A/N: a very panicky baby Rusty wants to take care of the sick momma bear. Andy is a bit dense oblivious but they're good in the end. instead of sleeping, I write this. haha. Maybe because I'm partly sick too. Comments will make my day! Read and enjoy! :)

Disclaimer: none of the characters are mine, no copyright infringement intended.

"Sharon? Sharon are you not going to wake up?"

Rusty shakes the body underneath a pile of comforters in Sharon Raydor's room. Not only is it unusual for him to do the waking up, there was no food for his lunch in the paperbag. Something was definitely wrong. The body underneath the covers shakes a little and then a muffled voice answers him,

"Nooo. Rusty get away."

Rusty sits down the bed and pulls the covers off Sharon. Hair strewn all over her face, the Captain's face is pitiful to say the least. Sharon takes the covers again and turns on the other side of the bed. Rusty shakes his head,

"What. It's Friday I still have to go to class unless-"

"There's a police car downstairs that's going to take you to school...I can't bring you to school today."

Rusty rolls his eyes, talk about the time-restricted Captain not taking him to school. He stands up and goes on the other side of the bed. He clears her face from her hair and then fights back a sad face. Keeping his face neutral, he looks at his foster mother and brushes the back of his hand on her cheek.

"What's wrong? Sharon?"

She doesn't say anything.

He places his hand on her forehead, "God Sharon you're burning up. Let me get you-"

He stands up but his trouser-clad leg is grabbed weakly by the Captain.

"No Rusty, please go to school. I'll be okay."

Her sentence ends with a whine and a cough, "Please? I'll be fine I just...I need to just sleep this in, rest some more." her voice was raspier than usual.

He sits back down and stares into glassy, unfocused stormy green eyes.

"Are you sure?" he smoothes his hand over her cheeks again. She's really burning from the fever.

"Yes. I promise."

Rusty stands up and goes to her en suite bathroom.

"Can I call someone to bring your meds?" he says as he does something in the bathroom that Sharon doesn't really care about. Her bones are aching so bad she just wants to cover herself and sleep the whole day off.

"What do you mean?" she half groans, half mumbles.

"There's no more meds in the cabinet. When was the last time you got sick? Okay no, don't answer that. I'll send someone in for your meds okay?" he emerges from the bathroom with a wet face towel and begins sponging her face with it. She hisses and tries in vain to stop the boy's ministrations on her face. After a little while, she relaxes and whimpers. Heavy-lidded eyes look into Rusty and surrenders,

"Okay."

Rusty kisses Sharon's forehead and lingers for a while, she squirms a little. After a little more sponging, Sharon falls asleep.

"Please feel better Sharon."

Rusty runs towards the hall, taping the spare key underneath the door and leaves for school.

"Hello? Rusty? What's up?"

It's slow day in the Major Crimes division, a slow day means something good for the squad, no people getting murdered or getting shot at.

"Lieutenant Provenza, Sharon's not coming in. She's got a really bad case of flu I think."

"Really? And she can't phone me herself to say she's calling in sick?" Louie Provenza couldn't believe what he's hearing. The indestructible Darth Raydor is sick? So she's human then?

"Yeah, like she couldn't even squirm away when I placed a really cold towel on her forehead. It's that bad."

"Okay then, it's a good thing nothing's happening here right now. I'll man the fort. I'll call her later to check on her."

"Thanks Lieutenant." Rusty disconnects the call and calls another Lieutenant from the Major Crimes division.

"Andy Flynn. what's up-"

"Lieutenant, don't tell everybody this is Rusty."

"Okaaay-"

"Are you in the murder room?"

"Yeah, why what's-"

"Please go somewhere where no one will hear you. Please this is really important."

Andy resists rolling his eyes heavenward and listens intently to the teenager on the other line.

"Okay okay. Hold on." he walks out of the murder room and goes into the break room.

"I'm at the break room. What is this all about? You're making me worried."

