A/N: The Prologue is what takes place between the last chapter and this one in case anyone is confused. I just felt like I didn't need to go through that scene again.

Chapter Three

Crash

Darkness. Pain. It wasn't a blinding pain but an ache from inside. It didn't seem real. It didn't seem physical, in fact she couldn't feel her body at all. She felt separated from everything, as if floating around in space. She was alone, and she felt frightened although there was no need to be scared. There was nothing she could sense that would cause her harm, yet …

Solitude.

Then….

A flash of light.

Her eyelids fluttered.

"Welcome back." A sneering, sarcastic voice.

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Shit. Laelia pulled herself to a sitting position, which turned into quite a feat due to the severe throbbing running the course of her body. She brought her fingers up to massage the dull pain in her temples while trying to remember what happened. The last thing she remembered was being confronted by Klorel, and she had managed to piss him off pretty good. She grinned at that memory, seeing the fury on his face, the anger and hatred in his eyes. She had insulted him, and she could see that it stung quite caustically.

She quickly took in her surroundings and surmised that they were no longer in his room. In fact, they were no longer on his ship. They were in his glider. But why? If he was taking her somewhere then why not just take her through the Stargate or something as quick. Why take the long way? Did he want to go the scenic route? Heh. "Where are we?"

"We are orbiting one of the planet's my father rules."

"You mean enslaved?" She spat.

"If you look at it that way."

"Why are we here?" She asked, ignoring his belligerent statement. Asshole.

He seemed to understand "I wanted to have some time alone with you before you met your final … fate." He said, turning towards her, his dark eyes calm and even.

"Why don't you just come out and say it, you're going to kill me? But not before you squeeze some information out of me, right? What do you want from me, Klorel? I'm assuming you already know the reason why I came."

"No, I do not. I thought you were a spy at first, but I think I might be wrong. Who are you really, Laelia?" He searched her eyes. She could see the frustration in his demeanor, a confusion. He didn't like not knowing things. He wanted things his way.

Well, tough.

"You murdered my brother." She said bluntly. She hadn't even thought about saying it, it just came out. The hatred lacing her voice was enough to burn like acid on bare flesh. "His name was Loren. I came to murder you." She added simply as if it was nothing to her.

"But you didn't kill me." He replied. Was that curiosity she heard?

"Obviously." She retorted. She didn't care about making him angry. She was going to die anyway, why beat around the bush?

He glared at her. Good, you hate me. I'd have it no other way.

"But you had to have known you would fail?" He was trying to provoke her. Yet the worst part: he thought what he was saying was true. Ha!

A smirk tugged at the corner of her lips, "fail? Do you think I failed? Actually I think I came quite close to sticking a knife in your spine - - multiple times. That was long before you suspected me of anything but being your loyal servant." She bated her eyelashes at him mockingly.

"And you never took the chance because..?" He asked, sounding almost like a prodding child. "Let us see, perhaps because you were too busy trying to 'get to know me,' if you understand what I mean." His eyes flickered over her with implication.

"Why you arrogant son of a bitch!" She growled, and if she could have gotten loose from her bonds she would have killed him right then and there. "As I said I came close many times, and trust me, if you were the only one I had to consider you would have been staining the floor red weeks ago. If you think for one minute I enjoyed your pathetic kisses you are sadly mistaken!"

"That's odd. You seemed to like it pretty well as I can recall."

Her face flushed red with heat. She was angry and embarrassed. She hated the fact he knew the truth, and she didn't doubt he knew it. He wasn't just gloating about it, oh no. And he knew just how attractive he appeared to her. Yes, it was a stolen body, but at the same time he had been in possession, therefore he came to see her as attracted to him. But only she would know the whole truth. She would never want to touch him in the manner he was implying, not as long as he resided in that body. Yes, she was filled with a lust, but no matter how charming and 'talented' Klorel thought he was he was still pulling it up from his host, and he could never do anything to make her desire switch.

"If you hated me so much, I still don't understand why you didn't just kill me, if you did have all those chances like you claim." He said.

She put it in simpler terms. "Although you are a monster I cannot bring myself to kill an innocent."

"An innocent?" He questioned, then laughed. "Ah… my host, you mean. You didn't kill me because of this vessel." He was amused.

"Not all of us are murderers like you, Klorel." She hissed. A Goa'uld could never comprehend things like that. They didn't have the capacity.

"You break my metaphorical heart." He said, his cruel eyes leveling with hers. And then he turned away. Conversation over.

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Laelia gazed out the window as they broke through the atmosphere. She knew she should be enjoying the beautiful view of the planet below. She had never experienced such a wondrous beauty before and it was sadly ironic that now that she could she hadn't the heart to appreciate it. Damn you, Klorel. You ruin everything…

As her thoughts turned towards him she found her eyes traveling to his form. His fingers tapped impatiently, almost nervously, on the console in front of him. He realized she was looking at him and met her gaze. She expected him to say something, begin bragging again maybe, but he said nothing. Instead his eyes took over a soulful quality, sad and reflective. Although she didn't show it, she was shocked. It was Klorel looking at her, not the host. After years of being with the Tok'ra she had learned how to discern who she was seeing.

