A/N: Here we go. What's going on, who is shot at, and who slips into a black abyss? It's all up next. Stay tuned.
Sorry, that was weird and cheesy. It seems I'm not any better at writing synopsis'.
"Ted, it's over here." A voice calls, his saving grace. Sam wants to let go of the breath he's just realized he's holding but waits a few moments longer.
As the foot that was just outside the bathroom door begins to move away after a moment, Sam does let it go, and moves the shower curtain to the side. Sliding out of the bathtub, he steps as quietly as he can to the door, and presses his ear up against it, waiting for the guys to leave.
"Hey... doesn't Shawn live around here?" One of them says. Not Ted, it's the other one, what's his name.
"I don't know. Who cares?" Ted sighs, rustling around the apartment. He hears the coffee tables feet screech against the hard wood floors, and feet fumbling around it.
"And this chick, the one the new boss has in the van, she's Duchamp's ex yeah?" Anonymous guy pushes.
Sam's heart starts beating that much faster, and he wants to run in there guns blazing, or gun out, get past them to get to her. But he opts for turning his radio down and quietly tell Oliver to grab the other guys and search the vehicle those guys brought.
"Yeah, so?" Ted scoffs, really not catching onto his partners theory.
"You think he was doing her?"
Ted obviously takes some kind of physical action as his partner groans in pain seconds later. Sam shakes his head a little and grits his teeth. It was already coming back to him. Even his undercover self was an easy read for these guys.
"I'm just saying he disappeared pretty quick after the bitch handed Duchamp his ass. Boss was looking for him-"
"Look, man, I'm just saying I'm not supposed to be here, okay? I'm supposed to have today off, warehouse tomorrow. But for some reason I'm deep in this shit. I want to get the job done, and go home to my family. Think you can manage wonder boy?" Ted snaps. Sam almost wants to chuckle, remembering his old 'colleagues' way of doing things being all too much like his own. But he remembers where he's standing, where Andy is, and the urge goes away quickly. He wanted these guys to have a chance, but not more than he wanted to find her.
Sam's radio crackles and he hears that the vehicle, a sedan not a van, was clear. No person, nothing of value pertaining to Andy's location, no nothing.
Not long after Ted tells his partner off does he hear them vacate the apartment, and he's free to come out. And as he carefully opens his door, he sees the apartment as it was, but in new light.
"Come in Shaw." He says, turning his volume up on the radio again.
"Go ahead."
"Those guys are coming down now, move the squad around the block and have the other car follow them. I'll be down in a second." He realizes only slightly too late that him being on the radio will be picked up by Boyko in a matter of seconds, but the warning needs to be given.
"10-4."
"Alright!" A big booming voice roars out, forcing Andy's eyes open as she fights the urge to close them again. Definitely concussion. "They found it girl. Seems I could trust you after all. Go figure."
It's Hill. Again. The back doors of a van have been opened up by two of his thugs. She doesn't notice which ones, she's over trying to remember every little detail in case she does live.
She's focusing so hard on what's going on that she fails to notice the pain in her shoulders from her wrists being restrained behind her back. She doesn't process that the zip ties around her ankles are now beneath one of her socks, digging into her skin. She fails to fight her falling eyelids again, and feels a firm hand across her cheek, trying to bring her back.
"I am however concerned about your health. This could work to our advantage though Miss McNally. Couple more blows to the head, you may not even remember my name." His smile is more of a sneer, and the light in his eyes almost makes Andy believe he'd go that far, but it's the body standing behind him that draws her eye.
She tries sitting up a little more, finding it hard to find balance. Everything in the van is spinning around her, and as quickly as she got up onto her knees, trying to see beyond the figures blocking the door, she falls back down.
"Grab her." Hill says. In relation to the other harsh things he's spat at her, it's soft. The men jump into the back, and take an arm each, and now she's aware of the pain in her shoulders, but everything else in her head, her lack of stability take precedence, and she quiet allows them to wrestle her out.
When they do they push her to her knees. Which is fine by her, she can't stand on her own without stumbling or falling. Her vision is blurring a little, and her eyes are forced closed by the first sunlight she's seen in over 36 hours.
