Patrol Apprehension

It was the night of November 15th, just after the computer dispute, and Raphael and Casey went out again for patrol, as well as the three brothers. Leonardo managed to convince Brianna to join them just as well as Donatello talked Lily into coming with as well, even though she was still a bit mad at him.

Rae, since she was the odd one out, happily decided to stay inside. Mikey tried to get her to come, but she refused very, very reluctantly since he was slowly growing on to her. Showing her face to the underground wouldn't be a good idea, but no one besides her and Bria needed to know that.

She laid down on her bed, watching the ceiling fan slowly go around and around. Her whole room was a mess with poetry that she written, short stories that she never completed along with clothes that were strewn all over the floor. She had to remind herself that she had laundry to do and she probably should do it while the boys and her sisters were out. Still, boredom sunk in. It sunk in deep. She was too tired to just move around.

She was at least until her phone started buzzing. She reached her hand over to her pink razor that rested on the bedside table, the only thing that was clean. She noted who was calling her with a slight quirk of the lips and flipped it open. "Calling me at night again?"

"It's been a long time since I called you during any time of the day." A gentle masculine voice answered on the other line. Her heart thumped wildly in her chest as she heard it. She could melt, she could honestly really melt. "How have you been? We missed you."

"I miss you too." She said regretfully. "If I could change everything, you know I would..."

"But you don't have the gift of the past." The boy replied with a soft sigh. "You know I wouldn't be calling you if I didn't have something important to say."

Rae paused as she picked up a strand of her fire red hair and pulled it towards her eyes. Seeing red, remembering what it looked like when it was spilled anywhere in the universe, made her skin growl cold. She felt something twitch inside of her, butterflies fled from her stomach so the icy coldness trailed down from her throat landed softly and grew with speed.

"What do you want?" She asked, resigned.

"Ian said that the Lighting Force found a creature near their territory. Though I would go and get it…"

"You have a job and I'm the only one who disappeared off of the face of the underground for days." Rae replied gently. "I get it…"

"…Will you accept?"

"You know my answer to that." She replied as she shut the phone gently and placed against her thudding heart. Her brown eyes closed and she had to let all of her feelings in her mind sort themselves out. She was scared, yes. Terrified that this could be a mission that she might die in. Ian, though he promised her freedom, was her master in a way. He was the one that ordered her to do the hardest things. He always did with despair. She fingered her necklace that was under her shirt and bit her lip.

She accepted the mission. There was no going back. She stood up and went to her dresser and closet. What she faced and what she was about to face, was the same pathway she thought she abandoned long ago.

What would Bria think of her?

"Tonight's pretty quiet." Leonardo said as he landed on another rooftop and looked around at the streets. Some nights barely had crime, some nights was an overload of it. It all depended on what was going down. He looked around at the city, wishing that this sort of peace would last.

Brianna landed next to him and did a hand spring to get closer to him and landed perfectly. Her eyes scanned the area as well. She understood that crime was everywhere, it just depended on where to look. She knew that going down into an alleyway was asking for trouble, but as she thought with a smirk, wasn't trouble her middle name?

"Shouldn't we go closer and see if we can find anything that way?" She asked.

Leo looked at her as if she had just lost her mind. Brianna, though she was reckless and was the type of person that wanted to have fun, honestly had a mind of a child sometimes. Though, she probably knew the underground better than most since she was in league with the Foot, it was best not to let her think that she go him trapped. Was he trusting of her? Not really. Was he testing her? No. He wasn't trying to do anything to her. All he wanted was a safe ground to tread on. He knew that he'd find it soon. Just not now, just not today.

He looked down at the dirty alleyway. In the night, it didn't look so bad as it would during the day. A dumpster was up against one of the buildings and glass and newspapers littered the ground. Glass was more evident since gangs used it more than anything. Anyone who knew torture methods like the back of their hands would know what do with the freshly ground glass. Even the dirty ones would work better. Torture and it would kill. How quickly was the question?

It wasn't as if he was willing to go down unless he courted a problem. But he had to form a plan. There was a good chance the foot could be waiting for him as well as any other gang that he's run into before. The alleyways in this area was quiet narrow and escape would be hard to get, but fighting the foot would be harder. Being crunched together would limit moves. An open space wouldn't be seen for miles. It wasn't an ideal place for a fight, but it was a perfect spot for a capture.

"I suppose." He said softly as he planned out in his mind where a capture could take place and where the capture might.

Bria laid a hand on his shoulder. "I'm not like them, Leo. Give me a little faith, it's all I'm asking for."

At least, he thought amused, she wasn't begging for him to trust her.

Raphael and Casey were having a blast. Already they cracked down three criminals, one potential rape and another mugging. God, some criminals these days weren't too smart. They jumped the roofs, landed perfectly on the ground, sometimes landing in the alleyways and took a look around. It was a perfect night to get the bloodlust going.

They were just about to jump down from the roof to the alleyway when Raphael suddenly grabbed the back of Casey's shirt and dragged him away from the edge. The clumsy idiot tripped over his own feet, but managed to stay balanced for once. A glare was Raph's reward until curiosity took over when the red-bandana turtle pointed.

"Whose that?" Casey asked as he saw a redhead, dressed in all black and was wearing flat-heeled black boots that went up to her knee. Her back was firmly pressed against the wall and she was looking both ways. In her hands, she was playing with something. Her fingers caressed, wrapped, and fingered whatever was in it.

"That's one of the girls that saved your ass when you were down when the Dragons hit ya." Raph said slowly. "Her name is Rachel."

