A/N: Here's the sixth installment of "Home" ... I hope the described case makes sense and if not - just use your imagination since it set's up the entire chapter. I would love some more feedback as its food to my muse ;o)

Enjoy!

VI

"You're taking her side?!" Andy yells exasperatedly, slamming down a file on Sam's desk - ten hours into an eight hour shift.

"Andy, come on," Sam sighs, trying to make her see reason. It's not that he's choosing sides; he's evaluating the evidence before him, which is his job. "Don't make this personal," he adds, which turns out to be the exact wrong thing to say, because next thing he knows, McNally's throwing him some serious daggers with her eyes.

"Don't make this personal?" Andy parrots his statement with incredulous eyes. "She…," she flails her arms around fuming unable to put a sentence together. "She basically called me unprofessional and inept at my job because I gave that girl the benefit of the doubt," Andy finally finishes.

"According to Marlo, the evidence at the scene proved that the girl had motive and means," Sam walks around his desk to get in McNally's personal space figuring it's the best course of action.

"She made that observation after taking one look around the house and giving the girl an once-over, Sam, hardly a thorough investigation."

"She's still your Superior Officer, Andy, and you have to listen to her, and do what she says," he says. "Look," Sam rubs his face attempting to find the right words to get through to her with. "I know things are tense between you two, and I'm not saying it's right, but there are protocols that have to be followed."

"Protocols?!" Andy retorts sarcastically. The fact that he; Sam Swarek is giving her a pep-talk about 'protocol' is beyond ludicrous. With him being the original rule-breaker of 15 Division.

"Yes," he says through gritted teeth having grown tired of the back and forth between her and Marlo. "You may not agree with what she's saying, but you do have to respect her." Sam crosses his arms across his throat before adding, "and me as well."

"What that supposed to mean? You think I don't respect you now that you're a Detective?" Andy asks stunned.

"Of course not, but things have changed in the months you've been gone, Andy. Things that might've worked six or seven months ago, don't work anymore. I'm a Detective now, and I have a new set of rules to play by." Sam absolutely hates having to spell it out like this, but he doesn't see any other way.

"Fine!" Andy snaps turning on her heel, slamming the door shut on her way out making Sam hit the nearby wall in frustration.

He rubs his tiresome face, as he watches Andy move through the open desk space before disappearing around a corner, undoubtedly heading for the locker room.

When they'd been partnered up that morning, Sam had instantly known that by the end of the day, they'd be at each other's throats. They were each other's polar opposites. Where McNally was emphatic and a sound believer in the goodness of people, Cruz was a seasoned police officer, who'd seen it all and learned by her mistakes.

They had been called out to a terrible scene; a neighbor had called in a domestic disturbance after having heard loud noises from a house belonging to a widower and his daughter. Marlo and Andy had been the first officers on the scene, and had found the victim; the father lying in a pool of blood, while his daughter; a fifteen year old girl had been hovering in the corner of the kitchen, covered in blood.

Marlo had, after making sure the father was indeed dead called it into dispatch asking for CSU, Detectives and the coroner. Andy had instead turned her attention to the quivering girl, who had since they'd stepped into the house been in a somewhat catatonic state.

Cases involving children were always tricky to deal with despite how old the child was. But when you added in an alcoholic father raising his daughter alone after his wife had left them, you'd have a volatile tension between the two women, who were supposed to be working together.

Andy's belief in the girl had been fueled by her own past having grown up with her alcoholic father after her mother had left them both behind. She knew what it meant when you felt like you had the weight of the world resting squarely on your shoulders. You had to keep up appearances with your friends and relatives, when all you really needed was for someone to care, step in or just to offer a shoulder to cry on.

She had connected with Tania, and right when the girl had been about to open her mouth, Cruz had stepped in and shot it all to hell with a brusque 'we're taking her in'.

Tania had completely shut down by the time they had arrived back at the barn. The tension between Andy and Marlo had been beyond obvious standing in the viewing room as Sam and Traci had tag teamed attempting to get the girl to tell them what had happened between her and her father.

"You do realize this is on you, don't you?" Andy asked her arms crossed defiantly in front of her chest.

"Excuse me?" Marlo asked turning sideways to glare at McNally.

"You scared her!" Andy snapped pointing her finger at the girl in the next room, who had been avoiding eye contact with the two detectives attempting to get through to her.

"I am your Superior Officer, McNally!" Marlo barked right back at her before adding, "You may not agree with my orders, but you will follow them."

