~Independence~

The 4th in my "deleted scenes" 404 "Turn Down"

We got some Shandy finally! Woop woop! lol

Disclaimer: I own nothin' of Major Crimes, yep nothin'!

Here they all were at her condo just finished watching a great Dodger baseball on her TV, now watching fireworks and celebrating Independence Day on her roof. As she stood a few steps back from everyone else. Her attention wasn't on the bright lights against the dark sky. No, Sharon was watching her team and her son who finally made it upstairs, as they were oohing and awing at the flashes of colors. She was amazed at how far they had all come. Just a few years ago they all avoided her and wouldn't spare a word to her unless they had to. Now they were sharing laughs over beer and pizza. Not exactly where she thought she be back then. She wouldn't change a thing, well she'd like to change the pain Rusty went through but she was happy that she got to be the one to help him through it.

A robust laugh brought her out of her thoughts. It was Andy's laugh she liked his laugh. It was an honest laugh, a laugh that you couldn't help smiling when you heard it. Sharon was happy that the roof had lots of the building occupants up there. The team and her had their own little section on the roof but the crowd of people made it easier for her to cast a glance over at Andy. She also wore her Dodgers hat low to shield her eyes so she didn't look too obvious doing it. This was her favorite hat. It was actually the only baseball hat she owned and Andy had given it to her. Once again as the crowd of people craned their necks to look up at the fireworks her mind drifted to the day she got the hat.

It was 'Kids Run the Bases Day' at the stadium, Andy had asked if she would go and help him with his grandkids. He had said it had been a long time since he had spent the day with young kids and he wanted to show him something besides ballet. Since she was great with kids Andy asked if she would be their buffer. When they got there they were all settled in their seats when Andy said he and the boys would be right back. Coming back awhile later with a smile on all three of their faces and a few bags in their hands. Sharon was very suspicious of what was going on and asked. "What are you three up to? I told you boys that you were supposed to keep your granddad out of trouble. It does seem to follow him everywhere."

The young boys giggled and the little one hopped up on her lap as Andy sat next to her. The oldest boy was standing in front of her and said, "oh, don't worry we listened and Grandpa Andy was good." Sharon looked up at Andy as he rolled his eyes and she smiled at him. Then she looked back at the boy as he continued, "we just noticed that you didn't have on a Dodgers hat. To be a true fan you just have to have a Dodgers hat, Sharon." He insisted. The little one on her lap pulled a baseball cap out of one of the bags and plopped it on her head. They all started laughing because it was crooked and all the way down covering her eyes.

"Hmmm, but how will I see the game?" Sharon joked.

"Here." She turned towards Andy's voice because she couldn't see anything. He lifted the hat off her head and ran his fingers through her hair to get her now messy mass out of her eyes. Their eyes locked for a moment, Andy was the one to break the connection when he looked down at the hat in his hands. Sharon shook her head to clear her thoughts and to settle the tingles vibrating on her head and running down her body caused by his fingers. She tucked her escaped hair behind her ear and dared to look back at Andy as he talked. "Well, first boys you need to bend the bill just so to get the right shape." Then he carefully slipped it on her head making sure it fit right in the back and that she could still see. "There, perfect." She ran her tongue over her lips as they watched each other once again.

The tension was broken when one of the boys yelled excitedly, "The game is about to start!"

As the oldest took his seat next to Andy's left, the youngest didn't want to leave her lap. Andy offered to take him but Sharon said he was fine where he was. In fact, she was enjoying having him sitting with her. After the first inning, she leaned over and asked Andy who was right next to her, "So what's in the other bags?" She knew he would be spoiling the boys so she wanted to know what else he got them.

He didn't look at her but watched the game and answered, "they said they didn't have Dodgers jersey's so I got them both one. Oh, and I might have gotten one for you too." Andy turned and gave her a little sideways smile.

That man did know how to charm a girl she thought as more loud oohs and awes brought her back to the here and now. She wore that jersey to bed on most nights, on the ones when she couldn't seem to get Andy Flynn off her mind, wrapping herself in the shirt he gave her helped settle her thoughts and she could sleep. A good nights sleep wasn't easier for her to come by since Stroh's escape so anything that helped with that she would do.

