Mikey was trying to hear what was going on in the training room. April had dragged the boys out to the living room to give Raph a chance to apologize to Holly, but he really wanted to see Raph get his butt handed to him.
"Michelangelo, your brother is dealing with a delicate situation. You should respect his privacy." Splinter said over a steaming cup of tea.
"I know, but I really want to see him squirm." he pouted and sat cross-legged on the floor outside the training room door.
"I feel really bad you guys." April looked around at the three turtles and their master, "Do your think she'll be mad at me?"
"I wouldn't worry too much, Holly's not the kind of person to stay angry." Donnie said, trying to sound reassuring.
"I would be more worried if I were Raph," Leo said, "He's the one who is constantly pushing her buttons." He crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair.
"This is all my fault, why did we leave those two alone again?" April asked.
Mikey laughed to himself and was about to try eaves-dropping again when the door slid open and Holly almost tripped over the turtle in orange. Raph grabbed the back of her belt and pulled it just before she fell onto his baby brother. The force made her stumble back the other way. She tried to grab onto something, but she just ended up clinging onto Raphs arms.
"Nice catch." She said as he popped her upright again.
"Don't mention it." He said giving her a grin. He then gave Mikey a suspicious glare.
"Holly." April jumped up and ran to her best friend. "Are you OK? Are you mad at me?"
"No, not at all." Holly said giving the other girl a hug. "I was just being overly sensitive."
April hugged Holly again, but this time Mikey jumped up and grabbed the two girls squishing them in a bone-crushing embrace. "I'm so glad we're all friends again!" he yelled.
"OK, OK. Holly managed to croak out. Mikey let go and she, and April, sucked down huge lungs full of air.
Once everyone was happily seated in the living room, they filled Holly in on what they had discovered. Including that the Purple Pragons were working for someone named Stockman, and that they were stealing computer parts from anywhere they could get them.
"Stockman? That sounds so far familiar." Holly said, brows knitted together in thought.
"Well, we think it's a guy named Baxter Stockman." Said Donnie, "He is well known for his unbelievable contribution to the robotics community. Last I heard he was trying to create some kind of intelligent robot interface, it was supposed to be super classified so there's not much information available."
"No, I mean that I know that name." She shook her head trying to force her brain to remember. "This is going to drive me nuts, I hate when I can remember things."
Raph was sitting on the couch next to Holly with Spike, his pet tutrle, on his shoulder. He had a couple of lettuce leafs to feed his little buddy sitting on a paper towel in between himself and the girl in the spectacles. "If you don't think about it, you'll remember." He said waggling one of the vegetable pieces in front of her. She snatched it from him and offered it to spike.
"He is cute." She said, gently rubbing the little turtle's head as he munched on his dinner.
"He's not cute! He's manly." Raph said swatting her hand away.
"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that." She chuckled.
"If this Stockman guy is supposed to be so smart, why would he be stealing computer parts?" Leo asked the group.
"Maybe he ran just ran out of spare parts?" Mikey offered.
"Don't be ridiculous Mikey." Donnie scoffed, "He makes his own parts, he's not going to run out."
"Not unless he needs a lot of computer parts exceptionally quickly." Master Splinter chimed in.
Everyone was silent, Master Splinter was probably right. It's not like Stockman had a whole factory at his disposal. He probably had to buy his materials just like everybody else.
"I suppose if he is working on something that's not strictly legal, it would be much simpler and cheaper to steal the components rather than make them." Donnie shrugged.
"But what could he be making that requires that many components?" Holly added.
Everyone was silent again. The only one who could even take a guess would be Donatello, but he didn't seem to have any idea either. The little group sat around for a while not really talking or doing much. Mikey had gotten bored and was playing a video game on one of his hand-held devices, while April had pulled a magazine out of her backpack. Leo and Donnie had moved into the kitchen and were still discussing the Purple Dragon issue from earlier. Raph had grabbed one of his comics and was clearly wrapped up in the action. Holly had taken to feeding spike, who was now in her lap. She had grabbed him a chunk of cucumber and was holding it steady so the little turtle could eat as much as he wanted.
She was watching him slowly chomp down on another juicy section, she giggled as spike started to get feisty. Well, as feisty as a normal, non-mutated, turtle can get. She placed him on the couch and let him stretch his legs, making sure he didn't fall off the edge.
Raph looked over the top of his comic at Holly, she was smiling down at spike and was letting him run around on the couch. He watched her gently nudge spike away from the edge of the couch if he ever strayed too close, he couldn't help but smile behind his comic. She was so caring.
April had thrown her magazine aside, for now, she was now sitting behind Mikey watching him play his game. "No, not like that. You have to jump, then attack." April was trying to help him beat one of the bosses.
"I play this all day long, I think I know what I'm doing." He replied, he stuck his tongue out at her over his shoulder, only to hear the typical "game over" sound come from the small speakers.
"Awe man." He dropped his chin to his chest. "You distracted me." He turned to April.
"Why don't you play an old side scroller, something you can play together?" Holly asked.
"What's that?" asked Mikey.
"You don't have any side-scrolling games? They're the best." April said enthusiastically.
"I have an old console at home, I'll dig it out tonight and bring it over with all my old games tomorrow." Holly offered.