Andy had the urge to just walk away, to leave the case behind and just focus on the next one, but she couldn't. She knew she could help that girl in there, and she wasn't about to let Cruz stand in the way of that.

She bit her lip before responding, "I understand."

"Good." Marlo nodded her head just as Sam and Traci joined them in the viewing room.

"Everything all right?" Sam asked immediately sensing the tension between the two women.

"Fine," Andy nodded. "What's next?" she asked watching as the child advocate also tried to talk to Tania without any result it seemed.

"We keep trying," Traci answered looking in the same direction as Andy. "But it seems like a losing battle, she's completely closed off."

"Let me try," Andy said, as Sam, Traci and Marlo shared a look. "I had a connection with her at the house," she added.

"McNally, it's a losing battle, let it go," Cruz snorted obviously having made her mind up regarding Tania a while ago.

"It can't hurt to try," Traci figured shrugging her shoulders looking at Sam for confirmation.

"All right," Sam exhaled deeply. "Don't push her too much though, Andy. She's fragile," he warned her.

"I know," she nodded her head before exiting the viewing room.

"Whoa!" Nick exclaims catching Andy by the waist when she almost knocks him over in the hallway. "Where's the fire?" he tries to quip.

"Sorry," she vehemently apologizes taking a step back to gather her senses. "I didn't see you."

"Obviously," Nick arches an eyebrow giving her the once-over. "What's going on with you?" he asks.

"What do you mean?"

"I heard about your case," Nick tells her. "I get its difficult working with Cruz, but you need to make it work, Andy."

"Not you too," she sighs.

"She's your Superior Officer, Andy. You can't go against her orders like that," Nick says.

"I didn't go against anything, Nick," she replies pointing a finger at her chest. "I was trying to do my job, but apparently that's some sort of crime these days!" she snaps before heading into the locker room.

"Hey, Tania," Andy pulled out a chair before sitting down next to the young girl. The blood had been washed away, but the discoloration on her face still bore witness to the fact, that it had been there not too long ago. "I'm Andy; we met at your house earlier." She lowered her head trying to establish eye contact with Tania, but the girl kept on training her sight forward.

"Great idea," Cruz scoffed in the viewing room, as she, Traci and Sam watched the interaction.

"Why don't you just give her a shot?" Traci asked standing up for her best friend, while Sam kept silent, watching the scene unfold before him.

The girl was in obvious shock, but Andy kept on trying to build some sort of rapport with her. "She knows what she's doing, Cruz," he added making her gape openmouthed at him.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Marlo asked.

"You ever heard of Tommy McNally?" Sam asked keeping his eyes trained on Andy.

"Tommy Mc…," her voice fell silent, as she realized what Sam was trying to tell her. "Oh my God…," Marlo sighed covering her face with her hands.

"I know what it's like, Tania," Andy said pouring a glass of water for them both. "Keeping up appearances, growing up before your time, taking care of him when he's supposed to take care of you." The girl suddenly looked up at her, as if a light had been switched on in her mind.

"Your d-d-dad…?" Tania stammered speaking her first sentence for the past four hours.

"Yeah…," Andy exhaled taking a sip of water. "On the rare occasions that he was sober, he was great though," she smiled to herself. "We would take off for a couple of days, go camping on the outskirts of town, and just spend some time together. But whenever the day-to-day stuff started up again, it was like the bottles called to him…," the memories of the costs Tommy's addiction had had on her childhood still clear as day.

"…and he was gone again." Tania added.

"Yup!" Andy snapped the 'p' with her tongue. "You want to tell me about your dad?" she asked alerting the three people in the viewing room to what was about to transpire.

"I dunno'," Tania said shrugging her shoulders. "I loved my dad, but he didn't love me enough," she grabbed the glass of water and gulped it down her throat very quickly before drying the excess water off of her mouth with the back of her hand.

Something uncoiled in the pit of Andy's stomach by Tania's statement. "You can talk to me, Tania," she told the young girl. "You're safe."

"Now, I am."

"You all right?" Traci asks thirty minutes later finding Sam crouched over his desk, his elbows resting on the surface, holding his head in his hands.

"Yeah…," he sighs pushing his chair out before grabbing the folder marked 'Stanton Wheeler' and dropping it into the file cabinet.

"This case hit too close for home, eh?" Traci asks stating the obvious.

