Leonardo had the feeling that control had left his hands entirely. It had been two days since the attack on the subway and Kelley's introduction to their home, and Greg's momentum seemed to be picking up rapidly. The sandy-haired man was currently receiving directions concerning the use of a flashdrive from Donatello over the tablet.
"It's similar to the one we used in Okinawa," Greg said aloud, as if he'd felt Leonardo's gaze. "All we need to do is get access to a computer inside the Courier Company, and plug Donny's drive into a tower to give him an open window to their information."
"It sounds simple enough." Leo allowed. "It probably won't even be as hard as planting the device at the Police Headquarters in Naha was. Are you guys leaving right now?"
"Soon," Greg said. "It'd be nice if the Company would just cooperate and tell us who set up the delivery, but those stubborn privacy laws…well, you know how it is. This shouldn't be a big deal. Either Sayuri or I will plant the flashdrive, depending on the feel of the situation when we walk in there." Greg looked back at the purple-masked turtle, and Don gave him a thumbs-up.
"So you feel good about this, Heff?" Leo asked.
"It's something we can try," Greg answered. "I can't sit back and do nothing until the Akiudo decide to lay out their terms."
The blue-masked turtle shook his head. "I'm not against anything with this operation, but I'm a little confused. I thought we decided that Kelley was 'in', but you're hiding this from him."
"I still think that the less Kelley knows, the better. I'm not telling him everything we do, Leo. That's like inviting a firestorm," Greg said stubbornly.
"Isn't there an off chance that he can help us?" Leonardo pressed. "He has a lot of connections."
"They come with a price tag. You heard him the other night, Leo. He can only go so far to protect you guys. I'd rather not travel down the road of using his 'connections' unless we have no other choice."
Leonardo shrugged. "Do you have a plan for getting access to a computer inside the Courier Company?"
"We don't know if they're running on a network, so we'll do some surveillance first, and try to figure out where clientele information is being inputted. They have to have some kind of records. Once we locate a terminal, one of us will create the distraction, and the other will hook up Donatello's drive. Then your brother's real research can begin."
Leonardo stole a look at the purple-masked turtle, and saw a familiar gleam in Donatello's eyes. "Seems like you're down with all of this, Bro." Donny nodded eagerly, making Leonardo smile. "I get it; you've got all this brain-power with nowhere to go, right?"
Donatello smiled in response, but it was strained. Leonardo knew he was probably still stewing over the results of a family meeting from the night before, when Victoria's suggestion had rocked the room.
"I'm going to head out, Donny." Greg's voice cut in to Leonardo's thoughts. "I'll get in touch with you soon, and I'll definitely let you know when the drive is active."
Don nodded and waved the man out of the room. Leonardo picked up the spare tablet that Greg had left behind, and slid into the chair beside his brother.
"What's going through your head?" he asked.
Donatello looked down briefly before responding. "I wish Jen was going with the other girls. I'm not dying, but she still feels like she has to protect me."
Leo nodded with understanding. Victoria had announced that she felt like it was time to leave the city, and he'd jumped at the opportunity to encourage their wives and friends to go along with the plan. It had riled up an argument, and the battle had only been a partial success.
All of their wives had agreed to go with the exception of Jenna, who was adamant about staying with Donatello. Karina and Rebecca had been easier to convince. The responsibility to protect Liv and Nate falls heavily on their shoulders, and I'm sure it provided most of the incentive.
April had agreed to go too and Sayuri was sending Hisui and Shunshi, but the rest of the extended clan wasn't budging. Leonardo hadn't expected any of their medical staff to be willing to leave their posts, but he'd believed that Katherine could be swayed by Reina. He was wrong. In the little girl's case, both parents were insisting on staying behind to face whatever storm was coming.
The other women can handle Reina; she certainly knows everyone, but still…I wish Kat was going. Jenna too. Yet the fact that the others had finally agreed to take their safety more seriously was still an encouraging one.
"You picked a girl with a strong will," he told Donatello.
"We all did, Leo. Hopefully we can track the Akiudo down, and you guys can end this once and for all," Donatello said. "I wish Greg would include Kelley too. We need all the help we can get."
"I agree, but I'm not in a place where I feel comfortable talking to his boss behind his back either."
Don was still for a moment, then—"Have the girls mentioned when they're heading for Lotus Salvus?"
"Victoria didn't seem interested in wasting any time. Packing is in full swing, so I guess they'll probably get on the road tomorrow."
His brother's eyes were concerned. "I hope this is the right thing for Olivia and Nate. I mean, they'll be safer if they're not here, but the thought of the open road scares me. That, and Shunshi is furious. Hisui says he won't talk to anyone, and I'm sure that includes me."
Leonardo shook his head. "It's difficult to stress the true measure of the danger to Shun. If the Akiudo was to get wind that he and his sister were here, it could be disastrous. I think this is the right move, even if it doesn't make everyone happy."
Donatello cocked his head thoughtfully. "Do you wish that you could ship me off along with them?"
"Part of me would like to, yes, and Brandon too. But he's still technically undecided on the issue."
"He's going to need to make a choice pretty soon here, isn't he?"
Leo took a sharp breath. "Brandon agreed to go to the surface with Greg and Sayuri this afternoon. I think he wants to spend a little time inside the real world before he decides to leave the city behind."
