Thank you for your kind words on my previous chapter. I'm glad many of you've discovered the update despite the site being extremely lousy sending out alerts. But the issue seems to have been fixed finally, so let's just hope it stays that way!

Once again, thanks to MajorCFan for being my beta, and for just continually being so supportive of me and helpful as I tackle writing this story. By the way, she's started working on the sequel to her story 'Kismet', and the few bits I've read of it so far? Oh, boy! You've no idea what a treat you guys are in for! 😍

Here's the next chapter now. Have fun, and remember, I will love hearing your thoughts on it! 😊


TAKE THE PLUNGE - CHAPTER 3

It was a busy four weeks that followed Sharon's fateful phone call. Most of that time was spent preparing for her retirement.

It took two days for them to finally close their case, and Sharon's first two orders of business were telling the team the good news and making an official appointment with Taylor to inform him of the same.

As expected, there were mixed feelings when she told the squad, and Andy couldn't blame them. Oh, he was happy for her, but that would not make the transition any easier. One thing that he hated having to get used to, was going into work knowing that, when he looked over his shoulder, it would be somebody else's face he'd see behind the glass walls there. Many more things were about to change, but, despite the challenges they were about to face, he was determined to make it all work. His determination, however, did little to protect him from the enormity of the situation really hitting him when she almost giddily informed their colleagues of her latest news.

Everybody congratulated her of course. They were heartfelt congratulations, too. But then a few other notes entered the conversation. Julio's note was a humorous one.

"Captain," he said, obviously suppressing a grin, "are you sure it's wise to leave us under somebody else's supervision?" He glanced over at Provenza, who, they all guessed, might step into that role even if Sharon was yet to formally address the matter with him.

They had all gotten a good laugh out of it. Mostly because of the scowl Julio earned himself with his not so subtle hinting. However, one thing struck Andy in that moment. Yes, they would still do their best to follow the rulebook to the letter, it would be an insult to Sharon if they didn't, but he had a feeling the air of ease with which they seemed to be doing it so far would leave the murder room along with her.

Buzz had had a different question.

"Does this mean Rusty won't be stopping by as often as he does now?" he asked.

The kid had grown on all of them, become part of their little police family as unexpectedly as Sharon had. While Sharon had argued that she wasn't the sole reason Rusty dropped by so often, unfortunately, the answer to that question was yes. Rusty was bound to spend less time hanging around with them since his mother would no longer be heading the division. That only further underlined the painful fact that things in their murder room were about to change.

Mike was more straightforward in addressing her impeding departure.

"We'll miss," he looked around at his squad, "working with you, Captain."

With that sentence, Andy wholeheartedly agreed. It wasn't just a matter of not seeing her at work or seeing less of her outside of it. The entire team, not just him, worked exceptionally well with her. When he compared her to Chief Johnson, he found that he liked it that Sharon delegated much more than the Chief ever did, and that she was more than comfortable giving them a little more leeway when it came to chasing down leads, or even shutting their cases closed. Sharon's approach lulled them into a fine, effective rhythm and he was not looking forward to finding a new one. Even if Provenza ended up being the one to replace her, he would still have to do so.

Amy thought along more practical lines.

"Even if you take over, Sir," she was looking at Provenza before turning her attention to Sharon again, "that still means we will have an empty spot on the squad, doesn't it?"

In confidence, Sharon had told Andy she was considering talking to Robbie Oderno. He had already worked well with them on a few occasions, and hopefully, he would be interested in doing so on a permanent basis now. Andy liked that idea. He hated to admit it, but he kind of liked the guy, too. However, regardless of them liking the idea, both Sharon and Andy knew there was another thing to be considered before they could plan that far ahead. It was Provenza, who, after one too many pointed fingers in his direction, snapped and pointed that out.

"You do realize that they'll never put a Lieutenant in charge of the division," he said in a huff. "And even if the powers that be were ready to spend some of their precious money on promoting someone into the position, odds are, I," he shook his head over a wide-eyed look, "will not be their first pick."

Andy agreed with his partner, but for reasons beyond his comprehension, Sharon had been rather optimistic on that front, and in response, only requested a word with Provenza once she talked to Taylor. He wished he had been a fly on the wall for that conversation. Sharon was a prized failsafe in Taylor's eyes, and Andy doubted he would be too thrilled when Sharon handed in her retirement papers. To his surprise however, according to Sharon, that conversation had gone rather well.

