Chapter 29

"Faster"

The orange sun sat low in the sky giving the worriers little cover. Helicopters buzzed overhead keeping a close tailing on the mutants and their friend as they hurried across the roof tops. Rushing shadows awash in the evening's fiery glow.

'Let them be ok.' Raphael prayed as his heart thundered a terrified and painful rhythm. He put all his strength and all his hope into every step as he charged ahead. His brothers keeping step behind him ready to dive into the drowning pool of battle. He would get to her and he would save her this he promised himself.

The sound of screeching tires and breaks followed by the sound of a crash brought Raph sliding to a stop. He considered the sound. There was a chance that Arayah and April were still at the post office. But knowing Arayah and April they weren't waiting around to be rescued. Changing his direction he took the risk and ran towards the sound.

Leo slowed his hobbled vaulting and looked up at the helicopters that seemed to be flocking to their location. This was quickly getting out of hand. They needed to assess the situation, whatever it was, and come up with a plan.

"Raph!" Leo shouted as he tried to catch up to his brother.

But Leo's shout fell on deaf ears. Raph's feet hit the building's edge. He didn't even hesitate before diving over. Arayah's angry voice yelling below pulling him on.

Using the side of the building and his shuku spikes to slow his dissent, Raphael ninjaed his way to the ground in time to see Bishop peeling off with Arayah in the passenger's seat giving him hell.

Raphael scanned the street for a half decent car, his brothers and Casey coming down to the sidewalk behind him.

"What's going on, Raph?" Mikey huffed.

Raph didn't answer; he had made his choice of car and was now making his way to deprive it of its owner.

"He is seriously lacking in communication skills." Mikey complained.

"April!" Casey exclaimed drawing the others' attention as he hurried to the damaged sedan.

The brother's followed Casey to the sedan that April was currently trying to crawl from.

Casey scooped his wife up in his arms and looked her over as he asked. "What happened?"

"Bishop…" April began to explain.

Leo's attention went to the growing on lookers coupled with the four helicopters that now hovered overhead poised as if waiting for some unknown instruction. "Casey." Leo interrupted, then looking to make sure he had Casey's attention continued, "Get April out of here and to a hospital. Use the crowd for cover and go into one of the buildings. Mikey and I will cause a distraction. Don…"

"You're injured I don't think…" Don tried to advise.

"I'll have Mike. You go with Raph, Arayah might be hurt."

Don looked back at his red banded brother as the temperamental turtle finished pulling a man from his 1969 Mustang BOSS. It was obvious the man was not pleased about being handled by an angry, giant, mutant turtle nor about the inevitable loss of his car.

Don let out a sigh. "I'll let you know when we get Arayah." He said as he stood and hurried to take his place in the passenger's seat before Raphael took off in the mustang.

*Scene change*

Bishop cursed at the woman that was swinging on him as he drove down the road not overly concerned with the mess he had left behind.

"You crazy, psychopathic, son of a bitch!" Arayah screamed at the man as she threw another punch which Bishop easily blocked.

She attempted to unlock the door and open it before he could lock the vehicle again but to no avail. This was not Bishop's first kidnapping though one of his more messy ones.

Bishop decided not to stop for the red light, causing the intersection to come screeching to a halt as the crossing traffic tried to avoid colliding with the lunatic in the Mercedes.

Arayah was working herself into a panic. She didn't know what to do or how to escape from this. And she was hurting, a low dull pain in her abdomen that would subside for a moment and then return stronger. This caused her greater fear than anything else. She didn't know if it meant there was something wrong or what she should do. She didn't have the littlest clue. But she sure as hell wasn't going to let this man take her children without putting up one hell of a fight, she owed Raphael that much.

"We have the mutants in sight. Should we engage?" A voice came through Bishop's radio. He normally would have had a headphone in his ear for such communications but it had been ripped out during his struggle getting the feisty woman into his car without hurting her precious cargo.

Bishop growled at the inability of those under him to remember instructions. "You're orders are to kill them! I want their bodies on a slab…"

"No!" Arayah brought the back of her fist up into Bishop's nose Bringing blood to gush forth. Arayah prepared to strike him again but was beat to the quick when Bishop's fist connected with her jaw in a quick jab.

He was sick of this game. He was done fighting with her. Taking advantage of her dazed state he pulled out his gun and prepared to strike her with it when his vehicle was suddenly hit from behind causing him to drop the weapon on the floor.

Raphael grinned over the steering wheel like a mad man in some death race. "That's right you son of a bitch, you ain't getting away that easy."

Don gripped the grab-handle, at the top of the car's door frame, as he prepared for Raph to ram the car in front of them again. "Do I need to remind you that your PREGNANT girlfriend is in that car?"

"That's why I am chasing it, Don!" Raph shouted back.

"Then maybe we should change tactics."

"I'm open to suggestions."

*scene change*

Agent Scowalski frowned at the orders she had been given. There was a great deal of innocent bystanders that had collected in the street below. And Bishop's orders were not taking into consideration the citizen's she had sworn to protect. Yes it would be called collateral damage and she would not receive any demerits for allowing the order to be followed through… but could she live with it?

