Disclaimer: I don't own a thing (as sad as that realization is), except for the words I've written.

Warnings: Rated for adult language (Duo's got quite a surly mouth and mind), some violence, mild adult themes, and mild lime/lemon.

A/N: Seriously, it's getting good. These last few chapters have definitely been the most fun to write. Enjoy. Read? Review?

Maxwell

Chapter 26: I'm Gonna Come Out Fighting

Fighting - Saints of Valory

"Hand over any weapons. All of them."

The voice was familiar, though not exactly who he'd been expecting. But shit, he couldn't win them all, could he? Duo turned slowly, hands raising to shoulder height and stared the man down. It was all suddenly coming together.

"Getting worried, Rolland?" The man barely flinched at the name, but Duo knew he'd said the right thing. He couldn't hide behind initials any longer.

"Hand them over, Maxwell."

"Make me."

The 'good doctor' went still and waited, his eyes narrowing, but only for a second before he abruptly raised his right arm. He waved two men over, more of Quinze's clones, like the one's on L2 no less, maybe one in the same. It was uncanny and sure as shit frightening at first, but once Duo had wrapped his head around it and stared down those glassy eyes he was able to grasp reality once again.

Wufei. Quatre. They stared at him, not registering anything other than waiting for whatever order Rolland was presumably going to give them in the next few seconds. He wondered vaguely if they even needed to worry about identifying marks like scars and tattoos. It seemed like it was pretty damn easy to tell them apart from the real thing. Maybe they were still in beta.

And then a thought popped into his head, the anxiety that he might not be able to fight against them or that they might be evenly matched. But he was real. They were just imitations. He was Duo Maxwell, in the flesh. No scratch that, not Duo, Shinigami. Oh they were so fucked.

"Not a fair fight," Duo said.

Rolland shook his head. "You should have thought of that earlier."

"No. Not fair to them," Duo answered him, that telltale smile slithering across his lips. Hell, if these guys were going to be so ignorant this might actually be fun. He turned his vision to the two look-a-likes. "You guys enjoy the land of the living?"

'Quatre' and 'Wufei' nodded, smiling at him as if picturing the beating they assumed was about to take place. Yeah, definitely not the real fucking deal. He met their grins cheekily. "You want to stay in this land longer than the next two minutes?"

They still kept smiling stupidly and moved a step forward.

"Just surrender already, Maxwell." Rolland seemed to be getting amusingly impatient.

"Trying to look out for me, eh doc?" Duo shot back. "Or should I say, Meister R?"

The man did not flinch at all this time. "It's two against one."

From his gesture of surrender Duo let a single finger point in the man's direction. "Three against one. You're here."

The man shook his head once, firmly. Definitely not the intimidated, nervous guy Duo had presumed him to be. "This isn't my fight, Maxwell," he replied evenly.

Duo smirked. "Of course not." He turned towards the two duplicates that were now edging closer to him in anticipation. "You know, we could walk out of here as friends."

"I don't think so." 'Wufei' laughed out harshly, the sound only momentarily causing Duo's stomach to twist inside his body.

After a second's worth of composure Duo shrugged. "Then you won't walk out of here at all."

Rolland smiled at that. "Brave talk from a kid."

Duo thought it was rather presumptuous that the man referred to him as a 'kid.' After all he was twenty-one years old and he'd already been a fucking Gundam pilot, fought in the war, helped to acquire universal peace and been offered a job with the Preventers. He was absolutely positive that was more good than this version of a mad scientist had done in his entire life.

But Duo decided to stay silent, waiting, staring at the duplicates in a challenging manner. Oh yes, this was definitely going to be fun.

'Wufei' made the first move and Duo feigned left towards 'Quatre' who rocked back in surprise. The braided man planted his heel calculatingly on the pavement and jerked the opposite way of a fist coming towards his head and smashed the attacker in the stomach with his elbow. He'd learned from days of sparring with Heero on Peacemillion about the position just above the stomach, the solar plexus, and its apparent vulnerability. With the right amount of force the whole nerve center could be shut down, causing the target to fall in a desperate struggle for breath. He added a kick to the side of the skull for good measure.

The poor excuse for 'Wufei Chang' was out instantly.

