A matter of perspective

by Isolith

Sharon Raydor was around before red tape and Andrew Flynn's well-acquainted with her. Stories from the good ol' days, late season one of the closer and onwards.

11. 11

/TO SERVE WITH LOVE/

Andrew Flynn moved along the rack of dark-grey suits that hung in the middle of the store Sharon Raydor by his side, following him with a slow strut in the heels she had selected for the day somewhat higher than her usual work-heels. They suited Andy's mood perfectly, black and sleek with the ominous red under the surface. That and she looked stunning with a complimentary dark dress and blazer, her arm sneaked through his while she sashayed and occasionally pointed out a suit she found to her liking. He didn't mind having her on his arm, not in the least.

Andy narrowed his eyes and threw a feigned glare over his shoulder at her, "So, I'm still waiting."

Sharon pretended innocence but she could not hide the way her lips twitched with amusement at his expense or the way her eyes crinkled with humor.

"Exactly what are you waiting for, lieutenant Flynn?" she asked in a too sweet tone, the fake innocent expression doing enough mocking on its own but no, she had to balance it by the lonely eyebrow that twitched upwards mimicking flirtatious appraisal.

Andy rolled his eyes at her obvious tactic – the whole pretending to not know a damn thing when she knew everything there was to know. She might have honed this little trick of hers but he was too familiar with her to not know when she was playing him.

"I'm waiting for the explicit lecture on karma being a bitch, that's what," Andy explained nonetheless, moving on to the next suit, a finger gliding along the material while he bestowed an analytical look at the design and cut.

Sharon laughed beside him, the tone merry, "Oh, I think you are doing great lecture-wise on your own, lieutenant. No need for me to butt in, hmm."

Andy huffed, "Yeah, I'm an idiot, alright."

"Oh, honey," she soothed in a placating tone while her fingers caressed his wrist, "Don't be sour."

"Pah," he grunted and looked sideways at her, "I'm excessively sour."

Her mouth pursed.

Andy sighed, "I'm going to end up in debilitating debt."

Sharon shook her head in disbelief, "Debt on account of one little tear in one out of a thousand jackets that you own? I hardly see the connection between that and debilitating debt."

Andy grinned, "You wouldn't. You are too rich to understand my problem."

She narrowed her eyes and gave him a dark look, "I'm not that rich. I'm sensible with my money, unlike others."

"I'm sensible too," Andy pointed out.

It fell flat however, judging by her disagreeing look.

"You are hardly what I would call sensible," she told him, the twitching mouth becoming a smile, "you are however whining for no apparent reason."

Andy sighed in a dramatic volume and hurriedly ran his hand through a least a dozen suits, his mouth turning downwards as he went through the whole stack and found none to his liking even if it was a goddamn expensive designer he usually liked.

"I am not whining," he said in a petulant voice that did sound rather like whining to his own ears.

"Of course not," Sharon replied in a sagely tone as she patted his wrist again.

"Okay, okay, I'm whining alright. And I suppose it's not even the money that bothers me the most," Andy confessed when Sharon continued to give him an all-knowing smile that bordered on condescending, "it's the fact that yet again Provenza's managed to pull me into another one of his hair brained schemes."

"Yes, I'd imagine that would be the rub."

Andy huffed, and then made a beeline for another rack of hanging suits in sand colors. Sharon held onto his arm and took a few hurried steps to keep up with him, her eyes narrowing in disapproval at the swift movement.

"It just eludes me. I knew from the get go it was going to be a damn disaster and what do I do – huh? I jump right in with two feet like a first grade moron."

"I think disaster is a bit of an overstatement, don't you?" Sharon hummed as her eyes landed on a specific suit. She nudged him and drew him toward it and Andy pulled it out, giving it a good look.

"I guess it would do," he shrugged at the suit.

"Careful, too much enthusiasm and I might just combust," she commented dryly.

"Yeah, yeah," Andy retorted back, "you are a riot today. No need to rub it in."

"Well, lieutenant, I am not forcing you to try on a new suit. You forced me to tag along to this, remember."

Andy ignored her comment and then with a raised eyebrow, "So you don't think the last couple of days have been an utter disaster? Is that what you are trying to say? That doesn't sound like you."

"It depends on your definition of disaster, I would daresay."

Andy shook his head, "Stop being elusive and funny and sarcastic at the same time. Just spit it out."

"I'm saying," she drawled, her tone vibrating with an undertone of enjoyment, "that you have done a lot of things over the years that have been far more idiotic. Why, this time it's barely detectable on the Richter scale of you and lieutenant Provenza making a mess of things. It's a little pile of mess in an enormous pile of mess, if you will."

"You are being downright gleeful," Andy complained, "Gleeful and goddamn smug."

She hummed in affirmation, the tone light and on the brink of turning into a giggle.

"Geez," Andy said to the ceiling in exasperation but he couldn't help but smile back at her, his facial muscles having a will of their own.

Andy snapped the suit Sharon had pointed out from the rack and moved down the lines of suits, toward the far back and the fitting rooms, the sound of Sharon's heels in yet another hurried staccato on the floor.

"Are you in a hurry?" she puffed out, her fingers tightening around his arm.

"Nah," Andy grinned over his shoulder, "but I enjoy making you run in those killer heels."

"And I will enjoy stepping on your feet with my killer heels if you do not stop," she threw back at him, the twinkle in her eyes making it impossible to know whether she was serious or not. To be on the safe side Andy slowed down and leaned his shoulder against hers with a smile, "I'll slow down for you then, hmm."

"Thank you," she said in the least sincere voice she could manage.

They approached the row of fitting rooms, an attendant giving them an eager smile. Andy gave the boy a get lost wave and chose a room to his right, throwing the black curtain aside. He stuck his tongue out at Sharon and then quickly stepped inside the cubicle before she could respond.

"So," Andy ventured in a hesitant tone as he started undressing, "you are taking this whole thing remarkably well, you know, when you are all up in arms with the whole transparency audit."

Andy could hear her sigh from the other side of the curtain, "If I had to be overly concerned everytime an officer made a bad decision, why I would be in chronic treatment for stress-induced gastric ulcers."

"Yeah, okay," Andy shook his head, wondering what she meant by that, "so you are not concerned by what happened?"

"Your supplementary, erm," she paused looking for a word, "your supplementary activity has solved itself have it not?" she asked him in a formal voice, the question sounding more rhetorical than anything.

"I guess."

"Then I see no need to examine it further. I have plenty of other things to do than waste my time investigating the extracurricular buffoonery you take part in with lieutenant Provenza."

Andy pursed his mouth, "Buffoonery? Really!"

"Do you have a more accurate word to describe what happens every other blue moon when you and Provenza lose your common sense? Not to mention conveniently throwing your conduct out the window? I'm open to suggestions."

Her tone was remarkably snarky – which really only meant maybe she was not that calm about the whole deal.

