After the Fire

Chapter 1

Missing Scenes from Trial by Fire. My thoughts of what might have happened between Acting Out and Chain Reaction. I'm going to try the alternate points of view on this one so be kind please it's my first time. None of the lovely characters are mine.

Chapter 1

Andy's POV

Today was one of those days that definitely made me wonder why I do what he do. A good kid who had grown up in a tough neighborhood and managed to keep his life together had been killed and they hadn't been able to put his killer away. A young mother was going to jail tonight because she was too scared to speak up against her baby's father. Where was the justice in that? And then there was Joe Wyatt. I learned a long time ago not to get emotionally involved with the family members, but sometimes I just cannot help it. I saw the signs in Joe the first night I met him. The way his hands shook, the way he would sneak off to another room when he thought nobody was looking, I could always spot an alcoholic. Despite knowing better and Sharon warning me to not get too involved I just couldn't help myself. I built a relationship with Joe and taken him to AA with me. Joe had been sober three months now. I don't know if after watching Navarro go free if his sobriety with stick. I can't say that I would blame him if it doesn't.

I pulled some leftovers out of my fridge and began to heat them up. Provenza had tried to get me to go to dinner with him but I said no. There was only one person I would have wanted to see tonight and I haven't seen her outside of work on a week now, not since the Nutcracker. She isn't mad at me still. We talked that night and agreed that we could probably both use a little space to figure things out. I don't really need any space I know exactly what I want and every day that we aren't together I know it even more. But I do take some comfort took in the fact that she hasn't completely closed the door on us as more than friends either. I will give her time and space to figure it out, but I miss her. I miss talking to her after a day like this one. I miss having her to listen to me and I miss listening to her. I could call her but I don't want to seem pushy. When my phone rings I groan thinking it is going to be more bad news but I feel a smile on my face when I see who it is.

"Hey." I answer a little surprised she is calling

"Hi." She says, "I just wanted to see how you were doing. It was a rough day."

I sigh, so thankful to hear her voice. Her voice was soft and tender. It wasn't my Captain calling to check on me it was Sharon. "Yeah, it pretty much sucked." I tell her honestly, "I'm worried about Joe."

I can hear Sharon hum a little on the other end of the line before she answerers me, "Andy, you can't do that to yourself." She says softly.

"I know I can't be responsible for him, Sharon. I just would like to help him a little." I tell her.

"You wouldn't be you if you didn't." Sharon said.

"Hey now, you're going to ruin my reputation." I laugh, amazed at how quickly I feel better when talking to her. "How are you? How's Rusty?"

"I am all right. Hoping a gang war doesn't start the week before Christmas. Rusty is doing well. Tomorrow is his last day on Mike's show. I think he has a crush on one of his co-workers." She tells me.

"Anything serious?"

"No, I don't think so. But you never know with teenagers"

There was a pause in the conversation that started to turn awkward.

"Well, I guess…" I start to say

"Andy, I miss you." Sharon says quickly.

I can feel the breath go out of me, "I miss you too. I don't want to pressure you though."

"I appreciate that Andy I really do, but I don't think that I need so much space." She says quietly and I can hear the hint of nervousness in her voice.

"Well then, if we don't have a gang war tomorrow night how about dinner?" I suggest.

"I would really like that." She said softly again.

We begin to talk about other things that had happened over the last week. She is so excited that all of her kids will be together next week for Christmas. We talk until we both hear a beeping sound.

"Oh my goodness, I didn't realize we had been talking so long." Sharon said when her phone started to beep at her that the battery was getting low.

"It was nice. I needed it, thank you." I tell her.

"I think I did too. I will see you in the morning Andy."

"Good night Sharon."

When we hang up I feel so much better, maybe even hopeful. She called me and said she missed me and agreed to have dinner. Those are steps in the right direction. Today had been pretty shitty but was ending much better

"Please don't let anyone kill anyone or a gang war start before tomorrow night" I think as I climb into bed.

SASASASASASASASASASASASA

"So, maybe no dinner tonight?" I say with a frustrated sigh as we get into my car to ride to the crime scene.

Sharon looks at me with a half-smile and touches my arm briefly, "If not tonight, then soon" she says.

Finding someone we assume was Luis Navarro that had been burned alive in the trunk of his car was about as gruesome as we have seen. The smell from the burnt flesh was overpowering. The conversation quickly turns to the possibility of Joe as a suspect. I won't hear of it. I know Joe and this is not something he is capable of. I can feel the frustrations of the last day starting to take ahold of me. I really want to lash out at someone but the person talking to me is the last person that I want to lash out at. She is so calm and her eyes are filled with more understanding than I deserve as I explain that I had taken Joe to AA and that I had talked to his wife this morning. As I look at her all I can think is that if it wasn't for her calm right now I would probably lose it with newly appointed Deputy Chief Howard and his power trip that he seems to be on.

I am relieved when Julio come back with another possible suspect and glad to leave the scene when Sharon sends Sykes and I to pick up Zippo at his mother's house. My only hope for today is that we can arrest Zippo quickly and not have to involve Joe and maybe just maybe Sharon and I can have dinner. Well, all of my hopes are quickly disappointed when Zippo starts yelling about his lawsuit he has against the LAPD and how we need to call his lawyer. Zippo points to a card on the table and I pick it up as Sykes takes him to the car. At this point I lose it nobody is around as I let out a string of words, "God Damn , Son of a Bitch" as I read the name Jackson Raydor on the card.