The rain stopped after both Sam and Gillette had gotten a cold. Their sneezes rang out as they padded miserably back to Fort Charles. Gillette had developed a hoarse cough and hacked up phlegm on Sam's vest.

"Tha's disgustin'," Sam sneered through her stuffed ad swollen nose. Gillette grumbled as he leaned against her for support.

They arrived at Fort Charles near sunset, both of them still coughing and sneezing themselves in a comma. Lieutenant Groves was the first to see this sorry display, and he immediately rushed over to them.

"What in bloody hell happened to you two?!" He didn't wait for a reply; he dragged them up to his office and set them in front of the fireplace where a fire was already roaring.

"You two need to change into dry clothes before you get even sicker! What were you thinking, staying out in the rain for hours on end?! Sam: you need to stay close to the fort so we can keep an eye on you! Andrew: You are a lieutenant! You should have been back here hours ago and should have been more watchful of the time! It's almost as if you two are just children running out and getting into who knows what kind of mischief!

"Honestly, I feel like I'm supposed to be your nanny! And lord, if James had seen you two stumble into the fort, clinging onto each other for dear life! You two would have been out on your arses, I'll tell you that much!" Groves continued his rant until a double sneeze cut him off. Sam and Gillette snuffled in unison, huddling close to the fire and looking up at Groves like kicked puppies. Groves sighed and rubbed his temples.

"You two… I swear," He sighed and slumped into his armchair facing the fireplace. Sam giggled until Groves shot her a nasty glare.

"Sorry…" She wheezed.

"…Camb we hab some tea?" Gillette asked pathetically. Groves nodded and went to put a pot of tea on the stove. When he left, Sam broke out into hoarse laughter. Gillette cocked his eyebrow at her.

"You sound so funneh!" She snorted but that made her hack up some mucus from the back of her throat. She spat it into the fire, where it sizzled noisily.

"That was weird," Gillette remarked as he looked around his friend's office for a blanket of some sort. He saw some in the corner and jumped up to get them. He got a head-rush and fell back down, completely disoriented.

"Whad was thad about?" Gillette merely pointed in the blankets' direction and remained lying on his back. Sam nodded but decided to stay on the floor next to the fire.

Groves returned with tea and new clothes for them to change into.

"Sorry, Sam. There weren't any women's clothes lying around so I grabbed you a man's outfit. I hope that's alright," He said apologetically as he passed her the tea.

"'S alright. I dun mind," Sam placed her tea on the ground and went to the changing screen. Her wet clothes slopped onto the ground with an audible 'squish' and she put on her new clothes, enjoying the change. She stepped out form the screen and saw Gillette was still changing and Groves' back was to him.

"Hmm. Sorry," She covered her eyes and sat down on the floor. Gillette finished changing at light-speed and sat down at the fire once more. Sam joined him while sipping her tea.

"So are you dun wit yer lecture or is dere more?" Sam asked Groves sweetly.

"I just can't understand why you two were out in the rain all day," He crossed his arms over his chest and leered down at them.

"Andy gots stuck in the mud an' couldn't moob," Sam shrugged and sipped her tea.

"Why were you two even out together? Don't you hate each other?"

"We tolerate each other," Gillette shrugged, "Camb you get thad blanket, Theo? 'M cold," He shivered to prove his point. Groves got the blankets for the two of them, and went so far as to wrap the blankets around both of them.

"Thank you, Theo!" They sang in unison, much like a room full of kindergarteners would.

James Norrington burst into Groves' office that very minute. He looked quite annoyed and shot a glare at both Sam and Gillette. The entire room tensed up.

"Where in bloody hell have you been?!" He screamed, his face turning beet-red. Sam cowered behind Gillette like a puppy.

"Sam tolb me to go out wit 'er…" Gillette squeaked, adverting his eyes from his commanding officer.

"Oh so that's how the fort is being run now, is it?! We shirk off our duties whenever the buggerin' hell we feel like it and it's okay as long as some girl told us to do it?! Andrew Gillette, I expected better from you!!"

