Glancing apprehensively at her reflection, Sharon fiddles with her hair, flicking it over her shoulder before deciding that she prefers it when it curls slightly around her neck. Arranging it just so, she glances into the mirror, taking in the sight of Andy laughing at how fastidious she is about her appearance. While he enjoys the effort she puts in to each ensemble, he can also recognise how beautiful Sharon looks naturally – and loves her all the more for the care she takes with her appearance.
"Are you just going to sit there all day, or are you going to finish getting ready?"
"I don't know, I mean, I've got a pretty good view from where I am," chuckles Andy as he leers suggestively at her ass, clad in a high-waisted black pencil skirt. Waggling his eyebrows teasingly, Andy grins at the expression of mock-scolding that crosses Sharon's features.
"Get in the shower," she commands quietly, giggling at his consternation and somewhat ruining the effect of her stern features.
"Will you be joining me?" asks Andy seductively.
"You're old enough to get ready by yourself, aren't you?" teases Sharon, her eyebrows disappearing into her hairline at Andy's mock-pout.
"Is this how you respond to a compliment?" he blusters.
"You bet it is," she chuckles fondly, crossing the room to peck him lightly on the lips, "Now go! We can't afford to be late today – I've scheduled a meeting with HR and with Taylor."
"Are you sure you want to do this today, Sharon? It's your first day back." Andy's tone is considerate as he regards Sharon, still fussing fastidiously with the way her hair sits above her collar.
"Absolutely. I want this resolved as quickly as humanly possible so that I can continue enjoying your company without worrying about work," smiles Sharon, decisively pinning half of her hair up and away from her face.
"Sounds like a plan," mutters Andy, slinking away to the bathroom to shower before Sharon can tell him to do so again.
Smiling at the sound of the water turning on, Sharon fiddles with her blouse, smoothing away non-existent wrinkles as she worries slightly about the possible outcome of their discussion with HR. In reality, she's more than aware of the different ways this might play out, but now that's she's resolved herself to declaring the relationship, she's determined to see it through. Sighing warily, Sharon combs through her locks with her fingertips, snorting softly at the sound of Andy's murmured singing in the shower. She considers what her life had been like without Andy's constant presence – thinks about what might have happened had she not called Andy the day after they'd woken up on the sofa together – and thinks that she made the right decision. Smiling gently at the realisation that their relationship has progressed to such an extent that she can't imagine not having him in her life, Sharon gathers her resolve; the conversation will happen today, and she and Andy will deal with the consequences as they come. Above all else, they will remain together.
Sitting quietly beside one another in the car, Andy reaches over the centre console and links his hand with Sharon's, briefly lifting it to press a kiss to her knuckles. Her lips quirk upwards in a movement that is barely noticeable, yet familiar to those who know her. Andy counts himself among the lucky few who truly know her, and is thankful for it. He mulls their relationship over in his mind, and realises that he isn't concerned at all about the discussion he and Sharon are going to have to suffer through with HR. If anything, he's relieved; once they speak to HR, they will be able to progress even further in their relationship without the concern of work. Still, something niggles in the back of his mind, and he takes his time before choosing the right words to frame his request to Sharon.
"Sharon," he begins, clearing his throat softly.
She hums in reply – a noise that he now knows means I'm listening.
"I think I should tell Provenza about us before we speak to HR," he says softly, "but I wanted to run it by you first."
"He's your best friend, Andy, why would I say no?" responds Sharon, touched that he had thought to ask her.
"I don't know – you might've wanted to tell the team later and all together, or something," grins Andy, "y'know – to see their reactions?"
Chuckling at the implication of Andy's words, Sharon shakes her head slightly, "I'm sure you wouldn't mind handling that honour yourself."
Laughing outright at Sharon's coyness, Andy lifts her hand to his lips again, smiling against her soft skin as he glances quickly at her grinning face before returning his attention to the road.
"And who gets the supreme delight of informing Taylor?" asks Andy quietly, attempting to keep his tone teasing.
"I thought we'd do that together," replies Sharon equally seriously, "though I'm sure he probably already has some inkling, if he's still as plugged in to office gossip as he used to be."
