AN: Chapter 4 is here… it took me a long time to write, because half way through I found out that I needed to make several changes. Therefore I re-wrote the whole prologue and made several changes in chapter 1 and 2 and a few in chapter 3. So now the story should fit, I hope. If you haven't read the changes I suggest you do it, because they are important later in the story. Thanks.
--

Chapter 4 – all these questions

Leonardo was sitting cranked up in a corner. Donatello was to his left and Raphael to his right and across the box was Michelangelo. Between them all was Splinter. Leo couldn't see them, but he knew they were there, he could hear them breath. Where were they now? Somewhere over the Atlantic.

After Michelangelo had told them everything he knew. After he told about how it had crushed the spirit and she needed rest. And he told where to find the next medallion. Donatello had used Michelangelo's information on his computers and within a few hours Don had found out where it was. How the medallion was ended up there was a big question no one could answer. They had tried to ask Michelangelo to ask the spirit if she knew anything, but Mike wouldn't talk to her, she needed rest, he said. He had changed already, Leonardo could see. He had only had the medallion for about two day, but already he had changed. He had come up with the idea of how they could travel, even though everybody had been looking at Master Splinter.

Donatello had to book it over the computer and they found out they couldn't come on a flight before the next day. Splinter had to talk to April again, this time Leonardo went with him.

"But I wont be home" she said while walking forth and back in her apartment. Splinter just stood still and looked at her. Leonardo couldn't help look around her apartment. Several antiquities was standing on the shelves and despite the yellow colour on the walls, it all seemed to be in harmony. Leonardo had always liked Aprils apartment. Well… not the first place she had, but after she got the antiquities store downstairs and moved to this apartment, Leonardo had always felt… relaxed.

"Where exactly are you going?" Master Splinter said.

"A convention for antiquity dealers" she said from the bedroom. She came out with her hands full of clothes she needed to pack.

"When will you leave?" Splinter asked. Leonardo looked at Aprils clothes, it didn't look like everyday clothes even though there where several pants and blouses in there. But there was also a skirt and some blouses he had never seen her wear before.

"Tonight" she sighted and looked at them, Leonardo looked back at her, and she didn't notice he was looking at her bag. "Why?" she asked and her eyes went from Splinter, to Leonardo and back again.

"We have recovered some things for an old friend of ours" Splinter said, "but he cant come to New York and get them, so we have arranged for them to be send to him" April kept looking at him, listening to the story. "All we need is to use your stores address as the pick up place for the package. Could we use it?" he asked. April just looked at Splinter and Leonardo. Leonardo didn't know why Splinter was lying to April, but Leonardo almost never doubted his master, and this time he was sure the reason was good. He could understand why Splinter didn't want April to know what was in the box.

"Sure, go ahead" she finally said, "but you have to put it up there, and I am NOT gonna take responsibility if something happens to it"

"Thank you, April, and don't worry" Splinter said, "nothing will happen to it" Then he nodded to goodbye and left.

"Leo" April said and grabbed his arm before he left with Splinter. "What is up with him?" she asked, "he seems a bit… off"

"What do you mean?" Leonardo asked.

"He just… he… he doesn't seem as him self. Is something wrong?" she looked concern Leonardo didn't know what to say.

"No, nothing is wrong" he smiled, "Splinter is just concerned for the package, he doesn't want anything to happen to it" then he smiled to goodbye and left her standing near the window, thinking of what the guys where up to.

"Master Splinter, why did we lye to April?" Leonardo had asked on the way back to the lair.

"Because she wouldn't understand why" Splinter said shortly.

"But… it's April" Leonardo said and stopped. "She understands us, 4 giant turtles and a talking rat. Why wouldn't she understand why we have to go to England?"

"Because I don't want her to get involved" Splinter turned around and looked at Leonardo. "If she came with us, she might get hurt, and I don't want anyone to get hurt. I think it's enough Earth already has chosen Michelangelo as its carrier. If we are not careful the power will hurt Michelangelo more then it would help. April is not one of us, she is a human, with her own life, and I don't want her to risk any danger coming with us." While talking he had slowly walked over to Leonardo. He didn't know what to say. His master was right. Leonardo didn't want April to get hurt either, and the trip… it could be dangerous depending on where the next medallion was.
--

Back in the lair the guys had already packed. Michelangelo only wanted to bring the medallion, Donatello had packed several gadgets he though would come in handy and Raphael had packed his Game Boy, several games to it and batteries enough to make a whole city go for a week.

To Leonardo's surprise Master Splinter started to talk about the space in the box, how they couldn't take all that stuff with them. He almost yelled at them, he wasn't calm and sensible. While Raphael and Donatello repacked their bags Splinter asked Michelangelo to go find some blankets they could use, because they would get cold.

