Hawkeye exploded out of bed and was halfway to the door before the sound stopped.

There was movement upstairs, as if the others were also stirring, but he didn’t wait for them. Trinity was downstairs alone. He couldn’t get to her fast enough.

He took the stairs two at a time, pounded through the center hall back past the kitchen to the admin office where Trinity had likely gone to work.

It was quiet now, and the silence was somehow worse than the scream.

“Trinity,” he called.

“Someone is in here,” she said from somewhere in the darkness of the adjoining storage room, her voice low.

Her tone sent ice water through his veins as he walked to the threshold of the room.

“Come out with your hands up,” Hawkeye said, letting his voice go deep and commanding, as he had seen the cadets do in their training.

There was no response.

Those were the proper words to use when addressing a burglar - he was sure of it. The movies were very clear on this subject.

But when no one emerged, he moved into the room at once.

His eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness. He could see the shape that was Trinity a few steps away. The neat stacks of boxes that usually formed aisles in the room had been pushed and shoved until the space was more like a moonlit labyrinth.

“Trinity, wait in the hallway, please,” he whispered to her.

“Like hell,” she whispered back.

He ground his teeth but didn’t ask again.

Hawkeye was beginning to realize that real Earth women were a lot fiercer than the movies would have led him to believe.

He focused on the far aisle, which was less disheveled than the others. Trinity had doubtlessly interrupted the intruder before he could complete his rummaging in that section.

He could see Trinity in his periphery, circling around as if to be ready to cut off the suspect on the other end of the aisle.

He managed to restrain his fury that she would put herself at risk in this way and took another cautious step.

There were footsteps on the stairs from above - the others must have been on the way. A loud thump drew his attention as someone - most likely his enormous brother Conan - jumped from the last landing and thudded to the oak floor of the center hall.

Half a second later there was a rush of movement at the center of the aisle next to the one they were searching.

The intruder must have taken advantage of their momentary distraction and tried to escape.

Quick as a flash, Trinity moved toward the sound.

Hawkeye followed.

“Trinity,” Brooke’s voice yelled from the hallway.

“Shit,” Trinity said.

Hawkeye moved to her and saw what she was looking at.

At the end of the aisle there was a broken window. He approached slowly, wary of his bare feet. But there didn’t seem to be any glass on the floor.

Suddenly the overheads were buzzing. They flickered once and then the room was filled with blinding light.

“What happened?” Brooke asked from the doorway, her hand still on the switch.

“Is everyone okay?” Conan asked.

Lobo and Veronica appeared in the threshold behind them.

“We’re fine,” Trinity said. “Someone broke in, but whoever it was is long gone now.”

Hawkeye looked to where they had heard the noise.

An overturned box was on the floor, papers spilling out.

“It must have teetered over when everyone came thundering down the stairs,” Trinity said, indicating the box.

“Is there anything valuable stored here?” Lobo asked, looking around at the stacks.

Trinity shook her head. “No, nothing.”

“Maybe they were trying to get to the martial arts studio,” Conan suggested.

“Sorry, big guy,” Brooke said. “But there’s not much worth stealing there either.”

“Is there anything in here besides really old records?” Veronica asked.

“Really, really old records,” Trinity joked.

But Hawkeye could hear the tension in her voice. She had been frightened.

Somehow, that made him feel better, even though he didn’t like for her to be upset. At least she had some sense of self-preservation.

He went to her, wrapped an arm around her shoulder before realizing that she might not want him to.

But she leaned into him, and he felt a measure of peace return to him with her warm little body pressed to his.

“Well, let’s get something to seal the window,” Brooke suggested, ever practical. “Do you want to call Henderson?”

“We can probably wait until morning,” Trinity said. “There really wasn’t anything here to take besides a bunch of old papers. I don’t think they’re coming back.”

Hawkeye understood, but he didn’t agree. Breaking into a building where so many people lived was risky - especially when that building was part of the police academy. And breaking glass was very dangerous.

Hawkeye doubted that anyone would do such a thing unless they were fairly certain something precious was on the other side.