Since I've already borrowed a little from Episode 1 of Season 2, I decided to take the liberty again to keep the story moving along. Hope you like what I've done.

Terri insisted that Andy stay the night at her house; it was too late to take the bus and she didn't want her riding all the way across town alone in a cab. Andy was exhausted, physically and emotionally, and she was happy to take her friend up on the offer.

When they returned to Terri's apartment together, Andy was glad that she had packed a bag and brought it with her. She hadn't wanted to ride all the way across the city on a bus in her miniskirt; that would have just been asking for trouble. So instead she had worn yoga pants and a t-shirt for the trip over the night before.

When she had been packing the bag with her outfit for the party, she thankfully had the foresight to thrown in something to sleep in and a few other essentials just in case. It wouldn't have been the first time she needed to stay over at a friend's and she had decided not to take any chances.

After changing and brushing her teeth, Andy immediately crashed on the sofa bed Terri had made up for her and she didn't even stir until eleven thirty the next morning.

She awoke disoriented but with only a slight headache. It took her a moment to remember where she was and how she ended up there; at least she wasn't nauseous though. She had had quite a bit to drink earlier in the night but the dancing helped work a lot of it out of her system. And after she had seen Sam and had that beer with him, she had decided to stick to soda water.

She couldn't say the same for Terri though, and was pretty sure she'd be feeling the effects if she ever decided to show herself. Andy lay on the couch for a bit longer before making her way to the bathroom; she still hadn't heard anything from Terri and had a feeling her friend was going to need a little more time to sleep it off. So Andy decided to have a quick shower while she waited, and if she had to, she could always leave Terri a note before heading home.

She took a quick peek in the medicine cabinet and found the treasure she was looking for. After downing a couple of painkillers she stepped into the hot water. It was just what she needed and the pounding in her head was soon replaced by the pounding of the hot spray against her back. She could have stayed in there forever, but she was pretty sure Terri wouldn't appreciate facing a cold shower after last night.

After toweling off and changing back into her yoga pants and tee, Andy exited the bathroom to be greeted by a very lethargic Terri with a steaming cup of hot coffee in her hand. Andy gratefully accepted the drink and asked Terri how she was feeling. Though she obviously wasn't at her best, she still offered to drive Andy home. But besides the fact that Andy didn't want to put her out, Andy also wasn't completely sure that Terri wasn't still over her legal limit.

Andy assured her that she was fine taking the bus or a cab and was ready to go within a half hour. She thanked Terri for a wonderful time and smiled good-naturedly when Terri teased her about the 'hottie' she had kissed last night. Andy left with a wistful grin; she definitely enjoyed meeting that 'hottie' but she also knew that despite what the girls assumed after she gave him her number, she wasn't about to hear from him for awhile.

There was a bus stop just outside Terri's apartment but Andy found herself unconsciously walking right by it, instead scanning up and down the street ahead of her. Somewhere deep down she knew what she was doing but she was trying not to admit it, telling herself she just wanted to enjoy some fresh air to clear away the last remnants of the hangover.

When she came to the next stop a couple of blocks away, she told herself she should just stop and wait that a bus would be along soon. But after a few moments, she gave up and started walking again. The pattern continued for more than an hour; each time she came to a bus stop she kept telling herself she would stop and wait, but when the bus didn't come within a few seconds, she would start wandering again, her eyes panning the streets all around her. About a half hour ago, she had passed the club they had been at, not able to resist peeking in the window, but there was nothing to see.

If she was honest with herself, she was hoping for just one more glimpse of Sam before she headed home.

After another half hour, she had to resign herself to the fact that it wasn't going to happen, and as luck would have it, she had just reached a stop as a bus pulled into view. Reluctantly, and with one last look around, she got on and made her way back across the city.

It was after three when Andy finally made it home and she was starving. Other than half a piece of toast with her coffee, she hadn't had anything to eat since dinner last night.

