Location: SGC Mess Hall

  POV: Daniel Jackson

  “So what are you all planning to do for your break?” Carter asked brightly, joining SG-1 at their chosen table and depositing her tray next to Teal’c’s, “I’m hoping to get some work done on a project of mine.”

  “Another science project?” Jack asked from across the table.

  “Well, sort of,” Carter explained, “My last project ended up sending me in a new direction, so I’ve been exploring this idea that if, theoretically—”

  “Ah, ah!” Jack cut her off, raising a hand, “No theoreticals or science jargon at the table, please.”

  Carter gave an amused smile before digging into her meal.

  “Well,” Daniel said, stabbing his fork into his own food, “I could probably use the time to get some more translating done.”

  “Fun,” Jack commented sardonically.

  Daniel ignored him, continuing, “And ever since talking to the Tok’ra, there are a few things I’ve been wanting to look into.” He turned toward Rina, sitting at his side. “Speaking of which—Rina, have you thought any more about the Tok’ra’s offer, to try to remove the weapon?”

  Rina didn’t bother looking up from her tray.

  “No. Why would I?”

  There was an awkward pause.

  “So, Rina,” Sam said, breaking the silence, “What do you have planned for your break?”

  Rina sighed, straightening.

  “Well, since the things I asked for finally came in, I’m going to be spending my time reading, hanging posters, and blasting my music unreasonably loud.”

  “And what about you, Teal’c?” Carter asked, turning to the Jaffa with a smile.

  Teal’c was practically beaming as he answered, “I will be attending a highly momentous occasion.”

  “Oh?” Sam pressed.

  “Yes. A new Star Wars movie has released, and I intend to be among the first to see it.”

  Out of the corner of his eye, Daniel saw Rina’s spoonful of jello pause halfway to her mouth.

  “A new movie?” She seemed to do a double-take. “Wait, wait. You’re a Star Wars fan?”

  “Indeed.”

  “Made me watch the old ones about five times—”

  Jack’s complaint cut short as Rina’s spoon clattered to her tray in her haste to leave the table, the rest of SG-1 staring after her in surprise as she ran from the mess hall.

  That was…strange.

  Jack shrugged, turning back to his food.

  “Guess she’s not a fan, Teal’c.”

  Though when Marina returned a handful of minutes later, her arms were loaded with books, all with thick print on the side that read: STAR WARS.

  She reached across the table, pushing aside Teal’c’s tray and depositing the collection there. Jack and Carter exchanged a look, while Daniel watched something like awe spread across Teal’c’s face. Sorting through the pile of novels, Rina picked out two, both labelled as Force Unleashed, and held them up for Teal’c to see.

  “Here, so this takes place in the Empire era, before A New Hope,” she explained hastily, “Turns out Vader had a secret apprentice and—well, I won’t spoil it for you.” She quickly spread out the other three books in the pile. “And these take place after Return of the Jedi. There’s a remnant of the Empire being led by a Grand Admiral Thrawn; he’s a genius, absolutely terrifying. And there’s this woman, Mara Jade; she’s force sensitive and she used to work for the Emperor, so she wants to kill Luke to get revenge. And there’s this other guy—he calls himself a Jedi but he’s not—who wants to turn Luke and Leia to the dark side but Leia’s pregnant with twins and—god, it’s amazing. I have some other books you could check out as well, but I’ll let you start with these. Let me know what you think.”

  Teal’c didn’t speak at first, picking up one of the books with an air of reverence.

  “Thank you,” he breathed.

  Daniel tried to hide his amused smile by shovelling some food into his mouth.

  It was funny to think how, just some months ago, Rina had hated Teal’c with seemingly every bone in her body. And now? She had saved his life and was sharing her books with him.

  “Well, that was…unexpected,” Jack said, his eyebrows raised.

  “No kidding,” Sam laughed, “I had no idea there was anything you were, well, that interested in.”

  Rina sat back in her seat, shrugging.

  “Well, I saw the movies back in my teens, and it just…I don’t know, struck a chord, I guess. And since then I’ve been reading as many of the books as I can get my hands on.”

  She turned back to Teal’c, who was carefully examining each of the books in turn, handling them all as if they were sacred treasures.

  “So,” Marina said, “What did you say the new movie was called?”

  POV: Marina Karssen

  The rest of the mealtime was filled with their excited chatter, and by the time they left the table—long after everyone else had already gone—they were still eagerly discussing the possibilities that the new movie, The Phantom Menace, might hold.

  “I wish I could see it,” Rina said quietly, her mood turning somber.

  But I’m stuck here.

  “You’ll tell me about it, right?” she added hopefully.

  Teal’c inclined his head, a serious light in his eye.

