A/N- So this is coming out in a rush before the new eppy. Maybe.

Sharon pulled her cardigan tighter about herself and dropped onto the sofa. It had been a long, emotional day in more fields than one. She sighed. Tao had gone home to his wife. Sharon had called Kathy, herself, to let the woman know what had happened and what to expect. It was procedure- almost- for a supervisor to call an officer's family in a case like this. It was a little out of the way, but she didn't mind.

She grabbed a throw pillow and held it tightly. There was Tao, and then there was Rusty.

Her son was annoyed. She understood why he was angry, but she couldn't do anything. Legally, couldn't do anything. Nonetheless, she was so proud of him. The vlog episodes she had seen had been professional both in investigation and reporting, and they even looked well-made.

She'd watch them all after the trial, she decided. If she watched them now, it wasn't as though anyone would know. . . Unless her internet history was subpoenaed as part of her involvement with Rusty. Or she said something that Rusty knew and she hadn't fond in her own investigation. Or- she cut herself off. She could wait. She would wait. It wouldn't do anyone good to indulge her inner proud mama. Rusty understood. He knew she couldn't watch them.

Speak of the devil, she thought. The boy walked across the living room behind her, absorbed in his phone. She leaned over the back the sofa, staring at her son upside-down. She was too tired to care what he thought. "Rusty?"

Rusty turned to look at her. Sharon's hair was almost touching the ground as she stretched her hands over- or under?- her head.

"Yeah?"

"Are you okay with everything?"

"The Alice stuff?"

"Mmhmm." She straightened and turned around to face him properly.

"I guess. I mean, what am I supposed to do? Go directly against what the judge told me?"

"I suppose you don't have many other options," she laughed.

"We'll I think I'm going to try and track down her pho-"

"Ah." She held up a hand. "I can't hear that." Her expression softened. "I'm sorry."

He shrugged. "It's okay." He looked down for a moment. "Can I, uh, can I talk to Doctor Joe about it?"

Sharon chewed on her lip. "Mmm, I think so. Yes. That should be alright."

"Really?"

"Mmhmm."

"Okay. I might do that. Is Lieutenant Tao okay?"

She blinked, surprised by the sudden non-sequitur.

"Doctor Joe. Psychologists. . ." he raised an eyebrow at her and she had to hold back a smirk at the gesture. He truly was her son.

"I think he'll be okay. He has an appointment with our department shrink tomorrow."

"Shrink? I can't believe you said that."

She shrugged, smiling. "It's been known to happen."

"I hope he's okay."

"He'll be alright," she said, standing and rounding the sofa. "It's happened to all of us. It take time to heal and recover from the. . . the emotional and mental trauma, but he'll be okay again."

"'There's a difference between being mentally ill and emotionally injured.' You told me that."

She hummed. "Yes, I remember. I'm glad you do."

He paused. She had said all of us. "Sharon?"

"Yes?" She looked up from the drawer where she kept the takeout menus.

"Have you ever shot anyone?"

She stared at him, then spoke after a long pause. "Yes. Three times. Nearly four."

"What do you mean?"

"Wade Weller."

"Lieutenant Provenza shot him."

"I had my weapon out, and I was ready to use it."

"Oh."

"There was a man, oh, five or six years back, who shot Andrea. I shot him. With a beanbag gun, mind, not my service weapon."

"Andrea, like DDA Hobbs?"

"Mmm."

"She was okay after that?"

"Yes. It was just a through-and-through in her arm, fortunately. She came back to the station with us, actually, to wrap up the case."

"Wow. That's dedication." He set his phone down on the table and sat down at one of the bar chairs. "Who else? If that's okay."

"Of course. A few years before, I had to. . . I had to shoot an officer."

"What?"

"I was in FID at the time, investigating an improper use of force, and. . . well, it was true, and he thought he could get away, I guess. I still don't know what he was thinking, and I'm not sure I ever will."

"I'm sorry. I can't really imagine that."

She shrugged. "It's happened a couple of times, here and there."

"Multiple times?"

"Mmm." She didn't want to think about Ally Moore. "The first time I shot someone was only six months after I graduated from the Academy."

"Seriously? Oh my God, Sharon-"

"He lived," she said. "But it was still. . ." She wrinkled her nose. "Not something I want to think about really."

"Sorry."

"No, it's alright. It's not something we should forget, even if we want to. It needs to be remembered, if just to remind us why we do our jobs. Why FID needs to police the police." She sighed as she said the last words, and Rusty could tell they had been said to her many times before.

"Anyway." She shook her head and looked at him. "What do you want for dinner?"

"What?" He wasn't ready for her subject switch.

"Dinner," she said slowly, smiling. "Food."

"Uh. . ."

"Thai, Italian, the deli down the street, vegetarian-"

"No, not vegetarian. You and Andy can do that on your dates or whatever you call them, but I would prefer-"

"Okay, okay," she laughed. "Chinese?"

"How about Thai? Isn't that what that cashew chicken stuff was?"

"Massaman curry?"

"I dunno. That stuff with cashews and chicken and rice. It was brown?"

"Massaman curry." She snorted and pulled the appropriate menu out. "I'll call it in, and you finish up Alice's vlog episode."

He grinned. She couldn't listen, but she cared. He suddenly felt warm, glad she still cared about Alice. "Thanks."

"Of course. Now shoo. I want to be surprised when I finally get to see these."

"You're going to watch them?"

She raised her eyebrows. "You doubted that? I'll have to wait until after Slider's trial, but yes."

He nodded. "Okay. Okay, thanks Sharon." He grabbed his phone and retreated from the kitchen. "Love you."

She smiled to herself as she picked up her phone. He was a good kid.