Your reviews are too sweet, I can thank you enough. This chapter is different than one I've ever written, so I hope it doesn't let you down!
Sairs - couldn't do this without your help! Thank you for the beta read!
Disclaimer: I do not own Rookie Blue
It was just over a month later that Sam was finally healthy enough to be back on patrol. He was thrilled to be getting back out on the road and even happier that his riding partner was going to be Andy. They had found ways to get through the waiting period, usually by meeting up in the locker room or interrogation room every once in a while.
That day, they had arrived to work at the last second, as usual. That morning, they were both staying at the station to do desk work until a mid-day meeting with Frank. As much as they looked forward to patrolling together again, neither of them had been looking forward to getting an earful from Frank about being professional.
"What are we gonna do with these two?" Oliver whispered into Noelle's ear. Sam and Andy had been sitting two desks away from each other to avoid constant distractions. It hadn't been working out though, as they continuously snuck glances across the room. Unfortunately for them, it did not go unnoticed by their co-workers.
"Oh come on Shaw, they're kind of cute," she laughed quietly.
"Cute? That has to be your pregnancy hormones talking. That is not cute. Do you know I actually caught them the other day? Didn't even lock the door," Oliver scoffed sarcastically.
"Wait, wait, wait, you didn't actually walk in on …?"
"No, no! But thirty seconds later I would have. Thankfully they were still clothed, mostly. I scared the shit out of 'em though," Oliver laughed quietly, shaking his head in disbelief.
"I can't even imagine Sam's face." Noelle laughed loudly, trying to quiet herself.
Andy looked up from the report she had been working on finishing. She knew Oliver and Noelle were whispering back and forth but it wasn't until she looked up that she realized it was about her. Her eyes widened as she noticed Noelle looking back and forth from her to Sam. The look on her face confirmed Oliver had told her about the interrogation room. She quickly felt heat rushing to her cheeks. The death stare she sent to them only made them laugh harder. She glanced over to Sam with a pleading look. He was grinning like a kid on Christmas morning. Un-believable, she thought.
"Swarek, McNally… please join me," Frank called from the door of his office. Andy took a moment to take a few deep calming breaths before standing up to follow Sam into Frank's office.
Sam could tell she was flustered. "Ignore 'em," he whispered quickly in her ear before walking behind her up the stairs. She grinned for a moment, appreciating his effort to relax her.
Sam and Andy entered Frank's office and sat down.
"How's everything going?" Frank started. "Swarek, you're feeling completely ready to get back out there?"
"Yes sir. You know I would've been back out there weeks ago if you'd have let me," he replied, grinning.
"Alright, well as you two know this is going to be a 'test' week. I need you to prove that you can still work together professionally irrespective of what's happening in your personal lives. After what happened during the undercover operation, I'm having some doubts that this can work the way it used to. I know there have been instances around the precinct where you two haven't been completely professional," Frank stated coolly, noticing Sam's that expression changed rapidly from collected to agitated.
Sam glanced over at Andy before looking back at Frank and shook his head in disbelief. "With all due respect, Sir, we worked together for two years before any of this happened. We were very proficient then and we are still fully capable of remaining focused when need be," he snapped. He stood up and moved to stand against the windows at the back of the room, crossing his arms.
"I think the key difference is that you weren't together before, Sam. Regardless of the past, you both know what is expected of you now. I don't want any kind of distractions and particularly any intimacy while you're on patrol. When you're out there, you are not a couple, you're partners. Your minds need to be one-hundred-percent fixated on this job." Frank explained. Andy could see Sam's frustration building as he pursed his lips, clearly holding back from speaking what was on his mind.
"Thank you, sir. I promise you there will be no distractions whatsoever," Andy cut in. "Officer Swarek and I are very aware of what is expected of us and we will not let you down."
"Good. Glad we're clear."
"So, we done here?" Sam sputtered, walking towards Frank to shake his hand.
Frank nodded once. He held their handshake until Sam looked into his eyes. "Serve, protect and good luck out there."
"Thank you," Andy sighed, reaching over for her handshake. Unlike Sam, she was pleasantly surprised at how well the lecture had gone. Frank hadn't said anything that she wasn't expecting. She could tell he still hadn't wholly moved on from the undercover mishap, but he was supportive, and that's what mattered to her.
Sam sighed loudly, which came out sounding more like a growl. He spun his heel and quickly barged out of Frank's office, making it painfully clear that he wasn't happy with the speech he had just received. Andy looked back at Frank and shrugged a simple apology before leaving the office to follow after him. Frank nodded knowingly and held out his hand to direct her to follow him. Within those few moments, Sam had swiftly passed through most of the station and was almost at the parking lot, leaving Andy to race after him.
"Pick it up, McNally, we don't have all day," he scoffed when she finally caught up to him. He looked over his shoulder with a scowl.
