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Chapter 35- Calm in the Chaos.

The moment was surreal.

Everything happened in slow motion.

Steve Peck saw them coming before they even entered the room, his attention spanning past the person trying so hard to keep it focused on them.

With one smooth motion Andy was tugged forwards, her body slamming into Peck's as he pulled her by the arm with one of his hands while the other unholstered his gun and pointed it to her temple as she looked up at him.

It wasn't customary to pull a human shield towards yourself face first- usually you ended up with your back facing them and your front facing the people in front of you. But not with Peck, no he head to turn the tables and throw her off balance by tucking her head into the scratchy nylon of his jacket that enclosed his shoulder.

Peck's hand moved with speed and precision from her arm up to the back of her head where she felt the the cold touch of metal on the other side.

"Stop." He spoke and Andy felt the vibration of his voice against her cheek. She had no idea who he was talking too, but it didn't matter.

"You know that's not going to happen Peck." Sam's voice was close, not more that ten feet away.

Andy tensed momentarily when Peck pulled her closer. Her eyes closed but when his hand pulled her hair down a little her chin lifted and her eyes opened as she took a deep breath. Her eyes fell on the puckered scar that ran up the side of Peck's neck.

It was a harsh reminder that she'd stabbed him, even if it had been under circumstances that now seemed fitting for the time.

"You don't want to do this." Sam spoke again and his voice made Peck tense again. The guy had some serious issues towards Sam.

"I do, trust me." Peck spoke and Andy took a deep breath. She closed her eyes for a moment again and let calmness find its way into her.

"Why? Why her, why any of this?" Sam spoke again and Andy heard him move a step closer. There were the sounds of other feet in the room now and she tried to envision who was here.

She guessed that Oliver was. And Dov and Gail.

And Chloe.

She came up here after seeing Oliver looking for Boyd when she ran into Peck. He started talking to her and ignoring the shivers that ran down her spine, she stayed and played along until they ended up here.

"Why not?" Peck answered Sam's question with one of his own.

"And you're going to throw it all away, for her?" Sam asked sounding confused. He was trying to gauge Peck's interest in Andy and test how far he'd go to save himself.

Desperate times called for desperate measures and Sam saw that desperation reflecting in Peck's eyes as he held his gun hand to Andy's head. He tried to imagine what her face looked like, but stopped the second he started down that road. Everything he knew about her, every emotion he'd ever seen her display suddenly whizzed through his mind and tore him apart because now, the way they were and what she'd become was different from what he'd seen in the past.

She'd changed, and honestly he missed the Andy he met then even if they hadn't really had close contact recently.

Shifting his focus back on to Peck, Sam lowered his gun and set it down on the end of a desk to his left before he took a step closer to Peck in a sign of surrender. He heard Oliver and Jerry enter the room so he figured that he'd try and get Peck to drop his guard long enough for one of them to take him down. The strong smell of cologne told him otherwise- it was Callaghan and two other people.

Peck let out a deep chuckle after hearing Sam's statement. "Me? Nah, I'm doing this for me."

"Do you have any idea what it's like to be a Peck Sammy? To have expectations that high all the time?" Peck asked and Sam saw the telltale signs of a man unraveling in front of his eyes.

That wasn't good right now.

"What it's like to always put on a mask? To be someone that they want you to be?" Peck added after a moments thought.

"I kind of do." Sam spoke, softly and calmly. He'd had his own fair share of UC's and knew exactly what it was like to be someone else. He shrugged and waited for Peck to pick up the conversation where he just left it off.

Peck tightened his grip on Andy's head as he listened to Sam speak. His eyes took on a glazed expression as though he was weighing Sam and his words up.

"So why'd you do it?" Sam edged him on knowing that with Callaghan in the room all he needed to do was get Peck to show one second of weakness because Callaghan would take him out. He'd manned enough hours behind to make the kill shot-if he had too- with ease, all Sam needed to do was get him the opening.

"You don't get it do you Sam. This isn't about the money, or the power, it's about me. I'm making a name for myself, one other than the legacy I was born into. I'm making my own legacy."

Sam raised an eyebrow at Peck's statement. The guy had completely lost it if he was doing this to get thrills because he was on a power trip.

"And she was your scapegoat?" Sam questioned as he inched forwards risking a quick glance down at Andy to see her body language and assess her in a moment of weakness.

He really needed to know that she was okay.

And not being able to see her face was driving him insane because she just stood there, her face tucked away and her arms at her sides.

"Her old man was supposed to be, but he got too close and started sniffing around."

Sam took a wavered breath as he kept his eyes focused on Andy to watch for a moment. She showed no signs of losing it, although hearing that statement was probably really hard for her.

Andy blinked the tears away as soon as they started to well.

She'd always known that Boyd was behind her parents death but she never guessed that Peck was part of the bigger picture.

Hearing him admit it made her so mad, then it shredded her heart because it didn't matter who was responsible- her parents were still gone.

