Chapter Fourteen: The Last Room On The Ninth

There was something to be said about Indian food. The main thing would be that it was amazing. So amazing that Paige had decide not to prolong the wait and told the Hamato children to start on their meal, Casey Jones or no. Paige and all five of her guests had adjourned to the cozy dining room after their hard day's work. Michelangelo never thought he would enjoy the taste of anything without tomatoes and cheese, but he ate his meal of jasmine rice and butter chicken with apparent relish. He was already calling dibs on thirds. Finally came the best part of any meal: dessert. For that, Paige had prepared kheer, which was rice pudding, but so much better.

Paige thanked and complimented each and every one of the children on their excellent work but made a special mention for Michelangelo for his remarkable attempt at Indian food. The conversation then shifted to the question of how the turtles were able to find decent food in the sewers in their early years. Mikey was more than happy to tell their story, finishing with their first trip to the surface and their first taste of pizza, or as he liked to call it, the Holy Grail Of Munchies. Paige listened in silence, smiling contentedly the whole time.

"…and that's how we got our first taste of real food," said Mikey.

Paige finished the last of her rice pudding. "Well, I hope that pizza delivery boy didn't lose his job."

Leo shook his head. "Nah. I don't think so. "

Donnie stroked his chin. "Come to think of it, that wasn't the last we saw of him."

"Yeah, it wasn't," Raph agreed.

Paige rested her hand in her palm, her eyes glazed over in thought. "Huh...The tales that pizza delivery boy must have to tell…"

Dinner had all but ended and Casey Jones still hadn't arrived. Paige would have been worried if she hadn't known that Casey was late only to avoid doing any work. Leo helped her with the dishes while his family adjourned to the living room to play a round of Pictionary. He and Paige passed the time with stories about some of the missions she and her partner undertook for the British Library. Most of them involved collecting rare books from around the world but each one of them was fraught with action and danger. Leo listened in awe; it was like something out of one of his favorite sci-fi shows, with Paige as one of the characters.

But talking about the Library also reminded Leo of why he and his family were there in the first place. The thought wiped away any enthusiasm he previously had. He'd grown quiet and that fact was not lost on Paige.

"Something on your mind?" she asked as she loaded plates into the dishwasher.

Leo hesitated. He knew Paige would not take kindly to such an intrusive question. It would be wrong to ask so much of her all of a sudden…But it would be even more wrong to put his brothers' safety at risk without exhausting all of his options. He made an executive decision. "Yeah, actually. It's about…Bishop."

Crash! went the dish that slipped out of Paige's grip.

Leo recoiled with a gasp as the plate shattered into thousand pieces at his feet. His gaze travelled upwards to Paige, who kept her back turned to him. She didn't look at him as she spoke. "What about him?" she asked, the sudden bitterness in her tone catching Leo off-guard.

"We need your help," he repeated, his resolve unhindered.

"Well, you're not going to get it. I've already told you I want nothing to do with Bishop." She finally turned to look at him, her once-kind brown eyes now hardened and cold. "…And if you had any kind of brain in your head, you won't go looking for him."

Leo wanted to speak, but the words died in his throat. It was as if he was talking to a completely different person.

"Uh, what's going on here?" Raph asked, poking his head into the room. He'd been drawn to the sound of crashing plates and gradually rising voices.

Leo's brow furrowed. He didn't appreciate being patronized, especially by someone he had no relation to. That thought snapped him out of his speechless stupor and he continued. "But you're the only one who knows how his mind works. We could really use your help."

"I've given you my answer," said Paige. "No."

And Raph finally knew what was happening. He could understand Leo's persistence, and wanted Paige on their side as much as him, but couldn't shake the feeling that this wasn't right…He remembered the room.

Raph reached for his brother. "Leo, I need you to shut up. Like, right now."

Leo ignored him. "Paige, please!"

"Leo, stop!" Raph insisted. "Seriously. I need to talk to you."

Again, the blue-banded turtle didn't seem to notice. "Please! My family's safety is at stake! You can't expect me to just ignore that."