"Buffoonery is fine," Andy quickly relented and pulled on the pants to the new suit, doing up the zipper as he shook his head.

"So it won't influence the audit?" Andy asked, curious and apprehensive.

"Andy," Sharon said his name with a prolonged inflection, "the conduct of your division is not going to be pulled into question in regards to you and lieutenant Provenza seeking outside employment. That is not the issue of my transparency audit at the moment."

It just sounded too good to be true.

"Really?"

"Really," she stressed but then added, "unless you feel it should be?"

"Nope," he quickly told her as he put his arm though one jacket sleeve.

"However," she said in a lecturing tone, "I would suggest you behave from now on. Think before you act and remember that the conduct of your division is in fact being investigated and it would be best for all if you laid low. "

"Duly noted."

Sharon peeked through the curtain, her fingers curled around the cloth as she drew it an inch to the side, "Are you about done?"

Andy spun around, hands on his hips as he regarded her, "Who is in a hurry now?"

"You promised me lunch," she said with another too innocent smile.

Andy rolled his eyes, "After I found a suit. I promised you lunch after shopping not before or in the middle of it."

She pouted in return.

"So," Andy spread his arms out, "what do you think?"

She pulled the curtain all the way to the side and took a step back to regard him, her eyes going up and down in a slow trail. She hummed when her eyes reached his, "Not bad."

"Not bad," Andy repeated in disbelief.

She smiled coyly, her arms crossed, "You would need a different shirt and tie to go with that color than the ones you are wearing."

Andy rolled his eyes, "I know. That's why the whole thing is a bother; not only do I need a new suit but it's the whole ensemble I've gotta buy."

Sharon grinned, "You said something about karma earlier."

Andy shook his head and took a step towards her, "You are the devil incarnate." His smile turned sly and he quickly grabbed her by the waist and drew her closer, turning them around and leaning down to capture her lips.

The sound of his name became muffled by the kiss, her protest at this obvious display of affection out in public easily assuaged as Andy pulled them inside the cubicle and closed the curtain after them.

"I am certain this establishment only allows one person per fitting room," Sharon commented in a breathy voice when they let go of the kiss for air.

"You are such a stickler for rules," Andy replied and slanted his mouth on hers again, pulling on her bottom lip with his teeth as his hands roamed down over rounded hips before they came to rest on her ass.

She curled her hand around the back of his nape, a hum into his mouth that was easy to interpret – even more so when she outlined his impending erection through the cloth of the new pants.

"About that talk," Andy said into her ear, half of a mind to simply forget any notion of serious talk. But somehow, timing struck him to be opportune. It was now or never – she had done an expert job of avoiding the issue so far.

"Talk?" she feigned ignorance but he caught the hesitant look she gave him when she leaned back from him, her lips pursing into contemplation.

"Sharon," Andy said in a low voice, "Christmas was a long time ago and we've been fucking more than simply once since then, okay, so whatever we've got going it's more than a one time thing. Why, New Year's especially was a delight, I must confess. But don't you think instead of thinking up excuses of why we should be allowed to make love – don't you think it would better to agree to just, you know, be in a relationship."

She remained silent, her bottom lip disappearing for a while as she drew it under her teeth.

"Why do we have to be miserable or lonely or going to funerals for us to be intimate?"

She looked down, a small sigh escaping, "I don't know."

"Well, it's simple and easy from where I'm standing, honey. I love you. I know I said I would be patient but let's stop pretending we are only friends who fuck occasionally."

"I know, I know," she said again, this time a small smile at the corner of her lips, "It's just easier to pretend sometimes."

Andy leaned close and kissed the edge of her mouth, "I will pretend to be a fucking sod particle for you but you wanted to talk about you and me, and us, remember – and you've neglected to bring it up."

"I chickened out," the smile widened and she caressed his neck as if on afterthought, her fingers light on his skin. Her expression was pensive.

"I'm not saying I won't be an asshole every now and then but I promise to keep it to a bare minimum," Andy promised her, eliciting a soft laugh from her.

He shook his head, a wry smile on his lips, "So?"

She opened her mouth about to reply.

Someone cleared their throat in loud disapproval, "I would like to remind you, sir and ma'am, that you are only allowed one person per fitting room."

Sharon looked sufficiently chastised, jumping away from him in a quick second with a small look of horror.

Andy grinned and watched her pull the curtain aside in a rapid move, her cheeks flushed red with embarrassment. Her self-aware smile was adorable. The store attendant stood stone-faced and gave them a nod before he moved away a good couple of meters to a table, able to supervise the fitting rooms with a raised eyebrow that seemed condescending.

Andy smiled, "So, is that a yes to the suit?"

Sharon nodded and then she inhaled rather noticeable before she spoke, "Yes, it's a sure fit," she paused and her smile curled even more, "So today is officially a date."

Andy grinned, "Yeah. Imagine that, huh."

...

/FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSES/

"Have you heard?" Andrew Flynn said by way of greeting, slinking into the Internal Affairs break room that in a surprising turn of events always seemed to smell better than any other break room in the entire goddamn building. Most were of the opinion that Rat Central should have a distinct smell reminiscent of something on the pungent side of rotten – ironically it smelled heavenly.

Andy had a suspicion that Sharon Raydor was prone to burning scent candles in the place or something, because hell that was surely the scent of some fancy flora and fauna thingamajig he detected underneath the stronger aroma of coffee, or maybe she was just more inclined to opening a window every now and then and letting in air unlike the break room of Vice that was always on the stale side of ventilation.

"Hmm?" Sharon hummed in vague acknowledgement, one hand flapping in the air near the direction of his voice, a pencil between her fingers. Otherwise she ignored his presence and continued to sit with one leg crossed over the other at a table, reading what appeared to be a rather thick file. Andy shook his head when he noticed the box with at least a dozen more files in it under the table.

Sharon took a sip from a coffee cup on the table and then finally looked up when he approached the table and sat down opposite her on a chair, his smile engaging. She tilted her head and gave him a look that either bordered on some obtuse form of annoyance or was a tactic to get him to spill the beans.

"Heard what?" she lifted an eyebrow.

"C'mon, don't play coy, you know what."

She pursed her lips in a slow fashion.

Definitely some form of annoyance then – which could mean a multitude of things. Andy put it down to simply work and that it was approaching dinner time.

Andy gave her a disarming smile, "I refuse to believe the rumor mill has disappeared into thin air all of the sudden. You know exactly what has been going on."

"If you are so certain I know whatever it is you seem to think I should know – then why do you ask in the first place?"

"Cause I enjoy ruffling your feathers," he grinned, "I thought we established that decades ago."

She hid a smile,"We established something decades ago, yes."

"Something?" Andy paused to waggle his eyebrows, "What, you mean like sexual tension?"

She gave a casual shrug in lieu of him, "No, I thought something more along the lines of you being a definite thorn in my side."

