DISCLAIMER: Don't own them. Do own the story that surrounds them, though. Inspired by a friend. Side note: I was aware that there has been at least one story where Leo had amnesia – and I can safely say that it is one story I have not read – yet. I'm tempted, where I want to make sure that I don't unintentionally copy, but then I don't want to stifle my creative juices, either. Enough said. :o)
CHAPTER 3 – The Hunters
New York City brownstones were a godsend to the overcrowding problem of the Big Apple, but not nearly as fortuitous as it was to three very concerned, bi-pedal turtles. Constructed in long, side-by-side rows in a part of the City that had seen better days, the prewar apartments made it easy for the mutants to get across town without anyone seeing them. That is, unless they had to cross a street, which then forced them to go down to ground level. Otherwise, they were able to travel in relative anonymity from the rest of the human population.
Currently, they were looking for someone. Of the three, one was not the least bit pleased with the task.
"Mike, are you sure that Leo was only goin' on a run?" Raph asked irritably as he raced along the top of the brownstone roof.
Approaching the south side of the apartment building that they were currently on, he and his two brothers easily leaped the twelve-inch divider that separated one brownstone from another. Landing easily on the other side, Raph continued running across the top of the five-story structure, while Mike and Don followed along behind him. All three stuck to the central part of the row, keeping to the shadows, lest anyone in the taller, nearby structures take notice of them.
Now would not be a good time for someone to spot them, considering the fact that their oldest brother was currently 'AWOL'.
"Look, it's what Leo told me, 'kay?" Mike insisted while he huffed along. He looked behind him to make sure that Don was keeping up. It wasn't that his genius brother was slow, but there were times when Don would spot something 'interesting' and become a little distracted. He was always finding discarded junk to take home, often fixing his discoveries, and getting them working again. Such items as discarded televisions, toasters and other conveniences made it possible for the turtles to have the amenities that they did.
However, this night Donatello was just as concerned about their 'fearless leader' as Mike and Raph were. Consequently, he kept his focus on their current task; that is - finding Leonardo.
"You know, the way Leo's been actin' lately, Mike, takin' off this way on a regul'r basis an' all," Raph grumbled to his youngest brother, "it's almost as if he's..."
Mike finished for him, "Tired of leading?" Coming alongside his brother, he leaped almost in unison as the two of them sailed side by side over a narrow alleyway to the next series of brownstones. Donatello followed closely from behind.
"Yeah, tired of leadin'." Raph concurred. He noticed Don had caught up with them and was now keeping pace, so he turned to him as they sailed over another apartment divider, "You think he's try'n to quit, Don?"
Don did not answer right away. However, after a quick moment and while the trio stopped to look down the backside of a set of brownstone to the dimly lit alley below, he replied, "Might just want some time to himself. After all, being the 'fearless leader' you two make him out to be, that's a lot of pressure, not to mention what Sensei puts on him."
"Well," Raph commented, snorting in frustration at another unsuccessful search, "He can't quit and he can't take time off, cuz if he quits, then Splinta's gonna wan'a new leadah and we know neither of you will take the job. That leaves..."
Mike finished for him, again, sighing just a little, "You. Yeah, we know, Raph." He was not too thrilled with the prospect, either, and it wasn't the first time his brother had ranted on about the prospect.
"I ain't tak'n the job, no matta how hard Splinta' pushes me, I'm not tak'n it." Raph growled out, setting off again across the apartment roof.
The three ran silently along the top of the brownstones, keeping to the rear of the buildings as they followed along the back-alley. Across from them to their left was another set of brownstones that faced Greenwich Ave. As they ran, they quickly checked out each area in their hunt before moving on to the next apartment. They were working their way to where Greenwich Ave and Seventh St. intersected, sticking to the shadows that the various storage-sheds and air ducts offered them. When they had to, they would leap over the narrow expanse of alleys and narrow streets as they searched for their missing brother. So far, they had managed roughly fifteen blocks of brownstones, only occasionally going to ground level if the distance between buildings proved to be too great.
Currently, the moon hid like a phantom behind a curtain of dark clouds as it ghosted across the night sky. It deepened the shadows of the evening and aided their task to remain hidden from curious eyes. For the past hour, the three had been searching for their older sibling. However, each subsequent minute that passed without even a clue to Leo's whereabouts, caused more concern for them.
Consequently, they were starting to become desperate.
Don wondered as he followed his brothers onto yet another rooftop, "Maybe he went down to street level."
Snorting, Raph countered as he turned to face him, "Not Leo, not with the Foot as active as they've been." He slowed his progress, looking around at the top of the apartment they were on, "Not willingly, anyway."
