Michelangelo fidgeted in his seat. Like his hotheaded brother, he was already done sitting around waiting for something to happen. I wish Kelley would get here already. I know he's doing the best he can. Shell, it's a miracle he'll do any of it for us, but as long as I'm dreaming, he needs get here faster. Like, now. He caught amber eyes staring at him, and met Raphael's gaze questioningly.

"Nate didn't say anything to you about what they were doing here tonight, did he? 'Cause the kid is a terrible liar."

Mike shook his head. "Under his impression, it was nothing but a fun road trip."

The red-masked turtle scowled. "I dun't think he was supposed to be here. Liv hesitated when he asked if he could go with 'em. Should have tipped me off right there. Those girls were up to something."

The orange-masked turtle shrugged. "Does it matter now?"

"We coulda prevented it!" his brother shot back. "I should have. Didn't feel right, and I ignored it. Kari's always telling me I hold on too tight, but this is the reason why."

"You're not the only one who could have prevented it," Leo clipped. "I fought for them to have some freedom, but I needed to ask more questions. I just don't want Yousai to become like a prison, with us as their wardens. I should have delved deeper before automatically giving in."

"Even if you had, it wouldn't necessarily keep them safe forever," Tim pointed out. "You can hang on to someone with every fiber of your being, and try to prevent anything from happening to them. That doesn't mean it won't. I was overprotective with Calley, especially after her mom left. I saw enough ridiculousness in my years with SWAT to expect danger behind every corner.

"In the end, she still ran away to join a gang. Got hooked on heroin. Lived in absolute hell for years. You can't control the world at large, guys. You can try to keep your kids safe, but you can't prevent every temptation or bad thing from coming their way. I don't know what made Reina and Olivia come here tonight, but I know they're good kids…so their intentions didn't start out evil."

Mike grunted in frustration. "We shouldn't be thinking about anything except getting them back." He resettled on his seat unhappily and considered calling Becky. But what the shell is there to say? Our son is missing, and I can't do anything about it. Yet. That's gonna change.

A forceful knock resounded on the back door, then repeated.

"C'mon, open up!" Matthew Kelley's booming voice had Michelangelo on his feet in a split second.

The moment he swung the door inwards, he had to back up to make room for the Director of the FBI, who appeared to be charged up on caffeine. He offered Kelley his own seat since it was the only remaining one available, but the man shook his head.

"I'll stand, thanks. Reina's car was found at the scene , but as you already know...there was no sign of anyone else. We need to deal with a couple of things, but I don't have much time. Supposed to be picking up that kid from PD's custody. It was pretty easy to wrangle him away from the Toms River folks, but I'm not going to be able to hold him long, not on a trespassing charge. What do you want me to do? Am I supposed to turn my back or whatever so you can interrogate him?"

Leonardo folded his arms. "That depends. Do you have reason to believe he's with Lendáno?"

Kelley hesitated. "I don't know. But something he said when I talked to him initially on site…It made me want to snatch him away from PD faster than the kid could blink."

"What'd he say?" Raph demanded.

"Kid is beat up. When I asked him about it, he got real sarcastic. Said he was attacked by Phantoms."

Raphael and Katherine were on their feet simultaneously, but it was the red-masked turtle who spoke first. "Where is he? I'll give him something to be sarcastic about!"

Matthew took a deep breath. "I can't let you hurt him in my custody, Raphael. Kinda makes me look bad."

"I don't care how you look!" he retorted.

"Do you know anything else about him?" Kat pressed. "Like, does he have information that could honestly help us?"

"I asked him some general questions, but he was evasive. Kid isn't in the system, so he doesn't have a record. Driver's license identifies him as Alex Sanford—"

"What?" Luke joined the other two on their feet. "Th-that's Reina's friend! The guy we met a couple weeks ago, after he was jumped? What's he doing here?"

The blue-masked turtle rose. "I think we're going to have to ask him."

Kelley ran both hands down his face. "This is insane. I don't take issue with you guys questioning him from a moral standpoint, but I still have to uphold the law too."

Donny cleared his throat. "What you need is a distraction. Something to keep you occupied long enough for us to get what we need." The purple-masked turtle glanced at Tim. "Fortunately, we already have one of those."

