"Did the police say anything?" Annie asked nervously as she broke her pacing on the kitchen floor. "I mean, they have to have said something, anything."

Dean frowned, only accentuating his now tired features. He cast a look at the clock hung up in the kitchen. It was two in the morning and Hogarth was never this late coming home.

"They just said to wait. They'll be over here in a bit." Dean explained, finding a seat at the kitchen table.

Annie sighed, clasping her hand over her mouth and running the other through her hair before resting it on her forehead. She spoke through her shaking fingers, "Something is wrong. I know it. I don't think Hogarth ran away." She looked at her husband before coming to stand behind him. Resting her palms on his shoulders she said worriedly, "What if they think he did? What if someone took him? Oh, God, Dean."

Dean rested his hand on his wife's before biting his lip. He had to do something. He couldn't just sit at the house and worry over it.

The junkyard came into his mind, reminding him of Hogarth's fondness of it.

Of course!

"The junkyard." Dean whispered.

Annie furrowed her eyebrows. "What?"

"The junkyard, Annie. He could be there." Dean jumped up from the table, careful not to bump into his wife. "I have to go. I have to see."

Without another moment to waste, he searched for the keys to the truck.

"Dean, wait. Take the motorcycle. If something happens… If they find him, I want to have a way…" Annie started.

He looked at her, stopping in his tracks. "They will find him. And I will. Don't wait up for me if the police try and take you around town to look, okay? I'll be searching on my own."

Annie nodded, tears rimming her eyes as she grabbed Dean in a hug. He kissed her forehead before heading out to the barn, where his bike lay idle. He found the key underneath the old gas can, where he'd always left it since he moved in.

Starting up the motorcycle, he headed out into the dark night, eager to find his stepson.

They had no idea where they were.

As soon as the Giant made his way over to Hogarth and Alice, he scooped them up and just ran in the opposite direction of Hogarth's home, of Rockwell, of Maine altogether.

That night was a bleary one, horribly maimed by the evening's events. Hogarth remained close to Alice, not letting go of her until they had been traveling for awhile.

By then, she pulled away. "I'm okay." She said. "I'm fine, I just- oh my God, Hogarth."

"I know, Alice. I'm so sorry."

She looked up at him, and absently ran her fingers alongside his face, tracing the line of blood. "You're bleeding."

"It's nothing." Hogarth told her, resisting the urge to reach up and feel the gash. He knew it had to be pretty bad, but he was still so hyped up on adrenaline that he couldn't even feel it. He just wanted to be as far as possible from the Giant's attacker for right now.

Alice made a face before reaching up to untie her headband from her head.

Hogarth had no idea what she was doing and watched her in confusion until she balled up the blue fabric in her hand and gently pressed it to his forehead.

"No, no, stop." Hogarth pushed her hand away. "I can't let you do this."

That was her headband, her own possession, something she always wore.

"Yes you can. You need to." She said sternly, pressing the fabric to his head once again.

Hogarth gave in, allowing her to try her best at getting the blood off of his face. While she did that, she looked up at the Giant. "Where is he taking us?"

"I don't know. I don't think he knows either." Hogarth admitted.

"My parents are going to be worried sick." Alice muttered, turning her attention back to Hogarth.

Hogarth felt his heart drop. "Oh, God. I forgot. How could I forget? My mom- she's probably going crazy right now."

"As bad as this may sound, I don't think that's our biggest concern right now." Alice laughed nervously. "We were almost killed back there."

"I didn't know that there were more of him." Hogarth said, now staring at the Giant's face.

"I didn't know that could do whatever it was he did with his hand." Alice replied.

It took Hogarth a moment to realize what Alice was talking about. The memory of seeing the Giant's hand transform into a ray gun startled Hogarth a bit. He hadn't bothered to give it much thought, but now he realized that the Giant had done that without going completely ballistic.

"I… I didn't either." Hogarth said, his voice filled with awe and confusion.

"Oh my God, kid. What the hell have you gotten yourself into?"

Dean's jaw dropped as he observed the wreckage of the junkyard with the flashlight he'd retrieved from the inside of his former home. It didn't look too bad, save the giant dent in the side of the building and the ripped up tree laying near it.

He took a few more steps, getting closer to the mess. There, on the ground, was a fairly large set of familiar footprints.

There is no way in hell…

Dean bent down, touching the sunken in ground.

These were the Giant's footprints.

He looked ahead and into the forest, shining the light into the darkness. The footprints trailed off and kept going as far as he could see.

The Giant had run off with Hogarth.

But why?

If the Giant really were back, he wouldn't kidnap Hogarth. And Hogarth wouldn't allow himself to be carried off, especially with a curfew. He was much smarter than that. How long had the Giant been around anyway?

Dean recalled the evening of Hogarth's birthday first, when they'd gotten into a fight. Where had he been that night? Was he with the Giant? It had to be something important in order for Hogarth to venture into the woods for the first time in awhile.

That would be the only reasonable explanation.

Dean smacked his hand onto his face, realizing that the Giant had been back for weeks and Hogarth had managed to keep it a secret once again.

He slid his hand from his face and looked at the building. He had to call Annie and tell her what he'd discovered.

If the Giant wasn't here, then he was somewhere else.

Somewhere that had never heard of the Iron Giant and all his doings.