"We're bulletproof, he's not," Raph said, making a move towards the edge of the roof.
"Wait," Leo said, grabbing Raph's forearm. "Casey knows they're following him. If we jump down there, we might start a fire fight. Give him a chance to tell us what he wants us to do."
Leo had seen Casey slow down as he neared a large tree adjacent to a basement areaway. Cars parked end to end along the curb gave him another layer of protection.
Casey stopped when he reached the tree, standing so that half of his body was behind its trunk. As he waited for the approaching car, he slipped his police shield from his waistband and used the attached cord to hang it around his neck.
With his shield fully visible, Casey reached back, lifting his jacket so he could grasp his service revolver, which was tucked into a belt holster. He didn't draw the weapon, merely holding that pose as the car drew up alongside him and came to a stop.
"What's going on?" Mikey asked.
"Don, any way to hear them?" Leo asked.
Nodding, Don tapped a set of commands into his wrist-mounted computer and suddenly the street sounds became amplified.
"You lost, cop?" the car's driver asked.
"Nope," Casey answered. "Are you? I know this city pretty well, maybe I can give you some advice."
The passenger door opened and a man stepped out. He was of a stocky build and average in height, with dark skin and hair. Leaning his forearms against the hood of the car, he grinned at Casey, but there was no humor in that smile.
"We don't need advice, but maybe you do. From one good citizen to another," the man said in a slightly accented voice. "This is a rough neighborhood. We do our best to keep the bad elements out of it, but a cop like you, walking around at night all alone, well, he's a target for someone trying to make a name for himself. You should find your car and get going before that happens. You get hurt, it makes us look incompetent."
"Maybe they're the block patrol," Mikey said.
Raph scowled at him. "Don't be so naïve. Even from up here I can see the gun sticking out of his waistband."
"I'll take that under advisement," Casey said. "Thing about police though, our job is to go into rough neighborhoods. If one of us goes down, that shines a spotlight and pretty soon the rough neighborhood has a cop on every corner. Tell you what, if you feel like this neighborhood warrants that kind of protection, you should call the precinct and talk to someone there about setting up regular patrols."
"Slick," Raph muttered with a grin.
"Let's hope it's enough to get rid of them," Leo said. "If shooting starts, some of the stray bullets will go right into these homes."
They could see the street lights shine off of the man's teeth as he smiled. "That's okay, cop. We take care of our own. Have yourself a nice night."
He climbed back into the car and it slowly drove off. Casey waited until the car had turned a corner before he started walking again.
The turtles trailed along on the rooftops, keeping him in their sights. Don kept his eyes on his wrist computer, analyzing the various readouts along their route. As they neared the intersection that separated the homes from the park, he noted something that was cause for concern.
"Guys, I'm picking up heat signatures from the park," Don said. "A half dozen of them. There are elevated levels of both carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide nearby."
"Exhaust fumes," Raph translated. "Probably from a couple of idling cars."
"Casey's about to walk into a reception committee," Leo said.
Raph pulled his sai, giving them a spin as he said, "Let's return the favor."
"We need to warn him . . . ." Leo began.
"Already on it," Don interrupted, touching the number sequence that would dial Casey's phone.
They saw Casey stop to answer his cell phone. "What's up?"
"You've got company," Don said. "They're waiting in the park for you."
"Damn it, I left my mask in the car," Casey said. "If it's a fight they want, I'm happy to oblige."
"There are at least six of them," Don told him. "Probably armed."
Leo leaned in close to Don so that he could be heard on the mic. "Casey, wait for us to slip around behind them. Let's try to keep the shooting to a minimum so that none of the residents get hurt."
"Tell me when you want me to draw their attention," Casey said.
"Don will give you the signal," Leo said.
Remaining where he was, out of sight of the men lying in ambush, Casey kept the phone to his ear and waited.
"If there are six of them, they probably aren't planning to shoot," Mikey said. "Killing a cop is bad for business. They're waiting for a chance to give Casey a beat down to scare him off."
As usual, his observation was insightful and useful. "Get in close, take them before they have a chance to pull their weapons," Leo ordered.
Casey had worked with the mutant foursome enough to know he wouldn't hear or see them cross the wide street to enter the park. He made his way to the corner of the last building on the block, staying in the shadows and hugging the wall. Let the men who were looking for him wonder where he went. They would be focused on trying to locate him and not paying attention to what might be sneaking up behind them.
It took only seconds for the brothers to reach the park and work their way in behind the men who were hiding there. With a single gesture, Leo indicated that his brothers should spread out and each choose a target.
