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.
The explosion was so loud that Chris Larabee sat up immediately in his bunk when its terrible roar tore through the air.
He was not alone in being startled; the others in the surrounding cells with him displayed a similar reaction to the sudden percussive noise. Chris rose from his bed, trying to ignore the empty cell next to his and all the emotional pain that went with it, as he crossed the floor and found himself at the front of the bars, trying to discern what had caused the powerful eruption. The guards in the next room were similarly excited about it and their confusion was plain in the nervous chattering he heard following it. Their speak was mostly in Spanish and while Chris could not understand its content, the meaning was clear enough.
"What the hell was that?" JD exclaimed, his eyes moving to the ceiling where the rumble had originated.
Chris shook his head blankly unable to answer as his eyes moved across the faces of his friends through the bars of their cells. "I don't know. Did that sound like a dynamite blast to you?" He asked.
"No," Josiah shook his head, with a clearly troubled expression in his eyes. There was something dark and ominous about it that had the power to chill him to the bone. "It wasn't dynamite but it sounds familiar."
"Yeah," Nathan nodded, trying to remember every aspect of the sound that they had just heard. "But did you notice that before the explosion itself, there was something else?"
"I do not seem to recall Mr Jackson," Ezra responded, glancing upwards. No sooner than his sea colored had raised its gaze to the ceiling, the sound repeated, seeming closer and more powerful than before. This time the ensuing shockwave was so violent that above head, tiny streams of dust and mortar loosened from its cracks and drifted to the floor.
"Did you hear it then?" Nathan looked around at the others. He had distinctively heard a smaller, more focussed sound proceeding the louder blast. Something that sounded like the low whine that came from the winding of great machines. His mind could not articulate a more accurate description.
"I heard it." JD spoke up. "It was kind of strange." The younger man's brow wrinkled in confusion.
"I know that sound," Josiah reiterated. "I've heard it somewhere before but I can't for the life of me place it."
"Forget the sound," Chris barked, futilely going to the bars of his cage and shaking it, as if hoping against hope that the violence overhead would miraculously loosen the metal lengths that kept them prisoners. "It looks like hell is breaking loose over there which means we need to get out of here and find Buck and Vin, if they're still alive."
The discussion went silent for a moment as they were faced with that unpleasant fact. Yes, they had to be prepared for that eventuality even if they did not want to admit it. The chances were good that Buck was still alive, far better than they were for Vin, who was grievously wounded when he had been taken away from them. Chris Larabee was crushing the emotions that would make him feel the loss of the tracker and Mary because he needed to get the friends he had left out of here but even they could see the strain of all that sorrow starting to mark his with its weight.
"As much as I would like to agree with you Mr Larabee," Ezra pointed out. "We seem to be faced with a little problem in regards to that particular desire."
"I know that." Chris growled, hating it when he was told that they were helpless and given no way to change the odds against them. Overhead, he had no idea what was transpiring but the gunshots and those strange explosions continued with such ferocity, they could feel the walls of this formidable structure shudder with each blast. The fortress appeared as if it was groaning with pain and every explosion was followed by another frantic hail of bullets, most likely to combat whatever had caused it. The gunfire sounded almost as desperate as Chris' desire to escape his cell.
"The guards are going crazy out there!" JD remarked as the youth cast his gaze to the small aperture on the wooden door that led out of the corridor where their cells were kept.
JD was correct, Chris thought as he strained to catch a glimpse of the men in question. The two guards were resisting the urge to investigate what was taking place in the floors above them and the roar of gunfire and explosions must surely be agitating them further when they had no idea what was causing it. Their conversation grew more panicked and they began to pace. Images of them moved back and forth in the view of the small window as they debated what it was they had to do. Obviously the urge to see what was happening and their duty to stand guard over the prisoners was giving them much cause for consternation.
"Perhaps the army found us." Ezra offered a suggestion, mostly to hear himself speak because it was too disconcerting listening to the carnage taking place above them and not know what was causing it. And there was no doubt it was carnage because the screams of pain, the desperate sound of gunfire trying to stop an enemy that did not show signs of abating and the running footsteps that were now a constant thunder in their ears, proved it so. The variation converged into a cacophony of noise that did nothing but amplify the destruction taking place above them.
"Could be." Josiah had to concede even though it seemed unlikely. "They did want her badly after Calumet."
The army's interest in the Venom drug, though unnerving when one realized what applications it could have in modern warfare, meant that the military was just as determined to capture Laurel Chase as Chris Larabee and the seven. If their women in Four Corners were able to raise the alarm to the proper authorities then it was conceivable that this could be the result of a military action against Laurel and her men.
Suddenly, there was a new sound and it was definitely something he had heard before. This time, it was not overhead or in some nearby distance, this time it was just outside the door. It was followed by a loud thud, like a body hitting the ground. The remaining guard was shouting but his voice raised was brief. The low whine repeated itself and he let out a soundless scream before he collapsed on the floor with his comrade before him. Footsteps and voices soon followed, muffled by the powerful explosions echoing through the upper floors.
Chris recognized what he had heard and knew it was impossible.
The instant he had heard the weapon fire, Chris had known what it was even if his mind was too astonished to believe it. Now that he was able to identify this latest sound, the rest of it fell into place. He could not even imagine how this was possible because they had ended that particular evil long before this and done everything they could to ensure that it would never raise its ugly head again.
"Zat'nuk'atel." He whispered.
Ezra turned sharply to him upon hearing what he had said. "That is impossible!" The fear in the gambler's voice was unmistakable and Chris could hardly blame him for that. The experience with the Stargate had been worse on Ezra. "We buried it!"
"Chris?" Josiah looked at him and realized what he was saying.
"That's what it is!" Chris insisted. "I used one."
"And I had one used on me!" Ezra returned sharply. "It cannot possibly be that!"
Any discussion to the matter was ended when the door swung open and footsteps hurried through the corridor. If the seven had thought hearing the sound of a Zat'nuk'atel weapon being used was astonishing enough, seeing the women who wielded it entering the room added a new level to their shock. For an instant, none of them could speak as they stared in surprise at Julia, Inez and Casey; each armed with the forbidden weapons they had taught themselves to forget long before this day.
"Julia?" Ezra managed to speak first.
"Ezra!" Julia cried out and hurried to him. "Thank god you're safe!" She slipped her hand through the bars and held his hand as their mouths met in a kiss of passion through the lengths of steel.
"How the hell did you get those things?" Chris barked, oblivious to the reunion they were attempting to have.
"It's a long story," Inez explained breathlessly as she tossed one set of keys at Casey and hastened the girls to open the door. Her eyes searched the cells and realized that Buck was not there. "Where's Buck?" She demanded as she reached Chris' cell and began unlocking.
