This is just a short one, originally envisioned as a one-shot, but looks to be about 3 chapters and maybe an epilogue. I wasn't sure exactly which characters to choose for this because it's mostly about the whole rookie crew; though it wouldn't be my story if there weren't at least a little McSwarek Love.
Disclaimer: I own nothing Rookie Blue
Dov and Chris had just walked into the station and were headed straight to the locker room to get ready. As soon as they opened the door, they could hear plans being made.
"OK, Jer. Are we starting the usual time?" Sam asked.
"Yep. Just be there any time before eight."
"Is everyone coming this week? I hate it when I can only take money from some of you." Shaw joked.
"I don't think so buddy." Sam contradicted. "I'm feeling pretty lucky."
"Just because McNally finally broke it off with Callaghan does not mean your luck is changing brother."
It's definitely a good sign though. "You're hilarious."
"I am; aren't I?" Shaw bragged.
His two friends just shook their heads.
"Poker night again, sirs?" Diaz asked.
"It certainly is, so could you convince McNally to be ready to give Sam a little extra TLC tomorrow." Shaw teased.
Sam was glaring at his friend while trying to hold back the smile that threatened at the thought of Andy giving him some extra loving care.
Dov grinned knowingly; Andy didn't need any convincing when it came to caring about Swarek.
"Yes, sir!" He agreed happily, before adding, "And now that we're not rookies anymore, when do we get to come over and play?"
"I'm flattered that you want a play date Epstein," Jerry mocked. "But, I don't think you're quite ready to deal with the big boys just yet."
"Why not?"
"Do you even know how to play?" Oliver asked doubtfully.
Dov looked sheepish; he did watch it on TV sometimes but that was about the extent of it.
"That's what we thought."
"OK…so we learn how to play. Then can we come?" He responded eagerly.
"You have to be able to meet the minimum." Jerry advised, knowing full well how little a rookie made.
"And be prepared to lose it all." Sam warned.
That's when Chris started to look a little concerned; he really didn't have the extra money to lose. So if he was ever going to go play, he wanted to at least have a chance to win something.
Oliver noticed the look of doubt on Chris' face. "Yeah…and I don't think we really need another reason to mock you just yet. When you stop making rookie mistakes, then we'll talk. For now, you better just concentrate on being able to do the job without one of us holding your hand before you worry about poker night."
The older officers walked out joking to themselves about never letting a rookie sit at the table. "Jerry might like it though." Sam suggested. "At least he wouldn't be the worst player there anymore."
"Funny."
Dov looked at Chris as soon as the door closed. "I don't know about you, but I want to be ready when they finally let us play."
"Don't you mean if…you heard them, Dov; I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon."
"Yeah well, we need to at least be ready if and when they do."
"What are we going to do?"
"What we always do?"
Chris looked at him questioningly.
"We get the girls to help us." Dov answered, as if it was completely obvious.
They exited the locker room and waited outside hoping that they hadn't missed the other rookies. They also hoped that for once Andy was on time so they'd have a few minutes to talk before parade.
It wasn't long before Traci and Andy came out, laughing about something that Leo had done the night before. As soon as they spotted their fellow rookies, they could tell by the looks on the boys' faces that something was up.
"All right, what did you do now?" Traci asked.
"We didn't do anything." They said in unison.
"You have that look."
"What look?" Dov answered innocently.
"The 'we need the girls to bail us out' look." Andy clarified.
"We do need your help." Chris explained while the girls nodded expectantly. "But we didn't do anything wrong."
Now that was a surprise. "What do you need help with then?"
"It's Poker Night and we want to get invited."
The girls just laughed. "Like that's going to happen. They can barely tolerate you two at work, what makes you think they're going to willingly invite you to hang out with them at Poker Night."
"They're not."
"Then why are you worried about it?"
"We figure that sooner or later they'll ask us or maybe they'll need a fill in sometime, you know as a test run to see if they might eventually want us to join." Chris explained patiently.
"And if they do, we want to be ready." Dov finished.
"What does that have to do with us?"
"We want to practice."
"So practice."
"Well, you know how it is; when you're a rookie no one invites you to anything. So we figured maybe we could start our own Poker Night just us rookies. And with practice, we'll get better."
"Yeah, but what's in it for us?" Andy wondered.
"You get better too."
"Will we ever get invited to Poker Night?" The girls knew the likelihood of that was nonexistent but they wanted to make sure the boys realized it too.
"We can invite you when it's at our house." They suggested uncertainly.
"Do you really think they'd even let you." Traci doubted.
"Probably not."
"Then why should we?" Andy wanted to know.
"Come on…the brotherhood?"
"If that's your argument, you're failing right there." Traci argued. "You're little brotherhood is hard enough to break into on the job. I'm guessing it's damn near impossible when it comes to Poker Night."
The boys knew they were right but they weren't giving up. "Come on. We're in this together; we're supposed to help each other out. If nothing else, we'll have some drinks and have fun. Maybe we'll like it so much, we won't want to join their poker night."
