The next day passed agonizingly slowly for the entire clan underground. Donnie busied himself setting up several ear-pieces, and making sure that Raphael, Leonardo, and Luke knew how to use them correctly.
The purple-masked turtle exchanged several glances with Jenna throughout the day, but chose to intentionally avoid the inevitable until it had came down to the last minute.
They arrived at Luke's place in Chelsea just after the sun had gone down. Donnie went into mission mode, double checking the radios, and making sure he could easily zero into the coordinates of every position family members would be in from the terrace.
It was probably overkill, for what was basically nothing more than a glorified hand-off. But treating it like a real mission enabled Donatello to partially detach from emotions, and remain more professional.
They had just about an hour before the Secret Service was supposed to be showing up at the construction site, and his own watch of the neighborhood would begin well before then.
He was already on the terrace canvassing their surroundings, while the others were getting ready to head out themselves. When Jenna stepped outside to say goodbye, he immediately put down his binoculars.
"Hey. Are things set downstairs?"
"Yeah. Leo said we should head over. I guess...this is goodbye."
"I'm sure it's better to go early," he answered dully. "You don't want to be late, and my brothers not have time to get into hiding before your dad's people arrive."
"You saved my life. I'm never gonna forget you."
"I'm not going to forget you either. Come back to New York sometime, if your parents ever let you out of their sight again."
"I'll do that. I don't know where we're going, but as soon as I have access to a computer, I'll email you."
"You've got my number too."
"I do." She shuffled from one foot to the other, then embraced him more fiercely than Don expected. "Thank you."
"Thank you, for not leaving me." Delivering the words without shaking was a true triumph for him.
Donnie caught sight of one of his brothers hovering on the other side of the door awkwardly. "You have to go."
When she released him, he felt numb. The sensation spread over his whole body while the teen speed-walked through the bedroom to get to the hall. He was left standing on the terrace, wondering how long it would take for feeling to return.
Raph drove them to the pre-arranged spot around the north side of the construction, so that Leo and Mike could practice the little maneuver they would have to pull off with Jenna if something went awry. Luke kept going and pulled around the south side, several feet short of the entrance. The man was in position to watch when the Secret Service arrived and departed - nothing more.
Donatello patiently stood by while the others maneuvered to assigned places, and then started the final radio rundown.
"Check, check...Leo, do you copy?"
"Not the first time I've used one of your earpieces, Don."
The purple-masked turtle was grateful his older brother sounded more amused than exasperated. The stress was a lot lower than one of their normal missions, and he enjoyed the more relaxed atmosphere.
"Are you with me, Raph?"
"Yeah, but I ain't wearing the freaking earpiece. Nobody is gonna hear my radio from outside the Battleshell."
"Just don't lose or break it please."
"Cool your jets, Genius. All we're doing is babysitting."
Donnie moved on without another word to him. "You all right, Doc?"
"I'm fine, and it's very quiet down here."
"It's dangerous to comment on things like that," Don warned him.
"I shouldn't state the obvious?"
"Refrain from any reference to something being too easy, or unexpectedly smooth. It's like inviting a lightning bolt to strike."
"No one is jinxing us, Donnie. Can we finish this?" Raphael demanded.
"Since we're all on the same channel, we should be set. Operation Fail-Safe is a go. I would just like to state one more time for the record, I don't think you should be down there, Doc."
"Your concern is noted, Eagle Eye," Luke responded wryly. "I'm in position."
"Just stay out of sight, okay? Everybody keep you eyes open and heads down for that matter."
Donatello was riveted in his spot, scanning binoculars over every car that came down the street. Close to the appointed time, he caught sight of a large innocuous-looking black van, traveling slowly toward the south entrance.
"Okay, guys, I think we might have our agents. Stay alert," he announced over the open channel, studying the vehicle through his binoculars.
"They're definitely slowly down," Luke responded.
"Keep out of sight," Donatello reminded him sharply, and focused once more as the van turned into the lot.
A couple of men in non-descript suits jumped out, and moved quickly towards Jenna. As the van turned around and came to a stop, Donnie finally managed to zoom in on the driver. It took a couple of seconds to adjust the focus and infrared, but once he had a clear image, he recognized the man with a serious jolt.
"Oh, shell," he said softly to himself, and then louder as the immediate danger dawned on him. "Shell! Leo, I need you guys to intervene right now!"
"Donnie, what's wrong?"
"They're not Secret Service - get down there before it's too late!"
"Are you sure?"
"Positive! Now GO! "
The tense minutes had passed like hours to Jenna. She knew Leonardo and Michelangelo were close by, but she couldn't see them. Her thoughts were still racing from the abrupt separation from new friends, but she was trying not to focus on any of it for the moment.
