A/N: This chapter is a little longer. We're going away for a few days for my birthday so it may be a week before I can update again. Hope this helps.

Thanks for reading!

I also really appreciate the reviews. Knowing people are reading and enjoying helps keep me motivated to write.

Sam had spent the last two hours typing case notes while trying to ignore the glances Andy kept casting (to say nothing of the ones he was casting himself). At one point he looked to his left and straight into Andy's eyes only to turn around and find himself looking right into Lindsey's (apparently no where was safe).

He quickly turned his attention back to his computer screen as Nash came in.

"We were about to head to lunch - you want to join us?" Traci looked at him as she reached for her purse.

"Who's we?"

Honestly he wasn't really in the mood for company, but he could tell that Lindsey was itching to start a conversation with him about god only knows what, and he was afraid in the mood he was in he may hurt her feelings – albeit accidently. (At least with Nash, she could sense when he didn't want to talk and left him alone.)

"Me and Lindsey….maybe Andy." Nash let the words trail off - her face giving away nothing.

"Maybe? You're leaving now - how do you not know?" Man he was irritable today. Lunch was probably a very bad idea.

The thing about attitude was Nash could give as good as she got. With a hand on her hip and an eyebrow cocked, she replied slowly and with a look he's was quickly becoming familiar with, "Okay… Myself, Lindsey, and Andy." Basically she was throwing him a challenge.

He was a grown man, much to old for this schoolyard shit. He knew Nash was daring him and he wished he were above it.

"Yeah ok… where you going? I'll meet you there."

But sadly he wasn't - very bad idea indeed.

Andy waited at the front desk, trying to ignore the looks Nick was tossing her way. She knew he wanted to tag along, (if only for the entertainment value) but she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of enjoying her discomfort.

She couldn't help but feel a little… uncomfortable about Lindsey. She saw the way the woman and been looking at Sam all morning - like a freaking piece of candy (hypocrisy not withstanding). She wanted to feel her out over lunch and she didn't need Nick breathing down her neck while she did it.

Traci had needed to make a couple of stops along the way so they were a few minutes late getting to the restaurant, a small family place that had been around for about twenty-five years.

When they walked in Sam was already seated at a booth in the back. Andy shot Traci a surprised glance, which Traci politely ignored as they walked over.

Even more surprising than finding Sam waiting for them was the way Lindsey hurried over to share his side of the booth. Traci actually did exchange a look with her this time.

Once everyone was seated and the menus handed out, it got very quiet.

Andy's plan of interrogating…uh getting to know….Lindsey was shot to hell by Sam's presence. She wasn't sure what to say to her now, so she occupied herself by looking at the menu, which she memorized years ago, and sipping her water.

Leave it to Lindsey to actually break the quiet…of course it wasn't directed at her.

"Hey Sam, what do you usually get? I've never been here before." When he didn't answer right away she continued on nervously, "While at twenty-seven we usually just stayed in our own jurisdiction during lunch, never made it over to this side of town much." She gave an uncomfortable laugh.

Meanwhile, Sam was looking at her like she asked him what the chemical makeup of plutonium was. (He really, really shouldn't have come today. Andy's presence alone was doing strange things to him – he was finding it a little hard to breathe.)

Always the diplomat, Traci jumped in with how great the salads were. And Andy, seeing her chance to play nice, suggested that the cheeseburgers were also excellent. (Plus it wouldn't hurt for the chick to gain a little weight.)

Sam, having recovered enough to realize he was being an ass, looked to Lindsey and said pretty much everything on the menu was great and this was one of their favorite places (he colored a little at their and looked back down at his menu).

Lindsey smiled at him then turned her attention to Andy.

"So Andy, Traci said you just got back from an under-cover assignment. That must have been so cool, I would love to do something like that one day."

Lindsey missed Sam's eye-roll - but Andy didn't.

She gritted her teeth and looked right at Sam "It was amazing - I really learned a lot. But if you're interested in under-cover work you're sitting next to a bona-fide savant."