"Now, James… Calm down," Groves tried to place his hand on Norrington's shoulder to make him calm down, but he just batted the hand away.

"I will NOT calm down! This man, who I personally recommended for his promotion, has been off gallivanting around the town with that irresponsible little girl, who he's supposed to hate! It's irrational, irresponsible, naïve, idiotic, childish, barbaric, and completely STUPID!" Norrington stomped his foot on the ground, much in the same way a three-year-old would if it had been told that they could not have the toy they wanted.

Sam suddenly pictured Norrington as a little boy, screaming on the ground, kicking his arms and feet, while his father (Groves) tried to calm him down.

"Now, James. Calm down, son," Groves suggested gently. Norrington continued to scream and cry his eyes out.

"I wanna play wit Andwew!!" He shrieked. "That stupid giwl is taking him away fwom me!" He continued to screech as he sobbed into the carpet.

Little Sam and Andrew were playing with a ball, laughing and smiling. Sam gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Bleck!" Andrew stuck his tongue out and wiped the kiss off his cheek, "You have cooties!"

"Do not!" Sam put her hands on her hips.

"Do too!" Andrew stuck his tongue out at her and made a raspberry. Sam tackled him and started wrestling with him. Over in the corner, Groves was slumped over in his armchair, still trying to make James calm down.

"Weird…" Sam said to herself, after which, she sneezed suddenly, making the entire room silent.

"You have something to say, Miss Winchell?" Norrington challenged her with a dangerous tone.

"No. Nothing," She sipped her tea and stared at the ground.

"Look, James, it was a mistake! I know you've made plenty of mistakes in your life. Hell, I know just about every mistake you've made, including the one when you first met me," Groves crossed his arms over his chest and smirked when Norrington froze completely. Sam and Gillette both looked up, curious as to what that mistake could have been.

"Whad mistake?" Gillette snorted and wiped his eyes.

"Well, it was back when we were in grade school together-" Norrington clamped his hands on Groves' mouth.

"You tell them, you die," He hissed. Groves removed the Commodore's hands from his mouth.

"-James was still in a bit of an awkward phase. He wasn't too comfortable with his emotions, yet. We became fast friends and he wanted to give me… well… a present I guess you'd say…"

"Theodore!! Shut it!!" Norrington pleaded pathetically. Unfortunately for him, when Theodore Groves starts a story, he always finishes it.

"So he led me behind the school building, right? He said, 'You're my best friend, Theo,' which was sweet enough in itself-" Norrington pulled on the back of Groves' wig and brought him to the floor. Groves laughed and continued on with the story.

"-but then, what he did to prove our friendship caught me completely off-guard! He looked around to check if the coast was clear-"

"I'm begging you, Theodore, please stop!!"

"-and kissed me, right on my mouth!" There was an intense silence before both Sam and Gillette burst out laughing. "That's not even the best part!"

"Oh Christ, you never shut up!!" Norrington wailed.

"The headmaster came around the corner at that very moment, saw us, and sentenced us to two months of detention!" Sam and Gillette were sprawled out on the floor, laughing so hard that they couldn't breathe and were crying.

Norrington had retreated to the corner, curled up into a ball of shame.

"Wow, Norringdin, didn't know ye felt thad way bout Theo!" Sam snickered.

"Oh shut it!" He growled from his corner.

--

Gillette and Sam had fallen into an illness comma after many jokes at Norrington's expense. They laid together at the hearth of the fireplace, snuggled up in the blankets Groves had given them.

Norrington had given Gillette a few days off so he could get better, and Sam's community service hours were shortened out of pity. James reminded everyone in Fort Charles that his office was off-limits and no one but Groves and himself were allowed inside.

Sam woke up in Gillette's arms, facing his neck. She smiled to herself and snuggled closer to him, comfortable as could be. She sighed contently. Gillette was snoring lightly, facing the ceiling, and obviously dreaming.

