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

The nod was assurance that things were still going as well as could be expected, and Rogue gave a small sigh at it. It was difficult to judge how the other woman would react to things, so she was grateful that she hadn't messed things up yet.

"No, it was the crew on Atlantis," she explained to the queen. "Colonel Sheppard in particular. I think he enjoys giving names to the wraith he meets, the ones that stand out anyway, for one reason or another. It's a good thing, especially since this hive has had such close dealings with Atlantis."

She nodded once then asked, almost tentatively, "Do you think I will be given a name?"

Becoming queen of a hive, even one without one to start with, was difficult. Rogue had everything she did not prior to coming aboard. She had the crew and commander's trust and respect for starters, and a positive reputation with Atlantis.

And she still had yet to prove herself worthy of the throne. Normally this was done by defending a territory or culling, or best yet, getting rid of an enemy. But all three of those would be out of her reach until after she took the gene therapy.

So, perhaps she hoped to have some sort of recognition that she was special until that time came. And a name was rather special. Not all the crew had one, and certainly no one outside this hive did.

This queen really was so very young. That single question, that hint of uncertainty behind it, was enough to spark Rogue's protective nature toward the young woman. She wanted to look after her, help her through what would doubtlessly be a trying experience as she settled into this new role, and just be there if she needed it.

"I'm not sure that the Colonel or any of the others would feel comfortable giving you a name," she started hesitantly, trying to explain something that was more than a little complicated. "With the commander and the crew, part of the time the names were probably given as a bit of a joke, because wraith don't use names like we do, and now it's because it's more natural for humans to have something to call the wraith they're dealing with regularly. You though, my queen, I don't think they'll know how to act with you, and it'll likely take a while before they're comfortable enough to consider giving you a name."

She was quiet for a moment, then carefully offered, "I could choose one for you... if you'd like. It would make your interactions with the Atlantis crew easier. I don't believe they'd had much experiences with queens who weren't trying to destroy them, and having a proper title by which to address you would be a good start to building a positive relationship."

The queen nodded, "I will consider that offer." she said, then turned as Todd approached them. Finished with dinner, the commander greeted Rogue with a smile and a nod before looking to his queen. "When do you wish to go into hibernation?"

"A few days." she answered. "There are still many things I'd like to look over before I sleep." she said, nodding again to Rogue before they left. One wraith stayed behind to escort Rogue to the commander's chambers if she needed the guidance.

Rogue watched them go before waving off the wraith who had stayed back, explaining that she could make it from here and thanking him anyway. In truth, she just wasn't quite ready to leave yet, since she wasn't sure if she'd be spending the night alone.

It was a strange feeling, wishing a strong relationship between the commander and his queen when she was in her own relationship with him. That none of it was the traditional human definition of such made it a little easier, but it was still taking some adjusting to.

She straightened up a little in the kitchen, taking the extra time to make sure things were spotless and put away with precision, and then she made herself a cup of tea, sitting at the table and staring at nothing while it cooled. She'd head back after she was finished with her drink, the path an easy one to follow if she concentrated.

When she did eventually return to Todd's room, it was empty.

Still with the queen, he spoke with her for another couple hours, but as he needed sleep and she did not, she dismissed him so that she could look over computer logs on her own and catch up with events, and allow him rest.

He returned to his quarters, exhausted, but very content with how things were going with the new queen.

Being alone in Todd's room was nothing new, but it had never felt empty before. An hour passed while Rogue tried to wait up in case he did return that night, but it was a futile effort on many levels, and she finally gave up and went to sleep.

She woke when he returned though, startled awake by his arrival and then relaxing back into the pillows again. She watched him for a moment, expression uncertain, before quietly asking, "Coming to bed?" Hoping the answer was yes.

"Yes I am." he said, sitting down on the edge of the bed a moment then moving to lay down beside her, remaining fully dressed in the event he had to get up in a hurry. First night with a new queen, impossible to know what to expect.

