Title: A Dance, A Chance
Summary: AU, alternate ending to "Primal"... Jack and Allison share another dance.
Rating: G
Pairing: Jack/Allison
Length: 480 words
Category: fluff
A/N: Written for scifi-five on Livejournal. And the first Eureka fic here on FanFiction! YAY!


A Dance, A Chance

As he saw them together, Jack Carter felt his heart breaking. Unable to watch what was before his eyes, he turned away.

It wasn't fair.

He'd finally—finally—gotten to kiss Allison, and he'd finally felt like his feelings for her were reciprocated. And then, as soon as he'd gotten what he'd wanted, it had been abruptly snatched away again. She'd gone back to Stark. How, after all of that, could she go back to him?

He sighed deeply, and his eyes rested for a moment on the wedding ring he still wore around his finger. And it too made him think of Stark and Allison, so he pulled it from his finger and put it away in his pocket.

Just as he was going to turn towards the door and leave, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

He turned, and was surprised by who he saw standing there.

"Allison."

She offered a light smile. "May I have this dance?" she asked, still smiling.

"I thought you were dancing with Stark," Jack said, raising an eyebrow.

"Only so I could straighten a few things out with him," she answered. "And before you ask what kind of things, I told him it was still over between us. And that I hoped we could just be friends."

Jack's breath caught. "Really?"

She nodded. "Really. I tried working it out with him once, and I'm not going to again."

Hope welled up in him at that thought, but he didn't let it show. "What'd he have to say about that?"

"He wasn't very happy about it," she answered. "He even tried to sweet talk me into trying to work things out." She imitated Stark's voice. "'Ally, you're a precious treasure. This has made me realize I don't want to lose you again.'"

"Oh…" He barely suppressed a smile.

Allison threw a glance over her shoulder at the dance floor. "So, dance?"

"It'd be my pleasure," Jack answered.

She took his hand, and led him onto the floor. As they started to sway in time to the slow, romantic music, though, she let him lead. And Jack was reminded of a similar dance they'd shared just the other day…

"Y'know, I bet there's a lot of men here who wish you were dancing with them," Jack said quietly.

"And of them, I think you're my favorite."

"Was that a compliment?"

Instead of answering, Allison simply smiled. And slowly, she leaned towards Jack, eyes falling closed. His eyes too, closed in anticipation. And their lips met in a slow, sweet kiss.

A moment later, when they parted and their eyes opened, Jack spotted someone watching them closely.

"I think I'm going to need a guardian angel," he said with a small chuckle.

"Why?" Allison asked.

"Because Stark looks like he's going to kill me."

"Car—Jack. You're the town sheriff. He can't touch you."

"Oh. Right."