Second-to-last-part! I wanted to have the last bit of the rescue portrayed through Ara, and you'll see why once we get to it. But for now, here's Part 8! (Sorry for the delay.) Comment! :)

Abducted Pt. 8

Leo

Leo knelt on a rooftop, gazing at the old Paasche skyscraper through his spyglass. "So that's it, huh?"

"Yup," Donnie whispered from where he crouched in the shadows beside him.

"What's the plan, chief?" Leo glanced over at Raph, who had just come up behind him.

"Well…" Leo focused his spyglass at the entrance of the building. "There's no way we're going through the front doors. Besides running into a host of foot ninjas, we'd be guaranteed to set off some sort of alarm."

"Unless it isn't rigged because they knew we'd never be stupid enough to try it." Leo blinked over at Mikey, who was already launching off another idea. "Of course, maybe there ARE alarms after all, because maybe they knew we'd think it was obvious. Or maybe…"

"Thank you, Mikey!" Leo interrupted, "but that's way too many maybes. We'll have to try to find an entrance from the rooftop."

"And how exactly are we gonna get up there?" Raph scoffed. He had a point. The sides of the skyscraper were completely flat and smooth, and Leo doubted their climbing claws would work on the surface. To top it off, there weren't any other buildings closely surrounding it, making it impossible to get high enough for the grappling hooks to be of any use.

Leo turned to his smartest brother. "You wouldn't happen to have a gadget for that, would you?"

Donnie grinned, slinging the satchel he brought on important missions off his shoulder. "You underestimate me, Leo. Of COURSE I do." He tossed gloves to his brothers. "Try these on for size."

Leo eyed them uncertainly. "What are these?"

"Climbing gloves. I modeled them after gecko's feet. You see, gecko's toe pads have little…"

"Donnie, can we pleeease skip the science lesson?" Mikey whined. "I wanna get in there and save Ara."

Donnie sighed. "Fine. They work kinda like suction cups. Just peel your fingers back a bit to release them from the surface while you're climbing."

Leo looked up at the black clouds swirling above them, rumbling threateningly but holding their contents for the time being. "Let's move." His brothers didn't need convincing. They launched themselves off the rooftop and stayed in the shadows as they approached the building, making a beeline for the side of the skyscraper not facing the street. They stopped at the base, looking to Leo. "Okay, guys. Be careful while you climb and keep away from windows."

Nodding, the three other ninjas turned to the task before them. Leo placed his hand on the building. It stuck fast. He wiggled and jerked his arm in all directions, but it didn't budge. However, when he peeled his fingers back like Donnie had instructed, it quickly and soundlessly came loose. Cool. Leo looked up at the building. It was pretty damn tall. Tall enough to deal out a death sentence if you fell from it's top, or even it's middle. And that was taking into consideration the fact that they were ninjas who knew how to land like cats and regularly leaped down from buildings. Leo had always had a slight fear of heights, and this was enough to make his stomach churn with worry. Climbing up that huge building using gloves he'd never worn before? No thanks. But he had to do this for Ara.

Setting his jaw in determination, Leo began to climb. Hand over hand, hand over hand, keep your eye on the goal, don't look down, get to the top before it rains. Hand over hand, hand over hand, keep your eye… Leo drilled the words through his head over and over until he reached the top. He pulled himself up onto the roof, plopping down onto his stomach as soon as he was away from the edge. He stretched out his arms, hugging the solid cement in relief. "Safety…"

Someone cleared his throat above him, and Leo looked up into the more-than-a-little amused eyes of Raph. "Leo, if you're done hugging the building, we should really be getting on our way."

Leo leapt to his feet, brushing himself off. "I wasn't hugging the building. I was… listening… to, uh… make sure there weren't any people under us."

"Riiight."

Rolling his eyes, Leo pushed Raph aside and looked around the rooftop. It was empty except for a closed door that led down into the building.

"How are we going to get in?" At the sound of Donnie's voice, Leo turned to see his remaining two brothers pulling themselves up onto the roof. He crossed the rooftop and tried the doorknob. To his surprise, it was unlocked.

Leo swung the door open wide. "Well, that was easy."

"WAIT!" Leo froze at Raph's panicked call. His brother raced to the doorway, looked sharply in both directions, then relaxed, patting Leo's shoulder. "Don't worry, Leo. It's SAFE."

Leo groaned, conking him on the head. "Very funny."

"Guys, stop goofing off! What part of being on an enemy rooftop do you not understand?"

Leo looked over in surprise at the angry hiss from Donnie. "Wow. You sound just like me."

"Well, maybe I wouldn't have to if you started acting like the leader again."

Leo considered the point for a moment, then nodded sharply. "You're right, sorry. Come on." They crept silently down several flights of stairs, Leo rolling Donnie's comment through his head the whole time. Without Ara, he was off his game as leader. Leo had grown so accustomed to having four ninjas at his command that now that he was back to three, something just felt missing. He supposed that with all the patrols and Kraang investigations and missions with Ara, his mind had adjusted to having more options. With Ara, there was one more capable ninja to help take down the enemy. Now he felt like the time he had sent Raph home before they went up against Spiderbites: incomplete.

"So, what now?" Leo pulled himself out of the fog of his thoughts and forced himself to concentrate on the task at hand. They had come to the end of the stairs, and now four different doors loomed in front of them. Raph gestured to them. "Which one do we take?"

