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.
Buck Wilmington could not fathom why he had been singled out and was presently awaiting inside a seemingly luxurious parlor for the arrival of Miss Chase. He sat in the comfortable wing chair, wishing to be anywhere but where he was and considered what was happening to Vin. Mr Zhang, the huge bodyguard and lackey who was always at the lady's side was poised at the doorway that led into the room, keeping a watchful eye over him while remaining silent as always. Buck stared at the statuesque man wondering what it was that bound him to such a psychopath with such devotion. Zhang returned Buck's observations with indifference, his face a stony mask of disinterest.
"I don't suppose you're gonna tell me what I'm doing here?" Buck asked, not really expecting answer.
It was just as well because the response he received was another expressionless stare from the large Oriental.
Buck chose instead to cast his gaze around the room, hoping that would relieve the anxiety he felt. Miss Chase liked to surround herself in luxury, Buck noted as he saw the crude walls hidden beneath the finery of expensive furniture, rugs and other items that were positioned inside the room in order to make one forget that they were inside an old fortress of some sort. Buck could think of no other thing that the premises might be to contain so many cells. He wondered if she had acquired the place specifically for the purpose of imprisoning the seven. Inwardly, he shuddered at the thought of what was happening to Vin Tanner, knowing that she could do the same to all of them. He was still confused at why she had chosen Vin when it was obvious that Chris was the one she wanted. For that matter, he was bewildered why he was here himself. Other than their meeting a short time ago, he had never seen Miss Chase.
Still he had to admit that he now understood what Vin had said when he remarked that the woman was beautiful. Beautiful was not even an apt description of what Laurel was. She was the most incredible creature Buck had ever seen and it scared the hell out of him. There was not a man alive who could not be swayed even a little by that face should she chose it. Upon seeing her, Buck could understand how Chris had succumbed even if it was the Venom narcotic had induced the fracture that crumbled his resolve. Despite his attraction to her, Buck did not look forward to being in her company. He consoled himself that he would not be human if he wasn't in some way drawn to her astonishing beauty but in truth, he wanted nothing to do with her.
No one was more surprised than Buck how easy it had been to make the transition from favored ladies man to faithful husband. He had always imagined he would find it impossible to cope with having the company of so many women dwindling to one. However, marriage to Inez had never been a trial. Of course no marriage was ideal and while he and Inez had spectacular fights, they also had spectacular bouts of making up. He loved being her husband and knowing that she was there when he came home. He loved the smell of her cooking filling up his lungs whenever he walked through the front door of his house and the soft whiff of perfume that clung to the sheets where he slept. It was those little things that made it all so easy.
And the little thing that made it the best of all was called Elena Rose.
When he thought about being faithful to Inez, by extension that also meant his daughter. The joy they brought to his life meant more to him than any meaningless encounter with any woman he would most likely never see again. Besides, this was the family he had always wanted. Even though he had always boasted at being a free spirit, in truth, he yearned for the ties that bound people together and knew that after the death of Sarah and Adam, he had missed that feeling until he had become one of the seven.
His thoughts were interrupted when he heard the twisting knob of the door leading from an adjoining room. Buck's head snapped towards it and he found his back straightening as the door swung open and the slight rustle of Laurel's dress pulling across the floor preceded her entrance into the room. She walked in confidently, closing the door by pushing it close behind her without turning her back on him while she did so. She kept her gaze on him, green cat like eyes studying him as she approached. Buck tugged on his collar, giving away his anxiety somewhat.
"Nervous?" She asked, a slight tease in the pulled curve of her lips.
"A little." Buck was not afraid to lie. If he was not slightly worried then he was a fool and denying it would make him look doubly so. He had every reason to worry. This woman had proven herself a killer and she was ruthlessly cruel as evidenced by what she was now doing to Vin in the dungeon from which he was temporarily released.
Her brow crook upward and she gave him a long look. It was not one he could read. Saying nothing, she took up the chair opposite his where a few minutes ago, a maid had entered, serving tea in expensive crockery on the table next to both chairs.
"Tea, Mr Wilmington?" Laurel inquired politely. Her voice was smooth like silk. It moved across the skin in the same way.
"No thank you ma'am." He said politely, wishing this facade of civility to last as long as it could. He knew that it would be simpler to get information out of her if he was accommodating instead of antagonistic.
She continued to pour herself a cup and broke the silence of the room with the sound of her teaspoon impacting against the dainty porcelain cup as she stirred before easing back into the chair, cradling cup and saucer in hand as she studied him. "You surprise me Mr Wilmington."
"Why is that ma'am?" He asked evenly.
"I don't know," she said almost as if she were working out a particularly interesting puzzle. "I see you and I cannot quite fathom you."
"That almost sounds like a compliment." Buck remarked a hint of amusement creeping into his voice. It was almost perverse considering how worried he was for himself and his friends.
"You may take it as such." She responded as she took a small sip and looked up at him again. "I have a talent for knowing men."
"I don't doubt that," he said automatically and surprised him when he managed to say it without any trace of innuendo. "I'm sure you pretty good at it."
"I am." Laurel said confidently. "Mostly because I can usually tell what they want by just looking at them. I know that Chris wants control. He enjoys believing that he is master of his destiny and that by control, he can ensure nothing harms him or those he cares about. In fact, he'll do anything to maintain that control. Is that not true?"
It was, Buck had to confess but not to the extreme she described but then Laurel was a creature of extremes and right at this minute, she was playing a game with him. A game whose rules or purpose, he did not understand just yet but Buck was smart enough to listen and learn in the meantime. "I wouldn't quite put it that way." He responded neutrally.
"I would," Laurel retorted, seeing through his attempt to hide that he agreed with her opinions on Chris. "Mr Tanner is something else entirely. Too much nobility and loyalty wrapped up in a relentless package with and edge of ruthlessness. It is a deadly combination indeed. Mr Tanner wears many faces behind those eyes, pray that you never seen the darker side of him."
