Buried Memories

She was stable.

The green glow ebbed from the surface of her skin back to his hand, a healthy color starting to return to her cheeks. Alex sighed in relief, straightening with a smile. Convincing Ruby to stay awake until the danger zone had passed had been difficult but he had managed it, and now she slept soundly. Alex rested his head on his hand, smile faltering as he watched her sleep. There was still a chance she'd be affected by it…he just hoped that, if it came to that, she'd only have lost some…

Shaking his head quickly, Alex stood and walked out of the room, carrying the meagre medical supplies he had used back to the bathroom first aid kit. He would deal with it if it came to that. But until she woke and he knew for sure, he wasn't planning on going anywhere any time soon.

Putting the last few items away, Alex made his way back to the room, taking his seat by her bed once more.

Alex was woken from his dozing by movement on the bed. The room was dark, now that it was twilight, but he could still see his sister start to awaken. Anxiety was eating him: would she remember? She had to, right? He couldn't lose her, not now...

He watched her slowly crack open her eyes, then fell quiet as they found his.

"... A-Alexy?" she whispered hoarsely. He smiled in relief and was at her side in an instant.

"I'm here, Ru. We're home now." He watched her nod quietly and gently brushed her hair out of her face. He frowned slightly; her skin was a bit warm and damp from sweat. Possibly a fever brought about by stress and worry. But, it was to be expected he supposed. She'd been through a fair bit, hit her head and almost lost her memories because of...THEM. The last word was thought venomously, the hand at his side clenching painfully.

Everything so far was their fault. If they'd just stayed out of his business, Ruby would never have gotten involved and everything would have been fine. But because they couldn't keep their paranoid curiosity under wraps, things hadn't gone smoothly. Anger boiled within, bubbling up quickly as it did whenever it came to keeping Ruby safe. That was why he had come, why he had left their world and followed her to this one…to protect her, to be at her side whenever she needed him…

…And look what had happened. He was lucky the hit hadn't been hard enough to cause old wounds to start acting up again…lucky they had managed to get out of their stronghold… Alex cursed himself mentally as he looked at Ruby, keeping a stiff smile in place so as not to worry her further. He was her brother, her protector, her companion…and if they ever got their hands on her again…then next time, he wouldn't hold back

Ruby frowned.

"W-wait..." He snapped out of his thought, looking at her and asking gently,

"What is it, Ru?" He hoped she didn't notice the false smile planted on his face. She frowned further.

"M-my... My p-phone..." He blinked, looking at her in confusion.

"Your phone? What about it?" Ruby shifted, patting her pockets under the sheets.

"I-it's not in my pocket... I-it should be, but it isn't..." She started to sit up, but he eased her back down gently, murmuring lowly,

"It's fine, Ru... Just lay down, ok?" Ruby looked up at him, brows furrowed.

"Must've... D-dropped it... In s-sewers..."

Alex blinked once before spinning round in seat to grab tracker from desk, flicking it on and entering her phone's signal code. Seconds later a red dot flashed on the screen and Alex mentally groaned in irritation. It was in the sewers…right where he had collapsed the wall to stop the turtles from coming after them. Raising his gaze to hers, he could tell she wanted it back and no amount of arguing would change her mind.

Standing, he gave her a smile.

"Then I'll just have to go get it, won't I?" Ruby looked up at him, about to protest about him going alone but he held up a hand to silence her.

"I'll be in and out, they won't even know I was near their lair. But I want you to promise me you'll stay here and rest til I get back, no matter how long I take cause if its buried in the rubble, it will take me a bit. Promise me, Ruby."

Ruby frowned before slowly speaking.

"I promise... But I'll wait for you until the day after tomorrow, then I'm going down to see what's taking so long." Alex opened his mouth to object, but saw the iron in his sisters eyes and sighed.

"If that's the best I can get out of you, then thank you." Ruby nodded, satisfied that she had a say in what she'd do, before laying her head back down, exhaustion clouding her eyes. Alex bit his lip; maybe he shouldn't leave her. But he had to go get the phone, she would worry less and be able to rest easier. With a smile, he knelt to her level to place a gentle kiss on her forehand, murmuring softly,

"Rest well, Ru...I'll be back home soon."

A sleepy smile crossed her face as her eyes closed. Alex waited til her breathing once more evened out before his smile fell, gaze hardening. Rising from his spot, Alex turned, walking out and grabbing the duffel he had dropped on the floor when he had raced home with her unconscious in his arms. Slipping that over his shoulders he ducked out the window, scaling the fire escape to reach the roof in seconds.

