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

Six solid minutes. Not even a flicker of her ability rippling the calm and simple...real touch. She was doing better.

It was time to change it up a bit.

Going for a walk around Atlantis might be the best way to ensure the most natural distractions, but if the gene therapy had taught him anything, it was little steps were needed.

"Let's try again, this time..." he held out The Once and Future King. "With a distraction. Read to me aloud while keeping hold of your ability." he said. She knew the book already so it wasn't an entirely solid distraction, but...little steps.

That... wasn't as easy to accomplish.

Rogue took the book in one hand, flipping it to a random page they had already passed, but didn't start reading until she'd taken his hand and stopped the transfer. The words were stilted at first, and her control wavered once, twice, but never did it flare and pull at him like in the arena. She managed two and a half minutes before she could feel her control about to snap entirely and pulled back.

She took a deep breath and looked at Todd. "Definitely not as easy," she surmised, but didn't put down the book. "Are you alright to try again?"

As he thought, and it was best he'd suggested small. Still, two and half minutes, even wavering, wasn't a bad start.

"Until you can't anymore for the night...or the worst should happen" he said.

Todd wanted to keep up the training as often as possible now that they'd established she could control it. But she had her limits and stressing her would likely do more harm than good. Not to mention he didn't much care for feeling like he'd had his arm ripped out.

Edited 2015-12-13 06:04 (UTC)

Rogue was extremely grateful that Todd didn't coddle her or make her take things really slowly. He wanted to push her as far as she could go, but not to her detriment, and he was willing to let her make that call as much as possible. It was similar to the way things had been with Charles, but her mentor had always had a tendency to assume he knew best with all things.

She lasted a little over an hour before she called for a stop for the night. After trying a variety of tactics, she'd found a particular method of focus that allowed her to hold her control for eight minutes while reading. Eight full minutes of touching him. And not once during the process did she suck the life out of him any more than usual. It was real progress.

Leaning back against the couch once the training session was declared over, feeling completely worn out, Rogue reached over and set her hand on Todd's arm, the barrier of his coat keeping him safe. "Todd, I know I keep saying this, and you're probably getting sick of hearing it, but I really mean it. Thank you for helping me like this."

Eight minutes with distractions. Well done indeed.

It was a lot for one night so he agreed to cease the training. Tomorrow would be their last night on Atlantis, the following day they'd be back on the hive. By the time they returned to the ancient city, he was certain she'd be able to keep her ability so under wraps that the effort will amount to no more than remembering to breathe.

The extra touch on his arm had him look down and then back to her. Keller did that when he'd been in the hospital. A reassuring or comforting gesture. But there was still that lingering feeling on the back of his neck that his prey was touching him...and all it would take would be a quick raise of the hand to feed...or defend himself, as prey usually never cooperated with being fed upon and fought back when possible.

It was several millennial of instinct, he doubted it would go away within a couple years.

Todd chuffed in response and nodded before withdrawing. "Get some rest, tonight was quite an accomplished one."

She'd seen the way he looked when she touched him, and while she didn't fully understand the meaning behind it, she could tell it wasn't something he was fully comfortable with. It was a little sad, in a way. She was going to so much effort to be able to touch people safely, but it seemed like it would still be an infrequent part of her life.

She had nothing to complain about though. Anything was better than the sensory deprivation she'd been living with, after all.

Standing slowly, careful of her ribs, she looked back to him after a moment's hesitation. "You know," she said softly, "I really don't care what the others say about you. I think you're a wonderful individual, and I trust you. With everything."

It was just something she wanted to say, that she wanted him to know. She'd seen the way the others on Atlantis were with him, and while she acknowledged that a lot of their fear and mistrust was for wraith in general and probably not just Todd specifically, she also knew him much better in some ways than any of them now.

It was hard to say if she was naive when it came to his kind. But perhaps it was also the fact that they'd lived at the top of the food chain for so long that any view by a human other than as a predator was strange.

But while Rogue had had first hand experience with the wraith, she'd survived. No comrades had died, and she didn't see what the feeding process looked like on someone she knew or loved. The majority of those on Atlantis would tell a different tale. Sheppard had lost count of how many videos he had to make to send to families of those that had died in the war against the wraith. Ronon's entire world had been wiped out by them, and Teyla's people had been pushed to the brink of extinction themselves.