  “I will. I am in your debt, Miss Karssen.” He held up one of her books. “It is a great gift you have given me.”

  Rina smiled. “Well, I hope you enjoy them.”

  “I am certain I shall. Once I have completed my kelno’reem, I will begin reading them.”

  Rina’s smile faltered and faded.

  “How do you just live with this thing growing inside that you never wanted?” she asked, slowing to a halt.

  Teal’c stopped beside her.

  “I do not have a choice,” he admitted, “To remove my symbiote would mean certain death.”

  “And what happens when it matures?”

  “Then I must find another symbiote, or else—”

  “You’ll die,” Rina finished, swallowing thickly, “So I guess we’ve been in the same boat this whole time.”

  It was a strange thought, that the man who had helped put her in this situation to begin with had himself been a victim of strikingly similar circumstances.

  Revived by the memory, the ghost of old resentment stirred within Marina, but she shook it away.

  We’re still even. No point in dredging it up.

  “You never really explained how this meditation thing works,” she recalled, “You said you ‘talk’ to your symbiote but not with words. What’d you mean?”

  “When I am in a state of kelno’reem, my subconscious mind becomes one with that of the symbiote. Together, we share a waking dream. That is how I commune with it.”

  Rina thought of the weapon inside her, of the times it had responded to her, answering her thoughts and emotions with its power. She pressed her lips into a thin line, wondering.

  “Could you teach me?” she asked.

  “If you wish.”

  Location: Teal’c’s Quarters

  Teal’c began the meditation by lighting an absurd amount of candles, Rina struggling not to show her baffled expression as she watched him.

  “Do you do this every time?” she asked.

  “Yes.”

  Rina blinked.

  This has got to be a fire hazard…

  Having finally finished, Teal’c sat cross-legged on the floor, prompting Rina to do the same. She watched him close his eyes, then once again followed suit.

  “Relax,” he told her, “Concentrate. You must imagine the center of your mind and focus.”

  The center of my mind? What is that even supposed to mean…?

  She tried regardless, taking a deep breath to calm herself and trying to picture a center point inside her head.

  “Allow it to take you into a waking sleep,” Teal’c continued.

  A waking sleep…

  She tried to recall the feeling that came just before slumber, that moment of hanging between consciousness and unconsciousness, the quiet of her mind and stillness of her body. She sat there, breathing in the scent of burning candles, her muscles unwinding, her thoughts trickling away.

  Then she reached out into the darkness and silence of herself, searching.

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  Nothing.

  She pulled back, feeling a twinge of defeat. Perhaps she’d been wrong to think this would work. It was a weapon, after all. It only responded to the rush of adrenaline, the threat of violence.

  Or maybe I’m just bad at this.

  She opened her eyes, glancing at Teal’c.

  They’d both had their bodies, their lives, hijacked by this thing that they hated. But they had no choice. It was a part of them now. Teal’c had accepted it, had found harmony with it.

  Is that even possible for me…?

  Rina closed her eyes again, drawing another deep breath and letting herself sink back into meditation. Though instead of focusing on the center point of her mind, she shifted her focus to the unseen scars on her back, the place where the weapon had first taken root in her.

  That’s when she felt it—a strange humming along her spine, in her chest, and through her veins.

  Pure, silent energy running through her.

  Her eyes flicked wide open, her lips parting in unspoken astonishment. As quickly as it had revealed itself, the feeling retreated into her unconscious, a quiet constant, like her breathing or her very heartbeat.

  “I felt something,” Rina murmured.

  Teal’c opened his eyes, turning his gaze on her.

  “The weapon?”

  Rina nodded slowly.

  “I’ve never been able to do that,” she admitted, “Not like this.”

  “Perhaps the reason you are able to feel it now is that the weapon has grown stronger.”

  Rina swallowed, her small sense of accomplishment withering.

  “Yeah, probably.” She pushed to her feet, heading for the door. “Well, thanks for showing me this. I’ll leave you to it.”

  Maybe I’ll try this again sometime. With less candles. A lot less candles.

  “Miss Karssen.”

  Rina paused, her hand on the doorknob.

  “How long remains before you have need of a sarcophagus?” Teal’c asked quietly.

  Marina didn’t meet his eyes.

  “A month,” she muttered, “If I’m lucky.”

  Which I never am.

  There was a pause. She could practically feel the concern radiating off of Teal’c.

  “Are you certain you do not wish to consider the Tok’ra’s offer?”

  Rina forced herself to turn and meet his gaze.

  “Yeah. I am.” She swung open the door, only pausing long enough to add, “And seriously, Teal’c, it’s Rina.”

  Location: Daniel Jackson’s Laboratory

  POV: Daniel Jackson

  At the sound of knocking, Daniel dragged his eyes away from his notes, feeling a little surprised at the interruption.

