Okay, the last couple of scenes of this have been edited and changed. You don't have to re-read it - the main change is that now Sharon finds out about Rusty's misdeeds the previous night. And Andy makes an extra appearance ;).

Thank you all for your comments on the previous chapter :).

I really wanted this chapter up *before* tonight, since Sharon and Rusty really needed to start communicating and hugging before the show reminded me once again how great they are at all things that pertain to MIScommunication and NOT-hugging ;).

A Tangled Web (28)

The reprieve didn't last him long.

Sharon slept for another few hours, on and off, and Rusty might have dozed off for some of that, himself. Even in the hard plastic chair that they'd eventually brought in for him, he was more comfortable than he'd been in days. He'd tipped his head back against the wall and tried to 'focus on the positive'. There was plenty of positive to be happy about.

The problem was, the more he thought about how grateful he was that Sharon was back, the more worried he became about what she'd say to him.

The more he thought about how good his life was with her, the more miserable he felt about having to leave soon.

It was a vicious circle.

When he opened his eyes at one point and glanced back toward the bed, she was looking back at him.

She still looked really, really happy to see him.

Obviously Lt. Flynn hadn't told her anything.

"Hi, honey."

"Uh, hey…" Rusty swallowed hard. "How are you feeling?"

Sharon hummed thoughtfully. "I'm alright, I think." She smiled at him, "Don't worry about me."

Right. He did a weak sort of half-shrug and tried to figure out what to say. Those two horrible days that she'd been missing, he'd thought of a thousand things he wanted to tell her, and gone over them in his head a thousand times… but now that she was right there in front of him, somehow, his mind was a blank.

"What time is it?"

What?

It took him a second to process what she was asking. "Uhm… I don't know. Three? Four?" He scrambled to get his phone out and check. "Four-thirty." Huh, that was later than he'd thought. He must've dozed off for a while.

It was just… easier to sleep, when Sharon was there. Easier to breathe. Just… easier.

She gave him a searching look. "Did you eat lunch?"

Sharon.

"Uh…"

He couldn't even remember last time he'd eaten. Well, no, he guessed that he'd had some sort of bread and… something, that morning. He didn't even remember what.

He wasn't hungry.

"You know, I'm sure that the hospital cafeteria is still open... "

"Yeah?" His stomach was too tied up in knots to even think about food.

"Rusty…"

"Sharon, it's fine, okay? Just – stop worrying about me. I can eat."

Her expression turned abruptly sad, at that.

Rusty's shoulders slumped miserably . "I didn't mean it like that…" God. Why was everything coming out backwards? He rubbed his hands to his face. "Sharon, I… I don't…"

"It's okay, honey."

But it wasn't. The words kept getting stuck in his throat, words and thoughts that had kept him awake nights and tormented his days, and he just couldn't – "Sharon, I – I'm…"

She shifted higher up, turned toward him, "Rusty, it's alright…"

"No! No it's – it's not, okay? Just – Sharon, I… I don't want you to be mad at me."

"I'm not mad at you at all –"

"Now," he choked out desperately, "but… but you're gonna get mad at me again and I just – I don't want that, Sharon, okay? I'm really, really sorry, I was just – I didn't know what else to do, and I thought that you… I…"

She looked aghast. "Rusty... I am not mad at you, and I'm not going to be – no, Rusty…" He'd started shaking his head again, and Sharon had no idea how to fix things. "Listen to me for a second, please. I…" She took a deep breath, sat up straighter. "I'm sorry, that I've been behaving in a way that made you think that you were doing anything wrong, or that I didn't trust you…" She swallowed, and Rusty stared at her, uncomprehending. The words rang vaguely familiar, but …

…you don't trust me to do anything anymore!

I can't even have a normal conversation without you thinking that I'm like, doing something wrong!

…it's like, you constantly think I'm gonna get in trouble!

Whatever I do…!

That's what's not fair!

