Everything We Are - Chapter 5

by Kadi

Rated: M

Disclaimer: It's not my sandbox, I'm only visiting for a time.

A little ground shaking in California was a normal occurrence. Routines were back to normal within just hours of the event. In the Flynn household, it took a couple of days. Proving that children were incredibly resilient, Ian was feeling better in a matter of just a day or two, and seemed not to remember either ordeal.

With Ian still so young, Sharon tried to work from home at least a few times each month. It didn't always work out well, but she tried her very best. She also tried to time it so that they had an extended weekend together, whenever possible. The occurrences didn't happen often, but she felt better for the attempt. It was something she also tried to allow Andy to do, but in their positions, it was tenuous, and it couldn't be seen as nepotism.

It had been more than a month since the last time she had that opportunity. The first time it came up again, Sharon took advantage of it without guilt or hesitation. Rusty had started his work at the Mayor's office, and it would carry him through summer and into the autumn months. She was seeing him a little less than they were accustomed to, but they had expected that there would be some long work hours ahead of him in the new job. He wasn't doing more than answering phones and filing, but it was an excellent learning opportunity, and he seemed to be having the time of his life. Sharon took heart at that.

Normally, on a day when Sharon wasn't working, if Rusty wasn't in class, she would have both of her boys with her. With Rusty working, her attention was focused entirely on her youngest son. They spent the day rather leisurely. Breakfast, and then a drive out to the mall. Mother and son spent a couple of peaceful hours browsing and shopping, and then it was time for a much needed market visit. A lack of time to grocery shop had meant ordering out far more than Sharon preferred of late. She intended to correct that, post haste, as a certain DDA would have said.

By the time they made it home with all for their purchases, it was time for Ian's nap. He was letting her know with his plaintive whining and the way he just didn't seem to be thrilled with anything that she did. As she put the last of the groceries away, and he threw his sippy cup across the kitchen, Sharon fixed him with a pointed look.

"I understand you're not happy, little man, but no." She pointed a finger at him, her gaze unwavering. He kicked the tray of his high chair in a fit of temper that his father would have been proud of and her eyebrow went up. "Ian."

The toddler covered his face and his head fell back. He whined loudly. "Mama." He thrust his arms toward her. "Up!" He demanded plaintively.

"We'll go soon," she promise. She picked up the cup and cleaned the minor mess it had made. After depositing it in the sink, she put away the grocery bags and finally moved to the highchair to free the unhappy toddler. Sharon lifted him onto her hip. "Is that better?" When he simply lay his head against her shoulder, she rubbed his back and sighed. Just like his father she couldn't stay upset with him for long. She lay her cheek against his head and swayed with him where she stood. "Okay, alright. I'm sorry. We'll go up and get that nap now."

Sharon carried her tired son up the stairs and lay him in his bed. She started the music playing with the nightlight beside his bed and closed the blinds and curtains in his room. It dimmed it, but didn't darken it completely. Fortunately, her son was still a fairly good sleeper. Sharon knelt beside the toddler bed and rubbed his back until his eyes drooped and closed completely. When he was completely silent, she drew quietly away. She made sure that the baby monitor was on, and that the gate at the top of the stairs was secured, and went downstairs to get some actual work completed.

Much as she had with her condo, she didn't have an actual office. She spent enough time shut away, she believed. Instead, her desk was set up in a corner of the living room, in front of two wide windows which overlooked the back of the house, with the deck and pool beyond. She sat there with her computer, and a small stack of files. Sharon checked in with the team, wrapped up reports and time sheets, and managed to get much more done at home than was typically possible in the office - where her administrative duties were concerned at least.

There was a time when she would have never dreamed of bringing work home with her. When Ricky and Charlotte were younger, especially after Jack left, home was home, and her time there was focused entirely upon her children. She felt that they'd needed her more than even Vice and later FID had. She had worked long hours, and there were times she'd gone without sleep for far longer than was probably healthy, but somehow it all managed to work out. She was always there for her children. She wanted to give the same to Rusty, and now Ian. Unfortunately, not bringing her work home with her was no longer an possibility.

She found a balance, somehow, within herself where she was able to accept that by bringing the office into her home, she was able to spend more time with her children. And of course… she took home to the office everyday. Even if she did maintain a strict distance between herself and her husband. Sharon considered that as she sent the last time sheet to Chief Taylor and signed off for the day, just in time to hear Ian rattling the baby gate to get her attention. He had played quietly in his room upon waking, but now he was ready for company other than his own.

"Hey buddy." Sharon made her way up the stairs. She opened the gate before lifting him into her arms. They made their way back to his room to gather a few things and freshen up before making their way back downstairs. Once the stairs were secure again, she let Ian down to explore while she closed off the kitchen and foyer. "Okay, go wreck everything!"

