A/N: Okay, so it took a little longer then I had hoped to churn this one out but, that having been said, I'd like to thank my wonderful beta reader Lantian Lady for all her help and effort. Without her, this chapter would not be nearly so good nor so clean (grammatically speaking that is). I salute her and you all should too. Moving on, I do hope that you all enjoy this newest installment and, if you do, you all tell me so by sending me lots and lots of reviews. Read, review and enjoy. Cheers!
Episode III: Twenty Feet
John Sheppard was used to waking up in weird places. Abandoned Genii mines, wraith-infested Genii torture chambers, hive torture chambers, hive cells, hive medical labs, Michael's medical labs etc. He was not, however, used to waking up in a forest somewhere, leaves falling down about him idyllically, his head pounding and with Todd the wraith laying next to him a short ways away.
That was a new one.
Groaning, the confused colonel gingerly sat up and looked around, his mind furiously trying to sort out what the hell had happened and why in God's name, his only company was Todd the damned wraith. Since the whole deal with the second Attero device had gone down, John had taken to avoiding the alien as much as was humanly possible. Seriously, John wanted to know what he'd done to deserve the pleasure of waking up with no memory of what had happened or how he'd gotten this way with only his sister's life-sucking boyfriend for company. It just wasn't fair.
"Life is not fair Sheppard. I suggest you get used to it."
John growled and came snapping out of his thoughts. Turning, he saw that Todd the he-wished-he-was-impotent wraith had woken up, propped himself up on his elbow wearing a smug- looking smirk, and taken to looking at him amusedly. John didn't see where the wraith got off finding anything funny about the situation they were in.
"You know," he told the green-skinned hobgoblin, "It's rude to listen to people's thoughts."
Todd hissed and hauled himself the rest of the way up off of the leaf-littered forest floor. "One can hardly help it when one they would otherwise ignore is broadcasting their inner views so loudly," he cocked his head to one side. "It was easier to listen than to block you out."
John growled. "Yeah well, try harder next time. I sure as hell don't need or want you of all people in my head."
It was the wraith's turn to issue an angry sound. "And what is wrong with me I wonder, John Sheppard?"
The colonel cringed. He hated, absolutely hated, it when Todd said his name like that. It made him want to strangle him. "Oh like you don't know," he bit out tersely and, before the wraith could argue with him or ask him to be blunter, John changed the subject by once more looking around. "Where are we?"
In answer to Sheppard's question, Todd himself took a look around. "I do not know," he said after completing his survey of their surroundings. "But, wherever we might be, my temporal region is suffering a rather lot of pain."
John scowled. "Why can't you just say that you have a headache like any normal person?"
The wraith glared at him. "Since when did my vernacular and word usage become any concern of yours?"
John's scowl stayed right where it was as the man looked darkly at the alien he'd woken up next to on a strange planet for reasons that were, as of yet, unknown to him. "Since you're dating my sister and I have to see you so damned fucking often!"
Todd hissed and opened his mouth to post a response to the colonel's open animosity only to stay himself as a noise caught his attention. Sheppard heard it as well and, as one, both wraith and human turned to face the direction from whence the sound had come, only to find nothing obvious to be out of the ordinary. Around them, the only objects were the ever present falling leaves, the trees and each other.
"Huh," John muttered, his eyes narrowed scrutinizing as he looked about. "That's strange, I thought I heard -"
"That's because you did."
"ACK! John jumped and leapt to his feet hurriedly, turning wildly on the spot towards the all too familiar voice of his baby sister. She came towards him after stepping out from behind a tree and what immediately struck him as being odd was the fact that she had a gun pointed directly at him.
Nervously, he swallowed. "Ah, Kate," he said uncertainly, his Adam's apple bobbing. "What's going -"
Interrupting her brother, Kate did not lower her weapon but instead touched her ear wig and said, "This is Major Sheppard. I've found them."
"Copy that," Lorne's voice came back to her. "Converging on your position."
Kate responded in the affirmative and then returned her gaze towards both the confused looking John and Todd the inquisitive looking wraith. Cautiously, she lowered her weapon but did not put it away.
John watched her every move with a growing feeling of dread. "Ah, Katie Beth," he said, his voice somewhat shaky. "W-what's going on?"
Kate looked at him and shook her head. "I'm sorry Sir," she said plainly, addressing him as though he were just another military officer and not her brother. "But I'm not at liberty to discuss -"
"Not at liberty!" John screeched, outranged. "I'm your damned brother, your commanding officer! I order you to -"
"I'm sorry," Kate interrupted him, her voice deceptively calm. "But until we verify your identity and discern that you are not a threat, I am not allowed to disclose any information to you that I have not been otherwise authorized to."
There were a lot of things that could be considered warning signs of impending doom and hearing Kate talk to him in her cool, perfectly practiced and perfectly controlled, clipped soldier's tone was definitely one of them. Kate only talked like that when there was something seriously wrong and John, who now had a deep sense of foreboding building up inside of him, was honestly scared of whatever she wasn't telling him.
"Kate," he said, appealing to her once again, his voice pleading. "Katie Beth, what's going -"
Before he got the chance to finish his sentence suddenly, out of nowhere, he and Todd found themselves surrounded by not only Lorne, Ronon, Teyla and Cadman, but also a swarm of about twenty marines. That feeling of foreboding got stronger as John watched his second in command come and take up his place beside Kate.
"Have you verified that they are who they say they are?" he asked her. Kate turned to him.
"No," she said crisply before turning to nod at John. "He called me Katie Beth though, which makes me think it's really him. I don't know about Todd yet."
Lorne nodded. "You have my leave to find out," he told her and then turned to look at the marines that surrounded them, armed to the teeth and ready to attack at but a moment's notice. "If he makes any sudden moves towards Major Sheppard that can be described as threatening, you are to open fire without hesitation." He turned back to Kate. "I've got your back."
Kate nodded and moved away from her commanding officer. Walking into the clearing, she made a beeline towards Todd and came to a stop before him. She looked up and he looked down, eyeing her in curiosity.
"Katherine?"
Her eyes remained cold and unwavering. "I have to make sure it's really you," she explained to him.
The wraith took a sharp intake of breath. "For what reason need you do that?"
Kate shook her head. "I can't tell you that," she looked back up at him. "Just trust me."
Confusion running rampant inside of his mind, Todd looked back into his chosen's steely gaze and felt himself bowing to her will. With a hiss be relented. "Very well," he eyed her. "How, exactly, do you plan on validating my identity?"
Kate's face remained blank, a perfect mask of control as she leaned forwards and raised herself up onto her tiptoes, bringing her mouth closer to Todd's ear. In a hushed voice that she was sure only the wraith could hear she said, "Tell me your name."
The inquiry was an appropriate one, as an imposter would not only be unaware of his given name but most likely not be willing to give it to her even if he did. Not for the first time did Todd find himself impressed with his chosen's wraith-like shrewdness and cunning. Dipping his head towards hers so that he might reply, Todd responded, "Valloran."
Lowering herself back onto her heels, Kate let her marble mask fade and openly smiled upwards at Todd. Turning, she looked over her shoulder towards Lorne. "It's him."
Lorne nodded and gave the signal for the marines to lower their weapons.
John turned incredulously towards his sister. "How do you know it's really our Todd? What'd you ask him?"
Kate smirked and waggled her eyebrows suggestively. "Do you really want to know?'
John gulped and turned a light shade of putrid green. "Ah…no thanks," he muttered. "I'm…I don't really need to know."
Kate snickered. "You sure?"
John nodded his head vigorously. "Yeah," he insisted, his mind conjuring up all sorts of things that his sister could know firsthand about Todd the wraith that he didn't want to know about. "Positive."
Lorne snickered. "Yep, it's definitely really the Colonel."
The aforementioned colonel rounded on his second in command. "So glad you think so," he said sarcastically. "So, since you now know that it's me, wanna explain what the hell is going on?"
The major eyed him. "You've been missing for over seventy-two hours, Sir," Lorne explained and watched his CO's face morph into one of confusion.
John blinked and looked at the wraith. Todd looked, for once, to be just as confused as he was. The knowledge only made him feel just slightly better. He returned his gaze to Lorne. "Huh?"
Teyla stepped forwards. "Our team and Todd were traveling to a planet in search of some Ancient technology that we believed might be advantageous to the both of us. As soon as we came through the gate you both were targeted."
John's eyebrows knitted together. "Targeted?" he echoed, his confusion mounting. "Targeted by what?"
"A dart," Ronon answered bluntly causing both Sheppard and Todd to turn and look at him.
Todd hissed. "The wraith -"
Kate shook her head. "No, not the wraith. We didn't figure it out until later; after Teyla had her people tap their intel."
John looked to her. "Didn't figure out what?" he demanded, his voiced pitched higher in dread. Around him, Lorne, Kate and the others all looked down at the ground. He swallowed. "Who'd we get captured by?"
It took a while for his question to get answered but, when it did, it was Kate who broke the spell of silence and looked up at her brother in pity.
"Michael."
John felt his whole body turn stone cold.
~xXx~
"I hate Michael."
Todd turned, cocking his head to one side in contemplation as he eyed the human male that lay reclined in the infirmary bed besides him. Upon returning to Atlantis, both he and Sheppard had been escorted to the medical wing of the city under armed guard and then left in the care of Jennifer McKay. The doctor had immediately set to giving them both a thorough examination, taking everything from blood to a sampling of their hair in order to conduct tests upon. Todd hand managed to escape getting a physical and had also managed to argue his way into remaining in his own clothing.
Sheppard had not been so fortunate on either account.
Pushing away his thoughts, Todd returned his gaze to Sheppard's face only to find the human gazing back at him darkly. "Yes?"
John frowned. "How come you aren't wearing scrubs?" he demanded, irked that Todd had once again gotten preferential treatment from the good doc. "And how come you didn't get a physical? I got one, how'd you talk yourself out of getting one too?"
The wraith eyed him and answered candidly. "Would you, if you were Jennifer, like to see all of me in my natural state?"
John blanched. "Ah…"
Todd sniffed. "I did not think so."
John continued to make faces. "Who would want to see all of you?"
Todd smirked, he could not help it —the human had set himself up too easily. "Katherine, it would seem, is not opposed to the idea."
Cursing himself for having walked right into that one, John spun angrily towards the wraith and proceeded to glare at him heatedly through narrowed eyes. "I hate you."
The wraith hissed in amusement. "Do you?" he inquired, laughing inwardly at the utter look of fury dancing cross Sheppard's facial features. "More or less than you do the one responsible for putting us here?"
John continued to glare. "It's a tie."
"Is it?"
"Yes it is. Ask me again after you've slept with Kate, then I guarantee it'll be you."
"How do you know that I have not yet - as you say - slept with Katherine?"
John opened his mouth.
"Because he keeps tabs on Kate's medical files and after-mission examination reports."
Todd raised an eye ridge and turned to eye the female McKay. "Such information is included in all medical reports filed after a return from off world exploration?"
Jennifer nodded. "Yep. So, if you wanna have sex and not have him," she jerked her head towards Sheppard, "or anyone else find out, do it here and not while you're off world."
Todd hissed and inclined his head, tucking the information away for further contemplation at a later date. "I will remember that."
Jennifer smiled at him.
John exploded. "Why!" he demanded in exasperation, gesturing at Todd the suddenly smug-looking wraith wildly.
The doctor eyed him. "Because I'm on their side not yours."
John deflated and threw up his hands, slouching back in his bed and stewing. "Yeah, who isn't? The whole fucking city is on team Kate/Todd."
Jennifer giggled. Todd frowned.
"I was not aware that Katherine and I had a team clamoring for the consummation of our relationship."
