The weekend was over which meant having to go back to work. After all the events that had taken place on my days off, I felt a bit more put together. I now knew the truth about the turtles, I knew where to find them, how to contact them, and I also knew that I would (hopefully) see them again. I wasn't as on edge or as lost in my thoughts.
I brushed off my coworker's questions, telling them I had just felt really sick the week before, but now I was better. I went out with them and got my usual coffee at lunch time. I talked and laughed like normal, even though nothing was the same anymore.
My eyes saw the world in a completely new way - I saw all the possibilities, all the dreams I had shoved aside, all the hopes I had hidden deep within me. It seemed like anything could happen, at any time, anywhere.
In a sense, I was happier than before. A fire had been rekindled inside of me, one that burned warmth throughout my skin when I thought of the brothers. This also proved to be hard on me as well, because I found myself comparing everyone to them, and no one even came close. A guy would smile at me, and I would barely even notice because all I wanted was for Raphael to smile at me like that. Someone would make a joke, but I would think about how much more humorous and lighthearted Mikey was. I would see an add for the latest iPhone and I would image how Donatello would make it a million times better.
Work kept me busy the next few days, going in early and staying late. I hadn't been in touch with the brothers at all. But, when Thursday rolled around and I got off of work, a text came to my T-phone. An excited rush went through me, only slightly wavering when I saw an "M" as the sender and not an "R".
Pizza? :) it said simply, and I smiled at the little screen.
Yes! Be there soon, don't eat it all before I get there. I replied as I hurried home to change clothes, and then started off towards the manhole that would lead me back underground.
I followed the path easily, making sure to avoid stepping in the puddles on the ground and a few low hanging cobwebs. I wondered if they already knew I was on my way because of the cameras lining the walls. I finally made my way to their door, punched in the code, and entered their unnaturally quiet home. No one was in the main room and all the TVs were turned off. The kitchen was clean, so I assumed that they hadn't returned from getting dinner yet.
I ventured down the hallway, first knocking on Raphael's door and then on the door to Donatello's lab, since those were the only two rooms I had seen so far, and I wasn't about to go knocking on random ones. I decided to try their practice room just in case. I was just about there when I heard noises coming from the living room. I smiled and started back in that direction, stopping short when I got close enough to hear the conversation that was taking place.
"Dude, relax." Mikey was saying, and then I heard one of the TVs click on, voices murmuring in the background. "You've been stomping around for days."
"Shut up." Raphael huffed.
"Come on, don't be mad that I texted Lil before you did. I told you to do it, didn't I? It's not my fault you didn't listen."
"Shut up, Mikey. And I told you, stop calling her 'Lil'." Raphael growled.
"Nah, she likes it." Mikey replied, and I could hear the smugness practically dripping from his mouth as he spoke.
I knew this conversation wasn't going to end well. My heart was pounding as I stood in the shadows of he hallway. I had no idea what to do - I was trapped. They were talking about me and if I revealed myself the situation would be way too awkward. I wondered if I could play it off like I hadn't heard anything at all... that seemed like my best bet. I backed away slowly as they continued talking.
"I wonder if Lil's on her way..." Mikey was saying mockingly, and then a loud thud rang through the hall.
"Relax!" Mikey cried, sounding a little less confident now. "I'm just kidding, okay?"
I heard a door slam and then it was quiet again, aside from the sounds of the TV, so I decided to make my move. I walked quickly down the hall and when I saw Mikey lounging on the couch I put on my best surprised face.
"There you are!" I exclaimed happily. Mikey's head whipped around in shock, his bright eyes widening.
"Lily!" He cried.
"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. I just got here a few minutes ago and had to use the restroom. I walked through a few too many cobwebs on my way here so I had to make sure I didn't have any spiders on me." I laughed nervously, hoping he wouldn't catch on. "Is it just you here?" I asked casually as I sat down on one of the big chairs.
"No, uh Raph is here too. He just uh, stepped out for a minute." Mikey said, seeming to relax a little. He appeared to be buying my story. "I'll let him know you're here." He pulled out his phone and quickly typed a message.
I turned my attention to the TV, breathing a sigh of relief. Now that the crisis had been avoided, I felt my muscles start to loosen. My mind started to wander to the conversation I had overheard - Raphael wanted to see me? - but I didn't want to read too much into it when it probably didn't mean anything.
"So, where are the others?" I asked Mikey, trying to distract myself.
"They're out putting up some extra security cameras."
"Oh." I said, worried. "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, Leo's just being paranoid like usual. He uh, kinda got pissed at Donnie and I for marking that path for you to follow back here." Mikey explained.
"Oh." I replied, softly.
"Hey, don't worry about it. We've never had anyone come this deep into the sewers before. He's just enjoys being bossy." Mikey said, but I didn't believe him. Somehow his attitude seemed a little bit too cool, like he was trying too hard to make it seem like it wasn't a big deal.
