Hello all! I hope everyone had a lovely weekend! XD
A giant thank yo to all of my lovely readers and reviewers I appreciate all of you and for everyone who takes a moment to leave a review, I can't thank you guys enough for the lovely encouragement you give me!
A special thank you as always to my lovely Beta Amonraphoenix, thank you so much! XD
And now, please enjoy!
Chapter 13
Sage sat with her hands wrapped tightly around a ceramic mug, the warmth from the hot chocolate attempting to drive away the cold that seemed to permeate her very bones; the heavy blanket draped around her shoulders not having any more success than the heated liquid in her hands.
It was early morning and she knew she should have been sleeping hours ago, especially after she had learned that Toshiro had survived his horrifying fall from the roof and subsequent collapse of the two buildings, but her mind would not allow her this luxury.
Having slogged through the tunnels towards her home, her heart heavy and wretched with grief, she had wanted her father, Leonardo to be the one to pick her up, wrap her in his arms and calmly give her all the comfort he could as they shared their pain-filled misery. But instead, it had been Raphael, her biological father and virtual stranger who had gathered her up in an embrace that she was sure he was never going to release her from, and she found his presence oddly comforting, even as his gruff, angry voice demanded to know if she was okay, to which she had only been able to nod as the tears ran down her cheeks and her voice choked on a sob.
Being home was comforting, but her survival had felt bitter, knowing that as much as the tears of joy and relief that had filled her family member's eyes were genuine, everyone's hearts, including her own, were still breaking from the grief of Toshiro's death.
Too many voices had vied for her attention, but her uncle Donatello had silenced them all with a stern look and firm words. He had guided her to the couch and allowed her to sit.
He quickly examined her and pronounced that she was physically unharmed but for some scrapes and bruises, and recommended she rest.
When she had been bombarded with questions as to what had happened to her, she had tried to speak, but all she could see was the image of Toshiro falling from the roof and she had been unable to answer.
Her father had sat down beside her, hugging her fiercely while he apologized for being unable to save Toshiro, as if this was something that had been in his power to do, though they all knew it hadn't been.
Nothing had been said about the Wraith, and she noticed the glaring absence of any talk of the woman who had dove off the ladder of a hover-chopper, in all probability, plunging to her death as well in a futile attempt to save Toshiro.
Ren and Ryu had sat on either side of her and she had gathered them to her as they huddled together in their overwhelming grief, needing no words between them. There was a little commotion when their uncle Casey, auntie April and Logan had arrived, offering their deepest condolences, and the kind of awkward silence that comes when one can't find the words to express the sympathy of a heart-shattering loss. But they had come to stand by their family, to offer their support and help with anything that they needed.
Aunt April had fussed in the kitchen, making coffee, tea and food for everyone and even though nobody felt much like eating, the beverages were accepted by the adults.
Uncle Casey had excused Shadow for not coming, saying that she had been too heartbroken when she had heard the news to even leave the apartment, but that she would come by in the morning.
Sage wasn't sure how much time passed between when her aunt and uncle had arrived at the lair to when uncle Casey received a phone call from Shadow, but it seemed like an eternity of wondering how the hurt that had caused her heart to bleed so profusely, could ever be healed.
She and her siblings had been too young when their mother had died, and she had never been able to mourn the woman who had given them life, but there had always been a sort of dull ache in her chest that had been caused by the sympathy she had felt for her father, having lost the woman he loved, but now, feeling what she felt at the loss of her big brother, she could not imagine being able to survive the pain of losing the one she loved.
Uncle Casey had imparted his astounding news that Toshiro was alive and well and at their apartment with a slow, disbelieving tone of voice before his face broke into a huge smile.
The mood in the lair had instantly changed from grim, solemn misery to ecstatic joyful relief, and it wasn't long before her battered and bruised brother returned to the lair. Leaning heavily upon Shadow, Toshiro's face lined with exhaustion, there was something in his expression and the way that Shadow looked at him that made Sage think that her brother may have finally confessed his feelings for Shadow and that the woman must have returned them.
After Toshiro had been properly hugged, fussed and sobbed over, he had sat upon the couch in the spot Sage had been sitting in. Toshiro clasped Shadow's hand in his own and Sage could see that none of the adults seemed to notice this display of affection, too intent on listening to Toshiro recount what had happened upon the roof and afterwards when the building had collapsed.
Toshiro explained that the woman posing as the Wraith, claimed that she wasn't actually impersonating her and she had been so shocked by his accusation, that he had no choice but to believe her.
