"You can't leave."
"Two weeks, Cam," Sam Carter pressed, dropping her laptop into a bag and slinging it over her shoulder. "I'll be gone two weeks, tops."
"But you just got back!" Mitchell was whining. And he knew it. And he didn't care.
"I've been back for months," she corrected flatly. "And besides, you did fine without me before. You can do without me again."
"I can't," he insisted. "Don't make me beg again, Sam. It's not attractive."
Shooting him a pointed look, she told him, "Well, you're right about that, at least."
"Ouch," he complained.
"It's only two weeks." Tucking a pelican case beneath her arm, she picked up a second and third case in each hand. "Bye, Cam."
"You could help her, you know." Daniel Jackson brushed past his new team leader and took the cases from Sam's hands, allowing her to get a better grasp on the one under her arm.
"Thank you, Daniel."
"I'm not helping her leave again," Mitchell told him petulantly.
Parking himself between the two officers, Daniel clapped the two cases together. "Here's the thing. Sam is happiest when she's discovering things. When she's learning about things like -"
"The magnetic field of black holes as it relates to their growth and the potential formation of new galaxies," Carter supplied.
"That," Daniel pressed. "And when Sam's happy, we're happy. Everything is better when Sam is happy. You want Sam to be happy, don't you?"
"That's not a fair question, Jackson."
But Sam was beaming at him, and he gestured to her. "See how great that is? See how much better it is when she's smiling? And if black holes make her smile more than you do, Mitchell, maybe you should take that to heart."
She couldn't help it; she turned away and managed to mute the laughter, but couldn't keep her shoulders from shaking.
"You're mean, Jackson," Mitchell accused. "Enjoy your black hole, Sam."
She waved at him as he walked away but didn't manage to speak for a minute, still grinning. "That was mean, Daniel."
"He's just so whiny sometimes!" the archaeologist exclaimed. "He's very codependent."
"You like him."
"I do," he admitted grudgingly. "But not as much as I like you. And I'll miss you."
She rolled her eyes. "Two weeks, Daniel."
"I know. I'll walk you to the Gate."
She offered him a warm smile and a friendly shoulder bump as she headed for the door.
~/~
On second thought, maybe it was a good thing Sam Carter was headed for a black hole somewhere – anywhere – far away from the rest of SG-1. Because the people on P5X-411 were very fit and incredibly attractive… and minimalist. Extremely minimalist. The men wore simple tunics and wide-legged pants, and as far as Cam could tell, the women wore a single piece of cloth that gathered behind their necks, wound around their shoulders, crossed over their chests, then spread around them to cover the bare necessities before just grazing the floor. There was skin. A lot of skin. And Cam wasn't complaining. Rubbing his palms together, he asked, "How long is this mission, again?"
"Until Daniel Jackson has successfully translated the cave writings," Teal'c answered in his usual stoic way.
"Right. Do me a favor, Jackson, and translate slow. Real slow."