This is AU and a completely unlikely scenario, but too intriguing to pass up. I hope you enjoy it.

Thanks to SairsJ for giving this the once over.

Disclaimer: I do not own Rookie Blue or any of its characters.


"Actually, I've been wondering why I got into this business in the first place."

And he has… a lot. In fact, pretty much every night since he last saw her, walking away from him, after they almost…

He's not even sure who pulled back first; all he knows is that it didn't happen and at that point he couldn't help but wonder if it ever would. So when Boyd called him that night to say that everything had been moved up; he decided they could both use some space and some time. Maybe then they could figure out what they wanted.

The problem with that though, was that he knew what he wanted the minute he threw his bag down on the bed in his new loft apartment. He wanted her and he wanted to be at home where he knew he would see her the very next day.

It had to have been a sign; that was the closest they had come since the night of the blackout. What if she was ready? If he was still at home, he could make a move or maybe she could. Maybe they could have gone out to the Penny and he could have given her a ride home. Maybe…

But it didn't matter; once again, one of them (him this time) had walked away.

He missed his life… he missed her. She said time and space didn't work for her; well now he was realizing that time and space were no longer his friend either.

Sam kept a watchful eye on his companion, waiting for a reaction.

"You don't like working in the warehouse?"

"No… I mean yes… I mean… I don't want you to think I don't appreciate it; I do. Not many people were willing to give me a second chance. It's just… I've got a girl… or I had a girl… or I guess I want a girl." Sam really wasn't sure what he meant.

"I don't work you that hard." Brennan chuckled. "I'm sure you can have a girl; I actually know a few…"

"No." Sam shook his head. "I mean there was this girl, before I went away. I was kind of hoping there was something there but I think I screwed it up."

"So call her." Brennan suggested; it seemed simple enough to him - you don't know unless you try.

"Can't." Sam responded simply.

"Why not? I mean you're on the outside now right? It can't hurt and I can tell you from experience that if she's right girl… if you don't do everything you can…" He shook his head, trying to escape the unbidden memory he had been drawn into. "Believe me; it's worth taking a chance."

Sam nodded his head as he stared into his drink. He knew about Brennan's wife and it was obvious that her presence had had a profound effect on him. And he also knew that Andy would be more than worth it and that being with her would change everything. But how could he explain this to Brennan without giving himself away. He was starting to wonder if he should have kept his mouth shut, but it was too late now. Better to just roll with it.

Sam spoke directly to his drink. "She's a cop."

"What?" Brennan sputtered as he tried to swallow the sip of whiskey he had just taken.

Sam stole a glimpse at his companion from the corner of his eye before returning his attention to the glass in front of him. "Well, I'm pretty sure she is. She wanted to be; planned on going to the academy before, you know." He left it at that, knowing Brennan would assume what he wanted him to.

"Round about the time I went in, she would have been in the academy. I'm thinking by now she's got a couple years on the job, and well, I'm not exactly the kind of guy you take to the police picnic so…" Sam let the thought trail off holding his breath in anticipation of Brennan's reaction.

He dared another glance at his boss and he could see him mulling it over. He didn't seem angry or upset; he was surprisingly sedate and thoughtful as he met Sam's eye. "If you knew there was something there, why didn't you do something about it then?" He wondered.

"I thought about it…" Sam answered truthfully; he had seriously considered telling Boyd to forget the whole thing but, "…it's just that she had plans, all these plans for 5 years, 10 years… I didn't hear my name in those plans and I just figured there was no sense."

"Plans change." Brennan replied with a shrug of his shoulders; he knew that better than anyone. "And shit happens." He added because as his life was testament, sometimes they changed for the better and sometimes for the worse. "I can tell you the life ain't all it's cracked up to be, JD. You want this girl; you should do something about it. Clean up your act; be the kind of guy she needs."

"Yeah, maybe," Sam agreed, taking another sip from his glass, and wondered what he was thinking telling Brennan all of this; what was he trying to accomplish? It definitely wasn't doing anything for the operation.

Deep down though, he knew the answer. He was planting the seed, in case… Well, maybe he didn't know exactly what he was preparing for, but he wasn't lying; he really was wondering why he was there. The more time he had to think about it the surer he was that Andy was going to kiss him that night. He had said yes to Boyd thinking she still needed time and space to get over everything with Callaghan, but that night… well, it didn't look like she needed it anymore and now he was gone. No discussion, no goodbye, no way to find out. The first few days, he was hoping he could be in and out, back before she even got used to him being gone. But now it was looking like Brennan was still squeaky clean and so far he hadn't been very forthcoming. And Sam didn't want to be under for months. If Andy was ready, he wanted his life back. He wanted to be there. And right now Sam's gut was telling him that if he had been given the three weeks Boyd originally intended, he would have backed out.