"And what about me?" Buck found himself asking although he could not disagree much with what Laurel said in regards to Vin except that Buck did not believe that Vin's dark side was so terrible. The tracker was honest and direct to the point of sheer stubbornness but Laurel's vision of him was painted with the distaste she could barely hide from her face when she spoke of Vin.
"That is why you are here." Laurel answered truthfully. "I do not know what you want. You intrigue me Mr Wilmington."
"Well I always knew how to please the ladies." Buck remarked with a hint of smugness.
"I have no doubt of that," Laurel found herself smiling, wondering if he planned to seduce his way out of this predicament. It would almost be interesting to see him try if she was not certain that he did not have it in him to betray the wife he so obviously loved. "However, that is not what I mean. What do you want Mr Wilmington?"
The question took him by surprise. "What do you mean?"
"Chris wants control, Vin Tanner wants to remain at Chris' side always, but you, I cannot quite fathom what you want." Laurel replied.
"I don't want anything." Buck answered, considering the question. "Except maybe to be happy."
"You're something of an anomaly. Most men have some craving but you seems to only one that and it surprises me." She confessed. "You are perfectly content aren't you? Not all concerned by the mundane things that drag most people down. Most men yearn or want something but you do not except want for much except for things to remain as they are. I wonder if you know how truly unique that is."
"That ain't unique at all." Buck countered, uncertain on whether or not he liked her description of him. He supposed in the face of it, he really did not want much out of life. Hell, if truth be known, at this moment, he had everything he had ever wanted in his life. Friends who would die for him and he in turn for them, a wife an daughter he adored utterly and the promise of a future with a ranch that was fast becoming a place of great meaning for not for its owners but rather all the seven. "Most men want that."
"Most men do but those who have it are rarely satisfied with it and in the end, they find they crave more." She commented. "Perhaps I find you so interesting because you are the first creature I've met who is truly happy with what he has. I wonder if you know how rare a thing that is."
"Laurel, what am I doing here?" Buck asked finally, wondering what was the point of all this discussion. It could not be as simple as a matter of curiosity, not in the face of what he knew of the woman.
"I don't know Mr Wilmington," she continued to drink her tea, not at all perturbed by the sharp tone of his question. "However, I think I will keep you around while I try to figure that out."
"Keep me?" Buck did not at all like the sound of that. It reeked of permanence, not to mention sinister intent.
"Yes," she nodded, meeting his eyes. "I'm sure you will not mind after awhile. I can make your stay very pleasurable."
Buck swallowed, feeling the slight tug of temptation pull away at him for a fraction of an instant before it took the rest of him to stave it away easily. He loved his wife and he cared about his friends. He cared about the people in his life too much to become a pet at the feet of this woman who appeared to want him just to satisfy some lack of comprehension into what he was. He knew what he was just as well as he knew that Laurel's confusion arose from the point that she could not brand him with the same frailties of the other men she had encountered in her past. It did not mean that he had not those same flaws that Chris and Vin and just about every human had, it was just that his concept of life was so far removed from hers, she could scarcely imagine anyone being content with it.
"I am a married man." He stated firmly.
"Yes," she nodded and smiled coldly. "And that's why it will be highly amusing to break you in."
If it was all possible, Forbes had even less to redeem itself than Avon.
Like the town they had taken refuge the night before, the visitors from Four Corners had ridden into town as the day crept towards late afternoon. The heat across the barren landscape filled with rocks, tumble weeds and scorpions had blistered with summer temperatures, creating mirages that tempted them with fake illusions of water as they continued their march through the heart of the Territory. As they inched closer and closer to the divide of the Mojave Desert which kept the inland continental United States from its prosperous Californian neighbour, they began to wonder if Forbes did in actual fact exist.
The town of Forbes had survived for one reason alone; it was the on the route taken by the stage. While the railroad would drive the stage oach into obsolescence far sooner than anyone might think, for the moment such way stations like this still had a breath or two left in them. To penetrate the desert to reach the green of the Salinas, the journey required still small towns to allow travellers to rest and stagecoach drivers to replenish stores and refresh horses before the arduous trek over unrelenting desert terrain. When the five women made their arrival, there was barely enough people in town to bat an eye at their presence or the fact that they were a curious sight. Five women dressed the way they were, was not a customary sight. Still, this was a place used to travellers if nothing else and the people who did raise an eye in interest at their coming, did so with indifference.
The town's entire community consisted of the saloon for even a one horse town could not function without the existence of one, a hotel, livery stables and a general store that also doubled as post office and any other civil function required of it. The general store was sizeable and one had to assume that its clientele came from the spreads and homesteads that might have been scattered around the area for there was not a community in Forbes that was large enough to support it. The hotel could barely be called that by any of their standards and was most likely a rooming house but since it was the only one in the locality, it had earned the upgrade in its description.
"She is here." Isis stated as her eyes surveyed the community they had just entered. She was squinting to keep the sun out of her eyes despite the hat she was wearing and knew in this glaring white heat, there was little that could be done, protective headgear or not. A memory older than the body surfaced in Isis' mind where she had stood on the sands of another desert even more treacherous than this one and saw a monument being built in the ancient lands of the Pharaoh.
"How do you know?" Julia asked.
Although Julia still felt wary about the former Goa'uld Queen, she had learnt one thing about Isis during their journey here; Sekhmet had not exaggerated the power of her mind. She supposed one could not have survived for four millennia otherwise but seeing its acumen at work was quite something. She had only ever seen Chris Larabee make such conceptual leaps based purely on instinct and Julia wondered what this creature might have accomplished if she had possessed the compassion of Alexandra Styles Tanner.
"This is a good place to be forgotten. I doubt they even know she is here." Isis remarked.
"I think you're right." Inez agreed. This was a place where questions did not get asked. A stranger such as Laurel Chase could be assured of anonymity because this was too small a place for gossip and visitors were limited to the intermittent arrival of the stage. Those who utilised this place as a way station were not interested in local news, just where they were going and how they were going to get there. "She could hide herself here."
