Chapter 14: Pictures Don't Lie
A/N: I know it's been a very long time since I updated this, and I apologize for that. But now I think it's time I tried to update this more frequently as best as I can because I hate making you guys wait. Other stories and life in general have prevented me from doing it, but I'm not going to skimp out on it if I can help it. Thanks to those who have read and reviewed thus far. Your kind words mean the world to me.
Disclaimer: TMNT and all related characters belong to Nickelodeon. I only own the plot and nothing more.
Raph's mouth hung open as he stared at the TV, hardly daring to believe that this was happening. He thought that their secret was safe, but now it was exposed. The night Lynn had died had haunted all of them, and they would never forget it. Now the whole world knew about it.
"This can't be real," Leo gasped. His blue eyes were so wide Raph thought they would pop out of his sockets.
"It IS real, Leo," Raph said. "Someone was watchn' us, and I'd bet my sais it was Robyn. No one else knows about us."
"Casey Jones does," Don piped up.
"Is that the guy in the hockey mask you guys were talking about?" Leo asked them.
"Yeah, that's him," Raph replied. "He's nuts enough to do somethin' like this."
"I don't think it's him," Leo said. "I do think it could be Robyn though. She could be watching us and saw what happened. Now she's telling the whole world about it because she knows that's the way to draw us out."
Raph pounded his fist into his other palm. He was getting tired of Robyn's games. "We have to do something about this," he declared.
"There's nothing we can do, Raph," Leo replied. "We can't go public for obvious reasons. We just have to see how this plays out. So far, there's only a picture of Lynn falling. With any luck, people won't think it's us."
"They will if they zoom in and find us there," Don pointed out. "Then the jig is up."
Raph growled in frustration. "This sucks."
"I'm sorry, Raph, but I can't think of anything else to do," Leo said sadly. His whole countenance was dejected as though he was giving up, and that wasn't something Leo did. He was always the one with the answers no matter what the problem was, but this time, there was no answer.
Don's eyes lit up. "But there IS something we can do," he said.
"What do you mean, Donnie?" Mikey asked him.
"Well, now that we've essentially been exposed to the public and are suspects in a murder investigation, we have time," Don began. "They aren't going to link the murder to us right away. They'll be looking for other people who may dress up in turtle costumes or maybe the local gangs, thinking that this is something they would do."
"So what's your point?" asked Raph.
"While they're investigating who did this, we can try and find Robyn," Don replied. "Or we can make a plea and tell people that we're not murderers and that we're out there protecting the city. We can get others to vouch for us."
"I don't think that's a good idea, Donnie," Leo said. "Humans won't believe us if we plead to them. I think we can start looking for Robyn to make her confess to what she did."
"But we can't find her, Leo," Raph protested. "She won't come out!"
"Yeah, isn't that Ali's job anyway?" Mikey reminded them.
As if on cue, Leo's T-Phone rang. He put it on speaker so the others could hear it, too. "Hello?" he said.
"Leo, it's Ali," Ali said. "Did you watch the news?"
"Yeah, we saw it," he answered. "Looks like Robyn's got us where she wants us."
"It's definitely bad," Ali agreed. "My advice is for you boys to stay where you are. No more patrolling or anything else. Jack and I are coming down a little bit later to talk to you guys about all of this. He's been busy with another case, too, so that's why he hasn't been down to see you with me. We want to go over everything and make sure we have all of our ducks lined in a row so we can solve this."
"Okay, when do you want to come over," Leo asked her.
"We get off around five," answered Ali. "How about then?"
"Sounds good," said Leo. "We'll be waiting for you."
"Great. See you then, Leo."
"See you then," Leo echoed. Then he hung up the phone.
"So, let me get this straight," Raph said. "We're supposed to stay cooped up down here all day?"
"That's what she wants," said Leo.
Raph shook his head. "No way. There's no way I'm gonna be able to do that. It's bad enough when Splinter grounded us for that Stockman incident. I can't just stay cooped up down here. I'll go mad."
"We have to listen to orders, Raph," said Leo. "Ali knows what she's doing, and if we go out there, we'll be risking more exposure and possibly arrest. The police are more than likely on the lookout for us, so we can't hide any longer. Sure, Ali could cover for us, but that could get her in trouble if the truth was made public. We just can't do that to her. We owe her more than that."
"Besides, she just said we can't go topside," Mikey pointed out. "We could always go in the sewers to hang out."
"But what if the police comb the sewers for us next?" Don chimed in.
"If that happens, then we don't go out there," Leo answered. "But I agree with Raph that staying cooped up won't help him." He turned to his red-clad brother. "You can go out to the sewers but that's it. No going topside no matter how tempted you are. Maybe you could have Lucindra meet you down there and you can hang out. But this is the only solution we have right now."
