Sam opened the door to his loft and walked up the stairs. He went straight to the fridge to grab himself a beer and then he collapsed down onto the couch.

It had been a week since he had seen Andy; a long and extremely tiring week. Had she had enough time to look into it? Would she have any answers? Did he even give a shit? Yes...and no. He really just wanted to see her again.

She didn't have his number; he didn't give it to her. He simply promised to call her; surely it had been long enough. And even if he was reluctant to drag her back into this, he probably wouldn't be able to hold Brennan off much longer anyway.

It started first thing, the morning after he had taken Andy home with him. Brennan had once again called Sam up to his office. Sam could tell that everyone else in the warehouse was shocked; they figured Sam would have been fired by now if he was being called out that many times. But every day he just kept showing up for work; so what could it be and why him?

Sam just shrugged it off. Let them think what they want.

When he sat down in Brennan's office, the Boss looked him up and down. "You look like shit."

Sam tried to contain the smirk that automatically accompanied his answer. "Didn't get much sleep." He wasn't trying to be cocky and he didn't like the implication it made about Andy, but he was just genuinely happy about it and it was hard to hold back.

Brennan shook his head and simply tossed a set of papers in front of him and motioned for him to look at them. Sam recognized them immediately but feigned ignorance. "What is it?"

"Accident Report."

Sam looked at it once again. He had seen it once before, but this time he was looking at it with new eyes. When he first saw the report, he thought it was just a shitty job. But in the new context, it made sense that it could have been a cover up. Sam wondered why he hadn't seen it in the first place but then he chocked it up to being too busy trying to find time and space.

Still there were no reconstruction reports and the witness statements were basically nonexistent. There was definitely something to Brennan's claim, but yet there was a mechanic's report. Not hard to doctor though Sam supposed, if you knew the right people.

"Doesn't look like much," Sam noted.

"No, and like your friend said; there should have been more. I don't know a whole lot about it, but I would think that with two deaths…" Brennan's voice trailed off sorrowfully and Sam waited silently for him to continue.

"Did you, uh, talk about it last night?"

"We did," Sam answered honestly.

"Did she say she would do it or…"

"She said she would start by making some phone calls to see what she could dig up."

Brennan gave a small smile. At least it was a start.

"I'm pretty sure if she finds anything, she'll go for it."

Brennan nodded. "That's good," he said and the relief was evident in his voice.

Once again, Sam was finding it difficult not to sympathize with the man who had lost so much.

"Keep me posted," Brennan ordered, and with that Sam knew he was dismissed.

He had returned to work and Brennan left him alone for the rest of the day, but he couldn't say the same for his co-workers. He had eyes on him all day and it started to annoy him. He had snapped at more than one person that day. Between Brennan's obvious favor for him and his own irritability, he was probably not making any friends. But since he couldn't tell them what was going on, there was really nothing else he could do except tolerate it.

Sam went home that night exhausted; he'd had only a few hours sleep the night before and it was really catching up with him. He planned to reheat some take-out and then sleep till what he hoped was at least noon. Except that night, Boyd had also returned to his regular routine of calling Sam. Made sense, Sam knew he was done with the scavenger hunt.

"Hey, how'd it go today? Any progress?"

"I'm trying to work a new angle right now," Sam baited.

"You going the direct route?"

"Not exactly."

"What do you mean? I thought you were going to step it up, get in his face a little more; put yourself on his radar."

"Yeah, well, all that got me was a warning to clean up or get out."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"What's the new angle then?"

That was his chance. "Well, you know what happened to his family."

Sam could almost hear Boyd swallowing over the phone before he answered. "Yeah."

"You, okay?" Sam asked. "Something wrong?"

"Uh, no, it's all good," Boyd stuttered out. "I just had something going on last night so I guess I'm still a little preoccupied."

Sam's gut was screaming; Boyd knew something. "Yeah, speaking of last night, is that why you didn't call?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Another UC?"

"Something like that…" Boyd responded evasively. "Just a one-nighter though, nothing too big."

"Hmmm. It wasn't around here was it?" Sam fished.

Boyd hesitated and coughed a little. "How stupid do you think I am?"

Sam was beginning to wonder; it was either that or devious as hell and Sam was leaning towards the latter. He decided to wait him out.

