A/N: It will loosely follow the episodes of Major Crimes that she has appeared in so far, from season one, starting with episode 1.02, but there will be chapters don't follow episodes at all as well! Many thanks to DefyingNormalcy for her beta!

6:00 AM

Andrea rolled over in bed and pulled the plush, cream-colored duvet up around her bare shoulders. The alarm clock on her nightstand read 6:00 am, which meant it was time for her to get out of bed and find some inkling of motivation for her morning run. She'd never regretted her runs when she was done with them, but finding the strength to start them some mornings was difficult, especially on the odd occasion when she stayed late at the police station to make a deal with a wayward suspect. Last night had proved no exception; Captain Raydor had kept her there until after 10:00pm until they were finally able to elicit a confession from their main suspect. Still, Andrea had been able to deal on second-degree murder and put someone away for life. She was tired, yes, but she was pleased with her work and that was a great feeling.

As the alarm sounded again, Andrea pushed the covers down over her tank top clad torso and groaned. She combed her blonde locks out of her face carelessly and rubbed her eyes as she sat up in the middle of her king sized bed. That was one thing Andrea relished about being single; other than the casual, occasional partner, she never had to share her bed, and she loved sleeping in the middle of the bed. She rolled her eyes as the alarm sent another shrill beep through the room, reverberating off the rich, chocolate colored walls. She quickly switched the alarm clock off and swung her legs to the side of the bed, pulling her silk sleep shorts down to cover her upper thighs as she sat up straighter. She stretched her arms over her head and yawned; if she was going to make it out for her run she'd better get a move on. She had a meeting with DDA Michaels, a plea deal to settle, and about three feet of paperwork to sort through before she headed over to the Major Crimes division at the Los Angeles Police Department to sort out the case Captain Raydor had already left her a voicemail about this morning. Andrea smirked as her thoughts turned to the redheaded police officer. Did that woman ever sleep?

She sauntered across the room, grabbing her discarded stilettos at the foot of her bed from the night before, and tossed them to the side of her walk in closet. Her closet, like the rest of her house, was messy, but not too messy. Andrea preferred to think of it all as lived in, rather than messy. She quickly grabbed a pair of spandex running tights and a bright blue running tank, along with a sports bra and her trainers. She pulled her gear on, laced her shoes up, and headed downstairs to her kitchen so she could fill her water bottle and jog to the beach to get a head start on her day.

7:15 AM

Andrea returned to her beachfront condo to the sound of yet another shrill beeping. This time, it was her phone, ringing incessantly, as someone called repeatedly. It was either her mother or Sharon Raydor, no one else called her that many times in a row without giving up. Andrea laughed frustratedly to herself as she tossed her house keys down on her glass coffee table and ran up the stairs to collect her cell phone off her dresser.

"Andrea Hobbs," she answered, doing her best not to sound breathless. She had ended her run at her doorstep and was expecting to come inside, have a glass of water, and recover as she stretched in her living room. She knew that going from running to stretching was technically 'bad', but she hadn't been in the mood to walk as a cool down this morning. Running up the stairs hadn't helped her lungs any, either. She was still a sweating, out of breath mess as she sat back on her bed and kicked her trainers off, waiting for whoever was on the other line to answer her. She hadn't thought to check the caller ID; she was more concerned with just answering the call to get the ringing to stop.

"Hello, DDA Hobbs, I'm so sorry to bother you again this morning, but there's been a change of plans with our case," Sharon's smooth voice recited through the phone.

Andrea smirked as she flopped back on her bed, pressing the back of her hand onto her forehead. Of course there'd been a change of plans with the case. That seemed to be the way it always went with Major Crimes- murderers never really kept to a consistent schedule. "Okay, lets have it," Andrea responded pleasantly. She didn't mind the constantly changing schedule. At best, it kept her life interesting. At worst, sometimes it was an inconvenience, but she'd never really been one for the 'nine to five' way of life anyway.

"We caught a new homicide… some health club, or gym, or… look, I'm stuck at home this morning. I've got a personal matter to attend to with Rusty, but if you text Lt. Provenza he can give you the address. Tell him that you need to see the crime scene, I've left him in charge this morning and I will get there as quickly as I can..." Sharon trailed off and Andrea could hear the sound of other voices in the background. One of them was definitely Rusty's, and she heard a whiny But Shaaaron escape his mouth. Andrea couldn't help but chuckle at the exchange. She had to commend Sharon for her selflessness and generosity in taking the boy in; she couldn't do it. Of course, she thought Rusty was a great kid, especially for all he'd been through, but she liked her space. A lot.

Andrea waited for a moment until Sharon's attention was refocused on the phone call. "Alright, I'll text Provenza and meet everyone at the crime scene, then work from your office today. Are we just putting the other case on the back burner?" Andrea stared at the ceiling fan as she asked the question, her thoughts more focused on her plans that evening than her conversation with the police captain.

