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.
Chris did not know how long he was unconscious but when he was finally able to pull himself from the darkness, he knew instantly that they were all in serious trouble indeed.
Where he woke up reminded him of a drunk tank he had once occupied in Silver City after a night of indulgence where causing a stir in the saloon had necessitated a visit to the local jail. Like the jailhouse in Four Corners and many small towns scattered around the Territory, the cell he had now found himself was an enclosure surrounded by bars, sharing the same floor with a number of other such constructs, up and down the length of a corridor on either side. Chris sat up from the musty smelling mattress he had found himself upon regaining consciousness and immediately studied his surroundings.
"Mr Larabee," Ezra Standish's voice spoke through the clearing fog in his head. "Glad you could join us."
Ezra was occupying the cell directly opposite his own across the corridor. Seeing him there made Chris look instinctively about for the others. Everyone was present and accounted for, all neatly tucked away in their own cells, kept in separate cages but nonetheless tantalised by the idea of escape since they were all together. It was just like Laurel's way to keep a glimmer of hope in sight even though she had probably had an army behind the doors of their prison, hidden away until the attempt at flight was made. Still, it did not mean Chris was not going to try. Even though he had yet to see their captors, Chris had no doubt that it was Laurel who was the bottom of this. The manner of their incarceration harkened back to the days when he had been her creature, trapped in a barred enclosure not unlike the one he was presently occupying, although back then his cell had been a damn sight more pleasing to the eye.
Judging by Ezra's grimace as the gambler examined his present accommodations, Chris supposed that the man would not have minded so much if they had been afforded that previous luxury. However, luxury seemed in short supply and the walls that were not barred were made for thick stone and mortar with a dank smell of age and stale air wafting through the place. The dust on everything seemed to indicate that this was not a functioning jailhouse and he would not have been surprised to learn that Laurel had probably purchased this place simply for them. This chilled Chris to the bone because this could mean they could be anywhere. With no idea how long they were out and no windows in the place to give any discernible idea of how much time had passed, Chris start to feel that same anxiety he felt when he had been Laurel's prisoner once before.
"Is everyone okay?" Chris called out, trying to see all of them through the bars of his cage and to most part he succeeded. Vin was in the cell directly next to his. Visibility was afforded only by the beams of light piercing through the small window on the door that led out of the corridor. The tracker was seated cross-legged on top of the mattress, keeping a vigil on all the others or perhaps, remaining poised for the moment when Laurel Chase made her entry which Chris and the other knew she inevitably would.
"So far." Vin drawled, showing no signs of concern even though Chris knew he ought to be worried. Very worried. Laurel had not hidden her disdain for him and now they were clearly in her power, Chris felt his insides knot with terrible foreboding about what the woman might do to his best friend.
"JD's still out of it." Buck volunteered from his corners of the cellblock. "I think he's okay." The older man cast a glance at JD who was still unconscious on his bunk.
"It might be the dosage," Nathan explained. "Whatever she hit us with was pretty strong stuff." The healer remarked, rubbing the back of his neck because he had been set down in an uncomfortable position by the captors during his slumber and had developed a slight crick there. "JD's the smallest of us so it might take a little longer to wear off."
"I don't think there is any particular need to wake the boy before time," Josiah remarked, his eyes moving across their present surroundings, studying everything closely. "After all, I'm sure he would not mind missing all this."
"Yes," Ezra said with a grin, the glint of his gold tooth gleaming in the semi-darkness. "These are certainly not one would call five star luxury accommodations."
Chris was so angry at himself he could barely think straight. Well wise up on that Larabee, Chris told himself sharply. That's what got you and your friends into this mess in the first place. Once again, he had underestimated her and now not only was he captured but all his friends as well and this time, there would be no cavalry coming to the rescue in the form of a determined tracker. This time, they were well and truly on their own.
"Has she shown yet?" Chris asked quietly, barely being able to stand referring to her, let alone speaking her name out loud. The memory of their last encounter still burned fresh in his mind and he glanced instinctively at Vin, remembering that terrible moment when a crack of gunshot had almost ended the younger man's life. He shuddered to think what Laurel might do to Vin now that they were helplessly caught in her web and decided that he would do anything to avoid that fate. Anything.
"Ain't seen her yet." Buck Wilmington replied, unable to deny that he had more than a passing curiosity to see what all the fuss was about. Of all the seven, he was the one who had yet to meet the woman face to face and was wondering if her professed beauty was all it was supposed to be or were the others merely exaggerating.
"We haven't been up for long Chris," Nathan responded. "Not more than an hour, all of us."
Chris nodded in understanding. "Any idea what she hit us with?" He asked after a moment, still feeling some lethargy in his limbs but he knew that if required, he could shake it off easy enough.
"I can't say," Nathan retorted. "She got us with a blow pipe." He shook his head, still possessing some measure of disbelief at how they had been apprehended. Even though he was a healer, he had suspected the attack to have come from more conventional means and yet if Laurel wanted them taken a live; it was the most effective method. As was proven by the presence of all of them in this room. "Might be laudanum but I can't be sure."
Suddenly the wail of a child sounded over the stillness of the somber mood and Chris Larabee froze inwardly because he knew that cry all too well.
"Oh Jesus Christ!" Chris turned ashen as he scrambled to his feet and ran forward only to be halted by the bars that made up his cage. The intense reaction of fear was not lost upon all of them and stirred Vin from his corner of the cell as he looked at Chris's terror, realizing that the sound though not familiar could only have that effect on their leader if it was from one source.
