Disclaimer: All the characters from the "Magnificent Seven" T.V. series are property of Trilogy Entertainment, The Mirisch Group, MGM Worldwide. Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of MGM, Gekko, Double Secret Productions.
Ezra Standish woke up.
He woke up to sound, beating against his ears, entering his mind covertly through the soft luxury of the feathers upon which his head was rested. He had been dreaming of red hair and scented skin, holding him close while a soft voice whispered in his ears and told him that he should sleep, for he would awaken into a dream, not fall asleep into one. He remembered her soft hands on his brow, laughing with him as they became lost in tangle of sheets, scented heavily with their love making and knew he never wanted to be anywhere else, except in her warmth embrace. In the darkness of the pain into which Ezra Standish awoke, only one word made any sense.
Julia.
He wept upon regaining consciousness, feeling painfully weak even though he was allowed. He could feel it covering him, the torn skin, the broken flesh and the blood, the god-awful stench of blood that curdled his stomach and made his crawl painfully off the soft mattress he was lying upon, so that he could retch. There was nothing in his stomach to eject and he vomited an odious mixture of blood and bile. His mind remembered a second later; induced by the memory to bring the images to the surface he wanted no part of. She was not Mary Travis Larabee that did this to him. What she had done had made the association impossible. Even he found himself standing before Mary now; he could not more harm her than he could Julia Pemberton. However, if he found himself before the creature who had made him endure the hell that had made him scream and reduced him to this, there would be nothing on earth that would keep him from killing her with his bare hands.
He had endured much in his life, some things, which he would admit to no one, not even Julia who knew his secrets and his heart. Things he told no one and would not even admit to himself. Maude had made his life one struggle after another and Lord only knew the things he had done to save her from herself, not even she was privy to that knowledge. Humiliation was something he had endured since his childhood. Ezra had become so accustomed to it that it had become almost an old friend. He had tolerated all kinds of evils and buried the effect behind a veneer of southern charm that was like a magic cloak, protecting him all things terrible. Until now.
Never in his life did he want vengeance so badly. He wanted to hurt her. He wanted to make her scream and tear her apart with his hands. Not just her, but the other one, whose torture was far more inhumane than that of physical pain. Thanks to Isis, he had become a rutting animal, required to perform for its meals. She had made him the instrument in which he had violated Alexandra Styles and possibly destroyed any chance Ezra would ever have to look into Vin's eyes without feeling shame and guilt. He had endured much in his life and swallowed his pride as something that simply had to be but not this. There would be no satisfying his rage in this matter.
He required retribution.
He was kneeling on the floor, still coughing blood when he heard footsteps approach behind him. The guard assigned to keep him imprisoned in this gilded cage of soft pillows and silken sheets had been attracted by his noises and now came forward. Ezra tensed and collected himself. He did not need to look at himself to know that he was possibly dying from the wounds inflicted on him. He could smell the stench of it on his skin and knowing that there was an end in sight made it all the more easier to act.
The guard spoke and the voice was female, like they were all female in this place. He did not answer and continue to remain on his knees, bleeding and feigning weakness. His adrenalin was coursing through his veins, dulling the pain that burned through him because she had him facing the wall, bound and helpless before she tore through his insides, laughing as she stripped his manhood from him and revelled in the scream she tore from his lips. The memory of that tearing pain, the feel of warm blood running down his thighs made Ezra double over again and he retched once more.
God, he was going to kill her. If it was the last fucking thing he got to do in this life, he was going to kill her!
The guard spoke again, standing above him now, concern filtering into her voice, possibly because she understood how important he was to the Goddess of All. Ezra's rage would have even astonished Chris Larabee who until now had the monopoly on homicidal fury. It was a serpent inside of him, coiled and waiting release. He could hear the guard directly behind him, urging him to tell her what could be done for him even though Ezra had no idea what was she saying. He could read the voice, like he could read the faces of opponents in a card game.
Without warning, he kicked out his foot, striking her knee hard. She let out a cry of pain, swinging the staff weapon in her hand as she went down. He was on his feet faster than she and he grabbed the length of the weapon and yanked it away with one forceful pull. She tried to call for help but there was no time, Ezra brought his foot down on her chest, driving the air from her lungs and killing any sound that might have tried to escape. Swinging the weapon in his grip, Ezra's hands moved so fast, he never even stop to consider when he had paid such careful attention that he knew how to handle it. The barrel was aimed in her direction before he was conscious of the fact that he had swung the staff weapon over swiftly and he had even less cognisance when he killed her.
The guard died quickly and that was all the thought that Ezra gave her as he hobbled over her body, the weapon brandished as he limped towards the door, preparing to kill anything that came in his way if they tried to stop him. He had no idea that he trailed blood as he moved. He had no idea that his mind had crossed a threshold of blood lust that would not end its frenzied desire for vengeance until he killed the thing inside Mary Larabee and freed her.
Because no one deserved to be trapped in the same body with a insane killer.
"What the hell is going on in there?" Jack O'Neill found himself asking, the closer they approached the source of all the commotion. The combination of fire power from the Goa'uld ribbon device and the staff weapon being fired were resonating through the walls of the structure so fiercely that he could not put his hands against any surface without feeling the shudder of violence. An epic battle was being waged and Jack became more curious to find out what was behind it, the nearer they approached its centre.
They reached the end of the corridor and found it emptying into a large chamber, which Jack held back on approaching until he knew what was happening. As he peered over the turn of the corridor, he discovered that the majority of Jaffa were concentrated on what was taking place in the wide room. They were anxiously watching as two women engaged in what appeared to be a battle to do the death. It did not take him long to realise that the two combatants were clearly Goa'uld since none of the Jaffa dared to interfere in the savage tournament. The room which served as their battle ground was covered in wreckage and Jack felt his stomach hollow when he realised that bury among the rubble were bodies. He could see a hand protruding from a pile of debris.
"Is that your wife?" Jack prompted Chris to the edge and the gunslinger immediately poked his head past the corner to see if Jack had indeed found Mary.
Chris wasted no time searching through the pandemonium in the room to find who he sought. It did not take him long to find her. She stood in the middle of the room, amidst the destruction wrought by the fierce battle being waged between herself and Isis, looking nothing like Mary Travis Larabee, even though she wore his wife's face. The creature before him was almost feral in its savagery, teeth bared, splattered smears of blood covering her skin he was certain was not her own. She was fighting with a staff weapon, her blond hanging loose against her skin, appearing like a banshee wailing a dirge in the night.
