A/N: So glad that last chapter was a hit. I was so nervous. Love the reviews. They are quite fun to read, so thank you for that.
I Think You Might Be Superman
Chapter 3-I Guess Two Can Play at That Game
Sam woke up Friday morning feeling more rested than he had felt in days. He wasn't even sure that Andy would find the paint chips but just knowing that she thought so much of him had sent him into restful slumber. Leo was a really great kid and he couldn't resist the innocence with which he told Andy's stories. Sam was far from an egomaniac but he couldn't help but love hearing Andy's version of their many adventures on patrol. He couldn't wait to see Leo again just to hear what else Andy had to say about him. His mind was now spinning trying to think of other little "messages" he could get to her. If he couldn't talk to her or see her at least he could let her know that he was thinking about her.
He showered and dressed and was filling the coffee pot when his phone rang.
"Hello."
"Hey Sammy. Ready for another adventure?"
"Definitely. What's up?"
"Traci packed up Leo's stuff at her mom's place last night."
"Wow, that was quicker than you originally thought."
"Yeah, I know. Apparently, McNally volunteered to back to Traci's and help her. You didn't call her did you?"
"What? No. No I didn't call her. Why?"
"Traci said Andy has been moping all week but last night when they left my place she was like a changed woman."
Sam smiled into the phone before commenting. "I swear Jer, I haven't seen her or spoken to her."
"Well, in any event, all the stuff is packed and we can move it over today with your truck if that's okay."
"Fine by me."
"Great."
"See you in about an hour."
Sam pulled up to Jerry's around 9am. The front door was open and Sam let himself in.
"Hey Sam!" Leo ran up and hugged the man's leg. Jerry waved at Sam from the kitchen doorway, pointing to the phone in his hand.
"Hey buddy. How ya doing?" Sam said to Leo.
"Great. What are we gonna build today?"
"Well, today I hope you have your muscles ready because we are going to move all your stuff from your grandma's house to here. We are definitely gonna need someone super strong to help us."
"Too bad we don't have Aunt Andy's partner to help us, he's like Superman, and he could probably lift everything all by himself."
Sam grinned at the boy and nodded in agreement.
"So, how is Aunt Andy?"
"She's good. She slept over last night and we had so much fun. Then before I went to bed, her and mom and me watched Toy Story 3. They cried at the end, they always cry at that part." He shook his head. "Girls."
Sam was assuming that was the title of a kid's movie. He couldn't help but smile at the thought of his Andy, always with the brave face, crying over a movie. His Andy.
"Did you show her the great work you did yesterday?"
"Yep. She said that we are really great with tools." Sam smiled just as Jerry walked in the room.
Jerry gave Sam one of his man hugs. "Hey brother, sorry about that. That was an old buddy of mine from 27, Pete McGinn. Haven't talked to him in a while. He has season tickets to the Leafs and some family thing came up and he can't use the tickets. He wants to know if I want them for tonight. You in?"
"Hell yeah, I haven't been to a game in about three years."
"I'll give Oliver a call, and what about a fourth, Frank? Andrews?"
"Can I come?" they heard Leo ask in a soft voice. "I've never seen a hockey game in real life."
The men looked at Leo and then to each other. There was no way to resist that face.
"Sure Leo, but we have to make sure that it's okay with mom." Said Jerry
"Awesome. "
They threw some old blankets in the back of Sam's truck. Sam grabbed his tool box and they headed toward Traci's mom's house. Jerry had called Mrs. Nash to make sure she was ready for them to come while inconspicuously making sure that Andy had left.
As they pulled up to the small house, they noticed Traci's mom at the front door. She came out to greet them. Jerry introduced Sam and they made their way inside. Her mom was a sweet but no nonsense woman who didn't hesitate to threaten the men of the consequences if any dirt ended up on her floors.
Leo's room wasn't huge but it was packed to capacity. There was a twin bed, a tall dresser, a night stand and a small desk. In one corner stood two towers of boxes which Sam assumed were filled with toys and everything a young boy needs. On the desk was a small boom box. Aside from the lamp on the dresser, it was the only thing not packed up in the room. Jerry started bringing the boxes down to Sam's truck. Meanwhile, Sam started taking apart Leo's bed frame. As he unattached each side he leaned them against the wall by the door. Leo had brought a small box down to the truck but now was intently watching Sam as he leaned the last pieces of his bed against the wall.
"Hey Sam, do you want me to put the radio on?"
"That would be great bud thanks."
