A/N: Happy Mardi Gras everyone. Thank you for all the wonderful reviews, every time I see one in my inbox it puts a smile on my face. Keep them coming.
Edgar walked sleepily up to the wheelhouse, he'd stopped and got himself a cup of coffee putting him slightly behind schedule. He hoped Sig wouldn't notice. For a second he didn't see anyone sitting in the chair but then the chair spun around revealing Samantha. Edgar jumped slightly because the whole spinning chair was a little spooky.
"Holy Shit, what are you doing in the chair" said Edgar breathlessly.
"Sitting" replied Samantha. "I didn't mean to scare you."
"You didn't really, it was just a bit of a surprise" said Edgar.
"Sig had to go to the bathroom and he left me in charge" said Samantha.
"He left you in charge?" asked Edgar in disbelief.
"Well he left me warming the chair for you" admitted Samantha. "Don't worry I didn't touch anything, the boat is driving itself."
"That would be very impressive if you could drive the boat on your first day" said Edgar.
"Well there are only two levers so really how much trouble could I get into" remarked Samantha jokingly.
Edgar and Samantha laughed at the possibilities. He walked around to the chair and Samantha slid out of the seat and around Edgar. She parked herself of the bench behind the captain's chair and watched as Edgar checked the navigation system.
"Well you seemed to have kept us on course" said Edgar.
As he turned to look at Samantha he noticed two things, the first was that she was wearing Sig's fleece and the second was that she was looking a little peaked. Edgar lit a cigarette and opened the sliding window a little more.
"Do you want one?" asked Edgar.
"I don't think so" said Samantha her voice slightly edgy.
"Don't tell me you are a member of the anti smoking league" said Edgar his voice annoyed.
"That's not what I meant" said Samantha. "I'm just not sure if a cigarette will make me feel better. I think it will probably just make me throw up again."
"Well there is only one way to find out" said Edgar.
"Fine, lets find out" said Samantha. "Let me get my bowl, just in case."
Samantha walked over to the port side chair where she'd left her bowl. Edgar stuck another cigarette in his mouth and lit it. Once Samantha wandered back over he handed her the cigarette. She took it and sat back down on the bench seat. Edgar watched with interest and Samantha took a few drags off the cigarette, he was waiting to see what happened. Samantha felt uneasy as she took a few drags of the cigarettes but once the nicotine entered her system her nausea seemed the wane.
"I think I'm feeling better" announced Samantha.
"Well that's a relief, I was really worried" said Edgar sarcastically.
"I'm sure you were really loosing sleep over it" chided Samantha.
Samantha finished her cigarette and stood up and snuffed it out in the overflowing ashtray next to Edgar. Then she picked up the ashtray and emptied it in the trash can then wiped it out with a paper towel.
"I don't think that has ever been done on this boat" remarked Edgar.
"It must have been emptied before, because I'm fairly sure Sig smokes this many cigarettes in an afternoon" said Samantha.
"I meant no one has ever actually wiped out the ashtray. I mean what's the point it's only going to get dirty again" said Edgar.
"I guess just to have it clean for a moment is worth something" said Samantha with a smile.
Samantha returned to the bench and laid down. Edgar continued a steady stream of conversation to which Samantha occasionally responded. The rocking of the boat eventually lulled her to sleep. Edgar finally turned around when Samantha failed to laugh at one of his obviously hilarious jokes. When he saw she was asleep he couldn't help but smile. She was the only one on the boat who could actually lay down on the bench. Edgar's watch ended and Norman came to relieve him and noticed Samantha.
"What is she doing here?" asked Norman.
"Sleeping" replied Edgar.
"No shit. Why is she sleeping here and not in her bunk" asked Norman.
"I guess she was sick and came up here for fresh air" explained Edgar.
"That makes sense, but why is she wearing Sig's sweatshirt" asked Norman.
"That is something only Sig can answer" said Edgar.
"Are you going to take her with you?" asked Norman.