"What is it Mr Larabee?" Ezra jumped to his feet, feeling the tension that had been coursing through his body suddenly snap like elastic upon seeing the cold terror inside Chris' eyes.
"Its Mikey!" Chris shouted in response. "That's my son!"
"Oh god!" Nathan exclaimed and the commotion brought JD out of his slumber with a sudden upright motion as he scrambled to his feet in order to investigate what it was that terrified the man in black to such extremes.
"What's going on?" He asked groggily, trying to keep abreast of things even though his entry into this situation was late.
"Its impossible! Mikey's at home with Mary!" Buck exclaimed, trying to calm Chris down from across the corridor by convincing him of this. He had only seen Chris like this once and that was the moment they had seen the smoke rising from the house on the Larabee property. Buck prayed that this time, they would not find the same thing they had found during that ill fated journey home.
"Its Mikey!" Chris shouted, pressed up against the bars, knowing his son's wails after so many nights being awaken to the sound of his crying because of morning feedings or any other reason an infant may chose to bring his parents running. How many times had that plaintive wail pierced through the veil of a particularly fitful sleep? More than enough times for Chris to know that the child approaching, crying its tears was his own flesh and blood.
The door swung open as Chris came to that horrified conclusion and when it did, the gunslingers worst fears were confirmed upon seeing Laurel Chase walking into the passage between the cells with Mr Zhang behind her, holding Billy's hand while she cradled Mikey in her arms. Chris thought his heart might burst just seeing his two sons in the hands of such a dangerous creature that the idea of where Mary might be had not even occurred to him. Around him, the rest of the seven were standing next to the bars, watching with as much shock and dismay at the sight of the two children who seemed just as trapped and helpless as they were.
"Chris!" Billy exclaimed upon seeing him. Not even Zhang's powerful grip on his hand could keep the boy from wrenching free from the imposing Oriental and crossing the floor to reach his stepfather.
"Billy!" Chris wanted to hold the boy, to reassure him that things were not so bleak but by his presence here, that was an obsolete gesture. Things were very bad and there was not a thing that he could do to change that. "Goddamn you Laurel!" He glared at her as she approached him, dressed impeccably as always, wearing that damn smirk on her face that told him without doubt that she had something more powerful than venom which she could use to manipulate him. "They're just kids!"
"Hello Chris." Laurel spoke through the tears of Mikey between them. "You had a lovely family."
Had.
Chris did not miss that ominous word and knew that it had been spoken with intention. "You got me Laurel," Chris said trying to rein his fear, trying to make it work for him. As he saw the most unimaginable situation unfolding before his eyes, Chris reminded himself that a little bit of fear was a healthy thing. A little fear was what kept a smart man alive because he was working just that little bit harder to get by. "Let them go."
"Why Chris," she turned to him with a smile as Zhang came forward and dragged Billy away from the cell. "They just got here."
The boy struggled and cried for his stepfather as thick hands forcibly removed his small fingers from around Chris' outstretched hand. As Billy fought to stay by his side, Chris looked up at Laurel, finally realizing that he had no qualms about killing should he ever be put to the test. He was ready to tear out her throat.
"Chris!" Billy shouted as Zhang pulled him away.
"You bitch!" Vin snarled just as angrily from where he was, watching Chris almost decimated by the sight of his children in the hands of the most vile creature they had ever had the misfortune of coming up against. "Are you that much of a coward that you got to steal a man's children?"
Laurel Chase turned to Vin Tanner and exuded a serpentine smile. "Mr Tanner. How nice to see you. We will talk later." Her eyes narrowed as she looked upon him through feline slits that sent a cold shudder through everyone who bore witness to it. "For the moment however, I am rather surprise that you would be reduced to name calling. After all, it was my men who brought the children to me. In truth I had no interest in Chris' two darling boys."
Mikey had settled down now and Laurel gazed into the small face with what was almost an affectionate smile. "He is beautiful." She commented as she raised her eyes to meet Chris, while still rocking Mikey gently in her arms. "And if you do not mind me saying so, all you."
Chris watched without being able to adequately express what it felt like to be barred from his children while Laurel carried his infant son and Zhang kept Billy close to him. The young boy stared at Chris pleading for his stepfather to help and the well of disappointment that screamed its anguish inside the depths of Chris' Larabee soul was ready to die just to remove that fear from Billy's eyes. For the first time in his life, Chris found himself doing the unimaginable.
"Laurel," Chris swallowed bile down his throat. "Please, don't hurt them."
There was a hint of surprise in her eyes that he would succumb to that final desperate act. Something flicked across her face, something that could almost be considered decent. "It was not my intention Chris to harm them." She said soberly and Chris knew in that much at least, she was sincere. "I am many things but I do not murder children and," she paused as she looked him in the eye and added something that was almost difficult to respond. "I am sorry about Mary."
Chris' eyes widened.
Oh god, please no. He whispered inside himself. "What...about...Mary?" His voice started to quiver because he could see it in Laurel's eyes what she was trying not to say. His fingers dug into the bars as he begged for gods he no longer believed in for Laurel to be lying to him. Chris had never begged for anything in his life but he was begging now.
"It was an accident." Laurel answered quietly. "I had intended my men to bring her. The serum should have made her more manageable. She had a bad reaction to it and went into some form of cardiac arrest. She dead was in less than a minute."
Chris Larabee said nothing.
