When I first started this story I really liked the idea of it until I remembered that Andy had volunteered to play poker with Luke when he had been shot. By that time it was over half written and I didn't want to just scrap it. I thought about referring to her offer during the story but instead I'm choosing to ignore that little tidbit as it would demonstrate way too much love for the cheating SOB in the context of my story. So let's 'disregard' shall we, and pretend she never made the offer to play poker with Callaghan.

Hope you like this one…I'm kind of on the fence myself.

Disclaimer: I do not own Rookie Blue or its characters.

It had been a normal day on patrol for Sam and Andy, but after all the drama of solving the bank robbery and being stuck in quarantine a couple of days ago, it felt incredibly slow and dull. Thankfully the day was almost over though.

They were both still tired and hadn't caught up on the sleep they lost from having been up most of that night so conversation wasn't encouraged by either one of them. They were both content to enjoy the quiet for a change…even Andy.

As they sat in comfortable silence, Sam's mind wandered back to that night and he smirked to himself in congratulations over taking Oliver and Jerry to the cleaners once again. These quarantines definitely work in my favor.

As he thought back about the hands he had held and the bets he made, his mind started settling on an interesting and surprising revelation that had come about when he hadn't even been dealt in.

"Just flopped out a set of jacks right under the gun." Oliver had bragged.

"Did you lead out?" Sam asked, knowing what he would have done.

"Of course," Shaw confirmed. "Then I filled it up on the turn. Barber here, sorry Buddy, pushes all in…last week's paycheck."

And that was when the shocker came, courtesy of the beautiful rookie sitting next to him. "No…If you ask me leading out's a bit amateur. If it were my cards, I would have checked, raised, smooth call and taken the lead on the turn."

That one comment spoke volumes and both Sam and Oliver saw it for what it was…proof that their Miss McNally had some skills at the poker table. Sam couldn't help but wonder how he never knew that about her. They talked poker all the time; didn't they?

Sam was pulled out of his thoughts by the ring tone on his cell phone.

"Yeah, Oliver Go."

"We just lost Johnson; he's out for tonight. We need to find a sixth."

"Okay…well, how about…"

Oliver interrupted quickly. "Ask McNally."

"Seriously?"

"Why not? It's short notice; no one's going to be picky. We just need a body." Oliver had also given Andy's offhand comment a lot of thought and was interested to see if she was as good as she appeared. "Plus, my house, my rules."

Sam was skeptical; he couldn't remember ever inviting a rookie to poker night, let alone a female rookie. Still they could use another body. Okay…don't wanna go there…another player.

Sam shook his head to clear away the thoughts he had been trying not to entertain, the ones that had been harder and harder to shake from his mind since Andy broke it off with Callaghan. "I'll see what I can do." He offered, ending the call.

Andy raised her eyebrows in question as Sam looked over. He debated with himself for only a few seconds before taking the plunge. "You wanna come to poker tonight?"

She scoffed. "I thought that was a long standing 'male' tradition at the fifteenth."

"It is…er was now I guess. But it's last minute…so we're really not picky." He threw in with a dimpled grin.

She tilted her head and offered him a fake smile. "I'm flattered."

Sam rolled his eyes in response. "Seriously, are you in or out?"

"Out."

"You're not even going to think about it."

"I don't play poker."

Sam was confused as her actions the other night spoke to the contrary. "You watch it on TV or something?"

"What? No."

Sam grimaced at his next supposition. "You liked to watch Callaghan…"

Andy stopped that thought right in its tracks. "No!"

"But…"

She raised her eyebrows in question and frustration.

"The game the other night…"

"The other night?"

"The quarantine…Shaw was talking about how he took Jerry for his whole paycheck and you told him his move was amateur before spouting off some strategy from the world series of poker. So out with it…who do you play with and why don't you want to play with us?"

Sam glanced over as she opened her mouth a couple of times, each time shaking her head before closing it and retreating back in thought. He furrowed his brow; it was simple question that should only take a simple answer. How hard is it to just name names?

He had turned back to the road when heard her let out a determined breath and just when it looked like she was finally going to say something, the radio burst into life with a call only a few minutes away from their location. "Light 'em up!" Sam instructed as he informed dispatch that they were on their way.

