By the time morning came Andy had managed to get a few hours sleep. But as she woke and saw it was bright outside she sat up and dry washed her face then hurried out to the nurses station in time to see them wheeling Sam out of the ICU room.

"Hey! Where are you taking him?" She ran up to them and stopped them from moving his bed any further.

"He's being transferred to a private room."

"What?"

"He no longer needs to be in the ICU. His breathing has improved, his burns will heal. And his sight is already returning."

"McNally?" Sam moved his head from side to side and tried to look at her. She came round towards his head and touched his cheek.

"Hey, Sam…how are you feeling?"

"A little exposed. Do you think you can let them finish moving me?" He smiled crookedly and she smiled back then stepped away and let them move him.

She waited outside the room as they fixed him up and watched as he winced in pain with all the movement. The nurses hooked him up to a fresh IV and added some painkillers then checked his eyes and his burns before leaving him be. In the hallway one of the nurses pulled Andy aside and explained what had happened throughout the night and how much better Sam was doing.

"Can I sit with him?"

"Yes officer, but not for long, he needs to rest." The nurse walked in with her and showed her a small tub of white jelly like cream. "This needs to be rubbed into his back in about 20 minutes. Use the gloves provided and try not to burst any of the blisters."

The nurse left and she came up to Sam's head again. His eyes were closed and for a moment she thought he might be sedated again. She reached out to gently stroke his face but his eyes fluttered open and she snatched her hand back.

"Hey…" he said, he was still raspy and wheezy but she knew that would clear up.

"How are you feeling? Are you in any pain?" she looked up to the bags of fluid hooked onto the IV stand as if she could understand what they were doing for him.

"No, not really, thanks to the painkillers. My back does itch like crazy though. How does it look?"

"Not so bad, the blisters will go down."

"Good thing chicks dig scars huh."

She chuckled with him but gently reached a hand out to touch his back. It was burning to the touch but her hands were cool and they felt good.

"How about your eyes? Can you see ok?"

"Not fully, I can see light and dark, shapes and colours. But I can't really make out your face." He lifted one hand up to stroke her face and when she smiled beneath his fingers he smiled too.

"Doc said it would take a day or so, it will be fine."

His eyes started to droop closed so she stepped back and brought the chair closer then sat down and reached out for his hand. He fell asleep in moments and she waited with him.

Gerry sat at his desk and scrolled through pages and pages of legal documents. His tie was loose, the top buttons on his shirt were undone and his hair was messier than usual.

"Find anything?" Traci came up behind him, perched herself on the edge of his desk and passed him a cup of coffee.

"Nothing." He sipped the coffee and sat back in his chair with a sigh. "No property, no leases, no loans, no repayments. The bank account was cleared out about an hour before we got to it. No passport found at the scene. She hasn't been back to work, her phone has been disconnected…nothing. It appears that Ava Johnson has disappeared off the face of the god dammed planet!"

"She can't just have vanished."

"We checked airports, train stations, bus stations, and gas stations."

At that point Noelle came over with a report in her hand which she handed to Gerry. "Car was spotted heading east on Lakeshore Rd West. It was later found abandoned at a truck stop outside St Catherine's. Another car was reported stolen, which was then located at a truck stop near Fort Eerie."

"Then what?" Gerry probed though his gut already had an answer for him.

"Nothing. Passport wasn't used to cross the border."

"Doesn't mean she didn't cross it." Traci said. "She could have stowed away on one of the hundreds of trucks that go through the border."

"Have we checked footage?"

"Going over it now but so far nothing."

"Let me know if you find anything." Gerry sat forward to signal that the conversation was over and Traci and Noelle moved away from his desk and slowly walked to the coffee station at the centre of the bullpen.

"He's going to keep reading over those reports until he finds something." Traci said idly.

"Sometimes there is nothing to find." Noelle started to pour out a cup of coffee for herself.

"What do you mean?"

"Sometimes there are no answers. Sometimes the bad guy gets away."

"But he didn't get away…he was shot and killed in his home."

"Then the partner gets away." Noelle looked over at her confused and frustrated face. "Sometimes there are no answers."

Sam woke up to a cool circular sensation being rubbed on his back. He looked over his shoulder but still couldn't make out exactly who was standing there rubbing the burn cream onto his hot skin. But he could smell her. Smell her shampoo, her soft perfume, just the normal everyday smell he had been inhaling nearly every day over the last 2 years.

