Chapter 7: Fight or Flight
They'd found her—or she'd found them. Mona Lisa. Taller. Stronger. Foot Clan? Didn't matter—Raph was takin' her back whether she liked it or not!
"What the hell are you doin'?" Raph roared, snatching the flair gun and tossing it over the edge. "Have ya lost your damn—"
"Incoming!" Donnie shouted, sounding panicked. "ETA… seconds!"
"Cover!" Leo barked. "Now!"
Mikey spun around in a frantic circle. "Uh?"
Cursing, Raph grabbed the back of Mona's jacket and headed for the tree line.
"Raph!" Mona hissed, trying to dislodge his fist from her coat. "Would you just—?" She huffed impatiently before going limp—instant dead weight.
Ten years ago this had been a frustratingly effective tactic, usually bringing both of them to their knees and giving Mona that split-second she needed to escape.
But now…
Raph grinned despite himself when her exasperated huff was cut short with a strangled, "Ack!" Her legs dragged behind her in the snow for a moment before she shifted, slipping out of the jacket and into the snow.
Face first.
Mona swore.
Raph would have laughed except the helicopter was closing in, the tops of the trees whipped back and forth, shaking loose snow and ice and pine needles. Dropping the jacket, he lifted Mona bodily from the ground with a grunt and did the first thing that came to mind—
He chucked her.
With a startled shriek, Mona plowed into a huge snow drift and disappeared as it collapsed around her.
Satisfied, Raph turned, drawing his sai as the chopper whirred into view, circling once overhead before touching down near the cliff's edge.
Mikey was hunched behind a pile of rocks, his shell completely visible. Donnie stood beside him, shaking his head, bo staff at the ready.
Raph rolled his eyes.
Leo had positioned himself between the chopper and April and Vern, his katana out, his stance low.
The scrape of the cabin door sliding open was barely audible over the rotor blades and Raph prepared himself for the swarm of Foot soldiers.
A stocky guy in a brown leather jacket and jeans jumped down instead, pistol in hand but pointed at the ground. Behind him, the helicopter cabin was empty.
"What the—" Raph mumbled, squeezing the hilts of his sai.
"You jerk!" Mona was grumbling behind him. She gave his shell an angry shove and Raph promptly kicked her back into the drift.
Mona squeaked in outrage and the chopper pilot raised his pistol. "Let 'er go!" he shouted over the rotors.
A dark grin curled a corner of Raph's mouth and he started forward. Challenge accepted! He didn't give a damn who this bastard was or how he knew Mona, but she was back and he was keepin' her!
"Wait!" Mona called behind him, sounding winded. "Wait… don't shoot! Godzilla and his brothers… are family!"
Raph froze. Godzilla?!
Mikey snorted.
Irritated, Raph turned. "Godzil—?" He choked on the word as Mona got to her feet, gingerly brushing blood-stained snow from her shoulder. Son-of-a—! He dropped his sai and started toward her, heart lodged in his throat, cutting off his air supply.
Donnie got to her first and Leo wasn't far behind.
"What happened?" Raph bellowed.
"She was shot, Raph," said Donnie matter-of-factly, pushing up his glasses as he gently manipulated Mona's shoulder, studying the frayed fabric of her black jacket.
What the hell was she wearin' two jackets for?
Pouting, Mona leaned away from them. "It's fine," she insisted. "Went right through."
"Like hell!" Raph choked, his fear and guilt exploding from him in a stream of angry words. "What the hell were you thinkin', barrelin' down the mountain on a motorcycle when you'd been shot!"
"Raph—" said Leo in a low voice.
"I gotta med kit in the—" said the pilot guy, suddenly beside them.
"Shuddup!" Raph roared furiously, making everyone but Mona and Leo take a cautious step back. "You coulda got yourself killed!" he continued, towering over her, his face inches from hers.
Mona scowled, pushing up on her tiptoes until their noses were nearly touching. "Don't you lecture me on stupid, you jerk!" she shouted back, poking him hard in the plastron and immediately regretting it. "I'm not the one who decided to take the scenic route!"
"Uh, yeah," Vern muttered, clearing his throat. "Sorry."
"'Sides, I wasn't about to let a bunch of bad guys chase your sorry ass down the mountain when your only backup was three stoned turtles!"
"We weren't stoned," Donnie insisted. "It was an adrenaline—"
"Shuddup!" Raph and Mona snapped at the same time, heads whipping around to glare at him.
Donnie frowned, raising his hands and backing away. He figured if Mona had the stamina to take on an irate Raphael, she was fine.
"Sooo, the burning semi at the bottom of the cliff—" said Mona's pilot friend almost cheerfully while Raph and Mona continued to argue. "That yours?"
Technically? Donnie thought, raising an eye ridge just as Mona punched Raph in the arm.
"If you're idea of coming to the rescue is throwing people into snow banks, you can—"
The pilot chuckled, stuffing his hands in his pockets with an amused, "Nice!"
"I know, right?" Mikey chortled in response.
"So… how d'you know Mona?" Leo asked, his tone cautious but curious.
Mona stopped mid-argument, head whipping around as her friend replied nonchalantly, "Afghanistan."
Leo blinked. "Dude," Mikey hummed as Donnie managed a faint, "Oh."
Raph had gone very still.
"Saved my ass!" the pilot added with a grin.
Mona groaned in frustration, shooting her friend an irritated look as Raph leaned down until his eyes were level with hers. "Afghanistan?" he growled.
She raised a belligerent eyebrow and shrugged, belatedly remembering her wounded shoulder and wincing.
"What the hell were you doin' in Afghanistan?" Raph asked her, his voice deceptively calm.
Donnie watched at least half a dozen emotions flicker across Mona's face as she considered her response before she settled on a stubborn scowl. "None of your damn business."