And it didn't take long for Boyd to crack, obviously uncomfortable with the silence. "Why do you ask?"

"Nothing really," Sam responded as casually as possible. "Just thought I saw someone I know, but it didn't make any sense so…"

"Did you try and talk to them?"

Boyd almost sounded excited at the prospect. What the hell? "No, I figured it couldn't be who I thought it was and even so, I didn't want her to blow my cover, so I just let it go."

"Hmmm."

Not much of a response, but waiting him out had worked before so Sam stayed silent.

"So the new angle?"

Sam grinned to himself. "Yeah, I thought I'd work the accident angle."

"What do you mean?" The anxiety was back in Boyd's voice.

"I'm just saying he got out of the life when he started his family. Now that they're gone, there really isn't any motivation for him to stay clean. I figure if I point that out…"

"That could work I guess," Boyd conceded but he didn't sound convinced.

Sam decided he'd heard enough; he didn't want to alert Boyd any more than he already had, and there was no way he was telling him anything else at this point. "Listen, I'm pretty tired so…"

"Late night for you Sammy?" Boyd leered. "Boys told me you shut off the cameras. You bring something home with you last night?"

Sam grimaced at how crude Boyd could be. "Just trying to work out the details, needed to think in peace," Sam fudged.

"Too bad." Boyd replied. "Talk to you tomorrow?"

"Know what? Give me a few days," Sam suggested. "There's really no sense calling every night, besides I'm off for the weekend so... if I get anything, I'll let you know."

"You sure, Sammy?"

"Yep."

And with that Sam had simply hung up.

The next few days had passed slowly after that. Sam spent most of his time worrying and wondering how Andy was doing. He wanted to call her, every night in fact, but he couldn't rush her, didn't want to put pressure on her.

He was starting to feel the pressure from Brennan though. He had left Sam alone for the first few days too but as time passed, Sam felt his eyes on him more and more often. Finally, at the end of the day today, Brennan approached Sam in the parking lot. It was Friday and Sam wouldn't be seeing him for a couple of days.

"Any news?" Brennan wondered.

"I, uh, no. I'm thinking I'll give her a call tonight though, just to see how it's going," Sam offered.

"She hasn't called you?"

"She didn't ask for my number so…"

Brennan pondered that for a second, wondered if that was a bad sign.

"We were busy… uh, catching up." Again, Sam was having trouble containing his smile.

Brennan cleared his throat; he really hoped she wasn't just a conquest for JD. The girl was nice and deserved better. "But you can get hold of her?" He asked, choosing to avoid the innuendo.

"Yeah, I uh got the number off her phone when…" Sam knew what he was implying but he couldn't really tell Brennan that he'd memorized her number almost two years ago.

"Careful," Brennan warned. "She's looking for someone on the up and up, remember?"

"Don't worry," Sam assured him. "I got it."

Brennan walked away, hoping JD was going to do this right… for both of them.

Sam had now been sitting on the couch phone in hand for over an hour. Two empty beer bottles sat on the coffee table next to the remnants of a supper he had thrown together. A week had to have been long enough; it was definitely long enough for him. He just…

The phone was ringing. Then he could hear the sounds of laughter and music in the background.

"Hey."

She couldn't hear him. He probably should have waited and called her in the morning; there was no way she was going to be able to talk to him now.

"It's…" Shit! The cameras are still on. "JD. I…"

He didn't even get the rest of his sentence out before he heard her excited voice, "I'm leaving right now."

Sam had been pacing for half an hour before he ran down to shut off the cameras. He didn't want Boyd's team catching anything and he knew they'd probably draw their own conclusions from the phone call, but he didn't care.

It wasn't long after that when he heard a knock at his door. He jumped down the stairs not wanting her to wait out there too long and it had nothing to do with the cold. He pulled her in as soon as the door was open and he could see the rosy glow on her cheeks. She was rubbing her hands together.

"Hey," she smiled.

"Hey," Sam dimpled back. "I didn't expect you to come right over, I…" He wanted her too for sure, but he didn't want her to think that he just expected her to drop everything and rush over there.

"Oh," Andy responded, a bit taken aback. "I just… it's okay; isn't it?"