The arrival of agents on the construction site made the pit in her stomach deepen, and tears suddenly threaten. Oh, grow up. You know this is the way it is. The Richards have been through enough.
Their vehicle wouldn't fit through the enclosed entrance, leaving men to approach her on foot.
"Young lady, you're a hard one to catch up with. Your parents will be extremely glad to see you." From his monotonous tone, it was clear the man didn't care about his job one way or another.
Jenna tensed as the agent took her by the shoulder, more firmly than she deemed necessary.
"Where are my parents?"
"They're at the hotel, love. You'll see them soon," the other answered.
Jenna stiffened harder. His American accent was a terrible imitation.
The second man noticed her pull slightly away, and snatched her other arm. Their manner alone confirmed these weren't the good men her dad would have sent. Jenna's heart quickened - this wasn't happening again. Eyes narrowed in anger while she dug in her feet to the pavement and let out a screech. The grip the man on the left had of her shoulder didn't prevent the teen from rifling desperately in her jacket pocket.
"You don't fool easily, do ya, girly?" He laughed. "Time to go."
As they went to yank her together, Jenna's fingers closed around the taser April had given her at their parting. She depressed the button to charge the weapon and brought the taser down on the bare arm of the man on her right.
His body was instantly seized by the shock, but there was no reprieve. The other dove on top of her to wrestle the weapon away. She struggled beneath his weight as he pinned her to the ground, and managed to pry the taser from her grasp.
"We're really doing this the hard way, huh?" His breath was hot while he leaned over her ear. "I'll make it easier."
She saw him bite the cap off of a needle, and renewed her effort to remove the attacker from her midsection. He was so focused on trying to stick her, the man never saw what was coming.
Leonardo hit the stranger like a battering ram, hurling him head-over-heels to the ground. He dispatched the terrorist with a right hook, which was extremely satisfying for Jenna to see.
Michelangelo swiftly moved in on the one Jenna had stunned to finish him off, before doubling back to make sure she was okay. Her eyes widened at the sight of five additional men running their direction, but the turtles appeared more than ready for them.
"Did you RSVP for the party too?" Mike's grin belied the seriousness of the situation.
The orange-masked turtle darted out to meet them, weapons whirling over his head like a blur. The men faltered for a couple seconds in apparent confusion, but then pressed ahead to attack. Laughing, Mike easily dispatched the first one in his reach with a shattering blow to the ribcage, and ducked a hastily thrown punch from the second.
He struck back at the attacker instantly, nunchuck glancing across his face. Jenna had the feeling the turtle didn't hit the man anywhere near as hard as he could have.
She turned around just in time to watch Leonardo send another man sailing with a powerful kick to the torso. Jenna gasped when the two remaining enemies converged on the blue-masked turtle at once. The sudden flight he took probably startled her as much as his attackers. The snap of both legs striking each man indiscriminately made Jenna's shock dissipate with an amazed snort.
The blue-masked turtle whipped toward her and called Mike's name. "We need to disappear!"
Jenna was enveloped in a secure sensation, despite the yelling off in the distance. The jarring motion of muscular arms pushing her the direction from which they'd come brought her back to reality, and the realization that there more enemies nearby.
They scrambled over concrete barriers, and Leo motioned for Mike to scale the twelve foot fence first.
"Get to the other side, and I'll send her to you!" he ordered swiftly.
Mike didn't waste a precious moment, quickly climbing hand over hand until he reached the top. He leaped to the ground with a gravity-defying quality which made the turtle seem less human than normal.
"Okay, Jenna, give me your foot!" Leo urged.
She took a sharp, nervous breath.
"Trust me. Don't tense up. Stay loose, and you'll be okay. Ready?"
"Whatever you say!" she agreed, and braced herself under his steady hand.
He boosted her through the air with incredible ease, and hurtling over the clearance of the fence. For a couple brief seconds she was falling, until Mike lunged off the ground to catch her on the other side.
"Okay?" he confirmed.
"Yeah - I'm fine."
They both turned around at the sound of further blows. Leo was engaged warding off a couple more men, and yelled at them when they didn't move.
"Guys, run! I've got this. Get her out of here, Mike!"
Mike still hesitated for another beat, and Jenna knew every fiber of the turtle's being rejecting leaving Leo to fend for himself. Within seconds, however, Leonardo was in complete control of the situation. One was sprawled unconscious at the base of the fence, and she couldn't even see where the blue-masked turtle had flung the other.
"One more, coming in fast!" Leo barked. "I will be right behind you, now move!"