Clutching a manila folder to her chest, Sharon sat across Assistant Chief Taylor in his office, and said, "There have been certain developments, Sir, that I need to discuss with you."

Taylor rubbed a hand over his chin. "Those developments wouldn't by any chance have anything to do with your recently increased time off, now would it, Captain?"

Sharon's eyes widened, revealing her surprise for the briefest of seconds. After all, he had made no inquiries so far. "Actually," she schooled her features, "they would, Chief."

Taylor let out a, "Huh." Then a moment later, and much to Sharon's renewed surprise, he just shrugged. "Well, Captain," his voice thinned and went a little higher, "in that case," he smirked, "I figured you would wander into my office any day now."

Sharon frowned, confused, but then as realization hit, her eyebrows went up and she simply stated, "You know Commander Harris."

On a smile, he nodded. "I haven't heard from him in years, but we go way back, before he moved to Washington. And then a few months ago," Taylor put his elbows up on the desk and folded his hands under his chin, "I get a call from him asking about a certain Captain Raydor from the LAPD." He spelled those four letters out slowly, as if taking immense satisfaction from revealing this particular tidbit of information. He gave her a pointed look. "I take it you're NFL's new Chief of Security?"

"Yes," Sharon confirmed on a sigh, finally extending a hand to give Taylor the folder she was clutching. "This is my four-week notice."

Taylor took the folder and grabbed his glasses before opening it and quickly scanning over its content. "Retirement?"

"As you know, I'm eligible for my full pension," she said, "and allowed to seek employment afterwards."

He looked at her over the top of his glasses. "Oh, I'm aware." Putting the folder down, he said, "I just hoped you'd change your mind, Captain, but," he tapped his finger on her papers, "I guess this is a done deal."

Sharon offered a small smile. "Trust me, it was not an easy decision, but yes," she nodded confidently, "my mind is set on it."

Taylor leaned back in his chair and gave her a long look. When he spoke again, he sounded genuinely regretful. "The LAPD is losing one hell of an officer."

"Thank you," Sharon said, nodding again.

"There's really no way I can talk you out of this?" he asked hopefully.

She chuckled. "No." She shook her head. "I've already confirmed with the NFL and told the team." She shrugged a single shoulder. "I'm looking forward to a new challenge now."

"What did the team have to say?"

"Apparently," Sharon raised an eyebrow, conveying her slight disbelief, "they'll miss me."

Taylor chuckled. "How times have changed, huh?"

"They certainly have," Sharon confirmed merrily.

Taylor sighed. "I guess there's just one more question here."

"Yes?" Sharon said, her tone of voice indicating she knew exactly what that question was.

"Who the hell is going to replace you?" Taylor let out incredulously.

Sharon suppressed a chuckle and straightened a little in her chair. "About that, Chief..."

Andy could barely believe how she accomplished it even after she explained it to him. She had mentioned personal reassurances regarding Provenza, and something about the department being able to easily afford his promotion in the wake of her retirement. But in the end, it didn't really surprise him that she had had a special ace up her sleeve to rope Taylor into agreeing to her little scheme.

"Take a seat, Lieutenant." Sharon waved a hand at one of the chairs in front of her desk.

Provenza closed the door behind him and did as asked. "How'd it go with Taylor?"

"Oh," Sharon started cheerfully, "surprisingly well, actually."

Provenza frowned. "He's not glad you're leaving, is he?" he asked incredulously.

Sharon smirked. "Are you?"

The question took Provenza by surprise and he shifted in his chair slightly, stalling. Finally, he took a breath and shook his head while saying, "My sentiments about you have improved greatly in the past four years, Captain."

Sharon smiled warmly at him. "And I am glad they have," she said pointedly.

Provenza frowned a little, then waved a hand at her, as if to chase away the topic. "So, Taylor?" he prompted.

Sharon leaned back in her chair and folded her arms to give him a look over the top of her glasses. "How does 'Captain Provenza' sound to you, Lieutenant?"

His eyes widened. Shaking his head, he muttered, "Impossible is what it sounds like."

She quirked an eyebrow at him. "Oh," she spoke in a lower timbre, "anything's possible these days."

Provenza leaned forward, resting an elbow on his thigh as he pointed a finger at her. "You're telling me that Assistant Chief Taylor," he laced Taylor's rank with sarcasm, "agreed to promoting me in order to head Major Crimes?"

