April was dreaming that she and Donnie were cuddled up together on a sofa watching a movie and eating popcorn. She felt happy and safe in his arms and they were talking about nothing and laughing and smiling together. She asked him a question, but when he opened his mouth to answer, all that came out was a harsh buzzing noise.
She wrinkled up her face at the sound, "I'm sorry, but what did you say?"
He laughed softly at her, "I said..." But there was nothing but the buzzing sound again.
April realized she was dreaming and became vaguely aware of her actual surroundings. She was warm and comfy, comfier than she normally was on the boys couch. Whatever she was on, it smelled mildly of soft soap with the most subtle hint of oil, the way Donnie usually smelled. A small smile crossed her lips, but it was wicked away again when that buzzing noise picked up again.
Groggily, she squeaked one eye open and looked around for the source of the noise. She was in a small room, it was neat and tidy with shelves upon shelves of little Knickknacks lining the walls. This was Donnie's room. Why was she in Donnie's room?
Her thoughts were once again interrupted by the buzzing, but this time, April grabbed out at the noise before it could cut out again. She held her own phone in her hand, she had snatched it up off a little table next to the bed and forced her eyes to focus on the screen. The clock said 10:37, so she hadn't been sleeping for long, but she had six missed calls and a hand full of missed texts.
She opened the messages first and they were all from her aunt. As she scrolled down, the tone of them got more and more urgent.
Don't forget that you have school today.
Where are you?
You had better call me as soon as you get this.
April, I'm not messing around, call me.
April blanched, she had completely forgotten that they were supposed to start school again today, and right now, she and Holly were officially ditching their 3rd period. She pulled up her aunts phone number and connected the call.
It only rang once before her aunt answered. "Where the hell are you? I've been worried sick!"
"I'm so sorry, Holly and I stayed up too late and overslept." April
"I tried calling her too and she didn't answer either. My god April, you were home when I went to bed. I thought you'd been kidnapped or something, Why did you go out so late on a school night?"
"I don't know. Holly was upset and I thought it would be nice to keep her company." April winced. She felt bad both lying to her aunt and throwing Holly under the bus, but she couldn't exactly say where she really was.
"I don't care! Get you butt to school and go straight home once you're done. You are grounded for the next week." Her aunt said firmly.
"Ok, I really am sorry." April said with genuine remorse.
April heard her aunt sigh into the receiver. "I know, but your still grounded." The line went dead and April took a moment to let herself wake up. She swung her legs down to the floor and rubbed the sleep from her eyes.
She pushed herself up and walked out of Donnie's room into the living room where she found Donnie and Raph on the couches. Donnie's had fallen asleep in a sitting position, his chin had drooped to his chest and he was breathing deeply. She almost didn't want to wake him, but she didn't think he was particularly comfy.
Very quietly, she walked over to him and shook his arm as she whispered his name. He roused slowly, lifting his head and trying to focus his deep brown eyes on hers.
"Oh, hey." He managed before yawning wide and stretching out. "I thought I was dreaming for a moment there."
"Nope, I thought I'd let you have your bed back, Holly and I have to go."
"What? Why?" He sounded glum.
"We forgot that school started up again this morning and I just got yelled at by my aunt." She grimaced at the thought of making her aunt worry. "I'm going to go and wake Holly, and we'll slip out without waking everyone else up."
Donnie rose from the sofa and stretched out his neck and back, he followed April over to Raphs door and let her go in alone. Holly was laying awkwardly on her stomach with one arm under her head and the other hanging off the bed. She wasn't a graceful sleeper and was snoring softly into the crook of her arm, and her hair was a wild tangle that fell all over her face. April silently chuckled to herself before gripping Holly by the shoulders and gently shaking her awake too.
"Wake up, we have to go." April cooed.
"No." Holly mumbled into the pillow, she squeezed her eyes shut and buried her face.
"We have to. We were supposed to be at school almost 4 hours ago."
Holly sat bolt upright, suddenly wide awake. "We were supposed to be where?"
"School. It's Monday." April said with a worried glance.
"Oh god." Panic washed through Holly like a tidal wave and she flung the blankets off herself where they washed over Aprils' head covering her completely.
"Hey!" April said, struggling to free herself from the tangle of covers.
Holly burst through the door and practically ran into Donatello. She mumbled a strangled apology as she scurried to gather her belongings.
"What the heck?" Donnie asked April when she joined him at the door.
"I'm not sure." They watched Holly as she ran around the lair, feet pattering against the stone floor, muttering to herself the whole time.
As Holly clattered around the lair, Raph stirred on the couch. He heaved himself up into a sitting position and let his comic slide, forgotten, onto the floor. He blinked blearily at April and Donnie, "Why am I awake?"
"Because we have to leave." April replied softly, knowing all too well how grumpy Raph could be in the morning.
"So? You don't need to be babysat." He grumbled. Holly ran past him clutching her now clean jeans, hunting down her other shoe. "What's her problem?"
April and Donnie both shrugged.
"To be honest," Holly said hurriedly while putting on her pants under the yukata. "I would rather face those purple morons and the giant dog again, than face my mother if she found out I missed school."
"They probably already called her you know." April said, "They called my aunt, and she spent most of the morning trying to call us."
"Yes, I know, but if they cant get a hold of her they're supposed to call one of the neighbors. Then then will go to my apartment and see the mess from last night. I'll never be able to explain that away." Holly, now as close to presentable as she could be, stood and headed for the door.
"Whatever. I'm going back to my actual bed, and if you need me, you'd better hope I'm at least two cups of coffee into the day." Raph stood stretching.
"Thanks for the support." Holly rolled her eyes. "April, I'll see you later. I have to go home now and pray its not too late." She waved to everyone as she jumped the turnstile and took off running, footsteps reverberating off the sewer walls as she went.
"Well, that was weird." April said clapping her hands together, "I guess I had better go too, I already know I'm going to be grounded when I get home today."
"I'm really sorry April." Donnie said looking sheepish.
"Don't be, it was my fault anyway." April shrugged and stretched up to plant a kiss on the tall turtles cheek. "Later guys."
Raph waved over his shoulder as he walked towards his bedroom and disappears behind the door.
"Text me later, and if you want I'll come visit you.". Donnie said softly.
"I will, if I'm not in too much trouble." She winked at him as she slipped on her shoes and made her way to school.
She didn't walk quickly. If she was already in trouble, there wasn't much point in rushing to school, especially when she didn't have any of her books with her. Instead, April decided to hit up the diner and have some breakfast. The world seemed so calm in the bright light of day. The majority of people out at this time were stay-at-home moms and college kids who were between classes. It was a funny feeling, knowing that she was one of only two people who knew what was lurking in the shadows of this city. knowing that somewhere out there was some sick-o who was playing God by manipulating innocent creatures' DNA. The worst thing was that whomever it was, could have her father in their clutches.
April sighed into her pancakes, she had just managed to ruin her own appetite. She stood, dropped some cash onto the table, and started walking to school. Her classes were as dull as she had expected, the teachers weren't pleased that she didn't have any of her books or stationery, and she had to track down the teachers who's classes she had missed to find out if there had been any homework. All in all, not the best start to the semester.
