The Worst Kept Secrets

Provenza groaned when Amy Sykes dropped another armful of files in front of him. Staring at the ever-growing pile in the middle of the conference table, he considered collecting his pension to then run screaming into the safe haven of retirement. But then he remembered how bored he had been last Sunday alone and decided to bear it a little longer. God knew what would happen if the television broke down again and if he permanently removed himself from the Murder Room, he would probably never see his best friend Andy Flynn again. The man seemed insanely busy lately and Provenza was completely convinced that his lack of spare time didn't completely stem from the fact that he was seeing more of his daughter after reconnecting with her at her wedding.

The old lieutenant wearily turned his head to look at his squad mates and boss who looked just as tired and drained as he was feeling. The sight of grayish skin and dark circles under dull eyes all around didn't come as a surprise since they had just spent an entire night without sleep and in the presence of said files. The amount of paperwork to sift through that was associated with this case was ridiculous and, of course, Taylor hadn't granted them the much-needed additional officers they had requested.

"Those were the last ones," Sykes tried with a tired smile. Even the always upbeat and alert young detective looked exhausted which gave Provenza a curious sort of satisfaction. Maybe old age wasn't the cause of his fatigue. Staying up all night, after all, took its toll on everyone. Even Raydor, who usually managed to hide any trace of her humanity if she was so inclined, was busy stifling a yawn at the sight of the files in front of her. Despite the fact that she had spent the night at the office, there was not a hair out of place, but she moved more slowly and seemed jumpier than usual. Then again, the woman wasn't in her twenties either.

"Thank you, Detective," Raydor said, glancing around the room. "I know we have to get through these before our suspect arrives in-" She consulted her watch and narrowed her eyes, then rolled them impatiently when she realized that she had taken her glasses off to rub the bridge of her nose at some point during the night. She took them from her breast pocket and cumbersomely adjusted them on her nose, blinking at the sudden sharpness of her vision. "Oh god, he is due to arrive in three hours. Detective Sanchez, see whether you can stall his arrival somehow without alerting him to the fact that he is not a mere witness anymore. Everyone else, take ten, have a coffee or a catnap and then we'll finish this."

Grateful murmurs resonated from around the table as chairs scraped and people got to their feet while Raydor remained seated, clearly not about to grant herself a break. They didn't have their usual energy at their disposal so everyone was still scattered around the conference table when Flynn leaned down to level with the captain.

"I'm getting a coffee. Do you want one, too?" His voice was soft and low, but carried well. Provenza rolled his eyes at his best friend. He really had to regain some control over his face. The puppy look he adopted when he was looking, no, gazing at the captain was ridiculously obvious. He had been doing that for a while whenever he wasn't too busy spending his time standing as closely behind their boss as possible without risking a sexual harassment suit. Not that Raydor would be inclined to file one, because she didn't seem to mind his close proximity. Actually, she seemed to be seeking it out lately. Provenza growled deeply in his throat at the notion that no one was willing to tell him what had gone down at Nicole's wedding even though he had been the one to talk Raydor into offering to be a "buffer" because he knew that Flynn would never actually dare ask her to be his date. Both of them, however, were always suddenly very busy when he asked about it or gave him lofty answers that weren't informative at all.

Raydor blinked again, obviously about to fall asleep, and smiled up at Flynn more warmly than usual. She reached out and placed her hand over her lieutenant's, rubbing the back of it with her thumb in a very affectionate and familiar way. From the corner of his eye, Provenza saw Sykes' eyebrows shoot up while Tao's head jerked sideways. He wasn't the only one who'd noticed the gesture and either everyone suspected these two of doing something inappropriate outside the office or it was obvious enough to be picked up even by unsuspecting onlookers. But it got worse when Raydor actually answered Flynn's question, seemingly oblivious to the fact that they were currently the center of attention.

"Thank you, honey, but you know how jumpy I get when I've had too much caffeine."

Everyone froze in their tracks. Sanchez's jaw fell, Buzz burst into a coughing fit and Sykes' eyebrows were now so close to her hairline that it looked definitely impressive.