But he didn't have time to gloat as 'Quatre' was coming back at him now, straight and fast and Duo ducked quickly under the man's un-calculated right hook, his lithe form rolling behind him to appear on his other side, kicking hard at the edge of his knee. He heard a hollow pop and an immense groan of pain as the blond slumped down. He placed a heavy chop to the man's neck and thanked his lucky fucking stars he'd remembered some of the martial arts the real Wufei had begrudgingly instructed him on some years ago.

All in all it took him about fifteen seconds to bring the two imitations down. Don't ever fucking mess with Shinigami.

And even after all of that Rolland's gun hadn't wavered. Oh well, Duo had him right where he wanted him anyways.

"You know, I think your daughter's looking for you," he started, bringing his palms back up, though he did not relinquish any of his weaponry like he'd been instructed.

Rolland fit him with a greasy smile. "Yes, I am well aware."

"Hiding out right underneath our noses all these years. Never heard of a Meister R before now." Duo again watched for a reaction, but did not receive one.

The man simply nodded. "I played my part well it seems."

"Don't flatter yourself. Leaving little bread crumbs, hiding behind Quinze and the whole operation. Seems a little cowardly to me."

"Your opinion I suppose," Rolland said, lips a straight line.

Duo tapped his teeth together in a smile, hooking his chin back towards the wall behind him. "All those photographs? Let me guess, intel on our lives?"

He watched Rolland smile too then, fighting down acid in his throat. The man's eyes flicked to the wall of images and then back to Duo. "Very good intel into creating the super soldiers my fellow scientists couldn't quite seem to get right. But not a bad way to get your attention's either."

"Haven't you ever heard- you're not supposed to play with your food, doc." His braid twitched against his back as he laughed.

The man just shrugged. "Killing 'Heero Yuy' was the main spark to the reunion. It pulled you out from whatever rock you'd been hiding under all these years, didn't it?"

Duo furrowed his brows. That notion was getting to be a little irksome. "I haven't been hiding."

"Your friend Chang seemed to be the only one capable- or perhaps inclined enough- to find you. 'Yuy's' autopsy certainly didn't hurt in that department either. Interesting what some routine testing of a body's physical endurance can drum up."

"So this plan just magically manifested in your fucking head?" He wanted so badly to knock that smug look right off Rolland's face.

"Oh it's been a long time coming. And then when your friend Sean Davis kept popping up in all the wrong places I decided to use it to my advantage. Altering my identity within Winner Corp was a lovely idea, planting a cellphone, inviting general suspicion into the investigation. You know, you have a rather distrustful nature to you, Duo."

Duo felt an unbridled irritation at the way the man said his name as if they were old acquaintances. "So you let us sit and chase our own tails for a while. But still, you led us here with your little packages and riddles. You can't be that stupid, can you?"

It had been confirmed now, entirely and totally confirmed that Sean Davis had neither hide nor tail in this investigation other than to apparently fucking annoy them and keep tabs on them like he'd been saying the whole damn time. If he'd felt inclined, Duo might have actually felt sorry for doubting the man. But he didn't have time for that right now.

"My employer likes to play games so I indulged him- he's got a soft spot for Milliardo Peacecraft so I hear- and I used initials and helped myself out along the way. Someone had to sign for those bodies- dead men can't very well do it. Cut you off the trail for a while, did it not?"

Yeah, it sure as fuck did. Sent them on wild goose chases and down rabbit holes they'd just barely managed to pull themselves back out of. Duo glared. "And gave you opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. The M.R.'s, some of their blood types matched our own and murdering a couple of now suspicious possible witnesses didn't hurt either, eh?"

Rolland shrugged again, so damn nonchalant. "It did not hurt. I knew you'd get to Menta sooner or later, but-"

"But that was your opening. Track us to L2, separate us, make your move. She's a pawn just as much as anyone else in this."

"Of course she is. My daughter was useful in many ways. Loyalty is a very underrated quality nowadays."

Duo's arms were getting heavy just as the conversation seemed to be percolating. This man made his stomach turn, but he couldn't let it show. Not yet at least.

"Where does Preventer fit in? Let me guess, you wound up the whole organization, making this case seem like the pinnacle of importance, just to get your shot at us?"

"Don't act so offended, Maxwell." Rolland shifted his weight, but his weapon's aim did not flinch. "But yes, the organization was rather obliging in the idea of bringing you all together to benefit their own investigation. Just a taste of possible DNA research gone bad was enough to cause suspicion. Manipulating the system was a simple task actually. You have no idea what a few vague newspaper articles can do nowadays."

