A/N: With so many terrific Lilly/Scott stories in the fandom, I'm somewhat unsure of trying my own hand at one. Thus, I'm not 100% sure where this will be going, but let's start with this introduction and see what happens.
Disclaimer: I do not own Cold Case or any of its characters. Absolutely no copyright infringement is intended!
Rubbing his red-rimmed, brown eyes, Chris "Lass" Lassing sighed as he spotted his partner, Lilly Rush. Bracing himself, Lass took a seat opposite Lilly at the small gray desk that served as a table in the break area of the Homicide floor.
Though the coffee she was sipping was ice-cold and strands of blonde hair drifted into her eyes, Lilly ignored Lass and kept her eyes directed on the day old copy of the Philadelphia Daily News that she was leafing through.
"Come on, Lil, you gotta speak to me sometime. It's time you grew up and quit with the ice queen act."
Gritting her teeth as she flung her bangs over her left ear, Lilly's blue eyes flashed as she glared back at Lass. "I got nothing to say!"
"Bullshit, Lil! We've been partners for two years and now that I'm leaving Homicide you got nothing at all to say to me? Not even good-bye?"
Lilly sighed as her glare softened. "That's exactly why I got nothing to say to you!"
Leaning back in his chair, Lass began chewing on his lip. "Lil, I only found out I got the transfer to HIU last week. I was gonna tell you, but I was afraid this was how you'd react!"
"Great, Lass. You transfer back onto dayshift, leaving me and our cases in the lurch. Real class act you're doing!"
Lass took a deep breath as he hunched forward. "Lil, I don't got a choice. You know I had to take the past couple weeks off because I've not been feeling good. Anyway, when all is said and done, the doc says I need a more regular schedule that is easier on my body; the night shifts and long hours are killing me and throwing my diabetes out of whack!"
"Well, maybe if you quit smoking, your health problems wouldn't be so bad. Ya ever consider that Lass, huh?" Lilly enquired as she bolted down the rest of her coffee and slammed the mug on the table.
"It ain't just that, Lil."
"What, I'm not a good enough partner for 'ya or something?"
"Not that either." Lass sighed as he loosened his tie. "I found out a couple weeks ago Louise is pregnant and it made me realize I can't keep working here with a kid on the way. Louise and I have hardly seen each other since I got put in here. Louise is going to need me in the next few months and I want my kid to grow up knowing me, Lil."
"Do whatever you want, Lass! You always do!" Getting up from her seat, Lilly strode towards the safety of her desk, leaving Lass sitting open-mouthed and playing with Lilly's abandoned mug.
Well, all things considered, Lil took that pretty good.
As the day faded into nighttime, goblins, vampires, witches and firefighters invaded Lilly's street and were delighted to find several bowls of candy up for grabs. The night being early, the kids practiced the honour system and only took the two pieces each Lilly's sign commanded.
The triple homicide from a month and a half earlier beginning to cool, Lilly sat at her desk. Vera's case notes were spread around her. As she went through Vera's witness statements and preliminary theories, Lilly clenched her fists. She knew it had been a mistake to let Vera pawn off his dog call on her and have him end up taking over this case.
It wasn't that Lilly regretted the course events had taken. If Vera hadn't been his usual lazy, son-of-a-bitch self, the spark for cold jobs never would have been set afire in Lilly's heart and five cases would still be sitting in the basement of Homicide with their cartons collecting dust.
Pulling his grey overcoat over his suit jacket, Lieutenant John Stillman sighed as he spotted Lilly still working away at her desk.
"Lil, don't you think it might be time to be heading home? You've been on since midnight."
Looking up for the scene report she was examining, Lilly widened her eyes at Stillman in disbelief. "Boss, this triple isn't going to solve itself; Vera sure as hell doesn't seem to be making any headway on it! And with Lass gone, OT is gonna be a fact of life for a while."
"Well, we won't be down a man too long," said Stillman as he took his glasses off and began to wipe them clean with a Kleenex. "We're getting a new guy over from West on Monday."
"What? They found somebody that fast?"
"Yeah, department began canvassing for a suitable replacement last week."
Lilly's eyes narrowed at Stillman. "Wait, you've known for a week that Lass is transferring out?"
"I've known for a couple weeks, Lil. Known that Lass was on his way out, I mean. He'd told me a few months back he was thinking about it, but that rough patch he's just had sealed the deal. I told Lass it would be best for him to tell you sooner rather than later, but he wanted me to keep it quiet until he knew for sure when he'd be able to transfer out. I had to respect his wishes; it was his call to make, not mine."
"Damn it! Am I the only one in the dark here?" Lilly demanded as she continued trying in vain to decipher Vera's sloppy case notes.
"No, Lil; I don't think Jeffries or Vera even know yet that Lass is gone. Far as they know, he's still on medical leave. Lass only came by today to pick up his things."
Terrific. Lilly began pecking at her keyboard listlessly. "Well, now that that's over and done with, just who is this new guy we're getting, anyway?"
"Don't know much about him or his name, other than he's been with the force for five years. But there's a case he did some really good work on that has impressed the superiors," explained Stillman, putting his glasses back on and buttoning up his coat.
Even better. We lose a seasoned detective and I get partnered and saddled with a rookie. This will be a match made in heaven! Lilly's mouth hardened as she switched off her computer screen and left her desk to get some more caffeine.