"Enigma (7/16)" - Hobbs/Raydor Fic
Title: Enigma (7/16)
Co-author: sharon_ray
Pairing: Hobbs/Raydor
Rating: T
Word Count: 4, 291
Disclaimer: Not our characters or television show
Summary: Sharon and Andrea's relationship has been balanced on the precipice of friendship and something more for longer than either of them care to admit. Will the ever-present danger of their jobs finally push them over that fine line? Or will it pull them apart?
A/N: Fic starts out in season seven of The Closer, and follows the events (we've taken some liberties of course) of Major Crimes. This fic is complete and chapters will be posted on a weekly basis. On ff.net: Enigma.
Ch.1, Ch.2, Ch.3, Ch.4, Ch.5, Ch.6,
(graphic made by me with my own screencaps and those taken with permission from MajorCrimesTV.net. Please do not take or re-post.)
“Captain Raydor, is now a good time?” Andrea knocked on Sharon’s door.
“What? What do you mean? Well I don’t care, rush the results. I needed them three hours ago,” Sharon barked into the phone. She noticed Andrea standing in her doorway and motioned for her to have a seat. “Fine, call me as soon as they’re in tomorrow,” she gritted out before hanging up a bit more forcefully than normal.
Andrea regarded the Captain as she removed her glasses to pinch the bridge of her nose. “I guess now is not a good time?”
Sharon sighed. “I’m so sorry, did we have a meeting today?” she asked apologetically. The only upside of her taking in a foster child and running a department full of cranky officers lately was that she’d been so busy there hadn’t been any time for her to dwell on her friendship - or lack thereof lately - with Andrea. They’d defaulted to strict professionalism in the last few weeks.
“No, we didn’t. It’s just that I have my meeting with Stroh’s lawyers and the judge tomorrow. We’re to talk about sentencing and I need to be able to reference a commanding officer in the investigation, and since Chief Johnson’s retirement-”
“It’s fallen to me, yes,” Sharon said, “How much time do you need?” she asked.
“I need you completely up to date with the evidence, I need to be able to say that you’ve read both Stroh’s statement and that you’ve gone over all the reports made by the officers who interviewed Mr. Stroh,” Andrea said as she reached into her briefcase for her folder. “It really shouldn’t take more than an hour or two. You’re already familiar with most of the evidence and reports.”
“Okay, let’s get this done with,” Sharon said.
“Tough day?” Andrea dared to ask; she hadn’t asked Sharon a question outside of strictly professional guidelines for weeks.
“The lab is taking forever to get my results back to me. And seeing as our suspect is a minor, eventually I am going to have to let him go. The clock is ticking and...just...,” Sharon sighed, then policed herself back to pure professionalism. “Yes. It’s been an especially difficult day.”
Andrea spread the paperwork out across Sharon’s desk, offering her Stroh’s statement and the stack of corresponding testimonies. “I’m sorry to add to the burden. I tried to call, but I kept getting your voicemail. I thought I’d try my luck and head over here. I just don’t want to push this meeting with the judge back anymore. The longer we drag this out, the worse it’s going to be for everyone involved,” Andrea said sympathetically, referring mostly to Sharon’s new foster son.
She didn’t dare name Rusty as a concern, she knew she had no right to. Sharon’s living situation with the boy was none of Andrea’s business, nor was his, or Sharon’s, well being. She’d heard that Sharon had taken Rusty in as a foster son from Andy Flynn. She couldn’t help the flutter of worry she felt for both Sharon and Rusty. She had seen how volatile Rusty had been when they’d first picked him up; as much as she respected Sharon for taking him in, Andrea knew that the last thing Sharon needed right now was the added stress of raising an especially challenging foster child.
Sharon seemed to soften at the indirect mention of Rusty. “Well, time could do Rusty some good, to be honest with you,” Sharon sighed as she took the papers from Andrea, careful to avoid touching her hand. “I’ve finally gotten him into school and settled down a bit. We’re finding a routine. I know the trial has to happen, but I’m looking forward to a little bit of normalcy...or something like normalcy for him. Rusty is a good kid. You forget that I raised two of my own while I was working full time in Internal Affairs,” Sharon sat back in her chair and crossed her legs as she looked over the witness testimonies, glancing over each one briefly.
Andrea watched her carefully as she read, annoyed somewhat that Sharon responded to her subtle concern without any real prompting. Andrea hated when she did that; when Sharon knew what she was talking about even before she did. Sometimes it seemed like Sharon knew Andrea better than Andrea did; it drove her insane.
“Well, yes, I understand that Rusty probably needs some time, but as a material witness, it would be best if he-”
Andrea’s polite argument was cut off by a sharp knocking at Sharon’s door, and then the appearance of Lt. Tao’s head. “Uh, Captain? Flynn just caught a witness. Suspect’s girlfriend; says she can verify his alibi. We’ve got her in interview room one with Sanchez.”
“Uh, okay. Thank you, Lt. Tao,” Sharon muttered, looking up from the paperwork in front of her to nod at him. “Please tell Detective Sanchez to get her to record her statement of facts for us. I’ve have to finish things up here with DDA Hobbs.”
Andrea waited until Sharon’s attention was focused back on her. “As I was saying, as a material witness, the sooner that the trial starts, the sooner it can end. I am sure that he’s ready to put it behind him as well,” she said sympathetically as she shifted in her seat uncomfortably. “And the sooner perhaps he can start therapy of some kind. I um, I have a friend of a friend who is a therapist; she specializes with children who have endured trauma or survived abusive domestic situations. If you want her number, just let me know?” Andrea offered, she hoped that she wasn’t overstepping any boundaries.
