"So we have the kitchen, living room... That room is Anna's and then Kelsey's..." As I passed Kelsey's closed door I heard something strange that sounded like flapping, and then a sort of tearing sound. I dimly recalled the broken window I had yet to fix and the shoddy temporary repair job that was there right now. The tapping sounds of rain grew louder.
I opened the door to see that my handiwork had been no match for the storm. The plastic and tape flapped uselessly in the wind as sheets of water entered the room.
"Shit." I ran inside the room, at first trying to use what was left of the tape to stick the covering back to the wall, but I quickly realized that was a useless endeavor. I fumbled with the torn tape and plastic wrap, trying to hold it together as much as possible to keep the water out while trying to reach the extra duct tape I had left sitting on Kelsey's bed. Once I grabbed it I tore off long strips and tried to at least get the edges sealed. My plan was not working very well.
"Woah, dudette, let me help with that!" Mikey took the tape from me and started patching the window in a crisscross manner that was much more effective than what I had been attempting. While he busied himself with that I grabbed some more towels to clean up the water that had gotten into the room.
Now that everything was safe from being submerged in rainwater Mikey started looking very closely at the room. He eyes narrowed and he peered more closely at the window. I had noticed that he tended to show most of his thoughts on his face, and it was clear he was very focused right now.
He turned to me, "Did you guys have a break in?" He asked looking concerned and a little troubled. I raised an eyebrow, my face scrunched up in confusion. "This is where we hid a few nights back." He traced the dented part of the window that had been there even before I had broken it. "It was a tight squeeze, Raph has a pretty big shell…" He looked like he was about to say more, but I interrupted.
"It was you guys?" I asked accusatorily. I didn't wait for an answer. "You guys broke my window!"
"Hang on a sec, we didn't do that!" Mikey said, gesturing at the window in all of its glorious ruin. "That's why I'm asking about a break in! The Foot must've followed us in or something!" He peered out the window suspiciously. And when the book I accidently knocked over fell to the ground with a thump he turned in a flash, already in a fighting stance. He lowered his hands in an instant when he saw it was just me, but he still maintained that cautious expression.
I pursed my lips and looked away guiltily. "That...may have been my fault." I blushed under Mikey's appraising look at me. "I told you, I'm strong! But the only reason I had to pull that hard was because it would close. Because it was bent." I finished triumphantly. "And that means you probably should help me fix it," I added, using my best puppy dog eyes.
"Dude, I told you it was Raph's fault!" He protested, but was steadily falling victim to my woeful look. He looked at the window again. "I could try, but this is more Donnie's area of expertise." He said, frowning at the damage.
I shrugged. "We'll make a day of it. Probably anything will be better than this. I'll order some pizza," I tempted.
His eyes lit up. "How could I say no to that?" Mikey said, grinning wide.
"I'll let you know when I have supplies...and when my roomates are out again," I said as we exited Kelsey's room. "Oh, and this is my room." I thought quickly to evaluate how messy my room was right now before deeming it acceptable enough to open the door. I hurried to straighten the nest of blankets on my bed into some semblance of neatness and did a final check for anything embarrassing.
Mikey had honed in on the mess of articles on my desk. "Is this your dad?" He asked, picking up one that featured a dim silhouette. The picture in the black and white clipping was grainy and faded, but what could be seen most clearly was the metal around his wrists and the wings at his feet as they caught the reflecting light. I rubbed my own wrist where the same wristbands has been resting not much earlier.
"Yeah...my mom never really talked about him-still doesn't really. She's very talented at being evasive." What had also stopped my questions was how sad she could look when she thought about my birth father. It managed to outweigh my curiousity. "So everything right here is pretty much what I know."
I wrapped my arms around myself and tried to speak nonchalantly, but I think it came off a little hollow. "I know it's not very much..." I trailed off, ending with a shrug.
"I can see what I can find out," Mikey offered. "As you know I am a superhero expert," he claimed boastfully and I giggled, remebering how I had indeed asked for his expertise. "Although Donnie had a pretty crazy system set up," he conceded.
"Really? That would be great. Here, Christina printed a bunch of copies, like way too many, so she could keep some for reference." I opened the drawer where I had shoved all the copies after Christina had given them to me. I had asked her why I needed aproximetly a hundred copies of articles I already owned and she had flipped her hair, responded that I would find some sort of use, and pranced out of the room. I suppose I did have a use for them now. I placed them in a spare folder that I handed to Mikey.
Tour now completed (for the most part, that is), we headed back into the living room. Mikey took a moment to admire the expansive movie collection that my roomates and I had amassed between the three of us.
"This is pretty sweet," he said after his low whistle. "But you're missing all the best movies!" He was absolutely emphatic about his statement. He actually almost sounded a little insulted.
I raised a single eyebrow. "And what movies would those be?"
He had continued shuffling through the collection, but to no avail. "Where are all your horror movies?"