Ian had a small toy box in the corner and he went directly to it. It was a square, plastic structure that was light and easy for him to pull out from beneath the end table where it was stored. Once out, he began systematically pulling out every toy and inspecting it before he chose which he wanted to play with. This went along with the ever present matchbox police car and the newest addition of the plastic airplane from Chief Taylor. "Plane!" He ran back and forth between his toy box and where his mother sat on the sofa, showing her each item as it was taken out. Finally, he took his cars and plane to the coffee table and pushed everything off it as he began playing.

"I knew that I could count on you," she drawled, watching as the mess quickly piled up. Sharon watched him play for a few minutes, and then she wandered into the kitchen to start dinner. She left the gate open, so that Ian could move freely between the two rooms. Usually he would follow her, never staying out of her proximity for too long. His toys would inevitably follow him, and the key was not tripping over them as she moved around the kitchen. It was also not unusual for him to wander back to the living room while she cooked, especially if the television was on, as it was now.

While Sharon prepped a roast for dinner, she cast occasional looks into the living room when Ian would become too quiet. When she was satisfied that he was fine, she turned her attention to chopping vegetables: potatoes, carrots, and onions. Intent on her work, when she heard the sound of blocks clattering across the kitchen floor, she didn't look up. "Ian, I'm going to change your name to seek and destroy, honey."

"Whose child did you steal this time? Mine wasn't enough for you?"

The voice was familiar enough. Sharon placed it easily. Of course, how would she forget? There was a moment where her heart stopped beating completely, and then pounded quickly, painfully against her chest. Her hand clenched tightly around the chopping knife that she held. She drew a breath as she turned and felt it, and all the air in her lungs, leave her body at the sight of Daniel Dunn holding her child.

Both her hands were clenched. Her nails bit into her palms. Sharon fought hard to keep her face neutral. "Daniel," there was a quiver in her tone that couldn't be helped. He didn't look quite as polished as he had two years ago. His hair was longer, and it was a bit stringy. His clothes weren't nearly as well kept, or as expensive. It seemed Daniel Dunn had fallen on some harder times. The question remained, what was he doing there, and how had he found them? "What… how?" She clenched her teeth together and attempted a calming breath. "What are you doing here," she finally managed in a low, thick voice. Her gaze flickered to Ian and he seemed bewildered, but otherwise okay for the moment. He was studying the stranger.

"It isn't hard to find someone when you look hard enough," He stated. "Isn't that right? I mean, you found me, didn't you?" Daniel gazed at the child in his arms. "It isn't as though I didn't know where you work. From there, it wasn't hard to follow you home. I was really interested though to see you with another kid. I mean, at your age… but I guess you have a thing about taking peoples' children away from them. Who was it this time, hm? Which unsuspecting putz did you blackmail out of their son?"

Something in the way his arm tightened around him alarmed Ian. He shot a look at his mother and held out a hand. "Mama?"

"Oh, that's cute." Daniel chuckled, but there was no true mirth in it. "So, I guess you figured… what? Rusty was too old to really bring to heel. So you started with a younger one? Now you've got this poor kid thinking that you're actually his mother. That is truly pathetic. What's wrong Captain… your own kids finally realized what a cold, manipulative bitch you truly are?"

Sharon's jaw clenched again. She took a single step forward. She watched him closely, and continued to hold the knife at her side. She would not allow him to bring her children into this, and certainly not Rusty. "Daniel," her voice shook, but it was anger mixing with the fear. "You don't understand. I'm sorry if you're upset with me, but Ian is—"

"Another unfortunate brat you've gotten your mitts into?" He snorted. "What was the point this time? You can't hide it behind the mask of protecting a material witness," he sneered. "Are you really that lonely? It must not be easy being despised by so many."

Her eyes flickered to Ian when he began to whimper and reached for her again. "Daniel, Ian isn't a foster child. He isn't adopted. He's mine." She took another step forward, drew a shallow breath. "We can talk about whatever grievances you have with me, but he doesn't know you, and I'd like to—"

"I don't think so." Daniel took a half step back and turned the child away from her. "Yours?" He laughed. "You expect me to believe that? That not only are you not all shriveled and dried up inside, but someone actually slept with you?" He shook his head. "I'm not an idiot!" He yelled. "You think I don't know what you're capable of? You ruined my whole life! You took my son, you stole my life, and you think I care what you want right now?"

"Daniel!" Sharon took two, hurried steps forward when Ian cried out sharply at the change in the man's demeanor. She let the knife drop from her hand to clatter against the tile beneath her feet. Whatever else he thought of her, he had obviously found her weakness in her children, and was exploiting it.

"No!" The gun appeared in his hand from where it had been stored in the waist of his jeans, behind his back. He pointed it at her. "You don't get to make the rules this time, Captain." His hand shook slightly, but the gun remain pointed at her face. "This time, I will be making the rules. I thought maybe I would come here, and we would discuss the way in which you could begin to repair the damage that you did. But now, now I think we're going to do things a little differently. Now I see you've done it again." His smile was cruel, his eyes shone darkly. "Maybe, maybe you need to know what it feels like to lose everything. Maybe if you lose something, you'll understand just how pathetic and wrong you really are."

