Disclaimer - "Stargate" and all related characters are the property of MGM Television Entertainment.

Set after Season 2's 'Epiphany.' I'll also warn that it contains minor spoilers for this episode.

Rated T for violence and gore.

Chapter 1 - Shattered

"The MALP we sent through earlier recorded a fairly strong energy reading coming from the vicinity of the Gate." McKay readjusted the P90 attached to his vest and sighed slightly. He still felt uncomfortable with the weight of the gun against his chest, coupled with a rucksack and laptop strapped to his back. He was so weighed down every time they went off-world.

McKay was standing in the Gateroom with Sheppard, Teyla and Ronon. All in full gear. They were waiting for the gate to be dialled. McKay had found a mention of the planet in the Ancient database a few days earlier and had been very eager to go.

"The database stated that the Ancients were experimenting with the creation of an infinite power source." McKay was visibly very excited to convince Dr Weir and the team to green light the mission.

Sheppard shot McKay a look across the briefing room, "Hopefully not of the solar system destroying kind like last time."

"Ah yes, very funny. That's getting a little old now Colonel." McKay replied with a wry smile. "This power source is Zed PM based. There is only a small amount of information in the database, and apparently the research was abandoned when the Wraith attacked and drove the Ancients from the planet ten thousand years ago."

Dr Weir pressed her hands together at the fingertips with her elbows resting on the table. "How do we know that the research wasn't destroyed when the Wraith attacked? How do we know that the Ancients didn't take the research with them when they left?"

"Well there's only one way to find out. Let's send a MALP through and take a look. You have to admit that we have nothing to lose from carrying out an investigation."

Teyla joined in, trying to sway Dr Weir's decision. "It would be a good idea to look into any new power source. We do not know when the Wraith may attack Atlantis again. I believe we should visit this planet."

Dr Weir looked across at Ronon who had been silent until now. "Yes sounds fine. Are there any people there?"

"As far as I can tell from the database, there were some humans there when the Wraith attacked. Whether they're still there I don't know." McKay gave a questioning look at Dr Weir. His case finished, he waited for a decision.

The whole team were looking at her expectantly. "Okay. I'll ask a technician to prepare a MALP to go through the gate. Meet up in the control room in two hours."

The Gateroom filled with the familiar hiss and click as each chevron locked into place on the gate. With a loud whoosh the wormhole formed.

"Okay, let's go." Sheppard moved towards the gate followed by Teyla, McKay and Ronon at the back of the group.

They came out on the other side. The sky of the planet was almost black with storm clouds above giving the planet an eerie twilight hue. There were ruined buildings surrounding the gate and stretching off into the distance in all directions. Nothing was above one storey high and the larger structures were just shells of bricks and metal. Just as the telemetry from the MALP had provided a few hours earlier, the air was at a comfortable temperature, but it was fairly thin and dusty from where the wind picked up ashes and small debris from the ground. There were no plants anywhere and the team were surrounded by myriad shades of brown and grey.

"The photos sent by the MALP didn't do it justice." McKay said sarcastically as he came through the gate and took a quick look at the sky and then the rubble around them.

"It's the Wraith, I've seen it before. They destroyed everything." Ronon was looking around to make sure nothing was going to jump out from behind any of the rubble. "It is daytime, right?"

"I think so, McKay?" Sheppard looked round at the scientist, who was frowning at the scanner in his hand.

"That's strange." McKay spoke without looking up or acknowledging that Sheppard had asked a question.

"What is it Doctor McKay?" Teyla moved towards him to glance over his shoulder at the scanner.

McKay looked up at the rest of the team and shifted uncomfortably. "It's difficult to localise the source of the energy readings. One moment they're in one place, then they disappear and then they're all around us."

Sheppard started to head off away from the gate. "Maybe we should have a look round. The gate's probably interfering with the readings."

"Wait a moment Colonel." McKay held up his hand, his eyes still fixed on the scanner, and pointed around behind the gate, off into the distance. "I suggest we walk in this direction. When the energy reading stays still in one location, it's always over there."

"Okay." Sheppard spun on his heels and stalked off in the direction McKay had pointed. The rest of the team followed. McKay still had a puzzled look across his face and checked the scanner every few seconds in between looking ahead to avoid tripping over all the debris.

