"What can I do to help?" Mac follows her stepmother through the house, "I know you can use me for something."
"It's a little more than that." Sharon shakes her head, "Your father wouldn't want you involved and-"
"I'm almost eighteen. I'm almost old enough to legally make my own decisions.
She stops at the kitchen, pouring hot water over a teabag in her favorite mug. She slowly turns to the side as she picks the bag up by the string, dunking it in and out of the hot water, "I don't want you to have to..." She takes a deep breath, "Almost is the word there, Mac. Legally, you're supposed to be with your mother right now."
"Legally, I can become an independent minor if I want. That's what Rusty did."
"That was different." Sharon shakes her head slowly,
"Really? How much different?" She replies sarcastically.
"He was left at a zoo after years of physical, mental, and emotional abuse at the hands of his mother and her various boyfriends. So please, Mac, tell me how his situation is anything like yours." The brunette snaps, looking at the teenager, "He had to rely on his own devices to live from day to day while being...while being abused even more by complete strangers in order to make a little money so that he wouldn't starve." She feels her eyes grow hot and she focuses on her mug of tea.
Mac steps back, looking out the large window on the side of the house leading to the back yard, "He doesn't talk about it."
"Yes, you may have had some mental and emotional abuse, but other than that, your father made sure you were taken care of. You never wanted for anything, or-"
"Yeah, alright." Of course she was complaining to the wrong person. Why would her stepmother care about her anyway? She swallows, "I'm going to...I've got things to-"
Sharon knows she shouldn't have done that. The words tumbled out faster than she could catch them, "Mac, I'm sorry."
"No, you're right. I'm...I'm not as good as Rusty, or as pretty as Eve, or as funny as Kate-"
She sighs heavily, "Stop. I don't expect you to be anyone except for Mac Flynn." Sharon moves closer to the girl before pulling her against her chest, "That's all I've ever expected you to be, and all I ever want you to be."
Mac stiffens within her embrace, "Then you can understand why I want to stick it to Trudy."
"I want you to do this for the right reasons, not because-"
"I hate her. I hate her with a passion, Mom. I hate-"
"Mom?" Sharon raises an eyebrow, smiling a little.
"Sorry, it's...I'm in the habit of saying it around Kate so she doesn't get confused and..." Mac looks to the other woman, "Please, let me do this. Let me help my Dad."
"Brenda asked your father about it last night."
"And?"
"He doesn't want you to do it." Sharon's voice is soft, gentle almost.
"I-"
Picking her hand up to stop her, she continues, "But, I know you need to, for closure and whatnot, so-"
Mac grins, finally wrapping her arms around the woman tightly, "Thank you, Sharon. Thank you."
Sharon smirks, hugging her closer in return, "If you get uncomfortable at any time, you can leave."
"What if she tries to take me with her?"
"She can't. We found the drugs in Andy's system. We just need to find her in possession of them or get her to confess." She nods, not really wanting to let the girl go, "We have warrants to search her house, her vehicle, and her purse. We're going to find them, Mac."
Mac nods a little, feeling actual love by a motherly figure for the first time. It didn't even matter what Sharon was saying anymore. Her hug meant more to Mac than anything said. She feels herself begin to cry, not necessarily wanting to, but needing the release of her pent up emotions throughout the years.
Sharon can feel the young woman breaking down. She holds her tighter, stroking her blonde hair. She absently kisses her temple, "Everything will be fine, honey. It will be hectic at first, but we'll get through it. I promise you."
"You mean that?"
"Absolutely, that is what family does for one another. You are as mush my family as my other children." She smiles.
Mac picks her head up, collecting herself as she moves away from Sharon, "I'm going to go upstairs and get ready."
"Would you like to borrow one of my blouses?"
"I...I don't have anything nice like you do." She shakes her head slowly.
Sharon takes the girl's hand, her mug of tea in the other, "Come along."
"I have to go to the bathroom first, and then I-"
"Your blades aren't there, Mac." The older woman says simply, "You don't need them."
Kate opens her eyes wide, swallowing, "I do need them, I use them to..." She feels her heart begin to beat faster, the panic setting in and the only way of relieving the pressure was discovered and gone for her.
Sharon watches her, "Eve used to cut herself when she was your age. A few years younger. She couldn't function with how things were between her father and myself. She nearly killed herself doing it, accidently cut her wrist too deep. I had to check her in to a counseling center."