As April walked through the door to her aunts apartment, she realized that Holly hadn't shown up at school that day, and April was starting to worry. She pulled out her phone, no messages.
'Hey, is everything OK?' She sent, not really expecting a reply.
While April waited for her aunt to return home she showered, did what little homework she had, tidied up the apartment, baked cookies, and started getting dinner ready.
"April?" A hesitant question came through the apartment.
"Don't worry, I'm here." April had to chuckle, her aunt knew her too well.
"Good. Something smells delightful." Carol O'Neil walked into the kitchen and bent over the stove. "Since when do you know how to cook?"
April shrugged, "Holly taught me."
Carol pursed her lips and put her hands atop her voluptuous hips. "I was going to say she's a bad influence on you. But if she can teach you to clean your room too I might change my mind."
"Please don't be mad at her. Her mom is away from home a lot, and it was my idea to go see her." April pleaded.
"I'm still not happy." She said, but her face had relaxed a little.
"I know, that's why I thought I'd do some of the cleaning and cook." April gave her aunt the biggest, cheesiest grin she could muster.
"You're still grounded."
"Oh alright. April slid a plate of chocolate chip cookies across the table. "Here, have a cookie."
"Well, now your just trying to bribe me." Carol took one, and the subject of April missing school was dropped for the remainder of the evening.
As April was getting ready for bed, there came a soft knocking on her window and she didn't even have to look to know who it was. She grabbed an over-sized sweater and threw it over her head before letting Donnie climb into her bedroom.
"Hey!" he gave her his big gapped-tooth grin. "I hope I'm not bothering you."
"No, I was just going to do some reading before I turned in for the night." April grinned back at him nervously.
"Oh, what are you reading?" He asked.
"Steinbeck. I'm surprised I'm actually enjoying some of his work." She sat in her bed and dug out her copy of his book. "Personally I think his short stories are some of his best work."
"Have you read 'East of Eden' yet?" Donnie asked, eyeing up the back cover. April shook her head. "That is, by far, his best work, I think you'll enjoy it." Donnie handed the book back to April.
"I didn't think fiction was your thing." She said.
"Oh yeah." He nodded enthusiastically, "I used to have a lot of spare time, so I read tons of books while the others played video games."
She smiled at him and put her book on the side table. They sat for a moment in silence, neither quite sure what to say to the other.
Donatello broke the silence first. "I hope you didn't get into too much trouble because of last night."
"Nah. Well, I am grounded, but I was expecting that." She shrugged at him.
"Good." He went wide-eyed, "I mean that you not in trouble, not that your grounded, that sucks."
"I know what you meant." April shoved Donnie playfully, and he chuckled back at her. "Oh, I forgot, have you heard from Holly at all? She never did show up at school."
Donnie frowned "No, as far as I know, she hasn't contacted any of us."
"It's probably fine. If I don't see her tomorrow, then I'll start to worry."
"I'll let Raph know too," Donnie yawned and stretched, "I'm sure he's worried as well."
April just nodded, she doubted anything was wrong. Although, Fong had broken into Hollys home and chased her halfway across Manhattan.
April looked up to see Donnie watching her, "What?" she asked him.
"Oh," He shook his head slightly "It's nothing." She gave him a disbelieving look. "Really. But I had probably better go."
"Do you have to?" She stuck her lower lip out, "It's not often we get to hang out together."
Donatello narrowed his eyes at her, "Am I going to get you into more trouble?"
"Only if you get caught. But you would probably be in more trouble since your not supposed to exist." She shrugged.
"Yeah." Donnie said "That would be awkward."
April giggled at the thought. "Carol would probably faint."
"It wouldn't be the first time." Donnie said sadly.
"I didn't." April reminded him.
"I know. Why didn't you?"
"I don't know. I needed help, and you guys came to my rescue without question."
Donatello was touched, most people turned and ran as soon as they saw him and his brothers. But this one girl had known they weren't a threat, and had embraced them and made them feel like they might actually belong in this world. He couldn't take it anymore, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close.
April was stunned, but she relaxed into Donnie's strong arms and let herself have a selfish moment of happiness. After he let go, she turned and propped her pillows against the headboard of her bed, she threw her legs up and beckoned him to sit with her.
Donnie felt a little awkward, it was weird being in Aprils room. But he did as she asked and sat beside her. Her room was warm and bright, even at night, compared to the sewers, and it smelled clean and fresh. April cuddled up next to him and grabbed her book off of the nightstand. She flipped it open and started reading some of the short stories she was assigned. Donnie followed along with her,and would answer any questions she had, but after an hour or so, he felt his eyes closing. He felt the warmth of her body pressed against his, and for once he was in blessed silence. There was no Mikey and Raph yelling at each other, and no Leo banging on his door telling him he needed to train for hours at a time.
April looked up to find Donnie sleeping. She knew she should wake him, but he looked so relaxed for once. She would read for another twenty minutes, and then she'd wake him up.
April cracked her eyes open to discover she had a sore neck. Her book had fallen to the floor and her arm was laying over Donnie's plastron. She sat up, rubbed her neck, and looked around for her clock. It read 4:32 a.m.
April gasped, "Donnie, wake up!" She hissed.
"Wassit?" He mumbled groggily as he slowly sat up.
"It's really late. Or early, depending on how you look at it." She rolled off her bed and scurried over to the door. She cracked it open just enough to peek out, but the apartment was silent and dark. "I can't believe I fell asleep. We're so lucky my aunt didn't come in here to check on me."
"That's true. But, I'm glad I got to stay with you tonight." Donatello said softly.
April felt her cheeks flush. It had been nice falling asleep in his arms. "Me too." She padded across her room as he grabbed his Bo staff and met her by the window. He opened the window and whispered"I'll see you later." She stretched up and kissed him softly. Donnie wrapped an arm around her waste and brushed his finger against the soft skin of her back. April felt goosebumps raise up across her arms.
"I'll call you later." He said as he swooped out of her window and up to the roof.
April stood by her window watching the lanky turtle hurtle across the rooftops until he was out of sight before turning back to her bed. She picked up her book and set it on the night stand before shrugging off her sweater and snuggling under the covers. She could still get an hour or so of sleep before she had to get up for school. As she started drifting off once again, she let a smile creep onto her face. Tonight had been wonderful, and she looked forward to more like it in the future.
Donatello slowed his pace as he reached the entrance to the lair. He'd had an enormous grin across his face the whole way home, until he started actually thinking about what April had said to him. He wasn't mad, she had just told the truth, but it did hit home harder than she had probably intended.
He wasn't supposed to exist. Those were her exact words, and technically, she was right. But what did that mean for them? April was in high school for now, but would she still like him when she was in college, or even after that? What about just visiting them at all. As far as he could tell, there would probably not be a place for him and his brothers on the surface any time in the near future, and he didn't want to hold her back from a life among normal people.
He trudged through the sewers back to the lair in silence, and by the time he was back home it was nearly 5:30 a.m. and he was thoroughly depressed. Everything seemed quiet at home. He assumed everyone was asleep, although he would have thought someone would care enough to worry about him. Donnie stood looking at his home in silence for a moment before the shuffling of feet snapped him back to reality.
