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 twelve

Clare had been left pretty much to herself for the rest of the day with occasional visits from Daniel, Sam and Dr Fraiser to make sure she wasn't feeling too isolated and that she ate something. She spoke very little at each visit, but towards the end of the day when Daniel popped in to say good night, she smiled for the first time and he offered to collect her for breakfast the following morning.

He was about to knock on the door to announce his presence when he heard her cry out and he burst into the room.

She was wound up tightly in the bedding, curled into a ball with tears streaming down her face. She was talking loudly in her sleep which was what had brought him racing into the room.

'Help them! I have to help them. Get them out…They're trapped…burning…get…them out…not true…not dead…help them…not too late…NO!!!'

The last word she uttered in the disjointed sentence was almost a scream, a despairing sound that wrenched at Daniel and he realised she had woken herself up.

Moving around the bed towards her he put a hand on her shoulder, letting her know she wasn't alone. The touch startled her and she sat up abruptly.

'Hush, it's ok, you just had a nightmare,' Daniel said soothingly, sitting next to her on the bed, one hand resting on her arm.

'Daddy? Is that really you daddy? They said you were dead.' Clare's voice trembled as she clung desperately to Daniel, still not fully aware of where she was.

'Clare, you need to wake up,' Daniel spoke more firmly now.

'Daniel?' She looked at him as she struggled to figure out what was going on.

'Yes. I came to collect you for breakfast, you were having a nightmare.'

She was fully awake now, remembering the dream she had woken from. She shuddered and Daniel pulled her into a hug, holding her the way he remembered one of his foster parents holding him when he had nightmares, letting her know she didn't have to go through this on her own.

'Want to tell me about it?' He asked casually.

At first she shook her head, just sitting there shaking even now, but as the tremors eased, she started to talk.

'It was the day of the accident. We'd had Sunday lunch and Steve, my husband, was driving my parents home. I was working on a story and wanted to get on with it so I stayed home. I dreamt I was there, watching it all happen. I had to identify the bodies - I could see they were badly burnt even though they tried to cover up the worst bits. I kept seeing the car on fire and that they were trapped, they couldn't get out, they were calling to me to get them out, I couldn't move, I couldn't help them, I should have been there, maybe if I'd been there it wouldn't have happened, they were trapped, they couldn't get out…' Clare's voice was becoming hysterical, Daniel hushed her again, holding her tight, murmuring soothing words to her.

Clare had tensed, trying to regain control of herself. Trying, but failing. He felt her relax in his grip and her shoulders start to shake as she cried, softly at first, then more fiercely as she started to cry away the pain she had been going through since the accident.

A movement from the door caught Daniel's eye as Jack came in to find out what was holding Daniel up. He stopped when he saw Daniel, concerned and uneasy when he realised Clare was crying hysterically, but as he watched he realised the sobs were calming down until they became an occasional hiccup.

Daniel continued to hold her tightly, reassuring her that she was not on her own and didn't have to go through this alone. Feeling the tenseness drain from her body, he sat still for a while longer then made a move to stand, only to realise that she had fallen asleep, her head resting comfortably in the hollow of his shoulder. Gently he eased her back on to the pillow, straightening the covers as he did so. He brushed her hair away from her face and moved towards Jack.

'What was that about?' Jack asked.

'Nightmares.' Daniel told him simply. 'Probably more than one as well - she doesn't look like she's slept much.'

'Is she going to be alright?'

'I think so.' Daniel recalled the scene. 'She talked a little and I think she's ready to start trusting us a bit more. Sleep is probably the best thing for her right now, but I'll get Janet to stop by to check up on her.'

***********

Dr Fraiser caught up with Jack and Daniel as they were leaving the mess hall.

'Clare's going to be fine,' she told them. 'She's exhausted physically and emotionally and just needs time and people she trusts to help her through this. Make sure she eats and gets some exercise and don't let her brood too much. Let me know if there's any change.'

Daniel worked on the artefact through the rest of the day, checking up on Clare a couple of times, relieved when after the first couple of visits she appeared to be sleeping quietly. Daniel had still not managed to get anywhere with the artefact and was beginning to feel frustrated when Jack's head appeared around the door.

'How's it going?' Jack asked, wandering around and picking things up to take a look.

'Not good,' Daniel admitted, allowing the frustration to come out in his voice. 'I know there's something I'm missing but I just can't figure it out.'

'How about joining us for dinner then?'

'Sure - maybe this thing will make more sense after a break.' Absently Daniel shoved the artefact into one of his pockets and followed Jack from the room.

Daniel and Jack fetched their meals and joined Sam and Teal'c who were already in the mess hall with Clare, Sam having called for the other woman while Jack went to collect Daniel. Daniel was only half-listening to the conversation going on, his thoughts focussing on the artefact which he could feel weighing his pocket down. After eating a few unenthusiastic mouthfuls of his dinner, his hand reached into his pocket and drew out the object which he held in one hand while his fork continued to shovel food into his mouth, unaware of the looks he was receiving from the rest of the group. Unaware until he felt the object snatched from his hand and heard a cry of surprise from Jack.

'Hey - what on earth…' Daniel's voice trailed off as he reached out in a futile attempt to retrieve the artefact, then pulled his hand back and watched as Clare manipulated it. Whatever she did caused a light to shoot out from within it, displaying images on the wall and ceiling, capturing the attention of everyone in the mess hall.

'…and this would be?' Jack left the question hanging in the air, knowing Daniel wouldn't take long to start babbling away in his usual manner.

