9. It's a Bribe
The dojo was quieter than normal today. It wasn't because his brothers were sleeping, it was too late in the day. Even if they had gone to bed at all, they would've been up by this time anyway. No, it was quiet because, after meeting Ardyn's elusive and psychotic sister, none of them really wanted to talk.
Leo had known about Ardyn's abilities, but not because she had come clean. Donnie had discovered them, and was instructed to keep him in the loop before Ardyn had sworn him to secrecy. He'd never discussed it with her, though she must've known he knew. Still, Raph and Mikey had been kept in the dark.
It had shattered Mikey's heart to learn that Ardyn was hiding that from them. He was so trusting and naive. And Raph...well, Raph was hurt that Ardyn didn't hold him in the same regards he held her. He'd returned a few hours after they all had, much too close to dawn for Leo's comfort, but was in no mood to hear it. He'd shoved his way past Leo and disappeared into the weight room.
Leo had tried to pretend that he was unbothered, but the longer he tried to meditate, the more upset he became. What had Ibis meant? That Ardyn had wanted a life away from anything abnormal, like her abilities? Ibis had abilities too, if he remembered the story Ardyn had told Donnie. It was a mutation. Ardyn hadn't wanted to accept the mutation. Given his condition, it was a hard pill to swallow.
If she couldn't accept a mutation that didn't change her outward appearance, what did she think of him?
They'd gotten close in the last few weeks. He was damn near able to converse with her in French, and her Japanese was coming along nicely. They'd shared books and favorite movies... she'd even played music for him. Her voice was angelic, and he'd even sat out in the rain to hear her play on a few occasions.
She'd worn that bracelet every day since he'd given it to her, and even woven him one to wear. He looked at it now, the two clear beads hanging from the adjustable strings glinting at him. It just didn't make sense. Why would she get so close to him if she resented what he was? Could it be that she was using them for her own security? She'd been so unwilling at first, but Donnie had said they could help her and she could help them.
Would she really go through all that trouble just to protect herself?
"Leo?"
He was torn from his thoughts by Donnie, who was standing somewhat nervously in the doorway.
"I think you might want to take a look at this," he gestured behind him.
Leo's features hardened as he stood. Time for reflection was over, he was a leader. His brothers depended on him to remain level-headed. He could compartmentalize his emotions for the sake of his brothers.
He followed Donnie to the screens, crossing his arms, "Alright, what's up?"
Donnie pointed to one of the screens, "We've got company."
Leo squinted at the screen. There was a figure wandering the old subway tunnel much too close to the lair. They were carrying something sizable and looking around a lot.
"What are they doing?"
"Probably looking for us."
"What makes you say that?"
"Leo, it's Ibis," Donnie tapped a button on one of the keyboards, turning on the mic nearest the intruder. Ibis's raspy voice came through the speaker as she passed one camera and appeared on another.
"Hello? I gotta be getting close, it smells like orange soda and testosterone down here."
Leo pinched his brows.
"What do you want us to do?"
"I'll take care of it."
...
Ibis continued walking down the dark tunnel, her hand keeping the pizzas warm. She'd been sniffing around for thirty minutes now, and knew she was getting close. She fully expected to stumble upon something any minute now.
"What are you doing here?"
She whirled around in the forked tunnel, a hand over her heart and a startled expression on her face, "Mother of fuck someone as big as you should not be that quiet."
"How did you get down here?"
Ibis pointed her thumb back over her shoulder, "Maintenance hatch about a half mile of tunnel that way. I followed the smell."
He pinched his brows.
"Not that you stink, it's just-"
"Did Ardyn tell you you'd find us down here?"
"No, if she knew I was down here-" Ibis shook off the thought. "I find things for a living. I'm pretty good at it."
He remained stoic, "Mhm."
She straightened her self up and lifted the pizza box a little, "She mentioned you guys liked pepperoni, so I thought I'd bring-" she lowered the box sheepishly, "-well, I'm not gonna lie to you, Blue, it's a bribe if I've ever seen one."
"For what?"
She met his gaze, looking a little pathetic and hating it, "I want to talk to you about what happened last night."
Leo took a breath, looking away as if he was about to give her an excuse why he couldn't hear it right now. She stepped forward once to stop the excuse in it's tracks.
"Look, I know I made a sh- a not great impression, but I can't just leave here knowing I messed up the first chance she's had at happiness since she was a baby."
"Why would I believe anything that you say?" he met her stare directly, cold and challenging. "After you pretty much proved you're exactly the person Ardyn said you were, why shouldn't I just leave you in a pile to rot down here?"
Ibis worked her jaw for a moment, obviously trying to keep her cool, "You can do whatever you see fit with me, that's not what I'm here for. I'm here for her, and that's it."
Leo narrowed his eyes, suspicious.
"Don't tell me I make you nervous, Blue," she put a hand on her hip. "Do you really think it would be all that difficult for you to detain me if I act out? I'd say you've got a good two-fifty on me, and look," she raised her arms out and did a semi-slow spin, "I didn't even bring any guns."