Trust was very slow to build. Walking relatively freely about Atlantis was a huge step in that of itself. What progress that had been made the commander could hardly believe, and every bit of it was worth the wait, and he didn't fault Sheppard or the others for taking things slow. The Pegasus Galaxy had known the rule of his kin for countless generations, like the instinct to grab and feed or fight, it wouldn't be forgotten so quickly.

Still, despite her being not of this world-in any sense of the word-he inclined his head in thanks. He'd be sure not to misplace that trust.

Maybe she was a little naïve, not having personally experienced the more vicious side of wraith nature, with the natural predatory state. But she wasn't an idiot. She knew how dangerous and destructive the Wraith could be - she'd seen a glimpse of their potential in the tiny bit of Sheppard she'd gotten during their 'date' the other day. Just because she trusted Todd didn't mean she trusted every wraith in the galaxy. Even the members of Todd's crew still occasionally gave her pause. But Todd didn't, not anymore.

Giving him one final smile, she bid him goodnight and returned to her room. She slept like the dead that night, too tired even for the usual vivid dreams that frequented her sleep. When she woke in the morning, she could have sworn someone had slipped her a sleeping pill the night before, for how fuzzy the world felt. She needed coffee, in a vat.

She was on her way to the cafeteria for breakfast when it happened. Not paying full attention to her surroundings, she couldn't even really say how it happened. Her right glove was off for all of fifteen seconds while she adjusted her sleeve, and it was during those seconds that a Marine came up beside her and touched her arm. It was a purely instinctual reaction that had her lashing out to defend herself, her hand grabbing his arm to push him away, but his own instinct kicked in at the same time. The Marine's free hand latched onto hers in self-defense and her powers kicked in before she could shake him free.

It was just like with the humans and mutants back in her dimension. His energy and thoughts flooded into her, including the physical pain he was in and the terror he was feeling, because in his mind it was just like being fed on by a wraith. His muscles tensed and his hand became a vice around hers.

"Somebody help!" She didn't hesitate to cry out as she struggled to get free from his grip, silently counting the seconds that passed. By the time she pried his fingers from her hand, severing the connection, he had already started convulsing and it was all she could do to lower him carefully to the floor. "Somebody please!"

Major Lorne and a marine under him were closest when Rogue's cries were heard. At first he thought the marine was having some sort of fit, but then he realized it was no ordinary seizure.

He touched his earpiece and contacted the emergency response team and then Sheppard.

Despite all the training the previous night, Todd was up and about early to get his crew moving and put the last batch through the treatment. He and those who'd been given the serum before were having breakfast when there was a commotion with the marines. Several of the guard on the eight of them stayed while the rest jogged off. Todd knew at once something was wrong and he got up to follow, the marines left behind didn't stop him as they'd been ordered to guard the newly treated wraith, not the old one.

He arrived before Sheppard did and he looked to Rogue and at the twitching marine on the ground, but said nothing, just there to ensure the marines didn't get twitchy trigger fingers.

"Why'd you touch him?" Lorne asked, his voice calm and even as the response team arrived and put the marine on a gurney and rolled him towards the hospital, though none were quite sure what to do for him.

Rogue had stayed crouched on the ground when the marines arrived, her eyes on the poor man on the ground until he was taken away. Tony Adams, from Idaho. Youngest of three sons, mother Patsy and father Tim. Both so proud of their little boy when he'd gone off to serve his country, and so elated every time he got home to visit.

Would they ever see him again?

Rogue's own terror set in as she looked up at Lorne and the surrounding marines, all on high alert and watching her with mistrust in their expressions. Just like the soldiers back home. She stayed there on the ground, clutching her ungloved right hand to her chest, and looked at their boots instead.

"It was an accident," she explained, her voice wavering just like it had when she'd said those words at seventeen. "He startled me. I couldn't get him to let go."

She bowed her head, clenching her eyes shut. "He wanted to ask me a question. He didn't mean to scare me." But he had and for a split second he'd been sorry, before the pain and fear set in. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

There was some unsettled looks from the other marines but Lorne said, "Okay." He seemed to believe her.

