A/N - Not sure what in the world was going on with the formatting the last time I posted this. Maybe ff dot net doesn't like Google docs. Hoping this works now.

Malcolm looked at Thea with alarm. Gibson knew already he wasn't prone to tempers, but this news made him immediately accuse her of sharing something incredibly private with a stranger, though he certainly did not voice it to his future daughter-in-law.

"She hasn't said anything yet, but I already know it. I can read your thoughts."

Malcolm didn't know what to say to that, though he obviously found it impossible. Gibson sighed and readied himself to do the basic demonstration of his mind reading skills. Before he could begin, a servant appeared with a cordless phone, and Gibson's face went white, knowing already who was on the phone. "It is Raquel Diaz calling for you, sir." It was Set Diaz's sister, the one he was trying to overthrow so that he could take the reins of his family's business.

"You'll have to excuse me," Malcolm said, and rushed out of the room, his voice greeting the caller.

Jordan looked at Gibson and knew immediately something was wrong, but when she asked, he shook his head, only looking up towards the corner of the ceiling, clearly listening in on the conversation. The women at the table sat nervously - Thea and Lu because they knew who Raquel Diaz was, and Jordan out of concern for Gibson.

When Malcolm returned to the table, Gibson didn't feel the need for any theatrics. "You need to dismiss your servants for the day right now. We need to discuss what she said and plan for her son's arrival." Something in the young man's demeanor and voice made Malcolm nod and follow the instructions. They were soon alone in the large house, their dinners growing colder as they could do little more than pick at the food.

"You think she's sending Ivan because she suspects that you already know about the data collecting."

Malcolm took a long drink of his wine. "You can't come into my home and start saying things like this without explaining yourself. Who are you, exactly?"

"You want to know how I know. I know everything you're thinking, everything your daughter is thinking, everything Thea is thinking. When Ivan is here, I'll be able to know what he's thinking too, and I can help you to determine what is going on and how much Raquel knows. And yes, I know what Thea found out, about how exactly the data is being collected, what's being collected, and what's being sent to Espana Ventures. It's a company I unfortunately know far too much about already."

Malcolm continued to stare at the young man, not believing him just yet, though a challenge for confirmation ringing out loud and clear. Gibson stared at him with a blank face, listening to all that was being said to him, waiting for him to stop.

"You have a gun in your study. You know that all the phones need to be off and put away. We did that. Thea made sure of it. You're worried about protecting your daughter because you know you weren't supposed to figure that out. But you're also worried about what they are going to do with the data." Gibson paused, letting Malcolm's head fill with thoughts again. "You still don't trust me. You don't have to, not yet. You just have to believe me first."

Thea looked at her future father-in-law and signed to him that it was true. He didn't know the young man, but he knew Thea and trusted her implicitly.

"Alright," he acquiesced. "What do you know?"

Gibson looked to Jordan for support, though what he was about to discuss was something even they had not discussed, though she knew about it. "I was held prisoner by Set Diaz, Raquel's brother, for four months last year. He used me to read the minds of people who worked for him in the Central America region. I never met him in person, except for one time, and they had given me something that blocked me. I never knew truly what he was thinking or what his end goal was. But I do know from the mountains of reports and communiques that I was forced to read that he was obsessed with his sister and it seemed to me he wanted to remove her from power, maybe even take over worldwide operations."

Jordan spoke next. "I don't understand though… what is going on? You said something about the data."

"It was Thea's discovery," explained Malcolm, signing as he spoke. "She's one of our best coders, the kind that can speak to a computer as easily as she can a human, and read code like a book. She was troubleshooting a connectivity issue, and wandered into some backdoor coding that was pulling data out of our system. When she followed it, it led directly to headquarters, back in Spain. That was concerning, but it could have just been a simple tracking of usage in the States for their own records. But the more she looked," he said, his voice trailing off as he slumped dejectedly in his chair, not wanting to continue.

Thea looked at Gibson with sadness in her eyes. "It's so much bigger than that," she signed, and then turning to Malcolm, asked him to translate for Jordan. "They are doing things that aren't supported by any known technology. I don't know how they are doing it. But they're pulling everything. They are listening to everything. They know where you are at every moment, even when your phone is off or the battery has died, and they shouldn't be able to do that. It's all being compiled and sent to them constantly. I tried to follow it, but I'm not a hacker. I can only see that it's going there, but not what they are doing with it." She didn't say it out loud and hadn't even told Malcolm, but she thought the only explanation for the technology she'd seen had to be alien.

