Author's Note: Here's Chapter Four, brought to you by your own wonderful reviews! Seeing as this received such nice feedback, I thought I would continue for as long as I have the random ideas in my head. Thank you to ktkakes, Facetiouslymischievious, numbuh 126, and Passionate Fire for your reviews on the last chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own the movie Newsies, nor any of the characters from said movie. They belong rightfully to Disney. All other characters that are mentioned belong to my imagination.

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Chapter Four: Secret Agents By Night

"All right, Mush. Here we are."

"Crutchy, this is just the Lodging House," Mush said, slightly confused.

"Not anymore. This," Crutchy gestured around the Lobby of the Lodging House, "is just the beginning." He looked at Mush seriously. "Are ya ready?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I guess so."

"Okay." Crutchy glanced around one last time to double check before reaching into his vest pocket. He pulled out a flat, rectangular card and handed it to Mush.

Mush took the card carefully. There was barely anything on it; the card was white in color and featured a series of black lines, each line varying in thickness, at the bottom. Other than that, it was empty.

"What is this?"

"That's your Identification Card," Crutchy answered.

"Identification Card?"

"I'll show ya," he said and waved Mush over to follow him. "Just do exactly what I do."

They stepped behind the counter – Mush thought Kloppman was the only person allowed in this area – and in front of the mailboxes. Crutchy cleared one cubicle of envelopes and held his own ID card in front of it. Suddenly, a faint blue glow emanated from the cubicle and onto the card. Then, the light disappeared. Crutchy pocketed his card and -

Mush froze. Where did Crutchy go? He was just standing right there! Mush began to panic and looked under the counter in search of Crutchy. He cautiously felt around the floor to check if there was some sort of trap door.

Okay, he thought to himself, trying to calm down. I just have to do exactly as he did. . If this is some sort of big joke, I'm never talking to any of them again. Especially Blink. With that thought, he slowly exhaled and tentatively held his card in front of the cubicle. The strange blue light appeared again, making Mush very nervous, and disappeared.

"Now wha – AHT!"

Mush felt the floor give from under him and felt a sickening lurch in his stomach as he fell. He closed his eyes tightly until he abruptly realized he was not freefalling into a bottomless pit. In fact, he was not falling at all. Mush was sliding. He was inside a small cylindrical tunnel that twisted and turned every which way, shuffling his insides into a knot.

"Whoa!" Mush exclaimed as he slid out of the tunnel and onto the floor. He landed on his feet, teetered, and fell on his bottom.

"Hey, not bad for your first time!" Crutchy said, impressed. "That was just one of the portals that lead into our Headquarters. There's one in the third toilet stall upstairs, another under the writing desk and this one which we nicknamed the 'Tunnel of Love.'"

"The 'Tunnel of Love'?"

"It involved an incident with David and Jack… ya had to be there," Crutchy answered, chucking over the memory.

Jake strolled in and greeted Mush. He asked Crutchy, "Hey, giving him the tour now?"

"Yeah, just told him about the portals."

"Most people forget that we also have the stairs," Jake informed Mush, pointing towards a doorway to his left.

Great, thought Mush as he got to his feet. Why couldn't we have taken the stairs?

"So, any questions before we continue?" Crutchy asked.

"Yeah, what was that blue light? And what – how – who made – where…?"

Jake took it upon himself to answer. "The blue light? It comes from the scanner. The scanner's a machine that reads your ID card to make sure that you're a member of the Agency. Once the scan is complete, you gain access to Headquarters and all that's inside. That's why your ID card is really important. Keep the card with you – and out of sight – at all times. The scanner also temporarily stops the invisibility chip we installed into the card: You'll see that your card has your picture, your name and your Agency sector. That only lasts for thirty seconds for security purposes."

Sure enough, Mush watched his picture and information on the card fade. He could not believe his eyes.

"It's like magic," Mush said in wonder.

"It's technology," announced a passing Dutchy. "Hey, guys," he said, taking a bite out of a sandwich as he walked by.

