The

Uninvited

Summary: As Sharon Raydor is targeted by an unknown foe, Andy Flynn finds himself struggling to define their relationship. [Raydor/Flynn]

A/N: This chapter is M-ish, but not quite so I left it at T. If you're easily offended, just skip the little flashback. :)

O N E

If anyone had told him six months ago that he would be this frantic, he would have laughed. Now his facial muscles were so tight that they wouldn't have even been capable of producing a smile. Andy Flynn ignored his partner's exasperated shout and ducked under the crime scene tape before the uniformed officer had a chance to lift it for him. The blue lights flashing across the darkened street corner didn't bode well and neither did the smoke that was curling from the familiar silver car's hood towards the clear night sky. Andy didn't allow himself time to survey the severe damage to the car or to ponder the possible outcome. Instead he headed straight for the ambulance. The fact that it was sitting idly by the side of the road could either mean that the injuries could be treated in situ and didn't warrant a trip to the hospital or it could mean that there was no rush as the endangered life could no longer be saved. He could not tell which from where he was approaching the vehicle as it was parked with its bonnet facing the car wreck and therefore Andy.

He started weaving his way through the crime scene personnel and his fellow cops, ignoring their solemn greetings. The chatter around him seemed to blur into a distant humming at the edges of his mind. Humming, he thought. She was always humming.

He was pinning her to the mattress while her nails were digging into his back, her eyes closed and her mouth open, emitting the most arousing sounds of pleasure. Andy was surprised every time he watched her get completely carried away. Sharon Raydor always seemed so uptight, so meticulous and rational, that he wouldn't have expected her to be able to fully lose herself in something as simple as sex. She moaned his name when he grabbed her leg and pushed it up slightly to thrust into her more deeply and then shifted her pelvis in order to get a better angle. Apparently, this angle worked well for her because only a few strokes later, a deep, guttural hum announced the fact that she was about to come. She panted his name and clung to him, her hands sliding across his sweaty back as she rocked her hips faster. He came just before she did and collapsed on top of her, not yet ready to break the contact. Sharon lay still for a moment while she caught her breath and then hummed again, moving against him to savor the contact. He lifted himself off her and looked into her flushed face, her mascara smudged around her eyes, her hair wild and tangled. He was just about to propose to her that they should do this again in a few minutes, when she sat up and thereby almost forced him off her, announcing the fact that she had to go.

Neither of them had showered so her scent still clung to his body when he rounded the ambulance in the suit he had carelessly thrown on when the call had come in.

"Officer down," the radio had crackled. "Car accident... Severe damage..."

He had listened quietly in his car, inwardly cursing the fact that Major Crimes was on call this weekend, when suddenly it had gone through him like a shock. The address that had been named was on Sharon's way home from his house, he realized, and caused Provenza to gasp and hold on to his car's dashboard when he pushed down the accelerator like a maniac.

He only realized how out of breath he was, when the sight of her hit him strangely unexpectedly. Sharon was sitting in the back of the ambulance, holding a cold pack to her temple, but looking otherwise unharmed. She had cleaned herself up after leaving his place, but she did look tousled in a way that didn't stem from a car accident. Looking up, her eyes met his and he quickly pushed his hands into his pockets in order to look nonchalant. Before he could say anything, a puffing sound announced Provenza's arrival. The old man staggered around the corner and sneered when he saw Sharon. Andy saw how he quickly assessed her condition and found her fit to be tormented.

"Women and cars," he said, pursing his lips. "And before you slap me with another disciplinary report, that's not misogyny, it's the hard truth."

Sharon growled deeply in her throat but didn't say anything.

"What the hell are we doing here, anyway?" Provenza droned on. "This is a traffic accident, not a major crime. Or do we need a full roll-out nowadays when FID's finest hits her head?"

Andy was beginning to get angry at his friend, but then he knew that Sharon wouldn't appreciate it if he defended her. She was very insistent that they strictly kept their private lives out of their working ones and he respected that. Provenza was suspicious enough of his new habit of leaving the office in a hurry and not being reachable on his phone or otherwise for several hours afterward. And his dash across the crime scene hadn't been his finest hour, either, so he needed to lay low for a while.

Sharon handed the cold pack back to the paramedic and rose to her feet. "You're here because this is an attempted murder, not a traffic accident," she said. "The brakes didn't work and I had them checked a couple of days ago."

