Sorry for taking so long, but as I've said before, this story has a mind of its own.

This was supposed to be the last chapter, but 9500 words later and it was time to find a break point…so that means this chapter plus one more…and oh yeah, I may have an epilogue in the works too.

Thanks for sticking with me; I hope you continue to enjoy.

She tilted her head towards the cuffs and held them up for him to see. He reached down into her lower left pocket to pull out the key and gently twisted her hands so he could better reach the lock.

"Guess this is one way to make sure I stay where you want me to." She teased, tilting her head to try and meet his eyes. "Bet you wished you'd thought of it."

With the click of the release, Sam looked up and she finally got her wish - a full-fledged Swarek smirk complete with dimples and the inimitable twinkle in his eye. "What makes you think I haven't?"

Andy's cheeks deepened to a delicious shade of red that had Sam feeling a heat that had nothing to do with the fire still burning nearby.

"Sa-am!"

"What?" He asked innocently, trying to repress the smirk that felt permanently etched on his face.

Her eyes widened. "You haven't…Have you?"

Sam gave a quick shrug of his shoulders. "Wouldn't you like to know?" He teased.

She dropped her chin and raised one eyebrow in question.

Sam shook his head; he really needed to keep those thoughts at bay. "Now's not the time McNally. In case you haven't noticed, the building is on fire."

She rolled her eyes. Of course she had noticed. She sucked in a breath about to set him straight when her entire body was wracked with coughs.

"See what I mean." He confirmed, threading the cuffs out and helping her down from the van.

She freed her second wrist as the coughs subsided.

"Take this." He ordered, passing her the wet cloth.

She shook her head and pushed his hand back with both of her own. "No. What about you? You need it."

Sam did not respond; in fact he didn't even move.

"Sam?" She shifted her focus up to his face and realized that his eyes were locked on her wrists. They had been rubbed raw from the cuffs and all of her attempts to get free. There were even some patches of blood where she had broken the skin in a few places.

"Sam," she tried again.

"Let's go McNally." He insisted gruffly shutting the door and angling her towards the front of the van. She had been there far too long already and the state of her wrists was testament to that. He had to get her out of there.

She allowed him to lead her away, but made no move to take the cloth even though she could see that he was fighting not to get upset.

"I'm fine." She assured him again.

He rolled his eyes and she pulled his face back to hers. "I'm fine!" She insisted but she had to let go and turn away as the coughing took over once again.

Sam dropped his chin and raised his brow, but didn't offer her the 'I told you so'; he just thrust the wet rag into her hand.

Her eyes softened. "Thanks," she breathed out welcoming the relief of the cool cloth as she brought it up to her mouth and nose.

"You're welcome. Now let's get you out of here."

Once he had them clear of the van, Sam rushed them towards the door. The acrid smoke was getting to him too and Andy had been breathing it in for awhile now. As they neared the exit, they were met by a fireman as he pushed the button to lift the garage door. The larger opening was immediately filled by more firemen making their way in and the billowing smoke making its way out.

One of the firemen that had remained outside reached for Andy but Sam assured him that he had her. He looked like he was about to tell Sam that it was his job, when the look on Sam's face stopped him in his tracks. "I'm a cop." Sam stated with conviction. The man turned towards Andy for confirmation but she didn't have a chance to reply before Sam spoke again. "I've got her."

At Andy's nod, the fireman turned away and Andy's eyes met Sam's. She could see that he was just as relieved at those words as she was. He had her and everything was going to be okay. She felt safe because he was there and he could finally relax because she was alright.

Once they made it out of the building and past any smoke that had been seeping outside, Sam took in a deep cleansing breath. Andy tried to do the same but it only seemed to aggravate her lungs more and she began to cough again. Sam saw that a bus had arrived and flipped his head signaling to Andy that that was where they were headed.

"Sam, I'm…" She was about to tell him she was okay, but the look on his face told her that the only person he would believe would be a medical professional.

"Fine," she grumped, her shoulders slumping as she allowed him to guide her towards the ambulance.

Sam just smirked. Getting his way with Andy was not an easy thing to do; she had become immune to most of his charms. He was glad she didn't fight him on this one though because he was fully prepared to hoist her over his shoulder if he had to. Thankfully that wasn't necessary.

Cruisers littered the parking lot and Sam and Andy had to weave through them to make their way to the ambulance which had been unable to get any closer. Their friends and coworkers were busy loading a wide array of characters into the back seats of their units.

