"Thanks Sarge."

Several other people in the waiting area called greetings to Sam. Sam grinned

waving to people as she headed for the morning briefing. Yep it's great to be

back!

She noticed Brad Davidson standing outside the briefing room.

"Hey Davidson."

"Hi McKenna, welcome back." He said, enthusiastically shaking her hand.

"Thanks again for the statement you submitted to Internal Affairs. I really

appreciated the recommendation to keep me on the force."

"I didn't say anything that wasn't true. You're a good cop and it was a clean

shoot. How're you doing?"

"I've been seeing the department psychologist and it really seems to be helping.

I wasn't sure for a while if I'd stay. I'm sure now I made the right choice." He told

her smiling.

"I'd gladly ride with you anytime." She assured him. "Come on I don't want to be late my first day back." She said laughing as she slapped him on the back and

pushed him toward the door.

As soon as Sam entered the room, she was met by boisterous catcalls and

shouted greetings. She swaggered over to her seat and took a bow before

sitting down.

The sergeant called the briefing to order. "All right people let's settle down and

get this over with." He yelled banging on the podium. "Nice of you to join us

McKenna." He added with a grin.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Riley was on her way back to Sam's apartment. It was Friday night and she'd

just attended her first P.O.P. (Partners of Police Officers) meeting. It was a small

group of women, all lesbians, who met once a month to support women who

were involved with law enforcement officers. It had started out as a group for

women involved with police officers hence the name but had expanded over

time to include women who were involved with members of all branches of law

enforcement. Talking to other women in the same situation had been eye

opening.

The past month had been very hard on Riley and at the same time wonderful.

She'd never been happier but she was still terrified every time Sam walked out

the door to go to work. It was a constant source of tension. They usually stayed

at Sam's apartment during the week and her condo on the weekends. The time

they spent together was fantastic and she couldn't imagine her life without Sam.

Except for the nights she had in-house call they had spent every night together

since Sam had come to her condo after her confrontation with her uncle.

She realized now after talking to the other women what a strain she'd been

placing on Sam. Kim had tried to talk to her one weekend when she and Jess

were visiting but Riley just hadn't been open to anything she had to say. She still

vividly remembered the first morning after she'd spent the night at Sam's. Sam

had walked out of the bedroom in her uniform and she'd burst into tears. It was

the first time she'd seen her in uniform since that fateful day of the shooting.

She'd immediately had a flashback to the shooting. Seeing her dressed that way

was just more than Riley could handle. After that, Sam had taken to keeping her

uniform at work and leaving the house in jeans and getting dressed at work. She

always changed out of her uniform before returning home. Sam's work was

never mentioned either. Riley would come home and talk about her day but Sam

knowing how Riley felt never made any mention of hers. Tonight the other

women had given her a lot to think about. She knew if she didn't come to terms

with this and quickly it would drive a wedge between them. As she pulled into the

apartment complex, she vowed to start fixing the problem right now. After only a

month of, for all intents and purposes living together, she knew Sam was her life

and she would do whatever was necessary keep them together.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sam was lying on the couch when Riley opened the door.

"Hey Babe, how was the meeting." She asked as she sat up.

"It was good. I learned a lot and I..." Riley couldn't help it the tears just started flowing as she realized again what she'd been putting Sam through.

Sam panicked and jumped off the couch rushing over to take Riley in her arms.

Sam's heart was pounding in fear. Riley looked so heartbroken that Sam tried to

brace herself. She figured this was where Riley told her she couldn't be involved

with a cop anymore. She cursed herself for even suggesting the damn meeting.

She knew the way they were going wasn't good but was now berating herself. I

should've left well enough alone. They probably scared the hell out of her and

now she'll run. The thought of losing Riley made Sam feel like a metal band was

slowly closing around her chest. It was hard to breath.

Riley finally got her tears under control and looked up into Sam's face; her eyes

were full of fear. Riley could feel Sam's heart pounding. That's when it dawned

on her that Sam had misinterpreted her tears. She felt a surge of guilt knowing

she was to blame for Sam being so unsure. She put her hand behind Sam's

neck and pulled her down into a gentle loving kiss.

"I love you Sam and now I know how unfair I've been to you." She put her finger

over Sam's lips to stop her from interrupting. "I want you to start getting dressed

at home and..." she again stopped Sam from interrupting. " And I want you to tell me about your day, just like I tell you about mine."

Sam's eyes filled with tears of relief. She gulped loudly. "I thought you were

going to tell me..." Her voice trailed off, she couldn't even say it.

"I know Honey and I'm sorry. I'm kind of new at this." She smiled up at Sam her

eyes sparkling with love.

Sam had had all the emotional upheaval she could take for one night and

decided to lighten the mood. She grinned at Riley then leaned over to nuzzle her

neck, peppering it with open mouth kisses.

"Well in that case, maybe you need more practice." She purred as she began to

unbutton Riley's blouse.

