EMBER TO INFERNO

Sequel to 'Through the Never'. Stranded in a different time and a different world, James Forrest adapts to life in Atlantis. Meanwhile, the Wraith have made a decisive choice and it is soon clear that Atlantis needs Forrest almost as much as Forrest needs Atlantis…

Team action/angst, a bit of whump and McKeller thrown in.

Chapter 1 'Friends and Foes'

One month later

'OFFWORLD ACTIVATION!' bellowed Chuck as the stargate sprang into life and light. With great efficiency he brought up the command screen on his PC, monitoring communications, IDC's and the shield all at the same time- a testament to his job proficiency. Glancing to his left he saw Mr. Woolsey striding down the walkway from his office, getting straight down to business:

'Who is it?'

'Haven't received any IDC yet, sir. No other signals are coming through.' replied Chuck. Having arrived at the control station, Woolsey turned towards the stargate and spoke.

'Is anyone scheduled to check in?'

'No sir. The only scheduled check-in today is Major Lorne's team, but that's not for six hours. '

There was a brief pause- for now, there was little else to do but wait.

'Hold on- receiving IDC. It's Captain Lavenir's team sir, they're sending a radio transmission.'

Woolsey quickly ordered the transmission to be patched through and suddenly the intercom resounded with explosions and the sound of gunfire. He and Chuck looked at each other, trying to make out the Captains voice over all the noise.

'This is Lavenir; we're coming in hot! Lower the shield but prepare for incoming fire- ah, merde, get down!'

Woolsey's face betrayed even more concern that it usually did; he paused briefly to consider his options. He knew he only had one.

'Lower the shield.'

In an instant, a bullet flew through the event horizon and slammed against a wall ricocheting multiple times, causing several guards to dive for cover. Several more rounds followed, smashing the control room glass and bouncing around like mad. Before anyone could even speak Woolsey was hugging the ground behind the dialling console, the rest of the tech crew soon following suit. Woolsey then turned his head and called out to Chuck, as bullets continued to fly in their direction.

'Was James Forrest with that team?'

'Uh, I think so sir.'

Woolsey let out a long, frustrated sigh and rolled over, so that he faced the ceiling.

'Oh, now why doesn't that surprise me…'

Having been pinned to the floor of his own gateroom for a little too long, Woolsey felt relieved when the firing abruptly stopped. He was still very anxious- he and Chuck simultaneously began to peek their heads over the top of the dialling console, catching sight of the next object to come through the gate.

Fortunately this object was not another bullet but rather a USMC corporal, who stumbled into the atrium at high speed. He was followed by Lavenir and what looked like a injured marine, the marine being lightly supported by his captain. The wounded marine immediately limped away from the captain's grasp, trying to balance on his left leg. Woolsey descended the stairs, intent on finding out what happened, but first called out to the squad as to the whereabouts of Mr. Forrest.

The answer came quickly as the man in question stepped backwards through the stargate, still firing his SAW and sending a few rounds into the event horizon before his weapon went dry. He wheeled around to see his squad standing to the sides, along with half-kneeling Richard Woolsey with his hands completely covering his ears. Woolsey started to regain his composure- having nearly had his eardrums blown out by Forrest's cacophony of gunfire-and prayed that the team had a good explanation for their bullet-riddled entrance.

'I take it your grain negotiations didn't go well.'

Woolsey stood with crossed arms and a deeply furrowed brow, whilst Forrest and the French captain walked forward to face him. Lavenir was first to give details.

'I'm afraid not. We were waiting in a tavern for our contact when we were ambushed by a large group of men who threatened capture.'

Forrest took the liberty of giving the next details of their encounter.

'Yeah, we were just getting seated at the bar when a load of heavily armed men walk in, parading around an all manner of rude terms like "hostage", "ransom" and "glory for our people".' he said, shaking his head in a display of sarcasm. Woolsey stood silently, arms still crossed and looking unimpressed.

'And?'

'All it took to send 'em away sir, was a bit of twenty-seventh century charm,' said Forrest as he unholstered his pistol and spun it around, cowboy-style. A grin was now glued to his face. This time, Woolsey uncrossed his arms and perched them on the sides of his hips, raising his voice as he spoke.

'Did you even try to be diplomatic?'

'Oh, we tried…'

Forrest lowered his head, looking at the still-smoking barrel of his SAW.

