A/N: Here you go kiddies; please forgive me for the wait. Normally I'd put a little something up here but, since it's been such a long time I've got nothing to say except read, review and enjoy. Cheers!
Episode VIII: City of the Lost
Ten thousand years ago….
The taste of victory still lingered as High Commander Valloran stalked the halls of his hive. After a hundred days siege the Lanteans had finally been defeated, their city sunk and their populous taken back to their own stars of origin. Valloran could not be sure that that is where they went, but he was fairly certain it was. Andromeda had told him that if Atlantis ever fell then the plan was to return to their home galaxy, one that they had left hundreds of thousands of years before because of an incurable plague. Still, it hardly mattered where they had gone. The point was that they had gone. The victory was theirs and in the wake of it, Valloran felt glad – but the cost had been high.
Romulus was lost, imprisoned somewhere on a desolate world the location of which was locked somewhere inside of Atlantis' memory banks. His imprisonment was perhaps the primary reason why Valloran had hit the Lantean city so hard, refusing to give up and insisting that the constant rain of weapon's fire would eventually weaken their shields. His resilience had paid off but the Lanteans had submerged the city rather than allow him and his wraith to enter her upon their victory. Romulus' location was now buried and Valloran swore, invoking the names of all of the stars, that he would find his friend and release him. They would be reunited once more someday, and together they would celebrate their conquest over the traitorous Lanteans and all of their kind.
"High Commander."
The officer's voice broke through his lingering thoughts and Valloran looked up, eyes locking with the wraith who had spoken to him. "What is it?"
The officer, one of the communications specialists, bowed low to the ranking wraith before speaking. "We are approaching the coordinates," he informed the high born. "Should I take us out of hyperspace?"
The commander of wraith bowed his head. "You may," he responded, turning his steps back towards the bridge whilst continuing to talk to the younger officer. "And send a communique to the other ships; we are approaching the cities."
The officer bowed low once more and left to do his commander's bidding as Valloran arrived on the bridge and sent mental commands to his fellows to prepare for the docking process. Their ships were mostly organic and much larger than their Lantean counterparts. Entering and exiting a planet's atmosphere was difficult under the best of circumstances and required the skills of a seasoned pilot. Fortunately for him, Valloran's flag ship had what was perhaps the most skilled pilot of all at its helm and he stood patiently off to one side awaiting the order from his commander to commence landing.
Valloran was about to give it when a feeling prickled at the back of his neck and his attention turned. Stepping up to the window out of which his home planet could be viewed, the Commander of wraith looked down and frowned.
"High Commander Valloran?" the pilot asked, concern in his voice for he had long served this one and he knew that something was not right. "Is there something amiss?"
After a few moments contemplation, Valloran nodded. "Yesssss," he hissed, turning from the window and giving direction to one of the technician on his bridge. "Run a diagnostic of the planet."
The technician frowned. "High Commander," he began to protest, "What purpose would that ser-"
"You dare question me?" Valloran seethed, turning dark eyes onto his disobedient subordinate.
The technician shook his head and immediately as he was directed. The bridge was silent as they waited for the results of his scan and, when they finally came, the technician stiffened in his seat as the High Commander came to stand directly behind him. As one, both wraiths' eyes widened at the information that had been returned to them.
"This is not possible," the technician began, his eyes wide and disbelieving as they regarded his display console. "How can –"
Behind him, Valloran was as equally disbelieving but the commander in him took a hold before the rest of him could be reduced to panic. "Ready a transport," he ordered, turning from the console and making towards the dart bay. When he arrived, he found that his directions had been taken without deferment and that there was a ship waiting for him. He boarded it alone and quickly took it from his ship to the planet below, landing it and disembarking only to stop dead at the sight that met him.
There was nothing. Nothing. Everything was gone.
Sadness such as he had never known bit at the backs of his eyes as Valloran took several steps forwards into the destruction of what had once been his home. The air was cold and tainted with the smell of death, ash flittered though the air, and about him, all around, the once proud walls of Vallan lay in piles of rubble. The city had been obliterated.
It was an impossible thought. Valloran would have known if the Lanteans had made plans to attack Vallan or any of the other cities. They were cruel the Lanteans, but not so cruel as to do this. No, Valloran thought as he looked around, this had been done by some other means, another enemy. It sickened his heart to know that he no idea as to whom.
He would have to stop his fleet. It pained him to have to lie to them but, so soon after their victory the wraith deserved a reprieve before they discovered that their homeworld had been targeted and destroyed. Perhaps he could summon them all to one of the planets they had used as a base during the war? Perhaps he could…
A loud boom sounded above him, piercing the air like the scream of a dying wraith. Whirling around, Valloran looked up and watched as a blast of green energy fire came through the clouds from the sky and struck the ground far south of Vallan. He felt his eyes grow wide. That was no Lantean weapon's fire; the source was wraith. The wraith were destroying their own homeworld.
Anger boiling within him, the commander turned back towards his transport to replay a message to his hive that the attackers be stopped and then held for prosecution but an explosion above his head stopped him. Looking up, Valloran watched as his hive and all of her crew were blown apart by fire that was, once again, from a ship much like their own. Helpless to do anything but watch, Valloran's eyes were wide as what was left of his ship was destroyed by the atmosphere. He was alone, alone on a world that had not life in it, a world that had once been his home.
Bowing his head to lament the lost, Valloran sank into a crouch and vowed revenge on whosoever had done this. One day, he would make them all pay…
~xXx~
Silence.
Disquiet.
Worry.
All these things and more swirled around and permeated the air that sat, stale, in the assembly hall that had once, not hours before, held joy and contentment. In the wake of the queens' departure, Romulus had waited only moments before commanding the assembled wraith to retreat, giving instruction for them to take to their hives and to dissipate themselves throughout the galaxy, keeping as far away from the queens as possible. He told them that they were to stay isolated and stationary until summoned and he knew that, if only because they were all afraid, they would all obey. When they had gone, the elder had sat back down and begun to think. He had been joined by the few individuals that had refused his order to leave: Vasseera, Illyria, Thayne, Caavin, Maliaka, Varkan, their second and the one that the Atlantians called Kenny. Silence had conquered them and in silence they sat still, each lost in their own thoughts. Not a one of them knew what to do. Valloran was gone, taken. The game, and its rules, had been changed.
Or, perhaps, there had been none to begin with. Perhaps it had all been an illusion of control.
Caavin broke the spell under which they all suffered. "We must go after my sire," he said, his voice ringing eerily in the quiet.
To the surprise of most, his motem was quick to agree. "Yes," Illyria said plainly, her gaze lifting from its contemplation of the floor to lock onto Romulus. "We cannot loose Valloran."
Vasseera grunted. "We cannot loose Katherine either," he looked at the female who had born his brother his first child. "One cannot live without the other."
Illyria's eyes narrowed reproachfully at the Sentinel. "I am aware, Vasseera, of their connection and its implications. Do not think me ignorant of it."
The Sentinel was nonplussed by the female and her anger. "I thought to simply state a fact, nothing more. We must have them, after all, if we are to conceive of a plan."
Illyria bristled with reasonless fury. "We are all aware that a course of action is required. Do not think that -"
"Enough!" Romulus cried, silencing the female and Vasseera – who had been about to reply – both. Standing, the warrior turned and looked out into the room at those that had remained when all others had accepted defeat and retreated. His eyes narrowed to slits. "We cannot afford to fight amongst ourselves in this time. Valloran and Katherine had been taken; I would suggest we focus our energies on discovering their location and not squabbling amongst ourselves over nothing!"
Chastened, both Vasseera and Illyria let their eyes and heads drop in the direction of the floor. Romulus turned towards Caavin. "You are correct; we must attempt to retrieve your sire."
"And my queen," the younger wraith conceded with a nod towards his sire's brother.
Vasseera felt vindicated.
Romulus took a deep breath and then let it go in a great huff. "Yes," he concurred, "And your queen."
"Queen?" Varkan asked, speaking for the first time since the conclusion of the banquets. Looking back and forth between the elder commander and Caavin, he felt himself frowning. "I was not aware that you had a Queen to whom you bowed. Certainly the Eldest does not -"
"Valloran," Caavin interrupted, dispensing of all anonymities and pretenses. Varkan, his motem and their second had stayed behind when all others had been ordered to go. Their collective loyalty to his sire was commendable. It was only right to reward such devotion with utmost truth and it was time that they all knew – completely – the details of the war they had stayed to fight in. "My Sire is Valloran; first born of the once Queen Nuaura and her chosen, Warlord of Vallan and High Commander of wraith."
Caavin paused, his eyes searching those of his younger friend's for understanding. He found it and continued. "Katherine is his chosen. He has bound himself to her, made his vows to her and will obey her unconditionally. She is his Queen; to her he will bow. It is imperative that we retrieved them both for as Vasseera has said, one cannot live without the other."
Question answered, Varkan could not help but stare at the elder commander before him disbelievingly. As a child, Varkan had read stories about the legendary warrior named Valloran who was, in all actuality, the closest thing to a deity that the wraith had. His name had graced the pages of many of the history books that Varkan had devoured as quickly as he could find them. It was to Valloran that Varkan had set his standard and had tried to emulate, wishing with all his might in his youth that he could one day be so great. Now, knowing that the wraith that he had idolized was in fact the wraith that he had grown to both respect and fear with joint intensity, Varkan knew that his chances of ever equaling him were as nothing. The Eldest was Valloran and there were none that would equal him.
There is one, a voice inside of his mind reminded him mockingly, and Varkan realized that yes, there was one, one and only one, that could ever or would ever equal Valloran.
Katherine.
Valloran had chosen her to be his mate, had made her his queen. Valloran, whose defiance was a thing of legend and whose fury was the very essence of terror. Valloran had chosen a human female to be the only one to whom he would ever bow. The gravity of the circumstance weighed heavy on Varkan who knew without having to be told that, as Valloran bowed to her, he and one day all wraith would as well.
As Varkan came to grips with this startling eventuality, his motem felt her eyes go wide as her heart clenched and her breathing stilled. Rapt awe of the long forgotten truths that had been bequeathed to them filled her with wonderment.
Romulus felt the need to expand upon Caavin's overview of all that Valloran was. "And he is not the 'eldest'," he commented dryly. "I am older then he by at least a century and my second is yet still older then I. How I have abhorred that particular designation of his."
Illyria shot him a look. "More so than the Atlantian's 'Todd'?"
Romulus smirked. "That alias is simply amusing." He looked about him at the assembled wraith, "We require a plan. As Illyria said, we cannot loose Valloran. Nor his Queen. We must endeavor of a way to find them."
"With as much speed as possible," Thayne added, putting his voice into the conversation for the first time. "Whatever the queens have planned for him, it will not be kind."
To that, they were all ready to agree. Varkan turned towards Romulus. "Our movements are restricted," he recited, "The queens will be monitoring our actions once we leave this place. How will we search for the Eld-Commander Valloran and Katherine if we are constantly being watched?"
Romulus considered this. "We must find ourselves a way to travel amongst the stars without being detected by the queens."
Maliaka, who at last found her voice, frowned. "And how do you suggest we accomplish this?" she queried, curious.
The warrior turned towards Caavin who, out of all of them, was the only one beside of him who had recently been in the once lost city. "We will engage the assistance of the Atlantians."
Vasseera's eyes went wide. "What makes you assume that they will be so forthcoming with their assistance?" he questioned darkly. "They have a rapport with my brother, I was not aware that they also have one with yo- "
"Katherine is Colonel Sheppard's, sister," Illyria replied, interrupting Vasseera and answering before Romulus was able. "I have no doubt that they will need little persuasion to help us get her back."
Once more and for a second time, confusion swamped Varkan at the designation given to the Sentinel in reference to the Eldest. "Brother?"
Vasseera sighed. "Yes, brother," he explained plaintively. "Valloran and I share a motem and a sire. We are brothers by blood."
Varkan stared.
"I am certain that if you really wish to know all the persons in Valloran's bloodline and who is or is not related to who, Caavin would be most happy to accommodate you. But not now," Romulus interjected before either Maliaka or their still silent second in command could raise their voices to ask a question. "At the moment we must concentrate on arriving in Atlantis without arousing too much undue suspicion with our movements."
Caavin crossed his arms. "Perhaps it would be wise if we journeyed in a somewhat elongated route. It would take more time but…"
"An acceptable delay," Romulus deduced as he began to lead the others from the assembly hall towards the lone transport left to them for their use. A thought occurred to him as they walked and he looked back over his shoulder at Varkan as the younger walked along behind him. "While we are in the city and for as long as we find ourselves in the company of the humans, I would refrain, if I were you, mentioning that you have had any sort of contact with Katherine. Being shot, so I am told by Valloran, is unpleasant."
