Raven stared hard at the line of small colored balls infront of her. She carefully aimed the pool cue in her
hands. With all of her concentration on the target, she shot the stick forward. It struck the white pool
ball, which in effect struck several others. A straight line of three balls rolled into a corner pocket. Raven
straightened herself and looked over the table, contemplating her next shot.
"Nice shot." Darkwing commented. "I wasn't aware you had time to get good at pool."
"I don't." Raven replied. "This is my first time." Darkwing and Launchpad exchanged looks
across the empty room as Raven sunk another shot. The three of them waited in the empty bar. The
owner of Stark's, a dirty looking bull dog who chained smoked and coughed a lot, watched them while
nervously puffing on a cigar.
The three had approached him as he was closing up for the night, or morning, rather. They
convinced him it was in his best interest to stay around until orders from SHUSH were delivered that
night. The man had protested, but as Raven had guessed, the threat of loosing his bar compelled him to
obey. He hadn't been aware that such a dangerous person was making deals in his bar. He wish he hadn't
been told.
The bar owner jumped in surprise as the bell above the door sounded and Hooter entered,
followed by Gryzlikoff. The trio hardly even looked up. The owner huddled himself in a corner until
instructions were given to him. Gryzlikoff watched the man as he tried to make himself scarce.
"I see you did not wait for authorization before you contacted the owner. However, I am not
surprised."
"Complain, complain, complain." Raven didn't look up from the table as she made another shot.
She finally tossed the cue onto the empty table and turned to J Gander. "Did you get the information I
sent you?" Gryzlikoff raised an eye brow. He hadn't heard of any other information.
"Yes, thank you. I got the faxes you sent a few days ago. It would have taken forever to get that
classified information on F.O.W.L. from the ARMY. I must say, you are very skilled with computer
work."
"Good with illegal hacking..." Gryzlikoff mumbled. Raven shot a harsh look at him quickly.
"Have you decided what actions you want to take, J Gander?" Darkwing asked.
"Indeed, Darkwing." Hooter cleared his throat and explained their ideas. "It seems that this
Diablo fellow comes in here often. Isn't that correct, sir?" He asked the owner who nodded dumbly in
reply. "Yes, well, we have no evidence against Diablo other than the confessions of a few scruffy
individuals. Hardly enough to gain an arrest warrant or hold him on federal charges. We need more
concrete evidence on Diablo. There for, we feel it is necessary, to monitor Stark's bar until enough
evidence can be collected." Darkwing nodded.
"Are you setting up surveillance?"
"Yes." J Gander replied. "We would like to find an area large enough to work from that's near
to the bar." He turned and looked at the owner. The man really didn't want any of this. But as he looked
over the individuals in the room, he reluctantly folded.
"There's an empty room upstairs. It used to be a loft where bands played. I cleared it out a long
time ago."
"That will be perfect. We can start setting up the equipment imedently." J Gander told the man.
"Please keep this confidential, sir." He asked the owner. "If you cooperate fully I promise that no harm
will come to you or your establishment." The owner was still nervous, but agreed.
"I'll get you the keys to the loft." He began searching around under the counter. Hooter turned to
Gryzlikoff.
"Of course, I'd like you to run this mission, Agent Gryzlikoff. We will set up all necessary
equipment for your disposal." Gryzlikoff nodded.
"I will try to make this a swift procedure, Sir."
"Swift like a turtle." Raven spoke softly. Her and Darkwing snickered quietly. J Gander turned
his attention over to them.
"Of course this is a job for more than one person." J Gander looked over to Raven. "You seem to
know a good deal about electronics, Miss Inari. SHUSH would be most grateful if you could lend a hand."
The smirk on Raven's face disappeared and her eye's widened in shock. She stared at Hooter in
disbelieve.
"You...you want me to help Gryzlikoff?" J Gander nodded.
"You would be a great help in the use of the equipment. Plus, we need another able body to take
care of things if we need to make a grab for Diablo." Raven's face was still stuck in a dead stare.
"You want to stick me in a room with him?"
"If you're capable of the commitment, we could use your assistance. It would be greatly
appreciated." Raven's face twitched slightly.
"Oh I think Darkwing will probably need me around." She said quickly. Darkwing was trying
hard not to laugh his head off. Tears were beginning to form in his eyes as he spoke with a quivering
voice. The look on Raven's face was too classic, and the idea of her working with Gryzlikoff was
hysterical.
"Oh, no, Rav." He choked. "We can manage with out you for a while." Raven glared at him.
Gryzlikoff objected.
"Sir, if any one should help me with this, it should be a SHUSH agent. They are qualified to use
the equipment and have been trained in its use and matanance. This young lady is not properly trained or
qualified by SHUSH."
"Yeah!" Raven tried in vain to get out of the situation. "I'm not qualified."
"That's quite alright." Hooter assured her. "You're trust worthy and skilled in the proper areas.
That's all SHUSH needs now."
"Right..." Raven's shoulders slumped as it became clear that she wasn't going to get out of this.
"Excellent. We'll set up imediently." J. Gander informed them. "Try to be here at this time
tomorrow."
