A/N: Dedicated to Shu of the Wind, for being an avid reader. Thanks for reading and reviewing. :D

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Adrenaline Rush

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I can see the red flags waving,
the bottom of my heart is caving in.
I can see there's just no saving me.
There's no way out, I'm going in.
-Red Flags, Kerli

Chapter Eighteen

Mello may be a liar, but he did mean his word when he told Hex he'd hack into the White House for her. It isn't so much that he's concerned for her safety— he knows she doesn't trust him enough to let him help in any mission of hers— but rather for his mounting paranoia. From the moment she and Matt took off to Washington, there was a nagging feeling that something is going to go very, very wrong.

And Mello is never one to ignore gut instinct.

So he's been keeping hawk-like eyes on the video feeds of the White House ever since. Mello has been gauging every happening by body language and lip reading, and while he isn't so adept in the latter, he knows the place isn't at all bugged for sound. It is a fact he curses the second morning of his careful watching, when Hoope turns away from the camera to answer a phone call. Hoope hasn't done this before, not once.

Definitely, there is something very fishy going on.

"Yeah, I'm in," Mello says into the microphone. "How close are you to getting the target?"

"Ever straight to the point, Mello," Matt's voice appears in Mello's headset, sighing tiredly. "We've got a lock on him. Hex thinks we should perform the uh, job today. Says there's no sense in wasting any time."

Mello rubs a bloodshot eye with the side of his fist, while keeping his other eye trained on the back of the President's chair. The President is facing the window overlooking the grounds of the building, and he is still on the phone, hiding his words carefully. "Don't do anything yet. I'm waiting till I'm positive you guys are secure... There's something the President's hiding, Matt. You think he knows he's being watched?"

"Well, that, or he's a little paranoid," Matt drawls, and there is a distant scratching sound, followed by a 'click'. "I wouldn't know, Mel. Hex and I've been on the target's tail, not his dad's. Your deadline's too short for the kind of thoroughness you're asking for. But you could talk to Hex, if you want. I mean, if you've been in the system, you'd know she's been in the White House a couple of times already."

The blond rubs his temples with an agitated sigh. "Well, she's doing her job right. I barely saw her. What the hell was she doing in there?"

"She wanted a little trial run to see how long it'd take for her to get in and out. She's gonna be the one performing the… job. I'm doing the actual 'escaping' bit," Matt explains, and in the background, Hex is heard whooping in glee. "Uh, yeah. Looks like Hex found our escape vehicle."

Mello smirks faintly, shaking his head in amusement. "I'll talk to Hex."

He hears in faint bickering for a short moment before Hex's voice greets him with a, "What's up, Melly-bean?"

"I think Hoope's hiding something," Mello says hastily, too impatient to explain things twice. "Did you notice anything strange in the White House?"

There is a brief pause, and her tone betrays her slight surprise. "If you were watching like you're implying you were, you'd know that I haven't been anywhere near Hoope, Melly-bean."

Mello bites his tongue, reluctant to admit that he has not spotted her at all. Admitting so would be giving her the upper hand in the situation. Instead, he scowls, pausing from his half-spinning on the swivel chair to eye the video feeds again. He sees, from the CCTV showing the entrance of the White House, a black SUV is entering past the gates. "Answer the question, Hex. Did you notice anything strange or not?"

The girl on the receiving end of the call sounds annoyed. "No. I would've told you guys if I did, but no. The security's been upped when you compare it to yesterday, but I don't know anything else… Oh, Matt and I are getting the target later. Arnold Hoope's schedule says he's playing tennis with a bunch of his friends right now at Hoope's private court."

Suddenly, the video feeds disappear.

The multiple screens stacked on the wall show no more of the White House. Mello's eyes widen in horror and surprise, and he wastes no time in attacking his keyboard once more. He vaguely hears Hex's voice in his ears, but what he hears even more is the pounding of his brain each time he is denied access into the White House's security system.

Nothing.

He tries again, and again, and again.

Still nothing.

"Hey!" Hex yells, beyond frustrated with his lack of response. "What the— Mello? Stop ignoring me!"

Mello mutters a colorful string of curses, slamming his fist on the desk in sheer rage. It takes a long moment to calm his breaths and fight the searing white anger filtering his vision. He pulls the microphone over his mouth and says, his tone low and dangerous, "Put me on loudspeaker. I need to talk to the both of you."

"Wha—"

"Now, Hex."

The girl quiets as she realizes that something must've gone terribly wrong for him to have this sudden shift in mood. "… Okay. You're on loudspeaker. What's up?"

