Raphael was relieved when Brandon stirred in his arms. "Hey, guys, hold up a second!" he called from the back of the line. "Bran?"
The man turned his head. "Raph? Is that you?"
"Well, it sure ain't the Pope." The red-masked turtle grinned.
"What have you done with me?"
"Oh, nothing, just pulled your butt out of trouble as usual."
"Right - so who's gonna save you?"
Raphael chuckled, and noticed Donatello backtracking.
"Can you put him down for a second, Raph? I want a quick look at him."
"I can walk by the way. I'm not hurt that bad," Brandon mentioned.
"You're weaker than you think you are," Donatello said gently.
"You guys are always trying to convince me of that," Brandon grumbled.
The purple-masked turtle smiled. "Aren't you in a fine mood? How about you just try to follow my light?"
The man's gaze faltered somewhat as he tracked the penlight. "What happened? I remember the quake, and some things after that. I know I talked to you...but there's not much else."
"You've been in and out a little bit, Bran. You're dealing with some shock which I'm already combating. It's good to see you awake. You need to try to stay that way," he said mock sternly.
"I'll do that, if you guys will get around to the 'rescuing' part already."
"Don't worry, Brandon, we're on a path to shoot out of here as soon as we can. Hold on, and this nightmare will be over before you know it."
Raphael hefted the man up in muscular arms again. "No worries, fair maiden. This knight is gonna get you back on solid ground."
"Few more words like that and you'll make Karina jealous enough to come after me."
"You think your little sister could take you, Bran?"
"I think a feather could take me right now."
"You're in luck, man; I haven't seen a single feather in this place." Raphael felt someone's eyes locked on him, and glanced over to see Kelley staring. Shell, I wonder if he heard what Brandon said about Karina. Not that he'd be able to put two and two together. We're just freaks to him, and it's better for him to keep thinking that.
Raphael started walking again, and felt a pang of relief when Kelley looked away. Greg had coached all of them not to say a word about their true activities in the city, or to answer most of Kelley's questions. You'd think this guy spells the end of the world for us as we know it. You wouldn't guess it to look at him, but I guess he's got a pretty powerful position. Hopefully he'll either be grateful enough to keep his mouth shut, or he'll succeed in convincing himself we're some insane hallucination he's having. Though the longer we spend with him, the less likely he's going to believe that.
The sound of a thunderous crack broke Raphael out of reverie over Matthew Kelley, and he almost dropped Brandon as the floor physically shifted under his feet. The red-masked turtle swore as the ceiling also gave way under the increased pressure, and heavy debris rained down around them. For a terrifying moment he heard nothing except the now distant rumbling, and the rapid breathing of his companions.
"Is everyone all right?" Leonardo checked. "Speak up!"
"Just barely," Donatello volunteered. "Greg and I are okay. I think that was an aftershock."
"Raph?" Leonardo barked before Raphael could speak.
"We're cool, Fearless. I've still got Brandon." Raphael turned to look for Kelley, and found the man on the ground. "Are you okay? Can you get up?"
The man was trembling. "You don't have to burden yourself with me," he gasped painfully. "I'm slowing you down."
"We don't leave people behind," Leonardo replied, reaching to pull the man upright. "Can you still move? I can help you."
"I can make it," he said with a surprising sense of renewed determination. "I can go faster. We have to. The building isn't going to last, and I have to get home. I can't leave my family."
"You're going home to them," Leo said firmly, and looked over his shoulder. "We are going to have to pick up the pace again, Don! This feels like a really dangerous position!"
The blue-masked turtle fixed Raphael with another look, and Raphael understood the silent message.
We can't let Kelley fall behind.
It took a little time to maneuver over the new concrete and metal littering their path, but speed had become a priority again. The smell of smoke permeated the ventilation system, which only added to Raphael's urgency. Donatello wasn't even taking the time to follow along with his scanner now; he and Greg were completely focused on finding the most efficient way through the earthquake-tossed remnants of the building.
In his arms, Brandon was quiet, his former sense of humor completely stifled. Raphael constantly alternated between scanning Brandon, watching where he was going, and keeping tabs on Kelley. The man's limp was much more prominent, but he was moving as if their lives depended on it. A flash of guilt coursed through Raphael as he considered their unilateral anxiety over Kelley. He just wants to get out of here to his family, and all we're doing is worrying about the danger he poses to us.
Raphael saw Kelley stumble and was about to surge forward when Leonardo leaped over to the man, threading an arm around his back.
"Stay beside me, Director."
The man didn't shy away from Leonardo's arm this time, and Raphael nodded with satisfaction.
The less he thinks of us like some deadly wild animals, the more likely he'll treat us like real people. Too early to tell if we'll actually be able to trust him at all. He is FBI after all, he thought ironically. Raphael chuckled as the memory of meeting Katherine for the first time came to mind.
"What?" Brandon spoke for the first time in several minutes.
"I was just remembering how we met your big sister at the UN."
She freaked me out something fierce too. I couldn't believe she was with the FBI. We've sure come a long way since then.
"You met Katherine inside the United Nations?" Kelley asked.
Raphael grimaced, as he'd forgotten who was still in earshot. Well...he already knows we're connected.
The red-masked turtle nodded. "It was the same day the terrorists hit the UN."
"Do you make a habit of running into crumbling buildings?"
"We make a habit of bein' where we need to be," he answered vaguely, and shifted Brandon to a better position.
