Romantic short, follow up to Take Two (or Three)

I don't own these wonderful characters, except Andrew Collins, my own creation.

Sam was sitting across from Eddie with a heavy plastic screen separating them. They were talking through the center circle of holes in the plastic. As handsome as Eddie was, orange really wasn't his color. The normally endearing wrinkle in his brow seemed deeper than usual, and he looked tired. Sam figured she wasn't looking her best either. The past two and half weeks had been about the most stressful she could remember, making rehab seem like a walk in the park.

Their combined investigative efforts between herself, Berto, Monica, and Christine had produced some evidence of reasonable doubt in the case against Eddie. Unfortunately none of them were convinced that they had enough yet to ensure Eddie's freedom. Yet, Sam reminded herself, this wasn't over, and none of them were giving up.

The other problem she was having, well to be truthful, one could certainly have worst problems than this was that she couldn't stop thinking about naked and Eddie, and anything having to do with naked and Eddie. She was constantly fantasizing and it was distracting as hell. To top it of she hadn't been able to touch him and the last time they were together, thanks to being handcuffed, Eddie couldn't touch her. She half wanted to thank Chris for enabling their encounter and half wanted to strangle her for leaving them both wanting so much more, right before Eddie's untimely and unconscionable arrest.

Eddie must have been having a hard time too. Each time she came to visit him the way he looked at her could only be described as hungry. Today he looked positively starving. She had just finished telling him that the report on the video review that Christine had managed to leak to them had evidence of tampering. Well of course it does Sam had thought, because it wasn't Eddie.

Eddie's right hand was handcuffed to the metal bar on the counter in front of him. The chain scraped along it as Eddie leaned forward and spoke "if this barrier wasn't between us, I would already be inside you."

It was one of the dirtiest, most suggestive things he had ever said to her. Sam instantly felt heat pooling between her legs.

"I may be able to help with that" said Chris, who had appeared behind Eddie.

"Mr. Valetik" addressed a guard who arrived behind Chris "times up."

"Please, just a few more…" began Sam but trailed off catching a look from Chris. Chris was up to something.

The officer uncuffed Eddie's hand from the bar and roughly pulled him to his feet, cuffing his hands together behind his back.

"I love you" got out Eddie quickly as the officer pulled him away.

"I love you too" Sam called after him.

Chris quickly leaned into the plastic screen. "Sam, go, quickly, quietly, and don't freak out about what's about to happen." And with that she turned on her heel to follow Eddie and the guard.

What the hell? Thought Sam. She went to the guard at the door to leave the visiting area, who let her into the now familiar hallway which led back to the check in point. She was just rounding the corner of that hallway when a pair of strong hands clapped onto her elbows from behind. She managed a squeaky "Eep!" Before one of those hands clamped over her mouth as she was pulled through a doorway she hadn't noticed before. A split second before she was about to bite that hand and stomp on the closest foot behind her, she remembered Christine's words.

Sam turned and gazed up into the most dreamy pair of deep blue eyes guarded by thick brown lashes. "Andrew!" She scolded.

"Shh!" He responded. Even with how wrapped up in her own world Sam had been as of late, she hadn't failed to notice that here was definitely a romantic connection between detective Chris Rollins and officer Drew Collins. Sam certainly understood, it was so easy to get lost in those eyes, that smile, easy going nature, just the right about of scruff and fit body. Even though she was happy that Chris seemed to have found someone, or at the very least, a replacement for her loss of benefits status with Eddie, she was admittedly jealous of the fun she was sure they had been having, when all she and Eddie could do was pine for each other.

"What's going on?" She whispered.

"We're getting you and Eddie together, but we've got to move fast and you need to follow my instructions" he replied.

"How?" She countered.

"Warden owes Chris a favor and the security officer working the cameras this shift owes me one" he responded.

"Oh" Sam whispered. Was she really going to get to be alone with Eddie?

Drew was carefully watching the second hand on his watch. "Three, two, one" he counted softly. "Let's go"

He led Sam quickly out the door he had just dragged her through, and a few quick steps diagonally across the hall, though another door she had previously failed to notice. Sam figured in her defense she had been fighting off tears nearly every time she had been in the hallway previously. She reprimanded herself for that now. If she was going to get Eddie freed, she needed to be more level headed and observant.

Andrew led her down a metal staircase and through another door and another hallway, periodically stopping her in alcoves and checking his watch. His movements were smooth and calculated. Sam suspected he was former military, "Here you go" he announced opening one more door for her.

Sam launched herself into Eddie's arms. All Eddie initially saw was a short slender blurr of wavy brown hair and light brown made up eyes. Truthfully he wasn't quite prepared but managed to catch her in his arms, but Sam was here, he wasn't dreaming and he was touching her and kissing her.