"Really?" Mikey shuffled over to her on his hands and knees. Eyes wide and full of delight.
"Yes, but you'll just have to be patient." Holly said with a chuckle, but Mikey kept coming. "How do I make him stop?" She asked Raph hastily.
"You just told him you're going to bring over video games, what did you expect to happen?" Raph scoffed.
"That's not helpful." Holly said, but began laughing as Mikey picked her up and hugged her.
"Mikey, put her down." Raph said with a warning glare. Mikey frowned, but complied.
"Thank you," Holly said, and straightened her glasses. She checked the time on her phone before she sat back down. "Oh crap."
"What's up?"
"It's way later than I thought it was. If my mom is coming home tonight I need to be there."
Leo and Donnie stepped back out into the living room to see what all the commotion was about.
"You won't make it home for another hour yet if you're walking." April said.
"I'll just call a cab or something." She grabbed her ruined bag, after waving a quick goodbye to everyone she raced out of the lair and back up to the street.
"I'm uh, I'm just going to make sure she gets in a cab safely. I'll be right back." Raph ran out of the lair after Holy.
The others waited until they knew Raph wouldn't hear them, and Leo, Donnie, and April burst into laughter. Mikey just sat on the floor, looking lost.
"What?" He said to the others. They just looked at him.
"It's funny watching him try and keep up the tough-guy routine." April said, trying to keep a straight face. "I feel bad for laughing since it is kind of sweet, but this is Raph we're talking about."
"He's almost as bad as someone else I know." Leo said giving Donnie a sly wink. Donatello blushed.
"Wait a second?" Mikey said slowly. "Does Raph like Holly?"
Leo, Donnie, and April all looked at each other, and they burst into laughter again.
"Well, anyway, what's our next mover to find Stockman?" April asked. Still chuckling slightly.
"Unfortunately we really don't have a good lead to follow. I guess the best thing we can do is try and follow some purple dragon goons until they lead us to him." Leo shrugged.
"We can at least start at the fortune cookie factory. We know the purple dragons use that as their base of operations, and we know they're using that wear-house to store the stolen goods." April added, "Plus, Holly and I can keep an eye out for them during the day."
"It's too dangerous for you guys to be following them around, next time you find them just call us." Leo told her.
April frowned. "You guys can't go out during the day or you'll get caught. So that only leaves the two of us."
"You have only been training for a few weeks, and Holly hasn't had any training at all! What would you do if they caught you?" Donnie said.
"We'll be careful." April said as if it were no big deal. "And it's not like I'm going to try fighting them, I know I can't do that."
"I just don't like it." Leo finalized.
"I don't know why you both aren't just training with us." Mikey said. "I mean, we need you guys and I don't want to see you get hurt, so you may as well learn to defend yourself."
"You bring up a good point, my son." Splinter had appeared by his door, apparently, he had heard their little heated debate.
"Well, it's true. They're probably going to get into some kind of trouble sooner or later." Mikey stood up tall, he held his shoulders back and was determined to prove his point.
"Perhaps I should help you two to be better prepared. We are dealing with some dangerous people after all." Master Splinter stroked his whiskers as he made his way to the kitchen. He returned a moment later with another steaming mug. "I shall meditate on this issue for now. I suggest you all get some rest, it is getting late."
"He's right, it's no use getting worked up right now." Leo stretched up and then flopped down onto the couch.
April was excited, she had only had a few sessions with splinter but they had already saved her neck on more than one occasion. She had been trying to help the turtles whenever she could, finding any information and pointing them in the right direction when she was able. It would be easier if she didn't have to do it alone.
Raph had to sprint to catch up with Holly. It didn't take long though, he heard her drop all her belongings and groan in frustration just ahead. He rounded a corner of the sewers and there she was, crouching to pick up books, pens and pencils, and other miscellaneous stuff.
"Smooth." He said, leaning against the wall crossing his arms.
"You're not helping again." She kept grabbing her belongings off the floor. She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and waved it around trying to get a signal. She was going to try calling home to see if her mom was there, and if she was, apologize for being late. "Gah, this thing is junk." she stuffed it back in her pocket.
Holly stood up, clutching her things tightly trying not to drop them again. She set off without warning, causing Raph to have to jog to catch her again. "What are you doing?" She asked him.
"What? I can't make sure you're OK?" He replied, almost sounding hurt.
"I didn't mean it like that." She said, "I know my way back to the surface by now, and I am perfectly capable of calling a cab." She looked over at him, his face was stoic. She remained silent for a moment but decided to move the conversation onward. "I should thank you again though. What you said earlier, it was nice." she tried to sound aloof, but it had meant more than he was probably aware.
"Don't mention it." He looked at her for just a second. "I'm serious, I don't want to lose my reputation."
She chuckled, "Oh god. You and your rep." She shook her head at him. She shifted the belongings in her arms to get at her phone again, she managed to wiggle it out and checked the signal strength. She had two bars.
"Yes!" She quickly punched in her home number and waited for an answer. Nothing, it just kept ringing and went to voice mail. She didn't bother leaving a message, if her mom wasn't home by now she probably wasn't going to be at all. Holy would bet that there would be a post-it stuck to the fridge letting her know where her mother would be that night. Holly let out a big sigh, half out of relief, and half out of disappointment.