Andy could tell Sam wasn't in a great mood, but her plan to show Lindsey just how grouchy he could be quickly backfired.

He smiled sweetly at Andy - then turned his full attention to Lindsey.

"If you're really interested in undercover work, I'd be more than happy to sit down and talk with you about it sometime." He threw his dimples in for good measure.

Andy could actually see Lindsey melt under the famous Swarek grin. (She was getting a little hot herself.) She glared at Sam but he only looked over at her and quirked his eyebrow – your move.

Andy heard a low snicker from Traci, who was enjoying this entirely too much. Andy gave her a hard look and went back to her menu.

For the rest of the meal Sam was overly gracious and interested in anything Lindsey said, and she had a lot to say under all this attention.

Andy couldn't help but appraise the blonde. She had to admit she seemed to have a lot going for her. Petite frame – couldn't have been over 5'2 and hundred pounds soaking wet. Startling blue eyes, which never seemed to focus on anything but Sam. And of course she was blonde with wavy hair that fell just below her shoulders. (Blonde! She knows how much he loves blondes- Monica, plus two former girlfriends she had him describe, before he stopped after she made a joke about his hang-up on blondes – she let it go after he made a reference to Luke also being blonde.) She's pretty sure she's the only brunette he's ever dated.

Seriously, Sam's head is about to explode. What was it his grandmother used to say? He cut off his nose to spite his face. He was pissed at Andy and without thinking it through, decided he would try and piss her off by talking to Lindsey. The flaw of course being that he had to actually talk.

He also didn't realize how much Lindsey liked to talk (could give McNally a run for her money). He had lost his appetite, but was still thrilled when the food arrived just so he could stuff his mouth and end this charade. The food however, didn't seem to slow Lindsey down at all. Sam just kept nodding and cramming burger into his mouth.

He kept glancing up at Andy, who had the opposite problem of Lindsey at the moment, she hadn't said a word in the last fifteen minutes (not that she really had a chance). She kept her eyes on her plate picking at her salad. Sam had started to feel a little bad. Andy hadn't actually done anything to piss him off, (well not today) and he hates seeing that puppy-dog face on her, all big sad eyes.

He decides to try to make amends (at least as far as lunch goes)

"Hey um, you never said how the UC stint went."

It actually takes a minute for Andy to realize he's talking to her.

"Oh, uh…no, I mean yeah it went great…I mean fine. It went fine." She rolls her eyes herself this time. But looks up to find Sam smiling at her. She grins and looks back down, shaking her head. After all this time he can still turn her into a blabbering idiot.

Traci shakes her head and says she over-heard Frank say it was a very successful op and he was sure they would want to use Andy and Nick again.

Andy notices the way Sam's easy smile is quickly replaced by a scowl again.

"Well I'm not sure under-cover work is my thing." Sam looks back up "I mean it was a great learning experience but I just don't think I'm cut out for being away from my family and friends for that long. You know my dad's getting older… it just doesn't seem worth it to me. How much you have to give up." She looks up and meets Sam's eye.

He clears his throat, "Well it's not for everyone, depends on where you are in your life… what you really want out of it."

Sam and Andy continue to stare at one another until Lindsey interrupts.

"Well it sounds fascinating! I would really like to talk with you about it sometime – I mean if the offer's still open?" She smiles at Sam.

Andy smiles to herself, Sam actually looks like a deer caught in headlights. She stops smiling when he replies, "Yeah, sure."

Sam's phone rings toward the end of lunch and he literally jumps to answer it. Told whoever it was that he was on the way before they could have possibly had time to ask for anything. Threw some money on the table and said he had to go. Traci asked if she was needed but he mumbled he could handle it as he walked away.

Traci, Andy, and Lindsey finished up their lunch and headed back to the barn. Andy was never so happy to get back to the front desk – at least until she saw Nick grinning ear to ear.

"Soooo….how did lunch go?"

"Bite me!"

He just laughed and went back to his work.

