Hello and welcome to another chapter! :D
This one was beta-edited by the wonderful AAEdmonds, many thanks to her!
Two
The Wraith had laid down.
A simple action that confused the guards to no end. The alien had never before made use of the sparse bed within his cell other than to sit on it in that tranquil, complete stillness which never failed to unnerve even the most hardened of officers. Even now, he did not truly use it for he did not sleep. But, on this night, he had laid down. On his back, feet next to each other and with his hands folded on his torso. His white, unruly hair fanned out beside his head as if it were a halo. His eyes were closed, his breathing a slow, steady pace. The sight was eerily familiar of a human in a coffin. The guards didn't know why he had assumed the position, but they did know that it put them at great unease, to the point where they agreed to face any wrath by calling Colonel Sheppard down to the cells.
The Colonel had arrived surprisingly fast despite the late, or rather early, hour called three AM. Sheppard hesitated several tense moments outside of Todd's cell before walking in, appearing to be gathering his thoughts or gathering bravery, one could not tell. As he sauntered into Todd's cell, all apprehension was gone from his face and he was expressing a sickeningly cheerful demeanor. "Hey Todd! You uh, still alive there?" It sounded mocking, but the guards couldn't shake the feeling that there was something serious behind the question. They looked into Todd's cell and back to each other as if it would all become suddenly clear.
"What is it that you require, Sheppard?" came a most annoyed voice.
"Hey hey hey, no need to be so snappy, I just came to check on you!" John put his palms up in the air, but the Wraith missed Sheppard rolling his eyes.
"You are wasting your time as well as my own. You are aware of how this...situation is, and how it will proceed. Unless, something has changed, I request that I be left alone."
"Well...I got some bad news for you. It doesn't look like Atlantis will ever be allowed to go back to Pegasus..." He didn't know what else to say and he hadn't meant for it to come out sounding like an apology. Todd's fate was not his responsibility, he had no reason to apologize, he should not even feel the need to apologize and what's more, he didn't know if the sentiment would even mean anything to someone like Todd and yet...
The Wraith opened his eyes, yellow orbs with their black slits constricting in the light, staring at the ceiling like he could look through it to everything beyond it, past the sky and into the universe around them. "It will never return?" The query came quietly.
"Yup. Your fellow Wraith buddies can now roam around without us pissing them off at every turn." Did he just try to cheer Todd up or worse, console him? It must have been a horrible attempt, for Todd only sighed, his breath rattling in his throat.
"This... turn of events can only lead to bad tidings, I am sure of it..."
That response shook John, as well as the guards outside the cell. John dared to take a step closer, clearing his throat, "Why do you say that?" Now John was just as concerned as the guards as to the Wraith's behaviour.
Todd sighed once more and said, "There are far too many of us, and you, while unknowingly, recklessly woke all of us at once. Long ago, the Queens of the Lantean War bore offspring without regard for the future, the only thought that drifted through their conceited minds was that they needed to increase the number of Wraith to win the War. When the War finally had been won, it was discovered that the Galaxy could not support such large numbers. Being reluctant to kill their own, even the lowly drone warriors, it was decided amongst the Queens to have all Hives and their crews go into a state of long hibernations, each guarded by a Keeper. The benefit was that the Hives would wake in intervals, letting the human populations in each faction's territory to grow to a number large enough to sustain a feeding. But...you woke them, long before their time and! all at once! So now, they are forced to tear each other apart over the sparse resources!" Todd wasn't shouting, but he might as well have been. The angry hiss in the Wraith's voice drove home what he though about this very well. "To make it worse, the Hoffan disease you and your people helped create has made it so even the meager resources left are a gamble between life and a tortuous death!" he finally growled out, then forcibly calmed back down, refusing to lose his composure any further. After taking a deep breath he turned back towards the ceiling, "My alliance is now not only Queenless, but also without its Commander. I have utmost confidence in them, I had chosen each of my sub-Commanders with due care. But still, they will be the first to be torn apart. Eradicated. Destroyed. They are young and cannot coordinate their tactics or re-formulate plans faster than those who are set in the old ways, those who lived in the time of the Lantean War, those who were bred for war, conquering and destruction. It will be those Wraith that will be upon them and thus, be the downfall of my Alliance." He slowly turned his head back towards Sheppard, giving him a bitter smile with lips pulled back so much that the points of his needle-like teeth glinted in the fluorescent lighting. His tone was just as sour as the smile, "They are the only ones who would have ever had any potential to change, to accept whatever "cure" your doctors would have created, unique Wraith that sought a different, promising future. The ones who followed and relied on a fool such as myself. I do not mourn my fate." He turned back to staring at the ceiling, golden stare piercing the concrete, "But I do mourn theirs."
