(A/N: We have now reached the part where Aska and Chage decide what they're going to do about Angel being taken away. Let's see what happens.)

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 3: Decisions

It had been 3 days since The Sight was destroyed and Angel had been taken away. Even after 3 days, Aska couldn't get the vision out of his head. The image of Angel begging not to be taken away again. That poor desperate plea, the look of horror in her eyes. It wasn't right.

Aska didn't believe that nonsense about Angel being dangerous for a second. The decontaminators only wanted her for experiments. They wanted to know what she was and any other thing that people like them would want to know. She was nothing but a lab-rat to them.

Even if she was a danger, that didn't give them a right to lock her away like that. So what if she wasn't human, she was still alive and had feelings of her own.

Aska angrily slammed his glass of water on the counter, getting the attention of a lot of people in the restaurant. Chage, who was sitting right next to him eating soup, looking equally as depressed, gave him a look. "People are starting to stare." He said.

Aska ignored him. "It's not right." He said for the thousandth time. "They can't just hold her captive like that."

Frowning, Chage swallowed a mouthful of soup. "Actually they can." He said sadly. "Remember what the chief said about their authority where the public safety is concerned."

Aska glared at him. "Come on, Chage, you don't really believe that nonsense about her being dangerous, do you?"

There was a moment of silence. Finally Chage sighed. "No, no, I don't. I'm sure the chief doesn't either. But regardless of what we believe, they have the final say. There's nothing we can do. Trust me, if there was, I'd do it. But it can't be helped."

As Chage went back to his soup, Aska sat deep in thought. It was true, they had no say in what the decontaminators did. They had authority over the two of them in this case. But that did not change the situation. It still didn't make it right. Angel deserved to be free, just like everyone else. Not locked up in some lab where scientists did tests on her while they pretended that she was dangerous to the public health.

At that moment, Aska came to a decision. There was no way he could sit back and leave Angel at the mercy of those scientists. He was going to get her out of there if it was the last thing he did, and to Hell with the consequences. He stood up with a determine look on his face and finished his water in one gulp before dropping some money on the table and turning to leave.

"Aska?" Chage said, noticing his friend leaving. "Hey Aska, where are you going? Hey, Aska! What are- ah, damn it."

He quickly slurped down the remainder of his soup, noodles and all, threw some money on the table, and hurried after his friend.

"Aska, what's up with you?" he asked when he caught up. "What happened? You look like you're about to do something really stupid."

Aska didn't even look at him. "I'm going to save Angel."

Chage stopped in his tracks. "What?"

"You heard me. I said that I'm going to get Angel out of there."

Chage recovered from his surprise and hurried after his friend. "Aska, man, be reasonable. I want to help her too, but think about what you're saying. You can't just go and bust her out. You don't even know where she is."

If he thought his words would have any affect, he was wrong. Aska didn't even slow his pace. "I can find out. I am a computer wiz. I'll just hack into their system."

"Hack into their system?" Chage exclaimed.

Finally Aska turned to look at him, giving his friend a confident smile. "Do you think I can't do it?"

Chage gave a snort of laughter. "Oh, I know you can do it. But finding out where she is will only be the beginning. There's the security to consider and how to get past it, how to get in and out without being detected and what to do if you are detected, and even if you pull this off, where are you going to take her?"

Aska paused for a moment, thinking about this. He wouldn't be able to hide her in the city, she would be found eventually. And even then she would be constantly hunted down by the scientists. He would have to bring her to a safe place. Somewhere the scientists won't ever think of searching or dare to go near. There was only one place he could think of.

"I'll take her our to the Danger Zone and set her free there." He said.

"The Danger Zone!" Chage cried, causing everyone to stare at them.

Aska nodded. "It's the only place they won't dare to go near. After I set her free, she'll be able to fly above the contaminated land and find a safe place to live. It's the only way."

Chage was silent for a moment. "Aska, do you realize how much trouble you'll get into?"

Did he even need to ask? "Yes, I do. And I don't care. I'm getting her out, no matter what."

