Undercover

The following days were the same routine. Andy would awaken, curse the hard mattress as he rose from bed, the aches and pains setting in. Get dressed. He would have breakfast, usually just after Austin, and then begin work. The work was physically exhausting, but it wasn't until the fifth day that it truly caught up with him. His entire body ached, his hands were blistered and sore, he was dehydrated, and he'd cut himself in several places where the metal sheeting had slipped.

However, they were making good progress, both with the barns, and their relationship. They were more civil to one another with each passing day, as Austin begrudgingly accepted his presence and help on the farm. However, Andy had the feeling it had more to do with him helping out so much and not asking too many questions, than the possibility that Austin actually liked having someone there.

Andy was on the top of the scaffolding outside the barn, fixing the frame and roof when he heard the dogs barking. Austin was out the back of the forest, trying to assess and sort out an old building that he hadn't gotten round to repairing yet. The dogs barked fairly regularly, so he didn't pay it any heed. He continued to work, and the barking continued. Then Luna dashed off into the trees, Andy stopped and listened, wondering if maybe they'd heard something. But he couldn't hear anything out of the ordinary. Suddenly, Rocky burst out of the undergrowth and ran over to Andy at full pelt. He circled the scaffolding agitatedly, barking loudly. Andy thanked God that he was on the roof, and that dogs couldn't climb.

"Go away! Rocky! Leave! Go find Austin. GO!" The huge Rottweiler started jumping up at the metal construction, still barking. Luna came racing out of the forest too, and when she began exhibiting the same behaviour, Andy began to feel scared. He grabbed a particularly large spanner, and climbed down the scaffolding. Both dogs ran ahead slightly but then came back. They repeated this action, still barking, before Andy began to understand. They were trying to make him go somewhere. Had Austin told them to fetch him?

"Ohh...does he need help? My bad. Ok let's go." The dogs sprinted off and Andy had to run as fast as he could to even keep them in his line of sight. Cursing the animals as he tore through the undergrowth behind them, he began to worry as the eerie silence of the forest crept around them. When he arrived at the derelict stone building, he didn't see anything out of the ordinary, he circled around it, trying to catch his breath, and that was when he saw the far corner of the roof had collapsed. The dogs went racing inside.

"Austin?! You out here?"

"Andy..." The gruff voice was strained. Not a good sign. Andy rushed into the building and cursed when he saw the state it was in. There were countless items of furniture and tools, and he was forced to climb over them to reach the part of the building that Austin was in. When he did, he saw Jack lying on the pile, whining for his master. The rubble and wooden beams piled on top of the chaos, and Austin called out again weakly.

"Andy..you there?"

"I'm here, hang on. I'm just coming." Ensuring he wasn't stepping on the other man was a difficult task with the dogs circling nervously. He carefully moved over the destruction until he felt certain Austin's voice sounded louder.

"Where are you?!"

"I'm.....stuck. Underneath the...cross-section of the...beams." Andy cursed and searched for the heavy wooden strips, moving rubble until he finally saw Austin's leg.

"Hey, I've got you. Are you in pain? Do you think anything's broken?" Andy asked him questions to try and keep him talking whilst he moved the heavy load off the other man.

"No...but it's...on my chest....I can't...breathe..." Andy cursed mentally, sweat beginning to form on his brow and run down his back from the exertion and pressure of fishing Austin out of the rubble before it was too late. He dragged piece after piece of debris off of the body and seemed to be getting nowhere, Austin's breaths became more raspy and were painful to listen to. He moved a particularly large section of brick and concrete and was confronted with the sight that was Austin trapped beneath a huge frame of thick beams. He was pale and Andy knew when he knelt down and grabbed his shoulders that he was frightened, even though he didn't show it.

"Ok, now listen. I'm gonna try and hoist this thing up through a more secure section of the roof, but when I do, I need you to stay lying down for me, ok?" Austin frowned.

"We don't know if you've got hurt. I need you to stay lying down and not panic, ok?" Austin nodded hesitantly.

"No Austin - promise me you'll stay lying down."

"I...I promise." Austin's breaths were laboured and Andy scrabbled through the building to find ropes.

