Chapter Four
The two shabbily dressed figures moved along through the subway tunnel that was the most direct route to Manhattan's nicer hotels and restaurants.
"You didn't have to come," said the one in the lead.
"There's only one reason I'm here, and I wish you could understand it's not what you think."
"No, Leo, no. I don't think that at all. I know you're not lookin' for a good time. It would hurt you to have a good time, right?"
"You know that's not what I'm talking about. I mean I'm not here to keep an eye on you -"
"That'd be a first."
"Ok, look. We've been over this a dozen times." Leonardo stopped. Raphael paused and turned back to face him. "I am only here because it's daylight. Four eyes are better than two. You know that. It's how we've always done it. And no, I haven't changed my position on this thing you're doing. I know we've benefited from what you've done. I'm not ungrateful. But the I still say it's too much involvement with too many people."
"You mean too much of the kind of involvement you got a problem with."
"I don't have a problem with it-"
"Yeah, right."
"Every time you're at her place you put yourself at risk for discovery."
Raphael shook his head, turning away.
"You ever think you might be putting her at risk, too?"
"So what? You're worried about her now?" asked Raphael, glancing back.
"I'm worried about both of you. You mostly."
"That's good. That's your job, Leo. You worry."
Leonardo closed his eyes. He didn't want a fight. He just wanted to make him understand. And it was always a fight. "You know, some things, Raph…are just not given to us."
"You're right." Raphael leaned toward him. "Some things we have to go get." He started to poke him in the chest and Leonardo caught his hand before it got even close.
Raphael's face hardened.
Now it could go either way, thought Leo. Raphael could jerk his hand back and take a swing at him and they could take it to the concrete right now, or they could drop the whole thing and get on with what they had originally intended to do. He hated the fact that what happened next depended on Raphael's next move. And he was quite willing to take it either way.
The tension in Raphael's arm decreased by a degree. Leonardo relaxed his hold, and Raph slowly pulled his hand back.
"You can't stop me, Leo. It's fine if you have no interest. You shoulda stayed that night, but that's your loss. What you do is up to you, and what I do is none of your business."
"You're wrong. It is my business. Because what you do affects all of us-"
Raphael snorted and turned his back. He knew there was no winning this. He hefted up the stupid baggy pants that refused to stay up and stomped off in the direction they were heading.
Leo, you wanna be a fuckin' eunuch, go ahead. Just don't expect the same from me! Shoulda brought Mike; he'd have appreciated it. But he could never have kept his mouth shut.
Leonardo watched his brother's retreating back, trench coat flapping behind him. He was willing to let it go for now. There would always be time later to argue about this.
"You understand now when I say you have been working for us for a long time-"
"No-"
"You've been using all the tools."
"No-"
"Who do you suppose provided you with those?"
Skylord dropped his gaze to the gleaming tabletop. "Why does…your employer...want this?"
"You would question-?"
"I need to know."
"Oh. Of course. I remember being curious. I remember needing to know-"
"Just tell me!"
"We are all soldiers in the Great War. Your success in this task will aid the War effort. That is really all the information I can provide you with."
"And you chose me because-"
"You want it anyway. No conflicts."
"Has anyone else-"
"There have been others."
"And?"
"They failed. Obviously."
Skylord stared at his hands for a long while.
"Enough equivocating, Alex. Sign the contract."
Sunni heard the tapping on the water pipes as she was rinsing the mushrooms. She looked up and glanced around the great stainless steel kitchen. The other prep cooks were chopping veggies. The new line cook was concentrating on some sauce, and the dishwasher was out having a cigarette. It was a quiet time and an opportune moment to slip down into the basement. Sunni wiped her hands on her apron, frowned at the food stains, and then pulled it off, snickering to herself at her vanity. She stole a glance at her cinnamon-gold reflection on a shiny silver pot. No make-up, as usual, and her hair looked a fright. It had been nearly a month since seeing him and now she looked like hell.. Oh well, she told herself. He never seems to worry about things like that.
