Cameron Mitchell sat back, relaxed, in the wooden chair and stretched a long, denim encased leg out in front of him as he raised a long-neck bottle of beer to his lips. He smiled as he watched the girl on stage singing for a cowboy to take her away from everything. His blue eyes glanced around him, out of habit, surveying the room for any possible threats, even in a little honky-tonk in a small town in New Mexico.

The waitress, a pretty, curvy, blonde dressed in too short shorts and a too tight t-shirt and high heels, came to collect the empty bottle and asked if he wanted another.

As he said yes, he sat up long enough to write a request on a napkin and give it to her with a tip. She looked at the request and smiled. "She doesn't do Shania, sweetheart. Anything else?"

Cameron stuck his lower lip out in a pout and motioned for her to give back the paper. He crossed the words out and thought for a moment. Then he wrote something else and she read it.

With a smile, she nodded and walked it over to the stage and put it inside the bowl and pointed back to Cam. Without a pause, the singer looked over to him and he put two fingers to his forehead in a miniature salute.

When she was done with the song she was singing, she reached into the bowl and read the note. She looked back at Cam and smiled. Then she turned her back to the audience and gave the band instructions. The band started jamming and the singer started dancing until it was time for her to start singing. She belted out the song Cam had requested about a woman who was tired of the run of the mill and was headed to a Mississippi riverboat for the weekend.

While she sang, Cam watched the line dancers take over the floor and jump and gyrate until the song was over and they were breathless. A few songs later, the band took a break and Cam watched the singer move to the bar.

He'd been watching her on stage all evening, but enjoyed the view now that she was a bit closer, especially when she leaned over the bar to reach for a bottle of water. Her legs were long and shapely, starting in high-heeled boots that disappeared under nearly skin-tight jeans and ending with a nicely rounded backside. Her waist was tiny and covered by a black shirt that opened just enough above full, but not large, breasts to leave something to the imagination. Her red hair touched her shoulders and disappeared inside a straw-colored hat. Her chin was gently squared, her lips were full, her nose was straight and Cam found himself wanting to know what color her eyes were under that hat.

She turned around and leaned against the bar and two barely legal girls approached her. She spoke to them, smiling and happened to glance toward Cam. Their eyes met and she looked back, quickly, at the girls. After a moment, her eyes found his again and quickly looked away again.

The third time she looked, he was smiling and wiggled his eyebrows, causing her to smile as she turned away after the girls left. She took a long drink from her water, then looked over her shoulder.

He wasn't there anymore and she placed the bottle on the bar in front of her and started to turn.

"Lookin' for me?" he asked, suddenly behind her.

She gasped, but quickly found her composure. "Nope. Why would I be?"

Cam leaned on the bar next to her and shrugged. "Don't know. I hear you don't do Shania songs."

She shook her head. "Nope. Had a boyfriend once who called out her name while we were…" she paused and looked at him from under the down-turned brim of her hat. Her blue eyes twinkled and her smile was sly as she continued. "Intimate."

"Ouch," Cam winced. "Not good."

"Definitely not good." She looked him up and down as she drank again from her water bottle. "You're not a regular here."

"Nope," he smiled, using her word. "Just passing through."

She pouted. "Too bad." She placed the empty water bottle down on the bar and touched a manicured finger to his chin as she walked away, back to the stage where her band was waiting.

Cam took a deep breath and let it out with a whistle. With a smile, he moved back to the table and pulled out his wallet. He put more than what he figured his bill would be on the table and walked out, looking back as the beautiful singer started singing about the consequences of cheating.

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Cameron Mitchell walked into Dr. Daniel Jackson's office and stopped in his tracks. Stargate Command's leading archaeologist and linguist had a woman in his office. Not just any woman, a woman he was laughing with. She was pretty and tall and laughing with her hand on Daniel's arm in a familiar way that made Cam think there might be a bit of something there.

Cameron coughed and Daniel looked up, and the smile melted, slightly, as he straightened. "Hello," he said.

Cameron smiled. "Hello, Dr. Jackson. Am I interrupting something?"

Daniel smiled at the woman standing next to him. He shook his head. "Mandy was just telling me a joke."

Cameron smiled. "Really? Hello, Mandy."

Mandy was staring at him, with her smile frozen on her face, until he said her name. That seemed to jolt her awake. "Hello. Colonel Mitchell, right?"

He nodded. "And you are Mandy."

She grinned. "Amanda Laguerre, Ph.D."

Cameron smiled at her, turning up the charm. "Doctor Mandy."

