Not So Different
by Jennamajig

SUMMARY: Geeks are so different. Little post-ep for Avenger 2.0.

SPOILERS/SEASON: Season 7. Spoilers for Avenger 2.0, with little mentions of Fragile Balance, Orpheus, and Lifeboat.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: After writing a depressing fic (and trying to work on a longer maybe happier sequel), I needed to write one with a better ending. Here it goes. I didn't particularly care too much for this episode, but did see some fic potential (who wouldn't with a wet Daniel?) and this was the result. I'm on a bit of a fic writing streak and this doesn't happen often (if ever), so I hope you enjoy.

DISCLAIMER: The characters mentioned in this story are the property of Showtime and Gekko Film Corp. The Stargate, SG-I, the Goa'uld and all other characters who have appeared in the series STARGATE SG-1 together with the names, titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of MGM-UA Worldwide Television, Gekko Film Corp, Glassner/Wright Double Secret Productions and Stargate SG-I Prod. Ltd. Partnership. This fanfic is not intended as an infringement upon those rights and solely meant for entertainment. All other characters, the story idea and the story itself are the sole property of the author.

"ACHOO!"

"Guess I don't need to ask how you're feeling," commented Janet Fraiser as she handed her most frequent visitor a tissue. Daniel took it, grateful for something soft and dry, no matter how small.

"It's just a cold, Janet. You'd have one too after being stranded in flood waters for hours," he insisted, but knew nothing would stop the endless amount of tests Janet would ultimately run. Truth was, he didn't mind as much, as long as he got to be warm and dry while she did them.

"We'll see about that one," she said noncommittally, tossing a pair of scrubs on the bed next to him. "Go take a shower, change, then I'll take a look."

Daniel looked at the clothing like it was the world's greatest artifact. Dry clothes and a warm shower. Heaven. "Janet, I could kiss you right now."

She laughed. "Not with those germs, you won't." She pulled the curtain back. "Ten minutes, Daniel." She pointed toward the shower and left to check another member of the relocation mission.

It took every ounce of willpower for Daniel to drag himself out from underneath the warm shower spray, but he knew if he didn't present himself back in the infirmary soon, Janet would send a search team. And the last thing he wanted was that. Daniel was a modest and private man, sharing his precious shower time with no one except Jack O'Neill. And even then Jack had to weasel himself between Daniel and the warm water. Maybe it was a bit unhealthy, but after spending most of his life on sandy digs and dirty planets, showers were revered in the highest regard in Daniel Jackson's world.

And a shower was exactly what he needed after this mission. A simple relocation - locating natives from a drowning planet elsewhere - seemed like a simple project. Since returning to human form with little if any memory of the life he lived before, Daniel had been overwhelmed, to say the least. The first month was spent just trying to reclaim memories. And one by one they trickled in. His parents. College life. The Stargate project. Sha're. Teal'c. Sam. Jack.

Jack. Now that memory certainly took him by surprise. It was simple really. When Jack's teenage twin made himself at home, Daniel found himself looking through Jack's underwear drawer.

How did he know where Jack kept him underwear. Or more importantly, how did he recognize the red silk boxers? The ones in the way corner, only worn at very certain times?

Daniel did a lot of catching up then. A trip to Jack's doorstep soon landed him in Jack's bed, where the two made up for over a year lost. Both had been so nervous, however, that it might as well have been their first time.

"Just like riding a bike," Daniel had muttered, trying to reassure himself in the beginning moments.

"A bike, huh?" Jack's eyes took on a determined gaze. "Well, get ready for a bumpy ride."

The rest was history, he supposed, as he reorganized his office the month after that. It took that long. The archeologist was by no means neat, but he had a system. One that had taken some time to perfect, and one Jonas had taken very little time to destroy. Oh well, he couldn't blame the man, it hadn't been Daniel's office anymore; he could with it what he liked, he supposed. Besides, missions begin to add up, they rescued Bratac and Ry'ac, and translation piled up on Daniel's desk higher then he could keep up with.