Sam pulled one of her mittens off and took her hand to lead her up the stairs. He looked at her softly. "Of course it's okay." He could tell he had worried her with his greeting. "Andy, it's fine. I'm glad you're here; I just didn't want you to think you had to jump as soon as I called."

"No, I didn't think that. I just…" Andy was looking down at their hands.

"I wanted to see you too," Sam affirmed.

Andy's head snapped up and she grinned. Sam tugged on her arm and she followed him up the stairs. She shivered when he helped her off with her jacket.

"Coffee? Beer?"

"Do you have any hot chocolate?" She asked hopefully.

Sam had no idea what they had stocked the place with originally; he knew he hadn't bought any. He went to the cupboard, looked back and smiled as he saw Andy circling the wood stove.

"Switch is on the wall by the bed," Sam instructed.

He saw her smirk again and practically skip to the wall. When he didn't hear the stove start up, he turned around to make sure she found what she needed. He watched as she was paused looking at the bed and he could see the shy smile on her face.

He grinned to himself as he filled the kettle and plugged it in. He had good memories too. "You find it?" He prompted.

"Huh? Oh yeah. I got it." She mumbled flipping the switch.

"So you were at the Penny? You off tomorrow or…"

Andy nodded in response to his first question and then filled in the blank. "I was supposed to be on early, but I took the day off to finalize my mortgage."

"Hmmm." Sam frowned at the reminder that life was going on without him.

While the water heated up, he continued to watch Andy as she wandered up to the fireplace, rubbing her hands over it, lifting her feet up to it. He just… it was nice to have her there.

She was quiet though and surprisingly he missed her chatter.

"So…"

Andy looked up at him.

Her wide-eyed gaze caught him off guard. "I don't have marshmallows," he blurted, not really knowing what else to say.

She grinned at him. "That's okay."

He picked up the cup and handed it to her, letting his fingers graze against hers before he let go and she shivered again.

"Still cold?"

"Just a little."

He wanted to just pull her into his arms and warm them both up, but he knew that if he did that, they probably wouldn't discuss much of anything. She did have the day off though. Sam shook his head; she couldn't stay. He knew better than that.

"You, uh, want to sit down?" He said gesturing towards the couch.

"Can we sit over here?" She asked, looking pointedly at the stove.

"Sure," Sam agreed easily.

He looked around; he didn't really want to pull the chairs over. Ah-ha. He flipped the comforter off the end of the bed and laid it on the floor for a little cushioning. He then grabbed the pillows and leaned them back on the edge of the mattresses sitting down with his back against one of them and his legs stretched out towards the stove. He reached his hand out to Andy. "Come here."

Andy sat down next to Sam and he pulled her in close with his other arm. "Better?" He asked softly.

She turned her head and he was so close. It had been too long since she had last looked into those eyes. "Much," she whispered back.

They were locked in each other's gaze and both started leaning forward unconsciously. Sam's free hand automatically moved up to her cheek as he guided her in. Her lips were as soft as he remembered them and it felt so good to have her in his arms again; his grip automatically tightened around her waist.

Andy moaned in pleasure as Sam continued to kiss her. She opened her mouth against his before he even had a chance to ask, but he didn't hesitate in taking advantage wanting to taste more of her. God, he just… wanted.

Out of breath, Andy finally pulled away and they both looked into each other's eyes panting. Andy started to giggle self consciously. "Maybe we should just…"

Sam smirked back at her and shifted his body over a few inches leaving a visible space in between them. "Yeah."

Despite the heat being generated by the stove and their recent activities, Andy couldn't help but miss the warmth of Sam's body. She sighed.

Sam winked at her and then took a breath trying to calm his racing heart and will the blood flow back to his brain.

Andy reached out her hand and Sam immediately laced their fingers together; at least it was something.

"How'd it go?"

Andy shook her head and glanced at him quickly. "I don't think you're going to like it."

Sam huffed out a breath; as usual, his gut was right. "What did you find?"

"I made it in on time the next morning, barely." She grinned a little at the memory of why she was late.

"Andy."

"Sorry." But the smirk on her face showed different. "Anyway, I didn't want to waste any time so before shift, I pulled the accident file for Brennan's family, to see if it was as bad as he thought."

"It was," Sam stated knowingly.