As he stopped at the edge of the last apartment on that particular block, thereby halting their progress, Raph leaned his head back to look up at the ebony sky. Letting out along frustrated breath, "He has to be somewhere, bros," Raph glanced back down to the rooftop. Yet, as he did so, something caught is attention.
Blood.
"Hey, guys…" he whispered urgently, "look, there's blood here." Raphael crouched into a squat. He noticed a fine, but heavy smattering of red spread out along the roof's tarpaper, as if it sprayed from its source in an outward arch. Next, he ran his fingers through some of the droplets of liquid red. Rubbing the substance between thumb and finger, he announced, "and it's relatively fresh, too; maybe an hour old or less."
Both Don and Mike bent down to take a look. "Yeah," Don agreed, "It is recent." He, too, dragged a finger through the blood and worked it between his fingers as Raph had done. "Do you think it's Leo's?"
Mike shrugged, "How would Raph know that, Don? You're the genius in the clan. What do you think?"
Don brought his now-red fingers up to his snout and sniffed, squinting just a bit in concentration and allowing the coppery scent to permeate his senses. Finally, he said, "Well, I know one thing."
Both Raph and Mike chorused, "What?"
Grinning just a bit, Don deadpanned, "You're right, it is blood," and quickly ducked to avoid getting a smack from Raphael. "Just kidding. Honestly, though, I wouldn't be able to tell if it's Leo's or a cat's unless I brought a sample back to the lair."
"Well," Raph suggested as he rose to stand once more, "on the assumption that it is Leos, we need to find him and fast."
Walking to the edge of the building and peering down below them, they spied yet another alley. It crossed and intersected with the one that they had been following, causing that one to dead-end. The new alley ran between Greenwich and Waverly and behind a long, single row of businesses that faced Seventh Street. The three crouched down once again as they visually inspected the area, trying to see anything that might provide more clues to their brother's whereabouts. While they did, they kept their profiles low and as much in the shadows as they could.
"Leo could have run into some Foot up here." Don commented, "The way the blood sprayed out like that, might have been from a main artery rupture, which would happen if an arm was severed." He looked around, as did the others. "However, I don't see an arm lying around; do you?" Don asked as he visually scanned the area.
"Nope." Mike replied dryly, "But that doesn't mean it didn't happen. They could have just taken it with them."
Raph looked at his orange-masked brother, "Right, I'm sure they took a useless arm back to their headquarters."
"Well, why would they leave behind a severed arm like that?" Don remarked as he sided with Mike, "Once it starts to decay, the smell alone will attract attention, and then the whole neighborhood will be quarantined by the police." Shaking his head, Don added, "The Foot's been too busy at this end of town; they wouldn't leave any evidence of their presence like that."
"Whatevah." Raph grumbled and sighed. He looked across the tops of the building across from them that faced Seventh. "Maybe he went over to Greenwich-proper to people watch."
As Raph began to straighten back up, Don looked to his right and spied a lone figure hurrying through the alley from the direction of Waverly Avenue. The person was heading for Greenwich, obviously using the alley as a short cut. Their hurried pace indicated that they were not very comfortable being there, either.
Don silently reached out and pulled Raph back down to a crouch position again, with Mike doing the same.
The individual was wearing a hooded cape, so it was hard to discern if the figure was male or female. Either way, all three turtles noted the person seemed to be holding a couple bags of groceries in their arms.
"Not a smart thing to do, traveling through an alley like that," Don commented softly, as he observed the human's hasty progress.
Both of his brothers nodded in agreement and then Raph whispered, "Might as well stick around and make sure they get safely to the other end, eh?" He sighed, "Then, we continue looking for Leo?"
"Works for me." Don agreed.
Suddenly, the two heard a voice off to their left. It was soft, too soft for the person below to hear him, yet, just the same, it was augmented to sound low and theatric, "We wait, we watch, WE are the Sentries of the Night, Guardians of the Foolhardy, Protectors of the…" Mike soon felt a fist slugging him in the arm.
"Idiot of the Sewers…Be quiet, and just keep yer eyes peeled for trouble, 'kay, Mike?" Raphael growled out.
"Sheesh, just trying to make this more interesting." Mikey complained in mock indignation. He then went serious as the three of them continued to watch the progress of the person in the alley below.
As she walked along, Beth hefted the bags again to re-position them better in her arms. She had not planned on going through the alley to get back home, but while she was in the store, she remembered the sword.
Initially, she was just going to forget about it, where she doubted very much it belonged to the creature. However, if it were indeed her patient's possession, then the right thing to do would be to try to retrieve it for him.
