AUTHOR'S NOTE: I warn this is my first-ever take at writing these two characters and English is not my first language, so I apologize in advance. I started a rewatch and felt the need to do some writing, so here you go, I hope you enjoy.

She had ceased to be surprised at how he would circle around the table every time and move the chair for her after the first few dinners. But then, she had also imagined the habit would die quickly, much as husbands and wives who stop picking each other up at the airport after the first year of marriage - in her and Jack's case, more like the first few months of dating.

But he hadn't stopped moving the chair for her, and she hadn't stopped accepting his dinner invitations. Only a handful, between Nicole's wedding and Christmas, but frequent enough to learn a few things: he was a vegetarian but ate fish, he didn't mind her having a glass of wine in front of him, conversation between the two of them always ran smooth, and Andy Flynn was nothing like the hopless hothead he had been not so many years before. He had been, she was sure - and even if her memory was mistaken, his huge FID file was not - but he seemed to have settled down. Sobriety, of course, but mainly age. Sharon herself had found her attitude less and less determined as time went by; after she had made captain, there had been no reason to huff and puff over her career, and after Chief Johnson, she had been reminded of the fact that she had superior officers and a neat little place in the burocratic nightmare that was the LAPD. Andy, on the other hand, had stopped at lieutenant for obvious reasons, but she could bet that had he been as controlled as he was now only a few years back, he would have outranked her now. She was beginning to suspect that his newfound discipline had a lot to do with his kids, too. With the family life he had led - or had not led, like Jack Raydor himself - when he had had the chance. And that was the reason she had agreed to this particular dinner and balet: Andy Flynn had been in the exact same place Jack had, and was not anymore; he was fighting tooth and nail for his relationship with his daughter, going to extreme lengths - so extreme as to ask his superior officer for that particular favor - to be a better father, now that the husband ship had sailed.

"It won't bee too long of a torture, I hope" - he told her, slightly embarassed, from the other side of the table.

"You'd be surprised at the quantity of naps I took at Emily's rehearsals back in the day without anyone noticing" - she found herself confessing, with an impish smile. Since Andy's eyes had widened and he was about to start laughing, she added "Never on the actual recitals, I swear. But those practices were torture. They went on and on and on..."

After the sincere laugher shared over Sharon's secret, the initial embarass had dissipated, as all the other times; they had ordered and were now happily going through a risotto - him - and a steak - her.

"Think about this" - he pondered after a while - "Our evening won't possibly be as bad as Rusty's with Provenza".

Sharon raised an eyebrow as to scold him. "How long has he been your partner now?"

"Too long" - he joked. - "God, it's so many years I have to think about it for a second... Maybe fifteen? Sixteen?"

"When you transferred to Robbery Homicide" - she confirmed. After all, she knew almost anything about almost everyone's career. - "That's a long time to be acquainted with someone".

"You know Provenza's ex-wife number... well I don't know the number, but the one you met, Liz. She told me she and the other wives think of me as the sixth" - he said, frowning. At that, she gave the biggest laugh of the evening.

"It must be nice though, isn't it?" - she pondered. - "I haven't really had a partner since I was a patrol officer. Way longer than nine years ago".

Andy nodded. "Well, you'd know it better than I do. When you start outranking people that's usually how it goes".

Sharon took another sip of red wine and wondered whether that could be the right occasion. Yes, she decided, she was really enjoying an evening of laughter, for a change, and she wanted another one. "That" - she said slowly - "And people calling you the wicked witch".

She regretted it immediately, because Andy had gone white as a sheet. "Andy, I'm kidding! I mean, I'm not, but I don't really care, my god" - she tried to do some damage-control, smiling. - "People have been coming up with names since I joined Internal Affairs... That was one of my all time personal favorites, to tell the truth".

