Obviously I do not own these characters, just borrowing them and bending them to my will briefly.

Very mild spoilers for beneath the surface.

Enjoy! Feedback would be great.

Jack

p4x8...whatever is hot and wet and muggy. Daniel and Carter have been playing in a bunch of ruins for the greater part of the afternoon. I am wet and bored and sweating and about ready to lose it entirely. Things are made infinitely worse by the fact that Carter has now stripped down to her undershirt, which is soaked and clinging to every curve. And of course Teal'c and I are on watch, and as far as I can tell there is not so much as a chipmunk on this rock, so there is absolutely nothing for me to do but stare at my second's ass while she tries her best to cram herself inside whatever do-dad it is she's discovered.

I take a swig of my canteen and hope to hell that Teal'c returns from his perimeter check before I do something I may or may not regret. The rain seems like it's going to keep up indefinitely and we're stuck on this rock for at least another 24 hours. "O'Neill, come in." I nearly jump for joy at the prospect of something happening, which considering all the shit we've been through lately, is really just plain sad. "Teal'c, buddy, what's happening?" It's possible I may come off sounding a little...crazed. While I radio back I turn back towards Carter just in time to catch her shirt riding up her rib cage while she attempts to shimmy further into the control panel of...whatever.

She assures me that she's almost, maybe, possibly certain that it's not dangerous. And from what Daniel has deciphered from the writing on it, it seems to be some kind of shielding device. Daniel, who is crouched at my feet under a poncho attempting to translate the rubbings he's taken of the ruins, must notice me staring, because I receive a swift elbow to the shin and a rather disapproving frown. I concede I'm being a dirty old man with a shrug and turn to face the jungle. Daniel and I would be a lot drier if Carters equipment wasn't taking up all the good cover. I guess me being wet is better than Carter being electrocuted.

"There appear to be more ruins on this planet. I am returning to your position." I nudge Daniel with my knee as he seems to be engrossed is translating once again. "Danny, you're with T, he found more ruins for you to play in." Daniel shuts his notebook and starts to pack up. He leans forward, close enough that Carter can't hear me. "Your, ah, 'subtlety' is sorely lacking today." He pushes himself to his feet off my shoulder, giving me one last 'you're a dirty old man' look. I try for an innocent look, but I'm pretty sure he's not buying it. He just rolls his eyes at me and grabs his pack, strapping his P-90 back to his vest.

Carter shimmies herself out from under her...rock, giving me another peek at her toned stomach. Carter of course is military before scientist so she has heard every word of T and I's discussion. "We should have about 6 more hours until sunset, Sir. The days are significantly longer here than on Earth. I think I've figured out the power configuration on this thing, I just need to double check everything and then I'll try to use the naquadah generator to get it going.."

Teal'c appears before me, strapping his pack on his back and helping Daniel to his feet. "Alright kids, radio in every half hour, we'll meet back here 21:00 hrs, that should leave us plenty of time to set up camp. And T, keep an eye on the weather, just in case this turns into something" I wave my hand vaguely at the greyish purple clouds. At this Carter shimmies back under her rock, Teal'c tilts his head in affirmation, and him and Danny disappear into the jungle.

I realize belatedly that now I have even less to keep me occupied, less to stop be from ogling Carter. I take a seat where Daniel was, pulling my poncho further forward to stop my knees from getting completely soaked, although why I bother then I am sweating so much I've been soaked for hours, I have no idea. "Carter...I am soooo freaking bored."

"Well Sir, I might actually need your help in a second. Seems I might need more than two hands to actually hook up the generator. And if you could grab the power cables out of my tool kit and hook them up to the generator that would be great." It takes me a few minutes to locate the cords but I have it hooked up in no time. I realize my poncho is doing nothing for the weather, and it slowing me down, so I ditch it with Carter's and just accept that I'm not getting dry until sometime tomorrow afternoon. "Okay Carter, now what?"

