Greg experienced a massive sense of impending doom as he leaned against the wall across from where Director Kelley was sitting. He hadn't been able to talk his boss into getting some medical attention of his own yet, but Greg had at least managed to wrangle up a chair for him. He'd followed Kelley's explicit directions to get to the temporary military installation. It wasn't a hospital in the traditional sense, but at least it was a building, and it possessed most of the necessary equipment that Triage didn't have.
Having seen Triage first-hand, I have to say that this is better, he admitted inwardly.
Greg had expected the questions to start rolling off of Kelley's tongue, but that wasn't the case yet. He eyed his Director carefully as the man hung up the phone from speaking with his wife.
"She'll probably kill me where I stand when I get home," Matthew said ruefully.
"All the more incentive to get there," Greg offered tongue-in-cheek. He was doing his best to act calm, but he felt nothing of the sort.
"It's pretty clear that there are certain things you don't want me to know," Kelley said suddenly. "I don't want to force you to tell me anything, but it would be nice to get some clue as to what actually happened back there."
"Sir, please don't take this personally," Greg replied quickly. "We don't want you to have to be responsible for some of this information, given the position that you hold. All of us are extremely protective of the guys anyway, so introducing them to someone new...it's a nerve-wracking process."
Kelley nodded, as if he really did understand. "I'm on a 'need to know' basis, is that it?"
"That's an accurate way of putting it, yes."
"I hope you'll do me the honor of answering at least one question. What are they going to do with Raphael, the one who got hurt? How will they get him help?"
"Our team isn't without...resources. We have medical members, and we also normally have access to a Lab with all the equipment and medication that they need."
"You normally do?" Kelley echoed. "I wasn't trying to listen in on them, but I heard one of them say something that made it sound like they have nowhere to go."
Greg hesitated, and nodded. "Their home is in a position that's extremely vulnerable to earthquakes and aftershocks. They had to abandon it, and we don't know if it's even still standing. As their friends, we'll protect the guys to the best of our abilities, but it's simply not safe for them to be out in the open. Every moment they're in someone's apartment, they're risking discovery."
"How many times did they risk someone seeing them tonight alone?"
Greg shrugged. "In desperate times, they've never turned away from someone who needed them, Sir, no matter how great the danger. Quitting isn't in their vocabulary." He glanced down as his phone vibrated, and peeked at the display. "Excuse me, Director, but I need to take this call." He took a deep breath before he flipped the phone open. "Leo? What's going on? How's Raph?"
"In pain. Donny and Marc are doing their best to get him more comfortable. What about Bran?"
"He's resting. My Director worked him into the rotation of a temporary military base. Brandon's going to get the attention that he needs. Is everyone else together yet?"
"Yes, and we've made a decision," Leonardo said slowly.
Greg waited for him to continue without speaking.
"We're going to head down south, to Luke's old family home. The docs will have options for setting things up medically speaking, and its location is remote. The last thing I want to do is drag you away from Brandon, but..."
"You need my help," Greg filled in. "Brandon won't be alone, Leo. We'll work everything out before we leave."
"Right now the main issue is finding a boat to get us to Newark."
"You know what, Leo? Leave the boat to me. I'll find something to get you off this island if it kills me."
"That'd better be a figure of speech."
"I'll work on it, and let you know what I can come up with. We want to leave quickly, I imagine?"
"As soon as is feasible...which I don't see happening before tomorrow night."
"Get some rest, Leo. You guys have been through a lot in the last few hours."
"You were in there too, Heff."
"I'll talk to you when I have info on the boat or Brandon."
"Thanks a lot, Heff. I'll see you later."
Greg hung up the phone in slow motion, as a numb feeling spread throughout his body.
C'mon, you expected this, he chided himself. You knew they were probably going to need to leave the city altogether. Greg stared at the floor bleakly as regret coursed through his mind. I wish it didn't have to be so far though. I'll have to stay with them for a while, and make sure they get settled with everything they need. I'd rather stick it out in North Carolina too, but I can't abandon Brandon indefinitely.
