Carter was close to figuring it out. She twisted her upper body so she could get at a troublesome crystal near the back of the panel while trying to avoid touching any of the power lines running through the space. She managed to get the crystal tuned properly, and started to withdraw her hand, carefully navigating through the other crystals...

*Zap!*

Sam jerked back involuntarily, but kept moving until she was against the wall. She dropped her tool and shook her hand, wincing at the uniquely uncomfortable sensation of having just been slightly electrocuted.

"Trouble, Carter?"

Carter shook her head to clear it and stood up gingerly. "Not really, sir."

Colonel O'Neill stood in the doorway, an amused smirk on his face. "You done in here, then, or do you have to do that a couple more times?"

Carter guessed it was probably amusing...to watch. She really wasn't in the mood to be laughed at, though, and she almost frowned.

"Actually, sir, I just have to make sure I didn't short anything out and then we should be good to go."

O'Neill didn't miss the hint of annoyance in her tone, but he ignored it.

Carter grabbed the tool and crouched near the panel again. She checked each row of crystal methodically, getting the green light on all of them. She was very conscious of Colonel O'Neill over her shoulder the whole time. It was irritating, but she avoided looking at him, knowing he was in one of his moods.

"Carter," he said just as she started the last row.

She just barely managed to avoid hitting the power lines again. She paused a moment, then kept going.

He leaned even closer and said, "Carter," so close that his breath tickled her ear.

Carter bit back a retort. Honestly, someday she was going to request a medal for keeping herself under control when he baited her like this.

She turned her head, hoping it would force him back. "Yes, sir?" she asked innocently.

He didn't move back. He couldn't be more than two inches from her face. His eyes flicked to her lips, and Carter suddenly felt a surprised jolt as she redefined her irritation and annoyance into something a little different.

"Are you almost done?"

She refused to pull back. She licked her lips quickly, and O'Neill followed the gesture. "Almost."

Oh, yeah. Not exactly annoyance.

"You wanna...take a break?"

"And do what? Sir."

She *felt* him shrug, he was that close, and suddenly, Carter knew he was going to kiss her. It wasn't like he had to move, even, he just sort of...nudged closer to her, and she wanted to back away, but didn't, and then he was brushing her lips and then leaning into her. She was slightly off-balance, so she reached out for him, putting her arms around his neck. He hummed into her lips and--

She heard footsteps in the corridor.

"Sam? Have you finished yet? Jack was looking for you earlier." Daniel's voice preceded him into the room. By the time he rounded the corner, Sam was bent back over the panel, and O'Neill was across the room, sitting against the wall, his head tilted back against it.

Sam finished the row with a flourish, stood up, and said, "There. done."

Daniel looked at her curiously. "You okay? You look a little warm."

Sam blinked. "Warm? No, I feel fine. Let's get out of this asteroid field."

O'Neill said, "Finally," and stood up. He gestured to Carter to go first, with Daniel following her back to the bridge.