Thank you all again for the amazing reviews/alerts etc. I'm so glad you're enjoying the story!
Thank you again to Sairs J for beta reading.
I do not own Rookie Blue
Andy couldn't help but glance around rapidly when she walked into the precinct early in the morning. Today was the day she was finally going to see Sam again, she told herself. Other officers from the night shift were still buzzing around; some sitting at their desks, some making coffee and some heading out the door. It really was the same old place, she realized, that thought helping to calm her nerves about returning to work.
"Andy!" Someone called out from behind her.
"Chris!" Andy said with a smile. "What are you doing here so early? How are you? I never thought I'd say this but I seriously missed that goofy smile of yours."
"I never thought I'd say this but I actually missed you making fun of me… I swapped a shift last night so that I could have a day off next week," Chris explained, noticing that Andy's eyes were wandering around the room. He cleared his throat and lowered his voice so that only Andy could hear him. "Swarek's not here yet. Not as far as I know anyway."
Andy blushed, feeling guilty for getting caught ignoring him after she hadasked the questions. She reached out to touch his arm. "Oh, Chris, I'm sorry. I really do want to know how you've been. I've just had so much on my mind and I haven't slept in…forever. I'm just… I really am sorry."
"It's okay! It's cool," Chris reassured her with a smile. "I know it's been a long wait. We'll catch up soon alright?"
"Of course," She replied sympathetically.
She continued her walk to the locker room to get changed into her uniform. She put a weak smile on her face and said a quick hello to the few women from the previous shift getting ready to leave for the day. She took her time getting dressed; knowing her suspension meeting with Frank wasn't for a least another thirty minutes. She was beginning to get anxious. She had waited three long weeks to see Sam but now, she had a pool of nervous tension swimming in her stomach. She knew deep down that it didn't matter how she looked - Sam could be dressed in a grungy t-shirt and track pants and she would still think he looked amazing – but she still wanted to look good for him. She couldn't help but wonder if he missed her as much as she missed him. What if his life just went back to how it used to be and he realized he didn't need her, she worried.
"Ugh, shut up!" She whispered to herself. "Everything's gonna be fine, Andy, calm yourself."
She took a few deep breaths, closed her locker and walked out the door, heading towards the coffee machine for her third coffee of the morning. After her dreadful night's sleep, the only thing keeping her awake was a constant caffeine fix.
Almost immediately, a voice called out from behind her, "McNally. Took you long enough…"
Andy knew that voice; she instantly smiled and spun around to face him. Sam. She almost giggled when she saw him standing there oh-so-casually, leaned against the wall with his arms crossed. He smiled and Andy was sure he could tell her knees were giving out a tiny bit. He looked good, she thought. He still had a brace on his wrist and his scars were very fresh, but he looked like himself again. She crossed her arms to hold herself back from reaching out to touch him. When she brought her eyes up to meet his after giving him a full body glance, it took all of her strength to not throw her arms around his neck and take him in.
Some officers took a second glance as they walked by, whispering quietly and suggestively to each other as they continued to their desks. Andy subtlety glared at them and rolled her eyes. When she looked back over to Sam, his smile had turned into a small frown and Andy could tell he was quickly getting himself heated about the situation.
"I've been feeling a little anxious about today," she admitted, as an attempt to distract him. When he looked up to catch her glance, she suddenly felt vulnerable and looked down at her feet before continuing. "I'm finally seeing my partner today after not seeing him for a while. We got into some trouble three weeks ago and I wasn't sure how he'd feel about seeing me today."
Frankly, Sam had hardly slept the night before; his mind constantly wandered back to her. When he arrived at work early, he hadn't expected to see Andy there. His meeting wasn't until 9:00, but after rushing to get ready for work, he had no reason to stand around at home. He had hoped he could catch up with Oliver before talking to Frank. Oliver had a way of talking Sam down when he was worked up, and Sam needed that on a morning like this. He had no idea how hard Frank would come down on him, all he could do was hope for the best.
Truthfully, he thought she would have come running through the doors at 8:28am and bolt to Frank's office for her meeting. It wasn't until he ran into Chris that he was informed that Andy had arrived early. He tried to keep his poker face intact– acting stoic and unaffected as he habitually would when it came to anything to do with Andy – but he knew Chris could see right through him. Normally he would have given Chris a get-the-hell-out-of-my-face stare but today, it was all about Andy, the look he gave Chris and showed his appreciation to him for letting him know that she was there.
As it was nearly time for the shifts to change, the women's locker room was hectic. He waited at least twenty minutes outside the door for Andy, tapping his foot and opening and closing his cell phone. He nodded at other officers as they walked out of the locker room; most of them giving him a sideways glance. Looking down at his watch for the fiftieth time, he began feeling annoyed. Seriously, Andy, seriously? Over twenty-flipping-minutes to put your damn uniform on? Sam asked himself.
His annoyance didn't last much longer. When Andy walked out of the locker room, he knew it was her instantly. Their suspension wasn't officially finished until they each had their final meeting with Frank. Sam knew he wasn't exactly behaving himself while he waited for her, but waiting three weeks was long enough and he just really needed to see her.
When she had said she was anxious about seeing him, his heart warmed and he took a deep breath.
"Three weeks?" Sam asked, letting out his breath in a sigh. "Must've been hard. Ironically, I've been kept apart from my partner for the past three weeks too. Huh. Strange."
