Takedown Two

Sreed

Disclaimer: Oh that it were true. Well, if I could only own one it would be Sam Swarek.

Spoilers: This is how the season finale would end if I had a choice in the matter.

Author Notes: These two characters have to end up together. It can't be any other way.

Andy looked out the window of the SUV as Luke started to drive away from the scene. Sam was leaning against the dock of the warehouse in front of the tarp holding the body of the drug dealer.

He looked up and he looked right at Andy. Luke stopped the car to roll down the window and talk to one of the uniforms. He was yucking it up with the guy and Andy just wanted to go. He seemed oblivious to her feelings. But Sam knew. He knew how scared she had been. He also probably knew how scared she had been when she realized he was going to be made. She just stared back into his dark eyes. He conveyed so much with that look. It was, thank you, you're a good cop, you saved my life and something more.

Andy could still feel his lips on hers right after he whispered Callahan isn't the only one who's got your back. What did he mean by that? She knew he did. He had proved that over and over. She hoped he knew how much she appreciated that fact. It's why the night he asked her if she was scared, she had said no. He was there she had replied without a second thought. She trusted him completely and that gave her confidence whenever she was with him. When she was by herself, not as much. Sam always grounded her in a way no one else, including either of her parents ever had. When he had kissed her, it felt like a promise and a good-bye too. It had made her stomach clinch in knots. She kept telling herself the same mantra over and over. He will be okay. He will be okay. She kept it up right up until the boy had spilled the news that Landry was in town. She thought her heart had actually stopped beating when the reality of what was waiting for Sam sunk in.

But there he was, safe and sound. He should be dead, but he was alive and he just kept staring at her. Finally, he smiled that huge dimply smile that told her everything was going to be okay, but how could it be okay? She was about to move in with Luke and yet the feelings she had as they drove to the scene could not be ignored. She kept saying to herself, he can't be dead, he can't be dead, but as she walked towards that tarp, her heart was in her throat. She felt herself trembling as Luke lifted the covering and then at that exact instant she heard him say her name, McNally. She loved the way he said her last name, like it was a term of endearment. She wanted to run to him and to hug him and to feel his arms around her confirming his aliveness.

But he kept treating her like the friends they had agreed to be. That's what she wanted, right? And Luke is whom she wanted to move in with right? Why? Why did she want to do this so fast? What or who was she running from?

Luke finally rolled up the car window as Andy looked one more time at Sam. He raised his hand and waved. She waved back as they drove away.

"You want to go to your apartment or mine?

"Mine. I want to get out of these clothes."

"I happen to think you look hot in those clothes. You really surprised me tonight."

"Why?"

"What?"

"Why did I surprise you tonight? Did you think I couldn't do it? Is that why you wanted to be on the team?"

"Andy, I was just watching out for you, that's all."

"Why did you take me back so fast?"

"What? I said, why did you take me back so fast after you found Sam's name on ice in my freezer?"

"Because I knew nothing happened."

"How did you know? Because you believed me? Trusted me?"

"Well, yeah, and Swarek confirmed it when he stopped by my office. He's okay, you know? I mean, how many guys would own up to trying something with a guys girl? I could have punched him out."

"What do you mean, he stopped by your office?"

"The day of the prisoner transport, he came by, told me I was an idiot, that he tried something, you shot him down, and that you were crazy about me. I have to tell you, it was kind of exciting to think that you had been bragging about me to him. It made me realize what an idiot I had been,"

"So let me get this straight. You forgave me because Sam cleared my good name?"

"Andy, don't say it like that, but yeah, he put my mind at rest about the whole thing, so I wouldn't really doubt it anymore."

Andy felt her heart lurch. Sam loved her. He had to. Why else would he do such a self- sacrificing thing for her? He had taken the fall for her, so that she could have Luke. Unlike Luke, who apparently would never have trusted her without Sam's assurance that she was an innocent victim. He hadn't believed her at all. What a fool she had been.

"Stop the car."

"What?"

"I said stop the car. I want out."

"Andy, what's wrong?"

"Stop the car now!"

Luke pulled over and Andy started unbuckling her seat belt.

"Andy, what is going on?'

"You idiot. Sam was just protecting me. He thought you were what I wanted. I thought you were what I wanted too. I thought I wanted you, or the idea of you, but baby, you just do not measure up to the idea at all. Don't you get it? It was me who went to Sam. It was me who initiated the kissing and the touching and some of the other stuff that transpired. It was the lights coming on and your cell phone that stopped me. Otherwise, something huge would have happened. Stupid me. I stopped because I didn't want to let you down. I thought I should be loyal to you, even though you keep putting the job before me at every turn. Sam on the other hand had my back. He always has, from day one. I was just too stupid to see it."

Andy opened the door and jumped out.

"Enjoy the new house Luke. Don't ever call me again."

Luke just sat there staring at her as she slammed the door. She started walking back towards the crime scene. Then the tires squealed as he peeled out.

Andy could care less. Sam cared. He really cared about her in a way she had never been cared for before. He put her and her feelings above his own. He was the good guy all along. She had just refused to let herself see it. Her feet began to walk faster and then she was running. Stupid high-heeled boots. The two blocks it took to get back were the longest of her life. She knew now it was Sam she had run from. It was Sam she loved. It was Sam who made her heart turn to jelly just by saying her last name. She started to chuckle to herself and then she began to laugh out loud. Here she was once again running to Sam, running to the one who knew her best and who loved her anyway, fears, faults and all. She rounded the corner and turned into the warehouse parking lot that was beginning to thin out. Dov and Traci were walking towards a patrol car and Andy just blew right past them,

"Have you guys seen Sam?"

"Sam?"

