A/N: Sorry! Well you'll be glad to know there are only around four more chapters left and of those – the last two are written (almost finished anyways) So here we go…
Let me know what you think :)
Chapter 10 – See you around.
She stirred from her slumber as the room began to light slightly from the small daylight streaming through the window. She peeled her eyes open slowly, allowing them to adjust to the small lighting. As she shifted her body carefully, attempting to stretch the muscles, she noticed the heavy arm that lay sprawled along her waist. Lifting her hand from in front of her, she lowered it to rest on top of the calloused hand that lay across her stomach. She began tracing the pad of her thumb across his knuckles, relishing in the contrast of rough and smooth. Her eyes just began to shutter slowly as she felt his hand flip over and grasp her own.
She felt his warm breath graze her ear as he whispered quietly "Morning"
"Morning" she replied gently.
He was placing quick kisses to the meeting point of her neck and shoulder when his phone burst into life. Muttering he jumped out of the bed and made his way over to small coffee table where his phone was vibrating violently. He grasped at it, flipping it open as he put it to his ear. Andy lay on her side in the bed, watching as he paced in front of the couch. A few seconds later he returned to the sit on the edge of the bed next to her, she looked at him expectantly.
"The bridge is open, we have to grab Swann and make our way back"
"Great" she muttered sleepily, her eyes gently closing.
"No wonder you're always late to parade" he stated, shaking her gently "C'mon Andy, sooner we get going, sooner we get home"
She lifted herself to a sitting position "Fine"
"You're like a completely different person without your morning coffee, huh?" he asked, wearing a small smirk.
"If I say yes will you get me some?" she asked.
He chuckled softly, "You get back to your room and get ready, and I'll go over the road and see if they have some"
She smiled appreciatively before leaning in as if to kiss him, he edged forward slightly prepared to meet her lips "be quick" she ordered, before diving out of the bed and out of the room leaving him shaking his head in her wake.
Twenty minutes later she'd just finished changing when she heard quick three taps against her door. She strode over and swung the door open to find Sam leaning against the doorframe, uniform on, two cups of coffee in hand and a dimply smile plastered on his face. She smiled at the sight as he handed a cup over to her "You ready?" he asked, following her back into her room.
"I am now" she motioned to the coffee in her hand. Reaching for her bag that sat on the bed, she swung it on to her shoulders as she grabbed the room key on the coffee table.
"I just need to grab my bag from my room" he explained as they both made their way out of her room, locking the door behind them.
They walked on down to his room, and she followed him in once he had opened his door. She walked over to the old looking couch and rested against the back of it whilst he collected the last of his things to put in his bag. He suddenly stopped and walked over to her, pulling her into his warmth. He lowered his head as she raised hers and pressed a gently yet demanding kiss to her lips. He pulled back and smiled, "You owed me that this morning" he explained, returning to his bag.
She laughed lightly as her gaze landed on the paper that lay on the worn coffee table. She reached over for it just as he came back to stand by her, "Hand them over" he commanded softly. She eyed him warily as she handed the paper over, watching as he folded the paper in four before reaching into his pocket. She smiled as he placed the folded paper into a pocket of his wallet. He flashed a dimply smile before returning his wallet to its rightful place as though nothing had happened. "Okay then, you ready?" he asked, propping his bag up on to his shoulder. She nodded following him back out into the corridor.
"Hey…uh thanks a lot for letting me have the cuffs up front" Swann motioned with his restrained hands "I appreciate it"
Sam remained silent and so Andy took it upon herself to reply "Uhh…yeah no problem it's a long ride"
"No..no, really it was a nice thing to do" Swann replied as Sam eyes to wandered to the mirror, analysing his actions silently.
"So how long have you been a cop there, Officer Mc..Mc-what was that?"
Andy strained her neck slightly to peer back at him, "McNally" she offered. Sam's gaze flickered to her for a second before turning back to the road in front of him. "Umm, not too long" she replied.
"You like it?" Swann continued.
Andy began to lose her wariness, opening up slightly "Yeah, some days" she smiled to the road, her gaze sweeping over Sam slightly.
Swann yet again continued "Well, I guess it's like any job huh? There's ups and downs"
Sam finally removed the invisible gag from his mouth, releasing a sound for the first time since they had entered the car with the prisoner "Yeah? What would you know about having a job?" he asked Swann's reflection in the overhead mirror, a smirk settling itself upon his lips.
"Hey man, before I got picked up I was apprenticing, trynna put the past behind me" Sam let a look of disbelief settle on his face as he nodded feigning understanding. "Guess you could say we're both newbies" Swann stated to Andy.
The smugness washed away from Sam's features as he heard the statement. Enough is enough, he decided. "That's enough talking, McNally"
Andy's eyes flickered over to the sombre look her partner wore.
"Sorry… didn't mean to get you in trouble there" Swann whispered in Andy's direction. Her gaze remained fixed on the road ahead, consciously obeying Sam's soft command. "We're not allowed to talk, that's the way you roll right?" he asked Sam, "Chief? Strong, silent type…" Sam's gaze focused on the road ahead, although Andy's flickered over to see the sombre expression still evident "I can tell, like to build up a mystique – keep those ladees thinking you got more going on behind those smouldering eyes than there really is huh?" Sam felt his frustration hit him, but he refrained from speaking. Swann chuckled slightly "How am I doing Officer McNally?" Andy smiled to herself but Swann quickly noticed "Right on the money I bet"
They fell into silence as Swann sat smugly in the back, allowing them to mull over his comments.