"When I thought about waking up to you massaging my back, this isn't exactly what I had in mind."

Andy looked down at him and smiled. She had almost finished rubbing his back and was wondering if he would wake up with the pain when she started but he had kept sleeping.

"Does it hurt?"

"No. It feels good. It feels really good."

"How are your eyes?"

He looked up at her and blinked a few times. His focus was off but slowly he started to see her shape a bit better. No details yet but it was definitely improving.

"Getting better. How about you? How are you doing?"

She had finished with his back and had closed the lid of the cream then tossed the gloves into the trash. When she came back to his side he caught one of her hands in his.

"I'm fine. Don't worry about me. I…um, I tried to call Emma. Let her know you were hurt." She looked away and fumbled for his phone in her pocket. "I didn't think it was appropriate to leave a voicemail so I can try her again later and let her know. She must be worried."

"No Andy, don't bother. I don't think she will be worried about me at all."

"What? Why? What happened?" She left his phone on the locker beside the bed and turned back to him.

"We decided to call it quits. It wasn't working."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that."

"Are you?" He challenged her.

"Aren't you?" She deflected it back to him but he was in no fit state to go toe to toe with her right now. All he could manage was a half-smile.

"What's going on with the case?"

"Don't worry about that now Sam, forget it."

"Tell me, what's happening?"

"They got Howard Johnson in his home. He was in the attic. He was hiding in the dark but Oliver caught him with the SWAT Team."

"Is he ok?"

"He broke his leg and got a bang on the head. He is up on the 3rd floor. He'll probably be down to visit you later." She smiled as she spoke and even though he couldn't see her face, he could see it in his head.

"So what about the wife? What was her name? " Sam asked. "Did she know?"

"Ava, her name is Ava. And well, we can't find her."

"What?" Sam moved at that response and tried to turn over but the pain in his back flared up and Andy pushed him down.

"She wasn't at the house. She didn't turn up to work."

"So she was in on it."

"Seems like it." She wanted to leave it at that but she saw the frustration in his face at being stuck in the bed so she continued to talk about the case. "Oliver found a book."

"A book?"

"A photo album. It was listing all the cases that Howard had recreated. It goes back 18 months. Loads of unsolved crimes connected to this one."

"That's great, that's a great find."

"Yeah, no wife only we could find the wife."

"Sometimes the bad guy gets away." Sam said and she didn't have a response so she said nothing.

After a few minutes of awkward silence Andy rubbed her hands together and brushed down the front of her uniform. "So I better go back to work."

"Ok. Thanks for coming in to see me."

"Any time. I'll come back in a couple of hours."

"That's ok Andy, you don't have to."

"I'll come back." She hesitated a moment then brushed his hair back, leaned down and kissed his cheek then quickly left.

Ava Johnson slipped into a pair of scrubs and covered herself with a lab coat. She took a surgical mask from the box by the sink, then one for her head and put them both on. From the bag at her feet, she took out the small hand held SLR camera and slipped it into the coat pocket. She walked through the hall on the 5th floor and as she passed the nursing station she grabbed a random chart and walked quickly to the bank of elevators. She looked down at the chart as if she was reading it then pressed the button for the 2nd floor.

It was just after rounds when she stepped out onto the floor and all medical staff were busy in a meeting room reviewing all updates from the doctors so she slipped by easily. She walked through the ICU patients but didn't find what she was looking for. She came back out to the nurse's station to check the bed roster and found the room she was looking for.

"Officer Swarek," she muttered. "Room 213."

She checked over her shoulder and walked swiftly to the right room. Visiting hours were over before rounds so as expected the room was empty. He was lying on his belly, his arms above his head on the pillow as he slept. The monitors beside his head beeped softly and she slowly took the camera out of her pocket.

Through the lens she could see his sleeping form with the blisters on his back and she took a few shots. She looked at the screen on the back of the camera then changed her angle to get another shot. She stepped closer and focused the camera on his back to get close up shots of his injuries.

Ave looked over her shoulder then stepped over to the side of the bed. She loosened the Velcro straps and carefully slipped it around his wrist then went round to the other side and did the same then again at his ankles. Sam started to stir. She walked over to the monitors and disabled the alarms then sat in the chair beside the bed, with the camera pointed at him and waited for him to open his eyes.

She took pictures as he roused and loved how the look of sleepy confusion turned to startled realisation. He struggled to sit up and started to panic when he realised he was confined to the bed.