"Ouch."

She laughed, "So, what did you do now?"

Andy pretended to look outraged, "What! Why do you always assume I've done something?"

"Because you are always doing something you shouldn't, lieutenant," she answered dryly and then with a well-meaning eye roll she turned her attention back to her file and notebook, scribbling notes that were hard to decipher upside down.

"So, you really don't know?" he prodded, not believing it for one second.

"Is this about Traffic and their indiscreet captain?" she asked matter of fact, occupied by reading and sipping her coffee nonchalantly.

"Eh what! – no, it's not about Traffic," Andy said with a raised eyebrow in surprise. He quickly changed his expression though and then with a widening smile, "but do tell me all the gory details."

Sharon looked up with a calculating twinkle, the white of her teeth just visible, "I am not at liberty to divulge information about Captain West."

"West, you say," Andy shook his head in amusement, "Geez, what can that neanderthal even get up to? He's an even worse goodie-two-shoe than you."

Her smile was devilish, "I'll never tell."

"You are such a tease gossip-wise."

She seemed pleased, "Is it about Vice?"

"Nah – but what stunt did Vice pull this time?"

"Well lieutenant Flynn, according to you their division is run by an A+ moron," her smile was saccharine, "so I'd imagine they've done something moronic."

"True," Andy agreed with a smile.

She shook her head with a wry expression, "There are a lot of rumors going around, Andy, so what are you referring to, specifically?"

"I've been subpoenaed."

"What?" her surprise was quickly replaced by a smirk, "Again?"

"What do you mean again?" Andy crossed his arms and gave her a narrowed look. "I don't get subpoenaed that often," he tried to defend himself.

"You get subpoenaed on average every other seventh month."

"C'mon, what. Seriously, Sharon – did you calculate that or something?"

The self-satisfied smile told him everything.

Andy shook his head and then in a serious voice, "This is different. My entire squad has been subpoenaed. Commander Taylor and Chief Pope on top as well."

"You are kidding me?" her surprise was genuine.

"So you didn't know," Andy commented more to himself than her.

Her face became strained with agitation, "I assume this is all to do with the death of Tyrell Baylor."

"Yeah. Got served by a little creep who turned out to be the damn lawyer."

"Peter Goldman was here?"

"You know him?"

Her lips curled with distaste, "I've had the misfortune of his delightful presence on a couple of occasions. Gavin absolutely despises the skunk. Please tell me you did not talk in front of the man?" she sounded despondent now.

Andy sighed, "The creep was pretending to be a nobody – of course we talked right in front of him. Impossible not to when you get slapped with a subpoena right in your face out of the blue."

"I wouldn't say it's out of the blue, Andy. You should have expected something to this effect."

"You serious?"

"I'm dead serious. I have obviously not gotten it through to the rest of you yet. Did you think I was just interviewing your squad for fun? Do you think I enjoy doing a transparency audit on an entire division?"

Andy gave her a belligerent smile, "I wouldn't put it past you. You have a certain sadistic predilection for the rule book and making everyone else follow it to the letter. I bet you never even jaywalked."

Her eyebrows went high, "Is this really what you want to get into now, lieutenant?" her smile mimicked his, belittling, "because our conversation on this very topic have turned out so very prolific in the past."

"I'm not saying we should throw out the rule book here," Andy retorted, "just, there are certain issues that are not covered by rules and regulations."

Her eyes narrowed, "Last time we had this discussion, Andy, you ended up storming away and I did not talk to you for months."

"I know, I know," Andy relented, "I guess I'm just a bit tired of all this bullshit on account of a little shit being murdered by his own gang."

Sharon sighed, "You are angry, per usual, and incapable of seeing the bigger picture."

"Well, why don't you enlighten me," Andy bit out, his voice liquid sarcasm, "because you've been grilling us for weeks and per usual routine, you have not been sharing much information. So yeah, I'm a little miffed about the whole deal."

At that moment one of Sharon's detectives came into the break room interrupting what would have been a condescending retort from Sharon. The detective stopped short at the sight of Andy in a chair next to his Captain.

Sharon smiled graciously at Elliot who went to the coffee machine by the little kitchenette. The kid took a cup out of the cupboard and filled it up with fresh brewed coffee from the pot while he surreptitiously tried not to look curiously over his shoulder. Meanwhile Sharon turned her attention back to her Andy, her eyes narrowed.

Andy glared back.

"Hey kiddo," Andy said with a cheeky smile in Sharon's direction, fully aware that the name would annoy the detective to here and the next century, and even better it would annoy Sharon on her detective's behalf. He grinned, "how about pouring a cup for me, hmm?"

Sharon gave him a pointed look.

"Just black," Andy added to the detective's back, watching how Elliot squared his shoulders in an attempt to not give into annoyance.

"Lieutenant Flynn can get his own coffee," Sharon butted in, her eyes on Andy with a heated look even as she spoke to her little pet, "and you do not answer to lieutenant Flynn, Elliot, so if in the future he makes ridiculous demands, just send him my way and I'll tell him in no uncertain terms where he can go get his own damn coffee."

Yikes, Andy thought with a grin. He had really managed to ruffle her feathers.

"Yes, Captain," Elliot answered with a smug smile as he turned around with a cup in his hands and regarded Andy with a raised eyebrow, "I'll be sure to remember that."

"Good," Sharon stressed and her smile turned from being amicable in Elliott's direction to being downright condescending when she bestowed her attention on Andy again.

"Oh," Andy chuckled, "you are like two rats in a sewer."

Sharon snorted and Elliot looked affronted.

"How exactly do two rats in a sewer behave, lieutenant?" Sharon asked him in a sweet voice, her arms crossed and her expression amused of all things.

Andy shrugged, "I don't know – ratty I guess."

Sharon laughed.

"Well, maybe they scurry around a lot too, you know, all ratty," Andy shrugged with a chuckle.

"You are out where you can't swim, honey," Sharon told him in a cheerful tone, "bad metaphors and everything."

"I'm a bit disgruntled," Andy explained with a casual shrug, "and maybe slightly paranoid – who knows, maybe another sleazebag lawyer is waiting to slap me with a lawsuit the moment I unsuspectingly turn a corner. You've got any secret investigations you've forgotten to tell me about? Another dirtbag who wants my conduct investigated so they can get out of jail?"

Her eyes went to the ceiling in a slow roll, "Oh, you are sensitive today."

Andy pursed his lips but refrained from answering.

Sharon turned a soft smile on him then, "Or maybe you are seeking some kind of reassurance from me, hmm? Yes, I imagine you want reassurance – even if you go about it in the wrong manner."

Andy gave her an open-handed shrug.

"You do know I'm on your side, Andy?" Sharon asked with her head tilted and her eyes on him with a strangely tender expression "don't you?"