She also knew that leaving the sword in the alley would only advertise the fact that something had been seriously hurt. With the blood on the sword and on the ground nearby, it would only cause alarm if someone else found it. Yet, it frightened her with just thinking about the kind of element who had obviously beaten up her guest. If they could do that to a simple creature, how much harm could they, then, do to her?
That was her greatest fear.
Just the same, though, she felt obligated and somewhat compelled to retrieve the weapon before the police, or someone else, discovered it.
As she came to the part in the alley where she had first found the creature, she slowed down. Looking around to make sure that there wasn't anyone watching, she turned back towards the debris pile. Using her foot, she moved several small crates and boxes to the side, quickly revealing the item in question. She stared at it for just a moment before shifting her packages one more time in order to pick the sword up.
The trio of mutants watched from the rooftop above as the lone figure below them slowed their progress through the alley. They watched as the person looked over the area. Then, they saw him use his foot to move some of the debris that was alongside the back of the warehouse. As the human shifted one of the grocery bags over to the other arm, he bent down as if to pick something up.
Straightening back to vertical, he turned around to face the middle of the alley, as if to use what lighting there was to inspect his find.
It was then that he held up a sword, as if examining it.
That was when all three ninja brothers sucked in their breath.
"Leo's katana!" Raph hissed through his bared teeth. "What in shell is he doing with one of Leo's katana? And, where's the other one"
"Don't know, bro, maybe it's with Leo. But I think that person knew it was there all along," Mike remarked, "He slowed way too expectantly to just see it by accident, He knew it was there. I'm betting he knows where Leo is, too!"
"Hey, let's not jump to conclusions, guys. Could be he saw it by accident. Who knows," Don said, "maybe at his angle, he saw it poking out and went to investigate?"
"Just the same," Raph exclaimed, "We need to get it back." He began to edge slowly towards the lip of the roof to climb down to the alley below.
Don, however, gently laid a hand on his brother's arm, "Maybe we should shadow him first, Raph, and find out where he lives, and then go from there."
Raphael growled low under his breath. He would have preferred to jump the person and scare him into telling where his brother was. Just the same, he had to agree with his brainiac brother.
Reluctantly, Raph nodded in agreement.
Donnie smiled, "Good." He looked down and noticed that the human was starting back towards Greenwich again, the sword cleverly concealed inside their coat. He smiled a little at the ungainly gate the person used, realizing the sword was probably putting them off balance. Turning towards Raphael, Don suggested, "Maybe one of us should follow him, to see where he lives."
As she wielded the weapon around and examined it, Beth was surprised with how heavy the sword was. She had all she could do to slip it under her cloak without losing her groceries. Once she had it successfully beneath the fabric of her cape, though, she eased one of the bags of goods over to her other arm again. Then, she used both bags to secure the weapon against her chest. She grimaced when she realized the bread was going to be a bit flatter once she made it to her apartment.
Just the same, she was determined not to drop the sword.
Overall, it made for a more difficult, if not interesting, walk as she tried keeping the implement from dropping below the hemline of her cloak. She toddled along at first, walking a bit stiffly, and somewhat drunken like.
However, by the time she came to the end of the alley, she had adjusted to the awkward weight of the weapon.
Coming out from the narrow street, she carefully looked around. Considering what she was hiding inside her cloak, her paranoia was at an all time high. Suddenly, she sensed that someone was behind her. Whipping her head around, Beth peered into the alley and looked towards Waverly, two blocks away. She visually took in the piles of junk strewn alongside the back of the buildings, squinting in the patchwork of light and dark. She was certain that someone was there, yet, the longer she looked the more she realized it was probably her anxiety playing tricks on her again.
Huffing a little, she thought to herself, "Hmm…would have sworn there was somebody there."
Shaking off her momentary insecurities, she peered around towards the street again. Looking to her right and towards the corner of Seventh and Greenwich, she was relieved to see that the police were now gone. Earlier, they had been too preoccupied with writing up the crime scene than to notice her. She knew that they had to collect what evidence there was before moving on, which only made her aware of the fact that something of importance had happened with the man in the black pajamas.
Just the same, the last thing she wanted was for the authorities to discover what she had hidden under her cape. The last thing she needed to have happen was to be arrested for possession of a concealed weapon. She was trying to do a good deed, after all.
Nevertheless, Beth had learned long ago that such good deeds often backfired.
Realizing that the police had moved on and were no longer in her area, she relaxed and set her mind on getting back inside her apartment and to safety.
Once she was in the main foyer, she breathed a temporary sigh of relief. Now, climbing the stairs was going to be her next challenge. Looking up through the stairwell towards the fourth level, she wondered if it would be prudent to leave one bag of groceries behind, just so she would be able to manage the sword better. When she had the weapon safely inside her home, she could then return for the other bag. As she thought about it, though, Beth knew that her groceries would probably be 'long gone' by that time.
