Whoa, this chapter is a little longer than I thought! You guys don't mind, right? Thanks for all the favs, follows and reviews! :)

CHAPTER SIX

When the bus pulled up Donatello was ready, dressed from head to toe in an outfit chosen to hide him entirely, and with his staff disguised as a walking cane again. His food and water had been transferred into an old backpack, obtained with his disguise from Goodwill. He walked in and chose an empty seat. The lady he sat down next to took one brief look at him before returning to her paper.

He really hoped that Bishop would buy this whole Donatello-is-actually-heading-straight-for-New-York-instead-of-elsewhere business. It was so unlike Don that he wondered if it was actually believable. He had just left the car near the bus stop and…got on the bus. It was so simple that it might actually work, since Bishop would assume that Donnie had a much more intelligent plan up his sleeves.

Maybe taking advice from Raphael might actually be a good idea. But he still wouldn't make a habit of it.

But what would he do when he was back in New York? The lack of an in-depth plan was driving him crazy. He would have preferred to have five different plans in motion right now. Instead, he was winging it, Raph style.

The bus hit a pothole, which everyone in the bus ignored. They still had a long way to go, but Donatello couldn't just sit back and enjoy the ride. He needed to think. The lockdown of New York would be lifted soon, he didn't doubt that at all. It wasn't good for tourism, and the locals weren't going to be too happy about it if it went on too long. He could sneak in as soon as it was down. And maybe Bishop wouldn't expect him back at New York so soon, since he had just learned that Donnie was at the Farmhouse.

The shellcell beeped, and Donnie shifted in surprise. A text already? That meant that Raph had already booked the hotel for him. Just how fast was Raphael's computer?

He looked at the text:

Get off

Wait. What?

He looked at the text again. It was obviously from Raph; the curt way his brother wrote his texts was proof enough of that. But what was he talking about? What did Raph want him to get off of?

Donnie slapped his own forehead, startling the woman seated to him. The bus. Raph wanted him to get off the bus! Geez, he could have just said the whole thing in the text message.

But he had only just got on the bus, and he was supposed to stay there all the way to New York. Why had Raphael changed the plan? Was this some kind of trap?

No, he shook his head. Bishop wouldn't dare try to trap him with something so obviously suspiscious. Besides, the caller ID said Raphael. The text was from his brother. Come to think of it, this was the perfect definition of a Raph plan: the plan changes at whim. Well, at least this was unpredictable enough to fool Bishop.

Groaning, Donnie got up and put on his backpack, then grabbed his staff. Despite the movement of the bus, he walked up to the front of the bus and waited.

"You getting' off?" a man near the front asked.

"Yeah," said Donnie.

"You sure?" the man asked, "There isn't anythin' around at the next stop. Mostly for residents to get to work, and even they have to walk a ways to get back home. Most take a bike though."

"I'm visiting a friend." Donnie said.

"There could be a closer stop," the man said, "This one is out in the middle o' nowhere."

"No thanks," said Donnie.

The man shrugged. "Suit yourself," he said.

When the bus finally pulled up at the bus stop, Donatello was the only one to get off the bus. It was a stop in the middle of the woods somewhere, with the bus stop shelter being the only immediate sign of civilization. A few cars drove down the road, but since there was nothing nearby they continued driving on.

"Great," Donnie said sarcastically to himself, "Now I'm off the bus and out in the open."

What the shell was he supposed to do now? Wasn't Raph supposed to call him at this point or something? Maybe he should call Raph, just to confirm the meaning of the text.

No. Raph couldn't call Donnie, because he had no idea when Donnie would get off the bus. So that meant that Donnie would need to call him instead. But he couldn't call his brother, in case Bishop was in the room.

But how was Donnie supposed to know what to do, unless Raph told him? He trusted his brother, but he preferred to plan things out first. As in, don't randomly tell a guy to get off a bus without telling him where to go afterwards.

So. Should he head off into the woods, follow the road or stay where he was? Which route would bring him to New York faster? Hm. If he went into the woods it would be easier for Bishop to capture him there than if he was in a crowded city. ..

Suddenly a loud honking sound brought Don harshly back to reality.