I was going to try and get a little more information out of him, but Raphael emerged from the front door. I knew that he would be harder to fool than Mikey, and from the look on his face, he seemed pretty sure that I had heard their conversation earlier. Mikey was obviously trying to avoid Raphael's cold stare, squirming on the couch before standing up quickly and excusing himself, mumbling something about needing to shower.
Raphael came over to me and I stood up to face him, trying hard to not break under his harsh expression like Mikey had.
"Did you hear?" He asked me, his tone so low it sent a chill down my spine.
I nodded slowly, knowing that lying to him would be worse than telling the truth.
"I'm gonna kill Mikey." He said, shaking his head with anger. "I really am."
"Its really not a big de-" I began, but he cut me off.
"He needs to learn when to keep his mouth shut." Raphael stated, seeming to not hear me.
I could tell he was seething, his features tight and his fists clenched. I had no idea what to do, except try to take the heat off of Mikey. It really wasn't his fault after all; I was the one who had wandered around their home instead of waiting on the couch for them to return like a normal person would have.
"Can we just let it go?" I asked. Again, he seemed to not hear me and instead he pushed past me towards the hallway. I guessed that he was headed to tear Mikey apart.
"So, was what he said a lie?" I called to him, putting my hands on my hips. I was actually starting to get a bit offended that he could just ignore me so easily.
"What?" Raphael snapped, flipping around.
"I see no reason for you to be so mad about this, unless Mikey was lying. So, was he?" I said, raising an eyebrow.
He stared at me hard, taking a moment to ponder his answer. "He wasn't lyin'," he finally muttered.
"Okay." I said, narrowing my eyes at him. He wasn't the only one who could give a good glare. "Then don't be mad at him for just pointing out the truth. He was right anyways, you should have just texted me if you wanted to. Then all of this would have been avoided. If you're gonna be mad at anyone, be mad at yourself."
I could see a vein in his neck appear, and I guessed it probably meant that he was now getting mad at me. I didn't care. He was being stupid and elusive when he didn't need to be. All I wanted was for him to open up a little bit.
After giving him some time to respond, I finally let out a heavy sigh. I didn't want to argue with him, but I also didn't want to waste my time if he was just going to keep trying to act indifferent to me. "I'll just go then. Tell Mikey I said goodbye."
He reached out and grabbed my wrist as I began to turn away. His hand was so big that his fingers wrapped around it completely. I looked up at him in shock, not because he had hurt me, but because this was the last thing I had expected him to do.
I guess I'm staying.
The sound of the others returning brought me back into the real world. Raphael quickly dropped my wrist when he heard their voices too. I turned around to see Donatello, Leonardo, and Splinter come into the living room.
"Hi, Lily." Donatello greeted me warmly. In his arms were several tool boxes and he had dirt smudged on his arms, legs, and cheeks.
"Hey." I replied, hoping that I sounded somewhat normal.
Splinter was looking between Raphael and I curiously. I knew there was no hiding things from him.
"Where's Mikey?" Leonardo asked, his arms full of pizza as he walked past us on his way to the kitchen. He put them down on the table and then took a seat.
"Showerin'." Raphael said gruffly. I could tell he was trying to keep his voice normal too.
"Ah." Leonardo said. He picked up a piece of pizza and started to eat. "Aren't you hungry?"
I knew it was an innocent question, but I felt my face get hot again as I replied. "Uh, yeah. I'll get a slice in a minute."
Now Leonardo was staring at us too. "Whats going on? Is something wrong?"
"No." Raphael said, giving his brother a dangerous look that said 'stop asking so many questions'.
Donatello had been digging through one of his toolboxes on the ground, but now he too was looking at us suspiciously. I knew I needed to take the conversation in a different direction, and fast.
"How did it go with the new security cameras?" I asked them, hoping the switch in topics sounded casual.
"Fine. Ran into some problems along sector 8, but I figured it out." Donatello replied, adjusting his glasses as he stood up. "Should all be working just fine. Speaking of which, I need to go check."
He left the room to go to his lab, and I fidgeted with the zipper on my hoodie.
"So uhm, why the need for the extra cameras?" I asked, looking between Splinter and Leonardo, as my earlier conversation with Mikey came back to me.
"No reason." Leonardo said firmly. "Just precautions."
Splinter hadn't said anything yet. He was still just standing there, not having moved an inch since arriving back home. Again, I felt like there was something they weren't telling me. Sure, I understood that the extra cameras might have been all my fault, but now that I saw the way they were all acting, I had a feeling there was something more going on.
But, It was clear they didn't feel like sharing that information. I couldn't tell if it was because they didn't trust me, or they just didn't want to tell this kind of family business to me, so I let it drop. Awkward silence filled the air, and I didn't know what to do.
"Raphael, why don't you take Lily to the weapons room." Splinter finally said. Both Leonardo and Raphael gave him a wide-eyed look in response.
"Go on," Splinter coaxed. There were many things not being said out loud.
I looked between the three of them, lost as to what was going on. Raphael turned without saying a word and started to walk away. Splinter gave me a reassuring nod, and so I followed him.
