A/N: Hi guys, so this chapter wasn't the one I initially set out to write (I'm finding that an awful lot with my stories at the moment). But I think it flows well with the story so far.

Obviously, while this is going to end up being a McSwarek ending, it would not do to have them end up together so easily - where's the fun in that? All good stories need to put their main characters through the ringer a few times, it builds character, or so I'm told.

Anyway…so get ready for a little surprise coming Andy's way. I hope you like the twist I'm going to add to the next chapter. I think it makes more sense than the way the show did it. :-)

As always, thank you all for following, favouriting and reviewing. You guys are epic.

Oh and Kate1701 – I ask for feedback because I truly want to know what works and what doesn't. You'll never offend me if you are speaking honestly. I hope this time around it doesn't detract from the main story too much; I've tried to make it a lot shorter anyway. Thank you for reviewing the chapters and for giving me your opinion. I might not always use it, but I will always take it on board and be thankful for it.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy.

Chapter 10

Andy stood outside the door, her hand raised, paused in the act of knocking. She knew she should knock, go in, deal with what had happened yesterday, but whenever she tried she kept picturing Jenkin's face as they had raced back in the APC. Sighing Andy let her hand fall once more. She had done it again. She had gotten one of her colleagues hurt in a situation they had no reason being in. True, Traci hadn't been shot, she hadn't died, but she easily could have and it would have been Andy's fault.

"Are you going to knock, or are you just going to stand there all day like an idiot?" came Traci's voice, pulling Andy out of her self-imposed misery.

"Traci?" Andy looked around, trying to pinpoint her friend's location.

"Up here you moron." Traci laughed, lobbing something small and yellow at Andy to get her attention.

"Traci?" Andy said again, this time in confusion at seeing her friend leaning out of the window as if she had no cares in the world.

"Yup, Hi! The backdoor is open, so just come on round." Traci said before disappearing. Before Andy had a chance to take one step, Traci was back. "Oh and bring in Leo's rubber duck would you, it seems to have escaped." She flashed a grin before once again disappearing back into the upstairs window.

Andy looked around for the projectile Traci had thrown at her a moment before. Noticing a bright yellow object a little way off, Andy scooped it up and headed to the back gate. She felt the heavy wooden gate give way as she turned the handle and with a quick pause to regain her composure she stepped through to an immaculate mess. Strewn about all over the garden were bright multi-coloured toys of all shapes and size, picking her way through them, Andy kept glancing nervously at the house. Finally navigating her way to the backdoor she was not surprised to find Traci in the kitchen with two mugs of coffee already poured out.

"I don't blame you you know." Traci blurted out before Andy had a chance to say anything.

"Come in" came the deep voice. Andy pushed open the door and found herself facing the same officer that gave her the Special Ops commission over four years ago, though it looked like he had risen to the ranks of General in that time.

"Sir" Andy walked to the chair and saluted.

"Have a seat soldier" The general motioned to the chair in front of her. "Or are you going to stand the whole time?"

"That won't be necessary Sir, this won't take long Sir." Andy replied.

"Ah yes, I hear you've handed in your resignation."

"Yes Sir, effective immediately Sir"

"You want to explain that decision to me McNally?" the general once again gestured to the chair "and take a damn seat McNally, this will take as long as I decide it will take."

Andy moved in front of the chair and sat down slowly as she felt her legs begin to shake; released from the tension they had been holding.

"Come on McNally" the general pushed "You won't talk with the psych, fine, but you need to talk to someone."

"I'm good Sir, I just think it's time for me to go home" Her face was impassive, unreadable, but the general knew exactly what was going through her mind. It was the same thing that went through every commander's mind the first time they lost one of theirs.

"Damn it McNally, you are not the first person to lose someone under your command and you will not be the last." He said in exasperation.

"I know Sir, but it will be the last time I do Sir." Her voice was resolute. She was determined. Losing one was bad enough; she was not going to lose another.

"You think they'll survive any better without you having their backs?" the general asked "You think they're better off without you? Is that is McNally?"

"I think Jenkins is dead because I made a bad judgement call Sir." Andy stated; her voice devoid of all discernable emotion.

