A/N: Thanks for the reviews! Sorry if the whole "battle" scene was a bit much, I just needed the action and I figured it would make for a pretty great story (maybe I was wrong ;)). This one is mellow, maybe a little too mellow? I'm having mixed feelings about it, but here it is anyway…

CHAPTER 7

When Andy woke up, she thought about the events of the previous day. How did things get so messed up?

Sam's phone started ringing and he jumped out of bed, grabbed it and walked into the bathroom, assuming Andy was still asleep. Fifteen minutes later, she sat up as he walked out, "…who was that?" she asked.

"Frank," he walked over to the bed and sat down, "…did Luke ever tell you about an undercover op he did, or started, a few years back?" Sam asked.

"No, he said he couldn't hack undercover," she said, "…actually, he said that's the one thing he had to give you props for because there was no way he could stay under for extended periods of time."

"Well, he tried, a few years back; he tried to take down DeFalco. According to Frank, he was only under a month or so before Boyko pulled him out because he needed him working out of 15, he needed the extra hands," Sam resituated, then turned to Andy, "…they didn't really worry about covering up his tracks because his hadn't made contact with Damon yet."

"So, they just disappeared?" Andy asked.

"No, that's the problem, Damon had caught wind of a new guy and when he 'disappeared', he got suspicious. He's kept tabs on Luke over the past few years so he'd know if he went back undercover to try to bust him. Knowing all this included knowing who his girlfriend is, Officer Andy McNally," he had debated telling Andy this because he knew she would beat herself up over it, and it wasn't her fault. Nobody would have ever expected Damon to be watching Callaghan all these years.

"He knew I was a cop? The whole time?"

"I guess."

"How'd they know to find us where they did? There are several divisions in this city, how would they know to go to 15?" Andy questioned.

"Damon had someone posted inside, when they heard someone say your name, Damon knew where to send them," he answered.

"Why'd Luke push us into the office?"

"He recognized the guy when he got up to leave as soon as he heard Frank tell everyone that we got out alright and that we were on our way back to the barn. Luke realized what was about to happen, the guy walked out right before we walked in, that's why Luke hid us," Sam said. He hated that he was making Callaghan sound like the hero, but truth is, he was.

"So, it's all my fault."

"No, Andy, it's not. How could any of us had known he knew who you were? It's not really typical criminal behavior to monitor some random guy because he disappeared, generally you just assume they OD'd or were killed. Nobody knew he had been watching Callaghan. Chances are, he knew who several officers were," Sam was trying to be reassuring, though to no avail. He knew Andy all to well; she was not going to see this from his point of view.

"I called Traci," Sam said, as he pulled out of the hotel parking lot, "…she's lending you some clothes."

"Okay, but what about you?" Andy asked.

"I'm good."

"Where are we going?"

"Well you remember when you asked me about camping and what not, when we went up to Sudbury?" Sam asked.

"Yeah?" Andy said, unsure of the direction this was going in.

"I lied," Sam said, "…I don't own a fishing cabin though. I don't actually own any kind of cabin, so I guess I didn't really lie, per se."

"Sam, get to the point please," Andy interjected.

"My brother-in-law and Sarah, they have a cabin. We're going to go stay there."

Andy liked the idea of staying with Sam in a secluded cabin. The situation aside, this could actually be romantic.

The car ride was relatively normal; she talked, Sam listened. In the middle of Andy's rant over the "dirt bag food chain", which Sam had heard time and time again, he interjected, "…why did it take you so long to realize you didn't want to be with Callaghan? What made you realize that it wasn't right?"

Andy was taken aback. Man, talk about a change of subject. She was speechless.

"Well.." Sam said, fishing for an answer.

"Fake it until you make it, right? I guess in my own sick, twisted way, I figured that if I acted like I loved him for long enough, I just would eventually," Andy replied. Wow, you are screwed up.

"Really? Did you care for the man at all?" Sam said, clearly angered by her response.

"Whoa, what? Of course I cared about him, I still care about him, but care isn't love. Care isn't enough, care wasn't what he wanted."

Sam knew the animosity was unnecessary, but the fact that Andy hadn't given him a chance before had been eating at him and as hard as he tried, he could not just let it go. When she said she that, he lost it.

"You want to explain your little snap attack?" Andy asked.

"You didn't love him. Whatever, I get that, but if you didn't love him…" Sam stopped, he had started speaking but had no direction; he didn't know what he wanted to say, he didn't know what he was thinking, "…the night of the blackout," he paused, again but this time she interrupted him.

"I didn't know what the hell you were doing, Sam. One day you hated him, the next you were telling me he was a good guy. How was I supposed to make any kind of decision when you couldn't?"

He didn't have a response, well, at least he didn't have one that didn't make him sound like an ass.

"The night of the blackout, that's when I realized I didn't just care for you, but I didn't feel right doing that while I was still with Luke, then you ignored me. Plain and simple. You were like a teenager who got rejected for prom, when all I wanted to do was talk about it, figure out where we stood," Andy stated.

"Yeah, well, you were going to Callaghan's fishing cabin," Sam said, aggressively.

"I wasn't going to go! I intended to end things with him. Then he tells me that he already talked you and that as far as you were concerned, I was all his," Andy paused, took a deep breath, "…how do you think that made me feel? You completely wrote me off when I tried to talk to you, but you talked to Luke, and told him that?"

"McNally…" he knew he had upset her.

"No, I need to get this out," she paused for a moment, "…I had spent the majority of my morning attempting to figure what I did, but what really got me was that when I actually needed to talk to you, about something serious, you were nothing but a sarcastic jerk."

"Andy…" Sam tried to get in a word, he wanted to explain, but Andy held up her hand.

"Still not finished…" she was silent for a second, then continued, "…and as if my day hadn't been chaotic enough, I had gotten back to the barn in just enough time to watch you beat the shit out of Luke in retrain, in just enough time for everyone to realize that it was all because of me. What were you trying to prove? That you were better, stronger?" she looked to Sam, who remained quiet, then turned away.

"The way you looked at me after that happened…" she sighed and rolled her eyes, then turned to Sam, "…I had never been so confused in my life."

"Andy, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I brought this up. I'm sorry we're so screwed up," Sam said, with a chuckle. He watched as Andy cracked a smile, "…I'm sorry we're so indecisive, but most of all, I'm sorry I put you through that. I didn't exactly make my feelings about the situation known, and I don't know if I was doing that to protect myself, or what. All that matters now though is that we made it through," Sam grabbed her hand.

She couldn't help but smile, she knew he was right.

A/N: Update will be soon, because I'm really excited to write the next chapter, I'm hoping I'll like that one a bit more. Let me know what you think. Reviews are loved, and always appreciated!