Sam Swarek sat behind his new desk, breaking in the chair. It had been Jerry's desk; that had been his one request from Frank. He sipped his coffee and glanced over the file in his hand. He kept hoping a case would be given to him that would put him in touch with Andy. He missed her, even though he was so angry with her, so hurt. He just wanted to know how she was doing, if she was alive. He hadn't slept a good night's sleep in six months. Ever since that night at the Penny that he'd stayed waiting for her.
Sam sat down at the bar and did his best not to look at the door. He felt stupid. He'd never waited for a woman before; what the hell was he doing? He waved a hello to Oliver's friend Becca and continued to wait. Just then he heard the door open, but it wasn't Andy; it was Gail.
"What, are you...drinking alone?", she asked, sitting beside him.
"Uh, looks that way.", he said.
"Have you seen Nick at all?"
"Uh...no, sorry...no", he said, scanning for the rookie amongst the crowd. Gail sighed and contined to watch the door. Sam threw up his hands.
"You know what? Let's celebrate. Until Nick gets here, yeah?", he said, handing her a shot of tequila.
"All right, but only because you seem so lonely and pathetic here by yourself.", she said, moving over to sit closer to him. He chuckled.
"Tell me again why the rookies don't like you?", Sam joked, clinking glasses with her. They gulped down their shots, and then both pairs of eyes again trailed to the door, waiting for it to swing open.
Sam sighed and gulped down the dregs of his coffee. He didn't want to think about Andy anymore.
Just then, Traci Nash walked in, and when she saw him, her eyes lit up. She grabbed a chair and wheeled it over to him, trying to contain her excitement.
"Okay...it's not official yet, but...they're making the bust tonight.", she whispered, rubbing her hands together. Sam almost smiled. He couldn't help it. He was happy she was coming home, but there was also that fear that nothing would change when she did. He grabbed the file from Traci's hand, and upon seeing the surveillance photos, he almost dropped the file and its contents on the floor.
"That's Anton Hill."
"Yeah; turns out Roger Dakota is working for him. He just saunters into the warehouse one day and tells Dakota he wants an update."
"We gotta get Andy outta there.", Sam said, standing and making his way to Frank's office. Traci, confused, followed behind.
Frank looked up when Sam rapped on the door.
"Swarek...what can I do for you?", he asked. Sam closed the door behind himself and Traci and then slapped the file down on Frank's desk.
"That's...this is the task force McNally and Collins are on...I requested you be no where near it, how did you..." He trailed off, looking at Nash, and she guiltily hung her head.
"Nash, this is big. You could lose your badge for this, you know that, right? If McNally's or Collins' cover gets blown..."
"We have bigger problems, boss.", Sam said, sitting down.
"What are you talking about?" Sam opened the file to the photo of Anton Hill. Seeing the look of confusion on Frank's face, he pointed to it.
"That's Anton Hill.", he said.
"Yes, I know who that is...a bust like that will do big things for this division."
"Look, boss, I know what a bust like that will bring, and I'm all for it...but we gotta get McNally outta there.", he said desperately, pleading.
"Swarek, what's going on? Start talking.", Frank ordered, folding his hands on the table.
Sam looked at Traci, and she shot him an apologetic look before slipping out of the room.
Traci watched worriedly from Dov's desk. Frank was openly shouting, and Sam, who usually wouldn't stand for any of this, was just taking it. Then, to her shock and dismay, Sam handed Frank his badge and gun.
"What the hell?", Oliver asked. He began to walk toward the office, and Noelle stopped him.
"Oliver...don't.", she said quietly.
"No, look, Noelle, I'm not going to let him..."
"Just...don't.", she said, and he relaxed, watching helplessly as Sam began the walk down to the door. When he reached Oliver, he just shrugged.
"What happened, brother?", Oliver asked.
"I'm off the job. Until this task force is over, I'm just a regualr joe.", he said. Oliver watched sadly as his best friend-and in his opinion, his brother-walked out of Fifteen.