"Helen?" She asked, wondering if she'd heard him right. He nodded. "What would her motive have been? Julie was the only person she had left in the world."

"Maybe Julie was a harsh reminder of who her family were. Maybe Julie showed some homicidal tendencies like her father-"

"So Helen murders her and stages it as a suicide?" Sharon watched Flynn shrug and she suddenly grew annoyed. "Why are you gunning for Helen?"

"I just think its odd, this whole case. Helen coming to us after all these years... why? Why now? She's admitted to helping her father bury her brother, maybe that was all she needed and now she's hooked on murder too. It's like Provenza says; it's always the family."

Sharon stared hard at him. "Show me the evidence Lieutenant, prove to me that she's involved and I'll personally go to Helen's home and arrest her," she rose from her desk and crossed her arms over her chest. "Until then, I suggest we focus on the evidence that we have and seeing as though we know that he has already murdered two people and hid them down in the basement, let's look further into Simon Hall."

"So you want me to end my background check on Helen and Joe?" Flynn asked in a clipped tone that told Sharon he was annoyed too.

"No," she sighed. "Continue your check on both of them... and on Julie Hall."

"Look, Sharon," Flynn's voice had calmed. He stood from his chair and moved to lean against the desk next to her. She looked up at him. "I can see how much this case is affecting you." He raised a hand when she began to object and she allowed him to continue. "I'm just watching your back," he said gently.

"Because you're my guy, right?" She asked with a smile.

"You betcha," he grinned. "Get your jacket, I'm buying lunch today and I need an extra set of hands."

"Can't," she said growing serious as she remembered the phone call she'd received just moments ago. "I'm waiting for an update on the excavation at the Hall residence."

"That'll take at least an hour," Flynn said, hooking his hand under her elbow and ushering her from the office. "Come on, I'm already late in getting it and I'll start to get complaints if I don't have it here by 3pm. Besides, you know Rusty will be on your case if he doesn't get his lunch soon."

"You offer an excellent point Lieutenant," she smiled slightly as she disentangled herself from him. She held up her hand to him to signal that she needed a minute and she walked in the direction of where Rusty had took to hiding. She found him at a desk on a laptop Buzz had loaned him. He looked up and smiled at her when she entered.

"Hey," he looked pleased to see her. "Where is everyone?" He asked. "It's been really quiet around here."

"We got a big case," she said, walking toward him and leaning against the desk opposite his. "The team are off working on different things."

"Does this have something to do with that woman from this morning?" he asked. Sharon nodded. "I looked it up on the internet. It doesn't say you were working on it."

"I was only 26 at the time and strictly speaking, I wasn't supposed to be working the case."

"But I heard Buzz and Lieutenant Tao saying that you helped-"

"I did but back then..." she gave a little shrug and a smile. "I was a rookie, I hadn't been out of uniform for long and... I was a woman. My ideas were either tossed aside or someone else took the credit for it."

"That doesn't seem fair," Rusty frowned.

"It wasn't," she folded her arms across her chest. "It's what all women had to deal with back then. I was only there for a year before I was recruited to FID and then-"

"You got your own back?" Rusty grinned and Sharon chuckled.

"Let's just say, they soon learned to take me seriously," she said in a low voice.

"I bet," Rusty rolled his eyes.

"What do you want for lunch?" She asked, straightening up and moving towards the direction she had come.

"You know what I want," he said, turning back to his laptop.

"No burgers." She earned herself an incredulous look from her foster-son.

"What, why?"

"Because you had a burger last night," she said.

"Fine," he mumbled. "A sandwich will be fine."

"You can't live on burgers every day," she said to him.

"Why? You afraid I'll turn into one?"

"Very funny," she gave him a smile and was pleased when he returned it. "I'll be back soon."

Sharon turned on her heel and headed back to where Flynn and Provenza were standing by the murder board.

"Ready to go?" Flynn asked when he caught sight of her approaching.

"Sure," she turned to Provenza. "You'll call me if Detective Sanchez comes back before I return?"

"Sure thing, Captain," Provenza gave a mock salute and flopped down into his chair as she and Flynn headed for the elevator.

-x-

Sharon was perched on a stool with her back to the counter. She leaned her elbows back and crossed her legs as she watched the people go about their business in the cafe.

"Comfortable?" Flynn smirked at her as he lifted himself onto the stool next to her.

"Just people watching," she said. As Flynn went silent, Sharon took the opportunity to think about the case as she watched a young man flirting with a waitress.

Simon Hall had been described as being obsessed with his wife. It had been love at first sight and their brief affair before they got married was both passionate and violent. Throughout their marriage they had both sought regular treatment at various hospitals but had declined police involvement when it was suggested by the medical staff.

Sharon watched the waitress brush the young man's shoulder as she leaned toward him slightly.

