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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Rogue slept right through breakfast, and might not have made it to lunch if Dr. Beckett hadn't shown up at her door, having decided to track her down since she'd failed to visit the hospital for a checkup as promised. He'd taken one look at her ribs and immediately dragged her out of her room, insisting on performing a full scan with the proper equipment.

The bruising on her side was significantly improved, to Carson's astonishment. He'd heard about her ability from Rodney, who hadn't been able to contain his glee over having something new and exciting to study, but as they say, seeing is believing. After Rogue provided a brief explanation of what had happened the night before, the Scot determined that the borrowed healing had easily shaved off a week of her recovery time.

She was glad to hear it, because the whole event had actually taken a lot out of her. Physically, she was fine beyond the mostly healed cuts on her palm and her still injured ribs, but mentally she was a little on edge. Once she'd gotten to her room the night before, everything had come back to her and she'd fully realized what had happened. At the time, she'd been so involved in controlling the situation and effectively protecting Todd from the marine and potential repercussions of the accident, but in the quiet of her room she relieved the marine bursting into the room, pointing a gun at her companion. Just like so many had before, to other friends in other places and times.

Nightmares had plagued her for much of the night, and it wasn't until the sun was up that she got any real rest. It was because of her listlessness that Carson forced her to have lunch in the hospital before allowing her to retreat back to her room for a nap.

After brunch with the boys, the newly changed wraith were escorted back to the pier where the new group were waiting, including the youngest of their lot. They switched, the first group being returned to the ship, and were brought to the hospital and the spare room to be inoculated.

Like the day before, Todd oversaw each one of his crew, glad he had a strong stomach for the usual side effects ensued.

He tried not to check up on the youngster any more often than the others but this would make or break the serum's wide-spread ability and Keller could swear the old commander hovered around a little more than before. However, by dinner, there'd been nothing different in the side effects with him.

Sheppard stopped by briefly but long enough to know the youngster was special, and so during dinner, with Rogue sitting with them, he announced..."Cody."

Rodney pulled a face, instantly knowing what the colonel meant, who seemed very proud of himself for the clever name he'd come up with. "I thought we were going to discuss what we're going to name them?"

"I said no such thing, and I can't help it when these inspirations strike" Sheppard defended, starting on his dinner-tonight was beef stew and biscuits.

"Which Wraith did you...bless with this name?" Teyla said, amused. Torren beside her, eating his peas before Rogue could take them away.

"The young one." Sheppard said

"They all look the same to me." Ronon said

"The one with no beard or tats." the colonel elaborated

"Oh that one." Ronon plainly didn't seem to remember there being much of a difference between any of the new wraith on the base, though, like Teyla, somewhat amused by Sheppard's naming of them.

Cody. Rogue froze when Sheppard said that oh so familiar name, and she wasn't able to recover quickly enough to escape notice. Once they'd finished discussing which of the Wraith had been given this new moniker, Teyla's keen eyes noticed Rogue's unsettled expression.

"Rogue, is there something wrong?" the Athosian woman asked her gently, and the table collectively turned to look at the two women.

Rogue struggled to find words for a moment, then shook her head. "No, nothing wrong," she said dismissively. "You're sure you wanna go with 'Cody'?" she asked Sheppard, trying and failing to make it fully into a joke. "You can't come up with anything better than that?"

"Yes, thank you!" Rodney chimed in, completely oblivious to anything else going on.

Sheppard raised an eyebrow. "You're not a fan either?" he asked Rogue, a little concerned with her change in demeanor.

She shrugged slightly, moving her spoon through her bowl of soup but not actually taking a bite. "I knew a Cody once. It didn't end well." She paused, then added quietly, "For him."

Which effectively killed the mood of the table. Picking up her tray, she gave the rest of the group an apologetic smile. "Sorry, I think the pain's making me less charming than usual. I'm gonna go get some more meds from Dr. Beckett. I'll see you all later."

Sheppard looked like a hurt puppy when she left, struggling to come up with a better name in her absence but after that, every name he came up with seemed like it might be someone Rogue would know.

Todd was in the hospital when Rogue came by. The wraith in the beds were either sleeping, or in 'Cody's' case, awake and working a Sudoku book.