Which was why he took the relocation mission and let Jack and Teal'c handle the "meet-and-greet" arrangement for once. Of course, he hadn't counted on Felger's "brilliant" idea and it's linkage to the temporary destruction of the entire Stargate network.

He, unlike everyone else it seemed, didn't blame Felger. Daniel could only remember how he promised another general that he could a team safely back from Abydos when, in fact, he no concrete evidence to support his claim. Felger was only trying to keep his job. Daniel could certainly understand that motivation.

And he kept that in mind as he walked back to the infirmary, hair still wet, coughing into his hand. The area was a little less crowded now. Daniel's team had been the last stranded team to come back, partly due to the relocation, and partly due to the rising floodwaters. They had all barely made it through as it was. Another half an hour and the Stargate would have been completely covered by water, making return all the more difficult.

Janet was waiting for him, his chart in hand. He suppressed a cough as he repositioned himself on the bed. He hoped this wouldn't take long. All he wanted was to go home and curl up in his bed. Or better yet, go to Jack's and curl up in their bed. And sleep for three days straight. It was then he realized he hadn't seen Jack yet. He knew he had to be back. He hadn't been with Sam when he'd seen her briefly. All she said was that he and Teal'c planned to "drop in" on Hammond in a little while.

"Have you seen Jack?" Daniel asked.

"Stay open," Janet insisted, taking that opportunity to shine a penlight down his throat. "I gave him the all-clear a while ago. Then he was straight off to a meeting with General Hammond. Think it involved Sam and Dr. Felger as well."

Ah, that explained it. That meeting could take hours, Daniel thought. He hoped Hammond - and Jack, for that matter - weren't too hard on Felger. He meant well and all worked out in the end. For all they knew, it might not be Felger's fault. He'd heard stories of the man - of what happened when he'd been gone. Jack told him Felger was a geek, plain and simple. Daniel raised his eyebrows at that. Not too many years ago, the colonel had the very same sentiments toward a certain archeologist. Even said it out loud. So, Daniel took it in stride and figured, Felger couldn't be _that_ bad. Bumbling, maybe. Scatter-brained, sure. But so was he. Disastrous ...

"Daniel?"

He looked up to find Janet staring at him.

"Sorry," he apologized, before sneezing again, and launching himself into a series of long coughs. Janet handed him a glass of water, which he took, nodding his thanks.

"Anyway, as I was about to say, I think you have bronchitis. Your temperature is elevated, and your lungs sound congested. And I would bet money your white cell count is elevated. I want to take a chest x-ray to make sure that's all it is. Then I'll take a look at the blood work and we'll take from there." She gestured to the bed. "We're still a bit overbooked, so you might want to lay down for awhile. I'll wake you when it's your turn."

At first Daniel sighed. Tired as he was, if he gave into it, it was all the more reason for Janet to keep him overnight. But after he caught her eye, he knew it wasn't a suggestion. He let his head hit the pillow, reveling in the fact that it was dry, and thanks to his congestion, didn't bother his nose. He let himself drift off, lulled by the sounds of infirmary - music to his eyes after almost twenty solid hours of heavy raindrops.

"Doc?"

He'd almost fallen asleep when he heard Jack's voice, and heard the heavy footsteps. He unconsciously smiled, and settled deeper into the pillow. He didn't even bother opening his eyes.

"Do _not_ even thinking about waking him up, Colonel."

Too late, Daniel thought, but it didn't matter. He was so tired that very little could move him from his current position.

"I'm awake," he mumbled, still not moving.

"See? Told you." More footsteps, then a hand on his shoulder. He knew who it was.

"Go 'way, Jack." He clutched the blanket tighter.

"I'm hurt that you don't want me around, Daniel. After Teal'c and I go and get this ship and fly across the galaxy to rescue Carter and Felger from his science experiment." The hand strayed up to Daniel's hair. Daniel knew when Jack dared to do something like that, even small as it was, that he'd been worried. Truly worried. After the "lifeboat" incident, as Daniel referred to it, Jack had practically latched himself onto the linguist sneaking little touches in here and there. When he wanted to be Jack was certainly a "touch" man. And it was those little touches he truly enjoyed; the things that really let him know Jack O'Neill cared. In any and every sense.

