Title: Equal Ground
Pairing: Daniel/Cam FRIENDSHIP
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I own nothing!
Author's Note: Well, people have been nagging me to go ahead and write a Mitchell fic, since apparently, I've done a fabulous job with my Daniel/Vala ones. Not sure how this one is going to go; the script's just going to birth itself through my fingertips somehow, some way, so... The main reason why I have Daniel in here at all is because of the line he said when Cam was giving his "I want to be on the front lines with the best" speech; even though our favorite archaeologist was packing for a trip to Atlantis and was probably excited about it, I thought the comment he made, "look, this is all very flattering but uh..." was a bit flippant and a little rude. Yeah, Cam's got a fanboy side to him. Hell, Daniel's a hero to him, but still, you don't just wave him off like that. So, here is where Daniel has to make amends. Enjoy!
Summary: Finally, Cam gets some much deserved respect from Daniel. (post-Avalon/Origin)

Whoa, that was a rush, Cameron crowed in his mind, jumping down and retrieving his 'land' legs on solid ground. Man, why didn't I get my ass back in the saddle sooner? That rocked!

Grinning as he flung off his helmet, he looked upward with his brilliant blue eyes and locked onto General O'Neill's brown ones, swearing to himself that the General felt just as much exhilaration as he had when he kicked in the afterburners. No sir, you could take the man out of the air, but you can't take the air out of the airman, no matter how long you've spent away from the skies. "Had a great ride, sir?"

Jack smiled back, unlatching his helmet and harness and hoisted himself out of his seat. "Yeah, it's been awhile since I've done that," he remarked casually, a tinge of childish glee escaping along with it. "It's times like these where I feel like a kid again."

"Yes sir." Mounting the steps he just ran down, he held a hand out. "Need a hand?"

Taking it gratefully and clasping his forearm, the general nodded, and replied, "Yeah. I'm not a spring chicken anymore."

"Sir, you don't look a day over forty."

"You waste a hell of a lot of brownie points flattering me and not some air force chick," he shot back. "Off the record, didn't your father ever tell you to save the sweet talk for a pair of great legs?"

Cam couldn't help but laugh. "No sir, but thank you for telling me that. Maybe I can use it on Carter some time."

"She'd break your legs."

"Probably. But at least then I'd know I belong on the team. It's a superstition that she has to beat you at something in order to secure your place."

Jack's eyes glimmered comically. "What, you think you don't belong?"

"Sir, with all due respect, I kind of feel like the replacement for you."

"I know, I know. Kinda hard to come in after the most handsome of us leaves."

Cam shook his head, disheartened. "And they don't take me seriously. Well, except Teal'c, who takes everyone seriously and looks like he can stuff you in a weapons locker."

"Hey, don't let the muscles fool you, Mitchell. The guy's a teddy bear once you get to know him."

"Yeah, probably. I can deal with Teal'c..."

"I'm sensing a 'but'."

"But it's a bit awkward."

"With Sam?"

"Well, not exactly Sam. I mean, it's great seeing her again, and I know we'll get along well and all..."

Jack began walking towards the entrance of the hangar, not leaving any room for Cam to argue. As he placed his gloves and helmet in the hands of a waiting attendant, he looked back at Mitchell, a smirk on his face. "Yeah, you definitely won't have a problem with her, considering your 'history' with her."

"Give me a break... sir," he added quickly, striding a bit faster to catch up. "My dad served under General Carter. Hell, they were so close they decided to live next door to each other! I've known Sam since childhood, and her dad was either 'Sir' or 'Uncle Jake' to me. Sam's a good friend, practically family."

"You dated in high school too."

"That was prom, and with all due respect sir... how the hell did you know that?"

This time, it was the CO who laughed so hard, he shook. "It is my duty to know things, Mitchell. Especially pertaining to you. I wouldn't trust my team to just anybody, would I?"

His team. Suddenly, the thought made him somber, and Cam frowned. "Well, it's not what I expected."

"I know Sam's off doing the scientist thing at Area 51, so I can see why it's not the same, but you still have Teal'c and Daniel, don't you?"