"I've been intercepted." Mello grits his teeth together, and then says carefully, "Have any of you had anything to do with this?"

"I just spent the last ten minutes stealing a car. Nope, I'm not touching a computer," Hex replies. "Are you sure you weren't just disconnected from the system or something?"

"No, I willingly kicked myself out of it," Mello spits sardonically, rolling his eyes. "Of course I'm sure I was intercepted."

Hex and Matt sound equally astonished. They both know that while Mello isn't as high caliber a hacker as Matt, he is still quite formidable at the job. Matt replies dubiously, "Dude, no. Who could've…?"

"I have no fucking clue," Mello hisses venomously, and then tries again to regain access to the system. "Any suggestions?"

Matt is quiet for a moment. "Try again."

"Why don't you?" he shoots back, his blue-green eyes flashing. "I've tried a handful of times already, and I still get fuzzy shit on my screen. What the fuck?"

Hex hums in a quiet, musing manner. "Can you describe the fuzzy shit? Is it like, fuzzy-fuzzy, or is there some kind of tiny code?"

The blond squints his eyes for a moment to look for any kind of code, before saying, "No code. It's just the kind of screen you'd see when the TV goes shitty."

Matt speaks again. "… Hey, Mello. I can't get any access either."

After two breaths of tense silence, Hex murmurs darkly. "I think the security's been shut down entirely. And maybe, entirely disconnected too. That'll explain it, right?"

"Possibly," Matt says. "Maybe Hoope did know he was being watched after all."

"What the fuck are we gonna do now?"

"Say, Mel," the redheaded male asks thoughtfully. "Were there any cameras set up in the security room?"

"… No," Mello replies. "Apart from the bedrooms and bathrooms, that was the only place I had zero access to."

There is the sound of a revving engine. Hex's angry voice appears again. "Why, I oughta—! What are we gonna do now? We've got no idea when the feeds are gonna come back on again! What if they never come back on? We're supposed to get the target today, damn it."

Mello is silent for a long moment. He shuts his eyes tight and pinches the bridge of his nose, willing himself to fight away the oncoming headache. Matt is the one who replies for him, at first. "Maybe we should just hold the mission first, Hex. I— I think it's too risky to go in there without knowing if we're in the clear or not."

"But—" Hex starts, sounding every bit as frustrated as Mello is. "We only know Arnold's schedule for today! We've no fucking clue what he's up to tomorrow, and I'm not about to wait. I told Buddy have us sent back to L.A. by tomorrow. I can't reschedule, damn it. It'll look bad… And even if I reschedule, what if the security doesn't get connected by tomorrow, huh? Reschedule again? Hell no, I'm not about to wait for nothing."

"What if the video feeds do come back tomorrow, Hex?" Matt asks calmly, though he sounds to be almost pleading with her. "We'd be safer then."

Hex growls back, "There's only a fifty percent chance they come back on by tomorrow. I say we get the damn target today. We know his every single move for today already! I don't wanna let this chance slip away!"

At a moment of realization, Mello recalls the black SUV entering the gates of the White House, mere moments before the security feeds failed. "There was an SUV," he says hurriedly, his eyes wide and wild. "It was there before I got disconnected. A black SUV. Any of you know who owns one? Anyone who's in contact with Hoope?"

"No," Matt replies dully. "There are, I don't know, thousands of black SUVs in the area."

Mello's face reddens in restrained rage. "Why can't you do anything?"

"We're not miracle workers," Hex shoots back, sounding like she'd very much like to strangle someone if she could. "What do you want us to do, huh? Become psychics?"

The blond male leans back, giving up on trying to hack into the White House's system. He spins on the swivel chair until he faces the door, and murmurs darkly. "Forget it. The mission's still on. Do whatever you want, so long as you reach the deadline. And about the SUV? Well, Hex, you've got a side job. Find out who the fuck was in there."

Mello hangs up the phone rudely.

In Washington, about three blocks away from the White House, Hex glares hatefully at Matt, and then steps on the gas pedal of the stolen car. She takes the cell phone from Matt's hands and chucks it quickly to the backseat, as if it is burning her. Matt tenses, expecting an outburst from the younger girl, but all that greets him is a steely silence, save for the sounds of mid-afternoon traffic.

Matt breaks the suffocating quiet with a tentative, "So what do we do now, kid?"

Utter silence.

