A/N: Well, after a long period of time, I've finally written Chapter 5! I bet you all thought I'd given up on this story, didn't ya? Oh well, I'm a slave to circumstance and laziness (not a good combination, believe me) and I blame them both for me not putting out this chapter sooner. It's been a tough period, but hopefully my current inspiration won't give out on me. (goes and pleads with her muse)

Also, it's come to my attention that some people think that Forte is acting out of character... Don't worry, I know this and there IS a reason why. I know what I'm doing... I think. (sweatdrops)

Oh well, on with the show... or story.

Disclaimer: The characters of Rockman.EXE belong to CAPCOM, Shogakukan and Shopro... definitely don't belong to me, nor do I claim to own them. I'm just borrowing them!!

Chapter 5

The dark Navi glanced furtively around, scanning the area for any danger. Not detecting any, Duskman reached forward and placed his hand on the high security firewall surrounding the system.

"Who would have thought that Rockman's data could have been so helpful," he said to no one in particular.

His eyes dulled for a moment as he processed the data, sending it streaming through his right arm and into the virtual barrier before him. He lifted his hand and stared intently at it, stiff with anticipation.

There was a satisfying click, and the firewall opened a portal for him.

"Too easy," he said nonchalantly, walking through the gap. He turned to watch it close behind him. "You'd think that SciLabs would change their password more often."

He strode haughtily up to the next barrier.

Soon Forte-sama, he thought grimly. Soon you'll have your wish.

-------------------------------------

Enzan looked around the crowded airport impatiently. He sighed and glanced at the clock. It now read 14:53.

"I'm sure it won't be much longer," he muttered to himself. "They did say that the flight had been delayed on take off due to bad weather."

Blues looked on from his PET. His operator looked tired. It had been almost two weeks since the attack on Rockman and Netto. Enzan had been following leads the entire time, leads that always lead to dead ends.

He had, however, taken time off to visit Netto in hospital in the last couple of days. He was doing considerably better, although his energy levels were still alarmingly low. That hadn't stopped him from complaining loudly about the quality of hospital food though. Rockman too, was doing well, making a full recovery thanks to Yuuichirou's and Meijin's efforts. He had also experienced periods of lethargy due to the link.

"Attention, Flight 317 has just landed. Would all disembarking passengers please be sure to collect all bags from the-"

Enzan stopped listening, having just caught sight of a familiar Sharo Net Saviour approaching.

Laika let a small smirk linger on his face as he caught sight of the Vice-President of IPC. His brow furrowed quickly, however, into a look of concern. Fatigue was evident in the boy's posture, and his face was mask-like.

"Hello Laika, it's good to see you again," Enzan said, closing the last few meters between them and grasping the older boy's hand in welcome.

"It's good to be back," he said, shaking his hand firmly.

"We can get going right away," the dual-haired boy said soberly. "Chief Kifune is expecting us."

Laika nodded silently and they turned towards the exit.

-------------------------------------

"Maybe I don't give them enough credit," Duskman muttered darkly, dodging the barrage of blaster shots being fired at him. He'd breached the fifth firewall before he had been noticed. Luckily for him, they hadn't figured out how he'd managed to penetrate this far, allowing him to bypass the next three firewalls while avoiding the majority of the security Navis. He'd hit a bit of a snag at the latest firewall in the form of the Net Police's standard Navis, who had managed to follow him through.

"Shimatta," he cursed as a blaster bolt singed his left glove. His eyes darkened menacingly. Summoning his sword, he pointed it at the ground and cried out "Fissure!"

Security and Net Police Navi alike let out yells of surprise and fear as they fell down into the abyss. Letting out a grunt of satisfaction, Duskman proceeded to the last firewall and uploaded the passcode into it.

-------------------------------------

The automated voice echoed around the building accompanied by the standard klaxon siren.

Enzan and Laika jumped out of the limo as fast as they could and bolted through the front doors of the Science Labs, startling the already frazzled staff. Coming to a halt at the reception the two boys pointed their PET's at the terminal, plugging in their two Navi's, then hurriedly proceeded to the elevator.

-------------------------------------

Yuuichirou typed furiously on the keyboard in front of him, trying desperately to erect some sort of defence to the data that he had so recently uploaded into the SciLabs mainframe. A terrible mistake, he now realised, as his typing speed increased. But his excitement at the discovery of this lost data and need to decipher it, along with the distractions caused by his worry over his two sons' conditions and his need to reassure his wife that all would be fine, had finally culminated in the current situation.

