Chapter 3: Extracting Revenge

"Sam, you are definitely going with me to the Penny to put out this fire," Andy insisted.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world. You think I'd abandon the other half of McSwarek?" Sam grinned.

Andy shot him a nervous glance, but didn't reply. She ducked into the ladies' locker room to change instead.

When she emerged, neither could quite get a read on the other's mood. So they made the drive in silence, each lost in his or her own thoughts.

"So, did you tweet a retraction?" Sam asked as the entered the bar.

"No, Sam. I like to look people in the eyes and hear their voices when I communicate to them what an idiot you are," she teased.

"Touche. This should be interesting then," he said amiably.

As they walked in, the bar erupted into a pandemonium of wolf whistles, applause, and catcalls. Andy hadn't seen the place this rowdy since their first night with the rookie handcuff hazing.

When they'd managed to make their way to the center of the room, Andy used an official whistle to cut through the roar so she could make an announcement.

"Sorry to disappoint all you gullible pervs, but that little stunt that had you all atwitter today was just my bonehead partner playing around with my new iPhone. Lunch 'my style' was actually a trip to the Kogi food truck. Which after much foot dragging, my stubborn partner LOVED, by the way," Andy set the record straight.

The room started to hum with low disappointed grumbles, mixed with a few chuckles.

"Haha! Toldja, suckers!" Noelle said with a big grin.

"Way to be a buzz kill, McNally," Dov grumbled.

"Yup, a tiny bit of laughing at how mad the auto-correct was making him was enough for him come up with that hilarious little prank. Or MAYBE that's his version of pulling my pigtails," she smirked.

"Ooh," the crowd reacted, surprised to hear Andy call out Sam that way.

"Anyway, to make up for punking everyone, first round of shots is on Swarek!" she screamed.

The room erupted in cheers again.

Andy turned to Sam, raising an eyebrow challenging him to confirm the offer.

"Alright, alright. Not that I owe you clowns anything, but McNally deserves her retaliation," he agreed.

SAMMY! the crowd called with approval.

After they'd done their shots with all their close friends gathered around, it was Sam's turn to ham it up a bit. "Well done, McNally," Sam making a mock gesture as if she'd shanked him in the heart. "I wonder what this is gonna cost me?"

Andy shrugged a shoulder, "Break out your plastic. You should have thought of that before you used my twitter account to telegraph what goes on in your dreams, Swarek," she said with a wink.

"Oh, ho! Getting a little cocky, aren't you McNally?" Sam shot back.

Andy shrugged, then launched into a parody of the Sandra Bullock sing song bit from Miss Congeniality: "You think I'm gorgeous... You want to kiss me… You want to hug me… You think I'm sexy…"

"OK, Gracie Lou Freebush." he mocked. "You nailed me," he added sarcastically.

"Except for one thing. I don't WANT to kiss you," he paused, a wicked twinkle in his eyes.

"I'm GOING TO kiss you," he declared, before sweeping her into a big dramatic embrace and giving her the kind of kiss he knew the crowd would applaud. Which they did, strenuously.

"What do you say, McNally? Shall we get out of here now, and give these coppers something to really twitter about tomorrow?" Sam challenged when he finally pulled back.

All Andy could manage was to cling on to him and nod.

Sam laughed, "If I'd known that was the best way to leave you speechless, I would have kissed you sooner," he said, flashing the dimples to keep from ruining his play by pissing her off.

Fortunately, Andy was a major sucker for those dimples and allowed him to shepherd her toward the door.

But she did recover enough to manage one last tease, "I can't believe you pulled out that Gracie Lou Freebush reference. I really wouldn't have pegged you as a fan of a movie like Miss Congeniality."

"It's a memorable name," he shrugged. "And I've always had a thing for hot brunette law enforcement types," he added as they exited the bar.

"I hope you're not saying that Beavis and Butthead-style prank really was your idea of flirting?" she asked as they approached his truck.

Sam shrugged again, before saying sheepishly, "It started a conversation, didn't it? And it appears to be working OK so far with the only woman I care about."

Andy shook her head at him, "It's a good thing you have such a hot body, because you could use a little work on your seduction technique," she teased.

"There's a difference between flirting and a serious seduction attempt, McNally. But, now that I know you might be receptive, I'm all ears to hear what sort of thing you would consider to be an upgrade in that department," he drawled, pulling her into his arms. "I can do candles and flowers and the whole nine yards if that's what floats your boat," he said nuzzling her neck.

"I think I've been an expensive enough date for tonight to let you off the hook for that sort of thing," she murmured. "Although, if I recall, your house is rather romantic by candlelight," she added.

"Well, let's go see if we can't put them to better use this time," Sam pulled back to smile down at her before opening the door of his truck for her. "Jump in the chariot, M'Lady."

She gave him a long look.

"What? I'm not making fun of you. I swear," he protested. "Who's the sensitive one now?"

~~~~0~~~~

AN: Possible spoiler alert: You may want to think twice about reading further if you haven't seen all the episodes of season 1 yet. I make up a lot of alternative events, but there are also references to things that really happened in season 1 episodes peppered throughout the rest of the story.