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

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

[continued from here]

It was a pleasant surprise to glance over and see Todd asleep on the bed, relaxed and peaceful. He can't have gotten much quality rest the night before propped up in the chair as he had been, certainly not when he'd been woken by her nightmare. She hoped that didn't happen again tonight, he had important things to take care of tomorrow; she didn't know all of the details, but with a civil war going on between his people, he needed his wits about him.

To that end, Rogue forced herself to stay awake for hours into the night, eating the dinner he'd brought for her and looking through one of the books from the collection he'd shown her before their sparring session. She didn't recognize anything on the pages, but it gave her a topic for conversation with the voices in her head, providing ample entertainment to pass the time. Eventually she fell asleep herself, the book held carefully to her chest as she curled up in the armchair, her boots set on the floor beside it. It was a fairly deep sleep, and she didn't dream for one of the first times in many weeks, something she was eternally grateful for when she awoke.

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It took a hell of a lot of effort for Rogue to stop herself from grimacing or rolling her eyes at Woolsey's words. He could be such an ass at times. Yes, he might have some justification in his distrust of Todd, but the commander had proven himself trustworthy in Rogue's opinion, at least so far as Atlantis was concerned. At this point in time, there was no good reason for Todd's hive to turn against Atlantis, it would only hurt their chances at coming out on the winning side of this civil war. But Woolsey wasn't the sort to listen to that sort of reasoning, or at least not to act on it, and she honestly couldn't say if Sheppard and his team would be any different.

"He's just as charming as I remember him," Rogue commented quietly, her tone as sour as her opinion of the man. Giving a slight shake of her head, she turned to face the commander and queen. "Who will be the third party going with you to the city?" she asked carefully.

Before the communication with Woolsey, she'd been planning to go to the city herself, but now that they were limited, she didn't want to take the spot if Todd or the queen would have need of someone else during their stay. She wanted them to know that, and so her tone was neutrally curious rather than fearfully hopeful. And just because she was human herself, mostly, she had no preconception of being an exception to the rule in Woolsey's book.

Rogue had to remember that there were strict security protocols in place, regardless of Woolsey's feelings. Todd had been betrayed and sold out by his crew several times in the past, and it usually came back to bite Atlantis. Precautions were likely to be in effect until the civil war was over and real trust could start being earned.

"You will be the third party" the queen said before Todd could even open his mouth. "I need human eyes and ears where mine cannot be." she added. "They're far more likely to be open with you than with me or the commander so having a human in the inner circle would be beneficial."

Todd looked to Rogue. She wouldn't be a spy per se, as it was likely she'd not be allowed to roam Atlantis on her own, but as she said, another set of eyes and ears on Atlantis that would draw less attention than Todd would ensure they weren't being fooled with.

Rogue glanced from the queen to Todd for just a moment, meeting his gaze before turning back to the queen and inclining her head. "I understand," she told the queen. "I'll do everything I can to be of help to you."

She understood what was being said. They weren't asking her to be a spy, but they were right in that she would be in a better position to overhear or observe things that wouldn't be shared when the wraith were around. And she was good at reading people - even without using her powers, she'd be able to tell if something was going on and advise the queen and commander appropriately.

"Good." she answered then looked to her commander. "When you're ready."

Todd inclined his head and took over from Kenny who moved to one of the other podium-screens to help divert power from non-critical systems to helping land a ship the size of a city.

There were no windows, even on the bridge, but Todd closed his eyes, steering the ship pretty much with his mind, "seeing" the space around them and the planet below. The ship rumbled as they entered the atmosphere, Kenny and another wraith on the bridge helping slow their descent with thrusters and sub-lights.

The queen stared ahead at the navigation screen. Once they broke re-entry, the systems showed a crude map of the continent they were to land on. Todd steered the hive to a relatively barren area about a mile from the coast.

As the ship had no landing legs, the whole thing would flatten the area they'd settle in. The landing jostled them about a bit but nothing serious, and a wave of relief seemed to sweep through the bridge, even from the queen. Landing hives was not done very often for good reason.