I wrinkled my nose. "Yeah, I've actually never seen a horror movie and I don't have any plans to do so anytime soon." He gaped at me in, well, horror I suppose.
"No way. You're missing out! In bring some by and you have to watch one!"
For some reason I was having a hard time saying no to him. "Maybe..." I said. "I'll consider it."
It took a little while longer for the rain to slow. By that time Mikey had convinced me to at least try watching a horror movie. I pretty much had to agree when he pointed out it would be fair trade for helping to fix my window.
A light drizzle rained upon the city. There was enough light from the surrounding buildings to see that ominous gray clouds still hung heavy in the sky. It seemed like this was the closest the rain would come to stopping.
"This might be a good time to head out," I said, peering into the night. I bit my bottom lip. "I suppose an umbrella wouldn't be much help... I'm sorry I don't have any thing you could use to help keep off the rain. "
"Nah, I'll be fine," he said casually. "Little rain never hurt."
I nodded. And then, on an impulse, I gave him a hug goodbye. He froze for a moment and then tentatively returned the hug. "Be careful," I said, as I pulled away.
Michelangelo nodded quickly, turning his face away just as fast. "I'll see you later!," he said, words coming out in a rush as he made his way outside. I watched him go and he soon disappeared into the night.
"Doctor Stein, the sensors, the ones from the storage area, they-they're going off sir."
Jonathan Stein had looked up from his research to snap at the mousey looking girl that came to interrupt him. Judging from her squeak he might not have needed any words. The girl must be new, he decided, to be so frightened of his fearsome expression and the scaley scar that dragged down the corner of his left eye. At one point in time his blond hair and strong features had made him very attractive, but the disfiguration, dark circles under his eyes, and steely expression now only inspired fear and intimidation. He eyed the girl with distaste. She was too green to even be of any use.
He needed to get down there himself.
"Tell Kira to meet me down there," he ordered sharply. Needing her assistance left a bad taste in his mouth, but this was no longer his area of expertise. The girl's wide eyes still didn't show any sign of comprehension. "Dr. Rosca," he snapped.
The assistant flinched at his tone and then scurried off. Mouselike indeed, he thought. Good help must be getting hard to find.
The transdimensional sensors were kept in a basement level storage area. They were much too expensive to be gathering dust in a place like this, but they hadn't gone off in any sort of significant way in over a decade.
Dr. Stein double checked the sensors, just to make sure the assistant wasn't as inept as she came off. Everything was functioning perfectly, so he allowed himself a slight feeling of excitement. With the understanding they had now the advances that could be made once they got their hands on the subject would be significant.
"What is it?" Kira Rosca was a very small young woman whose IQ was off the charts. Her ambition had let her rise up through the ranks very quickly and despite her age she was one of the top scientist of the Collective. She was also currently very irritated. "This better be important," she continued.
Stein merely raised an eyebrow and glanced meaningfully at the flashing sensor.
Rosca's irritation melted away, although her face still held its stern expression as always. She stepped closer to it, wonder relaxing her face for just the briefest moment. She closed her eyes as she mentally scanned through the immensely expansive amount of information she kept inside her head. "The last experiments were promising, but ultimately halted when the main subject was lost. Subject was coded as 'Mercury'..." She opened her eyes to give him one of her usual condescending glances. Stein had to remind himself once again that despite how satisfying it would be to strangle her she was moderately more useful alive. He clenched his hands into fists so tight his nails dug into the palms of his hands as she continued. "He disappeared on you watch, correct?"
"I was the lead," he acknowledged, "however, I was not in the vicinity the night of the... incident. Perhaps once you head your own team you'll understand more of the politics involved." His smile was strained.
Her eyes flashed before she angled them away. "Whatever you say," she muttered demurely, although he still caught her slight smirk. "Mercury, the subject, escaped almost sixteen years ago. All reports state that he was fatally wounded at the time, so this couldn't be him." Rosca examine the machine in front of her more carefully. "Calibrating it will be a delicate process, but I will be able to pinpoint the source." She looked excitedly up at Jonathon and he thought that maybe he would be able to work with her. He went to leave the room, leaving her to her own devices.
"And try not to lose the subject this time," she called as he left.
He walked faster and didn't respond. Apparently hoping for cordial cooperation was out of the question.
Cue ominous music. And the plot thickens. XD I realize it is LATE Friday night, but I've had to stay up late to edit this chapter. (I thought I might not be able to post until Saturday, but I powered through the scene I was struggling with. )
So here are the extra words from the previous reviews :) (full chapter is 2k+)
Thank you again to REDpanda, I hope you know that your reviews have made me incredibly happy and I absolutely love your feedback.
Just to let you all know, I will have to skip next week's update. My co-supervisor is on vacation so things are going to be a bit hectic this week, and although I have most of CH 15 written I'm not sure if I'll have time to edit/finish it. But as always, reviews might inspire me to post extra chapters ;)
Thank yo for reading and please let me know what you think! :D