Sexy Devil, Then and Now

Disclaimer: I own nothing related to either Major Crimes or The Closer; James Duff, et al, has that lovely distinction.

A/N: BAMDAMMMster prompt #4: During TC era, higher-ups and members of the more elite divisions are mandated to attend the Chief's Halloween party. In MC era, Sharon and Andy are telling Rusty about the event. Enjoy! Leave a review if y'all feel so inclined; they are ever so lovely to read. #TodayIsLife

~~~~~PT~~~~~

Halloween 2015

The early afternoon of Halloween found Sharon, Andy and Rusty discussing plans for the holiday. Rusty was going out with friends from school to an adult Halloween party, actually a few of them. Sharon was glad he was going to have fun with people his own age and knew she didn't have to worry about him drinking.

When pressed on their plans, Andy mentioned that he and Sharon had agreed to give out candy at Nicole's while she and Dean took the boys trick-or-treating. Rusty laughed at their domesticity, knowing they probably hadn't realized the amount of time they were together regularly or that they spent a great deal of time speaking with each other's children lately. Giving candy out at Nicole's while everyone else was out having fun was just another example.

It made sense though since her condo building didn't allow trick-or-treating. Each unit donated candy to the Condo Board Association that had been created many years before and they doled it out in the Community Center.

Andy started laughing when he remembered the last time their attendance was required at a work-related Halloween party. When he started telling Rusty about it, Sharon just rolled her eyes. It had been the out-going Chief's brilliant idea to send an attendance-mandatory invitation to all of his high ranking officials as well as all of his elite divisions. Most of the invitees had not been thrilled with the idea. Sharon and her division were the least thrilled to be mandated to attend.

Halloween 2011

The Chief's invitation showed up in everyone's email a few days before the scheduled event. Most of the officers receiving it grumbled, crumpled up a piece of paper and aggressively threw it in their trash can. The entire Major Crimes Division had this reaction, including their boss, Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson. Some were happy to be around the big-wigs to network or brown-nose and were excitedly looking forward to the event. Commander Russell Taylor fell in that group.

When Captain Sharon Raydor received the email, she immediately forwarded it to her good friend and confidante Gavin, changing the subject line to I need your help. He had happily replied that he had the perfect costume for her already in mind and that they would match. He too had been invited due to his representation of Brenda. Assistant Chief Pope wanted him to keep an eye on Brenda to ensure she didn't make any costly mistakes while the lawsuit was still underway. Laughing, Sharon replied, agreeing to meet him so they could buy their costumes and/or accessories.

The night of the party, the brown-nosers showed up first. They were hoping for some alone time with their higher-ups, hoping to be noticed before the crowd streamed in, hoping for a small bit of recognition that might give them an edge when the next round of promotions was opened up and funded.

Most of the LAPD officers on the list showed up en masse slightly later than expected but not late enough to postpone the festivities, if they could be seen as such. Each division member was staying close to their peers, though some communication did go across divisions. For the most part though, there wasn't a great deal of mingling. The party would only be a couple of hours; no one was expected to leave drunk then drive and everyone was expected to behave as if they were enjoying themselves while there.

Captain Raydor had been asked to make her way around the room, hoping to overhear things FID might need to further investigate. Having refused, she'd firmly told Gavin she'd be holding up the wall when she wasn't sitting with her division. Her friend had other ideas since he had to shadow Brenda, the most remorseless client he'd ever had and argumentative on top of that. Such a stubborn woman but her husband was footing her legal bills and his friend Sharon had personally asked him to represent this frenemy of hers. He fully intended to drag her around with him the entire two hours he had to be a shadow.

As the Major Crimes Division began walking in, they noticed the various costumes people had chosen.

Pope was dressed as a clown which they all agreed was quite fitting. He had gone all out: full white facial make-up, the biggest red nose any of them had ever seen, the extra-thick suspenders matched the color of his nose, his bald head was covered with a neon rainbow colored wig, he was tripping over his big floppy red shoes, and he'd already accidentally squirted the Chief twice with his flower-petal shaped bow tie.

Taylor was dressed as Bat Man and quite proud of being the superhero that helped police officers.

Morales, the ME, had been invited to keep him happy. A happy Morales, they believed, meant a quick turnaround on their autopsies. He much preferred the Coroners' Halloween party but free drinks had him confirming. He was dressed as a Court Jester, complete with the multi-colored outfit, pointy colorful hat with bells on the ends of each point and the red pointy shoes.