Right on the money, Andy thought. Smouldering eyes? Check. Mystique? Check. But Andy knew there really was always more to Sam. There's way more behind those smouldering eyes than even Sam's aware of. That was something Andy had grown fond of over the past few months. Those little moments where Sam would let the little crack in his exterior grow large enough to let her in, to share with her. She cherished those small moments, special moments. Luke had always seemed open to her but he had never shared his most precious secrets or memories. Her gaze flickered over to Sam, he's different. Although Sam may not always open up, he lets her in – for the briefest of moments she sees him as a different Sam. Her gaze remained on him as he turned his head slightly with a small smile; she smiled back before getting herself comfortable in her seat. Different, she decided, definitely what I want.
An hour later found them at the gas station; the heavy rain had let up allowing them a few precious minutes to stretch their legs. Andy stood next to Sam washing the stained window whilst he filled up the tank.
"Why do men always wait till the last minute to fill up the gas" Andy wondered out loud.
Sam smirked slightly "It wasn't the last minute" he pointed out.
She smiled at him slightly "It was on empty, we would have been running on fumes for the rest of the way"
Swann hung against the open door, "Needle on empty means a quarter tank" he contributed.
"No one asked you" Sam fired back.
"Empty means empty" Andy stated, she turned to face Sam slightly "Y'know it's a good thing we're friends" she smirked.
"You guys aren't friends" Swann pointed out.
She shifted her weight back to face him, "Yeah, we are" she replied warily.
"C'mon… you got nothing in common, then there's the power dynamic, right? I mean, you gotta boss her around all the time, you running around trying to please him at every turn"
Andy coughed slightly, a fake chuckle "No I'm not" she shook her head.
"Heey, he's got a lot of expectations." Swann continued, "kinda feel like you owe him something, well let me tell you friends they don't owe, they do cause they wanna do"
Sam noticed the defeat in Andy slightly, "If I buy you a hotdog will you shut up?" he asked, finishing with the gas.
"Put mustard on it… please"
Sam stepped past her, his hand gently squeezing her free hand out of Swann's view. She glared at him as he wandered away, leaving Andy to finish the window "He just likes silence" Andy explained, feeling a need to defend him, to defend them.
She let her eyes wander to her feet as she placed the wiper down, "Hey… how long you guys been sleeping together?"
Andy instantly felt the heat hit her cheeks "What? No, we're not" she replied, albeit too quickly, at the sight of Swann's look of disbelief she continued "No, we're just, just friends… I just… I… I'm gonna pay for the gas."
Four hours later found Andy sat uncomfortably on the wet bonnet of the car as Sam tended to the gash on her knee. Swann, finally captured, slept almost innocently in the back seats.
"Sorry" Sam apologized as he dabbed away at her knee.
"It's okay" she replied automatically.
He worked in silence, tenderly. Her eyes wandered over his face as he worked, memorizing every inch. He pulled the leg of her pants down carefully before standing up straight to meet her gaze "You're leg's good to go, you wanna try putting some weight on it?" he asked reaching out a hand to steady her.
She nodded as she met his hand with her own; he pulled her to him as she hoisted herself off of the bonnet, setting her leg to the ground. "That's great, thank you" she replied, lifting her head to realise how closely they stood, their hands still intertwined.
Their eyes met and he looked away almost guiltily, "I'm really sorry for freaking out on you" he apologized and Andy immediately recognized the sincerity in his voice. "I just saw you, I thought you'd been hurt" he trailed off. She nodded in understanding, letting him know he was forgiven. She gazed into his eyes for what seemed like hours, completely lost in the warmth being so close to him offered. He leant forward brushing his fingertips against her cheek, leaning in their lips almost met before he quickly dropped his head, resting his forehead against hers "Rules" he whispered with a small smirk.
She nodded against his head, "First day and we almost broke a rule – great start" she smiled.
"You're idea not mine" he replied, kissing her forehead as they released themselves from one another.
He began helping her over to her door, "Oh and speaking of rules… what the hell was that back at the gas station?"
"What?" he asked, feigning innocence as he helped her into her seat.
She glared at him and his innocent expression broke, a smirk creeping to his lips "I told you I don't play by rules" and with that he closed her door.
"Detective Barber… This is Ray Donald Swann, he's a snake in the grass and he's all yours" Sam literally handed the prisoner over to the detective.
"Hello Ray, you're under arrest for the murder of Mark Daniels and Carl Divasso, let's go" he began to lead him away to the holding cells, a look of astonishment and devastation etched on Swann's features.
Sam and Andy watched as he was led away, leaving them both to gaze at one another in silence.
"Your leg okay?" he asked quietly.
She nodded in silence a small smile on her lips.
"Good" he nodded sharply, before leaning into place a quick chaste kiss to her lips.
"Sam!" she exclaimed hitting his arm, "the rules?" she whispered sternly.
"McNally, I thought I explained to you. Just because you're going to play by these rules doesn't mean I am" he explained.
"Well what about earlier, you stopped me then" she stated with confusion.
"Yeah cause the only person who's gonna be breaking these rules are me, don't want to bring you to the dark side now do I?" he asked.
She shook her head and smiled at him, they stood in silence for a few seconds.
He smiled softly, "See you around pal?"
She nodded, "See you around…buddy"