What had been happening with Milo's family the last month?

Martin Murphy and family hadn't been idle in their captivity. Martin especially had been lying in wait for the security put upon them to lapse for long enough to make good their escape.

Brigitte had only dared to hint at who she had entrusted Milo's safety to, careful not to reveal too many details— just in case their captors were listening in.

Martin was glad that after a week of searching he had overheard from their captors that there hadn't even been the slightest indication of Milo's whereabouts.

Whoever was taking care of Milo seemed to be able to manage Murphy's Law well enough that even people who were looking for instances of Murphy's Law couldn't find them.

Then they were made to do that press conference. Martin hoped that if whoever had Milo saw it, they would be able to tell from his stress on the word -safe- that they were to continue to keep Milo hidden, and under no circumstances should they turn him over to the authorities.

He even included as much of a warning about Extreme Hereditary Murphy's Law as he figured he could get away with. Just in case the people caring for Milo were watching, he wanted to make sure that they knew about Milo's condition.

Then it was back to being held prisoner in that blasted compound. Biding their time until they could spot an opportunity to bust out of their holding cell.

Martin had snide nicknames for their regular guards, to help him and Brigitte to communicate who they were talking about.

There was Body Odor, Five 'o Clock Shadow, and Halitosis.

Five 'o Clock Shadow was the one currently guarding them, and of the three guards he was the most lax in his patrols. It had been an hour since he'd passed by their cell door to check on them, and if his pattern held he would be back any minute now.

If only Martin could find something he could use to pick the lock, he could wait until just after Five 'o Clock Shadow checked on them, and then probably they could manage to slip by him… the trouble was in how to navigate through the rest of the complex without being spotted and apprehended.

Suddenly Martin saw the door's sliding eye slot panel open, and a pair of determined looking eyes greeted Martin's defiant stare.

Wait a moment… determined eyes?

"Martin Murphy and family I presume?" An unfamiliar voice called from the other side of the door. Who was this guy?

Martin rolled his eyes, "If you've been sent here to interrogate us again you are wasting your time."

Suddenly the holding cell's door opened up. Standing at the door was a tall man in a ragged looking tuxedo, and he looked very strong. Martin raised an eyebrow as a woman appeared beside him, wearing a dress that looked like something you might see on a runway, were it not for the rips at the bottom of her hemline.

The woman spoke before Martin or Brigitte could find their voices, "We're here to rescue you. Follow us."

Sara seemed to brighten up for the first time since their capture, "Ooh, are you secret agents?!"

The man rocked his hand in a so-so gesture, and said, "Something like that."

Brigitte spoke up sounding understandably wary, "How do we know we can trust you?"

The man held out a photo to Brigitte and she gasped, "Oh it's Milo!" Brigitte snatched up the photo and showed it to Martin, "and he's with the man I left him with!"

Martin looked to see a Polaroid of a smiling older gentleman with grey hair and mustache wearing a suit coat and vest that was various shades of green. The man was holding a pleased looking Milo, who had his left hand entangled in one side of the man's mustache.

The man spoke again, "My name is Brick, this is Savannah." He said gesturing over his shoulder with his hand in something similar to a thumbs-up.

The woman, now identified as Savannah nodded, "Now hurry and follow us, we haven't got a lot of time."

Martin took Sara by her hand, and Brigitte took Martin's free hand in one of her own. They silently followed Brick and Savannah through the winding corridors, glancing warily around their bleak surroundings.

Upon exiting the building they were hurriedly led to a hidden car, obscured by foliage.

Brick opened the doors and the Murphy's all shuffled to sit in the back, Martin on one side Brigitte on the other with Sara sat in between them.

As they drove off, Savannah spoke into a hand held radio, "Snack Hound, this is Eagle One— come in Snack Hound."

The radio crackled to life, "I hear you loud and clear Eagle One," said the voice on the other end of the radio, a man with a deep voice and a heavy Boston accent, "go ahead—over."

"We've secured the package, on the way to the rendezvous point—over."

"Roger that, Eagle One, over and out."

Martin couldn't help the smile that crept up on his face, "Snack Hound?"

Savannah shook her head fondly, "It's an inside joke." she explained dryly, she turned to talk to Brick, "that's what we get when Dakota gets to pick his own codename."

Brigitte leaned forward, "Is… it very far until we get to where Milo is?"

Brick shrugged, "Well we've got to make sure that we're not being tailed, so we are going on a really round about route."

Savannah smiled, "I've got an idea, just remember no using Milo's name over the radio. The signal is pretty secure, but it's best not to risk it." At Brigitte's nod, she brought her radio back up to her face and said, "Snack Hound, get Steampunk on the horn—over."

There was a pause, then a lighter voice with a British accent sounded over the radio, "What seems to be the problem Eagle One— over."

"Hold up the radio where Little One can hear, someone wants to talk to him—over."

"Roger that Eagle One, I have Little One right here." suddenly, a series of baby giggles could be heard over the radio, "He's listening—over."

"Hello sweetheart, it's mommy."
"M-m-m-mommy!" another round of giggles, "Mommy!"
"Yes, that's right it's mommy." Brigitte started crying tears of relief and utter joy, "Daddy's here too."
"Hello son, we've missed you so much!"
"D-d-daddy, daddy!"
Sara smiled, "We're all here kiddo!"
More baby laugher, some rustling in the background.

"Hold on." The British voice said, "He's managed to nearly wriggle out of my arms— could you— one moment— " the radio made a clank sound. "That's got it, Snack Hound is holding him now."

