Your messages and reviews are awesome, it's great to hear you guys are enjoying this story so far! 😊
As always, my thanks go to my amazing beta, MajorCFan. For those of you who followed her story 'Kismet', let me just tease you by saying that a toothpick will have quite an important plot role in the first chapter of her sequel. 😉
Anyways, here I go. Enjoy!
TAKE THE PLUNGE - CHAPTER 4
Sharon made two more NFL trips in the next four weeks. They each lasted four days, shorter than she had anticipated as she found out that there was much more she could coordinate out of LA than originally thought. The people she worked with were rather welcoming, and her initial worry about having to put more effort into gaining their respect proved itself completely unfounded. Instead, she actually found herself putting effort into getting them to relax a little. Gossip spread in the NFL just as fast as it did at the LAPD, so much of the worst parts of her reputation had found their way into her new workplace. However, now over a month into her new job, she was slowly starting to get the hang of things, and certain matters already fell into a nice routine.
The only downside to her lighter workload than originally anticipated was the fact that Major Crimes had caught a case right between her two trips. From what Andy had told her, it was big enough to warrant Assistant Chief Taylor breathing down their collective necks. Robbie Oderno fit in just as expected. Even Provenza, much to Sharon's surprise, was cutting him a little slack until he fell fully into the team's rhythm. Unfortunately, the rest of the team, or more precisely Provenza's second in command, Andy, bore the unwanted consequence of needing to pick up some of that slack.
She and Andy had not spent as much time together as they had hoped they would. It certainly did not help that on the few nights they spent, or tried spending together, Andy got rolled out to a crime scene. Once things on Andy's work front cooled down, they realized that so far things between them were running rather smoothly, even if they still worked harder than usual at coordinating their respective schedules. Rusty, too, was reaping the benefits of her lighter schedule, and Sharon was proud to say that she was as up-to-date in all matters regarding Rusty as she had been while she had headed Major Crimes.
She was in for a mean surprise, however, when she returned from a trip in mid-October. Andy was supposed to pick her up, but instead she found Rusty waiting for her. She and Andy had agreed he would let her know if work got in the way of his airport transportation services, but she had received no calls or texts informing her of any plan change. It was the first time that he failed to pick her up himself though, and he could have just forgotten to tell her, so she did not worry. However, when Rusty noticed her approach and all but ran toward her, worry made a rather prominent appearance.
"What's wrong?" she said in greeting as she accepted her son's hug.
He pulled back and swallowed. "Uh, there's been a shooting at a crime scene." Her heart dropped into her stomach, and she must have visibly blanched or something, for Rusty suddenly pulled her back tightly into his embrace, and as if reading her mind, added, "Andy's fine, mom!" He pulled back. "The team is, too, but, uh," he cleared his throat, "Chief Taylor was shot."
She put a hand over her mouth to stifle her gasp. "Wh-"
Rusty didn't let her finish the first word, much less the rest of her question. "I have no idea what happened." He gave her a worried, wide-eyed look. "Andy just called me a couple of hours ago and said that the Chief got shot and," he was fidgety, speaking in quick succession, "that he was taken to a hospital, and that I should pick you up." He shrugged and added, sadly, "I don't know how the Chief's doing."
She took a breath. Hospital. She took that as a good sign. "Did he tell you which hospital?" she asked, trying to think rationally.
Rusty nodded, relieving her of her carry-on bag, more in order to calm down his fidgeting hands than due to good manners, and said, "Yeah, uh, Cedars."
"Okay, let's go." She didn't wait for Rusty to process her sentence, but immediately started for the exit, already busy fishing her phone out of her pocket.
Andy picked up on the third ring. "Hey." He sounded exhausted.
"What happened?" she asked instantly.
"Where are you?" he asked in response.
She rolled her eyes, letting Rusty lead the way to the car. "On my way to Cedars."
He groaned before responding. "Things got a little crazy here, I only managed to tell Rusty to pick you up, but-" He sounded as if he was explaining it not just to her, but to himself as well, and a heavy sigh cut his sentence short. Even before he went on, she knew the worst had come to pass. "Taylor died in the ambulance, Sharon."