Todd opened his eyes, took a moment before starting on the process of putting the hive to sleep, Kenny helping out around the podiums. "Powering ship down. Occupied hibernation pods are to remain active. Air filtration systems shifting over to environmental mode. Send a troop out to run the pumps to the sea, might as well refresh our water supply while we're parked here."

The second nodded and passed on the order. System by system the hive was sent to hibernation, until only the bare minimum like lights and the pods remained online. "My queen, what if we are betrayed?" Kenny asked.

The queen thought a moment. If they were betrayed, getting the hive off the ground and away before Atlantis could do significant damage was impossible. So the next logical step would be to send out a data burst through subspace to the nearest hives to betray where Atlantis was. Todd always fell back on this threat because it would get back at Atlantis without question. And it didn't matter which side of the war you were on. If you were part of the alliance, then the data burst clearly meant Atlantis could no longer be trusted. Part of the enemy's ranks? Well, they were still banking on some way to earth where the best feeding grounds in two galaxies lived. Atlantis was the only way.

Finally, the queen answered. "Depends on the betrayal. With that, she led the way to the deck where the insomnia-ridden wraith were being kept.

The process of Todd landing the ship was awe-inspiring. Wraith technology was absolutely amazing, just as much so as what she'd seen on Atlantis, and it was all so advanced compared to what they'd had on her Earth. Rogue watched the proceedings with fascination, only wishing she were able to know more of what was actually occurring during their descent and landing, but still grateful she was able to witness what she did.

It didn't surprise her that Kenny asked such a question, the queen's answer to which was a good one. A diplomatic answer, leaving her time to consider her options and not give the wrong impression to her crew should her decisions change later on. That sort of attitude would serve her well when dealing with humans, and it fit well with the way Todd had been handling things on both sides.

Rogue followed behind the queen and Todd as they walked through the ship, trying to piece together the route they were taking from what she knew of the ship's layout. They were nearly there when the dizziness hit her suddenly, washing over her like a wave that was trying to pull her below the surface, its hold incredibly strong. She swayed, everything around her losing focus as she struggled to stay upright. Stumbling to the side, her hands found purchase against the wall and she held on while riding out the disorientation.

As they drew closer to the pods, Todd grew nervous. If this hibernation cure didn't work, then they could be looking at weeks of tests. Just this last week with minimal rest had been taxing enough on him and the crew experiencing the symptom.

He heard Rogue stumble against the wall and he paused looking to her, the queen also turning around in question.

"You all right?" Todd asked, "Are you sick?"

Rogue took a few deep breaths before answering the question, though she didn't turn to look at either Todd or the queen. "Just a little dizzy, like before," she said in a strained tone. "It'll pass. I'll talk to Dr. Beckett about it, I'm sure it's nothing."

The wave was starting to subside finally, and so she turned slightly to address them both more directly. "You don't need me for this, I'll wait here while you check on your crew." They were more important at the moment, and if she was still like this she would only be a distraction.

The queen nodded and began to walk on, after a moment, Todd followed, but now he had another worry on his mind. What was wrong with her? They got to the pods and one by one, woke the three wraith.

After they came out, it was a few moments to figure out if the hibernation helped or did nothing. Fortunately, it had. They were well-rested and ready to go to work. Todd ordered them to go join the others and pass on the word to start sending any insomnia-stricken wraith into the pods for a week of rest.

He'd have to go in hibernation himself, but first they had to go to Atlantis and bring them up to date on what was going on, and even post-pone the treatment to the queen until he was out of the pod as he did not want to be kept out of the loop for such an important event.

Todd and the queen headed back to where they'd left Rogue in the hallway, with good news.

Rogue was glad that Todd didn't question her and just went with the queen. She didn't need him to see that she was starting to get a little worried herself over these dizzy spells and the headaches that followed them, a pressure building in her head that felt like something trying to get out from the inside. This time was no different, and she leaned heavily against one of the more solid parts of the wall, waiting for them to come back.

She didn't expect to feel something wet trickling down her lip and chin. Touching it carefully with her fingertips, they came away stained red - she stared at it in almost fearful shock. A nosebleed, after dizziness and a headache. The combination was extremely unsettling, and she was now very much looking forward to seeing the Scottish doctor so she could find out what the hell was going on with her.

