"Right, so where's this possible power source?" Jack called out immediately after crossing the event horizon. Daniel rolled his eyes. The man was getting bored of retirement.

"General O'Neill!" Elizabeth Weir greeted, taking the steps two at a time. "It's good to see you again!"

Jack frowned at her, waving a finger. "Ah-ah-ah! I'm retired, remember? It's just Jack."

Elizabeth smiled. "Jack," she amended. She turned to Daniel. "And Dr. Jackson. It's good to see you as well."

Daniel smiled tightly. "And you, Dr. Weir."

Elizabeth stepped to the side, gesturing to the stairs. "Let's get to work."

"You said this power source might be able to replace ZPMs?" Jack asked as they walked to the control room. Elizabeth nodded.

"It's a strange thing, really. The Athosians accidentally ran into it and Dr. McKay found some off-the-chart energy readings when he went to check it out."

"'Off-the-chart'?" Rodney McKay echoed, walking in with the rest of the team. "It was more than 'off-the-chart'! It was…it was insane!"

"Thank you, Rodney," Elizabeth cut him off. She turned back to Jack and Daniel. "We can't be sure exactly what it is, however, until we know what the inscriptions on it mean. It's not in any dialect we've encountered before."

"Do you have a part of it I could examine?" Daniel asked.

"Whoa—wait," Jack interrupted. "What is it anyway?"

"No, we don't have any of it here," Elizabeth replied. "We couldn't move it. As to what it is…" She turned to one of the computers, pulling up a few pictures that had been taken.

"Whoa," Daniel muttered, pushing up his glasses and leaning in.

"That'd be a good reason not to move it," Jack commented mildly.

It was an enormous stone monument, covered in thorny vines and built into a rocky mountainside. Ancient runes were all over the monument, erosion and moss concealing the runes in turn.

"So…is the energy coming from inside that?" Jack asked. Elizabeth nodded.

"That's what we think."

"What we think," Rodney continued, "but we very well could be wrong. The energy could be the rock itself or even the mountain, we can't really tell until we have the runes translated. And I'm not exactly confident that that's even possible."

Daniel looked up to the doctor over the rims of his glasses. "Thanks for your support," he said dryly. Rodney looked stunned.

"Th-th-that's not what I meant…" he stuttered.

"Oh, just shut up, McKay," John Sheppard snapped.

"He does have a point, however," Teyla Emmagen pointed out. "The runes are concealed by many years of weather and nature. Some vital information may have been permanently lost."

"Worrying about it's not gonna do us any good, though," Daniel concluded, straightening. Elizabeth nodded in agreement.

"There's a Jumper ready for you in the Jumper Bay," she told them. "Sheppard's team'll go with you."

Jack clapped his hands together, satisfied. "Sounds good. Now—"

Radek Zelenka yelling out Dr. Weir's name cut him off.

"Elizabeth!"

Elizabeth turned to see Zelenka at one of the monitors.

"What is it?" she asked, concerned at the urgency in his voice.

"We just detected about fifteen large ships headed our direction," he told her, pointing at the monitor. Everyone walked closer.

"Wraith?" Ronon Dex asked. Zelenka shook his head.

"Not Replicator either."

"Ori," Daniel muttered darkly when he saw the ships on the screen.

"Crap," Jack bit.

"How…?" Elizabeth trailed off, brow creasing.

"How'd they find out about Atlantis?" John wondered aloud.

"Adria was on Earth last night," Daniel mumbled in reply. Jack looked at him in surprise, two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle snapping together.

"She was?"

Daniel held his gaze briefly before turning back to the monitor. Elizabeth looked quickly between the two friends.

"You know the Ori better than we do," she said. "What do you suggest?"

Daniel held her gaze silently for a moment before answering. "There's no way we can fight them," he started, "and we don't want them getting any of the information here. I suggest we evacuate and set the city to self-destruct."

It was quiet as everyone let this sink in.

"I'd rather try to fight 'em," Ronon said. Daniel shook his head.

"We wouldn't stand a chance. There's too many of them."

"There has to be another way…" Teyla argued feebly.

"I'm open to ideas," Daniel replied. It was quiet again before Elizabeth jumped into action.