He stared at her, eyes blackening with each word spoken, hearing through the roar of wind in his ears that his children were in her care and whilst they were in his care, he ought to reconsider the folly of taking his revenge. She had won the game, Chris heard her say. It was not a clean victory but she had won. She would disappear, she said and perhaps someday soon, when she felt that he was not behind her in pursuit, she might release Billy and Mikey back to him again. For the moment, he and his friends would remain her guests, for things were not completely done between them, not until she played out her advantage just a little longer.
After all, the winner did have the right to savor the taste of victory.
Chris heard the words but they made no sense to him. He saw Vin staring at him, face etched in sorrow and sympathy, trying to understand as Vin always managed to do but not this time. This time, he left the tracker far behind for where he was going, Vin could not follow or ride alongside of him. He heard Buck saying out loud that she was lying that this was a trick. Other platitudes followed, they could have come from Josiah or JD, the ability to distinguish them was no longer his. His mind was filled with Mary, golden hair cascading her shoulders, fire in her eyes as she rode off to face whatever was thrown before her, oblivious to anything but her own courage. She had brought light into his soul, aimed sunshine into a dark and desolate place and now that she was gone, he could feel it inching back, preparing to consume him.
"No." Chris said after a moment.
"No Chris?" Laurel looked at him, unaware that he had heard nothing that she had said.
"No deal."
"You are unaware of your situation."
"No," Chris shook his head and glared at hers. "You are unaware of yours." He responded in a voice so cold that everyone felt it, even Zhang and he took a step toward his mistress even though he knew the man making the threat could not penetrate the iron bars of his cell to be of any danger to her.
"I have your children..." She started to say.
"My children understand that if you've killed their mother, I will kill you. There ain't no bargaining Laurel. I will find a way out of here and the first words I say to them when I get them back will be that I ripped your fucking heart out and ate it just after I pissed in the empty sockets of that ape behind you!" He hissed.
Laurel shuddered inwardly and turned to Zhang, rather taken back by the expression of concern she saw in the Oriental's eyes. Normally her trusted bodyguard wore a look of indifference to all things about him. Threats did not frighten Zhang but he looked worried as he stared at the man in black, who suddenly appeared to make the room darker just by that gleam in his eyes.
"I think we will come back when you are more reasonable," Laurel said as she started to withdraw perhaps rather disturbed by the turn of the game. She was trying to maintain that cool facade but for once, it was shaken.
Vin Tanner could see that Chris had evaporated some place inside himself that none of the seven could reach and it was starting to occur to Laurel that she had crossed a line one should never attempt with Chris Larabee. Once gone, it could not be retraced and there was no forgiveness, only the complete assurance of doom. Vin doubted even he could reason with Chris now and if this bitch had done what she said, if she had allowed Mary Larabee to die, then Vin wanted to see her burn just as surely as he knew that Chris would annihilate her for that crime.
"Laurel," Chris responded, watching her take Mikey and Billy with her. Billy was still weeping because he understood what Laurel had said about his ma and was in no position to offer any struggle. Chris wanted to hold him, wanted to will some of his strength into his oldest but everything inside him was being swept into this singularity of rage that was preparing to collapse everything about him in its need for satisfaction. "If you hurt my children, I won't kill you because you'll be happy do it yourself by the time I'm done with you."
Laurel and Zhang swept out of the room, feeling the sting of his words follow them even when they had put suitable distance between themselves and Chris Larabee.
"Well my lady," Zhang remarked, as they walked away, both saying nothing for a long time after they had left the cells. "It appears that I was right."
"How so?" Laurel said still cradling the babe in her arms. The boy was listless and still weeping and while she did not feel remorse for what she had done, she had not wished the escalation of their game until this point. His wife had been a tool, an instrument to be used against him, not as cannon fodder. She had not intended the lady to die knowing that in doing so, the dark potential she had seen in Chris Larabee would not merely be exploited but would transcend something she was uncertain she could with.
"I once told you about waking the dragon while stumbling into the dark." Zhang glanced over his shoulder at the cell he could no longer see through the locked door that led into the dungeon they had just emerged. "It appears we have stumbled loudly but it is not a dragon we have awakened."
"It isn't?" Laurel looked at him, having no patience after what had just taken place and snorted derisively. "What did we wake then?"
Zhang turned to her and stared into her eyes. "Hell."
Julia had never been to this place before but she knew of it well enough.
Beyond them, the evidence of what transpired here was clear to those who knew the tale behind this scene of destruction. Large tracts of earth had collapsed upon itself, leaving great rips in the ground, all in a strange circular patterns, rings upon ring extending outward until the epicentre had withered away with the cessations of tears in the earth. It was almost a crater but not quite. Loose soil still covered much of the area even though the rain had battered much of it into a sedimentary layer of sorts. The rest was shifted around by wind whenever a dust storm took to the area, which was not an uncommon happenstance in the harsh New Mexico landscape.
She shuddered inwardly as she saw Mary and Alex in the distance, searching the ground for some way through the wreckage of boulders, sand and earth. Julia Pemberton shuddered because it was not Mary and Alex moving purposefully before them but rather Isis and Sekhmet. She looked at Isis and knew that while it was Alex's face they were being presented with, the eyes were different. They belonged to someone in masterful control of herself almost to the point of extreme egomania. Julia had no doubt that neither Isis nor Sekhmet had not lied when they claimed that Ezra and the others were retrievable. It gave her hope to know that he could be saved from the insanities of Laurel Chase.
However, that did not change the fact that Julia still hated Isis with a passion.
