She was roused by an insistent melody that she had trained herself over the past few weeks not to ignore. The strains of 'Kung Foo Fighting' led her through the unfamiliar space with it's filtered light that at the same time illuminated and cast strange shadows, both helping and hindering her efforts to navigate the hall. Somewhere in her mind she registered that the room was occupied and eyes were falling upon her but nothing mattered beyond reaching the song's source before it stopped.
With barely a moment to lose Eliza retrieved her phone from the bathroom counter and swiped to answer the call. Her daughter's frantic voice began relaying information before she even had a chance to say hello.
"Gwyn. Honey. Calm down." She said sluggishly as her brain tried to fully awaken in order to process the jumbled information.
"I wanna come home! I don't care what Donnie says. My stomach hurts and I swear there is… is fur in my mouth no matter how many times I rinse it out!" Gwyn's voice modulated from whining to frantic. Once the girl got into this kind of state there was no way she was going to get any real information out her.
Now fully awake and switched into crisis management mode Eliza took control of the conversation.
Step One: Calm Down
"Ok. Just relax. Take a big breath for me. On my count." She led Gwynevere through a short cycle of breathing exercises till she could hear her child's ragged breaths slow and take on a more steady rhythm. However she could still hear sniffles and a the occasional pathic hiccup over the line.
Step Two: Gather Info
Eliza momentarily took the phone away from her face and saw that it was April's flower crowned image on the caller ID. "Is April there with you?"
"Unn hunn."
"Give her the phone."
"Kay." The ferret's mom's heart broke with the soft defeated answer. Gwyn had to be extremely upset not to try to comment any further before turning over the call.
"Hi Mrs. V." The girl sounded nervous and slightly winded.
"April," her voice was full of command, the type of tone that even willful teens, really was there any other kind, knew not to trifle with. "What happened? Is Gwyn ok?" The mom didn't disbelieve that Gwyn was upset but needed to verify that the cause was large enough to warrant real concern.
"We ran into a little bit of trouble. But Gwyn is fine," she could hear the teen debating over the amount of information to divulge over the phone. "or she will be soon. Donnie said that there isn't really anything to do but let things run their course. And it's better if we don't bring the…"
The pause made her blood boil. April was trying to phrase whatever she was trying to say diplomatically and what Eliza needed right now was facts.
"…contamination back to lair and handle in down here."
If the mother wasn't worried before she was beside herself now. "Let me talk to Donnie."
"He's… kinda occupied at the moment." April drawled, it sounded as if she had taken the time to look around her before deciding that Donatello could not be spared for a phone call.
"Put Splinter on the line." Eliza practically growled. She was not happy at all now.
This time April didn't hesitate. "He's busy too." Clearly whatever 'trouble' they had run into had not yet been dealt with.
Step Three: Be Decisive
There was nothing Eliza could do. She was too far away. She had trusted them to keep her daughter safe and, though it sounded like they were trying to handle the situation, it was obvious they had failed. Gwyn was sick and there was a fight going on that required Splinter and the boys to handle it.
"April. You listen to me. You get Gwyn out of there right now and bring her back to the lair."
"But, Donnie said…"
"I don't CARE what Donnie said." Eliza nearly yelled. "I don't care if you have to drive the shellraiser by yourself. I don't care if you have to carry her the whole way. You get my daughter home. Now."
"But Mrs. V. you don't understand…" April tried to reason but the ominous beeping of a low battery alert sounded in the ferret's ear. She didn't have time to argue.
"Get her home April. I'm trusting you. Put Gwyn back on." Though Eliza was confident in her ability to intimidate the girl she still waited with baited breath till she could hear Gwyn sniffing, trying to dry her tears long enough to talk.
"Momma."
"It's ok hunny. You're coming back. April is gonna bring you home." The concerned mom had to choke back tears of her own before continuing. The incessant beeping heralding the phone's imminent demise continued. "I'll be waiting for you ok. We'll make it all better. Promise."
"Pinki…" The chime of the phone shutting down cut off any further conversation.
"Pinkie Promise." Eliza responded to the dead air. For a weighted moment she just stood there in the bathroom, panic threatening to overwhelm her before she shut it down. The ferret then became a whirlwind of activity, returning to the living room to collect her backpack. Once there she found Phoenix and her children looking at her with questioning concern. There wasn't time for her to say pleasant goodbyes. To make further arrangements. To express her gratitude.