"Gonna go use the head," she announced, and sauntered off, ignored by everyone. In the narrow service hall she turned right instead of left and quietly pulled open the heavy door to the stairway that led to the cellar. On swift eager feet she scurried down the dark stairs.
At the bottom Sunni hit the switch and one bare bulb came on. She couldn't see anyone at first, just the rotting brick and mortar walls of the lowest level of the basement.
"Raphael, is that you?"
"Over here," said Raphael moving out of the shadows.
Sunni rushed to him and wrapped her arms around his neck.. He kissed her and they remained like that, wrapped in each other's arms, for a long while.
Leonardo cleared his throat, and Sunni jumped back suddenly.
"Oh! Who's-?"
Raphael looked both amused and annoyed. "Don't worry. That's just -"
Sunni tightened her grip on Raphael's trench coat sleeves and peered into the far dark corner of the basement. "You got that shy brother of yours along?"
"Hello, Sunni," said Leo, stepping forward into the light.
"Hello, Leonardo." Sunni didn't let go of Raphael. "You're not still mad at us, are you?"
"I was never mad at you, Sunni."
"Look, um..." said Raphael. "We got a favor to ask."
Sunni looked back into Raphael's face. "Ok. You guys need something to eat?"
Leo's stomach tightened. This was the part he hated. It was like begging. No, it was begging. Raph didn't seem to have a problem with it, but then he had whole different set of circumstances surrounding this situation. At least that was what it must be. He couldn't imagine Raphael having less pride than him. He had to remind himself they wouldn't be doing this except that there were two extra mouths to feed.
"We got guests at our place. A mom an' her kid," Raphael explained.
"Where'd you find them?"
"She's uh…hidin' out from her old man," said Raphael, glancing over at Leo for an instant.
"Some kinda domestic violence thing?" asked Sunni.
"You could call it that."
"Does she know about the shelter-?"
"That wouldn't work," said Raphael quickly.
"Ok, got it." Sunni glanced up the stairs. "Hold on a sec. I'll be right back."
They both watched her bouncing back up the stairs. Raphael glanced over at Leo and grinned.
"Jealous?"
"No."
Raphael shook his head. "I don't get you, Leo. I don't know what kind of a line you think you're holding."
"It's not that…Raph, who do you think we are?"
"What, you got an answer to that? 'Cause if you think you've got the answer to that one, I'd sure like you to enlighten me."
Leonardo sighed. "I just know what we're not."
"That was a pretty incredible meal, Mike," said Lia. "Amazing what you can do with a canned ham and some potatoes." She tugged a little on the hair brush and the two-year-old ducked again.
"Don't!" whined Rose.
"I think it was the marmalade," said Mike, readjusting the child in his lap.
"In her hair?"
"No, on the ham."
"It's in her hair, too."
"Don't!" repeated Rose without much conviction. She was distracted again and pulling on the leather thongs at Mike's wrist.
"I really appreciate you helping me. I thought I was going to have to wrestle her to the ground."
"What's dis ting?" asked Rose.
"Dan kawa," said Mike.
"Oh." Rose tried to get her fingers under the leather. "What's dis for?" she asked.
"Splinter gave it to me." Mike watched her work at it. "I don't think you're gonna get it off."
"How come?" asked Rose.
"Ah…'cause it's special. But look-" Mike picked up the green hacky-sack sitting on the couch, rolled it around passing one hand over the other and then, and then showed Rose his empty hands.
"Oooh," she squealed. "Where dat go?"
"Riiight…here!" The hacky-sack reappeared in his hand as he reached behind Rose's ear.
"You're really good with her, Mike," said Lia.
"Yeah," Mike looked thoughtful. "I guess it's kinda weird but I think I've always thought I wanted one of these some day. Not today , but…"
"You mean a kid?"
Mike shrugged. "Kinda crazy…Hey, look, look!" The single hacky-sack had become two. Rose giggled delightedly.
"Oh! Wait! Lookey heeeerrrreeee…" the third hacky-sack seemed to appear from behind Rose's other ear. She squealed and dropped her face down into Mike's lap, covering her ears perhaps to prevent them from leaking any more hacky-sacks.