Oh, god. Was she –

"That wasn't the right way to handle things, on my part," Sharon acknowledged, "and I should have known better. You were... correct, to point out that I was being...unreasonable in…"

"No –"

" – in trying to restrict where you went and what you…"

What?! "Are you kidding me! Sharon you were right, I – I went to that mall and a couple of hours later it blew up and you were only there because of me and – and you could've – you – " Rusty nearly choked on the words. "Just – don't apologize, Sharon! You were right, I'm so sorry, I'm – I'm really sorry for everything – "

"No. No, Rusty, I was wrong," she said softly, then held up a hand. "Forget about the mall. I'm talking about everything as a whole." She bit her lips and took a deep breath. "I was… I was trying very hard to keep you safe, but I didn't see that I was doing more harm than good. I certainly never meant for you to have to worry that I'd get mad at you for no reason –"

"What? No – that's not what I–"

She shushed him. "Let me finish, okay?" She managed a small smile, and pressed her hands together, her voice lowering. "I do trust you to keep yourself safe, Rusty. It's... the rest of the world that I don't trust, sometimes." She sounded so sad. "But you're right… I…it's… not my right to dictate where you go and what you do like that, and I'm sorry that I tried to do it. I hope… I hope you can –"

"Oh my god Sharon, just, please, don't –" he gave her a pleading, tearful look, "–you don't understand, okay, you were right, all along, you're always right and I'm always … I'm… It's not that I don't want to listen," he swore, "it's just that at the time it always seems like I know what I'm doing, but – but then I don't – and– and if I hadn't gone to that mall…I thought you... because of me –" His voice broke. "Sharon…"

She shifted and started to say, "Come here," but he rushed over before the words were even fully out of her mouth, his arms going around her neck as she pulled him into a hug, and though he tried to be as careful as he could he clung to her tighter than he was proud of. "Honey, what happened in that garage had nothing to do with you," Sharon said quietly. "It was the case that we were working on, and it involved a very dangerous man. Things might've gone the same, or worse, at any other point – yes they could have," (she could feel him shaking his head against her), "and you had no influence on the outcome. Alright?"

He just moved his head again, and she couldn't tell if it was a nod or another headshake. "I'm so sorry about – about – everything I did," he swallowed, "I was just – I thought… please don't get mad..."

"Rusty, of course I'm not mad at you –" she could feel him quiver a little, at that, and didn't know how to reassure him better. She passed one hand through his hair, mindful not to get the finger sensor line tangled in it. "I'm sorry you were worried."

Rusty let out a strangled little noise. "I wasn't worried, Sharon," he mumbled into her hair, because 'worried' didn't even begin to cover it, because there were no words…

He squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his hands into fists, and Sharon just held on, sighing softly.

It was past six p.m. by the time Provenza decided that he'd had enough of the dead-ends and tail-chasing for one day, and reached for the jacket on the back of his chair.

"You're going to see Captain Raydor, lieutenant?" Sykes was the perkiest of the bunch – which wasn't ever unusual, but today she had an actual good reason, having come in to work only around three p.m.. He'd allowed her the morning off after staying at the hospital for most of the night.

"Your deductive capacities are a wonder to behold, as always, Sykes." Disappointingly, she didn't even look a little offended. Instead she just smiled and asked,

"Did Lt. Flynn send any more updates?"

His idiot partner had barely agreed to go get some sleep, and had shown up at the hospital again shortly after eight a.m., hanging there or in the general vicinity ever since.

"Not to me." Maybe he'd finally gone home.

Right.

"Probably too busy flirting with the nurses," smirked Sanchez.

If only.

"I'm still going through the evidence from the minivan, and both Jensen and Murray's financials, and records from their work places, but there's absolutely nothing that connects the two of them, let alone that places Jensen at Danny's murder scene." Tao sighed. "I was going to drop by to see the Captain, too, but… this is looking like a long night."

"Don't stay too late," said Provenza. None of them were anywhere near rested enough.

"Say hi to the Captain for me," Tao replied, and Sanchez and Sykes echoed the request. "Text us with updates…!" the lieutenant called out as an afterthought.

It was a pleasant surprise to find Flynn not glued to Raydor's door by the time he got there around six-thirty. She was propped up in bed, eyes closed, but obviously awake given that she was holding what looked like one of the hospital's landline phones, it's cable wrapped idly around one of her fingers.

" – absolutely not. Yes, I'm sure…Mm…No, sweetheart, I told you, everything's fine now… yes, I know…"

Hm. One of her kids was obviously getting the sugar-coated version of their mother's weekend. Knowing Raydor, it was probably something along the lines of, 'we had a complicated case and my phone broke' – the woman was stellar at telling the truth without actually saying much at all.

He didn't want to intrude on her personal conversation, and she hadn't noticed him, so after a quick once-over to assess her general state – she looked exhausted, but about a million times better than when he'd last seen her the previous night – he'd meant to quietly retreat. But she must've sensed his presence, somehow, because her eyes opened and she jumped a little spotting him in the doorway.