It would be better if Todd didn't know about this latest development. Not yet. He had enough on his plate, especially with his own insomnia-induced exhaustion. So she wiped at what she could feel of the blood with the sleeve of her shirt (the black one, luckily) and put on her best 'everything's fine' face when she saw them approaching.

They returned shortly after she fixed herself up. Todd, while tired, was clearly pleased.

"Good news, the hibernation worked. How often it will have to be done remains to be seen but at least its not an incurable problem." he said.

The queen however was eyeing Rogue suspiciously. She knew something was wrong with her. Perhaps she could pick up on the faint scent of new blood. But she kept it to herself. "Come, let's leave the ship" she said and led the way.

Todd and Rogue walked behind her, the commander silently asking if she was okay.

Instead of heading to the dart bay, they seemed to be heading down some levels, and, sure enough, they turned a corner and a door, typically air-tight, opened at the queen's touch with an ugly noise, a trail of slime briefly connecting them in the bright sunlight, and they stepped out onto solid ground.

It was warm out with a pleasant breeze. There were a scattering of trees but nothing like the forest that Todd and Rogue had needed to navigate a few days ago. They moved into open ground, where they'd easily be spotted by the Puddlejumper.

It was extremely good news that Todd delivered, and Rogue was able to give him a genuinely happy smile. She was so pleased for all of them, having witnessed firsthand how drastic the effects of the insomnia could be for even just a few days. Knowing that hibernation would help with the problem was a huge relief for everyone.

The look the queen gave her didn't escape Rogue's attention, but she tried not to let on that she saw it. If the queen had noticed something, then it was likely that the only reason Todd hadn't as well was due to his exhaustion. She gave him another smaller smile as they followed the queen out of the ship, trying to offer him an assurance that she didn't really feel.

Being on solid ground again and this time not being on edge in enemy territory was really quite nice. The warmth of the sun was complimented by the breeze and Rogue almost wished she could spend a few hours out enjoying that quiet peace. It just wasn't in the cards for her, though.

As they walked out into the more open area, the dizziness hit again. She swayed, stumbled, and ultimately fell forward, managing to bring her arms up before she hit the ground. That wetness was on her lip again and she silently cursed up a storm at her luck. This wasn't supposed to happen. She was supposed to get to Atlantis and Dr. Beckett would fix everything before Todd ever had to find out. Now though? She was pretty sure he was gonna notice.

Indeed, he did.

"Rogue, what's wrong?" He asked, kneeling beside her, touching her shoulder.

The queen looked on with interest. Rogue must have been far more important to her commander than she guessed if he was acting like this.

Todd looked to his feeding hand. The option of the enzyme to cure her of whatever ailed her came up.

"Did you get hurt sparring?" He asked, guessing she might have hidden whatever was wrong for a little while and he'd been too busy to notice.

"No, I have no injury," she answered, starting to shake her head and then thinking better of it. "My headaches have been worse than usual the past few days. I thought it was just stress or something."

Slowly, she eased herself into more of a sitting position, not trusting herself to be steady enough to try standing on her own just yet. Wiping at the newest trickle of blood staining her lips and chin, she continued, "I need to talk to Dr. Beckett, find out what's causing this so I can keep it from happening again." Using the enzyme wouldn't tell them that.

He nodded once, giving her shoulder a reassuring squeeze before standing up, eyes watching the sky for the Puddlejumper.

Not a moment later, it appeared on the horizon and sped towards them, landing within seconds.

The back opened up and Sheppard walked out, Ronon-always one to trust the wraith even less than Woolsey-beside him. "Morning" he greeted, but his frown vanished at the state of Rogue. He looked to Todd, "Hey, what happened?"

"I'm unsure." he replied honestly.

Sheppard knelt beside her, "You injured or sick?" he asked, but unlike Todd, he didn't touch her because he still believed her to be dangerous...but also if she was sick with something, it was best to expose himself the least possible.

Ronon tightened his grip on his gun, glancing to Rogue but mostly had his eyes on the queen.

