chipperTitle: What Is Looked For
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: Todd/Sheppard
Summary: It was the second cycle of the Wakening, and the fifth year in what would later be known as the War of Hunger.
A/N: Continuation to What Is Lost. Slightly more cheery, but a whole lot more porny (‘but’? I had to say ‘but’?)
****
It was the second cycle of the Wakening, and the fifth year in what would later be known as the War of Hunger. Not a Wraith lived but guessed what it would be called by future, luckier generations, or did not know their precise role in the conflict that had spiralled in ever-increasing circles to draw every hive into battle.
In a hive whose name, as all others, was unpronounceable to humans, one who was known to the enemies of all Wraith as Todd was lecturing an underling.
“You are not ready.” It was cold and dry as desert stone in the chill of night.
“You can’t know that,” the other protested, slurring words in his disappointment and anger – or perhaps for another reason. “None can – because none have been able to learn.”
“Nor will they, for a long time as humans measure it,” Todd growled.
“There is no reason–”
“No commander – not even the fool killed by one of his own Runner’s – would let a mere stripling of less than a handful of decades join a culling crew. You will remain here and continue to help me.”
“I’m not a scientist. I never will be.”
“You will remain with me,” Todd repeated flatly. “I will not tolerate further argument.”
The other lowered his eyes bitterly, but the submission was clear – naturally. No stripling not yet a century old would even contemplate disobeying a senior Wraith, and most especially the commander of their Hive. As always the gesture served to soften Todd’s approach.
“You know the other reason I keep you here,” he said in a tone much lower and gentler than the first. “Your sickness... there is no guarantee you will remember how to fight well enough for it to be safe for you during a culling.”
“Against food...”
“Not all humans are helpless and weak, J’hon.”
A flick of those same eyes upwards...then a sigh, and expression of defeat.
“You must be the only one in the Hive who still calls me by my child-name.”
Todd felt the surge of relief deep in his gut. He had won... but with the triumph came the slightest trace of shame. John – J’hon – had no idea of the lies he was being told, nor the true origin of his name, why Todd was keeping him isolated from the rest of the Hive even to the point of blocking his telepathic connection to them. Even the excuses were half-lies; he had told the younger Wraith that he needed time to recover from what had been done to him (and Todd had not forgotten, wouldn’t let himself forget), and that was true, but there was another reason. A selfish reason.
Todd had never been good at sharing.
He would have to learn. Sooner or later, his Queen would grow impatient and require proof that the experiment had been fully successful; J’hon would be forced on a culling, and then there would be nothing between him and the creatures that had necessitated the restrictions on his life – those who had hurt him so.
He trailed a finger down the other’s cheek tenderly, banishing the lurking future. It was a gesture that provoked an immediate visceral reaction in the other, along with a deep humming purr and green-yellow eyes slitted almost shut. “There is no-one else who feels this affection for you, J’hon.”
It was only truth. If his so-called former friends in Atlantis had felt even half of what Todd did then J’hon would not be here now. The younger Wraith purred even deeper, leaning in the touch.
“I know. But...” the other gasped slightly as cool fingers traced a pattern over the nape of his neck. In a slightly huskier voice he continued, “You cannot keep me here... keep me safe forever.”
Todd was close enough now to smell heat and desire radiating from the other’s skin, and didn’t bother to contradict him. The mind-link was enough, broadcasting his feelings of just watch me along with the much more lustful yearnings provoked by J’hon’s purrs.
Instead he said “There is more than one way you might contribute to our strength,” before catching the other’s kiss halfway, one arm snaking around as if to prevent him from escaping – not that J’hon had ever tried. He certainly wasn’t about to now, not by the enthusiasm in which he was kissing, or the sounds he was making that drove Todd to back him against the wall and grind himself against J’hon desperately.
The mouth underneath his pulled away briefly to growl a burst of accusation. “You always... do this... when I try to argue with you.”
