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

It felt good to be challenged in a game again, the way she had been back when she'd been able to play regularly with Charles. Maybe she'd be able to convince someone to let them have a board when they left the city, it would give them something else to do other than reading and sparring when the hive was traveling.

Rogue returned to her room and tried to get some much needed rest, but as soon as her head hit the pillow she was wide awake, her mind buzzing with thoughts and questions about what lay ahead for them all. Eventually she gave up on sleeping and, taking a book with her, went out to one of the balconies to enjoy some fresh air and get a little reading in. Hopefully it would all help to calm her mind.

She had stood at the railing for a while, just watching the stars in the vast expanse of sky, when the breeze suddenly picked up and caught on the book held loosely in her hands. There was a fumbled attempt at keeping hold of it, but the paperback still fell from her grip, landing on a ledge just below the edge of the balcony.

"Damnit," she cursed quietly, kneeling down to try to lean over and grab it, but it was just beyond her reach. She'd have to climb over to retrieve it. It was easy though, to climb through the railing and down the ledge to crouch and grab the book from where it had precariously landed. The poor thing was tossed back to safety before she straightened up, preparing to climb back over herself when another gust of wind whipped around the city spire, catching her the way it had caught at the pages of the book--

And she fell.

There was only an echo of a brief scream left as instinct activated the dormant, borrowed power and opened a portal again, swallowing her up before disappearing. Just an echo and a paperback copy of The Three Musketeers with a bent cover.

The guard patrolling her corridor heard the scream and immediately investigated, finding only the book.

Within moments all of Atlantis seemed to have been awoken by Rogue's sudden disappearance. Of course, the queen was suspect number one but the guards outside her door and Rogue's confirmed that whatever had happened happened after they parted for the night. Security cameras were reviewed next. Rogue had only one in her room and it didn't show her balcony.

By the time Todd was woken, they still had no idea what happened. The commander was informed and flown to Atlantis. After reviewing the footage himself he immediatly requested they do scans of the city and the waters around it too. Everyone was accounted for and nothing bigger than a salmon was found in the waters. So she hadn't jumped or fallen.

Todd searched Rogue's quarters himself, hoping to find anything to clue him in. But his heart grew heavy in a way he'd not felt in some time as nothing turned up. And the final conclusion to what may have happened came to him.

She'd somehow returned to her own dimension. Woolsey and the others were, at first skeptical as they would have picked up some sort of energy signature if that had happened. Eventually they humored the commander and checked the city's sensors around the time that she disappeared. Sure enough, something had come and gone in a flash at the allotted time.

Rogue might not have died, but she'd become an important part of many lives, especially the wraith during her all too brief period with them.

A token ceremony was held the next morning. The wraith did not honor their dead in such a way, but they still attended, watching as Sheppard tossed a wreath of flowers gathered on the mainland into the waters.

Rogue might as well have died, for all the good returning to her own dimension did for her. Not even a day had passed in her timeline since she'd left, and she was able to reunite with her team, who had found her story more than a little hard to believe. It didn't much matter, though - a week after her return, she was captured by a team of soldiers and taken to a prison camp, where she was processed like all the others.

A number tattooed on her left forearm, forever labeling her as a victim of unimaginable cruelty. Once they'd confirmed her genetic code as one of the valuable mutants they'd been searching for, she was transferred to the most secure of all their scientific facilities - Xavier's mansion. She was too valuable to be kept in one of the general cells, and a bed was built into the lower curve of Cerebro to house her when she wasn't strapped to that table.

Three years. Three years of agony and torture as her mutation was studied. When at first she displayed control over her gift, they used incredibly persuasive means to wear her down, and eventually developed a nice pharmaceutical cocktail that made such control impossible. She was forced to absorb men, women, and children, human and mutant alike, sometimes just a little and more often than not to the point of death. Hundreds of them, all crammed into her head with their fear and pain.

The only things that kept her sane were the friends still in her mind and the memories of her life in Pegasus. Eventually, though, she had herself convinced it must have all been a dream, albeit a wonderful one.

