Author's note : Kate - yes, actually. Reviews do make me write faster. : ) But I cannot promise how fast the next chapter will be posted. Sorry.

Could the reader/author who has "borrowed" the character of Brian Greerson please respond to my PM? Please. We should talk.

Warnings: Some lauguage, mild violence.

Previously:

Jack turned to his old friend. "Thor's got something on his sensors. A Goa'uld Al-Kesh, about a day and a half away. It's them."

he fought…he struggled…his was a powerful mind, even in its current state…he screamed and threw himself against the walls of conciousness..his prison…he screamed but no one heard him…i'm here! ella, i'm here! please ella, i'm still here…he screamed…but no one answered…

OoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Loki stared out of the view screen. A simple blue, green and brown planet floated gracefully in space. Despite the beauty of the sight and the success of his mission, Loki's mood was uncommonly dark. Loki was an optimist. Things tended to go his way or else people tended to die. But at this moment, something was going wrong.

They had arrived at this planet about 36 hours ago. It was one of many in the Protected Planets Treaty and a particular favorite of Thor's. It was where Loki had fled to make his last stand so long ago. He had hid there, devising a smaller and more powerful version of the weapon that he had used to terrorize and destroy the Earth village of Tuunguskaar. Before he had finished, Thor had captured him. But the Goa'uld had known Thor was coming and had hid the Laughter well. Despite a long search, Thor never found the partially created weapon.

Loki had known exactly where to look. The inhabitants of this planet, like most of the Protected Planets, had achieved only limited development. They never disturbed his hidden lab. He scoffed to himself. It would have been great fun to take over this civilization for a while, but he did not have time. Thor was gaining on him. His men had been monitoring the advance of the Asgard ship for some time. It thrilled Loki to know that he would finally get a chance to hurt his enemy where it would cause the most damage. Instead of taking over the civilization, he was going to annihilate it.

As soon as they had made orbit and salvaged the Laughter, Loki dragged the women to the cargo hold. They could barely absorb the enormity in front of them. Then Samantha Carter was set to work. She knew the rules. Complete Loki's masterpiece or Ella would suffer for it. Sam did as she was told. Ella behaved herself as well. So why now, when his Laughter was finished and ready to soar, was he so ill at ease?

He knew one problem was Ella. Even though the redhead was behaving herself and had remained silent for quite some time, there was something different about her. She was looking at him. And not in any way approaching subservient. While there was still a slight trace of fear in her green eyes, there was also a hint of challenge. That, Loki did not like.

He had thought she was broken. He'd seen it in her eyes and in her body. She was broken and unable to fight him anymore. So what had changed in her? He needed her weak and vulnerable to his attack. He had to be careful, though. He wanted her child as much as he wanted the Laughter. Whatever he did next, he could not hurt the child.

Loki turned and looked at the humans on the bridge. As he did, he was once again aware of the persistant sensation in his head. Similar to the buzzing of insects or the flutter of frantic birds it was getting harder for Loki to ignore. That was the other reason for Loki's disturbed mood. The host should be nothing by now. The stupid human should be a whisper of a thought by now. How was there any form or strength to it at all?

Both women looked up at the tall Goa'uld from their perches by his chair. Though they rarely addressed each other in front of him, Loki was aware that their bond had only increased as they were trapped on the ship. He knew that the quickest way to break Ella for good would be to murder Samantha in front of her, but he was hesitant to take that action. His need for Samantha as a scientist was almost over, but he was not ready to let her go. In truth, his hope was to find another symbiote and make Samantha his mate. Her magnificent mind would be, mostly, intact, and her beauty would be even greater. But those were plans for later. He had more immediate concerns.

Ella watched the alien survey his little kingdom of the ship. Loki was right in thinking she looked at him different now. She no longer allowed herself to see her husband in the evil that had taken him. His familiar face with its cool gray eyes and sharp nose was barely recognizable to her. Despite Sam's assertions that Alex was alive, in her heart Ella had to think of him as gone, if not dead. Otherwise, she would not make it. This thing wasn't Alex. It couldn't be Alex treating her like this. That conviction was the only defense she had.