  “Uh, yeah, come in,” he called.

  The door swung open, Teal’c standing there. Daniel’s surprise grew.

  “Oh. Teal’c.”

  “May I come in?” the Jaffa asked gravely.

  “Yeah, sure, of course.”

  Teal’c stepped into the room, shutting the door behind him and clasping his hands behind his back.

  “So what can I do for you?” Daniel asked.

  “I have a request, Daniel Jackson.”

  “Oh?” Daniel reached up to adjust his glasses. “Well, what is it?”

  “I am concerned for Miss Karssen,” Teal’c explained.

  Daniel gave a humorless smile.

  “Yeah, well, you’re not the only one.”

  “I believe it is in her best interest to accept the Tok’ra’s offer. But she appears to be firmly set against it. My wish is that you would speak with her on the matter, as you are far more persuasive than I.”

  Daniel sighed, “Actually, I don’t think she’d find me very persuasive right now, Teal’c.”

  He thought of his brief exchange with Rina after Hammond and SG-1’s meeting with the Tok’ra, of the sheer disbelief and anger on Marina’s face.

  “I think she’s a little bit mad at me.”

  Well…more than a little bit.

  “Then you will not attempt to speak with her?”

  A note of disappointment leaked through Teal’c’s natural stoicism. Daniel hesitated.

  Well, if I did talk to her, it might at least give me a chance to try patching things up…

  He sighed again.

  “No…no, I guess I’ll give it a try.”

  Location: SGC Level 25

  Daniel stopped outside Marina’s room, his forehead creasing in confusion at the sound he was hearing. A steady blast was leaking through the solid door, the noise so chaotic that Daniel found himself at total loss as to what it might be.

  Then he recalled what Rina had said in the mess hall.

  “I’m going to be spending my time reading, hanging posters, and blasting my music unreasonably loud.”

  That’s music? Daniel thought, slightly appalled.

  Classical had always been his go-to when he was in the mood for some music and, while he didn’t mind most other musical genres, this just seemed like an aimless cacophony.

  Daniel raised a hand, knocking loudly on the door.

  “Rina?” he called.

  No answer. It was unlikely Rina had even heard him over the din. He tried calling louder.

  “Rina?!”

  Still, there was no reply. Daniel contemplated simply giving up and coming back later. Though who knew what other ungodly sounds she’d be listening to later?

  Perhaps he could just poke his head in for a second. After all, Rina said she’d only be reading or hanging posters, so what would be the harm?

  Daniel twisted the knob, opening the door a crack. The full volume of the ‘music’ smacked him in the face, making him flinch.

  I just hope my ears recover from this.

  He pushed on, opening the door a little wider and peeking in.

  There was Rina, aggressively head banging in time with the raucous sound, her eyes closed, her long hair whipping about her face. A handful of posters were strewn across the table in the center of the room, some already hanging from the walls. Unsurprisingly, a few of them were clearly Star Wars posters, though others were pictures of landscapes, or of musical bands he didn’t recognize. On top of Rina’s dresser drawer sat a boombox, which was responsible for the heinous sound currently filling the room. Daniel stood half in the room, wondering again if he should take this chance to just quietly slip away and resign himself to trying again later. Then Rina straightened, combing back tangled hair with her fingers, before opening her eyes.

  She started at the sight of Daniel, racing across the room to silence the boombox. In the wake of that catastrophic noise, it seemed quiet enough to hear a pin drop.

  “Uh, hi, sorry,” Daniel greeted awkwardly.

  “How long were you standing there?” Rina asked flatly.

  “Oh, not long,” Daniel answered hastily, “I, uhh, I didn’t see anything, so…”

  Rina stared at him for a long moment before muttering, “Right.”

  She turned toward the posters, snatching one up and rolling it into a tube.

  “Soooo what did you need?”

  Daniel cleared his throat, stepping fully into the room and swinging the door shut behind him.

  “Well, actually, I…I came to apologize.”

  POV: Marina Karssen

  Rina looked up quickly from the poster in her hands. Daniel pressed his hands deep into his pockets.

  “After what happened with the Tok’ra,” he continued, “Well, I probably could’ve been a little more understanding.”

  Rina resisted the urge to shake her head.

  He still doesn’t get it. It’s not just the Tok’ra.

  Without a word, she reached for the next poster and began rolling it up.

  “Look, I know you felt like pretty much everyone in that room didn’t care enough to see you as a person but I promise you this team—your team does care about you and…and frankly some of us are pretty worried right now,” Daniel explained.

  “Worried that I’m not cooperating with our new ‘allies’?” Rina asked, her tone icy.

  There was a pause. Then Daniel took a slow step forward.