And then one day Erik and Bobby showed up to take her away. One last effort to save everyone, to change the past and give the world a future again. She clung to the hope of getting to forget her pain and suffering, of being able to be with the people she cared about again, but as she felt the timeline shifting and saw the Sentinels disappearing from the mountain temple room, the light of a portal engulfed her and she was falling again.

Again. All she could do was close her eyes as she was tossed across space and time to land in a heap on an unforgiving floor, her head aching as she tried to blink away the blurriness to see the world around her.

And then suddenly, Rogue.

Sheppard jumped in shock out of his bed, staring at the familiar woman on the floor of his quarters, one he'd thought he'd not see again. He knelt beside her, and as his face swam into focus, time had passed here too, as his dark messy hair was starting to gray. He touched his earpiece and summoned a medical team to his quarters.

She was back on Atlantis.

Rogue was taken to the hospital, Doctor Beckett's familiar kind face and accent met her. "Welcome back luv." he smiled "Gonna get you checked over okay?" he said. Not like she'd have much of a choice as Beckett was always the worriwort sort, but his hands were gentle and careful, unlike those that had contained her.

Sheppard stayed beside her for as long as the doctor allowed before going to talk with his team, and Woolsey, about their unexpected guest.

Rogue was disoriented for the first few hours, the reality of her situation not quite hitting her at first. She'd written everyone in Pegasus off as part of a very pleasant dream and nothing more, and so she was calm even as she saw the way Sheppard had changed, even as Beckett began his examination.

But not long after Sheppard left, her mind cleared enough to realize that she didn't know some of the faces around her, and even worse some of those faces were covered by paper masks. A scream tore itself from her throat as she scrambled away from where Beckett had been examining the still healing strips of missing skin on her back, knocking over a tray of instruments that were little more than torture devices to her now.

Her scream brought two Marines running in, but their familiar faces were eclipsed by their uniforms that only brought on more screaming and hysterical crying. She threw herself into a corner beside a bed, trying to disappear or wake up from what had become a nightmare. Running was an option - if she ran, the soldiers would bring someone she knew and the doctors would make her hurt them.

Beckett was stunned by the sudden turn of events, but kept his wits about him enough to realize what might have caused the episode. He sent away the members of the medical staff and ordered the Marines out - none of them were allowed in the room unless they were out of uniform. But even that wasn't enough to calm the frightened woman huddling on the floor, and in the end the Scot had to administer a sedative to calm her down and get her back on the bed.

Her episode had been a surprise to all, and the evidence of torture that lingered on her body as Beckett found was enough to tell them that in the time she'd been gone, things had been awful for her.

A couple days passed, Beckett keeping her sedated though weaning her off of it when her hysterical episodes seemed to stop. Marines and anyone in a mask were still forbidden from the hospital in order to keep her calm and not trigger anything.

Sheppard visited as often as he could, though as she was unconscious or too out of it to reply, he kept talking to a minimum. Teyla visited when Sheppard could not. Her son too, he'd grown, now almost eight years old.

Four days since Rogue had arrived passed and Beckett had taken her off the sedatives all together.

"How are we feeling today?" he asked, setting a breakfast tray on the table beside her bed.

Rogue didn't blame Beckett for keeping her sedated, she would have made the same call had she been able to think clearly. In that hysterical state, there was no telling what instinct might have led her to do, and her powers were so unpredictable that people would surely have been hurt.

The visitors were nice, but awkward, at least when she was lucid enough to know they were there. How long had she been away? It had clearly been many more years for them than it had been for her; Torren had grown so much, and she hadn't gotten to see any of it. How much had everything else changed?

She couldn't stop thinking of Todd. The queen and the crew. All of them, the hive that had been her home. It was the only one she had left, now that the memory of the mansion was so thoroughly tarnished. But she couldn't bring herself to ask about them, she was too afraid to hear the worst.

Shifting so she was sitting up a little, Rogue gave a bit of a shrug, her gloved fingers fidgeting with the edge of the blanket. She'd begged them to give her any kind of gloves during those first hours when the initial sedative had worn off, and she had yet to remove them once when another person was nearby.

"I'm not screaming anymore, so I guess I'm feeling better," she said with a visibly forced smile that faded quickly as she looked down at her lap. "How long do I have to stay here? In the hospital?"

