Leonardo was having a hard time staying down and out of sight in the back seat of Greg's Jeep. It had been an extremely sobering drive into the neighborhood of the Financial District where the Civic Center was located. Part of him didn't want to see the devastation the earthquake had wrought, but the greater part of him wanted to abandon the slow-moving vehicle altogether and take off running down the middle of the street.
It'd be nice to get there before the building completely collapses! It's situations like these that make me detest being forced to hide so much.
Donatello had been quiet for almost the entirety of the drive. Leonardo stared at the purple-masked turtle for a long moment, until Don met his gaze. "What are you thinking, Donny? It's not the time to be shy."
His brother shook his head. "We just have to get there, and see the condition of the building for ourselves. I know that we're going to have to be a lot quicker than we were inside the United Nations. The instability of the structure is already in question, and there's still the possibility of having another aftershock. We already had two serious ones today."
"How long are we going to keep having them, Don?" Raphael piped up.
"They can last for weeks...months," he answered. "There's no way I can predict that for you."
Leonardo leaned forward on the seat he was sharing with Raphael so he could get a better look at Donatello. "Do you want to run things for us inside?"
Donny glanced down at the scanner in his hand. "It would probably be best if I did. I'll do my best to keep us out of harm's way."
As Donatello spoke, Leonardo noticed that his brother's gaze was now being drawn out of the passenger window of the Jeep. The blue-masked turtle followed his eyes, and Leo caught his breath at the sight of several uniformed men.
"National Guardsmen," Greg volunteered, glancing in his rear-view mirror at the turtles. "Bran said they were coming, and they didn't waste any time."
"I hope they haven't completely surrounded the Civic Center," Leo muttered to himself.
"There has to be some kind of gap, and you can bet we'll find it," Greg said determinedly.
"We?" Raphael echoed.
"Yeah, we," Greg repeated. "You, me, us, however you wanna say it."
Leonardo took another sharp breath. "We should discuss this now, before we get into position to attack the building."
"Discuss what?" Greg already sounded defensive. "You're not leaving me outside, if you think that's in question."
"Greg, we don't know what kind of shape the building is in, or how hard it will be to get to Brandon. It could involve some heavy ninjutsu-" Donatello started.
"And just how were you planning on Bran getting out?" he demanded. "He won't be up for any fancy footwork on his own. I don't care if you have to help me some along the way - I need to be in there. If you can get him through, you can get me through."
"Why do you feel like you need to go in the building?" Leo asked carefully.
"Kelley," Greg said shortly. "I'm not sending you in to the firing squad without standing in the path of those bullets."
"You don't expect this to go well," Leonardo said quietly.
"Leo, I don't know what to expect. He's a Company man; Kelley does his job. I don't know how he'll react to meeting the three of you, but I don't feel like he'll be ready to just jump on the bandwagon. If he isn't cooperative-"
"What, Heff?" Raphael interrupted. "Are you gonna kill him? You know you can't do that. Dealing with him isn't a good enough reason to risk your own skin."
"I think it is a good enough reason. I was going to say that I might be able to stall Kelley, long enough for you guys to get away. I understand that I may be more of a liability than an asset on this mission, but Bran is my best friend, and so are you guys. Don't leave me behind."
Leonardo glanced between his two brothers. "Greg, I'm not sure..." He trailed off slowly. His protective instincts didn't want the man inside the danger zone, but he was struggling with the idea of turning him down flat.
Twice he's exposed himself to mortal danger with the Akiudo, throwing in his lot with us when he didn't have to. Greg risked his life to help save my shell in Okinawa. How can I look him in the eyes and deny him the chance to stand up for his friend? The blue-masked turtle swallowed. He was uncomfortable with the decision he'd cast, but at least he'd made one.
"Okay, Greg," Leonardo said hollowly. "You're a full-fledged member of this group, and you've been allowed to put your life on the line several times in the past. I'm not going to deny you that opportunity right now."
His red-masked brother stared at him agape; even Donatello couldn't hide his astonishment.
"It's his choice," Leo insisted. "You didn't forbid Greg from helping in Okinawa, Raph, and the stakes there could have been more dangerous than what we'll face tonight. We don't have the right to turn him away."
"I gotta disagree with you there, Fearless," Raphael hissed in a low tone.
"It's not our place to tell him what to do," Leonardo countered.
"But there's not enough reason for him to risk himself this way!" Raphael shot back.
"I happen to think the three of you are all the reason I actually need," Greg inserted loudly. "I don't want to be a burden to anyone, but I happen to think I deserve this chance as much as you do."
The red-masked turtle's eyes narrowed as he angrily turned to the window. "I just hope I don't have to say 'I told you so', Heff, 'cause I really don't want to in this case."
The Jeep lapsed back into silence as they neared what Greg had called the "two-mile" marker.
