This story was inspired by Sam's speech at the end of 3x13 about him doing everything and Andy not having to do a thing (which you'll see below, in case you haven't seen the episode or have forgotten the speech). It's all about Sam winning Andy back after she returns from the taskforce. I realize there probably needs to be wooing from both of them once she gets back, not just Sam, but for this story it's all about Sam wooing Andy. I might do a sequel that has Andy wooing Sam...we'll see. But for now, enjoy! And please review. :) I promise updates will come quickly!

Disclaimer: I don't own Rookie Blue.

The Wooing of Andy McNally

"You don't have to do anything. I'm gonna do it all. I'm going to do everything, okay?
I'm going to show you every single day until you say yes. I'm gonna make you dinner.
I'm gonna take out your garbage. I'm gonna walk your dog." ~ Sam
"I don't have a dog." ~ Andy
"Then let's get a dog, a labradoodle, a mutt from the pound, I don't care.
Let's bring him home and call him Boo. Boo Radley. I've always loved that name for a dog." ~Sam
"Okay, look...Can we just start with a drink? Just a drink?
Please. Andy, just give me a chance. I'll be at The Penny." ~ Sam

Chapter 1

Sam was going to keep to his promise. He was going to fight for her, show her every single day that he was sorry. He'd given her some time when she got back from the taskforce, wanting to not overwhelm her and give her time to adjust back to real life. The night of the takedown they'd spoken for a short time in an empty office at the station, each of them apologizing for probably more than the other could ever realize. But it didn't fix everything, so, he'd given her time. She'd taken a few days off and had been back at work for two days before he decided it was time to set his plan into action. It was time to show her he meant what he said.

He waited outside the locker rooms, his nerves making him jump every time he saw another female officer come out. Finally, the door opened and she appeared. He pushed himself off the wall and matched her stride for stride as she walked down the hall toward the exit.

"Let me cook you dinner tonight," he offered, looking over at her.

She looked at him out of the corner of her eye. "Why would you want to do that?"

"I told you. I'm fighting for us until you say yes."

She pressed her lips together to fight off the smile, but Sam saw the corner of her lips curve up ever so slightly. "You think pretty highly of your cooking."

"I can recall a few occasions where you thought I should be rewarded for my cooking skills," he replied, smirking.

Andy blushed as he referred to the many times a trail of clothes had been left from the kitchen to her bedroom - or his - as she thanked him for cooking for her. "Fine. I don't really have anything in my fridge anyway," she said, pretending to be put out to have dinner with him, but the smile on her face told him otherwise. She knew he had waited for her while she was undercover on the taskforce, but she still couldn't allow herself to fully trust him again yet. But she wanted to, and maybe dinner was the first step.

She followed him to his truck. It felt so familiar, to hop in his truck and have him take her home. Andy thought back to the last time they'd done this, eight months ago. She wondered if all that time had changed them, if the taskforce had changed her, if being a detective had changed him. Change wasn't entirely a bad thing, she imagined, knowing that even if they tried to blame Jerry's death for their breakup, there was a lot more to it than that. There were things they each needed to change and work on if there could ever be a 'them' again.

She looked over at Sam as he drove them to his apartment. He caught her eye as he glanced over at her and wondered when she'd gotten over her allergy to silence. The more she remained quiet, the more he needed to hear her voice. "How's it been being back?" he finally asked.

"It's good. I missed it. Missed my friends."

"It's not always easy to fit back into life after being undercover so long," he said, speaking from experience.

"Yeah, well, they've already had me see the shrink, so..." She wasn't really having a problem getting back to her life. It was more that she felt like she'd missed so much in all her friend's lives and didn't know how to catch up. They'd all welcomed her and Nick back immediately, but there were constantly conversations where neither of them knew what their friends were talking about.

"Sometimes the shrink isn't who you want to talk to. Look, I'm just saying...I've been there, so I'm here if you need someone to listen, to talk...to just be there," he offered.

