Originally posted on under the name armitage374 on 07-07-03

02-08-16 Repost after Grammarly check

Standard disclaimer:

I don't own them, just borrowing them a little for this story. This Fan Fiction is done out of respect and I'm not making any money from it, so please don't sue. An original character does belong to me, as does the story itself.

The following shows/animations had to suffer the temporary loan of characters and places:

Star gate – SG1

Breaking News

Max Steel

Archives:

My own pages, anyone else just ask first.

Feedback: Please send to: if other means are not available.

Rating: G

Type: Action, Drama, Crossover

Authors Notes: Well, I was up WAY beyond normal bedtime, high on sugar and writing on one of my other stories as Max Steel turned up on the tape in my VCR (background noise). That sort of kicked off my warped muse and suddenly this weird concoction popped into my head. Max Steel isn't one of the shows I watch most (and when it happens it's mostly by accident), so sorry if I get a couple of details wrong.

Secondly: There's a real good chance that someone else has written a story looking a lot like this one, but I hope that everyone understands that this is meant to be an original piece of work, not a copycat thing.

Another thing: The SG-1 episode "Divide and Conquer" NEVER HAPPENED IN MY UNIVERSE! IT'S PART OF A DEVIOUS PLAN BY THE EVIL, EVIL POWERS THAT BE TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD AND IS ONLY A MASSHALUCINATION TO TRY TO TWIST OUR MINDS! : Pants loudly and steps down from soapbox:

Ok, on with the show while my muse is still warm on the idea:

Summary:

What will happen to Josh McGrath if his secret life as Max Steel is suddenly exposed on nation wide television?

Exposure

By

Armitage374

Denmark

Josh was trying very hard not to fall asleep during Monday morning's biology class. It had been a very long, sleepless weekend, involving "Smiley", nerve gas, a bunch of hostages, a couple of overeager CNN-reporters and, no surprise there, Max Steel. "Smiley" had for some reason found it very funny to kidnap a bus full of kids, using them as a decoy from his real target, the UN. Add to that the fact that a couple of CNN reporters had found out about the entire thing, ending up almost sabotaging the rescue mission when they found out that he, or rather; Max Steel, was out there and you ended up with no time to sleep.

That is if you, like Josh, had to do your homework as well. A chill ran down his spine as he remembered just how close it had been. The counter on that nerve gas canister had been only 10 seconds away from releasing the deadly toxin into the entire city. Millions would have died. And as usual, he had overtaxed himself, leaving his energy supply exhausted, and him without disguise not to mention also deeply unconscious, only fractions of a second after he had dismantled the bomb. Rachel had gotten him back to N-Tek just in time.

His ears were still ringing after his dad's lecture on the subject of being more careful. To top it all, "Smiley" had managed to get away again. But one of these days…

"Mr. McGrath!" The teacher's high-pitched voice cut through his foggy mind like a warm knife through butter, ending his inner monologue effectively.

"Yes, ms. Cooper?" Josh tried desperately to remember what the lecture had been about.

"I would appreciate it if you listened once in a while in stead of daydreaming. God knows your grades aren't good enough as it is." Josh felt a slight blush creep over his face. Busted. And by the one teacher he could ever remember being afraid of. Scratch that: Terrified of. Not good.

"Yes, ms. Cooper." The rest of the very long 45 minutes he managed to stay awake. As the bell rang out and he went to his next class, he noticed the strange stares that both teachers and students outside the classroom were giving him. It was about then that he was ambushed. But not by one of the usual psychos. This time, it was by a small army of reporters.

"Mr. McGrath? What's it like to have superpowers?"

"How long have you been working as Max Steel?"

"I don't know what you are talking about!" Josh was close to panic. How had they found out? And why hadn't he been warned? Where was Berto? At that second Berto's voice cut through the babble from the multitude of reporters via his bio link.

"Don't say anything, just get out of there, Hermano! Rachel is on her way in the car. Details later at N-Tek." Not good. Using as much of his powers as he dared without exposing himself as anything else than a normal teenager and throwing adamant denials around him with what he hoped was an honest voice, he pushed his way past the reporters, heading towards the parking lot, where Rachel was pulling up with screaming breaks in the same second.

"Get in!"

As soon as he had gotten in, she nailed the speeder to the floor, narrowly avoiding a news van from I24, which were pulling up. "What the hell is going on?" Josh had a nasty suspicion but hoped it wasn't true. "Those CNN reporters last night managed to get pictures of you as you took care of that bomb. Including the part about your disguise failing. And they also managed to somehow get out of the UN-building before the rest of the team and I arrived. They ran a story on it an hour ago. We didn't realise what was happening until the phones at the White House started ringing of the hook with questions."

"Oh, God!" Josh ran his shaking hand through his hair. This was as bad as he thought. "Dad. Is dad safe?" Rachel gave a curt nod.

"He's waiting at the alternative headquarters. We'll be going there now. And Laura and the rest of your close friends, as well as their families, are being moved to safe houses until we can get a handle on this situation."

"Oh, God! Laura! Why wasn't I notified?" Josh was getting angry. This shouldn't have happened. Rachel took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. Josh was dealing with enough without her freaking out as well. That she could do when this nightmare had been taken care of.