"Then how are we going to find her?" Casey asked.
"That is easy little one," Sekhmet glanced at the young woman. She found herself liking Casey Wells for the child was spirited and not afraid to leave the constraints of proper behaviour when required, unlike the one with the red hair. "There are not many places that she could keep seven men imprisoned and a large body of guards. The people here may not know her but they will know the place."
"Precisely," Isis nodded. "We do not seek out the woman, we seek the lair she occupies."
"I can handle that," Julia responded confidently.
All four looked at her with something of a surprise until they saw her glance in the direction of the general store as they were passing by. A man was offering Julia a smile of interest as she rode past and judging by the apron he was wearing, it looked like he was the proprietor of the establishment. His interest in Julia was more than just passing curiosity and Julia was more than familiar with the glint in his eyes to know that she could make use of him to get what they needed; information.
"It would be simpler if I simply extracted it from him." Sekhmet answered abruptly, finding it distasteful to resort to such tactics to gain information.
"Like you did in Avon?" Julia gave her a pointed stare. "I think this would be more efficient and less bloodier."
"Do not underestimate your prey Sekhmet," Isis broke into the conversation. "Because she may be unknown to these people does not mean she is foolish enough to presume that they could not unwittingly give her away. She has eyes here," Isis declared as she nudged her mount towards the livery. "I am sure of it."
Inez felt a shudder run through her spine as she considered those words and knew that it was not beyond the realm of possibility. She must have had them watched to know when the boys had left town to seek out her false lure and had not made the attempt to kidnap Mary and the children until after she and the rest of the women had left. Inez may not have had the insight into Laurel Chase that Isis was displaying but she did not doubt that underestimating the lady was a fatal mistake.
"In that case, we ought to get indoors." Inez suggested. "If she has people here keeping an eye on things, they're sure to know who we are and we do not want to give ourselves away yet."
"You speak wisely Inez Wilmington." Isis remarked giving her a look of approval. "We will do as you suggest."
"You know," Casey spoke as they rode to the livery. "I can't understand why she's taken all of them. Seems to me, she only wants Chris."
"She hates my consort." Isis spoke and it if was possibly for that cold voice to become tempered with even more ice, it did so then. There was sharpness to her aloof manner that revealed a glimmer of the hatred she felt for Laurel Chase as she spoke, not to mention the seething rage waiting release should Vin be harmed in any way. "She will want him there for revenge. She intended to cripple him before to teach him a lesson about what it was too stand between herself and Sekhmet's mate."
"Does she love Chris?" Casey asked. "Like Ella did?"
"I do not think it is a question of love as it is a question of power." Sekhmet answered neutrally which was rather surprising when it was Chris being discussed. Unlike Isis who was always calm and deliberate, Sekhmet was hot tempered and ready to do battle even where there were none to fight.
Climbing off their horses, they halted their conversation as they paid the appropriate gratuities to the livery owner for the use of his stables to house their mounts. They continued their pause in speech, not wishing to be overheard until they had left the livery and made their way to the hotel. "She believes herself to be unique this Laurel Chase, a force of nature unto herself that may use the men she meets but never allow them to be anything more for only might can subdue might."
"She thinks Chris is a force of nature?" Casey exclaimed, eyes widened.
"Isn't he?" Julia replied. "Come on think about it. Four Corners was a lawless mess before he came. No one could have held the seven together to clean it up unless he was Chris Larabee. I love Ezra but I'm not blind to the fact that there is something about Chris that is both dangerous and comforting. It's like watching a storm tearing through the landscape but as destructive as a storm might be, it also bring rain and all the good that goes with it."
"She wants someone worthy of her." Isis responded. "She believes Chris is."
"She's insane." Inez shook her head at the twisted nature of the relationship Laurel had created in her mind. "After what she did to him? I do not think that is the way to get a man to come to you."
"She is insane." Isis agreed. "But she is that because she has no conscience to speak off. I doubt in her entire life any man has ever said no to her."
"Is she really that beautiful?" Inez mused. None of them except Alex had ever seen Laurel Chase. They had no face to which they could place the enemy.
"Yes," Isis nodded in affirmative. "She is exceedingly beautiful. My host saw her and met her. She is beautiful as she is brilliant and I sense she has searched a long time for a mate. She sees him in Chris but the only way she can have him is to break him or in failing to possess him, wishes to destroy him."
"Chris would never let that happen!" Casey came to the gunslinger's defence immediately. Chris Larabee was the best gunfighter she knew, next to JD of course. Chris was smart and he knew how to fix the best of things, Casey could not imagine for a moment anyone getting the best of him.
"A man can only lose so much before it wears away at the soul, young one." Sekhmet sighed and her eyes softened in that instance, showing the depth of her worry. The memories may have belonged to Sekhmet but the emotion was all Mary's. Chris' state of mind still preyed heavily on her thoughts. If Laurel was cruel enough to allow him to believe that she was dead and Sekhmet had every reason to think so, she knew that the mate would be grief stricken. He had lost one wife and a child to violence, she was uncertain how he would manage losing another in the same manner.
"Well find them." Inez reached for her, forgetting that she was Sekhmet and seeing only Mary's concern on the face looking so saddened. Squeezing her shoulder gently, Inez cared not for the strangeness surrounding Sekhmet and Mary, reminding herself that the woman before her was still her best friend.
Julia could not feel that warmly towards Sekhmet or Isis but could appreciate the feelings of fear the women felt. Although she knew that Laurel had no particular interest in the gambler, that still did not mean that she would not harm Ezra Standish. Julia also found her worry centering on Josiah, the older man who had shown her what real paternal affection could be like and she would be just as vehement if any harm were to come to the preacher as she would be if Ezra was hurt in any way. If anything happened to either man or for that matter any of the seven, Julia would gladly help when they unleashed Sekhmet on the bitch.
