Chapter 30:

Nothing was heard from the streets about Edmunds or Alfred since the Halloween Party at the precinct. No girls were taken, but many were still on their guard. Evil like that doesn't just stop or go away. He was still out there somewhere.

Seeper was tempted to believe that he had been killed off by the Purple Dragons since he had ties with them. Darson thought that one of his alter egos was caught by another officer and he was taken to jail under a different name. Algut and Deidra kept them down to earth and reminded them of how much power the man had and what he could become at the drop of a hat. But after such a long time of inactivity, she was starting to hope that the nightmare was over and that Hun did do him in. It would make her life a whole lot easier.

Deidra still kept going with her lone nights trying to entice him to come out of hiding. Whenever she started to feel hope that he was gone well up inside her, she could feel his eyes on the back of her neck and she knew for certain that he was just biding his time. As a single target, she didn't see how much easier it could be for him, but he was waiting. She just didn't know for what.

The protective detail that was around Analise got caught not too long after they were in place. The one at the door Analise had been alerted to at the beginning, but got a little unnerved when she found she was being tailed most of the time around shops and at work in her tour groups. Even worse was when Michelangelo noticed it and threatened one of the men without knowing who he was. Once he did find out, however, he wanted to buy the guy a round of pizza at the local pizzeria of his choice. Analise finally just shrugged and accepted it, if for nothing else than for Deidra and Michelangelo's peace of mind.

It was close to Christmas again and both girls were getting calls from the small amount of family they had back home. Some well wishes and confirmation that presents were on their way echoed from either side.

"Yes mom, I'm totally sure," Analise held her phone to her ear and fumbled around in her small purse she sat on the counter. Deidra was lounging on her couch reading over some more possible leads and glanced over the top of the paper to look at her best friend. Analise mouthed 'my mom' to her silently and Deidra nodded her head as Analise began to calm her mother, "I'll be fine and I don't need any extra money. I just got the last of the side commissions done and they paid pretty well. I have enough to get you something extra pretty. Look, I am just going to shop for you, dad, Jim, the kids, Deidra and the guys here."

There was a pause as Analise put her bag over one shoulder once she knew she had everything that she needed, "Yes mom, you will meet Mikey soon, I promise- I know you worry, but he is an awesome guy and you shouldn't. Been nothing but a gentleman to me and Deidra."

Analise suddenly laughs, "I will tell her. Yeah, love you, too. Bye."

"Message from mom?" Deidra asked and smirked up at Analise.

"Yeah, she says she wants to meet your man too. She has this crazy idea that you met him on the job and to be careful with all that work that you do," she chuckled again and put her phone in her bag, "You could attract some serious messed up people."

"She has no idea," Deidra shook her head, "How late you going to be tonight?"

"Probably going to be just a few hours," Analise donned her jacket and zipped it up, "I still have no idea what to get Splinter or Leo. You know how they are… 'All I want for the holidays is inner peace.' How are you supposed to shop for that?"

"I think that's the point they're trying to make," Deidra chuckled lightly and closed another file, "Why are you waiting for last minute shopping anyway? I am so glad I got my shopping out of the way already."

"There is still plenty of time, but I still haven't found where you hid them in this place. So kudos there," Analise teased.

Deidra smiled victoriously, "Where's your man? He's not going to help you carry all the bags?"

"He's already out shopping too," she paused for effect, "…with your man."

"Raph went out Christmas shopping…? With Mikey?"

With a shrug of her shoulders Analise turned from her roommate, "Eh, what can I say? You're turning him all mushy. I will see you around sixish and we can get dinner ready for the guys. Laters."

Deidra laughed dryly until Analise walked out the door and smiled to herself, "If you knew what went on behind my door, you would never say that he had turned mushy ever again."

Once the door was locked the apartment fell silent and Deidra frowned at the lack of background noise. She shifted her eyes around the room around her. Something was off about it. The feeling that eyes were on her again superseded everything around her and she turned quickly to shut the curtains to the living room. She took a quick look around her surroundings and saw Analise as she left the building with a close tail after her. Once Analise was out of her view, she closed the curtains firmly. As much as she liked to watch the snowfall, she didn't like the idea of someone watching her coming and goings.

"I just wish we can get this over with," she grumbled and picked up the next file and turned on the light next to the couch, "I'm so done with this bastard."

"Okay, mark Donnie off the list. He will totally dig the micro board that we got him," Michelangelo smiled happily and swung another bag in his hand as he walked down the street. Raphael walked beside him with two large bags that they had filled throughout their shopping excursion.

"Mikey, how are you enjoying this torture?" he re-situated the bags again in his hands, "Shouldn't you do this with Ana?"

"Then she would know what I got her," Michelangelo laughed it off and then looked back at Raphael with a grin, "And this is primo brother bonding time. Donnie's working on the anti-anti-mutagen and Leo's gone into training overload since he knows that we will find the evil dude at one point or another. You were the only one willing to come along."

"Willing isn't exactly the word that I would use," Raphael growled and shifted his eyes to the store windows, "And you haven't found anything for Analise the whole time we've been out."

