Chapter 21

Unfortunate Sighting

"Splitting up isn't an option," Alex uttered, staring at the map drawn on the back of the paper placemat on the table. She was sitting in at a smaller table in the back of Franco's with Emma and Usagi, discussing their strategy for their breakin to the Purple Dragon's hideout. "There's strength in numbers and since there's only three of us. We can't risk someone getting cornered on their own."

"We don't have enough members to split up and effectively cover the entire base. I say we do more surveillance and get places of high traffic marked for avoidance." Emma said seriously. "We need to go in at the slowest time of day and the lowest occupied access point."

"We have had people on watch constantly for the past three weeks," Usagi said. "I took several of the shifts. If we want to get in quickly without getting noticed, this," he said, circling an area on the back roof, "is our best bet of getting in."

"The back access hatch?" Alex asked, turning her head to look at it better. "I don't know, the west windows seem like the more opportune entryway."

"The location depends on the time of day or night we plan on going in. The place is more active during the night time so I suggest at sunset we head in though the west windows when people are heading down for their less than legal activities," Emma said.

Alex rubbed her eyes, trying to figure this out. It was incredibly difficult to try and concentrate when she hadn't slept in three days. "Yeah," she sighed. "Yeah, I agree with that. What about you, Usagi?"

"I believe that will be efficient," he told her. "The next question is when do we put the plan into effect?"

"Sooner rather than later," Alex stated, trying to rub the bag out from under her eyes. "We don't know if or when they might change bases."

"Agreed." Emma and Usagi said.

Alex's stomach growled, but the pizza on the plate in front of her looked so unappetizing. It reminded her of the guys. She pushed the plate to the side and leaned back in her seat, looking around the restaurant. There were several people dancing, but not as hardcore as she had done with Kerry and Raph. There were three younger teenagers in line at the counter for their pizza, while a large group of people entered thru the door.

The redhead's face paled. You have got to be kidding me, she thought, her stomach churning. She looked away from the Hamato's and Kerry and down to the paper in front of her. It had been almost three months since she had last spoken to any of them, the last being Leo when he cornered her on her evening run. After that talk, none of them approached her again.

Kerry had pretty much wilted in her already small frame. She wasn't dressed like herself, either wearing only a black t-shirt and jeans. From her lack of edgy makeup and piercings it was obviously she had been taken out against her will. It's good to know despite her declaration of not needing anyone the guys we're going to let her go that easily.

Mikey and Don were trying to make some jokes to get the girl to laugh, while Don hovered extremely close to the girl, wary of anybody that approached her. Leo walked in the back of the group with Raph, keeping an eye on his family, much like he had stated when she had last spoken to him.

And Raph...he didn't look that bad, until you saw his eyes. Instead of glowing green eyes, that Alex always found herself getting lost in, there were harden emeralds in their place. His jaw was strained tight as he glared at any living creature that was not his family or his hick. He looked like a very feral animal, ready to kill if necessary. This side of him reminded Alex of how he had been towards her before he trusted her into his family. And now she was the cause of his hostility towards everybody again.

Leo spotted her first, his blue eyes almost turning into liquid steel as he stepped forward with a graceful maneuver. He moved around his family, using his body to shield them from seeing the object of all their pain.

"Alex?" Emma asked, noticing that the girl shrank in her seat, trying not to look over at her old friends, or have anymore of them notice.

"What?" she asked without classing up at the girl.

"Who are those people?" Usagi asked.

"What people?" Alex asked, trying her hardest to deny anything was wrong.

"Those people, the four boys and the dark girl," Emma said.

"Oh, uh, that's my ex-boyfriend and his family, and my ex-best friend," she told them, rubbing the back of her neck.

"O...kay?" Emma mumbled.

"Would you like to move the meeting somewhere else?" he asked.

"Uh, no it's okay. We're almost done anyways," Alex muttered.

"You sure, I mean, It would really suck being around them too much." Emma muttered. "Which one is..."

"The redhead," she informed her. Alex picked up the map and brought it closer to her, looking over it once more to make sure the entrance they had chosen was the best option.

"Oh, why did you break up?" Emma asked.

Ale sighed. "You remember that one lesson where they gave us the history lesson? When they told us about the founding members?"

"Yeah," Emma said.

"Hamato Yoshi is his father," she informed them. "And he found out I was a Guardian. He doesn't want the guys involved with any of this, so he gave me a choice: Remain a part of the family and quite or stay a Guardian and not be involved."

"That's so stupid!" Emma said. "I mean, they can defend themselves, right? "

"Yeah, but honestly? If I was in his position I probably would have done the same thing," Alex said. "I wouldn't want them in danger. But this is something I have to do, so I made a choice. Raph and I broke up, I fought with Kerry, fought with Leo. All to get them away from me and the danger of the Guardians."

"Doesn't that hurt them more though? I mean, they don't look so good," Emma mumbled.

"They'll be fine," Alex muttered. She didn't like to hear things like that. She had to believe what she was doing was the right thing. "They always are. They'll be safer without me in their lives."

