The Hive breathed differently on the lower decks. Here the sounds were louder, more menacing, and Jennifer's nerves had been on edge since Kenny's departure. In the distance she could hear the unified steps of Wraith Drones as they patrolled the ship. Every so often a set of Wraith scientists would pass through and steal a glance her way. Once or twice they had even stopped to hiss at her and reach their feeding hands through the webs, their intent obvious but a simple bluff intended to frighten her. She had no idea how much time had passed, and she had not slept much. What little sleep she had managed had been quite fitful and fraught with nightmares.
Noise before the cell doors lurched her from her place on the floor and she bolted upright just in time to see Todd standing in the opening. Her heart rate slowed immediately.
"Oh thank God," she gasped, and righted herself. "What the hell were you thinking, throwing me in here like this? Do you know how many times I thought I was going to turn up a pile of mummified skin and bones? And it smells horribly in these cells, did you know that? I'm surprised I didn't throw up! Oh, and have I mentioned that no one bothered to bring anything edible this whole time? How long was I even down here anyway?"
Todd sighed as her tongue let loose, but he had expected something of the sort. He waited patiently for her to finish and then held out a small fruit she didn't recognize. Irate, she slapped it from his hand and crossed her arms over her chest.
"You think you can win me over just like that Todd? I thought you were smarter than that."
His eyes darkening, he issued a warning growl that instantly silenced the woman.
"If you would be so kind as to accompany me back to the upper decks, I will explain the reasons behind your temporary detention upon our return." His voice could not conceal the extra hint of fatigue from Jennifer's sharp observational skills. Her stance softened, a part of her wondering what was behind his weariness. She could not recall a time when she had seen him so. With a simple nod, Jennifer exhaled and then walked forward as his arm fell to hover in its usual guiding position at her back. Although he did not touch her, she could feel the heat emanating from the limb. It was closer to her this time, but not to the point of causing her any anxiety. She was still flustered and annoyed by his inexplicable behavior, and the long walk to the upper decks did nothing to quell her annoyance, but Todd, true to his word, began to explain the moment they entered the lab. He gestured to one of the chairs, but she obstinately refused to sit. Sighing, he clasped his hands behind his back and began to speak.
"The cell you were placed in was a part of our quarantine section, Doctor Kell-err, and I needed you there for the purpose of furthering our research. It contains a monitoring station built into the surrounding structure which recorded your body's physio-chemical state as you remained without food or water for two days. To ensure the data I was collecting would be accurate, I couldn't tell you about this in advance. Your brain might not have reacted the same way had you known why you were there." He steepled his clawed fingertips against the lab table now, arms spread wide, leaning his weight upon them as he studied her. "I am sorry, Doctor Kell-err, but as you are the only human currently aboard my ship, and your system was not completely flooded with the adrenaline oft left behind in the wake of a culling, I needed your readings."
The Doctor stared at him.
"So, what was your control?"
"Your quarters contain a similar monitoring device. I simply activated it upon completion of your evening meals to obtain my control readings. I also monitored one of my own Wraith as a means of determining their chemical state during fasting. Now that the fasting is complete, we can compare the findings and search for any deviations between them."
Violated, Jennifer clenched her teeth before she could say something stupid. As much as she hated to admit it, Todd was right to have created this experiment. It was worth investigating.
"Why couldn't you have just monitored me from my quarters while I 'fasted like you did when I was eating normally?" she asked, crossing her arms.
"The comfort factor could have negatively influenced the results."
"I'm pretty damn certain the imprisonment factor could have negatively influenced them as well, Todd. Your experiment is flawed and would never be accepted back on Atlantis."
The commander snarled and slammed a fist down onto the lab table now, making Jennifer jump at the rush of metallic sounds. When he righted himself, a large dent was present beneath his hand. Sharp teeth visible, he challenged her with a tilted head and gleaming yellow eyes.
"We are not on Atlantis, Doctor Kell-err," he whispered menacingly, and then sneered. "In fact, I'm not sure you have even come to accept that fact as of yet. Perhaps you need some time alone with your thoughts. I will escort you back to the lower decks, if you so wish it."
Jennifer's stomach knotted, but she knew better than to back off just yet. Hadn't Todd himself demanded she demonstrate resolve in front of his kind?
"It's a small wonder your species is doomed to extinction without our help," she snapped, and something in Todd seemed to do much the same. He launched at her, grabbing her by the throat and slamming her against the wall.
"Your kind is the very reason we are both in this situation!" he bellowed, holding her off the ground by her neck. Her hands wrapped around his in a desperate attempt to free herself as her supply of oxygen dwindled. "Had your John Sheppard not been so hasty in killing our Keeper, perhaps we would not have left our hibernation in such vast numbers and at the same time!" His voice lowered now, and he released her, breathing heavily as he watched her collapse to the floor. "Our hibernation is our survival mechanism when there is not enough food to sustain us all, and your kind are the ones who woke us before our time. Consider that before patting yourself on the back for all of your 'help.'"