Traci had seen her leave with Luke. What was going on? "He's over there…"

Andy didn't even let her finish. She saw Sam pulling his shirt over his head and pulling on a fresh one out of the trunk of a patrol car."

"Sam! Sam!"

Sam turned around pulling the shirt into place. He had a shocked expression on his face as Andy launched herself into his arms."

"McNally! Andy, what's wrong?" He tried to pull back and check her over, but Andy clung to him like a life raft. He pulled her close to him and reveled in the feeling of her hug. He thought he could hear her sniffling.

"Andy, you going to tell me what's going on, or just squeeze the life out of me once and for all?" He pulled back from her to see her smiling tear-filled face looking at him with eyes that were shining."

"Andy, what the…"

Andy's lips came crashing into his with a passion he could feel all the way down to his toes. This girl was going to be the death of him. She can't keep coming to him like this and turning his insides out. He tried to pull back again, but she was pushing his lips apart deepening the kiss and he thought he was going to come unglued. He had always wanted a woman to kiss him like this and the fact that it was Andy was unbelievable. What had he ever done to deserve this kind of affection from her? He was starting to run out of breath just as she broke the kiss to come up for air."

"Andy…"

"Just let me talk first, okay?" He nodded, still recovering from her onslaught.

"Why did you do it?"

"Do what?"

"You know what?"

"Andy I don't. You're going to have to be a little bit more specific. I'm not a mind reader."

"When you kissed me back at the club that wasn't an undercover kind of a kiss."

"Andy, I was just worried about you…"

"And that stuff about Luke not being the only one who had my back. What did you mean by that?"

"I'm your partner and I have your back. That's all I was saying."

"Not good enough Sam."

"I…I care about you Andy and I want you to be happy. That's all."

"Even if me being happy doesn't include you?"

"Sometimes you have to step aside. It was the right thing to do. Besides, you said we're friends now."

"That friendship includes lying for someone? Sam's eyes locked on hers.

"I talked to Luke, Sam. I know what you tried to do for me. You gave me an alibi. It worked. Luke bought it and we were on our way to moving in together."

Sam's eyes got as wide as saucers and his eyebrows went up.

"Yeah, and the whole thing would have been based on a lie, because apparently Luke had no plan to get back with me at all until you intervened for me. He didn't trust me. He trusted you though. And I should have trusted you too. I should have trusted you with my heart the same way I've trusted you with my life for the last 6 months. I was stupid Sam, so stupid. I ran after Luke because I was afraid of you and all along you were never someone to be afraid of. I have never felt so cared about in my entire life. Tonight when I thought you were under that tarp, those were the worst moments of my life and then I heard my last name and there you were. I wanted to run to you, to touch you and to be sure you were still alive. Sam, I don't want Luke. I want you, all of you. I think I'm falling in love with you."

Sam just stared at Andy.

"Say something, will you?"

Slowly but surely a smile started on his face. It grew until his dimples were canyons on his cheeks. His eyes sparkled and he slipped both arms around her waist lifting her up into the air and spinning her around in a circle. He set her down and then his lips found hers. This time he kissed her back with a passion she had never felt in her life either. She could feel his arms reach all the way around enveloping her in them. His palms sliding up and down her slides. And then he threw back his head and laughed. It wasn't the fake laugh he had used as the character he played that night. It was Sam, rich and vibrant and it made her laugh too. He was alive and she was in his arms. This is where she belonged. These are the arms that were supposed to hold her up. He was her partner in every way. Andy lifted up a silent prayer of thanks that he was alive, that she was alive, and that they were together…finally. Their eyes met and Sam's softened as he looked into hers, gently stroking her cheek with the back of his fingers. He nuzzled her with his nose just like he had done twice before. Once was in his apartment the night of the blackout and the other was earlier tonight when he was about to leave the club. She liked that he did that. It was endearing.

"Sam, can you give me a lift home? I seem to have lost my ride."

"On one condition."

"And what would that be?"

He nuzzled her again.

"We get to pick up where we left off before the lights came on."

"Oh, I think we could work something out." Andy placed another amazing kiss to his lips.

Sam groaned and looked up at Dov and Traci who were standing two cars down mouths wide open.

"Epstein, keys, now."

"Yes, sir."

Sam caught them in midstride to the driver's side of the car. Andy winked at Traci and got in on the passenger side. Ten minutes later they stopped in front of Sam's apartment. It was closer.

Sam was out and holding her door before she could unbuckle the seat belt.

"Wait."

"What?"

"Go in the apartment and close the door."

"Why?"

"Just do it Swarek."

A look of understanding dawned on his face and he was inside with the door closed in less than ten seconds. Andy smiled and took her time walking up the steps to knock on the door. Sam waited for a few seconds before answering the door and Andy giggled as he finally opened it with a fake look of surprise on his face."

"McNally, you want to talk?"

Andy smiled, shook her head and pushed him back inside up against the wall by the door.

Sam picked her up. "This time we are going to do it right."

They began kissing passionately as he carried her to his room. Shirts were discarded and he lowered her gently down on the bed placing kisses along her neck and jaw line.

"Wait."

Sam began to mutter between kisses. "McNally…Andy…you are going to kill me…"

Andy reached in her back pocket and pulled out her cell phone, holding it up as she turned it off.

Sam smirked.

Andy grinned. "No interruptions this time."

One arm went to the back of his neck and the other one splayed across his chest.

"Nothing getting in the way."

She nipped the underside of his jaw. He smiled down at her adoringly.

"Things are not going to get back to normal ever again."

He leaned down on his forearms and tangled his hands in her hair.

"They are going to become spectacular."

"Andy, no more talking, okay?"

"Okay."

And they spent the night showing each other how they felt about each other, no more words were needed.