When she finally opens them again, she sees three more bodies, and notices a large barge behind them. They're at the shipping yard near Cherry Beach. The winds are high, the sound of seagulls and the lighthouse bell are keeping her otherwise clouded mind sharp. Keeping her there, trying to focus.
Her focus shifts from the barge to the three men now, and can only identify one.
"Andy?! What... Uncle, what the hell is this, what is she doing here?" He asks, coming towards them. At the snap of Hill's fingers the other two thugs are holding him back. "I told you I had it under control, you said I could have more time."
"And time ran out, Jason." He says, never taking his eyes off of Andy. "I did what you failed to do in half the time, kid. You're here to learn something. I'm here to teach."
Hill pulls a revolver from underneath his sports coat, and flips out the barrel to reveal that there's only one bullet in there.
Andy watches on, horrified to learn that she's going to die because she didn't come home to hear her messages. She's here as a tool for Hill's lesson. To teach Jason that you can't trust anyone.
"Car 15-oh-9, this is Garrison and Reeves, the van has pulled up outside of Hill's warehouse." One of the officers voices crackles through on their radio. Oliver was driving, and Sam was in the passenger seat, anxiously waiting for that important call.
"No, no." Sam says, reaching for the car radio, surprising Oliver, and forcing him to take his eyes off the road and look inquisitively at his partner. "They searched the warehouse for her this afternoon guys."
"Well, this is where they've led us Swarek, we can stay on them, see if they go to a secondary location." The voice crackles again.
"Yeah you do that." Sam says, frustrated as hell at his dead end attempt to get out and do something to find her. This sure as shit wasn't it. "Damn it!"
Oliver looks to his partner, and decides that he needs a little more of what's going on before he continues to cart Sam around against his sergeants orders.
Sam sighs, and rolls his head towards the window and watches people on the streets walk by in a hurry, destination in mind.
"Come on brother. What's the story?" Oliver asks, keeping his eyes on the public as well. "Huh? I mean, this isn't just because she's given you info, and it's not because she's Tommy's kid. So what is it? What happened?"
Sam sighs, and knows that this is the least he can offer. Her knows that the information won't cause Oliver to turn away from him. He'll back him up no matter what.
Sam wets his lips and looks up at the cars ceiling, and closes his eyes while taking one last deep breath.
"I love her." He admits out loud for the first time. Just saying it, he feels a little more panicked that they're no closer to getting to her. "We met, by chance, and she's... different. She's smart and she's witty, she doesn't take any of my crap."
He looks straight ahead, eyes not really taking in the people, just kind of glazed over as he remembers seeing her that first night. Dressed all mismatched, men's sweats and a red bandana on.
"I need to find her. Oliver, I screwed up, I'll never get her back, but she's not dying because of me."
Oliver looks at his best friend, whose changed more than he would've guessed while he was gone. Whose changed more in a couple of months than in the few years he's known him.
"You're right man. She's not. We're going to find her." He reassures his friend with a pat on the shoulder.
Tears pool in her eyes while she realizes that no one's coming for her. Sam probably doesn't know she's gone. Her dad wasn't expecting to see her again for a few days. She didn't have any plans with anyone because she wanted time alone to process everything. No one would know she was gone. No one would know she was killed. Maybe not for weeks, months.
"Jason, I'm going to aim this, at your pretty little friend here, and ask you a question. Every time you answer me wrong, I pull the trigger." He lectures, his well prepared speech.
Andy lets tears fall freely, realizing her front is no good to her any more. This man doesn't feel for her. He does this all too often to be surprised, and there's no quality in her that could sway him. She wouldn't be the first innocent he's taken down just to prove a point, she's sure of it.
"Jason, did I tell you it was a mistake to come work for me while dating a detectives daughter?" He asks, gun out and trained on her. Andy's thankful that this will be easy enough for him to give a straight answer.
"Yes." He whispers, hands digging deeper in his pockets while he looks Andy in the eye, regret and guilt all over his face, tears falling from his eyes as well. All of a sudden he's the guy she met in her Ethics class four years ago. He's the same goof who spilt tea on her on their first fate. He's her first 'I love you'.
Hell of a time to realize that part of him is still underneath it all, but she does. And rather than hold onto her anger, she decides to try and nod her head, letting him know that this is okay. That she knows this isn't who he is. Her final few minutes are going to be remembering the people she loves, and while it's not romantic, and it's way deep down, but she cares for the man he is in his core.
