Chapter Seven: A Building Full Of Books

"You think fireworks coulda done this?" Officer Truman asked his partner as he surveyed the perfect circle of scorched grass. Charred and blackened sheets of paper were strewn everywhere, scattering even father in the wind.

Officer Adler nodded. "Yeah. Pro'lly just a bunch o' kids with nothing better to do. Better go and report this."

"Giant talking ninja turtles, my rear end."

The two law-keepers returned to their vehicle to interrogate their questionable witness. Unbeknownst to them, the culprits were just out of sight, hidden in the shadows of the branches above them. Leonardo and his brothers stayed in their leafy cover as Casey and Karai were talking to Paige a few paces away. They would wait until the police left before doing so much as moving a limb. Talking, however seemed allowable.

The eldest turtle shook his head in annoyance. "Refresh my memory, Raph," Leo spat. "Who was the one who noticed the homeless guy calling the police and didn't tell us until the last minute?"

"For the last time, I thought he was crazy!" Raph argued from the branch he was perched on. "And how was I supposed to know that he was staying connected?"

"By looking at the cell phone in his hand, maybe?"

"Guys, I think Karai's calling us," Donnie cut in as he saw their sister waving at their direction.

After making sure there were no other people in sight, the three turtles leapt from their hiding places, landing expertly on the grassy earth. Paige was still seated on a park bench some ways away, Casey standing in front of her and talking up a storm.

Leonardo walked over to Karai, a question on his mind. "You guys worked it out?"

"For the most part, yeah," she answered. "We'll get to the rest once we get to her apartment."

"Are you nuts?" Raph demanded. "We can't trust her! She might still be working for Bishop."

Donatello stepped in. "Raph, I'm pretty sure that if she wanted to capture us, she'd have done it while we were, you know, on the ground? Unable to move?"

"Besides," Leo began, "We do still need answers from her."

"And Casey trusts her," Karai added. The turtles went deathly silent at the mention of their human friend's name.

Raphael, however, was not at a loss for words for too long. "Don't even mention that jerk!" he growled. "He didn't stick to the plan! You guys can't tell me you're not mad at him! And we have no reason to take a chance on her!"

Karai shrugged. "You took a chance on me."

Raph, still seething, looked away. His sister was right, and he could understand why Karai would be inclined to hear Paige out. But still…

"And," Karai said. "Who said I wasn't mad at him? I'm just going with my gut on this one. We don't need to trust her, we just-"

"I'm not asking you to trust me," said a heavily-accented and irritated voice. "Just come with me if you want your answers."

Paige stood with her hands braced on the handle of her trolley, her fingers drumming on the metal as she waited for a response from her silent audience. Casey stood at her side, an unreadable expression on his face and the platinum suitcase in his hand. "So, have you decided my fate?" she asked with a forced sweetness. "Because if you haven't, we should get to my apartment." She began walking to direction of the parking lot, Casey trailing behind her.

Raph let out a sarcastic snigger. "Oh yeah sure. Let's get into this complete stranger's tinted and suspicious van. Never mind she was knocking us around not ten minutes ago!"

Leonardo stroked his chin in thought. "Well," he started. "It really wasn't a bomb. We kinda found that out the hard way. Maybe we should give her a chance. I mean, Karai thinks it's alright."

"I should've known you'd take Karai's side on this," Raph said, earning himself a venomous glare from the kunoichi.

"But what about the whole Bishop thing?" Donatello whispered.

Casey stopped to turn to them. He tried to weigh in. "Guys, if my opinion counts for something-"

"It doesn't!" was the unanimous decision. The boy zipped his lip; he might have known they'd be cross with him. He could only hope it wouldn't last.

"Ahem!"

The children fell silent and turned to the source of the frustrated huff. Paige stood with her arms crossed, one hip jutting out. "You know, perhaps instead of blatantly talking about a person in front of them, one should show some manners and speak to them directly. Maybe even give them an introduction or two."

Casey scratched at the back of his head. "Heh, sorry, Paige. This is Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Karai."

Paige nodded. "A pleasure."

"You're taking this whole 'Talking turtles' thing pretty well," Leonardo commented.

She shrugged. "Well, when you're a secret agent, you learn to put such things as being surprised last on your list of priorities. Plus, I've seen plenty of things, a lot much stranger than you, I can promise you that."