"We didn't know until 15 minutes ago. And Berto got on the computer as soon as he could." Drawing a shuddering breath, Josh managed to calm himself down. There was no reason to let it out on Rachel. It really wasn't her fault.

"Sorry. I'm just worried." An attempt to give a smile wasn't too successful.

"It's ok. We're all a little bit on edge right now." Rachel accepted the apology from the teenager. He had been through a lot since that accident with the Max-probes and had matured a lot. But he was still just a teen-ager at heart. "You are aware that Laura is going to kill you for holding secrets from her, right?"

"Oh yeah…" This smaller worry got his mind at least temporarily of his other, more serious predicament. Laura and he might not be a couple anymore, but he still wanted her as a friend, even if he couldn't have her as a girlfriend, and it was likely that this could end the already strained relationship between them.

N-Tek alternative HQ

Somewhere in the Midwest.

Jefferson looked at his old friend on the videophone; one of his few friends with enough clearance to know what N-Tek was really about. He was also in charge of the only other project in the world with just as much security on it as N-Tek.

"Thanks for doing this, George. It really means a lot. And as things look right now, your project might be the only place where Josh can be just remotely safe and still feel like he accomplishes something. At least for the time being." General George Hammond, a base commander at the Cheyenne Mountain Complex, gave a small smile.

"It's a pleasure. Besides, we can always use someone with as much resourcefulness as your son. Something I believe I told you when we discussed this contingency plan the first time."

Jefferson allowed himself to relax a bit. "I'll tell him that he'll be transferred to Cheyenne as soon as he gets here. He and Dr. Martinez should arrive at your place in a couple of hours together with the necessary equipment. I'll leave the briefing of the project and its purpose up to you. No one else here at N-Tek will know anything else than Josh and Berto are being shipped of to a safe house. I'll join Josh personally as soon as things calm down a bit and then we'll discuss the future."

"That sounds like a plan. I'll inform the team he'll be joining and have maintenance make room for the energy transfer machine and the other items in store at Area 51."

"George thanks again. And look out for him, will you? He sometimes acts before he thinks."

"I will. Don't worry; I'm placing him on my best team. Colonel O'Neill has dealt with that type of personality before. I'm looking forward to seeing you in person." With that, the connection closed. Jefferson leaned back in his chair with a tired sigh.

He had really hoped that it would never end up at this, but for now, Josh McGrath and Max Steel had to disappear for their own safety. He no longer had numbers for the times he had wished he hadn't allowed Josh to join N-Tek, but at the time, it had looked like the best idea. And even with hindsight, he realised that there had been no other solution. "Smiley" had known about Josh's accident and N-Tek had been able to provide some level of security towards the eminent danger from that point. Not to mention the fact that Josh would probably had found some other way of using all his newfound powers in the interest of the public good. His son was simply to big an idealist not to use this opportunity of making things better and this way Jefferson had been able to keep some level of control over the situation. At that moment the door burst open and both Berto and Josh more or less ran into his office.

"Dad, what happened?"

"Josh. Sit down, you too Berto. There are a few things you need to know." With that Jefferson started to brief his two of his top agents about what had gone wrong in the past 24 hours and what could be done about it.

Which was just about nada.

Best Western Hotel.

The Restaurant.

Keith Fitzgerald looked at his cameraman, who was stuffing his face with some sort of curry. "You know, I've covered a lot of wars, terror attacks and general mayhem in my time as a correspondent both at I24 and other stations. But the look on that kid's, Josh, face…" Keith looked at his own food, a vegetarian plate, but couldn't eat it. The fear in the kid's eyes kept coming back to him, haunting him much too vivid in his opinion.

"Hey, it's only a story. Don't get all emotional about it." His cameraman, Tom, gave a shrug and then continued eating.

"Tell me, what do you think will happen to him now?" Keith felt a sudden anger emerge as he was once again faced with the cold-hearted approach to a story that most of the media business had.

"Dunno. 15 minutes of fame, a movie and a couple of books. Nothing to complain about." Tom managed to get out between curry sauce, rice and meat.

"And what about all those terrorists and criminals the kid has managed to piss off these last two years? Don't you think that maybe some of them are clapping their little, fat hands to get this information?" Keith's anger grew. He might not be one of the highest paid correspondents in the world, but he had managed to keep his integrity and put an honour into thinking further than the next news segment and Nielsen Ratings when putting together a story.

"The Kid should have thought about that before going into the cloak-and-dagger business in the first place." Was the uncaring answer from the other side of the table.

"Maybe he didn't have a choice." Keith shot back. He was really starting to dislike the other man. And he didn't want a cameraman in the first place. He was perfectly capable of doing his own shoots.

"Don't get your pantyhose up in a knot. It's just a story. After that stunt you pulled in Sierra Leone, you shouldn't start rocking the boat. It could loose you your job."

"And it could just loose Josh his life." With that Keith made a decision, stood up and threw the money for his uneaten food on the table, leaving the restaurant brimming with barely contained anger. Somehow he would find a way to help the kid out of a dangerous situation, which should never have arisen in the first place, had some of his colleagues thought about ethics instead of money. And in a world of fast money and loose morals, one of the last idealists of the world went looking for a young boy named Josh McGrath.

TBC..

Hope you liked it. There'll be coming more later, but the next chapter is being kept hostage until I've gotten at least 3 reviews on what you think about it.