Disclaimer: Don't own TMNT or anything associated. Just own Maggie.
Chapter 3: Familiar surroundings
A/N: Here we go. This is the chapter where things really start to get a bit interesting. Well, I guess they do. At everyone gets a better idea of where Raph managed to get off to. Though personally, I'm starting to wonder if I should just let him stay lost. That would certainly save me a lot of headaches when I'm writing.
Maggie: I agree that that would save everyone a lot of headaches, Streetwyse, but you know that you can't just lose him like that. It wouldn't be nice and you wouldn't be able to get any of your other projects done.
*sighs* I know, I know. But a girl can dream can't she? Oh yeah, just so that everyone knows, there is a bit of foul language in this, so if you're offended by that sort of thing, don't read it.
He had been expecting any number of things to happen while they were out tonight. He had thought that they would have to cover a good part of the city in their trek. Maybe even get into places that might lead them into a fight. All of that Casey could and was willing to deal with. But what he knew was about to happen was just too much.
"Don't tell me we have to go there," Casey groaned.
Only a few moments before, he had been across the street in an alley, waiting for Maggie to pick up the scent again. It had been lacking in the last hour or so, as if Raph had been stumbling along instead of just taking a straightforward path. But their luck seemed to have changed when he was sure that Maggie had picked up the scent again at the end of the alley.
The next thing he knew though, she had grabbed his hand and was practically dragging him across the street. Casey was going to ask what she was doing, but never really got the chance. By the time he was able to get his footing and enough breath to ask anything, they were already there. When he saw Maggie pointing excitedly at the manhole she was kneeling towards, that was all he needed to know.
Maggie just glared at him and hissed before climbing down the ladder into the manhole. Within less than a moment, she was completely out of sight. Below, Casey could barely hear the echo the splashing water as Maggie landed in the sewer.
Raph, wherever you are, I swear I am so gonna get you for this, Casey grumbled to himself.
Kneeling down, he began to follow Magnolia's example. He grabbed hold of the ladder and started to make his way down it. Soon, he too was below inside the manhole and below the street level. The nearer to the ground he came, the slower Casey went. He really wasn't looking forward to landing in the sewage below.
Casey wasn't much of a stickler for hygiene like some people. As far as he was concerned, if there wasn't anything important going down, then taking a bath every few days was just fine. After all, why should he waste water when he really didn't see himself as stinking or there was no one else around to complain.
But even he drew the line when it came to drudging around deep inside the sewers like he was about to. There was no telling just what could be crawling around in the muck and grime or what it could do to him. So he tried to avoid traveling around in the grime as much as he could.
The only real exception that he made to this principle was when he was going to the Lair to get Raph so they could go out on a patrol. Then, because he knew a specific route and what he could expect to find along that path, it really didn't make much of a difference to Casey. He would just go without making a fuss.
That wasn't the case as he finally plopped down in the muck where Maggie was waiting for him. This time, Casey made a face of pure disgust as he felt something squishy beneath his boots and the smell of whatever it was wafted up to his nose. In response to the smell, he immediately waved his hand in front of his face while he reached for the flashlight he carried in the bag he carried all his 'weapons' in.
Clicking on the light, he could see the look that Maggie gave in return to his actions. She was standing a little ways off from the ladder, her arms crossed and her foot tapping impatiently. Her expression was clearly translated as 'what could you possibly have to complain about?'.
"What do you expect me to do, kid? This place stinks," Casey snorted, continuing to wave his free hand in front of his face.
Maggie just rolled her eyes as she tapped her nose in response to Casey's question. He almost blushed when he realized what the girl was telling him. She knew that he didn't like the smell of the sewer, but she was telling him that he had no reason to complain. After all, Maggie was the one with the sensitive nose, Casey was not as far as she was concerned.
"Yeah, right. Forgot about that beak of yours," Casey replied.
Again, Maggie just rolled her eyes at Casey's words. She was finding it harder and harder to control her disbelief at how stupid this man could be when it came to dealing with nonhumans like herself, especially after he had spent so much time with her brothers. And that was what got Maggie so much. Being with Raphael so much should have taught Casey that being nonhuman meant that someone could have abilities that were beyond human senses. Her sense of smell was one of these abilities.
At the same time, Maggie tried to force herself to remember that just because someone seemed dense on certain topics, it wasn't any reason to think they were completely hopeless. Being a little dense just happened to be Casey's personality and as Splinter had often told her that like mutants, humans had many different personalities. Some were calmer than others, like himself and Leonardo, while others were wild and hotheaded, like Mike and Raph. Casey was, of course, fit in the hotheaded category.
Eventually deciding that she really didn't have time for such things, Maggie pushed these thoughts from her mind. Instead, she focused her attention on keeping track of the scent that had led them down here. That was what really mattered at the moment, not figuring out how much of a dork someone was.
Waving a hand to Casey to follow her, Maggie set off again. The human followed in suit, though he was still muttering to himself about the stink. Maggie ignored him for the most part and kept her own mind set on finding Raphael's scent again. Soon, they were walking deeper into the sewers and eventually, both fell into a silence as Maggie led the way.
How long they had been going, it was uncertain. But before too long, Maggie soon found herself catching Casey looking around him nervously. She didn't understand why at first. After a bit, she began to think that maybe he was looking for signs of Raph or maybe possible trouble. But that idea left her almost as soon as it came to her.
She was the one who was leading the way towards Raph and she could already tell that except for his scent, there was no trace of her brother down this way. And there were certainly no signs of trouble, as she neither heard nor smelled anything out of the ordinary. So that meant that Casey was getting nervous over something that she didn't know about.
It's almost like he's scared of something, Maggie thought to herself.
That triggered in an old memory in her that would have remained buried had it not been for that particular thought. It had happened when Donatello had mentioned it to her once when Casey came to visit their new lair. He had told her that being in such enclosed quarters always made Casey nervous if he stayed there for too long. That was why whenever he came over to visit them, he just got whatever he came for, usually Raph for one of their patrols, and then left as quickly as he could.
Don said that a lot of people are like that. They're claustrophobic, so keep away from small spaces if they can, Maggie thought.
To a certain degree, Maggie could sympathize with Casey's claustrophobia. After all, even when they tried to hide it from everyone else, deep down inside, everyone in the world was afraid of something. These fears didn't always make sense to others, but there was usually a reasoning behind them that was sound to the one whom it was rooted in. She herself was extremely nervous around certain loud noises like gunfire and explosives, which could easily send her running for cover if she heard them without warning or too closely.