"He didn't die because of you McNally. He died because of this damn war. He died because a motherfucking arsehole shot him in the stomach" the general looked down at the file in front of him "from what I can tell, you did all you could to save his life. If anything, you gave him a fighting chance."

"He died" Andy replied coldly "I didn't do anything"

"Andy" the general said softly, changing tactics "the team needs you to stay"

"I highly doubt that" came her response.

"They need you to lead them Andy, you are their commanding officer and you have been for two years. You work well together; you're the best damn Ops team we have in Afghanistan." He took a breath and looked at Andy before speaking again "look, why don't you take some time off, all of you. Go back home, see your family and friends. Take some time and think about all of this. Really think about it. Talk to people, a professional if you can, but if you can't, then talk to someone you trust. But don't make this decision rashly. The military has been your life for over 6 years Andy, don't throw away your family over one bad experience."

"One bad experience" Andy repeated, her voice quiet. "one bad experience?"

The general knew he had lost her the moment her face went calm. He had gotten caught up in his impromptu speech and had gone too far.

"Thank you for the talk general" her voice anything but grateful "however; this one bad experience is enough for me. My resignation still stands. I have done over and above the number of tours required for my length of service therefore I am appealing for an immediate discharge." With that Andy stood up, saluted and walked out. The last words she heard the general say was "It wasn't your fault McNally, I hope one day you realise that"

Andy just stared at Traci in shock. "Why not?" she spluttered

Traci silently held out one of the mugs to Andy and waited until she took it "Because we made the decision to go in. I could have said no, I could have demanded we wait for back up. I chose to go in Andy. You didn't make me."

"But it was my idea" Andy mumbled "I suggested we split up. I suggested you went around the side. I suggested…"

"I agreed!" Traci broke in exasperated. "Not to put too finer point on this Andy, but you don't control what I do. I am the master of my own fate and I chose to go into that warehouse."

"I should have checked the radio…" Andy started

"We both should have checked the radio" Traci argued back. "Look I get it, you feel bad. Okay! But you need to let me take some of the responsibility of this. We both screwed up Andy, both of us! We wanted to get the bad guys. We didn't think. We didn't think Andy. Not you. Us. You've got to realise that or you are going to crash and burn in this job." Traci nodded to the mug in Andy's hand. "That is a gesture of some sort" Traci said, shrugging as she spoke. "It is telling you I don't blame you, I don't hate you and that we're good."

Andy just stared at her friend in disbelief. "You really don't blame me?" Andy asked in surprised.

"No Andy, I really don't blame you." Traci replied gently. She looked down at her own mug as if considering her next words "I do blame myself though. I made a mistake, I thought I had cleared all the rooms, but I must have missed one. They snuck up on me. It's how they got me."

"The same thing happened to me" Andy admitted "I was so focused on what was happening in front of me, I failed to notice the great lumbering criminal behind me" she gave Traci a small smile.

"So all that proves is that we have a lot to learn; which is no surprise really, we are rookies after all." Traci stepped forward and embraced Andy in a hug. "So we learn Andy. That is all we can do."

Stepping back Traci took Andy's half-drunk mug of coffee and placed it in the sink. "Now get your head sorted and do it quickly. Jerry is driving us to work today." She smiled embarrassingly back at Andy "he won't let me drive until I've been cleared by the psych"

"Hey, hey, hey!" came a jovial voice "Look who it is! Officer McNally!" Andy, coming from the psych's office with the intent to head to parade early, turned around when she heard her name. Her face fell as she recognised Officer Swarek walking towards her. "How did the psych go? Did they talk to you about your hero complex?" a smirk prominent on his face. "Did they go through the methods of managing it with you? If not, I am happy to help. The first rule; don't go charging into unknown situations and blowing a few months of undercover work in one fell swoop."

"Actually they did go through a few things with me" Andy replied, taking a step towards Sam, finding her anger at last. "They discussed how to deal with dickhead officers who cannot understand a simple "We didn't know".

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" Sam asked in shock.

"Did I not speak plainly enough the last few times we have had this same conversation?" Andy vented. She couldn't help it. All of her anger at the situation, at her own feelings, at Anton Hill and his men, it all exploded at this one man in front of her. "I told you already. We. Didn't. Know! I don't know how many more times I have to go through this with you."