"Lotus Salvus would be good for him," Don said. "I hope he decides to go with the girls. Getting out of New York might be just what he needs."
"Maybe," Leo replied. "I know he isn't planning on doing this small mission with them today. He made that very clear to me earlier, with some comment about his nerves being shot."
"Are he and Raph acting normal?"
The blue-masked turtle shrugged. "Determining what's 'normal' for Bran right now is complicated. I think they're fine, Don. They've both got tempers, but they also get over things."
His younger brother nodded. "What are the rest of those staying behind going to do to protect themselves?"
"They're going to continue giving Greg and Brandon's place a wide berth, because we know that's the first place the Akiudo would probably look for them, due to the FBI connections. They can all stay down here as far as I'm concerned, but I think they'll probably end up using Marc and April's apartment as a hub too. It's the closest to the action."
"I guess that can't be helped. There are still things they need to do on the surface, like find information on who sent Greg that phone."
"You're covering that part, aren't you?" Leo grinned suddenly.
"I'll do my best, but Heff and Sayuri have to get me inside the system first."
"I think between the two of them, they can pull it off," he replied confidently.
Leonardo's fingers grazed the hilt of one of his blades as he exited the Lab. He surveyed the living area silently, staring at the packed bags that were already waiting in the room. Another year, another exodus. But it's different this time. We're separating, which makes me both relieved and disappointed. I want them out of harm's way, but I don't want to be cut off from our family. We can't do both.
He glanced over as he heard footsteps, and saw Raphael trotting downstairs with Olivia in his arms. His red-masked brother gave him a nod as he seemed to be heading for the kitchen, but Leonardo wasn't going to let him get by that easily. Raphael hadn't said a word about the girls leaving, and he didn't want that to continue.
"Raph, can we talk?"
His brother's forehead creased, but he changed directions to go toward the couch. Raphael set the baby turtle on the floor beside her ride-on train before sitting down. Olivia immediately climbed onto the toy and began pushing herself around the room.
"What's up, Fearless?"
"You know what's up," Leonardo said quietly. "I'm sure you've talked to Karina in private, but I'd like you to talk to me too."
Raphael shrugged. "What is there to say, Leo? We're all up in arms because of that attack on the subway. Something even bigger could be coming next. I don't want them within a hundred miles of the city."
"That doesn't mean you're happy that they're leaving."
"It is what it is, Leo. We've gotta job to do here, and we have to get it done. Their job is to look after the kids and themselves." Raphael sent a bleak look in Olivia's direction. "I'm glad her and Nate are little so that they don't understand any of this, but I don't want her to think I abandoned her."
"Raph, Karina won't let Olivia believe that."
His brother's amber eyes appeared to be darkening. "The thing is…" he started, and paused. "The thing is, I've got this fear that I might not see them again. I've already had the thought that I wouldn't mind dying if I could take the Akiudo out with me, but now that it might come to that…I feel awful. I don't wanna leave Olivia behind, Leo."
Leonardo scooted closer to him on the couch. "She's your baby, Bro. You're not supposed to want to leave her. We simply have to do everything in our power to take the Akiudo down, without getting ourselves killed in the process."
"That's the trick, Leo." Raphael sighed, and his gaze tracked Olivia as she rolled across the floor on her train. "Kari won't say it out loud, but I know she wishes we were coming with them. I think they all do."
Leonardo rested his head against the back of the couch. "I wish we could run. I wish that we could disappear to a safe distance, and get some time to analyze what the Akiudo is up to. But even if we leave, they aren't going to stop. They already carried out one attack, and I'm positive that they'll do it again."
Raphael growled. "When I get my hands on them, they're gonna be sorry that they ever set foot on this continent."
Leonardo nodded in agreement, even as he had to jerk his legs out of the way of Olivia's train. His brother reached down to scoop his daughter off the toy, and cuddled the little girl close.
"This is going to be hard on you, isn't it?" Leo asked.
"It's gonna be hard on all of us," he said gruffly, but a small smile appeared when Olivia threw both arms tightly around his neck. "That's a killer grip ya got there, Kid."
Leo chuckled. "One of these days, she'll learn her own strength."
Liv reached up to grasp the tails of Raphael's bandana. Unlike her cousin, who had a penchant for yanking on the masks whenever she had the opportunity, Olivia was usually satisfied with just touching the soft material.
"She's gonna want one of her own," Raphael suggested.
Leonardo smiled. "Have you given any thought to color?"
"I dunno. I figured she could start with red, and change up the color later if she wanted to." Raphael took a shaky breath as he cupped the baby turtle's cheek. "You're gonna be good for your Mama, Kouen, or you'll be getting some stern phone calls from me."
Leo tried not to laugh out loud. He'd never heard Raphael raise his voice to the baby, and he didn't believe his brother would be able to punish her from long distance either.
As Olivia's fingers continued grasping the end of his mask, Raphael slipped it off to let her have it. "Here, Kid. You can have this one."
"It'll be a little big for her," Leo pointed out impishly.
"She don't have to wear it," Raphael said. "I just like the thought of her keeping it."
Leonardo looked away as his brother hugged Olivia. This is going to be even harder than I thought.