Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Really!

While You're Making Other Plans – Special Fangirl Edition

By Miss Shannon and Glistening Sun

Chapter 30

While Andy watched the sun slowly set over the ocean her breaths were becoming more regular and her body was becoming heavy with sleep. He gently ran his hand over her stomach, careful not to wake their son who had been kicking her all afternoon. He could tell that being pregnant was hard on her now. She had tried to cover it well over the holidays and even during the move, but today she had spent all day curled up in his arms, dozing whenever the Little Peach would allow it. He pulled her favourite blanket up so it rested around her shoulders and closed his eyes. She was right in getting all the rest she could now – in a few weeks they would have a newborn and if his memory served him right, there wouldn't be much time for anything else then.

He silently cursed his phone when it rang. Trying to reach for it and pick it up before it woke her while at the same time trying not to jostle her proofed to be an impossible task. In the end, he nearly dropped the phone and Sharon was stirring and groaning. Dammit!

Sharon found herself roughly jostled awake. Too tired to move from Andy and mindful not to wake her sleeping baby, she snuggled back into his embrace once he had picked up the phone and pulled the blanket over her head. She would just lie here and wait it out, Andy couldn't be on the phone forever and with any luck, her little football player would behave. Half asleep she listened to the familiar deep voice without paying too much attention. Something about a case, but it sounded like one of Taylor's political decisions more than a real case for Major Crimes. She sighed content that she no longer had to deal with the politics of the job. Andy chuckled and his chest vibrated under her. She thought she could hear Provenza corresponding chuckle on the other side of the line.

Andy hung up the phone and almost immediately the blanket lifted from Sharon's face, her green eyes looking up at him.

"I'm sorry I woke you up," he said, softly touching her cheek. "You okay there, my love?"

"He's still asleep. Just … don't move."

"Not planning to."

Her eyes feel close and she hummed contently. She had almost dozed off to the gentle movement of his fingers in her hair before it occurred to her what had been so odd about the phonecall. "Andy, if Taylor has given a case to our division, why aren't you rolling out along with everyone else?"

"They don't need me."

That alone was unusual and there was something in his voice that made her suspicious. It wasn't like him not to join his team. Something was off. She craned her neck to look at him – and the moment their eyes connected Andy knew he didn't stand a chance. She looked right through him and the words simply spilled out. "It's one of those idiots from that stupid cop show. Got herself lost, no doubt after a night of drugs and drinking and God knows what else. She'll be home again in no time and this will all have been for nothing. Hell, I'm a police officer, not some babysitter for stupid VIPs!"

"Stupid cop show? You mean Badge of Justice?"

"At least you aren't calling it Mike's show," Andy muttered with as much disgust as he could muster. "I'm needed here at home with my fiancée and our son, not out there chasing after some stupid…"

Sharon opened her mouth to interrupt him, but he pressed a kiss to her lips before she could say anything.

"Ssh, sweetheart," he whispered into their kiss, "you being alone isn't good for your blood pressure and me dealing with that ridiculous show sure isn't got for mine. Don't you have trust in the team?"

Sharon was almost tempted to give in to his gentle ministrations, but she couldn't let this slide. "Andy, this has nothing to do with trust in the team. You have sworn an oath as an officer…"

"And when I asked you to marry me, I swore that I would look after you."

"I don't need looking after," she protested with a soft voice, "Honey, I'm pregnant, but I'm comfortably settled at home with a fridge full of food, plenty of phone numbers for take-out should I fancy it and Rusty due back in a couple of hours. As much as your concern and your caveman-like protectiveness flatter me, you are using me as an excuse. Now, go be a good policeman. Get dressed and join your squad. If it's as clear-cut a case as you say it is, you'll be back in no time."

"I don't want to go, I want to stay," he pouted.

"And I want to be 30 pounds lighter! Sometimes we just don't have a choice. Now go! Seriously, Andy, what kind of behaviour is this?"

"I'm only going because my Captain is ordering me to go to a crime scene, but I don't like it!"

"Now you've gone and woken up the baby! I don't like that either! Now go, get out of my sight!" Which was easier said than done because in order for Andy go to into work, he had to get up first. He gently extracted his body from underneath hers and leant down to kiss her goodbye trying to make the kiss last as long as he could. Then he took his time getting dressed while he listened to her trying to convince their son to go back to sleep.

"You know, sweetheart, I could always sing him his lullaby."

"Oh hush! Go to work!"

