And here we go again.


They stuck to the sewer tunnels until they got to TCRI, only then hesitantly surfacing. There they split; the turtles to the dumpsters, the two sisters taking to the skies. Harp grasped Leo's arm before they split, eyes sharp. "We'll circle the skies until we know you're in place. Give us a signal- I'll assume it will be some sort of explosion."

Raphael snorted, grinning as he clambered into a dumpster. "Sounds like a plan."

Leonardo wished the winged women luck, then climbed into a dumpster of his own, praying that he didn't get nicked with a needle or injected with some sort of toxic- heaven only knew what would happen when a mutant met a thrown-out experiment. It was only a few hours later when the dumpster began to rattle, being brought into the TCRI garages. Leo held still as possible, waiting for the human voices to fad,efor the lights to turn off. And a half hour later, Raphael tossed the lid off the dumpster, peering down at his leader. "You comin' or what?"

"So much for subtlety," Leo huffed, accepting his brother's hand as he hauled himself out of the dumpster, shaking clingy papers off his legs.

Donatello was already out, a schematic of the building pulled up on his hologram. "This isn't anything new. Freight elevator, then the business elevator, secret staircase."

And thus they went; it wasn't as big of a fuss as last time; all the workers had gone home for the night. And thus, no explosions. When they got to the secret stairwell, Donnie pulled a heavyduty flashlight, setting it to strobe and pointing it out the window. "Best we can do in lieu of an explosion."

Outside the window, Leo could see two figures circling in the clouds- he and his brothers stepped out of the way, watching the two sisters pull in their wings and come like arrows, straight for the window. Harp was the first; she drew up at the last second, crossing her arms in front of her face, her knees up, bracing for contact with her wings thrown around her. Glass shattered and rained down; Leo cast up an arm, blocking the shower. When he glanced up, Screech was gently landing, placing her feet clear of the glass. Harp lowered her wings and her arms, littered with shards of glass and bleeding from numberless cuts. But her eyes- there was a killer in her eyes. A bird of prey ready to tear out a throat with her talons, with her bare fingers. She flapped her wings, scattering the glass away from her. "Let's go."


The wall had been fixed, sheetrock and plaster covered where they had punched through to the staircase behind it. Raphael drew back a fist, ready to destroy it all again; Screech halted him, looping an arm around his bicep. "What are you doing?"

Raphael glanced down at her, raising a crested brow. "Getting to the staircase?"

"There's a door," she gestured toward Harp, who smirked as she pushed on a wooden panel; it swung open, revealing a hidden doorway.

Leo had to smile at the way Raphael huffed, following the others into the staircase. "Isn't that handy..."

It was easier not to break down a wall, but also a lot darker; Donnie flicked on the lights of his pack. Two floors up, and Harp brushed past them all to open another panel, to the Aviary. It was dark; they spread out, ready for a fight, the only noises their own. Donatello pulled his bo staff out, slowly panning his lights over the room. The room hadn't changed at all; the broken glass tanks, the wing-weight machine, the beds, the table with three seats... and there, suspended from the ceiling; a metal cage, with a form huddled inside, shaking.

"Pere!" Harp shouted, sprinting over- Screech was right on her heels. The brothers followed behind, weapons drawn. Pere was whimpering, on her knees. The cage was far too small for her, her wings- thin with lack of feathers- cramped, pushed painfully against and in-between the bars. A cage, in what had been their home- a cage for an angel. Harp could barely fit her arm between the bars to grab for her baby sister's hand. "Pere, talk to me. Where are you hurt?"

"My wings," Pere cried, tears leaking down her round cheeks as she wrapped her fingers through Harp's. "They pulled out my feathers and put me in a cage and, and-"

"It's okay, we're here, we're gonna get you out." Harp's free hand fisted around the bars; Leo was sure she would have pulled the cage to pieces, if she had the strength, if she could fit her wings between the bars and push them away.

Leo scanned the room for a key; there was none in sight, and no keypad on the cage- only an old-fashioned lock. Like a birdcage, only steel bars instead of gilded brass. Donnie rummaged in his bag, pulling out a portable crowbar he'd made long ago, flipping it out and stabbing one end into the hinges of the cage. "Let's get her out, real quick. We don't want someone to find us."

There wasn't much to do, once Raphael took the crowbar and started heaving back on it- the steel wouldn't break easily. Harp and Screech reached into the cage as far as they could, crooning comforts, wiping tears from Pere's cheeks, squeezing her hands. Donnie and Leo stood guard, backs to the cage and weapons ready. Something didn't feel right to Leonardo; he tightened his grip on his katanas, murmuring, "Hurry up; we don't want any late workers to find us."

"Too late." The lights flicked on, blinding the group; Leo grit his teeth, blinking to adjust his eyes. Behind him, Harp whirled, snarling out a name like a curse. "Victoria."

An older woman stood in the doorway, hand on the light switch. She looked like a kind grandmother- upon closer look, everything was fake. Skin wrinkled, but stiff with botox. Hair noticeably dyed, smile too wide and teeth too white. "My little angels, how good to finally have you back home."

"Why is Pere in a cage," Screech hissed. "You said you would never-"

"She fought us, it's a punishment." The old woman shrugged. "It's nothing, darlings, she'll be let out in time. And if you don't want the same, you'll ask your friend to leave, peaceably, and you'll stay here."

"No!" Harp growled. "We are leaving- Raphael, get that cage open."

"Oh, dearest," Victoria huffed, ladlylike and plastic. "I really wish you hadn't said that. Oh, well..." She flicked a second lightswitch, and an alarm started to blare. "I did warn you."

Leo could hear boots pounding up the stairs and angled himself for the oncoming attack, shouting, "Get the cage open, now!"

"I'm tryin'!" Raphael growled back, heaving on the crowbar.

The Aviary doors burst open, nighttime security guards pouring through. Battle began; Leo focused on fighting, blocking blows, delivering blows. Harp fought alongside him and Don- Raphael beat a man across the head with the crowbar, then drew his sai and started slicing away at the bars themselves. The bars clanged against the tiled ground; Screech reached in, gently pulling her sister out, helping her with her wings- she left a train of feathers behind her.

"Can you carry her?" Leo asked, crossing his sais to block a beat stick. "Can you fly with her?"

"No," Screech shouted back, supporting the faint Pere. "Harp can-"

Harp backhanded one man with her wing, punching another in the stomach- she whirled around, arms out, reaching- "Give her to me!"

And then she seized, screaming- not the scream of rage she had loosed when they first attacked the lair; no, this was a scream of unimaginable terror, an angel burning as they fell from the heavens, a stab in the back with hot steel.

Victoria, holding a blade she'd stolen from one of the downed men- before Leo could stop her, she lifted it again, lowered it again... sheared off Harp's remaining wing. Raph threw a shrunken; the older woman screeched and fell, clutching her chest. Harp fell too, collapsing to the ground, the sheer pain knocking her senseless before her head ever struck the floor. Her back was bare, naked without her wings- the extra bone of her shoulderblades stuck through the skin, white streaked with red, muscles and tendons unattached and raw. Her wings, separated and fallen to either side of her, were still flapping against the tile, fighting their death throes. An angel... never to fly again.