"Good evening." Todd greeted "Thought you'd still be at dinner" he stated

Rogue smiled sadly and shrugged. "I was kind of killing the party," she admitted. "Figured I'd check in on you, and them," with a nod to the other Wraith, "while getting my nightly dose."

Narrowing her eyes at 'Cody' and his Sudoku book, she looked surprised and then amused, actually laughing at the sight. "If he's awake and doing number puzzles, I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that he's bouncing back just fine after the gene therapy."

"The side effects come and go." Todd said as Beckett came over.

"Need more pain killers, love?" he asked

Todd stepped away so that she could talk to him in relative private. Cody set his book aside and lay back in bed, closing his eyes until the room stopped spinning.

Told you to take it easy.

Cody opened his eyes and looked to his commander. I don't like sitting still

Get used to it, the gene therapy's side effects won't last the night. Now rest.

Cody frowned and put his book on the table and closed his eyes to try and do as he was told. Todd checked his vitals before leaving the hospital for the extra room to check on those wraith there.

Rogue watched Todd go before giving the doctor a smile. "You know it," she confirmed. "And... do you have anything that could help me sleep? Between the pain and being in a strange place, well, you saw me earlier. I don't think it's gonna be any better tonight."

Carson frowned in concern at Rogue's request. "I can give you a mild sleep aid, certainly, but... If there's something bothering you, if you need to talk to someone, we do have a psychologist in the city."

With everything that Atlantis team saw and dealt with in Pegasus on a daily basis, their psychologist had a busy schedule with regular check-ins and helping handle the job. Carson was sure she would squeeze Rogue in, though, if she needed it. And after having spent a few weeks on a hive ship, he didn't see how she couldn't.

Rogue reached out and put her hand on Carson's arm, but below the shoulder. Giving it a squeeze, she told him, "Thanks, doc, but I'll be fine. I've got a whole team of psychologists in my head who can handle the job, but I do appreciate the concern."

Even though his concerns weren't completely allayed, the Scot still nodded and retrieved the medication she'd requested.

His crew were all resting comfortably, a sign that the worst of the side effects were over with. And as the youngster just needed to learn to relax for one night, it was safe to say he was fine too.

He returned to talk to Beckett shortly after Rogue had left and told him to wake him and let him know if there was anything the matter. He returned to his quarters, now escort-free, and settled down with a book, expecting Rogue to stop by to either talk because she couldn't sleep or proceed with the training.

Rogue actually debated that night over whether she should go to Todd's room or force herself to stay in her own for the entire night. Twenty minutes of going back and forth over going or staying, waiting for the pain medication to set in. She should let him have a night to himself, he'd had another long day of watching over his crew. But she felt completely on edge, her nerves like live wires under her skin, and being around Todd usually managed to have a calming effect on her, as odd as it might seem to other people.

So she stuffed the sleep aid in her pocket and made her way through the hallways, surprised and relieved to see he'd actually been relieved of his guard marine.

Todd got up when the door made its usual noise and opened it. "Almost thought you'd forgotten me" he grinned, but instead of stepping aside, he came out, letting the door close behind him.

"Care to walk a bit? I like this new freedom Woolsey agreed to."

A Wraith walking freely about Atlantis, he'd be the first.

"Sure, a walk sounds nice," she agreed, fully understanding why he'd want to take advantage of the opportunity. And a walk would do her some good, might even get her out of the funk she'd been in all day.

"How did Colonel Sheppard manage to convince Woolsey to go along with this, anyway? Doesn't seem like him," she asked, incredibly curious.

"Sheppard has his ways." he answered. "But I presume that the extra guard on me is better suited to patrolling the hospital halls where the wraith who have not been eating regular food are versus patient one who has."

The walk was leisurely, he drank in the architecture and paused to open a balcony door, only to close it, and then open it again and step out into the cool night sea air. The sky was pretty overcast and off on the horizon a storm was rolling closer. He leaned on the balcony, looking out over the city, much of it still alight as many were up late working.

Todd looked to her, "What threw you off from dinner?" he asked "I thought you and Sheppard and the rest got along?"