"Heffernan?" Kelley's voice drew him out of contemplation. "Are you all right?"
Greg shook his head. "Not really, no. This is one of the dozen times in my life when I've wished it were possible to split myself in two. I'm just trying to figure out a long-term goal in my mind."
"This has to do with your friends?"
Greg nodded. "Everything is complicated, as you can imagine. They're not going to be able to stay in Manhattan. They're getting ready to head out of state, and they're going to have to erect a new Lab from scratch."
"Did I hear you say something about a boat?"
"That's pretty much the only way traffic is getting off the island, isn't it? It's too bad we lost Brandon. He's the one who's comfortable around that type of vessel."
"Would something small work? How many people would it be transporting?"
"Honestly? I don't know. Any number of our members might be making the trip with them, and I haven't heard anything for sure on that front."
"Do you have an entire network of people that know about them?"
"A small one," Greg allowed.
"Finding a boat won't be nearly as difficult as keeping everyone involved safe, will it?"
He sighed wearily. "That would be correct."
"But what do you do after they're off the island? Do you drive them wherever you need to go?"
"No, in this case, we'd be flying. I've got the Gulfstream over at Newark."
"You own that plane?"
"It was a group purchase." Greg was irritated with being drawn down a rabbit trail. "I can take care of them without any problem, as soon as we sneak them out of the city."
"If you went for a smaller vessel, say something that only involved one crew member like the Captain, I don't think that'd be a problem."
"Except that we don't invite people inside the circle of trust just for kicks."
"The Captain wouldn't even have to see all the passengers," Kelley countered. "Somebody like you or me comes along, tells him he's shuttling some endangered civilians. Someone could stay nearby to make sure he didn't see anyone that he isn't supposed to."
Dang. He's thinking like one of us already.
"How soon do they need this boat?" Kelley asked briskly.
"Twenty-four hours?" Greg suggested.
"Done. I'll set it up, but I need to make something abundantly clear to you, Greg. I'm not comfortable with this arrangement. I know that you're hiding things about them from me, and I can only assume it involves something I wouldn't be able to reconcile with. Now this isn't a threat, and I don't want you to take it the wrong way. I have no intention of going back on my word to keep their secret.
"But after this, after I help them escape the city, my hands are off. I have a family, Heffernan, and a responsibility to the oath I've sworn under the law. I can't risk being entangled in something that could threaten either one of those things."
Greg nodded casually, although his stomach was churning on the inside. "After tomorrow, you won't hear from them again, Sir. I'll personally guarantee it."
Calley was weary of waiting for Leonardo to come down from the roof, and decided it was time to go after him. The young woman reached for a light jacket before stepping out onto the balcony and crawling to the fire escape. She climbed the metal stairs to the top level, knowing all along that the roof would still be out of her reach when she got there. As she fleetingly considered the possibility of scaling over the railing, the blue-masked turtle looked over the edge of the roof at her.
"Calley. I knew I heard someone. Stay there; I'm on my way down."
"You stay, Leo. You could give me a hand up though."
He appeared a little mystified, but stretched his arm to her just the same. Calley grabbed his hand, and the turtle pulled her onto the roof beside him.
"You didn't have to come up, Calley. I've probably been up here too long already. I'm sorry, I've just been searching..."
"For peace?" she asked softly.
Leo nodded. "I haven't been able to find any."
Calley sat down inside the ledge, facing the turtle as he paced a couple of steps in front of her.
"This is different than anything I've ever felt," he said. "It seems like a part of me is dying inside, Calley. I know this is what we have to do to survive, but it still feels like we're being defeated. We're running for our lives from a force that we can't fight."