"Hey…hey." Brennan nudged his shoulder.

Sam realized he must have been talking to him, though he had no idea for how long. "Yeah, sorry Boss."

"No, problem," Brennan responded with a soft chuckle. "Time to get out of here I think."

He chugged down the rest of his drink.

Sam nodded slowly and tipped his glass back, draining the remaining liquid. He could just make out Brennan mumbling to himself as he pushed his stool away from the bar. "Huh... fell in love with a cop."

Sam wasn't sure if he meant for him to hear or not, but he had. He thought about arguing; he hadn't said anything about love. But his heart wasn't in it. And unfortunately, he was finding that more and more as the undercover went on; Sam just wasn't committed. At least now, if he disappeared, he was sure Brennan wouldn't be surprised and then if they wanted to bring someone else in, they could.

Sam rose without another word, but he could tell that something else was on Brennan's mind as they made their way to the door. It didn't look like the man was going to share though as they parted ways outside the entrance and all Jamie offered was a quick, "see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, see you tomorrow." Sam echoed.

But then Brennan paused for a moment, shifted his body to look back. "Hey, JD?"

Sam turned curious. "Yeah, Boss?"

"Do you think she would help a guy out?"

Sam looked around; he didn't see any 'she'. He furrowed his brow. "Who? What?" He asked in confusion.

Brennan huffed out a breath. "Your girl… the cop… do you think she would, uh, do a favor? You know help 'a guy' out… if you asked her?"

Sam's eyebrows shot up; that was not at all what he was expecting. He tried to cover his surprise by pursing his lips and tilting his head to the side as if mulling over the possibility. He wasn't at all sure if this was a break or catastrophe, and he had no idea how to answer. If he said no, would Brennan push it? Would he be mad? If he said yes, what would he be getting McNally into? If Boyd would even let McNally…

In the end, Sam didn't like the sound of it, but how could he refuse? He really wanted to know what Brennan had in mind. He shrugged his shoulders. "I uh think she probably would; I ran into her just before I…" He took a deep breath. "It felt like maybe she might want to… I don't know. I think we both realized that the timing was off but lately I've just been thinking - even knowing that I was leaving and where I was going, it seemed like she still thought about… us."

Brennan nodded sympathetically. "Like you said; second chances are hard to come by so you shouldn't give this one up. But you won't have a hope in hell if she thinks you're still dirty. You know that right?"

"Yeah, I know." Sam agreed.

Brennan patted him on the back. "Looks like you've got some more thinking to do."

"Yeah, I do."

"Let me know what you decide." Brennan instructed.

Even knowing the other man's motives were far from pure, Sam nodded. It was obvious that he wanted something from 'JD's girl' now Sam just had to figure out what it was before he got her involved.

"And JD," Brennan interjected, stilling Sam's thoughts, "Keep it out of my warehouse. There won't be a third chance." He warned.

Sam nodded more emphatically. "Sure thing, Boss." Now that's what he had been expecting. He had put out a few feelers in the last couple of days hoping that word would get back to Brennan; at least one thing was working right.


Sam wandered home in no real hurry. He could have called a cab, but he needed the time to think. His intention tonight was to plan the seed in Brennan's mind that there was a possibility that he might not stay around for long. Instead, Brennan planted a seed in Sam's brain, almost giving him permission to do the thing he had wanted to do since he got there – talk to Andy. Could he have his cake and eat it too? It didn't seem to bother Brennan that 'his girl' was a cop. In fact, Brennan seemed excited about the possibility… but why?

Sam unlocked the door to the loft and immediately switched off the cameras. He wanted to think it all through and he needed to do it without Boyd watching his every move and trying to get in his head. Unfortunately, Boyd didn't get the hint and Sam's phone rang seconds after the cameras went down.

"How'd it go?" Boyd asked excitedly. "Big deal when the boss takes you out for a drink."

"Not really." Sam responded with little emotion. As much as he would have liked it, this was not their big break; he couldn't be that lucky. No, all of the guys at the warehouse told him to expect it. Guaranteed they told him; within one month, he would get asked for drinks so Brennan could check him out, get to know him a little better. Apparently their boss was very hands on and kept close track of his employees. He could tell that some of them had their suspicions as to why but they kept it to themselves choosing only to say that he was a fair boss and he'd had a rough year. 'Don't piss him off and you'll be okay.' They instructed. 'Do your job and keep your head down. Stay off his radar and you won't have anything to worry about.'

