There are no excuses for my tardiness in updating. I really do apologize. My mind has truly been elsewhere the past few weeks. My cousin's almost 3 year old was rushed for emergency open heart surgery after her heart rate didn't return to normal after playing with her cousins. She's doing fabulously well after the scare and even managed to come home after almost a week stay in the hospital. Children are truly amazing sometimes. Not an excuse, well maybe it kind of is, but I think this is the longest chapter yet, and is my futile attempt to make it up to you.

Thank you for all of your kind works, encouragements and ponderings about where this story is going. I have actually readjusted based on what you've said and I get a kick out you yelling at me about "tricking" you or "blowing your mind." You guys rock.

Thanks,

Nikka

Disclaimer: Don't own Rookie Blue or it'd be on nearly year round!

O o O o O o O

Andy made her way through the door of the cover apartment that she was meant to share with Boyd and nervously shut the door behind her. Involuntarily, she leaned up against the door and took a deep breath in an attempt to steady herself. It had started to rain on her way back to the apartment, but Andy decided that she had needed the walk and the coldness of the rain. Her clothes were soaked through and her hair was plastered against her skin. Despite it all, she barely felt the chill.

Jamie Brennan had just made her a deal that would set GnG up for one of its biggest takedowns. The only problem was that it involved Andy McNally moving into the snake's den.

Logically, Andy knew that there was no way that she could turn down Brennan's offer. She knew that Boyd would back her on this. Time was precious and fleeting and Andy knew that she'd need to compose herself and plan her arguments if she hoped to gain Sam's approval.

Andy could help but snort at that thought. There was no way in hell that Sam was going to approve of her moving in with Jamie Brennan and his family. He countered that there was no way for surveillance to monitor Andy's living quarters or make contact with her. It was likely that slipping away would be difficult if not impossible for her to manage. If Brennan suspected anything, Andy would be completely at his mercy and there wouldn't be a damn thing Boyd and the GnG squad would be able to do.

Those were just the easiest arguments that Andy could come up with. Sam was anything but easy. His temper would be well stoked by the time he got to her tonight and when he was that worked up, his brand of honestly tended to border on terrifying. Taking in a deep breath, Andy looked up at the ceiling and wondered how she was going to hold up against Sam's temper. She prayed that Boyd would back her up on this. After all, if this went accordingly, then the UC Boyd had planned for Sam would work out perfectly. They would have someone watching Brennan from two fronts instead of one.

A loud pounding on the door jolted Andy out of thoughts and she was barely able to contain a shriek as she jumped away from the door as if it burned. She watched as the handle was jostled a few times before the banging began again. Andy took a few steps backward when she heard keys being put into the lock. When the door swung open, Andy wasn't quite as ready for the intensity that followed as she thought she'd be.

Sam practically burst through the apartment door before Boyd could even remove the key from the lock. His eyes were focused on hers and his face clearly belied his agitation and worry. It might be possible that Andy had underestimated the strength of his emotions. Sam came to a sudden stop three or so paces from her and simply stared at her. His brow was quirked daring her to say something, but his silence was unnerving. Andy remained silent knowing that the slightest noise or movement from her would set him off when he was like this.

That was when God damned Donovan Boyd had to open his mouth and kick over the pot of boiling oil.

"I've got to say McNally," Boyd smirked clearly finding this situation amusing. "The bambi approach really works for you. Brennan has taken to you like nothing I've ever seen. If he hadn't gone all saint-like for his wife, I'd say it's you he's after and not your, uh- , services with children."

Andy's eyes shot over to Boyd willing him to shut up. She felt the heat of Sam's stare. His eyes had never left her and willed her to look back at him. When she did look at him, she swallowed hard feeling incredibly nervous and uncomfortable. Boyd's excitement prevented him recognizing that getting giddy over Brennan's offer probably wasn't in the best interest of his health at the moment.

