Hey look at that, it's another chapter!

Evening all, I hope you're all well. So here is the next chapter. I've been writing more since Major Crimes went on hiatus in a bid to help me get over my denial that I have wait months for a new episode. It's kinda working... until I stop writing and then it just slaps me in the face like a big wet fish. Please tell me you feel my pain!

Anyway... I've got a few busy days coming up so I'm not sure when I'll have the next chapter out but I'll try to get one to you as soon as possible! I hope you're all still enjoying it and thanks for sticking with me.

For anyone that has twitter or tumblr or livejournal then come say hi or follow/add me. I use Lillibet426 as my handle on all platforms. I love making new friends and the people I've already met are awesome – shout out to two very lovely ladies ilonacari and dearvia – come join us on twitter and join in our denial that Major Crimes is on hiatus.

A quick thanks to everyone that has reviewed or read this fic – your support means the world to me!

Lillibet x

Lower than the Ground

Sharon walked out of her office, her hands tucked in the pockets of her pants. Tao spotted her and jumped from his seat, dashing toward her with a file in his hand.

"Captain." He caught her attention and she looked over at him.

"Yes, Lieutenant," she folded her arms over her chest.

"I have the medical reports for Daniel Trenton," he held the report up for her to look at. Sharon raised her eyebrows and moved closer to him.

"Is it him?" She asked, hopeful.

"I was just about to head down to see Doctor Morales," he said.

"Well I was going down for an update," she said as she indicated for him to go with her. She stopped by Sykes's desk, noticing that both Provenza and Flynn were missing from their desks, and touched the younger woman's shoulder. "You'll call if anything comes in?"

"Got it," Sykes nodded.

"Says here that Daniel received multiple surgeries to fully fix his legs," Tao said as they headed down to the morgue.

"And if we can get a serial number on the metal splints on the third body we can match it up with what is in Daniel's file?" She asked.

"That's the idea," Tao said, his voice sounding hopeful.

"God, I hope it's him," Sharon said, leaning back against the elevator wall. "We really need a break on this case."

"From what Doctor Horton has discovered and from speaking with Doctor Morales, I'm fairly certain that we have the right man," Tao said to her.

"But let's not get our hopes up until we know for sure," she gave a weak smile and Tao nodded.

Tao put his hand in front of the elevator doors to hold them open and allowed Sharon to walk out first. He followed, hot on her heels as he continued to talk. "Have you had an update on the other bodies yet?"

"No," she said. "That's what I'm hoping to find out about now."

They both walked into the autopsy bay to find Doctor Morales waiting. He turned at the sound of the door opening.

"Good afternoon," he smiled to them both and Sharon returned the salutation.

"What do you have for us?" She asked, walking with him to the body laid out on the table.

"This is your third body," he said, leaning against the table and looking over at both Sharon and Tao. "Owen and I cleaned the serial number on the metal plating as best we could," he donned a pair of gloves and lifted the bone for them to see. "Here it is."

Sharon stepped aside and Tao peered down at the bone. He lifted the file and checked the numbers against what he had. Sharon found herself hoping for it to be a match. They just needed this piece of evidence, just this and they could piece together a timeline of events.

After what seemed like an eternity, but was probably less than 15 seconds, Tao snapped his file shut and looked over at her. She realised her hands were fidgeting by her side with her growing frustration and she quickly tucked them in her pockets. She licked her lips. "Well?"

"It's a match," Tao gave her a broad smile and Sharon couldn't help but return it. Her chest exploding with relief at the news. She took a deep breath to control herself before speaking.

"Mike, have Amy pull the records you were looking at and have everyone back in the office to help narrow down possible matches. I want you to lead on the timeline of events."

"Yes ma'am," Tao gave her another grin and she touched his arm briefly before he walked out of the room.

"You look happy," Doctor Morales said to her as he walked around the table.

"Lieutenant Tao's discovery will help us to identify the other victims," she said to him, unable to repress her smile.

"Then I take it you'd like to know more about the fourth and fifth bodies," he stated.

"What are your thoughts?" She asked.

"The male you brought in has the same markers as the second body and the third... I guess we can start calling him Daniel now." He gave a sad smile and Sharon nodded. "Owen is fairly certain that the bodies were put into the ground between 38 and 45 years ago. He's working on getting a more accurate time frame now and he should have something on the second body in the next few hours. The latest victims will take longer because they've only just come in."

