Spoiler: Nope, none, nadda.

Author's Notes: This is the longest story I think I've ever written. But maybe it's worth it. A couple of things worth mentioning. Coop who? Angel who? Rick who? And most importantly: Nathan lives!!!

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Cynthia Saunders, Sander/Moses Productions and NBC (anyone else??) They're not mine, I'm just playing with someone else's toys. I promise to return them. Hey, if they *were* mine, Sam and John would already be together... *g*

John walked across the VCTF offices to his desk. He had gotten to work early that morning to have a few extra minutes to talk to Sam. The couple had been seeing each other for just over a month, but time alone had to be stolen in small pieces when the case load grew to busy.

He grew concerned when he discovered that Sam wasn't in her office. Since it was still several minutes before nine, he went back to his desk to wait. After five minutes of looking back and forth between his watch and her office door he gave up waiting. John had seen Bailey walk by recently, so he went to his office.

Hearing an impatient knock on his office door, Bailey looked up to find John standing in the doorway. He waved John in and motioned for him to take a seat, which John declined. The younger agent moved to stand in front of Bailey's desk.

"Bailey, have you seen Sam?" Bailey found himself working to hide his smile. He knew John's concern over Sam had managed to increase since the two agents had begun dating, if he had been attentive before he was now surpassing devotion. He was startled back into the current situation bu John's persistent "Well?"

Bailey stood and walked around to sit on the front edge of his desk. "There's no reason to be worried, John. Sam called me this morning to say that she had caught something and wasn't feeling up to coming in. Since we just finished up the Baxter case, I told her to stay home and take it easy."

As John listened to Bailey speak, his features softened. He waited until Bailey was finished and asked if he could take the rest of the day off. For a moment, John worried that he might argue with him, but was relieved when Bailey eventually agreed. Quickly, John turned and left to get ready to leave for the day.

For a couple of moments, Bailey sat and watched the controlled chaos that permeated the VCTF Command Center. He found himself thinking about how glad he was that Sam had finally found someone who so obviously loved her. Even if he was John Grant, he thought with a smile.

John had just grabbed his coat and keys when he saw Nathan walking toward him. "Hey, John. Where ya going? The meeting is this way." Nathan gestured toward the Command Center.

"Sorry, buddy. I'm going over to check up on Sam. Bailey told me that she called in sick. See ya," he called over his shoulder as he walked toward the parking deck. Nathan watched as John walked away before turning to go to the morning meeting.

John tapped his fingers on the steering wheel along with the song on the radio as he drove. He had stopped off at a small grocery store and bought chicken soup and some hot honey lemon tea, before driving the rest of the way to the firehouse.

The agents downstairs in the firehouse recognized John when he pulled up and buzzed the upstairs apartment. A groggy voice answered the bell, a muffled "Okay" her only response to John's request to come up. When he stepped off the elevator he was met with the sight of Sam, huddled up on the couch. Jon walked over into the kitchen, leaving the soup and tea on the counter.

Returning to the living room, he laughed when he realized Sam was watching some of Angel's old soap opera videos. He was pretty sure it had been 'Another World' that Angel had recorded so often. Sam looked up at him, startled by his laughter. "What's so funny?" She asked weakly.

Controlling his laughter, he moved to sit beside her where she could rest her head against his chest. "Nothing. I just never would've guessed you for the soap opera type. That's all."

"Oh," she stated. After a minute, she added, "Obviously you haven't seen what crap is on television these days. This might as well be high society compared to those lousy talk shows."

Cuddling closer to him, she felt her eyes longing to close. Seeing her struggle, he whispered, "It's opkay. Just go to sleep. I'll be right here when you wake up." Mere seconds later, Sam's breathing was slow and steady, she had fallen fast asleep.

John managed to get a hand on the remote and stopped the ideo. He lost track of how long he sat there absent-mindedly flipping channels. While one hand controlled the remote, he rubbed her hair softly with the other. When he felt her begin to stir, he glanced up at the clock, relieved to see that she had slept for almost two hours. Looking down at her face, his gaze was met with Sam's bleary blue eyes trying to focus on him.

"Hey, Sleeping Beauty," he whispered. Leaning over, he kissed her on the forehead.

Smiling wearily she commented, "The sleeping part I'll believe. The beauty part I'm not so sure about."

"You're always beautiful to me," John said with a grin. "And, besides, mine is the opinion that matters," he continued.

Sam responded to John's declaration was the closest she could manage to a laugh, a sort of half cough. "So that's what you're telling yourself these days, is it?" John could see a speck of Sam's usual spunk returning to her eyes.

He was grinning even though he was doing his best to sound perturbed. "Uh, huh. Now who said you could pick on me? I even brought lunch." At the mention of food Sam looked absolutely green. "Don't worry, it's only some soup and tea," he added hastily upon seeing her reaction. Sam nodded her head 'okay' and John went into the kitchen to prepare the food.