"Hey! Where did Rose go?" asked Mike.
"I disdapeared!" Came Rose's muffled response from his leg. Mike gently poked her ribs with a finger and she squirmed and laughed. He glanced up and caught sight of Leonardo, watching from the kitchen doorway. He turned away quickly and went in to the kitchen.
"Can you tell me the name of the organization I will be working for?"
"Name? You wish a name? Ah…there are so many. Very well. You will be working for the division known as Thanatos."
"Thanatos…" repeated Skylord.
"Come now, Alex. You understand that the signing of the contract, in one sense, is a mere formality."
"And you. By what name shall I call you? You signed the note with a single letter-"
"For the sake of simplicity, let us leave it as that."
"N?"
"N."
Lia settled on the floor of the dojo and took a deep breath. She gazed around the long room, littered with weights and weapons racks, absently strumming the strings of the guitar. What was that phrase? She turned the key to the D string and then G, and strummed an A minor chord. G. F. I'm not looking for forever, no, I've known that place too long…
It had been a long time since she had written anything. Any songs anyway. Now something was stirring inside trying to come out. She had gotten Rose settled down and found everyone else seemed to have turned in for the night. Well, Don was actually slumped over the table in front of the glowing computer monitor. A minor. E. G. I don't need some hollow promise of a love's fidelity, and I trust your understanding I want only to be free…
And she couldn't sleep, anyway.
G. F. B-flat. A minor.
I can see you're on your own path,
And I have my road, too,
And there's be no cosmic changes
If I never did touch you.
But to know for just a moment,
All the strength in you I feel,
Would be all that I require,
Just to know these times are real…
The door opened. Lia's hands froze on the strings.
"Oh, sorry. I wasn't sure-I thought I heard something." Leonardo was in full gear.
"Did you want to use this room?" she asked.
"No. No, that's ok…"
"I can go. I was just messing around in here-"
"No. That's ok. You go ahead." He quickly closed the door and was gone.
Lia stared at the door for a moment and then dropped her forehead onto the cool, polished wood of the guitar, her heart pounding. I must be out of my mind…
The hot water felt good beating on his carapace. Probably felt too good. Damn. Damn. Damn. You really are a hypocrite, Leonardo. What right do you have…?
He leaned his arms against the thin steel wall of the shower stall, dropping his head into the crook of his elbow. I have the right because it's my responsibility. Because I'm the only one around here who will take the responsibility for our collective safety…And because I know this-this-whatever it is- cannot possibly go anywhere. It cannot.
He turned around, facing into the stream of water, put his hand on the valve and turned it. He gasped breathlessly as the blast of cold water hit him.
She let him in the back door. He followed her into the living room of her new apartment.
"Nice in here," said Raphael, looking around. The room was decorated in soft beige tones, set off with lavenders and blues. It had an overall calming affect that he could feel as soon as he stepped inside. He breathed deeply and felt soothed.
"You gonna keep that on?" she asked.
Raphael shrugged off his overcoat and shapeless fedora. "Nope. You gonna keep that on?" he asked, his eyes on her light knit sweater.
Sunni's dimples deepened as she censored her own randy little grin. "Doubt it. Have seat, Raphael." She turned toward the kitchen . "You want a beer?"
"Yeah." He settled onto the couch. When she came back out he was very aware of her looking at him, at his arms, his shoulders. It made him happy. Looking at her made him happy. He just felt different with her, that was all there was to it. With Sunni he could be a slightly different Raphael than he had to be with his family.
She popped open both cans and handed him one. "You have any trouble getting away?" she asked.
He shook his head and took a long swallow. It was icy cold.
"Well, I'm glad of that." Sunni leaned back on the couch. Raphael brought his arm around her. "He's still worried, isn't he?"
"Who? Leo?"
"Yeah."
The last thing Raphael wanted to talk about was Leo. "I dunno." He took another gulp and moved his face closer to hers, touching his nose to her cheek, nuzzling her jaw. God she smells good…
"I mean, is it me? Does he think I'm a bad influence?"
"No. You're a great influence…" He reached to pull her closer.
