Chapter 11

Thank you all for the comments you left. Your opinions are always well appreciated and they will be taken into consideration! I am sorry to have kept you waiting for such a long time. Didn´t mean to take this long, but life got in the way... Big Thank You to all of you who are taking the time to read this story. It really means a lot to me!

Waking up, Andy immediately felt the arms wrapped around her body. Last night's events came rushing in as she felt his hand softly tracing up and down her back. It felt right to be right there, waking up in his arms. It was the right place to be and if it was up to her she would be waking up in his arms everyday for the rest of her life. But first there was today to get through.

She slowly opened her eyes to find him already starting at her.

'Morning,' she muttered to his bare chest.

'Morning,' he replied, placing a soft kiss on her forehead. Yep, she never wanted to leave the spot she was in right now.

'What time is it?' she wondered as she tried to sit up slightly but was stopped by his arms holding her firmly in place.

'Just past nine. We've got some time left before you have to leave.' There was a hint of something unfamiliar in his voice.

'And what time is that?' she asked curiously.

'Around twelve, probably. Boyd still has to call.'

Right, Boyd. Maybe not the best time, but then again, no time during these past few days had been the right time, and yet last night had been the perfect timing.

As if on cue Sam's phone started ringing. He sighed heavily before dropping another kiss on her head and making his way out of the bed to where he had left his phone the night before on the table. Even though he had his back to her, Andy was staring at him unashamed. He turned around and threw her a dimpled smile, letting her know exactly what she was doing. A blush started to rise in her cheeks.

'Hello?' It was silent for a long while before Sam spoke again. 'Ok… Yes, I will… Yeah, I'll make that… Ok. Bye.' He hung up. It was probably one of the shortest phone calls Andy had witnessed between the two.

Sam made his way back to her. In his absence in the bed she had managed to sit up, covering herself with the sheet. 'So?' she asked curious. He leaned towards her, his lips a mire inch from hers.

'Boyd's guy will be here to pick you up in a cab here at one.'

'So. We're free till then?' Andy asked as a smile crept onto her face.

He nodded with a dark expression in his eyes before closing the distance between them and placing his lips firmly on hers.

It was just past twelve when Andy emerged from the shower. She got dressed in the most comfortable things she had dug up from the bag. Since she would have to spend the entire day at a safe house she might as well be comfortable. It wasn't as if she could take part in the take down. She was just expected to sit there and remain quiet as things went down.

She hardly dared to admit it to herself, but she was scared to death that something might happen to Sam. She had needed last night to connect the both of them, make sure they wouldn't miss out on anything in case something would happen, no matter how often he might assure her things would be fire.

As she emerged from the bathroom she saw Sam look up from his place on the couch. While she was in the shower he had gotten dressed as well. She quickly joined him.

'You ready to go in a bit?' he asked, wrapping his arms around her.

'No, but I guess I have no choice.'

'It's just going to be a couple of hours, than I'll be back with you and we can take things at whatever pace we want. There's no rush, we have plenty of time. I mean I waited so long, those couple of hours will fly by.'

'For you maybe. I will be the one waiting in a stupid room in a stupid safe house, the one who doesn't have a clue as to what's really going on.'

'The safe house where Boyd said he is taking you will also be used as a commando centre, they have been setting it up over the past few days, so even if you're being followed they won't make a connection since the place won't be on their radar.'

'So, what? Does that mean I can hear them yell in orders?' Andy asked sceptically.

'Brian will be wearing a wire, they won't suspect him. He's been there quite sometime and though he is low rang, he is seen as honest and trustworthy. You will be able to hear everything going on. And of course when the take down really starts, you'll be able to hear everything over the radio, though I think you probably shouldn't.'

'Why not?'

'Andy,' he turned so he could look at her. 'These things don't go down easily. There's lots of screaming and confusion. You may not want to hear it.'

In case something doesn't go as planned. Andy could finish the sentence in her head. It wouldn't stop her from listening in, though. She just had to know what was happening.

'You know, I am a cop and I know how these takedowns work, I actually was there for a few of them.'

'This time it will be different.'

She couldn't disagree. This time it would be different. Sam was in the middle of the danger and she couldn't be there. On top of that this case was much bigger than the previous one had been and probably far more dangerous. That was the reason why she wanted to know exactly what was going on.

