Dotty Adams looked up at her father with huge, scared eyes.

"Don't leave me…"

Shawn knelt down in front of her, aware that everyone was waiting on him, but also that what he said right now was more important than ever. It would define the relationship he had with his daughter, and even if she didn't have the memory that Ian's sons had inherited from their dad, she would still remember how he acted and what he said to her at this moment. Maybe for the rest of her life.

"I'm not leaving you, Honey," he told her, cupping her cheeks carefully in the palms of his hands so she would be forced to look at her. "I'm just going to make sure that everyone is safe. To be able to do that, though, Uncle Ian and I need to make sure that you guys are safe, too, and so we need you to stay here, where we can find you."

A lone tear trickled down her cheek, landing on his hand, but before he could say anything, Carter Brooks walked over to her, his chin up and his dark eyes determined.

"We'll take care of you, Dotty," he promised, taking her hand. "Mike and I can keep you company until they get back."

The little girl cast him a grateful look, especially when Michael joined them and took her other hand, but it was nothing compared to the look Shawn gave them. He kissed her cheek and stood up, and threw another look at the two Marines who were going to be staying and guarding the armory. They straightened and nodded, both running a hand almost unconsciously along the stocks of the P90s they were holding.

"If you need anything, call," Ian ordered them, as he finished buckling on the holster that held the Beretta he was taking. Unlike the others, he didn't have another gun, just the Beretta – and that was only for back up. Ian's weapon was far more deadly, and one that only he could use. He was just lucky that it had been locked in the armory for lack of any better place to put it.

"Yes, Sir," one of the Marines said. "Don't worry; we'll take good care of them."

Ian nodded, looked at his boys once more to judge whether they really were as okay as they sounded, and decided that they were.

"No one in," he said. "I don't care who they are. Not until we get back."

The Marines both nodded again, and Ian left it at that, trusting them to do the job they were given. He looked at McKay, who was carrying a hand-held display in one hand, and had a Beretta in the other. The display was an uplink from Guardian, and would let them know where everyone on base was at any given time. McKay would walk with Ian, who could give him the most protection, since he was more or less a sitting duck without a weapon out. They were good at that arrangement, though, since it was a common one for Atlantis missions. They took point, with Shawn right behind them to provide firepower that they couldn't, and Mathews and the rest of the Marines were bringing up their rear guard. Not that anyone would be able to sneak up on McKay, who would constantly be giving them hand signals to advise if any of the Ashrak were close.

"Your boys are amazing, Ian," Shawn told him.

"They're growing up in a more dangerous place," Ian pointed out. "They're protected and they know it, but they also know that there's always the chance of an incursion, so we drill them and the Athosian kids on that possibility."

"I still owe them for calming Dotty."

Ian shrugged.

"Take them to A&W, that'll do it every time."

Shawn smiled, and they shifted their attention to the situation at hand.

"Where to first?" Ian asked, looking over McKay's shoulder at the Guardian display.

"They're scattered," Rodney replied, scowling at the device in his hand like it was all its fault the Ashrak weren't lining up to be picked off conveniently. "Two on this level, though."

"Which one did you want alive?" Mathews asked.

"Normally I'd say the last one," Ian admitted. "But if something happens and he kills himself rather than be caught, I'd rather not lose the chance to get inside one of their minds."

"First one, then?"

"We'll try for one, yeah."

"Sounds good."

Shawn reached for the radio he was wearing and keyed the mike.

"General Hunt, this is Adams. We're moving."

If the enemy was monitoring the radio frequencies – and there was no reason to think that they weren't – then they wouldn't have figured anything out by that simple statement. But if they knew Shawn's name, then they might come looking for him – which would be good for the little band of hunters.

"Roger, Adams. Good luck. Hunt out."

They headed down the corridor, more to lead anyone away from the armory than anything else just then. The Ashrak on the level they were on were accessible two different directions, so it didn't matter which way they went to find them. Except that McKay suddenly stiffened only about a hundred meters from their starting point.

"Look."

He held up the display so everyone could see it, and one of the Marines frowned.

"What is it?"

"They're moving," McKay said. "All of them."

"Where to?" Ian asked, looking down an intersecting corridor rather than at the display.

"This way."

"They're following us," Shawn told them. He looked back the way they'd come, and decided that they were way too close to the armory for his peace of mind. "Let's get out of here."

Ian shook his head.

"If they're coming to us, I'm not going to risk all of them near the kids without plenty of backup for Harris and Morrell. I say we ambush them right here – just in case they aren't coming for us…"

Ian was a lot more suspicious than Shawn was, and much better at looking for hidden traps in things. Jack had trained Shawn for the most part, and Jack was more of a forward thinker and an attack first guy, while Ian's training had been also in the hands of Bra'tac, who had far more experience with teaching his charges how to look every direction for a trap and only when every possible action an enemy might take had been looked at was a decision to be made on what to do about it. It was the best of both worlds, really, and Shawn knew that he might even be right about what the real target was.

"Let's do it."

OOOOOOOOOO

The moment the plane landed, Jack O'Neill was on his feet and headed for the front. Going that direction, he knew he'd be intercepted by at least one intelligence officer, and he was right.

"What's the situation?" he asked.

The Secret Service agent frowned.

"The details are still pretty scarce, Mr. President. According to NORAD, hunt sealed the base, which also cut off all communication until they contact the outside."

"I know that," Jack snapped. "I put the protocol in place. What have we heard?"

"The one message they've sent is that it's an incursion situation. Ashrak – we don't know how many – and we don't know how long they've been there. They're apparently invisible."

"Yeah, they do that…" Jack looked over at Sam and Jim, who had followed him. "Can we get in there?"

Sam shook her head.

"Not a chance. Not unless someone in the control room cancels the lockdown. Especially with the shielding Ian and I put in."

Jim nodded his agreement.

"The same shielding that keeps the Asgard and other races from coming at will, will also stop us."

"Damn it." Jack scowled, and looked out the window of the airplane as though he could see through the several miles that separated him from the base. "You guys are too smart for our own good sometimes…"

Sam put her hand on his shoulder.

"We'll have to wait, Jack. They'll be fine, though. Ian's in there – and McKay."

"And the kids…"

There was that. Which was more of a concern than the rest, really.

"Call Cassie and Gina and let them know we landed," Sam told the Secret Service agent, who was glad to have something to do. "Have them meet us here."

"Yes, Ma'am."