The 'gate sat in an empty field, the dirt surrounding it hard-baked by the heat of the planet's twin suns. The first of those suns to rise each morning was already peaking over the horizon, sending it's gold-red rays streaking across the sky and casting a long sharp shadow as they struck the gate itself.
To all appearances, an abandoned 'gate on an uninhabited planet.
Then, with a click and a whir, loud in the quiet of the dawn, the circle came alive. Markings on the outer ring lit up; the inner ring began to spin. The symbols locked into place as it moved until, the final one complete, the activating event horizon roared outward only to stabilize quickly into a glittering curtain within the circle itself.
The curtain shimmered, and a long sleek silver cylinder, which looked - correctly - as though it had been made to fit through the circle shot out into the air above the field, headed upward… and vanished as though it had never been. Three more identical objects followed behind it, one after the other in rapid succession, and they too disappeared up into the sky.
The symbols unlocked. The lights faded. The energy within dissipated as though it had never been.
The Stargate stood as it had stood for millennium, as though there had never been any disturbance at all.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
Their passage through the 'gate might have appeared to go unnoticed, but common sense - and the information from Teal'c's spies - told Jack that it had not. Which was why speed was of the utmost importance. The entire success of their plan relied on moving fast: getting in and getting out before the Lucian Alliance forces stationed here could assess the full nature of the threat and obtain reinforcements.
The four Jumpers set down as close as they could get to the entrance of the caverns which housed the Alliance's hidden base. The three teams they had carried moved out, one remaining close by to guard their retreat, the other two moving forward to engage the enemy.
As expected, they initially met with very little resistance. The need for secrecy had resulted in few additional forces being brought in to guard the captives, the Alliance counting on that secrecy itself to keep their prisoners secure. A single burst of gunfire from the tree line to take down the three men guarding the front entrance, a little well placed C-4, and the teams were inside.
The base consisted of little more than a weapons storehouse and barracks area, along with a small hangar, originally intended as a staging area for short range raids on civilian shipping. Their intel indicated one group of hostages were being held in a converted storeroom, the others in an unused barrack's room. Matthew was believed to be held in the storeroom. Jack's team headed in that direction, Lieutenant Colonel Kindler's took the other.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
Matthew woke to the sound of gunfire. At first, he assumed it was yet another nightmare. But then Daniel was next to him, shaking him to full wakefulness. And he knew it wasn't a dream.
"Matthew... Matt… Wake up!"
"What is it?" he asked, but he was already pulling himself into a sitting position and scrambling into Daniel's waiting arms.
Daniel pulled him close. His mouth was next to Matthew's ear, making it easy for him to hear the answer despite the increasing noise around them. "From the sound of it, kid… It's gotta be your Dad."
"Daddy?" He tried not to sound as excited as he felt; he really was still mad at his father. Because he hadn't forgotten that Daddy had lied…. But he couldn't help feeling happy that maybe Daddy had come for him anyway. Cause he was still Daddy. And Daddy could do anything. He could stop all the bad men and get Matthew out of here and take him home. And maybe even, somehow, make everything else all right again, too.
And then, as if in answer to Matthew's question, he heard a voice - he knew it was Daddy - just outside the door yell, "Fire in the hole." Daniel, and everyone else, ran to the far side of the room, Daniel crouching with his back to the door, sheltering Matthew in his arms.
The door exploded inward, and Daniel turned and stood up as the smoke cleared, giving Matthew a clear view of the room. And of Daddy stepping through the doorway.
"Daddy!"
He was out of Daniel's arms in an instant, running across the room to meet Daddy halfway. And then Daddy was kneeling on the ground next to him, his arms around Matthew, clutching him to his chest. The embrace was too tight; Matthew couldn't breathe, and he didn't care. He'd been scared - terrified - for so long. He'd forgotten how good it felt to be safe.
He hadn't wanted to cry; he'd tried not to, but he couldn't help himself. And then he realized that not all the tears were his own.
Maybe Big Boys really did cry after all.