Varkan scoffed at the threat but thought that, perhaps given the circumstance, his silence on the matter would not be too hard a thing to accomplish. Especially given the gravity of their current task.
Caavin thought of something else. "It might also be wise not to mention Katherine's status as a Queen or to speak of her relationship with my Sire. I do not think that Sheppard would handle either very well or with any grace."
"Most assuredly not," Romulus agreed, glad that Caavin had had the foresight to warn them all against broaching such an undesirable subject with any of the humans from Atlantis. He eyed Valloran's son. "I believe Sheppard might shoot you in proxy."
Caavin made a face. "I do not doubt it."
Conversation fell to the side as the group boarded the awaiting craft, settled in and took off. As the atmosphere of the planet dissipated and the black of space welcomed them, Romulus realized that they had no ready explanation to give to the Atlantians once they arrived in their city. He frowned and endeavored to, before they arrived, come up with an account for their actions and for the need of assistance that would not, under any circumstances, get him or any of the others shot.
The task, he felt as he piloted his ship through the stars, was going to be more easily said than done.
~xXx~
With a start Todd awoke and blinked, the sunlight above him causing his eyes to sting. Hissing in pain as a painful throbbing began in his head; the wraith pushed himself up to his hands and knees and then stood. Lifting a hand to combat the glare of the sun, he looked around, his mind flying instantly to the location of his mate. He found her. She was lying on her back some distance away, still unconscious. Fighting through his headache, he went to her and knelt down by her side, reaching out a hand to gently touch her face.
"Katherine."
She did not stir and panic began to set in before the rational side of his brain could stop it. Quickly examining her, Todd could find no obvious injuries and so concluded that she was in no immediate danger. Still, it bothered him that she had not yet woken.
He tried again. Touching the fingers of his feeding hand to the planes of her cheek, he called out her name once more, this time with just a note of urgency to his tone. She moved and Todd felt himself relax but only partially. Setting himself down on the ground beside her, the wraith gathered her into his arms and held on to her tightly as he willed her to wake. Their location was unknown and he remembered nothing past walking out of the assembly hall but yet still, his most pressing concern at the moment was in Katherine's wellbeing.
The rest could wait.
Todd counted four hundred and sixty-nine breaths before he felt his mate beginning to awaken from her unconscious state. Loosening his hold of her, he looked down into her face just as her eyes fluttered open and she let out a pained sounding moan.
"You suffer, my Katherine?" Todd asked, concern filling his double-toned voice as his chosen forwent any attempt to move or get up and simply leaned into him, pressing herself into the protective circle of his embrace.
Against Todd's chest, Kate felt herself nod. She hadn't a clue where she was, how she'd gotten here or what was going to happen to her now. All she knew was that she was with Todd, he was holding her and – at least for the moment – she was safe. "My head hurts."
Todd hissed and tightened his hold on her. "Be calm, my Katherine, and it will fade."
Head throbbing, Kate whimpered and closed her eyes tight against the pain. It took about ten minutes for the pain to abate and, when it had finally disappeared, she let out a deep breath and pulled away. Todd's arms fell from about her and the wraith helped her to stand, using himself to steady her as, together, they looked around them.
They saw nothing.
"Where are we?" Kate asked, her eyes scanning the desolate landscape for anything even remotely significant that could help them figure out where they were.
Todd, too, searched for anything about them that could be of use to them in their current state. "I do not know," he lamented, resting his eyes on his mate after some time spent looking around. His face hardened. "The queens deposited us here."
Kate nodded and took one last look around their immediate area. "Wherever 'here' is."
"More than likely it is a planet on which there is no gate and no other apparent way for us to escape."
Kate cursed. "Like Romulus' prison planet."
Todd nodded. "Yes, exactly like…" he trailed off and frowned, looking down upon his mate, his head cocking to one side. "You know his name?"
Absentmindedly, Kate inclined her head. "He told me."
"When?"
She dropped her eyes and looked away. "You know when."
Todd hissed and breathed in sharply. Yes, he did know when. When he had abandoned her, Romulus had tried to fill the void. His long trusted companion had given Katherine his support and had comforted her when she had needed it. For that, Todd was in his debt many hundred of times over and always would be. It was not, in his mind, a debt that he could ever repay.
Sobered by the reminder of what had to be his darkest hour, Todd turned to once more looking about him this time in an effort to gage which direction would be the best to travel in. They could not stay here. The sun above them was beating down upon them now but it would eventually set and they would require shelter. That and it had been sometime since they had consumed anything to nourish themselves. His stomach was already beginning to show the symptoms of hunger and he was sure that Katherine's was as well. They needed to move on and it would be best if they did so soon while there was still light in the sky.
"Come," the wraith beseeched, holding out a hand to help steady his mate who he knew without being told, was still not yet recovered after her waking. "We must try and find shelter."
Knowing that Todd was right, Kate sled her hand into his and felt his fingers close tightly around her own. They began to walk, silence falling around them as they traversed the terrain that still yielded nothing that could tell them where they were. A crest rose up before them and with some effort, they climbed it. Kate was lost in thought about why the queens would put them here of all places when suddenly Todd stopped and she almost ran into him.
Startled, Kate peeked around him and felt her eyes widened as they took in the vast remains of what had once been a huge city laid out before them. She frowned. There was something eerily familiar about these ruins but she couldn't put her finger on it. She turned to ask Todd if perhaps he recognized it, only to immediately realize that not only did he know where they were but something was very, very wrong.
"Valloran?"
Todd almost did not hear her. Memory was not always a blessing and, as he looked out at the ruins of the once great city, the wraith found himself cursing his. "Katherine," he called to his mate who was instantly at his side. He turned to look down on her. "I know where we are."
Kate nodded and stepped forwards, her arms snaking out to wrap around Todd's waist in silent support. She knew where they were too. She'd known the minute she saw the look on his face.
Vallan.
Valloran was home.
~xXx~
"I hate Todd."
Lorne glanced at his commanding officer and frowned. "I thought our catch phrase was 'I hate Michael'?"
John glowered at him. "Michael never gave us this much trouble," he swore venomously before turning to fix the wraith in front of him with a death glare. They really should get around to naming him. They couldn't keep referring to him as 'Todd's best friend' forever. "So," he began, his anger over the entire situation boiling just below the surface. He might be able to keep a lid on it for a while but eventually he knew he was gonna blow up at somebody. And if he had his way, that somebody would be this wraith who was being entirely too patronizing. "Let me see if I've got this straight. The Queens are pissed at Todd for always getting in their way so they kidnapped him, stuffed him somewhere hard to find, and trapped my sister there with him. Did I get that right?"
Romulus fought the urge to slap the human senseless. Really, how did Valloran deal so often with this one without harming him each and every time he opened his mouth to speak? The answer eluded him. "You have the gist of the situation, yes."
John snarled. "Great," he said sardonically, "Just fucking great."
Lorne pursed his lips together. "It's not Todd's fault Sir, not this ti-"
"It's always Todd's fault!" John shouted, annoyed. "Whether it's directly or indirectly all of our problems in the past two years – the big ones anyway – can be traced back to Todd. Why am I the only one that gets this!"
Woolsey decided that it was time to intervene. When he'd first been contacted twenty minutes ago by Lt. Morison and informed that a wraith shuttle had just landed on the east pier, Richard Woolsey had simply greeted the party of wraith, three of which they'd never met, summoned Colonel Sheppard and Major Lorne to the briefing room, and then sat back as the wraith explained their reason for being here. It was not a good one and the bespectacled director had watched from the sidelines as Colonel Sheppard had turned redder and redder throughout the explanation until now it looked like the man was quite literally ready to explode. And given what Todd had revealed to both he and Elizabeth earlier, Woolsey was going to do everything in his power to prevent it since, no matter how much he was sure John Sheppard wished it, the situation was as anything but simple
"If I may," Woolsey interrupted before anyone could reply to the colonel's question. Eight pairs of eyes turned towards him and held; the director continued. "Whether Todd is or is not to blame is irrelevant. The fact remains, any action we take to rectify the situation must be taken quickly. We can assign blame later, after we have rescued both Todd and Major Sheppard. Until then, Colonel, I trust you to keep your head in the game and focus on the task at hand."
John fumed whilst the wraith all shot Woolsey a look of gratitude. "And what is the plan exactly?" the Colonel inquired hotly. "It's not like we know where the queens took them," he rounded on the wraith. "Why'd you guys even come to us anyway?"
Making leaps of logic based on facts was apparently not one of Sheppard's strengths as far Romulus could see. In fact, it rather irritated him. "Our hope was that you would use your equipment to activate the Commander's transmitter device," the wraith explained plainly, the annoyance he had for the one called Sheppard safely hidden in the multiple tones of his voice. "We would do it ourselves but we have not the means. The queens will be monitoring our actions too closely and we do not wish to risk alerting them to the fact that we are trying to locate the Commander. They might take defensive action by retrieving him from his current location and moving him to another before we can arrive. We cannot risk it."
It was on the tip of John's tongue to say that it wasn't his problem if they never found Todd when he remembered that never finding Todd meant never finding Kate. The reminder that whether he liked it or not his sister and Todd were in this together made John swear loudly in his head before he relented and nodded towards the wraith. "Yeah, okay," he sighed, uncrossing his arms and putting his hands on his hips. "So, which all of you are on the up and up with computers and wanna try working with McKay?"
Romulus turned towards his companions. Maliaka and Varkan had journeyed with him to Atlantis as had Illyria, Caavin and Valloran's Second. Vasseera and Varkan's second had been left behind to strategically mask their retreat. Of the six of them, Romulus knew that neither himself, Caavin or Illyria knew much if anything about the type of programming that would be needed in order to execute their plan. The elder wraith turned his eyes to the young female, her commander and his commander's second. "I trust that you three can see that the job is done?"
Maliaka nodded. "We can."
Beside her, both Varkan and the one the humans called Kenny nodded. Romulus would endeavor to, once this was all over, learn the young scientist's - whose loyalty to Valloran was unquestionable – name.
"Very well then," the elder wraith returned his gaze onto the one called Woolsey, "If you would be so kind as to facilitate their work."
With a nod, Woolsey gestured for Lorne and Sheppard to take the three wraith to Dr. McKay's lab. Once they were gone, the director of Atlantis turned back to the remaining wraith. He knew instinctively that there was more that they wanted to talk about and that they didn't want the colonel to hear them. "I'll call Elizabeth."
Romulus inclined his head and turned once to either side in order to give looks to both Illyria and Caavin. His companions returned his glances with looks of their own indicating that there were in agreement about what must be done. As Romulus returned to gazing intently at Mr. Woolsey the human that the male had summoned entered the room and closed the door behind her. Her eyes darted briefly around at them all, taking them in, before she sat down beside the already seated human male and turned her attention onto them.
"This is about Todd isn't it?" she deadpanned.
"And Katherine," Illyria spoke quietly, using her voice for the first time since their arrival in the once lost city. "Given the nature of their relationship neither of them can any longer be thought of as a singular entity. When speaking of one it is to be implied that you are also speaking of the other."
Elizabeth leveled the female wraith, who looked every inch a queen, with a keen look. "So you're aware their relationship?" she asked. "You support it?"
Illyria tilted her head to one side and regarded her fellow female. "Why would I not? Katherine is an exceptional female, worthy in a great many ways. The Commander chose well."
Both Elizabeth and Woolsey were more than a little surprised. "We figured you'd be slightly unhappy with his choice," Woolsey commented dryly, "Kate is human after all."
"It makes little difference," Illyria responded evenly. "The stars designed for them to belong together and so they have been bound by fate's own hand. It is not to us to question."
As far as they knew, the wraith didn't subscribe to any sort of philosophy or religion, but hearing the queen talk about fate and the stars made Woolsey reconsider that maybe they did believe somewhat in a higher power. It was definitely something that he could talk to Todd about later after this was all over. For now, he wanted to know what these three wraith had to say to him that they didn't want Colonel Sheppard to hear.
"Be that as it may," Woolsey began, steepling his fingers together in front of him as he looked back and forth between the assembled wraith. "I trust there's a reason why you three have stayed behind?"
Romulus inclined his head. "There is."
Woolsey nodded for him to continue.
The wraith took in a great breath and began to explain. "I do not know how much the Commander has shared with you about his eventual goals regarding our kind, but allow me to tell you this. The wraith are dying, and if the current method of government is not resolved, then we will cease to be in only a few more generations. The Commander seeks to prevent this by removing the corrupt queens from power and reverting back to our original method of rule as it existed before the end of the Great War."