"So, ma's not home again, is she?" Raph asked her. She just shook her head and set off toward the surface again. Raph wanted to reach out to her, he could see the hurt in the way she held herself. He couldn't even imagine how she must feel. "You know, if you really want, you could stay with us. I mean, if you don't want to go home to an empty house." He stumbled over the words, silently cursing himself.
"I would really like that, but I should go home tonight. It's been a long day." She smiled gently at him. A nervous silence fell between the two teens as they continued walking across the damp bricks.
Raphs mind was racing, why had he asked that? It was stupid, she wouldn't want to stay in the sewer, it wasn't a place for a teenage girl to be. But she had said she would like to, and she didn't have anyone at home to keep her company, or make her laugh.
They reached the access to the street and Raph climbed up first, carrying her broken bag since she couldn't do both at the same time. He shrank into the shadows but stayed close while she hailed a cab down. One pulled up and the driver rolled down his window, asking if she had money to pay the fare. After she pulled out a couple of bills he agreed to give her a ride. Raphael watched as Holly grabbed her bag off the floor and climbed into the back seat, she looked back at him as she closed the door and smiled as they pulled away.
April was sleepily reclined back on the couch in the lair by the time Raph made it back. Donnie was reading and Mikey was rummaging through the fridge. Leo was watching the television quietly, so as not to disturb either Donnie or April.
"Is she planning on staying the night?" Raph pointed at April.
"Apparently." replied Donnie.
"I told my aunt I was staying with Holly tonight." She didn't even open her eyes and her breathing was getting deeper.
"And you have no problem being in the sewer?" Raph asked hesitantly, recalling the conversation he had just had.
"No." She breathed.
Raph dropped into an empty chair and sighed. He was exhausted, it really had been a long day.
About twenty-five minutes later, the turtles' phones, and Aprils, went off at once. April fished hers out of her pocket without looking and cracked one eye open as she read the text message she had received. She sat upright, eyes widening as she read it again.
"Did you guys just get a message from Holly?" Mikey stuck his head around the pillar with a piece of pizza hanging out of his mouth.
The group nodded. "I found Stockman" Was all the message said.
Holly rode home in the back of the cab in silence. The cabbie had tried asking her why she was out so late but she just wasn't in the mood for talking. She stuffed her headphones into her ears and turned on some music; She'd have to give him a decent tip to make up for her rudeness. She stared out the window as the city lights whizzed by, but again she couldn't focus on anything in particular. She kept going over the days' events in her head, she had felt so bad about herself earlier. But Raph had looked her in the eye and said such nice things, and she had felt better, she had never really felt accepted before.
The cab pulled up to her building and she handed the cabbie forty dollars, the fair was only $24 but this should more than make up to the guy. She walked up to the front doors and waited for the door-man to come and let her in, she glanced around and noticed the list of tenants in her building. She skimmed over it but did a double-take when she saw one name in particular. It read "Stockman". No way, that would be too easy.
Bud unlocked the door and moved aside to let her in. Holly looked at him, and back at the name on the brass plaque. "Hey Bud, Do you know who this guy is?" She pointed at the nameplate.
"Oh yeah, Baxter Stockman, that computer guy, he lives on the floor below yours." He smiled down at the young girl. "Well, I say "lives" but not really." He added.
"What do you mean?" She looked at the aging man with confusion written all over her face.
He chuckled, "Well, he pays his rent but he is hardly ever here."
"Oh." was all she said, she walked as calmly as she could to the elevator and waved at Bud as the doors closed. As soon as she was moving upward, she pulled out her phone and sent a mass text to the others, just in case someone was away from their phone.
As she opened the door to her apartment, she heard her phone ring. She dumped her belongings on the couch and answered the call.
"What do you mean you found Stockman?" Leo's voice came through the tiny speaker by her ear.
"Hold on a sec, I need to check and see if my mom is home." She ran through her apartment checking every room, she pushed her mothers' bedroom door open wide making sure she wasn't sleeping. "OK, I'm good, and I mean what I said. I know where we can find Stockman, at least at some point."
"You're just confusing us now." April said. She must be on speakerphone.
"It turns out that Baxter Stockman is my neighbor. He has an apartment here, but apparently, he doesn't come home much." She walked into her kitchen and sure enough, there was a note saying that her mom had to fly to Chicago to fix some kind of fashion emergency. "I knew I had seen his name before."
"So when will he be back?" Leo asked.
"No idea, the doorman said he's rarely home." Holly looked through her fridge for anything appetizing. She found a yogurt and fished a spoon out of the draw.
"Then what do we do from here? Wait for him to get home and then follow him?" Donnie's voice was the one to speak this time.
"Actually I was thinking more along the line of breaking and entering." She said brightly.
"You can't do that!" Raph practically shouted.
"Well, I was planning to wait for you guys to get here so I can let you in too." Holly snapped back.
"You want to do this tonight?" Leo scoffed.
"Yeah why not?" Holly asked.
"I would much rather go in once we have an actual plan in place.." Leo reasoned. Holly didn't answer right away, she knew he was right.
"Alright, fine. If my mom is going to be gone again tomorrow you can come here while April and I get into his apartment." Holly Huffed.
"OK, well text us tomorrow so we can make a plan of action. See you later." Leo said.
