DISCLAIMER: The characters mentioned in this story are the property of Showtime and Gekko Film Corp. The Stargate, SG-1, 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 the people who made them up. 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.

A Snake In The Hand Is Worth Two In The Bush

Part seven

Sam opened the door at Clare's mumbled 'Come in,' to find her towelling her hair dry.

'Morning, did you sleep alright?' Sam asked.

'Yes thanks.'

'Good. I'm here to take you for your check up with Dr Fraiser and provided she gives you the all clear, Daniel and I will take you home so you can collect some of your own things. How does that sound?'

Clare was pleased, it would be good to get away from this place for a while, and even better to have some of her own things around her. Staying here gave her something to focus on but it felt like forever since she'd seen the outside world.

As they walked, Sam struggled with a way to bring up the subject of Teal'c. They had all noticed how uncomfortable Clare was around him and they needed to find out what the problem was - Teal'c was a member of SG1 and Clare needed to be able to accept him.

'Clare,' Sam said eventually. 'We've all noticed that you don't seem comfortable around Teal'c.'

Clare looked at Sam, then stared at the floor in front of her, colour flooding her face, not sure what to say. She suddenly realised she might have offended these people by not accepting one of their team mates.

'I know he's a rather unusual companion and he does have some funny ways, but he is a member of our team and one of our closest friends,' Sam continued.

'I...uh...I don't really understand it either,' Clare tried to explain, unsure of the reason herself. 'Have I upset him? I'll go and apologise and try to…' she started to turn around to head off to find Teal'c until Sam caught her arm.

'I'm sorry that didn't come out very well. You haven't upset anyone, but we are concerned that there may be some kind of problem, and if there is, well, we'd like to help,' Sam explained.

'Ok, I'll try to explain, although I really don't know why I feel like I do. When I'm around you, I get the feeling that you've been joined with a goa'uld, but it's in the background, almost like a faint smell of perfume. With Teal'c, the feeling is almost overpowering, more like the smell of rotting carcasses. Not that I'm saying either of you smell or anything,' Clare added hurriedly, 'It's just that…I can feel the goa'uld's presence really strongly and it…it kind of makes me feel overpowered and threatened and I don't know why. Maybe it's because he was the one who shot me?' She added doubtfully, then seeing the grin on Sam's face, asked worriedly, 'What? What did I say?'

'Sorry,' Sam apologised. 'It's just the bit about saying it could be because Teal'c shot you, I was just remembering Colonel O'Neill's words when he said "You did shoot her for crying out loud, what do you expect". ' Sam mimicked the Colonel's manner exactly, making them both laugh. Just at that moment the Colonel himself appeared, heading in the direction of the infirmary.

'Hey, kids,' he greeted them. 'What's the big joke?'

Sam and Clare looked at each other and collapsed into helpless giggles. Jack looked at them bemusedly, his expression changing to concern as the giggles threatened to turn into hysterics.

Sam, seeing the look on his face got herself under control first, wiping her eyes, Clare following her example a few moments later.

'Morning, sir,' Sam stalled him, hoping he'd forget to ask for the cause of their giggles again.

'Morning, Major.' Jack spoke pointedly. 'So…want to tell me what that was all about?'

'Er…private joke sir - you know,' Sam looked at him conspiratorially. 'Girls stuff,' she whispered in a loud aside.

A suspicious hiccup came from Clare's direction as the laughter threatened to take over again. Deciding he didn't want either of them to become hysterical and risk Dr Fraiser's wrath, he changed the subject.

'You off to the infirmary?' He asked instead. 'I just had a call from the good doctor wondering where you'd got to.'

'Yes, sir. Clare wasn't quite ready when I called for her and then we kind of got held up on the way.'

'I see.' Jack raised his eyebrows but said nothing more. 'I understand Carter and Daniel are taking you to collect some of your things today?' Clare nodded, still finding Jack a little intimidating. 'In that, case, I'll leave you to it. Catch you later.' Whistling softly to himself Jack headed back in the direction he had come from.

Continuing on their way, Sam broached the subject of Teal'c again. 'You know, not long after Jolinar, my symbiote, died, I started to get a strange feeling when I was around Teal'c and other goa'uld, it's like I've got a sixth sense when one of them is around, with anyone but Teal'c and the Tok'ra, that feeling can be quite overwhelming. Teal'c is a friend and I'd trust him with my life - he's saved our lives more times than I can remember - and that changes the way I sense his symbiote. It took a little time to be entirely comfortable with the feeling, and I already knew Teal'c. It must be so hard for you being thrown into this situation, and trying to battle feelings which are completely alien to you.'

Clare stopped as they reached the infirmary, looking Sam straight in the face. Sam had spoken with real feeling, putting into words how she felt about Teal'c, yet understanding how much harder it was for her. 'Thanks, Maj…Sam. Maybe I just need time to get to know you all better, Teal'c as well. Well, here goes,' Clare said as she walked into the infirmary.

