It was the type of orgasm that left Andrea's head swimming; she lay there feeling utterly lightheaded and breathless with her lover's head resting against her stomach. It had been a while, far too long, since she'd experienced the type of pleasure that made her knees wobble and her stomach muscles quiver; that made her back snap and her toes curl.
"I have to get ready for work," Andrea muttered, rubbing her bedmate's shoulders gently as she spoke.
She looked out the window, noticing the vibrant pinks and oranges filtering through the white curtains as the sun began to rise. It was early; she didn't really need to get to work yet. She just needed any excuse to get out of bed; she hoped that the guilt which was tugging at her restless mind didn't show on her face, but she couldn't be too careful. She had plenty of cases she could afford to get caught up on, so getting downtown with some extra time to kill this morning wouldn't hurt her. She could catch up on paperwork and still be back at Major Crimes to meet Sharon on time for their 8:00 am briefing on the double homicide her team had caught the night before.
"Well, I love you too." The brunette smirked over Andrea's navel as she kissed her way back up the blonde's body. Andrea rolled her eyes, but she smiled despite herself. She wrapped her arms around the other woman's slender body, her palms came to rest against her lover's lower back.
"I love you." Andrea looked her in the eye, hoping that her words sounded genuine enough. Andrea pulled her lover closer to her and nuzzled her neck, breaking the short glance they shared. It hurt to look her partner in the eye for too long; the feelings she'd been having lately didn't quite match up with the way things were going in their relationship. Andrea kissed her gently on the lips then rolled over in bed, tugging the duvet over her shoulders. Usually she was always the warm one, but lately she felt cold, and lonely, after the rare times that they made love these days. Something between them had changed, and not for the better.
Andrea walked in to Sharon's office holding two large, disposable Starbucks cups.
"Thought you could use this." Andrea said as she nodded at the woman behind the desk, handing her the skim vanilla latte. Sharon smiled appreciatively and took the cup from Andrea, immediately taking a sip.
"Thank you," she hummed, her lips still pressed against the lid. "I'm so sorry I never got back to you last night with the answers to those questions about Rusty's testimony. We caught this murder and I've been at the crime scene, then here since 10:00 pm last night."
Andrea watched Sharon carefully as the redhead reached her hands up to massage her own shoulders and rolled her head back, resting it against her chair. "Anyway, I sent you an email this morning, so all should be good on the court date schedules and his required appearances, I hope. Now, for today's case," Sharon started as she lifted her head and searched through the mess of files on her desk, looking for the information on their current suspects that Andy Flynn had handed her not too long ago.
"Oh, it's not a problem. I was out with someone last night, anyway, so I couldn't work on the case." Andrea hoped the information would peak Sharon's curiosity, but she knew it wouldn't. Sharon was the epitome of professional; she never asked about anyone's personal life, despite however badly Andrea seemed to be craving her attention these days.
"Oh, that's nice. Always good to catch a break. I'm glad I didn't bother you with it, then." Sharon gave Andrea a tight-lipped, polite smile before turning back to her desk to locate the list of suspects and their corresponding information. Finally, she pulled the sheet of paper out from underneath her keyboard.
"Damn, I need to clean my desk," she mumbled under her breath before handing the paper to Andrea. "We have the top two suspects in custody in interview room one. Sanchez believes it's gang related, but I'm not sure I'm ready to go there, with what he's thinking, yet. He and Lt. Sykes are seeing what other connections they can find while Lts. Flynn and Provenza are working to get what little evidence we do have processed. Lt. Tao and Buzz are working on the video from the crime scene now, and we should be ready to interview in about," Sharon looked down at her wristwatch, "forty-five minutes."
Andrea nodded as she looked over the list of names, all of them familiar to her. She'd prosecuted them before. "Well, these are all gang names, Captain Raydor. Even the top two are. There's only one I don't recognize, so if it isn't gang related, you've got the wrong list of suspects. What makes you think this isn't gang related?" Andrea raised an eyebrow as she looked over the sheet of paper at the Captain. Normally, even if they were outlandish, Sharon's hunches were right. Andrea couldn't help but feel like maybe she was wrong this time. If it wasn't gang related, why was Sharon working with all gang members?
"I do believe that these gang members can lead us to some valuable information, but the murder was way too clean. It was planned. It was a quiet assassination, not a statement; most gang related murders are gruesome and the bodies are left behind to make a point. We have very little biological evidence… whoever did this knew what they were doing. It was gang violence, Counselor, yes. But it was not our typical drive by, or initiation or revenge killing. There's something bigger going on here. Something with the bosses, not the members themselves."
Andrea nodded her understanding. She felt a chill rush down her spine; last time she dealt with the "higher ups" in a gang, she'd been faced with an assassination attempt on her own life. Why had Sharon called her in to deal this? Sure, the person who had paid for and planned her execution was behind bars now, but that didn't mean the memories weren't there. She'd always considered herself relatively safe behind her desk, but in the last few years as the main dealmaker with Major Crimes, she realized she wasn't; she was a major target for criminals who didn't like her offers. She played it off as no big deal at the time; she was fine. She was grazed in the arm by a bullet, not shot in the heart. She had proven how tough she was; she was treated like she was really part of the Major Crimes team now. The truth of the matter was, however, was that day had scared her more than she was willing to tell anyone. It was the day she realized that, to most of the people she worked with or against, that she was disposable.
"DDA Hobbs," Sharon said gently, sensing Andrea's discomfort as she watched the blonde above the rim of her glasses, "if dealing this case is too difficult, we can call in someone else from your office. I just thought you might like the protection of being here today, rather than going back and forth from the courthouse to your office with us having a steady stream of gang members coming in and out of the area. I already looked into it but with budget cuts it would be near impossible for me to assign an officer to watch over you today. I figured a department full of us was the next best option." Sharon offered Andrea a reassuring smile.
"I appreciate that," Andrea replied evenly, "but I'll be alright. You're right, I would rather be here with you… your team, than back and forth today. Thank you, Captain Raydor."
"It's not a problem." Sharon gave Andrea a subtle nod of her head to reassure her yet again.
Andrea could never read her; sometimes she thought Sharon liked her, and sometimes she thought they might even be friends if they tried. They had an understanding; they looked out for each other in the office. They brought each other coffee occasionally; they had each other's backs on tough cases. They were the token "women in charge". Beyond that, however, it really seemed like Sharon Raydor only tolerated her most days. Then again, it seemed like Sharon Raydor only tolerated most of the world; she was not a woman who screamed I love being here.
Andrea sighed and contented herself with moving to the small table in the corner of Sharon's office to get some work done. She still had a half hour until she and the Captain had to interview the first round of suspects. She pulled her laptop and several files out of her briefcase, setting up shop on the table; hopefully focusing on work would help relieve the knot of tension in her stomach that had formed this morning in bed with Hilary; the knot that had only gotten worse when she stepped into Sharon's office.