"Yeah, see you." Holly sighed. She was so excited that she forgot how tired she was.
Leo hung up the phone and looked at Donnie. "Please tell me you have a gadget that will help us get into the apartment?"
"I may have a lock picking set stashed away somewhere." He grinned, smugly.
"Alright, everyone, tomorrow we do some information gathering before we go into this guys place. I want to make sure we have everything we could need and I'll want you girls to keep a look-out around the apartments for signs of Stockman." Leo first looked at his brothers, and then he nodded at April.
"Sure thing boss." April said, she stretched up with a huge yawn, and then flopped down onto the couch. "You don't have a spare pillow and blanket lying around do you?"
"I'll get them for you." Donnie sprang up and ran to find something April could sleep with. "If you want you can sleep in my room and I'll take the couch?"
"Nah, I'm good here." She rolled onto her side and closed her eyes again. "If I fall asleep, I'll see you guys in the morning." Not five minutes later, she was out for the count. The turtles retired to their own rooms, giving April some peace and getting some rest of their own.
The following morning, April woke up on the couch in the lair. It had been nice staying with the turtles. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, did she smell coffee? As she walked into the kitchen, red hair sticking out at weird angles, she saw Master Splinter sitting at the rough old table sipping out of a little cup, he was reading an old-looking book.
"Good morning Master." April greeted the old rat. "Interesting book?"
"Ah, good morning Miss O'Neil." He put his cup down on the table and turned the book over to show her the cover. "It's a collection of old folk stories told throughout Japan."
"Cool, it looks like you could do with a new copy though." April pointed at the book. Its cover was faded and grubby and some of the pages were falling out. "Is that coffee pretty fresh?"
"I don't drink it, but Donatello and Raphael have a taste for it. I make a pot every morning before they get up." The old rat winked at her, and not a moment too soon. As soon as he had finished talking Raph slouched through the archway, heading straight for the coffee pot.
"Good morning my son." Master Splinter said, with a grin on his face. Raph just grunted in response.
April laughed. "Oh, I'm so glad I don't have to deal with you every morning." April said. Again Raph didn't actually respond, he just glared at her over the top of the mug he had just poured for himself.
Soon, all the turtle boys were up. Naturally, Mikey was the last to awaken, and to April's surprise, he acted much like Raphael had. Except all he needed was some breakfast, and he was back to his hyperactive self.
The little group of friends sat around eating breakfast and talking about random things. Master Splint remained mostly silent listening to their conversations until the topic of training came up. Leonardo wanted the boys to practice today since they had slacked off the day before. April was also getting a little impatient, she hadn't had a training session in almost three weeks.
"Oh, I have decided that, if Holly wishes, I will train her along with you April." Splinter said to the young girl.
"Fantastic!" April shouted, "I'm going to text her right now!" April jumped up and ran to fish her phone out of her bag.
"Is that really such a good idea?" Raph asked.
"What makes you say that? I thought you liked Holly?" Donnie said, suspicion written all over his face.
"I do like her." He said.
"So, you don't have confidence in her abilities?" Leo added crossing his arms.
"Of course I do!" Raph snapped back.
"So what's the deal bro?" Mikey joined in the grilling, he loved winding Raph up.
"Forget it! Never mind!" Raph yelled this time. He stomped out of the kitchen muttering to himself, he slammed the door to the training room shut and some rather angry sounds came floating out to the rest of the family.
"What was that about?" April asked as she returned to the kitchen.
"Raph's worried about Holly." Leo chuckled.
"So?" April asked with a shrug.
"We have to give him a hard time." Mikey was giddy with joy. He didn't get the opportunity to poke fun at their overly sensitive brother, this was going to be so much fun.
"What did Holly say?" Donatello steered the conversation off this topic, it wouldn't be long before Leo and Mikey started making fun of him since he was in the same predicament.
"Oh, she didn't sound very excited, she kept asking if Master Splinter was sure he wanted to train her." April frowned, she was worried about her friend.
"I'm sure she'll be just fine. Besides, she has to have some skill to shoot like she does." Donnie put a hand on Aprils' shoulder. She reached up and placed her own on his gently, giving it a quick squeeze of thanks.
"We had better get into the training room before Raph breaks everything in there. Besides, we need to get back to work." Leo announced. Mikey groaned, he liked slacking off.
"Let me go change, and I'll join you." April said.
Holly was worried, Splinter had said she might be able to train with April, but now that he had agreed to teach her, she wasn't so confident anymore. She was pretty active and didn't have any problems in gym class, but that was nothing compared to the turtles. April could even outrun her in class. Plus, with her glasses, no one would take her seriously. Her eyesight wasn't that bad, at a distance things just got blurry. Holly fixed herself some breakfast and decided it was time to call her mom. She dialed her cell phone number and waited for an answer.
"Holly? Is that you?" Her mom said sounded ecstatic.
"Hi mom, how's it going?"
"Just fine darling, we managed to get the new line ready just in time to send it out to the manufacturer so that's one crisis averted." She chuckled into the phone.
"Well thank goodness," Holly tried to care, she really did, "are you coming home today?"
"I wish I could sweetie, but I have to make sure the presentations are ready for my conference next week, I wont be back for a few more days. I'll send you some money and let the neighbors know to keep an eye on you."