"I don't know why it surprises me," Kelley said, half to himself. "You act like you've done this kind of thing before."
No one chose to answer the veiled question. They carried on in silence for a couple more minutes, while smoke continued to build out of the vents. Raphael swore he could feel the temperature rising, though he chose not to say anything about it.
There has to be a major fire above us. This whole place is gonna become an inferno - we have to get the shell out of here before we become some of the victims!
The sound of an explosion assaulted his ears, and Raphael hit the ground with Brandon as the ceiling splintered a couple of feet ahead of them.
"Leo!" he yelled immediately. He was relieved to see his brother jump up off the floor, from where he'd darted out of the way.
"You guys all right, Raph?"
"Fine - we're coming around." Raphael was about to track around the wreckage, when his foot nudged an indistinct bundle in the midst of the rubble, and he realized that it was a human being. "Holy shell! Don, c'mere, quick!"
Leonardo and Kelley lingered on the side as Donatello crouched near the burned man, and checked to see if he was alive.
"He's breathing," Donatello said. "Heart rate isn't strong. Hold on a minute, guys." He dug into his bag for another oxi, and quickly set the device up before slipping it over the man's face.
The purple-masked turtle hoisted the unconscious soldier over his shoulder, and he hurried to get back to the head of the group. Raphael watched Kelley stare after him, before Leonardo took his arm to get the man moving again. Raphael's shell scraped against the wall as he ducked under the beam that was partially blocking their path, and he put on another burst of speed to keep up with everyone. Adrenaline was flowing at its peak level as he scrambled over piles of concrete and rebar, gripping Brandon tightly against his plastron so he wouldn't risk losing him.
"Raph, thanks for coming." Brandon sounded somewhat tired again.
"You sleepy, Bran? You gotta stay awake for a while longer."
"You're the best friends I've ever had, and I'd rather die alone than see anything happen to you," he said more strongly.
"You're not too bad either, Bran. I'm getting a little tired of hauling your tail all over the globe though."
The man cracked a weary smile. "How many people get a brother-in-law and a bodyguard all in one package?"
"Yeah, you're pretty lucky," Raphael returned. "Stay with me, all right?"
A shout from up ahead made his blood run cold, but a cry of acclamation followed it.
"What did you find?" he heard Leonardo yell.
Raphael couldn't hear Donatello's response, but the blue-masked turtle doubled back to meet him a minute later.
"Donny and Greg think they've got a way out, but it's going to require one more rappel," Leo said.
"I think I've got that in me, how 'bout you, Fearless?" Raphael grinned.
"We don't want to take the time to deal with the harnesses. Don said the space is only large enough to handle a couple of us at a time, so we'll go down in pairs. When I left, Don was heading down with that soldier."
"What about Greg?"
"He thinks he'll be fine handling the grappling gun on his own. I'll take care of Kelley again since you've got Brandon."
"Whatever works, Leo!"
They hurried to get to the opening, and found Greg and Kelley standing by the narrow chasm.
"We can see some light coming from down there!" Greg told them. "It's leading to the street level."
"Heff, go ahead," Leonardo instructed. "We'll follow after you."
Kelley was staring at the shaft as if it spelled his certain doom, and stepped away from Leonardo when he reached for him.
"This is the way out, Director. You want to go home - this is how."
As the man hesitated, the blue-masked turtle reached out to him again. "It's going to be okay. We've come this far, and you only have to go a little bit further. Come with me, and I'll help you down."
Raphael rolled his eyes as Leonardo hovered on the edge ready to take the plunge, yet still was forced to wait for Kelley. "Shell. Leo, let him have another minute, and just take Brandon, okay? I'll handle him."
Leonardo shot him a warning glance as he handed Brandon off, which Raphael promptly ignored. Once his older brother had descended out of sight, he fixed Kelley with a steely glare.
"I get that you've been through hell today, but do you wanna live, or do you wanna die? Make up your mind already, because it's time to go!"
The man nodded shakily, and Raphael turned around to watch for the flash of Leonardo's head-lamp, which was the "all-clear" signal. The red-masked turtle breathed in and out slowly as he fired his grappling hook over his head.
"Now look, man. We have to do this different than before, and it means you're going to have to face me. I've only got one arm to help you - I have to guide the cable with the other."
The man's hands were sweaty as Raphael drew his arms over his shoulders. He didn't seem to want to touch Raphael's plastron, and it made the turtle roll his eyes again. "I won't bite. Now hold on and don't let go, because I'm getting off this ledge in about five seconds."
Kelley's death grip almost choked Raphael, but the turtle decided not to fight him. He descended slowly, resting his free arm protectively around the man's back. It was difficult not to look Kelley in the eye with him in that position, but the man was avoiding his gaze.
"Not so bad, right?" Raphael asked gruffly. "You don't need to look down, but there's only a few yards to go. We're almost out of here, man. You can smile if you want to."
"When we're on the ground," Kelley returned swiftly.
Raphael picked up a little more speed as they got closer to the street level. He was already looking down when a loud rumbling overhead made him jolt on the cable. In a flash he saw shadowed debris falling, and hardly had time to tear Kelley off of him. He flung the man out of the path of the incoming missiles, and then lunged after him. There was no control in the leap, and his vision spun as he crashed to the ground. The shadow pursued him as he tried to move, and it was too late to get out of the way.
*Um...this would probably be the appropriate time to apologize to Raph. I don't think I ever took the time to do that.