Welcome back! Thanks for all of your awesome reviews, and follows/favourites. I LOVE hearing what you guys think, so I hope you'll continue to let me know!

This chapter is a little shaky, but this story desperately needed to be updated, so hopefully you can power your way through it and join me for the next one, which in my opinion is better.

Recap: After refusing to give up her boyfriend/buddies after a convenience store shooting, Andy finds herself in juvi. Unfortunately for her, it isn't long before someone recognizes her as a cop's daughter, essentially putting a large target on her back. She ends up getting into a fight, wins, and ultimately earns the respect of several inmates. Oliver disapproves, but Sam is able to look passed the bad side of things and see that the fight has put Andy in a better, safer position… at least for a little while. Andy is sentenced to 9 months in juvi, in which time she completely shuts Oliver out of her life; she rallies an "army"; and while trying to protect another inmate, she's stabbed. Andy survives, but ends up having a panic attack as memories of the incident resurface. Sam steps up to help her through it.

"Andrea McNally?"

Andy winced. She hated when people called her Andrea. Her mother had always called her that, and she hated her mother, wherever the hell she was. It was Andy. Not Andrea, just Andy. Taking a deep breath, she forced a smile. "Yeah?" she said to the judge. It came out with a bit of a bite. She silently cursed. That was not how this was supposed to start.

The judge gave her a long look. "You may approach the stand."

Andy took a deep breath as she pushed herself to her feet, grimacing as pain seared through her abdomen. Not even the meds that were coursing through her body could block it out. Sucking in a sharp breath, she planted her cuffed hands on the table in an attempt to steady herself until the wave of pain and nausea passed. It took a moment, but it worked. At least, the nausea had subsided; the pain was still there. Inhaling again, she raised her head and squared her shoulders before looking expectantly at the guard to her left.

Taking his cue, he led her towards the stand.

Feeling the eyes of at least half a dozen people on her, she forced herself to pick up her feet instead of shuffling them across the floor as she'd been doing for months. Despite only having half a year of juvi under her belt in comparison to a lifetime of living normally, it took a lot of concentration to erase the habits she'd acquired as an inmate, and with her senses slightly dulled by the meds, she was sure she'd slip up at some point. Still, she did her best to at least look civil as she approached the stand and reluctantly sat, watching as the guard attached the cuffs to the wood board in front of her. Within seconds she was being forced to take an oath, to which she was hard-pressed not to roll her eyes. If someone wanted to lie, would an oath really stop them? She doubted it.

"Can you tell us what was going on prior to the incident?" the lawyer, Mr. Laurent, asked.

Andy was snapped out of her thoughts. She silently cursed again. Had he just said something? She met his eyes for a brief moment. Yup, she'd definitely missed something. "Huh?"

The lawyer quirked an eyebrow. "Can you tell us what was going on prior to the incident?"

She took a deep breath, wishing she was just about anywhere else at the moment, but preferably lying on some sort of bed. Hard. Soft. It didn't matter; she'd take anything right about now as long as she could lie down on it. But that currently wasn't an option. She was in court, and she had a job to do. She'd replayed the incident in her head numerous times, and had been forced to retell it what seemed like hundreds of times. And she was sick of it. Just once more, she thought. With a sigh, she finally spoke. "I was sitting on the table with some of the other inmates… we were talking."

"What were you talking about?"

Andy frowned. The conversation was irrelevant. With a shrug, she said, "It had nothing to do with what happened." Hearing someone clear their throat, her eyes snapped over to Oliver – there was a clear warning in his eyes. Okay, so maybe her comment wasn't warranted. Or smart. But the meds were making things a little fuzzy. She knew she had to lose the attitude though; create a cleaner, more approachable image. "Our families."

"What about them?"

She quirked an eyebrow, unable to hold back her laughter. Really? There had been a massive fight and this guy wanted to know about their families? "Oh, well, just the usual. How screwed up our families are; how, whether in life or death, they abandoned us. That kind of thing."

"And when did you first notice something was off?"

Before she could stop herself, Andy blurted out, "With our families? Or at juvi?"

The lawyer exchanged a look with the judge. "At the detention centre, the day of the incident," Mr. Laurent said a little sharply.