Riley groaned when Sam's lips made it to the top of her cleavage. She reached

over and pulled Sam's shirt from her pants. They stumbled down the hall toward

the bedroom pulling each other's clothes off as they went.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Riley leaned up on her elbow her eyes tracing Sam's body. Sam had kicked off

the covers and lay sprawled naked on her back. She glanced over at the clock. It

was 5am Monday morning. Where did the weekend go? She sighed. She knew

the alarm would go off soon. Riley ran her hand down Sam's tight stomach.

Unconsciously her fingers traced the scars on her hip and down her leg. Sam

had picked up her uniform from the cleaners the previous day and brought it

home as Riley had requested. Riley knew no matter what she couldn't break

down when she saw Sam in her uniform. It was so much a part of who she was

and she understood that now. She would support her no matter how much it

scared her. It was the only way they could hope to have a life together. As her

thoughts drifted so had her hand, she was brought back to the here and now by

a loud groan from Sam. She grinned straddling Sam as her eyes slowly fluttered

open. She continued to stroke between Sam's legs as she leaned down to

capture a nipple. Sam's back arched when Riley's fingers slipped inside; she

climaxed quickly under Riley's knowing touch. Sam lay panting her body still

quivering from aftershocks when the alarm went off. She leaned over to slap the

offending clock. Riley started to get up. Sam's arms wrapped around her and

rolled over trapping Riley beneath her.

"Just where do you think you're going?" She growled in Riley's ear as she ran

her tongue around the rim.

Riley groaned and the throb between her legs intensified. She'd become

incredibly aroused just watching Sam in the throes of passion. "We've got to get

ready for work." Riley said making no effort to move.

"Don't worry Babe, I'll be quick."

True to her word Sam was quick but thorough. Riley lay on her back gasping for

breath as Sam got up to get a shower. She leaned back over the bed and gave

Riley a quick kiss.

"Love you Babe."

Riley could only grunt in response. Sam chuckled as she headed for her shower.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Riley was drinking her coffee from a travel cup and had another cup made for

Sam as well as a wrapped up bagel. They were running late because of their

morning playtime. Ah... but it was sure worth it. She glanced down the hall when

she heard Sam's footsteps. Riley tried to swallow past the lump in her throat as

Sam came towards her dressed in her uniform, her utility belt around her waist.

She forced away the images of a wounded Sam that flooded her mind. Sam was

a little hesitant to hug Riley not knowing how she'd react. She finally shrugged

and loosely wrapped her arms around Riley giving her plenty of chance to

retreat if it was too much for her.

Riley smiled tentatively at Sam, "You look nice." She reached out to reassure

herself that Sam had on her bulletproof vest under the uniform shirt, signing in

relief when she felt the vest under her fingers.

"Thanks Baby. You doing okay?"

Riley's expression became more relaxed. "Yeah I'm fine." Once she'd gotten

over the initial reaction, she felt a little better. She was determined to learn to

manage her fear.

"We better get going; we're going to be late." Sam reminded.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Riley growled at the interruption. It was the first chance she'd had to sit down all

day and was busy with her charts. She stomped over and snatched open the

door to her office. "What..." she demanded before she even had the door open.

Her eyes met a wide expanse of blue and traveled up to meet Sam's vivid blue

eyes.

"Catch you at a bad time?" Sam asked smiling.

Riley grinned and pulled Sam into her office. "No... I was just working on charts."

Riley looked suddenly worried. "Is something wrong?"

Sam laughed. "No, we just had to bring in a drunk that fell and cut his hand. I left

my partner in the ER and thought I'd stop by and see you for a minute."

Riley stepped into Sam's arms and hugged her tightly before pulling her head

down for a deep kiss. She'd gotten used to seeing her in her uniform over the

last few days. She was still scared by Sam's work but the women in the support

group had explained to her that was perfectly normal. She just couldn't let it

control her life. Both women were breathing heavily when the kiss finally broke.

Riley jumped when Sam's radio suddenly squawked. Sam listened for a minute

then frowned.

"Sorry Babe, I have to go. Guess the ER decided to be efficient today and our

guys' done. What time do you think you'll be done tonight?"

Riley had been slowly cutting back her hours much to the annoyance of her

fellow staff. She'd always worked more shifts than anyone else had on the

service, giving them more time off. "Barring any major disasters I should be

home by six."

"Great I'll see you tonight." Sam said as she headed for the door.

Riley wasn't really listening anymore. Her eyes were fixed on Sam's butt

displayed wonderfully by her tight uniform pants. Sam turned back when she

didn't get a response. She grinned when she caught Riley staring at her ass.

When Riley's eyes finally made it to her face Sam laughed outright. Riley

shrugged refusing to be embarrassed by being caught ogling Sam in her

uniform. With a final wave, Sam turned and swaggered out the door. Riley

sighed and turned back to her paperwork.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Riley sat at the kitchen counter drinking her coffee waiting for Sam. She had a