Still, the sentence felt like being drenched in cold water. "What happened, Andy?" she asked on an incredulous sigh.
Her tone of voice had Rusty giving her a worried look, but she just lifted a hand up as if to tell him to wait a moment, and listened to Andy's reply. "Have Rusty drop you off at the PAB, we'll be there by the time you arrive. I'll fill you in then, okay?"
She wanted to argue, but knew it wasn't a conversation to be held over the phone. "Okay," she sighed, "just tell me you're okay? All of you?"
There was a pause on Andy's side, during which they finally reached Rusty's car. "Yeah, we're fine," he finally said. "Shaken up, but otherwise okay."
"Okay," she opened the passenger side door, "see you soon."
"Okay," he paused again, and quietly added, "I love you."
She smiled sadly, taking her seat. "Me, too," she said and with that the call disconnected.
Sounding slightly panicky now, Rusty instantly pounced on her. "Mom, what's going on?"
...
An hour later, Rusty pulled up to LAPD Headquarters. She had filled him in on the way on what little Andy had told her, then ushered him home. She doubted there was anything useful for her to do there, but she definitely knew there was nothing for Rusty to do. He headed home, but only reluctantly.
She should have been surprised to see Andy waiting for her by the elevators, but at the sight of him, the only thought that went through her head was that he was indeed fine. The area was eerily empty, not that under these circumstances she would have cared if it wasn't, so when she reached him, wordlessly, she wrapped her arms around him.
His return embrace was tight, and when she felt him take a deep breath, she tightened her own hold on him. Pulling away, he tilted his head to the elevators. "Come on."
The ride up to their floor was a silent one, without a single stop on their way. Their little bubble of sadness and shock wasn't even burst once they finally reached their destination. Apart from a pair of two uniformed officers walking down the hall, quietly talking to each other, there did not seem to be much going on. Sharon found that suspicious. Somebody had shot and killed the LAPD's Assistant Chief. She had expected the entire department to be on its feet in search of the perpetrator.
"What on earth happened, Andy?" she finally asked as he held the door to the murder room open for her.
"Idiots happened, Sharon," he said angrily.
She couldn't say anything to that, for she was confronted with the sight of the team seated behind their desk, dejectedly, pretending to be working rather than actually doing so. They looked up and greeted her, forgetting or not caring that she no longer was a Captain. They did not seem surprised to see her. Andy must have told them she was on her way.
Returning their greeting, without bothering to correct the way they addressed her, Sharon's gaze fell on the murder board. It was empty. That added puzzlement to her earlier suspiciousness. Before she could give voice to any of it, Provenza stepped out of her former office and got straight to the point which Andy had been unintentionally, she knew, dragging out so much.
"If you're wondering why that board is empty," Provenza mumbled on his way to her, "it's because the case is pretty much closed already." He sounded as angry as Andy.
"Just waiting for the ballistics to come back," Andy added on a shrug.
Sharon gave them both a puzzled look and with that they finally told her what had happened.
"I need this one to be by the book, Provenza," Taylor said as he entered the kitchen.
Provenza shot Andy who was on the other side of the room an irritated look, but let Kendall go back to examining the victim. A pool of blood was in the middle of the kitchen's floor and on top of it, the body of a young woman, apparently shot to death. "Is there any other way, Chief?" he asked sarcastically as he turned to face his immediate supervisor.
"I've got the Chief and the Mayor breathing down my neck on this one, Captain," Taylor said, waving a finger at him.
"Well, at least that explains why you're here," Provenza muttered more to himself than Taylor before raising his voice again and addressing him properly. "It takes more than 20 minutes to solve a murder, Chief."
Taylor glared at him for a moment, a hand on his hip. Abruptly letting his hand fall to his side, he said, "I'll look around, then I want an update in 2 hours at the PAB," he shot Provenza a pointed look, "is that understood?"
Provenza looked like he suppressed an eye roll, but he rather diligently said, "Yes, Sir."
"What's up with him?" Andy asked as he flipped through his little notebook the moment Taylor was out of sight.
"If the Mayor and Pope are up in arms," Provenza mumbled, his gaze on the victim, "nothing good."
