Part 14
Part 14

Donatello and Raphael reached an exit out to the front of the building. To their surprise, the guards were no longer at their posts. The doubled team was searching inside the hall ways. Both turtles quickened their pace to find shelter as the city was starting to come alive at the crack of dawn.

"6 a.m.." Don looked at his watch as they ducked into an alley way. "This city never sleeps and on a Monday, it'll be booming with action any minute now."

"Just in time." Raph watched a truck drop off a stack of newspapers by a corner deli shop. "To watch the world come alive."

"We'd better head for the junkyard quickly."

The two took off past the deli shop. Raphael froze to take a look at the stack of newspapers on the pavement. The front headline caught his attention. He bent over and lifted one up, reading it slowly. His eyes widened.

"Uh, Don?"

Donatello stopped and looked back, slowly walking over.

"What? What's wrong?"

"Where did Mike say Emiko was flying to?"

"Miami. Why?"

Raph showed him the front page. "I don't think she made it."

Donatello took the paper from him and read the headline: "Flight 745 to Miami, Florida Crashes in Small Town."

"Noooo." He whispered as he stared at the black and white print. "Oh, God, no."

Raphael looked at his expression. "It was her flight, wasn't it?"

Don continued to stare at the paper, glancing at the first paragraph in disbelief. His vision started to blur as he swallowed back a lump.

"Um, yes, Raph. That was her flight."

"Jesus." Raph looked away, not knowing what to say to him in terms of condolence. He picked the alternative. "Does it say what caused the crash?"

Don looked down to the bottom where the remaining story was on the back of the page. He flipped it over and read the following paragraph, his hands shaking the paper like a leaf.

"Witnesses believe it was a bomb that caused the explosion, however, further observation will be needed before these speculations can be proven true. Government officials are now looking into this tragic event while gathering up as much information as possible."

Don stopped reading and put the paper down, feeling a wave of nausea hit him.

"I don't feel so good, Raph."

"Jeez, I can't believe that happened. Poor kid. Are you going to be alright, Don? Don?"

Donatello ignored him. He bent over and clutched his stomach, resting up against the brick wall. Raph watched in silence. He wasn't good with consoling others. He felt bad for him and wanted to say something comforting but was lost for words. He held on to his own grief in a different way. Bottled up inside.

"It's my fault." Don whispered through his arms. "If we never met her, she wouldn't have gotten on that damn plane."

Raph tapped his shoulder. "Come on, Don. Don't blame yourself. It's not your fault. She was the one who didn't listen. If she had listened to you and stayed behind, she'd still be alive."

"I should have been more firm with her. I told her I didn't want her to go. I'm never going to forgive myself for this."

"Now, I wouldn't go that far." Raph bent down to his level. "Don, you did everything you could. You can't blame yourself for someone else's actions. It upsets me too to hear about what happened. But don't start beating on yourself. It won't do you any good."

"Raph, you weren't there when we left her at the gate. She said she liked me. She told me herself. No child has ever said that to me and meant it. I thought I'd never find myself liking another kid other than Shadow but I was wrong. She liked me and....now she's gone."

Raph swallowed and shook his head, watching his brother wallowing in his own pity. He'd have to wait a few minutes before helping him to his feet and continuing with their task that they were set out to do. If there is a God, where the fuck was he when this event occurred? It's times like these....I wish I could buy a beer.

Don and Raph walked in silence toward the junkyard. They found extra bands of cloth for the feet and glove-like shields for their hands. The two piled up what they could hold before leaving the area again. Raph took one last look before walking out into the front section of the junkyard. Don was already out walking on to the street. The sun was slowing rising up from gray clouds. The storm was passing over the city to give it's citizens a few rays before more clouds decided to flood them out again.

"Looks like more clouds to be expected coming in from the west. More scattered showers possibly by tonight." Raph observed. He attempted to change the mood.

Don raised a hand to him as people passed by. "My brother, the meteorologist. I'm so glad I was informed of your weather report."

"Hey, I'm just tryin' to cheer ya up here!"

"By giving me a weather report?"

"By talking about other things to get your mind off a certain subject! I'm chewing the fat. Shootin' the breeze. Baffling you with bullshit! If you want, I won't say anything. You just let me know, and I'll gladly shut up!"

"Raph?"

"Yeah?"

"Shut up."

"Whatever."

The two were silent again as they walked on. The city was in full swing by 8 a.m.. Cars roaring by them, people noisily walking up and down the streets, music blasting out from speakers, all the sounds of New York were finally up at their usual time. Fast food restaurants started cooking up breakfast with the wonderful aroma escaping through the vents. Things seemed different in the daytime. Life actually roamed the city. The gangs slept in during the lighter hours and the homeless stuck close to their usual places. Birds started to chirp in the nearby trees. All this brightness and cheerfulness changed once the two walked back into the station where the walls remained black except for where the sun shone through. The temperature was still a few degrees colder from the early morning air. Don and Raph were surprised to see the place was deserted for a week day. They headed straight for the storage room to meet up with the others.

Mike and Leo decided to catch some Z's while waiting for Don and Raph's return. They were very tired from lack of sleep and went in deep slumber with their shells up against the far wall. Mike slept soundly with loud snores as Leo tossed and turned within his spot. His mind was filling up with distorted visions:

He was seen walking out of the police station, loud screams bellowed out behind him. He shut his eyes as he tuned in to hearing voices calling his name. Distant. Then closer. He turned around to see the building up in flames, the voices calling and screaming out to him for help. He backed away to avoid windows bursting open; shards of glass falling down on him like sharp knives. People were soon emerging from the entrance, their flesh burned to a crisp. Some were skeletal with their insides exposed on the outside. They were soldiers, from what he could see what was left of their shiny uniforms. Their dark helmets concealed their faces. Leo approached one and lifted the dark shield to reveal a skull, it's eyes burnt out. He flustered and stepped back, watching the group continue to march into the empty street. Light sobbing caught his attention as he turned to see Jenny standing on the sidewalk, staring at him with a look of mournfulness. He walked over and touched her arm.

