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: Hello everyone! It's been a long hiatus from me with writing stories and a lot has been going on. However, I started to read all of my stories again these past couple of months and I missed these characters so I started to write a new story. I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 1

It was a bright morning in the city of Los Angeles. Birds were chirping and people were going about their day. Lieutenant Provenza was sitting at his kitchen table drinking a cup of coffee when Patrice entered the room from the hallway. "Are you almost ready dear?" she said to him as she made her way passed where he was sitting and walked towards the pantry area. Provenza grumbled incoherently as he sipped his coffee.

"I don't know why you are dragging me out to the bank on my day off," he muttered to her and she stopped to glare at him. Patrice walked closer to him. "Because, sweetie, it's a beautiful morning, and I don't want you to be cooped up in the house all day, reading your paper and doing whatever else you would do," she told him.

He looked up at her and gave her a smile. "Yes dear," he said, almost in a mocking but friendly tone. He stood up and took one last sip of coffee before putting the cup back on the kitchen table. "Alright, let's get going," he said, and he grabbed his car keys and they left through the garage door and got inside his car.

As Provenza was backing the car out of the driveway, he had to be careful because it was garbage pickup day and the garbage and recycling cans were at the curb. Once on the road, he started to drive the car, slowly down the street. Patrice was looking out her window when suddenly she yelled "stop!". Provenza slammed on the brakes and looked over to his wife. "What is it?" he asked her, wondering what she had seen.

"Look over there," Patrice said as she was pointing to the garbage can across the street from them. The house belonged to Craig Anderson. "What am I looking at?" he asked her as he peered over to the can in question. "That rug, is that a blood stain on it?" Patrice asked. Provenza tried to get a better look at the object but couldn't get a good look. "I can't tell, maybe someone spilled something on the rug and decided to throw it out instead of cleaning it?" he told her as he started to drive the car, moving forward down the street.

"Wait, you're content with that answer?" Patrice asked him. Provenza stopped the vehicle two feet from where they were before and placed the car in park. "What would you like me to do?" he asked her. "Come on Louie, you have to admit that looks a lot like blood," she told him and glanced back at the rug. "I'm sure there's a perfectly good explanation for it," he said and then Patrice lightly tapped his shoulder.

"Go over there and see what you think?" she told him. He sat in the car facing forward and didn't move. Patrice stared at him and he glanced over at her. "Oh, you're serious?" he stated, not asking. "Yes, please, can you go over there and see what the great Detective Provenza thinks about that stain?" she praised him.

"And if I do will you then leave me alone?" he asked her. She nodded. "Of course, honey, after we go to the bank," she added. Provenza huffed and got out of the car. "I finally have a day off and I have to do this," he muttered to himself as he made his way around the car and towards the garbage can in question.

He looked at the stain on the rug. It could have been anything from fruit punch to grape juice to red paint for all he knew. He turned to look into the car and saw Patrice looking back at him. He shrugged his shoulders and made his way back to the car. He closed the door after he sat behind the wheel again. "So, what do you think?" Patrice asked him. "I think you've been watching too many crime shows," he said.

"Does it look like blood?" she asked him. "Yes, but it could be any number of things also," Provenza quickly answered her. Just then, Craig Anderson stepped out of the house and started making his way down the driveway. "Oh wonderful, now he's probably wondering why we are stopped here," Provenza quipped as Patrice rolled down her window.

"What are you doing? Don't roll down the window!" Provenza told her but it was too late and Craig walked over to where they were parked on the street. "Lieutenant, Mrs. Provenza, is there a problem?" he asked them as he stood back from their car.

"Hi Craig, um no, no problem, I was just telling Louie here that that's the kind of rug I want in our dining room, it looks Persian," Patrice quickly came up with an excuse for them. "Oh, um I'm not sure, my wife Kristy picked it out a few years ago and then the kids were fingerpainting a couple of days ago and spilled paint all over it," Craig answered them. "Oh, that's too bad," Patrice said and glanced at Provenza. "Yeah, we tried cleaning it, but it didn't work so Kristy just said we might as well throw it out," Craig added.

