SECRETS AND AGENTS ~ Sanders Sides

{F I V E}

The night air of the city was still and crisp, the sky was dark and the stars were covered in clouds, making it even harder to spot the three men running silently over the rooftops. A child looked out of his window at that moment and claimed he saw ninjas but his parents just hushed him and shut the curtains, telling him it was already way past his bedtime and that he needed to sleep.

The three 'ninjas' darted over the gaps effortlessly, catching each other and hardly making a sound as they pattered over the rooftops. The clouds grew wetter and wetter and, eventually, a storm of rain was hammering down on them, making their clothes stick to their skin tightly and their hair dripped water down onto the rooftops.

This did not sit well with one of these 'ninjas'.

"Damn," Cursed Roman, pausing and brushing hair out of his mask and attempting pitifully to sort it out. "It actually looked cute, y'know."

"Roman," Logan muttered warningly, reluctantly stopping.

Patton swallowed. "Guys, we gotta get to the mall soon!"

"Yeah, yeah, I know, padre," Roman mumbled, sighing impatiently as he gave up. "I just never get the chance to look good!"

Logan whispered something under his breath before picking up the pace again. Patton shrugged at Roman before chasing after his friend, leaving Roman to promise himself some sulking time after the mission, maybe a warm shower, and then he began to follow them too.

The three continued their routine, leaping through the rain and sliding across gravelly office roofs. For a moment, Patton nearly gave them away, foot slipping and he would've fallen heavily on the roof of an apartment, but his friends caught him instantly, barely even letting him wobble. Patton flashed the two a smile and the pace was started once more.

After a small while, they arrived at the shopping mall and Logan was exhausted.

"Why," He panted heavily, "Can't we ever drive?"

"Too loud, easier to stop, too noticeable," Shrugged Roman. "Besides, teach, you need your exercise. You barely do anything other than reading, hacking and deciphering."

Logan glared. "Someone has to, in this team."

The three adjusted their masks, looking down at Swan Quay Shopping Centre, the biggest in town. It was empty, small red lights were flashing inside, most likely the alarms of shops. The parking spots were all empty, which confused them at first until they saw the big, black van parked right up by the main entrance.

Their boss had warned them of a gang, wanting to rob a few shops before hitting the road last minute, and this gang were sloppy. Their bandanna masks were too creative, easily recognisable in a search and a few of them didn't even have bandanna masks. Not to mention, none of them had decided to take out the CCTV, which was annoying. Logan, Roman and Patton were not supposed to have any video footage of them while working. Jesus, these gangs just don't want to make their jobs easy for them, do they?

Logan reached onto his back, using slow movements, as to not alert the lookouts, even if they weren't looking up at the rooftops. He lay down carefully, Patton and Roman backing up, and he swapped out the tranquilisers to 'chips'. Logan held his breath, aiming and then firing. Only he was close enough to hear the small puff of air from his sniper and the tiny chip flew, smacking one of the cameras. Instantly, it fizzed and dropped, the tiny green light to warn people it was on flickering until dying out. Logan aimed again. In seconds, every camera was down.

"They've got guns," Whispered Patton, narrowing his eyes.

"Patton, they are literally just gorillas with he ability to dress stupidly," Roman sniffed. "Besides, we'll take them out before they get to even fire a shot."

Patton nodded and Logan switched out the chips back to tranquilisers. "Your turn, boys," He smiled. "I'll cover you.

Roman and Patton exchanged a glance and both turned to peer over the ledge of the building.

"You go for the van, I'll go for one of the guys?" Roman suggested.

Patton shrugged. "Seems fair."

The two retreated to the farthest end of the building and both took a deep breath. They sprinted and vaulted, swimming silently in the air, rain smacking them in the face harshly, but neither changed course. Gravity began to take hold just as thunder rumbled in the air and a streak of lightning flashed. At that point, the two had dropped onto their targets.

Roman appeared above one of the men, bracing for impact and landing on his shoulders. The man gasped, losing balance, flailing his arms and landing harshly on his back, already unconscious. Roman stumbled off him and turned to the guy next to him, delivering a quick punch to her stomach, kneeing her in the nose as she bowled over, then swept her legs from beneath her, suddenly he tumbling to the ground. He took her gun from her and a well-aimed tranquiliser blast from Logan put her out for the count.

Patton flew down, down, down, catching a pole on the back of the van, used to open the trunk and using his momentum to swing around the corner, throwing the back open and kicking a guy in the face, boot crunching their nose. He let go, still hurtling forwards, and knocked over two others, leaving three unconscious behind him. One, who'd been sitting on the bonnet began to aim her pistol at him, but she was slow and unsteady. Patton lunged forwards and gently grabbed a pressure point, making her jerk and drop her weapon. Logan fired a tranquiliser at her and she slumped forwards.

Six down and, so far, not a noise. The last remaining two, picking at the mall's' doors lamely hadn't even noticed they were there. Roman and Patton took care of them quickly. This had only taken about one minute.

A flash of lightning illuminated that no other gang member was left standing and Roman held a hand up to Logan, who returned the gesture and reached into a bag. If you had binoculars, you'd see him taking out what looked like a phone.

Logan skimmed through his contacts and clicked the one with the letter 'V' as it's' name.

"Hello, Vine," He said once his boss had picked it up. "Mission a success. Call in the cleaners, we're going back home."

{''}

Patton climbed in through the window first, feeling his muscles burning at the last push. He fell into the apartment, rolling on the ground with a quiet sigh. From Virgil's' room was silence, showing he hadn't heard them and was still sleeping.

Logan swung in next, landing on the couch with a pounce, and Roman crawled in, taking off his mask and wringing it out there and then.

"Everyone, put your uniform away silently and, Patton, check on Virgil when you're done," Instructed Logan in a whisper.

Roman frowned. "How come it's always Patton who checks on Virgil?"

Logan arched an eyebrow. "Because you get distracted. Just do as I say, we don't want him waking up."

Patton shrugged when Roman looked at him pleadingly, pulling off his own mask and beginning to wander out to his room. He stripped off his black uniform, changing into a cat onesie he had been hanging by his radiator to warm up. He flicked the hood up over his wet hair and made his way out of his room, after hanging the black clothes to dry on the heater. Patton padded silently to Virgil's' room, opening the door and peering in.

The emo was sleeping soundlessly, hidden under the covers and breathing softly. His curtains were half open and, as usual, his room was messy. Patton smiled fondly and shut the door to see Roman, who'd been peering over his shoulder.

Patton raised an eyebrow and Roman went bright red.

"He's cute," He argued weakly but retreated shyly back to his room.

A small smile on his face, Patton rolled his eyes and decided now was the time to go to bed because, sadly, he had to go to his cover job in the morning.