Once she had heard Andy's car drive away, Sharon got out of bed with a loud groan. Without Andy there to sing to the little one, walking was her best bet to get him to calm down – and it might just help with her sore back, too. She picked her way down the stairs one by one grateful for the strong banister and crossed her new living room with a sense of pride. Everything was in its place just the way she like it. There was a free space she could see from the kitchen as well as the sofa – that's where the wicker bassinet would go. Outside, she took a breath of the salty air and spread out her yoga mat to do a few gentle exercises and stretches before swimming a couple of lengths in the pool.

/

Andy's animosity towards anything Badge of Justice was quite amusing and she had been very closing to just letting him stay with her. It would have been so nice to fall asleep in his arms rather than submit herself to another round of kicking from her son. She already missed him and he hadn't even been gone for an hour. But she also knew that once the baby was born they would be grateful for every time Andy wouldn't have to roll out. They would need the goodwill of the team then, not now.

When she heard the key in the lock she jumped up from the sofa with surprising alacrity for her rather large size only to be disappointed when a sad looking Rusty trudged through the door. Then her mother's instinct kicked in and she laid a gentle hand on his shoulder waiting for him to meet her eyes.

"What's wrong, honey?"

"It's Jane," he said as though she should know the name. Jane? Sharon looked down at her belly desperately trying to remember which Jane her son might be talking about.

"Jane Cuff. You know her, the producer of Badge of Justice. The one who had dinner with us at the beach a couple of weeks ago?"

Sharon's cheeks flushed bright red. Stupid pregnancy brain! Of course she remembered Jane! An outgoing woman with greying hair who had talked at length about her plans for the show while Rusty had hung onto her to her every word and she had had to hold tight to Andy's hand so she wouldn't run off huff. It had been quite a memorable evening. "What happened with Jane, honey?"

"It's awful, Mom. It's really, really awful. They were looking for her because she didn't show up for work and now … these things on the internet … people are so angry, it's awful."

Rusty could see the moment the dots connected and Sharon's detective instinct kicked in. "Let's sit down and then you tell me step by step what actually happened," she demanded as she pulled him over to the dinner table with her.

"Me? Mom, your division is investigating. All I know is that Jane's gone and that somebody's got her and they're so angry and … Sharon, this could be really dangerous."

Sharon reached over the table and took his shaking hands into hers willing him to calm down. She was a skilled interrogator and more importantly, an experienced mother, so she helped him organise his thoughts and bit by bit a picture emerged.

When Rusty had worked on the show Sharon had watched it on occasion to help her better understand what he talked about. To her own greatest surprise she had actually quite enjoyed it. The cases were often a little absurd, but she guessed it had to be like that for television. Initially, she mostly looked for evidence of Mike's handiwork and links back to their own cases, but she had to admit she rather liked some of the more personal drama, too. The long-running love affair of a middle aged couple in particular had really won her heart, even if she couldn't help thinking that authors weren't doing the best of portraying just how intense, and physical, love could be even at her age. She had told Jane as much during their dinner and Andy had made a rather crude joke about old people sex that had made her blush a little.

Just last night when Andy had been at his AA meeting Rusty had talked about the long awaited kiss that hadn't made it into the final cut of the episode and how upset the fandom was. "I don't even ship them, but I think it's mean of Jane. She's just stringing people along!" he had complained and she had reminded him that it was just a TV show after all. Although, after having rooted for this particular couple for so long, she'd have quite liked seeing that kiss as well.

Rusty opened the laptop and his fingers flew over the keys. "Look, they created their own hashtags #whatthecut and #releasethekiss. So many people have been posting on twitter and tumblr and facebook." He scrolled through page after page of colourful pictures of the couple, letters to Jane, some angry, some heartbreaking and a few posters demanding the release of the footage. Someone had even started an online petition and there was a quote of the actress saying she hoped she wouldn't get fired for her revelation. Suddenly Rusty froze and looked at her in shock. "Oh my God, oh my God! Mom! Look at this!"

Sharon's eyes flittered over the page still dizzy from the wealth of information. It was beyond her how Rusty could even read any of it at that speed.

"Oh my God," Rusty muttered again, "they've got her. How can people be so crazy, they've actually got Jane!"

She followed his finger to a tweet from someone called 'BadgeSuperFan' at the bottom of the page.

We want justice! Release the footage, we release the Cuffster. #badgeofjustice #whatthecut

But it was the picture of Jane that made her blood freeze.