Author: The Slinkster

Pairing: Swarek/McNally

Rating: PG

Spoilers: general series knowledge

Disclaimer: Not mine…but I wish I could play with them.

Author's Note: Big thanks to Surreallis on LJ. She's awesome folks! Story can also be found here: .#cutid1

She took another sip of the scotch. Sitting on the bar stool at the Penny, watching her friends around the bar.

Traci with Jerry. She's laughing at something he said, her hand casually, comfortably, resting on his arm. Like it's natural for her, touching him with such ease. Even with the time they'd spent together, she and Luke didn't have that kind of organic affection.

She let her gaze leave the two and land on Chris and Gail. Dov, of course, was hanging in the background. His arms flailing wildly around as he regaled them with one of his stories – no doubt about something heroic he had done that day. They acted like they merely tolerated him, but she knew it was all for show. What's not to love about Dov?

She laughed humorously at her own joke.

Then there was Luke, her fiancé, sitting with a glass of beer in front of him, half full, and two empties in beside him. Talking, laughing, with Jo. As she watched them, of all the things she was feeling, she didn't feel the one thing she should…jealousy. She wasn't jealous of Luke and Jo. The woman was his ex and his old partner. They shared a bond, naturally. It would make sense that the bond wouldn't dissolve just because they stopped being…

Them being exes wasn't the problem. Andy wasn't concerned with the woman touching his shoulder, she wasn't concerned with the fact that Luke hadn't really spoken to her all night, and she wasn't concerned that the case today involved Luke and Jo being tied up together while half the department searched for them. They came out laughing like it was nothing…and it was nothing. The guy had been a kid, barely older than 19, who was in over his head dealing pot and thought two cops would be enough to buy his freedom. He was wrong and the day ended with a small-time drug dealer behind bars and two detectives freed without so much as rope burn to show for their troubles.

All this wasn't her concern, wasn't why she was into her third finger of 18 year old scotch. When Luke was in that basement with Jo, she was out with Swarek responding to a noise complaint. She didn't even know Luke was in danger. Maybe it was a cliché, but shouldn't she have felt…something. Anything. A twinge behind her eye, the hair standing up on the back of her neck, even a passing thought about him would have been sufficient. Instead…nothing. In fact, at the time Luke was being tied up she figured she was probably laughing at another one of Sam's lame jokes.

Sam. Sam Swarek. Training officer, confidant…friend. Her eyes searched the bar for him. Found him leaning against the wall, beer in hand, smiling at Officer Williams. And there it was. The jealousy. Mine, she thought. The word flashed in her brain for the briefest of moments. He was hers. And she was his. Up until now she refused to acknowledge it.

They were an enigma. Like the tide, always ebbing and flowing, in and out. Two steps forward and one leap back. She realized that she was the one holding back. Luke was a safe bet. He would take care of her, love her, and never challenge her. Sam was a risk, a challenge, a competitor. And while she was always ready to take risks on the job, when it came to her personal life she was chicken shit. And Sam was a big risk.

But maybe she was finally ready for a little risk in her life. She took one last sip of her drink, set it on the bar, and stood up. Determined.

Maybe it was time she took Sam Swarek out of the freezer.