"I don't expect you to ignore it, just don't ask help from me."

"But, Paige-"

"No," Paige repeated firmly. She felt the first sting of tears stabbing at her eyes. This would not do; she could break down in front of them. "…And I think you should leave."

Both turtles heads snapped in her direction. "What?" Leo breathed. "Paige, we just-"

Paige cut him off. "Please leave…please?"

Raphael had to drag Leo out.

The Hamatos reached the first floor just as Casey Jones was shutting the front door behind him. He walked up to meet them halfway. "Hey, guys," he greeted with his usual cockiness. "Casey Jones, fashionably late as always and…wait. Wait. Where're ya guys goin'?"

"Home," Leo said gruffly. Without another word, he and his siblings brushed past Casey, their faces grave.

Casey wouldn't take that for an answer. He grabbed Raph's arm and jerked him backward, forcing his red-banded friend to look him in the eye. "What's going on?" he practically demanded.

"Leo got us kicked out!" Donnie called from the front door.

"I did not!" the eldest turtle retorted.

"Yeah," Mikey agreed. "I didn't even get to guess what Donnie was drawing."

Karai gathered the other turtles in a huddle and began leading them to the door. "We'll go on ahead," she told Raph. Unlike her idiot brothers, she could read a room. And right now, she knew that he and Casey would need a minute.

Raph nodded a thanks to his sister. He turned to Casey. "You're her family, Casey. If anyone should talk to her, it's you." He shook his arm free from Casey's grip. "Now if you'll excuse me, I gotta go beat some manners into Lame-O-Nardo." With that, Raphael followed his siblings out the door and into the shadows leading to the nearest manhole.

Casey bolted up the stairs.

Paige had remained in the kitchen; she thought her legs might give if she so much as stepped one foot forward. Tears streamed down her face. She braced her hands on the counter, her head bowed and unchecked nausea churning upward from the bottom of her gut. Nausea from the way she had spoken to those innocent children; she hadn't meant to be so harsh on Leonardo, or any of them. Nausea from the unceremonious way their pleasant evening was disrupted…

Nausea from remembering the past.

"Paige?" called her most favorite voice in the world.

A treacherous gasp escaped her lips. Not him! she screamed internally. She succeeded in wiping her face dry just as Casey entered the kitchen. But he still managed to catch the way she brought her hand down from her face. The rawness around her eyes wasn't lost on him either.

"Aw, man," he breathed. A surge of protective anger coursed through him. "I didn't think you'd be crying. What did they do? What did they say to you?"

"No," Paige defended. She turned her back to him; just the thought of him seeing her face any more than he already had was almost too much to bear. "No, Casey. Your friends did nothing wrong…I overreacted. I'll apologize to them later."

"Paige, seriously. What happened?"

"Casey," she said forcefully. Taking a deep breath, she let it out shakily. "…Casey, could you just give this old bird a minute to compose herself?"

"But, Paige-"

She looked at him then, her gaze pleading for him to comply.

Casey hesitated. He wanted nothing more than to stay and shake the answers out of her but one look in those gloomy umber eyes told him not to push the matter. He spared one final glance at her before resigning to the living room. He was worried. He's never seen Paige so upset. In all the years he's known her, she was always so emotionally strong; always smiling even when she didn't have to and never harsher than she needed to be. Whatever it was that reduced her to this state, it must have been bad.

For Paige's sake, he wanted to be patient but the fidgeting continued. He was two minutes away from rearranging every throw pillow in the room into a fort. But it already seemed like he'd been waiting years. He looked around the room for anything that could serve as a distraction. The books? Fat chance! he spat. The unfinished game of Pictionary? Elephant! he guessed. The big screen T.V. that was blaring the evening news? T.V. is for cartoons and the Superbowl!

Finally, he set his sights on the fireplace. Sat on the left side of the mantelpiece was a small porcelain urn. Why hadn't he noticed it before? He picked the urn up and turned it over in his hands; the patterns painted on it fascinated him. It looked like something straight out of the Renaissance Fair. He was still holding it as Paige entered the living room.