They had just passed Jennings and Peck when the radio on Gail's belt blared into life. "Diaz to Shaw. We have two suspects in custody. Repeat two suspects in custody. Unit Twenty-Seven Twenty will be bringing them around. Still no visual on Foster, Officer Epstein and I will continue searching on foot. We have five buildings back here and then an open field. Requesting back up to help sear…"

Chris stopped talking and everyone strained to listen. It sounded like Dov was yelling in the background. "This is Officer Diaz. We have a visual on Foster; requesting immediate backup. Officer Epstein is in pursuit; I'm entering now. Second set of buildings behind the warehouse, about half way down, sign above the entrance reads B-14."

Sam and Andy looked back towards the warehouse to see if they could figure out what Oliver was going to do. Everyone seemed to have at least one person in the back of their vehicle already.

They listened as he barked out orders and watched as Jerry pulled a body out of the back of his cruiser and handed him off to Jennings who had run back up beside him. Jennings then got on the radio to dispatch requesting units from Twenty-Seven to transport bodies back to their barn. It made sense; Fifteen was already over run anyway because of the take down earlier that night.

As soon as Jerry's prisoner was passed off; he and Traci jumped in their vehicle. But the area was still littered with squad cars and there seemed to be no easy path through. Oliver slid into his unit and pulled up about six feet leaving just enough space for Jerry to pull through and tear around the side of the building and out of sight. His voice echoed over Gail's hand held as he confirmed that back-up was on its way.

Andy studied Sam as he watched it all play out; she could see the wheels turning, probably analyzing Oliver's strategy, maybe thinking about what he would do. She could almost feel his heart racing with the excitement and had to wonder if he would rather be in the thick of things. "You can go, you know."

Sam shook his head before turning her away and getting them moving again. As much as he would have liked to be pursuing Foster, Andy was his first priority. "Nice try, McNally. I think we both know you need a chaperone."

"I'm not a child, Sam. I can…"

She didn't have a chance to finish as they had reached the ambulance and two medics approached them. This was a different jurisdiction so the medics didn't recognize them, but they could see that Andy had obviously been exposed to the smoke and just assumed that Sam had too. "Were you two the only ones in the building?"

Sam answered for them both knowing that Andy would try and dismiss it. "Officer McNally was in there for quite a while. I only went in to get her. One of the perps was in there too; he's being held in the first squad. You may want to check him out before you go, but I don't think he was in there long. She got the worst of it."

He ignored Andy's glare; he could tell that she thought he was playing it up, but he knew that if he let her answer she would be playing it down.

If he wanted to ignore her she was fine with that; he wasn't the one that needed to be convinced so she turned her attention on the medic. "I'm fine; the smoke wasn't bad in the van…"

"She has lacerations on both wrists as well." Sam interrupted.

Sam's demeanor had made it obvious that he too was a cop. "Thank you, officer…"

"Swarek, Sam Swarek."

"Thank you Officer Swarek; I think we got it from here. My partner will go check out the prisoner and I can handle Officer McNally."

Sam scoffed so hard he almost snorted and Andy attempted to use the glare again, though it remained ineffectual.

"I'm good here." He stated.

"There's really no need; I promise we'll check her out and if she…"

"No offense, but I want to make sure she gets everything taken care of."

"I know my job Officer." The medic replied defensively.

"It's not you I'm worried about; it's her." Sam informed him, tilting his head towards his partner. "I'm sure you're great at your job, but she can be very persuasive when she wants to be and if that doesn't work she'll keep talking till she wears you down. You won't know what hit you." He added, throwing Andy a smirk.

"You won't know what hit you? Nice, Swarek. At least I don't bully people into submission."

"Bully? You think I…"

The medic looked between the two of them. "Are you two married?"

"What? No!" They disputed.

The guy looked between them skeptically.

"Partners." Sam gave by way of explanation.

The medic nodded still not completely convinced they weren't in a relationship, but he continued to work on Andy as it was all he was going to get. He placed an oxygen mask over her face and started to clean and bandage her wrists. He was listening to her breath sounds when his partner returned stating that the other guy was just fine.

His co-worker turned to Sam looking to check him out, but Sam refused. Andy smirked and raised an eyebrow when Sam glared the man into relenting; 'I rest my case' was written all over her face.

Oliver came around the back of the ambulance just then, but he didn't get a chance to address them before his radio crackled to life. "This is Barber; suspect Foster is in custody. We're bringing him around now."

Oliver and Sam had just exchanged a smile and a nod, both happy that it was all over, when Jennings joined them. "We've got the rest of them transferred and on their way to Twenty Seven."

Sam looked surprised and peered around the ambulance to see the last cruiser loaded up at the street before it drove off. He had been too focused on Andy to realize that cruisers had pulled up along the road when they couldn't get into the lot.

