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

The Wraith were quick learners and soon Rogue didn't even have to lift a finger during dinner time. Which was good because by now all fifteen inoculated Wraith turned up every night. The daily large scale feedings, even if it was only once a day, decimated the pantry pretty good, so it was good they dropped out of hyperspace near Atlantis when they did.

Todd got a message from his second and he had Rogue follow him to the bridge, the first time she'd been allowed up there. There were only two other wraith on the bridge, Kenny and one of the other inoculated ones, not many were needed to fly the hive when not in battle.

The wall in front of the bulbous podium that was the helm came to life when Todd gave the word to contact Atlantis. And they answered. A man with messy black hair came on screen, standing next to a nearly bald man with glasses.

"Hello John Sheppard, and Mister Woolsey, still in charge of Atlantis I see." Todd said.

"Todd. Keeping her afloat." Sheppard answered with a lopsided grin smile.

"You're two days later than expected." Woolsey said, a stickler for things being neat and on time.

"Negotiations with the third hive went slow then sour." Todd answered "I'll have the full details, good and bad, for you when we talk face to face."

"Sounds like a date." Sheppard said then left the screen to go talk to someone out of sight.

"Speaking of...dates...who's the girl?" Woolsey asked

"Come now Mister Woolsey, I thought you were better than that." Todd tsked.

Woolsey pulled a face then sighed and turned his eyes on Rogue. "I'm sorry, who are you?" Considering the only humans found on hive ships were worshipers or happy meals with legs, it was very strange to see Rogue standing beside a wraith. Even if it was Todd.

Rogue had to remind herself to stay calm, breathe, and not panic. She would be fine, it was pointless to freak out before anything had been decided. But as often as she went through that silent mantra and had it echoed by her knights, she still felt like she was near to shaking like a leaf from nerves.

And then they were on the bridge and there was John Sheppard on the screen. She liked the look of him, with his messy hair and a smile that she was sure could turn mischievous or sardonic at the drop of a hat. Someone who could be trusted.

The same could not be said for this Woolsey fellow. He reminded her of the politicians who had sat on their pedestals and signed off on the legislation that had ended her world, not even giving a moment's pause to consider who they were sentencing to death and imprisonment. But she had faced those politicians, she had faced the President of the United States, and she still just as tall now as she had then, despite the fear gripping her chest.

"My name is Marie D'Ancanto," she began, having debated for many hours over how to introduce herself when the occasion presented itself. "I'm from Earth in the year 2015, but Earth in another, parallel dimension. I came through a portal shortly after the aforementioned negotiations ended badly, and the Commander has been kind enough to offer me safe passage on his ship in the hopes that Atlantis might be willing to help me."

Any mention of her mutation was going to be kept for another encounter, she'd decided. Best to take this in stages, see first if they'd even consider aiding a human who had traveled with Wraith before stacking the deck against her.

Woolsey was surprised by this answer, clearly expecting some other sort, but before he could reply, another man came into view.

"W-Wait did I just hear you came from earth in a parallel dimension?"

"Doctor McKay" the commander acknowledged, both for Rogue's information and just to be polite.

"Hey Todd" he answered but seemed far more interested in Rogue's sudden appearance in this dimension and was about to question her further when Woolsey stepped up again.

"Are you here to deliver a warning or here on accident?"

Clearly this was not the first time that they'd encountered people from other dimensions.

So this was Doctor McKay. Rogue had asked Todd about Sheppard's team during their journey, since he had so much experience with them. His description of McKay had been... accurate, to say the least.

"A warning?" Rogue repeated, then shook her head. "No, I'm not here intentionally. None of this," she gestured broadly, "exists in my dimension. Not that we've discovered anyway."

At least they didn't seem too phased by the whole parallel universe thing. Just another day of weirdness at the office. But she really was not liking this Woolsey guy at all.

"I see." Woolsey answered, he sounded skeptical but then Sheppard reappeared.

"Happy to have you." he said with a smile before looking to Todd. "Doctor Keller said she wants to give each of those inoculated a physical. Come on down, just in time for dinner." he said.

Todd chuckled, "Good, we'll be there soon" and then nodded before the feed cut out. He looked to Rogue. "What do you think?" he asked before beginning to lead the way off the bridge.

"Well, I think Woolsey is a pompous asshole, and he's said all of what, twenty words so far?" she commented as they walked. "Great first impression. I like what I've seen of Sheppard, though. I can see why he's the one you've worked with all this time."

She didn't know what to think of McKay just yet. It would depend on exactly how he reacted to the rest of her story, she supposed, though that could be said for everyone.