Her smile tightened and she looked at Daniel with a wink. "I'll let you get back to work, Daniel." She turned to Cameron and smiled even wider. "Colonel Mitchell."

Cameron couldn't help watching her go, then turned to Daniel. "So, what was so funny?"

"I don't think it would make sense to you, Cameron. No offense but it is the subtle play on Ancient Egyptian that makes it funny."

Cam picked up an artifact and started looking at it. "That looked like something promising."

Daniel reached out and plucked the artifact from his teammate and friend. "Oh? How so?"

"Come on, Daniel," Cam scoffed. "I think she's into you."

Daniel eyebrows rose and his eyes narrowed. "What?" He started to smile again. "What are you talking about?"

Cameron shrugged. "I could be wrong."

Daniel nodded and pushed his glasses up to the bridge of his nose. "Yes, well, I think so."

Cameron chuckled. "Have you eaten?"

"What? Oh, yes. I had lunch – "

"It's dinnertime."

"It's dinnertime?"

"Yep," Cameron started to touch another artifact.

Daniel knew that Cameron was more different from Jack than they were alike, but Cameron had the same ADHD tendencies that could lend to things getting broken as his dear best friend. It was times like these, when Cam's actions reminded Daniel of Jack, that Daniel missed Jack most. In times like these, Daniel knew that using the same methods to handle Cam as he used to use with Jack was the ticket.

Quickly moving the artifact in question out of reach and agreeing to go to dinner was just the thing to get Cameron away from precious items that could not be replaced if broken.

Unfortunately, Daniel realized as they walked to the cafeteria, Cameron was as persistent at annoying questions as Jack was.

"So, who is this Amanda Laguerre, Ph.D.?"

Daniel rolled his eyes. "She is a linguist and a member of my staff. She is a specialist in Native American languages, particularly those of the South and Western United States, but she speaks around twenty languages in addition to the thirteen or so Native American languages she knows."

Cameron whistled. "So she knows almost as many languages as you."

Daniel grinned. "Yes. Almost. We're colleagues and that is all."

Cameron held up his hands in surrender. "Hey, I believe you." He said it in a way that read, "I don't really believe you," and Daniel sighed.

Samantha Carter arrived in the mess at the same time Daniel and Cameron arrived. "Wow, Daniel, two meals in a row. How'd you do it, Cam?"

Cam smiled. "I started touching his stuff."

Daniel stopped and stared at Cam.

Cam wiggled his eyebrows and smiled.

Daniel then shook his head and went to retrieve a tray to get his food.

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Amanda Laguerre, Ph.D. was moving down the hall on Level 19 of the SGC, reading as she walked. Suddenly, she heard a voice call out to her.

"Dr. Mandy!"

She fought the tightening in her jaw and turned to see Cameron Mitchell dressed in a flight suit that fit him like a leather glove walking toward her.

"What's up, Doc?"

She pursed her lips to fight a smile. "Could you please stop calling me Dr. Mandy?"

Cam's eyebrows rose. "Really? Okay, sure, fine." He shrugged.

"Daniel – er, Dr. Jackson is the only one who gets away with that and he learned it from my father. I'd really rather be called Amanda, or Dr. Laguerre, which ever you prefer."

Cam smiled. "I can call you Amanda?"

A sudden smile split her face as she opened the door to her lab. "As long as you don't call me Shania."

Cam frowned. "What?"

She wiggled her eyebrows and disappeared inside the lab.

Teal'c turned the corner on Level 19 and found Lieutenant Colonel Cameron Mitchell staring at a closed door with a thoroughly perplexed look on his face. "Is there something wrong, ColonelMitchell?"

Cam's eyes lingered on the door as his head turned slowly toward Teal'c. Finally, the eyes moved from the door to the tall Jaffa. "What? Oh. No, Teal'c. I don't think…actually, I'm not sure."

Teal'c's right eyebrow rose.

"I need to talk to Daniel." Cameron frowned. "See ya later, big guy." As he passed, he patted Teal'c's shoulder.

Teal'c acknowledged the younger man's departure with a nod, then, with a look that read "I'll never understand these Tau'ri" proceeded down the hall to his original destination.

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Cameron Mitchell walked into Daniel Jackson's office and stood, expectantly in front of the archaeologist until he looked up from the text he was translating.

"Yes?" Daniel said, finally.

"Tell me about Dr. Laguerre."

Daniel looked up at Cam, surprised. He frowned. "What – what do you want to know?"

"Where is she from? How do you know her father? Do I know her and not know it?"

Daniel smiled. "Now, how would I know if you know her or not?"