His companion for the night, still unsure why she'd been invited when she was just a DDA who worked with them to secure their cases, showed up as a Blue Fairy. Keeping it simple, Andrea Hobbs wore a long flowing blue dress, lace blue wings and had glitter body lotion all over her exposed skin. Morales thought she was adorable, especially since she was his ride home.

Provenza immediately started needling Detective David Gabriel for dressing up as Robin, Bat Man's sidekick. Not enjoying the razzing, he began looking around uncomfortably, hoping they'd leave him alone once they found someone else whose costume was worse than his. 'Not that they should really talk, given what some of them showed up as,' he sighed to himself.

His fearless leader and her husband were both dressed as hippies. 'Quite honestly she doesn't show any more flare for fashion as a hippie than she does in her day-to-day outfits,' he thought. Brenda had a bandanna in her long curly hair, a tee shirt with a huge peace sign on it, three skirts of different lengths, multi-colored tights and sandals. Special Agent Fritz Howard of the FBI wore a long-haired wig with a headband holding it in place, ripped bell-bottom jeans, a tie-dye shirt and sandals you'd probably see on old men in a retirement home. 'And she's got the nerve to be complaining,' Gabriel thought to himself, looking at the both of them, 'at least Fritz tried.'

Lt Mike Tao dressed up as Han Solo and Buzz, their civilian tech, was Luke Skywalker. They each completed their outfits with a blaster and light saber.

Lt Provenza came as a Dodgers' Angel, wearing jeans, a Dodgers jersey of his favorite player, a halo that refused to stay upright on his head and a rather large pair of feather-filled wings for someone of his short stature.

His best friend Lt Andy Flynn looked like a train conductor though he'd initially gotten annoyed when anyone called him that. He was wearing tan overalls over a Dodgers jersey, a conductor's hat, and tan boots. 'He certainly looks like a train conductor so what the hell else could he be,' Gabriel wondered while rolling his eyes at the older man's grumbling about everybody getting his costume wrong.

The team was rounded out by Detective Julio Sanchez who showed up as a bum. 'That's not very politically correct,' Gabriel thought to himself as he covered his nose. Sanchez wore patched up jeans, a piece of rope in lieu of a belt, and a ripped tee shirt under a ripped over-sized button down shirt that he left open. He was dirty, smelled and hadn't shaved since Friday morning. On a Saturday early evening, he had a pretty good amount of growth going on already. It was the stench that caught everyone's attention though as he joined their group. Gabriel had been caught covering his nose leading Brenda to ask Sanchez while he smelled like a homeless person. His answer was simple; for twenty bucks he bought a homeless guy's button down shirt. It made his costume seem more realistic, he explained.

When Gavin came over, cheerfully greeting everyone with an extra wink for Flynn, he never let go of Raydor's hand knowing she'd leave to join her team as soon as he did. They wore matching outfits: he was a Spiffy Devil which only required an expensive black suit, a red button down, expensive shiny black shoes and small red horns; she was a Sexy Devil wearing a low-cut shorter-than-usual black dress, a red lace camisole beneath the dress covered up half the cleavage it would've shown, expensive high-heeled black shoes and small red horns. 'They are looking pretty damn good,' Gabriel thought as he saw them approach.

He then chuckled as he heard Flynn choke on his cranberry-and-soda as he laid eyes on Raydor. Mumbling something about her looking great, he excused himself to go outside for some air.

"Oh that woman," came tumbling out of their boss' mouth as if on cue when Flynn grabbed Raydor's elbow and nodded his head towards the exit. She then looked at Gavin and gave him her uncomfortable smile which quickly turned into a grimace.

"Oh don't hold back on my account. I'll tell her everything you said and implied anyway," he smirked at his client.

"Well I'm just gonna say what is on everyone's minds but they're too damn chicken to say it themselves cuz you're here, Mr Fancy Pants lawyer who didn't even wear a costume."

"I'm a Spiffy Devil. I have horns therefore I'm in costume."

"You're a lawyer, you always have horns. You're just showing them today," Lt Provenza retorted. "Anyway, we are all thinking that Flynn is a damn idiot for always, at every damn function, finding a way to get that woman alone. And with her dressed like that, Ye Gods he's a damn fool."

"She'll turn him down as usual, Lt, so relax," his boss urged him.