"Uh, yes, we have to," Sharon remarked as she followed Rusty's caseworker through her home, "This seems like it's a pretty brutal murder. Lt. Provenza sent me a few photos. We need this one out of the way, then we'll deal the other and hopefully have both wrapped in the next forty-eight hours."

"Alright, I'm sure we can manage as long as the criminals cooperate. I've got to hurry and get ready to go, but I'll see you later on, Captain," Andrea said as she sat back up and pulled her running top and sports bra off. If she was going to make it to the crime scene in good time she needed to shower quickly and get on the road before traffic got ridiculous. The two women said their goodbyes and Andrea sat her phone back down on her dresser so she could rush through her morning routine and get downtown.

8:30 AM

Andrea tugged at the hem of her camel colored blazer, smoothing it over her black shift dress as she stood over the dead body, Lt. Provenza at her side. She was doing her best to hide her annoyance with the old man; she never did appreciate the way he rode Sharon's ass. She understood that, by default, everyone in Major Crimes had to at least pretend to hate Sharon Raydor. She was an FID officer and therefore the enemy, but Lt. Provenza had a way of taking it just one step too far, of making it almost personal. Did he really have to ask her if she was planning on joining them some time today as if she was slacking on her duties for fun? Sharon said on the phone this morning that it had been a personal matter with Rusty that she was tending to. Personal or not, Rusty was a material witness in a murder trial-that was still technically police work. Besides, that left Provenza in charge of the crime scene. Andrea couldn't figure out what he had to be upset about, or if Lt. Provenza liked griping just for the sake of griping.

She crossed her arms over her chest and stepped over the man lying on the floor, careful to avoid the puddles of blood, as she followed Lt. Provenza in a walk-through of the scene. Seeing as they were nearly done here, it looked as though Captain Raydor was going to miss the crime scene altogether. Andrea sighed quietly to herself as she listened to Lt. Provenza pontificate on another of his murder theories as Buzz taped their walk through, trying to catch every tiny detail he could on film. Seeing as the victim was the husband this time, at least this time Andrea wouldn't have to hear him say, "it's always the husband."

7:00 PM

Andrea opened her front door for her younger brother and three nieces, who came piling in to hug her around the knees and hips before she even had the chance to get so much as a "hello" out of her mouth. She smiled warmly at her brother and reached an arm out to wrap it around his neck. "Hello there," she laughed as she bent down to pick up her youngest niece, Stella, and balance her on her hip as the other two continued to cling to her. She placed a gentle kiss on each of their foreheads before standing back up.

"Dinner is nearly ready, I made homemade pizzas. I wasn't feeling very creative tonight," she laughed as she grabbed her niece, Madison by the hand and led her family to the living room. She sat down in the middle of her couch and placed her feet on the coffee table, adjusting her youngest niece so was balanced on her stomach. Andrea wrapped her arms around the two year old loosely and looked over at her brother as she rested her head against the back of the couch, her other two nieces already snuggled in to either side of their aunt.

"You look like h-e-l-l," Andrea spelled it out so her nieces wouldn't understand, as she shot her brother, Derek, a sympathetic look.

Derek plopped down in a leather armchair and sighed, "Yeah, well, d-i-v-o-r-c-e will do that to you," he sighed as he watched his daughters cuddle with his big sister.

Andrea wrapped her arms around her nieces and pulled them in close to her, wishing she could protect them from the reality of their parent's failed relationship. Stella bent over to rest her head against Andrea's chest and Andrea kissed her forehead lightly. She never felt more at ease than when she was surrounded by her family. "I take it things aren't being made any easier, then," Andrea sighed in response as she looked her brother over, taking in his tired features.

Derek's soon to be ex-wife was certainly not going to win mother of the year any time soon. She'd been a fine enough wife when Derek married her. Andrea never really liked her, but she seemed to make her brother happy, and they appeared to have a healthy relationship and that was all that Andrea cared about. Then they'd had Amelia, Madison, and Stella back to back, and it seemed to overwhelm Joanna in a way she couldn't recover from. By the time Derek finally asked for a divorce, Joanna was much more interested in the bottom of her wine glass than her children. It made Andrea so angry she couldn't see straight when she thought about it, so she tried not to. Instead, she invited Derek and the girls over for dinner twice a week, and had the girls stay with her every other weekend. It quelled her own longing for little ones around the house and made her feel tangibly useful in helping her little brother pick up the pieces.

