While You're Making Other Plans

by Miss Shannon and Glistening Sun

Chapter 32

Fear seemed to be her constant companion these days letting go of her only when she was with Andy and preferably safely ensconced in his arms. She couldn't shake that feeling of premonition and she didn't only fear for the life of Little Peach, for the first time during her pregnancy she also feared for a her own life. Andy was her anchor, but she could tell he was also getting worried. He held her every evening and gently applied botanical oil to her stomach and breasts that was supposed to prevent stretch marks. It did nothing of the sort – just this morning she had discovered another angry red among the many already there crisscrossing the white skin. But Sharon liked those moments of intimacy, the feeling of Andy's calloused hands touching her with such tenderness, the calming scent that enveloped them. They needed those moments of togetherness, their nightly ritual when he didn't have to work late.

Sharon cried more these days and she knew that left him helpless, but she didn't know how to stop. She tried to make him promise that when it came down to a choice between her and their son he would choose their son and she could see just how much anguish she caused him with that demand. "I can't raise our boy without you, Sharon. I can't live without you," Andy pleaded every time and depending on her own mood she either comforted him or made them go over their will and the arrangements they had made for all eventualities. It was painful and she almost wished she could just go to hospital and have the c-section there and then.

During the day she spent time in the fandom. It had long progressed beyond research and 'shipping' the cute couple, that rather attractive silver-haired Lieutenant and his red-haired girlfriend who had aged remarkably well. Well, the actress certainly had, Sharon noticed with a touch of envy when she looked at her own exhausted features in the mirror. There were rumours of plastic surgery and beauty treatments. The actress had even admitted to having had some work done herself and Sharon respected her for that. Gosh, certain parts of her body would probably need a makeover after this pregnancy. That was if she didn't simply explode beforehand. She winced when her son shifted and kicked her roughly in the stomach. Uh. She would make Andy get up at night and change diapers for the first two years least, maybe even three. She kept discovering new stretchmarks she was sure hadn't been there with Emily or Ricky. She would need a tummy tuck, wasn't that what it was called? If she was lucky her insurance might even pay for it. But in case they didn't she made a mental note to tell Andy she had found the perfect post-baby present for herself. A tummy tuck. Yes, that sounded like a good plan.

Sharon turned her attention back to the screen and opened tumblr. They were talking about Jane again. Even being kidnapped she still seemed to have a hold over the show. The kiss hadn't been released and the new season had started as planned. The fans were running wild because they wanted to know more about the redhead girlfriend. Rusty claimed she looked a little like her, Sharon thought he was crazy because she was fat and bloated and Andy said no way and she was far more beautiful. But then he was terribly biased. She loved how much he was on her side though.

With a smile Sharon opened a new document and soon her fingers were flying over the keyboard. She had discovered a new guilty pleasure. Fanfiction. She had read copious amounts of it during the past couple of weeks trying to look for a clue as to Jane's whereabouts or her kidnappers. One story had touched on it, one of those ridiculous 'babyfic' by a better author of the fandom. At least she had mastered the past perfect. Hardly anybody did this these days. But the way they were writing about pregnancy was nothing but ridiculous. She was sure they were young teenagers or maybe barely into their twenties who had never been pregnant. Clearly they had no idea and they certainly did not know what it was like for a woman in her fifties. Had they never thought about the embarrassment? The looks and the talking at work? The way her old body was stretching to accommodate her baby? How scared, how terribly, terribly scared she was that something could go wrong? The growing immobility.

At least it wasn't 'smut'. Some of it, she had to admit, was actually rather good and … she might have given Andy a pleasant surprise or two in the bedroom. Some were certainly creative particularly when it came to dealing with her 'swollen belly'. But other stories …. good grief, just how mobile could somebody's joints be? Never mind that Andy had snuck up on her once, a frown of intense concentration on his face when she turned around to look at him. "I don't think I could do that, sweetheart. I mean, how many hands does this Lieutenant guy even have?"

Maybe the answer to their case or at least important clues lay hidden in the fandom. There was certainly discontent with Jane and the network. They wanted more of the love story and were aggressive when it came to the poor girl Dusty. Sharon liked Dusty, the character reminded her of someone very dear to her own heart and reading those posts made her angry. Although she figured that knowing more about Jon Worth and the cute couple would be good, too. There was also plenty of fighting within the fandom. There had recently been a case of plagiarism by one of those authors who really couldn't write and had stolen entire paragraphs from other stories or badly paraphrased someone else's work. She was surprised how maturely the fandom had dealt with that. It really worked like a little society with instigators and peacemakers, class clowns and policemen.

Maybe she could get in contact with the fans. She could create her own identity and talk to them. They seemed to talk to each other a lot, and behind the scenes, too. She had a hunch that the plan for the kidnapping had been hatched here somewhere. There had been discussions about burning down a house, something utterly ridiculous about a kangaroo she still didn't quite understand, thinly veiled threats against Cuff because of the kiss and then that one thread about kidnapping the main actors and making them film a kiss. They had even started distributing responsibilities among themselves and then everything had suddenly become very quiet. Too quiet. Yes, that was where she would start! One of them had to know something about the kidnapping. It would be just like going undercover, expect that she could do it from the privacy and safety of her home. She would be able to do all those cool tech things Mike Tao was always talking about! And she might finally understand her sons and her daughter better. Excitement coursed through her veins and for a moment, she forgot how tired she was, how much her legs hurt and how difficult it would be good get up again from the couch. She would go undercover!