Sharon smiled and gave him a single nod. "That is exactly what I'm telling you."

Provenza swallowed. "How?"

"I can be quite persuasive when I want to," Sharon told him cryptically. At his bland look, she admitted, "And I may have called in a favor or two."

Provenza slumped back into his chair. "With all due respect, Captain," he gave her a single wave of a hand, "you're crazy."

Sharon just laughed and shrugged it off. "I've been called worse, Lieutenant. What's your point?"

"That you must have an awful lot of confidence in me to be calling in favors on my behalf." He lowered his gaze briefly before meeting her eyes again to add, "When it didn't work out last time, you and I both know it wasn't just because of my lack in rank."

If she was surprised by his unexpected admission, Sharon hid it well. "So," her voice dipped a little with her obvious disbelief about what she was about to ask, "you doubt it will work out this time?"

Provenza chuckled. "Believe it or not, Captain, I've picked up on one or two of your tricks."

Amused, Sharon smiled and asked, "Do I detect a compliment, Lieutenant?"

Provenza rolled his eyes, and painfully obviously changed the topic. "So what's the price?"

Sharon frowned. "Price?"

"This," he waved a hand between them, "is not how I'll get my Captain's badge."

"Ah," Sharon let out on a chuckle. "Clear your morning, Lieutenant," she informed him. "Chief Taylor's expecting us tomorrow, at 8 am sharp."

Provenza took to his feet. "Haven't even made Captain yet," he muttered under his breath, but still loud enough for Sharon to hear, "and I'm already sick of it."

Sharon chuckled. "So is that a yes?" she asked more seriously.

Provenza gave her an incredulous look. "Of course it's a yes," he said in a huff. "We've barely gotten used to you. You think I'd just let somebody else swoop in now?" He didn't wait for her answer and warned, "Not if I have a say in it."

She stood up as well and extended a hand to him over her desk. "Then we've got ourselves a deal," she told him.

He accepted her hand, but eyed her suspiciously. "A deal? I don't see what you're getting out of this, Captain."

Her eyes flickered to her glass walls. The blinds were drawn but there was no doubt about who she sought out even as she said, "Keep them safe."

He nodded and shook her hand. "Deal."

Of course Taylor would owe Sharon a favor. Half the LAPD probably owed her for one thing or another. Favors, in their line of business, were like currency. Knowing how well Sharon handled her money, it did not surprise Andy that she handled her favors just as well. He only wished she had been able to cash in those favors for her personal benefit (he was still not over her Commander snub even if it had been nearly two years that he's known about it). Although to hear her tell it, this particular favor was very much for her benefit, and within a couple of weeks everything was set. After a few additional meetings between Provenza, Taylor and Sharon, and some promises and reassurances on Provenza's part, Andy's partner was officially set to become Captain and the head of Major Crimes on Sharon's last day with the LAPD. Following that particular good development had been the news of Robbie Oderno joining their ranks to fill in the vacant spot in Sharon's and Provenza's wake.

Amidst all that though, Andy found himself already missing her. He had started to feel like it took more effort to get to see her even before she finally got the job. But he did not complain. They still worked, and putting a little more effort into it was a small price to pay for that. However, these final four weeks before she finally retired only managed to intensify that feeling. As they both realized, four weeks was an incredibly short amount of time for Sharon to put all her affairs in order. Andy helped whichever way he could, mostly with some of the cases that were still pending trial. Since she was also already in the process of familiarizing herself with the work of her predecessor at the NFL, Andy noticed that she was running herself a little thin when, in the middle of all that, their division got thrown a new case, too. She may have been in the process of retiring, but that had not meant she was yet allowed to stop working those cases, so Andy found himself picking up some slack in that sense, grateful that, when she noticed, she had not complained.

Until one night late at work, they had little time to really talk about how things between them were going. They sat together, cut off from the world in her office, going through some of her old files, when she surprised him by revealing that they were on the same page.

Her heavy sigh had him look up from the open folder in his lap. "I already miss you," she said when she noticed him.

He gently closed his folder and smiled. "Tell me about it."

She suddenly chuckled and said, "I never thought retiring would be this exhausting."

Andy grinned and repeated, an incredulous touch to the words this time, "Tell me about it."

That got her laughing. "Even trying to see you is becoming exhausting," she said as she sobered.

Andy nodded a bit ruefully. "You noticed, too, huh?"