The rest of the shift passed quickly as they took care of the call, brought the suspect into booking and then spent the rest of the time completing the necessary paperwork. As Sam finished entering the last of the information into the computer, he shut it down and turned to Andy. "You wanna go to the Penny for a drink?"

Andy tried to suppress her knowing look but his intent was obvious. Any other time and he would have just asked if she was going to the Penny; he wanted something. "I thought it was poker night."

"I have time for one if you do." He offered before trying to sweeten the pot. "I'll buy."

"Why do I get the feeling that you have an ulterior motive?" She wondered, already pretty sure what he was after.

They both knew she saw right through him so he didn't see any need to confirm or deny it; he couldn't hold back the resulting smirk though. "You up for it or not?"

Was she up for it? Andy began to mull it over. Sam had really helped her out the other night. She wasn't generally one to take her anger out physically; she tended to go more for the passive/aggressive barbs. But he had been right…she really had needed to hit something and she felt a whole lot lighter after. It wasn't much but she felt that the least she could do was be honest with him.

Sam waited patiently as her internal debate played out over her face. When she finally agreed, his smile widened and he told her to be ready in ten.

She hurried to the locker room trying to make the most of her limited time. She hadn't even cleared the entranceway before Traci's familiar voice greeted her. They made small talk as Traci finished changing first and headed to the door; she turned back as she opened it. "You need a ride to the Penny?"

"That won't be necessary." Sam answered for her as he pushed off the wall and poked his head in. "You ready?"

Andy closed her locker up quickly and grabbed her backpack from the floor. "Yep. Let's go."

Traci swallowed her grin. Go Swarek! "See you there." She practically sang.

Andy just shook her head and followed Sam to his truck.

When they reached the Penny, Sam ushered Andy towards the bar as the rookies tried to catch her attention. She gave them a quick nod of recognition hoping they would understand that she would get over there when she could. She couldn't pull her eyes away as they all started to grin at whatever Traci was telling them; if there was anything exciting, Traci would have normally told Andy first in the locker room. When all their eyes switched over to her and Sam and nodded in some sort of recognition, she made a mental note to ask Traci exactly what she had been sharing with the class.

Andy shifted her focus back to the bar and had barely sat down before a drink was placed in front of her. Apparently Sam had already taken the liberty of ordering for her. "Thanks."

"You're welcome."

They sat in silence for a few seconds before Andy decided she might as well start the ball rolling. "Why does it matter?"

"What?"

"I told you I don't play poker. Why can't you just trust me on that?"

"I trust you McNally; it's just…I don't know. It's just I talk about Poker Night all the time and…"

Andy laughed out loud.

"What?"

"Sam your conversations about poker night consist of: 'I took Jerry for everything last night', 'you're driving', and 'do you really have to talk?'

A sheepish grin took over Sam's face. Okay so maybe he hadn't given her any real opportunity to talk about it, but he did want to know. In fact, he wanted to know everything about her, and this was just one more thing he found fascinating. She obviously knew the game, and knew it well, so why wouldn't she play. "I don't know. I guess it's just that you've never shown any sort of interest and then the other night you start spouting off about what you would have done if they were your cards. If you don't play, why would you say something like that?"

She didn't really know why she had said it; it's just that they were making such a big deal about Shaw's play and though it obviously worked for him she didn't think it wasn't the best move. She hadn't consciously thought about playing poker for quite awhile; had actually avoided it. But that night it was right there in front of her and it really just slipped out. "I used to play." She admitted quietly.

She took a quick peek over at Sam as she said this but when she met his questioning glance, she turned back to her drink. She felt his hand on her arm and it drew her gaze back to his. "Used to?" He asked, tilting his head to the side and trying to draw out more information.

He watched her take a deep breath as she returned her eyes once again to her glass. "When I was younger, I loved poker night. The guys would come over to play with my dad and let me look at their cards, sometimes let me place the bets for them that kind of thing. Anyway, it was fun. When I was old enough, they let me run over to the Penny and pick up the pizza and I always got to keep the change. If the ice cream truck went by, someone always had a couple of extra bucks for me."

