Hey guys! This is yet another post finale story, so I hope you're not bored of them yet! The finale was amazing for us McSwarek fans, and I just had to write something for it. This is only my second story, and I wrote this up quite quick, so I apologize for any mistakes. Hope you enjoy, and I'd really appreciate some feedback, good or bad. Thanks x
"You wanna try being normal together?" Sam asked a hint of a smile ghosting across his battered face. Andy suppressed an answering smirk as she replied.
"How are we gonna do that?" Sam's smile grew into a fully fledged grin, as he shook his head.
"I don't know... I have no idea." He waited, with baited breath, as Andy's overactive brain processed his last statement, and smiled as her eyes lit up, her grin as dazzling as his own. His eyes held hers as she slowly made her way around to his side of the car, his window already rolled down, letting the cool summer breeze wash over his face.
"I'm driving," she said, as she stood outside his door. Sam scoffed. She leant in through the open window, taking his left hand tenderly in hers, wary of the brace holding the broken bones in place. Sam's breath hitched at her touch. "You can't drive with only one hand," she said softly, absently stroking his fingers, her eyes avoiding contact with his, as she examined the many bruises covering his injured hand. Her eyes became wet as she thought of the pain he had endured at her expense.
"Sam," she sighed, her voice barely a whisper.
"Not now, McNally," he said, matching her volume. She nodded, they needed to talk, but it could wait until they were home. He pulled his hand from her grasp, and she stepped back as he exited the vehicle, jumping into the passenger's side as she slipped into place behind the wheel. She reached over, once again taking his hand in hers, before pulling out into the busy rush-hour traffic. Sam bit back the comment that she was driving with one hand, as he did not want her to let go. He needed that connection; he needed to know she was here, she was safe, and she was his.
Fifteen minutes later, Andy pulled Sam's truck into his driveway, killing the engine. The ride over had been relatively silent, both lost in their thoughts, replaying the day over and over. She turned to Sam, who was still staring out of the window, looking up at his darkened house, looking eerily quiet in the night, his eyes sad.
"Sam?" She tugged on his hand, forcing him to look at her. He forced a grin when he saw her concerned look, before opening the door and stepping out into the crisp air. He wavered a little, the day's events catching up with him, causing a heavy exhaustion to settle over him. She gripped his arm, and threw it around her shoulders. She placed one hand around his waist, hugging him to her to keep him upright as they made their way inside.
"I don't need you help, McNally," he said gruffly, trying to shrug her off, but she held firm, rolling her eyes at his stubbornness. Once they reached the doorway, she dug his keys out of his pocket, opened the door, and pulled him inside.
She helped him settle on the couch, before heading into the kitchen, flicking on lights as she went. She fixed them both coffees - his, strong and black, hers light, with plenty of milk, and just a dash of caramel. She made a short detour to his bathroom to pick up some painkillers, before making her way back to the lounge. She found him exactly where she left him - lying on his back on the couch, his uninjured hand thrown over his face. What was new were the silent tears slipping down his cheeks. She placed the beverages on the table, next to the bottle of painkillers. The sound alerted him to her presence, and he quickly sat up, ignoring the sting of pain in his side at the action, furiously wiping the tears from his face. She sat down next to him, watching as he shook two pills into his hand, recapping the bottle before chugging them down with copious amounts of coffee, ignoring the heat as it burned its way down his throat. He settled back, sighing as his tired, aching body sank into the plush cushions. They sat in silence, both thinking how to broach the elephant in the room. Finally, Andy decided that the direct approach was best. She knew Sam needed to talk about it, but would not volunteer information until asked. She took his right hand in hers, stroking her thumb over the back, watching as the touch soothed him.
"What happened, Sam?" He shook his head; the action making him wince as the pain behind his eyes grew, telling him of the impending migraine.
"Not tonight, McNally." He pulled his hand from her grasp, hanging his head in his hands, so she wouldn't see the tears threatening to fall again. Sam Swarek did not cry, he could count the number of times he had on one hand - the day he had fallen off his bike and broken his arm, after telling his father he didn't need training wheels, the day Sarah was attacked, the day his Dad died - but those times were a walk in the park compared to the pain he felt now, both physical and emotional.
"Yes tonight," Andy said, rubbing circles on his back. "You need to talk about it, Sam. If you don't, it'll eat you alive." He lifted his head, looking into her eyes, seeing his own pain mirrored in hers. "Please. I need to know." He sighed, pulling himself up, took another swig of coffee.
"Brennan came over that night," Sam started. "He said he wanted to go for a drink, talk a little business. But, before we were even out of the apartment, he clocked me over the head with something, I blacked out. Next thing I know, I'm gagged and tied to a chair in an old warehouse." He stopped, his eyes swirling with memories. Andy ran her hand down his arm to grasp his hand, and he laced their fingers together, drawing strength from her touch. He took a deep breath and continued. "I knew I was made, right there and then, but... I thought he'd made you too."
"I thought he had as well," Andy said, and Sam looked up with curiosity. "He must've waited for me that morning. When, I came out of your apartment, he pulled up next to me, offered me a ride."
"You didn't..." Sam started, panic rising inside him. The thought that Jamie hurt Andy too... he couldn't have handled that.
"He wasn't going to take no for an answer. I was so scared, tried to think up a back-story on the fly. He kept asking me all these questions, but I just remembered what we were told - tell the truth when you can, helps keep track of the lies."
"What did you tell him?"
