CHAPTER Twenty-Nine: So Time Is Stolen
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Raph and Splinter entered the lair to find Donnie scanning Leo with his specialized goggles. He looked up when they entered, his eyes obscured by the clunky devices.
"He came through?"
"Have quite the haul," Raph said, holding up a grungy bag. He feared the doctor may have put a tracker into the one he gave them, so Raph had emptied it, tossing the doctor's bag into the river, removing any potential tracking device.
"Leo is showing a five percent improvement," Donnie said, taking the bag and opening it to find a nice collection of antibiotics, antiseptics, needles, syringes, IV bags, and thankfully, a few bottles of the sedative that had to be added to Leo's IV.
"Time to up his dose?" Raph asked, extending his arm to offer his blood.
Donnie withdrew the items needed to take Raph's blood and began the procedure. When he had a full syringe, he injected it slowly into Leo's arm, eyes trained for any signs of distress.
Leo made no movement or sound. Unlike Mikey, who was still sleeping by Leo's bedside. He gave a soft snore, slightly muffled due to his head retracted in his shell and buried under several blankets, resembling a decapitated corpse.
"Four hours, we try again," Donnie said softly.
"Good, there's something I need your help with," Raph said, motioning for Donnie to follow him. Raph lead Donnie to his bank of computers and sat the purple banded turtle down in his customary seat. "I want you to hack into the cameras in a three block radius of May's building. Starting with the ones closest and covering all entrances and exits."
"What am I looking for?" Donnie asked, immediately hasting the search parameters. One by one, the screens popped up with hacked feeds.
"You still have that facial recognition software you designed, right?"
"Of course," Donnie said, affronted. "But who am I looking for?"
"Dunno," Raph admitted. "But find the time stamp from when May left her apartment yesterday. Whoever broke in had to do so while she was out."
"There's a camera above the front door in the lobby," Donnie said, tongue pressed between teeth while he jacked the signal and looped it to the screen in front of him. He set the time for two o'clock and went backwards, waiting to see when May appeared.
She exited the building a little before ten. Raph leaned forward, staring at the vibrant, beautiful, sassy red head, his heart hitching in his throat. She had no idea her life was to end in a few fleeting hours.
"Right, use that as your starting point and go forward from this time until about eight," Raph said, stamping down the urge to cry. Now was not the time to get sentimental. "This feed and all surrounding. Concentrate on anyone who acts suspiciously. Get your recognition software to start running on them."
"Could take hours," Donnie said, already loading up several feeds and initiating the program.
"Let me know if you get a hit," Raph said. "I'm going to go start some breakfast."
Donnie nodded, already distracted by his task.
Raph entered the kitchen to assist Splinter in making breakfast. The smell of pancakes lured Mikey out of his hibernation. His head popped out, followed by a huge yawn and stretch. He rolled over, trying to figure out why he was on the floor, then his eyes found the metal frame of the gurney and it all came flooding back. He jumped to his feet, staring intently at Leo.
"He's doing well, Mikey," Raph said, holding up a bottle of syrup. "Come eat."
Mikey made sure Leo still lived before joining Raph and Splinter in the kitchen. Raph went about making breakfast, trying to appear as normal as possible. He placed Mikey's favorite toppings on the table for his pancakes, marshmallow crème and caramel, he studiously refused to acknowledge Leo laying motionless across the room. Every time he glimpsed the bandages, he wanted to rage and scream, but anger wasn't going to help the situation. He must be calm. Cool. Collected. Patient.
Raph kept expecting Donnie to join them, but after half an hour the tech turtle remained absent, immune to the smells of the kitchen. Raph got up and went to where Donnie was hunched over his keyboards, oblivious to the outside world.
"Come eat," Raph ordered, making Donnie jolt.
"So far, no luck," Donnie said, standing up and stretching. Sleeping on the floor had not helped his posture. "I was able to find thirty-one camera feeds from the three block radius you indicated. But so far, there is no suspicious activity."
Donnie detoured to check on Leo, deploying his goggles and running a scan. After a moment he hummed. "No adverse reactions. Things seem to be healing as they should. Will have to change out his IV in a few hours."
"Great, now go eat," Raph said, giving Donnie a little shove toward the kitchen.
Donnie pushed his goggles to the top of his head and went to the table, settling down to inhale his breakfast. It felt as if he hadn't eaten in years.
Donnie's communications walkie buzzed, signaling an incoming call. He touched the button, putting it on speaker.