Duo frowned. "So why the attacks? Bring us all together, then single us out, then back together- you gotta get your priorities straight here."

"My employer couldn't contain his annoyance at your galavanting through the Earth Sphere- he wanted tabs. But the distraction was still affording me the extra time I needed, so I let him deal with it as he saw fit."

"Car and shuttle bombs? Yeah, that seems like a great way to get us back together." Duo could not fight the roll of his eyes.

Rolland looked as though he couldn't care less. "They never killed, did they? Keeping you all alive was the intention of this entire venture."

Duo swallowed once, things were winding down, he could feel it. "And now?" he ventured.

Rolland fit him with a grin, lips pulling back until they were white against his already pale skin. "I think you already know the answer to that."

"You're insane," Duo said, eyes flicking just past the man into the shadows, searching.

Rolland sighed as if suddenly bored. "Most of us are these days, wouldn't you agree?"

Duo racked his brain for more questions, more snide comments, anything to stall the man. They had to be getting close, though there was no way to know for certain. But he had to hold out just a little bit longer-

The sound of a cell phone ringing cut into Duo's internal panic. He watched as Rolland carefully reached for the device, pulling it from his pocket and answering wordlessly, only listening to the other end.

After a few heartbeats he stepped forward and held out the phone. "It's for you."

Duo had not been expecting that. Shit. He held out his hand tentatively to retrieve the device, but nothing happened, no tricks, no nothing. He still had his gun and his knife, though now Rolland's proximity was enough for him to know not to risk it. So he held the phone to his ear instead. "Maxwell," he muttered.

"We need to talk." It was Quinze. How nice of him to check in.

"So talk." Duo's unoccupied fingers reached up to scratch at his scarred skull, only drawing Rolland's barrel closer to his face in warning.

"I want to make a deal."

Well that was a new one. Duo squinted past his captor at nothing in particular. "This should be good." He even let himself smirk at the thought.

"The terms are very good actually. Care to hear them?"

Duo chewed at the inside of his lip. "Listen, I don't really care what kind of deal you're gonna make. In case you haven't already seen, I just took out two of your clones- mediocre I might add, they're nothing like the originals- and now I'm planning on bypassing this whole thing and going straight back to Prev with my new intel." He gave Rolland a saucy grin. "And I don't think you or your guy here is going to be able to stop me neither."

There was a sigh from Quinze, something like exasperation. "No, you're not. Right now you're stalling for time- working out how you're going to rescue your friends. Waiting for Chang and Yuy perhaps."

Duo caught himself before he could swallow. "Is that so? You a mind reader now, Quinze?"

"No," the man answered evenly, apparently unsurprised that Duo had already figured out his identity. "I just know you well enough to know that you wouldn't trust their safety to that of Preventer. You'd rather see to it yourself."

He did swallow then. "I think you're getting ahead of yourself here. You're assuming I give a shit-"

"Oh, but you do. You wouldn't be here at all if you didn't give a shit."

Taken aback, Duo's lips pulled downwards as he glared a hole in the ground beneath his feet. He tried hard not to sneer in Rolland's newly smug direction. "I think you're pretty confident for a guy fucking with ex-pilots."

Quinze laughed at that. "Pilots 03 and 04 have put a lot of stock in you and your comrades. It's quite touching- their faith in you."

Teeth grinding, Duo took a step forward and ignored the way Rolland readjusted his gun. He knew Quinze was fucking with him now, no way would Quatre or Trowa be sitting somewhere begging for their lives, waiting to be rescued like fucking damsels. It was all a bunch of bullshit, just trying to mess with his head just like everything else lately. All the photographs, all the riddles, all the drug-induced hallucinations. Everything.

"What are your terms?" he bit out.

He could tell Quinze was smiling now. He wanted desperately to knock any of his remaining teeth out with one good right-hook. "You and Chang and Yuy come in now. We sit down, all of us, and talk this out like gentlemen. Your lives guaranteed."

Bullshit. Duo's eyes flicked up towards Rolland now- he vaguely wondered how many reinforcements were hiding out in the shadows and crevices around them. Maybe ten, twenty, a hundred. Maybe zero.

"Do we have a deal?" Quinze was asking.

