Sorry for so long not updating! The old story: University…
Thanks for the reviews to everyone! And special thanks to Cynlee for beta reading and corrections, and to Reijiro: I really forgot to think over that the Turtles wouldn´t allow Tally to go just as she came. The Rat King…
Haven´t thought about him appearing in this story yet, but maybe I´ll find a place for him.
To Engelina: The warehouse address was not my idea, it is from the cartoon; Casey told it to Angel in Season One/ Fallen Angel.
P.S.: Did anyone ever taste sage tea? Absolutely nasty, but unfortunately effective. I had to drink it when I was ill, but I could never convince my mother to do so, too. I would have soooooo liked to see her face…. :)
Meet Raphael
Still shocked, Tally stared at the TV.
"No, they wouldn´t... they just can´t… NOOOOO!"
Donatello heard her scream even at Splinter´s bed and Raphael came out of his room.
"Can´t a Turtle just even have a nap without everything breaking down?" he snorted angrily. Then he saw the sobbing woman at the sofa, clumsily comforted by Leo and Mikey.
"What´s wrong now? Did a spider scare her?"
"Raphael!"
Leo tapped Tally's back.
"Someone burned down her surgery- and left a dead rat as a signature!"
"That's interesting news. I knew the whole time that her story stunk like a rotten egg. So, time to the truth now, Lady, okay?"
Tally did not even hear him. The only one who could have told them about her practice or her was Robert, but why? For sure they forced him, maybe even hurt him, she should have never become entangled with these freaks, they were going to ruin her whole live! Tears trailed down her face while she crouched on the sofa, half aware of the Turtles around her, when she was suddenly roughly hoisted up.
"What the shell went on these last few days! And what did you do with our Sensei? Heck, he had straw in his fur!"
"Raphael, let her go", Leonardo advised him, but he, too, was unsure how to deal with this changed situation. Instinctively he trusted her, and Splinter had always advised him to "trust his guts", but now it was clear she was hiding something.
It was Mikey who saved the day.
"Hey, it´s okay. You can tell us. These bozos", he waved to the TV, "were after Splinter, weren´t they?"
He looked in her face, mildly smiling, and she hugged him as fast as she could and cried her misery out on his shoulder. Astonished, he hugged her back and tried to calm her down, while Don held back Raphael. Leonardo tried to get an answer, but Tally wouldn´t speak, and so they waited. It took nearly half an hour until she finally stopped crying. Then she told them everything.
And witnessed her first fight, when Leo had to overcome Raphael, who wanted to immediately take payback.
"Forget it, Raphael. No one is going anywhere until Splinter recovers, understood?"
"They…they…they… YOU WANT THEM TO GET AWAY WITH THIS?"
Totally pissed off, Raphael jumped at Leonardo again, but Leo whirled out of his direction of attack and struck a blow on his brother's shell, so that Raphael fell to the ground. Immediately Leo placed himself on Raph's backside. Raphael had no chance to lift the whole weight of his brother.
"Leo, I warn you…GET OFF OF MY SHELL!"
He cursed badly and squirmed on the ground, but Leo shrugged the insults off. The scene looked so unreal - two giant Turtles having a wrestling fight- that Tally couldn´t help but smile under her tears. She so dearly wished to have someone else to talk about this with, but she knew: If she would ever tell someone, she would find herself in a surgery again very soon- not as doctor, but rather as a patient.
Finally Leo stood up. Raph felt as if he would burst with anger at any moment. He punched with all his force at Leo´s face and imagined it was the mug of one of this bastards, but his brother was prepared and caught the punch in midair.
"Better go to your room, Raph, and try to relax."
"DON´T TELL ME WHAT TO DO! JUST THIS ONE TIME, LEO: SHUT UP!"
Scratching together every little piece of his self control, Raph managed to turn around, to go to his room, to close the door without slamming it; but then he dealt with his punching bag until his fists hurt and his breath burned in his throat. Finally he laid down in the hammock, doing something he rarely did: developing a plan.
Of course, Leonardo would expect him to sneak out and try to find and deal with this scum on his own. But maybe, after Leo caught him one time, he would think Raph had calmed down.
But how to find this special circus…
Yes! Raph rocket upwards so abruptly he nearly felt out of his hammock. He had just the idea!
Mikey was in the kitchen, preparing the supper, when Don entered with a bowl half-filled with chicken broth.
"How´s Sensei?"
Don sighed.
"He said, if he has to drink just one more bowl of broth, he would develope plumes instead of fur. Do we still have rice pudding?"
Mikey shrugged.