Realizing there wasn't any other way; she took a big breath and the first step towards her apartment.
"Are you sure he went inside, Raph?" Don asked his brother.
Raph took a deep breath and shook out the strain in his hand from climbing back up to the rooftop. Turning towards his siblings, he replied, "Yep, I'm sure. Followed him to Greenwich and then saw him walk straight inside the brownstone across the alley over there." He nodded towards the apartment in question, narrowing his eyes just a bit as he studied the building.
"What'd he do then?" Mike asked as he scratched his arm. He looked over the area below once more, hoping to see Leo's second sword, just in case he had lost it down there, as well.
"Before he came out of the alley, he seemed to know I was nearby. Good thing it's dark 'round that point, though. I used a pile of trash to hide in; he didn't even see me." Raphael smirked and then went serious, as he explained, "However, once he was in the apartment, it's hard to say what he did next. There wasn't any place fer me to hide out front. But I did see 'em walk up the steps and go inside."
"Now what do we do" his two brothers chorused.
Raph was quiet for a moment, thinking about the human, analyzing things in his mind. Turning back to Don, he asked as he folded his arms across his plastron, "If I asked you male or female, which would it be, oh-smart-brother-of-mine?"
"Huh?" Don asked, "Oh, you mean the person with Leo's katana." He looked away as if trying to recall what he saw. Then, he whipped his head back towards Raph, his eyes bright, "Female. Their pace was not quite right to be male. The way they held the sword and how they walked after that, it seemed almost too heavy for them. Definitely female."
"What I was think'n, too, bro." Raph sneered.
"So, male or female, what difference does it make, she still has Leo's katana and he's still missing." Mike shook his head. He was quite confused.
"It means, my dear brother, Leo might be with HER!" Raph grinned and rapped his knuckles on his brother's skull for emphasis. "Most women hate weapons of any kind. For that woman to pick up Leo's katana and take it with her, she had a good reason – and I think that reason is our missing brother!" He then smiled as he turned towards the apartment in question, taking off at a swift run.
"But, why would he be with her?" Mike asked, still not convinced as he rubbed the top of his head. He and Don followed Raph as their brother easily leapt from the rooftop they had been standing on. Hurtling over the alley that they had followed earlier, they were no more than a flight of shadows piercing the evening. Like the trained ninja they were, they effortlessly bridged the wide gap between the two brownstone apartments, with all three landing silently on top of the one facing Greenwich. Grabbing the ground to steady themselves, they then continued to run along its roof towards the access door.
As Raph led the way, he explained to Mike as his youngest brother and Don kept pace next to him, "Consider this. Leo's been gone for well over three hours. His runs lately have been an hour, no less, no more; just like clockwork. We can't find him, though, which I think is strange, since we can always find each other. But, no matter where we've searched, Leo remains missing. Why is that?" He looked at his two brothers and saw Mike shrug. However, before either Donnie or Mike could utter a response, Raphael declared, "Because I think Leo's unconscious. I believe he's hurt. That blood back there was too much of a coincidence. I believe that woman knows where he is." He smirked, "She's found his sword, bros. Maybe 'cuz he asked for it or maybe 'cuz she's helping him t'cover his bases. Whatevah." Raph then looked at Mike and grinned, "Either way, Mike, you were right, she knew the katana was there, she knew exactly where to find it. She knows where Leo is, I'm sure of it!"
With that, Raph carefully and quietly opened the unlocked access door. He quickly motioned for his brothers to follow him into the apartment complex. Soon, all three turtles disappeared inside.
Pants and Amnesia – that was the topic for the majority of comments made in the reviews for chapter two. Who would have thought being a turtle and not wearing pants would be funny. LOL Just the same, I truly and sincerely appreciate every person who read and every person who reviewed. Those who left their comments at the door were – BubblyShell22, MidnightHeir, JeFfYzGaL2, Ghost-girl-13, Lioness-Goddess, pacphys, Eagle20401, Ramica, Lunar Ninja, Mystic Mewtew, Darktiger2, Katana-Babe, and Pretender Fanatic. Gosh, guys, you slay me with your interest with this story. Thanks so much for taking the time. For obvious reasons, to comment on each of yours would violate some 'fine print' rule of Fan Fiction as far as how much room it would take - and I do desire not to rock that proverbial boat. However, to Lunar Ninja wondering how Leo could get amnesia, he had head trauma and a concussion – which can often cause amnesia. Traumatic events can also result in memory loss, but brain damage is usually the reason. Anyway, in the meantime, be blessed and may ya'll have a wonderful holiday.