Woolsey gave her the most cause for genuine concern. She just hoped it turned out to be unfounded.

"He's harmless, used to be far worse" Todd assured her with a chuckle. "Also doesn't help I threatened to feed upon him once" he added. "You have to remember that the only humans they've seen on a hive ship are worshipers and those we culled to feed upon, I believe you threw them for a loop as the saying goes."

They arrived in the ship's bay and the scout ship, or one like it, sat waiting for them to board, the other Wraith that had been inoculated had already been informed and were hurrying along.

Rogue grinned at the anecdote of the threat against Woolsey. She could imagine just how amusing that must have been, for Todd anyway.

"I tend to have that effect on most people," she agreed with a smirk. "You certainly weren't immune to it, Commander," she teased gently, toning down her usual humor since the other Wraith were around. "I'm not sure you knew quite what to do with me when we started this adventure."

"Course I didn't" he said as they sat down, quickly joined by three others. "You were a strange human with an ability close to that of Wraith. If my curiosity didn't get the better of me of who, what, where and so on about you, I would have considered you a threat and killed you." he replied honestly. So in this case, curiosity saved the cat as it were.

Soon enough the rest of the inoculated wraith boarded the scout ship. It wasn't really meant to carry so many at once, more as just an upgrade for ambassadors from the dart ships, but it would do fine.

Once all were on board, the bay was sealed and the ship left, headed down for Atlantis.

Todd stood up and moved to the front of the group. "Everyone be on their best behavior and stick together like before. Wanderers will not be tolerated. Remember, we're among allies." he said. "Betray that trust and you'll have me to answer to."

She was very glad that he had been so curious and decided to bring her along on his ship. Every day had been full of learning about each other, and she'd enjoyed it more than she would ever be able to express. That it might now be ending was... difficult to fully comprehend.

Rogue listened as Todd addressed his crew, watching his expression and stance, taking in the way he was with them. She'd meant every word of the praise she'd given him that night nearly two weeks earlier, he really was a great leader.

Taking a deep breath, she looked down at her gloved hands clasped tightly in her lap and concentrated on staying calm. She was an X-Man, this was cake compared to some of the things she'd faced. But that didn't really make her any less nervous.

He remained standing near the pilot-not a drone this time-as two small human ships escorted the scout one down to a pier. After they landed, the door opened and the smell of the ocean greeted them first. Todd was off the ship followed by Rogue and then the rest of the wraith.

Despite the squad of armed marines that came over to meet them, the pier gave everyone a first class look at Atlantis, sparkling in the afternoon sun.

"Major Lorne." Todd greeted.

"Afternoon Todd." the man greeted then looked to Rogue. "I'm told your name is Marie, pleasure to meet you." he nodded. "I trust I don't have to escort you." he said looking to the commander, "Colonel Sheppard and Woolsey are in the Gate Room, your fellow Wraith will be taken to the hospital to be looked over."

"Sounds good, I hope our invite to dinner stands" Todd answered, part serious, part playful.

"Don't know anything about that, you can ask the Colonel I suspect." Lorne answered and stepped aside.

Todd led Rogue to a set of doors on the pier. They stepped inside a closet-sized room, but when he touched the screen on the back wall, the doors closed, there was a rushing sound, and then they opened again.

But they were no longer on the pier. There were two marines here, but they stood down as Sheppard approached, followed by a guy as tall as Todd himself with long dark dreads and an air that plainly said he didn't much care for the Wraith's presence.

"Colonel." Todd nodded as they stepped out of the transporter, which closed behind them.

"Nice to see you in one piece." Sheppard said then looked to Rogue, holding out his hand. "Colonel John Sheppard."

Nothing could have prepared Rogue for the epic beauty of Atlantis. It was completely unlike anything she'd ever seen before, simplistic and intricate at the same time, bright and colorful where the Hive ship had been full of shadows. The weeks upon the ship made it so she actually squinted at the sun and was a little relieved when they moved inside.

The transporter technology was a fascinating surprise, and actually reminded her a little of the mansion. And then their hosts arrived and it was game time.

Putting on her most charming, slightly flirtatious smile, Rogue set her gloved hand in Sheppard's. "Marie D'Ancanto," she said, letting her signature southern accent flow a bit more than usual into her words. "But people usually call me Rogue."

Sheppard raised an eyebrow at that, but didn't question it. Must be the years of running around Pegasus. "Well, Rogue, it's nice to meet you."