There was a panic-stricken moment as Andy heaved at the rope, when he thought he wouldn't be able to move the structure before Austin suffocated as he wheezed painfully and began to choke. But then Andy was lifting it off him and Austin was reaching out for him in panic as he recovered from nearly suffocating to death.

"I've got you, you're ok, you're ok." Andy tried to reassure Austin and hold him down as he tried to move.

"Just let me make sure you haven't broken anything and then I'll help you out, ok?" Austin nodded and Andy felt his limbs before slipping his hands under the other mans back. Austin groaned slightly in pain as Andy felt every section of his back before feeling confident that he wasn't seriously injured.

"I think you're ok - feels like you've got a sprained arm and maybe some twists in your back - nothing too serious though." Austin nodded and let Andy haul him to his feet.

Climbing out of the collapsed structure was difficult to say the least with Austin's injured arm, but they managed to coordinate together, once they were out, Austin fell to the floor, trying and failing miserably to cover up his shock and relief. Jack sat next to him and leant on him, the other dogs lie by their feet as Andy sat down with him. He didn't ask him if he was alright, they just sat together until Austin nodded and they walked back to the house.

Andy let himself into Austin's room armed with a beverage and the medicine kit, where Austin was already looking agitated and about to leave.

"Woah...you're not going anywhere, chill out."

"I need to-"

"You don't need to do anything. I'll keep working and I'll feed the dogs later on, if there's anything else you need me to do, I can sort that out as well. Don't worry about it." Austin shifted uncomfortably.

"Thank you for getting me out of there." Andy nodded.

"Don't worry about it." He put the drink next to Austin and sat down on the bed, trying to ignore the awkward, tense atmosphere as he bandaged Austin's arm. He sighed heavily.

"No...if you hadn't been here-"

"Don't think about that. Anyway - I'm all done, try to get some rest and chill out for a few hours-"

"I'll be fine, it's just my arm-"

"And your back. Just rest for god's sake. See you later." Andy left hastily and returned to work, understanding why Austin chose labour over talking. He missed California. You could talk for years about things before anything actually happened.

Austin was back outside before the evening came about.
"Thought I told you to chill."

"It's my house." Austin met Andy's slightly cold stare and warmed it with a wink.

"I figured I should probably take you into town...guess I owe you a beer."

"I said don't worry about it." Austin leant on the scaffolding and huffed.

"You're really determined to hate me aren't you?"

"What? No, of course not-

"Then what's with you? You've been weird all afternoon."

"I just don't wanna make a big deal of it."

"You saved my life, that's a pretty big deal-"

"Well, I like to think that if I was about to die you'd help me out too." Austin nodded.

"That's not the reason."

"What do you want me to say, Austin? I just don't-"

"Don't wanna what?"

"Fine, I don't want to bond any more than necessary."

"I knew it. Why?" Frustration neared peak level as Austin pushed every button he could, determined to weedle the information he wanted. Andy was normally good at keeping his cool, he was normally good at lying. Austin got under his skin.

"I told you, because I don't like making ties-"

"Bullshit."

"FINE! I don't want to bond with you, I don't want to pretend like you're a nice guy. I don't want to pretend to be friends because at the end of the day, I'm here on a mission, and you're only being half ok with me because we'll be getting Tessler off your back." Austin's jaw was set in a firm, angry line by the end of Andy's sudden outburst.

"If that's what you think of me - then I was absolutely right about you. You think I'm deceitful, violent and- and stupid because of my past. You don't think people can change. You cops are all the same."

"I know you're as judgmental as I am. I know that you're violent. You killed a man. Amongst all the other vile things you did." Their chests heaved with anger, but when Andy said his final statement, Austin suddenly turned calm. On the outside, anyway.

"You don't know what my life was like before I lived here. I don't care what it says on any sheet of paper, or file on a computer. I did what was right at the time. I made a call, and it was the right one to make. And no one, not even you, Andy, can judge me for that. Because you weren't there. You don't know." He turned and retreated back into the house at that point, and Andy cursed himself for starting an argument out of nothing. He'd hurt the other man and possibly caused irreparable damage between them, simply from fear of accepting that he was actually starting to like Austin, despite his best efforts not to. Because he was a coward, he'd caused friction that they couldn't afford to have between them at a time when they needed to work together the most.