27: Boxes, Sam/Jack

Prompt: Boxes, requested by both @joyhargraves on Twitter and @writingherhope on Tumblr. If either of you want to send another prompt since you shared this one, feel free.

Boxes, boxes, everywhere.

Moving house had never been one of her favourite things to do. Sam supposed she should be used to it by now; her childhood had been spent moving around to fit her father's assignments. She knew her Mom hadn't enjoyed that facet of the life of an Air Force wife, but she'd put a brave face on it and accepted it as necessary in order to be with the man she loved and keep their young family together.

As an officer herself, she'd grown used to living with a view to never really settling in one place. While she'd been based in DC, she'd been hoping for a reassignment back to Colorado Springs and some of the boxes she'd taken with her instead of leaving them in storage had remained untouched. Getting to head back to the Stargate project had been her dream, and getting to stay long enough to buy a house of her own was everything she'd never thought she'd have. In fact, she'd waited until two years into the SGC to put down a deposit on her own place, moving out of military housing into a bungalow that was well and truly hers.

In all honestly, she'd thought that would be it. The end of the boxes. Even when she'd gotten engaged to Pete, she hadn't given much thought to moving out of her home. It was one of the reasons his buying a place without discussing it with her had blindsided her – and when she'd imagined lugging boxes around from her bungalow to the house he'd chosen, she'd realised she couldn't do it.

Didn't want to do it.

The house was perfect, really, everything she'd described to him during the early days of their relationship.

It'd been the man that was the problem.

She'd resigned herself to moving again after her assignment to Nevada, but she hadn't minded that time. The boxes she'd packed had gone to one of either two places; some had gone with her to the small apartment she was renting out, the others had gone into storage at General O'Neill's house.

Jack's house.

Their house, albeit unofficially.

They'd decided the best thing to do was to rent out hers, and store both of their belongings in his larger home, which also meant they had somewhere to stay when their duties required them to be at the SGC.

Their teammates didn't understand it at first, not even when Sam moved back to the Springs to retake her position on SG-1. They thought it weird that the couple were unofficially a couple, and still spent more time apart than they did together.

And now she was packing again, preparing to leave the house she'd started to think of as home even if it only truly felt like it when Jack could be there with her, heading off to Atlantis, where she'd not only be in a different state but in a different galaxy.

Sometimes, she questioned her life choices. Sometimes, she wondered if her father had been lying when he said she could have it all.

“You all set?” Jack stood in the doorway of their room, hands in his pockets. He’d wanted to see her off as it were, so she’d opted to be transported to the ship in Earth’s orbit from the comfort of their home rather than the SGC with the rest of the new personnel heading to Atlantis. It meant they could say their goodbyes without any prying gazes, meant their relationship could stay just theirs - with a few exceptions - for a little bit longer.

“I’m all packed, not sure if I’m ready.” She finished sealing the last box, one she would be leaving under the safekeeping of the SF’s who would be checking on the house while neither of them were in town.

“You’ll do great, Sam.” He moved to take her in his arms, sighing when she all but melted against him. “I wish you could have half as much confidence in yourself as I do.”

“Confidence isn’t really the issue,” she admitted, lifting her head to accept a short, soft kiss. “I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you, too,” he replied immediately, leaning in to kiss her a little longer. “But we’ll keep in touch, and either I’ll come to you or you can come visit me. I’ll need regular debriefings you know. Gotta keep updated on what’s going on in the Pegasus galaxy, too.”

She smiled but it didn’t last long; they both knew her reports would be delivered by video over a data burst and that trips back and forth were going to be few and far between.

Her watched beeped, signalling it was time. They pulled apart after a final kiss, reluctantly putting enough distance between them to ensure he wouldn’t be caught in the transporter.

Jack gave her the lopsided grin she’d come to know and love, his hands going back to his pockets. “Stay safe, Carter.”

“You too, Sir.” She smiled though her eyes were suspiciously bright. A flash of light, and she was gone. # Post-Atlantis Boxes. More boxes. For two people who were kept busy by their jobs, they’d somehow managed to accumulate a hell of a lot of stuff.

Still, Jack found himself whistling as he cut the tape sealing one of the boxes, rummaging around inside it before deciding its contents wouldn’t be needed in the immediate future so could be set aside for later.

Sometime.

There was no rush, no rush at all.

And that thought had him grinning as he reached for another box, and the grin was still on his face when Sam walked in with yet another box in her arms.

“What’s so funny?” She asked as she walked past him to set the box down on the kitchen table. “Unpacking isn’t usually something to smile about.”

“Packing isn’t,” he corrected, abandoning the boxes in front of him to get closer to her. He took her in his arms, turning her from the cardboard she’d been about to open and kissed her thoroughly before she could question it. “Unpacking, Mrs O’Neill, is much more fun.”

She grinned back at him, the same dopey smile he knew was on his face. “That’s Mrs Carter-O’Neill to you,” she said, lifting her arms to wrap them around his shoulders.

They’d been married for all of three days, opting to do so as soon as she’d returned from her stint commanding the Hammond and he’d demanded - and received - a transfer of office to the SGC. Neither wanted to waste any more time, deciding it was long overdue for them to make their relationship official.

Having tied the knot, they’d decided it was time they finally cleared out the spare room and garage, clearing out the boxes they’d amassed over the years while they sorted through those he’d brought with him from his flat in DC.

“C’mon, fly boy,” Sam murmured a few moments later, drawing back when he went to kiss her again. “The sooner this is done, the sooner we can celebrate.”

“Celebrate what?” He asked, reluctantly letting her go so they could set about clearing at least some of the spaces in the house.

Her smile was blinding, her eyes bright. “Finally having it all.”

Jack grinned, understanding the reference. Finally was right indeed.

#

I couldn’t end it on an angsty note, so needed to keep going till there was a happy ending. Hope that's okay! :)