Amy explained, "The victim was a relative of one of our Police Commissioners, Ma'am."
Sharon's eyebrows briefly went up. On a nod of understanding, she said, "Ah."
10 minutes later, Kendall was just about to bag the body and prepare it for transport, when a loud thud followed by two successive gunshots rang through the house.
By the time Andy and Provenza had their hands on their weapons, a third gunshot went off.
Simultaneously, Andy and Provenza barked their orders, already running out of the kitchen.
"Do not move!" Provenza ordered Kendall, who had ducked to the ground at the sound of the shots as if they had gone off over his head, and not somewhere on the second floor of the house.
Andy pointed a hand at Kendall. "Stay put and watch him!" he ordered a uniformed officer who had been in the middle of running after them, but came to an abrupt stop at the issued order.
"We found the Chief in the upstairs bedroom," Mike said. Moving from under his desk, he added, speaking in a hollow voice, "I tried my best until the ambulance got there, but..." He trailed off, shaking his head.
It was only then that Sharon noticed his appearance. His pants were bloodied at the knees, and on the lower part of his shirt she recognized blood stains as well. She briefly wondered whether his sleeves were covered in blood, but she couldn't tell because he had his suit jacket on.
Julio sounded both proud and impressed as he said, "Chief took two in the chest and still managed to put a bullet between the guy's eyes."
It still did not completely explain the empty murder board, but Sharon had another question on her mind. "When did this happen?"
They all exchanged a look. It took Andy a moment to consult his watch and to finally say, "Maybe 3 hours ago."
Provenza nodded. "Mike rode with him to the hospital, but they lost him before they got there," he explained, looking genuinely shocked.
"And the man who killed," Sharon's throat clenched up a little over that final word, "Chief Taylor is?"
Andy answered. "We identified him as the victim's ex-husband. Got a record for domestic violence and carrying unregistered firearms."
"Jealousy then?" Sharon inquired in terms of motive.
Julio nodded. "Victim just got re-married."
"So," Sharon instinctively turned toward the board, as she had often done when mulling over cases, only to remember that it was empty, "you have proof he killed his ex-wife?" If they did, it definitely explained the blank board in front of her.
"The gun he had on him matched the casings we found in the kitchen, Ma'am," Oderno answered on a nod. "We just need firearms to confirm."
She nodded, it would be an open and shut case afterwards. Unexpectedly, as another realization hit her, anger washed over her. Finally, she understood Provenza's and Andy's earlier rage. "What was the suspect doing in that bedroom?"
Nobody missed the dangerous lower timbre her voice took on, and her former division exchanged looks that said they both were and weren't surprised by her reaction.
Andy answered, nearly spitting the words out. "Unis did not secure the house properly."
Sharon sighed. Yes, that had been the conclusion that she had come to as well. Only if uniforms had not cleared the perimeter properly, could an armed man have remained hidden in a house swarming with police officers. "Have-"
Provenza quirked an eyebrow at her and interrupted, sounding ever so slightly amused. "Professional Standards paid us a visit?"
A small smile, despite the situation, lifted one side of her mouth. "I take that as a yes, Captain?"
His earlier anger crossed his features and he muttered, "First time in my life I actually took pleasure in calling them myself."
They all managed a chuckle, but it was a short-lived one, and they quickly lapsed into a heavy, grieving silence. She was no longer their boss, still, she felt the need to tell them something. "He died a hero," she finally said, unable to recall the exact moment in which she decided to say just that.
Provenza chuckled bitterly. "The man did always know how to take credit."
"Credit was due today though, Sir," Julio said quietly.
They all nodded solemnly and Provenza suddenly gruffly said, "Go home." They all looked at him in surprise. "I'm sure we'd like to get our revenge, but," his scoff sounded mildly impressed, "the Chief beat us to it." He shrugged and momentarily closed his eyes before adding, "Today, we lost one of our own, and while we wait for a call on ballistics, I believe we are allowed to take a moment to deal with this tragedy without all these," he looked around until his eyes finally settled on Mike and his ruined attire, "reminders."
...
They did go home. They did get a call about the ballistics. Chief Taylor did indeed kill the murderer of the victim that led them to that house in the first place. The case was no longer 'pretty much' closed, it was now airtight.