Don was not surprised that Raph and Leo each found positions that put them within range of two pairs of men. Mikey had moved in close to a stocky fellow who looked as though he could go a few rounds with a bulldozer.
The man that Don found himself nearest was the tallest of the group. Even in the dim light, he could tell that the man was carrying a collapsible pool cue. It was an odd thing to see outside of a billiard hall, but not a bad idea as far as easily accessible weapons went. He could break it down, put it in a case, and boldly walk the streets without anyone giving him a second glance.
That suited Donatello just fine. He knew the man's pool cue was no match for his bō, no matter how talented the guy might be at wielding it.
On Leo's first signal, Don whispered "Go" into his mouthpiece. As soon as Casey stepped out of hiding, Leo's second signal sent the turtles rushing towards their targets. They were so silent that the men didn't know they had company until the brothers were practically on top of them.
Unfortunately, Don's subject chose that moment to turn around in order to light a cigarette. Seeing the tall mutant rushing at him, the man dropped the cigarette and lighter and swung his pool cue at Don.
Because he was off-balance, the man's counter move was awkward and lacked force. Don easily shoved the cue aside, knocking it from the man's grasp at the same time. Then he struck the man directly in his gut with the end of his staff.
A very satisfying 'woof' escaped the man's lips and he stumbled back in pain. To Don's surprise though, the man didn't go all of the way down.
He hadn't seemed all that muscular, but he clearly had a more solid core than Don had allowed for. Just as Don started forward to finish the job, the man straightened up with a pistol in his hand.
It was by no means the first gun Don had ever faced but for some reason he froze.
What happened next took a millisecond, but to Don it felt like an eternity. With his gun aimed directly at Don's head, the man pulled the trigger. At the exact same time, a sai struck the gun and pushed it off target.
The crack of the discharge snapped Don out of it and he brought his bō around against the side of the man's head. This time the thug went down and stayed there.
Don looked up as Raph approached him to retrieve his weapon. "What the hell happened to ya' bro'? Ya' nearly got your face shot off."
"I'd already calculated the bullet's trajectory. He would have missed," Don lied, unwilling to admit to his dangerous lapse.
"Uh huh," Raph said, clearly not buying it. "Sure."
Casey had joined them and was walking from one fallen gang member to the next. After examining each of them, he said, "None of these were the ones from the car. They've all got the same tat. It looks familiar."
Don took a picture of each man's face and their visible tattoos. "I can run them through facial recognition and check the prison tattoo database."
"Those are secure state servers," Casey said, striving to sound serious though a touch of humor came through in his voice.
Turning to Casey, Don said, "There are so many ways into a so-called secure server. You can find the programmer's back door and . . . ."
"Thanks Donnie," Leo said, cutting him off. "We should go before their pals show up looking for them."
"Or we could stay here for some more exercise," Raph suggested.
"There's no point in starting a war before we know who we're up against," Leo said. "Besides, Master Splinter didn't sign up to spend the entire night taking care of Shilo."
Maybe it was the reminder that they had a baby to care for, but Raph didn't argue any further. After ensuring themselves that no one was watching, the group piled into the garbage truck and Don drove it back to the lair.
They were nearly at their destination when Mikey made a sudden demand for Don to stop the truck.
Mikey's tone was so urgent that Don immediately pulled over. He hadn't even come to a complete stop when Mikey bolted from the truck.
"What is he doing?" Raph asked, leaning over Leo's seat to watch their younger brother dart across the street into an alley alongside a small toy store.
"I have no idea," Leo answered, staring out the window as well.
A few minutes later Mikey reappeared and hopped back inside the truck. In his hand was a floppy brown teddy bear.
"For Shilo," Mikey announced proudly.
"I hope you paid for that," Leo said as Don drove off.
"'Course I did," Mikey said without looking at his brother. He held up the teddy bear and added, "Look at this cute thing. Shilo will love it. I'll be his favorite uncle."
"'Cause there's nothing better than buying a kid's affection," Raph said dryly.
Don was abnormally quiet during the remainder of the drive. Leo noticed but didn't say anything. Inside the tight confines of the truck with so many others listening was not the way to get Donnie to open up.
They found Master Splinter seated on the couch watching television, with Shilo sleeping in his plastic box next to him.
"April helped me feed and change him before she had to leave," Master Splinter said as his sons approached. "Were you able to learn anything?"
Don sat down on the couch next to Shilo, who didn't even stir at the sound of voices.
"Only that a gang seems to have control of the neighborhood where Shilo's mom left him," Leo told his father.
