Chapter Twenty Three Unexpected Consequences
The image looking back scared her. She had had some nasty injuries in her life - but this one topped the lot. Sarah stood in front of a full length mirror and assessed the situation. It had only taken her moments to make a decision. April would not know - never know the full extent of her injuries. She would not understand and Sarah could not bear the thought of April's pain.
Sarah had gone through her limited wardrobe and had picked out something that would cover everything. She knew that she would have to be careful to conserve her energy levels. She was already tired from the rapid healing her body had undergone in the last hour and she knew from previous experiences that even now her body was healing itself, though now at a slower rate. She knew the others were waiting and she sighed, reaching for her makeup case.
Sarah finished applying the last of the translucent powder onto her face and stood back and looked at her self in the mirror. She intended on keeping up appearances. Her bruises were now a soft yellow colour and although did not hurt, looked nasty. She was dressed from head to foot in black. The night was mild, though not cold so she had opted for black cotton drill pants with a crew neck long sleeved cotton t-shirt. Her hair was pulled back off her face in a neat praid which reached the base of her spine. Her hand and arm had now been redressed as she had checked them as well as the one on her side. Sarah reached for some pills in her bedside table. Her energy levels had started to plument and she needed something for it. She hesitated as she unscrewed the lid and tilted the bottle into the palm of her hand. She took two and threw them in to her mouth. She stood up straight and took two deep breaths... it was time to face the onslaught, she thought.
Sarah hesitated as she reached for the knob to April's apartment. She half smiled and opened the door and entered the apartment like nothing had happened. She slowly walked into the kitchen where Mikey smiled at her and motioned for her to sit.
"Hungry dudette?" Sarah smiled as she accepted a bowl of steaming soup.
"Yeah famished." She answered as she gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "You're a lifesaver." She noticed Mikey flush a little.
"I kinda figured that you'd like something light." He sat beside her. "How you doin' ?" Sarah could see his eyes soften. She half smiled, patting his hand and answered as honestly as she could.
"Okay... it's not the best week I'm having, but... I'm okay." Her voice had softened and she did the best she could to reassure him. She motioned to her banaged hand. "It's okay, it's not that deep and Andrew patched me up, don't worry, honest." He looked at her and could hear the sincerity in her voice.
"How about I ask ya next week?" A smile formed on Sarah's face and then she remembered the soup in front of her.
"Don't want it to get cold, it looks good."
"... Tastes even better." A female voice added. Sarah looked up as Jesse approached them.
"Where're the boys?"
"They had to go, tho Dan said that they'll be back on time and with the latest they could dig up."
"Good." Sarah paused for a moment as she spooned the steaming liquid into her mouth. "You were right, this is real good."
"Awww, thanks." Mikey stood to take his leave,"I'll leave you guys too it."
"You don't have to go Mikey," Jesse pleaded.
"Naa, it's cool," he waved if off "besides... I gotta pee." Sarah gave a half laugh and watched as he headed into the direction of the bathroom. Jesse leaned in as she had a closer look at Sarah.
"Nice patch up," she commented, then she hesitated as she changed the subject. "They're gonna try and get Donnie's exact location, this could lead to a nasty battle, especially if Donna goes after him."
"Yeah and that's what I'm afraid off."
"I know... me too."
Donna watched from the fire escape in complete darkness. There was a full moon out that night, though it was overcast, providing her with perfect cover as she looked into the room in from of her. Not much was happening as she saw Donnie's brothers speaking amongst themselves and Sarah was having words with Jesse. Donna's eyes moved from Sarah and Jesse back to the bunch of turtles sitting on the other side of the window. So close and yet so far... she was happy that they were no longer alone and she found it interesting that even though she could have the pick of any of them, her choice had already been made. She quickly cast her thoughts aside as Donnie's image filled her senses. She wanted him back... she wanted him safe... she wanted to go and find him... it was then that she felt alone. A tear trickled down her cheek and she wiped it away with the back of her hand. She knew that paitence was a virtue and even though time was not something she had the luxury of, getting herself killed would not help anyone.
