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Whispers in the Dark	By : Ombre_des_dieux Category: +S through Z > Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Views: 1783 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, nor the characters from it. My rights extend only to this original plot and the original characters herein. This is an homage after a 30-year love affair with the characters. No money was made.

Chapter List
- 3
- 4
- 5
Getting Out
Raphael glanced down and lit up his phone to check the time. The blue-green light was almost too bright after half a night of staring into a dark street, and it cast weird shifting shadows across his face. He frowned. It was getting late and he was waiting for April's final check in.
Things seemed to be going well, Donatello reported clear transmissions from the CEO and April had not seen anyone suspicious as she mingled with the other guests. She should be leaving soon and they could all call it a night.
He prepared to move out, blinking the spots from his eyes and checking his gear, making sure he hadn't left any traces in the snow or gravel of the rooftop, when his phone vibrated insanely and lit up all yellow.
April pressed her panic button!
Something had gone terribly wrong. Before he could even finish the thought, Leonardo called them into action.
"Raph, you take the balcony entrance. Michelangelo and I have the roof, we'll work our way down. Donnie, get the van and sit tight, you're tactical." Leo commanded through the headset. "Any other word from April?"
"One short text," Don said. "Trapped in the 2nd floor ballroom. Confirmed with her phone's tracker."
Everyone moved out. April could usually take care of herself, but she was prone to taking unnecessary risks when she felt backed into a corner. They didn't know the situation yet, but didn't want her panicking into error.
"Another update," Don reported a moment later. "Lights out, shots fired. Hun and a band of Dragons."
Raphael growled as he raced toward his entry point, adrenaline pumping through him. Hun wasn't the brightest crayon in the box but he was mean and Raph didn't want him coming anywhere near the girls. The leader of the Purple Dragons had tried to kill April once already and only Casey's quick intervention had prevented her death.
That mountain of a man held grudges and he didn't like being thwarted. If he found April, he'd try to collect and Raph didn't even want to think about what the giant might do to the tiny, pixie-like girl he had followed.
I'm comin' girls
He leapt the railing at the edge of his building, snatched at a drainpipe and slid down three floors. Pushing off the flaking metal, he backflipped to a nearby ledge of grey concrete, narrowing his focus to the next purple-shadowed step in his quest. A handy construction crane with a massive glistening steel beam provided the bridge he needed to reach his target. Seconds later, the glass door to the fifth floor balcony yielded to a sharp probe from the point of his sai and he tore it open, almost taking it off the hinges in his haste.
"I'm in," Raph said into his headset as he flattened himself against the wall and slunk through the darkness. "Lights out confirmed. Looks like the whole building's gone. No emergency generator either."
"Camera's are compromised," Don said. "They were tied to the power grid, so no fear of being recorded, but be careful. The building is crawling with people. Not to mention the bodyguards of the important guests."
"Copy that," Leo said. "Mikey and I are in on 12. We'll move down the west stairwell."
"Don, you see a back way into that ballroom?" Raph asked as he raced down the north side hall.
He fumbled with his headgear to switch on the night vision. Usually the brothers had no problem with the dark, but in this pitch black he wasn't sure he'd even recognize April if she stood in front of him. The hall came into focus right as a security guard came around the corner lighting his goggles all yellow and red.
Shit, there's nowhere to go...
A quick jump saw Raph pressed shell to the ceiling, hands and feet mashed against the walls to either side of the hall. The guard blundered by underneath him, cursing at the dark.
"There's an access point in the northwest corner," Don said. "From your position take a right at the end of the hall. Three flights down is the kitchen. Pass through should be on your left."
"Got it," Raph said as he dropped to the floor and increased his pace.

"Emma? Where are we going?" April whispered as she crouched and followed Morgan to the nearest wall. Morgan reached back and took April's hand so she wouldn't lose her in the dark.
"A bit further," Morgan said. She trailed her hand over the surface on her left, brushing past the various draperies which made up the decor until she felt the texture change under her fingertips.
"Right here," she whispered. If the situation hadn't been so dire she would have cheered.