"The truth - that my father's an alcoholic, and my mum left us. So, I chose the route of stability, moved out, and got engaged to 'Mr. Nice Guy'." She spat those last words out, dripping with sarcasm, as she thought about Luke. She felt Sam's hand tighten around hers. "Told him about the infidelity, and that when I met you, I was having fun, for the first time in a long time, so I stayed."
"Good story," Sam said, proud of her for keeping it together when faced with a dangerous situation. "Did he buy it?"
"I didn't think he did at first - he took me to Cherry Beach." Sam's hand tightened around hers again.
"What did he do to you?" She could see him getting worked up, so she reached up and rested her hand on his cheek, stroking his worry lines away. He leant into her touch, and turned his head to kiss her palm.
"Nothing," she assured him. "We just looked out at the water, and talked some more." Her hand slipped from his cheek to rest on his thigh.
"What about?"
"His wife and daughter. He told me about the car accident; he didn't think it was an accident though."
"Well, now we know it wasn't," Sam muttered. "That son-of-a-bitch." When I get my hands on Boyd, he's gonna regret this, suspension or no suspension, he's not gonna get away with it.
"Hey, don't think about that now, okay?" He picked his coffee cup up from the coffee table, draining the last of the brown liquid, feeling himself relax as Andy gripped his hand again.
"What happened next?"
"He told me to stay in a hotel, not to go back to your place. I knew something was wrong, I thought I'd screwed up. I went back to the Barn, and told Frank..."
"And everything went to hell," Sam chuckled darkly, but stopped when the pain stabbed at his side again. This time, he couldn't cover the wince it caused, and Andy saw.
"Okay, shirt off."
"What?" Sam said, bewildered by the sudden subject change.
"I wanna see, I wanna see what he did to you." He pushed her hands away as she played with the hem of his T-shirt.
"No, it's fine. The ER stitched me up and everything, I'm fine."
"Sam, please, I need to know." He wasn't happy, but he allowed her to lift his tight, black T-shirt over his head, and chuck it onto the back of the couch. She gasped when she saw the dozens of cuts and bruises that littered his torso. She gingerly ran her fingertips over the wounds. Sam sucked in a quick breath when she hit a particularly sore spot, and she apologized. "What did he do to you?"
"He just roughed me up a little, that's all," Sam said evasively, but when Andy gave him a pointed look, he knew he wasn't going to get away with just that. Her hands moved from his chest to his braced hand.
"Is it broken?" More like shattered. He nodded, not wanting to upset her more with the details.
"How?"
"Andy..." Sam said, turning away from her, but she grabbed his face in her hands, forcing his eyes level with hers.
"How?"
"A hammer." Her hands dropped from his face in shock. Her eyes welled up with tears, but she brushed them away, taking a few deep breaths to calm her racing heart.
"What else?" She knew he was holding something back. When he didn't answer, she asked again, more forcefully. "What else, Sam? Please."
"He poured water down my throat," Sam said, so quiet she almost didn't hear him. She wished she hadn't.
"He water boarded you?" He nodded. Andy felt sick, she thought she might throw up. "Oh God, Sam." This time, she couldn't stop the torrent of tears spilling from her eyes. Sam saw her crack, and pulled her into his arms, wary of his aching ribs. He held her tight to his chest, her hot tears leaving wet trails of fire down his bare chest, rubbing his good hand up and down her back in comfort. "I'm so sorry, Sam, this was all my fault." Her voice was muffled by his chest, but he heard her, and felt his heart break at the thought of her blaming herself for this.
"Hey, look at me." He waited for her to raise her eyes to him. "This is not your fault," he said, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead. "You wanna blame someone? You blame Brennan, or Boyd, or me." She shook her head when he said 'me'.
"It wasn't your fault either, Sam. I just hate that you had to go through that." She sat up and he looked into her eyes, dark, watery pools of emotion.
"I would do it all again, if it meant keeping you safe. I don't regret anything that happened, Andy. It brought you to me, and I wouldn't give that up for the world." He pulled her to him, crashing his lips to hers. He ran his rough tongue along her lower lip, begging for access, which she instantly granted. Her hands raked through his jet-black hair, as his tongue danced with hers. When the need for oxygen overpowered them, they pulled away, Andy's head coming to rest on his chest.
"Stay with me tonight?" Sam asked, his voice cracking slightly. He sounded so vulnerable, Andy had never heard him so weak. She hugged him tight, placing a soft kiss over his heart.
"I'm not going anywhere." She stood up, pulling him with her, leading him by the hand down the familiar route to his bedroom.
Once inside, Andy helped Sam pull off his remaining clothes, so he was just left in his boxers, before stripping down herself. They climbed under the covers, the exhaustion washing over them like waves on the shore. Andy snuggled into Sam's chest, his good arm holding her tight. She could tell he was still tense, and that sleep would not easily come. She understood - for three weeks after her first kill, she had nightmares so vivid, they would keep her awake for hours. But, then she had no-one to comfort her. Now, Sam has her, and she'll be with him through every one. She turned her head to look up at him.
"It's okay, Sam. I've had them too. I'll be here for you, always." Sam smiled, and she saw his expression relax. He placed a last, sweet kiss on her lips, before succumbing to the fatigue that had plagued him for hours. When she felt his breathing even out, she smiled. He looked so peaceful in sleep, and she hoped it would last. She cuddled deeper into his embrace, and closed her eyes too, happy that the day was over, and that Sam was here, he was safe, he was hers.
Hope you enjoyed, and please let me know what you thought in a review. Thanks x
