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Chapter 10

"Now, Elizabeth – "

"Liza… please."

The redhead smiled kindly and nodded, then wrote something down on her notepad, before continuing. "Liza, you know why my sister called me here today, correct?"

Liza knew, she was still having trouble accepting it though. She hated the idea of April calling her sister to come and 'talk' to her. Dr. Robyn O'Neil, April's sister, was a child therapist. Even though Liza was months away from being 18, April and Master Splinter thought it would be a good idea to have Robyn talk to her. Liza hated the idea. She told them no as soon as they suggested it. It took Cassie and April forever to finally convince her it might be a good idea.

Liza could admit, she felt a bit safer knowing Cassie and April were in the other room waiting. And it helped that Robyn was April's sister, not some random doctor.

Therapy was something she didn't want to do though. She didn't like the idea of completely opening up her unforgettable life to someone.

"Yes," Liza pursed her lips, shifting uncomfortably on the blue lounge chair.

Robyn smiled. "Excellent, I'm glad you agreed to this. You'd be surprised how much better you can feel after talking with someone. I know it's not the most favorable option for you, but it will help as long as you're completely honest with me. Can you do that?"

Liza nodded slowly.

"Okay," Robyn crossed her legs and got comfortable in her chair. "Now, let's start at the beginning, shall we? Can you tell me about your parents?"

Liza clawed the arm of the chair nervously. She promised Cassie she would at least try. "Well, my mother died in childbirth. She hemorrhaged after having me. My dad told me that she didn't want the hospitals to go to extremes to save her. She was one of those people who believed when your time comes, you shouldn't fight it."

"She sounds like a remarkable woman."

"I wouldn't know. But Dad always talked about her, she sounded pretty amazing. He would always tell me when I did something that reminded him of her. I'm a lot like her apparently."

Robyn nodded, scribbling down on her notebook. "What about your father?"

"He worked for the NYPD. Raised me as a single father. Never really dated. He never had time. He was either working or caring for me, which wasn't really easy, especially once they learned about my disease. I'd go in for routine check-ups every week," Liza shrugged.

"You are talking about him in past tense, is he no longer here?"

"No, he… he died in the line of duty, protecting a shopkeeper from a Purple Dragon raid."

"I'm so sorry," Robyn frowned, eyeing the brunette carefully.

Liza started absent-mindedly picking at her fingernails. "Thanks. But there was nothing you could have done."

"How are they?" April asked her sister as Cassie exited her office. Although this visit was mainly for Liza, Robyn convinced Cassie to talk too. Both girls emerged looking drained of any energy they previously had. Neither girl said a word.

Robyn rubbed her forehead in exhaustion. "I've reopened some deep wounds in both of them. The things they've told me…" Robyn shivered. "Just be… patient with them. They have a lot to recover from. Their lives before their abductions were hard enough but… wow. Just let them come to terms with it on their own. I do want to see them once every few weeks though. I still have a lot of progress to make with them. Liza especially. And I'm afraid Cassie is starting to show symptoms of PTSD. She was overreacting and hyperventilating when talking about being in the lab and the things they did..."

April sighed. "Great. Well, okay. Thanks so much sis."

"No problem. They really are sweet girls. They've just been through so much. They just need time."

After the goodbyes were said, April led the teenagers out of the building where her sister's office was located.

As they drove, April didn't push the subject of their sessions, she just stayed quiet.

They soon arrived in the alley by the lair within a few minutes. They dropped into the sewers and headed towards the familiar turnstile entrance.

"Hey, the girls are back!" Mikey smiled from over by the TV. "How'd it go?"

April sent him a look that told him to drop it. Cassie left without a word and headed towards the bedrooms. Liza mumbled that she was going to shower before she took off.

As the girls left, Leo walked in. "How'd it – "

"Go grab the others, we have a lot to talk about."

"I can't believe you let them get away!" Bishop boomed at the cowering agents in front of him.

Lana Ramirez shrunk down in front of her boss, right next to her partner, Eric Downs. But at this point, she hated to even call the cowardly man beside her her partner.

Ramirez could still feel the knot forming on her head from where the damn turtle hit her. She had been knocked out for hours. The agency doctor even told her she had a minor concussion, so she was banned from field work for a few weeks.

Agent Bishop yelling at them now wasn't helping her headache either.

If Eric had just kept going and searching the sewers for the turtles, they wouldn't be in this mess. But no, he freaked out when he woke up. He grabbed Ramirez's unconscious body and left the sewers quickly. Now, the two were facing the wrath of their boss.

"Sir, we were without our tracking device, we could have wandered around for hours and never found them," Eric protested.

Bishop slammed his fist on his desk, making the two agents jump. "I can assure you, you would have run into them eventually Downs! But instead of completing your mission, you let this entire agency down by coming back! We could have had them this time! The turtles and the girls! Just imagine what kind of experiments could be done on them! We could learn so much! But you ruined it!"

