Nesert

1.3

Sekhmet allowed Tessa to keep seeing Sean, but the host knew it wasn't out of kindness. The goa'uld had more sinister plans, though she kept them strictly to herself. Sean had run out of leads on the latest murder so Sekhmet happily tracked down a new victim for him. A quick disguise and a change in simple mannerisms made Tessa's body unrecognizable and at the first bar, Sekhmet easily found a muscular man in his mid twenties with a deep voice.

The voice was often the key. Sekhmet liked to hear them talk so she could decide if she wanted to hear them scream. She chose strong men simply because they were always the most shocked by their predicament. So confident in their own abilities, they usually didn't realize Sekhmet was really going to kill them until she'd cut off a finger or in this case, put a deep gash down the back of his right hand. But then the horror would sink in and Sekhmet savored that moment of panic only slightly less than when the life left their eyes altogether. That moment was pure euphoria for Sekhmet and now for Tessa as much as she fought it.

Sekhmet dumped the body in its various sections near the bar she'd met him at two nights ago. Tessa was seeing Sean that night so Sekhmet couldn't take the amount of time she normally enjoyed which should have left her in a sour mood, but instead she seemed to be excited for the next move in the game she was playing with Sean. The happier Sekhmet was, the more Tessa thought she should worry, but a goa'uld's emotions could not be ignored and Tessa was eventually carried along with the excitement for the evening.

Sean called a bit before he was supposed to pick her up and explained that he had a few things to finish up before he could leave work, but if she took a cab, he'd be able to meet her for dinner still. Tessa had expected this since he obviously would be busy with the newly discovered body so both she and Sekhmet remained upbeat.

A bit late and looking tired, but exhilarated, Sean arrived at the restaurant with a kiss for Tessa before sitting down.

"Busy day then?" she asked after he'd ordered a beer from the waitress.

"Yeah, a new body showed up like the last one."

"When you say 'like the last one' do you mean"---she dropped her voice ---"chopped up?"

Sean leaned across the table and lowered his voice as well. "Yeah. Looked like he'd been tortured like the last one as well. Weird, though. He had a scar on the back of his hand just like mine." He held up his right hand to show Tessa and Sekhmet filled her head with a wicked laugh.

Tessa had missed it. How had she missed it? She had watched Sekhmet cut the man's hand and then heal it. She had noted that it was not Sekhmet's usual approach and even that it was vaguely familiar, but she had assumed that she had simply blocked it out of a past torturing.

But it had been Sean's hand that it mimicked.

Sekhmet had taken over after her internal laugh and resumed the conversation with Sean. "That is weird. How'd you get your scar anyway?" She reached out and took his hand, running her finger along the raised skin.

Sean pulled his hand away gently and said evenly, "Lost my temper with my...brother..once. Punched a mirror and ended up with a shard of it lodged in my hand." Tessa was surprised by this admission. Sean hardly seemed like the type to fly off the handle like that.

Sekhmet cocked Tessa's head to the side and filled her voice with concern. "Ouch! Must have been a pretty big argument for you to lose your temper. You're so even keeled!" She smiled Tessa's smile and Sean relaxed a bit.

"It doesn't matter. You know how siblings can get under your skin." He looked up as the waitress appeared next to the table. "I'm sorry. I haven't even looked at the menu yet."