After making herself a sandwich, she turned on the TV and flipped to a random channel. It didn't matter what was on; it was just background noise. There was only one thing that could keep her attention right now.

She sat on her sofa and started eating, replaying the entire night over and over in her head. Even as a thug Sam looked good, and he felt good too. Dancing with him and having him hold her close had to be the best feeling in the world. She had to smile at the look on his face when she patted his pocket at the end of the night. She missed teasing him, missed talking to him, just missed…him.

She woke up about 4 hours later still on the sofa with her sandwich only half eaten on the coffee table. She had obviously fallen asleep having lost herself in thoughts of Sam, and now she was more than hungry. She got up and tossed the sandwich before foraging in her fridge and digging out some leftovers to heat up. As she sat down once again to eat, she forced herself to think of something else, anything else…at least till she finished her dinner.

She quickly cleaned up and decided to have a hot shower and just go to bed early. She had to go back to work the next day and she wanted to be well rested. As she lay down that night, she allowed herself the luxury of thinking of him again; how good it was too see him, how safe she felt in his arms, how the feeling that something was missing was gone for those few short hours…and then how that feeling was back again and stronger than ever. A lone tear made its way to her pillow as she drifted off once more.

Andy woke up before her alarm. It was no wonder; she had basically spent all of yesterday asleep. She was ready a full half hour early and decided to head in knowing that Frank would already be there; maybe she could even talk to him before parade.

She got to the barn, dressed quickly, and made her way up to Frank's office. She got to the top of the stairs when she realized that he was already occupied with Boyd who did not appear to be in a very good mood. She turned to walk away but only got a few steps before she heard the door opening.

"McNally."

"Yes, sir."

"Didn't I tell you I wanted to talk to you first thing?"

"You did sir, and I was on my way, but it looked like you were busy so…"

"We've been waiting for you."

"We, sir?"

"Detective Boyd and I…he wanted to be here to find out what went down too."

"Hasn't Sam…"

"The office, McNally." He reminded, encouraging her to take it inside.

Andy walked in and she could instantly feel the contempt rolling off of Boyd. She knew she had made things difficult with the whole Landry/Bergen case, but it had all worked out in the end. She really didn't know why he disliked her so much. She did her best to keep it professional though. "Detective." She greeted coolly.

"McNally." He sneered.

Andy turned to Frank and he gestured for her to sit down. "Have a seat."

"What the hell did you do this time?" Boyd shot out accusingly.

"Hang on!" Frank admonished before turning to Andy. "Can you tell us what happened?"

"Is something wrong?" Andy wondered, surely they should be happy that Sam was finally able to contact them.

"Everything's fine." Frank assured, trying not to worry her.

Boyd couldn't believe he was sugar-coating it and he wasn't in the mood to hold anything back. "Everything is far from fine. Why the hell hasn't Swarek called yet?"

"Sam hasn't called?"

"That's right…and why the hell didn't you contact me and tell me what was going on. I get the call from Frank asking me for the number and then that's it…nothing. You should have called and told me everything the minute…"

"Hang on, Don. I told Andy to come in first thing this morning; we both figured Sam would have called you by now. Now, Andy…"

Boyd interrupted. "Did you give him the right number? Are you sure you got it right because my guess is you probably just screwed up another one of my busts."

"You should come with a warning label." He muttered under his breath.

Frank could see the panic starting to set in Andy's eyes. If they were going to get to the bottom of this, he was going to have to rein in Boyd. "Let's just relax for a minute. We all know Sam, and if hasn't called, it's for a good reason. He knows what he's doing out there."

Andy took a deep breath and tried to believe Frank; she knew Sam was good at what he did and she had to trust that.

"Andy, just tell us exactly what happened."

Andy went through the entire night. She went out dancing with friends, Sam was at the club, he came and danced with her and bought her a drink to keep up appearances, he asked her to get a number, she went to the bathroom to text Frank, and she gave Sam the number just before she left. She looked directly at Boyd when she emphasized that it was the 'right' number.