Sharon opened her mouth, then closed it; she straightened her posture in her chair and tried again. “Oh, um, thank you. I don’t know that Rusty is ready to talk to a therapist, in fact I don’t know that he will be any time soon. But, I appreciate the gesture. I really do,” Sharon said genuinely.
“It’s no problem. There are some things, some cases, that never get easier to deal with over the years. He’s so young, and I just…,” she shook her head and cleared her throat. “Please do let me know if he would like to attend therapy,” she said quietly. She found herself wanting to ask more questions about Rusty, she wanted to know how Sharon was adjusting to life as a single mother again, but she knew it wasn’t her place anymore. She hummed to herself, unsure of what else to say.
“So, I’m assuming that a drawback to this case is that Rusty was the only-”
“Sorry Captain,” Lt. Tao apologized as he craned his neck around Sharon’s office door one more time. “ Buzz got a read on the license plates from the abandoned car parked in front of the house last night at the time of the murders. Do you want us to run a search?”
Sharon let out a quiet sigh and brushed her hair out of her face. “Uh, yes. You and Detective Sykes can try to locate the car with Buzz, please. Lt.s Flynn and Provenza have already dealt with the evidence we’ve got in holding for now, so if they don’t mind working overtime, they can assist Detective Sykes or Detective Sanchez.” She schooled her tone so that it was professional; she knew Tao was only doing exactly what she’d asked him to do, but she couldn’t help her frustration at the constant interruptions. At this rate, She and Andrea were never going to get through these testimonies for the Stroth case in time for Andrea’s meeting tomorrow morning. And, if Sharon was being honest with herself, Andrea’s presence wasn’t helping her tension at all.
“I’m sorry, DDA Hobbs,” she muttered as Lt. Tao closed her office door one more time.
“It’s fine,” Andrea said nonchalantly. She could see how stressed Sharon was, the lines around her face were noticeably deeper, there were dark circles under her eyes and she looked as though she had lost some weight recently.
“As I was saying, Rusty was the only witness in both places to see Stroh. Is Chief...former Chief Johnson’s... heightened interest in Stroh going to be problematic with her being a witness?” Sharon asked honestly as she put her glasses back on to look at the witness testimonies side by side.
“It could be,” Andrea said honestly, “she assaulted him in the elevator in front of half a dozen witnesses, and prior to that incident it was known that Chief Johnson was rather interested in his activities and whereabouts. Now, her intuition did prove to be correct, however, Stroh’s lawyers will focus on her, as you said, heightened interest in him.”
“So Rusty really will be the key witness in all of this,” Sharon said carefully, contemplating the pressure that was going to be on her foster son in the coming months with this trial. “It really will be up to him to put Stroh behind bars.” Sharon took her glasses off for the second time in their conversation and pressed her palms into her temples, trying to relieve some of the pressure building behind her eyes. She sighed and rolled her eyes as she heard yet another hesitant knock at her office door.
“Come in,” Sharon called, recognizing the shape of the teen through her partially opened blinds.
“Hey, Sharon,” Rusty said awkwardly as he looked at DDA Hobbs. He’d only dealt with her a handful of times, but he liked Hobbs well enough. She didn’t sugar coat anything, she was direct, honest, and precise, which he appreciated in a person.
“You think we can maybe grab dinner now?” he asked. “It’s like past 6:00 pm?”
“Yes, I uh,” Sharon looked apologetically at Andrea, “what time do you have to meet with the judge tomorrow?” she asked.
“9:00 am,” Andrea answered.
Rusty shuffled awkwardly in the doorway. “Why don’t you come with us? Do you like burgers? Sharon and I were going to have hamburgers tonight,” Rusty offered.
Sharon looked carefully at Andrea and sighed. They needed to get the paperwork done anyway, and she had to feed Rusty. “I’m sure you need to eat dinner, right? We can finish this while Rusty finishes his homework,” she said as Rusty rolled his eyes at the mention of homework. Sharon felt more than a little ashamed for feeling the need to subtly point out that she and Andrea would not be alone this evening. The colour flushed in her cheeks as she waited for Andrea’s response.
“Okay, I can do that,” Andrea agreed, doing her best to keep her tone casual. She felt a knot tightening in her stomach as soon as she said yes.
Rusty shrugged the other strap of his backpack over his shoulder as the two women gathered their things. “Hey, DDA Hobbs, have you ever been to 25 Degrees before?” he asked as the three of them made their way to the elevator.
“That’s the place where you can build your own burger from scratch? Yes, I’ve been before, and you can call me Andrea,” she said gently.
“Okay, uh, thanks Andrea,” he nodded, affording her a slight smile.
“Right, do you want to follow me there and meet me at my condo after, Andrea?” Sharon asked carefully. Carpooling was out of the question; there was no way she was going to allow herself to end up in a car alone with Andrea Hobbs later on when she would have to drive her home. If she could help it, she wouldn’t end up alone with Andrea Hobbs at all tonight. If they worked quickly after dinner while Rusty was studying, they could be done and she could be out the door before Rusty went to bed. Or so Sharon hoped.
“Well, we’ll see you at the restaurant, then.” Sharon raised her eyebrows at Andrea as if to say Are we really doing this? She couldn’t hide the questioning look on her face as she waited for the blonde’s approval that she would see them there.