Carter shifts so she lying on her side, from what I can gather, attempting to make room for me to slide in next to her. Oh, no way in hell..."Carter, tell me you don't actually want me to slide in there with you?" She shifts down a few feet and raises her eyebrow at me in a perfect impression of T, grabbing for a wrench that's by her feet at the same time. "Oh well, if you want I could get Daniel back here to squeeze in here with me...Sir." The Sir is tacked on the end as an afterthought, and I'm left wondering just how oblivious Carter has actually been to my staring at her, ahem, assets all day. There's an evil glint in her eye that suggests Daniel may have been correct and I haven't been subtle at all.

We've been pushing the limits more and more lately, and my sanity. Ever since Jonah and Thera two months ago, we've both been struggling to keep a rein on our emotions, and well, responses to each other. Not that much of anything actually happened under the surface, it certainly would have soon enough. And instead of feeling grateful that nothing physical occurred between us, I can't help but think of it as just another missed opportunity. Don't get me wrong, there are definitely feelings behind my obvious lust, if there weren't I probably would have gotten over my attraction to her a long time ago. But the feelings just amplify my reactions to her.

"Alright, Cater. Just remember, it was your terrible idea." The last part is muttered under my breath. I kneel down beside her and pass the cables up into the console before ducking my head and attempting to worm my way up beside her. Oh this is SUCH a bad idea. I can smell her sweat and shampoo, and my knee is almost between hers there is so little space. I finally manage to slither my way almost to eye level. My arms above my head with nowhere to go.

"Where do you want me Carter?"Oh god, was that my voice? If she didn't know where my thoughts have been all day, I'm sure she does now. Let's just say my voice just dropped a few octaves. She squirms her hands up above her head to show me what she needs. "Okay, this cover needs to go back over top and latch back in. It's attached though, so I just need you to hold it up and out of my face while I attach it to the cables. Hopefully there is enough room for the cables, I'm pretty sure the cover has to slide back in before I can turn it on, I think to protect from a power surge."

"Okay, that doesn't sound good, please don't electrocute us." I slide as far onto my back as possible so I can get both hands up above our heads. Grabbing hold of the panel I hold it as far out of her way as possible. I realize though that she's going to have to lie almost on top of me for this to work. Oh my self control is really not this good. And I've been in special ops for a good portion of my career.

She shifts so she's half on her side, half on her back, and her booted foot shifts between my legs so she can get some leverage. There's really not room for both my arms and Carters head so I grab hold of the panel with one hand and shift my other one down, only there is nowhere for it to go that is at all appropriate. I finally just give up and slide my arm around her torso, mumbling an apology in her ear. I swear to god she lets out a soft little groan when my hand accidentally brushes bare skin. She seems to be having trouble getting her hands where she needs them and all her squirming is causing my body to react in ways I have no control over. I try picturing dead puppies and general hammond naked and anything that can possibly save me some dignity, but with her next shift she inhales sharply and pauses, and I know there is no way she's missed what her movements have done to me.

"God, sorry Carter. I really can't help it." Every word I speak sends a puff of hot air across her clavicle, and I can feel her ribs begin to rise and fall more rapidly in response. Apart from her breathing, she's frozen against me, probably trying to come up with some graceful way out of this. At this point I'm pretty sure we're screwed...pun very much intended, but she's always been the brains of this operation, so I stay perfectly still and hold my breath until she responds. When she does, it's not exactly what I was expecting. Denial I would have been prepared for. Or some techno babble to distract us from the situation. What I absolutely do NOT expect is for her to very purposefully shift her ass back against me.

"Fuck...playing with fire here Carter." My hand clenches against her abs uncontrollably, trying desperately to hold on to some semblance of control.

"With all due respect...Sir" Oh God, no way am I ever going to be able to hear her call me that again and NOT get instantly hard. "You've been playing with fire all damn day."

I cough a little in embarrassment. "So umm, not at all subtle I guess?"

"Look in the direction you were standing earlier." Thankfully she has ceased rubbing against me, at least for the moment. I shift my head a little so I can look over her shoulder. And I see exactly what she is saying. Although the panels covering the device are a flat slate grey from the outside, they have an almost two way mirror effect on the inside. "Lets just say, subtlety is not your strong suit today."

"Sorry, Sam." I'm glad she's facing away from me, cuz it takes a hell of a lot to get a blush out of me, but I'm fairly certain I am beet red at the moment. "I will try to keep my...issues to my self from now on. I don't want to make you uncomfortable."