"You'd be surprised," Jennifer told him. "I think Cadman's the official team captain."
"More like she started it," John mumbled darkly.
Jennifer shrugged. "You're probably right," she sighed. "Okay, so, moving on, I actually came over here to tell you that I've completed my tests."
John looked up at her, all levity immediately disappearing. "And?"
Jennifer looked down at her clipboard. "And from what I can tell, you're both perfectly fine. If Michael did anything to you, I can't find it in any of my tests."
Todd frowned. "Your conclusion is not particularly reassuring, doctor."
She offered the wraith a look of regret. "I'm sorry but that's all I've got," she folded her arms across her chest over her clipboard. "I talked to Mr. Woolsey and Elizabeth and they've both agreed that there's nothing more I can do until we know more about why Michael wanted you two specifically."
John sighed. "So?" he asked. "What now?"
Jennifer looked back at him. "You're both free to go. There's nothing more I can do here."
John practically leapt off of the hospital bed. "Oh thank you God," he explained, already reaching for his uniform which he'd thrown at the foot of his bed when Jennifer had told him to put on scrubs. He was dressed in record time and, as Jenn walked away, he turned to Todd while hopping up and down and trying to tie up his boots without sitting down. "Come on, I'll walk you to the gate."
The wraith frowned. "What makes you assume that I will be departing as of now?"
John finally managed to lace up his boots and so stopped trying to balance on one foot. Looking up at Todd, he answered, "Because you are."
Todd hissed. "And if I wish to linger, to perhaps keep company with Katherine for a time? What say you then?"
John scowled. "I say that you can leave and come back later sometime when I'm off world and don't have to sit there and watch you two make out in front of me. I may have said that I won't stand in your way but that doesn't mean that I want to see you woo my baby sister!"
The wraith's eyes narrowed. "If you would stop interrupting us, your precious senses would be spared the onslaught."
The colonel waved off the wraith's reasoning. "I've only walked in on you once -"
"It has been more than once Sheppard. You habitually make appearances when both Katherine and I would much rather you did not. Even when we both request privacy you see fit to -"
"She's my sister! I have a right to make sure that you're treating her right!"
"Then it is your own fault if you have occasionally born witness to things that you would rather not see. Do not punish us because of your lack of trust in my ability to - as you say - treat Katherine right."
Looking up at Todd the stubborn ass wraith, the colonel knew that there was no way in hell that he was going to win this argument. He sighed. "Fine. You can stay. I'll take you to the mess hall; I think Kate's eating lunch."
The wraith sniffed. "I do not need your escort."
John glared at him. "Look here you, you either go with me or I kick you out of the city. Take it or leave it."
In the face of the human male's unrelenting obstinacy, Todd growled softly and relented. Together they began to walk out of the infirmary. An explosion, the sound of shattering glass and Jennifer McKay's scream stopped them. Curious and admittedly a bit concerned, both Todd and John froze and turned back, their faces mirrors of each others.
"Doc?" John called out, worry tinting his tone. "Jenn? Are you -"
"I'm fine," the physician answered, coming back into their line of sight. Both males' eyes widened. Jennifer was covered in blood. She looked up at them. "You two, however, might not be."
John frowned. "Huh?"
Jennifer gestured down at herself. "This is yours," she said, indicating the blood that had drenched the front of her clothes. "And yours," she nodded at Todd. "It's the samples that I took."
John's frown deepened. "What happened?" he asked.
She shook her head. "I don't know. I needed to run a test so I picked up your vial first and started to walk away but after I'd taken about ten steps both your tube and the one that Todd's sample was in just exploded. My office is covered in blood," she shot them both a pointed look. "Back in bed, both of you."
Todd hissed. "Surely I do not require -"
Jennifer eyed him. "Oh no, not this time," she walked over to a cabinet and drew out a clean par of scrubs. Waving them at the wraith she waited until he took them from her before she continued. "Change, now."
Todd scowled and opened his mouth to protest. Jennifer cut him off.
"Now," she commanded him in a voice that clearly said that resistance was futile. She turned to the colonel. "You too. And stay close to each other."
John's face turned green at the thought of getting undressed anywhere near Todd while the wraith did the same. "What? Why!"
Jennifer glared at him. "Because your blood samples only exploded after I'd separated them. What if that happens to the both of you if you get too far away from each other?"
John paled and in the face of such a disastrous alternative, Todd bowed to the female's commands and started to disrobe. John's face turned from green to red as he watched Todd's belt and bracers come off. Before the wraith could even start on his shoes, the colonel spun around so that his back was to the wraith and he couldn't see anything.
"Ah…tell me when you're done so that I can…ah…turn back around."
Todd hissed and sat down on the infirmary bed he had just recently occupied so that he could begin the arduous process of unbuckling and un-strapping his heavy boots. Glaring at the human's back he said, "What is the matter Sheppard? Are you troubled that you, perhaps, in comparison to me, are physically lacking in some aspect?"
Forgetting that Todd was stripping, John whirled around. "Hey!" he shouted. "There is no way in hell that you are better looking than me!"
Todd smirked. "That would depend, Sheppard, upon a great many things."
John scowled. "Such as?"
The wraith shrugged. "Who is making the comparison."
John sniffed and drew himself up to his full height which, since Todd was sitting down, put him about a head above the wraith. "Oh yeah?" he challenged and then turned, looking around for the nearest person. "Oy, nurse, come here a second."
The nurse, Amelia, came over to the man and the wraith and hesitantly eyed them both. "Yes Colonel Sheppard?"
John gestured between himself and Todd the half-dressed wraith. "In your opinion, which one of us is better looking?"
Amelia stared. "Excuse me?" she asked, not quite sure that the commanding military officer of the base had really just asked her what she thought he had.
Todd, too, looked at Sheppard in surprise. He had not thought that it would have been that easy to goad the human into such a contest but, having arrived at such a juncture, the alien was honestly curious as to how it would end.
John repeated himself. "Which one of us," he gestured more pronouncedly between himself, who was shirtless, and Todd the bare-footed wraith who was only in his pants and that undershirt thingy that he wore under his long leather robe. "Is better looking in your opinion?"
Amelia blinked. Oh my God, he really was asking her what she'd thought he did. This so wasn't happening but, since apparently it was, she decided to answer honestly. "Well," she began, a bit hesitantly. "To be honest Colonel, Todd's bigger than you are."
John frowned. "That's not what I asked," he said, quickly becoming annoyed when he saw the wraith start to smirk out of the corner of his eye. "I asked which one of us you like looking at more."
This time, Amelia giggled before she replied. "I'd have to say Todd, Colonel."
John's mouth dropped open. "What?" he screeched, totally bewildered. "Why?"
The nurse shrugged. "Like I said, he's bigger than you are; stronger. And he's got tattoos. I like tattoos on guys. They make him look dangerous."
John let out a low hissing sound. "That's because he is dangerous," the colonel sighed and looked back at the still giggling nurse. "Alright, thank you, bye." She walked away and he turned back to look at Todd. "You win."
Todd grinned. "You admit defeat?"
John scowled at him. "Yeah, I do this time but next time I'll ask somebody who I know likes me better than you. Then I'll win and you'll lose."
"Would that not be considered cheating?"
"Somehow, I'll sleep at night."
The wraith grunted and stepped out of his pants, laying them over the rest of his discarded garments as he pulled on the white drawstring pants that Jennifer had given him. Securing them about his waist, he looked up and noticed a curious look on Sheppard's face. He also noted that the human's face was angled downwards.
"Yes?"
John shook himself out of his stupor and hopped up onto the hospital bed. Crossing his arms and beginning to sulk, he said sourly, "Well Amelia was right," he shot a hateful glare at the confused wraith. "You are bigger than me."
The comment made Todd smirk smugly. A reply was not necessary and so the wraith simply pulled the shirt he had been given over his head and then sat down on the bed. Leaning back, he lost himself in a trance as he waited for Jennifer to return to them with her results.
~xXx~
"I detest the Abomination."
John smirked and looked over at Todd who seemed to have jumped onto the 'I hate Michael' bandwagon. "See," he said, his eyes roving over the irritated wraith who was seated in the bed next to him, his arms crossed and a dark look cast over his eyes. "I told you he's not a nice person."
Todd harrumphed and then looked back up towards both Dr. McKay and the other human scientist - Zelenka. The two humans had just delivered their findings to both he and Sheppard and, to put it frankly, the situation was far from awful; it was absolutely horrid. He and Sheppard were stuck together in a most literal sense and the wraith was not pleased about it. The thought of what the foreseeable future held was not an appetizing one.
"So," the wraith began, borrowing an opening phrase that he had heard the humans use frequently. "Allow me to understand this correctly. The one you call Michael infected both Sheppard and I with a dose of nanites that are designed to constantly emit a frequency to each other. If either of us distances ourselves too far from the other these nanites will crease to emit their signals and will, as a result, detonate within our bloodstreams," he quirked a brow-ridge and took to eyeing both McKay and the other one darkly. "Do I have a correct grasp of the situation?"
McKay and Zelenka both nodded their heads. John turned towards Todd.
"You forgot the part where, if that happens, we both die," he said to which the already angry wraith just hissed. He looked back at Rodney. "So, how close to one another do we have to stay? A hundred feet? A couple of light-years?"
Radek shook his head. "No," he said pityingly knowing that both the colonel and Todd were not going to like what he next had to say. "The distance is much less than that."
Todd frowned. "How much less?"
Radek cringed and prepared himself for the both of them to explode. "Twenty feet."
For a moment after he was done talking nothing happened but, then, after about fifteen seconds had ticked by as predicted, both John and Todd lost it.
"WHAT?" John screeched while Todd just growled loudly. "That's not…how is that…what is the point…I HATE MICHEAL!"
Todd snarled. "The feeling is mutual I assure you."
John let out an exasperated sigh and fell backwards into his infirmary bed while he pulled at his hair. Taking a deep breath he forced himself to calm down before he started talking again. "So," he began, some but by no means all of his anger bleeding away. "How are we gonna make sure that Todd and I stay within twenty feet of each other?"
Rodney's face perked up. "Ah, glad you asked," he said and then pulled from behind his back the solution that he and Radek had come up with.
John looked at him. "Handcuffs?" he asked, eyeing the pair that Rodney was holding. He frowned. "Why are they fuzzy and why are they pink?"
Todd desperately wished to know this answer as well. The thought of wearing anything that resembled the object that Doctor McKay was holding was not a pleasant one.
Rodney huffed. "Well it's not like we have real handcuffs anywhere in the city," he suddenly looked just a bit sheepish. "I had to borrow these."
John blinked several times rapidly. "From who!"
Now it was Rodney's turn to scowl. "From Cadman. Look," he eyed the colonel and the wraith alternatingly, "Each one of you gets one cuff. There's a chain connecting them that's exactly twenty feet long. It's the best we could come up with."
"Well come up with something else!" John argued. "I'm not wearing those — especially not when he's the one wearing the other one!"
Todd inclined his head, for once completely agreeing with Sheppard. "Nor am I."
Rodney glared at them both. "It's either you wear these or die, so which is it gonna be? Your lives or your pride?"
Unfortunately, McKay had a point and so, very reluctantly, both john and Todd relented.
"Very well," Todd hissed snidely.
John forced himself to nod. "Fine. Get it over with."
Smirking just a bit despite the gravity of the situation because, let's face it, tethering Todd and John together with a pair of fuzzy pink handcuffs was just one of those once-in-a-lifetime moments, Rodney walked in between their beds and clamped a cuff down on each of their wrists. Standing back, he grinned down at both of them.
"There, all set."
John glared at him. "You could at least pretend that you're not enjoying this."