Donna forced herself to stay in her current position as her mind processed the events as they happened. She again came to the conclusion to wait. There was nothing she could do at present as she was ill informed. Her emotions for Don were strong and it was killing her that he was in the hands of the ememy. Her training had taught her to be prepared for whatever was thrown at her. She knew that if she waited long enough an opportunity would present itself. Lucky for her, she did not have to wait long. Donna looked up as she sensed someone on the rooftop. She rose and silently headed in the direction of the oncoming presence.
Jesse looked down as her pager went off.
"They're on their way." She stated as she spied Raph heading their way. "Great, here comes trouble," she muttered under her breath. Sarah turned and faced Raph.
"And?" Sarah demanded, rising to her feet, keeping a firm hold of the table to steady herself.
"Down girl!" He spat back.
"What do you want?" Raph raised an eyeridge.
"Will you relax? I ain't gonna jump ya."
"Mark my words," she said coldly, "it won't happen again."
"About that..." his voice trailed, he felt guilty for what had happened and he wanted to apologise though had trouble finding the right words as this was something he rarely did.
Sarah gazed into his eyes. She had seen it a million times, the hesitation, the emotion... if he was anything like her sister, she knew apologies didn't come easy.
"I'm not letting you off that easy. Once this is over, you and I will finish this."
"Is that a threat?"
"No, that's a promise, so you better be on your toes!"
"Good, then I look forward to it." Raph folded his arms.
"Fine, then it's settled." Raph was surprised that the subject had been dealt with so swiftly. If it had been Leo, he would have coped a lecture and the usual eye rolling thing that he did when he was frustrated. He watched as Sarah reached for the bowl and picked it up heading in the direction of the others. He also noticed how she tried to hide the pain, leaning sightly to her good side as she walked. He knew her injury was serious, the only thing he couldn't work out was why she was so determined. He saw straight through the crap she laid on Leo about getting even - he knew that there was more to it than that. He knew this because he saw a lot of Sarah in himself.
Sarah slowly made her way to the other two turtles, who were seated opposite Casey and April, who looked up as she approached.
"So, what did I miss?"
"Hey, did you hear that?" Josh scanned the rooftop. Maybe they had been followed, if that was the case, things would get out of control. Dan held up his hand and both of them went into a squat.
Dan finally rose once he was confident that they were alone.
"Nah, it's just some kids in the alley. We were careful not to be seen. Relax a little will you!" Dan took a few steps away from Josh before he grabbed hold of his hand and pulled him back. The two were now facing each other.
"How can I do that? If they find out what we're doing, we're dead! You realise that... right?"
"I don't think so, it's in their best interests to eliminate the opposition, besides, how do you think we got such accurate intel?" Josh double blinked as he took in what was just said.
"Please don't tell me you betrayed us!"
"No, of course not!" He stated flatly and Josh let out a sigh of relief. "Maki authorised 'any means neccessary'. This way everyone wins and the Foot won't be implicated."
"Still, I don't like where this is going." Josh looked around cautiously, as if they were being watched.
"I'm not about to backstab Sarah, not now or ever! So get over it!" Dan paused for a moment. He had to stay in the Foot's good books. It was vital for their research. " The more stable things are with the Foot, the easier it will be for us to access those scrolls before they permanently get moved to a more 'secure' location. Do you get my drift?" Josh watched as Dan turned and headed to the other side of the roof. He knew what Josh had said was right. They had accidently stumbled across something big and they knew that Sarah was right in the middle of it. Dan hurried to catch up to his half brother.
"Geez men! You really do have a hidden agenda don't ya?"
"And that's why I'm squad leader... now fill me in on the smaller details."
