More Than Luck

By: Kadi

Rated: M

Chapter 3

Two days had passed since thoughts of adoption had been planted in Rusty's head. So far he had made no mention of it, but Sharon was aware that he had made two phone calls, possibly to Doctor Joe - at least she hoped so. She wasn't going to intrude on his thought process. He was giving it thought, that was enough for her, for now at least. There was still plenty of time for him to work it out. Sharon intended to give him enough space to do so. The only prodding that she had done was toward Buzz and Lieutenant Provenza, suggesting that Rusty might enjoy spending time with someone other than her and his police escort. The former had grumbled, as was his habit, and commented that he'd want to spend time with someone else too, but had announced the next day that he was taking Rusty out for burgers and a movie and she would just have to cancel whatever else she had planned.

Sharon had put on a good show, feigning the expected amount of annoyance and reluctantly agreeing that it was probably better that Rusty spend the evening with the old Lieutenant. As she left the murder room, she heard Sanchez snickering. "Sir, you got played."

All of which had taken place prior to Andy arriving for the day. His morning had been filled with errands, and a last minute bit of Christmas shopping. When he arrived Sanchez and Sykes were all too willing to fill him in on the morning's events. He chuckled while his partner glowered at his crossword, mumbling about Manipulative old witches. The familiar staccato of heels against tile drew his attention and he looked toward the sound.

Sharon strode toward them from the break room, a cup of tea in one hand, and reading something on her phone which was in the other. Andy had to grip the edge of his desk while his jaw clenched tightly shut. Either the dress was new or he was in more trouble than he ever imagined. Shorter than she usually wore, in that it didn't quite reach her knees. Cashmere if he had to guess, scoop neck with short, capped sleeves. Red. That deep shade of crimson that looked so good on her. His eyes tracked downward, along the visible length of leg to the tall, black heels she had paired with it and he almost groaned out loud.

"Gentlemen, Detective Sykes," she greeted as she walked past, glancing up only briefly. She smiled slightly, "Lieutenant Flynn, glad you could join us. You've all today to wrap up everything, no one leaves until the last report finds its way into my inbox." Major Crimes had accrued enough overtime with their last two cases that the previously cancelled Christmas vacation was back on. They would be shutting down at the end of the day Monday, December 23, and not returning until after the New Year. Barring, of course, any cases that the Chief felt couldn't be handled by Robbery Homicide. They had high hopes for the season. Taylor was out of town until at least the following weekend, and so that decision would be left up to the actual Chief, and not his erstwhile assistant.

"Any plans for the holiday, Captain?" Sykes leaned forward on her desk. Her smile only brightened when she heard Provenza's quiet huff. She truly enjoyed pushing his buttons, and his biggest button was her admiration of the Captain.

"Mm. Nothing specific," Sharon stated. She paused near the young detective's desk. "I promised Rusty that we wouldn't be on House arrest for the entire week. I don't know, we'll see. I'm sure I'll think of something." She turned and walked back to her office. Her phone had buzzed twice while she stood there, and she could feel the burn of Flynn's gaze. Sharon fought the smile as she stepped inside and secured the door. She reached up tugged on the blinds while she was at it. She sat her tea on the desk before swiping her thumb across her phone and opening the text.

Wicked, wicked witch.

Laughter bubbled out of her. Sharon shook her head and sat down. Her lips pressed together while she keyed her response. I'm sorry. Here I was thinking that with Rusty otherwise occupied later, we might discuss certain complicated topics.

You are killing me. He replied. Andy followed it quickly with a second text. Dinner?

Sharon sat back in her seat and considered her response. That was the response she wanted. She pursed her lips and exhaled slowly. She sent it before she could change her mind, and then put her phone away. It's a date.

"Oh for the love of god." Provenza saw Flynn's smile and tossed his crossword and pencil down. He shook his finger at Flynn but couldn't seem to get the words out. His face turned red and finally he threw both hands up and got up to stalk away from them. He knew quite well that there was only one thing that would have Flynn grinning like that. In the very long time that he had known his partner he had seen Flynn do some pretty ridiculous things, but this was without a doubt the most absurd thing he'd ever seen him do. It was like watching a train wreck in motion. He wasn't going to be able to stop it, but he'd be cleaning up the mess when it was all said and done.

Flynn shrugged at the others when they looked at him. "Grumpy strikes again?" He stood up. "I'll deal with it." He followed him to the break room. He walked in and flipped the lock on the door, It would keep them from being interrupted at the very least. He walked over and leaned against one of the counters where he remained silent while watching his partner and best friend slam things around. A mug, a package of coffee. The creamer. Flynn scratched his forehead and clasped his hands in front of him. He crossed his ankles and waited.

Provenza knew that he was there. He ground his teeth together and poured water into the pot. Then he slapped the glass carafe beneath the brewer. He turned around, glared at his partner. "Have you completely lost your mind? What is this, some sort of third midlife crisis and you have to drag the rest of us along with you? For crying out loud, Flynn, she's the Captain!" He gestured wildly. "Do you have any idea how badly this could go for both of you? What it could do to this division if it got out? Or if it blew up in your faces? And mark my word, it will blow up at some point. These things do not stay hidden. They usually leak out right when you least expect it and usually at the absolute worst moment. Have you forgotten the headache we went through with Gabriel and Daniels?"

Andy snorted. "I'm insulted you'd compare this to that. Look, I get that it is completely unlike you to be even remotely optimistic, but could you consider, even for a second, that it might not blow up in anyone's face? Although for the record, it isn't really anything right now."