"Wait," said Raph, "so you were a spy?"

"For lack of a better term, yes. This is no place to talk about it, though. Come with me or stay here. I'm not waiting." She turned and resumed her journey to the parking lot.

Casey turned back to his friends, his eyes pleading. "Guys, seriously don't wait for her to get agro. She is mad scary-Splinter ain't got nothin' on her!"

Karai rolled her eyes and emitted one final exasperated sigh before following. Her brothers eventually trailed behind her, Raphael's own steps very begrudging. Their trip to the parking area was silent, save for the rumbling of thunder and the promise of a slight shower. Upon reaching the van, they were thankful for the practically empty parking lot. Karai first made sure the coast was clear before signaling her brothers to join them in the light. Paige slid open the door to the van. The inside looked much roomier than the exterior let on.

"Right," Paige began, tossing her suitcase and brown trolley inside. "Just squeeze in there with all the groceries. And, Casey, where are your manners? Hold the door open for your friends."

The boy reluctantly did so, accepting sharp raps on the head from each of the turtles as they climbed into the van. Karai was the one exception; she punched him in the gut. Were he not used to physical confrontation, he would have crumpled to the ground. No sooner had Casey slid the door closed did the rain begin to pour.

Paige turned on her wipers. "Well, it's a good thing you kids decided on the ride. None of you had your bumbershoots. "

Leo scrunched up his face. "Our what?"

"Bumbershoots," Paige repeated as Casey climbed into the car and shut the door beside him. "You know, umbrellas?"

Casey buckled himself in out of pure instinct. He was forgetting something else about Paige; something that involved cars. He still couldn't recall, but he knew it was something important. He tried to remember but lost himself as he looked at the rain.

It was also raining the night his mom died…

She'd watched the ten-year-old bolt out of the room when the heart monitor resounded the flat-line. At first she stayed by her deceased friend's side, unable to find the strength to move. Then she looked at her friend's sobbing mess of a husband at the other side of the room, and their four-year-old daughter sitting on the bed; the little girl plucked at her mother's hand, unable to fathom why her mother wasn't moving and much too young to understand what was happening. None of them had anticipated the untimely robbery at the convenience store; she was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. Paige steeled herself with a deep breath, wiped her face clean, and followed the boy out the door. She found him in the empty nursery; he was sitting on the floor by a rocking chair.

"Are you alright, my darling?" Paige asked, a forced sweetness in her tone.

"Go away, Paige," Casey sniffed.

"Now, that's not a very polite way of asking someone to do something."

"I don't care! Go away!"

Paige sighed, squeezing her eyes shut. He doesn't mean it, she repeated to herself. She knew what he was feeling, having grieved over quite a few people herself. What she wished for the most through the loss, though, was that she had someone to cry with. An idea popped into her head. Being careful not to touch him, Paige seated herself beside Casey and let her own tears flow. She allowed herself her own selfish time to cry as the boy watched in uncomfortable silence.

She smiled at him, dabbing at her eyes. "It's not fun watching someone you care about cry, is it?"

Casey shook his head, his own eyes still blurry with tears. "I hate the man that did this. I wish he was dead too."

The uncharacteristic hate in his tone broke Paige's heart. "Casey, your mum's partner caught the bad man. He'll be going to jail soon. He won't get away with what he's done, I promise you."

"Then I'll find him one day and shoot him too!"

"Bite your tongue, Casey Marie Jones. You mustn't let his get the better of you. If you did that, then that makes you just as bad as him." She tipped his chin up with a finger and looked him in the eye. "Your mum wouldn't want that."

It was like a dam burst. Tears streamed freely and shamelessly down the boy's face. He ran straight into her waiting arms, burying his face in the crook of her neck as he cried. "But I want her, Paige! I want my mom! I want her back!"

"I want her back, too." She held him close, surrounding him with all the warmth and love he would never again receive from his mother, even as tears continued to flow down her own face. She stood up from the floor and sat herself in the rocking chair. She realized some sleep would be of help to him. Rocking back and forth with her precious bundle nestled comfortably in her arms, she sang:

Would you know my name,

If I saw you in Heaven…

Would it be the same,

If I saw you in Heaven…

I must be strong

And carry on…

'Cause I know I don't belong

Here in Heaven…

"Finally," Paige breathed, snapping Casey back to the present. The rain had ceased and they were now at the entrance to the Williamsburg bridge. "The road's clear."