She was telling the truth, but not all - she knew perfectly well the name had started circulating from the Major Crimes Division after one of their close encounters with her and her red tape. If she had to place a bet - and she hated guessing - she'd say it was probably a joined creation of Flynn and Provenza themselves, or maybe the other guys of the squad, but not the chief. Women like the two of them knew way to well what it meant to work amongst men all the time, and would not resort to name calling, not even when they did not like each other, as had been the case at the start of Sharon's professional relationship with Chief Johnson.

Andy was looking so embarassed that she knew she had been right. "You sure have fantasy, Lieutenant" - she teased him.

When he made the huge effort to look up, she was smiling in an entertained sort of way, and had the same serene expression she had had all evening. He, on the other hand, still wanted to dig a hole in the ground and wound up on the other side of the globe. "I was... sort of a prick. Still am, more often than not" - he confessed quietly.

At his words she looked surprised. "I don't think so, not at all" - she told him. - "And in your defense, I was sort of a bitch, wasn't I?"

Never in his wildest dreams had Andy imagined she'd be using that sort of tone, almost playful - and that sort of language - in referring to herself. She looked a little sadder now, the mood felt a little less light. "You had to be" - he told her simply. He was not going to deny it - everyone in FID, starting from the top, were like that. But it was the nature of the job. As was the nature of his to disregard the rules and make fun of those who followed them. "Isn't it much better now?" - he couldn't help asking. - "Being, you know, one of the good guys?"

That stole her a big smile, and for that he was grateful. "It's definetely easier. At least since Provenza accepted me" - she confirmed.

"Take it from Louie's sixth wife, he would not have warmed up to any other boss as quickly as he did to you, Sharon. You did a hell of a job".

She tilted her head, surprised, and beamed. "Thank you". She shook her head. "I'm sorry I brought that up anyway. I just wanted to laugh a little, really".

Andy wave his hand as to say he had already forgotten all about it. "It's part of the program, you know? Admitting mistakes, asking for forgiveness... all that".

She smiled at him. He had always been so open with her and everybody else about his addiction, and she marveled one more time at how difficult that had to be. Maybe more than beating the addiction itself. "Can I ask you... sort of a personal question?" - she asked him, lowering her voice.

"Of course".

"How long have you been sober now?"

Andy laughed heartedly. "I doubt there's anybody in the LAPD that does not know the answer to that question, so it's hardly personal. It's eighteen years this year". He paused. "Hey, wasn't it in my IA file?"

Sharon chuckled. "Probably, but it was so full I never really had time to read it all through" - she replied.

Andy laughed as well. Then decided he could venture out in unexplored territory. "Can I ask you a personal question?"

"Sure".

"What about Jack?"

Sharon did not look taken aback, thankfully, and did not hesitate before answering the question. "I lost count the third time around of how many times he tried and fell off the wagon again. I just knew when I could let the kids see him and when I couldn't. These last few years he's been behaving. Sort of, anyway. And the kids have grown, so".

Andy nodded understandingly. "Yeah, well, having grown kids does not solve all of the problems, does it? Look at me".

Sharon did look at him and, once again, said something he would not have expected. "Nicole seemed very fond of you. I mean, I've only seen her once, but I could tell".

Andy sighed. "Let's see if you'll confirm it after tonight".

Sharon glanced at her watch, something she did way less often now that she was out of the 72-hour-vicious-circle. "Should we head over there? It's almost time".

In the car, Sharon couldn't help feeling that something in their relationship had shifted that evening. If she had known that reminescing of that old silly story of the wicked witch would have had that effect, maybe she wouldn't have brought it up. But as always seemed to happen with Andy Flynn, things happened without warning and became apparent too late. She had not planned of opening up to him about Jack, or her career, or about her life in general. She hadn't been so poorly guarded since she had started working in FID. And still, she could not say in all honesty she was sorry. It was a relief, to have someone to talk to so freely, and it came easy. So easy she had the feeling that, if any other dinner invitation ever came, she wouldn't think twice before accepting it.