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 the wonderful reviews so far! I'm glad everyone is enjoying this story.

Chapter 3

Present Time

Mike stood at the scene of where Sharon and Andy were at this afternoon. Patrol had set up a perimeter and stopped everyone from going inside the building until SWAT had arrived. Mike nodded to the patrol officer after he had briefed him and then walked back to where Amy and Buzz were standing.

"They are waiting for SWAT to come. Apparently, the suspect is held up in an apartment and is not coming out," Mike informed them. "I'm going to call Provenza and let him know what's happening here," Mike said and pulled out his phone. "Hopefully he'll have news about the Commander," Amy stated and they waited there.

"Mike, what is going on down there?" Provenza said as he answered his phone. "The suspect is held up in an apartment, they are currently waiting on SWAT to come on the scene here. I guess they gave chase after patrol arrived on the scene. Any news on the Commander?" Mike stated to him.

"She's still in surgery. Flynn spoke to a nurse not too long ago. Uh, Mike, the bullet that hit her was a cop killer. When it hit her vest it fragmented into pieces and went into her side, she had some internal bleeding as a result," Provenza informed him as he watched Andy leaning against the wall of the waiting room.

There was a short pause between Mike and Provenza over the phone before they spoke again. "Keep me posted," Provenza told Mike and then he hung up his phone. Just then, Julio showed up with Matthew. "Dad!" Matthew cried out as he ran over to him and gave him a hug. "Matthew," Andy muttered into his neck as he knelt down and hugged him.

"Is Mom going to be okay?" he asked him. Andy pulled away slightly to look at him. "The doctor is patching her up right now, but she'll be okay," Andy told him, not wanting for him to worry about it. "I'm sorry I didn't clean my room up last night," Matthew cried. "Is that why Mom got shot?" he added and Andy looked at him and shook his head.

"No Matthew, that's not the reason why she got shot," Andy said trying to comfort him. "I promise I'll clean my room up from now on when Mom tells me to do it," Matthew pleaded with Andy. Andy smiled at the boy and pulled him in for another embrace.

"Well, that's good to know buddy," Andy chuckled his response to the kid. He broke their hug and looked at the boy. "Why don't you go have a seat over there, maybe start on your homework if you can while I talk to Uncle Louie," Andy wiped the tear from Matthew's face and stood up.

Matthew nodded and grabbed his backpack that he had dropped earlier and went over to sit at the table and chairs. Andy watched him walk over there and then turned to Provenza who was speaking to Julio. "I want you to go with Lieutenant Cooper and the rest of SIS, round up Martin Lipinski and Daniel Jones. I want them arrested, we can figure out the charges later," Provenza told Julio. "Yes sir," Julio answered and then turned to Andy as he came up behind them.

"Thanks Julio," Andy shook his hand. "Not a problem sir. He reminds me of Mark," Julio smiled and then left to meet up with Lieutenant Cooper. Andy then looked at Provenza. "So, you're arresting all the dirt bags associated with this ring then?" he asked him. "Didn't give me much of a choice in the matter when two of them opened fire on my best friend and my commanding officer," Provenza stated to him.

"Andy?" he heard his name being called and turned around to find Patrice there standing with a cup of coffee in her hand. "Don't worry, it's decaf," she assured him as he took the cup from her. "Thanks," he muttered and took a sip. "Can I ask you a question?" he asked Patrice as they stood there. She nodded. "What exactly does your spleen do?" he asked her. Patrice sighed before she answered him.

"Well, Andy, the spleen helps your immune system fight diseases. It filters red blood cells through your body along with white blood cells," Patrice explained to him. "Immune system, will her body still be able to fight things off?" Andy then had a worried look on his face.

"Andy, I'm sure everything will be okay," Patrice told him placing her hand on his shoulder for comfort.

Just then, the nurse came back out and Andy and the rest of them turned to her as she walked towards them. "Lieutenant, your wife is out of surgery now and will be in a recovery room shortly. You're welcome to sit with her there until they move her to a regular room," Racheal stated to him. "Thank you," Andy said releasing the breath he didn't realize he was holding when she walked out. "You can follow me and I'll show you the way," she informed him and he nodded.

Andy turned around to face Provenza and Patrice. "Let Rusty know, um, can you call Nicole and tell her, and Ricky and Emily," Andy started to ramble off but Provenza nodded. "Go, sit with her. I'll handle it," Provenza told him. Andy glanced over at Matthew who was doing his homework.