"Now look here…"

"No, you look! I get it, we messed up. I'm sorry! Jeez you would have thought we killed someone the way you're reacting. We screwed up your op, we know, but how the hell were we supposed to know you were undercover? It's not like there is a secret handshake or signal to let other cops know. So I ask you again. How the hell were we supposed to know?"

Sam, taken back by Andy's outburst just stood there in silence.

"Well?" Andy demanded

"Hey, don't blow a gasket McNally" Sam held up his hands in mock defeat. "I would hate for you to blow something else." He took some delight in watching her jaw drop when she realised what he had just said. He took even greater delight in watching her storm off mumbling something incoherent.

"You having fun Sammi?" Oliver sauntered up to his old friend, pleased to have him back, but not liking the way he was treating McNally.

"Oh you know me Oli" Sam replied, his eyes still on Andy "just winding up the rookies."

"Well leave that one and Nash alone for now okay. They went through something horrific yesterday. Give them some breathing room."

"That one" Sam indicated to Andy by nodding his head at her retreating back "doesn't seem too affected."

"McNally is being released back to active duty today, they've cleared her. God only knows how" Oliver stated "Nash is on desk duty for a while though, seems psych doesn't think she is ready to be out there yet."

"So Nash is off the table then, but McNally is fair game" Sam smiled innocently at Oliver.

"No Sammi, McNally is also off the table. I have no idea how she got cleared, but for the foreseeable future, you can drop the attitude with her" Oliver gave his friend the once over before continuing "I know she messed up your op man, but you've gotta let that slide"

"She didn't just mess up the op Oli; she might have ruined any chance of getting Anton Hill locked up for good." He turned to his friend then, giving Oliver his complete attention. "You know just how bad that bastard is and because of little miss hero and her whacky sidekick he could walk off scot free. That just doesn't sit well with me my man."

"You know if this is anyone's fault it's mine and Noelle's right?" Oliver replied running his hand over his face.

"How is that exactly Oli?"

"We left them to it. It was their first day on the job and we left them alone." Oliver looked in the direction McNally had disappeared in before concentrating on Sam. "They were our responsibility and we screwed up. We left them alone and they got hurt. If anyone is to blame for what happened it's us."

"Ah man" Sam hated it when Oliver got like this, he could never stand up to Oliver when he was in this mood. "Fine, I'll let McNally off the hook; just stop trying to make me feel bad okay." Oliver broke out in a smile and clapped him over the shoulder.

"That's what I like to hear Sammi" He nodded down the hall "Shall we?" he asked, as Sam; shaking his head at Oliver's sudden change of temperament followed him to Parade. Their conversation had made them a little later than most so they leant against a table at the back of the room. Oliver searched the room and found Andy sequestered amongst the other rookies, even Gail was sitting with them, which surprised him.

"Are you sure you're okay Andy?" Dov asked leaning across Gail to look Andy square in the face. "I mean they've kept Traci on desk duty for the foreseeable future. Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine Dov" Andy answered stubbornly "I've been cleared. They wouldn't have cleared me if they didn't think I could handle it."

"Well I think that is just fantastic" Gail interrupted smoothly, lifting her arm to push an imaginary strand of hair behind her ear, while in reality pushing Dov back into his original seated position. "Obviously you are not easily fazed…"

"Thank you?" Andy replied, confused at the compliment.

"…unlike Traci, who it seems cannot cope with a little rope burn"

"There it is" Dov piped up "was wondering when the other shoe was going to drop" Gail smiled sweetly at him. "Still, I suppose she will probably deal with it better than you would Epstein."

"Is there a reason you're sitting with us today Peck?" Dov replied angrily "Did the other officers tell you to get lost?" Andy watched Gail tense up as Dov's words hit home.

"I'm thankful you're here Gail, especially after yesterday. Thank you for you r support." Andy interceded before Gail had a chance to form a retort.

"I'm here because I need to show I can be a team player" Gail shrugged, her face closing off "Get over it, don't get over it, I don't care." She smiled sweetly at Andy before getting up and relocating to a different seat.

Dov immediately slid over and glancing in Gail's direction shook his head in astonishment. "I should no longer be surprised at what comes out of that woman's mouth, but I am, constantly!" He looked back at the other two "It's a good thing Nash wasn't here to hear that."