"Leo, I think...it's normal to have a sense of loss and grief at a time like this. When you compound being forced to leave your home with worry over Mike, and now Raph too, it only makes it worse. I don't think you should expect to feel peace over this decision. The most you can do is accept it for the temporary solution that it is, and remember that you're not abandoning them."
Leonardo's questioning gaze flicked over to her.
"The city," Calley clarified. "This isn't just about leaving home, is it, Leo? It's about honor. In 'running away', part of you feels like you're giving up New York to whatever fate might come its way."
The blue-masked turtle didn't answer immediately, but she sensed she'd struck on the true crux of the matter.
"I can't describe what it feels like to go into some place like the United Nations or the Civic Center tonight, Calley," Leo said quietly. "Where there are so many victims and hurting people...They all need help, and someone to rescue them. Could we get to them? Sure. There are countless numbers of people we could have saved, instead of going after Bran and his boss.
"Where's the salvation for the people we bypass, Calley? We climbed through an elevator shaft, directly above a car where several people were probably trapped. We didn't even have time to give them a second glance. Sometimes, I...I get this feeling like we're playing 'God,' deciding who lives and who dies. What gives us that right? Who are we to choose who gets to go home to their family, and who never sees them again?"
Calley took a contemplative moment before responding. "Leo, you don't choose for any of this to happen. You didn't force terrorists to plant explosives at the UN, and the earth didn't shift just because you wanted it to. For the people who lose their lives through those events, it's an incredibly tragic thing. That doesn't make any of it your fault. As amazing as you are, you're still only one person. No matter how hard you try, you can't save everyone."
Leonardo looked away. "I tell myself that, Calley. I try to convince myself that our motives and intentions are in the right place, but sometimes I have to call them into question. We are forced to pick and choose who we're going to save-"
"Are you saying that you should be faulted for going after one of your closest friends, when you were the only ones who even knew that Brandon and Kelley were down there?" she interrupted.
"I can't rationalize all of this," he said wearily. "I'm only telling you what's going through my mind."
Calley got to her feet, and rested her palm delicately against his cheek, drawing his face back to her. "You shoulder a weight that most people would be crushed under, Leo. You don't need to search for ways to make the burden heavier."
"I'm not," he protested.
"No? Then what do you call pushing my father to see if he would react unfavorably to us leaving?"
Leonardo sighed heavily. "It goes back to something Don told Jenna once. We wear chains that you don't have to. I just don't think it's fair to rip you away from your father and your home, without giving anyone else a choice."
"Are you listening to yourself, Leo? Home isn't strictly a location that we live in. It's wherever we're together. I love my father and Victoria with all my heart, but I made a promise to you. What's more, I couldn't bear to be separated from you." Calley paused to glance at the darkened city skyline. "When people go through something like this, it's a chance to find out what's really valuable. Luke and Kat lost everything they own, but they still have each other and Reina. They didn't lose each other, and we're not going to lose anyone either.
"Yes, the city is in upheaval, but they're getting assistance from the Army National Guard, and they won't be leaving any time soon. I don't expect you to be able to let go of the burden you feel for New York, Leo, but you can't blame yourself for the bad things that happen to people."
The blue-masked turtle's arm wound around her waist from behind, and the comfort of his touch instantly made Calley feel secure, even as the intensity of his gaze made a shiver run down her spine. Calley shifted to face him, looping her arms around his neck. She closed her eyes as he brushed fringed bangs off her forehead, and the familiarity of the gesture was powerful enough to make her forget where they were.
"How could you think I'd want to stay here without you?" she murmured.
"I never said I wanted you too."
"I made my choice earlier this year, and I'm sticking with it. It was the best decision I ever made," she said firmly.
Calley sensed a small shudder through his chest as she pressed her lips against his. She felt a bit breathless as he held on to the kiss more longingly than normal.
"I would have hated going without you, just for the record," he said hoarsely.
She cracked a smile. "That's nice to know, Leo, because you're not going to. It will be so much easier to face this together than it would be apart."