DISCLAIMER: I do not own these characters, except for Matthew and Moxie. The rest of them belong to James Duff and the Major Crimes franchise.

A/N: Thanks everyone for continuing to read this story! Sorry for the delay in between updates.

Chapter 13

Sharon and Emily had picked up Matthew from school and now they were all walking down the hallway towards Doctor Joe's office. Matthew opened the door and walked in first, followed by Sharon and Emily. Matthew sat down on one of the chairs while Sharon checked him in at the front desk and then walked over to sit next to him.

She glanced at him before sitting down and he looked like he was nervous. "You're going to be fine," she told him and patted his knee with her hand. The other door opened and Doctor Joe was standing at the entrance-way. "Hello there Matthew!" Doctor Joe stated and then motioned for Matthew to enter his office.

Matthew stood up and walked inside the office. Doctor Joe nodded to Sharon and then closed the door behind him. "So, how did things go yesterday when you left here?" Doctor Joe asked him as he took a seat on his couch. Matthew shrugged his shoulders. "Hmm, am I to take it that things didn't go so well then?" Doctor Joe asked Matthew as he took his seat in front of him.

"Did you talk with your mom when you got home like we spoke about?" Doctor Joe asked him and he nodded as he sat there. "Okay, good! So, what did you talk about with her?" he asked and Matthew fiddled with his hands. "I asked her if she was going to be okay and she said yes," he started to tell him but then hesitated for a second.

"She asked me why I was asking her all of this and I told her that I didn't want her to die like my birth mother did and leave me," he finally told him. "And, what did your mom say when you told her that?" Doctor Joe asked. "She said she wasn't going to leave for a very long time," he muttered, answering Doctor Joe's question.

"So, do you think you've been acting out at school and at home because you're afraid that your parents are going to leave you all alone by yourself?" Doctor Joe asked him and he thought about it. "Maybe?" he shrugged his shoulders again. "There's this one kid at the after school care program, he was making fun of me because I'm adopted and I got into a fight with him," Matthew added.

"Oh and how did that go over with your parents?" Doctor Joe sat back in his chair. "Not good," Matthew looked down at his feet while he sat on the couch. "What did this kid say to you that made you so angry?" he asked him. "He told me that my parents had no other choice in adopting me. That they felt sorry for me," Matthew told Doctor Joe as he stood up and walked over to the race cars display that Doctor Joe had set up in his office.

"And, is that the reason why Sharon and Andy adopted you? Because they felt sorry for you and had no other choice?" Doctor Joe added as he watched Matthew play with the cars. "No," he muttered his response. "What's the real reason they adopted you?" he asked him and Matthew turned around to look at him.

"Because they love me," he answered him and sat back down again. "Very good Matthew," Doctor Joe smiled. "So, let's go back to when they first searched for you, after your birth mother died, you hid at your house and they found you, hiding in the closet in the bedroom," Doctor Joe stated and Matthew nodded as he remembered that day.

"They saw a tired and scared boy and wanted to help him right away, am I correct?" Doctor Joe continued and Matthew nodded again. "What were you feeling that day they found you?" he asked Matthew. Matthew sat there in silence for a while. "Matthew?" Doctor Joe watched the boy sit there. "I was scared," Matthew mumbled.

"I was scared that day when they found me. I was scared the day my dad got shot. I was scared when my mom got shot too," Matthew cried out. "Hey, it's okay to be scared, especially during those difficult times when you don't know what's going to happen," Doctor Joe told him as he sat there.

"Why do they have to have such dangerous jobs? Why couldn't they have safer jobs?" Matthew asked him as he stood up and walked over to the race cars again. Doctor Joe watched him walk away from the couch and turned in his chair. "Your adoptive parents have an important job. They took an oath to protect the innocent people that live in Los Angeles, including me and you. They are really good at their job and they enjoy getting to help people and putting away the bad guys," Doctor Joe told him.

"But why do they get injured?" Matthew asked as he moved one of the cars around the table. "Well, sometimes that happens in the job they have, but you need to remember this, Matthew, they love you and they would never leave you on purpose," Doctor Joe leaned forward in his chair and placed his elbows on his knees. Matthew continued to play with the cars and Doctor Joe thought of another way to explain this to Matthew.

