The room remained silent, and as the moments wore on, Brenda could hear the ticking sound of Delk's watch, the even, if slightly rapid, breathing of Sharon, and the blood rushing through her own head.

"Well, don't leave me hanging, Chief Delk! Do tell me why y'all were talking about little old me?" She was determined to play dumb, though she had a fairly good idea of where this was going.

"You see, I was reminding Captain Raydor here about certain rules and regulations here on the force." Delk began, but stopped when Brenda chuckled. "Something funny, Chief Johnson?" His voice dropped coolly.

"I was just thinking, that was probably a colossal waste of your time. That woman has the entire Police Code of Behavior and Conduct memorized. She must, as much as she's quoted it to me." She replied, sounding well and truly put out.

Delk tipped his head to the side, scratching absently at the beginnings of his early-onset five oclock shadow. "You sound annoyed by that."

"Well, honestly. I mean, I'm catching murderers! Sometimes, the rules need to be flexible. But I can't get her," she cut her eyes at Sharon, who was staring daggers in her direction, and swallowed convulsively before continuing, "to understand that I don't have time to look up subsection Q of paragraph 93.d or whatever, when I'm interrogating a suspect. She knows I find her frustrating to work with, but that said, I highly doubt you'd need to remind her of anything." She finished, hoping Sharon would let this play out in her hands, now, and not speak up just yet.

"Hmm. It's possible you have a point. Perhaps, as you've so eloquently stated, you need reminding of the rules, and not Captain Raydor. Particularly the rules on relationships with your immediate subordinates." Delk leveled his gaze at Brenda, his words smug.

"Chief Delk. Have you seen my team lately? Commander Taylor wears pink shirts. David Gabriel is half my age. Lieutenant Provenza is the same age as my mother, and I won't even dignify the specter of Lieutenant Flynn with a response. Tao is married, and I don't like to gossip, but I'm about 95% sure that Buzz doesn't really find my sort attractive, if you know what I mean." Brenda managed to sound positively scandalized.

Delk frowned, clearly not expecting an indignant outrage. He leaned back in his chair, and glanced between the two women. Sharon was rigid in her chair, and somewhere along the line, she'd put her glasses back on, making her expression unreadable. Brenda watched his face for a moment, and saw when he thought he'd found the right way to come at her again. She leaned forward over the arm of the chair, and patted his leg, cutting off his words.

"But don't you worry, Chief Delk. I do know that dating my direct subordinates is against the rules. I am also well aware of the fact that dating subordinates who do not directly report to me, or to my division, is well within the bounds of appropriate behavior. So I'm sure you couldn't be referring to anything you might think is going on between me and anybody else, could you? After all, as far as I know, for once, I'm actually playing by the rules." She kept her eyes on his, although everything in her wanted to turn, and gauge Sharon's reaction.

"Be that as it may, I need to be sure that my force is capable of handling anything, without any sort of impropriety, or inappropriate behavior. See that you conduct yourselves as the ranks you represent, when you are on company time." Delk spat, glaring first at Brenda, then at Sharon. He stood, and executed a stiff nod, before stalking out of the room, letting the door slam behind him.

Brenda sank down in her chair, and breathed out a huge sigh. She looked at Sharon, who was staring at her, but had yet to move. Brenda could see the tendons in her neck, and she decided to keep barreling forward.

"Before you say anything, Sharon, I meant what I said. I don't like secrets, and I am not ashamed to be with you. I told you that. Did you believe me?" She spoke quickly, locking her eyes on Sharon's.

"Yes." Came the clipped reply.

"Now, you made no such declarations. I don't need you to make those declarations. I had a hunch, when I peeked in the window, and saw how angry you looked, what Tommy was here about. I brought him here, by throwing myself at you after everything with Kevin Masen. So it seems only fair that I give you a little breathing room to decide how you want to handle things, without Delk deciding to push us into anything." She paused, and when Sharon only gazed at her, she licked her lips, and continued.

"Listen, I had a sort of a, what do you call it, an epiphany when I was talking to the B.S. Doctor today. And after that, when I was swinging by to let Pope and my team know that everything was okay, I was thinking that I'd ask you, tonight, about talking to Pope about us. Partly, because I thought he'd be good practice before going to Delk, but also because if that man doesn't stop giving you those hang dog looks… At any rate, I decided that before I saw Delk. I wanted to see how you felt about it. How you feel about, being open, around the office." She stopped talking, as Sharon stood swiftly and moved to stand by the door.