Raphael lumbered out of the kitchen, a glass of water in hand, and headed back to his room. He stopped in his tracks when he saw his little brother staring at him. "You were out late. Did we have fun?" He smirked as Donatello started twitching nervously. "Oh relax, I don't really care."
"Gee, thanks." Donnie said sarcastically.
"Don't get your shell in a twist, I didn't mean it like that." Raph shot back.
"Well, I'm not in the mood for your brand of grouchy today, so if you'll excuse me..." Donnie turned to stalk off to his bedroom.
"Hey wait a minute. What's your problem?" Raph was getting annoyed, Donnie usually wasn't this rude to anyone.
"Nothing is the problem, I just want to be alone for a while."
"Well fine, see if I try being nice to you again." Raph stomped off towards his room, muttering all the way.
Donatello sighed, now he felt bad. For once he was being the jerk when Raph was attempting his version of 'nice'.
"You two have more in common than you think." Mester splinter emerged from the shadows and stood behind the lanky turtle.
"I shouldn't have snapped at him, but he's always such an ass."
"Raphael is a little rough around the edges, but he does care about you and your brothers, and your happiness." Donatello didn't answer, what was there to say. "Try to understand that he shares your worries, even if he doesn't know how to express himself very well."
Donnie thought for a moment, then groaned. "I completely forgot to ask him if he's heard from Holly. April said she hasn't seen or heard from her all day."
Splinter thought for a moment, "I do not believe she is in any danger. It's late and there's wouldn't be much you could do for her right now anyway. Get some sleep and you and Raphael can discuss it tomorrow."
"Hai, father." Donnie turned to go to bed again, but paused for a moment after realizing something. "Master, why are you up so late?"
Splinter smiled at his son, "No matter how well I have trained you boys, I worry when you are out late. I always wait up for all of you to come home safely."
Splinter turned and left to finally get some sleep while Donatello walked to his own room feeling cheerful again. Donnie lay down in his own bed, he never realized how big and empty it felt. He stared up at the ceiling for a while, reminiscing on the evening, and wishing he could have stayed with April all night.
Just as his eyes began to close, Donnie's phone buzzed across his little side table. He creaked open one eye and threw a heavy arm over to grab his phone. He activated the screen and saw a text message from April.
Tonight was nice, thank you for coming to see me.
He replied with a simple, it was my pleasure, before replacing his phone and drifting off to sleep with a grin plastered across his face.
The rest of the week passed by without any excitement for April. She had not been allowed out of the house, except for school, and she had had limited contact with Holly. She was fine, as far as she could tell. Apparently, the school had gotten a hold of her mother in Paris and she had yelled herself hoarse over the phone. She was threatening to come home just so she could punish Holly in person if she tried skipping school again, but when Holly had said that she wanted her to come home they had argued.
Donatello had stopped by to see her a couple of times, but he hadn't fallen asleep next to her again. April was a little disappointed, but she loved the time she got with him. They would talk about more personal things and were really getting more comfortable around each other. She told him about her mother, what she could remember, and about her aunt and the rest of her family. Donnie didn't have as much to share, since she knew all of his family, but he did tell her stories about himself and his brothers from when they were younger. Like how Mikey used to climb the tree in the training room and it had driven Splinter crazy.
Saturday rolled through and brought with it the threat of rain. April awoke to find a note from her aunt saying that she was at the farmers market and would be home later in the day. So, while she waited, she did her homework, and spent the day watching the clouds roll by out of the bay window of the apartment while texting her friends.
As evening fell, the clouds turned a sinister shade of gray and a few droplets of rain were spattering the window. Carol was sipping tea and reading a book she had picked up at the library while April sat watching the people on the street hurry by, trying to beat the rain.
Aprils' phone buzzed in her pocket. She dug it out and checked the screen. It was a text from Holly, and it read, 'Can you come out today?'
'I doubt it. Aren't you still grounded?' She sent back frowning at her phone.
'Well yes, but I just needed to get out of the house." April just frowned harder at her phone, she wasn't sure what was going on here, so she asked.
'You know what, it's fine. I'll call you later.' April just stared at her phone with a confused look on her face.
"Is everything ok?" Carol asked from behind her book.
"I'm not sure." April replied. She immediately started texting Raph and Donnie to see if they had any idea what was going on.
Holly was having the worst day of her life. She had gotten into a huge argument with her mother over something completely stupid. She couldn't even remember what it had been about any more. All she knew was it had ended up turning into a shouting match. She just couldn't take it and had hung-up on her mother and threw the tablet onto the couch. Her mom had tried calling her back about a hundred times and she couldn't take it anymore and needed an escape.
The clouds had been looming ominously overhead throughout the morning. It had already started to drizzle and it was probably going to downpour any moment, but Holly didn't care. She had hoped April would be able to come out and meet her, but she knew it wasn't likely since they were both still grounded. She walked to the local park and sat on the swings by herself. For a while, she watched the braver families around her playing until the distant rumble of a summer storm forced them all to pack up their strollers and return to their homes.
The rain soaked into her shorts and dripped off her hair as Holly walked aimlessly around the city. She didn't want to go home, she couldn't go to Aprils', and she really didn't feel like turning up at the lair looking like she had been dragged through a hedge backwards. They would all fuss over her, and she didn't feel like being mollycoddled. What she really wanted to do was punch something; that would help her feel much better. She stopped walking for a moment as she realized where her feet had brought her. Holly stepped into the little sushi restaurant, dripping onto the aged linoleum floor. The other patrons gave her weird looks as she took a seat in the back corner and tried to clean off her glasses with a napkin.
Mr. Murakami was busy preparing fresh meals for another couple who were glancing nervously in her direction, and after they had been served, the aged chef shuffled his way over to her table. "I was not expecting any soggy guests tonight. I can only assume you were in need of somewhere dry to go that was not with your other friends."
"How do you do that?" Holly asked amazed.
"I may be blind, but there are other things that give people away." He placed a rough, old hand over hers and lowered his voice. "It also helps that I have a waitress that lets me know when someone walks in that makes everyone else nervous." Holly let out a chuckle, she supposed she probably did look odd. "I'll tell you what, you can stay here and dry off. But you have to join me for dinner."
Holly smiled, "Deal."
Mr. Murakami walked into his kitchen and returned a few minutes later with a towel. He threw it across the restaurant to her and continued to help the other customers.
The waitress came over and brought her something to drink. "Do you like tea?" she asked.
"Yes, thank you." Holly replied.
The waitress poured a cup and set the pot on the table before disappearing back into the kitchen. She returned a moment later with a phone on an enormous red cord that she tucked between Mr. Murakamis' ear and shoulder so he could talk and work at the same time.
Holly didn't know what he was saying, he was speaking Japanese to whoever was on the other end of the line, but it sounded like a pleasant conversation. She thought it would be nice to speak another language, as she toweled her hair dry and did what she could about her clothes.
It was only about an hour before the sushi restaurant closed, and Hollys mother had been blowing up her phone the whole time. She knew she'd have to go home soon, it was already dark because of the storm and she shouldn't be out alone, not after last week, but she intended to keep her promise and stay and have dinner with Mr. Murakami.
The elderly man walked over to her and sat down on the other side of the table. "So, why are you out in the rain all alone?"