"Raph, wait. Come on. Can we talk for a minute?"
"Sure," he said, though in that moment, talking wasn't even remotely what he had in mind. "Sure, we can talk."
"I mean, there's a couple of things I kinda wanted to ask you. Is that ok?"
He nodded and downed the rest of his beer.
"You want another one?"
"Yeah."
"I mean, I was just wonderin', you know," she got up and went back into the kitchen. "What the real deal was. I can understand him bein' angry an' walking out. " She returned, handed him the cold can and sat back down next to him. "But is it me, too? Has he really got something against me?"
That bothered him. "No. No, it hasn't got anything to do with you, personally. I told you. Don't even think like that. Leo's got this impersonal principle thing goin' on. Plus he worries about too much exposure, too many people finding out about us, makin' a fuss, wantin' us to come on 60 Minutes…" .
"Maybe you should. You know, it'd be like letting people know what's really going on on the streets. How folks who are different are forced to live-"
Raphael grinned. "Heh, I don't think Splinter'd go for it."
"Who's Splinter?"
Damn.
"Who's Splinter?" Sunni asked again.
"Ah…he's our father."
"He look like you an' Leo?"
"No."
"Hm." Sunni got up again. "See, this is the thing," she called from the kitchen. "This is why I couldn't hang with a major in social services. This is why I dropped out of college. I could see what they were trying to teach me. I was gonna end up a paper pusher, a defender of the system." She came back in, set the rest of the six-pack on the coffee table, and flopped onto the couch. "I was gonna end up part of the problem."
Raphael blinked. "What problem?"
"Perpetuating the system that keeps people disenfranchised."
"Oh, yeah. That problem."
Sunni's eyes narrowed. "Y'know, sometimes I get this feeling like what's going on with you isn't at all what I think it is. Like maybe I've made some assumptions..." Sunni turned to look at him. "I just wonder about the things you haven't told me."
"Sunni, I can't."
She sighed. "So you've said."
Raphael hated it when the conversation reached this point. She was maybe one of three people in his life he didn't feel the need to keep at arm's distance, and probably the only person he hesitated to reveal himself entirely to. "C'mon, you know the important things, anyway," he said and reached for her again.
Sunni eluded his grasp, sitting forward. "I mean like, you told me these were just for -?" She touched the hilt of one sai, stuck in his belt.
"Self defense."
"Hm…" Sunni watched his face for a moment. "I would just love to know what it is you do when you're not with me."
Raphael grinned. "If I told you that I'd have to kill you."
"Part of me thinks you're not kidding."
"Come here…" Raphael caught the back of her head with his hand and brought his mouth over hers. She started to resist his hold. After a moment she decided she didn't want to.
He released her slowly, smiling a little. She took a breath. "You're going to stay tonight, aren't you?"
He shook his head. "Can't. Gotta meet some friends early in the morning. We're going out of state for while."
"Now that I'm back you're goin' away?" Her tone was plaintive
"Won't be long. We just gotta get our houseguest up to Northampton-"
"You're going to-where? Oh! Hey, do you have room for two more?"
Raphael blinked at her mercurial shift. "Who?"
"These two kids. They need to get out of town. Some kind of gang thing. One has family in Massachusetts."
"Who are they?" Raphael rubbed his eyes. He was feeling a little dizzy.
"One of them I know pretty well. Young kid, like ten or so. His name is Dodger Sean-"
"Dodger..? Hrm. I think I know him."
"You probably do. Most of the upper West Side does."
"Hmm..." Raphael didn't think Casey would mind. At the moment he didn't much care if Casey would mind.
"So, do you think you could take them? I'd really appreciate it-"
"Yeah, yeah. I'm sure it'll be alright. I think we owe that kid a favor anyway. Have him meet us at Stewpot's, ok? Sometime after 5:30 in the morning."
"Oh thank you, Raph! You're a life-saver!"
"That's one of the things I do-" Raphael was aware of the slight slowing and thickening in his speech, but he didn't care. Sunni didn't seem to care. He drew her closer one more time. "Ok if we stop talkin' now?"