They walked in silence for a while, allowing their eyes to adjust to the dim light and to concentrate on not falling over. Ronon was walking behind McKay keeping an eye on the scientist. He was so engrossed by the shifting and flickering power readings on the scanner that he stumbled a few times and had to be saved by Ronon from falling right down.

After a few minutes, Teyla became a little uneasy. "How long ago do you think the Wraith were here?" She asked no one in particular.

McKay replied, "There's no way of knowing without further study of the ruins. I'd estimate centuries at least." He was cautiously keeping an eye on a structure to his right. It was composed of several metal bars sticking up into the air at lethal angles. Whatever the purpose of the building had been; the shell was long gone and the bars showed a frame which had once, long ago, been supporting a building several storeys high.

A few hours later they cleared the edge of the ruined buildings and came to a large uneven patch of ground. It may have been a field before the Wraith came and burned the surface of the planet. Now all that is was was hard packed scorched mud, dirt and dust stretching off into the distance. The swirling ash in the air made it difficult to see very far. Now that haunted ruins weren't obscuring his line of sight. Sheppard thought that he could make out the faint outlines of mountains many miles away.

The team scrambled over the uneven surface to reach the source of the readings. Occasionally McKay would point them back on course to the power readings as they strayed away from a direct route to find an easier was to traverse the field.

After an hour or so of cursing and tripping McKay let out a triumphant cry, "Look, over there!"

He was pointing to a large yellow dome, which they could now see beyond the next rise. It seemed to glow as light radiated from every wall. The dome was startling and fairly garish against the darkness of the ruins and parched earth. It was unmarked by the calamities which had befallen this world. It looked completely out of place.

"It appears to be surrounded by a forcefield." McKay advised as he grabbed his laptop out of his bag and moved towards a panel on the side of the dome.

"Any idea how to get in?" Sheppard asked, still keeping a wary eye behind them as he made his way over to McKay.

"Working on it!" He replied sounding annoyed as he plugged a lead from his laptop into the panel.

McKay began to type as Ronon, Sheppard and Teyla stood by covering him and making sure nothing assailed them. Ronon looked thoroughly bored. "This is fun."

McKay looked up and shot a scathing look at Ronon. "We're not here for your entertainment. There are no life signs so I don't know why you're all crowded round me like you have to defend me against the huge amounts of nothing left on this world."

Sheppard laid a hand on Ronon's back, "Come on, let's go and have a look around while McKay works. Teyla, stay here."

Once they were alone, Teyla asked, "Rodney, do you think the dome is of the Ancestors?"

McKay was a little less irritated now that he wasn't so surrounded. "Probably. They are the only race we know about who could create shields to dispel Wraith weaponry."

He looked up at Teyla from his laptop. "I think I'm done. Let's see if this shows us a way in." He pressed a button on the screen and a door silently opened next to the control panel. It had been completely seamless and invisible on the sloped wall.

McKay reached up and tapped his radio, "Colonel, we've found a way in."

"We'll be back in a minute. It's the same all the way round. There are no more control panels or anything that looks like a door."

McKay shifted impatiently from foot to foot while he peered through the door at a long and well lit corridor with another door at the end. Teyla eyed him with a look torn between pity and exasperation.

"Relax Rodney. The structure has obviously survived for many years and I believe that it will continue to do so for the next few minutes."

Sheppard rounded the opposite side of the dome from the one they had started from, with Ronon on his heels. They had skirted the whole perimeter.

"What've you got Rodney?" Sheppard asked when they were in earshot.

"I got this door open, but there's a shield around the structure which the scanner can't penetrate."

"Alright, let's check it out." Sheppard looked at the rest of the team, "Teyla stay out here, I'll take point, Ronon you've got our back."

McKay looked from Sheppard to Ronon to Teyla, "Colonel, I don't think it's dangerous." His eyes widened slightly with fear, "Is it?"

"You said so yourself. The scanner can't tell us what's inside that building." Sheppard stated calmly as he walked through the opening and started along the corridor.

McKay sighed and followed him in with Ronon behind.

