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

He paused in buttering their toast before finishing and plating it. "Let's hope not." he said. He couldn't imagine her leaving again. And if she did, it was likely she'd never return.

Again he paused, looking at her curiously.

"How did you come back?" Now that he thought of it, the way she'd left was a near death experience, but returning couldn't have been the same way as the last three years she'd been on the cusp of death.

Rogue let out a deep sigh, wishing she didn't have to tell the whole story but knowing that it was better to just get it over with. It wouldn't get any easier if she waited, after all, and he deserved to know.

"It's complicated," was the best preface she could come up with. "The war had gotten so much worse than when I was here last. Nearly the entire planet's population was dead or imprisoned, and so my friends came up with a plan to make one last effort at changing things - by going back in time and stopping the war from ever happening."

She glanced at him before looking back down at the floor. "I know it sounds crazy, but my teammate Kitty had developed a new power that she'd been using to send someone's mind back into their younger self. Going back five decades was risky, though, so Logan went because he could heal any damage. But while he was back there, he accidentally hurt Kitty, so Charles, Erik, and Bobby came to rescue me so I could take Kitty's power and continue the mission. I think that I ended up here because of my powers reacting to the timeline resetting. If I had stayed, I would have woken up in a different world, with no memory of anything that's happened to me in this life."

And while that might have given her a chance to be with Remy again, there was no guarantee that either of them would exist in that new world, or that they would meet and fall in love. And the idea of not membering Todd or anything about Pegasus... She was glad that things had turned out as they had. It was for the best that she remembered, both the good and the bad.

Todd listened quietly, setting their food down and sitting beside her to listen and eat.

He'd been around Atlantis enough to know that time and dimension travel was an everyday occurrence, so it didn't sound all that hard to believe.

Still it took a bit to process. So in the end her timeline was reset and things were good, but she'd never know how things turned out and it would be as though she'd never been born except to those few who had gone through the hell with her. That was hard, but did solidify the likelihood she would indeed not be returning to her dimension.

Rogue speared a bit of egg on her fork and popped it into her mouth. Chewing and swallowing, she took a deep breath and let it out in a loud sigh. Just saying all of it was exhausting, and she hadn't even gone through everything.

"I didn't even get to talk to Logan," she said sadly, moving a piece of tomato across her plate. "Give him a hug. There wasn't any time. And I'll never have the chance again."

"I'm sure there will be a lot you'll regret not doing, both now and years down the road." he said, taking a bite of toast. "But the important thing you should remember is thanks to you and...Kitty was it?...They all now have a future without war." he pointed out.

Todd looked to her. "We're very glad to have you back, Rogue." he smiled. "When we got the message from Woolsey you'd returned, I thought Sheppard was playing some cruel joke."

Todd was right, of course. They did all have futures now, and Rogue had played a part in that. For all the times she'd wished that the scientists for finally just let her die, she had only been able to help save them all by surviving that period of suffering.

She gave him a sad if somewhat amused smile. "You should know him better than that," she chided him gently. "The look on his face when I was finally lucid enough to talk with him..." She lifted her eyes to the ceiling and shook her head. "I should never have slept with him. I think it just made it worse for him when I left so suddenly."

Edited 2016-04-20 01:59 (UTC)

Poor Sheppard, the guy had been pretty devastated upon Rogue's disappearance. From what he gathered, the loss of her had been akin to losing Doctor Weir all over again. He'd never met the first Atlantis leader, but cobbling the pieces together, she'd been one of no equal.

"And what about you?" he asked, sipping his tea. "Miss him enough to want to go back to him?"

Her home was here, with a crew who looked out for her like one of their own...But, being human, she had one foot in the door of a possible life with another human.

It had been heartbreaking to see Sheppard look at her like that. Like she'd meant the world to him. It was more than she'd been able to handle at the time, when that look prompted her to return feelings that she wasn't even sure she could have anymore, at least not while on Atlantis. For now, whatever warm feelings she'd felt toward the city had been replaced by anxiety and fear, however unwarranted.

"No," she said simply, easily, and without hesitation. "I miss him, but not... I feel broken, and being on Atlantis just made it worse. I felt like they were expecting me to just be okay, and I don't know that I ever will be." She gave Todd a small, unsteady smile. "But I don't feel that way here, especially not with you. So I'm not going anywhere."