Elliot coughed in the background, quick to stride out of the break room with a weird backward glance and a low uttered, 'see you, Captain.' The kid was obviously not a complete airhead and knew the ensuing conversation was not meant for his ears.

"You scared the kid away," Andy said giving a nod over his shoulder.

"Andy," Sharon intoned in a puff of air.

"Yeah, yeah," he answered her with a soft tone, "I do know you are on my side – as long as I am on the right side of the law, that is."

She smiled, "Correct."

"You want a foot massage?"

"Pardon?"

"C'mon," he patted his knee and pointed at her heeled feet, "kick those off and sling up your feet. I will do some magic, huh."

She laughed, "Magic? Are you absolutely certain your massaging skills will live up to being magical?"

Despite her teasing she quickly got rid of her shoes and with a low sigh she rearranged herself on the chair, both feet resting comfortingly on his thighs while she angled her head in slight anticipation.

"We'll see," he grinned, flexing his fingers in a dramatic fashion, "maybe I've got hidden talents."

She smiled, "Maybe."

…

/A FAMILY AFFAIR/

"You are an ass," Sharon Raydor told him in no uncertain terms as she stood not unlike a rock barricade in between the door frame that led to the break room of Major Crimes, arms crossed and head tilted as she regarded him with narrowed eyes and a perturbed mouth.

Andrew Flynn took the accusation with a well-placed shrug and a wide smile knowing insouciance was bound to only encourage the annoyance she felt.

"A deliberate ass," she elaborated with a twisted smile that seemed derogatory.

"Oh I know, sweetheart," Andy shot back at her with a crooked smile, "it's a personality trait I've honed and polished till perfection."

"Why, yes you are a perfect ass indeed," she blew out of her mouth, her eyes narrowed even further and she turned her chin up in indignation. Her voice lowered threateningly, "And if you ever call me sweetheart again, lieutenant Flynn, I will make damn sure you are definitively handcuffed to paper pushing in Northridge till you die of old age."

Andy grinned – Sharon seldom resorted to threats and when she did it always turned out to be strangely erotic for him, "I think my biceps will manage pushing paper just fine," he corked his head and then intoned, "sweetheart."

He knew he was pushing her limit but hell, there was something liberating about having it out with her in this way; especially considering all the tension about the law suit that permeated his squad room nowadays.

Her eyes went on a detour roll, briefly accompanied by a little noise that could be a sigh or an exasperated grunt, "You don't say. Maybe your biceps will get a kick out of directing traffic, hmm. I think that will suit your temperament perfectly."

Andy's smile grew proportionally, "Promises, promises." He then nodded at her position in the doorway, "Are you planning on barring everyone their due coffee today? Because I think my union rep will have a thing or two to say about professional standards barricading the entrance to a break room."

She smiled back in equal measures of silky disdain, "Do you want the whole building to know you are afraid of one little Captain standing in a doorway?"

Andy shrugged, "Well, if I gently move you aside I'm pretty sure you will be yelling brute force left and right, opening up a F.I.D. case before I can count to five. Heck, I don't want you doing a transparency audit on my break room as well."

Sharon flattened herself against one frame, a quirked eyebrow at him that seemed to view him as a delinquent,

"Here you go, lieutenant. Go get your coffee."

"Thank you, Captain," Andy said in a too sweet tone as he saluted her sloppily when he walked by, heading straight for the coffee machine.

It was too early in the morning to fend swords with I.A as far as Andy was concerned.

It was always too early no matter the time of the day.

"So, who peed in your breakfast?" Andy threw over his shoulder as he poured somewhat warm coffee into a mug and then on afterthought he took out another mug and poured coffee into it as well. Coffee was bound to calm his irate Captain down he thought with an inward directed smile.

"Well," Sharon drawled, "the only likely suspect is you. So where were you this morning at 6 am, lieutenant Flynn?"

Andy grinned as he spun around and leaned back against the counter, watching her with a raised eyebrow. At least she still had her humor even if she was pissed off about something.

"6 am you say," Andy replied having a hard time containing his smile, "Yeah, I was fast asleep."

"Anyone who can back that up?"

"Hmm, let me see," Andy took a sip from the coffee and then made a disgusted grimace at the thin dreary state of the brew – obviously some rookie had set it up because no one with a few years on the force and a little self-respect would ever make a coffee brew this weak. Andy quickly poured out the coffee in both mugs and then let the mugs sit in the sink, "I do have an excellent alibi. There's this feisty brunette I slept next to. I'm pretty sure she could vouch for my whereabouts."

"Unless that particular brunette is the one accusing you of peeing on her breakfast, hmm."

Andy shook his head, amused, "Well, I'm pretty sure she can agree that I did a lot of things this morning, explicit and rather frisky if I have to say so myself, but peeing on her breakfast is really not one of them."

Sharon hummed good-naturedly and then she tilted her head with a fond smirk, "You are being deliberately annoying work-wise."

When she said it like that, with such a soft voice, it sounded like an endearment.

Andy grinned, "I thought you were accusing me of being an ass?"

"That too," she licked her bottom lip and then pursed her mouth.

"Any other adjective you would like to add to that list then now that we are doing this? Obnoxious perhaps? I've always liked that word – obnoxious. Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?"

"That would work as well."

"Great."

They stopped talking and resorted to a glaring contest that only threatened to break into laughs. Andy watched Sharon's mouth twitching, turning flat and then pouting, her teeth very briefly visible as a small smile lurked at the corner of her mouth.

"You are being uncooperative," Sharon said after a moment of silence, coming further inside the break room instead of standing in the door frame.

Andy hummed noncommittally at the comment and then he rummaged through the cabinet till he found the coffee grind. "You mean an uncooperative ass who happens to be obnoxious and annoying?" he spoke in a teasing tone, once again looking over his shoulder as he set the coffee machine up for a new brew. This time he would make sure it would be black like coal and able to start a small motor.

"Idiot," Sharon commented around a warm smile.

"Yeah," Andy agreed casually, not bothered in the least.

Sharon snorted and then caught herself, her emotions quickly in check when Andy regarded her once again from his post of leaning against the counter.

"It's not funny, Andy," she took a seat on a table, the heel of one shoe balancing on a chair as she looked off into space for a short moment. In profile she looked somber but when she turned to regard him again her features were indecipherable.

Andy smiled and focused his attention on the black heel and the well-defined calf. "It kind of is," he disagreed with her.

This time she sighed in a loud tone.

Andy shrugged and then explained, "It's only work, Sharon. Of course I'm being uncooperative – like everyone else in my division. What else do you expect when you go poking around my team and our cases? I would wager this is how everyone behaves when they are being investigated by I.A through no fault of their own."

"You've referred me to your union rep, Andy," Sharon told him, her arms now crossed in a vehement stance and her eyes dark as she glared at him. She sounded aggravated, "You union rep, Andy – of all things. How in the world am I going to do my job when none of you will talk to me? It's ridiculous – you are only ruining it for yourself. I'm trying to help you – not stab you in the back."