Holly fidgeted, "I got in an argument with my mom."
"Oh, yes." He sighed heavily, "Being a teenager is hard. You are trying to find your own way, while your parents want to pretend you're still a child."
"I suppose, but she's never home. I don't know why she gets so worked up about me when I take care of myself anyway." Holly said.
"Just because she isn't there, doesn't mean she doesn't care." Mr. Murakami said.
"Oh very clever." Holly had to chuckle. "I see you're also a poet, who didn't know it."
The elderly mad laughed heartily. "I assure you that was unintentional. But it was pretty good, wasn't it?" He stood up and went over to his workstation. "How about I make some noodles for us tonight?"
"Whatever you like. But I am going to pay you this time." Holly said defiantly.
Holly picked up her tea and moved to the bar so she could talk with Mr. Murakami while he boiled up noodles in a pot of broth and added all kinds of vegetables to it. His waitress left them shortly after he had begun cooking. She drew the blinds and locked the door behind her so no one would think the restaurant was still open. However, Holly noticed that he was cooking up an unusually large amount of food for just two people, and couldn't help but wonder what was going on.
Just as he pulled the pot off the heat, there was a soft knocking at the front door. "Could you get that for me?" He asked her sweetly. Too sweetly.
"What are you playing at?" She asked him with whimsical suspicion.
He just chuckled to himself and grabbed a stack of bowels as she pulled open the door. Leonardo was standing on the other side wearing a self-satisfied grin. Holly stepped aside and let him in, and not a moment later the other three turtles dropped to the street and tumbled into the restaurant. They all smiled at Holly
"Are you alright?" Mikey asked her
Holly shrugged. "I don't know, I have practically been on a video call with mom for the last week solid, I got sick of her yelling at me so I needed to get away. Her phone lit up again on the counter behind them. No doubt it was her mom calling again.
"Either way, Mr. Murakami called us as soon as you showed up. He said you might need an escort home." Leo interjected.
"You're not going anywhere until I feed the poor girl." Mr. Murakami said from his counter. There were six bowls of delicious smelling noodles, with veggies and ham laid out. "Please, come and eat."
Mikey whooped and leapt into a chair before anyone else had even moved. He didn't even bother with a spoon and just lifted the bowl to his mouth and started slurping happily.
"Have you spoken to April about this?" Donnie asked.
"Not really, I didn't want to go to her place, and I thought it would probably be better to actually talk to someone. You know, in person." Holly replied a little more stiffly than she meant to.
"And you didn't want to talk to us?" Raph asked, he folded his arms across his chest and frowned at her. He didn't hide the hurt in his voice.
"It's not like that. I just needed the fresh air." Holly said tightly. She had spent all day defending herself to her mother, she didn't need this right now.
"And after everything that's happened, you still though it was smart to go off, in the open, on your own?" Raph muttered.
Leo and Donnie just stood side by side feeling awkward. They were doing their best not to intervene, but this was going to blow up soon if they didn't do something. They knew about Raph's temper, and it seemed that all his emotions became more intense when they had something to do with this particular brunette.
"Alright, look. Let's just eat and we can get you home so you can make up with your mom." Leo finally offered hopefully.
"Fine." Holly turned and threw herself into a chair. She had been starving earlier, now her appetite had vanished.
"Fine." Raph mimicked, he sat himself on the other end of the table, next to Mikey, and pushed the noodles around his bowl with some chop sticks.
"How have you been Mr. Murakami?" Donnie said trying to lighten the mood as he sat next to Holly.
"Oh, fairly well. I have been busy, business has been good for a change." He replied.
"Nice! You haven't had any more trouble with the Purple Dragons, have you?" Leo asked.
"No, not since Raphael scared them off the last time." He jabbed a thumb in Raphs direction.
"Hopefully they just leave you alone from now on." Mikey commented, before slurping down the last of the juices from his bowl.
"Yes, it would certainly be nice to have those trouble makers out of our neighborhood." Mr. Murakami sighed to himself. "But, if they weren't here, I would never have made such wonderful friends."
Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo and Mr. Murakami spoke and laughed together as they ate, while Holly and Raph sat sullenly at opposite ends of the table. Mikey ended up eating Raphs noodles as he had maybe taken two bites before pushing it away, and Holly forced herself to eat. It was delicious, and she felt awful for not being able to really appreciate it.
Holly paid for all of their meals, as promised, and Mr. Murakami threw an arm around her shoulder and gave her a hug before the group left the restaurant. They boys agreed to let her walk at street level, on her own, if they could follow her along the roof tops. She was glad for the solitude.
She had been walking along at a fairly quick pace and was just starting to calm down again when her phone rang in her pocket. She fished it out and checked the screen. It was Raph. Of course it was. "Hello." She sighed into the phone.
"You shouldn't have gone out on you own like that." He said obviously annoyed. "Especially after what happened to April."
"I realize that, but we haven't seen hide nor hair of any of those gang members all week, and I had to leave." She tried to remain calm as she continued walking along the street. It was still raining, so few people were out, and those who were seemed to be giving her a wide berth.
"Just because you haven't seen them, doesn't mean they're gone. They could have jumped you at any moment." Raph hissed. He had dropped back from his brothers to place the call. He really didn't feel like having them eaves drop on this particular conversation.
"I'm sorry, alright?" Holly was losing her temper now. She had argued enough today to last a lifetime. "But you just don't get it."
"No? And I suppose April would have?"
"You know what?" Holly stopped in the middle of the street and started yelling into her phone. "I am allowed to talk to other people about things, before I come rushing to you. I know what I did was stupid, but I am quite capable of taking care of myself every once in a while. I have been doing it for a few years now already, thank you very much!" She hung up on his and stomped off down the road, fuming to herself.
Raphael blanched, then clenched his fists and growled angrily to himself. "God, she is stubborn!" He wanted to throw something, but just settled for some angry mumbling and flailing.
"So? How'd it go?" Leo asked happily as his angry little brother rejoined the group.
"Don't." was all he could manage before his blood started boiling again.
"Now you know how we feel." Mikey said from his perch on the ledge. Donnie and Leo just nodded their agreement.
Raph said nothing. He was furious at Holly, and at himself. Surely she must know he was worried about her when they got the call for Murakami. She shouldn't be allowed to get mad at him for that.
Holly went into her building. The lights came on in her apartment, but she didn't appear on her balcony. Raph's phone dinged once with a notification "I'm safe now, you can go home." He wanted to text her back, to yell at her, or apologize. Instead he growled in frustration and thrust his phone into its pocket. He felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Give it a day and maybe you'll both have calmed down." Donnie said. Raphael didn't respond. He just turned away and went home with his brothers.
The following day Holly was still pretty mad. She hadn't slept and when she finally answered her moms calls, she was in the airport getting ready to board a plane back to Manhattan. Holly knew she was going to be in so much trouble. She had never really rebelled against her mother before, but she was at the end of her rope. How could she possibly explain what had been going on? Her mom would never understand. She got up and started to get ready for school. Her mom would be home before she was today, although hopefully she would be jet-lagged and would be asleep already.