The room had gone silent for a few moments after this, everyone absorbed in their own thoughts of what appeared to be another dead end in the quest to find out what had happened to their mother.
"I…I don't know why she saved me," Toshiro had finally admitted into the silence that had filled the room. "When the shooter started firing, she told me I was going to die, like it was a definite thing, but then she tried to protect me. I don't know who the shooter was targeting, but those bullets seemed like they were aimed right at me. If I was the target, she could have just escaped and she did, telling me to get off the roof. But it was too late and I fell." Toshiro had shuddered a little, Shadow moving closer and giving his hand a squeeze before he continued.
"She was safe. I don't know why she suddenly decided to save me." Toshiro had shaken his head explaining their freefall that was only stopped by the woman managing to slow their descent enough to break through the glass of the building that was in the direct path of the collapsing building they had been on the roof of. Having run through the maze of office cubicles, they managed to make it out the other side; or at least, he had.
After leaping through the window everything was a blur. He remembered falling and crashing into something which had been a dumpster and after that he had woken up and made his way to their Aunt and Uncle's apartment.
Sage had watched as a blush suddenly erupted on both her brother and Shadow's faces, but she was positive she was the only one who had noticed their sudden embarrassment.
The blush on Toshiro's cheeks retreated almost as quickly as it had formed as he told them, "I don't think she made it out."
A heavy silence again fell around them as they contemplated the woman who had –for reasons they could never even speculate upon- saved her brother's life -probably at the cost of her own.
"Kismet," Leonardo had offered softly. "Her name was Kismet."
Sage had felt her shoulders slump, almost wishing she hadn't known the woman's name, because somehow, it made her…more real, if that could even be imagined.
"You weren't the target, Shiri," Sage had offered softly, all focus suddenly turning away from her brother to herself. She had hugged herself tightly and admitted, "I found the shooter."
"You what?!" both of her father's snarled furiously.
Squaring her shoulders she let her arms drop and she added strength to her voice. "He was retreating," she defended, "and I wanted to know what he knew about the Wraith and why he was shooting at her at Toshiro."
As angry as her fathers were, they did not interrupt, only waiting for her to tell them what she had discovered.
"We fought, but I…I was no match for him," she had admitted and it almost hurt to divulge this particular truth.
"Are you okay?" concern was thick in Leonardo's voice and she nodded.
The man had been more amused by her efforts than anything, and though it had been infuriating at the time, considering his skill, she supposed she could only be grateful that he hadn't tried to seriously injure her.
The fact that he had saved her afterwards…
She had pushed this thought away, not wanting to think about this and instead informed her family that the shooter had been trying to kill the Wraith…Kismet. Toshiro had just been in the way.
"Well then he had to have been the worst shot in existence 'cause those bullets were closer to hittin' me than her," Toshiro had growled.
Her father, Leonardo, had approached her and placed a hand upon her shoulder. "Don't be too hard on yourself, Sage. We all fought the shooter and even together we were not able to beat him," he assured her, pulling her into his arms. "I'm just glad he was not as ruthless with you as he was with us," he murmured as she glanced at her uncle Michelangelo who had been sitting in the arm chair. His leg having already been bandaged and stitched closed by her uncle Donatello.
Sage had nodded, about to confess that the man that had so ruthlessly fought her family, had saved her, had comforted her, and had tried to give her hope that her brother was somehow still alive (and had been right) but she snapped her mouth closed for reasons that were completely beyond her.
Leonardo stepped away, his limp more pronounced than it usually was. Sighing, Sage had walked over to sit on the couch beside Toshiro, Ren and Ryu already taking up the space beside Shadow.
After this, Sage had allowed the conversation and speculation of the night's events drift around her before uncle Donatello had ordered Toshiro to the lab to be examined further and for everyone to get some rest.
It was possible that she had actually fallen asleep sitting up for a few hours. At least, she had to assume that was what had happened as when she opened her eyes, the living room was dimly lit and empty and there was a thick blanket tucked around her.
Sitting up, she had noticed Raphael sitting across from her in the chair that had been occupied earlier by her uncle Michelangelo.
He didn't say anything, seemingly lost in his own thoughts.
She wrapped the blanket that was draped over her shoulders more firmly around her, still feeling cold, her movement catching Raphael's attention.
His amber eye focused on her and he stood. Without a word he walked to the kitchen, coming back a few minutes later with a cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows which had begun to melt into the steaming liquid.
She wordlessly took the proffered drink, taking a tentative sip, allowing the warmth to slip down her throat and warm her from the inside out.
