fateandfortune | Just two vampires, traveling the galaxy... [For Todd the Wraith]

Todd stared up at the haze a long while, thinking over something that had just come to mind, before he acknowledged she was looking at him. He drew his eyes away and turned his head to speak to her.

"Do you think you'd settle on Atlantis in the event we should acquire a queen?"

Last time he asked, she'd been determined to settle on a lonely planet to avoid hurting anyone. But since she could now control her ability, would she be more comfortable in the ancient city, even with all the marines, or would she remain adamant about living elsewhere? He'd do his best to persuade his queen about keeping her on, but there was the real chance of her getting booted.

At this rate however, the chances were remote that any queen would claim this hive within the next few months let alone years, still, he wanted to hear her answer.

Her smile faded slowly and she opened her mouth to reply but no words would come out. She looked away from him then and shifted onto her back, watching the blue as she thought over her answer.

It was an extremely complicated matter, with a number of variables to consider, but still she came to the same decision as before. "No," she said simply, though her expression made it clear that she was conflicted. "I don't feel safe there. In time that might change, but it would take years and I don't know that I would last that long. I think that being so afraid all the time would wear me down, and that eventually... I'd lose control of everything." Her powers, the psyches in her mind, even her own sanity.

She rubbed a hand over her eyes and sighed. "If you get a queen and she won't let me stay, which I personally think is more likely than not, then finding somewhere remote is still my best option. My only option, really." And she was okay with it, because that was how it had to be. The idea might completely terrify her, but what was she supposed to do? She didn't see any other way.

A chuff. "Very well."

It was her choice, and he was quite sure Sheppard and the others would try to convince her otherwise should they find out. But he wouldn't say anything.

After thinking of something, he grinned and chuckled, looking at her. "Now you can give Doctor McKay the full story on how a mutant with your ability has sex, and with a Wraith as well. Oh the intimate details that would make him writhe in disgust!"

Rogue looked over as he chuckled and her expression turned incredulous as he explained. When she really thought about it thought, it would be pretty hilarious to see Rodney's reaction.

Giggling quietly herself, she shook her head. "It would almost be worth it to see the look on his face," she acknowledged with amusement. Except he was the only one she would ever want to see wearing that expression, and there would be no keeping something like that from the rest of the city. But it was still fun to consider.

Edited 2016-01-07 00:24 (UTC)

Todd smiled and then closed his eyes, relaxing, and soon falling asleep.

The next couple days flew by as the hive traveled along its route to the worshiper world. After making his morning rounds, he'd return to Rogue and they'd head down to the sparring chamber. Sometimes they'd have the place to themselves, sometimes they had a small audience.

One morning, Cody was there and he asked Rogue if he could spar with her

Todd was hesitant to let her. He knew how to limit himself and avoid contact in the fight when possible in the event her ability switched on in the heat of it. But Cody was swift and had yet to learn how to hold back, in fact he was becoming more aggressive in his sparring.

Also he didn't want Rogue suffering through cracked ribs again.

She'd only ever sparred with him so this would be quite a shift. It was Rogue's choice however.

Rogue was flattered that Cody had asked, there was no denying that, but she'd seen him fight on multiple occasions. He was young and didn't have anywhere near the sort of control that Todd did, but she'd been used to that sort of thing once. The kids she'd taught had been headstrong and superpowered, sometimes to a deadly degree, though few had possessed the brute strength of a wraith.

Still, she had been hoping for a chance to spar with one of the others eventually, and she didn't want to offend Cody - she liked him a great deal, and he one of her favorites among the crew. So she agreed, on the condition that if she called for a stop, he would listen - not only for her own safety, but for his as well. She intended to wear her gloves during the fight, just in case, but there was still a risk of his touching her the way Todd had in the past. Hurting him was the very last thing she wanted to have happen.

She made her decision, and Todd stepped aside to let them spar.

Cody favored weapons, but as Rogue couldn't heal from nicks and cuts right away, he leveled the field and did without them.

The wraith's aggressive nature came through and he began on the offense, giving Rogue little room for a breath.

Todd watched on with a few others, sort of torn between who to root for.

She at least had the benefit of having been able to watch Cody in some of his previous matches with the other wraith, so she could predict about half his attacks from the little tells he still made before moving. But the other half were brutal in their strength and speed, and it was only her own agility that kept her from incurring serious damage in those first minutes. He wasn't pulling any punches.

