Clara (part 6)

They sat down in the out-of-the-way break-out room, Clara doing her best to look casual and Chris excitedly whipping out his little notebook and pen.  "So..." he began with a wide grin.  "Why do you do it?"

Clara decided to play coy, so with a smirk she replied, "Do what?"

Chris rolled his eyes, which Clara had to admit was a funny look on him.  "You know what I'm talking about, Ninja," he said.

She laughed just a little at how he called her "Ninja".  She was glad there weren't other audio or video recorders in this room.  "That's a rather bold question to start an interview with," she noted.

"Well, I usually like to cut to the chase, get the interesting stuff in first, but I suppose some people like build-up instead."  He shrugged.  "Okay then, tell me about your childhood."

She laughed outright at that.  "That's not necessarily much better.  You don't do softballs, do you?"

He shrugged.  "It depends on the person," he admitted.  And then he just looked at her expectantly.

Clara sighed in defeat and replied, "I guess lucky for you my childhood isn't that interesting.  I had a mom and a dad who were very supportive.  Have, I should say, they're both still alive and married to each other.  I've got an older brother who lives in Seattle and a younger sister who's going to school in St Louis.  I'd appreciate it if you didn't give those details, by the way.  Just say I have two siblings, that's fine.  My childhood was happy.  We even had a dog."

"What was the dog's name?" Chris asked.

"Spot," she replied.  "Very creative, I know.  My sister named him and she was only three at the time, so whatever.  He was a pretty cool dog.  Passed away, wow, almost five years ago now it must have been."  She shrugged.  "Dogs don't tend to live that long in the grand scheme of things."

"But legends do," Chris noted.

Clara laughed again and leaned back in her chair, feeling strangely more relaxed around this odd person.  "I wouldn't say our dog was a legend..." she noted, considering winking at him, but then thinking better of it.

Chris actually blushed a little at that.  "I was talking about you," he said softly.  He was looking at her as he said it, but then he immediately looked back down at his notebook and cleared his throat.  "Okay," he said, "so a good childhood, check.  How about the transition to adulthood?  College?  What did you study?  What did you want to do?"

"Well, I certainly didn't plan on being a superhero, if that's what you're getting at," Clara said with another light laugh that surprised her as it came out.  "At first I thought about going into social work, you know, to help people.  But I quickly found I wasn't empathetic enough for that.  I mean, I care about people, I just can't really connect with them the way you'd need to to work in social work.  I was more... cold I guess."

"I'd think that could be an asset in some ways," Chris noted.  "Not getting caught up in the sob stories that aren't totally true, for example."

Clara shrugged.  "Yeah, I suppose it could have been, but still, it just didn't seem like the right fit.  So I ended up studying business administration instead.  Pretty much the most boring field possible, but honestly, I didn't have many other interests."

"But you had some," Chris prompted, picking up on the use of 'many' instead of 'any'.

Clara smiled softly.  "Yeah, I suppose I had a few," she admitted looking down at the table.  "I liked intramural sports.  I also liked singing so I tried out for a choral group, but I didn't get it so that was that.  I was interested in linguistics, but not enough to major in it.  I think I ended up having it as a minor."  She shrugged and looked back up.  "Not much interesting there, sorry."

He shook his head.  "No, there's plenty.  This doesn't have to be an in-depth analysis of everything you are.  In fact, given our agreement, it couldn't be that anyway.  Nothing too unique, remember?"

Clara smiled and nodded, glad he had remembered.  It baffled her for a moment that this seemingly very respectful man was the same one who had literally broken into her apartment several months ago.  She hoped this wasn't just an act or a ploy.  She was putting a lot of faith in him.  More than she put in literally anyone else in her life.

Chris continued to speak, interrupting her thoughts.  "I guess if we want to make it a bit more interesting, you could answer my original question of why you do what you do as the Ninja."  She saw a sly grin cross his face and she laughed, again with the laughing, ever so lightly.

