A/N: It's been a long time in coming, but I present to you, my patient readers, a new chapter of Violet Turned Red. As always, I own only my plot and these words penned down, not the characters or world used. I hope you enjoy.

Violet Turned Red
Chapter Fifteen
Classified


Classified. It wasn't a word one used much to one Lady Une, former colonel of OZ and right hand to General Khushrenada. It was usually what she told other people something was. Yet there the word was, in glaring black ink, on the results of the inquiry she'd sent in for information about the Hellsing Organization. And not just in terms of 'this is classified so it goes no further,' but 'classified, you may not have this information.' That just did not happen, and she growled the more she stared at the paper.

The report she'd gotten from the first team of agents that she had sent in was no more revealing, and included several written orders to cease and desist her investigation into Hellsing. A report she'd gotten late because the agents had had to spend a few days calming down before they could produce it. There was something wrong about those people.

Normally, when there was a difficult source, she sent Wufei at them. His sharp mind and intimidating nature made him an expert at it. But that was one of the problems. Une couldn't tell him about the investigation. She was already worried about him enough as it was. It was obvious that he was not taking Duo's death well, which was to be expected. More related stress could break him. And not only could the Preventers not afford to lose another agent like him, but she cared about the boy. Une did not want to see him hurt any more than he had been.

And if the results of her investigation gave him something to blame and something to bring to justice for his loss, it could only help him.

Une leaned back in her chair with a sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose to try and ward off a headache that was trying to settle in. What she wouldn't do to be able to send in a few mobile suits to 'suggest' that the information come easier. But no. World peace, no mobile suits. Damn Peacecraft.

Making a snap choice, she picked up the phone. She would get that information, and she would get it soon. And if she had to break a few laws and more orders to get it, then that was what she would do.

"Yuy."

"In my office," Une said crisply. "I have a mission for you."


Duo couldn't really think of what he'd done (recently) to get called to Integra's office, hands shoved in his pockets as he walked, whistling a song he'd picked up from the Geese. He'd been doing his training, hadn't gone out on his very few days off, had even been eating the vampiric version of his three square meals a day. So what had gotten him called to Principal Teggy's office?

"Enter," the woman snapped the moment his knuckles hit wood, and it didn't take a genius to see that she was not happy as he pushed the door open. "Maxwell."

"Whatever it is, I didn't do it," he said automatically, hands up just in case she was in the mood to use the gun he knew for a fact lived in her desk drawer. Integra might not have shot him yet, but he'd certainly seen her shoot Alucard plenty of times. Though he wasn't quite convinced that that wasn't just their sort of foreplay (which he had the good sense never to say out loud).

Integra snorted, tapping the ash off of her cigar before fixing her with a look. "You have hacking experience, correct?"

Well that sure wasn't what he'd expected to hear. Duo blinked in confusion before nodding slowly, a frown on his lips. Oookay, so just what was going on if she wasn't blaming him for something? "Yeah, you could say that. What about it?"

"We have an intruder who's started trying to get through our firewalls," Integra explained, turning a print out around to face Duo on the desk. "The unknown subject hasn't broken into any sensitive parts of the database yet, and your orders are to make sure that that doesn't happen."

"Aw, I knew you liked me," Duo said with a slow grin as he picked up the paper to read what was obviously Walter's report on the attempt from... that afternoon, from the looks of things. "Giving me a toy to play with~"

The blonde woman scowled, giving him a look. "This isn't a game, Maxwell. If information gets out about our personnel and what we do here, it could-"

"It could compromise Hellsing's ability to function and take out the bad guys who go bump and om nom nom in the night, etcetera etcetera," the finished for her, rolling his eyes as he waved off her concerns with a hand, well aware that most people would probably catch on fire under the heat of the glare leveled at his head. "Believe me, boss lady, no two-bit hacker's going to have a chance against me. I could program firewalls in my sleep. Probably did, back when the Preventers was just a baby organization, don't remember."

"Good. I expect daily reports on the results until you have this intruder full locked out of our systems," Integra said shortly. "And I also want you to track down their physical location. If needed, we will take them out to protect our secrets."

Duo's grin took a darker, grim turn. That was tactics he was familiar with. Not ones that he liked to use, but ones he knew. The former pilot nodded his head and stuck his hands back into his pockets. "I'm sure we won't have to do that. Probably just some smart kid who likes a secret. I'll take care of it."

"See that you do."

Giving her a sloppy salute, Duo turned and headed out of the office with a frown. He went for the basement stairs, but instead of returning to his rooms or going to the mess, the vampire went for the server room where the computers would have a direct link. It was time to get to work.

It wasn't long after his entering the system that he found his busy hacker, grin slowly returning to his lips as he took a moment to watch this stranger work. Guy was good, he'd give him that. In fact, the more that he watched, the more that Duo started to feel homesick. It was almost like-

"Well fuck me sideways," Duo whispered to himself as his smile suddenly went wide. "Heero, you nosy little bastard."

It could be no one else. There was only one person in the world who hacked quite like that, and Duo quickly had to get to work as those little electronic footprints grew way too close to files that they shouldn't. He wasn't about to just let his old friend play with his toys, oh no.
Miles away, one Heero Yuy cursed as he was suddenly kicked out of the system, staring at his monitor with surprise before blue eyes narrowed. He'd already cracked their outside security system. That was not their firewalls. Looks like Hellsing had a computer expert.

Too bad there was nothing that could keep a Gundam pilot out of a system they wanted to crack.