A/N: I wasn't going to update until sometime tomorrow, but I got a really great PM from a reader telling me that the chapter helped them feel for one of the characters a way they hadn't been able to before, and it got me very motivated.
Had someone ask why the fic was named "Try", and I'm going to admit, however cheesy, I felt like the song "Try", by Pink, was very relatable to this couple. Give it a listen.
Not that it's ever been said that can speak French, but why the hell not! My fic, my rules! She's moving to Montreal to be a cop, I'm sure there's some kind of bilingual requirement anyhow.
When Andy finally made her way into the Penny she was talking into her phone, with a soft smile on her face. It was the first he'd had the honour of witnessing in quite some time. She passed behind him while he sat at the bar, and he could tell immediately that she was speaking French.
" Je ne suis pas à Montréal en ce moment, je suis en fait déjà à Toronto. J'adorerais, mais je n'ai jamais fait ça auparavant. Bon, eh bien je vous appellerai quand je suis arrivé à une décision.."
He tried to translate in his head what he could, and all he got was 'I'm not in Montreal, I'm already in Toronto. I'd love to, I'll call you.' Before he could go back and work it out so it made sense, Oliver, who was strategically sitting next to Sam, grabbed her arm just as she was hanging up.
"There's our girl!" He said, pulling her in for a hug. Andy's smile grew when he heard his voice, and she wrapped her arms around him in a great big hug. Sam turned in his stool to watch the interaction. "Well Detective, welcome home! You've basically been holed up in that office since you got here! How's life?"
She shrugged her shoulders, not actually expecting Oliver to want a whole run down of her new life, but when he continued to sit there staring at her she sighed getting ready to be put on trial.
"Life's been... interesting as of late." She says, knowing now she's got his attention and he won't run off leaving her with Sam.
"Oh, how so?"
"Well I just got off the phone with a girlfriend of mine back in Montreal whose friend is a professor from U of T, and he was wondering if be a guest lecturer in his criminology class because they just did a case study on the Ray Nixon." She bragged, sharing the great news. But as she'd told the professor, she'd never done anything like it before, and couldn't give him a final answer.
"Wow." Oliver said, speechless. He couldn't believe the go-getter Andy had become. She used to have this naivety to her, and an easy blush, but her reputation had become that she was ruthless in an interrogation. And even though she didn't really before, she never scared easy. "You sure you want to do something like that? I mean, it's an honour, no doubt. But having to relive that investigation?"
Andy tensed up the minute Oliver put it like that, and she felt her throat constrict at the mere thought of what happened the evening when she went looking for evidence... alone. She shuddered before regaining her composure.
"I guess we'll find out, I think I want to do it. It's been a long time since I've been in a lecture hall." She said with a sad smile. Her phone began vibrating, in her palm, and she checked the screen quickly to see if it was worth interrupting.
Apparently it was, as she looked down, and Sam could make out the name Tony. Now it was to feel like his throat was being held tight. He knew that it had been years, and there was no way she would be... "available" that whole time, hell, he hadn't.
No, he certainly had not. Marlo Cruz had come walking back into his life, like a cruel reminder that he just didn't do relationships. But then she kept dropping hints, and then asking him to have a drink, and he realized he had no reason to say no. He gave her time, and she never came home. It was time to put it all behind him. And he'd done a pretty good job at first. He trained himself to be intimate with Marlo and not think of Andy anymore. Took practice, but eventually he stopped wishing that it was her.
Or at least that's what he fooled himself into thinking. Because for every time that Marlo would ask him to stay, he just kept replaying that cold February night at the Alpine Inn, and he ran for it. She'd claim she was tired of not being a priority in his life, and storm out in a fury. But then there would be a lonely night, or a wanting for somebody, anybody, and they'd find themselves back where they started.
And even though he had come to terms with her being gone, and moving on with her life. It killed him to see some guys name come up, and for him to be important enough that she take it while talking to him.
"I'll be right back." She said, excusing herself.
Sam followed her out with his eyes, and turned back to the bar, letting his forehead fall against it, hoping he could bang the frustration of jealousy out of his head.
"Don't break the bar buddy, he's a good friend." Oliver chuckled patting Sam on the back.
As Andy squeezed out the back door, Marlo took her old place right behind Sam and placed her hands on his shoulders.
"How you doing Cruz?" Oliver said, offering her a tight smile. In full disclosure, Oliver couldn't feel totally blameless pushing Sam and Andy together while Marlo was in the picture. He had nothing against her, but she just wasn't getting anywhere with him.
"Good, but honestly Oli, I can't sit here and celebrate your old age much longer, or else I'll start to feel mine. Sammy, ride home?" She said, resting her chin where her hands used to be. He nodded silently, not trusting his voice anymore. "Okay, come get me when you wanna head out."
Sam sat there and turned the glass in his fingers. And Oliver decided it was time to be a good birthday boy and socialize. Not able to take another minute, he lifted himself off his stool, and went to the door.
He could hear her before he saw her and stopped for a brief moment before continuing outside.
"I don't know Tony. It could be a few more weeks... well then I might not be able to make, and Isabelle will have to deal. What? No! No it's not because of him. That's ridiculous, I'm here because I was sent here Tony." Andy said into her phone. It was clear that didn't see him, so he let the door fall shut loudly behind him. The minute her eyes met his she went back to speaking French. "Français maintenant chérie. Ouais. Je sais. Okay. Vous donnez moi le choix? C'est simple. C'est lui. Good-bye Tony."
