This chapter takes place during episode 2x08, but there are also references to 2x09 at the end. Thank you to everyone reading, reviewing, alerting and favoriting this story. Every time I see a new review in my inbox, I get all excited, so please review let me know what you think! :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Rookie Blue.

Chapter 8

Sam and Andy were on patrol when they were called to a grocery store after an employee reported a suspicious customer who looked like he had a blue dye pack explode in his face. He matched the description of a bank robber and when they got him back to the station Andy couldn't help but laugh at the comments about blue guy. She couldn't decide if Oliver's "Braveheart" comment was her favorite or blue guy calling himself "Grouchy Smurf."

Sam and Andy watched Jerry unsuccessfully try to get blue guy to give up his name and were forced to toss him back in a holding cell when everyone was called to the parade room by Frank. A lady from Public Health was there telling them the station was under quarantine and even though Frank told them not to worry, Andy couldn't help but wonder how serious it was. She caught up with Sam walking out of the room, wondering if there was something special she should be doing during a quarantine.

She opened her mouth to speak, but Sam beat her to it. "So, I thought before I settle in to take everybody's money, why don't we see if the threat of imminent death gets blue guy talking," he said, leading the way toward the holding cells.

"I thought that there was nothing to worry about," Andy said, suddenly nervous about whatever disease they may have been exposed to.

"Blue guy doesn't know that," Sam said. Even as he flashed his dimples, Andy wasn't convinced.

"Okay, wait, there really is nothing to worry about, right?" she asked.

Sam stopped walking, realizing using the words 'imminent death' in front of an over thinker like Andy was probably not the best idea.

"We got quarantined for SARS in '03. You know what happened? The snack machine went dry, Jerry started growing himself a goatee and I took everybody's money at poker," he said, grinning. "If Frank says don't worry, don't worry."

"Okay, but what if it is something?" Andy still wasn't convinced.

"Then worry." Sam pushed Andy gently forward with a hand on her lower back. "Let's go get blue guy as nervous as you're fighting not to be," he teased.

"Shut up," she said playfully.

Chris was great. Andy couldn't believe he finally got blue guy talking, more than he had in all the hours she, Sam and Jerry had tried questioning him. And now that they had more information on him, they had to call someone on the outside to get an ID on blue guy. Chris suggested calling Dov, knowing he wasn't part of the quarantine since he was on a date with Sue.

"Dov, I'm sorry to ruin your date, but – " Andy started, but was interrupted by her friend.

"Are you okay? I heard about the quarantine," Dov said.

"Yeah, Traci's stuck at the hospital and Gail is convinced she has small pox, but we're all fine. Look, I need help with a case since Sam and I can't leave," Andy said.

"Sure, we're on our way to the station to check everything out, but I can head wherever you need me to," Dov replied. "Let me just hand the phone over since I'm driving and can't make notes on what you need us to do." Assuming he borrowed Chris' car for his date, Andy didn't think to ask who he was with and assumed it was Sue. When Luke got on the phone, Andy wanted to kill Dov.

She briefed Luke on what they knew about the suspect and asked him to check with the branch manager to see if he could ID the photo of the suspect she was emailing Dov. She rattled off the branch manager's name and the hospital he was at, and waited for a response.

"Andy, we need to talk. I still love you."

"Did you get everything I just told you?" she asked, ignoring him.

"Please. I don't want to lose you," he begged.

"You already have. Look if you're not going to do this, then put Dov back on."

"No, I got it. We'll head over to the hospital now," Luke said.

"Good. Have Dov call me when you get the info," she replied and quickly hung up.

Sam knew something was up and folded his hand in the poker game. He walked over to where Andy was fighting with the headphone cords and cursing under her breath. "Everything okay?" he asked, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

She looked up at him, her eyes dark with frustration and anger. "Luke's with Dov. He's so infuriating. I just want to punch him sometimes," she said. They'd been broken up for a while, but at least once a week Luke would find a way to plead his case to Andy about why they should be together. She was sick of it, but didn't know what to do because she wanted to remain civil since they worked together.

Sam chuckled, picturing his girlfriend taking down the detective with a couple punches. "As much as I'd enjoy watching that," he said smiling. "I don't think it would be a good career move. But you can take your frustration out on me."

Andy furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "Why would I take it out on you?"

"Because you can't keep your feelings bottled up. One day that bottle will burst and it'll likely be at the most inopportune moment. And, we have a fitness room with boxing gloves and a mat ready and waiting," he stated, leaning on the desk next to Andy.

"Sam, I'm fine. I'm not hitting you."

He leaned down to kiss the top of her head before getting up. "I'm not letting you leave here until you do," he said and walked away.

Dov called a while later with an ID on blue guy. When Sam pulled him into interrogation, she brought Chris into the observation room to watch. "Thanks for the help Chris. I don't know if we would've figured out his real name without you," Andy praised.

"Just did what I could. Guess it was a good thing I was stuck on desk duty all day, so he never saw me," he said.

