Temporary Permanence

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

:: I used this plot for another fandom two years ago. However, a recent conversation with a friend about the topic made me think about it again and I decided to make the S/J version of it. Minor spoilers till season 5. Thanks to my beta, Trish.

"You have quite a lot of ink," Sam murmured, tracing his finger over the swirls on her lower back. Her head was still half buried in her pillow, one hand laying on her side as the other was tucked beneath her head. She would usually shy away from his scrutinizing (loving) eyes because all the attention made her uncomfortable, but this Sunday morning she allowed herself to bask in it. Even behind closed lids it wasn't difficult to feel the weight of his eyes on her.

"Tell me something I don't know, Sherlock." The words were mumbled into her pillow.

"Before you say anything, this is only a suggestion," Sam began, the hand that wasn't supporting his head never leaving her skin. It had surprised him more than he had let on the first time he found the body art almost five years ago. They were sexy, but he never would've guessed they were something she was interested in. "Okay? Just a suggestion."

She opened one eye. "Spill it out, Braddock."

His bashful grin reminded her of the time when he had barged into her locker room and found her wrapped in nothing but a towel. Where did the time go? "You never considered, I don't know, getting another one?"

Her eyes were closed once again. "I'm not putting 'Samtastic' on my body, Sam."

Sam chuckled, the hand caressing her back creeping higher beneath her tank top. "Well, I was actually thinking of something more subtle. Like 'Sam' for example."

Her laugh was inevitable. "I honestly don't know what can be more subtle than that," Jules rolled to her side so that she could look at his face. Sam pushed strands of loose hair off her face, letting his thumb linger over her cheek for a few seconds. "Have I ever told you about my brother's pet parrot? It was a Red-Crowned Amazon. Very chatty bordering on annoying. The owner of the pet store said it's imported from Central America, so they named him Sam Salvador."

His hand wandered to her sensitive side and gave a slight poke, evoking a squeal from her. "Don't be such a smart ass, Jules."

"I'm just saying," she gasped out once she managed to grab hold of his teasing hand. When she was sure he wouldn't continue his assault, she let go. Sam resumed his stroke on her back. It would be so easy to fall back asleep... "Why don't you get a tattoo? Of my name in cursive? Inside of a heart? Maybe instead of an arrow, you could get a sniper rifle."

"Is that a challenge?"

Jules sighed, one hand reaching out to trace an invisible pattern on his arm. She could live like this, lazing around in bed with Sam on a Sunday morning and not having any care in the world. "All joking aside, I don't have any intention of getting more tattoos. It's bad enough that now everybody calls this a tramp stamp," she gestured at the tattoo she'd gotten when she was eighteen. "The only reason I chose that location was because it was a convenient place and could be easily covered by my shirt.

"That, and I don't want to tattoo anybody's name on my body. I feel like a cow being branded." Sam laughed out loud and tweaked her nose. A suggestion about Sam getting a tattoo in honor of Matt was right on the tip of her tongue, but she swallowed it back. Not today. "I don't want you to get a tattoo of my name either, but if you so choose to do so I don't think I can do anything to stop you. Unless maybe reminding you that the guys wouldn't ever let you live it down."

"You're worth it though." It was too damn sweet of him to say that, and she loved him all the more for that but she still needed to set things straight.

"Don't you dare go tattooing my portrait on any part of your body. The only place I'll see myself wrinkled, sagging and old is in the mirror, and that will probably be limited to once every morning and once every evening," she accentuated with a jab on his chest. "Not to mention there's a good chance the portrait will turn out like I just got a Botox shot. If that happens, I am so divorcing you."

"Duly noted." Sam pecked the tip of her nose, chuckling at her heated determination. "Temporary tattoo?"

Jules mock huffed. "Nice to know that your acclaimed undying love for me will only last for 30 days."

"I think they would stick around for longer than that, unless you're interested in those cheap stickers from Walmart. Nat used to love that stuff." That was, until the General found her with some constellation of colorful hearts and stars on her arms and face. After that they were banned for life in the Braddock's household. Sam grinned his lopsided boyish grin. "We can always get new ones when the old tats fade away. Kind of like a vow renewal."

"Such a cheapskate, Sam." Jules crinkled her nose at his silliness. One of the things she loved from their relationship -and had missed horribly during their time apart- was the banter. Spending the rest of her life with him would never be boring. "Didn't you learn anything from the endless Hollywood scandals?"

He frowned, his expression bemused. "Should I be concerned that you seem to doubt our future before we've even signed our marriage license?"

Sam was smiling, but he had always been an open book to her. Jules ran her fingers through his shorter than usual blond hair and made a mental note to remind him that it was a no-no for their wedding. She preferred the feel of the soft strands around her fingers to the prickly hair. "Some people say that tattooing your significant other's name on your body brings bad luck. I don't want to jinx it, you know what I mean? After all the many things we'd gone through to be together, I'm not going to tempt fate, especially when we're doing exactly that every day at work."

Sam tipped her chin up and kissed her warmly. His breath tasted like mint. "Though, I probably could make exceptions for our kids' names." She breathed once they broke apart.

His eyebrows rose so high they nearly touched his hairline. Her fiancé of three months looked so amused all of a sudden. He played with the antique diamond ring adorning her finger. The habit had started the day after his family heirloom slid down her finger. She usually had the ring on her necklace at work, but when she put it in the right place around her fourth finger, Sam would automatically seek it out. It was an endearing mirror of her own tendency to fumble with the necklace he had given her two Valentine's Day ago. "Oh, so we're talking kids now?"

"Well, there's a good chance we could create an adorable baby Braddock in either Canmore or Banff. Then next year Uncle Spike and Aunt Winnie could start the routine of babysitting our baby when we are out for occasional date nights. He could show her or him a postcard of Lake Louise, saying the last time we were there an accident happened….not necessarily a bear attack." Her finger tip-toeing over his arm stopped as she waited for a reply.

Sam narrowed his eyes - blue eyes on brown. She knew he was trying to gauge her reaction. "What? You know Spike would totally do that, fortunately she or he would be too little to understand anything."

He nearly growled. "You saw them, didn't you?"

"Lucky guess."

"Jules."

Her pout matched his, just not as genuine. "Sam."

"Jules, come on-"

She took pity on him. "Make sure to always delete your browser history on a shared computer."

"Maybe they were a decoy and I have brochures for Italy or France somewhere." He remarked weakly.

Jules waved him off. "We'll go natural. That's the deal."

"If you insist," Sam cupped the back of her head and brought her closer, crushing their lips together before she could protest. He needn't have worried though, because it was the farthest thing from her mind. He swiftly rolled on top of her and her legs around his hips pulled him closer.

Oh yes, forever definitely didn't sound so bad when this was what she's subjected to everyday, Jules moaned as Sam released her lips only to travel south. He spent some time nibbling gently at the soft skin of her neck before pecking kisses down her chest, stopping just above the collar of her tank top. If only she wasn't so engrossed in the feeling he made her feel, she would have realized what he was trying to do. The slight hard nip brought her back to then and there, and she pushed him away. His blue eyes were shining with mirth as he admired his work.

"There. More subtle than a 'Samtastic', and one I'll be happy to renew every other night. I even had the decency not to leave it on your neck where everybody could see."

"Oh yeah, then what does it say?" Jules licked her lips, toying with the hair on the nape of his neck.

"Mine." He whispered before leaning down and kissing her again.

This is a bit cheesy, but I like cheese. Hopefully you do too. Cheese is a protein source.