"He's upstairs," Chris said neutrally, more interested in what they were doing with the technology of the Goa'uld instead of his response at this time. As soon as his door was open, Chris stepped out and immediately grabbed Inez's arm and demanded once more. "Now where did you get these things?" He ripped the weapon out of her hand, almost horrified by the idea of any one of the women touching the accursed things.
"Chris!" Inez groaned as she felt his fingers digging into her arm. "We don't have time for this. We have to get out of here!"
Ezra who emerged from his own cell was just as determined to find out the truth and in the same fashion as his leader, retrieved the dangerous weapon from Julia's hand. On her part, Julia was more than happy to relinquish it to him, having no taste for using any form of weaponry unless given little choice but to do so. "I'm afraid Madam," he looked at her. "I must insist that you make the time."
"Chris," Julia responded knowing first and foremost how to reach Chris Larabee and to make him desist from hurting Inez, however unintentional it was. "Mary is alive."
"What?" Chris looked at her instantly and though he was a master of his emotions, even more so than Ezra, Julia saw the hardened edge melt in his eyes and a flood of relief washed over him as he blinked slowly.
"She's alive Chris." Julia repeated herself and saw the others feeling the same gratitude at the news but Julia could only watch in wonder, the love Chris was experiencing and the immeasurable joy of knowing that the woman who held his heart was still among the living. It was good to know that she meant the same to Ezra Standish. "Laurel's men tried to drug her with the Venom but there was some kind of strange side effect. When we found her, it was not Mary that woke under the influence of the Venom but rather Sekhmet."
"Oh Jesus!" Nathan exclaimed behind her and Chris reacted with a horrified expression on his face as Julia hurried to explain that there was more to it than just that.
"What?" He let go off Inez and stared at Julia, not wanting to imagine that the monster he had thought banished was somehow resurrected. "We killed her!" He did not say that he had killed her. Instead, Chris glanced upwards and realized that it was Sekhmet up there, causing all this destruction and his confusion mounted. Too many facts were proving contrary. The Sekhmet he remembered would not be capable of convincing Julia, Inez and Casey to follow her here, nor would she provide them with these powerful weapons.
"I don't know how to explain it," Julia struggled to explain. "But when she woke up she was Sekhmet but she was also Mary. Chris, she has thought of nothing but getting here and finding you and her children. She doesn't sound like Mary but it is her."
"How is that possible?" Ezra asked. "Sekhmet was a killer."
"Ez," Julia turned to him. "I know this is hard for you to believe and trust me, I still have a bad feeling about this myself but the Venom brings her out and she has got us this far. That noise you're hearing up there is Sekhmet and Isis giving us the distraction we needed to get you out of here."
"Isis?" Chris stammered. "You said only Mary..."
"Sekhmet convinced Alex to use some of the Venom because she knew she wouldn't be able to do this alone. When Alex took it, she became Isis."
"This is getting worse by the minute!" JD gasped remembering the two ladies in question and that strange journey off world that was a taboo subject for the seven after it was all said and done.
"How could you let her do this?" Chris glared at them women. "How could you set them both loose?"
"We didn't have a choice!" Casey suddenly spoke up, emboldened enough to speak because Sekhmet was up there at this moment, fighting incredible odds not only for her children but all those in this room. "She hasn't done anything to put us in danger Chris and she was so afraid for you and the children, she was willing to ride here on her own to get you back!"
"Chris," Josiah added his opinion to the mix, choosing to be the voice of reason in all this. He knew that what they had seen in the last few minutes was too much to take but the situation demanded that they get a handle on things quickly. The weapons at their disposal would ensure that they could walk out of here and there was not a man alive anywhere who could stop them. The Isis and Sekhmet that Josiah remember from their visit to the world of the Netjer would never allow them access to such power unless the intention was to save the lives of the seven, not end it. "That little lady from Jack O'Neill's team had one of them inside her."
Chris nodded at the memory of Sam Carter, the beautiful and intelligent woman who reminded him so much of his Mary that it had hurt to look at her during the period Mary had been lost to them. "I remember."
"She said that even though the monster was gone from her, she still had memories of it. Maybe that's what the Venom did to Mary. It opened up the part of her that remembered Sekhmet. Except that was all that it could open up, just memories not a change in her. It sounds to me like Mary is using Sekhmet to help us."
"Yes," Inez nodded. "That's what she said. She said she had Sekhmet's memories but her soul was Mary's."
Chris was not so ready to believe it, not until he saw Mary face to face. At this point, he was not even prepared to call her Sekhmet but was still grateful that his wife lived. The rest they could sort out once they were out of here. "Alright," he thought quickly needing to address more pressing points than this particular debate. "Josiah, you, JD and Nathan, get the girls out of here." He looked to Inez. "Me and Ezra are going up there." He motioned to the pandemonium that was taking place beyond the walls of this room. "We're going to get the others, including Isis and Sekhmet."
Laurel did know how it was possible but it appeared that she was under attack.
The nature of this was beyond her understanding and even Mr Zhang was at a loss to explain it when the explosions began. At first, she thought the danger had come from the army beyond the walls of the fort but no sign of the enemy existed beyond the facility. The destruction that resonated throughout the place was coming from inside the building and though she was at a loss to recognise the how, she did was not blind to the danger. The walls were literally shaking from the blasts and the resonation she felt in her bones.
Baby Michael was screaming loudly in his basinette, terrified by the violence around him. In the meantime, Chris Larabee' oldest child was huddled in the chair she had him seated, trying not to look afraid and as he tried to imagine that all this sound was due to his father coming to the rescue of himself and his brother. Laurel was not usually one to feel fear but something about this situation gave her a bad feeling and she went to the single drawer table inside the parlor she had fashioned out of one of the abandoned rooms. Pulling open the drawer, she reached inside and produced a revolver and checked to ensure that it was loaded. Finding it not, she immediately snapped open the chamber and made it so.
"A little insurance never hurts." Laurel said casually as she glimpsed briefly at Billy while she finished arming the weapon before slipping it into the folds of her dress. Belying the pandemonium occurring beyond the walls of this sanctum, Laurel sauntered to the screaming infant and cradled him in her arms, rocking him gently into silence.
"I suppose a trip to Europe might not be such a bad thing." She turned around and looked at the young boy who was smart enough to know that she was a creature he had good reason to fear. He would like to run away from her but as long as she had Mikey, Billy would not run. He was not going anywhere without his little baby brother. "Would you like that Master Travis?"
Billy did not answer but he knew that if he and Mikey were taken away from here, they would never see Chris or Four Corners again.
Suddenly the door opened and the fearsome Mr Zhang stepped into the room. The Oriental always seemed impassive, like a huge statue carved out of stone given animation, however, this time, his expression was clear enough for even Billy to read. The man's eyes though dark and focussed, reeked of an emotion that Billy knew all well.