"Who's going to Twenty-Seven to complete the processing?" Sam wondered aloud. "And where's Foster going?" He wouldn't mind a crack at him himself.

Oliver was thinking the same thing when he pressed the button on his handheld. "Detective Barber?"

"Go ahead."

"Why don't you take him straight back to Fifteen…" The others could go to Twenty-Seven, but he was pretty sure that Best would want Foster close if they were going to get the whole story.

"If the medics are still there, I'd like to get him checked out real quick. His got a pretty good bump from when Trac…Officer Nash tackled him and he's been coughing a little too."

Oliver looked at the medics for confirmation and at their nod he acceded. "Bring him around."

"Who's going to Twenty-Seven?" Sam reiterated.

"I should probably go." Jennings offered. "I have the most background on the whole thing." Ever respectful of the chain of command though, he looked over at Oliver who had been put in charge of the takedown. "Unless you want to go."

Oliver was about to reply when Peck came over the radio. "Detective Jennings, Dispatch is calling for you."

Jennings switched his channel over while Sam and Oliver listened in. Andy was exhausted and had closed her eyes but that didn't mean that she wasn't paying attention too.

"Detective Jennings, you've been requested to return to Fifteen a-sap. You're needed in the war room."

"Ten-four. ETA twenty minutes." Jennings responded over the radio before turning back to the two men. "One of you is going to have to head to Twenty Seven to help them make sense of this mess."

The two friends exchanged a look and Oliver knew Sam well enough to know that he wasn't about to go anywhere that Andy wasn't. When Sam started to tell him so, Oliver started to chuckle. Seriously?

Before Oliver could school Sam on how transparent his feelings were for McNally, the medic interrupted. "We're going to bring Officer McNally in. They're going to want to take some x-rays to look at her lungs."

Andy tried again to say she was fine but it came out as more of a wheeze.

Sam just looked at her and left no room for argument. "You're going."

She knew that look and it wasn't worth the effort; she wasn't going to change his mind and she was just too tired to fight about it. She sighed her assent and let her eyelids fall closed as the medic nodded. "We'll take her in as soon as we check out this other guy."

They weren't waiting long as Traci and Jerry drove up just moments later. Jerry jumped out and pulled Nate out of the back seat. His brows shot up when he saw Andy on the stretcher with the oxygen mask over her face, her eyes clearly closed.

"Is she okay?" He asked in a panic as he started leading Jerry towards her.

Sam's fists were clenching and unclenching and Andy's eyes flew open to see the muscles in his jaw tighten. She reached out her hand to the one he had resting on the side of the gurney and lifted the oxygen mask with her other. "I'm fi…" she started.

"No, you're not!" Sam snapped surprising everyone including Andy. "You left her in there when the place was on fire." Sam roared, unconsciously stepping towards Nate causing him to stumble a little. "You don't get to ask how she is and don't pretend you give a…"

"All-righty then." Oliver interrupted. "Detective Barber, perhaps you can take Mr. Foster around the side there and they can get a good look at him.

Jerry nodded and guided Nate out of Sam's reach, while Traci made her way over to Andy to see how she was doing. The medics grabbed a bag and followed Jerry around the vehicle.

It didn't take long for them to return, having declared Nate fine and as Jerry led him back to the cruiser he paused at Andy's side again. She didn't know if he was really brave or really stupid pushing Sam like that.

"I really am sorry; I didn't mean for anything…"

He didn't get a chance to finish his apology as a car screeched around the corner pulling everyone's attention away. The tell tale glint of a gun had them all diving for cover except for Sam. As the shots rang out, he wasn't looking to keep himself safe; he was lunging to cover Andy. He had on a vest and he was going to make damn sure it protected them both.

As the last shot echoed, he lifted himself up and looked her over worriedly.

"I thought you'd at least wait 'til we got home before you jumped me." She grinned trying to smooth out the lines from between his eyes.

He gave her a wink and his face relaxed into the smile she was looking for. "What can I say, McNally, the kidnapped, cuffed in a van, smoke covered look works for you." His sarcastic bravado fading as he unwittingly reminded himself of what she had just gone through.

She stuck her tongue out at him and he couldn't help but expel out a single chuckle.

"Well not everyone can pull it off." She tried again, needing him to relax.

He shook his head with a soft smile; he really couldn't believe that she was worried about him.

She winked back and it was enough; they both knew everything was okay.

Sam reluctantly pulled his eyes away from Andy to see that luckily no one else had been hit either. It looked like Oliver had already radioed it in and everyone else was starting to rise off the ground.

