It was just as desolate from the air as the pictures from the probe showed it to be from the ground. They came through the gate in one of the puddle jumpers, Sheppard at the controls and Dex sitting in the copilot seat to get the best view. Unfortunately, there just wasn't anything positive to see.

"We'll swing around at a high altitude pass over the poles," Sheppard said into the silence of the small group that had come on the reconnaissance. "That way we can check the other cities as well…"

Dex merely nodded, his eyes glued on the ground under them.

The planet wasn't all that large, but there had been several fair sized cities on it. All of them now destroyed and literally left in rubble. There were several forests under them, and a couple of fairly large mountain ranges near one of the larger cities, but the jumper's sensors didn't pick up any life signs as they flew over, scanning.

"Any chance the population might be hiding somewhere that the sensors can't find them?" Mitchell asked, watching the heads-up display. "Caves, or something like that?"

Ronon shook his head.

"Land there," he said, pointing down at the city that was closest to the Stargate. This was the first one they'd flown over, and the one that Melony was pretty sure had been his home. From the silence of the others, they had assumed the same thing.

Sheppard did as he was told, setting the jumper down easily in the middle of what might have been a town square or something like that. Now it was just a clearing in the middle of a large pile of rubble.

Dex was on his feet before Sheppard even had the engines powered down. Mitchell, Teyla and Ford all joined him at the ramp, and when he was finished with the shutdown, John joined him as well. Rodney sighed, looking out the front view screen of the jumper from where he was sitting. He could tell them all already that there was no sense even bothering to get out. There weren't any life forms, and nothing short of cockroaches could be living in this place. Look at it, after all! But he knew that they wouldn't have listened to him even if he'd said anything. So he got out of his seat and joined them as the ramp came down, and the bright sunlight filled the jumper with light.

"Lead the way," Mitchell said to Dex. She wasn't carrying a staff weapon or a P90. Her Beretta was in one holster, and a zat was in the other, and she honestly hadn't thought she'd need anything more than that. Especially since the others were all armed.

Dex nodded, looking around as if trying to get his bearings, and then he led them off towards the southern quadrant of the city, his steps steady, but hesitant, as if he knew he was simply prolonging the inevitable.

Which he was, of course.

OOOOOOOOOOOO

"There's nothing here…" Rodney said. Again.

They'd been walking through what had once been streets for several hours, and McKay was hot, tired and sweaty. He wasn't the only one, but he was the only one complaining. The others watched more or less silently as Ronon Dex led them through the streets, occasionally stopping at a certain pile of rubble and picking through it. They didn't know what he was looking for and they didn't ask. Instead, they watched, standing guard on the off chance that something unexpected happened but knowing full well that there wasn't anything or anyone on the planet that would come magically stumbling out of one of the ruined buildings.

Mitchell looked over at him, hushing him with a glance, and McKay sighed. Again.

Ronon had heard him, however, and he, too, looked over.

"You can go back."

Rodney made a face. He knew he could, but there wasn't any point to it. There wasn't anything to do on the jumper, either.

"We will stay," Teyla said, giving McKay a disgusted look.

Ronan just shrugged, and went back to staring at the ruins of what had once been a fairly large building.

Maybe where he lived? Talon said.

Maybe.

Melony walked over to stand beside him.

"There's always the chance that some survived, you know." She told him softly.

He shook his head.

"I would have heard if there were people from my world on other planets…"

"Not necessarily. You've been on the run, remember? When would you have had a chance to hear anything like that?"

It was a good point, and it made him hesitate.

"I don't know…"

"You can't be the only person left," she said. "The Wraith weren't that thorough when they attacked. They always left some people behind, right? Those people might have just decided to go elsewhere…"

He shrugged, looking off into the ruins.

"I always just assumed that when I managed to free myself of the hunters I'd be able to come home and…" He trailed off, looking around.

"And find everything the way it had been…?"

"Yeah."

They were quiet for a long time, while the others waited – and Rodney fidgeted. Finally, Dex spoke. So softly that only Melony heard him.

"They'll pay."

She understood the fury in his voice quite well. Who better to understand the need for revenge, after all?

"They already did…"

He gave her a sharp look, realized that she was right, and then in his anger decided that wasn't enough and dismissed that entirely.

"There are others. We know that they're not all dead."

"True."

"They will be, though," he said, fiercely, and now the others could hear him just fine as well. "I want your help."

"To do what?"

"What you're already planning on doing," he said. "I want to lure the Wraith into traps and make the rest of them pay for what they've-"

"You're the reason we have the means to lure them, Ronon," Mitchell said, interrupting. "You are more than welcomed to come along and see this thing through to the end."

"No matter how long it takes?"

"Yes."

He nodded, looking back at the ruins, and Melony spoke again with a nudge from Talon.

"Your people might not all be dead. There's always a hope we can find a trace of them somewhere else. Someone must know of survivors – they must be somewhere. While you help us with the Wraith, we'll help you look for any sign of your people."

"You'd do that?"

She nodded – as did Teyla and Sheppard. Which surprised him, because they were the ones with the most reason to be unwilling to help him with anything. Hadn't he taken them captive, after all? But he couldn't just give his allegiance so easily, even when it only made sense that he did.

"I'll… think about it."

She nodded again.

"You do that."