Everyone that had known Dorothy had suspected her husband of beating her but from what Sharon knew of their history, she knew that Dorothy could give as good as she received. It wasn't hard to believe that Simon had murdered her. Perhaps it was in the heat of an argument. Perhaps he'd simply had enough of her. But the other bodies didn't make any sense to her. Why kill Michael? And what connection did the two young men they found have to the family. Were they lodgers? Were they Dorothy's lovers? Paying customers?

The waitress slipped her pen from her breast pocket and wrote something on a napkin before passing it to the young man. Sharon watched them give each other suggestive smiles and suddenly she felt herself grow cold. Her mind spun and she looked over at Flynn.

"What if they did it together?" She asked him. Flynn frowned at her, his eyes shifting from her to the couple she had been watching and then back to her.

"Who?"

"Dorothy and Simon Hall," she said, feeling her skin tingle. "What if this was an escalation of their relationship? Dorothy could have invited these young men into her home. Simon Hall may have liked to watch her having sex with them or maybe he murdered them to punish Dorothy for her infidelity."

"Lovers united in murder," Flynn smirked and Sharon could tell he wasn't really buying what she was saying.

"They wouldn't be the first," she said pointedly.

"But they're rare," Flynn said, scratching his chin. "If they were robbers, identity thieves, fraudsters, I can see them doing it but murder...? And with four kids in the house?"

"It's not like they were model parents," Sharon argued. "I doubt either of them really cared for the children, Simon Hall's testimony defines his love for his children perfectly."

"I guess there's only one way to find out if your right," Flynn stood up and moved over to the counter to pick up their orders.

"You're suggesting talking to Simon Hall?" She asked as she moved to stand next to him. She took the cartons he passed to her and waited for him to collect the rest before moving outside to his car.

"I think we should visit Doctor Morales on our way in," he said, unlocking the car for them both to get in.

-x-

Doctor Morales was in his office finishing his lunch when Sharon and Flynn found him. He gave them a look that said they were interrupting his break and Sharon gave him an apologetic smile.

"I have some questions about the bodies," she said to him.

"Best talk to Owen," he replied, leading them to an autopsy suite further down the corridor. Doctor Morales opened the door after a loud rap against the metal and stepped through. Doctor Horton was standing over one of the bodies, his special examination glasses making his eyes seem large and bug like. "Captain Raydor has some questions for you."

Doctor Horton looked up and froze for a moment. Sharon and Flynn walked further into the room while Doctor Morales left. Doctor Horton quickly snatched the glasses from his face and smoothed his hair down. "Captain Raydor," he greeted her with a shy smile.

"How far have you got on the bodies?" She asked him.

"There's still a long way to go but I think I might have found hard evidence of cause of death," he said, indicating for her to follow him. "There is a fracture on both bodies here, at the base of the neck." He pointed it out to them. "This will have been caused by pressure, a lot of pressure. This, along with the belts, would conclude that the victims were strangled."

"You don't say," Flynn mumbled under his breath. Sharon looked toward him briefly then turned fully to face him when she registered the look on his face. Flynn looked angry. He was staring at Doctor Horton in the same way he did when he was faced with a murder suspect. She narrowed her eyes at him and gave him a questioning incline of her head. Flynn just shook his head and looked away from her. Thankfully, Doctor Horton didn't seem to notice.

"There's one thing though," Doctor Horton continued, beckoning Sharon to the other end of the table to show her the ankles of both bodies. "See those marks?"

"What are they?" Sharon could see indents on the bones.

"I'm not sure yet," Doctor Horton said. He moved away from her and Sharon felt Flynn step into his place. He leaned down to look at the indents and he raised an eyebrow at her. They both turned to look at Doctor Horton when he continued to talk. "They look like they could have been done by something tied around their ankles. Maybe shackles that cut deeply into the skin. I'll need to work with my team to find out what's imbedded in the bone to give you more of an accurate theory but until then, I'm afraid that's all I have."

"These young men," Sharon started as she walked around the tables, looking at the two unidentified males. "How easy would it have been to do this to them?"

Doctor Horton considered her question for a moment, his arms crossing over his chest. "They were young men and from their bone structures and density, I'd say they were healthy and most likely quite strong. I'd guess that they would need to be drugged first before getting them into such a position that these men died in. I can't imagine tying them up and fixing the belt on their heads would have been an easy task if they were fully conscious."

"Could there have been two murderers?" She asked.

"Two people would be better than one," Doctor Horton nodded. "Even if the men were drugged, they would still be difficult to manage alone."

Sharon glanced toward Flynn who nodded in agreement, convinced by her theory with the doctor's conclusion. "So I guess we need to look at this from another angle," Flynn sighed. Sharon nodded and turned a smile to the Doctor.