Eric looked down. "I-I'm sorry sir, I thou – "

"No, you didn't think," Bishop stated. He crossed his arms behind his back. "The two of you are off of this mission for three weeks, until Ramirez can continue in the field."

"Yes sir." They mumbled.

"And in those three weeks I suggest you think about what you can do to prove your worth to me for when you return, or the next time you fail me, I will take you off of this case permanently."

"Yes sir."

Bishop pulled his loose gloves back up on his hands. "Now leave. I have preparations to make. It looks like if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself."

Liza let the cool water run over her. She didn't know how long she had been in the shower, but it was long enough to make the water go from scalding hot to completely cold. She didn't even mind though.

She had other things to worry about.

Memory after memory was running through her mind. Every bad thing that she could remember was being set out right in front of her. Every bad memory she had suppressed, Dr. Robyn O'Neil dug up again.

She didn't blame April's sister. She was just doing her job.

She blamed herself.

It seemed silly, really, but she was the only person that could truly take the blame for this. No, she didn't blame herself for the unspeakable things that have happened to her over the years. She blamed the people who did those things to her. But she couldn't help but think, if she was different, things would be different.

If she wasn't capable of remembering every detail of her life, things would be different.

A small knock interrupted the brunette from her thoughts. "Liza, honey, you've been in there for two hours. I'm sure you look like a prune," April laughed lightly. "Please come out now. Mikey made dinner."

Liza glanced down at her hands. Sure enough, her fingertips looked like little raisins. Her entire hand was wrinkly.

"Okay, I'll be out in a minute," Liza called back. She quickly shut off the shower and dried herself off. Her hair was twisted into a low bun and she grabbed her jeans and shirt to slide on.

After cleaning up the rest of her mess, Liza exited the bathroom, heading straight to her bedroom to put her things away.

When she stepped inside, she saw Cassie sitting on her bed, knees folded up to her chest and sobbing quietly.

Liza threw her stuff onto her bed and then went over to console Cassie. She hugged her friend tightly, trying to be strong, but eventually Liza started to cry too. Seeing her friend this way was way too much for her to handle.

The two sat in silence for a while, silently crying together and letting everything out from the events of the day. Suddenly, Cassie spoke.

"How do you do it?"

Liza wiped her tear-stained cheek before looking at her in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Remember everything about an event?" Cassie clarified. "After talking with Dr. O'Neil today, some memories I didn't know I had are coming back and I can remember a lot of things more than I used to. I don't know how you do it all the time."

Liza wrapped an arm around her struggling friend before sighing. "I don't know either. I guess I just like to think of my head as a filing system. I bury some things deep into the rubble of a junk pile, it's still there, but I only think of it when I bring it up. And other things are front and center all the time. Something's you just… can't forget."

Liza let Cassie calm down before taking her to the kitchen for dinner. Everyone else had finished already, but they left two plates out for the girls when they decided to come out. Liza and Cassie sat down and began to eat. What they didn't know though, was that four curious turtles were watching them from the doorway.

"They've been crying," Mikey sadly observed.

"It's completely natural for them to have this reaction, Mikey. You heard what April said, they've been through more than we could have ever imagined. It's actually amazing that they came out and are eating at all," Donny replied.

Mikey still frowned. "Is there anything we can do to make them feel better?"

"Only time will tell, I think."

The orange banded turtle wasn't satisfied with this answer though. Then, and idea popped into his head. He walked into the kitchen quickly, before any of his brothers could stop him.

"Hey girls," He said gently, taking the seat next to Cassie.

Cassie gave him a forced smile. "Hi Mikey."

"I'm glad you guys decided to come and eat. I didn't want all of my awesome food to go to waste."

"Thank you for leaving some for us. It's really good," Cassie nodded, putting more mashed potatoes into her mouth.

"No problem," Mikey said. "So, I was thinking, maybe you guys would want to come on patrol with me and my bros tonight?"

The two girls stopped eating and gave him puzzled looks. Behind him, Mikey's brothers were even more confused.

"What is he doin'?" Raph questioned Leo.

"I don't know!"

"What are you talking about Mikey?" Cassie asked, batting her eyes in confusion.

"I mean, after today, wouldn't it be nice to just go up top and look at the stars? Get some fresh air and stuff? Maybe it can help you guys clear your heads," Mikey explained.

"What about the EPF?" Cassie asked nervously. "They could be out looking for us all over the city…"

Mikey wrapped an arm around Cassie. "Don't worry Cass! We won't let anyone take you guys. You'll be completely safe with us."

Cassie looked towards Liza, who then just shrugged while finishing her meal.