"Think so. But that´s typical. He refuses to eat this stuff, but if one of us is ill.. One would think this is a perfect opportunity for a little payback, isn´t it?"
Don looked at the bowl in his hands, then he put it in the microwave. He turned around to the grinning Mikey.
"After all, he´s ill. He shouldn´t eat rice so soon with his sore throat."
As the microwave beeped, Don took the bowl and left the room.
Mikey shouted after him: "Sage is very good for a hurt throat, too!"
"Thanks for the idea!"
Don wanted to bring the bowl to his Sensei, but then he saw Tally and Leo standing in front of the elevator, arguing. He stepped further to listen.
"Who do you think are you? Let me go!"
"Tally, I´m sorry. It would be best if you´d stay just for a few days or weeks. You´re not safe out there. These guys are looking for you. They might catch you and force you to tell them where Splinter is."
"You mean you don't trust me? Heck! After all I risked for the fur ball? If you really think you can force me to stay against my will, you´re even more stupid than you look! You´ll let me go! Now!!!"
Leo sighed and leaned against the door of the elevator. He didn´t look into her eyes, and his voice sounded unsteady.
" We are really thankful for the rescuing of our master, but we just can´t take the risk that the location of the Lair becomes known. Please. Do not force us to watch every step of yours."
He pressed a few buttons on the control panel and turned around. Tally pressed the buttons angrily, but when nothing happened, she followed Leo and saw Donnie.
"You! You are the technician around here, aren´t you? Make this thing work!"
Donatello shook his head.
"I´m sorry, Tally. I do not like to say it, but for the moment I think Leo is right."
Then he went to Splinter, before his remorse could overwhelm him.
Splinter was sleeping peacefully, still breathing heavily and fevering, but he was in a stable condition. Don was relieved that Splinter seemed to ride it out, despite his age. But this made him feel even more guilty. Tally had risked a lot, and now she was in trouble because she had helped them. They owed her one. He would talk with Leo about this. Tomorrow. When everyone had calmed down. He took a book and prepared himself for another night watch at his master's bed.
These damned freaks! How could they dare to imprison her!
Angrily Tally walked around in circles, she was too agitated to sit still. But it was difficult to stay angry in this room, so Tally dropped herself on Splinter's futon bed. This one, the bathroom and the kitchen were the only rooms down here she knew, and right now she didn´t want to see a green face.
Randomly she pulled out a book from a nearby rack. Shakespeare's complete works. Wow! It looked old and shabby, a few pages were missing, but someone had accurately repaired it with sticky tape. There was a bookmark in the middle of the Midsummer Night Dream, her own favorite Shakespeare work. She turned back to the beginning of the comedy and started to read, trying to distract her thoughts. She would talk with Splinter tomorrow. He seemed to care about honor and such things and he owed her one. For sure he could convince Leonardo to let her go- provided that his fever was down enough so that he understood what she was talking about.
A few hours later she went to the bathroom, ignoring the Turtles completely.
"Ehm, Tally? Please do not take it personally, but Leo…"
Tally closed the door before Donatello could finish his sentence.
Don sighed heavily, that he sat down on the sofa next to Mikey, who crushed a bag of popcorn.
"What´s the matter, Don?" he asked, spitting popcorn over his brother.
"It´s about Tally. We have no right to keep her here. She helped us and now…"
Mikey shrugged.
"April´ll talk with her tomorrow. She just has to stay until we have taken care of these guys who caught Master Splinter."
They watched Tally as she went back to Splinter's room.
"Now she could sleep on the sofa. It´s dry again", Michelangelo said.
"Master Splinter isn't using his bed right now, and he doesn't care. I asked him."
Mikey shifted his weight uncomfortably.
"Yes, I know, but it just doesn't seem right."
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Something touched her. There was a big dark silhouette over a her bed. A burglar!
She opened her mouth for a scream, but not a sound came out of her throat. The burglar pressed his hand across her mouth. Angrily she struggled, tried to break free, but his other hand kept her on the ground. She tried to bite him when she suddenly noticed: The hand had three fingers!
She remembered and calmed down, and anger replaced her fear. The hand disappeared.
"Who are you? What to you want?"
As a precaution she rolled the blanket more closely around her body.
The shadow moved back.
"Quiet! It´s me, Raphael. I wanna help you!"
Tally snorted disdainfully.
"Help me? By giving me a heart attack?"
"Listen. You wanna go home, and I want the cretins who hurt Splinter. Deal?"
"And what exactly do you want me to do?"
"Absolutely nothing. That´s the easy part of my plan."
"What?"
