All eyes shifted from the cyborg to the doorway Michelangelo had stomped out of.

"What just happened?" Raph was gaping. "I'm- wh-did-" his eye ridges lifted and dropped. "Was that our brother?"

"I-" Leo cleared his throat, taken aback by his little brother's outburst. He knew something was coming, Mikey's silence was unheard of, but for him to be so quick to go straight for the kill- and he'd meant to, without a doubt. If Arcos hadn't stopped him- this wasn't good. "Medusa, Arcos go after him. See that he doesn't get into trouble."

Medusa slithered towards the door pausing when her bear brother refused. "I want to stay here."

Leo followed Arcos' gaze to the cyborg. He didn't understand what that was about, but he needed someone tailing Mikey or his problems would be compounding fast. "Fine. Raph, go with her."

"I'm perfectly capable of going alone." Medusa let out a low hiss. "Besides, he'll only slow me down."

Raph scowled. "Says you."

"We stick together, no less than pairs for any of us. Karai, you go with her." Surely, Medusa couldn't argue that her serpent sister couldn't keep up. Only this time it was Karai who refused him.

"I want to stay." Her gaze never left the cyborg.

What was wrong with everyone? Sure the cyborg is interesting but so is keeping the rest of their family safe! He pinched between his eyes, focusing on his breath. I've got this. I've got this. There's no time! Mikey could be long gone by now! "I'm sorry- I thought I was the leader here!" he heard himself yelling, "Raph, go with Medusa, now!"

He didn't look at either of them as he turned on the cyborg. "As for you, give me the address of where you were staying."

The woman blinked, taking her time in giving an answer. "They'll have it cleaned before you get there."

Leo's brow furrowed, his eyes narrowing into slits. "Address!"

The cyborg's features remained smooth, unshaken by his outburst. "Great View apartments on Laird, unit 4B."

"Aries, Zoe, and April, check out the apartment." Leo came around from the end of the table, stepping in between Arcos and Donnie to bring his face right up to the cyborg. "I have a few more questions for our guest."

April let out a soft moan as she brought her hand up to her face. Great, what was her argument going to be?

"What is it, April?" Donnie reached out, putting an arm around her.

She rubbed her eyes then looked at Phoenix. "Something's wrong, do you feel that?"

Right as Phoenix went to reply Zoe's voice came from behind him. "Aries, where are the boys?"

Leo looked around and had to will himself not to curse. They should all be working together to find Denim and Alli, but not only did they have three extra family members in the wind, they were going to have to divide their resources to find them all. Why couldn't anyone just wait for and follow orders?

Well this new disaster decided what one search party would be regardless of suitable skill sets because there wasn't time to argue about it. And they would argue if he didn't let them go. And of course Arcos had picked now to become unreasonably stubborn when he was usually one Leo could count on to be practical.

"New orders. Medusa and Karai have Mikey and that is not up for negotiation." He ignored Karai's scowl, knowing that he would pay for this later.

"Raph, Zoe, Mother and Sensei will track the kids. Aries, April and Donnie, take the apartment, unless you think you can pull anything more out of her?" He looked to April as he asked.

She shook her head. "No. She...she wants to cooperate."

He nodded. "Good. Arcos and I will see if there is any more we can learn from her. Check in every half hour or when you have something. Let's find our family."

TSOTCTSOTC

As Denim gasped for breath, her throat burning with stomach acid, she kept her eyes on her captor. His skin was torn on his face, revealing such a metal skeleton beneath she was inclined to believe he wasn't human at all. Yet he bled from his torso.

The way she was positioned, her torso flat against the bed and her neck holding her up her head over the side of the bed, she became aware of the collar Alli had mentioned. It wasn't light and her neck muscles ached from holding it up. She was afraid to move with terminator-man staring at her, but it hurt to hold the awkward position so she inched back toward Alli. But as she turned her head to try and keep her captor in her line of sight but get Alli in her periphery, her skin pulled against something sharp digging into her neck. "Ahh!" she cried out before she could stop herself. Instinctively she moved to bring her hand up to touch it, but pain jolted through her broken arm stealing her breath away.