"Until you can look at a marine would be a good start." Beckett sighed. "And well enough to be questioned by Mr. Woolsey." he added. "We're all very curious to hear what happened to you. And as you may have already noticed, its been awhile since you were last here, nearly five and half years."

So far, there hadn't been a whisper of the Wraith and their fate during her absence. But to be fair, talking had been minimal and sleep plentiful.

"I'll leave you so you can eat." he nodded and began to leave and tend to his other duties.

If he wanted her to be able to face a Marine without shaking, Beckett was going to have a long wait ahead of him. And she knew they would want answers, but giving them would... It would change everything. And it would hurt, so very much.

Five and a half years. Almost twice as long as it had been for her. Long enough for things to have really changed, perhaps.

Before Beckett could make it out of the room, she quickly asked, "Are they safe? Todd, the queen, their crew. Are they alright?" Now that she knew what she was facing on Atlantis, she had to know this too. Even if the possible answers were terrifying to imagine.

Beckett paused and looked to her at her outburst, but smiled and nodded. "Yes, sorry for not telling you. Better than all right as I'm sure you'll find out."

The hive had been informed the day after Rogue's arrival and was presently on course with finding a planet with a Stargate, as they were too far out to fly to the world Atlantis was on.

The ship was two days out from contact, which would give Atlantis time to process Rogue first. When she was well enough to sit up and speak, she was brought to the conference table, escorted by Sheppard, not marine guards. Woolsey may enjoy being leader of Atlantis, but age and stress was catching up to him. His hair had turned silver and his glasses looked thicker. His demeanor had changed little, though he was a bit warmer towards Rogue than in the past.

Ronon too had mellowed. More time between his Runner years had made a bit more accepting, though still the hulking figure. He'd cut his dreads back a bit too. Rodney was...still Rodney, bursting with questions.

"I suppose we should start simple." Woolsey said, adjusting the papers in front of him and still not one to beat about the bush. "What happened that night you disappeared?" he asked. But before Rogue could even open her mouth-

"Unscheduled off-world activation!"

They all looked to one another before getting up and heading to the control room.

"It's Todd's IDC." Chuck said as the group came up to his console.

"He's not due for another two days." Woolsey said, a little annoyed, but also...worried? perhaps fearing someone had gotten hold of his IDC code. "Patch them through the MALP." he ordered, still taking no chances.

They turned to the screen. "Todd that better be you." Sheppard said

A moment later on the screen, a familiar wraith knelt into view.

"Sheppard" Todd acknowledged "Have we hit a snag in negotiations? Why won't you let me through?"

"Just checking to make sure it was indeed you. You reported you wouldn't be within range of a planet for another two days after all." Woolsey said, taking responsibility for the hold up.

"For a chance to see our Rogue again?" he chuckled "We pushed the engines a bit." he grinned. "Let me through already, it's raining here."

Woolsey sighed "Very well." then nodded to Chuck, who lowered the shield.

Todd disappeared from the screen which went black when they cut off the feed, and then Rogue's favorite wraith stepped through the open gate, soaked from the weather on the other world, but otherwise unchanged.

Rogue hadn't prepared herself for this. She'd been ready to spend hours hashing out what had happened to her, the way she'd gone through the portal, being captured and imprisoned, the experiments to research her powers. The people she'd been forced to kill... She hadn't been ready to see the most important person to her in all of this universe.

More than that, she wasn't ready for him to see her. She was thinner than she'd ever been before, the borrowed clothes hanging off her, the signs of malnutrition apparent in the gauntness of her face. Her skin was paler than it had ever been, with three years of absolutely no exposure to natural light, and even after all her resting she was unsteady on her feet. In fact, she very nearly fell over when she saw him on that screen, heard that wonderful voice that had echoed through every good dream she'd managed to have in all those years. It was only Teyla's hand at her elbow that kept her upright.

And then he was there and she could barely see him through the tears that filled her eyes. He was real. He hadn't been some wonderful figment of her imagination, he had been part of her life and he was there again despite the way her world had ended. She pressed a hand to her mouth to hold in the sob that wanted to escape, and it took all of her effort not to run to him. But as much as she wanted to hold onto him and never let go, she couldn't do that, not with the others, and not when she wasn't even sure that he would allow her to in the first place. So she just stood there, waiting to follow his lead and not paying any attention to the others in the room.