She shot him a confused look and picked up her pace; jogging around to the passenger side once they reached the squad car. Once they were sitting, she had the chance to turn to face him. She could tell by his motions that he was thoroughly pissed off. He whipped his seatbelt across him to click it in.
"Sam." She murmured, reaching for his hand. "He's just doing his job, okay? He has to say stuff like that."
He immediately shook her hand away and turned to look out his window, mouth open in disbelief. "Don't, Andy. Just don't," he snapped as he started up the car.
Andy was startled at the apparent anger in his voice. She understood his annoyance towards Frank but what she hated was that Sam wasn't able to be annoyed without being a complete hard ass. She sighed and turned to stare straight ahead.
Sam immediately put the car in gear and sped out of the station's parking lot. Aside from the casual voice on their radios from dispatch, they rode in silence. Sam's knuckles had turned white from his solid grip on the steering wheel. He was irritated, to say the least. Frank implying he was incapable of separating work and pleasure had him extremely frustrated. For fifteen years he had proven his focus as an officer and one stupid mistake had ruined everything, he thought.
"And to think I was actually looking forward to riding with you today," Andy finally muttered, after growing tired of the long, uncomfortable silence in the car. "Is this how it's gonna be now?"
Sam shook his head and shrugged, gripping the steering wheel tighter. He opened his mouth to say something sarcastic but was interrupted by the radio.
"1519, we have a report of a stabbing at 675 Ontario Street, Rose Avenue Public School. Suspect is Evan Gray, 10 years old. Victim is a 12 year old student. School is currently on lock down."
"1519, responding," Andy stated into the radio, eyes widening at the report.
"I don't know how this is gonna work, Andy," Sam sputtered while weaving through traffic. "But unlike you, I'm trying to focus on our job right now."
Andy huffed and snapped her head around to look at him. Unbelievable, she thought for the second time that day.
They arrived at the school not more than five minutes later. Right behind them were Chris and Gail. Sam pulled up to the main entrance of the school. The fire trucks and paramedics followed close behind. By the time Chris and Gail had stepped out of the car, Sam had already taken off to head towards the entrance of the school.
As soon as they walked towards the entrance they were greeted by a woman, nervously wringing her hands, "Hi, I'm Evan's teacher, Darlene," she told them, shaking their hands. "We have the school on lock down. We don't know where he went. After it all happened he took off and down the hallway. He might not even be in the school but we're not taking any precautions."
The paramedics jogged by with a stretcher, escorted by the Principal of the school. Chris and Gail gave Sam and Andy a quick nod before following behind them to check out the situation in the bathroom.
"Can you explain to us what's going on?" Andy asked calmly.
The teacher let out a deep breath. "Where do I start? Evan Gray is in fifth grade. He's shy and mostly a social outcast. He's had a lot of trouble making friends since he started at the school last September," she explained. "Adam Jackson has a lot of problems at home; his mother works all the time and his father is useless. Because of this, he bullies the younger kids a lot. Trust me, we've been doing our best to stop it but we can't be there every second of the day."
"Why not just keep him away from the other kids altogether?" Sam retorted.
Andy cleared her throat before addressing the teacher again. "That's understandable, Darlene. And what about Evan? What's his home life like?"
"He seems to have an average home life as far I can tell. His parents are married and both work full time. He's an only child and that's why I assumed he had problems making friends. I figured he didn't really know how to talk to other kids. The last few weeks especially he seemed unstable. He would start crying in the middle of class and would close up whenever he was asked to participate in anything. I spoke to his mother about it but she wasn't concerned. She said he was acting fine at home so it must just be a phase."
Andy nodded. "So what happened today?"
"My teaching assistant heard screaming from the boy's bathroom and called for me to help her out. When we went in, Evan and Adam were both yelling and Evan was on top on Adam trying to hold him down. He had stabbed Adam in the leg with what we're assuming is a steak knife he brought from home, because we don't keep knives like that in the school. When we yelled to try to stop him, he ran out of the bathroom and took off down the hallway. My assistant ran to the office and called 9-1-1. That's where we're at right now."
"Thanks Darlene. We'll let you know if we have any more questions," Andy told her.
Darlene turned to walk back towards the parking lot. By that point, more squad cars had pulled up into the school parking lot and frantic parents had started arriving, concerned about their children being in danger. Andy shot a worried look over to Sam and began walking towards the front doors of the school. As they stepped inside the school, her heartbeat picked up a notch.
The paramedics soon walked by with Adam on the stretcher. He was visibly in shock; lying very still and holding his leg which was heavily bandaged with gauze. She took a quick glance down the hallway, noticing Chris and Gail walking back into the bathroom after they had escorted the paramedics to the door.
Andy sighed as she tried to straighten out her thoughts. She was hurting for both Evan and Adam. Adam didn't deserve her sympathy, she thought, but something about hearing how hard his life at home was brought her back to her own childhood. Evan, on the other hand, had done something unforgivable, but he's merely ten years old. Practically a baby, she thought.