"And the queens fear this," Elizabeth concluded, drawing her own assumptions based off of what information Todd had given them and on her own experience in diplomacy. "They don't want to lose their power."
Illyria shook her head. "No," she confirmed, "They do not."
Woolsey frowned. "Forgive me for saying this but why don't the queens just kill him to get him out of the way? If Todd's so great a threat wouldn't that be the simplest way to ensure that his plans are unsuccessful?"
As horrible as the thought of Valloran's demise was, Romulus knew that the human had a valid point. "If the Commander were any other wraith other than himself then yes, killing him would be a viable option but he is and so it is not."
Elizabeth felt her brows knit together in confusion. "I don't understand. If Todd's such a threat then it shouldn't matter to the queens that he's himself or not. Why can't they kill him?"
Romulus attempted to explain in a way that these humans would understand. "Because as much as they fear him, they fear his legacy even more. The commander is perhaps the greatest one of us to have ever lived. His power and influence stretch further than any control the queens have ever or will ever have. The commander's name is one that every wraith alive knows. There is not a single wraith alive to this day that does not know of him, of the power that surrounds him, and of what he is capable."
Woolsey leaned forwards. "And what, exactly, is he capable of?"
"A great many things," Romulus continued before going on elaborate. "The commander is not without limits, but those limits are few. Moving the stars, should the need arise, is perfectly within his capabilities, as are many other unimaginable feats. His mind is as strong as his arm; there is nothing that he cannot think, and nothing that, having thought it, he cannot do. It is why he is as a God to so many of us; the queens fear what he has done as much as they fear what he is able to."
Elizabeth couldn't help but feel awed. "Wow."
"Indeed," Romulus agreed, a strong surge of loyalty for his lost friend coursing through him like fire in his veins.
A moment of silence passed in which the wraith allowed the humans to digest what all they had been told before Illyria began again. There was more that needed to be said. "As great as the commander is, he has remained alive for so long by hiding behind a mask of ambiguity. When the queens first betrayed us after our victory over the Lanteans, they sent out orders that the commander and all others that still subscribed to the old ways be brought to them and exterminated. The commander, as well as those whom were loyal to him, faded into obscurity as a method by which to survive. Over the next thousand years we systematically annihilated those corrupt queens who were a threat to us, who remembered who and what we truly were. There are but three left, and it is those three that have taken it upon themselves to lock the commander away where he can no longer threaten their claims of power and control."
"But why not just kill him?" Elizabeth stressed, still confused as to what there was about Todd that prevented the queens from doing this. "What's stopping them?"
"The fear of what would happen should they dispose of him," Caavin replied, joining the conversation for the first time. The human's collective attentions turned to him. "My Sire is known by many by the designation of the 'Eldest', while still others know of him by the name you have gifted him with. As the queens destroyed all those that held true to the old ways so too they destroyed all those that knew and could recognize my sire for who and what he was."
Woolsey and Elizabeth exchanged a glance before the latter asked, "But I thought you said all of the wraith knew him and what he could do?"
Caavin shook his head. "You would be hard pressed to locate a wraith alive that has not heard of him by his true name. There are very few of us that know him for who he is. My Sire's given name is the subject of legend, thought to be only myth and speculation; a singular name given to the embodiment of a great many past warriors. The queens know that if they were to dispose of him permanently then any chance of his true identity remaining ambiguous would die with him."
"And your fellow wraith wouldn't take to kindly to the queens killing off their King Arthur," Woolsey extrapolated, pulling together all of the facts and coming to one and only one reasonable sounding conclusion.
Since 'King Arthur' was very obviously a human who had the same depth of importance as Valloran did to the wraith, neither Romulus, Illyria or Caavin asked for any further explanation as to who the human was. All that was important was that in making the connection it could be known that the humans at least understood the gravity of the situation and why, in no uncertain terms, the queens could not in fact end Valloran's life.
It had certainly taken enough of an explanation to reach the point, Romulus thought sourly. He was quite tired of talking at this point in time.
In contrast, Illyria felt the need to humor them by clarifying the situation further. "If the commander were to be killed and were the wraith to learn of it, learning in the process who he truly is, then it would not matter if he was gone because his plans would be successful even if he was not alive to see it. The wraith would seek retribution and that retribution would be detrimental to the queens. It would destroy them and they know this; are acutely aware of it. By imprisoning the Commander on some lost and isolated world they can ensure that he lives but is out of the way and can no longer do them any harm."
There was one thing that still wasn't clear, at least not to Elizabeth. "But why trap Kate with him?" she asked, her brow furrowing. "Why not –"
"Because, as I said," Illyria explained, "the Commander and Katherine can no longer be thought of as two separate entities but as one and the same. Katherine is bonded to the commander; her life is tethered to his. To be away from him for so long a time would kill her and, because neither of them can survive long without the other, the commander would soon follow her into the beyond."
Woolsey understood, recalling the conversation he and Elizabeth had had with Todd about this very subject not twenty-four hours ago. "Keeping Kate with him keeps him alive, taking her away kills him," he glanced at the wraith to make certain that he understood this right, "They can't let him die."
Romulus shook his head. "No, they cannot."
Under the weight of everything that'd just been explained to him, Richard Woolsey let out a great, shuddering sigh. "So," he began, pushing his glasses up farther onto his nose as he looked steadily back at the assembled wraith. "Now that we understand the predicament, I'm going to assume you want us to do something about it?" All three of the wraith nodded and so Woolsey continued, "And what, if I might ask, might that be?"
"It is clear that the queens are no longer willing to sit by idly whilst the commander attempts to destroy them," Romulus intoned, "Until more wraith are made aware of his identity as per our plan, it is not safe for him to remain at the head of our alliance."
Elizabeth frowned. "What do you mean?" she asked, curious as to where this was all going. What, exactly, were these wraith asking?
"The commander requires asylum until such a time comes as it is safe for him to return to his position of authority over the wraith," Romulus looked Mr. Woolsey dead in the eye. "I suggest you grant it to him."
Both of Woolsey's eyebrows shot up. "You want us to let Todd live here?"
The wraith nodded. "I do. You do not have much of a choice in the matter, really."
"Oh?" The director inquired. "And why is that?"
"For all the reason that were just discussed; Katherine must remain at the Commander's side," he eyes the human, "Unless you would like to explain to John Sheppard why it is his sister must go into hiding with the Commander on some wraith-controlled world, then I do not see that you have the option to refuse."
Woolsey knew that the wraith had him. "No," he agreed reluctantly, "I don't."
Romulus smirked. "Then it settled. Once the commander and Katherine have been retrieved, the commander will remain here and be integrated into the affairs of you and yours of Atlantis. He will be –"
"Mr. Woolsey and Dr. Weir to Dr. McKay's Lab. Mr. Woolsey and Dr. Weir to Dr. McKay's Lab," Dr. Zelenka's voice, bordering on panic, blared at them through the city's intercom system. There was a moment's pause and then the scientist added, "Bring the wraith."
Worried and without any clue as to what to expect, Woolsey stood and gestured for all present to follow him as he lead the way down to Rodney's lab. When they entered, they found a peculiar sight that didn't at all account for the state of near hysteria that Radek had used when summoning them all down here. It was odd to be sure, but not anything to fuss loudly about. Kenny was standing stoically behind one of the lab's computers working on, presumably, activating Todd's transmitter, John was halfway through explaining to the other male wraith how their computers worked so that he could help, and Rodney was standing squarely in front of the other queen with a look of pure horror plastered on his face, not at all unlike the panic that had been in Zelenka's voice.
Richard Woolsey was utterly and completely confused. "What is it?" he asked the room at large only to have McKay round on him and point an accusatory finger at the younger of the two wraith queens.
"It's her, her!" the flustered Canadian shouted loudly, the look in his eyes bordering on hysteria. "Look what she did!"
Whilst the newly arrived humans and Romulus, Illyria and Caavin all frowned, Maliaka turned towards the irritable, shouting human and scowled. "I do not understand your accusations," she hissed, her eyes narrowed. "I have done nothing-"
"Nothing!" Rodney shouted, startling both Woolsey and Weir and the other three wraith with the volume of his voice. "Just wait; watch this," he said before he turned back towards the queen and swiped the Ancient tablet that she had picked up and had started this whole mess out of her hands.
Maliaka repressed the urge to strangle him as the object that she had been holding was taken from her in a by no means kind manner. Hissing though her clenched teeth she watched as the one called McKay marched towards Caavin and held out the device for the elder wraith to take. The queen fought the urge she had to roll her eyes; this was truly ridiculous and without any sort of purpose at all. It was lost on her as to why the Eldest – Valloran, her mind corrected - bothered with them at all. These humans were all very clearly insane.
"Here," McKay said, handing over the tablet to Todd's son and then stepping back so that everyone could watch as the familiar white glow of power went dark. "See!"
Elizabeth didn't see, she didn't see at all. "No Rodney," she said, worried that Atlantis' finest scientist had finally snapped. "What is it?"
Exasperated, Rodney turned back to the queen and told her to take the tablet back from the other wraith. With a snarl and an angry hiss, she complied and, as soon as the tablet was back in her hands, the otherwise unresponsive computer lit up and turned back on. Rodney turned back towards Woolsey and resumed pointing at the wraith queen.
"She's got the ATA gene!" he cried, his voice cracking a little in its state of panic. "Do you have any idea what this means!"
Nothing but stunned silence answered him.
~xXx~
Even in ruin, Vallan was impressive. Built of stone with walls that, though crumbling, looked impenetrable, the sheer monstrosity of the city took Kate's breath away; her heart pounding more and more loudly in her chest the closer and closer they got to the city's gate. It took all of her willpower not to gasp in awe, her eyes wide with wonderment, and stop to stare wondering if this had been what John had felt like the first time he had ever set foot in Atlantis.
Maybe she'd ask him when they got out of this– if they got out of this.
"We will escape this place."
Kate started. Since having told her that he knew where they were, Todd hadn't said a word and hearing his voice break the silence had startled her. "You're listening to my thoughts."
Todd inclined his head. "I am," he admitted, confirming her suspicions. "I find them soothing," he turned to look at her. "Even with only your mind, you comfort me."
"Glad I can help," she said softly, reaching out to take his hand with hers. Todd didn't pull away; her grip tightened. She glanced up, "How're you doing?"
The wraith grunted. "It is…painful, being here. I…" he trailed off unwilling, even with Katherine, to appear weak.
"Yes?" Kate prompted. Todd said nothing so she tried again. "Valloran, it's me. Talk to me."
"I know," he replied slowly, uneasiness a clear tone in his multi-layered voice. "It is just….it is…difficult for me to confess things of such gravity with anyone; even you. I have never…" he stopped walking and turned so that he could look into the eyes of his chosen, "…you are my first for a great many things."
Kate smiled. "Well that makes two of us; you're my first for a lot of things too."
The corners of Todd's mouth took a downturn. "I am not the first wraith for you to have bedded."
Kate sighed. They'd never actually talked about what had happened with her and Varkan. She knew that they needed to but finding a time was not something that she'd been looking forwards too. While not ideal, she figured that now that the subject had come up, it was as good a time as any.
"No," she said bluntly, "You're not."
Todd's frown deepened. "I will not ask you why; I am well aware of the reasons for which you felt the need."
Confused as to what the issue was if he already knew her reasons, Kate looked up at him and asked, "Then?"
"Your choice," Todd replied harshly, "You chose him."
Disbelief made Kate blink before she scoffed, "That's it? That's what you're upset about? Who I picked?"
The wraith hissed and took several steps back, away from his mate explaining, "He and I are not, nor have we ever been, on amicable terms."
Kate snorted. "Yeah, I know."
"Do you?" Todd inquired, taken aback by his Katherine's confession, "How?"
Kate sighed and began walking again. They were maybe twenty yards from the gates of the city and the sun was setting quickly behind them; important life discussion or not, they had to keep moving. "We were stuck together in a cell for eight days," she explained tightly, still a bit miffed that she hadn't been the one to tell Todd about how she'd met Varkan. "We talked. He mentioned you once or twice."
Now this surprised him. As far as Todd knew, the younger wraith did not like discussing him anymore then he liked discussing Varkan. "Did he?"
His mate nodded. "Well, yeah. You were the commander of the hive where he was born and he was the son of the Queen. He told me that you had a pretty big hand in raising him."
Not for the first time, Todd felt guilt over the fact that, as far as Varkan was concerned, he had not done the best of jobs. "And yet, he is as he is."