Rodney looked at him. "Why would I do that?" he asked, snickering as an idea came to him. He turned to Zelenka. "Maybe we should go get a camera or something."
Radek grinned. "I believe that I have one in our lab. We could -"
"No pictures!" John yelled loudly, sitting bolt upright in bed and glaring darkly at both scientists. "Nobody sees this, got it?" Before either of them could so much as nod their head, John pointed furiously at the door. "Out! Both of you and if I hear that this gets around the city before anybody even sees us, when we get out of this, I'll skin you both alive. Got it?"
Ignoring the threat, both Rodney and Radek burst into laughter as they retreated out of the infirmary leaving John alone with Todd. The colonel turned to the wraith.
"Let's get dressed. I'm hungry."
Todd nodded. "I too would like to escape this particular vicinity of the city."
John agreed wholeheartedly and got up, already starting to reach for his uniform. Getting dressed while being tied up to somebody else proved to be difficult and so John ended up letting Todd get dressed first while he waited, before they switched. Once all was well, they started off. By the time they got to the mess hall, their plight had spread and, vowing to kill Rodney whenever they finally did get out of this, John ignored the looks and the snickers as he and Todd got in line, got their food and then meandered over to their usual table. They'd been sitting down for about three minutes when a flash went off in their faces.
John blinked, black dots appearing before his eyes. "I said no pictures!" he yelled as he waited for the dots to go away and for his vision to return. Once it had, he looked up and glared at his sister who stood over him clutching a camera and giggling. "It's not funny!"
Kate snorted and sat down across from him. "Yes it is," she countered. "It's fucking hilarious."
Her brother's eyes narrowed to slits. "I hate you," he said contemptuously. "You're evil."
Kate shook her head. "You love me and you know it," she put her camera away and leaned back in her chair, grinning as she looked across the table at her favorite sibling. "And besides, you raised me, so if I'm evil it's your own damned fault."
John stewed. "Yeah, don't I know it."
Todd was amused. Sibling interaction between his Katherine and her brother had always intrigued him if for no other reason than it was almost always humorous and entertaining. Their regard for one another came effortlessly and, on more than one occasion, he had found himself comparing the two of them to himself and his brothers and sisters.
They were anything but the same.
Kate sighed and sat up straight, scooting her chair in close so that she could get a better look at her brother and her boyfriend. "So," she said, reaching out and stealing John's apple up off of his tray. Biting into it, she chewed, swallowed and then continued. "What's the plan?"
"Give that back!" John demanded, reaching out for his pilfered piece of fruit. "That's my apple. Get your own."
Kate snickered. "It's mine now," she said and took another bite. "So really, what's the plan? You two gonna do anything to fix this?"
John shot her a look. "No, we're just gonna stay like this forever," he rolled his eyes and tried again to reclaim his stolen apple. When Kate held it away from him and stuck her tongue out at him he gave up and let her have it. Sighing he answered, "We'll figure something out. We're having that senior staff meeting tomorrow morning but, after that, I figure we can go Michael hunting."
"Think we'll find him?" Kate asked, taking one last bite of her brother's apple before putting it back on the corner of his tray. She giggled at the look he gave her after she'd put it back. "What?"
John made a noise of exasperation. "Why!" he asked her, nodding down at the half eaten apple. "You know what? Never mind," he sighed. "I don't know if we'll find him or not but we might be able to find his lab or the place where he did this to us. If we do, then Todd and Rodney can look over whatever he's left behind and hopefully figure a way out of this."
Kate nodded slowly. "Sounds like a plan," she smirked and then leaned forwards once more so that she could look squarely at both of them. "So," she opened, her grin growing. "How are you two gonna get through the rest of the day tied together?"
John frowned. "Whataya mean?" he asked. He did not like the look on his sister's face. He could only imagine the thoughts running through her head.
He gulped.
Todd was wary as well. "Katherine?" he questioned, eyeing his chosen whose eyes flashed up to his as he called her name. "What are you thinking?"
Smiling broadly, Kate shrugged and sat back in her chair. "Oh nothing," she said in a very unconvincing voice that let them both know that she was definitely thinking something. "I was just wondering who's sleeping where is all," she giggled and fixed her brother with a look. "I mean, are you gonna go to his room or is he gonna go to yours?"
John felt his face pale. He hadn't thought of that. "I ah…I don't know," he looked at Todd. "You can come to mine I suppose. I think I've got an extra pillow lying around somewhere."
Todd snorted. "How kind of you to offer," he let out a slow hiss. "I suppose that it will be I that ends up on the floor?"
John huffed. "Well I'm not letting you sleep in my bed. At least I'll be giving you a pillow."
"And, as I said, that is most kind of you," Todd replied sardonically. Out of the corner of his eye, he noted that his beloved was still grinning as she looked between both himself and his future sleeping partner. "Yes?" he inquired, wondering what was running through her mind now.
Kate smirked. "What are you gonna wear?" she asked. She looked at John. "You know he doesn't own pajamas right?"
John's face turned green again. "Yeah, funnily enough I sort of figured," he shot the wraith a reproachful look. "He doesn't seem to own underwear either."
Todd raised an eye ridge. "I do not own what?" he asked in confusion, unaware of what type of clothing was being discussed. He had never heard of 'underwear' whatever that might be.
John's face went from green to red in record time. "You don't, you aren't…" he trailed off embarrassingly. "Kate," he looked at his sister, "You explain it to him."
His sister made a face. "Why me?"
John glared at her. "Because you care a hell of a lot more about what he does or does not have on underneath all of his clothes than I do."
Kate smirked. "Yeah, okay," she sighed and turned towards Todd. "It's common practice for humans to wear some sort of garment underneath their clothes over certain parts of their body. Guys and girls wear underwear covering down there," she pointed at herself before going on, "While girls also wear a bra covering up here," she waved her hand over her chest. "Keeps everything in place and keeps our sensitive parts from rubbing against our clothing and getting irritated."
Todd understood. "Ah."
John shot him a look. "Yes, ah," he looked down at his plate. "I suppose that I could let you borrow something."
Todd snorted. "I doubt that I could manage to fit into anything you might own, Sheppard."
The barb hit John hard in light of what he'd seen in the infirmary. "You're not that much bigger than me," he said hotly, crossing his arms while he sat back and sulked.
The wraith huffed. "That is not what I meant," he said knowing all too well what it was that Sheppard was alluding to. "And, for the record, I am that much larger than you. However, that was not what I was alluding to."
John didn't feel any better. "Oh yeah?" he sneered. "Well, then what were you talking about and you are not."
"I was referring to my height and the circumference of my waist," Todd replied before adding his final say on the other matter. "And I am."
John gave up, mostly because he knew that Todd was right. It wasn't fair; the wraith had already won the looks contest did he really need to win in this area too. Life sucked. "Yes well," he started, moving on. "Then I guess you can just sleep in your own pants then. Damn fucking wraith."
Todd smirked. "As you say, Sheppard."
Kate was still grinning. "What about in the morning?" she asked innocently, drawing both male's attention back onto her. "Who's gonna shower first?"
This time, both men frowned and Kate, giggling madly, let them both alone to think about it. Oh, yes, the next couple of days were sure to be both interesting and fun indeed. God, it would seem, really did have a sense of humor.
And it was great.
~xXx~
In the end, both Todd and John decided not to worry about personal hygiene until they absolutely had to. Therefore, once they were done with dinner and Kate had walked them both back to John's room - which the military man was sure was for Todd's benefit rather than his own - both man and wraith concentrated on getting to sleep and trying to forget that they were tethered together by one cuff each of a pair of pink furry handcuffs.
The task was not easy.
In the middle of the night, John had to go to the bathroom. Upon waking, it didn't register in his mind that there was a wraith sleeping next to him on the floor or that he was attached to said wraith until he'd taken about twelve steps, the chain had run out and John had ended up on his back on the floor with little tiny jumpers flying around his head. The colonel had gotten gingerly to his feet and then turned only to see that Todd the not asleep wraith was lying on his back, head propped up on the pillow he'd been given earlier, staring at him.
"Going somewhere?" the wraith had asked, an amused smirk playing at the corners of his mouth that John could only barely make out in the dark.
He remembered glaring. "I have to pee."
Todd snorted. "Can you not wake until it is light?"
"No!" John protested as he began to do that dance you do when you've really got to go but can't. "I drank too much Gatorade at dinner and now nature's calling."
The wraith hissed. "Could not nature have made your bladder to be more resilient?" he pondered, somewhat annoyed that his sleep cycle had been interrupted for so trivial a thing as Sheppard's need to relieve himself. He had been having a good dream and was most eager to get back to it and the person who waited for him there.
He was not about to tell Sheppard that though.
John started to really hop back and forth while squeezing his knees together. "Get off your green ass and get over here or I'll pee on you!"
Todd had doubted that Sheppard would really go through with his threat but, none the less, the wraith had gotten up and walked the few feet that were necessary in order to allow Sheppard to race into the lavatory. The whole process was over quickly and, with that messy business over and done with, both males went back to their respective sleeping arrangements and attempted to go back to sleep.
They were awoken exactly five hours later by John's alarm clock.
The first beep went off at exactly zero-five hundred like always and like always John ignored it, rolled over and pulled his covers up over his head. Todd didn't. The unfortunate piece of machinery continued to go off for another minute and a half before the wraith got tired of the irritating noise that mechanical siren was emitting, sat up, grabbed it and threw it across the room. It hit a wall and smashed into about three dozen pieces and Todd let out a satisfied hiss, pleased with himself and the destruction of that little electric clock.
"I was gonna get that."
Todd turned. Sheppard was lying on his side in his bed with his head propped up on his hand eying him. He snarled. "You were not acting quickly enough," the wraith complained. "That particular piece of maniacal convenience makes the most grating sound."
John smirked. "Well, that's kind of the point."
Todd glared at him. "What is the point in anything uttering such a sound - which is intended to incite you to wake - if you are simply going to ignore it?" the wraith harrumphed. "The principal is flawed."
Stifling a yawn and stretching, John sat up, scratched his head and looked down at the alien who was still sitting besides his bead. "Are you always this pleasant in the morning?"
Todd eyed him. "Should I pretend that you actually care if I am or am not?"
John shrugged. "Well, I'm just wondering," he said innocently. "Because if this is what you're always like then one of these days Kate's gonna smother you with a pillow."
The human's attempt at humor passed as anything but. "I doubt that Katherine allows such a racket to assault her ears first thing on any given morning."
To that, John had to laugh. "Ha!" he gaffed. "Yeah right! Her alarm is louder than mine and she lets it go on for longer," he snickered and looked down on the suddenly scowling Todd. "Sorry buddy but if you think that your mornings with her will be all sunshine and kittens then you're shit out of luck. My baby sister is not a morning person."
Todd grinned, not put off by Sheppard's statements in the least. "Then I shall have to devise of a more pleasant way to…rouse her in order that she may prepare for her day."
John made a face. "Do you have to start with the innuendos this damned early in the fucking morning?"
Todd rolled his shoulders. "You are the one that broached the subject. I am merely -"
"Oh you're 'merely' doing something alright. You're merely pissing me off and it's not even -" John looked down at his watch. "Five thirty!"
The wraith hissed. "I -"
John cut him off. "I don't care, shut up." Todd shut his mouth and took to glaring at him but, like he said, John didn't care. Disentangling himself from his covers and standing up, the colonel began to give serious thought to a very disturbing dilemma that they were now both faced with. "Alright," he said eventually, stepping over Todd and coming to stand in front of him, arms crossed, while he looked down. "So really, how are we gonna do this?"
Todd was confused. "Do what?"
Swallowing hard, John tried to keep himself form blushing. "Shower."
