Author's Note. I own zero. Well, that's not true. I own Marie and Jaclyn. Don't tell them I called them zero.
Chapter Four: Let the Flames Begin
It was a warm night, with a nice breeze. The kind of summer night that wasn't meant to be enjoyed from indoors. So while Jaclyn cleaned and Marie perched at the counter, writing furiously in one of her many notebooks, April took her laptop and a cup of coffee out her window and up to the roof to enjoy the weather while researching for her next story.
She spent about a half hour actually working, then relaxed, leaning back in the chair to look up at the sky, what few stars she could see with the city lights.
"Nice night."
She jumped and practically fell out of the chair, as Raphael's massive form stepped out of the shadows. She placed a hand over her heart, willing it to stop pounding.
"God, don't do that!" she said.
"Hey, you wanted me to let you know when I was checking in," he said with a shrug.
She opened her mouth to protest, then snapped it shut. Well, he was right, after all.
At her temporary silence, that usual smirk crossed his face. She'd learned that one of his favorite things was to be right, or at least uncontested. Perhaps an effect of his relationship with Leonardo, which seemed to be a continual power struggle. Leonardo was the eldest, and most level-headed, and even April could see that he was the best option for leadership. Raphael, for all of his strength and passion, may have had what it took to lead, but he was hot-headed and impulsive; not the ideal traits in a leader. Raphael, of course, failed to see this point most of the time. And hated being told what to do.
She sighed and re-situated herself in the chair, gesturing to the bench next to her. "Wanna hang out?" she asked. "I could use a break, and you're more entertaining when you're not doing the 'I Am The Night' thing."
"I only saw it once," Raphael protested at the Batman reference, but at her amused grin, he huffed and sat next to her. She closed the laptop and set it aside, undivided attention on the massive turtle beside her, tucking her legs underneath her casually.
"So," she said. "How are renovations going?"
"Shitty," he answered gruffly. April pursed her lips; they had been hoping to reconstruct the destroyed lair, adding new entrances to ward off any potential foot soldiers, Donatello designing new alarm systems. But, the more they worked, April 's help included, the more they realized that the damage was more extensive than they'd originally thought.
"I wish you guys would have taken up my offer," she protested, not for the first time. She'd tried to convince the turtles and Splinter to come and stay in her apartment once Taylor had moved out. It would have been cramped, but not…well…a pile of rubble.
"Nah," he replied. "We don't belong up here. Not yet."
That had been his excuse. Splinter feared for her own safety, Leonardo didn't want to impose, Donatello couldn't bear to part with that much equipment, and Raphael's own distrust of society won out. Michelangelo had been the only one down to move in. Shocking.
As if sensing that she was about to argue (which, truthfully, she was), he steered the subject in another direction. "How's it going here?"
"Great," she said with a smile. "Loft's awesome, I love the girls. I wish you guys could meet them—"
The familiar buzz of the intercom distracted her, faint from where they sat. April frowned. It was kind of late—
She heard Marie's voice echo through the intercom below. "Yes?"
"I'm looking for April O'Neil?" came a man's voice.
There was a pause. "Can I ask who this is?"
"A colleague, from Channel 6."
April frowned. She didn't recognize the man's voice. She was up and moving toward the railing before Raphael could decide whether or not it was a good idea. She peeked her head over.
He wasn't a colleague. But she recognized him, nonetheless.
It was the man who'd bumped into her days ago, while she was walking home with Marie and Jaclyn.
She wasn't sure if she gasped, or moved quickly, or if he smelled her, but the man looked up and spotted her, and made a sign with his gloved hand toward her.
All hell broke loose.
They appeared out of nowhere, Foot Clan thugs, as if they burst out from the shadows themselves. Swinging down from other roofs, springing out from over the ledges, nearly a dozen of them. Raphael immediately drew his sai, giving out a harsh growl as he took a step in front of April.
"Hello?" came Marie's voice. "What the hell is going on?"
"Marie, stay inside!" April shouted. "Lock the windows and stay inside!"