He noted dimly that two Navi's that he recognised had appeared amongst the Security and Net Police Navis, but tried not to let it distract him. He also ignored the two young Net Saviours as they came bursting into the room a couple of minutes later. They had a job to do, and he had his.

He smiled grimly as the last of the code was typed on the computer, executing the program immediately and being rewarded as the firewall appeared around the data. He sighed with relief, briefly stretching, before reaching down to his bag and pulling out his laptop, connecting it with the terminal.

The easy part was over. Now came the hard part, downloading all the data before the renegade Navi breached this firewall too.

-------------------------------------

Blues's eyes narrowed under his visor as he scanned the area in front of him. He detected severe damage to the system firewalls as well as the energy output of the intruding navi. Detecting the disturbance was one thing. Pinpointing its location was something else. Blues glanced sideways at Searchman, whose expression had darkened as he activated his locator, scanning the area.

"Target acquired," he muttered, dropping to one knee and carefully taking aim. "Permission to fire?"

"Affirma-"

"Wait!"

Laika turned to the scientist, frowning slightly.

"Only if he breaks through," Yuuichirou snapped, causing everyone in the vicinity to turn and stare at him in shock. The usually mild-mannered man had spoken in such a way that he commanded respect and immediate obedience.

Laika hesitated for a moment, before turning back to Searchman.

"Stand by," he said quietly.

Searchman grimaced and acknowledged the order, never taking his sights off the intruder.

"Is it the same navi you encountered in Sharo?" Blues asked impassively.

"Yes."

"Then that's the same navi that attacked Netto and Rockman," said Enzan, anger creeping into his voice.

"We'll have to be quick," Laika said, turning to the younger Net Savior and regarding him seriously. "This Navi's speed is incredible. He was able to dodge one of Searchman's attacks with ease."

'He won't get away this time,' Enzan thought to himself, as he nodded and turned his attention back to his PET.

-------------------------------------

"Meiru-chan? What are you doing here?!" Netto exclaimed loudly, sitting up quickly in his bed.

"Delivering your homework," she said grinning mischievously at the boy before her.

"WHAT?!" he yelled in disbelief. "I still get homework?"

"Of course, Netto-kun," Rockman said, smiling at the obvious annoyance of his operator. "Did you really think that you'd get out of it?" he added, cocking an eyebrow.

Meiru and Roll both giggled as Netto glared at the PET screen.

"Honestly Netto," Meiru said, shaking her head. "It's not like Mariko-sensei would let you fall behind."

She approached his bed and dumped three textbooks and a notepad on the bed.

"You think she'd let me off just this once," the brunette muttered under his breath.

"But she is letting you off," Roll commented. "You only have to study Japanese, Math and English. She said she'd let the rest slide."

Netto groaned and flopped back onto his pillows. He felt the bed sink slightly as Meiru sat down on his covers a few seconds later. Silence fell in the hospital room, the only noise coming from the steady beeping of Netto's heart monitor.

"Netto..."

"Hmm?"

"Are you alright?" she asked concernedly. "And be honest."

"I'm fine," he said, glancing up at the ceiling.

Meiru remained silent for a while, glancing down at her feet which were dangling just above the floor. Suddenly she jumped to her feet. Netto sat up slowly and watched as she made her way to the door.

/Were you being honest with her?/ Rockman voice asked solemnly in his mind.

/Of course I was.../

/Netto-kun.../

There was a slight pause as a flood of confused emotions surged through the link. Concern, protectiveness, guilt and... fear?

/What she doesn't know can't hurt her./

/That's unusually mature for you./ he teased, a smile appearing on his face as he felt his twin's stab of annoyance.

/Shut up./

Meiru stopped at the door and glanced back at the brunette and his navi. She noted with slight amusement, Netto's irritation and Rockman's mirth. It always amazed her at how close the two of them were. She had wondered on occasion if they were aware that their emotions, when mentally communicating, showed on their faces. Probably not, she thought as Netto's irritated expression changed into a pout. She turned away to hide the smile that had covered her face.

"Netto," she called, her back to the room. "Get better soon, okay?"

-------------------------------------

Endnotes: I hope that this isn't too disjointed... I wrote the first part ages ago, but the second part was only written just now. They're both written pretty late... it's 2:45am right now (sweatdrops) I don't know why, but my imagination and creativity seem to magnify when it's late, or when I'm extremely tired. Too bad I'm usually too tired to get my ideas down...