Once again, thanks for the reviews!
And here I thought my chapters were on the long-ish side. I'll take "the chaps are too short, they go by too fast" as a compliment! : )
This one's a little on the short side, and does end with a cliffhanger, but I'll get the next one up pronto, promise!
Chapter 13 -Stolen-
Jeremy sat up and stretched. He shivered. The morning was cold. Maybe I'd better go back to the subway, he thought. Sylvia might be there, wondering where I am. He crawled out of the culvert, and took off across the park. Unnoticed, a black-clad ninja followed his progress with his eyes. Number Sixty-two was coming off his shift as security guard for Dejorn's building.
"Sixty-two to base. Sixty-two to base…"
"Base here."
"I've spotted the target. Permission to pursue."
"Permission granted."
Number Sixty-two smiled under his mask. He was looking forward to talking to the boy. Yes, this would be a good day.
***
"I just t'ink dis is a bad idea, Leo," Raphael was saying. He glowered at Sylvia. She returned his glare.
I want to leave. Now. she scribbled on the pad.
"I think we can trust her, Raph," said Leo. "Master Splinter says he senses no malice from her, no bad intentions. We can't keep her locked up here forever." Sylvia nodded, agreeing with him.
Donatello perched on the arm of the couch, watching the exchange as if it were a three-way tennis match.
"Aww, I was hopin' she could stay with us for a while. You like pizza, right Sylvia? We like pizza. You like Master Splinter. We like Master Splinter. You like video games, dontcha? We like video games. See, it's perfect. You could just stay here with us!" Michelangelo held his hands out, grinning.
You're sweet, Mike, but I have to go. I have a life of my own, Sylvia scribbled. She let her frustration flow outward. Michelangelo frowned, and nodded slowly, but he wasn't about to give up so easily.
"But Sylvia, where will ya go?" he asked, giving her his best puppy expression. Sylvia grinned, but shook her head.
I have a home, Mike. I need to get back there. My friend will be looking for me. He'll be worried.
"And who's dis friend?" Raphael snapped. "How come you won't tell us his name, anyway?" Sylvia looked at Raphael, frowning. She reached out to him, carefully, and felt the usual mix of anger, mistrust and hostility, but she sensed no ill intent. She decided to take a chance.
His name is Jeremy, she wrote. He's just a kid. He's been staying with me. We look out for each other. He doesn't know about you.
"Will we ever see you again?" Michelangelo asked.
Of course, she wrote. If you want to. She glanced at Donatello, who was reading over her shoulder. He drew back, a flush creeping up his cheeks.
***
"Come in unit Sixty-two."
"Sixty-two here."
"Sixty-two, you are an honored soldier. You will have the privilege of bringing the girl to me."
"S…S…Saki?"
"Yes, Sixty-two. You know your mission?"
"Hai, Master."
"Good. Success will be rewarded, Sixty-two."
Under his mask, number Sixty-two began to sweat. The stakes had just risen. He quickened his pace, seeing the boy disappear once more into the subway tunnel. The boy was the key to finding the girl. This time, the boy would not slip through his grasp. His life depended on it.
***
Leonardo led Sylvia through the tunnels. "If you just climb up this ladder, it will bring you up in the alley three blocks from Central Park," he explained. She nodded. "Are you sure about this, Sylvia? I mean, our friend April can help you get out of the city. Don't you have family? She could help you get home." Sylvia shook her head decisively. All she wanted was to get out, out of these tunnels, out of Leonardo and his brothers' reach, out of this city. Only then would she feel safe.
"Well, here you are." Leonardo climbed up, pushing the manhole cover out of the way, and checking. "It's clear, Sylvia." He climbed down and held out his hand to help her up.
Impulsively, Sylvia threw her arms around him, and kissed him on the cheek. Leonardo froze. She let him go, smiled, and climbed up the ladder. Leonardo stood for a long time after she disappeared through the hole, before he shook his head and turned away.
***
Sylvia hurried along the path toward the subway. She'd deliberately had Leonardo drop her off a distance away from her tunnel "home". She wasn't sure she wanted the turtles to be able to find her too easily. Even Donatello, who'd been quite nice. She smiled, remembering the way he'd blushed, but shook herself. She couldn't afford to allow herself to trust a man, even a green man wearing a shell who blushed so handsomely, not ever again. Trusting had gotten her into this mess in the first place. She had no intention of making the same mistake twice.
Suddenly, Sylvia stopped short. Something… something didn't feel right. She swiveled, slowly scanning the crowds moving around her. She couldn't place where the spite was coming from, the hint of… something evil. Sylvia hesitated. She looked around once more, before heading toward the subway. She had to find Jeremy.
***
Jeremy had problems of his own. His jacket caught on the subway turnstile as he tried to slip through, and a security guard nabbed him.
"What do you think you're doin, sneakin' in here, ya little punk?" snarled the guard.
"Lemme go, ya big ape!" yelled Jeremy, kicking and struggling. It was no use. The guard had hold of him, and wasn't about to let go.
Number Sixty-two was positioning himself to slip into the guard's room, planning to slit the big man's throat and take the boy, when Sylvia appeared in the subway's entrance tunnel. She caught Jeremy's eye, and shook her head. He stopped struggling and started to cry loudly.
"I want my Ma!" he yelled. Sylvia shook her head, slipping past the guard's station. She knew they'd take Jeremy into the guard's back room, and try to calm him down. They'd probably call the cops and Child Protective Services.
All she had to do was show up before CPS got there, and claim her "son". They'd pulled the routine once before, when Jeremy got caught shoplifting at a local department store. Sylvia made her way carefully through the crowd, drawing no attention to herself as she headed for the far wall. Before she could reach the tracks, someone grabbed her arm, and something sharp pressed into her back. She tried to wriggle away, but the blade pressing into her back jabbed insistently.
"Do not struggle. You are coming with me, Miss Rose," a voice hissed in her ear. Sylvia squirmed, but the hold on her arm was vice-like. She felt the blade dig into her back warningly. Blood trickled down under her shirt, warm and wet. She stopped squirming immediately, suddenly aware of the malice that flowed out of this one. She felt, very clearly, his desire to drive the blade into her and leave her here to bleed out on the platform. The train pulled in, and the crowd dispersed into the cars. The man holding Sylvia had no interest in getting onto a train. He kept her back, apart from the crowd, as the platform emptied. Only Jeremy, looking over his shoulder for any sign of Sylvia, saw the man raise a truncheon and bring it down on the back of her head.
Jeremy sucked in a breath to scream his lungs out as he saw the man scoop Sylvia up, but he blinked, and they were gone. The breath came out in a whoosh, and Jeremy slumped to the platform, slipping out of his coat and leaving it in the guard's hand. He dashed across the platform like a rabbit pursued by a fox.
Fortunately for Jeremy, the station guard had none of the finesse and agility of a fox. He was more like a lumbering bull, huffing and puffing as he waddled after the boy. Jeremy was down onto the tracks, and disappeared into the tunnels, before the guard realized where he'd gone. The guard shook his head, looking down at the ragged jacket still dangling from his fingers. He sighed, and tossed the jacket into a trashcan. Wherever the kid had gone, it wasn't his problem anymore.
***