"I have to go." she stated simply and slung her pack over her shoulder, ready to make a hasty exit.
It had not taken Eliza long to fall asleep after resting on the couch, and seeing her there, with her long neck tilting to one side, and her hand resting gently on her belly, made Phoenix smile. It reminded her slightly of Thanksgivings with her mother's family, and after everyone had stuffed themselves with good food, one of her aunts would go to the couch and do exactly what Eliza was doing now, in a very similar position. The thought made her giggle.
"What's so funny?" Aires asked coming up the stairs. He was shooshed quickly by his mother. He made his mouth in the shape of "O" and then whispered, "What's so funny?"
"My first houseguest falling asleep on my couch," she told her son.
"Aww, she looks all peaceful," Aries squinted his eyes as he smiled, too. "Is she really going to have a baby?" he asked, sounding awfully young to her ears.
His mother nodded, her loose hair shaking slightly. "Yep."
"Wow," Aries shook his head in wonder. "That's so weird."
Phoenix shook her head in return. "No," she said. "Life will always find a way."
"You're quoting Jurassic Park," he told her.
"No honey," she told him with a wink, "Jurassic Park was quoting me. Go get your brother and sister, the cobbler is ready to eat."
"They can wait," Aries said, heading toward the kitchen table. "Arcos said he got to eat a bunch of that salmon salad at lunch without us."
"You ate lunch," his mother said, hoping she was right.
"It wasn't salmon salad," he moped, taking a deep breath now that he was near the cobbler. Now that he didn't have to be so polite for company, as she was sleeping, he didn't wait for even his mother to come to the cobbler. With the spatula nearby, he served himself a generous piece. Phoenix came over and opened her mouth, a well known indication of having to pay "The Mommy Tax." He put a forkful of cobbler into her mouth, and with his own mouth full, said, "Why don't you get your own?"
"I'm not hungry enough for an entire piece," she said.
"You need to eat more," he told her. "You're too skinny." He shoveled another spoonful of dessert into his mouth.
She clucked her tongue at him, and waved him off dismissively. "Don't say such things to your mama."
He put down his plate, now nothing more than smears of peach, and went to fetch his siblings. They came up the stairs quietly, Medusa without a sound, smiles on their faces, noses in the air.
Medusa giggled as she passed Eliza, whose nose twitched in her sleep. "She can smell me," she whispered as if she was telling a secret. "I wonder if she'll dream she is being chased by a snakes."
"That's not nice, Medusa," Phoenix said.
"Oh, I didn't mean it meanly," the boa constrictor took her plate. "It's cute." She flicked her tongue.
"Does she really have someone to go to, Mama?" Arcos asked, his plate already being dug into.
"She says so," she answered.
"Do you believe her?"
"I have no reason not to," Phoenix admitted. "I don't see why she'd lie about that." Her mind drifted back to the explanation that Eliza had given her, a father, with sons, and a human friend. Something about it unsettled her, and in her mind, the familiar refrain sang, Consider the floor. She brushed the words away.
The four of them were silent for quite a long time, as the entire cobbler was devoured, so that Phoenix had to put away one piece so that Eliza would actually get some. Through the quiet came the song, "Kung Fu Fighting". The four of them looked at each other and laughed, it seemed such an absurd thing, to have the song just drift through the air so suddenly.
Eliza groggily reached out and took her phone, and when her hand didn't find it, she became more awake. They watched her make her way to the bathroom, where the song was coming from. The song stopped, and the next thing they heard was, "Gwyn. Honey. Calm down."
The happy looks they shared turned to concerned ones.
"Oh, 'calm down' is never good," Aries said.
"Like you talk to people on the phone and tell them to calm down?" Arcos gave him a crazy look.
"No, I talk to people in real life and tell them to calm down," his brother answered.
"Who do you ever tell to the calm down?" Arcos countered. "Other people are telling you to calm down."
"Chut!" Phoenix demanded, the initial worry of Aries, 'that can't be good' tone of voice slowly deepening into something more panicky. When Eliza came out of the bathroom, she was all business. "I have to go."
"Is everything alright?" Medusa asked.
"What's the matter?" Phoenix asked at the same time.
"Do you need help?" Arcos asked, his grizzly voice an undertone flowing beneath the females of his family.
But of the questions, it was practical Aries who won out. "Do you know how to get back?" he asked.