"Before or after she saved you?" She begins to calm herself, or at least try.
She raises an eyebrow, smirking, "She told you about that?"
Mac nods slowly, "We were talking about our mothers." She swallows, "She never told me about the counseling center."
"Ask her about it sometime. I don't know how willing she is to talk about her experience, but it is worth a shot if you think it may help you. I think it just might."
She bites her lip, "It's...it helps me feel. Like...the pressure gets to be too much sometimes and I can't...I can't deal."
"We'll figure something else to alleviate your pressure." Sharon nods, leading the young woman to the large wardrobe containing a wide variety of clothing in various colors and fits, "Wear whatever you would like."
Mac looks to her, "Really? Anything I want?"
"Yes, at any time. Just let me know what you choose."
"There is...you have a lot of clothes."
Sharon hums a chuckle, "Need me to help you?"
"I would like that, yes please." She sighs, "I always just wore what was comfortable. Baggy clothes, an occasional pair of skinny jeans."
"And you want to...impress her, of sorts. Show her up, as my mother would say."
Mac nods, "She always makes fun of what I wear. I want her to feel like I am better than her."
"You are better than her." Sharon smiles, pulling out a pair of black pencil legged pants that hut just above the ankle, "Are you able to walk in heels?"
"I train in heels, actually. They build calf muscles faster and stronger."
"Is that a yes?"
Mac nods, "Believe it or not."
Sharon pulls out some of her more expensive pairs of shoes, nude heel with a red bottom, "And for a shirt..." She bites her lip in thought, looking through her blouses, "Green is your favorite color, right?"
She nods again, "I like red too."
"If you want to impress, wear red when you dress." She laughs a little to herself, "I can fix your hair for you, maybe a touch of makeup if you would like."
"Why are you doing all of this?"
"Because I want Trudy Wilson to see what I see anytime I look at you, an intelligent young woman with looks to die for and a sense of humor like no other." Sharon grins, "You impress me with anything that comes out of your mouth, Mac. She should see what she has missed out on."
"I'm going to go and take a shower." Mac looks down at the clothes with a soft smile.
"I will put these on your bed. I'm thinking a black blazer as well. We can decide when you finish."
"What about Katie?"
"What about her? She stayed with Eve last night. Your father should be discharged this afternoon. He probably won't even recognize you." She smirks.
Mac grins, nodding, "Hopefully not." She walks toward her bedroom, using her own shower. Never has she ever experienced such love from another person who was not her brother or father. She almost feels as if she doesn't deserve it. This makeover, the clothing. She deserved none of it. However, she allows her stepmother to use her expensive makeup and stylize her hair before pulling on the clothing. Stopping to look at herself in the mirror, she begins to grin.
"How did we do?" Sharon asks, dressed in a white cotton robe and wet hair after just getting out of the shower herself.
"I look...I look incredible." She reaches out, ready to give her stepmother a hug.
"No, no, no. That is silk, honey. Nothing wet." She grins, walking to her bedroom, "Let me finish and we can go."
Mac continues to stare at herself in the full length mirror, laughing to herself. She takes a picture of herself and uploads it to several of her social networks. She feels simply amazing and, maybe for the first time in her life, beautiful.
The car ride is relatively quiet and Sharon feels a sense of pride in the renewed confidence illuminating from her stepdaughter, "Are there any questions before we get there that you do not necessarily want to ask me in the office?"
"Can I yell at her?"
She smirks, "I do not care what you do as long as you don't threaten her or otherwise harm her."
Mac nods, "So, that's a yes." When she receives a look from the woman, she smiles. "Is this waterproof mascara?"
"Yes."
"Are you able to run in these shoes?"
"If I need to, but try to refrain from such activity whilst wearing them. They are the most expensive part of your ensemble."
"Okay." Mac nods slowly, "I feel like a professional."
"You will be attending Berkeley soon, you should feel like that once in a while." Sharon smiles softly, "You're growing up, Mac."
"A fact which I'm painfully aware."
"If, when you finish your studies, you would like a job working in the office, just let me know. I wouldn't mind some help with paperwork here and there."
She smiles, "Thank you."