Sheppard finally arrived, followed by Ronon, who naturally thought it was all Todd's fault and glared at him, paying little attention to Rogue at all. "What happened?" Sheppard asked

Lorne could have said the woman attacked Adams, but instead, he kept a level head and told his superior what Rogue had told him. "An accident sir, she bumped into Adams and the contact was not brief. EMTs just took him down to the hospital."

The colonel nodded and dismissed the other marines around. "Back up, give her some air" he said and looked to Rogue, "Gonna have to ask you to go with Lorne okay?" he said "Wait in the conference room." He looked to Todd, "What are you here for?"

Todd looked to Lorne and the remaining marines then back to Sheppard. "To make sure no further accidents happen, colonel."

Sheppard frowned, then nodded, "Go with them." The wraith helped Rogue to her feet and steered her with a hand on the shoulder to follow Lorne to the conference room, flagged by two other marines. Sheppard went to check on Adams, telling Lorne to relay the news to Woolsey. When the pair were alone in the room, Todd looked to her. "Why did Adams grab you?" Perhaps Adams had attacked her and she was hiding it?

She was so grateful that Todd was somehow there with her. Everything was happening in such a blur, she wasn't sure why or how he was there, but without him at her side as the marines escorted them through the halls, she would have been a crying, shaking wreck by the time she sank into her chair. As it was, she was still having trouble keeping her breathing steady, and there was a slight trembling in her body that was exacerbating her rib injury.

Looking down at her still bare right hand, the glove clutched in her left, she shook her head slightly. "He just wanted to ask me a question," she told Todd in that wavering voice. "What was it like to live on a hive ship? With the wraith being given the gene therapy, he was curious, and he didn't have anyone else to ask."

She tugged her glove on suddenly, frantically. "I wasn't paying attention. This shouldn't have happened. Not here."

Todd remained standing, listening to her talk of what the poor soldier had wanted from her.

"It has happened. Accept it. Keep calm, tell the truth, and stand your ground" he said. "He didn't attack you and you didn't attack him." he reminded her.

They weren't alone for long, Woolsey, Sheppard, Ronon, McKay, Teyla, and Doctor Keller soon came in, all sitting down, Teyla nearest to Rogue.

"I said this would happen" Woolsey said levelly.

"We know." McKay said.

"Please, recount what happened." Woolsey said to Rogue

"Why? Its simple, she touched Adams accidentally." Sheppard said.

"Just for the record..." Woolsey said, then looked to Rogue again. "Please."

Keep calm. That was so much easier said than done. She felt like she was about to jump out of her own skin as everyone filed into the room, and there was no keeping her nervous anxiety out of her expression, especially when Woolsey started in.

She took a slow breath and kept her eyes on her hands in her lap. It was easier not to see the looks on everyone's faces right now. "I was walking to breakfast and he- he came up beside me. I wasn't paying attention, I didn't see him." She shook her head slightly. "He put his hand on my arm to get my attention, he wanted to ask me a question. It startled me. I pushed his hand away and we were both just... reacting on instinct. He grabbed my hand and I couldn't get him to let go."

"You weren't wearing your gloves at the time?" Teyla questioned gently, wanting to get all the facts out in the open so they could be done with this. Rogue looked terrible and she would see this torment end for the other woman sooner rather than later.

Rogue hunched in on herself slightly and explained, "I took my glove off while I was walking. My sleeve wasn't tucked in properly, I didn't want to risk anyone bumping up against me in the cafeteria. It was only a few seconds..." But that had been long enough.

Woolsey made a noise, having made notes as Rogue spoke. "Well, there's little to be done now. Only perhaps-"

"An escort like before." Sheppard said. Clearly he didn't much like the idea of recinding the order to allow Rogue's freedom on Atlantis, but he couldn't do nothing.

Woolsey nodded, "Sounds fair,"

Keller bit her lip a moment before asking, "Is there any cure...or must it run its course?"

Todd recalled the first boy she'd kissed, he'd been in a coma for three weeks...but he wondered if...if perhaps the enzyme could cure him sooner...and put this mess entirely behind them. He was sure it would have a serious toll on Rogue's confidence during their training if they left tomorrow without knowing the marine's fate.

