Pilot for a Maybe-Project I was thinking of. Enjoy.

-N

Ryo ran—fast. He had no idea what was being fired at him—bullets, digimon attacks, shrapnel—but he was smart enough to know that stopping to take a look would get him killed—or worse.

You know the world sucks when there even is a 'worse'.

"Kazu!" Ryo growled. "You told me to go left!"

Ryo was wired with a headset—a two-way communicator. Henry had put it together—it was handy…when his partner would give him the right directions.

There was a second of static before Kazu's voice came through. "That's what the layout says—don't take it out on me that this data's old."

"Yeah, it just gets me killed, that's all." Ryo muttered. "I swear I'll—"

"Duck." Kazu cut him off.

Ryo ducked immediately, a sharp piece of metal flying over his head.

"Thanks." He murmured. As much crap as he gave Kazu, he was a good partner. That's the way the jobs went—for each person on the field, there was one watching their every step. Back when Ryo first got involved in all this, he was a little hesitant to have Kazu as his partner. Actually, he only agreed to it at first because on the first mission, it was Ryo who was watching over Kazu and Guardromon, and he knew they could use the support.

The corridor he was running through was—bright. And big. The lighted pattern on the walls seemed to dance as he passed by them—and maybe they really were, but Ryo was sure it was just because he was running so much that the blood was rushing to his head.

Ryo didn't need to look back to know that Cyberdramon was less than a second behind him—it must have been tough for the big guy…Cyberdramon could obviously move faster than Ryo ever could, but Ryo understood why his partner was choosing to stay back a bit—because if Ryo were to go down, Cyberdramon could just pick him up. Good enough for Ryo.

The lights on the walls started to get brighter, and only the 'floor' he ran on remained unlit. His eyes were getting sore, he was running out of breath, and every muscle in his body was screaming at him to take a damn break.

Clearly, taking a break wasn't an option. If things had gone according to plan, maybe he could have, but—

Well, it could be worse. Not by much, but it could be worse.

The wrong turn Ryo'd made had set off a few alarms—which gave Ryo a few dozen digimon chasing him at top speed.

So, there were digimon behind him, automated defenses along the walls, and a sweet woman's voice repeating her notice that an intruder was on the premises. Not to mention who-knows-what in front of him.

Fantastic.

He cursed under his breath when a bullet—yeah, turned out they were bullets—grazed the side of his left shoulder. His step faltered, but he maintained a quick pace. Ryo saw Cyberdramon move up beside him, but Ryo held up his hand in protest. As long as he could move on his own, he didn't endanger Cyberdramon any further.

In the very worst case, they'd biomerge and go down fighting. Of course, Ryo wasn't exactly ready to die—not yet. Before everything started—in simpler days, he'd promised himself he wouldn't die from anything other than boredom. And he still had plenty of things to keep himself busy with—the pissed off digimon and the scratch in his shoulder included.

Ryo wasn't particularly worried about his injury, though—as long as he was injured in the digital world, the healing process would be fast.

After the D-Reaper was defeated, the city of Shinjuku rebuilt—no point in bitching about what happened. Ryo approved of that. What he didn't approve of was what happened after a portal to the digital world was found, and a digimon emerged in the real world before tearing down a building.

People got bitchy again. They got scared. And they blamed the first person they could think of—Jeri Kato.

But don't worry, it gets worse.

And who led the charge against her? The Chief Executive Officer of the Hypnos Corporation, Mr. Mitsuo Yamaki. At some point, he'd been their ally. One of the few people they could trust. But he'd turned on Jeri even quicker than the rest of the country had. Hypnos went back to what it was—a method of 'containing' the digital 'threat'. It took hold of all the known portals, and expanded their territories to inside the digital world itself. To 'clear' the digital world of threats.