That squeeze on her shoulder helped a little, but she still cursed the universe when the Puddlejumper arrived and Sheppard came out. She hadn't wanted him to see her like this. She'd wanted to surprise him with her new control, celebrate together once everyone had settled in... Instead she watched his concern and cautious distance, appreciating the former and not faulting him for the latter.

"Sick, I think," she admitted, finally acknowledging it herself. "But I haven't been around other humans since we left, just the wraith on this hive. I couldn't have caught anything contagious. Whatever it is, I think it's just me. And I can wait until after the proper introductions are made."

It was important to her that they know she probably wasn't carrying some sort of viral plague, but at the same time she hoped they took precautions. Just in case. And the last was a subtle if pointed reminder about the new queen was there, and she was the really important one.

Sheppard wasn't convinced and he stood, touching his earpiece. "Atlantis this is Sheppard, have a medical team standing by in hazmat. Rogue is sick and we're not sure with what."

After acknowledging the order, he returned inside the Jumper.

Todd helped Rogue to her feet, the queen stepping in and sitting down without a word, though a little annoyed by Ronon's continuous guard.

The commander sat with Rogue, letting her lean her headachey head against his shoulder.

Sheppard closed the door, glancing to the odd pair but saying nothing as he took the jumper back into the air and they headed for Atlantis, and hopefully, help.

Edited 2016-03-15 02:31 (UTC)

Well, if everyone at Atlantis didn't remember her after their first visit, they sure would now with the med team in hazmat. It was actually a little mortifying to think about, and Rogue almost wished that she would pass out or something before the Jumper got to the city.

She wanted to make some sort of joke to ease the tension, something to make things a little smoother between everyone, but she knew it wouldn't go over well. Ronon would never trust wraith to any real degree, for which she didn't blame him considering his experiences, and while Sheppard might appreciate it, he was a little busy flying the ship.

She also wanted to apologize to the queen for overshadowing her first visit to Atlantis, but all she could bring herself to do was stay where she was leaning against Todd. The young queen really should have been the center of attention, and Rogue just hoped that once she was out of the way and being seen to, things would go more smoothly for the queen and commander as they started their talks.

When the jumper landed, it was a relief to see Carson Beckett waiting there in the bay with a med team, even if he was in a full hazmat suit. Rogue managed a strained smile for her favorite doctor as she greeted him, "Hey doc, fancy meeting you here."

A worried smile was given in return. "Hello there, lass. Let's get you looked after, shall we?"

Todd let the doctor have her without a word, but silently he and the queen were talking. She was surprised by her commander's devotion to the human, but not mad at Rogue for being sick or taking up what should have been her time in the spotlight. She was actually curious. Wraith never fell ill, and when it was something even their Gift couldn't cure, it was fascinating. A little morbid perhaps but that's how they thought.

Sheppard and Ronon also followed Beckett as there was a possibility they could have been exposed. Todd and the queen were escorted by a team in hazmat to their new quarters.

Beckett had Rogue lay on a rolling bed-and would have none of her excuses to walking on her own-and asked questions along the way. What sort of pain, how long, how bad, and so on. He also assured her that the hazmat precaution was more often done than she might think. Atlantis had had its fair share of need of quarantines over the years and the city itself often shut down if it sensed a containment. Better safe than sorry.

Much better safe than sorry, considering the city's defenses against contagion. She'd heard about the first time it had happened from Sheppard, including the various escapades of everyone trying to figure out what the hell was going on. Rogue had made sure to act sufficiently impressed at the way the colonel had scaled the side of the city to reach the control room.

All of Beckett's questions were answered with as much thoroughness as possible, and she was incredibly glad that Todd wasn't there to find out how extensive her condition was - she really had been attributing the headaches to stress and fatigue, and hiding her discomfort as much as possible so she didn't add to all of the things on his mind, especially since the arrival of the queen and the onset of his insomnia.

As soon as they arrived at their destination, Beckett began running tests, starting from the ground up and checking for all known major diseases that could cause the symptoms she'd been experiencing. When the results came back negative, he began pursuing other possibilities, including more common human ailments that weren't contagious.

The morning stretched into the afternoon, Todd and the queen were eventually brought before Woolsey when it was confirmed Rogue wasn't carrying anything contagious.