"Sure." Raven shook J Gander's hand and he left the building. Gryzlikoff and Raven gave each
other blank stares before Gryzlikoff followed Hooter out the door. Raven scowled and turned to Darkwing.
"You're gonna pay for that!" She hissed.

"I thought we were gonna go to the game." Gosalyn sat on the bed and watched as Raven threw
some extra cloths into a back pack.
"So did I, Shorty." Raven folded a pair of jeans and tossed them into the bag. "Believe me, if I
had a choice we still would go." Raven shuffled through some disks. "Tell your dad to keep his mouth
shut next time he wants to volunteer me for anything."
"How long will you be gone?" Gosalyn asked. Raven shrugged and added the disks to the bag.
"Who knows? At the rate SHUSH works, 50 maybe 60 years, max."
"Sounds more like a prison sentence than a case." Morgana commented as she entered the room.
"Going to be boring around here with out you." Raven zipped up her bag.
"Don't worry, you won't be nearly as bored as I'm gonna be." The ladies left the room and went
down stairs. Darkwing met them at the bottom and ignored the low growl that Raven gave him.
"You're a pal for doing this, Rav." He grinned. "Have a great time!" Raven rolled her eyes and
walked out on the porch followed by Morgana. Raven slipped her boots on and turned to Morgana.
"See you later." She said. Raven turned and glared at Darkwing who was still grinning teasingly
at her. Raven turned back to Morgana. "Do me a favor and zap him for me later, would you?" Raven
whispered. Morgana stifled a laugh.
"Consider it done." She winked. Raven turned back and waved to Gosalyn.
"Catch you later, Shorty!" She opened her mouth to say something to Darkwing, but then
decided against it.
Raven was about 4 hours late getting to the bar. Not only had she left Morgana's later than she
had planned, but traffic was backed up for miles in town. She pulled into an ally behind the bar and
pushed her motorcycle behind a dumpster. The last thing she needed was some thief taking it in the
night.
The back door of the bar was locked. Raven knocked and waited for someone to let her in. A
small sliding panel in the door opened and Raven could barely make out someone behind it. It was a male
duck in a business suite she'd never seen before.
"Do you have clearance?" He demanded in a short tone.
"Unfortunately." Raven answered. The man narrowed his eyes.
"Code?" He asked in the same tone. Raven's expression became puzzled.
"The hell...?" No one had said anything to Raven about a code. Raven thought back to all the
stupid B spy movies she had seen. "Uhh....The tornado is angry at the cows?" The man's eyes narrowed
even further and the small panel was slammed closed. Raven couldn't help but snicker. She knocked on
the door again. Again, the panel slid open and the same eyes stared out.
"The pink frog is in the ocean?" Raven asked. The panel slammed shut. "Stupid suites..."
Raven laughed and knocked again. "My brother is your umbrella?" *SLAM* *KNOCK KNOCK* "Go
Packers?" *SLAM*
Raven knocked again. The panel remained closed. "Was I even close?" She called through the
door. "The paper weight is divorced? The socks are in the yard? Run not into heavy traffic? The doctor
has the gold monkey?"
All of a sudden, the door swung open. Gryzlikoff stood in the door way, his hands balled into
fists and gritting his teeth. Raven folded her arms across her chest and looked behind him to see the man
who had guarded the door.
"The big dumb jerk is standing infront of me?" Gryzlikoff growled and walked away from the
door way. The guard held the door open for Raven to enter. She passed him and followed Gryzlikoff
inside. "Hey, I got it right that time!"
"Follow me." Gryzlikoff growled.
"Sure thing, commrad." Raven muttered under her breath. Gryzlikoff lead her upstairs to a short
hall way. They entered the loft through an open wooden door.
The loft was a good sized room. The one window was boarded up. A smaller room was hidden
in the back. There was no door to the smaller room. A cot and a sliding shutter were the only things
there. The loft area itself, on the other hand, housed a complex computer system the SHUSH agents had
set up. Microphones and head sets laid on the desk and recording devises were hooked up. J Gander was
watching over several agents as they finished up with the equipment. He smiled as he saw Raven enter
the room.
"Miss Inari, thank you again for coming." Raven shook his hand.
"Yeah, sorry I was late. I got hung up and traffic was backed up and then the door down stairs
was jammed or something." Gryzlikoff rolled his eyes, but ignored the comment.
"All finished sir." One of the other agents address Hooter once they were finished. Hooter
dismissed them. He turned to speak to Raven and Grizlikoff.
"Now, as you two know, it is important that we get as much incriminating evidence against
Diablo as possible. Video servalence, audio recordings, still photos, anything that can put him away. I'll
be checking in by radio to see how you're doing." He turned to leave the room. He addressed the two one
last time before he went. "Good luck, SHUSH is counting on you two." Hooter closed the door behind
him. Raven tried to repress the chill that worked its way down her spine. Gryzlikoff turned to her, his
face expressionless.