A chuff and smile at that. Good to hear. Things weren't the same without her around.

After breakfast they headed back to his chambers. Before she'd left she'd been working on her Wraith, so he thought since she was still too weak to spar, getting back into reading and writing would be a good way to occupy her time. He dug through old papers in the cubby holes over the desk until he found the key he'd made for her along with any notes and work she'd already accomplished.

While she did that, Todd sat and worked from his portable screen, actually three of them laid out on the bed. He went through and approved or modified the new layouts on their farming world. This year they were actually expanding the livestock paddocks and shifting the wheat and corn fields to a new section to give the orchards more room.

It was frustrating to see just how much she'd forgotten of the language she'd put in so much effort to learn. The very basics were still there, tricks she'd come up with for forming the strange letters, but she couldn't even manage to read a sentence without first glancing at the key. (Which, by the way, nearly caused her to tear up again when he pulled it out.)

After a while, though, it started coming back to her and the reading became easier. Writing was still troublesome, recognizing a character and reproducing it were two very different things after all, but even that improved before long. If she kept at it with concentrated effort, she might be back to where she was within a week or two.

Some time had passed before her attention started drifting and she couldn't concentrate enough to focus on the pages in front of her. Yawning audibly, she stood and stretched a little before wandering over to the bed where Todd had his work laid out. She sat at the edge of the bed, not wanting to disturb him or any of the screens, and peered at the things he was working on.

If she voiced her frustration aloud, Todd probably would have told her to ease up on herself. She'd had more important things to deal with and focus on during her past three years than retaining the wraith alphabet.

The commander worked silently on the tablets, which showed screens like some sort of farming game. Actually McKay had helped with this program so that visualizing the placement of crops and fences was far easier than a bunch of coordinates and typed up instructions.

As Rogue took a seat, he finished on one tablet, shutting it off after sending the information, and putting it aside to move onto finishing the other two.

If that was what they were working with, then their farming efforts really had expanded. Of course they had, though, it had been half a decade that she'd been gone. Everything had changed.

Was this what it felt like to wake up from a long coma? To have missed the world changing around you and be the only who noticed how weird everything was? Not odd or strange, but... uncomfortably different and foreign at times. Only, of course, people in a coma didn't usually endure psychological and physical torture, so the comparison ended there.

Rogue glanced up at the skylight above the bed, with the stars shining just as they always had. When was the last time she'd really gotten to look at the stars?

The wraith had always been quick to take up new technology or mold what they had into something to use for some other purpose. It was how they'd become so successful as a species in a relatively short amount of time. Even if she'd been gone a month it was likely she would have missed out on something, especially during this time of great change. She couldn't witness everything the wraith accomplished after all.

Finished with his work at last he looked up to find Rogue hypnotized by the stars. He chuffed to get her attention so as not to spook her when he brushed his knuckles against her arm. "Miss the sky?" He asked

It took effort to tear her eyes away from that beautiful sight to glance over at Todd, a look of longing on her face. Her eyes moved down to where he touched her arm and nodded slightly.

"So much," she answered quietly. "These past few days, I haven't really had time to... notice, I guess."

"Well enjoy it while you can, we'll be in hyperspace in a couple hours and on our way to the farm which will take a few days."

It was still strange to say DAYS in terms of travel. From where they were now to their territory would have taken two weeks six years ago. Now? Less than half that time and no stops to let the hull heal.

There was occasional talk during the routine commander meetings that a run for earth should still be made to ensure the humans know who was the top predator around here. But he, along with several others, strongly disagreed. They had no need to waste time and resources on a venture that had a high risk of crippling hives in the middle of the void between galaxies. Still, it came up occasionally, like some suggesting queens should still occasionally feed on humans to ensure a long life. But so far their new diet had not had any effect on their longevity, the offspring were proof of that, aging no more quickly than before. So, again, no need to poke the sleeping dragon as it were.

He got up from the bed, stretching a bit and going over to look at what progress she'd made while he'd worked.

Only days? They really had advanced what their ships were capable of. She remembered how slow travel had been before, all the downtime they'd had in between stops and the regular worry about giving the ship time to repair itself. It was a whole different ball game now.

Rogue glanced over to watch him looking over her work, explaining, "I didn't get as far as I would've liked, but I needed a break."