Casey's eyes widened. He finally remembered. "The road's clear?" That only meant one thing. "Paige, wait-!"

It was too late. Paige's foot was flat on the gas pedal. The world zoomed past them as the unfortunate passengers were thrust back into their seats. The Hamato children held fast to their seats, their eyes wide more in surprise than worry; they'd been through aerial crashes and underwater collisions, a little reckless driving couldn't rattle them…much.

Casey, however, kept a death grip on Paige's coat sleeve, pure panic in his voice. "Holy-Paige, slow down!"

Without warning, Paige swerved to the right to avoid an overtaking truck. She rolled down her window, murderous intent in her eyes. "Watch it!" she roared in its direction. "I've got me bloody kids in the car!"

"Paige," Casey attempted to sooth. "Paige, just calm down. You know how you get when you drive angry."

"Oh, keep your delicates on, Jones," Paige insisted. "We'll be fine. Gah, yer jus like ya dad. Stop yer scrikin'."

"Your British is showing," Casey commented. "That's never a good sign."

Karai leaned in to whisper to her brothers. "Do you guys know what to make of this?" Their reply was a confused shake of the head.

"Oh, blast it," Paige swore as they approached another line of traffic. Casey let out a sigh of relief, his shaking fingers still fused to the armrest. Traffic moved at a snail's pace. They were nearing the exit of the bridge when a loud honk resounded from a few cars behind them. It came from an blue Audi, its driver shaking his arm irately in the air.

Paige watched the scene from her rear view mirror. "Well he certainly isn't the patient type, is he?" she commented. "Never knew the traffic here would be worse than in London."

"Welcome to New York," Casey said. "Just ignore him, and don't get involved."

"He can honk all he wants, it won't make a bloody difference."

"Exactly," Casey continued. "So, don't get involv-"

He was cut off by the loud repetitive bellows of a car horn. The Audi driver was losing his patience.

Paige shook her head. "Now that is downright rude!" She banged open the glove compartment.

Casey watched her, an anxious dread filling him. His fears were confirmed when Paige produced a large plastic cone. "Paige, no! Not the megaphone!"

Casey's cries fell on deaf ears as Paige rolled down her window and raised the cone to her lips."You there! You in that hideous Audi! Yes, you! Stop the honking!"

"Paige-Paige! Seriously! Don't antagonize 'im!"

Again, the Englishwoman didn't seem to hear him. "Enough with the vulgar hand- gestures! You may be ugly but that's no reason to act ugly!"

"Paige, seriously! We're pinned in here!"

"Oh, tosh!" she retorted. "Civilization's not going to progress one iotar unless someone points out when someone's making a fool of himself."

"Move it!" the Audi driver yelled.

Something seemed to snap inside of Paige. She raised the megaphone to her lips again and at the top of her English lungs screamed: "Oh, shut your bloody cake-hole!"

Casey was now tugging desperately at her sleeve. "Paige, knock it off! You know how you get when you drive angry. Now I got all these awful childhood memories comin' back." A strangled chuckle from the back row caught Casey's attention and he looked into the rear view mirror. His friends were all flashing their own signature smirk; Karai pressed her fingers to her lips, her shoulders shaking like a paint mixer. "Guys, this isn't funny!"

"Oh, it's pretty funny from here," Donnie sniggered.

Leonardo nodded in agreement. He spoke in between laughs. "Casey, I gotta admit, we were pretty mad. But seeing how you're suffering right now, I think we can call it even."

"Hey, we're moving," Karai commented.

"Really?" Paige turned her attention back to the road. "At last!"

And so resumed Paige Higgins' road rampage. Casey closed his eyes and practically fixed himself into his seat, silently praying to every deity in existence not to take him too soon. The Hamato clan sat back and watched in almost sadistic delight. At some point, Donatello wished he'd brought a camera.

"We're in Williamsburg, Paige," Casey said, his eyes still squeezed shut. You can slow down!"

Paige rolled her eyes. "Casey, you're still not on about my driving, are you? A person can change after six years."