They were required to pass by the general store in order to reach the hotel and Julia thought now was as good a time as any to make her bid for gathering information from its owner. The man in question was a thin, reedy creature with big teeth and not at all one might consider attractive. If anything he was rather homely but then one supposed, most bronzed gods chose not to become shop owners in a small one-horse town such as this. He was pretending to sweep the floor, even though he was still at the same floorboard she had seen him at when they had ridden past earlier.
Gesturing the others to go on ahead, Julia made eye contact with the man and immediately saw him react to her acknowledgment of him. He seemed to beam even wider when she left the others and stepped onto the steps that led to the front landing of the establishment. Julia removed her hat and ran her fingers through her copper locks, shaking loose the dust that had accumulated there during the ride here. She hardly looked like the model of seduction but she doubted that her victim was particularly mindful of that. In these parts, where there were twenty men to every woman, just the opportunity to gaze upon a pretty face was worth its weight in gold.
She saw the others disappearing into the hotel and was glad for their departure before she regarded her quarry once more. "Hello there." She said breezily, flashing him her most dazzling smile as she approached him.
The melting look on his face was enough to tell her that he was more than pliable for her needs. "Good day to you, Miss." He greeted with a somewhat transfixed expression on his face. "I seen you riding into town."
"I saw you too." Julia replied, with just a hint of flirtatious lilt to her voice to make that insipid smile stretch wider across his face. "My name is Julia." She extended her hand outward towards him and noticed that he wiped his hand on his apron before accepting it.
"Please to meet you Miss Julia." He swallowed thickly.
"And you are?" She asked, her brow crooking up in interest.
"James Sinclair." He stammered. "Though most folks just call me Jamie."
"I'll call you James," Julia kept her eyes fixed on his. "It suits you better." She smiled.
She saw him turn a shade red and knew that he was more than ready to tell her what she needed to know as long as she presented a suitable façade part while making the inquiry. She may not be as beautiful as Miss Laurel Chase or possess a narcotic that could manipulate men but Julia had her own ways of extracting information, when it was necessary.
"I'm thinking of settling here James," she remarked, her gaze sweeping across the town and shuddering inwardly at such a thing being evenly remotely true. "I hear this town is one of the stopovers for the stagecoach line going to California."
"It sure is," he nodded, obviously thrilled by the idea of such a beautiful woman putting down roots here, especially when it appeared she might have a liking for him. "We're the last stop before the desert."
"I know." She met his gaze. "I was thinking of opening a little Emporium, not to sell the sort of things that you do because it appears that you deal in basics while I tend to lean towards luxuries. Think of it James," she said breathlessly. "People can stop here for the day and find not only a general store that can sell them food and necessities but also an Emporium that can give them those little pleasures that we all want." She batted her lashes at him. "You want that don't you James, a little pleasure?"
"Sounds like a fine idea, Julia." He laughed nervously, clearly so inspired by the idea because he was almost salivating.
"So," she said looking around. "What else is around here other than this charming little store and hotel? We could make this place into something grand James but we have to exploit local colour. Are there huge homesteads and ranches around here? Landmarks of any kind? Something that would draw the interest of people to stay longer than it takes for them to get a meal and move on?"
She was speaking so fast that his mind could barely make sense of it, even though he did so like the way her lips moved and the sparkle in those incredible coloured eyes. He had never seen the ocean but he was sure the depth of it looked liked her emerald eyes. However, when she had said landmarks, he managed to find enough voice to speak.
"That's the old fort."
"Old fort?" She looked at him. "You mean the ones left over from the Spanish?"
"That's the kind." He nodded. "Ain't nothing else around here that could interest people much Miss Julia. Land's too dry for ranching or home steading unless you move further east or keep going on to California. A couple of men came through here a weeks ago, looking for the same thing. Told them what I'm telling you now, only thing around here worth anything is that old fort and that ain't in much shape either. Last time I rode out that way, it was falling to pieces."
Julia considered the information, hiding her ruminations from the man who had provided her with just the thing she needed. An old fort would be just far enough out of town not to rouse local suspicion. Other than the odd visit to town to acquire supplies, Laurel and her men would have no reason interact with the locals and therefore stymie any speculation on the reason for her occupation of the fort, if they were even aware of it. Not only was the fort far enough away to be forgotten but a place like that would have cells where seven prisoners might be held indefinitely. The thought of Ezra languishing away within bars caused a shudder to run down her spine and she knew with a gut instinct that it was the place they were seeking.
"Well," Julia turned her gaze back to Jamie and offered another charming smile, which hid any trace of the anxiety, she felt for inwardly. "I want to thank you for this nice little chat James, I'm sure we will be seeing a lot of each other."
He could only nod with another stupid grin as Julia drew away from him and went to join the others at the hotel.
Isis absorbed what Julia had to report when she joined them in the lodgings they had acquired for their stay in Forbes. Although it was considered prudent to remain out of sight, the women knew that it was necessary that they took a look at the place Julia had believed to be occupied by Laurel Chase. It made sense that the lady would surround herself with such formidable fortifications. The positioning of Calumet City where she had hosted her bloody gladiatorial bouts were similarly protected, having been established within the confines of a canyon with only one discernible way in or out. The element of surprise and her arrogance in underestimating Vin Tanner's determination to find her had allowed the seven to rescue Chris Larabee and escape unscathed.
They had barely managed to restrain Sekhmet from going immediately to the place in order to learn for certain whether or not Julia's suspicion that this fort might hold the answer to the present whereabouts of the seven. However, Isis and Inez both managed to convince the former warrior goddess that any incursion to the place would have to wait until the cover of dark. There was no purpose in allowing the enemy to know that they were coming. Under those conditions, Sekhmet was able to appeased for the moment. They took dinner in their rooms, choosing not to be seen for the duration of their stay in Forbes. Ever mindful of Isis' assertion that it was highly likely that Laurel had men placed in this town that could give them away, the visitors from Four Corner limited their interaction with the small community of Forbes.