Cassie bit her lip. "Well, it would be nice to see the stars again…"

"There ya go! That's the spirit!" Mikey grinned at her. "We leave in an hour, okay?"

"Alright."

"Meet you guys then!" Mikey then rushed off back to his brothers.

"Mikey, are ya crazy?" Raph asked.

"What? They deserve some cooling off time. And we can protect them if Bishop decides to show up."

"Hopefully," Raph retorts, crossing his arms.

"We can. C'mon Leo, please?"

Leo looked from his little brothers to the girls before sighing. "Fine. If anything bad happens though, I blame you Mikey."

Mikey held out a hand to Cassie, who gratefully accepted it. He helped pull her up onto the rooftop, then reached down to help Liza.

Cassie took a deep breath, taking in the fresh air of the city. Then she opened her eyes.

No matter how many times she's seen it, New York City at nighttime always took her breath away.

"Routine run. Nothing fancy, and let's try to not go looking for trouble. I'd rather stay away from stuff like that tonight," The leader in blue stated, his brothers quickly nodding. Leo turned to the two girls. "Stay by us, okay? We won't go looking for trouble tonight, but we need to be safe."

"Got it," Cassie mumbled, still gazing off into the city.

"Okay," Liza replied.

"Good," Leo said. "Now let's go."

In the blink of an eye, the turtles were off. Liza watched curiously as they ran, jumping off rails, flipping over trash cans, and anything else they could do to show off. She grabbed Cassie's hand and started running after them.

Liza felt free. Weeks of living with the turtles down in the stuffy sewers has given her a small fear of being underground for long periods of time. Okay, not necessarily a fear, but more like a deep hatred.

"C'mon girls!" Mikey yelled back at them as he ran on the very edge of the building. "Don't let some slow turtles beat you!"

Cassie let out a laugh. "I think an exception should be made when those turtles happen to be ninjas."

Liza pulled Cassie to a stop, right before they went toppling over the edge of the building. Both girls stared at the gaping gap between them and the next building. The turtles were already on the other side. Leo turned around to check on the two girls. He brought himself and his brothers to a halt.

"Just jump it," Leo stated, as if it were the easiest thing in the world.

"Let me just, Leo…" Liza scoffed, crossing her arms.

With a roll of his eyes, Mikey jumped back over to the two girls. He lifted up Liza in his arms before she could even blink.

"Catch Leo!"

"What!? Mikey, no! No!" Liza flailed around. She was having no luck at escaping from the ninja's grasp.

Suddenly, Liza was soaring through the air. She couldn't even bring herself to scream. It was one of those feelings where you're so terrified that you can't even close your eyes, make a sound, or even move to save yourself. She was just frozen in fear.

She hit the ground with a thud. No, it wasn't the ground. If it was the ground, she would be dead.

"Mikey, you can't just throw people!" Leo scolded his brother, his voice very close to Liza. She looked up and saw Leo had actually caught her. He then looked down at her and smirked. "You didn't think I would let you fall, did you?"

Liza just let herself down from his arms in response. Mikey took Cassie in his arms and jumped across the gap with ease. Once he was safely over, he set her down.

"Yeah, Liza gets thrown like a sack of potatoes but Cassie gets carried over like a princess," Liza mumbled, crossing her arms.

Everyone laughed at her though.

"I can carry you over from now on, Liza," Leo stated. They continued running. Every time a gap between rooftops came, Mikey would take Cassie and Leo would take Liza and get them over the gap to continue running.

Liza didn't like feeling helpless. But slipping and falling to her death was not on her to-do list today, so she allowed herself to be carried.

After a while of this, Liza and Cassie started slowing down and panting. They weren't used to this much of a work out.

Liza slowed down to a walk, while Cassie bent over to catch her breath.

"I think it's time to call it a night," Leo told his brothers after observing the panting girls. He watched as Cassie sat down and Liza collapsed to the ground in relief.

"Thank… God," Liza spoke in between breaths.

"I can't move…" Cassie said. Leo helped the two girls up.

Liza propped her arm up against a trash can until she was sure she could stand on her own.

"You guys… do this… every night?" Cassie asked.

"Yeah, usually for a lot longer though. We've only been out here an hour," Mikey responded with a confident smile.

"Oh my God…" Cassie gasped.

Liza looked off into the distance for a second, still trying to control her breathing. She saw something on a rooftop across the street. A crouching figure, hidden in the shadows…

She had a bad feeling about this.

"Guys," She whispered in a low voice. "Over there, I think someone is – "

A small sting erupted in her shoulder. Liza looked down to find a small dart stuck in her arm. On that dart, was the EPF logo.

"Guys! Run!" Liza shouted. Leo and Raph were soon by her side, looking off into the direction she was pointing. Mikey pulled Cassie behind him and brought out his nunchucks.