It had been that way since she was young and it was a fact that Maggie wasn't afraid to admit to. She knew that no one was immune to fear. To say such a thing would just be unsound in both logic and reality, as well as just plain stupid. After all, fear had its place in the world just like any other emotion.
Fear was something that could help to program certain things into the mind. It told someone when to run from danger, that there might be a problem lurking nearby, or just to keep a person from believing that they were invincible to all the hazards of the world. Despite this, some people, as Maggie was guessing Casey was now, just didn't want to admit to such things. In their minds, fear made them weak and so open to an attack from others.
Which was more than just a bit silly in Maggie's opinion. It wasn't fear that made someone weak. It was not being able to admit that fear to oneself and others that made a person weak. To believe that a fear could be buried under layers and layers of denial and to be unknown to everyone else except for one usually did more harm than anything else.
At least that was what Splinter had taught Maggie, which was where her own opinion partially sprang from. He had taught all his students that one must understand fear and not run from it. They should face it head on and use that to help accept whatever they were afraid of.
Which was what Magnolia did. Maggie knew that she would never completely get over her fear of loud noises. That was just a fact of life that couldn't be denied. But she constantly worked at steadying against the shock of hearing them so she would be able to deal with them when the time came.
From watching Casey, she knew that he hadn't taken the same steps that she had to overcome her fear. Instead, he was one of those who either denied its existence or just put up with it as if it were nothing to worry about. And that was why he was so jumpy now. He was just a little too caught up in his fear to keep a straight head for long, even if never really did such a thing to begin with.
Shaking her head, Maggie finally just pushed the thought of Casey's fears and how he dealt with them out of her mind. Instead, she just kept her eyes forward and concentrated on getting them down the right path. Right now, she had was steering them down a tunnel to the right, followed by one to the left and then right again.
The further they went however, the more familiar things were beginning to seem to Magnolia. At first, she wasn't quite sure why. For a little while, she thought it might have just been a place she had passed through once. After all, when one lives underground their entire life, they're bound to travel through the tunnels of the nether regions at least once in their life.
Yet somehow, that idea didn't really settle too well with Magnolia. Surely it was a good possibility, considering all the time she had spent exploring the sewers in her life. But there was just something about this area that was so familiar to her that it was almost like home.
And that was when everything fell into place. When she realized it, Maggie couldn't help but feel extremely stupid for not having noticed it before. This wasn't just another stretch of the sewers she happened to have passed through in her younger years. This was the area near where her family's original home had been. This was the place where she had spent her childhood playing with her brothers and helping Splinter to bring in supplies.
Excitement grew in her as she realized this and this effected her step enough that soon she was outdistancing a very surprised Casey. He more than a little started when she suddenly dropped to all fours and took off at full speed. In no time, she had actually left the human so far behind that he had lost track of her in the darkness.
"Magnolia!" Casey called as he tried in vain to keep up," Hey kid! Wait for me!"
He had taken off after her as soon as he saw her running on all fours. From what Raph had told him, that was when Maggie either wanted to escape from something or wanted to reach something important. Since he hadn't heard any kind of warning hiss from the cat girl or heard something for himself, Casey knew that they weren't in any trouble. So that meant that Maggie was in a major hurry to reach somewhere.
When he lost sight of her, Casey continued to run in the hopes that he might be able to find her. It might not have been the brightest of ideas, seeing as how he could just as easily get himself lost as finding his companion. But it was really the only idea that he had and was what he went with.
Ah, come on. Where are you? Casey thought as he came to stop at an intersection.
He shone his flashlight down each of the tunnels that surrounded him. He sure that he had seen Maggie run down one of them just a second before. It was just which one exactly that he wasn't certain of.
Great, just great. First I lose Raph and now I lose his kid sister in a sewer. What else is gonna happen? Casey grumbled silently.
He was about to go down one of the tunnels when he heard a small splash from behind him. Spinning around, his hockey stick already out and ready to start bashing in heads, he shone his flashlight towards where he had heard the splash. To his surprise, there was nothing but the same darkness he had been stuck in ahead.
"What the.AHHHH!" Casey yelped when something knocked his hockey stick out of his hand.
With no other weapon ready, Casey again turned his flashlight towards whatever had attacked him. What he found brought a sigh of relief and frustration from him. For standing there in the light, reaching for Casey's fallen hockey stick, was none other than Magnolia.
In the light, her fawn colored eyes glowed with an unsettling light that briefly reminded him of other cats. She seemed unfazed by his outburst, only holding up his hockey stick to him. The innocent seeming look that she was giving him actually made it hard for Casey to resist the urge to start yelling at her for running off and then scaring him like that.
"Give me a heart attack why don't ya?" Casey panted as he snatched back his hockey stick.
Maggie ignored his question and instead made a grab for his arm. She started tugging on it, trying to get Casey to follow after her. To be honest, this just caught the human off guard yet again. Here he was, ready to give Maggie a piece of his mind and she was trying to get him to follow her again.
Damn, what is it with this kid? First she's trying to scare the shit out of me and not acting like anything's wrong. Then, she's tryin' to get me to come after her again, Casey thought, remaining firmly rooted to where he was.
What Casey didn't know was that either by a stroke of luck or by the hand of fate, as Maggie had run closer towards her old home, she realized that Raph's scent was leading in the same direction. She realized after that there was a good chance that Raph had returned to this old haunt and that he might be somewhere nearby. And that realization had sent her running back for Casey in a heartbeat.
Now she just had the problem of getting him to follow her again. Maggie could easily sense that he was upset at her for leaving him behind like that. Perhaps she should have felt a bit repentant about that, but now wasn't the time. Not when she was certain that they were so close to finding her brother.
It was just a little hard for her to express this to her companion. Casey still wasn't exactly sure what Maggie was trying to tell him. He just knew that whatever it was, it was getting her really excited. This was enough that it peaked his interest too, but he was careful about how he reacted himself. There was no telling what Maggie what try to lead him into this time.
He may not have usually used his common sense, but this time, Casey had learned to be wary. He'd already been led down alleys he didn't know existed, dragged into a sewer by a cat-girl and the left behind said feline. Having already gone through that, he wasn't about to just jump at every direction Maggie gave him.
But the girl's insistence seemed so strong and urgent, Casey finally couldn't help himself. He gave into her silent pleadings enough that he was willing to at least take a look.
