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Leap of Faith, Part Two: Into the Light	By : laloga13 Category: Comics > Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Views: 1233 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and all other recognizable characters are property of Mirage Studios and not me, sadly. I'm just playing with them for a while, and am not making any money off of this story.

Chapter List
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Chapter Three

Upon awakening later that morning, Leonardo was only aware of two sensations at first: he was warm and....cozy? He'd never had reason to use that term before now, but waking up in your own bed with a warm body beside you can have that effect. He was on his right side facing Miranda, who was still fast asleep with her right arm flung across his neck and her mouth open slightly. Memories of the space between when they'd entered the room and this moment filled him with unexpected tenderness.

As wonderful as it was, he thought, I'm glad that we decided to wait to get to the...main event. Not that I wouldn't mind, but we are moving kind of fast. He kissed her forehead, and a slow smile crept to her face. He sat back, hoping that he had not disturbed her slumber, though he needn't have worried. Miranda appeared to be an exceptionally heavy sleeper, hardly stirring as he slid out of bed and began suiting up. From the sounds of grunting and shuffling, his family was beginning to move around as well. He gave Miranda a long look before stepping out into the lair. 'Oh brave new world, that has such people...'

Donatello was already sitting at the kitchen table with the latest Mac World and a pot of coffee. He murmured good morning to Leo, and instead of returning immediately to his reading, he regarded his older brother thoughtfully.

"What is it?" Leo finally asked, after he poured a cup of juice.

Donnie's eyebrow ridge rose. "Do you realize that you're whistling? I don't think you've ever whistled recreationally in your life."

Leonardo shrugged and sipped his cup in silence, and before Donnie could ruminate further Raphael stalked into the kitchen. He made a beeline for the coffee, poured a huge mug, and hurried into the practice room without a word. Donnie sighed and turned back to his magazine. "Good morning to you too, Raph."

"I thought it seemed a little quiet this morning," Leo remarked.

It wasn't quiet for much longer. A sudden yell followed closely by a crash sounded from upstairs.

"Mikey must finally be up," Leo said just as a small orange cat bolted out of the youngest Turtle's room with said turtle close on his heels.

"Klunk, you furball, get back here!" He lunged and missed as the little cat fled down the hall and disappeared. Mikey sighed and slumped at the table.

Leo handed his brother a full mug and slapped his shell. "What's wrong, Mikey?"

"That....that critter ate my weed!" Mikey wailed. "And pissed all over my new Flaming Moth graphic novel! What a way to wake up."

"I don't understand your attachment to that creature," Donnie remarked as he poured another mug.

Mikey's face softened. "Awww, Klunk's not that bad. You know, anyone can have a bad day....you know, I still can't get over those rich frat boys,"he chuckled through a mouthful of pop tarts. "I bet they're a bunch of d-bags."

"Never assume anything, Mikey,"

Leonardo nodded in agreement. "That's right, Don. In fact, we need to step up practices if we want to stay ahead."

"Ahead of what, Leo?" Raphael's voice preceded him as he entered the kitchen. "From what we know, they've got two main advantages on us: money and weapons. Lots of both, which is nothin' we can't handle, but....." Raph seated himself on the edge of the counter and faced Leo. "We gotta take 'em by surprise if we want to end their threat. All this planning, sitting around, you know that 'aint gonna do jack when it comes down to it. It never does."

Leonardo shook his head, his expression firm. "Raph, we need to investigate further! We still don't really have a clear idea who we're dealing with here. If we do a little preparation, we can find a weakness to exploit, something to make our job easier."

"Here we go again," Donnie muttered to Mike, who rolled his eyes.

"Life is hard, Leo," Raph snarled, "Get used to it. And dancing around reality with pointless research is a big fat waste of time. You're so predictable! You think that nothing should happen unless you sit and meditate on it for hours!"

"You think that I'm the predictable one?" Leo shot back. "If a single day went by where I didn't hear you complaining about how much you just want to run around and bash skulls, I'd die of shock!"

"Fine by me," Raph replied, his voice low and venomous.