A large black limo that had traversed the otherwise abandoned road was beeping its horn while going five miles an hour. And although it was the daytime, the headlights were flashing. It looked like the driver was trying to hail Donnie.

Something strange was going on. And-well, he didn't want to make it look any stranger by ignoring this. Maybe the guy was lost. Probably, since Bishop would have used something more inconspicuous than a limo. Don walked over to the driver's side window.

"Uh, can I help you?" Donnie asked.

"Are you Donatello?" the driver asked as he rolled down his window.

"Uh," said Donnie, immediately suspicious. Bishop wouldn't set a trap as obvious as a limousine, would he? "Who are you?"

"I was hired by your travel agent to bring you to your hotel," the driver said, taking Donnie completely by surprise, "Was told to follow the bus until some overly-dressed fella by the name of Donatello got off, probably carrying a cane. Heh, I didn't know he meant you dressed like that, I thought he meant a tux. Seriously man, it's summer. Aren't you hot?"

"Excuse me," said Donnie politely, "But just to make sure we're on the same page, what hotel are you taking me to?"

"The one you booked," the driver said, "It's the-"

Did Raphael seriously just send him a limousine to bring him to a hotel? A little warning might have been nice.

But why the limo? And why the change of plans? Come to think of it, how did Raph manage to book a hotel and also get a limousine?

"-ey, Buddy! Are you listening?" The limo driver said, interrupting Donnie's thoughts, "Either you get in or you don't. What's it going to be?"

"Sorry," Donnie apologized.

He thought for a few seconds. If the same offer to hop in a limousine had been given to Raph, the older turtle would have jumped right in, with Donnie and Leo warning him that it might be a trap. Mikey, on the other hand, would have called shotgun and jumped right in the front seat. Bishop knew that it was completely unlike Donnie to enter a strange vehicle like this, and therefore, when he thought about it, Don concluded that this limo probably was arranged by Raphael.

"I'm coming." he finally announced.

"Good," said the driver, getting out of the car, "I'll open the door for you."

As Donnie moved to get inside the black limousine, he wondered if he had made the right decision. Because if not, he was walking straight into a trap.

The driver closed the door and returned to his seat, soon bringing the vehicle to motion again. He was too far away for Donnie to speak to him comfortably, but maybe there was an intercom somewhere in this thing. After a few minutes, Donnie thought of searching for it. Maybe there was a button on this door handle…

Shell. Donnie ducked, pushing himself as close to the floor as he was able. Outside of the window the limo had just passed the same bus he had just been on. It was pulled over to the side of the road, and everyone who should have been sitting comfortably inside it was standing angrily outside of it. But what had prompted him to duck was the presence of his old friend Bishop, standing calmly outside the bus.

Raphael had saved him once again.

Traffic on the road was at a minimum. That was good, since the area was easier to contain, and it might be easier for witnesses to remember that they saw something unusual. Everyone on the bus needed to be interrogated, and the search needed to be resumed as soon as possible. The turtle would not get away again.

Bishop glared at the bus. The turtle must have been warned. Ergo, there must be a leak within his building. It was the only explanation.

One of his men walked up to him.

"Report," said Bishop mechanically.

"The turtle got off the bus at a stop about a mile away from here," said the henchman, "The nearest building to the bus stop is at least a mile away from it. It's in the middle of nowhere, sir."

"Have a team of men investigate it immediately," Bishop ordered, "If there are woods nearby, I want them combed. I want the road searched. Get a satellite to monitor the entire area for any activity within a fifteen mile radius, and get me a timetable of all the other busses that halted at that stop. Monitor and detain every bus that stopped there before my men were on the site. I want to know where each of those busses is heading, where they stop, and if anyone on one of those busses saw interesting even resembling a giant turtle. Understand?"

"Yes sir," said the henchman, turning to go.

"Wait," said Bishop.

The man waited.

"There was no way the turtle knew we were coming," said Bishop, "It was obvious that he intended to mislead us by leaving his vehicle so close to the bus stop. So someone must have warned him we were coming. I want a thorough investigation of every communication between each of my employees and the outside world."

"Yes sir," said the lackey. He turned to leave again, and this time Bishop didn't stop him.