Fear.
It was exuding so clearly from him that even Laurel noticed it and for the first time, he saw the arrogant and supreme mask that was Laurel's magnificent features shudder somewhat. "Zhang?" She asked. "What is going on?"
"We are under attack." Mr Zhang answered, feeling bewildered because he did not understand what he had just seen, what was only minutes behind him. The eruptions were coming closer and the sound of gunfire was almost reaching a point where they would have to shout to be heard.
"I am not a fool Zhang," Laurel said sharply. "Attack from what?"
"I think it is the mother of the children." Zhang responded still appearing very mystified by what he had seen as he glanced at Billy. The man was still unable to believe the words he was saying any more than he was able to believe witnessing it.
"Mary Travis?" Laurel's shock was almost as potent as Zhang's. Billy however, felt his heart filled with unparalleled happiness knowing that his ma was coming for him.
"Yes," he nodded. "But there is a demon inside her. She fights like nothing I have ever seen. I have seen the Shaolin priests of my homeland fight and her manner is much like them but the weapon she uses is not of this world. She fires lighting bolts at our men. She has killed many of them."
"Have you lost your mind?" Laurel said incredulously, refusing to believe this nonsense that he was spouting. "Are you unable to stop one woman?"
"It is more than one!" Zhang protested his helplessness in this matter. "Doctor Styles is also with her and she is using a weapon the same as Mary Larabee. Mistress, we must leave. Our men cannot stop them!"
Laurel had never seen Zhang so afraid and knew that he was not prone to exaggeration. Thus when he made his plea, Laurel was not foolish enough to ignore him. Too many times had his caution saved her from the inconvenience of danger and Laurel trusted his devotion not to mention his suspicions implicitly. If he feared so much, then it was prudent to take their leave of this place. She regarded Billy and thought quickly about what she would do with the child.
"Kill him." She said coldly.
Zhang met her gaze with some measure of surprise. "I thought..."
"We need to slow his mother a little." Laurel said coolly as she placed Mikey in his basinette, not looking at either boy or child as she began packing a few things she might need for her flight. Laurel was intelligent enough to never leave her assets in one place and though she may walk away from here with only the clothes on her back, rest assured there were resources awaiting her elsewhere.
Billy felt his chest constrict with fear at Laurel's cruel orders and the steady approach of Mr Zhang when suddenly, the far wall crumbled with a spectacular explosion. Billy was thrown off his chair and Laurel tumbled to the floor. Mr Zhang dropped to his knees from the force of the blast and the entire room shuddered in protest as the floor became covered with brick and debris from the powerful eruption. They were all covered in a fine layer of mortar as their ears continue to ring from the percussive noise that had ripped through the air. Billy raised his eyes in time to see the wall adjoining the room almost completely demolished.
Through the fog of dust and crumbling bits of wall, Isis stepped through the newly formed opening and allowed her gaze to sweep across the room. Even though her eyes eventually rested on Billy and Mikey, the young boy knew that she had noted where Mr Zhang and Laurel Chase were presently situated. Billy however, did not see Isis, he saw Alex, his ma's close friend who had helped bring Mikey into this world and was Vin Tanner's wife. Even though she looked very strange in her clothes and the device around her hand was something Billy could not identify, he was nonetheless grateful to see her.
"Alex!" Billy cried out.
Isis looked at the young boy and smiled. "Billy Travis." Her voice too was odd but it was familiar and Billy did not care at this point. "Take your brother and come to me."
Billy did not need to be told twice. He scrambled to his feet and hurried towards Mikey who was still in his basinette, crying loudly, his voice sounding so out of place with the roar of blasting staff weapon and gunfire. Billy took no more than a step before Laurel, who was shaken out of her disorientation, rose to her feet. She grabbed Billy by the shoulder and glared at Isis.
"Doctor Styles," Laurel met her gaze with a narrowed and calculated look. "I think you're mistaken at who gives the orders around you."
Isis looked at the enemy with a smile and did not at all look terribly perturbed that Billy was not coming towards her. He would soon enough. "I think Miss Chase, that it is you that are mistaken about a great number of things." She stepped aside and gestured to the space behind her.
During the commotion of her dramatic entry, neither Billy nor Laurel for that matter had a chance to see what was transpiring in the adjoining room, now exposed by the destruction of the wall that Isis had laid waste to with one blast of her ribbon device. However, now that Isis had drawn their attention, they found themselves staring in open astonishment at Sekhmet who was presently, taking on five unarmed men with her bare hands. To Billy, he saw his ma, fighting so ferociously, that there were no words to describe it. It did not even look as if she was fighting but rather dancing. She moved so fast that her limbs were almost a blur of motion where he could not discern where one punch or kick ended and another began.
The men she had fighting had long ago exhausted the bullets in their guns and had tried to rush her all at once. The first one who approached her was given a sharp kick in the sternum, which sent him reeling backwards, just as she saw an arm flying towards her face. Sekhmet kept the blow from connecting by blocking it with her staff weapon and then using her forward momentum to swing it around wide to smash into the ribs of the man who had launched the attack. She heard him groan in pain as she threw a backward kick, the ball of her foot landing squarely in the groin of another approaching attacker and a scream was produced from that unfortunate blow.
She could hear them coming even before they struck. Their body language was so easy to read and thus she was able to read every movement before it came and anticipate in what form they would attack. The men she was fighting were faster and stronger than those she had encountered in Avon but what they had in strength and speed were balanced out by their aggression which was so unchecked, they barely thought before they acted. Her moves were coordinated for the art of combat was like a chess game of attack and retreat. She knew when to duck and when to withdraw. Patience was as much part of the game as anything else.
An arm locked around her throat in her musings and Sekhmet immediately reacted by slamming her head backward, feeling the strongest part of cranium crushing soft lips and the bone beneath it. The man loosened his grip around her throat and Mary broke free, swinging around to bash the staff weapon into the side of his head. She did not pay much attention to him after that powerful blow and soon turned her efforts on what remained of his comrades. With a face already bleeding profusely, Sekhmet knew that he was done when she heard his body hit the floor. Staff weapon before her, she swung the weapon in a controlled arc at the last warm body in front of her. It struck him in the stomach and he doubled over. Raising it above her head, Sekhmet leapt up in a powerful forward kick. Her foot crushing the bone of his nose with such force, that when he hit the ground, trailing blood in mid air, she knew that he was dead.
She paused and found herself standing in a room full of bodies that were either unconscious, dead or simply too injured to be of any further danger to her. No doubt, reinforcements would soon arrive but at the moment, they were still in disarray and with Mr Zhang and Laurel Chase in the immediate vicinity, had no brain to coordinate their efforts. Perhaps if they had been free of the Venom, they might have been a danger to her but unfortunately, Venom seemed to turn reasonable men into brutes as it had once turned Chris Larabee, a force of nature into a monster of savage proportions. In any case, she would deal with them when they arrived. For the moment, she had more important things to occupy her mind.