"Thanks, McNally. You did great."

They both heard Boyd scoff at Frank's compliment, and both chose to ignore it. Andy shook her head minutely before looking to Best. "Thank you, sir. Can I…"

Before she had a chance to ask to leave, Frank's phone rang and he held up his hand for Andy to wait. She watched as he furrowed his brow and kept shaking his head. "I remember…we're on it."

When he hung up, he turned to Andy; his original thought would have to wait.

"McNally, I need you over at Supernova. There's a concert going on there; a thousand wrist bands went out and they only got room for 800. You're in charge, McNally. Take the other rookies."

"Great…who's playin'?"

When Best didn't answer, she took that as her cue to leave.

Andy was excited, and truthfully a little nervous, about being in charge. But she wasn't about to let it show; she wanted to prove that she could handle whatever was thrown at her.

She could already tell that it wasn't going to be a walk in the park though. They'd barely been there a half hour and they'd already arrested one man for being under the influence of… Well they weren't sure quite what he was on, and he wasn't telling.

They had kept things running fairly smoothly when Andy heard that there was a problem at the door. When she got to the front of the line, Dov told her that they only had room for fifty more and then the doors were shutting for good. She knew it was time to step it up as the waiting crowd was about to go ballistic….literally.

As she watched the people continue to file in, Andy was approached by a pretty young woman in a red jacket. She had been tasked with saving her friend's spot in line, but had failed miserably. Andy wanted to remain unaffected by her plight, but it wasn't easy. The girl was just really sweet.

Andy couldn't resist wanting to help her and quickly promised to make sure that she and her friend got in. They made small talk as they waited for her friend to get back, but their conversation was cut short by a loud crack. Andy felt the wet spray across the left side of her face before she could fully register what had happened. She turned her head in time to see a second shot ricochet across a metal vent. The third shot knocked Andy off her feet.

She couldn't breathe. Why couldn't she breathe? She felt like she was drowning, but where was the water? She needed air…why wouldn't it come? She wanted air…why couldn't she make it come?

She forced herself to roll over and look at the young woman she had been talking to. The girl had been nice, and she made Andy want to be nice too. But nice was the last thing Andy was feeling right now. She reached out and placed her hand over the girl's, offering her a silent 'I'm sorry'. It was all she could do yet it wasn't going to be enough.

Andy was forced to back off as Oliver took charge of assessing the girl before the EMT's took his place. Andy tried to sit up, needing to be useful. But when she finally felt like she could move a little, Oliver told her she couldn't. She tried to convince him she was well enough to get up, and apparently he knew she was fine but with the blood spray on her face and the bullet lodged in her vest, she was evidence.

Evidence. An uninvited flash of Benny's face invaded her thoughts. This time, she was the evidence. Nope…definitely not a walk in the park.

Sam and his buddies were having lunch at one of their usual haunts working on the details for the huge buy that was coming up in less than two weeks. This was what Sam had been waiting for; he could finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. And after seeing Andy on the weekend, he had even more motivation to make sure that it all went down as quickly as possible.

He was broken from his thoughts when someone yelled. "Turn that up."

The bartender opened up the volume on the TV and they all looked over. The local news was reporting a shooting at a free concert – one critical and another injured. One of the victims was said to be a police officer but no names had been released.

As they listened to the rest of the meager details, most of Sam's buddies were laughing. "Do you think it was one of ours that got 'em?"

"Unloaded one near there the other day."

Sam watched in interest but remained silent, desperately hoping not to draw attention to himself; he didn't have it in him to pretend right now. He knew exactly where it all went down and exactly which division would have been called in. He felt sick to his stomach as the same words echoed over and over in his head: "No. Please. No."

I don't see myself following the season along, but this was a good way to prompt some further McSwarek interaction. I'll probably be breaking free from it soon, but I think a behind the trailer re-do is definitely in order.

I have to admit though that the previews for the next episode are interesting – Andy undercover in a club, guns…