"What?
The rest of the conversation revolved around Holly and her school. Holly couldn't really complain, her mother did care. They always caught up on how she was doing even if they couldn't actually see each other, and her mom always made sure she was doing alright and that she was safe. Holly just wished she could actually be home once in a while.
"Oh, I have a question for you." Holly said quickly just before her mother hung up.
"Yes?"
"Well, I was wondering if I could spend a couple of nights at Aprils while you're gone?"
Her mother was silent for a moment, thinking. "I suppose, but make sure the house is clean and locked up before you go".
"I will, and I'll keep my cell on me in case you need to get a hold of me." They finished their conversation although it didn't make Holly feel any better. They would have plenty of time to snoop around Stockmans place and then hangout with their friends though, so Holly shot April a message. April sent her a message back asking if she was going to head over to the lair while they waited for it to get dark. Holly figured why not? There was nothing keeping her at home now.
She gathered up some spare clothes, just in case, and stuffed them into one of her spare bags. She also grabbed her phone and wallet, it was too nice out to take a cab. Just before she left, Holly remembered she had promised Mikey some games. She grabbed the box out of her closet that had her console and games in it and stuffed it in the bag with her clothes. Holly waved at the doorman as she left and set off towards the turtles' home.
An hour later, Holly walked through the entrance to the lair. She had stopped off and picked up some snacks for the boys, and Master Splinters favorite tea.
"Hello?" She called out taking her ear buds out of her head. She could hear a training session in progress so decided to put away the things she had brought while she waited for them.
Holly sat on the couch and waited for another twenty minutes before the door slid open revealing the turtle brothers joking and shoving each other playfully. Holly stood to greet them.
"Hey guys." She smiled at them, then frowned. "Where's April?"
"Just started training, you could probably join her if you like." Leo pointed over his shoulder.
"Uh," she shoved her hands in her pockets, "I really don't..."
"Holly's here!" Raph yelled at the top of his lungs. April slid the door open after a few moments and beckoned her in.
"You suck." Holly directed at him as she slowly made her way over to the training room. Raph just grinned smugly before turning toward the kitchen.
"Hey April," Holly said quietly.
"Come join me, we literally just started!" April was beaming.
"I don't know." She replied even quieter.
The door opened a little more, and Splinter stood tall next to April. "Come in, your just in time."
Holly thought about protesting, but Aprils eager face and Splinters kind eyes made her fell slightly less ridiculous, so she dropped her bag on the floor and walked over to her friend.
The training was intense, Holly had never worked so hard in her life. Both girls were sweating profusely after just half an hour of working out. They started with a quick warm up and moved straight into strength training, they did push-ups and sit ups, bicycle kicks ,and squats. From there they moved onto the most basic of moves, focusing mostly on form over function.
"Developing muscle memory is more important right now, effectiveness will come later." Master splinter said to them at the end of their session.
"Hai sensei." The girls replied.
"Very good work, both of you." He smiled at them, "You have worked hard today, and I'll expect you back here tomorrow if you are able."
"My mom's not going to be home until Monday." Holly looked at April.
"I doubt my aunt will be mad if I'm out during the day. It just means I'm not slouching around the house." April shrugged.
"Good, I'll see you tomorrow." Splinter turned towards his bedroom.
April stood and stretched, she was wiped. The girls made their way to the door and slid it open giggling about their session. Holly had to admit, it felt good to work hard and she had fun doing it.
"Hey you guys! How'd it go?" Mikey yelled at them over the sound of his game.
"Good, it was definitely hard work, but worth it." April said. Holly just nodded.
"Oh," Holly dug through her bag and pulled out the box. "Mikey, here you go." She held out the box at arms' length. Mikey peered over his shoulder, then gasped and dashed over to her. She handed him the box. Before she had even lowered her arms he was back at the TV trying to hook everything up. She just shook her head.
"Here." Raph handed her some water, she hadn't realized how thirsty she was. She looked at him then back at the glass, she drained it in a few seconds. "Keep drinking that, you're going to be sore tomorrow but it's worse if you don't drink."
"Thanks." She finally managed. "I think I could use another shower thought."
He smiled mischievously. "We do have a shower," he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder, "But taking a dunk in the pool is far more fun." He dashed over to their clean water access and stood over it ominously.
"If you throw me in there, you're in big trouble!" She yelled at him, she wriggled around trying to get out of his grasp. April and Leo had heard the commotion and looked over to see Raph threatening to throw Holly in the water.
"Do it!" April shouted, laughing hysterically.
"She can swim right?" Leo asked. April nodded, still egging Raph on.
"Put me down!" Holly yelled.
"Alright, alright." Raph moved to put her down but shoved her in any way. Holly squealed as she plummeted into the water. Raph just laughed as he watched her sinking.
"She is going to kill you." Mikey said through his laughter. Even Donnie was laughing, but Leo looked worried. Holly hadn't resurfaced yet.
"Where is she?" Leo asked.
Raph stopped laughing slightly and looked into the water, he could see her under the water. She didn't look like she was moving. He leaned over more to make sure and just at that moment, Holly popped up and grabbed him by the shell and pulled with all her strength.