Leo nodded. "I see what you're getting at." His gaze returned to Matthew. "I know it's a lot to ask…"

"Never stopped you before. Why change now?" Kelley scoffed. "Just don't hurt him, because it wouldn't go over well for me."

"But you don't have a camera in the car, right?" Raphael verified.

Matthew groaned. "I'll call you when I have him."

Alex rested his aching head against the window of the passenger side door. He normally had good control of his nerves, but he was truly being tested tonight. Ridiculous. That's what this is. I should have asked for more money. Knew I wasn't going with the idiots, but someone coulda checked up on me. Anyone.

He heaved a giant breath. Relax. They've got nothing on you, and your record is clean. They can't prove I did anything except trespass. This FBI dude thinks he's gonna scare me. Please. This is only a brief layover. Which for some reason, involves a lot of sitting on the side of the road. What's the jerk doing up there? Alex craned his neck to see through the windshield.

The Crossover with flashing police lights was still parked several yards away. His current "chauffeur" had gone that direction a few minutes ago, but he couldn't see what the man was doing. He returned to resting against the glass with resignation. I'm worn out, and I hurt. Stupid turtle. Not enough for me to willingly allow my own "teammates" to rough me up and try to cut off my arm in the process. Had to take more blows from those girls tonight. Definitely needed more money for this. But if those two numbskulls hadn't shown up early and blown our cover, everything would have gone perfectly!

Indignation melded with his splitting headache. And they ended up with two Phantoms out of this deal. I ought to get a bonus. The second I'm free, that's just what I'm gonna tell them. A sharp rapping on the window made his eyes snap open. Hm? Alex turned his head and gasped when he came face to face with the hooded individual on the other side.

The door was locked, it had to be locked, yet somehow the handle unlatched. Alex scooted across the seat on impulse, handcuffed wrists clawing the back of the bench while the figure stooped into the vehicle beside him.

"Hey, kid. Can we talk for a minute? I got a couple bones to pick with ya." The edge within the Brooklyn accent sent shivers down his spine; almost as much as the amber eyes that perfectly reflected Reina's "cousin's".

A shout started to erupt, but the Phantom slapped a hand over his mouth.

"Not so fast, you little creep. We've got questions, and you're not gonna play hard to get, are you?"

We? Yes, to his astonishment, the door on his other side eased open, and a second figure climbed in so that he was now sandwiched between them.

"Hi, Alex." The blue-masked figure regarded him calmly. "We're not going to keep you long. All we need is some information."

Alex tried to shake his head with the immense hand still covering his mouth. He couldn't do it.

"We can do this one of two ways. You can sit nice and cozy here and politely answer our questions, or we could escort you elsewhere and deal with you how we'd really like to," Blue offered. "Your choice."

Alex was shaking too hard to form words at the moment. The first Phantom's pressure lightened, until he completely pulled his hand away.

"You wanna try yelling again?" Red challenged. "I'd love to take you somewhere more private."

This time, the teen shook his head fiercely.

"Well, that's good, Alex," the second continued. "Because we don't want to have to hurt you. We prefer to let the law deal with criminals. In some cases, however, we have to take matters into our own hands. Now, you should know, my brother and I are gifted at rooting out the truth from people. We can tell when you're lying…and we don't like it. Don't attempt to waste our time. You were friends with Reina, weren't you?"

Alex glanced between the Phantoms, wide-eyed. "S-sort of."

"What do you mean sorta?" The Brooklyn one's tone deepened.

"It's complicated." Alex cursed inwardly. I didn't sign up for this!

"So we'll make it simple," the cool one intoned. "Why were you here tonight?"

"I came to meet her. She asked me to." A defensive note entered his voice, but it was forced.

Red glared. "Not just her though, did ya?"

"N-no. She wanted me to meet her…cousin."

"And you wanna tell me why her cousins would feel the need to attack you?" The danger emanated off the first Phantom in waves.

"She—the one-did attack me!" he insisted.

"Yes, we've established that," the second said smoothly. "You're going to tell me why, Alex. Though…I think I already know. You were never really friends with Reina, were you?"

"Sure we were." His protest was weak, and it only made dark brown eyes narrow at him.

"No, you weren't. She thought you were, until tonight. When you sold them out."