Andrea nodded “That’ll be fine,” she reassured Sharon, hoping she sounded casual, like she was talking about their evening plans and the possibility of getting all their work done, rather than their constant, volatile back and forth when it came to one another these days.
***
“Let me know when you’re done with the, um, eye-witness report and we’ll go over the police reports,” Andrea said as she unpacked her briefcase on Sharon’s coffee table. She handed the file that contained notes on Rusty’s testimony over to Sharon so she could read. Behind them, Rusty was sitting at the kitchen table pouring over a textbook and notepad.
Sharon propped her bare feet up on the coffee table and leaned into the couch as she read. She was exhausted from the day; as much as she wanted to keep it strictly professional with Andrea, she couldn’t stand sitting up right any more.
“Here,” she muttered, handing Andrea Rusty’s testimony as she finished it. “That was, informative,” she sighed, the weight of what Rusty had gone through hitting her hard. She closed her eyes and rested her head against the back of the couch to collect herself for a moment. Reading the case was now very different for Sharon than it had been a month ago; Rusty wasn’t her foster son a month ago, he was merely an unruly witness. She had grown accustomed to Rusty in her home and in her life, every day he was becoming more and more a staple in it. A sweet, kind, caring staple at that. They had their moments of strife, but overall Rusty was a good kid, and a kid Sharon was beginning to care deeply for. She hated that he had already experienced so much suffering in his young life.
“I know... I’m sorry.” Andrea nodded sympathetically as she laid the police reports out across the table at Sharon’s feet. “These will not be any easier to read, just so you’re forewarned. I’m sorry you have to do this.”
“That’s fine,” she hummed quietly as she sat up and propped her elbows on her knees to look at the reports. “Have you heard from... from the other witness lately? I haven’t. Is... are they okay?” Sharon asked quietly, trying to stay as cryptic as possible. She hadn’t really heard from Brenda much since the incident with Stroh in the elevator. While she and Brenda could never claim to be good friends, she had been worried about Brenda’s well being. She respected her as an officer, but more so than that, she respected that Brenda had pursued the case against Stroh and sacrificed her career with the LAPD to bring this monster to justice. She could even admit, to a point, that she missed Brenda. She had grown accustomed to that languid drawl constantly throwing complaints her way. Yes, in some ways her life was less complicated without Brenda Leigh Johnson in it, but in others it had become endlessly more complicated thanks to her absence. She didn’t necessarily want Brenda back in her life as a coworker again; though she certainly wouldn't mind having her around as a friend someday. Admittedly she did have a rather protective need to know that the other woman was okay, and flourishing in her new position.
Andrea nodded knowingly, trying to find a way to phrase her answer without letting on to Rusty that she was speaking about Brenda. “The other witness is doing as well as they can be, given the circumstances. They are... seeking the appropriate treatment for any emotional damage that may have been caused, and they’ve moved on to other things. Things are looking up, I think. They are going to be just fine, Sharon.”
Andrea smiled at Sharon and sat back on the couch as she took a sip of the cappuccino Sharon had made her. She had sat in this very spot so many times before sipping Sharon’s cappuccinos; Sharon always made them for her after their dinners because she knew they were her favourite. This evening, Sharon had walked in the door and made her one without Andrea even asking; it almost felt like they’d gone back to being friends. Except that they had a sixteen year old unknowing chaperon, and they were here, on her couch, on strictly “professional” terms.
Sharon ran her hands over her arms in an attempt to warm herself up as she loomed over the coffee table; she had discarded her jacket and shoes by the door and hadn’t taken the time she usually did to change into something warmer or more comfortable than her skirt and silk shirt. Without thinking twice, Andrea grabbed the cream coloured cable knit throw Sharon always kept on the back of the couch and tossed it gently at her, smirking.
Sharon froze. She had been enjoying their easy familiarity since settling on the couch together, but this was perhaps a little too familiar, too soon.
“What?” Andrea shrugged, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. “You looked cold,” she said defensively.
Sharon softened her gaze. “I was cold, thank you.”
Sharon looked back as Rusty began to shove his notebook and textbooks into his backpack. “Rusty, what are you doing?”
“I’m going to go listen to music in my room for a while before I go to bed,” he muttered, picking up the last of his things.
“Oh, finished your homework already?” Sharon asked, hoping to sound casual.
“Yeah, all done. Night Sharon.” He started down the hallway, “Night Andrea, thanks for coming to dinner with us,” he said as he made his way into his room.
“It was my pleasure. Night Rusty,” Andrea replied politely.
Beside her, Sharon cleared her throat. “How many more police reports are there? Do we have a lot of documents left?” she asked nervously.
“Not very many, we’re nearly done and I then I can get out of your hair,” Andrea joked, leaning back on the couch. “Rusty seems to be adjusting well here.” She defaulted to her usual safe topic: Sharon’s kids. Rusty was obviously becoming one of Sharon’s kids very quickly, Andrea thought discussing him might keep Sharon comfortable while they finished working.
“He is doing pretty well,” Sharon mused, looking down the hallway in the direction of his door. “Like I said, we’ve gotten into a routine. The first couple of weeks were hard, but I think we’re finding a mutual respect for each other. He’s adjusting well to authority. I think a part of him appreciates the it; god knows he needed the security.”
Andrea nodded as she fished the last of the documents out of her briefcase and replaced the ones Sharon had already looked over. “That’s good to hear. After all he’s been through, I’m sure a loving home is going to do him a world of good. You’re doing a wonderful thing, Sharon.” Andrea reached for Sharon’s hand and squeezed it gently, then, realizing what she had done, she retreated.
