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."

At that point he had tuned out all conversation; the only thing on his mind was which officer…which friend…which…could have been shot. And was he/she the critical one or simply the injured one. He could only pray that whoever was shot, that their vest had caught it. He had to bank on it; it was the only thing keeping him sane right now.

He was broken away from his thoughts when he realized that Vic was talking to him. "Sammy...Sammy."

"Huh."

"What are you thinking?"

"Huh…oh nothing."

"Cause we're thinking maybe we should put off the buy." Ray suggested.

That was the last thing Sam wanted to happen. "What? No. Why?"

"That gun could have been one of ours. What if they trace it back to us?" RJ panicked.

"Yeah, maybe we should lay low for awhile. Pass on this shipment." Ray agreed.

"They ain't gonna trace it back to us." Sam assured; he knew the first concern would be the shooting…though he didn't want to think it, the possible murder. Eventually yes, the gun, once they saw that the serial number had been rubbed off, would be sent to Guns and Gangs for investigation, but this wouldn't be the first one…that was why Sam was here.

"Are you sure, Sammy?" Jimmy asked. "Cause I ain't ready to go to jail because some idiot popped a cop."

There was that sick feeling again. "No, if anything, we speed it up." Sam recommended. "The cops aren't going to move onto that gun until they find out who used it. If they find the guy right away, we've got at least a few weeks. If not, we lay low with the sales for now; keep our guys off the streets so we don't end up in the middle of this. We can't put off a shipment a second time or we're done with this guy. We almost lost him after the last time; remember what happened when we passed a month ago?"

How could they forget? "Yeah, he sold direct to Vicero's group and the boss was completely pissed."

"You know that's why he thinks your buddy went over to the other side." Jimmy added, nodding at Sam.

"What?" Sam was shocked. He knew they put off the buy because they were worried about whether or not to trust him and they likely thought that Kenton was a snitch, but he wasn't expecting this.

"It was too easy for them; there's no way they should have been able to. We bring them in from the supplier, we sell to Vicero or guys like him, and they unload them on the street. But Vicero walked right in and took over like he'd been doing it forever. It went together too fast. If boss ever finds your buddy…" Vic started to warn.

Sam was relieved his fellow officer hadn't been made, but he didn't realize that was why they were they so concerned about him when he first came on. Did they think he came from the other gang too? That he was a mole for Vicero trying to help him eliminate the middle man? Sam knew it made some sense, but his gut was on overdrive and telling him there was something else there; for some reason, it was almost sounding like too convenient an excuse for calling things off. What had Ray said earlier?

He turned to Ray, one of the first guys he had worked with when he started. "You said you unloaded one near there? What did you mean? And how near?" Sam wondered, knowing that there were clearly defined lines in this business.

Ray didn't respond but the guilt was written all over his face.

"You know we don't do singles." Sam practically shouted; trying to rein in his temper. "Boss is already pissed at Vicero for sticking his nose in where it didn't belong and you think it's a good idea to piss off Vicero by working his end. What were you thinking? Not that you were thinking at all."

"I was thinking it was a friend of a friend and he asked for a favor. I was thinking I could make a few extra bucks."

"A favor like that gets us all killed." Sam reminded as the rest of the guys nodded. "That's why you want to pass on the shipment isn't it? You're not worried about the cops finding out; you're worried that Vicero and his guys will find out you were dealing singles in their territory. They already want us out and now if they think we're trying to push them out, they will come after us. That's just great."

Everyone was on edge now; they all remembered how mad their boss had been when he had to pass on the last deal. But mad didn't even begin to cover it when he found out Vicero took the shipment directly and the supplier was ready to cut them out right then and there. The boss didn't like taking stupid chances that's why he cancelled the first time when Kenton disappeared and he originally thought he was a cop, but he was mad enough now that even if he knew Vicero was pissed at them, he would still go ahead. They were sure he was ready to just have it out. None of them were chicken shit; you couldn't be in this business. But they didn't have a death wish either and they knew this could mean war.

"We'll talk to the boss tonight." Sam suggested, but he planned to do everything in his power to make sure it all moved ahead, turf war or not. He'd just have to make sure Boyd knew about the other gang because this could get ugly really fast, and they were definitely going to need a bigger task force on this one.

They all agreed that they had to tell the boss; though Ray wasn't so sure he was ready to face the wrath. He might not even make it to the buy if the boss was really pissed. It was inevitable though if they all wanted to stay alive.