"A gang who thinks it's okay to ambush a cop," Raph said.
"You'd be surprised at how many of them think that way," Casey said. "I'm gonna take off guys. I'll let you know tomorrow if the detectives find out anything during their canvas."
"That's if ya' can get included in the investigation," Raph said.
"I'll get included," Casey said. "You can count on it."
Casey waved his goodbye as he left the lair. Mikey leaned over Shilo's box, teddy bear in hand.
"Don't wake him," Don warned.
"I won't," Mikey said. He started to tuck the bear in next to the sleeping baby turtle but then stopped to look up at Don. "Is it safe?"
"Probably not until we get him a bigger bed," Don said. "When he's stronger, he can push it away from his face, but not just yet."
"That's okay," Mikey said, hugging the bear to his plastron. "I'd rather give it to him when he's awake."
Master Splinter stood up. "I am going to bed. My suggestion is that you all do the same while the baby is sleeping."
They bid their father goodnight and then Leo picked up Shilo's box. "Come on Don, let's get the two of you settled."
All four of the brothers turned in for the night, making certain to leave the television on, the volume up enough so that the lair wasn't completely silent.
Leonardo wasn't sure how long he'd been asleep when he suddenly woke. Sitting up, he looked around, trying to determine what had disturbed him. He saw that Mikey and Raph were in their beds, but that Don wasn't. Shilo's bed was gone as well.
Rising silently, Leo glanced across to the living area and saw just what he'd expected; Don seated on the couch cradling Shilo in his arms.
Wearing a slight frown, Leo went downstairs and walked over to join his genius brother. Shilo was asleep and there were no signs that he'd been distressed. The same could not be said of Donatello.
"What's wrong, Donnie? Couldn't Shilo sleep?" Leo said, slowly sitting down next to his brother.
Don sighed. "He's been asleep since we got back. I'm the one who can't."
"Why not?" Leo asked. "Does it have something to do with the fight we were in earlier?"
"Why would you ask that?" Don countered, blinking owlishly at his brother from behind his thick lenses.
"I saw what happened Donnie," Leo said. He could read the worry and unhappiness on his brother's face.
Don lowered his head. "Do you think Shilo will hate me for making him a turtle?"
"What made you even think that? No, he won't hate you," Leo said, surprised at the question.
"You can't know that," Don said. "I was thinking about what April said, that he'd want to know what happened to his mother when he gets older. He'll want to know the entire story."
"We'll tell it to him," Leo said. "We'll raise him with love and make sure he always has everything he needs."
"What happens if we're not around to raise him?" Don asked. "I can't even fight because I'm too worried about what happens to Shilo if I'm injured or killed. Look at me tonight, I couldn't focus on our mission."
Leo studied him for a moment and then asked quietly, "How do you feel when you hold Shilo?"
Don looked at the baby and Leo saw his face relax and the corners of his mouth turn up.
"You may have doubts," Leo said, "but the important thing is that you have no regrets."
"I've relegated him to a life where he has no options," Don said, meeting Leo's eyes once more. "I may have saved his life, but he'll never have a wife, or children . . . . "
"He still has family," Leo said. "He's not alone and we'll make sure he never is. No one, not even humans, have any guarantees in life. His birth mother chose a dangerous path and she might have taken him down it with her. At least with us he'll be happy and safe."
"We can give him that, right Leo?" Don asked, staring hopefully at his older brother.
"Of course we can," Leo said, gently touching the sleeping infant's cheek. He glanced up at Don. "Maybe we should hold off on going topside for a while, at least until things with Shilo normalize."
"No," Don said firmly. "No. I need to know what happened to his mother. I need to be able to give him answers when he asks for them."
Leo nodded his understanding. "We can at least hold off a day or two and give Casey time to investigate. This is an opportunity for him to prove to his bosses that he could be a good detective. I think he wants to prove something to us as well. Let's give him the chance."
"Okay," Don said. It wasn't hard to hear the relief in his voice. "It'll give us all time to bond with Shilo."
"I'd like that," Leo said with a smile. "Come on, let's put the both of you to bed."
Don carefully lowered Shilo into his box and stood up to stretch. It suddenly struck him that he was very tired.
"I could sleep for a week," Don admitted.
Leo picked up Shilo's box. "He probably won't let you do that," he said, chuckling. "Try to sleep in though. The rest of us can take care of Shilo."
"Will do," Don said, even though he was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to do that. Right at the moment he was too tired to give it any more thought and trudged off to bed alongside his brother.
TBC…..