'I wonder what he's dreaming of…' Sam thought as she watched him sleep. She guessed it was something like getting a promotion to Admiral Gillette or maybe becoming king. She smiled at that thought; he would make a weird king.

Gillette adjusted himself so he was facing Sam, still sound asleep. He was mere centimeters from her face, much to close for Sam's comfort. She tried to scoot away, but Gillette's grip on her suddenly tightened.

"Dun go…" He muttered in his sleep. "I dun wan you teh go…"

"Andrew?" Sam asked quietly.

"I dun wan you teh leave, Sam. I'll miss you…" He brought her into a hug, convinced that this was only a dream. Sam blushed at the sudden closeness, but settled for rest her head on his shoulder.

"I'm not going anywhere, Andrew. Go back to sleep," She cooed softly. His expression changed from peaceful sleep to a mild nightmare.

"No! You gonna leave when dun working for the fort! I dun want you to go!" He held onto her as if she were his lifeline.

Sam was speechless. She didn't think she really meant that much to him, but here he was, hanging onto her for dear life.

"Andrew… wake up…" She nudged his shoulder gently and his eyes fluttered open. He saw how close she was but didn't move, still convinced he was dreaming.

"Morning…" He yawned and rubbed his left eye. She giggled.

"I guess we're all better, then,"

"Then, that means I don't get those two days off work," Sam laughed again and played with the tie of his cravat.

"Guess not. Why are you still wearing your wig?" She boing'd one of the curls that rested above his ears. Gillette nodded and sat up to remove his wig. He undid the pin and lifted the scratchy hairpiece away. His messy amber hair fell down and he scratched his head.

"That's better," He said as he laid back down with Sam. She began to twist one of the locks with her finger lazily. Her eyes wandered across Gillette's features, and she was surprised to find how many freckles she saw.

"I didn't know you had freckles,"

"I'm French-Irish or something like that. It's all in heritage," He shrugged. He hand began to move up and down her side, tickling her lightly. His eyes sparkled mischievously, "Kiss me, I'm Irish," Sam giggled and kissed him lightly on the cheek.

"Good enough for you, Mr. Leprechaun?" Gillette shook his head 'no'. Sam leaned in for another kiss, on the lips this time.

Gillette was satisfied with just a brush against his lips. He deepened the kiss just as Sam was about to pull away. She responded instantly, moving her lips slowly against his, her eyes properly closed.

"Irish I was Irish," Sam said when the kiss ended. Gillette smiled and moved a lock of hair from her eyes.

"You could be, with those green eyes,"

"They're blue, you idiot," She laughed and hit him on the shoulder. She sat up to fix her hair and saw it was almost mid-day. "We've been sleeping for a long time,"

"Yeah, but I like sleeping in. And plus, Theodore's carpet is so comfortable," He put his arms behind his head and rested there. Sam smiled at him and got up, cracking her back noisily.

"It's better than sleeping at Norrington's desk," She grunted while stretching her arms out.

Groves walked into his office urgently, muttering to himself about something. Sam whirled around to the Lieutenant, mildly annoyed.

"Excuse me, Theo! Haven't you learned to knock? I mean, we could have been having sex or something!" She put her hands on her hips in mock-outrage. Both Groves and Gillette stared at her, their mouths gaping open. "Well we could have,"

"Excuse me, Sam. I thought this was my office, not yours. Anyway, James sent me up here to check if you two were awake, yet. You both seem to be feeling better, anyway, so why don't you get out of my office and into the fort?" Groves clasped his hands together and glared at Sam.

"Alright, fine. Come on, Andrew," Sam said as she went for the door. Gillette was still in shock from her previous comment and didn't get up. He looked at his wig sadly and went to pick it up when Groves stopped him.

"James said you had the day off, Andrew. You don't have to where your wig. Consider yourself extremely lucky," Gillette smiled and looked over at Sam.

"Alright then," He said as he stood up, "Sam, are you ready for a more proper tour of Port Royale?"

"I sure am," She smiled and went out the door with him. Groves smiled to himself when they left.

"Lucky bastard," He chuckled.