Title: Day 9
Author: tarotgal
Fandom: Stargate SG-1
Rating: G
Pairing: None
Disclaimer: Not my characters. I wish they were mine. I definitely don’t get paid for this.
Summary: Daniel's only able to do his job thanks to allergy medicine. What happens when he doesn't have it any more?
Notes: Written during my 12 Ficlets in 12 Days in 2019-20 project project for Lady Korana

Dr. Janet Frasier heard the sneezing before Daniel Jackson made another appearance in the infirmary. Every time this happened, Daniel looked apologetic, as if the fact that the latest dose of allergy medication hadn’t worked was somehow his fault. It wasn’t, of course. Daniel had made peace with the fact that he had bad allergies years ago; it was merely part of who he was. But their presence did sometimes make it difficult to do his job as an SG-1 team member. After a few disasters off-world, it was General Hammond who had issued the command to try to find a solution. In the ever-expanding universe, there had to be something that would keep Daniel’s eyes from watering, throat from itching, and nose from tickling. And now it was Janet’s job to figure out what that something was.

They were currently on their eighth trial. With detailed records and educated guesses, she was working her way through different combinations and dosages of anti-histamines, being mindful of any side effects that might impede his ability to work as well. It seemed that this time wasn’t the perfect solution she had hoped it might be.

“Hah-PTShhh! Heptshhh!”

Janet picked up a box of tissues and walked over to the door, arriving there just as Daniel did. Sam gripped Daniel’s elbow to help guide him to the infirmary safely. His glasses were off, folded over the neck of his shirt, so that he could wipe and rub at his eyes, so he couldn't see clearly as Janet approached. Therefore, she forced tissues into his hand for him.

Daniel nodded his appreciation and lifted the tissues to his face as his mouth dropped open again. “hahh hahhPshhhhh! Hahh-IHShhh!” He forced his eyes open and sniffed hard. “We'll... figure this out...” he said, sounding breathless but still amazingly optimistic.

“That's supposed to be my line.” It wasn’t often that her patients were the ones reassuring her.

He managed a smile, but it was brief. “hahh-IHTshh!”

*

It had been exactly three months and eight days since they'd finally stumbled upon the right medication. It was nice to see Daniel in the infirmary for a reason other than his allergies. It was much less nice to see Jack hurt. “Some sort of laser,” Jack tried to explain, wincing and hissing in pain as Janet cut away parts of his uniform away to get to the wound on his side. The beam had seared the fabric to his skin, but it had also cauterized the shallow wound.

“You're lucky. It only grazed you. Another half an inch over and you probably wouldn't be here now to tell the tale.”

Jack closed his eyes, his face screwed up in pain. “Yeah... lucky's exactly how I feel right now. Ah!” He shot her a look that said he didn't appreciate the way she was examining and trying to help him.

Separating the fabric from Jack wasn't going to be fun for any of them, and it would take some time if they did it right. But it wasn't anything Daniel needed to stick around for. He looked worried about Jack's condition, and Janet had to wonder if Jack had been injured protecting Daniel or if there were something more to it all. “We'll be a while, Dr. Jackson, but if you want to wait....”

Daniel shook his head. “Oh, no. That's all right. It just occurred to me to mention that I'm running low on my allergy medication. Can I get a refill?”

Janet froze. She'd been aware, of course. She had checked his chart, counted, and double-checked. But she had hoped, somehow, that she had made a mistake with her calculations.

“Dr. Frasier?” And now he looked even more worried than before, a note of anxiety in his tone.

“I placed an order for it last week.”

He brightened. “That's great!”

“It's not great, actually.” She sighed. “It's on back order.”

Not a stranger to medication and pharmacy speak, Daniel rolled his eyes. “For how long?” When Janet didn't answer right away, Daniel shifted uncomfortably. “What aren't you telling me?”

There wasn't an easy way to break the news to him, but the local numbing agent she'd given Jack would take a few more minutes to work. So she had no way to evade the question. “Usually I can get around these things. With my government clearance and connections, I don't typically have trouble getting a supply direct from source upon request. Sometimes there can be a little held up in a shipping facility somewhere or even still at the manufacturer's that can be fast tracked to us after a little extra paperwork and bureaucracy. This time, however, I've come up short at every single avenue I’ve tried.”

“How long until you get a hold of some?” He rubbed his nose as if it already itched.

“Honestly, there's no way to know for sure. But I won't stop trying.”

*

“It's always nice to see you, but I hahhh-HIHShhhh! Sniff! I didn't miss this,” Daniel said, holding a tissue to his tickling nose. Now that he was back in the infirmary, away from all the allergens the planet had bombarded him with, he claimed he didn't feel nearly as sneezy, but past experience told them both it would still take a while to recover from this. “Hahhh-hahIHShhh! Hahhshihhh!”

Having a feeling he would need it pretty soon, Janet moved the tissue box from the counter to the exam table beside him.

“They were white and fluffy,” Daniel told her. “So incredibly cute. But that fur... it... it... hahh hahh-HIHshoo!”

“Let me give you something for that,” said Janet, already shaking two red pills into a small paper cup. “It's not a histamine blocker, but it should work pretty quickly on reducing your symptoms.” She turned around to see him scratching a red patch on the palm of his hand and his fingertips. So she got him a cool, medicinally treated cloth for the rash. The rash’s placement looked suspicious, however. “Did you pet one?”

With shame, Daniel nodded yes.

She sighed heavily. What was she going to do with this man?

“I know I shouldn’t have!”

“What were you thinking? Your medicine's still on back order. There's no ETA for it yet. I thought we'd agreed you would avoid anything that might potentially trigger an allergy attack.”

