Chapter 4

Author's Note: Once again, a big thank you to those of you who like and review. You are wonderful. To my regular reviewers, thank you for your continual support, it feels great to know there is someone supporting my work and I hope you to continue to enjoy it. Your thoughts and support are always appreciated, and I've been really stoked by it so far. My goal is for after this chapter to have over 100 people either add this story to their alerts or favorite stories because I'm so close to 100, I want to see if I can tip it over. So a major thank you to all of you who have done this, it motivates me to write when I know people are going to read it and like it. I had a request to make the chapters longer, which I'm awful at, but I have managed to make this chapter the longest so far, and I am going to keep working on making the chapters longer. Major admiration goes out to those of you who write long chapters; feel free to let me in on your secrets. My goal for the next chapter is more dialogue; this chapter is just me linking Sam and Andy's meetings to when she joins 15. I may revise it later, but for now, I'm not having too many meetings between Sam and Andy because I want the story to move past that. Rookie Blue is amazing, but not mine etc etc etc

Dov Epstein was a playboy; there was no two ways about it. And the girl that had captured his attention tonight was one Andy McNally. Dov's gaze zeroed in on the exposed cleavage and he made sure to take the opportunity to "accidentally" bump into Andy, or reach past her, gently grazing her skin. The "opps sorry Andy's" and "are you ok Andy's" were out in full force tonight, along with Dov's usual arsenal of chat up lines. "A pretty woman like you…" being his favorite. He liked to complement women, because he genuinely appreciated the female species, except for Gail Peck, she was already getting up his nose. It was one thing to be proud of her family, but that girl was an ice cold bitch. Andy however, she was warm, bubbly, friendly, the polar opposite form the likes of Gail Peck.

Andy could tell Dov was into her, and whilst she felt flattered, he just wasn't doing anything for her. He was a great guy, a complete clown, probably quite loyal and he was overall a good guy with good intentions in life – hence the copper aspirations. But there was nothing that attracted her to him. Really it made no sense, he was attractive enough, he clearly shared her passion for serving and protecting, but she just didn't feel a spark. She hadn't felt a spark since… "Don't go there Andy." She berated herself. Pushing those thoughts away, she gave a big smile and focused on the conversation whilst throwing Dov a couple of bones. It wouldn't go anywhere, but maybe it could get her head back in the game. "Fake it till you make it," Traci would probably tell her.

Sam eyed a busty blonde waitress as he drank with some of Anton Hill's goons. She had a good body, prominent assets and was more likely to be clean than a prostitute. Just the sort of thing to get a man in his life find his heart racing, right? Well Sam sure as hell wasn't feeling anything and she was even clearly flirting with him. The sexy winks, the boobs in his face as she served him a drink, the less than subtle verbal hints with her calling him "big boy." Well at least he wasn't a disappointment in that department, he thought cockily to himself. So gulped down another drink and then another, maybe he would enjoy her more if he didn't have enough functioning brain to think about Andy… god dammit, he swore he was going to leave her in the past where she belonged. He was deep undercover and she could not currently be a part of his life. He needed to focus on the present. What was her name again? Crystal, Ruby… Jem. That was it. The boys expected him to screw her, she clearly was willing. It was the right thing to do in that situation. Now he just had to man up and do it – literally. The thing was, he didn't want some waitress that all the boys banged, he wanted a respectable woman if he was going to share himself with someone. Someone like… no he wasn't going there. Someone like Monica. That was a better person to think of. But the problem was you didn't get decent women when you were slumming it undercover. But it had never been quite this hard before.

Not living far from the academy and being an athletic sort of girl, Andy always liked to walk to and from the academy each day. What she didn't like was the creepy alleyways she had to pass in order to go from A to B. She always sped up as she walked past there and if it weren't for the fact she recognized his voice, she may have never seen hat happened in the alley that night.

Sam had noticed some of the warehouse guys being a little hostile towards him the past couple of days, but he chalked it up to Hill promoting him. He never would have guessed they thought he was a snitch till they ambushed him in an alley on his way home. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong in the alley that night. But he couldn't spot anything out of the ordinary, so he disregarded it as paranoia. Or he chuckled darkly to himself, perhaps he was so immersed in the criminal element, he was picking up on himself. It was only as a hand yanked him and cold metal made it presence known against his head, that he realized he should've trusted his gut. The warehouse boys who had been casually smoking on their doorstep were now circling him like vultures. Mario, who Sam had identified as the groups leader and one of Hill's inner circle, stepped forward and asked sadistically. "JD, buddy. Talked to any cops lately?"
Sam focused on his poker face, pushing down his fears he'd been burned and only allowed himself a quirked eyebrow and a look of confusion. "Nah man. Why the hell would I go near them?"
Mario smirked. "Maybe a jail out of free card?"
Sam gave a harsh laugh. "I prefer the 'just don't get caught' method myself."
Mario stepped closer to Sam, fingering the trigger button of the gun in his hand. "Then where do you disappear to?" He hissed.
Sam held up his hands like he was surrendering. "I told you man, I got needs that sometimes need servicing."
Mario snarled. "Except I don't believe you. I checked with the whores, they said you're one of the few guys that they have never serviced."
"Maybe I like my girls clean." Sam fired back.
Mario's face took an ugly shade. "Well if not with them, then who have you been with?"