"Mommy!" Alli cried. Gigantic tears clung to her lashes as her big blue eyes darted over her mother. "What's wrong?"

Denim willed her heart to stop pounding, keeping her eyes on the creature that had infiltrated her daughter's life. "What the hell have you done to me?" She panted her words, gasping for breath amid the throbbing of her arm and the air stinging the wounds in her neck. It didn't help that every breath felt like a kick to her broken ribs. How she hated broken ribs. They took forever to heal, before Phoenix at least. She'd have to do something special for Mikey's mother when this was over. Hell, how was she going to get them out of this?

He turned his back on her as if she wasn't worth his attention. The bastard. Her teeth ground together and she blinked hard desperate for the growing pressure in her head and chest to stop. It made the pain worse. Crying was useless anyway. As she took deep breaths willing the pressure away she glared at the back of his fake human head. He seemed to be repairing himself.

She inched back, taking shallow breaths. Alli made room for her as Denim used her feet and her good arm to get herself upright. The cyborg's hand stopped moving, then resumed once she quit shifting about. She hooked her good arm around Alli pulling her close. She wanted to lower her face to her daughter's hair and breathe her in, to squeeze her tight, hold her against her shoulder and tell her everything was going to be okay. But the best she could manage was one arm desperate to melt her into her side.

"Mommy, you're hurting me." Alli squeaked.

Oh! Oh gods! She released her. "Oh, Baby, I'm so sorry. Is anything broken?" Denim tried to turn her head to look Alli over but something sharp dug into her skin. "Gah!" she snarled, turning her torso toward the cyborg. "What did you do to me?"

K76 ignored his captive's outbursts of indignation and pain. Only attempts at either flight, attack or self-termination warranted his notice as any one of those could affect the outcome of his mission. He allowed the woman to fuss over the child she appeared to have injured and focused his attention towards the hand mirror on the desk in front of him. This would be easier in the bathroom, but he could not leave his charges unattended in this dingy hotel room that his handler had procured for him in a neighborhood where people wouldn't ask any questions if properly compensated.

Slowly, piece by piece, he pressed the torn flesh of his face back into place, holding it long enough to reseal. Unlike K2, he had enough left that he wasn't going to need to be delivered more. Until replacement parts arrived, K2 would need to go around with bandages, not subtle, but better than letting people see him as he was. There were some minor repairs that he could manage on his endoskeleton, but he wouldn't be fully functional again until he got those parts. At least they already had the collar for the hybrid in case they required additional means to keep her subdued. It had turned out to be essential in containing the woman who seemed to have manifested increased strength with her mutant pregnancy.

With his face once more looking passably human, he split the skin of his damaged arm open with his combat knife and began removing the pieces that were beyond salvaging. With some creative engineering, he could at least make the limb mobile again. As he worked, a message from K2 ticked across the top of his vision.

Initiating audio link.

Good, he could work and listen simultaneously with greater ease than having to read a flood of messages.

"Is the bait secure?"

He pried out another piece before answering in thought. "Yes, the woman and child are restrained at our new base of operations. Is the apartment cleared?"

"I'm having a team sent out to take care of that. I've been tracking the mutants harboring the targets. They aren't at any of their known locations, but a backlog of traffic cam footage has the bear, snake and ram frequently heading towards the industrial district. I'm working to narrow down a more exact location now."

He stretched a metal coil to connect the ends of the area he'd just cleared out, not especially strong or stable, but minimally functional. "Understood. I'll keep the hostages until you're ready to use them."

"According to the reports, the target seemed most attached to the girl. We'll start with her and keep the woman if reserve in case we need her. I'll come for the girl when I have located the target and have a means of luring him out. In the meantime, use the device you found equipped to the woman to maximize their anxiety. They'll be more pliable if desperate."

He pressed the skin of his arm back together, fusing the wound away. "I'll take care of it. What of the hybrid and K8?"

"Once the target has been acquired and delivered, we'll work on recapturing the EDF's remaining property for reprogramming. Should that not prove feasible, we are to destroy them. EDF technology is not to fall into outsider hands. I'll inform you when I'm coming to take the girl."