'…it didn't go very well.'

At this point, the commander of Atlantis was simply fed up. Perhaps if this were the first time Forrest had led his team back guns-a-blazing, he would have been more understanding. It wasn't, and neither was this the first time he'd had to pluck bullets from the gateroom walls. Woolsey was about to turn away and leave when Sheppard came running into the room, his face displaying both concern and dread.

'I heard gunfire.' He said, before glancing around at the various not-too-bothered faces in the room.

'False alarm, Colonel.' Forrest replied. Sheppard quickly realised what was going on.

'Ah, that time of the day again, is it? It's about time. Some of us were worrying that you were losing your ability to turn even the simplest op into a firefight.'

Though he wouldn't show it in front of his boss, Sheppard was teasing- he didn't mind 'shooting first, questions later' types of guys. Before Forrest could mutter a comeback however Woolsey decided to finish with both of them, turning to Forrest first.

'Look, glad that I am that your team is alive and well, I have to say one thing:'

Woolsey took a step closer to Forrest, pointing a finger at him. 'If my gateroom gets comes under fire ever again, I'm holding you personally responsible.' Having said that he stepped back and turned to Sheppard. 'Colonel, I apologize for interrupting your duties.'

'Not quite a total waste of my time, sir. McKay has been trying to find Mr. Terminator here all day.'

Woolsey promptly dismissed the two, adding that he expected a three-page report from Forrest by nineteen hundred hours. With Sheppard joining Forrest on the way to the gear room, the latter grinned at the former.

'At least I win all my firefights.'

Oooo00000oooo00000oooo0000oooo00000ooooo00000oooo000o

'Excellent, just the man I was looking for… and I see you've brought the famed scientist John Sheppard along with you.'

Dr. McKay sat at his laboratory desk, surrounded by computers, Ancient devices and other complex electrical gubbins. He waved Forrest and Sheppard in, without stirring from his stool. Only when the military men had stood next to him for about ten seconds did he finally turn to face them, and immediately commented on Forrest's appearance.

'Wow, you look like you've just, uh…'

'Been in a fight? That's because I have.'

Forrest had changed into USMC digital woodland shirt and trousers, but what really gave it away was the dirt and gunpowder residue that marked his face. He neglected to wash it off: apparently, McKay could not wait.

'Right, right. Well, you're obviously in one piece, so I'll just tell you why you're here.'

Forrest, unlike Sheppard, already knew why he was here. He decided to spoil McKay's fun.

'I'm guessing it has something to do with our entangled trans-dimensional beacon?'

Forrest crossed his arms and leant against one of the lab walls. Sheppard looked at him quizzically; he suspected this conversation was about to get a little too technical for his liking. Still, it couldn't hurt to ask.

'What bacon?'

McKay wheeled his stool round, chuckling in response to Sheppard's ignorance. John could tell that he was about to enjoy this explanation.

'Basically, for the past month James and I have been working on a way to send him back to his reality. Now, it didn't take us long to realise that to physically send him back would be impossible, so we're trying to do the next best thing.'

Forrest cut in to deliver the crux of the matter, much to McKay's annoyance.

'Bring my reality to us.'

'Erm, right. You see, Forrest's reality-hopping time-travelling super-ship uses an incredibly complex navigation programme that essentially consists of a subspace communicator tied into a set of quantum-entangled matter, which can receive information from another quantum transmitter permanently stationed in Forrest's reality.'

'…so there's basically a constant link between the ship and my reality, so we're always able to find our way home.'

Forrest interrupted McKay again and his elevating frustration was obvious- he was the scientist and he was damn well going to explain this one. Sheppard, meanwhile, was sarcastically nodding his head and finally answered the others.

'I'm sure it'll work perfectly.'

'Yeah, I was just thinking that there was no way you'd come down here of your own accord…'

McKay and Sheppard both turned their gaze towards Forrest.

'Oh I just thought, you know, that the Colonel deserved to know what his best friend was busying himself with these days.'

Both Sheppard and McKay immediately gave short, sheepish looks at each other. Forrest realised that neither of the men had exactly paraded that term around.

'You are best friends, right?'

'I dunno, I mean I'm his team leader, plus we're very different people,' said Sheppard, trying to bluff his way through Forrest's accusations. McKay did the same, only with more stammering.