"All right, all right. I'm comin'," he snorted," But you better not run off like that on me again. Raph would kill me if anythin' happened to ya."
Fine! I won't run off, Maggie said urgently, Just come on. We don't have time to stand around.
Taking her expression as proof as her promise, Casey finally followed after Magnolia when she ushered him towards where she had gone off to. In no time at all, they were standing in a long stretch of tunnel that had no other connections for at least a hundred yards or so in any direction. Why they were here, Casey had no idea.
There was nothing to give him any indication there was something that could help them find Raph. It just looked like another piece of the sewers as far as he was concerned. He was going to ask Maggie just what was so important when she pointed towards one of the walls.
When he pointed his flashlight in the direction Maggie had guided him towards, he was immediately greeted with the sight of an opening in the wall. It was a pipe opening like the others that they had already passed through earlier and had he been alone, Casey might have passed it by. But when he shone his light through the center of the opening, he could see that it didn't continue on as a tunnel like the others.
Instead, it led to a large open area that went onto darkness that reached further than his flashlight beam. In the area where the light did penetrate, Casey was able to make out shadowy shapes of varying sizes. What these might be, he could only guess. Just like he could only guess as to why Maggie had dragged him here. Unless.
"Are you telling me that Raph is somewhere in there?" Casey said.
Yes, yes. He is. His scent leads right in there, Maggie nodded eagerly.
Finally, he was getting the message. Maggie was honestly starting to wonder how she was ever going to tell Casey what she wanted him to know. She thought she might have to do something drastic or messy in order to get her point across. Thankfully, Casey was proving not to be as dense as one might take him for.
"Okay, let's get goin' then!" Casey beamed.
He went passed Maggie and headed for the opening. Maggie followed after him almost immediately. But her step was slightly slower than it had been lately. A strange sense of dread spread over her as she finally entered what had once been her home. The reason for which came when Maggie finally caught sight of everything inside. It was nothing short of a disaster.
It was the first time that Maggie had been back to her family's old home since the fateful night several months before when the Foot had ransacked it. The rest of her family had decided that seeing their home of so many years in such disrepair would be too much for her, as she had been twelve at the time and still just a child, to handle. So they had told her to stay away and they would see to removing everything from the old lair to the new one.
Even though she thought everyone was overreacting, Maggie had done as her father and brothers requested. There had already been too many upsetting events for the family at that point and she didn't want to add one more problem to the list. So she had stayed away, allowing them to handle everything that needed to be done.
Instead, she had stayed at the new lair and helped to clean up there. While she worked there, most of the family's possessions were slowly transferred from the old home to the new one. Unfortunately, not everything had survived the Foot's attack and many things had been broken beyond repair.
These things had been replaced of course. There was no problem in doing that, as people were always throwing out more than enough junk that the family could rebuild and use for themselves. But it was impossible to replace the memories that went with what had been destroyed.
Thoughts of such things actually sent Maggie's mind racing. So quickly, it actually caused her to do something that she normally wouldn't consider at a time like this. Maggie gave into an impulse that came with such strength that for a brief moment, everything else was forgotten.
Maggie was so caught up in her thought that she didn't even hear Casey calling her name. She just kept running to the destination that stuck out in her mind. She reached where she wanted to go in less than half a moment, her eyes and heart focused solely on the doorway that she now stood before.
At one time, a door had once covered the now empty space. That door, one of many that a human might find in their own home, had long since been torn away. Where it was now, there was no clue nor did it matter. All that mattered to Maggie was what lay inside the doorway.
Though it took a little force on her part, Maggie went inside the room. By the time she disappeared inside, Casey managed to catch up with her again. It had taken him a little longer than before because he was grumbling to himself about what a pain certain cats could be.
When he had asked her to help him find Raphael, Casey hadn't been expecting her to be constantly running off like she had been. He thought that she would be staying near him and leading him to where they needed to go. That was how she acted when she was helping her brothers with something. So it was more than a bit annoying to him that she wasn't actin that way for him and kept running off as she did.
The little furball could've at least given me some warning before she ran off like that, Casey grumbled, Raph says she can have a mean streak in her when she's mad at someone. Maybe she's tryin' to get back at me for wakin' her up so early. I guess I better remember that from now on. I also better remember to tell Raph and the guys that we need to get this kid a leash so that she doesn't run off so much.
Still grumbling to himself, Casey finally followed after Maggie. He was already to demand what was going through her head when he had to stop in a hurry to keep from crashing right into the girl. She was standing just beyond the doorway, completely frozen and never noticing when the human's arrival.
Casey watched her with confusion as she stood there. When she had run off again, he had been expecting her to be actually doing something worthwhile, even if it didn't make any sense to him. To have her like this, well, it was just a bit unsettling for Casey Jones.
"Yo kid, what's the deal with runnin' off like that?" Casey asked," I thought you said you weren't gonna run off anymore."
Maggie didn't even turn around to acknowledge him. She just kept staring at the room they stood in. Growing irritated, Casey decided to force her to look at him in order to get an answer. Reaching out, he grabbed her shoulder and turned her around to face him. When he did, he instantly regretted it.
Maggie hadn't resisted when he grabbed her shoulder. She just went along with the motion Casey had instigated. But she looked up at him with a deep sadness in her eyes that disturbed the human greatly.
"Hey, you okay, kid?" Casey asked as he released Maggie.
She just shrugged at his question. Then she turned around again to look at the cluttered room. Casey just watched her for a moment, not really sure what was going on or why Maggie was acting so upset over this room.
"What was this room?" Casey asked uncertainly.
It was my room, Maggie answered almost sadly.
She carefully looked about her, taking in all the details of the damage that had been done to her former quarters. Her old bed, a park bench that had been rebuilt into a more comfortable piece of furniture, had been broken into at least three pieces that lay in a jumbled heap. Next to that, was her old nightstand. This too, had been broken beyond use or recognition, along with many other items that Maggie remembered from the time she had lived in this room.
Beside her, Casey watched his young companion with mounting concern. From the look on her face, he knew that this place had been very special to her. He guessed that it had been her bedroom from the way she had pointed to herself when he asked and the dark look that had spread over her face. Remembering his own childhood and the times he had spent in his room, he knew that this place had been special to her. There were memories that had been made in this place, though completely unknown to him, that were unique and could never be replaced in any way.
For a moment, he was almost tempted to just let her continue to relive whatever memories this place held for her. But he rejected the idea almost immediately afterward. As much as he wanted her to be able to let her newly found grief take its course, they just didn't have the time. They still had to find Raphael and standing there wasn't going to get that done.