'This is incredible Jack, it looks like it's some kind of chart - see those symbols they're similar to those found in some of the ancient civilisations such as the Mayans and the Aztecs. They don't seem to make any sense though…' Daniel's voice trailed off as he tried to get a closer look at some of the symbols. 'We should get this to Sam's lab. Clare,' Daniel turned to Clare who had dropped the artefact on the table, confused at the excitement that she had inadvertently caused. 'If we shut this thing off, can you turn it on again?' Clare nodded, picked it up and turned it off.

'Let's go then,' Daniel snatched up the artefact and headed for the door, barely waiting to see if the others followed him.

***********

A short time later they were gathered in Sam's lab, Daniel handing the artefact over to Clare. Sam and Daniel both studied her actions closely but her hands moved too quickly for them to be able to see what she was doing.

'How did you do that?' Sam asked curiously, receiving a blank look from Clare and a shrug of the shoulders.

'I don't know,' Clare spoke hesitantly, trying to understand it herself. 'I just know.' Thankfully, this was accepted and Sam's attention returned to the images which she studied for a few moments, sensing that something just wasn't right. The pictures seemed jumbled, incomplete. Frowning in concentration she studied it from different sides and then clicked her fingers as she realised what she was looking for.

'This is only a 2D picture, it should display as a 3D image, that's why it's so jumbled up. Everything is sitting on top of each other and obscuring the rest of it. Now, let me just try…' Dismantling the lens of one of the microscopes she had on her workbench she placed it over the source of the light, turning the image into a multi-spectral light show of rainbows dancing all over the office.

'Very nice, Major, is that supposed to happen?' Jack asked sarcastically.

'Oops, wrong way round,' Sam apologised, correcting her mistake and reversing the position of the lens. This time they were rewarded with a display of images and pictures in the centre of the room, slightly out of focus and at times difficult to see due to the differences in light and shade, but what had at first seemed just a collection of pictures now formed itself into a more recognisable form.

'Doesn't that look like…?' Jack queried.

'Yes sir, ' Sam agreed before her CO had managed to put his thoughts into words. 'It's almost exactly the same as the charts we use for plotting possible Stargate locations from the Abydos cartouche.'

'Jack, I don't think the pictures resemble the different planets as such,' Daniel contributed. 'I think they're the clues we're looking for - each picture is like a map to show where you need to look on that planet. Now we just need to …'

Clare had been struggling to follow the discussion but her body was screaming out for more sleep, and unable to fight it any longer she yawned and found her eyes trying to close, which was not a good idea as she was standing up. She thought it had gone unnoticed, but Teal'c had seen and had drawn it to Jack's attention.

'You kids going to be ok to play by yourselves?' Sam and Daniel looked vaguely at him, then returned to their speculations and discussion. 'In that case, we'll take ourselves off as we appear to be surplus to requirements. Make sure you get some sleep tonight and we'll see General Hammond in the morning with your findings.' Jack, Teal'c and Clare left the two scientists to their own devices, their departure going unnoticed.

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

Sam was demonstrating the progress they had made the following morning in the briefing room. Between them, Sam and Daniel had improved the quality of the images by modifying the lens used and they saw a reasonably clear display. Beyond that they had been unable to progress.

'The images just don't seem to make any sense,' Daniel was saying. 'I thought initially they were some kind of code or symbol that would show us what it meant, but although the positions of the images match up with the 'gate locations, they just don't make sense in any language that I know.'

While he was talking, Clare had become mesmerised, almost hypnotised, by the colours and pictures before her eyes, focussing on the intricacies of the patterns she could see. The voices of the others faded into the background and she was only aware of the lights. General Hammond, turning to her to ask if she could shed any light on the issue, was unable to rouse her, just as Jack and Daniel became aware that Sam and Teal'c were also affected, completely absorbed and unaware of their surroundings.

As a last resort, Daniel covered the artefact, shutting down the light display and Jack snapped the lights back on. Sam and Teal'c, looking bewildered for a moment, soon returned to normal but Clare continued to sit there, staring blankly into space while her eyes appeared to be processing information at a fast rate. After several minutes Clare shook herself and looked dazedly round at the anxious faces watching her.

'Are you alright?' Hammond asked.

'I'm fine,' Clare answered cautiously. 'Shouldn't I be?'

'You seemed a little - preoccupied,' Jack butted in. 'Like you were in a trance or something, so were Carter and Teal'c for that matter. Anything to say for yourselves?'

'There was a message there but it was too fast for me to read it.' Sam tried to explain. 'The harder I focussed the clearer it became, but I just couldn't keep up.'

'I agree.' Teal'c confirmed. 'There was a message but I was also unable to interpret it.'

'Yes, that's it.' Clare said excitedly. 'Each of those little pictures is a message telling us where to find different bits of information - they're all concealed and it needs precise instructions to be able to find them. That one says, says…' Clare, trying to put what she had seen into words, was interrupted.

'Whoa there, back up just a minute,' Jack interrupted. 'You're telling me that you can read that stuff?'

Clare nodded.

'So how come we can't see it?'

'I don't know. It seemed so clear to me, like I was reading a timetable or something.'

'Sir, I think I can explain. Teal'c and I were both affected to a lesser degree, it must be to do with the goa'uld - the symbiote that Teal'c carries and the protein marker in my blood. There must be something different about Clare to help her see what we can't.'

'Colonel, I want you to make sure all three get checked out by Dr Fraiser to help us understand more about this. If there are going to be any side effects then we need to be prepared. Report back as soon as you have anything. Dismissed.'