10001 Nightmares Party

[Fic] any sound of semblance (Stargate Atlantis)

Summary:

"This isn't my blood," says John, "Is it?" And he looks down, pats himself over, the last few hours slightly fuzzy after the blow to the head. It didn't know him out, but awareness was too slow and unsteady for too long, and he glances at Todd, wonders. Wonders at the fact that Todd's still carting him alone, still dragging him with him; logically, isn't John just a liability at this point?

Notes:

written for whumpcember 2024 - Day 4: “This Isn’t My Blood”

Work Text:

"This isn't my blood," says John, "Is it?" And he looks down, pats himself over, the last few hours slightly fuzzy after the blow to the head. It didn't know him out, but awareness was too slow and unsteady for too long, and he glances at Todd, wonders. Wonders at the fact that Todd's still carting him alone, still dragging him with him; logically, isn't John just a liability at this point?

How much life can he have left, after everything that Todd has stolen?

But Todd, the wraith, is still right there when John opens his eyes next. The sun has moved, he notes, pressing a hand to his head and groaning, still just a bit woozy. But better, he thinks. He looks around the tight wash of trees they're in and doesn't see anybody---not even dead bodies. "It's not," says Todd, the wraith, sitting on the ground and leaning against a tree. He's lookign around, too, and so John stares at him.

The wraith, he thinks. The wraith is still here.

And John is still alive.

"Good," he says, and widens his legs, pushing himself up and back until he's leaning sitting against a tree of his own. His body is heavier than it should be, and his head aches, and his mouth is so dry it hurts, but he's alive, and the wraith is still here, and the sun is rising. A day, he thinks. It must have been at least a day since they escaped and they're still free.

"Have they gotten close?" asks John after miuntes must have passed. The wraith looks at him fully, then, and John's stomach swoops. The attention is tight and heavy upon him, and the knowledge of his weakness burns bright inside him. If Todd decided to eat him, now, there wouldn't be anything John could do to stop him. Nothing at all, really.

...So why haven't he?

"Not for a while," Todd says just when John's thinking he won't get a response. John raises his head, tips it back and stares at the sky. That's easier on his head, and his neck, and he exhales at the relief, hands relaxing on his lap. "You need food," Todd points out, and John barks a laugh. Lowers his gaze enough to look at Todd, and finds the wraith looking right back. Todd doesn't react to being caught, just bends forwards and it occurs to John, then, that their feet would touch if they both stretched out fully, so close they are.

It makes his chest tight, and his next inhale is a sudden thing. It rattles his whole body and his jaw clenches tight. "Yeah," he finally says, when it's clear that Todd can just keep staring at him without moving, still bent towards him. "I do." But there's nothing to be done abotu that, is there, he thinks, eyelids sliding shut as he forces his lungs into a decent rhythm again. Forces his body to relax, too, because he can't be tense right now. His body needs all the rest and recover it can get, if he's to be of any use whatsoever.

And he needs to be of use, doesn't he. Or else why would Todd bother keeping him.

Inhaling, John sits there in the shade of the tree, feeling the sunlight creeoping up over his legs as time passes, the smell of trees and fresh air high up in his nose. He can't stop breathing in deeply, holding his breath as if he can seal the smell inside him. He's missed this, he thinks, and his head tilts back further on another large inhale.

"Here," Todd is saying when John open his eyes again, and the wraith is squatting right in front of John's bent legs, knees pointed up and feet planted solidly in the air. A vain attempt to be ready to run at the drop of a hat, though with the tremble of his hands, the quivering of his muscles,  John's not sure how much good it'll do.

There's a dead animal of some kind in Todd's hands, blood staining his inhuman skin. John blinks, and Todd doesn't move, and John blinks again. "For me," he says, and he meant it as a question but it doesn't sound that way, does it?

"You need food," says Todd again, and puts the animal down. He gets a fire going and John realizes h'es already built it before he'd approached John. "The smoke will be seen," says Todd, and John nods. "So you'll need to eat while walking."

"That's fine," says John, voice hoarse. Clearing his throat, he shakes his head and stands with support from the tree. Todd... hovers, almost. Keeps close until John glares at him, holding onto the tree just because his legs aren't quite there yet. They will be, though. He knows they will.

Todd cooks the animal,  and he must have done this before, movements quick and pracited. John wonders when Wonders why. He's a wraith; what use does cooking animals have for him?

There's no seasoning and it's not cooked as well as John prefers, but it's a fine first meal free in... fuck, he doesn't even know. And with food in his belly and plenty of trees to supoprt him, John and Todd trudge deeper into the forest, one step after another.

"The wraith," John says after what must have been hours of walking, and strength fading. "They're coming for you?"

"Of course," says Todd, shoulder skimming John's as John takes support from another tree, resting his hand on it and inhaling before he pushes off and heads onward, vision hazy, breath unsteady, thready, legs shaking and stomach rolling. He's fine, he thinks. There's nothing else to be.

When John's knees fold underneath him on the next step, it's only Todd's hand that holds him up. John breathes in sharply, painfully, at the thought of that hand so close. But it does'nt hrut and it doesn't take, just holds on, and he breathes in again and his hand clasps tightly onto Todd's clothes until his legs steady. "I'm fine," John says, looking at Todd's unhuman eyes. And they're close, so much closer than they've ever been without pain and agony and life leeched out of him.

He doesn't mind it, he thinks. Doesn't mind it at all, not when Todd catches him again only a few steps later, and then doesn't let go, dragging John onward with strong, kind hands.

"You carried me?" John asks, at some point. "Took me with you."

"I did," says Todd, and supports him onward, still.

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#Fandom: Stargate #Post Type: Fic #Rating: Teen #Status: Complete #Tag: Whump #WC: 1000-5000