"Nah man. Why the hell would I go near them?" Andy's heart almost stopped with shock. She could have sworn that was JD's voice she had just heard. Backtracking to peer into the alley, she let out a quiet gasp as she saw JD surrounded by burly guys and a gun held to his head. None of them noticed her watching, they were too focused on the action at hand. She figured JD had been disappearing and these other men though he was snitching to the cops. Now she may be kinda mad at the guy, but she didn't want to be a witness to murder, plus it was sort of her duty to help him out, especially if he was helping the cops. Then there was the part of her that didn't want to see him hurt because she in truth liked him a little more than she should. How she wished she had a gun on her. Instead she just stepped in with "he's been with me."

All heads swiveled towards her, surprised by their audience. One or two of the outside guys started towards her, but Mario stopped them with a look. He turned to face her with a look of contempt and said, "a respectable citizen and a junkie. I don't think so. Now why don't you just run along and leave us to our business."
As Andy tried to think of what to say to make it see like he had been with her, JD sighed and said "that's her."
"Really?" Mario's eyes gleamed. "What's his name then?" He fired at Andy.
Andy looked him square in the eye as she said "JD." Hoping he hadn't given her a fake name.
Mario nodded. "Where did you meet?"
"A bar." At least that was true.
"What one?"
"The Half Moon."
"Seems like a pretty seedy bar for a girl like you."
"I needed a drink and it was the closest one."
"Why JD?"
"He was cute and friendly." There she'd stuck to the truth, which is always good to have an element of in your story undercover, so surely the same rule applied here. Now she just hoped they believed her.
One of the guys behind Mario whistled appreciatively, but Mario glared him into submission again. Then he turned his glare to JD "It looks like your story checks out, but I'm gonna be watching you very closely, we don't like snitches, so I'd suggest you start drinking at Dave's with the rest of us, so we know you're not talking to somebody you shouldn't be."

Sam returned Mario's look, then grabbed Andy and pulled her out of the alley. When they were far enough away he pushed her against a wall and shouted. "What the hell were you thinking?" You could have been killed!"
Andy tossed her head and gave him a fiery look. "You would've been dead if I hadn't come and saved your arse."
Sam scowled. "You would've been dead too if I hadn't backed you up."
"Well it's a good thing you have self preservation then." Andy snapped. "Now do you wanna tell me why your arse needed saving. Are you helping the cops?"
Sam gave a bitter laugh and evaded the question subtly. "I'm not a snitch."
Andy steamrolled ahead. "Do you want to help the police?"
Sam laughed again. "I'm not playing your informant so you can run up the career ladder Rookie."
Andy looked offended. "I was hoping you'd do it for the good of the city."
"Not for anything." Sam said. "Did you not see how those guys reacted?"
Andy huffed. "Remind me why I saved you?"
"Because you can't help yourself it seems." Sam snapped.
"Fine I won't bother again."
"I never asked in the first place." Sam retorted.
Then he let out a sigh of relief as she stormed away. If she got herself into anymore dangerous situations, he might kill her himself. For now he just had to find a new bar to hangout at.

*3 months later*

Andy McNally was a proud graduate of the Police Academy. She was now able to spend her days serving and protecting. Andy felt a thrill run down her spine, beside her, she saw Traci experience the same thing. As she stood on the stage, lovely official papers in her hand, she saw her father beaming up at her proudly. Andy was going to restore honor to the McNally name, wear her father's badge proudly and make it respected once more. That genuine smile on her father's face and the for once sober state was all Andy needed to know that this was the right path for her. She was even going to take on precinct 15. She and her Father had discussed this, and he had felt that whilst 15 had seen the most damage where her Father was concerned, they were also his family and the ones that supported him and were more likely to support her, than precincts that had just heard stories of the disgraced detective. Andy just wanted to correct the problem right at the root of it.

It was as Andy was leaving the graduation hall that a picture caught her eye. It was a picture of a smirking cop, dimples showing. He looked just like JD. Andy tried to shake that thought, she had either forgotten what he looked like – which she hadn't, or was giving a man of the same nationality identical characteristics in her mind because her brain was fighting back against all the times she had suppressed remembering his existence – more likely. She leaned down and read the name below the picture. Officer Samuel Swarek. There, clearly not JD. But she couldn't resist asking, "Dad, do you know an Officer Swarek?" Tommy looked at her and frowned slightly. 'He was one of my rookies, why?" "He just looked familiar." Andy shrugged innocently as she pointed to the photo. Tommy nodded, "maybe I had you at the station when he was there." "Probably." Andy agreed. "He's a good cop." Tommy added. "You never know, he might be your T.O."

Sam looked at the date on his phone and saw it was the day of the Academy graduation. He was so tempted to sneak a peak. See all his old friends, Andy. But he couldn't. He was deep undercover and only a few weeks away from making the big bust. Not that he couldn't have made one long ago if Boyd didn't have his head up his arse. Not much longer to go, Sam consoled himself.

Andy couldn't help but feel the almost childlike excitement as she went to bed that night. Tomorrow was the start of a new day, a new life, a new career. A whole bunch of firsts, and Andy was sure it was going to be the good life.