"So you think someone did this to you on purpose?" Andy asked incredulously.

"Yes, genius. What did you think?" Provenza growled at him. As much as he despised FID officers in general and Captain Sharon Raydor in particular, he was a professional and was beginning to act as such. "I'll have a word with the traffic cops at the scene," he said. "Andy, you can babysit our victim." With that, he sauntered off, leaving Andy and Sharon in uncomfortable silence. They didn't see all that much of each other at work, which was an absolute blessing because lately it was becoming awkward to address her as Captain Raydor and not touch her.

"Are you okay?" he asked, worried that he would overstep their boundaries. Hers, really. Somehow they had never decided not to date. They had also never officially declared that they were having an affair even though it was just that. They met often, sometimes at her condo, sometimes at his house. They would have dinner, she would have two glasses of wine. Sometimes, though, they would skip dinner and she would cut right to the chase. Andy had had to awkwardly explain to several, mostly younger, women in his life that he wasn't interested in a serious relationship. With Sharon, it had never been an issue. They liked each other genuinely and they usually talked about everything and nothing for up to a few hours before they retreated to the bedroom. But it was a given every time they met up, that sex was the ultimate outcome. While they occasionally went out for a meal, they weren't actually going out on dates.

"My head hurts," Sharon replied, steadying herself against him with a hand as she slipped her shoe off. He could see now, that the delicate heel was broken and the look of grief in Sharon's eyes was almost comical. She was still wearing the clothes he had ripped off her just a few hours ago and it filled him with a strange sort of pride when he saw that the skirt was slightly crinkled where he had pushed it up earlier.

"I'm sorry about your shoes," he said stupidly and she just sighed in reply, paving the way for more of their awkward silence. He looked her up and down, the flashing blue lights illuminating her face for a second, then leaving it in the gloom for another. Andy wasn't sure what was happening to him, but then he just couldn't contain the words. It felt as if they were inside him, struggling to escape and he was unable to hold them in.

"Are you hurt, Sharon? Are you in pain?"

She stared at him for a moment, obviously taken-aback by the ferocity with which he had spoken. When they weren't in the act of having sex, they hardly ever kissed or touched and yet he found himself struggling not to reach out and crush her to his chest in relief that she wasn't dead or seriously injured.

"I told you I'm fine," she repeated, her voice quiet but firm. "If someone really cut my brakes, however, I am wondering whether it'll stay that way."

Her words, spoken with firm authority, were a barely disguised prompt for him to go and do his job, not fret over her and although this was just how they worked, he felt stung for the first time.

"Captain? Are you alright?"

Andy turned around at the male voice and found a sergeant standing there with a worried expression. Unsure why exactly he noticed this right now, Andy had to admit to himself the fact that the young man was extremely good-looking with his suntanned skin, a full head of chestnut brown hair and the physique of a high-school quarterback.

"Sergeant Martinez, I'm good, thanks," Sharon said in a pleasant, soft voice that he had never heard her use at work, but her subordinate didn't seem satisfied just yet and reached out to touch her arm.

"Do you want me to give you a ride home?"

Andy was both surprised and deeply ashamed when he had to admit that he was feeling extremely jealous. Sharon smiled and nodded while Andy took in the other man's tasteful suit and tie, trying to find fault in his appearance.

"Okay, Captain. I'll just clear this with the incident commander." The young man walked off and left Andy seething.

"Eager little guy," he said, unable not to sound condescending.

Sharon raised her brows. "That's the beautiful thing about the Professional Standards Bureau," she said. "Nobody likes us so we always take good care of each other."

Somehow that little statement managed to infuriate Andy even more. He didn't know why exactly, but he would have liked to drive Sharon home, to make sure she was alright and to stay up with her to watch her have a glass of wine and unwind. She didn't look upset, but that didn't mean that she wasn't. What had just transpired was that someone had made an attempt on her life and even though she had escaped unscathed, it didn't mean that this person wouldn't try again. Andy swallowed as the realization began to sink in. Who knew what awaited her at her condo? He looked at her and she caught his gaze, staring back defiantly.

He wanted to tell her that he was worried, wanted to offer her to take her home and stay the night, but somehow he was worried that she would wave him off, or worse, laugh.

"What?" she asked softly. "Something the matter?"

