Sorry for the wait guys. I had a little run-in with Procrastination... Hopefully I'll update more frequently from here on out.
Sharon returned home from an exhaustingly long day of work. Usually she kept her paperwork up-to-date so it never piled up but over the last two weeks, she just couldn't keep up; too many cases, too little time. She opened her apartment door and shut it as silently as possible, not to wake Andrea or Rusty if they were asleep, after all, it was 11:30 p.m. She hung up her coat near the door and placed her keys on the kitchen island. Moving over to the refrigerator, she retrieved the opened bottle of white wine and poured some in a wine glass. She relished the feel of the cold, bittersweet liquid travelling down her throat. Just as she was about to sit on the island stool, she heard a groggy, sleep-filled voice call her name. A little startled, she followed the sound until she found Andrea lying on the couch, nearly completely covered by her blanket. She paused for a minute; Andrea just looked too adorable!
"Hey. You waited up for me?" Sharon asked as she settled on the couch, with Andrea's head now on her lap.
"Yeah. I didn't think you would be this late, though. Did you catch a murder or something?"
"No. I had two weeks of paperwork to complete and file away." Andrea shot her a feigned look of shock.
"Sharon Raydor, the most organized person I know, behind on her duties? The end must be near!"
"Ha ha," Sharon replied, rolling her eyes. "I must be getting too old for this."
"No you're not. It's just a lot more responsibilities. So, did you finish?"
"Thankfully, yes. I hope I never have to go through that again. How are the depositions going on the Robinsons case by the way?"
"Oh, it's-uh-really interesting. The things people do these days." Andrea chuckled. "I can't wait for it to be over." The two women sat in comfortable silence for a moment, Andrea drifting off to sleep again, Sharon, soon followed.
"Uh, Sharon, get up.
Sharon!"
"Hmmmmm…"
"Sharon! It's like, already seven! Come on!"
"What is it Rusty?" Sharon was obviously not going to be easy to wake up this morning. Maybe if Rusty shook her…
"Oh my gods!" Sharon was startled out of her sleep and grasp Rusty's arm. "What is it, what's wrong?" At this point, Andrea stirred in Sharon's lap and opened her eyes, confused more than ever.
"Nothing's wrong, Sharon. It's just time to get up." Sharon let out a sigh of relief, which was proceeded by her characteristic glare.
"Well you didn't have to shake me awake as if the apartment was on fire!"
"Well maybe if you got up ten minutes ago when I started waking you, I wouldn't have had to." Andrea chuckled only to be awarded with a Sharon-glare of her own.
"Okay you two," she said sitting up. "Do we really need to fight this early in the morning?"
"What time is it?" Sharon asked stretching slightly, her neck, a little stiff.
"It's about 7:20 by now, which means I should get going."
"What?! Oh my god! I'm an hour late!"
"You know, it never ceases to amaze how early you two get ready in the morning. Sharon you have plenty of time." This elicited eye rolling from Sharon and Rusty both. It was amazing how similar the two of them were. Maybe Sharon was rubbing off on Rusty. Sharon got off fully from the couch now.
"Rusty, do you need anything before you leave?"
"Nope, I'm good. Bye guys."
"Have a good one kid," Andrea answered.
"Goodbye Rusty," Sharon moved towards him and lightly kissed him on his forehead. Don't forget Buzz has planned some extra work for you, okay?"
"Yes, Sharon," Rusty sighed. He picked up his car keys then left. Andrea got off the couch and followed Sharon down the hall to their bedroom.
"You know, sometimes it's hard for me to imagine Rusty as a rebellious street child sometimes."
"Yeah, I know what you mean. He has come a long way." Andrea snaked her arms around Sharon's waist. "Thanks to my Captain Raydor." She lightly kissed Sharon's shoulder before the brunette pulled away.
"Hope you don't mind me showering first."
"Of course not. I've got plenty of time. I don't have to be in until nine for that dreadful meeting with- uh- you know." Sharon peeked her head back through the bathroom door.
"How is it working with her? Is she giving you a hard time?"
"No, it's actually going smoother than I expected. She's good at what she does."
"Yes, I had always admired her for that." Sharon entered the shower, Andrea followed into the bathroom. "When are you going to trial?"
"Hopefully within the next three months. The bulk of the depositions are over so it should be smooth sailing from here."
They both dressed-well, Sharon was fully; Andrea, halfway- and Sharon was about to leave while Andrea enjoyed a cup of coffee.
"Are you coming be the office for lunch?"
"Yeah. I'll call if anything comes up."
