Sam goes undercover and leaves Andy behind. What happens when he returns?

For this story, episodes 2x11, 12 & 13 didn't happen. Sam went undercover like he did at the end of 2x10, and Sam and Andy never had a chance to tell each other how they felt. Thanks for reading my newest story! Please let me know what you think and leave a review. :)

Chapter 1

"The minute I decide to tell Sam about my feelings, he's gone, like magic, really mean magic," Andy said as she and Chris were walking down a street on patrol.

Chris didn't have a chance to respond before a man and teenager ran past them. After catching up to them they realized the man was priest simply trying to help the young man.

"You know it's bad when you can't believe a priest," Chris said to Andy.

"Don't believe in me, brother. Save it for the man upstairs. God see's the big picture and like it or not he has a plan for all of us," the priest said.

"Yeah, well, if I'm living god's plan, you can let him know his timing's off, way off," Andy replied.

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BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. Andy's hand reached out, waving furiously until it came into contact with her alarm clock, hitting the button that would stop the incessant beeping. She reluctantly rolled over and finally opened her eyes, looking up at the ceiling. How is it morning already? she wondered. She swung her legs over the edge of the bed, got up and padded down the hall to the kitchen. Coffee, she needed coffee. She turned the coffee pot on and threw a couple pieces of bread in the toaster. As she tapped her nails on the granite countertop waiting for her coffee to be made, Andy decided she really needed to get one of those instant coffee makers, the ones with the little pods. Then she wouldn't have to stand there waiting every morning for a full pot of coffee to be made. Plus, the pods made individual cups and she wouldn't end up throwing half a pot down the drain.

When the coffee and toast were finally ready, Andy quickly ate her breakfast before showering and getting dressed for the day. She grabbed her phone and duffel bag as she headed out the door of her condo. Andy was lost in her own thoughts as she made her way to the station and was surprised not to see Traci in the locker room when she got there. As she walked through the station, out of the corner of her eye, Andy saw Traci and Jerry leaving an interrogation room. So, that's where her friend had been. Andy loved what Traci and Jerry had. They were so in love. She was happy for her friend, even if a hint of sadness crept through her heart as she ached for what they had.

Andy walked into the parade room and took a seat next to Dov on a table in the back of the room. They had long since abandoned the chairs in the front of the room and a new batch of rookies started occupying the seats six months earlier. Every so often for more than two years Andy would take her seat in parade and glance toward the door, hoping upon hope that Sam would once again walk through. She was always disappointed. Today wasn't one of those days though. She was having a good morning and too busy laughing at one of Dov's stories to sulk. They quieted down as Frank entered and stood at the front of the room, but Andy turned toward the rear door as she saw Oliver sneaking in just as Frank started to speak. She was about to direct her attention to the case Frank was informing them about, but it was a second figure entering behind Oliver that caught her eye. He looked the same. Well, maybe a little thin. And he had his scruffy undercover look going on. But he hadn't really changed. He looked like the same old Sam.

He'd been watching her before he entered the room. He saw her sitting in the back of the room in front of the window the moment he turned the corner into the hallway. Her braid dancing lightly on her back, her fingers tucking hair behind her ear. Even if her voice hadn't traveled down the hall, he would have known she was laughing by the movement of her body. He hesitated, his feet stuttering as they moved down the hall. Maybe this wasn't a good idea. He wasn't required back, didn't need to be here for another three days. Maybe he should have slipped out the back door, gone home and ignored the pull to see her. His feet betrayed his head and continued to move him down the hallway and into the parade room.

He was back. It wasn't an illusion. It wasn't a dream. Andy gripped the edge of the table so hard her knuckles turned white and she sat completely still watching him enter the room. She suddenly wondered why people always said 'everything happens for a reason.' Because she'd really like to ask the universe why it threw Sam at her more than four years ago only to tear him from her world without any warning two years later. She hadn't heard a word from him in more than two years, and with the exception of some rumors four months after he left, she hadn't even heard anything about him. He disappeared one night and even if she didn't want to admit it, a part of Andy went missing with him.