Leo turned the power on and a cd started to play. Sam thought he recognized the song but Leo had quickly changed it to radio mode and the sound of Bon Jovi now filled the room. Then it hit him.
"Leo could you put that other song on for a second?"
"Sure." He switched the mode over to CD once again.
Sam listened as the song built up louder and the familiar words resonated through the room.
"All by myself, don't want to be, all by myself, anymore." Touché McNally.
He was snapped out of his reverie by Leo tugging at his shirt sleeve.
"Yes?"
"Ugh, can we put some good music on? This is terrible."
He smiled at the boy. "No problem, you put on whatever you want."
Sam was grinning from ear to ear as Jerry walked back in the room.
"Hey brother, you alright?" Jerry was studying him curiously.
"Great Jer, just great…..um, the bed pieces are ready for the truck, I'll bring down the nightstand but we will probably have to make a second trip for the dresser and the desk with all of those boxes."
"Will do."
Sam taped the bed hardware to the back of the headboard as Jerry and Leo made their way out of the room. Sam quickly opened the cd drawer and carefully put the cd in the pocket of his jacket hanging on the door knob. The familiar handwriting on the otherwise generic cd did not go unnoticed.
Silence Allergy Mix
Sam carried the nightstand to his truck and strapped it down. They drove back to Jerry's and repeated the process in reverse. They returned to the Nash's to get the desk and the dresser. Once they had everything secure, they headed in the direction of Jerry's house again. Leo voiced his hunger and several sets of puppy dog eyes later Sam pulled into the drive thru at McDonalds.
After lunch they brought in the two final pieces of furniture. Sam grinned at the look on Leo's face. He seemed very happy in his new room and it was obvious that he adored Jerry. Sam was thrilled for his friend and the fact that he knew exactly what he wanted and was making it happen. Sam also knew exactly what he wanted, thoughts that had consumed his mind for the better part of the past year and a half. Finally by some miracle he got his wish. Ok, maybe not exactly the best timing or the best of circumstances but being with Andy was everything he hoped for and more. He was shocked at how easy it was between them. Not uncomfortable, not awkward in any way, just natural. He had to give kudos to those people who swore that the success of their relationship was because they had established a friendship first. Whatever the case may be, he had reached the Promised Land and there was no going back now. He couldn't wait to try normal.
The move process had taken much less time than the men had anticipated so Sam went to the next project on Jerry's to do list. Leo, so eager to help, followed Sam into the garage to gather his tools. They had left the bundles of wood for the bedroom floor in the den. Sam grabbed an extra tool belt and strapped it around Leo's small waist. The smile on the boy's face could have lit up a city block. They headed up to the bedroom. Jerry had ripped out the old rug weeks before. He had spent whatever free time prepping the floor for when he would have the new floor installed.
Sam and Jerry moved the furniture from the farthest wall which would be the starting point. After a few minutes Jerry was more in the way than anything else, his phone going off intermittently.
"Hey Leo, we're gonna take a ride over to the precinct, they need my help with something. We should only be a little while. Maybe we could even try to see mom when she takes her meal break."
"Um, do you think I could stay and build stuff with Sam?" he looked between the two men.
"Fine by me." Sam replied.
"I'll be an hour tops, you're sure you don't mind?" Jerry asked.
"Not at all, besides he's a better helper than you are."
Jerry rolled his eyes at Sam while Leo grinned from ear to ear.
Sam and Leo would grab the floor planks and lay them down. So far there hadn't been too much cutting. Leo watched as Sam used a mallet to fit the pieces of the floating floor together.
"Hey Sam, can I try that special hammer?"
"Sure buddy. Let me show you. This is a rubber mallet. It bangs the boards into place without damaging the wood." He demonstrated and handed the mallet to Leo to continue. "Hey Leo, how about another superhero story?"
"Sure! I thought of a really great one last night. Aunt Andy was working with a different partner one day. Mom calls him Mr. Cranky Pants but I just call him Mr. Shaw." Sam smiled. "There was a fire at a laundry place and then after the fire was out, Andy had to make sure that no one went near the building but a lady did and Andy ran in after her to get her out and then she heard a big crash and they were trapped!" Leo's eyes were huge as told the story. "They couldn't get out for a really long time. Like a million minutes. That's when her superhero showed up. He marched right in the building to get her out of there. He didn't even need any special equipment, because nothing can hurt him, so he went to find her. I think he used his special senses because he knew exactly where she was trapped. He is really good at that stuff! So, the fireman used a saw to cut the wall, but I am pretty sure her partner could have just busted that wall down but he didn't want the fireman to feel bad."