Michelangelo obeyed the second command, protectively pushing Jenna in front of him as they ran across the outskirts of the construction site.
Jenna kept looking back, relieved when she saw Leonardo hopping to the ground on their side. He had made it. Then she really started running, the orange-masked turtle leading her to meld into the darkness and shadows.
She couldn't resist glancing back to see Leonardo's progress again. When a flash of brilliant light shattered the darkness, her heart almost stopped. She expected an explosion, but as the shock wave reached them, only heard a faint reverberation which seemed to come from far away.
The force of the wave still took her breath away, as they were hurled to the ground by the power of it. Mike uprighted himself a second later, pulling her off hard pavement as well.
"Are you all right?" he asked, breathless.
"I'm good. Where's Leo?"
His frame shuddered, yet when the turtle's hand landed on her arm, it was steady. "Stay behind me, okay? I don't wanna leave you behind, but we need to find him."
It was hard to keep up with Mike when he darted in the direction of the fence. Her eyes roved the landscape, searching for any sign of the missing turtle. Time seemed to stand still, until Mike made a move toward an oddly shaped bundle near some concrete footers.
Jenna put on another burst of speed to catch up, breath coming in short gasps when she found Michelangelo supporting the limp blue-masked turtle's head.
"Leo? Leo, c'mon don't do this to me," he muttered, searching his wrist rapidly for a pulse.
Jenna pressed two fingers against his neck instead. She needed to feel a pulse for herself. A sigh escaped when she felt a rapid throbbing, but the teen couldn't escape the fact that he'd been injured helping her.
She was alarmed when Mike drew the older turtle off the ground. "Wait, maybe you shouldn't-"
He grunted with exertion while shifting his brother into a better hold. "Can't stay here. Gotta go. Grab the ear-piece, see if it's still working, and let's move."
Jenna yanked the radio off Leonardo's belt, and fought to untangle the ear-piece while sprinting. As she shoved it into her own ear, she realized Raphael was shouting over the frequency.
"Hello? HELLO? Somebody? Anybody?!"
"Raph, it's Jenna - we're coming," she called back when she could get a word in.
"What the shell was that flash? Why didn't anybody answer?"
"I don't know what happened! It was like an explosion, but without the boom! Leo's hurt, I just took his radio."
"Is it bad?"
"I don't know. Mike's got him - he's unconscious. I don't know how we'll get him over the other fence!"
"I'm gonna take care of that right now! Just get out here!"
Raphael instantly threw the van into reverse. He backed up and searched the fence for a few seconds to choose a good spot. Once his mind was made up the red-masked turtle accelerated, crashing through the fence to take a portion down. As chain-link snapped, he backed up again and flashed his headlights to signal the others to his location.
Raph held his breath as he waited for them, relief surging when he saw Mike and Jenna emerge into the headlights. They ran to the van, jumping into the side door after carefully loading Leonardo into the back. He was just wishing for his own look of the older turtle, when the black van came peeling around the corner.
"Fasten your seatbelts!" Raphael called, and hit the gas.
"Raph, what's happening now?" Donnie cut in.
"I've got everybody, but I also have a tail! Gonna have to shake him before I head your way! "
"Can you let them get closer to you?"
"Isn't that the opposite of what we want?!"
"They have to be in close proximity for the co2 canisters to be effective!"
"Are you sure those things will work?"
"If they're in range, yes! Their engine should stall for a few minutes - more than enough time to get away! You deploy the gas by punching the green button under the steering column."
"Yeah, yeah...I remember the briefing. Okay, Donnie - I'll try."
"Don't try - do it! I know you can!"
Raphael took a couple of deep breaths, and stopped accelerating so much. "Mike, can you see how close they are to us?"
His brother climbed over the seat to get all the way in the back. "Uh, yeah, they're definitely catching up!"
"Tell me when they're within a couple of feet! I might only have one shot at this."
"I hope you know what you're doing!"
"Trusting Donnie - that's what I'm doing! Now watch! "
Raphael tried to keep the van steady to avoid jarring his passengers too much, and continued deep breathing to stay calm. A few seconds had passed, when Mike yelled back up front.
"Okay, Raph, they're seriously on top of us!"
"Good - cross your fingers!" Raph proclaimed, and rapidly punched the green button. A billowing cloud erupted under the bumper of the van, instantly blocking his vision of anything behind them.
"What do you see?" Raphael thundered. "Mikey, is anything there?"
"I can't see anything yet! Keep driving, and I'll let you know! "
As he barreled down the street and the cloud started to clear, the only thing the older turtle picked up were the parked cars he was zooming past.