"Let's give a warm welcome back to Officer Swarek," Frank said, interrupting Andy's thoughts.

Applause erupted and Sam was shaking lots of hands, getting pats on the back from old friends, but Andy couldn't move. She was frozen. As the room quieted down again, Sam spoke for the first time. "I'm not officially back yet. Haven't slept in 36 hours, so I'm looking forward to a hot shower and a warm bed." His eyes fell to Andy for the first time since he walked in the room and he saw the shock in her eyes. She was the only reason he stopped by parade after his debrief. All he wanted was sleep, but the need to see her was stronger. He was sure she hadn't given him a second thought in all these years, had probably met some wonderful guy, but still, the need was there to just see her with his own two eyes.

Frank's voice tore Sam out of his thoughts. "Alright, alright, let's get back to business." Frank finished briefing everyone on the important news of the day, but Andy heard nothing. Everything had gone silent except for the shuffling of Sam's feet as he walked out. He snuck out of the room without anyone noticing, except Andy of course. She noticed him leave, noticed his every move, his every twitch, his every breath from the moment he walked in.

When Andy felt a sharp nudge in her ribs as Dov elbowed her, she realized parade was over. Ignoring Traci calling her name, Andy left the room with one destination in mind. She walked through the open door of the men's locker room and saw Sam rummaging through his locker.

"Sam." The word came out as a sigh and Andy had no idea what to say next. She couldn't believe he was standing in front of her. Millions of scenarios crossed through her mind when he left, some horrific, some fairytale-like. She missed patrolling with him, trying to persuade him to let her drive, sharing stupid jokes nobody else would understand. She missed him always being there. When she killed a bank robber during a standoff, she sat in front of his locker for hours hoping he'd appear out of nowhere to tell her everything would be okay. Oliver had tried to talk to her, but everyone knew that wasn't who she needed. Andy had thought about him the entire day when she and Chris transported a prisoner from Sudbury, remembering the last time she had taken the trip…with Sam.

Sam looked over at Andy, his eyes taking in every inch of her. His throat suddenly felt very dry and he swallowed to try and regain his voice. All he could muster was saying, "Oliver brought my truck to the station, but I can't find the damn keys." Keys to his truck. It was a stupid thing to say. But Sam left to get Andy out of his head. He couldn't return just to put himself back in the same heartbreaking situation. He never should have walked into parade. He should have taken the next three days to get his mind right, figure out how best to avoid her once he got back.

"More than two years. You just disappeared. How could – " Andy was interrupted when Oliver walked in, calling out for Sam.

"Sammy, I forgot, I have your keys." The last of his words fell to a whisper when he saw who else was in the locker room.

"Yeah, thanks Oliver," Sam said, catching the keys that his friend tossed over to him.

Andy cursed fate again as Chris joined the locker room party. "Hey Andy, I was wondering where you were. Ready to go? Jerry wants us to check up on an informant of his," he said, oblivious to what was going on.

Andy let out a deep breath. She looked at Sam and decided to do what he did two years earlier. She left without saying another word.

Sitting in the cruiser with Chris, Andy stared out the window thinking what an obvious fool she was for holding onto hope that Sam ever cared for her. He had left without a word and now all he wanted was to get his truck and go home. She blinked back tears. She was not going to cry, not here, not now. Later. She'd cry later when she was alone, when no one could laugh at her for being so naïve.

Sam pulled up to his apartment. It looked so foreign to him. His cover apartment had been better than most of the ones he'd lived in, but there was nothing like being home. He opened the door and turned on the lights. Sarah had done a wonderful job checking up on his place. It was clean and didn't look like it had been left abandoned for a couple of years.

He brought the bag of groceries he picked up on his way home to the kitchen and unpacked everything. Walking into the living room, he grabbed his phone before plopping down on the couch. Sarah had been checking his voicemail, saving messages she thought he'd want to hear, but none seemed important until he heard Andy's voice.