The sandy-haired man studied the traffic in front of them. "I think this might be as close as I can get us to the Civic Center on this road. It's possible I could make a little more ground on one of the side streets, but I stand the chance of getting us boxed in too."
Leonardo watched the bustling people crowding the sidewalk with a discerning eye. "I don't want to try and blend in with a crowd unless we have to," he finally said. "Can you try to get us around the block? If there's less traffic, we're probably better off going on foot from here."
Greg went down the side street beside which he'd intentionally stopped, and drove around the corner. He pulled the Jeep into a nearly full parking lot on the next road, so they could assess the situation and prepare to move. Many of the cars were damaged, with windows that were either cracked or busted out completely. As Greg put his car into park, Leo noticed Donatello begin pawing through the contents of the bag at his feet.
"Before we go anywhere, let's get outfitted," Donatello suggested. "I wish we had the helmets, but we don't access to a lot of the same supplies that we did with the UN. I've got headlamps for everyone, as well as more than enough oxis. I wanted to bring most of the spares, not knowing what we'll actually need. Other than that, the only equipment we have to bring in is the grappling guns. From the sound of Brandon's position, we're going to need them. You guys can carry your own hooks, and I'll bring the spare too."
Donatello turned to face Greg to help adjust an oxi to the man's size. Leonardo only watched for a couple of seconds before he focused on slipping the band with the light over his own forehead, and tightened the strap so that it would be more secure. The blue-masked turtle pulled on the hood of his sweatshirt after the light was in place, and he felt the tingle of adrenaline that always preceded the beginning of an operation.
After a couple of minutes of watching yielded no civilians, they got out of the car, and began to silently tread across the darkened streets. The wan light of the street lamps was nonexistent tonight. There was no power to be seen for several blocks, except for the select few residences and businesses that happened to own a generator. Leonardo was grateful for the extra cover, though not happy for the effect it had on the stranded citizens with nowhere to go.
He couldn't hear his brothers' footsteps behind him, neither did he make any sound himself as he melded into the shadows. Leonardo grimaced when there was a moderate crash, and repressed a smile at Greg's whispered curse.
"Sorry," the man announced apologetically. "I'm kind of ruining the intrigue here."
"How 'bout you just watch where your feet are going?" Raphael snickered. "There's no point in telling you not to make any noise. That'd be like asking water not to be wet."
The blue-masked turtle couldn't see Greg's face, but he could tell from his stiff posture that the man was getting irritated.
"I am capable-"
Greg only managed to get three words off before an explosion lit up the darkness a couple of blocks ahead of them, and a fireball spiraled into the sky. Leonardo automatically fell into a defensive crouch, freezing close to the ground with his arms covering his head. With the flash of the fire he was assaulted by an inner vision of running through heavy rainforest, being rocked off his feet, and the annoying buzz of white noise in his right ear. The scenes from the Congo flickered through his mind so quickly that he almost lost sight of where they actually were.
"Leo!"
Donatello's insistent voice summoned him back to reality on the sidewalk in New York City, and Leonardo suddenly realized he wasn't breathing.
"Leo, are you okay?"
Something in Donatello's tone told him that it wasn't the first time his brother had called him. Leo took a deep breath to calm down his racing heart. "Yeah. I'm fine."
"I think that was a gas station," Donny told him. "We might want to cross to the other side of this road."
Leonardo nodded as he straightened upright. "Good call. Let's go."
The blue-masked turtle shook off the memory from the Congolese rainforest as he led the way across the street. They began moving quickly when they hit the other sidewalk, though somewhat more carefully than before. Leo kept his face forward and avoided meeting the eyes of any of the people who'd been drawn to look outside by the sound of the blast.
As they neared the burning station the blue-masked turtle held his breath again, and instantly picked up more speed lest another explosion was imminent. He cast a glance over his shoulder at his brothers. Donatello was right behind him, and Raphael was flanking the group from behind, hovering protectively close to Greg.
Leonardo flicked back to Donatello at the sound of his younger brother's rapid shallow breathing. "Are you okay, Don?"
Donny shook his head as he stared off into the distance, where the ruined remains of the Civic Center and the Javits building were coming into view. "I sure hope we're ready for this," he murmured.
Leonardo set his face forward determinedly. "We might not feel ready, but we're sure more prepared than we were facing the UN. We're just going to focus on one step at a time, rather than looking at the whole overwhelming picture at once."
Donatello cocked his head at him. "You've always been a big picture kind of guy, Leo."
The blue-masked turtle gave him a wry smile. "Yeah, when we've got a chance to strategize properly. Something like this, when we don't even know what's waiting around the next corner…We just have to do the best we can, and go with our instincts. We get those feelings in our guts for a reason, Don."
"Sure, Leo, but not all of us get them as often as you."