A recent tweet of Ben's inspired this story. It got me thinking about what would have happened if the roles were reversed at the end of S4. I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think with a review. :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Rookie Blue.

Roles Reversed

Andy walked through the station and questioned whether she should have stayed with Sam until he retrieved his gun. She was about to double back to him, when it dawned on her where Kevin Ford was probably headed. On the top of his hit list was Marlo. And while Ford wouldn't know she was in the Parade room, he would likely search until he could find her, so Andy made a beeline toward that part of the station.

She was just rounding the corner when she saw Ford raising a gun and heard Sam scream his name. It all happened in a matter of seconds, but if anyone were to recall it later, they'd say it all went by in slow motion. Andy was pulling her gun out of her holster when she saw Ford turning toward Sam. She screamed Sam's name and whether or not Ford knew what he was doing, he was turning toward Andy when shots rang out.

Sam watched as both Andy and Ford went flying back. His feet were already bringing him closer to her as he saw Nick come out of a room and kick the gun away from Ford. Sam let others attend to him as he fell to his knees alongside Andy.

She tried to sit up, grimacing in agony, and Sam grabbed her shoulder, pushing her down. "Stay down. McNally, you have to stay down."

She was trying to look around him to see what happened to Ford, so Sam glanced back and saw blood pooling around the body. He'd noticed Nick had never taken his gun out of his holster and from the angle Ford went down, Sam knew Andy had been the one to shoot him. He looked back toward her and caught her eyes with his own. "You got him. You did it. It's over."

She nodded and closed her eyes. "It's over," she repeated his words at a whisper. Finally acknowledging the pain searing through her, she pressed her palm to where it was the worst, just below her vest. She brought her hand up and saw the blood. "There's...He...I'm bleeding," she said, stuttering over her words in shock.

Sam took her hand and pressed it against her wound. "Keep it there, okay? Gotta keep pressure on it." He heard someone calling for the paramedics, so he kept his focus on Andy. He tried to remain calm and controlled for her, despite a war of emotions raging inside him. He removed her vest to get the weight of it off of her, and tossed it aside.

It slid a few feet, hitting the tip of Nick's shoe causing him to look down at it. Feeling that the other officers had Ford taken care of, Nick turned to focus on Andy. Seeing Sam with her had him frozen for a moment.

"You're gonna be okay, McNally. Andy, stay with me, open your eyes," Sam told her. She forced her eyes open and a small smile graced her face hearing his TO force. She was calm because he knew what to do; he knew how to take care of her, just like when she'd taken a shot to the vest. She knew she'd be okay in Sam's hands.

Marlo walked out of the Parade Room and her eyes followed Nick's to the scene on the floor. She pushed out a breath as she looked back at Nick. "We were only bumps in the road," she muttered so only Nick could hear. It hurt, but she knew as much as she loved Sam it wasn't reciprocated. It was part of the reason she'd started to push him away, give him an easy out. She hadn't been blind to the way Sam and Andy had interacted, especially in the last few weeks.

Nick registered the words that came out of Marlo's mouth, but was determined to look through his rose colored glasses, believing he could still tear Andy away from the love of her life. He took a step toward where she lay, but Marlo put a hand on his arm to stop his movement. "Leave them be Collins. They're meant to be together. The universe just used us to make them realize that." She looked down at them sadly. "We should go give our statements."

"No, she's my…" Nick said, protesting.

"What? She's your what?" Marlo asked.

He opened his mouth, but no words came out. Andy hadn't wanted to define them. He'd denied they were even together to Chloe. They'd only been sharing a bed for a few weeks and she'd never even spent a full night at his place. What were they really, he wondered. He suddenly realized Andy had never been his, despite trying to believe she was. Marlo was right.

Nick felt Marlo tugging on his arm and he finally followed. As they made their way down the hall to give their statements, neither saw when Andy fisted Sam's shirt in the hand not pressed against her wound. Suddenly, she could only think about how he was going to leave before; how he'd told her he couldn't be there with her and walked away. "Sam...Sam...Please, don't leave. I need you," she pleaded.

He laid one hand over hers to help keep pressure on the wound, but he could still feel blood seeping out. His other hand caressed the top of her head. "I'm not going anywhere. I'm right here. You'll be okay. The medics are on the way."

"Okay," she breathed out.

The next thing he knew, he was being pulled away by someone as the paramedics moved in to work on Andy. He followed as she was rolled away on a stretcher. "Officer, you have to move," a paramedic said as they neared the ambulance.