"Rachel huh? She's a beauty." Casey said as he watched her turn a corner and disappear. He watched amused as his friend growled lowly and jumped over the ledge and got the other side. Using a running point, Casey managed to clear the small space as well. "Going to chase after her?"

"Shut-up," Raph hissed. "She's not on patrol."

"What do you mean?" Casey asked blankly. "Why else would she be around...oh…" He caught the meaning way before Raph had to give him a glare to understand it. "That could be bad."

"Is," The red-bandana turtle said slowly. "Let's find out what she's looking for in the middle of the night."

-------------------------

Rachel never could shake off the feeling that someone or something was following her. She always turned her head around every five seconds, stopping every once in a while to listen to the footsteps that could be trailing behind her. Each stop, each turn, she saw and heard nothing. It was grating on her nerves. She wondered if she had too much of a taste of luxury. She used to be able to walk down these alleyways with confidence that shook most gangsters. An Informer always walked proudly.

Yet, just yet, there was something amiss. The shadows were keeping whoever it was that was following her a secret. She was merely hoping that it wasn't an assassin that was asked to try to find her. She didn't need to go back to the lair covered in blood. Hell, she wasn't even supposed to be here in the first place. She fingered her phone in her pocket. It was on silent, no calls were going to reach her until she ended her job perfectly.

Perfectly was exactly what every single person in the world expected her to do, even though her face had been hidden from here for two years. She had thought, and swore, that she had changed her ways. But even the orders from someone that exchanged blood with her, ran deep. Ian was someone that she wouldn't betray. She knew that he wouldn't have asked her unless he knew that she was in danger.

In danger she would always be in. For certain people though, she was constantly in danger. For others, she was the danger. She was one of the most ruthless ones. God, it made her sick just to think of it, but she didn't have a choice. By everything she believed in, she didn't have a choice.

Her steps were starting to get softer, her speed that she had hoped to continue was getting slower. Her panicking was starting to become evident as five second turns turned to two. Finally she stopped and rested herself, placing her back against the wall, palms against the cold brick and her head up. She exposed her throat to whatever the danger was. She looked relaxed, she looked vulnerable. Wouldn't the person trying to attack her be surprised when she wrapped an invisible noose around their necks and let them choke to death while she walked on her merrily way?

She listened, waiting, hoping, and trying to be patient. Minutes probably turned to hours before she finally lowered her neck and felt a little calmer. The feeling of being watched was still there, but she had a better feeling about this. Clasping her hands she touched her forehead. "Let them be with me tonight." She murmured before she quickly turned on the balls of her feet and went down another alleyway. She wasted too much time on a stalker to be pleased with her progress now.

The walking took a bit, her head still turned every time she thought she felt a threat. Finally, she reached the place she had been looking for. It was quite easy to tell this gang apart from the others. The broken down buildings were still up with boarded windows and doors that had three lengths of chain going around it. Every door was an entrance as well as a trap. She knew just by seeing all the locks on the doors that the Lightening Force was not here. Still, they were smart to keep a guard on watch. Every window had a gun pointed towards every entrance, every alleyway. They were not the type to let anyone get through. Sadly though, sniping wasn't their best suit, although they did know how to use one if they had no other choice.

"You know me." She said calmly to the buildings aloud. She raised her voice a fraction. "You know who I am. I got a call from my Master. Tell me what's going on here and I'll leave you in peace."

"There's no such thing as peace." A guard took down one of the boards. She recognized him instantly and a smile graced her lips. The guard did a single and she could hear the guns pointing away from her, but not away from their posts. She still could get shot if she toed out of line. "Welcome back, Lynx."

"I wish I could say the same, Alex." Rachel replied gently. "Where's Jason?"

"I suppose if Jason called Ian and he called you, they left out the details. Not to worry. Their down this alleyway. A few corners to turn. It's rig by a bar."

So the creature likes to eat a lot. Rachel thought as she did a wave and headed towards the alleyway. She heard a gunshot and then some yelling. She supposed some idiot thought she was showing disrespect to them. How fun. At least this time she could make Jason double the payment. Money wasn't everything, but hell if she was doing this for free.

"She knows that gang?" Casey asked amazed as he watched the girl take off. Raph wasted no time in the least going after her. "Hey! Wait up!" He huffed as he ran after his friend to catch up with him.

It didn't make any sense. Why would Rae know that gang? Just what connections does she have with them and who the hell was her "master"? It confused him greatly and he was quite certain that even if he did watch what was going on, she wouldn't be able to tell him. No, she wouldn't even try to tell him. He gripped his fists tightly, knowing that she was either a traitor or this "master" had more influence on her than she cared to admit.

He wasn't a genius like what Donny was, nor was he an idiot like sometimes Mikey could be. He was in the middle and he supposed that besides Mikey, he had a human-like mind. He knew what caused them to tick, even though his temper caused him more trouble than it was worth.

But, he never caught a lie from Rae. When someone asked her a question, she answered it the best she could. If there was a question she didn't want to answer, Bria took over....

Which was probably the smartest move she did, but also a bad one. Now that he knew this, he could play her game. He'd get to know what she's doing and who her "master" was and see what she is to his family, a threat or a friend or an ally? He seen plenty of enemies turn to their side after a good head-bashing and talking to, but Rae joined up so much without a fight.

And somehow, someway he knew that Bria managed to do that. Master wasn't the same as Mistress and he frowned. If Bria wasn't pulling the strings then it had to be someone else. He stopped again when Rae stopped and had to once again make sure Casey didn't get too far ahead of him. He wasn't sure about this one.

Being unsure was also another way to say that he doubted her enough to actually not know whether or not she was in danger or if the situation was under control.

He supposed he'd wait and find out. It wasn't going to take long.