Chapter 7

The team was assembled in the infirmary. The only one missing was General Landry, who was busy running the place, but he had insisted on being kept informed. Both Daniel and Vala had been rushed to the infirmary right after they had collapsed. Dr. Lam immediately began running tests and scans and had promptly scolded them for experimenting without her knowledge.

Vala was now awake, and despite everyone's protests, had insisted on getting out of bed and staying with Daniel, who was still unconscious. Mitchell had finally been able to talk her into sitting on a chair next to Daniel's bed, but she hadn't left Daniel's side after that. The doctors and nurses came and went, checking on her, but Vala never moved, and she didn't talk, despite the rest of the team's questions. She only sat and held Daniel's hand in hers.

So the rest of SG1 stood around and waited. Occasionally, they would talk quietly, but there wasn't really much else to do. Until finally, Daniel stirred in his hospital bed. At the first sight of movement, SG1 crowded around the bed, and Vala watched him hopefully. When Daniel opened his eyes, his blurry vision settled on her. "Vala?" he croaked.

"Hello, Darling," she answered, smiling. He gave her a small, confused smile and then continued on, looking at each of his teammates.

"What's going on?"

As he answered Jackson's question, Mitchell couldn't help but notice that he hadn't removed his hand from Vala's. In fact, his thumb was now absently caressing her hand. Mitchell wasn't sure if it was intentional, or if he even realized he was doing it. "What exactly do you remember?" he said, deciding to answer Jackson's question with a question.

"Umm, Vala and I were getting memories from the Odyssey timeline. We were meeting in the briefing room. Vala and I-" He stopped suddenly, and looked at Vala, like he was noticing her presence for the first time. Then, he looked down at his hand in shock. He pulled it out of Vala's grasp and quickly asked again, "What's going on?"

Vala looked more than a little hurt, but she didn't say anything. Carter finally stepped in to explain everything. "Dr. Lam said that the two of you have altered EKG readings. It's like you have multiple personalities."
"What, like when I had the people from the Stromos in my head?"

"Not exactly," Sam said. "There are only two readings for each of you, and they're nearly identical. We think that both readings are you – one is you, the way you are now, and the other is the version of you that lived on the Odyssey. Each personality is fighting for dominance, which explains the headaches."

"Great. Any ideas how to fix this?" Daniel asked, looking at Sam.

"My first thought was to look at the technology from the Stromos, but I don't think that will work. Their technology worked because it could pinpoint each person's specific consciousness. But in this case, both personalities are still you, just different versions of you with different experiences. I don't think we can use it to take out one without the other."

Daniel sighed. "So we're stuck like this for a while?" He looked over at Vala, who suddenly was very interested in the floor.

"Unfortunately, whatever this thing is, you won't be able to live with it for long," Sam explained. "That's why the headaches have gotten worse."

Daniel's head fell back into his pillows at that news. "We've got calls in to anyone who might be able to help – the Tokra, the Asgard-" Mitchell trailed off at the mention of their little grey friends. They all knew the Asgard were probably their best bet, but they also knew there weren't many of them left, and the ones who were left might not be around to help them.

"We'll figure this out, Daniel," Sam reassured him. "The two of you just stay here and rest. Try to hold on to who you are."

Daniel nodded and gave her a small smile. Dr. Lam came in and shooed the team away and made Vala get back into her own bed. Mitchell looked back at his two teammates as he left the infirmary. To lose either one of them would be devastating, but to lose both – the thought was unimaginable.