"Mhm," she hummed over a similar nod.

"It's just temporary," Andy said confidently. Shrugging, he added, "We'll get a proper hang of this once you start your new job, I'm sure."

"So," her finger started fiddling with the corner of one the pieces of paper in front of her, "this trial run of ours," she looked up, "what's the verdict?"

"You happy?" he said in response.

Her brow furrowed, and her fingers stilled. "Are you?" she countered, sounding a bit worried.

"As a clam," he quipped. When she narrowed her eyes at him, he added, more seriously, "I am."

That made her features soften and she quietly agreed. "I am, too."

"Good," Andy said cheerfully. "But I think there's still room for improvement."

The look she gave him, told him she agreed, but, intrigued, she asked, "Got anything particular in mind?"

He opened his folder again and, on a non-committal shrug, said, "Maybe."

He felt her gaze on him for a few more beats, but she prodded no more, and returned to her own paperwork.

Andy had something very particular in mind that he was yet to share with Sharon. He was waiting for her to start the job at the NFL, to see how things went, and how they managed and felt about their new situation, before deciding how and when to talk to her about his idea. However, as Sharon's final day at the LAPD approached, he shelved thinking about it. He had been wrapped up in something more immediate to deal with.

Her day was supposed to be a short one, her stay no longer than it took to formally say her goodbyes and let Provenza take over. Still, he prayed to any deity that would listen that their team did not catch a case that day. A case would rain on the parade that Andy and his team had in store for their soon to be former boss. Fortunately, as he showed up on her doorstep that morning, unannounced by the way, he found that his prayers had been answered, and so far, they were in for a quiet morning.

He had a key to Sharon's condo. When he moved back to his place, she had told him to keep it. However, he did not use it that morning but rang her doorbell instead.

As the door opened, he heard, "Andy, what are you doing here and why are you ri-" Sharon stopped mid-sentence when her gaze fell on the items draped over his forearms. "Is that your uniform?" she asked on a confused frown.

He nodded and grinned. "These," he lifted his arms a little, "are our uniforms."

The crease between her brow only deepened. "How on earth did you get your hands o-" Again she stopped mid-sentence and suddenly turned her head toward the condo to holler, "Rusty!"

Andy chuckled. "Can you chew him out when I come in?" he asked.

She pursed her lips, unimpressed, but stepped aside to let him in. In a more proper hello, he gave her a quick peck on the cheek as he entered.

"What's up, m-" Rusty turned the corner and noticed Andy. "Oh, hi, Andy," he said on a grin.

"When did you give Andy my uniform?" Sharon questioned, not waiting for her boyfriend to return the greeting.

Rusty shrugged, unconcerned. "Yesterday morning."

That took Sharon aback. She opened her mouth to say something but apparently found words lacking. Andy took that as a chance to tease her. "Oh, you're just bugged," he started walking toward her bedroom, "because you didn't notice it was missing."

She snapped her mouth shut, shot Rusty, who started laughing, a look that was a mix of amusement and irritation, and quickly went after Andy. "What do you need my uniform for?" she asked him although he was already in her room.

When she reached the threshold, she found Andy standing in the middle of the room. He offered her the see-through bag that contained her uniform and said, "Just put it on and enjoy your surprise today."

"Oh, Andy," she deflated instantly, "you shouldn't have," she said softly as she took hold of her uniform.

"It's your last day with the LAPD," Andy said on a shrug. "Of course I, actually, we, should have." When she shook her head at him in disbelief, he added, "Don't worry, it's just the team, nothing big."

She took a couple of steps towards him. "I love you," she told him, propping up on her toes to give him a kiss.

Andy smirked. "Wait till you see the party."

She laughed and walked into the bathroom to get changed.

...

As promised, it was just a small affair. The team, all of them in uniform, including Buzz, greeted her upon arrival by standing huddled together under a "Goodbye, Captain!" plaque and starting to clap. They had discussed yelling out "Surprise!" but decided to tone it down a little.

Sharon seemed touched at the mere sight of them, and Andy wasn't surprised that she didn't mind it when he wrapped an arm around her in comfort. He was surprised, however, when she stopped him when he tried to pull away. He guessed that she was a little overwhelmed and that she knew nobody would fault her for cutting professional distance some slack on her last day at work anyway.

