A/N: Okay, so I got this idea watching TV the other night and I really wanted to explore the Andy/Sam relationship but wanted things to be a little different from the end point of 'Sleepless in Toronto' so I decided to just start a whole new story. Woohoo! Oops, sorry, writer's high taking over…

Anyway, I live smack dab in the middle of the US and I have no idea how Canadian police agencies work. We're going to go with the premise that they're much like my department and shifts work block schedules. Ours is three on, three off—so I'm going to go with that! Oh, and we're also going to pretend that Sam's truck is a crew cab because, well, it will allow me to have Andy curl up next to him for three and a half hours!

Hope you enjoy!

Surprise Party

"Come on, Grandma," Sam Swarek said, throwing his arm around his partner as he led her through the parking lot and into the precinct.

"Sam?"

"Yeah?"

"Bite me," Andy McNally said, giving him an elbow to the ribs. He barely felt it through his ballistic vest but he grunted and pretended to double over in pain anyway. She rolled her eyes at him, letting him know in no uncertain terms that she thought he was full of it.

"Don't be bitter because you're 28. You still have two good years before you have to retire to the shelf. Be put out to pasture. Crawl over the hill…"

"I'm still armed."

"Right," he said with an unrepentant smirk.

"You're such a smug little…" He interrupted her by clapping his hands over her eyes. "Wha…? Sam, I can't see!"

Her hands closed over his and she leaned back against him, unsure of where he was leading her.

"That's kind of the point, McNally. I'm your partner. Your 'pal'. Do you trust me?" His voice had dropped low, close to her ear, and she sincerely hoped her sleeves were down enough that he couldn't see the goose bumps sneaking up her arms.

"Implicitly," she said honestly, wishing he wasn't so close to her. She wasn't sure her aging system could take it. Har, har.

"That's my girl," he said, pushing a door open with his shoulder.

"Are we going into the locker room?" she asked, recognizing the squeak of the door. "Sam, I am not going to make out with you in the locker room. First, it's kinda gross and second, it's my birthday. Not yours."

A burst of laughter made her stop short.

"Shit," she muttered as Sam removed his hand. Standing there laughing like idiots were Traci, Chris, Gail, Noelle, Oliver, Jerry, and Dov. Traci was holding a pan of a dozen cupcakes, one with a burning candle sticking out of it. They broke into a chorus of happy birthday, Andy plugging her ears and pretending to howl like a dog. She blew out the candle and hugged Traci.

Happy birthdays and hugs went around the room and they sat down on the benches and ate their cupcakes, laughing and joking. It wasn't lost on Andy that they were celebrating in the girl's locker room. Not the parade room or the conference room. Because of Luke.

They had broken up several weeks before when Andy began to have cold feet about moving in. Since then things around the precinct had been a little tense. Andy wasn't herself, she and Sam had been bickering, Luke had gotten drunk one night at the Penny and made an ugly comment which almost led to a fist fight…. Andy'd had better months. They all knew it. And Sam, being her partner and 'friend', wanted to do something to cheer her up.

So he and Traci put their heads together and came up with a plan. A killer surprise birthday weekend that everyone was in on. They'd worked hard to keep the information out of Andy's ear and had succeeded. She had no clue. Sam had no doubt that she was going to love the idea. He just hoped to God that he survived.

"So, Andy," Traci said when they'd finished up their cakes. "We have a little surprise for you. We all put our heads together and decided to come up with something that would help you celebrate your birthday in peace and happiness. Since we have a whole three days off, we planned a special getaway weekend just for you."

Andy looked around the group, her eyes wide, trying to read anyone's face for a clue on what was going on. When her eyes settled on Sam he flashed her that killer dimpled grin of his that always made her want to swallow her tongue. She cocked her head to the side a bit and narrowed her eyes at him but he gave nothing away.

"You're going to love it, Andy, it's great," Chris assured her enthusiastically. Gail rolled her eyes

"We're told that one of your favorite things to do when you were little was to go camping," Dov said.

"So we're going to Bon Echo to camp," Traci said with a squeal and a clap. A smile began to spread across Andy's face.

"We? Who's we?" she asked, looking around the room.

"All of us," Jerry said.

"Well, except me. I just wanted some cake," Oliver said with a grin and a shrug. "I can't justify leaving the wife and kids for three whole days of camping and beer drinking."

A round of lovingly rude comments and laughs went up. Oliver offered Andy a hug.

"I'm sorry I'm going to miss it," he said so only she could hear. "Take lots of pictures of Sammy trying to survive in the woods. That's going to be a classic comedy of errs."

Andy snickered hugging him back. "I promise."

"So," Traci said, getting Andy's attention after Oliver took his leave. "We all have our stuff and as soon as everyone's changed we'll be ready to leave. It's about a 3 ½ hour drive so we should get started soon."