He tossed back the pills, chasing them down with several gulps of water. Daniel sniffed and nodded, looking down at his lap, not even able to meet her gaze. Then he made a grab for another tissue. “hah-Tshhh! Hahh hahh-IHTchhhh!” He groaned miserably then his breath caught again almost immediately, eyelids slamming shut. “hahhh hahhh-Hiptshhh!”

“Daniel?”

“Sam said they were specially engineered sniff to be irresistible. I just had to... had to... hahhh... hahh-hahhhshhhh! Hahhpitshooo!” He curled the fingers of his hand inward, nails scratching his palm.

“And now you’re itchy and you have to sneeze.” Janet treated another cloth then swapped them out to keep him from scratching. His hand already looked a little better, but it would be a while before he could use it to write up any mission notes. “Don't make me pull you from duty until your medicine comes back in stock.”

“Too late!” Jack called as he strode into the infirmary. “I don't mind a sneeze or two. I'm used to that with Daniel. Hell, it's an endearing, funny quirk most of the time. But I can't risk having you be compromised and in danger. You understand, right Space Monkey?” He clapped Daniel on the back.

“Yeah, I understand.” And though he both looked and sounded dejected, he peered up at Jack with needy eyes. “They were so cute though, weren't they?”

“And so damn soft!” Jack agreed. “That sound they made when they were being stroked, and those big, perfectly round eyes…” He tried to explain the unexplainable. “Even Teal'c was cuddling three in his arms.”

Daniel nodded in agreement then grabbed another tissue. “Hahhshooo! Hahh-IHShoo!”

Jack sighed. “You're benched until you can get back on that medicine.” He looked over at Janet. “And you do your best to find him some.”

“Working as hard as I can at it, Sir.”

*

Janet hadn't been so excited at the sight of a package since her first Christmas with Cassandra. Her heart was racing as she sliced open the packing tape and pulled apart the box flaps. The familiar blue caps seemed to smile back at her. She pulled a bottle out in triumph, noticing at once that the label looked a little different. She double-checked the medicine's name, ingredients, and dosage information. It was definitely Daniel's allergy medicine, just with a slightly different logo and font. They must have rebranded, that was all.

As soon as she had reassured and convinced herself, she picked up the phone to give Daniel the good news.

*

“Are you sure you didn't skip a dose?” she asked him. She held the tissue box out to him.

“P-positive.” His mouth hung half open, eyes unfocused. Out of pure instinct alone, his hand found the tissue box and brought a tissue to his face just in time. “hehhh hehEHShhh! HahhIhshh! Hahshoo! Sorry.”

“Daniel, it's good of you, but you really don't have to apologize. I don't think this is your fault.”

“You sniff don't?” He pulled another tissue out of the box and massaged his nose with it. “But I've been sneezing all morning. I’ve been sneezing so much my throat hurts from it. Sniff! There were hardly any flowers near the gate, but I must have gotten too close anyway. ”

Janet sighed. Daniel certainly looked miserable. But she felt just as miserable to have to tell him what she suspected was happening. “Sometimes when a medicine is off the shelves for a while, it's because they're reevaluating the formula. And when it comes back, it might be slightly different. Given how long yours was gone...” She left him to draw the same conclusion, which he did, eyes wide.

“You're saying it might not work the same... the same w-way-hah-Chishhh!” He caught it deftly in the tissue, but he managed to look alarmed the whole time.

“I'm saying it looks like the medicine doesn't work the same way. We might be right back at the drawing board with your allergy medication.”

He groaned and coughed and closed his eyes. This was clearly not the news he wanted to hear.

And she wished she could fix this for him immediately. But she couldn't even give him Sudafed or Benadryl right now, because of the allergy medicine still in his system. There was no way to know how a new formula might react with other medication. “Don't take another pill tonight. Come back tomorrow if your nose still tickles, and I will give you something temporary for the symptoms while we figure this out. I'll start making some phone calls to the company and some pharmacists in the meantime.”

“It's been hours since I was near the flowers. I can't imagine I'll still be snee-sneezing hah tomorrow. Hahhh-IHHshh!”

“Let's hope not,” Janet agreed.

*

Except he was. “hahhhh... hahh-IHTchhh! Heptshhh!” Daniel wiped at his nose and balled the tissue up in his fist. “Excuse be.”

Janet waved the apology off. “It's all right. You can't help it. But, I don't understand this. Take your glasses off for me for a minute?” Daniel did, and Janet shone a light into one eye, then the other. “Well, they don't look red. Do they itch the way they usually do when you have an especially bad allergic reaction?”

Daniel shook his head. “Doe. Dothig itches. It's just the sore throat add codgestiod add... add... all the sn-sn-snee-hahhhh-HPTshhhh! Hehhshhhh! Huhhtshooo!” He sniffed wetly and wiped the tissue at his nose again. He didn't bother finishing his sentence, as the sneeze had pretty much done that for him already.

Janet was used to Daniel sneezing, of course. But usually he wasn't quite so congested. And his throat was bright red, when she got a good look at it. When she walked the tips of her fingers down the sides of his neck, she found his lymph nodes swollen. If she didn't know any better, she'd think this wasn't an allergic reaction at all. She'd think it was—

“K'tchoo!”

The sound drew her attention from Daniel to the doorway, where both Sam Carter and Jack O'Neill were standing, neither looking particularly well. She waved them over right away, and once again Daniel looked distressed.

Sam reached out and patted his upper arm. “I'd like to think we caught Daniel's allergies. But as that's impossible...” She cleared her throat and grimaced a little in pain.

Janet sighed. “Have a seat. Looks like it's going to be an early cold and flu season here on base. Let me get Daniel back on his allergy medicine, which probably works fine after all. Then I’ll break out the decongestants.”

“Kahh-Shfff!” Jack sneezed into the crook of his arm.

“And the tissues.”