Everything We Are - Chapter 4

by Kadi

Rated: M

Disclaimer: It's not my sandbox, I'm only visiting for a time.

On the way home, Sharon spoke to Rusty. Her boy freaked out a bit to learn that they had been trapped, alone, for hours without anyone knowing where they were. Once she calmed him down, she also managed to convince him that he didn't need to drive over to their house for the night. She would rather he stay home, where he was safe. They stopped on their way home and picked up an early dinner, which Sharon carried inside while Andy managed Ian, who had fallen asleep in the car.

They let him sleep while dinner was served, and then their cranky boy was awakened to eat. He wasn't a happy camper, but they kept him awake for another few hours, at least so that he wouldn't be keeping them awake all hours of the night. By the time they finally arrived, bath and bedtime could not have come early enough.

After he finally got him down for the night, Andy trudged tiredly across the hall to the bedroom he shared with his wife. He found her seated on the chaise in the corner of the room, dressed in only her bathroom, smoothing lotion onto her legs. Andy dropped the small, plastic plane that he still carried onto the dresser and shook his head. "Really? He spoils the kid more than we do."

Sharon chuckled quietly. "It could be worse," she reminded him.

Not the least bit convinced of that, Andy arched a brow at her. "How so?"

"One or both of us could have been transferred or retired when this farce began," she drawled with a smirk. "Most likely you," she added, eyes dancing with mischief.

His eyes narrowed. "Me?" Andy strolled slowly toward her. "How do you figure?"

The corner of Sharon's mouth twitched toward a wide grin. "Well, as you have pointed out so many times, honey… I didn't climb on top of myself and get pregnant."

"Hm," Andy hummed thoughtfully. "Yes, I see. Thing is," he pointed at her. "I was just following my captain's orders. What am I supposed to do when you're coming onto me so strongly?"

Eyes wide, she laughed incredulously. "Andy!" Sharon shook her head at him. "You are horrible."

"Yeah," He smirked. "But you seduced me anyway." Andy rolled his shoulders and walked over. "Scoot," he tapped her shoulder with the back of his hand until she slid forward on the chaise. He swung his leg over, straddling it, and sank down behind her. His hands moved to her shoulders, where he pushed her robe aside and lifted her hair over her shoulder. He could feel the tension knotting her muscles as he began to slowly, gently, rub her shoulders. She was tighter than usual, and he knew her body was stiff from their little adventure, just as his was. "Let me see that," he stopped for the moment and slipped his arms around her, his palms moved over hers, capturing the lotion she had just squeezed onto her hands. Andy leaned back for a moment and rubbed his hands together before he began the massage again.

A low groan rumbled in her throat. It felt so good that it hurt, but she wasn't about to stop him. "Right—" She stopped, he found the knot in her left shoulder before she could direct him, but then he usually did.

"Better?" A small smile curved his lips.

"Mmhm." Her head bowed. He continued to work the same knot until she whimpered quietly as it began to ease and release. "Oh god."

"You can call me whatever makes you happy, sweetheart," Andy grinned, then winced sympathetically when he found another deep, tight knot. With this one, her back arched and her head tilted to the side. Her sharply indrawn breath told him he'd hit just the right spot. "You are all wound up, aren't you?"

"Hm," she curled her legs beneath her and leaned forward, giving him better access to her back. "I wonder why?"

"Hey, I haven't been anywhere with Provenza in over a week," Andy teased. "You can't blame anything on me."

Sharon chuckled. "Who said I was blaming you?"

"Oh," His hands continued to work her back and shoulders. "In that case, carry on then, Captain."

"Nuh uh," she grunted in the negative. "She's not here. Left her in Taylor's office."

Andy snickered quietly. "Poor Taylor…" He grunted when her elbow connected with his stomach. "Hey, ouch. You hurt me, I stop."

"You stop when I tell you to," she drawled playfully.

He heaved a sigh full of feigned exasperation. "I cannot believe I married such bossy witch."

"You seduced me pal," Sharon smirked, eyes still closed. "I was perfectly content to continue—" She trailed off with a squeal when his hand dug into her side. Her eyes narrowed and she shot a glare at him over her shoulder.

"Yeah, see," Andy shook his head. "That used to do something." He waggled his brows at her. "I've got you all figured out now." When her brow arched, he nodded. "Yep."