It was well after dark and the saloon became the focus of all attention, as it was common in such frontier towns, before they decided to make their move. Ensuring that they were not seen as they left their rooms, the five women retrieved their horses from the livery and did not mount their horses to ride until they had walked the animals some distance out of town. Once they were certain that no one was watching they climbed onto their horses and rode away into the night, leaving Forbes behind them and taking a gamble that the fort would bring them closer to Laurel Chase.
The fort was like every Spanish construct of the time, with arched gates and high walls surrounding it. Though they were not barred, the walls were thick and formidable, giving it a quality of impregnability that was more psychological than it actually was. It did not matter that it was old. Old trees could petrify and become impervious to an axe. Such was the same for this building that was meant to withstand cannon balls and was more than a match for five women attempting to rescue the men that they loved.
Although the could see no visible signs of life as they approached, it did not matter to Sekhmet. She ordered them off their horses even though the structure was something of a distant speck on the horizon. It was not so far that they could not reach it by foot but Sekhmet claimed something did not smell right, that the quiet of the night and the seemingly inactivity of the place belied something sinister that could not be discerned through the naked eye.
"They're there." Sekhmet replied, as she remained hunched in the darkness. The landscape was flat and ran in even length all the way to the base of the walled fortress. She kept low even though there was no where to hide but it was a moonless night and visibility was low.
"How can you tell?" Julia whispered, staring at the same thing she was but seeing nothing that would indicate the truth of her statement. Even though her initial instincts had told her this was the place, seeing it so abandoned and silent started to shake the certainty she had felt earlier. What if she was wrong? What if she had led them on some wild goose chase? Julia's mind rambled with such thoughts and she knew that she was not helping the situation with her doubts.
"I have their scent." Sekhmet said confidently. "The enemy is smart, she allows her guard to fall not an instant."
"Or maybe she isn't there." Julia retorted sceptically.
"She's there." Sekhmet renewed her declaration. She remained poised and on her haunches, watching the dark silhouette of the structure against the even darker night sky trying to see past the shadows. The prey was there. It was all a matter of patience.
"It's so quiet." Casey whispered under her breath. Even though the nature of Sekhmet frightened her, the woman herself was amazing and Casey could not help being drawn to her. Sekhmet was everything that Casey wanted to be; smart, capable and able to face a man on his terms and win, without caring that it was not a woman's place to be that way. While frontier women tended to be course and unrefined, Sekhmet was like a wild animal, sleek and powerful, a mountain cat moving in the dark. She remained close to Sekhmet wishing to learn as much as she could before the powerful persona faded away into the familiar guise of Mary Larabee.
"They are watching." Sekhmet glanced at the younger woman. "If we remain where we are, they will not see us. We have the cover of night and the visual acuity of humans' decreases after a certain range. Even with night eyes, it will take them longer to discern shapes."
"That's all well and good but we can't see much either." Inez remarked.
"Under normal circumstances yes," Isis remarked, reaching into the satchel she had brought from the bunker where the Chapaii lay entombed. Reaching into it, she produced a strange object no bigger than her hand but appeared to look like eyeglasses attached together. The coating around it was black and did not feel like wood but rather metal even though it appeared much too light for steel.
"What is that?" Inez asked.
"Something that will have to be destroyed once we are done with it." Isis responded and handed it to the Mexican, instructing which end she should look in. "Look." She ordered.
Inez held the object to her eyes and looked at the fort once again. Instead of seeing the same distant darkness, she saw the fort magnified by more times than she could count. Not even a spyglass was capable of this kind of enhancement. In shock at how close it was she stumbled back and fell down on her rear end.
"How did your primitive kind even grasp the concept that the world is round?" Isis shook her head in disgust and drew a scowl from Inez. The bartender muttered under her breath and gingerly held the device to her face again and took another look, shock evaporating away to be replaced by fascination.
"Why is everything red?" She asked.
"Every object in the universe radiates light," Isis informed dutifully. "It is only the limitation of human eyes that allow us to see specific spectrums of light. How you are seeing what is in front of you is done so by the energy form known as infra-red."
"Madre mois!" Inez hissed in astonishment as she saw the world through the eye of the strange device. It was a nightmarish world painted in shades of red but strangely enough, it did allow her to see clearly. "It is amazing."
"Let me try Inez." Casey said eagerly, like a child with a new toy.
"We are here for a purpose." Sekhmet bristled, not liking any of this banter while they were trying to observe covertly. "Be still the lot of you." She hissed.
"Sorry," Casey said sheepishly but still regarded Inez with a hopeful expression.
"Are you able to see anyone?" Sekhmet inquired after a moment.
Inez stopped marvelling at the wonder she was seeing and concentrated on the request. Though there was no light for if there had been, she would have felt it most profoundly, she could make out the high edges of the walls, the less than decrepit state of things and although it looked outwardly abandoned, there was something not quite right. Inez, who came from a country littered with such places after Santa Ana, knew abandoned when she saw it. As if to lend credence to her belief, she suddenly saw men patrolling the length and breath of the wall, the points of rifle barrels, following them as they moved.
"Yes," Inez nodded grimly. "I see them."
Sekhmet did not turn her eyes away from her quarry's nest, keeping her gaze fixed upon it as if she could see them with the same clarity that Inez was doing so right at this minute. "I knew it."
"How many?" Julia asked next.
Although Inez could only see the number of the walls, she knew that there were more than seven. She saw two men exchanging shifts with the previous guards on the western wall and assumed that the same procedure applied for the guards on the eastern face as well. She saw the changeover and watched the duo disappear into the heart of the fort, wondering what their exact number was even though with what she had seen so far was certain that they were many.
"Enough." She replied and that was all the explanation was needed.
"Let me see." Sekhmet responded and took the device from her before holding to her own blue grey eyes.
Inez turned Isis and declared. "We cannot do this. They'll shoot us to pieces before we even get ten feet of that place. There are men stationed all over that wall. We cannot get near it!" She exclaimed with more than a good deal of frustration in her voice. Inez felt cruelly robbed of being any help to Buck after coming all this way. She could cry from the sheer unfairness of it.