"April?!" same a faint shout, proof that Jaclyn had overheard the shouts and the din on the roof.
Raphael had made short work of three of the Foot already, and both he and April looked over in distress as Marie and Jaclyn's faces appeared on the roof from the fire escape, though likely for different reasons.
"Why don't humans ever listen?" Raphael roared, taking out another soldier.
Marie and Jaclyn gaped for a split second, but their shock was postponed as a soldier ziplined from a nearby roof to the fire escape behind them. Raphael barreled toward them, and they leapt out of the way, towards April, as he threw the soldier off of the roof.
"What in the fucking fuck is going on?!" Marie yelled, face pale and blue-green eyes saucers.
"I'm so sorry, you guys," April pleaded, then yelped as she was grabbed from behind. Raphael turned at the sound like he was burned, whipping to face the women and making his way over to them.
Not that he was needed, as April twisted into an advantageous position and flipped the soldier over her back and onto the ground. While she managed to dislodge herself from his grasp, he quickly hopped back up, and was about to attack her again, pulling a ninjato from his hip—
"Nope!"
-and was thwarted as a wooden patio table flew through the air, knocking him sideways and unconscious. All activity paused for a moment as all eyes swung to Jaclyn, who'd clearly just launched the table in a surge of adrenaline and ingenuity.
"Holy shit," said Marie and Raphael simultaneously. The two looked at each other in surprise, but the appearance of more Foot distracted them.
"I don't think we have enough furniture for this," Marie said, backing up towards Raphael. Big scary-looking turtle seemed to be on their side, so she clearly was perfectly happy with asking questions later.
"We need to get to the sewer," Raphael hissed, gripping his sai tightly, crouching and ready to spring.
"There's a manhole in the basement," Marie said. "Downstairs, through the shop."
"I'm sorry, sewer?" Jaclyn said.
"Trust me," April said, looking at Jaclyn and Marie imploringly. The girls looked at each other, then nodded.
"Go ahead," Raphael said. "I'll cover you."
The ducked past attacking Foot, scrambling down the fire escape and climbing into April's bedroom window (a feat that Raphael had a bit more trouble with than the girls, and the window frame cracked with the effort). The ran through the apartment, and Marie, leading the train, screamed as the huge windows of the living room came crashing in, Foot pouring into the loft.
"Go!" Raphael roared, turning to fend off the soldiers as the girls ran for the staircase that led to the store below.
"Watch out!"
They turned just in time to be blown back by a hot blast of flames and gas, a grenade exploding against wall of the bedrooms above them. The three women pushed themselves up from the ground, battered and covered in grime and soot from the blast, and ran down their stairs, April looking back over her shoulder to assure that Raphael was in pursuit.
They barreled through the door to the shop, the antiques and knick-knacks already ablaze from another grenade. Marie let out a pained cry at the sight, and Jaclyn pushed her forward.
"Come on, 'Rie, we have to keep going!"
April stopped at the bottom of the stairs, looking up. She saw only flames, and almost turned to run back up, when the dark, hulking form of Raphael appeared and damn near leapt down the entire flight of stairs. "Go!"
Jaclyn took the lead now, grabbing Marie by the arm and running through the smoke toward the trapdoor to the basement.
The manhole to the sewer below was there, just as Marie had promised. Raphael wedged his sai into the gap between it and the floor, wrenching it open.
"Come on!" she said. April followed suit immediately, checking down the hole and quickly hopping down after judging the falling distance was safe. Jaclyn and Marie, however, faltered.
"Are…you serious?" Jaclyn said.
"Would you rather stay here?" Raphael snapped. A well-timed grenade went off, and the two women jumped, practically falling over each other to drop down the manhole.
Raphael looked up toward the ceiling, imagining the carnage the Foot was causing above their heads. His muscles tensed, wanting to jump back into the fight…but right now, he had April and two innocent women to guide to safety.
He let out a deep snort of irritation, and dropped down after the girls.