A second man came up to Bishop just as the first man was finished, "Excuse me, sir." He said, "The driver wants to know if he can leave."

"Very well," Bishop said, "The bus can resume its route. I have all the information I need."

Turns out that by the time the limo driver had reached the hotel Donnie had made it about halfway back to New York. Which meant that he was halfway to his goal.

He had finally torn off the last of his disguise and was currently lying on his belly in the darkened room. It was dark because he had made certain to close all the curtains, and the ones that did not properly close had been covered with a shower curtain. Right now, he was lying on the bed, staring at the news.

He had never been in a hotel before. He had always assumed that his brothers would be with him when he did. It took him ten minutes to figure out how to turn on the television-something Mikey would have figured out within the first ten seconds.

"And now for local news," said the reporter, "The Mayor of the city has announced that the city-wide lockdown is being lifted. We assume this means that the fugitive has been caught, although police have not officially made a statement."

Donnie smiled. It would be a lot easier to sneak into the city with the lockdown lifted.

"And this just in," continued the reporter, "The government has ruled about an hour ago that certain public busses around New York are to be searched for an entirely different and equally dangerous public criminal. As of now, most of the busses heading north towards Canada have already been searched, and the woods around one particular bus stop have nearly been demolished from the search. We'll have more on that later. In other news, two hundred people made the World Record today for most people to rescue a cat stuck up a tree. The rescue began early this morning, when little Snowflake-"

Donnie turned off the television, and began thinking. Raph had saved him by telling him to get off the bus and sending him a limo. But how did Raph know what Bishop was up to?

His shellcell rang. Quickly, he answered it.

"Finally, Raphael!" he said, getting off the bed, "What took you so long to call? I was getting worried!"

Silence.

"Raph?" Donnie asked.

"Don," said Raph, his voice coming in fast and breathless, but also filled with relief, "You made it."

"Hey, Raph," said Donnie, his voice changing its tone entirely, "What happened? Are you alright?"

The cell was silent for a few seconds. "Yeah," Raph finally responded, "Glad…you're okay too."

At nearly every other word, Raphael was pausing to take in a deep breath.

"Raph," said Donnie.

"It's…fine," said Raph, sounding very breathless, "Nothing I…can't handle."

"What happened? Did Bishop do this to you?" Donnie asked.

"Yeah." said Raph.

Donnie tightened his fists.

"What did he do?" he asked.

"Heh. As if I'd…tell ya," said Raph, "Don't worry, he…left my alone now. I'm sorta in solitary confinement."

"Don't worry. I'm going to get you guys out," Don said, "Can you arrange for another vehicle to take me into a New York hotel as soon as possible?"

"Yeah…I can do that."

"Good," said Donnie, "If I leave fast, I can get right under Bishop's nose while he's still searching for me near where I got off the bus."

"…Alright."

"Do you think you can work the computer enough to follow my instructions?"

"Yes…what do you…have in mind?"

"I'm thinking of setting up a false hack that Bishop can trace back to the farmhouse or something. That way he won't expect me to attack his headquarters right away; he'll think I'm still gathering information."

"That's good Donnie," said Raph, "Using your own…weakness against him."

"Hey! Computer skills are not a weakness," said Donnie, "But I do need some information. Ugh, what do I do, Raph? To get info I need a computer..."

"No you…don't," said Raph, "You want…information? You get it the…old-fashioned way: good ol' interrogation. Or you could always…just ask nicely."

"You think you can get it?" Donnie asked, surprised, "I need to have the layout of Bishop's lair, his main security points, and the location of each turtle inside. But even with your computer, you're still captured. So I don't know how much information you can find."

"I already gave ya the blueprints…remember?" Raph asked, sounding exasperated, "I sent them…to your email. Geez, Donnie! I just don't…know where Leo and Mikey are on it."

"Okay, so that's the first order of business," Don said, "Just who would know where they are?"

"Or," said Raph, "Who can…find out fer us?"

The two thought for a minute.

"You know," said Don, "I'm betting that Karai could find out."

"Can we trust her?"

"Probably not," said Don, "But it's worth a shot. And Foot headquarters might be a good place for me to hack into my own email account to print out the blueprints to the building. If Bishop traces the hack, he'll trace it to the Foot and not to me."