Sam glared at him. "I'm going," he said before climbing in the ambulance.

As the ambulance started to move, Sam watched Andy's eyes start to droop and felt like keeping her alert and awake was the best thing to do right now. So, he decided to do what he rarely did. Talk. "I'm here, Andy. Right here," he said, taking hold of her hand in both of his.

She blinked her eyes a couple of times before forcing them to stay open. She was feeling so weak, but needed to finish the conversation they started before she'd chased Sam out to the parking lot. "Before...you said – "

"Shhh," he interrupted her, wanting her to save her strength.

She shook her head, licking her lips as she tried to pull all her energy together to speak. "You...Sam, you make me happy. No one else."

"Shhh. Don't talk, okay. Just lay there and...and listen, okay?" He knew he had to keep talking if he was going to get her to stay quiet and rest. "I love you, Andy. I always have. But I screwed things up, time and time again. I don't know how to be the man you deserve."

"But you are. You're my story, Sam. You." She was finding it harder and harder to keep her eyes open. She felt herself drifting away despite wanting to tell Sam he wasn't alone in the blame, and that he was everything she wanted, everything she needed. "I...I love - "

"Andy? McNally?" He saw her chest stop moving and felt how limp her hand had gone in his, and his heart was being torn apart. He couldn't lose her like this. He gripped her hand harder as if that would keep her with him.

"Sir, you need to move back," the paramedic told him. Sam watched the guy put a tube down her throat to help her breath as he continued to hold her hand in his.

He didn't let her go until the ambulance pulled to a stop and she was being wheeled into the ER. He followed close behind, stopping only when the door to a room was shut in his face. He watched through a glass window as doctors and nurses got to work.

Eventually, a nurse nearly dragged him to the waiting room where he came face to face with so many of their co-workers. Traci and Steve sat with their back facing the hallway he'd just walked down; Gail was speaking with Chris and a woman he recognized but couldn't quite place; and Nick was at the far end of the room alone, staring down at his vest. It was Frank who saw Sam first and rattled off a number of questions.

"She passed out on the way here," was the first thing that came out of Sam's mouth. "I don't know...She's in there, surrounded by doctors and nurses. I don't know what's going on though."

"Sammy, she's in the best hands. You know that," Frank said, seeing the pain on his friend's face.

Sam had just sat down across from Traci and Steve when a doctor came out and Frank cornered him. "What can you tell us doc?"

"Miss McNally is headed up to surgery. I can't tell you more than that right now. You can all wait for news in the third floor waiting room, if you'd like," the doctor told him.

Sam thanked the doctor and everyone headed to the elevator.

Standing in the elevator, Traci took notice of Sam's hands, which were covered in dry blood. "Sam," she said softly, waiting until he looked up at her to continue. "You should wash that off."

Everyone was silent as they all looked toward his hands, which he now held out in front of him as his eyes examined them slowly. He felt his chest constrict and if the elevator doors hadn't opened at that second, he was sure he would have suffocated. He sprinted for the nearest restroom and watched as Andy's blood ran down the drain. He scrubbed his hands over and over; he couldn't take seeing her blood on his hands.

If he hadn't walked away, she never would have followed him outside, never would have seen Oliver's cruiser, never would have been searching the station for Ford. She never would have been shot. Her blood on was his hands even if he'd washed it all away. He gripped the edges of the sink to hold himself up as he stared into the mirror. Despite his desire to protect her, he failed. He let her get shot right in front of him.

It was nearly two hours later when a doctor finally walked into the waiting room and saw the large contingent of officers waiting for news on his patient. He didn't bother to ask who was family, as he knew all the men and women in uniform were, and this was the one small exception to protocol they allowed for.

Sam and Traci stood up the moment they saw the doctor walk in.

"The surgery on Miss McNally was successful. We were able to remove the bullet and stop the bleeding. I expect a full recovery," he explained. "However, she will be kept in ICU until she's stable enough to be moved to a regular room."

"Can we see her?" Sam asked.

"Until she's out of ICU, I can only allow those on her emergency contact list in the room. I'm sorry," the doctor explained.

Sam sighed miserably and looked toward the floor. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Nick step forward, both assuming in their own way, army boy was on the list the doctor spoke of. Sam was about to get comfortable in a chair in the waiting room, prepared to stay put until Andy was allowed general visitors when he heard his name. His head popped up. "What?"

