Here is another meager attempt to entertain you all. I can't believe how awesome you guys have been with my other stories. This idea came to me from a new song that has become a quick favorite. If you get a chance you should check out "Bulletproof" by Steel Magnolia. It's absolutely amazing in my mind and I rock it out every morning on my way to work.

Disclaimer: I do not own Rookie Blue or else it would be quite a bit different!

Enjoy!

Nikka

Bulletproof: Chapter 1 Time and Space

It had been one hell of a couple weeks. All that Andy McNally wanted to do was go home, well to her dad's or Traci's, since home wasn't really an option at the moment, and take a bubble bath. Luke had been overly attentive to her these past few weeks, in fact he was downright groveling. It actually made her sick to her stomach. She wondered how long it would have taken him to fess up about him and Jo. Would he have waited until their wedding day? Days, weeks, months, years later?

It was all just starting to feel like too much. She slammed her locker shut so hard that the door bounced back out. Andy let out another huff and slammed it shut again and then promptly started kicking it as hard as she could not caring about the noise that she was making since the locker room had already emptied out.

"They say when you work with someone enough that you start picking up their habits," the gravelly voice said behind her. "I just never saw you for the abusing city property kind of girl. That's usually my M.O."

Andy stopped abusing her locker and turned to look at Sam standing leisurely against a lockers with his arms crossed over his chest staring at her. She flicked her eyes away from his face. The last thing that she wanted to see was the worry or the pain that lingered there. Andy hung her head and took a deep breath, she was trying to will herself not to cry.

It'd been hellacious keeping this secret all to herself. She hadn't wanted to impose on her friends. Traci and her father had been sworn to secrecy and Luke hadn't uttered a word or done more then look longingly at her and try to get her to talk to him alone. Andy didn't know that she could even tell Sam. She could take a lot of things, but his pity for being such a fool wasn't something he could take. She had laughed in the face of his warning, flaunted that she was right and that he'd been wrong, and now here she was devastated, and he was trying to help her. Andy McNally didn't deserve the friends that she had, or so she kept telling herself.

"McNally," he pushed off the lockers stepping towards her and forcing her to look at him. "I'm worried about you."

She shrugged trying to back away from him, "I'm fine Sam. Just had a lot on my mind lately."

He took a step forward, determined not to let her run away. He knew that she couldn't lie directly to him, especially when he was forcing her to look at him. Sam knew that something was off with her and Callaghan. He wondered if she had realized that Callaghan and Rosatti hadn't resolved their issues. If it was anything more than that, Sam thought grimly to himself, Callaghan will be a dead man.

"McNally," he reached out and picked up her chin so that she had to look him in the eye. "I won't push you, not tonight. But I'm worried about you, and we both know how well I deal with being worried about you."

There it was, a small smile. It wasn't much especially being that it came no where close to lighting up her eyes, but it was something.

"I know Sam," she said softly. "You're always here when it matters. I know that."

"Time and space?" He questioned tilting his head to look at her remembering their conversation from a what seemed like a lifetime ago.

She merely nodded at him before looking back up at him. "Yeah. Don't worry, Sam. I don't need all that much more."

Sam didn't know what else he could say to her. Just being in her presence had made him feel a bit calmer, a little bit less concerned about her. He only hoped that he had been able to give her a small measure of comfort. Oliver and Noelle had remarked about her sluggishness and ragged appearance of late and her quietness. Oliver had pulled him aside to tell him that she just seemed to be going through the motions. Even the other rookies had been concerned about her and aloofness.

"Need a ride to the Penny?" He asked her hoping she'd say yes. She hadn't been there in weeks and he wanted her to relax a bit. Laugh with her friends. Sam didn't know what was going on, but he knew that Luke had been there every night and he wasn't saying anything, but maybe Sam could get her to open up.

As he was plotting on how to get her drunk enough to loose her inhibitions and tell him what wrong she answered him with a quiet, "Nah, I think I'll just go home and relax tonight."

"You haven't been out in weeks McNally," he reached for her hand and began pulling her towards the door. "C'mon McNally, you're going to have at least one drink with me."

He felt her tug back on his arm clearly being difficult. He didn't know why she was putting up a fight when they both knew she'd cave in.

"I'm buying," he retorted. "You can't refuse and I'm not above making a scene and we both know how much you love being the center of attention."