Leonardo looked around his room to figure out what to take with him. But he couldn't find anything useful, and he didn't want master Splinter to yell at him. Maybe April was right. Maybe something was up with Splinter. Or maybe Splinter was just frustrated over the trip, anxious for their safety. Leonardo would be to. He had to admit to himself, that he didn't fully understand the stories of the medallions and why it was so important to get them all, but he was willing to do it, only because he trusted his master and he wanted to do the right thing. He wanted to help the spirits to be united again, and he wanted to find the brotherhood and return the medallions. As he understood it, the brotherhood was out there some where… they just needed to find them.
--

Leonardo looked around in the darkness. He pulled his blanket a little higher. His katanas was lying by his side. He knew Donatello had laid his bo staff the same way. It was the easiest thing to do in such a small box. Leonardo didn't know what Mike or Raphael did with their weapons, but he knew they had them with them. Just like Splinter had his cane.
--

"How are we going to be inside THAT?!" Raphael asked very surprised when he saw the box.

"In time you will see, my son" Master Splinter said. He had been meditating for some hours after he and Leonardo had come back from Aprils. Leonardo had been watching him ever since he was done meditating, but master Splinter seemed fine… nothing was wrong with him. April must have been stressed…

Leonardo laughed at himself inside, because he almost fell for it. Master Splinter was as "normal" as he always had been.

"Master Splinter… Raphael is right… where are we going to be?" Donatello asked while studying the box.

They where standing in the alley behind Aprils shop. The box had been delivered there 30 minutes ago. Master Splinter had asked Raphael to go watch when the truck came with it. Raphael hadn't been too happy about it, but went anyway. Master Splinter went meditating, Mike studied the medallion and Donatello started to do some math about their trip. Leonardo had tried to meditate, but not for long. His thoughts kept running around the story about the medallions. He tried to get it straight, but it was like something was missing. He wanted to ask Master Splinter, but something told him not to. And while they where trying to figure out how they should be in the box he couldn't get himself to ask. They hadn't heard the Earth-spirits story yet either, maybe she could fill some of the holes…

Raphael stepped into the box. It was only 1 meter high… maybe a little more, but that was it. Leo didn't dare to guess how long it was, but not more then 1,2 meters.

"We cant be 5 people down here" Raphael said and looked like he had already given up.

"I have done the math and we should be able to be there… but it's only a theory" Donatello said.

"Theories don't make us smaller" Raphael said. It sounded like a joke, but Leonardo knew his brother. It wasn't a joke; he was starting to get irritated.

"Let's give it a try" Michelangelo said with his calm voice. He had been so calm ever since he got the medallion. Leo was surprised. He had never seen his brother like that.

Donatello took his staff and put it in the bottom of the box out to the side. Then he swung his blanket around him and stepped in and sat down. Leonardo put his swords into the box and did the same thing. Then Raphael took his sai's and swung the blanket around him and sat down in the box to.

"There is room for one more" he smiled and looked up at Michelangelo and master Splinter.

Splinter stepped into the box and laid his cane at the bottom so it pointed in between Leo and Don. He looked at Michelangelo, waiting for him to step into the box. He swung the blanked around him, removed the nuchakus's so they where at his belly instead of his back, and then he stepped into the box. While he sat down, master Splinter sat down. Leonardo wasn't sure how they did it, but now they all sat in the box.

"So, Einstein" Raphael said and looked at Donatello, "How are we going to get the lid on?" he asked. Donatello looked around, his thoughts where running wild. You could tell by the look in his eyes. "Great… so now we are stuck in a box" Raphael said and rolled his eyes.

"Patience my son" master Splinter said with one of his smiles on his face.

"If we…" Don said and looked at the lid that was standing up against the wall. They couldn't reach it from the box, which was obvious. "We could…" he said and looked at some pipes near a dumpster in the alley. Then he sighed so his entire blanket moved.

"Let's try and get out and in again after we moved the lid" Michelangelo said. Everybody looked at him. "Then when we are in the box again two of us can lift the lid and put it on" he explained.

"How did you come up with that?" Donatello asked surprised.

"I don't know" Mike said, "I just did"

"Did the ghost tell you?" Raphael asked.

"Spirit" Donatello corrected him.

"Whatever" Raphael snapped at him and looked at Michelangelo again.

"No she didn't. I came up with it all by my self" he said. He looked at master Splinter, who nodded slow and then they both stood up as if they had never been cranked together. They stepped out, Leonardo and Donatello followed. Raphael kept sitting there, a bit mad about the situation. Leo and Don moved the lid so it stood up against the side they where sitting by. Then they all cranked down to the box again. For some reason Leonardo felt it had become bigger. But that had to be his imagination. He and Donatello took a grab of the heavy lid and lifted it up. With some trouble they got it on and all became dark around them.

"So… what now?" Raphael asked after some time in silence.

"We wait" master Splinter said.

"For what?" Ralph asked back.

"For the company to come and ship off the box" master Splinter said.

"And when will that be?" Raphael asked back.

"Around 8 in the morning" Donatello said.

"8?!" Raphael shouted.

"SSSHH!" they all said to him, except master Splinter.

