Thank you again for all the reviews, always like to hear what people think :)

I'd also like to thank dcj for giving this chapter the once over too.

And lastly I want to give a special mention to svugirl25 who asked me to incorporate a certain activity that ended up at the beginning of this chapter (which I'm sure you'll all enjoy).


Chapter 29: Andy – Saturday Afternoon

"Urgh," Andy moaned, reaching out a hand to bash her alarm. "This is all your fault."

She felt the bed shift next to her, letting her know that her companion was indeed awake, yet she had no intentions of opening her eyes.

"You know you don't have to cover for me."

"Yeah," she grumbled into the pillow, her hand finally finding its target. "Because I can really say no to the 'Pretty please Uncle Sam'."

Sam chuckled as Andy buried her head further into the pillow. She knew she should have gone straight to bed when she finished her shift this morning but someone had insisted on giving her a ride home and distracting her, which admittedly she may have encouraged because she had momentarily forgotten about her agreement to cover his shift this afternoon.

"Your nephew is far too cute," she muttered after coming to the conclusion that while Sam wasn't entirely blameless, it was the hopeful smile from the young boy that had managed to sway her decision in the end. The same decision that meant she had to get up and work the afternoon shift after finishing the night shift less than six hours ago.

"He knows how to use it," Sam agreed, seeming rather proud of the fact.

"Wonder where he learnt that from?" Sam knew how to work people, knew how to get them to do what he wanted, so no wonder Matt had picked up on it.

"You saying I'm cute, McNally?" He gave a short laugh as Andy huffed and threw a hand out behind her, shoving at his bare chest.

"Shut up."

"So you-"

"Shut up."

She shoved at his chest again before feeling his hand around her wrist. It wasn't tight but firm enough that she couldn't easily get free. Since she was barely awake, she just let her arm go limp which allowed Sam to pull her across the bed and roll her over.

"Hey," he spoke softly as he climbed on top of her and propped himself up on his elbow.

"Hi."

"You sure you want to do this?" he asked. "I could always-"

"Go back with them," she cut him off. It was just one extra shift after all, she would be fine. "Go be a good brother and uncle, and then in forty-eight hours…" she trailed off as she fiddled with the end of her tank top. The truth was that as much as she had enjoyed getting to know his family, she was also looking forward to having him all to herself. A scenario for which she might have already made a few plans for over the last few days.

"What's happening in forty-eight hours?" Sam asked, a curious smile on his face.

"Nothing." She shook her head innocently, willing the thoughts to wait.

"Nothing?" Clearly Sam didn't believe her but after holding her gaze for a few moments, he let out a short laugh. "Sure you're gonna survive a whole forty-eight hours without me?"

"I think you mean are you gonna survive a whole forty-eight hours without me?" she countered; though she realised he might actually have a point.

"Think I'll survive," Sam said as Andy forced herself to smile at him.

The truth was, she had no idea what it would be like to spend that much time away from him after the past few days when they'd barely left each other's sides. Sure, she had always said she hated time and space, but then she also hated being pinned down by someone. She liked her freedom in relationships, having some time to do things by herself, but so far, with Sam, she hadn't once felt like that. Maybe it was the newness of the relationship, maybe in a week or so she would be more than happy to spend a few days doing her own things. But then normally at the beginning of a relationship she was bolting for the door as soon as possible rather than sticking around.

"McNally?"

"Huh." Given the amused look on Sam's face, Andy had a feeling he'd been trying to get her attention for a while. "What?"

"You busy planning what we're gonna do in forty-eight hours?"

"No." She shook her head, though clearly Sam didn't believe her. "What? I don't plan every single thing you know?"

"Whatever you say, McNally."

She mimicked his words causing another laugh to escape Sam's lips.

"Think you spent a little too long with my nephews," he said.

"Didn't. And well, I need to get ready so." She gestured for him to get off of her.

"Yeah." He looked around the room before moving his eyes back to hers. "Okay." But he didn't show any signs of moving.

"Sam." She pushed at his chest but still he refused to budge. "Sam. Come on, I'm gonna be late."

"You do realise you set the alarm two hours before you need to be at the station?"

"Yes!"

"Which means you now have," he paused as he glanced at the clock. "One hour and fifty minutes before you need to be there."

"Yeah, but I still need to get up," she told him as she pushed at his chest again.

"No you don't." He grinned at her as he lowered his body down on top of hers. "Plenty of time."

"No." She shook her head causing Sam to nod his.

"Yeah."

"No because…" she let out a sigh as she stretched her arms out above her. The way he was looking at her was making it extremely hard to be sensible. He was just so damn confident and...admittedly he was cute. But she had things to do before she went to work. The whole reason she had set her alarm so early was so that she could get them done, not so she could spend the time in bed.

"Come on, McNally," Sam whispered as he placed a kiss to her shoulder.

She wanted to, she really did. Because apparently it didn't matter that she had spent a good portion of the morning doing what Sam was proposing, she still wanted more.