He wasn't going to tell them about colonization, not unless he could prove the connection. Instead, he offered up the services of The Lone Gunmen. If anyone could hack into Espana Venture's system, it would be someone from their team.

With Gibson there, Thea's fears were slightly alleviated. She'd felt mostly alone in it all, with only Malcolm to confide in and seemingly no way out. Now she had her old friend back in her life, and he'd come with promises of help. They had stayed up till the early morning hours, logged on through a VPN, to connect with Kimmy, who was soon patching through to some of the systems Stateside. They started making a plan on how to get through to the Spanish servers, but needed to do it after hours in Spain. Thea showed him what she had found, and Kimmy's mouth grew more and more agape as he shifted through the swarms of data flowing through.

"No, there's no way. This is impossible. And this much data… How are they running all this? Something isn't right."

At 4, they all decided to call it a night, though Lu and Jordan had both caught a little shuteye already. Malcolm sent Gibson and Jordan home in a taxi, thanking them profusely and making sure that they would return as soon as possible to continue to help and plan for Ivan's arrival.

As the taxi pulled up to Gibson's place, he squeezed Jordan's hand. "Brace yourself," he warned.

She sighed. "Why am I not surprised that he's here?"

Frank Black strode to the taxi, getting in their faces as they exited. "I'm putting an end to this now," he said to Gibson. "I don't like you, and I don't like this. Jordan, this is over. You're coming home with me."

"Daddy, stop. Just stop," she said, her voice soft and pleading.

"No! It's been hours of my not being able to reach you. I thought something had happened to you. I was close to calling the police."

She took Gibson's hand and moved it to her father's. "Put yourself in his mind." Frank didn't need to touch someone to see, but he understood what she was asking of him; he was and had always been, however, too afraid to do this. But Jordan's eyes looked at him imploringly, so he placed his hand on the young man's forearm, and then he stopped hiding from the truth he wanted so desperately to avoid.

In a kaleidoscope of images, he saw much of what Jordan had been seeing for years. He saw them together, married, happy; he saw them working side-by-side in a military setting, both so focused, so not like the children he saw them as; he saw terror on their faces and destruction all around them; he saw them lying together, their bodies limp, covered in dust, surrounded by debris, their eyes closed, but their hands clasped. And then he wept.

Gibson dropped his arm and looked at Frank with concern. He wanted to know what all he'd seen, and more to the point, what he felt about it, but he knew better than to find out.

"Daddy, do you understand now? Do you understand that there's nothing you can do? Just let me be happy while I can."

He pulled her in for a hug - he was one of the few people who could do so without causing her harm - and she wrapped her arms around him, grateful that he was starting to come around.

"I'm going to stay here tonight. We're helping one of Gibson's friends with something and we'll need to go back in a few hours. But as soon as possible, I'll be home again. Just not until it's all straightened out."

"Do you need my help with anything?"

"No, it's tech stuff."

Frank nodded. "I just want you to be careful, just like any other father."

"I know. I will be. I promise."

You do anything to hurt her, I will destroy you.

Gibson wasn't trying to listen for it, but the message came through loud and clear. He nodded nervously, and they parted ways.

They awoke again at 3 in the afternoon when a message came through Jordan's phone from Thea. "Wanna hang out? I'll be in Seattle in a few." They agreed to meet up at the arboretum, where there were enough places to keep their distance from others, and enough park to give them some level of protection from any surveillance.

Thea's face was worn; it was clear she had not slept. She filled them in on what they had discovered. In the datastream were even more types of information than they thought. It was collecting data from places that had no seeming connection to EV Tech, data from sources that were thought to be safe and secure, and connecting it with users. She and Kimmy had traced one user after she had sent a text message to her mother. The data trail led them to everything stored on her phone, everything connected with her account, and then into every account she had under ever registered for with her phone number or email addresses, every location she had ever visited using her credit or debit cards, every transaction, every doctor's office, her full medical records, emails she had written at work, even her clothing size.

