Matthew Kelley felt about as helpless as he'd ever been. He and Brandon had long ago abandoned their perch at the bottom of the chasm under the emergency lights, for fear of the debris that was still coming down. They took refuge under a shadowed "arch" that had been created by the collapsing stairwell, and waited for the inevitable.
Someone to rescue us, or something to kill us. Those are the only possibilities we have left.
Kelley's head and his side ached, but he hardly noticed because of his concern for Brandon. His companion had become quiet - much too quiet for Matthew's liking. As he looked over at Brandon again, he found the young man already staring at him.
"Director, are you armed?"
Where in the world did that come from? He must seriously be starting to lose it.
"No, James, I don't have my service weapon on me."
"That's good," he said softly.
"What's good?" Kelley pushed back, only hoping to connect to his rational side.
"Nothing," Brandon returned.
"No - you asked for a reason. Why did you want to know?"
Brandon broke eye contact with him, and he didn't respond.
He's been acting weird ever since he got that phone call. I can't understand how someone got through to him, here, of all places. I wish he'd let me see the phone. I need to go get one like it.
Matthew edged closer to the concrete against which Brandon was propped. "We're all each other has right now, Buddy. I need you to keep talking to me."
Brandon exhaled deeply. "It's hard to explain."
"What's hard to explain? Can you look at me please?"
The younger man had closed his eyes, and didn't react to Kelley. When several seconds had passed, Matthew rested the back of his palm against Brandon's cheek, and he swore inwardly.
Clammy. That's never good.
The young man's eyes at least flickered. "What are you..."
"Just checking something, Brandon. Can you talk to me some more? Why is something hard to explain?"
"That we're not alone," he answered. "My friends know about us, and they're coming. Probably already here somewhere."
Kelley had his doubts over whether Brandon was in his right mind or not, but he decided to go with it. "That was them on the phone?"
"Uh huh." Brandon didn't elaborate.
"How are they going to find us?"
"They can track me," he mumbled. "It's not hard."
"Then all we have to do is wait? You'll wait with me, won't you, Brandon?" Kelley took a sharp breath. I've gotta do whatever it takes to keep him awake. I hope he's not hurt worse than I thought he was.
"I'm trying," Brandon replied. "I'm getting tired. And my friends aren't what you'd expect."
"What are you talking about?"
"They're different. Just promise me that you'll give them a chance."
"Different? Can you tell me what that means?"
Brandon appeared frustrated all of the sudden. "I can't. You wouldn't believe me right now."
"Why wouldn't I believe you?"
"Because it sounds crazy. You have to see them for yourself."
Matthew rubbed a hand across his eyes nervously. He could be talking crazy, but he honestly sounds lucid. This doesn't make any sense. Maybe I should try another tactic.
"Brandon, tell me about your phone."
"My phone?"
"That has to be one incredible device. How on earth did you get it to work down here? Where did you buy that thing?"
"I didn't buy it, and you couldn't either. There're only a handful of them..."
"But where did you get it, James?"
"My friend, one of the guys who are coming. He's really smart."
"He designed your phone?"
Brandon's gaze remained steady for a few moments without blinking, and Kelley snapped his fingers near his face.
"Brandon, don't lose it, okay? Look at me."
"What did you ask me?"
"Your friend, he designs phones?"
Brandon made a sound that was almost a chuckle. "He's a genius."
"Where did you meet him?"
"They're friends with Kat and Greg," he murmured distractedly.
"So all of you know each other?"
"Uh huh. One big family."
Brandon slid sideways and Kelley caught him by his good shoulder, supporting the young man's head as it flopped dangerously.
"Brandon. Open your eyes. Please." Matthew reached to check his pulse, and it throbbed weak and rapid in his grasp.
This is bad. This could be really bad. Kelley sighed heavily as he felt a chill coming on. You make a hundred decisions every day, and one of them finally changes your life forever. How could I have been so selfish? Ellen sounded so scared on the phone yesterday, and Laurie couldn't have been feeling any better.