She was touched that the team got her a cake that said, "Kick some NFL butt, Captain!" That Amy got a little teary-eyed when it was her turn to propose a toast in Sharon's name (Provenza grumbled a little about the apple cider, of course). That Buzz thanked her for helping him out with his reserve officer training any way she could, even though he grumbled about Rusty every now and then. That Julio promised to keep his temper in check even if she wasn't there to do so herself. That Mike promised to make sure Andy and Provenza didn't get up to too much trouble.

Who touched her the most though, was Provenza. If Andy was being honest with himself, he choked up a little at his partner's gesture as well.

"I'm moving this into your former office as soon as possible," Provenza told her, walking toward his desk, "but, since you're letting me sit in your chair for a while," he pulled out his desk chair with a flourish, "I was wondering if you'd like a taste of mine."

Sharon smiled brightly, and turned briefly to Andy to give him her plate with a half-eaten piece of cake on it, then followed her soon to be formerly second in command. "Why thank you, Lieutenant." She made to accept the offered seat, but paused long enough to correct herself. "Captain."

Provenza shook his head and muttered, "I'm telling my grandkids to still call me 'Lieutenant'."

That had the whole team chuckle. Sharon, albeit also laughing, swept a hand over the top of his desk. "May I rearrange a few things, too?" she asked, throwing Provenza a mischievous look.

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Don't push your luck, Captain."

She grinned and took a swirl in his chair. "You've got a lovely view here, Louie," she said as she came to a stop, facing him.

His eyes widened for a moment. It was impossible to miss the both impressed and shocked looks exchanged by the rest of the squad, but he suddenly extended her a hand. "Good luck, Sharon," he told her as she accepted it and got to her feet again. Not shaking her hand, but not letting go of it either, he looked around for a moment and added, "I have some big shoes to fill," he settled his gaze on her again, "and I promise to try not to disappoint."

She smiled a watery smile and pushed her luck a little more by wrapping him in a hug. When, somewhat awkwardly, he hugged her back, she thickly said, "I have complete faith in you that you won't." With that she pulled back.

He nodded once, then dropped his gaze to the floor. "Thank you," he finally said, collecting himself enough to meet her eyes again.

The sound of hurried footsteps approaching the murder room drew everybody's attention to the room's entrance. A second later, Andrea, with Morales in tow, entered their field of view. "We're not too late, are we?" she asked.

Sharon shot Andy a look. "I thought you said just the team?"

He shrugged. "I thought those two are part of the team!" he said defensively.

Morales feigned a mildly offended look, while the team chuckled at the exchange. Hooking a thumb in the direction out of which he came, he said, "We can leave if you'd like, Captain."

"Oh, no," Sharon said softly, "you are part of the team." She waved a hand for them to come closer. "I was just surprised is all."

Andrea smiled and walked further into the room. "I believe that was the point, Sharon," she said sarcastically.

"You are late though," Provenza grumbled.

"Sorry." Morales shrugged. "Dead body," he added in explanation as he leaned over the cake, probably to make out the writing on it.

"Court dragged out," Andrea explained on an eye roll.

"Well," Sharon smiled, quickly glancing over the rest of her squad before settling on Andrea and Morales, "I'm glad I get to say my formal goodbyes to you now, too."

...

"I can't believe you took the day off," Sharon said. She seemed torn between wanting to admonish him for it and being impressed by it.

Andy opened the passenger side door of his car for her. "What can I say," he shrugged, "the new boss and I are old buddies."

He had sprung that part of his surprise on her as she bid her final official goodbyes, after getting the last of her work affairs in order. Earlier in the morning he had talked her into carpooling with him, under the premise that he'd just use his lunch break a little earlier in order to give her a ride back to the condo. Considering the few emotional hours she had just had, he wasn't surprised that, beyond offering this particular remark, she had not tried talking him out of it.

She shook her head at him in amusement and took her seat. When he scurried over to the driver's side and took his own seat, he paused once he got the car running. "Ready?" he asked, looking at her. She had been teary-eyed and fighting for composure earlier as she left the murder room, no longer an officer of the law.

"I'm going to miss this place," she said sadly, looking around.

Andy smirked. "The garage?"

She gave him a bland look. "That smirk though," she reached a hand out to roughly brush it over his cheek, "I won't," she told him sarcastically.

Andy shrugged unconcerned, and got the car moving. "Of course you won't." He made sure to smirk at her again. "After all, you're leaving the LAPD," he raised an eyebrow, "not me."