Her attention was focussed mostly on her opponent and what Chris saw in her blue grey eyes was killer madness. He had seen rabid animals with the same look and it made him shudder to know that such insanity possessed his wife's body. Isis on the other hand, was a picture of calm and Chris found himself wondering how much of that was Alex. The woman that Daniel Jackson referred to as the Goddess of All was not all in the same state of frenzy that Sekhmet was currently displaying. If anything she was a cool contrast to the unrestrained madness that was the Warrior Goddess.
"Jesus," Chris whispered as he saw Sekhmet firing the staff weapon, sending a volley of blasts as Isis who used the ribbon device to block the shots. He could almost see the invisible wall of energy deflecting the deadly streaks of energy, as easily as bullets ricocheting away from steel. The blast impacted against the wall, striking one Jaffa guard who was standing too closely and forcing the others back. Sekhmet did not give Isis any time to breathe, renewing her attack with just as much vigour, oblivious to the fact that she could not get through the invisible shielding that Isis had erected around herself thanks to the odd weapon coiled around her wrist.
"We've got to stop them." He said hastily retreating back to the others. "They're going to kill each other."
"Is Alex out there?" Vin asked quickly and immediately tried to get past them when Jack tugged him back into place.
"Just hold it a minute." The colonel hissed with enough command in his voice to ensure that young man obeyed. "Did you see how many Jaffa they got with them?" Jack inquired since he had not the chance to make a clearer observation before he had summoned Chris to identify his wife.
"At least nine." Chris estimated, making a quick mental calculation. So far, they had maintained their anonymity, however, that would end the moment they stepped out from behind this corner to retrieve Mary and Alex.
"Nine." Jack considered quickly and raised his eyes to Sam. "You think you can do what you did earlier with that thing again?" He asked, referring to her use of the Gao'uld ribbon device when they had previously encountered the Jaffa guards in the woods.
"I think so," Sam nodded anxiously, not liking to use the weapon but knowing that it would serve much more effectively than their guns at this moment.
"What's your plan Jack?" Daniel asked and did not need an answer when he saw Jack removing a few grenades from his belt. "Oh." He said shortly.
"Oh?" Vin retorted. "What's oh mean?" He asked, wishing someone would explain to him what was going on. At the moment, he was fighting to restrain himself from running out there and confronting Alex. Like Chris, he felt that they needed to do something before Mary and Alex slipped out of their reach again.
"Oh means, we ought to step back a little." Daniel answered, retreating further along the wall and gesturing the two lawmen to follow.
Something in the scholar's manner indicated to Chris that neither Vin or he should argue as they left Sam and Jack behind at the edge of the wall. If there was one thing the gunslinger had learnt by now, they were so far over their heads with what had transpired in the last two days that it was wise to let someone with the know how take the lead occasionally. Jack O'Neill appeared to know what he was doing. As much as Chris found it difficult to rely on anyone when it came to Mary's safety, he knew he had to swallow his pride and accept the help because he simply did not have the knowledge to save her on his own.
Jack nodded in Sam's direction, preparing to throw the grenades into the thickest part of the Jaffa group as she took a deep breath and readied herself to use the ribbon device once more. He could see the apprehension in her lovely face and wished it were not so that their only course of action was to utilise her experiences as a Goa'uld host to fight the enemy that they had been responsible for unleashing upon a galaxy. Since her blending, as the Tokra liked to call it, more and more latent Goa'uld abilities had been manifesting itself in Sam Carter's psyche. She was becoming quite adept at using their technology even though he knew secretly, it frightened her.
"You ready?" He asked.
"As I'll ever be." She nodded and prompted him to begin.
With all the noise and pandemonium currently taking place in the next room, the grenades Jack threw in the direction of the Jaffa went virtually unnoticed except by the guards nearest to the objects when they clattered across the floor. Those who did notice did not immediately recognise the devices before them, since none of these Jaffa would have ever had reason to encounter the Tau'Ri or have any knowledge of their weapons. Unfortunately, they did not have time to place the grenades under deep scrutiny before the explosives detonated.
The roar of multiple grenade explosions rocked the halls of the building even more violently then the battle of Goa'ulds in the chamber. Jack did not wait to see the effects of his handiwork, emerging at the same time with Sam and firing their zat guns at the remaining Jaffar who had now started to realise that their fortress had been breached while they had been spectators to the battle. At least four or five Jaffa went down with that initial blast. With the onslaught of zat guns carried by the two intruders, soon to be joined by three others, carrying the same and an alien weapon that tore through their bodies in a hail of erupting noise, very soon all the Jaffa lay in an messy heap of bodies.
Isis and Sekhmet stopped fighting immediately, realising a new threat had suddenly presented itself. Isis scanned the room and discovered that there were no Jaffa standing between themselves and the intruders, none that she could see over the rising smoke left in the wake of the grenade blasts.
"Jaffa!" She roared in Goa'uld tongue. "Kree!"
"They're dead!" Sekhmet shouted, both Goa'uld forgetting their previous altercation as the enemy who had killed their guards, approached them cautiously.
Sekhmet recognised the stranger in black almost immediately and found a smile curling her lips as she realised that it was the mate of her host body. She felt her pulse quicken at the thought of having him in her clutches even though it was a mystery to her how his primitive mind had unravelled the secrets of the gate enough to follow them here. All she cared about as her eyes met his, was the pleasure to be had as she broke him into a thousand pieces as she had done his friend.
Chris saw Sekhmet's gaze fixed on him and dared to hope that perhaps there was something in her that knew who he was. That thought lasted just about as long as it took for her to aim the staff weapon at him and start firing. She was deadly accurate with the weapon and the marble floor spit debris and flying shards of jagged rock as he and Jack ran for cover. Jack fired the zat gun at her but Sekhmet side stepped it easily, allowing the surge of energy to bounce harmlessly against the wall. It took Chris a moment to recover that she had ever intention of killing the colonel unless he helped, when suddenly Jack O'Neill was swept off his feet and slammed painfully into a wall.