He had changed when he came back from the nightmarish hell of that other world. He did not speak much about it but she had seen it in his eyes. Although the change was slight and outwardly no one but her noticed it because Ezra was more than capable of hiding from everyone how he felt, she could see that there was the sparkle in his eyes was a little more lacklustred than she remembered. Was she angered that he and Alex been intimate during that period when Alex had been enslaved by Isis? No, not really. She was hardly as saint and in all the time since and before, he had never given her reason to be concerned over such matters. Alex did not seem any happier then Ezra was about the situation and Julia knew that Alex adored Vin to much to ever view that intimacy as anything but an event she would rather forget.
"What are they are doing?" Inez inquired as she watched the two women cautiously shifting through the dirt underfoot in search of their goal.
"They're trying to find a way in." Julia responded automatically, having heard the argument for this already.
In the distance, the sun had peeked over the horizon and the morning sky was upon them. Although Sekhmet was unhappy about the delay, Isis had been adamant about coming to this place. The former Goddess of All had claimed they were in no shape to take on Laurel and her men if they were to rescue the seven, not without significant readjustment to the odds they faced. Although Julia despised the former Goa'uld personality, she could not deny that any advantage they could get was a good one.
"Into what?" Casey inquired following her response.
"Into the place where the gate is." Julia answered.
"I forgot about the gate," Inez remarked, recalling the ill fated archaeological expedition that had unearthed the bunker and found the mysterious ringed portal that allowed Buck and the others to travel one world to another.
So had everyone else about the place, Julia thought silently to herself even though at the time the find had inspired a great deal of attention. Most people believed that an earthquake had killed the team and the seven had never saw any reason to alter that perception. There had been some interest in recovering the bodies but such thoughts soon withered away when the recovery team had seen the extent of the damage. Tonnes of rock had collapsed upon itself in one terrible instant and bodies if there were any would be well and truly in no state for the viewing or burying for that matter, even if the time and expense were spent in their retrieval.
She knew that the seven did not come here either, not unless they had to which would only come about if they were required to pass by this place to get somewhere else. She knew for a fact that they did not stop on those rare occasions. Julia could understand that well enough. Even though it was hidden well from the sight of those present, the place still felt like a tomb.
"I can't see why we're wasting time here." Casey declared and expressed in her annoyance all the qualities that had made Sekhmet deem that she was just the right person to accompany them on this dangerous quest.
"Isis wouldn't go until she even the odds," Julia retorted dryly, wishing she knew by what the lady meant when she made that statement.
"There." Sekhmet pointed towards a narrow fissure in the pile of rocks directly overhead the main body of what would have been Isis' enclave left behind on the world of Tau'Ri. The space was barely wide enough for a woman to slip through let alone a man but Sekhmet knew with confidence that she could traverse the path to reach the innards of the ruined remains of what was once Isis' temple. "Its narrow but I believe that we should be able to enter through there."
"It will have to do." Isis nodded in understanding and as always allowed Sekhmet to take the lead as the woman crouched over and began the descent into the darkness.
"I still say we should have begin our journey. We have wasted considerable time waiting for light in order to undertake this distraction." Sekhmet complained as her head cleared the low bearing roof of the orifice and manoeuvred her body into the narrow passage.
Isis did not take Sekhmet's offensively, mostly because she was accustomed to such complaints from the Warrior Goddess. Sekhmet was an impatient sort, eager to enter the hunt but had no stomach for the preparation that was required before proceeding. In the past, there was no need for her to worry about such things as being adequate supplied but things had changed considerably. Neither Sekhmet nor Isis' herself was anything like what they once were. "The delay is necessary." She said simply as she followed Sekhmet down the meandering path through the earth. Their course was extremely narrow and in some instance required them to force their way through, stone scrapping at their shoulders as they pushed through the cramped space.
"We are not what we used to be." Isis continued her explanation. "We are the remains of what once was. Displaced and disembodied. We died somewhere and what is left of our existence is here in these bodies. Even our minds are not what they were; we have the memory but not even the personality. Our sense of self is almost gone, all we feel is what the host feels and, all we will ever be is what the host is. Even if we chose to go as we wish, even if we can overcome the personality that grips us, we have nowhere to go. The Chapaii is lost to us. Even we could use it, the Goa'uld would kill us on sight for being an abomination, that is if they do not find it more amusing to use us as host bodies aware that they trap not only the host mind but that of Isis and Sekhmet. No," Isis let out a weary sigh as they continued deeper and deeper into the darkness, leaving the morning sky behind them in their descent. "This is where we will stay and if it means living in this scant fashion. It will have to be enough."
"You paint a most desolate picture." Sekhmet responded, clearing away a large rock in her path by shunting it backwards, which Isis did the same when it reached her. "I prefer to think of the hunt."
"You always were more optimistic than I." Isis smiled with a wry smile. "But then you are still a child."
"By your reckoning," Sekhmet glanced over her shoulder. "I will always be a child."
They continued forward a little longer, saying nothing in the journey but nonetheless feeling the heavy weight of things as they stood. The heat of the morning sun began to mist on their skin the further they entered the rocky tunnel. Sometimes there was room to move, other the space was so confining that they could hardly breathe but continue they had to.
"Do you remember Isis," Sekhmet asked suddenly, mostly to have something to occupy their mind during the journey. "How we died?"
"No," Isis said stiffly. "I remember the Hammer of Thor on Sumeria and seeing the Unas." She paused as she searched through the swirling images, trying to distinguish what was her memory and what were the host's. "I remember my consort bringing me to the threshold and then there was pain. It was my last memory."