"What can you tell me about the female that was brought in?" She asked.

"We've got a specialist in to reconstruct the skull. Lieutenant's Flynn and Provenza dropped Agnes Hall's dental records in with Owen a little while ago so we can match them up once-" Doctor Morales stopped talking and Sharon realised her surprise must have shown on her face.

"They came down here?" She asked, realising why her two Lieutenant's had been missing from the murder room.

"They didn't tell you?" Doctor Morales folded his arms over his chest, a hint of amusement in his voice.

Sharon sighed and wondered if she should ask her next question. "And did they see Doctor Horton?"

Doctor Morales nodded. "They seemed very interested in our new friend," Doctor Morales gave her a look that said he knew something was going on. "They had a lot of questions for him." Sharon tried to ignore him and she turned her attention to the bones of Daniel Trenton. "Owen's cute," Doctor Morales said with a grin.

Sharon leaned down to look closer at the bones. "He's very young," she said with an air of disinterest.

"He's vivacious," Doctor Morales wiggled his shoulders slightly.

Sharon glanced up at Doctor Morales with a smirk. "And a little over enthusiastic," she said, straightening up.

"That's never a bad thing," he waved his hand at her.

"Only when it borders on the side of sleazy," she crossed her arms over her chest. "We need a more definitive time of death. If Doctor Horton can give us his results as soon as possible we can narrow down the missing persons reports we have up stairs."

"So we're not talking about Owen Horton anymore?" Doctor Morales looked at her for a moment and Sharon narrowed her eyes at him until he sighed. "I'll speak to Owen, see what we can do."

"Thank you," she smiled at him and began to walk to the door.

"Maybe I'll send Owen up with the reports," Doctor Morales said to her. As Sharon opened the door she turned to look at him over her shoulder.

"I'd rather you didn't," she said with a chuckle, stepping through the door and allowing it to close behind her.

-x-

As Sharon stepped into the elevator her thoughts went to Helen. She hadn't really spoken to her since she'd first informed her that they had found a male body where she had said they would. She knew that Provenza had spoken to her briefly in preparation of their interview with Simon Hall but Sharon knew that it was about time that she spoke to the woman herself.

The elevator slowed and she looked up at the floor numbers to see that she had stopped at the cafeteria level. When the doors opened her eyes immediately narrowed when she recognised the two men standing before her. Lieutenant's Flynn and Provenza were arguing about something, their hands gesticulating wildly as they argued in strained whispers. They were so engrossed in their discussion that they hadn't realised the elevator had stopped. She pressed her hand against the doors to stop them from closing and cleared her throat to get their attention. She watched the two men frown at the sound, she could see the confusion on their faces as they realised that the noise hadn't come from them. She tried to keep herself from smiling as they slowly looked toward the elevator and realised it had been her.

"Sharon..." Flynn started but stopped when Provenza shot him a deadly glare.

"Are you coming or not?" She asked them, indicating to the elevator. The two men shared a cautious glance and she began to grow impatient with them. "Get in!"

They quickly jumped into the elevator, passing by her to stand just behind her. In silence, Sharon pressed the button to the ninth floor again and the doors slowly closed. She could see Provenza and Flynn's blurry outline in the metal doors in front of her; they had resumed their argument in silence, but their hands were moving around with as much energy as they had when they were in a less confined space.

"Lieutenant Flynn," she watched his outline freeze. "Any news on Agnes Hall's dental records?"

"Oh I er..." he paused and Sharon watched the two men's reflections lean into each other before he spoke again. "I took them down to Doctor Horton," he said, eventually, earning a grumble from Provenza.

Sharon nodded and looked up at the floor numbers again. Just before the got to the ninth floor, Sharon pushed the emergency stop button and they jerked to a stop. She turned to look at Provenza and Flynn in time to see their panicked faces as they looked around to see what had happened.

"And it took the two of you to take the records down to the morgue?" She asked them, ignoring the looks they gave her.

"I just went down to get an update," Provenza said with a shrug. He fiddled with the knot of his tie. "I don't like enclosed spaces."

"Get used to it," she snapped at him. "What is going on with you two?"

Provenza jerked his thumb in Flynn's direction. "He was going down to speak to Doctor Horton and I tagged along to make sure he didn't do anything stupid," he said quickly. Sharon rolled her eyes as Flynn rounded on Provenza.