"If there's a Thomas McNally, Sam Swarek or Traci Nash here, I can have a nurse show them to Miss McNally's room," the doctor repeated the names of the three people on her emergency contact list.

As Sam glanced over at Traci shocked, he didn't miss the dejected and surprised look on Nick's face. Nick shot a quick glare toward him, but Sam couldn't be bothered to care. He was going to be by Andy's side when she woke up and that's all that mattered to him.

Sam and Traci quickly followed the doctor, who handed them off to a nurse. She led them through a set of doors into the heart of the ICU and down a hall until they reached Andy's room.

"When will she wake up?" Traci asked as they stood outside the door.

"It's hard to say. Anesthesia wears off in about an hour, but often patients stay asleep longer as their body begins the healing process," the nurse explained. "Go ahead in. I'll be back to check on her shortly. My name's Mary, if you need anything."

Sam stood off to the side while Traci sat on the edge of her friend's bed and told her - demanded really - that she be okay. Traci knew Sam would want some alone time with Andy, so after several minutes, she excused herself, telling him she was going to update everyone else.

Sam dragged a large chair right up next to the bed and sat down. He watched her sleep and thought how content she looked. If she wasn't so pale and didn't have so many wires and tubes attached to her, he wouldn't even know she'd been shot. He absentmindedly began drawing random patterns on her arm as he got lost in thought.

It was nearly two hours later that he saw her eyes flutter open as he continued to watch her. He smiled at her as she realized who was sitting by her side.

"You're here." Her voice was raspy, but the surprise was still evident.

"I told you I wouldn't leave." He brushed some hair out of her face and let his fingers linger against her skin. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fi – " she stopped herself before Sam could question her use of the word 'fine' and was honest with him. "It hurts."

"I can get a nurse or doctor or someone," he said, starting to stand up, but Andy grabbed his hand.

"No, stay."

He sat back down and held onto her hand. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"Sam, you didn't shoot me," she said, squeezing his hand with as much strength as she could muster, which wasn't much. But it did the job and got him looking at her again.

"I should've kept you in booking. Never should have let you get near him," he said, shaking his head.

Andy tried to pull her hand from Sam's, but it was his turn to grab hold of her. "It's my job, Sam. You didn't let me do anything." Even lacking energy, her words were forceful.

He sighed. This wasn't how he wanted this to go. "Do you get that you were almost killed?" he nearly yelled. "Do you get that they had to pull a bullet out of you? That I caused all this? If I hadn't tried covering things up, if I hadn't walked out, if I hadn't - "

"This isn't your fault," she said softly, interrupting him.

"I just want to see you happy, Andy. All I do is hurt you."

"Don't you get that you're the only thing that makes me happy?" When he gave her a stare of disbelief she continued, using any strength she had in her to say what she needed to say. "I need to tell you a story. It was just a normal night and we were lying in bed. And my stomach was hurting from laughing because you had been teasing me about something. I don't remember what. I must've fallen asleep or something because all of a sudden I was having this really terrible dream. And I couldn't stop crying. I was crying and you weren't even really awake, and I remember you grabbed me. I remember you were just holding me tight all of a sudden. You said, 'I'm right here and I'm going to hold onto you and never let you go.' Right then, I knew that I would never feel more loved or more known. Look, I know it's a really small moment. It's not even a good story."

"It's a pretty good story," he said, lips curving into a small smile.

"I love you. You make me happy, Sam. I only tried to move on because you weren't an option for me. You made that clear."

"I was fooling myself." At her questioning look, he took a deep breath. "I thought you were better off without me. I thought you were happy, so I kept lying to myself. I tried to ignore...I keep thinking about the future - kids, park on Sundays, real life, something more. With you. I want you happy. But what would make me happy is that. All of that."

Her lips started to curve into a smile, but it was interrupted by a yawn.

He patted the top of her hand. "Get some sleep."

She really didn't want to, now that she and Sam were actually communicating, but she was too exhausted to argue with him. "Will you stay?"

He leaned down to press his lips to her forehead. "I told you earlier I wasn't leaving. And I won't, ever again."

She was already half asleep by the time "okay" floated from her mouth.

He pulled the blankets up further so she wouldn't get cold, before getting comfortable himself - as well as he could, at least - in the chair next to her bed. He made sure he wouldn't be in the way if the nurses came to check on her, and let his head rest against the back of the chair. He covered her hand with his as he let his eyes close.

Knowing she was okay, knowing they might be okay, he could finally let himself relax and get the best sleep he'd had in months.

The End.