No True Pair

Beverly is already in bed when Sharon gets home. She looks up from her book and takes in the sight of the captain — dark circles under her eyes, uncharacteristically disheveled clothes, flat hair — and she makes a decision.

"Did you close the case?"

Sharon responds with a wordless hum and a nod as she shrugs out of her blazer and toes off her shoes.

"Good. Then you're taking tomorrow off," Beverly declares. "Doctor's orders," she adds, firmly squashing the protests blooming on Sharon's lips.

Sharon finishes getting ready for bed and slides under the covers. She is almost too tired to be coherent, but she tries anyway. She kisses Beverly's bare shoulder and speaks for the first time since arriving home. "Honey, I can't. There's paperwork to do and what if-"

"You're telling me that Provenza has been on the force for 100 years but he can't handle a little paperwork?" Beverly teases, even eliciting a weak smile from Sharon. Beverly smiles back and turns to face the captain. She brushes the dark auburn hair behind Sharon's ear and then gently strokes her face, soothing away the worry lines that have become a near-permanent fixture lately. "They'll be fine. It's you I'm worried about. Let's take a trip — just for the weekend. Forget about dead bodies and the dregs of society for three days and then on Monday you can go back to work and resume your superhero duties."

Green eyes meet blue as Sharon tries to assess whether ot not Beverly might be willing to negotiate, but the doctor is harder to crack than most criminals. "OK," she finally acquiesces with a sigh, and when Beverly smiles brightly, Sharon can't resist smiling back.

So they take the weekend and drive up the coast, and they stay in a little seaside Bed and Breakfast that serves incredible homemade scones, and they make love with the windows open, smelling the salty air and listening to the soothing sounds of the ocean. On Sunday afternoon as they drive back to LA, Sharon has to admit that riding in the convertible with the top down, the ocean breeze blowing through her hair and Beverly's hand resting on her knee as they talk about anything but murders is exactly what the doctor ordered.