O o o

The Penny was crowded tonight. It seemed that everyone needed a drink and wanted to hurry in the weekend that was still two days away. Sam opened the door and had to practically push Andy through it. She was still hestitant to come in even when he had promised her repeatedly that she only had to have one drink with him and then he'd let her go about her business and leave if she wanted to.

Sam ordered each of them a beer and settled her at the bar with him. He could feel all the sets of eyes on him and hadn't missed their concerned faces even if Andy had been oblivious as she started to sip her beer. To his right, he saw Oliver and Noelle staring at them, looking between themselves but clearly trying to assess the situation and any improvement. Hell, even Jerry was looking concerned. Behind him, he knew the rookies were staring longingly at their friend.

He just kept sipping the beer waiting for her to relax even a little bit. All he wanted to do was push her. Push her into talking to him, into smiling, into doing something more than sitting there waiting to complete her obligation to him. Sam realized with a bitterness that he felt like a failure for not being able to put a smile on her face. He shook his head remembering that the girl who didn't like time and space had asked for just that. As much as this was killing him, he'd give it to her. Hell, he'd give her anything she wanted if she would just smile one of her dazzling grins at him.

He watched her eyes move around to see who was in the bar. They fell on Callaghan and she took a deep breath while looking down on her beer. His eyes immediately went to searching Callaghan's face. He hadn't taken his eyes off of Andy and was fingering his glass of whiskey. God, he looked like hell, perhaps worse than her.

Oliver caught his attention and he got up to go talk to him. "Be right back McNally, gotta go see Shaw for a second."

She nodded at him and watched him go. From his usual table, Sam kept his eyes on her as Nash came over to talk to her. He'd tried to get Nash to tell him what happened, but she'd just flat out refused him telling him that it was Andy's story to tell. He had to force Nash to at least tell him that Andy hadn't been physically hurt. Just give her time, she'd told him. Andy didn't want to see his disappointment. Sam couldn't imagine what she ever could have done to disappoint him well beyond actually marrying Callaghan or getting pregnant. His eyes widened in shock. She couldn't be pregnant could she?

His mind started to race. It would have explained both her and Callaghan's moodiness of late. Hell, it would even explain the way Jo Rosatti was constantly on edge lately. His eyes snapped to Andy, looking her over trying to observe any sign that what he was dreading was true. But then he saw her press the beer to her lips while she was talking to Nash and take a long pull. There's no way Andy would drink if she knew she was pregnant. The relief that washed over him, nearly knocked him down. He almost missed Oliver's question.

"Made any progress with McNally?"

Sam shook his head noticing the concern of his friends. Oliver was peeling the label on his beer bottle. "She asked me for time, and space. The girl who hates both of those things just asked me to them to her."

The all sat watching her. Andy took her phone out of her pocket and read the text message that she got. There is was, the first real smiled he'd seen out of her for weeks. Sam watched as she furiously typed a reply and then her head shot up looking for him.

"That looks like my que," he stated heading back towards her.

Her phone rang and she answered somewhat excitedly. "When," she answered not saying hello. He was curious as to who it was since all of her friends that he knew where here and none of them were on the phone. "I'm already on my way."

"Leaving McNally," Sam asked a bit bothered by the little bit of the conversation that he'd heard and the way it seemed to snap her out of a bad mood.

She looked up at him offering him a smile, "Yeah, I've got somewhere I need to be right now."

"You need a ride," he asked not wanting to let her leave without telling him where she was going or she was going to meet.

"Nah it's okay, I'm not going too far," she smiled at him again with an air of giddiness. She tilted her beer up finishing the last of it up. "Hey," she said. "I'm buying next time okay?

He let himself smile a small tight smile at her as she turned to walk away. "I'll hold you to it."

"Sam," she turned back towards him.

"Yeah McNally?"

He watched as she stepped closer to him and leaned up and kissed his cheek. "Thank you Sam. I promise I'll tell you everything. Soon."

As he watched her go, Sam knew that a million emotions were coursing through him. She might just be okay, but how he wished he was the one that put that smile on her face. He saw Nash standing next to him and turned toward her with a questioning look on his face.

He saw her shrug. "I don't know Sam, but I could kiss whoever it was that just gave her back that little bit of life she just showed us. Whoever it was, he or she is my new hero if it gives us our Andy back."

Sam grunted and nodded before turning to look back at the door that she had just disappeared out of. As he turned back to look at his friends who had questions written their faces about his partner's sudden departure. Before heading back to their table, he saw the way Callaghan's face contorted before he downed the rest of his whiskey and ordered another.

What the hell is going on?

Let me know what you think…