"We'll watch him, don't worry," he again informed him and Andy nodded. He then followed the nurse towards the recovery wing. As he was walking down the hallway, his mind went back to earlier in the case.

65 hours earlier

Sharon was sitting in her office when Andy knocked on her door. "Come in," she said as she paged through one of the files on her desk. "Hey," he said as he walked in her office. She looked up at him and smiled. "Hey yourself," she replied and placed the file back down on her desk. "So, I was able to track down some of the stolen items that were reported," he said as he handed her the list of items.

She looked them over while he still spoke to her. "So, what do you want to do?" he asked. "Well, would it be possible to interview the people who had these items stolen from them? I know Robbery did that on certain items but not all of them," Sharon suggested. "We could go through that," he said and started to leave her office before he stopped just short of the door. "Um, do you want to go out to dinner tonight?" he asked her. "That's if we get this part wrapped up in time," he added and tried to gauge her reaction.

"Well," she sighed and he took that as a no answer. She didn't want him to look like a lost puppy dog the way he was looking right now. "I'll tell you what. I promise the two of us will go out when we wrap up this case, for sure," she told him and he gave her a slight smile and nodded. She nodded back and continued with the file on her desk.

Present time

Andy walked in the recovery room and saw Sharon lying there on the hospital bed. She was hooked up to a monitor and had an oxygen cannula in her nose. She looked so fragile as she lay there. She had a bandage on her left arm where she had been shot. He could only assume there was another bandage on her left side from the surgery.

He walked over to her bed and sat down on the chair that the nurse had provided him. He took a hold of her left hand. It was cold to the touch and Andy didn't like that feeling. "Is this your way of getting back at me all those times you were sitting there while I was lying in a hospital bed?" he chuckled to her but she didn't respond. Andy wasn't expecting a response either. "You still owe me dinner out somewhere, and I will hold you to that as soon as you get better," he just sat there and watched her.

51 hours earlier

The team was back in the office that morning after having spent the late afternoon yesterday interviewing the people who claimed ownership to the items that were stolen. Sharon walked out of her office. "I have a meeting with Assistant Chief Mason this morning, hopefully I shouldn't be too long," she informed Provenza, Andy, and the rest of the team as they sat at their desks.

"Commander, we are going to figure out who the leader of this group is. Sanchez and Sykes are bringing in one of the guys now for an interview," Provenza informed her. "Really? Which one?" she said as she looked at the Murder Board. "Chi Chi Gonzalez. We figured it was easier for him to come to us than vice versa," Provenza answered her.

"Well, then I can cancel my meeting with Mason. I'll just tell him that something's come up in the case. He'll be happy to hear that," Sharon said as she wondered why the Lieutenant didn't inform her earlier of this. Chief Mason had been asking her several times for updates on this case and for that matter, it was starting to annoy her.

"We can handle this Commander, if you still want to have your meeting," Provenza stated as he glanced at Andy. Sharon looked at Andy as well. "I get the feeling that you don't want me here to witness this interview, Lieutenant. Why is that?" she asked him.

"I didn't think you wanted to deal with his lawyer," Provenza said. "And who's his lawyer?" Sharon asked but before Provenza or Andy could answer her, Amy and Julio returned. Chi Chi walked in behind them and then Sharon knew why her two Lieutenants didn't want her to deal with his lawyer. Jack walked in next to Chi Chi.

As soon as Jack made his way inside the Murder Room, he immediately made eye contact with Sharon. Sharon stared back at Jack and it was broken up by Andy stepping in front of Sharon, as a way to shield her from her ex-husband.

"Sharon, nice to know that your division likes to go to places of work and make a scene before asking innocent people downtown to answer questions," Jack stated as he walked past her and headed with his client into the interview room.

She turned to Andy and gave him a look. "You knew he was his lawyer and didn't tell me?" Sharon asked Provenza as she turned to him now. "I only knew when Julio called us to let us know they were coming back here with them," Provenza stated. "I wasn't hiding this Commander," Provenza added. "Tell her Flynn!" Provenza hit Andy in his shoulder with his hand. "I don't want to hear it," Sharon stared at him briefly before she started to walk to the interview room.

Andy watched her as she walked away from them. Sharon stopped before she entered the interview room and looked at Andy. "Lieutenant Flynn, please join me," she said and Andy glanced at Provenza and then started to walk towards Sharon. Everyone else went into Electronics to watch the interview take place.