"Sam," she whined as she felt his lips moving down her chest.

She really needed to stop him; she didn't have time for distractions. She had to be strong, had to say no to him, but she just couldn't find the right words. Without even really thinking about it, Andy grabbed hold of the pillow her hand was under before swinging it at his head.

There were a few moments of silence that followed in which Andy thought maybe she hadn't actually done it. That maybe she had just imagined the action and the surprised cough Sam let out. But then she saw the stunned look on his face.

"Uh." Sam managed to get the word out, his mouth hanging open as if he wasn't quite sure how to continue.

"I-" she started, still trying to figure out exactly why she had just hit him with a pillow. "Need to get up."

"Yeah," he muttered as he sat up on top of her. "Of course you do."

"Sam." She didn't really have an explanation. "I'm-" But she didn't get a chance to finish as a pillow came crashing down on her face.

"What the hell?" she screamed.

"Oh I'm sorry, did you not enjoy that?"

"No!" She blew out a breath, ready to explain exactly why that was, but then she saw the smirk on Sam's face. So instead of talking, she swung the pillow at him again…and again and again until he grabbed it.

Andy wasn't completely sure she could decipher the look he directed at her. He wasn't smiling anymore; in fact he looked far too serious.

"Uh," he started as he looked between the pillows in his hands.

"You hit me in the face," she blurted out.

"What?"

"I only got the side of your head but you hit me in the face so-"

"You did it another three times?"

Admittedly it sounded stupid and childish when he put it like that, but then it had been the driving logic behind her attack so she could do little more than offer him a sheepish grin.

"Sorry."

"Yeah," Sam muttered, his tone of voice one she didn't quite recognise. It wasn't like she had long to dwell on it though, because a second later one of the pillows Sam had been holding onto came crashing down on top of her. And as soon as that one was gone the other was taking its place.

"Well, now we're even," he said as he dropped the pillows down beside her.

Andy didn't speak straight away. In fact she was still trying to process her thoughts when Sam climbed off of her and walked around the bed. She knew the sensible thing to do was to let it go, but then he had hit her in the face. Three times.

With those thoughts clear in her mind, Andy didn't need much convincing to pick up one of the discarded pillows and chuck it at Sam, hitting his face just as he turned back to look at her.

"Now we're even," she said as she pushed herself off the bed. Unsurprisingly the stunned look was back on Sam's face, but Andy ignored it as she went to grab a towel, however, before she'd gotten half way to her dresser she felt the blow to her head.

"Now we're even."

Instinctively Andy picked up the pillow before turning to glare at Sam.

"You hit me in the face. Three times!"

"So?"

"So?" She snorted as she clutched the pillow in her hand. "We're not even."

Before Sam had a chance to speak, she lobbed the pillow at his head, but clearly he had anticipated the move as he caught it.

"You sure you want to do this, McNally?"

"You owe me one," she said causing Sam to laugh.

"That so?"

"Yeah."

Sam nodded a little, clearly thinking it over, before opening his mouth. "Okay."

Andy felt the curve of her lips for all of a second before she spotted the object flying in her direction.

"That is not what I meant," she hissed as she grabbed the pillow out of the air.

"Yeah," Sam drawled, still looking highly amused at the situation. "I ever tell you you're too competitive?"

"I am not," she protested, gaining some raised eyebrows in return. "What? I'm not!"

"Okay then." Sam nodded as he turned around and opened the door.

"That's it?"

Sam looked a little confused as turned back to face her. "Were you expecting something else?"

"I…" she paused for a second and shrugged before mumbling, "So not fair."

"Uh-huh," Sam muttered, taking a few steps towards her. "Know what else isn't fair?"

The smile on his face was enough for Andy to know that she probably wasn't going to agree with his answer, but she found herself asking anyway. "What?"

"Well I'm not wearing a top but you." He just nodded at the black tank top she had slept in causing her to scoff. "So really-"

Andy swung the pillow at him before he had a chance to finish. She wasn't sure what noise Sam made in response but she had to bite her tongue so as not to laugh too much. Unfortunately her amusement was short lived because a second later Sam grabbed the pillow and pushed her down on the bed. Andy knew he wasn't going to let her get her away with it and so quickly she rolled across the bed before grabbing one of the other pillows and taking up a defensive position.

When she finally looked back to Sam, she realised that he hadn't actually moved, though he was obviously trying to bite back a smile at what he'd just witnessed her do.

"What?" she asked. As far as she was concerned it was no big deal.

"Nothing." Sam shook his head as he let the pillow he'd been holding fall down onto the bed.

Andy wasn't sure if he was setting a trap for her or if he actually had no interest in continuing, so she just stayed where she was.

"You give up?" she asked a few seconds later.

"Give up?"

"Well I'm winning so-"

"How exactly are you winning?"

"Well, I hit you last," she explained.