Three days later, everybody was still reeling from the events. As if losing an officer in the line of duty wasn't hard enough to stomach, the fact that it had been that high a ranking one only added salt to injury, and put the entire department in temporary chaos. Nobody liked to think about it, but a replacement for Taylor was necessary. Merely hours after his death, one had been appointed, too. Provenza and his division were now answering to interim Assistant Chief Fritz Howard. However, voices opposed to promoting a former FBI agent to the position were raised, and they did not like having him there even in a temporary capacity.
Today though, was Taylor's funeral, and the political situation at the LAPD had been put aside for a moment.
Sharon and Andy found themselves preparing for it in Andy's bedroom. She was sitting at the foot of his bed in her old uniform. It was a bitter thought to think that even in retirement, there would still be occasions such as these that would allow her to wear it again. Watching as he buttoned up his uniform's shirt, she fiddled with his tie, ready to put it on him once he was done.
She was supposed to be on a flight to New York that day, but had managed to postpone it for the next one. Andy had tried assuring her that nobody would mind her not being there, after all, she was no longer working for the LAPD. Yet she felt obligated to go. She, and everybody really, may have had their fair share of differences with Russell Taylor, but she had also served with him for as long as he had been on the force. Provenza was the only one who actually knew him from his first day on the job, but she had known him long enough to think of it as a lifetime as well. Even Rusty wanted to pay his respects and would be attending the funeral as a civilian along with DDA Hobbs and Doctor Morales.
"It's instances like these when I hate these things," Sharon told Andy as she tied his tie around his neck.
He sighed, one of his fingers going over the black band wrapped around her badge. "I think we only ever formally whip out our uniforms for funerals."
She hummed, nodding. "There," she adjusted his knot one more time, then, trailing a hand down his tie, took a step back, adding, "all done."
The ceremony was as expected. Formal. Somber. Sad. Watching Taylor's wife, children and other family members in the front row had Sharon's chest constrict with painful emotion. That had forever been a worry of hers as she practically single-handedly raised her children; forcing them into that front row one day. She had been lucky though. More shielded from the perils of the job in IA than the other divisions. Those dangers no longer threatened her at all now.
Instead, she had other worries.
She squeezed Andy's hand tightly, shifting ever so slightly closer to him, as her gaze fell down the line of officers she commanded not so long ago. It got Andy's attention. He looked down at their joined hands, then, following her gaze, squeezed her hand back.
It could have been any one of them. It could have been Andy. She could have been sitting in that front row, next to his children, and she was fairly certain her own, even if nothing bound them together legally.
She swallowed back a painful lump in her throat as Taylor's wife was handed the ceremoniously folded flag. How her life had changed in a matter of three gunshots. Sharon wouldn't wish it upon her worst enemies.
They went out for drinks afterwards. Nothing celebratory, certainly not happy. It was merely a moment they all took to bid Taylor one final goodbye before life inevitably moved on.
And move on, it did.
The pace of life picked up, too.
Sharon's current lighter schedule was short lived. Due to some internal incidents, she had been forced to make two extra business trips that were not on her original calendar.
By then, she had gotten a pretty good hold on the organizational side of her job, but those two trips proved that, when it came to the more political side of it, she would have to tread lightly for reasons slightly more different than those in the LAPD. Both organizations were very much under the scrutiny of the public eye. At the LAPD she had to worry about the public's reaction in terms of successfully closing her cases, or in terms of manipulating the public in order to do the same. Manipulation was certainly an integral part to the NFL's dealings with the public. However, within it, she found herself working to get the public off their backs rather than using it to her advantage for a more nobler cause.
She found herself missing that nobler cause actually. Especially after having to deal with football players who only got into trouble due to pesky things, such as over-inflated egos or machismo. Still, she liked football too much to wallow in what she missed. Instead, she took her task of making sure the NFL not only dealt with their incidents, but was also seen doing so by the public, just as seriously as she did when she was given the task of doing nearly the same thing for LAPD's Major Crimes Division. Oh, she would have loved to wield around her badge and put a few people in their place, but she found herself taking even more satisfaction in accomplishing that without it.