Sam mirrored the faint smile that appeared on her face; he could only imagine a young Andy having all those buddies of her dad's wrapped around her little finger. All she would have to do was flash them that killer smile and they'd all be reaching into their pockets. Even then, he was certain that smile could get her whatever she wanted. Unfortunately, the seemingly happy part of the memory didn't last long as her face immediately clouded over.

"When my mom left, it didn't take long for me to start hating poker night."

Sam was confused; surely the guys wouldn't treat her any different just because her mom wasn't there. If he had to guess, he would have thought they'd be nicer to her. He was even more curious now.

"Dad usually played poker about once every couple weeks. Before mom left, he generally did ok. Stayed fairly even – won some lost some."

Sam was straining to hear her over the din of the bar so he slid his stool a little closer.

"When he started drinking, he didn't fare as well and he lost more often than not." She dared another glance at Sam. "If he had a bad week, I ate a lot of KD and peanut butter sandwiches."

Sam nodded as the picture was starting to become clearer.

"If it was a good week, he'd take me out for supper. But it didn't take his buddies long to figure out that his poker skills were completely dependent on how much he had to drink. The more he drank the easier it was to read his tells…the easier it was to beat him. Once everyone clued in, he almost never won and I was really starting to get tired…and hungry."

Andy stopped to take a drink and a breather. Sam waited patiently; he now understood why she wouldn't like the game but wondered why she would have ever played in the first place if she despised it so much. He didn't have to wait long for the answer.

"One time, it was dad's turn to host and they were short a guy so I asked if I could play. After they all had a good laugh, they finally agreed to let me sit in even if just for a few hands. I don't know if it was because they felt bad that they were about to clean out our pockets again, that they regretted not trying harder to get him to at least cut down on the drinking, or if they liked me enough to let me try and have some fun. Either way, I got my chance. I had saved up some money and they all threw in a few extra bucks to get me into the game. I had watched a lot and had a bit of an idea of what to do and that first night, I came up even. I hadn't lost my money so I was happy; plus they let me keep the extra money they had all thrown in."

"After that, whenever the game was at our house, I made dad insist that I get to play too. The more I played, the better I got. I still lost sometimes but more often than not I came out ahead and more than made up for what dad lost. It kept us in groceries and if I had a really good week, I sometimes treated myself to a movie."

Sam instantly felt bad for the little girl who had to grow up too fast and basically fight for everything she got. No wonder she always tried to be so tough, but he had always been able to see right through her. She couldn't hide anything from him.

A funny thought occurred to him just then; how they hell could she be such a bad liar and still be good at poker. You have to be able to bluff sometime.

It was almost as if Andy could read his mind. "Who knows; maybe they let me win. Maybe they felt guilty for taking advantage of my dad when he was at their place. Either way, on the nights I played, I almost always won."

"The weeks in between the games at our house weren't good, but I wasn't allowed to play anywhere else so it wasn't easy riding out those couple months in between. If things were really tough, I'd talk dad into letting me come with him. On those nights I had two choices: stop dad from drinking too much, which was next to impossible, or sit beside him and basically make the plays for him. He'd get really frustrated with me though and he was afraid I'd get him kicked out of the group."

Andy continued before Sam had a chance to ask how she could possibly get him thrown out of the game. "I know they'd all encouraged him more than once to skip a week and some even suggested that he might want to stop coming altogether. He thought it was because of me; that I was getting on the other guys' nerves. But I'm pretty sure their consciences were just getting the best of them. Anyway, he didn't listen to them and on some nights he got tired of listening to me too. That's when he'd get mad and send me home."

Andy was startled out of her thoughts by Sam's worried question; it was the first time he had spoken up since she had started. "You didn't walk home in the dark by yourself?"

Andy looked sheepish.

"Did you?" He really hated the idea of her walking home alone in the dark at that age. She obviously hadn't ever been hurt though…had she?

"I took the car." She admitted guiltily. "I didn't want him to drive drunk and I was too scared to walk so…"

"You did what you had to do." He supplied, and they both knew he meant way more than just the drive.

"I did what I had to do." She confirmed thankful that he understood.

"So yeah…I can play poker; I just choose not to. As soon as I was old enough to get a job, I did, and I've only played a few times since."

Sam was about to ask her what would make her play again when his phone vibrated in his pocket. As he pulled it out, he saw Oliver's name flash across the screen.

