Leonardo was having a difficult time keeping himself calm and preventing a fuming Donatello from getting too loud.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid! We were in too much of a hurry to get in here. We should have taken our time; I could have given myself the opportunity to create a more elaborate ruse than the time loop on their monitoring system." The purple-masked turtle was talking so fast that his words were running together.
"How do you know that's what set them off?" Leonardo asked.
"I saw one of them fussing with a camera, Leo, which means they know they weren't working correctly."
The two turtles were following the men who'd taken Luke and Greg into custody from a careful distance. Leonardo was dismayed to see three more men join the first group that was escorting them. He rolled his eyes in frustration as he peered around the corner of the hallway, then he glanced at the mounted camera on the wall.
"Hang on, Don. If they're on to us, does that mean they can see us right now?"
"No, Leo, because I've got the disruptor on. Those men didn't come to investigate the Lab because they saw something, Bro. They came because they noticed that all the cameras leading this direction had been on the fritz, and the one inside the Lab was blocked."
"We'll have to sue them for being vigilant," Leonardo said dryly. "Whatever happened to the unobservant men who can't see their own hand in front of their faces?"
"Those men didn't get hired. Leo, what are we going to do? We could take those guards down, but they're carrying guns, and they're only doing their jobs. We can't justify attacking them."
"I think they already took their wallets anyway." Leonardo shook his head. "If either of them were carrying ID, then they already know who they are, and it really is over. Breaking Luke and Greg out would only result in an APB, pointing directly back to Lotus Salvus. We can't afford to force Doc to go on the lam."
"We can't afford for them to sacrifice themselves to jail either!"
"What can they prove besides trespassing, Don? Anything?"
"I don't think so. I removed our signatures from the computers, and the disruptor wasn't invasive with the security systems. I'm carrying the proof of the information we stole. But what are we going to do, Leo?" he repeated.
"I know what we should do," the blue-masked turtle muttered. "Get back to the van and run to the high ground."
"But we're not doing that, are we?"
Leonardo shook his head. "I don't see how we can just leave them." He paused to peer down the hall again, and looked at Donatello. "I think they're heading back outside."
Without another word Leo started moving stealthily down the corridor, and he sensed his brother following behind him. They cautiously slipped out of the building, and looked around for the security guards with their friends in tow. They'd allowed the men to get a sufficient distance away before going after them, to cut down on the chances of being seen.
After spotting them several yards out, Leonardo turned to Donny. "Can you get a better look at them through your binoculars?"
The purple-masked turtle fiddled with the zoom, and looked at them through the view finder. "If I had to guess, I'd say they're heading back toward that Security Center."
Leonardo cocked his head. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"Attic?"
"You read my mind. Let's get back up there, and see if there's anything we can do."
The two turtles slid rapidly around the perimeter of the building, clinging to the shadows to keep their approach from being seen.
Why didn't I stop Greg from taking off that way? I should have known what he was up to. I don't want those two to burn for trying to help us, Leonardo thought regretfully. His heart skipped when he heard sirens in the distance. Please, God, tell me those cops aren't on their way here. We were too rash. Donny's right - we should have taken our time and planned this better, instead of acting like it would be a piece of cake. Shell, they can't take the fall because of us!
Leonardo led the way up the side of the building, dropping onto the flat roof with an air of disgust. Just because we're not dealing with a real enemy doesn't mean we aren't facing a real threat. Don and I should have come alone; end of story. If they end up in jail, I'm going to kick myself.
The blue-masked turtle waited for Donny to join him before he headed for the same trap door that they'd used the last time. The padlock was still waiting neatly beside the door, and Leonardo wasted no time in dropping inside the crawl space. He remembered not to breathe in the cloud of dust, and inched forward on his hands and knees.
What are we doing here? It's crazy. Unless we're willing to make fugitives out of them, what can we possibly do to help?
He automatically headed for the vent, freezing when he heard a loud accusing voice.
"...We're going to get answers, one way or another. What were you doing in there? What did you take?"
The voice was as self-righteous as any Leonardo had ever heard, and he recognized it. Wilson.
Leo stole a glimpse of the room below, and caught sight of two men. Wilson was pacing, acting agitated, while the other was seated at the desk, and merely looked incredulous.
"We caught you red-handed this time," the calmer one said. "You're not going to get away with it."
"'Red-handed' would imply that you caught us taking something - and you didn't." Greg's self-assured persona was intact; Leonardo couldn't see the man, but was somewhat comforted by that fact.
"You searched us," Greg continued. "We have nothing."
"That doesn't mean you weren't doing anything!" Wilson was on the verge of exploding. "You broke in here-"
"Did you find anything broken?" Greg challenged. "You're operating on your own theories, and you don't have anything solid to back them up."
"You're on private property, and that's enough to get you on trespassing," the sitting man replied. "The police will be here soon, and they can sort all of this out."
Leonardo cringed. Well, what did you expect? That they'd give them a slap on the wrist and send them on their way? Get real.
He stole a look at his purple-masked brother, and saw Donny balling his fists angrily.
"We can't let this happen, Leo. We can't."
"I wonder what your 'friend' Dr. Wells will have to say about your activities here," Wilson said threateningly. "That's right, I had them run your ID. We know you were here the other day. He had a rather rude awakening tonight too."
A blast over the radio had the man at the desk rising to his feet. "The police are here. I hope you already have your one phone call in mind."
Leonardo exhaled deeply as he considered ripping the vent cover out, and going to retrieve Luke and Greg himself. Instead he silently burned, more angry with himself than the self-important men who were guarding the facility. They did their jobs tonight, he thought bitterly. I don't believe this is happening. How are we going to face Kat?
