Patterns - An Academy Story

Part 39 - Secret Ninjas On The Town

Author's Note:

It's a Christmas miracle, Lazarus has risen, and supernatural forces are at work. In other words, I've updated. Thank you to everyone who's been reading, voting, and commenting. Life gets busy, and the guys don't always talk to me, but rest assured, this story has not been abandoned. (That means some of you can take it off your abandoned reading lists)

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Sang's POV

"Knock, knock."

I jumped with a start and turned my head to see Luke standing in the open doorway of my office. I eyed him suspiciously. "Luke, I distinctly recall closing my office door when I returned from lunch."

He grinned at me. "You recall correctly then," he said.

"How did you open it without making any noise?" I asked, curious.

"Professional secret. I can't tell you or I'd get kicked out of the union."

"The union, huh," I replied, crossing my arms across my chest. "Does this union approve of you sneaking in to someone's office without them knowing it?"

"Of course. What kind of union would it be if they didn't approve of sneaking in to the office of a pretty girl?" he asked, still smiling at me.

I shook my head and laughed. "I'm beginning to think that Sean isn't the only incorrigible one on your team."

He laughed. "You're probably right. He's three years older than me, though, so he's had more practice."

He looked around the office and wandered over to where an old CD player sat on a file cabinet. I watched in amusement as he popped the player open and took out the disc that was in the player.

"What's this?" he asked, holding up the CD.

"Just an old mix that I put together a long while back. Some classical, a bit of rock, a few pop and k-pop songs. I actually forgot it was in there," I told him.

"Can I borrow it?" he asked.

"Sure, if you want to," I said, not sure why he'd be interested in a CD I put together when I was a teenager.  "I take it you're on babysitting detail next?" I asked as I watched him tuck the CD in to his jacket pocket.

"Yup," he said, popping the P at the end. "The guys said you needed to go take pictures of some house. You want to do that now?"

I glanced out the window to check the light and weather. It was still light enough out, and the clouds had cleared up.  "Now would be good," I told him. "Let me close up here and we can head out."

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We walked down the street in comfortable silence. I appreciated the fact that he didn't feel the need to talk all of the time. As we waited for the walk light, I looked over at him. He had a faraway look in his eyes, as if he was daydreaming about something. The walk light turned green and I nudged his arm to get his attention.  "Our turn," I said, smiling up at him.

"I have kind of a weird request to make," I told him as we crossed the street.

He looked at me with a curious expression on his face. "What is it?" he asked.

"I need to pretend I'm someone else when I show up to take pictures of this house," I told him. 

"Someone else? Who are you pretending to be?" he asked. His expression was both curious and puzzled now.

"At lunch I mentioned to Victor and Gabriel that I have what I call 'alts.'  They're alternative personas to who I am. It's kind of like undercover, but not exactly," I tried to explain. "They're different identities that have been set up for me. One of my alts is who needs to take pictures of this house for a brochure."