Rogue might have flinched at the decision for an escort for her. She understood the intention behind it, and she didn't fault Sheppard for making the call, but she would have rather been confined to quarters until they were ready to leave the city. As it was, she didn't plan on leaving her room much at all anyway. It would be better to hide than have to see the looks people would likely be giving her now - word spread like wildfire in Atlantis.

"It'll probably be a few days," she answered Dr. Keller quietly, clenching her hands in her lap. "There shouldn't be any side effects. He should be fine when he wakes up." But it was a small consolation when he shouldn't even be in that hospital bed in the first place.

Keller frowned slightly and asked another question. "And how are you doing?" Because Rodney had filled in her on the mental aspect of Rogue's ability, and from what she was seeing, the doctor was a little worried about the other woman's present psychological state.

"I..." What was she supposed to say? That she wasn't okay? That she had a splitting headache and she felt like she would be physically ill? She hadn't had the time or focus to properly shield herself from Adams' fear and confusion, and it was taking its toll on her. But she wasn't the important one right now, and she highly doubted Woolsey would care about her current state. So when the right words didn't come, she just shook her head and let the gesture speak for itself.

If it was only a few days with no lasting side effects, Todd wondered about mentioning it all. He kept it to himself. Keller was clever enough to bring it up if she thought it might help...But what was better? Waking the marine up so that Rogue wouldn't be dwelling on it so intensely while they were on the hive, or let the coma run its course? They'd made so much progress these few days...it would be a waste for it all to go down the drain in a swirl of anxiety and self-hate.

"Is there anything you can do for him doc?" Ronon asked Keller

The doctor opened her mouth and began to shake her head.

"What of the enzyme experiments?" Todd spoke up. All looked to him. "Wraith enzyme can fix wounds, why not bring someone out of a coma?"

Keller chewed her lip, thinking it over.

"Out of the question, he'd only be addicted to it when he woke up." Woolsey said.

"True but he could always go cold turkey afterwards like I did" McKay said. "And its unlikely he'll need to take as much as I did too." Woolsey seemed to reconsider his statement at that.

"I-I don't know, so far the enzyme that you gave us has not been put to any real use other than under a microscope." Keller said

"No time like the present to try." Todd replied.

"I agree." Sheppard answered and everyone looked to him. "Either he'll wake up and suffer withdrawal for a few hours or he'll remain in a coma for days, maybe weeks..." he glanced to Rogue. "Or maybe not at all. The risk is worth it."

Rogue glanced up as the debate went on, watching the doctor. She could understand why Keller would hesitate to try something so experimental without proper testing, but she couldn't just let it pass by without saying something herself. She was the cause of this whole mess, after all.

"Please, Dr. Keller," she said quietly, though her tone was practically begging the woman to listen to her. "If there's even a chance this could help him, you have to try. Please."

Keller glanced around the table at all the others who had spoken, taking full stock and consideration of the situation before finally nodding with a grim expression. "Okay," she agreed, though she still seemed a little hesitant. "We'll give it a try."

Rogue sagged back into her chair with a sigh of relief, though her expression was still pinched and drawn. Teyla looked at her in concern and reached out to gently set a hand on her arm. "Rogue, are you feeling unwell?" The question was quiet, but didn't go unnoticed by the others.

"It's just a headache," she replied with a ghost of a smile, grateful for Teyla's concern.

Keller and Todd left the conference room so she could draw a fresh sample from him and so that they could send his inoculated crew on their way and start the next batch.

Sheppard took Rogue down to the hospital too so that she could get something for her headache, and so that they could see if this treatment would work. He was quiet the whole way, thinking about Adams and hoping this would work...otherwise they'd need to send him to command to be watched and treated there as they didn't have the space or staff to care for a coma patient.

When they arrived, Todd had partially take his coat off and sat down so that Keller could get at his arm. He looked over as Rogue and Sheppard entered, followed soon by the rest of the staff at the conference table, all interested to see if this remedy would work.

If it did, there was a very real possibility of it being used on earth to wake coma patients...

Keller disinfected the crook of the Wraith's elbow and stuck the needle in, drawing out not black blood, but a translucent pink fluid from the enzyme pouch within. Beckett came over to play crowd control and shooed all but Sheppard and Rogue back outside.

