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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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."

"You didn't do it on purpose so there's no need for your apology." she said honestly. And to tell the truth she didn't care much for pomp and circumstance, or in this case, more marines and a possible speech by Woolsey. She wouldn't hold Rogue accountable for anything but she also didn't hesitate in telling her what she wanted of her. "Yes, get well as quick as possible, you're going to be my consort of sorts while the commander is in hibernation." she answered.

Todd inclined his head. "I will be returning to the hive after leaving the hospital. The sooner I take my rest, the sooner we can begin the gene therapy."

That wasn't at all what Rogue had been expecting. Consort. She was fairly certain that their definition for the term would differ from what she knew, but it wasn't something she was concerned about for any reason other than worry over not being able to perform the duty as needed.

Looking between the both of them for a moment, she nodded slowly. "I understand," she told them. "I'm just here for observation tonight, I should be able to leave in the morning. What will you require of me?" she asked the queen in particular.

"Mostly to hold me back from ripping Mister Woolsey's throat out" she said, her tone suggesting she might just do it if given the chance.

"Also filling me in when and where possible about the people here, and general company. It's unlikely I'll be allowed to roam Atlantis even under guard so your presence in the room would be pleasant than being alone. And we'll likely continue speaking to Mister Woolsey and Colonel Sheppard about what's to come and what we hope they will agree to regarding the hive."

Rogue would likely be as tired as Todd currently felt by the time the queen was done with her and he'd returned, but this solid time together would help their slowly blooming companionship immensely.

It took a hell of a lot of effort on Rogue's part to not burst out laughing at the first part, but it seemed a wise decision considering who was saying it. Still, she couldn't stop the smirk that crept out at the words.

"I think I can handle all of that without too much trouble," she told the queen with a lightness to her tone that hadn't been there before. Honestly, it might be nice to spend some time getting to better know the young queen who was now in charge of them all. Rogue's mind was already buzzing with the things she could teach the queen during their down time, since wraith seemed to enjoy learning and being presented with conquerable challenges. How to read English and play chess were at the top of her list of possibilities. "Except for the things involving Mister Woolsey - he's always trouble, but I'll manage."

She nodded then looked to Beckett, who was hovering nearby, a queue that it was time to go so that the patient could eat and rest.

"We will take our leave. Come to my quarters when you're ready." she said and started to leave.

Todd remained behind a moment longer. "I'll see you in a week. Don't get up to too much trouble." he warned with a grin before leaving too.

A few silent words to his queen and they went their separate ways, she returning to their quarters, and he being brought back to the Puddlejumper bay to be flown back to the mainland.

It was going to be a long week without her commander around, but Rogue was actually looking forward to spending time with the queen. Sure, she'd had plans to spend some time with Sheppard's crew, but she could catch up with them a bit during meals and have more quality time with Teyla and the colonel once Todd returned. Getting to know the queen would be worth it.

That evening, Rogue had a talk with Doctor Beckett about the sort of protocol he should probably try to follow when working with the queen, and she promised the Scot that she would also explain a few things about humans and the way things worked on Atlantis - namely that, while Woolsey might be in charge, Doctors Beckett and Keller also held plenty of power in their positions as physicians. When the queen was in the hospital, she wouldn't be a ruler trying to exert her power, she would be a patient expected to listen to her doctor; it was something that transcended species and rank.

She also asked Beckett if he could help her procure a few things to help with her time keeping the queen company, and that was why when she left the hospital beight and early the next day, she showed up at the wraith's assigned quarters with a boxed chess set, three paperback books, and a pen and pad of paper.

Todd returned to the hive and to the pods, he and the rest of those affected by the insomnia stepped within to rest. Kenny was in charge while he slept. After he got out, he'd take his turn. It was best not to put both the commander and second in command in the pods at the same time. Quite quickly, he fell into that pleasant darkness, and there he would stay until the week was out.

After spending nearly all her waking time with the commander, it was strange for the queen to be on her own again, doubly so since she was on Atlantis.