Brenda stared, wondering if this was it for them. She swallowed against the lump in her throat, and stood up.

"Come here a minute?" Sharon murmured, her voice so low, Brenda almost didn't register her words. She walked to stand near the Captain, and Sharon reached out, catching her by the hips, and pulling her close. "It's a blind spot, Chief." And then, Brenda wasn't sure who closed the gap between them, but they were up against the door, kissing fiercely, Brenda's hands coming up to hold Sharon's shoulders, when she felt Sharon swipe her tongue along her bottom lip. She couldn't help the moan as she opened to her Captain, and felt everything Sharon was pouring into the kiss.

As they broke for breath, Brenda rested her forehead against Sharon's. Sharon closed her eyes, before leaning her head back, and looking at Brenda. "I don't declare things. I am not, what you would call, an emotive person. I have seen how you behave, with Agent Howard, and even with Pope, to an extent. I don't know that I can be that sort of person. I will always walk you to my door, however, and I don't mind explaining our relationship to our superior officers, because we have nothing to hide. But I don't want to become locker room gossip for the beat patrol, either. Perhaps we can come to a happy medium?" She finished, her voice both tired and hopeful.

"Well, of course. I'm aware that the rules won't be the same with you, just because of who you are. That's one of the things that I uh, that I admire about you. Most of what you saw here in the office was me trying to get my way, either from the FBI, or from Pope. As you pointed out to me not too long ago, capitalizing on my feminine charms is a time honored tradition, so I use what I was blessed with. I don't ever want to use you that way. So you don't have to worry about huge public displays of affection. But I do have blinds in my office. And those, Captain, create a much, much larger blind spot."

"So we'll go to Pope tomorrow, then?" Sharon wanted to make sure she understood the plan.

"Yes. I think we've already done the hard part. Delk obviously knows. So Will's the only loose end. And, I should tell you, Gabriel has known for a while. I would venture to say he gave me quite the shove in your direction, when we were struggling, though I've never explicitly said anything. But he's my best Detective, so, I can't be surprised that he figured it out before everyone else."

"All right. I suppose I may let Sgt. Elliot know, as well. I believe he thinks I am losing my mind, and I think it will do him good to know that I am both sane, and happy." Sharon mused, tangling her fingers with Brenda's, bringing her knuckles up for a kiss. "Now, as I recall, I owe you one shiny sidearm, fit for duty." She pulled Brenda back to her desk, and unlocked the bottom drawer, and handed Brenda her service revolver.

"Thank you." Brenda leaned over and grabbed her tote, fishing her holster out of the depths. Sharon watched as Brenda fluidly donned the holster with practiced movements, then checked the chamber of her gun, before slapping it closed, snapping the safety on, and popping it in the holster, thumbing the snap. The whole process left Sharon slightly breathless, and for a brief moment, she was back in the morgue, standing across the cold metal table, swapping gun parts, and wondering where all of her animosity had gone.

"It is truly a pleasure, watching you work, Chief Johnson." She husked, dragging her eyes up to meet Brenda's.

"Thank you. I umm, I'm not officially cleared for duty until tomorrow. B.S. has to submit their paperwork. So I'm off, as of now. I was thinking, I might put something together for dinner, if you're up for it?" The look in Sharon's eyes was making it hard to think.

"Are you threatening to cook for me?" Sharon sounded faintly horrified.

"No! Goodness no. I don't, I'm not, I can make a few things, but that's mainly because my Mama wouldn't have let me leave home without knowing how to make a proper Christmas and Thanksgiving dinner, or a breakfast in bed sort of thing. She has, different priorities. So I was going to hit a few take out spots." Brenda wasn't even sure if her oven worked anymore, truth be told.

"Why don't you go home and feed Joel, and get a change of clothes, and then come to my place for dinner?" Sharon suggested.

"Okay. What do you want me to pick up on my way over? Chinese?" Brenda questioned.

"I do not share the same aversion to the kitchen as you do. So I rather planned on cooking. But feel free to bring the wine." Sharon smiled, then walked around her desk, and put her hand at the small of Brenda's back. "May I walk you to the door?" She asked with that damnable smirk.

"I'd be insulted if you didn't." Brenda replied, snagging the straps of her tote, as she let herself be guided by the gentle pressure of Sharon's hand on her back.

Reaching the door, they shared a slow, languid kiss, before Sharon ushered Brenda out. As she closed the door behind the Chief, Sharon turned around, and started estimating the size of her windows. Vertical blinds couldn't be that expensive, after all.