Wow! Thanks for the great feedback! I'm hoping this is a fun story, but still with plenty of twists and turns. Enjoy!
"There you are. It's about time you returned. Pope has been in here three times asking if you were back yet," Andy snapped at Sharon when she entered Major Crimes. It was now past the normal workday, and while she had secretly hoped Brenda and the rest of the team had gone home to change for this undercover assignment, she sadly found every single member of the team waiting. Waiting-they were waiting to see this laughable scene unfold. Major Crimes. She hated having to work with Major Crimes, and here they all were, waiting to laugh at her, this crazy assignment.
"We said two hours. It's now been," she checked her watch, "two hours and five minutes," she enunciated, eyeing him.
"Yeah," he stood as he started to gather his things, "and I live further away than you do. I still managed to get home, get all the things I need, and make it back here before you did. Where's all your stuff?"
Sharon gave him her best fake smile, "I left it in the hall near Pope's office and the elevator. I didn't see a need to haul it all over the place. Let's get this over. The sooner we get there, hopefully, the sooner this will be over."
"Oh, I wish I was going to be the room service guy on this one," Gabriel chuckled and stopped when Andy turned to him with a glare. Gabriel looked to Julio. "I'll pay you for updates on their room service delivery."
"Done," Julio grinned, glancing back at the two. Julio had been assigned as their room service butler, and thus, he would be one of the only ones to be in direct contact with Sharon and Andy throughout the assignment.
"Well, it's no question if Pope wanted to pick the two people in this building who hate each other the most, you two won the prize. Maybe that's what he was looking for in a fake married couple," Provenza chuckled. "True of all my ex-wives. We hate each other. Flynn, while you are stuck with her all weekend, I'll be hitting the bar and watching the Dodger game when I'm not on my shift."
"Laugh it up," Andy sighed, as he finished collecting his things.
"There you are, Captain," they heard and looked up to see Brenda walking toward them. "I just spoke to Chief Pope, and he was wondering what was taking you so long."
"It's just been two hours!" Sharon exclaimed. "That was the timeframe we agreed upon," she sighed.
"Don't forget the five minutes, Captain," Provenza pointed out. "You said two hours and five minutes. Flynn was on time."
Sharon whipped around to glare at Provenza, but he just gave her a small wave and a smile. She turned back as Brenda approached her, "Well, Captain, seems like everything is set. I've been briefed and am going to brief the team here as soon as you and Andy get going. Well," she turned to Andy, "go," she shooed them off. "Pope is meeting you at the elevator. He said if Captain Raydor wasn't here yet, he was meeting her downstairs at the elevator when she arrived. You'd better go. He wants you to go get a move on it."
The two nodded to Brenda and started for the door, but not before Mike called out, "Andy, nice knowing you!" The rest of the team laughed, and Andy just gave them a smug nod as he followed Sharon. She collected her things by Pope's office, just as he met them in the hallway.
"Oh, Captain, good, you finally made it," he said. Sharon looked up, catching Andy's eye, where she saw him start to chuckle, and she was about to tear into Pope, when he continued, "Your car is waiting downstairs. We have a BMW SUV for the two of you. We figure arriving in a vehicle like that fits the part and allows room for a lot of wine to be purchased. Covers all our bases. Here are the keys," he handed to Andy.
"Excuse me, Chief. Why does he get to drive? I'm fully capable of driving," Sharon pointed out. Both Pope and Andy rolled their eyes, and Andy crossed his arms.
"He's the guy," Pope said.
"Yes," Sharon drew the word out, glaring at both men.
"Look, you're playing a part. You two are supposed to have been married 25 years. He's driving. Captain, I don't have time for women's right stuff right now. I'm fully aware you can handle yourself, usually better than every man in this building, but please," he raised his voice, "just let Flynn drive!"
Sharon rolled her eyes and huffed. She collected her things and turned back to Andy and Pope, "Anything else, CHIEF," she said deliberately. "Need me to call him any cute names-Honey, Baby, Sweetness-anything like that?"
"I'm sure whatever you want to call him will be fine, as long as it's not a term like idiot or something, but" he shrugged, "25 years of marriage, that might be believable too. Come to think of it-my ex-wife called me an idiot on many occasions. As for the case, yes, one more thing," he dug out of his pocket, "here, try on these rings. I got them from some of the other undercover work that has been done. If these don't fit, we can stop by property quickly, but I took a guess on sizes. I didn't think either of you had wedding rings."
Andy snatched the solid band from Pope's hand. Sharon spoke up, "Actually, Chief, I did think of that, but when I divorced my husband, well," she shrugged, "I sent that to my daughter. I knew she'd enjoy having something I never want to see again, so yes, you were correct in your assumption." Sharon picked up the other band, trying it on. Neither had any problems with the sizing.
"Good," Pope nodded. "They fit. You will need to stop by property to sign out a diamond ring. They didn't want to sign one out without you trying it on. So, on your way down, pick that up, and you two can head for the hotel and get setup," he nodded. "You have that packet, and room service will deliver your earwigs later. Any questions now?"
Both Sharon and Andy shook their heads; they were clear on the mission for the moment. Pope punched the buttons on the elevator, holding it open while they entered. "Good luck, you two. Be safe," Pope nodded.
The ride to property was quiet, and Sharon moved ahead of Andy quickly to get the ring addressed. Andy hung back as she tried on a couple and then signed out the ring. Within a few minutes, they were back on the elevator and on their way to the parking garage.
"I'm fully capable of driving, you know," Sharon addressed the driving issues again. As they got off the elevator, she heard Andy sigh. Their car was waiting for them right at the elevator.
"I'm aware of that, Sharon," he sighed again. He opened the car, and the two started to load their things, finding a few more bags inside. These held some of their surveillance equipment. "Get in; I'll finish loading the car."
"I'm also capable of helping," she pointed out, snatching her bag from him as he tried to load it.
"Oh, come on!" he exclaimed. "Why do I try to do something nice?" he shook his head. Two minutes later, they were both done loading and getting themselves situated in the car.
"I looked up the drive, and even in traffic, it should only take us a half hour. At this time of the day, I expect traffic to be pretty heavy," Sharon said, smoothing her suit, as she looked out the window. Andy just grunted at her information.
He broke the silence a few minutes later when they pulled up to a stoplight, "You know we are actually going to have to sit down and talk through this case when we get there?"
She just shook her head, "I know," she said quietly. "Andy, I've always worked with you when I've had to. Just do like you normally do anymore, ignore me when you can, and try not to yell too much at other times. Let's get situated at the hotel, and we can figure out the strategy. I want to finish this case as much as you do."
"Oh, crap," Andy muttered, finally causing Sharon to turn her head toward him with a questioning gaze. "I'm sure there's one room for us. I've been so busy thinking through all the stuff that I needed to do, that I'm now just thinking about the setup. We've got to share a room."
"Hmm, it's just getting better and better by the minute," Sharon complained, sighing as she shook her head. "Chief Pope really knows how to pick'em, doesn't he?"