Andy shrugged. Every frustration, every emotion, every thing that had built up over the last six months seemed to be coming out now, and with the meds leaving her feeling loose, she was having difficulty keeping herself in check. "Just thought I'd ask, since you know, you seem interested in every facet of my life." Hearing someone clearing their throat for a second time, her eyes flicked back to Oliver. She stared at him for a moment, watching him shake his head. She got, she really did, but just because she knew she needed to practice more restraint, didn't mean she was able to at that moment.

"Breathe," Oliver mouthed to her.

She closed her eyes and pressed her lips together in an attempt to compose herself. It didn't take Oliver's warning to know that things weren't going well, and if she kept this up, she was bound to land herself in a worse position than before. She was smarter than this, she knew she was, but she also knew that the trial shouldn't have been held this soon. Withholding a sigh, Andy tried to cling to something positive. Her best guess was that this trial wouldn't last more than an hour, so if she could hold it together for that long, it didn't really matter what happened afterward. Taking in another deep breath, she forced her mind to focus on that day, and all of the things that had happened in the moments leading up to the incident. When she finally opened her eyes, she admitted, "I don't really know what happened."

"You're telling me you have no idea what happened?" the lawyer asked in disbelief.

"No," Andy argued, shaking her head. "That's not what I said. I just don't completely know or understand it." She paused. "I remember seeing a few of the guards heading inside. They looked panicked, so it was obvious that something was going on. And they kept us outside longer than usual, at least it felt like they did, so something had to have been going on in there… something big. But, you don't really think much of it, since most days something seems to happen… A small fight or whatever. You just have to look at someone the wrong way, or sit in someone's spot... Stupid things. It doesn't take much."

"And how many fights have you been involved in?"

"Directly or indirectly?" Andy asked.

Oliver groaned, but it was cut short as Sam elbowed him in the side.

"Both."

Andy shrugged. "A few."

"Six months at the detention centre leads to a fight of this magnitude and you're telling us that you were only directly and indirectly involved in a few fights?" Mr. Laurent pressed.

"Yeah," Andy replied, meeting the lawyer's eyes with an even stare of her own. "I had no reason to start any of them, so any fights that I was involved in were because I had to defend myself."

"Including the most recent one?"

"Yes."

"Weren't you the one to approach Suzie's group?"

"Yes, but—" Andy began.

"So if you were the one to approach Suzie's group, then wouldn't you say it's only reasonable to believe that you started that fight?"

"Are you serious?" Andy asked, eyes wide. "If you walk into a store that's being robbed, does that make you a robber, or mean that you instigated it?"

The lawyer looked at the judge. "Answer the question," Mr. Laurent said sharply.

"Hell, no," Andy replied. "I didn't start that fight."

"Did you intend for it to start?"

"What?" she said, her eyes flicking in Oliver's direction. What the hell was going on? Was this guy serious? He seemed new, and at times a little unprofessional, but even still, something seemed off. No – it was more than that – something was wrong. Judging by the frown on Oliver's face, he had no idea what was going on either. Her eyes shifted to Sam, but he seemed equally as confused. She was in this alone. Her heart rate quickened and her palms became sweaty. Lowering her gaze to her handcuffs, she took a few deep breaths. The more time that passed without answering, the more annoyed the lawyer would likely become, which could be a bad thing, but at the same time, she needed a little longer to try to compose herself and figure out what was going on.

"Miss McNally?" Mr. Laurent said.

Andy continued to stare down at the cuffs. It was a risk, but she'd already made a bad impression, so if the lawyer became irritated enough, then maybe the judge would perceive both of them in a negative light, thereby making her look a little better. The problem was: if she could pull it off in her current condition. At this point, it seemed unlikely.

"Miss McNally?" the lawyer repeated, this time a little louder and in a much sharper tone.

Her eyes flicked up and it was clear that the lawyer was agitated. Instead of answering though, her gaze shifted to her own lawyer, who sat staring at her nails, completely oblivious to what was going on around them. Yeah, she was alone alright. Taking a deep breath, she let her eyes settle back on Mr. Laurent. "No, I didn't start the fight, or intend for it to start."

"Then how do you explain what happened?"

"Have you ever watched a swarm of bees?" Andy asked, leaning back in the chair a little.

"You aren't required to answer that," the judge said to the lawyer. "Continue Miss McNally."