Under her probing hands a panel popped open. Morgan reached out and pulled April through as quickly as she could before shutting it behind her. She leaned against it, panting for a moment, trying to calm her racing heart. The concealed janitor's area was right where the agents had said it would be. Morgan heaved a sigh of relief. Now if the rest of the instructions were as good, she and April would be out of this building in minutes.
"Is this a... closet?" April asked, keeping her voice low and fumbling around in the dark. Her voice was so confused Morgan let out a hysterical little giggle and clapped a hand over her mouth before answering.
"Janitor's station," Morgan said, "with another door which should take us to an employee cafeteria, somewhere over... here."
Morgan stuck her head out the second door and listened. Empty. She crept across the room, maneuvering around the tables with ease. April ran into a chair and it scraped across the floor with a loud squeal. Morgan started, her heart in her throat. They both froze.
"Stay with me," Morgan whispered and they started forward again.
God she was glad she wasn't alone in this escape. The adrenaline and spike of fear were all too familiar. Flashes of that last terrifying night at Charlie's compound pulsed through her thoughts, but she ruthlessly forced them away. She could not afford to let them hinder her now.
Morgan avoided the cafeteria door. She knew it opened on to the main hall and they could not afford the exposure. Instead she slid around the divider separating the employee kitchen from the eating area. She glided through, her slippers making no noise, her hands tracing the contours of the stainless metal prep tables as she passed.
She pushed open a swing door and entered a pantry. The smell of bread and cardboard boxes permeated the still air. Following the shelves to the rear, she found another door. Morgan crouched in front of it and shook for a moment before turning to April, glad the other woman couldn't really discern her fear in the darkness.
"We have to be extra careful now. This is the only exposed hall on our exit route," Morgan said. "It's about thirty feet to the first intersection. We turn right, and go another twenty feet to a side stair."
"Emma, how do you know all this?" April asked. She laid a gentle hand on Emma's arm and felt the girl trembling. "And how are you getting around so well in this darkness?"
"It's always dark to me," Morgan whispered, then shook her head hoping April would let it go if she didn't reply. Answering would expose far too much about her past. A past she feared to explain. Why should she pull another innocent into her troubles? It was bad enough Sam had been caught in the middle.
"What?" April asked, leaning closer to the frightened girl. April had been in any number of tense situations with the boys, but this young woman had not. She wracked her brain for something she could do to calm her but before she could come up with anything concrete, Emma interrupted.
"Let's just get out of here, ok?"
April didn't protest so Morgan leaned out to check the corridor again and took a deep breath to steady herself.
"Ready? Let's go."

"I'm on 2," Raphael said into his headset, right as Don said, "April is on the move. She's left the ballroom and is in a back hall a few rooms away from your position Raph."
Damn.
The angel must still be trapped with the rest of the guests but April was a higher priority. This attack could be a direct result of her investigations into Vallen. Hopefully with all the confusion and the crowd the worst Emma would suffer was the theft of her belongings. He tried not to think of all the other awful things that could befall her.
Involuntarily he clenched a fist and slammed it into the nearest wall.
Forgive me angel.
"Find me a path, Donnie," he growled, right as a couple of thugs shoved their way into the kitchen with a hostage.
Raph ducked behind the silver prep counter and pulled off his goggles, waiting for them to get closer. No way these were guests trying to get away from the commotion, they both sported street clothes and purple tats in the shape of a roaring dragon. Plus they had a flashlight.
"Tell us where she is!" yelled one, waving the golden beam in the hostage's face. "She sat at your table most of the night."
"Who?" The hostage shook and his voice wavered.
"The brunette with O'Neil, ya idiot," said the other, cracking his knuckles in a bored manner. He rubbed sweaty hands on his black jeans before hopping up on the prep table next to the victim.
"I d- don't know!" the man said. "They were right there when the lights went out."
"Only a few doors outta the room," said the first, "She didn't take any of 'em, and the boss can't find her in the crowd. So where is she, ya little snitch?"
The second punk flexed his biceps. "Maybe they hid under one of the tables. Let's get back out and-"
Raph had heard enough. He was spoiling for a fight and these punks were easy prey. In the dark kitchen, it was almost too easy. He selected a couple of large commercial pans hanging from a rack nearby and stealthily approached the nearest.
