Ian frowned, looking over at Sabrina, who also had tears in her eyes – although there was also relief at finding her son, whom she'd almost certainly thought lost as well.

"What? Joshua?" he asked. "How?"

"The strangers," she said simply, holding her son tightly, and then using her hold to cover his ears to muffle what she said next. "He was killed for standing up to them. Many of the men were…"

There was a bleak tone in her voice that made him automatically put his hand on her shoulder, and when he touched her, she broke down into terrible sobs, holding her son even closer while mourning her lost husband. The Ian of ten years ago would have withdrawn immediately from the scene, more concerned about staying away from something so uncomfortable. Ian now, however, was aware just how much good a touch could do when someone needed it – and it was clear she did.

His hand tightened on her shoulder, not painfully, just enough to tell her he was there, and he almost automatically checked her out for injuries that might need his help. She was going to need to be strong for her son, and he'd noticed the limp earlier.

A badly strained hip and bruises that were bone deep were healed quickly and quietly, And the half-healed dislocated shoulder was easy enough to take care of without her even realizing he was doing anything. Clearly she'd suffered a lot of abuse from her captors – although he was relieved that there hadn't been anything more nefarious done to her as near as he could tell.

And that check revealed something that actually caused him to pull his hand away in surprise, before he replaced it a moment later and checked on the baby she was carrying – a baby that was so tiny and undeveloped that he wondered if she even knew she was pregnant.

Sabrina didn't notice anything; she simply rocked her son softly as they both sobbed, until the boy fell asleep against her, simply too tired to keep his eyes open any longer. When he was asleep, she pulled herself together with a visible effort and looked up at Ian.

"How did you know?"

She didn't seem surprised to see him.

"Your son." He didn't say anything more just then, he simply reached down and scooped the boy up into his arms, careful to keep him asleep for a while longer. "Where can we put him out of the way?"

A place with a bed and blankets would have been preferable, but he would have taken any place soft just then.

She rose to her feet, and seemed startled that her leg was no longer hurting her. She flashed him a look that he tried to ignore, and then motioned for him to follow her.

"Our house was one that was burned, but my sister's is still intact."

OOOOOOOOOOOO

Moran was the last of his men to leave the planet. He did so under the watchful eye of Cassandra's entire security force – along with the teams led by Mitchell and Dobbs. All the Marines held their weapons trained on the Corain as they headed through the gate, and they trudged through with more relief than anything – probably grateful to have escaped with their lives.

Moran wasn't so grateful.

"You'll pay for this," he promised as the last of his men preceded him through the stargate.

"Don't come back," Cam warned him.

Moran simply sneered and turned his back on them, walking up the slight dirt hill that served as a ramp for the gate. He vanished a moment later, and the stargate shut down.

Dobbs shook his head as the Marines all stood down, ready to turn their efforts to relief and not rescue.

"Think he'll be back?"

"I'm sure of it."

"How do we keep these people safe? Does Ian have a plan?"

"I'd bet he does." Cam gestured for his men to head back to the small group of villagers who'd watched their captors leave. "But even if he doesn't we'll figure out something to keep these people safe. They're our responsibility, after all."

Since Dobbs already knew the story behind the ancestors of the people on the planet, he nodded, and then turned and went to rejoin his men. They had a lot to do before they could leave, after all, and he wanted to be ready when they started bringing in supplies for these people.

OOOOOOOOO

The house wasn't in the best of shape, but the beds all had blankets and Sabrina's sister was ecstatic to see her missing nephew was alive and well. She took the boy from Ian's arms and hustled him to bed, while Ian was given the short version of events from Sabrina and her brother in law.

He left the house about half an hour later, and found Andrew and River both in the village waiting for him.

"How's he doing?" River asked as Ian went to join them.

"He's asleep. What about the Corain?"

"They're gone," Andrew said. "As of about ten minutes ago."

"Good. You guys are in charge of making sure Mitchell and Dobbs have everything they need. I'll be back in a bit."

"Where are you going?"

"I need to talk with General Hunt and Jack."

He tapped the communicator in his ear and called the Cassandra for a quick beam over to the gate, and was gone before they even had a chance to ask him what he was up to. River shrugged, and turned to the men who were talking to some of the men of the village. They had enough to do without worrying about what Ian was up to.

OOOOOOOOO

"He's gating back to Earth?"

"That's what I heard."

"Well, why can't I go, too?"

"You can go once I get you stabilized."

"I'm stable."

The medic rolled his eyes, and ignored McKay's last comment. He didn't think the guy was stable at all.

"Just hold still, doctor. This won't hurt – much."

"That's what you guys always say," McKay told him. "It's never true, tho- OW!"

The medic just rolled his eyes again.