A/N: About time, eh, WOLF?

And here...we...go!

Chapter 39: Hijack

Hun adjusted the Kevlar armor he wore below his IR-masking shirt. Usually, he never worried about such things, since he favored blitz attacks. However, this time he had a plan in mind—a plan which involved specially-tailored suits on all his underlings.

"How does the perimeter look?" he asked Switchblade beside him.

The wavy-haired cyborg flexed his robotic arms, their blue glow brightening in the early morning. "Last sweep looked good. We're all in position, just waiting for Pierce's team."

Hun tsked. "That boy loves to try my patience."

"He's good at going back and forth, ain't he? One minute he's a reckless typhoon setting off fireworks, the next he's successfully gathering intel around Bones and Scales. We wouldn't know Hunt, Rojo, and Little Spice are here otherwise."

"News which was given by Kyle Erlich."

"You have doubts? But Erlich got a special look inside and—"

"If there's one thing my late master me taught well, it's that I can't trust anyone."

"If you aren't positive, then why'd you go through the trouble of herding nearly every PD member around the new EPF building?"

"When storming Agent John Bishop, one can never be too careful. Most of you are a diversion."

They were destined for the roll of pawns from the start, so why did Switchblade glare? Hun scoffed at the cyborg, whirling in the make-shift tent that had been set up for him hours ago. His eyes landed on a crouched female towards the back-most support post, whose wired headset connected her with a high-tech police scanner. She shifted her weight in a telling way and glanced up once before ducking her head again.

"Something wrong, Spike?"

"No, Sir. I mean." She gulped, so Hun narrowed his gaze, knowing she didn't need to see it to feel its impact. "Pierce's team got held back because something happened at HQ."

"Like?"

"T—the Forty-Fours launched an assault in the last hour. Now there's a large police presence. A few PDs have already been arrested. Skunk says…Sir"—Spike's eyes hardened as she pressed the headset closer against her ear—"Hamilton's there. She means to highjack your building."

"Are we heading to HQ, Sir?"

Hun sent Switchblade a stern look then glanced towards the EPF logo that loomed ahead. "After all this planning, I refused to turn around."

"Sir?"

"I'll send a few members, just to keep the police out. But most will remain in position. Little Spice, Rojo, and Hunt are my priorities."

"What about Pierce?"

"H—his contact was cut off," Spike interjected with sigh. "I think he mentioned something about causing a distraction, though."

"Is that so?" Humming, Hun allowed himself a smirk. "That could work out. Nothing gathers the EPF's attention more than a cyborg on a rampage. The fewer soldiers here, the easier this will be."

"So we're going through with the plan."

"Yes, Switchblade. Now"—the mammoth steeled his stance—"prepare yourselves. We attack at dawn."

"How're the security feeds, Don?" Raphael asked. He gave the large group a subtle glance then loomed over his purple-masked brother.

Knelt in Oswald's enclosed alley, Donatello looked upwards, straight face a lit by his busy tablet. "Videos are looped, alarms are suspended, and since the company has yet to fix the hole in their wall, entry will be easy."

"Guess we could thank Gray for dat."

"In a way."

"What about the lab? Won't people be comin' inta work soon?"

"I have a gas grenade in case there's too many for me to knock out alone. It seems promising, though."

Raph shook his head. "How do ya make it look so easy, Einstein?"

"Well, you see"—Donny lifted his tablet with a smile—"there's an app for that."

"Too bad there ain't an app for healin' family members."

"Raph." Touching his older brother's arm, Donatello drew Raphael's gaze off Nia and Splinter. "I got this. We got this."

"I trust ya, but…" It took a sigh for the hothead to swallow the lump in his dry throat. His eyes found his wife again and he felt so heavy under her tender expression that he couldn't move. "I now know what it's like ta live wit'out Nia. I can't do it again, Don—not indefinitely."

"Know the feeling," Donny countered, sending Melody a quick glance. "Keep faith. While we can't expect to hijack a lab hitch-free, we'll do our damnest to save everyone."

"Language, Donatello," a lighter voice interjected.

Raph met Michelangelo's disapproving stare, knowing it was an act to enhance the youngest brother's joke. "Sensei jabs ain't funny right now, Doofus," he said in an undertone.

"I thought as much," the orange-masked Chūnin admitted with wounded eyes. "Couldn't help trying, though; the whole situation feels crappy. That and this backed-up traffic is making me nervous. Is it normal for there to be so much at five AM, Don?"

"I'm a technician, not a traffic reporter," the genius answered dryly.

"Geez; just asking."

"It doesn't matter anyway. They're busy with their lives, and once our group sets off on the route I designed from the building's blueprints, there will be nothing left to spot in this alley. Take these."

The blue-eyed mutant glanced down at the Shell Cell and red flip phone Donatello forced into his hand. "Why aren't you keeping them?"