"Ivan is coming this evening. He'll be Malcolm's guest. You're going to be mine."

They were back in Thea's car now, heading off to Jordan's for a change of clothes that would better match the atmosphere of the evening. She greeted her father with her regular bubbly demeanor, introducing him to Thea, using her sign name, and following it up with "Gibson's friend." "We're going to dinner in Bellevue, and I've got to find something appropriate."

"When will you be back?" asked her beleaguered father.

"Pretty late, but I'll probably stay at Gibson's again. That reminds me, would you mind grabbing an air mattress at the store today? I feel bad that I keep taking his bed and forcing him to take the floor." She knew that he'd be more than willing to help with sleeping arrangements that kept the two of them apart.

In her room, for the first time in years, Jordan had friends over. She smiled even more broadly at the thought, even though one was her boyfriend and the other a girl she could only talk to through writing, though she was desperately trying to pick up ASL. They were, however, both perfectly useless when it came to picking out an outfit, so she decided to go with something her father would disapprove of, which ended up being the short black skirt he hated that she almost never had the opportunity to wear, and a loose cropped t-shirt that hung off her shoulder. She threw on some make-up, dark eyes and a rich red lipstick that went well with her burgundy hair.

"I need an address and you better have your phone on tonight," said Frank as he looked disapprovingly at his daughter.

"Daddy, it's a cellphone-free house. And you're embarrassing me. I'll be fine."

"And what if you're not, Jordan? What am I supposed to do, sit here and worry, hoping you stumble home sometime tomorrow afternoon?"

"I'll come home as soon as dinner is over. And if I can't be back before midnight, I'll call. Thea can give you the landline, but only if you promise, swear on your life promise, that you will not call unless it's been like 12 hours."

Frank reluctantly agreed to his daughter's request, and tried to ignore the boy snooping in his head to confirm that he meant to abide by it.

The trio headed back to Bellevue. Malcolm and Lu greeted them and they began going over the plans for the evening, which would begin in less than an hour when Ivan arrived. For fear of being found out, Kimmy had advised against any type of listening technology, so Gibson was it for surveillance. As best they could under the time constraint, they worked out a plan to help make it less obvious what they were up to. Certainly, Ivan would not speak openly with guests or the boss' daughter at the table, and he probably wouldn't even want Thea there, though her discovery was most likely the reason for the visit. They would act like they were just the young people, more interested in enjoying each other's company than the young man who might one day take over the company Malcolm worked for. The goal for the evening was to have Gibson and Jordan also stay overnight as guests, thereby allowing them free access to anything Ivan might be thinking once alone again. Jordan let them know that she would need to call home before midnight to keep her father from tracking them down and ruining the whole operation.

To kill time, while Thea, Gibson, and Malcolm had their heads together in her father's office, Lu worked on teaching Jordan some signs, for Jordan was bound and determined to keep Lu as a friend as well. She'd gone too long without companions, and she was more than willing to go the extra mile. Lu was warm and vivacious, smitten with the young woman's enthusiasm, and it was in her nature to touch people when she was happy in their presence. And so even though she'd been warned to not touch Jordan, she had a moment while laughing with her guest where she reached out and tapped her hand quickly as she signed something accidentally vulgar. But the laughter quickly ended when Jordan jumped, her eyes clenching closed as though she'd been struck.

"Are you ok?" she asked.

Jordan looked momentarily confused, but finally nodded. She tried to take in what she'd seen in a split second, an image that was barely a blip in her mind's eye. She couldn't make sense of it, couldn't see enough to understand what it was, but it scared her. For a moment, she wondered if she should take the chance to reach out to her, or even just open her mind as her father did to lessen the effect and get more of the vision, but she couldn't take the chance of having her health ruin the plan for the night.

Dinner was a bigger event than originally planned. All the VPs of the Bellevue office along with some senior directors were also at the table. A sign language interpreter was there to help keep Thea and Lu in the loop. The addition of the two extra guests raised some eyebrows, but Malcolm didn't bat an eyelash. Gibson was the oddball, as ever, not given to small talk, or any talk really; Jordan, on the other hand, was giddy at so much human interaction, and quickly beguiled most of the men at the table. Gibson kept his mind focused on Ivan, but couldn't help but torture himself by listening in on some very lewd thoughts about his girlfriend.