"No," he said, trying to recover from the onslaught of his sudden need for closeness. "I was just wondering who the hell would want to hurt you."

She gave a snort of laughter that didn't sound too amused. "Take your pick. I'm in IA, Andy. Everyone hates me."

He shook his head. "Will you stop saying that? We love to hate you, but we wouldn't want to see you hurt."

Although he had meant to put everyone's dislike in perspective, he could see that he had made a mistake. His words had just enforced the fact that she was an outsider while everyone else was a "we". And then he had practically insinuated that he hated her, too. He could see a scowl forming in her face and she turned away abruptly. This was going downhill fast, especially as he was feeling the exact opposite of what she believed he had just told her.

"Sharon, I didn't mean-" he began clumsily but she just held up at hand, calm and collected as usual.

"Don't worry, Andy. I know how this works." She gave him a smirk that looked almost convincing. He looked after her as she walked over towards Martinez and placed her hand on his shoulder while she talked to him. He had seen her with her team before and he had always noticed how different she was around them, but today it stung. Somehow her being in IA had never been an issue between them until now. Actually, it had only added to the fun, as they had known each other for a long time. She had investigated him more often over the years than any other officer and along the line she must have developed a certain fondness of him. At first he'd hated her with a vengeance, then he had found himself enjoying their banter and her subtle sense of humor and at some point he'd become unable to remove his eyes from her legs and had to push his hands into his pockets to keep them from developing a will of their own.

There were many rumors flying around about Sharon Raydor, most of them scandalous and completely untrue. Some swore that she made it a habit to sleep with younger officers which he knew had to be untrue as Sharon was far too concerned about rules and appearances for that. Others said that she was happily married with kids, which was also far from the truth. While she was still married, she had been legally separated for years and her two children were both away at college. The truth was, he had only learned these details after they had started sleeping with each other, as she kept her private life completely under wraps professionally.

Their banter had slowly turned into flirtation and he had been amazed at her ability to make him hot with a simple low hum or a strategically placed hand on his arm when saying something inconsequential. Then, however, it had taken something as cliché and antiquated as the annual policemen's ball to finally ignite the sparks between them. He'd only watched her from afar that night in her very simple but also very stunning little black dress. He liked to think that she didn't exactly dress to impress. She just did. The dress was short for her, leaving at least six inches of bare thigh above her knees and the neckline was straight, but her cleavage was covered only by a sheer black stretch that, in the right light, didn't leave that much to the imagination. Andy had considered hitting on her but then discarded the idea because he feared that she wouldn't like it.

Then fate or mutual fatigue had brought them together as she'd been waiting outside for her cab when he stepped out to drive home. He had complimented her on the dress, she'd thrown her hair back and somehow his hand had landed on her thigh on their way towards his house on the way to which he had actually meant to drop her off at her apartment. Somehow there hadn't been a question as to whether they would have sex. It had just happened like that. Andy was still confused that she went along with it so willingly. Fraternization rules didn't exactly apply to them as they were far enough removed from each other in the LAPD, but considering his rich history of disciplinary offenses, they could be sure to be frowned upon. But apparently Sharon Raydor didn't mind going against policy if no one else knew about it. It was a fact Andy found pretty sexy and unexpected.

"Does she look ruffled or what?" Provenza had appeared next to him.

"What do you mean?" Andy asked crankily. As greatly appreciated as his best friend's presence usually was, he was annoying him today. Or maybe he was just annoyed because of Sharon and needed an outlet.

"I mean I bet she just came from a lover's house. Did you see her skirt? I'll be damned if that wasn't a telltale stain at the hem."

Andy swallowed and then waved Provenza off. "Come on. The Wicked Witch? That's just gross."

Badmouthing her still came to him surprisingly easy and his acting abilities were rewarded with a chuckle from Provenza.

"Yeah, you're probably right. I, for one, wouldn't touch her with a ten feet pole."

"Oh god, me neither," Andy grumbled, his hands in his pockets as he watched Martinez hold the car door for Sharon.

"He would tap that, though," Provenza commented dryly, sending a shiver down Andy's spine.

"Now, come on. Let's find out who wanted to kick Raydor off the streets and do us all a favor." Provenza went back to the scene, leaving Andy to look after the car. Something was very wrong here and not just the tempered-with car. Something unwelcome was beginning to stir inside him and he couldn't admit to himself, yet, what this severe bout of jealousy might mean.