A Path Well Traveled
Chapter 1
A/N: This story was started almost a year ago as a crazy idea that Kadi219 fed during long conversations. It is set, for the most part, during the second part of season 5, but there are also parts that revisit Sharon and Andy's past.
The story is finished and is currently being edited, so updates will be posted as that progresses.
Many thanks to NarcissaNerea for being an awesome beta! As always, if you find any left over mistakes, you may keep them.
Disclaimer: Not my sandbox, not my toys, but the owner tried to break them, so maybe I should just keep them.
"When your footsteps and thoughts carry you down the same path your heart and soul are directing you, you will know without a doubt that you are headed in the right direction." ― Molly Friedenfeld
"So," Amy said, drawing the word out as she eyed Sharon's ring with a big smile, "have you and the Lieutenant set a date for your wedding yet?"
It was not the first time someone had asked that question. It was not even the first time Detective Sykes had asked. The young woman seemed to be extremely excited about the prospect of her superiors getting married. Sharon wondered if the young woman was thinking about taking that step with Lieutenant Cooper at some point.
Giving the detective an indulgent smile, she cast a quick look at her fiancé who was standing a few feet away in front of the murder board. He grinned at her, his eyes softening as they met hers. The giddy feeling at the realization that he was going to be her husband soon was familiar to her by now, as was the presence of the beautiful ring he had put on her finger almost two weeks earlier. She caressed it with her thumb as she finally answered Amy's question.
"No, not yet. There are still a lot of things to consider before we can do that, but we are hoping to make it happen in summer or early fall."
They would have to wait for their annulments to be granted first, for one. And Sharon really wanted to have the promotion issue resolved before they focused on making such a significant change to their personal lives. It was not that she feared getting married to Andy would have any consequences for her professionally. Their relationship had been reported to their superior, as had all subsequent, relevant developments, including their engagement. Even if Winnie Davis tried, and Sharon knew that she would, there was nothing she could do to use her relationship with Andy against her.
Sharon's concern was a little more selfish. She wanted to focus all her energy on their wedding. They had not meant for it to be a huge event, but once all their ideas had been put on the table, it had looked a little bigger than either one of them had originally thought. They wanted some time to make all the arrangements and preparations, and she did not want the stressful situation at work to take away from their happiness. They had discussed it at length and agreed that waiting a little longer would be best, even if their kids rolled their eyes at them.
As Amy practically squealed at the idea of a summer wedding, putting out ideas for romantic locations, Sharon and Andy exchanged amused looks, being reminded of the way both their daughters had reacted to the news.
It was moments like this that she loved most about her current job. The easy banter, the feeling of belonging, of being accepted and liked. She had not missed it before her transfer to Major Crimes, had not even considered that she might like it before she had started working closely with the team during her audit years ago. Not being liked, being an outsider, had always been a source of strength for her, an advantage that she had used whenever needed.
She loved being part of this team, to know that she was able to chat and joke around with them one moment and trust that they would follow her orders the next. And she loved puzzling out mysteries with them. They had gotten to know one another so well that words often were not necessary to communicate. She was able to direct them with looks, they knew how her mind worked, when to provide additional information and when to let her think, and she knew the same about each one of them.
She would miss that. A promotion might have been something she had coveted once, but at this point in her life, it held no interest for her anymore. It would put her in a solitary position once more. She would be forced to deal with politics and navigating the landmines of intradepartmental and public interests, something which she had gladly left behind when she departed FID. Sharon had no doubt that she would be able to do the job, that she would be good at it. That did not mean, however, that she wanted it, which, ironically, made her even more qualified for the job – at least if she wanted to believe Andy.
They had talked about this issue many times over the last several months. He liked having her on the team, but he also knew that having a friendly face in the Assistant Chief's chair would make their job a lot easier. Taylor had not always been easy to work with, but at least he'd had a personal interest in keeping Major Crimes running the way it was. The reorganization that had happened when Sharon had joined the team was partly his baby.