"Colonel!" Samantha Carter cried out as Jack groaned in pain as he slid to the floor.
The attack had come from Isis who had now turned her attention to the interlopers and posed far more danger than Sekhmet and her staff weapon. As Sam, Vin and Daniel attempted to deal with the Goddess of All, Chris made his way towards Jack, who had not moved from his position on the floor. Judging by the grimace on his face and the way he was holding his side, Chris guessed immediately that he had probably broken ribs. Certainly he had been thrown hard enough to warrant such injuries.
"Jack," Chris leaned over him and tried to examine the injury. "You need to get on your feet. We can't protect you here."
"No kidding!" Jack swore loudly when his eyes travelled past Chris and shoved the gunslinger down as he ducked for cover himself. "Get down!"
Chris did not need to ask when there was an explosion of rock and marble over their heads as a sizeable chunk of wall crumbled around their ears from the blast of a staff weapon. Sekhmet was approaching fast, preparing to kill them both when Chris reflexively fired his own zat gun at the woman who was his wife. Once again, she was able to avoid the shot with her lightning reflexes and Chris told himself he was going to have to stop underestimating her if he was to have any chance of bringing Mary back to her. He fired continuously, laying down a wall of energy that drove her back, allowing Jack a chance to recover. She was almost pushed to the far end of the room before Chris immediately turned his attention to the colonel and proceeded to drag the man down the corridor.
"I'm fine!" Jack grumbled, disliking the assistance.
"Now I know what Nathan puts up with." Chris retorted as he pulled Jack to safety. "I ain't got time for this. Quit arguing."
"Listen to me," Jack grunted as he felt the sharp pain of broken ribs. "When you go after her, she'll try anything to get to you. Sometimes, they even used the host itself."
"What does that mean?" Chris snapped, since that made little sense to him.
"You'll hear Mary and you'll think its Mary but it won't be! It will be just a trick. You want your wife back, you put her down and you do it fast. No mercy Larabee, no mercy!" Jack pulled at his duster and made sure that Chris knew how serious was about it.
Chris nodded quickly understanding what was said to him before replying quietly. "Don't stay here too long, with all this noise, we're gonna bring the whole place down on us." Chris warned before retreating up the way he came. He cast a glance a brief glance at Daniel, Sam and Vin, seeing them embroiled in troubles of their own as they attempted to subdue Isis, who was proving to be a formidable match for all of them. Chris hoped they could carry their end of the plan as he searched for Sekhmet and saw her withdrawing into another room, almost as if she wanted him to follow.
Trap or not, he had no choice but to follow her.
"We killed you!" Isis shouted glaring at Vin Tanner in astonishment, unable to believe how he was standing before her when she had killed him back on the Tau'Ri world. She had made a point of killing him after he had the audacity to attempt to assume that she was his mate.
"We revived him." Daniel said quickly before any more on the subject was revealed. They had not wished to let Vin know that he had died at her hands because explaining to him that he had been brought back to life might have been too much for any man to know about himself, especially when it was his fiancee that had killed him. "We have no wish to harm you but we need the body you have taken."
She looked at Daniel incredulously as if he had said something highly amusing and started to laugh. "You must be joking. Do you think us a fool. This body is ours. We will kill you for your insolence!" Her eyes flashed with rage and she raised her hand to attack when Sam quickly stepped in front of Daniel, aware of what was coming in his direction. Vin was still uncertain about firing as the amber jewel poured its lethal energy in Sam's direction. The beam of light caught her in the centre of forehead, immediately driving the woman to her feet as Isis closed in.
Vin had no idea what she was doing but judging by the pain etched in Sam's face, he knew that he had to do something. His own weapon would cause Alex permanent injury and so he thought quickly, running forward and slamming his entire body weight into her, freeing Sam who drop to her hands gasping in pain. Isis reacted swiftly as they both scrambled on the floor. Vin saw her momentarily disorientated and immediately climbed on top of her, trapping her body beneath his own as he grabbed the hand wearing the ribbon device and pressed it to the floor.
"We will destroy you for this!" She bellowed in rage, her eyes glowing with unearthly light as she struggled.
"Not before I destroy you first!" Vin found himself saying trying to harden his heart and telling himself repeatedly it was not the woman he loved before him but the vicious creature who had stolen her body and for that matter her soul. "Alex, I know you can hear me. We're going to get her out of you Alex, I promise!"
"Vin, get away from her!" Daniel ordered immediately, scrambling forward once he had ensured Sam was alright. The linguist had produced a zat gun and could not make the shot until Vin had moved out of the way. While it might look to the tracker that he had the momentary advantage, Daniel knew better. The Goa'uld may be restrained but it did not require her limbs to make the ribbon device work.
The warning came to late and Vin found himself thrown off her violently, propelled backwards before he even had a chance to realise that she had activated the weapon. He crashed into some broken furniture with great force, sending debris into the air with his hard landing. Broken furniture dug into his skin but thankfully, the heavy buckskins he was wearing had saved him from any severe lacerations. Although he was hurt, he was nowhere injured and he was on his feet in time to see Daniel fire the zat gun.
Alex's scream tore through the air.
Vin reacted to the sound of that voice more sharply than anything else that happened. He scrambled across the debris, praying to god that she was not responsible for the tortured bodies he was seeing scattered around the place. He saw Alex on the floor, struggling with the intense pain caused by the weapon as Daniel moved towards her. "Hurry," he looked at Vin. "We don't have much time. This won't last long."
Vin nodded mutely and continued closing the distance between her, far more rapidly than Daniel was capable. He glanced at Sam to see if she was alright and flinched when he saw rivulet of blood running down her nose as she recovered from Isis' attack. When he was near enough for her to see him, Isis's eyes widened in shock but the voice that came from her lips did not belong to a stranger.
"Oh god Vin!" Alexandra Styles gasped in pain and relief as she saw him standing before him. "Oh god you're alive! I'm sorry! I couldn't stop her! I couldn't her from everything!" She wailed in absolute sorrow.
For a minute, Vin did not know what to do but felt his own relief flood into his soul as he heard her voice. "Alex?" He stammered. "Is that you darling?" He could almost feel tears starting to form in his eyes as he looked into her face and saw that it was Alex staring at him, weeping in coherence.