Her lips pursed while she considered it. Sharon sniffed, just once, and stood up. She lifted her chin and walked regally toward the bed. She said nothing as she began turning back the linens and tossing the extra pillows. If one of them happened to be aimed at his head, well, he would just need to duck.

Andy laughed as he dodged it. He stood up and walked into the bathroom to take his turn at getting ready for bed. When he returned, she was already in bed and facing the wall. Andy slid in alongside her and curled an arm around her waist. She didn't resist when he drug her back against him. "Okay," he rumbled against her ear. "You still scare me a little bit."

Sharon chuckled quietly. She drew her bottom lip between her teeth and curled her legs to tangle with his. His gasp told her that yes, her feet were cold. She smiled happily as she tucked them between his calves and wriggled closer. "You're forgiven," she said, magnanimously.

"Yeah, thanks." He rolled his eyes. "Socks, Sharon, ever heard of them?" His lips brushed the back of her shoulder before he settled against her.

"Hm, you mean those bright, colorful things you keep buying me?" She wrapped her hand around his and drew it up, between her breasts. "My feet like you better." At his grunt, she simply smiled.

"How is the hip?" He asked, remembering the vivid, purple bruise.

"Sore," she said simply. Normally she would have curled against his chest, but it ached too much to lay on. "I'm sure it will feel even more wonderful in the morning, but the bath helped."

"Good." He turned his face into her hair.

His lips moved against her ear and her hand tightened around his. "I love you too," she murmured, and let sleep pull her under.

Andy couldn't say how long he slept. When he woke, it was still dark out, but he was alone in the bed. He rolled onto his back and lay still in the bed, listening. He didn't hear anything, and a glance at the bathroom showed the door open and the light off. Rising, he ran a hand over his face and made his way out into the hall. The gate at the top of the stairs was open, and he knew Sharon would never leave it. Upon reaching the stairs, he noted the bottom gate was closed and realized she would have taken Ian downstairs if he was being difficult.

Andy started down the stairs with a yawn. As he neared the midway point, he could see into the living room. He spied his wife, laying on the sofa. The television was on, with a child's movie playing quietly. Andy stepped through the baby gate at the bottom of the stairs and secured it. When he rounded the sofa, he wasn't surprised to see Ian laying against her chest, head against her shoulder. He had his fingers in his mouth, a habit that Sharon was still trying to break. What concerned him was the warm compress that she had pressed against his ear. He leaned over the back of the sofa, arms resting against the top of the cushions. "Another one?"

Sharon glanced up from where she lay, holding the compress with one hand, gently stroking her son's back with the other. "Yes," she said quietly. With the hand that held the compress, her thumb gently brushed her son's brow. "Explains his mood yesterday. He wasn't feeling great." His little body was like an oven against her, but the fever wasn't too high. Ear infections, painful and unfortunate, and so horrible for the little ones. "I'll call Doctor Headly's office in the morning," she said, speaking of the Pediatrician.

"Want me to take him for a while?" Andy reached down and rubbed his back. When Ian seemed to understand and burrowed closer to his mother with a whimper, he chuckled. "Or not. Wants mom when he feels bad, can't say I blame him."

She simply shrugged at him and pressed her lips against the top of her son's head. "We'll be okay here. Go back to bed." It wasn't Ian's first ear infection, and she was sure it wouldn't be the last. She had gone through this with Charlotte.

"Sure?" With Sharon, if she told him to go back to bed, he knew that she meant it. They'd both had a hell of a day though, and he didn't like leaving her alone with a sick baby. His ex-wife on the other hand, would have sent him to bed, then gotten mad because he went. It was just another way in which they differed. She didn't play ridiculous head games.

"Yes." Sharon touched his arm, briefly. "One of us needs to be coherent in the morning," she drawled tiredly. "We're okay here, really. I think we're just going to finish this up, and then maybe see if we feel like sleeping some more," she said, speaking more to the toddler in her arms. "What you can do," Sharon lifted her gaze to Andy again, "is get me another of these," she indicated the compress which had already started growing too cool to be of any help.

"You got it." Andy took the compress from her, and leaned further over the back of the sofa to drop a light kiss to her mouth.

Sharon combed her fingers through Ian's hair while they waited for him to return. When he did, and knelt beside the sofa, she chuckled quietly at his popping knees. "I'm not going to be able to get you up from there," she teased.

Andy groaned. "We're getting too old for this." He handed over the compress and let her test it before it was placed against the boy's ear.