Sharon cleared her throat again. “Thanks for coming with us to that burger place. It meant a lot to him, he loves it there,” she said; she took Andrea’s retreating hand back and ran her thumb across Andrea’s knuckles.
Andrea shrugged. “It was no problem.” She pursed her lips and looked down into her lap, at their entwined fingers.
Sharon looked down the hallway again, then back at Andrea; the need to be close to her was overwhelming. She found the same hunger in Andrea’s eyes when their gazes met; she wasn’t sure who moved forward first, but the next moment they were so close that their breaths mingled, and their noses lightly collided. Sharon tilted her head carefully and planted one single, gentle kiss along Andrea’s jaw line, closing her eyes as she did it. She reveled in the feeling of Andrea’s skin under her lips again; she moved closer to Andrea on the couch and littered her jawline with sweet, soft kisses, too afraid to make the move to her lips. She was shaking with the effort to keep her lips gentle, her movements controlled; the urge to surrender her control was so, so strong.
Andrea sighed softly, and turned her head to capture Sharon’s lips in a proper kiss. She dropped Sharon’s hand to tangle her fingers in those soft auburn curls, while her other hand sought out Sharon’s waist. Beneath her lips, Sharon opened her mouth and welcomed Andrea's tongue with a muffled groan. Andrea’s heart soared and she began to contemplate that perhaps her lover had returned to her.
Andrea felt Sharon’s hands tug frantically at her shirt as she tried to untuck it from her trousers. Just as Andrea was beginning to feel Sharon’s fingertips dance along her stomach under her hastily untucked shirt, the door to the spare room opened and closed.
They flew apart, hands desperately trying to comb hair back down and tuck shirts back in as Rusty came stomping into the living room again.
“Hey Sharon, have you seen my iPod? I can’t find it anywhere in my room?” Rusty asked.
“It’s um, you left it on my desk,” Sharon answered quickly. She hoped that the rapid beating of her heart was audible only to herself.
“Oh, cool. Thanks. Night again,” he said, barely looking at the two women on the couch as he grabbed his iPod and retreated back into his room.
Sharon turned her attention to Andrea who was breathing heavily through her nostrils, her lips were pursed again and her eyes were blazing.
“What the fuck was that, Sharon?” she demanded roughly.
“I...I don’t know,” Sharon answered nervously.
Andrea raked her fingers through her hair frustrated. “Sharon we need to talk about this, I mean really talk about it,” she said.
“We’ve talked already,” Sharon muttered, refusing to look at Andrea. She shifted backwards on the couch and grabbed a pillow to wrap her arms around. “We’re friends Andrea,” she said stubbornly.
“Friends who can’t be trusted to stay in a room together alone for longer than five minutes before they start jumping on one another. That isn’t normal Sharon,” Andrea insisted. “Sharon, I miss you. I miss being with you, and I don’t just mean as your friend,” she said.
Sharon hugged the pillow even tighter to her chest and she shook her head in the negative. “And what happens when you grow tired of me?” she asked in a small voice. “When you find someone or something else to occupy your time with and I’m left alone? Without a lover. Without my friend. What happens then?”
“Is that what this is about? You’re afraid?” Andrea asked bluntly. “Sharon, I’m not your ex husband,” she stated.
Sharon shifted uncomfortably on the couch. “I didn’t say that you were,” she said. “I know that you’re not -”
“But you’re implying that I’ll do what he did. Do you really think so low of me?”
Sharon looked at her a little tearfully. “I could never think so low of you.”
Andrea let out a frustrated half-sob, half-laugh and grabbed her briefcase. “Fine. That’s how you want to do this? Fine. Have these documents,” she gestured to the unread reports, “delivered to my office tomorrow morning, no later than 8:00 am.”
Sharon watched, sick to her stomach, as Andrea grabbed her jacket and shoes so she could leave. A part of her wanted to beg Andrea to stay; she wanted to drag her back to her bedroom and make love to her like she had the first time they spent the night together, but she couldn’t bring herself to move. She fiddled with the corner of the document in her hand and bit her lip, trying to find any words at all. “I, look, Andrea I’m-”
“It isn’t fair, Sharon. I’m done with you fucking with me. I miss you, but I can’t keep doing this. I can’t see you outside of work anymore, I mean it,” she said softly before leaving the condo, and Sharon, behind.
Sharon sat and stared at her sliding glass door, stunned by the sudden silence. She didn’t think lowly of Andrea at all; in fact, it had been a series of constant, delightful surprises at how different Andrea was from Jackson. Sharon couldn’t possibly begin to explain what she had meant; for all her intelligence, for all her insight, at times, she was terrible at getting the right words out.
She hadn’t been comparing Andrea to Jackson, she didn’t rationally believe that Andrea would do the same things that he had done during the course of their marriage. She knew better than that, but still, there was the constant, irrational, ridiculous tugging at her heart that left her fearful of trusting another person completely. She’d given everything she had once before, and she’d lost everything. Her marriage, her home, her money, and her sense of security. She’d very nearly lost her children’s trust when she told them she wasn’t divorcing their addict of a father. She needed Andrea in her life, but she’d convinced herself that having Andrea as her friend was a far safer option - for both women - than having Andrea in her life as her lover. She had recovered from the disappointment of her marriage falling apart, she had recovered from losing someone that she had once adored and been proud to call her spouse; she feared, deep down, that she might never recover should she go through losing Andrea.
No, truthfully it wasn’t about Andrea at all. Sharon wasn’t convinced that she had it in her to give Andrea what she needed, not the other way around.