Rubbing her neck and swallowing as her eyes burned into the Wraith's, Jennifer was overcome by the urge to continue this aggressive debate. There were so many things wrong with his logic, and the way he twisted events around in his head and spit them back at her. She wanted to grab him, shake his shoulders and shout at him, to make him see sense, but she knew it would be a futile attempt. The Wraith were very proud creatures, among their many other qualities and, much like she didn't dare insult Rodney's knowledge of things she did not know, she would go no further toward insulting Todd. What he wanted to believe was entirely up to him. Jennifer was just glad to still be alive. She watched as the commander spun on his heel and swiped his hand in front of her nearby doorway, silently demanding that she return to her quarters and, as far as he was concerned, cease to exist.
When Todd swiped the door of her quarters open the following morning, the doctor was still asleep. Evidently the events of the past few days had taxed her energy levels more than he'd anticipated, and he made a mental note to include that fact in the database he was creating. The Wraith's body moved slowly into the room with the silence of an owl in flight, his complete attention directed at the woman in the bed. In all his years in control of human lives, he had never witnessed one actually sleeping in a natural state. Whatever sleep sessions he had witnessed were short and fragmented by the possibility of the human's impending demise. This time, however, there was no impending doom, and the human was in a real bed, alone, in quarters she had (at least, as far as Todd could tell), grown comfortable in.
Her breathing was shallow and more rapid than he would have expected, and for a moment he thought she was only feigning sleep. When he rounded the bed and was able to better observe her, however, he realized her breathing patterns were the result of the substantial swelling of her throat and neck.
A flash of regret stirred in his mind, for he was the one whom had created those marks. He had lost his temper with the woman, and although he felt his reaction was justified, he had forgotten the overall frailty of the Atlantean's structure. His lack of restraint could easily have killed her. This fact disturbed him far more than he had anticipated, and he clentched his feeding hand absently. Standing just a stride from her bedside now, the Wraith pondered how to best wake her. Should he poke her, as the Wraith younglings so often did to their peers? Or perhaps he should simply speak to her and hope his voice was loud enough. He recalled at least once having witnessed one human pouring water over the body of another, but as the doctor was not unconscious in the same manner, he decided against this option. He cleared his throat.
Jennifer shot upright in the bed, startling the Wraith before her and leaving him wide-eyed.
She said nothing, but pulled the blankets tighter around her as would a child, concealing the marks on her neck and staring straight at him, impossibly tense.
"You...sleep lightly..." the commander issued, sounding uncertain of himself.
Keller remained silent, her eyes never leaving him. Todd sighed.
"I believe I owe you an apology," he continued now, clasping his hands in front of his waist and beginning to pace before her. "My actions were rash and my inability to place merit in your evaluation most reprehensible. We are here to learn from one another, and I had forgotten such." He bowed his head and closed his eyes for a moment, and Jennifer was suddenly reminded of the way the Jaffa Teal'c expressed his own emotions during their brief encounter on Atlantis. She lowered the blankets some, although she retained good coverage of her only partially clothed physique, and forced herself to speak.
"I thought you were going to kill me," she said quietly, her voice hoarse.
Todd looked up at her now, understanding written in the depths of the yellow.
"I have told you before, Doctor Kell-err, if I wanted you dead, it would already be so."
"You'll have to forgive me if I don't believe you anymore. If I ever even did believe it."
"Our research is more important than my need to feed. I do not need you to sustain myself. Any human will do." The starburst tattoo over his eye twitched, and Jennifer realized he was offering forth a small, if not cruel, bit of 'Wraith humor.' She sighed, her fear diminishing while irritation took its place. Their eyes connected.
"Why are you in here?" she demanded finally. Todd looked suddenly and inexplicably uncomfortable, but he answered nonetheless.
"I was...concerned...when you did not awaken at your usual hour. I thought that perhaps..." For a moment he trailed off, his eyes skimming the floor back and forth as he searched for the words. "I was concerned that I had damaged you beyond repair." He looked up again, his mouth set in a stern line, betraying nothing of whatever emotions he was attempting to describe.
This, Jennifer was not prepared for. True, he had already apologized, but this time it was different. This time he had admitted to entering her quarters specifically for the purpose of checking in on her. Not that he didn't do so every evening before he himself slept, but this was done out of what appeared to be genuine concern. She decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and say no more on the subject.
"I have to get dressed," Jennifer stated, calmly now, but when the alien didn't move, she had to rephrase her sentence. "Most human cultures dictate that it is inappropriate for a stranger to be in the same room as another person while they are dressing or undressing themselves, Todd." Her eyebrows raised, waiting for him to understand. Finally grasping the reference to her dignity, he bowed his head and took a step backward.
"My apologies, Doctor."
He nodded now, as if reassuring himself that he had done the right thing, and finally disappeared through the doorway.