Amber eyes looked out over the sleepless city he now called home, turning toward the lake located in central park. Closing his eyes for a moment, Alex took a deep breath before opening hem again, pushing aside the anger building back up and clearing his mind. The cave in was barely two hundred metres from the turtles home…this was not the time to be distracted by emotions. Alex took a single step forward then vaulted off the roof, racing toward his destination in the tunnels.

Soon enough he was narrowing his eyes as he stared down the dark hole that would lead him to the sewers below. His least favourite place now, the sewers. He swallowed down the disgust that started to burn its way up his throat and dropped down, senses broadening instantly to cover the surrounding area. Crouching on the tunnel floor, he remained still and silent, scanning the area for any traps or traces of the foul four themselves.

He allowed himself to relax slightly when he heard nothing before walking down the tunnel, heading straight toward the caved in section he had left behind only hours earlier. Rarely did such anger and annoyance linger but…he had always been more likely to hold a grudge when the attack was directed at his sister. Pulling the tracker from his bag, he narrowed the search radius down as he stopped beside the rubble, noting the turtles had cleared an area of it to create a walkway to the side.

Crouching down by the wall s as to remain out of sight, Alex looked at the scanners screen, gaze flicking to the pile and shuffling slightly til he was right in front of where it should be. Her phone was definitely under the rubble. Slipping the scanner back into the bag and placing it on the ground, Alex started to dig through the rock debris, moving the chunks one bit at a time as quietly as he could while moving quickly. He didn't want to linger any longer than he had to.

Perhaps it was that haste that had him forgetting to check for weak points, this hurry to get out that made him misjudge the rock that was more buried than he thought. Planting his feet firmly on the ground and grabbing a secure hold round the chunk he knew was hiding her phone from his retrieval, Alex yanked hard on the concrete chunk. But, as it slid loose, so did the stacked pile of debris right over his head.

Alex didn't even get time to cry out before the sound of rocks cascading down buried him and any sound he could of made.

A tug on his arm.

A chill in the air.

A voice crying out to him... And laughing.

Alex opened his eyes, and was nearly blinded by white. After a minute, he realized it was snow. He raised his gaze, and froze. He found himself staring into the crystal blue eyes, and russet brown hair of his sister, Ruby. She was giggling, eyes bright with love and happiness, Carefree. And about eleven years younger.

Alex knew this was a dream...but he couldn't break free of it. It was a happy memory, one before any horrible things happened to them... A memory of them being carefree young children, and one that he would cling onto for eternity if he had too.

He found himself smiling, and followed her. It was dark, which was odd. There master almost never let them Go out after dark. He pushed aside his worry and continued on.

Ruby suddenly released his hand once they reached a cliff and took several steps back. She spoke but he couldn't hear. The wind was picking up. He called out to her, but she looked confused, took another step back...

And she slipped.

In an instant he knew what memory this was. And he wanted OUT.

Amber eyes snapped open, greeted by darkness before he coughed violently, trying to clear the dust coating the inside of his throat. That was all it took to remind him where he was…stuck under a pile of debris cause of one move made in haste. But…it was better than re-living that day… Pushing the thought to the back of his mind, Alex made himself focus on the situation at hand.

He had no idea how long he'd been unconscious but he had to get out before his meager air supply dwindled. Attempting to turn his head, Alex quickly found out he couldn't move. Legs numbed by the rubble and his right arm pinned at an odd angle above his head, his left arm was the only limb he could still move after a little shuffling to get it out from under his body.

With some effort, Alex managed to tug his phone free from his belt, shifting to bring it up to his face so he could see before groaning at the cracks spider webbing across it. Dropping it to the floor, a small wave of panic raced through his system as he grew light headed, more so with each intake of air.

He was running out of oxygen.

That knowledge made him struggle harder, tugging as much as he could to try and free his trapped limbs. A sound caused his whole body to go still, breathing coming to a halt as his ears strained to hear the sound again.

He found he could hear something coming closer, shuffling footsteps scarping over the tunnel floor before coming to a stop. There was nothing, silence falling and Alex started to wonder if he'd imagined it. Then he heard the sounds of rocks hitting the ground and bouncing away, small rocks and dust falling into him face as something dug through the debris.

A shaft of light suddenly pierced the darkness causing him to partially close his eyes momentarily, squeezing them shut when more light shone down, stabbing into his retinas. Slowly he managed to open his eyes, blinking rapidly to make them adjust as a shadow reached toward him, a large hand pushing the rubble from his trapped arm before two large hands gripped him limbs and tugged.

Sliding free from the rock debris, Alex fully opened his eyes only to have them widen in shock. His mind barely had time to register the towering form of an alligator above him before a cry was ripped from this throat, shooting pain suddenly burning a path through his nervous system.

The last thing he saw was the alligator's jaw closing in before blackness consumed him once more.

TBC...