Fritz Howard had just as little interest in changing things. He was not one for power plays or pushing people around to prove that he could. He expected people to respect him and his position, and he did what was necessary to achieve what he thought was best for the department, but he was a good man, one who was not driven by ambition.
She had tried to sell Commander Mason as a very good candidate, but Andy had his doubts about the man. He did not trust the younger man to hold up his end of the deal once he got the job. As far as she was concerned, she would rather take her chances with Mason than report to Winnie Davis or do the job herself, but only time would tell how all that would end.
For the moment, they had a case to wrap up. Their suspect had already signed her deal, and all that stood between them and an early night was paperwork. She was just about to tell everyone to get back to work when acting Assistant Chief Howard walked into the Murder Room.
"Captain, may I speak to you, please?"
He sounded concerned, a deep frown etched into his forehead. She nodded and gestured for him to follow her into her office. When he asked Andy to join them as well, she began to worry that her earlier thoughts about Chief Davis had been prophetic.
Once she was settled behind her desk, the two men sitting in the chairs on the other side, she gave Howard an expectant look, waiting for him to fill them in.
"We have a problem," he stated, shifting slightly in his seat, reluctant to meet her gaze. "It's not really an issue right now, but it has the potential of becoming one if the wrong person decides to make use of it."
There was no question as to which person Fritz was referring to. Winnie Davis was an all too big factor in all their lives at the moment and the source of a great number of their worries.
"If you check your emails, you'll find a link that I forwarded to you before I came over. It's to an article on a local gossip site that features some concerning photos."
Fritz paused in his explanation to wait for Sharon to open the link he had sent her. She turned the laptop so that all of them were able to look at the site their superior had mentioned.
It was one of those cheap gossip sites that thrived on unconfirmed rumors and blatant lies, the headlines designed to draw clicks. Once she had worked her way through all the pop-ups and ads that defied her ad-blocking software, Sharon felt her stomach drop at what she saw, and Andy cursed quietly across from her.
The headline announced a dirty secret inside the LAPD that would change the department considerably. The article itself was no more than a couple of short paragraphs with no relevant information apart from the identities of the people in the pictures and their roles within the Police Department.
It was the photographs that made Sharon feel as if someone had yanked the floor out from under her feet. They showed her and Andy at the beach, laughing, talking, holding hands, kissing. None of that would be anything more than a slightly annoying and embarrassing breach of privacy, if it were not for the fact that those photos had obviously been taken many years ago. Andy's hair was still dark, and both their outfits suggested that it was sometime in the 90s.
She cringed, both at the nature of the pictures and the unwelcome reminder of what had been considered fashionable back then. She did have fond memories of the large denim jacket that was draped over her shoulders in one of the photographs. It had been warm and smelled of its owner, who had frequently wrapped it around her when she had been cold.
When she finally looked up from the screen, Sharon met Andy's wide-eyed gaze. They were both thrown by what they had seen, unsure of how to deal with a past they had left behind them long ago.
Chief Howard cleared his throat, obviously uncomfortable to talk about something he considered none of his business.
"I just want to be clear that, personally, I could not care less about whatever that," he gestured at the computer, "was. Back then, you obviously didn't work together, and I have the utmost confidence that none of that ever had any impact on your professional encounters."
He trusted Captain Raydor to put her professional integrity above all else. She had proven that at every turn over her long career, and he knew that his predecessor as well as the Chief of Police shared that trust. His personal opinion was not the problem, however.
"So far, this doesn't seem to have gotten the attention of any other media outlets. This site isn't the most reliable source, so others will be reluctant to pick this up. But they did get those photos from someone, and that's what concerns me. Unless you have an idea, there is no telling who that someone is, why they decided to leak these pictures, or whether they have more."