Balancing those new work challenges with her life at home, she had to admit, had become slightly more difficult, too. On the account of her two unplanned trips, she had to cancel a few of her private plans. Unfortunately, those cancelled plans involved Andy rather than Rusty. Andy didn't mind. His own children would come first to him, just as hers would to her. Not that it would affect her resolve to not neglect her youngest son, but she still appreciated that Andy understood. According to Rusty though, Andy was more understanding than he should be.
"You do know I won't mind if you head over to Andy's, right?" Rusty told her as they settled on the couch for a quiet movie night.
She smiled at him, holding off on starting the movie with the remote she was holding. "And he doesn't mind me wanting to spend time with you," she told him pointedly.
"I know, mom," he told her on a shrug. "But I live here, you're bound to see me anyway."
"I'm not if I'm at another place," she countered, suppressing a smirk. "Besides, I don't want to just see you," she added gently.
He shot her an unimpressed look, then narrowed his eyes at her. "You just want to make sure you know absolutely everything." He made sure to thoroughly lace the last two words with exasperation.
She shrugged a single shoulder. "That, too," she quipped.
He shook his head and mumbled, "No wonder everybody still calls you 'Captain'."
She laughed, then turned slightly to get a better look at him. "So, speaking of wanting to know absolutely everything..." She prompted him with a look that said, "Anything I don't know?"
He smiled, still exasperated, but clearly amused now, too. "Well, as a matter of fact, I've been thinking."
"Oh," she straightened a little on the spot as if to make sure her focus was solely on him. "Thinking about what?"
He grimaced. "Lawyers." The answer sounded like a question.
"Is that so?" she asked, not sounding as nonchalant as she would have liked. She had been thinking about lawyers, too. Sooner than him probably.
He gave her a curious look, but then took a breath. "Well, I know I've been working toward journalism and all." He shrugged. "But I think advocacy might be something I'd do more meaningful work in." He dropped his gaze and focused it on his hands in his lap.
She smiled. Yes, she had come to the same conclusion. His work on Slider's and Mariana's cases had been for journalistic purposes, but it was largely driven by his sense of right and wrong. She had been wondering if he might better satisfy that sense in a profession where he could also influence the outcome rather than just report on it. "Well, journalism is not set in stone, Rusty. If this is how you feel-"
"I think it is," he frowned a little and shifted on his side of the couch to face her better. "But law school." He gave her a wide eyed look. "That's a big deal. I'd have to finish up my current classes. Maybe look for an internship just so I can even get-"
She quieted him down by placing a hand over his fidgeting ones. "Are you trying to talk me or yourself into it?" she asked.
He chuckled. "Neither." He shrugged. "It's just a lot to take on, so I'm-"
"Nervous? Worried?" She pulled her hand back. "Want to look at it from all the angles?" she listed off, smiling at him in amusement.
He laughed nervously and nodded. "Was it that hard for you to take the NFL job?" he finally asked.
"That," she paused for a split second, "would be an understatement."
He gave her a long look. "You're not regretting it, are you?" he asked somewhat hesitantly.
"Oh, no," she said on a laugh. "It is making life a little more complicated," she admitted, then gave him a pointed look, "but I am still enjoying myself."
When he looked away, she knew he got her veiled point. A more difficult challenge did not necessarily take away the thrill out of facing it. He just absentmindedly nodded, without saying anything more, so she added, "Whatever you decide though, I will support you, Rusty."
He looked up at her again, a strange look on his face, but finally he smiled and confidently said, "I know."
She smiled, then finally pressed 'play' on her remote.
While her son considered his study options, their conversation prompted Sharon to consider something else. She made him a priority precisely because she did not want to be left in the dark about anything. She would not call herself a prying mother, she never forced her children into spilling every detail of their lives to her. However, she appreciated being well informed, and she would not allow her be the reason for that not being the case. But she realized that resolve extended to Andy as well. She wanted to know about him as much as possible, and participate in his life as much as possible. Rusty's conversation, although certainly not purposeful on his part, made her wonder whether she was maybe missing out on more with Andy than she absolutely had to. More importantly, she wondered how to remedy the situation if that was the case.