"Your mother loved hot chocolate," Raphael offered into the strangely comfortable silence that settled between them.
Sage didn't look at her father, only staring at the white of the marshmallows as they began to turn into a white goo floating upon the surface of her hot chocolate. Not sure if he wanted her to say something, or if it was just a reminiscent thought shared aloud, she finally said, "Me too."
Raphael's eye was piercing and he looked as if something was weighing heavily on his mind as he sat across from her. The silence again stretched between them before Raphael finally spoke again. "I'm sorry you're disappointed Leo ain't your father."
She had felt herself flinch at the low growl in his voice that denoted self-loathing and hurt, but she found his statement to ring fiercely true.
Staring back into the mug in her hands, she had thought about Raphael's words and rolled the knowledge of her parentage around in her head. It was a hard truth to deal with, knowing that the turtle who had raised her was not her father, but…
"I want to hate you for abandoning us," she said bluntly, "but…" she raised her eyes to meet his solitary one. "I don't. It hurts to think we weren't enough to keep you here."
Raphael opened his mouth to reply to her words but she waved them away and he allowed her to continue. "I know we probably don't know everything, maybe one day we will, and I can accept that you're my biological father, but it doesn't change the fact that Leo's my actual dad," she admitted softly. "And as much as I want to write you off and just call you uncle…I can't." She allowed her words to sink in before she continued. "I feel envious. I wish that I had known her, understood her and I wish…I hope that someday, I find someone who loves me as much as you loved her; as much as Dad loved her."
Sage had kept her gaze locked with her father's, and Raphael seemed angry, but he didn't storm off or yell as she thought he would. Maybe her words were a little harsh, but right now, it was how she felt. Maybe later her feelings would change, but there was a giant rift between them and it wasn't something that would be fixed overnight.
Raphael finally let a huff of air out of his nostrils before giving her a terse nod of acceptance. They had lapsed into another silence before he finally stood. "You ever wanna ask me anythin' about her, just ask. Not talking about her, not even wanting to remember her, feels like we're killin' her all over again."
Sage had felt stunned by his words and knew them to be absolutely true. She felt tears fill her eyes and she hastily blinked them away. She's had enough tears this last night to last a lifetime and she didn't need any more.
Swallowing roughly, Raphael reached out and gave her shoulder a quick squeeze. She took his hand and squeezed it back.
"Get some sleep," he had told her and she had nodded her head as he let go of her hand and walked towards the lab.
It had been good advice, wanting to fall back into another dreamless sleep, but she felt wide awake. Her mind, once it started, was unable to stop as it spun wildly out of control, a thousand questions swirling around in need of answers she was unable to give.
Her mind had lingered on thoughts of her mother for a few moments, knowing that someone, somewhere had to know what happened to her and her colleagues, but as she pondered the Wraith -new and old- her mind settled upon the mysterious shooter who had been attempting to assassinate the new Wraith, had brutally attacked her family, but had decided to saved her life.
She could understand that it may have been instinct to protect her from the initial blast, but he had run away while she had stood there staring in horror as Toshiro slid from the collapsing building, and the man had come back for her, had sought shelter with her and had protected her when the roof had partially collapsed.
It all made no sense and he had seemed almost envious of the Wraith somehow, as if he had a healthy respect for her, and Sage somehow knew that if Kismet hadn't survived, then he was going to be disappointed and angry, as if his something had been taken away from him.
Frowning, she suddenly realized that the man had actually saved her life four times, five if you counted the fact that he hadn't tried to take it himself when she had first confronted him.
But it was then that she remembered that when they had been in the building, he had kept her presence hidden from the men with guns. She hadn't really thought about it at the time, too terrified and grief-stricken to really pay attention to what was going on, but now that she replayed everything that had happened in her mind, she realized that the men with the guns who acted like soldiers of some sort -though she had not recognized the emblem on their shoulders- had confronted the man dressed in black. They had told him that the 'Commander' had wanted to talk to him. They had leveled their guns at the man in black and he had asked them a few quick questions, unconcerned with the weapons leveled at them before they finally stood down and escorted him away.
They had called him their 'target', so maybe he was a prisoner? An unwilling participant?
She rejected this last thought as soon as she had it since he seemed very personally invested in assassinating the Wraith, but did accept that something was definitely off about how the soldiers had interacted with the man.
Turning her thoughts over and over in her head, she admitted to herself that she was no closer to understanding him than the first moment she had set eyes on him. There was something about him that was nagging at her. He was familiar somehow and yet at the same time, completely foreign to her.