Now that was an argument the girls could get into. They had girls' night, but another night just for the rookies could be fun too. After exchanging a look of agreement, Traci answered for both of them. "Fine…we're in."
"Great so when do you want us to come over, Andy?"
"What? You plan a Poker Night and I have to host? You're pushing your luck." She cautioned.
"Come on Andy; you always make the best food when we all get together." Chris tried.
"You need the help and you want me to do all the work?"
"Please." They both put their arms around her, trying to butter her up.
"Fine, but I need some time to get groceries, and if I have to put up with a hung over Sam, I will not be in the mood tomorrow night." She explained. "So I'll get the supplies then and we can have it on Friday night. We're all off on Saturday so it'll work out perfectly. We won't have to worry about work after our first trial run just in case you two get out of hand."
"Yes!" Dov cheered. "Chris, you let Gail know."
"Let Gail know what?" The blonde asked as she walked up.
"The guys want to learn to play poker because they want to be ready if and when they ever get invited to the infamous Poker Night."
"You don't seriously think that's going to happen anytime soon?" Gail mocked.
"Maybe…maybe not, but we're not about to look like idiots when we finally get the chance. So we need to practice. Are you in or are you out?" Dov proposed.
"Fine…I'm in, but do either of you even know how to play?"
"A little," Dov admitted. "But really, I was hoping one of you girls did."
"I can get a rule book." Chris offered happily, having already planned to stop at the library on the way home.
All the other rookies rolled their eyes; they were pretty sure he would have at least half of it memorized by the time Friday rolled around. "Looks like we've got our work cut out for us. Maybe someone should check out the rules on the internet too." Traci recommended.
"And we are not using real money either; I don't have anything to lose." Andy declared. "I can get my dad's poker chips for show, but we have to figure out what the winner gets."
"Yeah." Traci agreed. "We need some motivation. How about big winner of the night gets drinks at the Penny the next time, or maybe a shift's worth of paperwork? We'll have to think of something."
Before anyone could think of anything appropriate, Noelle came up to herd all of them to parade. She held Traci back though. "What was that all about?"
"Dov and Chris think they'll be invited to play poker in our lifetime so they want to be ready. Friday night we're going to have Poker Night at Andy's so they can practice."
"Can I come?" Noelle wondered.
Traci was totally shocked; no TO had ever willingly asked to hang out with the rookies before. "Seriously?"
"Hell ya; those idiots never invite me and it sucks. Last month, they were down a guy; he called Swarek and said he couldn't make it while I was standing right there. It was short notice and they were worried that they wouldn't be able to find a replacement. I told them I could come, but they didn't even look at me twice. They actually called a guy in from the 17th to come and play. Can you believe that?"
Traci nodded her head; she could definitely believe that. As much as the department tried to deny it, the chauvinistic attitude was still alive and well at the 15th; although Noelle was known for putting the boys in their place and debunking the myths of the weaker sex. "Maybe they just don't want you kicking ass like you did at retrain."
Noelle grinned at the thought; she loved putting their preconceived notions to the test. "Could be, but I'm pretty sure it's more like some boys club thing; drives me crazy either way."
"I'll let Andy know you're coming. Are you any good? Cause none of us really knows what we're doing."
"Story of my life, so what the hell. I refuse to sit beside Epstein though; that boy has got to learn to rein it in once in a while."
Traci laughed. "I'll make sure he's on the opposite side of the table."
When Friday finally came, Andy spent the morning exchanging texts from everybody confirming that they'd be there, and Sam couldn't help but wonder what was going on. Though Andy often responded to her phone during the day she wasn't generally on it that much. He didn't really think it was his place to ask so he was hoping she might just tell him. But what if it was something he didn't want to know? What if she met someone?
By Friday afternoon Andy was still trying to reach her father. She and Sam had been so busy on Wednesday that she had gotten home late. When she finally arrived at her apartment, she had just enough time to grab her recipes and make her grocery list before taking a quick shower and heading to bed with plans to call her Dad first thing in the morning.
Then on Thursday she hit the snooze one too many times and had to practically run to work before enjoying the privilege of dealing with a tired and cranky Swarek all day long. Between having to drive all day and his nonstop complaints about his self-induced pain, she had forgotten all about making the call. By the time she got home from grocery shopping and pre-made a few of the snacks, she decided that all she wanted was a hot bath. When she finally flopped into bed, she realized that it was too late to phone.
So first thing that morning she started calling him on her walk to work. She had left him a few messages, but he had not returned any of her calls. She had to admit that she was a little worried, but nothing like she would have been a few months ago. Her dad had been sober for a while now so she was more confident in giving him the benefit of the doubt. Still she wondered where he could be.
It was already mid afternoon and she had still not heard back, so she decided to put the word out to everyone that they still needed the chips. A text came back quickly from Gail letting everyone know that she had called her brother and she would be able to borrow his chips for the night. They were all set.