Before he could get his greeting out, he heard. "Sammy, you coming?"

Sam looked at his watch; he was already late. "Yeah, yeah. I'm on my way."

"What about McNally? She coming with you? We could still use that body."

Sam tried to hold in the smirk; he could think of way better uses for that body, but now was not the time. "Yep, she's coming too." He replied and ended the call.

Andy looked at him skeptically; she had agreed to no such thing. "Sam, I told you I don't play…"

"Come on." He held out his hand. "It's time for a good poker memory."

"I didn't bring any money." She rationalized. "…and I really don't think I can afford…"

"I'll cover you." He insisted. "I got your back."

Andy scoffed. "I'm pretty sure having your partner's back doesn't entail fronting them for poker."

"So. It's an investment I'm willing to make." He would put his money on her any day. "Besides, anything you win, you can split with me."

"What if I lose?"

"Will you lose?"

"Probably not." She replied with a cocky grin. And he couldn't help but return it as he caught a glimpse of the sparkle that had been missing from her eyes for far too long.

He slapped some money down on the bar and extended his hand to her once again and this time she took it allowing Sam to help her down from her stool. "Well then let's get a move on. We don't want Jerry to run out of money before we get there."

He was rewarded with a small chuckle and he couldn't help but think that it was going to be a good night.

Neither of them was aware of the four sets of rookie eyes that followed them out, each set also wondering if things were indeed looking up.

Thankful that he had hit the bank earlier in the day, Sam hurried them over to Oliver's and it didn't take them long to settle in. Or for the guys to realize just how good a player Andy was; barely a couple hours in and she was already up…by quite a bit.

But it wasn't the game that Andy was relishing so much as the company. She had always enjoyed being paired with Sam and Oliver too; it was never a dull moment with either of them. But seeing them in this new light, completely relaxed, was even better. She couldn't remember the last time she had laughed so hard and had so much fun. And the fact that she was coming out ahead was just icing on the cake. She didn't know how she was going to be able to thank Sam for this one.

The night passed so quickly Andy was surprised and a little disappointed when Oliver announced that it was the last hand. She took a look at her cards hoping to end the night with a flourish but it wasn't meant to be and it wasn't long before she found herself folding. It was okay though because she was completely happy; she had been able to relax and forget all her problems and made a few bucks along the way.

As the hand continued on without her, she quietly asked Oliver to direct her to the bathroom and then headed down the hallway.

As the door clicked shut, Sam looked up at the host. "Thanks."

"For what?"

"I'm glad you told me to invite her." Sam said, certain that Oliver knew exactly what he meant.

"Me too, brother." Oliver agreed. No explanation was necessary as he too was happy to see Andy loosen up. And her smile had been a welcome sight; Sam at least had gotten a taste of it when he had her boxing the other night, but for everyone else at the division it had been a missing for far too long.

The other guys though, Jerry included, weren't as agreeable and more than one of them mumbled a bitter complaint about her taking all their money…which reminded Sam of something. "Hey did you ever play poker at Tommy's house?"

"Huh? No…that was before my time." Oliver replied. "Rookies didn't generally get invited to the game. I did get asked to spare once…almost went too."

"What stopped you?"

"No one ever won at Tommy's." He said without thinking.

"What do you mean?"

He stopped for a second to search for the memory. "I'm pretty sure I was going to go. I was actually excited about finally being asked but then someone told me it wasn't worth it because I'd never win there."

"Why not?"

Oliver furrowed his brow as he continued to sort out his recollection. "Apparently his daughter was a bit of a card shark and he always let her play when the game was there so…" Oliver let the thought trail off as the light suddenly went on. "Ah…"

Sam nodded his head in shared understanding and stood up as Andy reentered the room. "You ready?" She asked.

Sam motioned to the door in response and she turned to go. Before she left, she gave Oliver a big hug. "I really had fun. Thanks so much for inviting me."

"Hey." Sam interrupted, feigning hurt. "I'm pretty sure I was the one that invited you."

Andy rolled her eyes but couldn't stop the smile as Sam opened his arms up for the same hug.