Todd hissed with displeasure and pulled the mouth back. There was no real answer – it was perfectly true. Luckily, J’hon enjoyed the distractions too much to object with any real fervour. He fumbled with the ties of the other’s pants, almost ripping them in his haste; he felt J’hon claw impatiently alongside him, growling again briefly in triumph as they came free. Todd wrenched open the last strap and spun him to face the wall.
J’hon braced himself against it with both hands, humming in pleasure at a frequency that had Todd hard almost before he had released himself from his own pants, pulling down the other’s and pressing up against him. J’hon arched backwards, rubbing himself slowly up and down the rigid member poking into his thigh; Todd snarled something obscene at the sudden rush of pleasure, grabbing the rotating hips before entering J’hon with one sharp thrust.
There was a moan almost below human hearing, making the air hum. J’hon pulled away instinctively before an unyielding hand gripped the back of his scalp, pressing his forehead into the wall as the other hand wound around his abdomen, forcing him back on the thick hardness impaling him. He moaned again as Todd started shifting inside of him, drawing almost entirely out before burying himself inside J’hon again, immobilizing his hips as he built up a punishing rhythm. Soon the only sound in the room was harsh panting, underlaid with the creak of leather and the soft slap of flesh on flesh.
Todd leaned into the juncture of J’hon’s neck and shoulder, nuzzling there and biting hard enough to draw blood at particularly powerful thrust, growling inside both their minds: Mine.
Yours, J’hon agreed, gasping as he was rewarded with his head being released and the free hand wandering down between his legs, grasping his hardening cock and stroking it roughly. The panting turned to whimpering as his legs gave way briefly, driving him down deeper on the cock inside of him, making him clench automatically. Todd felt him tighten and abandoned what little care he’d had, shoving J’hon against the wall and holding him trapped as he started pounding him brutally, hearing the whimpering turn to pleading then begging as his cock hammered down on J’hon’s prostate, his hand squeezing almost to the point of pain as he fucked the other inside and out.
It happened quickly for both of the after that; J’hon came first with a strangled yell, spilling warm wetness over Todd’s hand helplessly. He let go of the softening cock and grabbed J’hon’s hips again, feeling himself swell hard enough to hurt before pulsing and releasing in a bright, white moment that filled every nerve with fire and would never end, never end...
He was still emptying himself inside of J’hon when he gathered himself together again, each rush throbbing with a pleasurable tingling feeling, almost as though every cell in his body had been electrically charged. He spent himself with one last deep thrust and a surge of fluid, hissing slightly between his teeth as J’hon shifted and sighed. Too much of that and–
Too late. His cock had felt the fleeting tightening of muscles around it and was already starting to show signs of hardening again, even after so short a period. Todd hissed again, pulling himself out slowly and turning around the dazed Wraith in front of him, steering him towards their private rooms and, of course, bed.
His partner showed no signs of objecting.
*
Later – much later – J’hon was lying still and silent on his front, this time fully undressed, staring into the darkness highlighted with harsh blue hyperdrive glow. Todd lay draped over him and breathing evenly, one arm holding him close and one leg tangled with his. Not, the younger Wraith thought with a slight, sharp-toothed smile, that he was objecting.
No, he thought with a frown that clouded his features. It is the lies I object to.
Well, not precisely lies. He had been told his old hive had abandoned him. He had been told he had been kept prisoner by humans, who had hurt him; hurt him so badly he had spent months recovering under his lover’s care already, hurt him so that his mind had broken and shielded him from the horror of it...
I remember the fear. I... don’t think I will forget that.
He knew that what he had been told was true – but he also knew that there was more behind the stories Why his hive had left him. Who they were. What had been done to him. Why.
I don’t belong here.
Todd (as his lover insisted J’hon called him; it was yet another mystery as to why) either avoided these questions or point-blank refused to answer them. He knew it was probably for a good reason; he trusted his mentor, his lover, with his life. Still, that didn’t mean he enjoyed being deceived.
I will find out the truth.
It would be difficult. It might even be dangerous. It would certainly take a long time.
Let it. I have time.
Of course he did. He was Wraith.
And we are a patient race.
fin