Kate rounded on him, her eyes narrowed into incredulous slits. "What the hell's that supposed to mean?" she demanded crossly.
Todd teetered on the cusp of whether to answer or not but decided that a further discussion on his failures as a parent – or as a stand-in thereof – was not what was needed at this time. For now, they had gone a bit astray in their flow of conversation. "It matters little," Todd responded crossly, his nostrils flaring as he at last inquired of Katherine the question that had plagued him for some time now, "Why did you choose him to take to your bed when you could not have me?"
"Lack of options," Kate answered realizing that, even as she said the first thing that came to her mind, it was the truth. "Romulus is taken, Caavin wasn't there, and I don't sleep with people I don't know, so Varkan got the job."
Her stark presentation of facts annoyed Todd for some reason, not least of which was the realization that now, knowing this, he almost wished that his eldest had been present at the conclave. As loath as he was to think of any wraith other than himself mating with Katherine, he would have most certainly been more receptive to Caavin having been her choice then Varkan. At least he knew that his eldest regarded and cared for her; Varkan he was sure saw her only as a conquest.
However sure of his conclusions Todd was, he chose not to voice them for fear of completely disrupting the last threads of harmony that remained strung between he and his mate. Katherine would most likely resent whatever accusations he made regarding Varkan's true intents when agreeing to bed with her, and the elder wraith was most keen on keeping the relative distance between them minimal. Already having such discord between them was causing him pain, and so he focused on what she had termed her mating rather than who she had chosen to mate with.
"And that is how you regarded your mating with him?" he voiced, "As a task to complete?"
Rolling her eyes in exasperation that Todd chose now of all time to be insanely literal, she amended her statement, "Okay, bad choice of words. It wasn't a job, it was just…" suddenly remembering something, she cut herself off and crossed her arms, looking back at Todd with an expression of challenge in her eyes. "You know what? If you're really pissed off that I slept with anybody - it doesn't matter who – blame Romulus. He's the one that shoved Varkan at me; I'm sure with malicious intent. When we get out of this, go get mad at him."
Oh, thought Todd venomously, I intend to. Most vituperatively.
When Todd didn't reply Kate continued. She was tired of their conversation and felt like all the bases had been covered and that they could move on. "Now let's think," she instructed, hoping beyond hope that Todd would let it go and help her, "We know where we are. Can you think of why we're here?"
Todd did know, the answer was simple. "To make me suffer."
Kate rolled her eyes. "Well, yes, obviously," she replied scathingly, "I mean specifics. We're here instead of dead; why didn't they just kill us?"
"And this bothers you?" he inquired, confused and concerned by her way of thinking.
Her answer shocked him. "Yes," she said plainly, "It does."
Todd looked back at his mate as if to imply that she had lost her mind. "Katherine -"
"Think about it," Kate insisted, plowing on before Todd could ask her if she was feeling okay. "If it were somebody in your way that was constantly running your plans and threatening to take all of your power away from you, what would you do to them?"
Opening his mouth as to reply, the wraith closed it when the meaning to his chosen's words became clear to him. Bowing his head, he acknowledged the correctness of her insight. "I concede your point."
Satisfied, Kate smiled and sat down on a block of stone that looked like it had at one time been part of the outer wall. They were now inside the walls of the city and relatively safe, at least for now. "Okay, so…" she began as she leaned back on her hands and stretched out her legs, crossing her ankles before tilting her head back to look up at her husband, "…I know it doesn't change anything and it doesn't help us at all – but I'm the kind of person that likes to know why things are done to me. And I think it's a bit odd that, as much of a pain in the ass to them you are, the queens just dumped you here instead of making sure that you'd never bother them again," she paused and then, a thought having occurred to her, added, "I also find it odd that I'm here at all. If the object is to torture you then they've got to know that separating us would make you pretty miserable."
Todd was quick to agree, "Hummnn, yes." Separating Katherine from his side was a sure way to further his torment but, as painful as the event would be for him, if the goal of the queens was to keep him alive, then removing her from his company would be rather detrimental, "But not a viable option."
His mate frowned. "Why not?"
"It would kill me."
Kate's eyebrows rose and threatened to disappear into her hairline. "It would what now?"
It took a moment for Todd to realize that while he had explained the implications of their binding to Woolsey and Dr. Weir, he had yet to make all of the conditions known to Katherine. The wraith mentally slapped himself for his oversight. "You…understand that you and I, that we are connected yes?" he queried, needing to know that she at least grasped this very basic principle before he went on to explain what all else was involved because of it. "You can feel that our minds and emotions are linked?"
Kate nodded. "Yes," she confirmed, knowing this. "We're married, bound, or whatever your way of saying it is. How does any of that mean that you'll die if we're separated?"
As he had when delivering his explanation to Dr. Weir and Woolsey, Todd began with emphasis on the severity of the situation. "The state of being bound is somewhat more complicated, more complex, between wraith than it is to you humans. Those that are bonded cannot sever the connection without the termination having lethal ramifications."
A light bulb suddenly went off in Kate's head and she frowned, her eyes narrowing. "Which is what you did that very nearly killed me."
Regret and repentance weighing heavy in his words, Todd inclined his head in confirmation. "Yes," he validated before lifting his eyes and leveling them intently against the accusatory gaze of his chosen. "My mistake nearly killed both of us my Katherine, not only you. I was ready to die as I did not want to live if I could not have you in my life and by my side, in all things," he saw her steel-grey eyes soften, "I would have ceased to be if I had not learned that in so choosing to give up my life I would be ending yours as well."
On the verge of saying something that she was sure was overly mushy and romantic, Kate came up short and incredulously blurted out, "Who told you?"
Todd sighed. "Ganos."
Kate stared. "Ganos told…what happened to noninterference!"
The wraith frowned, affronted and hurt that this was her response to his confession of wanting to die rather than to face life without her. "You are complaining?"
"What?" Kate asked, horrified that he would think that, "I-no!"
Todd was relieved, if still somewhat put off by her reaction.
"But I'm sick of the rules always chancing!" she raged, color rising in her cheeks as righteous anger caused her eyes to nearly blacken. "The damned Ancients couldn't help us get rid of the Ori until it was almost too fucking late but they can mess around with my love life? How does that make any kind of sense I ask you!"
Understanding now, where her argument originated, Todd offered, "From what I was told you were, apparently, a way to rectify the wrongs done to my race by the Lanteans."
That didn't sound right, that didn't sound right at all. Kate hated being played like a damned chess piece no matter how nice the outcome was. "So I'm what, your reward for having been screwed over so many times?"
"If you wish to see it that way, yes," Todd looked down upon his mate as she flustered in indignation. Truly, she was magnificent to behold when she was angry; her passion stirred his lust. "I, however, prefer to see it in the other way Ganos described it for me."
Standing, Kate hissed, "Which is?"
Todd let his eyes caress her face whilst he brought up his feeding hand to gently tilt her head up towards his. "That you were always fated to be mine."
The whispered caress of his voice erased all resentment and anger from her in one fell swoop, and Kate felt herself relax into her husband's hold on her. "I can see why you would," she agreed, reaching up to take his hand from her chin and press a kiss to his feeding slit. "That one's much better, very romantic."
Hissing at the touch of Katherine's lips to his feeding organ, Todd allowed his eyes to lazily close in pleasure as a grin of satisfaction broke over his face. For a moment, they remained still until he felt Katherine pull away from him. Opening his eyes, he looked down on her; a thin film of desire clouding his otherwise clear senses. Now was not the time but, still, even knowing this, Todd found himself wanting her.
Through their connection, Kate felt a ripple of desire that she realized wasn't hers, run through her, along with the clear idea that now wasn't the time. Her body shuddered and Kate reined back the heat that had begun to pool in her belly by taking several steps backwards, away from Todd the tempting wraith. Looking up at him, she focused her attention sternly on what they'd been talking about before she'd found out that she owed her present happiness to an ascended Ancient that had decided to play matchmaker.
"Um, okay, well," she said shakily, her breathing proving to be somewhat difficult given the circumstance, "Back to the separate us and die part."
Able to regain some semblance of control over his emotions Todd began the explanation in exactly the place that he had left it. "The term for the affliction is aptly named the Separation Sickness. In essence, because our very existences are reliant on being always part of the other, should we be apart from one another for any length of time, we would begin to sicken and then eventually die. The illness motivates us to find one another again and continue to be as one."
"Wow," Kate said, shaking her head in awe and wonderment, "You wraith really don't do anything by half do you?"
"We are a passionate race," Todd said by way of a further explanation, "If we make a commitment to give of ourselves, we do so wholly, holding nothing back. It is why our phrase of devotion is to say that another is 'our life' rather than your human term of the simple words 'I love you'."
"And yet you said it to me anyway."
The wraith nodded. "I did. The words have meaning and value to you, and therefore I choose to say them in order that I might bring you pleasure in hearing me say them." Dropping his head and cocking it gently to once side, he asked with some uncertainty evident in his voice, "Hearing them did bring you pleasure did it not?"
A laugh escaped her at the look of uncertainty on his face. "Yes," Kate assured him, "Hearing you tell me you love me made me very happy."
Todd grinned and Kate stepped towards him. Laying her hands to rest on his hips, she tilted her head back and smiled up at him, "Kind of how you like it when I say your name; Valloran."
A shiver of pleasure washed down Todd's spine as the wraith felt his eyes close once more in reaction to Katherine's teasing of him, "Yesssss."
Choosing to stay close to him rather to back away, Kate went back to their true conversation. "So," she said, her eyes dropping to Todd's chest as she lazily began to draw patterns across his battle coat, "The queens have kept us together because separating us would kill us and they, for some reason, want you to live," she paused in her ministrations and looked up at him; his eyes were still closed, "Do you have any idea why that is?"
Shaking his head and allowing his eyes to open, Todd replied in the negative. "I must confess that I do not," his gaze dropped to hers and the wraith watched as a curious expression flickered quickly behind his beloved's eyes. He frowned, "Do you?"
Kate nodded. "I've got a theory."
"And what may this theory consist of?"
With a sigh, Kate stepped away from Todd the very warm wraith, and wrapped her arms around herself, not liking that she was about to bring up someone who was, apparently, a very sore subject for him. But what she had to say, it needed to be said. She'd held back on saying it for a long time and really, didn't see that she could hold off any longer.
"I told you that while Varkan and I were locked up with Michael we talked," she started, noticing the way that Todd's hands flexed at the mention of Varkan, "Well, more than once he talked about you. Not you as in 'the eldest' but you as in you, Valloran. It's funny but when you first told me your name I was so happy that you told me that I didn't stop to think that I'd actually heard it before."
To this, Todd could honestly say he was shocked. "Varkan discussed Valloran?"
"Yes, he…you know it's really weird when you talk about yourself in the third person."
Todd snorted. "Yes, well forgive me; I as I was, am not a common topic for most wraith."
Kate snorted. "You'd be surprised."
He looked at her. "Would I?"
His chosen nodded. "Yes," she said pragmatically, "You would be." She frowned, "You don't have any idea of who you are to the wraith do you?"
Her accusation and the way in which she said it confused him. "I am myself," Todd insisted, inquisitive as to how he could be otherwise.
Kate shook her head, Todd's obliviousness into his own importance and significance astounding her. "You're more than that," she told him, still shaking her head at him. "You remember that world history book I gave you?" he nodded, "You're like Alexander the Great, King Arthur, and Merlin all rolled into one."
The wraith frowned. "If I remember correctly, Merlin, or rather, Moros, was a rather eccentric Lantean scientist, therefore I do not believe that your allusion holds enough credence -"
"What have I told you about being factious and stubborn?" Kate interrupted, her expression a withering glare of exasperation. Under the heat of it, Todd quickly retreated and Kate continued. "Your patronizing bullshit aside, you know what I mean; you're the wraith equivalent of Alexander, Arthur and our version of Merlin all rolled into one. That's how the other wraith see you. When he talked about you, Varkan was in complete awe of everything about you and I think that that's why the queens haven't killed you yet. They're afraid of you."
Todd did not quite see her point but knew that she was correct, at least, about one thing. "I am aware that they fear me," he acknowledged, "That is why I am so great a threat."
Kate wasn't willing to back down. He needed to understand, she had to make him understand. "Yeah I know but this is a different kind of fear," she continued to explain before taking a deep breath and going for the plunge. "Valloran, you are God to the wraith, they evoke your name as a prayer. You have power over them in a way that the queens know they'll never have and that scares the living shit out of them."
Still un-comprehensive as to what, exactly, his mate was getting at, Todd nonetheless found himself curious. "And this power that I have would be?"