Andy bit down on her lower lip. "The best way to describe what happened is to compare it to a swarm of bees." She paused, before adding," Suzie and her group were lingering in their usual spot, until they saw the new girl... I don't know her name, but I know she was new... Arrived the day before or something like that. I didn't talk to her, and didn't even know she'd come outside until some of the guards started heading in... Maybe that's what got Suzie's attention, got this girl noticed." Andy shrugged. "I don't know. But one way or another, consciously or not, that girl poked the bees' nest and they swarmed her."

"Can you be more specific? What exactly did they do?"

"Kicked her, hit her," said Andy, shrugging. "Pretty much started attacking every part of her body."

"Did you attack her too?"

Her eyes widened. "No," Andy replied. "Why would I—?"

"If you didn't intend for there to be a fight, then how did it go from one girl being beaten to such a large-scale incident?"

"Suzie wasn't letting up on the girl," Andy said. "And she'd killed an inmate early on in my time there... It looked like there was going to be a repeat." She paused. "So I stepped in. I just wanted to pull the girl out. And the guards – I think there were maybe only two or three left outside – weren't stepping in. I mean, Suzie has a lot of people so I don't blame them, but this girl was going to die."

"The facility has trained guards—"

"Who were too busy dealing with whatever was going on inside," Andy blurted out. Had she not just explained the situation? "The guys outside, they looked scared, and it was clear that they weren't going to do anything. But this girl wasn't going to survive without help, so I tried to get her away from Suzie's group, but Suzie flipped... And, I really don't remember what happened after that."

"What did Suzie do? How did she flip?"

"She attacked me."

"Did you provoke her?"

"No," Andy said, frowning.

"Did you retaliate?"

"No."

"You said you don't really remember what happened after Suzie flipped. Is it possible that you retaliated but don't remember it?"

"No, I—"

"Is it also possible that you were responsible for the death of Suzie Johnson?" the lawyer challenged.

"What?" Andy cried, eyes wide and jaw slack as she jerked upright in her chair.

"Answer the question."

"She's... she's dead?" She hated Suzie, but she definitely hadn't killed her. Hell, she remembered being stabbed and then lying on the ground thinking she was dying. There was no way she could have attacked and killed Suzie, so why was she being questioned about it? Unless they were trying to get her for murder... somehow. Had she been wrong? Had she actually done something, but managed to block it out?

"Did you kill or have a member of your group kill Suzie Johnson?"

Andy shook her head, not sure if she could trust her voice.

"I need a verbal response," the judge said.

"No," Andy replied, her voice cracking.

"Do you know who killed Suzie Johnson?"

"No." She could feel her control slipping again.

"So you didn't ask anyone to kill Suzie or hurt her in any way on that day or any other?" Mr. Laurent pressed.

"No," Andy said again, her heart rate skyrocketing when her eyes flicked up to the lawyer's face. He was definitely out for blood. She felt her breath hitch. No, no, no, no, she thought. Not now. Not again. Squeezing her eyes shut, she focused on getting a solid breath in, but as fear shot through her, each breath became shorter and sharper.

"We'll reconvene in an hour," the judge said, gesturing for someone to step forward and help Andy.

Sam and Oliver exchanged a look. Getting to his feet, Sam flashed his badge and stepped towards the stand. "Unhook her."

The guard obeyed, unhooking her from the stand, but leaving the handcuffs firmly in place.

With a quick look around to make sure that everyone but Oliver and the guard had left the room, Sam said to Andy, "Don't second guess yourself. You know what happened, so don't question that. They're going to come at you from any and every angle. Don't let them get to you though. Just trust your gut. They've got nothing on you."

Andy opened her eyes and raised her head to look at him.

"And if you can't trust yourself, then trust me... We didn't know she died, but we've seen the video. They've got absolutely nothing on you, so keep it simple, stick to the truth, and you'll be fine."

"I'm not wrong?" she managed between sharp breaths.

"No," Sam replied. "So breathe. You have nothing to worry about."

"Why?" Andy said. "Why are..." She took in another sharp breath. "...they coming after..." Another breath. "Me?"

"They've done it to a few others too," Sam said. "I think they're just trying to shake someone up, rattle them, get them to talk." He left out the fact that the lawyer hadn't gone quite this hard at the others. "There were too many people out there, so you can't tell by watching the video who actually got Suzie, but you were already on the ground, and nothing prior to that suggests that you intended to fight. So just try to stay focused and don't give them anything that they can twist around."

Her breathing evened out a little. "Why are you helping me?"

"Do you have any idea how much that guy worries about you?" Sam said quietly, nodding in Oliver's direction.