"They don't look fine." Emma mumbled. "I'd never want to leave my friends or family, because I want be there to protect them from things."

"I was there when my parents were taken," Alex said. "And I couldn't protect them."

"But you did your best, and that keeps you from even more pain, knowing that," Usagi said.

"I want to prevent this from happening to more people," Alex said. "I have to catch the guy who did this."

"And we're with you." Emma said placing a hand on hers.

"Would you like to continue with at HQ?" Usagi asked. "It's almost time to for training."

"Sure," Alex said. She stood up, crumpling the map up and putting it on her paper plate. She tossed out the garbage and glanced over at the table where her old friends were.

The group watched her from from their usual table, the others having noticed her despite Leo's best attempts to hide her away. Two pairs of green eyes seemed to stab her in the back of the head.

Alex sighed and looked to her teammates. "Come on," she sighed. "I can feel the hatred radiating off of them. It's making me feel even more guilty than I already feel."

"Why can't I talk to her?" Mikey asked as he sat down at the booth after Kerry and Don slid in.

"Because," Raph grumbled. "Now, I want pepper-" he started to say before realizing that was Alex's favorite, "Just cheese."

"Aww, but I want pepperoni." Mikey whined a bit.

"I don't want anything." Kerry mumbled a bit, her green eyes not making appearance from her her blank bangs.

"You've gotta eat something, Kerry," Don scolded.

"I don't want too." She grumbled.

"I'm getting you something," he told her. "And you're going to eat it, because I spent my own money on it. You don't want me to waste my allowance, do you?"

"No," Kerry mumbled. "I hate you."she grumbled.

"No you don't," Don muttered, taking her hand in his.

"...I know." Kerry grumbled a bit, pressing against his side.

Don kissed her temple gently. "It'll be okay," he muttered to her.

"You'll both get past this." Leo assured his brother and his friend.

"What happened in the first place?" Mikey asked. "I mean, I don't get this at all! Alex wouldn't do this. She's our friend!"

"Well she did!" Raph snapped. "And she looks pretty fine with the decision."

"Are you sure? I mean, she doesn't look fine," Mikey muttered. "She looks sick."

"It's not our business anymore," Kerry muttered darkly.

"I still think it is," Mikey said. "I mean, she's basically family. We can't just leave family."

Kerry's expression turned dark. "I'm heading to the restroom," she muttered darkly as she shoved her way past Mikey.

"What did I say?" Mikey muttered.

"Something, stupid like usual." Raph hissed.

"Raphael, calm down." Leo said to him.

"But what really did bring this on?" Don asked. "I mean, none of this sounds like Alex."

"She obviously doesn't care, I mean right after breaking up with me and tearing Kerry a new one she had a new boyfriend and best friend." Raph said glaring across the room at the trio.

"You don't know that," Mikey said. "I mean, I saw the way she looked at you when she saw you. To me, that didn't look like someone who wasn't still in love with you. And she wasn't all cozy with that other guy. Not like she was with you."

"Mikey, trust me. Alex doesn't want anything to do with any of us." Leo sighed setting his menu down.

"But why? I mean, she has to have a reason! We deserve to know what that is, right?" Mikey said.

"The reason is she was tired of pretending to like a band of misfits like us." Kerry muttered as she came back to the table, pulling her jacket sleeves down over her hands.

"I don't believe that," Mikey said.

"Believe it,Mikey, she told me herself," Kerry said.

"Same here." Raph muttered. "She's tired of us and pretending to be our ...friend."

"Nope," he said, sitting back with his arms crossed.

"Quit being damn stubborn! She's gone, she never liked us in the first place." Raph argued.

"No, you stop being so damn stupid!" Mikey retorted. He leaned forward, slamming his fists onto the table. "All of you are being so fucking stupid! I mean, come on! We know Alex! Something was off before all of this happened. Don't you see that? Something had to have happened to make her do this."

"I'm going home." Kerry mumbled stepping away from the table, shrinking in on herself. She didn't want to hear this, she didn't want any shred of hope that Alex might still love her. It would only hurt even more when it was shattered once more.
"No you're not," Don told her, pulling her down to sit by grabbing onto her upper arm. "You're eating."

"Donnie, no I don't want too." Kerry mumbled darkly pulling against him.

"I don't care if you don't want to," he said. "You're eating. You've lost at least five pounds in the last month alone. You need to eat something."

"Don't worry, I took her keys." Leo said to his brother passing him the item.

"Thank you, Leo," Don said.

"Fuck you both." Kerry grumbled as she slouched in her seat.

"No, I'm good thanks," Leo said. "You can save all that for Don."

Nobody laughed. And Kerry and Don didn't even have the energy to look embarrassed. Leo sighed.

"Alright, we need to talk about this." Leo said seriously.

"I don't want too!" Kerry hissed angrily.

"Just leave it alone, Leo!" Raph growled. "I don't want to hear any of her shit."

"But don't you want to know why the girl you love is being so uncharacteristically Alex?" Mikey asked seriously.