If it would have been biologically possible for Todd to have turned red he would have. As it happened however, the wraith just turned a more pronounced shade of green. "What?"
John took a deep breath and willed his body into commission because there was no way in hell he was gonna get all embarrassed and flustered around Todd the damned wraith. "How…are we…gonna…shower?" he eyed the alien. "Do you wanna go first or should I?"
Todd stood up and folded his arms across his chest in a mockery of Sheppard's posture and pose. "How would you prefer it?" he queried, avoiding having to be the one to set the conditions on this particular arrangement.
John sighed. "Honestly? I'd rather not, but I know I smell and you're starting to, so, help me out here. Me first or you first. Either way. But one of us has to -"
"Knock, knock."
Both males jumped and turned, neither of them completely surprised to see Kate standing there leaning against the doorframe of John's room. "How'd you get in?" her brother asked, a frown starting to come over his face. "Why are you even here?"
Kate shrugged and walked towards them, stopping a few short feet away. "I overrode the door controls," she informed her brother with a smirk. "And I'm here because I thought I'd see how you both are getting along on this wonderful, early morning."
John scowled. "He broke my alarm clock!" he complained, pointing an accusatory finger at Todd the wraith who snorted in response.
"It was making an irritating racket that you refused to acknowledge."
John scoffed. "It'd only been going off for about a minute. You didn't need to throw it across the room."
Todd drew himself up to his full height. "I received a small bit of pleasure from the action Sheppard, you cannot deny me that."
The colonel cringed. "Yeah, okay fine. Now," he pierced the wraith with a stern, no-more nonsense kind of look. "Really, who's going first?"
Todd opened his mouth.
"Oh how I wish I'd brought my camera," Kate said, grinning madly as she had a pretty damned good idea of what they were talking about. She eyed her brother and boyfriend. "Finally come to that have you?"
For the first time in a very long time, Todd found himself somewhat put off by his chosen. "This is not as amusing as you make it out to be, my Katherine," he said to her, ignoring the wince Sheppard gave when he referred to his sister as his. "If we do not find a way out of this predicament soon then it is quite possible that our end will not be a kind one."
Kate's levity vanished. "I know," she said, her voice deepening in seriousness. Stepping forwards, she reached out and placed a hand on Todd's chest, moving it just a little so that it rested over his heart and she could feel it beat. "That's another reason why I'm here this early in the fucking morning. I wanted to make sure that you were alright."
His irritation at her put aside, Todd opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by a clearly agitated Sheppard.
"Him!" John yelled, turning darkened eyed onto his sister who was touching Todd in a way that he didn't like - the wraith was shirtless and any instance where he and Kate were in a room together and Todd wasn't wearing all his clothes made John nervous as hell. "What about me!"
His little sister turned to him and let out a long, low sigh. "Me being worried about you goes without saying John," she told him earnestly. "You're my brother for God's sake."
John wasn't appeased. "So, that doesn't mean that it's not sometimes nice to hear that I haven't been totally replaced."
Kate frowned. "Replaced?" she asked, confused. "Replaced by wh…oh," she stopped and took her hand off of Todd's chest and used it to reach out and catch her brother by the shoulder. "John, I love you. That's never going to change. No matter who I'm dating."
Her older brother sighed feeling a bit silly that they were having this conversation here and now in these of all circumstances with Todd the wraith as a witness. He so wished that the floor would open up and swallow the alien right now but, alas, the world wasn't that kind. He'd just have to tough it out.
"See," he started, still feeling somewhat lame, "With Travers I knew that I wasn't really losing you, that I'd still be your number one but, that's all changing now and I -"
Kate stopped him, taking pity on him because John never was very good at expressing himself and she hated to see him try to do it when he was so clearly uncomfortable. "Hey," she cooed, trying to coax him with her voice to look up at her. When he did, she went on. "I get it. I do. Now," and with that she grinned, the serious moment over and done with. "Go take a shower. I'll stay out here and make sure Todd doesn't peek."
John grinned and turned, disappearing into the bathroom. As soon as they both heard the water start and could hear the sounds of John going about his business, both Todd and Kate turned eagerly towards one another.
"Do you feel better now?" Todd asked his beloved knowing that the conversation that she had had with her sibling was one of an issue that had long weighed heavy on her mind.
Kate nodded. "It's hard on him," she said honestly, stepping forwards so that Todd could encircle her within the cocoon of his embrace. "To see us — to see me with anyone. It's not just you."
Todd snorted. "I believe he has more difficulty with me than he would another male but, yes, I do see his difficulty," he looked down on her. "Such a close connection as the one that you both share cannot be let go of so easily. It is ingrained in him to be protective of you. Doubly so because of the dual role he has played in your life as both bother and, more profoundly, as sire."
Kate nodded against his chest and then stepped back so that she could look up at him. "Is it like that for you?" she asked, curious. "Didn't you once tell me that you were more like a sire than a brother to your two youngest sisters?"
The wraith inclined his head. "I did but, my circumstances are different than yours and Sheppard's. I suppose some parallel could be drawn between the two of you and myself and my youngest sister but it is still not quite the same. I do not have such a pronounced affection for any of my siblings as you do for yours."
Kate made a face. "Only for John," she said sourly. "I don't really give a rat's ass about David."
Todd chuckled. "Oh, you say that," he hissed, drawing up his feeding hand and using it to grasp his chosen's chin so that he might look her in the eye. "But I know different."
Scowling, Kate pulled her face away from his hand, turning so that her back was to him. "Oh you do, do you?"
The wraith nodded and stepped closer to her, drawing her backwards until her back was pressed into his chest. Wrapping his arms about her he dipped his head so that he could softly nuzzle her neck. "It is not in you, my Katherine, to be anything but affectionate and caring to those who share your blood. You are a compassionate creature by nature. A trait I adore you for."
Despite herself, Kate felt her lips pulling upwards into a smile. "Good to know," she whispered, craning her neck so as to give the wraith who held her better access. She did so love it when he did that. It always …
"Aeh-hem."
Kate and Todd froze. Turning, the both of them came about and found John standing there with his arms crossed, leaning against the doorway to his bathroom. He was wearing a towel around his waist and an epic-looking frown; nothing else. Embarrassed, Kate dropped her eyes down to the floor. Todd, however; simply shot a heated glare in the terry cloth clad colonel's direction.
"You are interrupting again," the wraith said blandly, displeasure evident in his tone.
John's facial expression morphed into one of incredulous exasperation. "You're in my room!" he shouted at the alien. "And," he held up his arm for emphasis and waved it back and forth so that the chain that bound them shook, "We're tied together! Can you please not play tonsil hockey with my sister until we get this fixed! My eyes will thank you."
In defense, Todd crossed his arms and affixed the human with a look. "What does that mean?" he asked, making reference to what appeared to be Sheppard's newest dictum. "Tonsil hockey? You have used that phrase numerous times in the most recent past and I still do not, as of yet, understand its fullest meaning."
John threw up his hands and made several frustrated gestures at the wraith who, although he spoke perfect English, had yet to master American terminology. It grated on John who would've thought that after all the time that Todd had spent with them over the past five years, the alien would've at least made an effort to learn their idioms. Translating every other word for him was beginning to become a pain in his ass.
"Tonsil hockey," John started in a clearly annoyed voice, "It means, it's a way of saying, it's about…you know what?" he broke off, too irritated to continue. "Go look it up."
Todd lifted one brow ridge. "Look it up?" he inquired, curious. Sheppard had never told him to look something up before and Todd, quite honestly, wasn't sure how to go about doing it in the first place. "I presume you have a reference manual of some kind which I can use to 'look up' this term of yours?"
John growled in annoyance and crossed the room. He was able to make it to the bookcase without running to the end of his chain but, once he got there, couldn't actually reach his dictionary. Turning back to face the wraith, he shot the smirking green hobgoblin a glare that silently commanded him to take one step forwards. Todd didn't do it and instead, simply continued to stand there defiantly. John gave up and walked back towards him, plating himself squarely in front of the stubborn ass alien.
"Shower now," he commanded, pointing towards the bathroom before he crossed his arms and started to tap his foot. "Go on," he said when the wraith didn't move. "Hop to it. Scoot!"
Todd hissed. "What did I tell you about treating me as though I were a disobedient pet!"
John rolled his shoulders. "Since when have I ever listened to you?"
"When indeed," Todd snarled. "I would suggest that you -"
"Alright, that's enough you two," Kate said, deciding to intervene now that it looked like her brother and her boyfriend might actually get into a fight with one another rather than just posture around each other. Stepping up, she inserted herself in between them and held out her hands putting one each on both Todd and John's chest. "Chill out, both of you."
Todd let out a slow exhalation that was a cross between a hiss and a growl while John opened his mouth to protest.
"He started -"
Kate rounded on him. "I don't care who started it, I'm ending it!" she eyed her brother reproachfully, daring him to contradict her. When he seemed to stand down, she turned back to Todd. "Go," she told him, nodding towards the bathroom. "Take your shower. I'll be here when you get out."
Wordlessly, Todd did as he was told.
"Nice."
Kate whirled around and fixed her bother with a look. "Nice?" she repeated darkly, her voice scathing. "What's nice?"
John pointed towards the bathroom. "That," he said as though his meaning should be perfectly clear. "You making him do what you tell him. It's nice."
Kate scowled and rolled her eyes. "I'll show you what's nice," she muttered as she began to make her ways towards John's dresser. Opening the top drawer she pulled out a pair of boxer-briefs and threw them at her older brother. "Here," she said as she turned back to the dresser and started looking for his sock drawer. "Get dressed."
John frowned. "What, now?" he asked, looking down at himself and his towel before lifting his head back up towards his sister. "With you here?"
Kate snorted. "It's not like I haven't seen it all before John," she reminded him. "Remember your bachelor party? Who was it that you called at five in the morning to come and bring you clothes because you'd lost," she made bunny ears, "yours?"
John looked sheepishly at the floor. "You."
His sister nodded and walked back up to him this time holding not only a pair of socks but also a clean set of his customary black BDU's, his boots and an undershirt. "Ah-huh," she set the boots down in front of him and handed him his socks first while motioning for him to sit down in the chair that she'd also dragged over for him to sit in. "And who was it that also got to fish you out of the swimming pool, bare ass naked, after your divorce?"
John sat up indignantly. "That wasn't only you," he argued. "David helped."
"David supervised, I did all the work," Kate shot back, stooping down so that she could help John pull on his socks.
The colonel shook his head. "No, I remember, David -"
"You were still drunk from the night before so don't pretend like you remember a damned thing!" Kate insisted, gesturing for John to stand and to step into the pants that she was holding out for him. "I had to haul your ass out of the pool, onto dry land, had to get you dressed and then had to drag you into the house before Dad got home. All our beloved older brother did was stand there, watch, and occasionally snicker."
John smirked, taking over the task of buttoning up his pants as Kate pushed him back into the chair so that she could start trying to shove his feet into his boots. "I can do this ya know," he told her, looking down on her as she diligently went to work. "It's not all that complicated."
Kate snorted. "Yeah, right," she said as she started to lace up his left shoe. "Like all men, you can barely get dressed by yourself anyways. Just think, this way when we all show up at the senior staff meeting in a hour, you'll actually look presentable for once."
Her brother frowned. "Hey," he said, not even bothering to try and take his foot away from her as she started in on his right one. "I resent that."
"No, you resemble that," Kate argued, finishing up on his boots and standing up, gesturing for John to do the same. "Now, we'll have to wait for Todd to get done before we can get your shirt on so why don't we -"
"Will I be on the receiving end of such preferential treatment?"
