A/N: Hopefully you guys still love me. I know it has been long between updates. Still following the episodes, sort of, hope you enjoy this next segment. Have borrowed some lines they are the not my genius.

Chapter 10 Day of Reckoning

Andy woke up thrilled at the thought of being cut loose….. For about a minute. It had been a long hard year. The academy was grueling enough but actually doing what they were taught was a whole other story. No amount of training or teaching could have prepared her for what she would experience on the streets. The past few months had been some for the record books. Arresting an undercover cop on her first shift, destroying his months of work, her disastrous prostitute imitation, poor Benny, her first shoot, making out with her training officer, her relationship with Luke, the trip to Sudbury, and most recently, her father as a potential murder suspect. It was almost too much to comprehend. Trying to be a glass is half full type of person, she made a mental list of the positives. Her dad was getting help, finally. She had an extended family, her rookie friends, the rest of the division, Sam….. Somehow everything led back to Sam. Sam who despite his cover being blown, gave her a lead for her first arrest. Sam who trained her and protected her, always. Sam who loved her even when she was with someone else. Sam, who she now knew she couldn't live without. Quite a revelation for Andy. Someone who spent most of her life not trusting people, keeping everyone at arm's length, and always waiting for the other shoe to drop. Sam loves me. She smiled and those three words alone were the motivation for her to jump out of bed and hit the shower.

As Andy headed toward the locker room, she tried her dad's phone again. Where the heck was he? As she continued walking lost in thought she ran head on into Luke. "Uh, hey." She blurted out.

"Yeah, hey."

"Luke, listen, I'm sorry about the other day. I shouldn't have withheld that information from you but I was in a panic and I didn't think that you would be objective considering what has gone on with us the past couple of months. I was just trying to get as much information as I could before it was all over the division."

"Don't worry about it McNally, Sam had your back, as usual." He said it more bitterly than he meant it but shut the door in her face all the same. Ok, so his ego was bruised but she was right. Things hadn't been right between them. He cared about her but obviously not enough to take him away from the job. As he sat solemnly at his desk, he hoped that one day he would find that someone that would make work come second, and despite his attitude toward Andy, he hoped that she would find what she was looking for also.

Andy stared at the door just slammed in her face. Whatever. She was done feeling guilty when it came to Luke. She didn't love him, he didn't love her. What was the point of rationalizing the fact that they weren't meant to be together? Luke would eventually catch on. She hoped sooner than later. As she spun around to continue to the locker room, she came face to face with Sam.

"McNally, it's a door, you knock and it opens." He smiled.

She gave him a half smile back.

"You okay?"

"Nothing a solid ten hours on the job can't fix."

"Yeah, be careful with that. Putting on the uniform to get away from your life, makes it harder and harder to take it off." He said with concern.

"Don't worry Sam" she smiled, "I have no problem taking it off." She said it only for his ears, his ears that were now on fire. She couldn't help the blush that was creeping up her own neck as she realized the forwardness of her statement.

She gave him a quick wink and ran to get changed.

Hurricane Andy raced into parade as usual, her friends giving her a knowing smile. Best reminded them that after shift they would hear the results of their evaluations which would determine whether they would be cut loose or not. They were nervous, really nervous. It wasn't that they felt that they had done anything so severe that would warrant an extended probationary period, but then again, like every day on this job, you never know.

Rookies were given their assignments. Sam was paired with Gail and Andy with Noelle. Andy was disappointed not to be paired up with Sam on her last tour. They had mostly ridden together over the past 6 months so she would have assumed that they would paired again on the day they would become full-fledged coppers.

Andy tried to hide what she was feeling. Sam knew exactly what she was thinking and hoped that the next ten hours would fly by and then they could make plans to see each other later.

Things had been great with Sam outside of work. He was kind and sweet and funny. The more time she spent with him, the more she fell in love with him. But that was for her to know and him to find out. Eventually.

The night was fairly quiet for a Friday. Noelle commented to Andy the same.

"Just thinking."

"McNally, I meant the streets."

"Oh. Yeah. ….Aren't you afraid to jinx us?"

"Listen rookie, you wear this uniform for enough time, you'll see, the calls come when they come."

Suddenly, the radio crackled to life, "1504, we have a report of a possible sudden death at 413 Beckett Street, witnesses are fleeing the scene, please respond."

Andy didn't say a word, just pursed her lips and looked over at the senior officer.