Leo looked dubious, "You're unarmed?"
She met his eyes again, "I always keep a knife in my boot when in a city like this, but you can take it from me if that would make you feel better."
He seemed to consider it.
Seeing his hesitation, she slowly bent down and reached into her boot. He uncrossed his arms, preparing to defend himself should the need arise.
"Easy, Blue," she pulled a folded knife from her boot slowly, then lifted her hand to show it. The handle was expensive and a little worn, laying under her thumb with her fingers raised to show surrender. "See? Catch."
She swung her arm once to show him she was amiable before tossing it underhand to him. He caught it in one hand and eyed it for a moment. It was a nice blade, he had to admit. She cared for it, if the look on her face at his inspection was read correctly.
"You're going through a lot of trouble for someone you just humiliated," he finally said.
She sighed and deflated a little, "I know. I love her, I'm just not good at showing it."
Leo gripped her knife for a moment, considering. Much to Ibis's surprise, he tucked the knife into his belt and pulled a strip of fabric from his arm as he approached her.
"So my bribe worked?"
"We'll see," was all he said as he held up both ends of the cloth at her.
She looked at it for a second.
"Blindfold?"
He nodded.
She pressed her lips into a thin line, but consented. She closed her eyes and held her chin high as the rough material was tied around her head. If this was the only way he trusted to bring her along, so be it. It didn't matter that being this vulnerable made her sick to her stomach with anxiety. She didn't have time to do it her way, she had to play by his rules.
It seemed like an eternity before they arrived. Judging by how much the scents changed, she guessed he was taking her a different, less direct route. This would've thrown her off if she hadn't found them by scent in the first place. But she kept her mouth shut; if he didn't ask, she wouldn't tell. They weren't going to be best friends, she just needed to make things right for Ardyn.
The boxes were taken from her hand and she was guided to sit in a chair. It was cool down here, and the smell of pizza blended with the scent of concrete and a hint of sweat. It was surprisingly well ventilated for how far underground they were.
The blindfold was tugged none-too-gently from her head, some of her hair coming loose with it. She pursed her lips to not make a remark as Leo dropped the cloth to the table and stood at the other side of the table with his arms crossed. She could tell he was staying standing to enhance the height difference between them; an intimidation tactic she was familiar with. It didn't really intimidate her any more than she already was, but she let it go.
"Talk."
She raised her brows, "What?"
"You came down here to talk, so talk," he elaborated emotionlessly.
"Quite the gracious host, huh?" she quipped to lighten the mood.
It didn't work, he just held a cold stare on her.
She cleared her throat, "Okay, then, uh... Like I said before, I just wanted to explain a little bit about her, to hopefully make you understand why she made the choices she did."
"Is that your place?" he asked coolly.
"I don't really have a lot of time to ponder the philosophy of emotions," Ibis answered, a little harshly. "I'm here to give you the facts, then you can make the decision if it was right or wrong."
"What facts?"
Ibis pressed her lips into a thin line before answering, "I made her seem self-centered and insensitive. Like she's a child who doesn't know any better. That wasn't right. She's a grown-up now. We both are, and I can't keep pretending she isn't capable of taking care of herself."
"You're the one who said she couldn't handle the situation on her own," Leo reminded her coldly.
Ibis nodded, "I know. I knew she called because she was scared. It just hurt that she had to have no other option to contact me."
"You gave her a reason to fear you almost as much as Shredder," Leo stated.
Ibis nodded.
"What was it?"
"My job," Ibis answered. "She called me a hunter the last time I saw her, and she was right. That is my job, and I've been the best one for a long damn time."
"You get paid to kill people?" he clarified.
"That's the only part that mattered to her," she swallowed and looked briefly at the table before meeting his gaze. "I'm no saint, Blue. I've done a lot of bad sh-stuff. But I'm not a monster."
He didn't reply, only giving her a look.
Her defensiveness set in, "You don't know anything about-" she stopped herself, burning eyes closing for a moment. "I do what other people can't do. I'm the one who lives in cheap motels most of the year and goes to bed every night after stitching myself together and patching myself up. Don't you know what that's like? To try and do everything in your power to protect people you love, and nothing is ever good enough? To literally save someone from a horrible, brutal death, and have them turn on you?" She leaned on the table and pointed above them, "That girl up there is the only person in the whole world that can actually hurt me, and she did. So I lashed out," she flopped back in her chair. "That's what I do, it's what I've always done. Anger has been my fuel since I was six years old, and damn it all if I don't live in it."
Leo pursed his lips in thought.
"But I'm not a monster," she repeated, though it seemed more to herself. "I'm just the dumbass that has to do all the dirty work."
"But that never mattered to her," he steered Ibis back on track.