Sam listened as the last of the details they were supposed to take care of were ironed out; though it was pretty obvious to everyone that they would likely have to rethink the whole thing knowing that Vicero's guys were likely to show up. The worst part was that Sam still didn't know when it was going to happen.

That was the key detail he had been waiting on. He always tried to keep contact to a minimum. The less he called, the less the chance of getting caught. He hadn't wanted to call Boyd yet because he didn't have a lot to report. He definitely had more after today, but not everything they needed. Still, it was time to make the call he had been putting off. And for Sam, this call was going to be just as much about getting information as it was giving it.

Sam was sitting there wishing they would hurry up and call it good. What else could there be to discuss? Especially if they were going to have to rework the whole thing, which he knew they would. He kept checking his watch to see how much time had passed; surely they'd have enough details now that he would only need one call to tell Boyd what he knew and at the same time find out who was hurt, how badly and if they caught the shooter.

Sam wasn't being as discreet as she should have and one of his buddies noticed. "You gotta be somewhere Sammy?"

Sam was just trying to formulate his excuse when one of the other guys piped in. "Hot date with the one that got away on Friday night?"

Works for me. "Yep. I was actually thinking about lining something up for tonight." He glared at Ray, again making it known that he wasn't happy about the wrench he threw into the works. "I figured we'd have everything ready to go and there wouldn't be much to do for the next couple of days. I'm thinking I might just give her a call and see if she wants some company tonight."

Sam did his best not to react strongly to the comments that were being thrown about. He just shrugged them off trying to bite his tongue; he didn't like any of them thinking about Andy in that way.

"Aren't we meeting the boss tonight?" Jimmy reminded.

Shit. He had forgotten about suggesting that.

"Ah...it's still early now and she'll probably need a break by then anyway." He joked, wishing he didn't have to talk about Andy like that. "Are we done here?"

"Go get her Sammy." They leered.

Sam left the bar and headed back to his apartment. He wanted to be safely inside before he made the call; he didn't want the chance of anyone overhearing. And it probably wouldn't be quick.

Luke had been tied up in court so they brought in detective Jo Rosati from the 27th to run point. She brought Andy into the trailer they had set up on scene. After giving her story and her vest and relieving herself of the title of evidence, Andy rode back to the barn with Oliver.

He tried to talk her into going to the hospital but she refused; she wasn't the victim here. She was okay (well as okay as could be expected); she wasn't fighting for her life. She needed to be useful; she needed to make sense of it all. She kept telling herself she would feel better if she could just figure out why it all happened.

Andy stopped in the locker room to clean the rest of the blood off her face; she was surprised when Luke came barging in. She was touched by his concern though. She knew that she had hurt him by breaking it off, and it was nice to know that he still cared. When he moved to hug her, she let him and thanked him for his concern; it couldn't have been easy.

Their moment was interrupted by the detective from the 27th. It was obvious that Jo and Luke knew each other and Andy surprisingly noted some tension between them. Jo quickly told Andy that the roommate wanted to speak to her and then she made a hasty retreat to talk to a kid they had found on scene with a gun.

Luke wanted Andy to go home, but she told him she needed to be there. She still needed to make sense of everything; she couldn't go before it made sense. Andy walked out with Luke, heading to the D's office to speak with the roommate, while Luke headed to interrogation to help nail the bastard who they thought did the shooting.

Boyd was sitting in his office reviewing his notes and periodically looking out at the action in the bullpen. Once they brought the shooting suspect in, it had gotten really interesting around there. He had just lowered his head back to his notes, when his phone rang. He reached for the receiver but quickly realized it was the cell he'd set up for Swarek to call. Finally.

"Yeah."

"Boyd?"

"Sammy?"

"Yeah…who got hit?"

"What?"

"Who got hit? The news said an officer was shot; who was it?"

Boyd needed Sam totally focused and didn't want him thinking about anything but the op. "You're not Officer Swarek; you're Sammy, remember."

"Don't tell me how to do my job Boyd. You picked me for a reason, remember."

"I do, but you need to remember you're still 'on the job'; you can't afford to be thinking about anything else. Get your head in the game…start thinking Sammy not Swarek."

Sam knew he was right but he still had to find out. "Just tell me who it was, Boyd."

Boyd knew Sam, and he knew that he wouldn't give up without getting what he wanted. So he figured it was better to tell him and get it over with so he could get him back on track.

"It was McNally." Boyd said before cringing. His reaction was definitely warranted based on the string of profanities spewing from Sam's mouth.