"Thank you for your help Doctor Horton," she said. Doctor Horton pulled off his gloves and offered her his hand. After a moments hesitation, Sharon clasped his hand and they shook. Her eyes flickered to Flynn, who now wore the same expression as Provenza had earlier.

"I'd prefer it if you called me Owen," he smiled and looked deeply into her. Sharon pulled her hand away from his and stepped back.

"I'll look forward to reading your full report on this," she said, changing the subject.

"I'll bring it up when I'm done," he said, moving toward her. Sharon noticed the way one of his hands reached for her and never in her life had she been more grateful of having Andrew Flynn by her side. He stepped forward and patted the doctor on the shoulder a little harder than necessary, effectively stopping him in his tracks.

"Thanks for your help doc," he said with his usual grin. "How about you send that report up to me, I'll be briefing the Captain on the details." Without waiting for a response, Flynn turned and headed for the door. As he walked by her, Sharon felt his hand on her shoulder and he turned her around to usher her out of the door before him. His hand fell to her lower back as they walked toward the elevator and once inside he turned to look at her with a frown.

"I don't like him."

Sharon rolled her eyes at the similarities of the way Provenza had responded to the young doctor. "You and Provenza are over analysing things," she said as she pushed the button to her floor. "He's a little intense-"

"Is that what we're calling it now?"

Sharon ignored him. "I don't need you or Provenza acting like body guards," she said.

"The asshole's creepy," Flynn countered.

"I don't want to talk about this anymore," she said to him as she stepped out of the elevator and made their way to the murder room.

When they stepped inside Provenza stood up and walked with them to her office. "Julio checked in while you were out," he started. Sharon took a seat and looked up at her two Lieutenants. "They've got two more bodies, one found in the loft space and the forensic anthropologists at the scene said it's a young male, probably the in same age range as the others. He looks like he's been there longer than the others but they need DNA to confirm it. Doctors Horton and Morales will look into it when it arrives at the morgue."

"Where are we with identifying these bodies?" Sharon asked, thinking that with more and more bodies turning up the press were going to jump on it. They needed identifications sooner rather than later.

"Tao and Sykes are still working their way through the missing persons database but they have very little to go on," Provenza explained.

"Could we ask Doctor Morales for x-rays on the victim's teeth?" Sharon looked to Flynn who nodded. "We might be able to match them up with someone from their short list."

"What about the second body they recovered?" Flynn asked, turning to Provenza who flipped open his notebook.

"The second one took them by surprise," Provenza said looking at them with a knowing smile. Sharon and Flynn shared a quick look.

"Why?" She asked.

"It's female."

Sharon's eyebrows shot up in surprise and she leaned back in her chair. "Agnes Hall?"

"Don't know," Provenza sighed. "The skull was pretty damaged so they need to reconstruct it to get face markers."

"What about a DNA test?" Flynn asked.

"Apparently the body was found in the floor boards of one of the bedrooms," Provenza explained. "It has some kind of fungus growing on it; it might screw up the DNA results." Sharon tried not to think too much about what the body must look like, her lunch sitting on her desk looking less and less appealing.

"I'll get Agnes Hall's dental and hospital records," Flynn said to Sharon. "Once they've reconstructed the skull we might be able to compare the results."

"Thank you Andy," Sharon said to him as she watched him walk out of her office.

"Should I call Helen in?" Provenza asked after a moment.

Sharon nodded but indicated for him to sit down before he left. She filled him in on her theory about the Hall's murdering together and Provenza nodded as she spoke. She recited what Doctor Horton had told her and waited for his response.

"Only way you'll know for sure is if you speak to Simon Hall," Provenza said to her. Sharon sighed.

"I was afraid you were going to say that," she said.

"You anxious about speaking to him?" Provenza asked with a frown and Sharon knew he was thinking it was out of character for her.

"No," she said. "I've just been putting it off."

"From what I hear he's a creep with charm," Provenza leaned back in his chair.

"Our last run in did not go well," she said, running her hand through her hair. "He likes to play games. He acts innocent, pushing the blame onto others. If he sees a weakness he jumps on it and gets into your head."

"You want me and Sanchez to have a go at him?" Provenza offered.

"You can be in the room," she said. "But I want to speak to him myself."

Provenza nodded and left her office to make the arrangements.

Sharon turned her chair around to look out of her window, trying to ignore the swirling movement in her stomach at the thought of once again coming face to face with Simon Hall.

Gosh I need sleep – it's almost 1am! So excited to see the final episode of MC in the morning! James Duff's preview of the episode has me on edge and excited for the final scene in Sharon's office. I think my head is going to explode!

Anyway, thanks so much for reading and I'd love to know what you thought. No spoilers on tonight's episode though – we can discuss once I've seen it :D Nighty night! xxx