A/N- Today I was Agent Scully. On my honor, one of my neuro questions was "The government has (finally) released the alien bodies from Area 51. You are one of the pathologists taking part in the autopsy..." Haha, anyway, I finally saw the ep. HOLY SHIT SHARON IS SCREWED. WHAT DID SHE DO TO HERSELF?! On the other hand, so much BAMFing from everyone- Andrea, Amy. . . Rusty figuring out Slider's illiteracy. This may be my favorite episode yet. But why the hell was Emily talking about Flynn to Jack, especially after Sharon told her to keep it on the DL?


Sharon froze. Her jaw dropped slightly and she glanced at Provenza. His expression mirrored hers.

Oh, shit.

"Chief, ah, I can explain-"

Taylor raised his eyebrows dangerously. "I sincerely hope so, Captain. Your office?"

She could feel the blood drain from her face, and sincerely hoped her color didn't change. Maybe her foundation would hide her sudden terror.

"Lieutenant Pr-"

"Ah, ah, just you for now, Captain." Taylor waited for her to walk past before following.

She slipped her hands into her pockets and clenched them tightly. She paused as she reached the office door. "Thank you, everyone. Superb work today." She nodded tightly and slipped into her office, holding the door for Taylor.

Sykes stared at the window as the shades rattled shut. "What happened? Is Lieutenant Flynn okay?"

Provenza sighed deeply as the others turned to look at them. He sat in his chair and fiddled with his stapler for a minute. "Flynn is alright, generally speaking. He didn't want all of you to worry."

"About what, sir?" Even Julio looked concerned.

"So, when he fell off that car, his doctor figured out he had a blood clot." Provenza could see the pieces clicking together in Tao's eyes.

"High blood pressure, blood clot. I take it he's on anticoagulants? Heparin?"

Provenza shrugged.

Tao nodded, mostly to himself. "And it's a fairly major clot, I'm guessing?"

"Yeah."

There was a long silence.

Hobbs finally spoke, running a hand through her hair. "He told you and Sharon, and she had to tell her kids, because he's still staying with her."

"Yep."

"She and I talk," Andrea said in response to the curious glances. "Jackass."

Provenza snorted. "Somehow I don't think even Jack Raydor realized how big a can of worms he opened."

Andrea grimmaced. "I've got to go, sorry. I hope it goes okay. I'll have her call me later." She waved and disappeared down the hall.

"What do you mean 'big can of worms'?" Amy asked hesitantly.

There was a large collective sigh from the room's other occupants.

"Taylor's wanted her out of the office since the day she got in," Provenza began. "You knew the Chief- Brenda Leigh-"

"Johnson, yeah. She was a bit of a legend." Amy frowned.

"Well, the captain was brought in rather suddenly as her replacement. It was. . . complicated. The Pope wanted her in, Taylor wanted her where she was. I'm sure you know, but she was Internal Affairs at the time. She was promised a promotion with the transfer to our department, but it ended up being a lateral promotion."

"She transferred four years ago, and the promotion freeze ended almost two years ago. . ."

"Yeah," Provenza said grimly. "She never got the promotion, and honestly, she deserves more than that one promotion. She gave up an entire career in professional standards to clean up Major Crimes. She should be a Deputy Chief by now," he added angrily.

There was another silence.

Tao picked the story up. "She never got the promotion, and in transferring, apparently gave up a nice offer to consult for the convention center. She uses that and potential retirement as bargaining chips, as she's literally got nothing else."

Amy frowned. "So why did they bring her in?"

Provenza smiled faintly. "They transferred the Wicked Witch because they needed someone to make us look pretty to the public again. She was the best for the job; she had the experience."

"And Taylor is willing to get rid of her now," Julio said softly.

"She's played her part, and now she's a liability," Provenza said. "She lets us have our way occasionally, she bucks against the reins. Interdepartmental fraternization," he added with a half-smile. "Taylor was just waiting for the right time to stab her in the back."

"Again," Tao muttered.

"It's a chess game," Buzz said bluntly. "She refuses to let them make her into a pawn, and they refuse to promote her up the ladder."