  “Do you remember what I told you—that if you stop fighting, Apophis wins?”

  “I remember,” Rina said softly, eyes fixed on the table.

  “Rina, I’m not trying to pressure you into anything and I know you’re not really a fan of the Tok’ra, but the thing is you wouldn’t be doing this for them—or for anyone in the SGC for that matter. You’d be doing it for you. Now, you managed to get through the tests with Dr. Fraiser so—”

  “That was bad enough, Daniel,” Rina interrupted.

  “But you got through it,” Daniel repeated, “And I know how things panned out with the surgery option wasn’t the most encouraging and how you said hoping for the best never really worked out for you before but—”

  “Daniel,” Rina said, holding up a hand and letting silence settle over them for a beat. “Look, I know you’re trying to help but…”

  She hesitated, afraid her next words might give too much away. She chanced it anyway.

  “I’m fighting in my own way, okay?”

  There was a long stretch of quiet.

  “Okay,” Daniel said finally.

  Rina pursed her lips.

  “I’m not just saying that to get rid of you.”

  “I didn’t think you were.”

  Marina sighed, unconvinced.

  “This was forced on me, okay?” she blurted, “The least I can do is get to choose what happens to the weapon now, even if that means…” She faltered. “Even if that means I’m stuck with it. I’m not going to throw myself at anyone who says they might be able to remove it.”

  “I’m not saying you should,” Daniel replied.

  “But I don’t have a choice, right?” Rina asked bitterly, “Anise said it. I don’t have a lot of options.”

  And pretty much everyone seems intent on taking more options away from me…

  Rina reached for the chair behind her, sinking into it. There was another long stretch of quiet. Then Daniel took another step closer.

  “It is your choice, Rina,” he assured softly, “I just want to make sure you’re not taking any options away from yourself.”

  Rina didn’t answer right away, her eyes fixed downward.

  “You know, when I came here,” she said finally, “I asked Hammond what he saw in me—someone who needed help, or just a weapon. He said ‘both’. I didn’t buy that. I mean, how the hell could I be both? Either I’m a person or a tool.” Her voice began rising, her gaze finally meeting Daniel’s. “But now? Honestly, between you and pretty much everyone else, I’m getting bounced between ‘person’ and ‘weapon’ faster than I keep up with, it’s exhausting.” Her voice threatened to break, but she pushed on. “Everyone but me gets to decide what I am, whenever it’s convenient for—”

  Her voice finally cracked and she cut short, burying her face in her hands.

  “So what are you?” Daniel asked gently.

  Rina lifted her head, taken aback by the question. She reached for an answer, only to find none, her mind gone utterly blank.

  “I don’t fucking know,” she admitted with a strangled laugh.

  A thought struck her, an image of the weapon’s tendrils wrapped tightly around her spine, the recent memory of its energy humming through her as naturally as breathing. A sickening feeling filled Rina’s core.

  “I might not even be human anymore,” she realized, her voice a whisper.

  “You’re human in every way that matters, Rina, but that’s not what I meant,” Daniel explained, “When it comes to choosing who or what you are, no one else gets to decide that, except for you.”

  “You really don’t know how determined people can be to force you into a box?” Rina snapped.

  Daniel let out a small sigh.

  “Actually, I do. Back when I discovered the pyramids were built by aliens, I tried telling people and, well, they all treated me like I was crazy. It was really…” His gaze fell. “...very isolating.”

  “It’s not the same, Daniel,” Rina said quietly.

  “No, it’s not,” he agreed, “But the difference is you’re not alone.” He gave a strained smile. “Even if maybe I’m not the best company.”

  “You are,” Rina said quickly, “Good company, I mean.”

  Their eyes met, silence stretching between them again. Then Rina cleared her throat, breaking the contact.

  “But you are interrupting my decorating,” she said, gesturing toward her posters, “So—”

  She made a shooing motion with her hand.

  “Okay,” Daniel said with a light laugh, “Fair enough.”

  He rose from his seat and crossed to the door, pausing with his hand on the knob.

  “Look, we didn’t get off to the best start with the Tok’ra, but thankfully, first impressions tend to be wrong. Maybe if you give them some time, they could change your mind.”

  Rina hesitated, then simply nodded in relent.

  “Okay.”

  But I won’t hold my breath.

  Daniel nodded in acknowledgement, then quietly exited the room. Marina released a long gust of breath, shaking her head to herself. Then she pushed to her feet, reaching for one of the posters on the table. Her hand stopped halfway, her mind catching a familiar sensation creeping over her. Rina’s eyes widened, panic squeezing her insides as she recognized the feeling. It was a faint—but unmistakable—twinge of dizziness.

  Oh shit.

  It had begun.

  And Rina’s time was about to run out.