Ivan's mind was mostly focused on being the face of his mother's company. He was as young as Gibson and Thea, but held the bravado of a child born to great wealth. He knew that one day the company could be his, especially if he did well on this visit. As hr worked his way around the room, he recalled his mother's words about each guest. It was only around Malcolm that things changed.

Ivan had indeed come to suss out the situation. Someone had noticed a digital access portal opening from Bellevue two days in a row, as well as an untraceable connection that was assumed to be the same person using a VPN. They had determined that someone had gotten their eyes on the code, but they were unsure of how and what that person might know. Whether or not Malcolm knew or, worse, if he were behind the multiple attacks, was still to be determined. Ivan did not find his behavior suspicious, but when he learned that Thea was not only his daughter's fiancee, but a manager of technology services, he perked up.

It didn't help that Thea was trying too hard to not look guilty or scared, her face coming out angry and embattled, drawing Ivan's attention. Throughout the dinner, even though Ivan was seated to the right of Malcolm, while Thea to the right of Lu at the other end, he was locked onto her, watching her every move, unsure of how he would even communicate with her enough to determine if she played a role in what had happened or not. The interpreter was seated nearby, not a formal guest, but on the ready should his services be needed. The young people were doing well enough without him, and had signaled that he could leave for a break, while they went about talking. Though Jordan did not understand, she kept her eyes on their hands, trying hard to make it all make sense.

Gibson was not a translator by any means, but he did the best he could with his minimal skills. Still, with Ivan only having a suspicion, there was little he could do until the following day when he planned to check on the office and see the day-to-day operations. But then, unexpectedly, the conversation shifted when Ivan suddenly decided that he'd had enough of the small talk and those who were not connected with EV Technologies should be excused, which meant leaving Thea alone with them. Gibson, Jordan, and Lu left their plates, heading up to Lu and Thea's suite to keep tabs on what was happening.

"I'm sorry for the abrupt request," Ivan started, full of pomp. "There's been a breach, which is the real reason I'm here. Someone from your office has accessed incredibly sensitive information. I would like to know who on your team has the skills to hack into our system and access our code."

The VP over Thea's division immeditely, and regretfully turned to her. When he realized that his reaction was only serving to incriminate her, he apologized. "She's one of the best coders. I'm sure she didn't do anything, but she might know who did."

Thea didn't know what to do. Malcolm, who was translating for her, added on, "Don't worry. We'll keep you safe."

Gibson could feel the rage building in Ivan. He was ready to convict her then and there, but couldn't afford to go into details in front of the other employees, so he thinned the crowd even more, excusing them all. Upstairs, Lu listened intensely to every word Gibson said, her eyes never leaving his lips, afraid to miss anything he was saying.

Despite the rage he felt, Ivan spoke to Thea coolly. "I need to know what all you saw. This is a serious matter. If you came upon proprietary information regarding various new experimental technologies… well, there may be legal ramifications. I'm fairly certain there is no part of your job that warrants what you did."

Thea looked to Malcolm for help, and there was little he could do but put his own future on the line. "I am aware of what happened," he admitted, drawing Ivan's attention away. "I take full responsibility."

"That is all well and good, but there will still be consequences, now for both of you. I'm afraid my mother will not take kindly to this. You have put the company in jeopardy."

Thea spoke now, not wanting Malcolm to take the fall for her. "No, I did it," she said loudly, her words slow and thick, but she wanted Ivan to understand. "I got into the system. I know what you are doing. You have everyone's data. I will tell the world. I don't care what happens to me. People deserve to know."

By the time Ivan's rage rose to a terrifying level, Gibson and Lu were already coming into the rescue, with Jordan close behind. They weren't sure what they should do, but thought they could at the very least help outnumber him. Ivan shut up immediately, not wanting even more ears to hear what was going on, but Gibson wasn't going to let him get away. He felt like he needed to take charge and show Thea that he supported her.

"We know what you're doing. And I know where that technology came from," he said, though he was still just guessing, but he needed to probe Ivan's mind to find out for sure. And there it was, sitting there suddenly, a confirmation that it was indeed alien technology. As Ivan's mind filled with specific worries, Gibson took it all and used it to pretend like he knew all along.