"I know it's tough for ya to be back here, kid, but we don't have time right now. We really, really need to find that brother of yours," Casey urged.
Maggie took a few seconds before she responded to his words. Instead, she took one last glance about her, taking in all the details and imprinting them into his mind, and then finally tearing her gaze away. It was hard for her to do so though, as part of her was still too caught up in the rush of memories that came from being here. But another part of her knew that Casey was right.
They had no time to stand here and reminisce over what had once been. Now was the time for them to continue their search. Their target was close, she was sure of it now, and the best thing was to find him and take him back home before things got any worse.
She nodded once to Casey, then turned and practically flew out of the room. The human blinked at her speedy departure, but said nothing. Instead, he just accepted it and followed after his companion.
Casey found Maggie waiting for him just outside in the hallway. She barely seemed to notice his arrival and was instead more focused on keeping control of herself. That actually took a few more seconds than Casey would have expected. But he didn't rush her; he gave her though few seconds despite the urgency of their mission.
By the time Maggie did gain a hold over herself, it was only then that she noticed Casey's presence and couldn't help but blush at being caught acting like this. She hadn't acted this way in front of him before and it was a little embarrassing. Maggie certainly didn't want Casey to think that she couldn't handle herself over something like this.
"Come on, let's find the scent again," her companion replied.
For just a second, Maggie couldn't help but look at Casey in surprise. She almost thought that he might have told her to get a hold of herself and reminded her that now wasn't the time for acting sentimental. Why he didn't, she wasn't sure. But she was grateful for his compassion on the matter nonetheless. So, nodding once, she knelt down and started searching the area again for Raph's scent.
Vigilante Casey Jones just watched her in silence as she did so. He had seen the look of shock in her eyes when he only told her to find the scent again. He kinda knew that she had been expecting him to say something else, like he had before when she became sidetracked, and that it had surprised her when he hadn't. He also knew that she was grateful for his consideration about her reaction to this and that he didn't rush her even when they needed to go. And of which brought an inward smile to the human, despite things, as he had finally gotten something right with this suspicious cat-girl.
Casey might have been a bit dense when it came to females most of the time, seeing as how more than one had either slapped him silly or chased him off for being a jerk. But that didn't mean he was a complete creep. No, there was a bit of sensitivity in Casey's bones and every little while, that sensitivity managed to find its way to the surface when he was around the ladies.
Thankfully, this happened to be one of those times. He knew that Maggie needed just a little bit more time than she had admitted to adjusting to seeing her old home like this. Even if he had urged her to forget it for now so they could move on before, Casey understood that she needed time to collect herself. She wouldn't be of any use to anyone if she wasn't able to control herself.
"So where to now, kid?" Casey asked after a moment.
Raph's scent leads this way, she told him, pointing to a second doorway that lay just down the corridor.
She started off towards that door, with Casey following right behind. Already, Maggie knew which room they were heading to and to be honest, she wasn't that surprised that this was where the scent was leading them. Especially when one considered the significance that this particular room had once held in her family.
Many years before, the room that the pair now headed for had once housed Magnolia's four brothers. From the time they were mere infants, they had lived together in that bedroom. There, they had grown from infancy into boyhood, learning the lessons of life and sharing the secrets that came from the bonds of brotherhood.
Magnolia remembered those times, for as a child, she had sometimes gone into her brothers' room when she was scared or she felt something was wrong with one of them. It had been among the happier times of her young life and something that she had treasured. But that was all beside the point now. Now what mattered was what she knew almost for certain what would be waiting for them in that room.
The pair reached the entrance to the room soon enough. Neither Maggie nor Casey was able to see what condition the room was in, as the entrance was blocked off by a door constructed of old, cracked boards that had been nailed together and set on hinges against the wall. The door was slightly ajar, though if it had been that way for awhile or if someone had opened it recently, neither of the companions were certain.
"Just another room, kid?" Casey asked.
Maggie nodded.
"Anything to worry about before we go in?" he continued.
At this point, Casey was starting to see a little bit of the advantages to trusting in Maggie's instincts. Though he wasn't too certain about how she handled things, Casey knew that she had gotten them this far without any major problems. Well, if one didn't count her constantly running off and then scaring someone witless. But besides that, there was enough leftover to cause him to put at least a little faith in Magnolia for a bit longer.
He had no idea that the cat-girl was thinking the exact same thing about him at the same instant those thoughts were coming into his mind. Like him, Casey wasn't completely trusting of her companion and she had her doubts about just what he might do. She also knew that in at least some part of Casey's mind, he considered her just a kid, even though he was the one who had asked her for help.
Still, it was nice that he asked her what they should expect instead of rushing into the room without thinking like he normally did. To her, it meant that there might just be some hope for the human yet. Hopefully, it was a change, however minor, that might actually stick around for more than just this single instance.
Well, no sense in making him waste that faith. Holding her hand up for Casey to wait for a moment, Maggie put her senses on full. Her ears strained forward, attempting to catch any sound from within the room. At first, there was nothing that could confirm the scent that she had followed. That changed when she finally heard something a few seconds later.
It was a muttering of incoherent babble that was barely even audible. Casey heard it too, but to him, it was very faint and hard to make out. Though Maggie could not understand it anymore than her human companion she was still able to hear it more clearly. She also knew exactly who was speaking in the muttering voice.
Thank goodness, at least he's here and not in trouble, Maggie thought gratefully, Just please let him be okay.
A/N: Okay, there ya go. The end of one chapter and leaving the opening for another. I hope that everyone enjoyed this. It's one of my more melancholy chapters when compared to the others, but it was still kinda fun giving clues to where Raph managed to drag himself.
Maggie: But you said that everyone would find out where Raph went for certain in this chapter, Streetwyse. You really didn't do that. You just told how much I think Casey is a dork and gave a general idea of who might be in that room.
Duh. I know that I did that. It's called a cliffhanger, even if it is minor, and I did it for a reason. I want to leave something for the next chapter.
Maggie: Whatever, Streetwyse. Just don't blame me if some of the readers don't think you make any sense because of this 'cliffhanger'.
Just like they might find it a little confusing that you're talking to me without using sign language like you usually do?
Maggie: *shrugs* That's only for when I'm in one of your stories. We both know that when I'm not around everyone but you, I talk like anyone else. Makes things a little more interesting if I keep it that way.
