Author's Note: This one is a little short, sorry!

OOOOOOOOOO

Again he was looking out over a ruined city. It wasn't the same as the last one he'd seen, but it was just as shattered – and again there were no signs of any people, survivors or otherwise. He wasn't actually in the city, merely in a position to observe, but that was fine with Ian. Destruction of that magnitude wasn't something he was familiar with – and not something he wanted to see up close.

"What is this place?" he asked, feeling Alexander's overpowering presence near at hand.

The Ancient appeared beside him, looking over the city as well.

"It doesn't matter. It doesn't exist any more."

"And the people who lived here?"

"Gone."

Which sounded a lot more final to him than if they'd just abandoned the city.

"The Wraith did this, didn't they?" Ian asked, turning to look at Alexander – more to keep from having to look out over the ruins of a city that was at least as large as New York. Maybe even larger.

If he was surprised by the sudden insight, Alexander didn't let it show. Instead he nodded.

"Yes. But it was a long time ago."

"How long?"

"The Asgard were like your people at the time. Maybe even less advanced."

"And now?"

Alexander shrugged.

"Who knows? I certainly don't. When Atlantis was submerged, we lost contact with much of the system, and we haven't been keeping track of the Wraith. There aren't enough of us left to-"

"Why are you showing me this?" Ian asked, interrupting.

"Because Elizabeth Weir's idea isn't such a terrible one, Ian."

"Are you crazy?"

Not really the proper attitude to give one of the last survivors of an Ancient race of advanced beings, but Alexander didn't take offense.

"It might not be a bad idea to check on them – and see how far they've advanced. If they have at all."

"And lead them back to us?" Ian asked, sarcastically.

"They can't gate to Earth from the Pegasus system unless they go through the Atlantis Stargate," Alexander told him.

"Then we should leave them alone."

"If they're still around, they'll eventually find their way here…"

"They haven't yet."

"It's inevitable."

"We have the weapon in Antarctica."

Alexander shook his head.

"There's one just like it in Atlantis – and it didn't do them any good, either. If the Wraith are still around, you need to find out – and deal with them before they make their way to this system."

"How are we supposed to do that? Your people couldn't."

"That's part of the reason your people need to do this. We tried to do it alone. Your people need to find allies."

"And what if there's no one left? What if they're all gone?"

"They're not."

"How do you know that?"

"Because if they were, then the Wraith would have made their way here…"

The certainty of that statement brought Ian up short. He knew as well as anyone – and better than many – that it wasn't impossible to get from Atlantis to Earth without using a Stargate. It'd take a long time – unless you had some kind of super drive in the craft you were in – but it wasn't impossible. If the Wraith had used up their food source, Alexander was right; they'd have already come looking for more.

He looked out at the ruined city again, and had no trouble at all turning it into Los Angeles or New York in his mind.

"When we went to Atlantis, only two of us made it through the gate. Did you have something to do with that?"

"The city is submerged," Alexander said. "The shield holding back the water is using a fair amount of the power resources. Had your entire party been allowed to enter the city, they would have started exploring and brought several unnecessary systems online…"

"Which would have diverted power from the shield…" Ian guessed.

"And may have had a disastrous effect on the shielding."

"Then we can't go anyways…"

"The city will protect you. It's designed to look after those with the Ancient gene."

"And the ones that don't have it?"

"It'll watch over them as well, by default."

Ian sighed.

"I was hoping I might just return to being an ordinary person, now that the Goa'uld are less of a threat…"

"Being ordinary is boring," Alexander countered.

"It's safer, though."

"So you're afraid?"

Ian snorted.

"Of aliens that suck the life out of people through their hands? Yeah, that's way up there on my fear-o-meter."

"You could always stay safe and content on Earth and become a politician."

It was a shot, and a low one – and Ian responded predictably.

"Fuck you, Alexander."

The Ancient smiled, not at all offended.

"Just think about it, Ian. Okay?"

Still stinging from the cheap shot, Ian simply shrugged, but he couldn't help but take another glance at the ruined city in front of him.