Todd filled Woolsey, Keller, McKay and Teyla and Ronon and Sheppard-who'd joined them after they'd been cleared-about what had happened since their last trip to Atlantis. The death of the young queen, the progress with farming, finding the queen and her story, as well as how far they'd come with preparing their own meals on board the hive. The insomnia bit was left for last, along with the apparent remedy for it.

Keller in turn filled him and the new queen in on the progress of the drone's therapy. Thus far, the current trial seemed to be working. They were eating real food and had no side effects so far.

"So all that remains is a test on me" the queen said.

"True but-" Keller started but the queen cut her off.

"Acquiring an enemy queen to run tests on would be next to impossible, and as I am the youngest in the alliance, the choice is already made. However, as my life is quite valuable, there are a few conditions we would like followed."

"Such as?" Woolsey said.

The queen looked to Todd then back to the bald man. "We have captured an iratus bug queen to feed upon me in the event the test goes wrong and my healing abilities cannot overcome it. It will be used as such. It will of course remain on board the hive until such a time, if any, its needed."

"...Anything else?" Woolsey asked

"Yes." Todd said "As there is a possibility the queen may perish from the drug, we have a list of demands to make up for her loss. But also we require at least some of them to be fulfilled anyway in order to gain the upper-hand in this civil war."

"Wait a minute I know where this is going and the answer is no." Sheppard butted in, sitting up straighter.

Todd looked to him. "Our hive is ancient, we must have upgrades for it otherwise every fight we engage in is a fifty-fifty chance." he looked to Woolsey. "And as we're taking a big risk in trials on the queen, its only fair you give us something in return for our troubles. We're not asking for zero-point-module power. Just a little help in gaining the upper hand over enemy hives."

Woolsey was quiet, staring at the pair in front of him, then looking to McKay. "I want you to look over their list of demands."

"Seriously?" McKay said

"Yes. Report to me what the power requirements will be as well as any loopholes." his eyes flicked back to the pair. "We'll see what we can do, but no guarantees."

The queen stood, and Todd did as well, and they were escorted back to their quarters, though Todd paused briefly on the way, looking down the hall where the hospital was before following his queen. It was best to stay out of the way and let Beckett figure out what was wrong on his own with Rogue. Butting in may cause her to hide more from him.

It was a long day of test after test, running through exotic and mundane possibilities alike, Beckett coming up with new questions to ask Rogue every few minutes as he ruled out one illness or condition after another. He was at least far less annoying than Rodney about it, and had given Rogue something for the pain before he started anything too extreme.

There was a clear frustration in his expression by the afternoon, though. Rogue could see it in the way he worked with his tablet, in the way he spoke with his team, and her heart ached for him. A man dedicated to healing the sick, he couldn't do his job if he couldn't figure out what was wrong with her.

The answer was pretty simple in the end, though. Stupidly so, and the Scot audibly cursed himself for not having seen it sooner.

"What is it?" Rogue asked him in almost fearful concern, not having heard the doctor speak that way before.

Carson shook his head at himself and offered his patient an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, lass, that was a bit uncalled for. I'm just feeling a right idiot, is all. How long has it been since you spent any real time in the sun?"

That... was an unexpected question. "A while," she answered hesitantly. "I don't exactly get much opportunity on the hive."

"And before you arrived here, you would mostly stay covered, correct?"

Nodding, she confirmed, "All the time."

Beckett gave her a genuinely optimistic smile then and reached out to pat her knee through the sheet on the bed. "Well, then, we'll have fixed up in no time. You've got a severe deficiency of vitamin D, likely from a combination of lack of exposure to natural sunlight and your current diet. It's been known to cause migraines and fatigue, and when compounded with the stress you described, it fits all your symptoms."

It was a relief, that was for certain. For a while there, Rogue had actually been afraid that she had some extreme illness, that she might make the others sick, that she might be... But no. It was a problem that many people had, simply exacerbated by the life she'd been living. The doctor assured her that it was perfectly treatable, outlining his plan to get her levels back to normal with supplements and plenty of time spent under the sun while she was in the city, enjoying her newfound control over her powers (which he congratulated her for again).

Word was sent to Todd that a diagnosis had been made and that it was nothing too serious - Rogue had insisted he be informed.