"Shhhh…" she said from behind her camera. "Don't move, you'll come out all blurry." She took more shots as she struggled against his constraints then stood up and walked over to the small cabinet by the door. She reached in and took out a scalpel then came back to his bed side.

"Get the fuck away from me!" He squirmed on the bed, knocking off the finger pulse oximeter but he was more scared by the fact that the alarm didn't go off. He struggled harder and pain flared across his back. "Don't touch me, get away from me!"

"Shhhh…" She took close up shots of his face and lifted the scalpel to press it flat against his cheek. She pressed into his back and he screamed out in pain. She dragged the flat blade down to his neck then turned it on his side and pressed it harder. The blade easily broke his skin but Sam was frozen in fear, if he moved or screamed the blade would easily move across his neck.

But before she could do any more damage the door slip open and Oliver wheeled himself in on a wheel chair. "Hey, brother, I heard you were hogging all the hot nurses down on this floor." As all his attention was focused on getting through the door without banging his broken leg that he didn't notice there was any one else in the room until he looked up to wheel himself further in.

"What the hell goin on here?"

Ava turned her camera towards Oliver and took some shots at him as she walked calmly over to him and held the blade out.

Oliver lifted up his hands and tried to grab her wrists. She struggled to hold the camera in one hand and continued to take shots while she struggled. Thanks to the pain killers in his system Oliver's muscles were lethargic and his limbs heavy. Sam thrashed in his own bed as he fought a futile battle to loosen his restraints.

Ava pushed Oliver back but with his leg that wasn't broken he lifted it up and kicked her in the stomach. She stumbled back and he pushed the wheelchair forward to chase her. He grabbed her arm and twisted it round until her shoulder forced her to turn with it. He pushed it up her back and caught her close to him with his other arm.

"Drop the scalpel!" he yelled out but instead she lifted it up and slashed his arm but he held on tighter.

"Oliver! Oliver, you ok?" Sam tried to turn to see what was happening but the pain in his back was stopping him from turning too much. "Help! HELP!" he yelled out to get the attention of the staff outside.

Oliver cried out in pain as she cut his arm deeper. With his good leg he managed to roll them backwards towards the still open door in the hope that someone would see or hear them as he knew they wouldn't be able to last for very much longer.

Ava whirled around and wigged out of his grip, slicing his forearm up as she turned. Oliver grabbed the door and pulled himself out into the corridor to call for help. Ava turned towards Sam who was completely vulnerable on the bed, across the room and she made a dash for him.

Oliver roared out and tried to get back into the room, his chair banged against the frame slowing him down. But by now the nurses had heard the commotion and were coming down the hallway. Behind them all he could see McNally strolling towards them with a coffee in her hand.

"McNally! HURRY!" He saw her drop the coffee onto a counter and come running towards him then tried to get out of the way.

Ava snatched her camera up, held the scalpel over her head and took a swing at Sam's back. She swiped the blade across his skin and took shots as she moved then lifted her hand up again to stab him again.

Sam yelled out, tried to move out of her reach but he was incapacitated on the bed. Oliver was calling for help. Two nurses burst into the room followed by Andy who had drawn her gun.

"Freeze!" Ava turned towards Andy but the blade was still hovering high above Sam's, in a white knuckle grip. "Put down your weapon!" she said but Ava ignored her. She turned back to Sam, took another shot then started to swing the blade down.

Andy fired her gun and hit her in the shoulder. She was thrown against the wall behind Sam and fell to the ground, the blade still held tightly in her hand. The nurses charged in further, one of them checking out Sam the other checking out. Andy went over to Ava who was sitting on the floor against the wall, one hand on her shoulder where she had been shot.

She grabbed her shoulder radio and contacted dispatch. "217 at Toronto General. Officer injured, suspect in custody, requesting immediate back up."

"10-4, back up responding."

More nurses arrived with a gurney and Ava was lifted onto it. Andy took her cuffs off her belt and cuffed her uninjured arm to the railing on the bed.

"You can't do that, this woman needs treatment."

"This woman is a suspect in over twenty murders and was caught attempting another. The cuffs stay on." Then she turned her back and went over to Sam. "Hey, Sam, hey…" she looked at his back. There was a long slice across the base and the nurses were attempting to stop the bleeding.

He lay still but his eyes were open and alert. "Andy?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm here." She went to the top of the bed and undid the fastenings on his wrists. "You ok?"