She smiled what Andy thought was an involuntary smile because she said, "Maybe I should reconsider that."

He turned to look at her as they reached a red light. Smugly, he started, "But then you'd-"

"Ah-ah!" she warned, pressing a finger to his lips. "Eyes on the road, mister."

He laughed and did as ordered. As traffic got moving again, he finally sobered and said, "I'm gonna miss carpooling with you." They did not carpool often. Sometimes, if they spent the night at each other's place, or occasionally if they had plans before or after work, almost never during active cases, but his words were still genuine.

She hummed in agreement, then shifted slightly to give him a look over an upturned eyebrow. "I do expect sharing a ride with you to and from the airport as often as possible."

He threw her a quick look. "That goes without saying." He grinned as he focused on the road again. "Although, I expect proper compensation for my services," he added jokingly.

She smiled and looked in front of herself again. "We can work something out," she said, her voice shaking slightly with laughter.

...

"Did I thank you?" Sharon asked out of the blue as they silently rode the empty elevator up to her floor.

Andy's eyebrows went up and he looked at her. "For what?"

She brushed her shoulder against his. "For the uniforms."

He smiled and snaked an arm around her waist. "After our talk the other night," he shrugged, "I figured you'd wanna indulge in your Captainship a little while longer."

She leaned into his side and hummed contentedly. "You figured correctly, Lieutenant."

The elevator came to a stop and the doors opened. "Well," Andy said on a slightly higher pitch as they walked into the hallway, "I may have also had an ulterior motive."

"Oh." She gave him a surprised look. A second later it turned coy and she added, "Is that so?"

He grinned. "What do you think?" he asked on a wink.

They had reached the door and, as she fiddled with the lock, she eyed his uniform appreciatively. "That I like your ulterior motives?" she quipped, pushing the door open.

He just laughed in response and followed her inside.

Rusty had classes and wasn't due home till lunch, so they knew they'd find the place empty. Andy was busy unlacing his shoes when he heard Sharon sigh heavily. He looked up and found her staring at the cabinet in front of her, a hand resting above her right hip.

"What?" he asked, confused.

She turned around, a wistful look on her face. "Whenever my service weapon was on my hip," she tapped her belt with her hand, "this," she eyed the cabinet, "is where I would leave it when I got home, and now," she shrugged and lowered her hand, a shake of her head ending her sentence.

Today she had to turn in her official service weapon. She could have bought and kept it, she was eligible for that. However, she had a personal back up weapon already, and even though she could more than afford it, especially with her new job, she had decided against it. Andy doubted she was regretting the decision right now, but he could understand the sentimental value behind it. He toed off his shoes and walked over to her. Placing his hands on her hips, he waited a second for her to look at him. While he could understand the fact being something she would have to get used to, her reaction prompted him to ask, "You're not having second thoughts about this now?"

To his relief she smiled and shook her head profusely. "Oh, no, I am absolutely thrilled to start working for the NFL tomorrow." She wrapped her hands around his forearms, her grip on them excited. "But it suddenly just hit me how much things are changing," she added, her smile fading a little.

Wanting to lighten the mood, Andy groaned and said, "Tell me about it." He squeezed her hips. "Do you have any idea what it will be like to see Provenza's ugly mug in your office from now on?" He gave her a wide eyed look. "He won't be tapping my shoulder," he lifted a hand to tap hers, "the way you do. He'll just smack the back of my head or something to get my attention."

She snorted. Failing to keep her laughter at bay, she still managed to say, "I'm sure he'll just yell, 'Flynn!'"

Her poor impersonation of his partner had Andy laugh with her. "Sure," he said sarcastically, "just before or after he calls me an idiot."

"Maybe I should be having second thoughts about this," she said on a chuckle.

"Too late," Andy quipped, pecking her on the lips. "You promised me Super Bowl tickets. There's no backing out now."

She snaked her arms around him. "Is that," he grinned at the silly smile on her face, "why you're so supportive of this?" She raised an unimpressed eyebrow. "To get live Super Bowl access?"

"That is precisely why I'm so supportive of this," he deadpanned just before kissing her again.

"Thank you," she said quietly, pulling away.

Surprised, Andy raised an eyebrow at her. "I thought we've already covered that?"

"Not really," she shook her head, "I only asked if-"

He cut her off by kissing her once more. "You're welcome, Sharon," he told her on a smile when he pulled back only far enough to catch his breath.