Todd came up the stairs, the gate security backing off and returning to their positions. His eyes never left her.

What had happened? She was skin and bones. Despair and pain all in one...

"We were just about to ask Rogue what happened when you called." Sheppard said as Todd came to stand with the group. This close to Rogue, she could clearly see something else familiar about her wraith. The main braid she'd tied in his hair had not changed. The others had of course, but something of her still remained on him, even after all this time.

"Thank you, but I'll be taking her home now." Todd said without hesitation.

Silence.

"Excuse me?" Woolsey blinked.

"Rogue is a part of my crew. Lost for some time but now restored to us." Todd said.

"I'm sorry but she did come back to Atlantis, not upon a hive ship. And we have taken care of her since her arrival." Woolsey said.

Todd glanced to Rogue, clearly not impressed by their "care", though he knew whatever trauma she'd suffered in her world wasn't likely to be cured in under a week. "She's coming home. And that is that. There's no security risk for her leaving, just your curiosity being left to hang on awhile longer."

Woolsey shifted a little uncomfortably. It was true, the only reason they wanted to keep her was to find out what happened to her.

Sheppard glared, a little hurt by this. After all, he'd cared deeply for Rogue prior to her disappearance. But, he must have known they really had no right to hold her, and truth be told, being here on Atlantis might be more stressful than ever, and as they couldn't get rid of all the marines, the best medicine was for her to return to the hive. So he nodded.

Teyla looked a little sad, Rogue had been one of the few people who understood what it was like to be different from others and possess a gift and curse. Having Rogue back was like having a sister lost and then found. But, she too understood, probably even more so because she suspected what Todd meant to her.

Home. He was going to take her home.

That word resonated in her very soul as she spotted that braid, the one she'd given him so long ago, and that still remained despite the rest of the ornamentation in his hair being different. He had kept that remnant of her, even though it had been so long since she'd left. He still thought of her as crew, still thought of the hive as her home. And he was taking her there without making her go through the ordeal of talking about what had happened to her.

It was hard to see anything through her blurred vision, but she did see that nod from Sheppard and she understood what he was giving her. She was going home.

Rogue turned to Teyla first, wrapping her arms around the other woman in a firm hug. The words to thank her for everything wouldn't come, but she knew her friend would understand.

Saying goodbye to Sheppard was so much more difficult. His embrace engulfed her small form and she clung to him for a long moment before pulling away and reaching up to touch his cheek for just a second, a gesture of the fondness she still held for him.

Rodney and Ronon both received very small, very watery smiles, and then she turned back to Todd. More tears fell from her eyes as she blinked them firmly, struggling to see him properly, and finally she begged him in a broken ghost of her southern drawl, "Please take me home."

Todd nodded, putting his arm around her shoulders and guiding her down the stairs.

After a moment, Woolsey let Chuck dial the gate back to the planet. After the sideways puddle became still as a pond, the pair stepped through, Todd not even glancing back.

Once they were on the other side and the gate had closed, Todd turned her to look at Rogue. As the rain came down, he leaned in, and pressed his forehead to her own. No words could describe what it meant to have her back.

It was raining on the planet, just like the first time they'd met each other. It was almost comical to think back to that time, how he'd seen her as a potential means of survival and the way she'd been so wary of him. Now, having his arm around her, being so close, it was the best thing she'd ever experienced - it really was the feeling of finally coming home.

But she couldn't help but move away when he touched his forehead to hers, stepping back quickly and almost slipping on the muddy ground. Even in that brief second, she'd felt her power stirring. "I can't control it anymore," she blurted out with eyes wide and frightened. "You can't touch me, I can't--" The words broke off and she shook her head, frustrated and heartsick because she wanted to feel his skin on hers, wanted the comfort of his presence in every way, and she couldn't have it.

His brow creased at that. Whatever had happened, had indeed been awful enough to render her back to that state.

But he didn't push her away.

"We will fix it. We did it once, remember?" He said, giving her shoulder a squeeze and leading the way through the rain to a scout ship parked nearby in the field they were in.

