Sam ushered Andy into the warmth of his apartment , but left her just inside the door before turning to the breaker box on the wall behind his front door to flip a breaker that cut off the cameras. Turning back towards her, Sam pushed her up the last few steps into the apartment as he locked the door and made sure the chain and deadbolt were firmly in place before he followed her up the stairs. His hands moved to take her coat as she shrugged it off her shoulders as she inspected his living space.

"It's much better than the last one," her voice and face clearly displayed humor. There might have also been a bit a relief there as well, but Sam was trying to stay focused on the task at hand and that was getting her the hell out here and away from Jamie Brennan.

"It's okay," he shrugged noncommittally as he watched her wander around his space. His eyes followed her around the room, drinking in the sight of her fingers skimming over the wood of his kitchen table that was ridiculously large for a man with no family to have, but it came with the apartment, so it was what it was. Damn. Sam hated that phrase, but seeing her turn to look at him with a playful smile, his mind became devoid of thought.

When he saw her take a step towards his bed, Sam suddenly found his voice. "Andy," he shrugged a big and cleared his throat before trying again. "You, uh," he paused watching her eyebrow quirk up as he twisted her coat in his hands. "You can't stay."

"I can't," she questioned with her eyebrow arching higher and her smirk becoming more feral.

"No," he shook his head firmly. The danger that she was just by being seen by Brennan again was making him antsy. As much as he wanted her to stay, to talk to her, he wanted her gone, away from here. Safe.

"McNally, I'm gonna call you a cab," he stated evenly meeting her eye. "You're gonna go back to the precinct and you're gonna get into your uniform. Then you're going give what I gave you in the bar to Boyd and when this scavenger hunt. You're not going to tell Boyd about tonight and you're going to keep your head down and stay out of trouble."

He watched her plop herself onto his table top and purse her lips before looking up at him. "No, I'm not."

"McNally," his voice held a warning and she knew she was pushing him to far. When he saw her shaking his head to defy him again, he cut her off before she could utter a response that would test his patience. "Brennan isn't a joke McNally, he saw you. You shouldn't be here. You shouldn't have been in that bar tonight!"

"I'm not leaving Sam," she responded firmly, not balking at his bossy demeanor. Truthfully, Andy adored it just a little bit when Sam decided to switch into full on protector mode. In an odd sense, it was incredibly sexy, but Andy wasn't sure she would ever admit it to him or anyone else in this lifetime.

Any other time, Sam might have found her defiance slightly amusing. This girl loved to challenge him and he kind of liked it, but right now, he was anything but amused with her stubbornness. He could feel a headache forming behind his eyes. Releasing the death grip he had on her coat, Sam raised his hand to pinch the bridge of his nose to try and relieve some of the tension in his head. He felt himself huff out a breath at her before trying to look her in the eyes.

Andy looked at him with a smirk on her face as she fingered the buttons on her shirt. It was a nervous habit, but one she had needed to do to divert some of her energy. Normally, Andy wouldn't have worried providing of course that Sam was there, but when his confidence wavered, Andy had to admit her anxiety was heightened. Seeing the way he wore his worry in his stiffened posture and the way he hadn't gotten into her personal space, Andy had to admit that there might be some cause for concern here.

"McNally," Sam started not moving from his spot across the room. "This isn't funny, Brennan saw you. He talked to you. He knows you're back in Toronto. You just threw yourself back in the middle of it again!"

"Brennan likes me," Andy countered. "He wanted me out of the city. There's no danger. I'll talk to him like he asked and tell him I went back to the States."

"It's not going to be that simple McNally," he retorted. "Nothing is ever that simple."

She shrugged at him and went back to examining the room. Andy knew that Sam was struggling with her presence, and truthfully, she was a bit as well. This was the second time she had stumbled into one of his ops and the third time she had fallen blindly into a UC that could have some pretty serious repercussions. The McNally luck was astounding.

Wrapped up in her thoughts, Andy didn't notice that he had come to stand in front of her while she sat on his kitchen table. He cleared his throat causing her to jump a little bit. It was obvious that he had been standing in front of her for a while. Tilting her head up to meet his gaze, her breath almost caught when she realized just how close they were now. They were close enough to feel the heat off each other's bodies.