Provenza barely resisted slapping his palm over his eyes. He wasn't surprised that they were somehow involved, but what actually shocked him was that Raydor was the one giving them away. He had fully expected Flynn to do something stupid sooner of later, but apparently Raydor on little to no sleep was just as much of a time bomb.

"Er..." Flynn said. "Alright."

Raydor looked up, too, noticed the mutual shock and intrigue all around her and choked. Her eyes widened and her hands became restless, leafing through the file in front of her in a completely unsuccessful attempt to look focused.

"Okay, well, Lieutenant-" she stuttered. "Anyway..."

She leaned into the file, her nose almost touching the paper, and Provenza found it almost endearing that everyone hurried for the door, Sanchez and Sykes bumping into each other and Tao apologizing to them loudly although he hadn't even been involved in the incident. Provenza looked at Flynn over the tops of everyone's heads and rolled his eyes at him, causing him to quickly withdraw his hand where he had placed it soothingly between Raydor's shoulder blades.

Provenza walked out after the others and closed the door firmly behind him, aware of the fact that the two remaining inside the conference room probably needed a moment of privacy. The second the door clicked shut, however, chatter erupted around him.

"You owe me fifty bucks each!" Buzz announced to the room, making Tao and Sanchez groan and reach for their wallets.

"You knew about this?" Sykes asked, incredulously.

"Come on!" Buzz shook his head in disbelief. "Anyone can see that they've got it bad!"

"I just didn't think they'd start acting on it," Tao grumbled, handing Buzz a folded note. Sanchez crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"How do we know for sure?"

"Are you kidding me?" Provenza finally chimed in. When it came to bets, he drew the line. Losing a bet was not a dishonorable, but refusing to cough up the money when one had lost was an entirely different matter. "Have you ever heard her call anyone 'honey' before?"

"Yeah. Rusty!" Sanchez argued, making Buzz snort.

"He's her foster kid! That is a completely different thing."

"Captain's totally spaced out today," Sanchez said. "She's probably just confused."

"The captain is neither mentally ill nor deranged, Julio. Face it, they're together." Provenza was beginning to get angry as a lack of sleep always made him more irritable than usual.

"I'm not paying up until you prove to me that you're right," Sanchez said with finality. Provenza looked at Buzz who had lost the air of triumph around him an was beginning to look as if he was about to stomp his foot like a little kid anytime soon. Provenza took pity on the young man whom he knew was saving for a new television (and he could relate), so he shook his head, spun around and opened the conference room door with flourish.

Indeed, Flynn was standing right behind Raydor who was resting her head on her folded arms on the table and was giving deep hums of pleasure while he massaged the tense muscles in her neck, his nose buried in her hair, placing gentle kisses on top of her head.

"Goddamn it, Julio!" Provenza snapped, enraged. "What else do you need?"

While the team was obviously still wondering whether they were supposed to cheer or to quickly turn away and never speak of it all again, there was a small commotion at the end of the hall as Gavin Baker entered, his usual perfectly groomed self with a bright smile and more energy than the whole team combined would have been able to muster, even after the recent adrenaline hit.

"Hello, hello!" he sang brightly. "Where's my lovely pal Sharon?" He waved at her with the stack of papers in his hand, slightly taken aback by the way she was putting up her hands and shaking her head.

"See those?" Provenza yelled at Sanchez, putting all his recent frustration about the amount of dull work and the sleepless night into his words. "I have gone through five divorces and I recognize divorce papers when I see them!"

With a shocked little jerk of his head, Gavin cradled the papers against his chest as if to protect them from curious glances.

Buzz just raised his eyebrows and extended his hand towards Sanchez who looked positively murderous when he finally handed the money over. Now that this was settled, Provenza became aware of Raydor's crestfallen face and the stunned look on his best friend's face that would surely soon change to resemble Sanchez's. He shrugged with a small smile and tiptoed into the room to get the door.

Gently closing it behind them, he pointed at Buzz who was happily holding his newly acquired one-hundred dollars.

"I'll double that amount in free usage of my printer if you promise to never speak of this again."

The End