A/N:
Rated T for Sci-fi action violence, swearing, and character death.
This story takes place in the alternate universe portrayed in the episode "Vegas"
Sheppard zoomed down the highway away from Las Vegas in his 1981 Chevy Camaro, Johnny Cash's "Solitary Man" playing on the radio. As he drove towards Milwaukee with the intention of starting a new life there, he reflected on what had happened earlier that morning. He had resigned from the police force, taking only his Johnny Cash poster and the duffel bag full of money that he had taken from the Wraiths hotel room. He had thought about what McKay had said, about how, in a different life, he may have meant something to people, it was compelling and finally convinced him that he needed to hit the road and move on with his life.
Glancing at the bag in the passengers seat, he felt something click in his mind. The radiator fluid at the crime scene, the Silver Bullet trailer, that crazy Wraith who had been rambling on about the desert, what McKay had said about the Wraith needing more power so he could tell the other Wraith about Earth. Suddenly it all clicked in his mind, and he realized where the Wraith must be. Giving a small grunt, he slammed on the brakes and threw the car into a sharp U-Turn. With Johnny Cash playing on the radio, he zoomed off towards Vegas, praying he wouldn't be too late.
Woolsey was, to be frank, furious. McKay and Zalenka hadn't gotten anywhere in finding the Wraith that was residing in Las Vegas. It grated on his nerves that even with all the technology at their disposal, some nobody cop had gotten closer to catching the Wraith than they had. He walked around inside the command center observing as McKay and Zalenka went over scans and tried to locate where the Wraith would make his next move. The Air Force had two A-10's on standby for an air strike, but they had no target yet. And every second that went by, that Wraith came closer to alerting every wraith in Pegasus as to the location of Earth.
Suddenly, every monitor in the room lit up, and beeping issued from several speakers. McKay ran over to a computer and sat down next to Zalenka, were he began furiously typing.
"What is it," asked Woolsey, with a suspicious ad to the answer forming in his mind.
McKay glanced up from the console and he stopped typing for a second. We're detecting a massive subspace event, ten times more powerful than an active Stargate."
As the command center burst into activity, Woolsey began barking out orders. "Get those A-10's to the source of that disturbance. Now." Looking at McKay again, he saw the worry etched on his and Zalenka's faces. "What is it?"
McKay didn't take the time to stop typing as he replied to Woolsey's question. "It's a message. In Wraith. I'm decoding it now." Zalenka glanced up and nodded his agreement, then went back to what he was doing also.
Woolsey looked at the large map of the United states on the wall. If something didn't happen soon, then they were all dead.
Sheppard shifted in his seat as he felt a wave of . . . something go through him. Instinctively, he knew he was too late. Gunning his Camaro, he broke the speed limit as he drove in the direction that the pulse had come from.
As he sped down a Las Vegas highway, he saw the Silver Bullet motor home in the distance. He could also see the outlines of power cords leading from the rear of the motor home to the wires of the power grid nearby. Pulling out his cell phone, Sheppard dialed the number that McKay had given him, only to receive a dial tone.
"Damn it," he muttered. That transmitter thing the Wraith was using must be interfering with cell phone signals. It looked like he would have to do it on his own. Sheppard didn't see any chance to sneak inside the motor home, and the stealthy approach was kinda ruined since the Wraith would definitely be watching for people coming.
In a flash, he knew what he had to do. It was incredibly stupid, but he only had two clips of ammo for his pistol, so it was his only option. Revving the engine, he aimed the Camaro at the back of the Silver Bullet and hit the gas as he unlocked his door.
In the second before the Camaro smashed into the back of the trailer, Sheppard dived out of the car. The Camaro, going close to seventy five miles an hour, slammed into the back of the motor home and crumpled it through the force of the impact. As the car flipped away due to it's momentum keeping it going, the transmitter ceased functioning.
However, Sheppard would not be able to enjoy his success. The collision combined several elements within the back of the trailer, the combination of which had explosive results. The trailer vanished in a large fireball which killed the Wraith inside instantly. The sound of ammunition going off inside the motor home was overshadowed by the secondary explosion of the truck that was attached to the remains of the Silver Bullet. Flaming debris was strewn all across the landscape, and the area quickly became very dangerous. Sheppard didn't feel a thing when a large chunk of flaming debris embedded itself in his back, severing his spinal cord and instantly killing him.
The land was silent, with flames licking the wreckage.
Woolsey listened with amazement as the A-10 pilots reported back on what they saw at the location of the subspace event. They had arrived at the area shortly after the signal had cut out, and were reporting back on what they saw.
"Sir, there is a burning trailer, with the hulk of a car attached to it. It looks like there were multiple explosion. There's a flipped over car a bit further away."
Woolsey wiped his brow as he carefully worded his next question. "Do you see detective Sheppard, over." all the stress of this day, it was finally starting to get to him. He asked because Sheppard was the only one who would have known about the Wraith, and would have been most likely to track him down. Odds were good that he was the one who had ended the Wraith's signal, and that it was his car wrecked down there.
"I see a body down there. It's badly burnt, and is not moving. Cannot identify, over."
Woolsey grimaced. The body was most likely Sheppard. It was sad that he hadn't made it away form his final confrontation with the Wraith, but that was how the cards fell. They would have to arrange a suitably solemn funeral for him, maybe see if they could find some of his family.