They sat in silence for a little while, lost in their own thoughts. She felt like she should say something, anything but she was at a loss for words. Time slipped away in front of them and before either of them knew what was happening it was a quarter to one.

Andy got up and walked towards her bag. Nit sure of what to do she threw the contents on the table before carefully and neatly starting to repack it.

'What are you doing?' Sam asked as he came up behind her.

'Packing,' she answered simply continuing with what she was doing.

'Andy, you can just leave it. Guns N Gangs will take care of it all once the operation is finished.' He grabbed her hands and pulled them to her sides. 'Calm down,' he breathed in her ear sending shivers all through her body.

She turned around and buried her face in his chest, wrapping her arms around him as tightly as she could.

´I don't want to leave you,´ she muttered to his shirt. Somehow he heard.

´You have no choice, but I promise that you´ll see me in just a few short little hours. In the mean time you can just go and relax, and try not to worry too much.´

It was meant soothing, and to some extent it was, but both knew it was a faint hope that she would be able to stay calm and relaxed.

A horn honked outside. Sam moved to the window.

´It´s for you,´ he said, eyes looking at the ground. Suddenly Andy realised how difficult this was, not only for her, but for Sam as well.

She crossed the room and threw herself in his arms kissing him. He lifted her and she happily threw her legs around his waist. They deepened the kiss, getting lost in the moment that for all they knew could be the last.

The car horn honked again and reluctantly they broke apart.

´Don´t do anything stupid,´ Sam said with a pointed look, making her think back to the time when he was still her TO and told her off on something she shouldn't have done. Only, this time she understood exactly what he was talking about. She nodded slowly in understanding.

´See you soon,´ she said walking backwards towards the door. She took her coat from where it hung and put it on. Sam was still standing by the window.

Taking a breath and after looking at him one last time she turned around and had her hand on the doorknob.

´See you soon, Andy,´ he said from across the room, sad smile on his face.

She opened the door and walked out of the apartment, fighting back tears.

The cold air blew in her face as she exited the building. She´d forgotten how cold it was. The cab was waiting on her across the street. She quickly crossed it and got into the car, letting the heat embrace her.

´Hello again,´ the driver said. She recognised him as one of Boyd´s man who had been in the car the day she´d gotten here.

´Hi,´ she said before looking back to the building. There was no one to be seen in front of the building´s window´s, but she was sure he was watching her. A sad smile appeared on her face as they drove of and got onto the main roads leading through the city. Though Andy was still looking out of the window, she didn't see anything on the way. She wasn't even sure what part of town they were in exactly. She had nothing to look forward to for the moment. She would be stuck in the safe house for the rest of the day at least, possibly longer if Jay got away. He´d be smart enough to make the connections between the dot´s that would then be visible for him.

After driving for over an hour, driving around in many circles to make sure no one was following them, they finally came to a stop in front of a worn-down looking building.

´Here you are,´ the man said, speaking again for the first time since she had entered the car.

Andy looked at the building again. How could that possible be a safe house? A dump house of maybe an undercover home was more likely in this neighbourhood. As she watched, the door swung open to the empty street. She couldn't see who it was, as it was too dark inside. After muttering a quick goodbye and thanks to the driver, she slowly opened the door and stepped back outside into the cold. She walked to the opened door and got inside.

´McNally, good to see you again,´ she heard Oliver´s familiar voice say.

´Oliver, are you here?´ Her eyes were still adjusting so she could only judge who was there by her hearing. But if it really was Oliver it would sure make her day more bearable. She´d been expecting to be stick with more of Boyd´s guys all day.

´Yeah, now let´s get upstairs, the others are waiting on us.´

´What others?´ Andy asked unsure. She could now make out Oliver as well as the little hallway they were in. There were stairs leading up to the apartments.

´Just come with me Andy,´ Oliver said as he started to make his way up the stairs. She followed him. Staying down there in that hallway sure had no use and her curiosity had gotten the better of her.

At the top of the stairs, Oliver took her down the hallway and knocked on the door. It swung open, an officer she recognised all too well appearing on the doorway.

´Chris!´ she called out, immediately jumping in to hug him. Oliver squished his way in beside the, closing the door behind him.

´Hate to break up this little reunion, but let´s move this party into the next room, shall we?´ Oliver interrupted.

They followed him through the door and entered a room that looked more like a control room than a place to relax or even as much as be safe. Though she knew the operation would pretty much be let, or at least controlled, from here , it was still much more crowded than she had expected it to be.