Only problem – Sam wanted him to notice; it was his job to get on his radar and if he couldn't, that's when he would have something to worry about. So this week, Sam made it his mission to get the boss' attention, and it had obviously worked. Because just before Sam left after his shift, Brennan came down from his office and invited him for a drink, Alpine Inn, eight o'clock.

As all of his co-workers passed him sympathetic looks, Sam suppressed his desire to smirk. He remembered their warnings clearly; 'but if the boss invites you for that friendly drink alone, he's got something to say that he can't say in the warehouse, and you'd better listen.' They all told him it would remain cordial, but if he wanted to keep his job, he better do what the boss says. 'You do what he says, you'll be okay. You push your luck; don't be surprised if he shows up on your doorstep one night without warning. That's when you know he means business.'

So that's all it had been, a friendly warning for JD to keep his 'business' out of the warehouse. And no, this wasn't a big deal and Boyd shouldn't be getting his hopes up. In fact, right now Sam wasn't feeling hopeful at all and he thought maybe Boyd should know it.

"He's not doing anything. I've seen nothing and no one's talking. Right now I'm wondering why you got me into this in the first place." Sam was walking a fine line. He wanted out, even though he knew it was a lost cause; there was no way Boyd would let him. And he was pretty sure that if he even asked, it would shock the hell out of the detective. He came to Sam for a reason; Sam was good and he never gave up.

Except this time, he already had… before he had even started. He gave up her and that was the hitch.

"It's only been a couple of weeks Sammy." Boyd reminded him. "You should know as well as anyone how long it takes to get people to trust you. They're not just going to spill their guts because you flash them your dimples."

Sam ignored the dig and grimaced as he sat down on the end of his bed. "Of course I know that, but just because they don't tell me things right away doesn't mean I don't see them. Usually by the time they're willing to talk to me, I can tell them more about their operation than they can tell me. And I'm not seeing anything."

Boyd chuckled; that's why Sammy was the best. Nothing got by him. "Then you need to entice him, make it worth his while. Bring the business to him and he'll bite, once a dirt bag, always a dirt bag."

"But how is that going to help us get him for the good stuff?" Sam argued. "I know you don't want him on some low level drug charge."

"I don't know." Boyd conceded and Sam could tell he was getting frustrated; Boyd wasn't use to having to keep Sam motivated. It's probably why he kept picking him; Sam loved a challenge – no pep talk required. "Maybe he'll confide in you or brag it up a little."

"He's not that stupid." Sam knew that for a fact. You don't get away with what Brennan did by being careless.

And Boyd knew it too; it's just that if anyone could get through to him he figured it would be Swarek. Now he just had to keep him on track. "What did you talk about tonight?"

"Work… Women." Sam replied vaguely.

"Women?"

Sam could have sworn he heard Boyd's breath catch. What did he know? What wasn't he saying?

Boyd cleared his throat and tried to cover whatever he was thinking with a sarcastic remark. "You didn't tell him you had a crush on a rookie cop did you?"

"Hilarious." Sam responded, mirroring Boyd's tone to deflect what he really wanted to say. That's exactly why he wanted out, plain and simple, but there was no way he was going to let Boyd know just how close he had come to the truth. He'd lose it. That didn't mean Sam wasn't going to push his buttons though. "So what if I did?" He taunted.

"Ha…you're not that stupid Sammy. No matter how much you miss drooling over that rookie, you're not about to jeopardize a case. You're a pro and you know the drill. You know what you signed up for, same as always. You're not Sammy anymoer; you're JD and he is not hot for a rookie. Hell he wouldn't be caught dead with a cop and he's got nothing at home holding him back. Besides, you didn't have any plans remember?"

Oh he remembered, in fact it was all he ever thought about. "Yeah, well," Sam mumbled not wanting to dwell on it, "I'll call you when I get anything." He offered shortly and snapped the phone closed without waiting for a goodbye.

Sam flopped back down onto his back and laced his fingers behind his head. 'It's not like I had any plans.' Famous last words.

It's not like he had been lying to himself; he didn't have plans. But that wasn't the problem. It wasn't that he had plans… it was that he wanted them.

Now he just had to figure out how to get them before it was too late.


I'm happy to announce that I will be one of the moderators for 'The Rookies Choice Awards', where authors can be recognized and recognize those stories you deem amazing. These awards will be held through May and June 2012 and we would like to encourage each reader and author alike to participate in nominating their favorite fics and authors for the first year of the "Rookies Choice Awards!"

The nomination ballot, rules and category summaries can each be found (in time) at "The Parade" Forum. To reach those posts, please take a trip to the forum itself.

We look forward to hearing from each of you!