But she didn't let her loneliness get to her in the least. She saved her energy, settling into a sort of meditative state for the night, snapping out of it when there was a knock on the door. She opened it to find Rogue looking far better, and carrying a few items of interest.

The guard looked to Rogue and the queen but seemed to realize the wraith would do her no harm on her hive so why here, and so left them be.

The door closed and the queen resumed her seat on the couch, "Come, sit. What have you brought?" She asked interested.

Rogue was grateful when the guard decided not to make a big deal out of her visit. She still didn't do very well around the armed Marines, but she wouldn't hesitate to put her foot down on the matter if needed.

Moving further into the room, she took a seat on the opposite end of the couch, placing the items in the space between them. "I thought you might like to learn how to read English, the language spoken around Atlantis," she explained, indicating the pad of paper. "When I first started learning to read Wraith, the commander wrote out a key for me, and I can do the same for you. The books are for practice, and I can also read them aloud to you if you'd like, that's something the commander and I have done to pass the time. And this is chess," she said, lifting the lid of the box. "It's a game that has fairly simple rules but involves complex strategy. The commander enjoyed playing it when we were here last. I thought that if you learned how, the two of you could play when he returns."

Edited 2016-03-23 05:21 (UTC)

The queen listened and watched quietly as Rogue explained what she'd brought.

Learning to read and write English would give her a leg up here instead of going through her commander or constantly asking what things said. So she agreed to learning it. She picked up one of the books Rogue had brought, even more fascinated with it than Todd had been as she'd only seen books a couple of times prior to her mother's death. It would be interesting to learn from such primitive means. Chess was something her commander had mentioned was a good game for wraith to learn as it required thinking ahead in ways card games and even sparring in the arena rarely exercised.

Her time together with Rogue would be an interesting one, full of learning on her part. And, the queen supposed, Rogue would learn from her too.

Wanting to get started, they worked on the key and the basics of the ABCs of English.

While Rogue went to eat lunch with Sheppard and his team, the queen remained her room, content to learn on her own.

"So, word is you're teaching the queen." Sheppard said to Rogue as they sat down to eat.

It had been an interesting morning, to say the least. She'd never taught anyone how to read before, not completely from scratch, but the queen was as good a student as the crew had been in the kitchen. Still, it was nice to have a bit of a break, and she was pleased to see Sheppard and the others.

Rogue nodded, taking a sip of her iced tea before answering. "Word gets around pretty fast, I see," she commented with a smirk. "It's true, I'm teaching her how to read English. I was taught how to read Wraith, so it seemed only fair. And the queen's an excellent student. I'm going to teach her how to play Chess, as well."

Ronon stared at her as she spoke, in that almost blank but calculating way, then asked, "You sure that's a good idea?"

Giving a little shrug, Rogue answered, "I think it's a great idea. But she's my queen, so of course I want to help her in whatever way I can."

There was a brief silence at that phrase "my queen". But Rodney, always one to butt-in and question or give his opinion, didn't let it linger too long.

"Well Todd already knows English and during his last visit he somehow coaxed Zelenka into playing with him so eventually if Rogue didn't teach her, he would." he stated in between bites of his food.

"Todd's been on Atlantis more times than any other wraith" Sheppard added when Ronon seemed about to ask how Todd had learned all of the mentioned in such a short time. "And he's clever. Not too surprising he picked up on the language. And wraith enjoy games."

During their talk so far, Teyla had been relatively quiet. She'd eyed Rogue's hair a lot in the beginning, very much noticing the change. Perhaps even knowing or at least suspecting what it might mean. But she said nothing of it. Rogue's life on the hive was clearly a pleasant one, despite the sunlight deficiency. No need to put her nose into her personal life like McKay did. Mercifully, the men were oblivious.

"Still think its a bad idea" Ronon grunted.

Sheppard didn't try to persuade him otherwise. The guy disliked anything that meant the Wraith were becoming more friendly or learning human things. And it was unlikely this would ever change.

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

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