"You don't have time for this!" Daniel ordered, reaching for her wrist to remove the ribbon device. "She's only back because the Goa'uld doesn't like the pain. The minute it wears off, Isis will assume control of her again."
He had no sooner said those words when Vin saw Alex's eyes glowing again and whatever she was trying to say to him wither away in the bellowing tirade of Isis' enraged voice. "We will make you beg for death for this insult!" The ribbon device glowed and a powerful surge of energy swatted both men away like disobedient children. Daniel landed on his back, feeling the impact against his body shudder through his bones as he made abrupt contact with the marble floor. His skull hit the floor hard and Daniel felt his head swim with the disorientation of the abrupt stop.
Vin felt his body flare with pain again after another painful landing and swore under breath, knowing that it could not take much more of this pounding. He staggered to his feet just in time to see Isis rolling onto her knees about to rise. She looked at him with eyes narrowed, preparing to attack when Sam finally entered the fray and placed herself between them in order to protect him from further retaliation by the Goa'uld queen.
Sam did not know whether she was any match for Isis but she was determined not to let this go any further. She had heard the terrified voice of Alexandra Styles crying out a few seconds ago and remembered most acutely how it felt to be similarly trapped in that hell. Without offering any warning, she concentrated hard and felt the ribbon device coming to life once again. It manifested itself like an insistent tug in the centre of her being that required the crystal in the device to channel its energy outward.
With the same power which she had used a moment ago to dispatch the two men who attempted to steal her host body, Isis was thrown backward as the force of energy delivered by Sam swept her off her feet. She let out a startled cry as she landed in the thick of Jaffa bodies unhurt but full of indignant fury at being caught at her own game. The look in her eyes as she stood up to face Sam again and return the assault was enough to send chills of fear running down his spine as Vin Tanner was forced to witness her murderous rage. Suddenly, unable to fathom how he could possibly know but aware only that he did, Vin knew that Sam was not going to be able to stand up to the assault.
What came next was purely intuition and he hoped he was not wrong and that Alex could forgive him when it was all said and done. Pulling out the knife he had secreted in his boot, Vin watched Isis raising her hand preparing to use her weapon against Sam and knew that he had less than a fraction of a second to act. He did not know if he could be that accurate with a knife but he supposed now was a good time as any to find out. The Bowie knife twirled as it flew across the air before striking Isis in the centre of her palm, penetrating the gem and surging forward until it sliced through flesh with its tips emerging from the other side of her hand.
Isis let out a high pitch scream of agony as she doubled over in pain, clutching her hand as the blood started to run down her forearm. Vin's stomach hollowed at the sight of her in pain and then reminded himself most acutely of what Jack had told Chris and he about remembering that the creatures in possession of Mary and Alex were not the women they knew. Isis glared at him, defenceless now that her only means of fighting back was destroyed and her Jaffa guards were either dead or absent. Vin saw her eyes studying the situation, evaluation the danger to herself and knew instantly what she was going to run.
He crossed the space between and caught her in a full body tackle, throwing her on the floor before she could make any attempt to escape, perfectly aware that if she became lost in this labyrinthine fortress, they would never find her again. Vin had no idea whether or not she had the chance to create new guards but Vin did not intend to find out. His knife was still embedded in the centre of her palm, blood had stained her arm and she struggled beneath him like a hell cat. Her unharmed hand dug into his neck, nail raking across his skin with such force that it drew blood.
"Release us immediately!" She demanded, her glare blazing with white heat beneath her eyes. It made Vin shudder just seeing her this way and he ignored all the feelings he had about her and any misconception he had that his Alex could be reasoned with.
"Help me!" Vin shouted as Daniel and Sam approached him on either side. Vin kept his weight under Isis and struggled to remain straddled over her as she fought him with near superhuman strength. Her teeth were bared like she was an animal and he had no doubt that if the device on her hand was working, she would have killed him already.
Sam reached him first and immediately clutched Isis' bleeding hand. She had put away her own ribbon device, not wishing Isis to exert control over it. Daniel was standing over them, keeping an eye out for Jaffa guards but it appeared that none were forthcoming and guessed that Isis had not the opportunity to implant new hosts for her Jaffa army with all the conflict she had been struggling with Sekhmet when they had arrived. As Sam removed the bloodied ribbon device from her hand and tossed it away, he quickly found something to tie the infuriated Goa'uld that presently required all the strength that Vin Tanner could muster to keep her from breaking free.
"Let us go!" Isis demanded again. "You will pay for this outrage when we have you skinned alive!"
Vin's patience was getting the better of him and he knew they could not drag her back to the gate in this condition. Taking a deep breath, he held her struggling face in his hands and leaned down close to kiss her. As his mouth met hers, he felt her pause in his grip as the warmth of his lips melted over her own and for a very brief moment, he could have been mistaken for believing she was his Alex again. He heard Sam demanding what the hell he was doing when he broke away and met Isis' surprised gaze.
"Sorry Alex," he said with a sigh. "But I'm doing this for your own good." Without further delay, he threw the hardest punch he could deliver, striking her against the jaw. Her head snapped back and she went limp in his arm, her struggles ending just as abruptly. No one spoke for a few seconds and Sam examined Isis' pupils, ensuring that she was not playing the part to trick them into letting down their guard.
"She's out cold." Sam looked up at him.
"That's one way to do it." Daniel commented, producing a length of silken cord used to hold some curtains together.
"I suppose," Vin drawled climbing off Alex's unconscious form as Sam proceeded to tie her up. As he looked around the room and saw neither sign of Jack and Chris, he hoped that subduing Mary was not going to be as exhausting as this.
Chris saw Mary running down a length of corridor, leading away from the others and fell into stride in pursuit, once he knew that Jack was safe and could fend for himself by the time they had company. As he ran after the Goa'uld in possession of his wife's body, Chris kept in mind that she was leading him away from the others into a possible trap. However, he recanted on this thought when then he realised that she had been given no warning of their arrival and most likely had another reason for this separation. It had not escaped his attention that the room they had just left was filled with broken bodies that were not simply of the Jaffa they had killed to reach Sekhmet and Isis. Chris had this terrible premonition that somehow, Sekhmet had been responsible for the carnage. Everything Daniel Jackson had told him seemed to indicate that the beast in control of Mary was a sadistic murderer.