"Better now you're here…" He winced in pain as the nurses cleaned up his wounds. Andy grabbed his hands and squeezed them tightly letting him know she was there. Without meaning to, he squeezed back, every time the nurses touched his back and when he couldn't hold it in any longer he screamed out in pain. The nurses adjusted the IV on his stand and increased the pain dosage that soon had him drowsy and disoriented.

The nurses continued to work on his back and ushered Andy away. She followed the other nurses who had wheeled Ava out of the room and found Oliver being treated for cuts on his arm.

"Oliver!"

"McNally, talk about good timing!"

She hugged him as much as she could without disturbing the burse who was stitching up his arm.

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah, yeah it's only a scratch. How is Sam?"

"He's got a bad cut on his back but I think he'll be fine. I cuffed Ava Johnson to the bed but I can't leave her unattended. I better go watch her until the backup arrives."

The rest of the day was a blur of reports, signing paperwork, being interviewed by her union rep as well as the IA Rep for firing her gun. She returned to the barn with Gerry and filled him in on everything she had seen. She read the report on Oliver's statement and finally when it was all over, she stood in the shower in the locker room until the water ran cold. She dried off and dressed quickly then went back to the hospital.

First she went to see Oliver. He was back in his room, his leg was up in traction and his arm had been bandaged up. He seemed to be asleep when she walked in so she left the milkshake on the locker next to a wrapped sandwich but before she could walk out he opened his eyes and smiled.

"Is that a reuben?"

"Yep."

"No pickle?"

"Of course not."

"And a strawberry shake?"

"Yep."

Oliver smiled and reached out for his food and took a long sip of his shake. "I don't care what they say about you McNally, I think you're amazing!"

"Thanks. How are you feeling?"

"Like I should have broken some bones a long time ago so I could get waited on hand and foot sooner!"

"Funny."

"Seriously though, I'm fine. How is Sam?"

"I'm going up there now to see him. He was pretty out of it when I left earlier."

"Give him a kiss from me."

Andy smiled and turned away as Oliver bit into his sandwich. The elevator ride was slower than she wanted it to be and when she stepped out onto the 2nd floor the first thing she saw was the armed guards outside the private room where Ava was being held. She stopped outside and looked in to see Gerry and Traci interviewing her. She wanted to wait and see how it turned out, what she was saying but her impatience to see Sam was too much.

She continued walking down the corridor to get to Sam's room and with one hand on the door handle she took a breath then pushed it open with a smile on her face. She crossed the room quietly in case he was asleep, gently lifted the heavy chair and moved it to beside his bed then sat down and reached out to take his hand in hers.

"Hey…" he whispered as she lay back in the chair and closed her eyes.

"Sam! You're awake!" she leaned forward and he squeezed her hand in his.

"Yeah."

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm ok, it's nothing."

"Drugs are working then?"

"Oh yeah." He smiled and lifted her hand up to his lips and kissed her knuckles gently.

"And your um, your sight?" she stammered as she felt the blush creep up her neck.

"Almost 100%."

"That's great news." She sat forward and stroked her fingers through his hair.

"How's Oliver?"

"He's fine. All stitched up, and should be sent home today or tomorrow. He's upstairs tucking into the Reuben and shake I brought him."

"What? He gets gifts! What do I get?"

"Oh, he asked me to give you this…" she leaned towards him and kissed his cheek, catching the corner of his mouth. Then as she pulled away he caught her arm and pulled her back in.

"Wait…" he said before closing the distance between them and kissing her again, this time deeper, for longer, or at least as long as his back could hold out at this awkward angle. He gasped with the pain then fell back down onto his bed.

"Sam?"

"I just promised myself I would try it when you came back," he said through gritted teeth as he tried to push down the pain from his twisted back muscles.

"You did?"

"Yeah, and I'm going to do it again…as soon as I can."

"Sam you need to rest, it sounds like those drugs are really working."

"No, Andy," He grabbed her arm again and twisted round to see her better, ignoring the pain in his back. "This isn't the drugs. Don't you believe for one second that it's the drugs." He held her eyes for as long as he could then nodded and lowered his head back into the pillow with his eyes closed.

Andy stood beside the bed for a moment, unsure of what to say but the exertion seemed to have taken it out of him so she let him sleep. She sat next to him again and took his hand and delighted in squeeze back.

A/N: Okay here is a short chapter for today to tie up some loose ends and tomorrow will be the finale. A nice angsty, shippy, smut filled finale. :)

*Updated the chapter for a line that seemed to end in the middle of a sentence.