"Nah, just leave her here. She probably would get sick back downstairs. We will be to the grounds in a few hours anyway, let her sleep up here until we get there" said Edgar.
"If you think she'll be safe there" replied Norman thoughtfully.
"She'll be fine, she'll probably wake up on her own soon. I mean it can't really be that comfortable on that bench" said Edgar.
"I don't know, I've never laid down on it" said Norman.
"Yeah, I was just thinking she's probably the only person on this boat that could actually lay down on it" said Edgar. "I'm going to go back to bed, I'll see you later."
"Yeah, see ya" said Norman.
Edgar went back to bed and Norman took his turn at watch. Samantha slept quietly completely unaware of Norman sitting in the captain's chair.
Sig woke up hours later and returned to the wheelhouse. He wasn't surprised to see Norman smoking a cigarette in the chair. He was surprised to see a lump in his fleece asleep on the bench.
"Mornin Norman" said Sig his voice still gruff from sleep.
"Hey Sig" answered Norman.
"Did she sleep up here all night?" asked Sig.
"I guess so, she was up here when I came to relieve Edgar" said Norman.
"Move her to my room, she can sleep in there" said Sig.
"Are you sure you don't want to just wake her up?" asked Norman.
"No, let her rest. She certainly won't get a lot of opportunity for the rest of the trip" said Sig.
Norman stood up slowly and stretched his back. Sig, deciding that Norman was taking too long, scooped Samantha off the bench settling her carefully in his arms. Samantha stirred and Sig immediately pulled her closer to his chest.
"Antha, I'm just moving you somewhere more comfortable, go back to sleep" whispered Sig into her ear.
Samantha relaxed into Sig's grasp and settled back into sleep. Sig carried her gingerly into his stateroom laying her carefully on his bunk before covering her with a blanket. Samantha rolled away from Sig tucking herself into a tiny ball. Sig watched her breathing even out and once he was convinced she'd gone back to sleep he left. He returned to the wheelhouse and went about his business almost forgetting about the sleeping girl in his stateroom.
Samantha awoke with a start her eyes cracked open quickly and she scanned the room. She shook the fuzzy feeling of sleep out of her head, the last thing she remembered was Edgar talking to her in the wheelhouse. Obviously she was in Sig's stateroom the only question was how she got there. A fuzzy memory of Sig carrying her flitted across her distant memory and she brushed it away as absurd. Struggling to untangle herself from the blanket she finally managed to make it out of bed onto the floor. Samantha made use of Sig's adjoining bathroom and then headed down to the galley. Once in the galley she hurriedly pulled out the makings for a hearty breakfast. Samantha fell into comfortable routine of making a meal. Using the flat top grill she placed the seasoned pork chops down first before she started to grate the potatoes and roll out biscuits. Flitting her way around the kitchen she completely forgot about her seasickness focusing only on cooking breakfast. The smell of breakfast soon filled the boat and stirred the others from their beds. Samantha took a break from cooking to make a fresh pot of coffee. The guys slowly filed into the galley taking seats at the table after pouring themselves some coffee. Samantha finished up the hashbrown potatoes and started on the eggs. Pulling off a bit of the grease from the pork chops she whipped up a quick gravy for biscuits. She sipped off her bottle of water while she cooked, effortlessly moving around the cramped kitchen as if she'd designed it herself. The meal was on the table in record time and the guys dug into the food with gusto.
"This is the best first day meal I think we've ever had. This gravy is amazing" remarked Nick.
"Yeah, this is awesome. I think I can easily work on setting some pots in the water" said Matt.
"I can't wait to see what's for lunch" said Jake.
"I think you should just work on finishing breakfast and we can worry about lunch later" said Samantha with a smile.
"Alright, who's done. They need to take over for Sig so he can eat" said Edgar.
"I'll go" said Nick.
Sig appeared in the galley a moment later and immediately served himself a huge plate of food and dug in without saying a word. Samantha filled the coffee cups of those still at the table and then casually slid into the seat next to Sig and filled her own plate.
"Are you just eating now?" asked Sig.