She had already anticipated that there would be questions, it didn't change the fact that she didn't have time for them. Eliza was already in the middle of turning away to make towards the door when Aries' query floated above the din of his mother and siblings. It hit her like a two ton weight and pinned her in place. Her eyes wide she twisted her neck back to face the group.
"No, no, nonononono…" her voice went frantic with realization. "It took me hours to get here this morning and I got lost along the way. I don't have that kind of time!" Her body felt limp with helplessness and the pack slid from her shoulder as she wavered slightly where she stood. Before she could blink Medusa was at her side, a supporting coil around her middle and a comforting hand on her arm.
Having the snake in such close proximity was like a slap in the face and she stiffened, but it also served to pull her out of her panic. By the time the rest of the family had crossed the room join them Medusa was already loosening her coils and pulling away. Eliza was trying to calm her increased heart rate and think through her situation for a solution. She looked at the snake girl to find that she could read a hint of embarrassment across her scaly features.
"I'm ok. Thanks." she said quietly to Medusa before turning to face the rest of the family as they gathered around. Phoenix came forward and took her hand, forcing Eliza to look her in the face with a soft touch on the side of her muzzle.
"What happened?" she asked with a tone that conveyed that she expected an answer.
"It's Gwyn. She's scared. She needs me." Eliza waffled for a moment about how much to say. Then decided that she didn't care. "They were suppose to keep her safe. I trusted them." She held back the emotion that threatened to crash over her like a tidal wave. There would be time for that later when her daughter didn't need her, when she didn't have to be strong, when Gwyn was safe. "My phone died, so I couldn't get all the details, it seemed like they were still in the middle of a fight, but something happened to Gwyn. Some kind of contamination or infection. She said it was her stomach and she was panicking."
The healer dropped the hand from the ferret's face and tucked it under her own small chin, looking contemplative. Eliza turned to the boys. "They didn't want to bring her home for some reason. But I made them promise me that they would. I have to get back to the lair, I don't know how far away they were but I need to get there as fast as I can. I promised my daughter I would be there."
She scanned the faces around her, unfamiliar with their nuances but able to tell that all of them were willing to help her. Her heart was heavy, she had already let Splinter down by revealing herself, she knew now just how important that principal was to a mutant. If she was going to get home quickly she would have to break that unwritten rule further. The rat-master had trusted her with his family's secret and she had trusted him with her child's safety. It appeared that they were now mutually disappointed. No sense in splitting hairs about it.
"Get me to Chinatown."
Phoenix put her hand to her chin, her mind abuzz with a thousand different thoughts. She could see Eliza on the verge of true panic, she'd snapped out of it when Medusa had caught her, worked herself up again, and snapped out of it when the healer had asked what happened. The ferret woman was capable of staying calm if she had someone to keep her so, Phoenix surmised.
She didn't know how to get back to her home, and her host did not want anyone knowing where his home was. Phoenix didn't blame him one bit, no one besides the Grey Cats knew where she lived. No one but her family knew where the Grey Cats lived. Her host would not take lightly to a bunch of strange people showing up in his place.
She was able to catch onto the word "infection", grab it with a mental hand and hold on tight, causing the other thoughts to fly by her at a blinding speed. Infection was a thing she could do something about. Angry hosts were also. Her self-assigned job was to help people, strangers or friends. And she would help her new friend.
"We'll get you there," she assured Eliza, smiling soothingly.
At that statement, all three kids scattered, each going to the wall where their weapons were stowed, and retrieving the ones that belonged to them.
Phoenix took Eliza's arm, and still smiling,gently pulled her back toward the kitchen and the garden window. As she passed her bookshelf, she picked up the bag that lay beside it. "We can get to Chinatown pretty quick, it isn't that far in a straight line." She put the bag over her shoulder, the large sack swaying gently against her hip. Still pulling Eliza toward the kitchen, she reached over and took her sling and knife from the wall, putting each in their designated places on her belt.
"We have to go," Eliza said, looking back toward the stairwell, and Phoenix could hear the panic rising in her voice again.
"We are going," she assured her kindly. "Medusa," she called, and gestured with her head toward the ferret woman.
In a flash, the snake had coiled the woman up again, this time three times, and no comforting arm about her. Before the ferret woman could say anything, the snake was out the window with her, and propelling herself across the darkening rooftops. The boys and their mother were not far behind, following Medusa toward Chinatown.