Takato disappeared. So did Jeri. Ryo'd spent two months thinking they'd been caught or killed. Until he got a message from Takato's e-mail account, telling him they needed to meet. Ryo'd thought it was a prank, but he went anyways. He continued to think it was a prank when he went there, only to find Henry, instead of Takato. But it wasn't a prank—Henry had known where Takato and Jeri were hiding all along—in the digital world, of course.

Jeri was the 'bad guy'. In the public's eye, at least. That made Takato a bad guy, too. But the two of them were the fugitives—Ryo and Henry were still able to live in the real world just fine, so long as their involvement with the criminals was kept quiet.

Criminals.

That's what the papers called them. Everyone remembered a particular speech Yamaki had given shortly after it became clear to the public that Takato and Jeri were both alive.

"These ciphers…while we may not understand their goals, we understand them. We understand that they wish to corrupt our very society, our values, and our families. While they may be young, we must remember that they are dangerous and they are criminals."

'Ciphers'. It meant that they were nothing. Nobodies. Powerless. It had just been out of spite, but Takato had named the group just that—Cipher.

The goal was simple—take down Hypnos.

That's what Ryo was busy doing—taking a portal back. The digimon at his back? Reconditioned to behave as mindless guards—they'd snap out of it if Ryo didn't get himself killed. The guns on the walls? Hypnos' defenses. But Ryo wasn't allowed to fight back—those were the orders. The base had to be kept intact. The more complexes Hypnos lost, the weaker they got. The more complexes that Cipher took over, the more powerful they became. A simple enough plan—and Ryo was lucky enough to be doing the grunt work.

The end of the hallway was in sight, but there was something standing in his way. The mission was supposed to be bloodless—aside from Ryo's own blood, anyways. But if that thing didn't get out of Ryo's way, he wouldn't have a choice.

He snatched the D-Arc from his belt. He still hadn't decided whether or not to biomerge or slash a card, but in either case, it was just the tool he needed.

"I'm coming up on something." Ryo said, hoping Kazu was paying attention to what was in front rather than what was behind.

"It's Gargomon." Kazu said simply.

Thank you, Henry.

"Cyberdramon, go right." Ryo ordered as the sight of the oversized green bunny became clearer.

Ryo himself moved to the left as Gargomon raised his two gatling arms.

"Gargo laser!" Gargomon shouted, a barrage of blasts firing from every barrel of the two guns.

Ryo didn't look back but he could hear the attacks destroying the digimon that had been chasing him, while Cyberdramon joined in the assault. Ryo was getting a little lightheaded, and once he was past Gargomon, he started to fall forward—

—it was Henry who caught him, standing him up quickly. He was wearing a plain black t-shirt and a pair of beige cargo pants.

"You okay?" his friend asked.

Ryo nodded, indicating his shoulder. Henry examined it, pushing the skin next to the wound with his thumb. Ryo winced as the pain sharply shot down his arm.

"Sorry." Henry murmured, before quickly turning away. "Takato, Ryo's been injured. How quickly can you get him extracted?"

"I'm fine." Ryo insisted, though the look Henry gave him told Ryo that he wasn't convinced. "Kazu, forward my vitals to Takato."

"On it." His friend replied promptly.

Henry still looked skeptical, but he eventually nodded as Takato must have been telling him something. Henry and Takato were on a separate channel than Ryo and Kazu were—Takato could speak to Ryo just as Kazu could speak to Henry, but it typically wasn't something they did.

"Alright." Henry said finally.

Ryo didn't want him to worry, though. "Look at it this way—it's quicker to finish up the mission than to pull me back at this point, right? We're almost done."

Henry looked more relaxed that time. "Yeah, you're right." He agreed. "Just don't overexert yourself, okay?

"When have I ever got in over my head?" Ryo asked smugly.

Okay, bad example.

"No comment." Kazu said smugly.

"Right." Henry winced.

Back to work. The sooner they finished up, the sooner they could get out of there. "Kazu, where to now?"

"About two hundred meters down the corridor, there'll be a door on the right."