"What?!" Flynn's face was growing red and Sharon knew that this was about to become another one of their infamous moments. "You were the one who started in with all the questions!"

"And who was it who had to be dragged from the room after hearing the answers to those questions, huh?" Provenza challenged.

"You've got some nerve..." Flynn began, puffing his chest out.

"I've got some nerve?" Provenza barked a laugh and Sharon crossed her arms over her chest.

"Yeah you!"

"Enough!" She snapped loudly. Provenza and Flynn seemed surprised that she was still there. They took a step back from each other and stared at the floor like naughty children preparing themselves to be scolded. "Honestly," Sharon said with a sigh. "There's no wonder the two of you are divorced!" She realised that what had meant to be an internal thought, she had actually said out loud. Provenza and Flynn turned their anger on to her but before they could start in on her, she continued speaking. "Now I realise that the two of you have taken it upon yourselves to be my personal body guards but I don't need it. Whatever this thing is that you've taken up against Doctor Horton, has to stop now!" She gave them both a hard look. "Do I make myself clear?"

They nodded, both of them looking sheepish. "Yeah," they said in unison.

"Good," she sighed. "Because while the two of you were acting like over protective brothers, Lieutenant Tao was able to confirm that the third body is indeed Daniel Trenton."

"Brothers?" Flynn mumbled, shaking his head at the ceiling. Sharon frowned and started to say something but Provenza interrupted her.

"That's great," Provenza said eagerly, shooting a glared at his partner. "We'll be able to get a timeline."

"Lieutenant Tao is leading on the timeline of events and I need you, Lieutenant Flynn, to help in narrowing down the missing person files." She looked at him expectantly and Flynn eventually nodded. She glanced toward Provenza who gave her a look that said not to worry. She glanced at Flynn one last time before turning to the panel and pushing the stop button again. The elevator sprung to life and they soon arrived at the ninth floor.

"Why don't you head in and see what you can do?" Provenza said to Flynn.

Flynn nodded and sighed. "Sure."

Sharon watched Flynn walk down the hall and when she was sure he was out of ear shot she turned to look at Provenza. "Spill."

"Me and Flynn just wanted to find out a little more about the Doctor," he said with an apologetic shrug. "It might have gotten a little out of hand."

"Why am I not surprised?" She rolled her eyes. They began to slowly walk toward Major Crimes. "And is he ok?" Provenza looked at her with a frown and she realised he thought they were still talking about Horton. "Andy, is he ok? He's seems a little..."

"Crazy?" Provenza finished for her. Sharon frowned at him, her concern for Andy was honest. Provenza shrugged again. "He's just in another one of his moods."

Sharon thought back to the last time Flynn had experienced 'one of his moods' and she grew even more worried. "Is he having trouble with his family again?" She asked.

"Isn't he always?" Provenza scoffed. "It's probably just that ex-wife of his, she's a..." They stopped outside the Major Crimes division and Sharon raised an eyebrow at him as he ruminated on the appropriate word to use in front of her. "Well... you've met her," he said eventually, his grin contagious. She shook her head and chuckled softly.

"Do you think it would help if I talked to him?" She asked after a moment.

"God no!" Provenza jumped, the humour in his eyes quickly replaced by something close to panic. "No, no, no. Just leave him to me."

"You promise to leave Doctor Horton alone?" She held him with a hard stare and he nodded.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," he mumbled as they continued their way into Major Crimes.

They passed the team who were all working busily, talking on phones and hastily moving around the office to check information. Sharon began to fill Provenza in on what he'd missed as they made their way into her office.

"I'd like to bring Helen in," she said to him, watching the team through the glass. "Could you arrange for her to come in before the end of the day and have Buzz rig up the Break Room so you can follow along in Electronics?"

Provenza nodded and gave her slight smile as he left her office and made his way over to his desk.

Sharon leaned against her desk and folded her arms over her chest as she continued to watch her team at work. Photo after photo was being added to the white board of possible ID's as they powered through the files. It felt good to know that they were closing in on identifying their victims. They would finally be given their individuality back and in a way they would be regaining the lives that had been torn away from them.

The hardest part was yet to come. They still needed that key piece of evidence to prove that Simon Hall was behind these murders too.

