Your Place or Mine? Part 2/3

[bsgroxmysox]

So it's been over 2 weeks since ddagent's birthday but the fic continues!Title: Your Place or Mine?
Author: bsgroxmysox
Rating: M (Just in case)
Summary: Something goes astray on Sharon and Will's date night
A/N: Sorry this took so long. *kicks RL* Part 3 will be along quicker! Thank you to tayryn for helping me with this!!! *tackle hugs tay* Any mistakes left are all because of me! 
Disclaimer: I own nothing! All characters belong to TNT and James Duff...except for Melissa, she's all mine :D

Link to Part 1

Sharon pressed a kiss to Will's bare scalp as his hand continued to rub gentle circles on her back. They had been cooped up in his office for hours now and somehow she found herself sitting on his lap in his office chair.

Of course this chair had seen much more action than a simple embrace but with the knowledge that the rest of the LAPD now knew about them it seemed that bit more taboo.

There was a light tap on the door and Sharon jumped from the chair, disentangling herself from Will in the process. Brenda poked her head around the door and blushed as she recognised the situation she had interrupted.

"So sorry to have kept you both waiting." Brenda murmured with a smile as she dropped her bag to the floor and sat in the seat opposite the desk. Sharon had no option but to stay standing beside Will.

"Neither of you recognized the victim is that correct?"

Sharon rolled her eyes as Will sighed and answered. "Yes, Chief Johnson, as we have said fifteen times today, we do not know who that girl is…was."

Brenda's eyes travelled over their faces as if searching for some hint of a lie. It was strange to be on this side of a Brenda Leigh Johnson interrogation. Sharon had never felt more uncomfortable.

"Do either of you recognize anyone in this photo?"

A simple 10x15 photo was placed on the desk in front of them and both leaned in closely to view the two smiling women. Will gasped and pushed back from the desk as Sharon felt her mouth go dry. Her glasses slipped further down her nose but she was too shocked to push them back up.

"I take it you know our victim on the right but this lady on the left-"

"Drop the act, Brenda." Will interrupted. "I know you recognize her."

His eyes never left the photo and his fingers drifted to ghost a touch over his daughter's face.

"And you're saying you didn't know about your daughter and Ms. Richards' relationship?"

Sharon stiffened imperceptibly, hoping that Brenda didn't notice her discomfort. Of course if her hopes and wishes were being fulfilled she would be lying naked and sweaty in her lover's bed rather than trying to banish the image of a dead woman lying there.

"Sharon?"

It appeared that while Brenda missed Sharon's mild unease, Will had not. He had turned his questioning eyes from the picture on his desk to the woman standing beside him. She had no option but to tell him the truth.

"I never met the girl but I knew they weren't together that long and they broke up months ago," she answered, all the while focusing on Will. "I'm so sorry I didn't tell you but she asked me not to say anything. It wasn't for me to tell you, Will. She had to be the one to-"

"You knew?"

Sharon nodded, biting her lip to hold back the tears. The look of betrayal on Will's face felt like a knife to her gut. The knife twisted when he stood abruptly and swept from the room without a word.

Sharon sunk into the seat previously occupied by the man she loved and swiftly wiped at the tears pooling at the sides of her eyes.

"I need to go….I have to interview…." Brenda trailed off awkwardly, obviously uncomfortable with seeing the stern Captain Raydor reduced to a crying mess.

Sharon waved her hand to let the Blonde know she could leave. Only when the door shut and she was alone again did she allow the tears to fall freely.

***
She was pacing the length of the interview room, arms crossed across her chest and her hands soothingly rubbing her arms. She looked like a lost child and it broke Will's heart.

"Mel?"

His daughter jerked in surprise at hearing his voice and gave him a watery smile. She made no move towards him but he never expected anything other than that. They hadn't been close since he left her mother and married another woman.

"Kylie and Damon?"

"With Estelle for the weekend." He didn't miss the not so subtle wince when Melissa heard her ex-stepmother's name. "I asked her to let them stay an extra few days."

She nodded and dropped her arms to the chair in front of her. "This is bad isn't it?"

"I honestly don't know, they can't tell me anything about the case." He paused, leveling her with a stern gaze. "People keeping things from me seems to be quite a common occurrence lately."

She had the good grace to look embarrassed. "I'm sorry, Will."

He had to smile in spite of himself. In all her twenty-five years Melissa had never called her mother or father anything but their given names, much to her father's amusement and her mother's annoyance.

"So…you're…" Nerves suddenly flooded his body as his voice caught in his throat.

"I'm gay, Will. You can say it."

He shot her a withering look and used his thumb and forefinger to rub the bridge of his nose, easing the tension headache he could feel building.

"Why did you never tell me?"

"It's difficult to come out to your parents, Will. Surely you understand that?"

"So your mother doesn't know either."

Her blush deepened. "Umm I actually have spoken to her and Doug about-"

"You told Doug before me? So your mother, her husband and my girlfriend all knew before I did? Damn it Melissa why could you talk to everyone else but me?"

She scuffed her foot along the floor, studiously avoiding his gaze.

"Someday you want to be Chief," she said as if that it explained everything. "You've proven to have a difficult time becoming Chief of Police without your daughter's sexual orientation being made public knowledge."

"Oh God, Mel…" He gathered her in his arms not caring about her usual need for distance around him. "I love you, Mel, you know that right?"

He felt her nod against her shoulder as her arms embraced him just as tightly.