We went down the hall silently before he stopped at a room I had not yet been inside of. It was small and exactly what you would expect a so-called 'weapons room' to look like: extra sets of sai, nun-chucks, swords, and staffs lined the walls, along with extra punching bags and targets for practice. But, those things were not what made me stop short.
Along the walls were about a hundred different newspaper clippings, all with the same kind of headlines: Mysterious Death, Missing Chemicals, Fire Destroys Entire Building... The last one caught my eye. I stepped closer and looked at the date. I was no math genius like Donatello, but I figured it was from the fire at the lab where they had all been experimented on. It was then that I realized exactly what this all was: a timeline. It was a timeline that started the day they escaped the lab and ended with an article that came out two days ago.
"What is all this?" I asked, looking frantically at Raphael.
"We believe that the man who made us what we are is tryin' to start again where he left off." Raphael answered.
"So he is still alive..." I murmured, my mind going back to all that Splinter had told me about his old master.
Raphael nodded.
"And all this..." I said, as I pointed to the news paper scraps, "...you think this was all done by him?"
"We don't think - we know. We've been tracking 'em." Raphael said. "When I saved you I was out on patrol. Your area of the city is my responsibility. That is why I left so quickly; I had just gotten a message from Leo 'bout a possible attack. I was on my way to meet him when I came across you."
It all suddenly started to make sense. "That's why you were able to follow me every night."
"Yeah, and when Leo noticed that I was startin' to come back from my rounds late, he got suspicious and followed me."
"And that's how Mikey ended up in my room." I finished, chuckling lightly at the memory. "So, wait. Do the police know about this man?"
"They don't." He replied. "We've been able to keep the attacks to a minimum. Stoppin' them before they even happen... So far the Foot Clan has just been trying to rob companies for supplies. The unsolved murders might be tied to them, but we haven't seen 'em try to kill anyone... Yet." He added darkly.
"Or you've just been getting to them before they can kill anyone..." I said, still unable to look away from all the articles. "What is the Foot Clan? Have they seen you? Do they know who you are?" I questioned quickly.
"His followers. And no. It's gonna stay that way." Raphael said fiercely. "They can't know what happened to us. We're proof that whatever their cookin' up, works."
I chewed on my bottom lip nervously. The thought of Raphael and his brothers stalking the Foot Clan through the night made my heart start to pound. They were strong and talented, yes, but I knew that wasn't always enough.
"I wonder why they're suddenly trying to recreate the cure. Its been a long time." I mused, as my eyes continued to flick between the articles.
"Don't know," he admitted. "But, we will when we finally track them down."
There was nothing but determination in his voice. I knew he wasn't the type to give up before he got answers. Out of all of them, Raphael was the most unstable. That much was very clear to me. I couldn't imagine the kind of emotions tossing around inside of him over something as huge and life altering as this.
All I did know was that I had just been brought into their struggle and into their fight. Splinter had wanted me to see this room, and all that it contained, so that they wouldn't have to hide anything from me. I was now part of their lives just as much as they were a part of mine.
Something moved out of the corner of my eye and I turned around to find Leonardo standing in the doorway. He looked serious, as always. His eyes traveled past me to his brother.
"Donatello picked up something on the police scanner. Possible Foot Clan activity. We need to go." He said. Raphael nodded, his hands moving to the sai at his side.
"Mikey agreed to take Lily home." Leonardo added.
I sighed. "I don't need an escort. I can make it home fine by myself."
"Are you sure?" He asked, and I realized that he wasn't trying to be condescending. He seemed to truly be concerned that I made it home safe.
"Yes. Go." I insisted.
Leonardo gave me a slight nod and then left the room. I half expected Raphael to just follow him without saying a word to me, but he didn't move.
"Be safe." I said softly, trying to keep my voice from cracking with the fear that was beginning to grow inside of me.
"This shouldn't take long." Raphael said. "You can stay if you want."
A small smile formed on my lips as he left me. It only lasted a moment though, before I remembered that he was leaving to fight an enemy; an enemy that had survived flames and time to come back for a fight. I shivered and left the weapons room quickly, not wanting to be haunted by the articles any longer. I found Splinter in the kitchen. As usual, he was making tea.
"Do not worry." He said, sensing my presence. "I have trained my sons well."
He poured two cups of the hot liquid and turned to face me. "I am going to meditate. Would you care to join me?"
"I think I'll just hang out here..." I replied as he handed me the drink. "My head is a bit too crazy to meditate, and I don't want to disturb you."
He nodded and patted my arm lightly. It was a comforting gesture, though it didn't do much to calm my nerves. Once he was gone, I sat down on one of the big chairs and turned on the television. I found something random to watch, not really caring what was on the screen. I just needed the noise to keep me from being swallowed whole by my thoughts.
I'm not sure how long I sat there - four or five episodes, maybe? My tea was long gone and I hadn't moved so much as an inch since sitting down. All I could do was stare at the screen and wait for the brothers to return.