Mikey shrugged. "Do we split up?"

Leo shook his head. "No, we need to stick together on this one. Plus, who knows how many forks there are after this one? There must be thousands of rooms in this place."

Donnie nodded. "I know… and I've been thinking. In order for the foots to be efficient and get things done, they can't just wander around getting lost. There must be some kind of system they use to get places."

"What about the color thingies above the doors?" Leo looked at where Mikey was pointing. He was right. Above each door was a line of paint, each a different color.

"The doors must be color-coded," Donnie mused, scratching his chin. "But which door do we take?"

The question reminded Leo of something. "What did Ara say during the video? Something like, 'go for the green'? Why do you think she said that?"

Raph shrugged. "A random burst of team spirit?"

Leo nodded slowly. "Or a hint?" He stood silently for a moment, then nodded his head confidently. "It's the green."

Leo took a step towards the door with the green paint, but Donnie stayed put. "Are you sure, Leo? I mean, if she's a captive, I'm sure she didn't exactly get a tour of the building."

Leo didn't change his pace. "I've got a gut feeling. C'mon." With a shrug, his brothers followed him. The green door led to an empty hallway with two color-coded doors on each side. Leo chose the green door without hesitation. In this manner they went through hallway after hallway, stairwell after stairwell, green door after green door.

After the tenth set of doors, Raph threw his hands in the air. "This is ridiculous; it's not even how buildings are set up! This is like an endless maze." He looked around him. "And I thought Ara said this place was heavily guarded. I haven't seen a single foot this entire time!"

Donnie nodded. "And it's so quiet. I haven't heard one sound come from anywhere or anyone except us. It's…" He shivered. "Eerie."

Leo drew his katanas. "The calm before a storm. Keep moving." They walked through the green door in front of them. This time they stepped into a room with about twenty doors dotting the walls. Everything, from the floor to the walls to the ceiling above them, was painted a sickening shade of green.

Raph let out a snort. "Well, if she's somewhere in here, I guess we know how she thought up the 'go for the green' hint. I'm assuming this is only area painted the color of puke."

Leo grinned. "NOW we're getting somewhere. Okay, guys, split up and search the rooms."

Leo made a beeline for the first door, opening it silently and peering inside. It was completely empty. The next was a closet filled with brooms and mops. This was starting to get discouraging.

Leo put his hand on the knob to the next door, and at that moment he knew. Call it a ninja's sensitivity, a gut feeling, a sixth sense, whatever, but he KNEW. Ara was in there. Throwing the door open wide, Leo leapt into the room, his heart swelling with fond relief as his eyes came to rest on the familiar form.

Ara looked up, her eyes shooting open wide. "Leo?" Leo was over in an instant, slicing the ropes holding her in place with his katana. He knelt down beside her and engulfed her in a hug. His arms shook as she buried her head in his shoulder.

"Don't you ever scare me like that again," he croaked, suppressing tears of relief.

He felt her shake her head. "I won't."

There was a squeal of delight from the doorway. "Donnie! Raph! Leo found Ara! Leo found Ara!"

Leo broke away and looked towards Mikey, grinning just as happily as his orange-banded brother. "Yup." He turned back to Ara, and his face clouded with concern as he saw the dried blood streaked across her face. He took hold of her chin to better examine it. "You're hurt."

"What? Oh, that." Ara brushed his hand away. "It's nothing." She stood up, her happy expression morphing into a scowl. "Anyway, I told you guys NOT to come. But do any of you ever listen to me? No."

Raph snorted. "You don't honestly believe we would let Mikey go back to being the cook, do you? And it's not like we were in danger or anything. I thought you said this place was guarded. We haven't seen one ninja. Strike that, we haven't seen one ANYTHING. This place is like a ghost town." He spread his arms out wide. "Where is the huge foot army?"

At that moment, the room was filled with flashing red lights as sirens started blaring. The turtles raced to the doorway to see a ridiculous amount of foot ninjas rush up from a stairwell. Ara gestured to them wildly. "There, Raph. THERE'S the huge foot army!"

Raph groaned. "I have got to learn to keep my mouth shut."

Leo spotted a stairwell leading upwards, opposite the one the ninjas were coming from. He pointed to it. "We'll never be able to fight them all off! Go!" They dashed from the shelter of the doorway and bounded across the room, dodging the shower of ninja stars that pursued them. The team raced up the stairs, the foot ninjas at their heels. The stairs zigzagged straight up, finally coming abruptly to an end at a ceiling.

Donnie blinked, gesturing to the dead end. "They led to a ceiling?!"

Raph shoved him aside. "It's got to be a trap door. Allow me." He backed up a few paces, then rammed his shoulder into the top. Sure enough, a trap door flew open, and they tumbled out onto the roof of the building, freezing in horror as they took in their surroundings. The once-abandoned rooftop was empty no more. It was jam-packed with about a fifty ninjas, Dogpound punching his fist into his palm right in front of them. Baxter Stockman stood in a corner, holding a remote that Leo guessed was the controller to a handful of menacing robots lining one of the sides.

Worst of all, The Shredder was right in front of them, looking at the turtles with a pleased glint shining in his eye. Leo stood in open-mouthed shock, unable to find words that would do the situation justice. Mikey, however, summed it up quite well: "This is not good."