Nesert: SG1 Seasons 1-5

Nesert II: SG1 Seasons 5-9

Nesert III: SG1 Seasons 9-10, a few dips into SGA, and movies.


Nes came out on the other side of the wormhole and immediately found herself surrounded by jaffa. She'd expected as much. They all bore the mark of Lord Yu, though, and she was relieved she hadn't dialed in the wrong address as she'd hurried to escape Revanna. She flashed her eyes at the guards and addressed the closest one in her goa'uld voice.

"Inform your master that Lord Sekhmet has come to pay him a visit."

The jaffa looked suspicious, but turned quickly to send a messenger up to the palace before he ordered for the pair to be searched. Nothing was found, other than the zat'nik'tel she willingly handed over, so she was told to follow him, the other guards falling in around her to ensure she did as she was told.

Brought in front of Lord Yu, she gently placed Elliot on the ground, the sweat pouring off of her from the effort of carrying him so far. The goa'uld on his throne looked in perfect health and she imagined he only recently emerged from his sarcophagus if the damage had been as extensive as Daniel had described. She sank to her knees then and bowed her head low to the ground.

"Lord Yu-huang Shang Ti, it has been long since we have met." She sat back up on her knees, but kept her hands crossed in front of her and her head bowed.

"Why have you come here, Sekhmet?"

She raised her head and let Sekhmet's smirk spread across her face. "My lord, word has traveled fast of the return of Anubis and that you were the only System Lord with the courage and wisdom to reject his petition to join the Council." She bowed her head again. "I have come to pledge my allegiance to you."

"And how do I know I can trust you?"

She smiled. "We all know that none of us can be truly trusted, but I can assure you that I will serve you as you fight against Anubis."

"And what is that?" Yu gestured to Elliot's body.

"My servant, A'yal, my lord. He took a host from the Tau'ri and I believe he gathered intelligence about them as well as the Tok'ra. Specifically about a new chemical weapon: a poison that kills symbiotes. Of course, he is not particularly forthcoming with that information in his current state."

"Interesting. I imagine that would be of great interest to you as a She'ket."

She shrugged innocently, her palms towards the goa'uld. "Perhaps. But regardless of my personal interest, it could prove to be a devastating blow to our race as a whole, not to mention the effect it would have on our dependence on the jaffa slaves."

"I will allow you to revive him and we will see what information he possesses."

He nodded to his First Prime who knelt down to pick up Elliot's body and Nes stood, offering another bow.

"I will have a guard escort you to your rooms."

"I would stay with my servant until he is revived, my lord."

Lord Yu did not like being defied, but a quick nod meant he would allow her request and she followed behind the First Prime, breathing deep as she tried to calm herself.

Elliot was placed in the sarcophagus; it took very little time to heal his injuries, despite their severity. She paced in a typical impatient goa'uld manner and was short with the servant girl who offered her tea and asked for her preferences on clothing.

When the sarcophagus began to open, she rushed forward to peer inside. Elliot's skin was no longer pale, but looked healthy and tan and pink. His breathing was calm and even and she couldn't resist reaching out to touch his arm, pleased to find warmth where there had recently only been the cold of death. His eyes began to flutter open and she waited until he focused on her before she spoke. "A'yal, you are blessed to be returned to the service of your goddess, Sekhmet."

Lantash flashed Elliot's eyes. "You honor me greatly, my queen." He sat up and began to climb out of the device as Nes stepped aside to allow him to find space on the floor.

Lantash looked around the room and it was apparent he knew where they were.

Her voice grabbed his attention again. "Lord Yu has accepted my pledge of allegiance in the fight against Anubis. We will share with him the knowledge you have gained from this new Tau'ri host."

Lantash stiffened Elliot's jaw, but he bowed his head toward her. "Yes, my Lord Sekhmet."

She extended a hand to his chest and let it trail across him as she circled, inspecting his form. "I am very pleased in your selection of host, A'yal." She stepped in front of him again and let her hand caress his cheek. "I will be anxious to see it in its entirety."

Lantash shifted Elliot's face to a very goa'uld type smirk. "The sarcophagus has returned me to my full strength."

