It was finally the night of the big performance and Who was extremely excited; there had been rumors flying around the choir that the mayor of NYC would be attending the event. Behind stage she readied herself for her solo part at the end or as she liked to call it: the Big Finale! Every one of her associates reassured her that she would do great.
A brown haired girl peeked inside Who's dressing room. "Nervous?"
Who shook her head. "Not at all. You?"
"A little" The girl answered, then looked at her worriedly. "You look a bit pale, you know?"
"Sandy, this is my regular, boring pale face. You worry too much" Who chuckled.
"Sorry, but I couldn't help noticing you've been a bit… absentminded… since we came here"
The bass and tenor sections made their entrance followed by the altos.
"Oh God, the altos are leaving! I better go get in position. Good luck, Who!"
Alone again, Who returned to her thoughts. The time had come and yes, she knew she was ready. However, the dark haired girl kept getting this feeling that something wasn't right, like there were eyes on her, and that's why she had been absentminded as her fellow singer had mentioned.
"Two minutes, Who" The choir director informed her, stirring her out of her thoughts.
She nodded, shaking off the feeling as she went to find her place on stage. As soon as everyone was in their place the curtain went up and the choir began to sing.
…
Bishop had had his men tracking this girl, this… Who, for two weeks now, and it all came down to this.
"Alright gentlemen, you know the plan. As soon as the performance ends, I'll make the call. Hopefully, she'll come to her senses and talk but if she doesn't, we move in before she leaves the building" Bishop ordered over his high tech earpiece.
"This is strictly a 'Get in, Capture target, Get out' situation. No fire until I order it and there will be no mess ups allowed" He continued.
The rest of his speech was then interrupted by the applauding crowd who welcomed the musicians, the choir and then the soloist who bowed elegantly and smiled at the public.
"Alright boys, sit back and enjoy the show. This oughta be interesting" Bishop smiled darkly. 'Very interesting, indeed'
…
…
Two hours later
…
Who smiled as the crowd broke into thunderous applause after her part was finished. The whole group bowed then exited off the stage. Immediately, the young soprano was bombarded by her colleagues who showered her with praise, which she graciously accepted.
"Who!" The choir director called from the phone booth. The dark haired girl walked over to where he stood to see what he needed.
"It's a phone call for you" The director said handing over the phone. Puzzled she took it, wondering who it was that could be calling her.
"Hello?"
"Hello, Miss Who. Splendid performance, may I say" Came a voice from the other end.
Who caught her breath. 'The hell? Is this… no, it can't be! How did he-'
"We've never been formally introduced but I have no doubt that you know who I am"
Who swallowed hard, not sure how to answer, for she most definitely didknow who he was.
"You were stunning tonight, Miss Who. Of course, it's been quite a while since I've attended an event such as this one but I know talent and beauty when I see it"
Who felt her blood begin to boil. So she had been right, someone had been watching her. On the other side of the line, Bishop smiled Who's silence meant just one thing: he had frightened her. It was time to move on to the next step of the mission.
"And I can assure you, Miss Who, my men also had a wonderful time" He continued as he signaled the soldiers to proceed.
"Flattering won't get you anywhere, Bishop. What do you want?" She asked harshly.
"I simply want you to come quietly so that I may ask you a few questions concerning some… reptilian friends of yours"
Who's jaw tighten as she fought to keep her mouth shut. "Why should I trust you? From what I've heard, whoever goes into your place doesn't come out and not just the aliens"
"You have my word that once our little Q&A is done you will be returned home and never bothered by me again"
Who scoffed. "And what if I refuse?"
Bishop laughed darkly. "Miss Who, I know from trustful sources that you are a skilled fighter. I will give you that…"
Then, with the corner of her eye, Who noticed a few men making their way not to the exit but to the backstage area.
"… but let's be honest…" Bishop continued. "You and me both know you are surrounded and outnumbered; you can't escape from this building without me or my men knowing it and it wouldn't be wise to play hero against expert soldiers"
Leave it to Bishop to bring the best of his soldiers to this mission. Who was well aware that she could not beat them all, their skills were far better than hers and to make it worse, her katana was back in the hotel she was staying in.
Before she could reply, Who felt a tap on her shoulder. She froze and slowing turned her head just to see a tall, bulky man dressed in a dark suit, cracking his knuckles and staring at her with a lopsided smirk on his face.
"So… what do you say, Miss Who? Have we got a deal?"
As soon as he stopped talking, Bishop's satisfied expression was replaced for a shocked one when he heard laughter coming from the other side of the line.