Amy nodded. "And now we wait," she said, turning back toward her Captain's office.

"And now we wait," Provenza echoed.


Sharon sat down in her chair, hands clamped together. "Chief-"

"No," Taylor cut her off. "I don't want your excuses. We've worked together long enough that we can cut the bullshit, Sharon."

She looked down. This was the end. She was tenured, but she had used retirement as the ace in her pocket for far too long, and Taylor would use it to shove her out the door.

"What aren't you telling me?"

She sighed.

"That's what I was afraid of." He sat down across from her. "Look, Captain- Sharon- you turned in all the paperwork for departmental fraternization. I'm sure you read each and every word of it. It's vague in places, I know, but part of it was about favoritism. Do you remember?"

She chewed her lip. "Yes, sir."

"Then you know that changes in medical status need to be reported, immediately, regardless of your personal affiliation with the officer in question."

"I'm sorry." She could feel fear gripping her chest. It wasn't like her to break the rules. It wasn't like her to bend them, usually, and now here she was, in trouble because she'd bent- broken, honestly- the rules.

Take a deep breath, Sharon. It's okay. It's okay. They can't do anything you haven't already anticipated.

"Yeah, well, sorry doesn't fix this. You didn't report it."

She rallied herself. "I learned of it yesterday, Chief. We were on a 24-hour deadline."

He nodded. "Fair. But how often was I with you during that time? How long would it have taken to say oh, hey, I need to give you an update on Lieutenant Flynn?"

"Chief, I think it would have taken a while to get you up to speed. Time we didn't have. Lieutenant Flynn's condition isn't critical, and the case was."

Taylor leaned back in his seat and stared at her. "This is starting to turn into a mess on the scale of some of Chief Johnson's."

Sharon sucked in a sharp breath. "Sir."

He raised his eyebrows. "The defense lawyer is your ex-husband, and he withheld information to claim part of a civil suit against the LAPD."

"I don't have any contr-"

"I'm not done. The prosecution is your friend-"

"Andrea-"

"You and she ended up dragging an innocent man through jail, trial, questioning. . . all before finding an entirely different suspect. There's still a good chance that we will see civil action as an outcome of this."

"My department isn't at fault!" Sharon burst out angrily. "We were not part of the original investigation."

"Be that as it may." Taylor shifted. "Now, tell me about Flynn."

Sharon pursed her lips.

"I know you and Provenza both know."

"A minute, please, sir."

"You're of age for retirement."

She shot him a look that could have frozen wine. "Sir. I was collecting my thoughts."

Taylor hesitated for a moment. He had well and truly awoken the Wicked Witch that had lain dormant in Sharon Raydor's soul.

"Lieutenant Flynn came to me yesterday morning," she started icily. "He had been to a doctor's follow-up regarding his accident last week. They found a coagulation- a clot-" she paused and took a deep breath. "A clot in his carotid artery."

Taylor froze. Oh. However much Flynn annoyed him, he wouldn't wish that on the man.

She quirked an eyebrow. "He's taking anticoagulants for it, and he's under constant supervision."

"You're here," he said unnecessarily.

"Patrice has agreed to watch over him when Rusty and I are unavailable."

"So he's still living with you. I don't recall seeing the documentation."

She had done the paperwork, and she knew it. "I put in a medical notice. It's temporary, so I saw no reason for Lieutenant Flynn to put in for a change of residency."

Taylor stared at her intently. "You know, Captain. I really don't feel like arguing about this right now."

"That makes two of us."

"You realize I'll be reporting to Chief Pope."

"I'd expect nothing less, sir."

He couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic or not.

"This will have more consequences."

"Of course, sir."

"Any further deviations, though, Captain, and you might find yourself facing some of your old associates from the PSB."

She kept his gaze. "I'd love for a chance to catch up with them. It's so busy around here."

He snorted and got up. "Captain."

"Sir." She let him out of the office, and waited in the doorway until Taylor was gone before turning her attention back to her squad.

"Well?" Provenza looked at her.

She sighed. "We may have won this round, but we need to tread carefully, lady, gentlemen."

"We've got your back, ma'am," Sanchez didn't look up. "Don't worry."