"Look, Sharon's really sick, like the plague or something. She can't get out of her bed, she's in a mountain of comforters and the AC's not even on. She told me I have to go to school even though no one's there to look after her and I'm worried she'll just be really worse when I get back. Can you please, please look after her?"

"Well kid, what's gonna happen if there's a murder-"

"Lieutenant Provenza told me it's a slow day today. I just need you to bring her food and meds today so she'd be okay, just until I get back from chess practice? But okay I will just go directly home so I could...uhm...Please? I can't take care of her right now, I can't concentrate when I arrive in school if she's not okay."

"You are really worried about her."

"Of course I am! Lieutenant! Aren't you?" Rusty almost shouts at the Lieutenant.

"I'm sorry I just...I don't want anything bad happening to her while I'm out...ugh I should've just stayed-"

Andy sighs because he knows Sharon has been a bit down on the weather when they were wrapping the case up the past few days. She must've caught something while they were out.

"Where are you?" he cuts the ranting worried teenager through his rambling.

"Just arriving in school. Can you come over here? I will give you the directions you will need."

"Okay, I'll see you in half an hour."

Andy arrives at St. Joseph's after 20 minutes and meets Rusty in the hallway. The younger man jogs towards him and begins a spitfire of words and instructions,

"Okay, when I was rummaging through her meds in her bathroom I saw this, and this. I guess she has a preference for meds or I don't know. I also got this," he hands him an old prescription, "I guess she's allergic with some meds so she has that specifically from her doctor-"

"Slow down kid. I know what I'm going to do: feed her, give her meds, make sure she's alright. I just need a key or can she open the door herself?"

"I highly doubt that."

Andy winces, "that bad, huh?"

Rusty nods, "Yeah, look I don't have enough time to say everything to you, she just needs these meds, or I don't know, contact her doctor or something, and then get some food in her. I'm sorry, I would've done all of this myself but she forced me to go to school today. And can you please text me or what-"

"It's okay kid. I'll do what I can."

"Okay here's the thing, there's a secret spare key taped underneath the door, as in it's under the door. You can use that so I wouldn't have to give you my keys and you wouldn't have to call out to her to open the door. I already told the security that you're coming in, just show them your badge or what not. The doors lock automatically once you get in so you could leave the keys in the tray when you leave."

"You sound like an adult." Andy smirks at him as he takes the prescription and the empty bottles of the meds he needs to get. Rusty was about to leave when he calls him,

"Hey Rusty, why didn't you tell Provenza or Sanchez? Why me?"

Rusty frowns at him and says, "Seriously?" before he walks again and disappears in one of the corridors.

Andy shrugs and goes out to his car. He dials Sharon's doctor and begins asking if he could go to his Captain to check her out.

Andy arrives in the condominiums at around 10 in the morning with a paper bag of medicine and groceries. He did just show some identification to the guard and he drove in the building. He crouches down and sees a glint of silver sticking underneath the door. He picks it away from the door and sticks it in the doorknob. He goes in and deposits the key to the tray like Rusty told him. He toes his shoes off and places them it near a pair of black stilettos before he walks into the kitchen, putting the bag of groceries on the breakfast island. He huffs once and goes searching for Sharon's door.

His palms begin to sweat when he opens the door to his left. It's messy and looks too small for a master's bedroom, he guesses it's the room Rusty has been occupying. The door directly in front of Rusty's room is the main bathroom so the door he completely missed going into the hall is definitely Sharon's room.

He knocks two times. No answer.

"Cap-uhm...Sharon?" he calls. It's a bit weird to call her Captain in her own home, he decides. He knocks twice again, "Sharon? Sharon this is Andy. Rusty gave me the spare key-" he hears some low groaning. He tests the doorknob and finds it unlocked.

He steps back and shrugs his coat off. He places it on the sofa and starts taking his tie off too. When he's rolled both of his sleeves up, he calls Sharon one more time.

"Sharon I'm coming in okay?"

