Disclaimer: The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles belong to Mirage Studios, Peter A. Laird, and Kevin B. Eastman. I use them without permission, and without monetary profit.
Reluctantdragon – I've taken a couple of years of Karate and a couple more of Tae Kwon Do. I am in no way anything more than just a semi-middling martial artist, and I absolutely abhor sparring because I HATE to be hit and I'm not fast enough or skilled enough to block or duck in time. I've learned only two weapons – short bos and nunchucks. I remember the most about the nunchucks because a) I learned them first, and b) they're easy weapons to learn. Though, wow, I've popped myself in the face too many times with them. The short bos I learned only a little before I quit, so I remember next to nothing. They just sit in my closet looking pretty. Some times I think about starting that back up, but then I remember the sparring and change my mind. Sparring! Growl!
VestqueX, PyroDeScorpio2, In The Clouds, S.H.M.J., RainySunshine – I GREATLY appreciate all of your support and comments. It gives me a major case of the happys to know that people like my fanfic. And I really enjoy that ya'll like my depiction of the turtles. I write what I think they'd say and I try to be true to my opinion of them. happy dance Thank you soooooooo much to everyone!
Chapter Twelve:
Donny watched Leo sneak back towards their hiding place with a sinking sensation in his chest. He tried to convince himself that just because his brother wasn't carrying any paper with him didn't mean he couldn't have folded up the papers and stashed them somewhere. Despite the fact that they wore very little to hide things such as folded pieces of paper.
Leo shook his head and Donny's head dropped.
"Nothing." He whispered, as he got close. "I looked in all of the rooms that were office appearing."
Donny sighed. "Here, let me. I know it's a waste of time, but what else are we going to do? I don't want to go back to Splinter without something to report. Again."
"We have stuff to report."
"None of it encouraging, though."
"Yeah, okay, hurry up." Leo waved his purple masked brother away and settled down for a long wait.
Chassidy woke up on the mattress in the room that been dubbed hers in the sewer den. She wasn't sure how she got there from where she'd conked out from the stress and strain, but it was probably because of Michealangelo. The relief left her boneless on the mattress. She was safe.
None of the candles were lit and the shower curtain was drawn over the opening to the 'room' so really she should have had no clue where she was, except of the smell – scented candles and smoke – and the slight give of the mattress beneath her. It was different from when she conked out, and now instead of invasive and scary the darkness was a warm cocoon.
Things weren't hiding in the shadows. She was hiding in the shadows behind five very capable… beings.
More relaxed than she had been in days Chassidy lay on the mattress, her legs tangled up in the sheets, her clothes still fully on, though her shoes weren't. She listened to the silence of the den, save for a scraping and shuffling noise. She listened, not really interested. It was the sound of a place that was inhabited. What a home sounded like.
The apartment she had shared with Stone had never sounded like this. Either it was silent because she was alone, or it was loud with him in it. Demanding.
When she still lived with her parents and little sister she could lay in bed at night and listen to the sound of her parents walking around, watching TV, talking; the sound of the house settling, the refrigerator, the washing machine, the dryer, the air conditioning kicking on and off.
There was no electricity and no wood creaking, no earthy sounds, but it still sounded like a home. Two people were talking, their words unintelligible, but still comforting. The shuffling continued, as well as the talking. More voices were added. Chassidy stretched and with a smile fell back asleep.
Michealangelo pulled the shower curtain covering Chassidy's room open and noticed from the inky blackness that she was either still sleeping or hanging out in the dark. Which was kind of creepy because who would want to do that unless it was a training exercise?
"Chass? Chassidy? Hello?"
"Mmm?"
"You up?"
"No."
"Well you need to be if you want to get to work on time." Michealangelo had asked Donatello for a digital clock of some sort so he could follow human hours and keep pace with Chassidy. Now he didn't feel so stupid for asking for it. Don had sure looked at him like he was. Like he knew what Mikey was doing. How could he, though? Not even he knew what he was doing.
"Work? Work!" And a flurry of noise followed. Mikey backed up into the light of the living room and waited for Chassidy to join him.
"So, I took care of Stone." Michealangelo called to her from his perch on the back of the sofa.
There was a large silence and slowly Chassidy came into the light of the candles in the living room, her face very scared. "Took care of Stone how?"
Mikey felt like he'd been slapped in the face. "I didn't kill him! I just hit him a couple of times. I gave him a black eye and broken nose so he knows how it feels for you."
Chassidy shook her head, her eyes looking like she was in the very pits of hell and knew she was never getting out. "That's what I was afraid of. He's going to be furious. He's going to terrorize me at work, follow me around, hound me about you, and every time he sees me he'll give me what you gave him threefold."
Mikey got very still. "No he won't." Why wasn't she happy? Why was she yelling at him for doing something he thought she would appreciate?
"Yes! He will! He's very determined. You don't have a two year relationship with someone and not know how they'll react to things." Chassidy's voice was rising until it was a shriek and she clenched her hands, trying to swallow her moan of despair. "I'm going to have to move. To quit my job and find another one across town. Maybe even leave the state. He's not going to leave me alone. It's not about him thinking he owns me anymore. It's about retaliation and revenge." She was glaring at him, panic making her tremble.