It was pretty obvious as far as she was concerned, but Sam seemed to consider her words for a few moments before he nodded his head and walked over to her. She was still knelt on the bed, her back pressed to the wall and the pillow clutched in her hands. Just in case.

"You know," Sam started as he came to a halt by the side of the bed nearest to her, "I think the only way someone wins is when the other person says they surrender."

"So say you surrender then." There was a reason she had already asked him if he was giving up. Besides, he didn't seem all that bothered about it and so Andy loosened her grip on the pillow before realising her mistake.

It took Sam all of two seconds to grab hold of her and pull her down onto the bed. And even though she tried to wriggle free, he managed to turn her over and sit on top of her before she got very far. Of course that still didn't stop her from trying to break free, but he quickly gathered up her hands and pinned them above her head.

"This is so not fair," she huffed as she blew a piece of hair out of her eyes and looked up to see a proud smile on Sam's face.

"Told you you were too competitive."

"Oh, I'm too competitive?" Given their current positions, it was pretty clear that he was just as competitive as she was.

"Yep." He nodded, the stupid proud grin still on his face.

"Well, I'm not surrendering," she told him as she glared at him before averting her eyes to the wall.

"You sure about that, McNally?" Sam asked, dropping a pillow down onto her face.

Andy snorted in response, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of a verbal response; however, after two more pillows landed on her face, she couldn't stop herself from speaking. "You know you're gonna be sorry when I get free?"

"That so?" Sam didn't seem at all worried as he dropped a pillow back down on top of her.

Again she let out a huff before deciding to go with another tactic. As far as she could see she really only had two choices: wait until he grew bored, which would entail her not reacting at all, or distract him long enough to break free.

Deciding that the latter would be easier, Andy turned back to look at him and raised her hips up to his. He wasn't hovering much above her so she found it easy to repeat the actions several times as Sam just stared at her.

"McNally." Andy couldn't help but smile at the sound of his voice. It was gruff and she knew she was getting to him. "I thought you didn't have time for this?"

"Changed my mind," she told him before feeling him loosen his grip on her wrists.

Instinctively she hooked her legs around his as she moved her hands to his shoulders. She knew she could roll him from this position. It would only take her a second and then she would be able to pin him just like he'd done to her. Unfortunately there was just one problem with that, she wasn't so sure she cared about winning anymore.

"Andy," Sam hummed her name as he bowed his head and skimmed his lips against hers.

A second later he moved back slightly and rested his forehead against hers as Andy tried to focus her brain. However, when he finally put some more distance between their faces, she realised that she really didn't care about winning or losing any longer. Hell, she wasn't even sure she cared about being early or late to work anymore. Right now, all she really wanted was him

"Sam." Her voice sounded as broken as his had a minute ago, but she didn't care.

She gripped his shoulders, trying to pull him closer before feeling his hands taking hold of hers. Andy wasn't completely sure what he was doing, but decided to trust him as he moved her hands above her head. For a moment she thought he was doing it so he could remove her top, but then she opened her eyes.

The look Sam was directing at her was one she recognised all too well. The one that said nice try. And that was when she realised that he'd managed to get her back into the exact same position they had started in.

"You surrender?" he asked as she just glared at him, all the while berating herself for failing.

She had had one chance to take control and had ended up distracting herself just as much, if not more, than she had Sam.

"That was mean," she told him as she tried wiggling around underneath him, but he just stayed where he was, barely letting her move.

"Oh, because you weren't trying to do anything similar."

"Wasn't."

"Yeah, so what was all of this about then?" he asked as he pushed his hips to hers, causing Andy to groan in annoyance. Apparently she wanted him just as much as he wanted her. Unfortunately, it appeared his self-control was somewhat better than hers.

"I'm not surrendering," she told him firmly.

She didn't care if he had the upper hand, she didn't care if it was stupid or childish, she wasn't giving in. Because sure, Sam had self-control but she had determination and determination had served her well in the past so she had every reason to believe it would work now.

"How about a truce then?" Sam suggested, causing Andy to let out a short breath.

She didn't want to give in, didn't want to let him get away with it, but then, well it wasn't technically losing. Besides, even though she was somewhat annoyed at the situation, she could definitely think of a few ways to work the anger out of her system.

"Fine," she sighed, feeling Sam loosen his grip on her.

"Okay." He gave her a small smile as he sat up and stepped off the bed. "Shake on it?"

Andy just stared at his outstretched hand for a few seconds before slowly sitting up. She guessed Sam was still expecting her to try and beat him in some way, but the truth was she had nothing up her sleeve. So reluctantly she held out her hand to his.

"Okay then," Sam said as he shook her hand. "Now that that's out of the way."

Andy couldn't help but scream as he yanked her up and chucked her over his shoulder.

"What the hell, Sam?"

"What?" he asked as he turned around.

"Put me down!" she demanded but he ignored her as he walked out of the bedroom. "Sam! Sam! Sam, I swear to God- Wait! Wait. Did you clean my apartment?"