She and April had a chance to talk during the day. Holly told her everything that had been going on, and what had happened, and April was sympathetic to her dismay. Not that she could offer any solutions to her problems, but she could commiserate with her friend and try to cheer her up.
When the last bell rang, Holly bid April a good evening and prepared herself for what she was about to walk into. She ran through a whole bunch of possible explanations, but none of them seemed even remotely plausible. As she rounded the block to her building, she ran into the back of a crowd that was blocking her way. She pushed through the crowd until she was at the front standing behind police tape.
There was a few squad cars and an ambulance outside Hollys' apartment, and the glass in the front doors was shattered all across the street. The door man was sat on the step talking to a police officer as a paramedic was dabbing at a nasty cut just over his eyebrow.
"Bud." Holly whispered to herself and dove beneath the tape, glass crunching underfoot. An officer grabbed her across the shoulders, making sure she wasn't just some by stander who wanted a closer look. Bud waved her over and she rushed to his side. "Oh my god, what happened?"
"I don't know. That shady-looking guy was back, he barged into the building and knocked me out before I could hit the silent alarm. I hope everyone is ok. I don't remember anything." Bud looked shaken up, but he was being looked after by one of the policemen, so Holly knew he would be OK.
"Who called the cops?" Holly asked looking around at the officers.
"One of the other tenants. They said they heard the glass smash, but didn't see who did it. They stayed with Bud until we got here." An officer with a large mustache replied.
"So what did he want?" She asked, fearing the answer.
"Don't know. As far as we can tell they guy was looking for something to steal, and gave up once he realized there was nothing of value in the lobby."
Holly nodded absently and tried to look like she was calm. Her heart hammered in her chest and she felt dizzy from all the blood pumping through her head. After making sure her friend was going to be fine, she dashed to the elevator and jammed the button a few times. She didn't wait for the doors to open all the way before pushing through them and stabbing frantically at the '7' button. The elevator rose slowly up through the floors, and with every passing second Holly felt her blood pressure rise. Her heart was pounding in her ears and her throat felt tight in anticipation of what she might find.
The door to the apartment looked closed at first glance, but Holly pushed on the door and it swung open. The apartment looked untouched, but as she stepped into the kitchen there was a single wine glass shattered on the floor, red wine was splattered everywhere.
"Mom?" Holly yelled into the silent apartment. She stepped tentatively around the glass back into the living area. Where she spotted a note attached to the backside of the front door with a switchblade. She crept over to it and ripped it from the door. It was scribbled on a piece of her mother's stationary that she kept by the phone.
'I have your mother. I was hoping to catch you, but I'll take what I can get. Give me those mutant freaks, princess, and I'll give you your mommy back. You have 3 days.'
Holly let her arm fall after she read the note. She looked around her home and suddenly felt very vulnerable. This must be how April felt without her father. She grabbed a few things before running out of her home. She made her way to the lair, making sure to double-back on herself, and go through the busiest areas she could find before slipping into the tunnel entrance. Once she was underground, she ran as fast as she could to the lair, her eyes were misty with tears and a few hysterical sobs escaped her lips.
The Turtles were all up and milling around when Holly entered their home. She was sobbing now and walked straight to Raph who stood and opened his arms to her. She collapsed into him crying fully now, the note still clutched in her hands. He looked around at the other in a panic.
"Whats happened?" Splinter asked.
Holly couldn't speak, she was gulping air trying to get herself together. She handed over the note to their sensei and took a few shaky breaths, "He took my mom. That ass hole broke in and took her".
Splinter looked aghast. "I am so sorry".
"What?" Blurted out Leo.
"I thought she was in Paris" Raph said, still patting her on the back,
"She caught a flight early this morning and was supposed to be home when I got there." She wiped her eyes roughly. "I was so horrible to her." She added feeling so ashamed.
"Don't worry about that now. We will get her back and you can apologize as much as you like" Leo offered.
"Would someone call April for me?" Holly glanced at Donnie.
"I'll do it!" Mikey chirped up.
Donnie shut him down, "No, I'll call her".
"Come with me, you need a strong cup of tea." Splinter ushered her into the Kitchen and Raph and Leo followed along. While Donnie called April, and Mikey tried to be on the call with him.
April and her aunt had been watching a movie when her phone rang. She picked it up expecting to hear Donnies happy voice through the speaker. "Hello." She answered.
"Hey, Holly's mom has been taken hostage. She's here with us now, but she's very shaken up"
"Oh my gosh, that's awful!" April knew exactly how her friend felt. Her father was a top scientist and was still missing too. "I thought her mom was out of the country though?"
"Yeah, well she cam home early," Donnie said, "do you think your aunt would let you come over to help her out?"
"I would love to, but I'm still grounded." April said.
"What's going on sweetie?" Carol asked.
"Hang on D." April covered the speaker with her palm, "Holly's, mom is missing. The police are there, but they don't know what happened." She was only half lying
"Oh dear." Carol covered her mouth with her hand. "Does she need a place to stay?"
"No. She's going to one of our other friends place. They have more people home to take care of her." April said.
"People just aren't safe here anymore." Carol shook her head. "First your father, and all those other scientists. Now Holly's mom. Why? It just doesn't make sense." She got up and walked around her apartment nervously.
"I'm going to finish this up stairs." April said to her aunt, waving her phone in the air.
Carol stopped pacing and faced her niece, "You know what? I think Holly needs you tonight."
"What?"
"You are so brave and strong, and I think Holly could use some of that tonight. You're off the hook, for now at least." Carol said.
April jumped up and hugged her aunt. "Thank you." She started running upstairs as she spoke into her phone. "Tell Holly I'm on my way. I'll see you in a while."
April rushed to the lair as fast as she dared. She was also careful to make sure she was not followed, but she wanted to be there for Holly right now. As soon as she entered the Turtles home, she ran straight to her friend, and wrapped her arms around her shoulder. Holly let out a little sob, and let her head come to rest against Aprils' shoulder.
"What has happened?" April asked the quiet room.
They went over all the details again for April, she sat holding Holly, who would occasionally let out a little gasp as she tried to stop crying. When everyone was up to speed with all the events of the last two days, Holly finally sat up. "I am a horrible daughter. This is all my fault"
"No its not." Said splinter firmly. "This is no ones fault, and you will need to be strong if we are to get your mother back". Holly nodded and wiped another tear out from under her glasses. "You must remain here for the next few days. We will make a plan and do everything we can to free her." Splinter turned to leave "I need to meditate on all of this."
The remainder of the daylight hours we spent in almost complete silence. They all just sat around Holly who looked shell-shocked and refused to talk much. They forced a couple more cups of tea into her before she finally came around. "Raph can I talk to you?" She asked.
"Uhh, yeah. Of course" He replied sheepishly. He glanced around at the others, he really didn't want to talk in front of everyone.
"We'll give you some space." April announced and shooed everyone out of the living space.
"Oh come on, the T.V.'s in there" groaned Mikey as April shoved him into the Kitchen.
Neither of the stubborn teens said anything for a while. Holly was picking at her nails nervously trying not to cry while Raph sat a few cushions away with his arms set firmly across his chest.
"I'm sorry Raph. I didn't mean to yell at you yesterday." She looked up for a second, and saw that he had his poker face on, just like when they had first met. "Can you forgive me?"