"Teyla, you go to the mainland and warn the Athosians. Ronon, go with her. Zelenka, how long do we have?"

Zelenka shook his head. "I dunno…an hour, maybe?"

"If you can, try to get back here," Elizabeth told Teyla and Ronon. "Take the Jumper that's already ready."

The two of them nodded their understanding before running off to the Jumper Bay. Elizabeth turned to a console to speak into the com.

"This is Elizabeth Weir. We have just detected several Ori ships headed our direction. They will be here in about an hour. We cannot fight them. Our only choice is to leave. Please pack only absolute essentials. And quickly. But please, keep calm. Panicking will not help the situation." She paused. "Good luck. Good luck to us all."

Daniel gave her an apologetic look. "If there were any other way…"

Elizabeth shook her head dismissively. "I know."

"Uh…Elizabeth?" John asked after a moment. Elizabeth nodded.

"You guys can go." She turned back to Jack and Daniel. "Would you mind staying here, keeping an eye on things?" she asked as Zelenka scurried out. Jack shook his head.

"'Course not. You go ahead."

Elizabeth nodded her thanks and ran quickly to her quarters.

XxXxX

Elizabeth and the team, including Teyla and Ronon, were just returning when an enormous explosion rocked the city.

"What the hell?" John exclaimed as he and Ronon helped Teyla back up. Zelenka scuttled to the monitor and swore in Czech.

"Do prdele! Two Ori ships have broken off from the main group and are in firing range from the city," he told them. "We're sinking."

"What?" Jack barked. "How?"

Zelenka shrugged. "I have no idea."

Elizabeth ran to a console, punching in a 'gate address. The lights on the coordinates flickered and shut off. She stared at them dumbly before rushing to try again.

"It's not working!" she soon exclaimed, panic filling her voice. Jack watched Daniel's face harden into stone.

"Adria," the linguist muttered darkly. Jack felt some unseen force clutch his heart in an iron grip.

"Oh, fer cryin' out loud…"

"Daedulus," Rodney breathed after a moment. "We could take the Daedulus."

"It's already left," Ronon told him.

"What?" Rodney asked, confused.

"My people left on it," Teyla explained. Everyone turned quiet, racking his or her minds for a different escape route as another explosion rocked the city.

"The Puddle Jumpers," John said.

"There aren't enough," Elizabeth pointed out.

"People have already died," John argued. "More people are dying as we speak. There's no possible way, even if the 'gate was working, even if we could take the Daedulus, that we could get everyone outta here alive."

"We can try to find people until the last possible moment," Jack added. Elizabeth pursed her lips unhappily before nodding.

"This is Elizabeth Weir," she said into the com. "Please make your way immediately to the Jumper Bay. If you cannot make it, we have several people trying to come to your rescue. Please remain calm and help others on your way. Thank you." She turned back to the group, who was waiting for her orders. She nodded curtly. "Let's go."

They all turned to leave the room when Adria suddenly appeared, not a foot in front of Ronon. Daniel pushed forward to glare at her.

"What do you want?" he demanded, the fact people were dying very clear in his mind.

"I just want you to know why I am here," the Orici told him, bitter, mocking poison seeping from her voice. "I am here for you, Daniel. Yes, I still want you dead. I simply wouldn't do it with Ettan depending on you for shelter and nourishment. Speaking of whom…" She stepped out of view, proving she was merely a hologram, and a young boy walked to where she had just been.

"Ettan…" Daniel whispered, reflexively taking a step towards him. Jack's eyes flicked between the father and son, another piece of the puzzle falling into place.

"Hi Daddy!" Ettan exclaimed happily before abruptly disappearing. Daniel stared at the place his son had just been, almost as if trying to will the boy to come back. A third explosion shook him to his senses.

As the companions split up, Jack quickly caught up to Daniel, resting a gently hand on the younger man's shoulder. Daniel looked to him blankly, the pain only showing in his eyes yet it was fierce enough to twist at the retired general's heart. After Daniel jogged away, leaving Jack to choose another route, Jack wondered how he would feel if Rose was ever taken away from him, stubbornly keeping his thoughts away from Charlie.

A/N: I love reviewers and live for constructive criticism!