"That's not very angelic of you, Lt Grouchy Bear," Gavin teased. "If Silver Haired Fox has a thing for the Sexy Devil than so be it. She is enchanting."

"Says you cuz you're her friend. She's the enemy to every last one of us in the Department."

"Wow! Such hostility toward someone just doing their job, Lt," Gavin noted with a pout.

"As the Chief said, Ms Can't Touch This will just turn the damn fool down as she always does. I don't even know why he bothers."

"She's a challenge, Sir," Julio pointed out. "Plus she is smoking hot in that dress."

"Well, you just keep that kind of talk in your head, Smelly Ass."

"It's my shirt, Lt, not my ass," he chuckled as the older man's face reddened.

"Whatever, you stink, Sanchez! Next time, don't be so damn realistic."

"I didn't want to come," he shrugged.

"Well none of us did," his boss interjected, "but you're the only one who came in smelling so ripe, Detective." The group started laughing and temporarily forgot about their absent compadre.

Meanwhile outside…

"Why do you do this every time there is a function we are forced to attend?" she asked with annoyance.

"How else am I supposed to check on you?" he asked sincerely.

Putting her hands on her hips, she hissed, "You don't even like me, Lt Flynn, why do you always check on me?"

Shrugging, he gave her his trademark lopsided grin. "Do you have any idea how hard you're making every straight guy here?"

"You're impossible, Lt, I'm going back inside," she said as she pushed passed him.

Grabbing her arm, he stopped her. "I'm sorry, Sharon, I really do just wanna check on you." Clearing his throat, he explained. "I don't like Captain Raydor but the Sharon I met back in the day, her I do like. She's put up with a lot." Sensing her relax a bit, he bit the bullet. "How are Emily and Ricky?"

Turning to face him, she smiled. "They're doing well, thank you, and they're happy. How are your children, Andy?"

Sighing deeply, he answered honestly, as they always did in these stolen moments. "Nicole's faster at giving me another chance but my son, well he's more like his mother and she still hates me."

"I'm sorry to hear that but he will come around." She put her hand gently on his arm. "He just needs time. It's wonderful that Nicole is already testing the waters with you."

"Yeah, you're right; it's been a long time. We all need to take it slow."

"Taking it slow is usually a good idea. People miss things when they're rushing through life."

"Sharon Raydor, the philosopher of the LAPD," he teased.

"I guess we've reached the end of our time then, Lt," she shot back at him.

"Huh? No, don't leave yet, Sharon. I was kidding. How's Jack?"

Her eyes misted over slightly but she blinked and put her mask back in order. "He's still in Las Vegas but I'll tell him you asked about him." Looking at the entrance door, "I should go back inside."

"I didn't mean that as a diss, you know, asking about Jack. It's no secret he comes to Los Angeles to see you."

"Yes, he does," she admitted. "Andy, you should go back inside. Your team will be wondering what's taking so long for the Ice Queen of FID to turn you down." She saw his smile fade. "They might think the Wicked Witch is working her black magic on you."

"Or trying to take my soul since you're a sexy devil today," he played along. "Look, Sharon, I'm sorry."

"It's fine, Andy, go on ahead. Oh and for the record, my guess is that you're a Dodgers baseball bat not a train conductor."

"You're the only one that figured it out," he said, clearly impressed. Getting serious again, he offered, "I don't have to use my normal excuse, you know."

She waved him off. "It works so why change it? Go on, Andy; add to my reputation as a cold-hearted bitch."

"I've never called you that, Sharon." His eyes looked sad and she wasn't sure why.

She ducked her head briefly then looked back up at him. "Actually you have, Lt," she said softly. "It was nice catching up, Andy. Good luck reconnecting with your children. And, Lt, play it up well as always." She smiled and began to walk toward the door.

"I will, Captain," he quietly assured her though his heart wasn't completely in it.

Upon their return, Lt Dodgers Angel greeted them with, "Oh hey, you two were missing all the fun."

"Oh, Lt, we had our own fun outside," the Captain smirked at him.

"Ye Gods, Flynn, do you mean to tell me you finally got the ice to melt and she rode your caboose right out there?!"

"What?! No, you idiot!" Flynn flashed an apologetic nod to the woman being referenced.

"Oh so she just pulled your horn or blew your whistle?"