"Yes, I wanted to make sure there was enough for everyone else" said Samantha.
"You need to make sure to take care of yourself too. We are all use to doing this kind of work, you are not" explained Edgar.
"I'm eating, I'm staying hydrated. I'll be fine" said Samantha.
She finished eating and collected the plates carefully stacking them next to the sink. She filled the sink with hot water and soap then quickly began to wash up the dishes. Norman slid in next to her and helped to dry and put away the clean dishes.
"That was the last dish" announced Samantha as she passed a platter to Norman.
He efficiently dried it and put it away before turning to face her.
"Antha, you need to change into your deck clothes and get ready to get wet" said Norman with a smile.
"Okey Dokey" replied Samantha.
Samantha stood on the pitching deck of the Northwestern trying desperately to stay upright. Jake was helping her make bait set ups while the rest of the guys worked to get the pots off the stack. The deck was ridiculously crowded and Samantha was staying as close to the bait station as she could without ending up in the chopper. Jake had put Samantha in charge of stringing the cod since she seemed incredibly fast with the knife. She was able to slash and hang the cod faster than he could. When he'd complimented her on her skill she'd muttered something about the CIA and Jake wondered what kind of body parts she'd strung up before.
"Ok, we're ready to start dropping pots" announced Sig over the hailer. "Edgar, don't forget to bite the herring."
"Come here Antha, you can be the honorary herring head biter this trip" said Edgar.
"I'm not really interested in doing that" admitted Samantha.
"Why are you scared?" teased Edgar.
"More like disgusted. If you really want me to do that I will throw it back up all over your shoes" replied Samantha.
"You'd have to catch me first" said Edgar.
"Well really I know where you live. I didn't say I'd throw up on them right away" said Samantha with an evil smirk.
"Come on just do it. It will make sure we have a good season" pleaded Jake.
Samantha looked around at the faces of the crew, they looked both pleading and challenging. With a sigh Samantha held out her hand and took the fish from Edgar. The guys cheered and Samantha sunk her teeth into the fishy head and bit through it immediately spitting the piece onto the deck.
"Wow, you've got some sharp teeth" said Nick.
Samantha didn't say anything because she was too busy spitting out whatever herring remnants were still in her mouth. Edgar pressed her water bottle into her hands and she immediately rinsed her mouth out spitting forcefully onto the deck.
"That was truly disgusting" said Samantha.
"Antha, that was awesome" said Edgar giving her a gentle pat on the back.
"Are you guys done farting around down there? We have pots to drop and a season to start" barked Sig over the hailer.
Samantha wandered back to the bait station and continued to make the set ups while Jake hopped into each pot to bait them. The day went by quickly and Matt tapped her on the shoulder hours later to ask if she wanted to make lunch.
"Yes, anything to get dry for a minute" replied Samantha.
"Well head in now, you have like 20 minutes before we are done with this string so don't try anything too fancy" said Matt.
"No problem, I'll save the Fois gras for later" replied Samantha with a wink.
Once inside the ready room Samantha stripped out of her rain gear and hung it up on the peg. Next she tossed her wet sweatshirt in the laundry basket just inside the door. She hurried to the kitchen and pulled out a loaf of bread, some meat and cheese. Next she opened a few large tins of vegetable soup, pouring them into a large pot and setting it on the stove to heat. She quickly assembled the sandwiches and set them on the grill top to cook. Pulling herself up on the counter she was able to see out the window and onto the deck. From her vantage point she could watch the crew drop the last pot and begin to secure everything on deck. Samantha quickly flipped the sandwiches and turned up the heat under the soup. Next she pulled down all the dishes she'd need for lunch and arranged them on the counter. Lastly she sliced a few carrots, tomatoes and cucumbers for a small crudite platter. She'd just set everything on the table when the guys trouped into the galley.
"Antha, what is this?" asked Edgar pointing to the lunch spread.
"Well, there is a veggie plate with ranch dressing, vegetable soup and grilled ham and cheese sandwiches" explained Samantha happily.