"Getting?" Sharon snickered. "Honey, we were too old for this before it started. You might remember a little conversation we had about age…" And things that weren't supposed to happen, such as getting pregnant in their fifties. Utterly ridiculous and completely laughable this farce that was their life, but given the choice, they wouldn't give it back either. No matter how often she wondered if their son deserved better, more.

"Hm." He grunted at her. Andy rose, knees creaking, and grimaced. It had definitely been a hell of a day, but he was already old and stiff. Getting tossed around by collapsing stairwells had just made it worse. "Don't listen to mom pal," he tapped his son's nose. "She gets a little loopy when she's tired. We're not old. It's all in her head."

"Mmhm." Her shoulders shook with silent laughter. "And my back, my knees, my neck, your—"

"Yeah, yeah," he bent and kissed her again. "I don't need a rundown of everything that aches, pops, creaks, and doesn't bend the way it's supposed to anymore. I've got a pretty up close and personal accounting of it all." He pressed a kiss to Ian's forehead as well before straightening. "Try to get some rest. Night old woman."

Her eyes narrowed, although they glittered in amusement. Sharon shook her head at him as he headed toward the stairs. "I thought I didn't look a day over twenty-five?"

"I'm taking it back," Andy drawled. "Beleaguered husband's prerogative."

"Oh!" Sharon's eyes lit. She giggled quietly. "Big words. You stole Provenza's crossword again didn't you?"

"Not telling." Andy secured the baby gate behind him and started up the stairs. "I can't give away all my secrets. Once the mystery goes, so too does the romance."

"Romance?" Sharon snorted. "You're cute."

"Thin ice baby," he warned, a note of amusement in his tone. "Thin ice."

Sharon giggled quietly again and lay her cheek against the top of her son's head. "When you get ready to talk to girls," she said quietly, "we'll sit you down with Uncle Julio."

"Heard that." Andy leaned over the banister to glare at her. "Really?"

Her lips pressed into a thin, curved line. With her eyes glittering playfully, she shrugged at him. "Not Julio?"

"Just keep talkin' Sharon." Andy shook his head at her. Ian was looking up at him too. He twirled his finger beside his temple. "Loopy," he told his son.

She waited for him to draw away and start up the stairs again. "Okay fine," she said. "You can talk to your Uncle Russ—"

"Sharon."

She laughed at the plaintive sound of her husband's voice. "Goodnight, Andy." Ian just looked up at her, bewildered by their behavior. She winked at him and he smiled. "Can you say goodnight?"

"Night Daddy," he called, in a much smaller voice.

"Thank you baby," she drew the throw blanket back up around him and settled back, getting comfortable again.

The toddler wriggled closer. He tucked his head under her chin and sighed. "Mama ow."

He was beginning to whine again. Sharon reached for her watch, which lay on the end table behind her head. She squinted at it without her glasses. He had another hour before she could give him anymore medicine. "I know, honey." She went back to rubbing his back and combing the fingers of the hand which held the compress through his hair. Her body ached, but she rocked him gently anyway. Her head was pounding, but she forced her eyes to remain open. It was, she knew, going to be a long night.

The next time Andy woke it was with the alarm, and he wasn't surprised to find the bed empty. He crept down the stairs, quietly this time, as the lower level was dark. He eased into the living room and glanced over the side of the sofa. They were both asleep, Sharon with her back pressed against the sofa cushions and Ian curled against her. Andy drew the blanket over both of them before he eased into the kitchen to start the coffee brewing.

He moved as silently as possible, not wanting to wake her. When his phone began to buzz, he rolled his eyes. It was from his partner, naturally. Andy stepped out onto the back deck with it, to keep from waking his wife or son. "What?"

"Why are you whispering," Provenza groused.

"Because Sharon and Ian are sleep on the sofa. He's sick and she's been up with him all night. Why are you being such a grouch?" Andy fired back, it was second nature by now.

"Because I haven't had my breakfast yet, and our witness suddenly remembered something he needs to tell us. It just can't wait another minute," he drawled sarcastically.

"Yeah?" Andy rolled his eyes. "So go find out what he wants. You don't need me to hold your hand."

"Ah, ah," Provenza smirked. "You just, pretty much, called in for the wife. That means, I'm in charge. Go find out what the bozo with the temper wants, I'm going to eat my breakfast."

"Seriously?" Andy looked skyward and asked for patience. "Yeah, fine. I'll talk to the idiot. Tell you what, when I get done, you and I—" he trailed off at the loud crunching in his ear.