The fresh air was nice, the smell of the ocean reminding her of growing up in the South, with summer vacations spent on the coast. She missed it desperately, even though it hadn't been home in a very long time. The South would always have her heart, and little things like this would keep those memories close.

Hands tucked inside her pockets, Rogue didn't look at Todd save for a quick glance when he spoke, her eyes fixed on the lights of the city. "We get along great," she confirmed. "It's just... Cody. The name Colonel Sheppard picked. Cody was the name of the first boy I kissed. It's not a really common name, so when he said it, it just brought up a lot of bad memories."

She sighed and turned her gaze to the approaching storm. "I've been in a funk all day though, so it wasn't just that. The thing with the marine last night... I didn't sleep very well afterward."

Todd cocked his head, looking to her and remembering last night.

They'd been so close. Concentration was indeed what she needed most, that was a fact. Perhaps they'd have better luck on the hive. But he'd try to practice with her as often as possible here.

But...

"Picked for what?" he asked after a moment.

Rogue laughed, having forgotten he hadn't heard yet. "For your youngest crew member," she answered. "I think Sheppard might have noticed everyone paying extra attention to him, so of course he gets a name now."

Names were a thing she couldn't understand with the Wraith. Yes, they used telepathy for most communication among themselves it seemed, but she was human and it was nice to have names to put with the Wraith she knew, even if they didn't understand the human need for it either.

Edited 2015-12-05 04:17 (UTC)

"Ah." He said, opened his mouth to make a joke about not kissing him when he realized that might be in real poor taste and so said nothing of it.

"He's named several wraith to my knowledge." Including himself. "Don't take it too harshly, I'm quite sure he didn't mean for that to happen."

Todd withdrew from the railing, smelling the storm getting closer before turning to go back inside. Not a moment too soon, the rain started to come down lightly, tic-tac-I got against the glass.

There was no way Sheppard could have known, and she hated that she'd ended up making such a big deal out of it at dinner. She'd have to apologize to him later, make sure he understood the situation and that she really hadn't meant to bring him down. She liked the name Cody, despite everything, and it did fit its new bearer.

She stepped back inside with Todd but stayed at the glass, watching the rain. After a moment, she tugged off her right glove, and set her still bandaged hand against the glass. "I love storms like this," she told Todd softly. "I used to sit with Remy, with all the windows open, and just listen to the rain for hours. Those were the best days."

Todd stepped up beside her at the glass. A little poetic that they'd met in the rain just under three weeks ago. Or perhaps not as they weren't going their separate ways in it.

He looked to her when she spoke of the man Remy. Must be difficult indeed to have lost someone and yet they were still inside your head, giving you advice.

"Were you able to touch him at all?" he asked. If he recalled correctly, she'd said his ability had been energy manipulation. Perhaps, like himself, though for different reasons, Remy could handle brief encounters.

Rogue chuckled quietly and shook her head. "Not a bit," she answered, amusement and affection in the words. "That didn't stop him though, the incorrigible idiot. He was always trying to steal a kiss, even though it would knock him out for an hour or two. He said I was worth it."

Her swamp rat had been something else, all right. A veritable ladies man, she'd never understood why he'd pursued her so persistently. But she knew now. She had his memories of the first time he saw her, of being so pleased at making her laugh, of the exhilaration of fighting at her side. The immense sadness at knowing he was dying and wouldn't be able to protect her anymore.

So much for that theory.

Todd started to walk again, pausing to wait for her to follow and they continued their self-guided tour. They arrived at the Gate Room, the night crew at the controls above looked at the odd pair, but while the marines at the hallway let them go, they still kept an eye on them.

"What happened to Remy?" he asked as they moseyed around. Wraith might not be fluffy bunnies, but he liked hearing the lives of others. Except maybe McKay. Human years were so brief after all, being able to fit so much into such a little time frame-by his counts-was quite a feat.

Hands gloved and stuffed into her pockets again, she followed Todd through their tour, marveling at the architecture and the work being done around them. It was all fascinating to her, since she didn't understand the first thing of what they might be doing at those control panels.

"He died," she said quietly, with a quick glance at her companion. "About a year ago. We were ambushed and he was hurt. There was nothing anyone could do for him." Her shoulders hunched slightly, and the words tasted like ash on her tongue. "Except for me. He asked me to absorb him, all the way, so he could stay with me. He insists it was the best kiss he'd ever had."