"They still haven't decided to rejoin. Especially Jackson, with his... well... girl problems."

Jack grinned. "Feisty little thing, isn't she?"

"More like one hell of a headache most of the time."

"See? She's perfect. Ever since that bout on the Prometheus, I knew she was perfect for Space Monkey since she roughed him up a bit. Maybe she'll convince him to live a little, instead of letting the world pass by while he's got his nose in a book. Daniel needs to get out more, and whether he knows it or not, Vala gets his heart pumping. I can tell."

"Speaking of Jackson... I don't know. He seems to be the one who hasn't exactly warmed up to me yet. That is, in the way I'd like him to. He's nice an' all, but... it's kind of like he's on another planet, you know?"

"Daniel's... an acquired taste."

"I mean, he treats me like an adoring fan or something, like that... that's all I am."

Jack glanced at him and half-smiled, nodding his head slowly with understanding. "I know how that is. Truth be told, if I didn't pick you myself, I would have the same impression. Look, Daniel's pretty much a celebrity everywhere we go, and sometimes he's too wrapped up in his own little world to even think about anyone else being in it. He always works too hard, especially since the ascended/descended thing happened."

Mitchell knew immediately what he was talking about, and relayed his understanding as best he could. "That's the one where Jackson suffered a lethal dose of radiation and eventually died and ascended. When he got kicked out because he broke a rule or two, they sent him back and he couldn't remember a thing. Oma Desala made sure he ran into you guys again, and you convinced him to go back to the SGC."

"You really did read every file, didn't you?"

"Every bit, sir. I especially liked your versions."

"Are you sucking up to me, Mitchell?"

"No, sir. It's the damned truth."

"Gotcha. But yeah, just give him a bit of time to warm up to you. You'll be fine."

Later, comforted by Jack's words, Cam whistled through the halls, picking up the pace a bit to get to Daniel's lab. Yeah, he could've followed his advice to the letter and let Daniel come around eventually, but Cam wasn't one for fiddle-farting around. Always on the get go, the sooner he did this, the better for them both, and he wasn't afraid of a good confrontation.

As he reached the door, someone managed to worm her way next to him and get in a good pinch on his butt. "Hey handsome," purred Vala. "Did you come here to see me?"

"Oh yeah," he replied sarcastically, amused. "Who wouldn't want to steal Jackson's girlfriend?"

"She's not my girlfriend!" He heard from inside the door, and Vala turned around and pouted at him.

"I am too! You just don't know it yet!"

"I'd rather have a hole in my skull!"

"You have five, you idiot!"

Cameron chuckled, and peeked inside the door. "She does have a point, Jackson."

Daniel rolled his eyes, took his glasses off and stared in that 'what-the-hell-do-you-want-from-me' way he had. "Don't make this any worse than it already is, Mitchell. It took me hours just to get her out the door."

Vala smirked. "But we have to stay in close proximity, don't we?"

"Bracelets are off, Vala. That means go away."

Before she could shoot back something in retaliation, the colonel interjected. "Hey Vala, can I talk to Jackson? Alone?"

"Ohhhhhh, you want some privacy with him too, huh? Funny, Daniel never struck me as the ho--"

The archaeologist cut her off. "--Ahhht! Vala, go!"

"But Daniel..."

"NO. Now go! Go get something to eat or something. You were complaining about that, and I could hear your stomach growling when you were right next to me, so go!"

"But..."

"It won't take long," Cam promised, forming the Boy Scout hand signal with his right hand, "scout's honor."

Begrudgingly, she complied, sighing heavily and starting to walk away. "Alright, just to keep my Daniel happy..."

"Thank God... every one of them," moaned Daniel, laughing a bit with relief. "She annoys the hell out of me."

"Aw... you know you like her," teased Cam, striding into the room and leaning against the corner of the center table.

The other man hesitated, and smiled slightly, taking a swig from a glass of water at his elbow. "So, what was it you wanted to talk about, Mitchell?"

"You. And me."

Daniel choked. "Pardon?"

Mitchell grinned. "Gotcha."

"Mitchell, you keep that up and you'll give me a heart attack."