The Sheppard siblings turned and espied Todd the clearly amused looking wraith watching them from the doorway of John's bathroom. The alien had mimicked John's placement of his towel save for the face that it was wrapped around his waist rather than slung low around his hips. All in all, the image of Todd standing there in nothing but a towel and dripping wet made John blanch and turn a yellowish shade of green.
Kate, on the other hand, looked the wraith up and down while absentmindedly licking her lips. Her brother saw and suddenly the sick feeling was gone and he was back to glaring at the wraith in overprotective agitation.
"Like hell!" John screeched in reply to Todd's rather suggestive question. The wraith's smirk festered. "You will not be…she won't, you…" he rounded on Kate who tore her gaze away from Todd to look at him. He noticed that her ears were pink and that there was a slight blush to her cheeks. "Go wait outside."
She opened her mouth to protest. "Now John," she started, feeling her own body heat begin to radiate off of her in waves. "Don't you think it's only fair that I - "
He cut her off. "Not a chance in hell. I'll help him get dressed before I let you do it now, skedaddle. Go, wait outside. We'll meet you in like ten minutes."
Kate pouted but did what she was told and, casting one last long look at Todd the sinfully hot, wet, almost naked wraith, she smiled to herself and left her brother's room to go stand outside his door and wait for both males to come out.
As soon as she was gone and the door had closed, John rounded on Todd. "Don't," he commanded, holding up a hand. "Not even a word. Just get dressed. We've got a meeting to go to in an hour and I'd like to eat before then so, however you wanna do this let's just get it over with."
Todd inclined his head, not really caring about the mood that the human was now in. No, his thoughts were on the way that Katherine had looked at him and in how reluctant she had seemed to leave. The knowledge that she had wished to linger and to, if Sheppard would have allowed her, assist him in attiring himself properly brought a great want to him for her as he and the human each began their tasks. Sheppard kept his back to him much the whole time and Todd was personally glad for this as the desire he had for Katherine that had been brought about by her looks towards him had chosen to manifest themselves in a physical way. He was by no means fully aroused but, there was enough evidence visible as to tell Sheppard exactly where his current thoughts resided.
They had to uncouple themselves in order to finish dressing but, once they were both presentable, they re-clasped their bonds and made to exit. As promised, they met up with Katherine and then journeyed to the dining facility. Their meal was relatively short and was consumed quickly. Upon its conclusion, the three of them reluctantly departed and joined those other senior members of Atlantis' residency who had gathered in the briefing room for the meeting.. Todd was bored after ten minutes of listening to Woolsey drone on and on about issues that should not have been issues at all. The wraith was glad, therefore, when the meeting was called to an end and they were allowed to leave. He and Sheppard both had just begun to stand when Doctor McKay suddenly stood and waved for everyone to be silent. With a sigh that was barely audible, Todd sat back into his seat and forced himself to hear out the announcement that the scientist clearly wished to make.
"Ah, so," Rodney began, nervous as hell to be telling everybody this now. Everyone that would need to know was already in the room so now really was the best time and it killed all of their birds with one stone. Casting a look towards his wife who nodded her head in encouragement, the Canadian swallowed his nerves and continued. "A-as you know, Jennifer has-hasn't been feeling well lately and, ah, and we would l-like to tell you all why."
Besides Todd, Kate frowned, worried. "Nothing's wrong I hope," she said, looking at Jennifer who did look a bit green at the moment but who otherwise, was smiling like she'd just won something huge.
Rodney shook his head. "Ah, everything…everything's fine. It's just that, it's just that we, w-we -"
"Spit it out McKay," John called out to his teammate who looked more nervous than he had when he'd first told John that he was going to propose. "What's up?"
Rodney's nerve failed him. "I can't, I just can't," he looked down at his wife. "You tell them."
Jennifer smiled, and reached out to catch Rodney's hand as her husband sat back down and all eyes turned onto her. Taking a deep breath, she picked up where Rodney had left off. "As you know, I've not been feeling too well lately and, while there's nothing wrong with me, I would like to tell you all that I won't be going off world for a while and it might also be a good idea to cut back on my infirmary schedule a little bit. For a while at least."
Everyone looked around the table, confused. Woolsey turned to her. "How long do you think you'll be needing these…stipulations?" he asked, as curious about her cryptic message as everyone else.
Jennifer beamed. "Oh about nine months," she said, her smile infectiously spreading to all of her face.
It took a minute but, in the end, Cadman and Kate figured it out at the same time. "You're pregnant!" they both screamed in unison and, when the blonde doctor bowed her head in confirmation, both marines literally leaped out of their chairs and converged on the expectant mother. "How far along are you? Do you know what it is yet? Have you thought about names? Have you…"
While the girls chitchatted, Woolsey shook Rodney's hand and promised him that he'd make sure the couple had everything they needed form an administrative standpoint. Weir and Teyla joined Cadman and Kate at Jennifer's side while the rest of the senior staff members filed out of the room. Rodney left Woolsey and walked over to John, Todd, Ronon and Lorne.
"Congrats," John said happily as the scientist came over to them. He reached out and clapped Rodney on the shoulder. "Good one."
Rodney nodded, still a bit on edge.
Ronon frowned. "Hey," he said. "What's wrong?"
Rodney shrugged. "I, ah, I…" he looked up, his eyes fearful. "What if I screw up?" he asked brokenly. "I'm not good with kids, you all know that. What if…what if…what if I do something wrong?"
John eyed him and squeezed his shoulder. "You won't screw up Rodney," he assured the man. "You'll be a great Dad."
The Canadian wasn't convinced. "Oh I will, will I?" he asked, her voice trembling. "You don't know that. For all you know I'll completely screw up the kid so that it won't even like me and then I'll -"
"You are bound to make mistakes, Doctor McKay, as are all parents but I hardly think that you will 'screw up' - as you put it - in such a way that your child will grow to resent you as it ages. It is the nature of all children to give unconditional affection to their parents regardless of their faults or how numerous and profound they might be."
Rodney started at the wraith in open mouthed shock and made a mental note to add this to the list of things they had going chronicling stuff Todd did that took them all completely by surprise. Him going Christmas tree hunting with Sheppard was in the number one spot at the moment but, the scientist was sure that Todd giving parenting advice blew tree hunting out of the water. And, personally, Rodney hadn't thought that Todd had had it in him. The wraith didn't exactly strike him as being 'the world's greatest dad' material and, despite the fact that they had all met his oldest son, the majority of them all liked to forget that their vampiric ally had reproduced at all.
Especially not twenty-one times.
The scientist wasn't the only one that was stunned; John was absolutely floored. Turning to look at the alien retrospectively, he couldn't help but think that Todd's advice came from personal knowledge rather than simply age old wisdom. "Speaking from experience are you?" he asked, lifting an eyebrow inquisitively when Todd turned towards him. "What? Did you do something bad but your kid loves you anyways?" he smirked when the wraith let out a low hiss.
Todd growled. "I did not, no," he paused and debated how much he should reveal to the humans before deciding that it could not hurt him for them to know of what had happened so very long ago. Perhaps, his revelation might also dissipate some of Doctor McKay's fears.
"I was young when my eldest son was born, equivalent in experience and maturity to a human of perhaps seventeen years. His motem conceived him not out of desire for a child but in order to try and trick me into binding her. When it became apparent that I would not fall prey to her manipulations, she surrendered her custodianship of our child to me, giving up any and all claim she had to him. Now, thousands of years later, despite the fact that his motem abandoned him, did not truly want him, sought to use him only for her own progress and to her best advantage and did not even acknowledge him as being a child of her body until he had made a name for himself on the battlefield, my eldest still looks on her with reverence and affection." He paused and turned towards the doctor McKay. "If my son can forgive his motem all of her transgressions and continue to hold her in his affections then I seriously doubt that you could do anything worse to your child that would then be deemed unforgivable."
Strangely enough, as weird as the situation was, what Todd had said was doing a better job of comforting Rodney than Sheppard's reassurances had. "Ah…Thanks."
Todd dipped his head in acknowledgement and then turned to Sheppard. The human was eyeing him speculatively. "Yes?"
John shook himself out of his stupor and cleared his mind of its thoughts. "Nothing," he said before he looked past the wraith and called out to his sister. "Hey, Kate! Come here."
Kate walked towards them. "What's up?"
John eyed her. "As wonderful as this all is," he held up the wrist that was sporting the one, pink fuzzy cuff. "We've got a problem to solve."
Kate snickered. "Yeah, we do," she nodded towards the handcuffs. "Cadman's got a date in two days and she really wants those back."
Lorne snorted and burst into laughter; Ronon grinned; Rodney made a face and left, heading back over to his wife; John cracked a smile and Todd looked confused.
"I do not understand," the wraith began, setting his eyes briefly on all of the human males before turning them fully onto his chosen. "What -"
Kate managed to overcome her giggles and looked up into Todd's questioning face. "It's complicated," she told him, some of her giggles breaking through despite her restraint. "Basically, those," she nodded down at the cuffs before looking back up at him, "Are used in foreplay to ah, tie someone - usually the guy - up so that the ah, girl can do whatever she wants to him without him being able to do anything to her."
Todd's face changed instantly and he frowned. "And this method is…acceptable to you?" he asked, eyeing the human males about him. "You desire the female to lead?"
Lorne nodded. "Hell yeah," he said, snorting. "It gets boring after a while if you're always the one initiating things and taking the lead. It's nice to let the woman be in charge for change," he glanced over at Kate. "Bet you do it all the time."
Kate shook her head. "No, not really."
Lorne frowned. "No?" he asked, having thought that Kate, being an alpha female, would've been the one in the lead at least half of the time. "Why not?"
She shrugged. "Never really had the chance," she admitted, frowning. "With Travers it was never about me it was always about him so it was never good for me and, besides him, I've only ever slept with three other guys and they weren't exactly great either."
John didn't like what he was hearing. "What about Phoenix?" he asked, naming the only guy that he knew for certain she'd slept with since having gotten stationed in Atlantis. "He couldn't have been that bad."
His sister eyed him. "He lasted a grand total of three minutes and left me hanging," she made a face. "He was worse than Travers."
Lorne shook his head apathetically. "Poor Kate," he said sadly, shaking his head back and forth twice before rounding on Todd the wraith. "It's all up to you now."
Todd's eye went wide. John let out a shriek of protest.
"WHY ARE YOU TELLING HIM TO SLEEP WITH MY SISTER?"
Lorne looked nonplused. "It's gonna happen eventually Colonel," he informed his commanding officer matter-of-factly. "Sooner rather than later I hope because I swear to God, I'm tired of watching you two dance around each other. You could cut the tension between you two with a knife. It's driving us all crazy!"
Todd looked amusedly down on the major. "You are championing my copulation with Katherine?"
Lorne nodded vigorous. "Besides Cadman I'm your biggest cheerleader. I'll even wear a skirt and start dancing around with pom-poms if you'd just do it already."
Kate laughed outright, Ronon smirked, Todd continued to look amused and John made another noise that sounded a lot like a cross between a laugh at the mental image of Lorne jumping around in a cheerleading outfit and a growl over the subject matter that they were currently discussing.
"Alright then," he announced suddenly, making everyone turn their attentions towards him. "My sister's sex life aside, we," he gestured between himself and Todd, "Need to go actually do something about this," he held up his cuffed hand. "So, Kate, Lorne and Ronon, please go gear up and then meet us in the jumper bay. We're going back to the planet were you found us. Hopefully we'll find something useful."
With a nod, the three of them turned and went their separate ways while John led Todd back to his quarters so that he, too, could get ready to travel off world.
~xXx~
"There is nothing here."
"We don't know that."
"I believe that we may conclude that we do, seeing as we have been here for some time now and found nothing."