"Sorry," Provenza mumbled. "My bacon's getting cold. Talk to you soon!"

Andy pulled his phone away from his ear and stared at it. "That grouchy old ass just hung up on me." He shook his head and walked back inside. He would get even, eventually. He reflected that maybe it was time to turn Ian loose with Uncle Louie's desk again… with some watercolors. Finger painting was fun for toddlers, wasn't it?

Andy smirked all the way back inside. He waited for the coffee to finish brewing and then poured a cup before taking it upstairs and sliding into the shower. He managed to shower, dress, and make his way back downstairs all without Sharon or Ian even moving. He hated to wake her, but leaned over the sofa anyway. His lips were gentle against her cheek, and then her ear. "Going in to the office. Love you."

"Mmhm," she hummed quietly and nodded. "Okay, love you," she murmured, eyes fluttering, but never opening.

He chuckled quietly. Andy drew away and sent a text to her phone, since he doubted she would remember. He ran a hand over Ian's forehead, happy to see that he felt much cooler to the touch. There was just something about nighttime and sick kids, he thought. Damned odd, but something just the same. He lingered only a moment longer before he forced himself to leave.

A few hours later, Andy looked up from the notes he was typing up on the case at the familiar staccato of heels entering the murder room. He glanced over, somewhat surprised to see Sharon striding into the room. Aside from the barely there bruising and the small cut on her cheek, he could hardly tell that anything at all was out of the ordinary. She certainly didn't look as though they'd been trapped in a semi-collapsed building just a day previously, nor did she appear to have been up all night with a sick kid. He was on his third cup of coffee. How she did it, he'd never know. There were times when he wondered what she even was.

"I wasn't expecting to see you," he said, only mildly disappointed that she was in pants rather than a skirt. "How's the kid?"

"Better," she assured him. "It's what we thought. Rusty is with him." She paused beside his desk with a smile. "Is there some reason that you thought I shouldn't be here, Lieutenant?"

The gleam in her eyes had him leaning toward her slightly, head tilted. "I can't think of any, Captain."

"Yee-gods," Provenza groaned. "Could the two of you do that somewhere else?" After more than two years, they were still trying to flirt without looking like they were flirting… and still failing abysmally. "There are people here who are actually trying to work!"

Sharon blinked slowly. She smiled serenely at him. "Yes, I see that." Her lips pursed for just a moment and then she turned slightly. "My apologies, Lieutenant Tao." With a gleeful smirk, Sharon strode into her office, making obvious he was the only one there she believed to be doing any work at all… given Sanchez and Sykes were no where to be found, and she didn't see Buzz either.

Andy frowned after her. "Hey, I was working."

From where she was storing her purse n her desk, Sharon glanced at him. Her brow arched. She tilted her head at him, looking rather unconvinced. "Of course you were," she drawled.

"I was." Andy scowled. "Until you distracted me."

At his desk, Provenza grunted. "First the flirting, then the squabbling, next thing we know there's foreplay and someone around here is changing diapers again." He slapped his crossword against his desk and bent over it.

Andy rolled his eyes before leaning back in his chair. He stretched his long legs out in front of him, beneath the desk, and crossed them at the ankles. "What's the matter, Partner. Jealous?"

His face screwed up in disgust. "God no." Provenza shuddered. "She would be so lucky."

His partner snorted. He was fairly certain that would be the other way around. Andy shook his head. "You know, if you did more working and less eavesdropping, you wouldn't have to hear the flirting, the squabbling, or any of the rest of it," he pointed out.

Provenza smirked. Here came the opening he'd been hoping for. He fixed his partner with his narrow-eyed, gleeful expression. "Ah, but if you had done a little more working and a little less flirting, you wouldn't be looking at another sixteen years of sleepless nights, expensive toys, and a nagging wife."

Andy looked away and shook his head again. Here they went. He could almost quote the lecture when it began. "I told you not to do it," he in toned, under his breath, even as his partner began. "You never listen to me, if you had listened to me, you could be enjoying your golden years looking at gorgeous blondes, and instead, here you are…" Andy rolled his eyes. "You're tied down with a wife, with a kid, and to make it all worse, it had to be your boss. Not just your boss, my boss too!"

From where he sat, Tao bowed his head and laughed quietly. He cast a look at the two of them and shook his head. This was an almost weekly occurrence. "The financial report is in," He said, amusement tingeing his voice. "We can place Matthews within a mile of the producer hours before we think he was killed."