Sarah popped a few more pankillers into her mouth and took a gulp of water. Her body ached and her side was throbbing like hell. Her legs felt like dead weights as too her arms. Her hand was healing well and she knew it would only take a few days. The wound wasn't deep, though would leave a nasty scar. Sarah took a few deep breaths to clear her head before turning and heading back to the others. She hesitated briefly. This was for Donnie she remind herself, as an after thought she added and for myself. Those bastards will pay for what they did! She put on her happy face and continued on her way where the others were waiting.
Sarah had looked at the faces in the room in front of her. Again, she avoided direct contact with Kyle. Josh was no longer with them as he had been paged and had to leave. With the information that Josh and Dan had received, out of the five known B.D locations, three were suspected locations. It had been decided that they would brake up into three teams: Sarah, Andrew and Casey would be the first, Leo, Mikey and Raph the second and Keno, Kyle and Dan the third. Sarah had stressed to them how important it was to strictly keep this a recon mission. They would stake out the buildings and the immediate surrounding buildings to assess the best routes that they would take once the raids began and how many guards were on duty. They would also look into rooftop and sewer access. They had estimated that the mission would take the better part of the early hours of the morning.
Sarah watched with a heavy heart as the three turtles, who were the first to leave, left the room via the fire escape. She had known all along the whereabouts of Donnie and hated sending them on this wild goose chase. She prayed that they would never find out. She could not take the risk that things would not go to plan, with Donna taking matters into her own hands. She had not seen her sister for many hours and was afraid of her mental condition. She had sensed her presence earlier on, though had been unable to pinpoint her location. Sarah knew that even though the two of them bearly knew each other, they had already formed a special bond. She had seen that there was an unspoken understanding between the two of them.
From the corner of her eye, Sarah noticed that April was approaching her and was surprised when she quickly glanced around the apartment.
"I don't like this," she stated in a whisper, "I don't know what it is, I can't explain it, but something doesn't feel right. Please promise me that you'll be extra careful." Sarah raised an eyebrow, a little surprised to hear this coming from her cousin.
"I will, but we don't expect any trouble, maybe you're just a little anxious?"
"No, it's a little more than that. Just keep your eyes open." Sarah nodded, unsure what to make of it. She may have expected something like this from Splinter, but April?. Sarah raised her hand and gently placed it on April's shoulder.
"I know you're worried and all and I know that this may be hard to hear, but try and get some sleep. You won't be much good to anyone tomorrow if you don't." Sarah did her best to reassure her, "we need you on your toes. When the others come back we'll need you to process the info." April half smiled and nodded in agreeance.
"I doubt that'll happen, but I'll try." April peered at the clock on the kitchen wall. "You better go, it's getting late, the others have already left." Sarah nodded and turned to Casey and Andrew.
"Ready?"
From the moment the three of them got out of the car, things didn't feel right. Sarah couldn't put her finger on it and she noticed Andrew looking uneasy. They turned into an alley that was just opposite the building they were heading for. As they rounded the corner, Sarah paused and looked around, a presence forming itself clearly in her mind. Donna was nearby and she scanned the area. Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard Casey curse over something he had tripped over.
"What the hell is this?" He muttered, picking himself off the floor.
As the three of them walked further in the alley, Sarah's jaw dropped as they came across an area littered with broken bodies.
"Looks like someone's already been here," Andrew commented, stating the obvious.
"No shit sherlock..." Sarah was interrupted as something caught her attention and with both hands she took hold of Casey's top and yanked him back. Something long and shiny missed him by inches and imbedded itself into the ground, swaying to and fro from the vibration. Sarah looked at the object before pulling the sword out of the ground and held it up to the light to get a better look at it. Her heart sunk as her mind started to race. The three of them looked up as the sounds of a battle on the rooftop made itselves known to them.
"We gotta go now!" She hissed through clenched teeth.
"What the hell is going on?" Andrew asked puzzled by Sarah's sudden change in mood.