"Ma!" She heard Billy shout and not even Laurel's grip around his shoulder could keep him from her.
Suddenly, Sekhmet forgot all about the enemy when she saw the joy in that little face running towards her and something inside herself, which she did not know was hers or Mary's leapt into being with fiery intensity.
"Oh my darling!" She gasped as she dropped her staff weapon and lowered herself so she could pick him up in her arms and hold him close. Sekhmet picked up her son and he was her son, she was one with the host one, so she dared to make that claim. She twirled him around as she held him tight against her, never feeling so complete as when she felt his embrace.
"Ma, Chris is here!" Billy said when she finally let him go. "I saw him."
"All in good time my dear," she kissed him gently on the forehead and pushed herself upright, appearing like a panther moving in for the kill when her eyes left his and touched upon Laurel Chase.
"What are you waiting for?" Sekhmet heard her shouting at Zhang. "Kill her!"
Sekhmet dropped her gaze to Billy and said in a perfectly maternal voice, cool and soothing to his ears but utterly predatory to anyone else in the room. "Billy, you will wait over there." She glanced at the corner of the room and faced Sekhmet. "Mother will handle this."
Billy's eyes widened as he saw Mr Zhang approach her. The boy looked at his mother anxiously, fearing the worst as the formidable bulk of a man started closing the distance between them. However, Zhang was not as confident or filled with swaggering arrogance as he approached. The look of fear, which Billy had sighted earlier, seemed more palpable than ever. With a flash of insight, Billy realized this man was afraid of his mother and considering the men lying around them, broken by her hands, he could understand why.
"If you leave now," Sekhmet said when he finally reached her. "I will not kill you."
"You cannot kill me madam." Zhang responded although he was not as certain as he sounded. "I have been doing this far longer than you."
Sekhmet smiled. "Believe me, that is not the case Mr Zhang. You have allied yourself with a creature of evil but I allow you to leave this room a free man if you choose but raise your hands against mine in combat and that will be a mistake of fatal proportions." The glint in her eyes became a glow and she saw Zhang react to the unearthly light in her eyes.
"What are you?" He managed to ask.
"Hell." She responded and attacked.
Zhang stepped back, trying to get clear of the kick, when her realized that it was not her legs that were the danger as he had noticed earlier when she had been fighting with the others. Her hand moved through his defensive posture in less than an instant and clamped onto his larynx. Without giving him any warning, her fingers clamped around the hard, ringed tissue and pulled back sharply. Zhang did not have the opportunity to scream. The overload to his pain receptors was so intense, he had neither the time to scream or react as his brain shut down completely. Sekhmet leapt back after she delivered the crippling blow and looked on dispassionately as he fell down, face first, completely unconscious.
She was surprised he did not know how to defend against that particular form of attack, since it was his people had invented it. The Goa'uld Yew would have been most distressed to see his people forgetting the old ways. The bear claw as it was known was first introduced by the Goa'uld Yew who taught his Jaffars to fight in a manner unlike any seen by others. It was passed to the people and the realm he controlled and spread across the land like a wild fire. It was still the most effective way of neutralizing an enemy without hurting them permanently. Perhaps it would have been expedient to kill him but Sekhmet could not bring herself to do the deed in front of her eight old son.
She stretched out her hand and beckoned Billy forward. The boy hurried to his ma, somewhat in awe at how easily she had defended herself against the imposing Mr Zhang who now lay on the floor, his face scraping into the debris on the floor, lost to the world. Billy had always thought his mother to be the most incredible woman in his universe but now that view would require redefinition.
"Come Billy," Sekhmet smiled at him serenely and took his small hand in hers as she walked towards Isis and Laurel. "Mother has some unfinished business to take care off."
Vin Tanner had a strange dream.
He dreamt of Isis but it was not the same Isis that had snapped his neck in that cavern deep beneath the earth but one who whispered sweet things in his ear and told him that she loved and that no matter what happened, she would always be his. He had tried to speak, to tell her not to weep that he was still here but the words would not escape him. It felt like they were trapped in amber inside his throat, soft and viscous, setting quickly so that speech could not penetrate its thick mass. He saw her drift away with tears in her eyes and promises to return but when he tried to reach for her, he was just as powerless as the voice that would not let him speak.
When the powerful explosions had torn through the air, the sound was enough to pull him out of his sleep. He sat up and felt none of the burning pain that could had driven him mad with agony earlier on. Despite the throbbing in his head, which could only be described as a dull ache that reminded him of a hangover except there was none of the good drinking to proceed it, Vin found himself otherwise well. He ached in places and there were remnants of the violence he had carried out upon himself when in the throes of the Venom withdrawal, however for most part he found that he was able to move and thus swung his legs onto the floor.
Beyond the walls of his room, he heard noises that could only be described as a war being fought. However, there was something familiar about the blast that sent a wave of unease through him and Vin tried to recall when he had heard it before. Pushing himself off the bed, he felt slightly disoriented as he regained his balance and centered his internal gyroscope. The loud roaring had ceased, as did the gun fire that was woken him from his slumber just as abruptly. Chris and the others were probably still in the cells below but he wondered why he had been so fortunate as to be moved to such plush surroundings.
Taking a few ginger steps forward, he reached the doorknob and slowly twisted it open, expecting to see a sentry posted outside to keep him from escaping. To his surprise, Vin discovered that no such precaution had been taken but this mystery soon evaporated when he saw what lay in the corridor beyond his room. The tracker felt himself swallowing as he pulled open the door, certain that there would be no one to stop him since there seemed to be a bigger threat to Laurel's agenda then her amusement with her prisoners.
What in God's name had happened here? Vin thought as he stepped into the corridor, wishing that he had a gun because the destruction and carnage before him was enough to make one feel very nervous indeed. Walls had caved in, debris littered the floor, bullet roles riddled the passage walls and bodies, many bodies. Broken and bleeding, they covered the ground, the debris of mortar and plaster soaking up the blood that seemed to bring color to this whole tableau of horror, piercing through the mind with its macabre implications. Vin felt his throat dry and as he moved to examine the bodies and realized to his even greater confusion, that it was not bullets that had killed them.
Their wounds were grievous but there was not a bullet wound on any of them. Most of them had been flung into walls with such force that their bones had shattered upon impact. Vin could tell because the wounds when incurred seemed to take place on only one side of the body and he had seen enough dead men in his time to know that the wounds were caused by some form of impact. The blood trails leading to the grit covered floor was evidence of this, that it the walls that were still standing. Most were covered in great vein that run up and down the length, signaling the cracking and fissuring that had been caused by the tremendous battering they had received. Others looked as if they had been burnt, with wound of charred flesh smoking from their bodies.