Andy's eyes flicked over to Oliver and an expression Sam couldn't quite read passed over her face before she schooled her features.

"Plus, you kind of saved my kid, right?" His lips twitched upward.

She quirked an eyebrow. "Kind of?" Andy said, her breathing now back to normal. "Was your kid hit by a car, or was I?"

Sam shrugged. "Can't let it go to your head," he replied. "Your trial isn't done yet, so we can't have you thinking you're invincible."

Andy's eyes narrowed.

"All I'm saying is that you were hit by a car and stabbed, but you're still here. Don't press your luck."

She considered his words, losing herself to her thoughts for the duration of the recess. She hadn't even noticed when Sam stepped back or when Oliver tried to talk to her. It wasn't until the judge's movement caught her attention out of the corner of her eye that she snapped out of it. "Do you have a copy of the video showing the incident?"

The judge looked down at her and, after a long pause, said, "Yes."

"The whole thing?"

The judge nodded.

Andy's eyes scanned the room, her lips twitching when she saw the man who now sat at the back. Staff Sergeant Boyko. In part, his presence made her nervous, but at the same time, it was reassuring. He gave her a small nod. Swallowing hard, she turned to the judge. "I'd like to forego my rights to a lawyer." She took in the shocked expressions. Even Boyko looked a little surprised. "And yes, I mean it. I don't want one, especially not her."

"Very well," the judge said, looking a little skeptical.

The woman grabbed her things and stormed out of the room, giving Andy a dirty look before letting the doors close behind her. Andy merely shrugged. It's not like the woman had been doing anything anyway. Her attention quickly settled on Mr. Laurent.

"Based on other statements, it appears you've gathered quite the following. Is that correct?"

"A following?" Andy repeated, laughing a little. "What exactly do you think constitutes a following?"

"You're in charge of a large group. They follow you, do what you say, support you."

"Then no," Andy replied. "I don't have a following. I don't lead anybody but myself."

"Then what would you call the group you've gathered?"

Andy stared at the lawyer for a long moment. They weren't friends, but they weren't a following either. "People I talk to, hang out with."

"Friends?"

"Not exactly."

There was a brief pause. "And when speaking with them, did you ever ask or imply that you wanted Suzie dead or hurt in any way?"

"No," said Andy, her eyes briefly landing on Oliver and Sam again. Ever since she'd denied a lawyer, Oliver's head had been firmly planted in his hands.

"It's already been established that you've engaged in a few fights. Your record at the juvenile detention centre confirms this. But, the statements of the people you talk to, all indicate that this group is centred around you... And that these people were involved in these same fights because of you."

Andy remained silent. There was no point in denying it or speaking at all if nothing was asked. That would only increase the chances that she'd let something slip.

"Did you ask them to fight for you?"

"No."

"How did the rivalry start between you and Suzy Johnson?"

It took Andy a moment to adjust to the shift. "I'm a cop's daughter, so it's not hard to see how that would put a target on my back. I mean, my dad and his co-workers likely arrested quite a few of them, Suzy included. So, it automatically gave me a reputation, a bad one, and made me a target pretty quickly."

"And did you have any animosity towards Suzie?"

"I knew the reason she was in there, but no, I didn't... That place is filled with murderers and people who committed all kinds of horrific crimes. And while you might keep the nature of their crime in the back of your head, in that place, if you're alone, you're dead."

"So you gathered a following for protection?"

"No," Andy said, a hint of anger in her voice. Why couldn't this guy understand that it wasn't a following? She took a deep breath. "I found people to watch my back, not fight for me, but keep an eye open and give me a heads up if something was wrong."

"How did you get their support?"

"I won a fight not long after I got there," Andy explained. "Respect earned me loyalty from most of them."

"And the rest?"

Andy bit down on her lower lip. "I bribed them."

"With what?" Mr. Laurent pressed.

"In exchange for watching my back, I supplied them with books and things that they wouldn't normally have on a regular basis." She paused. "I helped at the centre's library and got on the good side of a lot of the employees, so if they gave me something, I used it to my advantage... By giving up a little bit of comfort, I gained security and the knowledge that I was more likely to survive the remaining months in that place because I had people keeping an eye open for me."

The lawyer stared at her for a long moment before abruptly shifting the direction of the questions yet again. "I've read your file Miss McNally, and know why you were sent to the detention centre. Do you regret your actions?"