She sighed and rubbed at her eyes before moving to curl up on the bed, laying on her back among the pillows so she could look up at the skylight and the stars beyond. "It makes me feel so small to see all of it up there," she observed quietly. "I was so dreadfully important to so many people for so many years, it's kind of nice to be small and insignificant again."

"You can't learn it all at once" he pointed out, turning to look up at the sky briefly before deciding to tear her away from the sight. "Come, your new clothes should be finished by now" he said.

When they returned to the chamber from before, Todd went over to the first pod and pulled out the first part of her new uniform, laying the black leather-like material on the table. He'd also commissioned a few undershirts in the silk-like material he wore, along with panties as he wasn't sure if going commando in her new pants would be comfortable for her. She had no need for a bra, her uniform would keep her secure.

Second pod had any metal components which were part of her uniform, which he easily attached himself. And finally he pulled out one boot and then nearly had to crawl inside the pod to retrieve the other, setting the pair on the table as well. The third pod was also for armor or shoulder decors like those on his, but she held no rank and would not see battle like the drones so there was no need for it.

"Go on" he urged "Try them on. The uniform might feel a bit stiff but like the boots, they'll soften up with use."

It was a little heartbreaking to leave that beautiful sight, but with the direction her thoughts had turned, it was probably for the best. If she let herself get too far into her own head, there might never be any coming out again.

The pieces of the uniform were so similar in material and design to what the others wore that it was strange to think of wearing it herself. Strange and yet... right. She was part of the crew, after all - wasn't that what he kept reminding her of? Perhaps it was time she looked the part.

As he laid out the pieces, she stepped forward to carefully trace her fingertips along the smooth materials, appreciating the quality of construction. It was only at his urging though that she moved to get dressed, slipping out of the robe and setting it on the table before sliding on the undergarments (which were very much appreciated), followed by the leather-like outer pieces. He was right that it all felt a little stiff, but she could tell that it would loosen as he'd said when she bent down to tug on her boots.

Once everything was in place, she straightened up and looked at him hesitantly. "What do you think?" she asked, spreading her hands at her sides, a hint of worry in her voice.

Todd watched her put on one part after the other of her new uniform, keeping an eye on if anything looked off or bunched up weird. The machinery wasn't perfect after all. But it seemed everything fit well and he stepped back to admire her, smiling as she asked for his approval.

"Now you look the part of my crew" he answered, then remembered one piece was missing. He returned to the first pod and pulled out half a dozen hair ties. They used thinner ones for their braids and the like but he recalled she liked putting her hair back entirely when she sparred and cooked and her hair was too thick for the little decorative ones.

He came up behind her and fixed her hair, combing his fingers through it and double checking to make sure no seams were wonky in the back before coming around again and chuffing happily. Oh how he wanted to see the look on Woolsey and Sheppard's faces when they saw her in wraith uniform.

Last but not least, Todd showed her where her pockets were, including a hidden one up her sleeve for a knife if she so chose to carry one.

"There's also a subspace transmitter here" he said, tapping on the buckle. "Press and hold the backside until it makes a noise and your position will be found. Handy to have in the event you get stranded." He didn't expect her to be going anywhere off the hive alone but precautions were never a bad thing. Everyone on board had them, though they were implanted under the skin instead. Thanks to her years of experimentation, he'd decided against doing that though.

Edited 2016-04-26 11:35 (UTC)

It didn't bother her in the slightest that he watched with such a critical eye while she dressed - she knew it was for the uniform and not her person, understanding that he was checking for any potential flaws in the construction of her new garments. When he gave her that smile and the words of approval, though, she couldn't help but feel so incredibly relieved.

She should have known he would have thought of everything, including ties for her hair since her old ones were likely long gone back on Atlantis. Having him fix her hair, combing through it with his fingers, helped her to more fully relax; there was just something about him touching her that settled her spirit.

The pockets were useful, though she didn't know if she'd ever use the hidden one in her sleeve, but she did immediately fold her gloves into one of the others. It was just the two of them for now, and she felt secure enough in her own bearing to walk around with gloves so long as she wasn't directly interacting with any of the rest of the crew.

Her vision blurred as tears stung at her eyes as he explained about the transmitter. She knew the others had them implanted, but he hadn't even proposed that idea to her, for which she was so grateful. Yet he had still made the effort to make sure she had one in case the need ever arose. In case she went missing again, if something happened and she was separated from the others. She wouldn't be left alone like before.