"Oh but I don't. I need to go home and pack," Andy said, a little panicked. Traci gave her a wicked little grin.

"Nope, Noelle and I took care of it today while we were on shift. You are packed and ready to go, sister!"

"Okay, men out so we can change," Noelle ordered, making a shooing motion with her hand. Andy cornered Sam, looking up at him with a small smile on her face.

"You're really going to go camping? Sam Swarek, the city boy?"

"Yep," he said with a grin that was so intimate that they might as well have been alone. "You going to protect me from the great big scary beyond?"

"Sure, buddy," she teased. "Do you trust me?"

"Implicitly," he teased back.

"Oh, geez, we haven't even left yet and the sexual tensions already palpable and they're making google eyes at each other," Gail whined, stripping off her vest. "Ow, what?" she griped when Traci slugged her in the shoulder.

"Out, Swarek," Noelle said, opening the door and pushing him out of it. "I hope someone packed a fire extinguisher for those two."

Andy rolled her eyes and began to strip out of her uniform like the others. She pulled on jeans and a flowy shirt that was incredibly impractical for camping. She hoped Traci and Noelle had packed her some decent clothes.

"Okay, girls, gather 'round," said Noelle, motioning them to her locker. She gave them each a pointed cone water cup from the hallway water cooler. She pulled out a bottle of golden liquid.

"Noelle!" Peck said, shocked.

"What, Little Miss White-shirt-in-waiting, you gonna tell?"

"No, I just can't believe your breaking such a major rule."

"It's not like Best is gonna bust me. I have so much shit on him. Besides, we're leaving in about five minutes and none of us is driving. We have to ride three and a half hours with Swarek, Jerry, Epstein, and Diaz. Are you telling me you can manage that without a drink?"

"Okay, I see your point," Gail conceded, thrusting her cup forward. Noelle poured their first round and held her cup up in a toast.

"To McNally, may you have a happy birthday and forget the shitty two weeks proceeding it," she said with feeling. They knocked back the first shot, shuddering. Then round two was poured.

"To Andy, my best friend. I wish you a very happy birthday and a fabulous year," Traci said with a sweet smile and a cocked shoulder. The next shot went back.

"Okay, okay, okay," said Gail as they thrust their cups forward again and got poured round number three. "I know we're not great friends, McNally, but you're a good cop and I respect what you stand for. Happy birthday."

Andy was a little shocked. For Gail that was downright tearjerking. Okay, maybe not, but it was totally out of character for her. The third shot went back before the final one was poured.

"I just want to tell you thank you for everything you're doing. I love you guys and we're going to have an outstanding birthday celebration!" They cheered before knocking back the last shot. It went down much easier than the first and Andy was beginning to feel the warmth of the liquor spreading through her chest. They went out back to meet the boys at their POVs. Sam's truck was loaded down with crap and the boys were filling it with personal bags.

"We can't all fit in my truck," Sam said as he watched seven other people try to cram into the truck meant for six.

"Sure we can, Sammy, we just have to be creative," Jerry said with a wicked little grin. Rolling his eyes, Sam crawled behind the wheel and put his seatbelt on. He bounced his head off the steering wheel for good measure until Andy slid her hand under his head to stop him. He looked at her, startled to find her all but glued into his side.

"Don't concuss yourself, we need you to drive," she said, unnecessarily. His eyes narrowed as he sniffed at her.

"You started without me," he protested.

"Yep, cuz I'm the birthday girl!"

He whipped his head around to Noelle, knowing exactly who was responsible. She blew him a kiss which made Traci and Gail giggle.

Great, giggly drunk girls. Just what I need. He looked around the cab to make sure they were all in and couldn't help but groan. Andy was glued to his side, Epstein next to her. In the back was Diaz with Peck sitting on his lap and Jerry with Traci on his lap, Noelle in the middle.

"You idiots are seriously going to ride three and a half hours like that?" he asked a look of disbelief on his face. Diaz nodded earnestly and Jerry wiggled his eyebrows at him. "Christ, if Best doesn't bust us for doing this stupid shit it'll be a miracle."

He pulled out of the parking lot and pointed them in the right direction. Next to him Andy fidgeted with his stereo.

"Hey, hey, off the dial," he said swatting her hand away. She swatted right back.

"It's my birthday weekend. I get to choose," she informed him. She scanned until she found something that suited her. The others must have agreed because he could see Traci and Gail dancing in the back seat much the way Andy was doing next to him.

Man, it was going to be a long road trip.

A/N: So let me know if you're interested and if I should continue. And if you have ideas for what you'd like to see happen on this little excursion, I'm all ears (eyes?-whatever).