Leo laughed harder than he had in a long time. It seemed that it was Raphs turn to take the plunge. Holly resurfaced again and was laughing so hard she had to grab onto the stone to keep herself afloat. Raph broke the surface too, he didn't look quite as amused anymore, but he was smiling.
"I did warn you." She said between chuckles.
"Alright, I deserved that." he said, swimming over to the side.
Holly hoisted herself out of the water and sat on the side. "Please tell me this isn't sewer water." she rang out her hair and clothes.
"No, it's clean." Donnie assured her.
"Oh good." she sighed. "That was actually quite refreshing."
"Well in that case..." April launched herself over the couch and jumped right into the water. "Cannonball!"
Everyone laughed. Raph climbed out of the water and sat on the side with Holly.
"I hope you have towels." Holly said as April swam up to them.
"They do, I've showered here after training sessions." April answered.
Holly got up and walked over to Leo who had just pulled out a towel from their storage space, on her way by she couldn't resist hip-checking Raph back into the water. Just as a bit of payback.
Once everyone was dried off, and in the girls' case, changed. The group sat around in the kitchen discussing what was going to happen tonight. Donnie had pulled out his lock picking equipment and was showing the girls how to use them.
"The only real issue I see right off the bat is that all the other floors don't have balconies. You're going to have to climb to the window and hope that they open enough for you to get in." Holly said.
"That's not an issue. We can climb just fine." Mikey said.
"It is since you'll have to wait on the roof for our signal. Which means we have to get into the apartment and open the window before you even hear from us." Holly explained.
"Well, not completely. We can keep in contact with our phones." April added, "But we're going to want to stay as quiet as we can so that none of the other neighbors find us."
"If we wait until 10 p.m. when the front doors are locked so anyone who comes in the building has to wait to be let in, one of you could keep an eye out from the roof-top for anyone. Then, well find a window and let you guys in."
"That's it?" Raph asked, "It's too vague, there are too many variables."
"I know, but since we have to do this alone we don't have many options." Holly shrugged.
"It's the best we can do for now. Besides, it's not like it's completely weird for Holly to walk around her apartment building, she does live there after all." Leo reasoned.
"Alright then, I'll head out earlier so I can see if Bud I working tonight." Holly added as an afterthought.
"Who's Bud?" asked Leo.
"He's this really nice guy who works nights, I might be able to ask a favor of him." Holly smiled, why didn't she think of that before?
Holly and April walked up to the apartment building roughly an hour before the turtles were supposed to show up. Bud was indeed working that night, so Holly decided to try and gain an extra advantage.
"Hey Bud, how's it going tonight?" Holly asked.
"Pretty good, it's been quiet tonight." He replied.
"That's too bad. Do you do anything when it's quiet?" Holly kept buttering him up, not like she really needed to.
"Yeah, I read a lot." He chuckled.
"That's awesone! Could you do me a favor and let me know if that Baxter Stockman guy shows up? Mom bought a gift basket for him and it has some perishables in it that would really suck if they went bad." She gave him her sweetest smile.
"Sure, do you want me to buzz your apartment?" he smiled back at her.
"No, just give me a quick call as we may be in my room with some music on." She scribbled her number down quickly and handed it to him. "Thanks Bud, I owe you one."
As the girls entered the elevator, April looked at Holly. "Where did that come from?"
Holly Shrugged, "I figured an extra heads up could be helpful!"
April just laughed. They reached Hollys' apartment and decided to test their lock picking abilities on her front door, if they could pick that, they should be able to get into Stockmans' apartment. Holly tried first, it took a while but she got it eventually. April tried too and managed it much faster. She practiced over and over until she could get the door open in about a minute consistently. So long as there was nothing unusual about this guy's apartment they should be able to get in.
There was a tapping on the balcony doors, and April skipped over to them to let the guys in. Again, Raph was the one waiting on the balcony and once April had made sure none of the neighbors were peeking out of their windows, she beckoned the other three down. They stood in Hollys kitchen quickly going over the plan one more time, just to make sure Mikey knew what was going on.
"We should keep in contact the whole way using Aprils phone, I need mine free just in case Bud calls me." Holly wiggled her phone around.
"Let's get going. There's no point waiting any longer." Leo stood up, the other followed suit.
Once the turtles were safely back on the roof, Holly and April took the stairs down to the floor below. No one used the stairs here, they were all too busy to take the extra time out of their day. They peeked through the door, making sure the coast was clear, and hurried into the hallway as silently as possible. Granted it was a quiet building, so they didn't expect any trouble.
"Go for it." Holly said as they reached the correct door, continuing to the corner to make sure no one was standing by the elevators.
April crouched down and inserted the lock pick into the mechanism, she jiggled it around for a moment to no avail. This was tougher than Hollys' door, the lock was hardly used so the pins required more precise positioning to get it open. April wiped her hands on her pants and tried again. This time the lock popped open.
"I'm in," She hissed to Holly, and then more quietly into her cell phone, "We'll see you boys' in a moment." she pushed the door open and rushed inside, and as soon as both girls were in the closed the door again. They looked around the apartment and quickly opened a window and pulled out the mesh screen that kept out bugs, not a moment later, the four turtles were standing right beside them.
"That was easier than I thought." Said Donnie with a grin.
"Well, don't get cocky yet. Who knows what this guy has lurking around." Leo said bringing everyone back down to earth. They were breaking and entering into a computer genius's home after all.