"Ah look, the happy couple," Jack stated as Sharon and Andy entered the interview room together. "Forgive me if I don't return the pleasantries, Jack. Let's cut through all of that and get down to why your client is part of a robbery ring that totaled five million dollars in stolen items," Sharon wasted no time getting into the interview. This made Andy smirk a little as he sat there across from Jack and his client.

Jack cleared his throat and knew his ex-wife and her current husband would stay strictly on business. "My client is not part of whatever robbery ring you think he is. He is a good citizen who works just like anybody else, providing for his family," Jack stated as he looked at Sharon. "Yeah, a good citizen," Andy muttered under his breath as he looked at the two of them sitting across the table. "Your client here has a long rap sheet, former gang member of the 112, and now all of a sudden he's reformed?" Andy added as Sharon sat there watching Jack.

"Whatever my client did in his past is just that, in his past. He's made up for all of that and paid his debt to society," Jack fired back. "Okay, well then Chi Chi, perhaps you can tell us about Martin Lipinski, or Daniel Jones, or how about Blake Harper?" Sharon asked Chi Chi as he sat there quietly.

"I don't know those people," Chi Chi responded. "Oh, well let me refresh your memory. Here is a picture of you and Martin Lipinski talking to one another outside of an art gallery," Sharon showed him the picture that they had.

Jack took a look at it and gave it back to Sharon. "This is fuzzy, maybe you can see my client but doesn't prove anything," Jack stated. "Well, here's another one of your client talking with Daniel Jones at a car dealership, and that picture is perfectly clear, not fuzzy Jack," Sharon stated as she looked at Jack. He smiled at her and then looked at the other picture.

It did show, clear as day, his client speaking with another man about something. "So who's this Daniel Jones that you claim my client is speaking to in this picture?" Jack asked them. "He's a mortgage broker, and we thought your client might be looking to re-finance or buy something that required a mortgage but, that wasn't the case here, isn't that right, Chi Chi?" Andy asked him. Chi Chi did not answer them; he just sat there and tapped his fingers on the table.

"We found his fingerprints on some items that were recovered yesterday, one in particular can actually be seen in the picture we showed you," Sharon stated and pointed out the Lamborghini car in the photo.

"You see Jack; this picture was taken at a dealership that sells foreign sports cars. Your client here was co-conspiring with Daniel Jones to steal this car that they were standing in front of, which they did that night after the dealership closed," Sharon explained to the both of them and then showed them another picture.

"Here is your client, driving the Lamborghini off the lot. Look at the timestamp on the picture," Sharon added. Jack looked at the picture then back up at Sharon and Andy. "So what do you want?" Jack asked them. "We want to know how many people are involved in this robbery ring that your client seems to be a part of," Sharon stated.

Jack turned to his client and whispered something to him. "What's in it for my client if he cooperates?" Jack asked them. Sharon turned to Andy. "If your client cooperates with us, we'll be sure he gets a deal from the DA's office," Andy stated as he shifted in his chair. Jack laughed. "Oh come on! You guys don't have a deal in place?" Jack stated, laughing still. "That's new for you Sharon," he added.

"You either charge my client now with grand theft auto, and get him a deal, or we walk out of here and you'll have to arrest him later on," Jack stated as he wanted to see if they were bluffing. The evidence they had was circumstantial at best and wouldn't hold up in court just yet. They needed more information. "That's what I thought," Jack stood up and his client did as well.

Both Sharon and Andy stood up and she nodded to him. Andy walked over to Chi Chi and placed his hand up to stop him. "Not so fast, you're under arrest for grand theft auto, turn around and face the wall," he told Chi Chi and he cooperated.

"Wait a minute, Sharon! What about our deal?" Jack stated to her. "There's no deal Jack, your client clearly stole this vehicle, and if he didn't want to cooperate regularly then you'll have to take it up with the DA's office when he's arraigned," Sharon stated to Jack.

Jack huffed out after his client was taken to booking by two officers. Andy watched Sharon stand there. "You okay?" he asked her. "Jack being Jack," she answered. "Now, you and I need to talk," she told Andy and walked out of the room.

Present time

Sharon stirred as she lay there on the hospital bed. This got the attention of Andy who was still sitting with her while she was in recovery. "Sharon?" he whispered to her and held her hand. She squeezed his hand in hers and started to open her eyes. He saw her green eyes looking back at his and gave her a smile. She looked him over through her grogginess. "Hi," she said breathlessly as she closed her eyes again.

TBC