He sighed and turned onto his back, opening his eyes to look at Jack. "I'm fine," he promised. "Have a cold."

"More like bronchitis," Janet chirped in. "And now he's off to x-ray to make sure that's all he has." She had a wheelchair positioned in front of her.

"I can walk."

"I'm sure you can. Daniel, but humor me and take a ride." Daniel sighed and lowered himself down in the chair, suddenly cold now that he'd left the nest of blankets he'd built around himself.

"Here," Jack handed him a blanket, which Daniel took gratefully. "I can take him." Janet nodded and left, leaving Jack to push Daniel down through the infirmary to the small x-ray department.

"So..." Daniel started.

"So..."

Silence.

"You didn't kill Felger, did you Jack?"

"Why would you think a thing like that, Daniel?"

"Oh, I don't know."

Another moment of silence.

"He still has a job."

"Good."

The wheelchair stopped and Jack waited while the technicians did their work. Two hours later, Janet had finally agreed to release him, with a diagnosed case of bronchitis, prescriptions, a mound of tissues, and the promise that he'd stay with Jack for a least a day or two.

No problems there.

Sitting in Jack's car soon after, Daniel wondered back to his and Jack's conversation, vowing to stop by and say hi to Jay Fegler whenever Janet let him back into the mountain. Sure, the guy had dealt with the O'Neill charm twice now, but Daniel was an expert and it wouldn't help to offer a pointer or two. He'd get Sam to come, too, although he figured she may steer clear of Felger for a while. The crush the man had on her could be spotted a mile away. Maybe instead they could just offer to teach a training course.

A course. He laughed as he pictured himself in front of every SGC scientist welcoming them to "Mastering Jack O'Neill 101."

"What's so funny?"

He found Jack staring at him. "Oh, nothing."

"Nothing?" Jack turned to pull the car into the driveway.

"Nothing." He watched as Jack cut the engine. A thought formed in his head. "Ah. Jack?"

"Yes, Daniel?"

He squashed it. "You promise you weren't too hard on Felger?"

"Daniel, what is it with you about Felger? The guy almost single-handedly took down the entire Stargate network. For good, stranding a lot of our best defense off-world, including yourself, Daniel."

For a second, Daniel was a little shocked that Jack referred to him as part of the best defense Earth had. But the compliment was steering them off-track. "And over seven years ago, I almost didn't find the right coordinates to get us back from Abydos." Daniel saw Jack's eye make the connection. "Not so different, Jack. I messed up, but we got back on track, and eventually it all worked out. Freed the people of Abydos, fixed a major Stargate glitch - all on the same level. You thought I was a geek then. Socially inept, scatter-brained-"

"... clumsy ..."

"Exactly, so -"

"... but with a great butt."

"Jack!" Daniel could feel the blush in his cheeks.

"Well, you did have a nice rear end, Daniel. Still do, in fact. Much better then Felger's."

"That's besides the - hey, you checked out Felger's butt?" He held up his hands, shaking them. "Never mind. You're missing the point. The point is that geek or not, the man is smart, along with every other member of mine and Sam's staff."

"I'm well aware of that, Daniel." Jack took the key out of the ignition. "Listen, Hammond, Carter, Felger, and I had a break-down briefing. Despite the disaster that might have brought the end of the universe as we know along with it, the idea has a lot of promise. Now, I don't understand half the scientific techno-babble, but Carter's behind it. Good enough for me. So Felger's still got a job and yet another chance." He paused. "Just like you." He shrugged. "Of course, you went the extra mile, but hey, guess everyone's not a Daniel Jackson."

Daniel smiled widely at the compliment. "That's all I needed to hear, Jack. Thanks."

He smiled. "Besides, I know one so-called geek that I'm glad I kept around." Even though awkward, Jack leaned across the seat to kiss his companion. A sneeze interrupted his actions.

"Sorry, Jack." Daniel offered up a tissue. "Guess I'm still that geek, huh?"

Jack took the tissue. "Nah. You're Daniel. My Daniel."

And Daniel couldn't argue with that.

- The End -

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