"Hey, uh, look I just wanted to say that I, I know that I've got a plan, ya know. And it's a great one. But screw it. Screw the plan because I don't want to save the good candy for later anymore, ya know. I want to drink the champagne now and...Okay, you've got three weeks, right? So, let's make'em count, starting tonight. I'm coming over."

Sam listened to the automated voice telling him when the message was left, the night he went undercover. He hit a button on his phone to replay the message. Once. Twice. Three times. He fell asleep listening to her tell him he was the good candy.

"You okay Andy? You've been quiet all day," Chris asked as they headed back to the station near the end of their shift.

"I'm fine. Just surprised to see Sam back after all this time," she replied.

"Yeah, I thought he was gone for good. Never knew he was helping to bring down one of the worst criminals in Toronto," Chris said, repeating a rumor Dov shared at lunch.

"What? Who did he bring down?" Andy asked, curious as to what Sam was doing during the time he'd been gone.

"Some guy named Jamie Brennan. The guy was into serious torture, killing a bunch of people in really horrific ways," he replied, pulling their cruiser into the station parking lot.

"Chris, do you mind handling the paperwork tonight? I'll make it up to you, I promise. I just need to get out of here," Andy said as they walked into the station.

"Yeah, no problem Andy. Call me if you need anything." Chris knew Andy was having a hard time with Sam being back, whether she wanted to admit it or not.

Andy thanked him before hurrying off to the locker room to change.

When she got home, Andy pulled on her comfy pajamas and padded into the kitchen to find something to eat. She pulled out a leftover casserole her dad had dropped off the day before and waited for the microwave to heat it up.

She was curled up on the couch, finishing dinner when there was a knock at the door. Andy figured it was Chris checking up on her, or he'd called Traci and she was there with a tub of ice cream. They could read her like an open book when it came to Sam. She swung open the door without looking through the peephole. "I'm fine. You really didn't need to – " Her words trailed off as she saw who was standing in front of her.

"Can I come in?" Sam asked.

Andy moved out of the doorway and waved her arm in an invitation to enter.

"Andy, we need to talk." She was ready to ignore whatever he came to say and get him to leave as quickly as possible, but the way he said her name made her melt. She missed hearing his voice.

"Have a seat," she said, motioning to the couch as she sat down. He followed her and sat down, but kept his distance.

"I'm sorry I left without saying goodbye." Sam didn't know where to start, but an apology seemed the place to begin.

"Me too."

Sam took a deep breath. Okay, so she wasn't going to make this easy for him. "I didn't think we had a chance. I thought the space would help." Andy remained silent, but he saw a glisten in her eyes as he spoke. "I never got your message. Never knew you thought of me as the goody candy," he said smiling.

Andy furrowed her eyebrows confused. She didn't know what Sam was talking about.

"The good candy, the champagne. The message you left the night I went under. I never got it…until today," he explained.

It suddenly all came rushing back to her. Leslie dying, her ridiculous need to feed a jerky cat, calling Sam, knocking on his door, falling asleep on his stoop. And then she remembered the deep sadness that followed when she realized Sam had disappeared. Tears escaped her eyes, rolling slowly down her cheek.

"I'm sorry. I, I would have stayed," Sam said quietly.

Andy wiped the tears away. "You would have?" she asked dumbfounded.

"Yes. I left because…" Sam rubbed a hand across his face. "Because I thought there was no hope…for us."

Andy pulled her feet up on the couch and rested her chin on her knees. "What happened that night?"

"Boyd came, told me I was going under early. I only had time to leave a message for Frank before I was out the door. I didn't think I had anything, or anyone, to stick around for, so I didn't argue," he replied.

"And all this time…?"

"I was making friends with Jamie Brennan. Getting close enough to get him on some old murders, trap him for smuggling drugs and guns. It lasted longer than I thought it would," he said honestly.

"I don't know what to make of all this. You don't know how many times I, um – you know, it was just a hard couple of years not knowing what happened," Andy said, not ready to admit her feelings.

