AN: Here is the first installment of my three part Halloween special. This isn't really about horror or spooky halloween, but rather the nature of make believe that comes with dressing up. This story takes place after The Zoo but before Down the Drain in season 3, and is certainly outside our standard canon rules. The first two pieces will be rated T, but the final is definitely going to toe the M line.

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The holidays were fast approaching. The hot and dry Santa Ana's were making way for the cool days that marked autumn in Los Angeles. She always thought it was silly how people assumed that Southern California didn't experience the seasons, they weren't as obvious as they might be to those living in Boston or New York, but there were subtle changes. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes before walking into PAB, yes it was most definitely fall.

Halloween was days away. Sharon was grateful that she no longer worked patrol when the holidays rolled around, no matter the occasion it brought out the crazies. She knew they would be on call of course, but was thankful she wouldn't be in the may-lay of it all. She briefly thought back to the year that she and her partner had to work the parade route in West Hollywood, you haven't experienced a real LA Halloween until you've seen all that Sunset Blvd has to offer.

The elevator door opened and she rode it up to the ninth floor. Things had been quiet since the winds died down. There was something about the wind blowing in from the east that made animals and people alike lose their minds, and she was thankful that they had a few days to recover from their last case. It was an open-and-shut murder suicide. The husband strangled his wife to death and then shot himself. If it hadn't been the father of a celebrity Major Crimes never would have been rolled out, but as in life not everyone dies equally. The elevator doors opened and she swiped her card to gain entrance into the murder room. Before she could turn the corner she could hear the scurried movements of her team, no matter how quietly she tried to walk her heels always gave her presence away.

Everyone's heads were down avoiding eye contact. Something was most definitely up. Andy's back was turned. Provenza was scribbling at his crossword puzzle and Tao was tinkering with his computer.

"Good morning." She was met with grumbles from the team. So she tried another approach.

"Amy." Amy was always the weak link in the chain, Sharon knew she could break her the easiest.

"Um, yes Captain." The young woman said trying not to look up from her desk.

"What seems to be the situation this morning?" She asked in that tone that sound sweet and innocuous but was anything but.

"Uh nothing ma'am." She stuttered out turning to Provenza for assistance. He barely raised an eye, but his face had an every man for himself look about it.

"Nothing. Well it does seem awfully quiet this morning. I take it there's no active case?" Sharon could see Amy beginning to crack and knew she was on the right track, and continued. "It seems everyone is very engaged at their desks this morning. Why might that be I wonder? Amy?"

Sharon could see it in her eyes, she had her on the ropes, "Well Captain. Uh Taylor came by a while ago," the rest of the team shot Amy a look to keep quiet, "and um, well I think the Lieutenant here would be better to advise you on the details." Amy shot a mischievous grin to Provenza. "Yes, Captain. A case did come in while you were taking your time getting to the office this morning. Apparently a series of jewel heists that Robbery/Homicide has been struggling to solve. No surprise." He said adding in an eye roll. Sharon let it slide, still waiting to get all the information out of her team. "Anyways, Taylor naturally wants us to pick it up."

"Okay, but that doesn't explain while you're all acting strangely this morning. Spill. What am I missing here?" Sharon shifted her weight to her right side, placed her hand on her hip and tilted her head slightly so her eyes could peek out of her glasses. It was her librarian stare. She could see her team shift uncomfortably in their seats. Finally, Julio spoke up, "Taylor wants this to be an undercover op. Robbery/Homicide has some intel to suggest they're going to hit an event this weekend."

"Ok. So what's the big deal. We'll send someone in and manage the investigation as we would normally."

"Well ma'am. The thing is it's who Taylor wants to send in…"

"Ok. Who does Taylor want and why?"

Before Julio could speak up again, Andy finally stood up and turned around making eye contact with Sharon for the first time since she came into the murder room.

"Us. He wants us." He said in a nervous tone gesturing between him and Sharon.

Sharon's eyes went wide just for a moment before she pulled it together. She thought that maybe Andy noticed it, he seemed to notice everything she did or didn't do these days.

"Oh." She said in a low-tone. Collecting herself she responded with a bit more strength, "And why pray tell would our inglorious leader want Lt. Flynn and I to be undercover for this operation?"

Provenza stood, this time his face showed a great deal of mirth, "It would seem Captain, that our jewel thieves steal from couples with expensive taste and loose security. Taylor seems to think that you would be able to showcase your jewels and that Lt. Flynn here could be believable as your clueless boyfriend."

It was Sharon's turn to roll her eyes. "He did, did he."

"Yes. Coop. I mean Lt. Cooper is on his way up to brief you and Lt. Flynn on the SIS operation." Amy jumped back into the conversation excitedly.

