A/N: Thanks for the reviews. I think I'll try this. We'll see how it goes.
The door opened quietly and two guys emerged, pulling ski masks over their faces. They crept into the street, chuckling to themselves. Don stood and drew his bo, dropping from the fire escape into a shadow.
He could see the driver of the car looking in his mirrors and watching the others go after the dancer with a smug smile on his rough face. Don's eyes narrowed, and he approached the driver's side hunched down under the door. A quick punch sent the guy reeling, and Don grabbed him by the hair, ramming his head into his steering wheel. He wasn't going anywhere soon. Donny hurried out of the ally and drew into a run, seeing the scuffle ahead and hearing the muffled cries.
One of the thugs had her by the waist and dragged her with his hand over her mouth as she kicked and twisted and dragged her heels. The other was walking towards her bag, laughing. "Let's see if you're still laughing when I get a hold of you," Don whispered fiercely, ducking back into the shadows. He needed to find the best way to stop them without hurting the girl and being seen for any length of time.
Before he could get there, he saw the one holding her jump back with a yelp and nurse one hand with the other. She had bitten him. Good girl. She began to beat them with her shoulderbag. OK, let's not get too crazy, he warned her silently. Then, he spotted a perfect place on a nearby terrace to get an advantage over the two and make fast work of the situation.
The young woman tried desperately to think of a way to escape and wondered how long she could fend these guys off with a canvas totebag. She could still taste the blood in her mouth, metallic and stomach-turning. She was tired from her practicing and really hoped that the adrenaline would last long enough to get away. At least long enough to get out her cellphone and call for help.
She was suddenly face to face with a gun, a surprise and terrifying variable. She was frozen, unsure what to do. She wanted to scream a throat-ripping, life-saving scream for help, one that would wake the city and send a police car flying around the corner to her rescue. Just like in the movies, though her own terror had a firm chokehold on her, and she felt unable to breathe, let alone produce a sound. Her mouth fell open and moved, but nothing escaped.
During this moment of hesitation, the other guy had also pulled a gun from behind her, though he had some trouble at first as his bloody fingers fought holding it correctly. He gave up on aiming and hit her over the back of her head, knocking her down cleanly. Don saw his chance and leapt from his spot. He landed between the two gunmen, kicking one of the weapons away and delivering a sharp blow with his staff to the other gunman's wrist, sending the gun flying. He knocked out one unarmed thug with a sharp blow from his bo and kicked the other into a nearby building with a thud. The attacker dropped into a heap on the concrete.
He approached the girl, picking up the scattered items that had flown out of her bag as he neared. He dropped them into her tote again and crouched beside her. Don checked her for pulse and breath. Both were strong. Poor girl. At least you fought. He couldn't just leave her. Hesitating, he pulled his communicator and looked around. Why couldn't she have just gotten away?
"Guys?" he called, reluctantly. When the reply came, he paused and then blurted out "I've got a problem. Innocent- out cold. What do you want me to do?" There was a pause and then the stern voice of his oldest brother came on.
"The girl?" Donatello replied affirmatively. "Got an ID on her?" Don cautiously reached into her bag looking for a wallet. He sifted through clothing and toe shoes and papers. Feeling a leather rectangle that he assumed to be a wallet, he lifted it and breathed a sigh of relief when it was, in fact, a pocketbook. Don opened it and looked.
"Damn," he said to the night air and then to his brother, "Yeah, but it's an old one. Maryland. And nothing here has a New York address." Hmm… Katherine Parker, 21. He heard Leo sigh.
"All right, Don. Go home. Take her with you and wait for us. It's pretty quiet here. Just a couple more hours to go, I think." He could faintly hear Mikey asking questions eagerly in the background. And then, there was silence. Donatello had always been uncomfortable with these situations. Looking for places to leave victims, pawing though their things, hoping they wouldn't wake up and scream. But this hadn't happened to him before. They'd tried to avoid bringing people down to the lair until they knew them. Even then, the only people coming to the lair were April and Casey.
He knew of a manhole in the opposite ally and hoisted her over his shoulder, carrying her awkwardly. Don dropped her bag down first, hoping nothing in there was breakable. Well, if there was, don't you think she already broke the stuff when she was smashing those guys with it? That's about to be the least of her concerns anyway, genius. Then he saw her shoes in the street, two straw flip-flops. Way to go, ninja. Real discreet. He set her down and quickly stuffed the shoes into his belt. Donny lowered himself halfway into the manhole, pulling her limp form along and holding over his shoulder with one arm. She was cumbersome and almost caused him to slip on the ladder.
The dead weight was difficult to manage, so he moved as quickly as he could. He splashed down the tunnels and was careful not to drag her tote through the pungent water. Halfway home, she stirred a bit. She and the bag were getting heavy, and he wondered if he'd make it home before she awoke. He hoped that she would stay unconscious long enough for him to figure out what to do.
Thankfully, he made it home without a hitch, dropping her bag beside the couch and more carefully depositing its owner on the patched cushions. He rolled her, examining her head in better light. Just a nasty bump. He breathed a sigh of relief. Head injuries could be tricky.
Then he saw her feet. They were bare and bloody at the heel and ankle from her fight for her life. Don went to the supply cabinet and pulled out some gauze, cotton pads, and tape. He filled a bowl with warm, soapy water and pressed a clean washcloth down inside until it was soaked and had disappeared below the surface.
Gently, Donny lifted one of her feet. It felt hard and rough in his hand, calloused from years of dancing and not unlike his own feet, which had soles as thick as shoes from walking barefoot for his entire life. He pulled the wet cloth from the bowl and squeezed the water out, cleaning her dirty foot and ankle and dabbing at the blood. Don pressed a pad to the tender flesh of her ankle and heel and carefully taped it, winding a roll of gauze over the heel and the foot to secure it. He did the same for the other foot, noting how different a human foot looked with its five tiny toes. Hers were polished with a dark red paint. They looked so slender and delicate compared to his own two-toed clubs. He bit his lip, nervously wondering what to do now.
He tried to remember April being down here for the first time and what they had done then. That was different, though, he decided. That had been Raphael's problem, and Master Splinter had done the majority of the work then. He'd just been fascinated by seeing a real person up close at the time. Since then, he'd come to know what a person looked like, but he'd never really cared for one alone before.
He wished Master Splinter was there. He would have taken care of this so that Don could retreat to his room or, at most, sit at the side and offer an extra hand, but Sensei had been gone nearly a year now. He had passed quietly one night, likely related to his age. Splinter had found much peace after they had avenged his master's death and broken up the Foot Clan. The city was much safer now, a quieter place with little for them to do at night, and that was just fine by Donatello. What wasn't fine was that he was alone now.
Then, Donny saw her head move a little. Panic overcame him. What should I do? What should I say? She slowly opened her eyes, and shy Donatello searched desperately for a dark corner to duck into, holding his breath as she started to come around.