"And you too, Colonel Sheppard. I've heard quite a bit about you." She smirked mischievously and added, "Mostly good things, I promise." When in doubt, southern charm and flirting were her go-to mode, and it hadn't failed her yet.

Turning to address the tall, dark, and unhappy-to-see-them man beside Sheppard, she held out her hand to him as well. "And you must be Ronon." The man in question looked at her outstretched hand in suspicion, but finally returned the gesture, if a little too firmly. Clearly he wasn't too happy to see Wraith and her by association.

Woolsey finally came down to greet them. He seemed less of a threat in person. Stiff, proper, lawyer smell, but he introduced himself to Rogue politely all the same, handshake and all. "I apologize for my candid nature, you're the first human we've seen on board a Wraith ship what wasn't serving them or about to be eaten."

"I think we're all curious about that." Sheppard said, glancing to Todd.

"I think its best we discuss everything together." the wraith answered.

Woolsey agreed and led the way up to the meeting room where two others were already seated.

"Rogue, this is Doctor McKay and Teyla Emmagan." Sheppard introduced as they all found seats, except for Ronon who seemed content to stand and play guard. Woolsey took one end of the long wooden table, Todd the other.

Teyla nodded her greeting, but before she or anyone else could say anything, Rodney had jumped right in. "So you're really from Earth in a parallel dimension?" he questioned Rogue, an intensity and manic manner about him that the others all seemed to take in stride.

Sheppard gave Rodney a slightly exasperated look and began, "Now may not be-"

Woolsey interrupted him. "I think now is the perfect time, Colonel. If you would, Ms. D'Ancanto."

Rogue glanced over to Todd, having taken the seat to his immediate left, and then turned back to address Woolsey and Sheppard in particular. "I am from a parallel Earth, yes, and as I mentioned before, there is no Stargate program, and we've never come across Wraith or the Pegasus galaxy." Rodney looked ready to say something in protest and she cut him off. "I dealt in military intelligence, if there had been a program, I would have known about it."

Woolsey's eyes narrowed a little at her words and she could read the suspicion in them clear as day. "And how did you come to be in Todd's... company, exactly?" he asked.

"I mentioned before that I came through a portal," she began after taking a deep breath. "It dropped me on a random planet, the same one where Todd ended up after his negotiations with the other hive fell through. We ran into each other during the aftermath. In a... roundabout way, I saved his life, and Todd brought me here to Atlantis as thanks." It was an oversimplified telling of events, but it seemed best not to mention that Todd had fed upon her at first, and then taken her with him mainly out of curiosity rather than goodwill. She understood the reasoning and intentions behind his actions, but the Atlantis team might not. Probably wouldn't, actually.

Todd looked at her as she skipped over some key elements to this story.

Like the fact she could kill you with a mere touch.

When she was done talking, McKay asked, "What's your world-" but the commander interrupted immediately.

"You might as well tell them, Rogue." he said, looking at Sheppard, then back to her. "They're going to find out the truth eventually and keeping it from everyone will make things worse should...something happen."

He was not going to keep her ability a secret. He'd spent years earning Sheppard's-and everyone else's-trust. They had not agreed on hiding this, and Atlantis, while a city, was far more busy than a hive ship, she was bound to bump into someone here. And as everyone was human, they'd likely end up like her boyfriend, in a coma, or dead.

Many around the table seemed surprised by this. Evidently Todd was not one to come clean, and expected him to hide his own agenda or the like. Even the stoic Ronon raised a scarred eyebrow.

Rogue sighed and tucked her white-striped hair behind her ears. "I wasn't going to hide it," she told Todd quietly, but not concealing the words from the others. "It's just a lot to explain." But it was best to just bite the bullet, rip the bandaid off, that sort of thing. Just get it over with.

"Colonel Sheppard," she said in as even a tone as she could manage, "I introduced myself to you as Rogue because that is my mutant codename." McKay looked ready to jump all of that, but she continued on to cut him off. "On my Earth, at least a third of the human population has developed a genetic mutation that results in physical changes or enhanced special abilities. I've met mutants with powerful telepathy, control over atmospheric elements, the ability to fly, and mutants with green skin and blue fur and prehensile tails."

Rogue looked down at the table then, at her gloved hands resting there. "My mutation allows me to absorb the life force of other people through skin-to-skin contact," she told them, a hint of a tremor in her voice. "When I touch someone, I take their energy, their thoughts, memories, emotions... With mutants, I borrow their abilities for a short while."

She glanced up at Woolsey, who did not look the least bit pleased by any of this news. "And are you able to control this... mutation?" he asked her, his voice tight.

