“This hacker is a hell raiser,” Duo Maxwell chuckled under his breath as his fingers tapped out a mad dance across the keyboard in front of him.  The system he was busy breaking into was a good one, one of the best, but it wasn’t good enough.

He hunched over the small screen embedded in the long console stretching out on either side of him ignoring the surrounding darkness.  The light from the screen was more than enough to see by.  In fact he preferred the lights to be off when he was doing something he could get into trouble for.

In situations like this being in the dark was a good thing. 

Duo’s face reflected a crooked grin as he circumvented the last security block out. 

A soft beep chimed and his grin grew triumphant.

He was in.

Information scrolled across the tiny screen.  He inserted a disk into the console and drummed out a command.  Then he put both hands behind his head and leaned back in the chair, staring at the ceiling.  Waiting.

Not much interesting up there.

Duo looked around the room.  Even in the dark he could see that this was not the kind of place he’d want to get caught in.  There were no exits except for the single door and there was no place to hide.

“Why do all the mad scientists have to have their supercomputers in a room the size of a closet?” Duo asked himself.  He shook his head and heaved a sigh, glad that this job was almost over.

The computer beeped again.

Duo popped the disk out of the console and typed a few more commands, deleting all trace of his entry into the system.

As soon as he was done he got off the swivel chair and picked up the technician he’d knocked out earlier.  Arranging him in the seat so he wouldn’t fall out.

“Thanks for playing,” Duo nodded at the unconscious man.

A quick check of the hallway.  Nothing. 

He exited the room and walked with confidence toward the shuttle bay. 

It only took ten seconds for an alarm to start clanging.

“What the ..?”  Duo’s smile turned to a harsh frown.

A shout echoed behind him.  Several men in uniforms like the one he was wearing ran towards him, guns drawn.

 “Dang it!”

Duo took off at top speed, bullets whizzing by him as he headed for a corner.  He made the turn without loosing any momentum, feeling his braid whip around his neck.   Reaching into the jacket of his uniform, he pulled out a hand grenade, throwing it backwards over his shoulder as he rounded another corner and entered the shuttle bay.

A few seconds later, an explosion rocked the floor under his feet.  The bullets stopped flying.

He leaped into the shuttle he’d planned to steal, sealing the door shut and starting the engine.

The door to the bay was closed.

With a feral grin Duo blew it open using the onboard lasers and blasted out of the bay.

“This is Hades reporting in.  Mission accomplished.  I’ll be there in five hours.”

“Any problems?”

“Nothing I couldn’t handle.”

“Good.  Heero out.”

“Hades out.”

Duo settled himself in for the trip to earth, his easy smile falling off his face.  Now that the Preventers had the information they needed, the hard part was about to begin.