With a loud clang Raph announced his presence. He smashed the punk's head between the two pots with a satisfying crunch. The second, so startled by the noise he forgot to move, took a pan to the face and dropped to the floor in short order. The hostage slid down and started to crawl away.
Raph didn't stop him. Don's voice came back over the headset.
"You better hurry, Raph. She's moving fast. She's headed for a little used side entrance, but guys, a Dragon van is parked outside. They'll ambush her for sure."
"We're almost there," Leo said. "We'll cut her off."
"Raph, go back to the stairs and take the hall on the left. Twenty feet then left. She's in the corridor," Don said.
Raphael was already running.
He pelted back the way he had come, turned left and slid to a stop to peer cautiously around the corner. He pulled the night vision glasses back down and cursed when he found one of the lenses had busted during his little brawl. Donnie was gonna kill him.
He sighed and took them off again. The hall looked empty and quiet, but it pulsed with tension. He didn't see anyone, though he heard running and shouting from elsewhere in the building. He started moving but paused when his eyes caught the outline of a shape darting into one of the doorways ahead of him. A whiff of a perfume he knew well floated by. April.

April took cover in the tiny alcove and pressed up against Emma, hoping whoever was in the hall would pass on by as both girls tried to muffle the sounds of their panicked breathing. Emma shoved a hand against her mouth and a look of horror crossed her face.
Suddenly, the door Emma was leaning against opened and there was a short, sharp scream as she fell back into the room behind her. The hall was suddenly filled with muscled thugs and the two were grabbed on all sides and hauled to their feet by meaty, heavy handed men.
April reacted instantly, jabbing her elbow into the first person who touched her and ducking forward to charge into the ones holding Emma. Hiking up the skirt of her cocktail dress, April smacked the guy up the side of the head with a powerful roundhouse kick. He went down, but three more took his place and Emma let out a little squeak of terror.
A menacing, rumbling growl reverberated up the hall and everybody paused as their collective hair began to prickle and stand on end.
April was intimately familiar with that particular sound.
Raphael had arrived.
And he was not amused.
Raph charged into the fray with a deafening roar as April dragged Emma back into the relative safety of the empty room behind them. Emma twisted from April's grip, shied away from the chaos, and backed up until she could go no further, her eyes wide and her attention fixed on the sounds of battle echoing from the corridor.
Sharp cries of pain and exuberant yells intermixed with the sounds of heavy blows for several minutes. With a huge thud, something massive collided with the wall and a picture fell, crashing to the floor with an earsplitting clatter. Finally, everything went silent.
Emma whimpered and stood shaking, her focus glued to the door, but April strode boldly out of the room into the darkness.
"April!" a deep, gravely voice called out, "you alright?"
"Fine, but I'm not alone," she warned, unable to think of a subtler approach. How could she get Emma to safety without revealing the guys?
"Leave 'em and come on," Raph said, squaring up to the much smaller woman, his body practically vibrating with urgency. "We've got to go!"
"I'm not leaving her here!" April protested, going toe to toe with the red banded turtle. "She's terrified and I wouldn't have made it this far without her."
"She'll be fine," Raph said. "You need to get out now. You know damn well when the Dragons fail, the Foot will finish this mission so let's go!"
"No!"
The startled exclamation broke the intense staring contest April and Raph were having. Raphael winced at the frightened sound of the unknown voice.
"Emma?" April said, turning back to the girl huddling just inside the doorframe.
Emma? My Emma? The angel? Raph thought his mouth dropping open. She's the girl the Dragons are searching for?
He found himself overwhelmed by the urge to shove April aside to check. If it was the angel, he wasn't going to leave until she escaped, exposure or no. Before he could make a stupid mistake, Leonardo's voice rang out down the blackened corridor.
"April, step away from her."
April moved instantly, twisting away from the girl and running a few steps down the hall. When Leo used that tone of command, none of them disobeyed.
"April?" the girl called in confusion.
The moment April cleared the scene Leo threw a small gas pellet at the young woman's feet. There was a quiet hiss before the girl wavered and fell. Raphael snatched her up right before she hit the floor.
"Donatello," Leonardo said through his headset. "We're incoming with April and an unconscious female civilian."