"Cast out like parasite." Sekhmet nodded, revisited by the memory of seeing the Goa'uld Isis ejected from the body, feeling the paralysing fear of knowing that the end had come after almost two millennia. "I would have liked a warrior's death."
"You were not a warrior by then Sekhmet," Isis retorted. "You were ill and the soul of you was burned to madness during our imprisonment. You were quite insane."
"A mad warrior," Sekhmet shuddered inwardly, understanding why those memories were so difficult for the host to access. Only as Sekhmet and the mind of Mary Larabee to anchor her, could she remember and knew that there was no sport in the killing she had done. "I think I share the host's disgust in that."
"Much of us in contaminated," Isis remarked as they neared the end of the long passageway and appeared to be on the brink of a larger cavern. Hopefully one with more room to move, she thought as she wiped the sweat and dirt from her face. "We cannot be certain of anything we feel for that which is our soul is gone. Our soul, the one we think is ours is in truth the hosts', silenced by our memories. Our re-emergence as such is an illusion, induced by behavioural modifying narcotics."
Sekhmet was about to respond when suddenly, they reached the end of the cramped tunnel that lead into the darkness of a larger cavern. Sekhmet emerged first because she was used to hunting in her dark and her eyes more accustomed to the lack of light than Isis. She felt gravel crunch underfoot and knew that they were somewhere in the heart of the bunker. What she felt under her shoes was debris, not rubble. Reaching into her pocket, she extracted the matches that she had brought with her and immediately struck it. It was not much in the way of light but the narrow fissure had not allowed them to bring anything more useful for the purpose.
The dim light from the match illuminated something of the cavern they had emerged into. As expected, the bunker was almost complete destroyed with done of blockages obstructing the paths leading to the other sections of the complex. However, much of the facility had been constructed below ground level and Isis knew that a great portion of it would remain intact. Of course, this assurance meant little if they could not penetrate the upper floors, which had endured the brunt of the explosion to reach it. The first thing they noticed was the destruction of the Chappaii. The sarcophagus that would have provided them with years of life was similarly destroyed, the cover stone having shattered when the ceiling had come down.
While there was still standing room when they emerged, it ran out as soon as Sekhmet led the way to the rest of the complex. She tossed another exhausted match into the darkness and replaced it a fresh new one, until they were trails red embers dying in the black as they progressed further into the chamber. It seemed to take forever to past through all the fallen blocks of naquada, the strange alien mineral that formed much of Goa'uld technology. The air inside the place was thin and musty and both women recoiled at the stench of stale air, reminded too much of their incarceration by the Nefertem.
Finally, they arrived at the place for which they had begun this arduous trip into the wreckage of Isis' temple. It was in the most heavily guarded section of the facility and by extension, also the best protected. The armory was meant to survive an all out assault by Goa'uld mothership and so even the formidable explosives provided by the Tau'Ri from the future had not been capable of penetrating this one enclave. Isis and Sekhmet were realistic about what they could and could not take with them. As much as they would like to have armed themselves with terrible weapons that would make short work of the enemy, they still had to leave this ruined monument to their deification and that journey would be simpler without too many bulk weapons.
Isis searched through the cache of weaponry the seven and the future travelers had never discovered, finding quickly what she sought. The weapon of choice for Goddess of all, fit neatly around her hand, like a gold serpent coiled through her fingers, culminating in a powerful blue stone in the center of her palm. Isis stared for a moment at the scar that had thinned into a faint white line when her mate had once pierced with a knife in order to subdue her for the trip to the Hammer. That was a different Isis, she realised, one that was not human but a Goa'uld System Lord who was used to killing, who cared for nothing and did not feel this constant ache inside her soul that yearned in worry and love for the mate that imperiled.
Sekhmet however was not so restrained. The former warrior goddess had collected herself a neat cache of small arms that would not be too cumbersome for the arduous journey back. Among the arsenal, Sekhmet had collected several weapons of the type Isis recognised immediately to be Zat'nuk'atel blasters. She found herself a small satchel in which to store these prizes before slinging it over her shoulder. "It's for the others." She responded. "Their means of protecting themselves are next to meager. The girl Casey might be useful but not the other two."
"Defense can come in more ways than simple hand to hand combat Sekhmet," Isis remarked, not about to discount their human companions. It was not their fault that they were a product of this primitive period in time. Even when she had occupied this domicile, the women of the Tau'Ri did not gain much in the way of equality and were still regarded as chattel. Though all Goa'uld say the Tau'Ri as merely host bodies, Isis could not deny that she abhorred the prejudice. While the status of women were better than what they used to be, they had not improved that much.
"This is what I seek." Sekhmet exclaimed when she found what she had shifted through the disarrayed collection of weaponry. The staff weapon glimmered even through the dim light of the glow torch they had found and snapped into operation. The charge would last no more than an hour but it was enough time to provide them with the illumination that they needed without having to resort to using the matches Sekhmet had brought with them. Besides, Isis could not help feeling a little concerned at the staleness of that air and the thin layer of oxygen that could not be wasted attempting to feed a flame.
"You'll never get that back to the surface." Isis said dubiously as she saw Sekhmet examining the weapon closely.
"I will manage." Sekhmet said barely registering the comment as she ran her eyes over the weapon, ensuring that nothing was damaged and that it was functioning property. Twisting the handle, the bulbous head snapped open, revealing the blue glow of its energy crackling in readiness to fire and deliver ugly death to whomever dared to confront it. With smile, she looked up Isis and replied. "It still functions."