The message cut out, no longer requiring him to divide his attention between the communication and his surroundings. While his leg was damaged, he could still walk, so attempting to repair that could wait.

On the desk, among his tools, lay the woman's watch and phone, both connected to the electrodes affixed to her body. Rather than destroy them outright, K2 had instructed they be saved for future use, despite the minor risk of being tracked. With the agents monitoring it, they should have reasonable warning if anyone tried. He'd blocked most of the signal, but knew some was still getting through. It was time to take advantage of that.

Watching the devices, he sent a mental command to the collar. He could hear her scream as the charges of electricity pulsed from the collar into the nodes implanted in her neck. The screams were intense but brief, followed by the frantic cries of the child with her. As soon as the woman collapsed, temporarily incapacitated, the alarms on her phone and watch began to blare. He let them continue, until he was certain that some of the signal made it out. Then he picked them up, crushing both with the clench of his fist.

White hot current had coursed through Denim, jolting her blood and causing her muscles to seize. She couldn't think anything beyond, 'Will it ever end?' on repeat, until it stopped as abruptly as it started.

She could hear Alli's shrieks but couldn't move anything to answer them, only taking comfort in the fact that they were in concern for her, not because she was in pain from Denim having squeezed her too hard.

Alli had promised her that the split second Denims one arm hug had gotten the slightest bit tight she'd squeaked, because she knew if she waited mommy might accidentally hurt her. This revelation had made Denim both relieved and sick to her stomach at the same time. The past week, since hurting Mikey, she'd spent pushing everyone away in fear of hurting them. She'd promised Alli she still loved both her and Michelangelo but she couldn't risk injuring them. And how fast she'd forgotten her own promise when her heart ached to hold them both.

As she lay slumped over in a heap that disrupted her already badly swollen arm, her breaths came in laborious inhaled and exhales, her heart flopping madly in her chest as her muscles twitched with aftershocks. Involuntary tears slipped down her cheeks as her thoughts drifted to her unborn baby. The poor little one was likely gone from being fried twice now.

What should she do? What would Mikey want her to do? She opened her eyes, blinking away the wetness as Alli blurred into focus and just beyond her sat their captor.

"I know-" her voice cracked. She cleared her throat and licked her chapped lips. "I don't know why you've taken us. Honestly, I don't care whatever the reason. And I know you don't care what happens to us. But, I'm pregnant and it'd be really great if you could quit shocking the shit out of me."

He didn't so much as tip his head in her direction and her one good hand clenched into a fist. "Listen to me you son-of-a-bitch if anything happens to my kids, I will end you."

Maybe provoking him wasn't the best course of action, but her threat seemed to fall on deaf ears regardless. What the ever loving fuck was wrong with this guy?

As the last remnants of her jolt subsided her need for medication became pressingly clear. Her fingers were trembling, even on her broken hand, her back ached and she began to shiver though she could feel sweat gathering on her skin.

What she wouldn't give for a gun right then. A gun. She rocked to her side, bringing weak legs up close so she could roll forward to her knees. Though her belly was small it put her off balance, paired with a broken arm and body in need of meds and it made the whole process difficult. All the while Alli sniffled and reached out to help her as best she could.

Upright, Denim scanned their attacker's desk, spying an assortment of tools. A screwdriver, various pieces of burnt metal, her crushed health monitor and cell phone. And there among a knife, along with a few devices she couldn't identify, was a handgun. Now she just had to get it in her good hand, control her twitching muscles and shoot this asshole.

Maybe she'd have better luck being a little friendlier to him. "Do you have a name or should I just call you Terminator, or maybe Robo-dude, or-" Oh gods I sound like Mikey! She pulled her feet forward so she was sitting on her bottom with her legs hanging over the end of the bed, her captor just a foot away.

With him so close a familiar scent she couldn't put a name to drifted into her sinuses. The fragrance tugged at the back of her mind, producing some form of memory that begged to surface. She shivered, overwhelmed by the sensation as much as the way her muscles were trembling. She was cold, yet damp. She wasn't sure what kind of hell her body was tumbling into but she had to get them out of there fast. "I need medications, and food on a strict schedule. Look, whoever you are, let me help you. Tell me, what is it you want?"