Ryo nodded to himself, glancing at Henry, waiting for Takato to tell him the same information.

"On our way." Ryo reported, starting down the hallway. Gargomon and Cyberdramon had taken out everything that had been chasing Ryo—which was probably why Henry wasn't talking: Takato was probably giving him an earful.

Whatever. He can do this shit himself if it has to be done so perfectly.

The pain in Ryo's shoulder had subsided, and he was grateful for it.

"Coming?" Ryo called back to Henry, who still appeared to be getting a lecture from Takato.

Henry just nodded and started walking. They both knew that if they made any discontented facial expressions, Takato and Kazu would see.

Not that Ryo disliked Takato in any way. In fact, Ryo had a great deal of respect for him—tossing aside his comfortable life to protect Jeri. It was very Romeo-and-Juliet, in the everyone-gets-screwed-over sort of way.

What bugged Ryo was how the mission had barely progressed. Sure, in taking down the few bases that they had, they'd also gained access to some of Hypnos' funds, but it wasn't as intrinsically rewarding as it should have been. Still Ryo was making better money than he would be waiting tables or flipping burgers.

"Having a good time yet?" Ryo asked cheerfully, earning a surprised smile from Henry.

"Oh, of course." Henry played along. "I'd actually start looking for apartments down here if, you know, the walls weren't randomly shooting at us."

Right. Gotta be careful for that one, huh?

"Now you're just being pessimistic." Ryo insisted, his obvious sarcasm at least sounding genuine. "Think of it as—special real estate? I mean, come on. Who needs a home gym when you get your cardio workout dodging digital guards?"

Henry laughed, involving himself in the joke more and more. "Yeah, and it's like a psychological workout, too. See how long before all the adrenaline drives you crazy." He whistled, impressed. "Yeah. An apartment down here would definitely be worth the extra rent."

"Are you two done?" Kazu demanded.

"You're just jealous that there's sarcasm afoot and you're missing out." Ryo countered.

"Duh." Kazu answered.

"We'll bring you a souvenir, Kazu." Henry reassured him.

Ryo honestly would have, if there was anything at all to take. Hell, Ryo'd probably end up breaking off a doorknob for him. That'd be appropriate.

Ryo and Henry were coming up on the door that they'd been directed to. It was large and steel—unfortunately, no handle Ryo could have Cyberdramon break off for Kazu.

Better luck next time.

There was a slot next to the door to swipe a keycard with. They'd managed to get a hold of a few of them—various bribes using the money they made from taking over places like where Ryo was then. Henry pulled the card from his pocket and reached towards the slot.

"Wait!" Kazu shouted.

"Stop!" Ryo relayed, incase Kazu hadn't had time to switch his broadcast to both of them.

Too late.

An alarm sounded, and two long metal pieces barred the door closed. It had been locked down.

"What's going on?" Henry asked.

"Kazu, what the hell just happened?" Ryo demanded, looking around nervously.

"Fuck!" Kazu screamed in frustration.

"That's very poetic, but I'm not finding it especially useful right now." Ryo retorted dryly.

Ryo looked over to Henry, who did have an answer. "My card was demagnetized on the way in from one of the attacks I thought I avoided." Henry reported.

Damn it…

"And what's coming after us now?" Ryo asked, knowing he didn't want the answer.

"Everything." Kazu answered.

Ryo looked at the door. It had been reinforced on the outside, and with his luck, on the inside as well. They wouldn't be able to force it open, not even if they both biomerged. Still…if they could get to the other side, they'd be able to shut down the base's defenses, and all the digimon coming after them would return to normal. That was their best bet—even if it was a long shot.

"Fight, or flight?" Ryo asked, wanting the opinions of both Kazu and Henry.

A silent second.

"Backup's coming."

Ryo shook his head, frustrated. "Yeah, we were over that. I think you described it as 'everything' that was coming after us?"

