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-five

The sight that greeted Jack on his arrival through the 'gate was not reassuring. Frightened children surrounded Teal'c, clinging to him for safety and security while General Hammond was ordering all but essential personnel out of the 'gate room. The armed guards had already departed, leaving only Dr Fraiser, the rest of SG1, SG12 and General Hammond with the children.

'Report, Colonel,' Hammond spoke rather testily, spying his second-in-command hovering in the background.

'General, I think it would be a good idea if we took the children to a more secure location where they'll feel safer,' Dr Fraiser interrupted. 'I need to carry out checks on them and I'd like to get them settled in first.'

Hammond nodded assent and stood to one side, waiting for them to depart. And was still waiting ten minutes later as Dr Fraiser tried to persuade them that she meant them no harm and that she would take them somewhere safe. Looking at Colonel O'Neill in desperation, she admitted defeat.

'Colonel, I have no idea how you got them here, but can you please make them come with me?'

'Nothing to do with me, I'm afraid, you'll have to ask Teal'c,' Jack spoke casually, his eyes twinkling as his words had the expected reaction.

Hammond and Dr Fraiser both looked surprised, then realisation dawned that it was Teal'c they were clinging to. 'Teal'c - can you help me out here?' Dr Fraiser appealed to him.

'Indeed. Do you have any chocolate?'

'Chocolate?' Dr Fraiser looked bewildered.

'Er…Teal'c managed to get them here by bribing them with chocolate,' Daniel informed Janet. 'Although they do seem to respond to him anyway.'

Janet, clearly disapproving of this method, nodded her reluctant agreement and a few minutes later a box of chocolate bars was delivered. Teal'c showed it to the children and they followed him willingly from the room, making their way to a converted storage room that had been made ready for them as temporary quarters.

Just as the last of them were leaving the gate activated and the children, who had just begun to settle down, were startled, causing them to run in all directions, pursued closely by SG1 and SG12.

'Well, I think that's all - eleven, twelve. Yup that's it. Doctor, please take them away, lock them up, whatever, just do something with them,' Jack, counting the constantly moving heads, sounded extremely exasperated. Yup, give him a nice army of Jaffa to fight any day over this.

Soon the corridors were peaceful again, Teal'c having assisted with the removal of the children to a safer location. Hammond, seeking them out, requested an immediate briefing.

'Everything went according to plan?' Hammond asked.

'Yes, sir, we went in, kicked some Jaffa butts, bribed the kids and brought them home.' Jack said flippantly.

Ignoring Jack's insubordinate tone, Hammond looked to Daniel and Sam for more detail.

'We had a communication problem with them, sir,' Daniel informed the General. 'They don't seem to understand us and as far as I know, they haven't uttered a word since we found them, which makes it pretty hard for me to learn their language. They responded to Teal'c as they've grown up with only a Jaffa guard for most of their lives and were more comfortable with him. Even so, Teal'c needed to resort to bribery to get them to come with us.'

'I see. Major, anything else I should know about?'

'No, sir, I think that more or less covers it.'

'Fine. Colonel, I'd like your team to take responsibility for the children. Teal'c is already involved anyway and I need Dr Jackson to try to establish some kind of communication with them. Your faces are familiar to them and I want to limit the contact they have at present until they are more settled. Thank you.' Hammond dismissed them, Jack and Sam standing up as he left the room.

'This is going to be so much fun,' was all Jack said as he headed for the locker room to shower and change before seeking out Teal'c and his charges.

Clare had been released from the infirmary that morning on condition she stay on base for the next few days for monitoring and that she got plenty of rest and ate properly. Eager to leave she agreed to the conditions, wanting nothing more than to be away from all the hustle and bustle and poking and prying. She intended to have a shower and go to the mess hall for some lunch, then come back to her room and review her progress on her latest book. However, once she'd showered she felt an overwhelming tiredness and decided that maybe she would take a nap before doing anything else.

It was late afternoon before she awoke, a glance at her watch showed it was just after five o'clock and a rumble from her stomach told her it was way past time to eat, so dressing quickly she left her room. There was no guard on duty this time, General Hammond had decided she no longer required watching, although the guards at the checkpoints on the way out had been advised that she was not to leave the mountain without an escort.

She took a moment to get her bearings as she had always been escorted before when moving around the base and suddenly being left to her own devices was a little disorientating. Figuring out the direction she needed to take, she got in the elevator and punched the button for the floor she thought the mess hall was on. The elevator seemed to take forever to arrive but the doors opened at last and she stepped out into a familiar looking corridor. Unfortunately, all the corridors seemed to look the same in this place and she found herself wandering aimlessly. Pausing to get her bearings, wondering why no one was ever around when you needed them, she heard a noise that sounded like someone crying. Shaking herself in disbelief, she continued looking around when she heard it again.

Someone was definitely crying and she headed in the direction it came from, finally arriving at a storage room at the far end of one corridor. Opening the door slowly, she saw a child of eight or nine huddled up in the corner, crying so hard that she hadn't noticed anyone come in.