Nes was surprised how her stomach flipped at his expression and had to remind herself that it was not Elliot and Lantash was merely playing a role. Still, she let the hunger she felt show on her face for the sake of the First Prime's watchful eye.

A servant entered and asked them to follow him to their rooms. "Please bring my servant's attire to my quarters." She did not explain further and there was only a slight pause in the man's practiced routine.

"Of course, Lord Sekhmet." He led them down several halls before stopping in front of an ornate door flanked by guards. The room was a rather lovely blend of ancient Chinese craftsmanship and Goa'uld design. There was a large decorated bed on a platform to their left and to the right was a group of chairs and doors leading to a closet and bath. The windows showed only sky and mountains, but she knew the surrounding village was far below them, the palace being placed on a plateau.

"I have selected what I hope are suitable clothing for you and your servant, Lord Sekhmet. Would you like a servant girl to assist you in getting dressed? My master has requested your presence at his evening meal." He turned to look at Elliot and then back to Nes. "Only your presence."

She smiled graciously at the young man. "Yes, I would appreciate help with dressing and my hair. When does my lord take his meal?"

"Not for another three hours."

"Very well, I will bathe and she may come in one-" she glanced over to Elliot who bore a goa'uld smirk again, sending her heart into a race against itself "-two hours to assist me."

"Yes, Lord Sekhmet. Please simply alert the guards if you require anything else." He bowed low and then left the new guests in their room.

Lantash wasted no time in shifting from smirk to anger. "How dare you place me in a sarcophagus! You know the Tok'ra do not use the device. And what information will you trade away for our lives?"

Nes maintained her own distorted voice in addressing the Tok'ra. "I did not care one bit what you would think of it. And I have already informed Lord Yu that you may have obtained information on a new Tok'ra weapon."

Lantash looked ready to slap her and she briefly wondered if Lt Elliot was holding him back. "The symbiote poison? That is our most guarded secret."

"Well, you're terrible with secrets, then. Zipacna clearly knew of its existence, which means it was going to be known by the entire galaxy before long. We might as well use it to our advantage while we can." She turned to walk away, but he grabbed her arm roughly.

"You were foolish to risk all of this to save him."

Nes flashed her eyes at him. "Maybe so, but I was not going to let him die."

"Or perhaps you simply wanted an excuse to return to your play acting of Sekhmet."

"If that were the case, I would have brought you here as a Tok'ra spy and tortured you in front of Lord Yu." She leaned towards him. "I would have had the entire palace cowering in fear as they heard your screams and no one would have doubted I was Sekhmet."

"Like you did as Apophis' traitorous queen?"

Nes stepped back at the accusation, momentarily struck with a guilty silence. "And the Tok'ra have never committed atrocities to maintain their deceptions?"

"We had goals beyond our own survival." His eyes roamed over her in disgust. "You enjoyed the pain you caused."

She flashed her eyes again and Sekhmet's smirk appeared. "I still do. You do not come away intact after time with a goa'uld like Sekhmet."

He bowed his head and Elliot's eyes were wide when he looked back up. "Nes…"

Lantash had made her forget Elliot could hear her words, but it didn't matter. It was better for him to see her for what she was.

"You've changed, though. Lantash doesn't know who you are now."

She could have pretended. She could have told him what he wanted to hear, that she was healthy and whole and changed, but it would be easier to do everything that was necessary if he despised her.

She pushed her shoulders further back and held his gaze without blinking, but returned to her human voice. "I killed five people while at Princeton, Elliot."

He shook his head in disbelief. "No. Dr. Frasier gave you some meds. You fought it."

"I lied. They didn't work."

"No...Nes, you aren't that person anymore."

"Every few months, I would disappear to one of Sekhmet's houses, head to a bar, find a poor fool who couldn't keep his hands off me, and then torture him to death." She smiled sweetly as she looked down at the lion she wore again. "And then I'd take a nice nap and lay out by the pool with wine and a good book while his body burned in the furnace." She shrugged. "Except for the one I killed on a boat. I let the ocean have him."

