Author's Notes: Back to Donnie POV for this chapter.
Donnie runs the command center and Raphael makes poor life choices.
Chapter 25
"Raph! Raph! Dammit!" I cry, watching him rip out the earpiece.
No, no, no.
He wouldn't be this stupid, he couldn't be! He's going to ruin the whole plan. He's going to get himself killed and for what? I push along the desk to find the screen that shows my other brothers and press the channel for Leo's communicator. My heart is hammering in my chest and I feel helpless and so very far away.
"Leo, you have to open that door. You have to stop him," I say and try without much success to keep from raising my voice.
"He's got the door blocked somehow," Leo replies with a grunt. "We'll go around. How can we cut him off?"
I look over at April and she's already tracing her finger along the blueprints, trying to find the best route. She takes hold of my face and pulls me forward so she can speak into the microphone of my headset.
"Leo, there should be an airshaft about eight feet back from where you're standing," she says. "Head east and make your first right."
"Is there any way you guys can slow him down?" Leo asks, already moving.
I duck my head to pull out of April's grip and search the camera feeds to find Raphael. He's heading towards the office block. There's only one reason why he would be going that way and it makes my insides turn to ice. He'll reach a security door soon. Frantically I look over the schematics to find the number for the door. If I can override the lock I can keep him from going any further, even with the code.
7146!
"I can lock the door," I say, typing as fast as I can with my one hand.
He's punching in the code and the mechanism light turns green. I type in the override and the lock slides back to red. Relief, tentative and fragile starts to warm the cold dread in my stomach. I can't hear him, but I'm sure he's cursing. He types in the code again, moving to pull open the door and I override the lock once more. It would have been funny if he wasn't in mortal danger. He punches and kicks the door and pulls on the handle, leaning his foot against the wall for leverage.
His hands drop from the handle and his head swivels slowly around the ceiling until he spots the security camera. I wince as though he might hit me through the screen. He pulls out his communicator from his belt and slides it into his ear. He reaches up to press the button and his voice is even and more than a little scary as he stares daggers.
"Is that you?" he asks.
I swallow back my nerves and steady my voice. "Yes."
"I'm not playing around here, Donatello," he says, the words more like a growl. "Open the damn door."
"And you think I'm playing?" I reply, feeling the dread start to build again when Leo and Mikey vanish from sight into the air ducts. "We have a mission, Raphael. Who knows how many people are going to get hurt if…"
"Donnie."
The fear in April's voice makes any lingering relief a distant memory. She's staring straight ahead at the screen in front of her, wide eyed and pale. I roll my chair over to see for myself. Guards. At least a dozen, all carrying what appear to be automatic weapons. My computer gives a shrill series of beeps and I roll over to the keyboard and the main monitor.
No, no, no!
"Raph, get out of there right now!" I shout when he starts to argue. "There are guards and they've discovered my trace. You have to get out of there now. Get into the vents. Leo and Mikey…"
I swallow back any further instruction, wincing at the sound of the guards descending into the hallway before Raph drops his hand from the earpiece and I'm left to stare in silence. The camera feed is disrupted by white smoke, blocking my brother from view. They're trying to gas him out. I have to do something. I can't sit here and…
Sprinklers!
I type in a series of commands. They might have detected my presence in the security system, but they haven't managed to kick me out. I won't let them. I scroll through the alarms and find the sprinkler system. They burst to life and rain down water in the hallway, dispersing the worst of the gas. I can see Raph again. He's crouching along the wall, his hand covering his mouth and nose. I move back to the screen with the locks and open the door.
"Raph, the door is open. Run!" I cry, hoping the earpiece is still working.
He struggles to his feet, pushing off the wall and stumbles towards the door.
"Leo, Raph is pinned down. About a dozen guards with guns," I say, switching to Leonardo's channel. "How close are you guys?"
"We've gone about twenty yards," he replies, his voice muffled and cutting out every so often.
They're not close enough.
Raph moves in slow motion. The guards are only a few feet away with their weapons raised. He staggers and falls through the open door into the hallway beyond and out of sight of the security camera. I quickly lock the door behind him.
"Raph? Raph, are you all right?" I ask.
April stands beside me, her hand closed tightly around my arm. He doesn't answer. Not right away and the seconds feel like an eternity while we wait. I let out a breath when I hear his communicator crackle to life.
"Who is this?" a cold female voice asks and April's grip tightens.
I don't answer. I desperately search the camera feeds to find the new hallway.
"The sprinklers, the doors, was that you?" she asks and even though her voice is cavalier I sense an anger behind it. "You hacked our security system. That's impressive. Stupid, but impressive."
There!
Raph is lying on the ground. He's not moving and I feel sick inside. There are five guards standing in riot gear with their weapons trained on his prone body. The woman with the cold voice lingers over him, nudging him with the toe of her high-heeled boot. She snaps her fingers and points at my brother. Two of the guards move forward and lift him to his knees where they bind his arms behind his back.
"Are you watching?" she asks, turning his face towards the security camera.
Raph's communicator is held in her hand and even through the slightly grainy video feed I can see the cold, calculating look in her eyes. She's in charge and we've underestimated her. We never should have gone in. We weren't ready. We aren't ready and now she has the upper hand. Now she has my brother.
"They told me about these…abominations," she says, leaning over to lift up Raph's chin to get a better look at his face. "I have to admit I didn't believe it, but this," she laughs and there is no happiness behind it. "I suppose seeing is believing," she says, letting go of Raph's face and letting his chin fall back to his chest. "Are you a freak too, eyes in the sky?" she asks and I take in a breath and lean back from the screen, silent. "It isn't wise to ignore me," she adds. "I know you're there. I can hear you breathing."