He opens the door and goes inside the room. While it was pristine and the warmth of the beige walls were inviting, there were piles upon piles of pillows and blankets in the middle of a queen-size bed, it looks like a haphazardly- thrown blanket fort, only it looks devastated.

He starts taking off the pillows until he sees a clump of hair at the right-side of the headboard. He strips the blankets away and sees Sharon Raydor curled into a ball and shivering madly. He clears the side of her head with hair and panics a little when the little touching he's been doing to his Captain and he feels like a hot frying pan.

Andy instantaneously becomes alert with what he saw. This is more than a bad case of the flu. Noticing the trash bin with vomit in it and the door on the left side of the bed which is hanging open, he enters the door and true enough, it is the bathroom, with towels all over the sink and a basin half-filled with water. That might be Rusty's doing. He has a reason to be worried sick.

He picks the basin and the towels and begins rummaging for some alcohol to mix in the water, it will evaporate easily and cool Sharon down. He sees one in the medicine cabinet. He comes out of the bathroom and takes the last blanket covering Sharon. She is shaking but unconscious.

"Sharon? Sharon please wake up." a little panic bleeds through his voice as he attempts to uncurl her from herself. He takes the towel and begins sponging her face and arms with it. She is only wearing a thin silk sleeping gown. The cool towel might have woken Sharon up. She's in tears and moaning helplessly.

"Sharon, hey babe there you are. Where does it hurt? Can you tell me? It's Andy." Andy tries to smile as he whispers and runs the cloth again on Sharon. The woman shakes her head once, tear still leaking from her tightly-shut eyes.

"Okay I need you to open your eyes sweetheart, you're really burning up, I think you're having convulsions, I've called your doctor, he's gonna be here with your meds any minute now okay? Please look at me." Andy tries again, his voice shaking as his hands were. He sees a scrunchy on her bedside table and pulls as much hair out of her face and ties it neatly behind her. He hears the door bell ringing.

"I'll be back sweetheart, your doctor is here."

He runs to the door and true enough, it's her doctor. He knows her from the multiple times he has been in the ER of the city hospital.

"I think she's having convulsions, I'm not sure." he says to the doctor as she sits down and begins looking her up. She puts a thermometer in her and he's just standing there, unable to do anything to Sharon. He can't think of anything else but his grumpiness from actually obeying the kid on his request.

At that moment he feels he missed something and then he understands what that was. The way he's always protecting Sharon. Him going to places for her. Him being ecstatic at being able to attend his daughter's wedding with her, and they danced. He isn't just happy when he's with her, he wants to be with her. He thinks back on all his misdemeanors in his entire career and realizes he sometimes purposefully does a stupid thing so that new Lieutenant would come pick him up and talk to him...Then Lieutenant Raydor with the cool exterior, angry stance, and the beautiful sad green eyes.

He can't lose her now. Not when he's utterly, obviously, head over heels in love with her.

He didn't realize that it was past 2pm and he's been wearing the kitchen floor down with his pacing. He didn't realize he's gone from the bedroom and into the kitchen and began cooking his grandmother's chicken soup. He gets up from the stool when Dr. Sheridan comes out of the room.

"How is she doc?" he says, trying to keep the shaking in his voice to a minimum.

"She definitely got that bug somewhere. Stomach flu and then some. Weird cocktail of viral infection and stress. She's been nursing that virus for a week now, I'm guessing. She knows she has it but from the looks of it, she still went to work anyway. It's just today that the fever skyrocketed up and her bones started to ache like it was going to break at any movement. She just soldiered on. She was on television the whole week for that child murderer case right?"

Andy just nods dumbly. He is right though, she's been sick, she just never showed anyone how bad she's been hurting.

"Oh well, I assume you bought her the ones I told you over the phone?"

He nods again.

"Great. I've checked her temperature when she stopped shaking, she peaked at around 41.5, she's now around 39. She still needs to sweat all that heat out. I already gave her something. Give her paracetamol after four hours do that until she's back to normal temp. She's going to need something to eat too."

