A/N: I know, long time no update, but I have come back, hopefully to update sooner. With three other fanfictions to write, and school and part time work... man, I think I over loaded myself again. But summer is coming, and I will update better. I hope to hear from you all in reviews and I apologise again. Here's the next chapter and don't worry, the next one's on it's way.

Chapter Eleven: Phone call

Raphael pushed his bike's engine to the limit as he rode hard though the streets. The traffic wasn't as bad as what it could be considering the early afternoon hours. He had been out on the streets for hours. Ever since Carson called Mikey looking for Delaney, he hopped on his bike and started to search. Callista's apartment, her favorite coffee spot, her favorite thinking spot... nothing each and every time. She wasn't at work either. They haven't seen her in the office all day. Cecilia was growing concerned about her boss. Callista had been known to take a few sick days to recover from some hangovers or even when she was just plain too lazy to get out of bed, but she has never just 'not shown up'.

His bike skidded to the side of the street as a silver mustang cut him off and nearly ran him off the road. He would have run him off to the other side of the road in return if he weren't on such an important mission.

"Damn it, Cal," he whispered to himself, hearing his voice in his head over the sound of his engine, "Just don't screw up. Don't fight until I get there. I gotta be there to protect ya."

He nearly smiled at the thought of what her face would have been if she heard him say that about her. Probably grow red with a bit or rage, besides the fact that her hand would probably be ready to slap him a good one. A yet, even that thought made him miss her even more. He couldn't help but worry about her. It was true that she could handle any situation by herself for the most part, but because he loved her, he just had that part of him that had the overriding feeling to protect her.

A vibration was felt on the side of his riding pants and he looked over his shoulder to find that his shell cell was going off. He could see the orange glint of color from the phone and knew immediately it was Mikey. He quickly scanned the area and pulled a sharp right turn into an alleyway. After a few dozen horns and a few more indecent gestures from other drivers, he checked his surroundings in the alley and took off his helmet to answer the cell.

"Any news?" he looked into the screen that held his brother's face.

"Hello to you too," Michelangelo answered and looked to the side as if he was going to address another person walking with him.

"This isn't a time to be playing around!" Raph yelled into the phone.

"You don't think I know that?" Mikey frowned at the small picture of his brother in his hand, "Look, I found something that we all need to go over, okay? Meet me down at the lair. We got a plan to form. We're going to get the girls back."

"Mikey, just tell me where she is..."

"No can do, bro," Mikey shook his head, "Just know that I got some new developments and that I got someone with me that might be able to help us."

"Mikey... you're not bringing another human down to the lair, are you?" Raph warned and stared at his brother.

"If they can help us, it shouldn't really matter, should it? Don't be so paranoid," Mikey frowned and closed his shell cell. He looked to his side and helped Carson out of yet another puddle of God knows what in the sewer tunnels, "I thought I told you to stay out of the black puddles, dude."

"I can't see much of any other color down here," he gladly accepted Mikey's help out of his predicament and followed him closely behind, looking at the ground every so often to jump over any puddles, "Are your brother's okay with me coming down? I mean, Raphael sounded pretty pissed off."

"Raph is always a little pissed off," Mikey explained, "I think the closest you could get him to giddy is if you give him a pile of purple dragons to beat up on, a large pizza and Callista all at the same time to do with as he pleases... and that doesn't happen all that often."

"Right..." Carson rubbed the back of his neck and his eyebrows knitted, starting to rethink his whole decision to 'come down' in the first place, "What about your other two brothers? Aren't you going to call them?"

"I did while you were asking the building manager if he saw anything suspicious last night," Mikey nodded and turned what felt like the hundredth corner to Carson and came upon a sewer pipe and a small turning handle.

"Now what?" Carson leaned on the wall, "I would say a break time, but I don't like the idea of breathing in anymore of this air... if that's what it's called."

"No, now I get to invite you in to sit down and have some tea," Mikey turned the handle on the pipe and out popped a small digital pad where he punched in a five digit code and popped the pad back into the wall.

"Wha..." Carson tilted his head to the side and watched as the sewer wall began to open slowly from one side to the other in a way that reminded him of an elevator door. He didn't notice at the time, but his mouth was open in amazement and Mikey came over to lift his jaw up to close it.

"Pretty awesome, huh? My brother, Donnie fixed it up," Mikey nodded and lead Carson through the door, "I have to admit that we don't use that entrance all that much. Too much trouble, but we were coming from the right side of town and I didn't want to take the long way around... By the way, you might want to duck."

"Wha-"

Before Carson could turn his head toward Michelangelo, the turtle pushed his upper half down as a long katana blade rushed over his head and stuck in the wall. Carson lifted himself back up and looked at the sword in the wall and then toward inner part of the sewer home where two other turtles stood.

"Not that good of a first impression, Leo," Mikey shook his head and took the katana blade out of the wall and laid it gently over one of his shoulders.