"Faith," Kate replied, looking Todd dead in the eye as she passed the point of no return. "You know because you've read in the book that we humans have had hundreds of wars, not just on our planet, over religion. Faith is a very powerful thing to everyone, even the wraith, and I think that the queens are absolutely terrified of the rest of them finding out who you really are. The Eldest is one thing, but you as you...I very much doubt that there's a wraith alive who's stupid enough to stand up against you as Valloran."
Considering her argument, Todd realized that his chosen was at least partially correct. "While I will admit that your idea has merit, I do not think that I am so great as to inspire such reverence in so many," he looked to her and suddenly felt inadequate knowing that Katherine had such belief in him. "I am me, that is all. I was great once now I am less -"
"You're only less because the queens have wiped out everyone who knew you as you," she interrupted bitterly, angry on his behalf even if he couldn't yet see why. "The Eldest can be gotten rid of, but Valloran is too deeply entrenched into the minds and hearts of the wraith to be eradicated completely. The queens haven't killed you yet because they know that if they do, everyone who believes in you, has faith in you or even knows who you are, will rise up and retaliate. You're everything that all wraith seek to emulate. I learned that from listening to Varkan talk about you. He'd give anything to be even a quarter of what you are. If the thing you aspired to be above all else, your standard, was suddenly wiped out by a group of people wouldn't you want revenge?"
So overwhelming was her defense of him that Todd found his voice rendered useless. Unable to do anything else, he dropped his head.
Kate prompted him again, needing to hear his answer. "Wouldn't you?"
Finally able to speak, Todd lifted his gaze to hers and replied, "I would."
"Then use it," Kate went on, her eyes boring into Todd's so that he couldn't not even if he had wanted to, look away. With her words and her passion, her belief in him and all that he was, she implored him to listen to her and take her words to heart. "When we get out of here, bury The Eldest and let everyone know who you are. I promise you that if you do, the queens will fall."
A moment of silence followed Katherine's empowered demand and in it Todd remembered with startling clarity where they were. Any motivation his mate's words might have inspired in him were drowned out and replaced with self-doubt and shame for the destruction that had been his fault. He could not tell her, not now, not yet, why he could not believe so strongly in his own value as she did.
Why he never would.
"And if they do not?" he asked her, his voice quiet. "How can I command the faith of all others if I do not even have such faith in myself?"
"I have faith in you," Kate avowed, "I always have. So does Romulus, Caavin, Varkan, his queen, Illyria-" Todd's head snapped up her and his eyes alternated between widening and narrowing in shock. Kate sighed, "She said something about how me having your heart meant that her name was the least of all the things of I'm worthy of," explanation given, she went on, "And I know he'll never admit to it but John has a lot of faith in you as well. Atlantis believes in what you're trying to do, it's why we help you so damned much. So if you're short on faith in yourself, then borrow it from us. I promise you, it'll never go away."
Feeling guilty in allowing her to continue to reserve such loyalty in him, Todd protested, "You do not understand, I do not deserve-"
Once more, Kate cut him off. "You deserve everything and nothing you say, nothing, will ever make me think different."
As much as her affirmation meant to him and however much he longed to never loose standing in Katherine's opinions of him, he knew that she would not continue to feel this way were she to know the truth. That the destruction of the city around them was his doing, that he had failed so many who had put their faith – just as Katherine had – in his ability to stand for them; to protect them. He did not deserve such unwavering loyalty from her nor from anyone else, and he knew that the day would come when he would have to tell her, to see the evidence of the truth reflected in Katherine's eyes as the way she looked at him changed. He could not bear to see it, not yet. So he said nothing and a silence opened up between them.
"Come on," Kate whispered, shattering the silence abruptly, "Its dark and I'm cold."
"The barracks are this way," was Todd's answer to her and, turning his back to her, he lead the way forwards.
Knowing that there was nothing more that could be said at this time, Kate nodded and followed. She knew in her heart of hearts that this discussion wasn't over. There was something that Todd was holding back, something he was reluctant to tell her, and every instinct she had told her that that something had to do with this city. She wouldn't push him; he'd tell her when he was ready but, whatever he might think her reaction would, she knew that there was nothing in this universe or any other that would make her hate him. She would always believe in him, always have faith in him, always love him. There was not a power in existence that could change that.
And there never would be.
~xXx~
The wake of the revelation that a wraith queen apparently had the ATA gene left all those present in a state of utter shock, inner turmoil, and desperate disbelief. It just wasn't possible, it couldn't be or, at least, that was the thought that was running through all of the human's heads. The wraith were slightly more mystified, Maliaka especially, as she was the subject around which the revelation revolved.
And she did not like it, not at all.
"Forgive me," she started, breaking the silence and calling all eyes present to turn and stare at her; her voice the very essence of condescension, "But perhaps an explanation is due, seeing as I have no particular idea why you all are staring at me so acutely," her eyes darted back and forth between the humans and her fellow wraith. She hissed in open and annoyed exasperation, "Would someone please tell me what in the name of all the stars is transpire-"
"You have the ATA gene," Rodney cut in as though this were the most obvious thing in the world. "What part of that can you not understand because I was given to believe that you were fairly intelligen-"
"Do not speak to me as though I have no sense human or you will regret it!" the young queen snarled dangerously, her yellow-green eyes narrowed dangerously. "I do not understand what you are accusing me of. Explain your terminology; that is what I cannot comprehend."
Rodney inflated, taking a deep breath as he prepared to give the queen what Elizabeth was sure would be a very patronizing explanation of what, exactly, the ATA gene was. Deciding that deliberately pissing off a wraith queen was probably a bad idea, Elizabeth stepped in to stop him and save him from possibly getting eaten. "ATA stands for Ancient Technology Activation," she began, figuring that it was best to start off with the meaning of the acronym before they moved on to the rest of it. "The Ancients encrypted their technology so that it would only respond to users that shared their DNA or, specifically, one particular gene."
With understanding, Maliaka inclined her head. "A gene that you say I possess."
Unable to hold back any longer, Rodney scoffed loudly. "Well obviously you have it because the tablet didn't work for TJ here when I handed it to him."
Irritation for the manner in which the rotund human continued to speak to her, prompted Maliaka to hiss and growl at him, whilst Caavin, who had also been indicated in the human's speech, frowned.
"TJ?" he repeated, a look of loathsome disgust on his face at the revelation that he had apparently been given a human designation.
"Stands for Todd Jr.," John explained, crossing his arms and smirking at the perturbed look that had plastered itself across the wraith's face. "Cool huh? You've got a name just like your dad."
Caavin snorted. "I would have preferred not to have been given a designation at all."
John frowned. "Would you rather us call you 'it' or something, 'casue we can do that if you'd like."
The unhappy wraith growled menacingly. "I am not an it."
The colonel waved away the wraith's anger. "Yeah, yeah, we know; trust me, we know," he smirked knowing that, faced with the alternative, Todd's son had just lost. "So you're TJ, unless you wanna give us your real name."
Caavin scoffed at the very idea. "I would not tell you my name if my life depended on it."
John grinned. "Good thing is doesn't, TJ, or you'd be screw-"
"Um, hello!" Rodney interrupted, gesturing wildly back at the wraith queen who was still holding the glowing tablet. "Gotten a bit sidetracked haven't we? This is way more important than whatever his name is. We need to find out how the hell she managed to get herself the A-"
"I think it's fairly obvious Rodney how she got it," John argued. "I mean think about it, based on what we know, there's only one way she could've gotten it."
Rodney glared at him. "Oh really?" he asked, miffed, "And how's that?"
John opened his mouth.
"Yes," Maliaka asked, annoyed by the whole proceeding. "Might you tell me how you believe that I came to be in the possession of this gene you say I have? I am most curious."
Woolsey made a face. "I think we all are," he muttered under his breath.
John sighed. "Well, we know that there are hybrids out there from wraith-human pairs so what's to say that there aren't hybrids out there that are part Ancient," he paused and waved at the queen whose eyes, if at all possible, had gotten even more narrowed. "Maybe she's got Ancient somewhere in her family history."
"What!" Rodney exclaimed, his mouth running away from him before his brain could catch up. "That's not even, it doesn't make any…actually, that might not be so far off…"
While the Rodney tailed off suddenly lost in thought over the possibilities of what this may or may not mean for them, the wraith were less inclined to believe his hypothesis.
"That is absurd," Maliaka voiced readily, knowing that the human's postulation concerning her origins could not be more false. "It is not possible that I am the descendant of a Lantean. I would know –"
"There is an easy way to disprove the theory," Illyria began, turning towards Maliaka in pity for having been placed into this circumstance. "Simply recite for us the names of both your Sire and your Motem."
To this, the young queen felt her eyes drop. "I…"
The elder female frowned and cocked her head to one side. "Do you not know?"
Maliaka lifted her head and tried vainly to act as though she were unaffected by the uncertainty. "I do not. I was raised in a nursery before I reached maturity and escaped. The hive on which I later found myself had no queen and so the commander took me, young though I was, and taught me. Still, I was not given control as the hive's queen until it became dangerous for us to continue to exist without one. Only did then I begin my rule and so, no, I do not know whose progeny I am. But I do know that it is impossible to be what they say."
Romulus eyed her critically. "But can you be certain?" he inquired. "If you were reared in a nursery, then it is quite possible that the humans are correct about your parentage. Would it be so terrible if-"
"To surrender a child, any child, is the most grievous of sins to us!" Maliaka reminded the elder, anger pulsing through her veins along with feelings of abandonment. "Regardless of whether it was my motem or sire that was Lantean, one of my parents was wraith and no wraith would willingly surrender a child. Much less so because I am female!"
Illyria felt her pain but knew that this was an issue that needed to be resolved. "Perhaps parents were not so willing, perhaps they had no choice."
To this, the young female said nothing. She was done speaking of this.
Rodney raised his hand; the room at large turned to look at him. "I have an idea."
John raised an eyebrow. "What's your idea?"
Rodney sighed. "We could test her blood and run it against the Ancient database down in the infirmary. It's got all of its original records including blood samples from all of the Ancients who lived in Atlantis ten thousand years ago. If one of her parents really was an Ancient or something then we'd be able to tell who."
Thinking the human's idea to be absurd, Maliaka opened her mouth to say as much, but was prevented from doing so by Romulus. "Do what needs to be done," the elder wraith instructed the humans before tuning to fix Maliaka herself with a look. "This must be settled regardless of your feelings on the matter. You will comply with whatever needs to be done."
Knowing that there was no room to argue, the young queen bowed her head and resigned herself to the human's care. The one called Elizabeth instructed her to come with her, and so Maliaka went, but not before ordering her son to remain.
"Your skill set, my Commander, is required," she said, her voice soothing for she knew that her son worried for her. She could not allow him that. "I will be well."
With reluctance, Varkan bowed to his queen's commands and returned to the computer terminal that Sheppard had previously been instructing him in how to operate. Elizabeth and the queen left whilst the other wraith, the one without a name and not the commander of the young queen, along with TJ's mother, followed Woolsey back towards his office. With minimal fuss the priority shifted back to locating Todd and Kate before it was too late.
~xXx~
Ten thousand years ago…
Three days, that is how long Valloran was trapped planet-bound on the very world of his birth before his absence was noted and another of his hives came looking for him. Three days in which the once great commander of wraith was the only living being amongst the countless dead. It had taken him some time to build up the resolve to go looking through the ruins of the still smoldering city; actively seeking out the evidence of destruction. What he had found had near driven him insane with grief and loss. Thousands dead; males, females and younglings all struck down, and not just by the onslaught of battery that the ships in orbit had unleashed. Three days it took Valloran to realize that all of the ruin that lay around him was his doing, his and his alone.
Everywhere around him, ash floated in the air, and the stench of decaying flesh permeated his every sense. He could no escape it not more than he could escape his guilt that it was all for him that so many had suffered needlessly in their demises. The signs had been there, if he had bothered to look, Valloran knew that he would have seen the evidence of the queens' planned betrayal. It had to have been there, plain for him to see, but in the quest for victory over the Lanteans he had been blinded. It was his pride that had killed so many, decimated the wraith so that there was but a fraction of them left. He had caused this, the many, many hundreds of thousands of wraith that had worshiped him, believed in him, and had faith in him that he would save them. He had failed them all.
Their deaths were on his conscience; their blood on his hands. Valloran knew that he would never be rid of it. It would linger with him until the day he drew his last breath. The only thing he could do was live. Live and hope to at least bring retribution to those whose faith in him he had broken. The queens would pay, stars willing he would make them pay for this. He would destroy them. But his guilt would never fade, nor would his sadness. He had failed them.