"Uhm...yeah I cooked chicken soup."

"That's alright. Nothing to heavy as of the moment. I think she's going to need to take the Monday off. It's a good thing it's Friday today. Thanks for calling me up, it would've been extremely dangerous if I didn't come here today."

"Thank you for coming here so fast. I didn't know what to do when I saw her shaking." Andy admits. Dr. Sheridan smiles at him and leaves. Almost on autopilot, Andy shuts the stove off and goes inside Sharon's room again.

He sees her in the middle of the bed. She's sleeping soundly, but her face still is an expression of discomfort. He sits beside her and holds her hand.

"You scared me for a moment there sweetheart. The indestructible Darth Raydor. Who knew." he chuckles sadly to himself, bringing her hand onto his lips.

"I kinda know that you were sick last Wednesday. I kinda know you're really pissed off for being a bit out of sorts. I should've told you to go home and take a time out or whatever. But damn you're stubborn as a mule. Hell, you're stubborn as an Andy."

He feels her forehead and she's still warm. She takes the thermometer and puts it under her arm. He then goes to her drawers and finds a cotton v-neck and a pair of thin loose shorts. He goes back to the bed and looks at the thermometer. She's now down to a 38.4. He smiles and kisses her forehead.

The daunting task now lies before him: he needs to change her sleeping gown. He huffs and thinks she's gonna do this to him too if he was in the same predicament. So he takes off her seat-soaked sleeping gown. He didn't take time to marvel at her tiny waist or her perfect legs and thighs. He's too preoccupied and scared to think about those things now, he almost lost her. He runs the wet cloth again on her back and stomach, her neck and then her hips and her legs. He puts the shirt and the shorts on and exhales.

He puts on the blanket over her and turns the AC on. He kisses her cheek once and then takes the chaise lounge in front of the bed.. He fires a quick text to Rusty and feels the exhaustion take him over. He falls asleep.

She wakes up feeling like she's been hit by a truck after she faced a stream of bullets. Her head feels like ten tons but her hair isn't on her face or anything. She tries lifting her arm up and they weren't like lead clumps anymore. That's an improvement, she thinks.

Her lights were still dimmed. She glances at the clock: it's almost five in the afternoon. Whoa, she's knocked out for the whole day? She winces, remembering that she didn't call the office to tell them she's finally succumbed to the sickness she's been ignoring since Monday.

She slowly tries to get up, the room still spins but it stops after a while. She realizes she's in her favorite v-neck and shorts. Who changed her sleeping gown-

She sees Andrew Flynn sleeping uncomfortably on her chaise lounge, his body contorted in a weird angle.

She knows she should feel embarrassed because she's not stupid, she knows the Lieutenant changed her, and sponge bathed her, looking at the basin of water and face towel laying on the downside of the bed. There's also a thermometer and a glass with water and two tablets on her side drawer. She should feel some sort of animosity but it's not coming. She's feeling rather touched and shy about all of this. Who let Andy inside her house? She turns on her other side table and sees her phone. She scrolls down and there were just one long message from Rusty:

Hope Andy took care of you. I would've you know, but I think you're gonna tear my head off if I skipped school. I told him to go there and look after you. I hope you're not angry that I did that. He told me to go to my chess club training because he already got you with your doctor and she's already given you meds. Please be better. He's also damn worried about you. Don't be angry at him please. But I just...I knew it was okay to send him there. I hope you'll be better when I get back. I love you.

The little 'I love you' made Sharon tear up a bit. She wipes her tears and tries to stand up. Her balance was okay and the spinning of the room has subsided. She walks over to Andy and calls him first before touching him. She doesn't know if the man would flail his arms dangerously and hit her accidentally or what.

"Lieu-ugh. Andy? Andy wake up."

Andy sits up suddenly, his vision swimming for a bit and sees Sharon Raydor in her shirt and shorts looking to him with a small smile.