"Only take clear shots. We don't need this fiasco to end up anywhere other than the tabloids." She said to the fleet of helicopters that hovered over the city. This wasn't normally her place. She was a paper pusher. But apparently Bishop felt the need to make her more of a part of this mess than she already was. If it all went down she would go with it. And she knew that was his way of keeping her from reporting any of his mistakes to anyone higher up.

The four turtles had split up by the time the order had been issued. Two of the helicopters that had been present were sent after the black mustang that roared down New York's darkening streets with no lights on. If they didn't catch it soon, they could lose it. But that wasn't Scowalski's concern. Her responsibilities were the two that were now running, more or less as one seemed to be strongly favoring a leg, over the roof tops bellow.

"I have a shot." A soldier announced and awaited confirmation.

"Take it." Scowalski ordered.

*scene change*

"We need to get in front of them and force Bishop to slow down so they don't crash." Donatello instructed.

"Then we'll have to fight Bishop." Raph pointed out as he steered through traffic keeping a close tail on the Mercedes ahead.

"One of us will." Don stated as he glanced up at the helicopters that followed them wondering why the obvious gun men had not yet opened fire.

Raph glanced at his brother then back to the rode. Even as masters in their deadly art they both knew damn well that Bishop was not one to go down easy. They had only ever fought him as a team and a one on one fight with him could very possibly be their last.

"Make sure Arayah gets out safe and that my kids are ok."

"Raph…" Don started to disagree.

"Don't argue with me Don! You're the only one of us idiots that can really help her if something goes wrong. If something happens she can't do it by herself, no matter what she thinks she can handle."

Don frowned but nodded. "Ok. How about we get ahead of this fucker now?"

"All I was waitin' for was a little bit of open road." Raph grinned as he pulled up close behind Bishop's Mercedes. Then using the slipstream created by the Mercedes' air flow he shot the mustang out and around in a beautifully executed draft.

Don had to admit he was actually impressed with Raph's skill. That is until the helicopters overhead opened fire.

"Shit!" Raph cursed.

"Push them under the train over pass." Don pointed out the structure ahead and to the left.

Raph swerved a bit, causing the car to slow, as he tried to dodge the bullets that were raining down on their car. He then turned the wheel and slammed into Bishop's Mercedes forcing him down the desired rode.

Arayah let out a yelp as her side of the car was struck. She brought her legs up as much as she could in an attempt to protect her oversized belly. But every jolt terrified her none the less.

'Please get us out of this.' She prayed to the God who's existence she had previously not cared about, as her stomach tightened in an agony she had never before experienced.

"Shit!" Bishop cursed as he dodged an oncoming car side swiping it and bouncing off it into the Mustang's front right side causing both cars to spin out smashing the Mercedes into a bridge support where it was pinned by the mustang.

*scene change*

Leo didn't hear the shot, so focused as he was on bearing past the pain in his leg, but he felt it. He was in mid pole vault when it hit. In that moment he was sure he had never been more grateful for his shell as the bone splintered and cracked from just to the right of his left shoulder blade to his carapace's edge as the large caliber bullet rode his shell's curve and buried itself in the brick wall of a building. Leo also thanked God and all the powers that be for his brother as Mikey caught hold of the borrowed bo and pulled Leo to the solidity of a fire escape landing.

"Good?" Mikey asked as he started to ninja he way up to the roof.

"Yep." Leo groaned as he pushed on up the fire escape and to the roof after his brother, ducking and dodging among the protuberances, such as vents and air conditioners that littered the roofs of the buildings.

*scene change*

With a groan Raph reached up and touched the blood that trickled from a gash on his forehead. He looked down at the red sticky liquid on his fingers as the world came into focus.

"Raph! Raph come on we gotta move!" Don yelled as he pulled at his brother.

Raphael looked at his brother then out his shattered window at the woman he loved. His heart stopped as he looked at her. Her arm cut and hanging out her window just in front of him, her head resting on her bleeding arm as if she had decided it was a good place to take a rest.

"Don!" Raph was pushing and clambering his way out of the mustang behind his brother. "Is she…" He couldn't even bring himself to voice his fear least his entire world shatter with the weight of but one word.

Don moved onto the mustang's hood and reached out to press his finger against Arayah's jugular. He let out a relieved sigh as he felt a heartbeat strong and fierce.

"She'll be fine." He said with a reassuring smile for his brother before sparing Bishop's form a wary glance.

The agent seemed to be unconscious for the moment. But they didn't know if that would last. Then to press their dire situation further, one of the two helicopters landed on the empty street outside of the shelter of the train overpass.

Men began to jump from the helicopter to come to Bishop's aid. Guns drawn, four soldiers started to advance waiting for a clear shot.

The man in the other wrecked car wanted nothing to do with the trouble that was building and without much pressure from the soldiers vacated the premises with as much speed as he could muster.

Carefully but quickly Donatello and Raphael began pulling Arayah through the broken window of the Mercedes. Ducking down as bullets began to ping off the car.