Before she could take him up on his offer though Jerry started grumbling. He just couldn't hold it in; he was already grouchy at losing all his money to the two of them but this was getting out of hand. "We're not at a freaking slumber party here. There's no hugging at poker night."

"Sorry, Jerry." Andy offered as she shrugged her shoulders at Sam.

Oliver chuckled at the glare Sam sent Jerry's way, knowing full well that Sam would be making sure their friend paid for it later. He then extended his hand to Sam, patting him on the back with the other. "Better luck next time buddy."

Sam growled an incoherent response as he guided Andy out the door.

"You better get him home, McNally." Oliver teased. "Looks like someone needs to get to bed."

Andy's eyes sprung wide open and her jaw dropped as she felt herself snap back around to Oliver, and she wasn't the only one caught off guard. Sam's entire body went stiff and the expression on his face was bordering on shock.

As Oliver took in Andy's reddened face and Sam's utter disbelief, the implication of his words sunk in. He quickly cleared his throat and shook his head. Sam was going to kill him too. "Um…yeah…you better get out of here; you know I need my beauty sleep…."

He let the thought trail off, hoping he'd been able to erase the tension he had inadvertently caused; too bad he didn't quit while he was ahead though. "So we'll see you two in the morning then; have a good night now…no, I...shit." If the look on Sam's face was any indication, he might as well just shoot himself now.

Sam quickly ushered Andy out and down the stairs before Oliver could dig himself any deeper. As they reached the truck, Andy turned to Sam the night air having helped her recover her composure after Oliver's slip. "Are you okay to drive?" She had been having so much fun she had failed to notice how much he had had to drink, but she knew from past experience that he tended to overindulge on poker night.

"I'm good." He assured her. There was no way he wasn't going to be the one driving her home, so he had stuck to water for most of the night.

As they pulled away from the curb, they sat in a comfortable silence that they wouldn't have thought possible after Oliver stuck his foot in it, but it had been quickly forgotten…or at the very least successfully ignored. For once it was Sam who felt the need to break the quiet. "How is it that you can't tell a lie to save your life, but you don't have any problems bluffing at cards?"

Andy shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. No one really gets hurt by a bluff so…"

"Tell that to Jerry and his wallet." Sam responded with a chuckle; she had taken Jerry straight to the cleaners on nothing but a pair of fours. And after that, it was pretty much all downhill for his friend.

"Speaking of wallets…" She started before pulling out the wad of cash she won and splitting it in two. She tucked one half back into her pocket and handed the second half to Sam.

He grinned as he motioned for her to place it on the console; he had almost forgotten about their little arrangement. From the look of his dimples, he was definitely pleased with the outcome though. "So I guess it was worth it then." She noted.

"What's that?" He asked not quite sure what she was getting at.

"Putting your money on me."

Everyday! He thought, but answered lightly. "Well technically I bet on myself too so..."

Andy chuckled before teasing back. "Oh…so it was more like hedging your bets then?"

Sam grinned. "I prefer to think of it as betting on us."

He tried to keep the tenor light but the serious undertones were there, creeping their way in. He was careful not to look at her directly though, afraid that he might scare her off if he said too much too soon.

"Hmm."

When she didn't say anything else, he risked a glance over and found her deep in thought. He was starting to worry that he had pushed it just a little when she spoke again.

"So you're glad you did then?"

He wasn't one hundred percent sure what she was referring to, but he didn't regret anything when it came to taking a chance on her so he simply said, "I am."

"Would you do it again?" She asked quietly.

This time he needed to be absolutely certain what she was referring to; he didn't want to leave any doubts in her mind that he was all in. "Do what exactly?

It was almost a whisper. "Bet on us?"

"Just tell me when and where." He answered, as they pulled up in front of her house.

She placed her hand softly on his arm prompting him to look over at her. "Thanks, Sam." She offered giving him a soft smile before getting out and walking towards her apartment building.

His eyes never left her as she made her way up the walk towards the stairs and it was easy to see that she was replaying everything that had just happened. When she turned to give him a wave, he didn't miss the way her smile changed just slightly as her cheeks took on a tinge of pink.

Sam grinned and the dimples in his cheeks deepened in direct proportion to the hope that was swelling in his chest. Maybe, just maybe she would be willing to return the favor and take a chance on him too.