"It's not like it's the first time I've referred you to my union rep, Sharon," Andy retorted.

"No, it's not," her mouth twisted into distaste, "and like every other time it's not something that I find particularly joyful."

"Hey, I have every right to refer you to a representative. It's a well-practiced move and I know for a fact that you've never blown a tire about it before."

"Yes, you do have that right, lieutenant Flynn," she replied silkily with a delicate eyebrow that lifted in a superior arch, "and when this law suit steam rolls your entire division into the ground and you are left with nothing, why, then I will refer you to a damn representative when you come to me with complaints."

"Okay, okay," Andy relented, immediately clued in to her concern when she resorted to expletives, "calm down."

"I am perfectly calm," she said in a too calm voice.

"Sharon," he said, pronouncing her name with a soft inflection, "it will be fine."

She did not appear to look appeased.

Andy continued as he took a quick stride to the table, hands out and landing on her waist, "It's work," he punctuated again, "so naturally I'm difficult and you are," he paused and instead of saying an adjective he smiled, "you know how you are, and like every other obstacle we've faced before, this too will blow over."

Sharon opened her mouth to disagree.

Andy quickly intervened, his mouth on hers before she could say something that was bound to rile him up.

"What are you doing?" Sharon managed to mumble in between his lips, evading his mouth for a brief moment.

"Trying to shut you up," Andy replied with an impish smile as his hand travelled from her jaw to behind her head, angling her mouth to a better position.

"Andy," she hummed in protest.

Andy leaned back and regarded her with a cheeky smile. "We are official," he stated.

"Yees," she answered hesitantly.

"So I can kiss you," he leaned close, his lips close to hers, "wherever and whenever."

She quirked an eyebrow in objection, "I hardly think that the certified state of our relationship entitles you to shutting me up with a kiss, as you so nicely put it."

"So you don't wanna kiss?" Andy feigned a pout.

She smiled, "I don't want to be caught in a compromising situation with you by any of your team members, no."

"It's just you and me," Andy told her and then kissed her quick before she could find further fault with anything.

Sharon conceded and kissed him back, both hands on each side of his head.

"Coffee will be ready in a jiffy," Andy told her.

Sharon leaned up and captured his mouth again, her lips insistent on another long kiss.

…

/DEATH WARRANT/

"I have been waiting all day to fuck you," Andrew Flynn breathed into Sharon Raydor's right ear, his lips momentarily letting go of her pulse point to growl this particular desire before they were once again fastened onto the skin of her neck, teeth out to bite a small temporary mark.

Sharon whimpered in response and turned her head back a fraction. The whimper ebbed out and then became lost in a rushed inhalation as she clamped her fingers hard around the shirt she had untugged from his pants.

"Waiting patiently, I might add," Andy husked letting one hand journey down from the arch of her neck and down toward the slope of her chest.

Andy unbuttoned her blazer, his fingers fiddling with the button for a prolonged moment before it slipped out and he could travel beneath the blazer, a palm against her upper ribcage. Sharon pursed her mouth and he slanted his mouth on hers at the request, consumed by the heat of kissing.

He snuck both hands down her body, one leaving the comfort of her heavy hair at her nape and the other leaving behind the edge of a clothed breast, and down they went in a caress along her side before he ended up trailing his hands up along the outside of her thighs in a hurry till he could grab her ass and hold her close. The kiss returned to the frenzied state that had been the beginning of everything when they had stumbled blindly from her elevator, limbs tangled and mouths occupied.

Andy had stopped her halfway down the hallway, bringing her flush up against the wall for a second before they had tumbled toward her front door, awkward, hurried steps to her apartment door as they tried to balance their route while engrossed in kissing and groping.

"All day?" Sharon repeated in a hitched breath, her fingers digging into the flesh at his waist without mercy.

She brought him closer with a leg, her calf curled around the back of his thigh and she tilted her head with an adorable look, lips slightly apart in pleased anticipation.

"I nearly came in my pants like a damn adolescent when you shot the idiot right between the eyes," Andy leaned down to confess in a raw voice, not caring one bit that it sounded obscene, "standing there in high heels with your bean bag gun, looking mighty fine."

"Your aptitude for romance never ceases to astound me," she retorted with a self-satisfied smile that only broadened, "why, you always know just what to say to me."

"You prefer me rough-edged," Andy kissed her bottom her lip and then sucked on it, teeth confining it till he let go.

"My own rough ruffian," she tittered as her fingers slipped under his shirt and upwards to graze up along his chest with nails out.

"Hey, I'm pretty sure you are turned on right now," Andy delivered back as he cupped her behind in a firm grip and then bumped his erection into her pelvis, "and romance is overrated, honey."

"Maybe," she breathed with a less than coy look, her dark eyes even appearing sinful when they locked on him in this way. It was a look that he felt was preserved only for him.

"Only maybe?" Andy shook his head amused at the banter, "I don't think there's any uncertainty on the subject, honey. You are incredibly turned on."

"And on what do you base that assumption, officer?" she raised a playful eyebrow, a sly smile curling one side of her mouth as she regarded him.

"Well, Captain, you see it's plain as day. Frankly everything about you tells me you are bothered. Your flushed cheeks is a sure sign for one and then there's the quality of your tone," Andy paused to nuzzle another kiss from her lips, momentarily lost in the feeling. When he broke free he stayed close, her lips tingling close to his.

His voice went down an octave, "Not to mention the way you breathe which I am more than familiar with in the context of our bedroom activities," he paused again, this time to quirk an eyebrow while he trailed one hand to the front of her pants, inched in between their lower bodies. He kept his eyes on her as he made quick work of the button to her pants and then moved the zipper down next. He watched her with a sly smile that seemed to bring out a little reddish tinge on her cheekbones.

He tugged the pants a little down over her hips, his hand edging in under the material till he reached the band of her underwear. Her lips parted a fraction more when he pushed his hand under her underwear, his index finger sliding further down and then travelled along her sex.

"And honey, you are warm and wet," his smile was deliberately smug.

Sharon hummed in response, "I guess your assumption is correct then, officer."

Andy shrugged matter of fact and slowly trailed his finger back and forth over her folds, the underwear and pants in the way and making it hard to move much more than a fraction.

"I think you should unlock your front door pronto, Captain, because give or take two seconds I am going to want to make you come, preferable with volume and abandon."

Sharon smiled sheepishly but she immediately twisted her torso around and started rummaging through the purse slung over her shoulder. "I appreciate your honesty," she teased him, "and your consideration for my neighbors and whoever might accidentally walk by."

"Yeah, don't ever say I don't look out for your reputation."

That earned him an eye roll.

Andy smiled pleased with himself and then he watched as she turned around within his grasp, his hand quickly leaving her pants before it became twisted.