"Hmm. I see." Sharon took a deep breath pushing down all the thoughts swirling in her head about working an undercover operation with Andy, and not just any undercover operation but one where they would have to pose as a couple. "Detective Sanchez, please get someone up here from RH division to bring us up to speed on the case. Lt. Tao, I expect you and Buzz to work with Lt. Cooper and the SIS team to monitor this little undercover operation that Taylor has ordered. I want updates within the hour people." With that Sharon turned and headed towards her office. She gave Andy a "not now" look as he turned to follow her. She needed a few minutes to herself to process this news before getting on with the day.

How could Taylor do this? Why would he do this? UGH! She shouted to herself. She looked up and saw her team prepping the murder board with the case details. To her right she saw Andy leaning against his desk stealing glances at her while reading the file in front of him. She felt her pulse increase and warmth rising up through her chest every time she caught him looking at her. This was a really, really bad idea. If I can't handle having him ten feet away from me separated by an office door how on earth am I going to survive an evening in couple proximity. After Andy's third glance in her direction she had to get up and get out of her office. She walked out the side door through the conference room and down the hall to the break room under the guise of getting tea. She sighed deeply when she noticed that the break room was empty. Thank god for small favors. She opened the cabinet and rummaged through her options and decided that some calming mint tea was in order. She filled the mug with hot water and dunked the tea bag several times to let it steep. She sat the mug down on the counter and leaned against it, enjoying the quiet, thankful for a moment alone.

"Sharon."

He said her name so quietly she barely heard it. She turned around and nearly knocked her tea onto the floor.

"Andy."

He closed the door to the break room and took a step forward and then stopped.

They stood in silence for a moment. "I didn't ask for this…" "This is awkward I know…" They said over each other and then the room filled with silence once again.

Sharon gestured towards Andy, "You go."

He looked down and rubbed the back of his neck, "I just wanted you to know I didn't put Taylor up to this. I know you asked for your space and I just wanted to say I'm sorry."

Sharon was reluctant to move away from the counter, the barrier gave her a sense of security. She didn't trust herself around Andy after the surprise kiss they shared after the Japanese embassy gala. "Andy I know. I know you'd never do something like that. I'm sorry too, I know this will be awkward for both of us. But we're both professionals, we've done undercover work before. Besides it's just one night right? We, uh I mean anyone can pretend for one night?"

"Right. Just one night of make believe." She sensed a woefulness in his voice which made her feel sad. She knew that he had feelings for her and she pushed him away after their talk a few weeks ago. Sharon wasn't sure how to handle everything. He was her direct report, but also a friend. And then there was the matter of divorce and Rusty's adoption. It was too much and she pushed him away. It hurt to do it and she could see the hurt in his eyes again as he stood before her in the break room now.

"Right." She nodded, not sure what else to say at this point.

"Well, I just wanted you to know that." He turned to walk away, "Oh and Detective Eaton from RH is here to give us an update on the case. Sykes says Lt. Cooper will be here within the hour to give us the details on our undercover personas."

"Thank you Andy." She said with a small smile. If they just kept it as business as usual they might get through the next 24 hours. He returned the smile and walked back to the murder room leaving Sharon with her thoughts and her tea.

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An hour later Lt. Cooper arrived with a dossier for both Sharon and Andy. "Lt. Cooper, so good to see you again. Although I wish it were under different circumstances." Sharon said not without a small dose of snark in her voice. "Let's go into my office. Lt. Flynn will you please join us?" She could tell that the team was disappointed that they weren't going to be read into the full details on the undercover personas that SIS had come up with for the Captain and Lieutenant, but at this point Sharon could careless. This day was going to be awkward as it was, she didn't need her team adding to her unease.

Cooper gave a file to both Sharon and Andy, "Here are your cover stories. Captain you are Elizabeth James. You are an interior designer with a rich clientele, mostly working in the Pacific Palisades and Hollywood Hills area. You're unmarried but recently divorced, with no children." Sharon nodded as she reviewed the details of her new identity.

"Lieutenant, you're Anthony Rossi. You made your money in the shipping industry, operating out of San Pedro. You've never been married, but have a long list of women you've dated. You and Elizabeth met at a charity function, where you both share a passion for the arts. You've been together two months and this is your first big social outing together as a couple." Andy looked up at Sharon and their eyes met. She could tell he felt this was oddly familiar as well.

"We will provide you with the jewelry that you will wear this evening. Lieutenant that will consist of a Rolex watch and a large ring. Captain you'll be wearing a diamond necklace with matching bracelet and earrings. We will also have a ring for you to wear. It is important that you flaunt the jewels at the event, so our would-be thieves get a good look. We don't want them going after another target." Cooper paused and looked at both of them before continuing.