He'd come down alone, only a drone as a pilot, and the drone was almost unrecognizable from when she last saw one. The mask was gone, as they now fed on real food, revealing a rather ugly face, but judging from its attitude, it was still under the control of the Warriors like Todd and therefore would do her no harm.

As soon as they sat down, they took off. The commander kept his arm around Rogue the whole time.

So that's what the drones had looked like under the mask. She didn't even consider the possibility that it might try and harm her as had once been the worry - her trust in Todd and his intention of keeping her safe was that absolute.

We will fix it. As they flew back to the hive, those words echoed in her mind and she wondered if it could really happen. She leaned her head against Todd's shoulder, a deep exhaustion settling over her now that she was finally able to really relax for the first time in... so very long. Could they fix it? Could she regain the control that had let her live almost as a normal person?

Did she have the right to even try? After everything she'd done, and with the risk it would pose to him, maybe it was for the best that they not cross that bridge.

The ride was quiet the whole way, Todd more than welcoming her to lean against him. He stroked her arm through the material of her strange outfit to keep her calm. What hell had she been through?...and could they indeed flip her powers off like before? Did she even want to?

Soon enough, the ship settled on solid ground and the hatch opened up to reveal the dart bay, and a small group. Several wraith, all familiar faces, including Cody, had come to greet their long lost sister, but Todd warned them silently not to touch her skin as her ability was back in full force.

When they parted, the queen was revealed. She looked more regal than ever. She inclined her head slightly in acknowledgement that she was welcome aboard once again, Todd leading Rogue along the catwalk, not wanting her to be overwhelmed-physically or mentally-by the crew.

She was indeed calm during the trip to the hive, Todd's very presence permeating her being in a way that was like being wrapped in a warm blanket. He didn't demand anything of her, didn't pester her with questions or worry, he just let her be for the moment, and she was so very grateful for it.

The sight of so many wraith who she had known and worked with did wonders. She felt lighter as she saw them, accepted and welcome and safe. And the queen - she looked amazing, and Rogue was so relieved to see that she was indeed well and flourishing in her role.

There was so much Rogue wanted to ask them all, so much she wanted to know about how things had developed while she was gone, but all of it could wait. She was still weak, and they would have their own questions, so it was best to leave it all for later. But still, she managed to give them all a small smile so they would know how glad she was to be home.

After hellos were said-and unsaid-Todd took her to a set of familiar quarters, not changed in the slightest since her departure.

In fact, he'd hardly used them since Rogue left, tending to stay with the queen or at least in her quarters when need be.

"Want a bath?" he asked, taking things one step at a time.

His quarters hadn't changed. All that time, and it was like it had been the day they'd left for Atlantis, when she'd thought she would see it again a few days, perhaps a few weeks later, but not years.

Her clothes were wet, and with the cooler temperature of the hive and her severe lack of body fat, she was beginning to feel chilled. A shiver ran through her only a second after his suggestion, and she nodded quickly. More than the desire to get warm, she was also desperate to wash off the feeling of the hospital and even the lab. She'd been too out of it to wash up properly back on Atlantis, just enough to make herself presentable, but it hadn't been nearly enough to make her feel clean.

He steered her into the bathroom and turned on the faucet to fill the tub. He helped her undress, letting her lean against him before doing the same, hanging their clothes to be cleaned and dried, though he'd do his best to see she got some proper attire not...whatever that was.

The water was perfectly warm and after the damp, the rain, the stress and the excitement, it felt wonderful.

He couldn't touch her, but he stayed near her nonetheless.

They had many questions for one another without a doubt.

He answered a few as they soaked and slowly began to wash up.

"Our war is over. A year ago last month the final bunch of Wraith set in their ways surrendered. Many submitted to taking the therapy over death, but just as many preferred to die as they were." he said, lathering up the sponge and giving it to her. "Every wraith is now on a regular diet...For the queens the process is far more jarring as we found out with Victoria..." He smiled at her at that. The queen had taken the name Rogue suggested.

It was good that he helped her undress, because the uniform was complex in construction, a number of zippers and seams placed to expose only certain parts of her skin while leaving the rest safely covered. The scientists had been pleased with its construction, and while she hated the article of clothing more than she'd hated most anything else in her life, it had been the safest thing to wear on Atlantis for the protection it offered those around her. Still, she'd gladly see it burn if she could find something else to wear.