Sam spun around to face her. "There aren't many places to hide in a school that's in lockdown. All the classrooms are locked so he's not gonna be in any of them. We're checking bathrooms, closets, stairwells… you get where I'm going with this," he muttered. "You go right and check out the far hallway. I'll go left. Radio if you find anything."
Andy nodded and headed right to check out the hallways. It was times like this that she was reminded she was still relatively new at her job. She had never experienced an elementary school in a lockdown situation. The silence in the school was deafening.
Sam was deep in thought as he walked lightly through the hallways, checking in lockers and in bathrooms around his side of the school. Since when do kids stab other kids, he wondered, shaking his head, what happened to good old wedgies? He chuckled softly to himself as he considered telling this kid, whenever he found him that 'violence is never the answer'. He remembered back to re-training the year before when he attempted to beat the crap out of Callaghan. It may not be the answer, but it seems to make you feel better in the moment, he considered.
He was lost in his own thoughts when he heard a muffled cry from the janitor's closet as he walked by. He gently twisted the handle on the door and slowly pushed it open to find Evan sitting on the floor. He was hugging his knees and sobbing when he looked up at Sam.
"Evan?" Sam asked calmly.
Evan nodded, keeping his head down to gaze at the floor. Sam quickly scanned the small room and saw the knife on the floor beside Evan. He kept it in view as he took a step closer to him and knelt down, trying to think of the right words to say to diffuse the situation.
"I didn't mean to do it," Evan sobbed, his bottom lip quivering. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to hurt him like that. Did he die?"
Sam's heart melted a little at Evan's confession. Seeing this ten-year-old boy sitting there looking so shaken and vulnerable took him aback and he softened his expression. He couldn't believe that this helpless little boy could've done something so terrible to another person. He had half-expected Evan to throw a fit and try to attack him.
"He's gonna be alright," Sam replied softly. "I need you to hand me that knife you have with you, okay?"
Once Sam had opened the door, Andy could suddenly hear soft cries echoing in the hallway. She came up behind them and stood in the hallway just as Evan continued.
"He just… wouldn't stop. Every day he tells me I'm a loser because I have no friends," Evan continued breathlessly. "But I didn't mean to do it. I promise I didn't mean to. It just happened."
Sam reached out to put his hand gently on Evan's shoulder as he continued to cry. "Hey," he said soothingly. "It's over now. Everything's gonna be okay, buddy. Come on, let me help you up."
Truthfully, he didn't know if anything would ever be okay for Evan or Adam again, but in that moment he felt like that's what the kid needed to hear. After fifteen years of policing, Sam knew that was all he could do to help. He gave him a gentle rub on the back and guided him out of the closet. He hadn't realized Andy was standing in the hallway behind them until he walked out. When he looked over and saw that her eyes were glossy, he gave her a small grin. It wasn't an apologetic smile, he decided, because he was sure he had nothing to apologize for; he didn't want to see her get upset over it.
"This is Swarek. We have the suspect in custody. Heading towards the entrance of the school," he reported into his radio.
When they reached the front of the school, Evan's parents had already arrived and ran to him to make sure he was okay. Adam, on the other hand, was ready to be transported to the hospital with a teacher because his parents weren't available. Sam shook his head in disbelief. Useless father is an understatement, he decided.
Sam, Andy and a handful of other officers from fifteen division spent hours afterwards trying to take statements from teachers, students and Evan while attempting to calm the crowd of upset parents and children. Sam broke the news to Evan and his parents that Evan was going to have to spend some time in a youth penitentiary and receive mandatory counselling. His heart broke when Evan grabbed his hand and begged him not to send him anywhere. Andy could see the guilt rising in Sam's face as he tried to figure out a way to explain it to the boy. She cut in and apologized to Evan, explaining there was nothing they could do. What he did was wrong, she told him, and he would unfortunately need to remain in custody until his court date.
Once the school was cleaned up and ruled safe to enter again, Sam and Andy were finally on their way back to the station. Andy had barely spoken at all on the drive back. Sam wasn't sure if it was because of him or because of the events at the school, but he didn't want to press her about it.
"You okay?"
She nodded and remained tight lipped, much to his dismay. He could see that she wanted to talk; she always did. He figured out from the beginning that she needed to come around in her own time and pressing her would only make her close up altogether. He glanced over at her and saw the blank look in her eyes. He suddenly got the urge to reach his hand across and turn her face to look at him, but he held back. It wasn't until that moment, that he understood why she would be upset about how he had acted earlier. Like him, she had attempted to use physical touch to make him feel better. It wasn't about being inappropriate on the job, it was just a gesture.
He sighed loudly and laid his head back on the headrest in frustration. They rode back to the Barn in silence, Sam parked the cruiser and as soon as the car had stopped, Andy jumped out. She shut the door loudly and stalked towards the station, avoiding Sam's gaze altogether. He trudged behind her and watched her enter the women's locker room. He silently debated what his next move should be. Whatever it was going to be, he decided he needed to shower and change first.