I've been re-watching Cold Case and The Hour over the last few months and still can't get over the fact that they're no longer on the air. Lilly Rush and Lix Storm are my favourite characters of all time, so I wanted them to meet.

I know it's a story about two shows that have both been cancelled for more than ten years, so I'm not sure there will be many people reading it. But if you've made it this far, I hope you enjoy it.

If you like it, please don't hesitate to tell me and comment on my story !

Day 1 - Monday

Bel Rowley wraps up The Hour.

Sitting in the recording booth with her team of journalists, she begins the final countdown.

3 - 2 - 1 - black screen

Today's show is on the air ! Another successful week !

Everyone looks tired, but happy and proud. Frederic Lyon gives the team a round of applause. Bel Rowley looks at her colleagues with pride and gratitude.

Lix Storm, head of foreign affairs, stands in the background. Leaning against the door, smoking her cigarette, she smiles at Bel even though she can't see her.

The team is meeting in a bar, as they do every week, to celebrate the show they have just produced. Glasses of beer pile up on the table. Laughter fills the room. Someone puts coins in the jukebox and everyone starts dancing.

/

Bel Rowley lies dead in the street, it's snowing, but she's only wearing a midnight blue skirt and a strapless top. There's nobody around. Her body lay there all night until it was discovered in the early hours of the morning by someone walking their dog.

Monday morning in Philadelphia.

Lilly Rush arrived at the police station with a mug of takeaway coffee in her hand.

It was the start of a new week and she couldn't help but smile as she looked around the building. She was happy to be here, it was almost like coming home. She had a lonely weekend, which wasn't exactly what she had planned. She loved her cats, but in the last few months she had got used to having some company.

She was waiting for the lift to come up when she heard someone running towards her.

- Hold the door, please!

Of course, it was the man she was supposed to hang out with on Saturday and who had somehow disappeared, running breathlessly into the lift. A little dishevelled, but still impeccably dressed. A white shirt, a pine green tie that sets off his hazel eyes and a perfectly tailored black jacket. It was Scotty Valens, of course.

- Well, Valens, I'm glad to see you here. It's a good thing we're working together, otherwise I wouldn't be hearing from you.

She tried to look angry, but as soon as she saw him, sorry like a little child who's done something stupid, she couldn't stop laughing.

- Carina Lilla... I'm so sorry, I know I haven't replied to you in the last few days, but I have a good explanation. I was... sort of... set up by my mum...

- Scotty Valens! What has Rosa got to do with all this?

- She made me go on a blind date! This time I couldn't resist and you know what, it was great. I met Sara and we spent the weekend together.

Lilly looked at him. Ok, she wasn't angry anymore, she was just very curious to know everything about this new girl. It'd been a long time since she'd seen her partner and best friend with those sparkling eyes.

- Let me make it up to you tonight. We'll go to The Planet, drinks on me, and you can ask me all the questions I know you already have.

He looked at her with his puppy eyes. How could she resist?

- It's a deal!

They walked into the office, laughing together.

At the preccint, two women seemed to be waiting for them. Lilly noticed one of them at once. She was tall, had short, dark, curly hair, and wore dark red lipstick.

Dark red lipstick...

Lilly's weakness...

The woman seemed to analyse everything around her with her eyes, accentuated by her cat-eye shaped glasses. Lilly could almost be jealous of the charm of this woman she didn't know. She exuded confidence, in her striped shirt with its slightly accentuated shoulders and the high-waisted, wide-legged trousers that gave her endless legs.

- Lix Storm, head of news for The Hour at CBS.

The woman walked up to Lilly and held out her hand. Her voice was deep and calm. She must smoke too many cigarettes a day, but it definitely gave her a sexy tone. Oh shit. The woman, Lix Storm as she said, was looking at her, a little surprised, wondering why she didn't answer.

Oh shit. Lilly Rush, you need to say something. Right now. Or she'll start to think you're mute. Or at least really rude.

Lilly took a step forward, hold out her hand, and just as she was about to introduce herself, Will Jeffries appeared out of nowhere and gave Lix Storm a big hug. For the moment, Lil didn't understand anything. In which galaxy did Will Jeffries hug witnesses?

- Alexis Storm! To what do we owe your visit to our precinct?

- Well, I think we have some information on a cold case. The murder of our colleague and friend Isobel Rowley. It happened five years ago.

Lix Storm begins to tell the squad what she and Sissy, her secretary who came with her, know.

Bel Rowley died in December 2010, her body was found in an alley near her home, with no bag and no money. The police thought it was a robbery gone wrong. The case went cold very quickly because there were no witnesses.

Lilly was mesmerised by Lik Storm, she couldn't hear a word she was saying because she was too busy looking at her. She silently thanked Scotty, who was taking lots of notes because she was incapable of doing so.

There had been nothing new in the case for five years, but they were renovating the building and Sissy found a jacket full of blood in a cupboard that had not been used for years. It was a blue jacket with a gold brooch near the collar. Lix was positive, it was Bel's jacket. It matched the skirt she wore that day. The police said at the time that a thief had killed her for her money, but this blood-stained garment might change the facts?

Lix Storm suddenly lost all her self-confidence. She seemed embarrassed to be here, it was obviously difficult for her to relive all those difficult moments and she didn't want to bother anyone. But at the same time, everyone could feel that she couldn't help but hope again, that she still needed answers to be able to say goodbye to her friend.