He had failed them all…
~xXx~
Todd woke with a start, the ghosts from his own memory haunting him into wakefulness. Sitting up, the wraith leaned forwards and rested his arms on his knees, whilst vainly attempting to banish the remnants of what once had been from his thoughts. He failed, just as he had failed so many wraith so long ago. With a snarl, Todd berated himself for his own weakness and stood, walking away from the bed he had made with Katherine, to go stand by the window. They had made it to what had once been the barracks just inside the outer wall before they had both succumbed to weariness and the inability to see, and had stopped to shelter for the night. The bed they had made was rudimentary, not unlike the ones they had shared during Katherine's time as a runner. It consisted of the ground and a fire to provide warmth and that was all. As Todd stared up into the night sky he wondered if his back would feel the effects of sleeping on so hard a surface when morning came and the sun broke free into the sky.
"Valloran?"
Todd glanced behind him. Katherine was awake, sitting up and looking questioningly at him. He hissed and returned to looking outwards at stars that he had not seen in ten thousand years. "Forgive me, for waking you."
Kate blinked and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes before getting up and joining the wraith at the window. Stepping up to him, she reached out a hand and lay it gently on his stomach. He didn't look at her; didn't move at all. She frowned and called out his name again. This time his head turned and, once his eyes were locked with hers, said, "You had a nightmare."
Knowing that it was useless to try and deny the fact that his dreams had plagued him, Todd chose to instead clarify, "It was not a nightterror but rather, a memory."
Kate didn't need to be told of what but found herself asking anyway, "Of this place?"
The wraith nodded. "Of what I found, when first I returned here after our victory over the Lanteans was realized."
She was almost afraid to ask, knowing that it must be terrible, but if it had made him wake up from a dead sleep, then Kate knew that keeping it all locked up tight inside wasn't going to do him any favors. If she could get him to talk about it then maybe he'd be able to get back to sleep.
"What'd you find?" she found herself asking, praying that he would let her in, "How bad was it?"
"It was…" Todd began only to stop, unable to complete his original sentence. Instead, his memories resurfaced and drew his mind into them once more with a vengeful force so much so that he jerked away from Katherine so that her hand fell back down to her side. His back to her, he willed himself strong enough to answer her. "I cannot say," he whispered, his voice breaking as he felt his mate walk around him so that she stood before him once more. He looked up at her, their eyes locking and begged her, "Please, do not make me relive it. I cannot…"
"Shhhh," Kate soothed, her heart breaking at the sight of her warrior reduced to something so fragmented. Sympathy for him bade her come closer and wrap her arms around his waist, her head dropped to rest over his frantically beating heart. "Forget I asked."
Todd complied with her wish and clung to her, her presence doing more to keep his memories at bay than the walls and barriers in his own mind ever had. He could feel her, feel her steady heartbeats and even breaths which served to calm down his own erratic heartbeat and breathing until their chests synchronized and began to rise and fall as one. Pulling back from her, he looked down on her and gently brushed the fingers of his feeding hand down her cheek. She sighed contentedly at the contact, and Todd heard himself hiss.
"Forgive me, my Katherine, for appearing to you thus," his voice was low and twisted with regret. "I am afraid that I am not at my best."
Kate looked at him, her eyes boring into his own and said, "With me, Valloran, you don't always have to be strong," raising herself up so that she was on her tip-toes, she brought her mouth to within inches of his ear and whispered, "I'll make sure you never fall."
A low, long hiss escaped him, but before he could speak, could say any of the many things he wished to say to her, to thank her for, he felt her mouth connect with his and hold. Of their own accord, his eyes fluttered close and he leaned into the affection that his chosen was offering him, knowing full well what her intentions were by initiating this. She was trying to distract him, to take his mind away from his memories and to focus it on something else. Todd found himself eagerly receptive to her methods as he let her lead him back towards their bed where he found himself being pushed to sit by a rather insistent Katherine. He smiled against her mouth, never before had his chosen been this forceful. Always he had been the one to lead; now, he was only too willing to allow Katherine to take the helm.
And she did.
With vigor.
Todd found himself without his clothes much more quickly than he would have ever thought possible. His only negative thought to the process was that, in all of the time that his chosen was divesting him of his garments, she would brush away his hands when he would try to rid her of hers. At last he grew tired of it and unleashed an exasperated growl.
Kate giggled inwardly at the wraith's apparent aggravation and the knowledge that he had no idea what she was about to do next. "No," she told him firmly as she again pushed away his attempts to get her undressed as well. He made another irritated sound and Kate felt herself smile against his very confused mouth before she drew away and sat back on her heels to look at him.
Todd looked back, annoyed that he was naked and she was not, while being thoroughly aroused and very confused as to what, exactly, his mate was planning. "Katherine," he began, unable to keep the warring tones of exasperation and lust out of his voice, "What are you -"
A mischievous grin dawned on Kate's face as she looked back at her wraith lover. "Don't you trust me?" she asked, sticking out her lip in a pout that she watched Todd's eyes zero in on, unable to look away.
Todd gulped, the expression on Katherine's face doing things to him that he had not previously thought a mere expression capable of doing. "I do," he relented, his want for her escalating despite or perhaps because of his confusion over her intentions. "But -"
Kate shook her head and placed her hands on Todd's shoulders, forcing the wraith to lean backwards until his back touched the floor. Coming over him, she settled herself next to him and began to lazily trace patterns over his chest with her fingernails. "Relax," she instructed him even though she knew that at this point in his confusion Todd the wraith would do anything but, "Close your eyes."
Entranced by the control that Katherine had over him, Todd felt himself comply to her even as the lust inside of him screamed at him to take back the dominant role from her and make her let him have his way. In all his life, Todd had never allowed a female to take away his command during a mating. It had always been him who led. If he ever had surrendered control it had been for but a moment and a moment only. Enough time for the female to feel as though she were contributing to the act, when in reality, Todd was simply using her to achieve release. With Katherine, however, it was different. For as much as he desired to find pleasure and release in her body, he also desired with equal strength to allow her to achieve the same. In fact, the need to have Katherine find joy in him was greater than the need of his own desire. For the first time in all his life Todd was willing to be the instrument by which another achieved release, even if it meant that he did not garner the same pleasure for himself.
If all that came of their mating was Katherine's joy, then it would be enough to know that it had been he that had brought it to her.
Todd thought of this revelation as, above him, Katherine began to move down his body trailing her mouth along first his neck, then down his chest to his stomach, and then finally he felt her mouth touch a part of his anatomy that no female, ever, in all his life had ever touched in the manner in which his Katherine, his chosen, and his queen, was touching him now. In the nearly seventy-eight thousand years of his life, there was very little as far as sexual experience that the wraith had not at least heard of, participated in or tried. His age and rank had afforded him every opportunity during and after the war to copulate with a female whenever he required release, and so he had never sported with a member of his own sex; he had never lost control over himself enough as to require a release by his own hand; he had never needed to resort to rape; he had never found any pleasure in causing him or any other pain, and he had never, not in all his life, received or even conceived of the act that Katherine had begun to perform on him now.
Feeling her mouth close down around him and engulf him was a sensation that Todd did not know how to describe. The wraith's eyes opened wide as an intense pleasure began to fill him. It was so like the pleasure felt during mating but yet different, similar but not the same. Katherine's mouth burned him and yet such was the pleasure that it brought him that he would not for all the worlds amongst all the many stars have her stop.
"Katherine…"
Pleased with herself, Kate continued her ministrations. It had occurred to her – more than once if she were honest with herself – that there were probably some things that humans did sexually that wraith didn't or couldn't do. For example, the wraith all had very sharp, pointy teeth and so she was almost ninety-nine percent sure that not a single one of them had ever had, or ever thought about having, oral sex. Above her, Todd made another sound that she was sure she'd never heard from him before and, around him, Kate felt herself grin.
Apparently, he was enjoying this.
Breathing had grown to be difficult, his muscles had tensed, and his mind was a fog of pleasure, Todd found, as his mate continued to elicit from him sensations and feelings that he had never experienced before. It was mind-numbing and Todd was ready to admit that, as her goal had been to distract him from his memories, she had succeeded admirably. He could think of nothing save for the feel of her mouth around him and the movement of her hands and her head. Another breathless moan escaped him as Todd felt his eyes close involuntarily and of their own accord. He was close, his release was eminent and the only thing he found himself currently contemplating was whether she would continue until the end, or if she would stop. He expected that she would but, when she did not and instead took from him his completion, Todd found himself in awe of her and very, very grateful. What she had done to him, for him, words simply would not describe.
Todd gave up trying to as he felt himself relax, the tension bleeding from his body as his ability to breath returned to normal. He opened his eyes when he felt Katherine move and locked them onto hers as she came over him, settling herself down by his side.
"Did you like that?"
The wraith let loose a soft, low hiss. "My Katherine," he whispered, lifting himself up to rest on his elbows so that he might look more closely at her. He slipped a hand behind her neck and cradled her head gently, looking deeply into her eyes. "Thank you."
Kate smiled and leaned forwards, bringing her lips upwards to meet his. She'd never cared much for what she'd just done, but with Todd, as were so many things, it was different. It had brought her pleasure just knowing what she was doing to him, and he hadn't been expecting it. Travers had always demanded it from her like it was his right; Todd hadn't even known such a thing existed. Kate discovered that she rather liked teaching him things. It was rare that she knew how to do something that he didn't. Hopefully the opportunity would come up again.
"You didn't answer my question," she whispered, lifting up a hand to gently trace the hard lines of Todd's face. "Did you like that?"
A low hiss escaped the wraith who nodded, closing his eyes to the sensation of his mate touching him. "Can you not tell?"
Kate smirked. "I don't know," she teased and watched as Todd's eyes lazily opened and locked with hers. She leaned down over him and brought her face close to his. "Maybe you could show me how happy I just made you."
With one brow ridge raised in question, Todd returned his mate's playfulness with some of his own. "Is that what you wish for, my Katherine?" he asked, his voice coming out in a seductive sounding purr.
Kate smiled at him and stretched upwards so that she could breathe into his ear. "Do your worst."
Without any further need for invitation, Todd repaid Katherine's previous attentions to him and divested her of her clothing in a matter of seconds – at least the parts of it that were in his way. As they were stuck here and her current dress was the only garment she had, Todd could not rip it away from her as he longed to do in order that her skin might be exposed to his. Instead, he undid the lacings at the back of her gown and pulled the bodice apart; pushing it down so that her breasts became exposed to him. Her undergarments he did destroy in his haste as he sat up and pulled her forwards onto his lap, his mate's own eager hands pulling up her skirts to hips. As he entered her, Todd heard Katherine cry out, his name falling from her lips in a throaty tone that only made him more desperate to bring her to pleasure. His pace increased and he felt his chosen move with him, ever able to keep up with him in a manner that no other could.
"Katherine…" Todd hissed as he felt her fingers dig harshly into the skin of his shoulders. Around him, he felt her body shudder as her release washed through her and milked from him his own. He did not deserve her, stars he did not deserve her, and if that fact had ever escaped him before, it rang painfully true to him now. Here, amongst the destruction and decay that he himself had wrought, Todd had never before felt more inadequate and unworthy. But, as he could not live without her, whether he deserved her or not, whether he was worthy of her or not, Katherine was his and he would never let her go.
~xXx~
Dr. Rodney McKay was, Romulus decided, the most obnoxious, annoying, and arrogant human that he had ever met. If it were not for the fact that Valloran required his assistance and continued involvement in all of his endeavors, then the elder wraith would only be too happy to never have to be in the human's obliterating presence again. Unfortunately, for all of his shortcomings, the human was rather brilliantly intelligent, and so Romulus knew that he would simply have to suffer through it for as long as his assistance was deemed beneficial.
That did not mean that Romulus had to be happy about it, and in fact, the wraith was rather furious at the moment. Because it was his duty to oversee the proceedings and because, really, he had nothing better to do, Romulus had resigned himself to watching over the one called McKay as he continued to work on remotely activating Valloran's transmitter. Varkan's assistance in the proceedings had been concluded when the young commander could no longer stand the human's condescending attitude and had threatened to drain him dry if he continued to speak down to him in such a patronizing manner. Seeking to defuse the situation, Colonel Shepard had presented the wraith commander with a device called a Gameboy and then gone about instructing him in how to play what Romulus was sure was a pointless and frivolous game, but with which the young commander quickly became enthralled. Caavin had decided that he too wished to learn the mechanics of such a human toy and now all three males – Sheppard, Varkan and Caavin – were taking turns on one side of the room operating the Gameboy device. Kenny seemed to be the only one that could stomach continuing to work alongside McKay and Romulus had regulated himself to a far corner of the room as far away from the odious human as he could get.
