Disclaimer: Still don't own Rookie Blue.
Up to week 10 (wow - already? the time has flown by) of my "one episode every Thursday night until Rookie Blue returns". I cheated and watched it earlier than I normally do so I can watch episodes one and thirteen tonight on ABC!
A.N. I CANNOT believe I didn't catch this sooner…play on words is normally my "thing" – maybe because I didn't watch the earlier episodes as many times as I watched the later episodes so I didn't pick it up…And it would have been easier to write right after episode 10…
A.N.2 - I actually had this idea and wrote it and then totally scratched it and rewrote it. In the end, I couldn't decide which one I liked better so I decided to post both; one of them as a flashback. Therefore, a few parts are a little repetitive but if I edited anymore, I wouldn't have actually posted it so I'm sorry about that.
Enjoy!
It was the day after the major undercover bust which netted the arrests of Bergen and the Landrys. Frank called all of the T.O.'s into his office before Parade. They were not surprised with his decision to pair each of them with a rookie. Frank would keep an eye on Traci at the desk but he wanted each of the T.O.'s to take a rookie and make sure that the rookies were still able to do their jobs after yesterday's high.
Sam was kind of looking forward to working with Andy. Although he had given his statement, he wanted to know what had gone down after he left the Mermaid Lounge. He didn't understand why Rick wasn't in custody. He also wanted to know how the cover teams knew to move in so quickly.
Shock registered on Epstein's face when he found out he was paired with Oliver for the day. If Peck was surprised that she was paired with Noelle, she hid it well.
Andy climbed into the passenger seat of the car with two cups of coffee. She didn't even bother to ask if she could drive. That startled Sam. It had become their daily banter about whether or not Andy could drive the squad car, before she had been cut loose, and every once in a while he had relented.
Nothing was on the radio so they just drove around. When they stopped for a red light, Sam turned to look at Andy. She was staring out the window but he saw the bags under her eyes. "Long night?" he asked gently.
Andy turned towards him. "Is it normal that I had nightmares last night?"
The light turned green. Sam focused on driving while he answered her question. "It's normal. Last night was a little insane. In fact, why don't you tell me what happened after I left the Mermaid Lounge." He could not have pulled off a better opening if he had tried.
Andy sighed. "You left and I got Rick talking. I guess I pushed him too far; turned out to be a good thing. He told me that Landry was in town and I walked out, telling the cover team you were about to be made."
The pieces began to fall into place. Rick wasn't in custody because he had fled when Andy brought out the information that Sam was going to be made. It was also why the cover team had gone in so quickly. He was still unsure as to why the cover team didn't extract her right away but that was a question for Noelle, not for Andy. "Thanks for having my back."
Andy smiled. "You're my partner. We have each other's backs." She bit her lip. Last night she had done a lot of thinking while waiting for Luke to finish up at the station. Sam always had her back but if that kiss meant anything…what had he said to Luke after their trip to Sudbury? The only way to find out was to ask and there was no way she was going to ask Luke and stir up more problems when she couldn't mask her feelings. "What did you say to Luke?"
"Pardon?" That was random. He had no idea what she was talking about and he tried to keep his conversations with Callaghan to the minimum, even work related.
Andy realized that she needed to backtrack. "The night that we brought Ray Swann back from Sudbury. Luke and I weren't talking and then he said he ran into you. All of a sudden everything was good between us. What did you tell him?"
Sam sighed. He knew that she would eventually ask. "I told him nothing happened that night. I tried, you shut me down. And I told him you are crazy about him." He smirked. "I told him not to screw it up."
Flashback
As soon as the recertification was over, Sam received a text. When Noelle pulled out her phone, Sam realized that Oliver must have sent them the same text. He opened the text and silently cursed. Only McNally qualified.
A curse came out of Frank Best's office. Sam and Noelle looked at each other and realized that Oliver had texted Frank as well.
Sam sighed. It was going to be one of those days. He knew that a prison transport was coming up and he was pretty sure today was "the big day". Frank knew how much everyone hated the prison transport and was probably planning on giving it to a rookie as "a reward". The rookie would be honored with the "privilege".
Sam's thoughts suddenly caught up with reality and his eyes widened as Frank called him into his office. Great, prison transport duty. Hours alone with McNally. Can someone shoot me now?
It didn't help that after he left Frank's office he had a run-in with Callaghan. He really didn't like the man. Callaghan was a good detective, Sam would give him that credit, but the man showed no emotions. It wasn't healthy. Callaghan was so into 'whodunit' that he sometimes ended up hurting people emotionally. He wasn't there for Andy, and he never would be. Callaghan's comment of "do you ever take responsibility for anything" almost pushed Sam over the edge.
He would admit to himself later (although never to anyone else) that he was pretty nasty to her on the walk to the car. He was still upset that Noelle did not agree to take McNally. He didn't want to be stuck in a car with her, not after she had chosen Callaghan.
After Andy let the prisoner escape, they began to search the forest. When they split up, he had time to think. From the way Andy was acting and what Luke had said earlier, he realized that maybe things were not good between Luke and Andy. As he circled around, he realized that although he had been nasty to Andy for pretty much the entire trip, including yelling at her, she still had his back and had warned him about the poison oak.
Suddenly he had no more time to think. He heard a scuffle in the forest and instinctively knew that it was Andy and she was in trouble. He ran towards the sound and pulled Swann off of her before Swann could do any real damage.
Andy retrieved her gun and then asked if he was okay. Was she crazy? He was fine; it was her that he was worried about.
Sam led Swann back to the car as Andy limped behind them. He threw Swann into the back and then leaned against the squad car as he waited for Andy to catch up.