"We've been here for fifteen minutes! How the hell does that translate into 'some time'?"
"The term is relative. We have made three complete orbits of the entire planet and found nothing of value or interest on any of our scans. I reiterate, therefore, that there is nothing here."
"Well we just have to look harder then. Michael's good at squirreling things away; maybe we missed something."
"After three revolutions of the planet? I rather think not."
"Hey, I'll have you know that we've got more experience dealing with him than you do so why don't you save your comments and shut the hell up! We're going around again."
"Do not order me to be silent Sheppard. I have as much riding on this as do you so I would suggest -"
"The next one to talk gets shot I swear to God!" Kate screamed loudly, cutting Todd off mid- sentence before he could finish saying whatever he'd been about to say to her brother. Glaring reproachfully, she shot daggers at both her brother and her boyfriend both of whom had managed to get on her last nerve. "There," she said after the jumper was silent for about a minute. "Much better."
Lorne turned to her. "Thank you," he said earnestly, meaning every word. "If you hadn't have done it I would've."
Ronon nodded his head jerkily. "Same here."
John frowned. "Well, aren't you three in a bad -"
"What part of 'shut up or I'll shoot you' don't you understand?" Kate asked her brother irritably. "I'm not bluffing. I'll stun you and drag your ass to the back. Lorne and I both have the gene so we don't need you to fly and I'm tired of listening to you argue with him," she nodded towards the wraith who was sitting in front of her. "From now on, until we land, we're playing the silent game. Okay? Read, set, go."
John growled and briefly considered speaking just to tick her off but, one glance behind him and at his sister's face made him think better of the idea. Turning back around to face the windshield, John grumbled inaudibly to himself and brought the jumper around for another pass over the planet. After their fourth revolution, he was prepared to admit that Todd was right, although he'd never admit it. Sighing, he was about to risk speaking again just to say that it was time to give up and try plan B when Kate suddenly leaned over him and pulled hard on the flight controls so that the jumper veered left.
"Hey!" John shouted, looking up at her in agitation. "What the hell do you think you're do -"
"Shut up. I saw something," she reprimanded him, leaning farther over him so that she could reach the control panel for the HUD. It was difficult to reach without actually sitting in the pilot's seat. "Get up," she ordered John who, predictably, didn't move.
"No," her brother said defiantly, crossing his arms. "It's my seat and I'm the pilot. Why don't you -"
"Fine then," she said in a voice that told her sibling that two could play that game. Since John refused to move, Kate sidestepped the issue altogether and sat on him. The colonel let out a squeak of protest while, in the back of the jumper, Lorne and Ronon looked at one another and snorted.
"You should've moved Colonel," Lorne told his CO, snickering. "Now you've just pissed her off."
John craned his neck and shot his second in command a look of derision, mockingly of course. "Thanks for the support Major," he ground out tersely. "Now tell your XO to get off me!"
Lorne shook his head and held up his hands. "Tell her yourself," he said, grinning. "You're her brother."
John yelped and gestured at the woman now sitting in his lap piloting the jumper and messing with its scanning equipment and reader settings. "Well clearly the fact that we share matching DNA doesn't mean a damned thing. She's sitting on me!" he turned back around and faced front. "You're heavy you know that?"
Kate cracked a grin and wiggled, which earned her a grunt and an 'ow' from her brother. "I am not."
John grimaced and tried to push her off of him. "You are too!" he shouted, sighing when she didn't move. "This was fine when you were like nine but you've gained about a hundred pounds since then. Get off of me!"
"You should've moved," she fired back defiantly, twisting around so that she could look down on him. "Then we wouldn't be having this conversation."
John glared at her. "Yes, I see that now; my bad. Please lift up your butt so that I can relinquish this seat to you, you little brat."
Kate complied and John managed to slide out from underneath her. Once he was free, he looked around and noted that Lorne and Ronon both were trying very hard not to laugh and that even Todd the wraith looked to have been highly entertained by what had just happened. "It's not funny!" he protested, shooting dark looks at his fellow men. He pointed at Kate. "That's insubordination right there," he turned back to his sister and proceeded to glare at the back of her head. "You're lucky I love you otherwise I'd court-marshal you for this."
Kate snorted. "Yeah, I can see that happening," she snickered and then deepened her voice in order to sound like John. "Well, you see General O'Neill, I told my sister to get off of me but she wouldn't so now I'd like you to lock her up in the Quantico USMC brig for it," she looked up at her brother. "He'd laugh you out of his office."
John scowled. "Yeah, okay fine, you win. Now," he leaned over her shoulder. "What was so damned important that made you steal my flight controls, sit on me and then kick me out of my own chair?"
Kate smiled and nodded forwards. "See that?" she asked.
Todd narrowed his eyes. "It is a moon, the only one that this planet seems to be in possession of," he turned to look at her. "Why are we travelling towards it?"
Rather than answer, Kate punched a command into the jumper's control console. As soon as the HUD appeared the screen began to beep. Moments later, the screen had pulled up a magnified image of what appeared to be some sort of subterranean complex located on the moon's surface. Smirking, Kate turned around and looked at her brother. "Looky what I found!" she announced cheerfully.
John stared at the screen before he shook his head and glanced down at his sister. "How'd you know -"
"To look on the moon?" Kate finished for him. She shrugged. "It didn't make any sense for Michael to leave the two of you on some deserted planet. I know from experience that he likes to stick around and see whether or not his experiments are successful so I knew that he had to be nearby," she nodded towards the outline of the complex now revolving on the jumpers HUD. "He's probably got some sort of monitoring system in there that'd let him keep watch of what's happening on the planet below."
John smirked and clapped his sister on her shoulder. "Good one Katie Beth," he praised her and then yanked hard on her arm, pulling her out of his chair.
"Hey!" Kate yelped, as she staggered backwards. "What the hell?"
John grinned at her as he sat back down in the pilot's seat. "My seat," he said possessively, glancing at her as he clocked the jumper and set a course for the complex. "Go sit back down in yours."
Kate looked indignant and turned around only to find that her seat behind Todd was already occupied by Lorne. "I don't suppose you'd move?" she asked him and, when he shook his head at her, Kate shrugged and turned towards Todd. "May I?"
The wraith grinned. While he was in general, predisposed to be disinclined towards public displays of affection, he had learned that the humans of Atlantis and indeed, humans in general thrived on physical contact and outward displays of emotion. Therefore, not only would acquiescing to his Katherine's request not be seen as socially unacceptable or forward to the humans, but it would give him legitimate reason to have contact with her.
It would also, more likely than not, piss Sheppard off.
"You may."
Kate smiled and sat down, settling comfortably into Todd's lap.
John caught the action out of the corner of his eye and had to do a double take just to make sure he was seeing what he actually thought he was. "The hell?" he screeched unhappily, jerking a bit too hard on the jumper's controls than was absolutely necessary. "What are you doing? Get off of him!"
Staring at her bother defiantly, Kate crossed her arms. "Why" she asked. "Todd doesn't seem to mind," she looked down at him. "Do you?"
The wraith let out a long, low hiss and proceeded to lean back in his chair, languidly wrapping one of his arms about her waist and letting the hand that belonged to that arm begin to gently play with the thigh upon which it now rested. "Most assuredly not, my Katherine," he looked at Sheppard, his eyes hooded. "This situation is very preferable."
John harrumphed but otherwise didn't order his sister to get off of Todd. Instead, he focused on getting to the compound as quickly as possible so that they could find Michael, get him to separate them and then he could kick Todd out of Atlantis on his ass when it was time to go home. The colonel mentally shivered. He was really going to have to set up some rules for Todd about dating his sister. The wraith was in Atlantis so much that John was really starting to consider charging him rent.
With this in mind, he flew the jumper in for a landing after circling the complex twice looking for any obvious booby traps. He didn't find any but that didn't mean that there weren't any there; this was Michael they were dealing with. Approaching the situation with caution, John set the jumper down about a quarter mile from the only accessible entrance to the compound. Once they were on the ground, he did a quick scan to test the atmosphere and then lowered the back hatch.
"Alright," he said, looking around him at his men, his sister and Todd the wraith all of whom were suddenly in serious mood. "Let's do this. Move out."
Silently they all filed out of the jumper and began to pick their way through the densely forested terrain towards the entrance to Michael's latest hideout. Luckily for them, their surroundings provided enough of a cover for them to make it all the way to the front door without being seen. Counting their blessings for having finally gotten a break, John counted to ten once they'd reached the door just to make sure that they weren't being followed or that no alarms had been set off before he stood back and let Kate open the door. She was able to override the security measures in record time and then they were in. Shutting the hatch behind them, he and Lorne switched on their gun-mounted flashlights and started to look around.
"Well," Lorne commented as they tentatively took their first steps down the corridor they had entered into. "At least it's not as spooky as his usual haunts."
Kate nodded, her keen eyes darting about without rest, her whole body an alert and at the ready. "Is it just me, or is anybody else getting a definite abandoned Genii laboratory vibe to this place?"
Ronon hissed. "There's no gate here," he observed. "The Genii don't have ships. How'd they get here?"
"They don't have ships that we know of," John countered, briefly aiming his flashlight down a corridor that branched off of their own. Finding nothing but a locked door at the end of it, he faced forwards once more and continued onwards. "For all we know they might have gotten some and just forgot to tell us."
Lorne was quick to agree. "Yeah they're not very forth coming with information are they?" he asked even though he knew that his question was rhetorical. He frowned. "Doesn't the terms of our alliance state that they have to share any and all advancements in technology with us or at least tell us about them?"
"Our alliance with Ladon does," John explained as they rounded a corner. "But we both know that not all of the Genii follow his regime. There's always the resistance."
"And Koyla," Kate reminded her brother, her face twisting into one of anger as she remembered her introduction to that particular individual.
Before any one of them could reply to Kate's statement or say anything at all for that matter, a cold voice called out to them from the shadows.
"Yes, Miss Sheppard, there is always me."
The five of them froze and turned around, pivoting in their spots to face the speaker who stepped out of the shadows towards them. "Koyla," John hissed, unpleasantly surprised to see the man especially considering that they were here looking for Michael. "What the hell are you doing here?"
The former Genii military leader shrugged and took another step forwards, his hands clasped behind his back. "Furthering my cause," he informed them, looking over them all briefly one by one. His eyes settled on the girl. "A pleasure to see you once more, Kate. Our time together the last time we saw one another was too short."
Kate glared at him. "Not short enough," she hissed, her eyes narrowing to slits as she looked at him. "Now," she started. "Answer the question. What are you -"
"I told you that she is willful," a second voice sounded out in the darkness as another figure stepped towards them through the gloom. Coming to a stop besides Koyla, the light fell across his face and Michael smiled at the look of surprise that took over the expressions on the group's faces. He turned towards his human ally. "Did I not?"
Koyla inclined his head. "You did," he returned his eyes to Sheppard's sister's face. "You also said that she would be willing to do anything to save her brother's life. I say that we put that loyalty to the test."
John growled and took a step forwards, placing himself in front of Kate. "I swear Michael," he threatened, "You try anything like you did last time and I'll -"
"You will what?" the hybrid asked him, his expression cold. "Kill me?" He snorted. "I rather think not. You need me to reverse the programming of the nanites that I injected you with or you will die," he smirked sadistically. "You are of no use to your sister dead."
John started forwards but Kate stopped him, placing a hand on his upper arm. "He's right John," she told him, locking her eyes with his. "Don't."
Wanting nothing more than the wipe that smirk off of Michael's face, John nonetheless stood down knowing that Kate was right. They needed the hybrid to fix them or he and Todd would be stuck together forever. He sighed and turned his attention back to the hybrid. "What's your angle?" he asked. They had to know what game Michael was playing before they could organize their offense and in order to do that, they had to figure out what the hell was going on.