"Jenny? What is it? What's wrong?"

She continued to cry as she stared at him. She didn't even look like she was making correct eye contact with him. He stepped closer and looked deep into her face. He saw in her eyes a woman falling over again and again. She screamed then fell over. It kept repeating like rewind and play back mode. Leo shook his head as Jenny moaned louder.

"Why did this have to happen, Leo? Why?"

Her voice echoed in his ears, the sobbing giving him a headache. The dead soldiers continued to emerge from the remains of the building.

"GAH! Nooooo!" Leonardo sat up abruptly with a gasp. He looked to see they were still in the storage room.

"What's wrong, Leo?" Michaelangelo wiped his eyes.

Leo looked around, then back to Mike.

"I, uh, had a weird dream." He started to rub his temples as he began to think about it.

"Can you remember what it was about?"

"Death. All around. This building. I saw it engulfed in flames. Rows and rows of soldiers were emerging from the debris, their bodies burnt to a crisp. There were screams. People calling out my name for help. Then I saw Jenny standing there. In the street. She was crying about something. When I approached her, I saw a vision of a woman collapsing in her eyes. It looked like Jenny much older. Like it was a vision from the future. Her older self dying."

"Wow, Leo. That's scary."

"Hey! Wake up sleepy heads!" Raphael shouted as he walked in first. Then he saw they were both awake. "Oh, that got you up pretty fast, eh?"

Michaelangelo groaned with a yawn and stretch..

"I wasn't sleeping. I was checking my eye lids for light leaks."

Raph looked to Leo. "So what's your excuse?"

Leo blinked the sleep from his eyes and stared up at him.

"I was tired. It's not a good excuse, but it's the truth." Leo looked to Mike. "It's better to have some sleep than none at all. If you want, you can pull up a wall and take a rest."

"Nah, I'm a little tired but awake enough to last a few more hours."

"Hey, Don. You okay?" Mike frowned as he caught his brother up against the door, head bowed to the ground.

"I've been better, Mike. I heard some disturbing news this morning." Raph sighed as Don paused for a moment.

"Yeah? What kind of news? Something serious?"

Don placed his hands in his pockets. "Well, we headed out onto the street when the front page of the daily newspaper caught Raph's attention and-" Don paused again as he felt a piece of paper between his fingers. He pulled it out and unfolded it. Hello Kitty stationary. Don stared at it as his vision started to blur.

Mike walked over in concern. "And what? What's wrong?" He placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Um, and we shouldn't have left Emiko at the airport. She didn't make it to Miami. It made the top headlines. Her plane went down."

Mike and Leo gasped at the same time and looked to Raph who stood motionless.

"What?! Omigod! No! Oh, Don, no!" Mike's vision started to blur as well as he looked into his face. "Are you sure there weren't any survivors? Did it say if anyone lived?"

Raph groaned. "Mike, they said it might have been a bomb. No one could have survived that. If someone did live through it, they'd spend the rest of their lives with missing body parts."

Leonardo stood up and crossed the room as fast as he could, despite the pain in his foot.

"Don...." He spoke solemnly as he put both hands on his shoulders with sorrow as well as for support. "What happened to Emiko is just devastating. I'm so very sorry for you." He sighed and looked away. Then back to him. "All I can give you is my sincerest condolences."

Donatello heaved out a long breath and shook his head.

"I appreciate that, Leo. I just felt we could have done something to stop this from happening. It was all a set-up. Someone from here knew she was leaving and planted that bomb. I know it."

Leonardo looked down to see the folded paper in Don's hand.

"What's that, Don?" he asked with a sniff.

"Huh? Oh, Emiko wrote out her grandparent's phone number on this note before getting on the plane. It's all I have left of her...." His voice drifted as he felt the tears finally stream down his cheeks.

Leo leaned forward to console his brother in a tight embrace. Don rested his chin on his shoulder, squeezing his eyes shut with uncontrollable sobs. Mike stood off to the side and patted his back. Raph crossed his arms with head lowered. It was moments like these that he hated the most to live through. Bad things happen to good people. He thought about Risa and knew if she died, a piece of him would die with her. He liked Emiko. Strong kid with a lot of ambition. Yet, his feelings for her were not as strong as Don's were. Of course he was sad. Very sad. But he refused to shed a tear in front of his brothers. Mike tried to break that habit.

"Raph?" Michaelangelo approached him while wiping his eyes. "How are you holding up?"

Raphael shrugged with his eyes to the floor.

"I'm hangin' in there."

"Still have hard feelings for her?"

"No, not anymore."

Michaelangelo stood silent for a minute, looking over to see Don calming down in Leo's arms. He also hated these moments. A lot of things made him cry the most out of all of them. He cried at sad movies, commercials, TV shows, well-known celebrities passing, or even when he heard news that Shadow's pet hamster, Snowball, died. Real or fictional, he would suffer the loss to the very extreme. As strong as they all were, nothing could stop the sorrows from seaping out of their tough barriers.

Don pulled back from Leo and resumed his stand against the door.

"I'll be alright, Leo. Thanks for your concern."

"Any time, Don."

The group stood silently for awhile, unable to speak any longer. They were all incredibly exhausted as well as somber. The door down in the labratory was forgotten for the time being. It was at this moment all of them got a well-deserved rest. And a chance to recuperate.

PART 15 BACK TO PART 13 BACK TO FAN FICTION PAGE