She smiled. "So," she started fiddling with his tie, "your secret agenda?"

"Ulterior motive," Andy quickly and smugly corrected.

Sharon looked at him, an eyebrow raised. "Care to do something about that secret agenda?" She repeated her wording pointedly.

"Nope," he quipped, and took an abrupt step away from her.

Stumped beyond words, she just stared at him, making Andy laugh.

"When will I ever get to see you in uniform again, huh?" he challenged, walking away from her further into the condo.

She shot his retreating back a narrow-eyed look, but relented. "Fair point."

...

When Rusty came home for the lunch Andy and Sharon had the pleasure of preparing together, he had eyed them and their still donned uniforms suspiciously, but either knew better than to inquire, or didn't care enough to do so. Andy doubted it had anything to do with the latter. In the late afternoon, after Rusty had excused himself to meet up with Gus, and after Sharon packed her little travel bag for her morning trip to Buffalo where she was set to organize security for a game for the first time in her NFL career, Sharon and Andy found themselves going over her schedule.

Due to rather strict security measures at the NFL, her schedule was not a matter of public record, however, that did not forbid her from sharing it from those she trusted, her children and Andy in particular. She would not be heading to every scheduled game, and she would most certainly never take off on one of her trips without letting either her kids or Andy know, but they wanted to go over it just so they had a general idea of how often they would or wouldn't see each other. They also decided to keep Provenza appraised of her schedule. Neither one of them liked to think about it, but they knew from painful experience that something could always happen in the line of Andy's duty. To avoid putting more responsibility on Rusty's shoulders than he would already have with Sharon not at home as often as before, they wanted Provenza to know where she was and how she was reachable at any given moment.

Andy found it a little depressing that their schedules would differ so much from now on, and that it would take more planning than usual to get around to spending time with each other. As he realized he would not be seeing her for New Year's Eve, with a painful pang of regret, it also dawned on him just how much of their limited time together would also be wasted on merely organizing to see each other.

He nearly blurted out right then and there what his particular idea was. He didn't want to waste time on commute, too. But he thought bringing it up now would seem desperate. Or she would interpret it as him offering additional reassurances that he knew she would not appreciate, and not because she generally felt she didn't need them. He did not think she would refuse it, however, but he did believe she would need time to process it. And with everything else they had to process right now, he thought it wouldn't hurt to let the dust settle first either. So he shelved the matter again, and, grabbing her phone out of her hand, decided to fill his head with different thoughts.

"I wasn't done," she admonished, but made no move to stop him as he put her phone down on the coffee table.

"Yeah, you are," he said confidently, reaching over the couch to her end of it to tug on her tie. "Come here." She chuckled a little, but scooted over to him without protest. "You know," he smiled when her hand started trailing a familiar path down his tie, "while I cannot wait for those Super Bowl tickets," she gave him an amused smile, "I am gonna miss you whenever you're out of town," he told her seriously.

"Me, too," she said on a sigh, her hand stilling. "But," she went on more optimistically, "you can look forward to a regular ticket every now and then, too."

His laugh ebbing away, he said, "So our trial run," he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, "I think we did good."

She leaned into his hand and nodded. "Rusty did, too."

He hummed in agreement. "He'll be completely over you by the end of regular football season," he teased.

She laughed softly. "Shame I can't keep his attention with tickets like yours."

His eyes went purposefully over her apparel. "Try the uniform," he offered. "That works for me, too."

That had her snort uncontrollably in laughter, and she hid her face in his upper arm. Finally, looking up again, she said, sounding genuinely incredulous, "I can't believe I'm trusting you to keep an eye on him for me."

He shrugged. "As the sole police officer in this family, I am more than up to the task."

Her suddenly watery smile had him raise an eyebrow at her in question. "Family?" she asked in response.

It was an unintentional slip of the tongue, but he knew not his first one. Surprised by her teary reaction, he smiled and simply confirmed, "Family."

She pressed her lips to his in a heady display of emotion, then abruptly got to her feet, grabbing hold of his hand, before he could even process what was going on, much less react.

"Come," she prompted and tugged on his hand when he made no move to stand up.

He finally stood up, but stayed rooted to the spot despite her now impatient tug. "Where?"

She paused and took an even more impatient sounding breath. "To say goodbye to my uniform," she quipped and let go of his hand to saunter toward her bedroom.

"Yes, Captain!" he exclaimed and went after her.

TBC