"Sure." He shrugged.
Holly felt a wave of despair wash over her. She just nodded and lowered her head as she felt her lip wobble uncontrollably. She heard Raph sigh and felt the couch shift as he scooted closer to her.
"I didn't mean it like that. I don't think there's anything you could do that I wouldn't forgive you for." Raph smiled, hoping that Holly would feel better, but she was still examining her fingers. "Ok, I'm sorry too. I know we can't keep you two locked up for the rest of your lives, but we worry about you. Especially since we can't help you if you do get into trouble during the day. These men are dangerous, and I think they've proved that they're willing to do anything to get what they want."
"Your right," Holly said softly. "I should have listened."
"Yeah. but, to be honest, I probably wouldn't have either." Raph replied with a guilty look on his face. To his delight, Holly finally cracked a smile. It was forced, but he would take it. "Besides, only someone as stubborn as I am could put up with me for as long as you have."
"Thanks Raph." She said sarcastically.
"Are you going to be alright?" He asked.
"Honestly, I don't know. If we can get my mom back, I will be." Holly felt ashamed at her behavior over the last few hours. "I don't know how April can be so calm in this situation."
"She knows we're going to get her dad back, it's just taking longer than expected." He leaned back casually on the couch, relieved that they were on speaking terms again.
"I just want today to be over." Holly took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes until little spots appeared. "I will not wallow in self-pity anymore. If I'm going to help my mom I need to be focused."
"And you will be. I've seen you when you're determined. It's pretty scary." Raph shrugged again.
"Thanks." She repeated. Holly took a deep shuddering breath to calm herself down, then leaned back against the couch with Raph. She let herself slide down the couch until she bumped into him, then tipped her head and rested it on his shoulder.
They sat for a while, listening to the hushed conversations happening in other rooms. Neither of them wanted to move, and soon Holly felt her eyes slipping closed. She tried to force herself awake by sitting up, but almost immediately felt herself wobble. Raph gripped her shoulders gently, and stood up beside her.
"Come on, you can sleep in my room again." He slid one hand around her back and swooped up her legs with the other. She moaned softly in protest, but found she was too tired to even pretend to argue with him.
He set her gently in his bed, pulled her glasses off her face, and set them on his side table so they wouldn't get broken. Raph was about to leave when Holly mumbled from the pillow.
"What?" He asked.
"Don't leave me." She said softly.
"I have to. The others..." He tried to leave, but she reached out for him and managed to find his hand.
"Please?"
Raph sighed again, "Fine, but only until you fall asleep." He sat on the edge of the bed and she inched herself over so that he could sit next to her. Not a moment after he was sat with his legs kicked up, she wrapped an arm around him and buried her face into his side. Raph shook his head to himself, knowing full well that no one could see him pretending not to enjoy this.
"Do you hate me sometimes?" She asked him, her eyes were still closed and she was barely speaking above a whisper
"What? Why would you think that?" He replied frowning.
"I don't mean to, but I know I make you mad." She said
"You do drive me nuts sometimes, but I don't hate you." He said to the top of her head.
"That's good. Because I really like." She yawned through the sentence, and he was pretty sure she was out cold before she had even finished talking. He knew he had said that he would leave her once she was asleep, but he just wanted to stay for a few more minutes. It was nice being able to just relax with someone for a change, so he scooted down and grabbed up a comic book to read while Holly slept peacefully beside him.
The temperatures dropped low overnight. On the surface the heat wave that had been bearing down on New York for over a month had finally broken, and underground it was almost chilly.
Leonardo woke up earlier than he usually did. He stretched as he stepped out into the main room of the lair and glanced over at the couch. Raph and April were out cold, both wrapped up in an extra blanket each to keep off the chill. He stepped into the kitchen, only to see a pot of coffee was already brewed and a cups worth was missing. He poured himself a mug, and went in search of who ever was up already.
Leo stopped by his brainiac brothers room first. Donnie would sometimes pull all-nighters if he was working on something he was passionate about. But when he poked his head around the door, his little brother was sprawled out across his entire bed, snoring softly. Leo closed the door again and decided that he would check the training room as it was the only logical place that whoever was up could be. There was no way Michelangelo was up first.
Sure enough when he slid open the door, Holly was standing in the middle of the room. Her coffee cup was at the edge of the mat, along with her phone, and she was practicing by herself with one of the wooden swords.
"Practicing hard are we?" He commented, leaning against the door frame.
"Shh," Holly hissed, "Splinter is still asleep."
"Probably not." He said quietly, just in case he was wrong.
"Do you always lurk in doorways or do you ever actually enter a room?" She whispered back at him. She didn't stop her practice as she spoke to him.
"Ah, and I was wondering why Raph liked you." He replied sarcastically.
"If your tongue were any sharper, you wouldn't need your swords." She said with a hint of a smile on her lips.
Leo just rolled his eyes and watched her in silence for a moment, sipping his coffee. "You getting pretty good at that." He mentioned.
"I would hope so. I've been practicing everyday since we started doing this." She scoffed.
"Really?"
"Yes. This last week alone, I've practiced for about four hours every evening." She finished out her routine and turned to face him. "When your an only child, and your grounded, it's a good idea to do something to keep yourself from going crazy."
"I wouldn't know." he shrugged.
"No, I suppose not." She sighed. "Anyway, it's nice to have something to focus on." She padded barefoot over to her mug and took a quick sip. "Would you like to join me?" She asked before stepping back into the room.
"Seriously? You want to train?" Leo looked dubious.
"Yeah." She peered at him over the top of her glasses, "Unless your afraid."
"Wow, you really are just like Raph." He set him mug down and picked up one of the other wooden swords. "No one ever wants to train, you know."
"Well, I have to get my mother back." Holly stated honestly. "So I need as much practice as I can get." He just gave her a sad smile in reply.
Leo stared off going easy on her, but he soon realized that Holly hadn't been kidding about her training regime. She was easily blocking his attacks, and had even managed to throw a few swings his way that he hadn't been expecting. They must have been making quite a racket, as soon after they began, Splinter slid his bedroom door open to watch their sparing.
Leo stepped up his game, he charged her and swung under her arm, but Holly hopped backwards out or range. It wasn't as smooth or dignified as he would have been able to manage, but she was only a few months into her training, and it had gotten her out of the way. He stepped into her again, swinging at her shoulder, and then again for the other side of here body. She blocked both, keeping instep with him each time.
They swung back and fourth for a while, and soon Holly was getting frustrated. She was starting to swing with more ferocity and was watching him carefully as if he were actually her enemy. He swung again, this time for her head. She spun as she ducked, throwing out her leg to try and sweep his feet out. But he was faster and flung himself into a barrel roll over her. He hopped back away from her, with a smile plastered to his face. Holly, however, had strings of hair plastered to her sticky face.
Mikey, April and Donnie were peeking in on the session unnoticed. They watched Leo and Holly exchange blows until Holly was sweating with the effort she was putting in, and when she nearly got the better of him, they all broke out into excited snickers and whispers.
"What's going on?" Raph said from behind the three snoopers.