They reached the end of the dazzling corridor. It was almost painfully bright after their eyes had adjusted to the dull light outside on the planet. The door opened automatically and they stepped through.

They entered a large round room with several closed doors around the edge. The room was about twenty metres in diameter and as brightly lit and yellow as the corridor they had just walked through. The ceiling was a convex dome, just as it appeared from outside. In the centre of the room was a cylinder of swirling and shimmering green and blue light. It was like a shield but there were mesmerising patterns forming and constantly shifting across the surface. Hundreds of thick black cables hung down from the ceiling and fed into the top of the device. There was a bank of control panels surrounding the base of the cylinder along with many more black cables, which disappeared into the floor.

"That's interesting." Stated McKay, who stood still and unblinking as he stared at the device, his laptop forgotten in his hands. Sheppard was also looking at the swirling patterns with a blank expression on his face.

"What is it?" Asked Ronon, who seemed oblivious to the hypnotic powers of the colours of the device. He noticed that the other two had ignored him, so he grabbed the back of McKay and Sheppard's vests and yanked them away so that they were no longer facing the shield.

"Hey hey hey! I was looking at that." Protested McKay as he nearly fell over backwards.

"Seemed like you were looking at it for too long." Ronon released his grip and helped McKay find his balance again.

Sheppard, who had kept his feet better than McKay, looked at Ronon, "I'm not sure what happened. It's just so interesting the way the patterns are formed and destroyed constantly." He then looked at McKay while being careful to make sure the device did not enter his line of sight. "Are you getting any readings Rodney? Can you interface with one of those control panels over there?"

"It would be easier if I didn't have to look at it. I'm sure Ronon will be able to remind me to keep working if it happens again."

McKay turned and keeping his eyes firmly diverted from the shield, he walked towards the device. Ronon followed him to make sure the scientist did not go into another trance. Sheppard kept his back to the device and walked towards the door they had come through. It was still open and he kept his eyes fixed on the long corridor. When he reached it, he stopped and stood guard.

McKay reached one of the control panels and plugged his laptop in. He felt his will wavering as he began to lose the battle to keep his eyes away from the device. He lifted up his left arm and used his hand to protect his eyes from drifting back towards the blue and green patterns. It was like he was blocking his gaze from bright sunlight on his face.

"Hmmm." McKay stated, his eyes rapidly scanned across the screen of his laptop as data flashed and scrolled across it. "This seems to be some kind of data storage device." He pointed his hand at the panel where his laptop was plugged in. "It holds massive amounts of information about this facility and the history of the planet."

"What about the device?" Ronon asked gruffly.

"Getting there." McKay still had one hand across his forehead to keep his eyes downcast. He used his free hand to tap the screen several times. "It's all downloading onto the laptop. Ah, here we go."

The scrolling data on the screen stopped so that he could read more slowly. His eyes flickered across the lines of text and then widened as he got towards the end.

"That's incredible, amazing!" He turned around to face Ronon, who still stood immediately behind him, and Sheppard in the doorway. He lowered his arm from his head down to his side. "Colonel, do you remember your trip through the portal where time was dilated to flow faster than we experienced outside the field?"

"How could I forget?" Sheppard replied dryly from the door.

"This device takes time dilation to a whole new level we've never seen before. It seems to be some kind of quantum stasis field." McKay's voice was fast and he was waving his hands around in excitement.

"Quantum?" Ronon asked.

McKay crossed his arms over his chest in annoyance. "Time. It's an Ancient time device. Guess what's in the centre powering it and this whole complex." McKay uncrossed his arms and circled his hands to indicate the room where they were standing, but didn't give them a chance to answer. "A fully charged Zed PM!"

Sheppard shifted slightly forward at this announcement. "That's great. Is there a way to safely deactivate the field and retrieve the ZPM?"

"Yes. I just need to pull the plug and then the Zed PM will be ours."

"You're sure you know what you're doing? We don't want to be stuck here for the rest of our lives, while Atlantis only thinks we've been gone for an hour." Sheppard was glad he couldn't look over towards McKay as he spoke, but could picture the look on his face.

McKay folded his arms again. "I'll just have another look at the schematic, but from my initial review it seems to be just a matter of flipping a few switches on the control panels."