"They're stopped, Raph!" Mike filled in at last. "Keep going, we're almost in the clear! "
Heart still pounding, he made a sharp turn at the next street. Regardless of what Mike said, Raph kept glancing in his rear-view mirror to make sure they weren't behind him. By the time he approached Luke's brownstone, Donnie already had the gate open to let them in.
He pulled carefully into the garage while Donatello slammed the gate shut, and ran to join them. After jamming the Battleshell in park, Raphael lunged around the side to find the others. "Guys? Are you okay?"
"Jenna and I are fine - Leo maybe not! Donnie, get in here! " Mike urged.
Raphael backed up to make room for his genius brother. The purple-masked turtle climbed into the back, immediately shrugging out of his sling so he would have both hands to work with.
"Mike, would you grab me the kit and a couple towels?"
He brother hurried to gather what Donnie needed. Meanwhile Don took Leo's vitals with one hand, while applying strong pressure to a gash on the side of his head.
"Hey, let me help, okay?" Mike forced his way back in, applying one of the towels he'd grabbed to the bleeding injury. "And watch your shoulder."
"It's fine," he said, clearly distracted. "Go ahead and apply pressure. That towel is clean, isn't it? He doesn't need any extra bacteria."
"It was folded up in the tub, Donnie. Leo's same knee might be screwed up too. It felt funny while I was carrying him. I hope I didn't make it worse."
Raphael winced at the thought of Leonardo's knee being dislocated again. Shell, it's barely been three months since last time, but that's probably why it's still vulnerable.*
"You did what you had to, Mike," Don insisted. "I'll take a look." He gently probed their brother's right leg, and then cringed. "Yeah, it's dislocated. I don't feel anything broken though."
Don sat back on his heels while silently observing something on the screen of his scanner. "Guys...I want to go ahead and pop it back in. Would you come over on either side of him, and make sure Leo is secure while I do this?"
Raphael shot him a slightly panicked glance. "Won't that hurt him? I heard Sensei do this last time!"
"Not as badly as leaving it out of place. This will be over quick. Just...don't let him move."
Raph obediently grabbed Leo's opposite arm, but turned his head the other direction so he couldn't see what the purple-masked turtle was doing.
"Okay. One, two-"
"Do ya really have to count it out for us, Donnie?" the older turtle snapped.
"Shut up and let me work."
Donatello's unusually sharp retort silenced the red-masked turtle. He said nothing while his brother counted a second time, only tightening his grip on Leonardo just in case.
The sudden, disoriented curse from his older brother wasn't as bad as the scream Raph heard through walls on the other occasion. He was quick to apply more pressure to hold Leo down.
Leonardo rolled his head with a mighty groan and another curse under his breath.
"Easy, Leo. Don't move," Don directed.
Brown eyes looked dazed when they opened, focusing on Raphael first. "...the shell did you do?" he mumbled.
"My fault, bro," Donatello replied. "Sorry for the shock, but I didn't want you to be in any worse pain when you woke up. I had to put your knee back in place."
"Again? How long this time?"
The fact that length of recovery was one of his stubborn brother's first questions made Raph duck his head to conceal a chuckle.
"I think we can talk about it later," Donatello advised. "Mike, would you get pressure back on that gash please?"
Raphael shifted away to give Don space.
Leonardo blinked over the pen light being shone in his eyes. "Is everyone okay?"
"Yes," the purple-masked turtle reassured.
Leo let out a deep sigh, as if he'd been holding it in. "What happened?"
"I think you got caught in the blast of a concussion grenade, judging from what I saw at a distance," Donatello told him.
Mike shook his head. "It was weird though, Donnie. We hardly heard a thing!"
"It must have had a muffled detonator. They're expensive, hard to get a hold of, but amazingly quiet. If you're outside it kind of sounds like thunder, coming from miles away. Inside, you might not hear it at all."
"I'm sorry, guys," Leo apologized, again true to form.
"Don't be sorry. You did a great job, Leo. You protected Jenna, and you got out of there," Donnie encouraged.
"Getting blown up wasn't on the agenda."
"No, but you didn't die, so that's a plus. We'll let it slide this time." Mike guffawed.
Donnie gave their younger brother a look. "How are you really feeling, Leo?"
"I feel like I've had worse. What did you do with your shoulder?"
"I took the sling off so I could work."
"Yeah, well, put it back on before Doc sees you."
"Worry about your own shell, Leo. Luke will be all over you." Donnie laughed, and then got serious again. "Speaking of the good doctor, I'm going to call him. You stay still, bro. There is definitely a head injury too."
Leonardo made a face. "Great. Wake me up when it's over."
*Again with Cost of Honor.