Ella's eyes narrowed as his gaze fell on her. What was he planning now?

He saw it once more. Anger mixed with defiance and bitter sorrow. Her expression delighted him. He needed her broken and he had time to play.

"Do you know what's down there, wife?" Loki gestured to the screen. She neither responded nor looked away. "It's a planet, not unlike your own." He took her hand and pulled her closer to the view screen. He had learned that his casual touches were harder for her to handle than his actual abuse so he stood behind her lightly massaging her shoulders. "There are humans down there, hundreds of thousands of humans. Fewer than on Earth, but no less deserving of happiness and life. Each with their own hopes, desires. Families." He let his hands drop to her stomach, smiling slyly as her tension increased. He knew she wanted to pull away but was restraining herself. So she wasn't that strong yet. Good. "Do you know what I am going to do to them?"

She turned her head and gave him a look of open hatred. "What?"

"I'm going to kill them." He kissed her cheek.

Furiously, she pulled away. "Why?"

"I have to test my weapon somewhere, don't I?" was his bland reply. "I have to make sure it works before I use it on your sorry little planet. And the bonus is, I get to settle an old score at the same time." His voice grew more vicious as he continued to talk.

"You said that there were people down there," Ella protested. "What have they ever done to you?"

"They turned me over to Thor." Actual anger trickled into Loki's voice. For the first time, Ella realized that this might be more than just a game to him.

"Who?" she asked.

"The Asgard that captured me." He leaned against the control panel, arms across his chest.

In frustration, Ella pulled her hair away from her face, trying to make some sense of this. "When was this?"

"Oh, it was thousands of years ago." His airy hand gestured brushed away the millennia as if they did not matter. To him, they didn't.

"Then these people," she slapped at the view screen, "have done nothing to you."

"I would say that it's a matter of perspective." He snapped his fingers at the men. "Do it."

Ella's throat closed as the weapon from the cargo bay suddenly shimmered to life in space. The top of the pyramid was pointed towards the planet. Sam rose to her feet.

"Don't do this," Sam pleaded. Loki just laughed.

"Please," Ella tried harder. "If you do this, you'll be murdering innocent people."

"It's not like your husband never murdered anyone, Ella," he sneered back at her.

She paled in rage. It felt good to let her anger free. It gave her strength. "My husband never murdered anyone."

"Perhaps you don't know about all of the patients who depended on him. Perhaps no one has told you about how the wonderful Alex Portmanoy killed them all, one after another, with a simple needle. They thought he was their salvation. He was their executioner!" By this point Loki was actually yelling in Ella's face.

"He didn't know! He would never hurt anyone intentionally. Alex is a good man, you filthy bastard!" How dare he? How dare this evil son of a bitch ever think to call her husband a murderer as if that made whathe was about to do forgivable or even understandable.

"Is that really what you tell yourself? He never even told you about it. Was it your precious Daniel who told you? Did Daniel sugarcoat everything for your sensitive little self? Daniel wasn't there. He didn't hear the screams. He didn't smell the death. Alex did. Remember, darling, Alex knew the truth. And I have his memories, not you." He moved towards his control panel, where the controls to the weapon had been programmed.

"Stop!" she ordered him. "What is wrong with you?"

"I'm the villain, here, wife-of-mine. God, you are stupid. You know, the closest you've ever come to actual brains was when you fucked geniuses."

Ella swung and punched him dead in the face. Everyone froze as the Goa'uld staggered back.

Ella was as horrified by her actions as everyone else was, but tried to hide it. It was too late to undo her mistake so she simply pressed on. "You're not a villain. You are just a pathetic child."

His eyes lit up with rage and delight. He had been looking for a way to really hurt her. He licked the blood off of his lips. "Pathetic child?" He reached out and grabbed her before she could get away.

She fought him with everything she had. He wrapped his arms around her chest and started to drag her to the control panel. Ella kicked and screamed her rage out. She reached up to scratch out his eyes and managed to score long bloody marks across his cheek. He grabbed her offending hand and trapped it against the panel. "Do you want to see what your husband really is now? Do you want to know what it's like to be a killer?"