"What did you and she talk about at dinner?" he asked. "She seemed to be threatening you and then backed off...curious about...something." his eyes felt heavy and he hated how exhausted he was, wanting to stay up and speak to Rogue.

She moved a little closer as he laid down, reaching out to smooth a hand over his cheek and through the strands of hair at his temple. He looked exhausted, as if he were fighting just to stay awake.

"We talked about a lot of things," she answered honestly, the words quiet. "Came to an understanding about my place here. She knows now that I don't want to cause trouble for her, and that I understand how things have changed now that she's here. I think that helped her a little, because after that we actually had a pretty good conversation."

Todd smiled and leaned into the touch, still listening, though letting his eyes close.

"She likes you then." he said. "Most queens will hardly pay attention to worshipers and pets unless they want something from them. Good to know she's learning to be her own person, as one might put it, instead of taking after her queen like most do."

He turned to her, opening his eyes again. "What did you talk about?"

It was such a gift to be able to touch him still. That fear of losing him had made her even more keenly aware of how much affection she had for him, how deeply attached to their 'arrangement' she was. Just having him there beside her was... Words couldn't even begin to describe how she felt.

"About where I would have gone if she hadn't let me stay," she told him, continuing to brush her fingers over his skin and hair. "About my hair, and about how you and the others were named." Smiling, Rogue added, "She asked if I thought she would be given a name, but I honestly don't know if Sheppard would even think to do that with a queen, so I offered to choose one for her. She said she'd consider it."

Todd shifted to lay on his side, pulling her to him, the warmth and scent her familiar and welcome after the long day with the unfamiliar queen. He'd have to get used to her of course, but still, he was glad Rogue had been able to remain on board.

His eyes opened at that and he chuckled again, "Really?"

Made some sense though, she wanted to become their queen after all and a nameless queen over a named crew was not uniform and equal. Course not all of his crew were named, only those Sheppard had run into enough times to come up with one he figured, but...

That wasn't the best part. "She really likes you" he said.

"You think so?" she asked hesitantly, nowhere near as sure of it as he was. She hoped he was right, that the queen did like her, because it would make things easier for everyone if that were the case.

Her hand shifted down to trace a seem on his coat, wishing he could undress and be more comfortable but understanding why he didn't. "I want to help her," she confessed quietly, "in any way I can. But I don't know how to without... messing it up. I don't want her to think that I see her as being weak, or, I don't know, that I think my position is higher than it is, because neither is true. I just know that this has to be difficult for her and I'd like to make it easier if I can."

"Keep things simple and tell the truth. Lying to a queen is difficult, even for me, as she can sense it." he advised.

He pulled her closer, reaching behind him to tug a blanket over himself before draping his hand over her waist again. "I need some rest...and you should sleep too." he said "Been a long and stressful week. The worst of it is over though."

She nodded at the advice - it would be easy enough, she didn't lie much these days period as there just wasn't a need - and snuggled in against him as he moved her closer.

The worst of it was over. Tears stung at her eyes and she hid her face against him, breathing in the smell of leather and soap and that element that was just him. "I'm so glad I get to stay," she whispered into his coat, that relief crashing down on her again. Because if the queen really did like her as Todd said, and if she didn't do anything to screw that up, then she'd get to stay for good, and she wouldn't have to be so afraid of the queen changing her mind.

He heard what she said but was asleep before he could work up a reply.

Todd managed to rest a few hours before his queen got bored of waiting and awoke him with a thought. Hopefully this wouldn't become a habit and she'd learn quickly when she got the gene therapy that a little sleep every day was needed. He answered her and reluctantly withdrew from Rogue and the warm bed.

He met up with her at a console and she began to go through a number of the logs and asked him to explain further. This was a simple task that she could have asked any upper ranking crew member about, so as he answered he silently questioned why him.

