A/N - Warning: the following chapter contains references to torture and sexual assault. Nothing particularly graphic, I assure you, but I realize that I'm flirting with the rating here. I don't think it crosses the line, but if you feel differently, please let me know. The bulk of the borderline material is in the first section, so if you would prefer to skip it, PM me, and I'll tell you what happens.

Chapter 4

A change in the sound of the ship roused Sam from her uncomfortable sleep on the floor of the tel'tak. She struggled to stand, her hands still chained to the console. Once on her feet, Sam observed a dark green planet rapidly growing larger in the viewscreen. As they neared the surface, she saw that the planet was covered almost completely in foliage, with a low lying mist swirling intermittently above the moss covered tree line.

"We have arrived," Osiris said, with a thin smile.

Sam barely had time to register the presence of the zat before she was enveloped in a web of blue electricity. She fell to the floor instantly.

When she woke, Sam found herself chained once again, though this time she was bound at both her wrists and ankles. Perhaps even more disturbing was the fact that she was totally nude. She tested her restraints and found that they were securely fastened to the ceiling and floor.

Her discomfort grew as she took in her surroundings. She was in a large, open room, gilt in the traditional fashion of the Goa'uld. She gasped when she saw a table sitting to one side, holding various implements of torture, including a pain stick that was prominently displayed in the center. Quickly averting her gaze, she tamped down on her fear as best she could.

But it was an alabaster canopic jar, very much like the ones that had contained Osiris and Isis, that captured Sam's attention. The face on this jar was different than the others, definitely feminine, with something that looked like a bowl on top of a pedestal sitting on the head of the goddess. Sam wondered briefly which Goa'uld occupied this vessel, before it occurred to her that she most likely did not want to find out.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the entrance of Osiris from a side door. The Goa'uld approached her slowly, raking her naked form up and down with her eyes. She began to walk around her in a slow circle, like a cat toying with a mouse caught in a trap.

"You are indeed a beautiful woman," she purred, her voice resonating with the symbiote's deep timbre. She reached up to touch her cheek. "A fair face." Looking at her appreciatively, she began to trail her fingers down her neck toward her chest.

Sam refused to meet her gaze and began reciting the periodic table, anything to keep her mind off her increasingly horrific situation. Osiris, though, was undeterred. She palmed one breast, continuing her assessment. "Full breasts." Her fingers drifted lower. "Narrow waist...round hips...smooth skin." She spread her hand over the curve of Sam's hip and brought her lips to hers.

Sam turned her face away, repulsed, but Osiris merely laughed. It was an evil sound. "You hate me, and yet still you respond to my touch," she said, her voice full of contempt. The Goa'uld moved her lips to Sam's ear. "Let me show you."

Sam tried to slow her heartbeat, but because she was completely restrained and had no idea what Osiris might do next, she was finding it difficult to keep her rising panic under control.

"Like this," the Goa'uld whispered and slowly licked just inside her ear, blowing on the wet skin. She smiled wickedly as Sam jerked her head away but shivered involuntarily. "And this." She cupped her breast again, then suddenly pinched and rolled her nipple, causing Sam to gasp and her nipple to harden.

Osiris smirked, then placed her cheek on Sam's. With her eyes closed, she ran her hand down her abdomen and over the soft curls at the apex of her thighs. "And this," she breathed, slipping a single finger between her folds.

"Stop it!" Sam yelled. She struggled desperately against her restraints to no avail, while Osiris simply chuckled and watched her squirm. Refusing to allow the assault to continue, Sam did the only thing she could. She spit in the Goa'uld's face.

Osiris instantly recoiled, her eyes flashing. "Impudence!" she roared. She picked up the pain stick and without warning touched it to Sam's waist. The effect was instantaneous. She watched coldly as Sam screamed in agony, a white light emanating from her mouth and eyes.

Finally, she pulled the stick away and tapped it in the palm of her hand. "A crude implement, but effective, particularly for teaching obedience." She leaned in toward Sam, who had gone limp in her restraints. "If I weren't trapped in this body, I'd show you what a god could truly do to you," she hissed. She walked over to the table and picked up the canopic jar. "But I will rectify my plight soon enough, and as host to my lover Nephthys, you will soon learn to appreciate me fully."

