I forgot to mention:

I've finally made a timeline for this story. It's set in 1975, thirty years before 'The Closer'.

Character ages go as follows:

Sharon is 23, Andy is 26, Tao is 25, Provenza is 31, Pope is 30 (I added ten years just to make it seem like Pope could have gotten as far as he is portrayed in a reasonable time), and Brenda is 20 (I added ten years to her age because otherwise she would be 10 years old which makes no sense).

WAD is a real conference that was held in Cincinnati, Ohio 1975. LAX had the best airport security back then. I'm enjoying doing research on the outfits in that time period as well as looking at the old cars such as Andy's red Peugeot 304 Coupe. Okay, sorry.

Enjoy!


"Sharon? It's time to wake up," Andy whispered as he bent his head so he could whisper gently in her ear. Sharon slowly pulled herself up from his shoulder and opened her eyes. She and Andy were a mere inch apart. It would take more effort to pull away then it would to give in and just kiss her.

Andy cleared his throat; he needed to behave, she was taken by that firefighter. It took all his will power to back away.

"I, ah, took your heels off, they started to look a little uncomfortable," Andy said. He didn't look into her eyes because he knew he would see hurt and sadness.

Present Day Major Crimes

"I, ah, took your heels off, they started to look a little uncomfortable," Andy said with a faint smile.

They've been through this before. The WAD conference of 1975 sparked whatever it was that was between them, and this time it was no different. It wasn't a love affair but then again it isn't not one. It was more an emotional and longing affair. Both there at each others beck-and-call hoping- longing- for it to be something more; but it never was.

Though this time it would be different.

They were different.

Their roles and family lives were different.

The team was different.

They would be in Auckland, New Zealand not Cincinnati, Ohio.

And hopefully the conference would be different this year.

"Thank you," Sharon whispered, her eyes showing the hurt and sadness he rejected almost forty years ago.

1975

Andy and Sharon's flight landed safely, their luggage was collected with no problem, and they arrived safely at the hotel. Sharon was stunned when they entered the hotel's lobby. The marble floors were sparkling and spotless, chairs were neatly arranged around a square rug, and beautifully potted plants were immaculately placed around the lobby. Sharon's eyes gazed quickly around, over all, she was very proud of the lobby alone.

The man at the concierge handed over their keys and a schedule of the conference.

Andy, being the perfect gentleman he is, offered to take her bags up for her. Sharon smiled gratefully and sleepily made her way to the elevator.

She let out a small sigh, closing her eyes and rested her head against the elevator wall. The quiet dings of the ascending elevator kept her wake.

"Sharon," Andy whispered as he started out of the elevator at floor fifteen. Sharon hummed in response and quietly made her way behind Andy. He opened her door with her key and placed her bags in the little hallway.

"Thank you," Sharon mumbled as she walked down her little hallway past her bags. She toed her heels off expertly and left a trail of jackets behind her before flopping on the bed and curling up. Andy smiled sadly.

"You better tuck her in, else she'll be cold by morning," John whispered as he and his wife passed by them on the way to their own room.

Andy nodded and slowly- cautiously- made his way into her room. Sharon was already sound asleep, her mouth slightly parted. The steady rise and fall of her body mesmerized Andy as he silently wished he was able to hold her tight that night and all the nights to come.

The little low moan that escaped Sharon's mouth brought her back to his attention. He slowly made his way to the top of the bed. He pulled off the decorative pillows and carefully piled them off to the side. He turned down the side of the bed Sharon wasn't resting on. Now, Andy had to think of how to get her to the side he was on so he could cover her.

Placing a knee on the bed, Andy reached across and wrapped his right arm around her waist. His left found its way to her neck as he supported it. Carefully her dragged her over the bed. Sharon turned into his hold and sighed muttering something incoherent. Andy slipped his arms from her body and watched as she trembled.

The tremble will stay in this thought for close to forty years.

It was either a tremble of the cold air against her skin, one of a night terror, or of having lost physical contact. Andy hoped it was the latter.

Quickly and efficiently, Sharon was covered and she rolled herself into a comfortable ball under the covers. She barely took up a quarter of the bed. Andy admired his handy work.

He couldn't resist the urge any longer; he gently kissed the crown of Sharon's head, then leaned back with a boyish smile tainting his lips.

He slipped soundlessly from Sharon's room. He grabbed his bags and made his was to his room which was just across the hall. Settling in, Andy checked over the schedule they had gotten for the next day.

The only event for the next day was a meet and greet at five; this gave both of them plenty of time to sleep and wash the plane germs from them.

He was happy to be near Sharon.

Maybe he could make her rethink her decision to walk out with that firefighter…

With that thought in mind, Andy turned off his light, rolled over and let sleep claim him.

The boyish smile still plastered on his face.


As always, please leave a review!

I hope you all enjoyed this quick little filler chapter as I try and organize what I truly want to happen at this conference. I know how I want this story to end, its just the chapters leading up to it that I need to plan. There also won't be too many more chapters, this story won't go over twenty chapters…