"I didn—"

The burly Phantom clamped both hands against the teen's chest and crushed him against the back of the seat. "She said the group knew they were coming! They were out in force to catch 'em! Now you tell the truth, or I'll throw you through the window myself!"

Alex whimpered as he tried to force air out of his lungs. "I…I…"

"What do they want?" The other Phantom was mere inches from his face. "Are they going to hurt them?"

"I don't know!" he cried. "That's not my territory. I make the connections – that's all! I didn't see them get taken, I don't know where they went, or what they'll do when they get there!" He closed his eyes with a cringe, expecting a blow at any time.

Alex suddenly realized that he could inexplicably breathe again. When he opened his eyes, he found himself alone. He hadn't even heard the doors shut. The teen collapsed with a ragged gasp on his side. Forget Lendáno. They're digging their own grave.

"Kat, what are you doing?" Leonardo was barely able to keep his voice down as he intentionally blocked the woman's path.

The Latina was absolutely livid, and the sight of her firearm hanging loosely in her grip didn't help matters. "You had a turn and I don't get one?"

"We didn't get to have any real fun, Kat," Raph corrected.

"I specifically told you to keep watch," the blue-masked turtle said sternly. "It's the only reason you were out here. Raph and I had things perfectly under control, until I saw you standing right outside the door!"

"I have just as much right to deal with Alex as you do! He has information we need." The woman glared, refusing to back down.

"We don't need him to tell us where they took the kids, and he couldn't have if he wanted to. Alex was only a pawn. Now that they've slowed down, Don can pinpoint exactly where they ended up. We're going to get them back." Leonardo began heading in the direction of the Battleshell, and was grateful when the woman followed.

"And Alex is going to walk!" she exclaimed. "The cops have nothing on him. In a couple hours, he'll be as free as a bird, and that's not right. He needs to pay for his part in all of this!"

Leo shook his head. "It's not our job, Kat. Not even where our kids are concerned. If we start down that path now, we'll never be the same. Alex isn't worth it."

"You don't speak for me," Katherine whispered.

"You know he's not, Kat. We've been here before." The blue-masked turtle's voice softened. "It feels different this time because it's our kids being threatened, but the rules don't change. Revenge is off limits."

"Stop reminding us." Raphael's footsteps became stomps. "You gonna feel the same way when we catch up with Lendáno, or are they off limits too?"

Leo felt his face darkening at the thought. "That's another story. They pose an active threat, and we can't ignore it."

"You think they're ready for us, bro?"

The oldest turtle paused. "I don't know, Raph. We weren't ready for them. Somehow they connected Reina to us, and managed to manipulate her enough to gain trust. There's no telling what else they might know, or how."

Raphael made a scoffing sound. "Me and the girls are gonna have a long talk about this 'meeting' of theirs."

"You aren't the only one, but we need to focus where we are."

"Why? There's nothing to do yet," he grumbled. "I'd rather focus on when I get to beat the shell outta somebody for touching my kid."

"I'm sure you'll get the chance." He glanced at Katherine out of the corner of his eye. The woman was still smoldering, and her grip on the gun hadn't lessened. She's making me nervous.

Leonardo saw the van in the distance off on the side of the road, and picked up his pace to get back where the others waited. He and Raphael approached the van side-by-side with Katherine trudging behind, and met eager spectators who'd been watching for them.

"What did he say?" Luke blurted out.

"He said, and didn't say," Leo clarified. "But he's the one who sold Reina out, for sure. He got her to trust him, Doc."

"She brought Olivia and Nate here to meet him, didn't she?" The blond man's voice was flat.

Slowly, Leonardo nodded.

Luke's shoulders slumped. "I should have noticed something. I met this kid!"

"I met him too," Katherine added. "And I didn't pick up on anything. If I could get my hands on him now, though…"

Leo shook his head. "He doesn't know anything, Kat." He was disturbed by the wild-fire in the Latin woman's dark eyes. "Alex was a carrier-pigeon, nothing more. The go-between. As soon as Brandon gets here with supplies and we have a boat in place, we're going after the others. Don, do you have their location nailed down yet?"

The purple-masked turtle nodded. "Hard to say what we're walking into, Leo, but the island is called Ravensrock. There used to be an insane asylum there by the same name, built around the turn of the century. What lies there now is anyone's guess."