"You know what?" he tells her turning around to look at his partner. "Things have been going great for the past couple of days; it was like that day at the swimming pool was a new start for us. Then this case happens, and it's like she's pulling away again."

"She is." Traci states matter-of-factly surprising Sam.

"She is?" he asks raising a speculative eyebrow at her, while simultaneously crossing his arms across his chest.

"Listen…," Traci perches on the edge of his desk before continuing. "To say Andy has issues where Marlo is concerned would be putting it mildly, but something else is going on with her. I've tried talking to Nick about it, but…," Traci stops mid-sentence when she notices the frown on her partner's face.

"Collins?" Sam asks exasperatedly. "What does Collins have to do with this?" he asks confused.

"Come on, Sam…they've spent six months alone together, a bond of some sort has developed, and if anything he should know what's up with her." Traci says.

Sam runs his fingers through his hair walking to the window to look out into the open space below them looking for a certain someone that he for the life of him can't get a read on.

After tying a black rubber band around her pony tail, Andy slides the pad of her index fingers across her upper lip applying some lip balm to it.

"Good work today, McNally," Marlo tells her coming to a full stop next to her.

"Is that supposed to be a joke?" Andy scoffs eying the woman next to her. Why does she intimidate her so much? Is it just her past with Sam or is it something else?

"I don't joke about work, McNally," the tightness of the Superior Officer's jaw tells Andy that she has overstepped, again.

"I didn't mean to offend you," she offers up as some sort of leeway to them being able to coexist.

"I know," Marlo nods her head in understanding, while Andy shuts her locker before picking up her duffel bag. "I talked to Sam."

"You did?" Andy asks arching a finely plucked eyebrow at her. But of course she has. They were co-workers and friends too, so why did she suddenly have this inclination to tell Andy that they'd talked?

"Yeah…, and I'm sorry." The usually brusque Superior Officer tells Andy in a soft tone of voice.

"For…?" Andy asks in disbelief feeling completely lost.

"Your situation…with your dad…," she attempts to explain making Andy realize once and for all that her entire childhood has been opened up to her by someone she thought she could trust.

"That's none of your business…," she counters feeling sick in the pit of her stomach.

"I know, all I'm saying is that I get it now. Your need to believe that girl when the evidence said otherwise. I just wanted to tell you that I get it." The look on her face tells Andy that maybe Marlo has had a similar childhood to hers.

"Oh-my-God…," Andy breathes closing her eyes, while salivating in the amazing taste of Sam's homemade Lasagna. "You're a great cook," she tells him opening her eyes and watching that smirk of his covering his entire face.

"Told ya, McNally," he grins at her making them both remember a time when he'd boasted about his skills in the kitchen among other things.

She had shown up on his door step about an hour and a half ago, intent on tip-toeing around the actual reason she had shown up. Holding a bottle of Merlot in her hand, she had told him that she was in no way okay about him telling Cruz about her childhood, but that she understood why he had done it.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Andy smiles tentatively. She takes a sip of wine, while concurrently wondering where the evening will go. They need to talk things through; in particular her reaction to him agreeing with Cruz on their latest case.

"Glad you approve though," Sam winks at her with that look on his face, that's always told her that he knows she's hiding something from him. "You wanna talk about it?" he asks, already knowing what her answer will be.

"Nope!" she exclaims before picking up the fork again, and resuming eating. She knows that they need to talk, but it's one thing to know it, and an entirely different thing to actually do it.

The rest of the time had been spent in silence, the only reprieve being the clattering of silverware when one of them pick up the goblet with red wine to take a much needed drink.

Sam has moved to the sink with their plates now, and Andy has just remained seated watching him. The way his muscles moves in the tight tee shirt he is wearing is consuming her. It isn't until just now that she realizes how much she really wants him.

She wants him flat on his back, in bed, staring up at her with those eyes of his. Andy wants him at her mercy, and she wants to burry herself in him, and forget about everything that's happened lately – especially those six months she spent away from him.

"Hey…," Sam smiles covering her hands with his when she's wrapped herself around his rigid frame resting her cheek against his cotton clad back. "You okay?" he asks for what seems like the umpteenth time today turning his head as much as he can until he's blown away with the unique scent of her.

"I will be," Andy turns her head, placing a kiss on his back with a deep sigh. Moving her hands up his powerful chest, making him groan she has one goal in sight. For the first time in what seems like forever, she knows exactly what she wants, who she wants and how to get it.

Her desire for Sam's familiar body hasn't weaned in the months they've been apart, quite the contrary actually. Even away on the task force, she could still remember every ripple, muscle and sexual move of his.