Co-author: sharon_ray
Pairing: Hobbs/Raydor
Rating: T
Word Count: 4, 291
Disclaimer: Not our characters or television show
Summary: Sharon and Andrea's relationship has been balanced on the precipice of friendship and something more for longer than either of them care to admit. Will the ever-present danger of their jobs finally push them over that fine line? Or will it pull them apart?
A/N: Fic starts out in season seven of The Closer, and follows the events (we've taken some liberties of course) of Major Crimes. This fic is complete and chapters will be posted on a weekly basis. On ff.net: Enigma.
Ch.1, Ch.2, Ch.3, Ch.4, Ch.5, Ch.6,
(graphic made by me with my own screencaps and those taken with permission from MajorCrimesTV.net. Please do not take or re-post.)
“Captain Raydor, is now a good time?” Andrea knocked on Sharon’s door.
“What? What do you mean? Well I don’t care, rush the results. I needed them three hours ago,” Sharon barked into the phone. She noticed Andrea standing in her doorway and motioned for her to have a seat. “Fine, call me as soon as they’re in tomorrow,” she gritted out before hanging up a bit more forcefully than normal.
Andrea regarded the Captain as she removed her glasses to pinch the bridge of her nose. “I guess now is not a good time?”
Sharon sighed. “I’m so sorry, did we have a meeting today?” she asked apologetically. The only upside of her taking in a foster child and running a department full of cranky officers lately was that she’d been so busy there hadn’t been any time for her to dwell on her friendship - or lack thereof lately - with Andrea. They’d defaulted to strict professionalism in the last few weeks.
“No, we didn’t. It’s just that I have my meeting with Stroh’s lawyers and the judge tomorrow. We’re to talk about sentencing and I need to be able to reference a commanding officer in the investigation, and since Chief Johnson’s retirement-”
“It’s fallen to me, yes,” Sharon said, “How much time do you need?” she asked.
“I need you completely up to date with the evidence, I need to be able to say that you’ve read both Stroh’s statement and that you’ve gone over all the reports made by the officers who interviewed Mr. Stroh,” Andrea said as she reached into her briefcase for her folder. “It really shouldn’t take more than an hour or two. You’re already familiar with most of the evidence and reports.”
“Okay, let’s get this done with,” Sharon said.
“Tough day?” Andrea dared to ask; she hadn’t asked Sharon a question outside of strictly professional guidelines for weeks.
“The lab is taking forever to get my results back to me. And seeing as our suspect is a minor, eventually I am going to have to let him go. The clock is ticking and...just...,” Sharon sighed, then policed herself back to pure professionalism. “Yes. It’s been an especially difficult day.”
Andrea spread the paperwork out across Sharon’s desk, offering her Stroh’s statement and the stack of corresponding testimonies. “I’m sorry to add to the burden. I tried to call, but I kept getting your voicemail. I thought I’d try my luck and head over here. I just don’t want to push this meeting with the judge back anymore. The longer we drag this out, the worse it’s going to be for everyone involved,” Andrea said sympathetically, referring mostly to Sharon’s new foster son.
She didn’t dare name Rusty as a concern, she knew she had no right to. Sharon’s living situation with the boy was none of Andrea’s business, nor was his, or Sharon’s, well being. She’d heard that Sharon had taken Rusty in as a foster son from Andy Flynn. She couldn’t help the flutter of worry she felt for both Sharon and Rusty. She had seen how volatile Rusty had been when they’d first picked him up; as much as she respected Sharon for taking him in, Andrea knew that the last thing Sharon needed right now was the added stress of raising an especially challenging foster child.
Sharon seemed to soften at the indirect mention of Rusty. “Well, time could do Rusty some good, to be honest with you,” Sharon sighed as she took the papers from Andrea, careful to avoid touching her hand. “I’ve finally gotten him into school and settled down a bit. We’re finding a routine. I know the trial has to happen, but I’m looking forward to a little bit of normalcy...or something like normalcy for him. Rusty is a good kid. You forget that I raised two of my own while I was working full time in Internal Affairs,” Sharon sat back in her chair and crossed her legs as she looked over the witness testimonies, glancing over each one briefly.
Andrea watched her carefully as she read, annoyed somewhat that Sharon responded to her subtle concern without any real prompting. Andrea hated when she did that; when Sharon knew what she was talking about even before she did. Sometimes it seemed like Sharon knew Andrea better than Andrea did; it drove her insane.
“Well, yes, I understand that Rusty probably needs some time, but as a material witness, it would be best if he-”
Andrea’s polite argument was cut off by a sharp knocking at Sharon’s door, and then the appearance of Lt. Tao’s head. “Uh, Captain? Flynn just caught a witness. Suspect’s girlfriend; says she can verify his alibi. We’ve got her in interview room one with Sanchez.”
“Uh, okay. Thank you, Lt. Tao,” Sharon muttered, looking up from the paperwork in front of her to nod at him. “Please tell Detective Sanchez to get her to record her statement of facts for us. I’ve have to finish things up here with DDA Hobbs.”
Andrea waited until Sharon’s attention was focused back on her. “As I was saying, as a material witness, the sooner that the trial starts, the sooner it can end. I am sure that he’s ready to put it behind him as well,” she said sympathetically as she shifted in her seat uncomfortably. “And the sooner perhaps he can start therapy of some kind. I um, I have a friend of a friend who is a therapist; she specializes with children who have endured trauma or survived abusive domestic situations. If you want her number, just let me know?” Andrea offered, she hoped that she wasn’t overstepping any boundaries.