As the image of a teenage Laurie passed through his mind, he smiled sadly. She looks more like her Mom every day. She's so smart, and completely...amazing. I wish I had the chance to talk to them again, not that I could explain my decision to stay here today. I was stupid for not going home. I'm paying the price for it now, and they're going to pay too.
I've been such a fool. Where have the last couple of years even gone? I've been so wrapped up in work; it feels like I miss too many things at home. I'm an idiot, talking to Brandon about the most important things we can have in life. I haven't even valued my family like I should have. I ought to have been taking my own advice. I doubt I'll get the chance to now.
Raphael felt genuinely vulnerable bringing up the rear of the pack, as they traveled toward the remnants of one of the only visible access points to the Civic Center. They'd been wearing their oxis for several blocks, both against the heavy dust and smoke in the air, and in the hope of disguising themselves better.
Anyone who gets a real close look at us is gonna be able to tell the difference though. I can't believe we're just strolling up this way. Those soldiers are right over there!
The street was cast mostly in darkness, with the exception of small banks of lights that were running off generators. Their group was walking toward the building as if they belonged there, keeping their hooded faces hidden from anyone who could be tracking them on the right or left. The red-masked turtle reached to tug on his sweatshirt again, and caught Greg glancing at him out of the corner of his eye.
"Stop fidgeting," the man said under his breath. "They can't see you. If you act awkward, someone's going to question what we're doing here."
Raphael huffed in return, hating the self-conscious feeling hovering over his mind. "We should have tried to get some clothes like theirs, and no one would have to question us." He motioned toward the surrounding National Guardsmen.
"What uniform would have fit your big shell without alterations?" Greg hissed back.
"I'm just sayin' we coulda tried."
"Raph, we don't have time." Donatello didn't even bother turning around. "We've got to get in there as fast as we can."
"Getting in will be moot if we get caught out here," he grumbled.
"If you haven't noticed, we're doing fine, Raph," Leonardo said a little sharply. "No one wants to be this exposed, but our options for reaching the area we need to get to are limited."
They had found other gaps as they tracked around the side of the building, but for the moment, speed of access was trumping their need for self-preservation.
"We're standing out like sore thumbs," Raphael couldn't resist adding.
The blue-masked turtle swiveled his head to glare at him, and Raphael hardly resisted the urge to shrug.
This is suicide. Any one of these jokers could see us, then we sure as shell won't get near that building.
He stared longingly at the entrance, which was still several yards away. The temptation to throw caution to the wind and run inside was strong, but that would probably fall under the category of drawing undue attention to himself.
There's gotta be a safer way to do this - we just don't have time to figure...Raphael broke out of thought as he noticed one of the uniforms jogging, and it looked like the soldier was heading straight for them.
Greg threw out an arm to stop Raphael, then the man dashed in between his brothers to get ahead of them to meet the National Guardsman. The three turtles huddled unmoving, and Raphael could swear he felt everyone's heart beating at once.
"This area has been shut down to non-essential civilians." The soldier's voice carried over to where they were.
"We're not civilians," Greg returned, reaching for his ID.
"FBI? We're not concerned with investigating any crimes right now, Sir. Only search and rescue is going into that building."
"We're part of the effort." Greg's even tone didn't waver. "I'm accompanying a team of contracted professional 'extractors'."
"Where's their ID?" Soldier demanded.
"What do I need to do, sign a waiver?" Greg was getting irritated. "You're not responsible for us, okay? My team needs to get into that building, so you tell me what I need to do, and it's done."
"It's not my call, Sir; this comes from over my head. We've got enough victims to retrieve without adding more to the list."
"You don't have to worry about us," Greg said shortly. "Why don't you try focusing on the people who need help, and we'll do the same? Don't you see how ridiculous it is to be playing gatekeeper when this many lives are in jeopardy?"
"And your little band of FBI Agents is going to do what exactly? You haven't been inside, or seen what I've seen. I've no doubt you're fine investigators, but what good are you going to do inside a crumbling building?"