"I think having his own office may be an impediment to his nosiness," points out Andy, chuckling at the memory of Taylor's snooping, back when his 'office' had been a cubicle beside the murder room.
"Much to our detriment," muses Sharon, "if he were still in his little cubicle, we wouldn't have to inform him – just confirm the rumours."
Shaking his head and grinning with mirth, Andy's eyes soften when he feels Sharon's grip tighten slightly on his hand.
"Do you think they'll notice that we purposely coordinated our wardrobes this morning?" laughs Sharon.
"I didn't think they would last time, but I still had Provenza sniffing around for a while afterwards," snorts Andy.
"Did you? You never told me that!" giggles Sharon.
"I didn't want to freak you out," laughs Andy, "you were already so worried that the team might guess we were dating that I didn't want to spook you."
"How considerate of you," replies Sharon sarcastically.
"In any case, you ended up being completely out of sync with me later that day, so I don't think the colour coordination helped us much," teases Andy.
"Of course! That's the day I was shot, wasn't it?" laughs Sharon.
"To be honest, by the end of that day, I don't think anyone was particularly concerned with our wardrobe choices," chuckles Andy darkly, "or at least, I wasn't."
Smiling at his honesty about his concern for her, Sharon's eyes soften as she turns to gaze at Andy.
"Do you think anyone else noticed?"
"Sharon, we work with trained law enforcement – I'm pretty sure they all noticed I just don't think they all made the same inferential leap as Provenza did," chuckles Andy.
Her concerns slightly abated, Sharon snickers at the thought that Provenza has probably had an office pool running about their relationship since that day (if not before, as she recalls the incident with Andy's daughter). They continue the drive to work in companionable silence, comfortable as long as they are together.
Upon arriving, Sharon strides into the murder room ahead of Andy, expecting to find it empty as usual for the hour. Instead, she is greeted by cries of welcome from her team as they ask her how she's doing as though they hadn't been checking in on her every week (at least). Andy takes advantage of the commotion and signals to Provenza to follow him to the elevator banks. Provenza does not seem surprised by Andy's actions, and acquiesces easily – the two manage to slip away unnoticed by all except Sharon.
Out in the corridor, Provenza's the first to break the silence, gruffly and without preamble, as usual.
"So, what do you want, Flynn?"
"I – Well, Sharon -"
"Hold up there, lover boy. As she's now back at work, I might remind you that she's Captain Raydor, to you," interrupts Provenza, a teasing lilt entering his voice.
"Actually, she's Sharon – what do you meanby lover boy?"
"Just that, don't think we hadn't noticed how you seemed to be there every time someone from the team checked in with the Captain during her leave."
Dumbfounded that Provenza's somehow managed to steal his thunder, Flynn deflates slightly before nodding. "Well, I guess you caught us. Sharon and I are together – have been for a while, now."
It's Provenza's turn to look shocked, and Andy is momentarily confused as to why. Shit. Provenza had been teasing him – he hadn't expected that – shit. "Uh well, listen, I mean – you'd sorta guessed it, right?"
"Guessed it, Flynn? Any person with eyes could've guessed it. But to drop it on me like that – what the hell've you gotten yourself into, Flynn?"
"Look, I know it's a surprise," Andy begins, but backtracks at the murderous look that crosses Provenza's features, "or maybe not. But anyway, things are going well for us. I mean, we're thinking about moving in together-"
"And the kid?" interrupts Provenza.
At the mention of Rusty (and Provenza's concern for him) Andy's expression softens, "he knows – and supports us."
"Then I guess you've got it all figured out," mutters Provenza gruffly. "You told Taylor yet?"
"We're going to do that this morning," replies Andy uneasily, and for the first time that morning, Provenza smiles, a glint of mischief entering his eyes.
"Don't be surprised if he's as unsurprised as I was, Flynn. Man's head might be up his own ass most of the time, but he's still pretty aware of the goings on of this department."
"Good to know, old man," teases Andy, laughing at the scowl that crosses his friend's face. "We'd better get back in there – don't want the team to get suspicious."
"Because they aren't already?" grumbles Provenza sarcastically.
Gritting his teeth in half-exasperation, Andy leads Provenza back to the murder room before entering Sharon's office.
