FOURTEEN
Ever since their talk in the kitchen, something in Sharon had changed. Her posture seemed a little more relaxed and her commonly rare smiles were beginning to appear more frequently. Andy's commute from home to work was not an especially short one, but for once it didn't bother him, because his right hand was firmly holding Sharon's over the car's middle console. It wasn't quite clear to him which one of them had initiated their handholding, but it felt comfortable and just right either way.
Andy chanced a sideward glance at Sharon. She was either even better with make-up than he had given her credit for or those paninis did possess the magical abilities his grandma used to ascribe to them after all. Or maybe, overly strong coffee was the secret to her unnaturally youthful looks - he had to at least take that possibility into consideration. Either way, there was an almost healthy glow to her face. Her hair was perfectly done and she was wearing a deep blue pencil skirt and matching jacket over another one of those light tops. He was also glad that Elliott had not managed to ruin all of her stilettos, because the pair on her feet looked perfectly unharmed. In short: She looked amazing.
She turned her head and caught him looking, then gave him one of those sexy smirks and crossed her legs demurely. Her thumb caressed the back of his hand and the smirk turned into a warm smile. At the next red light, she leaned over and sought him out for a kiss, her lips warm and soft against his. He pressed their joint hands against his heart to pull her closer and she sighed into the kiss. Andy inhaled her scent one last time before they came apart just in time for the light to change. This was what we wanted going ahead, he realized in that moment. Whatever else was happening or not happening, he wanted to commute to work and chat with Sharon or steal kisses when traffic was jammed. He wanted to have meals with her and slide into bed with her in the evenings after a long day. Given what was up in the air right now, there was no way of telling what such a life would even look like, but he found himself not caring as long as it had her in it.
The LAPD building came into view and she let go of his hand as they approached.
"My car is still here. I should drive back to my place tonight," she said. "I don't think I have another change of clothes at your house."
He nodded, already feeling her absence keenly. There was little room for protest, though, as she was no longer in need of a security detail. Andy said nothing in return, worried that he would make a wrong move and alienate her again.
He parked in his usual spot and got out of the car, then followed Sharon across the floor. His heart sank when they ran into a group of male officers waiting for the elevator, because, as it happened, Andy knew them well: Dickens had done more sensitivity training than Flynn and Provenza combined (which was no small feat to accomplish). Usually because of sexist behavior. Miller and Dean loved to rate female coworkers according to bust size and Henricks seemed to think that the only way to connect with other men was to list his recent conquests. In short, they were the worst group to encounter if naked pictures of you had just been sent around the office. Andy swallowed. He was ready to beat each and every one of them to a pulp if only one dared to utter a single word.
One of the guys furtively checked out Sharon as if he was imagining her as naked as she had been in the pictures. Another didn't even try to hide his grin behind his hand. Someone gave a low whistle. Only one person snickered, but it was very clear from the charged atmosphere among the group that everyone was thinking along the very same lines.
There comes Captain Rulebook who is up to no good after hours.
Got some this morning, Nurse Ratchet?
Why so buttoned-up, there is nothing we haven't all seen before?
He could almost hear the mean comments in his head and he liked to think that, had he not been very much involved in the situation, the comments he would have come up with would have at least been funny.
He was about to open his mouth to tell everyone in that very straightforward way of his to go to hell, but one look at Sharon stopped him dead in his tracks. To his absolute and utter amazement, she had lifted one corner of her mouth in that expression that he had learned to dread over the years. She did look amused, but there was just as much grim determination in that expression. Somehow, it made her look vastly superior to everyone around in a way that had always made him feel small and stupid.
The elevator arrived and Sharon squared her shoulders before she stepped through the small crowd in front of it and entered it ahead of everyone else, executing a perfect little turn on her heel that hinted at where her ballerina daughter might have gotten her natural grace from. The superior smile remained and deepened into a slightly more saccharine expression when she regarded the officers now facing her one after another, not shying away from eye-contact even a single time. It seemed that everyone knew that expression and the danger associated with it as well as Andy, because the change in atmosphere was almost tangible. They wouldn't have expected her to act like this after what had happened, he understood, but then neither had he.
"Well, do come in, gentlemen," Sharon said in that familiar, low tone conveyed all the superiority in the world. "You don't want to keep your divisions waiting, do you?"
With that, they all shuffled in, suddenly looking put out. The scene was such a complete turnaround from Sharon staring at the floor with hunched shoulders every time someone walked past when she had just found out about the pictures that Andy flat-out forgot to enter the elevator. He realized that only when she addressed him with a slightly cocked head.
"Andy. Are you coming?" Her voice was surprisingly soft, her tone almost teasing.