"Okay, hope you got all that because there's more," said Crutchy.

Mush's eyes widened when he finally took in the scene before him. He could never have even imagined the technology that was at work in the room. There was a curious buzzing that filled the room and Mush could not help but notice all the strange buttons on the walls. A rectangular table stood in the middle of the room, holding what looked like a pile of books.

"This is the Control Room. It's where we keep track of the agents in the field and communicate with them wherever they may be. And this," Crutchy picked up a small device from the table, "is how we do it. It's the smallest communications device yet. You just have to place it in your ear. Like an earplug."

Crutchy dropped the device into Mush's open palm. Mush took the gadget between his thumb and forefinger and, uncertainly, positioned it inside his ear. He poked at it to make sure it would not fall out.

"Hey, how'd ya know how to use it?" Crutchy asked, surprised.

"Huh? What do ya mean?"

"When ya wanna get in contact with anyone in the Control Room, all you have to do is give the com device a light tap. Now, you're connected to the network! Let's give it a test run."

Crutchy walked over to the communications control panel and pushed a single button. He then pulled on the microphone and said, "How's that? Ya hear me loud and clear?"

Mush did a double take. "It's like you're inside my head!"

"Convenient, isn't it?" said a voice from behind him.

Mush turned and saw Specs walking towards them.

"I made the new design," Specs told Mush, pointing at his own chest and nodding in an It-was-all-me manner. He continued on. "Yeah, I've got some things up my sleeve. Big ideas, huge projects to revamp this place. Moving stairs, sliding doors – I've got blueprints to make scanners read your fingerprints so we won't need the ID cards. That'll save some plastic. I've also got an idea to make smaller microphones that you can put," he demonstrated with his hands, "around your head. I'm going to call them 'headphones.' Get it?"

"Why don't you start by changin' the damn lightin' in this place, huh? Hiya, Mush."

"Hi, Race. Hi, Jack."

Jack placed a friendly arm around Mush's shoulders. He was well aware of the dissension among the Agents regarding Mush's admission into the Agency. But the majority ruled, and Jack had to set the example by accepting Mush with open arms. It was not difficult – Mush was one of the nicest guys he knew. And perhaps the younger newsie was naïve, but he certainly was not stupid; for this reason, Jack had voted him in.

"How's it goin', Mush? Tour goin' all right?" Jack asked.

"Yeah. It's just… a lot."

"Old man Klopps gave me the tour," Race shared. "Saw all this with my own eyes, still didn't believe it for days." He glimpsed over the articles on the table and scrunched his nose as he picked up a thick manual. "A history of the Agency," he said, shaking his head. "I think Davey's the only one who ever finished reading this."

Jack broke away from the group and moved towards the main console. The north wall of the room displayed five surveillance monitors and the major communications controls. Jake sat in front of these controls, taking over for Crutchy while he gave Mush the tour. A voice suddenly crackled through the speakers.

"Jake, I'm going to need --"

The voice belonged to Pegasus.

Static.

"I'll get back to you," she finished.

"Somethin' goin' on?" Jack asked.

"Peg's on patrol duty. Looks like she's on the move, fast."

Jack glanced up at the east wall map screen and saw a single blinking light progressing westward. He was always surprised by how fast she could run; after all, Pegasus' becoming an agent was based on an accident.

"Listen, Jake. I know this ain't protocol, but I'm switching missions tonight. Me and Race are going to check out that Silewe guy from the papes this mornin'."

"What about the Weasel?"

"Weasel's on hiatus for now."

Jake agreed sooner than Jack had anticipated. He explained, "The Black Panthers is a big case. You gotta put a stop to a gang like that before they get more gutsy. I mean, Kloppman completely dropped the Silverman case for this week because of them."

"Yeah," said Jack. "All right, Jake. Me and Race are headin' out."

"Hope you guys find somethin'," Jake said.

Jack smiled. "We will."