I hate them so much right now. So… you know me by now.

We start right after the end of 03x02. And when those idiots named 03x03 Eulogy, there's only one way to go. But I refuse to accept some disaster. I need a happy ending. So here we go. Won't happen on the show probably but well, girl can hope.

Andy watched the blood seep through her fingers as she was pressing on Ryan's wound. She couldn't believe it. She couldn't comprehend it. It was so surreal.

"Andy…"

"Don't talk."

"I love you." He said. She was crying by then.

"Ryan."

"Don't… give up…. On…. Him." He said before he couldn't even breathe anymore. He was looking at her and she was looking at him. When Andy heard the door and her father came in, she was already doing chest compressions.

"What happened?" Pruitt asked.

"Shot wound." Andy said and together they tried to revive him.

"Ryan, please, don't die… don't die…" Andy kept on repeating. Pruitt didn't understand one thing about the situation but focused on the task at hand. Soon he realized that their effort was useless. Ryan Tanner was already gone. The blood stain under him indicated massive blood loss, he was pale and they couldn't bring him back.

"Andrea…"

"No. No." She refused to believe it.

"Andrea, he's gone." Her father said, crying himself silently.

"He can't be." She said back and kept on caressing his face.

Pruitt pulled her away. He nodded at his colleague and he called 911, they would need some assistance here. Andy moved away from her father and just sat down in a corner. Pruitt let her be. She was in shock and truthfully, so was he.

Milo was crying in his room, scared. He woke up his sister and she was upset too. Pruitt took off his bloody gloves and walked to them. He picked the girl from her crib and held both her and Milo. They calmed down eventually. He tried asking Milo about what happened but he couldn't form a sentence Pruitt would understand.

Soon the police came and Pruitt proceeded to tell them about the morning, about Ruby cutting her hand on a broken glass and how his daughter and Tanner decided to stay and watch the kids before she would be released home.

"Okay. So what happened, Sir?"

"I don't know. And she's in shock." He said about his daughter who hasn't moved at all. Her eyes were glued to Ryan's lifeless body and she was crying, her hands covered in his blood. The detective that arrived to the scene came to her.

"Andrea?" She tried calling her name but Andy didn't respond.

"Andrea?" She asked her again and this time touched her knee. Andy looked up.

"What?"

"I'm detective Tucker. Can you answer some questions?" The detective asked and Andy nodded.

"Yeah, sure."

"Okay… can you tell me what happened?"

"Oh we… we were babysitting the kids because their mother was in hospital."

"Your father told me that, yeah."

"Oh my God, the kids. Are they okay?"

"They are, don't worry. Our social worker is with them and their mother should be back home soon."

"Okay… good."

"So…?" The detective prompted Andy as she remained silent.

"Ryan was playing with the boy, Milo, police and bad guys, you know… and then when we were here in the kitchen, sitting on the ground, talking, Milo came with a real gun. We tried to stop him from hurting himself, from firing but he pulled the trigger."

"And detective Tanner got hit."

"Yes. It was an accident. Milo didn't mean to shoot him, it was just a game. I tried to stop the bleeding. I called 911 but the line was busy so I called my father." Andy said and started to cry again.

"I don't understand where he got the gun." She said and half asked the detective.

"His mother has licensed gun. She put her ex-husband on restraining order so it was probably for self protection." The detective said and Andy just nodded.

Pruitt came over and Andy looked at him. He seemed shaken but still had hard features. He was still mad at her but the circumstances changed his attitude a bit.

"I have to go back with the ambulance." He told Andy.

"It's okay. Go."

"I will call, okay?" He asked as he knew very well that his daughter wouldn't want his company but needed to know he cared. Besides he didn't know how to cope himself.

"Look, Andrea, do you have someplace to go?" The detective asked when she realized Andrea's father would leave and she would have to stay home alone.

"What?" Andy asked, not understanding.

"It's best if you're not alone tonight." The detective said. "We can take you somewhere."

"The kids?"

"We take care of them." The detective said again, not surprised Andy was a bit confused.

Andy had to think hard. Maya would come home probably, sooner than later, but she didn't know if she would understand. Maya was a different person now and she didn't know how to take it. Where could she go huh? She was on a sick leave and calling anyone from her crew would make them see she wasn't sick and it would bring on questions and gossips.

Well, whom was she kidding anyway. They already knew.

So she reached for her phone and called Vic. She was still in the bar with Montgomery and Miller.

"Hey Herrera, what's up?"

"Vic…" Andy said but couldn't continue. It had Vic worried immediately.

"Are you okay?"

"Can I… can I come over to your place, please?"

"Andy?" Vic asked while both Miller and Montgomery looked alarmed now too.