Andy looked at the judge. "I'm not sure how this is relevant to what happened that day."

"I've asked Mr. Laurent to proceed with this. In your current condition, it's unlikely that you'll be able to return to the detention centre, and with your record at the centre, you won't receive early parole. And, since the hospital released you this morning, we need to determine the best course of action."

Andy's mouth fell open. "Oh," was all she could manage. Her eyes flicked to Oliver and Sam, and then to Boyko. Had they known? She took a deep breath to try to calm herself. The last thing she needed was to have another panic attack.

"Mr. Laurent, please repeat the question," the judge said.

The lawyer did as asked.

Andy glanced back at Oliver and Sam, then down at her hands. Did she regret it? There was a long stretch of silence. "No."

The lawyer looked surprised. "No further questions."

"Can I say something?" Andy said quickly.

The judge nodded.

"I don't entirely regret it. What I do regret is that a man was shot and could have died, and that the guy who shot him walked away. If anyone else had been hurt, I would have regretted that too and I probably wouldn't have been able to forgive myself. But I'm assuming my phone was checked, numbers were tracked, and it probably didn't take long for the cops to catch him. And I know that what I did was wrong. He shot a guy and I let him walk." She took a deep breath and wet her lips before continuing. "It's probably the dumbest thing I could have done. But, even if given the chance, I don't know if I'd do anything differently because I don't regret helping someone important to me. Not the guy who shot the clerk, but the one I was with. He was in the same position as me. The only difference... the only mistake he made was not helping the guy after." She paused. "But he put a roof over my head, and gave me a semblance of a life when I didn't have anywhere to go, so I don't regret trying to protect him..." She lowered her eyes. "He was scared and he ran, and as wrong as the whole situation was, I didn't think he deserved to go to prison, so I backed him up. And yeah, it was stupid, but if you can't support the people you love, especially when they make a mistake, then I think we're all screwed."

There was another moment of silence. "Do you believe you deserved to go to prison more than he did?"

"Based on the situation and what happened, no," Andy admitted. "But who knows where I would have been if he hadn't taken me in. I owed him, and honestly I don't think he could have survived in prison… so, I made a decision. I was aware of the consequences, and I knew that the probability of the shooter being caught was high, so I made the decision to help someone who needed it more than I did, and maybe you can't understand that, but it's something I had to do, just like for the last 6 months I've had to be someone I'm not. But, it's allowed me to survive and if that makes me wrong, then so be it, but I've already been judged for my initial mistake, and I didn't touch Suzie, so if trying to save a girl's life makes me guilty, then something is seriously wrong with this world." She hesitated. "Of course I have regrets, and no, I didn't want Suzie to die. She was a terrible person, but nobody deserves that, not even her. But did I cause it? No. I was trying to help another girl and she stabbed me. And whatever happened afterwards, didn't involve me... Whatever choices were made, were made by others, not me."

Andy wasn't sure how much time had passed before they were being pulled back into the courtroom, but it felt like hours. It didn't help that she had no idea what anybody was thinking. She'd said more than she'd intended to, especially towards the end, and it had likely done more harm than good. She really didn't know how to answer the question any other way though. As she shifted in the hard chair, she groaned. Her abdomen was throbbing and she was starting to get a headache.

When the door finally opened, the guard led her back inside. She did her best to look up at the judge, but she found herself zoning out. It wasn't intended, but the pain was almost unbearable and she was having trouble focusing on almost anything. All of her energy had been spent. There was nothing left.

Nearby shuffling snapped out of it. She glanced at the guard beside her, but he showed no sign of moving, so she stayed put, swallowing the lump in her throat as she turned to look back at the judge.

"Andrea McNally," the judge said. "You've been deemed unfit to return to the juvenile detention centre, therefore, you are hereby sentenced to complete the remainder of your time under house arrest."

"Uh what?" Andy said, her mouth falling open. She'd had a system going and with Suzie out of the way, things may have been more manageable. But, if she wasn't going back to juvi, who the hell was she going to be staying with? This could be bad, really bad. As dread set in, she hesitantly asked, "Whose house?"

There was a brief spell of silence.

"Mine."

Thanks for reading! So what do you guys think? (By the way, great guess Tiger – you were right about the house arrest part).

Any thoughts as to where Andy's going to be living for the next few months?

Up next, Andy struggles to adjust to life under house arrest and finds herself constantly butting heads with everyone.