Andy gave him a small nod and smile as they pulled up to his apartment. There had been a million times while she was undercover when she wanted to ask Sam for his advice or have him reassure her when she was nervous, but of course, that hadn't been allowed. He wasn't part of the taskforce, hadn't been her handler, so she couldn't seek him out for help. And now that she was back, she just wanted to put the taskforce behind her.

They walked into his apartment and Andy followed him with her eyes as he threw his keys on the table near the door before walking around to turn lights on. "Make yourself at home," he said, nodding toward the couch.

Instead of heading to the living room, she followed him into the kitchen. "Can I help?"

"Nope," he replied, popping the 'p.' He rummaged around his fridge before pulling out a bottle of Andy's favorite wine. He grabbed a wine glass and placed both on the counter next to Andy, as he went back to the fridge to grab himself a beer.

"I didn't think you drank wine," she said, wondering why he had this in his fridge.

"I don't," he said as he began rustling around with ingredients. "But you do."

She couldn't help but smile and lifted herself onto the counter before popping open the wine. "What are you cooking?"

"It's a surprise."

"And you're not going to let me help?"

"Nope."

Andy sipped some wine and let the silence take over the room for a few minutes.

"How was the taskforce?" he asked, as she watched him marinate pieces of chicken.

"It was...interesting."

"Interesting? That's all? You helped take down one of the city's largest drug traffickers. Pretty impressive," he praised.

"Yeah. Six months is a long time though. I guess I never imagined it would take that long...that I'd be leaving my life for that long." Truthfully, when she said yes to Luke, she never thought about the timeframe. Never thought if it would be six weeks, six months or years. If she had known how long-term it was, she's not sure she would've agreed. Then again, the way she was feeling that day, it might not have mattered. But today, six months later, it mattered.

"That's the life of undercover. You never know if it's going to be two weeks or two years," he said.

"I didn't know I'd be going undercover." Sam remained quiet, but she saw the questioning look in his eyes when he looked over at her. "When I pleaded for Luke to let me be part of the taskforce, I thought I'd be spending time at headquarters, planning out operations, maybe doing some undercover work down the road. I never thought it would mean disappearing that night."

"Did you want to go undercover?" he asked, his eyes now focused on the food he was preparing.

"No. Yes." She shook her head, not really knowing the answer. No one had ever asked. "I just wanted to be part of something big. I wanted…I wanted to lose myself in something else for a while. But undercover work is fun. I can see why you like it so much."

"Liked," he said, emphasizing the past tense. "Not much opportunity for it as a detective."

"Aren't you gonna miss it?" she asked, watching him put dinner in the oven.

"I did it for a long time. It's not a priority anymore." He leaned back against the counter and stared across the kitchen at her. He wanted her to see his face, to see how much he meant it.

"Why did you become a detective?" she asked. It was something she'd been wondering since she first saw him at the takedown in jeans and a t-shirt.

"Frank asked me, said Callaghan was leaving again and we needed another body to help with all the casework. He wanted someone familiar with 15 Division, someone who already knew the ins and outs of our family...and who they were replacing." Sam let out a sigh thinking about Jerry. "I never really thought about being a detective, but it was an interesting opportunity and...and I thought it might help with us too."

"I'm gonna miss being out on the streets with you," she admitted.

"You're a good cop, you'll do fine without me," he said as he started to put together a salad.

"I was taught by the best." She smiled when he threw a glace her way. "But I'm not worried about that. It's just, I'm gonna miss partnering with you." It was true. No matter what they ended up being in their personal life, he had been her professional partner for most of the three years she was on the job. No matter what, she was most comfortable and confident when partnered with him.

Sam closed his eyes as she repeated her words. He wasn't good expressing feelings, but he knew if he were ever to win Andy back he was going to have to learn. "I'm gonna miss it too." His voice was gravelly and wavered a bit, and he quickly took a drink of his beer to wet his throat. "Just trust your instincts and make sure your partner has your back."

Andy hopped off the counter when Sam grabbed some plates, so she could help him set the table. She gently hip-checked him as he walked back toward the stove. "Any partner I have knows they'll face your wrath, so..." She smirked at him and didn't even have to finish the thought to see the acknowledgement in his face.