Duo let out a heavy laugh. "Do I have a choice?"

"I suppose not much of one, no."

"How do I know the others are still alive?" Duo's eyes were flicking around now, looking for an opening, a vulnerability. Rolland looked to be growing bored not being included in the conversation.

"Winner and Barton? Trust me, they're alive."

"See here's the thing- I don't fucking trust you, Quinze. Not a lick. I want proof, I want to see them. Bring them out to the doc and me."

"Not a chance." He could hear Quinze tensing. "They stay where they are."

Duo took a deep breath. "Then have fun trying to get your hands on the rest of us." His thumb hit the screen to end the call and then he waited half-a-heartbeat before swerving into action.

Rolland hadn't been giving the one hundred and ten percent attention he'd been giving at the start and so Duo was able to get under his gun arm, shoulder hitting stomach and knocking the wind out of the older body above him. Then his fingers were reaching up to curl around Rolland's hand, finding his thumb and pulling it back, the painful tension causing his muscles to react and loosen his hold on the pistol now flailing dangerously.

It fell to the floor and Duo gave it a vicious kick, sending it skittering across the dirty tiles and under the table near the wall of photographs. But now Rolland was recovering, snarling in his ear and bringing a knee upward to aim at Duo's chin. The braided man managed to lift up enough for the movement to only clip him, stunning him for only a second.

In another circumstance Duo might have been outmatched. Rolland was taller and broader than his own slight frame, but where he lacked meaty muscle he made up for in speed. The doctor's older reflexes were no match for the fist aimed at the side of his skull, fueled by days of pent up rage and aggression. Duo watched as Rolland's body hung vertical in midair for a moment before slumping to the ground in a heap.

He sucked in a few deep breaths, hands going to knees to steady himself after the adrenaline fueled surprise attack. Shit, maybe he was still not totally back from his near-death experience, winded as he was by the exertions he'd been recently putting his body through.

After a moment Duo went to ensure that the duplicates were still indeed unconscious and then went in search of Wufei and Heero.

He hoped his little charade and long-winded chat with both Rolland and Quinze had provided at least a small amount of distraction for his companions to seek out what they'd been hoping to find.

As he edged his body away from the flood-lamps his surroundings were slowly, but surely, plunged back into the thick darkness of night. His eyes adjusted somewhat, but he still felt a bit vulnerable, a bit helpless, like he might run headlong into something fucking bad if he wasn't careful.

Duo wasn't certain exactly what it was he was looking for. Probably a central building, perhaps one similar to where he'd just been, scattered with signs deterring anyone from snooping around more than they should. But in this darkness it would be hard to spot anything like that.

He neared a building, a few stories high from what he could tell by a remnant of moonlight peaking through the clouds. Duo was too busy squinting upwards, eyes searching for a sign, to notice the heap of limbs the toe of his boot made violent contact with, his arms spinning for a second before he caught his balance.

He'd retrieved his gun on impulse, dropping to his knees to come face to face with a very lifeless corpse. It was a man, neck snapped, skin already cooling; not a clone, just a thug. Fuck, it had been efficient and quick and utterly radiated with Heero Yuy's handiwork.

Duo smiled in the darkness before picking himself back up, careful to skirt around the body, and keeping his eyes down in search of any more. He found the entrance then, marked by a shining pool of what he could assume was blood by the coppery stench it left behind. He stepped over it best he could, knocked his body through a makeshift plastic doorway and then found the owner to said bodily fluid, propped against the wall, eyes wide, red hole glaring up right between them.

He grimaced once and then took the stairs down the hall to his left until the faint sound of papers shuffling and muffled voices led him down another hallway and to a door only half-way closed, a trickle of light glowing from within.

Duo nudged it open with the barrel of his gun, but did not receive the reaction he'd been expecting. Instead Heero and Wufei simply looked up from a table spread with documents and vials and needles, utterly unsurprised by his sudden appearance. Shit, he hadn't been that obvious, had he?

"Rolland's here," he said by way of greeting, moving forward to studying whatever it was the two men were rifling through. "Or Meister R or M.R. or whatever-the-fuck."

Wufei stared. "So Yuy was correct. We've had a photograph of him this whole time."

Heero gave a grunt- perhaps in agreement or audacity at ever having been doubted in the first place. Duo's head bobbed. "Yeah and he's been using Sean Davis against us this whole bloody time too."