The corridor was strangely silent as he ran down its length, with only the sound of his footsteps against the marble floor. He could not hear her any more and that gave him reason for concern. He had seen her come up this way and knew that she was close, probably watching him now as he made his approach. He knew just how stealthy she could be when she had blind side him in the cavern prior to her escape into this strange world. The zat gun as Jack O'Neill called it remained tucked in his belt and if it was not for the fact that Chris had been shot with it, he would not have placed much faith in the weapon in subduing Mary.
Suddenly, he heard a sound coming from one of the door and Chris instinctively guessed that it was made on purpose, with the expressed intention of luring him into the room. Reaching for the zat gun, he held it firmly in his grip as he walked through the doorway. The first thing that greeted him upon entry was a series of blasts from a staff weapon. The resounding burst of energy followed him as he ran across the length of the room, barely a fraction of a step ahead of its lethal blasts. Finally, he had no choice but to leap towards the bed that sat in the centre of the room and rolled across the soft mattress to the other side. He landed on his knees and instinctively fired without even seeing where she was in the room, relying upon something far more intuitive than sight.
Chris did not hit her. He had not expected to. However, the shot from the zat gun impacted very near her and she was forced to leap out of the way with as much fear for life as he had done a moment ago. She feared not the pain but the immobilisation the weapon would produce upon her body and Sekhmet was unprepared to be helpless in his ministrations. Chris did not give her time to recover; moving across the room with more speed than he ever thought himself possible of having and kicked high, just inches from her face. The staff weapon was torn from her grip and went flying. She made a wild dash to retrieve it but he stopped her in her tracks with a secondary shot of warning from the zat gun. The energy beam struck the marble floor near her and while it did not crack it as spectacularly as it had done when fired upon by a staff weapon, the black of charred marble marred the polish of the floor.
"Stay where you are!" Chris ordered and she froze in place, glaring at him from the floor while resting on her haunches. For a moment, she looked so savage, he wondered if she could even understand him.
"Or what?" She asked in a low voice, her face twisted into an expression of derision as she looked at him. "You'll shoot me?"
"I'll shoot you." Chris swallowed, unable to picture that ugly mask of hatred bearing the same features of his wife.
"You couldn't shoot me, even if you tried." She sneered and rose to her feet, slowly. Her spine straightened at each joint, her shoulders curling back as she stood upright and reminded Chris of a cat stretching itself languidly while enjoying the heat of the afternoon sun. There was power in her movements, power of a sleek animal, seductive and utterly terrifying.
"Don't try me." Chris replied, knowing he sounded less sure as she met his gaze, the menace draining from her face even though the intense look of hunger remained. She shook her head, tousling her golden hair and allowing to frame her face with loose strands that made him very aware of her. Her lips curled into a smile and suddenly, Chris was aware that the game was changing.
"I would like to try you." She whispered with a smile. "My host wishes the joining," she sauntered to the bed and sat down. Chris knew he should have pulled the trigger on this strange weapon but he could only follow her as she moved across the room.
"No she doesn't," he shook his head. " She's trapped inside you, locked in hell."
"Hell?" She started to laugh. "Is that what you think?" She rose to her feet again, deciding she would be unable to lure him into the sheets with her. "I have given her spirit a freedom she never knew. With me in her mind and her body, I have made her a god. What have you done for her?" She accused, taking one step towards him, even though the zat gun was still aimed firmly in his direction. "You have chained her with sentiment, presume to lord over her as if you were her master and worst of all, you have reduced her to nothing more than a receptacle for your seed! Which of us do you think is most guilty!" Without another word, she swung around in a flurry of movement that Chris barely had time to register, let alone defend against. The kick was aimed directly at the zat gun and upon contact, the weapon went flying.
Instead of continuing her attack, she paused and gave him a little smile as they stood before each other unarmed. "You'll never get her back." Sekhmet sneered. "I would rather kill myself in this body and take her with me before I ever return her to you."
The smug satisfaction in which she delivered this statement snapped whatever restrained Chris had been maintaining that she was his wife. She was not his wife. Mary was somewhere else, locked in a dungeon to which this creature had the only key. God help him, if it meant he had to go through her to free Mary then that was how it was going to be. All this time, she had been on the offensive, penetrating his own lines of defence because she was using his heart against him. Sekhmet knew that while he wanted Mary back, he would always hold back and that gave her an advantage he no longer afford to allow.
I'm sorry Mary.
Chris lunged at her, bringing her down on the hard floor with a full body tackle that gave her neither time to react or retaliate. They both tumbled to the floor together and Chris grabbed her hands before she had time to fight back. He pinned her body down with his weight but her strength was stronger than he had suspected and her fist struck his jaw in her attempt to dislodge him from his position on top of her. Chris returned the blow in kind, feeling a dozen kinds of uncertainty as he saw her head snap back from his punch. She did not waste time in responding, bringing her knees up as slamming it into his back, propelling him forward as she twisted hard and threw him off her.
Chris rolled easily and was back on his feet in time to see her trying to plant her foot in his face. He grabbed her calf and put all his strength into twisting the leg viciously around. She let out a squeal of pain as she fairly twirled in mid air before slamming onto the floor once again, landing hard on her belly. He was on top of her before she had even landed, forcing her to stay down as he grabbed her hands and tried pinning them to her back with one hand as he fumbled for the belt around his pants.
"You are enjoying this." She said with a smile.
"What?" Chris exclaimed with distaste.
"This is how you took her the first time, did you not?" She sneered, her voice dripping suggestion and accusation. "You like hurting her. You enjoy it. The enjoyment gave you pleasure, made you slip past all those secret fears. You only had the courage to take her after you hurt her."
"Shut up." Chris said finally, deciding he did not need to hear this. She was just trying to bait him, trying to shake his resolve and give her an opening to escape.
"Hurt me," she said sweetly. "I like the pain." She tried to turn her head to look at him but she could not quite manage it. "You can hurt me as much as you like and then you can take me. I promise you pleasure beyond your imagining. We are more a like than the whimpering mind inside here with me. Release me and I will make you my Pharaoh, you cannot imagine what glory is to be had by being in service to one of us. I can show you the universe and an infinity of pleasure and pain. All you have to do is let me go."