Cameron looked impatient. "Come on, Jackson. Spill."

"She is from a small town in New Mexico and I met her father when we were returning from Sheppard Air Force Base last year after some training we both took there and her hometown is on the way, so we stopped." Daniel explained. After a pause, he smiled. "What makes you think you might know her and not know it?"

Cameron frowned. "You got a map?" He walked around to Daniel's computer and opened the link to Internet Explorer. He found Google Maps and plotted a route to Wichita Falls, Texas from Colorado Springs, Colorado.

"What are you doing?" Daniel asked, thoroughly amused.

"Clayton. She's… Clayton…" he muttered.

"Excuse me?"

Cameron rose and walked out. "Thanks, Doc." he called out over his shoulder.

Daniel chuckled. Then, the thought to call his friend and colleague popped into his head.

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"Why would he be on his way here?"

Cameron walked into the lab and found Amanda Laguerre on the phone.

"You're right. He's here. You'll have to tell me how you do that sometime. Yeah." she snickered. "You're probably right. I'll talk to you later."

"Jackson?" Cameron asked when she hung up the phone.

She smiled at him. "Can I help you with something, Colonel?"

"Clayton, New Mexico."

Her eyebrows rose. "What about it?"

"I was there not too long ago. It's a small, but pleasant town in the northeast corner of New Mexico, where I stopped for a bite to eat. There was a little saloon with a band and a singer."

Her eyebrows rose and she smiled a closed-mouth, crooked smile.

Cameron moved to the other side of the desk where he could see her better. Her hair was red and tied up in an efficient bun, a lab-coat hid her figure but nothing could disguise the way her blue eyes danced. He moved slowly and closer to her as he spoke.

"This singer wouldn't sing Shania songs because a boyfriend had called her Shania during…" he was moving closer. "An intimate moment."

"'Ouch. Not good'," her smile now showed her teeth.

"Funny, that's what I said."

"Is it?" She tried to feign innocence, but the smile ruined it.

"Sure is." He was right next to her now, and leaned his long body against the lab table like a cowboy at a bar. "Thing is, though, I never got her name. And she was wearing this hat, so I never really got a real good look at her face."

She tried to fight the smile by sticking her bottom lip out in a pseudo-pout as she said. "Aw. Now that's just too bad. You didn't tell me it was going to be sad story."

"Oh, yeah. Tragic, really. See this lady singer asked if I was new in town and I said that I was only passing through. She said 'Too bad.' Really crushing for a guy to think he might get lucky if only he could afford the time to stick around for a while."

A laugh escaped her. "If only," she chuckled in an attempt to recover her composure.

"That's what I said. All the way back to Colorado Springs."

"Really?" She seemed surprised, for a moment, but recovered nicely when he said:

"Yep. And who do you suppose that lady singer was?"

"Jennifer Nettles?"

"Jenn--" he frowned. "Cute. No, but it was a Sugarland song she sang instead of my Shania request."

"Really, how coincidental."

Cameron straightened. "So did you know who I was then?"

"Me?" Her hand touched the base of her neck in a grand Southern gesture.

His smile was gone and his blue eyes drilled into her. "Yes, you."

But she wouldn't even pretend to be intimidated.

"The very first time you and I really met was that day in Daniel's office." Amanda grinned. "I had never set eyes on you before…seeing you at my grandfather's place in Clayton. I had no idea who you were then and was seriously not interested in getting 'lucky' with a cowboy who was 'just passing through'."

"So why didn't you say anything when we met in Jackson's office?"

She smiled. "Why didn't you?"

"I didn't remmmm--I asked you first."

This time she laughed with her mouth open. "Well, I knew who you were as soon as you spoke in Daniel's office, but, if you didn't remember, I wasn't going to remind you." She tilted her head. "Nobody here knows about my singing."

Cameron smiled. "Just to let you know: I'm pretty much set here. Not passing through. How 'bout you?"

Amanda's smiled melted slightly and she looked up at him. She examined his face and found only honesty. Then she smiled again, but differently. "I'm not passing through."

She looked down and then back up at him, chewing her lip. "Did you have something on your mind?"

Cameron was close enough to her at this point to see that there were freckles under the thin layer of makeup on her face and he could smell vanilla and flowers. He looked serious as he responded to her big blue eyes.

"How about dinner?"

"When? Where?"

He looked at his watch. "How 'bout now? Not terribly romantic, but I have a briefing in an hour. I'm hungry now, if you are."

Her eyes were searching his face again and after a moment, she smiled, saucily. "Famished."