Thank you for the great reviews. I hope you continue to like the story…. Be WARNED there will be violence and abuse in this chapter.
To say that Qetesh was surprised to see Vala would have been the understatement of the year. The Goa'uld stood up so fast that her chair toppled over.
"What trickery is this?" Vala stood right in front of Qetesh and the two women looked at each other.
"No trickery. I am Vala Mal Doran, and at one point I was host to Qetesh. That is until the Tok'ra extracted her."
Qetesh blanched slightly at this information.
"So, I am in an alternate universe?" Somehow she didn't sound very surprised by this piece of information. Qetesh looked oddly pleased.
"Interesting," Qetesh picked her chair up, sat down and crossed her legs, revealing too much silky skin. Noticing how Mitchell's gaze had drifted to the exposed thighs she winked at him causing the Colonel's face to heat up and to clear his throat.
"We are going to get some answers, Missy. We are going to put this device on you," Mitchell told her, and without giving her a chance to fight back, Sam attached the small silver plate on Qetesh's temple.
"A Tok'ra memory device," She sounded almost bored, "How very amusing that you think this will work to your advantage."
Qetesh, however refocused on Vala.
"You should let me go… you wouldn't want these …" her disgusted gaze glanced over Sg-1,"… these humans to see where you came from. Isn't that right slave?" Vala's unsure gaze quickly followed Qetesh's path. Biting her lower lip she turned back to the Goa'uld.
"There is hardly anything you could tell them that they wouldn't have expected of me anyway," The tone of her voice was a mixture of regret, hopelessness and a false show of bravery.
"Really? Is that so? Either you and this body had very different lives or you have forgotten about your past, my dear slave. Why don't we find out? This is how this body lived before I claimed it," Her gaze focused on Sg-1 before she closed her eyes.
The device that Daniel had carried into the room and which he had situated at the far corner started glowing before it projected idyllic scenery on the opposite wall. Nice farmhouses, a thick and lush green forest, a stream and something that appeared to be a church. Soon they saw a young woman leaving the house. It was a very young looking Vala. Her hair was even longer and she kept it in a braid that hung down her back. The woman was wearing a light blue summer dress and she was smiling.
"Miss Vala? Miss Vala?" A young boy came up running to her and Vala stopped to greet him.
"Greetings young Master Berlock. What can I do for you on this fine day?" The teasing tone in her voice was not lost on the kid and he smiled back at her.
"Is it true that you won't be teaching us any longer once you are married?" Vala bend down slightly to look into Justin's eyes.
"Whoever told you that Justin?"
"Sharon. She said that you will have children of your own and that you won't have time for us anymore," The boy was obviously crestfallen with this idea.
Vala smiled down on him.
"Of course I will still teach you, Silly. It will be a while before I will have children of my own and even then I would never stop having time for you," She raised Justin's head up and brushed his bangs out of his eyes.
The boy visible relaxed. "You promise? Not even if Master Dorian wants you too?"
"Master Dorian would never ask me to do something like that. I promise," She smiled encouragingly at the boy, "You can go and tell Sharon that I am not going anywhere. Now, I want you to run along and play with your friends; is that understood, young man?"
Justin's smile lit up his whole face. He nodded and started to run away, but after a few meters he turned around and came rushing back. Before Vala could react he quickly embraced her and ran away again. With a smile Vala watched him leave before she shook her head slightly and went into a bright white two story house.
The inside looked like a library. The walls where lined with shelves that overflowed with books. The room was empty except for a young man with black hair who sat at one of the table, obviously engrossed with the books that were in front of him. He was busy writing notes and mumbling softly to himself.
Vala stood at the entrance for a few seconds; her gaze never left the young man. There was a very font expression on her face and she looked almost serene.
"I honestly think that you would never leave this room if it weren't for me."
Dorian looked up as he heard his fiancé's voice. He smirked at her.
"Why would I leave? Everything I want is right here, that is once you are here," He stood up and went over to her. Strong arms encircled Vala, followed by a slight bend and a more than passionate kiss.
The couple kissed for a few minutes both obviously lost in each other.
"Whose idea was it again to wait until our wedding night?" Vala asked a little breathless and Dorian chuckled.
"Yours."
"Right. When do we get married again?"
Another small kiss accompanied Dorian's answer.
"Tomorrow at this time you will already be my wife."
"About time."
"Indeed."
The kissing resumed for a couple more minutes before the couple reluctantly let go of each other. They went to the table and sat down still holding hands.
"Young Justin Berlock wanted to know if you would forbid me to teach," Dorian snorted.
"As if I could even if I wanted. You, my dear, are a marvelous teacher."