Uh, yeah.Whatever you say, Maggie. -.-;
Chapter 3: Familiar surroundings
A/N: Here we go. This is the chapter where things really start to get a bit interesting. Well, I guess they do. At everyone gets a better idea of where Raph managed to get off to. Though personally, I'm starting to wonder if I should just let him stay lost. That would certainly save me a lot of headaches when I'm writing.
Maggie: I agree that that would save everyone a lot of headaches, Streetwyse, but you know that you can't just lose him like that. It wouldn't be nice and you wouldn't be able to get any of your other projects done.
*sighs* I know, I know. But a girl can dream can't she? Oh yeah, just so that everyone knows, there is a bit of foul language in this, so if you're offended by that sort of thing, don't read it.
He had been expecting any number of things to happen while they were out tonight. He had thought that they would have to cover a good part of the city in their trek. Maybe even get into places that might lead them into a fight. All of that Casey could and was willing to deal with. But what he knew was about to happen was just too much.
"Don't tell me we have to go there," Casey groaned.
Only a few moments before, he had been across the street in an alley, waiting for Maggie to pick up the scent again. It had been lacking in the last hour or so, as if Raph had been stumbling along instead of just taking a straightforward path. But their luck seemed to have changed when he was sure that Maggie had picked up the scent again at the end of the alley.
The next thing he knew though, she had grabbed his hand and was practically dragging him across the street. Casey was going to ask what she was doing, but never really got the chance. By the time he was able to get his footing and enough breath to ask anything, they were already there. When he saw Maggie pointing excitedly at the manhole she was kneeling towards, that was all he needed to know.
Maggie just glared at him and hissed before climbing down the ladder into the manhole. Within less than a moment, she was completely out of sight. Below, Casey could barely hear the echo the splashing water as Maggie landed in the sewer.
Raph, wherever you are, I swear I am so gonna get you for this, Casey grumbled to himself.
Kneeling down, he began to follow Magnolia's example. He grabbed hold of the ladder and started to make his way down it. Soon, he too was below inside the manhole and below the street level. The nearer to the ground he came, the slower Casey went. He really wasn't looking forward to landing in the sewage below.
Casey wasn't much of a stickler for hygiene like some people. As far as he was concerned, if there wasn't anything important going down, then taking a bath every few days was just fine. After all, why should he waste water when he really didn't see himself as stinking or there was no one else around to complain.
But even he drew the line when it came to drudging around deep inside the sewers like he was about to. There was no telling just what could be crawling around in the muck and grime or what it could do to him. So he tried to avoid traveling around in the grime as much as he could.
The only real exception that he made to this principle was when he was going to the Lair to get Raph so they could go out on a patrol. Then, because he knew a specific route and what he could expect to find along that path, it really didn't make much of a difference to Casey. He would just go without making a fuss.
That wasn't the case as he finally plopped down in the muck where Maggie was waiting for him. This time, Casey made a face of pure disgust as he felt something squishy beneath his boots and the smell of whatever it was wafted up to his nose. In response to the smell, he immediately waved his hand in front of his face while he reached for the flashlight he carried in the bag he carried all his 'weapons' in.
Clicking on the light, he could see the look that Maggie gave in return to his actions. She was standing a little ways off from the ladder, her arms crossed and her foot tapping impatiently. Her expression was clearly translated as 'what could you possibly have to complain about?'.
"What do you expect me to do, kid? This place stinks," Casey snorted, continuing to wave his free hand in front of his face.
Maggie just rolled her eyes as she tapped her nose in response to Casey's question. He almost blushed when he realized what the girl was telling him. She knew that he didn't like the smell of the sewer, but she was telling him that he had no reason to complain. After all, Maggie was the one with the sensitive nose, Casey was not as far as she was concerned.
"Yeah, right. Forgot about that beak of yours," Casey replied.
Again, Maggie just rolled her eyes at Casey's words. She was finding it harder and harder to control her disbelief at how stupid this man could be when it came to dealing with nonhumans like herself, especially after he had spent so much time with her brothers. And that was what got Maggie so much. Being with Raphael so much should have taught Casey that being nonhuman meant that someone could have abilities that were beyond human senses. Her sense of smell was one of these abilities.
At the same time, Maggie tried to force herself to remember that just because someone seemed dense on certain topics, it wasn't any reason to think they were completely hopeless. Being a little dense just happened to be Casey's personality and as Splinter had often told her that like mutants, humans had many different personalities. Some were calmer than others, like himself and Leonardo, while others were wild and hotheaded, like Mike and Raph. Casey was, of course, fit in the hotheaded category.
Eventually deciding that she really didn't have time for such things, Maggie pushed these thoughts from her mind. Instead, she focused her attention on keeping track of the scent that had led them down here. That was what really mattered at the moment, not figuring out how much of a dork someone was.
Waving a hand to Casey to follow her, Maggie set off again. The human followed in suit, though he was still muttering to himself about the stink. Maggie ignored him for the most part and kept her own mind set on finding Raphael's scent again. Soon, they were walking deeper into the sewers and eventually, both fell into a silence as Maggie led the way.
How long they had been going, it was uncertain. But before too long, Maggie soon found herself catching Casey looking around him nervously. She didn't understand why at first. After a bit, she began to think that maybe he was looking for signs of Raph or maybe possible trouble. But that idea left her almost as soon as it came to her.
She was the one who was leading the way towards Raph and she could already tell that except for his scent, there was no trace of her brother down this way. And there were certainly no signs of trouble, as she neither heard nor smelled anything out of the ordinary. So that meant that Casey was getting nervous over something that she didn't know about.
It's almost like he's scared of something, Maggie thought to herself.
That triggered in an old memory in her that would have remained buried had it not been for that particular thought. It had happened when Donatello had mentioned it to her once when Casey came to visit their new lair. He had told her that being in such enclosed quarters always made Casey nervous if he stayed there for too long. That was why whenever he came over to visit them, he just got whatever he came for, usually Raph for one of their patrols, and then left as quickly as he could.
Don said that a lot of people are like that. They're claustrophobic, so keep away from small spaces if they can, Maggie thought.
To a certain degree, Maggie could sympathize with Casey's claustrophobia. After all, even when they tried to hide it from everyone else, deep down inside, everyone in the world was afraid of something. These fears didn't always make sense to others, but there was usually a reasoning behind them that was sound to the one whom it was rooted in. She herself was extremely nervous around certain loud noises like gunfire and explosives, which could easily send her running for cover if she heard them without warning or too closely.