"Just park, Paige, please!"

"I already am parked, luv," she replied. "We're here."

Casey gingerly opened his eyes. He breathed a sigh of relief. They had parked in front of a nine-storey building along Kent avenue. The building was dark and appeared to be deserted, not a single window lit and no signs of life inside.

Paige unbuckled herself. "Right. Dismount. I live on the fourth."

"We'll go in through the fire escape," said Leo.

Paige turned to face him, brow furrowed. "You will not. That's barbaric. We'll go in through the front."

"In case you haven't noticed," Raph cut in, "we're not exactly easy on the eyes."

"Not to worry. I'm the only one who lives here."

Anticipating an question that she was in no mood to answer, Paige dismounted and quickly made for the front steps. She fished out her keys as she heard the car door slam closed. Opening the front door, she felt around the frame for the light switch. There was a loud click and the interior was lit. The children marveled at what they saw; boxes upon boxes were stacked on top of each other, leaving only a small pathway to walk through. Paige proceeded towards the flight of stairs at the end of the box-filled hallway. "Now," Paige began, "I haven't had the maintenance man fix the lift yet, so we'll have to use the stairs."

Casey and the Hamato siblings followed in a single compressed file; the turtles, with their wide shells, had a harder time. Upon reaching the stairway, they discovered boxes there as well.

"Stay close or you will get lost," Paige instructed. "I moved in here four days ago, and I found one of the moving men just yesterday morning. The poor man was so thirsty."

The children stopped to stare at her, their faces contorted in pure confoundedness. Paige turned to them, smirking widely. "I'm joking."

She resumed the climb to the fourth floor, the children trailing behind, albeit more reluctant than before. Reaching the third floor, they discovered a couple of boxes had fallen from their stack and were blocking the way. Leonardo moved to shove them aside when Paige raised her hand, halting him. She moved her hand in a fluid motion and the boxes moved back to their place on the wall. She continued on her way as if nothing had just happened.

The children watched in awe, but it was Donatello who broke the silence. "Paige," he began, "Back at the park, what did you say you were again?"

"Well, I'm Anglo-Indian, that's something," she answered derisively. She looked back at him, discovering an irritated scowl on his face. "Oh. I'm a Papermaster. I can control paper as if it were an extension of myself."

"How's that work?" Raph asked.

"Well, it's genetic. Me grandfather was one."

"That's not what I meant."

"Right, here we are."

After what seemed like an eternity in the cardboard jungle, they finally reached the fourth floor and Paige welcomed them in. Paige's apartment looked quite homey despite the effort it took to get there. The entrance led to a large living room with four couches circled around a large coffee table. Adjacent to that was a small kitchen and dining room. The décor was modest, and conservative with only a few brightly-colored knick-knacks. There were still a few boxes strewn around but what stood out the most were the bookshelves; there was one on almost every wall in the apartment, each one lined with books of all sizes and thickness.

"Make yourselves at home," Paige said kindly, setting her large coat on the coat rack. "I'll get the kettle on."

"Umm, thank you, Paige," Leo said. "But I think the tea will have to wait."

"I suppose you're right," Paige sighed.

A picture on the mantelpiece caught Casey's attention. Looking closely, he realized it was a picture of his family when he was nine years old. They were at the beach on a bright and sunny day; his father was carrying his baby sister while his mother had hers arms around his shoulders. Big bright smiles dominated each of their faces. Casey carefully picked up the frame, stroking it fondly with his thumb.

"What the heck was in all those boxes?" Raphael wondered aloud.

"Yeah," Leonardo cut in. "Although, it smelled familiar. Like mildew or wet wood, or-"

"Paper," Paige answered, smiling proudly. "Every single box we've walked past is full of books. This entire building is my own personal bookshelf."

"Whoah!" came from Donatello, catching everyone's attention. His eyes were fixated on a large hard-cover book on one of the many shelves. "You have this book?"

Paige smiled. She sensed a kindred spirit. "Yes. You're welcome to read it."

Donnie resisted the urge to hop around the room in glee. "Thank you!"

"Leave it to Donnie to geek-out at times like this," Raph commented.

Paige's brown eyes widened in surprise. "Donnie? Your name is Donnie?"