"I don't care if you date men, women or apes I still have the same opinion; that none of them are good enough for my little girl."

She hiccuped a laugh and he joined in with her giggles. The two remained like that, embracing and laughing, for several minutes until Brenda interrupted the father/daughter moment.

"Sorry to break this up but we have an interview to conduct."

Will cupped Melissa's cheek. "I'll be in my office when you're finished here okay?"

With her confident nod he walked out of the room. He stood outside the room until he heard the anguished cry of his daughter as she found out someone she once loved had been murdered.

***
Brenda reviewed the evidence board quickly as her team ambled back to their desks. One dead body and two suspects.

"Chief," Sanchez began when everyone had sat down. "The boyfriend's alibi checks out, he was working at the time of death but he is still the last one to see her alive."

"So he didn't kill her. That leaves suspect number two." Who just happens to be your boss' daughter, she thought wryly. "What was her alibi again?"

"Home alone all night." Gabriel consulted his notes and answered. "No one else was there to verify that."

"Uh, Chief, there is something interesting about her alibi though," Provenza added. "The house she was staying in was recently purchased by William Pope and Sharon Raydor."

"Oh for heavens sake!" Brenda exclaimed. "For two people who wanted to keep their relationship a secret they really didn't try very hard."

"Nobody here knew anything about them." Flynn muttered under his breath, earning him an exaggerated rolling of the eyes from his commanding officer.

"Why was it just her there?" Taylor asked between mouthfuls of a mystery sugary dish that Brenda had to resist visibly salivating over.

"The purchase on the house only just went through and the new homeowners haven't had time to pack up their things." Gabriel answered while Brenda snapped herself out of her confectionary based daydreams.

"Okay, back to the case; motive. Anyone?"

"Well Melissa was dumped by her girlfriend for a man. Nothing worse than an angry lesbian." Provenza's attempt at humor was met with blank stares.

"If she was so angry why wait months to kill her?" Flynn asked. "Whereas this boyfriend here is a devout Catholic and may not have reacted well when he found out about his girlfriend's….past activities."

"Lieutenant Flynn has a point. If this was a crime of passion, which fits with the wounds Ms. Richards has, then Melissa Pope would have acted months ago. But the boyfriend was at work." Brenda eyed the board again. One body, two suspects.

"Lieutenant Tao find out if he has any family nearby and if they share his…devotion to religion. Sanchez canvas the neighborhood where this new residence is and see if anyone saw Melissa on the night of the murder. Flynn and Provenza you can take a look at the members of his congregation and see if this boyfriend is close with any of them."

Her team moved with ease as she barked out instructions and soon they were once again on track to find the killer.

***
Sharon hadn't stayed in Will's office. Instead she sought out the only place that ever allowed her to think clearly: her office. The room was familiar, the colours comfortable and the atmosphere was surprisingly homely.

Her tears had dried but the memory of the look on Will's face was still etched in her mind. She knew keeping Melissa's secret would hurt him; he was her father and deserved to know the truth about his daughter. Of course Sharon wanted to form a bond with the girl and this secret had indeed brought them closer together.

For what felt like hours, Sharon went back and forth, arguing the pros and cons for what she had done. It was no good, she had kept a secret from Will and there was no going back now but this was a way to keep her mind occupied.

"You look about as good as I feel." The voice in the doorway startled her from her mental punishment.

Her lover's daughter and the main suspect in a murder was standing at the entrance to Sharon's office. It was obvious she had been crying and Sharon couldn't resist the natural mothering instinct that propelled her towards the girl to embrace her.

There was a muffled "This is so messed up." against Sharon's shoulder followed by a weary sigh.

"I'm so sorry about what happened, sweetheart."

"Sorry that one of the only women I've ever loved was murdered or that her body showed up in your boyfriend's bed?"

Sharon's arms stiffened around the girl. She knew Melissa had just received some very bad news and was just acting out but it still hurt to hear the harsh words. She tried to pull away but Melissa's arms tightened their hold around her.

"I didn't mean that."

"I know. This sucks, Mel, we just have to deal with it the best we can."

The sound of someone clearing their throat broke the two women apart. They turned to see the man that connected them standing at the door.

"We are all free to go home for a while but we were warned not to leave the state."

Sharon rolled her eyes and Melissa struggled to contain her laughter. Will's hand reached out to cup his daughter's cheek.

"Will you wait for us outside? Then we can all go back to the new house and sleep for a little bit."

Melissa threw Sharon a supportive smile and left the couple alone in the office. Once the door closed behind them he stretched out a hand towards her which she clasped in her own.

"Do you remember when I tried to ask you to marry me?"

Sharon blushed and nodded her head. She remembered the mixture of joy and fear the question had prompted within her and she remembered the crestfallen look on his face when she said no. While she did love Will, the memories of her first marriage completely turned her off taking another trip down the aisle.

"I remember the panic I felt when you said no but then you changed everything with six simple words." He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Do you remember what they were?"

"Can't we just love each other…" she breathed as his lips caressed her brow before moving to her cheek and finally bestowing a sweet kiss to her lips.

"I love you, Sharon. We shouldn't keep secrets from each other but you did the right thing here. You kept my daughter's confidence and gained her trust which is more than what I had."

"I hated lying to you."

"I know. Come on let's go home, you can make it up to me there."

"But we don't have all the furniture moved." Sharon protested.

"We have enough. Besides you got rid of the bed from your old house and there's no way we are ever using my bed again."

"Okay. Take me home, Will."

***