"And I mourn the new friends we made and who are now without protection," said John even though his tongue felt heavy and dry. Todd would not take well to pity but maybe shared misery would do some good. He would never feel guilty about trying to fight the Wraith with the Hoffan vaccination but he could understand the anger about ones people suffering and being killed off. Somewhere behind all his hatred he did know that the Wraith had no choice but to feed, if they wanted to survive. The hatred was about the arrogance and cruelty most of them showed.
Against his better judgement, the Colonel sat heavily on the simple chair in the cell. Sighing, he dragged a hand through his hair and watched Todd watching the ceiling, a knot in his stomach. He tried to push all thoughts about the galaxy' and inhabitants' (no matter who they be) fate aside, but didn't mind the contemplating silence that had fallen upon them. Until the way in which the Wraith kept looking at the grey expanse above their heads had given him an idea and he rose to his feet again.
"Hey, Todd, get your ass up. C'mon." He paused, waiting, while Todd just gave him the look of someone who was torn between laughing and tearing out your throat. "You can still get your ass up, right?" In lieu of a verbal response Todd simply growled and glowered, but he rose to his feet. The motion was no less graceful than usual, but much slower. The Colonel couldn't tell if it was caution because of the guards or a lack of energy. He hoped the former as he had no fix for the latter.
"And what is it you want now, Sheppard?" At first it seemed Todd had decided to humour John just out of boredom. However, to John's surprise, there were faint layers of curiosity, maybe even excitement that trickled through Todd's demeanor, but ever so slightly. John wondered if having had a glimpse at the Wraith's mind had made it easier to read him.
"We are going for a walk." He nodded to himself, hands on his hips in determination.
"To where, exactly?" There was caution in the multi-layered tone and John could not blame him. Todd knew the IOA wanted him and he'd probably rather attack the guards and be shot to death than follow John if there was even so much as a hint that the IOA were involved in this little venture.
The Colonel grinned. "You like the night sky a lot, don't you?"
The Wraith visibly perked up and slowly turned towards John, "You would take me...outside?" The not quite hidden eagerness in his voice left a small, unexpected lump in John's throat which he swallowed quickly. He had once wondered if the probably decades long captivity at the hands of the Genii had left some marks, both physical and mental, on Todd, but seeing the Wraith act perfectly unperturbed, graceful even, when he was forced into a cell on Atlantis had erased that notion quickly. Yet now he wondered again, silently trying to probe if Todd had simply clamped down on any claustrophobic reactions as fiercely as he kept the hunger pains to himself.
He shook a finger at the Wraith, enjoying the irony of reprimanding a creature so much older in this parental way. "Only to the nearest balcony, though. And obviously, due to regulations, we will have to keep you chained up." John expected protest, perhaps even something along the lines of "Are you so afraid of an almost dead Wraith getting the better of you?" but Todd only nodded his shaggy head once. "That is...acceptable."
Sheppard left Todd's cell, returning with the heavy leather cuffs several moments later. It was odd to put them on Todd himself, usually one of the guards would be doing it, however they were busy trying to talk Sheppard out of taking Todd out of his cell without offending rank, uttering things like "Sir, shouldn't we inform Mr. Woolsey?" or "Sir, didn't you tell us that the Wraith are not to be trusted?" Sheppard blew them off, waving his hand and brazenly saying, "This one knows how to behave himself" and adding a grunt as he pulled the last piece of leather taught, buckling it. Todd huffed a laugh but remained completely still while the Colonel finished securing the restraints.