Elliot swallowed hard, trying to decide if he should trust her words or his earlier instincts. Truth be told, when they met, she was different. The torture she'd endured had muted those parts of her and she felt disgust as she related the things she'd done, but again, she needed him to leave when she told him to go. She had to remember that her goal here was to save him. She had saved him from death, yes, but now she needed to save him from Lord Yu's grasp, and he would never go if she let him care.

It was always the same. Helping or caring. Caring or helping.

She wouldn't be able to save herself, of course. She'd have to stay. She'd have to be Sekhmet for him. And if they ever met again, there would likely be nothing left of Nes, anyway.

She crossed her arms and looked him over. "Now, we're going to maintain this facade. Go clean yourself up, but don't bother getting dressed."

His eyebrows went up in surprise first, but his face shifted to disgust quickly.

"Calm down, darling." It was too easy to become Sekhmet so fully. "It will merely help the illusion if you are in my bed when the servant girl arrives." She stepped toward him and let her hand pat his cheek. "I'd like it to be clear to Lord Yu that I am in no need of a new lover. I've fought off too many System Lords to want to endure that again."

Elliot didn't move and the pleading on his face almost broke the mask she'd put on, but she turned away before it began to crack, walking over to the windows to inspect the view. She finally heard him walk towards the bath and shut the door.

Nes needed a moment as herself again and she sank down against the wall, letting the coolness of the stone seep into her cheek and remind her of what she needed to do. She let herself think of the Elliot who had smiled at her on that restaurant patio on such a cold night. She thought of how his ears had turned red when she'd explained Nathan was her brother. She saw his little wink when they spoke in the Tok'ra tunnels and remembered how it'd felt when he squeezed her hand to offer comfort. She thought of his arm wrapped tightly around her as he tried to protect her during the bombardment and how her heart had beat so hard with his closeness.

And then she pushed all of it into a small box and placed it gently in the tiny space she'd lived in when Sekhmet had been the primary resident. She had a lot of boxes stacking up in there. Memories she couldn't deal with or hopes that would prevent her from doing the necessary things in her life. She shut the door and locked it again, exhausted with the effort.

Nes awoke to Elliot gently gathering her up into his arms.

"I must have fallen asleep," she murmured, still climbing out of dreams.

"I don't buy it, ya know."

"Buy what?"

"That you're the monster you say you are."

She tightened her jaw.

"You wouldn't have risked your life to save mine if you were."

"Maybe Lantash is right. I just wanted to be Sekhmet again." She should have known he would choose his instincts regardless of what she said.

"I saw your face when you knew the Tok'ra would ask that of you again." He started to set her down on the bed and she jumped down from his arms to the ground.

"I'm all dirty."

She pushed away from him and walked quickly to the bath, slamming the door behind her. She leaned against the wall for a moment, mentally trying to shove the tumbling boxes back into the closet. She'd locked it. The door shouldn't have swung open with just that simple nudge from Elliot, but it had and now she had to deal with the mess that poured out.

She took much longer bathing than was necessary, but she wanted as little time as possible alone with Elliot. Though with that thought, she realized they'd never truly be alone again, not with Lantash always watching and listening. She hated that thought, her privacy already stolen from her in so many ways.

She was relieved when she finally entered the other room, a flowered silk dressing gown wrapped around her, to find him asleep, and she watched his rhythmic breathing for a few minutes.

She'd never understood people who thought death and sleep looked the same. They were nothing alike. In death, Elliot had been cold and empty, just a vessel that repelled the living, but here in sleep, the calm spread through the rest of the room and her body relaxed into its invitation to join him in peace and dreams.

A knock on the door signalled her need to hand her body back over to Sekhmet's personality and she quietly moved to open it. A young girl was standing next to the guards, looking equal parts terrified and scared out of her mind. Nes motioned for her to enter, but also put a finger to her lips to silence her, not that it was required. She doubted the girl would utter more than a handful of words in her presence.

As they moved into the room, the servant girl saw Elliot asleep and her cheeks tinted pink. Nes perhaps should have pulled the blanket up around his bare chest, but she hadn't wanted to wake him and she did like the picture he made, sprawled across the bed, head sunk into a pillow, the blanket low on his waist.

She wondered with a smile if he moved much in his sleep.

