Smarter Than Me || TMNT 2012 Donatello Fanfiction

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     Ashlee walks down the quiet and empty street, aware of the turtles following her on the rooftops. It is not a pretty part of town. It's old, rundown, and ridden with crime. She enters a very particular store, one which the turtle brothers question.

     "A... liquor store?" Raph raises his nonexistent eyebrows.

     Donnie shakes his head, piecing together the pieces. "Drugs, probably."

     "Isn't that illegal?" Mikey asks.

     The three older brothers roll their eyes and reply, "Yes."

     "Oh."

     "Why go to a public place to get them though? There are definitely cameras. How has she not been caught already?" Leo questions.

     "The government has more important criminals to attend to: the Kraang. I doubt they'd have time to care for common criminals," Donnie responds.

     It was true. No one had time to worry about neighborhoods that were always infested with common criminals. The real threats lay in the aliens and in the only gang that has actually made a name for themselves: The Foot (although, they would prefer the title "clan" instead of "gang").

     The store clerk eyed Ashlee as she entered, curiously and shockingly. "You're alive?"

     "Why wouldn't I be?"

     "Your family is all over the news; more than usual, at least."

     "It's already got on the news?"

     "Are you serious? Of course, it has." He smiles. "Your mother is offering a lot of money for any leads and information."

     "You can't tell anybody you've seen me, Vincent."

     "Why won't I?" He questions.

     "They'll question how you know me. What I was doing to be able to know you. They'll be able to track everything to Nathan's gang. You know that can't happen. You'll go to jail."

     "And you won't?"

     "They won't be able to find me. I'll disappear again," Ashlee says.

     "Then you better tell me what's going on."

     "I don't know. Something crazy. I think I'm dreaming." Her face turns serious. "You have to promise me you won't say anything."

     "I can't do that."

     "Why? Because it goes against your morals?" Ashlee says mockingly, frowning. "I promise I'll make it up to you. Whatever you need, I'll get it. Just promise you won't say anything."

     Vincent sighed. He liked Ashlee. She reminded him of the daughter he had, and could no longer see. The daughter he loves, but she does not return the same feelings. He missed his daughter, but he knows his choices are what drove his family apart. Ashlee reminds him of his daughter, and he truly cares about her.

     He grabs a small bag from behind the counter and slides it towards Ashlee. "Don't bother paying. Wherever you're going and whatever you're doing, you'll need it more than me."

     Ashlee smiles. "Thank you. I'll come back, so don't worry. I promise I'll make it up to you."

     Vincent smiles as Ashlee exits. She doesn't worry about hiding any of it. People simply don't care anymore.

     The turtles watch Ashlee leave the store and continue down her path. They make brief eye-contact. She walks on and the turtles follow from above.

     Ashlee turns down an alley, grabbing keys from her back pocket. She fiddles with them as she approaches a garage-like door. She bends over, unlocks the door, and hoists it up, shutting it behind her.

     The turtle brothers, well-knowing she does not want to be followed, follows anyway. They enter through the shattered and weakly-boarded windows above. They watch closely. It's dim but still clear enough the see. Each one of the brothers observes the layout. It looked oddly familiar.

     "She deals to Purple Dragons," Donnie whispers.

     "How do you know?" Mikey asks.

     "Well. If the moon's velocity in orbit around the earth is one kilometer per second, compared to the sun's thirty kilometers per second velocity as we travel around it, taking into account the angle of light the moon sheds through these disgusting windows, I'd say it's the graffiti of the purple dragon, being followed by 'Dragon Territory' underneath it on the far wall."

     "Oh."

     Donnie slaps the youngest brother upside the head. That was the last of the conversation. They returned their attention to the scene before them. So, Ashlee deals to Purple Dragons.

     The gang members slowly look toward here. They drop their activities of talking, playing cards, and smoking. If anything, they don't believe she's here. She was supposed to be missing; completely abducted. Yet, she stood there in the center of the Purple Dragon's territory. Her mother was offering quite a reward for her return, as well as her father.