"Okay, fine," she consented.  "I mean, even that, there isn't much to tell.  I've always wanted to help people, but I didn't seem cut out to help them in any deep way, going back to the whole social work thing.  I mean, I care about people, but I don't really CARE about people, you know?  I never really got close to people.  Not my own family.  Not my friends.  Heck, most of the people I would name as friends are more of acquaintances anyway.  But I still cared about them all, as people.  Even people I don't know, they matter.  People matter.  So I guess."  She sighed.  "I guess in place of making those deep meaningful connections, instead of being able to make a big difference in a few people's lives, I wanted to make a little difference in as many lives as possible."

When she finished talking, Chris just stared at her for a moment.  She noticed he had stopped taking notes.  There was a silence that was just bordering on awkward when Chris broke it by saying, "You're wrong if you think what you do isn't making a big difference in people's lives, Clara.  I'm certain there are people who would not even be ALIVE today were it not for you.  Heck it, it's even possible I would have been one of them."

Clara blushed at that, but she also shook her head as she thought back to Chris's mugging.  "Naw, that guy wasn't going to kill you," she said, deflecting.  "He was just going to take your wallet and phone and be on his way."

Chris cleared his throat and admitted, "Okay, maybe not me, but others for sure."

Clara couldn't argue with that.  She knew it was true.  She just didn't like thinking too much about it.  She glanced down and back up and down and back up.  "Okay, well, is that it then?" she finally asked.

"Well, I am curious about one more thing," Chris admitted.

"Go ahead," Clara prompted.

"What made you decide to dress like a ninja?"

Clara laughed yet again.  "I wasn't really thinking ninja," she admitted.  "I wanted to wear something form fitting but not too tight, so it wouldn't get in the way of my movement.  I wanted to conceal my identity because, you know, what I do isn't always strictly legal and I don't really want thugs knowing who I am."  She almost added, 'like you' after thugs, but it just didn't feel right anymore.  "So yeah, it just kind-of came out as a ninja thing."  She smiled thinking back to the first time anyone had reported on her.  "Actually, I was kinda surprised when they started calling me a ninja.  I hadn't thought about it like that before, but it wasn't wrong."

Chris smiled.  "Now that's a nice story," he noted.  "Something cute and funny but not at all revealing about you personally."  He blushed and added, "or at least, not revealing in a way that anyone else would know you were the ninja."

She nodded.  "No, I suppose not."  She sighed, debating whether she was going to tell him the next bit, but she felt it was important.  She wanted to emphasize just how important it was that he keep her identity a secret.  "Chris," she said, and he leaned forward a bit at the sound of his own name, "I know you already agreed to keep my name out of this, but seriously... you are the only person who knows my identity.  If I see my name associated with the ninja anywhere, I'll know it was your doing.  Seriously.  Don't mess with me."

Chris seemed a bit taken aback at that, maybe even a little scared?  And Clara realized what she had just said was probably at odds with the rest of the interview, but it had to be said.  Eventually, Chris recovered and nodded.  "Yes, yes of course," he agreed.  "You might not expect it, but I am a man of my word."

"I'm not sure whether I expect it or not," Clara said standing up, "but I'm counting on it."

Chris simply nodded as he stood as well.

"Okay," Clara said.  "Let me show you out."


Clara once again expected that to be the last time she ever saw Chris Thatcher.  She checked on the Globe every few days and once she saw his story printed, she was relieved.  True to his word, he had not written anything that could personally identify her.  He started with the story she told at the end about becoming a 'ninja' unintentionally, mentioned that behind the mask was an ordinary 9-5 office worker, noted that her family was kind and loving though even they did not know her secret and finished up stating that even though no one may ever know the Ninja's true identity, they could rest assured she was keeping them safe and watching out for the city.  It was actually a very nice article.  The conclusion made Clara smile and almost tear up.  Almost.  If nothing else, Chris had reminded her that what she was doing was important, was valuable, and now she felt like she could keep doing it without fear of being caught or exposed.

Still, she wasn't completely trusting.  Humans, as much as she cared about them, were humans after all.  So she still checked in the Globe from time to time, just to make sure Chris hadn't stabbed her in the back.  It was nearly three months later that she saw it, not an article about her, but an article about a second ninja.  She just stared at it, thinking, what the...  And then she called up the Globe.

