Elisa was near tears as she cleaned out the cuts on the purple-banded turtle's body.
She just wanted the Foot to leave them alone…to stop hurting them…
To stop hurting Don…
Since when had he deserved this?
What had he done to deserve the kidnapping of his only child?
His only daughter…his little flower…
Elisa had always treasured the moments when Jazz was little, trying to understand her father's inventions and bonding with him.
It had been a surprise when Jazz, at seven years old, had fixed the Battle Shell's engine, coming out greasy and smiling.
Even when the young turtle had made a modified snowboard, testing it at the dump, she always came out dirty, but with the biggest, most innocent smile on her face.
Actually, Ben and Theo STILL thanked her for making both of them one…
Leo STILL thinks it was a bad idea…
But Jazz only seemed to care about how happy her cousins were.
"Aunt Elisa?"
Dark pink eyes looked up to meet warm gold-tinted green eyes.
"…I'm sorry…"
The eleven year old hugged her pink-banded aunt, hoping it would make her feel better.
"…Jackie…"
Elisa returned the gesture, giving her niece a loving kiss on the forehead.
"Thank you…I feel much better…"
Gio walked in, smiling softly at the sight.
It reminded her of when Jazz was little, and Elisa would rock the child to sleep with her favorite stuffed turtle toy…
If Gio recalled, that same now sat atop the most-used desktop in the lab…
"Gio?"
Green eyes snapped back into focus, bringing a warm smile to her lips.
"Hey, El…"
Jackie stayed silent, still hugging her aunt comfortingly as Gio moved closer.
"…You know we'll get her back…"
Elisa nodded slightly.
"Yeah…"
Silence as the older turtle thought of how to reassure her sister.
"We're planning now…April and Casey came down with Angie and Chris…"
Angie, full name Angela April Jones, was the human couple's seventeen year old daughter.
She had black/blue hair and bright green eyes, and was, thankfully, more like her mother than her father…
Unfortunately, Christopher Casey Jones, two years his sister's junior, was almost exactly like his father, only with fiery red hair and pitch black eyes.
Elisa smiled softly.
"Thanks, Gio, but I think I'll stay here until Donnie wakes up…"
A hesitant nod, and Gio left.
"…Is Uncle Donnie gonna be okay?" Jackie asked softly.
"…I hope so…"
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gio closed the door to the lab with a defeated sigh, and locked eyes with her sister.
"She doesn't want to come out…"
Rach nodded slightly, defeated.
"Mom…"
Theo grabbed her hand, smoky grey/blue clashing with stormy grey.
"She'll be okay, right?"
Only by looking into his eyes could the grey-banded turtle understand who he meant.
"…She will be…once we get her back…"
The punching bag, swaying violently from vicious punches, flew off the chain and into a wall.
"I'll make sure ta teach those guys a lesson!! When I'm through with 'em, they'll wish I'd forgotten my blades at home!!"
Rose's eyes looked almost completely crimson, and Violet sighed as she went to pick up the bag.
By her restrained movement and lack of conversation, it was obvious she was holding in her fury.
Ben tried keeping his mind off it by spinning his 'chucks, but he'd always lose focus and bonk himself on the head.
"Rose, yer not goin'."
Red eyes turned on her father, pupils narrowing to dangerous slits.
"She's MY cousin!! I deserve to!!"
Violet put a calming hand on the thirteen year old's forehead, trying to keep her eyes purple/red.
"We know, Rose…we all really miss her…Personally, I think we all have the right to go…"
Her eyes glazed slightly in memory.
"…She's done it for me…"
Flashback:
"GUYS!!! WAIT UP!!!"
An eleven year old Violet slipped off her skateboard, and watched with watery eyes as the forms of her cousins and sister seemed to disappear.
"Great…thanks guys, no need to help…I just busted my knee, no big…" She muttered to the air crossly, trying to stand up.
"Vi?"
The turtle looked up in slight surprise, seeing Jazz, her portable bike over her shoulder.
"Oh, hey Jazz…"
The light pink-banded turtle kneeled down beside her cousin, and her fingers moved delicately over the injured joint.
Violet hissed slightly in sudden pain, and Jazz moved back slightly.
"Its okay, Vi…Your knee's dislocated…this might hurt…"
Violet nodded, taking her cousin's word for it, and closed her eyes.
With a sickening wet 'pop', and a moment of flaring pain, her knee was back in place.
"Whoa…how'd you learn to do that?"
"…Medical books…" Jazz answered casually, though she didn't seem to like the attention too much.
"You're the best, Jazz!"
