2:00 AM

He wasn't asleep when the call came in. He had slept little since waking from the trance Makino had imprisoned him in. Molly would playfully scold him whenever she came aware to find him gazing at her with something unearthly in his eyes or staring out the window at the stars.

"You need your sleep," his wife (Airmid, his wife, he still couldn't get over that some days) would say, rolling over and tugging the light covers up over his shoulders. Each time he smiled fondly at the gesture and pulled her closer.

"I have slept away the last decade and a half Mo Grá," he would murmur as he let soft kisses fall on her head, "one night awake will not harm me."

Tonight the sky over their home was clear and the moon shown through the window illuminating the sleeping form of Molly. How could a live man sleep when the heavens gave him such a gift?

The jarring alert of his phone did not wake his beloved. He always deactivated the ringer at night, counting on his ability to sense the surge of energy to let him know if he was needed outside of his home. That did not make his irritation any less at the interruption of his contemplations. Ja'em Mk'rah, Jim to his friends on Earth, tenderly eased himself out of his wife's bed and felt no guilt over letting the phone continue to signal repeatedly. He moved to the dresser and turned to drink in the sight of his wife for one more lingering moment before picking up the aggravating device. He passed the bassinet that sat within easy reach of the occupant's mother and nearly forgot the phone at the swell of love and pride that filled him. The phone's energy surged again and with an irritated pang in his heart Jim slipped out the door. He closed it softly behind him and activated the screen. His face twisted into a grimace when he saw the code displayed but he passed his thumb over the green button.

"What do you want Agent Fowler?" Jim growled softly, adding enough of an accent to his friends title to let his displeasure show. Airmid aid me if this is paperwork again.

"Do you know where Max is?" Fowler asked.

Jim stiffened at the quiet desperation in the other man's voice and an icy hand gripped his heart. He glanced instinctively in the direction of his son's door. He could feel the wild, unruly life-force his son generated next to the small star that was Steel. Close by the dimmer energy of Ven Ghan was curled in on itself. His family was safe. They were all here.

"What is this about Fowler?" Jim demanded.

"Is Max there with you?" Fowler pressed. He was speaking low and Jim could hear the cluttered echoes in the background suggesting many people moving around a large space. "Please Jim, just tell me."

Jim hesitated a moment longer but the genuine fear he heard in Fowler's voice stirred a sense of compassion into the unease.

"He is in his bed Bill," Jim replied softly. "He is safe." Something was very wrong. It was not wise to generate trouble in the clan in such times. His issues with this man could set by.

"You're sure, you have eyes on him?" Fowler pressed, relief warring with stress and exhaustion in his voice.

Jim was about to retort that he did not need to see his son to be sure of his presence but hesitated to use the word turbo-senses. He wasn't sure why Steel and Max snickered every time he used the term but it made him wary of saying it to the Earth born. Instead he rolled his eyes and strode over to the door to Max's room. He eased the door open and let a smile take his face as he took in the view. Max was sprawled out across his bed, completely at ease. Steel hovered inches above his son's chest, face screen dim in energy saving mode but his speakers conspicuously mimicking human snoring. Ven Ghan was crouched alertly by the side of the bed, a depression in the blankets showing where he had sought the comfort of his adopted brother's presence this night. No doubt he had woken as soon as Jim had begun to move and was simply waiting to see what was going on. Jim nodded at him and held up the phone in explanation before easing the door shut again.

"I have eyes on both of my sons Bill," Jim said firmly. "Now what-"

"Thank Sweet Lady Liberty," Fowler said, and Jim was fairly sure he heard a chair creek as if the man had fallen back from the force of his relief.

"Bill," Jim said growing more concerned. "What is wrong?"

There was silence for a moment and when Fowler spoke again the familiarity was gone out of his voice. He spoke as an agent of his people.

"Can you tell me if there have been any unusual attacks on Max or Max Steel recently?" Fowler asked. "Anything that would suggest an attempt at kidnapping?"

"There have been none," Jim said in a tight tone. "What is going on Fowler?"

There was another long moment of silence on the other end of the line. "Max might be-" Fowler cut off again and gave a soft curse, "you, Molly, your whole family might be in danger."

"Might?" Jim let irony taint his voice as he mentally compiled a list of their enemies.