Edited 2016-03-15 04:17 (UTC)

Todd and the queen remained in their quarters for awhile, interrupted in their discussions about how things went with Woolsey and the others by a marine opening the door and delivering the good news. Rogue would be all right.

It was a relief for both of them, but Todd more so of course. Now that that worry was over, and Atlantis had been brought up to date on what happened, he decided it was best he be flown back to the hive so that he could take his turn in hibernation for a week. He really didn't like the idea of leaving the queen alone, but this couldn't be put off much longer. His exhaustion was beginning to tell.

He talked with the queen awhile more, telling her what ought to happen while he was away from her. Rogue would be her consort as it was likely she'd be out of the hospital before he was out of the pod.

A little convincing of their guards to let them see Rogue, they were taken to the hospital.

Dinner was just being brought in for the patients and while Beckett knew what was wrong with her, he'd insisted on keeping Rogue over one night to monitor. The doctor was surprised by the visit but allowed the pair to talk to his newest patient.

"Rogue love, you have visitors." he smiled, Todd and the queen following him to her bedside.

Her doctor had taken full advantage of the situation of having her pinned down for the night and had her hooked up to an IV drip full of nutrients, including a supplement of what she was missing. The bag was nearly empty when dinnertime rolled around and Rogue had to admit that she was starting to feel a bit better already. Not quite as tired as she had been, and that despite the fact that she hadn't given in to the urge to take a nap in the afternoon after the commotion had died down.

She was just as surprised to see her visitors as Beckett, the queen especially so. Her assumption would have been that Todd would be too busy to pay her a visit, with everything that was going on, but it was a very pleasant surprise at least.

Greeting them both with a cautious smile, she said, "Something tells me this isn't a purely social visit. Not that I don't appreciate it, of course, it's wonderful to see you both."

"Not entirely, no" Todd chuckled.

"What are you sick with?" The queen asked, curious.

"She has a severe vitamin deficentcy" Beckett butted in automatically. "Humans need sunlight and a well-balanced diet, from what I gather, neither of which are a daily or even weekly routine on board a hive ship. As such, the migraines and fatigue became bad enough to do her the harm it did."

She was a little annoyed that the female she'd been addressing had not answered, the male had, but said nothing of it. Gender rank, as she'd quickly noticed, didn't apply here. "We've kept worshipers on board our hives since took to space, why is this...deficentcy, not something that cropped up with them?" She asked.

Beckett seemed to sense he'd done something to annoy her-not good considering she was going to be his patient soon enough herself-but the wraith seemed to get over whatever it had been. "Aye, that is odd, but unfortunately without blood samples to test, I can only guess your worshipers get their needed vitamin d some other way."

"No, they don't" Todd interjected as he realized something. "Worshipers only stay on a hive for about a month or two at any given time. Before our diet change, keeping fresh food on board for them was difficult, so they brought with them what they'd need to survive for the duration of their service." He looked to the queen, fascinated by this obvious but interesting discovery. "After a couple months, they'd start to develop what they call "hive sickness", though until now we didn't know the exact reason why."

Even the queen seemed surprised by this revelation.

Rogue made a mental note to explain the little misstep to the Scot once her visitors had gone. She knew that most of the people on Atlantis didn't have much experience in dealing with a wraith queen, and this particular queen was one who they would have to deal with extensively in the future, so it was really best to get off to the best start possible.

It was good that they'd solved the problem of why humans usually got sick after spending time on hive ships, though. Not that there were plans to have worshippers on board again anytime soon, but perhaps one day there would be other humans like herself who would want to work with the wraith on a more diplomatic level.

"Dr. Beckett assured me that I'll be able to manage it just fine if I pay closer attention to what I eat," she told the two of them. "I can take oral supplements until the farms become more stably productive and we have a regular source for supplies. It won't be that difficult, and I won't end up in this situation again."

Swallowing thickly, she turned her attention specifically to the queen. "I truly am sorry for causing trouble today and taking attention away from you," she apologized with a frown. "You deserved better than that, my queen. If there's a way I can make it up to you, please let me know."

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Atlantis time = we write novels

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