Authors Note: So I wrote a similar version of this years ago and had uploaded it to the now closed 'Sam And jack Always And Forever' site under penname 'mcarter' so technically this is unending revised 2.0. Anyway...enjoy...

Unending – Revised

...

"I mean all they wanted to do was live a little longer. We're no different. Sequence DNA. One fatal mistake and they doom their entire race!"

Jack watched as Carter paced back and forth before him in the privacy of her quarters. She had been venting for a while about their situation; Telling him about her failed ideas and how utterly useless she felt at having placed them all in this situation with no sure way of getting out. She was frustrated, so was he, but he was understanding. There was only so many times he could compliment that amazing brain of hers, to pep talk her just like in the old days, to keep her spirits up but this time all he needed to do was listen. Daniel was immersed in the Asgard repository, Teal'c was off sparring the anger out of Mitchell. Landry was tending to his plants and Vala, well; he wasn't actually sure what she was doing. Probably with Daniel actually. So he took the opportunity to pull his ex 2IC away from her makeshift lab and give her a break. It was also an excellent opportunity for him to spend quality time with her alone. If it wasn't for these times with her he'd have gone just as stir crazy, if not more, than Mitchell.

She paced in silence after that last, rather accurate, statement and he could practically hear her thinking from where he sat on the edge of her bed.

"I guess no matter what you do, at the end of the day…life's too short" Jack finally said. She stopped pacing then and looked up.

"Agreed!" She replied as she sat down next to him in a huff. They sat in silence for a while and as usual when Jack was in extreme close proximity to one Samantha Carter, his head began to swim with possibilities. It was no secret to those closest to him that he was smitten with her. You could cut the sexual tension in the air with a knife. As they sat there, side by side, he wanted to touch her. She was visibly tense so he moved his hand atop hers to show his support. She relaxed instantly as a small smile crossed her lips. She looked up at him and their stare lingered. It lingered a bit longer than usual and for some strange reason, Jacks male instincts took over and he found himself leaning in to kiss her. To his surprise she pulled away.

"What are you doing?" she asked through a confused smile.

"Something we should have done a long time ago" he replied, leaning in once more. This time successfully. His lips touched hers and for a moment he lost himself. She seemed to as well but not for long.

She broke it off, jerking back harshly. Standing, she moved to the other side of the room; Turning her back on him. "Don't do that!" she all but whispered.

"Why not?"

Jack was confused and the silence that followed confused him further. What did she want? They had been dancing around each other for years, a decade to be exact.

"We've been here three months Carter. Three months…You do realise that right!"

She replied in the affirmative more aggressively than Jack expected.

"Well, I don't see what the heck were waiting for, do you?"

She didn't respond and all of a sudden a thought materialised in Jacks brain that hurt worse than any staff blast to the chest. "Unless…you really…don't want to be with me!"

She turned then and he caught the first glimpse of her tear stained face. It cut him.

"Do you want an honest answer to that question?" she demanded. Hostility evident in her voice. He decided right then he should leave. This was not going to end well and to be honest he wasn't even sure why there was a problem. Gathering his jacket he stood. "No, I should go".

"No seriously, you started this; do you want an honest answer to the question?"

He didn't answer right away, mulling over an adequate response. She wanted an argument, he didn't. Just walk away Jack, don't let it escalate. "Carter…" he started as he put his jacket on. "I hear ya, loud and clear." The sarcasm dripped from his words unintentionally. Probably not the best response you idiot!

"Do you believe I could have any kind of serious feeling for you?" she moved closer as she said it. "I mean, come on Jack! so what – what? We sleep together once to get it out of our system them what?"

She was getting it all wrong. He wanted more not just a quick 'roll around in the hay'. "Carter, you know that's not true!"

"Really? We work together!" she gestured to their uniforms, laughing at the absurdity of the whole situation. The resolve Jack was clinging onto started to break. Her words were starting to sting. He needed to get out of there before things got any worse.

"I mean…come on! I can't even imagine what a – what a relationship with you would be like!"

"Carter!" he warned. He didn't actually know why he was still there. He could easily just walk out right now. Just walk Jack. Leave her be.