Sharon opened her mouth, then closed it; she straightened her posture in her chair and tried again. “Oh, um, thank you. I don’t know that Rusty is ready to talk to a therapist, in fact I don’t know that he will be any time soon. But, I appreciate the gesture. I really do,” Sharon said genuinely.
“It’s no problem. There are some things, some cases, that never get easier to deal with over the years. He’s so young, and I just…,” she shook her head and cleared her throat. “Please do let me know if he would like to attend therapy,” she said quietly. She found herself wanting to ask more questions about Rusty, she wanted to know how Sharon was adjusting to life as a single mother again, but she knew it wasn’t her place anymore. She hummed to herself, unsure of what else to say.
“So, I’m assuming that a drawback to this case is that Rusty was the only-”
“Sorry Captain,” Lt. Tao apologized as he craned his neck around Sharon’s office door one more time. “ Buzz got a read on the license plates from the abandoned car parked in front of the house last night at the time of the murders. Do you want us to run a search?”
Sharon let out a quiet sigh and brushed her hair out of her face. “Uh, yes. You and Detective Sykes can try to locate the car with Buzz, please. Lt.s Flynn and Provenza have already dealt with the evidence we’ve got in holding for now, so if they don’t mind working overtime, they can assist Detective Sykes or Detective Sanchez.” She schooled her tone so that it was professional; she knew Tao was only doing exactly what she’d asked him to do, but she couldn’t help her frustration at the constant interruptions. At this rate, She and Andrea were never going to get through these testimonies for the Stroth case in time for Andrea’s meeting tomorrow morning. And, if Sharon was being honest with herself, Andrea’s presence wasn’t helping her tension at all.
“I’m sorry, DDA Hobbs,” she muttered as Lt. Tao closed her office door one more time.
“It’s fine,” Andrea said nonchalantly. She could see how stressed Sharon was, the lines around her face were noticeably deeper, there were dark circles under her eyes and she looked as though she had lost some weight recently.
“As I was saying, Rusty was the only witness in both places to see Stroh. Is Chief...former Chief Johnson’s... heightened interest in Stroh going to be problematic with her being a witness?” Sharon asked honestly as she put her glasses back on to look at the witness testimonies side by side.
“It could be,” Andrea said honestly, “she assaulted him in the elevator in front of half a dozen witnesses, and prior to that incident it was known that Chief Johnson was rather interested in his activities and whereabouts. Now, her intuition did prove to be correct, however, Stroh’s lawyers will focus on her, as you said, heightened interest in him.”
“So Rusty really will be the key witness in all of this,” Sharon said carefully, contemplating the pressure that was going to be on her foster son in the coming months with this trial. “It really will be up to him to put Stroh behind bars.” Sharon took her glasses off for the second time in their conversation and pressed her palms into her temples, trying to relieve some of the pressure building behind her eyes. She sighed and rolled her eyes as she heard yet another hesitant knock at her office door.
“Come in,” Sharon called, recognizing the shape of the teen through her partially opened blinds.
“Hey, Sharon,” Rusty said awkwardly as he looked at DDA Hobbs. He’d only dealt with her a handful of times, but he liked Hobbs well enough. She didn’t sugar coat anything, she was direct, honest, and precise, which he appreciated in a person.
“You think we can maybe grab dinner now?” he asked. “It’s like past 6:00 pm?”
“Yes, I uh,” Sharon looked apologetically at Andrea, “what time do you have to meet with the judge tomorrow?” she asked.
“9:00 am,” Andrea answered.
Rusty shuffled awkwardly in the doorway. “Why don’t you come with us? Do you like burgers? Sharon and I were going to have hamburgers tonight,” Rusty offered.
Sharon looked carefully at Andrea and sighed. They needed to get the paperwork done anyway, and she had to feed Rusty. “I’m sure you need to eat dinner, right? We can finish this while Rusty finishes his homework,” she said as Rusty rolled his eyes at the mention of homework. Sharon felt more than a little ashamed for feeling the need to subtly point out that she and Andrea would not be alone this evening. The colour flushed in her cheeks as she waited for Andrea’s response.
“Okay, I can do that,” Andrea agreed, doing her best to keep her tone casual. She felt a knot tightening in her stomach as soon as she said yes.
Rusty shrugged the other strap of his backpack over his shoulder as the two women gathered their things. “Hey, DDA Hobbs, have you ever been to 25 Degrees before?” he asked as the three of them made their way to the elevator.
“That’s the place where you can build your own burger from scratch? Yes, I’ve been before, and you can call me Andrea,” she said gently.
“Okay, uh, thanks Andrea,” he nodded, affording her a slight smile.
“Right, do you want to follow me there and meet me at my condo after, Andrea?” Sharon asked carefully. Carpooling was out of the question; there was no way she was going to allow herself to end up in a car alone with Andrea Hobbs later on when she would have to drive her home. If she could help it, she wouldn’t end up alone with Andrea Hobbs at all tonight. If they worked quickly after dinner while Rusty was studying, they could be done and she could be out the door before Rusty went to bed. Or so Sharon hoped.
“Well, we’ll see you at the restaurant, then.” Sharon raised her eyebrows at Andrea as if to say Are we really doing this? She couldn’t hide the questioning look on her face as she waited for the blonde’s approval that she would see them there.
Andrea nodded “That’ll be fine,” she reassured Sharon, hoping she sounded casual, like she was talking about their evening plans and the possibility of getting all their work done, rather than their constant, volatile back and forth when it came to one another these days.