"Steampunk, this is Eagle Two" said Brick taking hold of Savannah's radio, "— I think that was risking plenty, revert to radio silence until contact—over and out."

Savannah shot a look at Brick but sighed, putting the radio away, she said, "He is right, it is safer to stay off of radio channels unless it's absolutely necessary. The less they have to find us with, the better."

Brigitte dabbed at her eyes with her hands, "No, it's okay— thank you for giving me that much." Savannah took Brick's handkerchief from his chest pocket and handed it to Brigitte.

Brigitte thanked Savannah and dried her eyes with the handkerchief.

"So…" Brigitte wondered aloud, "Steampunk's voice sounded really familiar… is he the gentleman that I left Milo with?"

Savannah nodded, "Yeah, his actual name is Balthazar Cavendish, but me and Brick just call him Cavendish. Him and Vinnie Dakota work for the same agency as us, different levels, but same agency. They'd been taking care of Milo for quite a bit when we found them."

Martin quirked an eyebrow, "Found… them?"

"Long story," Savannah sighed, "Cliff Notes version: Some stuff went down at our agency and Brick and I went around to try to find who we could, see who was still out in the field. Cavendish and Dakota were the last ones we went looking for. They then sent us to rescue you. They would have come here to save you guys themselves, but they didn't want to risk putting Milo in danger if one of them were to get caught."

After a bit more driving, they arrived at what looked like a mixed use building, a elderly man stood on the balcony and he turned to one of the doors and said something.

Brick and Savannah parked the car and exited, they then led the Murphy's up the stairs and onto the balcony. The elderly man smiled kindly at them, as the door beside him opened.

Brigitte leapt forward as soon as Milo was in sight, collecting him up into her arms. Tears were streaming down her face as she kissed Milo all over.

Martin put a calming hand on her shoulder, and looked at the men that had brought Milo to them. "Thank you, so much. For everything." He managed, as tears of relieved joy filled his eyes as well. Sara cheered, "Yay! We're all together again!"

The Murphy's were ushered into the small room and sat down on the couch that was next to a crib. The two men who had been caring for Milo sat across from them in some pulled up fold out chairs.

Brick spoke, "Okay, now that the Murphy's are secured— we're going back to the complex and giving them a piece of our minds."

Savannah nodded gravely, "They won't even know what hit them."

Brick and Savannah turned and left the room, leaving the Murphy's sitting across from the two men that had been taking care of Milo.

Brigitte found her voice first, "I don't know how I can ever thank you— sirs."

The taller, and elder of the two shook his head, "There is no need— Oh where are my manners? My name is Balthazar Cavendish, this is my partner." He said pointing to a shorter, younger man who smiled and leaned forward.

"Vinnie Dakota, nice to finally meet you."

Martin smiled, "It's great to meet you too Mr. Cavendish, I'm Martin- this is my wife Brigitte, and my daughter Sara."

Sara jumped up, "It is soooooo cool you guys are secret agents!" She shouted excitedly, "I've always wanted to meet secret agents!"

Cavendish and Dakota glanced at each other and chuckled amusingly, Dakota reached out and ruffled her hair and said,
"It's nice to meet you too kid."

Milo was happily secured in his mother's arms, but started to squirm and make some fussing noises, "P-pa-papa."

Dakota leapt up, "Oh right, in all this excitement I hadn't realized it was time to give Milo is morning bottle." Dakota walked off into an area that had the appearance of a kitchenette, "I'll get one ready."

Brigitte soothed Milo, and turned to look at Cavendish, "He's been saying 'Papa', when he's hungry?"

Milo reached his arms towards Cavendish, "Papa!" He cheered happily. Cavendish's face lit up in a sheepish blush.

"He alternates between saying Papa, and Daddy… he's taken to calling me Papa… I didn't exactly discourage him."

Dakota arrived back and handed Brigitte the baby bottle, "I sort of encouraged it, to be fair." Dakota shrugged as he sat down, "What with my jokingly calling you Papa Cavendish."

Cavendish looked at Martin, "I told Vinnie it wasn't a good idea to teach Milo to call us by parental monikers, but Milo had already taken to it by then."

Martin shook his head, "No, it's more than okay. Martin turned to watch the contented Milo, "You've done such a great job taking care of him. We're in your debt."

Cavendish smiled, "Not at all, Mr. Murphy. We were glad to take care of Milo, and we had Mr. Phillips, our landlord—he was the elderly gentleman keeping a lookout on our balcony, and Veronica —his great-granddaughter, she's an excellent babysitter."

Dakota held up Veronica's backpack, "She gave us this backpack, it's like a Murphy's Law preparedness kit."

The radio on the table crackled to life, "Snack Hound, this is Eagle One— we have arrived, please acknowledge—over."

Dakota picked up the radio, "We read you loud and clear Eagle One, give them the ole 'one two', for me—over."

"You got it. Over and out."

-Line Break-

Epilogue: The destruction of the complex mended the rift in the time stream, and Brick and Savannah were able to contact the future and give their reports on the incident.

Cavendish and Dakota were indeed named as Milo's honorary uncles, and Martin would eventually ask that they be Milo's godparents. Which of course they accepted.

They were also given a new assignment by the Bureau of Time Travel; Protecting the Murphy's.

-The End-

I'm going to a drabble series with this verse, because there was about a month of Cavendish and Dakota raising Milo that I just glossed over in the telling of the story. So feel free to send me cute story prompts for this verse! —Annamaetion