It was the end of another long day in Major Crimes Division. Provenza grabbed his suit jacket and was putting it on. "You coming, Flynn?"

"Nah, I'm going to finish these reports."

"Reports," Provenza grumbled, "we shouldn't have had that case in the first place, and I use the term loosely. Can't those wait for tomorrow?"

"I'd rather finish them tonight, and then they're done. I'll see you in the morning, and hopefully it will be after the sun is up."

"Suit yourself," the older man called over his shoulder as he left the room.

Quiet descended. The only thing that could be heard was the clicking of Andy's fingers on his computer and the low-grade hum of the overhead lights.

"Have I told you how much I appreciate you doing this?" a voice said behind him.

"Every week, like clockwork," he smiled in response, keeping his eye on his screen and filling in all the pertinent information. It didn't take long, and soon Andy found himself shutting down his computer and walking into the boss's office.

He was surprised to see her curled up in her green chair rather than sitting behind her desk.

"What's up?"

The noise startled her, "Mmm...?" she blinked a few times then smiled when she registered who had spoken. "Just thinking."

"That's obvious," Andy said, pulling one of the visitor's chairs over and sitting down to be at eye level. "What's got that gorgeous face tied up in such a knot?"

"Oh, just something Taylor said earlier."

"Shar, you really shouldn't give that blow-hard the time of day. He stepped in it and had to own up to it, but the snake that he is will probably avoid any real responsibility. You did good, Honey. There was nothing he could say in the face of the Law and guidelines we all have to follow. He tried to pull a fast one, and you nailed him for it."

Smiling at him a little more, she got up from her chair and went to close her office door. The blinds were already blocking the view from the Murder Room just in case anyone was curious, so she returned to her chair.

"Not the case. He really was over the top on that. If nothing else, I hope he learned that I probably know all the political people he knows, and some of them I know by name. He's such a pompous ass. I really think he put me in charge of this Division because he knew you all hated me, and figured I wasn't going to make a dent, thus effectively rendering you moot. I'm sure he knew we were partners in the past, and probably figured since you'd turned on me years ago, you wouldn't turn back. It's not very comforting to know I was promoted with the expectation that I'd fail."

Andy reached out to grasp her hand, and started gently rubbing circles on the back. "You didn't fail, Shar. In fact, I'd say after the FBI case and Rusty and that foolishness this morning, you are on the inside the circling wagons, not on the outside. I doubt anyone would have seen that coming, but I can't say I'm surprised."

"You're not?" she bit her lower lip and smiled sadly.

"Nope. You are without a doubt, the most capable, level headed, determined woman I have every known, and you come with more charm and brilliance than most people realize on first glance."

Oh, Andrew Flynn, if nothing else you are certainly good for a person's ego," she said as she squeezed his hand.

"I try, so let's forget Taylor and let's get out of here."

Sharon was pensive as she kept looking at their twined fingers. "That's not all."

"What is it Shar? What's really bothering you."

Again Sharon was silent, and he waited her out. A few times she took a breath to speak, and then let it go. Finally she looked up at him, and her eyes were watery.

"We are skating on thin ice here, you know. One toe out of line, is what he said, and I've been doing a lot more than that."

"What are you talking about? You've been following the rules every step of the way."

"I'm talking about us. I am your Superior Officer, and I have made advances towards you which could suggest an abuse of my position. The Law is the Law, and the Law is clear. There can be no relationship between us. These last few weeks I've been wondering how I can skirt the Law on this issue, and I've been pushing it. I shouldn't have been so suggestive with you. I'm not sorry," she smiled, "but I still shouldn't be putting either of us in that position. It's not professionally accepted conduct."

"You know what I think of that particular rule, don't you?" Flynn was trying to keep the annoyance out of his voice, and failing miserably.

"I know. And I want to say we are the exception, that we are the ones who prove it's possible to have a relationship that doesn't undermine the command structure, but we both know it's not true. The team already knows you're my favourite, and I'm not very good at hiding that. Imagine if Taylor or someone else got evidence of that favouritism. Not only would we loose our jobs and probably our pensions, but I could be brought up on charges. You're angry. I'm sorry."

Andy hung his head to get control of his emotions, then looked up at her and smiled. "Yeah, I'm angry, but I'm not angry at you. I'm angry at the pressure you're feeling and I'm angry that Taylor is a jerk. Hell, I'm even angry we can't pretend ignorance because who would believe Sharon Raydor didn't know exactly what she was doing."

Sharon giggled at the image, and his smile got deeper.

"Okay, I've got an idea..." he said, quickly getting up and going behind her desk to rummage through the drawers. When he found the marker he was looking for, he sat down and banged a few things on her computer and printed the results. Getting the paper from the printer, he circled something in a thick red marker and handed it to her.

"What's this?" she said, looking at the page from a calendar.

"Remember way back when we started with the Department? We came in that same class that year, and started as fully trained Officers in August. Look at the date, Shar."

Looking more closely at the piece of paper, Sharon saw that the 20th day in the month of August was circled, then she saw the date on the paper was 2015. Written across the date was 'Someday'.

Tilting her head sideways, she gave him her most glorious smile. "That will be our 45th anniversary on the Force."

"Yup," he smiled, pulling her to her feet. "And if nothing else changes, that will be our Someday. Until then, you are going to have a full 45 years of courting, the longest on record, I'm betting. They wouldn't be able to touch us. And if anything happens to move that date forward, screw them. We can both retire out at any point and live by our laws instead."

Sharon smiled up at him. "Someday," she nodded, then pulled him towards her and gently kissed him on the lips, as only friends-who-will-be-lovers-some-day could.

THE END