Kazu sounded irritated. "No, your backup."

We have backup?

Ryo's thoughts were cut short by an explosion. At first, he thought the digimon had attacked. But it came from the ceiling, and he realized that something above had blown a hole in it. And it jumped down.

Sakuyamon.

The mega-level landed on one knee, before standing up and devolving into her two component parts. Renamon, and Rika Nonaka.

"Y'see, they convince us that this whole mission is gonna be a sausage-fest, then surprise us with two beautiful women." Ryo exclaimed, ignoring Rika and Renamon entirely and speaking directly to Henry. "This is why I love these missions."

Seeing that he managed to get a smile out of Rika from his compliment, he approached her promptly and kissed her hard—Henry and Renamon both looking somewhere between 'uncomfortable' and 'annoyed'.

"Behave yourself, Ryo." Jeri's voice came through after a half-second of static.

"Down, boy." Kazu ordered.

He pulled away, Rika smirking at him.

Henry stepped forward. "Yeah, so, real romantic, making out before we get blasted to pieces," he grumbled. "But I'm actually single right now, and I'd rather not die alone, so how about we get something—say, a plan, maybe?"

Rika reached into her back pocket, presenting a keycard that looked identical to the one Henry had. She strutted over to the door, inserting the card into the slot Henry had tried moments ago.

The alarms stopped, and Ryo felt himself relax.

Ryo knew that Rika was a part of Cipher. She was brought in about the same time that Ryo had, actually. They'd started to date just before, and it wasn't really working out…but the constant risk of death did wonders for their relationship. Aside from that, they'd determined that both of them were happier with their lives when they had a purpose—something that briefly disappeared after the D-Reaper's defeat.

She was wearing some dark green low-rise jeans, black boots, a black tanktop, and a denim jacket that matched the color of her pants. Her hair was tied back into a ponytail, which hung just below the level of her shoulders.

"Hey, Jeri?"Rika said into her microphone, ignoring Ryo and Henry. "If Kazu and Takato are nearby, you might want to throw some garbage at them for almost botching this job."

She turned back to Ryo and Henry. "You know, the two of you make this look so much harder than it needs to be." Rika said with a sigh.

Ryo thought quickly. "Maybe, but we didn't have to biomerge to make it this far." Ryo said, shaking his head as he pretended to be disappointed.

Henry made a face, indicating the hole in the ceiling she'd blasted through. "And we've been a little less, uh, 'theatric' about it."

Rika winced. "Yeah, tell Takato I'm sorry 'bout that one."

Ryo hoped that he wouldn't be pissed about it. They had been instructed to damage the property as little as possible, but the way Ryo saw it, was that it was pretty much necessary.

It was Renamon who spoke next, in her usual cool demeanor. "Can we please get moving?"

"Looks like." Henry answered, staring at the door as it opened, the slot spitting Rika's card back out.

There didn't look to be any security in the next room—something Ryo wasn't used to. Still, he'd take what safety he could get. The room was filled with large computer terminals. It was all definitely human technology imported to the digital world, but it was much too sophisticated for Ryo.

I guess that's why they sent Henry along on this one.

It was usually Takato on the missions, with Henry on backup. This was actually only Ryo's third mission, but it was his first with Henry. Or Rika, for that matter.

Henry headed over to a particular terminal that Ryo didn't think looked any different from the others—though, he wasn't in a position to make that claim.

"Any idea how much we're getting paid off this one?" Ryo asked casually while Henry got to work. It wasn't that Ryo was just in it for the money—he really did care about the cause, even if he didn't think it was a goal they'd actually achieve. Still, as long as he was able to visit the real world freely, having money was pretty fun.

"A few grand a piece, I'd say." Kazu reported.

"You're getting paid the same?" Ryo asked. He didn't mean to sound so offended by it, but since he was talking to Kazu, Ryo at least found comfort in the fact that everything was taken in stride.

