Waves are Universal - Epilogue
Sam sighs contently and rests her cheek on Jack’s chest. The noise of night bugs comes through the open windows in the cabin bedroom, the Minnesota summer cooling off enough to allow for windows instead of the air conditioning unit.
The debriefing from P3X-673 had taken a lot longer than General Hammond had anticipated, but at the end it seemed as though he was not at all surprised to find Jack’s retirement request at the back of the mission report. It hadn’t taken much convincing to get him to agree (though the Pentagon insisted Jack stay on in a civilian role) and to give Sam some time off.
Jack brings his arms up around Sam and gently strokes her back. He misses the longer hair, it’s chin-length now, but he thinks it’s a small price to pay for being back home and getting to be with her. “Happy?” It’s a silly question, considering that she’s naked and he’s naked and they’re in the bed at his cabin in their own reality, but it seems like the right one.
Sam chuckles and kisses his chest. She folds her hands and rests her chin on top. “Yeah,” she says with a smile. “You?”
“Absolutely.” He presses his lips against her forehead when she lays her head down again.
“You think they made it?” Sam asks after a few minutes.
Jack shrugs as best he can lying down. “Well, we’re still here.”
“We upgraded all of our weapons and they’re not supposed to show up for another twenty-five years. They’ll know to avoid this one.” The three weeks of leave she had been promised only came after two months of nonstop weapons modification.
Jack nods and blinks in the darkness. “I think they did.”
“Me too.” She closes her eyes and gradually drifts off to sleep.
***
Behind the white curtain hiding the staging area from the few rows of people considered important enough to invite, Jack smiles at his daughter. In a strapless white dress with her long, brown hair falling in a cascade of loose curls across her shoulders, she’s a far cry from the eight year-old he once had to rescue from a tree in their backyard. And then he realizes she isn’t wearing shoes. “Barefoot, Al?”
She smiles sheepishly. “It’s a beach,” she explains, digging her toes into the sand. She looks out across the blue waves, the sun just beginning to turn the sky pink and orange, and takes a deep breath.
“There’s still time to back out,” Jack offers with a smirk. He pulls her into a hug when she returns his smirk with one of her own. “I love you, Alle.”
“Love you too, Dad,” she whispers, hugging him tight.
Later that night, vows exchanged and toasts made and cake eaten, the tables are cleared away to make room for a dance floor. Torches line the beach, lighting up the party long after the sun has set and the twinkling stars appear. Jack offers his hand to Sam and she takes it with a smile.
“Good job saving the world,” he says. “Again.”
Sam laughs and kisses his cheek. “Well, your daughter helped.”
“Yeah. Time travel,” he muses. “Always makes my head hurt.”
“Don’t think about it, then,” she advises and rests her head on his shoulder as they sway to the slow music.
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