"Cut it out, Provenza! Damn, you can be rude sometimes," his friend hissed at him as he glared at Sanchez for snickering.

"Darling, you must tell me what happened outside," Gavin whispered in his friend's ear.

"The same thing that always happens," she whispered back.

Raising his voice, he asked her, "So who do you think is the most fitting?"

"Pope as a clown is very fitting." Sharon quirked her eyebrow at the looks she was getting. "Oh right, Chief, you have a personal connection with him. Do excuse my remark for now."

"It's no problem, Captain," she fluttered her eyelashes at her.

Gavin continued in his quest to keep her by his side. "Most annoying?"

"Taylor is annoying me by pushing his chest out so much. If he pushes it out any further, he will bust a seam."

"Most surprising?" he asked, having a few people in mind.

With a bit of a smirk, she laid her eyes on Andy. "Lt Flynn because you all think he's a conductor. I would've figured him for more accuracy in his costume creation."

"Says the woman who came as a devil," Flynn defended with a small smile.

"I like your costume, Lt," she responded sweetly.

"Oh, hell no! Are you two actually doing some weird kind of flirting right here? Oh hell no, cut that crap out right now!" Provenza spoke loudly enough for the officers nearby to wonder who he meant.

As a woman with a digital camera went by, Gavin caught her attention. "Honey, would you mind taking a picture of us with this group?" After she took it, he pushed Sharon and Andy next to each other. "And one of these two fireballs? I'll take two of each, thank you, Honey." Reaching into his pocket, "Here's my card. If you bring the pictures to my office, I'll pay you handsomely for your trouble." The woman smiled and mumbled her thanks.

The Chief of Police decided it was time to end his soirée with a bit of a speech. Promising to keep it short, he said loudly, "Thank you for coming. Those of you on duty, get to work. Those of you off duty, enjoy the rest of your day. Dismissed."

They all clamored to leave quickly; glad they had made it through yet another tiresome work-related event.

Sharon spent a few minutes with her team as they gathered back from their strolls around the party arena, eavesdropping as Pope had requested. Learning there was nothing to follow up on, she dismissed them to enjoy their time off for as long as it lasted.

"I thought there was no snooping tonight," Gavin whispered.

"I refused to do it but the members of my team have no such reservations," she explained, "so I let them."

"You are a devil and I love it. Let's go have a drink at your place."

"That's an excellent idea," she agreed with a chuckle.

Halloween 2015

After they had both filled Rusty in on the last time they had to attend a work-related Halloween event, they sat there amused as he outright laughed at them.

"So you guys were sneaking around to be nice to each other for a few minutes, even back then?"

"No, we were not," Sharon denied.

"Well, yeah, kind of, if you think about it," Andy pointed out.

"We spent a few minutes away from our team members to ask each other about our children. That hardly qualifies as sneaking off to be nice to each other."

"Uh, hate to break it to you, Sharon, but yes it does," Rusty told her laughingly.

Giving in begrudgingly, "Fine, we were sneaking in a few minutes of niceness."

"That wasn't so hard, now was it?" Andy teased her. "Oh hey, before we go to Nicole's, I have those pictures with me." He showed them to Rusty with a big smile on his face. "She looks great, right."

"You've got it bad, Andy," the boy teased him.

"I'm in love with her, Kid, of course I got it bad."

"How'd you get a copy of those pictures and why do you carry them with you?" Sharon wondered. "What'd you write on the back of them?" she asked, grabbing for them. "Oh, it's just the date," she announced, somewhat embarrassed.

"What? You thought I wrote something nasty on it about you? This was the best fifty bucks I spent back then when it came to you."

"You bought them from Gavin?" she laughed, "You're the one who gave him back half the money he spent?"

"Yep," he said proudly. "I wanted to remember the time I spent with Sharon that night not Captain Raydor. I spent every shift with her and believe me, that was enough."

"You two are weird and," he stood up, "apparently made for each other. It just took you years to figure that out." As he began walking towards the living room, he muttered, "Old people dating are just weird," then wished them fun at Nicole's.

After wishing him the same in return and Sharon ensuring he'd call if anything came up, she wrapped her arms around Andy's middle. "We have come a long way," she murmured into the crook of his neck.

"Yeah we have. We should wear those costumes while we're giving out the candy, you know, just for fun. I already checked with Nicole to see if she thought we should do it."