It had been that way since she was young and it was a fact that Maggie wasn't afraid to admit to. She knew that no one was immune to fear. To say such a thing would just be unsound in both logic and reality, as well as just plain stupid. After all, fear had its place in the world just like any other emotion.
Fear was something that could help to program certain things into the mind. It told someone when to run from danger, that there might be a problem lurking nearby, or just to keep a person from believing that they were invincible to all the hazards of the world. Despite this, some people, as Maggie was guessing Casey was now, just didn't want to admit to such things. In their minds, fear made them weak and so open to an attack from others.
Which was more than just a bit silly in Maggie's opinion. It wasn't fear that made someone weak. It was not being able to admit that fear to oneself and others that made a person weak. To believe that a fear could be buried under layers and layers of denial and to be unknown to everyone else except for one usually did more harm than anything else.
At least that was what Splinter had taught Maggie, which was where her own opinion partially sprang from. He had taught all his students that one must understand fear and not run from it. They should face it head on and use that to help accept whatever they were afraid of.
Which was what Magnolia did. Maggie knew that she would never completely get over her fear of loud noises. That was just a fact of life that couldn't be denied. But she constantly worked at steadying against the shock of hearing them so she would be able to deal with them when the time came.
From watching Casey, she knew that he hadn't taken the same steps that she had to overcome her fear. Instead, he was one of those who either denied its existence or just put up with it as if it were nothing to worry about. And that was why he was so jumpy now. He was just a little too caught up in his fear to keep a straight head for long, even if never really did such a thing to begin with.
Shaking her head, Maggie finally just pushed the thought of Casey's fears and how he dealt with them out of her mind. Instead, she just kept her eyes forward and concentrated on getting them down the right path. Right now, she had was steering them down a tunnel to the right, followed by one to the left and then right again.
The further they went however, the more familiar things were beginning to seem to Magnolia. At first, she wasn't quite sure why. For a little while, she thought it might have just been a place she had passed through once. After all, when one lives underground their entire life, they're bound to travel through the tunnels of the nether regions at least once in their life.
Yet somehow, that idea didn't really settle too well with Magnolia. Surely it was a good possibility, considering all the time she had spent exploring the sewers in her life. But there was just something about this area that was so familiar to her that it was almost like home.
And that was when everything fell into place. When she realized it, Maggie couldn't help but feel extremely stupid for not having noticed it before. This wasn't just another stretch of the sewers she happened to have passed through in her younger years. This was the area near where her family's original home had been. This was the place where she had spent her childhood playing with her brothers and helping Splinter to bring in supplies.
Excitement grew in her as she realized this and this effected her step enough that soon she was outdistancing a very surprised Casey. He more than a little started when she suddenly dropped to all fours and took off at full speed. In no time, she had actually left the human so far behind that he had lost track of her in the darkness.
"Magnolia!" Casey called as he tried in vain to keep up," Hey kid! Wait for me!"
He had taken off after her as soon as he saw her running on all fours. From what Raph had told him, that was when Maggie either wanted to escape from something or wanted to reach something important. Since he hadn't heard any kind of warning hiss from the cat girl or heard something for himself, Casey knew that they weren't in any trouble. So that meant that Maggie was in a major hurry to reach somewhere.
When he lost sight of her, Casey continued to run in the hopes that he might be able to find her. It might not have been the brightest of ideas, seeing as how he could just as easily get himself lost as finding his companion. But it was really the only idea that he had and was what he went with.
Ah, come on. Where are you? Casey thought as he came to stop at an intersection.
He shone his flashlight down each of the tunnels that surrounded him. He sure that he had seen Maggie run down one of them just a second before. It was just which one exactly that he wasn't certain of.
Great, just great. First I lose Raph and now I lose his kid sister in a sewer. What else is gonna happen? Casey grumbled silently.
He was about to go down one of the tunnels when he heard a small splash from behind him. Spinning around, his hockey stick already out and ready to start bashing in heads, he shone his flashlight towards where he had heard the splash. To his surprise, there was nothing but the same darkness he had been stuck in ahead.
"What the.AHHHH!" Casey yelped when something knocked his hockey stick out of his hand.
With no other weapon ready, Casey again turned his flashlight towards whatever had attacked him. What he found brought a sigh of relief and frustration from him. For standing there in the light, reaching for Casey's fallen hockey stick, was none other than Magnolia.
In the light, her fawn colored eyes glowed with an unsettling light that briefly reminded him of other cats. She seemed unfazed by his outburst, only holding up his hockey stick to him. The innocent seeming look that she was giving him actually made it hard for Casey to resist the urge to start yelling at her for running off and then scaring him like that.
"Give me a heart attack why don't ya?" Casey panted as he snatched back his hockey stick.
Maggie ignored his question and instead made a grab for his arm. She started tugging on it, trying to get Casey to follow after her. To be honest, this just caught the human off guard yet again. Here he was, ready to give Maggie a piece of his mind and she was trying to get him to follow her again.
Damn, what is it with this kid? First she's trying to scare the shit out of me and not acting like anything's wrong. Then, she's tryin' to get me to come after her again, Casey thought, remaining firmly rooted to where he was.
What Casey didn't know was that either by a stroke of luck or by the hand of fate, as Maggie had run closer towards her old home, she realized that Raph's scent was leading in the same direction. She realized after that there was a good chance that Raph had returned to this old haunt and that he might be somewhere nearby. And that realization had sent her running back for Casey in a heartbeat.
Now she just had the problem of getting him to follow her again. Maggie could easily sense that he was upset at her for leaving him behind like that. Perhaps she should have felt a bit repentant about that, but now wasn't the time. Not when she was certain that they were so close to finding her brother.
It was just a little hard for her to express this to her companion. Casey still wasn't exactly sure what Maggie was trying to tell him. He just knew that whatever it was, it was getting her really excited. This was enough that it peaked his interest too, but he was careful about how he reacted himself. There was no telling what Maggie what try to lead him into this time.
He may not have usually used his common sense, but this time, Casey had learned to be wary. He'd already been led down alleys he didn't know existed, dragged into a sewer by a cat-girl and the left behind said feline. Having already gone through that, he wasn't about to just jump at every direction Maggie gave him.
But the girl's insistence seemed so strong and urgent, Casey finally couldn't help himself. He gave into her silent pleadings enough that he was willing to at least take a look.
"All right, all right. I'm comin'," he snorted," But you better not run off like that on me again. Raph would kill me if anythin' happened to ya."
