He was sitting where he'd sat the last time, strapped in with Daniel in the chair behind Daddy. Out the big window in front of Daddy he could see the mountain they were flying towards.

He'd heard Daddy, Teal'c and Daniel make the plan last night, so he knew they were looking for a way back into the bad guys' place. Which seemed pretty stupid, and just a little bit scary, but Daddy had later explained that, because they couldn't get to the big circle - the 'Stargate' - they'd have to get a different ship which could fly away without it. So they had to go steal one from the bad guys. No matter how much it scared Matthew to be going back to that place.

But Daddy was here now - and Teal'c - and so he knew that, no matter how impossible it sounded to him… They'd be okay. He just had to remember what Daddy had told him: he had to do his job like a good little soldier and stay with Daniel and do everything Daniel told him to do without stopping to ask a lot of silly questions. Not that his questions were silly, Daniel had quickly reassured him, glaring at Daddy. Just that it would be silly to ask them then instead of waiting for later…

Still, Matthew couldn't help feeling just a little bit scared, anyway.

He glanced at his father sitting in front of him, tall and straight and not afraid of anything at all, and sat up a little bit straighter himself. If Daddy wasn't scared, than Matthew wouldn't be either. Or, at least, he'd try his best to pretend to be as brave as Daddy and Teal'c and Daniel were and to do everything he was told.

Just like a good little soldier.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

The sky was still a pre-dawn grey when they found the entrance to the hangar. The cloaked jumper slipped in to what at first appeared no more than a large cleft in the rocks, but which opened up after a few seconds into a roughly hewn underground cavern.

"There," Teal'c, in the copilot's seat, pointed towards what they had been hoping to find. Several Al'Kesh sat at the back of the hangar, beyond the rows of Death Gliders nearer the entrance.

Jack circled the area for several minutes before finding an open spot near the entrance to one of the ships which was also relatively concealed from the rest of the hangar. He brought the jumper gently down into the empty space and began powering off the systems, keeping the cloaking shield on.

They left their seats and moved to the back of the jumper where they hefted their gear onto their backs; Jack and Teal'c checked their rifles, Daniel his pistol. Turning to Matthew, Jack crouched down in front of the boy. "You okay, short stuff?"

The child nodded. "Yes."

"Good. Now… Remember what I told you. Stay with Daniel and do exactly what he says. No questions. Got it?"

"Yes… Sir."

Jack smiled despite his concern and kissed the boys cheek. And, then, taking his ubiquitous baseball hat off, he stuck it on his son's head. "Take care of that for me, okay?"

Matthew smiled as he straightened the cap. "You betcha, Daddy."

"Good man."

Jack stood up and turned to Daniel, instantly serious again. "You, too, Daniel."

Daniel simply nodded and clasped Matthew's hand. After so many years, no further words were necessary or adequate.

Jack turned to Teal'c, "Ready?"

At the Jaffa's nod, Jack hit the button to release the hatch. The door slowly opened, swinging downward. Jack knelt at the opening, covering Teal'c as the other man moved out into the hangar, becoming visible as he left the field of the protective cloak.

Nothing happened.

Teal'c quickly crossed the few meters separating the two ships to take up a covering position at the door of the Al'Kesh. Jack followed, and after a minute together on the other side, they had the Al'Kesh opened and slipped inside.

Daniel waited, hardly daring to breathe, for what seemed an eternity until Jack reappeared at the Al'Kesh door. His voice came through the speaker in Daniel's ear. "It's clear, Daniel. Bring him across."

Adjusting his grip on the child's hand, Daniel said, "Okay, kid. That's our cue," and stepped with him into the opening between the two ships.

And that's when all hell broke loose.

Someone shouted, somewhere off to the right, followed almost immediately by blaster fire and the even louder blare of the klaxon overhead. Daniel dropped, pulling Matthew down to the floor with him. Jack returned fire, but the volume of counter-fire was increasing too rapidly as, alerted by the alarm, more Alliance troops joined the fight.

Daniel tried to get the boy moving forward, crawling across the floor, but the child was terrified. Unable to move. He looked up at his father, silently pleading, and Jack stared back, horror written large across his face.

And then Jack moved. Leaping across the space that separated him from his son, he grabbed the boy and threw him bodily toward the Al'Kesh's open door before following himself. Staying low, Daniel crawled after them, reaching the door and pulling himself inside. He stood up and slammed the door control shut before calling into his earpiece, "Teal'c… We made it. We're inside…"

The Al'Kesh's engines roared to life around them, Teal'c at the controls. The ship shot forward, toward the hangar entrance, and Daniel knelt down, next to Jack and Matthew, who lay together in a heap on the floor where they had landed.

"Matt… Jack… You okay?"

Matt squirmed free of his father. "Yeah, Daniel, I'm okay." Then, realizing Jack hadn't answered, "Daddy?"

Daniel grabbed Jack and turned him over, onto his back. A bright red halo of blood stained his uniform, spreading out from the blaster shot in his side, growing even as they watched.

"Daddy!"

Jack's eyes fluttered open, focusing on his son's face. He tried to smile through his obvious pain. "It's… Okay… I'll be okay… Matt…" he managed to get out before the pain dragged him back down into unconsciousness.

It shouldn't have happened. Jack's vest should have protected him from…

Daniel grabbed Matthew, feeling for and finding the bulge concealed beneath the child's coat. "Idiot," he murmured beneath his breath. Only he knew, if it had been his son, he'd have done the exact same thing himself.