“Morning guys," Miranda said brightly as she entered the kitchen. She poured a cup of coffee and sat next to Mikey at the table, shaking her head as he offered her a pop tart. There was a bit of uncomfortable silence as Raph and Leo glared at each other, and Miranda sipped her drink.

"I couldn't help overhear your...discussion," she said suddenly. "You know, I'm new here, but it seems like you two never stop arguing. It reminds me of my relationship with my dad: we'd argue from dawn 'till dusk about the most random stuff, like it was a contest to see who'd be stubborn the longest." She glanced at Leo, her cheeks a bit pink, and sipped her drink again. "But you never know, do you? I should mind my own business, I guess. Mind if I make a phone call? I forgot to bring my charger." Donnie pointed out the lair's land line, and the four brothers were left in silence.

"Wow, she really pinned you guys down, huh?" Mikey said at last.

Leonardo and Raphael looked at each other for a moment before they each sighed deeply.

"Do we bicker all that much?" Leo asked.

"Of course not," Donnie replied with a smirk. "You heard her, she's new here: she hasn't seen anything yet."

Miranda did not reappear until about ten minutes into their first sparring session of the day. She was speaking quietly with Master Splinter when Leonardo, intent on making out her words, was abruptly felled by a roundhouse kick from Michelangelo. He tried to rise, but Mikey caught him with his foot and pinned him to the floor. Something that can only be described as a shit-eating grin was plastered on his brother's face.

“Little sloppy today, eh big brother?”

Leonardo slid out of his brother's hold, mentally chastising himself for his lax in attention, which even now kept wandering towards Miranda. He forced himself to face Mikey, to complete the attacks and withhold his defense, until at last Splinter ended the practice.

Their sensei motioned for his sons to gather around, then nodded to Miranda. Leonardo thought that she seemed a bit apprehensive as she spoke.

“Look, I'm not really sure how to say this, but I need to go back.”

“Back?” Raphael was incredulous, as were they all. “After those, those....after they shot you last night? Are you nuts?”

Leonardo's voice was quiet. “Miranda, I don't understand....”

She looked at him, eyes unreadable. “Please try to Leonardo. It's Nautilus: we've just been invited to play at a really important benefit in a few weeks. People who could help us promote our record, maybe even get signed. There's a practice tonight I need to go to.”

At her words, Raph rolled his eyes and muttered something under his breath. Her gaze fell on him, and her eyes narrowed slightly as she continued. “ I hope you know that I really do appreciate the risks you all have taken for me, but my music is my life. If I miss this chance, the whole band loses.” She sighed deeply and looked at Leo again. “I have to do this. Please understand.”

Leonardo met her eyes for several heartbeats before shaking his head and exhaling deeply. Damn. Sometimes I hate making the tough calls. “Where and when?”

His reward was a wide smile and a sudden embrace. “Practice is six tonight at the usual place, not far from here, actually.”

Leo sighed again.

Mikey whooped. “Break out the trenches boys, we're going topside!”

6:02pm

Nautilus' practice space was essentially a room in a converted warehouse. Though a little dilapidated, the building was clean, as well as able to hold six individually soundproofed rooms. Michelangelo whistled quietly as they stood in the alley next to the building. “Nice digs, Miranda.”

“Miranda? Is that you?” An unfamiliar male voice sounded from around the corner.

Casting a last glance at Leonardo, Miranda stepped around to the front of the building to greet her band mate. “Hey Ashton. Sorry I'm late, we got....delayed..”

“We?”

“A friend I'm staying with. It's kind of a long story....Hey, I wanted to talk to you about our last set list....” Her voice faded as they stepped inside. No sooner did the door shut than the four Turtles quickly made their way to the roof, fanning out to look over each side.

“We got problems, bro,” Raphael's voice was pitched perfectly, heard only by those on the rooftop. Leonardo went to stand by his brother and looked into the night. Three shining white town cars idled quietly across the street. On the car in the middle, one of the windows was lowered a few inches, to let a trickle of smoke curl against the darkness. A blurred figure moved inside the car, and that was when Leo could barely make it out: the thin strip of white against the ebony hat. This doesn't bode well.