He let Sam vent for a few seconds, but at the first pause he offered. "She took it in the vest though; so she's ok."

Boyd heard a deep breath on the other end of the line.

Sam just kept telling himself over and over: She took it in the vest; she'll be fine.

When Boyd hadn't heard anything for a few seconds, he pressed on. "When's the deal going down?"

"Huh?"

"The deal, the bust…the reason you're there?" Shit, getting him back on track isn't going to be as easy as I thought. What the hell is going on with those two?

"Oh yeah, next week, mid week, I think."

"You think?"

"I'm getting all the details later, well I was supposed to but we hit a little snag so I'll let you know as soon as I can."

"A little snag?" This didn't sound good.

"Yeah, we might have just ended up in the middle of a turf war."

Now it was Boyd's turn to spew profanities for a while. "What the hell happened? You're just telling me this now. You don't think you should have called that little baby in as soon as you got the phone."

Sam explained that it just happened today and that it was tied to the gun that may have done the shooting. He then asked Boyd if they had anyone near the inside of Vicero's gang so they could find out if they were planning anything. Boyd said he'd do what he could to find out and get back to Sam.

Boyd was done; everything he had already started putting into place was going to have to be reworked. But first he had to find out if they were really going to need to double the force for the takedown. His mind was racing as he tried to start planning how he was going to get the information he needed. He moved to hang up when Sam spoke again.

"Is she at home?"

"What? Who?" Boyd was already five steps ahead and had no idea what 'she' could be involved with the bust.

"McNally…did someone take her home?"

"I'm not her babysitter." Boyd did not have time to worry about McNally and as far as he was concerned, neither did Sam. They should both be concentrating on how they were going to take down two gangs and a gun runner all on the same night.

"Boyd…Don." Sam wasn't sure he was above begging when it came to Andy.

What was it about her that had Swarek all tied up in knots? This wasn't good. "I think I heard she was talking to the roommate of the girl who got shot."

"She's there? Did she at least go to the hospital?"

"How the hell should I know?"

Sam was getting irritated now. "Then let me talk to someone who does know."

There was no use in arguing; Boyd could tell by the tone of Sam's voice. "Hang on." He needed Sam back on track and it seemed that the only way that was going to happen was if he found out about McNally. So Boyd headed to the horse's mouth.

"McNally…phone." He said, popping his head into the room.

She looked up from the roommate with the shock apparent on her face. Why the hell was Boyd transferring a call to her? "Excuse me." She said to the girl as she took the phone and moved to another office.

"Hello." She said tentatively.

"Andy?"

It took everything she had to hold back the tears. "Sam?"

Sam couldn't believe Boyd had done that; he really didn't think he had it in him. He didn't know if this was making it harder or easier though. At least he knew she was okay, but it just made him want to be there to touch her, to hold her, to kiss her, to see that she was fine. But all he could do was talk and hope that was enough…for both of them.

She didn't even appear to hear him when he asked if she was okay. She just started going on about the case. "Roommate literally laughed when I asked if Kate was involved in anything illicit. She's an A student, full scholarship, no boyfriend, no enemies…" He knew her and she was trying to make sense of it all; she wasn't thinking about herself in the least.

But someone had to. "McNally, you gotta go home okay?"

"No I don't need to go home; okay? I don't want to go home. What am I going to do? You want me to watch TV; you want me to take a nap? Sam if I'm going to figure this thing out then I need to understand why…"

He didn't want her to figure it out; someone else could do that. He wanted her home where she could rest and recover. He wanted her to put herself first for a change, but he was pretty sure it was a lost cause. That was just not her. He had to try though. "Understand what… are you going to understand? Shots were fired. You were hit; she was hit."

"Kate. It's not she…it's Kate and she was standing right next to me and I need to know who she is."

Of course she needed to know. Sam knew from experience that Andy cared deeply about everyone she came in contact with, and that's what made her a good cop. She needed to help them. He knew you couldn't always help everyone, and that was something she would learn eventually. Until then, he just had to have her back.

"Okay, take the roommate back to residence and talk to her along the way."

"Okay." She agreed content that she would be doing something useful.

Sam still didn't like it, but he knew she needed to stay connected; she wouldn't be able to just let it go.