The evening was winding down, the celebration would be ending soon and they would all be going home. Sharon took a drink of the juice in her cup. She decided earlier that she had enough alcohol for tonight, after giggling at Provenza's joke about wearing his uniform for Patrice. As she had a sip she carefully looked over the rim of the cup to sneak another peek at Andy. He was at the other end of the team and standing next to Rusty. Andy had his hand on her son's shoulder and they were both watching in complete awe as the fireworks got bigger and louder. Sharon couldn't see him very well as he was next to Rusty though she did notice the way Andy was standing, his raised arm to point at the bright lights above them, pulled up his jacket. It gave her a better view than the fireworks because she could see the tight fit of his pants across his... Ugh she had to stop this she thought.

Thinking about Andy's form had her mind remembering him in his uniform the other day. The man could wear his uniform as well as he wore his suits. That sight made it especially hard for her to keep her hands off of him. Yes, she had slipped and poked him when telling Andy to be nice to Buzz, which was now almost like a son to her. Sharon tried to cover it up by acting like she was just fixing his tie when in all actuality she was the one that had just messed it up. There was no holding back the smile on her face that day. It was just an all-around good day. She even got to have a 'sense of occasion' for Buzz. Though there would be no dinner with Andy that night because he volunteered to take in-training Watson on his first ride along. She was happy to give up a night with him if she knew he was beside Buzz out there. The streets of LA were not the best place to be at night for anybody.

Once again she found herself taking another peek at the man consuming her thoughts. Andy was now in the suit he had worn after they all got the chance to go home for a little bit of sleep and to change. Over the years he had gone from wearing a three-piece suit to wearing suspenders. He looked great in anything actually. She also liked him in his jeans and t-shirts too. As Sharon looked at him her hand was clenching her plastic cup, probably way too tight. Much more pressure and she was sure it would crack. Maybe if she held on to it she could fight off the urge to touch Andy. That was why the reason why she was standing by Amy at the opposite end from where he was. Today at the office she had touched him frequently she was hoping it was subtle enough that nobody else noticed. She really needed to work on that. She couldn't complain about Andy making name mistakes if she was going around touching him all the time. When those urges got too strong sometimes she would either put her hands in her pockets or lean on the closest desk. It was just to keep her hands busy not to be touching her Lieutenant. Sharon noticed it had been getting harder and harder not to touch him.

After their talk the other week they had agreed to start moving to the next stage of their friendship. Though honesty neither of them really knew how. They didn't want to ruin their great friendship but she was sure they both wanted more. So they continued as they were, going out to dinner and stuff but not really calling it dating. Sharon was mostly scared of losing herself if she let Andy into her heart. She felt if Andy and her got too serious she would be giving up a lot of her independence and freedom to do what she wanted when she wanted. Was she ready to do that?

She didn't like feeling as if she was losing any of her independence. Sharon Raydor had fought tooth and nail for every ounce of independence she ever had. After all, Jack had put her through she made damn sure she would never be dependent on anybody else ever again. For the first time in as long as she can remember she's wondering if it is time to give up just a little of that independence, she had clung to for so long. She laughed quietly as she thought how ironic it was that she finds herself standing here on the roof of her building debating her independence on Independence Day.

On her last peek over at Andy he caught her eye. Was he realizing someone was looking at him or was he casting glances at her too? Either way, their eyes held each others and Andy gave her a lopsided smirk. Did he know this wasn't her first time looking over at him? He was now standing just a step behind Rusty so her son couldn't see the look they shared. When her green eyes meet his brown ones, once again they couldn't seem to break away from each other. Until she jumped and looked guiltily at the ground when she heard Provenza cry out, "ye' gads." Thinking they had been caught staring at each other, she was ready for her second-in-command to call them both idiots. Feeling relieved when Provenza added, "look, at all these people up here. It will take forever to wait for an elevator. It's over, let's get out of here, Flynn."

"You could always take the stairs. You know that, right?" Sharon looked up again to see Andy still staring at her as he called out to his partner.

Provenza pointed his finger at Andy and grumbled, "As you very well know Flynn, I don't run and I don't take the stairs." With that, he was gone getting as far up in front of the line as he could.

Sharon looked away from Andy's eyes when she saw him hold his hand out to her and sweep it towards the elevator line, in an after you gentlemanly fashion. They could take the stairs too she knew that but she rather stand here and wait next to him. She was stalling; she didn't want this night to end yet. Suddenly feeling the heat of Andy's hand on her lower back had her thinking of the wedding they all had attended earlier that night. They hadn't made the game mostly because of the murder but also because they needed to go to the wedding to keep an eye on the bride's father or to them their murderer. She could still feel the heat of Andy's body where he held her while they danced. Sharon told them since they couldn't go to the game they might as well eat, drink, and have some fun at the reception. It wasn't as if they were openly dating if you could call it dating and it wasn't news to any of her team that they went out together after work. Also, she would have danced with any of them though Sharon was sure she would have embarrassed most of them if she had asked one of them. As it was Andy was the only one to ask her anyways. They knew they danced well together after spending most of the night dancing at Nicole's wedding.