Violet pulled the younger turtle into a hug, smiling.
'I won't let anything like this happen to you…I promise…'
End Flashback:
Joss nodded, smiling faintly.
"Yeah…Jazz was always helping us out…"
Flashback:
"SEE YA!!!!!" Rose shouted as she ran out into the sewers, followed by two ten year old twins shouting insults at each other.
Violet had gone topside with her father to April and Casey's earlier, so Joss was left alone, since her father, through much persuasion, allowed her to stay at the lair almost completely alone.
The twelve year old moved to the dojo, grabbing the small practice katana.
Even though she was usually prohibited, she didn't think it applied now…
That thought changed when the blades slipped, one spinning and cutting her forearm open.
She cried out, using her opposite hand to hold the wound as she moved back.
"Joss?!"
The light blue-banded looked up to see her light pink-banded cousin kneeling beside her, pressing towels to the wound.
"I-Its okay, Joss…J-Just hold this there…"
Jazz then moved and grabbed plenty of gauze and bandages, covering the entire gash securely.
"…You won't tell, will you?"
Indecision flashed through the pink-tinted hazel eyes, but it vanished at the pleading look given by green-tinted brown.
"O-Of course not…b-but maybe we should clean up the bl-blood…"
That's when Joss noticed how pale her cousin looked.
'…She doesn't like the sight of blood…but she still came and helped me…'
Joss smiled appreciatively.
"…Jazz…You're the best…"
End Flashback:
Ben and Theo shared a glance, sharing a grin.
"Yeah, she's always saving our shells…"
Flashback:
"Jazz, these things ROCK!!!!" Ben and Theo chorused, using the modified snowboards to fly through the air.
Even only at six years old, they had the prowess of their father…not the smart one, since Mikey doesn't really have any…
Anyway, back to the memory…
Ben and Theo weren't always careful, as many people have noted, and they didn't notice the ditch on the other side of a large mound of rubble they were going up.
It was when they were heading TOWARDS it that the panic set in.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!"
Something flew through the air, and someone grabbed them, making all of them land safely on the other side.
Slightly disoriented, the two boys looked up to see Jazz, rockets on the back of her snowboard as she pulled it off.
"A-Are you g-guys okay?"
They were surprised, looking at the frail-looking turtle in awe.
"D-Did you g-get hurt?" Jazz asked worriedly.
"I-I haven't h-had time t-to fix th-the kinks o-out of th-the rockets-."
She was cut off by two flying turtles, hugging her.
"You're the best, Jazz!!"
"Yeah!! That was the best save EVER!!"
"Could we get rockets?!"
"That would be awesome!!"
"S-Sure…wh-why not?"
"YES!!!!!"
"Jazz, you're the best!!"
End Flashback:
Rose just glared at the floor, the purple slowly returning to her eyes.
"…We all love her…and we're all going to bring her back…"
Violet perked, turning her head to see Don coming out of the lab, moving with some difficulty.
"But it won't be that easy…"
"Why?" Cat asked.
"…Hun wants a trade…"
Gio tensed, eyes hardening.
"Trade for what?"
"…Joss…"
Two pairs of eyes turned nearly completely red.
"SHELL NO!!!!!"
Violet, holding a railing, started crushing it with her unintended strength.
Cat nodded, holding back Rose.
"I'm not giving up one niece for another…it'll be an unending cycle…"
"…And they won't give Jazz back through a trade, anyway…"
Rach looked at him curiously.
"Why?"
"…Well…remember her 'moments'?"
Raph nodded.
"Yeah, she'd start listin' off tech like a little computer."
"She's not just listing tech, Raph. She's looking at a piece of technology, and her brain processes all of the things that make it up."
Elisa, behind her husband, looked worried.
"She can tell what everything is made of…"
Don nodded.
"She can't control them, so she might do it on accident…"
Ben and Theo shared a worried glance.
"Why is that bad?" Ben questioned innocently.
"…I've always said she was a prodigy…"
Leo tensed.
"They'll try and use her to make better weapons…"
"To kill us…" Raph added sourly.
"She won't."
All eyes locked on Rose.
"She would never help anyone hurt innocent people!"
"…They'll try to break her first…" Cat said glumly.
She looked sympathetically at the worried parents, imagining what it would be like…
"So, who's got a plan?" Mikey asked, and everyone turned to Leo and Gio.
"…I guess that's our department, blue boy…"
"…Unfortunately…"
Rose watched, forcefully sitting on her mother's lap, as they formulated a plan.
'…Hold on, Jazz…we're comin' ta get ya…'