"Cap-uhm...Sharon, hey." he says, rubbing sleep off from his eyes, "how are you feeling? Are you still burning up? Are you dizzy? Hungry? Sleepy? Are you-"

His tirade stops when Sharon placed a finger on his lips. He's fully awake now.

"I'm feeling better, I'm not dizzy, well, at least not anymore, and I'm hungry."

Andy reheated the chicken soup and his Captain is eating it silently on the breakfast bar. Her legs are swinging lightly on the stool and he conveniently forgot about the fact that she's only in short shorts and a worn out v-neck. He tries his best to not look at her amazing legs and remembers that she's his boss.

He sighs and eats the last bite from his soup. He takes some tablets and a glass of water and gives it to Sharon.

"You scared me, you know."

"Scared you? More than normal?" she replies, her smirk still not leaving her face after they left her room an hour ago.

He pushes the tablets on the table with the glass of water and dares to look into her emerald eyes,

"You were convulsing so bad. I thought you're gonna flatline or something and I couldn't do anything about it. At least I had half a mind to ask your doc to come over and check you out."

Sharon's face softened at that, the playful smirk gone. She stands up and walks to Andy's side of the breakfast bar. Sharon Raydor isn't known to be affectionate or touchy but she's in her house and she could do anything she damn wants. So she hugs Andy Flynn. A full body hug.

Andy hugs her tightly after two seconds of shock. He buries his nose on her hair, now tied nicely in a loose bun. He didn't feel words leaving his mouth.

"I thought I was going to lose you. I...I don't want to lose you. Not now. Not ever."

Sharon rests her head on his chest.

"I'm sorry. I should've taken care of myself better. Thank you Andy."

"No, you don't understand Sharon." He releases her, his arms hang loosely on her hips, his forehead on hers, his eyes shut tight, "I can't...I don't want to lose you. I want you, need you. I thought when you were shaking badly on your bed, all those times you had to go and pick me up for your damn investigation, I was making sorry excuses so I could spend more time with you. I'm not the same man now, I'm sober, I'm better, I just can't...admit what I'm feeling." he opens his eyes and sees Sharon staring back, her eyes bigger because of the unshed tears in them.

"God I'm such an idiot. I'm so in love with you and I couldn't even tell you that the first time you picked my ass off a curb because I was too drunk to even recognize you." he continues, his eyes welling up too.

"I can't Andy..." she says quietly, her face back on his chest, his shirt getting wet from the tears now falling from her eyes.

"I know...I know that. Let's just...I want to...just tell you that. I'm not saying we should...or you need to...I just-"

"Yes, I know...I know." she cuts him off, "I know because I think I..."

"Y-you think so?" a little spark of hope shines in Andy's words. Sharon looks into his deep, dark brown eyes and nods, a small smile gracing her lips.

"I could live with that." he says as he slides his hands on her arms and into her hands. He lets go of one hand and takes the tablets on the counter and gives it to her.

"Drink up woman, you have to be strong. I'm not letting you out of my arms again."

Rusty comes home a bit after 11pm. When he got the text from Andy that he's going to take care of her and he should enjoy his day and chess practice, there's this odd feeling of comfort that washed over him. He sees Andy cuddling Sharon on the sofa, the furniture extended with the bed part out from the sofa. They are both asleep, Sharon pillows Andy's arm as Andy's other arm is wrapped securely around her.

"Oh good, about time." he mumbles with a smirk as he makes his way to the kitchen. There's a post-it stuck on the microwave door saying there's food in there and he should just heat it up.

"Hey kiddo." Andy turns his head and sees Rusty gobbling up the spaghetti. He carefully sits himself up, putting Sharon down gently so she won't wake up.

"Didn't want to bother you, you're comfortable. Is she feeling better? I mean she's there with you but-"

"Yes, her fever's gone. She wouldn't go to office until Tuesday as per doc's orders. She...she was having bad convulsions earlier. It was awful." Andy says as he strokes Sharon's hair.

"That bad? Did the doctor say why?" Rusty says, his tone reverting back to a very worried child.