"To hear what?" Traci asked as she slid into Dov's vacated seat "thanks for saving me a chair guys" she smiled gratefully. "I really didn't want to have to seat with one of the other officers today"

"No worries" Dov nodded quickly "pleased to see you at work already."

"They didn't hurt me" Traci sighed "well not physically anyway, they may have tied my hands together but that's about it" she tapped her index finger to her temple. "According to the psych it's all up here. I have to see her before work every day to talk things through" she looked at Andy while she spoke "how the hell did you get signed off already?" she asked.

"I don't know. She asked me how I felt, I told her. She released me to the streets." Andy couldn't look Traci in the eyes, so she made out she was pretending to be studying the board instead, even though she couldn't read it from this far away. She knew why she'd been signed off. She'd been through worse. She'd seen worse. Hell, she'd done worse. They had no worries that Andy could cope with the incident from yesterday. She just didn't know how to tell Traci that, how to tell any of them that, especially as none of them knew she'd even been in the army.

"What did you say to her? Maybe if you tell me what you said, I can say the same things and I can get signed off." Traci suggested as she turned and watched Boyko walked in. "If I don't know what she needs to hear, how am I ever going to get back out there?" she hissed at Andy.

"Maybe that is the point" Chris whispered back. He had asked Andy how she was when she had initially sat down, but he had allowed Gail and Dov to fight for control of the conversation after that.

"The point of what?" Traci asked

"The point of therapy; you won't get back out on the streets until you can prove to her you are ready. If you try to cheat the system you may only end up doing yourself more harm than good." He lent forward then staring directly at Traci "Trust the system Trace, it's there for a reason."

A soft cough had all of the rookies turning to the front. Boyko stood there staring at the four of them with something akin to genuine concern on his face.

"I know yesterday's events were hard on some of you" he started out "it shouldn't have happened, those involved have been spoken to and I fully expect this situation to never happen again." He paused taking a moment to look at all five rookies. "That being said, if at any time you rookies cannot get hold of your TO or the station I do not want you entering an unknown situation. You are to remain in a safe location until you receive either back up or further instructions. Is that understood?"

Each rookie muttered an embarrassed yes before Boyko went on. "Okay then. Today is a new day, we are wiping the slate clean. Nash, you and Epstein are on desk duty…"

"Again…?" Dov blurted out

"Nash, you and Epstein are on desk duty" Boyko repeated silencing Dov with a look. "Diaz you're with Williams, Peck you've got Shaw, McNally" Boyko smiled turning to Andy "you're with Swarek" the ensuing titters around the room only compounded Andy's devastation "You two made such a decent team yesterday, I'll be interested in seeing what you manage to do today."

"Sir…" Sam piped up, horror written all over his face "…I was hoping to work with the D's today Sir, help them solidify the broken case against Hill"

"You've given them the handover already haven't you?" Boyko asked, indicating everyone else could leave.

"Yes Sir" Sam answered warily, noting that no one moved a muscle.

"Then they don't need you for now. If they have any questions, I am sure you can come back to the station to help out." He nodded to the board "for now though, we are one rookie too many for our other TO's, so you're going to have to step up."

"Yes Sir" Sam surrendered. He sat back against the wall, looking over at Oliver

"Hey, don't look at me man; the Staff Sargent has given us our marching orders." Oliver raised his hands in sympathy. "Just be pleased you didn't get Peck" Oliver continued "I heard she drove the officers crazy on desk duty yesterday, supposedly that is why she is in a car today and Epstein isn't."

"You wanna swap?" Sam asked hopefully, only to have his hopes dashed as Oliver clapped him on the shoulder, shook his head and walked out calling for Peck to get a move on. "Just don't be a dick okay Sammi?" Oliver asked just before he disappeared out the room.

Sam turned to look around the fast emptying parade room; the other officers either eyeing him with sympathy or smirking at his bad luck as they made their way out. He spotted McNally sitting in the same spot not moving. Sighing he stood up and walked over. "Alright McNally, let's just do this okay, I won't rag on you if you don't act like an idiot. Sound good?" Sam watched as her shoulders tensed up. He could tell she was trying to restrain herself from replying. He was her TO now; she needed to watch what she said. Sam smiled suddenly. This could actually be fun.