"Excellent," Isis answered with a smile, having no desire to deny Sekhmet her prize. "If you can get it to the surface, it will be of great use to us."
"I will get it up there," Sekhmet grinned. "Rest assured, if nothing else I will accomplish that much." With that her eyes drifted to the staff weapon once more. "This will bring my children back to me."
"Yes," Isis nodded, knowing what it was to feel protection towards offspring. She was a Queen Goa'uld and from her, thousands of her kind had been hatched. She had felt them grow inside her body, nurturing them and strengthening them until they were finally able to leave her and become gods in their own right. "We will find them and then we will teach she who dared to take them what real vengeance is all about."
"I will kill her myself if she has harmed either my children or my mate." Sekhmet growled, her eyes glowing through the darkness and Isis knew that it was the host's emotions that were running rife through Sekhmet now. It was the host mind who had possession of the Goa'uld aspect of itself, the irony was not lost upon Isis.
"Sekhmet," Isis responded just as coldly. "In the end, the greater revenge is not to kill but to let live and I promise you when we are done with she who is called Laurel Chase, she will live a very long time indeed."
Returning back to the surface was no easy feat with the staff weapon but Isis could not dissuade Sekhmet to be content with merely the use of the Zat'nuk'atel weaponry. The Warrior Goddess was satisfied with nothing less than her most favourite weapon of choice and having found it again, was not eager to depart with it. Despite the extra time taken to get back to the others, the journey back had not been as tedious as their initial venture into the destroyed bunker mostly because they were familiar with what lay ahead of them. With no surprise to either of them, they were able to make good time despite the hindrance of navigating through the meandering passage with the staff weapon in tow.
As soon as they made their appearance, Julia, Inez and Casey who had been waiting impatiently for their arrival rapidly approached them. It was well into the morning now with the sun soaring towards noon across the sky. Julia in particular was impatient to get started and her annoyance showed as they confronted the women who would under anything resembling normal circumstances would be viewed as friends and not as unknowns to be regarded with caution.
"What is that?" Julia asked seeing Sekhmet dusting off the grains of dirt accumulated upon the brass like surface of the staff weapon.
"This is the weapon of a warrior," Sekhmet said with obvious delight. "Now we may proceed towards Forbes."
"Wait," Isis remarked as the group started moving towards the horses. "Sekhmet," she regarded the younger goddess. "Give them the weapons and show them how to use it."
"Weapons?" Inez gulped. She did not like guns. She did not like them because they delivered the finality of death with shocking indifference. It made her shudder inside thinking that the variety that was at Sekhmet's disposal would be far more efficient than anything that she had ever laid eyes upon.
Sekhmet nodded in understanding and reached for the satchel slung around her shoulder. She produced the strange constructs that were made from a metal that was polished almost black and seemed curved in shape, so alien in design that it was almost impossible for the women she was attempting to instruct in its use, to associate it with being a weapon.
"That's a gun?" Casey exclaimed, her eyes widened in fascination as Sekhmet held the thing in her hand.
"It's a weapon," Sekhmet corrected because this was not a crude firearm that functioned by expunging a projectile carried by the chemical reaction of gasses within the chamber. "However, it's effectiveness lies in the fact that it is not necessarily a fatal one."
"I don't understand." Inez looked at her in confusion. She liked the idea of there being some alternative to killing and wished for Sekhmet to explain with greater detail.
Sekhmet depressed the trigger on the weapon and immediately the Zat'nuk'atel mechanism clicked into operation, revealing its readiness for use. "When you use this weapon, you can fire once at a target and render them ineffective. It causes a great deal of pain so they will be incapacitated for at least a few minutes. However, if in those few minutes, you are forced to fire again. It will kill them. A third shot in that space time with disintegrate them."
"God." Julia whispered with a gasp.
"It would be best that we keep these weapons hidden until we begin our assault on the enclave of the enemy." Isis broke in and saw the fear in Julia's eyes reflected on all the others as well. "We have more conventional weapons at our disposal and we should try and use them until we reach Laurel Chase."
"Good idea," Inez agreed with Isis on this point. "If we flash this things around before we get to them, we'll have every hombre in the Territory after us to get their hands on these weapons."
"That would be interesting," Sekhmet said with a smile, a glimmer of feral threat underneath the blue grey irises.
At the point more than any other, Inez could appreciate the insanity that Buck had told her about when they finally brought Mary home to Four Corners. She smiled as she made that statement and Inez felt a cold shudder of fear at the animal waiting to be unleashed on Laurel Chase. For the first time, Inez prayed that they reached the men and found them unharmed because God in his heaven would not be able to stop this creature before her, if it was discovered that anything had happened to Chris Larabee. Isis in contrast was a lot like Alexandra Styles even though to mention the same to the doctor who would have garnered a most extreme protest. However, with a less clouded mind than Julia who only saw Isis as the person who had harmed Ezra, Inez could see why Alex was so afraid of Isis.
They were a great deal alike.
While Sekhmet and Mary Larabee were poles apart, the similarities between Alex and Isis were striking. They were in their own way, women who had perfect control of their lives, who never let the situation outstrip their ability to handle it. When Vin Tanner had been taken to Tascosa, Alex had been distraught for a short time but when that emotional barrier had been breached, she acted quickly and moved into attack position. Though Buck did not like speaking about the events in Tascosa with any detail, Inez was made to understand that it was Alex who secured Vin's freedom not anything that the seven might have done.