Everyone was silent for a moment as they let Howard's words sink in. Both Sharon and Andy thought about who might be having a score to settle with them. The list was very long, considering the number or criminals they had locked up over the years, or in her case, the number of officers she had been forced to discipline.
"I…" Sharon pressed her lips together and closed her eyes for a second to get her emotions under control. She was concerned about the possible fallout from this, but mostly she was mad. Whoever was behind this, they would rue the day they decided to mess with her if she ever got her hands on them. "I don't know what to say, Chief. This was obviously a long time ago. It's…" She hesitated, trying to find the right words to describe her relationship with Andy. "It's a long, complicated story."
Howard shook his head. "There's no need for you to explain anything, Captain. As far as I'm concerned, whatever happened back then is between you and Lieutenant Flynn. I just wanted to give you a heads up and suggest that you take some steps to limit the damage this could do. I don't know who else is aware of what was going on, but you might want to talk to a few people. And if you can figure out how those photos got leaked, even better."
"Yeah, or who took them in the first place," Andy grumbled, his eyes dark with anger.
"Anyway, let's hope this is the end of that story. If it's not, we'll face that when it happens. In the meantime, see that you get your case wrapped up and get your team out of here at a decent time, Captain. I would appreciate it if I didn't have to listen to more complaints from the Pope about your department's overtime."
With that, Fritz rose from his chair, nodded at both officers, and left.
Sharon and Andy stared at one another in silence. Memories were being dragged up that they had spent years trying to ignore, not because they were bad or painful, but because it had been convenient. What had been was different. It had no bearing on their current relationship. Only now someone had blurred the lines, and they would have to figure out how to deal with that.
"Damn it!"
Sharon's heartfelt exclamation startled Andy out of his thoughts, and he raised an eyebrow at her. "Yeah. So what do we do now?"
"I don't know. We'll have to talk to the kids. I don't want them to find out from some gossip site."
Andy nodded, already trying to figure out how to make his children understand the complicated development of his and Sharon's relationship without losing the trust they had just regained in him.
Andy watched Sharon as she got up, rounded her desk and leaned against it in front of him, her hand reaching out for his. It was small and warm when his fingers closed around it, his thumb toying with her engagement ring.
"It's going to be okay, Andy. They will understand."
Her soft voice helped calm him down a little, as it always did, and he gave her hand a gentle squeeze to thank her.
"I hope you're right. I guess we should also think about telling the team. The way the rumor mill works, they'll probably find out eventually."
She closed her eyes and pressed her lips together to keep from groaning. There were very few things she disliked more than to discuss personal business with her colleagues. With Andy, it had been different even before they started dating. There was a lot of history between them, but even he had not been privy to her private life for a long time after she had started working with him.
"You're right, of course. It's just…" She sighed heavily, having a hard time finding the right words to express her frustration.
"It's just that you don't want to," he finished for her with an understanding smile. Sharon simply nodded.
"Tell you what. I tell Provenza, which will be the hardest part, anyway, and then we take it from there. How's that?"
Andy got it. Sharon had spent her entire career trying her best to keep her personal and professional lives separate. For years, any information about her had been ammunition to be used against her by officers with a grudge, of which there had been many. Disclosing such sensitive information as their secret affair went completely against her instincts. If he could make it a little easier for her, he would gladly face Provenza's complaints alone. It was different for him, after all. His colleagues were also his friends. He wasn't their boss.
"No, I cannot simply hand the responsibility for this off to you. That would not be fair."
She was vehement in her protest, determination settling over her features. It was settled for her. They had done the crime together, and they would face the music the same way.
"Okay, but you can let me do the talking. I don't mind doing it, and if you're there with me, he'll keep the complaining to a minimum," he suggested, deciding not to point out that his partner would most likely let him have it the moment they were alone, anyway.
With a decisive nod, Sharon got up, rounded her desk and opened her office door to ask the older Lieutenant to join them. The earlier they got it done, the earlier they would be able to move on.
~TBC~