Chris barely heard her. He refused to. Instead he concentrated on securing his belt around her wrists, determined to ignore her words of seduction and knowing that it was possibly an act of desperation, since she was probably feeling fear as her captivity became more and more apparent. "I said shut up." He repeated himself and leaned forward as he held her down with his body while attempting to tighten the notches in the leather so that there was no possibility of her freedom. "I don't want you," he hissed angrily. "I want my wife!"
"You'll never get her!" Sekhmet snapped and threw her head back, slamming her head back into his chin and causing enough pain for Chris to recoil backwards and relinquish his hold on her hands. As he felt blood ooze from a split lip, she twisted once again, throwing him off her body. No sooner than she was free of him, Sekhmet was on her feet and turning back towards him, throwing a forward kick that landed squarely in his chest. Chris staggered backwards for a step or two and then promptly recovered and decided enough was enough.
She wanted to play rough? Fine, he could do rough.
She attacked again, using her legs almost as effectively as some men used theirs fists. Throwing a side kick, Chris whose reflexes were just as fast, possibly faster, grabbed her leg and pulled her forward. Unable to maintain her balance with one foot only, she could not resist as he dragged her close enough to reach and then he swung hard, striking the slender bone of jaw. He felt it crumple immediately under his fist, feel bone shatter. She did not cry out but he did see her face etched in pain. There was still a lot of fight left in her, even though he was certain that he had broken her jaw when he had hit her. He had to keep telling himself that she was not his wife, that to save Mary he would have to hurt Sekhmet.
Her efforts to disengage herself from him became more desperate and she struggled even harder, dropping her free leg to her knees and pulling him down with her at the abrupt descent. Chris lost his grip momentarily as they both neared the floor and she used the distraction to kick him in the stomach in a blow he was ill prepared to receive. The ball of her foot drove into his gut and Chris felt intense pain and was certain he would have a bruise to remember as he grunted in pain. She attempted to get to her feet again but he was ready for her and kicked his own foot into the side of her knee. She screamed in pain and fell face front, her skull making a fair whack against the hard floor.
Chris was on his fours and scrambling towards her, determined not to let her get away even though she had not recovered enough to do so. The fall she had just taken was fairly severe and he could tell that she was still disorientated and unable to attack. Without even thinking, he climbed on top of her again, determined to tighten the belt around her hands and carry her out of here if that was what was required. When his skin made contact with hers, she spoke suddenly.
"Chris." She whispered.
It was not the voice of the Goa'uld.
He immediately climbed of her and turned her over so that she could face him. A terrible dark bruise was forming on her forehead where her head had made contact with the marble floor and her lower jaw was starting to twist out of shape with discolouration where he had hit her. Her teeth were red with blood and a thick rivulet was running down the corner of her mouth. She looked at him without flashing eyes and her expression softened as her gaze met his.
"Chris." Tears started to fill her blue-grey eyes.
"Mary... " he dared himself to ask.
"You hurt me." She whimpered. "Why?"
Chris closed his eyes to drive away the pain he felt at having to answer. "I have to Mary, I have to hurt you get that thing out of your body." He looked at her face and saw his wife, feeling white hot shards of pain penetrating his soul at the injuries on her lovely face.
"Please let me go Chris," she begged. "I'm myself now. She's gone. I can't feel her inside me."
Chris wanted to believe that more than anything else in the world but he knew she was lying. He remembered what Jack told him, that in desperation Sekhmet would use any cruel trick to gain the advantage. Chris looked into her eyes and told himself again that this was Sekhmet using his love for Mary to lull him into a false hope that Mary was with him again.
"She's still there." He whispered trying not to let the pain get to him. He wanted so much to believe that it was Mary speaking to him but he knew better. He knew it without even having to hear Jack O'Neill's reminder in his ears. He had seen what she had done to those poor souls in that other chamber and knew that there were no limits to Sekhmet's murderous bloodlust or her treachery. Wiping the tears from her eyes, Chris wondered briefly why he would do this when it was not Mary, blaming it on an emotion he did not wish to deal with now and crushed it ruthlessly back in place before he returned her gaze with angry hatred. "I know you're still there!" He shouted after a moment.
Her eyes glowed and Sekhmet spat at him, her spittle striking his cheek as she glared at him in unmasked hatred. "I will never let her go! I will kill her before I allow you to have her back!"
Chris said nothing and withdrew instead, sinking his hand into her hair as he hauled her to her feet. Sekhmet had no choice but to follow the painful tug of her hair as he dragged her upright and held her face inches away from his as he wiped the saliva from his skin. She stared into his eyes and saw something dark and terrifying, almost as black as the depths in her own eyes when she looked at herself in the mirror.
Chris stared at her and whispered softly. "You stupid bitch. You have no idea about anything do you?" He sneered, feeling the power shift back to him. "You think that I would let you live inside her? Even if I can't have her back, you think I would let you live? If Mary is gone, if I've lost her, do you think that wearing her face is not going to keep me from tearing you out of her? I've done worst things than kill you and if it means that she'll be free, I will enjoy every minute of slicing her open so I can roast you over an open fire! You like pain don't you?" He hissed in her ear, his own voice taking a husky tone of seduction that made his words all the venomous. "If I can't have Mary back, you'll have pain and more, I promise you that."
With that, he struck her with a backhanded blow that sent her reeling in pain, determined for her to understand her position. Sekhmet was knocked off her feet from the force that powerful delivery and she glared at him viciously as a fresh bruise appeared on her pale skin. She bore her teeth and hissed at him, seeming as feral as her actions had indicated as she tried to pick herself up. Chris searched for the zat gun and retrieved it from its position at the end of the room, never taking his eyes off Sekhmet as he did so, in case she had in her mind to offer him any difficulty.
"You would not kill me." She declared. However, this time she did not sound so certain as her eyes followed him across the room and then back towards her again. "I am the Eye of Ra. I am a god!" She shouted, more determined to convince herself than she was of him, Chris thought.
Chris turned the zat gun on her and pulled his lips back in a humourless smile. "You're insane." He said and then pulled the trigger.
He watched dispassionately as she writhed in agony, just as helpless in the grip of the energy that was creating waves and waves of relenting pain through her body. She tumbled to the floor unable to stand as tendrils of the weapon's power dissipated over her body. Chris knew he had crossed the threshold now, he now possessed the will to make good on his threat to kill her if it appeared that Mary was indeed lost to him. He leaned over to help her to her feet when suddenly he saw her open her eyes and look directly at him. Chris wondered what barbs she was now going to use to provoke his anger.