Because, he reasoned, he was the one she was most familiar with. He had to nip this in the bud now otherwise she might not ever become acquainted with the crew. He called half a dozen other awake crew members to their location and they helped out.

Wanting to also keep some semblance of a normal schedule, he had Cody go talk to Rogue about sparring in the arena.

Rogue was asleep not long after Todd, and she found it hard to get much more rest after he was called away, though she did try. Without his presence beside her, though, the nightmares seemed to run a little more rampant than usual, so eventually she just gave up and got ready to face whatever the day might hold.

Cody showing up was another great relief, as she'd been wondering just how exactly she was going to spend her time. Keeping to the normal sparring schedule when possible would be nice, but Cody's appearance gave her an idea. He needed to work on his control during sparring, that had been made blatantly apparent during their own match as well as in his rounds with the other crew members, and she carefully broached the subject of teaching him taiji. It wouldn't necessarily be useful in any actual fights he might find himself in, but it would require great control and precision, and would help his focus. They wouldn't even necessarily need to use the arena, any open space would do, and it would give her something else to help occupy her time and make her feel useful.

"I don't think so, sounds too slow for me" he said. Cody used sparring to blow off energy, which, after three days of stress about the distress signal and then the arrival of the queen, he had a lot of. Doing it in slow motion he found might be a waste of time and just irritate him. "Some of the others might take an interest in it though, you can talk to them at the arena" he suggested.

Well, it had been worth a shot. She couldn't help everyone, though, and she had to learn to accept that. What she found useful wouldn't be the same for everyone, and Cody was still young enough that she could understand what he meant. There had been more than a few of her students back in the day who had absolutely despised the pace of her favored martial art, preferring something more of the quick and showy nature. Perhaps one day she'd try teaching a few of those techniques to the youngest crew member, if he ever gained a bit more restraint during her time with the hive.

"Thanks for the suggestion," she told him with a smile, "and the offer always stands if you change your mind." She would ask some of the others, though. The more senior members might be interested in learning something so very different from normal wraith fighting styles, and it certainly was challenging enough to pique some interest - it was easy to make a play at taiji, but really mastering the method and technique of each form took a great deal of practice and concentration. Or they might all find it too slow and uninteresting for their tastes, and she wouldn't be the least bit offended.

He inclined his head at that, thanked her and they went to the arena. As they still had another day before entering hyperspace and make their way to Atlantis, the arena was busy today, which gave Rogue a great opportunity to talk to several of those waiting their turn about Taiji.

Some, like Cody, felt it wasn't to their taste, though a good handful decided to give it a try. Once the arena was clear for a moment, the group interested stepped in with Rogue and let her teach them.

Todd meanwhile was with his queen in the throne room, telling her how he met Sheppard and his dealings with Atlantis since. It was a long tale, but one he didn't mind sharing. He wasn't keen on his failures but he did elaborate on his poor leadership when it came to the gene therapy the first time around. She didn't approve but she figured at least he'd taken precautions to ensure that it didn't happen again, and if anything did go wrong with the therapy, it would react to him first.

In males anyway, it was still uncertain whether the serum would need to be modified for her or not.

In some ways, teaching the wraith in the arena was a lot like teaching them in the kitchen, but in just as many ways it was vastly different. She started them on individual forms rather than the ones that would lead to actual sparring, because they needed to understand the control behind the movements before anything else. There was a method to pushing and pulling with certain muscles, in balancing as their bodies moved. She started the pace slow, but with their years of experience in fighting, the group caught on quickly and so she sped things up a bit, watching them and coaching on what needed improvement.

The lesson didn't last overly long, as more wraith eventually appeared to use the arena, but it still seemed to go well, for the most part. Another one or two were skeptical of continuing past the first lesson, but she'd still gained a few students who looked forward to learning more.

After they finished, Rogue watched some of the others take their turns sparring, offering her compliments to those who performed well. She'd spent enough time in the arena now that she was familiar with most of the wraith and their strengths and weaknesses when sparring, and it was nice to see when one of them improved or managed to conquer a weakness that had been holding them back.

