Everything hurt.
Cassie gave a soft moan as she was pulled slowly but insistently back to awareness. Sounds filtered in through the fog in her head; soft murmurs that comforted her; a breezy laugh that triggered a feeling of happiness. There was a crackle of fire; the clink of a tin mug; whispers in the darkness and the rustle of fabric.
Her fingers closed on the slippery nylon of a sleeping bag, and she could feel the weight of a heavy blanket over the top of her. It was warm and cosy; so comfortable. She was almost tempted to let herself sink back into the darkness, back to sleep and dreams.
But there was an uncomfortable dampness over her forehead. It was clammy and wet; moisture trickled down the side of her face. Her hand shifted to move it as she opened her eyes, and she gave a sigh of relief as her fingers closed around a cloth and removed it.
The vast ceiling of the hall in the pyramid was above her momentarily before Vala's face immediately filled her vision. 'Finally!'
Cassie winced.
Vala grimaced apologetically. 'Sorry,' she mouthed.
'Just...headache.' Cassie croaked. She gestured at Vala. 'Water?'
Vala hurried away but returned a moment later with a mug. She helped Cassie sit up and take a drink.
Cassie swallowed the water gratefully; letting it slide down and soothe her raw throat. 'How long was I out?'
'A day give or take a few hours.' Vala admitted.
Cassie sighed. She looked around and her eyes settled on Sam, sitting cross-legged beside her, her blue eyes intent on Cassie.
Vala noticed the direction of her gaze. 'She's been like that since they brought you back.' She said conversationally.
'Is she...?' Cassie began hopefully.
'She hasn't recovered as far as we can tell but...' Vala shrugged. 'When the boys brought you in and placed you down, it seemed to pull her out of her numbers. She's just been sat there watching you.'
So, a change but not really an improvement, Cassie mused wearily. Or maybe it was; if Sam had somehow recalled that she cared about Cassie...she rubbed her head, trying to soothe the ache there.
'Here.' Vala handed her some painkillers. 'I'd offer to heal you but somehow I don't think it will work.'
'What happened?' Cassie asked, bemused. The last thing she remembered was the Dragon Queen, opening her eyes and seeing Jonas before blissfully sliding into unconscious and away from the pain, the storm of memories and emotions...
'You tell me.' Vala said evenly. She sat beside Cassie and picked up a mug. She took a large gulp as she looked at Cassie quizzically. 'According to Daniel, you tried communicating with the Dragon Queen, started sobbing and then, poof.' She gestured at her with the mug. 'You were out like a light.'
'It was too much.' Cassie admitted. 'She was in my head and...' she took a deep breath, 'it was just too much.'
'At least you tried.' Vala patted her hand.
Footsteps had them both turning toward the door.
'Cassie!' Jack walked over swiftly and knelt down beside her to hug her gently. He pulled back and looked at her searchingly; his brown eyes raking over her. 'You OK?'
'I'm fine.' Cassie assured him. 'A little sore around the edges maybe.' She tried to smile so he'd lose the anxious look that was etched into his features. He seemed to have aged overnight; his hair askew and his face puffy with lack of sleep and worry.
Jack darted an annoyed look at Vala. 'You were supposed to come and get me when she woke up.'
Vala lifted a shoulder. 'I thought she might like a few moments before everyone descended on her.' She said blithely.
Sam moved suddenly, surprising them all. She muttered something under her breath and picked up her notebook and pencil.
Cassie saw the disappointment flicker in Jack's eyes before his guard went back up. He'd evidently hoped her vigil with Cassie had been a sign of improvement. She searched for any topic to change the subject but her mind was consumed with a need to know how she had gotten back to the pyramid.
'What happened?' Cassie asked. 'The last thing I remember is the Dragon Queen and then...'
'Cassie?' Daniel's voice sounded from the door and before she could say anything, he was across the hall and hugging her tightly.
She winced even as she tried to free a hand to pat him consolingly.