It is where Illyria found him when the female entered the laboratory some nearly forty minutes after their project had first commenced.
"Queen," Romulus greeted, weary of using anything other than titles when in such close proximity to two humans that, given the importance they placed on naming things, would garnish entirely too much joy out of discovering a wraith's true designation.
An amused smile on her face upon seeing her eldest involved in the operation of a human toy alongside both Katherine's brother and Maliaka's Varkan, Illyria chose to settle herself in the chair next to the one in which Romulus sat. Turning to him, she commented on his choice in greetings. "Given the nature of Katherine's recent change in status, I think it would be prudent to no long be addressed by my false title."
Romulus felt one eye ridge rise up in inquiry over the female's statement. "False title?"
Illyria nodded. "Yes. I am not a queen, I rule over no city, nor parish, nor town, and therefore, I cannot, with good conscious, claim to be what I am not," she looked at him and inclined her head regally. "I am, if I must be called something, simply matriarch. That is all."
Romulus was surprised. "You would humble yourself so?" he inquired, "Submit to Katherine's rule?"
The female's gaze was unwavering. "Would you?"
Romulus answered without hesitation. "It would be an honor to serve her and call her my Queen."
"An honor indeed," Illyria replied, no hint of anything but truth in the layers of her voice. She sighed. "That day will not come for some while yet, I am afraid."
"Oh?" he companion asked.
She shook her head. "Katherine, for all that she is able to understand us, is not one of us, nor will she ever be. I think that there are times when our commander forgets this fact. It is not in her to have others bow to her, to willingly accept the surrender of all of another's own free will and have it replaced with hers. She will not command him anymore than she will command any one of us for yet still a long time. She does not yet understand what it is to be a matriarch, much less a true queen of wraith."
Katherine's supposed acceptance alluded to in her previous comment found Romulus inquiring, "But you believe that she will, one day, understand?"
Again, the female nodded. "I do," she confirmed, confident of this fact as she was confidant of few other things. "The day that Katherine accepts and understands will be a day like no other. The stars themselves will bow."
Romulus could not help but find he agreed and wondered when it was that Illyria had taken the time to come to know Katherine as well as it was suggested she did by her commentary. "She will be a great queen," he avowed reverently, "The equal to no other."
The female beside him hissed, the expression on her face darkening, "Certainly surpassing Nuaura."
While momentarily taken aback that she should choose to say the former Queen of wraith's given name aloud, Romulus realized that such was the depravity of the female in question. He did not care if the humans were to learn of it. It was no more worthy of protection than she who owned it. However, still he was curious as to why Illyria should choose to compare Katherine to that particular queen when she could have compared her to any other.
"For what reason do you compare Katherine to her?"
The female rolled her shoulders, a gesture that she had often seen Valloran do in the past several years since first his alliance with the humans of Atlantis was begun. "Nuaura was the first queen to rule over all wraith and, while a tyrant and a traitor she might be, she is the one to whom all others of us will compare Katherine once it is known that she is our commander's chosen," was her reasoning.
Her reasoning confused Romulus. "I am willing to concede that she was a tyrant, but from where does the claim of traitor come that you lay at her feet?"
Wary now of the course their conversation had taken, Illyria answered evasively, "There are secrets still that I know that you do not."
For some reason, this angered him. "The time for secrets is at an end. In the commander's absence, you will tell me all of what you know."
Rather than immediately do as she was commanded, Illyria rose to her feet and bore down on the commander with all the malice she yet processed. "You cannot compel me to break my silence. I am bound to it upon threat that if I break it I will lose that which I hold most dear."
"And what might that be, matriarch?" Romulus demanded, having long desired to know what, if anything, Illyria coveted above all else. "Your hives," he guessed, "Your power? What is the one thing in all the stars that you care for most?"
"The same thing that all females who have given birth to another life hold most precious," her voice was even and deadly in its calm as she willed the male in front of her to understand her. "I promise you, commander, that if you pull from me my secrets simply to satisfy your curiosities I will not hesitate to kill you for knowing them. My first duty is to those to whom I have given life and I will let none put them in harm's way," her eyes were as cold as stone, "I will die before betraying them."
In all the time he had known her, Romulus had thought Illyria was many things, but a good motem was not one of them. Now, looking at her glass-like eyes and the way in which she head her head, he knew that in her silence she was both afraid for and resolute to protect all of those to whom she had given birth. If there was but one thing that Romulus knew held true in no matter the circumstance it was that a fearful motem, one that was afraid for the very lives of her offspring, was the most dangerous and deadly creature known to ever exist. In this, he would not cross her.
"I withdraw the question."
"It is good that you have," Illyria said, before relaxing her posture and turning seek out Romulus' gaze once more. "If you truly wish to know the secrets kept from you, I can think of one who is not bound by silence whom you could ask," she told him.
The elder wraith's eyes narrowed. "Who?"
Illyria opened her mouth to give him his beloved Andromeda's name but was prevented from doing so by the abrupt return of Maliaka and the other humans, Mr. Woolsey, Major Lorne and Dr. Weir. There was yet another female human with them who had pale hair and a round face. At her, Maliaka was glaring darkly and, as a group, Illyria, Romulus, Caavin, Sheppard, McKay, and Varkan all gathered together to hear of the results of the young queen's test.
"Tell me you've got something?" John asked as he pocketed his Gameboy. He ignored the twin hisses from both wraith whom both had been surprisingly good at playing Mario Cart.
Through pursed lips, Jennifer shook her head. "Unfortunately, I've got nothing."
Rodney was the first to react. Looking at his wife in incredulous disbelief he exploded, "What do you mean you've got nothing!"
Chiming in before Jennifer could speak, John added, "Yeah," he said, jerking a thumb at the wraith queen standing next to McKay's wife. "I thought you said you could tell us who Queeny here's related to."
Again Jennifer opened her mouth but was this time cut off by a very irritated female wraith disdainfully exclaiming, "Queeny!"
John looked at her. "Yeah, surprise, it's your new name."
Maliaka growled. "I will not allow you to refer to me by such a demeaning designation. I am-"
"Oh get over it," John interrupted her, completely nonplussed by her reaction. Todd had had a similar one when he'd first figured out that whenever they said Todd they were talking about him. "All the wraith we know and see regularly have names. His is TJ," he pointed towards Todd's son, "He's Kenny and you're Queeny. That's how it is."
Varkan made a face on his motem's behalf. "I do not yet have a name."
Romulus hissed. "Nor do I," he nodded towards Illyria, "Nor does she."
John shot all three wraith looks of pure exasperation. "Well, would you like names? Because we can come up with ones."
Romulus' face took a downwards turn. "Dare I ask you to provide an example?"
John opened his mouth.
"So when I tried running a sample of Queeny's, sorry-" Jennifer said aside to the queen who scoffed and angrily crossed her arms. She looked back out at the room at large. "Blood through the Ancient's medical database, my entire system crashed."
There was a moment of silence and then four voices belonging to Woolsey, Weir, John and Rodney all exclaimed loudly, "WHAT!"
Jennifer folded her arms across her clipboard and looked down at the ground. "I don't know how it happened," she explained forlornly, "But the minute I tried to run her DNA through the database everything just went off and now I can't even get my lab to turn back on."
"Like it got hit with a virus or something?" Lorne asked, confused. "I don't get it. Why would her blood do that to the system?"
Jennifer sighed. "Well, about that," she glanced back over at the queen. "I've got a theory."
"Oh really? Do tell?" Rodney demanded. The look his wife shot him made the Canadian scientist quake in terror and dive behind the nearest wraith. "Sorry," he squeaked, peeking out from behind TJ. "W-what's your theory?"
Caavin glanced over his shoulder at the human taking refuge behind him and quirked an eye ridge just as the female, the one called Jennifer, continued speaking. "I think that whoever her Ancient relative was, programmed some sort of failsafe into the database that would prevent anyone tracing her," she pointed at Maliaka, "…back to them. The only thing I can't figure out is why they'd do it."
"I can think of several," Illyria postulated earning her the attention of everyone in the room except for Kenny. It was not lost on her that throughout this entire conversation the young wraith had not yet stopped his work on activating Valloran's transmitter. She was curious as to whether or not anyone else had noticed this in addition to herself, but pushed the thought aside as she let her eyes fall onto the one called Jennifer. "The most prominent is for protection. A hybrid child would be exploited by the Lanteans; used for experimentation and stars only know what else," she glanced at Maliaka, "Perhaps your Lantean relation wished to prevent this and so they programmed Atlantis' DNA systems to fail should a sample of your blood ever be submitted for crosschecking."
As her words reached the ears of the others and where thought over, Kenny decided that now was as good a time as any to remind them all of the reason for which they were all actually here. "As enlightening as this entire procedure has been I am sure, for everyone," the attention of the entire room focused in on him. Kenny continued, "I have successfully unencrypted the Commander's transmitter signal, allowing for the device's activation. We may now track his location."
The others looked at one another while Romulus asked, "You have continued working this entire time?"
The young wraith scientists nodded. "I have. I thought to be of some use since who is or is not related to whom is of no concern to me. I trust you are pleased?"
Romulus nodded, Caavin and Varkan shook their head, Maliaka inclined hers and Illyria smirked. The human McKay bustled quickly over to the terminal at which Kenny was posted and began to type away at something. "Just give me a minute," the human muttered as, to their lefts, a Lantean viewing screen activated and a map of the galaxy was called forth. "Just…one…more…Ah-ha! There!" McKay walked over to the screen just as a red blinking dot suddenly appeared on its surface located in a far quadrant of space. "That's Todd."
As Todd's little red dot was nowhere near anything even remotely wraith controlled and was, basically, way out in bum-fuck nowhere, John found himself very confused very quickly. "What the hell is he doing way the fuck out there?"
In contrast to the human's perception of Valloran's location making no sense, Illyria, Caavin and Romulus all glanced warily at one another in concern over what they were seeing.
John Sheppard, for once in his life, noticed. "What?" he asked, turning to the three worried looking wraith. "Where is-"
"He is in Vallan," Illyria announced noticing as she did that the significance of Valloran's location was not lost on anyone, not even the humans. "The queens have taken him home."
John frowned. "I don't get it, what's so bad -"
"That is because you understand nothing!" Illyria screeched, more upset by the queens' decision to imprison Valloran on their former homeworld than she was sure the others collectively were. That is because she knew more about the city's final days than they did, she had been there; it had been by her order that the hives had fired upon it from orbit.
Seeing his motem react so violently and with such anger made Caavin move to her side quickly, "Motem?" he questioned, worried for her. "What -"
But Illyria would not let Caavin comfort her. There were secrets that she could not tell, but she could at least tell this one. "You know that at the conclusion of the War, when our victory over the Lanteans had been realized, a group of queens defected and turned against us," the wraith in the room nodded whilst the humans' attentions became irretrievably cemented to her, "They destroyed the cities."
Romulus nodded, having heard of this from Valloran. "Yes, their hives fired on the cities from orbit -"
"No," Illyria argued, her anger blinding her vision and making it difficult to see. "My hive fired on the cities," her eyes barely registered the shock on the faces of Romulus and her son before she continued. "It was a mercy; a quick release from the agony that the queens would have had them suffer."
Caavin could not believe what he was hearing, that it had been on his motem's command that Vallan and her sister cities had been reduced to rubble. "How is the destruction you rained down a mercy?" he demanded. "My Sire was in Vallan when you ordered your attack! He watched you -"
"I trust that I need not remind you of the effects of the Sterilian virus and what it does to us wraith," Illyria countered, interrupting Caavin before he could finish his accusation of her. His eyes widened and she saw that yes, he remembered well the effects of that particular disease. "The queens stole the formula for the pathogen and had it mass-released into the entire wraith population. My firing on the cities from orbit was the only way I could think of to end it for them without traveling to the planet's surface and running the risk of becoming infected myself. We learned too late of the queens' plans and had no time to prevent it. What else would you have had me do!"
Caavin did not have an answer to give her.
Romulus however, did. "You gave them mercy when no other could," he soothed the now visibly shaking female whom he could well see was still tortured by her past actions and the reasons for which they had been needed. "You did well."
With resolution, Illyria forced herself to calm and lifted her head so that she might look back at Romulus once more. "You know as well as I that the virus would not have been made possible without the Commander's input. If the queens have put him in Vallan, then they have done so in order that he may find out the true reason for the destruction of the five cities. How do you think he will fare once he realizes that hundreds of thousands of wraith were put to death and made to suffer in torturous agony as a result of a virus that he created."
