Disclaimer: I am simply borrowing the characters of Rookie Blue for the purpose of bettering my writing and providing more reading material to all those loyal readers out there. I make no profit from it whatsoever, and am not purposefully violating any copyright laws.

Rated T, just because.

A/N: A longer quickie, though still a quickie ;).

I hope you enjoy!

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Andy McNally. Set after 'Big Nickel'.

She thinks that it might be the most terrifying thing she's ever experienced.

Maybe that's a little odd, because she has stared down the barrel of a gun, been held at gunpoint by a teenager, been groped by a creepy gun-runner, been shot at, and has killed someone … wow, what an action packed 5 months it's been, eh? But she thinks that despite all of that and its high fear value, this takes the cake.

Because this time, she's overpowered. This time, she can't see a way out. This time, there's an escaped prisoner on top of her, blocking her airway. She can feel her lungs straining from the lack of oxygen. She can feel her heart beating double time, pounding loudly (yet with a muffled quality) in her ears. This time, she's struggling as hard as she can but there's no give whatsoever. He doesn't budge an inch; just keep a steady hold on her. Her vision's fading around the edges, and there's an eerie voice in her back of her head that's telling her that this is it; that this is the end.

This time, she's more afraid than she's ever been. Because this time, she has absolutely no doubt that she's going to die.

The black is encroaching, trying to spread and extinguish more than just the edges of her vision. Still she struggles, though, refusing to let the darkness take over.

And just as she knows that she's losing the battle against the darkness, the uncomfortable weight on top of her is gone. All of a sudden, the grubby hand covering her mouth isn't there, and her airway is clear. All of a sudden, her lungs heave, desperate for the oxygen it was so rudely deprived of.

Despite an overwhelming disorientation from the rapid return of oxygen, she jumps to awareness (stumbling a little bit) and frantically locates her gun, instinctive aiming it at Swann. Chest still heaving, she hears a voice and recognizes her savior.

Sam.

(Really, though, who else could it be?)

"You okay?" he asks her concernedly, his knee digging what must be quite painfully into Ray's shoulder, and she manages to nod.

She's not sure if 'okay' is an accurate word to describe what she is right now, though.

She's still kind of reeling from the whole 'near-death experience' thing, and at the moment she doesn't feel like she'll ever be able to get enough oxygen into her body. Her lungs are heaving uncontrollably, and she feels totally out of control of herself. (It's always disconcerting to feel that way; but in this situation she really wishes that she had some sense of control over herself.) She certainly doesn't physically or mentally feel 'okay'.

But she's alive. Her heart is still beating, and she's once again breathing … and 'alive' is something that she'd just about given up hope on being a few moments ago.

So, yeah, she guesses that she is 'okay', in that sense. (All thanks to him, that is.)

So she just nods to Sam again, snapping a snide remark at Swann when he asks for a lawyer, and limps alongside Sam as he roughly maneuvers Swann back through the woods to the squad car.

She's alive. She's alive, and it shouldn't be that amazing because billions of people go on living every day … but it really is.

And yeah, she's still feeling kind of terrified (though Sam's presence is definitely serving to have a calming effect on her, for whatever reason) … but she's alive, and – after the scene in the woods – that's enough.

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