The five of them stood in a small group, staring at the display in front of them. At least Shawn and Ian were. Dotty and the twins were watching the cartoon that was showing on every screen they could see.

"No way."

"Yup."

"I can't."

"Sure you can."

"It's too much. Really."

Ian scowled at his friend and then gestured to the flat screen and plasma screen TVs that ran the entire length of the wall.

"Pick one. And not the littlest and cheapest or I'll kick your ass."

Shawn shook his head, amused.

"Dotty will protect me. Won't you sweetheart?"

The little girl giggled.

"She agrees with me that you need a new TV for your 'man cave'."

Which was actually a den more than anything, but since Ian didn't have a place for a man cave, he always teased Shawn about having one instead.

"You're sure?"

Ian nodded.

"Cassandra and I talked it over and it was the only thing we could think of to get you."

"Well, thank you. I'll make sure to-"

He was interrupted by Ian's cell phone. The New Yorker scowled – this time really meaning it – and looked at the number.

"It's McKay. He probably ran out of candy bars or something. Go pick out your TV…"

Shawn watched as he turned away to avoid bothering the salesman and Shawn, but saw his shoulders tense almost immediately, and he was close enough that he could easily hear Ian's end of the conversation. McKay was talking loud enough that he could just hear that side, too.

"Brooks."

"I need you down here," Rodney told him without preamble. "Now."

"Why?"

"Something is weird, and I want you to confirm what I found."

"What?"

McKay's voice was impatient – something that Ian was used to more than anyone else. It amazed Shawn that his friend wasn't still scowling at being spoken to so abruptly.

"I'll explain it when you get here. Hurry. Please."

The last wasn't really a plea for help as much as it was an annoyed concession that maybe he wasn't being as nice as he could be. Ian sighed, looked at Shawn and then the kids, and shrugged.

"All right. We'll be right there."

McKay hung up without further conversation, and Ian closed his phone.

"Problems?" Shawn asked.

"Who knows? McKay panics sometimes, but he definitely sounds worried. You mind if we stop there before we go to the restaurant?"

"Not at all."

Ian looked at the salesman.

"Find the biggest TV you have and save it for us. We'll be back in a while to pick it up."

"Yes, sir."

Shawn looked at the kids, who were watching them now instead of the cartoon.

"We need to stop and see Rodney, okay?"

The twins nodded, grinning. They liked Rodney! Each boy took one of Dotty's hands and they all headed back outside to the car. As Shawn made sure they were buckled in, Ian called Cassie to let her know that they were stopping at the base to talk to Rodney, but they'd be done soon and would meet them at the restaurant. She grumbled good-naturedly but she knew they wouldn't be stopping if someone didn't think it was important. He hung up the phone and started the car.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

"What are you telling me, Doctor?" Hunt asked.

McKay made an annoyed face – more annoyed at himself than at Hunt's question – and finally settled for a shrug.

"That's just it. I'm not sure. Not yet. I just know that your shield being down doesn't look like the work of any electrical storm."

"It wasn't just the storm," Hunt reminded him, sitting down on the edge of his desk since McKay had refused to seat himself in one of the chairs when he'd walked in with the technician close behind. "There was also a-"

"I know," Rodney interrupted. "But that's not all the log shows here."

"What else does it show?"

"I'm not sure. It's not something I've seen before."

"Then how-"

"Look, I've already called Ian back here to see if he can help me figure it out. Once we do, we'll be able to tell you more. Until then all I'd be doing is guessing and I don't want to do that until I know my guess is right."

Hunt looked over at the technician – who also happened to be one of the smartest guys on the base. The man interpreted the look as a question, and shrugged.

"I've never seen it, either, general. Whatever it is, it's definitely odd."

"Is the base compromised?" Hunt asked.

"I doubt it," Rodney said. "If there were some kind of crazy aliens running around somehow cloaked and managing to hide from your security people as well as all the other personnel, you'd think they'd have done something by now, wouldn't you? The shield's been down for a couple of days, after all."

Again Hunt looked at the technician, and again the man shrugged – although he also nodded.

"I agree. We're compromised in the fact that we can't automatically scan everything coming through the gate without the shield program, but I don't think there are any invisible aliens here, either. The-"

Hunt's phone rang, and he picked it up, still looking at the two scientists in front of him. He listened for a moment, and then hung up.

"Colonel Brooks just checked in up top."

"That was quick," McKay murmured.

"Just figure out what's going on with my shield, doctor."

McKay nodded and headed out the door, technician trailing behind.

OOOOOOOOOOO

Despite the sparseness of the personnel on the base for the weekend, there was still a full sized security force guarding the various levels of the SGC. As well known as Ian and Shawn were, however, it didn't take them long – even with the twins and Dotty in tow – to get through all the checkpoints. When the elevator opened at the last level he was surprised to see that McKay was waiting for them in the corridor.

"What are you doing here?" Rodney asked Shawn, clearly startled to see him.

Shawn scowled. He didn't much care for McKay – although the twins had both rushed him immediately, obviously happy to see him despite the fact that it hadn't been that long since they'd arrived with him.

"We were on our way to dinner."

Rodney looked over at Ian.

"Really? Where?"

"What's going on, Rodney?" Ian asked.

"You've got to see this odd imprint in the file," McKay told him, switching gears immediately and handing the laptop he'd been carrying over to the New Yorker. "I've never seen it before – and I thought I'd seen everything at least once…"

"What is it?"

"I don't know…"

They started walking towards the command room, one twin on either side of McKay, Shawn holding Dotty's hand since the boys were too distracted to, and Ian looking down at the laptop as they walked.

"That's…"

Ian trailed off, stopping in mid stride, and suddenly looking over his shoulder.

"What-"

Before McKay could even finish the question, Ian's expression went from curious to alarmed.

"Watch out!"

He dropped the laptop and slammed into Carter, the momentum knocking McKay into Michael and taking all of them down in a heap, with Ian covering them as well as he could. Shawn had reacted almost as quickly, pulling Dotty down to the floor and then covering her little body with his own.

The technician turned, confused.

"What-"

Twin bolts of energy suddenly appeared out of nowhere, one striking the wall right by where Shawn had been standing, and the other slamming into the technician, knocking him violently into the wall, where he seemed to hang forever until he crumpled into a lifeless heap.