"It looks delicious" said Norman.
"And I made a pot of fresh coffee and some fruit punch" said Samantha.
"Ok, lets say a prayer and then dig in before we get sent back out" said Edgar.
The group said a short prayer and then started to eat. Samantha ate slowly savoring the warmth of the soup. Norman finished first and went to relieve Sig in the wheelhouse. Sig barged downstairs and quickly filled his plate before giving Edgar a curious look.
"What's the deal with the vegetables?" asked Sig.
"Antha obviously thinks we need more of them in our diet" said Edgar.
"Hmph" replied Sig.
Lunch was finished and Sig announced that the next string was going to be dropped in about an hour. Samantha cleaned up the lunch dishes and put away a few of the uneaten vegetables. Next she pulled out a roast from the freezer hoping it would defrost by dinner time. As she walked to the stateroom she noticed that the laundry basket was now full and she took it upon herself to throw the clothes into the washing machine and start the load of laundry. Walking back into the stateroom she added another layer of clothes and then laid down on her bunk for a ridiculously short nap. On her way out to the deck she took a moment to throw the laundry into the dryer.
The rest of the afternoon and well into the evening was spent setting pots. Samantha got her chance to jump into the pot and hang bait, but after she whacked her head on the cross bar for the third time in a row it was decided that she was better off just making set ups. The weather stayed pretty calm and Samantha seemed to be getting her sea legs. Edgar walked over to the bait station to ask Samantha an important question.
"How long is it going to take you to make dinner?"
"I think the roast will take at least an hour and a half" answered Samantha.
"In that case, finish up these last few set ups and then head in to start dinner" said Edgar.
"Roger" replied Samantha.
Slipping into the galley she was pleasantly surprised that the roast was defrosted. She seasoned it with some dried herbs and spices, then cut up some vegetables and tossed them all together before sliding the pan into the oven. She latched the door on the oven and then pulled out a large sauce pan filling it with water and tossing in some diced potatoes. Once dinner was simmering on the stove she went to the dryer and pulled out the clothes. She made short work of folding all the clothes and quickly stacked them on the galley table. She had no idea what clothes belonged to who and decided it would be easier if everyone just put their own stuff away.
"Antha! Are you down there?" yelled Sig from the wheelhouse.
"Yes" yelled back Samantha.
"How long until dinner?" asked Sig.
"About 20 minutes" replied Samantha.
"Roger" said Sig.
Samantha assumed that the request for information meant that the guys would be inside sooner than later. Kicking into high gear she quickly made the mashed potatoes and gravy. Then found some frozen green beans and cooked those up with a little ham seasoning. By the time she'd sliced the roast everyone was charging into the galley. Matt stopped short and everyone behind him began to grumble about why his forward motion had stopped.
"What the fuck Matt?" barked Edgar.
"Someone did the laundry" said Matt his voice taking on a strange awe.
"Yeah, I did it. If you guys could just take what's yours. I wasn't sure what belonged to who" said Samantha.
"Antha, who asked you to do the laundry?" asked Edgar suspiciously.
"No one. I noticed the basket was full so I just tossed the clothes in the washer, then into the dryer. It's really a fairly simple operation, I'm sure all of you have done it before" said Samantha.
Sig walked down the stairs and into the galley. He was hungry and had set the boat on autopilot in order to eat with the crew and find out how everything on deck was going. He wasn't prepared to see the table covered with a bunch of clothes and his deck hands standing around like they've just seen the Virgin Mary appear on a piece of toast.
"What the hell is going on down here? I thought dinner was ready" barked Sig.
"Dinner is ready. I just need everyone to take their clean clothes off the table" explained Samantha.
Sig stepped forward and grabbed his fleece and a few other pieces of clothing and took them to his stateroom. Everyone else followed suit and soon the table was empty. Once the table was cleared Samantha quickly set out the food. When everyone returned they dug in immediately. Dinner conversation was centered around bait, the number of pots left on deck and how long the next string would be. Samantha half heard the conversation she was already planning the meals for the next day.