/4/
Rusty alternated between watching the sea and Sharon, the two seeming in equal turmoil this day. It was an understated turmoil though, discernible and yet it seamlessly fell into the surrounding nature. It was a pensive atmosphere, if he had to give name to it, something to understand if you knew what to look for.
The waves had a heavy momentum against the coast, the color of the water dark and inscrutable; Sharon was just as indecipherable, eyes covered by a film of opacity. There was something both insubstantial and yet solid about her, the sea just as ambivalent. Opposing dispositions, contrasting and yet complimentary.
It was a feeling Rusty felt he could relate to, one that seemed natural to him. It was a peculiar thing but he had begun to notice these small features that came out to play with Sharon, and curious enough he felt a certain degree of affinity to her mannerisms. He imagined that at some level they were similar. That distinct feature of trying to deal with what the world threw at you; that he could relate to with a startling aptitude.
Sharon had covered the bruises with a foundation and it worked wonders; only Rusty knew what to look for and the imprint was still there, barely visible but there. Yet, he understood why she wanted to cover it up; not to negate it or to pretend it had not happened – no, he thought she did it to avoid being looked at. To avoid people ogling her and making assumptions – to be able to feel it was a normal day at the beach. Rusty still looked though – whenever she looked out over the ocean or wasn't aware he was looking, he would try to understand her; try to imprint whether she was alright.
She seemed to be doing well even though facades were hard to comprehend in the light of publicity, yet he thought she seemed comforted by the purpose of the walk, by the ocean and the slight breeze – comforted by the conversations that Rusty and Flynn surrounded her in.
Flynn walked next to Sharon but with a whole body's length apart from her, apparently conscious of not walking too closely to her. Rusty thought they were putting too much effort into appearing inconspicuous and it amused him, watching the two adults trying to navigate whatever relationship they were in without giving anything away. Rusty figured there was a whole other dimension to their relationship, something that was beheld in secrecy – something that hid beneath masks. Small flickers of emotion would cross Flynn's face every now and then that really left nothing to misconstrue – that and the conversation Rusty had listened to last night helped him understand another layer to their interactions.
It didn't bother him – no, he was only happy to know there was someone else who was conscious of Sharon; someone who wanted to make sure she was alright. Flynn was watching Sharon as closely as Rusty, hands in his jean pockets and a look of affection when his eyes weren't on the sea as well.
Rusty's ice cream was in a waffle cone, two scopes, while Sharon had opted for a little cup and only one scope. Flynn had declined ice cream, stating he was full from breakfast.
Sharon was all warm, small smiles when she caught them looking; she was trying to appease them both; trying to make them believe she was not affected by the events. The tension from breakfast was gone. It was obvious, however, that in between smiles there was something she was ruminating about; small creases appearing on her brow, lines appearing around her mouth.
The three of them were walking along the promenade, the sun poking through gaps in the many clouds every now and then, the day not too humid yet.
Flynn's phone suddenly rang interrupting the shared little silence they had walked with for a while. Flynn answered with a gruff, "Yeah," stopping up next to a bench.
Sharon came to a halt, a look of curiosity as she watched Flynn, her hands around her cup of ice cream.
Flynn's voice turned from disinterest to anger in a manner of a second, eyebrows knitting together in disbelief. He quickly waved away Sharon's questioning look and mouthed 'I'll just be a second' and then he walked away, standing just far enough away that it was impossible to hear what he said.
Sharon sighed but gave a faint smile. She pointed to the bench and Rusty nodded affirmatively; they both sat down, still enjoying their ice creams. Rusty watched the lieutenant gesticulating with angry motions, his voice rising in volume. Sharon watched him as well but where Rusty had imagined a look of annoyance or maybe even resignation there was only a little flicker of amusement in her eyes as she regarded Flynn. Rusty agreed with her; there was something almost comical about watching Flynn and not being able to hear him; from a distance the anger looked absurd.
"Is he in trouble?"
"Trouble?" Sharon turned her head, looking back at Rusty curiously, the lieutenant forgotten for the moment, "What kind of trouble?"
Rusty briefly looked out over the sea – Sharon didn't know he had been listening last night. That meant, technically, Rusty shouldn't know that much about what had happened yesterday, only what Sharon herself had told him.
"He looks upset," he tried, eyes on Flynn again.
Sharon huffed, and then her eyes turned to Flynn still angrily answering his phone. Her lips quirked into a smile and Rusty saw the way her eyes crinkled as well; a full on genuine smile. He smiled to himself.
"Upset," she shook her head, "No, he does sarcastic or angry; there's no in between." Her voice was light and Rusty found himself smiling even wider; she was joking – that was a good sign.
They both caught Flynn looking back at them; he rolled his eyes indicating the phone at his ear.
"Provenza said Flynn went kind of overboard yesterday, when your suspect assaulted you?" Rusty lied.
Sharon looked at him again – an intense look; for a second Rusty felt she knew he had been listening last night but she looked away, eyes on the sea again.
"There's a delicate balance when you're in law enforcement and need to subdue a violent individual," she said, her tone in a detached tint, "It's a precarious, grey area – subject to a lot of consideration and opinion."