Though for now, she was hoping for another situation to resolve itself. The heat at the LAPD was rising as the battle for the Assistant Chief's position intensified, and Andy's division found itself under more scrutiny than they had since Sharon took over five years ago.
It was making Andy nervous, his division, too. No longer being an official part of the LAPD, there was little she could do to help Andy on that front so she took comfort in the fact that, despite a few more cancelled get-togethers than either of them liked, what time they did manage to spend together they never wasted. She knew for a fact that both felt better after merely talking to each other over the phone. Naturally, it only helped when they got to see each other in person as well.
On her last evening in town, before Sharon was headed to Cleveland in late November, the two actually got around to having dinner with Provenza and Patrice. She had seen Provenza in passing, but it had been a welcome change of pace to indulge in a double date, though neither Andy nor Provenza would ever agree to label it as such. The purpose of that dinner was certainly not supposed to be discussing work matters, yet, unsurprisingly, they gravitated to the topic.
Sharon found her successor's point of view on the current goings on at the LAPD rather interesting, too.
"She's just waiting for us to screw up," he muttered, stabbing his fork into a piece of chicken with a little more force than, judging by her look of reprimand thrown her husband's way, Patrice appreciated.
Andy nodded, taking a sip of his water. "She even mentioned you the other day," he told Sharon, who was sitting to his right.
"Me?" Sharon put a hand to her chest.
Provenza chuckled bitterly. "Ah, yes, apparently she had not expected me to follow in your footsteps quite this," he paused, trying to find the right word, but Andy smirked and found one for him.
"Diligently?"
Provenza rolled his eyes, neither confirming nor denying Andy's claim. He went on, ignoring both Patrice and Sharon's soft laughter. "She complains about every single request I put in, but when Howard approves of them, and we end up solving the cases faster than any other division in the department, then," he waved his fork in the air, annoyed, "she likes us." He put some food in his mouth and muttered, "That two-faced-" He fell silent when the two women at the table raised their eyebrows in warning at him.
"As long as you follow regulation," Sharon shrugged, swirling the wine around in her glass, "those complaints will fall on deaf ears. You have nothing to worry about."
"Oh," Provenza's tone was sarcastic, "but I do." He leaned forward in his chair. "See, if Deputy Chief Winnie Davis takes over, rumor, or," he frowned, "rather threat has it that Major Crimes is in for a nasty surprise."
Sharon sighed at that. Andy had told her already about Davis wanting to shake up the divisions, and she did not like it any more than the squad did. With a touch of hope to the words, she asked, "What about Chief Howard and Commander Mason?"
Andy scoffed. "I told you, Sharon," he shook his head at her, "Howard's out of the running. He's f-"
"Former FBI," Sharon repeated with a bit of exasperation, "I know." She turned her attention to Provenza, sitting across from her. "I meant, how are they working out for you?"
Provenza shrugged, reaching across the table for some bread. "Much better than Davis," he admitted. "But," he gave her an unimpressed look, "neither one wants the job."
Sharon chuckled, her gaze on her plate now. "That I understand. If I was in their shoes, I'd prefer staying with you guys as well."
That had Andy give her a surprised look. "You know? You would be pretty perfect for the job."
She started laughing, but almost instantly stopped when she realized Andy was being serious. Provenza gave her a rather curious look, too. "I maybe would be," she would not disagree with that, "but keep in mind, even if I wanted the job," she shot both her former Lieutenants a pointed look, "which I do not, I am officially retired, and beyond the age limit for reinstatement."
"Some rules are meant to be broken, you know," Andy muttered, going back to the food on his plate.
"Are you hearing this, Captain?" Sharon asked Provenza, an amused smile on her lips.
"Sorry, Captain," he still fell prey to the habit of calling her by her rank, and she had just stopped bothering to correct him or anybody else really, "but I'm with Flynn on this. If breaking a few rules meant getting you instead of Winnie Davis..." The shake of his head ended his sentence.
She smiled, appreciating his confidence in her. "Since I am not that coveted at the LAPD though," she said pointedly, because only that would get anyone to work around a rule as big as that one, "let's just hope Howard or Mason pull through then."