Donny flashed a pointed look. "Do you know how many I've had to rebuild during this last year? Believe me, it's become a chore. They have a better chance of survival with you than with…you know."

"Nia?"

"So how will ya keep in touch?" Raphael asked, eyeing Mikey's grin from over his folded arms.

"Mel," answer Don. "She has a frequency in her brain that allows contact with Tabitha and Sven. I've hacked that frequency so my cell can join it. She'll call when everything's done."

"So that's it?" Mikey added with a small shrug. "We're set?"

"Not quite," Raph grumbled.

He left his brothers to head for the group's remainder. Melody sent a silent nod when the hothead passed her, shifting Splinter in her arms like a sleeping child. This led Raph's vision up, towards the towering crocodile mutant that almost blocked the alley's width. Leatherhead had left his lab coat at the Lair and Raph could only speculate the reason why.

'Maybe he's prepared for a fight after all. I really hope that won't be the case…'

LH nodded as well, also silent as April pulled back from a hug she shared with Nia. Thankfully, the redhead knew just what her friend wanted, and so pushed the artist at the Sai master, a small smile across her lips.

"We'll head in first," she said. "Don't take long."

Raph returned her humor with a lopsided grin. He reached for Nia's hand while Melody and Leatherhead headed up Oswald's brick wall in a signal bound. The thick tarp above did little to stop the powerhouse duo, so he held no worries over the people they had carried up.

"Th—they make that look so easy," Nia noted, chuckling.

"Donny will too," Raphael added. "I'm puttin' him in charge 'a ya."

"Huǒ." The couple's grip tightened. "I'll do good."

"Don't doubt that. I just wish it didn't have ta hurt ya."

"Could say the same about you."

Raph sensed his wife's smile before he faced it; but the moment he turned, something struck his heart—a realization. The pale human wasn't worried, not in the least. She stood assured on the asphalt, and a fire lit her gaze in a way that reminded the mutant of their first meeting.

Back then, she had looked dull and stormy. She wallowed in the darkness she'd found in life to the point where she had given up. The young woman standing beside him, however, was a stark contrast. And he had no desire to deny the pride he felt at having been a part of that process.

"The last time I was in this alley, I failed," Nia continued. "I didn't know which strength I was meant to have. Now, I do; thanks to this clan. I won't fail again."

"Know what?" Raph asked. He rested a hand behind Nia's hot neck to bring her in for a quick kiss, although he wanted it to be much longer. When they parted, he rested his forehead against hers, for a closer look at her blue-green eyes. "Hope looks good on ya."

"Thanks," she whispered back.

"Nia"—Donatello's voice cut through the new silence—"we need to go."

"Coming," Nia called behind her.

She sent her husband a final smile, then reached the genius's arms. Raphael watched with a wrenched heart as the duo followed the same path as the others, standing still by the alley's dumpster. He felt glued there until Michelangelo's Shell Cell sounded. Its obnoxious Mario theme song lured Raph to his brother, who squinted at the caller ID.

"Answer it before someone notices, Idiot!" the hothead snarled.

Mikey stuck his tongue out at Raph, but then answered with the call on speaker phone. "Ello?"

"About time one of you damn brothers picked up," Blaine snarled over the scratchy line.

"Woah, woah." Mikey lifted the round phone between him and his brother, glaring at it. "To be fair, I was recently mauled by a monster, so I've been a little preoccupied. I missed your visit to—what'd Don call it? The Pit? Then you never called back. I'm fine, by the way."

"I did call, but none of you picked up!" Blaine's curtness cut through the Chūnin's wit before he sighed. "Forget that. Something's happened."

"You found out where Hugh is?"

"That's partly why I'm calling."

"Why do I get the feeling the other part is for bad news?"

"Because that's our luck."

"What's wrong?" Raph asked.

"A gang war broke out between the Forty-Fours and PDs. Then not long ago, an attack on EPF headquarters was launched."

"All at once?" Mikey interjected, slack-jawed.

"I just got back in town," Blaine continued. "Dropped Donna off at the Precinct. Told Jen and Rina to take Megan and stay as far away from both locations as possible."

"What about Kaiya?"

"That's another part of the issue, Michelangelo. She's on a field trip. The bus is in route, so I'm tracking it before I get the call every parent fears."

"She isn't safe on the bus?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Their field trip is to Oswald Cybernetics."

"I—is it?" Mikey met Raph's wide eyes then swallowed. "That's bad?"

"You kidding?" Blaine's scoff wasn't at all comforting. "Oswald is inside the growing war zone range. I don't want to think what could happen."

Chuckle strained, Mikey eyed the Oswald building. "Yeah; me either."

"I need you guys to help me coordinate a plan to get Hugh and Kaiya back before they're hurt."

"Of course, Blaine. But there's another issue."

"What now?"