"Are you ready to go?" asks Andy, breaking the silence in the office and startling Sharon from her thoughts.
"As I'll ever be," smiles Sharon mirthlessly, her hands clasped and twisting in a rare show of nerves before she shoves them unceremoniously into her blazer pockets.
"Well, Provenza knows – but I'll tell you about that later – so the rest of the team'll probably know soon," Andy informs her conversationally, attempting to keep her mood light as they leave her office together. Professional as always, they walk side-by-side but with a good distance between them, despite Andy's desire to clutch Sharon close to him; to reassure her that, whatever happens, they can still be happy together.
The walk to HR seems to take forever, and Andy feels almost stiff from the effort it has taken him not to touch Sharon at all during that time. In reality, he's well aware that Sharon would probably mandate strictly professional behaviour from him, and he has no urge to resist that. But today, on her first day back, he wants nothing more than to be comforting to her – especially considering the stressful situation they're about to be in.
Knocking quietly on the door of the Officer in Charge, Sharon sits back on her heels and awaits the call to enter. Instead, the door is opened by the officer herself, who smiles briefly at Sharon as she recognises the former FID Captain.
"Captain, what can I do for you today?" she asks, her tone genial.
"Lieutenant Flynn and I have come to officially declare our relationship to the LAPD," responds Captain Raydor, her professional façade in place.
"Excellent, and congratulations," responds the officer, "which one of you will be transferring out of Major Crimes?"
At Sharon's downcast look, Andy takes over, "we were hoping that neither of us would have to, unless mandated by the LAPD."
"Well, technically, one or both of you should be reassigned to avoid breaches in the LAPD code of conduct that are associated with nepotism and preferential treatment," states the officer bluntly.
"But there have been instances when this practice has been changed," replies Captain Raydor, aware from her experience in FID that this is true.
"Rarities, yes. However, as you're aware, they did not all succeed."
"Surely, then, it would be fair to allow us to show you that our relationship will have no adverse effects on our work?"
The officer considers it briefly, her eyes narrowing as she realises that Rulebook Raydor is attempting to bend the rules in her favour. Or perhaps bend is the wrong word, merely exploit a loophole in the regulation's writing. Chuckling inwardly, the officer returns her attention to Lieutenant Flynn's somewhat nervous features and Captain Raydor's steely, resolute eyes.
"Fine," she does her best to sound displeased, but she can tell that she'll probably have no trouble with this couple, "An officer will be assigned to Major Crimes for a probationary period of one month to observe your conduct. If, after that month, no infarctions are reported, then you'll both remain a part of Major Crimes. However, if my officer reports any misconduct, then you'll both have to come back here and we can discuss your options together."
Nodding in agreement, Sharon stands and offers her hand to the officer, "Thank you for your time – I assure you, our conduct will be the epitome of professional."
Shaking Sharon's hand lightly as she attempts to stifle her laughter, the officer turns seriously to Flynn and remarks, "you'll be keeping him on the straight and narrow, then?"
Andy wants to be indignant, but is well aware that he lost that right when the size of his Professional Standards folder surpassed that of an actual folder. Instead, he smiles mirthlessly and allows himself to be pushed out of the office by Sharon as she throws half-serious assurances over her shoulder.
"Well, that went…better than I'd anticipated," smiles Sharon, relief flooding her features after they'd walked a few paces down the corridor.
"That's because you've got a good reputation," laughs Andy.
"Now if only you'd been better in your younger days," teases Sharon.
"Hey! We've been given the chance, haven't we? Obviously I didn't do too badly," smirks Andy.
"No, I daresay you didn't."
"So, Taylor, now?" asks Andy as they step down the corridor towards the elevator banks.
"Taylor." Sharon nods, her expression far less anxious than it had been before.
Hey guys! Sorry the update's so very tardy - I've been studying for finals -.-'. I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed the last chapter: OldFashionedGrl, AmorTv90, gingersnapped907, Guest, Deb57, ProfTweety, EvilRegalShandyLvr21 and CapricaM1983 - I really appreciate the feedback. Also, incredibly, I've made it to 105 reviews - and I honestly hadn't expected to get that many ever. So thank you so, so much for your continued support!