A shake of her head was all she could manage.

It was quiet a moment before Teyla spoke up, her voice even, but not suspicious or accusatory. She knew what it was like to be different from others in a way everyone else at the table could not even begin to comprehend.

"Is this ability something that needs to be...used?" Teyla asked "Is there some sort of build up if you haven't touched anyone in awhile?"

"Does sound a lot like a Wraith's need to feed." Woolsey said, shifting in his seat a bit.

Todd could have answered, but Rogue needed to be the one to speak up and defend herself.

Rogue had been crafting a calm, polite response to Teyla's very practical question when Woolsey opened his big mouth. Her temper flared and she sat up straighter, her hands clenching into fists.

"I don't feed on people, Mr. Woolsey," she said, the words like steel. "There's no genetic need for me to ever use my power, and frankly I'd love to never have to use it again. I've got over two hundred fully formed psyches riding around in my head with me and I'd be one happy camper if I never had to add another one to the mix."

She leaned back in her chair and tried to return to a sense of calm, but it just wasn't happening. They would ask about the limits of her powers eventually, so she might as well get it all out in the open. "If the touch only lasts a few seconds, the other person is fine, just a little disoriented. If it's longer, they end up unconscious, even comatose. By thirty seconds... By then, a normal human would be dead."

Ronon spoke up from his post against the wall. "So you've killed people with it." It wasn't a question.

"Yes," she confirmed.

Todd couldn't help but grin a little as Woolsey was cowed a bit by her temper, but he seemed to compose himself when Ronon spoke up and she answered. Woolsey looked to Todd. "Why didn't you-"

"Tell you before?" Todd finished. "Because I knew you wouldn't have allowed her on Atlantis if she had abilities even slightly comparable to Wraith."

"Well you're not wrong" Sheppard said with shrug, but his tone and posture said he would have given Rogue the benefit of the doubt and allowed it anyway.

"Why did you come here?" Woolsey asked.

"That's obvious." McKay snorted, and everyone looked to him. He rolled his eyes as though hoping for someone smarter than him to speak up so that he didn't have to explain to the stupid people in the room. When no one did, he continued. "We've had plenty of experiences with people...and ships...from other dimensions and the like. Obviously Marie er-Rogue here wants to get home to her own." he looked to Rogue for confirmation.

"I did in the beginning, yes," she confirmed, the fire going out of her and being replaced with a palpable feeling of helplessness. "But now..." She looked over at Todd; she hadn't discussed her decision with him, not since she'd first asked what he would do in her situation.

"I can't go back to my own dimension," she announced. "When I left, we were in the middle of a war. Mutants were being rounded up and experimented upon, or killed if we fought back. They had moved on to tracking down our families, and people whose genetic lines would include mutants in the future. The population was decimated, and we were losing the war..."

She shook her head, the whole thing making her sad and angry and a thousand other emotions. "If I go back, they'll find me and use my abilities to kill even more people. They've done it before with other mutants, and they were planning to do it with me when I ended up here. I can't let that happen, even if it means I can never go home."

Even McKay didn't seem to know what to say to that. A war of that scale... It would be like the Wraith culling Earth, to eliminate that much of the population.

Woolsey was the one who spoke up first. "Well, you can't stay here," he said dismissively, as if not even considering the option, which he hadn't. "Without being able to control your 'ability', there's just too much risk."

Edited 2015-11-30 05:16 (UTC)

Todd was surprised by this from her, he expected Rogue to try to talk to them about getting her back home. Just went to show that humans weren't all that predictable.

Everyone looked to Woolsey when he stated that but Sheppard was the one who spoke up first, sitting up in his chair a bit more. "I think we can make the allowance for now, after all, being here makes her no more dangerous than having fifteen wraith in the city." he pointed out. Woolsey tried to interject but the colonel cut him off. "Hey, its a security matter and I'm head of security."

"And as head of Atlantis, I say keeping her here is too much of a risk" Woolsey said.

"There's little choice in the matter, Mister Woolsey." Todd said. "She can't remain on the hive unguarded, there are still too many of my crew that have a taste for humans. And while I know she'd put up a fight they'd not forget..." he looked to her with a smirk, remembering their sparring sessions and how many times she'd knocked him flat. "They'd still feed upon and kill her in the end. She may be a mutant, but she's still human. Last I checked, you liked helping humans."

Woolsey frowned.

Todd looked to Rogue again, contemplating something, before continuing.

"As I'm to be on Atlantis until our business with one another for this trip is complete, Rogue will remain by my side. When we're ready to leave, she'll come back with us."