"But we got these fancy weapons!" Casey added her voice in, refusing to give up on JD or any of the others. She had seen some amazing things during this entire affair and she was not ready to let a stretch of plain be their undoing. There had to be another way. "We can't stop now!"
"The child is right." Sekhmet responded without lowering the device from her eyes. "We can defeat them. Our problem is merely reaching them to do so."
"The enemy selected her fortress well. She could kill us before we even reach our mates to be of any aid to them." Isis informed grimly.
"Ladies," Julia let out a deep sigh, wondering why they always focussed on the overall problem and not the baby steps required to get there. "One thing at a time. Our problem right now is getting across that space without getting shot to bits, is that right?"
"Yes." Sekhmet nodded. "However, one cannot hope to rescue the others without crossing that expanse."
"Look," Julia cast her eye in Sekhmet's direction with something of a exasperation glare. "We deal with getting across first then we'll work on the rescue. Now, Laurel is pretty damn sure that she's got away clean. She's assuming that Mary is dead and we are at this moment dealing with that at Four Corners and since the possibility of there being a rescue while all the boys are in her hands, is pretty remote, she thinks that no one will be coming after her."
"Then why does she have so many guards?" Inez asked.
Isis began to see what Julia was alluding to. "She is aware that she is safe but she is not foolish enough to leave herself unprotected."
"Exactly and if trouble comes, its not going to be from a bunch of women but men, possibly peace officers who will come charging in with numbers. That's what she's prepared herself for and that's what we're not going to give her."
"I do not understand," Sekhmet looked at her. "We cannot approach her covertly. The terrain does not allow for this."
"I agree," Julia nodded. "So we're going to do this the old fashioned way."
"The old fashioned way?" Inez looked at her.
Julia Pemberton would only respond with a thoroughly wicked smile.
It was starting.
Ever since Laurel had triumphantly confirmed what the seven had suspected in regards to contents of Vin Tanner's flask, Chris had been watching his best friend through the bars of his cell. Watching and waiting for the inevitable he knew would come. Chris knew he was not alone in his vigil, for Nathan was also watching the tracker. The irony of it was, the real expert in the Venom narcotic other than Laurel herself, was Vin's own wife. Chris knew for a fact that Alex had devoted much time to unravelling the secrets of the strange potion in order to understand and treat the people who fell under its evil influence. It was his own experience with the drug that had prompted her study of it, for he knew that she sought to find a method of purging the substance from the bloodstream without enduring the painful withdrawal symptoms.
At the moment, Vin was trying to sleep but even in slumber, the effects of the Venom upon his system were obvious. He was tossing and turning in his bunk, unaware that his restless sleep had robbed anyone else from achieving their own. A whimper would escape him on occasion and as trouble as he was, Chris knew with a deepening ache inside the pit of his stomach that it was only the prelude to a more painful act. Laurel in her cruelty had administered the drug, fully aware that Vin would never ask for more without first suffering intense agony engendered by the withdrawal. Laurel had kept so many in her thrall simply because enduring the pain of freeing oneself from the substance was too much and the only reason she had fed it to Vin was because she wanted to see him beg.
Chris would never be truly able to express just how grateful he had been at being rescued and surrounded by his friends when he had personally endured the experience. By the time Vin had found him in the Arena, Chris had been so gripped with the substance, he barely knew anyone. He had made love to Laurel, betraying Mary, a thing he would never forgive himself nor could he bring himself to admit to his wife. The shame of it was more than he could stand and not even Chris Larabee was strong enough to see the hurt in Mary's eyes if she were to know the truth.
And then there was what he had said to Vin.
That part was almost as hard to swallow as the intimacies he shared with Laurel. Vin, who had never given up hope of finding him, who searched and searched until something was uncovered to lead to his whereabouts and by doing so had earned Laurel Chase' undying hatred had borne the brunt of his narcotic induced mania. Chris remembered everything he had said to the tracker, every cruel, snide taunt that had marked their friendship forever, despite the fact that things appeared normal. Vin had listened to every vicious word spoken, had kept him from doing something unspeakable to Julia Pemberton and then shrugged it off because he knew that the Venom was at the root of Chris' behaviour and because Chris was his friend.
It was quite something to know that there was someone in this world who would walk the fires of hell for you if necessary and Vin Tanner was that kind of friend. As Chris watched him now, he was determined to help Vin through this. If necessary and despite the fact that it made him sick simply considering the idea, Chris was willing to play Laurel's games on her own terms if it meant he could spare Vin the agony of what was coming.
Chris allowed his gaze to sweep across the collection of cells and wondered whether it was light or day outside. The lack of a window had robbed them of any sense of time with the dungeon was perpetually illuminated by torches all day. The faces behind the bars were just as graven. Nathan had occupied himself by keeping an eye on Vin. Ezra amused himself with a deck of cards while JD paced up and down the cell, no doubt worried about what was happening to Buck under Laurel's ministrations. In truth, Chris was a little worried himself although his present thoughts were focussed on Vin because it was a problem that was right before him. Josiah sat on his bunk, wearing an introspective expression on his face as he considered their present situation.
"What is she doing with Buck?" JD finally grumbled, startling some of them with the sudden eruption of his voice in what was a deathly silent atmosphere. Until he spoke, the only thing they had been able to hear was the sound of Vin's discontents as his body began to crave the dosage of Venom once it had been introduced to the substance.
"I'm sure we will find out soon enough." Josiah said calmly as always, aware that nerves were frayed enough as it is.
"How long is she going to keep us down here?" JD asked once again, not quite catching the hidden intent of Josiah's words.
"As long as it takes." The preacher remarked.
"For what?"
"For her to win." Josiah said with maddening calm that only seemed to infuriate JD even more.