"Mm hmm," said Sunni.
"Don-hey Don! Wake up, dude. You don't wanna sleep out here." Michaelangelo shook Don again.
"Mmmph?" said Donatello.
"Hey, come on. I've been tryin' to wake you up for five minutes. You scared me there."
"Ohh, man…" Don sat up. "Yow, that's a good way to get a killer headache..."
"You ok?"
"Yeah...I was working on that code…" Don looked at his computer screen. "Musta fallen asleep. Ow." He rolled his shoulders. "Kinked the hell outta my neck. What time-? jeez, one-thirty?"
"Come on to bed. We gotta meet Casey in less than four hours."
The pounding at the front door broke through Sunni's awareness first.
"Raph-wait-hold it!" she pushed him back.
"Huh? What?"
"Someone's here!"
Despite the tremendous odds working against it, Raphael's survival instincts leaped to the fore. He was on his feet, sai drawn, toppling the coffee table and the pile of empties, neatly depositing Sunni on the far side of the couch.
"Jeezus!" she growled, pulling her sweater back on. "I think it's just the kids-"
He could make out the voices now. "Hey, Sunni open up! It's me an' Jake!"
Raphael stood speechless for a moment. "Were you expecting them now?"
"No. Not until tomorrow-"
"Then I'm gonna kill them-"
"No, wait, maybe they're in trouble-maybe you should just-"
"Open up, Sunni! It's me, Sean!"
" Hold on!" she called to the door. "Raph, I think maybe you should go-"
"Go?"
"Yeah, I think so-"
"You want me to go-now?"
"Yeah, I'm sorry. I'm just worried that- I need to let these kids in. Look, I'll make it up to you-"
Raphael made no pretense about his displeasure. He grabbed his coat, turned and stomped out the back door, slamming it on the way.
"Hey!" called Sunni after him. "You'll still pick them up at Stewpot's, right?"
Raphael made his way to the manhole cover at the end of the block, slid it back, and dropped down into the dark depths. No one saw him, but had he not been quite so angry, and quite so drunk, he might have seen them, slipping through the shadows, making their way to the apartment where the two boys hid.
The sound of the door sliding open and then something falling over jolted Lia awake. She raised herself partway up on the over stuffed chair, heart thudding, and could make out a dark figure in the shadows of the doorway.
"Raph?" It was Leo's voice from the couch.
There came grunted reply. Raphael paused a moment, stumbled against the payphone, mumbling something under his breath, and turned toward the sleeping passage.
Leonardo watched him. "Baka desu yo."
"Fu' goff, Leo…" mumbled Raphael, tripping over something else on his way to his bed.
"What did you say to him?" Lia whispered in the dark.
"Nothing he hasn't heard before."
Sean heard it. He had only just begun to doze off. He couldn't even say what it was he heard, but three years surviving on the street had taught him to always sleep with one ear open. Back stoop door. Kitchen. Wait. Front door, too. Not really a sound. Just a sense.
He slipped from the couch, crouching low, and touched his companion's shoulder where he lay snoring on the floor.
Jake jolted awake. Silently Sean put I finger to his lips. The two crept into Sunni's bedroom. She sat up, startled.
"Shh," hissed Sean. "They're at the doors- we have to get out of here."
Sunni stole over to the window, unlatched it as quietly as she could and unlocked the bolt on the louvered bars.
The splintering crash of the back door being smashed down sent Jake leaping to the window sill.
"Come on!" hissed Sean to Sunni.
"Go-!" she yelled back, grabbing her bedside baseball bat. "I'll hold them off-"
"No! Sunni!" cried Sean. "Don't!"
"Come on!" Jake grabbed the smaller boy by the shoulders and propelled him toward the open window, as Sunni stormed into the living room, swinging.
" Sunni!" Sean tried to pull free from Jake to follow her. He heard her hoarse shout at the intruders, the sound of something whizzing through the air, and her scream cut short.
"Come on-she's toast!" shouted Jake and dragging Sean with him, squeezed out the window to the fire escape, and from there to the blackened streets below.