Something inside Raphael snapped at that instant. Without taking time to think about it, he yanked his hood down as far as he could, and he took off in a sprint toward the stone facing of the Civic Center. Raphael heard Leonardo's muffled swear and he sensed his brothers spring after him, but the red-masked turtle wasn't stopping. He sized up his approach to the building in his mind's eye, right before flipping over two soldiers working on a generator.
He used the momentum he'd built up with his speed to leap to an exposed ledge, then vaulted to the next one across from him. Raphael rapidly scaled his way to the third story, utilizing every corner and ledge in his path to assist in the climb. He heard the grunt of one of his brothers as they copied his maneuver, and Raphael picked up speed to give them more room with which to work.
When he spotted Leo with another glance over his shoulder, Raphael motioned toward the shattered window that was over his head, then he dropped casually inside. The blue-masked turtle followed him in seconds, his frame shaking with anger.
"What the shell were you thinking, Raph?" Leonardo turned on his head lamp so that it partially illuminated the space along with the angry features of the oldest turtle.
"I was thinking about getting somewhere, Leo, and Heff wasn't making any ground with that guy!"
"You didn't give him much of a chance," Donatello said more mildly, inserting himself between the older turtles. "This discussion can wait, can't it? We're already in, so let's not split hairs."
Leonardo nodded curtly, though his dark eyes had lost none of their fury. "Can you go ahead and find our bearings with the scanner, Don? Figure out where we're going from here," Leonardo suggested.
Donatello's hand reached for his scanner, but changed directions in a flash to grab his vibrating phone instead. "Hello? Heff! No, that wasn't planned, it was kind of out of our control...No, we won't go without you. I'll throw a cable down so you can reach us. I'm heading to do that right now, just hang on a minute."
"What'd he say?" Raphael asked.
"That soldier ordered Heff to get us out of here." Donny grinned. "Naturally, he volunteered to retrieve us."
"'Make me', that's what I would have said," Raphael muttered, and caught another dark look from Leonardo. "Let it go, Fearless. We're here, aren't we?"
"Ninjutsu is an art form, Raph, not a tool for flying off the handle!"
"Well excuse me for not wanting to stand around listening to som–"
Donatello's hand snaked toward Raphael's shoulder, stopping him before he could go further. "Not now, remember? I need to give Greg a hand in joining us, if you guys would like to stop arguing."
Raphael folded his arms silently as he watched Donatello cast the line of one of the grappling guns out of the window, then duck through the frame to make certain of the position in which it had landed. A couple of seconds later Don started to slowly retract the cable, and backed into the room to wait for Greg.
The red-masked turtle rolled his shoulders to free them of some of the tension stored up inside his muscles. Shell, I forget about the role Mikey likes to play in these missions. I'd sure feel better if he was around to take a swat at. He'd probably be goofing off and distracting Leo from being irritated with me.
Raphael glanced up as he noticed both of his brothers giving Greg a hand inside the window.
"Geesh, guys," Greg said breathlessly, letting go of the hook so that Donny could finish retracting it. "You could have warned me you were going to do something like that. I mean, it worked, but still..."
"It wasn't a group consensus," Leonardo snapped. "And we shouldn't talk about it this second. Donny, where are we going?"
The purple-masked turtle stared down at his scanner, as if waiting for the machine to speak to him. "Brandon said they were on a staircase, on their way up to the Javits building. I think our best move would be to try and utilize the elevator shaft that's adjacent to the stairwell."
"We'd need to get down to the Mezzanine level first, close to the middle of the Civic Center," Greg added. "That's where we can pick up the connection to the Federal building. You made the right move scaling this thing though, Raph, the first level is absolutely crawling with the National Guard."
Donatello looked as if his thoughts were still churning. "By ascending through the shaft, we can more likely guarantee our ability to rappel down to where Brandon and his boss fell."
"You can think and walk at the same time, can't you, Genius?" Raphael asked.
His younger brother cast him an irritated glance. "No more stunts like that last one, all right? The building is unstable. Follow my lead, and don't even think about charging off again."
Raphael couldn't hide a grin. "I love it when you get bossy, Don. It keeps things interesting."
"Then you're going to be fascinated in a minute here," he shot back. "Let's move."