"My bad." Noelle said as she raced to the scene.

The residence was packed with college age kids. Most drunk and vomiting, others in stunned silence. A young woman was found dead on the patio after having fallen from the rooftop deck. Andy pulled an id from the girls pocket and handed it to Noelle. The name was Ashley Kennedy. Unfortunately, the license was definitely not that of the dead girl. The coroner had pronounced her dead and the Crime Investigation Bureau and the Detectives started to infiltrate the scene. Meanwhile uniformed officers tried to take statements from the other party guests. Andy tried to convince Noelle that they should go to the address on the license. There were plenty of other cops to help out. Reluctantly Noelle followed her rookie's lead.

When they rang the doorbell at the residence, the spitting image on the license stood before them. This could not be good. They were invited inside and asked the young .woman if it was possible that someone had her license. She swore that it wasn't possible till she searched her purse and found it missing. She did mention that her younger sister had asked to borrow it a few days earlier but she had declined. Worse than this was that Noelle had found a picture of the deceased girl on the sofa table. Officer Williams asked the girl, Ashley, to get her mother. Andy felt like she was going to be sick. Noelle grabbed her by the shoulders and looked her in the eyes, "You are going to tell the mother."

"No, no, ….I can't."

"McNally, unfortunately, this is part of the job. They discussed this with you in the academy. You know what to do, keep it short, don't drag it out."

"Can I help you officers?"

"Ms. Kennedy, could you please have a seat.?

"I don't need to sit down. Did something happen?"

"Your daughter, Julia, had an accident."

"Is she ok?"

"No ma'am,… I'm sorry, she's not… She's dead… We are so sorry."

The mother, a career soldier, remained stoic. Ashley broke down into hysterics. Andy did everything she could not to break down herself.

The mother tried to console her daughter, still showing very little emotion. The two officers left them for a few minutes to let the news register. Noelle would check in with the Detectives to see if any progress had been made. Andy could not believe that she was responsible for the pain they were experiencing, even if indirectly. Noelle snapped her out of her daze.

"McNally, we need to separate them. Find out all we can, who were her friends, any boyfriends, was she depressed?"

"Depressed? You think it was a suicide?"

"Not necessarily, but we can't rule anything out."

"Noelle, she wouldn't kill herself. I know it. I'm from the same kind of broken family, Julia wouldn't have done anything to hurt her mom."

"Okay….Just….see what you can find out. Take the sister."

Andy went to sit with Ashley. It was the usual story, she was well liked, lots of friends, good student but no serious boyfriend that she knew of.

Meanwhile, Sam and Gail had uncovered the name of a possible boyfriend, Adam. They located him and brought him back to the precinct for questioning. It didn't take long for Sam to get the information he wanted from young, arrogant Adam. He quickly made a call to Noelle.

Noelle hung up the phone and waved Andy over to her. "It just got worse"

Andy couldn't fathom how it could get any worse.

"That was Swarek,…..Julia was pregnant."

Andy could not possibly give this family more bad news. Noelle approached the family and in her softest tone informed the family of the latest development.

Ashley burst into tears and needing air, ran out the front door. Dana retreated to her downstairs office. Only a few minutes passed when Andy heard noises from downstairs. She quietly and cautiously made her way downstairs unsure of what she would find. She certainly was not prepared for what she saw. Dana was sitting at her desk, her service revolver in her hand.

"Oh my God, Dana no!"

"What kind of mother have I become?"

"Dana, don't move, let's talk about this."

"One minute you're sifting through body parts, the next your daughter is standing in your bedroom to say good night. How do you go from one to the next?"

"I don't know."

"And, there's a part of you that knows that you should open up to her because she needs you, but you can't, because if you crack that armor long enough to let her in, you will go back over there with it still cracked."

"I understand."

"You don't. How could you possibly understand? You just wait another ten years, you just wait till this job has ruined every relationship you've tried to have. You wait until one day some stranger knocks on your door and tells you your baby is dead, and the worst thing is you aren't even surprised, because everyone you have ever loved, every one you have ever gotten close to has turned to dust."

"This isn't your fault." Dana suddenly raised the gun to her temple. "No Dana, please don't do this."

Fortunately, Noelle came running in the room and diffused the situation. She grabbed the weapon and Andy handcuffed Dana for her safety.

Andy let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding. If not for Noelle, she was sure that this would have ended poorly. It was a time like this when she couldn't imagine being on the streets alone.