"I mean who would have thought that Jamie-freaking-Brennan would have a soft spot for a pretty face," Boyd was pacing back and forth with wild hand gestures that accentuated his excitement. "It's gonna take a few days to prep you, but I'm thinking you could be ready to go under as early as this weekend or early next week. Two weeks tops to give notice to the pre-school and keep things looking kosher-"

"She's not going," Sam's quiet voice cut Boyd off. Boyd stopped his pacing to look at Sam with disbelief written all over his face. He looked like an excited child who'd just been told something unbelievable with mouth hanging open. Andy remained still eyes locked on Sam knowing what was coming with his calm voice and penetrating stare.

"What? Of course she's going Sammy," Boyd practically exploded.

The oxygen seemed to seep from the room like a vacuum had sucked it out at Boyd's exclamation. That was the only warning that Sam's temper had risen to a whole new level. When he spoke again, the eerie calm to his voice made Andy's heart start to race.

"No," Sam spoke quietly. "She's not."

"Sammy-" Boyd whined trying to make him see some sense.

"Get out," Sam growled, still meeting Andy's eyes with a fervent gaze. When Boyd looked like he was about to protest, Sam spun on his heal and opened the door behind him. "Out. Now."

Boyd stopped to look at Sam in an attempt to size him up. Whatever it was that Boyd read off of Sam, he knew that fighting him was a losing back. One thing that Donovan Boyd knew was to pick his battles with Sam Swarek very carefully. He'd let Sam have this one, but not before getting a good dig in at him before he complied.

"Just remember," he said as he turned back to Sam with a grin. "You were right. You trained that girl good."

Once Boyd had walked through the door of the small apartment, Sam slammed the door shut and turned the dead bolt and turned to look at her. Andy had been nervous before, but Sam's calmness and his quietness were making her start to question her sanity. Andy knew that Sam wouldn't hurt her, but she wasn't all that sure he wouldn't give her a good tongue lashing for causing him worry. She wanted to get mad at him for being like this, but at the moment, the look in her eyes was actually making her feel like she did when her dad had caught sneaking out to meet a boy he had banned her from seeing.

"Sam that was rude," she said trying to master an exasperated tone. Now that she had spoken, a wall seemed to break within her that allowed her to get angry. "I got my job done! There is still more that I can do yet."

"Andy," her first name from him caught her off guard for a moment. "This isn't a joke, the ante has upped, its way up there," Sam exclaimed. "Putting you in there puts you too close to Brennan. If something happens, we can't come in there and get you. I can't have your back!"

"Sam you're being ridiculous," Andy yelled at him. "Boyd will have my back. He won't let me walk in there blind. I know exactly what's at stake here. It's you that doesn't!"

At some point during their argument, Andy had gotten past Sam and now had her back to the door. Sam had listened to her talk coming closer to the center of the room, but keeping her within his line of sight the entire time.

Sometimes he just didn't understand the way this woman thought. She had stayed quiet the whole while Boyd raved about her, even when Sam kicked Boyd out, he had noticed her quietness. Sam noted her lack of chatter and chalked it up to her being worried or scared about Brennan's offer. When Boyd put a timeline on her going to live with the Brennan's, her continued quietness and perceived worry and fear had kicked all of his protective instincts into high gear.

His mind raced with the possible excuses he could come up with to stop her from being ordered to go through with Brennan's offer. Now she was fighting him on trying to keep her out of this mission. He just simply couldn't fathom why she'd fight him on this when she was clearly upset and freaked out by the prospect.

"Explain it to me McNally," Sam drawled. "What don't I get?"

To his utter amazement, he actually watched as stomped her foot and let out a whining groan. Sam might have laughed at her under other circumstances and told her how much like a petulant child she looked, but at the moment there was simply nothing he could find amusing in her actions. She was stalling trying to keep him at him bay and confused. It was kind of working.

"Forget it," she muttered raising her chin.