"Ryan… he died." Andy said and Vic looked horrified.

"Okay you know what, just come over, okay?"

"Thank you." Andy said and ended the call.

Andy gave the detective Vic's address. She walked over to her apartment and took her travel bag. She had it ready at all times and now it came handy. She put on some shoes and a jacket and let the policeman drive her away.

Vic looked at her phone like it suddenly grew two heads and a tail.

"Vic?"

"That was Herrera. She said Ryan was dead. She asked if she could come over."

"What?"

"You kidding?"

"She sounded really weird."

"You better go." Miller said.

"Yeah."

"I'm coming with you." Montgomery said and although Vic wasn't sure if it was a good idea, if there was someone that could understand Andy and help her if she needed it, it was Montgomery. And so they called for a cab and drove over to Vic's place.

Not long after that the police car brought Andy. She thanked the officer, took her bag and slowly walked over to the door. Vic opened the door and was shocked at what she saw. Herrera looked like she just came back from an active war zone.

"Vic…"

"God, Herrera… come in." She took her bag and slowly led her inside. Montgomery was waiting there and he too looked horrified when he took in her appearance.

"What happened?"

"Ryan died." Andy said simply and then noticed the dried blood on her hands. She tried to wash it before but it wasn't enough. She started to rub her hands against her legs but the blood was still there.

"Hey, let's get you washed up, okay?" Vic said.

"I'll make something to eat." Montgomery added.

Andy was like a rag doll. She let Vic take her to bathroom and undress her. She should have felt weird about it but she didn't. She helped her friend and when she turned on the shower she just closed the curtain and hoped it would do Andy some good.

She walked to her bag and brought her some clean clothes. Andy thanked her. She was exhausted but felt a bit better when there was no blood to be seen.

Vic and Travis waited for her and when she came to them they didn't know what to do or what to say.

"I'm sorry for this."

"Hey, none of that." Vic replied.

"Here." Montgomery said and handed her a cup of tea and few biscuits. "I figured you should start with something small." He added and she just nodded and took a sip of that tea.

"Do you want to talk about what happened?" Vic asked carefully and so Andy proceeded to tell them about Ryan's surprise visit, about Ruby and about the kids. She told them about Milo and the gun and how he shot Ryan.

"I tried 911 but the line was busy so I called dad and he came and… we couldn't…. we couldn't…" She tried to tell them but broke down into tears instead. Vic didn't know what to do, this was not her things but Montgomery sat down next to her and hugged her close.

"Shhh…" He tried to comfort her. Andy cried for a couple of minutes, sniffling into Travis' shoulder and he looked kind of affected by it too.

In the meantime Vic called Pruitt as she had a text from him asking if Andy was there. So she called him and told him she and Montgomery had her back. She also asked him how he was doing and at that he had no answer. She told him to call if he needed anything and he just thanked her and said he would call again the other day to check up on Andy.

Andy calmed down and looked deep in thought.

"His father."

"What?"

"I don't know how to contact his father. He doesn't know…" Andy explained and there was really no solution to that.

They made her eat something and both managed not to ask about her day off and about Sullivan. They didn't say anything and just kept her company till she fell asleep on the couch from exhaustion.

"Do you want me to stay?" Montgomery asked.

"No, go home, Trav. I've got this."

"Okay but call if you need anything."

"Yeah, I will. Thanks."

"Hey, do you think we should call Sullivan?"

"I've been thinking about it but I don't know…"

"Well, it can wait till morning, right?"

"Yeah… sure."

"Good night."

"Good night."

And so they parted, Vic closed the door, threw a comforter over Andy and went to bed. She didn't know what to do but she knew that she had to think of something. Her friend clearly needed help with the situation and she wasn't sure she had it in her.

When Maya came home she was surprised to see the policemen there, all the blood and tapes and evidence numbers. She was horrified. The detective was still there and when Maya told her who she was, the detective gave her at least some information.

Maya ran into her apartment, calling Andy, all worried about her condition but soon found out the apartment was empty. Without thinking twice about it she called Andy's number. She didn't pick up. So she tried Vic. She picked up after a fifth ring.

"Yeah?"

"Is she with you? Herrera, is she with you?"

"Relax, Bishop. She's here. She's asleep."

"How is she?" Maya asked, half mad that she clearly felt more emotions than she wanted to. After her little speech about emotions never standing in her way she felt stupid now.

"Worn out. Sad. Grieving." Vic replied.

"Hughes…"

"I've got her, Bishop, don't worry. We'll see in the morning."

"Okay… Okay. Thanks." Maya said and ended the call. So much for her not caring about her best friend. So much for her being the super firefighter with no emotional baggage. Damn.