"...I don't love her," Raph said dangerously low.

"Who are you kidding, Raph?" Leo asked. "You were head-over-heels for her. You'd do anything for her."

"We were all taking bets on when you'd pop the question, I had my money on a month after she graduates." Don muttered to him.

"I had my money on next winter," Mikey said. "You know, at a hockey game?"

"Shut up. It wasn't meant to be okay? The girl I...liked was not real!" Raph snapped.

"Just stop." Kerry murmured pitifully as she covered her ears. She had been a part of the bet, siding with Mikey. She had so many dreams about being her maid of honor...but that dream was shattered for both maid of honor and groom.

"You know Alex is one of the most genuine people we've ever met!" Mikey said. "I mean, she didn't get paid to tutor me! She didn't have to spend extra time helping me on weekends. She didn't have to come hang out with us! She didn't have to get us those meaningful presents! She didn't have to do any of it, but she did because that's who she is. She loves all of us!"

"She didn't have to hurt us either." Raph snapped. "We don't even know what she said to Kerry and look at her! Yeah she's genuine, but it's only a good genuine when you're in her good graces!"

"Really, there has to have been a reason for her doing this!" Mikey said. "Maybe she knows something we don't. Like, I don't know, the guy that killed her parents is hunting her down or something. You all know the details of their murder were really wack."

"...then why did she replace us?" Kerry muttered looking down at the table. Her new best friend was pretty, tall, and leith, nothing like Kerry was. She was better than Kerry probably.

"I don't think she did," Mikey said. "I mean, she had other friends before she knew us. Maybe they're working on a project or something. They were all looking at the same picture or whatever it was on the table!"

"She doesn't have any friends at school anymore. She told them to leave her alone too. Besides, I've never seen them before," Kerry muttered looking at him.

"Look's like she needed a change of scenery, huh, hick?" Raph chuckled darkly. "We're too stupid for her apparently." Kerry winced slightly but didn't argue like she normally would. She didn't do anything like she used to.

"Don't you guys think that's just weird?" Mikey asked. "Like something is seriously going on with her?"

"So what if there was?" Leo said. "She doesn't want us involved. There's nothing we can do."

"Maybe that's exactly why we should be involved then," Mikey said. "What if she gets hurt? How would you feel then?"

"Mikey," Leo said seriously. "I would feel bad but...she doesn't want us."

Kerry started sniffing at those words, sleeves rubbing her make-upless eyes.

"Alex's look towards us told me otherwise," he muttered, shaking his head at everybody at his table.

"Even if that's the case, what are we going to do, huh?!" Raph snapped at him. "Just because we know something's up doesn't mean she'll let us help! I fucking tried, Mikey!"

"Stop yelling!" Kerry screamed at them. "Just stop it!"

Mikey sighed. "I just, I can't let this go," he told them. "I love Alex. We all love Alex. I can't just let her walk away without knowing the full story. Not if it's over something stupid."

"She won't let us, Mikey." Leo said. "I-I talked to her too. I tracked her down and she literally said she wanted nothing to do with us. And Mikey...she was telling the truth. I saw it in her eyes."

Kerry shrunk back from Leo as if he hit her. "I want to go home." she whined again looking for her keys. Fight or flight and fight wasn't an option.

Don sighed. "Okay," he muttered. "We'll get our food to go. And I'm going home with you to make sure you eat it."

"No, Don she's staying here." Raph glared at them. "She needs to get the fuck over it."

"Like you have?" Leo scoffed.

"Yeah, I'm doing just fine!" Raph growled.

"Bullshit," Mikey accused. "You came home drunk off your ass the other night."

"So? Why does that matter?" Raph scoffed.

"Underage drinking mean anything to you?" Leo glared.

"And even before Alex, that wasn't really your thing," Don said. "I mean, when Master Splinter let us have a sip of the sake during holidays and birthdays you only had a little."

"Getting shitfaced isn't your thing," Mikey added.

"Maybe I need a new thing, maybe I'm a new me." Raph looked away.

"That's not healthy." Kerry muttered. Hypocrite she thought to herself.

"We're all worried about you, Raph," Leo said.

"Well, I'm fine. I'm walking around, I'm not slipping in my grades, I can freaking function so what's the problem?" he glared.

"...Let him be." Kerry said, surprisingly defending Raph.

Leo sighed, rubbing his face. "Okay, okay," he muttered. "Let's just get our food to go and eat at Kerry's."

"Geez, just invite yourselves over." Kerry grumbled a bit.

"We will!" Mikey exclaimed with a laugh. "Por que tu casa es usted casa," he muttered. "Did I say that right?"

Kerry didn't smile or anything just standing up and putting her arms around her. "Come on, I just want to eat and go to bed." she muttered. "Leave whenever you want."

"We could make it a movie night or something," Mikey suggested.

"Sure, whatever." Kerry shrugged not hugging him back when Mikey squeezed. She stomped off to the doorway.

Something's gotta give, Leo thought to himself. And I'm scared it will be one of us.