Finder's Keepers
"You know who I am," Leonardo said to the thug.
Tori was shocked.
Did they come out to the general populace?
She'd heard rumors, of course, but outside of certain factions, she didn't think people knew of their existence. Besides, this asshole most certainly worked for the enemy. It was extremely unlikely he would fold to the leader of the rebellion.
Unless Leonardo was playing on being a mutant. Humans knew Shredder maintained a group of monsters under his command. He might cave to a baddie higher on the pecking order.
"You know what I can do," Leo continued in a persuasive yet ominous tone. "She is one of mine and I have come to claim her. Let her go."
Tori's heart clenched.
One of his? Have I been gone so very long?
She blinked hard to fight back tears she couldn't afford. She'd known there was a reason he'd sent her away, but she trusted him. Had he betrayed her trust?
No. He would have told me.
He was the most honorable being she knew. But... maybe he had. Cutting off all communication was a pretty loud declaration. Either way, the words hurt.
She shuddered and the muscled maniac tensed, evidently deciding not to acquiesce to Leonardo's demand.
He must have a death wish.
Though he held her in an awkward position, she turned her head as far as she could. Straining her neck, but needing to see Leo's eyes. She wanted the truth. Tori stared over her shoulder and said nothing but his steely blue-grey gaze locked on her face.
"Victoria?"
Leonardo's stance instantly changed and the menace rolling off him escalated from merely threatening to imminent explosion. He crouched forward on the balls of his feet, his eyes narrowed, and his mouth twisted into a snarl of rage.
He raised a hand to the swords on his back. His cloak fell away revealing a range of deadly weapons on his belt and a dark kanji character on the inside of his bicep.
Tori gasped, all her attention focused on that mark. She blinked again, hard, as more tears stung her eyes. They had nothing to do with the way the thug had spun her and was pulling her elbows up behind her back and everything to do with Leo's tattoo.
He still has it!
No attempt had been made to remove the oath.
"Release her!" Leonardo snarled. "Do it now and I won't gut you where you stand."
Her attacker laughed, using her as a shield. A knife she hadn't even noticed pressed into her lower back. Leo hadn't missed it. His fists clenched and though one still rested on the hilt of his sword, he didn't draw.
"Why should I?" The evil bastard said, pausing to lick her neck grotesquely as he dragged her backward towards the doors of the subway. He grinned as the furious turtle growled and took a step after them.
Tori yelped as the knife dug in a little deeper and Leonardo froze.
"In this world, it's finder's keepers. An' I told ya, I saw her first."
"Not true," she whispered.
She ducked and twisted abruptly away from his grasp. He lunged after her, catching her shirt as she tried to roll. In the tussle, the fabric of her sleeve tore exposing her arm.
The man grabbed her bandaged wrist, yanking her upright and back to his side, jabbing his knife into her ribs hard. It wasn't a deep stab but blood—red as a rose—blossomed across her side, seeping through her clothes.
She glanced up at Leonardo in shock, breathing heavily to diffuse the pain.
There was no sanity left his eyes but his muscles remained locked in place as instinctively he understood it was more dangerous for her if he moved.
A smear of red on the inside of her newly exposed forearm drew the thug's attention to another dark emblem. A tattoo similar to the turtle's but more delicate in style, partially covered by the band of fabric wrapping her wrist.
His eyes widened as his gaze flicked from one design to the other. From her blue bandage to the color of his mask, sensing too late what it all implied. He began to sweat as he realized the turtle would grant him no quarter for his mistake.
He will hunt you down no matter how far you run. That is, if you even make it off this train.
Nevertheless, the asshole tried to bluster his way past the fatal error.
"What's that supposed to mean?" he sneered, gesturing to the kanji with his chin.
Even though the symbols were seeing more use, it wasn't one of the most common phrases. When she didn't respond, he nudged her again with the knife.
"What does it mean?" he growled.
Gathering her remaining strength, Tori whirled away from the blade—straightening his arm since he still gripped her wrist.
"Beloved!" she cried.
It was answer and plea in one.
As if she had unleashed him, Leonardo responded. He sprang and swung his katana faster than the eye could follow, severing the man's hand. The thug shrieked as muscle and bone were sliced clean through.
Blood began to spurt as he collapsed against the doors. Coating the ground, Leo, and everything nearby in deep crimson. Tori fell back—shaking the dismembered appendage away. Unbalanced by the abrupt change in power, she lost her footing entirely, slipping in the hot, wet liquid.
Leo caught her as she went down. His powerful arm curled inward and he drew her protectively to his chest. She melted against him.
Despite the gore on his front, she clutched his plastron so tight her knuckles turned white. As she tucked her head under his chin and shuddered in reaction, he leveled a lethal glare at the man screaming on the floor.
His blade flew a second time, without hesitation. Slicing its way with precise aim across the doomed man's throat. The howling cut off and he slumped over, dead.
"I warned you," Leonardo snarled, "to get your hands off my wife."