As the fight progressed, it was a struggle for Rogue to even stay on the defensive, let alone try to gain the upper ground. She was holding her own, but only just. And then suddenly his hand was inches from her face and she had to flail backwards to avoid him touching her and hurting them both. She stumbled and rolled to the side, barely managing to scramble to her feet in time to avoid the next strike as Cody didn't pause - he didn't seem to have even realized how close a call that had been. She could feel her power flickering, that easy control slipping from her as her adrenaline surged. She was certainly caught up in the moment, not even thinking of the possibility of calling an end to the match as things got dangerous.

Todd was watching intently, but so far things, while fast and hard, were manageable for Rogue. Only when Cody got too close to her that time did he consider telling him to cease with a mental queue. But she dodged it and kept on fighting.

He wasn't sure how long Rogue could endure this. Their spars were long but fairly slow, breaks in between each round to talk over what the other did right or wrong or a teasing taunt. Cody liked things short, fast, and simple, and was hardly giving the mutant a breath in between each strike or parry.

The commander didn't intervene just yet. Only should Rogue begin to slip would he step in and stop the young wraith from going too far.

If he had been at a human's strength, Rogue would have had little trouble in taking Cody down. She knew how to pace herself, how to draw out a fight and let her opponent tire themselves out. That wasn't going to happen this time though, and she was the one getting tired. She could feel her movements slowing as the seconds passed, he was just too quick for her to keep up.

It was when she saw his arm flying toward her again that she turned, trying to avoid the strike, and started to make the call. "Sto-" She hadn't been fast enough, and they'd both changed directory at the same time and were unable to see the other's move until it was too late.

Cody's arm hit the back of her head with enough force to send her crashing to the slightly squishy floor, but it wasn't his full strength that she'd felt behind those other blows - he'd been trying to pull back. He hadn't intended to hurt, but her human body made that impossible to avoid.

Todd had seen the move too late to give his underling the queue to cease and his new mate crashed to the floor with a loud whump.

Cody stared down at her a moment before looking to the commander, who immediately came over and knelt beside Rogue to access the damage. The younger stepped back, inclining his head in shame for his poor performance. Todd would chastise him later about going for the face, right now, he wanted to make sure Rogue was okay. Head blows were serious, especially in humans.

Everything hurt, absolutely everything. Or perhaps it just seemed that way because her head was screaming. The people inside were too, which was in no way good.

It was instinct that made her try to get up, her arms shaking as she tried to get them under her, but it was like they were made of jelly. "I think I lost this round," she said quietly, trying to make a joke and failing miserably. She couldn't even manage to focus her gaze on him, her vision was so blurred.

"Don't move." Todd said, and gave those in the ring a mental note to leave. They didn't need to see her like this and she probably didn't want to be seen like such either.

Cody and the others left quietly as their commander told them.

"You were holding your own quite well against him." he grinned at her.

It was a nice gesture, and she would appreciate it when she finally noticed. She really would rather no one but Todd saw her in this sort of state.

Rogue could make out enough of him to see that grin, and she returned it with a small, pained smile. "That's nice to hear," she acknowledged. "I sure don't feel like it."

Todd wanted to get her back to his chambers so that she could lay down proper and not remain on the floor here, but he didn't know the extent of her injury and moving her might make things worse.

"Lie still a while" he said. If the pain faded and she was able to get back up on her feet in a moment or two, then no harm done. If it didn't go away or got worse...then perhaps he'd offer the Gift. He didn't like giving it out for anything less than near death, but he didn't know how bad Cody had struck her. Enough for some serious trauma or just sore in the morning feel?

"Okay," she agreed quietly, not even contemplating arguing because no way was she going anywhere for a while. The nausea was beginning to set in, that wonderful sign of a good old-fashioned head injury, and she was grateful for the dimmer lights of the ship. If she'd been anywhere made by humans, the bright lights would have been killing her eyes.

She took slow, shallow breaths to get through that first wave of nausea and lifted a shaking hand to press gently at her left temple. "It's getting so loud in here..."

Injured humans, to put it simply, confused wraith. Either you fed on them, left them to die, or used the Gift if they were worthy of it. Treating symptoms was difficult.

