Chapter Two
He knocked sharply on Sky's door, fully prepared for anything. It was time to end this annoyance once and for all. Sky didn't seem pleased to see him, but that wasn't unusual. There had been a faint edge of hostility from the human ever since he'd taken control of this host.
"Can I come in?"
Sky studied him for a moment, then moved away from the door, a tacit invitation. Stepping inside he looked around casually, taking in everything. "We need to talk," he said abruptly. "You have a problem with me and I want to know what it is." Straightforward, that was how his new host behaved. If he wanted answers he asked for them.
Sky simply folded his arms across his chest and Ma'at was dismayed at how his new body responded to that one simple action. "What makes you think that?"
"You haven't been this cold to me for a while now. What changed that?"
Maybe he wouldn't have to kill the human, he mused. He could find other uses if necessary. No! he thought firmly. Don't get sidetracked. These are the host's feelings, not yours.
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
He had a very nice mouth, Ma'at thought distantly. Even when he scowling like he was now. "Yes you do," he replied, shaking off the distracting thought. "You hardly talk to me anymore and you barely even look at me." Which was a shame, considering those eyes were so… STOP IT, he yelled at himself. Stop thinking like this! You haven't been this affected by a host for three hundred years, so stop it!
He turned his back on Sky and looked out the window, trying to regain some semblance of calm. What was wrong with him? He hadn't felt like this for… oh, further back than he could remember. It was ridiculous, the way he was being affected by this host. Distracted as he was, he missed the tell-tale whisper that preceded the rush and he was suddenly pressed into the wall, one arm held behind his back, the other pressed flat against the wall.
"Who are you?" Sky hissed in his ear. "Who are you and what have you done with Jack?"
Yes! Jack thought in exultation. Sky had come through, just like he'd hoped before. All he had to do now was call for help and this would all be over.
His hopes were dashed as a) Sky didn't call for help and b) the thing in his head tried to convince Sky he was wrong.
Come on! he yelled. Come on, Sky, call for help already! You can't do this on your own!
Ma'at tried bluffing his way out, but it soon became clear it wasn't working. This human-wolf hybrid wasn't buying it. It was time for desperate measures.
"You know what? You're right. I'm not Jack." The surprise gave him a marginal window of opportunity and he snatched it, reversing their positions. "But he's in here, and you wouldn't believe the headaches he's been giving me." He could feel one building right now as his host screamed in his mind, promising all kinds of retribution if he hurt Sky.
"Actually," Sky replied, twisting against him. "I would. But that's not the point."
"No, it isn't, is it? The point is, I can't let you tell anyone else about this. It interferes with my plans too much."
"Sorry about that," Sky snarked back, twisting again, without success. "But you can't honestly expect me to just go along with this."
"No. I don't."
Before he could do anything though, Ma'at was thrown backwards by a pulse of shimmering blue energy emanating from the man he'd had pinned against the wall. To his dismay, Sky had got his 'morpher' out and was opening it, no doubt to call for backup. He couldn't let that happen. Lashing out with a side kick, he sent the communication device across the room where it crashed into the wall before dropping to the floor.
When he looked back at Sky he knew that it had been a mistake. Up until now, there had always been the faint possibility that he could come out of this without having to hurt the other man, although why he was so reluctant to do that he had no idea. Now though, all bets were off. Sky was determined to take him down, one way or another.
"You know," he said conversationally as Sky slowly circled him. "Everything Jack knows, I know." He reached surreptitiously into a back pocket. "That means I know what you are. And how to hurt you." Lunging forward he grabbed hold of Sky's wrist before the other man could react and slammed the silver into his hand.
Jack felt sick as Ma'at used his knowledge of Sky against him, for the first time seeing just how badly silver affected Sky. He'd seen the slight widening of Sky's eyes as too late he recognised the tell-tale buzz of silver in his mind. Even the small amount of silver that Ma'at had hidden in his pocket had Sky's eyes rolling back into his head, teeth gritted against the pain. He staggered backwards, almost out cold even while he was still standing and Ma'at took advantage of that, using a spin kick to send Sky to the floor.
"Sky, we don't have to fight. We can do this another way." He was surprised to hear the pleading tone in his voice. If he didn't know better he'd say the thing didn't want to hurt Sky, and that just didn't match up.
Sky had revived slightly the moment the silver had fallen from his hand. "There is no other way," he said unsteadily. "You're not Jack and you'll never be Jack. There's nothing else to say. I want my friend back."
"Sky--" Ma'at tried again.
"Don't act like you know me," Sky snapped, throwing a punch at Jack's head. "You know nothing about me."
The fight was brief, with both of them going all out. Jack had to hand it to Sky, he wasn't being hampered by the knowledge that he was still in here, just focusing on taking down the threat. Much to his dismay though, Ma'at managed to get the drop on him and Sky went crashing to the floor. His attempt to reach his morpher was thwarted by Jack's body kicking it out of the way. Going to stand up, Sky was sent reeling when the piece of silver landed on his chest and apparently the thin cotton of his shirt was no barrier, his eyes rolling back into his head again.
To his surprise, Ma'at removed the silver before placing a hand on Sky's chest. "Why did you make me do this?" he asked, voice more broken than Jack could believe. "Why? We could have gone anywhere, done anything. Why did you fight me? Don't you realise that gave me no choice?"
Sky opened his mouth to say something but he was stopped by the knife that was suddenly embedded in his stomach.
No! Jack screamed silently. You can't… I swear you'll pay for this. If it's the last thing I do, you will not get away with this!
"I'm sorry, Sky," Ma'at whispered. "You left me no choice."
Standing, Jack was forced to watch helplessly as his body walked into Sky's bathroom and slowly rinsed off the knife before sliding it back into its sheath on his right ankle, hand shaking slightly. He had to do something, he had to. He needed to find some way of telling someone what had happened, needed to find some way to save Sky. It couldn't end like this. It wasn't supposed to end like this.