"She said she's been sick and ignoring the signs and symptoms until her body just caved in. She was dehydrated and wasn't eating well. Her fever shot through the roof and her body can't sweat it out so she began convulsing. I've seen children die because of that you know. I was...really properly scared." Andy says the last words in a whisper. He's still genuinely afraid.

"I'm glad the doc didn't take her to the hospital."

"Yeah, she's some kind of an ER specialist. Saw her in my days when I always got nicked by bullet or grazed by a knife. She had this big bag of things when she appeared her and then i don't know what she did but she was sleeping soundly when I got back."

"Stay the night Lieutenant. She'd be better if she sees you in the morning." Rusty says as he leaves his plate in the dishwasher and goes to his room.

"And thank you, I know you'll take care of her." he says as he disappears to his room.

Andy smiles and stands up to pick Sharon. He puts her in bed and gets the blanket from the sofa and sets himself up on the chaise again.

Sharon feels warm behind her eyelids. She needs to drink some paracetamol again. She wakes up inside her room, her last thought was sleeping on the sofa with Andy's warm arms around her.

She is terrified of what just happened. The convulsions, the feelings poured out, the confirmation. She also admits to herself that their sleep on the sofa was the most restful one she's had in the last 30 years. She doesn't know what she's feeling but she knows it's not far from the four letter word Andy just admitted he has for her. She smiles and slowly sits up, looking for Andy. She finds him back in the chaise, while there are paracetamol on her bedside and a glass of water. She turns the lamplight on, drinks up her meds, and stands up again. Walking towards the sleeping guy, she tugs Andy's arm waking him and falling off the chaise. She giggles sleepily.

"Let's get you back to bed." she says, masking her yawn with the back of her hand.

"But-"

"I haven't slept like that in three decades. Please let's go back to bed." she says with a little sleepy pout. Andy nods and walks her back to the bed.

They sought each other's bodies as they slept.

Sharon wakes up and turns over to seek Andy. He's not there, but there's a warm spot where he's been. She feels like a million bucks, her head is cleared, her fever's gone, her stomach isn't as queasy as the past few days. She jumps into her shower and takes a long warm one under the hot spray.

She gets out of her room dressed in a pair of drawstring shorts and a tanktop. She sees Andy, still in his wrinkled long sleeves and dress pants. She chuckles and moves over to the couch and retrieves something from underneath it.

"That smells amazing." she says as she stands up again, holding something from the couch.

"Thought I'd use your overripe bananas for something. Hope you eat banana pancakes." he smiles, his scruff showing, his bedhead adorably tousled, his eyes calm, unlike the worry-filled ones she saw yesterday.

"You stayed."

"Rusty told me to. I didn't want to impose." He shrugs, flipping the pancake midair.

"I know what I said last night. I...I want to think about it first. I don't want to rush into things." she says, abruptly changing the topic. Instead of upsetting the lieutenant, Andy smiles.

"I told you I could live with that."

Sharon smiles, they're going to do this by the rules.

"Play house with me then. Change your clothes. I don't want to leave the house." she says, as she hands him a spare set of jogging pants and shirt she bought for Jack but the guy never had the chance to use. Andy looks at the clothes and hastily takes off the shirt. He feels better when the cool cotton hits his skin.

"Better? Rusty's still sleeping I'm sure." Sharon says to him as she glances at the clock. 8:45am.

"Play house?" he says and smirks at her, dismissing her comment about the young man who's the reason why he's even here in the first place. She shrugs and sits herself on the breakfast bar, not on the stool. She crosses her legs as she ties her hair up. Andy turns off the stove as he puts the final pancake on the plate and drizzles it generously with maple syrup. He places the plate beside the Captain sitting on the counter. He uncrosses her legs and steps in them.

"What a bold move Lieutenant." she smirks at him as she feels his hands lock on the small of her back. She hums and lets her arms hang on his shoulders, her forehead touching his, "Stay the weekend please."

"You don't have to ask me twice."