Liza was feeling light-headed.

She lost her balance, bumping into Raph, but he kept her up.

"Liza, what's…" He then saw the dart sticking out of her shoulder. He yanked it out of her, glaring at the logo plastered on it. "Leo, its Bishop."

Leo cursed under his breath. "We've got to get out of here."

The figure across the street shot something at their building. After looking at it closely, they could see it was a grappling hook. He was coming over.

Liza was fighting to keep herself awake. Her legs had gone numb. So had her arms. She was just a limp noodle in Raph's arms.

"I can't… I can't…" Liza incoherently mumbled.

"Stay awake Liza! We're gonna get you outta here!" Raph shouted at her. He sounded so far away…

Bishop landed on the rooftop they were on. He pulled his gloves tighter around his hands as he smiled.

"Why, hello turtles. I believe you have some things that belong to me, and I would very much like them back," Bishop said coolly.

"You're crazy if you think we're letting you take the girls, Bishop!" Leo shouted. Liza's head went limp next. She couldn't keep her head pointed towards the fight to see what would happen. All she could see was part of Leo and Bishop, and Mikey and Donny guarding Cassie.

"Don't think of it as 'letting me take them', you're simply giving me back what's mine," Bishop crossed his hands behind his back. "Since neither of them have legal guardians, that means they're government kids. Oh and look at that," He pulled out his EPF badge. "Government agent right here."

"You can't take them Bishop. You'll have to go through us first!" Leo said, pulling his katana out.

Bishop shrugged. "Very well."

The next thing Liza knew, she was being laid on the ground by Mikey and Donny so that Raph could go aid Leo in the fight against Bishop. Liza's eyes were dropping fast, but she couldn't pass out here.

Cassie dropped to the ground next to her friend. A few of Bishop's followers jumped out to grab Cassie and Liza, but Mikey and Donny were holding them off. She felt Liza's forehead and checked other vital signs.

"Liza, you gotta stay awake!" Cassie urged her, shaking her shoulders a bit. She could see her friend slowly losing consciousness, but she was putting up one hell of a fight first.

"Cass… behind… you…" Liza warned. Cassie turned around just in time to miss a blow from an agent who had swung the butt of his gun at her head. Cassie let out a yelp. Mikey turned around and quickly took out the agent advancing on them.

When Cassie turned back around, Liza was completely out.

"Guys, Liza's out cold," Cassie called to Mikey and Donny, unsure of what to do next.

"It'll be okay Cass! Everything will be fine!" Mikey told her. Cassie didn't notice before, but she had small tears falling down her face.

Leo locked weapons with Bishop. "You should just hand them over. No reason to get your… family mixed up in something that doesn't involve you, right?"

"Liza and Cassie are a part of our family now too," Leo responded. "We won't let you take them."

"AHH." Leo heard a small shriek that only lasted a few seconds before it sounded like it was being muffled. He looked over to see his brothers fighting off Bishop's goons, but they hadn't noticed what he noticed.

Two of Bishop's agents had rode in on a hover craft of some sorts. Liza's unconscious body was thrown onto the hover craft with little care. They had bound Cassie's hands and covered her mouth and were now fighting her to get her on the hover craft.

"Mikey, Donny!" Leo shouted and pointed towards the direction of the girls. The two brothers finished taking out some people before turning with wide eyes.

"Cassie! Liza!" Mikey shouted, taking off towards the hover craft.

The agents eventually just hit Cassie over the head to knock her out. Leo started feeling nauseous when he saw Cassie's mismatched eyes roll back in her head and her body go completely limp. He blocked a strike from Bishop, but kept his eyes on the scene.

The agents threw Cassie on top of Liza before getting back into their seats.

Leo's heart sank as they flew off.

Bishop struck Leo in the side of the head when he was distracted. This reminded him that he needed to defeat Bishop.

He saw Mikey drop to his knees out of the corner of his eye. His little brother was too late.

Leo blocked a hit from Bishop, pushing him back. Bishop stood up and straightened his coat.

"Well, I'd love to stay and continue this little party," He said, making a hand motion that made all of his remaining agents flee the scene. All that was left were the turtles and Bishop. "But I have some... experimenting to do."

That phrase alone sent chills and waves of nausea through each turtle.

Bishop backed off the building, dropping to the cement bellow. But another one of those hover crafts caught him as he was falling.

And just as quickly as he came, he was gone, leaving the turtle brothers in disturbing silence.

They had failed. Leo promised them they would never let Bishop take them again, and now he was a liar. In their quest to make the girls forget about what Bishop had done to them in the past, they allowed him take them right back.

CLIFFHANGER! DUN DUN DUNNNNNN.

What do you guys think will happen next? 😲

Thank you to my readers and reviewers for this chapter! I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH! ❤

See ya later alligators! 😊