Jerry didn't even have Nate fully on his feet before Sam was yelling at him. "Get him the hell out of here!"

"I got him, Sammy." Jerry reassured as sirens pierced the air and they watched Chris and Dov speed by in pursuit of the shooters.

At the name, Nate made himself take a closer look at Sam. "Wait…aren't you…"

Jerry yanked him away quickly not wanting him to get too close a look at Sam. He wasn't really a member of the crew and he wouldn't know Sam well, but he'd seen him enough as Sam had been fairly high profile with the buy.

"And keep him away from the others." Sam encouraged; the last thing he needed right now was for Foster to tell the rest of the crew who he could be. He'd rather the department makes the decision as to when and how that came out.

He turned to the medics. "Let's go!"

Bravery or stupidity seemed to be a recurring theme as one of the EMTs informed Sam that typically only family members were allowed to ride along.

Oliver was shaking his head as Jerry and Traci quickly loaded up Nate; they were not sticking around for the fireworks display.

They would have been disappointed though because one look at Sam's face had the medic backtracking and fortuitously remembering that police officers were the exception to that rule.

Oliver grinned knowingly as the radio at his hip crackled to life again. "Officer Shaw, Dispatch for you now."

Oliver flipped channels as Sam followed Andy into the back of the ambulance. "Officer Shaw. Go ahead dispatch."

"Officer Shaw, we need a twenty on Officer Swarek."

"Officer Swarek is still on scene." Oliver informed. Without even looking, his hand snapped out to stop the medic from closing the door.

Sam, having heard the question and answer, glared at Oliver. Why couldn't he have just waited one second and let them go? Told dispatch he was on his way to the hospital and without a radio?

"Let him know he's to report to Fifteen immediately for debriefing."

Oliver returned Sam's stare. This was not going to be easy. Sam was giving him the "like hell" look and Oliver didn't think he'd be able to convince him otherwise.

He pushed the talk button. "Um…"

"If that's Boyd, you can tell him to go…"

Oliver quickly released the button. "Easy buddy. Let me see what I can do."

Before Oliver had a chance to compose a story, the radio came on and Frank's voice echoed out. "Officer Swarek, my office…twenty minutes."

Sam knew it was an order, but this was Frank, surely if he explained that Andy was heading to the hospital, or…Sam held out his hand wordlessly and Oliver slipped him the radio. "I haven't been checked out yet, SIR. We're headed to the hospital now; they want some x-rays to check for smoke inhalation." He didn't need to know that the x-rays were for Andy.

The medic in the back dropped his jaw. The officer had assured him that he was fine. Oliver just rolled his eyes.

Frank had worked with Sam for a lot of years and he knew his friend well. Sam hated doctors as well as hospitals; there was no way he was willingly going to get checked out. This had to be about McNally.

"Boyko and I are waiting. Shall we meet you at the hospital then?" He countered knowing that would get Sam if he wasn't being entirely truthful.

Damn it!

"Take the cruiser, Sammy. I'll go with her." Oliver offered.

Andy shook her head which only served to irritate her throat again. When she finally regained her breath she told Oliver. "Go. Take Sam back for his meeting." She looked at Sam. "I'll be fine; I'm a big girl. I'm pretty sure I can…"

"Officer Swarek?" Frank addressed him over the radio again.

"Ten-four." Sam relented. "Twenty minutes, your office."

"See you then."

Sam could hear the grin in Frank's voice and he was not happy about it. He paid no attention to Andy and spoke directly to Shaw. "Let me know exactly what they say. I'll come pick you both up as soon as I'm done."

Andy rolled her eyes knowing that Sam was ignoring her on purpose, but the look on his face told her it was a losing battle. "Fine. Let's go Oliver. You're probably itching to get away from the hose monkeys anyway."

"They think they're all that." Oliver grumbled. "Stupid calendars…like I want it on my fridge…"

"You know, we'll probably be done before you are." Andy warned Sam as he moved to step down and out of the bus to make way for Oliver.

"Unless they keep you over night." He taunted back as he handed his friend the radio.

She just huffed her reply and he knew the battle had been won. But there were more important things than getting in the last word. So he met her eyes and took a step back towards her; his gaze softened. "I'll be by to pick you up; if you get done before I get there, just text me and let me know."

She looked a little disappointed. "I will come for you." He assured her.

Oliver quietly backed away to give them a minute alone.

"Oh, I know you will; I just forgot my cell phone in the van."

"I'll grab it for you before I take off."

"But you're going to be late."

"Don't worry about me. Just have Oliver text me."