"No," Sam whispered, as she realized then that the jar must contain Nephthys' symbiote.

Osiris twisted the head of the jar to open it. Air hissed out of the opening, and Sam watched, terrified, as the Goa'uld stared into its depths. "Time to wake, my love," she sang. But as the seconds ticked by and nothing happened, Osiris' smile faded. She peered more closely into the jar. "What is this sorcery?" she whispered.

Slowly, she tilted the jar, and a thin stream of sand poured from the opening.

"No!" Osiris shrieked. She threw the jar to floor where it shattered into a thousand pieces, then picked up the pain stick and turned back toward Sam, a look of pure fury on her face.

oOoOoOo

All was quiet aboard the scout ship, and the interior lighting was dim, but Daniel was still having a difficult time sleeping. He glanced around their small group. Jacob was at his position at the control orb, the only one who was not attempting to rest. Teal'c was kel'noreeming in one corner, while Jack sat in the other, eyes closed, arms crossed over his chest, and a deep scowl lining his face. Daniel sighed. That expression had been there pretty much since he'd learned that Sam was in the hands of Osiris.

Daniel shifted for the hundredth time in an attempt to get comfortable but had little success. Deciding that it was no use, he got up and took a seat in the co-pilot's chair next to Jacob.

"Are you unable to sleep, Dr. Jackson?" Selmak asked, his deep voice resonating in the small space.

Daniel looked at the Tok'ra. "Yes. I'm worried about Sam. And Sarah."

"Sarah is the woman Osiris took as host, no? I assume you knew her?"

"Ah, yeah. You could say that." Daniel looked down at his hands. He couldn't help but feel partially responsible for what had happened to his former girlfriend. "We dated several years ago, but things didn't, ah...they didn't work out."

"I am sorry, Dr. Jackson," the Tok'ra replied, but Daniel wasn't sure whether he meant he was sorry things hadn't worked out between them or that she had been taken as host. Perhaps both.

He watched the hyperspace light show outside the window for several minutes, deep in thought. His stomach clenched as he thought about how confused and terrified Sarah must be, and he wondered if Osiris was as vicious as all of the other Goa'uld they'd encountered. "Did you know Osiris, Selmak?"

"I did not. He was placed in stasis before my time. However, he is not unknown to the Tok'ra."

"Can you tell me what you know?" Daniel asked quietly.

For the first time that night, Selmak hesitated ever so slightly before responding. "I'm afraid it is not good. According to our history, he was an extraordinarily cruel Goa'uld, who took great pleasure in tormenting others. It was thought that overuse of the sarcophagus had driven him mad."

"No wonder Jacob is so upset."

Selmak turned to face the archeologist. "I have not shared this information with Jacob, and I think it best to keep what we know to ourselves." He glanced meaningfully at Jack.

Daniel furrowed his brow. "But haven't you just told him?"

"Jacob is asleep and is therefore not privy to our conversation."

"You can do that?" Daniel asked, surprised. He had no idea that a Tok'ra symbiote could hold a private conversation without his host knowing what was discussed.

"I can," he replied, smiling ever so slightly.

Daniel considered this for a moment, when a thought suddenly occurred to him. "Selmak, do you think you could do something about this rift between Jack and Jacob?"

Selmak shook his head. "I have tried to talk with him about the matter, but he will not listen to reason, at least not when it comes to his daughter. He fears Colonel O'Neill will hurt her, and he has channeled that fear into an irrational anger toward him."

Daniel sat up, feeling somewhat indignant on his friend's behalf. "But Jack would never hurt Sam. He lov-" He caught himself and stole a quick glance at Jack, who thankfully appeared to be sleeping. He lowered his voice. "I'm pretty sure he loves her."

"I believe you are correct, Dr. Jackson. But so far, I have been unable to convince Jacob of that fact."

oOoOoOo

Osiris looked with disgust at the unconscious woman hanging from the ceiling by her wrists. She had passed out yet again, and just as things were getting interesting, too. Still, she had to admire the fact that the woman was still alive. When she had first discovered that Nephthys was dead, she had lost all control and was certain that she had killed her. But miraculously the woman had recovered, and Osiris was more cautious in her ministrations now. After all, she could hardly afford to lose her only plaything.