"Need more pain killers love?" Beckett asked Rogue

Having a silent Sheppard beside her was something Rogue had never thought she'd experience. It was strange, unnatural, and uncomfortable. But it was better than it was Sheppard and not any of the others.

She nodded at Beckett's question, followed by a wince at the motion. "Do you happen to have anything for migraines?"

The doctor frowned at the question, having expected to offer her the usual strong Tylenol dosage. "On a scale of 1 to 10, just how bad is the pain?" He could see that she was paler than usual, and the way she held herself was different enough to be worrying.

"It's getting close to a 7," she answered quietly, causing Sheppard to frown and move a little closer to her. He'd never have guessed she was in that much pain, but he believed her self-assessment.

So did Beckett. Gesturing to a nearby empty bed, he instructed, "You have a seat here, love, and I'll see what I can find to help with that."

The Scot returned a few minutes later with a small glass bottle and syringe that he filled at her bedside. "Sumatriptan," he explained when she frowned at the bottle. "It's the best we've got." Pulling on a pair of sterile gloves, he gently pushed up Rogue's sleeve and swabbed a bit of disinfectant over her skin before administering the injection.

As Keller drew a second syringe of enzyme, he wondered if Rogue got headaches every time she touched someone like she had Adams.

When the doctor finished with him, he slid his arm back in his sleeve and looked to Keller, who was looking at the enzyme she'd drawn from him. "A little at a time." he advised, and she nodded, the pair going over to the prone marine, Sheppard stayed near Rogue, but watched Keller tend to the man under his command.

Beckett finished giving Rogue the Sumatriptan and pat her shoulder to have her lay back and let the drug do its work. Keller hesitated another moment before giving Adams one Cc of the enzyme, the smallest amount to start with.

Nothing.

Two...three...four...his heart rate was going up slowly but steadily. After she gave him five Ccs, they waited.

Still nothing.

As Keller sighed and shook her head, Todd was about to tell her to give him the rest of the syringe full when Adams stirred and opened his eyes.

"Bloody hell it worked..." Beckett said

It worked.

The relief Rogue felt at those two words was overwhelming. He was awake. He was going to be okay. She hadn't caused him irreparable harm through stupid negligence that should always have been avoided.

"Oh thank god," she breathed, pressing a hand to her mouth as she turned on her side in the bed, trying to hide from anyone who might look her way. Because in that moment, she wanted nothing more than to disappear.

At least the Tony Adams in her mind was finally beginning to calm down a little, now that they both knew his physical self was alright. That helped a little.

Keller was surprised, but pleased by the outcome.

"Adams, can you hear me?" She asked

"Y-Yea doc...what happened?" he asked

"Rogue accidentally touched you, but you're going to be alright now. How do you feel?" Sheppard answered, hardly believing it himself, and glancing to Todd.

"Ache all over..." he answered and Keller set about checking his vitals.

Todd however went over to Rogue and touched her shoulder. "You handled that well, all things considered." he said to her quietly.

She looked up at Todd when he touched her shoulder and tried to give him a smile. It wasn't too successful.

"Thanks," she said just as quietly. "I sure don't feel like it." Death was what she felt like, along with immense guilt and anxiety. That she was still among a group of people was only fueling that anxiety, because even though the only skin exposed was her face and neck, she felt like another accident was just waiting to happen.

It was silly, she knew, but logic didn't have much place in her world after what had just happened.

"You'll be all right." he assured her.

Sheppard told Adams to relax and do as Keller and Beckett ordered before coming over to Todd. "Seems like I owe you one."

"Indeed." The wraith answered, looking to him.

"...Did you know if that would cure him?" he asked.

"No, but it stood to reason if we can bring back the recently deceased and give back the life we took from humans, pulling them out of a coma was just another ability." the wraith answered.

Sheppard nodded, "Good point."

"Will we be able to resume the inoculations?" Todd asked.

"Yea, will have a word with Woolsey and we'll continue..." The colonel looked to Rogue then to him. "Keep an eye on her?"

"Of course." the wraith nodded. With that, Sheppard left to talk to Woolsey-as well as the others who'd been waiting outside the infirmary.

Todd looked to Rogue. "We'll be out of here tomorrow." he reminded her. "Keep calm, covered, and in your room once escorted there." he advised.

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