Rogue's eyes widened slightly at Todd's words, but she didn't let her reaction show beyond that. She wasn't sure he had remembered what he'd agreed to help her with should Atlantis reject her completely, as they hadn't spoken of it in weeks. It was a comfort now that he had, and that he would honor that agreement by taking her back with him before finding somewhere for her to go.

"Thank you for the consideration, Colonel Sheppard," she said in an even tone, managing a small, diplomatic smile. "I understand Mr. Woolsey's concerns completely, I've dealt with them all my life. I don't take it personally."

In reality, it was taking all of her self-control to not cry and scream and completely lose it at that very moment. This had been her last shot, her chance to somehow eke out some semblance of a life in this galaxy. If Atlantis wouldn't accept her, none of the other humans would, that was certain. So she would have to go with the fallback plan, then. A life of solitude on a strange, deserted world.

But at least she wouldn't be helping to condemn her friends to death. That would be the consolation that would see her through this.

Turning slightly toward Todd, she quietly prompted, "You were going to update them about the situation with the other hives, weren't you?" Now that things had been decided, she saw no reason for the topic of conversation to linger on her, though she could see that McKay was practically salivating to ask her questions.

Unknown to her at the moment, he wasn't going to honor that deal. When they had a moment to themselves, he'd offer her a place on the hive. It would be years before his queen-if she chose him-could take the throne on his hive. Until then, Rogue could live as a cook, and in between that and sparring, they could try and control her powers. Woolsey was not a young man, his days as head of Atlantis were most likely numbered, and he'd already been head of the ancient city for some years, a record compared to his predecessors. Perhaps when Rogue had mastered her power-for Todd was certain she could with the right training-they'd return and she could live and work here on Atlantis.

But, yes, there were other things that needed to be discussed and Woolsey seemed to agree with Rogue on that at least.

Todd told them how things had gone poorly with the wraith he'd talked to as well as the better news from the other commanders and their queens, as well as the gain of a possible queen somewhere down the line for his hive. The serum thus far had been successful and he'd distributed the rest of his supply to the other hive commanders, but more was needed.

"Jennifer and Carson are working on reproducing it as fast as possible" McKay chimed in.

"I have a question." Sheppard said "Where are you getting all your...new food?"

"We've found that we've only needed to eat once a day, compared to humans and their three meals, so that cut down on how much of our stores were affected. At first, we ate the meals ready to eat you gave us, but as its been a few months since our last meeting...we had to find another source of food. We turned to our worshipers for the answer."

"Thought you no longer had them." Ronon said

"We do." Todd answered, glancing to him, then back to Sheppard. "But no longer on our hive ships as the temptation to feed upon them became too great for many wraith. All those in the alliance had their worshipers removed and set upon a rich world to live on."

"A world of worshipers?" McKay said, pulling a face.

"Correct. They gave us all they could spare of their harvests and the like, but also made us realize we'd have to sustain ourselves. So on the same planet, but another continent, we've started our own farming and herding. Drones make the perfect workers, which is why we need a serum that rids them of the need to feed."

"You're in luck, didn't Keller manage a breakthrough with that?" Sheppard asked Rodney who confirmed.

"The continent doesn't have the right climate for some of the spices we've been using in cooking, though," Rogue added, having had this very discussion with Todd not two days ago.

Rodney held up a hand to stop whatever else she was going to say. "Wait, the Wraith are cooking? As in, chopping and boiling and stirring? With stoves and pans and- and spatulas?"

She smirked at his complete disbelief of the idea. "Yes, that kind of cooking," she confirmed. "They're quick studies."

Teyla was the one to chime in next. "You've been teaching them?" she clarified, having just as much trouble picturing the possibility as Rodney.

Rogue just shrugged. If they couldn't even grasp the concept, there was no way they'd understand that she had enjoyed it, so it wasn't worth the effort of trying to explain.

Sheppard just shook his head and let out a whooshing breath. "I'd pay good money to see that," he muttered mostly to himself, but everyone heard and it made Rogue smile.

Todd however must have missed something. While he had to admit, a human teaching wraith cooking was strange, he wasn't quite sure why it seemed amusing, apart from the obvious. Even to Woolsey who was trying to hide a smile as he looked down at his paperwork. But Todd moved on.

"Yes, some spices and herbs do not apparently grow well where we've chosen to farm."

"Make a grocery list, we'll see what we can do." Sheppard said.

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you're more than welcome to play people C:

I've been marathoning S5 in prep for this! :D

lol, i'm due for a rewatch

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