Her brothers would never bring her on missions.
Or at least, they wouldn't if they had a choice.
Leo sighed as they waited, hidden atop one of the shipment containers. He hadn't wanted Ming to come with them, and yet here she was. She had caught them sneaking out, and so they had no choice but to bring her along. Otherwise she would have snitched to Splinter. And that was not an option.
This whole adventure had been Raph's idea. Sneaking out, going above ground despite direct orders from Splinter, and now, his brothers and sister wanted to stop these armed soldiers from stealing chemical shipments from the docks.
It had been happening all over New York. Dangerous chemicals being stolen from shipping docks at gunpoint. Donnie had been able to confirm via shipping records online that these containers held what was likely the next target.
Leo glanced at Ming, and couldn't help the lump in his throat. She shouldn't be here! She was short even for a human, but she was tiny compared to her brothers, which had earned her nicknames from Raph and Mikey like Squirt and Pipsqueak. Sure, she was a ninja too, but she was only 11 and didn't have a weapon of her own or a mask. She hadn't even bothered wearing a balaclava or a scarf around her face.
"Guys, listen-" Leo started, hoping to talk Ming into going home, but that was when two black cars and a truck pulled up to the shipment. They all crouched and watched people dressed in blacks and greys step out of their vehicles. Most of them, again, held massive machine guns. Leo's stomach twisted. What if-?
No time to think about that now. Raph and Donnie nodded to each other and leapt down to grab soldiers and knock them out. Mikey wrapped his chain around one guy and sent him flying. Ming knocked one on the head and used his own gun to melee another soldier, as they took fire. Leo helped her get out of the way of the bullets.
The ninjas attacked from the sides and disappeared again, staying out of sight of the weapon-holders. At least everybody was still being stealthy about this-
Until Raph, with a grunt, picked up an entire shipping container and threw it, knocking some of the soldiers into the river. This caused their leader to call a retreat, but Leo still gave Raph the stink eye.
As the armed individuals drove away, Mikey grabbed some spray paint and left a personal calling card; a piece of graffiti that was the ancient Japanese symbol for family. Raph watched him, standing on the container and waiting, when he noticed somebody else. A woman, with long dark red hair and civilian clothes was fumbling with her phone to take a picture.
He quickly jumped down behind the container before she could get a picture, and Mikey and him ran to catch up with the others. Raph decided it was best not to tell his brothers what he had seen. Leo would freak if he knew Raph had almost been caught on camera.
Ming laughed as they leapt over rooftops across the city. "What took you two so long?" She teased.
"Mikey wanted to paint that symbol again." Raph grunted.
"Mikey we said we weren't gonna do that anymore!" Donnie chastised him.
"I don't see why not. It's just graffiti, nobody's gonna trace it back to us! Nobody even knows we exist!" Mikey defended himself.
They all stopped on the building just beside the manhole cover they used to get in and out of the sewers. "Alright guys, let's get home before Splinter catches us." Leo announced.
The others grumbled but descended to the alleyway. Leo stopped Ming. "Alright, listen. Tonight was way too risky. You could have gotten hurt-"
"Not this again!" Ming groaned. "I'm fine! Look at me! Not a scratch, a bruise or a mark anywhere on my body!"
"They were shooting at you!"
"I got out of the way just fine!"
"Yeah, with my help!" This was quickly turning into another shouting match. "Look, Ming-"
"No! You guys can't just go out on missions without me! Number one, that's not fair, and number two, you need me!" Ming growled.
"No we don't!" Leo shouted, and instantly wished to take it back.
Ming's eyes widened a moment, then narrowed again. "I'm telling Dad."
"No-" Leo grabbed her in a bear hug before she could jump down. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry, I take it back."
Ming struggled. "Put me down, shellface!" She growled.
"Look, I just don't want to see you get hurt okay?! Those guys could have killed you! I know you think you're tough, but you are fucking 5 feet tall!"
"I am 5 foot 2!" Ming snapped, still trying to twist out of her brother's grasp. "And I am just as capable as the rest of you!" She gasped as her foot connected hard with Leo's knee, and he finally dropped her.
"Ming..." He sighed as she jumped down to the alleyway.
That hadn't gone the way Leo hoped...