Provenza held up both hands. "It's just me, Captain" he said in a low voice, not meaning to interrupt her call. "I'll come back." But she held up her right hand, index finger raised:

"One second, please, lieutenant…," and then she told whoever was on the other end that she had to go. There were a couple more 'yes'es and 'fine's and 'love you's , after which she ended the call, and struggled a little to place the phone back on the bedside cabinet. He walked over to help her, disentangling the wire and setting the whole contraption out of the way.

"Thank you," said Raydor, and she smiled at him. "It's nice to see you, lieutenant."

"Oh, it is very nice to see you, Captain. I hope you'll forgive me for not bringing you a balloon – although, I see that someone beat me to it, anyway." There were two flower arrangements, with cards, on the cabinet, one on the window sill, and a fruit basket on the floor.

Rumor traveled fast inside the LAPD, which was no surprise.

"How are you feeling?" He gave her another once-over, his eyes lingering a little over her bandaged left hand. "What's the damage?"

She hummed. "According to the doctors, nothing irreparable." She gave him a small smile. "I think I'll live."

Provenza nodded slowly, his expression turning serious. "Sharon," he said in a low voice, putting a hand on her arm, "you know we caught the bastard. Flynn told you that, right?"

"He did," she acknowledged quietly, and met his eyes again. "Thank you."

His fingers squeezed her forearm for a moment, and they exchanged a serious look, the same note of earnestness in his expression, a slightly painful smile on her lips.

"Thank you," Sharon said again, softly.

He left his hand on her arm for another second, then cleared his throat. "Yes, well…it's the job, if you think about it. I mean, whatever amount of personal satisfaction we'll derive from locking that psycho up for the rest of his life is just… incidental." His eyebrows arched. "A bonus of sorts, if you will."

Raydor's lips pressed together in vague amusement, then a small frown creased her brow. "I understand that you and DDA Hobbs were dealing with Jensen today."

He gave a slow, deliberate nod, letting a few seconds pass before confirming, "We are, and there are no updates yet to share with you. I'll let you know when the deal's done."

Until then, they were planning to keep her out of it. Very much so. That was the point behind the whole effort, really.

He only hoped it would be possible.

Raydor, of course, looked ready for more questions, which didn't surprise him in the least, but in a timely interruption, the door opened just then, and Rusty walked in.

The boy looked better, too, and there was a relaxed note to his countenance and lightness to his step that hadn't been there for days – but at the sight of Provenza, panic flickered across his face.

Hm. Interesting.

"Honey." Raydor tilted her head to give him a warm look. "I thought Buzz and Lt. Flynn were driving you home after dinner."

Ah – so that was where Flynn was.

"Uh… yeah. I mean they are, I just… I wanted to come say goodnight." He fidgeted a little on the balls of his feet. "Hello, lieutenant."

"Rusty." The boy still looked wary, for some reason – now, Provenza remembered laying into him a little the night before, over the whole going home to sleep thing… but he didn't think that he'd been that scary. "So where is Flynn?"

"Uh, he and Buzz were parking the car. They dropped me off at the front door…"

Obviously to give him some time alone to say goodnight to Raydor. Which he had inadvertently spoiled. Well – best laid plans and all that… It might've been why Rusty seemed so displeased to see him? But probably not.

The boy was still looking at Raydor with a desperate sort of worry in his features, his eyes never really leaving her for more than a second. He didn't seem to want to say or do anything else in particular, just waiting to take his cues from her, but he looked so damn young and – longing, as he stood there, following her with an anxious, expectant gaze.

Provenza sighed.

No wonder Flynn and Buzz had wanted to leave him alone with her.

"Well, Captain… it's good to see you doing better." He straightened his shoulders and took a step back. "If you don't mind, I'm going to show myself out... I want to have a word with Flynn, too, I'll see if I can catch him on the way."

"Thank you for coming to see me, lieutenant," she said warmly. "And th–"

"I know, I know…" He didn't know if he could handle her thanking him for the fourth time. The damn woman… He cleared his throat again, "I'll uh… I'll keep you updated. But really...Sharon… don't worry about it too much." He flatly refused to say 'we've got this'. "We…uhh – it's being taken care of."

Fortunately, she just smiled and didn't try to thank him again. Wishing her a good night, he surveyed both her and the boy with one last look, satisfied himself that they seemed in alright shape, berated himself for feeling so relieved, and mentally sighed at the sorry state of the world.

Then he walked out, wondering if he really wasn't too old for that rollercoaster…

Mm.

Nah.