"Okay. If you can do it, go ahead. If you're even slightly unsure though, we should head back and take more time to review the data. We can then return in the future to grab the ZPM."

"I'm not going to leave a perfect, fully charged Zed PM behind. The Wraith or anyone could detect it and come and steal it before we have the chance. I don't think I need to remind you how important power is for the survival of this mission."

Ronon just shrugged and followed McKay back to the centre of the room. McKay once again lifted his hand to cover his eyes, so that he could only see the floor and a short distance in front of him. Ronon looked into the vortex of greens and blues on the shield. He could not see anything behind it, but if McKay said there was a ZPM he was in favour; they desperately needed the extra power to fight and defend themselves against the Wraith.

McKay studied the laptop and began pressing buttons and moving dials around on the control panel. After a few minutes there was a loud swishing sound as the shield grew dim and them faded out entirely. Just as McKay said, there was a ZPM resting in the centre of where the shield had just disappeared. McKay reached across and grabbed it from it's housing. It glowed brilliant orange in his hands for a moment, but as the last of the shield vanished, it dimmed and became black and inert. As the power source had been disrupted, the team were plunged into darkness.

"What happened?" Sheppard shouted across the room. He had raised his P90 and clicked on the light, making his way over to where McKay stood with Ronon.

"I don't know! It was fully charged a minute ago." McKay was frowning at his laptop. Suddenly the screen went red and flashing warnings began to roll across it. "No no no no no!"

"What is it?" Asked Ronon.

"I'm detecting a build up of energy. It's in a spectrum I've never seen before. It may have something to do with the time device rather than the removal of the Zed PM. Uh oh!"

"What is it McKay?" Sheppard struggled to read the screen of the laptop upside down.

"It's gonna blow!" McKay shouted frantically waving his hands in panic in the general direction of the device where he had just removed the ZPM.

Sheppard shone the light into McKay's face and saw a look of terror in eyes, which while familiar to him, seemed to be more fearful than even the perpetually afraid scientist had previously been able to generate.

"How can it? There's no power. Are you sure?" Sheppard asked calmly as McKay grabbed his laptop and the recently liberated ZPM and crammed them into his rucksack. His hands shaking so much he could hardly do the zip up.

"I don't know how, but I swear it is!" McKay's voice began to break in rising panic. "We don't want to be anywhere near it when it goes. Although I don't know what's causing it, the blast will hopefully not be Zed PM sized. Nevertheless I'm sure it will be very unpleasant. It's probably something to do with shutting down the stasis field."

"Can't you just put the ZPM back in place?" Asked Ronon.

"No! There isn't enough time, and I doubt it would work anyway." McKay slung his rucksack onto his back and headed for the exit.

"Okay guys, let's go." Sheppard gave McKay benefit of the doubt. A steady high-pitched whining sound had begun. He believed McKay could be right. It was growing louder and sounded like an overload of some kind was in progress.

Sheppard clicked his radio, "Teyla, we're moving out. McKay just told us there's a chance the dome may explode."

"Understood Colonel."

The team ran through the dark corridor and out the front of the domed building. The shield had been lowered as soon as McKay removed the ZPM, so there was nothing left to contain the blast. Teyla joined them as they ran away from the complex as fast as possible.

The rough and uneven ground hindered the progress of the team to get away from the building, and everyone was stumbling as they ran and tripped over the rocks and hidden potholes.

Ronon was behind McKay and caught him as he nearly went flying after his left ankle twisted on a curved boulder.

"Ow ow ow!" He gasped, but kept running with a slight limp. Ronon ran on in front to catch up with Sheppard, as Teyla stayed behind to help McKay.

The whine was now so loud they could hear it outside the building. It continued to grow as they put as much distance as they could between themselves and the dome.

Then suddenly the noise was silenced. McKay turned to look back at the dome in curiosity. It was now dull and brown like the rest of the planet.

"Come on Doctor McKay. I believe you did say to the others that it was going to explode." Teyla had also turned when the abrupt silence descended. Ronon and Sheppard were several hundred metres away negotiating a large ditch in the field and were oblivious to the fact that McKay and Teyla had stopped.