Had she just called him by his first name in front of everyone? More accurately, in front of people she could be sure would run their mouth about it the second she was out of earshot? Andy was completely in awe of her in that very moment. It was almost as if the vulnerable woman she had allowed him to see this morning was a completely different person. The elevator was completely and utterly silent while it ascended, all its occupants apparently stunned beyond belief, but it seemed that Sharon wasn't done yet. She turned towards Andy who was standing right next to her and reached up to correct the position of his tie.
"Now, that's better," she said, smiling sweetly at him, her hands lingering on the lapels of his jackets for just a moment longer. Somewhere behind him, Andy could hear a gasp that sounded decidedly strangled.
The elevator dinged, announcing its arrival on the Major Crimes floor and Sharon walked out with one of those small, annoying waves of hers. When the elevator doors had closed behind them and they were alone in the hallway leading to the Major Crimes bullpen, Andy shook his head in complete bafflement.
"Sharon, that was…" He didn't even have a word for it. "You must be a wicked witch after all, because I have no idea how you just pulled that one off!" He gestured wildly, his arms flailing as if desperate to convey the extent of his puzzlement.
Sharon's shoulders dropped and she let out a long breath. Captain Raydor, the bane of everyone's existence, turned back into Sharon at once like an actress stepping out of a scene.
"I didn't even think about what I was doing. It just came rather naturally, I guess," she said breathlessly, then gave a nervous little snort laugh.
"It was brilliant, Sharon, trust me. You owned them," Andy assured her, unable and not very determined anyway to hide how amazed he was by her.
She looked up at him and smiled softly, then looked around to make sure there were no spectators before she brushed his hand with hers. "I was thinking about what you said earlier on the way over and I think you're right. I shouldn't feel ashamed. Whoever is thinking less of me for it should be. This new mindset will need some time getting used to, but I think I could make it work."
Something exploded in Andy's chest. He was not often proud of himself, but this was one of those moments.
"For whatever it's worth, Sharon, you were a force of nature in there. Keep it up and no one will dare talk about those pictures ever again."
She gave a low, amused hum at that and for a moment, Andy was fighting the urge to kiss her senseless. In just a few hours, he had lost whatever control he had ever had over the situation, he realized. It was as if that moment on the lawn in the pouring rain had shaken something loose in him. He couldn't understand now how he had ever not been aware that he loved her with all his heart. And even more so than ever before, he was seriously wondering why someone like her even bothered with a regular idiot like him. Then again, she had just made very clear that he was the one who had given her the strength to own the situation in the way she just had, so maybe he wasn't completely useless after all.
"I don't like it. I don't like it one bit!" Andy grumbled, slamming his fist against the top of his desk. An intricate stack of paper clips collapsed and they scattered across his desk, doing nothing to calm his frustration. Provenza rolled his eyes and leaned back in his chair, making it creak dangerously. One of these days he would topple over backwards and hit his head on the trash can. Flynn rather hoped that he would be there to see it.
"Don't be a caveman for her, Flynn! She'll be safe."
Flynn threw a furtive gaze at the Chief's office where Sharon was sitting in the visitors chair, conferring with Chief Johnson. The pair looked unusually not at odds and that should have been enough to shut him up because if those two managed to agree on something for once, there was no way he would get any say in it. He turned back towards Provenza, intent on letting at least his best friends suffer the effect of his anger.
"Why are we giving that little dirtbag so much leeway at all? He doesn't want to talk? We have enough evidence to have him sent to jail and convicted without interviewing him! I don't understand why we have to send Sharon in to talk to him! He kidnapped her, for fuck's sake."
Provenza closed his eyes and tipped his head back, groaning for effect. "She agreed to doing it, Flynn. And it's not like he could do anything to her. He will be handcuffed to the hospital bed and I doubt that he would be able to to do anything if he wasn't. She made sure he got shot in the leg and if I remember my last brush with death correctly, major blood loss doesn't exactly do wonders for your balance even if you got a transfusion."
Already half-convinced that he was the one in the wrong, but not ready to admit it, Flynn folded his own arms in a combative stance.
"I just think she has been through enough in her condition and all." He lowered his voice despite the fact that no one was within earshot. Sharon had let him off the hook with Provenza, but she wouldn't be as lenient if anyone else became privy to her little secret, he was sure.
"God, Flynn, she is not a fragile little flower. She saved those officers' asses back in that house. I don't see why she shouldn't do the interview. And…" He held up one finger. "He is in her division and he is an LAPD officer who stepped out of line. Therefore it is even her jurisdiction."
"What are you? On her side now?" Flynn snapped. He realized the colossal stupidity of what he had said only when Provenza started laughing.
"At least I am not featuring in sexy pictures with her. Or so in love that I can't look at her without having little hearts for pupils."
Flynn growled. "Can you please stop it!"