-x-

"She's here," Provenza said from her office doorway. Sharon looked up from her laptop and checked her watch.

"Is everything set up?" She asked, closing her laptop and rising from her chair. She smoothed down her clothing and tucked her hands into her jacket pockets.

"Buzz just gave us the thumbs up," he said. "We're good to go."

"Thank you Lieutenant," she moved toward him and they began to walk in the direction of the Break Room. "Lieutenant, while I'm in here, could you arrange for someone to drop Rusty off at home?"

"Sure," he said. They stopped outside the Break Room. "The kids been quiet, is he... ok?"

"He's fine," she sighed and looked through the glass of the Break Room to see Flynn sitting with Helen. "I think he's having second thoughts about going back to school."

"A few months ago it's all he was talking about," Provenza said with a soft chuckle.

"Things have changed," she shrugged.

"Yeah," he sighed. "I'll see to it that he gets home safe."

"Thank you Lieutenant," she smiled at him and entered the Break Room.

At the sound of the door opening and closing, Helen turned around in her chair and smiled when she saw it was Sharon. She rose from her seat. "Do you have any news for me?" She asked.

"Yes," Sharon touched the woman's shoulder and encouraged her to sit back down. Sharon took the seat next to her while Flynn remained sitting opposite them. "But we were hoping that you might be able to help us."

"I'll do whatever I can," Helen said, looking between her and Flynn.

"Let me start by saying that we're still waiting on DNA results from the body that we believe to be Michael, but our Medical Examiner and the Forensic Anthropologist working on the case are fairly sure that it is your brother." Sharon paused to allow Helen a moment to take the words in.

"God..." Helen took a shuddering breath. "I knew it would be him... I mean... I told you he was there but..."

"I know," Sharon laid her hand on top of Helen's. "It's still a shock to hear what we found."

"Yes," Helen used her free hand to wipe at the tears that had begun to flow down her cheeks. Flynn pushed a box of tissues toward them and Sharon plucked one out and handed it to Helen. "Have you spoken to him?" She asked suddenly. "Have you spoken to my father?"

"Yes," Sharon took a deep breath. "He seemed surprised to hear that Michael was down there."

"He just never stops, does he?" Helen said bitterly. "Now that you've found Michael he can't blame him anymore. Did he push it onto Agnes? Did he blame her for what he did?"

"He said your mother killed Michael," Flynn said. Helen looked over at him with surprise.

"My mother?" She asked, shaking her head. "My mother loved Michael. She always told us that she preferred sons; it was no secret that she wished she'd had more sons than daughters."

"Can you tell us anything about the day that you helped your father bury Michael?" Flynn asked. Helen looked toward Sharon.

"I think I remember them arguing... my mom and dad. I was getting ready for school and I could hear them arguing over Agnes. They argued a lot over Agnes before she disappeared and even more when she left." Helen took a breath and wiped at her eyes again. "I'm not sure if it happened on the day I..." she paused, her breathing became ragged and she covered her eyes with her free hand. Sharon looked over at Flynn as he rose from his chair and headed toward the water cooler. He returned with a glass filled with water and placed it in front of Helen. She took a few tentative sips and took a few extra tissues from the box. "I don't really remember much about that day, except what I've already told you."

"That's ok," Sharon rubbed her thumb over Helen's knuckles. "What you've already told us has helped."

"I wish I could help more," Helen said impatiently. "I want to make him pay for what he did to Michael."

"We're working on that," Sharon assured her. "Now, there are a few other things that I'd like to ask you Helen, if you feel up to answering a few more questions?"

Helen wiped at her eyes one last time and took a deep breath. "Sure."

"Do you ever remember there being any young men at your home?" Flynn asked. Helen frowned at him and then turned to Sharon.

"Young men?" She asked. "You mean, friends of Michael?"

"Did Michael have his friends over a lot?" Sharon asked.

"Not really," Helen shrugged. "None of us brought friends over very often but yeah, I think I remember Michael bringing people home."

"Do you remember any of their names?" Sharon asked.

"No," she said, scratching at her chin. "Not many came over and when they did they only came once," she gave Sharon a rueful smile. "Meeting my parents was enough to scare anyone away."

"These friends of Michael's," Flynn brought Helen's attention to him. "Did he know them from school?"