"How did you…"

"Brennan showed me it again," he explained.

"So you know then, it was… well you saw it; there was nothing there. That's when I knew I couldn't leave it at that. I mean it could have been just a crappy job, but I… something wasn't right."

Sam smiled at her; she was finally starting to trust her gut.

"There were a few minutes before parade so I went to talk to Jerry like you suggested. He wasn't very happy with me."

"What did you tell him?"

"I asked him to trust me. Told him that you needed a favor and could he please detail me to him that morning. He looked pretty shocked, but he agreed, after he made me promise to tell him everything when I got back. He also made me promise I wasn't going to do anything stupid," she went on, rolling her eyes.

Sam ignored her aggravation; happy for the reminder of what he had already told her. "What did you do?"

"The only thing I could do," she answered with a shrug. "I called Thirty-Four Division to see if the officer was still there and she was. I drove out to the division and tracked her down; she had just made detective. I showed her the accident report and asked if it was her. She said it was but didn't offer much except that the case was closed. When I asked her why so much was missing, she was pretty defensive at first; couldn't believe I would just storm in there and demand information from 'my superior'."

Sam smirked at the thought of Andy going in guns blazing.

"She basically said that there if a detective tells you to do something, you do it no questions asked. She claimed she did everything right, had two eyewitnesses that saw a guy nosing around the car before it crashed. Even said the reconstruction guys came in and that their best mechanic worked on it."

Sam furrowed his brow; none of that was in the report.

Andy noticed his confusion. "I know; none of it was in there. Wanna know why?"

Sam tilted his chin down waiting. He really hoped that was a rhetorical question.

It was. "She said some detective showed up, handed it back to her and it was scrubbed. No notes, different mechanic; he told her to sign off. I couldn't believe she would just do it; someone was killed." Andy was incredulous. "When I called her on it, I thought she was going to walk away from me."

"Did she?"

"Yes, but she said she was just going to get her notes; she kept them, said she knew it would come back on her one day. She had everything, witness names, license plate of the guy they saw by the car, name of the mechanic who ended up signing off. But what I really wanted to know was who the detective was, the one that made it go away. She didn't want to say, but I think she knew I wasn't going to leave without it."

"Boyd," Sam guessed with little doubt in his voice.

Andy nodded. "Yep."

Sam's eyes widened; it was worse than he thought. "Did you tell Jerry?"

"I had just gotten back from Thirty-Four; I had a copy of everything. I wanted to show Jerry right away so I headed to his office, but you'll never guess who beat me there."

"Boyd," Sam answered once again.

"Yeah, he was already in there yelling at Jerry. Trying to find out what I was doing for him today."

"How did he… what happened?"

"I didn't even make it to the door before he saw me and threw it open."

Flashback

"Swarek told you what he was doing didn't he?"

"What?" Andy furrowed her brow and turned to see Jerry looking at her accusingly as well. "No!"

"What the hell are you doing pulling Brennan's accident file then? What did Swarek tell you before he left?"

"He didn't tell me anything before he left." Andy knew she was a terrible liar so she was thankful that she could keep it at least a little real.

"Bull shit!"

"Think what you want, Boyd, but all I knew is that he was leaving in three weeks and the next day he was gone."

She glared at the detective.

"Then how do you know about Brennan?"

"Who?"

"Brennan, you pulled the file on his wife and kid's accident."

She looked at Jerry; her eyes imploring him to help her. "Does this have to do with Sam's undercover?" She asked Jerry innocently.

Jerry looked at Boyd in disbelief. "You got Sammy working Brennan?"

Andy didn't like the way Jerry sounded when he said Brennan. She vowed to search more up about him the second she had the chance. "Who's Brennan?"

Boyd looked at them both. "What are you two playing at here?"

Knowing Andy's skills at lying or lack thereof, Jerry decided it was better left up to him. He wanted Boyd out of there anyway and she promised him answers, which he was going to get.

"I got a call from HQ," Jerry fibbed easily. "They were asked by the mayor to pull some statistics regarding accidents with fatalities. I asked Andy to pull some information for me; I had a bunch of divisions I was supposed to cover."

"What did they want?" Boyd asked skeptically.

"Just the basics, you know locations, ages of victims, time of day. I guess they were looking for trends or something."