"Uh." He paused for a moment. "Yeah."

"You...you're not allowed to do that."

"Why?" he asked as he walked them into the bathroom.

"Because it's my mess. I clean my mess," she told him. "Sam!" But he ignored her causing her to let out another huff. "You know it's really quite hard to yell at you from this angle?"

Sam just chuckled before spinning them round and shutting the door.

"Sam!" She wriggled around some more causing him to finally lower her down to the floor.

Once she had her footing, she looked up to him, shaking her head slightly.

"You can't seriously be mad at me for cleaning?"

"It's my mess."

"Most of which I helped create," he told her as he leaned past her to turn on the shower.

"But-what are you doing?"

"Showering," he told her as he pulled off his boxers. "Remember? Places to be, things to do."

"Am I missing something here?" Sam looked a little confused by the question so she continued. "Like this doesn't seem weird to you at all?"

"Andy, you needed sleep and I had nothing to do. So yeah, I cleaned up some of the mess we both made over the last few days," he said, keeping his eyes locked with hers. "Besides, I owe you for covering my shift."

"Yeah," she muttered, she guessed it made sense; she just wasn't used to having anyone else clean up her mess.

"Being hit with a pillow was kinda weird though," he said, offering her a small smile.

"Well, so was being thrown over your shoulder."

"You're the one who said you had no time. I was just trying to speed things along."

Andy felt slight the curve of her lips as she shook her head slightly.

"Alright?" he asked.

She shrugged, she had no idea. He had cleaned her apartment, but then like he said they had both made the mess and he'd had nothing else to do while she slept. It was a surprise but not exactly one she hated. And the pillow fight, well, she had started that and he had beaten her at her own game. So really she couldn't be mad at him for that, or the fact that he had carried her to the bathroom. It was just, well she guessed different was the right word.

"McNally?"

"Yeah?" She pushed the thoughts aside before meeting Sam's eyes.

"You okay?" She nodded a little, casting her eyes to the floor before trailing them back up Sam's body. She had forgotten that he'd just stripped in front of her.

"Fine." She smiled at him. "Absolutely fine."

"Okay." He matched her expression before taking a step towards her. "You gonna join me? Let me make up for cleaning your apartment?"

Andy couldn't help but laugh, shaking her head slightly.

"I can't believe you carried me in here," she said as she pulled her top over her head.

"I can't believe you let me win," he told her as she shed her shorts.

"Wait, what do mean win? We agreed on a truce."

Sam just smirked at her. "We did. But if we hadn't-"

"But we did," she told him as she brushed past him and stepped into the shower. "You coming?"

When she looked back out, she could see Sam's tongue poking into the side of his cheek. He was obviously considering his words, no doubt he had a hundred and one comebacks, but in the end he just nodded.


By some miracle they made it to Sam's earlier than expected. Admittedly it was only by a minute, but considering their afternoon it was more than Andy had originally predicted.

"Just in time," Sarah greeted them as they stepped out of Sam's truck. She was busy placing a box of Matt's toys into the trunk of her car, the boys nowhere to be seen.

"Good to go?" Sam asked.

"Seems that way." Sarah slammed the door shut before turning around to face them. "Think Zack's planning on riding with you by the way. He mentioned something about you having a semi-decent taste in music."

Andy just watched as Sam bobbed his head in agreement before noticing the smile on Sarah's face.

"Okay, so I think everything's turned off and shut but-"

"Yeah, I'll check," Sam cut her off, heading over to his wide open front door.

"And tell them that it's time to go would you?"

Sam just nodded as he headed inside. Once he was gone, Andy found herself turning back to Sarah. The woman smiled at her for second before letting out a nervous laugh.

"This wasn't exactly the way I had planned this week to go."

Andy found herself giving a short nod in agreement. She hadn't expected to meet Sam's family, let alone spend so much time with them. And Sam. Well, even last week had been somewhat of a surprise to her. She had started the week determined to be a lone wolf and had ended it by passing out on Sam's couch twenty hours before their date.

Still, if she could do it all over again, she didn't think there was much of it she would change.

"I'm glad we got to meet," Sarah said before glancing back at the house for a few seconds. "Even if I would have preferred slightly different circumstances."

"Yeah." Peter was the one thing Andy would have changed if she could. The one thing she was sure both Sam and Sarah would too.

"Look, what you did-" Andy shook her head, stopping Sarah midsentence. She really didn't need to be thanked again. She had done her job, what she thought was right, and she would do it all over again without a second thought. While Sarah didn't appear to want to leave it like that, after a few seconds she reluctantly nodded her head.

"Matt, don't drag it." It was Sam's voice that caught Andy's attention, causing her to glance over to the house and see him ushering his nephews out of the front door. "Just give it here."

Andy couldn't help but smile, and when she turned back to Sarah, she saw her wearing a similar expression. They held each other's gaze for a few moments before Sarah opened her mouth. Andy wasn't sure what she was going to say but she seemed to decide against it, instead letting out a deep breath before turning to look at her family.