Sharon watched the lieutenant leave, the same grateful expression on her face. Then her gaze found her foster son again, who'd taken a few steps closer to the bed and now stood just out of reach. He smiled at her a little unsurely, when their eyes met:

"Uh…hey…"

She watched him affectionately, though there was a tinge of concern to it. He still looked too hesitant, and she didn't know how else to reassure him that things were okay between them. That he'd even thought otherwise…seeing him so worried earlier, worried about her being mad, had nearly broken her heart.

"Are you sure I can't like… bring you anything from home…? 'cause Buzz said he could drive me back here if you need anything…"

He really didn't want to go. That made her heart hurt, too, though in a different way.

"Tomorrow," she said softly, "when you come back, yes. After school," she added, and was almost relieved when the boy involuntarily rolled his eyes.

"Sharon –"

"Rusty." He fell silent, then, and she reached up to touch his cheek briefly. There was a moment of hesitation – did this count as being unreasonable, too? But no, school was school. She smiled and tried for her warmest tone, to let him know that he wasn't in trouble. "School is not negotiable, alright? I'm not going anywhere," she assured him. Though that maybe wasn't entirely correct – part of her hoped that she might be released the next day, but nothing was certain until she saw the doctor again.

"Go home, honey. Get some rest."

He fidgeted some more. "It's just… Sharon, I…" He was starting to look tormented again, and that only worried her more. "I…"

"What's wrong?"

Rusty bit his lips, then swallowed hard. "Nothing…" He met her eyes again. "I'm… really glad that… that you're okay."

Oh, Rusty. "I am too," she nodded quietly, and touched his hand for a brief moment. "Please don't worry. Everything's fine."

The way he averted his eyes and tensed his shoulders made her sigh.

"Flynn, so help me God –"

"I just want to say goodnight to her, geez, what's your problem?"

"Haven't you been here all day already?"

Andy rolled his eyes. "First of all, no, and second of all even if I had been, it's just common sense to say goodbye…! Look – if you don't want to drop me off, Buzz can still–"

Provenza grumbled something under his breath, and followed his partner back to the door of Raydor's hospital room. "Just make it quick."

Another eye roll. "You know, you get real irritable in the evenings. Maybe you've got blood sugar problems."

"Would you stop sounding like one of my ex-wives?"

They both put on more pleasant expressions as they walked in and Sharon and Rusty both looked over.

"Captain," Andy greeted. "You look a lot better."

She smiled warmly at him. "Andy. Thank you for taking Rusty to dinner."

"Of course. How are you feeling?"

"Better." It sounded as though she meant it, this time; after a second, her gaze stopped on his brace, and turned a little concerned. "How does your shoulder feel?"

"This? It's fine. They even gave me some cream or something…should just keep me on desk duty for a couple of weeks or so."

"I'm sure he'll be a delight to work with," Provenza deadpanned.

Sharon's eyes twinkled with amusement, and she hummed, "On the bright side, lieutenant, you'll have someone to write all the reports."

That drew a satisfied "Excellent point, Captain" from Provenza, and a noise of protest from Flynn.

On the fringes of their conversation, Rusty was starting look fidgety again. Provenza shot him a knowing look.

"Where's Buzz?" asked Sharon.

"Oh – he's picking up some prescription for his mom, or… renewing it or something," Andy provided. "He'll be up in a minute."

"I'm gonna drive Flynn home," said Provenza, "that way, Buzz doesn't need to make two stops. Or put up with Flynn's backseat driving," he added as an afterthought.

"My backseat driving? Why do you think no one ever offers to carpool with you?"

"Well–"

Sharon leaned back against the pillow, a vague smile on her lips; she was well aware that a lot of this was probably put on for her benefit, to make her feel more at ease, but she was grateful for it anyway.

She was starting to feel really tired again. She'd been awake for over two hours, not having been able to doze off again while Rusty was at dinner because her thoughts had circled back over and over to their conversation. What did he need? How should she behave? That explosion had thrown them both off track, abruptly, violently, but now that she was back she had to figure out a way to get things running normally again; seeing Rusty so panicked had scared her. Seeing him so panicked because of her, that was almost unbearable.

She couldn't believe that things between them had escalated to the point where he was genuinely concerned that she'd be mad at him, in a moment like this. Over him going to the mall for milkshakes with his friends.

She had overreacted. And… it probably reflected a whole pattern of behavior, on her part. A pattern that had inadvertently led her and Rusty to a very precarious place, and how was she supposed to tell him to stay, when she'd led him to believe that she didn't trust him to do anything?

...you're gonna get mad at me again and I just – I don't want that, Sharon, okay?

No wonder he'd been pulling away so much. Who knew what he was thinking…

"–Captain?"