Andy's lips curved into a small smile. Sam took a step closer to her, just close enough to enter her personal space before continuing…
"Did you miss him?"
Sam could tell he was getting to her and couldn't help but let out a chuckle. He found her discomfort adorable.
Andy could tell he was pretty proud of himself in that moment. She cleared her throat and licked her lips after noticing they were suddenly dry. She smirked and raised her eyebrow.
"Not really. I mean, he drives me nuts most days," she explained, trying to hold back a laugh. "He's pretty annoying; usually so over-eager and always getting himself into trouble. Then, of course, I worry like hell and constantly have to save his ass from serial murderers and whatnot. I swear to you, the guy is gonna give me an ulcer…you know what I mean?"
Sam opened his mouth and then closed it before he faintly shook his head in disbelief. He opened his mouth again to speak before he was interrupted.
"Andy McNally! Welcome back. Will you be joining me in my office?" Frank asked, looking back and forth from Sam to Andy. Sam had already taken a step back from Andy, hoping Frank didn't get the wrong idea.
"Uh, yes, yes, of course, sir," Andy stuttered, turning on her heel to follow him as he walked towards his office. She looked back at Sam and mouthed a quick 'sorry'. He sent her a mischievous smile; he knew they'd be finishing that conversation later.
After each of their discussions with Frank, Sam and Andy learned that their suspensions were over, but they remained on probation for six weeks. Frank advised them that any slip-ups could put them back on suspension and possibly end their careers altogether. He didn't have to spell it for them – this included any kind of 'funny business' at the precinct, interview rooms, in the squad car, etc. Most importantly, Frank seemed to have forgiven them, mostly, and was happy to have them both returning to work.
Not surprisingly, they were not going to see each other much on their first day back to work. Sam was not fully healed from his injuries and wasn't expected to be for at least another month and he couldn't be on patrol until he was back to feeling one hundred percent.
Andy glanced over at Sam across the parade room and sighed. She felt extremely guilty about his current state. She knew how much he hated staying back from the action to do paperwork but also knew there was nothing she could do to fix it. The universe was just not working in their favor, she decided, not today.
They were dismissed from parade shortly after. Andy felt a hand on her hip as she slowly walked out of the parade room. She glanced behind her and realized it was Sam. He could see the guilt in her eyes when she had looked back at him during parade, and he really wanted her to know there was nothing to feel guilty about. He gave her a gentle squeeze and sent her a hopeful smile before he headed out the door and towards Jerry's office.
"Glad to have you back, McNally. Ready to go?" Noelle asked.
Andy broke eye contact with Sam and turned to face Noelle before speaking unconvincingly, "Yeah, glad to be back."
"He's not going anywhere, Andy," Noelle told her as they walked out of the station to the parking lot. She could see the emptiness in Andy's eyes. "You know what? I've had to watch Sam look at you like that for the past two years. Honestly, it's getting a little depressing."
Andy couldn't help but smile and roll her eyes before answering sarcastically, "Thanks, Noelle."
Patrolling was impossibly busy throughout the entire shift. It seemed that every time they had even a five minute break, another call would come through. Andy was grateful for the distractions, but the day couldn't move fast enough. She got along fine with Noelle and was thrilled that she didn't bring up the suspension – except to ask what Andy had done to fill her time.
It was almost dark by the time they were able to return to the station. Andy's excitement to be back was instantly shattered when she found out Sam was helping Jerry with a big case. She knew what that meant – he could take hours before he was free to leave. Once again, she thought, the universe was against them today. Andy sighed for what felt like the hundredth time that day and headed to the locker room to shower.
Sam looked down at his watch. He knew his shift had been finished half an hour earlier but didn't have the heart to tell Jerry he wanted to leave. He had been helping Jerry interview witnesses for the past six hours straight and it was started to take a toll on him. He knew Andy would have gotten back to the station by then and had possibly already went home… the home he was free to visit anytime. His mind started wandering into dangerous territory while he read over the witness' statements for the umpteenth time.
"Sammy…Sam!" A finger snapped in front of his face.
Sam shook his head and looked up, snapping out of his daze. "Huh? Yeah buddy?"
"You're daydreaming Sammy." Jerry told him, giving him a suggestive glance. "It's quarter to seven, you should get outta here. We'll finish this up tomorrow. Well, that is if you get any sleep tonight."
Sam looked up at Jerry, attempting to look unimpressed. He was too tired to come up with a good comeback. Sam smirked and pushed his chair out to stand up.
"Goodnight Jerry," Sam muttered as he closed the door and headed for the locker room. As much as he wanted to spend a half an hour taking a searing hot shower, he knew he didn't have much time to try to catch Andy before she left, if she hadn't already. He took a hurried, two-minute shower and quickly got dressed. As he headed for the women's locker room, he saw Traci walk out and head swiftly in his direction.
"Nash! Is McNally in there?" He called out.
"Nice to see you too, Swarek," Traci replied with a giggle. "But no, sorry, you just missed her. She left about fifteen minutes ago. She said she had somewhere to be, and she did talk about her manicure appointment coming up so that could be it. You look exhausted, by the way."
"Yeah well, first day back at work will do that to ya. Thanks, Traci," Sam mumbled as he gave her a nod as a thank you. He headed for the parking lot. He tried to call Andy's cell phone but only got her voicemail. He sighed and rested his head against the window before starting up his truck. Moments later, he pulled out of the parking lot and maneuvered through the snowy roads to head home.