The hybrid smirked. "Do you know why I performed this particular experiment on the both of you?" he asked, nodding towards both the wraith whom Koyla had told him the humans called Todd and John Sheppard. "I had always planned to try this out on you, Colonel, but your wraith is another matter. His part in this is a gesture of goodwill towards my newfound ally."
John glanced back and forth between two of his - if not the two - most hated enemies. "Yeah, about that. How'd you two hook up? I'll admit that I never saw that one coming."
Michael snorted. "Indeed. In the past I have never consented to share my work with another but, with the wraith at war, resources are increasingly difficult to come by," he inclined his head towards Koyla. "I first approached commander Koyla with a proposal. I would assist him in gaining the upper hand over his enemies if he would furnish me with the means to do so to mine. An alliance was made and, as first order of business, we both deemed it necessary to address issues which are close to our hearts."
John snickered. "So what? You offered to off me and Todd to show Koyla how good a friend you are? That was nice of you."
Koyla laughed, amused as always by Sheppard's attempts at sarcasm. "Michael is getting something out of this arrangement as well," he informed his rival. "I am not the only beneficiary of this situation as you seem to think."
John frowned. "And what, exactly, are you getting out of this?" he asked the hybrid, suddenly wary of this whole situation.
Michael smiled, a gesture that didn't reach his cold eyes. "I believe you will recall my previous attempts to perfect my hybrids?" he asked, looking squarely at the colonel. "Well, you shall be pleased to know that I have perfected the approach to their creation."
John was getting more nervous by the minute. "And what does that have to do with us?" he asked.
Once again, the hybrid smiled a dark, sadistic smile that did not reach beyond the corners of his mouth. "It has nothing to do with you," he informed the human, turning his glittering, stone-like gaze onto the girl that Sheppard tired so desperately to hide behind him. "For my plan to succeed, I require your sister's assistance."
Kate's eyes went wide and she felt her breath catch in her throat.
"Fuck that!" John screamed, taking up his P-90 and aiming it at Michael's heart. The hybrid didn't so much as blink. "You're not locking her up in a cell with a wraith again and expecting them to do it. I'll kill you before I let -"
"As previously stated, you will die unless I reverse the nanite programming so your threat, Colonel Sheppard, is void of any real promise," Michael interrupted the human, smirking triumphantly. "You can do nothing to me if you want to live."
"Then kill me!" John screamed, no longer interested in playing the game. "I'd rather lose my life then let some wraith rape and impregnate my baby sister!"
Michael was not moved. "It would not be rape if she were willing," he turned towards the woman in question and pinned her with a look. "I seem to recall you giving my wraith your consent to copulation when last we attempted this."
Having had no previous knowledge of the matter that was being discussed, Todd felt his eyes widen the longer the abomination spoke. Katherine had consented to do what? He could not believe it; he did not wish to believe it. Could she have, had she…? He turned and fixed his eyes onto his chosen. She refused to look at him and was instead staring determinedly at the hybrid, her eyes narrowed and her fists clenched to fists at her side. Todd dropped his eyes to the floor. Despite knowing that she had been under duress and that Sheppard's life had been under threat if she did not comply, Todd still felt betrayed by the thought that she might have participated in carnal congress with another wraith besides himself. What hurt the most, however, was not the possibly of her having copulated but the fact that, until now, he had heard nothing of this.
She had kept it secret from him.
Kate, who could feel Todd's eyes on her, silently questioning whether or not she'd actually gone through with it and slept with Varkan, jerked her head downwards once in acknowledgement of what she had once been willing to do and was willing to do again if it meant her brother's life. "I was."
Michael took a step towards her, catching her eyes around the protective form of Colonel John Sheppard. "And, would you be so willing again if your refusal meant your brother's demise?"
John whirled around to face her. "Katie Beth," he said, aghast. "Don't you dare -"
Kate nodded once. "Yes."
John's mouth dropped open. "You can't do that!" he rounded on Michael and reached for the hybrid's throat. "You can't -"
"It's my decision John," Kate called out, her announcement having the desired effect in that her brother stopped trying to kill Michael and turned to look at her. His eyes were disbelieving and his expression was one of inner most torment. "I can't and won't let you die," she said with conviction. "Not if doing what he wants can save you."
John shook his head. "I can't let you do this," he cried out desperately. "I won't let you let you do this. I'm not worth -"
"It won't be bad," she told him, a plan formulating itself in her mind. She took her eyes away from her brother who suddenly looked confused and affixed them onto Michael. "I'll do it," she told him but then added, "but I get to pick the wraith."
As soon as she said it, John knew where this was going and, apparently, so did Todd because the wraith's eyes suddenly picked themselves up off the floor and locked with his. A look passed between them and, silently and without giving any outwards signs of what was happening, John Sheppard gave Todd his consent.
Michael was surprised. "Very well," he allowed her, curious as to whom she would pick. He had not thought that the girl would know many wraith that she would prefer one of them over all the others. "Might I ask who you have in mind?"
Kate nodded. "The Eldest."
The hybrid's eyes widened and he looked at her as though she had quite lost her mind. He had heard of that particular wraith, knew his conquests well and had spent many a day when he had been younger, before having been captured by the Atlantians, reading the legends that centered on the almost mythological male. Like all young wraith, he had at one time idealized the Eldest as the epitome of what one should strive to be like. Shrewdly intelligent, a warrior paralleled and equaled by no other, the Eldest was the closest thing to a deity that the wraith as a race were ever likely to have. The only figure that perhaps superseded him in myth and legend was the warrior Lord Valloran.
Shaking himself from his thoughts, Michael turned disdainful eyes onto the girl who dared make such a mockery of so great an individual. "What you ask is impossible," he spat at her. "The Eldest would never taint himself with one such as y -"
"Do not presume to know my mind nor think to tell me what I will or will not do!" Todd interrupted the abomination whose eyes flew up to his own instantaneously, confusion running rampant within his not-quite-human/not-quite-wraith-orbs. Taking his gaze from that of the hybrid's, Todd lowered his eyes onto his Katherine. "I give my consent to what you ask of me."
Kate smiled and placed a hand on his chest. "Thank you."
Todd nodded and reached up, covering her hand with his own and pulling it away from his chest. Drawing her to his side, he placed her protectively before him and then wrapped her into the circle of his embrace. Lifting his head he returned his eyes back to the abomination's who still did not quite look like he knew what had just happened. "Where, exactly, do you wish us to act out your demands?"
Michael stared at him. The girl had asked for the Eldest and this wraith, this wraith - Sheppard's wraith - had answered her. Michael knew that there were none alive brave enough to impersonate the Eldest and so he had little doubt that if the one standing before him was what he claimed to be.
The Eldest.
When his hybrid ally did not immediately speak, Koyla stepped up to do it for him. "If you will follow me," he began but then paused, turning around to look at Sheppard. "I trust you have no further objections?"
John pursed his lips together and looked at Todd. "Take care of her," he beseeched the wraith whom, while he still didn't believe loved his sister quite like she loved him, had to admit at the very least loved her as much and as strangely as he was ever going to be able to. "Don't hurt her."
Todd inclined his head soberly and then affixed his gaze onto the abomination. "What of Sheppard and I?" he inquired. "We are still connected. Do you wish me to -"
"I will release you," Michael said suddenly, his decision having been made almost as soon as he had known whom, precisely, this wraith was. Reaching down into his coat, he pulled out a hand held device and quickly keyed in a sequence that rendered the nanites in both the Eldest's and Sheppard's systems inert. After having done that, he pocketed the device and pulled out his own weapon, pointing the energy pistol at Sheppard's head. "Now, do not think that because you are no longer bound to one another I do not have the upper hand," he looked at Kate. "You will complete your task or else I will kill your brother. Do you understand?"
Kate nodded and turned to look at Todd. His eyes were unreadable and his expression was even more difficult to interpret. She frowned, not understanding why he had closed himself off from her. Had she done something wrong?
Having won her compliance, Michael looked at Koyla and silently gave him leave to escort them both to the cell he had prepared for the occasion. Once they were gone, he turned towards the three humans and smiled darkly, forcing them at gun point to walk quietly towards their own future cell.
~xXx~
"This is crap."
Lorne looked up at his commanding officer and sighed. "Then why'd you agree to it?" he asked. "I saw that look you gave Todd. You were letting him know that it was okay, you were giving him your permission."
John growled and threw up his hands. "What choice did I have?" he asked, resuming his pacing. Michael had had them all thrown into a cell on the other side of facility entirely. He figured that the hybrid had probably done this to ensure that even if they did escape, they wouldn't make it to where Todd and Kate were in time to stop them. John sighed and stopped his pacing, pressing his back against the wall and sinking down onto the floor. "At least it's Todd and not some other nameless wraith and, like you said, it's gonna happen eventually."
Ronon grunted. "They're not gonna do it."
John looked at him. "What do you mean they're not gonna do it?" he questioned. "They have to! Kate said she wasn't going to let me die if she could stop it. They -"
"Todd loves her too much to take her for the first time like this," Ronon stopped him. "He'll die before he'd let Michael do this to her."
John leaned his head back until it hit the wall. "Well," he said shallowly, "I've got to hand it to you, for the first time ever I hope to God that you're right."
Ronon crossed his arms. "I am," he said confidently.
John could do nothing but pray that he really was.
~xXx~
The cell that they were escorted to was less than impressive and, as soon as they were left alone, Todd dropped the pretense that he had been hiding behind since having been told of Katherine's last encounter with the abomination and rounded on her, his eyes darkened in anger.
"Why did you not tell me!"
Kate started, startled by the harshness of his tone. Todd had never, never, yelled at her like this before. "Tell you what?" she asked, feeling defiant and angry that he would act this way towards her. "That I've been put in this situation before? Is that what you're pissed about? Nothing happened!"
Todd growled and reached out, grabbing her by both arms, pulling her towards him. "I will be the judge of that, Katherine!" he snarled darkly. "Tell me, explain to me what transpired."
Kate shot him a dark look. "Why should I?' she asked him. "What happened last time with Michael happened before we got stuck on that damned prison planet which is where this," she gestured between him and her, "All started. So, you don't have any right to demand answers from me that have nothing to do with -"
"I had aspirations for you long before you and I became trapped on that world. Having you as my companion simply expedited the process and made me take actions which I might have otherwise waited to take had we not been placed into that situation!"
Kate blinked and stared at him. "You did?"
Todd growled and released her, shoving her away from him and widening the distance between them. "I recall telling you when first we met that I found you to be desirable. I believe I first began to entertain the idea of claiming you as mine during your stay on my hive. Well before our entrapment. Therefore I repeat my question. What events transpired during your first imprisonment?"
Shocked nearly speechless, Kate was so stunned to have been told by Todd that he'd wanted her for almost as long as she'd wanted him that she answered honestly and without hesitation. "I got locked up in a cell with a male wraith. Michael threatened both of us but we both held off. He finally got tired of waiting and kidnapped John, telling me that if I didn't sleep with his wraith then he'd have him killed. I gave my consent but we didn't get far. We hadn't even finished getting undressed all the way before John somehow got out of his cell and came and stopped us," she looked up at him. "Nothing else happened, I swear."
Looking into her eyes, Todd saw that she spoke the truth and so felt some of his anger bleed away. "You are certain?" he inquired, needing to be sure.
Kate got over being stunned and turned resentful eyes onto him in anger. "Yes, I'm sure!" she growled at him. "Why? Don't you believe me?"