"Ground rules." He said in a flat tone. "We take shifts. The equipment is to be used as SHUSH
procedure regulates and for no other purpose. We don't go after Diablo until we have sufficient evidence
to persecute with. We follow orders from SHUSH and SHUSH alone, not any free lance vigilante group.
Is that clear?" Raven smirked.
"Gee, if I go against the rules, will I get kicked off of the assignment? Because that would just
break my little heart." Gryzlikoff folded his arms over his chest.
"Yes...mine too." He sneered. Raven walked past him into the smaller room. She dropped her
bag in a corner and unzipped it, removing the stack of disks. She laid them on the desk that held most of
the equipment. Raven removed her leather jacket, looking for some place to toss it. Gryzlikoff picked up
the disks and inspected them.
"This garbage is not SHUSH property. It's of no use." He was about to drop them in a near by
trash can when Raven whirled around. She dropped her jacket and grabbed the disks from Gryzlikoff's
hands just in time.
"I'll have you know I programmed this "garbage" myself!" She snapped. "And it works just fine
with SHUSH equipment. We use it on the computer you guys sent us." Gryzlikoff shook his head.
"What ever they are, we don't need them." Raven fumbled through the stack and picked out a
blue labeled disk.
"Half that equipment is hooked to a program that's operating off of the world wide web.
F.O.W.L. hackers could get inside them and in seconds, not only crash them, but trace the source back
and have their agents down our throats." She tossed the disk at Gryzlikoff who quickly caught it. "That
program will hide any and all traces of these hook ups. And if they have someone who can get around
that, there's also a virus programmed in that will terminate their web access." Gryzlikoff was impressed,
but didn't let on.
"How can you be absolutely sure it works?" He asked. Raven grinned.
"We used it a couple of months ago to hack into SHUSH files when we were working that
assassination case." Gryzlikoff was temporarily taken back. He had wondered how Darkwing had known
about that confidential case. Gryzlikoff shook his head again.
"There was no unauthorized presence reported in our system at that time." He insisted. Raven's
smile widened.
"That's the idea, now isn't it?" She laughed. Gryzlikoff scowled. He handed the disk back to
Raven.
"As I said before, none of these will be necessary in our work!" He gruffly turned his back and
started working with some of the equipment. Raven shrugged and put the disks back in her bag. It would
be just as easy to program the soft wear on her shift, when Gryzlikoff wasn't looking.
"I'll take shift first. That should work out since you are night person?" Gryzlikoff commented
over his shoulder.
"Yeah, sure." Raven was already tired in the late morning. She wasn't going to argue if he
wanted to go up first.
"Go, rest then. I'll wake you when shift ends." Raven dragged her stuff into the smaller room.
She slid back the small door and discovered it lead into a small bath room. There was a small shower in
the corner, not taking much space up.
"I don't even think I wanna know what that owner was in the process of turning this room into..."
Raven said quietly to herself. She changed into a loser fitting T-shirt and removed her boots and socks.
Leaving her jeans on she left the small bath room and placed her stuff by the bed. She slid under the
covers of the single cot and looked up at the ceiling. Typing sounds could be heard in the next room.
Raven sighed. It was going to be a while before she fell asleep. Raven felt uncomfortable, she was shut
into a room over a bar in a seedy part of town with a perfect stranger who practically tried to kill her. The
clacking sound in the next room stopped briefly and Raven heard Gryzlikoff clear his throat.
"Sleep, well..." She heard him say softly, almost inaudibly. Raven blinked a few times before
closing her eyes.
"Thanks." She answered with the same force of volume. Raven was right. It was a while before
she drifted off to sleep.

Raven awoke on her own. She opened her eyes and a short wave of fear swept over her as she
momentarily forgot where she was. She pushed the covers back and got out of bed. Raven walked into
the next room where Grizlikoff was still seated at the computer, monitoring the bar.
"Nothing?" Raven asked. Gryzlikoff shook his head with out looking away from the screen.
"Nothing. Diablo has not even been in. Your shift is not starting for another 15 minuets."
Raven nodded. She headed back into the smaller room and stepped into the bath room. She took a quick
shower in freezing water. Raven figured the owner must not have gotten a water heater hooked up yet.
She changed into new blue jeans and took Gryzlikoff's place at the screen. She sighed as he headed into
the small room.
"I just wish I knew how long this was going to take." Raven stared at the screen a little sadly.
"Hopefully not too long." Gryzlikoff had said it to himself, but Raven had heard. She shot a
short glare to his back which was facing her. She turned her attention back to the screen, fighting the
urge to comment back.

"I bet they've already made desions not to go back into Stark's again." Darkwing muttered. He
sat in J Gander's office with Launchpad. J Gander shook his head.
"I'm sure he'll be back soon enough. There aren't THAT many lowly hangouts in St. Canard."
"I wish he'd hurry up and make a move, then." Darkwing mumbled. He was beginning to regret
sending Raven out. Not only was he lacking a good ally, one of his computers had a glitch in it. Plus he
had started to remember what being cooped up with Gryzlikoff was like on that island. It had been bad
enough, but Raven was in a closed room with him. He prayed that hadn't killed each other yet.