Date: 26-10-2002

~*+*~

If we both were born in another place and time
This moment might be ending in a kiss
But there you are with yours
And here I am with mine
So I guess, we'll just be leaving it at this.

Olivia Newton-John, I honestly love you.

~*+*~

"Carter?" Jack called, sticking his head into the locker room.

The women's sign was up, but Jack new that Sam was the only one in
there, if she was there at all, and he didn't really want to walk in
on her in a compromising position.

SG-1 had just come back to the base after their little adventure in
the Atlantic, and it was early in the morning. Jonas and Teal'c, with
their strange resistance to the freezing waters of the Atlantic, had
simply retired to their quarters to sleep. Whereas Sam and Jack,
being very much human and very much affected by the water, needed to
shower.

All of the men had gone to the infirmary to get checked out first so
that Sam could have the locker room, but that had been well over an
hour ago and no one had seen or heard from her since, which had them
all a little worried.

"Carter?" Jack called again, walking into the room, with one hand
covering his eyes and the other hand outstretched to prevent any
collisions with inanimate objects. "Carter?" He called, hearing the
sounds of the water pounding down onto the shower floor.

Her voice was weak, small and fragile, but Jack was certain that he
heard her call out his name. His *name*, not Colonel, or sir, but
Jack. Immediately he knew that something was wrong, she only ever
called him Jack in desperation.

Forgetting chivalry, common curtesy, or the fact that seeing Samantha
Carter naked could do serious damage to his thought capacity and
hormones, he ran to the shower area and stepped behind the wall that
divided the room.

And there she was.

Lying on the shower floor, curled up in the foetal position, and
shaking like a leaf. He crouched down next to her, and placed a
gentle hand on her shoulder and that's when he felt the water. It was
freezing, so cold that he doubted that the hot water tap had even
been touched.

"Sam!" He gasped, pulling her out of the water and into his arms.

She held onto him for dear life, refusing to let go, crying into his
shirt. He reached up and turned the hot water on, waiting until the
temperature was right before he moved them forward slightly so that
they were both under the spray.

Gradually, he felt her shivers beginning to subside, as well as her
tears. She began to visibly relax, slightly loosening her grip. "I'm
sorry." She whispered.

"Don't be sorry." He returned, equally as quiet.

They sat together with the warm water cascading over them for what
seemed like an eternity, just holding each other as they felt the
bone deep chill of the water that had surrounded them slowly start to
fade.

"I'm sick of this." She murmured.

"Sick of what?"

"Facing death on a regular basis and then being expected to bounce
back and move on with life. We shouldn't have to do that. And no
amount of hazard pay is going to change the fact that I've died, or
come close, more times then I've changed the oil in my car!" She
exclaimed.

"Sam. . ."

"But most of all, I'm sick of being in limbo with you."

"Limbo?" He asked, somewhat confused.

"I'm at the zenith, of almost saying it, and almost being torn apart
because of this fear of what the ramifications will be if I do say
it!"

"Say it then. There is just you and me here, no military, no SG-1, no
pressure to save the world and risk loss of life in the process. So,
say it."

She looked at him for a moment and if he didn't know any better then
Jack would have sworn that her heart was in her eyes. "Do you know
what you're asking?"

"I'm not asking anything, do this for yourself, not for me and not
for anyone else, but for *you.* Because it's what you need to do."

"I can't stand the thought of losing you. We already lost Daniel, how
many more good people have to be die, with no resurrection in sight,
before we realise how in over our heads we are? I don't want to have
to live without you, Jack. I love you." She admitted, whispering the
last few words to him.

"I love you too."

They sat comfortably together, still under the water's stream, before
she eventually broke the silence. "So what do we do now?"

"Now, we go on. We leave it in this room, and we hold onto the hope
that it'll happen for us, maybe not today, probably not tomorrow, but
it *will* happen and I promise you that."

"You don't make promises." She reminded him.

"I don't make promises that I can't fulfil. I *guarantee* you that we
will be together someday."

"Isn't this the part where we kiss, and make love?" She asked wryly.

"It should be, but we're in a unique situation here and we can't
follow the normal format for a sappy movie."

"I just wish. . ." She replied, unaware how like her alternate she
sounded at that point.

"I know."

"Someday?" She asked, needing that final reassurance.

"Someday." He confirmed, and they let the water wash over them.

~*+*~

The end

"Hey Anubis, this is your agent. You're playing it way over the top,
can you please get serious now?"