Author's Notes: Okay, here's my attempt at light-hearted fiction. Read some of my X-Files stuff and you'd know why. :-) Anyway, I think we need a new keyword, RB - - Rick bashing! This is my first attempt at it, but it's not as funny as Beth's. :-) And, as always, this is SJR. I don't know if I could write anything else! Oh and the name Slicky Ricky was first used by Courtney, I'm just borrowing it for a few minutes! :-)

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* Or at least there would be no new guy.

Sam Waters' scream cut through the apartment, ending abruptly as she was tackled down onto the couch. For a moment she couldn't breathe or see the person who had her pinned down to the cushions. Slowly her vision cleared and she was able to make out the face of her attacker.

The grin on John's face was mischievous as he secured her arms against the cushions and continued to tickle her. They had been spending an evening on the couch, watching 'Casablanca' on the classic movie channel when John had brushed his hand along her side accidentally. Sam had tried to stifle her automatic response, but he had heard her laughter.

When she had seen the grin that erupted on John's face, Sam tried to dislodge herself from her prone position on the couch. She had almost managed to get away when John grabbed onto her elbow pulling her back down. He was tickling her in earnest, and she made one last attempt to get away.

That was when he had tackled her. For a moment he stopped tickling her, making sure she was alright. By the time she had recovered enough to look up at his face, his grin was back and he was readying for another assault.

In the moment of reprieve she had been granted, Sam had managed to get her breath back somewhat. At the same time John began to tickle her again, she decided to find out if he was ticklish too. The shocked look on his face was Sam's reward when her fingers found his ribs. As it turned out, John was more ticklish than she was.

Suddenly, John found himself flipped over onto the floor, enduring Sam's revenge. No matter what he did he couldn't manage to regain his breath long enough to stop her from tickling him. Five minutes later Sam felt that he had been squirming long enough, she offered a truce.

"Say it," she said through her own laughter. "Come on, say uncle. Give up, admit it, I win."

John's face was turning bright red and he managed to squeak out, "Never!"

The tickle war waged on for several more minutes until both lay exhausted, their last giggles playing out. John pulled both of them back up onto the couch. With a smile on her face, Sam cuddled closer to John's chest. He put his arm around her shoulders and kissed her on the top of the head.

"Ah, it looks like we missed the end of the movie," John said.

"Uh hum." Sam murmured, her eyes closed.

They sat for several minutes, neither moving from their comfortable position on the couch. After a little while John looked down at Sam face to discover that she had fallen asleep in his arms. A soft smile crossed his face as he watched her sleep.

Reaching his arm under her knees, he gently picked her up. He stood, checking to make sure that she was still asleep, and began to carry her toward her bedroom. In less than a minute John was placing her down onto the bed.

He knew that she had trouble sleeping most nights, so he wanted to help her get what sleep she could. For a moment he kneeled by the side of her bed, watching her sleep. He brushed a stray lock of hair off of her face, and found himself watching the rise and fall of her chest.

Standing, he placed a soft kiss on her cheek. Tearing himself away from the beautiful woman before him, he left the room as quietly as he could. John walked into the kitchen and found a notepad. He left a quick note saying how he'd hated to wake her up when she'd fallen asleep, and that he would see her at work the next morning.

As he drove home, he found himself thinking about how he still couldn't quite believe that he and Sam were together. After Coop had been killed, she seemed to avoid relationships. That was, until Rick. John had to fight a shudder at the thought of that slime ball. He first met him at a reception for Sam and found himself instantly ill-at-ease.

Luckily for John and Sam both, he thought, the relationship had only lasted a couple of dates. He found out later that Sam had told Rick that she was interested in someone else and there was no room for him in her life.

The next evening Sam had knocked on John's apartment door to talk. The rest was history. Sam had admitted that she had only gone out with Rick, or as John silently called him, Slicky Ricky, because she was running away from the person she was more seriously interested in. It turned out that she let herself be talked into dating him because she thought a shallow relationship would hurt less in the end.

John had been ready to turn cartwheels in his living room in celebration of her sending Slicky Ricky packing. So they had spent the rest of the evening talking. When she had been standing at the door to leave, she reached up and pulled John to her in a kiss.

John was sure he felt an electric current flow from the kiss. "Whoa. It never felt like that with Rick," she commented. John couldn't contain his laughter at the favorable comparison, and Sam's laughter soon joined his. To John it sounded like music.

Since then they had become quite inseparable. They had even double dated once. After Sam had rejected Rick, he and Angel found each other. However, the double date experience was one that none wanted to repeat. Besides, John could barely keep from snickering every time good ol' Slicky Ricky opened his mouth. From what he could see, he and Angel were perfectly suited.

John had been at home for a long time, staring at the ceiling from his bed when his thoughts finally quieted enough to allow him to fall asleep.

****

Sam awoke the next morning disoriented to find herself in her bedroom. She walked down the hallway into the kitchen to fix breakfast for Chloe and found John's note. She smiled as she read the hastily written message.

Although she had been wary of their relationship in the beginning, she knew it was the best thing that had happened to her in a long time. Far better than Rick. She couldn't believe she'd let Angel push her into going out with that grease monkey. It hadn't taken long to discover she didn't feel anything for Rick other than mild annoyance. She shook her head, *not one of my brighter moments,* she thought.

Sam quickly got ready for work and managed to get Chloe off to school. She had been in the office for ten minutes when there was a knock on her door. Looking up, she smiled when she saw John walking into her office and closing the door behind him.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey yourself," he responded with a smile, sitting on the edge of her desk. "Did you sleep well?" John brushed a lock of hair behind her ear as he spoke.

Sam closed her eyes for a moment, leaning into his touch. "Yeah, I didn't even hear you leave."

John's answering grin was bordering on a laugh. "Well, you were out cold. I guess my tickle therapy wore you out."

"Tickle therapy?" Sam responded with a laugh.

Standing he continued, "You mean you've never heard of Dr. Grant's Tickle Therapy? Anyway, I came up here to remind you about our meeting."

"John," Sam began, "we have a meeting every day at the same time and the same place. I don't think you need to remind me." Nevertheless, her smile betrayed her mock seriousness.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," John voice carried as he retreated toward his own desk.

As she watched him leave, Sam knew that for once something was going truly right. Shaking herself out of her thoughts, she gathered her notes for the morning meeting. However, the smile on her face never wavered.

fin