"Nah. Just wanted to keep you on your toes. Anyway, what I meant to say is I wanted to talk about the team."

"You mean, SG-1?"

"Yeah. SG-1. Look, I know that you're doing the whole archaeology thing and you probably want to go running off to Atlantis, but we need you here. I mean, you and the girlfriend just found a hell of a lot at Avalon, as somebody's got to look at it all. Catalogue it and stuff."

Daniel waved him off, disregarding his whole speech. "Right, right, right. I knew all that already, and I've decided I'm staying. And I'm rejoining Sg-1, ok? That's what you want and why you're here, right? To ask me to be back on the team?"

"Well, yeah."

"Done. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've really got a lot of working and unpacking to do..."

He started scratching down a few notes before Cam snatched his pencil away and threw it against the wall.

"Mitchell, what the--"

"Do you give a rat's ass who the hell I am?"

That stopped Daniel in his tracks, and the doctor stared at his 'new' commanding officer. "What?"

"Look, party jokes and casual banter aside, I need to get something straight with you. Jackson, I admire you. I look up to you. I think you, Sam, Teal'c, General O'Neill, and the rest of the SGC are heroes. You guys have done more in eight years than most people have done in a lifetime and I feel awed in your presence."

"That's... nice..."

"I'm not done. You guys are the stuff legends're made of, and I feel honored to be a part of that, and making myself someone to remember. However, what I can't stand is you writing me off as some SG-wannabe. Yeah, I tend to be a little gushy with the details, and I appreciate everything you've done to help save the galaxy, but everything I say to you isn't some fan boy's dream. I mean what I say, and it's not flattery: it's fact. Now, when I got this job, I didn't expect you to take to me right away. I've read the files from three years ago, when you died and Jonas Quinn joined SG-1 for awhile. I knew you guys wouldn't trust me as quickly or as easily as I wanted you to. But I did expect you to give me a bit of respect and help find a dynamic we can work with here, not treat me like some fanatic at a Star Trek convention."

It took a moment to garner a response, but then Daniel nodded slowly and seriously. "Alright."

Cam sputtered a bit. "'Alright'? That's it? Just 'alright'?"

"Yeah. Alright." He smiled slightly. "You're absolutely right, and I'm sorry about that. It's... it's harder for me to trust people nowadays, and I don't know why. Maybe it's because of everything I've been through with the whole--"

"--Dying thing."

"Yeah. And 'coming back to life', so to speak. I'm still not where I was before I ascended, and it's taken me awhile to accept the way I am now. Plus, can you really blame a guy for watching his friend pretty much abandon his role in your life a little bit?"

It was Cam's turn to react, and he couldn't help but shake his head. "No, I can't. I know you and General O'Neill have been through a lot together. And me coming in to head Sg-1, or co-lead with Sam probably feels like I'm trying to replace him."

"Yeah. Jack and I have been through a lot together, and he's the only one I can talk to about things, like Abydos, because he's been there. He WAS there, and we experienced so many things while we were there..."

He hesitated. "This may seem like a far-fetched stretch, but... eventually, somehow, maybe years from now, maybe more... do you think you could talk to me about that stuff? You know, I read the files but it's not the same as being there. Experiencing things. I'd like to learn more about stuff like that."

Daniel glanced at him, and this time, his smile was genuine. "Yeah, I'd like that. Maybe."

"Not Abydos though. I know that's personal."

"Not yet, anyway, yeah."

"So, we're good?"

"Yeah. We're good. Again, I'm sorry about treating you like that. It wasn't intentional."

"That's ok. Just as long as you don't expect me to worship at your alter anytime soon."

The archaeologist laughed, nodding. "Alright, I won't. But if you ever feel the need to bow down and praise me, I like Sumatra Mandehling coffee. One cream, two sugars."

Ccam played along, chuckling as well. "I'll try and store that away with my other 'Useless Daniel Jackson' knowledge bits."

"You have some of those?"

"Jackson, you wouldn't believe the stuff I know about you."

"Should I be scared?"

"Oh, definitely. Be afraid, be very, very afraid."