Don't hate me... but I didn't mind the season finale ending. I love Andy and Nick together (as friends, because I like Gail/Nick better) so obviously I was going to write a cute little one shot on it.
It was a little past 5 am, pitch black out, just a single light illuminating the parking lot in an apartment complex in Gatineau, Ontario when Nick and Andy stepped outside of the car. Cox, their handler, leaned across the front seat. "You guys good?"
Andy nodded. "Yup."
Cox nodded. "See you guys in a couple days and we'll see how things are going. Remember, no contact. You're not Andy McNally and Nick Collins anymore. And especially no contact with Swarek!" Cox said his warning.
She smiled thinly. "Won't be a problem."
"See ya," with that, Cox was out of the parking lot. That was the only name he told them when he picked up Nick and Andy in Toronto. They had rehearsed their cover stories on the way to Gatineau and Cox had told them he'd be in Ottawa, working. They had an exit strategy all worked out as well, just in case.
Nick and Andy made their way up the staircase to their second floor apartment. Silently, they opened up their suitcases that the Police Department had given them and took out sleepwear. There was only one bed in the little apartment. "I can take the couch," Nick offered.
She shot him a look. "We're adults. We can sleep in the same bed. Not to mention, we're now a couple," Andy pointed out, as she crawled underneath the covers. She hadn't had any sleep in 24 hours and was running on about 7 cups of coffee and adrenaline. She was crashing bad.
Nick didn't say anything as he also crawled underneath the covers and laid his head on his pillow. He couldn't really sleep, yet. Like Andy, he was running on about seven or 8 coffees. When Luke had asked him if he'd be willing to accept a position on the task force, Collins didn't even blink an eye. And when Luke told him that they'd be leaving shortly after midnight, Collins didn't say anything. Now, he was feeling a little guilty. Gail had texted him that she had got her badge back and Collins was never more happy to go into an undercover operation, knowing his girlfriend was safe. He had texted her back that he'd meet her at the Penny, before Luke had called him. Now… now, he was feeling a little guilty. It was the last he had heard from Gail, as he took the battery out of his cell phone and put it in the lock box inside his own apartment, in Toronto.
Andy couldn't sleep either. She had said to Luke in less than 5 minutes. Truthfully, she had no idea what she'd expect and she was scared shitless. Less scared when she found out her partner would be Collins. She loved the guy to death; he was slowly becoming one of her best friends. She didn't know how it would be living with him, however. Andy hadn't slept in a bed with someone else, besides Sam… since Luke. It felt a little foreign to have Nick right beside her, sleeping. She could tell he was awake as well. "Sam told me he loved me today."
There was about a minute of silence, and Andy wasn't sure if Nick was asleep as his head hit the pillow or not. "Gail basically said the same, except in more of a Gail like way."
"What are we doing, Nick?" Andy knew she shouldn't call him by that name anymore, but what the hell. "Sam and Gail actually tell us how they are feeling, for once. Once. And then we leave."
Nick sighed. "I really don't know Andy. I wish I had that answer."
Andy turned to face Nick, who was still staring at the ceiling. "Do you think they will be there when we come back?"
"I don't know. I hope. But, with this? Who fucking knows. Could be a couple weeks, could be longer. We knew that coming in to this. We can't feel guilty anymore. Duty calls and this is what it dictates. I wish we could have let them know, but we couldn't. So we have to do our best, try and forget about them and do the best job we can."
"I guess," Andy replied, before flipping on her stomach. She didn't feel guilty, even though she suspected Nick felt guilty about the way he left Gail. He had told her that they were supposed to get married, albeit in Vegas, before he got shipped off to Afghanistan. Gail had never really gotten over that and now… However, Gail was a cop and she knew UC jobs didn't allow for the significant other to tell each other before they were leaving. Sam had done it to her… now she was doing it to him.
In her defense, she never agreed to go for drinks with him to the Penny. One part of her wanted to run up to him and profess her undying love for him. But the other part of her told herself that he had walked away when times got tough. It was Sam freaking Swarek. For all she knew, they could hit another rough patch and he'd throw in the towel again. She couldn't put her heart through that again. He was willing to make it work, or that's what he told her. Andy was a little more skeptical that he'd actually try because Sam was never great at actually showing or saying his feelings. Maybe he'd try even harder when she came back from this job. Who knew.
Claire's words were in her mind. "You're young, do something." Andy rolled over, to face the wall and tried to come to terms with what she had just done. She had put her career over a guy, which she was a little proud of. Andy always wore her heart on her sleeve and truthfully, not many people would suspect that she'd actually do it. Gail, being Gail Peck, had told her a Lady Gaga quote one time. "Some women choose to follow men, and some women choose to follow their dreams. If you're wondering which way to go, remember that your career will never wake up and tell you that it doesn't love you anymore." Andy had scoffed at that, not really believing it. But here she was, putting her career about a guy. And it felt not bad.
She was happy that all her friends were coppers, and might, just might, understand her leaving in the middle of the night with Collins. They had understood when Sam went UC. She hoped to hell, they'd understand. She felt guilty about not telling Traci either. The poor woman had been through the ringer and just when things were starting to get a little more normal, her best friend disappeared in the middle of the night.
When Andy woke up at 10 am the next morning, Collins was making coffee. "Good morning," Andy said, walking into the kitchen and putting her hair in a messy bun and adjusting her eyes to the brightness.
"Thought you'd sleep more," Nick replied, pouring water in the coffee machine.
Andy shrugged. "Couldn't. Too nervous."
Nick sighed. "Yeah. Are you ready to start our new lives for a while as Jonathon and Nicole?" Nick laughed, because that's what their new identities were. Jonathon Hamilton and Nicole Anderson. No more Andy McNally and Nick Collins. "Do I look like a Jonathon?"
She laughed and shook her head. "No. Do I look like a Nicole?"
He shook his head and grimaced a little. "No."
They looked to each other and both said at the same time, "at least we have each other."