"My sister is here, I know this because this is mine!" She spat back, motioning to the sword. She cursed under her breath as she rushed past the two men who were exchanging worried glances. How could Jesse get by them? Her injuries were pretty bad. Casey snapped out his daze as it finally registered that Sarah was on the fire escape taking two steps at a time as she headed for the rooftop. Casey snapped his hockey mask down and went after her.
Sarah made it to the top and peered over the ledge onto the rooftop. As the fight was on the other side, she climbed the rest of the ladder and silently jumped the ledge and headed for the shadows. The rooftop was poorly lit and provided them with excellent cover.
She could hear the battle, though from her location was unable to view it. Doing so would give the three of them away... however this was Donna she was talking about. As she moved to get a better view, a hand latched onto her arm and pulled her back.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Casey demanded in a hushed voice.
"What do you reckon?" An annoyed Sarah shot back. "We are talking about my family here, I won't leave her to those creeps!" A moment later they were joined by Andrew.
"What I want to know is, how Jess got passed us in the beginning!" Sarah shook her head.
"It's not Jess," Sarah wasn't sure exactly how to handle this, there had never been any intention for anyone to ever find out... now she needed their help.
"My four younger sisters... well, they are... there was an accident.. um..." the two men appeared puzzled.
"Just spit it out will ya!" Casey was starting to grow impatient.
"Well.." Sarah scratched the back of her head "Shit!... No one's suppose to know.. well actually, Donnie does... I don't even know how the Dragons found out..." she had started to ramble. Casey took a firm hold of both of Sarah's arms and gently shook her, they needed this information now!
"Knows what? C'mon Sarah, just tell us, damn it!" The two men looked at her, annoyed that she was hiding something from them.
"T.G.R.I. went global... then the accident, then the government closed the facility..." Casey's jaw dropped. He knew the turtle's origins, he had been told the story.
"Let me guess, Julie's a rat?"
"No, she was the despatch manager." Andrew seemed a little confused as he was not up to scratch with the turtles history.
"So you mean they're like the guys?" As she was about to answer, the fight had moved their way and the three of them were startled when a figure in a black cloak flew back and hit the the ledge opposite them, a groan escaping from their mouth. The figure then grunted as they flipped back onto their feet and went into a defensive posture, jo out stretched.
Mikey yawned and went back to playing with his yo-yo as there wasn't anything else to do. They had been on the rooftop for hours now...
"I can't believe Sarah sent us here!" Raph complained. "We've been here like two hours and there's been zero action!"
"Just zip it Raph... okay, I don't want to hear it! They said he 'might' be here. We'll wait a little longer and see what happens." Leo was losing his paitence quickly, though kept it together, for Donnie's sake.
"So, do you reckon Sarah's having the same thing?" Leo shrugged.
"Who knows and that's providing that her brothers actually came through for us. Let's hang around for a little longer, get the routes she wants and head home. Seems like a dead end to me. If anything was up, we would have seen something by now." Mikey looked up from what he was doing and grinned.
"Now, that's the best thing you've said all night dude!"
"Where is he?" The female voice demanded. Her attacker grunted before motioning to three standing next to him to attack. Sarah tensed and she felt Casey's grip tighten, holding her back. The three watched in amazement as she defended herself, the jo twirling around her with precise blocks and attacks of her own. She disarmed the three attackers, their bodies slumping to the ground, their weapons skidding on the concrete floor.
"Don't make me ask you again!" She spat out.They watched again as another wave of Dragons went into the attack. The figure held her own, though was visably starting to tire.
"They're toying with her, we must do something!" Sarah whispered to Casey.
"And what will you have us do? If they know we're here, they'll move Donnie!" Casey whispered back.
"Donna..." her voice drowned out as Donna gasped and clutched her arm, the jo falling out of her leather clad fingers and rolled to the ground. It was then, the cloak was brushed aside, revealling the green toned body underneath in the dim lighting. Two shruiken were embedded in her right arm and Donna struggled to stem the flow of blood. Andrew gasped, then quickly covered his mouth, as not to give away their location. Sarah tensed as a swam of Dragons engulfed her. The last thing Sarah saw was one of them raising his arm and striking her sister in the face. Then there was a cloud of smoke, then there was silence...