"Vin!" Buck Wilmington's voice suddenly called out from the other end of the corridor.
Vin almost jumped out of his skin upon hearing the voice of his friend, the scene before him having frayed his nerves more than he liked. Turning around, he saw Buck approach and was never more grateful to see the big man in light of what was around them. His legs found a surge of vitality as he closed the gap between them and Buck was grinning happily, probably because he was about as glad to see Vin as the tracker himself.
"Buck, what are you doing out here?" Vin asked, having whose last recollection of Buck was Laurel removing him from the cells where the rest of the seven were being kept.
Buck's expression darkened. "She was keeping me penned until she knew what to do with me. Guess my animal magnetism was just too much for her." There was no humor in his voice as he made that statement and Vin wondered what was at the heart of it but did not wish to ask because at this present moment, he was more interested in what had happened here. "Anyway, I was kept under guard when all the ruckus broke out and I think the boys guarding me had to go off to deal with whatever was turning this place inside out. When I realized that no one was watching, I snuck out. I was trying to get back to the cells to reach you boys when I saw all this."
"Yeah," Vin nodded grimly, sweeping his gaze over the collection of broken bodies. "Tell me about it. I think you and I ought to go find Chris and see about getting Billy and Mikey out of here."
"Lead the pard," Buck said more than happy to comply with that order.
Laurel Chase knew that she was in trouble.
Normally this was an alien state of affairs for her because she was a creature accustomed to planning for every eventuality so that nothing usually came up upon her unawares. The practice had saved her life on many occasions and usually kept her normal day to day existence from being hindered by little inconveniences other people usually tolerated. However, nothing in her wildest anticipation could have prepared her for the situation that now presented itself upon her. When she had first made her strike against Chris Larabee's family, she had studied her subjects well.
Mary Elizabeth Langely nee Travis nee Larabee, had nothing much to recommend her being extraordinary. True, she had a better sense of purpose than most women as well as the mundane if somewhat predictable feminine trait of requiring her environment to change in order to suit her liking. She was credited to be a formidable newspaperwoman and active speaker in politics but beyond that, she was more less like any pioneer of the Territory. If there was anything that made her distinct, it was the fact that she had somehow managed to tame and marry one Chris Larabee.
Laurel had always wondered how Mary had managed that. She seemed too mediocre to be capable of such a feat of domestication but that was before Laurel had seen her today. Prior to this, Laurel had considered her nothing more than a nonentity that could be played as a pawn in her chess games with Chris Larabee. At no time had she considered that the pawn was capable of moving into the position of queen. However, she now stood alone without her minions to protect her. Mr Zhang was lying on the floor, powerless to aid her. She remained surrounded by both Mary and Alexandra Styles, their eyes glowing with satisfaction of the destruction they had caused to her domicile and to her men still wet upon their lips, she realized that it was a mistake that she was going to regret bitterly.
Sekhmet paid little attention to Laurel at first, focussing only on the baby crying frantically in his bassinet, frightened by all the loud sounds that were booming around his delicate ears. She let go of her son's hand who was watching this creature that resembled his mother in so many ways but was vastly different from the woman he had known. Once again, this alien feeling of concern reached up and ensnared Sekhmet's heart from parts unknown as she gazed upon the face of the infant wailing plaintively inside its basket. Handing her staff weapon to Isis, Sekhmet reached up and picked up the struggling baby, his face red from his tears and cradled him in her arms as if it was the easiest thing in the world to do. The memory of what was needed surfaced out of nowhere and she spent a few seconds gazing into that cherubic face, with a little smile on her own.
"Hello my beautiful son." She smiled with pleasure when his crying ceased and he began to settle comfortably into her arms.
"This is precious." Laurel could not resist saying.
"Miss Chase," Isis said breezily, allowing Sekhmet a moment alone with her children. "You have incurred our wrath enough to ensure that you will be sorry before we are done with you. For your own sake, keep a civil tongue in your head. It would not be wise to provoke either of us after what you have done."
"It is alright Isis," Sekhmet said coolly, raising her eyes just enough to indicate that she had not forgotten Laurel, not at all. Putting Mikey back into his bassinet, she handed the basket to Billy and said in the same, soothing voice she used when cleaning up his scrapes and bruises. "Billy, you will take your brother out of this room and wait for us." She glanced at Isis and then at Laurel. "This will not take long."
Something in her voice told Billy it was not wise to argue with her and he nodded obediently, taking his brother out of the room without question.
Only after the children were gone, did Isis and Sekhmet turn their gaze to Laurel Chase.
"Well this is an interesting turn of events." Laurel remarked, unprepared to show that she was worried even though she would be lying if she claimed she did not feel some measure of concern. "Now if I recollect my classical knowledge, Isis and Sekhmet are Egyptian goddesses are they not?" She inquired.
"Human," Isis said icily. "Do not presume to speak as if you know us. We existed when your kind were still wearing skins and living in caves, falling prey to anything with more teeth and more arrogance than they themselves. Ironically, we should thank you for giving us life since it was your higgledy piggledy two penny potion that brought us back to life."
"My potion?" Laurel struggled to understand when she realized that they were referring to the Venom. "My Venom brought you out?"
"Albeit temporarily," Isis remarked coldly. "If your understanding of the code of life was any more than primitive perhaps the effects would be permanent but a descendant of a simian tree climber cannot be expected to produce miracles."
Laurel took great exception to that and her natural arrogance and pride d quickly. "My Venom is a work of genius!"
"Your Venom is a plaything." Sekhmet hissed, circling her like a lion about to go in for the kill. "A curiosity that has no real purpose other than to amuse yourself and those foolish enough to believe that power can come so easily in a form of potion. Power comes from within, it is ingrained into one's genetic code, it saturates the chromosomes until there is no other recourse but its expression. You seek to produce it artificially and all you have succeeded in creating is an abomination."
Sekhmet took a step forward and clenched her fist around Laurel's throat, forcing the woman against a nearby wall. The creator of the Venom struggled, trying to reach for the weapon hidden in her clothes but Sekhmet was too wily for that and soon retrieved it without a single shot being fired. As Laurel watched her last chance of protecting herself being handed to Isis who immediately unlocked the chamber and let the cache of bullets fall to the floor before discarding the weapon as if it were a toy, she heard Sekhmet lower her lips to her ear.
