jennickels | Stargate SG-1 fic: A Little Note of Advice

Stargate SG-1 | 708 words | [G]
Sam's leading her first mission, and the colonel has quite a bit of advice for her. Given in typical Jack O'Neill fashion.

Sam nearly collides with someone as she turns the corner into the conference room. She looks up into the colonel's mischievous, twinkling eyes. The corner of his mouth curls up in an adorable crooked smile that sets butterflies loose in her stomach. Blood rushes to her cheeks, and she has to look away before he notices. "Sorry, sir, I didn't see you."

"Not a problem, Carter. I was just on my way out."

"Out, sir? Aren't you staying for the briefing."

"Unfortunately, no," he says with an exaggerated sigh. "Apparently, I'm needed in Washington."

Sam cringes. "My condolences."

The colonel laughs at that. "I'll make sure to send you a postcard."

He starts to walk away, but Sam stops him. "Wait, what about the mission? Are they postponing it?"

She's been looking forward to this mission for weeks. The planet they're supposed to visit has a civilization that swears to have a Fountain of Youth. Sam can’t wait to figure out what’s really keeping the inhabitants so young. It doesn't hurt that the Stargate is located on a tropical island. She may or may not have considered bringing her bathing suit.

"Nope, the mission's still on."

"Oh. Who's going to lead?"

"They found someone very capable. I'm sure you'll get along fine."

“Who?”

He cocks an eyebrow and waits for her to catch up.

“Me?”

The colonel’s smile widens. “You’ll do great, Carter. You deserve this.” Sam doesn’t get a chance to comment before he ambles off. At the end of the hall, he pauses. “Oh, and Carter? Have some fun for me.” She swears he winks at her.

After the briefing, Sam wanders up to her lab, still not sure what to think of leading the mission. She always planned to lead a field team someday, but now? She shakes her head as she unlocks the door then notices a yellow Post-It stuck to the door—a note about the mission in the colonel’s handwriting.

She pulls it off and goes inside, finding another note next to the light switch. A reminder to double check the mission briefings before leaving. She smiles.

There are two more stuck to the monitor of her computer. The first recommends checking in with Daniel every twenty minutes. The second says, “Scratch that—don’t let Daniel out of your sight.” Sam laughs.

Then laughs harder when she finds another note on her chair—this one about triple checking the MREs to make sure a meatloaf didn’t sneak in. “Triple” is underlined three times.

Sam nearly loses it, though, when she opens the desk drawer and discovers yet another note: “Seriously, don’t let Daniel out of your sight or he’ll press a button and end the world.”

She glances around the room, locating even more notes on her stool, the table, and all of the equipment. They’re everywhere. There’s even one on the ceiling. Some are useful information; most are just silly tidbits of advice on leading her first mission. All in the colonel’s uneven scrawl.

She has to climb on the table to get the one from the ceiling. It comes loose, fluttering to the floor. She picks it up, noticing some writing on the back. The letter K.

Strange.

She flips over the pile in her hand, finding a T on the back of the last one. In fact, each has a single letter.

Even stranger.

Sam’s unsure what to make of the stack until she notices a pattern. She pulls out four consecutive notes, placing them on the table. G O O D.

Huh.

Examining the other letters, she rearranges them into a single sentence. She blushes when she reads it.

GOOD LUCK AND DONT FORGET YOUR BATHING SUIT

Only the colonel would go through this much trouble to make sure her mission is a success. She laughs until her sides hurt and tears blur her vision. She’s still chuckling two hours later as they gear-up in the Gateroom.

“Nervous?” asks Daniel at the top of the ramp.

Nope,” she says, face sore from smiling. “Just don’t wander off, Daniel, or push any buttons, and we’ll be fine.” She leaves him standing there, confused, as she laughs all the way to P3X-324.