"But someone has to go to Twenty-Seven." She reminded him.

"Shit! I forgot about that."

Oliver popped his head back around, a sheepish look on his face; despite appearances, he had obviously been listening in. "I've got it covered. Jerry's heading over there as soon as he drops off Traci and Foster."

Sam grinned. "It's all good then." He looked at Andy. "Okay?"

"Okay."

"Andy."

"Hmmm?"

"Listen to the doctors. Let them take care of you…please?"

Andy blushed and offered him a small smile and a nod. He cared; he may not have said it in so many words, but she knew.

Sam jumped down and clapped Oliver on the shoulder in unspoken gratitude.

Oliver slipped him the keys and climbed in to take his place. "She's in good hands, Sammy. I'll make sure they take good care of her."

Sam gave him a quick nod before he turned around and took off at a jog.

By the time Sam reached the warehouse, it appeared that the fire had been long since out; he still met resistance though when he tried to enter. But he was finally able to convince the captain that the phone was needed immediately. It was only a little white lie, and he wouldn't have done it if it was needed as part of the chain of evidence. But he was pretty sure it wouldn't be missed. The second he had it in his hand, he ran towards Fifteen-nineteen and sped off towards the station.

Sam had already used at least ten of his twenty minutes before he even got in the car so he wasn't even half way back when his time was up. It didn't make sense to flip on the lights and he was in no hurry to get back, especially if it would inconvenience Boyd. Still, with Boyko involved, he probably should make a little effort. He picked up speed as he radioed in to let dispatch know he'd be a few minutes late.

"Ten-four," he heard Frank reply. Sam shook his head when Frank sounded like he wasn't surprised in the least.

When Sam arrived at the station, he carefully avoided booking and holding. He had no idea who was left in there and he wasn't about to take any chances. He didn't really care, but it was probably a good idea to err on the side of caution.

He walked in and headed straight to the coffee; it was probably going to be a long meeting and he had already been up all night. Frank hadn't seemed concerned on the radio, so he figured he had time.

The rookies were all at their desks completing paperwork, chatting away. As usual Dov was going on and on about how cool the whole night was and how quickly they had chased the drive by shooters right into Twenty-Seven's road block . He didn't seem fazed by how much danger Andy had been in.

Sam's attention was piqued when he heard Chris pipe up. "You guys all know that I would have done everything I could for Andy right? I mean, I know why Shaw sent us to the car fire; I'm sure he thought that I was worried about the rules. But I could have you know."

Traci placed her hand on his arm. As much as Chris valued the rules, she was certain that he would have done whatever it took to save their friend. "Yeah, we know."

Chris looked up just then and noticed Sam. He silently wondered if Sam agreed with Traci but the senior officer's expression never gave anything away.

"Andy knows too." Dov assured him. "She knows we were all there for her."

"Are you going to tell her everything; I mean…" He let the question trail off; his eyes still on Sam.

Sam didn't know Diaz well enough to know what he would do under pressure. It was obvious how much he loved his rule book, but how far he would have been willing to go Sam didn't know. Still, he hoped he would put Andy's life before the rules.

Just as Sam was about to respond, the door to the war room slammed open and Boyd stalked straight over to the coffee machine.

"Don't even start with me Swarek." Boyd warned when he noticed Sam there.

It didn't work; Sam got right up into his face.

"You self righteous, son of a bitch. You don't think anyone can touch you do you? You think you can do whatever you damn well please. Doesn't matter who gets hurt in the process as long as you get what you want."

"You're not exactly known for staying inside the lines yourself, Swarek."

Sam put a hard finger to his chest. "I think it's about time someone knocked you down a few pegs maybe showed you a thing or two about how to serve and protect without destroying the lines all together."

As soon as it started to get physical, the rookies had stood up and moved closer wondering if they were going to have to break up a fight. They were torn; Boyd more than deserved it but they didn't want Sam getting into trouble for letting his temper get the best of him.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Boyd shot back, flipping Sam's hand away from him. "I made you Swarek; I'm the one that gave you a chance and put you under time and time again. Got you the experience. Don't piss me off Sammy or you won't even get a seat in the wire room."

Sam got deadly calm and took a couple of steps forward well into Boyd's personal space. "When I'm through, we'll see which one of us will be out on their ass."

"Don't underestimate me Sammy." Boyd retorted, not quite ready to back down.

"You call me Sammy one more time and I'll…" He didn't get a chance to finish the thought.

"Swarek! Boyd! My office…now!"

The good news…the next chapter is pretty much written and just needs some final edits. Thankfully no one month wait this time.