"I think the word that you're looking for is yet," Provenza pointed a finger at him. "It isn't anything yet. I see where it's headed, we all see where it's headed, Flynn. We aren't blind. If the two of you were any more obvious you'd be on a billboard. Okay, putting aside for the moment the fact that she is your boss," he stated. "Let's try something a little more serious. Let's remind ourselves that she is, in fact, married. Or had that slipped both your minds? And my god, what could you possibly be thinking? This is Raydor. The walking rule book. Hall monitor extraordinaire. Did it never occur to you that maybe, just maybe, with everything that she has going on right now, that this," he waved a hand at Flynn, "maybe it's the last thing she needs? That just for the sake of conversation, that if she is actually considering breaking several very important rules in the book, that just maybe she's lost her damned mind! She's been under a lot of stress. Perhaps it has gone to her head."

"Why do you care?" Flynn snarked. "Get Sharon out of the way and you're back in charge. That is what you want, isn't it?" He pushed away from the counter, eyes dark, and angry energy coursing through him. It was a strain to keep his voice down, but he fought the urge to yell. "I'd think you'd be dancing at the opportunity to get her out of your way." Andy towered over him, his finger jabbed the air between them. "You're right, the word on the table is yet. We haven't done anything, yet. If or when we do, it won't be any of your business. It won't be anyone's business, and I think we're both old enough, and mature enough, that we can keep our personal lives out of the murder room." He let it go, it was easier than he thought to push the anger aside. Flynn leaned back against the counter and shrugged. "And just so we can get it on the record, she's about two seconds away from being divorced. Gavin is taking care of it for her."

Provenza's eyes narrowed. "Alright, she's getting divorced. One less rule to break. That's just one. What do you think is going to happen when Taylor gets wind of this little… situation of yours. He'll bounce you both out of here so fast you won't have time to think about who your union rep is, much less give him a call. Open your eyes. This isn't one of your little flings that you can play around with for a couple of months until you move on to the next one."

"You're right." Andy shrugged. "It isn't. I'm a lot of things, dumb isn't one of them. I wouldn't risk my job, or hers, or Rusty's placement on a fling. Since we're putting it all out on the table, let's just add that to it also. That's what's got you all worked up. If Taylor gets wind of anything, she's gone, and so is Rusty. You don't want to see that happen, because as much as you will never willingly admit it, you give a damn about what happens to both of them. But since we're on the subject of Taylor let's just sweep all the bullshit aside for once. You think any of this, that Raydor was his idea? He wants everyone to believe that, and so far they're all willing to go with it, but come on, Louie. He's not that smart. Slimy, yes, and a bigger snake we'll probably never meet, but in no universe anywhere does Taylor put Sharon in a position to be able to nip at the heels of his job. She's the Pope's insurance policy, but it serves Taylor well for everyone to think that she's his idea. He won't get rid of her over something like this, especially since he went on record supporting Gabriel and Daniels, since you felt the need to bring them up. I think her job is pretty safe."

"Hers is." Provenza folded his arms over his chest. "You make a fine argument, you've obviously been thinking about it for a while. You failed to point out one thing. Hers is safe, what about you? Let's say that Taylor can't touch her, that doesn't extend to you." His eyes narrowed. "Are you actually okay with that? Let's continue to pretend that you're not completely off your rocker, are you telling me that you're okay with losing your job for… what? For her?"

"Maybe." Flynn shrugged. "I don't know. We haven't really discussed it yet. I decided to classify that as a bridge I would cross when I got to it. I don't know what's going to happen, neither does she. And ya know, this is something I would have talked to you about when I knew I had something to talk about. So do me a favor, stop busting my ass, will you? We may not know exactly what we're doing but we know what we're not, and this is not exactly spur of the moment."

The older Lieutenant continued to glare for a moment, and then he looked utterly horrified. "You're actually serious about this one. You…" He pointed a finger at Flynn. "It's worse than I thought. You aren't chasing a skirt, you really like her. Oh my god!"

For his part, Flynn simply pursed his lips and tilted his head. "Well… yeah. That's the whole point. The weirdest part of it all is, she likes me too. Hell of a thing."

Provenza was nodding slowly. "That's what I thought. It's the stress. It got to her. A woman of her age, job like this, teenager at home. Nervous break down like that, it happens to the best of us."

Flynn rolled his eyes. "Nice. That's great. I'll remember that one, partner." He pushed away from the counter and walked over to pour himself a cup of coffee. "It's so good to know that when it comes down to it I can always count on you. Really, it is."

The old man huffed a sigh. "Oh alright. It's completely unnatural. I'm never going to understand it, and I still say it's a nightmare just waiting to happen… but… oh whatever. Just don't screw it up." He waved Flynn off and moved to fill his own cup.

"That is the one thing that I have no intention of ever doing, believe me. Not that she'd let me. I mean, come on…" He stopped at the door and unlocked it. He tossed a crooked grin back over his shoulder. "Have you met her? The lady won't tolerate me being an idiot."

Provenza snorted. Once he was alone again, he shook his head. "Therein lies the problem." It was trouble, the entire situation. Whether Flynn wanted to see it or not, the crash was looming ahead of them. "Damned fools," he muttered. He stirred creamer into his cup and let the spoon clatter against the counter. He would have to keep an eye on them. Make sure they didn't bite themselves in the ass, or the rest of the squad. If they were lucky he might just be able to head the coming disaster off at the pass. But optimism wasn't in his nature.