"Wow, your Aunt was really lucky. She could have been really hurt."
"I asked Aunt Andy if she was scared and she said yes until she heard HIS voice on the radio then she knew they were gonna be fine. Besides, she says he's always there when it matters. I'm not really sure what that means, but she was really smiley when she said it."
Sam thought back to that day at the Laundromat. His heart was in his throat as he heard over his radio that Andy was trapped in the collapsing building. He raced to the scene with Jo Rosati. He saw her grabbing the door handle every time he raced through a red light but he didn't care. He knew it wasn't Oliver's fault that she was in there; it was just easier to yell at him in frustration. She was just a danger magnet. As he had stood out there helpless, Oliver tried to lighten the mood. Jo made a couple of snide remarks about him and Andy and his losing focus. Sam chalked it up to her being a bitch. There was no way his feelings were that transparent. Until Oliver called him out on it. 'Maybe when she gets out of there you should talk to her.' He had said 'About what'. They both knew about what he meant.
That night after shift, he swore he was going to say something. He wasn't sure what, maybe "Is Luke really what you want? I care about you? I'm in love with you?" Even now, just thinking about that night he felt silly. He had paused next to her ever so slightly, willing himself to say something! Unfortunately as he glanced down at her, the flash of that stupid ring reminded him of the insanity of him uttering a word to her. So he kept walking and didn't say anything. Chicken shit. She seemed like she was going to say something to him, but then nothing. He remembered going home that night and drinking,... a lot.
"Hey Sam." Leo was waving his hand in front of Sam's face. "Did I do it right?"
Sam looked over at the floor board nestled tightly against the one before it. "You did great buddy."
Jerry was back an hour or so later. Traci has given the okay for the hockey game but was hoping that Leo would maybe sleep a little at Jerry's so he would be able to stay up for the whole game. He couldn't wait to tell Leo. They had completed a small section of the floor and Jerry loved the way it looked.
"Hey Leo, mom said you could go to the game tonight."
"Yes!"
"Why don't you go lie on the sofa and try to sleep a little bit." Jerry suggested.
"Ugh. A Nap? Naps are for little kids, I am seven and three quarters and that is almost like a grown up."
"Come on Leo, just for a little while. We probably won't get home till almost eleven."
"I think I'm gonna go home and take a nap myself." Sam tried to convince the boy.
"Fine. But only for a little while." He pouted as he made his way to the den.
Sam cleaned up his tools and put the room back to normal as best he could. They called Oliver and arranged a time to leave. It was decided that Oliver would swing by and pick up Sam first and then Jerry and Leo. Jerry walked Sam to the door.
"Hey Sammy, thanks again for all of your help. I really appreciate it."
"No problem. I'm glad to be keeping busy and I kind of miss the carpentry. Besides, that Leo is a trip. And he is such a good kid."
"Yeah he is. Would you believe he already asked me which one of us is catching a puck for him tonight?" he shook his head and they both laughed.
"See you later. He started to walk out and then turned around. "Hey Jer, did you find a shirt of mine lying around?"
"Let me guess, black or grey?"
"Ha Ha. If you come across it just leave it with my tools smartass."
"Will do."
Sam waited all of two minutes to get down the block before he gently took the cd from his pocket and put it in the slot of his truck stereo. This disk started to play what sounded like Christmas bells and the words "He's making a list, and checking it twice." Then it stopped and the same fragment repeated. Sam was confused but continued listening. He pulled away from the curb and was completely baffled by the eclectic group of songs. All by myself had put a smile on his face, the irony not being lost on him. He pulled in his driveway and took the cd with him. He dropped it in the cd player of his stereo and crashed on the sofa. As for the rest of the songs, he recognized most of them but they were so random in genre, taste, content,...everything, he wasn't sure what to make of it all.
Forty minutes later he was awoken by the ringing of the phone.
"Hello."
"Hey little brother, how ya feeling?"
"I'm good. How are things there?"
"We're fine. Michael is working overtime and the girls are getting ready for a sleepover with a couple of their friends. More importantly, what are you up to?"
"Not too much."
"Sam, I know you better than anyone and I know that you don't do 'Not too much'….ever. I figured after a couple of days you would have been banging on our door to visit."
"I will definitely come up to see you guys but Jerry has me doing some work around his house. It has been keeping me busy."
"And Andy?"