Lilly obviously decided to reopen the case. Indeed, this new piece of evidence redefined everything. They now had to analyse the CBS offices to find the crime scene, and they had a whole new set of suspects. She felt a wave of tenderness wash over her and go to Lix. Listening to her, it was obvious that she cared deeply for the victim. And Lilly certainly knew what it's like to care more about your colleagues than your own family. Impulsively, as a sign of sympathy, she put her hand on Lix's arm.

Why did she do that? she never did that with the victims' relatives!

Lilly and Lix looked at each other, they both blushed slightly and Lilly took her hand away. The scene lasted less than a minute, but left them a little shaken.

At lunchtime, while everyone was scarfing down cheesesteaks from Geno's, Lilly couldn't stop asking Jeffries a thousand questions.

How did he meet Lix

What does she like about life

What does he think of her

Jeffries couldn't resist Lilly's persistence for long, and she finally managed to find out a little more about this woman who had fascinated her since the morning.

She and Jeffries met in a blues club where they'd been going once a week for years. At first they just greeted each other politely, but eventually they tamed their mutual loneliness and now he could say that they are good friends. Every Tuesday evening they were creating a bubble outside of time and real life, chatting for hours about music and drinking good whisky.

Just as Lilly was about to launch into another round of questions, Scotty and Will began to gently tease her, suggesting that she should ask the journalist directly if she wanted more answers.

Lilly

blushed.

And she suddenly realised that she too would love to talk about blues and jazz and music on Tuesday nights.

It was dark outside when Scotty got up from his chair and said to Lilly:

- Come on Lil', it's beer time. I promised you.

They arrived at the Planet, where they'd become regulars. Tess, the waitress, greeted them cheerfully by their first names and, seeing them sitting at the same table as usual, said

- We should put a plaque over this table with your names on it: 'To your favourite fake straight couple'.

Scotty ordered the first round at the bar without even asking Lilly what she wanted to drink. They had been here so many times, he knew what she wanted. An Appletini. With one ice cube. He tried to change her mind every time they had a drink, but she wouldn't budge.

Sitting at their table, Lilly watched him.

Since the Christina episode, they'd become even closer than before. They started getting together at weekends to visit Christina's daughter Louisa in Jersey, at Paul and Celeste's house, and it had become a habit. Now it was impossible to imagine Lilly without Scotty and Scotty without Lilly. Weekdays at work and weekends at each other's houses or in bars.

He was the one who knew her best and vice versa.

A few years earlier, after leaving Saccardo and having a big talk with Diane Yates of the FBI, who made a bit of fun of her for looking for the real thing, she had gradually realised that if none of her love stories had worked out, it was because she wasn't attracted to men. It was because she was lesbian. It hadn't always been easy, and Scotty had always been there for her. She felt really lucky to have him in her life as her best friend, even if he was sometimes a pain in the ass.

Scotty came back with the beers and they started talking about anything and everything. He wanted to tell her about his weekend date, as he had promised, but stopped very quickly when he realised that Lilly was not listening to him at all. She was staring into space, smiling slightly, completely in her own world.

Out of the blue, she asked him:

- What do you think of this woman, Alexis Storm?

Her blue eyes sparkled and a smile lit up her face.

- Lix Storm ? oh God Lil, she's getting into your head. Am I wrong or are you starting to have a crush on a victim's relative?

Lilly realised what she'd just said, tried to deny it and already regretted telling Scotty, but it was too late, he knew her too well and would have found out for himself. It's a golden opportunity for Scotty to make fun of his friend.

- Now, Lilly, I didn't think Lix was your time. She looks too elegant, a bit bossy and very smart... I thought you were more into...

- Oh my God, what are you going to say?

- You know... I thought you liked country music fans... cute girls from Tennessee... maybe Nashville to be exact...

- Are you bringing up Charlene? Come on Scotty, that's not fair!

Lilly tried to look made up when she said that, but the truth is that she laughed out loud. Charlene from Nashville... She hadn't thought about this woman for a long time, but it was a pretty good memory.

Nashville. 2014.

Scotty and Lilly have just closed a case about two cowboys that took them all the way to Tennessee. To celebrate, they are dragged by the local squad to a bar under a huge tent where everyone starts dancing to country music.

They're accompanied by Charlene, a cute little brunette who works at the police station and is very nice but a bit clingy. Throughout the whole affair, she came up with a thousand excuses to follow the investigation and spend time with them. Of course, Lilly was not above playing practical jokes on Scotty, the irresistible Don Juan who makes the hearts of the local girls.

Throughout the investigation, Lilly has been convinced that Charlene's only dream is to get Scotty's attention and spend the night with him. But that evening, something changes and she suddenly realises that it's not Scotty that Charlene is interested in.

She's interested in him.

Suddenly she notices that Charlene can't stop staring at her.

Undressing her

with her eyes.

That it's her attention

that she's trying to attract.

Lilly felt herself blushing.

She doesn't know how to react. It's the first time another woman has shown interest in her. It surprised her, but she soon realised that

it doesn'tbother her at all.

In fact, she enjoys being looked at through these eyes and ends up playing along. It's true that Charlene is quite charming. She takes her to the dance floor where they spend hours together. Lilly almost began to appreciate country music. They dance for a long time and Charlene finally, shyly, puts her lips to hers. She tastes of rum and lipstick. Lilly

devoured her.

Without saying a word, they left the crowded bar and ended up in Lilly's room.

It had been a

wonderful evening.