Andy felt herself hold her breath as she watched Sam's face. When he took another step closer, he heart started to beat faster. Involuntarily, she tilted her chin up a bit more.

Sam was only inches away from her face now. She closed her eyes as his hand came up to rest on the side of her face. The urgency and expectation was growing by the second and she leaned her face into his touch.

"McNally," his gravelly voice sounded a bit lower than usual.

As she she opened her eyes to look at him, Andy nearly jumped when she heard a phone ring. The ringing was all it took for them to jump apart. Sam muttering a curse as he turned away from her, pulling the phone out his pocket and looking at the screen before looking back up to her. He held his finger up to his lips indicating for her to be silent before he answered.

"Yeah." Sam's voice was gruff when he answered. Gone was any trace intimacy that laced his voice just moments before. Andy fidgeted while she listened to him talk.

"Yeah, we had drinks at the Alpine," Sam responded dryly as looked at her. When she saw his lips purse a bit she blushed. "Funny story about tonight," he said in a voice that indicated it was anything but funny. "Seems there was a scavenger hunt and a couple kiddies wandered their way into the bar looking to score."

Andy felt her blush deepen as she realized that Sam must be talking to Boyd. As much as Sam might be mad at her for using a past conversation to get ahead in Boyd's little game, she knew that Boyd wouldn't escape Sam's anger for dropping them so closely to his location. It was asking for trouble and normally Boyd would have wanted her as far away from Sam and his op as possible. Something wasn't quite right.

"He saw and talked to her," Sam's angry voice broke Andy away from her wandering thoughts. "He wants to talk to her again."

Feeling her skin crawl a bit, Andy's comfort level dropped considerably. Positive that she was in trouble for somehow bumping into Sam, she was fully considering Boyd's wrath at the turn of events with Brennan, especially when her op didn't turn up anything and she had effectively screwed her exit. She watched as Sam seemed to grow more agitated listening to Boyd's voice.

"What do you mean they're watching my place," Sam demanded. Andy watched his wide eyed as made his way towards the side of the windows and looked down to the street. She could see the hyper vigilance that Sam displayed as he begin to lower the blinds and block the view despite being on an upper floor of the building.

"Well, I can't let her leave until the morning then," Sam snapped a bit a Boyd. He was making his way around the apartment clearly looking for areas of weakness should someone decide to stop by. Andy for her part hadn't moved from the table as she watched Sam prowl his UC apartment. Remaining still was her best defense against his worry and his temper right now.

When Sam turned the corner leaving the stairs that led to the door where he was presumably checking the locks, she could her the anger rising in his voice. Apparently he could get even more upset with Boyd than he already was.

"What do you think Brennan thinks she's here for?"

Andy winced at the implication of Sam's words, but she didn't move off the table. Sam pinched the bridge of his nose, a sure sign that he was getting a stress headache. "I'll put her in a cab in the morning. She'll be back on time for check in."

When he was done, Sam tossed his phone away and watched as it thudded against the table that Andy was sitting on. He looked her over noticing that she hadn't moved from where she sat on his table. Her face showed her worry as her mind began to over think the situation.

They both needed their heads in the game and clear to get out of this mess. Undoubtedly if Brennan realized she was a cop, she would be infinitely more danger because of how close she had gotten. That alone helped to center Sam and make him focus on the tasks at hand.

"You're going to have to stay here tonight," Sam said looking at her. "Brennan's got guys watching my place."

"So," she questioned, suddenly worried about her presence in the middle of his UC. "Maybe JD isn't very much fun and I felt the need to leave."

Sam snorted and shook his head at her stubbornness. "You're staying."

Andy pursed her lips and just shrugged. She knew better than to argue with Sam right now. An awkwardness settled over them as she slid off the table and listened to Sam tell her about what Boyd's take on the situation was.

OoOoOoOoO

The next morning, Sam put Andy into a cab driven by one of the GnG officers that would take her back to the Division where she could report to Boyd and figure out the next step. It had been a long sleepless night with Sam pacing his apartment while his partner slept curled up in his bed. Despite her protests that they were both adults, Sam wanted to avoid the temptation of lying next to Andy when he knew that he couldn't give in to his emotions and desires.