"Let him go," I say, my voice far more animalistic than I would like.
"Make me," she says back with a sneer.
She slides a pistol from the holster at her hip and fires a single shot at the camera sending the screen crashing to black. I flinch and stare at the blank screen, hoping beyond reason that the picture will flicker back to life and Raph will have escaped. The communicator crackles in my ear and I want to rip it off my head and throw it to the ground.
"If you've managed to hack our security system I'm sure you've been poking around in our other files, taking things. I have very little patience for thieves. Especially thieves who hide behind their computer screens and send others in to do their dirty work," she says, each word hinting at a thinly veiled threat.
"I didn't steal…"
"You'll bring me everything you've taken," she growls and the cool anger is replaced with something bordering rage. "Every print out, every hard drive I want any piece of equipment you used to weasel your way in here and if you try to keep anything or don't show your face, coward I will rip apart your freak here and scatter the pieces in the East River. Bring it to the private entrance on the western side of the warehouse. I believe you know the way. You have four hours."
I wince at the reverb when she switches off the communicator. April's fingers are crushing on my arm and I'm sure they'll leave a bruise. I don't care. It doesn't matter. I'm going to be sick. I search every camera feed I can find for even a hint of my brother or his captors. Several of the screens have gone black and I'm sure that woman is covering her tracks. She knows I'm watching and doesn't want me to see what she has planned. We underestimated her.
"L-Leo?" I say, struggling to get his name out.
"We're…almost there," Leo's crackling voice replies.
"They have Raph," I say and my stomach drops when he takes a few moments to respond.
"What do you mean?" he replies and I know he heard me, but he doesn't want to believe it. I don't want to believe it either.
"The guards and…and that woman," I explain. "They have him. They're," I swallow and pinch my eyes shut. "They're going to hurt him. She knows, Leo. She knows about us and she's going to hurt him."
There's another awful pause and when he speaks again it's with his stern leader voice and this time it doesn't bother me one bit. "No, she's not," he says evenly. "Find out where they're holding him. We'll break him out and then burn this place to the ground."
I nod, forgetting he can't see me. "Right," I say quietly. "You and Mikey stay put."
They'll get captured too. She's one step ahead. They're on her turf.
I change the channel on the communicator. "Casey? Are you in position?" I ask surprised at how steady my voice is.
"We ready to blow this place, D?" he replies, sounding a little too excited about the prospect.
"No, hold off," I reply. "Stay where you are. April and I will be there soon."
"What?" he replies in unison with April.
"They have Raph," I explain.
He doesn't have to hear anything else. He understands. He won't try to talk me out of it.
"Get over here," he growls. There's nothing else left to say.
I take off my headset and push away from the desk. I have a lot of work to do and not a lot of time to do it in. I grab my T-Phone and a tablet, connecting them to the tower on the main computer. I need to transfer the files. I need backups for my backups and a way to still maintain control of the security system once I leave the lair. She can have the hard drive and she can also have the virus I'll attach to her precious files.
"What are you doing?" April asks and I jump at her sudden voice, so intent on the task at hand I almost forgot I wasn't alone.
"Making a Trojan horse," I mutter, setting to work.
"You can't go to the warehouse," she says and her voice wavers.
My hand pauses for only a moment before I lower my head and get back to work.
She doesn't understand.
"Donnie," she says, resting her hand on top of mine. "Donatello…"
"What do you want me to do, April?" I ask, forcing myself to meet her gaze. "Sit back and let them kill my brother?"
"And what happens if you hand over this stuff to that woman?" she replies, not backing down under my accusing tone. "Do you think she's going to let Raph go? Do you think she's going to let you go?"
Her voice holds a shrill edge and her fingers tighten around my wrist. "You can't go," she says and my heart aches deep in my chest. "I just got you back."
I lean my forehead against hers and let my eyes drift closed. I breathe in her scent and it's flowers and sunshine and everything good in the world. I don't want to hurt her. That's the absolute last thing I want to do. She leans against me and I want to wrap my arms around her and tell her everything will be all right. I can't get the words out. I can't lie to her.
"I don't have a choice," I murmur, wincing when she makes a tiny pained noise in her throat. "This is my fault. I have to fix it."
She pushes back and my skin feels cold where she's no longer touching me. Her eyes are wild and anger tints her skin a light pink. "What are you talking about? How is this your fault? Raphael…"
"Only went after those people because he thought he had to get revenge," I reply and my explanation does nothing to calm the growing storm in her eyes. "Revenge for…for what they did to me."
She takes hold of my face and I can't look away even though the storm is brewing and I'm powerless against it. "You are not responsible for your brother's actions," she says and her grip tightens. "You are not responsible for any of this. Those people, that woman, it's their fault. Not yours."
I kiss her. There isn't time. I have work to do, but a terrible, clawing worry settles in my chest and I'm afraid this might be my last chance. She kisses back and for one fleeting moment there's only her and me clinging to each other with desperate mouths and searching hands. When we break apart it's a struggle to catch my breath and even more so to find any words that are even mildly coherent.
"I have to go," I say quietly, my voice rough and struggling. "But, I can't…I'll need your help, April. I won't be able to…to do this on my own."
You can barely stand, probably won't be able to do it with help either. Pathetic.
She leans in again and kisses me. It's soft and quick and makes me forget the shame of admitting my own limitations. "You won't have to," she insists and the fire is back in her eyes. "We'll figure this out together. Like we always do," she kisses me on the forehead and sets her mouth in a determined line. "Let's get to work."