Provenza and Andy grunted in unison.
Patrice took that as a chance to speak up. "Enough shop talk," she clapped her hands together, effectively putting an end to the topic, then eyed Sharon. "You're in New York more often now." When Sharon nodded, she went on. "Tell me, do you see your daughter more often now, too?"
"Oh, yes!" They had left the poor woman completely out of the conversation so Sharon latched onto the new subject enthusiastically. "Seeing her more often has been absolutely wonderful..."
That evening had been rather wonderful, too, and as she and Andy parted ways the next morning at the airport, she found it particularly difficult to say goodbye, knowing how much juggling around it would again take to make sure they had a few proper moments to themselves. It was in moments like those that she really longed to be back in Major Crimes. Not so much for the work, but in order to spend as much time with him as possible, even if that time was mostly shrouded in professionalism.
By Christmas time, their separate working places, combined with Andy's less than routine hours, had them barely seeing each other. Between the all-nighters Andy had to pull, and Sharon not being able to leave her LA NFL office on the rare moments when he wasn't working during the day, it was almost impossible to see each other even in passing by.
It was on the evening of the second day of Christmas that Andy finally proposed what she had been silently mulling over for weeks by then.
"We should move in together," he said from where he was stretched out on her bed, watching her as she packed up the final few things she would need for her flight the next day.
She looked up from the open bag on her side of the bed, his slightly startled expression telling her that this was not how he had intended to bring the topic up. Nonetheless, she smiled, and simply said, "We should."
He proceeded to talk as if she had said nothing. "I mean," he was staring at the ceiling, "we waste so much time just on getting to each other's places, and then, when our schedules collide like these past couple of weeks, we barely see each other at all." He turned to his side. "This way I'd at least see you in bed more often as we-"
"In bed?" Her question cut him off as she raised an eyebrow at him, suppressing a laugh over her obvious teasing.
He rolled his eyes at her. "Not like that. You know, when you're in town, but we're both busy, I'd like to at least be able to see you at the start or the end of our day." He tilted his head from side to side. "Well, at least if I'm not pulling crazy all night shifts or you're no-"
Her laughter interrupted him. His rambling was nearly as endearing as it was when he awkwardly asked her out on their first date. "Andy," it took effort to speak more seriously, "I already agreed that we should."
He frowned. "You did?" he asked, puzzled.
She closed her bag and climbed around onto the bed until she reached Andy's side. "I like the idea," she smiled brightly at him, and settled on her knees in front of him, "of at least bumping into you in our bed."
"Our bed, huh?" he asked on a goofy smile as he lifted himself to a half-seating position.
She grinned. "Our bedroom. Our bathroom. Our liv-"
His lips on hers put an abrupt stop to her list. It was only the loud thud of her bag toppling over the bed and onto the floor that had them pull apart, Andy now lying on top of her.
"I didn't zip it up," she said on a groan.
He laughed. "I'll help you repack later," he assured her before moving on to more pressing matters. "So, our place?"
Her hands clasped his face. "Our place," she confirmed on a merry smile.
They discussed their place at length that night since there were a lot of things they would need to decide on. They had not really decided on much, but they had come to the mutual agreement that they would start looking for a new place, together. Sharon's condo was maybe big enough for him to just move in, but it would be awfully crowded if, like that Christmas, Ricky came for a visit, and even more crowded if both her children visited. Andy's place, although bigger, was simply too far away, and a shorter commute, Andy noted, was one of the reasons why he would like to move altogether anyway. When they thought about when and how to start house hunting, they could only start laughing. That would be a feat all on its own, and not one they could tackle in a single night.
She had no doubt about wanting to move in with him. However, when he brought up topics she had privately, fortunately, already made her peace with, she was even more certain that her decision was a good one. She was shocked to find out that moving in together was the particular something Andy had on his mind a few months earlier, before she ever started her job. What shocked her even more was that she had been so dense as to not pick up on it. Andy brushed it off, however, chalked it up to stress.