A strange sense of calm and peace descended and McKay held his breath facing the structure.

Suddenly a brilliant and blinding flash of blue and green light rippled out from the dome and disbursed in an ever expanding and all encompassing wave. It washed over the field and went through McKay and Teyla with no physical effect on them. This was followed by a bone jarring bang, which ripped through the roof of the dome, tearing it into massive fireballs of metal and rock which flew out in all directions at high speed.

McKay didn't have time to throw himself to the ground as he had been trained to do during an explosion. He had been so mesmerised by the rippling field of light. The blast hit him and he was lifted off his feet at the same time as he was showered with hundreds of shards of metal, debris and fire from what had once been the only remaining structure still standing in this desolate wasteland. He felt himself falling backwards and the whole world faded into darkness before he was aware of hitting the ground.

"What's that strange noise?" Thought Rodney as he began to fade back into a state of semi-consciousness. It sounded like a kettle boiling. "Perhaps a kettle from hell?"

He kept his eyes closed and was dimly aware that he was pinned to the ground by something. He tried to recall what had happened, but there was no memory. Only darkness.

Now there was pain.

It blossomed across his whole torso and crushed upon his chest. He tried to breathe, but there was a wheeze and rattling sound from his lungs. He was only able to get enough air to keep from passing out again.

Rodney opened his eyes slowly and tried not to cough. If he didn't breathe too deeply he was able to prevent the catching sensation in his throat and down into his chest.

He gasped more in shock, than in pain as he looked around. He saw that he seemed to be lying in a war zone of some kind. Several fires and pieces of rock and metal surrounded him. He could not see anyone else nearby. The sky was clear blue and the sun shone down on him, as he lay immobile and wracked in agony. He discerned several Wraith darts in the distance, but they kept away from the area where he was lying prone. They were the source of the noise that had brought him back. He longed to be unconscious again. The painless darkness had been bliss in comparison to this agony.

He gritted his teeth and lifted his head up slightly from the ground to look down at himself. He wished that he hadn't. The pain crescendoed to an almost unbearable level when he saw a metal pole impaled in his left side. It was driven deeply into him and was the reason why he couldn't move. It stuck up in the air several feet above him at an angle so that he hadn't seen it the moment he woke up.

Rodney tried to flex his fingers and found to his increasing horror that he could only feel his right arm. He moved it across to the base of the pole where it cruelly pierced through his abdomen. It was stuck fast, but there didn't seem to be very much blood around it. The pressure had probably sealed it in place.

"Small mercy," McKay said out loud in a whimper as he moved his hand away. His breath was now coming in shallow gasps. He closed his eyes and breathed through the pain. His lungs and ribs protesting with every shuddering breath. The pain didn't diminish. "I have to know. I have to know." He muttered through clenched teeth and tilted his head back towards the ground with his eyes screwed tightly shut. He moved his hand round underneath his back and tried to feel whether the pole had gone right through.

He opened his eyes wide with shock when he felt the cold and sticky metal in his palm. "Oh crap! I'm in trouble here," he thought and glided his hand down the pole. It was driven into the ground too. He wasn't going anywhere. After he felt the ground, his hand came away covered in an unpleasant muddy goo.

"Blood!" he thought, he felt cold, "My blood."

Suddenly the memories all came rushing back; the ruins, the dark sky, the dome and the ZPM. McKay glanced bleary eyed at the sun and clear sky. After the destruction they had seen there was no way this planet would ever be sunny again after what the Wraith had done.

"That's very strange," thought Rodney, "Why is the sky now clear? What are the Wraith doing here? There is no human population to cull."

He was in too much pain to be able to think and consider answers to the questions.

"Where are Sheppard, Teyla and Ronon?" He felt an emotional pang of guilt in his heart in the midst of the physical trauma he was suffering. "Did they survive the explosion or are they lying dead or seriously injured away from me somewhere?"

His eyes began to dim and he became aware of another approaching ripple of blue and green light. It passed through him as the world went black and he knew no more.

A/N – I was going to leave out this chapter and skip straight to the next one. I thought the whole story would be too confusing without it and I love a bit of the whump as much as the next person ;)