'Thank God! We thought...' he stopped before he said anything more but Cassie filled in the blanks.
'You thought I'd been injured like Sam.' She realised. Her gaze shot to Jack who pressed his lips together as though to prevent a confirmation from escaping.
'But you're OK?' Daniel checked. He studiously avoided looking at Jack and she guessed that they had argued about it.
'Sore,' repeated Cassie; she shoved at the blanket and pushed it away as she sat up more fully, 'but OK.' She grimaced as her body made its needs known. 'I need the bathroom.'
Vala immediately moved to support Cassie as she got to her feet. 'Easy.'
Cassie wobbled as she got upright and she was grateful as Vala helped her walk the short distance to the bathroom.
'I'll get you some clean clothes.' Vala said, pushing her towards the toilet before leaving her.
Cassie made use of the facilities and when she walked out of the small cubicle, she saw the stack of clothing Vala had left for her. She washed up slowly; her limbs trembled with fatigue as though she had jogged a marathon. The feel of clean clothes was heavenly; the soft cotton of her t-shirt a welcome relief against her sensitive skin. She dunked her hair and washed it but the activity used up the last of her energy. Vala arrived back as though she had sensed Cassie needed her. She towelled Cassie's hair, tsking loudly and proclaiming her disapproval at Cassie attempting something so strenuous before she escorted her back to the hall.
Everyone was gathered. Cassie accepted gentle hugs from the rest of the group before Vala shooed the men away and settled Cassie by the fire with some soup. The others gathered round with mugs of coffee and a tense silence filled the air.
Her stomach rumbled hungrily and Cassie made short work of the meal. She set aside her tin and looked around. Jack and Daniel were looking anywhere but at each other; Mitchell had his head down as though to avoid unwarranted attention; Jonas was unusually subdued as was Vala. Teal'c and Rya'c sat on opposite sides of the fire...
They must have argued, Cassie deduced. Jack and Teal'c had probably not been impressed at the others turning up with her unconscious after attempting to communicate with the Dragon Queen. Add in the worry that the communication might have left her as scrambled as Sam...
Curiosity nibbled at her again. 'What happened?' She blurted out into the silence. 'I don't remember anything after the Queen talked to me.'
There was a long pause.
'Then she did talk to you?' Jonas inquired tentatively.
'Kind of,' Cassie murmured. She brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs.
'You don't have to talk about it.' Vala said firmly, ignoring the look the others shot her.
'It's OK.' Cassie assured her. She rubbed her nose. 'There wasn't really so much talking as she...she kind of searched through my memories to check we weren't the Goa'uld. She knew I had healed Puff, Rya'c and Jack with the device, and she identitfied Rya'c and Teal'c as Jaffa so...'
'So she thought we were Goa'uld.' Daniel sighed. 'No wonder she was hostile. She was probably worried that we were here to try and enslave her and her people again.'
'It looked like it hurt.' Jonas said quietly.
'It did.' Cassie softened the words with a smile but the memory of the cold that had invaded her mind made her shudder. 'I'm fine.' She wondered if she had said it to convince everyone else or herself. She gestured at Jonas. 'What happened after I, uh...'
'Took a nap?' Jack suggested caustically.
Cassie's lips twitched. 'Well?'
Daniel cleared his throat. 'Puff appeared out of nowhere.'
'Puff?' Cassie smiled. It seemed her baby dragon had remembered her. It warmed her to know it still wanted to protect her.
'Uh, we think he talked to the Queen.' Jonas explained. 'And then she flew back to the ground and the rest of the dragons cleared the sky.'
'Puff escorted us out of dragon territory.' Mitchell added. 'Once we got past the mountain, he headed back.'
Once they were safe, Cassie mused. She was disappointed Puff hadn't come back with them but she understood. He was with his own kind; his family. Her mind returned to the mission.
'So, they let us leave.' Cassie stated. She felt the same dull disappointment that she had once again failed to find a solution for Sam's predicament.