"Okay. See you later, hon."
"Bye Shar." They shared a quick kiss before Sharon left.
"Lieutenant," Andrea greeted Provenza, holding bags of take-out as she entered the Murder Room around 11:30. It was half an hour before Sharon's usual lunch break but she needed to be back at the DA's office by 12:30.
"DDA Hobbs. To what do we owe the pleasure? Is there a lawsuit we don't know about?"
"Fortunately no, Lieutenant. I'm just here to have lunch with the Captain. Is she in her office? I called, but I she didn't answer."
"Yeah, she's there."
"Okay, thanks." Andrea headed towards Sharon's office. I wonder why the blinds are shut? Sharon's probably in a bad mood, Andrea thought. She knocked twice before entering.
"Hey there, best friend," Andrea walked over to Sharon, kissing her on her forehead. "How's your morning?"
"I'm fine. I'm just a little tired and very sore from sleeping on the couch last night. How are you holding up?"
"Actually, I slept really well." Andrea sat opposite Sharon and started taking out the food.
"Next time I'm lying down on the couch while you sit upright, Missy," Sharon pouted. Andrea smiled. "You bought Thai? Great!"
"Yup. I tried to call you but the calls went straight to voicemail."
"Sorry about that. I might have dozed off a little."
"Oh, I gotta break our lunch date a little early today, by 12:10."
"Okay sure. I'm so proud of you, you know."
"Oh yeah? Now why is that?"
"Well, out of all the DDAs over at your office, you're the one chosen to represent the state in this massive lawsuit-"
"-It's not that big of a deal really Sharon."
"Oh I think it is. Everyone knows the weight and influence of John Robinson and his family in LA politics. This case, can either make or break a Deputy DA."
"Gee thanks Sharon, like I wasn't nervous already before," Andrea commented dryly, taking a sip of her water and giving Sharon a mocking glare.
"No I didn't mean to put you on edge here. What I meant was, when you win this one-and you will- I can't help but think about the fact that DA Jameson is retiring this year-"
"-Okay I'm going to stop you right there, Hon." Andrea emphasized with her hand up. "The thought did cross my mind but I don't want to jinx it so let's talk about something else."
"Sure. What do you wanna talk about?" As if on cue, there was a knock on the door. "Come in," Sharon called out. Flynn opened.
"What is it, Lieutenant?"
"There's someone here to see you-Sharlene something. Should I send her in?" Andrea stiffened visibly while Sharon's face grew slightly pale. She could easily see the anger creeping up her girlfriend's face as the seconds passed. She had no idea what to do.
"Uh- Captain?" Flynn interrupted her thoughts. "What should I do?" Sharon turned back her gaze to him, still observing Andrea from the corner of her eye.
"Give me two minutes then send her in."
"Yes, Ma'am." Flynn eyed Sharon suspiciously one last time then left. Andrea jumped to her feet.
"I should go-"
"-No, wait." Sharon stood as well, "Wait." She sighed.
"What is she doing here, Sharon?" Andrea tried to keep her tone even. "You invited her?"
"What? Of course not! I am just in the dark as you are. There is no way in hell that I would invite her to my office; I love you and respect you too much to do something like that. Please. Give me some credit."
"Fine," Andrea snapped, then she checked her tone, "Fine. Should I stay?"
"I would appreciate that. I could use your support right now."
"Okay then. I'll try to keep calm." She forced a smile.
"Okay."
There was another knock on the door, followed by Sharlene entering, startled a little by Andrea's presence.
"Hi Sharon… DDA Hobbs," she greeted, standing fixed by the door.
"Counselor," Andrea returned before Sharon could answer, "What are you doing here?" She quickly glanced at Sharon who gave shot her a pleading look. Andrea was not falling for it. She was guarding her life here. No one was taking her Sharon away.
"I just came by to have a word with a friend."
"Oh really?" Andrea had stepped about an inch closer to Sharlene, her voice, slightly raised but the tone hadn't changed. These subtle changes may be unobservable to an untrained individual, but Sharon knew most of Andrea's tells; she was getting angry. Maybe she should intervene before things got too heated.
"What are you really doing here Sharlene? I made it impeccably clear that I didn't want to see or hear from you again."
"I know that but" She glanced uncomfortably at Andrea then back to Sharon, "can we speak privately?"
"We already are. Now, what is it? You interrupted my lunch with Andrea here so please, hurry this along." At least Sharlene had the decency to flinch at Sharon's coldness. Andrea remained where she was standing, observing quietly, trying her best to remain calm.