"Of course not," Derek chuckled quietly, "You know how it goes, Andy. Nothing about this is going to be simple." He looked at her, a defeated, sad look on his face. Andrea nodded her understanding and rested her head against Madison's. Derek watched them for a moment, a soft smile breaking his frown. He never understood why his big sister hadn't become a mother, other than a long string of bad luck with partners. She was a natural with his girls, and loved them, sometimes he thought, more than even he did. "But, I did bring those forms you asked for about all the custody stuff so hopefully we can get that squared away this week."

"Great, I'll get it all filled with a judge tomorrow morning," she smiled. She felt Amelia jump against her as the buzzer on the oven went off, indicating that the pizza was done. "Dinner time, little ones," she said as she smiled at her nieces, poking the two older ones gently in the sides to tickle them. She stood and swung Stella effortlessly back on to her hip and disappeared into the kitchen, all three little girls in tow. Derek followed behind quickly to help set the table and help his daughters wash their hands.

10:00 PM

Andrea tossed her black stilettos at the foot of her four posted bed and plopped down on the soft mattress, exhausted from the day. She loved seeing her nieces and her brother, but they always, always wore her out. She unzipped the dark blue jeans she had changed into after work and pulled them down off of her slender thighs, letting them pool with the stilettos on the floor. She reached behind her and unsnapped her bra, then pulled the straps down through the arms of her t-shirt and discarded that quickly, allowing it to land on the pile on the floor, too. She tossed her duvet and sheets back and crawled into bed, clad in only a white cotton v-neck t-shirt and her navy blue boyshort panties. She still had to get up and wash her face, but she'd do that in a little while. She let a quiet sigh escape her lips as she relaxed into the plush down pillows, grabbing for her iPhone off her nightstand. She dragged her finger across the screen and pushed the messages button to see that she had, in fact, received several text messages throughout her dinner with her family.

The first one was a message from Marci, Andrea's latest…. friend.

Marci: Hey stranger. You've been quiet today… dinner this week?

Andrea turned on her side and grinned as she read the message. They'd only really been out officially once, but they'd been talking for a few weeks, and things seemed hopeful.

Andrea: Sorry, busy day at work. You know how it goes with criminals! Everyone wanted to kill each other today for some reason. Yes. Friday? We can nail down details on Wednesday. xo

Andrea contented herself with leaving the exchange there. She dated often, and dated well. Part of that was not getting in over her head early on. She liked Marci, but she wasn't going to tell her too much of anything yet. Happy that they had plans, Andrea scrolled down to the next message in her phone, which was from a certain Sharon Raydor. It had been sent at 6:30pm. Andrea wasn't sure if she should respond so late. She and Sharon had plenty of conversations via text message before, but never this late in the evening.

Sharon Raydor: Thank you so much for switching up your day and going to the crime scene this morning. I know it was useless for you to be there….but Provenza. You know how he can be. ;-) I'm hoping we can have this wrapped up tomorrow. Anyway, thanks again. You were great today, Andrea.

Andrea read the message once, and then again, and then decided to respond. Sharon was smart; if she was in bed, surely her phone was set so that the text alert was silenced.

Andrea Hobbs: It wasn't useless. I had a fabulous time listening to all 327 of his different ideas for what could have happened before the walk through was even finished. At least it wasn't the husband this time! It wasn't a problem at all. Did you get everything squared away with Rusty?

Sharon reached for her phone on the coffee table as she felt it buzz against her sock clad foot. She and Rusty were watching reruns of one of the Star Trek series, though which one it was, Sharon couldn't say. She smirked as she read Andrea's message.

Sharon Raydor: All good with Rusty. Cynthia, his caseworker, says there is no cause for him to go anywhere any time soon. Call me crazy, but I'm relieved. We're still finding our balance with each other, but I think he's coming around. Thank YOU for getting the appointment push up… she mentioned your name this morning. You didn't have to do that for me, Andrea.

Andrea blushed as she realized she'd been caught. She didn't mean for Sharon to find out that she'd called DCFS on her behalf to have her appointment moved up so that Rusty could stay with her permanently and they could start to settle themselves.

Andrea Hobbs: You've been stressed, and when you confided in me that you wanted him to stay, I wanted to help you make that happen. You've got enough on your plate without things at home being unsettled. It wasn't a problem at all. You're very welcome, Sharon.

Sharon Raydor: That's very sweet, and I appreciate it. Now… if I could get him to actually move off my couch and into the spare room…. ?

Andrea Hobbs: You can do it! Surely he'll get sick of the couch eventually. If not…bribe him with something. Teenage boys love bribes. It works on my nephews every time.

Andrea could feel her eyelids growing heavier by the moment and she knew she needed to tell Sharon goodnight. She felt rude cutting the conversation off, but she was beyond exhausted and knew she'd have to be up and at it again in just a few short hours. She tapped out one last text message to the other woman and tossed her phone on the nightstand before cuddling deeper into her duvet and shutting her eyes.