McKay abruptly spoke up. "It contained the location of Earth."
Woolsey walked over to the console that McKay was sitting at and looked at the data on the screen. "Well, did the message make it through to Pegasus?"
McKay glanced up at him, and his heart sank as he read the expression on the doctor's face. The distress on it was evident, and Woolsey realized the answer before McKay uttered a response. "Yes. It did. Every Wraith in Pegasus now knows the location of Earth. Look, there was more to the message. I'll see what else was in it."
Woolsey sighed as he straightened. This day just couldn't get any worse. And now he would have to tell the IOA how he had let the Wraith find the location of earth on his watch. "I better inform the IOA and the president about what happened here. We need to think up a plan, and fast."
As he exited the room, McKay and Zalenka glanced at each other with looks of despair as they continued translating the subspace message. Sheppard was lucky. He wouldn't have to live with the knowledge that they had failed in their mission. The Wraith would come for them, and the living would probably envy those who were gone already.
"Mr. President, we failed. The Wraith know where Earth is."
The President gave an audible groan as he listened to the report from Mr. Woolsey, of the IOA. He could already imagine what this would mean. A race of aliens who suck the life out of you by their hands would be on their way to Earth.
"Goddammit. We barely fought them off last time, and that was only one Hive ship. How are we supposed to stop them now?"
On the other end of the line, Woolsey paced around the command room in Area 51. "Be forewarned, I'm not the IOA, so take these only as unofficial suggestions. Sir, I think you should go public."
The President fairly exploded. Who did this Woolsey guy think he was? If they had managed to make it through Anubis, the Ori, and so many other things without going public, so why would he suggest they do it now?
"Mr President. The Wraith will come in large numbers. If we want to stop them, then we need all the industrial capability of Earth behind us. And the only way to do that is to go public. We also need to contact the Lucian Alliance and the Free Jaffa. They will soon be in the same situation as us, so we need their assistance. The Wraith will not distinguish between us and the Lucian Alliance, and if we don't stop the Wraith now, we never will.
The President sighed and rubbed his eyes. Woolsey made some sense, even if he was annoying. And of course, things were a bit different than last time. The Daedalus was in Earth orbit now, as was the Odyssey, and the Apollo was on the way back from Pegasus, so they would have more firepower to work with.
"Alright Mr. Woolsey. Suggestion noted. However, if we do what you suggest, then there is one other thing we need to do."
"Well, what would that be, Mr. President?"
"We would have to bring Atlantis back from Pegasus. As you said, we need to have all our assets ready to fight. And Atlantis is our greatest asset against the Wraith."
Woolsey was stunned. He didn't expect the President to suggest this. He tried to find a response, but he heard the words, "Yes, Mr. President," coming out of his mouth, while his mind screamed at him internally.
"Very well then," said the President. "I want you, McKay, and Zalenka to return to Atlantis immediately, and tell Commander Caldwell to prepare for departure when they receive word from us."
"Yes Mr. President," replied Woolsey, falling back on that oldest of aide tricks; stunned obedience. After dismissing himself, Woolsey hung up the phone, and went to go tell McKay and Zalenka to pack up their things. It was time to go home.
McKay walked wearily into the apartment that SGA had given him and Jennifer to live in while he was managing the Wraith crisis. It was a bit of a tight fit, but he was hardly there anyway, so it worked.
As he set his bag which contained his laptop and other important documents on the desk near the door, Jennifer came up to greet him. She could tell immediately that something was wrong.
"What is it honey," she asked as McKay took off his jacket.
"We failed miserably. The Wraith know where Earth is, and they're probably already on their way." McKay walked into the small living room, and sat down on the couch that took up the left wall.
Jennifer sat down beside him and gave him a short kiss. She could tell that he was distressed, and knew she had to help before he started spiraling. "Don't worry. I'm sure we'll be able to stop them before they get to Earth."
"I know," sighed Rodney. "It's just that, I thought we wouldn't have to deal with this when I asked you to marry me. What was the point if we are just going to get fed on by Wraith?"
"Rodney, there was no way you could know that this would happen. Besides, there's no one I would rather spend my last days with. Only they won't be our last days. You have to promise me you won't exhaust yourself like during the Replicator-Wraith War, okay?"
"Fine," said Rodney. Leaning up against Jennifer, he put his arm around her and gazed at her. "You know, I'm glad that I married you. thanks for keeping me sane."
'Ah, it's no problem. Besides, we're all in this together."
Rodney abruptly stood up. "Right, I forgot." Turning to look at Jennifer, he pulled her up and said, "We have to get packing. Since we aren't needed here anymore, Woolsey is taking us back to Atlantis."
Jennifer sighed. "Not a days rest, huh?"
Rodney smiled and started walking towards the small bedroom. "Oh, it's not so bad, since I'm with you."
Jennifer returned his smile and followed him into the bedroom to help him pack up the small amount of personal possessions they had brought with them. Things may have turned for the worse, but at leas they would face the coming days together,
Throughout the Pegasus Galaxy, a subspace burst of unrivaled proportions registered itself on everything that could monitor subspace. When it died away, the face of the galaxy began changing. Hive ships began clustering, gathering, preparing for the next step. Preparing to attack Earth. And they were confident that nothing would stand in their way.