Bishop, coming to with the sounds of the gun fire, began to ster.

*scene change*

To her slight embarrassment agent Scowalski laughed out loud at the antics of the hunted bellow.

Her helicopter had followed the two turtles till they came across a building with a great deal of industrial type piping and large metal box shapes strewn across it. She probably could have identified the structures if she had felt it mattered. But at the moment it didn't and her gun men seemed to be playing a game of whack-a-turtle with the one in orange as he dashed from cover spot to cover spot poking out randomly and shaking appendages and waggling his tongue at the helicopter.

Leo sat curled up tight behind a tightly stacked bunch of piping trying to catch his breath. His leg muscles burned with the exertion and his carapace was stinging through to his chest he could feel blood dripping down his back. He had to be careful his shell would not with stand so much a hard fall with out possibly cracking all the way through.

Mikey was bouncing and flipping around as only Mikey can, taunting those in the helicopters overhead. A few close shots pinged against the top of his hiding spot. "Either I'm running out of steam or they're getting better Leo!"

Leo took a couple more deep breaths. "Ok, I'm ready!" He lied. "Let's move!"

Michelangelo ran to the edge of the building and danced around just long enough to draw the helicopters' attention, and allow Leo the few precious seconds he needed to dive into the alley, before following his brother down to continue causing this wild goose chase.

*scene change*

Arayah groaned as another cramp in her abdomen pulled her from her slumber. She blinked up at Donnie, confused by his presence.

"You're going to be alright. We almost have you out." Donnie explained.

A quick glance around and Arayah's survival instincts were in full gear. Finding her footing she worked to help the boys maneuver her out of the vehicle.

Bishop's head swayed till he caught sight of the woman escaping him yet again. "Grrahh!" He yelled as he lunged forward to grab her leg. His seat belt stopping him short making it so he could only grasp her ankle. Still he gave a hard yank.

Arayah yelped at the sudden pull at her leg. Then kicking out smashed her free foot into bishops already bleeding nose causing him to release her foot and sending her sailing into Donatello who slipped and fell into Raphael sending the trio sliding off the hood and onto the asphalt.

"You ok?" Don asked Arayah from his spot in the middle of the pile.

She didn't get a chance to answer before Raph was pushing the two up and off of him.

"No time. Move!" Raph shouted as a soldier rounded the side of the car. Showing flexibility that should not be possessed by a turtle, he kicked up sending the soldier's AK-47 flying into the air. He spared Arayah and Donnie's retreating forms a glance as he used a foot sweep to finish bringing the soldier to the ground. Not wasting anymore time he got his feet fully under himself and hurried after his brother and girlfriend.

Using the supports as cover against the bullets that rained down on them the trio hurried for a great at the edge of the road. If they could just get into the city's drainage system they could get into the labyrinth of sewers and perhaps lose their pursuers there.

Arayah was dropped down first. The landing did not help the discomfort and pressure that was growing between her legs. Leaning against the wall she tried to bear through another hard cramp in her abdomen.

"We gotta keep moving." Raph urged as he pushed her forward into the drainage tunnels.

"This way." Don took the lead and turned down another tunnel.

Each step they took became quieter as they tried to hear if they were putting enough distance between them and Bishop.

Arayah slowed her pace pulling her hand out of Raphael's as an unmistakable contraction brought her to her knees. 'Oh God, not now.' She prayed as she tried to breath. If she could just calm down maybe she could get the contractions to stop.

"Arayah." Raph whispered in an attempt to not give away their position. "What's wrong?"

Arayah shook her head trying to deny what was happening.

Don placed a hand on her belly. It was hard and tight in its swollen state. "She's having contractions."

"What? Now?" Raph asked in shock as worry and fear began to fill him. This was not the time for this. He could hear the devil and his followers charging into the tunnels ready to overtake them.

"It could be false labor brought on by the…" Don started to explain as Arayah nodded her hopeful agreement, her contraction subsiding.

"Whatever, we can't stay here." Raph pushed as he lifted Arayah back to her feet.

No sooner had she straitened, Arayah's water broke in a great gush wetting her jeans and washing down her legs. Her cheeks reddened in embarrassment as her lover and his brother looked on at her in shock.

"Shit." Raph's sentiment was shared by Donatello. But unlike Raph, Donatello was quickly formulating a plan.

Arayah on the other hand was working herself into a panic. They were never going to make it out of here. Her children would be taken and those she cared about would be dead all because she couldn't control what was happening to her body. Letting out a small sob it was all she could do to not burst into tears.

Don turned to Raph. "Pick her up and carry her. And head that way." Don pointed north. " I'll pose a distraction and lead them south."

"Good plan, except one thing…" Raph scooped Arayah up, with little complaint from her, and deposited her in Donnie's arms. "I can't save her if something goes wrong."

Don nodded.

Raph was right they all had their talents, and doctoring wasn't Raph's.

Raph gave Arayah a quick kiss on her forehead and wiped away a tear that slid down her cheek. "It's gunna be alright." Without another word Raph headed south.

Clutching Arayah close Don started north as another contraction tore through her.