"I just haven't found the right thing, you know?" Michelangelo looked over the items in the jewelry store window and shook his head, "Deidra was easy enough with her knowledge of knives and sharp implements, I got her the best knife and sword sharper I could find. But Analise… I mean, she doesn't enjoy flowers, she likes jewelry, but isn't too big on it- she already has every comic known to man between her collection and my own…"

"Yeah, a woman like that- never let her go," Raphael chuckled, "Any other woman would look the other way."

"Yeah, thanks, bro," Michelangelo frowned and turned his head as a sound caught his attention.

Across the street there was a pet shop where little girls were gathered around the window and played with the puppies that were prancing around behind the glass. Along with the three or four children that were already doing so, Michelangelo pressed his face to the glass as he watched the puppies play with one another and spotted a few border collies in the corner. Raphael came up behind him and looked at the purebreds.

"Are you really thinking what I think you are thinking?" Raphael asked and caught a few pit bulls in the other corner. He would like one himself, but they definitely weren't for Deidra.

"Both girls love dogs," Michelangelo smiled with a little bit of a glint to his eyes, "Ana lost hers not too long ago and I think that it will help her out, you know? It won't replace her Coral, but it would be something to pour her love into other than yours truly. Not that I don't mind."

Raphael didn't show any emotion on his face, but the more that Michelangelo talked about it, the more it actually made sense.

"Are you willing to spend eight hundred dollars on a dog, though?" Raphael asked and looked at the price tags that he could see through the window.

"Aw, heck no," he shook his head, "But I want to bring Analise to a shelter so she could pick her out," Michelangelo waved a finger at one of the puppies and began to walk again, "She would rather adopt seeing as pet shop puppies usually find a good home without much help."

"Hm," Raphael hummed and fell into step with Michelangelo, "Mikey… I was wonderin'. Can I piggyback off your idea?"

"Sure, we'll make a day of it. A surprise for the girls," he chuckled and had a lift to his step, "But with that, we are done with everyone else."

"Want to go get some coffee before we head back?" Raphael asked, "I feel like defrosting a little bit before I get back to Deidra. I don't want to hug her and be ice cold. You know her whole temperature thing. And we can figure out on the right shelter to head to and when."

"Might be a good plan," Michelangelo nodded and they headed into the closest coffee shop.

Analise smiled as she looked into her large bag. She was happy to know that she had gotten something for everyone on the list. As hard as it was for Splinter and Leonardo, she had managed to find a few dozen items that fit them in a small oriental shop around the corner that she and Deidra would frequent often. She had lost her ghost tail not too long into her shopping experience. It wasn't too hard seeing all the crowds in the mall and she could take care of herself.

She dug through the bag as she neared the apartment building and saw that the ever trusty doorman was asleep on the job again.

"And Dedira wonders why I don't think that a tail is all that affective," she mumbled and opened the apartment building's front door with her electronic key.

As she walked up the stairs slowly so not to trip herself as she dug through the bag again. She was excited to start wrapping. Something tingled against the back of her neck and she shivered. Her head popped up and looked around as if she was a deer that heard a twig snap in the forest around them. She scanned the stairwell and the floor below her. There was that feeling of being followed. And not in the 'it's just my police tail' kind of way.

She narrowed her eyes and shrugged when she didn't hear anything. It may be just her nerves. Everybody is one edge since they haven't found Edmunds.

Her hand found a little trinket at the bottom of her bag and she smiled. It was a little something for herself since she had done all her shopping in one day. A shadow blocked out a few of the hallway lights from in front of her and she frowned at the thought of having to call maintenance again on them.

But then again the lights have never growled before. Her eyes trailed up from her trinket and to the tall creature before her looking down.

Her shoulders slumped and she let out a deep sigh, "Well… sheisse. This is going to hurt."

Deidra stretched out her back and put away the last of the leads in her bag for tomorrow. There were a few places that she would look into on her next solo recon. She shifted her head to the clock to the side of the kitchen and sighed.

"Sixish, huh?" she smirked and saw that it was a good half hour after six. The guys would be home around seven if she knew Michelangelo's shopping style. And God help Raphael if they passed by any collectable or comic shop.

A sound outside the front door suddenly brought Deidra on high alert. It wasn't something all too unusual, but any knock or thud really set her on edge lately. She heard herself growl in her throat as if it was instinct and strutted determined toward the door. She wasn't going to let some little noise scare her in her own domain.

She looked through the peep hole to find an empty hallway. No one was out walking the halls or knocking on random doors.

"Hm," she shifted her weight and breathed through her nose. Her body stiffened and she took another sniff of the air. She knew that smell.

As she turned around, she felt the rush of fresh air from the now open window. Before she fully turned around she was knocked to the side by a heavy hand like paw. She flew across the room and into the dark kitchen island. She gritted her teeth and rolled out of the way before the same paw punched into the island where her chest was just a moment before. She flipped backwards and took a defensive stance in the open area of the living room.

The monster himself stood again near the island and licked at his chops as he looked her over. Shreds of what she thought was once clothing hung off of him and she would have described him as a really bad wolf man costume if not in the present situation. He growled appreciatively at her reflexes and chuckled a little under his breath.