***************

Half an hour later they were on their way to the surface. Clare had been given the all clear from Dr Fraiser with a stern reminder that, although she was fit enough to be released from the infirmary, she must take it easy for the next week or so to acclimatise to all the changes that were going on. She'd threatened that at the first sign of trouble she'd readmit Clare until she was one hundred percent fit.

This was the first time that Clare had been through the base to the surface - you couldn't count when she'd arrived as she'd been unconscious at the time. She looked around her as they walked to the lifts and then through a number of security checkpoints on their way up, taking in all the detail with amazement and wonder at the sheer size of the place. Sam and Daniel observed this with some amusement. They had forgotten what is was like to see this place for the first time and Clare had an almost child like sense of awe as she looked around.

On the drive to her house, Clare told them a little about where she lived.

'It's my parents house. I…I moved back after the accident. I grew up there and I always felt more comfortable there than I did in our apartment in the city. We only moved there because of Steve's job and I never really made any friends. I spent most of my time writing and the city seemed so big and unfriendly, nobody seemed to care about anyone but themselves.' Clare paused and stared into the distance, then continued. 'There are woods behind the house and I've always liked to walk there. I used to go off on my own when I was younger, taking my notebook and pen with me and try to write. Then I started writing for real and I still find the woods inspire me and help me.' Clare suddenly flushed. 'I guess that sounds a bit sappy doesn't it?'

'Everyone needs somewhere they can escape to,' Sam told her. 'Although I have to admit I usually go to my lab. I get so caught up in what I'm doing I can forget about everything else.'

There was silence for a few minutes then Clare spoke up again.

'You said Teal'c had saved your lives. Would you tell me more about him?'

Sam and Daniel needed no further encouragement, glad of the opportunity to help Clare understand more about the Jaffa. They told her about how he had betrayed Apophis and become part of SG1, how he had to leave his family and friends behind and be treated as a traitor. How Apophis had seemed hell bent on getting revenge on his one time First Prime and the tauri who challenged the control of the system lords. How on numerous occasions Teal'c had put his life on the line to save one or all of them, too many to count.

Clare started to understand how important he was to SG1, as a friend and team-mate. For the last ten minutes of the drive Clare was silent, reflecting on the information she had been given.

'Clare,' Sam broke in on her thoughts, 'I need directions now.'

They were passing a grocery store and Clare gave them the necessary directions. It was familiar territory to Sam and Daniel - they had been here a week ago while hunting for Qu'ilar.

They pulled up outside her house and got out. Clare walked slowly up the path, feeling as if she'd been away for a lot longer than the week it had actually been. As they reached the front door someone came hurrying towards them from the neighbouring property.

'Clare! Clare!' The woman called. 'I haven't seen you around for a while and I was worried.'

'Hi, Mrs W,' Clare greeted her. 'I've been…staying with friends, I needed a break so…' she left the sentence unfinished. Mrs Wilson had known Clare since she was brought home as a baby and understood her hesitation. 'This is Sam and Daniel,' she continued. 'This is Mrs Wilson, she's always lived here and I spent half my time in her house when I was growing up.'

After the customary greetings Mrs Wilson spoke bluntly to Sam and Daniel. 'Clare needs friends right now, she spends too much time on her own.' She turned to Clare again. 'You're looking a bit brighter now, love, but aren't your friends feeding you anything? You're as skinny as a rake.'

'I've come to collect a few things, Mrs W,' Clare told her, smiling at the personal comments. 'I'm going to be staying with Sam and Daniel for a while. Can you keep an eye on the place for me while I'm gone?'

Mrs Wilson nodded her assent and then continued in the forthright manner Clare had come to know and love. 'Well, I suppose you folks must be getting on. Nice to meet you.'

Clare didn't take long to collect what she needed, including her lap top, and soon they were headed back to Cheyenne Mountain.

**************

Over the next few days Clare found herself living a new routine. She had started to feel more comfortable around her new companions and was working hard to be at least polite to Teal'c, which was getting easier to do the more time she spent around him.

For the most part her days were the same. She'd have breakfast with whichever members of SG1 were around, then Sam or Daniel would escort her to the infirmary for her daily check up, after which she would spend the remainder of the morning with one or both of them, getting to know and understand more about what was going on here. Clare learnt more about the Stargate, the war being fought against the goa'uld, and what the SGC were doing to try to defend Earth from the next attack. Through all this, in spite of carefully manipulating the conversation with Clare, neither Daniel nor Sam had been able to get any further information from her.

After lunch she would spend the afternoon writing and then eat dinner with any members of SG1 who were still around. Evenings were usually spent in working on her new book.

Several days later Jack stood outside Clare's door, rocking backwards and forwards on his feet as he waited for her to acknowledge his presence. After knocking again, he heard a mumbled 'C'm'in' but found Clare was not even aware he had entered the room.