He was the first man she had ever encountered that wasn't family, Shadow's brother Logan not counting because unlike her brother who had loved Shadow since the moment he understood what love was, she had always thought of Logan as just another brother.
She had daydreamed more than enough times about Dex, Logan's friend, but she had never talked to him. It would just complicate things and her life was already complicated enough.
In a family of mutant turtles and half mutant-human hybrids, she was the only one who was essentially human in appearance. She always felt like the odd one out. She could go topside and not even cause a stir, but when she did that, she felt both guilty at being able to do what none of her family could, and like she was pretending to be human. She didn't feel as if she really belonged in either world, suspended between the world above and below; part of both and neither at the same time.
Her mind flitted to the remembrance of how she had been pressed up against his body; held close within a grip that had been both protective and strong. She wished she had been able to see his face; the memory of his body partially sprawled on top of hers caused her to suddenly blush.
"Great, first guy I meet and he's an assassin," she grumbled to herself under her breath.
Remembering the cadence of his voice, she realized that there had been something oddly gentle and pleasing about it, while managing to contain a hint of a growl that sent a shiver of something along her skin.
Shaking her head back and forth to dislodge these thoughts from her head, she placed her mug, still half full, upon the coffee table in front of her and stood, shuffling off to bed for some much needed sleep.
He stood in front of his commander, spine ramrod straight as he watched the man thumb through a file in his hands as he stood a few feet away.
There were two commandoes guarding the door at his back as if they feared he was about to try to make a break for it.
Which was ridiculous because really, where would he go?
The minutes ticked by, the silence in the room meant to be oppressive and cause him to question if he was about to be terminated, he knew his commander would be disappointed to learn that his tactics did not have the desired effect on him, as it only caused him to become weary of the dramatics.
He believed that if he was to be eliminated, his commander wouldn't bother to waste his precious time by giving him a lecture of his failings. He would already be dead, his body disposed of to wherever it was that the rejected experiments were buried.
He of course let none of these thoughts play about on his face; his mask having been removed earlier. Instead, he waited patiently and tried to keep his mind from wandering to a certain human woman who had been -only an hour ago- plastered against his body, thoughts of kissing soft cupid's bow lips-
"-report."
He blinked, thrown back into the present as the man in front of him awaited his reply to whatever question it was that he had asked, and he silently cursed to himself that he had been distracted enough to completely miss the words.
"I filled it out to the best of my abilities," he replied hoping he was answering whatever question he had been asked.
His commander seemed annoyed, a frown marking his face, his dark almost black slicked back hair with its receding hairline catching the light from the overhead lights, his eyes cast in shadow from the tinted glasses he always wore.
"That is not what displeases me," his commander ground out slamming the report down on the table. "Your report doesn't state why you went to radio silence, or why they found you half a block away from the disaster site holed up in a convenience store."
"I was in the middle of a disaster zone," he replied, trying to keep the irritation from his voice. "I knew your men would find me, it isn't like I ditched the Com, just shut it off."
His commander's eyes narrowed suspiciously but didn't comment on his retort, letting the man believe that he thought that it was the Com device that they were able to track his movements with as opposed to his knowledge that he had a GPS tracker implanted into his arm.
"I find your performance this night to be very disappointing," his commander observed instead.
Not able to mask his irritation at the jibe, he replied, "I miscalculated her Luck."
"What is the point of me keeping you around if you can do no better than her?" he wondered, his voice as smooth as an oil-slick.
He narrowed his eyes in speculation. "I was unable to complete my assigned task due to unforeseen circumstances," he replied wondering if his commander was going to tell him of the Wraith's status or not, because if he went by what the man had just revealed, it appeared the Wraith was -at the very least- alive.
"You underestimated your opponent," his commander accused, and though that was definitely a sore spot, it wasn't his only reason for failure.
"I ran into some interference," he admitted. This seemed to catch his commander's attention. "Four freaks hindered my mission."
"Four you say?" his commander asked carefully.
"Orange, red, blue and purple," he confirmed.
"And you could not beat them either?" his commander's voice was low and deadly and he felt a frission of alarm travel across his skin.
It was at that moment that he realized that somehow the Wraith had become more important to them than he was. There had been a reason they had called off his hit, and even though he couldn't even begin to guess what had changed in the hour he had been gone, he could only assume that it was not going to be good for him.
"I was winning," he refuted. "However, my mission was terminated." He wondered if he was going to receive an explanation as to why this had occurred, but his commander continued to stare him down as if deciding whether or not the time and effort that had been expended in his creation was worth his apparent uselessness.