"And being your daughter, she agrees with you."

"Uh hmm," he kissed her cheek, "she does."

Pulling back to see the happy look on his face, she agreed. "Let's go change then."

Upon arriving at Nicole's, Sharon and Andy were greeted by two very happy, very excited boys who practically knocked them over. After spending time with each of them, Sharon asked Nicole for a bucket of soapy water and some sponges to keep outside just in case they were needed. Laughing, Nicole told Dean he owed her five dollars. Their house would be perfectly safe with two police officers giving out the candy for them.

Andy had trouble keeping his hands off Sharon during the rare times there were no children ringing the door bell. After patiently waiting six weeks, they'd now been making love for six weeks and he still couldn't get enough of her. By the way she responded to his every touch, kiss and murmur, he knew she felt the same way. They had already professed their love for one another before they'd moved to the lovemaking level.

If Rusty thought they spent a lot of time together before that happened, he would most certainly think they did afterwards.

As Andy had Sharon up against the wall, kissing his way down her neck while sliding his hand along her thigh that was wrapped around him, slipping under her dress, he heard a noise from outside.

Running out to see what was going on, he found what remained of eggs sliding down the side of the house and a boy still wrapping toilet paper around the tree nearest the house. Grabbing him, he yelled at the teens for messing up the place.

Sharon had moved just as quickly, catching up to the larger group of mischief makers, flashing her badge and pointing to the bucket. "You will clean that mess you just made or be arrested and I can personally explain to your parents why egging this particular house was a mistake."

Groaning while agreeing to clean so their parents weren't notified, they each grabbed a sponge and began wiping down the siding. The boy Andy had caught volunteered to remove the toilet paper from the tree. The only girl in the group seemed to be the bravest as she complained, "Why do you even care, Lady? It's not like you live here."

"I care because my family lives here and you all shouldn't be making a mess on people's homes." Giving Andy her 'I can't believe kids these days' look, she continued, "When you are done, you can just leave the sponges where you found them. I do suggest you spread the word this house is off-limits to mischief makers."

"It's off-limits to anything," Andy threw in as an afterthought.

When the boys came back with Nicole and Dean, they were tired and offered to show their wares another time. Andy let his daughter know about the eggs and toilet paper incident while very proudly informing her it was Sharon who had the kids clean up their mess.

Shaking her head, she just smiled at her father. "Why don't you two go home and we can have dinner tomorrow as a thank you for tonight?"

Grabbing Sharon's hand, Andy was ready to leave immediately. Kissing his daughter's cheek, he told her he loved her and they'd see her tomorrow. Pulling her into a hug, he whispered, "She called you family."

"Ah, I get it now," she smiled at him. "Sharon, thank you for helping out with the trick-or-treaters," she said as she pulled the older woman into a hug.

"It was fun." Kissing her cheek, "Your father is in a bit of hurry to get home. We will see you tomorrow."

Nicole mouthed, "Home?" to her father as the older couple was leaving. He just shrugged with a big grin on his face.

Once they were in the condo, possessions in their places, he took her hand and led her to the bedroom; hers but he had already slipped out a few times calling it theirs. She had never corrected him.

Once the door was closed and locked, he was kissing her passionately up against it. They quickly rid each other of their clothes and managed to make their way to the bed within a few minutes. Lying under the sheet, wrapped up in each other, they kissed and touched with a fire born of emotion she didn't quite understand. So she asked. "Andy, I love you and I want to make love with you but I also know there's something else going on and I'm wondering what that is."

"Do you really consider Nicole a part of your family?"

Her entire expression softened even more than it already was. "Of course I do. Andy, you know how I am with my children. I love you so that extends to your children as well."

"I am so in love with you, Sharon," he whispered before kissing her deeply and rolling her onto her back.

"I am so in love with you too, Andy," she whispered as their bodies joined.

Later as they lay tangled up with each other, basking in the afterglow, he ran his hand through her hair then pulled her closer to him.

"That's what we're doing here, isn't it? We're creating a family, aren't we, Sharon?" he whispered, emotion clearly present in his voice.

Looking up him, she whispered her response. "Yes, we are, Andy," then kissed him softly before lying back on his chest and closing her eyes. The sound of his heart beat could lull her into sleep if she let it.

She felt him exhale deeply, and say, "Okay, I was just checking."

Smiling, she kissed his chest. "So was I."

[The End]