"Bye, Andy." Matt jumped up to hug her without any warning causing her to stumble back a few steps. "You should come visit soon because then I can show you Patches."

"He's the neighbour's cat," Zack said.

"But he likes me more." Matt grinned at his brother before turning back to face Andy.

"I look forward to it," she told him, giving him one last hug before lowering him back to the ground. She may have only known him for a week but she was sure she was going to miss having him around.

"Come on," Sarah said as she placed a hand on her son's shoulder and picked up his bag. "Let's get a head start."

"Can we stop for ice cream?"

Andy couldn't help but smile as she watched them walk away. Sarah seemed to be busy shaking her head at whatever Matt was saying, but then she looked back over her shoulder and caught Andy's eye. She gave a genuine smile before walking around the side of the car and opening the door for her son.

"Shall we?" Sam's voice caused Andy to turn back to face him and Zack.

"Well I'm freezing my ass off here, so yeah," Zack told them.

It seemed to be all the confirmation Sam needed because a moment later he was leading them in the direction of his truck. "And we're dropping Andy at the station first."

"Sure, whatever," Zack said as he grabbed the handle to the passenger's seat.

"Which means you're in the back." Sam nudged him out of the way before opening the door for Andy.

"You gonna open my door for me too?" Zack asked.

Andy could see Sam working his jaw as he looked back at his nephew. "Just get in the truck."


"Sammy!" Oliver called out almost as soon as Andy stepped out of the truck. Trust Oliver to arrive at the same time as them, and park right next to Sam. "Thought you were off today?"

"I am, just-"

"Oh. Sorry, McNally, didn't see you there."

Andy just waved a hand in greeting before walking around to the back of the truck to grab her bag. She could hear Sam and Oliver talking as she lowered the door.

"Here." Andy turned to her left to see Zack reaching over and grabbing it for her.

"Thanks."

He smiled a little as he handed it over before opening his mouth slightly. Andy got the impression that he wanted to say something, but he seemed to take his time in working out exactly what it was.

"Thanks…you know, for everything." He paused for a moment and focused his eyes on the ground. "I mean I know you like my uncle but-" He shrugged a little, looking back up at her.

Andy just waited for him to continue but when it became apparent that he wasn't sure what else to say, she took a few steps forward, dropped her bag to the ground and wrapped her arms around him.

"Look after them, okay?" she whispered as she felt Zack hug her back.

"Yeah," Zack muttered, nodding slightly. "Look after him too," he told her as he removed his arms and took a step back. "I mean, cause he's gotta take us to see the hockey next month and-"

"I'll make sure you get to see your hockey game." She smiled at him before noticing Oliver out of the corner of her eye.

"Parade's a calling, McNally," he said as he headed over to them.

"Yeah, yeah I just-" She didn't bother to finish as she walked past them and around the truck to find Sam climbing out of the driver's seat.

He smiled instantly upon seeing her, causing Andy's grin to widen.

"I uh, gotta go," she told him.

"Us too," he agreed before glancing over her shoulder.

Andy wasn't sure if they had an audience, though she wasn't sure if actually she cared either. Before she had much of a chance to think it over, she took a few steps forward and kissed Sam. It was a short kiss, but it just felt like the right thing to do.

"Forty-eight hours," she spoke softly so no one else would hear.

"Still not gonna tell me your plan?" he asked.

She just shook her head as she started backing away from him. She knew she wouldn't leave him if she didn't start moving now, and so she just carried on taking small steps back until she reached Zack and Oliver.

"Ready?" Oliver asked her. "Or do you-"

"I'm ready," she told him as she picked up her bag from the ground and winked at Zack.

"Have fun," she told him as she started off towards the station.

"Hey, McNally," Sam called out before she had gotten too far, causing her to turn back and face him. "It's actually forty-four."

Andy couldn't help but laugh as she nodded before turning back around and continuing her journey into the station.

"Forty-four what?" Oliver asked as he followed after her. "McNally? Forty-four what?"


"Assignments are on the board," Best said as he left the room.

Andy waited until she felt Dov moving beside her before she stood up and walked over to the board. It didn't take her long to spot her name, and she couldn't help but smile when she saw who she was partnered with.

"Well isn't this a nice surprise," Traci said, causing Andy to turn and face her. "I thought you were on nights."

"I am," she told her friend as they headed out of the room.

"So you're here because you love my company so much?" Traci smirked at her as they headed along the corridor.

"As true as that is, I'm actually covering for Sam," she explained before noticing the look on Traci's face. "What?"

"Nothing." Andy eyed her friend carefully before opening the door to the parking lot.

"So where is Swarek then?" Traci asked once they were outside the station.

"He's uh." Andy waited until they were stood by the car and away from most of the prying ears before she continued. "He's going back to St. Catherines with Sarah."

"He driving them back?"