"Of course I am," She smiled at him and he raised her hand to press a kiss on the inside of her palm.
His expression softened as he observed his slightly blushing bride.
"You amaze me every day. You know that men like me do not get women like you, right?"
"Whatever do you mean?"
"Us intellectual bookish types do not get the gorgeous village darlings."
Now it was Vala's turn to snort. "Sure they do. Besides, I happen to like the intellectual bookish type."
Suddenly the scene switched and the screen showed Vala on her wedding day. The wedding party was already seated in the church which was decorated with blue and white flowers. Vala was standing next to Dorian who was wearing a dark suit while Vala herself wore a flowing white dress.
The preacher's final sentence "You may kiss the bride" announced the ending of the ceremony and Vala and Dorian kissed as man and wife for the first time.
They turned around to greet their guests, but instead of the happy smile that people expected to see on their faces they saw horror. The church's door had opened during their kiss and the entrance was now overflowing with Jaffas. Chaos ensued; people started screaming and running away, the Jaffa fired random shoots and all hell broke loose.
"Okay, that's enough!" Mitchell's voice interrupted Qetesh's concentration and the image on the screen faded.
The Goa'uld's smile was cruel, she obviously enjoyed the pain she had inflicted on the team. Still smiling she turned towards Vala.
"So…. Tell me, slave. Is that different from your past?"
Vala just shook her head unable to speak.
Qetesh smiled with satisfaction. "Let me go or they will all see what happened next. All the things you have done, all the things you have learned, everything that I made you do…"
"Look, lady. You will do no such thing. I suggest you sit tight and try not to draw attention to yourself for a few minutes. Understood?"
Qetesh just smiled.
SG-1 left the room leaving a couple of airman as a guard in the room as well as in front of the closed doors.
SG-1 was sitting in the briefing room waiting for General Landry to arrive.
An uncomfortable silence had settled around them. Finally Sam cleared her throat and started the conversation.
"So, Vala, you were a teacher."
Sam's voice startled her slightly and it took her a moment to decipher the meaning of the sentence.
"Yes. I was responsible for teaching the children under twelve. The boy you saw, Justin, he was one of my favorites. He was such a bright boy. His parents had died in a flood and he was living with his grandmother…" She stopped suddenly, losing herself in the memory.
"So you two were close?" Daniel asked. He hated to see her like this and to be honest, he hadn't made up his mind yet whether or not it was a good idea that they talked about her private memories.
"Yes. Dorian and I we had planned to adopt Justin. His grandmother was getting to old to take care of him and he was such a sweet boy. He… he didn't know. It was supposed to be a surprise."
Sam reached for her friend's hand and squeezed it tightly. Although Vala took strength from her friend's gesture, she withdrew her hand with a small smile. She knew that these gestures of affection would cease once Qetesh revealed more of their past. The trainings, the deaths, the people she had left behind.
"What are we going to do with her?"
"I think it would be a good idea to get in touch with the Tok'ra, maybe they can extract the Goa'uld."
"Indeed, Colonel Mitchell, this seems to be the best course of action," Teal'c replied.
Sam shook her head, "No, we cannot do that. I think the only reason why Qetesh has not suffered from entropic cascade failure is that the Goa'uld is still in possession of Vala's body. Otherwise she would have died already. I am sorry Vala, but if we extract Qetesh without a possibility to send the host back to her universe we condemn her to a painful death."
Her announcement stunned the rest of Sg-1 since none of them had thought about this complication. Vala closed her eyes for a second, losing all hope of rescuing her counterpart.
"Then what do we do?"
General Landry heard Vala's last sentence as he entered the briefing room.
"The IOA demands further interrogations. And I have to say that I agree with them."
"But Sir…" Daniel started to protest, but Sam interrupted him.
"Daniel, I hate to say it, but I think they are right. Have you seen the pleased look on her face when she realized that she was in an alternate reality? What if this was a successful experiment and not a fluke? We need to know more."
Vala just stared at the table in front of her.
"Did anyone consider that I might not want everyone to know what happened in my life?" Vala's voice drifted through the silence in the room.
General Landry observed the young woman with compassion.
"I am sorry, Vala, but in this case we cannot consider your personal opinion. This new development is too important to ignore."
Vala stood up, "Very well, but you should be aware that this will not end prettily. And after this is all done. I reserve the right to end Qetesh's life," She left the room without another word; leaving a distressed SG-1 behind.
The screen lit up again, showing a distraught Vala, still in her wedding dress, sitting in the corner of a room decorated in an Egyptian manner. The young woman raised her head as the door opened and the distressed expression in her face was lifted as she jumped up to run into Dorian's arms.