"Sorry," Leo said sincerely, "I'm a little worried, as you can understand."

"Definitely," Mikey nodded and led Carson over toward what looked like a couch and a few beat up chairs surrounding a small table in the center.

Carson looked behind him as the sewer wall began to close behind him and his last chance of freedom closed with it. Mikey handed Leo back his katana and he put it back on his shell. He looked at the turtle wearing the blue bandana and then at the one standing behind him, wearing the purple. Leo bowed a little to him and placed his hands together.

"I apologize again."

"No need..." Carson smiled unsure and held out his hand for a handshake, "I'm Jeremy Carson, Delaney's partner."

"I'm Leonardo," he shook his hand.

"Donatello, nice to finally meet you," Donnie took his hand after Leo and looked to the upper portion of the lair, where the bedrooms were, looking for something, "And Raph should be here, somewhere."

"I thought he was ou-" Carson began when Mikey yet again pushed his upper half over as a sai flew over him and landed at the other end of the room. He straightened once again and looked at the sai, its handle wrapped in red material, "Warm welcomes all around, eh?"

"Sorry," Raph came from the garage, throwing his helmet to the side, "A little jumpy."

"Thanks a lot, Raph," Mikey stared at him, "Now that you and Leo both tried to kill him, I doubt that he'll ever some back down here."

"No problem, Mike," Carson dusted himself off and smiled a little, "I know hundreds of guys that have been wanting to kill me for years, but I still go back to their homes or lairs and 'visit' them. Or, you know, catch them."

"Can we just get with the info, now?" Raph asked annoyed and dropped himself into the lazy boy recliner.

Mikey and Carson took the couch and spread the files over the tabletop. Carson took a deep breath and watched as Leo and Donnie settled themselves opposite him and Mikey while Raph watched from the side, "Okay... this is who I- and more than likely Delaney- think is the mastermind behind all of this."

He opened a folder and pointed to a picture of Kanin, "As my partner so cleaverly laid out in her safe, she has been a competitor of Sandra Karten for the last seven years."

"But that would mean this has been happening since Miss Karten was nineteen years old," Donatello interjected, "Or for others who haven't read on her, when she first came to America from London."

"Glad to see someone's in the same boat as I am," Carson pulled out an article that had a picture of Sandra accepting an award from the university she applied to in New York and what looked like a younger and more disgruntled Professor Kanin in the background, "It seems as if Kanin was always the second pick when it came down to decisions between her and Sandra. Unfortunately, she couldn't make it on her own and had no other choice but to work with the person who always managed to outshine her."

"I would take that as an extreme blow to one's ego," Michelangelo add.

Leonardo nodded in agreement, "She had the motive, but what about opportunity?"

"Not much, if any," Carson shook his head, "But she does have an assistant who isn't always accounted for on questionable dates," Carson pulled out a file on Grinford and Donatello began to speed read while Carson continued, "Delaney and I were going to interrogate him today or tomorrow about the holes in his whereabouts until she went missing."

"So we know the dicks who took the girls," Raph got out of the chair and walked toward the kitchen, ignoring Leo's frown on his word choice, "Now, let's go and get them."

"The problem is that the lab has been searched, cleaned out and searched again. We can't find anything that may lead to another section or to another facility. I don't know where they are keeping the girls, or Sandra. The lab we searched was way too small to keep four girls captured and quiet," Carson looked over the top of the couch at Raph who now had a beer in his hand.

"Then we sneak in," Raph said as he opened his beverage and took a sip, "Take our own look around the place. Maybe it's bigger than you think."

"Although, I'm not crazy about the idea, I think Raph's right," Leo nodded, "I think it's time for us to do some detective work of our own. No offense, Carson."

"None taken," he held up a hand and nodded.

"The problem in that being is that we have to go in during the day, dudes," Michelangelo sighed, "It's a night laboratory. It is swarming with people during the night."

"That does pose a problem," Donatello sat back from reading the last page of the file, "We always did better at night."

"Uh, Leo," Raph said catching Leo's attention and cracked his neck to the side, "I think that may not be our only problem."

"Really?" Leo stood up and swiftly jumped to the side and into shadow where he put his katana against the neck of an intruder, "Who are you?"

"My name is Tracie... please, don't cut me," a female voice pleaded and Leo pulled her out into the light where the rest of the group could see her.

"She's a... mutant!" Donatello gasped and looked at the creature caught between Leo's blade and his other hand holding her wrists. She was humanistic just like they were, but instead of being a half turtle, she was a half fox, with bright red fur and dark colored tank top and loose fitting pants. She didn't struggle in Leo's grip, knowing that if she resisted, she more than likely would have been cut or worse, but being called a mutant! She wasn't an animal!

"I'm a human, God damn it!" she yelled and looked over at Raphael, "Please, I just followed you so she would make me human again... please don't make me stay this way...I a human! A human! I'm not an animal!"