"Chris." She swallowed thickly, trying to dispel the intense pain of the zat gun.
Chris did not answer her but continued to pull her to her feet.
"Is Billy safe?"
Chris blinked and turned sharply to her. "Mary?"
"Tell me I didn't hurt my baby!" She wept softly and suddenly, Chris realised that it was Mary talking to him.
"No," his voice escaped him in a strangled whisper. "Billy is safe. I didn't let her hurt him."
The relief in her eyes showed. "I can feel her coming Chris," Mary closed her eyes and tear ran down her cheeks. "I don't know how long I can fight her. I just have to say... " she ground her teeth as if struggling to keep the demon inside her at bay, even for a precious few seconds. "You were right." She gasped. "I don't want to live like this. If you can't help me Chris, kill me. You don't know what she is capable of doing. I can't remember all of it but I know we can't let her live, do you hear me?" She started to cry harder. "I love you Chris," she gasped, feeling whatever semblance that was her slipping away as Sekhmet bore down on her. "Do what is right, save me if you can but let me go it you can't."
"Mary!" He cried out, pleading to keep her with him, even for a few seconds. "Mary!"
She did not answer but her eyes glowed.
"Let me go!" She roared, eyes illuminating with Sekhmet's evil soul once again. "You'll never get her back! I won't let her go. She is in here with me and she will suffer with me!"
Chris closed his eyes, feeling unbelievable anguish inside his soul and wanting in that moment to drive his fist into Sekhmet's face, just to wipe that smug satisfaction from her lips.
"Chris." Jack's voice penetrated the chamber.
"In here." Chris called out, swallowing hard and composing himself before Jack found him. As he kept his grip on Sekhmet, he reached into his duster and removed a handkerchief which he immediately rolled into a ball and shoved down her throat. She snapped at his fingers as he made the effort but Chris ignored her attempts to do so or her indignant outrage as the handkerchief robbed her of the ability to inflict upon him any verbal abuse.
"You got her." Jack said entering the room as Chris started to drag her out of it.
"Yeah," Chris answered quietly as Jack approached him and aided in handling Sekhmet's violent struggles to break free.
"You okay?" Jack inquired, seeing the hollow expression in his eyes and not believing for a second that he was anything but fine.
"Yeah, I'm okay." Chris retorted shortly, not daring himself to look at Sekhmet as he spoke.
Ezra continued down the empty corridors, slowly but progressively, wondering why he had not sighted any of the new Jaffa that were to be created because he had succumb to the pleasure of Isis' body. No, he shook the thought away because in the truth he would never admit to anyone, it was not Isis he had made love to. In those last minutes, when he was buried deep inside her and she cried out in pleasure for him, he knew it was not some alien creature that had arouses his passion, it was Alexandra Styles herself. He felt a pain just as intensely as the massive injuries he had incurred, when he though that there was nothing he could do to free her and all that was left for him to do was to get out while he still could. Ezra had no idea how far he was going to get in his condition but he knew that he was not prepared to die in this place as someone's captive slave.
Ezra refused to think about Mary in these ruminations.
Although the hall ways were devoid of guards, he was prepared to kill any that came his way in any case. He hobbled painfully down the corridor, trailing blood in small but visible puddles of sickly moisture, oozing from him from a dozen wounds. He wanted to lie down and rest but knew that his survival depended on him leaving this place immediately. Following his departure from the room he had been confined within, Ezra had wandered down through the corridors, trying to find a way out of this nightmarish place. It did not help that the fortress was like a giant maze and he could not more navigate through it then he could discern the layout of the building to make his escape.
He came across rooms that made no sense to him with equipment and machinery whose sophistication could not be doubted even if their purpose was undecipherable to him. He did see a few guards early on in his escape but they thinned out to none, the further he journeyed. Eventually, he realised that the loud roaring noises he heard throughout the structure might be responsible for his easy movement through the place. Ezra had no inclination to investigate what might be causing all the chaos, thinking only that it was to his advantage and he did not wish to know what was happening elsewhere when he was the only one he ought to be worried about was himself.
He had turned another corner when suddenly he heard the footsteps of a large number of people running down the corridor towards him. Ezra took a deep breath, feeling pain as he did so and searched frantically for a hiding place. He saw a door nearby and limped as quickly as he could towards him, biting down as the pain of the rapid movement coursed through him and nearly forced a cry of pain from his lips. By the time Ezra had reached the doorway, he was straining to stay on his feet. Pushing himself through the entrance, he entered the room and found himself confused at its purpose.
If he did not know better, he would describe it to be a bath room of something similar. In the centre of the room was an inground pool of black tile, the water inside churning and bubbling with life. It reminded Ezra of hot springs but the heat that emanated from it was no where as warm. There were no wisps of steam rising from it and the room although humid in temperature was not uncomfortable. There was nothing else in the room except this strange receptacle of water and for a moment, the gambler had no idea what he was seeing. Of course this was hardly a situation out of the ordinary, everything he had experienced in the past 24 hours was unbelievable as it was.
He took a step closer towards it, trying to understand what purpose it served as he stared at the churning water. As he neared the edge of it, he saw something beneath the bubbling surface. All thoughts of those he had fled here to hide disappeared from his mind as Ezra sat down on the edge of the pool and looked into the water, at least he believed it to be water. Ezra knew that this was foolishness, that he did not have time for this. He should be making sure the danger outside had passed before continuing his journey of escape, not lingering here, widening the possibility of recapture.
However, he could not pull himself away. Something was compelling him to investigate and he swallowing thickly at the dual sensation of yearning to know and dreading to find out. The gambler lowered his hand into the surface, deciding once and for all that he was going to find out if it was really water inside this bath. The temperature was warm as his fingers soaked up the moisture. It was not much above room temperature as he suspected but it was not water. Instead its constituency was thick and viscous, slimy to the touch and Ezra recoil at the feel of it against his fingertips. As he withdrew his hand, he saw it drip from his fingers and the only thing he could associate its substance was that of a raw egg. The thought made his stomach heave and Ezra decided he had seen enough when something else caught his eye.