"Alex isn't a killer!" She was breathing hard and continued her struggle, to no avail.

"Yes he was! And so am I. And I think you would look better with blood on your hands as well." With that, he slammed Ella's hand on the firing mechanism.

"No!" Ella screamed her denial as a white-hot beam erupted from the Laughter. Sam's cry echoed Ella's distress. Even from the distance of the ship, everyone could see the beam slash the planet's surface and explode into a horrifying fireball.

"See what happens when you upset me, Ella?" he hissed into her ear, his blood rubbing into her hair and skin.

"Sir," one of the men shouted out. "A hyperdrive window has just opened starboard. It's an Asgard vessel."

Loki pulled the stunned woman closer to him and grinned. "Perfect timing."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Thunderstruck, Daniel stared out of the view screen of Thor's bridge. They had been too late. We were too damn late! On the planet below, a lake of fire consumed the land. Without warning, another beam fired from the Goa'uld weapon, feeding the inferno.

"Thor, target that weapon!" Jack ordered.

"Sir, we are being hailed by the other ship," Mitchell reported.

Daniel heard of all of this from a far distance. All he was aware of was the slaughter that was being played out below. It was his nightmare a thousand times worse. He barely noticed when the scene disappeared and was replaced by the faces of two of the people they had been looking for. With an effort, Daniel came back to the present. His eyes locked with Ella's.

"No, no, no, no, no. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." She was whispering, over and over, her anguish transmitting through the ship's speakers. Then Daniel's recognized the man who held her.

Alex Portmanoy's face never before held the savagery that it was showing now. The Goa'uld symbiote had found a new home. The alien's eyes glowed as blood trickled down his skin.

"Son of a bitch," Jack muttered.

"I know you've targeted my Laughter," Loki's voice rang out over Ella's. "I suggest you power down your weapons immediately." A human male dragged Samantha Carter into view. Loki released his hold on Ella, who sagged against the panel. Then Loki took a handgun from his man and pressed it against Sam's temple. "You have no idea how much it would pain me to kill this woman, but I will do it." His voice had lost all of it's teasing and had assumed the flat, furious tones of a killer who would not be denied.

There was a long moment of silence as Jack considered his options. "Thor, do what he said," Jack whispered. Daniel knew that they had lost whatever advantage they had possessed.

"O'Neill, I must destroy this weapon," Thor said quietly.

"Just do it!" Jack yelled.

The Asgard moved a stone. The Asgard weapons were down.

Daniel made eye contact with Ella again. "Ella, can you hear me?"

Her eyes held heartbreak. "Daniel, I'm sorry. I couldn't stop him. He made me do it."

He was not sure what she was talking about. What could Ella have to do with the devastation laid out in front of them? "Ella, it's okay. We're going to get you and Sam out of there."

He knew she heard him when she started to nod her head. Then the Goa'uld interrupted.

"Oh really?" the Goa'uld interrupted. "How? You know if you make a single move, I'll kill Samantha Carter. And if that isn't enough for you, I will be forced to kill Ella as well. I know what she means to you, Daniel Jackson. Are you really ready to loose her?"

The only thing Daniel knew at that moment was that he hated the Goa'uld in front of him. Ella looked like she had been through hell and Sam did not look much better. Daniel swore that he would destroy the Goa'uld who had caused all of this pain. "Look, you can keep the weapon," he bargained. "Just give us our friends and then you can go."

"So, you would just let me keep this host?" Loki asked, scornfully. "Why do I not believe you? Besides, even if I was that stupid, there is no way that Thor would agree to let me go. Would you, Thor?" The Asgard raised his head as he was addressed. "You know you should have killed me a long time ago."

"Indeed I should have," Thor replied.

Loki's smile stretched into a cheeky grin. "Well, you'll never get your chance now." He touched a control on his panel.

"O'Neill!" Teal'c shouted in alarm. "The Laughter is turning towards us and powering up!"

There was no time. The Asgard weapons were down. The Laughter was too close to be stopped.

Loki's Laughter fired again.

TBC