Rusty nodded and she continued her eyes on him again, "We have to uphold the law and uphold our integrity as law-enforcers and at the same time we have to be able to protect ourselves. Sometimes it's hard to distinguish between what constitutes as being within our jurisdiction and what falls outside. Sometimes it's hard to see clearly when someone is attacking one of your own."
Rusty nodded again, "It's about protecting everyone's human rights?"
She hummed, a small, self-aware smile on her lips.
"Even though the suspect assaulted you first? Lieutenant Flynn was only protecting you, right? How can he be in trouble then?"
Rusty understood you had to uphold even human rights for criminals, and he understood to a certain degree everything that Sharon was upset about and yet, he still found it a bit peculiar that anyone could find fault with Flynn for protecting Sharon.
"I'm not really sure," Sharon said, her voice uncharacteristically indecisive; her eyes latched onto Flynn with what appeared to be confusion, "I'm a little biased about the situation."
Rusty nodded, wondering whether she was biased because she had been the one assaulted or because Flynn was more than merely a colleague.
"What about that time with Detective Sykes? I didn't hear anything about Sanchez being in trouble?"
Sharon looked sideways, her eyes soft when she looked at him, "It's all a bit complicated and different from that episode," she paused but spoke again "We'll know more Monday – look the details over again with new eyes and hopefully we'll be able to close the case and everything to do with it."
"What about Provenza?"
"What about Provenza?" Sharon repeated, arching an eyebrow, confused.
"He was upset with Flynn, yesterday?"
"Oh," she turned the spoon in her cup around, the remaining ice cream having turned into mush, "I actually don't know what that is about – I haven't pried into it yet."
"But Flynn might be in trouble?"
She sighed, "I don't know – nothing that should warrant too much disciplinary action, I should think. It also depends on whether the suspect decides to charge Flynn with assault or not, depends on how much internal affairs decides to get involved and so forth. Frankly, I'd rather just forget about the whole ordeal."
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you," he hadn't meant to pry so much into it; it was just a curious thing.
She tilted her head, eyes on him gently, "Rusty, honey, you're not upsetting me – you ask me what you need to ask, okay?"
He nodded, "Okay."
They were silent for a short while, serenity from simply watching the ocean settling in.
"Are you secretly dating?"
"Huh?" Sharon looked at him wide-eyed, mouth slightly open in surprise.
"You and lieutenant Flynn – are you secretly dating?"
Sharon chuckled nervously then, her eyes alight with warm laughter, "What makes you think that?"
Rusty opened his mouth to explain but Sharon spoke again, "No, no – don't answer that," she smiled, shaking her head, a hand going to her face. Rusty smiled with her, a bit confused, watching her trying to compose herself.
"He stayed the night," Rusty defended his assumption.
"On the sofa," Sharon replied, amusement in her voice and a soft look.
"Right," Rusty smiled, "we'll just pretend that's pretty normal then."
Sharon gave a short laugh, something caught between amusement and embarrassment.
Rusty bumped his shoulder gently against hers, catching her eyes when she turned her head and looked at him again. There was a red blush across her cheeks and something in her eyes he found rather adorable. "Then what are you?"
She answered with a warm smile, "Friends, Rusty – good friends."
He didn't really believe her but he couldn't tell her that he had heard their conversation last night and he couldn't really tell her that the way Flynn looked at her every time she wasn't aware of it had nothing to do with merely being friends. So instead he gave a half nod.
They smiled at each other and before long Flynn joined them again. There was a look of something fierce in his expression as he regarded Rusty and Sharon.
"Provenza needs help with something."
"Oh," Sharon hummed, "What kind of help?"
"Stuff," Flynn answered and even Rusty understood there was something he wasn't telling them; Sharon gave him a look of disbelief and repeated "Stuff?" in a sarcastic tone.
Flynn merely shrugged.
"It cannot be work because I expressly told everyone to take the weekend off and we haven't caught a new murder case," Sharon punctuated each word, her eyes firmly on Flynn.
Flynn crossed his arms, rolling his eyes, "Relax, Sharon – it's nothing to do with a new murder case – and no, we're not mollycoddling you."
Sharon blew air out of her mouth, "So it's something to do with yesterday?"
Flynn looked sufficiently guilty, "Maybe."
Sharon sighed, then waved her hand, "Then go."
"I'm sorry – I'll give you a call when we're done."
Sharon merely hummed and gave an acknowledging nod.
Flynn said a warm 'see you kid' to Rusty, his hand briefly squeezing Rusty's shoulder as well; Rusty smiled back. The lieutenant gave Sharon a long look, eyes warm and then he leaned down and surprised Sharon, planting a brief kiss on her lips, a little whispered, 'see you' following.
Rusty watched Flynn leave, Sharon sitting still with what could only be a cross of horror and happiness upon her face.
Rusty a quirked eyebrow, "So you aren't dating."
Sharon shook her head but there were blotches of redness on her cheeks again. Rusty grinned, "C'mon, Captain – let's walk a bit more."
Sharon laughed, and stood up as well.
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