By the time Andy, Rusty, and her had made it down the elevator and to her condo the team minus Provenza, of course, had cleaned and straightened up. Louie was carefully getting his uniform ready to go but now was in her kitchen. The rest of the team had said thank you and their goodbyes as they were leaving. Rusty quickly said goodnight to everyone and headed off to his room. Provenza finally came out of the kitchen carrying the bottle of wine he brought. As Andy and she both stared at him he said, "what? Nobody drank my wine, they all liked hers better. Come on Flynn, you're my ride. I drink, you drive, that's always been our deal. I need you to drop me off at Patrice's." As he walked passed them and out the door, Louie added, "hurry up, No' Romeo! I have an important date." Sharon laughed as Andy rolled his eyes at his friends Romeo remark. "I can't keep Patrice waiting."

"Maybe, you should slow down. You are going to use up all your energy before you get to your girlfriend's house." Sharon failed to hold back her laughter as she lightly smacked Andy on the forearm for his taunting.

Again from down the hallway Provenza yelled out, "well, maybe someday you'll get up enough bal... I mean courage to actually ask out your girlfriend without the excuse of team bonding." Sharon let out a gasp as she watched Andy nervously rub the back of his neck. "Idiot, you wish you and your girlfriend were more like Patrice's and I are, and it only took me a couple of months." They heard a laugh and his voice was quieter but they could still hear him, "ha, yeah, like that will ever happen. It's been years that you've been following her around staring at the Captain's ..."

Andy slammed the door on his rambling cranky partner's words. Sharon's eyes were wide as she stared at Andy. "I'm sorry about that, Sharon. Actually, I'm sorry you have to put up with him at all."

Surprised at what she heard. "Is what he said true?" Sharon questioned him.

"You know not to listen to anything that comes out of his mouth." She knew Andy was deflecting the attention of what Louie said about him and she wasn't going to let it go. "Andy, is it true? Did you invite the entire team to the Dodgers game just to..."

"Did I tell ya nice hat, tonight? It does look good on you." He was avoiding her again.

She had had enough of Andy not answering what she was asking him. So, she'd try a different approach. "Andy, did I ever thank you properly for my hat? No, I don't think I did." She then stood up on her tips of her toes and kissed him. When he didn't respond she figured this wasn't what he wanted so she pulled away, feeling embarrassed but then suddenly Andy had a tight grip on her hips, pulling her back into him. She was smiling when his lips touched hers again. The kiss was slow and tentative at first but quickly deepened as one of Andy's hands wrapped up in her hair holding her there. Her hands were now around the base of his neck with one hand she was running her fingers through his hair at the collar of his jacket.

They were startled apart as 'take me out to the ball game' music played on his phone. He leaned his forehead against Sharon's, Andy didn't look at his phone just said, "it's Provenza. I need to get him out of here before he starts honking the horn, then I'll have to arrest him for disturbing the peace."

In a breathless voice Sharon said, "goodnight Andy, that was a thank you for the hat and for everything you've done for me. Now, go get that man to Patrice's. Please, for all our sakes. She seems to be the only one to handle him," she said with a laugh.

"Goodnight, Sharon," Andy said then pulled her in for another quick kiss.

"Oh, and next time Andy, just ask me out." She looked seriously into his brown eyes and continued, "no team, no grand-kids, and no Rusty. So, in other words, no buffers, just you and me." Sharon smiled up at the shocked look on his face, "You never know I might even say, yes." She walked him to the door, hugged him and quietly said, "Call me when you get home."

Andy held onto her as if he didn't want to let go. When he finally did pull away he opened the door, stepped backward out of her condo smiling at her as he went. Then nodded his head and said, "always" and closed the door.

Sharon stood there staring at her door. She smiled as she pulled her sweater tightly around her and thought, yes. Andy was definitely worth losing a little bit of her independence for.

~The End~

Always nice to hear what you think in a review or even what you thought of this amazingly hilarious episode! Wish we had more ProFlynnza & Buzz!