Boyd still looked a little doubtful, but Jerry was pretty convincing so he just grumbled something under his breath and left.

As soon as he walked out, Jerry shut the door behind him. "Care to tell me why I just lied to a fellow detective."

End Flashback

"So I told Jerry what I found at Thirty-Four; showed him the accident file and the proper case notes. And as soon as I told him the name of the guy from the license plate, he said everything was starting to make sense."

"What was starting to make sense?" Sam wondered. "Who was it?"

"Shawn Elmore belongs to the JMC."

Sam nodded; he recognized the name immediately. Guy definitely had a beef with Brennan but why would Boyd…

Andy answered the question before he had a chance to ask. "Apparently there's been a lot of talk lately about how Boyd has made some serious headway into the bikers. He knows where, he knows when, he knows who. Before it's even happening; he knows what's happened."

"Informant," Sam assumed.

"He denies he has an informant and hasn't carded anyone."

This wasn't looking good. "Elmore," Sam huffed out shaking his head. "So then what?"

"Jerry had to finish up on another case. He arranged for me to work with him at least half days for the following week till we figured it out. Tuesday we went to find Elmore and bring him in."

"And?"

"At first he claimed not to know Boyd, but then Jerry called his bluff. Told him he would talk to his guys to find out how Guns and Gangs knew so much about what they've been doing the last little while."

"So you got Elmore?"

"Yes, he's been charged already but they've kept it under wraps. Nothing in the system yet; they didn't want Boyd to find out."

"So what's happening with Boyd then?"

"It's not looking good for him either," Andy explained. "Jerry's been dealing with IA the last few days and putting together the case. As far as we can tell, Boyd doesn't know anything's happening and I hope it stays that way."

She looked at Sam. "I think they're going to pull you out. Maybe even by Monday. Jerry thinks he'll have everything he needs by then."

"What about Brennan?"

"You said it yourself; he's out of the life," Andy shrugged.

"I know, but I just… he hurt a lot of people."

Andy moved her other hand to cover their joined ones. She didn't tell Sam that she had spent the last few days learning everything she could about Brennan. She knew he had hurt a lot of people, but right now her only concern was that he not hurt Sam. "I know, but with everything that happened; they just don't think now's the time. It's too big of a risk."

Sam nodded but stayed quiet. He looked down at their hands, lost in his thoughts. It made sense, but still he was disappointed that he wouldn't get justice for Brennan's victims.

When he felt Andy's hand squeeze his, he was brought out of his reverie. He gave her a soft smile. "So, you've known for a few days now."

"Yeah." She met his eyes and mirrored his smile. "But it's been a really long week," she admitted timidly and he knew she wasn't talking about the case anymore.

Sam's gaze locked on hers. "I missed you."

And just like that the mood started to shift… from business to pleasure. Sam's thumb began to move of its own accord, gliding tenderly across the back of her hand.

"Sam," Andy whispered breathlessly.

Sam tugged on her hand and tilted his head toward the bed where he knew they would be more comfortable. "Come on."

Andy shook her head, instead tugging him back towards her. She lifted the pillows away from the edge of the bed and set them on floor near the fireplace before she laid her head against one of them and urged Sam along with her. He grinned and followed her willingly, not stopping until his body was pressed against hers on the floor.

And it wasn't long before clothes were discarded and set aside along with all thoughts of the case and anything outside the feel of each other.

Hours later, Andy was lying on the floor with a sheet draped loosely over her body and her feet propped up against the end of the bed. She had been telling Sam all about karaoke night when he ambled behind her over to the kitchen. "Almost makes me wish I was there," he declared.

"Yeah, what would you sing?" She wondered.

After drinking straight from the tap, he turned off the water, swallowed and cleared his throat. He wiped his hand over his mouth as he thought. "Stuck in the Middle with You," he taunted a slight smirk on his face.

"Stuck in the Middle with you; that's nice," she scoffed tilting her head back so she could see him.

"No, Love the One You're With," he countered as he knelt down behind her head.

"How about All by Myself?" Andy offered as Sam leaned down onto his hands and hovered over her.

He shook his head as he closed the distance between them. "No, you're not," he disputed kissing her soundly.

"You will be," she giggled against his lips.