She threw the pain stick on the table. There was little pleasure to be had with an unresponsive subject. She supposed now was as good a time as any to determine what had happened to her empire over the past several thousand years.

She crossed the room and held her hand up to the wall. As her palm device began to glow, the wall split down the middle and retracted, revealing a large communication orb that had previously been concealed. Quickly, she entered the appropriate code into the small control panel underneath and held her breath, wondering if it would still work after all these years.

She smiled broadly, as a familiar face filled the round screen. "Horus," she said, by way of greeting.

"Who dares call me by that name?" The man roared.

She lifted her chin. "It is I, Osiris, risen from the dead!"

The man smirked. "If you are indeed Osiris, then it would appear you've misplaced your manhood yet again." At that, he began to laugh.

Osiris' eyes flashed with anger. "The timing of my awakening was not of my choosing, and I was forced to take this woman as host. But do not misjudge me by my outward appearance. I am indeed Osiris." With that, she held up a golden amulet in the shape of a stylized eye. It began to glow faintly.

"The Eye!" The man exclaimed in wonder. He narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "How did you come to possess it?"

"You gave it to me, after I saved you from Setesh."

The man's eyes widened, and he gaped at her. "Osiris?"

"It is I," she confirmed triumphantly. "I am pleased to see you alive, Horus."

The man recovered from his shock quickly. "I have not gone by that name in several millennia. I am now known as Heru'ur, and if you are indeed Osiris, then we have much to discuss." He lowered his voice. "Many of our kind have fallen."

"So I have been told."

Heru'ur briefly scanned his surroundings, as though he was worried he was being watched. When he spoke, his voice was low and conspiratorial. "The timing of your return is fortuitous. Apophis is attempting to establish himself as Supreme System Lord."

"Then we shall destroy him, and together we will rule galaxy," Osiris said, as though they were discussing the weather.

Heru'ur smirked at her response, but he was momentarily distracted by the woman chained behind her, who had begun to stir. He peered at her closely. "That woman behind you. She is familiar. Let me see her face."

"She is no one," Osiris replied. "A Tau'ri host I had procured for Nephthys, who is dead like so many others."

But when Osiris lifted Sam's head toward the communication orb, Heru'ur's eyes flashed instantly. "On the contrary. You have captured a powerful member of the Tau'ri scourge who have been in no small part responsible for the demise of our brethren these past several years."

"Then I shall kill her immediately." Osiris let Sam's head drop, and she raised her palm to her forehead.

"No!" Heru'ur snapped. "If she is there, the remainder of her team is likely not far behind. You must keep her intact, Osiris. She can be used to lure the others. There are many Goa'uld who would pay a high price to have them alive, more than enough to finance a successful campaign against Apophis."

"Excellent," Osiris replied, and she and Heru'ur spent the better part of the next hour laying out their strategy. By the time they ended their communication, Osiris was feeling better than she had since her awakening.

Invigorated, she picked up the pain stick and once again turned toward her captive, who was just regaining consciousness. Though she had promised the keep the woman alive, there was no reason she couldn't enjoy herself in the meantime. She would simply have to exercise some restraint.

Before she could use the weapon, however, she was startled by a whispering sound coming from the corner of the room. At the same moment, she caught sight of something dark moving across her peripheral vision. But when she turned in that direction, she saw nothing other than an empty corner. A chill crawled up her spine.

"Who is there?" she demanded.

No one answered, but Osiris could not ignore the sudden feeling that a presence, far more malevolent than she, was somewhere near.

TBC…

A/N - The Eye of Osiris was referenced in the series, one of six eyes that were ultimately acquired by Anubis. In the episode Full Circle, Anubis was trying to get his hands on the Eye of Ra in order to complete the collection and power his superweapon.

The reference to Horus giving his Eye to Osiris for saving him from Setesh is straight out of Egyptian mythology, as is the transformation of the name Horus to Heru'ur, which literally means "Horus the Elder."