Three groans escaped from three dropped heads, and it was enough to make Holly realize that they were being watched. She blinked rapidly, realizing that she had been so focused on what she was doing, she hadn't been aware that there were snoopers. Her stance became uncertain, and Leo decided to teach her an important lesson. He dashed over to her and knocked the wooden sword out of her hand, swept her legs out from underneath her and stood over her with the tip of his weapon hanging just below her chin.
"Don't lose your focus. It will be your downfall." He said, she looked a little stunned and her glasses were askew on her face. "Also, try not to be self conscious, you were doing well until you realized they were there." He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder before lowering his weapon and pulling her back to her feet.
"That was awesome!" Mikey said enthusiastically, and toppled the three of them into the training room.
"Ow, Mikey get off me." Donnie's muffled voice came from the floor.
"Quite impressive." Splinter said from the other side of the room. "You have been working hard, and it is showing."
Holly mumbled thanks and bowed awkwardly to their sensei before stuffing the equipment away and dashing off to take refuge in the shower room.
"I feel kind of guilty, I haven't been practicing much outside of our training session." April said as she disentangled herself from the others. She picked up one of the staffs from the rack and started absentmindedly twisting it through her hands.
"It's not required. Only Leo and Raph actually do extra work." Donnie shrugged. "Well, and apparently Holly too."
"What do you do with your extra time?" April asked.
"Build stuff." Donnie shrugged again. "What did you do while you were grounded?"
"Baked cookies and watched movies." She grinned up at him.
"And you didn't bring us any? Harsh." Mikey chirped in from the floor.
April just frowned at him, "Its not like I had the time to bring them over."
"He knows," Donnie said, also glowering at his baby brother, "He's just trying to guilt you into making more."
"Maybe later, when we have less important things to worry about." April said.
The remainder of the day was spent preparing for the evenings rescue attempt. They had decided that the most obvious place to check first would be the Fortune Cookie Factory. It was unlikely that the purple dragons would continue using the run down warehouse as their base, but it was the only place that the teens knew the gang usually were. Hopefully there would be a clue as to what was really going on with the increased gang activity.
At sun down, Leo lead the group out to the surface and across the rooftops to the warehouse district, and split them into two teams who positioned themselves atop buildings on opposite sides of the factory. He, Mikey and and Holly were facing north, over looking the delivery entrance. While Donnie, Raph and April were facing south.
"Something's not right." Leo said as he frowned into his binoculars.
"I agree." Donnie's voice crackled over the speaker of Leo's phone. "I haven't seen a single purple dragon member."
"Where else could they be?" Aprils voice came though.
"Hey you guys! There's a dog over there, doing dog stuff." Mikey yelled.
"Focus Mikey." Leo said.
"What are we going to do?" Holly asked. Silence, answered her.
"We go down there carefully, and see what's going on." Leo said calmly. "Move in, slowly."
The teens approached the building cautiously, even the surrounding streets were deserted. Leo,and his group entered the building from the loading docks, while Donnie and the others entered through the side street . The building was still damaged from their last visit, and there were still mouser parts strewn across the floor.
"They're not here." Holly whispered once they all were close.
"Doesn't seem like it." Leo replied. "Everyone fan out and look for clues."
"OK Freddie." April scoffed.
"Freddie?" Leo asked.
April sighed, "You know what, it doesn't matter."
They all broke off into pairs and started to comb the area. Leo and Mikey spread over the lower level, while Holly and Raph leaned against one of the conveyor belts and held a hushed conversation. Donnie and April climbed the stairs to what was Baxter Stockman's office, they rifled through the filing cabinets and turned over all the pages on the table top.
"Do you really expect to find anything?" April asked after a while of silent searching.
"I hope so." Donnie replied, "I doubt you want Holly to have to go through what you have been, do you?"
"Of course not. But If her mom's not here I don't know where she could be."
"None of us do, but we have to start somewhere." Donnie pulled open a draw in a filing cabinet. "What is this?" He pulled out an old looking laptop computer, and flipped the top open.
The screen was dark, but it sprang to life when it was opened. Stockman himself was waiting for them. "Well, you pests showed up sooner than we expected." He sneered at them through the web cam. "Luckily we were faster at relocating."
"What have you done with Mrs. Mcallister?" April demanded.
"Don't worry, she's safe with us." Stockman purred. "We promise to delivery her safe and sound, if the Turtles come and get her."
"That's a little difficult if we don't know where you are."April snapped.
"I will tell you, soon. But first I want to know, are you vermin warm or cold blooded?"
"Why?" Donnie narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
"No reason, I'm just curious as to how warm you like the ambient temperature." Stockman smiled nastily at the camera.
"Do you plan on telling us where you are, or not?" Donnie asked irritably.
"Certainly, we are waiting for you in the clock tower." April and Donnie turned to run out of the office when Stockman called out to them to stop. "We will be waiting, if you make it here alive." He pulled out a small remote control from his pocket.
"What's that?" April asked nervously.
"That's a detonator." Donnie replied panic-stricken. He grabbed Aprils wrist and dragged her out of the office.
"I would say it has been a pleasure knowing you." Baxter said happily, "But that would be a lie." He pressed the button.
Raphael had pulled Holly off to the side before they started searching the Factory, he had noticed that she couldn't stop fidgeting with her hands, and was on the verge of bursting into tears at any moment. "Hey, are you alright?"
"Not really." She answered honestly.
"Don't worry so much, we'll get you mom back." He said earnestly.
"Yeah, but then what?" She said glancing around at the others. "The best case scenario I can see coming out of this is that we get her back, unharmed, but she now knows about you guys, and those stupid goons aren't just going to let this go. They will keep harassing April and I until they get what they want." She sucked in and let out an anxious breath.
"Well, there's nothing we can do about any of that right now." He shrugged. "The number one priority, is getting your mother back, and everything else, we can deal with later." She didn't say anything in response, she just let out another sigh and nodded to show she understood.
Leo and Mikey had been searching the loading docks when April and Donnie's hurried footsteps made everyone turned to see what was going on. "We've got to go." Donnie yelled.
"Why?" Raph asked indignantly. That was when the office exploded above them. Raph and Holly were thrown bodily through the air and crashed through some left over crates piled up on the floor, as soon as Raph hit the floor he rolled over to Holly and shielded her with his shell to protect her from any additional damage.
April felt Donnie pull her close to him just before he launched them both over a nearby table. As they crashed down he grabbed the ledge and pulled it over on its side to provide them with what little cover he could. While Leonardo and Mikey dropped to the floor where they stood.
"Lets move." Leo bellowed before anyone could even move.
"Are you alright?" Raph asked Holly, he grabbed her under the elbow and lifted her to her feet. She blinked at him with glassy eyes and nodded absently at him. A trickle of blood oozed from her hairline, so he grabbed her wrist and dragged her after him.
More and more charges blew behind them, sending swirling shrapnel spinning past their heads. Fires erupted all around as the stacked boxes and pallets caught dancing flecks of ash. Leo lead the way through smoke and fire, dodging falling plaster and vaulting over upturned conveyor belts. Raph and Holly came next, with Mikey just behind them.
Donnie and April were lagging a few yards behind them when another explosion on the right caught them off guard. April threw her arms up to protect her face but the chunks of brick that rained down on them caused her to miss place a step and she felt her ankle roll out from underneath her. Something popped. "Donnie!" She yelled.