Sheppard borrowed a P-90 from one of the guards and marched Todd out of the room. It was stupid and someone higher ranked would probably chew him out later in the day, hell he may even get a court martial, but he felt oddly indifferent about receiving punishment for this. Ever since Atlantis had been grounded on Earth, he'd been restless and longed to get back to the Pegasus Galaxy. Life there was not always pleasant, sometimes it was incredibly hard, a living hell even, but it had given him a sense of purpose like he'd never felt before. Helping the people, discovering new technology, sharing stories and laughing with his team in the cafeteria, flying the puddle jumpers, the feeling of being one with the mechanisms of the ancient city in that chair, and being the first to see and experience new, incredible things... Earth paled in comparison. It seemed so small when compared to that galaxy and what he had seen of it. He believed the best decision of his life was made in that chopper, flying O'Neill back to McMurdo all those years ago. There wasn't much on this rock that could hold him, there never really had been. He wanted Pegasus, he felt like he truly belonged there.
And he was certain that if he felt like this after only a handful of years there, then dollars to donuts Todd craved his home galaxy with an intensity that was as burning hot as the hunger-fire within him. The Wraith had been there for thousands of years, he must have seen so much, experienced so many things. In a way John envied him for that. He wasn't sure he would want to live forever but he was sure it must be incredible to be able to see all of Pegasus if he so chose. He had seen true curiosity in Todd, even after all his years and he was sure that if this Wraith did not feel any responsibility toward his fellow Wraith, he would roam the galaxy for all its secrets. Who knew, maybe such a thing had been the goal of this patient creature all along. To bring peace, so he could go off and explore with a clear conscience and have no enemies in his way.
But even if John were as ageless as a Wraith, he would never find out if that was the ultimate plan, simply because Todd was going to die, sooner than later. The last thing this Wraith could discover was how the stars appeared in this far away galaxy and John would be damned if he couldn't give that to him. It had been because of Todd and his secret ZPM stash that saved their asses from the super-Hive and in the end, it would be Todd who would ultimately pay the price for their survival with his own life. All because of bureaucratic bullshit. Even if John didn't care, he would still owe this to this strange ally.
And he knew he'd done the right thing when Todd stepped out onto the balcony and took in a deep breath of the cool night air, inhaling slowly, relishing it, savouring it. His eyes, that had gone somewhat dull during his confinement in the cell, brightened and he looked up, taking in the stars. White hair gently swaying in a breeze was the only thing moving as he stood there and John watched as something like peace settled on the Wraith' features. He smiled and followed Todd's example, found himself grateful for the clear sky as he regarded the millions of tiny lights that dotted the darkness. Every once in a while John would gesture at a certain point of light or a cluster of lights, naming it off for the Wraith. Todd grunted in appreciation and gave a hint of a smile each time. Then they would fall silent again. So many stars. So many worlds. So many fates.
They stood there until they witnessed the sunrise, at which a squad of Marines followed by a frantic Woolsey burst out on to the balcony. The latter began lecturing Sheppard on proper procedures in situations like this while the Marines none-too-gently herded Todd back to his cell. But the Colonel tuned Woolsey out, not even pretending to listen to his by-the-book banter. His attention was elsewhere. His focus was on Todd, lips were pressed into a thin line, brow furrowed, and his finger even gently touched the trigger of the borrowed P-90, Colonel Sumner and thoughts of a coup de grace on his mind.
For Todd had swayed and stumbled and was leaning against a wall for support. And it wasn't the Wraith's unexpected movement that had brought his finger to the trigger but the look in his eyes that said he wouldn't actually mind a bullet to the head, before straightening again to his grandeur poise to be led on back to his cell as if the moment of weakness had never happened. As if he wasn't starving to death and his time was short before his final fall.
John cursed under his breath.