After another week, the Turtles finally allowed Naomi to go outside with them.
"Just stay close to us – no, wait, stay as far from bad guys as you can, make sure you're hidden well, and stay away from any suspicious looking person…"
"I get it, Leonardo. I'll be fine. Can we go now?"
"And most importantly: don't try and be a hero! You can watch from a distance, that's all."
"I know, I know, now let's go already! I wanna see you guys in action!"
"Alright, here we go."
After everyone had climbed out of the sewers, they decided to climb to the roofs for a better view.
"Come one, Naomi," said Donatello. "Climb on my shell and hang on tight."
Naomi did as she was told and climbed on his back… which felt really weird. Donatello took out a rope and bind it around them a few times, so that Naomi couldn't fall off.
The view on top of the roofs was beautiful. It was like they could see all of New York City. Which was a good thing, since it made spotting crime a lot easier. It didn't take long for the Turtles to spot another robbery in a jewellery: one of the daily crimes around here. The Turtles kept their eyes on the escaping thieves as they followed them via the roofs, until the thieves ended up in a small alley. Perfect.
Leonardo, Raphael and Michelangelo made their way down to the three criminals while Donatello brought Naomi to a safe spot on the other side of the alley where she could watch them. She hid behind a trash can and watched as Donatello joined the others.
The three thieves were defenceless against the four ninjas. The Turtles didn't even have to use their weapons.
One of the thieves, probably the leader, tried to punch Raphael in the stomach, which only resulted in a very painful, probably broken hand, while Raphael hadn't moved an inch. He grinned evilly at the pathetic looking leader, who was clearly regretting this action.
"Try again," said Raphael. "Come on, I dare ya."
The man looked scared, but then put all his courage together and tried to kick Raphael in the stomach. Again, it was no use. And now his foot hurt, too.
"Too bad," said Raphael, still an evil smirk on his face. The man could see his smirk, but not much more than that. He trembled in fear.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!!" he screamed in panic.
But he was already knock-out after one single punch in the face.
"Cool…" said Naomi to herself, fascinated by what she saw.
"Hey, you," said a voice behind her. Naomi turned around. A pair of long legs. She looked up and found out it was a policeman. "What are you doing out this late?"
Raphael tied the leader of the thieves up and dragged him to the other two, who were already tied up and knocked out.
"Whew, that was fun," he said. "Can't wait 'till the next ones."
His brothers laughed.
"You coming, Naomi?" asked Donatello, turning to the other side of the alley. But there was no one there. "Naomi?"
"But I'm not a runaway," said Naomi to the policeman. "I was just on my way home…"
"You're not fooling anyone, kid," said the cop. "You're the girl that's been missing for weeks. Besides, you smell like you've been living in the sewers or something."
(Me: Hah, irony.)
"I'm not that girl," said Naomi. "And I was just… playing with… trash cans…"
Ok, no one would fall for that one, she thought.
She tried to run away, but the policeman caught her and dragged her into the police car.
"No! No! I don't wanna go back there!" screamed Naomi.
"Naomi?!" said Donatello. He made his way to the place where Naomi was supposed to be, but Leonardo stopped him.
"Donatello," he said. "You can't go out there, you'll blow our cover!"
They saw a police car ride past the end of the alley… and Naomi on the back seat.
"Oh no…" said Leonardo.
"Hey dudes, what's goin' on?" asked Michelangelo.
"They got her…" said Donatello.
Even Raphael was shocked.
"Oh man… major bummer, dudes!" said Michelangelo. "We gotta get her back!"
"How?" asked Leonardo. "We can't just waltz into the police station and kidnap her back."
Donatello punched into the trash can Naomi used to hide. The others were a little startled, since he was always the calm and collected one, but on the other hand, they knew how much that little girl meant to him.
"I'm sorry, Donatello," said Leonardo. "We lost her."
"… It's ok," said Donatello. "I mean… given the fact that her stay with us was not permanent, and the orphanage can provide her more than we ever will, the orphanage would only be a benefit for her."
"Umm, right," said Michelangelo, not understanding a word he just said. "Just wish we could've at least said goodbye."
"… Me too," said Donatello.
"Me three," said Leonardo.
Raphael didn't say anything.
"Well… we can't stay out here all night," said Leonardo. "We've got a mission. We need to protect this city."
Michelangelo and Raphael nodded.
"You coming, Donatello?" asked Leonardo.
After a few seconds of silence, Donatello said: "Yeah, I'm coming."
He couldn't allow himself to cry. He was a ninja, after all.
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You think it ends here? Heck, no! That's not the big ending I had in mind ;-)
Umm, just so you know, next chapter's gonna be all Naomi, but please don't hate me for that...
I would once again like to thank everyone who's read it so far, you're making me really happy =)