Damon looked a lot like her. He was much older too.
"Kat, this is Damon. He's your Tracker." Damien told her when she was still four and he was a few years older than her. "So don't ever run away." When Kat looked down at her feet he grabbed her chin and forced her to look up at him, into his icy blue eyes. "Do you understand, Kat? Don't ever run away from me again or he will be after you and he might even hurt you. Understand?"
"Yes, I understand," she whispered.
Damon looked like almost an exact copy of Damien. She remembered overhearing some scientists saying Damon was Damien's son, in a way, but Damien chastised them saying Damon was only a clone and nothing more.
He looked exactly like a man she hated. They would play together when they were children but when he turned 9 she never saw him again. He was now 19 years old.
"Kat, it's time to go home." He reached out toward her but Jeremy's growl made him flinch back.
"We aren't going back," Jason growled. "Not her and not any of us."
"That's just fine. We don't need the rest of you alive anyway and if Kat is injured that's her fault. She should've just done as she was told." He pulled a phone from his pocket and pressed a button. The explosion knocked her off her feet and sent her on her butt. The dust masked everyone's scent and stung her eyes.
A hand caught her wrist and covered her mouth when she screamed. "Geeze, quiet! It's just me!" The voice sounded like Jason but the green hand didn't fit. Raphael didn't wait for her to stand when he started running. She stumbled the first ten steps before regaining her footing.
"Where are we going? What about my brothers?" She demanded as she wiped the dust from the corner of her eyes.
"Look, if you're gonna whine the whole time I can just knock you out."
Kat stopped and he did too when he realized she had no plans of moving. "What about your brothers?"
Hands came on her shoulders and shoved her forward. "Don't stop, idiot!" Jason wasn't talking to her he was talking to Raphael. His face was covered in dust.
"I didn't stop she did!" Raphael complained. Without warning the turtle-creature dragged her forward.
"Jeremy and Vince-"
"The explosion gave us some cover, Kat." Jason explained. "It's messing with everybody's sense of smell so we've all taken separate directions. Don't worry everybody will be fine."
They didn't stop running until Jason heard Kat's breath squeaking. They hid near one of the several niches the sewers had. Jason wiped the dust from his face.
"Where? Where are we…?" She couldn't get the entire sentence out.
"I don't know but we'll figure it all out." Jason sat next to her, next to the muggy running waters. "We really shouldn't sit long." He warned.
She thought of her brothers fighting. Why were they always fighting for her?
Jason let her rest on his back while he and Raphael climbed up out of the sewers and into the setting sun. It cast enough shadows for nobody to notice or even question their sudden appearance.
In the alley with them was a van with so many wires that it reminded Kat of the back of one of the scientist's computers. Raphael opened the back doors and let Jason get in. Kat detached herself from his back and sat on the floor of the van. "We'll wait here for a few minutes and then we'll leave." He informed Jason.
Jason looked physically sick about being in a car. Kat took his hand and ran her thumb along his knuckles.
The back of the van had been hollowed out and the seats were replaced with computer monitors and two extra seats, stereo systems, a few extra weapons most of which were some form of gun or ninja-like weapon in a Jackie Chan or Bruce Lee movie, and lights that should have blinded the driver.
Raphael closed the back doors and got in the driver's seat and Jason moved to sit in the passenger seat. She couldn't hear the conversation well but she caught bits and pieces of what was said. Her thoughts were too loud for her to be paying attention to them. Kat sat by the door and watched, expecting it to open and to see Vince and Jeremy and Nathan, smiling at her.
Splinter was still unconscious as was Vince. Jeremy, Nathan, and Mikey were nowhere to be found. Leonardo felt some of the rubble move just enough for him to finally stand. When the explosion went off Donatello immediately protected Master Splinter. Vince was caught up in the rubble as it tumbled down from being thrown in the mix.
Leonardo protected Vince from any damage the rubble would've caused. "This is twice now," Donny muttered.
"Twice for what?" He knew better to ask but he couldn't help himself.
"Twice now that our home has been destroyed! Years of hard work ruined!" Donny was frustrated. He wanted to blame the children but couldn't bring himself to do it because they never knew any of this would happen.
Leonardo picked up Vince while Donny carefully carried their master. "Where's Raph?" Donny asked. "And Mikey? And the other Lycanthropes?"
He shrugged. "I didn't get a chance to see what happened when the explosion hit. We have to get up to the surface. We'll have a better chance up there than down here." His brother didn't argue much and for that he was grateful.
They wandered out of their home and into the sewers. Leonardo took one last look at the mess that was their home. Twice now someone has found them and tried to do them harm. This would be the second time they needed to seek April for shelter.