***
“Let me know when you’re done with the, um, eye-witness report and we’ll go over the police reports,” Andrea said as she unpacked her briefcase on Sharon’s coffee table. She handed the file that contained notes on Rusty’s testimony over to Sharon so she could read. Behind them, Rusty was sitting at the kitchen table pouring over a textbook and notepad.
Sharon propped her bare feet up on the coffee table and leaned into the couch as she read. She was exhausted from the day; as much as she wanted to keep it strictly professional with Andrea, she couldn’t stand sitting up right any more.
“Here,” she muttered, handing Andrea Rusty’s testimony as she finished it. “That was, informative,” she sighed, the weight of what Rusty had gone through hitting her hard. She closed her eyes and rested her head against the back of the couch to collect herself for a moment. Reading the case was now very different for Sharon than it had been a month ago; Rusty wasn’t her foster son a month ago, he was merely an unruly witness. She had grown accustomed to Rusty in her home and in her life, every day he was becoming more and more a staple in it. A sweet, kind, caring staple at that. They had their moments of strife, but overall Rusty was a good kid, and a kid Sharon was beginning to care deeply for. She hated that he had already experienced so much suffering in his young life.
“I know... I’m sorry.” Andrea nodded sympathetically as she laid the police reports out across the table at Sharon’s feet. “These will not be any easier to read, just so you’re forewarned. I’m sorry you have to do this.”
“That’s fine,” she hummed quietly as she sat up and propped her elbows on her knees to look at the reports. “Have you heard from... from the other witness lately? I haven’t. Is... are they okay?” Sharon asked quietly, trying to stay as cryptic as possible. She hadn’t really heard from Brenda much since the incident with Stroh in the elevator. While she and Brenda could never claim to be good friends, she had been worried about Brenda’s well being. She respected her as an officer, but more so than that, she respected that Brenda had pursued the case against Stroh and sacrificed her career with the LAPD to bring this monster to justice. She could even admit, to a point, that she missed Brenda. She had grown accustomed to that languid drawl constantly throwing complaints her way. Yes, in some ways her life was less complicated without Brenda Leigh Johnson in it, but in others it had become endlessly more complicated thanks to her absence. She didn’t necessarily want Brenda back in her life as a coworker again; though she certainly wouldn't mind having her around as a friend someday. Admittedly she did have a rather protective need to know that the other woman was okay, and flourishing in her new position.
Andrea nodded knowingly, trying to find a way to phrase her answer without letting on to Rusty that she was speaking about Brenda. “The other witness is doing as well as they can be, given the circumstances. They are... seeking the appropriate treatment for any emotional damage that may have been caused, and they’ve moved on to other things. Things are looking up, I think. They are going to be just fine, Sharon.”
Andrea smiled at Sharon and sat back on the couch as she took a sip of the cappuccino Sharon had made her. She had sat in this very spot so many times before sipping Sharon’s cappuccinos; Sharon always made them for her after their dinners because she knew they were her favourite. This evening, Sharon had walked in the door and made her one without Andrea even asking; it almost felt like they’d gone back to being friends. Except that they had a sixteen year old unknowing chaperon, and they were here, on her couch, on strictly “professional” terms.
Sharon ran her hands over her arms in an attempt to warm herself up as she loomed over the coffee table; she had discarded her jacket and shoes by the door and hadn’t taken the time she usually did to change into something warmer or more comfortable than her skirt and silk shirt. Without thinking twice, Andrea grabbed the cream coloured cable knit throw Sharon always kept on the back of the couch and tossed it gently at her, smirking.
Sharon froze. She had been enjoying their easy familiarity since settling on the couch together, but this was perhaps a little too familiar, too soon.
“What?” Andrea shrugged, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. “You looked cold,” she said defensively.
Sharon softened her gaze. “I was cold, thank you.”
Sharon looked back as Rusty began to shove his notebook and textbooks into his backpack. “Rusty, what are you doing?”
“I’m going to go listen to music in my room for a while before I go to bed,” he muttered, picking up the last of his things.
“Oh, finished your homework already?” Sharon asked, hoping to sound casual.
“Yeah, all done. Night Sharon.” He started down the hallway, “Night Andrea, thanks for coming to dinner with us,” he said as he made his way into his room.
“It was my pleasure. Night Rusty,” Andrea replied politely.
Beside her, Sharon cleared her throat. “How many more police reports are there? Do we have a lot of documents left?” she asked nervously.
“Not very many, we’re nearly done and I then I can get out of your hair,” Andrea joked, leaning back on the couch. “Rusty seems to be adjusting well here.” She defaulted to her usual safe topic: Sharon’s kids. Rusty was obviously becoming one of Sharon’s kids very quickly, Andrea thought discussing him might keep Sharon comfortable while they finished working.
“He is doing pretty well,” Sharon mused, looking down the hallway in the direction of his door. “Like I said, we’ve gotten into a routine. The first couple of weeks were hard, but I think we’re finding a mutual respect for each other. He’s adjusting well to authority. I think a part of him appreciates the it; god knows he needed the security.”
Andrea nodded as she fished the last of the documents out of her briefcase and replaced the ones Sharon had already looked over. “That’s good to hear. After all he’s been through, I’m sure a loving home is going to do him a world of good. You’re doing a wonderful thing, Sharon.” Andrea reached for Sharon’s hand and squeezed it gently, then, realizing what she had done, she retreated.