He sighed. "No contact for three weeks, per Best."
"Oh Sam, you finally get your girl and now you can't see her."
"Not helping Sarah. I knew I should have made up a different reason for the suspension." He laughed.
"I told you, I know you better than anyone. I don't even need to see your face to know how you feel about this girl. I've never heard you talk about anything let alone anyone so often as you do of her. So stop playing coy and give me the dirt."
Sam told his sister about the paint chips and the cd.
"Aww, that's sweet. I don't really get the title but cute that you two are sending secret messages. Sam explained about Andy's allergy to silence. Then he told her about the stories from Leo."
"Oh for Pete's sake, as if your head could get any bigger."
"It's not like that but in all that time that she was rolling her eyes at me and running around with Mr. Perfect, it's nice to know that she thinks I'm pretty awesome."
"First of all, she was probably rolling her eyes because you're bossy and you think you know everything. Secondly, he obviously wasn't perfect for her and finally, I get the feeling that she always thought you were kind of awesome."
"Thanks Sarah,... I think. Listen, I'm going to the Leafs game with Jerry and Oliver tonight. Say hi to Mike and kiss my girls for me. Tell them I will come up next week."
"Or, you could wait until your suspension is over and bring your McNally with you."
"Bye Sarah! Talk to you later."
"Have fun!
Damn how that woman could irritate him. He did smile though at the thought of them meeting Andy one day. One day.
He ran to take a quick shower.
Oliver's van was in his driveway at 6:00pm sharp. Sam grabbed his wallet, threw on his jacket and locked his front door. Oliver had beeped when he pulled up but was standing on his front stoop when he turned around.
"Hey Shaw."
Oliver pulled him into a man hug. "How are you brother?"
"I'm fine. Would you let go of me? I'm fine." He rolled is eyes.
Oliver let go of him and they walked to the car. Sam laughed and shook his head.
They put on their seatbelts and Oliver looked over at Sam.
"Oliver, seriously, I really am fine. I'm keeping busy and I'm feeling much better."
"No question Sammy. That Brennan did a number on you but I am really more concerned,…. with your heart."
Sam pinched the bridge of his nose. "Oh brother. See, this is why I never talk to you about women. Can we talk about something else?"
"Sammy, that's the thing, you never talked about Andy but we knew. We all knew how you felt about her. You were the only one not admitting it."
"Hard to put myself out there when I wasn't sure how she felt."
"And now?"
"Oh look, we're at Jerry's already, perfect timing." Sam said as he went to open his door.
Oliver locked the door from his side and put his hand on Sam's arm. I've known you for 12 years; you are one of my best friends. I freaked when we couldn't find you and I was scared knowing that psycho had you but later, when we knew that Andy had been seeing you undercover, we were all actually really happy for you guys."
"I appreciate that Shaw, but what is your point?"
Oliver hesitated before speaking as he watched Jerry and Leo walking toward the car.
"She must mean an awful lot to you for you to let her get near you when you were undercover. Three weeks is not forever. When you get the chance, man up and put yourself out there."
"Thanks for the pep talk Dad."
Jerry and Leo jumped in the backseat of the van. Leo was practically jumping out of his skin with excitement about the game.
The arena was about 2/3 full when they found their seats in the first row of the second section. Jerry moved all the way in followed by Leo, then Sam and Oliver on the end. The Maple Leafs were hosting the New York Islanders. Both teams were warming up at separate ends. Leo was immediately in his glory as the players raced around the ice. He chatted excitedly to no one in particular as the 1st period began.
"Why did the ref call a penalty?"
"He called the Islanders for icing?" Said Jerry
"Icing?" Leo looked at him as if he had two heads.
"The puck can't start out at this end and go past the line at the other end of the rink. That is icing." Sam tried to explain it in the simplest of terms.
As the 1st period came to a close in a 1-1 tie, Leo voiced his hunger.
"Jerry, I am starving. Can we get something to eat?"
"Sure buddy what do you want?"
"How about a ginormous hot dog and a Sprite?"
"You got it."
"Sam, do you want anything?"
"I'll have the same as Leo but a beer would be great."
Oliver interjected, "I'll come with you, gotta use the little boy's room."
The two men walked away as the nets were being removed so that they could clean the ice. Leo watched in awe as a strange looking vehicle drove onto the ice through open panels on the opposite side of the rink.
"Sam, check that out."
Sam smiled, "That is a Zamboni. It cleans the ice and makes it all smooth again before they start each period."