After ten minutes of digging through cabinets and drawers John managed to finish the improvised lunch. He found a tray and carried a steaming bowl of soup and mug of tea into the living room to where Sam lay half asleep. Placing the tray down on the coffee table, he gently woke her back up.

"Come on. You need to try and eat a little while it's hot." Sam smiled drowsily at John's soft spoken words. She sat up enough to allow John his seat back. After getting comfortable in his seat. With the tray sitting on his lap, he helped Sam eat a little of the soup. It wsn't long before she started getting tired and the meal ended.

Curling up onto the couch together, Sam dozed off quickly. A short time later, John also fell asleep. Neither moved for a few hours. John eventually began to stir and glanced over at Sam and then at his watch. It was almost three o'clock. Turning his gaze back to Sam, he enjoyed watching her sleep for several minutes.

Not much later, Chloe bounded in full of energy. However, she calmed down somewhat when John put a finger to his lips and pointed at her mom. Chloe nodded her head and went to put her backpack up in her bedroom.

It was another hour before Sam woke back up. In the meantime, John had gone back to muted channel surfing and Chloe worked on homework. When she woke back up, Sam was feeling better, although not nearly back up to 100 percent. Because of this, she tackled eating again after John reheated her soup and tea. After Sam had eaten, John managed peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for himself and Chloe.

The three of them spent most of the evening watching a bunch of silly sitcoms on television. When it was her bedtime, John carried Chloe into her room and tucked her into bed. By the time he had managed to get back into the living room, Sam had fallen asleep again. With a smile he picked her up gently and carried her into her bedroom like he had just done with Chloe. Sam stirred in her sleep, but didn't awaken.

Suddenly realizing that he didn't feel very well himself, John risked crashing on the couch. Since everyone knew Sam was sick, he didn't think they would pick on him too badly for staying overnight. During the night, John couldn't manage to get comfortable. When he covered up, he was hot; when he kicked the covers off, he would shiver.

About 4:30 a.m. he realized that he was going to be sick. He had known that he was asking for it by staying with Sam, but figured since he never got sick, he would be okay. Rushing from the living room, he acknowledged that he had figured wrong. Finding the bathroom in the dark, in a hurry, presented something of a problem. Just when he was sure he wouldn't make it, his hand connected with the bathroom light switch.

Sam was woken up by the sound of water running in the bathroom. At first she thought it might just be Chloe, until she realized that the water wasn't being turned off. She got up slowly and walked toward the bathroom. Sam was surprised when she saw John half standing, half kneeling by the sink.

"Caught my bug, huh?" Sam asked.

"Apparently," John grumbled. "I don't get it, I never get sick." Sam smiled at the sight of John sitting in the floor, whining like a little boy.

Feeling better, Sam decided to take pity on the poor fellow. "Come on, lets get you into bed." With that, she led him into the guest room. After Angel had moved to Los Angeles to work on her art, the free bedroom had become the guest room. John collapsed onto the bed, immediately curling up into a ball. Seeing that he had fallen back asleep, Sam returned to her own bedroom.

Sam woke back up before seven when sunlight started streaming through her bedroom window. Feeling noticeably better, she went to check in on Chloe and then John. After seeing that Chloe was still fast asleep she turned to walk down the hall. Since it was Saturday Sam saw no harm in letting her sleep in.

The scene in John's room was another story. Sam had pushed in the door quietly hoping not to wake him, however he was already half awake. Actually, delirious was closer to the truth, she decided. His lean frame was tangled up in the covers, which were barely still on the bed. His forehead was beaded with sweat and he continued to toss and turn. Smiling through her concern, Sam recognized that he was going through the same thing she had the day before.

After watching him from the doorway for a moment, she turned to get a cold compress from the bathroom. When she returned to the bedroom and placed the washcloth on his forehead, his eyes shot open, struggling to focus. "Hey there," she smiled. "I guess I'm the one playing nurse today."

John moved to sit up on the bed and looked over at Sam. "Wait, how do you feel? I'm supposed to be taking care of you." Sam placed her hand on John's shoulder to steady him, while trying to get up he began to look as if he might fall over.

"I'm feeling better this morning. Due to your excellent nursing skills yesterday, I'm sure. Let's get you moved into the living room, okay?" Slowly they walked down the hallway, and John got settled on the couch. Sam walked into the kitchen and returned carrying two glasses of Sprite. "Come on, drink some of this." She gestured toward the glass in her left hand. "You should at least try and drink some."

John gave in, accepting the offered glass. Patting the place next to him on the couch, he said, "You shouldn't be running around too much either. Bailey'll have my butt if you get worse again." Sam smiled as she snuggled in next to John. "But I do love the attention," he added with a weak laugh.