"Did I ask you to keep her out of it all?" He sneers again, a little more bite. They both know harder questions are coming, and they may be based on Hill's willingness to believe in his nephew. His answers may not matter.
"Yes. Look, uncle-"
"Shut up! Jason, just shut up." He barks, turning the gun on his nephew to show him there is no debate, this isn't just a game.
If there weren't two men helping to keep her kneeled in place she'd have moved by now, lunged at him, done something. Chances are she would've fallen of her own accord, but she would've tried.
"Did you tell her about me, or what we do?" Hill asks. And so it begins, the questions he thinks he knows the answers too.
"I did not." Jason stresses, distress all over his face, in his voice, willing him to see he's played by the rules.
She watches Hill's finger move for the trigger, and gasps in one last breath and screws her eyes shut, and as it's pulled, she shudders.
"All units respond to the shipping yard off Unwin Avenue, anonymous call possibly associated with ongoing missing persons investigation. Repeat, all available units to Unwin Avenue shipping yard." Dispatch crackles, causing Sam to throwing the sirens on faster than Oliver's ever seen him move.
"That's where the product comes in, he goes down there... that's gotta be him." Sam says, adjusting himself in his seat and holding onto the handle on his door.
"This is it pal." Oliver said, speeding toward the blocks end to turn them in the right direction. "We've got her."
It's an empty round. She drops her head in relief, and sobs just once, releasing the stress and fear.
"What're you doing!? I'm telling you the truth!" He yells, trying to get closer to his Uncle once again. Thugs are in place, holding him back again. "C'mon, leave her out of this!"
Hill just chuckles darkly, and looks to the ground and then back up at Andy with a renewed ignorance. He doesn't care at all.
"Did you know there was an undercover cop on my team?"
Andy looks down immediately, not even wanting to know what happens, because she can't give away that she knew. All of a sudden she's worried that they already got to him. That's why his phone is disconnected, that's why she hasn't been able to get a hold of him. When they went into that apartment to get the bracelet, maybe they got to him. Maybe he's already gone because of her. He was one of the people she was trying to protect.
A small collection of her tears have formed a tiny pond on the pavement, and she notices the her heartbeat has flooded her eardrums and she's not listening to the answers, she's focussing on keeping herself as together as she can. But the thought that Sam's lifeless body is already on one of these barges, waiting to be tossed overboard along with hers in a matter of hours.
(She can only assume this is why they've picked the location they've picked.)
Dead because of her. Gone because of her. He was trying to do his job, make sure this guy couldn't hurt any more people, and she walked away from him like he was just another jerk. But he wasn't, he was a good man.
A slap across the face brings her back, as it always seems to, and she's looking at a very pissed off Hill. She thinks maybe she missed something important, but she can't even find words, she just cries a little harder.
"I said, did you know, bitch." He spits, figuratively and literally in her face. He holds her face in his hands, roughly, forcing her eyes to his.
"No." She says as firmly as she can, swallowing any sobs that are left. Not a lie. She didn't. At the time.
"Well you know what, we're gonna fire another shot, just because I fucking feel like it." He shoves her face away from him, taking a few steps back. She morbidly wonders what the point is, if he's going to shoot her in the head, what does it matter.
As he backs away, and raises the revolver again, she stares at him this time. Defiant again. But as he smirks at her, and goes for the trigger, as Jason fears this time it will be the bullet, and pulls against his uncles henchmen, three cop cars come barrelling around the corner.
No sirens on, just a sea of cop cars, cutting off every possible escape route.
But no one moves. Hill looks up, in shock really, and as Andy looks over to Jason, she watches relief take over, and he begins to smile small and slowly while Hill and his guys are forced to their knees. And as she turns to see help coming towards her, the many uniforms come to take these guys into custody, she feels everything spinning again. And this time she doesn't need to hang on, she can let go.
And just before her eyelids fall shut, just before she gives into rest, she sees Sam. Running towards her, calling something into his radio as he drops to his knees beside her.
"Andy, help is on the way. Andy, Andy, stay with me okay?" He says softly, propping up her limping body against him.
"Always." She murmurs, giving into the dark.