Noelle found McNally and ushered her to the Sgt. Best's office to find out about her evaluation. Andy stood before Frank's desk speechless. Frank was unaware of the various emotions that were making her brain spin. She was doing everything she could not to break down sobbing. Today had been extremely taxing and right now she couldn't care less about being cut loose. All she wanted was to go home and lie in her bed and have Sam hold her.

"McNally?"

"Sorry sir."

"This is your rookie evaluation, your report card. This is an excellent evaluation. Your training officer thinks you are a good cop, one day he thinks you'll be a great cop. Let me take you through the categories, problem solving, report writing, uniform all excellent marks." He was smiling, Andy was not.

"McNally, you're not smiling."

"Sorry sir. No, I'm glad it's a good evaluation. It's just,…. tonight really scared the hell out of me."

"It should. You had a rough shift."

"It's not this one shift, it's every shift…. It's like it's all adding up, creeping up on me, and it finally took today to really see it."

"To see what?"

"The cost of doing this job." She begins to cry.

"Every bad call is like a ghost, and I know all too well what shoving those ghosts in a closet can do to a cop."

"You mean your old man?"

She nodded, "What if that happens to me?"

"Andy, the uniform does not make the cop. You the cop, make the uniform. There are as many ways to do this job as there are cops that do it." He sighed. "Give me your dad's shield. I understand that you are trying to honor your dad, but I think it's time to start fresh with your own badge number."

With that, he took her father's shield and placed it in a drawer. Andy actually felt a weight off of her shoulders. She loved her dad but it was time she started fresh. Being a cop, her way, she would build her career and her future on her own merits and in anticipation of the unknown, not in fear of repeating the mistakes of her father or anyone else for that matter. She was dismissed and made her way toward the locker room. On her way, she passed the trophy case. She looked at the pictures of herself and the other rookies. Each one brought a bigger smile to her face. Then it was like she found the missing puzzle piece. She had forgotten about this one picture. It was her and the other rookies, standing behind them were Sam, Oliver and Noelle. Sam had his hand on her shoulder and if she didn't know any better, a smile on his face. Just looking at him made her feel better. As she checked her watch, she realized it was time to go to the squad room. She ran upstairs to join her friends for the ceremony.

She raced in, fashionably late as always. Traci laughed as she joined her fellow rookies. It looked like that entire division had turned out. All she cared about was that Sam was there. It was all she could do not to grin at him. She really needed to hold herself together.

Frank called everyone to order.

"You've all been judged and you've been found…" he stood in front of each rookie as he uttered a word, "Capable, Resourceful, Loyal, Dedicated, and Courageous." The last word spoken as he stood in front of Andy. It was Sam's turn to hide his grin. He was so proud of her. She had learned so much and "girlfriend" or not, he would take her as his partner any day.

"So training officers , in the tradition of 15th Division, let's cut those ties."

Oliver cut the ties off Dov and Chris, Noelle cut Traci's. Sam quickly cut Gail's and finally stood face to face with Andy. Andy could feel his breath on her face and when he grabbed her tie she felt her whole body get warm. They shook hands and stayed joined probably a few seconds more than was warranted but neither seemed to care. Everyone hugged and offered congratulations and agreed to meet up at the Black Penny to celebrate. Everyone disbursed and quickly ran to the locker rooms to change.

The rookies stood in their back corner of the bar. Playing darts, having a beer, trying not to be frightened to death that their dream of being cut loose had finally become a reality. Tracy hit her third bulls eye in a row, uttered a quick goodbye and was out the door. Sam, Noelle and Oliver sat at their table grinning at their students. The rookies would have liked to think it was because they were so proud of them. The TO's knew better. No more rookies. They toasted to being rid of their "appendages". Sam, maybe not so much. He and Andy worked well together and he really hoped that Frank would consider keeping them as a team. One could only hope. Gail walked past the TO table to the bar. Sam got up and went to the bar to join her.

"Hey Peck, I promised you a drink, what's it gonna be?"

"Tequila!"

"Yeah, that's what I am talking about!"

As the bartender served them each a shot, they clinked glasses and it was bottoms up. Gail thanked Sam and got up to walk back to her friends, before she could he gently grabbed her arm.

"Got a second?"

"Sure, what's up?"