"Listen to me Laurel Chase," the warrior goddess whispered in her ear. "I was in my time known as the Goddess of War, of Destruction and of Chaos. The Nile Dwellers worshipped me as Sekhmet, the Achaens of Mycenae called me Athene, their counterparts in Latium knew me as Diana and to the old ones of the Great Mother River, I was Kali. I live now in this woman you know as Mary Larabee and when you take her children," Sekhmet bore her teeth and yanked a clump full of Laurel's hair sharply so that the woman would feel every strand pulling out of her scalp. "You take what is mine. The man you choose to have is mine, his children are mine and when you harm him, what you harm is mine. Make no mistake on how much I can make you wish for death for I have been bathing men in agony far longer than the whole of your pathetic life."
"Let me have at her," Isis responded stepping forward and raising her arm so that Laurel had no choice but to stare at the glowing orb in her palm. "Perhaps she would understand the peril she places her life if she sees it herself."
Laurel did not speak as the stone in the center of Isis' palm began to glow softly. Her eyes became filled with amber light and for a moment, she forgot that she was at the mercy of two creatures that were not quite human and more than ready to kill her. Isis knew that she would not make any sound once the jewel had her in its thrall. As the beam of focussed energy started feeding into her brain, slowly boiling every cell in her cranial chamber, Isis smiled with satisfaction knowing that Laurel would not be able to pull away even if she were screaming in agony. The Goddess of All did not intend to kill her for the part of her that was Alexandra Styles could condone defending oneself but not outright murder. Though the notion irritated Isis to no end, the compulsion not to kill was too strong for her to ignore.
Besides that was the Goa'uld way and she was human now.
Blood begin to pulse out of Laurel's nose as the energy beam did its worst, surging the temperatures in the brain cavity beyond fever point. The blood running through the thousands of veins, lymphatic membranes and other circulatory passages began to boil and very soon, she would be at a place where the damage would be irreversible. Laurel screamed without being aware that the sound had escaped her lips or that her tears had turned to blood and the saliva running down her chin was red. It was the first time she had ever screamed and if she had presence of mind to realize it, would have taken a moment to analyze the sensation.
All it would have taken to end her torment was to shift her gaze elsewhere. Unfortunately, that too was the power of the stone she was transfixed upon, the urge to do so could not form in her mind and thus she would continue to stare into it, until the very moment when her entire circulatory system ruptured inside her. Her screams grew more piercing, until it sounds echoed through the halls of her fortress, now benign because her followers were either dead or no longer in a position to be a threat to anyone.
Suddenly, just as abruptly as it began, it stopped.
Sekhmet and Isis watched dispassionately as she dropped to the ground, blood running streaks across those extraordinary features and she struggled to remain on her hands and knees panting. The pain had been excruciating. She could feel it in every pore of her until it was so apart of her being she could not remember when there had been nothing else. Her throat felt hoarse from her screams and yet despite it all, she was not afraid. They could make her scream but they could not make her sorry and that Laurel knew was what they wanted most of all.
"Do it!" She glared them hoarsely. "Kill me!"
"Kill you?" Sekhmet laughed sardonically. "We would not dream of doing such a thing. The art of killing often mistaken as an act of punishment, did you know there was time when it was considered a merciful ending?"
"Which is more than your precious Vin Tanner will have." Laurel declared viciously. "Perhaps you would like to give him a merciful ending since he will be about as useful as a doorstop after I was done with him!" She glared at Isis with a sneer of triumph as she made that statement.
"Oh really?" Isis responded and reacted by sending a more focussed beam of energy at Laurel that picked her off the ground and slammed her into the wall behind her. The force of it was hard enough to make her cry out but not enough to kill as it had done her men. She whimpered as bones snapped and she tumbled to the floor again, landing on her hands and knees even though her ability to remain in that position was waning. Her blood was sprinkling into the floor beneath her, red drops becoming a tapestry of color; the more her body was subjected to abuse.
Isis dropped to her knees and yanked back Laurel's hair hard, snapping her head back so hard that the chords of her throat pulled against the bruised skin. Isis stared into Laurel's eyes, still filled with fire and had to admit that the woman was strong despite the battering she was receiving at their hands. "Vin is well. I healed him. Were you so arrogant to think that because you damaged him that no one else could undo what you have done?" Isis narrowed her eyes at the woman who had brought so much pain to her husband and to Sekhmet's mate. "I gave life to the dying when the mortar on the pyramids of Egypt were fresh. I know the secrets to the human code of life more intimately than your childish attempts to circumvent them. Your potion is nothing, as you are nothing."
"Goddess of All," Sekhmet suddenly spoke. "You cannot reach her. She cannot understand what is to have conscience. There is one thing more frightening than a creature with an evil soul and that is one without a soul at all. There is only one way to reach her."
At first, Laurel could not understand what Sekhmet meant until the Warrior Goddess reached around her throat and hauled her to her feet, her fist clenching around Laurel's tender throat. Sekhmet dragged her to feet, tightening her fingers around Laurel's throat with such compression, she was gasping as Sekhmet slammed her onto a table that had been left standing despite the destruction that had overtaken the rest of the room. Laurel landed heavily on her back, uttering a small cry of pain upon impact.
"This one," Sekhmet looked at Isis, ignoring Laurel completely as she held her head down and brushed bloodied strands of hair out of the woman's face. "She is beautiful is she not?"
"Extraordinarily so," Isis said with a smile of understanding, appreciating what Sekhmet was about to do. "She would be most sought after as a host for a Goa'uld."
"Undoubtedly," Sekhmet agreed, pressing her finger tips into Laurel's face as he examined it roughly, her digits leaving impressions on the blood stained skin. Laurel flinched and tried to squirm out of her reach but Sekhmet's grip was too strong. "This one has gone through her entire life using her face and her body as a weapon. Is that not true Miss Chase?" Sekhmet regarded Laurel with more than a hint of menace in her blue gray eyes.
"Go to hell!" Laurel spat, a trace of saliva landing on Sekhmet's cheek.
The warrior goddess did not react and merely wiped the traces of spittle with the back of her hand before looking down at Laurel and replied sweetly. "Perhaps I will but not today. When I considered the question of what was to be done with you, Isis suggested that we kill you. Now what sport is that?"
"You better kill me!" Laurel snarled. "Because if you don't, I'm going to hunt you down and kill you and your fucking brats."
"Oh I don't think you will have time for that," Sekhmet remarked as she reached into her boot and produced a length of thin metal that had been previously hidden beneath the leather. The scalpel gleamed in the dim light of the room and Laurel's eyes widened in terror as the glint of the blade caught her attention. "You will be too busy trying to fix that face of yours."
Laurel began to understand.
"You see, I thought long and hard at what would be a fitting punishment for someone like you," Sekhmet continued to speak as the unspeakable truth unfolded before Laurel. She was still trapped between disbelief and denial. "Death, Isis soon agreed with me was too good for you. Not after what you have done to my mate and her consort. You do not deserve a merciful ending, for the cries of your victims demand retribution and we are well acquainted with how to dispense if most aptly. No, Laurel Chase, you who have traded your looks and your charms to murder, seduce and deceive every man who have been unfortunate enough to fall under your sway. So tell me," Sekhmet leaned forward and looked at her with a smile of mischief, not to mention pure malevolence.
