Hammond and SG-1 gathered around the bed in the infimary where Rafgar was hooked up to all 
sorts of monitering equipment. Dr. Fraisier was explaining Rafgar's condition to them. "I've 
never seen anything like it. For all intents and purposes, his body is in a coma. His brain 
isn't sending any impulses beyond what it needs to to keep him alive. But if you look at his 
MRI, it's incredibly active. With this much brain activity, he should be wide awake.

"And that's not all. There're two distict MRIs. That's not unusual in Gou'ald, but usually 
one of them is suppressed. Even in Tok'ra, the currently dominating personality suppresses 
the other one. Here, though, both MRIs are equally active."

"So how is this possible?" Carter asked.

"Well," Daniel speculated, "He is a psychic, and from what we saw a powerful one. It could be 
that they're fighting for control of his body on a purely mental level."

Fighting, Dr. Jackson, is not the right word.

They looked around, trying to tell who spoke before the realization struck them all. Carter 
spoke first. "Rafgar?"

Yes Major, it's me.

"But you're in a coma." Fraiser said in disbelief.

Not quite. I'm merely disconected from my body by Crynth. Incidentally, I have him 
imprisoned in a cage of pain impulses in my mind. He won't be causing any trouble for a 
while.

"What about you?" Daniel asked.

That's the tricky part. If I'd known that a dying Gou'ald released a poison into it's 
host, I wouldn't have let him do this.

"I'm sorry," O'Niel put in, "let him?"

Yes Colonel, let him. It seemed the easiest way to beat him without killing his host would 
be to let him take me for a host then kill him in my mindscape. The whole poison on death 
thing kinda puts a stop on that.

"How do you know about that?" Carter asked.

At the moment, our minds are somewhat joined. However, I think that when I get rid of him, 
I'm going to make him take his knowledge with him. I'd just as soon not have to live with 
some of the memories of things he's done.

"So," O'Neil asked, "how are you planning on getting rid of him."

Haven't figured that out yet. I don't suppose you know how to do it?

"No," Fraiser answered. "At least not without killing the host."

"We know some people who can." Carter put it.

"Major, with the gate down, we don't have a way to contact any of them." Hammond pointed out.

"Sir, it's simply a matter of reprogramming the gate from our backups. It shouldn't take more 
than a couple hours."

"Do it. Rafgar, can you hold him that long?"

General, I could hold him till doomsday. But I'd like to get my body back, if it's all the 
same to you.


Carter walked into the room to see O'Neill standing at Rafgar's bedside, watching the MRI. He 
turned to look as she came in. "I thought you were fixing the gate.

She shrugged. "I started the reinstallation. The computer can do the rest on it's own." She 
looked at Rafgar. "Has he been talkative?"

O'Neil shook his head. "He said....thought...whatever something about saving his energy a few 
minutes ago and he's been keeping quiet since. Gotta say, I'm impressed with him though."

"Why's that?"

"The guy goes one on one with a Gou'ald, loses, and ends up coming out on top anyway. He's 
got spunk. We could use a few more like him."

Sam smiled. Just like you Jack, she thought silently, If only. She looked at him 
thoughtfully, and he looked back up at her. For a moment, they both knew what the other was 
thinking. And they both knew it could never be.

It was then that Daniel walked into the room and they looked away from each other. If he 
noticed, Daniel pretended not to. "Sam, they're looking for you in the control room. 
Something about the program needing some sort of input to finish."

"It must be ready for the symbols. I'd better get up there." She rushed out of the room.

"Yeah, I'd better go...do something. Keep an eye on him, will ya?" O'Neil followed her out.

What keeps them apart? Rafgar's semi-audial thoughts inquired.

"What do you mean?" Daniel asked. "They're together all the time."

Not the way they want to be. Something stands between them, even though they have strong 
feelings for each other.

"Oh...that." Daniel looked over his shoulder then back at Rafgar. "Did you um..." He pointed 
at his own head.

Didn't have to. With emotions that strong, it takes more effort to block them out than to 
just let them flow through me.

"Oh. Well, they're both military officers and she's under his command. The military frowns 
on romance under the circumstances. In fact, simply having those feelings for each other is 
enough to get one or both of them reassigned, so I wouldn't go spreading it around if I were 
you."

Oh...Can I assume their secret is safe with you?

"I've known about it for a while. I accidently went into a parallell dimension where they 
were engaged once."

You're a planeswalker to?

"Not exactly....How is it that you can focus on communicating without losing control over 
Crynth?"

His consciousness is trapped in a portion of my mind where he can't do anything, and 
surrounded by a cage made up of pain impulses. Any attempt he makes to move results in agony 
far greater than anything a human would experience normally.

"I see." Daniel shivered. "Isn't that a bit harsh?"

Normally, no. Just telling an invading entity what happens if they try to move should be 
enough to keep them from trying. He's tenacious enough that he keeps trying though....or 
maybe stupid's a better word.

"Gou'ald are anything but stupid. You've dealt with people trying to take over your mind 
before?"

When I was a slave, there was a creature, another psychic, who tried to take over my body 
and force me to work when I refused. Doing this to it got me a punishment that I blocked out 
the memory of.

"You were a slave?"

To a race known as the Sploogorth, yes. Imagine your Gou'ald, only with demons and magic 
under their control, no need for hosts, and a taste for human flesh.

Daniel gulped. "Well, I can see why you hate slavers. We should be in touch with the Tok'ra 
any time. They'll be able to get Crynth out of your head."

Good. The sooner, the better.