"Dorian. By the stars, I thought I would never see you again. What happened?"
Dorian embraced her even tighter before he kissed Vala's trembling lips. She returned his affections with equal desperation. Seconds later they separated and Vala thought he would answer her questions, but instead Dorian started to kiss her throat. Pushing him away Vala gave him an astonished look.
"This is hardly the time. What are you doing?" Dorian ignored her and dragged her over to the bed, picking Vala up and tossing her on the silk covers. She tried to get up, but Dorian's body covered her before she could get up.
When she looked into his eyes she saw them gleaming with white light and she screamed.
"Noooooooooooo!" The cry carried the whole impact of her broken heart. The man she had loved, had just married, was dead. In his place was a monster; a monster with the face of her lost love.
To stop the scream Dorian slapped her hard in the face. Vala's head whipped around and blood started running from the fresh wound.
Ignoring all of her attempts to free herself Dorian ripped her dress apart, revealing nothing but creamy white skin. Pinning her hands above her head and securing them with one hand he started to lick and caress Vala's breasts while his other hand opened the buckle of his belt. Lifting his hips slightly he pulled his penis out of the confinement of the black trousers. Ignoring the struggling and buckling woman under him he spread her legs and buried his engorged member into her unprepared and unwilling core. Her rapist soon found a rhythm and a few minutes later the deed was done. He rolled down from his prey and Vala could do nothing but to continue stare at the ceiling.
"Not bad for the first time. But be advised that I will not tolerate the lack of response or even the fighting again!"
Dorian stood up and righted his clothes; looking up as the door opened he bowed down to Qetesh. Qetesh's host was a beautiful woman who appeared to be in her mid-thirties. Long dark locks framed a finely chiseled face with deep blue eyes.
At his goddess's nod Dorian rose again.
"Ah, I see you already started your training. Let me see what you have done so far." She walked over to the bed and looked Vala up and down. The blood smeared thighs, the bruises that were beginning to form on her alabaster skin, and the absent look in her eyes.
"Slave! Slave!" Qetesh shook the defeated woman to get her attention, when that proofed fruitless she snapped her fingers and Dorian took Vala's arm to raise her up.
"Your goddess demands you attention, whore!"
Vala eyes slowly started to focus on the woman clad in gold.
"Better. As I can see you already had your fun with Eueucoyotl. He will be your trainer. You should be honored, not many beings can claim that they have been trained by the god of Sex. I even gave him a face you would enjoy. Your husband, right?" When Vala didn't answer Eueucoyotl slapped her again.
"Speak when spoken to, whore!"
"This monster is not my husband."
Qetesh smiled.
"Feisty, I like that. It makes it more fun to break you. Some Goa'uld prefer to break their hosts after the possession," she smiled cruelly and traced a finger along the contours of Vala's face, "I never enjoyed that. I prefer to break you before I take over you. By the time Eueucoyotl will be through with you, you will be as tame as a lamb. Versed in every aspect of the sexual arts, but moreover, you will be mine completely."
Seeing not only the resentment, but also the will to fight in Vala's eyes, Qetesh smirked.
"Since this is your wedding day, I will allow for a period of adjustment. But if you are still fighting against Eueucoyotl two days from now there will be punishment. Understood?"
"What could you possibly do to me that you haven't already done?" Vala's voice was hollow.
Qetesh actually laughed out loud. "My dear, what gave you the impression that I would punish you? No, every time you resist Eueucoyotl's teachings I will torture one of them for you to see and hear." Qetesh made a small gesture and Eueucoyotl pressed a button. A screen appeared showing all of Vala's former schoolchildren. Twenty of them huddled together in the corner in a cell.
"No…" The gasp that escaped Vala's throat was almost inaudible; Qetesh heard it nonetheless and her smirk widened.
"And after their long…long torture, after they have screamed and begged for death, I will slit their throats and bath you in their blood," Grasping Vala's chin she forced her to look into her blue eyes.
"Do we understand each other, slave?" Vala nodded, she didn't trust her voice to speak.
Qetesh looked up as the memory ended and smirked, "And what a docile student you were, slave!"
Although the other members of SG-1 were shocked by Vala's past, they couldn't tear themselves away from the horrible images on the screen. Therefore, none of them realized that Vala had had enough. During the screening her fingers had curled into a tight fist which she now released in Qetesh's face without mercy. Blood splattered as she broke her tormentor's nose. She managed to land three more punches before Mitchell grasped her around her waist drawing her away from Qetesh. Miscalculating her anger he was caught off-guard as Vala turned the tables on him and freed herself before she gave him a few serious blows. Without another look Vala left the room, followed by Qetesh's laughter.
TBC