Chris did not add that as far as he was concerned, it was no longer a question of a game. Laurel had killed Mary and each time Chris thought about his wife, a well of grief threaten to rise from inside threatening ensnare him in its powerful grip and which took all his power to stave off because at the moment, it had to wait. The woman had his children and was slowly torturing his best friend while doing God only knew what to his oldest. Chris could not focus on Mary's loss, at this time. He needed to concentrate on getting out of here and skinning Laurel Chase alive because if either Billy or Michael were hurt, that was the least of what he would be doing to her.
"Mr Dunne," Ezra drawled with the same southern ooze he used to take some poor bastard for every cent they had at the card table. "I do not think that Mr Wilmington is in any present danger. The lady looked more curious than anything else."
"Curious?" JD regarded the gambler not understanding.
"She likes to be in control and Mr Wilmington is quite notable as the ladies man', perhaps she wanted to deduce if his reputation matched his ability."
"Will you all please shut up!" Vin voice suddenly screamed out loud, silencing them all.
Everyone fell silent immediately as the tracker rose from his bunk, not all restful after his sleep. Vin did not at all look well. His skin was almost grey and a layer of sweat covered his skin. Dark circles clung in bags under his eyes and the usually stoic and unflappable tracker appeared as if he were almost ready to jump out of his skin. He paced up and down the floor of his cell, looking like an animal trapped in a cage. It was unnerving to those who knew him to see Vin like this because he was always in control of himself, even when he was not. The young man rarely reacted strongly even though he could make his opinions known when he had to.
"Vin, calm down." Chris tried to reach him and felt a sliver of pain realising that it was a good thing that he was inside a cell, at least he was not capable of harming anyone although Chris was not so certain if this impotence extended towards himself.
"Don't tell me to calm down!" He growled, feeling the prickling at his skin. It felt like heat, slowly increasing with each breath he took and the breaths were coming too quickly. He knew he was panting but not why. His heart felt like it was racing in his chest and there was all this boundless energy inside him that was pressing against the walls of his body, demanding release.
"Vin," Chris tried again, aware of what was happening to his best friend and attempting to help him any way possible, even though that was easier said then done because this was something he had to suffer in order to be rid of the drug. "I know its hard, but it's the drug that's making you feel this way."
"I know." Vin managed to say. His hands shaking as he fought it. There were tears in his eyes as he struggled to stave off the madness that was creeping into his mind, piercing the inner centres of his brain with tendrils of rage. "It hurts." He whispered.
"I know it does," Chris went to the bars and extended his arm through the space, hoping that Vin would take the outstretched hand. "You've got to fight it. She wants you to hurt Vin, she wants you to hurt so that you will beg her for more."
"I won't become her pet!" Vin fairly screamed but even Chris could see the battle was one the tracker could not win. He was making a valiant effort not to give Laurel the satisfaction of seeing him in pain but Chris knew all to well that it was not something he could fight.
"Come on Vin," Nathan lent his support to Chris' attempts to help. "You got to concentrate brother," the healer's voice was almost smoothing and Chris decided it was the voice that had accompanied them during the recovery of many injuries during the years the seven had ridden together. Nathan's voice was something they equated with rest and safety, an indicator that they had won the day and it was time to heal. "Tried to breathe slowly. Your heart's racing right now. We've got to slow it down a little."
Vin nodded wildly and clamped his eyes shut, trying to force all the stray angry thoughts out of his head, forgetting for the moment the splinter that was burrowing inside his mind and focussed on what Nathan was trying to impart upon him. However, he did take a few steps forward and wrapped his hand around the outstretched arm being held out to him in support. He grabbed it quickly and then lifted his eyes to meet Chris'.
"Don't let me go." He said hoarsely. "Even if I scream and beg you, don't let me go crawling to her. I won't have that poison inside me. Promise me."
Chris nodded sombrely. "I won't." His voice was almost a strangled gasp. "I swear to you, I won't let that happen."
Vin lowered himself to the floor, his eyes still closed as his jaw tensed when he began gritting his teeth in preparation for what was to come. He had remembered vividly what had happened to Chris during his bout with withdrawal and knew how bad things were about to be. He forced himself to obey Nathan's instructions, keeping his eyes shut because he needed to block everything else out to concentrate on what the healer was saying.
Chris looked helplessly as the others and saw their anguished expression as empathised with their feelings of helplessness, knowing all to well what it was they were enduring for he was enduring it himself. However for the moment, Chris maintained his grip on Vin, bracing himself for the time when the tracker was ready to tear his arm off in order to satisfy that burning urges inside him.
And the time for that was drawing close.
When Laurel Chase walked into the cells to inspect her 'guests' some hours later, she was not surprised to hear the sound of screaming.
A small smile curled the corners of her lips as she entered the lower chambers of the old fort she had taken residence in for the duration of her encounter with Chris Larabee. Although there was a town close by, Laurel could be assured of her anonymity because the fort sat on the edge of the desert and was in a particularly harsh piece of terrain that was seldom traversed by many. The town itself was barely a community and like all small provincial villages as Forbes was, it was easy to conduct one's affairs without any interference from the ignorant locals.
Of course she had taken precautions following the procurement of her 'guests' and there were more than enough men under her employ, some with monetary gratuities and others devoted to her because of the Venom they had been administered, to ensure that she was uninterrupted. Leaving Buck Wilmington in his new abode in order to ponder his fate, Laurel thought she might take the opportunity to see how dear Mr Tanner was doing. According to her estimation, his body would be well and truly demanding a fresh infusion of Venom by now and he ought to be suffering rather agonising withdrawal pains. As she took the spiral steps that led into the cells in the lower levels of the old Spanish bastion, she could hear his screams echoing down the craggy walls.
This pleased her greatly. In fact, other than the initial hiccup of losing Mary Larabee, everything else had transpired accordingly. Chris' children were safely sequestered and kept under tight guard. The baby was little trouble as anticipated and Laurel had to admit she found a certain pleasure in the idea of keeping the infant indefinitely. Laurel liked the idea of raising Chris Larabee's child as her own. The older child was another matter entirely. He was too old to be anything but trouble and when she was done with his stepfather, Laurel decided to rid herself of him. There were plenty of places out there that had use for a boy like young Master Travis, especially when it came to the business of pleasure.