"Oh don't get me wrong I have thought about it. I've thought about it for 10 years! 10 years Jack! But it's just never been right. Even when you left and we could approach what's there…nothing!"

He snapped. "Don't you put that on me! Don't you dare!"

She slowly moved closer to him defiantly. "We've been free to explore this…" she gestured between them "relationship…for 2 years now and you haven't made a single move! Why now huh? Is it because were stuck on this ship?"

Her tone was much calmer but hostility still oozed from her words. "I mean, at best you're an unstable wreck and I'm not saying I'm much better! I not saying I'm much better!"

"You know Carter; there was a time I thought I would never get over my son and the failure of my marriage and the subsequent train wrecks of relationships since then. The idea of being hurt that way again, was just…" He looked down at the floor. "I'd finally, for the first time in a long time, gotten to a place where I felt I could actually get close to somebody again…then I met you, and it was against regulations. But it's a two way street Carter! You can't pin the last 2 years completely on me! That's not fair!"

"Not Fair! Not fair?" he could have slapped her in the face and she would have given him the exact same look. "I'll tell you what's not fair Jack. Falling for your boss and having to see him every single day for 8 years. Then we catch a break and I hardly hear from you. We've never had a proper conversation about this. And now you just kiss me as if it's the most natural thing in the world but what happens when we get out of this mess huh? You go back to DC and I stay at the SGC and were right back to where we started, or left off…just like when we went fishing."

He winced at that last part. Sure things kind of fizzled after that but he didn't expect her to accept a transfer to Nevada to work in R&D. Plus work in DC was insane…the reports were the things of his nightmares. Despite putting off 'The conversation' for so long he just assumed the feelings were still mutual…apparently they weren't anymore. His attitude began to sombre but he was still angry she was taking her frustrations out on him.

"I can't do that again Jack! And this whole sensual, comforting thing you do is just completely messing with me because I know if I let myself go with you nothing's going to eventuate. So I'm so sorry I got you stuck here. And I'm so sorry that you're bored. But don't you dare expect me to believe what you want is anything serious!"

"Don't I dare huh?" he stepped closer to her. They were all but a foot apart, her looking up at him; Chest puffed out in anger, challenging him as he was her. "Don't I dare? Do this?"

He was on her in an instant. His hands grabbed her face and pulled her to him. Their mouths crashed together, teeth clashing and tongues duelling. She moaned into his mouth as her hands combed through his hair, pulling him even closer. He pushed her backwards until her back hit the wall behind them with a thud; she grunted at the impact and it was one of the sexiest things Jack had heard in a long time. His jacket was shed quickly as was hers. All the hostility between them, all the pent up emotions from the 10 years they had spent wanting each other was being torn apart in their sudden passionate outburst. The sweet kiss they had shared earlier was nothing compared to this.

His hands were groping every inch of her body beneath her shirt as she wrapped one of her legs around his hips pulling their bodies closer as she unashamedly thrust herself onto him. Pulling apart for air; he looked down at her. Her lips were swollen and red but her eyes showed she was not nearly done. There was a hunger within them both.

"You better not be messing with me!" she said with a smile. He gave her his best charming smirk as she pulled his face back to hers.

…

Colonel Cameron Mitchell had just finished his mid-day sparring session with Teal'c and was doing his routine afternoon jog around the ship. In a very OCD way he liked to start off passing his team members quarters first. Usually at this time in the afternoon they were still doing whatever they usually did throughout the day and he wouldn't have to worry about having stop and chat to any of them, mainly Vala and General Landry, about how he was handling himself which on most days was like a stir-crazy nutcase.

He passed each door, not paying them much notice until he came to Colonel Carters and nearly ran straight into a very underdressed General O'Neill.

"Whoa! Sorry sir!" Cam apologised as he slowed up. O'Neill ran a hand through his rather messy grey hair and just gave him a satisfied smile before tucking his shirt into his still unbuckled pants and heading off past him.

"Colonel." He said by way of greeting as he practically skipped down the corridor and disappeared around a corner.

Cam smirked at the obvious implications of what he had just seen and continued jogging along the corridor. Things were certainly going to change now.

-The End-