"I won't forget it," he responded sharply.

He got the reaction he was hoping for. She was getting mad. When Andy McNally got mad she shot her mouth off at him. It was one of the fastest ways into her thoughts. She'd censor herself too late.

"This is a stroke of luck Sam," she nearly cried in anger. "This one thing could set up a takedown that could make a career, and I could help! I know you don't think I can pull this off or maybe you don't want my help with this big of a bust, but I can do this!" She was working herself up into an angry fit and her eyes were filled with both a plea for his support and a fire of determination.

"I know you can do this, but you don't need to make a career for someone off of this case," Sam retorted angrily. "I know you feel like you owe Boyd for running into his last ops, but he ran them in the dark and in case you forgot, you helped me make it right and take down the bad guy. You don't owe him anything. He won't have your bad if this goes bad, he'll leave you hanging. I won't be able to have your back in there!"

Andy had heard enough. While she might have admitted to herself later that Sam's concerns were most likely valid, she couldn't risk him bullying his way onto the case. The farther that Sam stayed away from this case, the better chances he had at getting back on GnG. That was what he wanted after all. Andy wouldn't screw this up for him again, especially after all he had helped through the two years.

"I don't need you to have my back," she yelled at him, tears beginning to blur her vision. "Just this one time I need you to trust me enough to have your back for a change!"

"What are you talking about McNally," he demanded through narrowed eyes taking a step towards her. "You have my back every day we are out on those streets together. You're my partner."

"Sam, just trust me," she said. Andy tried to keep her voice from breaking. "Because you're my partner, I need to have your back on this. You'll get it later."

She gasped as Sam closed the space between them in a flash. Seeing him on the move, Andy backed up quickly and felt her back come up against the door. Sam caged her in as he leaned forward bracing both of her hands on the door on either side of her. His head tilted to the side as his eyes searched her face before meeting her eyes.

"I want to get it know," he said huskily.

Andy took a deep breath and brought her hand up to the inside of his elbow and pushed a bit to get him to back off and give her a bit of space. Her eyes slipped from his questioning face to her hand on the inside of his elbow and pushed again in vein. Sam didn't budge against her struggles to get him to move.

"Sam, don't," she nearly whispered as she tried not to meet his eyes.

Ignoring her, and her attempts to be freed from the cage of his arms, Sam leaned closer to her, bending his elbows so he could get closer as he took another step in towards her. There was barely an inch of space separating them and Sam could feel her body heat against his front. It would be so easy to press against her and kiss her right now, but first he had to figure out what she was hiding from him.

"Tell me McNally," he drawled out, nearly begging her to comply.

He noted the watery appearance of her eyes and thought that he would kill Boyd for pushing her to this reaction. She was crumbling in front of him and Sam hated it and himself for it, but he had to know what she was talking about. Why was this so important to her?

"Sam, I can't," her voice shook as she looked down away from, refusing to meet his eyes.

Sam couldn't help but reach down to cup her chin and bring her face up so that he could look in her eyes. "McNally," he said breathily, but with conviction. "You can tell me anything. I've got your back no matter what it is, no matter what Boyd told you."

"Not this Sam," she said hurriedly, jerking her face out of his hand. "If I tell you what's going he'll yank from the UC rotation."

When his eyes widened, Andy gasped at what she had just said. Her eyes starting darting around the room as Andy began to get nervous. She hadn't meant to reveal that Sam. Boyd was possibly going to kill her now.

"What did you just say," Sam growled at her. He felt his blood beginning to boil as he starting putting the pieces together of just how Boyd had gotten Andy to agree to this do this case in the first place. Why Andy was so adamant to go through with Brennan's offer was suddenly clicking in his head. Sam was seeing red. He might kill Donovan Boyd.

Andy remained silent knowing that answering Sam might not be the best possible option at the moment. He was working something out in his head, and she sure as hell wasn't about to break him out of his thoughts so that the full strength of his temper could be focused on her. She had enough experience with that to know that it was always uncomfortable and brutal.