They remained silent for a bit watching Sam before Chris looked over at Andy. "You and Swarek, I'm happy for you Andy. I mean, I know I was all supportive of Luke and everything, but, well, we all knew you and Swarek had feelings for each other. And now with Detective Rosati here, I think you saved yourself some heartache," he said.

Andy turned to Chris, confused at what Jo had to do with anything. "Why would she have caused me problems?" she asked.

"Oh, you didn't hear? Apparently Luke and Jo are sleeping together now," he said.

"Of course they are," she said, shaking her head. Of course Luke was sleeping with Jo, even while he continues to try to get me back, she thought. "Whatever. I'm deliriously happy with Sam, so I couldn't care what or who Luke does now."

They fell into a comfortable silence again until Sam started rattling off the items blue guy came into the station with. Chris took a closer look at the guy's fingers before wondering where his wedding ring was. After discussing it for a moment, Andy and Chris pulled Sam out of the interrogation to let him in on what they noticed.

"He must have swallowed his wedding ring. I guess he didn't want us to know about his marriage," Andy said.

"No wonder he's protecting his partner," Sam said, smiling at Andy.

"Because his partner is his partner," she said, finishing his thought.

When the woman from Public Health gave the all clear, Andy started to head for the locker room until Sam placed one hand on her back and another on her arm to guide her to the fitness room.

"I'm not boxing you, Sam," she said as they entered the room.

"I told you we're not leaving here until you do. You need to release the frustration," he said, tossing two gloves at her. She caught them and stared at Sam with annoyance as he put his own gloves on. "C'mon. It'll be fun," he said, lightly pushing her with one gloved hand.

Reluctantly, and only because she knew she wouldn't get out of the station without appeasing Sam, she put the gloves on. As she was doing so, Sam continued to playfully nudge her with his glove. "Stop it," she said as she tightened the gloves on her hands. He was purposely trying to annoy her, so her frustrations would surface. When she landed a punch to his gut, Sam knew his plan worked.

"You asked for this," she said as Sam caught his breath.

"That I did. Gimme what you got."

For the next half hour, they exchanged their share of light punches, while weaving and ducking. Finally, Andy collapsed on the mat and Sam sat down next to her, leaning on his elbows to prop himself up. He noticed her demeanor had changed, a content smile replacing the scowl she had on her face after talking to Luke. "Feel better?" Sam asked.

Andy tilted her head so she could look up at Sam. "Yes, thank you," she said smiling. She watched as Sam took his gloves off and then removed hers.

"You know what?" she asked, sitting up.

"I'm always right?" Sam joked as he stood up and held his hand out to help Andy. She shook her head as she grabbed his hand and he pulled her to a standing position.

"You are not always right, and never mind, I'm not going to tell you now," she said, pouting and feigning annoyance.

Sam circled his arms around her waist so she couldn't get away. "Tell me," he said.

"No." She could be stubborn when she wanted and forced herself not to smile.

"McNally," he said, using his stern TO voice.

She couldn't fight her fake pout anymore and her lips slowly curved into a smile. She circled her arms around his neck and leaned up to kiss him. "I love you."

"Good, cause I love you too," he replied.

Andy decided she had been sleeping on Traci's couch for long enough and even though half the time she was at Sam's, it was time to get serious about finding her own place. On their day off, Andy dragged Traci to half a dozen condos. They were having lunch when Andy laid out the brochures from all the places they visited on the table.

"Do you have a favorite?" Traci asked, glancing between the brochures.

"These three are out. The natural light was horrible," she replied, tossing several of the brochures on the seat beside her. She took a bite of her sandwich as she contemplated the remaining options. "Hmmm."

"These two were nice," Traci said, pointing to a condo with floor to ceiling windows and another that was a renovated toilet factory. "The other one was in a shady part of town."

Andy nodded, agreeing with her friend. "True. And my dad, or Sam, would probably kill me for picking the one in the unsafe location," she said, adding the brochure to the growing pile on the seat. "Okay, so it's down to these two."

They ate in silence for a few minutes as Andy contemplated the two condos. She tried to picture herself in each condo – cooking dinner for Sam, snuggling with Sam on the couch, spending lazy days off with Sam. Every image she pictured included Sam and she realized she couldn't make a decision without getting his opinion.

She looked up at Traci. "I can't decide yet. I want Sam to see them, see what he thinks," she said.

"Have you guys talked about moving in together?"

"What? No, uh, yeah no," she said, shaking her head. "That's, um, a big step." She absentmindedly fidgeted with her napkin, slowly shredding it.

"Well, maybe when you take him to see these condos you should bring up the subject. Maybe look for a condo that's right for the both of you," Traci suggested.

Andy was saved from further conversation when Traci's phone rang and they had to pick up a sick Leo from school.

A couple nights later Andy lay curled up with Sam in his bed, with her head on his chest. "So, you have mounted unit training tomorrow right?" he asked.

"Yup, five straight days of it. Chris, Dov and I have to check in at parade tomorrow before heading over," she replied. "Did you ever work with the mounted unit?"

"Me?" Sam laughed. "No, I'm a city boy, remember? Horses and I don't get along."