She sighed, "The first time she called me that, I was fifteen. My markings had come in by then. I thought it was the greatest thing that could ever happen to me, I was finally strong enough to protect my family." She gave a bitter smile, "But that much black line work on a little girl with anger issues was only another nail in the coffin when you live in a small conservative town." She ran a hand over her arm absentmindedly. "The more I used my abilities, the more lines started coming in. Pretty soon, my whole arm was covered in it, and eventually my back followed suit. Ardyn hated her abilities. It took her forever to control it enough not to be leaving trails of frost everywhere. Her markings didn't come in, and she liked it better that way."
Leo's brow twitched in thought.
"She got accepted into an uppity university and took our little brother, Ashton, with her. She tried to cut me out of her life, but Ash always kept in touch. She hated that. By then I was already...working. She didn't want him anywhere near that. She thought he was too soft."
"You didn't agree?"
"Ash wasn't the helpless baby Ardyn thought he was," Ibis shook her head. "He was brave, and selfless. The kind of person that makes you better just by being around."
"She thought you would corrupt him," Leo concluded.
"In her eyes, I did," Ibis slouched into the chair's back, playing with her fingers. "He wanted to drop out of school to work with me. He was damn good at it, too. Better than me," she smiled fondly, "at everything but tracking. I'd find them, then send him in. We were the ultimate team." Her smile fell, "Until we weren't."
Leo squinted, listening.
When Ibis looked back up from her hands, her eyes had gotten a little misty, "I wasn't fast enough. He never got any abilities like Ardy and I did, but he was far from normal. He had this way about him..." she trailed off. "Everything was going exactly as it should've been, like clockwork. But I didn't anticipate..." she looked back down at her hands, squeezing her eyes shut and swallowing to steady her voice. "We were in a warehouse. A rat knocked over an empty can of spray paint, and-" she made a quick gesture across her neck. She couldn't say the words, a single tear dropping from her bottom lashes. She licked her lips. "I got him to the hospital. That's the fastest I've ever driven in my life." She pulled her bottom lip into her teeth and took a breath. "He was stable after a few hours in surgery, so i went home to get everything ready for him. I was going to take some time to help him get better. He had talked to me every day on the phone for a week. I really thought he was gonna pull through." She wiped a tear from her face before it got too far. "Ardyn was furious. Her temper is worse than mine. Not only had I taken her only family from her, I'd-" she looked back down at her lap, not trusting her voice.
"You got him killed," Leo finished.
Ibis's head shot up, a reflex. She looked almost angry at him for saying it. "It took me a long time to stop wondering what I could've done different. I put my head down and worked solo for a while, Ardyn took his ashes out of the country with her."
"Now you're trying to make nice."
Ibis nodded, pressing her full lips into a thin line. She sighed and pulled her hair free of the knot it was no longer staying in. "You try not to think too much about burned bridges when you're living life, but sometimes life kicks you in the ass and you don't have much of a choice anymore." She started braiding her hair, pulling the waist-long strands over her shoulder. "I may not ever make up for all the years we were on the outs, but maybe I can make the years she has ahead of her better than the ones behind her."
"You really think you're going to take down Shredder all on your own?" Leo asked, more like he was rubbing her face in the impossibility of it.
A sad, humorless laugh came from her throat, "No. But I'd rather die taking down another monster than lose a battle to my own body." She wrapped the band around the end of her braid and tossed it back over her shoulder.
Leo looked at her expectantly, "What do you mean?"
She met his eyes again, acceptance on her face looking a lot like defeat, "Cancer. In my pancreas."
He uncrossed his arms and sat on the chair across from her, the pieces coming together. He'd had nothing to compare it to, having only just met her. But he could see it now, the yellowing of her skin and the hallowing of her cheeks. She did look sick, but if one hadn't met her before, they could chalk it up to her lifestyle.
"Does she know?"
"God, no," Ibis shook her head, another stray tear falling. She wiped it way like she was ashamed of it. "I don't want her to know I'm chicken shit on top of everything else."
"So you're going to commit suicide?" he prodded.
"As opposed to lying in a hospital bed while they drag out my suffering?" she snapped. "That would be hell. I'm barely strong enough to do the job now, I can't just whither away. If I'm going to go out, I'm going to make it worth while. I'm in charge of my own fate, if nothing else in this whole fucking world."
"You really think that's what's right?" he scolded.
She hardened before him, like a poked bear. "And what would you do, Honor Boy? Become a burden nobody asked for? Go from being the person everyone needed to being the person who needs everyone?" She shook her head. "I'm going to make use of myself. Maybe I can't end him, but I'm sure as fuck going to hurt him."
Leo looked pensive behind his mask of aloofness. Ibis took a deep breath to calm herself before she could speak again.
"Ardyn needs you. She can't spend the rest of her life alone, nobody deserves that," Ibis plead. "Maybe, when I'm gone, you can finish the job. Then nobody has to go through what we did ever again."
Leo was quiet for a moment before speaking. "Ardyn will he kept safe, that much I can promise you."
A weight lifted from Ibis's shoulders. "Thank you."