Not wanting to broach the subject just then with everything else that she had on her plate, he was correct in assuming that she would want to think about more than just the logistics of moving in together, such as Rusty, her faith or her past with Jack. He had her half in tears when he sought out absolute reassurance from her that any qualms those things might bring up were fully settled in her mind. When he was adamant about Rusty being part of their new place, talking about it as if it was nothing to include him so openly in his life, her heart melted a little, and she wondered how she had ever gotten so lucky at this stage in her life.
Lucky or not, the matter was more or less settled. Ricky and Emily were rather thrilled with the idea, but when they told Rusty about their plans, he had seemed a little hesitant, and both Sharon and Andy were a little worried about it. But it was fresh news, and knowing Rusty, he needed to first process the idea before coming fully on board with it. So they let him do exactly that. They doubted they could start properly house hunting until mid-January anyway.
Soon after the beginning of the New Year, Sharon and Andy found themselves at court. They were both taking the stand for an old case that finally reached trial. As they left the courtroom and walked down the hallway toward the elevators, they ran into Howard. Sharon was pleasantly surprised, for she had not really seen him since he had stepped into the role of Assistant Chief.
"Hello, Chief Howard," she told him cheerfully.
"Hi, Chief," Andy said.
He was carrying a stack of papers so she guessed he was there on business as well. He smiled and offered Andy a nod in greeting, but told Sharon, "Hello, Captain." At her amused smile, he quickly corrected himself, "Sharon."
That got her chuckling. "I'm past trying to correct people," she told him, brushing the matter off with the flick of a hand.
Andy shrugged. "Once a Captain, always Captain."
Howard nodded, effectively agreeing. "So how's the NFL been treating you?" He smirked and added, "Missing us over at the LAPD?"
Sharon looked at Andy on a relaxed smile. "Oh, I do miss you a little maybe," she admitted. "But the NFL's fun," Sharon added simply. "I travel a lot and it's been a bit of an adjustment," she eyed Andy again, who nodded, "but I'm really enjoying the work so far."
"Small price to pay for all the games you get to see?" Howard asked jokingly.
Andy quickly interjected. "Not when she misses New Year's Eve because of them," he complained.
Howard's eyebrows shot up. "You had to work for New Year's Eve?" he asked Sharon and gave Andy an incredulous look. "Even we got that night off."
Sharon shrugged. "Yes," she said a bit regretfully. "I was in charge of security for the Detroit Lion's game unfortunately, only got back yesterday."
"Ah," Howard let out sympathetically.
"The Packers won though, so that made the trip a bit more bearable," Sharon added, a bit more cheerfully.
Howard chuckled. "Catch any Giants games?" he asked conversationally.
Sharon and Andy exchanged a look, mentally going over her schedule. "There was one," Sharon finally said, her focus on Howard again, "at the end of November, I think." Andy nodded, agreeing, and she sighed as she added, a bit exasperatedly, "Spent five days in Cleveland that time."
"Nice." Howard sounded impressed. He looked around. "Anyway, I'm really glad I ran into you, but I should get goi-" He suddenly frowned and interrupting himself, asked, "Did you say 'end of November'?"
Sharon's eyebrows went up in surprise, but she nodded. "Yes, why?"
A startled look crossed Howard's features, but he quickly schooled them. "Oh, nothing probably," he said on an eye roll. "Anyway," he pointed a finger to the side, "I really should get going." He looked a little nervous, actually.
"Everything okay, Chief?" Andy asked, sounding confused, but a little worried as well.
"Yeah, yeah." Howard shrugged, already turning to head in the direction he indicated. "I hope we run into each other more often, Sharon," he told her in lieu of a goodbye.
"I do, too, Chief," she said politely, watching as he hurried down the hall.
"See you at work, Andy," Howard added a little more loudly so his voice would carry.
"See you," Andy mumbled, awkwardly waving a hand at Howard's back. "What was that all about?" he asked Sharon when Howard was out of sight.
Her gaze was still set on where the man had disappeared. "I have no idea," she admitted.
"Hopefully nothing serious," Andy said on a shrug. "Come on, let's go," he lead the way toward the elevators, "I have to be at work in 20 minutes."
"Yeah, hopefully," Sharon said, still wondering what all that was about. Almost absentmindedly, she followed Andy.
TBC