Clare touched the child lightly on the shoulder to get her attention. The girl started and drew away, the tears still falling down her face but the noisy sobbing had stopped. Pulling back slightly, Clare squatted against the wall opposite the child.

'Hello. I'm Clare. Do you need some help?'

The child looked at her with wide, uncomprehending eyes. Not wanting to frighten her any more, Clare sat quietly for a few minutes, letting the child get used to her presence before shuffling over to sit next to her. The child pulled away from her but remained where she was.

Clare pointed at herself again, smiled and said 'Clare. I can help you.' The child still stared at her. She had been frightened by all that had happened and when they had stepped out from that funny circle following the big black man, she had wondered what was going to happen to her and the others. She was the eldest and had always felt responsible for them, now she had become separated and she was worried at how they would cope without her.

She had been scared when those strange people had arrived at their home, they never saw anyone different and she had trusted the black one who looked a little bit like the ones who looked after them. And that strange food had been nice - she had never tasted anything like it before. Now, after they had all panicked when that funny circle had made that horrible sound, she found herself on her own and had crawled into this closet where she felt safe, until this woman had found her. But this woman seemed different, she didn't seem as scary as the others and maybe, just maybe she could help.

They sat in silence for a while until at last the child looked up at Clare, fear still in her eyes, but also a look that said she wanted to trust her new friend. 'Kosca.' The child pointed at herself.

'Hello Kosca, it's nice to meet you.' This was strange, the others had all talked as if she was an idiot, she could hear it in the tone of voice they used. Ok, she couldn't understand the words, but she could tell by the tone of voice that Clare was treating her like a real person.

Kosca smiled shyly and snuggled up to Clare, reassured by the hug and soothing words being spoken to her. After ten minutes, Clare decided it was time to move.

'Kosca, I'm sure there must be somewhere you should be. Come with me and I'll see if we can find out where you belong.' Clare stood up, holding out her hand to Kosca. Kosca hesitated, the look of fear crossing her face again, but she looked into the eyes of the woman standing in front of her, identifying honesty and trustworthiness there. Taking Clare's hand, she got to her feet and they left the storage room.

Heading back in the direction Clare thought the elevator was they heard voices coming towards them. About time too, Clare thought to herself as they turned a corner and came face to face with Jack and Sam. Kosca immediately clutched Clare's hand tighter and tried to hide herself behind her new friend.

'Hello Clare - I see you've found our missing person,' Jack smiled at the two of them.

'Yes - I take it you know something about this?'

'Oh, yes. This is one of the children we rescued from Nirrti. Just after they arrived the gate activated again and we had to spend twenty minutes rounding them all up. We thought we'd got them all - do you know how hard it is to count a group of children that won't stand still?' Clare smiled in sympathy at Jack's pained expression.

'Anyway, once we got to their temporary quarters on level 26, we did another head count and realised we'd lost one. And now we've found her.' Jack smiled at Kosca and held out his hand to her, inviting her to go with him. 'Shall we go and find the others?' He asked gently.

Kosca clutched Clare's hand hard, almost cutting off the circulation. Clare could feel her quivering with fear and indicated that Jack and Sam should back off a little.

Clare turned to face Kosca, kneeling down so her face was on the same level and spoke soothingly to her. 'Kosca, these are my friends, they are not going to hurt you. We need to go with them, but I'll stay with you. Will you come?' Kosca looked her in the face, trying to read what was going on in her mind. At last, content with what she had seen, she loosened her grip slightly and allowed herself to be guided towards the other two.

'Kosca, this is Jack, and this is Sam.' Clare introduced them. Jack and Sam smiled at Kosca, Sam giving a little wave. 'Ok, I think we're alright now, you want to lead the way?'

They made their way to the elevator, Clare realising she had in fact been going in the wrong direction, and soon arrived at the storeroom on level 26 where confusion reigned.

The new arrivals stood in the doorway and watched as Dr Fraiser and her medics attempted to carry out the necessary checks on the children. Teal'c and Daniel were doing their best to reassure them, but judging by the sound of crying and the fact that whenever they could, the children were trying to hide under the beds together, they were not having much success.

'So - how's it going?' Jack asked flippantly. 'We brought another one back for you.'

The adults in the room glared at him, frustration showing in their faces.

'What on earth are you doing?' Clare exclaimed, horrified at what she saw, the others staring at her in surprise having never heard her sound like that before. Janet was startled into releasing the child whose temperature she had been trying to take.

'Everyone out - NOW!' The last came from her mouth like an order, for a moment everyone gaped at her, open mouthed, but Jack, grasping at straws now, gave a flick of his head, ordering everyone out of the room. Clare felt herself flushing with embarrassment - it was the tone of voice she had not had to use very often, only when the scouts had become particularly difficult, but she knew something had to be done before the children became completely uncooperative. Jack, pausing before he too left the room, placed a hand on her arm, looking at her to check she knew what she was doing.

'It'll be fine, Jack, just give me a bit of time with them.'

Soon, the room was empty of everyone except herself and twelve children.