By the time Andy reached the squad car, Swann was asleep. Sam patched her up as they talked. He ended up telling her about Sarah, surprising himself. Only three people in the force knew about Sarah: his T.O., Oliver, and Frank. Oliver and Frank had both been his partners and points in his career and Sarah sometimes called him. She was one of the only numbers that he would answer no matter what, something he had had to explain to his partners.
After helping her to her feet, he apologized. He might not play to the rules but she had done a good job and he had been a little harsh. He also told her that Luke was a good guy. The qualities he listed were all the truth. He couldn't tell her that there was a big thing lacking in a relationship with Luke (emotional support) but he had to show her that he was her partner and he would still have her back despite the tension between them and her choosing Luke. It was a peace offering, a way of saying that they could "start over", pretend that the night of the blackout never happened so it wouldn't affect their work relationship. He did throw in a last line of "give him some time". Andy would take that to mean time to work things out but in Sam's mind it was 'give him some time and he'll screw up your relationship without me interfering".
Andy fell into a half-sleep on the drive. Sam thought about what he would say to Luke. He wanted her to have a chance to realize for herself that Luke was married to his job and she would always come second.
As he pulled off the highway, he thought of a brilliant idea. With a small smile he gently nudged her to wake her. She smiled back in thanks and they were silent until they reached the station.
He realized that there would still be some lingering awkwardness as they said goodbye to each other once Jerry took custody of Ray Donald Swann, but, if he was honest, that was to be expected.
Andy headed into the women's locker room and Sam stepped into a certain detective's office, taking the detective's advice to "take responsibility".
Luke looked up at him. "Have a good trip?" The sarcasm was evident.
A smirk graced Sam's face and quickly disappeared before Luke could see it. "You know what? You're an idiot."
"Excuse me?" Now Luke was getting angry.
"Nothing happened with McNally that night." He paused for a second. "I tried, she shut me down. She's crazy about you, don't screw it up."
Sam left Luke's office satisfied. He didn't think Luke would take this to the higher ups, but even if he did, Sam was free, he had an excuse. The first day back on the job, McNally had approached him in the parking lot. Sam had tried to kiss her and she had shut him down. He could claim that he had forgotten about the T.O. – Rookie relationship issue, after all, he had been undercover for eight months and he hadn't been a T.O. before.
In actuality, nothing happened either night but no one besides for him and Andy needed to know that there was more than one unless she told Luke.
End Flashback
Andy stared at him in shock. "Pull over." She waited for him to pull over before speaking. "You told me that Luke looks at the facts so you fed him false facts? You lied to him? You were the one who told me that 'secrets don't come out neat and tidy'!"
"I didn't lie to him Andy." Sam pinched the bridge of his nose. He had not gotten a lot of sleep the night before and he didn't want to be dealing with this now.
"You didn't lie? Explain that!" She was beyond livid.
"Remember who we discussed that day while we drove up to Sudbury?"
Before Andy could respond a call came in. They were the second team to respond but they were still at the scene for a while.
"We discussed Hill" Andy said, picking up the conversation where they left off as Sam drove away from the scene. "What does he have to do with anything?"
"Think back to Hill and when you met him and you'll realize that I didn't lie."
Andy looked out the window again, watching the scenery as she thought. Finally it clicked. "Our first day together."
"Yep." He pulled into a small diner, figuring it was time for their lunch break anyway.
Once their food was brought to them, Andy spoke again. "Luke asked me to move in with him."
Sam was glad he was not driving because he probably would have gotten into an accident. "What did you say?" he worked to keep the anger out of his voice.
Andy sighed. "I said yes but now I think I made the wrong decision." She watched his reaction. When it was clear that he was waiting for her, she continued. "Last night, during that undercover, when we kissed, all I was able to think about was that night."
Sam nodded; he knew exactly which night she was talking about. He still kept silent, sensing that there was more.
"Rick said that Landry was in town. I knew I had to get the information to the cover team. I didn't care about his gun, I just ran out. And then, we heard shots fired; that there was one victim. I thought you were killed. I couldn't breath." Tears coursed down her face.
"Andy…" Sam moved his chair so that he was next to her. He pulled her closer and she dropped her head onto his shoulder. Sam was happy that there were no other patrons in the diner.
Eventually she calmed down. "You told me I didn't have to fake it anymore. But that is what I have been doing with Luke all this time. I shut you down after our first day together. I stopped during the blackout. I can't fake it with Luke anymore Sam."
Sam realized that where the conversation was headed, they should be in a more private place. He threw down money to pay for their food and then led her back to the squad car.
"You told me to trust you Sam. I do. I trust you with my life and I trust you with my heart."
"When you meet the right one, that's it."
Andy nodded. "That was you. Only you. What am I still doing with Luke?"
Sam touched her cheek gently. "Andy, calm down. Breathe, please." He waited for her to calm down. "As you said yesterday 'deal's not done'."
Andy nodded. Sam was telling her she had an out. Moving in with Luke was not set in stone. "I have to tell him it is over between us."
Sam didn't say anything. He was happy that she was breaking up with Luke but it was causing her anguish, which in turn caused him anguish.
"We'll have to wait."
"What? !"
"Sam…I don't want people thinking I broke up with Luke because of you. I don't want you to get into trouble."
Sam smiled. She was always looking out for everyone else. He didn't agree with her but they would have time to discuss it. "Break up with him and then we'll talk."
A call came in, disrupting the conversation. As they approached the scene, they both felt a calm that had not been present since the week after Benny was killed. Things were looking up for both of them.
A.N. I know at the beginning of season 2 Luke and Andy are in the Barbie Dollhouse together but I wish it didn't happen that way.
Reviews make my day so let me know what you think.