"No, Sarah has her car," Andy said as she unlocked the cruiser and climbed in. Traci followed suit but as soon as Andy saw the questioning look on her friend's face, she knew she needed to elaborate. "He's gone back so he can help out. You know, make sure they're settled, fix a couple of things, chuck Peter's stuff out."

Traci was quiet for a minute as Andy started the car and backed out of the space.

"Don't know how she does it," Traci said finally.

"Huh?"

"Sarah. I don't know how she can act so normal. I mean at the party, when I talked to her, she was just-" Traci paused, causing Andy to look over and see her shrug. "I mean if it had been me, I would have still been furious, but she was just so calm about everything."

"She knows how to deal with things," Andy said, keeping her eyes focused on the road. She wasn't about to tell Traci everything that had happened to Sarah in the past, although it appeared Traci already knew a fair amount.

"Yeah, I guess you have to when you raise two kids by yourself." Andy nodded in response as she pulled up at the lights. "They're good kids too."

Again Andy nodded; she had more than enough evidence of that after the past week.

"You should see some of the pictures Jerry got of Matt and Leo." When Andy looked over, she could see the smile playing on her friend's lips. "Kinda makes me wish Leo had a brother or sister."

Andy felt her mouth drop open ever so slightly before grinning at her friend. "Really?"

Traci half shrugged, half shook her head. "I don't know, kinda. I mean it's really not the right time, but after seeing Matt and Zack together, and the Shaw girls." Again she shrugged. "I don't know, maybe in a couple of years."

"You talked to Jerry?" Andy asked as she looked back to the lights, just in time to see them change.

"Oh yeah, I really wanna scare him off by talking about babies that may or may not happen."

Andy shook her head as she pushed her foot down on the gas and pulled the car around the corner. "Don't think you need to be so worried."

Out of the corner of her eye, Andy could see Traci looking at her so she continued. "Come on, you've seen how much he adores Leo."

"He does, but I don't know. We'll see," Traci said as Andy checked her mirrors. "And speaking of people who adore people. How are you and Swarek?"

While Andy wasn't surprised by the question, she thought they'd covered everything they needed to at Matt's party. So her answer was simple. "We're fine."

"So no new developments?" Andy shook her head, keeping her eyes on the road. "Uh-huh."

"What?"

"You're telling me that you've slept together and you're happy to make out with each other at a child's birthday party, in front of pretty much everyone, but you're still not dating?"

It took a few moments for Andy to check her mirrors again, but then she shot her friend a look to let her know exactly how helpful the question was. She hadn't brought up the subject of labelling her and Sam's relationship with Sam since the first time, deciding instead to go with the flow. And while sometimes her brain liked to overthink what was actually going on between them, she just had to look back on the past week to realise that she really had nothing to worry about.

"McNally?"

"Pretty much," she confirmed, feeling a small smile creep onto her face.

"Pretty much?"

"We haven't really had much time to talk about it." That was the truth after all.

"Oh yeah, and what have you and Swarek been so busy with?" Traci asked before letting out a short laugh.

"What?"

"Given the look you have when I mention his name, I think I just answered my own question."

"I don't have a look," she told her, forcing a neutral expression onto her face.

"Oh yeah, you do."

"Don't."

"Swarek." Traci said as Andy felt the twitch from her lips. "See."

"I-"

"Swarek," Traci interrupted her. "Swarek."

Andy couldn't help but laugh as she looked over at her friend. Something Traci joined in with almost immediately.

"All units, reports of shots fired-"

"Guess we're up," Traci said as she picked up the radio and responded to the call.

Once she was done, Andy noticed that she was still grinning at her and had to ask, "What?"

"Swarek."

"Shut up," Andy laughed, flicking on the lights and pushing her foot further down on the gas.


Thankfully it wasn't actually a shooting that Andy and Traci responded to, but rather a woman who had mistaken the sound of a car backfiring for the sound of gunfire. The woman apologised over and over again after Andy and Traci arrived and checked around, which they politely dealt with since they suddenly had a much more urgent matter to take care of. While they hadn't found any signs of a shooting, they had found a girl who'd been beaten half to death down one of the alleys.

She was still breathing and so immediately they had called for medics and backup. Thankfully she was still alive when the ambulance turned up, so Andy took that as a positive sign that she might make it, but really she knew it could go either way.

Not long after the girl was taken to the hospital, Jerry had turned up and assigned them to taking witness statements and canvassing. After that, there were no more jokes about their relationships, no more smiles as they reminisced about the party, just determination to track down the person who had hurt the girl currently fighting for her life. By the time their shift had ended, and Andy's second was about to begin, they weren't much closer to finding the person. The girl was in a coma, unlikely to wake any time soon or possibly at all, and Jerry was hitting dead end after dead end.

Since she had worked the case for most of the day, Best assigned Andy to the D's for her second shift, hoping that it might speed the process along. As much as Traci had wanted to stay and help out, she had to get home to Leo, and so Andy remained with Jerry, working into the early hours of the morning.

