Not sure what to make of Andy's comment about Commander Mason. Maybe it's just him being a bit insecure rather than actually jealous or he's being protective of Sharon and doesn't want anyone to jeopardize her (as he thinks) amazing promotion opportunity. In any case, I took this as a chance to explore that a bit. Plus, I really long for a more open Shandy conversation on the topic of Assistant Chief and I'd also love to hear the team discuss it, since the decision will obviously affect them all.

So here's my take on all of those things. The first one is set in the flashback timeline of the episode, whereas the second one is in the present timeline after they talk to Paul Bloom. I think, based on what little we know so far, this doesn't really stray from canon and something along these lines could have happened.

The first one

"So you've made a friend today," Andy said around a mouthful of dinner they were in the middle of.

"A friend?" Sharon asked, her focus on the plate in front of her. "Who?" she added, looking at him in confusion.

"Commander Mason," Andy replied.

"Oh, I wouldn't call him a friend," Sharon said, laughing lightly. She tilted her head, contemplating something. "An ally perhaps," she offered, bringing a bite carefully to her mouth.

Andy took a sip of his water. "Ally?" he asked in disbelief. "He's after the same job you are, Sharon," he added, a bit heatedly.

"I didn't know I was after a new job," Sharon said blandly, although there was a smile playing at the corner of her lips.

Andy rolled his eyes at her. "Fine," he muttered. "He's considered for the same job as you are," he corrected, taking his annoyance out on the last piece of vegetable on his plate.

"That he is," Sharon confirmed, letting her smile spill over her face. She put her fork and knife down, having finished her food and gave Andy her full attention before saying, "And just like me, he's happy where he is right now."

Andy's eyebrows went up. "So he won't fight you for the job?" he asked.

She hummed. "No, I don't think he'll fight me for the job," she said at a deliberate pace, wanting him to catch onto her real meaning on his own.

And of course, he instantly did and grinned. "So he hates Winnie Davis, too, huh?" He nodded, clearly impressed with the fact.

"He's certainly as concerned about his division as I am about mine," Sharon said in response, shrugging.

"Mhm," Andy said, dropping his own cutlery now. "And what do you think of him?" he asked, looking up at her. "I mean, criminal intelligence division," he trailed off, raising an eyebrow.

"Well," she dragged the word out, "he's not Commander on paper only," she told him over a meaningful look.

"You think he'd be a good fit?" Andy asked, surprised slightly.

"At this point," she let out a bitter laugh, "I think anyone'd be a better fit than Winnie Davis."

Andy chuckled. "About time you admitted that," he mumbled teasingly.

Sharon rolled her eyes and slapped his arm in playful admonishment, but he only smirked at her, enjoying the good mood she seemed to be in despite him, again, bringing up a topic she so far wasn't as keen on discussing as he was. "He offered me a deal actually," she informed him, quirking an eyebrow at him.

"You do love deals," Andy said, almost singsonging those last two words.

"Funny," Sharon said humorlessly, although her voice thinned slightly, "Commander Mason said the same thing."

Andy laughed at her. "So what kind of deal?" he asked.

"It's obvious that if we want to prevent Davis from wreaking havoc over LAPD's divisions," she started, tilting her head to the side.

"Which we do," Andy interjected, raising an eyebrow at her.

"One of us," she gave him a pointed look, not amused by his smart interruption, "will have to take the position instead of her."

"Well, that's not news," he said, shaking his head at her and frowning. "Since I'm sure Howard's out of the running and I don't trust this Mason guy, that leaves you. What kind of deal could he have possibly offered you then?"

"Well, he told me, in no uncertain terms," she replied, "that, should either one of us end up with the job, we'd use the position to protect our former and respective divisions."

"Huh," Andy let out, impressed, rubbing a hand over his chin as he considered that for a moment. "So does that mean he'll fight for the job?"

When she shrugged, he added, "Does that mean you will fight for the job?"

She sighed. "I think it means we'll both fight for what's best for our divisions."

Andy sighed, too. "Okay, so you'll at least fight Winnie on it?" he asked.

She pursed her lips and took a moment to answer. "I like heading Major Crimes, Andy," she finally said, and quickly, before he could interject again because she had told him so a hundred times by now, added, "You know I'm not gunning for a promotion anymore so I'll fight to stay where I am, but if protecting our squad means fighting her, too, then I don't really have any other choice, now do I?" She ended her sentence on a small exasperated sigh.

