For tege, who gave me the idea.
Mindworms
The Storm Hawks, with the exception of Junko, were on the bridge. Stork, of course, was in his place at the helm.
However, he wasn't as alert as he normally was. None of them were. After all, it was late and it had been a rather long day.
Finn and Aerrow were seated at the table, falling asleep. A bleary-eyed Piper was trying to look over a map. Radarr was already asleep and draped over Aerrow's shoulder.
But they were soon woken by the sound of footsteps. They looked at each other nervously…except for Radarr who was still asleep. They quietly walked up to the bridge door and listened.
Junko stepped out of the bathroom, yawning. The shower was refreshing but it didn't do much to wake him up.
He yawned again and then blinked at the sight before him. "Uhm…Dark Ace…?"
The sleepy Talon commander turned around. "Yeah…?"
"That's Finn's room." He pointed over to the room they had made up for Starling. "You can sleep in that one if you're tired."
Dark Ace yawned. "Thanks."
"You're welcome," the Wallop said cheerfully, walking to the bridge.
The footsteps were now coming towards them. They gulped. The door opened.
"Hey, guys. Watcha doin'?"
"Ahhhh…!"
"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."
"It's okay, Junko," Aerrow assured. "You didn't happen to notice anything strange? Stork thinks he saw something outside."
"No," Junko replied. "Just Dark Ace."
"What?!?" the others yelped.
"Oh, don't worry," the Wallop continued nonchalantly. "He's just sleeping. He was headed for Finn's room, but I told him he could sleep in Starling's room. He seemed really tired."
The others just stared at him. "What?"
Aerrow walked past him and down the corridor (Radarr still draped over his shoulder) with the others following. He opened the door to Starling's room.
Sure enough, there was Dark Ace—fast asleep.
"How come we never notice him getting here?" Finn queried. "It's like he's a ninja or a ghost. Or a ninja-ghost."
The next morning
They all stood in the hallway next to their doors, waiting. The door to Starling's room opened and Dark Ace stepped out. (No. Starling wasn't in there.) And then yawned. And then stepped into the bathroom.
A few minutes later he stepped out of the bathroom, walked down the hallway and to the hangar. The Storm Hawks followed.
They watched him mount his Switchblade. "Thanks again," he said, waving to them.
He started the engine and quickly took to the sky. They stood at the edge of the hangar until Dark Ace was out of sight.
Junko sighed. "I miss him. I wish he'd stayed for breakfast." The rest of the group stared at him. "What?"
Stork looked him in the eyes, closely. "Just as I expected. Mindworms…."
apparently, only junko's used to him popping up
The rest of them will eventually get used to it.
And how come they never notice him getting there? Maybe he really is a ninja ghost.
