A/N Slowly accepting 3x09. No hate to the writers or anything, you sure know how to keep a show interesting. And Noam Jenkins was AMAZING. I'm definitely going to have to write something. But for now…Chapter 4! Please remember that I have completely rearranged the timeline of the events in the show, but the events play out the same, just in a different order. Enjoy =) oh, and by the way…THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR REVIEWS.
"So Graham and Sandy have ridden together for a while now. They dealt with escaped convicts in the woods, fishing cabins, all kinds of stuff. Sandy wasn't even his rookie anymore."
"She was finally cut loose?"
"Unbelievable, I know," he teased, "Sandy had the makings of a great cop. Graham always knew that."
"Graham didn't always know it. The way I heard it, after she burned him, he seemed pretty sure that she didn't have what it took to be a cop."
These admissions had become frequent; a truth veiled behind the storybook lives of their fantasy counterparts. It was clear that intentional or not, Sam and Andy undoubtedly thought of themselves as Graham and Sandy. The likeness to their reality was too obvious to be simply an uncanny resemblance and they both knew it. In fact, they both enjoyed it. Sam's protests about retelling the parts a sleepy Andy forgot had become less than half-hearted and he found himself dreaming up scenarios before she had even asked him for another chapter. The calls were rare but expected; a cry for help without the shame attached. They were fine, of course – no help, no hospitals required and yet the call would inevitably come. When the gear of nightmares forced Andy's eyes open even against bitter exhaustion, or Sam's need to simply hear her voice overcome his embarrassment. When they took the tough cases home with them or got a shot of a strikingly cynical reality that left them both with a need to drown their sorrows in a fantasy. The call would come. After the shooting and the red pea coat, after Benny and the bullet, after Emily and Anton, the calls came.
"Okay so he didn't know right away, but he thought what she did to get that USB was pretty cool. If he didn't know then, he knows now."
"Ah, I see. So Graham was actually wrong about Sandy at the beginning? It was actually his friend…Larry, that burned him?" Andy wheedled.
Sam just rolled his eyes, "Why are you so awake right now? It's almost 1."
Andy mumbled something unintelligible and Sam wrinkled his eyebrow. "Andy."
"You called. I'm always awake when you call."
"I called five minutes ago."
"Yeah, so now I'm awake."
"Andy."
"I can't stop coughing."
Sam sighed, rubbing his forehead with his index and fore fingers. "I can't believe you went in there."
"Can you just tell the story please?" she asked, and as she coughed, he finally heard the quiet rasps that reverberated through the phone as she coughed; the sound made his heart ache.
"One day, Sandy decided she would follow a woman into an unstable Laundromat."
"Sam."
"Andy, just…close your eyes, okay?"
"So she's in there with the wife of a man who's dead body is still in there and nobody outside really knows whether the building is going to collapse or something."
"And when she's out, maybe it'd be a good time to talk to her."
"About what?"
"And her partner Graham, was just left waiting outside with a very pissy Detective Jodie. And he was pretty worried. I mean, worried enough that he almost lost it at his friend Paulie."
"Paul. Paulie makes me think of Jersey Shore."
Sam made a disgusted sound, "Paul it is. So Graham was outside and he wasn't sure what was going to happen; whether the building would cave, whether Sandy would come out okay, whether the wife would keep it together…and he was pretty relieved when he saw her through that hole in the wall."
Sam took a deep breath. "I think the chance of losing her reminded Graham of why she's speed dial #3. And how important to him she is. And that he probably couldn't live with himself if he didn't tell her that he woke up every morning wishing he was Puke…Duke…or that he couldn't imagine his day without her. Or her lion's heart."
He rolled onto his back, phone at his side, almost breathless from his admission, desperately waiting for a response. She couldn't be asleep. He didn't think he could bear having to repeat those words; he might not have the courage to do it again. He silently pleaded for her usually inevitable silence-breaker nature to kick in. He was happy he told her. He was. He just wanted to make sure she remembered. He wanted to make sure she knew he meant it. He wanted to make sure he couldn't take it back, because he could only hold off his own instinct for self-preservation for so long.
"Andy? Say something," he asked, not liking the desperation he heard on his own words.
"Hi, yeah, I'm still here. Not asleep. Just thinking."
"Uh oh. About what?"
"Nothing. Did Sandy say anything after that? After the Laundromat?"
"Uhh…not really."
"Well, I know I don't know Sandy all that well yet, she's your character after all. But I think Sandy was probably pretty scared, and knowing he was there waiting made her feel better. And I bet she's finally clued in that Graham has been waiting there a lot longer than just that day outside the Laundromat. Like I said, it's your story. But if it was me? I would've told Graham that he makes her feel safe. That all she really wanted was a hot shower and to be held and maybe even to be loved. And that she hopes he could be that guy."
This time, it was Sam's turn to be speechless.
A/N I'm going away for a few days and I'm leaving in about…2 hours, so I just wanted to update before I left. Hope you all enjoyed. Your reviews make the sleepless nights worth it! And next update will come after the 16th!