"This is a black tie event as you might imagine, so you'll need to rent the appropriate attire and bill it back to SIS, unless you already own something. We've arranged for a town car to take you to the hotel ma'am, one of our guys will be the driver and will make sure that the audio and video are operational. Lieutenant please arrive early in one of our unmarked Explorers, you'll meet the Captain in the hotel lobby. I'll be in the van along with Provenza monitoring things. We're sending Sykes and Sanchez in as waiters, so you can make contact with them if you run into any issues. Safeword is apples. If we hear either of you say that we will have the full force of the LAPD in the ballroom immediately. These thieves haven't been violent in the past, but we aren't willing to take the risk. All the other details are in those dossiers. Any questions?" Cooper stood up and made his way to the door. This prompted both Sharon and Andy to stand up,

"No Lieutenant Cooper. Thanks for bringing us up to speed." Sharon felt her anxiety rising as she continued to read through the information Cooper put together, and she wanted her office back.

"Not a problem. See you both this evening." He said and shut the door behind him, leaving the pair to themselves.

The room went quiet as they both read to themselves. Sharon finished first, closing the file and setting it and her glasses down on her desk with a slight thud. The sound startled Andy and he gave her a look of concern. She burst into laughter, she could tell it made him more concerned. At this point she could either laugh or cry - there was no other way out of this situation. "Well Lieutenant I will see you this evening." Sharon said standing up ushering him out of her office. She needed some space to think and prepare. Andy gave her another quizzical look and left, "Until then, I guess."

She closed the door behind him and then her blinds, she was about to have a "girl" moment and desired privacy from her team before doing so. She pulled out her phone and touched one of her favorites, it rang once before she yelped "GAVIN!"

"Darling. As much as I love hearing from you I don't need you to shout it from the rooftops."

"Oh, but today you most certainly do." She began pacing in her office.

"Uh oh. What have you done?"

"Done? I haven't done anything. What my team, boss, and the entire LAPD have done is another matter entirely." Sharon was gesturing violently as though someone was actually in her office to see her.

"Now now, there's my drama queen. Soooo, something really must be up if she's made an appearance. I doubt the entire LAPD has been plotting against you."

"Gavin, I don't have time to deal with your glib humor right now. I need you to help me find a designer dress for tonight." She sighed deeply as she heard him cackle with glee, "It would seem I'm going undercover."

"Well why didn't you lead with that." She heard him pause and get on his intercom, "Carol hold my calls, I'm going out for a few hours this afternoon. So what's the exciting occasion?"

"Gavin, please. I don't want to get into it. This evening is going to be hard enough as it is, I just need to find an appropriate gown for tonight so I fit in with my cover story."

"Let me guess, you're going undercover as a wealthy divorcee with a hunk of Lieutenant as arm candy? Am I close?"

She let out a huge sigh, flopped into her chair and put her feet up on the desk making her heels thud.

"I'll take that as a yes. Well I can't help you with the arm candy, but I can make sure that every man has eyes on you tonight. Meet me at the Promenade in thirty."

She looked down at her watch, if she left now she could make that work. It was already 11:30 and she wouldn't have much time to shop and get ready before the event. She sighed again and in a softer more begrudgingly voice agreed, "Ok. I'll see you there. You better have a glass of champagne waiting for me."

"You know me so well!"

"Good bye Gavin." She knew he was getting too much pleasure out of all this, but she needed his help so she was going to have to deal. Today is going to be all about compromises.

Sharon grabbed her things and walked out of her office. She pulled her sunglasses down and avoided eye contact with the team. "If you need me I'm on my cell, otherwise I will see you this evening gentlemen, Amy."

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Three hours, ten stores, and one dry bar blow-out later Sharon had managed to find a dress. Largely thanks to Gavin for working his magic, they found something that would work for the occasion. It was a beautiful black lace gown with a gold tulle underlay by Monique Lhuillier. The straps were wide but led down to a plunging neckline only to be exceeded by the dip in the back. The mermaid drop waist served to enhance her assets. Sharon felt the dress was a bit much, but Gavin assured her it was fitting for her cover story. She was all set to leave when Gavin handed her another bag from a familiar store, but not one they had gone to.

"Gavin. What is this? Why do you have something from this store? And why are you giving it to me?"

"Sharon. A dress like that requires certain undergarments, besides you know what I always say It doesn't matter if anyone knows you're wearing it, you know it."

"Yes, but I don't think I need to add new lingerie into the fire that will be this evening."

"Trust me darling, you most definitely need these - it'll bring a little extra confidence into your step. Besides I don't think you could deny that your Ms. Elizabeth James wouldn't be wearing these this evening." He smirked at her, leaned forward and gave her a peck, "You'll do fine. Just breathe and maybe give that Lieutenant of yours a swat on the butt to knock some sense into him." She knew he added that last cheeky bit just to rile her up, not that she needed any more help with that at the moment.

"Gavin" she chastised, "Thank you for the shopping assistance, I better get going or I'll never be ready in time." She glanced at her watch with traffic she would only have two hours to prep.

"Ta-ta." He said as he watched her climb into her car and head out of the parking garage.