Wanting to change the subject, Sam nodded toward the table. "Have a seat. Dinner's pretty much ready."

When he didn't deny her comment, Andy realized in that moment that despite six months of her being gone, his feelings hadn't changed. Now she just had to figure out if hers had.

By the time Sam brought the food to the table, the atmosphere in the room had changed and they'd unknowingly agreed to table any heavy discussion for the evening.

More than two hours later, Andy insisted on helping Sam clean up despite his protests. "You cooked this wonderful meal. I'm not sticking you with the dishes. And that's final," she said, as she turned on the water in the sink.

"You're my guest, you're not doing the dishes," he said, reaching around her to shut off the water. Andy was trapped between Sam and the counter, and his warm breath on her ear made her shiver. She hadn't had that type of reaction from anyone in eight months, and it scared her.

Bringing herself out of the Sam-induced haze she'd fallen into, she reached over and turned the faucet back on. "Yes, I am," she said, turning her head. She hadn't realized Sam was still that close to her and she had to tilt her head back so as to not hit his chin.

Sam knew what he was doing the moment he reached around her. He could have argued with her without turning the water off, but then that wouldn't have resulted in him seeing her reaction to him being so close. Smirking on the inside, he watched the passion float through her eyes before he stepped back an inch to give her a little space…just a little though. "I'll make a deal. I'll wash, you dry."

Andy swallowed and tried to find her voice, realizing maybe she wasn't quite out of that Sam-induced haze yet. She simple nodded and moved to the side so Sam could stand in front of the sink. She picked up a dish towel lying on the counter and waited for Sam to hand her the first dish.

They washed and dried the dishes in silence. Andy thought about all the feelings Sam conjured up in her. If they had been normal, if this had been just any other night they spent together, she knew there'd be dirty dishes lying in the sink, while they shed their clothes on the way to his bed. But sex wasn't the answer to fixing, or figuring out, whatever they were, because god knows that had never been one of their problems. It was the talking, the working things out, the opening up to each other emotionally that was what needed fixing.

Sam scrubbed the dishes harder than necessary and knew it was his own fault that he was going to need a long cold shower after this night was over. But, he refused to move too fast. The first time, they'd jumped into bed before even going on a date. This time, he was going to take it slow, wine and dine her, and show her how much she means to him before they found their way back to the bedroom.

When they finished the dishes, they stood facing each other, unsure of what to do next.

"So, I should probably take you home." He nervously shoved his hands in his pockets.

Andy wrung the dish towel in her hands. "Uh, yeah, yeah, probably should get home."

"Okay then." He stared at her, waiting for her to put the towel down, and quirked his eyebrows as she still gripped it and didn't move. Blushing she placed the towel next to the sink and let Sam usher her out of his apartment and to his truck, the hand at the small of her back only disappearing briefly as he locked his front door.

Andy fiddled with the radio, noticing he hadn't removed any of the presets she'd added more than a year ago, and they teased each other about music on the way to her condo. He walked her up to her condo and she pushed open the door, pausing in the doorway.

"Thank you again for dinner, Sam."

"Anytime."

She fidgeted with her keys, not knowing what to do next. They'd never done this. Whenever they'd gone out or stayed in, Sam would stay over at her place or she would stay over at his. What were they supposed to do now? She wanted to invite him in, but she also knew they had to do it differently this time. And she wasn't even sure what 'it' was.

"So..." She finally brought her eyes up to his and almost melted at how he was looking at her.

Sam brought his hand to the side of her face as he slowly closed the distance between them. His lips touched hers softly until she leaned into him to deepen the kiss. He missed this. He was stupid for pushing her away months ago, and the feel of her lips on his only strengthened his desire to fix this, to repair the damage he'd done. He pulled back, leaving Andy breathless as he rubbed his thumb gently across her cheek.

"See you tomorrow, McNally," he said, backing away with a grin on his face.

"Goodnight, Sam." She smiled at him, before walking into her condo. She closed the door and leaned back against it. Her head was trying to remind her how he broke up with her in the rain in a parking lot and how he'd treated her all those weeks after, but her heart was already opening up to let him back in.