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

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.

Several minutes into the fight and Cody had yet to injure Todd, which boded well for the commander, still, he had yet to even come close to the quick underling in order to subdue him.

He had to try another trick.

He went on the offensive all of a sudden and struck Cody as often as possible. The underling put up his guard and blocked as much as he could.

Todd purposely left a hole for Cody to exploit, and he took the bait.

Cody knocked Todd's left leg out from under him, bringing him to a knee, which put him at a perfect level to plunge his knife into Cody's thigh and drag it downward in a vicious snarl. Cody cried out as black blood spattered over the arena floor and then got the wind knocked from him as Todd used his greater weight and new position to jab his elbow up into the other's ribs. Muscle and tendon torn, and now stunned and out of breath, the commander easily shoved him over onto his back and brought a fist down on Cody's right hand to make him release his knife.

Todd sat on top of the younger's torso, boot on his feed hand's wrist, blood oozing from the thigh wound.

"Do you yield?" he grunted

Cody nodded and the commander got up, yanking his knife from the other's thigh and gesturing for a couple of the other bystanders to come in and take care of the underling.

Todd looked around at the others in the arena as though daring anyone else to challenge his rank. No one moved a muscle.

Rogue couldn't help but wince at the injury to Cody's leg, especially with the way the strangely colored blood splattered across the floor, but it was an injury that would heal easily enough for a wraith. The pain might fade, but the memory of his loss in this fight would remain for some time. Which was entirely the point, she knew.

When Cody finally yielded to the commander, she almost breathed a sigh of relief, but it didn't truly come until after that challenge went unanswered. Then it was like someone had cut her strings, all the tension just draining right out of her, and it became easy to breathe again.

She glanced over at the queen, wondering how the young woman would perceive the outcome of this fight and whether she would even show an outward reaction. So much communication between wraith happened telepathically that she sometimes felt she missed far more than she understood.

The queen glanced around when her commander looked around the arena too. With no challenge taken up, Todd came over to them. A little winded but apart from a cut healing on his jawline, unscathed.

"Well done" the queen praised with a grin.

"Thank you my queen." Todd said, inclining his head. "But he is the youngest among my crew, what sort of commander would I be if I could not put a underling in his place?" he pointed out.

She chuckled at that. "Quite true" she then looked to Rogue. "Are you going to spar with anyone? I'd like to see you in action."

It was nice that the queen congratulated Todd as she did, Rogue thought it a good step in building the relationship between them, as well as the exchange that followed. She didn't expect the queen to turn to her though.

"I'd love to show you what I'm capable of, my queen, but I've only ever sparred with the commander and Cody, the wraith who was just in the arena with him," she explained almost hesitantly, not sure if Todd would be up for a spar so soon or if she should see if any of the others would be interested in taking the position. "Most wraith aren't used to fighting with a human when it isn't life and death - I might be a pretty good fighter by human standards, but most wraith could easily best me with a simple show of strength."

"I'll spar with her." Todd said, not wanting another wraith to hurt her as Cody had and make a fool out of them in front of the queen. She could practice with other wraith while the queen went into hibernation. Also, it would ensure the queen knew he wasn't worn out by a little fight with the lowest underling on board.

The queen looked to him, then to Rogue, then back to him. "If you so wish to." she said.

Todd gave a nod and stepped back into the arena, waiting for Rogue to join him.

Rogue inclined her head to the queen before following Todd into the arena, giving him a small, grateful smile. "Thank you," she told him softly before reaching up to pull her hair back so it wouldn't get in her way.

She wanted to tease him as she usually might, joke about taking it easy on him since he was so old or the like, but it didn't seem like the time or place for such things with the queen watching. Perhaps once things had been settled a while she could fall back into that old habit, but for now it was better to play things safe.

"Unarmed or otherwise?" she asked in a normal tone, actually looking forward to this and not at all nervous about the queen watching. "Your choice, commander."

He was glad she was smart not to play around with him just yet in front of the queen. He wasn't quite sure how she'd take it.

"Unarmed." Todd answered and decided to go on the offensive this time as he'd been defensive starting out with Cody.

When Rogue seemed ready, he started, only holding back enough to bruise but nothing more serious. Difficult after the rough fight with Cody but, as that fight plainly said, the old commander was not only a good leader, but a great fighter and knew control.

Falling into their familiar pattern was easy, barely taking any thought or effort for Rogue to meet his attacks with her defensive moves. This fight wasn't about winning, she wasn't looking to take out the commander even in a playful way - it was about showing what she was capable of, and in Rogue's mind that meant how long she could hold her own against him.

She stuck mainly to Logan's brawling fighting style, throwing in a different move here and there to keep Todd on his toes, but mostly having to concentrate simply to stay on her feet, or to get back up before he could pin her when he knocked her to the ground. With the way they were going, she could tell she was going to be one walking bruise come tomorrow, but it didn't mattered - she'd needed this after the stress of the past week.

The fight lasted almost as long as the one with Cody had, but eventually Todd got the upper hand and managed to pin her down.

He helped her to her feet and then, as they'd taken up enough time in the arena, put his arm around her shoulders and they limped out back to the queen to let the next group go.

"Well done, both of you." she praised with a grin.

Todd nodded once, rubbing his stomach where Rogue had struck him a few times in a row, but the pain and bruising was already fading.

Rogue's bruising was only just beginning to really set in, and she had no doubt that she'd be a range of colors in another hour or two. Todd might hold back enough to not do any serious damage, but he still packed quite a wallop. There was a particularly nasty bruise forming on her shin that made her limp quite pronounced.

"Thank you, my queen," Rogue said to the other woman with a smile, a little pleased with herself for how long she'd held up this time and that the queen had given her praise. It was nice to have the acknowledgment.

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