"You know, Klorel, if you would let go of your cruelty, this idea of brutal rule, you would not be so hard to live with." She spoke softly, hoping that the sincere warmth of her voice would pierce through his tough Goa'uld pride. She could perhaps make him realize that there was another way, another life than what he was living. She had watched him struggle and suffer under the control of his father. She had witnessed something in Klorel she had seen in no other Goa'uld. Hope.

She stood, being careful of the bonds that held her wrists. His eyes followed her warily, but he did nothing even when she came to stand beside him. "I sense something in you once." She continued, the intensity within her green orbs forcing him to look at her. "But its fading now." She lifted her hands to touch the side of his face. "Can't you see you could be more than what you are now?"

"And what would that be?" He asked seriously. "Become like you, another dog to the Tok'ra? Should I become one of them? Should I weaken and allow myself to share a body, which I have made rightfully mine, with a feeble and inferior being!?"

"It's not like that." She said weakly.

"And that is why you do not carry one of us yourself?" He shot back at her, slapping her hand away.

She looked hurt. "I can't." She cried. "My physiology won't allow t. A symbiote cannot mesh with me. It is destroyed like a virus. Otherwise…" Her voice faded.

"Otherwise…you would take one of us?" He spat incredulously, rising to stand before her. "Would you be willing to take me, merge yourself with one like me?" Her heart beat furiously as his smoldering eyes burned into hers. There was something there she had never seen before. Desperation?

No, no, it couldn't be.

"You talk about understanding, and of a new life, but you know nothing." He growled. Without warning he grabbed the back of her neck, pulling her forward. His mouth fastened onto hers and she felt the strength draining from her body, her mind. "What would you do to get me to come with you?" He whispered in her ear, his breath stirring on her skin. His lips brushed her neck, tracing the erratic beat of her pulse.

"No." Barely audible. She knew what he meant. She knew what he wanted.

"No, Laelia? Come now, what would you promise to convince me to stay with you?" He kissed her again, long, deep, and passionate. She could sense no lies, but…

"I can't." She answered.

He shoved her away with a cry of frustration. "You know it is funny that one moment you hate my guts and the next you're trying to save me. Yet when I come close to granting your wish you can't give me just one simple thing!" He paused, glaring at her back. "Oh, don't tell me you're crying!"

She spun around, tears streaking her face. "I- I'm sorry." She sobbed. "I can't love you."

It was deathly silent as he studied her. Then in an all too calm voice he said, "you know it sickened me when I first knew that I cared for you. Cared for a being so low! You would talk to me, listen for hours. I thought you were different, but you are just like everybody else. You wanted me to believe I could change, but on the inside you know, don't you? I can never be what you want me to be. I am evil, Laelia. And I was foolish to think otherwise."

She shook her head. "No."

"YES!" He shouted, "I am a Goa'uld. You know that, and you know something else. I'm still going to kill you. This feeling is like a disease, and I'm going to destroy it along with you."

She continued shaking her head in disbelief. She had failed, terribly failed, and all because of her stupid flaw. Damnit! You should have lied. Gods, you could have shown him, you could have - - No, there would be no more could haves. Perhaps he was right. Perhaps he could have never changed. But they would never know now. All because she was an idiot.

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Laelia was miserable again. The pervading silence wasn't doing anything to improve her condition. She watched Klorel, who was conveniently ignoring her. At least when he was yelling at her she could take her mind off things by screaming back and being angry. However, in the quiet, all she could think about were her big mistakes and the even bigger mess she had gotten herself into. She had failed to diffuse his anger and now three lives were doomed.

She couldn't help feeling responsible for the awful way things were turning out. Her guilt rose and spread like a plague, a cancer of the soul. If she had been able to convince Klorel of her good intentions then perhaps she might have had a chance, but now he saw only betrayal and lies - - disgust - - when he looked at her.

I am Evil.

He had said it. But he had also said he had loved her; not exactly in those words, but the hurt and rejection he had sown was enough to deduce the truth. Goa'uld were able to care for another. In a twisted, odd, and possessive way, maybe, but they did love despite the blackness of their hearts.

She wished she could make herself love him, for that would make things a whole hell of a lot easier, but she couldn't. Nor could she ever forgive him. He was Goa'uld, and he was evil. It didn't matter if it was his fault or not. She couldn't overlook t.

And she did hate him.

"Klorel - -"

"Do NOT speak." His eyes glowed angrily. "I will listen to no more of your words."

"I'm sorry."

"You lie."

"I am."

"SILENCE!" He shouted, and with his outburst came a sudden pitch. A warning light began blinking on the console. When Laelia forced herself to look at him again she saw terror - - well, as close to terror as you could come on a Goa'uld.

They were going down…

… and nothing could stop their descent.

Well,this was a weird chapter, but I am a firm believer in let the story lead you into what is written and this came out. Dunno how, but it did. Hope it's not too weird. Let me know what you think. Reviews are great.

In the next chapter Laelia gets to officially meet - - and chat - - with Skaara.

Cya round.