"The knowledge would fracture his sanity," Caavin concluded, worried now for his sire in a way in which he had never been before. "He already feels as though the destruction of the cities was his doing, that it was his fault for not realizing the plans of the corrupt queens more quickly. He cannot know this," the wraith broke off and turned abruptly to face the humans, Colonel Sheppard in particular. "Please," he begged, willing to do anything, including sacrifice his pride, if it meant saving his Sire's mind from fracturing to a point where it would be beyond repair. "We must retrieve him, we must retrieve him now!"
John was unmoved. As interesting as the wraith's story had been, he wasn't in the mood to run off half-cocked just to save Todd the wraith's mostly ungrateful ass. "Now hold on a minute," he looked around, TJ looked panicked, the queen next to him wasn't looking much better, and Todd's BFF looked like he was contemplating strangling something. The other three wraith looked as confused as he was but much less inclined to ask questions. He turned back to the three worried wraith, "What makes you think that we can just drop everything and -"
"The queens are hoping, I am sure, that once his sanity breaks, the Commander will lose control and either permanently harm or possibly kill Katherine," Romulus stated harshly. It was an over exaggeration he knew but the humans did not need to know that. He said it for motivational purposes only. "If his lucidity were to return and the Commander were to learn that he had done something to harm Katherine in such a way then the queens' torture of him would be twofold. He would not forgive himself and would, quite possibly, take his own life because of it."
John didn't believe that, not for one second. "Yeah right," he said in the most heavily sarcastic tone he could manage, "Because finding out that he hurt Kate would really drive Todd to suicide. Nice try, I applaud you, but that's not gonna -"
Varkan could stand it no more. Rounding on the one called Sheppard who had once tried to shoot him, the wraith demanded, "Are you blind, human, or just simply stupid?"
Rounding on the wraith that had just insulted him, John did a double take and then really looked at him for the first time since the whole lot of them had shown up. He frowned. "Hey, you look familiar. Why do you look familiar?"
As Colonel Sheppard said it, Lorne realized that yes, he did look familiar, but he couldn't place him. Suddenly though, the veil of memory slide back, and Lorne was struck with a very painful realization. Michael. This was the wraith that Michael had locked Kate up in a cell with and tried to get her to sleep with. The major blanched.
John noticed. "Lorne?"
Atlantis' XO shook his head and venomously clamped his mouth shut. "Nothing Sir."
John wasn't so easily put off. "Oh no," he said, marching towards his second in command with a look on his face that said you'd-better-tell-me-what-you-know-or-you'll-be-doing-night-details-for-the-next-month'. You know where we've seen him before don't you?" he pointed at the wraith, "Tell me where we've seen him before."
Lorne wavered. "I-"
"That's an order Major," John pulled rank. "Spill!"
Lorne gulped. "Michael."
That was so not what John had been expecting. "Michael?"
The colonel wasn't the only one that was confused. Woolsey and Weir shared a look before they both echoed John, "Michael?"
Lorne nodded. "Yeah, Michael. You know…" he trailed off and looked pleading at the wraith, "Help?"
Varkan snorted. "And why would I do that?" he inquired, feeling no pity for the human whatsoever. "So that your commander can threaten to shoot me again."
Lorne glared at the wraith. "He didn't threaten to shoot you, he threatened to castrate you, which is much worse, so either help me out here or-"
"I've never threatened to castrate a wraith," John talked over his major, frowning. "Well except Todd and that one wraith that…" The proverbial light bulb went off in his head and John rounded on the wraith with a furious snarl, "YOU!"
Varkan was unconcerned with the human's apparent rage and instead turned to the one called Lorne. "There. You see. Your commander did not require any assistance on my part in remembering his earlier encounter with me," he returned his gaze back onto Sheppard, "And you have not yet answered my question. "I would like to know whether or not the Commander has grossly overstated your intelligence. I find it quite disturbing that one who can claim relation to the Lady Katherine could possibly be so dimwitted."
"I am not dimwitted," John protested, wishing that he had the liberty to shoot that annoying smirk right of the damned wraith's face. "I resent…wait…" a kernel of what the wraith had just said sneaking into his brain, "Since when is my sister a 'Lady' to you lot? Why don't you just call her your queen and get it over with!"
"Katherine would not allow us the honor and you have not yet answered my question," Varkan pushed, unwilling to let it go as perhaps he should have. "How is it that you cannot see what is so obvious to all others both human and wraith? Have you heard nothing in your travels through these stars of the Lady Katherine of Atlantis?"
John's mouth dropped open. "Katherine of Atlantis? What the hell!"
Surprisingly, it was Jennifer rather than a wraith that answered. "It's what the wraith call Kate," she explained before adding, "And actually, there're stories about her by that name but I don't know exactly -"
"There are variations of the tale throughout the stars but they all share once constant fact no matter their variation," Kenny cut in, matter-of-factly.
Through some unknown instinct, John knew that he wasn't going to like this but he had to ask anyways, "And what constant is that?"
"That of all the many human female's that have been foolish enough to give their hearts to one of my kind through the centuries, Katherine of Atlantis is the only human to have been given the heart of her wraith in return," Kenny explained to the steadily reddening human. He cocked his head to one side and added, "The designation for the narrative is, as I believe you humans would call it, a love story."
John exploded. "Todd is not in love with my sister!"
Jennifer looked pityingly at him. "Kate's in love with him."
"That's not the point!" John scoffed, throwing up his hands and turning to glare at the wraith as though it their fault that any of this was happening. "The point is that he's not in love with her. He can't be and I refuse to believe he is."
"And this is why I throw into contestation your intelligence," Varkan concluded. "You are an idiot."
John was indignant. "I'm not an -"
"Perhaps it would be best to continue this conversation after we have rescued both the Commander and the Lady Katherine?" Romulus suggested, having grown weary of the back and forth banter that was both time consuming and completely pointless. "We must act quickly. I cannot stress this enough."
John sighed. "Fine," he relented, "We'll go get Todd," he looked back and forth between the seven wraith, "Who all of you are coming with us?"
Illyria stepped forwards and gestured at both Maliaka and herself, "We will remain here," she turned her gaze towards Caavin. "I entrust you to see that your sire is returned safely to us."
Her son nodded. "It will be done, motem."
John shook his head at the whole lot of them before throwing out a gesture at the three males; Kenny would be remaining behind as well. "Alright you three, come on. Let's get this over with."
With one last look between them to convey the urgency of the mission, Romulus, Caavin and Varkan followed Colonel Sheppard and turned with the human towards the nearest gateship bay.
They could not reach Valloran fast enough.
~xXx~
Sire, Sire we are coming, we are near. Do not despair, we are coming, Sire…sire…
Todd woke with a start as he felt his son's mind withdraw from his own, leaving him in silence with only the gentle buzz of Katherine's sleeping consciousness within his own. Caavin. Caavin was close, Caavin had found him, just as he had been the one to find him then thousand years ago when last he had been stranded here. Breathing a sigh of relief, Todd sat up and noticed that the sky outside was just beginning to lighten. Dawn was coming and as there would soon be others here, it would be best if both he and Katherine got dressed.
Turning so that he could look down at his sleeping chosen, Todd regretted having to wake her. In slumber, her face free of all its worry, she looked to be so young. She was, really, the wraith reminded himself. Even in human terms, Katherine was still considered to be quiet young. Her age, he knew, was but a drop in an ocean when compared to his.
"Katherine."
She opened her eyes into Todd's face and smiled up at him. "Good morning."
The wraith could not help but grin back in return. "It is dawn," he told her, "And my eldest is on his way. We will soon be gone from here."
Kate sat up and blinked, rubbing her sleep from her eyes. "Really?" she asked, yawning, "How'd they find us?"
Todd shook his head. "I do not know. We can ask when they arrive."
Stretching, Kate began to comb her fingers through her hair as she watched Todd get up, move about, and then start to put on his clothes. She smiled to herself. She had been rather vigorous with her removal of them the night before. As a result, his clothes were scattered around all over the place. She crossed her legs and sat Indian-style, her hands in her lap, as he walked around trying to find them all.
"Having trouble?" she asked him through a giggle when he came up one boot short.
The wraith glared at her. "It is your fault that I must hunt for my garments, my pereena."
"Pereena?" Kate echoed, cocking her head to one side as Todd came back to her and sat down having located his missing boot.
He looked at her. "I have heard the humans refer to one another with such terms of endearment as 'sweetheart' or something else of the same like. The wraith do not have very many such terms that we use ourselves but, 'pereena' is one of them. It, like so many of our words, is more of a compilation of several like ideas but, in rough translation, it means dear one or one who is treasured and adored."
Kate couldn't fight off the ridiculous grin that suddenly took over her face. "You adore me?"
Todd hissed and nodded, reaching out to gather her into the open space between his legs. "I do," he whispered softly, his feeding hand playing with her lips, "You know I do."
Raising herself up so that she was eye level with him, Kate leaned forwards and asked, "Is there time to show me how much you adore me before our rescue arrives?"
Todd smirked. He did not honestly know how close Caavin was but, when faced with an oh so willing and eager Katherine pressing her ready body into his own, Todd did not have the fortitude of thought to try and find out. In hindsight, he should have, because no sooner had he moved forwards to capture his mate's mouth with his, then a resounding shot went off and Todd found himself not only being shot at but actually being shot. With a snarl, the wraith looked up and found Sheppard there pointing his weapon at him, an angry, vengeful expression written all over his face.
"Get the hell away from my sister," John bit out darkly, his voice dripping enough venom to kill an elephant; several hundred of them.
Startled and admittedly surprised to see the human, Todd turned apologetically back to Katherine and felt his heart still. A single, thin, stream of blood was dripping from her nose and in that instant the wraith realized that as he bled, so too did she.
Kate realized it too and, surging to her feet, she rounded on her brother and punched him full in the face. John yelped and flew backwards, landing on his ass as his P-90 went flying. Only then did she realize who was there with him. Lorne was laughing his ass off and, off to one side, Varkan, Caavin and Romulus were all grinning amusedly.
"What the hell was that for!" John screeched, sitting up and wiping at the blood that was now pouring out of his nose. "You punched…" he trailed off, his eyes taking in the sight of his baby sister and just what, exactly, she was wearing. "Katherine Elizabeth Sheppard, what in God's name are you wearing! You look like a wraith queen!"
"Clothes John," she reprimanded him, turning so that she could help Todd up. Once the wraith was standing she rounded back on her brother and put her hands on her hips. "I'm wearing clothes. Now, as to why I punched you, you shot Todd."
John scrambled to his feet and took to glaring at the alien who was hovering behind his sister as though just by looking at him he could drop him dead. "I said I would if he ever touched you again and hey, he touched you again," he pointed an accusatory finger at his baby sister. "You were in his lap!"
Kate shrugged. "So?"
John sputtered. "So…so you can't…he can't…" words failed him and so the colonel stooped to pick up his gun and re-clip it to his vest. "Let's just go. I'll lay out the ground rules once we get back to Atlantis."
Kate frowned. "Ground rules?" she questioned. "For what?"
John snarled and jerked his thumb towards the biggest of the three wraith. "He managed to talk Woolsey into us giving you," he looked at Todd, "Asylum since being out in the wide world of wraith is so detrimental to your health. Woolsey agreed to it, so congrats. You're moving in."
Todd turned to eye Romulus. "How did you manage to convince Woolsey to allow this?"
The other wraith smirked. "I am, as the humans say, just that good."
"Hummnn," Todd replied, not knowing if he liked his comrade's solution to the queen problem. "Is that what you did whilst I was away?"
"Oh there is more," Romulus expanded, falling into step besides Valloran as their party walked back through the ruins to where Sheppard had landed the gateship. "But I think, perhaps it is better to show you than tell you. You will see when we arrive back in Atlantis."
Todd was not so sure he liked the sound of that but, unfortunately, Romulus would not be moved, and so he resigned himself to wait.
All would revel itself in time.
A/N: Alright so, there are some crumbs in this chapter along with a couple intentional plot holes which, I assure you, will all be filled in to your satisfactions at a later date. Until then, I've got a challenge. Maliaka's Lantean relation: There have been hints. Whoever can correctly guess who and how first may ask me any (but only one) question about either a past event or a future one which I will answer in a PM. It can be anything from who ends up with whom, who has X number of children and/or where/how is this all gonna end. That's my challenge, we'll see who wins. As always, reviews are the only way FanFic writers get paid so, put a penny in my cup and make my day. Until next time, cheers!