"You know, Agent Bishop… you really, really shouldn't underestimate a girl like me" Who replied after she recovered from her laughing fit.
The last thing Bishop could hear was a 'click' and then dead air. She had hung up. A few minutes later, Bishop's cell phone began to ring.
"Impossible, no one has access to my private line" Bishop hissed and answered the phone.
"Oh! One more thing…" Came Who's voice."…look outside the building, Johnny Bunny~"
Still in shock, Bishop rushed to the exit and looked everywhere. A whistle drew his attention to the roof just in time to see one of his soldiers, seemingly unconscious, being pushed off the building by the dark haired girl; the motionless body landed inches next to Bishop's feet with armored cord marks around his neck. The agent knelt and checked for the man's pulse and, to his surprise, he found it; weak and quivering but it was there. He looked back at the roof and noticed the girl waving the high tech communication device she had snatched from the soldier during the struggle.
"If you think you got me all figured out then you might wanna think twice" Who said through the device. "And let me kindly tell you where you can stick your Q&A!" With that she hung up on him but not before giving him the finger.
Then, she destroyed the device with the heel of her shoe and ran away. Not far from the theatre Bishop smiled as he hung up the phone.
"They always want to do it the hard way… but I like her style" Raising his hand at the level of his ear, Bishop activated another communication device. "Team A, move in. And remember, gentlemen, I want her alive"
…
…
Back in the lair, Raphael paced in front of the laboratory's closed door. Of all the favors he had requested from Donatello, this was the most complicated one. If he had kept his mouth shut, Mikey wouldn't have suggested the idea that was now haunting the red-clad ninja's mind; Raph had never regretted talking to his baby brother more than now.
"You're gonna come in or what?" Don's exasperated voice came from the lab. It was like he had been waiting for Raph to show up on his 'sanctuary'.
Hesitantly, Raph entered the genius' domains. The genius turtle's attention was entirely on the laptop screen while his fingers flew over the keyboard.
"I'm in the middle of something here so be quick" Don commented harshly after drinking his umpteenth cup of coffee.
Gulping loudly, Raph stepped forward and made his question. "Do you remember the FFNet writers we saved last time? I was wondering if… you know, we… uh… and… if it's possible to…"
Don sighed heavily. "Spill, Raph. Who's the girl you want to find so badly?"
"T-Girl" Raph mumbled.
Don stopped typing and twirled his chair around to stare at his brother in puzzlement. "You do realize this will take time, right? Because, assuming she's not registered in any social network account as 'T-Girl'…it'll probably take me hours to find some clue about her real name and then more hours to hack into her account and then…"
"I get it, too much work for you; you're busy and this is just a stupid, impossible thing to do! Thanks for nothing!" Raph yelled, slamming the door shut on his way out.
"Giving up pretty easily it's not your style" Leo's voice came from the nearest brick pylon.
Gritting his teeth, Raph kept walking. "Can it, Leo. This ain't your business"
"Wanna go topside and talk?" Leo asked. The red-clad ninja stopped his tracks and sighed loudly before nodding.
Minutes later, both brothers found themselves sitting side by side in one of Raph's favorite buildings to appreciate the sight and enjoy the night's cool air.
"So… you wanted to find T-Girl. Why?"
The blue-clad ninja's question took Raph by surprise but he was now calm enough to answer it without starting an argument.
"She's a nice kid. A bit girly but other than that, she was an interesting person to talk to"
"You weren't so desperate to befriend someone you barely knew before" The leader remarked.
"It doesn't matter anymore. It's impossible, just forget it!"
"That never stopped you before, Raph"
"Ok… so tell me, Mr. Unstoppable, what's stopping you from finding Who?" The sai wielder demanded.
Leo sighed. "Let's just say my situation is more complicated than yours"
Raph arched a brow and the sword wielder rolled his eyes; then, he pulled out his updated phone, one more of Donnie's latest inventions. The screen showed internet sites with reviews about new musical talents and Raphael quickly recognized the dark haired girl in the pictures.
"Who's an opera singer now which makes her a public figure; wherever she goes, someone will follow her. If I try to contact Who and ask her out, someoneis going to see her with me and that would be the end of the secret of our existence. With T-Girl, things are a bit easier; she's a regular teenager girl with a normal life and nobody is chasing her around" Leo explained.
"Yeah, but-"
"-Raph, you're free to befriend T-Girl because the odds are not against you… so don't give up. In fact, I'll help you find her if Don won't help" Leo said enthusiastically.
Raph grunted. "I still think that whole public figure stuff is just an excuse"
Leo simply smiled. "I can live with that"