Even now, Inez saw flashes of Alex in Isis' indifferent manner. It would be a slight nuance of expression, a shadow in the eyes but Inez did not fear so much their situation as Julia did because she knew that beneath Isis' commanding presence was Alexandra Styles laying in wait, watching quietly. Mary on the other hand had allowed Sekhmet almost complete control because she wanted Chris and her children back. Inez could not blame the newspaper editor for that. If someone had stolen Elena Rose out of her bed, Inez would move heaven and earth to reclaim her child and no one was more fiercely protective of Billy and Michael like Mary Larabee.
"Do we know anything about Forbes?" Inez asked as finally started towards the horses in order to begin their journey.
"I know that it's deep inside the Territory almost to the edge of the desert." Julia remarked having heard Ezra spoke about the place with a description that did not give it much to redeem itself in his eyes.
"It's a little place." Casey volunteered. "A cousin of ours once passing through to the East from California said that his stage stopped there once. It ain't little more than a way station for the stage lines. Although this was a few years ago, so things might have changed."
"No I do not believe so," Sekhmet remarked climbing into the saddle. She positioned herself in the leather seat and took a moment, as she became accustomed to riding in such device. Her experience in horses was mostly regulated to chariots and in those days; it was customary for her to have a Jaffar driver. It had been virtually centuries, since she had ridden horseback. Sekhmet shook the distraction out of her mind and returned to the subject being discussed at present. Her host had more than enough memories about Laurel to know the enemy's pattern to some extent.
"I think that Forbes is as your cousin described Casey Wells," Sekhmet answered turning to the young girl who had also mounted her horse. "I think it remains small and discreet, the kind of place that a creature like Laurel Chase would be able to move about freely, without attracting undue attention. My host memories of her tell me that she prefers anonymity, to be assured of freedom to do what she wishes. Her predilections would go unnoticed in a place where it is wiser not to pay attention to what is happening around you."
"And Wallace County is less than two hours ride from there." Julia pointed out, having that much to contribute to the conversation. "If she ambushed the boys there, it was because she could get them back to her hideout without attracting to much information."
Isis did not speak for a moment, considering the situation as they prepared to ride, thinking about their attack and how it would be a complete surprise to the woman in more ways than one. For an instant, she hesitated to bring the realisation that had just dawned upon her in the last few minutes, knowing how Sekhmet now felt towards her mate. In truth, even when Sekhmet had been the Goa'uld symbiote, Isis had sensed something of an attraction to the male that was husband to Mary Larabee. No doubt, the remains of that affection in Sekhmet's memories, not to mention Mary's own love for her husband made for a powerful combination and her desire to have him back was stoked to such intensity that any added fuel could easily set into conflagration.
However, Sekhmet had a right to know and Isis had too much of Alexandra Styles in her veins to deny her that knowledge. "Sekhmet, I think your mate might believe you dead." She stated.
Her statement captured everyone's attention immediately.
Sekhmet turned to Isis. Her expression was unreadable. "Explain yourself." Her voice felt like slivers of ice against the skin.
"The men who came for the host thought she had died. Indeed the woman, who found you and brought your situation to my host, believed the same thing. If those men took your offspring and brought that news to the enemy then I have no doubt that she would have made light of it to your mate."
Sekhmet immediately felt a well of horror and anguish echo from deep inside the host. She could feel Mary gasping in fear almost as if it were a physical reaction. Immediately memories of he who was her husband emerged in her mind, flashes of a dry, sardonic smile, eyes that only came alive when he saw her and a soul so battered and bruised that even Sekhmet felt the need to assuage it anyway possible. How would he endure such news? How would he cope with knowing the one that he loved beyond life itself was dead?
"Oh my god," Inez exclaimed in the distant background. Her horror mirrored Sekhmet's thoughts. "Poor Chris!"
"It would destroy him." Sekhmet whispered softly, trying to keep the fear for her beloved out of her mind. She required focus for without it the hunt would die in its beginning right here and she needed to reach him, to let him see for herself that she was alive and not lost to him. For it was not the sorrow that she wished to save him from but rather the black rage that would consume him until he acquired the vengeance for the crime of her passing? He would do anything to see vengeance satisfied, risk anything, including his life. Sekhmet did not say that Chris Larabee knew how to hunt too, although he was a far different creature to her when it was his turn. She pursued for the sport but he hunted to the point of obsession. His was not to catch the opponent for the quick kill. His was to wear it down, to chase it through the fires of hell if need be, just for the satisfaction of watching the prey collapse in defeat to beg for its death, a death that would not be granted quickly or cleanly.
Even when she had been in her Goa'uld self, Sekhmet had recognised the predatory aspect of Chris Larabee's psyche. As a man, there was none so fearsome and it was odd kind of menace that he reflected to those around him. In some sense, it was strangely reassuring to be around someone who walked the line between good and evil with such precision and in other moments, it shuddered the soul to know what could emerge should that balance tip in favour one other than the other. Sekhmet had seen and relished but Mary watched closely, aware that her love offered equilibrium to the turbulent forces inside Chris. If he were to think that she was gone, that she had been killed by Laurel Chase then those precariously balanced scales would choose a side and both Mary and Sekhmet knew that it could not be good if Chris Larabee fell to the dark inside him.