"McNally," Jerry said, nudging her shoulder with something.

"Hmm," she muttered as she looked up to see a cup of coffee in his outstretched hand.

"Drink this," he instructed her.

She nodded slightly as she grabbed hold of the warm cup. "Thanks."

"You found anything?" he asked, rubbing at his eyes before taking a sip of his own coffee.

She shook her head, pulling the headphones down around her neck. "Not yet."

Ever since she'd been assigned to the D's, she'd been going through witness statements and CCTV, of which there was a lot given that the timeline was pretty open. They'd tracked down the girl's family easily enough, but her parents had only just returned home from a weeklong trip. They had assumed that being seventeen their daughter would have been okay and had explained that when they'd last spoken to her, a day ago, everything had been fine.

"Okay," Jerry said, pulling Andy from her thoughts. He ran a hand over his face before looking her directly in the eye. "Okay, so you're seventeen, your parents are away for the week."

Andy nodded; clearly he was trying something different. "Why do you go out? You have the house to yourself, so boyfriend, friends, they can come over."

"You're doing something you can't do at home," Andy said, taking another sip of her coffee.

"Yeah," Jerry muttered, seeming slightly defeated. "But what?"

They'd already tried the drugs angle but there was nothing. She wasn't carrying any drugs, no one had ever seen her using and the hospital had confirmed that she wasn't actually on anything. They'd tried secret boyfriend, blackmail, and anything else they could think of but again and again they drew a blank.

"How far have you got?" Jerry asked, indicating to the screen in front of Andy.

"Been through most of the cameras that cover the front side of the alley." She shook her head to Jerry's questioning look; she hadn't found anything, which was not good since the back end had no camera coverage at all.

"Why go there?" Jerry asked. "Why go down that alley? This kid's a star student, why's she hanging around here?"

Andy shrugged, she had no idea. She'd figured the drugs or blackmail angle was their best bet. The alley wasn't exactly somewhere you met someone to have a conversation.

"Okay, you stay here, keep on this," Jerry told her as he moved over to his chair and grabbed his jacket.

"Where are you going?"

"Hospital, her parents have to know something more. Maybe something they don't even realise they know. Call me if you get anything."

Without waiting for her response, Jerry was out the door. After taking a look at the clock, which read 04:00, Andy picked up her coffee and replaced her headphones, hoping that she would find something soon.


Just before 6am, Andy got a call from Jerry. Apparently after half an hour of talking to the girl's parents, they'd finally parted with some valuable information. The girl was adopted when she was two. Jerry had gotten Chris to look into his hunch while he talked more with the girl's parents. Turned out the girl's biological father had recently moved back into the area and started trying to contact his daughter.

While the parents hadn't passed on the messages, it appeared that the girl's father had still managed to get in contact with his daughter using social networking sites. It didn't take them long to track down the man once they had his name. Unfortunately he was still an addict, and he'd been using his daughter, tricking her into thinking they could have some sort of relationship so he could get money from her.

The girl was still in a coma but her father spilled most of the story to Andy and Jerry as they sat in the interview room with him. Apparently he still cared about her; he just needed a little help to get back on his feet. That was what the girl had been doing that night, bringing her father some more money, only things had gone sideways. They were supposed to meet in a café on the street but then his dealer had shown up with a few of his friends and demanded his money.

As Andy listened to the man's explanation, she realised that it all appeared to be a case of bad timing. His daughter had turned up just as he'd been dragged down the alley. She had yelled at them to stop, handed over all of her money and phone, but it was barely enough to scratch the surface of his debt. So to show him that they weren't messing around, and after deciding that they needed him in one piece so that he could get them the rest of their money, they had attacked his daughter before dragging him off with them.

The man apologised several times, though not once did he ask how his daughter was doing. A fact Jerry pointed out to him as they left the room and the man was escorted back to his cell.

"Okay, so I'm gonna get Diaz and Peck to pick up this dealer," Jerry told her as he pulled out his phone. "You should probably finish writing up your notes."

Andy just nodded before heading back to the D's office. While she planned to do what Jerry said, she first chose to make a call of her own. It didn't take long, and soon enough she was back in the chair she had spent the majority of her shift in, pen at the ready. Unfortunately before she managed to get a single word down, she felt the vibrations from her phone.

Deciding that she had the time, she pulled out her phone to see Sam's name flash up on the screen.

How was the double?

It wasn't an easy question to answer and she really didn't feel like getting into it, so she sent him a short reply.

Not the best, how was yesterday?

No doubt Sam's night had been much better than hers. Part of her hoped that he had an entertaining story to take her mind off the past sixteen hours, although she was just happy for any sort of distraction right now.

Well, you're now talking to the new Swarek monopoly champion

Andy felt a small smile grace her lips as she read his text. She could just picture them all sat around, trash talking each other and laughing at Sam's terrible jokes.