"And what of your theory?" Wufei asked.

There was a moment of hesitation, a moment where he wanted to gloat, but then it passed in lieu of the darkening mood enveloping them with each passing minute. "It's Quinze. I don't know how or why but it's him. Seems like he's the benefactor Tro talked about."

"I don't think we've got much time," Heero said then, not looking up from a print-out his eyes were mechanically scanning, all but ignoring the conversation taking place in front of him.

Duo licked his lips. "Oh yeah, why's that?"

Heero set the paper down and then reached to pick up a small styrofoam box to set it atop the table. He placed his fingers at the edge and angled it for Duo to see what was inside. The entire thing was filled with vials and bags of blood all labeled the exact same way: Barton.

He'd never been one to recoil at the sight of blood, but still Duo felt a bit queazy. "Shit, do we have a plan?"

"We are almost done documenting," Wufei answered, as he snapped off a few more pictures of important looking documents with a pen sized camera. He looked up then. "As far as the rest of our plan- it's kind of up in the air."

Duo felt his stomach drop at the unintended insinuation. "We close to the helipad?"

Heero retrieved a paper from his back pocket, folding it open halfway to reveal the blu-print. He touched a building with his thumb. "We are here-" he moved the appendage a couple of inches north- "the pad is here."

"So that's where they've got to be. Right?" Duo didn't like sounding so unsure of his own words. "They've got what they need and now they have to dispose of what they don't."

All three men stared past one another in grim understanding that what had just been said had most likely been the exact truth of the matter. Shit, they were running out of time.

"What would you do now?" Wufei was staring at him again. "If you were in charge here and your enemy was running rampant getting into things they shouldn't."

Duo felt his muscles stiffen at the way both pairs of eyes were looking at him now, somehow expectant like he was suddenly a foremost authority. Which shit, he certainly wasn't. "They've got vehicles. If that were me, I'd get in those cars and run us down. On foot this place is big- but against cars it would get a whole lot smaller."

Wufei resigned to a slow nod, wheels turning. "The fence keeps us in just as well as it keeps us out."

"And if they don't find us?" Heero supplied.

Duo grimaced. "They assume we got out and they panic."

Heero was already moving, out towards the hallway and towards those dead bodies of men just doing their jobs, just doing as they were told. "And then they kill their bargaining chips and bunker down."

Wufei and Duo followed close behind, silent with nothing left to discuss.

By the time they heard the sound of engines being awakened and saw headlamps flooding the surrounding area with blinding light they'd made it to helipad.

It wasn't as hard to get to as Duo had at first predicted. The machine was housed smack in the middle of a slew of offices, ground-level, nothing entirely flashy about it except for the stark white color that seemed to glow in the darkness around them. The three men edged close to the helicopter's left side, using it as a shield against the three jeeps that had been fired up a few seconds before.

"How long will it take?" Wufei whispered in Duo's ear, barely audible over the coughing engines.

"For them to case the place?" Duo mumbled back. "I dunno, probably four, five minutes. Maybe less."

It seemed enough of an estimate as Wufei made a gesture towards the nearest cluster of offices. They waited several seconds after the jeeps made their way towards the building they'd just vacated and then the three headed away from the helicopter.

The first three rooms they encountered were locked. The fourth was not, in fact the door was even cracked open to allow a small amount of artificial light to seep out into the shadows. It could have been anyone, or no one.

Heero took point, Glock at the ready, stepped into the door to push it open with his shoulder and take aim. Duo and Wufei followed suit to find absolutely nothing out of the ordinary, a regular looking office, bland toap walls, a faux wood bookshelf, a couple of metal-legged chairs.

Nothing unusual, that is, accept for Menta Rolland sitting behind the desk.

No-one spoke for a long, harsh moment. Then she broke their gaze, eyes averting to hands clasped in her lap. "He's my father," she said.

For a brief second Duo wanted nothing more than to scream in frustration. Why was everything always so fucking complicated? And he'd not ever even met the woman, but somehow he was feeling some sort of weird sense of remorse for her in the deepness of his chest. Fuck, he hated it. Fuck this empathy.

So instead he spat out, "Loyalty's a bitch, huh?"

The woman looked back up then, eyes narrowed in aggression, but Duo wasn't about to apologize for the obvious truth in his words.

"Your friends are here," Menta told them.