He had let out a huff as he came down the steps from his apartment seeing a few cars on the street. The cab was waiting for him already and he recognized Romero in the driver's seat and felt a bit of the tension leave his chest. Romero could be trusted to get Andy back to the Division so that she could be clear. It hadn't escaped his notice that the car Boyd alerted him to was still halfway down the block, though he tried to ignore it as he ushered Andy toward the cab.

Leaning down to speak to her, Sam simply greeted Romero and then told her to tell Boyd everything. Closing the door he tapped on the roof of the car and watched it pull away. The loneliness of UC creeping up around him again as he watched the cab drive away. He had the distinct feeling that he would be seeing Andy well Candace again, but he hoped that Boyd would find a way to keep her out of Brennan's notice.

OoOoOoOoO

"You set me up Boyd," Andy accused as she paced in Frank's office. Her staff Sargent merely watched her as she paced. From the look on his face, Andy was pretty sure that Frank felt the same way.

"How'd I know you were going to literally trip over Sammy," Boyd countered.

"You knew he was working Brennan and you dropped me off in an area where it was already a huge risk that we'd bump into each other!"

Boyd smirked at and her shrugged. He wasn't going to deny that just like her op had little success in getting evidence against Brennan, so to did Sam's. The man had been under almost two months and he'd made as little progress as she had. After nearly a year tied up in UC work, Donovan Boyd needed to make something happen and he hoped this was it.

"Brennan likes you McNally or rather he likes Candace," Boyd countered her argument. "You were never in danger. Seeing you sparked his curiosity."

"At what cost," Andy demanded. Warning lights were flashing in her brain as she tried to remember that she was speaking to a senior officer.

"Are you saying I'm going to be down another officer Boyd," Frank asked standing up and crossing his arms over his chest. Best's expression clearly belied that he was less than impressed with the situation, but there was also concern.

"Possibly, Frank," Boyd responded casually. "Brennan liked Candace, he wanted to protect her. Maybe her reappearance could be a good thing for Sammy and his op."

"This situation had been prove to have been a coincidence Boyd," Frank threatened. "Because if I find out that you jeopardized two of my officers -"

Frank was cut off by Boyd's cell phone ringing. Best and McNally watched as he pulled it out of his pocket and then tossed it to McNally. She caught it with a questioning expression on her face. It looked like her cover phone.

"It's for you Candace," Boyd said with a smirk.

Andy took a breath as Frank and Boyd watched her answer the phone. "Hello?"

"Candace," Jamie Brennan's voice said from the speaker of her phone.

Andy felt a bit of panic as her eyes shot up to Boyd as she tried to make her voice sound genuine, "Mr. Brennan, what a surprise."

"I told you I'd call you Candace," he responded warmly. "I was hoping that we could do lunch today?"

"Sure, Mr. Brennan," Andy replied cheerily. "Where should I meet you?"

Andy listened to Brennan's instructions to meet her at the same little restaurant that she had met him and Maggie for dinner at all those months ago. It seemed like a lifetime ago, but Andy knew that he was trying to make her feel safe. Pick a neutral but familiar ground to meet. She made sure to end the call on a good note and then hung up.

"I'm meeting him for lunch at one o'clock," Andy said blankly to Boyd and Best.

"Great," Boyd exclaimed far too happily for her or Best's liking. "Let's get you prepped McNally. It's time for Candace to make a come back."

"Sam's gonna kill me," Andy mumbled under her breath as she looked to Best for permission to follow Boyd. At his nod and a calm "Be careful McNally," from Best, Andy followed an almost giddy Boyd out to the sally port to get ready for her lunch date.

OoOoOoOoO

The restaurant was still relatively busy for a late lunch rush when Andy stepped inside. She saw Jamie Brennan at a table and made her way over to him.

"Mr. Brennan," she smiled warmly at him despite the butterflies in her stomach. "Thank you for inviting me to lunch."

Her former mark's face was lit up a bit with a smile that she hadn't seen since his wife and daughter were alive. He stood to great her, pulling her into a slightly awkward hug that Andy could assume was awkward because her inability to feel at ease deceiving this man.

Brennan reached to pull out her chair for her and greeted her warmly, "Candace, I'm glad you could make it.