The quick acting gas dissipated and Raphael directed an irritated glare at Leo's shell as they gathered in the corridor, wishing he'd known what Leo had in mind. He almost hadn't got to her in time.
"Does the civilian need medical attention?" Don asked.
Leo exchanged a glance with April, who shook her head, before he answered.
"No, she just had a whiff of your knock-out gas."
He shifted his focus to Michelangelo and April who began to move in rapid, practiced unison around him. Together they cleared the bodies littering the space with smooth, economic motions and removed all clues as to their presence.
"Alright guys, back to floor five."
It didn't take them long to reach the balcony where Raph made his entrance. From there it was easier. The ever present street lamps gave them enough light to see clearly as they maneuvered over the rooftops and down a narrow fire escape to an alley several blocks away.
Raphael tried to keep his eyes turned away from the tiny form in his arms but he couldn't help sneaking a glance every now and then. In the reflected light she seemed extremely pale and he worried, even as he told himself not too.
Mikey caught him giving her the once over.
"Don't worry, dude. Donnie made those gas pellets, she's fine."
Raph grunted as Don pulled up in their heavily modified vehicle and everyone piled in. April called shotgun, Leo climbed in the side door and Raph passed in the girl. Don gave Mikey the wheel and headed to the back to check on her.
Raphael seated himself to the side, keeping out of the way by the weapons and radar station. Leo took the seat next to Raph and began throwing questions at April.
Raph ignored them. Instead, his eyes bored into his darker green brother's shell as Donnie examined the girl as best he could in a moving vehicle. He flinched and fidgeted in his seat as Don checked over her pale arms, bent her knees, and slid his hands over her velvet covered body searching for unknown injuries. Raph gripped the armrests tight, resisting a curious impulse to shoulder his mild mannered brother away from the girl.
"She's sweet, but there is something strange about her," April mused, drawing Raph's attention back to the conversation at hand. "Emma really wanted to get out of there. She didn't panic but she definitely was not into sticking around. And she knew exactly where she was going, as if the darkness didn't matter."
Leo's brow furrowed and he tapped one finger against his lips as he considered who the girl might be and what her actions implied.
"Could she be a plant?"
Raphael's head snapped up and the glare he sent in the leader's direction could have stopped a freight train. The angel was not an enemy. Leo, long used to strange, hostile looks from this particular brother, shrugged it off.
"God, Leo. Why do we always have to assume the worst?" Raph said. "She could have worked at the place before, or dated someone who did."
Leo, Don, and April looked up at him in surprise. Even Mikey glanced back in the rear view mirror, his mouth agape. Raphael was defending a civilian?
"There are several reasons to be cautious," Leo said. "One, she 'accidentally' met April in a store this afternoon and got friendly. Two, they just happen to be attending the same party. Three, she knew a secret way out of a surrounded ballroom. Four, she led April on a direct route to an enemy vehicle."
"The Dragons wanted 'em both," Raph said, crossing his arms and facing Leo directly. "I overheard 'em grilling a hostage about the brunette with O'Neil."
Leo shook his head. "It doesn't prove anything Raph. Maybe they were upset she didn't bring April to them like she was supposed to."
Raph bristled, but April shook her head, her green eyes shown with intensity and her red hair flipped about her face in a dark wave.
"It's always possible," she said, "but I don't think so. Emma behaves like someone new to the city. She was absolutely lost in the shop today and I approached her, not the other way around. Besides, if she wanted us to get caught, there were plenty of opportunities to signal someone or lead me to them in the dark."
Leo nodded. April was an excellent investigator and her gut reaction to new people was usually spot on.
"Another thing, she knew Raph was there," April said. "She pulled me back before I even sensed anyone, and I was looking for you guys. Plus, she reacted badly when you mentioned the Foot."
"She's heard of the Foot?" Leo asked. The blue banded leader frowned. As much as he didn't want it to, that put this girl back in the threat category.
Don interrupted from the rear.
"Leo, how many pellets did you use on her?" He sounded puzzled and his expression when Raph jerked his way was unusually tight.
"One," Leo said, spinning in his seat to face the girl. "She have a bad reaction?"
"Hmmm. Maybe because she's so small... Her eyes aren't right. The pupils are dilated, like she inhaled too much," Don muttered.