"I´ll explain later. Are you coming with me?"
"Okay. But take care of your backside if this doesn´t work."
Raphael laughed softly. Both sat in the darkness.
"Out!"
"Eh? But we…"
"I have to dress!"
A few minutes later Tally left the room. Suddenly she was raised and Raphael pressed again his hand to her lips.
"Shhh. I just want to make sure you make no noise."
He carried her to the door, typed a code in the panel and the way into the sewer system of New York was opened.
They walked through the tunnels, and Tally asked again.
"So, what´s your plan?"
Raph grinned.
"We´ll use the oldest trick of the world. If you want to hunt something, you need a decoy."
"And what do you want to use as a decoy?"
His grin become wider.
"You!"
"Oh!"
----------------------------------------------------
Raphael led her trough the tunnel system beneath the city. After a few turnoffs Tally totally lost her bearings.
"How to you know where to go in this maze?"
"Years of experience, Lady."
In the dim light she only saw a back huge shadow walking before her. She felt insecure. Could she really trust him? They were alone down here. He had attacked her before. No one would hear her scream…
She shuttered and walked faster. There was no rational reason for him to bring her that far away to hurt her. He could had just throw her into anyone of these whirling drainage areas they frequently passed by.
On the other hand, her whole life had become pretty irrational the last days.
Lost in her thoughts, she trotted after the spattering sound before her and came up against a hard shell when her leader stopped.
"It´s right over our heads."
Tally shivered. It was cold, damp and her surrounding did look exactly like every other tunnel they'd been through.
"Are you sure?"
The shadow sighed.
"Lady, I´ve been growin´ up down here. The only one who knows the sewer system better than me and my brothers is Master Splinter. So, just climb up the ladder, go to your practice and wait. I´ll watch you and when you´re attacked, I´m there."
"Do you really think that someone waited for me? For so long?"
Raphael didn´t respond, but his silence was answer enough. Reluctantly Tally climbed up. Raphael had already removed the manhole cover. Carefully she peeked over the rim. No one to see. Good. She wouldn´t have known how to explain why she scrambled out of the NY sewer system.
She went down the alley - and stood directly before her former practice. A sob escaped from her throat. What was once her white clean practice, ended as a wet soot- blackened burned down heap of ruins. Yellow barrier tape with the title "Do not cross" blocked the door. She kneeled down and crawl under it in her practice.
There was a label: "Do not enter! Dangerous structure! DANGER OF LIFE!" In her practice? Trance-like, she went slowly through the rooms. She didn´t recognize it any longer. She had paid off her debts just one year ago. Was this all she had to show for it? A ruin?
Something wet went down her cheek. She hadn´t been aware that she was crying. Absently she wiped her hand over her eyes- and froze!
Something sharp was pressed between her shoulders.
"Not a sound, Lady. We two will take a nice little ride and then you´ll tell me where our mutual furry friend is. We miss him dearly, you know."
The knifetip was pressed again in her back. Tally went slowly to the door when…
SMASH!
A sickening sound resounded, and when Tally dared to turn around, Raph stood behind her. He held a piece of wood in his hands. Her attacker lay motionless on the ground. Raphael bend down and tied the man with a rope.
"Now, let´s see what you want to tell us."
He hit the man´s face lightly. Slowly the man regained consciousness.
"What…"
His eyes became wider and wider.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!"
Raphael kicked him so hard in the stomach that he flew against the opposite wall, where he sank to ground groaning.
Raphael walked slowly to the semiconscious man, when Tally grabbed his arm.
"Raph, no. Please. There´s no need to…"
"No need to? There´s definitely need to! They wanted to keep my master in a cage! He nearly died! And what´s with you? They destroyed your life! Don´t you want payback?"
"But that won't help!"
"It helps a lot, Lady, believe me!"
Again he kicked the man.
"You! Bastard! Where are your cronies?"
The man didn´t seem able to speak, but when Raph grasped his hair and lifted him, he couldn´t talk fast enough. Raphael let him fall down and wiped his hand at his weapon belt, as if he had touched something really dirty. Then he hauled off again.
"No! Raphael, not! He told you what you want to know!"
Raphael turned around. Tally froze when she saw the look on his face. She closed her eyes. A sharp snap resounded. When Tally opened her eyes again, the head of the man laid nearly on his shoulder. He wasn´t breathing any more.
She did not move when Raphael walked aside.
"Seems as if I have misjudged you, Lady. I thought you would understand."
Then he was gone- and she was alone with a corpse in her burned down practice. She felt to her knees, tears streaming down her face again. What should she do?