Chapter Eleven

Daniel stepped into the featureless room that they were holding Gabriel in. He had no interest in interacting with Gabriel, but the Goa'uld was refusing to speak to anyone else.

Gabriel was sitting cross-legged in the corner with his eyes closed. A thin Naquadah based chain had been secured around his waist and from there a pair of two foot chains connected to his wrists, limiting his range of motion. He took slow, deep breaths as though he was mediating.

Daniel didn't announce his presence, he knew that he didn't have to. The Naquadah that Gabriel had left in his blood was practically singing. After a moment Gabriel opened his eyes and smiled.

"Nice to see you again, Daniel."

"The feeling is not mutual, Gabriel."

"I can see that." Gabriel sighed and looked down at his restraints. "I thought we were friends."

"That was before you stepped through our Gate with Sam half dead."

"No, I stepped through your Gate with her half alive."

"Why did you take her?"

"I didn't." Gabriel replied. "Why did you leave her behind?"

"I didn't."

"Well then, looks to me like neither one of us is to blame for what happened."

Daniel grit his teeth in frustration. He wasn't even sure he wanted to know what Gabriel had been doing. By letting him go in the first place Daniel now felt responsible for his every action.

"Daniel, I've done nothing wrong." Gabriel stated, having read Daniel's thoughts as easily as he would have read a book.

"What about Rea'beka? You left her."

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize I was under host-arrest." Gabriel replied.

"It was understood that you would stay with her on Idlewyld."

"What right do you have to tell me where to go, or who to be with?" Gabriel hissed. "I have commited no crimes against you, release me."

"No. Not without some answers."

"I am not your property, and you have no right to make me your prisoner!" Gabriel cried. "Now let me go!"

Gabriel and Daniel stared each other down, neither one of them willing to back down. They could have been locked in silence for hours if Gabriel hadn't suddenly doubled over. He wrapped his arms over his stomach and growled in pain.

Daniel made no move to help him, not believing the act for a second. Gabriel closed his eyes and concentrated on breathing for a moment. When he looked up again he had lost the anger in his emerald eyes, in its place lay a desperate fear.

"Daniel please, I realize that you think that everything that has ever gone wrong in your life can be traced back to me...but you can't blame a father for the sins of his children. If you keep me here, I'm going to die."

"I want to speak to your host now." Daniel growled.

"Da..."

"If you are as innocent as you claim then you must have some agreement with this host. I want to talk to him. More than that, I want you out of him so that I know it's not just a trick."

"I...I can't leave him."

"Then I have nothing more to say to you, and no reason to ever let you out of this room."

Anger flashed across Gabriel's features. Daniel watched icily as Gabriel winced in pain again, he leaned forward to rub his hand against his chest. When Gabriel made no move to leave his host Daniel turned to leave.

"Daniel, wait." Gabriel called. "You can't speak to him because he's...he's not here."

Daniel stopped and turned back around. "What exactly do you mean by 'not here'?"

"He's dead." Gabriel sighed.

"Dead?"

Gabriel nodded. He tried to rake his hands through his hair but the chains on his wrists prevented it. He closed his eyes and sighed in defeat. Daniel's cold expression thawed somewhat as he knit his brow in confusion.

"I don't understand." Daniel admitted. "How can he be dead, why didn't you making a host out of him bring him back?"

"There is a time limit on resurrecting a soul into a body." Gabriel explained morosely. "I...I allowed that time to expire, kept the body preserved, and then I reanimated it."

"With a sarcophagus?"

"No. I did it myself, you can't imagine what I went through to repair the decay. The stress of it is what gave me this streak in my hair. I didn't dare to use any healing devices in the process. Even now I must avoid the sarcophagus at all costs."

"Why?"

"I am unsure of what would happen if I used one. Right now I keep the brain of this host running just enough to help me with the most primative of functions, like breathing and heart rate, but nothing more. If it was fully reanimated without the soul it originally housed there is a chance that this body would become an uncontrollable monster, knowing nothing more than violent instinct."

"You're already a monster." Daniel hissed. "How can you just take someone's flesh like this? How do you know that original owner isn't still trapped in there?"

"I knew you wouldn't understand." Gabriel sighed. "Please believe me, I am alone in here...it's terrifying."

"Terrifying?" Daniel repeated skeptically.

"This body requires constant maintenance and repair. Every time I sleep I risk death, and every time I over tax myself I am wracked with unbearable pain as the tissues degrade faster than I can repair them."

"That's what happened to you in the Gateroom."

"It's what is happening to me right now." Gabriel whimpered. "Daniel, look at me...I'm dying. Please if you won't let me go, at least return my serum to me."

"Serum? The green fluid you were carrying..."

"Yes, please, Daniel, I must have that case back." Gabriel begged. "Most of the decay I can repair myself. However, the one tissue that I can't seem to gain control of is my blood. If I don't have that serum it begins to coagulate and stick in my veins. It is a slow and agonizing process. I can control the pain if I do nothing but concentrate on doing so...but I am loosing the fight. Even just talking to you is taxing."

"Jack says that all the time."

Gabriel smiled, hoping that Daniel would do the same. Daniel did not smile, however, his expression did soften. Gabriel began to struggle harder for breath as he continued to lose strength. He didn't attempt to hide his distress. He could see Daniel's compassion for all creatures fighting to overcome his deep seeded hatred of Goa'uld and his mistrust of Gabriel himself.

"Please, it's getting worse. Help me."

"How...how do I know that this isn't just a trick? Or even common withdrawal? Dr. Brightman believes your 'serum' to be nothing more than an addictive drug, possibly even what gave you the strength to destroy the iris."

"It is a drug, but it is only a medicine. Just like the Tretonin that Teal'c must have to survive...or the cocktail of anti-depressants that you use to get you through the day."

Gabriel knew even before he had said it that his last words were the wrong thing to say. Any ground he had been making with Daniel was instantly lost. Gabriel bowed his head, panting heavily to keep from crying out as his blood started to thicken. His nerves were singing out warnings as the oxygen levels in his system began to drop.

"Daniel...trust me..."

"First I want to know what is going on." Daniel said firmly. "What happened to Sam, what your connection is with Ansha..."

"I can't...I can't believe that you of all people would torture me for information."

"I am not torturing you..."

"You may not be causing my suffering, but you are allowing it to continue!"

"Gab..."

"No! No, I will not be treated like this!" Gabriel cried angrily. "I will answer no questions unless you release me from this pain."

"You can release yourself at anytime by leaving your host." Daniel replied icily.

"I will have nowhere to go!"

"We will take you to the Tok'ra, find you a more willing host."

"You don't believe me...you think this host is hurting me, and that the serum is to stop him."

"That is exactly what I think."

"Are you ever wrong?"

Daniel said nothing. The argument had sapped Gabriel of what little strength he had left. He fought to control his trembling, but it was a useless effort. Gabriel looked up at Daniel and noticed that he had stepped closer. Despite the haze of pain the look of indecision in his eyes made Gabriel smile.

"Daniel, please. I saved Sam's life...the least you can do is spare mine."