C-4

August 28, 1995

-28 Minutes

LEONARDO:

I sprang out of bed and swept my belt and weapons off the floor. "Donny!" I called into the dark lair. "Donny get up!"

I banged on his door. "Whadda you want Leo?" he moaned back.

"They're gonna bomb the orphanage! Get up! Hurry!"

He stumbled out of his room still half-asleep. "What are you talking about?" he slurred, rubbing his eyes. "Who's gonna bomb what orphanage?"

"There were foot soldiers at the orphanage earlier," I explained in a rush. "I took them down and tried to get one of them to talk, but it didn't look like they'd accomplished anything so I checked it out but there didn't look like there was anything bad happening inside. But they said something about getting her at midnight and it's 11:30 now!"

He had a blank stare on his face. He shook his head slowly. "I see your lips moving, but I'm not hearing you."

I grabbed his arm. "Just come on! I'll explain on the way!"

Raphael wandered out of his room. I was somewhat surprised to see him home. But I wasn't complaining. "Leo, what the hell are you yellin' about?" he mumbled.

I stopped and forced my emotions to settle down. I was still half-asleep, and my thoughts were just starting to become coherent. I breathed deep, closing my eyes. "Shredder is going to bomb an orphanage at midnight," I informed. Michaelangelo tripped over his feet as he opened his door and tried to walk out into the living room.

"How do you know?"

"I saw foot soldiers there earlier," I explained calmly. "They said something about a countdown to midnight, and shutting up a little girl."

"And you're just now figuring this out?" Raphael shot.

I stared at him. "I..." I stammered, struggling for an explanation. "I didn't... hear it," I finally answered. "I just know."

Raph's arms crossed over his plastron. "Do you see dead people, Leo?" he asked sarcastically.

Mike snickered. I glared at them. "Guys, this isn't funny," I snapped. "You think I'm nuts, but what if I'm right? What if we've got twenty-five minutes to disarm a bomb that's gonna kill dozens of kids?"

They looked at each other, then at me. "Let's take the van," Donatello suggested.

ANNA:

I heard a quiet crying coming from somewhere down the long hallway. I slipped out from underneath the covers and touched my feet to the icy cold floor. I grabbed my robe from off the bedside table and crept out into the darkened building, following my ears.

"Marie?" I whispered, cracking the door open. "Marie, what's the matter?"

She was sitting up on her bed, the lower mattress on one of two bunk beds. The other three girls were all asleep. She hid her face in her hands and sobbed quietly. "Marie?"

I slipped into the room and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Don't cry, Marie."

"I miss Mommy."

I felt the familiar stab of pain in my heart. "Come here, Marie," I invited, holding out my arms to her.

The three-year-old crawled out from under the blanket and slithered into my lap. I wrapped my arms around her and held her head to my chest. "It's okay, baby," I whispered. "Mommy's watching you from up in heaven. She's always watching you."

"I wan' talk to my mommy," she sniffed. "I wan' her sing to me."

"Shh..."

I rocked back and forth gently, cradeling the little girl. "What did your mommy used to sing to you?" she whispered.

"That song from that movie," she sniffed. "Where she teached them singing."

I bit my lip as I wracked my brain. "How's it go, honey? Maybe I know it. I could sing for you."

She sniffed and pulled away a little, then started to sing quietly. Her voice cracked and she hit the wrong notes, but I still recognized it. I smiled and pulled her close to me again. "Eidelweiss, Eidelweiss, every morning you greet me..."

She relaxed slowly as the quiet words soothed her. "Small and white, clean and bright, you look happy to see me..."

I rocked her back to sleep, my mind drifting over the stories that these four walls must hold. Marie's story told of a fire that claimed the lives of her mother and father. In the bed above her, Suzanne was abandoned at a hospital, and her mother then committed suicide. Tomiqua's father had been raising her until he died of cancer and left her with no family or friends who were willing to adopt her. Rachaun was taken from a home where she and her older brother lived amidst dog feces and hypodermic needles. These were nobody's kids, the unwanted statistics that plagued every city. These were my kids, and I loved every one of them.

MICHAELANGELO:

We jumped out of the van and looked up at the building. We had twenty minutes. "Don't suppose you know where this bomb is," Raphael yawned.

"It's in the furnace," Leo informed.
Raphael laughed. "Now that's a good place for a bomb."

"Actually, it is," Don mumbled. "The heating ventilation system would..."

"Save it, Donny," Raph sighed. "I'm too tired for logic."

I said nothing as we circled the building, looking for an easy entrance. "The roof?" I finally suggested when we found no way in.

"The furnace would be in the basement," Donny objected. "If this thing's gonna go off at midnight, there's no time."

"We'll have to use the front door," Leonardo informed.

"Oh, great," Raph sighed. "Should we knock or ring the bell?"

I looked both ways for spectators before I raced out into the open street and up the front steps. I knelt in front of the door and inspected the lock. "Can you get it?" Leo asked.

"Yeah, I can," I answered. "But it might take a few minutes."

"I don't think we have much of a choice," Don mumbled.

"Here."

I reached up and Leo handed me the little black bag from the van. I opened it and pulled out the two tools I needed. "Uh, not to criticize the whole neat and tidy approach," Raph mumbled. "But couldn't we just kick the door down? I mean, if the place is gonna go up in flames anyhow..."

"That door's probably two inches thick," Don informed him.

"So? We've made our way through..."

"Shut up, Raph," I sighed, sliding the tools into place. "I almost..."

The lock clicked, and I pushed the thick wooden door open. Leo and Don rushed in. Raphael stood back and offered me a hand. "I know you're not too happy about bein' here, Raph," I sighed as I rose next to him. "But you ever stop to think about just how few times Leo's actually been wrong?"

He sighed. "Mike, you don't really think..."

"Whether I do or not, it could be true," I interrupted.

I took off across the tile floor, following Leo and Don as they threw a door open and disappeared. Raph followed me with very little urgency. How was it that Leo knew exactly where he was going? I wasn't sure I wanted to know the answer.

I slid down the metal banister and nearly slammed into the wall as the stairs turned and went the opposite direction. By the time I got to the basement floor, Donatello and Leonardo were already standing in front of the massive furnace. It didn't make a sound. Don pressed his hand to it, and backed away. "Donny, look," Leo called.

We all walked to the other side of the huge metal box. A large square had been taken out of the side of the furnace and sottered back together. I stared at it with wide eyes. This was starting to get freaky. "They wouldn't weld it back together near a bomb," Don assumed. "Cut it open."

The sound of Leo's katana slicing through metal was not one that my ears appreciated. Raph jammed his sai into the hole and pried it back. Together, they opened the side of the furnace. We all froze as we stared at the mess of wires and huge canisters inside. I think my heart skipped a few beats as I stared death in the face. "Holy shit..." Raphael breathed.

Don stepped forward slowly and dropped to his knees. He didn't touch it. There was a moment of silence as we all gaped at the huge weapon. I'd never seen anything like it, except in the movies. And if they were even the slightest bit accurate, that was enough C-4 to take out half the city block.

"Get everyone out of this building," Donatello said slowly. He sounded like he was in a trance.

"Can you disarm it?" Leonardo asked, watching the glowing numbers tick. It wasn't a countdown; it was a clock. It read 11:49.

"In ten minutes, Leo?" He looked up, and I caught a glimpse of the awestruck look on his face. "No. Fucking. Way."