Raph's eyes narrowed and his former concern roared back to life. His stomach turned as he stared at the tiny form draped across the back seat with his brother nervously hovering over her. Had they hurt her in their efforts to remain unknown? That was unacceptable.
"Do we need to drop her at an ER?" he blurted out. "April could take her in."
"I don't want to lose sight of her, till we know what's going on," Leo said.
"If she doesn't wake up we might never know," Raph retorted, his hands clenching into fists. He knew better than to start a fight in the tight confines of the van but his fuse had been lit and concern for the angel made it much shorter.
"She'll be fine," Don said, though he paused for so long Raph wasn't sure he believed it. "Just out a little longer than usual. I think."
Absently, Don patted her hand and Raph suppressed a growl.
"So-o-o," Mikey said, breaking the tense silence. "What are we gonna do with her?
Donnie picked up her small handbag and dug around. It annoyed Raph, Don invading her privacy this way, but he couldn't think of a way to object that wouldn't give away their prior meeting or the fact he knew where she lived.
Don examined her id and frowned. The address was phony. It might fool a casual observer, but not him. It called her whole story into question. Again. Of course there were thousands of fake id's in the city, carried for all kinds of reasons. Some people used whole false wallets, complete with fake cash and cards in case they got mugged. He pointed this out to Leo.
"April, can we put her at your place until she wakes up?" Leo asked. "She seems comfortable with you. If you ask the right questions she might open up and we can find out more."
April nodded. She liked this girl and wanted her to be in the clear.
"So it's decided. We'll use your spare room and keep the building under surveillance until we find out more. Mikey, head on over to April's."
"On it, dude," Mikey said as he changed direction.
Don found her phone and key it open. He was surprised it had the accessibility functions turned on and investigated further. She only had three entries in her contact menu; Angel Automotive Insurance, a Patrick, and a Martin. She had no facebook, twitter, or social media of any kind. Don frowned. If her id could be believed she was twenty-six years old and for a girl her age it was extremely odd she didn't have a digital life, but being private wasn't a crime. He passed it to Leo.
"Strange, don't you think?" Leo said to Don as he scrolled through the entries.
"What is?" Raph asked.
"No pictures, no contacts, no social life of any kind," Leo said.
"She may very well be running from the Foot," Don said.
Raphael furrowed his brow. If that was the case, he needed to swing by her place a lot more often while on patrol. If Leo ever let her go back home.
"If I was hiding from the Foot, I wouldn't stay in the city. I'd skip town," Mikey said.
Raph gave him a scathing glare.
"Mikey, we are hiding from the Foot and we're still here."
"I mean if I was a human, alright? Besides, I prefer to think of us as undercover while we hunt for them," Mikey said, his lower lip sticking out in a pout.
Luckily, April's building came into view and Mikey quit commenting as he pulled into the alley.
"April, hold up here a few minutes before you go in. We'll check the place out first to make sure there's no Foot activity," Leo said. "Mikey, Donnie, you're with me. Raph, keep an eye on our guest."
Raph had the presence of mind to grimace, like he usually would at being saddled with a human, but secretly he rejoiced at the chance to be alone with her. The others piled out of the van and disappeared into the shadows of the alley.
"What do you think of her?" Raph asked April, tilting his head toward the unconscious girl.
April considered the question. Raph normally wasn't this invested in civilian encounters. Usually he dropped in, growled a lot, beat up the bad guys, and left as soon as he could. For him to inquire, however casually, was strange.
"I like her," April said. "She's spunky, cool in a crisis, and she moves so gracefully I think she must of had dance training at some point. She was fun to be around tonight before the Dragons interrupted."
Raph nodded. Everything April said matched what he'd seen himself, but he was unprepared for her follow up question.
"What's your interest Raph?"
I don't know.
He didn't have an answer, not even for himself, so he smoothed his expression into his normal frown and countered her question with one his own.
"Why could the Foot want with her?"
"We don't know they want anything, but she sure panicked when she heard the name. I'm sure Leo just wants to keep an eye on her."
April glanced at her watch.
"Speaking of, I better get going. The guys should be finished checking the place out by now."
And April slipped out of the truck leaving Raphael alone with his thoughts.
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Whispers in the Dark