There was more silence. Finally Chage broke out into a huge grin. "Right, then we better get started."

Aska raised an eyebrow. "We?"

Chage chuckled. "Come on, you didn't really think that you were going to leave me behind, did ya'?"

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

After three days of searching and hacking into the base's system, Aska had to admit that this was his toughest hack job yet. Finding out where Angel had been taken after the decontaminators took her away hadn't been that hard, she had been transported to another base for study. Getting into this facility's system was the difficult part. The security was so tight that it made it next to impossible to get through the system. But slowly he made progress. He was already looking through the daily events. Just as he and Chage expected, they were using her like a lapdog, trying to figure out what she was and where she came from.

So far, they had blood tests, her reaction to different environments, what she ate, time needed for sleep, and several other things that would catch their interest. Thankfully nothing was done that she wouldn't recover from, but how long would it be before they did something that would actually harm her?

Aska glared at the screen in disgust. When they had gotten her out of The Sight's base, Angel hadn't been freed at all. She had been taken out of one prison just to be put in another. They had to get her out.

There was the cracking sound of a static shock and an angry curse from across the room. Aska turned away from the computer to look at Chage, who was working on a device that he claimed to have programmed to be able to remote control security systems, which they would use to shut down the security system when they went to save Angel. Chage was very good with electronic gizmos like that, but Aska wasn't sure if it would work.

"Hey Chage, you ok?"

Chage was sucking on the finger he had shocked to decrease the pain. "Yeah, I'm fine; damn thing shocked me. It's almost done though."

Aska gave the device a curious look. "Is that thing really going to work?" he asked.

Chage grinned. "Course, I designed it. The hardest part will be finding the security code to turn it off."

Aska nodded, turning back to the computer. "I can find that out while I'm hacking in."

"Good. Once we find the right frequency, I'll be able to use this to punch in the code and shut down the system, then we can get Angel out. Ah! Finished! That should do it. Now to test it. Hey, do you mind if I use this to turn your security alarm on and off?"

Aska shrugged. "As long as it doesn't blow my apartment up."

Chage waited for Aska to say more, but his friend just continued his work on the computer. Finally Chage cleared his throat, getting Aska's attention.

"What?"

Chage rolled his eyes. "Well I need the code to your alarm."

"Oh, right. It's 7, 3, 4, 9, 5. And don't you even think about giving that out! The last thing I need is my alarm code becoming public knowledge."

Chage smirked. "Hey, would I do that?"

Aska cut his eyes at him. "I wouldn't put it past you."

Chuckling, Chage pointed the device at Aska's alarm and entered the code.

"System armed." Came a mechanical voice. Chage smirked and repeated the code. "System unarmed."

Chage punched the air. "Woo hoo! Oh yeah! Who's the man? I'm the man!"

Aska shushed him. "Shh! You want the neighbors knocking on the door? The walls aren't that thick."

Chage smiled mischievously. "Must be hard to keep quiet while getting laid."

"Chage, I am going to shove that device down your throat if you-"

"I'm kidding, man. Geez, take a joke." He walked over to Aska's desk and looked at the computer screen. "So how's it going?"

Aska leaned back and puffed on his cigarette. "I checked 4 sections. She's not in any of them. We'll see if she's in this next one."

Chage nodded. He held up the device. "Well once you find her, we'll be able to bust her out with this baby."

Aska snorted. "So you have a device that turns off security systems. There's a pleasant thought."

Chage chuckled. "Hey, it's not like I'm going to use this to steal or anything. Besides, without the security code, it's useless. Care to give me their's?"

Aska continued working. "Yeah, sure. Just let me finish checking this sector, then I'll get-"

He cut himself off with a gasp. Chage blinked in confusion. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Said Aska, grinning broadly. "I found her."

(A/N: Rather boring chapter, I know. The next one will be more exciting. Aska and Chage are going to go in and attempt to rescue Angel. Please feel free to leave me all the reviews you want; they're very encouraging.)