"Okay, McNally?" She recognised Jerry's voice all too well, and immediately turned to face him.

"I was uh, just-"

"Say hi to Sam for me," he told her as he walked over to his desk.

Andy stayed staring at him until he turned back to look at her. At which point she ducked her head and typed out a quick message.

I gotta get back to work. Jerry says hi.

"I'll um, just get on with this," she told him, setting her phone down on the desk and picking up a pen.

"Great," he said as Andy heard the vibrations from her phone.

As much as she wanted to continue texting Sam, she decided to hold off until she was done with her work. Thankfully it didn't take her very long and by eight o'clock she was in the locker room getting changed into her own clothes. She had offered to stay and help out but Jerry had told her that he had this, and that she should go and get some sleep.

While part of her wanted to stick around and see it through, she knew she wasn't going to add much. Jerry would lead the interviews and almost certainly get his confessions, and really that was all that was left to do. So she'd accepted his plan but not before telling him that she'd called the hospital and while the girl was still in a coma, her doctors sounded slightly more optimistic. He'd just thanked her for the information before nudging her in the direction of the locker rooms.

Taking the hint that she should get out while she still could, Andy headed inside and started removing her uniform. About half way through getting changed she heard the sound of her phone. When she picked it up, she saw she had two messages from Sam. The first was something he wanted her to say to Jerry which she ignored before focusing on the more recent one.

You busy? Any chance you could do me another favour?

She wasn't sure what he needed, so she sent her reply before continuing to get changed.

Not really, what's up?

By the time she had pulled on her boots and hung up her uniform, she had Sam's reply.

My dear nephew, who shall now be referred to as the idiot, has apparently left the window in the spare room open. Any chance you could go over there and lock it or let me know if someone has broken in? Got a spare key in my locker.

Andy rubbed a hand over her eyes as she typed out her reply. She thought Sam had checked everything before they left, but maybe he had forgotten the spare room.

Sure, good thing I know your locker code hey.

Picking up her bag, she headed out of the women's locker room and into the men's before her phone informed her that she had another message.

You do?

She just smiled slightly before moving over to his locker. She had probably spent more time in here talking to him than she should have, which was why she had managed to pick up on his combination. And so once she had the keys, she sent him one last text, telling him that she'd take care of it, before shoving her phone in her pocket and making her way out of the station.


It didn't take her long to walk over to Sam's house, where everything still appeared to be normal. The street lights were on, even though the sun was starting to rise, but Sam's house was dark as she expected. None of the windows at the front seemed any different and the door was still shut, but then Sam had said it was the spare room window and that was at the back of the house.

Pulling out the keys from her pocket, Andy made it to the front door before trying to locate the correct one. When Sam had said he had a spare set in his locker, he had failed to mention the other six keys accompanying them. She had no idea what they were all for, although she had located his spare truck key and one that seemed to be for a lockup or something similar.

Grabbing the silver one next to the truck key, Andy placed it in the lock before trying to twist it, left then right, but it wouldn't budge. She inspected them again and tried another two before finally locating the correct one. Apparently identifying keys was not one of her hidden talents, although in her defence it didn't help that Sam had used the same lock company for nearly every single key he owned.

Ignoring her frustrations at locks and keys, she shoved the set back into her pocket, opened the door and carefully stepped inside the house. She wasn't seriously expecting to find something but her training seemed to automatically kick in and who was she to disagree with it?

Since it was still pretty dark, she shut the door and reached for the light switch, but before she managed to flick the switch she heard something that stalled her hand. For a moment Andy was sure she was either hearing things or it had come from the street outside, but then she heard it again and she was certain it was coming from inside the house.

Pulling her hand away from the light switch, she reached out and picked up the nearest object she could find. While part of her was tempted to go back outside and call Sam or someone else for backup, her feet seemed to already be moving towards the living room. She was a cop after all, she dealt with situations like this all the time, and it was probably nothing, probably just her sleep deprived brain imagining things.

Yet even with the numerous logical reasons she had, she could feel her heart rate increasing, her senses heightening as if waiting for something to happen. Trying to keep her breathing slow and even, she shifted into a defensive stance and raised the object clutched in her hand before taking a few steps towards the living room.

As soon as she was in range of the half open door she backed herself up against the wall and tried to steady her nerves. It was going to be nothing, she was almost certainly just being paranoid, but then she heard it again.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, she gently pushed the door open before creeping through. Immediately her eyes swept the room but there was nothing. The TV was off, the radio was off, the windows were closed and there was no one else there apart from her, at least not in this room.

Silently cursing her paranoid brain, Andy moved towards the kitchen but then she heard the sound of footsteps. Instinctively she tightened her grip on the object in her hand, just in case, before deciding to make her presence known. She was a police officer after all, and sometimes the knowledge of that was more than enough to scare a small time criminal.

However, before she got a chance to speak, a figure emerged in the doorway. Andy was sure her body betrayed her surprise as she let out a shaky breath. "Sam?"