´They have to make sure everything is ready for tonight,´ Chris explained to her as he saw her confused expression.

´Now, Andy, you will be allowed to listen in to what is being said and done, but you are not under any circumstance allowed to leave this room, understood?´ Oliver asked, giving her a stern look.

´Yeah,´ she said, still taking everything in. Chris guided her over to a little sitting lounge with some chairs.

´Some of Boyd´s guys will be by later to take your statement and debrief you,´ he told her before walking off to get back to work.

This was going to be a very long day, Andy thought as she looked at all the buzz around her.

´You want some coffee?´ Andy looked up surprised. Gail stood in front of her, holding out a cup to her.

´Thanks,´ she muttered. She hadn't even noticed that Gail was here too. She took the cup from her outstretched hand and took a couple of grateful sips, letting the hot liquid warm her from the inside out.

Around her people were making adjustments to equipment, setting up things, testing and changing settings. She noticed Chris and Gail running errands she would usually have to do too. Now she had the time to observe, it was pretty obvious that the pair of them still hadn't worked out their issues and it was probably a good thing that Dov wasn't here as well. That would have made for one great party.

´Officer McNally?´ a voice called out after nearly an hour of sitting and waiting for something, anything to happen. She snapped up her head and looked where the voice came from. A man stood in the door opening, looking around. When he saw her looking up he made his way over to her.

´Detective Stevens,´ he introduced himself holding out his hand. Andy got up and shook it. ´Shall we take this somewhere a little more quiet?´ he suggested. He didn't wait for a response, he just started to walk back to the little hallway. Andy followed him. She hadn't noticed that there were more rooms in the apartment. They entered a room that was probably the most impersonal room Andy had ever seen. Two single chairs stood next to a small table. They sat down and Andy got dozens of questions fired at her.

What had happened? Who had said what? What had they been doing as that happened? She had to give a complete analysis of every little detail from the past few days. She was starting to feel bad for Sam, who´d have much more to tell them.

Finally they came to the night before. Andy told him about the drug dealing they had witnessed by the women and suddenly she remembered something that had gotten to the back of her mind due to everything else that had happened since they had left the club.

´I was supposed to meet them tonight, for girls night!´ Andy exclaimed. How could she have forgotten that? She knew she would have to leave today. She vaguely started to remember having the intention to cancel on them later as soon as she had agreed to go out with them. She checked her watch. It was nearly six o´clock now. If only she hadn't left her undercover phone at the apartment!

´Don´t worry about your sudden disappearance to them,´ detective Stevens said calmingly. ´As I understand it, officer Swarek has found an explanation to your leaving. If his adjustment is correct, which it usually is, they bought it without question.´

Hearing that somewhat relieved her. How could she have forgotten about that? She should have just said no, make sure that none of this would even be necessary! But she hadn't and she couldn't go back to change things either.

After a few final questions she was finally finished and was allowed to go back into the main room. Pizza had been ordered and she gratefully took a slice. She hadn't eaten anything since breakfast.

Chris came to sit next to her.

´So, how was it?´ he asked. She knew he was talking about the undercover operation in total, yet all she could think about was Sam and the time they had gotten to spend together.

´It was... good,´ she said, not wanting to sound too eager and give away what had happened to him or any of the other officer in the room who were all talking amongst each other. Only Gail sat in a corner by herself, looking on at everybody else.

´Ah, come on! What was it like being undercover like that? I mean, you had to be like a whole different person.´

´It was a bit confusing, I guess,´ she said thinking back to that first day, where her feelings for Sam and her part as his girlfriend had been mixed and fused together into one big confusing mess. ´I mean, it was just a little strange.´

´Yeah, I can imagine, you and Swarek...´

´What do you mean?´ she asked looking at him eyes wide in wonder. What was he about to say about the two of them?

´Nothing, I mean it´s just... The two of you have been circling around each other for the past two years now. It´s got to be strange to be stuck with him in an undercover operation with him considering your situation.´ They remind silent for a moment as Andy was lost in thought. Everybody had seen what was going on between the two of them and as soon as they were back to work people would easily guess what had happened while they were undercover. She could already imagine what the gossip would be like. She would just have to get through it and with Sam by her side it shouldn't be any problem.

She checked the time. Only a few more hours until it was time for the take down.

Thank you so much for reading. I´d love to know what your thoughts are on this chapter, so please let me know!

B