"I'm sure you do," Sam answered. "Let's just get some sleep before Chloe wakes up, alright?" When John didn't respond, she looked over at his face to find he'd already fallen asleep. She couldn't help but think how adorable he looked, with his head propped up against the back of the couch, his mouth falling open slightly. Gently pulling him over beside her, she fell asleep holding his head against her chest.

When John woke up, he was aware of two sounds. One was that he could hear Sam's heartbeat beside his ear, and the other was Chloe playing. Although, he couldn't place where she was at. Groggily he raised up, trying not to wake up Sam, and looked for Chloe. He caught sight of her playing in her bedroom. Sam woke up when she felt John moving, she looked up at him, her question passing wordlessly in her eyes. Understanding what she meant, John replied, "It's nothing. I was just checking on Chloe. She's just playing in her room."

Smiling, Sam said, "How sweet, she didn't want to wake us up." Standing up and stretching, Sam added, "But I really should fix her some breakfast."

"I'll help." John started to say, but when he stood up he turned pale and sat back down. "On second thought..."

"You just drink some more Sprite, and try and get some more sleep. I'll take care of Chlo."

As she walked back toward the kitchen she heard John mumble, "Okay, Mom." She grinned as she found some cereal for Chloe's breakfast. Looking at the clock, she knew it was a little late for breakfast, but figured what the heck. Carrying a bowl of cereal down the hall to Chloe's room, she decided to let her eat in her room.

Two hours later John was still curled up asleep on the couch. Sam played with Chloe for a while, and the two of them watched a movie. Meanwhile, John continued to sleep for most of the day. Sometime later, John finally began to stir. When Sam walked over and placed her hand on his forehead to check his temperature, John's eyes opened.

"Hey," she smiled. "Feeling better?"

"Mmm. Much," he laughed. "Come here." With that, he pulled Sam down onto the couch beside him. "How are you feeling?"

Laughing, Sam punched him playfully in the arm. "I feel fine, compared to yesterday. How about something to eat?" Sam walked back into the kitchen to reheat some soup for both her and John and another peanut butter and jelly sandwich for Chloe. Walking back with the food she said, "Chlo and me have been enjoying some girl time while you did your best Sleeping Beauty impersonation." While he listened to Sam talk, John managed to eat some of his soup. Turning to where Chloe sat watching the laughable interaction, she asked, "What do ya say, Chloe? Give him a seven out of ten?"

Grinning and shaking her head, she responded, "Nah. I'd say at least a seven point five."

Trying his best to look shocked, John countered. "What?! A seven point five? I'll have you know that I'm nothing below an eight." When he found himself on the receiving end of a pillow to the face, he couldn't keep holding a serious expression. Rasing his hands in mock surrender, he exclaimed "I give, I give! Just no more pillow attacks!" With that, John grabbed a loose throw pillow from the couch and hit Sam over the head.

Chloe erupted in laughter at seeing the shocked look on her mom's face. "You're definitely feeling better, and you're gonna get it now!" With that a full fledged pillow fight emerged. Several minutes later, John and Sam collapsed exhausted onto the couch. Chloe climbed up onto the couch with them and they proceeded to spend part of the evening talking and watching television. Later, when Chloe went to play on the playground, Sam and John cuddled closer together on the couch, enjoying the slow evening together.

When it was time for Chloe to go to bed, Sam tucked her into bed and John picked up the soup dishes from the living room. Sam walked up behind John in the kitchen and slid her arms around his waist. "I always did like a guy who could pick up after himself," she laughed.

Turning into her hug and placing his arms around her shoulders he commented, "Well, slowly but surely you must be civilizing me." His face broke into a grin. "May I take you to a movie?"

"Why I'd love it. I bet I even know where there are two front row seats." Taking his hand, Sam lead John into the living room. "On second thought," Sam said with a twinkle in her eyes. "May I have this dance?" John punched the power button on the stereo and turned the volume down low.

"I thought it was the man who was supposed to ask?" He teased when he pulled her close to him and they began to dance. Softly he added, "Thank you for taking care of me, Sam. It's been a long time since I've known a family. Someone I care about, who cares about me..."

"John," Sam interrupted.

"No, let me finish. Please." He cleared his throat and paused. Looking down into her eyes he continued. "Sam, you and Chloe mean the world to me. These past two days have been more special than I could've ever believed..."

Smiling, Sam said, "John, I made you sick these past couple of days..." John placed a finger on her lips to silence her so he might finish.

"Even though I got sick, they were still special. I love you, Sam."

Running her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck, she smiled softly. "That means a lot to me." She leaned up and brought his lips to hers. When the gentle kiss ended, she whispered, "I love you, too."

Silence enveloped them as Sam laid her cheek on John's chest and they continued to sway to the music long into the night.

fin