Disclaimer: I don't own Todd, nor do I own Stargate: Atlantis. I wish I did. I'd have a lot more money.

A/N: Written for the First Line Challenge by LinziDay. They line was "I had a dream once." and was given by Ianira Ianthe.

I had a dream once.

I dreamt I was standing alone in the middle of a hive ship. I remember feeling very cold; it was that sort of cold that permeates through your clothes and your skin and right past the bone into the very core of you. Oddly enough, at that time, the ship was on fire. It was strange. The flames licked at my hands, my feet, my face, and yet I couldn't feel them. My entire being was icy.

I looked around me, but there was nothing there. The ship seemed to be in perfect condition, and yet, I was completely alone, the ship was consumed with flames and I was cold. I tried to move, but it felt like my limbs were made of lead. I couldn't even move my lips to call out. It was worse than any nightmare I had ever had, for, even in my nightmares I had never alone before.

I felt an invisible hand brush my cheek, and the scene flickered. It was then that I started awake, sitting up so abruptly that my forehead nearly hit his. I was covered in sweat, and my room was freezing. The window was open and the soft pitter-patter of rain filled the silence. I looked into his amber eyes, my own mirroring my previous fear. His hand brushed my cheek lovingly, long nails scraping the skin and making me shiver. I didn't think then. I dove at him, my arms wrapping around his neck and my face pressing against his chest. I had to make certain that this was real and not one of those annoying dreams inside of a dream. I pressed my ear to his chest and listened, completely silent and still.

"Ba-bum. Ba-bum. Ba-bum."

I released a breath I hadn't known I was holding. He was real. He was there, and he was real and he was mine. I squeesed tightly and he let out a deep, husky chuckle. There was never a need for words between us. Maybe that's why Woolsey never bothered to keep us apart. I was the only one that could control him. Even Colonel Sheppard didn't have the control over him that I posessed. He listened to my advice, he protected me, and he treated me like a queen. I think they realized that we loved each other on a rare level that few managed to reach.

"It is my place to keep you safe, even from your own mind."

All I could do was nod. He pulled back to look into my eyes once more. He had told me before that he loved my eyes. They reminded him of the ocean on his home planet, he'd said. They weren't quite green, but they weren't quite blue. He pressed his lips to my forehead, and my eyes fluttered closed. I was so glad to have him back. Without him, I'd have spent the entire night inside that frozen inferno.

I had a nightmare once. Then I was woken by the man I loved, and it turned into a dream.