"What's the matter, agent?" he smiled and showed off his sharp canines, "Am I a little too much for you to handle?"

"Don't be an idiot, Edmunds. Or do you go by Alfred?" she asked and narrowed her eyes at him, "I can't believe that I fell for the distracting noise at the front door bit."

"Many victims do," he began to pace around her, sizing her up, "Now I would like very much not to have to mar your beautiful skin in this process. Why don't you come quietly?"

"You don't know me very well, do you?" she narrowed her eyes and charged with a yell and kicked him head on in the forehead. She jumped off from the power in her kick and flipped back to land next to the dome chair where she hid one of her short blades. She watched him shake off the kick and growled as he turned to spot her again.

"My dear, you do not want to get me angry with you," he settled on all fours and narrowed his eyes again, "I don't want to hurt you. And I won't if you don't fight back."

"I will always fight back," she frowned, "Why didn't you come after me while I was out on recon? I was alone."

"As you always tell me, love. You always fight back," he stepped back onto his back legs and looked to the side near the window where something laid by the windows. He watched her eyes connect and then smiled when grip on her weapon slacked just slightly, "I needed to get the right kind of leverage… and I had a loose end to tie up."

"Ana?" Deidra asked and saw the prone body of her best friend on the floor. He probably carried her in the same time that he had come through the window, but wouldn't let her see her until now. Deidra hurried close to Analise and checked her pulse to make sure she was alive. It was steady, but she had a few cuts and bruises on her from fighting back.

"You don't have much of a chance on your own, love," Edmunds said from the side of the room he was on, "I know that you would fight to the death if it was just you. But you wouldn't risk the life of your companion. She means too much to you. Come with me and I won't hurt her. Or you."

Deidra shifted her eyes to him quickly and the back at Analise. She sighed heavily and shook her head from side to side, "Fuck me sideways."

"What was that?" Edmunds asked and came closer.

Deidra threw the short blade to the side of the room and threw him a sneer, "You win this round."

"Good," he smirked the best her could in the form he was in and then howled toward the window.

A moment after his howl ended a couple of Purple Dragons climbed in through the window while Hun and a couple of his goons busted through the front door.

"It seems as if we will have some visitors, Hun," Edmunds gestured a paw toward Deidra and the unconscious Analise, "Make sure that they get there in one piece."

"And you master?" Hun asked.

"I need to gather the last of my chemical needs," he nodded and hopped over to the window.

"What about the human reptiles?" Hun asked.

Deidra's head popped up in worry.

"Make sure they get the message," Edmunds snapped and climbed out the window.

Hun smirked and walked closer to Deidra, "You heard him. The next time you open your eyes you may just be a bigger freak than they are."

"Leave th-"

Deidra didn't get to finish her sentence as she was hit in the back of the head and fell unconscious over Analise.

"Get them out of here," Hun instructed the small group he brought with him, "We don't have much time before the two freaks get back."

Michelangelo felt really good on the progress that he and Raphael had made on their plans for the day after Christmas. There was a shelter not that far down the road from the apartment and there were always unwanted litters dropped off there. Michelangelo looked up from his thoughts and saw the new doorman asleep again on duty.

Michelangelo and Raphael looked at one another at the same time.

"Will this dude ever learn?" Michelangelo asked with a flourish of his hand.

"Apparently not," Raphael hummed and walked determined toward the poor, sleeping man. As his boots crunched through the snow, he began to notice something a little different from the man's usual sleeping form. His steps shortened and he slowed to a near stop as he took in the form. Instead of the usual comfortable arm over the back of the chair and head rolled back with it, they found him slumped forward, both hands in his lap and head down, covering his neck.

"Something not right," Raphael said more to himself, but Michelangelo heard him.

Michelangelo took the last steps forward and pushed at the man in the shoulder, "Dude?"

The man's body instantly left the chair and dropped into the snow, the still warm blood falling onto the cement and snow. A large gash ran across his neck and across his stomach where his hands had hidden it.

"Edmunds," Raphael gritted his teeth and snapped his head to the doorway to the building, "Deidra."

"Ana!" Michelangelo shouted and both men were in the building and flying up the stairs as quickly as they were able.

They reached the top of the floor the apartment was on and found the door wide open. They ran through it and found the place a mess. It looked like a small scuffle, but not to the damage that was done to the place the first time around. Michelangelo dropped the bags he didn't know he was still holding and his eyes scanned the area before he ran to the hallway.

"Ana!" he yelled down the hallway and into her room, "Ana, where are you, baby?"

"Mikey," Raphael called to him and brought Michelangelo back into the front room.

The brothers stood together and looked up at the large wall to the side of the windows. In bright purple paint a sloppy 'Come and get them, reptiles' was written on the wall.

Raphael's fists clenched so tightly that he knew his knuckles were white.

"Where did they take them?" Michelangelo said in a dark voice that Raphael didn't know his brother had.

"I don't know, but we will figure it out. NO ONE takes my woman," Raphael seethed and turned from the wall to the door, "Hun has lived long enough. Let's get Leo and Donnie. We will need their help on this."