"Yeah, I think most of it comes from having to put up with you this whole time." Kazu answered thoughtfully.

Ryo grinned to himself, before walking up to Rika, taking both of her hands in his.

"They didn't tell me you'd be here." He teased.

She shrugged, smirking. "Lucky for you, right?"

He wanted to kiss her, but he didn't. Kazu, Takato, and Jeri were all doing their jobs—meaning that Ryo and Rika had an audience—and he didn't feel up to listening to their reports that he didn't look like a good kisser, or that his form was off, which he knew was the kind of joke they'd make.

Well, if Takato had much of a sense of humor these days he might.

After everything, Takato had become pretty single-minded. Take down Hypnos. That was all that mattered to him. Protecting Jeri was on the list too, of course…but the destruction of Hypnos was the key step in leading to that. All he wanted to was to let her be able to have a normal life back in the real world…something that couldn't happen while she was one of the most wanted people in the world. They both were.

Hell, even Ryo could find himself in a heap of trouble for associating with them—as far as the world was concerned, they were terrorists.

"So what are you doing tonight?" Ryo asked her.

"Atta boy, Tiger." Kazu snickered. "The trick is to make your move when there's four other people paying attention. Awesome."

Rika looked thoughtful, though Ryo knew she probably would have punched Kazu if he hadn't been transmitting only to Ryo.

"Calc homework." She concluded. "Why?"

Ryo scoffed. "Let's go see a movie. Good way to start the weekend off."

"It's Thursday." Henry and Kazu answered, though Henry sounded slightly more distracted.

Shit.

"Okay." Ryo muttered. "Calculus homework it is."

There was a flash of green light, and Gargomon devolved back to Terriermon, climbing onto Henry's shoulder. Ryo's mood sank considerably. He had a deep cut in his shoulder, several guards out to kill him, the threat of being exposed as a terrorist, and he had school in the morning. Great.

"See if Henry needs any help." Kazu suggested. "The quicker we get you out of there, the better."

Good point.

Ryo turned away from Rika and started towards Henry, who was knelt down, doing something to some wires.

"Anything I can help with?" Ryo asked doubtfully.

"These motherframes are different from the ones I was expecting." Henry explained. "I can still drain their accounts and forward the systems back to Takato, but there won't be anything stopping Hypnos from just re-opening the portal from their side."

"So what do we need?" Ryo asked.

"I don't know." Henry sighed. "We need a way of inhibiting the control that they already have in the real world before I can stop their control here in the digital world."

Rika stepped over, looking uneasy. "Is there any way you can do what you can now, then finish the changes after we're out of here?"

Henry shook his head. "I could, but it'd be too risky. Hypnos could just take it back—"

"—not to mention trace us back to base." Kazu finished.

There was a long pause. Ryo was trying to avoid saying what he knew was an alternative—destroy the portal generator. It was certainly some expensive technology, but if it meant it would make them safer—

"What're the orders, Boss?" Henry asked aloud, defeated.

Ryo heard a click as Takato switched his channels to speak with the three of them together. "It's more important that Hypnos not have this facility than it is that we have it. Destroy the gen—"

"—Can we cut the power?" Rika interrupted suddenly. The two boys turned to her, prompting her to elaborate. "If we can drain the power out of this place, all the gadgets'll still work, we can leave without worrying about Hypnos coming back—and then Henry can have all the time he needs to work. Yes or no?"

She spoke with excitement, though it was obvious that she was also unsure of herself. Henry was the expert in the field—any ideas Ryo or Rika had would just be speculation. Ryo turned to Henry anxiously, silently praying that Rika was right.

Nope.

The look on Henry's face was enough indication, but it was Kazu who answered.

"We need power on location if we're gonna pull you guys out." Kazu explained. "We blow the generator, you'd better get ready for a nice long stay there."

Definitely not happening.