"Can we get closer?"
"Sure."
Sam reached out and Leo grabbed his hand and they walked down closer to the ice. Leo watched the vehicle make its way around the rink, slowly restoring that glassy sheen. Leo seemed to pay close attention every time the driver made his way close to where they stood. Finally the driver left through where he had come. The door panel was put back in place and the players started to make their way back to the ice.
Once back at their seats, Leo looked around before turning to Sam.
"Do you think that's him?" he whispered.
"Who?"
"The driver?"
"The Zamboni driver?"
He whispered, "Do you think that's Ernie?" Sam should have seen this coming but indulged himself.
"Who's Ernie?"
"Aunt Andy's "friend"? One time he pretended to be Ernie the Zamboni driver."
"You see, one time Mom and Aunt Andy had to be hunters, but I think they were on a treasure hunt for money. They had to work with this guy that mom calls Mr. Boyd. When Aunt Andy talks about him she gets her angry face on and calls him Mr. Idiot and some other stuff and then mom yells at her because she shouldn't really use that language in front of me."
Sam couldn't help but smile, he knew what a fan of Boyd's Andy was to begin with, he could only imagine after this last debacle.
"So Aunt Andy was telling her partner that when she was hunting she called herself Candace and she was so boring and embarrassed but like always he made her laugh and told her that one time he was Ernie the Zamboni driver. She thought that was really funny. I think it would be really funny if THAT was him but…..I don't think he is."
"No? Why not?"
"That guy is old and I heard her and mom talking one day about her good looking partner. I think that guy is too old to be good looking. Know what I mean?"
"Oh sure. So you positive that isn't him?"
"Yeah, I'm sure but I am definitely gonna find out who her partner is!"
"No doubt in my mind Leo, no doubt."
Leo was snoring by the time Oliver dropped Sam off at his house. He tossed his jacket on the kitchen stool and hit the flashing light on his answering machine. He was hoping for the best but anticipating disappointment. Sarah's voice echoed from the speaker. The time stamp from just after they had spoken earlier in the day.
"Hey Sam, you must be in the shower already. I was just thinking of you and your sweetie pie." He rolled his eyes at the ceiling for the umpteenth time that day. "It's an acronym…. for your name. Silence Allergy Mix. SAM. Don't know why I thought about that. Ok, gotta make popcorn. Talk to you soon." Click
Sam shook his head and deleted the message. He considered flipping on the TV but instead started stripping off his shirt on the way to his bedroom. He changed into a pair of sweats, brushed his teeth and crashed on the bed. Silence Allergy Mix, funny McNally. He lay there with a goofy grin on his face. Then it hit him. "He's making a list and checking it twice." He sprung out of bed and ran to the kitchen. A note pad and pen in hand, he started the cd from the beginning.
He skipped past the Santa reference to the first full song, Bryan Adams, Here I am. All by myself, by Eric Carmen was next. Beyond that there were quite a few that he had no idea about. It was time to take out his lap top. He hardly ever used the thing. Sarah and Mike had given it to him for Christmas one year. For the most part he used it to get directions and to check his email. Tonight he had a feeling it would be his best friend. He wrote down the title and artist of each song if he knew it, otherwise he would jot down some of the lyrics to help identify the song. He was gonna kill McNally, she knew he hated puzzles.
Three hours, a pot of coffee and multiple curses later he sat down to look at the final list. Bryan Adams, Eric Carmen, Toby Keith, Colby Caillat, Uncle Kracker, Janet Jackson, Bon Jovi, Van Morrison to name a few, others he had never even heard of. Such a mish mash of songs and types of music but a message that made his heart skip a beat. He totally sounded like a girl but he seriously felt it skip a beat. And what the hell was that, butterflies? He read the song list out loud this time.
Here I Am
All By Myself
Thinking About You All Of The Time
Still
I Never Told You
What I Really Want To Say
I Miss You
Truly
You Make Me Smile
Above All
I Can't Wait To See You
When Lonely Comes Around
I Think
Good Life
Just You And I
Together Again
Always
Brown Eyed Girl
Sleep was starting to take over his body. He laid his head on the back of the sofa and stared at the ceiling.
Wow. There go those damn butterflies again.
A/N: My thanks to DCJ for the name for the cd and for giving me guidance as I made a mountain out of my molehill. Please let me know what you think. I would love to post another chapter before the holidays but who are we kidding this is me. So wishing you all a Merry Christmas, or Happy Holiday wherever you may be.
Lisa :)
