At this point, I re-thought the whole thing and ended up putting together another solution. One that utilizes the Thickbox effect, located here:
http://jquery.com/demo/thickbox/ (but can be used with any of the Lightbox effects, I think) and still managed by way of the Gallery component behind the scenes.
Special thanks to @benmarte and @Frogabog for attempting to come to my rescue. I hope to repay the favor some day.