Fine! I won't run off, Maggie said urgently, Just come on. We don't have time to stand around.
Taking her expression as proof as her promise, Casey finally followed after Magnolia when she ushered him towards where she had gone off to. In no time at all, they were standing in a long stretch of tunnel that had no other connections for at least a hundred yards or so in any direction. Why they were here, Casey had no idea.
There was nothing to give him any indication there was something that could help them find Raph. It just looked like another piece of the sewers as far as he was concerned. He was going to ask Maggie just what was so important when she pointed towards one of the walls.
When he pointed his flashlight in the direction Maggie had guided him towards, he was immediately greeted with the sight of an opening in the wall. It was a pipe opening like the others that they had already passed through earlier and had he been alone, Casey might have passed it by. But when he shone his light through the center of the opening, he could see that it didn't continue on as a tunnel like the others.
Instead, it led to a large open area that went onto darkness that reached further than his flashlight beam. In the area where the light did penetrate, Casey was able to make out shadowy shapes of varying sizes. What these might be, he could only guess. Just like he could only guess as to why Maggie had dragged him here. Unless.
"Are you telling me that Raph is somewhere in there?" Casey said.
Yes, yes. He is. His scent leads right in there, Maggie nodded eagerly.
Finally, he was getting the message. Maggie was honestly starting to wonder how she was ever going to tell Casey what she wanted him to know. She thought she might have to do something drastic or messy in order to get her point across. Thankfully, Casey was proving not to be as dense as one might take him for.
"Okay, let's get goin' then!" Casey beamed.
He went passed Maggie and headed for the opening. Maggie followed after him almost immediately. But her step was slightly slower than it had been lately. A strange sense of dread spread over her as she finally entered what had once been her home. The reason for which came when Maggie finally caught sight of everything inside. It was nothing short of a disaster.
It was the first time that Maggie had been back to her family's old home since the fateful night several months before when the Foot had ransacked it. The rest of her family had decided that seeing their home of so many years in such disrepair would be too much for her, as she had been twelve at the time and still just a child, to handle. So they had told her to stay away and they would see to removing everything from the old lair to the new one.
Even though she thought everyone was overreacting, Maggie had done as her father and brothers requested. There had already been too many upsetting events for the family at that point and she didn't want to add one more problem to the list. So she had stayed away, allowing them to handle everything that needed to be done.
Instead, she had stayed at the new lair and helped to clean up there. While she worked there, most of the family's possessions were slowly transferred from the old home to the new one. Unfortunately, not everything had survived the Foot's attack and many things had been broken beyond repair.
These things had been replaced of course. There was no problem in doing that, as people were always throwing out more than enough junk that the family could rebuild and use for themselves. But it was impossible to replace the memories that went with what had been destroyed.
Thoughts of such things actually sent Maggie's mind racing. So quickly, it actually caused her to do something that she normally wouldn't consider at a time like this. Maggie gave into an impulse that came with such strength that for a brief moment, everything else was forgotten.
Maggie was so caught up in her thought that she didn't even hear Casey calling her name. She just kept running to the destination that stuck out in her mind. She reached where she wanted to go in less than half a moment, her eyes and heart focused solely on the doorway that she now stood before.
At one time, a door had once covered the now empty space. That door, one of many that a human might find in their own home, had long since been torn away. Where it was now, there was no clue nor did it matter. All that mattered to Maggie was what lay inside the doorway.
Though it took a little force on her part, Maggie went inside the room. By the time she disappeared inside, Casey managed to catch up with her again. It had taken him a little longer than before because he was grumbling to himself about what a pain certain cats could be.
When he had asked her to help him find Raphael, Casey hadn't been expecting her to be constantly running off like she had been. He thought that she would be staying near him and leading him to where they needed to go. That was how she acted when she was helping her brothers with something. So it was more than a bit annoying to him that she wasn't actin that way for him and kept running off as she did.
The little furball could've at least given me some warning before she ran off like that, Casey grumbled, Raph says she can have a mean streak in her when she's mad at someone. Maybe she's tryin' to get back at me for wakin' her up so early. I guess I better remember that from now on. I also better remember to tell Raph and the guys that we need to get this kid a leash so that she doesn't run off so much.
Still grumbling to himself, Casey finally followed after Maggie. He was already to demand what was going through her head when he had to stop in a hurry to keep from crashing right into the girl. She was standing just beyond the doorway, completely frozen and never noticing when the human's arrival.
Casey watched her with confusion as she stood there. When she had run off again, he had been expecting her to be actually doing something worthwhile, even if it didn't make any sense to him. To have her like this, well, it was just a bit unsettling for Casey Jones.
"Yo kid, what's the deal with runnin' off like that?" Casey asked," I thought you said you weren't gonna run off anymore."
Maggie didn't even turn around to acknowledge him. She just kept staring at the room they stood in. Growing irritated, Casey decided to force her to look at him in order to get an answer. Reaching out, he grabbed her shoulder and turned her around to face him. When he did, he instantly regretted it.
Maggie hadn't resisted when he grabbed her shoulder. She just went along with the motion Casey had instigated. But she looked up at him with a deep sadness in her eyes that disturbed the human greatly.
"Hey, you okay, kid?" Casey asked as he released Maggie.
She just shrugged at his question. Then she turned around again to look at the cluttered room. Casey just watched her for a moment, not really sure what was going on or why Maggie was acting so upset over this room.
"What was this room?" Casey asked uncertainly.
It was my room, Maggie answered almost sadly.
She carefully looked about her, taking in all the details of the damage that had been done to her former quarters. Her old bed, a park bench that had been rebuilt into a more comfortable piece of furniture, had been broken into at least three pieces that lay in a jumbled heap. Next to that, was her old nightstand. This too, had been broken beyond use or recognition, along with many other items that Maggie remembered from the time she had lived in this room.
Beside her, Casey watched his young companion with mounting concern. From the look on her face, he knew that this place had been very special to her. He guessed that it had been her bedroom from the way she had pointed to herself when he asked and the dark look that had spread over her face. Remembering his own childhood and the times he had spent in his room, he knew that this place had been special to her. There were memories that had been made in this place, though completely unknown to him, that were unique and could never be replaced in any way.
For a moment, he was almost tempted to just let her continue to relive whatever memories this place held for her. But he rejected the idea almost immediately afterward. As much as he wanted her to be able to let her newly found grief take its course, they just didn't have the time. They still had to find Raphael and standing there wasn't going to get that done.