After arriving to the parking garage and walking with her stepmother to the elevator and later Murder room, she raises an eyebrow when everyone watches her from their seats. Provenza even going as far as to stand at his desk to gawk at her.
Sharon waves a hand in the air to them, "It's just a little makeup. Return to what you all were doing." She escorts Mac to her office.
"Was that Flynn's daughter?" Buzz raises an eyebrow.
"If it was, she doesn't look like the same person she did a few weeks ago." Sykes shakes her head, "Anecdote beautiful." When receiving a pointed look from Provenza, she clarifies, "I mean, not that she didn't before, Lieutenant, but she looks like an adult and not the tomboy field hockey player she usually does. More grown."
Provenza slowly returns to his seat, the girl looks exactly like his sister did at that age, as well as his daughter. There is no longer any doubt in his mind where true paternity lies, but he knew the young woman thought only of Andy as her father, and he was fine with that. He wouldn't mess that up for her.
Sharon reemerges from her office, "Okay, so where are we this morning?"
Tao glances up from his computer screen, adjusting his glasses on his face, "They are bringing Trudy Wilson back up to our interview room per your request. Her place was searched and the pills we needed were found inside the inner lining of her purse inside a small re-sealable bag."
Sanchez rolls his eyes, "Bottom line, we got her dead to rights."
"We are going to put the final nail in her coffin, however." Sharon nods.
"With what, Captain?" Provenza glances to her.
She smirks, "Mac Flynn."
He raises his eyebrows, "Are you sure that's such a good idea? Trudy Wilson is a very unstable person. Mac's presence may trigger-"
"Lieutenant, they will be surrounded by police. If Trudy Wilson attempts anything that may harm or otherwise damage Mac Flynn, we can and will intervene. We aren't doing this just for Andy, we are also doing this for a young woman who was mentally, emotionally, and verbally abused during her entire childhood by her mother. Mac needs closure and we are going to let her have that." Sharon nods to him.
"By dolling her up and sending her in with her batshit crazy mother? I'm sorry, Captain, but that has trouble written all over it."
Sharon smiles softly, "Lieutenant, may I speak to you in the conference room for just one moment?"
Provenza rolls his eyes, but obliges his superior and rises from his desk, stalking to the place she asked him to go.
"Thank you." She makes a sweeping motion with her hand as he walks past her, following behind him and closing the door, "How did your talk with Brenda go yesterday?"
"It went, what's there to say?"
"Did anything alarm you during your talk with her?"
Provenza slowly looks her in the eye, realizing what she was hinting at, "Oh, you mean how I'm the biological father of my best friend's only living child with his ex-wife? Yeah, it was alarming, Sharon."
"It changes nothing, Louie." Sharon slowly slips her hands into the pockets of her black pencil skirt.
He laughs, almost bitterly, "I'm not the type who hears they have a kid and ignores it. I take care of each and every one of my own. I have children spanning wives and even one whose mother I wasn't married to. I am not a deadbeat father."
"That's just the thing, Lieutenant, she already has a father. She doesn't wish to know, via a biological standpoint, her true paternity. You need to honor her wishes." She nods.
"She looks like my daughter and my sister. My sister died a few years back. Car accident." He swallows, "I want her to know that if she ever needs anything that she can come to me."
"She already knows that." Sharon gently touches his upper arm, "She will always know that."
Provenza sighs, "You'll tell me if-"
"Of course." She offers him a soft smile, "Now, do you need a moment to collect yourself?"
"No, I'm alright." He nods, opening the door to the rest of the office.
"How many children do you have anyway?" Sharon watches him.
"I lost track a long time ago." Provenza replies sarcastically, providing a smirk as he returns to his desk.
Sharon enters her office, looking to the young woman sitting in the oversized green chair, "They should be up any minute with Trudy. Do you still want to go through with this? We have her, but I want to give you the chance to speak not only on behalf of your father, but on behalf of yourself. Many don't get that chance."
"I know." Mac nods, "And I can't thank you enough." She smiles, "Is it bad that I'm excited about this?"
The smirks, folding her arms, she picks her head up when there's a knock at the side door, "Come in." She calls.
Sykes peeks her head through, glancing to both of them, "Trudy Wilson is in Interview Two."
"Thank you, Detective."
Mac stands from her seat, rubbing her hands together, "Let's get this show on the road." She grins broadly.