A/N: Sorry for the lack of update yesteday, baking christmas cupcakes got high on my priority list ;) Thanks so much for your continuing support guys, you have no idea how lovely it is to read your comments and wake up to a number of emails telling me how many of you have added me to alerts – so thanks! Okay so here's chapter 3, it's mainly a filler chapter (as will the next chapter probably) allowing me to get Sam and Andy to where we need them to be, and it basically follows the outline of the beginning of episode 10.

Let me know what you think guys.

Chapter 3 - Friends.

Three weeks had passed since the whole Luke fiasco and they'd come to somewhat of an amicable agreement, not letting anything affect their work. Civility, is what he had called it, Andy just sawit as ignoring each other until they had to talk. But it worked for them, neither of them really suffering, reinforcing the idea that they never really were meant for each other. The other rookies had been surprised at the sudden break but favoured the idea, resulting in a very drunken night at Andy's apartment with each rookie letting her know everything wrong with Luke. She'd been the only one of the lot to pass the recertification this morning and everything seemed somewhat normal at work. She hadn't been partnered with Sam since retraining day, between their days off and spending most of the time on desk duty or partnered with Oliver. She was grateful, just seeing him in the hallways screamed awkward. She had no idea how to act around him since 'it was what it was', not to mention the fact that he was still her superior officer and she didn't even know if he had heard about her and Luke's breakup. Why would he care, she thought as she finished tying her hair, it was what it was she reminded herself as she made her way to parade. She arrived a few seconds before Best and slid her way past Sam and Oliver to place herself next to Traci, who greeted her with a simple smile.

Every rookie had sunken into their seats as Best began to distinguish what was expected of them and how they had created a 'fiasco', as Noelle called it, of recertification. As Best continued to rant about the Rookies disappointing performance, Andy's gaze gently wandered over in the direction of where Sam sat, next to Oliver. His eyes were firmly set upon Best who continued to pace back and forth at the front of the room. His jaw was somewhat clenched and every second or so he would pinch the bridge of his nose, something Andy had begun to recognize as something he would do when he was annoyed about a situation.

Her gaze shot back to the front of the room as Best addressed her, "McNally, you were the only rookie to be recertified. Barely." he pointed out "and as a reward I'm sending you to Sudbury."

Huh? "What sir?" she spoke up.

"Sudbury, to transport a prisoner." He stated.

Yes! Finally flying solo. "By myself?"

"No" he replied soflty.

Damn it!

"Uhh, Swarek…brief your rookie"

Swarek. Sam. Shit! She turned back to see him flashing an okay sign sarcastically, great she thought as she turned to face Traci, no wonder he looked annoyed.

"Okay guys, that's pretty much it for today. You've all seen the weather, let's not be stupid okay? Keep your eyes on the road and be wary of yours and others' driving. Serve, protect and keep your eye on the target." Best finished.

Before anyone else could rise from their seats, Andy rushed out alongside Traci. They both made their way down the hallway at a quick pace, heading for the locker rooms to collect their bags.

"I can't do it. A holidate with Swarek, after what happened? What am I going to do?"

"You have to, it's an assignment. Stop freaking out."

Andy shot her an '' glare.

"Fine, ask Frank to reassign you." Traci stated.

"Oh yeah, I'm just gonna go talk to my staff sergeant about my man problems" Andy mocked.

Traci pulled a face "Mhmm, you're right"

"I'm just gonna ignore him" Andy decided out loud.

"That's not going to work" Traci pointed out as they both entered the locker room, heading for their personal spaces.

"And why not?" Andy asked as she unlocked her locker, and tugged at her thick waterproof jacket.

"Becaaause…" Traci began as she too opened her locker "he's the guy you almost slept with, broke up with your perfect boyfriend because of, and now the guy you wanna have sexy time with"

Andy rushed to Traci's side, noticing the other officers making their entrance and dropping her jacket to the floor in her haste "Sexy time? Really?" she muttered to her friend through clenched teeth.

"What? You do."

"I.. uh.. No I don't" Andy stuttered.

"Uh-huh"

"He doesn't even know about me and Luke breaking up" she pointed out.

"So now's the time to tell him" Traci fired back quickly.

Before Andy could reply, Noelle popped her head around their half of the locker room "Rookies, you planning on joining us today?"

"Uhh…Yeah. Meet you at the car in two" Traci answered to which Noelle nodded in reply before leaving the locker room.

Andy grabbed her bag and lifted her coat from the floor before slamming her locker door and resting her forehead against the cool metal "what am I going to do?" she questioned.

"Okay so here's what's gonna happen, everything that's every gone on between you two – you ignore it. Pretend like it never happened, make friends with him"

Andy's head shot up to see Traci now at her side "Oh friends?" Andy replied sarcastically, to which Traci nodded with a small grin "I can't be friends with Sam Swarek right now"

"That's because you want sexy time" Traci fired back as they both made their way out of the locker room and down the hallway "Umm, okay listen. You can do this alright. Just forget the past and act like this thing with Swarek never happened" Andy raised a questioning eyebrow "you can do it."

They pushed their way through the door that led out to the number of awaiting cars. They took a small step out before huddling back under the small piece of shelter that hung above their heads, noting how the weather had once again deteriorated. Andy noticed Sam talking to other officers, hovering beneath the small metal sheltering near the gates, whilst Traci spotted Noelle huddled in their car at the other end of the lot.

"Right, I gotta go." Traci nodded her head, indicating over to Noelle "You can do this."

Andy nodded her head sharply "I can do this."