He walked toward her with the gun, and while a chill settled low in her stomach, she stood her ground. "Shh," she crooned quietly, at Ian's crying and reaching for her. Her eyes flickered back to Daniel. "What do you want me to do?" She asked, voice dropping to scarcely above a whisper.

Daniel stopped. He seemed to consider that. "Nothing." He bounced the child in his arms. "Nothing at all. Except… I want you to know what it feels like to lose everything that's important to you. Now it's your turn, Captain, to be told that you'll never see your son again."

Before she could process the panic, or the anger, he swung the gun around. She was expecting that he might try to shoot her, but she saw stars when it collided with her head. Lights went off behind her eyes, and pain exploded through her skull. She was knocked sideways, into the cabinet. A sharp pain went through her side as she collided with it, and her knees buckled beneath her. Sharon hit the floor, hard, and was vaguely aware of Ian's high pitched screams, slowly fading in the distance, as darkness closed in on her.

When Sharon sent him the text, asking which vegetables that he wanted with the roast she was making for herself and Ian, Andy's mouth watered at the thought. He was still a vegetarian, but there was just something in the way that Sharon made it that made him almost want to go back to red meat. Almost. She made this glaze for the steamed asparagus that had his heart a flutter, and the baste for the roast, which she added to the onions, potatoes, and carrots… Andy loved it when she felt like indulging her more domestic side. It was a side of Sharon that few ever experienced.

He knew when he got home, the house would be filled with the aroma of dinner. She would probably be folding the last of the laundry, or playing with Ian. There were some nights that he got home and Sharon was in the floor, with their son, directing his play in a way that was completely educational, but fun. He flourished with the attention, and it was a delight to witness. Yoga pants and her hair in a messy ponytail, they would be counting blocks as they stacked them for him to destroy, or identifying animals as he had them chase one another.

His son would sit in the cradle of his mother's legs, and they would simply play. It was… Andy had no words to describe it. His wife could be a dangerous, calculating woman, of that there was no doubt. He had seen her in action, the beanbag gun immediately came to mind. There had been other instances as well… beating down a door in her bare feet to get to Rusty and Wade Weller, although unwitnessed by him, he could imagine it easily. They had been to the range together a hundred times, her aim never faltered. She had taken him down in the gym, and he might have let her, just a little, but he couldn't deny that had she really been into it, he'd have been hurting. She wasn't superwoman, not by any means. She simply worked hard at anything she did. She set her mind to something and she did not give up.

She was simply amazing. Perhaps he was biased. Andy didn't know. He just knew that pulling into his driveway, he was suffused with this feeling. It was more than love, or happiness. Joy, perhaps, although there was little of that in his past. It was warmth. He was excited to walk through the door each evening, even when he could barely drag his feet he was so tired. Even when they were arguing over idiotic, petty things, he couldn't wait to see her again. He liked to see her lose her temper, the way her cheeks flushed and her eyes flashed. Andy glanced at his watch as he got out of his car. It was early enough, and he knew that she had taken one of her work-from-home days to be with Ian. He imagined he'd find them playing.

He made his way up the walk, and once inside, Andy dropped his jacket over the bannister of the staircase. He chuckled at the state the living room was in. There were toys strewn everywhere. The house wasn't quite filled with the aromas he expected, but he could detect roasting meat and a bit of onion. "Hey babe, I'm home." Andy stepped over toys and stooped, picking up a few of them. "Seek and destroy strikes again, I see. Hey bud, where are you?"

Andy didn't spot him in the living room, and glanced into the kitchen. Nor did he immediately see his wife, but the gate at the bottom of the stairs was locked. Andy moved to the french doors which opened onto the deck. They were still latched. "Sharon?" Lips pursed, he turned and walked toward the kitchen to check on the state of dinner. As he moved into the room, he tripped over a pile of blocks. That was unlike her. Sharon was good at keeping Ian's toys out of the kitchen, for the most part. "You worry about me spoiling him," he teased.

While he was standing in the kitchen, his brows drew together in confusion. The roast was in the oven, but the vegetables she was preparing with it were not completed. He found that odd. His gaze quickly swept the kitchen. On the other side of the center island, he spied a pair of legs sprawled and very familiar. "Sharon!" Andy rounded it quickly and slid to his knees beside her.

Her hair was obscuring her face and seemed matted on the side facing him. His heart was pushed into his throat. He felt his stomach knot tightly. His hands shook when he reached for her. "Sharon, sweetheart…" When he touched her, she moaned, and it was possibly the sweetest sound he'd ever heard. Andy swept her hair back without moving her too much and found the source of the bleeding. A cut in her hair, above her ear. There was a knot there as well, which indicated a head wound. "Hey." He leaned down close and cupped her face gently, but left her laying on her side. "Look at me baby, open those eyes." They fluttered, but didn't open. Andy sat back on his heels and looked around the kitchen again. "Ian, buddy," he called. "It's okay pal, come on out." There was nothing, and the house was fairly well closed off.

Andy reached for his phone, a terrible thought occurring as he called for backup and a bus. Sharon was injured and unconscious, where the hell was his son?