The only medicine they had on board was the basic first-aid kit Beckett insisted Todd take in the event their healing abilities didn't work as well now that they'd taken the gene therapy. But there was nothing in it that could cure a head injury.

So there was only one option left as it was clear now the blow had been worse than it looked. He said nothing, not wanting to hurt her senses, merely raising his right hand, feeding slit wide open, and tapping her sternum lightly to indicate what he wanted to do.

She didn't understand exactly what he was planning, her damaged thought process getting nothing more than he'd helped her before like this, and he must be wanting to do so again. Tears were in her eyes in seconds, her emotions stretched thin because of the pain, and an automatic attempt at nodding had them sliding down her cheeks moments later.

"Please," she whispered, trusting him implicitly to do whatever it was he thought best for her.

The pain must have been very great if it'd brought her to tears. And without his ability, she'd likely be dead or dying thanks to one bad move in a spar. The wraith nodded with a quiet grunt and tugged her shirt down until enough of her chest was exposed for him to place his palm on the skin.

Like before, slight pinch, and then the rush of the enzyme filling her bloodstream. First the pain started to melt away, followed by her internal injuries.

When he'd given what he deemed enough, he withdrew his hand. "Better?" he asked

To have the pain fade, and then the nausea and blurred vision, she couldn't even fully comprehend the relief that coursed through her. Some part of her was realizing just how badly she'd been hurt, how close she'd come to never getting back up again. Just as she was beginning to really enjoy and embrace her new life...

"Better," she agreed quietly, carefully moving to sit up. She didn't try standing yet, even though she was feeling mostly fine now. Instead, she stayed where she was and pressed a hand to her forehead. "Everyone's making such a fuss in here, I can hardly think straight." It was like being in a room full of people with everyone talking all at once, and being quite loud about it too.

"Take your time." he said. "The enzyme's strength should help you get them under control again." Todd remained kneeling beside her, mentally telling any wraith that approached off until they were done here.

"He shouldn't have struck you in the head, I'll talk to him later." he said to her, letting her move at her own pace.

She looked up at him at the last bit and shook her head slightly. "It wasn't all his fault," she told him, expression earnest and a little concerned. "I honestly don't think that was his intention, but even if it was, he tried to stop. I could feel it, there was a difference in his strength. If I hadn't turned when I did, it wouldn't have been as bad."

Rogue knew Todd wouldn't let Cody off without some sort of reprimand, and she wasn't trying to convince him of that. She just wanted to be sure he had all the facts for when he did talk to the youngest member of his crew. "He does need to work on his control, though, I can't deny that."

Todd would take that into account. It'd been an accident, he knew Cody had not meant to strike her in such a way, able to sense it as much as she. Still, a wraith couldn't afford to have accidents.

"He's an ambitious sort" he chuffed. "Once we have a queen, I wouldn't be surprised if he should try to claim the position of commander."

Edited 2016-01-09 05:55 (UTC)

She looked at him for a moment, tilting her head slightly to the side, and finally sighed quietly. "There are some things about Wraith culture that I don't think I'll ever understand," she commented, not at all sure what she thought about his observation.

"I think I can get up now," she decided, not wanting him to be stuck there on the floor with her any longer. She was doing much better, the enzyme working as he'd said and helping to quiet things down in her mind, though she could feel that she'd have to do some heavy maintenance later to ensure it stayed that way.

They called it a day and headed back to his chambers. While she rested and sorted out her head, he went to deal with his youngest underling.

"May I have a moment, sir?" Kenny asked when he was done reprimanding Cody. Todd gave a nod and his second began pestering him about Rogue. He heard him out but it was nothing he hadn't listened to before.

Kenny felt that he was treating Rogue too well, and spending more time with her than with his crew. Todd agreed that his time among his crew had dwindled since Rogue came on board, but he pushed back, he'd been treating Rogue like any other wraith, for she was not a worshiper, nor a pet, and she sided with them, not Atlantis.

"What happens to her when we do get a Queen?" Kenny asked.

Todd answered simply. "I am unsure. It will be up to the Queen to decide to let her stay or not. And I'll stand by whatever that decision may be."

His second seemed skeptical but it was his job to question everything he did so he didn't pursue it. Todd returned to his chambers a little later thanks to his discussion, but also with news that they'd be finally dropping out of hyperspace soon as they'd closed in on the worshiper world.

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