The question now was could he? Let it go? He knew it was time; he'd already talked longer than he should have. And he already got what he wanted…didn't he? He knew she was safe. Right? And he heard her say she was fine. Right? But then again she always said that. And so this would be about the time when he tracked her down, probably in the women's locker room, just so he could be sure. Dammit why wasn't he there? Why couldn't he just look at her so he would know? All he would have to do was look in her eyes and he would see it all – pain, hurt, sadness, regret…whatever she was feeling. He just wanted to see for himself.

But he wasn't there, and so there was nothing more he could do except say goodbye.

Andy took the roommate, Miranda, back and discovered that Kate had been wearing her roommate's jacket and that the Miranda, unlike Kate, did have a few enemies. Between Andy's investigation on campus and her fellow rookies at the station, they found out that the roommate's TA was the likely suspect. Andy herself took him down just before her fellow officers arrived on scene.

Andy was hoping she would feel better after catching the guy, hoping that she could understand why, but she just didn't.

After lingering in the change room for awhile, she decided to stop by interrogation just to make sure they had everything they needed before she headed to the Penny. They had already finished up, but Jo and Luke were still there talking. It was easy to see that there was a lot of history there, and something else…chemistry maybe?

The Penny was crowded as usual but Andy found her friends right away. She showed them the damage and confirmed that nothing was broken. She really was exhausted though and knew that she would only be staying for one.

With all the talk about the day, it took longer than she thought to finish her beer. When she finally did, she quickly hugged her friends goodbye and shot one last glance toward the bar. She saw Jo and Luke at opposite ends, but they were clearly stealing glances at one another. Everything happens for a reason she thought as she walked towards Luke on her way out.

She placed her hand on his shoulder and waited for him to look up at her. "Life's too short for regrets Luke."

He nodded at her and gave her a small smile as he stood from his chair. She watched him make his way over to Jo and ask if the seat next to her was taken. Andy smiled as she walked out. She knew that she and Luke weren't meant to be but maybe he could still have his happily ever after with Jo.

Andy couldn't help but be hopeful for him as she made her way to her new apartment. She had been fortunate to find one right away after moving out of Luke's. Originally, she thought she was going to be stuck on her dad's or Traci's couch, but she had gotten lucky.

Her thoughts soon drifted to her call from Sam when she felt someone grab her arm. Before she had a chance to even gasp, her eyes were reassured by a very welcome pair of brown ones. She went along willingly as he pulled her around the side of the building. She watched as he scanned from side to side to make sure no one had seen them.

When he was satisfied that they were alone, and far enough out of sight, he had to ask. "How are you really?"

She had barely gotten the 'fine' out when she started rambling; she had been holding it in all day. The only person she wanted to let in was finally there. "Sam that was really scary; it hurt so bad. I'm alright. I'm alright. It's just that I got this bruise..." At that she looked down towards her stomach and moved to lift her shirt up to show him.

Her words weren't enough though; Sam needed to touch her and feel her and know that she was okay. It was completely out of his control, but he didn't care. He put both his hands on either side of her face and leaned in. He knew that they hadn't really talked about what they were or could be, but he did know a few things. He knew that she was miserable when he left and that he had not been able to stop thinking about her. And he knew they missed each other…it was enough for him.

He guided her face back up so he could really look at her; he felt his head moving towards her of its own accord. He felt her breath hitch when she realized what he was doing, but she didn't pull away.

He kept telling himself, just one kiss. It wouldn't hurt to just taste her lips…reassure her. And at the same time he could reassure himself that she was alright, that they would be okay. He wanted her to know how important she was to him and if he could convey it in just one kiss then it would be worth the risk.

At the back of his mind however, there was another thought nagging at him. Could he just walk away after this? Did he want to walk away from her?

But the decision had already been made the second he saw her, and so he closed the gap between them. Their lips met in a soft kiss, and they both felt the welcome release of the tension that had been building up all day. She was okay and he was here…and everything was as it should be.

Sam knew he should pull back; this wasn't good for either one of them. This couldn't go any further…not now. He was supposed to be Sammy right now; they couldn't afford for him to be Swarek yet. But instead of stopping it, he found himself deepening the kiss. His tongue swept across her lips and she slowly parted them to allow him entrance.

Neither one knew how long the kiss lasted; they only knew they didn't want it to end…but it had to. When they finally broke apart, they were both panting slightly from the intensity of the kiss. Sam's mind was screaming 'we can't, we can't', but his body kept begging him please.

A.N. Loved Oliver's speech to Andy in the show, but didn't think it fit in here. The shooting was more just background to get Sam and Andy to meet again.

Special thanks to Sairs J for letting me bounce some ideas off of her and for sharing her muse.