Elliot continued to sleep as the girl helped Nes get ready. Out of the clothing provided, she chose a black and gold dress with a high collar and her hair was done simply with a variety of matching combs. The end result transformed her completely from the green pants, black shirt, and ponytail she'd arrived in. She was again a goddess, a thing to be worshipped.

"You look stunning." Lantash's voice drifted over from the bed as she looked herself over in the mirror.

She smiled as she approached him, noting the servant girl's sudden tension as she likely wondered if she should leave. He had propped himself up against the headboard and Nes took Elliot's extended hand. "I know."

He returned her smile and then brought her hand to his lips. "How long will you be gone?"

"Not long." She turned her head to the girl who was slowly making her way to the door. "Would you have a meal brought to the room for my servant?"

The girl stopped and bowed. "Of course, Lord Sekhmet."

"And send a male servant."

Lantash didn't miss a beat. "You know I only have eyes for you, my queen."

"Yes, or remember, you will have no eyes at all." She patted his cheek.

Lantash grimaced slightly. "I remember. I would rather not repeat that."

"The servant girl did not seem to enjoy it either. Her screams were particularly high pitched and she killed herself later, did she not?"

"I believe so, but you were merciful to her."

"I was." She leaned down and kissed his cheek. "Eat and rest, A'yal."

He kissed her hand once more and she stepped down off the platform, giving the servant girl a very pointed stare and enjoying her response of horror. The girl finally recovered enough to bow again and then escorted Nes to Lord Yu's dining room.

Nes bowed to the goa'uld as she entered and took a seat opposite him at the table.

"I have always appreciated how your hosts look in the clothing worn in my palace, Sekhmet."

"Thank you, my lord. It has been far too long since I have worn anything quite so beautiful."

"Have you learned anything from your servant?" He took a sip of his drink and kept his voice casual, but Nes could hear the command in his tone.

"I am afraid he was only just waking when I left."

"Only just waking? This time of day?"

"Well, he did die earlier today and then...I am afraid he may have...overexerted himself this afternoon." She slowly drank from her own glass and kept even a hint of a smile off her face.

Yu made a gruff sort of sound, likely out of annoyance. No doubt ears and eyes in the palace had already informed him of the relationship between his two guests.

"I assure you, my lord, I will speak with him more thoroughly tomorrow, but I did learn the location of the Tok'ra resistance." That perked up the goa'uld's attention. "Unfortunately, it has already been discovered by Zipacna and destroyed."

"Destroyed? Osiris said Anubis was destroying the Tok'ra. I took it for a bluff."

"It does not appear so. A'yal mentioned that it is also said that the Tok'ra released the poison on Zipacna's jaffa and killed many of them. If we cannot obtain the formula directly, perhaps a journey to Revanna to obtain one of the dead jaffa will reveal what we wish to know."

"Revanna? That would not be too long of a journey."

"My lord, once I have thoroughly questioned A'yal, I would send him through the gate to summon my small fleet of ships to join me here in your service."

"You would remain here?" His face was full of suspicion.

"Of course, Lord Yu, though you need not worry about an attack. My fleet is far too small to challenge yours. I only obtained a small portion of Heru'ur's ships and jaffa before I was captured by Apophis."

"And then no one heard anything of you until now. I assumed you were dead."

"I was slowly trying to gather the jaffa who were loyal to me in the past."

Yu rubbed his chin, letting his fingers glide down his beard. "Very well. When your ships arrive then we will set out for Revanna."

Nes bowed her head, glad that that conversation had gone well. The rest of the meal was spent discussing the state of the galaxy, the return of Anubis, and the various other System Lords. When Nes had finished eating and the discussion lulled for a moment, she asked to take her leave, declaring the day to have been a long and exhausting one, but thanking him for the excellent meal. She was relieved that she was allowed to leave in peace and followed the escort and guards back to her room.

Elliot was sitting in one of the chairs, wearing a black and red robe. It looked far too formal on the lieutenant and she couldn't hold back a tiny smile at how different he looked from that morning. That thought, however, didn't maintain the smile and sadness soon covered her face.

"Dinner go well?" It was Elliot who spoke and there was concern in his voice.

"Yes." She wouldn't inform him that she would be sending him away until the last moment. She didn't want to give him any time to plan around her. "The servant girl will be here in a moment to assist me in undressing."

