So it's been a while since I've had any form of inspiration to write fic, but there was a little spark of something after this new episode, and I emphasise 'little'.
"I'll wait, in case you need me."
True to his word, Andy was still behind his desk when Sharon returned to the Murder Room nearly two hours later. Her body posture was tense and she looked as though she were near the point of collapsing.
"Hey." He pushed himself away from his desk and stood, rolling the chair towards Sharon as an offering. Sharon smiled weakly and lowered herself gracefully into it. "You okay?"
Sharon made a small gesture that was hard to interpret and rubbed her hand over her eyes. "I think," she began slowly, "that this is one case that will stay with me for a very long time."
Flynn nodded in agreement and moved to perch on the corner of his desk. "It's been a tough couple of days." Sharon gave a low hum of acknowledgment and twisted her fingers together in her lap. "You made the right choice, Sharon." He reached down and laid a strong, comforting hand on her shoulder when he heard her scoff lightly.
"It's not very often I question my decisions during a case, but she was their mother, she deserved to know." The hand on her shoulder moved to the arm of the chair and turned it so that she was facing Flynn fully.
"And what would have happened if we'd told her?" Flynn bowed his head so he could look into her eyes, and was unsurprised to see that they were red-rimmed and dull compared to their usual vibrant green. "She would have shut down, it would have taken us longer to nail that son of a bitch." Sharon made a move to protest before being cut off by a wave of his hand. "I know you're thinking like a mother right now, imagining what you would want if they were your kids, but it was the right call."
Sharon visibly deflated and sagged back into the chair; nodding woodenly she glanced around the Murder Room, surprised to find that she hadn't even noticed it was empty except her Andy and herself.
"Everyone's gone home?" she asked quietly.
"You were gone quite a while, Provenza decided everyone needed a drink so they've gone to Donovan's." he shrugged nonchalantly.
Sharon tilted her head in curiosity. "And you didn't go with them to keep Lieutenant Provenza out of trouble?" There was an unspoken agreement between the squad members that Andy was responsible for making sure that Provenza remained respectable and got home safely after a jaunt at their favourite bar.
Andy shrugged again and looked at the floor. "I said I'd wait, and I figured you'd need me more than Provenza would." He glanced up to see a soft smile curving Sharon's lips.
"Thank you, Andy." Sharon replied in a voice just short of a whisper. She took his hand in hers and gave it a gentle squeeze. Andy sighed and threaded their fingers together loosely, drawing another ghost of a smile from Sharon, this one tinged with a sadness that had nothing to do their case and everything to do with future possible moments that neither could allow to happen past this moment of comfort.