"No," Helen scoffed. "Michael dropped out of school when he was 13. I think he'd started working with dad for a while. He could have met his friends there. I never really asked..."

"That's ok," Sharon said, patting the woman's hand.

"Why are you asking about them?" Helen asked, looking at Sharon.

Sharon glanced over at Flynn for a moment, then glanced back at Helen. "When we began excavations in the basement of your family home, we came across a number of other bodies buried along with Michael."

Helen just stared at Sharon for a moment, her face one of horror. "Other... there were..." She covered her mouth. "How many?"

"We have four so far," Sharon said. "Five including Michael."

"What...? Were they...?" Helen let out a sob and began to chew on her nails. "Were they..."

"We have strong evidence that it was foul play," Flynn answered her, knowing what Helen was trying to ask.

"Which means that we're treating them as murders," Sharon filled in at Helen's blank look.

"When?" Helen asked. "When were they killed?"

"We're not sure," Sharon said softly, rubbing her hand over Helen's back in a bid to sooth her. "But we believe they were disposed of before Michael."

"So you're saying..." Helen covered her mouth with her hand again. "You're telling me that I lived in a house, I grew up in a house that was hiding four dead bodies?"

"So you can see why we wanted to speak to you about the young men visiting your home," Flynn said. Helen nodded and pressed the heels of both her hands into her eyes.

"How could I have missed that?" Helen asked, looking at both of them. Flynn looked over at Sharon and she knew he was asking himself the same thing. "How did we not know what was going on?"

"That's a good question," Flynn said, leaning toward her.

Sharon narrowed her eyes at him and told him that now wasn't the time to question her on his theory. "I'll have a police officer escort you home Helen," Sharon said, helping the woman stand from her seat. "I realise that this has been a lot to take in so why don't you go home and get some rest." Helen nodded at her. "But we need you to come back in and answer a few more questions for us."

"Anything I can do to help," Helen said, somewhat distractedly.

"I'll have someone call Joe so he can meet you at your home," Sharon said, holding Helen when she fell heavily into her chest.

"Thank you Sharon," Helen whispered. Sharon pulled back and smiled at her.

"Talk to Joe," Sharon advised. "Get a good night's sleep, you'll feel better afterward."

"Yeah," Helen said. Sharon grew worried. She knew this kind of news was enough to knock anyone off but Helen's sudden weakness was a cause for concern. "Thanks."

Sharon led Helen to the door where Provenza was already waiting to take her out to a car. She watched them walk toward the elevators and she felt Flynn step up beside her.

"What do you think?" She asked, not needing to look at him to know that something was bothering him.

"She seemed believable," Flynn said after a moment.

"Having second thoughts?" She asked, finally turning to look at him.

"Maybe," he said, leaning against the wall next to her shoulder and looking down at her. "She seemed honestly shocked to hear she'd been living in a house with a bunch of dead guys."

"I'm wondering if I should have mentioned that one of them was female," Sharon said, leaning back against the wall, her shoulder bumping against his.

"I think it's better to wait," he said. "Let's find out if it's Agnes first."

"I'm exhausted," Sharon suddenly breathed out.

"You hungry?" Flynn asked. Sharon didn't feel hungry but she knew she needed to eat. She'd skipped lunch, her appetite deserting her after her interview with Simon Hall.

"Yes," she said after a moment.

"Grab your things," he said, leaning down into her ear slightly. "I'll buy you dinner."

Sharon nodded and wandered back toward her office. She was too tired to resist or even argue over paying for her own dinner. She collected her belongings and strode out into the murder room where the rest of the team were now sitting at their desks talking about the case. Buzz handed her a copy of her interviews with Simon and Helen Hall for her to type up her reports and transcripts.

"Good job today everyone," she said to them. "Now all of you go home and get some rest."

She listened to everyone muttering, glad that it was another day over. She watched Flynn turn off his computer and he moved toward her. They were heading out toward the elevator when Provenza nearly bumped into them.

"I've told everyone to go home," Sharon told him. "I suggest you do the same thing."

He nodded and Sharon and Flynn continued passed him. When they got into the elevator Sharon caught the look that Provenza gave Flynn before the doors closed. If she had been in any other mood she might have questioned it but with her body lacking the energy, she chose to ignore it and instead, focused on the warmth Flynn's body radiated next to her.

Hope you enjoyed :D nighty night! xxx