Todd looked at her and realized his mistake. "Katherine," he reached out for her but she pulled back, shying away from him. "I am not…I do not…" he sighed and decided to be bluntly and completely honest with her. "Jealously is not a trait I handle well or with any grace."
She snorted. "Oh really?" she crossed her arms and turned her head away. "I couldn't tell."
Todd came towards her, well aware that she might once again back away. He was thankful when she did not. "Forgive me," he beseeched her. "I should not have accused you. I…the thought of you with another, more particularly another wraith, did not do me well."
Hearing him confess made Kate surrender some of her anger and look up at him. "You're one of those possessive types aren't you?" she asked, wondering why she'd never bothered to try and find out what kind of lover Todd actually was. Travers had been possessive too; possessive, overprotective, and unkind.
The wraith let go of a breath he had not known himself to be holding and stopped when he was no more than an arm's length away from his beloved. "I am," he said and then amended, "but overly, it seems, with you. I have cared little about the past congresses of the others I have taken to my bed in times past save for those that would challenge me in the present. I do not know why your history bothers me so but it does. I dislike the thought of you with anyone, human or wraith, other than myself."
Coming form anybody else, this confession would've been a red flag but coming from Todd, it meant something a great deal more. From him it meant that she was different than his other lovers, that he cared more about her than he did them and that, made Kate smile. "I'll keep that in mind," she told him and then added, "And I forgive you for yelling at me."
Todd hissed and drew closer to her so that the space between them vanished. "That is good," he responded, dipping his head towards her. "Now, what do we plan to do about escaping this predicament? The abomination has released both Sheppard and I, we are no longer in any danger that our blood may explode and I am in no danger entirely. The same cannot be said for Sheppard."
Unfortunately for them, that much was true. "What options do we have?" Kate asked, afraid not for herself but for her brother. "Michael may let you walk away from this because of who you are - did you see the look on his face when I asked for you by name and you answered? - but Koyla isn't going to want to just let John go. I don't know what we can do."
Considering their options, it was clear to Todd that the only way to escape this with all of their lives was to break the alliance that held them all bound. Sheppard's life was in danger because of the abomination's coalition with Koyla. If that was destroyed then they had a much greater chance of being able to negotiate for their release. "I believe that we must first speak with the one you call Michael," he hissed quietly, turning to look at his chosen.
Kate frowned. "Why? What good would that do?"
Todd rolled his left shoulder. "The abomination's allegiance shifts easily to whoever can best provide for him that which he desires. His only loyalty to Koyla is his need for the services and resources that the human promised him. If another, more powerful individual can offer him much the same thing, then his loyalty will break. And, if a condition of this person's generosity is that he allows Sheppard and us all to go free in exchange for a greater benefit than that of what he could get from the human then -"
"We're in the clear," Kate concluded. She sighed. "Alright, let's talk to Michael."
Todd nodded towards her and then stepped up to the bars of the cell.
~xXx~
It was a generally accepted fact that time passed more slowly than normal whenever you were being held prisoner. John hated it and, for the eightieth time or so in the same number of minutes, he looked down at his watch and scowled.
"What the hell is taking so long?" he demanded moodily. "How long does it take to have sex?"
From an opposite corner of the cell the three of them were sharing, Ronon let out a grunt followed by a snort. "They're not having sex," he insisted persistently. "I told you they wouldn't."
John made a face. "Yeah, I believed you right up until they passed the twenty-minute mark. Now I know they're doing it."
Lorne eyed his commanding officer. "Oh really? How?"
"Todd's a genius that's how," John snapped. "It takes him less time to come up with ways out of tricky situations then it does Rodney. In other words, the fact that it's taking him this long to try and get us all out of this means that he's almost certainly fucking my sister and I -"
"You don't know that," Lorne argued not willing to follow the colonel's logic just yet. "For all you know he could be -"
"Pinning Kate against a wall like he seems to like doing," John cut Lorne off snarkily. "I'll have you know that I've walked in on them making out like six times and each and every time I do he'd got her back pinned to something. A tree, a wall, a control console; the list is endless."
"Don't go on," Ronon growled at Sheppard, annoyed by the man's melancholy. He should know Todd well enough by now to know that he wouldn't take Kate like this, not now. Like he'd said earlier, the wraith loved her too much to let their first communion be anything less than the perfect time and place. This was neither. "Just don't."
John huffed but didn't continue to list off the places and the things he'd seen Todd the me-Tarzan-you-Jane wraith press his sister up against during their frequent and alarmingly numerous tonsil hockey sessions. He did, however, start to recite pi in his head in an effort to stave off boredom and to keep his mind from conjuring up images of what Todd and Kate could possibly be doing right now. He'd gotten all the way the pi's sixtieth decimal point when the door to their cell was flung open and the devil himself walked in and looked down at them all.
"What do you want?" John demanded, glaring up at the hybrid who he hated right now only slightly more than Todd. "Come to gloat?"
Michael looked down his nose at the infuriating human and silently reminded himself of what had been promised him if he did this. "I am not," he told Sheppard evenly and then, taking one step to the side of the door and folding his hands behind his back, added, "You and your companions are free to go."
John stared at him. "We're…wait what?" he leapt to his feet. "What about Koyla? What about Kate? Where's my sis -"
"You should be lucky that your sister has managed to find her way into the affections of so great and powerful a wraith as the Eldest," Michael cut the odious human off with a snarl. "He, it would seem, esteems her more highly than I would ever have thought possible. You would be astonished, I believe, if I were to tell you what all he has promised me in return for the release of Katherine's participation in my project and your own," he nodded to the three human males, "freedoms."
While aware that they'd just been told that they could go and that apparently Ronon was right about how much Todd cared about his sister, John was still confused about just one thing. "Hang on," he said, looking the monster that he'd help to create in the eye for about a minute. "You hate the wraith. Why do you care so much about Todd?"
Michael snorted. "Is that what you know him by?" he inquired, amused. "I know him only as the Eldest; a great and powerful wraith who is best among us. Even the queens collectively fear him. He is to us as your own God is to you; all knowing, all seeing and more powerful than you could possibly imagine. It would be foolish of me not to bow to his will and command and his will, it seems, is that I let he and his chosen go along with all of you. In return I will be given adequate compensation and amnesty from all wraith that fall under his control."
Shaking his head in utter bewilderment, John nodded towards Lorne and Ronon and then filed out of the cell. Michael followed them and then took over leading them as he escorted them from the facility. Once they were outside, he stood by and watched as they started through the jungle back towards the jumper. It was there that they met up with both Todd and Kate and Koyla who was bound and gagged and sitting in the back of the jumper looking absolutely furious.
"Why'd we get him?" Lorne asked, pointing at their new captive as they all boarded and the colonel took up the flight controls. "He looks pissed."
Kate snickered. "While we were negotiating with Michael, I thought we might be able to improve our alliance with the Genii if we brought them their number one fugitive. Think Ladon will like his present?"
Lorne let out a bark of laughter. "Oh, this is great! Todd and the colonel aren't stuck together anymore, Michael let us go without trying to kill us and we got to keep him!" he shot Todd a look. "We should let you do the negotiating more often."
The wraith inclined his head. "The only reason I promised the hybrid all that I did in order to bring about this transaction is because I did not what my Katherine to suffer the humiliation of what she was being asked to do. I would give very nearly anything to spare her that pain."
The confession brought a sobering calm to the jumper's passengers as they all took to looking at their shoes; even Koyla.
John took his eyes off of the HUD and glanced backwards towards the wraith. "So, I guess this means you and Kate didn't -"
Todd snarled at him, cutting Sheppard off mid sentence. "I have told you time and time again Sheppard that I hold Katherine to be more precious to me than any other? But yet you still do not think me capable of truly being devoted to her. What will it take, human, for you to see what she means to me!"
John didn't have answer for him but, rather than stay silent decided to say, "I don't know. I'll let you know when it comes to me."
"Pray it comes to you with haste because I will not long tolerate your continued doubts as to my level of affection for your sister."
The colonel gulped and nodded, his hands tightening around the flight controls nervously as Todd's threat rang loudly in his ears.
All the evidence was pointing away from his firmly held belief that Todd didn't actually love Kate in the way that she needed him to and John didn't honestly know how much more of it was going to pile up before he finally had to maybe reconsider his stance on the whole thing. Maybe Todd did love her, maybe he'd been wrong. Maybe…
Shaking his head of the thoughts that clouded it, John dialed the jumpers DHD and steered the ship through the portal and back to Atlantis.
~xXx~
"So we're free to go? There's nothing wrong with us? We can both get dressed because there's no more tests you need to run? You're sure? You -"
"Colonel, if you don't' shut up and get the hell out of my infirmary this instant I will not be responsible for what I do to you!"
John snickered and smiled at the irritated, pregnant Jennifer McKay who had just finished running about fifty tests on both he and Todd to make sure that there were no lasting effects from Michael's nanites. Holding up his hands in defeat and surrender he jumped off of his bed and reached for his clothes. "Alright, alright, I'll stop," he smiled at her. "We'll be out of your hair in five doc. I promise."
Jennifer shot him a pointed look. "You'd better be," she warned him before she turned on her heel and stalked off towards her officer, silently shaking her head.
John smirked.
Todd frowned. "Is it not unwise, given her condition, to aggravate her so?"
John looked at him. "Oh, she's fine," he waved off the alien's concern, slightly surprised that he had any for the doc at all. "Besides," he said as he started to get dressed. Once again, Todd had managed to talk himself out of wearing scrubs and was simply standing there waiting for him. "Why do you care?"
Todd flippantly rolled his shoulders. "Jennifer McKay has always behaved civilly towards me, unlike others I could name. She also had tried to better myself and my people on more than one occasion for no other reason than she believes that her actions will, in the long run, help us." He paused and then added, "She is also of importance to Katherine and so, therefore, to me."
John sighed and looked up from tying his shoe laces. Fixing Todd with a certain sort of expression that made the wraith freeze and lift one eye-ridge in curiosity, John opened his mouth and said, "I know what you can do to prove it to me."
Since there was no need to specify what, exactly, the 'it' Sheppard spoke of was, Todd responded. "Oh?"
John nodded and took a deep breath. "There's an old human saying that says that if you love something, you have to be willing to let it go," he paused and regarded Todd a moment before continuing. "If you love her, then you do that and I'll believe you."
Todd let out a low, dangerous hiss. "You wish me to prove my affection for her by walking away when there is no cause to do so?" his eyes narrowed. "That will prove nothing, certainly not what you seem to think that it will."
John waved his hands in the air. "I'm not saying for you to dump her now to prove that you love her but, if anything happens. If she wants out or if something you do ends up hurting her even thought you didn't mean for it to, if being with you puts her in harm's way more so than she'd normally be, then," he locked eyes with the wraith. "Then, if you love her, you'll walk away."
Understanding what the human was trying to say, Todd inclined his head in acknowledgement that he would indeed do as Sheppard asked of him if any of those circumstances were to come to fruition. He had already vowed to himself that he would do so anyway but, if the human required him to publically announce his intent then that is what he would do.
And so he did.
"You have my word, Sheppard," he swore to the human. "I will release her if any of the situations you have described come to pass."
John smiled. "Good enough for me," he said and then stood back and gestured for Todd to step out of the infirmary before him. "Now, I know that you want to see Kate before you leave. I think she's in the mess hall but I can't be sure. Follow me and we'll just see if we can't find her."
Having apparently reached some sort of understanding with Sheppard concerning Katherine, Todd allowed a small smile to appear on his face as he followed the human down the hall in search of his beloved.
A/N: So there you go, I hope you all enjoyed that and, if you did, please let me know. Reviews are the only way that fanfiction writers get paid so, put a penny in my cup and make my day! Cheers!
