A Brother's Intuition

Casey: Taken

Raph threw me off the building and I was barely able to catch myself in time. I stared up at him.

"Go." He mouthed. He was bleeding, losing blood rapidly. I can't just leave him behind!

"Go." He repeated. I watched as he fell unconscious. Shredder plucked him up off the building. No, Raph! The armored figure turned down towards me and I wasted no more time in making a run for it. I managed to get down into the sewers and from there, I made my way back to my apartment. As soon as I arrived, I immediately pulled out the phone book. There was no April O'Neil listed. Shit!

I then got on the computer and searched the web for a name, a number, anything. Finally, I called the news agency and demanded to speak with her. I said that it was a family emergency and the only number that the hospital had been given was her work number. Luckily for me, the ruse worked. They gave me her home phone. I called three times before she actually answered me.

"Hello?"

"April?"

"Yes?"

"This is Casey Jones. We need to meet."

"What? Do you know what time it i—"

"I need you to meet me somewhere. NOW!" I exploded, having absolutely no patience left in me.

I could hear her yawn. "The old antique shop on Eleventh and Bleaker."

"Alright, I'll be right there." I hung up and ran out of the apartment. I'd completely forgotten about my bleeding leg. Just like I'd forgotten about my bruised ribs and my probably broken wrist.

When I reached the meeting point and saw April, I ran even faster. "April!"

She looked over at me and stared in shock. "What the hell happened to—"

I cut her off. "I need you to take me to the turtles!"

Her eyes narrowed. "What? Why?"

I stalked up to her and grabbed the collar of her jacket, yanking her forward violently. "Dammit woman! Take me to the goddamn turtles, NOW!"

Her hands shook. I think she saw the fear in my eyes, because she nodded and immediately led me over to the nearest manhole.

She led the way through a maze of tunnels with twists and turns that I never would have been able to navigate otherwise. Good thing I didn't waste time trying to find them myself.

We emerged in a big, open room and I glanced around. It's exactly as Raphael described it. An old subway station. Cool place. But that's not what I need to be thinking about right now. I heard a soft shuffle of feet and my eyes locked on a shadowy corner of the room where a large, green figure was standing.

"April." The figure acknowledged. "Who's this?"

I shot forward. "Casey Jones. Sorry fer not exchanging pleasantries, but Raph's been taken."

"Taken?! What do you mean taken? Where is my brother?" He growled, stalking dangerously up to me. Now that he was in the light, I could actually see him for the first time. Raph's halted mutterings suddenly began to make a lot more sense. Leo. Blue-eyed, imposing, the leader. And right now: a fiercely overprotective older sibling.

I ignored him and yelled as loud as I could. "MIKEY! DONNIE! MASTER SPLINTER!"

I heard the sound of doors slamming and feet running rapidly from all sides. A purple-masked turtle entered the room from a door to our left. Donnie, no doubt. Followed shortly after by an orange-masked blur coming up from a long hallway on our right. Michelangelo, the baby brother.

Don spoke first. "What's going on? Who's—" His big, brown eyes widened as he stared at me. "Isn't that—?"

"Yeah." I stated evenly.

"What is going on in here?" A commanding voice asked from behind us. I whirled around and he stared sternly down at me.

Leo stepped forward a little and muttered. "Sensei, this is Casey Jones."

"Hmm, I see."

I growled impatiently. "Look, I hate to cut the introductions short, but Raph's been taken!"

"What?" Don asked shocked.

"Taken?" Mikey parroted.

"Explain." Master Splinter barked, his eyes narrowed.

"He threw me off the building and told me to run. Shredder said he was going to kill him! We have to hurry! C'mon!"

Leonardo grabbed my shoulder. "First of all, you're injured. Second, we need a plan. And third, you need to slow down and tell us the whole story."

My temper flared and shoved the hand off my shoulder violently. "Fuck off, Leo! Raph was wounded! He could be dying! There isn't time to make a plan! I'm going to find them, with or without your help. Maybe Raph was right, maybe you don't give a damn!"

The next thing I knew he had pinned me down and pressed his katanas to my throat. "I care more deeply about my little brothers than anything else in the world!" He growled.

"Raph doesn't think so." I murmured, my eyes meeting his. I took advantage of his momentary shock to remove myself from his pin. We glared at each other with fire in our eyes. "Like I said, I'm going after him, whether you help me or not. That shithead brother of yours stuck his neck out for me! And I sure as shell ain't lettin' him die for it."