'We're also in, um, high-stress jobs and, er, have different specialities, so, uh…'

Forrest was not convinced, and turned to McKay.

'Oh please, you're practically his wife.'

'What? How am I the wife? If anything, he should be the wife and-'

'McKay! That's enough. Both of you.' barked Sheppard, steering the discussion back to it's original roots, even if it meant enduring more techno-talk.

'Fine. Anyways, what we are trying to do here is to broadcast a signal to Forrest's reality that will be picked up by the receiver on his ship. Now, this is light years more complex than it sounds.'

'Yes. In order-'

McKay had enough of being interrupted; so cut Forrest off before he could get any further.

'Ok listen, we need to get a few things straight here. I'm the scientist, I'm the one who's done all the work and I'm the one who isn't too busy gallivanting off into battle to even bother helping out, so I'm the one who's gonna explain it.'

Forrest stood up straight, no longer leaning against the wall.

'Didn't help? Let's just recap here: I gave you new insights into quantum mechanics, helped solve the Unified Theory, provided the necessary encryption codes…'

'Yeah, but I did all the groundwork. You merely gave a basic description of things which I could have easily figured out myself.' said McKay, rather dismissively. Whilst it was true that Forrest was not fully learned in what he preached, McKay could not have done without him. Of course, he would never admit this.

'I thought I remembered telling you two to shut up.'

This came from Sheppard, raising his voice far above the two bickering men. They promptly fell silent.

'If you're not finished, you're welcome to continue down in the brig. Is that understood?'

A quiet 'yes' and 'aye, sir' came from Rodney and James respectively. Sheppard suddenly remembered what it was like being an officer, and it felt good, so good in fact that a question popped into his head. A technical question, of all things.

'Rodney, since you're the one who seems to be down here all the time, you can answer this for me.'

'Go on.'

'I thought that time is always the same for every reality, so how useful, really, would this trans-thingy signal be?'

'Aha, now we get to the important stuff.'

McKay's expression went from one of silent apology to one of delight in an instant. He rarely got the opportunity to explain this sort of stuff to Sheppard, not least when he was willing to listen. He continued that the time-travel problem was the hardest to overcome, and that they weren't quite there. Using various data deciphered from Janus' lab, they had designed a basic system for sending short transmissions through time, but it was not even close to being tested, let alone operational. However, the more in-depth McKay got into the innermost workings of their device, the more rapidly Sheppard lost interest.

Fortunately for him, the intercom sounded and he was summoned to the control room, leaving the other two to no doubt argue to their heart's content.

Ooooo00000oooo00000ooo00000oooo00000ooooo00000ooo00

John Sheppard reached the control room, not knowing exactly what to expect. What he found was Woolsey, Chuck and a bunch of other scientists crowding around a large TV display. Displayed on the TV were the city's long-range sensor scans, with one particular object standing out: a red blip at great distance.

'No-one told me there was a party up here,' said Sheppard, manoeuvring his way through a sea of technicians. He took a closer look at the display. 'What is that?'

'That, is a Wraith cruiser. It dropped out of hyperspace about two minutes ago, and has been sitting just within sensor range ever since.' said Zelenka, who looked just as uneasy as Sheppard did. Woolsey stood behind him.

'Do we have any idea what it's doing yet?'

'Well, as far as we can tell it's just sitting there. No communications, no movement, nothing.'

Zelenka stroked his chin as he spoke, not quite knowing what to do about this. This all changed as soon as Chuck opened his mouth:

'We're being hailed on subspace. Shall I open a channel?'

'Do it.' Woolsey replied. 'But use a firewalled computer. The last thing we want is be attacked when all our systems are infected with a virus.'

Sheppard and Woolsey both stepped towards the TV display, eagerly anticipating what the reason would be, if any, for the sudden Wraith presence.

When they did finally see the other end of the transmission both men, especially Sheppard, looked thoroughly disappointed.

'I thought we had this thing fixed so it wouldn't do that anymore.' growled John, glaring at Woolsey first, then back at the screen. The figure on the other end was a Wraith, dressed (rather unsurprisingly) in a black cloak, with a jagged-shaped tattoo above his left eye. His voice was sinister, yet very formal.

'Oh, do you really find me that repulsive, John Sheppard?'

Sheppard was not amused. It was Todd.

'Well forgive me for being blunt, but I'm not all that fond of people whose ass I save and then in return get a ship that has a tendency to fly into black holes!'