"You like Batman, correct?" he asked him and Matthew looked over at him and nodded. "Okay, so Batman stops the bad guys that come into Gotham City, right?" Doctor Joe asked and Matthew nodded. "And sometimes, Batman gets hurt, but he recovers and is able to save the day," he added. Matthew came back over to the couch and sat down.

"Would you want Batman to stop saving the day?" Doctor Joe posed that question to him and Matthew thought about it. "No," he mumbled. "Okay, so that's just like your parents, they save the day by doing their jobs," Doctor Joe tried explaining to him, hoping Matthew would understand what he was trying to get to.

Matthew huffed as he pursed his lips, listening to what Doctor Joe was telling him. "Want to know something?" Doctor Joe leaned forward as Matthew watched him. "I got shot while I was in a courtroom, and your mother stopped the shooter from shooting more people that day," he told Matthew.

Matthew sat there listening to him. "Have you thought about talking with your adopted brothers and sisters regarding growing up with parents who are police officers?" Doctor Joe asked. "If that's what really is bothering you," he added, hoping Matthew would agree or disagree with him but he got no response.

"So, you started telling me about baseball yesterday," he asked him as he glanced at the clock on the wall. They only had a few more minutes in this session. "I play little league baseball," Matthew told him as he sat on his hands. "What position?" Doctor Joe asked him. "In the outfield. I'm pretty good at Center Field," Matthew told him.

"Did your parents enroll you in that because they knew you liked the game or because you expressed an interest?" he posed the question to the boy. "I like playing baseball," Matthew simply answered him and Doctor Joe chuckled to himself. "Are we going to play that game again today?" Matthew turned and looked at the clock.

"If you want to," Doctor Joe reached over to the table next to his chair and carried over the Connect Four set and placed it in front of Matthew.

Meanwhile, back at the Murder Room, the team had sent all of their reports to the FBI earlier in the day and now they were all just sitting at their desks, reading whatever they had available to pass the time. "I can't believe they came in here and swept our entire investigation from us!" Julio muttered as Provenza looked at him.

"Oh no! You're not starting that up now!" Provenza ordered Julio and pointed his finger at him. "I just calmed down Flynn from the whole FBI debacle and I don't want you starting it again!" he continued and Julio raised his hands in surrender to Provenza. "Easy sir!" Julio smiled and went back to looking over some paperwork that was still on his desk.

Andy walked back into the Murder Room with another cup of coffee in his hands. He saw Julio and Provenza debating on something and he decided not to bother with them as he walked to his desk and sat down on his chair. He glanced at his watch and saw that it was almost 4:30. Matthew's session would be ending soon and they would be coming over to the office.

He sighed as he sat there and rubbed his temples. He was both looking forward to his session tonight with Doctor Peters but also was a little reluctant. "Everyone, go home, enjoy the evening!" Provenza stated which brought Andy back from his thoughts.

One by one, the team started to leave the office. Julio was driving Buzz home today so they left. Mike walked out with Amy. Andy was looking at the doorway to the hall, waiting for Sharon to walk in at any moment. "Flynn! See you tomorrow and good luck with your thing tonight," Provenza waved to him as he walked out of the office.

"Oh, Commander, how are you feeling?" Provenza asked Sharon as he ran into in the hallway. "Lieutenant, I'm feeling better, thank you for asking," Sharon gave a small smile as Provenza stopped her in the hallway outside the office. "He seems to be in a funk, I spoke to him earlier in the day, up on the roof," Provenza told her and Sharon knew that Andy only went to the roof when he was really bothered by something.

"Thank you Lieutenant, have a good night! Say hello to Patrice for me!" Sharon touched his arm as he retreated to the elevators and she made her way to the Murder Room. As she entered the room, she saw Andy sitting at his desk looking in her direction. She smiled at him and he returned her smile with his own.

He watched her as she entered the office. She was wearing a nice pair of blue jeans, a beige blouse, and one of her cardigan sweaters. Her outfit reminded him of what she wore when she took down those two men who impersonated the police. The memory took his breath away as he stood up from his desk. She made her way over to him. "Hi," she smiled again as she got closer to him. "Hey," he pulled her in for a hug and held her close to him.

"Are you ready to go?" she asked him, pulling back from his embrace as she looked into his eyes. She saw them filled with worry. "Where's Matthew and Emily?" he asked as he worked his arms into his suit jacket again. "Emily dropped me off. Her and Matthew are meeting Rusty for dinner tonight," she smiled as she watched him.