"Not before you stop being ridiculous. Just you be careful before she runs off to Boston because she can't stand your overprotective ass anymore."
Before Flynn could start yelling or throwing objects at his partner, the door opened and Sharon walked out, followed by the Chief. Flynn and Provenza were united at least in the unwillingness for the two women to bear witness to their argument, so they pretended that nothing had happened.
"The Captain and I are going to the hospital to see Sergeant Elliott," the Chief announced. "Buzz will come with us to set up a camera so we can listen in to the interview without actually being present in the room."
Andy was tempted to object, but then he knew that it was pointless. And maybe Provenza was right. If he launched into an overprotective fit, Sharon might not take it well. He still hated the idea of her being alone in a room with Elliott. Of course, he wouldn't be able to hurt her, but the guy was insane. Who knew what else he would throw at her in the way of stupid accusations. Sharon was not fragile, Provenza was right on that count as well, but with everything that was going on, he would have liked to spare her that at least. She looked perfectly in control, he thought. Maybe it was better to keep his protective urges in check for now and just let her decide. That didn't mean he didn't hate the idea, though. For a moment, he considered insisting on being in the room with her while she spoke to Elliott, but that was probably pointless as well. Elliott hated his guts, that much was clear, so his presence would certainly not help matters.
Provenza rose and collected his jacket from where it hung crumpled over the back of his chair. Jingling his car keys, he smiled at Sharon and the Chief.
"Flynn, are we taking my car or yours?"
"The Captain does not require a security detail anymore, Lieutenant. Much less two," Chief Johnson cautioned. "We have other cases to be worked. You two are staying."
"I am sure the others have it all in hand, Chief," Provenza said with enough nonchalance to suggest that he wasn't in fact aware that he was in the process of defying a direct order by his ranking officer.
The Chief turned towards Sharon with a huff. "I don't know what you have done to convince both of them to follow you to the ends of the earth, Captain. I really don't."
Sharon smirked. "Cedars hospital is hardly the ends of the earth, Chief."
The comment was as simple as it was clearly infuriating to the Chief who narrowed her eyes in warning.
"Well, Captain, I see you find this amusing."
Sharon shrugged. "I have always found Lieutenants Flynn and Provenza amusing, Chief. It's why they are still with the LAPD. Otherwise, given their shenanigans in the past, I might have recommended their discharge years ago."
It was clear that she didn't mean it, but the Chief didn't seem to respond to her sense of humor. Rolling her eyes, she stalked off towards the elevator, waving for them to follow.
Provenza jabbed his finger at Sharon. "Just so you know, I do not like you. It just so happens that you seem to be Flynn's girlfriend now, so I tolerate you."
Sharon smiled almost warmly. "Of course, Lieutenant."
Provenza turned to leave and Andy stretched out his arm, gesturing for Sharon to go first.
"For the record," he said quietly, so no one could hear, "I don't think this is a good idea."
Sharon hummed. "Believe me, I am aware."
"Just so you know," Provenza called over his shoulder. "Little rat can request whatever he likes, if he wants to come clean, he has to do it with me in the room."
Chief Johnson turned around where she was waiting for the elevator and glared at Provenza, clearly fed up with his antics. "Lieutenant! I am the one giving the orders around here!"
Sharon had caught up to them and paused next to Provenza with a pointed look in her eyes.
"She is," she agreed and that alone was worrisome.
Provenza smiled at her in a way that didn't bode well because Provenza never smiled.
"It is, of course, your decision whether you want to go in alone or with someone else to watch, Captain. But maybe we should fill Chief Johnson in on the details of your recent health concerns?"
Sharon's eyes widened. "Lieutenant...!" she almost shrieked. It was definitely a tone she rarely used. Flynn had heard it only once so far and that had been the day they had found a body in Provenza's garage and had gone to see the ballgame anyway. God, the FID fallout of that one had been even worse than Chief Johnson's fit of rage!
"Health concerns?" The Chief had perked up. "What health concerns?"
Andy had never been completely sure that Sharon's death glare was not capable of murdering someone until now, because if it had, Provenza would have dropped dead on the spot.
"I am not opening up myself and this division to another lawsuit!" the Chief announced, waving her finger at Sharon. "And most importantly not with an FID-officer involved. My God, that is a headache I will avoid. I want to know nothing about those health concerns, but Provenza is going in with you."
Sharon glared at Provenza from the corner of her eye, but didn't object.
"Alright, Chief," she answered and followed the Chief into the elevator, clearly resigned to her fate.
Provenza turned to Flynn and wriggled his eyebrows in triumph. Andy realized now that his friend was in his corner. He was just completely unable (or unwilling?) to act on it without alienating as many people as possible in the process, including Flynn himself. Shaking his head, he followed them into the elevator.
When this was over, he needed a vacation.