Armed with her apartment key, Sharon stuck the key in the lock while Andy busied himself with what was in front of him; her ass. Massaging and cupping the flesh, thinking about how damn lucky he was, tugging at the pants till they revealed more skin at the small of her back, lifting her shirt up so he could ogle. He took a step closer and then buried his nose into the back of her nape and pressed a kiss to the side of her neck.

"I'm beginning to understand that if I were to plant my behind in front of you, you would be fully occupied, hmm?"

"Yeah, yeah," Andy replied distractedly, the black underwear visible when he drew down one side of her pants, his dick throbbing when he pressed it against her.

The door opened with a click and momentum brought them stumbling through the frame, Sharon laughing merrily.

Andy smiled into her neck, his chest firmly against her back as he held onto her hips and made sure her ass was snug against his groin. He directed them further inside her apartment and easily shut the door behind him with a well-placed kick backwards while his hands crawled up till he could cup her breasts through the layer of her blouse.

"Fuck," he growled as he pushed her up against the wall inside the door, hands trailing the length of her arms and getting rid of the blazer in a hurry. The article of clothing landed somewhere in a pool at their feet and Andy delighted in the little squeal Sharon emitted when he realigned his body against hers, the noise quickly replaced with a satisfied hum.

"I've been so hard all day I had to start thinking about my dead grandmother so I wouldn't end up embarrassing myself," Andy chuckled, his hips bumping into her ass in a rhythm that was too reminiscent of an adolescent indeed.

"Andy," she sounded partly shocked, "that's awful."

Andy laughed good-naturedly, "I know."

His hands dwelled under the band of her pants and pushed the garment down, easily sliding it all the way down her legs. When he had bypassed her ass his right hand shot out and stayed on the flesh as he balanced on his knees and helped Sharon step out of the pants. She was still wearing the heels from earlier – he grinned and ran a hand up one calf, his fingers gripped around the muscles.

Sharon was trying to control her breathing but she couldn't cover the way she sounded excited.

He ran his hand up along her inner thigh, still on his knees with one hand on one buttock.

Sharon hummed and braced one hand palm flat on the wall for balance when he ran a finger along the outside of her underwear, the feel of her folds detectable underneath.

"So when you've been thinking about fucking me all day, what you really mean is that you been thinking about a slow fuck," she commented in a shaky breath, her legs coming a bit more apart. Andy watched one heel moving on the floor, the leg muscles tensing up with the movement.

"I will quicken it up at some point," Andy told her while his hand slipped under the thin fabric of underwear, a finger caressing back and forth over her naked clit in a slow rhythm, enjoying the way her legs trembled and spread even more of their own accord. There was something about being able to feel the muscles tense underneath the hand that was on her ass, something about the way she leaned backwards toward him that excited him, "but honey, if I don't take my sweet time I am going to come fast."

Sharon giggled at his comment, her voice exalted.

Andy leaned in and kissed the buttock he wasn't caressing, the skin just under the small of her spine warm upon touch. He moved over and trailed a few wet kisses on the outside, down along her hipbone.

"You've been planning slow torture all day, haven't you?" her voice was amused and yet there was a hint of something breathless in it. Anticipation, he decided.

"Mmhm," he grunted in affirmation against her skin, his teeth around the material of her underwear so he could ease it down a fraction before he let go and helped it down her legs with a bent finger instead.

"Not that I mind slow," she breathed out into the wall, "or fast – or whatever speed you decide upon."

Andy chuckled and watched her heeled feet step out of the black underwear, his hand this time being able to go up unobstructed and glide into wet folds, back and forth over her clit while he massaged inner thighs with his other hand.

"Good to know," he chuckled as he craned his neck and looked up at the back of her head, the tumble of hair down her shoulders flowing when she moved her head forward to it rest her forehead on the wall.

Her hums varied the more time he spent running fingers back and forth over folds, flicking her nub, but staying clear of her entrance.

He knew she was near a peak when her voice left her altogether and he immediately pulled his hand back.

"Andy!" Sharon voiced her dissent, his name rolling off her tongue in a long drawl.

Andy couldn't help the cheeky smile when she turned her head to look over her shoulder at him, a flash of annoyance briefly to detect among other emotions.

Andy pretended innocence with an open-handed shrug, his knees protesting when he made to stand up, "What?"

She pouted, "I didn't think you were serious about torture."

He hummed, still feigning ignorance.

"I was a second from coming," she told him in a puff of air that sounded petulant.

"I know," he retorted with a chuckle and got to his feet, easily turning her around and planting his lips on hers, the kiss heated and warm.

"I will remember this the next time I suck you off," Sharon told him when he broke from the kiss to nuzzle the skin where neck met shoulder, the threat not sounding that ominous when her pout instantly turned appreciative when they resumed the kiss.

Andy slapped her ass and herded her toward the bedroom, kicking off his own shoes in the process.

Sharon slipped her blouse off and then danced away from his grasp as she undid the clasp to her bra, disappearing from sight for an unbearable moment when she ducked behind the doorway into her darkened bedroom.

When Andy came into the room she was naked on the bed covers, legs spread and her own hand down between her thighs.

"So, you don't need me?" he lifted an eyebrow but couldn't contain the appreciative smile that erupted at seeing her touch herself.

"Not if you plan on withholding orgasms," she replied, her eyes only on him for a second before they closed and she arched her head back into the mattress, pleasure painting her features lighter.

Andy undid his tie and approached the bed, "Scoot up."

She obeyed with a moan and her fingers stopped at working herself up.

"Do you mind if I tie you up?" Andy asked her, dangling his tie in one hand while he ran the other along her outstretched body, hip to breast, tweaking a nipple.

She shook her head, arms coming up without prodding and her wrists held together when she held them out for him.

Andy laced one end of his tie around one wrist, turning a knot around her hand and then slipping another knot around her other wrist.

Her breasts bounced a bit when he placed her hands back on the mattress, her arms stretched above her, torso arched.

Andy walked slowly back to the foot of the bed, taking his time simply watching her.

She tried to hide a smile, teeth keeping her bottom lip in place but otherwise she did not move, silent and curious as she watched him back.

Andy took out the little red bean bag he had kept in his pocket of his pants, turning the thing in one hand before he placed it on the flat surface between her breasts.

Sharon arched one eyebrow and then commented, "You kept it."

Andy nodded and began to undress, "A memorabilia to remind me to not piss you off."

She shook her head, a bemused smirk, "And now?"

"Now," he grinned, "now, I will grant you all the orgasms you desire. However my red token better still be where it is," he told her both hands on her knees and travelling upwards.

"I can keep still," Sharon replied around a smile.

"Well, that remains to be seen, Captain," Andy smiled and then ghosted his mouth across her inner thigh before his lips landed on her clit.