"Donnie, I just heard!" April's voice came through loud and clear. "May's apartment blew up. They said she was inside, though the fire marshal and two inspectors haven't found a body. Have you heard anything? Is she with you guys?"
Raph growled lowly, setting down his silverware and pushing his plate away. His appetite was gone.
Donnie bowed his head, flipping the communication to private. "No, she isn't with us. She...didn't survive the explosion."
"Oh, God," April whispered, covering her mouth with her hand. "How's Leo taking it?"
"Leo was injured in the blast," Donnie said, "He's been stabilized, but remains in critical condition. A veterinarian who specializes in reptiles was able to stabilize him."
"Shit," April breathed. "Do you need me there? I can come right over."
"No, that's not necessary. In fact, it's probably best if you didn't stop by while Leo is recovering," Donnie said, eyeing Raph's clenched fists. No doubt he overheard the conversation. "Trying to limit contact with him in case of contamination or infection."
"Are you sure?" April asked. "It's no problem. I can take a few days off. Help out with him."
"Anything for a story," Raph sneered, loud enough his voice carried over the phone.
April riled, hurt he thought so little of her. She shouted over the phone so there was no mistaking her words. "Raph, I've apologized a million times! I didn't know Sacks had placed a tracker in that card. I wouldn't do that to you guys. You're family! You're all I have left! I'd rather die than lose one of you!"
Raph flinched as if struck. May's death crashed down on him as an unexpected mountain, weighing on his shoulders, dragging him downward into the Earth to be buried under a mantle of molten anger and grief.
Donnie hit the button to turn the speaker on so the two verbal combatants didn't have to shout toward him to jibe one another.
Raph's voice was low, though it carried volume. "May probably thought so, too."
Splinter placed a hand on top of Raph's. "There will always be evil forces at work which is why the strong are willing to fight and protect those they love."
"You guys put your lives on the line every single day," April said, fire gone from her voice. "I would sacrifice everything to keep you guys safe. If it wasn't for you, Shredder would control New York. The world would be in ruins because of that alien. Millions of people would be dead. But you stopped it. You stopped them."
"We were raised to do what is right,' Raph said, staring at the ancient hand of his father. "To stand up for those who are weak, defenseless."
"I'm sure May knew that," April said softly. She had only met the girl for a short time, but she had liked her. And it was obvious the turtles were quite taken with her, especially one in particular. April knew chemistry when she saw it, regardless of the attracting elements.
Raph cleared his throat, trying to stave off the heartache that threatened to crawl out of his soul. He glanced to Donnie and Mikey, "Just because Leo's out of commission for a few days doesn't mean we slack." He rose from the table, brushing his hand against his father's in unspoken gratitude. "Finish up. We have an hour of meditation and katas to perform."
Mikey groaned. He hated meditation.
Donnie turned the phone off speaker and muttered to the mouthpiece, "If you need anything, call."
"You too," April said. "Oh, and Donnie? I'll ask around to my contacts. See if anyone knows anything about the explosion."
"That would be appreciated," Donnie muttered, then added, "Be careful."
"Shouldn't be dangerous," April said, her voice becoming tinny. "Alex isn't watching my every step at the moment."
"Oh, why is that?" Donnie asked, polishing off the last few bites of his breakfast. Mikey and Raph were already in the dojo, waiting.
"Said there was a family emergency and had to take a few days off," April said, her voice becoming distinct and clear once more. "We have a new boss, and she's pretty cool, so I asked her about hiring Vern again, so there's a good chance I can get him to be my regular cameraman."
"Fingers crossed," Donnie said, putting his dishes in the sink and stopping by to check on Leo's vitals and medication.
"Catch ya later, buddy," April said, signing off.
Donnie scanned Leo quickly, then joined Raph and Mikey in the dojo, where all three settled down to meditate.
Five minutes in, Mikey's sigh echoed around the room. Raph and Donnie opened their eyes to find Mikey staring at the empty place Leo always occupied.
"He'll be okay, Mikey," Donnie said gently. "It's going to take awhile for him to heal, but he'll be back. He hasn't gone anywhere."
"Doesn't seem real, does it?" Mikey asked, turning to his brothers. "One minute we're happy. The world isn't all that different, dark and hateful at times, but yet we have this nice, accepting person who doesn't see us for our shells, but sees past that to treat us as if we were ordinary humans." Mikey heaved a huge sigh. "And then, like that," he snapped his fingers, "she's gone. I feel so...cheated."
"Because a monster took her away from us," Raph said, burning vengeance rising in his chest. He'd never rest until he found the one responsible.