Sarah felt Casey's grasp lessen so she reached forward and retrieved the sais that had landed at her feet. She leapt to her feet and struck out at anyone that got in her way. When the cloud cleared a few moments later, Sarah stood there, arms outstretched, sais in hand, four dragons on the ground out cold. Her lip was bleeding along with a thin trail of blood from her nose. She fought to catch her breath. Sarah looked around the rooftop unable to believe her eyes. Only moments had passed and Donna had disappeared. She spun the sais between her fingers before placing them in her belt. Her face screwed up in pain as she put her hand to her side. The wound had started to bleed, going straight through the dressing and her clothing, staining her fingers red.
Sarah watched as Casey and Andrew approached her and wiped her bloody nose on the back of her hand. Casey went to put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, only to have it brushed off. Sarah turned her back to him as a lump had started to form in her throat and she fought off tears.
"I'm sorry Sarah," she heard Andrew say. She spun on her feet to face them.
"OH REALLY? I didn't see any of you helping me, now did I!" She limped over to the ledge and with her back to it, slid down the wall, head in hands. Casey walked up to her and crouched to be at eye level with her.
"What am I gonna do Case, she's only thirteen years old! God knows what nasty things they're gonna do to her.." her voice trailed. She knew it was going to bad... if only she had taken the warning she'd received more seriously... if only Donna had listened to her... if only...
"Sarah..." Casey hesitated, then with a finger under Sarah's chin, lightly tilted it so they he could look her in the eye.
"I swear to you Sarah, we'll get her back... some way or another, we'll get her back..." Sarah ran her hand through her hair.
"I dunno Case, I dunno... I'm just so tired..." She gazed at him and with the little light they had, she wasn't looking too good.
"C'mon I think we should get back, there's nothin' more we can do." Sarah looked deep into Casey's eyes and saw something she hadn't seen in herself for a while - focus. Then she knew that he was right, regardless how tired, sore and injured she was. She watched as Casey offered her a helping hand, which she took gratefully. With one mighty pull and a slight gasp from Sarah, he had her standing on her feet.
"You two must promise me something," Sarah's voice quivered as she tried to control her emotions. She turned her gaze to Casey - who was the closest, then to Andrew. "You are not to repeat to anyone what you saw here tonight. No one apart from Jess and Donnie knows and I'd like to keep it that way. Are we agreed?" Sarah waited for a response, though continued a moment later,"It's for their own good the others don't know, not now anyway. This happened because she went after Donnie. Do I have your word?" Casey paused, he didn't like the fact that he would have to decieve the guys like this.
"What if they find out?"
"Then I'll deal with it. I'm asking this out of necessity, not because I want to hurt them. They will find out... I'll tell them... but things need to calm down a little. We can't have them distracted."
"I don't like it," Casey wanted to have his say as this was a very big deal...a miracle. His friends were no longer alone, "but I agree. It won't come from me." Sarah turned to Andrew, who shrugged his shoulders.
"I don't know them well enough... but I agree too. They won't be happy when it does come out though, I know I wouldn't be."
"I know... I know..." Sarah's voice trailed. Things would get ugly when the truth evently came out... that much she knew for sure. She was hoping in time they would all understand. Sarah changed the subject as she once again held her hand to her side as the wound started to sting. "Let's get what we need and go. Best we conserve our energy for tomorrow, heaven knows we'll need it." Casey looked to Andrew and both nodded. Sarah then added,"before that happens, any chance I can get a ride? I gotta get some stuff from storage."
One eye opened as April heard them return. She had tried to get some rest on the couch and found herself unable to sleep.