"I know it's tough for ya to be back here, kid, but we don't have time right now. We really, really need to find that brother of yours," Casey urged.
Maggie took a few seconds before she responded to his words. Instead, she took one last glance about her, taking in all the details and imprinting them into his mind, and then finally tearing her gaze away. It was hard for her to do so though, as part of her was still too caught up in the rush of memories that came from being here. But another part of her knew that Casey was right.
They had no time to stand here and reminisce over what had once been. Now was the time for them to continue their search. Their target was close, she was sure of it now, and the best thing was to find him and take him back home before things got any worse.
She nodded once to Casey, then turned and practically flew out of the room. The human blinked at her speedy departure, but said nothing. Instead, he just accepted it and followed after his companion.
Casey found Maggie waiting for him just outside in the hallway. She barely seemed to notice his arrival and was instead more focused on keeping control of herself. That actually took a few more seconds than Casey would have expected. But he didn't rush her; he gave her though few seconds despite the urgency of their mission.
By the time Maggie did gain a hold over herself, it was only then that she noticed Casey's presence and couldn't help but blush at being caught acting like this. She hadn't acted this way in front of him before and it was a little embarrassing. Maggie certainly didn't want Casey to think that she couldn't handle herself over something like this.
"Come on, let's find the scent again," her companion replied.
For just a second, Maggie couldn't help but look at Casey in surprise. She almost thought that he might have told her to get a hold of herself and reminded her that now wasn't the time for acting sentimental. Why he didn't, she wasn't sure. But she was grateful for his compassion on the matter nonetheless. So, nodding once, she knelt down and started searching the area again for Raph's scent.
Vigilante Casey Jones just watched her in silence as she did so. He had seen the look of shock in her eyes when he only told her to find the scent again. He kinda knew that she had been expecting him to say something else, like he had before when she became sidetracked, and that it had surprised her when he hadn't. He also knew that she was grateful for his consideration about her reaction to this and that he didn't rush her even when they needed to go. And of which brought an inward smile to the human, despite things, as he had finally gotten something right with this suspicious cat-girl.
Casey might have been a bit dense when it came to females most of the time, seeing as how more than one had either slapped him silly or chased him off for being a jerk. But that didn't mean he was a complete creep. No, there was a bit of sensitivity in Casey's bones and every little while, that sensitivity managed to find its way to the surface when he was around the ladies.
Thankfully, this happened to be one of those times. He knew that Maggie needed just a little bit more time than she had admitted to adjusting to seeing her old home like this. Even if he had urged her to forget it for now so they could move on before, Casey understood that she needed time to collect herself. She wouldn't be of any use to anyone if she wasn't able to control herself.
"So where to now, kid?" Casey asked after a moment.
Raph's scent leads this way, she told him, pointing to a second doorway that lay just down the corridor.
She started off towards that door, with Casey following right behind. Already, Maggie knew which room they were heading to and to be honest, she wasn't that surprised that this was where the scent was leading them. Especially when one considered the significance that this particular room had once held in her family.
Many years before, the room that the pair now headed for had once housed Magnolia's four brothers. From the time they were mere infants, they had lived together in that bedroom. There, they had grown from infancy into boyhood, learning the lessons of life and sharing the secrets that came from the bonds of brotherhood.
Magnolia remembered those times, for as a child, she had sometimes gone into her brothers' room when she was scared or she felt something was wrong with one of them. It had been among the happier times of her young life and something that she had treasured. But that was all beside the point now. Now what mattered was what she knew almost for certain what would be waiting for them in that room.
The pair reached the entrance to the room soon enough. Neither Maggie nor Casey was able to see what condition the room was in, as the entrance was blocked off by a door constructed of old, cracked boards that had been nailed together and set on hinges against the wall. The door was slightly ajar, though if it had been that way for awhile or if someone had opened it recently, neither of the companions were certain.
"Just another room, kid?" Casey asked.
Maggie nodded.
"Anything to worry about before we go in?" he continued.
At this point, Casey was starting to see a little bit of the advantages to trusting in Maggie's instincts. Though he wasn't too certain about how she handled things, Casey knew that she had gotten them this far without any major problems. Well, if one didn't count her constantly running off and then scaring someone witless. But besides that, there was enough leftover to cause him to put at least a little faith in Magnolia for a bit longer.
He had no idea that the cat-girl was thinking the exact same thing about him at the same instant those thoughts were coming into his mind. Like him, Casey wasn't completely trusting of her companion and she had her doubts about just what he might do. She also knew that in at least some part of Casey's mind, he considered her just a kid, even though he was the one who had asked her for help.
Still, it was nice that he asked her what they should expect instead of rushing into the room without thinking like he normally did. To her, it meant that there might just be some hope for the human yet. Hopefully, it was a change, however minor, that might actually stick around for more than just this single instance.
Well, no sense in making him waste that faith. Holding her hand up for Casey to wait for a moment, Maggie put her senses on full. Her ears strained forward, attempting to catch any sound from within the room. At first, there was nothing that could confirm the scent that she had followed. That changed when she finally heard something a few seconds later.
It was a muttering of incoherent babble that was barely even audible. Casey heard it too, but to him, it was very faint and hard to make out. Though Maggie could not understand it anymore than her human companion she was still able to hear it more clearly. She also knew exactly who was speaking in the muttering voice.
Thank goodness, at least he's here and not in trouble, Maggie thought gratefully, Just please let him be okay.
A/N: Okay, there ya go. The end of one chapter and leaving the opening for another. I hope that everyone enjoyed this. It's one of my more melancholy chapters when compared to the others, but it was still kinda fun giving clues to where Raph managed to drag himself.
Maggie: But you said that everyone would find out where Raph went for certain in this chapter, Streetwyse. You really didn't do that. You just told how much I think Casey is a dork and gave a general idea of who might be in that room.
Duh. I know that I did that. It's called a cliffhanger, even if it is minor, and I did it for a reason. I want to leave something for the next chapter.
Maggie: Whatever, Streetwyse. Just don't blame me if some of the readers don't think you make any sense because of this 'cliffhanger'.
Just like they might find it a little confusing that you're talking to me without using sign language like you usually do?
Maggie: *shrugs* That's only for when I'm in one of your stories. We both know that when I'm not around everyone but you, I talk like anyone else. Makes things a little more interesting if I keep it that way.
Uh, yeah.Whatever you say, Maggie. -.-;