"Andy…what are you doing?" Sam asks grabbing her wrists when she's about to slide her hands up under his tee shirt to feel him – skin on skin.

"Has it really been that long that you have to ask, Swarek?" Andy asks grinding her body against his in such a fashion that there isn't an inch of air between the two of them.

"What's gotten into you?" he asks turning around to hold her in his arms.

"Nothing," Andy shrugs her shoulders before adding, "yet."

Her resolute face makes him shake his head in awe, unable to hide his dimples – a telltale sign of his that he finds her amusing. "You sure?" Sam frames her face, as he asks her the question. He doesn't want them to rush things, doesn't want to rush her.

Andy answers his question, the only way she knows how – by grabbing his face and slanting her mouth across his. Sam recovers quickly from the onslaught of lips, gloss and tongue by bending slightly in the knees and picking her up by the thighs. Andy immediately wraps her denim clad legs around Sam's waist, as he walks them towards his bedroom.

Their clothes are strewn everywhere, the dimmed lights in the room showcases two forms on the bed, as soft moans emanate from the room.

Andy's brown tresses cascade down her naked back, while the grey sheet has fluttered down to her waist as she rests her hands on Sam's muscular chest. She's moving her lower body in these little thrusts that are driving Sam to the brink of madness.

His hands are clasped at her waist, rubbing the exposed skin in circular motions, trying to occupy his mind with something besides her thrusts, her moans and her perfect breasts. Sam can't keep his eyes off of Andy's face, she has her eyes closed, is in deep concentration, as he suspects another wave of pleasure is about to roar through her frame.

She's biting her lip, draining the color from it as she's riding it through. It's only when her perfect lips are formed as an 'O' that he knows she's through it. It's a look he'll never tire of seeing on her face when they're intimate with each other.

"Oh-my -God…," Andy sighs prettily in the deep recesses of her throat before collapsing on Sam's chest, those beautiful brown curls blanketing them in.

Sam caresses the slope of her spine with his calloused, yet tender hands spreading immediate warmth through her body. "You okay?" he whispers against her hairline once his breathing is somewhat under control again.

"Mmm…," she hums in answer to his question enjoying his touch on her skin. A touch she hasn't even realized that she's missed immensely. "You?"

"Never been better," Sam grins wickedly down at her before using his thumb and forefinger to move her face closer to his before pressing his lips to hers in a soft kiss.

It isn't until several hours later that panic sieges Andy's entire figure. She's been listening to Sam's soft grunts, but she can't fall asleep herself. Her head is nestled against his strong chest, an arm slung carelessly across his abdomen, while their legs are entwined.

Being with him again has been amazing, she needed him, and he has been there for her. But it has only delayed what Andy knows comes next. She has to deal with what happened on the task force, and a relationship with Sam on the sideline won't work. In fact, it will undoubtedly prove to be counterproductive.

She loves him, she loves him a crazy amount, but she can't drag Sam into what is already a huge mess when their relationship is as fickle as it is at the moment.

Untangling her limbs from Sam's, she carefully moves into a seated position on the edge of the bed. She sits there naked, staring into space, wondering what happens next.

Picking up her strewn-about clothes, Andy shimmies into her boy shorts and closes the clasp of her bra before sitting back down on the edge of the bed. Looking down at her tattoo, her senses assault her with the way Sam paid homage to it hours earlier. His lips and tongue marked every inch of it, until he began actually marking it – with his teeth. Small nibbles that had driven Andy crazy, but then again she had repaid him in full after having tackled him in bed, and given his chest the same reception.

Despite her intentions to leave, somehow Andy can't make her feet move. Not until she takes one last look at Sam's sleeping body. Clenching her fingers in the sheet beneath her, she turns slightly to let her eyes wander the length of his sleeping body.

What she won't give to just shed her underwear and lie down with him again, but she can't. It wouldn't be fair to Sam or to herself. No matter how much it hurts, Andy has to tie it in.

Getting off of the bed, picking up the rest of her clothes before tip-toeing into the living room to put it on.

Locating her purse, she takes one last look around before walking out on the man she loves.

The morning light is shining through the drawn curtains, as Sam begins to slowly wake up from his slumber. Scratching his chest with one hand, he reaches out for Andy with the other, but only comes up with air.

"Andy?!" he calls out, sitting up straight in bed before finally coming to realize that she's gone.

Again.