"I can't live like this anymore Sharon," Sharlene started. Sharon used all her strength not to roll her eyes. Andrea did though.
"If this is what you bothered me for-"
"I lied to you!" She now burst into tears. "I lied about it all!"
"What the hell are you talking about?" Okay, now Sharon was concerned. She had never seen Sharlene this distraught before, not even when they broke up. She unconsciously walked over and guided her to a chair. "What is it?"
"I was given a case when I first became a Deputy DA in '95. I prosecuted a guy, James Wilkins aka Shooter for one count of first-degree murder. However, he made a deal with the FBI and his sentence was reduced."
"What's the significance of this little tale?" Andrea asked annoyed. She moved over to Sharon's chair since Sharon was now sitting on the chair adjacent to Sharlene's.
"In 2003 he had a scheduled parole hearing and he got released. The day after his release, when I got home, you gave me a letter that was addressed to me, but-"
"-but it was delivered to my office. I remember. You never told me what it was when I asked. Oh my god! What was the note about? Was it from Shooter?" Sharlene was in tears again.
"Yes." Sharlene reached into her jacket pocket and retrieved a very old sheet of paper and handed it to Sharon. Sharon turned to Andrea for the first time since Sharlene started her story, a skeptical, but curious look on the blonde's face. She then opened the folded sheet and read its content out loud.
"DDA Rawlins
Remember me? Think back to '95. Guess who got parole today? That's right, me. Let the games begin.
Your worst enemy,
Shooter.
P.S. If you tell anyone about this, your police lady friend and her kid dies."
Not a sound could be heard in the office after Sharon read the note, save for the muffled sounds as Sharlene tried to hold herself together. Sharon and Andrea were both shocked out of their minds. Not in a million years did Sharon ever see this bombshell coming. For all those years she honestly thought Sharlene just used her to get what she wanted but it was the complete opposite. Sharlene left in an attempt to protect her. How could she have been so stupid?
"Why didn't you tell me?" Sharon asked, her voice cracked. "How did he know about Ricky?"
"I don't know. I couldn't tell you because you would have wanted to do something about it and I couldn't put your life in any more danger than I already did." Sharlene broke down again. This time, Sharon moved over and hugged her tightly, wiping her tears periodically. She couldn't believe Sharlene carried around this much baggage for all those years. Andrea silently watched the two women in front of her. It was hard watching Sharon console an ex-lover, who has turned out to be a heck of a woman, giving up her entire life to protect the ones she loved. It was even harder seeing Sharon's disposition change from anger to… affection? She wasn't sure what the look on Sharon's face was, but looking at the two of them, it was clear that they were quite comfortable in each other's embrace. She couldn't help but feel she might actually lose Sharon to Sharlene. Tears welled up in her eyes. This was too much for her. She couldn't lose Sharon; not like this. She took a deep breath and spoke.
"Why now, Sharlene? Why after all these years you've decided to tell Shar now?"
"Well," Sharlene sniffed pulling away from Sharon, "when I returned to LA to represent Robinson, I visited some friends of mine in Robbery/Homicide. While I was in this building, I couldn't stop thinking about you. I needed to know that you were safe and well." Sharon smiled weakly then began feeling conscious of the little distance between she and Sharlene. She returned to her chair. "I asked about you and they told me you were just the same as always. You have no idea how relieved I was for hearing those words-just the same as always. Not a day went by when I didn't think of you." There was a brief pause and she continued. "We continued talking and Shooter was brought up. They told me a member of his own gang killed him a couple years ago while he was helping out in an FBI case. I almost fainted when I heard the news. My entire body went limp. I felt as is for the first time in a long time I was free again. I also knew I had to see you and apologize for leaving like I did."
"Oh Sharlene-"
"-You know, if it was my life he threatened, I would have stayed, but I couldn't lose you or Ricky but I guess I still lost you, huh?" Tears were now spewing from Sharon's eyes now.
"I am so sorry you went through all this Sharlene. I don't know what to say. I can't change what happened but we can move on from here."
"I am so sorry Sharon."
"I know. I'm sorry too. I am so so sorry too."
"I've never stopped loving you, never." The room was still again. Sharon's breath caught in her chest. She glanced at Andrea and noticed the tears in her eyes. Her blonde lover rose from her seat.
"I need to leave now. I'm late."
"Andy-"
"What, Sharon? I said I was leaving early today so I'm leaving." She walked towards the door then turned back. "I'll be very late this evening so don't wait up." She turned before Sharon could answer and stormed out of the office.