He turned to see her clutching her ankle looking distraught. "Can you walk?"
"I don't think so." April said.
Donnie scanned around for the others, but they had disappeared into the smoke and the boxes of cookies were burning away to cinders. "Well have to find another way out".
April nodded and let Donnie lift her into his arms. He set off running back the way they had come, hoping there was an exit still accessible to them.
Leo and the rest of the gang burst through the exit, and on into an empty alley way, coughing and spluttering. Holly was bent over double retching up the smoke that was in her lungs, while Raph checked over a nasty looking cut on her head.
"That was not our most gracious exit." Mikey said to no one in particular. Everyone silently agreed.
Leo quickly assessed the damage. Mikey looked alright, he just had a few cuts and scrapes, but nothing that would be considered serious. Raph too, looked fine. "Where's Donnie and April?"
"What?" Holly spun around, and immediately turned to run back towards the burning factory.
"No!" Raph grabbed her around the waist and held onto the squirming girl. "Don't be stupid."
"They were right behind me!" Mikey yelled.
"Don't worry, I'm sure they're OK." Leo said, hoping he sounded more confident than he felt. "We'll check the other exits before we start panicking."
The teens started to make their was around the outside of the building. Black smoke was curling it's way into the night, and Leo knew it wouldn't be long before the fire department was on its way.
"We have to go back in." Holly yelled suddenly.
"Absolutely not." Leo said firmly. "Donnie is resourceful, he'll find a way out.
"Yeah, but what if they don't?" Mickey asked softly.
"They will." Ralph responded for his big brother. Leo locked eyes with Ralph for a moment, and they nodded to each other, reassuring themselves.
They turned around the corner that lead to the alley that divided the back of this warehouse and it's neighbors and one of the windows shattered, and Donnie and April fell to the ground in a shower of glass. Donatello straightened up and set April gingerly on her good foot. Holly let out a little laugh of disbelief and ran over to April. While Leo and the others gathered around Donnie.
"What happened in there?" Leo asked.
"We just got separated, and the path was blocked by burning debris when we tried to catch up." Donnie offered, not wanting to blame April.
"Are you alright?" Mikey asked April, sounding worried.
"I don't know, I think I sprained my ankle." April said, she lowered her foot to the floor and put a little weight on it before gasping in pain and resuming her one legged stance.
The teens all looked around at each other, trying to read each others faces.
Leo was the first one to say what was on their minds. "You can't come with us if you can't walk."
"Well, obviously." April snapped.
"Then what do we do?" Donnie asked
"We need to get out of here, someone will notice the factory on fire." Leo said.
"Then we should get the girls back underground. We can try this again tomorrow." Raph chimed in.
"No." Holly shook her head. "I will take her back underground, you guys will do better against these jerks with out us anyway."
"You can't be serious?" Raph scoffed. "After all those times you guys argued with us?"
"Listen, they will either suspect we're dead, or have turned home with out tails between our legs. If you go, now, we will have a better shot at catching them off guard." Holly spoke clearly, even though the tears tracking down her face betrayed her dismay.
"Are you sure?" Leo asked.
"Yeah." April admitted for Holly.
The boys remained silent, they knew how badly the girls wanted to help them, but they also knew that they could move much faster with out them.
"You guys should go, the cops could be here any minute." April said.
"I'll give you a piggy back ride until we're far enough away from here." Holly crouched down and let Donnie help April onto her back. She stood shakily bearing the weight of her best friend easily enough for now. But she knew it was going to be a long walk back to the lair.
"We'll see you soon." Leo said.
"Take care you two." Mikey gave them a quick squeeze.
"Don't push yourself too far. Rest if you need to." Donnie glanced for one girl to the other with worry plastered across his brow.
"Just bring my mom home." Holly said.
Raph just nodded at her in silent promise that they would do what they could. The girls watched their Turtles race off into the night, until they heard sirens off in the distance. Holly bumped her friend up higher on her back, before turning away from the burning building into the darkened alleys of New York.
Holly carried April for just shy of an hour before she had to stop. By then they had made it to the entrance to the sewers, but there was still the long soggy leg of the journey to go yet.
"How's your ankle doing?" She said after setting April down.
April tested it again by trying to take a few steps. "Better, although it's still killing me."
"Well, we can go slower now we're not in the open." Holly slid the cover back over the entrance and turned to her friend. "But if it gets bad, I'll carry you again."
They walked slowly. April threw her arm over her friends shoulder, while Holly gripped April around the waist. When they finally made it to the lair both of them were out of breath, and April had pretty much given up using her bad ankle and was hopping along using Holly as a crutch.
Splinter was in the main room watching television, he had the news on and was watching the live report of the suspected arson in the warehouse district. He turned around before either of the girls could say anything, and for a brief moment, they could have sworn that they saw disapproval in his dark eyes. But if there was anything there it evaporated into concern when he saw the state the girls were in.
"What has happened?" He asked and sprang over to them. "Where are my sons?"
"They're fine." Holly said hastily. "They went on without us."
He didn't know who to tend to first. April looked like she was in pain, but there was blood soaking into Holly's collar that had come from her temple. "Lets set her down on the couch and then let's get you checked over." Splinter helped Holly get April settled before rushing off to get a first aid kit and some warm water in a bowl for them to clean up with.
He crouched down in front of Holly and beckoned her to lean forwards, and to April he said, "Tell me what happened while I fix you up." He brushed back the hair that clung in bloody clumps to Holly's face, and gently washed the grime away as he listened to the girls talk. The cuts on Holly weren't as bad as he had feared, they were shallow but there were plenty of them that they had bled quite a lot. He had her hold a cool towel to them and turned to April.
"It was all planned." April finished off, and she sounded angry about it.
"It sounds like it, but you girls did the right thing letting them go without you." Splinter said softly. "Now, what hurts?"
"My ankle. I think it's sprained."
"I'm going to take off your shoe to take a look. But it's probably going to hurt." Splinter told her honestly. April just nodded and looked pale. He tried to be as gentle as possible, but he had to rotate her ankle around to see if anything was broken. "Can you wiggle your toes?" He asked. She did, which was good. "You are correct, it is sprained. We'll ice it for a while and then wrap it later and you should be fine in a couple of days."
April nodded grimly, she had gone from pale to a sallow shade. Which only made her ash covered skin look even dirtier.
"I suggest that you two clean yourselves up and change while we wait for the turtles to return." He stood and headed off to his room, and returned with Holly's unwrapped Yukata folded neatly into a square, and a wrapped package for April.
"Thank you." Holly said.
April unwrapped her parcel, and a soft yellow robe unfolded its self into her hands. It had little embroidered bright orange birds on it, and was the same shape as the green one Holly held.
"This is beautiful, and my favorite color." She beamed at her sensei. "Thank you."
"You're welcome. Now, go get tidied up while I make some tea. I have a feeling we'll be waiting for a while." Splinter said, he helped Holly get April to he feet, but left them to get clean and changed in private. The old rat kept himself busy in the kitchen making some sandwiches and tea for the girls to eat while they awaited the return of his sons.