Something that moved just beneath the surface.
Leaning in for a closer look, he squinted as he watched for what it was that had made the sudden yet obscure movement that had captured his attention for the briefest of instances. It took a few seconds before he saw it again and was certain something was swimming inside the noisome fluid. Despite his disgust, Ezra felt the same compulsion to know what it was and he dipped his hand in again, hoping to grasp what it was that inhabited the pool before him.
Ezra did not have long to wait. It swam past his hand and surfaced at the contact of skin. For a minute he clenched, determined to tear his hand away from it out of sheer terror but controlled his fear because it was overridden by the intense curiosity to know what it was that swimming so languidly in this strange fluid. Ezra did not feel immediate danger even though his heart was pounding when he saw it suddenly emerged from the bubbling water. For a minute, he was uncertain of what he was seeing until more of it emerged and snaked up his palm, scenting his skin as if he was as much a mystery to it as it was to him.
It looked like a skinless snake, pale and milky in its colouring with no eyes to speak of and a mouth that opened like a flower as it examined Ezra's skin. Ezra's felt tendrils of fear creeping up his spine at what the thing might be even though he had not withdrawn his hand. He had a premonition that he was no immediate danger but he sensed he was somewhere he should not be, somewhere he had no business seeing. The forbidden atmosphere of the place started to exude from the walls until it became as thick and palpable to him as the steam rising from this bath. It did not take him long to discover that the creature, whatever it was, was not alone. There were others swimming in the churning water, so many that he could not count them all.
He watched the one that had touched his skin, feeling disgust at the clammy feel of it against his hand. Ezra was about to remove himself from this place and continue with the business of escape when suddenly, he noticed something. The creature was pressing against his skin, attempting to burrow into flesh but was not quite strong enough to manage it, let alone break skin. For a moment, Ezra was at a loss to explain why it would do this for it did not seem to be attempting to draw blood even though he was ripe for feeding with his exposed skin. It was almost as if it were trying to get past his skin, trying to slip into flesh and get inside his body...
With a cold start he realised where he was.
The horror of the situation made him stumble back in nothing less than absolute disgust. He doubled over and started vomiting again, ejecting more blood and bile onto the smooth floor as the realisation gripped him and he almost screamed in denial. He understood at last that he had just seen one of Isis' children, the ones she would use to steal the souls of those helpless people in the dungeons. It was one of these monstrosities that had taken Mary and Alex, he was sure of it now, except those were adults version and these things that he had helped Isis create were her infants and... .
Oh dear god, he realised as he started gasping at the sheer insanity of it.
These were her children and his.
He had helped her create these things! Ezra could barely breathe as he staggered to his feet, telling himself that hell must surely be this place he found himself now. He looked into the pool and saw them swimming without any knowledge that the contributor to their existence now looked upon them and was about to go insane from the knowledge of what they were and his part in their birth. Every one of these things would steal the soul of some poor unfortunate as it had done to Alex and Mary. Ezra could not let that happen. He refused to let it happen!
Picking up the staff weapon he had dropped on the floor a few seconds ago, Ezra limped back to the pool and aimed the barrel of the energy weapon into the centre of the pool. He had no idea how much damage he could do in their liquid environment but he was sure as hell not allowing them to live in order to steal someone else's like away. He had not knowledge of the race that spawned these creatures but Ezra knew one thing for certain, they were parasites that needed to be destroyed. As he aimed the weapon at them, he considered that if he destroyed these things and he was recaptured, Isis would have him killed, no matter what she might have thought of him before.
Strangely enough, Ezra found that he did not care.
Activating the trigger, he let loose one discharge of energy into the viscous depth and splattered fluid in all directions upon impact. The byre of the creatures was highly flammable for he did not need to fire a secondary shot. The first did its task quite effectively, igniting the entire surface of the pool and creating a wall of fire that sizzled and hissed as he watched it burn. Ezra knew he should be leaving but he found he needed to watch and heard the faint screech of the creatures dying, feeling some measure of satisfaction at knowing that he had ended the threat he had helped to create. Whatever pain she could inflict upon him was incidental now because Ezra would die with the satisfaction that she beget no more progeny from him.
The exertions of the past hour had weakened him considerably and he found himself dropping to his knees and then back onto his haunches as he watched the funeral pyre before him. The pain of numerous wounds had become so great that it hardly registered in his mind as being individual any longer. He could feel his legs starting to get cold and his body draining with life as the exhaustion took him. It soon became difficult to keep his eyes from remaining in a state of wakefulness as he his eye lids became heavy. The staff weapon slipped from his fingers and clattered on the floor.
"Oh my god!"
Ezra heard a voice behind him exclaim as he was about to slip away into blackness and knew that it was impossible. He was dreaming. That could no more be Buck Wilmington's voice than it could be Julia Pemberton waking him up and telling him that he was dreaming. Ezra refused to allow him mind be tricked by any more illusions, no matter how much he needed to believe it.
"Ezra!" Buck reached him first.
"Good Lord!" Nathan gasped as his eyes moved over the gambler and realised that it was hard to make out his features from the battered bruising of his face and body. "What in God's name happened to him?"
"Your friend is extremely ill." Teal'c replied, deciding now that O'Neill's request that he be taken back immediately through to gate was now the only chance this man had of surviving the injuries he had sustained.
Ezra collapsed in Buck's arms, covering the big man's clothes in ugly smears of blood. The gambler did not seem to recognise the friends around him, even though when they had followed the trail of blood during their search, they had not believed they would find him in this condition. Ezra was slipping in an out of consciousness, not really believing that the voice he was hearing was real and therefore paying no attention to their questions.
"He's been beaten within an inch of his life!" Nathan cried, glancing over the wounds and seeing dozen that signalled a fatal potential. "His bleeding internally in several places." The healer replied as he took a moment to examine the discolouration of Ezra's skin.
"Then we must get him back to Earth." Teal'c replied firmly.
"Forget that," Nathan protested. "I need to work on him now."
"No," Teal'c shook his head. "We must take him back through the gate."
"I got you," JD said excitedly, latching onto what the stranger was trying to say. "If we can get him back to that thing we put Vin in, we can fix him up!"
"Your young friend is correct," the former Jaffa confirmed JD's assertion. "The sarcophagus is his only chance of survival now."