The words 'c'est lui' hit Sam like a ton of bricks. It could mean anything, but from what he'd picked up on the conversation, and his rusty translation, using what he learned in high school French, she was talking about him.
When she hung up, she pocketed the phone, and leaned back against the Penny's cold brick wall.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt." Sam mumbled, kicking a rock with his shoe. Andy nodded and let out a deep breath.
"S'fine." She said, straightening her blouse and standing up straight.
"Look, I know you're here for this case, and nothing else, but I just thought... I thought you should hear it from me, that I'm seeing somebody. Kind of. It's not that serious..." He trailed off, realizing he'd said too much, and not sure why he said anything at all. Why should she care?
"I appreciate it, but I knew that." She said, trying her best to keep from looking him in the eye. "It's not like I expected to come home and things wouldn't have changed, but... I mean, Luke's married. The man's been engaged three times now, and finally gets someone down to the altar." Andy tried to laugh at herself, but Sam knew that she was frustrated that she was missing too much. "And Leo, he's so big now, and every time I see him he's so much smarter."
Andy was letting her sadness slip through her walls, and before she knew it she was staring at her feet so she wouldn't lose it. 'This isn't who you are anymore Andy. No more crying in parking lots.'
"Yeah, but some things stay the same. Like Oliver, still treating rookies like his kids. Still empties the pot and never makes a new one." Sam laughed, using his only coping mechanism to make her feel better.
He got a giggle out of her with that one, and it was the most precious sound. Like a symphony. And he knew that tonight he wouldn't be walking Marlo to her door tonight, because she was not the women who would surely invade his dreams tonight.
"I guess."
"So what about you? What's going for you in Montreal?" He said, getting ready for his own personal hell.
"Oh, just a big mutt named Taser." She laughed, waiting to see what Sam would make of that sentence. And while he was 90 percent sure she was talking about a dog, he couldn't help a vision of a big biker draw itself up in his head. "German Sheppard from the k-nine unit. His sense of smell got pretty messed up in a raid a few years ago, and he needed a home. I'm pretty good with animals, so I just thought, why not? It gets lonely in a new city."
"Oh common McNally, we both know finding company's never been hard for you, you're beautiful." He said it in good humor, but as soon as he realized what he said, he recoiled, and decided he should get back inside. "Anyways, uh, I'm going to go buy Oli a drink, you want one?"
Sam admitted that the offer wasn't such a great idea, considering the last time he asked her to join him for a drink. He kicked himself internally... again.
"I'm actually just going to stay a few more minutes and then I've got some more files to go over, but maybe I'll take a rain check." She said, smiling. He wondered if maybe she'd only told him that three years ago... 'Nope, don't go there Sam. She hadn't actually made that choice yet.'
He held the door open for her, and gave her some space in front of him, before going back into the chaos of the Penny.
Noelle had been showing Andy pictures of Maya, and they'd been lost in a discussion with Traci about the terrible twos, when Andy noticed Marlo approaching them.
"Noelle, I just thought I'd let you know I'm headed off, but it was great seeing you out tonight. Seriously I'll pay for the sitter if it means seeing you more." Marlo laughed, wrapping Noelle in a big hug. She moved on to shaking hands with Traci, and Andy wasn't quite sure what to do. Obviously Marlo knew who she was, she addressed the whole goddamn division by now. "And Detective, sorry I haven't properly introduced myself, I'm Marlo."
Andy felt pain the moment she shook her hand, because Marlo was painfully nice. Marlo must also know about her history with Sam, but she didn't act like most women would and claim her territory. She swallowed her pride and insecurities, and was warm, and welcoming.
"Please, call me Andy. It's nice to meet you." Andy smiled genuinely back at the older woman, and felt a tightening in her chest again.
"Anyways, I'd better go drag Sam away from Frank before they get talking about placing bets at the next retrain." Marlo laughed it off, as she made her way over to Sam, and it hit Andy like a ton of bricks. Noelle and Traci watched her face fall and then immediately sparked up the conversation to get her mind away from it all.
It was about three AM when the shrill ring of her cell phone pulled Andy out of her dreamless sleep. Before she reached her hand out to get it she made sure to give thanks that Taser wasn't there because he'd be howling for an hour if he had.
She rubbed her eyes hard to read to bright screen that she held over her face. Nick Collins flashed across it.
"What?" She said groaning.
"Andy, it just hit me. Who did Dakota do business with when he was getting heroin shipped in from out of town?"
"What? Nick, can't we talk about this tomorrow?" Andy moaned, not even caring if it was the biggest break, she was tired, nothing was more important than that.
"Andy, common. He had Hastings who did out of town dealings with coke, Mercer was pot, but who was covering the heroin end of the deal?" Nick sounded excited, but he wanted her to put the pieces together on her own.
Andy sat up in her bed, forcing herself to focus on what Nick was saying.
"I don't know Nick, he never said, I don't think."
"You're exactly right. He didn't, because Hastings and Mercer don't matter. If this is all a warning, and even if he did set this up from inside, he must've suspected us before the bust. Dakota didn't trust us, so why he give away a big name partner? A big partner on the heroin scene?"
Andy was impressed that he managed to weave that thread when she had really put no stock in it.
"Wait, you don't think it's Anton Hill do you?" She whispered, almost like she was scared he was listening.
"I do, why?"
"Because I do too."
A/N: Sorry its slightly shorter than I planned on it being. And to clarify, when Andy saw Sam and Marlo when she and Luke were leaving, they were just talking, and Sam didn't know Andy had seen. Hope this chapter helped clear up some of Sam's P.O.V.