Leo let her go and she fell to the floor in sobs. She curled up in a little ball on the floor of the lair and whimpered. After a few seconds, she opened her eyes and tears slowly fell to the concrete floor. Her breathing began to level out and she didn't feel the need to cry as hard. She finally looked up to see Raphael leaning over her with a grimace, "Where's Cal and the others?"

"You must mean the new girls..." she whispered, "They were just taken down to the main lab. Where the rest of us are."

"We know that, but where is it?" he yelled and she shrunk away from him.

"Raph! Calm down," Leo pushed him away, "She's been through enough by the looks of it. I never knew of a human that was transformed to this extent. What do you make of it Donnie?"

"It's not like we haven't seen human mutation before," Donatello thought back to previous adventures, "But… this seems different."

"You have to follow me," she glanced between Leo and Donatello, "If you don't some to the lab, she won't turn me back. I won't be human anymore, never again... Please. I can't stay like this."

"We're going, but not because we are going to help you," Raph picked up his sai and put it in his belt, "I'm going to get Callista."

"You may be too late..."

"What do you mean?" his voice hitched in his throat at the fear that she may be dead. And if she was, the people responsible will need more than a miracle to stay alive.

"You don't need to know," she shook her head. She looked at the ground for a few more seconds, her hope for humanity lost once again. A shadow crossed in front of her and she looked up to see Michelangelo knelling in front of her.

"Please help us..." he took a deep breath, "I'm lost without her..."

She frowned and shook her head as if she was fighting with a voice within her own head, "Not until you come back to help me! I'm sick and tired of helping others! I just want to be myself again."

Mikey turned his head away from her and looked at Carson who was giving him a sympathetic look. Mikey suddenly jumped as he felt his belt begin to vibrate, "All right. Who's sitting on their shell cell? Donnie?"

"It's not me," he said from the table, looking over more information and then looking at the fox-human who hugged herself and looked at the wall opposite from Michelangelo.

"Then who?" he picked up his cell and looked to find Delaney's name scrolling across the screen. He began to breath faster and opened up his cell, "Delaney! Baby, are you all right?"

"Delaney?" Carson got out of his seat and ran toward Mikey like lightning. Sure enough down on the screen was a flashing picture of Delaney, with Eros and Amity on either side. Callista stood a little out of frame acting as a look out.

"Mikey!" she almost let out a sob of joy, "Oh God, thank goodness you're okay."

"Me? Hon, I thought you were a gon-"

"Don't even say it," she shook her head, "Look, I don't have much time, Amity is going to send you all the information that she can to the lair computer through the shell cell. Hopefully it will be enough. And you guys have got to look out. There's a hybrid heading your way."

"We've met," Raph said from off screen and he caught a glimpse of Callista in the background smirk as she kept a look out for Grinford or anyone else for that matter.

"You guys okay?" Eros asked.

"We're fine," Mikey shook his head, "You guys hang in there. We're coming to get you. I promise."

"I know you will," Delaney smiled and touched the screen with Mikey's face and caught a glimpse of Carson, "I guess you finally figured out why I never brought Mikey to the parties."

"Don't blame you, partner," he smiled with a hint of worry on his face, "It's Kanin isn't it?"

"And Grinford. Find a connection and nail the bastards, will ya?" Delaney asked.

"Sure thing," he nodded.

"Damn it! Delaney, he's coming back and he's got friends this time!" Callista shouted and the screen went black as Delaney shoved the unit into her jacket and pushed the mute button.

"Come on, girls... your turn," a voice came over the intercom from Delaney's side.

"No!" Eros yelled in fear.

"Let go of her you bastard!" Delaney yelled and the screen went to static.

"Delaney! Delaney!" Mikey cried into the communicator, "What the hell happened?"

"Eros..." Donatello held himself against the couch. Raph had crushed his can in his own grip and Leo could only stare at the ground.

Michelangelo dropped the communicator to the ground and it shut itself off from the shock of the hit. It slid across the floor and stopped right by Tracie's elbow. She looked at it and then looked at the four talking turtles who all looked distraught, but none more so than the one wearing the orange bandana. He dropped to his knees and began to hit his fists against the stone floor in frustration and pain. She looked at the communicator by her elbow again and touched the screen. With another frown and shake of her head she grabbed the communicator and walked over to Mikey.

"I'll take you..." she whispered down at him.

"What?" Michelangelo lifted his head and looked at her.

"I'll take you to the lab... and leave my humanity behind," she nodded, "It seems like I did that long before now anyway. I was trying to hold on to something that was never in me to begin with. Like I had tried to hold on to someone when they didn't care about me. Like when I helped them with nothing in return. No wonder I want help without anything in return as well. Damn it… why do I gotta be so sappy when it comes to things like this?"

"Like what?" Mikey asked.

"Like love. You all love them and they love you despite you being different. I've never known anyone like that. Although, not many people are like that toward prostitutes," she sighed again, "I'll take you."

"Why?" Carson asked.

"Because... love is more deserving than my own desires."