…

/STAR TURN/

Finding himself in desperate demand of caffeine, Andrew Flynn headed for the Major Crimes break room in an upbeat stride that was as much compensation for the exhaustion that was slowly setting in as it was for quickly procuring a cup of warm coffee. Provenza was on his tail in a hurried waddle that would no doubt look comical if Andy deigned to turn his head and look back but being singularly determined on getting coffee Andy relied on the sound of his puffing partner instead. The sound told him Provenza would very soon complain about the tempo with some grumpy criticism surely meant to raise hackles.

They rounded a corner and the hallway came to a full view to the break room – otherwise occupied.

Through the glass Andy covertly watched Gavin Q Baker the third lean conspiratorially towards Sharon Raydor and whisper something that made her snort uncharacteristically loud, the noise detectable through the open door into the break room. The snort was immediately followed by a shocked hand in front of her mouth and eyes that widened for a fraction of a second.

"Just our luck," Provenza grumbled behind Andy's shoulder when he likewise noticed the invasion. "Betcha they've stolen the last of our coffee, or emptied the pot without making a new brew. It would be just the sorta thing your devil friend would do – out of spite."

Andy rolled his eyes, "If that's the case, we'll just go upstairs and steal I.A's coffee, no biggie."

"Ha," Provenza gave a low laugh, "imagine the look on her face if she caught us stealing their coffee."

"Priceless," Andy agreed, "damn priceless, for sure."

"Oh she would have a field day," Provenza shook his head in amusement, hesitating on the threshold as his eyes narrowed in on the couple.

"She would serve our balls on a platter, is what she would do," Andy pushed his partner inside – he did not have time to linger in doorways, "and then out of spite force us through enough seminars to last us a lifetime of regret."

Provenza huffed, annoyed at being shepherded into the break room.

Gavin leaned sideways to make a comment, a hand gesture in accompaniment. Andy was hard pressed to say what could prompt Sharon to yet again respond with a badly concealed snort seeing he only caught the low murmur of voices, too indistinct to make out words.

What caught his attention however, was the dead silence that suddenly descended when Provenza and Andy came fully into the room.

Andy was pretty certain that the whispered thing had something to do with Provenza and him then. Both Sharon and Gavin looked as if they had been caught red-handed and choking on the proverbial canary, cunning cat-like expressions in place well under a second. Spy worthy masks, Andy thought, if only they had not surreptitiously looked at each other and nearly broken out in laughter.

"It's a little early to be drunk, isn't it?" Andy commented out loud to Provenza, well aware Sharon and Gavin would hear it loud and clear.

Provenza shook his head, "I think it's just the condition of their disease. I would stay clear of them if I were you, could be contagious."

Andy arched an eyebrow when the two comrades crossed their arms in sync and pretended to look casual.

"You've OD'ed on superiority, is that it? You've finally succumbed to megalomania, huh?" Andy flippantly asked the two, his lips parting in a smug smile.

Provenza clucked.

"Lieutenant Flynn and Provenza," Gavin greeted with a complacent smile that seemed to be permanently stuck on the attorney's face no matter the circumstances, "what a singular delight."

"It's disaster one and disaster two," Sharon tittered, her voice just shy of a giggle that she compressed by flattening her mouth.

"Indeed," Gavin agreed with her, humor light in the attorney's expression.

The two looked at each other and this time they broke out in soft chuckles.

Andy raised an eyebrow, "Is this about what happened yesterday with that idiot sergeant from Vice?"

They shook their head in sync as well.

"Then what is it?"

"It's nothing," Sharon tried to appease him unsuccessfully; her hand in the air with a gesture that only told him she was once again on the verge of a laugh.

"Nothing," Gavin agreed in a light voice that in no one way reassured Andy.

They had without a doubt been talking about him then.

Andy crossed his arms, "Aren't you just two peas in a pod."

"If peas were inclined towards delusions of grandeur," Provenza added with a sly smile.

"You know what else is green?" Andy asked Provenza, his eyes on Sharon with a lifted eyebrow.

Provenza shrugged, doing a bad impression of exuding ignorance. They both knew where this was going.

"The wicked witch," Andy drawled, "green from top to toe."

"I think a green complexion would suit you dear," Gavin told Sharon with a smirk.

"A broomstick would complete the picture," Provenza snickered.

Sharon only laughed good-naturedly, her teeth shining white and her eyes crinkled, "Don't you two ever update your repertoire of jokes? This one is getting old if not ancient."

Andy shrugged, "Why change something that works perfectly and gets the point across?"

Sharon shrugged back at him and he was sure had it just been the two of them she would have stuck her tongue out.

"So, what's the deal?" Provenza asked with a suspicious look as he took the two smiling idiots in, edging around them in a curve to get to the coffee machine, "why are you two skulking around on our floor, after hours?"

"Twizzler?" Sharon offered instead of answering the question, snaking her hand into her purse that lay on a table nearby. She heaved out a bag of red twizzlers that had once upon a time been full. There was only three of the sugary sticks left.

Gavin snickered behind a hand.

It explained a lot Andy thought as he shook his head in resigned amusement.

Provenza stared mouth agape at the candy.

Andy quickly reached out and took the whole bag from Sharon's hand, blatantly ignoring the look of outrage that flittered across her expression at his presumptuous greed.

"I think you two have had enough candy, hmm. You've obviously been chomping down candy all afternoon, haven't you?" he shook his head once again, keeping the candy bag under his arm and taking a step back when Sharon looked on the verge of stepping forward.

The two idiots once again gave each other a conspiratorial look with a shared smile between them.

Provenza faked a shudder, "Oh woe, this is eerily similar to a nightmare I once had."

Sharon crossed her arms and bestowed a soft glare at Provenza, "You have nightmares about me?"

"Who doesn't?" Provenza deadpanned.

Gavin shrugged and then confessed to Sharon, "I once had a strange dream with you in it, darling. You were quite, what is the word - ,"

Sharon lifted up a hand, dissuading further information, "Please don't elaborate – for the sake of our friendship."

Andy put out with a wolfish smile, "I will refrain from sharing my dreams then, huh."

She narrowed her eyes at him, the threat in her pursed mouth not to mistake.

Provenza pretended to look disgusted, a cough that sounded more like a choking noise, "Don't even start. I mean it. No one - and I mean NO ONE – wants to be informed about your explicit dreams, Flynn."

"I wouldn't mind," Gavin piped up, a hand in the air.

Provenza's expression darkened, "Your opinion doesn't count in this building, Counselor."

Gavin gave in a to high laugh and then the attorney leaned his shoulder against Sharon's shoulder, his eyes on Andy and Provenza with a gleam, "We should have invited these two along much earlier in our endeavor to entertain ourselves. Maybe we could have lessened our consumption of candy, hmm. I have a feeling these two provide enough entertainment to power a Capital in Europe."