She had no doubt that the death he delivered upon Lauren Chase for her life would accomplish his journey to the dark far more effectively than drug the woman may try to conjure up. Sekhmet had no intention of reaching Chris and finding her husband gone even if she found him alive.
Mary was dead.
As Chris Larabee sat inside the cell where he had been delivered the news of his wife's death, not to mention the distant cry of his son held prisoner by Laurel Chase, he felt strangely disconnected. The words that she was dead seemed to echo in his mind and the clearer they became, the less real it felt. He knew eventually it would settle in, seep into his brain until he was forced to feel the loss but for the moment there was nothing, just this cold emptiness that reached from his heart and spread out in icy tentacles throughout his body. He knew he should weep his tears of sorrow. He knew he should feel something about Mary being dead. In the beginning, there had been denial, an insistence that would not allow him to believe that Laurel had told him the truth.
It was trick, he told himself. A trick to make him falter.
However, when he saw Mikey and Billy before him, something inside him broke through that illusion. The only way that Laurel could have claimed Mikey and Billy this way was to go through Mary. He had no doubt that Mary had fought hard to save her children. She would fight hard, he thought to himself. There was no woman with a fiercer determination to protect her own than Mary Travis Larabee and that included him. She would stand against God himself if it meant the safety of her children. Knowing that about his wife also told him that it would be over her dead body that anyone could take her children away from her, only seemed to add weigh to the truth of Laurel's words.
He thought of cascading gold hair and knew that he was only torturing himself. However, nothing could stop the tide of memories once he let down his guard enough to feel that loss and the well of pain that rose inside of him slammed into Chris Larabee and twisted him like a reed in the wind. Chris let out a desperate cry and slid to the floor against the bars of his cell. He heard Vin calling out to him, trying to reach him through his anguish but nothing would penetrate. Images flashed in his memory, hateful things that stab at him with each flash of colour. He remembered how it felt making love to her for the first time, the scent of her skin, the sound of her laugher, all things of her that he would never felt again.
Mary...
"Chris!" Vin saw the gunslinger starting to sob into his hands.
Vin thought he had held up admirably but even the tracker could see the chinks that were forming in his armor. Chris knew he had put up a brave front for Laurel because he refused to let the lady see that she had delivered a mortal blow upon his soul. When Vin had heard the news, he felt it pierce his heart as surely it must have pierced Chris' although for the life of him, he could not imagine how Chris must be feeling. If he had lost Alex in the same terrible way that Chris had lost Mary then he could not confess to being in any better shape. The others were silent, except for Buck because they knew not what to say. How could they? Not even Vin understood it even though he recognised the desolation in Chris' eyes well enough.
"Chris," Vin tried desperately to reach the gunslinger whose body was shuddering in his efforts not to cry though everyone present knew that on some level, he was sobbing raggedly. "She could be lying." It was a vain hope because even Vin had believed Laurel when she had made her boast about Mary's death. Actually, in all fairness to the villainess, Vin truly believed her when she claimed that Mary's death had not been intentional. There was just enough trace of hesitation for there to be a ring of truth about her words.
"You don't believe that." Chris raised his eyes and Vin was taken back by the colour of them. Chris' eyes were black.
"Sure I do," Vin said and glanced at Buck, hoping the weight of a secondary voice would lend weight to his belief. "She was lying wasn't she Buck."
"Yeah Chris," Buck nodded but even the good natured man was incapable of injecting any real belief of his voice. Like Vin, he did not think the lady was lying and the fact that Laurel had the children was quite convincing evidence attesting to the fact. "She was lying through her teeth."
"What Mr Wilmington is trying to say," Ezra who was a better actor than Buck and had some idea of what Vin was trying to do, added his voice into the mix. "Is that the lady is known for her ability to deceive. We all know that it was mostly likely that cohorts of Miss Chase had been able to wrestle your children away from Mary. I seriously doubt that such men were ill bred enough to harm a woman attempting to defend her children. Miss Chase does not strike me as having patience for fools who would be that inefficient."
Vin gave Ezra a smile, thanking the gambler for mounting such a formidable attempt but as he stared at Chris, Chris with the dead eyes, seeing nothing and hearing even less, Vin knew that the effort was wasted. Wherever he was now, Vin could not reach him.
"She's gone Vin." Chris turned to the tracker for the first time, some hint of recognition filtering into his eyes.
"No she's not Chris," Vin tried again and he was just effected enough by the sorrow he saw in Chris' face, despite that impregnable wall of black in his eyes, to make this latest effort count for something. "Laurel is lying to you. She's trying to get to you by saying that Mary's dead. You know that."
"I might," Chris said listless, "if you didn't believe it either."
"I don't believe it," Vin forced himself to say, trying not to betray himself by the pain in his cobalt colored eyes. "I know she's alive Chris."
"Promise me something," Chris met Vin's eyes directly for the first time.
"Anything pard," Vin replied automatically, unable to deny Chris anything at this point. "You know that."
Chris nodded because he did know that much. If there was one thing he could rely upon, it was Vin Tanner's sense of honor and utmost loyalty. If Chris asked him to walk through fire, Vin would do it without complaint and gratefully because Chris was his friend.
"Take care of my children." Chris said softly as it dawned upon Vin what he meant.
"No..." Vin started to say. "Don't even think that."
"It's going to end with me and Laurel Vin," Chris Larabee said firmly. "This time I'm going to do it right. If it means me going with her, then that's how it will be but she will die. I swear upon what's left of my life, I am going to kill her."
As Vin stared into the dark pools of his eyes, he knew that Chris was going to do it.