Provenza's voice suddenly pulled her from her thoughts. She focused on the rest of them, with a small, apologetic smile acknowledging that she'd drifted off.

Rusty was still giving her wary looks.

God.

"Flynn and I are gonna get going," said Provenza, "let you get some rest. Ah…Buzz should be here any minute, to drive Rusty home."

Sharon nodded silently in reply. Belatedly, she realized that she'd never finished talking to him about the case. Or finished asking Lt. Flynn her other questions. There was just so much to think of…

"Please keep me updated on how the case against Jensen is going," she said after a few moments.

"We will – but like I said, we're taking care of it. Don't worry about that."

It was hard, not to worry. About… everything.

"Let me know how I can help," she said quietly. And she appreciated the kind intentions behind Provenza's ensuing eye roll, but they both knew the facts, here. "Lieutenant, sooner or later I'm going to have to give my statement, I am well aware of that."

"Well, it can be later," Provenza retorted. "No offense, Captain, but we're really doing fine at the moment without you."

Her lips pressed together in a strained smile. Were they really? No one else on the team had dropped by, and – she wasn't being vain, but she knew that that probably meant they were working. And that probably meant that proving a strong case against Jensen was not going 'fine' at all…

"Do you…" she sighed, hating to have to ask this, "Is there anyone who can corroborate the full details of his bomb plot? Danny Murray…?"

The look the lieutenants exchanged was answer enough. Sharon looked away, trying to suppress her painful grimace.

"We found Murray's body in his minivan, Saturday," Andy confirmed.

She'd known what must have happened to Danny, but… there was knowing, and then there was having the dead body to prove it.

That poor young man…

"We think Jensen killed him," added Flynn; Provenza made a surreptitious 'cut it out' gesture with his hand. Sharon just shook her head.

"Anyway, Captain – we should really get going," said Provenza.

"Look, Sharon, don't worry – we're fine, even without Murray, there's enough evidence to nail this son of a bitch." Andy didn't understand the dark glares that his partner kept shooting him. What, now he wasn't allowed to say something reassuring?

"We'll be sure to keep you informed," the older lieutenant said briefly, and with another pointed look at Flynn, he took two more steps toward the door.

Andy just decided to go with it. "Uh… yeah."

Suddenly, Sharon frowned. "Wait..."

Rusty's heart had picked up the pace when the two lieutenants had walked in; it had started racing when they'd all begun to talk about the case.

Now it felt ready to stop altogether. Please please please please...

"Andy…" Sharon was frowning thoughtfully. "If Danny was already dead when you found him," she reasoned, "and you didn't get Jensen until later…how did you know where to find me?"

Rusty froze.

Provenza grimaced, shaking his head.

Andy abruptly realized why his partner had been trying to cut the case talk short.

Oh. "Uh…"

It took about another ten seconds, after that, for her frown to deepen, and for her to turn to Rusty. The boy looked like he was about to face a shooting squadron. He swallowed hard, sent them a pleading look.

"Uh… where's Buzz?" Provenza asked suddenly. "Wasn't he supposed to be here by now?"

"Yeah," nodded Andy, "you know, I'm really starting to get worried… maybe he got… lost, or something…"

Sharon was paying absolutely no attention to them; they could see her growing more confused as she processed whatever she'd just remembered.

"Rusty…"

The boy visibly braced himself, eyes wide.

She looked straight at him, the same questioning crease between her eyebrows. "How did you end up with Lt. Flynn…?"

Andy gave the two of them a worried look.

Provenza sighed and rubbed his neck.

Rusty's stomach clenched into a heavy leaden ball.

"Sharon… please don't be mad."

He only felt worse when regret flickered across her face. No, no, no, no… he was supposed to have more time…

"I'm not," she said softly. "Don't worry about that." He gritted his teeth, his heart pounding, and she only looked more worried. "Rusty, I'm not mad –"

"Oh, I wouldn't make that promise until I heard what he has to say," sighed Provenza.

Sharon gave him a confused look, then looked back at Rusty. "What's this about…?"

The boy took another step back.

Communication! And then, miscommunication! And now... we'll see how Rusty gets out of it next chapter. Next chapter contains ALL of the communication ;).

The next chapter is also mostly written, but I anticipate a couple of days before the melted puddle of feels that I expect will be left of me after tonight's episode will congeal back into a shape that can type. So... next update should be up in a few days! Thank you all for reading!

(And if you feel an inexplicable need to comment tonight's episode obsessively, you know where to find me :D)