"Why do ya need…to hack into…your own email?"

"Just in case Bishop is watching for any activity of me on the internet," said Donnie, "It's better for him to think the Foot hacked into my account than if I just went in and printed the thing out. Plus, I have no idea what would happen if Bishop caught you directing me into the building. I need to know my way around in case we get disconnected."

"Sounds good," said Raph, "How are you…getting into Foot central?"

Donatello waved his hand nonchalantly, even if Raph couldn't see it.

"We've been there enough times, I know my way around," he said.

"Alright," said Raph, "And, while we were talking…I arranged fer a car to pick you up….Will take ya the rest of the way into New York, to another hotel. It's getting there in…about forty-five minutes. Best I could do so fast. I think the hotel will call…you when it gets there."

"Great, thanks!" said Donnie, "Getting back to the city today should give me time to get to Karai and find out where you guys are being held before Bishop realizes I'm leading him off track. Speaking of which, are you ready to create the false hack? Just follow my commands, I'll try to make it simple."

"I thought we were gonna wait until…you got to the Foot," Raph said.

"To hack into my email and print out the blueprints, yes," said Donnie, "But I want to first throw him off track by faking a hack originating from the Farmhouse. Don't worry, I'll do the best I can to make sure he doesn't trace it back to your computer. Are you ready?"

"Fine," said Raph, "Just speak…English, okay?"

"Will do. First, go to the control panel and type in-"

"What's that?"

"What's what? Oh. The control panel. Well, the easiest way to find it is to go to the startup menu and-"

"The what?"

"Oh come on Raphael, you know what the startup menu is! It's on the monitor of the computer."

"Is that where you put the DVDs and CD-ROMS?"

Donnie was silent for a few seconds.

"Really, Raph?" he finally said, "How'd you even make it to the internet, or book this hotel? You know what, I'll tell you later. Um, do you see a tiny button on the bottom left side of the computer screen?"

Sometime afterwards, Donnie had succeeded in getting Raph to make it seem as if Donnie was trying to hack into Bishop's framework from the farmhouse. Raph had long since given up trying to understand exactly what he was doing, but still, Don thought that this was a great accomplishment for a brother whose normal way of fixing a computer is to smash it to smithereens.

"Hopefully Bishop won't…realize it's a trick until later," Raph said.

"Don't worry," said Don, "As soon as I get the information on where you guys are, I'll have you all out of there."

"Good," said Raph, "And Don, remember…go in without …one o' your Geek strategies."

"Raphael," said Donnie, "Can you tell me anything about where you are so that-"

"NO!" Raph shouted, then sounded like he winced as he regained his breath, "Get Leo and… and Mikey first. I think they've been…tortured too, and I don't know how they are. See, Bishop…lost your trail…and he's mad."

"Is that why he tortured you, Raph?"

"He's searchin' for ya," Raph said, "Word of warning: he sent...sent…"

"Sent what?" Don asked.

"It can…break metal…state of the art…"

Donnie's eyes lit up in understanding.

"Bishop's new exosuit?" Donnie asked, "He's wearing it? But the plans I read the other day said it was still in the experimental stage!"

"He ain't wearing it," said Raph, "Someone else is. But he…sent it after ya…be careful, Don."

Raphael was sounding weaker by the minute.

"Raph," said Donnie, "Hang in there, bro. I'll find a way to get you guys out. I promise."

Silence.

"Raphael?" Donnie asked, "Raph? Raph!"

*Beep!* We're sorry, but the person you are trying to reach has been disconnected, spoke a disembodied male voice.

Was his brother all right?

Wait. Disconnected? Was that a voice? As in, an intercept message? What the shell! Donnie had built the shellcell himself, and he knew for a fact that it wasn't connected to anything but other shellcells. He had his own method for piggyback riding on satellites when it needed to call someplace else, and it was only when connected to a commercially built cell phone or telephone that he would hear an intercept message.

That meant that his brother was not calling from a shellcell, even if his caller ID said so.

So what was going on?

In exasperation, Donnie threw his shellcell across the room. But he still made sure it landed safely on the bed.