"Where do we start?" asked Holly looking around. The apartment its-self was pretty standard, it was furnished and seemed like any normal Joe-shmoe lived here. Except for the work benches pushed up against one wall where any normal bachelor would put a big screen television.
"This is a two-bedroom unit." Holly said suddenly. She frowned as she realized that the layout of this unit was exactly the same as her own home upstairs.
"He's using one room as extra work space." Donnie concurred. The two teens moved down the hallway to the room that would have been Holly's if it was her home. They pushed open the door and Holly gasped as they saw a little two-legged robot dangling from wires just above another workbench.
"What the hell is that?" April joined the others and stood just behind Donatello, she pointed at the creation in the middle of the room.
"It looks like a robot," Donatello moved into the room, Holly following right behind him. They moved around the work space rifling through all of the paperwork on the desks. Holly pulled open a draw of the filing cabinet and starting looking through Stockmans' notes.
"He's calling it a 'Mouser', It stands for Minefield Ordnance Unarming System Enhanced Robots." Donnie read off of a stack of papers.
"What are they for?" Mikey asked, inching closer to the robot.
"It says here that they're going to be used to help with the rat infestation in New York." Donnie continued reading.
"That's good isn't it? The rats are nasty anyway." Mikey said, poking the Mouser with one finger.
"It would be, if they weren't going to release these little guys into the sewer systems." Donatello looked up, he knew that they couldn't let that happen, they would be exposed to the world above.
"They're not operational yet though" Holly turned around, hands full of more notes. "He can't find hardware tough enough to cope with all the information they're gathering. The motherboards keep frying."
"So he's been hiring the Purple Dragons to steal parts that he can test with and modify for his needs." Leo summarized. It was all clicking into place now. He stayed outside the room with Raph, keeping an eye and an ear out for trouble.
"It would seem that way yes." Donnie replied, he put the notes back on the table making sure they were in roughly the same place he had picked them up from.
"But why steal the parts, I thought he was supposed to be the best? Surely his company would invest in this project, the possibility for profit is almost limitless since rats are everywhere." Holly asked the room.
"Looks like he was fired from his job about a month ago," April said holding up a letter that had been crumpled up on the desk. "for gross negligence of the factory employees safety."
"So he clearly doesn't care about anything".
Before anyone could answer, Hollys phone chirped in her pocket. She looked at the screen and answered it as quietly as she could. "Hello?"
"Hey Holly, it's Bud." The doorman's voice came back through the speaker. "I wanted to let you know, a guy just came in the building heading for Stockmans apartment, but its not him. Don't go down and try and talk with this guy, he looks like bad news. He had keys so I kind of had to let him in.". The doorman sounded rattled and like he was worried his job was in jeopardy.
"Oh, that's too bad, I'll be sure to avoid him. I won't tell anyone you let him up, it sounds like Stockman may be involved with some bad people" Holly kept her tone casual, but started waving at the guys frantically to move.
"I think I may need to talk to the building management about this."
Hollys face paled, but she tried to sound calm. "Thanks Bud. I think you did the right thing. Stay safe." She looked at the rest of the group as she hung up on the poor man, "We have to go, now!" she hissed.
Nobody even hesitated, Holly stuffed the papers roughly back into the filing cabinet and closed it as quietly as she could. They had no idea how long they had to get out of there.
Leo and Mikey launched themselves out of the window, Raph and Donnie waited a fraction of a second to make sure the girls were ok. Holly and April ran for the door, but holly stopped and turned around. They had to at least close the window to make it look like they weren't here.
April cracked the door open and peeked in the direction of the elevators. They were too late, there were two of the Gang members laughing and being obnoxious striding toward the apartment. April closed the door as softly as she could.
"Hide!" she whispered.
Holly had to pull the window shut, they were all stuck now. Raph grabbed April by the waist and ran with her into the master bedroom, it was highly unlikely that they would need to go in there.
Holly was stuck on the far side of the room with Donatello, they would have made a run for it, but they heard the sound of a key being slotted into the handle so they were out of time. Donnie grabbed her and dove behind the couch. They landed just as the door opened, hopefully the goons were too busy goofing off to hear the thud.
"Let's just get the hard drive and get out of here, I'm starving." Said goon number one.
"What are you feeling? I could eat anything." replied goon number two.
"Right now I don't care, Stockman said to get the drive and bring it back to him. We do that, then we eat." Goon number one announced irritably.
Holly, who had landed on Donnie's shell, leaned down and whispered as softly as she could "Leo can follow them to Stockman."
Donnie just nodded, she felt him shift his weight slightly and he pulled out his phone. He texted Leo what the Purple Dragons had just unknowingly revealed, and mentioned not to text them back and give away their hideout.
"Did he tell you where he put it?" asked the second henchman. He didn't sound terribly bright.
"He said in the second bedroom, just stay here. I'll find it." They heard one of the pair moving toward the room they had just been in, the other one sounded like he was moving closer. Donnie frowned slightly, why would he need to wander around the apartment? Then, a heavyset man flung himself onto the couch. Both Donnie and Holly were squished against the wall, they both gritted their teeth against the pain and tears prickled Hollys' eyes. This guy must be a monster.