He narrowed his eyes at her for a split second, then said, "You're gonna support Mason, aren't you?" Although it was a question, his words sounded more like an accusation.

Her eyes widened in surprise. She shook her head. "I don't know," she said. "I'm considering it," she admitted. "Maybe," she added on an undecided shrug. "We've crossed paths only a handful of times, Andy, and I think I should probably get to know him a little better before pledging my allegiance to him."

Andy scoffed. "Get to know a guy whose sole job is making things unknown to people?" he asked sarcastically.

She laughed. "Whatever his area of expertise, Andy, so far he seems to be easier to work with than Winnie Davis," she told him.

"Seems to be being the operative words," he said, getting to his feet to start clearing the table.

She stood up to help. "Well, he's at least being professional," she said, relieved. "I wasn't sure I could count on that after," she paused, rolling her eyes, "you know..."

"After what?" he asked, his voice raising in pitch slightly. He frowned. "He ever done something that was unprofessional?" There was a hint of a threat to the tone of his voice now. He even bristled as if already he was ready for a fight.

Sharon gave him an amused look and walked, their glasses in hand, into the kitchen. "After Winnie Davis, Andy," she said pointedly. "Remember her drawing some boyfriend of mine into this mess?" she added jokingly, already busy putting the glasses into the dishwasher.

"Oh," he let out, deflating instantly and following her with their plates, "that kind of professional." He shook his head. "I thought you were," he started, but then cut himself off with a shake of his head. "Never mind," he said lamely, moving past her toward the sink to rinse their plates.

"You thought I was what?" Sharon asked, siding next to him and wrapping an arm around his waist as he went about his task, and leaning forward to look up at him.

"Nothing," he waved her off, turning around to dispose of the plates in the dishwasher and getting out of her half-embrace in the process, too.

She chuckled, realizing where his thoughts had taken him, and walked back to their dining table. "Unprofessional," she just said, the word full of both teasing and disbelief.

She laughed when she heard him forcefully close the dishwasher and sarcastically saying, "Ha-ha."

She smirked and carried their leftovers to the fridge, letting him glare at her from where he had leaned against a kitchen counter. She met his glare when she closed the fridge again and took a few steps toward him.

"You're cute when you're jealous," she told him, suppressing a laugh.

He rolled not only his eyes but his neck as well as his gaze briefly found the ceiling. "I'm not jealous," he argued on an irritated grumble. "I just want this stupid chief business to be over and done with."

She let out a hum of further disbelief and pecked him on the lips.

"And I'm not cute," he muttered over a dark look.

She snorted. "Fine," she relented. When he grunted, she added, "Now, are you just going to brood here or will you help me finish this so that we can actually enjoy our evening home alone?"

"Wait," Andy said, surprised. "Rusty's not coming home tonight?" he asked.

"Didn't I tell you?" she asked in response. "He texted me before dinner," she added.

He gave her a wide-eyed look. "No, you didn't," he said, shaking his head.

She chuckled. "Well, now you know," she told him, shrugging and turning around with the intention of clearing the table of the last traces of their dinner.

"Uh, no, no," he said, reaching a hand out to grab her forearm. When she stopped and raised an eyebrow at him, he tugged on it to propel her toward him. "That," he tilted his head toward the dining table, "can wait, my dear."

"Is that so?" she challenged, standing now in front of him, one of her hands finding its place on his loosened tie.

"Yeah," he said gruffly before catching her lips with his.

The second one

"Thank you, Commander," he heard Sharon say as she and Commander Mason walked toward her office.

Andy was sitting on his desk chair, watching the duo approach with a frown he didn't even realize he was sporting.

"Seeing you guys in action, Captain," Mason said, "is thanks enough, I think."

Sharon smiled and nodded, brushing a hand against Andy's shoulder absentmindedly as she led the Commander into her office.

When the door behind them closed, Andy sighed and made his way into the break room. He was gulping down his glass of water when Provenza walked in.

"Aren't you supposed to keep Hobbs company while she goes over that deal with Bloom?" Andy asked him.

Provenza waved him off. "Julio took my place," he said, walking past his partner in search for a cup of coffee. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

Andy shrugged and pointed out the glass of water in his hand.

Provenza took note of it and returned his focus on his coffee.

"So what do you think of this Mason guy?" Andy asked.

Provenza shrugged. "Eh, he can be useful, I guess," he said.

Andy perked up at his disinterested demeanor. "So you don't like him either?" he said, sounding hopeful.