"You are NOT in the lair" Leo said in the dark box, hoping Raphael was just as blind as he was. Or ells he would be laughing right now, because Leo didn't look at him, because he couldn't see him. "We are at the surface, we need to be quiet until we know we are on the plain" he explained.

"Sorry" Raphael said. No one answered back, they just sat in silence.
--

The alley wasn't for everyone to go into. It was locked up with a wrought-iron gate, but there was still people walking by outside the gate on the street. They needed to be quiet otherwise they would get caught.

Leonardo didn't know who had the key to the gate, but after a long time waiting in silence he heard the gate open. A truck backed up in the alley and noises woke up the rest of the guys.

"What's happening?" Raphael asked tired.

"Hush" Leo whispered, "the truck is here" they all sat in silence and listened to the trucker opening the truck, he was humming a song and when he got close to the box and banged hard on it Leonardo could hear the sound from his iPod.

"He is listening to music" he whispered. The guy outside closed the box safely and gave it a stamp on the side. Leo was glad that the box had an arrow that showed "this side up" under it. Shortly after all became silent, Leo thought for a sec the box had been forgotten, but then something lifted it.

Roughly it was put in the truck and the driver closed it and drove out of the alley. Leonardo was happy that he didn't have to travel around the world every day like this.
--

"So…" Raphael's voice sounded in the dark. The only sound there had been until that moment had been the noise from the airplane. "How long is this flight?"

"About 13 hours" Donatello's voice sounded.

"Oh" Raphael said, "anyone brought Scrabbles?" Leo knew his brother well enough to know, that he was smiling of his joke, but no one ells said anything, they didn't find it funny.

"Mike?" Leo asked.

"Yes" Mike answered in the darkness.

"What do your spirit remember from its past… you know… before it ended in the chest, before it ended with you?" Leo didn't know if it was wise to talk about this in the darkness, but he wanted answers to some of the questions in his head.

"I asked her when I met her" Mike said, "And she can't remember. She tries, but she only remembers the time before World War 2. When she was about to change carrier, she forgets. She can't remember if she chose one. And she doesn't know if the brotherhood is still out there. She hopes they are."

"But, what if they aren't?" Raphael asked.

"Then she wants to be united with the other elements, so they can find out what will happen next" Mike said.

Silence again. No one said anything the rest of the flight. Leonardo tried to put the story together. But it was hard, and why couldn't the spirit remember anything? How could a spirit forget? Was it even possible?

It all just led to more questions, no answers. Leonardo hoped there would be answers in London, answers when they would find Metal.
--

Leonardo fell asleep. He dreamt about spirits haunting him, laughing at him because he couldn't solve their riddle. They kept singing it to him. "Earth, metal, water, fire, wood, can't get in the way when we are running to you. 'Cause we will ride through stormy weather just to show you how much we can do"

It was a crazy song, and they teased him with it. They ran after him, splashed him with water, through earth in his face, threw splinters after him that would get stuck in his arms and legs, fire would make his shell so hot it burned on his back and a giant metal axe tried to chop him in two. Just as it was about to hit him the whole airplane bumped and Leo woke up in a chock.

"Ouch!" yelled Raphael, "why do you kick me?!"

"Sorry!" Leo yelled back in the noise.

"Worry my… I'll whoop your bud when I get out of this thing!" Raphael yelled back.

"Sorry!" yelled Leonardo back.

"Yeah, you better be. Your mom won't be able to recognise you when I'm done with you" Raphael said while the plane was slowing down.

"Boys" master Splinter said, "we need to be quiet now. The plane has landed and soon they will come and remove the cargo"

"That means us" Donatello said to explain.

"I know," Raphael snapped back, "I'm not stupid!"
--

After some time the cargo was taken of the plain. Including their box. Leonardo tried to hold on as good as he could, but it became a rough ride from Heathrow airport and through the streets of London. Finally they stopped.

"What is this?" a guy said outside.

"I don't know, the address is here, so I just need you to sign" the driver said.

"We didn't order this"

"Hey lad, you're having a big party, who knows what your superior has ordered. Just sign" the sound of a pen writing and a clonk on the box.

"Géne!" shouted the guy who didn't want their box.

"Yes?"

"We need to put this in the back. No need to open it now, it can wait. We need to be done with the hall first"

"Yes, sir" Géne said. He sounded like a young kid. Something fell hard to the floor, like several serving plates. Someone yelled something Leonardo didn't understand which must have been for the best, because it didn't sound like anything good.

Then their box was moved. Through the cracks of the box they could see light, but not was outside the box. For the first time in about a day Leo could see the contour of his brothers and his master. Then the box was put down and something drove off. The light got turned of and a lock clicked. All there was left in the darkness was silence.

"What now?" whispered Raphael.

"Well… if everything has gone as planed then" Leo tried to look at him. "Welcome to Greenwich"

AN: School sucks big time… and therefore I don't know when the next chapter will be out, but I'm hopping soon ;o)

Please comment. It makes me so happy to know what you think of my writing (both good and bad stuff ;o))