Dotty Adams might have been a surviving member of one of the oldest and most powerful races that ever lived, but she was as susceptible to surprises as any of the humans that she was pretending to be, and that surprise had her frozen in a classic deer in the headlights fashion just at that moment.

He knows... How could he know? There was no way he could, and yet, she saw the recognition in his dark eyes and didn't miss the shock in his expression and the tense wariness in his stance. He knew. She just didn't know exactly what he knew. Or how he knew it.

She faltered, but managed a shaky smile after only a moment.

"Ian... please come in..."

He'd been certain before, but now he was positive. Not only because he trusted his memory – it'd never failed him before, after all – but because he could see the surprise in her eyes. Her expression was just as easy to read just then as his own was – even though Ian was hardly a student of human nature. This was the woman in his dream from the other night. The one who'd stepped in between him and his superego – at least what he'd thought was his superego – and had ended the oddest nightmare he'd ever had. She was real, not a figment of his imagination as he'd assumed – and now she was inviting him into her house? No fucking way...

He took a step back, shaking his head and wondering how he was going to get his friends out of there without causing a scene. Of course, River hadn't seemed all that worried, and it was obvious Cassie knew the woman and held no fear of her... but...

Dotty frowned, and stepped outside, closing the door behind her.

"It's all right, Ian..."

"I know you..."

"Not officially," she said.

"You were in my head..."

"How do you know that?" She couldn't deny it – and she couldn't understand how he knew it. At the moment it was more important that she knew how he knew.

"I heard you there. You were-"

"Ian, you couldn't remember that."

"How could I forget?" He countered. "How do you know me? What were you doing-"

"You-"

"Mom?"

The door opened and Shawn stuck his head out. Ian could see he was wearing a t-shirt and jeans, but no shoes or socks – which was why he wasn't out on the front step.

Dotty turned to her son, who suddenly looked worried.

"What's going on?" Shawn asked.

"Nothing, Shawn," she made a negating motion with her hand and gave him a very forced smile. "I'll tell you later, but I really need to talk to Ian right now, please?"

"Sure..." He didn't look completely satisfied with that explanation – mainly because there hadn't been one – but he did as she asked, and closed the door, leaving the two of them alone once more, facing each other with about five feet of space between them.

"Ian, don't be afraid."

"I'm not afraid," he said, automatically. Which, come to think of it, was exactly what he'd said in his dream when she'd told the male voice he was too frightened to listen to him.

"You look afraid." She crossed her arms over her breast, giving him a pointed look – which was almost a challenge. "You're not afraid of a woman, are you?"

Ian scowled. He wasn't going to fall for that. He was young, but he wasn't stupid.

"A woman who's wandering around in my head at night? Oh, hell yeah... I'd say I've got reason to be a little... concerned... wouldn't you?"

"You have nothing to fear from me."

"Are you an Ashrak?" He asked, abruptly.

Dotty shook her head, understanding better than he could imagine why he was asking that question.

"No, Ian. I'm not Ashrak."

"But you know what they are?"

"Yes."

He paused, unsure what to do next. She obviously wasn't going to tell him anything else, and he had no intention of leaving things right there. He wanted to know who she was. Dotty felt just as stalemated. She couldn't explain things to him – for one thing, she couldn't. For another, there wasn't anywhere near enough time for her to sit him down – if she had the inclination to. She definitely needed to stop and think about this before she went any further. The only problem was, she didn't have any way – short of doing something that might harm him – to make the problem go away, even temporarily. This was not something she and the others had ever considered happening. Humans – no matter how intelligent – did not have the capacity for such a memory, and she knew without a doubt that Ian Brooks was human. She'd already checked him out thoroughly, once she'd learned about him.

She sighed.

"You needn't fear me." She repeated.

"What are you? How did you get into my-"

"This isn't the place for this, Ian," she said, cutting him off in exasperation. "Your friends are waiting for you and I to enter the house and if we don't soon, it'll be a disaster."

"I don't give a sh-"

"Well, you need to. Because unless you come in and play like everything is fine, I'm not going to tell you anything you want to know."

Huh. That stopped him cold – and even Dotty could see it.

"And if I do come in?"

"Then eventually I'll tell you... at least enough that you'll know you don't have to be afraid."

"I know about the Stargate," he told her.

"I know."

Oh. He had figured that would throw her off even more – which might have given him the edge and maybe made her say something she didn't intend to. She smiled, as if aware of what he'd tried to do – and who knew? She was in his head before, maybe she still was...

"I'm not going to forget this..." he told her. "If you try to make me, it'll-"

"I won't."

Of course, he wasn't so sure he could trust her, but he knew Jack knew her and trusted her – he'd had a kid with her after all, and they still kept in touch – so that was a point in her favor. O'Neill wouldn't hang out willingly with people that couldn't be trusted, he was sure, and besides, she was Shawn's mother, and Ian liked Shawn – although he'd never say it aloud. He sighed, and shrugged his shoulders.

"Fine."

Dotty smiled, and opened the door.

"Come in, Ian. And if they ask, we were discussing the weather."

"You'd better hope they don't ask me, but I can't lie worth a shit."

"That's fine," Dotty said, ushering him into the house – which didn't look dangerous to Ian from what he could see. "I lie well enough for both of us." Her entire life was a hidden agenda, after all – and wasn't that some kind of lie right there?