A/N- HOLY SHIT THAT WAS THE MOST PERFECT EPISODE IN THIS FOUR-SEASON HISTORY, WAS IT NOT? OH MY GOD AND THEY WERE FUCKING DRINKING SHANDY I CAN'T FUCKING EVEN. EVEN. LIKE, GAH. I MEAN, YES AWESOME THAT THEY ARE DRINKING BEER ON TV IN REASONABLE AMOUNTS (my inner RA is proud) PROPS TO THAT I LOVE THAT SHIT, BUT THE FACT THAT IT WAS SHANDY? MASSIVE FUCKING TROLLS, ALL OF THEM.

Okay. I'm good. But seriously, that was perfect. But wth is a 'Dodger dog'?

Sharon lead the charge up the stairs. Her condominium was only three floors below the roof, and she didn't see the point in taking the elevator when the stairs were just as fast. She pushed the roof-top door open and paused to let the rest of her team through. They were all there: Amy and Cooper, Buzz, Andy, Mike and Kathy Tao, Andrea.

"Where's Lieutenant Provenza?"

Andy glanced back at her. "Do you really have to ask that?"

She stared at him and raised her eyebrows.

"The elevator," he clarified.

She rolled her eyes. "Of course."

A flash in the sky caught her eye, and she turned to watch glittering sparks trickle through the sky.

"Willow." Andy leaned down to speak in her ear.

"What?"

"It's a willow type firework. That's what they're called when they have those sparkling branches. Like a weeping willow, get it?"

"Mmhmm." She glanced around. The team had dispersed slightly, to different vantage points on the roof. She leaned against his side and the cap slid down over her eyes. She was reaching to push it back up, but her fingers caught on something.

The cap was resettled on her head, and Andy moved his hand back down to her shoulder.

There was another bang, and a sphere of swirling colors lit the sky.

"Peony."

"How do you know all of these?"

"My brothers and I used to set them off during the summer. We never had enough money to buy the big ones, but we read all the labels and posters about them."

"Ahh." She smiled.

"That big one is a chrysanthemum and those ones on the side are called 'brocade.'" He bent slightly to her eye level so he could point them out. It was mostly- completely- unnecessary, but he told himself he wanted to make sure she knew what he meant.

"I like those ones."

He snorted as she snuggled closer. "Cold?"

"A little."

He was in his shirtsleeves. She was already wearing his jacket.

"Try snapping it up."

She snorted. "That's what you come up with?"

He grinned, even though he knew she couldn't see it. "What do you want me to say?"

"How about-"

"Come here," he laughed. He pulled her in front of him and wrapped both arms around her, pulling the jacket closed. "Better?"

She stiffened for a moment, and then he felt her slowly relax. "Yes."

They watched in silence for several minutes. The sky had started the night- miraculously enough- clear as glass, and now it was clouding over with thick swirls of smoke.

"Sorry there aren't any Dodger dogs."

"Eh, well, I'll just get an extra one next time I'm at a Dodger's game. Provenza will make sure that we get to the next one."

"Yeah?"

"Probably. He likes getting to as many of them as he can. We have this long-running debate about whether they play better when they're wearing the blue or-"

"Andy." She reached up and touched his shoulder. "What if I treat you to a dog at the next game?"

"Huh?" He looked down. "Wait- what? Are you- are you asking me to a game?"

He could feel her shrug. "Maybe."

"Sharon."

"Andy. Shut up and just accept that I will buy the food this time."

"This time?"

"Mmm?" She shifted, looking up. "What was that one?"

"A strobe. It's going to make a loud bang."

Sure enough, a few moments later, there was a thunderous boom, and she flinched against him. There was a long series of snaps and pops following it, one for each of the smaller explosions from the firework.

"This time?" he pressed.

"Well, I'm assuming your slightly old-fashioned sense of chivalry won't allow you to let a woman buy you food without repayment."

"Only you could make that sound so utterly practical."

She laughed. "That's why they hired me."

"Yeah, well. The Pope has a way of picking people."

"That he does." She was silent for a moment. "Let's leave him out of this, though."

"Please. I can feel my blood pressure rising just thinking about him."

Sharon laughed. "I'm sure we could get some Valium from our evidence. No one would know the difference, there's so much of it."

"Oh, God," he groaned.

"Andy?" Her voice was lower; he could barely hear it.

"Yeah?"

"Are we. . . are we a. . ." she paused as Rusty finally walked out onto the roof. The boy barely glanced their way before walking over to join Buzz. "Are we-"

"A thing?" he asked. "Dating? That's your call, Sharon. If you're up for it, then yes, I would love to, well, to try things out with you. I mean, we've been, hell, I don't know what to call it. Dinner, conventions-"

"The wedding."

"The Nutcracker, movies-"

"The charity convention."

"I mean, it's all but official, I guess, because you told Taylor, right?"

"Yes. It's protocol to inform my superior officer, even if we're not exactly-"

"Official." They said it at the same time, softly. The word floated into the night, and they were both silent, as though afraid to disturb the three syllables that seemed to echo around them.

"Dating," she finally muttered. "Mm. Well. . ."

His breath caught in his chest. There was a series of booms and multicolored flashes from above, but he didn't look up.

"Yes. Yes, I'd like that. Over the years, I've found that I'm not a loner." She seemed to be half talking to herself. "I like people, despite what the majority of the force seems to believe."

He wasn't entirely sure what she meant; her words seemed to have a double meaning. He chose to ignore it for now. Whatever- whoever- she had done in the past didn't really matter to him.

"Okay."

"Okay." She nodded. "Dating."

"Dating," he confirmed.

"Don't think this is going to mean I'm going to make dinner all the time or that we're immediately going to start h-"

"Sharon. I don't want you to change anything for me. I like you because you're you. You're not the kind of woman that can cook dinner every night. You have a kid, and he doesn't should be forced into new situations at breakneck speed. You shouldn't be forced into new situations at breakneck speed."

There was another boom.

"It does mean, however, that I can do this." He let his tone trail up at the end of the sentence, not quite a question, but not a demand, either.

She turned her face up. "What?"

He looked down at her. "This." He leaned in closer. "Is this okay?"

She pressed one hand up. "Wait. Is this okay for you?"

"What do you mean?"

"I've been drinking," she said. "The Shandy."

He raised his eyebrows in surprise. Most people didn't think about that. "I'm okay with it. It's not a trigger for me anymore. If I was doing it to taste the alcohol, or something like that, then yeah, that would be a problem. But I'm okay. How do you think I've put up with Provenza for all these years?"

She laughed. "Okay then. Kiss me."

"Yes, ma'am."

Rusty glanced over and gagged softly. Buzz laughed under his breath.

"That bad?"

"No, I guess not," Rusty said softly. He turned back to the fireworks. "I mean, yeah, weird that my mom is kiss-"

"What?!" Buzz hissed. "She's-"

"Yeah."

"Huh." Buzz looked back to the fireworks over Dodger's Stadium. "Well, we did promise you fireworks. Happy Independence Day, Rusty."

"Happy Fourth, Buzz."

A/N- I looked up 'Dodger dogs.' They're ten-inch hot dogs in regular-size buns with all the toppings, I think. Also, I felt an actual use of the 'd-word' was needed. I also hope you enjoyed the BSG and Independence Day references that slipped in (;