Remembering her parents made her remember a time where her Dad had spent an entire weekend reminding her to practice her Thai Chi as well as some of his version of self defense.

A woman down the street had been savagely attacked and it added pressure to their home when Andy came home for the weekend. Her Dad just wanted her safe and to be able to protect herself.

Listening to Peck talk and be so honest when he knew that there was no way out and nowhere to go made Andy think.

Really think.

Until she stopped thinking when the alarm bells went off.

Being that honest to your co-workers when you were a dirty cop wasn't a good thing. You were sure to get jail time, and a cop in jail was really, really bad. You had plenty of enemies before you set foot past the prison gates.

He was coming clean, but it was because of a completely different reason.

He was targeting his own judge, jury, and execution.

A good old fashioned death by cop.

It was pretty clever, Andy had to admit.

But it didn't seem as if anyone else in the room picked up on it and that terrified her because he could still shoot anyone else in the room to make the others in turn shoot him.

Taking a loud breath Andy moved her hands up to Peck's chest and pushed him away putting some space between them. It was just enough so that she could spin around gasping for breath like she couldn't breath. It didn't startle him, and he clutched her tightly around the shoulders when she settled her movements.

He thought he was still in control, and that's all she needed.

It was just enough to buy her some time.

His arm was tight, so she moved her hands up and wrapped them around it, tugging and pulling. He glanced down at her, his chest lifting and falling in a quiet chuckle as he took her movements to be signs of her falling apart.

He assumed that as the weaker sex, she was terrified and weak, whereas she was playing him just like he played everyone else in this room.

Andy avoided eye contact with Sam, but let her eyes roam the room to see who else was here. She found Callaghan, Dov, Chloe and a woman with dark hair that she was sure she'd seen somewhere before.

Peck felt her tugging on his arm, and just as he shifted it down, the metal now freshly touching her temple moved just enough for it to leave her skin.

Andy took the opportunity, and his dip in concentration to step back and push against him while her hands moved to push the gun away from her face.

As soon as she moved Peck saw it coming and reacted. He moved the gun away from her face and instead dropped it to her neck where he had more control at the lower altitude.

"Stay still." He hissed in her ear as she watched his trigger finger tap the trigger.

He had a spasm in his arm and the involuntary movement of his finger showed that he was fighting to keep hold of his restraint.

Her eyes swept across the room and she saw each person that had become a friend look at her like they were scared for her.

And then there was Sam.

This time when she looked at him, there was just so many things there.

Every thought and memory tumbled to the surface, her concentration shifting for a split second to Chloe who stood just behind Sam.

Andy thought of Jared an Sawyer before looking back at Sam to find his face still stoic and expressionless.

It wasn't the first time that she'd seen him looking like that so it shouldn't have been a surprise that he did now. Maybe she'd been hoping that she'd turn around and find him showing her something because she had a gun to her head, but no not the Sam Swarek that stood there in front of her.

Andy averted her eyes back to Callaghan and kept them there while she sucked courage and strength from her inner core.

She doubted that anyone in the room would see it coming, and least of all Peck but she had to do this before he ended up shooting Dov or Chloe or Sam.

Doing a silent countdown in her head, Andy felt the slightest prickle in her eye. She wasn't supposed to cry. Not now.

"Andy,"

Sam's voice made her second guess herself so she kept her eyes trailed on Callaghan who by now was looking at her strangely.

Sam had his hand held up when she had looked at him a moment ago, so when he took a marginal step to the side and moved in front of Callaghan he still mirrored the position.

"Andy, look at me." Sam said it a little softer than he had the first time and she sensed some real concern in his tone.

Finally blinking and focusing on Sam, Andy saw his face soften as he looked at her like he knew what she was thinking.

"You'll be okay." Sam said. "He won't hurt you." Sam added this time looking up at Peck before looking back at her.

"Really think so Sammy?" Peck said and suddenly moved his arm and gun.

Andy reacted without thinking it through, his movements were what she had been waiting for.

Andy bent her knees and steadied herself while reaching out for Peck's hands. Once she had hold of them she pulled them closer to her chest and then slipped one finger over his and tapped the trigger.

The impact hit her full force in the shoulder and sent her a step backwards at the same time it hit Peck. They tumbled and fell together, the most intense pain she'd ever felt tearing though her flesh while they were falling.

She heard a scream that she recognized as her own and that was followed by several other sounds.

As they hit the ground together, Andy felt a rush of air leave Peck's lungs as he exhaled and wheezed.

Her vision blurred and the pain grew like wildfire through dry grass as the wind swept it away and out of control.

She felt movement and knew that someone was touching her because right now she was incapable of moving herself.

She must have closed her eyes when she hit the floor because when she opened them Sam was right there inches away.

His lips were moving but there so was so much noise that his words were inaudible in the chaos.

He was touching her too, she could feel it as a different kind of warmth spread through her where his skin met hers.

Compared to the gunshot wound she now had in her shoulder, his touch was warm and soothing and tranquil, just enough to make her close her eyes again for a moment to bask in the feeling.