In the past it might have been odd for a human to offer their compliments or tips, but it was clear that while her ideas might seem strange, they accepted her as part of the crew and the more experienced ones were willing to give new things a try.

Todd and the queen eventually made their way to the sparring arena and watched Cody in action. The male was older than the queen but still younger than all the other males. He hadn't been expecting her to arrive but when she did, he wanted to impress, both her and his commander and sparred well with the other wraith he'd paired up with.

The queen watched with interest and was glad to silently report to Todd how well his crew were trained.

Todd however saw a problem. Cody was making an impression on the queen, on purpose. Usually this was a prelude to trying to claim the rank of commander. He had to put him in his place and let him know that this potential mutiny was not wise at this time and for his age.

He entered the arena, to the surprise of many watching, including the queen. A mental note from him told her that this needed to be done and she didn't stop him.

Had they not spoken of Cody previously, Rogue wouldn't have had any clue what was going on when Todd stepped into the arena, but after what he'd said about the young wraith, it was easy to put two and two together. Cody was showing off just as Todd had predicted he might, and she guessed that this would only be the first step in his trying to become Commander. He was so incredibly young and inexperienced though - even if Rogue hadn't been biased toward Todd remaining the commander, she would have known that it would be a disaster for the new queen to choose Cody. She needed someone with knowledge and experience at her side during this time of civil war, and it was foolish of Cody not to see that. He had a very long life ahead of him, he could bide his time and wait his damn turn.

Before things began, Rogue moved to stand near the queen, inclining her head in respect before turning her attention back to the arena and what was about to unfold. She wasn't particularly looking forward to this, but it had to be done.

The queen acknowledged her and turned to watch the fight.

Cody tensed up as Todd entered into the arena, perhaps not expecting the commander to challenge him, but after the others had left, leaving the pair on their own, he readied himself. A non-lethal fight between the commander and any who wished to take his place one day was still serious business.

If he performed well and incapacitated the commander, he might decide to kill him and take his place here and now. If he performed poorly and the commander knocked him flat quite quickly, any chance of upping his rank at all any time soon would not be taken seriously for some time.

So ideally, Todd wanted Cody to fight well, but still needed to beat him.

Knives were to be used in this, and Cody immediately went on the offensive, circling around the commander and then leaping in. Todd had been watching Cody for some time and knew a lot of his tricks. Wearing a wraith down was impossible, especially these days when they were all healthy, fed, and strong. So how do you beat someone who's quicker and younger than you?

You use tricks of your own. And by that you fight a mental battle with him too. After all, any wraith who had not trained his mind as well as his body was not fit for any rank above that of basic underling.

And he drew first blood upon that mental distraction. Cody stepped away, wiping the thin black cut on his face with the back of his hand before attacking again. Todd didn't let his first victory go to his head though. Now Cody would be expecting such an attack and he'd be less likely thrown off by it.

The queen meanwhile next to Rogue radiated excitement. A fight on her second day here, must have been a record.

It occurred to Rogue as she watched the fight progress that Todd might not win. He was certainly the superior fighter with his wealth of experience, but anything could happen. All it took was one misjudged move or moment of distraction to lose the fight, and if Cody decided to take things further...

What if he was killed?

That single thought had anxiety and panic gripping at her more tightly with each second that passed. What would she do if anything happened to Todd? She couldn't stay on the hive, no matter how close she'd grown with some of the crew, or her desire to help the young queen. Todd was a very large part of why the ship felt like home to her, and without him it would just become another place where she didn't quite fit in. She'd have to go with her plan to live a life of solitude, a thought that truly scared her just as much as the idea of losing him - just because she'd accepted it as her only alternative option didn't mean she liked it.

Hugging her arms tightly around herself, she barely breathed as she watched the fight, her eyes following each movement and willing Todd to maintain the upper hand.

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