It was enough to draw the Lieutenant's attention back. Provenza scowled. "LAFD is letting us into the apartment building today," he said, when the Captain reappeared. "We got a warrant to search it. No evidence at the dumpsite, but maybe our temper tantrum having actor friend didn't get rid of everything. Sykes and Sanchez are there now with Buzz and SID."

Her brow arched, "And the two of you are…" She trailed off, gesturing between the pair of them.

Andy swiveled in his chair. "Mike and I did the interview this morning, then we went down and spoke to Morales. I was putting the report together for you, ma'am." Because he knew it would irritate his partner to no end, he tossed in a crooked, flirty grin.

Sharon's eyes narrowed, just slightly and she gave a barely there shake of her head. Behave, she thought. "Anything new on that end," she asked, turning her attention to Mike.

"Unfortunately not, Captain." He turned his chair toward her. "I can put our guy near the victim, but I cannot put our guy with the victim. In the meantime, Doctor Morales pulled the SID report on the particulates and evidence found on the body and nothing was specific to the suspect. No hairs, prints, or DNA."

"No, because that would be easy," Andy groused.

"If it were easy, we wouldn't be here gentlemen," Sharon nodded. "Keep me updated. I have an incident report to complete," she rolled her eyes and turned back toward her office. She needed to write up the exact accounting of how she and Lieutenant Flynn had come to be trapped in the apartment building.

"Incident report, really?" Provenza smirked. "Sounds like a PSB requirement. I wonder where in the world that rule came from."

Sharon glanced back at him. A crooked grin lifted the corner of her mouth. "Lieutenant, I appreciate that you believe that I am all knowing and all powerful, but there are some things which were in place long before I ever came along."

Andy snickered when she turned away, hair swishing behind her and almost flounced into her office. "In other words, put a sock in it, yeah?"

"Yeah, well I would," he grumbled, attention going back to his crossword. "But they're all in the break room so that you never don't have one when you want to toss one onto the doorknob and make out with the little woman."

Mike rolled his eyes. He should have gone with Julio. "Oy," he said, and turned back to his computer.

When Amy and Julio returned, with evidence from the apartment, they found out that the earthquake wasn't quite so much of an imposition after all. Thanks to being tossed out of his place, their suspect had not had time to get rid of all the evidence, and they'd found what they believed was the murder weapon. It was being sent to Morales for testing. In the meantime, their suspect was officially being held for formal questioning, and had been read his rights.

They could wait until they had the results from Morales to question him again, so Sharon sent the team home for the night. After grabbing his keys and his phone, Andy poked his head into her office. "Dinner?"

Sharon looked up from the reports she needed to finish before leaving. Her nose wrinkled. "We had takeout last night, and the night before that, and…" She trailed off with a warm smile. "It would be nice if we actually used the kitchen from time to time."

Andy leaned against open door and grinned. "Yeah, I hear ya." He reached up and scratched his thumb across his forehead. "I'm not sure what we've got. Tell you what, I'll swing into the market and grab something. Are you going to be long?" His brow arched, his head tilted.

She smiled again. It was that concerned and curious expression he got sometimes, when she worked later than he would prefer. "Not too much longer." Sharon considered the paperwork on her desk. "Half an hour maybe? I won't be too far behind you," she promised.

"Good." He tapped his knuckles against the door frame and straightened. "Any preferences?"

"No." There was affection in her gaze before she let it drop to her paperwork again. "I'll see you soon."

"See that you do." He winked before he turned.

Sharon glanced up and watched him make his way out of the Murder Room with a smile. After another moment, she shook her head and went back to work. That man… She never meant to fall in love with him. Considering their professional history, she never meant to actually like him, if she was honest about it. He just kept throwing curve balls at her, and she just kept wanting to swing at them. It was a bit odd how she couldn't quite reconcile how lonely she was before he and Rusty came along. She wished they could have had this years ago, but it was their lives which had shaped them into the people that meshed so well today. Still, starting over again, at their age… married and raising a child. They were meant to be raising their grandchildren together. It was ludicrous, inconvenient, and yet strangely wonderful. Even now, when she was so tired that the ends of her hair ached, she loved him more than she ever thought possible. Sharon didn't honestly believe she would be able to face the changes they'd experienced with anyone else. Somehow, despite the lunacy of it all, or maybe in spite of it… it was working.

Damned if that wasn't the craziest part of all of it!