Sam chuckled lightly without breaking contact. "You're so thoughtful," he whispered sarcastically, and then he rolled away lying his head down beside her with his body sprawled in the opposite direction. "Thanks."

He shuffled to get comfortable; this floor was doing nothing for his back. "I'm kidding; I wouldn't sing."

"I know you wouldn't," Andy agreed turning her head so she could look at him. "You're too cool."

"Hey I do a lot of things all right? I cook, I clean." He defended. "I'm good with tools, I'm an excellent driver."

Andy sighed. "You ever wish we were normal."

Sam furrowed his brow but he wasn't ready to look at her. "What do you mean we are normal?"

"You know what I mean," she insisted looking at the ceiling.

Sam swallowed hard. "Andy, if I could ask you to stay I would."

She turned then to finally look at him. "Then ask me to stay," she pleaded.

He rolled his head to look at her.

"Brennan knows about me, and Jerry knows we're talking," Andy justified. "Just one night, you know, I'll go home in the morning."

Sam looked back up at the ceiling contemplating; it sounded like the op was going to be over anyway and maybe, just maybe they could go home together.

Sam rolled onto his stomach leaning on his forearm above her. They locked eyes. "Stay." Sam whispered.

"Okay," Andy breathed out as he dipped his head down, touching his nose softly against hers before kissing her thoroughly.

When Andy woke the next morning the sun was shining through the window and she was tucked comfortably under the covers next to Sam. Last night after kissing her breathless, Sam suggested they move to the bed insisting that he was a gentleman and that when he asked her to stay he did not mean on a cold, hard floor.

Andy had taunted back about his body not being able to take it, but ended up squealing when he snatched her up off the floor and dropped her onto the bed promising to show her just what his body could take. And she had been happy to give.

She couldn't help but smile at the memory and she started to snuggle back in hoping to enjoy it just a little while longer. She had just started to drift off when her eyes snapped open; she brought her watch up to her face to check the time.

Shoot! Her appointment was in just over two hours; she was going to have to hurry if she wanted to make it home to shower and change. She was just pushing herself up to look for her clothes when Sam woke up. "Where do you think you're going?" Sam accused, reaching for her wrist.

"I need to find my clothes."

"No, you don't," he challenged pulling her back towards him and leaning in for a kiss.

She indulged him for a few seconds until he rolled her under him and tried to deepen the kiss. "Sam," she warned, but he simply redirected his attack to her jaw and neck. She knew her resolve was weakening and she felt him smirk against her skin; he could feel it too.

"Sam, I can't," she insisted forcing herself to stiffen.

Sam let her go and blew out a frustrated breath as he flopped back onto the bed. "Why not?"

"I have to go," she explained slipping on her bra and panties while he slid on his underwear.

"You, uh, working the afternoon shift?" He wondered as he pulled on his own pants.

She drew her head out from under the bed. "No, I already told you; I took the day off to finalize my mortgage."

"Right, right," Sam recalled. "So, uh, which one did you buy?"

"Oh, you know the one on the corner, with all the windows," she described finally locating her pants.

"Yeah, I remember; it's beautiful," Sam approved solemnly, once again disappointed by the subtle reminder that life had been moving on without him.

Andy could hear the regret in his voice and swiveled on her feet. "Come with me," she insisted. "They're taking you out anyway; let's just save them the trouble."

"Andy, I…" Truthfully he was torn, but he didn't get a chance to mull it over for long.

There was a knock at the door. Andy turned towards the sound and then back to Sam, but he looked just as surprised as she was. He backtracked to the night stand and readied his gun. "Yuh?" He barked to the intruder.

A muffled voice responded. "It's Brennan; I brought coffee."

The alarm in Andy's eyes was mirrored in Sam's. Damn it! They didn't talk about what they were going to tell Brennan.

I really loved that morning scene with the juice, the Sam/JD comparison and the ice cream discussion, but it really didn't make sense in this context. Andy has already met Brennan and even though she didn't say, Sam would realize that she knew all about him by now so those worries were no longer there… of course that doesn't mean there isn't anything else to worry about.

And how many of you now want to check out that morning after scene once again? I know there are different theories as to what Sam said to Andy after she told him he would be (all by himself), but I like this one of mamaverd's.

Thanks, SairsJ!