"Your mother got the technology from someone in the government. And they are trading this data for protection during the invasion. But it's not going to work. We're going to bring this to the press. We're going to expose you."

Gibson wasn't fast enough to stop what he did next. Ivan was impulsive, which didn't help, taking action on the first threatening thing he could think of - he grabbed Jordan, meaning to threaten the person he assumed correctly meant the most to him. But when he did, Jordan collapsed, and because he did not let go, she began to convulse.

"I didn't do anything to her," Ivan insisted.

"She has a seizure disorder," Gibson said, his voice full of panic. "Let her go."

Ivan set her down, and Malcolm ran out of the room to call 911, while Gibson shouted that he couldn't. Lu ran after him to stop him, followed by Ivan. "He's getting away," he signed at Thea, but she was scared to follow.

"She's unconscious," Gibson explained. "You can't hurt her right now. Help me move her to someplace more comfortable."

They moved her to the nearest room with a couch, just as Malcolm returned. "The ambulance is on its way."

"She shouldn't be in a hospital. She absorbs too much from other people when they touch her. We need to call her father. Where did Lu go? She was right behind you."

Malcolm left the room in search of his daughter, assuming she must be looking for something to help. He came up empty, even after enlisting the help of the various servants. He rang the doorbell, which was connected to a flashing light in most of the rooms. By the time the ambulance arrived, he was distraught - Lu was clearly missing, along with Ivan.

Jordan had begun to wake up, though her speech was halting. "Girl…trapped…" were the only words she could get out, and Gibson held tight to her hand, trying to tell her to rest, that he would get her father there soon. The paramedics only widened the situation though, and she lost consciousness again, meaning there was no way to avoid a trip to the hospital now.

Before they left, the police had already arrived. Malcolm sent Gibson in a taxi to the hospital, while he and Thea reported the kidnapping. The night had imploded on everyone.

Gibson was sitting in the waiting room, unable to get any updates as he wasn't family. Instead, he had to wait for Frank to arrive, obviously fearful of how the interaction would go. He saw the man rush in, straight to the front desk, identifying himself in as restrained a manner as he could, before being taken back to see her. Gibson slunk down in his seat, tears now welling up in his eyes.

An hour later, Frank appeared in the waiting room, his face worn, and took a seat beside Gibson. "She's going to be alright. Her doctor is sending over the medical records and she should be released soon."

"I'm sorry," Gibson said. "Someone grabbed her…" he started to explain, but Frank waved him off.

"She's alert and talking. I know the story."

Gibson didn't know what to do or say. He knew he couldn't peek inside Frank's mind to understand whether his silence meant anger or exhaustion or something else.

"Can I see her?" he finally asked.

"Not yet. When they discharge her."

Gibson nodded and the older man stopped to stare at him. "I don't think any father who loves his daughter can ever truly handle the moment when he realizes he's not the center of his daughter's universe any longer."

It was spoken so calmly and civilly that Gibson didn't fully trust him, and the two men sat in silence until Jordan was released.

"Is Lu ok?" she asked weakly.

Gibson shook his head. "Nothing yet. The police are looking for Ivan, but there are no leads."

"And Daddy's been nice to you, I hope? I told him I wouldn't let him take me home if he didn't at least start trying."

"Yeah, it's been fine," he reassured her.

"Good," she said before turning to face her father. "You can take us home now."

Frank drove them stone-facedly to his home, preemptively hating himself for letting the young man stay the night in his daughter's room, on the air mattress he'd dutifully bought. He bristled seeing Jordan's head resting on Gibson's shoulder in the rear view mirror.

When they returned, even though it was nearing 3 in the morning, Jordan insisted they shut off their phones, and that they be placed as fast away as possible. She wanted to talk about Lu and everything that had transpired that night, but Gibson ended up telling the story for her.

"Daddy, I saw something, just for a second. It was Lu, and I think she might have been bound. But it wasn't until Ivan grabbed me that I saw more, but I don't know what it means. I don't know how to interpret things like you. I just know he's holding her somewhere, but nothing I saw was detailed enough. If you could go to them, offer to help, I know they'd find her."