"Where would you like me to cut first?"
"NO!!!" She screamed giving them panic that they had wanted to hear. She continued to scream because she could not endure it! She would not endure being ugly! "NOT MY FACE!"
Something inside Laurel snapped when she saw the blade in Sekhmet's hand, inching closer and closer to her skin. Until now she had never suspected that she possessed a vulnerable spot but could not deny that they had found it. The thought of being ugly, of not being the woman who turned heads, who could look at a man and reduced him to a whimpering fool, tripping over himself to get her attention was unimaginable. It shattered the reason inside her and a well of strength surged from someplace inside her for one final act of desperation. Lashing out, she took Sekhmet by surprised and managed to escape the table where her terrible punishment was about to begin. However, her escape was brief. With relative ease, Sekhmet did not even break a sweat when she brought the woman down in a hard body tackle.
Laurel landed hard but was not willing to give up yet. She fought hard; hands pummeling air as tried frantically to keep Sekhmet from her but Laurel was unaccustomed to using physical force to repel an enemy. She had lived her entire life having others do for her or never placed herself in the direct path of danger. Her formidability came in her ability to use her mind and her acumen to prevent herself from being placed in such positions. She decided that if she survived this, that aspect of her life would require evaluation. Her nails dug into Sekhmet's hand and arms as the woman launched her own attack and it was far more skilled than anything Laurel had attempted.
Sekhmet could not keep the scratches from her skin but she was skilled enough to prevent any other injury to herself. As Isis watched almost with amusement for Laurel's attempt to combat the warrior goddess was like sending a baby to single handedly kill a lion. The Lion Goddess as she was once known was able to break through the line of Laurel's flaying hands to ram a fist squarely in the woman's face. Laurel's head snapped back as Sekhmet pulled back and sent another control strike, once again aiming for the face. The damage would not be permanent but Laurel would be very bruised by the time was all over. Her palm struck Laurel's jaw and noted the crack of bone dislocating from its hinges of tendons and cartilage.
Laurel did not cry out because her jaw made speech, even a groan of pain rather difficulty. Sekhmet continued to strike, pounding flesh until it became pulp and her hands became wet with blood. When she finally rose to her feet, Laurel was in no position to offer any further resistance. She was barely even conscious. Sekhmet looked down at the woman, broken and bleeding, wondering if that was good enough for a creature as vile as this.
"We should kill her." Sekhmet looked over her shoulder at Isis.
"No," Isis shook her head. "While it would be prudent, my host would object very much to that and I gather yours would as well. We are not Goa'uld Sekhmet, we are human and as humans, we must restrained the need to kill without cause. This one has earned death and were she aiming a gun to us, we would do so happily but she is done. No doubt, she will return but I dare say, she will never try to take your children again."
Despite her baser instincts to end the threat of Laurel Chase in the wreckage of her former bastion of power, Sekhmet knew that Isis was correct. Inwardly, she could feel the host's abhorrence for murder and as it was, she had not felt right about harming someone who could not fight back, even though Laurel Chase had richly deserved what she had so far received. Beyond the walls of this room, her sons awaited her and though she knew that they had killed everyone of Laurel's men to ensure that Billy and Michael would be safe, she would not let down her guard until they were in the place where this had all began.
Safe at home and in their beds.
"You are right of course Goddess of All, I am more concerned with my children than I am at this piece of refuse. I will not look my sons in the eye and have them know I murdered in cold blood."
With that Sekhmet and Isis made their way out of the room, certain that for the moment, Laurel was not going anywhere. The woman was unconscious, a multitude of broken bones and a face that was barely recognizable. She would heal up all right and would still be very beautiful but she would never again be extraordinary and for some reason, that made Sekhmet very pleased indeed.
There would be ample time enough to hand her to the authorities once they found Chris and the others, not to mention deal with the more immediate problem of how they would overcome the terrible effects of the Venom when it was time to purge its from their system. Stepping into the corridor outside, Sekhmet saw Billy waiting for her. The moment her son met her eyes, he broke into a smile and hurried to her. Once again, that feeling leapt inside of her and understood why it was Mary Larabee was willing to die just to see the happiness in that small, youthful face.
"Is she dead?" Billy asked after a moment.
"No," Sekhmet shook her head as she scooped Michael out of his basket and into her arms. "She is not worth killing. We will give her to those who are in the position of authority to dispense adequate justice to one such as her."
Billy nodded but not certain whether he was glad or not for that act of mercy her mother had shown Laurel Chase. He did not know the specifics of her crimes but Billy guessed they were very bad indeed because of how afraid Chris had been when his stepfather had seen himself and Mikey with her. "I want to go home ma." He said after a moment.
"That is a sound statement." Isis smiled and ruffled his hair. "I think we would do well to leave this place. I will need some things from her laboratory to make a concoction that will spare us the agonies of withdrawal but there is no reason to remain any longer. The others will be concerned about us."
"I hope they have succeeded in releasing our mates." Sekhmet responded before lowering enough to kiss Billy on the forehead. "I promises you my darling," She smiled. "That you and your brother will soon be home."
Billy beamed at her in pure adoration and Isis realized with a hint of warmth that to the child, whether she be Sekhmet or Mary, the creature before him was his mother first. All of a sudden out of nowhere, Chris Larabee emerged in the hallway. He was staring at them with nothing less than confusion and Isis soon realized that he had been there for a few seconds, watching them. No doubt, Julia had informed him of what had happened with the Venom and how it had affected his wife. The expression on his face was something mixed with caution and relief, fear and fascination. He walked slowly forward as Sekhmet looked up and saw him.
For a moment, neither said a word as Sekhmet placed Michael in his bassinet once more and started forward herself. Their progress towards each other was slow and deliberate; the way two lions on the savanna would approach each other, aware and cautious, treading the line between the uncertainty of enemy and friend. Her staff weapon remained lowered while he, who had found his guns when they had escaped their cells, remained similarly holstered. Only the gambler seemed tense but that was understandable indeed. His recollection of Sekhmet was different than that of Chris Larabee's.
Chris saw his wife and knew immediately that she was Sekhmet. However, this was not the creature that had once threatened to kill her own child on the streets of Four Corners. When he had seen her holding Mikey in her arms and kissing Billy with tenderness, he realized that Julia was right, she was Mary too. However, as she closed the distance towards him, meeting his gaze, he knew that she was also Sekhmet and that made him suspicious. Everything about her was Sekhmet, the hard edge in her eyes, the stealthy movements across the floor and finally the manner in which she moved, coiled in preparation for attack.