Donnie almost smirked. Good ol' Mona.
Raph's eyes narrowed dangerously but Leo pulled him away with a gruff, "Later."
The two exchanged fierce expressions before Leo turned to Mona. "Are you sure you're okay?"
Mona snorted, raising her nose in the air. "It's not the first time I've been shot."
"It'll damn-well be the last," Raph muttered.
Mona's pilot friend laughed. "And I thought my family reunions were messed up!" He shot her a teasing smirk. "But I guess it ain't easy bein' green."
Mona flipped him off as she bent down to pick up her other jacket.
"So, where to now, Crabby-Patty?"
Mikey chortled and Mona shot him a look, shaking the snow from her coat.
"Now?" Raph growled. "You gotta damn chopper pilot on call?"
Donnie sighed.
The pilot in question chuckled.
Mona huffed impatiently. "We can play twenty-questions later, Raph. Right now, we need to get outta here."
"Sooner rather than later," April suggested. "A burning semi at the bottom of a cliff is going to attract attention."
Donnie nodded in agreement as Mikey replied, "True that, angelcakes!"
A corner of Mona's mouth curled up in a tiny smirk. "Yeah okay, can we go now?" she asked, turning toward the helicopter. "We need to get to Sacks Tower before—"
The pilot snorted.
Donnie frowned. Before what? he wanted to ask as Mona raised an eyebrow and shrugged into her jacket. "Problem?"
"Uh, yeah!" the pilot choked.
"Restricted airspace," Donnie offered helpfully.
The pilot smacked Donnie's plastron with an emphatic nod. "Exactly! I need a damn good reason to be flyin' a bird around the Big Apple," he told her.
Mona brushed him off with a wave of her hand, starting toward the chopper. "No worries. I gotta plan."
He scoffed, following after her. "Yeah, right. Your last plan was a one-way ticket to the New England wilderness, 'member? 'That's it,' you said. 'No worries,' you said." He said this last bit in a forced soprano.
Mikey snickered as Mona stopped several feet away, hands on her hips.
"I do not sound like that!" Mona snapped, her lower lip stuck out in a pout so familiar it was all Donnie could do not to laugh and hug her.
Damn, it was good to have her back!
Raph considered himself patient enough, he meditated and shit—longest damn ten minutes of his life, usually—but he did it. Except right now, he had no idea what was goin' on, his head was cold since the brat had chucked his mask off the cliff, and he was this close to smashing his fist into pilot boy's face just to shut him up!
Probably sensing his deteriorating good mood, Leo stepped forward. "I agree we need to get back to the city. But going to Sacks Tower is a bad idea. We need to regroup and Master Splinter needs us."
Mona's irritated expression fell in shock.
Pilot boy ran a hand down his face. "Master Splinter? What's he, a frog?"
Son of a bitch! Raph charged forward, fists clenched.
Leo and Donnie were quick to intercept, their feet sliding in the snow.
"Raph!" Leo barked.
"Dude!" said Mikey, pulling on his shell. "Chill, dude!"
Then Mona was there, hands pushing against his plastron as she stared up at him with those huge, silver eyes. "Master Yoshi is alive?" The words were little more than a choked whisper.
Breathing hard, Raph stopped. "He was when I left 'im," he responded after a moment, his voice rough.
It was quiet for a long moment and Mona looked dazed as she moved away from him.
"No offense, man," said the flying asshole, holstering his pistol again.
But Raph just ignored him, his thoughts on Master Splinter and his eyes on Mona.
"Dude," said Mikey suddenly, craning his neck to stare at Mona's ass, "where's your tail?"
Raph shoved his little brother into the snow as pilot boy blinked, distracted. "You have a tail?"
Mona frowned, opening her mouth to speak, but Mikey beat her to it, eyes wide and suddenly serious. "Shit, did you have to chop it off?!"
Raph forgot to breathe.
"What?! No!" Mona made a growling noise in the back of her throat. "Can we focus, please?" She turned to Leo. "We have to get to Sacks Tower—the sooner the better—it can't wait."
"Why?"
Mona looked as though Donnie had slapped her. "Why?" she repeated in amazement. "Are you—" she swallowed. "Are you serious?" She chuckled nervously as she looked at each of them in turn. "Tell me you're joking." When none of them responded, Mona just stared at them, aghast. "Oh my… you don't—then how—why?" She huffed, shaking her head, her expression impatient. "Never mind! We don't have time for this. I don't have time for this! The Shredder needs to be stopped!"
"Whoa!" said Mikey as Raph and Leo exchanged startled glances.
"What-the-hell do you know about the Shredder?" Raph growled, getting more frustrated by the minute.
Mona's eyes narrowed to slits. "I think the better question is: what do you know about the Shredder?"
"He's a super bad dude," Mikey offered as he packed a fistful of snow into a ball.
"This is not something that should be discussed out in the open," said Leo grimly, eyeing pilot boy and deftly dodging Mikey's snowball.
Mona rolled her eyes. "My thoughts exactly," she grumbled, moving toward the helicopter again. "Stay or go, that's your choice," she called over her shoulder. "But I'm going."
Pilot boy offered a crooked grin and a jaunty salute before jogging after her.
Ten long years of questions and secrets hovered around them. Raph wanted to know everything: How she'd met the cheeky pilot bastard. How she'd lost her tail. How many times she'd been shot. How she knew about the Shredder—what she knew about the Shredder.
How she'd escaped the cave-in.
Raph shot Leo a glance before heading for the chopper, picking up his sai on the way. Damn if I'm lettin' her go again!
He heard the hurried crunch of snow behind him a moment before Mikey raced passed him. "Dudes, this is gonna be so awesome!"
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