"I could have easily helped...or is it still too soon for that?"

Elliot gave her a sly smile, but Nes wasn't sure how to respond. She wanted nothing more than to return his playfulness, but it would make her task tomorrow all the harder. Her body felt too heavy to continue on and she walked past Elliot toward the bath.

"Tell the girl I took care of myself." She shut the door weakly.

The dress was much harder to get out of than it had been to get into, but she absolutely refused to ask Elliot for any help. She left the torn dress in a pile on the floor along with the combs and jewelry she'd been adorned with. The servants could sort it out tomorrow. She wrapped herself in the dressing gown again and slowly opened the door to the main room. As she had hoped, Elliot appeared to be asleep in the far side of the bed and she made her way to the closer side of the platform quietly.

"I'm not asleep."

Nes tripped on the platform and hit the bed with her knee at the sound of Elliot's voice, letting a string of curses stream out.

"Lantash understood most of those." His voice held a hint of amusement and wonder.

"Why are you still awake?" She sat down on the edge of the bed and rubbed her knee.

"I took a nap earlier. And before that I was dead. Lots of energy now."

"Well not me. I had to carry your heavy body too far even for me. My shoulder isn't very happy about it." She sat up straighter as Elliot scooted across the bed and put his hands on her shoulders.

"Which one?"

She shrugged him off. "Neither one."

"Fine, I'll do both." And he put his hands on her shoulders again and gently let his thumbs rub circles into the tight muscles. "Are your shoulders always this tense?"

"I don't know. Probably."

She again shrugged off his hands and stood, stepping down off the platform and turning to face him. He was wearing loose pants gathered at the waist, but no shirt, and she couldn't stop her eyes from examining him as he sat there. His own smirk formed as she stared, though, and her exasperation returned.

"Can we just sleep?"

"Of course. I wasn't trying to seduce you, Nes."

She raised her eyebrows and he brought his hands up innocently.

"You risked your life to save mine today. I'm grateful."

"Lantash doesn't seem grateful."

"He's coming around."

"I don't need him to come around."

Elliot brought his legs over the side of the bed and stepped onto the platform, now towering over her with the extra height of the floor. He stepped down and she retreated back a few steps.

"Nes, it's still me. Still the guy that got jealous when he saw you hug your brother. Still the guy that planned to ask you out when we got back from the mission."

Nes laughed. "You don't get to be the same person once you're a host. I'm certainly not Tessa anymore. She's dead and gone. So is Kevin Elliot. We get to be Frankenstein's monsters, dead things put together into some semblance of humanity."

Elliot bowed his head, but when he looked back up, he was still himself.

"Am I upsetting the parasite?"

His eyes flashed as Lantash took over. "I am not a goa'uld. I am not like Sekhmet." He took a deep breath. "I was trying to save him. Same as you."

"No, you were trying to save yourself. You've killed him." She sneered at the Tok'ra. "If there had been a way to revive him and not you, I would have done it."

His head bowed again and Elliot returned. "Nes, it's not like that. I feel like me still. It's weird, I'll admit that, but it's not like what Sekhmet did to you." He put his hands on her arms. "Please. I need your help to deal with this." He pulled her into a hug. "It's been kind of a rough day."

She kept her body frozen, not feeling his arms, not allowing them to touch her, but human contact is so pervasive. It melts, it thaws, it drills down through the ice and pours itself into your core. Nes felt her muscles start to shift to meet with his, letting her body soften into his arms. She began to call up Sekhmet to deal with her weakness, but Elliot raised a hand to stroke her hair gently.

"Thank you."

Nes didn't like people thanking her. It seemed wrong after everything she'd done and her body began to freeze again against the gratitude that shouldn't be hers. "I'm tired."

Elliot released her and stepped back. "I suppose it's been a long day for you, too. Longer, actually." He took her hand and led her back up to the bed, pulling back the covers, and then tucking them around her after she'd climbed in. The bed was soft and her body didn't resist melting into it like it had with Elliot's arms. She felt the mattress move slightly as he climbed in on the other side, but that was the last thing she remembered, finally unable to keep her eyes open.