She must notice the pause, and if this were 3 months ago, she probably would have let it slide, but we've been playing games and taunting each other way too much lately to let it go on. "I sense a But..." I can tell she's struggling to stay still, for both our sakes.

"Mmm, but, if you decide you want something more from me...it has to be your call. I will try my damndest to keep myself to my...self, but if you don't want that, I will happily bust down that door we keep trying to lock this behind." I hold my breath again waiting for her response. She opens her mouth to respond just as our radios crackle to life. "Jack, do you read?"

The only radio I can get my hands on is hers, clipped to her hip right below my hand. I realize belatedly that I'm going to have to reach my arm across her chest in order to get the walkie anywhere near my face, squeezing her upper body tightly against mine, so I can get it in front of my face above her opposite shoulder. The noise that escapes her is almost a growl and her hips grind back against mine as if they have a mind of their own. "Sorry." I try to placate her before responding to Daniel's page. If I don't respond soon he'll get suspicious.

"Yes Daniel, what can I do for you?"

"Well Jack, I was hoping you'd let Teal'c and I set up camp here for the night, seeing as the how we haven't come across so much as a bird on this planet, and there is a whole lot of text to decipher here. That way I wouldn't have to waste time hiking back and forth." Before I even have time to respond he's off on another tangent, as if I had turned him down already. "And the weather seems to be letting up so you don't have to worry as much about a storm, and..." At this point I really can't take any more.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it Daniel. Okay. Just be careful. We'll meet up for lunch tomorrow. I still want you to check in every hour though"

Daniel

I just finished translating the first section, when I realize I forgot one of my books in the pile of gear left back at Jack and Sam's position. I may not even need it but I hate being unprepared. So before I go any further I gather up my P90 and my canteen and follow Teal'c back to the others.

It takes us about 30 minutes to reach Sam and Jack. Before we can even step out into the clearing I feel Teal'c's hand close over my mouth. At first I think something is wrong, but he hasn't raised his weapon and he's using his free hand to direct my gaze into the clearing.

I'm glad he has his hand over my mouth, cuz I definitely let out a surprised little yelp when I get a good look at Sam and Jack. From this vantage point I can see their legs tangled together sticking out from under the machine and Jack's hand, in an incredibly compromising position along Sam's rib cage. Before I have a chance to say or do anything, Teal's is dragging me along back into the bush. Probably better, because the last thing I want to do is embarrass them and that's the only thing that could have come from announcing our presence.

Once we have traipsed far enough back into the bush for us to be certain we won't be heard, Teal'c releases me. "What do we do?" I squeak, rubbing my eyes as if to banish the thought of Sam and Jack pressed together.

"I believe it would be beneficial for the two of us to camp at the base of the ruins you are currently studying. It is almost time for our next check in. You will contact O'Neill and convince him of such." Teal'c's tone leaves little room for argument, but I'm not terribly good at taking hints.

"Do you really think it's a good idea to leave them alone together right now?" I can't help but think of the regulations they have tried so hard to fight against. Even though I think they are bullshit, I know they must mean something to the other half of our team or they wouldn't have fought so long and hard against each other.

"Indeed. I believe it is only a matter of time before they give in to one another. This will not happen while on earth. Watching them together these last few months have been...frustrating. They must give in to their love for each other before we may function properly once more as a team." I can't help but agree with him. The last few months have been painful to watch and somewhat disturbing. Sam is like a sister to me. Watching Jack watch her ass is not one of my favourite past times.

"Do you think they'll actually do it? I mean not do it...ahem...sort it out? They've been playing this game for years...what makes you think anything will change this time?"

"Because Daniel Jackson, Jonah and Thera allowed them a brief glimpse of what could be."

"O'Neill out"

I pull my arm back down around her side, trying my best not to touch too much of her on the way down. "well shall we at least try to do what we jammed ourselves in here to do?" I don't know that I can control myself, but I will damn well try. If this isn't what she wants from me then I will do my damndest to make her happy.

"No." It comes out as a whisper and I'm about to ask her to repeat herself when she drops the cables and tools she was holding and slides a hand into my hair, turning my head so our faces are no more than an inch apart. "No Jack. I'm done. I don't want to hide and sneak around. But more than that I don't want to play games anymore. We've worked together just fine for the last 4 years, a lot of which was spent knowing exactly how we feel about each other. we are both good officers, and we're both fully capable of internalizing when we need to."