They both went to separate but Traci quickly grabbed her arm pulling her back under the shelter "But you know if you can't do this and something happens, you're gonna let me know, right?" she asked hurriedly.

Andy shook her head at her friend's lack of faith in her, before stepping away and quickly making her way over to the other shelter where Sam stood. A sudden burst of thunder echoed around her as she finally reached him, silencing the hushed chatter "Well this is going to be great!" she muttered to herself sarcastically.

Sam gave a quick farewell to the other officers as they began to make their way over to their own cars. His eyes glanced over to where his rookie stood attempting to usher off the raindrops that had fallen onto her face and uniform, "McNally, you ready to go?"

Andy quickly forgot about her soaked uniform and glanced up to see Sam looking out at the patrol cars leaving the lot, "Uh… yeah, about that…" she stammered.

Sam's gaze swiftly darted back to the rookie, who seemed to be blushing slightly "is there a problem?" he asked sternly.

"No…"

"Good" he replied quickly, losing the edge to his tone as his eyes wandered back over to the near-empty lot.

"Yeah, actually." She amended, rolling her eyes slightly.

Once again his gaze trailed back to her "yeah?" he asked, a small smirk gracing his lips as he took in her flustered appearance.

"Yeah, because I think we really need to lay some ground rules" she muttered quickly, attempting to avoid meeting his gaze.

"I drive, you shut up" he commanded, his TO voice once again taking over, "sound good?" he finished with a small smile as he turned back to face the lot, breathing in the damp air.

"Look I know the manual doesn't really cover whatever our situation is, but I do think that if we just act… polite" she decided, noticing his eyes were still fixed on the lot "Okay…? And not fake polite either" she muttered, mainly to herself, before raising her voice to normal tone "Real polite, and we act as friends" he gently turned to face her an amused look plastered to her face and she suddenly felt the pit of her stomach flip over "and share the driving, this will go just fine" she finished quietly.

"What are you saying? You wanna be my friend?" he replied in mocking tone and with a cocky smirk.

Andy felt the warmth rising in her cheeks, I can't be friends with Sam Swarek right now, she reminded herself, "Oookay, I'll pretend you're Traci and you pretend I'm Oliver" she decided out loud, aiming a hopeful yet questioning look at Sam.

"Okay" he agreed before turning back to the lot "let's get going and I'm driving" he stated as he began jogging over to the car attempting to shelter himself from the downpour of rain "Friend!" he called back over his shoulder with a small smile once again making an appearance on his face.

Andy sighed heavily as she watched her TO dive into the car, shaking his hair slightly in an attempt to rid himself of the rain that had glued itself to it. "I can do this" she muttered to herself before making her own way over to the car, throwing her bag and coat onto the backseat.

She slid into the passenger seat as Sam began to place his seatbelt around him "Sooo, Sudbury… Big Nickel" she smiled as she placed her own seatbelt around her, suddenly feeling awkward in such a confine space "That's what the town's known for right? Big Nickel... shaped like a...uh…big…"

"Nickel" Sam cut in somewhat frustrated, "Yeah" he cleared his throat "Giant chump change, we're going to pick up a prisoner named Ray Donald Swann, small time drug dealer, witnessed a double murder" he got himself comfortable in his seat "we're bringing him in to testify." He finished.

"So what? Five hours there, five hours back?" She questioned, beginning to settle into the conversation.

He placed his hand on the wheel, and Andy noticed his muscular arms tensing as he gripped it tightly "not the way I drive" he replied, flashing a quick dimpled smile her way.

Andy's stomach once again flipped ove, as a trail of butterflies flew around inside her, this isn't going to be easy, she thought as the car swiftly left the lot.

An hour later, they began to process through the information they had been given on Swann.

"So we're bringing him back to testify against the shooter?" she questioned.

"He's the only eye witness so they cut a deal" Sam explained "and he's getting a year off his sentence"

"Oh, pfft" Andy sighed" I hate plea deals"

Sam shook his head slightly "happens all the time" he answered casually.

"I know…" she sighed "doesn't make it right"

"Just part of the dirtbag food chain" Sam pointed out coolly, shrugging his shoulder slightly.

Andy began to fidget slightly, and picked at the invisible string that hung off the end of her sleeve as she thought over her next comment. She lifted her head quickly and returned her gaze to Sam, "What about Anton Hill?" Sam began to smile smugly as she mentioned the case "all that work you put in, you know you'd be pissed if it got flipped for a lighter sentence"

She's seriously going there, he thought to himself "I never really got Hill, remember?" he raised an eyebrow as he glanced over to her before looking back to the road "So, not really relevant."

"Yeah…But, y'know…" she began.

"Try not to overthink it" Sam cut her off, and Andy began to get frustrated with how he could handle this topic dispassionately yet still manage to turn it on her.

She sighed and let out her own little tut! "You compartmentalize a lot, don't you?"

Sam let a small sigh, mirroring Andy's own frustration "We're friends" he began, letting his eyes slowly wander over to her before returning them to the road "so, I'm gonna let that slide" he decided.

Andy's eyes drifted out to scan the landscape they passed, attempting to see through the heavy downpour of rain that continued to descend upon them, "so this prisoner, Swann, he dangerous?" she questioned.

"If he was," he began "do you think he'd be sending you with me?" he asked nonchalantly.

That's it! She thought, "You know what?"

"What?" he cut her off.

"I..I'm gonna let that slide" she decided.

"We done talking?" he asked.

"Yes" she muttered.

"Good" he replied, the small smug smirk once again gracing his face as the car fell into an awkward silence.