Andy laughed. She couldn't really picture Sam on a horse. "I'm excited about it. It's something different. And there won't be the risk of imminent death," she said, thinking about the last month - trapped in the burnt out Laundromat, almost killed in the storage locker and being quarantined at the station.

"What am I going to do with my time without needing to rescue you," Sam teased.

Andy slapped his chest. "Very funny. You're gonna miss me."

Sam pushed her hair out of her face and off her shoulder, letting his fingers get tangled in its softness. "You know I'll miss you. But you'll just have to spend the evenings here so I can get my daily fix," he said.

"Is that so?"

"Yup." Andy was like a drug to Sam. He couldn't get enough and when he was away from her for too long he went through withdrawal. Andy turned her head so she could press a kiss to his chest. When she rested her head back in the crook of Sam's neck, she thought about the conversation she had with Traci the other day.

"Sam?"

"Hmmm."

"You know how I went to look at condos with Traci the other day?" she asked, drawing patterns on his chest with her fingers. Sam could feel Andy's body tense with nervousness as she spoke.

"Yeah. Did you find anything you liked?" he asked, as his fingers played with the ends of her hair.

"I narrowed it down to two. I just thought, uh, wondered if you wanted to take a look at them with me and help me decide," she said shyly. She didn't know why, but it felt like a big step in their relationship for him to help her choose a condo. She wanted his opinion, but the whole thing also made her nervous.

"Wanna schedule it for our next day off?" he asked, without giving a second thought to saying anything but yes. Andy's lips curved into a smile. Here, she had been agonizing over whether or not to ask him to come with her and he hadn't hesitated for a moment.

"Yeah, I'll call the realtor and set it up," she said.

Sam felt Andy's body relax and it still amazed him she could get nervous about asking him to share important parts of her life. He stopped playing with her hair so he could grab her hand off his chest and bring it to his lips.

After the last day of mounted unit training, a few of the officers from 27 Division and training teacher Bernie Lucas met Andy and Chris at the Penny for drinks. After a couple rounds, Chris got up to call Gail to find out when she, Dov and Traci would be getting to the Penny. Bernie took the opportunity to move from his seat at the other end of the tables they'd pulled together to the empty one next to Andy.

"Did you enjoy mounted unit training?" he asked.

"Yeah, it was a great escape from the normal day-to-day stuff," she said, sipping the last of her beer.

"Well, if you want a spot on our unit, I'll put in a good word for you," Bernie offered, leaning in toward Andy.

"Thanks, but I'm pretty happy at 15," she replied, sitting back in her chair to place a little distance between them. Recognizing he was flirting, she didn't want to be rude, but Andy quickly looked around wondering what was taking Chris so long.

"Let me get you another beer," Bernie said, noticing her glass was empty.

"No, that's okay. I think it's Chris' turn to buy, so I'll just wait for him," she replied.

Ignoring her, he grabbed her empty glass. "Hey, it's no problem. I'll just – " He stopped talking when he found his face inches from a muscular back that had wedged in between him and Andy.

Sam leaned down, surprising Andy with a kiss more passionate than they usually shared at the Penny in front of their co-workers. "Hi," he said, as he straightened up and protectively put his hand on her shoulder. Andy smiled, knowing exactly what Sam was doing.

"Bernie, this is my boyfriend Sam. Sam, this was my teacher at mounted unit training," she said, looking between the two men.

Bernie immediately pushed his chair back, creating more space between him and the couple. "Oh, uh, hi, nice to meet you. Excuse me, uh, I need to get another beer," he said, getting up and walking over to the bar.

"Nice Sam, intimidate the guy," she said, laughing.

"He'll get over it," he said, flashing his dimples. "Do you want another?" He nodded toward her empty glass, and when she nodded he headed to the bar.

Andy noticed Chris looking awkwardly at Gail and Dov as the three entered the bar, and Andy wondered what was up with them. She lost them in the crowd as Sam came back with their drinks and threw an arm over her shoulders as he sat down.

"I should warn you, Ollie's crashing on my couch tonight," Sam said, watching Bernie and a guy from 27 Division playing darts.

Andy quirked her eyebrows. "Not that I don't love Oliver, but why?"

"I may have given him some bad relationship advice and Zoe may be a little pissed at him," Sam hesitantly admitted.

Andy rolled her eyes. "Seriously Sam? You got him in trouble? You should be the one on the couch," she teased.

"Funny. What the heck is he doing asking me for advice anyway?"

"Never again, brother. Never again," Oliver said, overhearing their conversation as he slid into the seat next to Sam. "And you're helping me get back in Zoe's good graces."

"What? Why me?"

"Because you got him in trouble," Andy answered before Oliver had a chance. She leaned toward him to whisper in his ear. "And until you get him home again, you won't be having any fun," she said, with a meaningful look.

Sam's face got serious. "What? So I'm punished too?"

"Nothing is happening with Oliver 10 feet from your bedroom door." Andy stood up, but leaned down so Sam could hear her. "So, get him home quick," she said, flashing a smile before walking away to find Chris, Dov and Gail.

"Looks like you're in the doghouse now too," Oliver said, chuckling into his drink.

Sam glared at Oliver and began forming a plan to get him off his couch as quickly as possible.