"Gavin was bored," Sharon exclaimed in a cheerful tone as if that was explanation enough for their giddy behavior, "and there is only so many times you can watch a mother confess to murder on video before it gets dull."

"Exactly," Gavin sighed dramatically, his hand once again waving in the air, "This dull building you fine fine officers work in may offer a wide range of murder galore when you are on duty but I must confess that your happy hour festivities after solving a case leaves much to be desired."

Sharon slapped his shoulder with a fake affronted pout. "Gavin," she reprimanded and then she directed her attention back to Andy and Provenza, "Dear, dear Mr Baker here decided to steal that bag of Twizzlers from your electronics room in an attempt to amuse himself. I felt it was in our best interest to eat the evidence, so to speak."

Provenza looked gleeful, "Can I get this in writing? Sharon Raydor stealing candy at work, my my, it will short-circuit the whole gossip pool."

Sharon pursed her mouth, "I hardly think something so trivial will do anything to the circulation of gossip, lieutenant."

Andy grinned, "Oh, you are so wrong. Salacious information about the head of F.I.D carries its weight in gold when it comes to gossip."

She blew out a resigned breath, "Oh well."

Gavin clapped his hands together, the movement catching everyone off their guard, "Right. I think coffee is in order."

"Is that really helpful when you're on a sugar high?" Sharon wondered out loud, her eyes far-away as she pondered it for real.

Andy rolled his eyes, "Probably not."

Provenza shared a meaningful look with Andy and then said, "I for one am in dire need of coffee, if only to balance out this very weird conversation."

"You are low on coffee beans," Gavin pointed out, finger at the nearly empty coffee bean bag that lay haphazardly on the counter next to the machine.

Provenza rolled his eyes, the motion fully visible for everyone and their grandmother, "Which is why we have a secret stash hidden away – so nosey outsiders like yourself don't end up fully raiding our supply."

Provenza made motion with his index finger, "Now, turn around and close your eyes."

Sharon and Gavin looked on the verge of laughter but they complied with the request, turning around and Sharon even went as far as to stick a finger in each ear, her lips parted in a gorgeous smile.

Andy watched his partner alternate between rummaging through one of the drawers and looking over his shoulder to make sure no one saw the secret location.

"You can look now," Andy said when Provenza finally found a new bag of coffee beans and started pouring the bag into the grinder on top of the coffee machine.

Sharon turned around in a spin and then approached Provenza, looking over his shoulder as she hummed well aware it would annoy the hell out of the lieutenant.

Andy grinned as he watched his partner grumble and grumble, Sharon humming and pointing out that they needed more beans. Then they proceeded to bicker about who got to pour the remaining old coffee out into the sink.

Andy could only smile because heck they reminded him of two pre-adolescent siblings.

Gavin cleared his throat and Andy looked up and caught the attorney giving him a strange look.

"What?" Andy asked with a lifted eyebrow, immediately clued in on the tension in the counselor's expression.

Gavin faked a smile and then inclined his head away from the coffee machine.

Andy followed the man across the room; neither Sharon nor Provenza noticed that they moved away, both too preoccupied by ordering the other around.

Gavin studied his nails and then when the attorney was sure no one was giving them a second thought, he hissed at Andy under his breath, "Smile, you idiot, and pretend we are having a cordial conversation."

Andy furrowed his brow in confusion but he quickly put on a smile, trying to come up with something he had done to annoy the attorney. The smile felt strained but it was the best he could do under the circumstances, what with being verbally assaulted out of thin air.

Sharon briefly looked over her shoulder, her gaze questioning but Andy merely shrugged and gave her a well-meaning eye roll. She smiled and then went back to squabbling with Provenza about who got to fill the coffee pot up with water.

"Well, now I know sugar makes you grumpy beyond compare," Andy commented to Gavin, his eyebrow quirked at the rather uncharacteristic behavior from the otherwise cheerful man.

"Oh, this has nothing to do with a high intake of sugar," Gavin told him in a no-nonsense tone, the smile that grazed his mouth seeming condescending from Andy's viewpoint, "It's simply a little chat, lieutenant. Just between the two of us."

Andy crossed his arms in defense, because shit that sounded remarkably ominous, "About what, Counselor?"

The attorney pretended to look thoughtful for a second but even though the man tried to disguise the direction of his gaze it was no secret it landed on Sharon.

Andy sighed, "Is this one of those, you better take good care of her or else talks?"

Gavin smirked, "You are not as thick-headed as I would have thought."

"You are exactly as slick and lawyerish as I remember," Andy retorted back.

Gavin pursed his lips, amused even if there was something tensile about his gaze, "And just like every lawyer with their client, I have privilege when it concerns one Sharon Raydor." The man paused, teeth glistening in a threatening smile, "who do you think she pours her heart out to when she's upset? Hmm? I get all the gory details over a couple of mojito's."

"So this is you warning me?"

Gavin smiled with a dangerous look in the depths of his eyes that betrayed the otherwise mirthful expression, "Yes. Don't put your foot in your mouth, is all I'm saying."

"Are you threatening me?"

"No, no," Gavin shook his head with a wry smile, "we are having a cordial conversation, remember."

Andy looked at the ceiling for a brief second trying to gather some patience, "Oh really, because it sure sounds like you are threatening me."

"Call it whatever you like, lieutenant. A piece of advice – a warning - a threat, whatever."

"Whatever," Andy gritted out between his clenched jaw, his arms even more tightly crossed.

Sharon chose that exact moment to interrupt, her arms crossed as she approached, "Lieutenant Provenza is abysmal when it comes to sharing the workload of making coffee. He insists on making it himself, without any input from someone who does not even know good coffee if it bit her in the ass."

She shook her head in wry amusement but then stopped, her eyes narrowing as she caught unto the tension that lingered in the air between Andy and Gavin. Her eyebrow raised in question, "What's wrong?"

Andy quickly buried any annoyance he felt and turned a soft smile in her direction. "Nothing," he said, taking a step closer to her, feeling a need to be close.

"Nothing?" she repeated not believing it.

"We had a friendly disagreement about baseball," Andy chuckled and he saw Gavin agreeing with a nod.

Sharon arched an eyebrow, her expression full of disbelief. "Gavin has no interest in baseball," she said in a sweet tone that told him she did not give a lot for the obvious lie.

"Exactly," Andy grinned and he tugged a strand of her hair behind her ear, "what our disagreement revolved around – Mr. Baker's complete lack of interest in baseball."

It seemed enough to pacify Sharon, her lips parting as she shook her head.

Gavin shrugged good-naturedly and Andy kept his smile wide as well, his hand now on the dip of her waist, bringing her closer.

"Stop being touchy-feely," Provenza grouched from behind, joining their little circle, "it makes me nauseous."

Andy rolled his eyes, "Go drink your coffee."

"When it's done, idiot. But until then hands off!" Provenza snarked back.

Everyone laughed.

…