"Thing is, we're already kind'a in the war zone, and our team is mostly busy. We'll need backup."

"From who? Donna and Noah were called to help Kyle and Damien's with me."

"I don't mean them," Mikey noted with grin. "I was thinking more along the lines of some…cyborg help."

The orange-masked Chūnin need only lift Don's phone for Raph to understand, so he matched his brother's smirk with gusto. 'I did offer 'em a chance ta work as part 'a our team. Now would be the time. God knows what can happen ta kids in a war zone…'

Kaiya wiggled in her bench seat, sighing as the field trip leader spoke with the bus driver six rows ahead. "We're still stuck," she told her orange-haired friend.

Jakob Nass twisted by the two-panel window then sunk back into the spot beside the blonde with a pout. "No cars are moving. We've been here forever."

"Twenty minutes is hardly forever," another young voice interjected.

Kaiya knew just the look to send Jasmine Wang and did so with extra annoyance across the narrow bus aisle. "Feels like it," she countered, bitter. "It'd be better if we could fly instead."

"Like a rocket," Jakob added. Then, he jumped. "Oh, like Miss Tabi! I bet Miss Tabi could fly us to the lab."

"It's not just a lab," spat Jasmine, straightening in her seat by the aisle. Her dark almond eyes grew into thin slits that made her puffed lips look much bigger, so Kaiya crossed her arms to show she wasn't scared. "It's a cybernetic research center, Kai—the best in the country."

"As if I care," Kaiya grumbled while gripping her skull-print shirt. The young blonde had seen enough labs to last her lifetime, honestly, and when Jasmine used the word 'research', an unwanted shiver shot through her bones.

"You wanna be a scientist when you grow up; right, Jas?" asked Jakob over his friend's head.

With a huff, Kaiya shook off the weight between her pigtails then waited for the dark-haired girl to continue as Jakob slipped off the leather seat.

Jasmine blinked below her blunt bangs. "I want to be a science teacher. Like BaBa is."

"Was," someone butt in. The harsh, boyish tone belonged to Jasmine's seat partner and older brother, Terry.

Generally, he said little. Kaiya always thought that was because he hated being stuck in a class with younger students. 'Daddy did say kids feel bad when they fail a grade. And he'd be embarrassed if his little sister skipped ahead like Jasmine did.'

"BaBa isn't a teacher anymore, Jas," Terry added with a sigh.

"You don't know that," Jasmine countered, glaring at her short-haired sibling.

"He disappeared from jail. You know what Misses Wang said about that."

"He could be teaching somewhere else. Then when he has money again, he'll come get us. He promised."

"That's not true."

"Yes, it is!"

"If it was, we would've kept our last name."

"Why does that matter? We were adopted. We had to—"

"Face it, Jasmine; we're no longer Kims. BaBa's never coming back!"

"Terry, would you please remain seated?" a male teacher chided from the bus's rear.

Terry did as commanded with attitude. He crossed his arms then slumped in his seat, eyes set ahead. "Believe what you want. I don't care…"

"Hey"—to break the silence, Jakob leaned into Kaiya so the two almost fell into the aisle—"can we talk about something else? Every time your dad's mentioned, Terry gets us in trouble."

"Whatever," Terry hissed.

"How about we go outside?"

"The teachers would never let us off, Jakob," Jasmine said.

The carrot-top flashed a gap-toothed smile, blue eyes wide as he pointed towards the window. "Why not? Everyone else is out of their cars."

"Move over," Kaiya demanded.

She shoved her friend behind her for a better view. Beyond the window, many empty cars sat in the street like a ghost town, but it wasn't as quiet as one. A group rushed by the bus as if outrunning a monster. They were screaming, even, and the blonde felt her blood run cold when the grown-ups cursed at the bus's front.

"Young ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention?"

Kaiya didn't like the way this new adult spoke—not one bit. He sounded too similar to the fat doctor, whose laughter made the girl's teeth chatter when she brought her eyes ahead. A dark-skinned man stood before the windshield, his slender figure outlined by the rising sun.

A gross smile crossed his face that he soon directed at the children in the front row. "Excuse me," he started, "do any of you know how to drive this thing? Seems I sorta—oops."

The man shrugged while lifting his arms. They weren't normal arms; they ended in metallic claws, whose sharp points stuck out like bloody needles from two bodies. "These guys weren't important, were they?"

The children in the rows ahead whimpered then cried when the cyborg kicked the grown-ups off his hands. Their unmoving forms sunk into the aisle like bags of sand as he took the driver's seat, saying,

"Pardon me while I highjack your bus; there's some place I gotta be."

A/N: Now crap is about to hit the fan. Not sure if any of you made the connection; it's been over a year since "Hollow Hearts" came out. But Jasmine and Terry Kim (now Wang) are the children of Joseph Kim, a notable cellmate of Hall F who added to Leonardo's...unraveling. :P