K76 ignored the woman's varied attempts at engaging him, which had ranged from pleading to threats. As he needed no information from her, nor required her to do anything beyond stay put, it was not necessary to interact with her. He was only required to react to anything that might interfere with her or the child's use as bait.

Now that he'd restored the use of his arm, he debated working on his damaged leg. It was at least partially functional at the moment and he doubted that he could improve upon it without replacement parts. The woman had actually bent the metal framework.

It was time to deal with the wound in his side, inflicted by a sling bullet from the other woman who'd crashed the ambush. He'd not given it priority as it had not impaired his functionality which was the most important. Embedded in his abdominal muscle, no major organs had been perforated. It presented only pain, which he was more than capable of enduring, and minor risk of infection if not dealt with.

Stripping out of the collared shirt that he'd worn to the arbitration, tacky blood plastering it to his wounded side, he peeled it away from his injury and tossed it aside.

With his precision screwdrivers, he was able to dig the bullet out of his flesh, dropping it on the table with a wet, heavy thunk. From the bag at his feet, he retrieved an alcohol solution to clean the gaping hole along with a suture and bandage kit to seal and cover the wound.

As he sewed himself shut, he noted that the captive woman had inexplicably stopped talking at him. The child's silence as she watched with a mixture of disgust and fascination made sense, but not the woman's.

He frowned at her unreadable expression, regretting he did not have a more expansive visual library of human emotion. If she became unpredictable that could be a problem. He'd need to pay closer attention to her.

He was still ignoring her when he took off his shirt. Since he had yet to acknowledge her she didn't see his sudden stripping as a threat, especially when he began cleansing a wound Denim recognized to be Phoenix's handiwork. But as he was tending to the injury her world ground to an abrupt halt.

"We should not be playing down here." Even as she said it Denim couldn't resist picking up a lighter of her own. She held up the candlestick, running the flame up and down the length of it. The wax dripped onto the colorful puddle drying on the runoff below.

"Well, she said not to leave the yard." Kyle motioned to the house on the hill above the drainage ditch they were hanging out in. He held up a glass votive, dumping out the blueberry scented candle from inside it.

Denim's belly fluttered when the muscles along his shirtless torso flexed as he reached for another votive, ready to dump out its contents.

"You're such a firebug," she said, kneeling alongside him, her knees digging into the concrete. He was so close she could smell him, soap, sweat, and some kind of cologne she wished he wouldn't wear. His natural aroma was so good he made her mouth water, whatever that new crap was she'd like to burn it. He stood up, was moving around then stopped in front of her.

"You listening, Denni? I said get back or you'll get hurt. I'm gonna make this glass thing explode."

What? She realized she was staring at the large flat mole beneath his rib cage when the rest of him blurred into focus.

"You're going to what? Kyle, those are your mom's votives. She's going to pissed we took her stuff, but if we break it- she'll never let you hang out with me again."

Kyle's green eyes shone bright in the summer sun. He grinned and she felt her cheeks heat. In two strides his chest was against her camisole top, his flat belly against hers. He cupped her cheek, his breath ghosting her lips. "Denni, come on, with regional championships around the corner. We'd have to kill someone for that to happen. Trust me, she'll get over it."

Denim ached for the pressure of his mouth on hers, but there was someone else. There was always someone else. She swallowed hard, lifting her gaze to meet his. "Yeah, well if you're not careful she's going to end up shooting your partner instead of letting me shoot with you."

He chuckled as he pulled her in for a hug. "You worry too much, Denni. Come on let's blow some shit up."

He reached in his jeans pocket, pulling out a handful of firecrackers...

Denim chest pumped as hard as her heart was beating, her eyes locked on the flat mole beneath her captors rib cage, one with a long jagged suture scar crossing over it.

It couldn't be.

She blinked repeatedly as she slid off the bed and walked right up to the man.

It wasn't possible.

"Where did you get that scar?"