"So you say," was his commander's icy reply.
Pulling out his bloodied hand-axe, the two guards behind him aiming their laser rifles at him, he offered the weapon. "I was," he affirmed as his commander waved for the two guards to stand down.
Taking the hand-axe from his hand his commander asked, "Which one did you injure?"
"All of them," he replied.
His commander closed his eyes, opened them and tried again. "This blood belongs to which one?"
"Orange," he replied.
Thoughtfully looking at the axe, his commander placed the weapon on his desk before turning his attention back to him.
"I was told you had some information for me, something you neglected to put in your report."
Staring into his commander's eyes, he understood that if he didn't give him something incredibly useful and important, something either on par with or surpassing whatever it was that the Wraith and her team had found, he was about to lose his life.
"Yes," he began collecting his thoughts. "There was someone else on the roof with the Wraith when the building collapsed."
His commander's eyes narrowed, but he got the impression that this information alone was not enough to save his hide.
"He wasn't human," he stated only giving his commander a small crumb of information, not willing to part with the entirety of it yet.
His commander's eyes widened in surprise and he paused for a moment, almost as if he was listening to something he couldn't hear and he wondered if there was a voice in his commander's ear.
Glancing up at the corner of the room, he could see the blinking red light of the camera and he speculated that this conversation was being monitored and that his words were very interesting and very important; possibly enough to keep him alive, for now anyway.
His commander motioned with his hand, the two guards stationed at the door turning and leaving, the door sliding shut behind them.
"Explain," his commander ordered.
"I didn't know he wasn't human until I started shooting," he admitted. "His hood fell back and I saw that he was the same kind of creature as the other four that I eventually encountered."
His commander paused again as if thinking or listening and he wondered if the voice on the other end of the earpiece was the Scientist.
Vague memories of another man besides the Commander, a military man if there ever was one, were remembered, and he always thought of him as the Scientist, the one responsible for his very existence as well as the Wraith and her team.
"Can you give any more information about this creature that you saw?" his commander asked, interrupting his errant thoughts.
"He was at a distance, but I would say he was taller than the other four… Younger too and he wore a black mask that covered his head."
"How much younger?" the older man asked curiously.
He frowned in thought, wondering why the information was so important, and trying to speculate the age of a creature that wasn't even human. "My age or younger," he offered, figuring that was about as close to an approximation as he could get, noting that his age was more of a physical attribution as opposed to an actual calculation based upon years.
"Are you sure?" his voice was slipping, bordering on manic.
"Yes," he stated.
"Did you see where he went? Did he leave with the other four?"
"Not that I am aware of," he said shaking his head about to add more information before he stopped himself. He realized that the creature's body had not been found, which meant that they had missed it, there hadn't been anything left to find, or he had escaped. If he gave his commander the impression that the creature had survived, he would tear the city apart looking for him. This meant that the woman he had saved earlier that night would be caught in the middle of it, and no matter how much he tried to convince himself that he didn't care, that she was involved with his enemies and deserved to be eliminated, he couldn't bear the thought of any harm coming to her, even if it cost him his life. "He fell from the roof when it collapsed," he continued. "As far as I am aware, he perished," he stated firmly.
His commander seemed conflicted about the information, but asked, "Were there any others that you saw?"
"I did not encounter nor did I observe any other inhuman freaks," he admitted truthfully, not wishing to be caught in any kind of lie, or be suspected of hiding something.
Frowning, his commander gave a curt nod. "You are dismissed," he said with a wave of his hand as he turned and sat back down at his desk.
He lingered for a moment, his posture still stiff. "May I ask if the Wraith survived?" he queried.
His commander paused as if contemplating whether to divulge the information. "She will be back in action in a few days," the man finally admitted.
"And the reason for my mission being aborted?" he pushed.
"That is classified."
He accepted this information without even blinking; only giving a nod of acceptance.
"But I suppose I can tell you that the Wraith and her team's Luck has led us to something very important, which means that, for the moment, they are still useful."
"I see," his voice was a little too sharp.
The commander smiled a vicious smile. "So bloodthirsty," he observed in an almost taunting tone.
"I am just following orders," he replied.
"See that you always remember to do so," his commander said, voice dripping with warning.
"Yes, Sir," he said as he saluted.
"Go back to your quarters and get some rest, we may have an assignment for you."
"Sir," he said as he turned and exited the room, finding himself curious as to what the Wraith and her team had found, and why the information about a fifth turtle creature was so important.
The plot thickens...
I hope you all enjoyed! :)