"I'd like to speak to Chris Thatcher please," she said to the polite voice that answered the phone.

"Oh!" the person on the other end of the line seemed surprised.  Maybe Chris didn't give out his real name to many people?  Maybe even this person didn't know his real name?  But then, "Okay sure, just a moment."

There was a beep, a short period of hold music, and then Chris answered by saying, "This is Fred."

Clara laughed despite herself.  "Hey there 'Fred'," she said, leaning into the Fred.  "I hear there's another Ninja in town."

"Who is this?" Chris immediately asked.  And then recognition seemed to set it as he began, "Is this..." but he trailed off.  He didn't say her name.  Clara realized it was because he wanted to be sure it really was her.

"Yes, it's Clara," she confirmed.  And she heard him sigh on the other line.  "So what are you doing, man?  Another ninja in town?"

"Listen Clara, I can explain," his voice got more hushed and he sighed again.  "Okay, maybe I can't really explain just, that interview, it, it sort of inspired me?  I mean, I've taken self-defense classes before, so I knew I could at least defend myself and, and..."

Clara's eyes grew wide as he spoke.  Holy crap.  She hadn't realized he was the other ninja.  She had just thought his tabloid was reporting on another ninja.  The silence must have revealed to him that he had just unwittingly spilled the beans.

"Oh, you didn't realize it was me," he said softly.

"Nope," Clara confirmed.

"Well shit."

And at that Clara burst out laughing.  "So seriously," she said once she had calmed down.  "You wrote an article about yourself?"

"N-no," Chris stammered.  "One of my colleagues did.  It was a little annoying, actually.  I didn't necessarily want people knowing about it.  At least not yet."

"Well, now you know how I felt."

"Fair enough," Chris agreed.

"So who knows?" Clara asked.

"At this point..."  Chris sighed again.  "Only you."

Clara grinned.  "And only because you decided to tell me."

"Yes, har har."  He took a deep breath, let it out slowly and said, "Honestly, I think I wanted someone else to know.  And since you're well, you do it too, I figured..."

"Don't worry Chris," she reassured him.  "As long as my secret is safe with you, your secret is safe with me."

"Then I guess we're both safe," he said.

"Yeah, for now anyway,"  Clara said nodding.  This would be a perfect time to say good-bye, to just hang up, but instead she said, "So how is it going?  You're not doing anything too dangerous, are you?"

He laughed.  "No, and you'd probably know that if you'd read the entire article before you called me.  I know my limits."  He paused and then added more honestly, "At least I hope I do."

Clara closed her eyes and silently counted to three, seriously hoping she was not going to regret what came out of her mouth next.  "Maybe we could train together or something.  Just, you know, to make sure you do know your limits."

The tone of his voice completely changed, to the extent that Clara really hoped he realized this was just business.  "Yeah, that would be great!" he exclaimed.  And then after a clearing of his throat, more sheepishly, "Yeah, I would like that a lot."

"Good," she said with a nod.  Then she sighed and added, "Just to be clear, this isn't a date or anything.  It's also not an invitation for you to write more about me.  I'd prefer that be done."

"Yes, yes of course," Chris agreed.  "I'd prefer for that to be done, too."

Clara laughed.  "Oh, Chris," she scolded, "I'm afraid that for you, that might just be getting started."  After he sputtered a bit at that, she added, "But we'll at least make sure you don't make a fool of yourself."  And then more softly, "or end up dead."

"Yes, yes I'd prefer not to die," Chris agreed.

"Well good.  Maybe we can meet..."  And they set up a date, time, and place to meet up.  Clara realized after she hung up that she was yet again putting a lot of trust in Chris, but he was putting a lot of trust in her, too.  She turned back to the Globe and read the full story.  Now that she knew it was Chris in the photo, it really did look like him.  She wondered how no one else had recognized her in her photos, but then she figured she had done more to hide than Chris had, and they didn't know what to look for.  At any rate, it almost felt good to know there was another, and not just another who wanted to do good like her, another that maybe, just maybe, she could really trust.