Raph nodded. He didn't like it, but Leo had a point. They were exposed in more ways than one, and he couldn't risk leading the police to his family. "Okay, I'll do that then," he said. "But first, I gotta take out my anger on something else."
"Just don't ruin the weapons!" Leo called to him as he watched Raph march away.
Raph headed to the dojo and took his frustrations out on the punching bag. He imagined it was Robyn and he was unleashing all his frustration out on her. Everything was changing now. Nothing was safe, and Robyn wasn't going to give up until they were either put in a science lab or dead. She had even taken away their patrolling time, and that hurt Raph more than anything. It took him back to the times when Splinter would forbid them from going to the surface when they were younger. Every year on their birthday they would beg to go up to the surface to see what it was like up there, and every year Splinter would say no and that it was too dangerous. When they turned fifteen, Splinter had finally relented, and upon going to the surface for the first time, a whole world was opened before them. Their lives changed forever with that trip because it was when they'd met April and had become friends with her.
Now Raph had to wonder if what they did was the right thing. If they hadn't met April, none of this stuff would have happened. She would have just been another news story and not anyone linked to them. The texts wouldn't have happened, and Robyn wouldn't be out there. But the reality was that it had happened, and though Raph hated it, he hated himself more for wishing they hadn't met April. She had been so good to them and a great friend despite her keeping the secret about her deranged twin. She brought them groceries when they were running out, she stayed with them to watch movies together, she helped Donnie with his inventions and experiments, and she spent time with all of them in different ways. Having her as a friend had been a valuable thing no matter what had happened after that. They had all been devastated by her death and still were. And they owed it to her to get Robyn put in jail for what she'd done to her sister. They couldn't fail April no matter what. She deserved better than that.
After he was finished with his workout, he took a shower and then asked Lucindra if she wanted to come down to see him. She answered that she would meet him in the sewers near the Lair, and Raph said that would be fine.
"You going to meet Lucindra?" Mikey asked him.
"Yep," Raph answered, a big smile on his face.
"Good for you, bro," Mikey said.
Raph left the Lair and got to the meeting spot in record time. Not long after, Lucindra came into sight, a big smile on her face as she saw Raph. She ran to him and gave him a big hug.
"Man, I didn't think you missed me that much," he joked.
"I missed you a lot," she replied. "I saw the news. It's so horrible what people are saying about you guys."
"What are they saying?" Raph asked her.
"That you dress up in turtle costumes and look for innocent women to kill," she told him. "I think it's so horrible how you're being portrayed. I wish I could say something to someone and let them know you guys ain't bad at all."
Raph sighed. "I know, but you can't," he said. "That's just the way it is, I guess."
"I know. I wish this was all over with."
"You and me both," Raph agreed. "Ali and Jack are gonna come by and talk to us about all of this. We can see where we stand on it and what they can do for us."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Lucindra asked skeptically.
"Ali's cool, Cindra. She was part of the missing scientists case once before and was on April's case, too. She and Jack are good friends together, and we can trust them."
"I guess, but you better hope they don't sell you out."
"They won't," Raph reassured her.
"But what if they're just ploys set up by Robyn?" Lucindra pointed out. "She could have them in her back pocket knowing that you're gullible enough to trust them. Then, when she tells them to, they could sell you out and get you in trouble."
"I doubt Robyn would set them up like that," Raph said. "If she wanted to, she could just lead the police straight to us and have us arrested right away. She wouldn't waste time doing something like this, especially if she wants us dead."
"I just hope you're right, Raph. I don't want to see you get hurt."
Raph put his arms around her. "I know, and I won't. I'm gonna be careful, okay?" He leaned down and kissed her softly. When they pulled apart, she grinned at him.
"I guess I should trust you more," she said. "I just worry about you."
"I worry about you, too," he agreed. "But we need to trust each other, okay?"
"You got it," she said.
"You wanna come to the Lair and hang out?" he asked her.
"I can't," she said. "I gotta go to work soon. But it was nice seeing you again."
"Yeah, same here," he answered. "I'll see you around I hope."
She smiled. "Yeah, you will. Sorry it had to be so short though."
"No worries. When this is all over, we'll have a huge party to make up for it."
Lucindra laughed. "I bet you will, and I'll be counting on an invite. See you later, Big Guy." She kissed him on the lips again, and he melted into her, happy that at least this was the same. She broke apart from him too soon, waved, and left the way she had come.
Raph sighed as he watched her go, but he knew he didn't have much of a choice in the matter. This was how things were going to be until Robyn was eliminated for good. He just wished he could spend a quiet night at her apartment as they watched wrestling or bad reality TV and commented on it followed by a session of some serious lovemaking. But sadly, that couldn't happen, and it made Raph even angrier about the situation. He figured Robyn was relishing this and would probably be laughing at him if she could see him now. Gritting his teeth, Raph left the sewers and set out for home, hoping that this would be resolved soon.