'Yep,' Mitchell confirmed, 'they just let us go.'
Jonas stirred. 'I think whatever communication happened between you and the Queen definitely confirmed to her that we weren't a threat.'
'Yippee.' Jack quipped.
Jonas flushed.
Daniel frowned at Jack. 'Jack.'
'Daniel.'
'Oh please. Let's not start that again.' Vala said brightly, confirming Cassie's suspicions that there had been a major argument over the events of the mission and bringing Cassie home apparently injured.
Both men glared at Vala.
'All I'm saying,' Jack said tersely, 'is that now the Queen's poked around in Cassie's head, they must know our capabilities.'
'And that's a bad thing because...' Daniel baited.
'As you are well aware, Daniel Jackson,' Teal'c asserted forcefully, 'if the dragons choose to attack us they will know our vulnerabilities.'
'If they attack en masse we'd be toast anyway.' Mitchell countered. 'Believe me, they don't need to know our vulnerabilities; they can overwhelm us with sheer numbers.'
'I agree with Colonel Mitchell.' Rya'c confirmed.
'It's more likely that now they know we're no threat to them that they'll leave us alone.' Daniel pointed out with some exasperation.
'Well, we're not waiting to find out.' Jack said authoratively. He gestured at Cassie. 'I agreed to wait until Cassie recovered but now she's awake, we should get off this rock and make our way home.' He looked around the group. 'How soon before we can leave?'
Cassie looked at him, shocked. They were leaving?
'A couple of hours to get things organised and stowed away, sir.' Mitchell replied.
'I still think...' Daniel began.
'Ah!' Jack held up a finger. 'We're going.'
'You're forgetting it's not your ship.' Daniel pointed out.
Jack looked over at Jonas.
Jonas glanced at Daniel and back to Jack. He sighed heavily and Cassie could see he was debating whether to argue or whether to accept Jack's decision that it wasn't safe to stay any longer.
'I can get the cargo ship ready for departure in a couple of hours.' Jonas said eventually.
'Good.' Jack set his mug down with a thump. 'Then let's get moving.'
He walked out before any of them could reply.
'You stay put!' Vala instructed Cassie sternly. 'Look after Sam. We'll take care of packing everything.'
Cassie didn't argue. She felt as weak as a kitten. She watched as the others set to work; as the realisation they were really leaving the planet sank in. Cassie searched through her memory of her interaction with the Queen. If only she had done something differently; if she had explained somehow...
Sam scribbled away beside her; the scratch of the pencil across the page was becoming far too familiar a sound for Cassie's liking. Cassie couldn't believe Jack was prepared to leave with Sam still injured; with the dragons still Sam's best hope for a cure.
But...
What if he was right? What if there was a chance the dragons would attack them? They had tried to communicate with the dragons twice and twice they had failed. She had failed, Cassie thought depressed. There was no guarantee a third encounter would prove more fruitful than the others. And there was a risk a third encounter would seriously harm her. She could remember the cold feel of the Dragon Queen in her head; the pain of it all too well.
Cassie shuddered.
Jack couldn't take that risk, Cassie surmised regretfully. He was looking after all of their safety and not just Sam's. And the others knew that - even Daniel despite his protest. She would bet that it was the reason why Jonas had acquiesced.
She looked at the woman writing beside her and sighed. Maybe when they got to Earth they'd be able to find some other way to assist Sam. Or maybe there just wasn't a solution and Sam would remain injured for the rest of her life; trapped in the endless stream of numbers running through her head.
Tired tears smarted Cassie's eyes and she swiped at them angrily. There had to be another way! There had to be some way of reaching the Queen and making her help them!
Cassie got to her feet slowly. The others were busy preparing to leave; their attention on the packs, the sparse belongings and supplies. She crept quietly out of the room and into the passageway. Cassie took a moment to catch her breath and waited to see if anyone followed her; nobody did.
She smiled grimly and started towards the exit.