She was nervous being so uncovered with him. Not for the lack of clothing or the danger that posed - they both knew how to be careful and lord knew he'd seen her naked before - but for the fact that he could see what had been done to her. The tattoo on her arm, her near-emaciated state, and wounds on her back from where they'd "harvested" strips of her skin, like a skin graft left unfinished. Those were the only marks remaining from her torture, though; everything they had done that left physical damage had been healed by forcing her to absorb one of the many mutants with healing factors who had been kept on site for that very purpose.

The heat felt nice but the water also stung at the raw, new skin on her back and she couldn't lean back against the edge of the tub. Her slight discomfort didn't temper her relief at his words in the slightest, she still smiled softly at the news. "I'm glad your war has ended," she told him in a hushed voice. "And that everything seems to have worked out for the best."

She was also glad the queen had taken the name Victoria. It was how Rogue had thought of her all these years, it would have been difficult to use any other name for her at this point. Reaching out, she took the sponge from him and slowly began to wash her torso, purposefully not looking at the tattoo as she scrubbed the sponge over it. M4827. Even if she wasn't looking at it, she could see it clearly in her mind.

She was so marked up, and not in the interesting battle-scarred way anymore. He didn't even think that the enzyme could work to at least fix her skinned back. But he offered anyway.

"We can try injecting you with enzyme to heal you." he said "Never removed a tattoo before but perhaps someone on Atlantis could upon our eventual return."

While the war was over, there seemed to end to the work that needed doing. Farming had taken off well, even better when they had a large quantity of drones to do most of the hard work. Machines were suggested time and again but their crops had yet to grow big enough to warrant them. Besides, most ran on gas or diesel so they'd be dependent on Atlantis for that, which they were trying to avoid. Their best chance of making the work even easier was to change the dart's beaming technology to pick up mature crops. They promised they'd share this technology to Atlantis too upon getting it to work as it would improve their harvesting means as well.

They planned to return to Atlantis about two months from now to debrief them on all they'd accomplished. By then they'll have finished with the harvest and the territory division negotiations with the other hives will be complete.

With many hives gone, their territories were up for grabs. Though instead of hunting grounds, the systems would be scoured for prime farming land and even facilities and bases. Humans with small populations in poor conditions would be relocated to other planets to join up with better thriving populations. This would help the gene pools as well as help them get enough to eat. No one was being forced of course, and Atlantis was in charge of such matters, but thanks to the war, many planets only sported a few hundred. Once they got back on their feet, they could always return if they wished.

"Once you've eaten, rested, and we've caught one another up on the last few years, then we'll work on subduing your power again." he said. Only then he figured would she be settled in enough to even try.

She rinsed the soap from her skin before handing the sponge back to him, thinking over his words as she wet her hair. It needed washing far more than anything else had, the smell of medicine and disinfectant clinging to the strands like some twisted perfume.

Subduing her power. Was that really something she could do? She didn't deserve to be able to touch him again, to have that level of comfort after everything she'd done, all the lives she had taken. But not having control over her power would be dangerous for him. With all the experimentation done to her over the years, her powers were unpredictable now, at times spiking even worse than they had in the past dependent on her emotional state. If she didn't regain the level of control she'd had before, there was no way she could allow herself to be close to Todd or the crew again, and certainly not the queen, and that thought made her heartsick. And despite her own dark thoughts, the psyches of her loved ones, of Remy and Erik and Logan and Charles, they all protested that line of thinking, urging her to accept comfort and aid and live her life to the best of her ability.

If only it were that easy to listen to them.

Instead of addressing that particular matter, she went back to something else he'd said. "My back will heal on its own, it'll just take time," she said softly, her gaze falling to the inside of her left arm and the inked numbers there. "And I need to keep this. I need to remember what happened, because no one else will." She was a survivor of an atrocity, and she couldn't run away from that.

She couldn't run away from this either, though. Sighing, she hesitantly added, "As for my powers... Maybe in a few days. I was on a lot of medication until recently, and I had to be sedated on Atlantis. A few more days will help make sure it's all out of my system."

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your choice where she's landed!

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HAH, love it

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