22222
Ali and Jack came over just when they said they would. Raph had to give props to Ali for always being on time and coming at the allotted time. Most people didn't do that or didn't bother to even care about people being impatient or waiting too long, but not Ali. She was always precise and punctual, much like Leo often was.
"Boys, this is Jack Kurtzman, my partner," she said.
Leo bowed even though he could have just shook Jack's hand. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Kurtzman," he said graciously. Raph remembered when he'd done the same thing to April and how April had been a bit weirded out by Leo's greeting. Jack took it all in stride and bowed back to Leo.
"The pleasure's all mine," he said. "I'm honored to meet the famous Ninja Turtles at last."
"Wait, you know about us?" Donnie asked.
Jack nodded. "Yes, I do. As Ali might have mentioned, I was assigned to the missing scientists case three years ago and was keeping an eye on April O'Neil because I knew the Kraang were after her. I've been researching the Kraang for years, wanting to know why they chose Earth specifically for their plans. They've been around for a long time and were the ones responsible for creating the mutagen that changed the four of you as you probably know."
"Okay, we get that, but why have you been spying on us?" Raph demanded. He wasn't happy to know that someone had been prying into their lives just like Robyn was doing, though her methods were more malicious while Jack's were more about curiosity than anything else.
"Because I wanted to see why April was so transfixed with you and I had heard stories about you saving the city," Jack answered. "After April went missing, Ali and I were assigned to her case, and I knew we had to talk to you, but her father wouldn't let us and gave us that story about her visiting the noodle shop when in reality she was visiting the four of you first before she vanished."
"Then why didn't you have Kirby arrested for false reporting?" asked Donnie.
"Because we knew he was lying to protect you four," replied Jack. "I can understand that, and so Ali and I went with it. But as you know, Ali has now questioned you and has brought me up to date on what's going on. We know Robyn killed April and that she's hunting the four of you to try and finish you off since her last plan backfired. We know that you've now been exposed to the public through a photograph and that you can't go anywhere because the police are searching for you because of Lynn Obiero's death."
"Which was in self-defense," Raph chimed in.
"Yes, but it doesn't look that way, and that's the problem," said Jack.
"So what can we do?" asked Leo.
"Right now, the best thing you can do is lie low," answered Ali. "Maybe you can go to the farmhouse for a bit and relax until this blows over. Meanwhile, Jack and I will do all we can to dispel the rumors of the photo and see if we can't find our own leads as to where Robyn is. If we can flush her out, then maybe we can end this."
"We could help you with that," Don suggested.
"I appreciate that, Donnie, but now's not the time for that," Ali said. "You need to lie low. If you want to work on things alone and forward them to us, that's fine. But for now, we'll handle this the best way we can. We just don't want you guys to get hit in the crossfire of this."
"We'll be careful," Leo promised her just as he often promised Splinter before they went out on patrol.
Kiss ass, Raph thought. Leave it to Leo to suck up even to a detective.
"Well, then that's it," said Ali. "We'll keep in touch, and if you get any other texts, forward them to me right away."
The Turtles promised and after shaking Jack's hand they watched the two detectives leave the Lair.
"I just hope Jack doesn't sell us out," Raph grumbled.
"He won't do that, Raph," Leo reassured him. "He's with Ali, and we all know we can trust her."
"Yeah, I know we can trust Ali, but we don't know Jack. For all we know, he could be masquerading as a detective to get on our side and then sell us out to the first highest bidder."
"Wow, who knew Raphie knew such a big word?" Mikey teased.
"Jack seemed just curious about us, but he doesn't strike me as the type to sell us out," mused Donnie. "He wants to help us, and I say we let him help us. Ali and Jack are all we have right now."
"Whatever you say, guys," Raph said. "I don't like it, but I'll follow your lead like I always do." He left his brothers and went to his room. He patted Spike on the head and gave him a leaf to chew. Just as he was ready to relax on his bed, he heard a chime from his phone, indicating he had a text. He opened the phone and saw another picture that was even more of a close up than the other one. It showed Lynn falling and Leo clearly pushing her with only his image present. Raph gasped and saw the accompanying text.
Trust is always an important thing among family. But the thing is that I don't have to be discreet about anything. Stop meddling, or your brother will go down. –A.
A/N: And another chapter ends. I had an awesome time working on it, and I'm happy to be getting back to this story as I should be. I have quite a few chapters outlined, so I won't take as long as I have in the past to get chapters up. I am working on other stories though, but I'll do my best not to leave you guys hanging. Yeah, I know, I've said it before, but I mean it this time. Feel free to leave a review and have a shelltastic day.