At this point she must be done talking because before I know it she's gripping my hair tighter, pulling me closer and her mouth is slanting hotly over mine. And dear lord, that time loop kiss was nothing compared to this. Her tongue is fighting mine for dominance, our teeth clashing, necks straining from the awkward angle, and before I know it my hand is sliding along her rib cage under her undershirt, playing with the bottom of her military reg sports bra. Eventually we need to break for air.

"Carter, don't get me wrong, I want this, you have NO clue how much I want this, but not here. Not like this." I'm about to remove my hand from under her shirt, when she suddenly clamped her hand down over mine.

"Oh no you don't. There is no way you are getting away with looking at me like that all day, just to leave me like this." At this she pulls my hand roughly under the waistband of her fatigues, under the edge of her panties and suddenly my fingers are sliding through her folds and she's groaning in my ear. "Ah, fuck Carter, you trying to kill me?"

"N-no Sir, but there are plenty of ways to do this with our clothes still on." My hand is moving without my consent, which is good because I don't think I have two synapses to rub together at the moment "Come on Jack, please, I won't need much."

Finally giving in I start a slow steady rhythm, and I'm so not going to last long. Before I know it she's clawing at my arm, letting out an extremely sexy little groan and her muscles are twitching against my fingers. "Sir" Comes out on a moan as she slides her ass against my cock and that's it for me, I follow her off the cliff. Kinky, but my body seems quite OK with it.

She stills in my arms and I gently slide my hand back out of her pants, and manage to make eye contact with Carter, just as she start to blush a pretty pink. I can't help but let out a snort at that. "Really, after all that, now you blush on me? And Christ Carter, keep the Sirs to yourself when we're like this. I still have to look at you across a briefing room table." This causes a giggle to escape.

"Soooo? I was thinking..."

"That's frightening. Don't hurt yourself." She just loves a good laugh at my expense.

"Oh funny Carter. We have some downtime coming when we get home. T and Danny were gonna come up to the cabin for the weekend. Any chance you wanna join? You could come up a few days early...we could do this properly?" For some reason I'm nervous all of a sudden. Doing this spur of the moment, on another planet seemingly far from any repercussions, is a far sight from doing it(no pun intended) on earth with forethought and planning. If she backs out on me now I just might cry, and that would be very, very un-colonel-like

"Yeah, I think I'd like that." It's going to be a very, very long night.

We spend the next hour futzing with the machine and finally manage to get the generator hooked up, but still nothing happens. At this point I think Carter has pretty much exhausted her options. She's going to have to send a science team back to spend some more quality time here. When we finally manage to get ourselves out of the control panel, which is in no way a graceful endeavor, the sun is just about to reach the horizon. The rain has stopped so at least there's that.

Carter always hates having to pass on her projects to the other scientists. I don't think even their brain's work on the same level as hers. She's learned from past experience that it's always better to leave meticulous instructions and ideas, or she may as well not bother sending another team back here. I leave her to it and start to set up camp. If i didn't know her so well, I'd be concerned with her sudden silence, but I do know her. She has simply switched gears. She is in geek mode, and her concentration is not likely to be broken anytime soon.

I can't help but feel privileged that she trusts me this much. Not that there is anything happening on this planet, but she is kind of a control freak, and I know it takes a lot for her to let her guard down completely while on a mission and just accept that I have her back. I leave her to mumble to herself and scribble while I set up camp.

It's well past sunset when she finally comes out of it. She looks around confused for a moment and then flushes prettily with embarrassment, fumbling to look at her watch."Oh God. Sorry Sir. I must have been doing that for hours."

I just smile and hand her a cup of coffee as she comes to join me by the fire. "It's ok Carter. It's actually kind of entertaining to watch. All that lip biting and mumbling to yourself keeps me entertained for hours." She blushes even deeper at that revelation, causing me to let out a bark of laughter. It makes me feel better to know that we can still do this. Work, and just be who we've always been. Perhaps Carter is right. Maybe we really can find a manageable balance.