Paige suppressed the panic that began roiling inside her. "Oh, um, Casey, be very careful with that. Please."

The boy cocked an eyebrow. "Why? What's in it?" He could see the uncertainty in his former nanny's eyes. Was she worried that he might not like the answer?

Finally, Paige answered. "…My husband."

Casey blinked. Once and then twice until he finally took one deep breath, letting it all soak in. In his hands was…a dead person. "Ok," he said quietly, carefully setting the urn back on the mantlepiece. He wiped his hands on his shirt. "Paige, where d'ya keep your bleach?"

To Casey's surprise, Paige laughed. He joined her, albeit still a little disgusted. Paige dabbed at her eyes one final time. "You always could make me smile. No matter what."

Casey gave a lopsided smile. "So you…had a husband?"

Paige sighed, her smile faltering a little. "Yes. He was a wonderful man."

"...You know, mom never really brought up why you didn't have a family of your own."

Paige shook her head. "I do have a family, Casey. You…your mum, your dad, your sister…my family back in India and in the UK."

Casey frowned. "That's not what I meant."

She gave a defeated sigh. "...I know." She strode over to the front door and opened it halfway. "Come with me."

Casey followed in silence as they climbed all the way up to the ninth floor. He noticed that the hallway way finally clear of books. The walls were now lined with clean shelves, upon which most of the books had been neatly organized. His friends did a good job; it looked like they'd worked pretty hard. And he himself did a good of arriving late and avoiding the work altogether. Finally, they reached the last door in the hall, the one adjacent to the exit to the roof.

"Casey," Paige said suddenly. "You've trusted me with so much. It wouldn't be fair of me to keep this from you any longer than I already have…Not even your mother knew about this."

With shaking fingers, Paige opened the door and stepped in, an anxious Casey one step behind her. His eyes widened. He hadn't seen a room like this since his sister was born. Colorful paper was plastered on the walls, along with paintings of cartoon animals. The windows were adorned with warm-colored curtains, which would have filtered any harsh sunlight. In the corner farthest from Casey was a single rocking chair. Beside it was a large basket containing what looked to be children's books. In the other corner stood a small and very empty crib, beside it a sky blue nightstand with a single photograph on it. Casey was beyond confused.

"A nursery?" he asked. "Paige, why would you have a nursery?"

"Why else would anyone have a nursery?" she replied, walking over to the nightstand, she picked up the framed photo and handed it to him.

Casey just stared at it, unable to make out what it was at first. He'd never seen a picture like this before. Except on the internet. And perhaps once in health class. Then it hit him.

It was an ultrasound picture.

Paige let out one shaky breath. "That's my son…Donny."

From the drawers of the nightstand, she produced another picture and showed it to Casey. It was obviously very old, its edges tattered and faded. In the middle of the photo were two scrawny and grinning kids, one a boy with short black hair and the other a girl with slightly longer dark blonde hair. They stood beneath the shade of a large tree, with one wrapped around the other's shoulder. Both wore the smiles that emanated the innocence and utter cheerfulness that only happy children possessed.

Paige sighed. "That is me and my best friend from childhood…William Nayar Bishop."

Author's Note:

Drama bomb!

I had no idea I could write drama but there it is.

*re-reads it* Nah, I still suck.

Oh, Leo. Didn't Master Splinter warn you about running your mouth?

To all my awesome readers, a heartfelt thanks. I appreciate you all sticking with this story this far. I don't like dragging out the boring parts any more than you guys like reading them, but I honestly feel they are vital to the story, so bear with me for now. FYI, the first part of this chapter is actually a reference to a very well-known fic; BubblyShell22, I'm winking at you right now.

To keep everyone's interest alive, I thought I'd do something fun. Like add a quote from a future chapter; make you guys go on a little scavenger hunt. I love being interactive with my readers. So here goes:

"Hit and run, Karai. Let's go!"

Till the next chapter!