The ferret felt one weight lift off of her shoulders only to have another take it's place. She was beyond relieved and grateful that her new friends were rallying to her aid. Indeed as soon as Phoenix announced their intention to help the family moved as a well oiled machine. Strapping on their weapons and making ready to leave. That she was going to be home in time for her daughter went a long way in pushing aside the guilt she now felt at breaking the trust the Hamatos had put in her. Something that was sure to have ramifications later.
Eliza took a moment to secure her backpack just in time for Phoenix to take hold of her arm and guide her back towards the kitchen. She saw the healer grab her bag and strap on her weapons, but then stayed by the window instead of heading towards the stairwell. Eliza began to get an ominous feeling, why was everyone coming this way instead of heading downstairs towards the garage? Surely the car would be the fastest way for them to get her back to the lair. The family all knew their parts in this departure dance and Eliza got the idea she wasn't going to like her role. "We have to go." She said with trepidation.
Eliza caught the barest hint of a shift in the smaller woman's eyes towards the window before reassuring the ferret that they were on their way. Eliza's heart pounded and her eyes bulge with fear, because she had remembered now how the family used that particular window. Oh SHELL no! But she had no time to protest before Medusa had wrapped around her and was out the third story exit.
There was three four blocks of silence when Eliza's mind was stuck in a state of pure shock. Then Medusa made a twisting sort of dive where she was moving from a taller building to one with significantly fewer floors. Eliza felt the dip in her guts and got a glimpse of the distance between buildings to the actual road far below and her brain switched from shocked still to explosive fear. She tried to twist free, to extricate herself from the personal rollercoaster but there was no give. The snake girl was nothing but smooth muscle and the ferret could not get any leverage. With no other way to express the fear that was clawing at the inside of her skull she began to scream.
Eliza had been a singer most of her life. Her voice was an instrument that she had worked long to utilize to the best of her ability. So even though she was not a star of any stage beyond the choir risers, she had power. Her screaming was loud and long, with an upper register that could be painful if not in tune. The ferret didn't care about her pitch, only expressing her displeasure at being catapulted through the NYC skyline. It was not a pleasant trip for anyone.
About the third time Eliza had gone to refill her impressive lung capacity her personal transport had had enough. The ferret reached the end of her high pitched scream, the sound trailing off into the night, but before she could take a deep breath the coil around her chest tightened. She had only limited air, not enough to do anything with but keep her body functioning. She tried again but to no avail. Medusa seemed superbly skilled at reading the ferret's body, giving her just enough room to stave off the feeling of being suffocated but she had to focus and not waste whatever breath she was permitted.
The ferret-woman could only exist in this state for so long before the adrenaline wore off and she gave up fighting. Medusa seemed to sense this as well, all the while never faltering in her movements across the rooftops, and it became easier to breath. A luxury that Eliza didn't waste on yelling but instead calming herself down. Eventually they reached Chinatown, and buildings began to be familiar, even if she was viewing them from a new angle. She saw the flashing of a neon pizza sign pass underneath them and knew where she was.
"Stop! Stop! We're here!" She called towards Medusa's head. Her first intelligible words since the warehouse.
The snake stopped and looked down at Eliza from where she held her body upright. "Where?"
"There." Eliza jerked her head in the direction they had just come. "In that alley we just passed." The snake nodded once and was off again but this time Eliza was prepared for it.
Once they had reached the ground the coils were quickly unwound and snake and ferret moved to opposite sides of the narrow space between buildings. Eliza felt the press of a solid wall at her back and slid down it to the ground. Her legs were trembling and all her muscles were twitching with the excess chemicals that had just flooded her system. She dropped her head between her knees and did not raise it again till she heard the sounds of the rest of the family dropping down to join them.
"Well, that may have been quick," she huffed while looking at the family's matriarch. "But it was far from pleasant. A little warning would have been nice." She stretched her neck to it's fullest, trying to cool herself and rested the back of her head against the brick. "I don't think I'll be complaining about sewer travel anytime soon."
A muffled snicker went through the group and she couldn't blame them and joined in with a wilted smile of her own.
"Speaking of." The ferret drew herself back to her feet and walked to the manhole in the center of the alley. "Thanks for the lift but this is my stop." she smiled a little more genuinely. "I know the way from here"