Sam could tell Andy was being guarded with her emotions, likely afraid of being hurt again. Being hurt by him again. He took it as his cue to leave. "I know. I just needed you to know. I would've stayed." Sam slowly got up and walked toward the door. Andy followed and reached around him to grab the door handle. She closed her eyes as she inhaled and Sam's musky scent filled her nostrils. When she opened her eyes, Sam's face was inches from hers. She let her hand drop from the door knob and stood up straight, still facing Sam.

"Stay," she whispered.

Sam's lips curved up in a small smile. "Okay."

"Look, I don't know, I'm not sure. Um, I just." Andy sighed, not sure what she was trying to say. She decided to be honest. "I've missed you."

Sam leaned in toward Andy, but caught himself before kissing her. He didn't even know if she was seeing anyone, if he was intruding in her life after all this time. He stepped back and coughed to ease his anxiousness.

"Want a beer?" Andy asked, heading for the kitchen. Hearing Sam answer in the affirmative, she grabbed two from the fridge and came back to the living room. Finding Sam already back on the couch, she handed him one of the beers as she sat next to him, inching slightly closer than she'd been earlier in the evening.

Sam took a swig of his beer as Andy got comfortable on the couch, watching as she tucked her feet underneath her and leaned her side into the back of the couch to face him. "How, uh, what have you been up to?" Sam asked.

"You know, the usual. Working a lot. Helping my dad stay sober," she replied. Thinking of you, she added silently.

Sam glanced around the room as he took another swig of beer. His eyes focused on various photographs of Andy with her friends, with her dad. When he saw one of Oliver cooking hamburgers on a grill, with Chris and Dov making faces behind him, Sam realized he missed many of his friend's fantastic barbecues. He sighed and looked down at the floor. "Look, Andy, I'm really sorry. If I had known, I wouldn't have disappeared," he said.

"Yeah, but you did," she replied sadly. "I always thought you'd be there. Maybe I took it for granted. But you weren't always there. Did you know I killed another man? That Chris and I were stuck in a warehouse and thought we might die during a gunfight with a local gang? That I had no one to remind me to trust my gut and stop over thinking things?"

Her arm stiffened when Sam reached to grasp her hand in his, but relaxed as he rubbed circles on it with his thumb. "I wish I was there for all of that. But you have to understand. I thought you were moving on. Living life according to your plan. And I couldn't watch you be with someone else. I did it once, I couldn't do it again," he said.

The room was quiet as his words weighed heavily on Andy. "I know it's been more than two years, but…um, am I still the good candy?" he asked, lips curving into a small smile.

Andy giggled as he threw her words back at her. She'd never stopped thinking about him, caring about him in some way. It was one of the reasons she didn't have a boyfriend. She dated guys here and there, mostly ones Traci tried setting her up with, but she always compared them to Sam, even if it was just subconsciously. No one ever matched up, so after a couple of dates, she'd end things. Sam had always been her good candy, but she stared into his smoldering eyes as she thought about how to answer his question. She sighed. "You've always been the good candy. I just didn't always realize it."

They sat in silence smiling at each other for a few minutes.

"I really do want to know everything that happened to you while I was gone," Sam said.

"Will you tell me what you went through undercover?" she asked.

"I'll tell you what I can, if you really want to know," he replied.

"Two years is a lot to catch up on," Andy said, still smiling.

"I guess we'll have to spend a lot of time together then."

"I guess so."

Sam glanced down at his watch, realizing the time. "It's gotten late. I should go," he said standing up. Andy followed him to the door. "I'm heading up to my sister's tomorrow, but I'll, uh, call you, if that's okay?"

Andy nodded. "Yeah, that'd be good. When are you back at work?"

"Three days."

"Okay. Well, uh, goodnight."

Sam watched Andy as she fumbled with the doorknob and held in the chuckle burning his throat. He put his hand gently over hers and opened the door. He stepped into the hallway and turned around. "Sleep well, Andy," he said, before heading toward the stairs. When Sam was out of sight, Andy closed the door and leaned back against it. More than two years ago her life had been turned upside down in the worst way. Tonight it had been turned upside down again, but she couldn't help but smile and, for the first time in a long time, happily dream of what might come next.