Sam hesitated,.He didn't normally get involved in the relationship mill but he almost felt like he needed to return the favor to Diaz after Chris' pep talk months before….."What's up with you and Diaz?"

"What do you mean ?" she smiled innocently

"I may look dumb Peck, but…."

"We're over. It's not gonna work out. Why do you ask?"

"He's a good guy. You need to give him a break."

"Yeah, he's too good. Gave up a fellow cop, when he should have just stayed out of it."

"Listen, it took a lot of guts to do what they did. Unfortunately, we weren't able to keep their names out of it but it was the right thing to do. Our job is to serve and protect and that's what he did. He was righting a wrong. Just because he got your brother's friend in trouble shouldn't matter, your brother made you choose a side, he should have kept out of it himself.…Chris loves you, he tried to do the right thing. I used to think that would be something a woman would look for in a guy but maybe not. What do I know?"

Gail knew he was right. She loved Chris, she just didn't know how to bridge the gap that had formed in their relationship. She had reacted poorly and honestly didn't know how to fix it.

"OK Sam. You've made your point. I'll talk to him."

"Good." He was facing Gail but his eyes were looking behind her.

"And Sam…something you should know…she's not your rookie anymore." She winked at him and gave a nod in Andy's direction. Sam looked back at his drink trying to hide the smile that was taking over his face.

Andy waited for Gail to walk away before she walked up to the bar. She stood next to him and ordered a round for her table. They made small talk till her order was up. She inconspicuously placed a bar napkin face down in front of Sam and placed a beer on top of it. A quick "See ya" and she made her way back to her friends. Sam couldn't help but watch her walk back,…. the whole way back. He took a swig of the beer and took the napkin off the bar. He flipped it over where only he could see it.

Drink up, you've got 5 minutes, I need to kiss you.

Sam almost spit the beer out at the guy sitting next to him.

Sam waited out the 5 minutes…well almost. He walked out to his truck scanning the parking lot for Andy. She was nowhere to be found. He got in his truck and went to put his key in the ignition when he smelled something, Andy's shampoo.

"I thought you changed your mind." He said looking into his rearview mirror.

"Not a chance Swarek." She giggled as she climbed into the front seat after checking that the coast was clear. She couldn't believe how giddy she got around him. Get it together Andy.

Immediately he grabbed her hand and squeezed it, "I missed you today."

"I missed you too" Suddenly the day's events came flooding back. " God Sam, It was an awful day….. that poor girl. I had to tell the family. That is the worst thing I have ever had to do."

He put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to him. "Sorry I wasn't there for you today."

"Sam, you can't be there every time."

""I know but I want to be."

She rested her head on his shoulder. "Well, you're here now and that's all that matters."

They went back to Sam's house. He grabbed a couple of beers and they made their way outside to start the grill. Sam stretched out on a lounger and pulled Andy to lay in his lap, her head leaning back against his chest. It was a clear, cool night but neither of them noticed as they lay snuggled together. The sound of Sam's stomach growling snapped them out of their bliss. They both laughed and went to the kitchen to grab burgers and corn to throw on the grill.

Andy felt like she was at home, she felt so comfortable. As they ate, they talked about everything under the sun. Conversation with Sam was always interesting and never forced. She couldn't believe how smart he was, how funny he was, how freaking good looking he was. How the heck did she not see this? Stupid Andy, who was so worried about choosing Mr. Right, she never realized that he was RIGHT in front of her. As they washed and dried dishes side by side, Sam nudged her hip.

"By the way, Congratulations Andy."

"Huh?"

"Being cut loose?...You're not my rookie anymore. You don't need a training officer anymore. And" he grinned "We won't have to hide…..us anymore. I mean, I think that we should wait a little bit but I will leave it up to you if and when you want to say anything."

"I can't wait to be able to gawk at you in public, that will be awesome but you're right, we should wait a little bit." She smiled but suddenly got serious. Sam noticed the change immediately and wondered what was on her mind.

"What is it?"

"No training officer means that we might not get to partner together."

"Don't worry, Best knows we're really good as a team, he probably won't mess with that. If not we'll still see each other at work."

"But sir" she wedged herself between him and the counter and smiled seductively, "I still feel that there is so much more you can teach me. Besides, I told you, I need to kiss you."

Oh boy.

Thank you for reading. Pretty sure just one more chapter after this. With the new season having started, so many new ideas coming to mind. Great thanks to all who review and continue to story alert.