「ABSENCE」 TMNT 2012

28; Patrol

"Go knock on the window, Donnie," Leo ordered in a quiet voice.

Donatello sighed and placed his foot on the ladder of the fire escape. "Why don't you do it yourself?" He muttered, glancing at his older brother, who was engrossed in something on his phone. When he didn't receive an answer, Donnie looked around on the ground of the dark alley. "Can't I just, like . . . throw a rock or something?"

"Oh yeah! Do that!" Mikey encouraged, joining the search for a small stone.

    Raph reached down and shuffled through a pile of trash. "Here, use this." He handed Donatello an empty glass bottle.

    "This'll work," Don decided. He hopped off the ladder and looked up at Casey's apartment window. "Ready?" He pulled his arm back and wound up.

    "Put that back where you found it," Leo ordered, stuffing his phone away. A chorus of disappointed complaints arose as Donnie slumped his shoulders and looked around for an open dumpster to toss the bottle into.

Above them, a window slid open. The four tilted their heads up as Casey stuck his head out and rested his arms on the windowpane. "You guys are freakin' loud," he told them.

Mikey waved his arm, beckoning him down. "Let's get going, already!"

"Catch!" Donnie called and tossed the bottle two stories up.

Casey leaned out and swiped the recycling from the air before it fell and clanked down the fire escape. "Move!" He pointed Donatello to a spot a little to the turtle's left. Donnie shuffled aside as Casey flicked his wrist and sent the bottle back down. It landed in a green dumpster and sunk into the rest of the items still to be disposed of.

    "There it is," Donnie noted the location of the dumpster himself.

    "I'll be right down!" Called Casey. He disappeared from the window for a minute, then came back with his mask on and bag of hockey sticks strapped to his back. Hopping out and onto the fire escape, he jumped down the stairs, shimmied down the ladder, and joined the brothers. Raphael and Casey exchanged a high-five, and the team ran off.

    It didn't take long after Casey Jones recovered that he was laughing and joking around with his pals again. It was as if he had never gone away in the first place. He fit right back in and felt at home again.

Of course, he couldn't just forget his search for his family. Those days living off whatever money he could scrape together, not showering for weeks, crushing Oroku Saki's stupid computer chip under his foot in anger. Nothing could erase those two years from his mind. He'd been so hopeful at the beginning of it all, ready to go through anything to bring his mom and sister back.

    But when the painful reality sunk in near the end of his journey, it was too disappointing for him to speak of. He'd never felt so alone. So desperate. He'd traveled across the country, just to come back empty handed.

When the Shredder discovered his presence back in New York, he took full advantage of that and subdued the young man. But when Casey opened his eyes and saw April's worried face the night of his rescue, the feelings of desperation and disappointment faded. Everyone he needed was sitting right in front of him. That was the night he was satisfied with his circumstances and place in life.

    As Casey crept through dark alleys and scaled apartment buildings with the turtles, he took it all in, enjoying every minute of it. It was his first patrol with his friends since his arrival in the city. He didn't realize how much he'd missed it until he was getting ready in his dark room. It felt great to be back.

    "Yo, Case," Raph began after an hour of surveying the city, slapping the brunet on the back. "Why don't you go get us a couple pizzas," he suggested, pointing to the restaurant across the street.

    Mikey leaned his elbow on Casey's shoulder. They stood hidden in an alley not far from the Shredder's headquarters. "That's a good idea. I am in full support of this."

    "I'm starving," Leo added.

    With a chuckle, Casey stepped onto the sidewalk. "Alright, alright. Be patient, guys; I'll be right back." He jogged across the street and flipped his mask onto his head before slipping into the pizza parlor.

Donatello sighed as the four watched him through the large windows out front. "What did we do to deserve him?" His stomach growled impatiently.

"I think the real question is, what did he do to deserve us?" Raph corrected.

The brothers shared a round of laughter. When Casey came back with the pizza, they climbed up to the roof, sat in a circle, and set all three boxes out in front on them to make the the food accessible to everyone. The scent wafted through the breeze, drifting underneath their noses. They could smell it all: the freshly baked dough, perfect sauce, sizzling pepperoni, and thick, gooey cheese. They dug in right away; each bite was satisfying and delicious.

"Mm. This is great," commented Mikey. He dropped an entire slice of pizza into his mouth that he'd stretched as far open as it could go to fit the whole piece inside.

Donnie grunted in agreement. "This is my favorite pizza place," he mumbled.

"I'll just take this whole box for myself, thanks," Leo latched onto one of the pizza boxes with his thumb and index finger, sliding it closer to himself.

Casey grabbed the open flap and tugged it back the other way. "Faught meh, dude," he sputtered through a full mouth.

    Leo snatched a slice and jumped to his feet as he bit off the end. "You're on."

    Finishing off the crust and licking the sauce off his fingers, Casey stood up and shook his arms out. He licked his lips and shot a few threatening punches to the air. "Come at me, Blue!" He encouraged with a smirk.

"Shh!" Mikey lifted a finger to his lips, drawing their attention to him.

"Sorry." Casey turned back to Leonardo and whispered, "come at me, Blue."

"Guys!" Raph whisper-shouted. "Look."

The two followed his gaze to the street below, where the lanky Baxter Stockman was climbing out of a white van. Casey and Leo quietly crawled up to the ledge of the roof with the others and peered over. The dark-haired scientist pulled a black briefcase out with him and slammed the passenger door shut. He ascended the steps of the old steeple and disappeared inside. The van stayed put.

    After a few minutes, Jones was the first to break the silence. "What's in that case, I wonder?"

    "I don't know. But I think it's worth looking into," decided Leo. He pushed himself to his feet, the others following suit.

Reluctantly leaving the leftover pizza stacked neatly in the corner of the rooftop, they climbed down the emergency escape stairs and stealthily crossed the street. Routinely, they snuck inside the church under the cover of darkness, listening intently for sounds of footsteps. They headed first to the throne room and climbed to the beams on the ceiling to get a good view.

"Master." Stockman dropped to one knee respectfully. "I have brought you what's left of the cure."

Donnie leaned closer to Leo and whispered, "this should be interesting." Leonardo didn't respond as he watched the picture below.

"Have Jeff and Karai made contact with the girl?" Shredder questioned the mutant tiger who stepped out of the shadows. All five team members watching from above seemed to open their ears all the more at the mentioning of this girl.

"Not yet, Master. Jeff called in a few moments ago to inform me that she is not expected to return home tonight," Tigerclaw replied.

    The whole room could practically feel Saki's thoughts before he asked, "where is she?"

    "She is currently spending the night at a friend's home."

    "Are they tracking down this friend?"

    A smirk appeared between Tigerclaw's whiskers. "Yes. In fact, we know her well: April O'neil."

    Casey Jones and every turtle with him stiffened.