It was starting to get awkward between the three of them until Provenza chimed in. "Well, we best be on our way," he told him and started to slowly drive away. Patrice waved to Craig and then rolled up her window. "He's lying," she told him as he turned the corner and headed towards the main road. "I think that's my line," Provenza giggled but Patrice was serious. "What made you say that?" he asked her as he turned right onto the busy street.

"Because Kristy isn't his wife," Patrice stated. Provenza looked at her in disbelief. "Are you certain about that?" as he continued to drive. "I'm sure of it Louie," Patrice answered as she looked at him. "And besides, I haven't seen his wife Amber in months," she added. Provenza pulled their car into the parking lot of the bank. After parking in one of the spots, Provenza and Patrice got out of the car and walked into the bank together.

Meanwhile, across town, Andy and Sharon were enjoying their much-needed day off. Sharon was sitting on a chair in the living room, drinking a cup of coffee and enjoying the silence in the house. Her phone rang and as she looked at the screen, she smiled. Emily was calling her. She answered her phone and spoke with her daughter.

Andy and Matthew were in the backyard playing catch. Matthew had a big game coming up on Saturday and he wanted to practice catching fly balls. Andy was throwing the ball up in the air and Matthew ran over and caught them each time. He had to contend with Moxie running and trying to catch the ball as well. A couple of times Moxie knocked him down but he got up and just laughed as Moxie picked the ball up and brought it back to Andy.

They were playing out there for about an hour when Sharon came out to see them. Andy was watching Matthew play with Moxie as they took a break from the fly balls as Sharon walked over to him and slipped her arm around his waist. She hummed as he put his left arm around her and pulled her into his side. "Provenza called your phone twice," she told him as she held his phone in her left hand. "Hmm, I wonder what he wants?" he asked out loud as he took his phone from her. "Whatever it is, I hope it's not a case," she smiled as he laughed at her comment.

Andy pressed the button to call Provenza back as they stood there together. Moxie ran over to where they were standing and Sharon bent down to pet him, breaking her and Andy's embrace. Andy held his phone up to his ear as it rang, waiting for Provenza to answer. "Flynn! What you don't answer your phone anymore?" Provenza said to him and Andy rolled his eyes.

"Oh, come on Provenza, it's a nice morning, why are you so grumpy?" Andy asked him and stepped away from where Sharon was so that she could play with Moxie. Provenza began to tell him about his morning and how Patrice thinks one of their neighbors murdered his wife. "Well, is your garbage still there or did it get picked up?" Andy asked and glanced over at Sharon who looked up and shook her head.

She walked over to where Matthew was sitting on the ground and Moxie followed her. "Who's dad talking to?" Matthew asked her. "Your Uncle Louie," she said as she picked up the baseball and started tossing it up. "Do you want to work on something else while your dad talks to him?" she asked him. "Sure!" he smiled and stood up, and ran maybe twenty feet in front of Sharon. "How about rolling grounders in the grass?" she asked and he nodded his head.

"I'm not going over to your house, its our day off!" Andy said as he saw Sharon rolling grounders in the grass to Matthew. "Look, they don't come to pick up the garbage until after noon, it's 10:30. You could get here, we could walk over to the questionable rug, and you can tell me your opinion," Provenza told him. Andy huffed and shook his head, glancing up to look at the sky. "Fine, but I'm not staying long, I had planned a nice afternoon with Sharon you know," Andy told him. "Geeze Flynn, I don't want to know your plans with her!" Provenza said. "See you soon," he added and hung up the phone.

Andy looked at his phone after Provenza hung up and then over to where Sharon, Matthew, and Moxie were in the yard. He walked over to Sharon. "So, what did he want?" she asked him as they took a break from playing. "He says Patrice thinks there's been foul play at one of their neighbor's houses and wants me to come over and look at a rug that had been thrown out in the trash," Andy told her, thinking she wouldn't believe him.

"So, did you tell him you would stop over?" Sharon asked him and smiled. "Yes, but I told him I couldn't stay long as I made plans with you," he said. "And Matthew and Moxie too," she added. "Don't worry, we will still be able to do what we planned, just a minor detour to their place," Andy promised her as he walked away from them towards the back door of their house.

TBC