She glanced towards her office and then back at Andy. "I'll let you pick where we are going tonight for dinner, and then you can tell me about your day of shopping," he grinned at the thought of what she had purchased as he led her out of the office and into the hallway. "Hmm, are you trying to gather some clues on what I may have purchased, Lieutenant?" she teased him as they waited for the elevator.

He laughed and shook his head as they both stepped onto the elevator. "No, ma'am, not at all," he cleared his throat as the doors closed. He was certainly feeling better than he had during the day. As they made their way to his car, he concluded that he missed seeing Sharon in her office, working side by side with her, and hoped that her doctor's appointment on Monday would go smoothly so that she could return to work.

He opened her car door for her and she sat in the passenger side. He flashed his smile at her before he closed her door and made his way over to the driver's side. "You seem to be in a better mood since the last time I spoke to you earlier today," she told him as he started the car. "I miss working with you," he confessed as he turned to look at her. "I'm happier when you're near me," he shrugged his shoulders as Sharon watched him.

She reached out and ran her hand along the side of his face. "What am I going to do with you?" she asked, barely above a whisper and he smiled. "You could show me what you bought," Andy grinned and Sharon rolled her eyes. "Come on, let's get through your session tonight, and you'll just have to wait a little longer, I promise," she told him. "Fine," he huffed and placed the car in reverse, backing out of the spot, and then driving them to the little restaurant Sharon liked.

They arrived at the restaurant and Andy held his hand out for Sharon to take as she stepped out of the car. They crossed the street and walked to the corner of the small restaurant. As they both stepped inside, they were greeted by the owner. "Ah, Lieutenant Flynn, and the lovely Captain," Billy stated and shook Andy's hand. "Well, actually it's Commander now," Andy corrected him as he pointed to Sharon.

"Oh, my apologies Commander," Billy stated and took Sharon's hand in his. Sharon smiled and linked her arm with Andy's as she stood there. "It's been a while since I have seen you two in here," Billy walked them to a table towards the back of the restaurant. "We've been busy, you know how it is, Billy," Andy explained as Sharon took a seat in a booth. "Of course," Billy nodded and handed the menus to them, giving them a moment to look things over.

Sharon ordered a chicken chili lime salad and Andy ordered the broiled fish special. As they waited for their food to come out, Sharon reached out and grabbed Andy's hand, to stop him from fidgeting. "You nervous about something?" she asked him and he raised his eyebrows. "Ah, a little bit," he sighed, looking down at the table.

"How far did you get along in the case before the FBI took it over?" she asked him, hoping changing the subject to get his mind off of his therapy session would help him. He looked at her and shook his head. "We had just spoken with this Victor Rocco guy, and let me tell you, this guy was a spitting image of D'Angelo," he started to tell her. "I may have said something to him as we were leaving his office," he added and she moved her head to the side, slightly, wondering if he taunted this guy like he did with D'Angelo.

"Tell me you didn't?" she asked him and he knew what she was talking about. "I didn't threaten him, sort of," was his response. "Andy," Sharon sighed as she took a sip from her water glass. "What? The guy was running an illegal gambling ring and ordered someone killed!" Andy defended himself and Sharon squeezed his hand, calming him down.

"We found the freezer storage place where the hockey player was killed, but that's when Chief Mason called us and told us to get back to the office immediately," Andy continued until their food was brought out. "Andy, I know the FBI taking over another case of ours is frustrating," Sharon stated. "Hah! That's an understatement!" Andy said as he poked his food with his fork, moving it around his plate. Sharon watched him as she ate her salad.

"Are you not hungry?" she asked him after watching him move his food back and forth on the plate for about five minutes. Andy looked across the table at her and gave a slight chuckle. "I just hope you don't regret anything by coming with me tonight," he huffed. "Why would I regret that?" she asked in wonder. "I don't know what I'm going to say tonight, I mean I have a pretty good idea what the doc is going to talk about, but, I don't want you to be uncomfortable, in case, you know bad things come up," he hesitated to say that knowing that he sounded just like Matthew did this morning.

Sharon shook her head. "You sound like Matthew now," she told him and he laughed. She grabbed his hand and squeezed it again. "Andy, I don't regret my choice in coming with you tonight, or being with you, or anything else you could possibly think of," she told him, being serious for a minute. "I love you, and I want to be here for you," she smiled, hoping that would re-assure him. "I love you too," he responded and they finished eating.

TBC