He slams the back of his head against the headrest and closes his eyes tightly. His head is pounding, and his heart is hammering too fast against his ribcage. Matt has never felt so nervous in his entire life. Again, he calls her, in a desperate attempt to thinking for three seconds. "Hex?"

"You heard him," Hex seethes swerving the car to the right, and overtaking three other vehicles. "We find out who was in the SUV."

Inwardly, she is hating how Mello is treating her like his servant. She knows she and Mello have made a deal for her to do as she says, but still she thinks this is a bit… much. Never mind that she and Matt are already severely disadvantaged, they are both about to risk their lives for the sake of Mello's stupid missiles. What the hell?

"How're we gonna do that?" Matt asks, even though he knows the answer already. His stomach is making very uncomfortable twists and knots. It is not only the knowledge that this is such a high-risk mission that bothers him, but it is also the impending sense of doom he has, that the next few hours will go by in a very dangerous blur.

Hex glances at him out of the corner of her eye. "I'm breaking in… Might as well get the target while I'm at it."

Near exits the back door of the SUV in silence, looking straight ahead of him. Beside him stands one of President Hoope's most esteemed security guards. He is blond, of medium build and height, and wears a smart looking grey suit. In his hand is a large, open umbrella which he holds high over the pale guest's head. The guard is quietly stunned at the sight of him. He looks to be a fragile little boy, clad in only his white socks and pajamas.

This is who President Hoope insists to treat with respect? This little runt?

The boy's elderly, bespectacled caretaker takes the boy by the hand and allows the other guards to escort them both to the president's office. They meander down hall after hall, each one thankfully empty of people. The curious security guard looks to the hidden CCTV in a corner of one of the hallways and finds that it lacks its usual, tiny red light. It is switched off; a rarity to see.

Despite his less-than-acceptable appearance and size, this boy must be very important, the security guard deduces. He wonders what ever for, because never in his life has he heard of someone called 'Near'.

The guard knocks on the large mahogany doors of the president's office, and peers inside in greeting. "Sir, the guests have arrived."

David Hoope nods, pleased that they are on time. He folds his half-moon spectacles and tucks them away. He then folds his arms formally in front of him. "Send them in, Ill."

Ill Rat nods. "Yes, sir."

Hex pulls over none too far away from the large building, and stares up at the high walls through the windshield of the car with calculating eyes. She isn't nervous about breaking in; she's done it twice before, and she'll do it again without a hitch, even without the cameras to back her up (or maybe she is kidding herself). What Hex is more than just uneasy about, however, is getting out of there.

She'd be carrying one hundred and twenty eight pounds of pure Arnold Hoope on her back, straight from the tennis court to the car. Hex swallows discreetly. It sounds far-fetched. Even for her.

Hex takes a deep breath through a very tight throat and exhales resignedly. "We'll do this very quickly, okay, Matt?"

Her redheaded comrade looks scared out of his wits, his face ashen, and his eyes wide. He shakes his head no vigorously, but Hex attempts an encouraging grin, even if she does have the vague idea that he is worried about the same thing she is. "We'll do fine. I'll be in and out of there before the hour's over, so chill."

"Y-you're…" Matt stops, averts his gaze from her, and starts again. "How are you going to get out of there with the target?"

Hex's grin holds, but anyone who knows her as well enough as Matt will know that it dies a little. Fortunately, he isn't looking. She looks to the gates of the White House and says again, "I'll be out of there before the hour's over, so chill."

It is very apparent that she hasn't yet answered his question.

She reclines the driver's seat and scrambles to the back to get herself ready. She fastens a few satchels and holsters to her belt and stuffs a clean cloth and a tiny vial of chloroform in one of them, then a few hand grenades, her gun, and a lighter in the other few. Hex throws Matt one of Weddy's communicating devices and fastens another over her ear, explaining, "We'll communicate through these. Keep at your computer and see if you could hack into the security."

He turns in his seat to look at Hex rather nervously. "What else can I do?"

She is quiet for a long moment. "… You'll be getting us out of here later, Mattie."

"And if you're not out of there in the next hour?" he presses, his chin set, and his eyes, grave.

Hex ties a jacket around her waist to hide her weapons, grabs their cell phones, and punches a set of numbers in Matt's.

"I'll call you if something delays me," she says with a reassuring grin on her red-painted lips, "But… on the off chance that I don't call… just drive away. Call Buddy."

She hands him his cell phone, and exits the car.

"You won't have to do a thing until I get out, Matt. Until then, you've got nothing to worry about."

A/N: Yay! Next chapter should be out by the end of the week.

Reviews make me go tingly. :D