She smirked as she read over the last line she had written. They kissed until the need for air dominated over their heated desire. Gosh, how perfectly cliché! But then a cliché story might be just what would get her into the fandom. Yes, she would write that beautifully romantic story she had dreamed up last night when she had sat up waiting for Andy to come home. Or she would write a story about how any halfway sane person in her fifties should react to the news of a surprise pregnancy. With disbelief, with fear, with anger – not with that happy go lucky, yay, we're going to be parents when we should be retiring kind of stupidity. She groaned when Little Peach kicked her again. She would write about the discomfort and all those awful side effects, the boredom of being forced to sit at home. Yes, she would do just that! She would add some of her extensive FID experience into the story as well. She had always wondered how many of those crime procedurals either completely omitted the existence of FID or painted them in a severely bad light. She would stand for none of that. FID would be the heroes of her story! They would swoop in to save the day wearing a dark trenchcoat – and of course the redhead would be kissed with just as much passion as Andy kissed her!

She needed a name, a pseudonym. She looked out over the garden and the pool glistening in the midday sun, the Hyatt Hotel in the background. Sun. Beach. Ocean. She got up with a groan to stretch her legs and pour herself another glass of iced tea. That was when she saw the van of the construction company parked in front of their neighbours' house. Shannon Enterprises. Yes! She would call herself Sunny Shannon.

She had a name, now she needed a profile picture. She hesitated to take a picture of the show or the actors seeing as she didn't technically own the copyright for any of them. A picture of the sun maybe, or her sunny garden? No, too tacky and too dangerous. Somebody from might recognise it. If she was going to do this as a proper undercover operation, she would need to report this to her supervisor. Expect that she could never ever let Chief Taylor know that she wrote fanfiction. She shuddered at the idea. That would be even worse than running into him half-naked at the pool all those months ago. But she needed some sort of back-up, a re-insurance policy. She would leave clues! She worked with detectives after all, and she lived with one, too. She grabbed Mr Owl and snapped a quick picture of him. Perfect. It would go well with the dogs and cats she had already found. She made quick work out of creating a fake email address and signing up to a number of social media accounts before posting her first story.

She commented and reblogged, liked and tweeted, started discussions and posted a multitude of the oddest smilies she had ever seen. She worked herself through pages and pages of pictures of Jon Worth and the older couple. It shocked her how easily those fangirls trusted her with their personal information, but she was also amazed at the diversity she found. From teenager to grandmother they were drawing pictures and making gifs, photoshopping domestic bliss and writing stories. The creativity was truly amazing. There were messages of support for Jane and increasing concern. They were so sweet welcoming her with open arms like a long lost friend, excited to have someone else who loved the same thing. It was lovely, really lovely. She had to admit that. And next to the fighting there was camaraderie and something that looked like real friendship spanning across the world. She was almost a little sad that she was only here for an undercover investigation. She could have really like some of those people.

Surprisingly her first story garnered quite some reviews. She was so proud that those writers she had become a fan of were commenting on her work! How much she appreciated their take on her story! She got such a rush of excitement whenever she saw the notification for a new review in her inbox.

She had finally found a way to comply with Cottle's orders and Andy's protectiveness and keep herself entertained! And she was popular. Really quite popular.

More than once Andy came home to her eyes glued to the computer screen, her cheeks glowing with excitement and her fingers flying over the keyboard at lightning speed. The moment she saw him she would stop what she was doing and close her laptop, but it didn't make him suspicious. For the first time in a long time she seemed genuinely happy and at peace, not as terribly worried as she had been. She would ask him about the search for Cuff and he would tell her, she would share some of her findings but never quite divulged just how deeply she had entered the fandom.

One day she found an invitation for a closed group on facebook she hadn't even known existed. She felt like she had been initiated to a secret club. There was plenty of talk about the good-looking lieutenant and the red-haired captain, but there were other, more sinister talks. Every hair on her body stood up as she worked backwards through the posts, reading reply after reply. Every fibre of her being knew that she had just found what she was looking for. The detective in her knew that this was it. She might look like a beached whale, but she still had it in her!

Somebody had obviously decided that she was to be trusted. She had been admitted to the inner sanctuary of the fandom, its beating heart. It was like unlocking a secret level of a video game, something Ricky had spent countless hours trying to do. There were many familiar names here, some of the opinion leaders of the fandom, but also others who seemed to have disappeared a while ago, whose accounts had suddenly become private and password protected.

Her laptop beeped with a message. She didn't hesitate to open it. It was a link that led her to another secret website, password protected. Excitement rushed through her. She was so close, so close! Magically she received another message with the password just moments after the login page had fully loaded. She keyed in the code and found herself looking into a dark room, a cottage of sorts. Then she saw Cuff talking to her captors. Yes! A message box popped up on the screen. "Welcome, SunnyShannon, you are now one of us."

When Andy got back that night the house was dark. He didn't think too much of it at first. He knew Rusty would be with Gus and seeing it was nearly two in the morning, Sharon was probably fast asleep. He locked up downstairs and then climbed up the stairs his tired body looking forward to falling into bed beside Sharon and holding her tight. He had had a gruelling day and he craved her company. It looked liked they might have a break in their search for Jane Cuff. If it hadn't been so late he would have considered waking her up because he needed to hear her calm voice and talk it through with her.

Cold washed over him when he pushed open the door to her bedroom and found the bed empty and untouched. Just then his phone started ringing. Please let it be Sharon! Please let it be her, he silently pleaded fighting the rising panic.

"Flynn, sit down." His friend's voice was so authoritative that he sat on the ground right where he stood. "Stroh has been sighted driving past the Captain's condo in Los Feliz."