'So,' he began. 'Haven't seen you in a while, thought I'd drop by…' his voice trailed off as it became obvious that although she had glanced vaguely in his direction when he started to speak her attention just as quickly returned to her writing.

'Clare!' he called loudly, waving his hand in front of her face to grab her attention.

'Uh, what?' Clare was startled enough to give him more of her attention.

'I said, I'd stopped by to see how things were going,' Jack repeated. 'There are also a couple of things I needed to…' once again he had lost her attention. Her eyes had wandered back to the screen of her laptop and her fingers were busy on the keyboard. 'Yeah, we've just been invaded by giant jellyfish who came all this way just to meet you. In fact they're right outside door at this very moment.' All he received in response to this was a vague 'uh-huh', eyes still glued to the screen. In exasperation Jack grabbed hold of Clare's chair and spun it around so that she was facing him and not the computer.

'Hi.' He began again.

'Colonel O'Neill! I didn't hear you come in.'

'So I gathered,' Jack replied dryly. 'Well, now I've got your attention…' Clare had turned around to her work once more, Jack with a quick 'Oh, no you don't, not again,' grabbed her hands and refused to let her return to her previous activity.

'Ok, ok. I'm just going to save what I've done and then I'll switch off.' True to her words, she did that and then moved to one of the easy chairs next to the desk to remove the temptation of resuming her work. Jack took the other easy chair.

'As I started to say,' Jack continued, 'I dropped by to see how you're doing and to speak to you about a couple of things.'

'I'm settling in ok and getting used to the new routine,' Clare told him. 'My writing's going well too.'

'Well that's one of the things I need to see you about.' Clare looked worried at the thought she had been spending too much time on her writing. 'It's nothing really major,' Jack reassured her when he saw her concerned looks, 'But as we don't know where or how you might communicate the memories you're carrying, I need to have someone read what you write on a regular basis.'

'Would it be possible for Major Carter, Sam, to read it. I know she's read my other books and I'd feel more comfortable than having someone else who might…might think it stupid or something.' She looked shyly at Jack, not sure if he would agree or not. She hated the thought that some clinical, critical airman might read it before it was even finished.

Jack agreed at once. He was afraid he'd have to pull out the 'in the interests of national security' card and insist on someone reading it, having Clare willingly accept the need for it to be done and be happy for Carter to do the reading made his job a lot easier. He moved on to the next subject.

'Dr Fraiser tells me you're supposed to get some exercise and she doesn't seem to think you're following orders,' Jack looked questioningly at her.

'Ah.' Clare looked down at her hands. 'I've been so busy, and, well, I just don't seem to have gotten around to finding the gym yet.'

'I see.' Jack raised one eyebrow quizzically. 'Well, seeing as Sam and Daniel are looking after you in the mornings, I've decided I need to spend more time with our latest recruit and I've worked out a fitness programme for you. Don't worry,' he reassured Clare who seemed concerned that he'd have her doing an assault course or two before breakfast every day. 'We'll start slowly, I know you've probably not spent much time in the gym before. What I've got in mind is just to improve your level of fitness alongside some self defence. It'll be good for you and get you away from all this writing rubbish.' Clare looked at Jack indignantly as he finished up, until she saw the sparkle in his eyes and the big grin on his face as he conducted his favourite 'let's wind up the intellectuals' game, she grinned back at him and relaxed again.

'So, what are you waiting for? Let's go.'

'What, you mean go to the gym right now? But…'

'Ah, Ah, Ah,' Jack held up one finger to stop her protests. 'Yes I mean now, what better time is there?'

Reluctantly Clare collected what she would need and followed him.

This latest addition to her days did do her good, she had to admit. She felt a lot better than she had done in a while and found that after an hour or so in the gym she was able to resume her writing in the evenings refreshed and better able to concentrate. Admittedly, the first few days found her hobbling around the following morning but as she got used to the exercise this eased up.

A week later Clare gave Sam the first instalment of her book, she'd completed ten chapters, which while not quite polished, were close enough to the finished result as it would be at this stage.

A couple of hours after handing it over, Sam arrived at her room with a question.

'I had a few problems with a couple of areas, could you just read the passages I've pencilled to check that it's all ok?'

Clare read them, everything seeming to be as she wrote with nothing untoward there and looked at Sam with a puzzled expression on her face.

'Yeah, that's what I wrote and it makes sense doesn't it?'

'Not really,' Sam replied. 'Look.' Sam grabbed a red pen and was circling six words in the middle of different paragraphs in different parts of the story.

'Where did they come from?' Clare spoke half to herself. 'I didn't write that, at least I can't remember writing it and when I re-read it just now they didn't seem to be there. Sam,' she looked anxiously at the woman sitting next to her, 'It's happened hasn't it - what you've been waiting for?'

'It looks that way,' Sam answered slowly. 'I think we need to get the others together in the briefing room. Come on.'