The purple-banded turtle looked up from the book. "It's my nickname. Why?"

Her reply was a warm and nostalgia-ridden smile. "An old friend of mine was named Donny, is all."

"Someone from the British Library?" Leo asked.

"Yes," she replied. He smile dissipated as she remembered what she owed them. "I suppose you all want that explanation now, yes?"

She gestured to the couches in the living room. The turtles planted themselves on the comfortable seat while Karai and Casey sat on the armchairs at opposite ends. Paige seated herself on the couch in front of them.

"Where to begin?" Paige wondered, smoothing out the folds of her dress.

"Well, for starters," Casey began. "You said back at the park that I may've already heard some things about you. I didn't really hear anything. I just saw a picture of you with the British Library…What did you mean?"

"I meant…that in my time as a secret agent, I may have done certain unsavory things to accomplish my missions. That includes obtaining and keeping a double-o certificate."

"Double-o certificate?"

"It's a license to kill," she said plainly. "But, that's not important. I have other explanations I owe you. So, questions?"

Leo cleared his throat. "Yeah…what can you tell us about William Bishop?"

Paige raised an eyebrow but there came an unmistakable gloom in her eyes when she heard the name. "Why? What's he done to you, exactly?"

Karai held up a hand. "Our question first."

Paige was silent for a moment, her eyes closed and her head slightly bowed. "Agent William Bishop is a monster," she finally said. She then took a deep breath, composing herself. "And I used to work with him…I was his assistant." Wordlessly, she stood up, made her way to the bookshelf behind the couch, and selected a thick brown folder. She sat back down on the couch, setting the folder on her lap. "Before the British Library fell, I was asked to draft a report that detailed the actions of the Medical Division. I never got to submit it. You five are the only ones in existence who will ever get to hear this."

She opened the folder and began to read aloud: "The British Library Special operations Unit, Medical Division. The Gentleman Renewal Plan. Progress Report Version Five by Special Agent Padma Higgins.

"Listen up, you lot."

Author's Note and References:

The song I used in the flashback is called Tears In Heaven. It was written and sung by Eric Clapton. It's a sad song, made especially for people who have lost someone. Paige has a special attachment to that song, I will not give you all the reason why just yet.

*Papermaster - a person with the superhuman ability to control and bend paper-material to their will, turning it into anything from a useful everyday tool to a deadly weapon. This type of superhuman is unique to the Read or Die franchise, please see below.

*Read Or Die - a Japanese light novel, manga, and anime franchise with an action-packed spy and fantasy theme. Think James Bond meets X-Men.

(Wikipedia) Read or Die takes place in an alternate history world where the British Empire has remained a major superpower. The Empire's continued existence is guaranteed by the British Library, an external intelligence agency working within the actual British Library and its Special Operations Division. The series follows Yomiko Readman, also known as "The Paper", a superhuman agent of the Library's Special Operations Unit. (Wikipedia)

*Donnie and Paige - you'll notice Paige's fondness for the name "Donnie". This is a reference to a canon character for the Read Or Die (ROD) franchise, Donny Nakajima. He was an expert PaperMaster and the romantic interest of the ROD protagonist until his mysterious death some time in the series. In this case, Donny Nakajima was Paige's good friend, predecessor, and mentor.

*A Building Full Of Books - this is another little nod to the ROD franchise. The protagonist of Read Or Die also lives in a building full of books. Also, Papermasters are natural bibliophiles, so it is only natural that Paige would want to surround herself with books.

You are all very welcome to do your own little Google t-rex-hand search and find out more about the ROD franchise but I strongly suggest that you guys put it off until you finish the next chapter. Less spoilers that way.

Really truly very very sorry that this chapter took so long. The last four just kinda flowed outta me and that's why I got to update so fast. With this one however, although I had the start and the end worked out, the muse needed a little more poking and prodding. At some point I was even threatening to drop her from an imaginary cliff. Not to mention I'm in the middle of my culinary school internship. Still, I apologize for the long wait.

*beautyandharmony - thanks so much! And, yes, I always trying to give a movie/show feel to this fic. You guys aren't just my readers, you are my audience. And it's an honor to work my ass off for all of you.

As always, thanks for reading and reviewing.

P.S. When Paige tells you to listen, you have to listen. And carefully.