"So, how'd it go?" She asked as Casey closed the door behind him. April's eyes narrowed. "Where's Sarah?" She demanded in a lowered voice.
"She'll be here soon, went to get some stuff," came the replie as Casey headed into the kitchen to raid the fridge.
"Why? What happened?"
"Nothin'... you know what she's like, she mumbled something and we gave her a ride."
"Casey!" April snapped.
"Okay! Fine! We bumped into some friends of hers."
"What?" April couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Is she alright?"
"She's fine, they didn't see us and we didn't hang around." He closed the door to the fridge, a Bud in hand. He popped the top and took a few gulps.
"It's late and I'm tired. Are the guys back yet?"
"Half hour back," April replied annoyed. "You could have at least helped her."
"She didn't ask and I didn't offer!" April looked over her shoulder at the three figures asleep on the floor in her livingroom and kept her tone down.
"Casey!"
"Not now woman!" Angry that he was brushing her off, April stomped her foot on the ground.
"This isn't over mister!" She turned and stormed off, in the direction of the spiral staircase. Casey ran his hand through his head.
"This had better be good Sarah!" He mumbled under his breath. Truth be told, Sarah had asked him to go ahead without her as she was hoping to sneak in to avoid April's worried stare and the round of questioning she would have gotten from the guys. He agreed to cover for her as he could see her point of view. After what had happened earlier, it was the least he could do for her.
Now heavily limping, Sarah placed her load on the ground as she looked up at the fire escape. Someone had reset it and the ladder was no longer down. As she raised her arms to reach for it, the pain roared to life. Sarah, determined to reach it, tried again, this time the pain ripped through her entire body and it took a few minutes for it to settle as she panted heavily. She sighed, looked like she was going to have to go through the street entrance. She peered around the corner of the alley. Due to the hour, there was no activity and she headed to the front door, pulling out a key from her pocket. The security door closed behind her and Sarah glanced up at the steep stairs. She was not looking forward to it.
She reached for the knob and placed her key into the lock. She dragged the load into the kitchen when she heard someone entering the apartment and turned to see who it was. She relaxed a little when she saw Casey walk in.
"I'm in shit with April because of you!" Casey glared at the pale figure in front of him, her bruises showing through the make up, a blood smear on her upper lip and a darkened patch of clothing on her side.
"Get over it and gimme a hand, will ya?" He looked down at the pile on the floor, then back at her.
"You know you look like shit?" He commented.
"And I love you too!" She shot back. "Look, April will be fine. Let her sleep it off, you'll see." With Casey's help, they lifted the load to the kitchen counter, then last, but not least, she put her katana down. Casey looked from the sword to his friend.
"I'm sorry about what happened tonight, to both you and your sister." Sarah's face grew grim.
"I'd rather not talk about it," she said barely above a whisper as she unpacked the contents of the sack onto the counter. Casey let the subject drop, seeing the pain it caused in her eyes. He watched as Sarah pulled the last thing out of the sack - a bound leather weapons satchel. She unfastened the ties and with both hands shook the satchel. It unrolled revealing an assortment of weapons. Tied in the middle, covered in cloth was something longish and slender. Casey watched as Sarah removed the cloth to reveal twin tanto swords, each scabbard black in colour with a silver dragon etched into the entire length.
"Wow! That's some amazing hardware you've got there!" Casey was amazed at the collection of weaponary Sarah had. Only some of it he recognised from the turtles' training sessions. Sarah placed the two swords to one side then started to re-roll the satchel.
"Before you ask, no, I don't know how to use all of it and I'll show you tomorrow." Casey grinned.
"I like the way you think." Sarah gave him a quick half smile. She loved the fact that with Casey she never had to explain herself with him. Sarah sighed.
"I'm hitting the sack, I'll see you later?" She stated as she opened a cupboard and placed the sack and satchel in there to keep it out of plain sight. She headed to the spiral staircase, taking the two swords with her.
Chapter Twenty Four Up Soon!