Chapter Nine: Home again
Jack slowly walked up the hill towards Sam. Her head was bent down as she stared at the gray marble stone scheduled for removal the next day. The headstone read "Friend, Sister, Daughter, and Hero to us all" just below her name.
Jack placed his hand on her back between her shoulder blades "Creepy?"
Sam slowly nodded. "Yeah."
"Now that I've done this once, I plan to never do it again so you have to out live me."
Sam slightly grinned. "That was always the plan." Her grin faded. "Is it in the coffin?"
Jack took one step closer to Sam. "Yeah, but Doc injected it with something to eat the cells and cut the DNA into little pieces. It'll never be identified as human, let alone as you."
Sam just nodded her head. Jack put his arms around her waist and gently pulled her back against his chest. "It took a lot of strength to not let him use me against you."
Sam glanced over her shoulder at him. "You'd have done the same thing."
Jack rested his chin on her shoulder as her eyes went back to the headstone. "I hope so."
Sam turned her head in surprise and looked wide-eyed at Jack. Jack didn't respond to the question in her eyes. Instead he relied on his infamous Jack maneuver and changed the subject. "I'm here for you if you want to talk about…disposing of the Ba'al clone."
Sam turned her face away from his gaze and looked out over the cemetery. "I've killed before."
"With your bare hands?" There was no response to Jack's question. He hadn't expected her to answer. "Out of anger?"
That was too much for Sam. She pulled out of his arms and spun around to face him. Anger smoldered in her eyes as she glared at him. "I did it so we could escape!"
Jack nodded. He didn't attempt to pull her back into his arms. She was too volatile and he still had to push her further before this could end. "True, but you also enjoyed it. You liked paying him back for everything he did to you."
Sam glanced away but she didn't respond to his accusation. Jack kept pushing. "I know how good it feels at first. I also know how it comes back to bite you in the ass."
Jack took one step forward and wrapped his arms around her waist again. Sam remained stiff. Her head was turned away from him so he couldn't see into her eyes. "I want to be there when it happens. Don't shut me out."
Jack paused, fearful he'd pushed too hard too soon. Without warning Sam fell forward and rested her forehead on his shoulder. "I'll try not to shut you out but it's hard for me."
Her arms wrapped around his shoulders. Jack rubbed her back and sighed. This was the first important step in her recovery and Jack was glad he helped her get here. "You're talking to the master of holding it all inside."
Sam laughed. Jack lifted her, spun her in a quick circle, put her down and deeply kissed her. "Let's go home."
Jack kept one arm around Sam's waist as they walked down the path towards his truck. "So you were dreaming of kissing me years ago?" Jack smirked as he brought up the memories he'd seen on display.
Sam looked over at him and smiled her widest smile. "That was a concussion induced hallucination. My dreams are much hotter."
Jack stopped short, shocked by her calm and quick response. Sam kept walking and added a definite swing to her slim hips. Jack watched her walk and began to smile. His heart raced as he jogged to catch up with her. He knew his increased heart rate had little to do with the short jog and lots to do with the woman of his dreams (and what dreams they were).
The End…Thanks for sticking with me. The rest of June will be filled with homework and real work. I'm sure I'll be back before too long! Give my beta nibikko a big round of applause by checking our her vids at nibikko(dot)com.