Sharon cleared her throat again. “Thanks for coming with us to that burger place. It meant a lot to him, he loves it there,” she said; she took Andrea’s retreating hand back and ran her thumb across Andrea’s knuckles.
Andrea shrugged. “It was no problem.” She pursed her lips and looked down into her lap, at their entwined fingers.
Sharon looked down the hallway again, then back at Andrea; the need to be close to her was overwhelming. She found the same hunger in Andrea’s eyes when their gazes met; she wasn’t sure who moved forward first, but the next moment they were so close that their breaths mingled, and their noses lightly collided. Sharon tilted her head carefully and planted one single, gentle kiss along Andrea’s jaw line, closing her eyes as she did it. She reveled in the feeling of Andrea’s skin under her lips again; she moved closer to Andrea on the couch and littered her jawline with sweet, soft kisses, too afraid to make the move to her lips. She was shaking with the effort to keep her lips gentle, her movements controlled; the urge to surrender her control was so, so strong.
Andrea sighed softly, and turned her head to capture Sharon’s lips in a proper kiss. She dropped Sharon’s hand to tangle her fingers in those soft auburn curls, while her other hand sought out Sharon’s waist. Beneath her lips, Sharon opened her mouth and welcomed Andrea's tongue with a muffled groan. Andrea’s heart soared and she began to contemplate that perhaps her lover had returned to her.
Andrea felt Sharon’s hands tug frantically at her shirt as she tried to untuck it from her trousers. Just as Andrea was beginning to feel Sharon’s fingertips dance along her stomach under her hastily untucked shirt, the door to the spare room opened and closed.
They flew apart, hands desperately trying to comb hair back down and tuck shirts back in as Rusty came stomping into the living room again.
“Hey Sharon, have you seen my iPod? I can’t find it anywhere in my room?” Rusty asked.
“It’s um, you left it on my desk,” Sharon answered quickly. She hoped that the rapid beating of her heart was audible only to herself.
“Oh, cool. Thanks. Night again,” he said, barely looking at the two women on the couch as he grabbed his iPod and retreated back into his room.
Sharon turned her attention to Andrea who was breathing heavily through her nostrils, her lips were pursed again and her eyes were blazing.
“What the fuck was that, Sharon?” she demanded roughly.
“I...I don’t know,” Sharon answered nervously.
Andrea raked her fingers through her hair frustrated. “Sharon we need to talk about this, I mean really talk about it,” she said.
“We’ve talked already,” Sharon muttered, refusing to look at Andrea. She shifted backwards on the couch and grabbed a pillow to wrap her arms around. “We’re friends Andrea,” she said stubbornly.
“Friends who can’t be trusted to stay in a room together alone for longer than five minutes before they start jumping on one another. That isn’t normal Sharon,” Andrea insisted. “Sharon, I miss you. I miss being with you, and I don’t just mean as your friend,” she said.
Sharon hugged the pillow even tighter to her chest and she shook her head in the negative. “And what happens when you grow tired of me?” she asked in a small voice. “When you find someone or something else to occupy your time with and I’m left alone? Without a lover. Without my friend. What happens then?”
“Is that what this is about? You’re afraid?” Andrea asked bluntly. “Sharon, I’m not your ex husband,” she stated.
Sharon shifted uncomfortably on the couch. “I didn’t say that you were,” she said. “I know that you’re not -”
“But you’re implying that I’ll do what he did. Do you really think so low of me?”
Sharon looked at her a little tearfully. “I could never think so low of you.”
Andrea let out a frustrated half-sob, half-laugh and grabbed her briefcase. “Fine. That’s how you want to do this? Fine. Have these documents,” she gestured to the unread reports, “delivered to my office tomorrow morning, no later than 8:00 am.”
Sharon watched, sick to her stomach, as Andrea grabbed her jacket and shoes so she could leave. A part of her wanted to beg Andrea to stay; she wanted to drag her back to her bedroom and make love to her like she had the first time they spent the night together, but she couldn’t bring herself to move. She fiddled with the corner of the document in her hand and bit her lip, trying to find any words at all. “I, look, Andrea I’m-”
“It isn’t fair, Sharon. I’m done with you fucking with me. I miss you, but I can’t keep doing this. I can’t see you outside of work anymore, I mean it,” she said softly before leaving the condo, and Sharon, behind.
Sharon sat and stared at her sliding glass door, stunned by the sudden silence. She didn’t think lowly of Andrea at all; in fact, it had been a series of constant, delightful surprises at how different Andrea was from Jackson. Sharon couldn’t possibly begin to explain what she had meant; for all her intelligence, for all her insight, at times, she was terrible at getting the right words out.
She hadn’t been comparing Andrea to Jackson, she didn’t rationally believe that Andrea would do the same things that he had done during the course of their marriage. She knew better than that, but still, there was the constant, irrational, ridiculous tugging at her heart that left her fearful of trusting another person completely. She’d given everything she had once before, and she’d lost everything. Her marriage, her home, her money, and her sense of security. She’d very nearly lost her children’s trust when she told them she wasn’t divorcing their addict of a father. She needed Andrea in her life, but she’d convinced herself that having Andrea as her friend was a far safer option - for both women - than having Andrea in her life as her lover. She had recovered from the disappointment of her marriage falling apart, she had recovered from losing someone that she had once adored and been proud to call her spouse; she feared, deep down, that she might never recover should she go through losing Andrea.
No, truthfully it wasn’t about Andrea at all. Sharon wasn’t convinced that she had it in her to give Andrea what she needed, not the other way around.