"I am sorry I can't tell you more over the phone," Fowler said and sounded truly apologetic. "Washington's Ax, we probably can't tell you much more here at this point but yes, you all might be in danger."

"What do you suggest we do?" Jim asked, his mind spinning. Ven Ghan had joined him in the living room and was observing him intently, his biolights dimmed to avoid drawing attention.

There was another long pause and Jim heard vague angry shouting in the background.

"I am going to catch the Pit for this," Fowler finally muttered. "I can't say more over an unsecured line Jim. Can you come? And," he hesitated, "and bring Molly."

Jim glanced at Ven Ghan and the young hunter immediately held up a projection of the analysis of the signal he had been running. According to the display he was certain that this was Fowler they were talking to and the location of origin was a known Unit E base. Jim ran over the different scenarios that might have led to this call and the icy hand around his heart tightened.

"Please Jim," Fowler requested, sounding far too tired.

"We are on our way," Jim informed him curtly.

"Thank you-"

Jim cut off the phone and nodded at Max's room. Ven turned to wake up his adopted brother and Jim strode into where his wife was sleeping.

"Molly," Jim called out as he pulled his uniform out of the closet.

"What is it?" She asked, coming awake instantly at his tone.

"I am not sure, but I think June needs you," Jim explained.

"June Bug?" Molly asked, there was confusion in her voice but she was already on her feet and bent over the bassinet to check on the occupant.

"Fowler couldn't say more over the phone but he requested our presence and said we might be in danger," Jim said as he affixed his armor.

Molly narrowed her eyes and nodded curtly. She moved to the closet and quickly pulled on a loose jumpsuit and slipped on her shoes as she fastened her favorite utility sash. She grabbed the dipper bag and scooped up their daughter in her arms.

"I am ready to go," she informed him.

Jim smiled and leaned forward to kiss her cheek. The sounds from the living room suggested that neither Max nor Steel were pleased with being woken on a school night but Jim knew they would be ready to go at a moment.

"You and I will take the jump jet on the roof," Jim said. "I think a formal invitation from Unit E makes this a legitimate use of N-Tek property."

Thirty minutes later found them approaching a well lit military base in the middle of a dense forest. Max Steel darted around the stable course of the jump jet, shouting gleefully at each other and Ven over the comms. Both too young and full of joyful energy to remain sedate for long. Jim could just sense the energetic ripples of the Vengence at the edge of his senses, a more cautious presence. Molly was gently soothing their daughter who had not particularly cared for being woken in the middle of the night and strapped into her travel seat. Jim eased into his assigned landing spot and was surprised to be instructed to pull directly into the large hanger. The brightly lit interior was almost crowded and Jim felt his uneasiness grow as he stood on the ground and held out his arms for his daughter. From the glimpses he caught of weeping civilian women they were not the only family here.

Max Steel landed a short distance away to far less attention than was usual. They transformed into their base mode and Steel separated, looking curiously about.

"What is going on Jim?" Molly asked in a tight tone as she took the child back in her arms.

"It looks like we will find out shortly," Jim said nodding to where Special Agent William Fowler was approaching them with a dark haired woman in a white lab coat on his arm.

"June Bug!" Molly called out.

June lifted her head and a weak but sincere smile spread over her face. Jim stiffened as she came towards her cousin with open arms. Her face was swollen with recent tears.

"Hey Aunt June!" Max called out coming forward eagerly. "Do you have any idea what's going on?"

"Yeah I need my beauty recharge!" Steel complained, making a point to dart ahead of Max and be the first one to hug June.

She reached up absently to pat Steel even as a soft whoosh of displaced air announced Ven Ghan's arrival. His somewhat more formal greeting was no less sincere than the others but the interaction did not warm Jim's heart as it usually did. He took in the grim look on Fowler's face and the dozens of people milling aimlessly around the hanger. Jim stepped forward to give and receive his own hug and felt June's muscles, stiff and coiled under his arms. His grip tightened around her and his eyes hardened as the myriad of possibilities that had been following him since the call came in narrowed down to one terrible conclusion.

"Where is Jack?" he asked.

He saw her face crumple and her hand came up as if to shield her weakness from the world at large as she collapsed into tears in his embrace. Jim exchanged a grim look for Molly's horrified one and then glared at Fowler for an answer.

"We don't know," Fowler said in a hollow tone. "We just don't know."