They caught up with small taught that should have been more difficult and stilted than it was, but this man always had a way of making her easy when he should have had her on high alert with her cop instincts in full gear. She restated her back story well and thanked Boyd for quizzing her almost non-stop trying to trip her up about she and her dad were at impasse and that she wanted to come back to Toronto to see friends. Brennan in turn warned her that friends like Doreen, who hung out at the Alpine probably weren't the best sort. All in all, Brennan's interest seemed to be rather fatherly towards her, but then he decided to up the ante a bit.

"So did JD catch up with you after you left," Jamie asked her taking a sip of his coffee.

Andy nearly choked on hers, but decided to go with the truth. Keep it as close the truth as possible. Besides, Boyd already told her than Brennan's men had seen her leave this morning after watching Sam's cover apartment all night.

"Yeah," she blushed and looked down at her coffee. "He seems like a nice guy."

Brennan leaned back in his chair and seemed to assess her answer and body language before he started talking again. "He has a past Candace, and it's not all pretty or law abiding."

Andy felt herself shrug noncommittally, "So do you." Her eyes widened at her own response and she sat up straighter in her chair. "I mean, um -" she stammered, " I mean, you changed."

Brennan let out his head fall back as he laughed a bit at her stuttering response. "That I do Candace. That I do." He sobered up a bit and his face turned serious. "Just be careful, that's all I ask. And if something happens, you tell me?"

Andy merely nodded at him and took another sip of her coffee. "He was very gentlemanly," she said thinking about how Sam made her sleep in his bed while refusing to crawl in next to her. She doubted he slept at all last night. "I think I like him."

Brennan nodded at her and shrugged. "Yeah, he kinda grows on you."

Andy smirked but allowed the conversation to flow to more neutral topics. Just as Boyd had coached her, Andy led Brennan to believe she would be staying with her friend Doreen for a while trying to figure out her next step.

When he asked if she would go to lunch h with him next week again, Andy readily agreed knowing that Boyd would be pissed in she didn't. Just as Sam had done that morning, Brennan put her in a cab and even went as far as to pay the fare for her after lunch. Andy wasn't sure what to make of this meeting, but she couldn't help but feel that Boyd might just be wrong about Jamie Brennan and that Sam needed to get out before something went wrong.

OoOoOoOoO

Sam had been on edge all day and he knew the reason was because of McNally. His mind kept going over all of the ways that this could go wrong and she could get hurt, and there would be no way he could protect her from a UC op. Brennan had been eagle eying him all morning and it was making him uneasy which was pretty difficult to do. When he left, Sam's uneasiness escalated a bit.

Two hours later, Sam had missed Brennan returning to the warehouse until the man's voice startled him out of his work. "I just came from lunch with Candace," Brennan said. "She seems to like you."

Sam was startled and couldn't believe that Boyd would let Andy near Brennan again, but that was discussion for another time. He needed to stay focused here. "Yeah," he smiled a bit cockily. "I kinda like her too, she's something else." Ain't that the truth.

Brennan took a step towards him, "Look JD, I like you. You're a solid guy and seem like you want to turn it around a bit. My guys saw Candace leave your place this morning. She's a good kid and I don't want to see her hurt."

Sam was reeling at the fact that Brennan had admitted to watching his place. The damn guy was honest he'd give him that. "I didn't realize I was trespassing," he stated trying to make it look like he was willing to back off.

"Candace is family," Brennan countered. "My wife and daughter loved her. She gets under your skin, I get that, but she's been through too much to have one more person give her shit. Understand?"

"Yes, sir," Sam said clearly a bit shaken. Andy McNally definitely had a way of endearing herself to everyone around her, even the bad guys. "I, uh,- I'd like to see her again. If that's okay?"

"Completely up to her JD," Brennan responded. "Just don't hurt my girl."

Sam watched Brennan walk away clearly nonplussed. He was going to kill Boyd for letting Andy get involved again. Sam had no idea how he was supposed to keep working Brennan when the man so fixated on watching his every move to make sure he didn't hurt her. This was a mess.

OoOoOoO

Hopefully this makes up for the delay. I struggled with the cut off. This one seems to be losing steam so it might be moving quickly to wrap up. Thank you for all of your support your ideas and reviews keep me going and make me laugh. Sorry about the very bad grammar of the last chapter, thank you for pointing it out to me and I hope this chapter was better!

As always thanks to ones sticking with it! And thanks to those just finding this story... you're reviews and kind words are truly amazing and I am very grateful!

Nikka