They stopped in front of each other and for another second, simply stared. A part of Chris was so happy that she was alive, he almost did not care if she remained this way forever. Just knowing that Mary was still among the living was enough for him. However, the other part of him that remembered just how insane Sekhmet had been was more than prepared to kill her if he for a moment suspected that Mary was trapped helplessly in her own body. Finally, the eternity of moments ended with Sekhmet taking a step forward, breaking the stalemate.
Without speaking, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him to her in a kiss of passion. Chris felt his breath taken away as he felt her soft lips devouring his own with hunger and heat. Her kisses were undoubtedly Mary for they had the power to rob him of all sense as they did whenever she touched him this way but he could also feel the added delight of something else that could only be Sekhmet. Whatever the case, by the time he recovered enough to react, Chris was at least certain that this time Mary was no prisoner.
"Beloved." She said softly, her hand on his cheek. "I feared the worst."
Chris still had difficulty dealing her speaking this way and took a second to answer. "I thought you were dead."
Though his words were neutral, the part of her that was Mary could imagine how hollow his eyes had been at the thought of her being dead and understood that had her demise been the truth, it would have destroyed him. "It will take someone better than her to do that," she smiled embracing him again and this time was rewarded with a return hug, even though he was still a little taken with the unreality of his situation. "As you have been told I assume, her potion had an interesting side effect on my person. The Mary you know will be returned to you soon enough but for the moment, you need not fear me. Your wife is here and she is in control."
Despite the fact that he could not be truly at ease until he had the woman he loved back in all her entirely, hearing that did make him feel somewhat better.
"And Laurel?" He ventured to ask.
"Will not trouble us for awhile." Sekhmet returned with a truly menacing smile that would have made me. "She will be busy mending."
It did not take long before they found Vin and Buck who were wandering down the silent corridors in the wake of the battle and had investigated the sounds of what they had been certain was Laurel Chase screaming. Ezra found himself unable to accept the women in any shape or form and remained at a distance even though he was certain that there was no danger. However, having remembered what Sekhmet had done to him, there was no way he could ever think she was anything but a sadistic and ruthless killer.
Vin's reaction to Isis was extreme. He too remembered the entity that had once stolen his wife's body and had taken an odyssey through space in order to retrieve her. To know that Isis would always share her psyche was disconcerting until he was told by Chris that had it not been for her intervention he would have died, following the massive stroke he had suffered because of Laurel's Venom in his system. Of course, the residue of it still remained even though Isis had negated its effects for the time being. However as Isis explained, they were all going to require the antidote she would have to develop in order to escape the more agonizing aspects of withdrawal which would soon be coming for them.
Vin stared at his wife after the others had given them a moment alone. Having learnt that Sekhmet had dealt with Laurel so expediently, he wanted to take her with them when they finally left this place. Chris did not trust local authorities to bring the woman to justice and would not be satisfied unless he could do the deed himself. Though he was not prepared to decipher the strange circumstances that had placed Laurel within reach, he was not about to waste the opportunity to be rid of her once and for all.
"Is Alex really in there?" Vin asked as he looked at Isis, trying to see his wife even though her face was the same.
"This time, yes." Isis nodded. "We are together."
"But you're in control." He replied with a hint of accusation in his voice. He remembered Alex's nightmares, the horror that she had endured after they had returned from Netjer. He remembered how she had such difficulty sleeping during those first few weeks and how he would find her, bathed in sweat, screaming when she awoke from nightmares he could not possibly imagine. He could not for one moment believe she would willing allow herself to be taken once again.
"I have both our memories but it is Isis that speaks." Isis knew that he was more difficult to convince than Sekhmet's mate because Sekhmet had not killed him with her bare hands as Isis had. Sekhmet's host memories of her possession had been limited while her own had left every agonizing detail intact which must have left significant trauma on her being that her husband would have been very aware.
"She would never have agreed to this." Vin said unrestrained by the fact that she had saved his life.
"She would if it meant saving your life." Isis answered automatically. "It would in fact be the only reason that she would agree to it at all, is that not true?" She challenged.
Vin found that he could not respond because it was true. If there was one thing that would make his wife sacrifice herself in this manner, it was the fact that in doing so she would succeed in saving his life. Alex loved him and his continued existence was what she would consider a risk worth taking, even for her life. "She did this for me?" His voice softened to almost a whisper.
Isis came towards him and met his blue eyes with her own. "She loves you and through our joining I feel her love. We may be minds separate but her love for you runs a conduit between us and I feel it too. Please," she said with the hint of a plea in her voice. "You are our consort. We are yours always for you are the..."
"Pharaoh of our heart." He concluded and swallowed thickly, remembering those words even though he could not understand how, for he had been dreaming when he had heard them. Without even realizing he was doing it, Vin raised his hand to her cheek.
"Yes," She nodded, her voice a faint whisper as a tear ran down her face. Her hand covered his and she went willingly when he drew her forward in a kiss.
The moment was brief but tender and while Vin was still as uncertain as was no doubt Chris Larabee, he could believe that Alex was with him. They kissed gently until the footsteps against the stone floor indicated the return of the others.
Chris' expression was dark when he rounded the corner with the others. For a second Vin thought that this improbable situation had been a ruse, that Isis and Sekhmet were lying to him and had perpetrated some mischief that warranted the ominous look on his best friend's face. However, Sekhmet was matching Chris stride for stride and appeared just as unhappy as her husband.
"We should have killed her." Sekhmet retorted the moment they reached Vin and Isis.
"What has happened?" Isis asked immediately.
"She's gone." Chris answered tautly, his voice a thin line of tension.
"Gone?" Isis exclaimed. "She was hardly in a position to go anywhere when we left her."
"That maybe so," Chris returned automatically, hating the idea that once again, Laurel Chase had slipped through their fingers. He was starting to believe the woman was either made out of smoke or had more lives than a cat. "But the China man's gone too." He sighed, playing it out in his mind the scenario that must have taken place once Laurel had been left unconscious woman in that room with her lackey. "I figured he woke up when you were gone and took her out of here."
"We must hunt them down." Sekhmet said vehemently. "She needs to die."
Whether it was Sekhmet or Mary saying those words, Chris could not deny that he agreed with her but the time when he was going to deal with Laurel using anything other than cold hard logic was over. She had beaten him too many times because he had been thinking with his emotions rather than his mind, to make that mistake again. She had proved that she was too smart for direct action and should he encounter her again, he would remember that their battle was chess game, not the gunfight, as he was normally accustomed to.
"She does," he nodded in agreement. "But not today." He said with a sigh. "Right now, we have to get the kids home and dress our wounds. She'll be back soon enough."
If nothing else, Chris was certain of that much.