Leo stiffened when he heard the door to the hallway open, and footsteps enter the room. This is not good. Not good at all. Watching two of their best friends getting read their rights was one of the worst experiences Leonardo had ever had.
Luke was doing his best to put on a strong face, but it was all he could do to keep himself from outright panicking. Greg kept shooting him reassuring looks, but Luke wasn't convinced. He didn't bring his badge, and he hasn't even tried to play the FBI card. Greg doesn't want his Agent identity tied up in all of this. Darn it, we were so stupid...
Being led out the door in handcuffs was one of the most humiliating things he'd ever been through, until he got out into the hallway, and saw the running figure of Caleb Wells. Can this get any worse right now, really?
"Wait a minute!" The older man was breathless and sounded like he'd been running for several blocks. "Just...hold on." Caleb was puffing so hard that he couldn't say anything else immediately.
"Sir, you are..." One of the policemen started.
"Dr. Wells. I'm one of the Lab Coordinators. There's been a mistake - these men aren't trespassing."
Luke's eyes widened out of reflex, but he fought to get the reaction under control.
"Sir, we were informed that Security found them in an unauthorized area, and that equipment has been tampered with-" the same cop went on.
"We didn't tamper, and we didn't break in," Greg inserted. "Ask the guards. Make them show you forced entry. There's no evidence that we've done anything."
"What about the cameras, the motion detectors?" the irate security guard demanded. "They were turned off, interfered with! And the main monitors were switched onto an old feed!"
"How do you propose we did any of those things?" Greg asked. "We have no equipment, and we've never even been inside this part of the building! Give the police one shred of proof of wrong-doing on our part."
"We caught you outside the Lab-" the softer spoken guard pointed out.
"They had my permission to be there," Caleb interrupted smoothly. "Not that I expected them to be here this late, but I did warn Security that my associate Dr. Barrows would be paying the Lab a few visits."
"Who did you warn?" The annoyed security officer was turning red.
"I sent the notice to all the night-watchmen. No one received it?"
"We received no such bulletin, Sir," he replied stiffly.
Caleb shook his head. "I told IT that we needed a full work-up after that last lightning storm. E-mail has been failing, and now we have a weird electrical interference with our equipment? I'll get on IT's case first thing in the morning, I promise. As for tonight, you need to let Dr. Barrows and Mr. Heffernan go, because they're already cleared through me to be on the property."
Luke held his breath as he waited for something to happen, but no one moved for a couple of seconds. Slowly, the cop holding onto his shoulder reached to unlock his handcuffs.
"Wait, you're just letting them..." the angry guard trailed off, unbelieving.
"You have no evidence of breaking and entering, and one of the Directors of the Lab is vouching for them. Did they perform any kind of indiscretion in your presence?" the cop behind Luke asked.
"Well...no, they gave up to us immediately. But if they aren't guilty, then why-"
"We're turning them loose," the policeman replied.
Luke's heart soared for an instant as he was released, but a glimpse of the flash of confusion and disappointment in Caleb's eyes brought him back down to earth. Crap, he thought inwardly. He completely covered for us, and he's going to want an explanation. What on earth are Greg and I going to tell him?
"If you men would return to your posts, I'd appreciate it." Caleb sounded casual and friendly as he addressed the guards. "Officers, I apologize for the mix up. I assure you, I can handle my friends' disposal from here," he said jokingly.
Luke had it in mind to try and simply walk past Caleb out the door, but the man's relentless gaze was focused on him, willing him to stay put. Caleb motioned at the door to the monitoring station, and Luke and Greg turned around to go back inside. Caleb crossed ahead of them once they were in the room, focusing on the third guard who had taken a position behind the desk.
"I'm going to need to use the office for a little while, smooth a couple of things over. You understand," Caleb said firmly.
"Yes, Sir," the man replied meekly, and quickly vacated the room.
Caleb stood in front of the screens silently, watching the men and police officers as they dispersed. The man released an anxious breath when it appeared they had the wing to themselves, and fixed Luke with a glare. "If it weren't for your parents, Luke, I swear to God...They'd roll over in their graves if they knew you did something like this."
"Dr. Wells, we weren't defrauding you," Luke said swiftly. "I know how this looks, but it isn't what you think. You don't believe I'd steal from you, or you would have allowed those cops to take us."
Caleb's gaze shifted between Luke and Greg. "I suppose I don't really, but that doesn't explain what you were doing. Do you have any idea how it felt getting that phone call, Luke? I thought I had to be dreaming! What the heck are you doing here?"
"It's difficult to explain, Dr. Wells," Greg wheedled. "There are certain circumstances that are out of our control."
"And you, what on earth do you do for a living?" Caleb demanded of Greg. "Something tells me you're not just a pilot."
"I work for the FBI," he admitted.
"FBI? Is this Lab under investigation? Am I?"
Luke wanted to tell Dr. Wells that he was correct, to agree to anything that would get the man off their backs. Before he could speak, however, someone else called out from above them.
"Doc, tell him."
Luke winced and literally ground his teeth at the sound of Leonardo's voice.
"Who's up there? What's going on?" Caleb was rightfully alarmed.
"It's nothing; they're not doing anything, they're just-" Luke stumbled.
"Doc, tell him," Donatello insisted this time. "I don't think we can do this without his help. We can't. Not based on what we saw tonight."
"You can't do what without my help? Who are you? What's going on?" Caleb's volume was increasing.
Luke felt utterly defeated, but inwardly he had to agree with Donatello. Without getting Caleb to at least advise them on research, the chance of having something in place in time to save Michelangelo was slim. "Caleb...brace yourself, okay?"