They left the gate room and headed down another hallway.

Well, at least the man died the way he wanted instead of being slapped on a cold slab and experimented on by the enemy.

Todd quieted his questions for a little while, pausing again at a window to look out at the storm, glancing down the hall they came from and finding a couple marines poking their heads down to see what they were up to.

"Even if Woolsey had not declined you a permanent invite, you'd still never stay here, would you?" he stated more than asked. "The military presence is unsettling for you."

Rogue wrapped her arms around herself, careful of her ribs but still desiring the comfort the position offered. She followed his gaze and spotted the marines watching them.

"You're not wrong," she confirmed sadly, "but it's more than just that. These people haven't seen what I can do. They've heard about it, but actually seeing it... Most people are terrified of me afterward, and I honestly don't blame them."

She turned away from the prying eyes of the marines, frowning. "I've seen what humans do when they're scared of something, what they're capable of. If I were to stay here, I'd always be waiting for them to decide I was a monster that needed dealing with."

Even Colonel Sheppard, someone who had quickly become a good friend, was an uncertainty when it came down to it. She just didn't know how he would deal with it were she to accidentally touch someone, let alone drain them completely.

Todd looked to her then back out at the storm.

"I think you're forgetting who and what they've been dealing with the past several years." he chuckled a bit. "You're not the stuff of their nightmares, you don't kill people to feed off them, and you're still very much human in appearance. Which gives you a leg up so it goes. Would it unsettle them if you accidentally touched Beckett or even Woolsey? Yes. But no more than it would if I did it. Only difference is, you're human in appearance. They're far more likely to forgive you for what you look like. Me? They'd shoot on sight." He looked down the hall at the marines then back to her. "I'll prove it to you." then waved down two men to come over. Their suspicion levels rose but they walked over. "Question to pose to you two." Todd said.

One shrugged, then other nodded, "Sure"

"Which of us do you trust more and why?"

The first one snorted. "Well, that's easy." he said and nodded to Rogue. "New girl." and the second agreed.

"I'm hurt, but intrigued, why is that?" Todd said, grinning, clearly not hurt in the slightest.

"She's human looking and don't eat people." the second answered.

"And last I checked, she didn't steal the Daedalus and nearly slaughter dozens of innocent people for a betrayal we didn't commit." the first added.

"But I no longer feed on people, and she's unpredictable" Todd said. "Her touch could kill even myself. Does that not unsettle you?"

"Its very unsettling, but she doesn't have a history with screwing around with us like you and she's not going attack us on purpose for some hidden agenda, right?" the first said, looking to Rogue.

This little demonstration was doing nothing to allay Rogue's fears, and was actually likely having the opposite effect from what Todd desired. Instead of feeling reassured by the marines' assertions, their words were bringing up all the instances on her Earth when she'd been hunted and persecuted, when people had hated her despite her outward appearance of being a sweet southern girl. It hadn't mattered one bit to those soldiers who had tracked them across the planet that they looked human, that they were still people despite the tiny differences in their genetic codes. All they had seen were potentially dangerous freaks who didn't deserve to be walking free among normal people.

"No, I'm not," she confirmed, the words tight and layered with an anger and sadness that confused the two men. "But accidents do happen, especially around me. Maybe tapping McKay and knocking him out for a few hours wouldn't bother you, but what if it was a child? What if something happened and I touched Teyla's son, and he ended up in a coma? How would you feel about me then?"

The first man hesitated, as she knew he would. Because children were different. Children were precious, meant to be protected, and people who harmed children, even unintentionally, were never fully trusted again. The second man looked at his companion, started to open his mouth, but Rogue cut him off with a raised hand.

"Thank you, marines, that'll be all," she told them firmly, before looking at Todd with anger in her eyes. "We're done here," she informed him before turning and heading down the hall.

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Is Cody the real name of the guy she kiss-coma'ed?

Comic canon is Cody, stupid movie rename is David. I go w/ Cody. XD

ah

I have strong feelings about the movies... >.>

i loved first class, the others, meh

X1-2 were my favorites, but DoFP stole the cake. Side movies were awful.

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