Sheppard was still not amused; especially considering the Wraith was now chuckling.

'If you're referring to our last encounter, I assure you that I had no idea that my hyperdrive modifications would have such…'

Todd paused to consider his next words, sighing as he did so.

'…unfortunate side effects.'

'You know, it was smart of you not to show up in orbit over here. You're aware that I wouldn't hesitate to blow you out of the sky.'

There was very un-subtle anger in Sheppard's voice. He had last met Todd four months ago, where Sheppard and his team accomplished a big favour for him. In return Todd gave Atlantis its own Wraith cruiser, courtesy of the Alliance. However, this cruiser, with allegedly an "improved hyperdrive", would consistently drop out of hyperspace near a black hole, which was somewhat unpleasant for the occupants.

After offering greetings to Mr. Woolsey, who had moved up next to Sheppard, Todd cut to the chase.

'I hope you will believe me when I say this, but I have not come all this way to ask for your help. I have come here to present to you both a warning and an opportunity.'

Sheppard and Woolsey both exchanged apprehensive glances.

'We're listening.' said the latter.

'I am here in such a meagre vessel because this is all that remains of my Alliance. There was a coup, and I was deposed from power, leaving an armada of ships in the possession of a particularly ambitious queen.'

Sheppard suddenly felt a little better, and let his face betray this.

'Well, you know how much I enjoy hearing about you getting your ass kicked.'

Upon hearing Sheppard's reaction, Todd became tenser and the usual quasi-playfulness in his words ceased. This time, he was very serious.

'I don't think you quite grasp what is at hand, Sheppard. This queen not only controls a large fleet but is far less sympathetic to your cause than I am.'

Woolsey stepped in, hoping to come between the personal feuds of the others.

'Are you saying this queen will come after us?'

'I don't know what her plans are, Mr Woolsey. All I know is this: She is currently searching for a hidden Lantean military outpost that I myself was looking for before I was ushered out of command. All you need to know, is that her finding this place would have detrimental consequences for everybody.'

Usually, a mention of the words 'Lantean' and 'military' in the same sentence would pique Sheppard's interest, but not this time.

'Sounds like you got into yet another jam, and you want us to clean up the mess for you.'

'This does not just concern me, Sheppard. I don't know what spoils you may find in this outpost, but they are substantial enough that I spent a considerable amount of time looking for them. But as I said, the base is hidden, so our sensors have had no real luck in finding it. This is the closest we came.'

The Wraith turned away from his screen, gesturing to a nearby crewmember. Chuck promptly reported that they had an incoming data-burst. Woolsey didn't give the order to download it just yet.

'How do I know this isn't a virus?'

'I suppose you have only my word, Mr Woolsey. What I just sent you is the coordinates for the most likely location of the base.'

After a brief moment of consideration, Woolsey had the data downloaded to a non-networked computer and ordered the technicians to carefully search it for any potential hazards. He only had one more question to ask Todd, but it was a good one. Woolsey was awfully good at asking questions.

'Suppose you aren't lying, and that we do find this outpost, then what exactly is in it for you?'

Todd lowered his head, speaking softly.

'Perhaps you'll be presented with a chance to eliminate this queen, in which case regaining power would be much easier for me.'

'Don't count on it.' retorted Sheppard, wryly.

'I'm afraid I'll have to agree with Colonel Sheppard on this one.' added Woolsey, to which Todd replied by letting out a mild growl. As soon as he did this, the display in Atlantis' control room went blank. Zelenka almost immediately spoke up.

'Uh, the cruiser is moving away, and- it's just entered hyperspace.'

'Are you sure?' asked Woolsey.

'Mm. It's gone.'

'Huh, it took all that time for them to figure out that we don't care.' remarked Sheppard, but before he could continue a seemingly concerned Chuck interrupted him, sounding as if he'd just discovered something big.

'Mr. Woolsey, Colonel Sheppard, you're gonna want to see this.'

Atlantis' commander swiftly turned his attention to the gate technician, who proceeded to explain.

'Sir, if I've analysed this data right, we've already visited the coordinates that Todd sent us.'

'Show me.'

'Colonel Sheppard's team visited this planet about a month ago. It's logged as having been destroyed by the Wraith.'

Chuck placed a finger on the laptop display, pointing out the planet in question.

'I think the locals called it Ladonea.'