Mikey didn't know what to do. He hadn't thought of it like that; he'd just seen it as taking down another bad guy, only this time the satisfaction was a little sweeter. Not anymore. Now he felt like he'd just ruined Chassidy's life.
"You still going to work?" he asked lamely. She laughed, but she didn't sound like she was happy.
"What do you think? He's probably lying in wait. No, I need to call in and talk to my boss. See if I can be transferred to another gym and if not I'll quit and look for another job. If I tell him about Stone they'll be less likely to hate me for this."
"I'll follow you to the pay phone." Michealangelo offered, and stood up away from the couch. Chassidy shook her head.
"No. I'm too mad at you. Stay here, it's not that far."
Mikey nodded his head, staring glumly at the ground as she stormed out of the den, still shaking like a leaf. He then eased forward and melted in the shadows in her wake, her silent protector. He was going to make sure Stone didn't have the opportunity to damage her any more than he'd already done, whether Chassidy wanted the help or not.
Raphael surveyed his progress. His room was completely bare except for his red cloth and black belt; both sat folded and protected in the furthest corner. Candles flickered on the floor, lighting up the emptiness. Movement and voices echoed in the empty room, bare of anything to absorb the sound. Raphael was tempted to leave the room as it was for a couple of days so the newness of everything fully sunk in.
Except he'd burned the sheets they'd made love on, ripped the mattress to shreds with his sais. He'd given his brothers the candles she'd picked out and gave the homeless shelter all of the clothes he'd accumulated so he could blend in with the crowd while walking beside her.
Raphael took a deep cleansing breath. Maybe he should meditate. Do a little brain cleansing in the empty starkness of the room, maybe even give into the superstitious little voice in his head that demanded a ritual to banish her memory.
He couldn't help the superstitious voice. Splinter had put it there with his Japanese customs and fairy tales. He hadn't meant to – Splinter taught them that they were masters of their environment. They were in control of anything they wished to be. But he still believed in fate, destiny, and the supernatural. It was an oxymoron that he inadvertently passed onto his adopted sons.
And so, feeling ridiculous, but needing the ceremony nonetheless, Raphael sought out his master and father for a little peace of mind.
Leonardo did a double take when he spotted Donatello making his way back to their hiding spot. There was something obstructing the familiar lines of Donny's carapace and as he got closer Leo could make out a bulky lump somehow attached to Donny's front. That and Donny's mask was holding part of the lump against his body.
Leo didn't need to ask, because as soon at Donny was in speaking distance he explained himself.
"I didn't find the roster, but I did find reams and reams of information on their experiments. I only snagged the reports on the experiments, but what I did glance at lead me to believe that this is it, Leo. This is the place our ooze came from. I'm positive."
Donny untied his mask and shifted his belt so he could expose the large, makeshift envelope. Leo glanced at a couple of pages thrust into his hands by Don and felt his heart leap up into his throat, and then fall into his gut.
"See, Leo, this is it! These experiments are what lead up to the creation of the ooze. There was a purpose to the ooze. And that means that there might me more of us." Donny's breath hitched. "We're not alone."
Leo looked up into his brother's face and found such desperate hope, Leo's eyes filled with tears too. Donny had suffered from their creation. Leo was glad to exist, Mikey took it for granted, and Raph hated that because of what they were, they had to remain hidden. But Donny, ever curious, had truly suffered the not knowing.
Leo clapped his brother on the shoulder and willed the tears to dry up before they fell. Donny wiped at the moisture that leaked past his mask, his mouth is a wide grin that wouldn't be wiped away.
"We can go back to Master Splinter now," Donny laughed and Leo smiled, nodding.
"Lets go home."
About five minutes after hanging up with her ex-boss, Chassidy wished she had asked Michelangelo to come up with her. The anger had faded and the paranoia and fear set in.
There were no other gyms within the area for Chassidy to transfer to, and she didn't want to leave the state, despite what she had yelled at her friend earlier.
Chassidy slid down so she was sitting on the ground, her knees bent, arms wrapped around them. What was she supposed to do now? Where was she going to look for work? How was she going to afford food and an apartment if she didn't have any money.
And she didn't have any money at all. Stone had held the strings to her wallet until now. All she was getting was a paycheck for the day she'd worked, and that wasn't going to be more than pocket change. Chassidy rested a cheek on her knees and let herself wallow in the self pity and depression.
Life sucked.
Chassidy violently flinched at the firm tapping on the glass right next to her ear. She whirled around to find Michaelangelo hunched over at her level, looking apologetic.
"You okay?"
"No." Chassidy shook her head and Mikey stood so he could open the door to the phone booth. Chassidy moved so the door didn't hit her, watching him as her heart flopped over in relief. She wanted to reach up and have him pick her up and just hold her. But she didn't. For starters it was weak and she'd promised herself she would be strong from now on, and secondly he might get the wrong impression. She needed a little TLC, and wasn't picky. Look how long she'd put up with Stone.
Mikey held out a hand and Chassidy stared at it. Her heart started to pick up speed as she contemplated it. Then, hesitantly she reached out and put her hand in his. His hand was warm, tough, and strong. The contact, even though it was so minimal, had comfort sliding through her. She felt comfortable holding his hand. And he didn't let go of her hand either. Just shifted his grip and pulled her along to the nearby manhole.