Donnie shrunk into his shell a little, his goggles perched on top his head resembling stubby antenna.
"How could someone do that to her?" Mikey asked sadly, his blue eyes sparkling with unshed tears. "She was so nice. Pretty." His gaze dropped to the cold concrete. "She accepted us. Cared for us. And I know she loved Leo. How could someone hurt her like that? She didn't do anything wrong. Who would want to hurt her?"
"Great evil lurks in every shadow," Raph said, staring distantly. "It's not always in the light where you can easily identify it. So much of it hides. We never know where it is or when it will strike. The only thing we can do is be vigilant. Watchful. Protect those who can't see it. Who don't know it's there. We fight when they can't."
"But, there's so much," Mikey muttered. "How can we keep up? How do we save everyone?"
"We can't," Raph admitted. "But we keep fighting anyway. Maybe one day, other's will see what we have done and will step up to fight beside us, helping us to overcome the evil that has been festering in the dark. But until then, we keep fighting."
Mikey gave a single nod.
Knowing meditation wasn't going to work with such heavy hearts and dark thoughts, Raph motioned for the other two to get up. "Come on, let's start with basic katas."
Together the three brothers moved as one, retracing the steps they had taken since they first began their training, unknown they were being watched.
Splinter slipped from the shadows, returning to the main room to check on Leo. His heart ached for his sons, who would always be children in his eyes. Young. Naive. Curious. Innocent.
They now faced the trials of life and the horrors it could bring. He'd do anything to shelter them from such torment but no matter how hard he tried, he could not.
Raph was right. There will always be evil, who destroys all things good and beautiful in the world, preying upon innocence and causing devastation. And it was the duty of those strong enough to stand and fight, protecting those who were unable do so for themselves.
Splinter caressed Leo's cheek. His sons had taken the mantle of protecting the world with the grace of seasoned warriors far beyond their years. My, how time had flown, stealing their youth and making them face things that thrived in darkness and wickedness.
Splinter wished he could prevent his sons from being hurt, but he knew it was futile. The best thing he could do was be there for them and take comfort in the fact he had raised and trained them well. They were shedding the last vestiges of youth, wisdom replacing the childishness and molding them into even more capable warriors.
He was so proud of them. And absolutely terrified of what the future would bring.
Twenty minutes later, a beeping alarm rang from where Donnie's main bank of computers took residence. A minute later, Donnie came rushing out of the dojo, an electric beep echoing from his equipment strapped to his shell. Raph and Mikey followed, knowing their routine was going to be delayed yet again. Raph stood behind Donnie as he typed on the middle keyboard.
"What's going on?"
"Computer recognition software has been activated," Donnie said, squinting at the small collection of screens on the left side. "I added an algorithm to log each face and cross reference it with mug shots and criminal records for the state of New York."
"Any hits?" Raph asked excitedly.
"Two hundred and four," Donnie sighed, "Most of these are for traffic citations and other petty crime. I'll wait until it's done scanning during the time frame, then set up another algorithm to eliminate petty crimes."
"Because whoever did this will probably have an extensive and violent rap sheet," Raph provided, patting Donnie on the shoulder. "Good job!"
Donnie grinned, dimples forming along his cheeks. Raph had never been one to hand out easy compliments.
"Should have a few possible suspects by this evening," Donnie said, watching as the list grew by another dozen or so names.
"Let's hope we find the person responsible," Raph said, eyes scanning through the list of names that scrolled on the screen.
Donnie turned to Raph. "Now, we wait."
"We prepare for tonight," Raph corrected. "Just because Leo's down, doesn't mean we shirk our duties. We have people to protect. Criminals to catch."
"You think it's wise to leave the lair after," Donnie waved his arm airily, "everything that's happened?"
"We'll limit our time out and location," Raph said, falling into the leadership role. "You'll monitor the surrounding block, that way you'll be closer to Leo if there's a problem. Mikey and I will patrol along the three block radius."
Donnie nodded in agreement. "I'll change Leo's bandages and give him another injection before we head out."
"Good," Raph said, glad Donnie wasn't going to argue with him. "We'll patrol from ten to midnight."
Donnie gave a languid stretch, popping a couple of joints. "Short patrol sounds good. By that time, the computer should have generated a list of names for us to give to the police to follow up on the leads."
"Yeah, let's hope," Raph said, though giving the list to the cops was the furthest thing from his mind. "Now, back to the dojo."
"Aw, man," Donnie muttered, allowing himself to be led away from his computers.
