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 thirty

Something's changed Clare thought to herself. It doesn't hurt as much. She could feel herself starting to surface from where her consciousness lay hidden, trying desperately to regain those depths as she feared that Sar'akan had found another way to persuade her to co-operate and give up the memories she was trying to hold on to, knowing that she must do what she could to prevent them from falling into his hands.

Despite her efforts she could feel herself surfacing, hear voices talking, breaking in on her self-imposed isolation. Her eyes flickered open, trying to focus on what was happening, on who was there. An unfamiliar face floated into view and she tried to pull back, to shut it out again. As she tensed up she could hear a frantic beeping and a dull, heavy feeling in her head then a more familiar face appeared.

'Clare, it's Dr Fraiser, this is Anise of the Tok'ra, she's going to help you. Don't fight her now, you need to relax and let the machine work.' Janet put her hand over Clare's and Clare realised she was no longer restrained and that Sam was also standing nearby, a couple of other figures in the background moved forward into her line of sight, revealing themselves to be Jack and Daniel. Daniel grinned, the smile lighting his face up, while Jack waved his hand greeting her with a 'hi.' Satisfied that all was well, she relaxed and closed her eyes again, hearing the rapid beeping change to a steady tone and the uncomfortable feeling in her head changed back to a pleasant tickling sensation. She was vaguely aware of voices speaking again but soon lapsed into a lighter state of kel'noreem, preserving her strength for survival, no longer hiding her consciousness away.

'She is much stronger than I expected,' Anise was saying to the others. 'Her chances of survival are greatly increased because of this and I am certain that if she survives then she will be able to return to the life she had previously.'

'Yeah, well, you know us primitive beings can be like that. We get a little stubborn now and again just to surprise our really smart friends into remembering that we have got a purpose in this universe other than running around and doing their dirty work.' Jack turned and left them before he could say anything more damaging and joined Teal'c at the controls.

'O'Neill, it is good to see you.' Teal'c greeted him. 'How is Clare Dawson?'

'Hey Teal'c, good job there. She's gonna be fine, Anise thinks, though I'll be glad when we can get her back to our own infirmary. There's no place like home and all.'

'You are talking about the infirmary, O'Neill. The infirmary is not home as I have witnessed on many occasions your great desire to leave it and return to your own dwelling.'

'It's a saying.'

'Ah.' Teal'c returned his attention back to the controls leaving Jack to update Jacob on what was going on.

Several hours later they landed. Shortly before doing so Anise had disconnected the wires from Clare.

'The procedure has been successful. The data looks to be complete and I believe that Clare will recover fully. She will remain unconscious for a short time and this will allow the healing process to be completed. I thank you for your assistance and trust. I know it was not easy for you. When we have more information available we will contact you.' Anise bid them farewell and left.

SG1 were in the infirmary, seeking the latest news regarding Clare.

'She's in a coma and requires assistance with her breathing for the time being until her brain is able to heal and resume normal functions for itself. The process had already begun before she left here and if it hadn't been for Teal'c's help then she probably would not have survived at all.' Dr Fraiser smiled at Teal'c, who acknowledged the comment with a raised eyebrow, looking pleased in spite of himself as he received literal pats on the back from his team mates and murmured 'well dones'.

'So what happens now - will she be alright when she wakes up?' Daniel asked the question that was on all their minds.

'Well, Anise seemed to think she should be more or less her old self when she wakes and I am fairly confident that this will be the case, but we will need to wait and see. She'll probably be out of it for a couple of days and we won't know anything until then.'

During the next few days members of SG1 could frequently be found checking up on Clare, Janet only allowing them a few minutes before shooing them away. On the morning of the third day Dr Fraiser chased Sam out of Clare's room while she carried out a full check. When she eventually allowed Sam back in, she had been joined by Daniel.

'What…?' Daniel exclaimed as he caught a glimpse of Clare minus the tubes.

'It's alright, she's breathing on her own now. She should wake sometime today.' Janet smiled at Daniel's reaction.