“Offhand, I'd say we have our work cut out for us,” Mikey said as a fourth car pulled up.

Leo was silent, formulating. He looked at his brothers, and smiled grimly. “We have the upper hand....the element of surprise. Let's give those frat boys something to worry about.” Moments later they were in the alley once more. Leo paused one last time, waiting. Just in case....

At his signal, they attacked.

Had a third party seen this onslaught, they would not have been able to take in all that was happening; the coordinated efforts of the brothers against the four town cars were visceral and immediate. Donnie took the first car, jumping neatly on the roof. He raised his bo vertically before smashing it down through the windshield; before the vehicle's passengers could react, he gracefully flipped onto the hood and popped his staff like a pool cue to knock out the four men inside.

Raphael's car, the next one up, was soon riddled with sai-sized punctures in the roof, a prequel to a solid punch through the driver's side window. The whole car jostled and shook as the Turtle meted out some force, muffled shouts erupting briefly in the fray-only some of them were Raph's.

Michelangelo's approach, though less furious than his hotheaded brother's, called for a good bit of skill and strength. He withdrew a grappling hook from his belt, slung it around so that it caught on the third town car's undercarriage. Mikey took a deep breath and gave a mighty pull. “Gooooongalaaaaa!” he shouted as the vehicle quickly creaked through a somersault, and landed with a crash and a shatter of glass onto the tarmac. A grin split Mikey's face as he watched the men inside fumble for their weapons, his own nunchakus whirling dangerously. “Looks like you guys shoulda stayed at the kegger tonight!”

Leonardo was aware of his brothers' movements even as he was engrossed in his own battle, at the final car, the one with the open window. He leaped to the roof, thrust his twin katana into the pristine white top, and slashed long, deep gouges parallel to his sides. Following that, though to a bystander, it would seem as if only a heartbeat had passed, he lifted the blades and sliced again, at the front and rear of the car. He jumped on the trunk, and, using his swords for leverage, lifted off the roof and tossed it to the side. Leo barely spared a glance for the four Knights inside the car who were scrambling for weapons, before he jammed his katana into the plush leather of the backseat; he almost seemed to levitate as he let loose a lightning-fast series of split kicks, effectively knocking out all of the men except the one that he recognized as the leader of the operation.

“Let me guess, you're J. Sullivan.” Leonardo held his blade against the Knight's throat, keeping the cold steel firmly pressed against the man's neck. The man did not respond, he only chuckled softly and took a long drag on his cigarette, exhaling the dingy smoke into the night air. Anger coiled within Leo, a rising fury that made his hands tremble. With great effort, he stilled them, and spoke again, calmly. “I believe that you and your goons have been told to leave her alone.” The blade shifted closer to Sullivan's throat, who only flicked his spent cigarette out of the window before he spoke. His voice was quiet and low, and calmer than Leonardo's.

“The Order doesn't make a habit of listening to animals.” He gestured to the warehouse that currently ensconced Miranda and her band. “Miranda will pay me a visit soon. She has big things in her future-though she may not know it yet.” His pale blue eyes gleamed like foxfire in the darkness as he smiled. “Even if you kill me now, he'll find her. I'm her best chance, in the long run. So, reptile, slice me to ribbons, like your brothers out there.”

The sounds of his brothers in battle awoke him as if from some spell. He glanced over: they were winning, but not by much. However, before he could make a move, the warehouse door opened, releasing Miranda into the street. Sullivan gave another low chuckle as Leo sprang for the sidewalk, clearly intent on protecting her. She had been fumbling for something in her purse-he could make out the cheery flashing of her cell phone in her hand-but stopped dead when she saw the aftermath of their battle: four demolished town cars; bodies everywhere; groans and grunts of pain filling the air; broken glass glittering on the asphalt. And the four Turtles, weapons drawn, in the middle of it all. Leonardo was only a few strides from her now, noting how she covered her mouth with her hand as she stared at him, her eyes wide and frightened.

“Dammit Leo! Your buddy's makin' a break for it!” Raphael's voice broke the silence, and, cursing himself, Leo turned back to the car. Sullivan was gone.
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Leap of Faith, Part Two: Into the Light