She might tell Chris that before she decided to kill him.
Laurel had every intention of killing Chris Larabee but before he died, he would have nothing worth living for. She had wanted to play a game with him but it was obvious now that he would never play it the way she wanted, not with the loss of his wife. However, before she rid herself of him, there was no reason why she could not enjoy herself first.
Laurel entered the final leg of her journey and saw the two guards posted at the entrance to the cells, straightening up at her arrival. Although she had no doubt they were not as vigil as their erect posture was supposed to indicate, Laurel had more faith in the steel bars that kept her prey enclosed then their abilities as sentries. One of them opened the door for her and as she stepped in, the distant hollering evolved into a piercing scream of agony.
"How are we doing Mr Tanner?" Laurel gloated as she stepped up to the bars and saw both of Chris' arms through the bars of his cell, keeping a firm grip on Vin as the tracker convulsed and writhed in agony.
"We appear to be quite fine Miss Chase." Ezra found himself speaking because Chris was busy trying to subdue Vin to have any time to deal with the lady and her obvious attempt to gloat. "Why do you ask?" He said with a perfectly straight face.
"No reason at all," Laurel regarded the gambler with a crook brow, admiring his ability to maintain his façade despite the scene before him. "It does seem however that Mr Tanner is in a little bit of discomfort."
Vin was in a little more than just discomfort, Ezra thought as he glanced at the tracker, struggling in Chris' grip. His skin was raked with scratches where he had clawed at his skin. A rivulet of blood was running down the corner of his lip down to his chin where he had bitten his tongue during initial stages of agony that tore through him without mercy. It wrenched the soul out of every one of them to be forced to watch Vin suffering this hell and not even be able to get near enough to help him.
"I'll kill you for this!" Chris growled for her.
"If you do Chris," Laurel gave him a truly sinister look. "Then I won't be able to give Mr Tanner this." She reached into the folds of her dress. Her hand slipped into a pocket and produced a syringe with a cork place firmly on the point of the needle.
There was no question what it contained.
"He doesn't need it!" JD shouted, answering before Chris could.
Laurel looked over her shoulder and said with a sweet smile. "Children should be seen and not heard, Mr Dunne."
JD reddened with outrage but Josiah interrupted before the youth could make a further outburst. "Stand down JD."
JD turned sharply at Josiah preparing to protest when he saw how serious Josiah was about that order and felt the doubt seep into his bones enough to pause and consider that the older man might have good reason to issue him the warning. Swallowing his anger like bile in his throat, JD decided that it was prudent to obey because Laurel was clearly psychotic and things were bad enough as they were already without his exacerbating the situation by drawing her attention to him.
"That's a good boy." She said smugly and stepped up to the bars of Vin's cell. "I can make you feel so much better Vin." She held the syringe up to display, inciting to tempt him with its contents. "There won't be any more pain, no more burning. You'll feel perfectly wonderful."
"Go to Hell!" Vin surfaced out of his agony long enough to scream.
"You're going there first." Laurel stared at him, smiling. "Its going to get worse Vin. You think it hurts now but it will be so bad that you'll do anything to make it stop. Chris knows, don't you Chris?"
"You stay away from him!" Chris held him first as Vin started shrieking again, his efforts to control the pain in front of Laurel completely destroyed as the tracker began scream once more, convulsing so violently that it took every ounce of strength that Chris had to keep his hold on Vin. The Venom made Vin stronger and combined with his frenzied state of mind, it was taking a Herculean effort to restrain him.
"Of course I will," Laurel answered with a smirk. "I won't give this to him Chris. I promised you that. I won't let him have a drop until he crawls to my feet begging for it."
"Never!" Vin glared at her, breathing hard before the word crumbled into a ragged sob of pain.
Suddenly, he spasmed more violently before but there was something different about it this time. Chris could tell that something had changed because even Laurel was unprepared for it. Vin tensed up in his grasp and his head lolled backwards and suddenly he was no longer screaming but uttering gurgling sounds as if he were choking. In shock, Chris let him go but instead of continuing to struggle and claw at himself, the tracker tumbled into the dirt floor, his body jerking about uncertainly.
"Vin!" Nathan shouted, ready to tear the bars apart with his hands to reach his friend if possible.
"Something is wrong with his eye! Chris shouted, seeing the corner of Vin's eye ball suddenly fill with blood. In seconds, the blue iris was surrounded, completely overwhelming the whites and his struggles ended just as abruptly. Vin lay motionless on the ground, staring overhead but seeing nothing.
"Tell me!" Nathan cried out desperately.
"His eye is red, its like it's filled with blood." Chris gasped, knowing instantly that something had gone wrong, and something that not even Laurel had anticipated. He reached through the bars and felt for a pulse, almost terrified for an instant that there would not be one. A slight throbbing against his fingertip told him other wise but it did not alleviate his fear any.
"He's still alive but he's weak." Chris responded.
"Oh dear," the woman said without a hint of repentance or sorrow in her voice. "How unfortunate. I thought Mr Tanner was stronger than that. I guess I was wrong."
"What did you do to him?" Chris let of Vin and stood up, almost throwing himself at the bars in his effort to get as close to Laurel as he could. The lady was too smart for that and immediately put some distance between herself and the bars to ensure that he was incapable of doing her any harm.
"Why Chris, you can't blame me for this? Who knew his arterial walls were so weak?"
"What?" Chris exclaimed not comprehending and turned sharply to Nathan to see the realisation dawning on the healer's face. "What is she talking about Nathan?" He demanded. "What did she do to Vin?"
"She didn't do it but she caused it," Nathan glared at the woman, remembering the conversation they had before this had all began about whether or not it was wrong to kill someone who was deserving of it. At this instant for Nathan at least, the moral dilemma did not exist.
"Caused what?" Chris shouted, needing to know.
"A stroke Chris," Nathan's voice was like ice when he finally answered what he was certain to be truth. "She caused him to have a stroke."