Without a Trace

Jack/Sam

PG

Spoilers: Lost & Found

from Midnight Caller

*****

He’d moved before, more times than he could count since he was old enough to remember. After the third or fourth time, he’d learned not to get attached to anything; not the house, neighborhood, school, and especially not the people, because they’d be the hardest to leave behind.

The more she touched, the more he knew how badly the absence of her scent would haunt him. And the longer she stood next to him, the more he knew how the phantom feel of her fingertips and the imaginary texture of her hair would consume his thoughts, making him long for a reality that would soon exist only in memory.

And so he simply watched her pack away his life, helpless to stop it all from happening, remembering why he’d taught himself to never get attached to anything. The nameplate, the diplomas, and the family photos would all travel with him; it was what he couldn’t fit in a box that he was going to miss the most.