Provenza looked at him, furrowing a brow. "He ranks higher in my book than Winnie Davis, I'll tell you that," he told him. Narrowing his eyes at Andy, he added, "What do you have against him?"

Andy put his glass away and started nonchalantly walking toward the door. "Nothing, he's just annoying, if you ask me," he mumbled on his way.

Quickly dropping the spoon he was stirring his coffee with, Provenza went after him, a smirk on his face. "You're not jealous, are you, Flynn?" he asked.

"What?" Andy's voice went suspiciously high. He rolled his eyes and opened the door to walk out of the break room. "I'm not jealous," he said, his voice down to a more regular note, "it's just that," he waved his hands through the air, "Sharon's the best for the job, and you all act like," he shrugged, "I don't know what," he ended lamely.

"What are you talking about?" Provenza said. "The guy actually helped with the case, what did you expect us to do? Kick him in the nuts?" he asked.

Andy sighed. "Well, everyone's talking about how he's smart, good at his job, young, energetic," he listed off, rolling his eyes again. "Might as well be running his campaign the lot of you."

They reached the murder room and Provenza was about to walk to his desk, but put it off for a moment to give Andy an exasperated look. "I don't know what you're talking about, Flynn," he told him, "but," he waved a hand at him, having come to a stop as well to look back at him, "not jealous my ass," he added, finally going to his desk.

"Wh-", Andy stopped mid-word, looking incredulously around himself, "I'm not jealous!" he hissed, stomping back to his desk and flopping into his chair.

"Mhm," Provenza singsonged, enjoying a sip of his coffee.

"Oh, shut it," Andy muttered.

"Ye Gods, Flynn, calm down," Provenza, suddenly rather irritated, said. "Or you'll give yourself another heart attack."

Andy shot him an angry look, but his retort never came because Amy and Mike chose that exact moment to walk out of the electronics room and join them.

Noticing the obvious tension, Mike threw Provenza a curious look, but he just rolled his eyes and said, "Flynn over here," he hooked a thumb in Andy's direction, who shot him an irritated glare, "thinks we're campaigning for Mason to become Assistant Chief."

"Huh?" Mike frowned a little taking a seat behind his desk, Amy doing the same behind hers. "Honestly," he started, clearly not looking for any more details about Provenza's and Andy's little squabble, "I'd just like to still have a job once all of this is settled," he told them on a shrug.

Provenza gave him a firm nod of his head. "As do all of us, Tao," he said.

"The Captain still doesn't want the position?" Amy asked, turning her chair around and directing the question at Andy.

He sighed, throwing a glance into Sharon's office. Mason was in the middle of saying something. "I don't know," he admitted. "She doesn't like Davis, I can tell you that," he told her. "But other than that," he frowned, "she's being all," he trailed off, frustrated, his hand drawing a circle in the air.

"Captain-like?" Amy tried.

He chuckled. "Yeah, something like that."

"She'll fight for us," Mike suddenly said, rather confidently. When three heads shot him a surprised look, he shrugged. "She won't feed us to the likes of Winnie Davis," he clarified, the look he offered in return almost daring them to voice expecting anything else.

Andy smiled and, like Amy, somberly nodded in agreement.

Provenza however, spoke. "Well, we all know that," he gave Mike an exasperated look for pointing out the obvious, "I just hope she doesn't join the fight once it's too late," he said, his eyes finding his Captain's form behind her office desk.

Amy offered a more optimistic view. "I think she's already joined it, Lieutenant," she said, her eyes on Sharon's office. "I mean," she turned to look at Provenza, "just take a look at this," she added, waving a hand at the murder board their current case was still prominently featured on.

Andy gave the board a thoughtful look. "She has been looking out for our sorry asses for years now, hasn't she?" he mumbled.

It drew a bit of a laugh out of all of them.

"Don't worry about it, Andy," Mike told him. "None of us, I think," he said, giving Amy and Provenza a quick look, "plan on turning our backs on her either." He smirked. "Even if we like Commander Mason."

Amy nodded enthusiastically. "Plus, we like the Captain more," she chipped in.

Mike confirmed her words with a shrug and Provenza rolled his eyes at her, while Andy turned in his chair and sighed, noting that Mason was heading for the door.

"Yeah, I know," he muttered, ending their little discussion as the Commander stepped out of Sharon's office.

Okay, I've not included the entire team, I know, but if I was to keep this at all plausible and have it fit the episode, I had to make a few compromises, I guess.