The rest of the shift was spent assisting walk-ins wanting to file reports ranging from stolen bicycles to missing children. By the end, all Andy wanted to do was go home to her bad-smelling apartment and pass out. This was so not the day she had hoped it would be.

As she walked out of the locker room with her bag slung over her shoulder, she looked to her left and saw Sam sitting at his desk with his head bent over a file. He seemed to be alone and she was debating about going to talk to him.

She knew they needed to have a conversation but she wasn't sure where to begin. This day had left her more confused than anything. One minute he was smiling at her and seemed genuinely happy to see her and the next he was grumpy and snarling.

As she stood trying to make up her mind Dov came out of the locker room.

"Hey!" He grabbed her in a tight hug - his enthusiasm already beginning to lift her spirits.

"I'm on my way to the Penny to meet the guys. You wanna lift?"

"I think I'm going to skip the Penny tonight. Was a long day, I'm kinda wiped out."

"Andy! It's your first day back! You have to come!"

Andy wondered if Dov ever got tired? She never saw him when he wasn't running on a full charge, kinda like that energizer bunny.

Dov started dragging her toward the door before she could start resisting again.

As she was being pulled down the hall, she couldn't help but throw one last look in Sam's direction – only this time he was looking back.

If there was one thing that hadn't changed while she was gone it was the Penny. Still smoky and hazy, tables in the exact same spots, even had the exact same people in the exact same spots.

Chris was at a table in the back with a pitcher of beer waiting for them.

"Where are Gail and Traci?" Andy asked as she sat down. Looking around she spots Gail in the back with Nick, looking like they made up, or at least were in the process of making up.

Dov answers anyway, "Well, Gail's in the back re-enacting a scene from Alien by eating Nick's face off. And Traci doesn't make it by as much since she made detective.

"However!" He starts getting excited again, "I sent her a text saying we were celebrating your return and she promised to stop by as soon as she drops Leo off at his dads."

Andy smiled and looked at Chris.

"So what's new with you? Dov filled me in on all his achievements since I've been gone. High score in World of War-craft, high-speed pursuit, twins…"

Chris looked offended, "Oh, he did not…you know…the twins! He had a date with one of them and the other one showed up to return a movie while they were eating dinner."

"She stayed!"

"Yeah Dov, to eat with you, not….well not anything else."

"You weren't there, you don't know!"

"You told me!"

Andy held up her hands, "Okay guys…alright, anyway…Chris what's new with you?"

"Um…well…um."

Andy smiled – Chris did not do well with attention. Give him a guy with a gun and he knew exactly what to do, ask him a direct question and he… uh, um….

Lucky for him Traci picked that moment to sit down, looking around the table.

"Where's the beer?" Traci laughed as she reached for the pitcher. "Well this is kind of weird. First time it's been just the four of us in….I can't even remember how long." "Where's Gail….ah never mind." She smiled noticing Gail and Nick in the corner.

Andy was trying to decide if she should mention Lindsey or Sam. She hadn't really had a chance to talk to Traci alone except for the few minutes at the desk this morning. She took another long drink of beer.

"You didn't bring Lindsey?"

Traci raised an eyebrow and smiled, "Didn't know you wanted me to?"

"Well no…it's just you know, you're training her and I thought…well I don't know, maybe you were friends or whatever." God, she should have just kept her mouth shut.

But Traci just laughed. "She's a nice girl, but I spent all day with her. I'm good."

Andy let it go after that and just enjoyed hanging with her friends. She didn't realize how much she had missed this - it felt comfortable, familiar. In that little bit of time just talking and catching up, she was able to push her worries regarding Sam, aside for a while and relax, for what seemed like the first time in months.

Of course nothing last forever.

She knew the moment Sam walked through the door. It amazed her how she could always tell when he entered a room – had always been able to. It was like the air became charged or something. Trying to be subtle, she slowly turned in her chair, only to find herself staring right into his eyes. Maybe he was hyper-aware of her too.