"Shit," Sam swore furiously and shoved himself off the door quickly.

Andy was shocked at his sudden movement and gasped. Sam's eyes landed on her again. He took in her shaken appearance and felt conflicting emotions battle within him. On one hand, Sam was pissed off at her for hiding this from him, at Boyd for coercing her into this dangerous position, and fear. The fear came when he realized that had he not been aggravated by her lack of contact with him that caused him to storm into headquarters, Sam wouldn't even know that she was doing this. That brought on another wave of anger as need to protect her kicked into over drive.

A knock on the door made both of them jump and look towards the door. Andy was nervously fidgeting unsure of what to do. She looked up at Sam with a bit of uncertainty.

Sam met her uncertain look and wiped his hands roughly over his face before allowing his shoulders to drop in defeat.

"Maybe you should go clean up a bit while I talk to Boyd," Sam said quietly. Looking over at her, Sam summoned all the strength he had to remain clam. "I need to talk to Boyd for a minute while you calm down."

Andy knew that she should be furious at his being presumptuous about her needing a minute to compose herself after their conversation, even if he was right, but she couldn't be. She nodded and turned to go towards the small bathroom down the hall and mumbled a quiet thank you on her way.

Watching her retreating form, Sam turned back to the door after hearing the knocking again. Rolling his head to try and work the kinks out of his neck, Sam exhaled loudly as he unlocked the door to find a cocky Boyd smirking at him. And then he felt himself snap.

Allowing a sarcastic smirk that just barely hinted at his dimple to cross his face, Sam stood back to look down the hallway to make sure that Andy wasn't around and then turned back towards Boyd and grabbed ahold of the front of his jacket and yanked him forward. Taking advantage of the fact that Sam had caught Boyd unaware, he then slammed Boyd against the wall by the side of the door before kicking the door shut with a loud whack.

"What did you say to her," Sam demanded his voice dropped an octave lower than usual.

Boyd struggled against Sam a bit allowing an incredulous look to mar his face. "What are you talking about Sammy?"

Sam felt his grip tighten on the front of Boyd's coat as he pulled him forward a bit before slamming him back into the wall. "What did you tell her to get her to not only agree to this little op but to keep it from me?"

Boyd actually had the balls to smirk at him. "What's the matter Sammy, afraid you didn't train her well enough? Or is that she'll screw it up without you around?"

"She's a good copper," Sam muttered. "She's got a good head on her shoulders when she's not hiding what she's doing from her partner."

Boyd shrugged Sam's hands off of him and met Sam's eyes with something akin to amusement. "Still just your partner, eh?"

Before Sam could respond, he heard Andy's footsteps in the hallway. He stepped away from Boyd and turned to look at her. He saw that despite her attempts to dry off, Andy was still soaked through and shivering.

"Sa-Sam," her teeth chattered a bit. "Can we go, I'm freezing."

Sam turned to look at Boyd and nodded at her as he took off his coat quickly and offered it to her. When she shook her head to deny it, he rolled his eyes at her and held the coat out for her again. Once she begrudgingly accepted his coat, he turned to lead her out of the apartment.

"Get dry and get some rest McNally," Boyd spoke up. "Tomorrow you're going to take a sick day and we start planning."

Sam's jaw tightened a bit at her nod as she turned to go. Boyd's last dig as they turned to leave nearly sent Sam over the edge again.

"Make sure Diaz knows you're going away for a while. I don't need another angry man showing at my office demanding answers." Boyd was smirking at his own joke, and secretly loving the way Sam's entire body tensed at the mention of Diaz.

"Grow up Boyd," Andy muttered allowing Sam to lead her out of the little apartment and out to the back parking lot to his truck.

O o O o O o O

It didn't quite get to where I wanted it, but I think it laid the foundation for the UC. Let me know what you think!