Wufei gave a little nod, maybe trying not to look as angry as he did from Duo's perspective. "We know," he ground out.

Menta's jaw tightened. "He's my father," she repeated.

This time it was Heero's turn. "Yes," he said. "We aren't going to kill you, if that's what you think."

Huh, Duo sure hadn't been expecting that from the Perfect Soldier himself. But, they'd already caused a bit of bloodshed, hadn't they? And after all, the woman had been coerced, no fucking doubt about that. Death wasn't a fitting punishment, they'd leave that one up to Une herself.

And then, entirely unexpectedly, the plan he'd been searching for all night, suddenly manifested inside of Duo's head.

"Do they know you around here?" he asked the woman, tipping his gun lower in hopes of proving Heero's statement true.

She narrowed her eyes again, suspicious. "I've been here before, yeah."

"Pick up the phone."

"Why?"

Duo huffed out a sigh. "Listen, Yuy here may not plan on shooting you, but I know a dozen places to put a bullet where it won't kill you, but it is damn well gonna hurt like a mother-fucker."

Menta swallowed once and picked up the phone on the desk in front of her.

Duo smiled. "I want you to tell the gate guard to open up exactly one minute from now."

The woman gave a tiny nod of understanding, but what Duo received from the two men on either side of him was straight confusion. As to have been expected. Hell, he'd just thought of the idea himself not more than a thirty seconds ago.

"Do you trust me?" he muttered, not directing it specifically, but more of a general question to both of his companions.

He could feel the tension start to radiate immediately. But he'd always been unpredictable, surely they couldn't be that surprised by this. He flicked eyes to first Heero and then Wufei. Neither answered outright, but he could tell the answer anyways.

Menta had the phone to her ear now, they could hear the faintness of a ringer sounding two times before the gate guard picked up. She spoke in a low tone, but kept it even, her eyes never leaving Duo's pistol. Good girl, he might have praised if he were that kind of condescending asshole.

"When the gate opens-" he went on flicking his vision from both Heero and Wufei. "-we head for the car and get the hell out of dodge."

Wufei glowered. "And then what?"

"We come back with reinforcements."

Heero too was frowning. "In time?"

"The faster we get out now, the faster we get back," Duo explained. Menta was hanging up the phone now, looking to him for the next instruction.

Because he didn't want to fair anymore of his comrade's questions, he said to the woman, "Empty your pockets." And then confiscated her cellphone before adding in the lightest voice he could manage at a time like this. "You stay put, got it? And if you do then we'll be sure to put in a good word for you at Preventer- explain how cooperative you were, make sense?"

She just nodded, her resolve clearly weakening with each passing word that left Duo's mouth. He then reached for the phone, finding the cable that attached it to the network and pulled it straight from the wall, throwing the thing into a heap on the desk with little care.

Then he turned back towards the door, pointedly ignoring the stare of bewilderment from Wufei and especially the one of near suspicion from Heero, and dragged one of the metallic chairs with him out into the hallway. Once the three had filed out, not another word spoken, he shoved the back of the chair upwards under the door handle. It wasn't the best form of security, but he was almost certain his words had done the trick all on their own.

And then when he turned to leave Heero's hand was on his wrist, the fingers biting into his flesh. "Duo-"

Duo ignored the tone of concern and pulled away, amazed that the man actually let him go so easily. "We've got to get moving. Twenty seconds till the gate opens."

They ran then, full fledged through the night, only hearing the vague rumble of the jeeps in the distance on the other edge of the campus. Duo kept pace with them all the way there, even as his lungs burned with the exertion. When they could see the gate he made a show to slow his pace, only by a few seconds, but he allowed his breathing to labor causing Heero to check on him only once as they neared the exit.

By the time they were within range the gate was moving, wheels screeching against the ground, the metal wire pulling with an initial jerk. There were headlights, he could see them creeping around the corner of the building closest to them. The sight caused Heero and Wufei to move faster. It told Duo to slow down.

There was shouting somewhere and then the gate was moving again, this time back into its secure position, but the two men ahead were already moving through it, slipping through the pool of light from the guard hut and moving out of sight. Duo watched them go, but only for a heartbeat.

Just as the jeep was turning the corner he was gone, feet carrying him fast back from where he'd just come. Fifteen seconds later he was standing next to the helicopter once again, alone and ready for his next move.