"Thank you, Todd," she said in a voice that was barely stronger than a whisper. "Thank you so much. For everything."

Before, anyone in the galaxy could read a subspace transmitter if they had the technology to do so. Now however, with the exception of Atlantis whose sensors picked up pretty much everything, only the hive the transmitter came from could pick it up on their radar so to speak. This ensured half a dozen hives didn't all come running to the rescue of a wraith that wasn't their own.

Todd inclined his head slightly, but said nothing more lest she desolve into tears.

"Come, let's go show you off to the queen." He said and led the way to Victoria's chambers.

Her chambers were hardly bigger than Todd's. But instead of the window to the stars being above the bed, it took up a good portion of the far wall. There was no desk but there was an armchair with the wall it sat in front of obviously her private library as one panel was open and filled with books. Victoria herself was in said armchair with a book when they entered.

"You're looking better." She complimented Rogue, marking her place and getting up, eyeing the human from head to toe. "Queens wear I see. I hope you aren't thinking of challenging me and taking over." She said with a playful smirk.

One of these days she wouldn't feel like crying every twenty minutes, but for now she was just glad that Todd put up with it and didn't say anything. It helped, in a way.

Rogue had always wondered what Victoria's space would look like. She hadn't seen the quarters reserved for the queen when she'd been on the hive before, and she hadn't been up to imagining it during her time in captivity - she was glad of that now. The window called to her with its beautiful view of the stars beyond, but she forced herself to focus on her queen.

That smirk was returned with a small, tired smile, and she shook her head. "You wear power better than I ever could," she told her queen with amusement and sincerity. "And you've done truly amazing things since I've been gone."

Victoria knew Rogue wouldn't nor couldn't take over from her. In fact she had more to worry about from her daughter than she did the human. Even at the young age the female was, there was likely already those among the crew who had decided they would jump at the chance to leave with her when the time came.

But the future of her daughter and others like her was uncertain. Would they follow the normal means and try to gain a position by force? Or will they have changed enough to consider making new hives? Todd hoped the latter, there were so few of their great ships now that at the next rendezvous, they were to discuss whether each hive should start building a secondary one so that the next generations got a good start. Territoriality was in a wraith's blood, eventually he suspected they might return to the old ways, but for now it was best to take every opportunity presented to up their numbers peacefully.

The queen spoke again after a moment. "I'm not familiar enough in just how your ability works" Obviously Todd had told her that they hoped she'd be able to help in Rogue ability control training. The commander tried to keep conversations vocal but six years of pretty much solid neglect had slipped him of the habit. "So our first lessons will probably be short and simple"

It was something Rogue would have to get used to as well, missing pieces of conversations, since if Todd was having trouble with it then the rest of the crew most certainly would. Piecing together what she had missed wasn't too difficult in this circumstance, at least, though as she thought about it she felt the heavy weight of dread settle in her stomach.

Nodding slightly, she glanced from the queen to Todd and back, worrying her lip with her teeth as she tried to find a way to broach a subject that had just occurred to her. With all of this being Todd's idea, she hadn't taken the time to really think things through, and now she was desperately wishing that she had.

"I'm grateful that you're willing to help me," she told the other female, hesitation clear in her words. "I do have a question for you, though, about your own abilities. With your... With your telepathy, how much of my mind would you see? Is it just the surface, just communication and the thoughts that are at the front of everything, or..." She didn't know how to explain what she was worried about, what she needed to know.

"Both" she answered without hesitation. "Unlike male wraith, I can probe a lot deeper into the minds of others, viewing things of recent, and past feelings and events imprinted on the mind" she said. "However, as I won't be interrogating you, its unlikely I'll go deeper than what the commander has in the past, perhaps a bit more if such levels so to speak aren't enough."

She looked to Todd, who'd evidently started to talk to her mentally, remembered he needed to stop that, and repeated what he'd begun to ask aloud. "Can you suppress consciousnesses? She has a number within her that could be done without." he said, referring to the children and even some of the more unsavory ones from times past.

At that, Victoria thought a moment then gave a slight shrug. "I have never tried but I suppose that is in my abilities." she answered, then looked to Rogue again. "If you're fretting about what I might see in your head, you might as well get over it. Whatever Todd knows, I will too in time. Does that answer your question?"

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We'll have to find a use for the transmitter eventually now. :D

Hehe

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