Daniel and Sam stood chatting for a few minutes before Sam took her leave.

'I'll stop by later, see if there's any change. Want me to bring some coffee when I come back?' Sam asked.

'Need you ask?' Daniel smiled at her. 'I'll let you know the minute there's any more news.'

Daniel settled himself down in one of the uncomfortable infirmary chairs and started talking to Clare about his latest discoveries.

At various times during the day different members of SG1 found themselves in the vicinity of the infirmary and thought that as they were there they may as well stop by and see how Clare was doing. So, late in the afternoon they were all there when Sam noticed a change, a movement, and Clare's eyes flickered and finally opened.

Teal'c called for Dr Fraiser as the others crowded around, wanting to make sure she was going to be alright.

'Ok, ok, I know you're all anxious but I need to see to my patient, just step back and give me some space,' Dr Fraiser ordered. 'Clare, do you know where you are?'

''firmry' Clare mumbled. 'Thirsty.' Janet spooned some ice chips into her mouth, Clare swallowing gratefully as the icy coldness slid down her raw throat.

'How do you feel?'

'Head hurts. 'm alive.'

'Yes you are. Do you know who I am?'

'Napoleonic power monger,' is what Clare tried to say, although it came out distorted. It was enough to be understood though and Jack stood there looking sheepish as Janet glared at him, knowing full well where that phrase had come from. The others watched with amused glances, confident now that Clare would recover fully, minus the damaging memories.

'Well, I think everything looks in order here. You'll probably feel tired for a few days, but that's just your body telling you it needs time to heal itself.'

Clare smiled vaguely at Dr Fraiser, glanced around quickly at her friends before yawning and falling asleep.

Just before midday the following day, Daniel peered around the door to the room Clare was in having been forbidden entry any earlier by Dr Fraiser. 'How are you feeling?'

'Fine, a bit tired still,' Clare replied, trying to be polite but finding it extremely difficult. 'What have you been up to?'

Hoping that by turning the conversation around she wouldn't have to talk too much.

'I've been studying some artefacts SG5 brought back from their last missions, Sam's been working on her naquadah reactor, Teal'c's been teaching hand-to-hand combat to new recruits and Jack's been a pain in the ass as usual.' Daniel smiled warmly as he brought her up to speed on what they'd all been doing.

'Uh-huh.'

Daniel, surprised at Clare's lack of interest, did his best to distract her by talking about their next mission.

'We're scheduled to visit the Tok'ra tomorrow - apparently they've got some information they want to share with us,' Daniel said. 'Jack said a few less than complimentary things about them as you can imagine, can't blame him really.' Daniel's voice tailed off as he realised he'd almost forgotten the reason the Tok'ra had the information. Clare was all too aware.

'It's ok, I understand and I'm going to be fine, really.' Clare smiled wanly at him, trying to convince him that none of this bothered her, relieved when Dr Fraiser arrived and sent Daniel away. The relief on Clare's face faded as she realised Dr Fraiser was settling herself on the chair Daniel had just vacated.

'So - how are you doing? And don't tell me you're fine, because I can see you're not.'

'I…everything just seems to be getting on top of me at the moment. I'm tired, my head hurts and I can't seem to think straight. I…I don't really want to talk about it right now.' Clare clammed up again just as Janet was hoping she'd made a breakthrough, refusing to say anything else.

Standing up, Janet patted Clare reassuringly on the shoulder and left her alone with her thoughts.

She wasn't surprised to find Daniel waiting for her in her office.

'What's going on?' Daniel asked, his voice sounding a little panicky. 'She is alright isn't she?'

'She's fine physically,' Janet said carefully, 'but I think she's experiencing some emotional fallout from everything she's gone through recently. It's only to be expected and she just needs time to work through it all. She's very strong, we've all seen that, and I have every confidence that she will get through this.'

'Can we do anything to help?' Daniel asked, feeling that Clare deserved something back from them.

'Just be there for her and reassure her, give her some space when she needs it,' Janet sighed as she realised that only time would heal the emotional scars Clare had been left with.