"That's been five minutes," Jason said. "Time to go.
Kat wanted to stay a little bit longer but she didn't argue. The car's engine hummed to life and the tires screeched on the asphalt. She didn't feel right. She felt like she was abandoning their family. She expected somebody, anybody, to open the back doors and hop on in but nobody came through.
"Did Nathan ever tell you where he wanted to set up?"
Kat looked at Jason. "What?"
Jason frowned. He was twisted awkwardly but his body somehow found its natural position as he crawled from the seat to her side. He pulled her close and she melted into the hug, with her head on his shoulder.
"They're okay, Kat," he whispered. "You'll see. We'll all meet up again real soon."
She nodded but somewhere in the back of her mind was a tiny seed of doubt.
"Did Nathan ever tell you where he wanted to set up our life?"
Kat shook her head. "We were discussing the woods and possibly finding another pack to take us but it was never for sure."
Jason's chest was steady with his breath and it rumbled when he spoke. "Since we have the van let's take off to the edge of the woods."
"Um…in case you haven't noticed I'm not made for the woods."
"You weren't made for the city either." Jason snarled. "It's the only place where those Trackers will lose us for sure!"
The van jerked forward. "What the hell?" Jason let go of Kat and crawled to the front seat.
Holes caused by machine guns tore through the door leaving Kat to scream and cover her vital organs and head with her legs and arms.
"Company," Raphael grumbled. "Take the wheel."
To Kat's surprise Jason complied and the two awkwardly switched seats while losing a lot of momentum. Raphael forced open the doors and cursed. "Jason, tire's ruined! You two will have to get as far away as you can."
Kat shook her head and stood. "No! I'm tired of running!" The van jerked again causing her to fall into Raphael and the two tumbled onto the asphalt. The truck behind them came to a sudden halt.
Men in black military-like uniforms methodically cut them off from the van and any other escape routes. There were three trucks of them in total. The Tracker she remembered to be named Virginia was among them.
Raphael waved his arms, encouraging Jason to go. She was again surprised to find that he complied.
Kat's hands morphed grotesquely and she felt the muscles tighten and pull. "Come at me!" She challenged.
April cooked breakfast and Casey snored on the couch. The sunrise would've been beautiful if she had seen it from Casey's home instead of her apartment. The smog from the New York City streets made everything seem less beautiful.
She thought of Kat and her brothers and Splinter and the turtles. There was no escaping the fate of helping a lost and diverse family in some way. Not that she was complaining, of course, in fact this thought brought a big and bright smile to her face.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
They were in rapid successions. April took the pan off the stove and walked to the door.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
"Coming!" April yelled and opened the door shortly after. Leonardo and Donatello stood with small scratches with Vince and Splinter who were unconscious. "Oh my god, boys, what happened?" She moved to allow the two inside. While Donatello shut the door she jogged across the room to Casey and shook him until he woke up. There was no warning for him to move except Leonardo setting Vince on the couch. He jumped on his feet.
"You could've asked!" Casey complained.
"What happened?" April asked again.
Donatello set Splinter on the loveseat. "We were attacked."
"By who?" Did they find Kat?
"Something called Trackers," Leonardo explained.
"Trackers…I heard of them. Never actually got to see them because they were always out training."
"Alright, fill us in." Donatello and Leonardo sat on the floor.
"Trackers are…if I remember correctly, they're like Lycanthropes but their DNA is closer to a bloodhounds than a wolf. A different team of scientists run by Damien created the Trackers because they feared Lycanthropes would be unsuccessful. While Kat was being created they ran similar tests including on the clone known as Damon. When Kat proved successful, however, there was no more use for having Trackers. Just before the day for their…" She cleared her throat uncomfortably. "…Before they were going to be killed off was about the time Damien became very weary of the Lycanthropes. Everyone was seeing a change of heart when the boys were introduced to Kat. So, to keep them in line, everyone was introduced to the trackers. The Trackers can hold more than seventeen different scents and remember them but at the time that wasn't known so they assigned a Tracker to each child. When they found out more scents could be given to them and they would remember all of them were assigned one duty: to retrieve Kat if she ever escaped."
Donatello and Leonardo looked at each other.
"Guys, where are the others?" Casey inquired. "And where are the wolf kids?"
"We were split up." Donatello said solemnly. "Whoever has Kat is about to be overwhelmed."
"This is a big city. There's no way we can look everywhere." Leonardo sighed.
"Maybe you don't have to," April picked up the remote to the TV. She knew that if a big bad wolf were on the loose a journalist would definitely pick up the story. She turned on the TV.