Ryo looked at Henry, who seemed to be running some calculations through his head. "It takes about five minutes for Hypnos to open up a portal, but we can do it in three if we've got a good transit spot." He declared finally. "We set a timer for just under that so Hypnos can't deactivate it, and we can get out of here before the power shuts down."

"Works for me." Rika shrugged.

Ryo nodded, but he knew that the bottom line was that it was Takato's call, not Ryo's.

"Kazu," Takato said finally. "Scan for the best location for us to open up a portal."

"Checking…" Ryo heard Kazu reply. Several seconds passed. "Coordinates—S-T-L-four-five-three. It's close to them."

It was good news—something Ryo welcomed.

"How close, exactly?" Rika asked nervously.

"Up a floor, and on the other side of the complex." Jeri answered. "Should be a quick trip with that 'shortcut' you made."

She was referring, of course, to the gaping hole Rika had blown in the floor when she made her grand entrance.

"It was your idea." Rika protested mockingly.

"Okay." Takato concluded. "We'll start opening up the portal now—what do you need to set your timer, Henry?"

"I think—yeah, I've got it done already." Henry answered. "Ready to start the timer on your order."

Again, another pause. Ryo really didn't like them. He knew that it meant Takato, Kazu, and Jeri were talking—and purposely keeping Ryo, Rika, and Henry in the dark.

"Don't let the ice cream melt, now." Ryo grumbled impatiently, waiting for a response, getting a snicker from Rika.

Several seconds passed before Takato gave his order—"We're detecting a microphone nearby. Get on Hypnos's speakers, and order an evacuation first."

What?

"Uh, why?" Ryo asked, confused.

"We don't know what cutting the power will do to them on their end."

Ryo was impressed, and even a little surprised. Even after Hypnos had made their lives a living hell, Takato and Jeri still didn't want to hurt the people who worked at Hypnos. Ryo, however, didn't necessarily agree—they were at war. He was willing to get hurt in the line of duty—if the good ol' folks at Hypnos weren't, then they shouldn't be working for Hypnos, now should they.

But Ryo said nothing, and neither did Henry. He knew that Henry probably agreed with Takato and Jeri, but Henry was calculating enough to know that the risk-to-reward ratio was questionable, at best.

Henry picked up the microphone that Takato had mentioned, tracing the wire to a tangled mess. He unplugged a few ports, reconnecting them in different locations, before standing up.

"Who wants this one?" Henry asked.

"I'm masking your voices from here, so don't worry about them tracing you." Kazu reassured them.

Ryo glanced at Rika before she shrugged, picking up the microphone.

"Attention, Hypnos employees…" Rika spoke politely in a fake but very convincing English accent. "This complex is now under the control of the Cipher Organization. Any attempts to activate the portal at this location again will be met with lethal force."

He looked at his friends. Rika was still clearly riding the adrenaline wave, displaying a grin proudly on her face. Henry just smirked.

The next person Ryo heard speak was Kazu. "You enjoyed that a little too much."

Ryo nodded in agreement. He squeezed her hand gently. She looked at him, puzzled.

"Don't want you falling behind, now."

She scoffed. "Yeah, that's really a possibility." She replied, her tone the epitome of pure sarcasm.

"I want in on this." Henry said suddenly. Ryo knew it was probably pissing Takato off, getting Henry to be playful when he was on the job, but it was fun.

"Now we're talking." Terriermon cheered.

"Rika," Renamon said carefully. "We'll have to hurry. Remaining downwind from Terriermon wouldn't be a very good idea."

Henry flicked a lever and darted out of the room, Terriermon in his arms. Ryo hadn't realized that the timer had started before Rika and Renamon too and begun to chase after. Henry hadn't even yelled 'go' or anything.

Cheaters.

Ryo jumped onto Cyberdramon's back, and they were off.

Okay, so I admit it. Writing this was just a distraction from a) finishing my homework, and b) working on Code Carter's chapter 26.

Review if you didn't hate it!

-N