The huge man looked around, Stockmans' place. It was nice. He wondered how the computer guy could afford to place since he didn't have a job right now. He stood back up and went to poke around the rest of the room. Donnie and Holly let out a silent breath, at least the big guy had moved off of them. He checked out the Kitchen, opening the fridge and rummaging around. He then moved down the hall and snooped in the bathroom, and from there he started toward the other bedroom.
Inside the main bedroom, Raph and April were crouching behind the bed. This way they had a clear shot to the door to the hall, and the door to the bathroom since it was attached. Also, worst case scenario, they could dive for the walk in closet from where they were if someone were to come into the room. Nothing happened for a while. They heard muffled conversation, and casual footsteps moving around the apartment.
"Do you think Holly and Donatello are OK?" whispered April, she was crouched right next to Raph.
"They'll be fine, we only need to worry if we hear shouting." He reassured her. April nodded, he was right.
They waited for what seemed like hours until they heard the other bathroom door open. It closed again shortly after, but then the bedroom door started opening. Both April and Raph ducked down, hoping that it was just one of the others coming to tell them the coast was clear.
"Swanky digs." Said a gruff voice. They heard foot septs moving into the room, if the big moron moved toward their position they would have to engage. They were completely pinned.
"What are you doing?" Came another voice, this one higher pitched but still male.
"Just poking around." said the bigger guy, giggling to himself.
"Well knock it off, I got the hard drive. Let's go." The first guy moved away from the door, and after a moment the bigger guy left the room and closed the door. Raph and April exhaled a breath, and after a moment they crept out from behind the bed and over to the door. Raph opened it a crack, the goons should be gone by now.
He heard some struggling and he saw Holly climbing out from behind the couch through a crack in the door. Raph rushed out into the living room and began to help her get free without stepping on his little brother.
"You guys alright?" He said quietly, just in case. Holly was clutching her side wincing, but she nodded.
"We have to get out of here, they could come back." Donnie said once he was upright again. April was giving him a once over and once he had assured her he was OK, he walked over to the window again.
Raph and Donnie climbed up to the roof, while April and Holly put the screen back in place and closed the window once again. They moved over to the door, peeked out, and made a run for it. The door would lock its self once it was closed again, so they wasted no time making sure it was closed properly and ran up the stairs as fast as Holly could manage.
Once they were back in the apartment, April ran to the balcony doors and called the boys down. Donnie had been on the phone with Mikey, who had told him they were following the Purple Dragons by roof top and they would let them know where they were once they had reached their destination.
"That was way too close." Raph said to the girls. "And we didn't learn much."
"Of course we did," snapped Holly, only to wince again and clutch her side. "We know what Stockman is building, why he's building it, and where he is."
"What did you do?" Asked Raph, gripping her elbow to help steady the poor girl.
"I think the big dude brushed my ribs when he sat on the couch. Didn't he squish you too?" she looked a Donnie.
"I have a shell to protect my internal organs. He did get my arm pretty good though." Donnie massaged his bicep.
"Are you going to be OK?" Raph asked with actual concern in his voice.
"Yeah, I'll just ice it and wrap it for the night and I should be good." Holly said. She got up and moved to the kitchen looking for an ice pack.
"Hey, I just got a text from Leo. You won't believe this." Donnie said looking irritated. "Stockman is at the fortune cookie factory. He's staying with the Purple dragons."
"You had better be kidding me." Raph said.
"I'll tell the others that well meet them back at the lair, there's no need to confront Stockman tonight." Donnie said.
"Yeah, I've had enough excitement for tonight." Holly came back into the living room, holding a bag of frozen peas up to her side.
"Do you need me to stay with you tonight?" April offered Holly.
"If you like." She rolled up her shirt and the beginnings of a bruise was starting to form on her side. "That's going to hurt tomorrow. Training is going to be a blast." She said with fake enthusiasm.
"Let me call my aunt and I'll see if I can stay, I don't think she'll mind too much." April walked into the kitchen to get some privacy.
"We had better get going, Leo and Mikey are already heading home." Donnie said to Raph with a quick glance toward the kitchen. Neither of the turtle teens wanted to leave, this was one of the first times they had been alone with the two girls.
"Yeah I know." Raph let the tiniest hint of disappointment reach his voice, if anyone knew how he was feeling right now, it was Donnie. They silently agreed to at least let April get back so they could say good bye, but they knew they had to go. Leo would want to go over all the information they had uncovered with Splinter as soon as possible.
"Don't worry Donnie," Holly said putting a hand on his shell, "Well see you tomorrow, and probably most days this next week." she winked at him for good measure. Donnie smiled sheepishly.
"Alright, I can stay." April walked back into the living room looking pleased.
"We have to get going. See you tomorrow?" Donnie asked it as a question.
"Of course." April replied brightly. Donnie couldn't help it, he smiled his big gap-toothed grin, which made Holly chuckle, only to follow with another wince.
"Alright, get lost before I keep hurting myself." Holly pointed at the door.
Raph smirked, "See you later, take care of her." He added to April.
"Get going you big softie." Holly gave him a shove.
"I'm not soft!" He glared at her, but kept moving. April took care of neighbor watch while the two turtles scurried up to the roof and off into the night.
"That went smooth." Holly said once April was back inside. The girls giggled to themselves at their first successful mission.