Leo's Capture

Part 15

Now that it was spring again, for Victoria and her men, it was now time to return the tortoise to the zoo in New York where they had originally got her. Since it had been over six months since her spay sugery, her belly cover had by now fallen off. The scar might be noticeable, or it might not.

The men snuck her in, undetected, during the night. She was just fine.

The next day, the zookeepers were shocked to see they had one more tortoise than they had all winter and discovered it had been their missing girl! They were pleased she was back. Now they could get back to work with the saving her species, so they thought.
............

Don spent hours a day searching for Victoria. Do to the limited information he had received from Leo, the search was harder than he had originally thought. Eventually, he had found Victoria on the Internet, but he called Leo back into his lab so that he could confirm that it was actually her.

"It's her alright. So where is she?" Leo asked. He could never forget her face. She still haunted his dreams and when he woke up in the morning, he still had a moment of panic before realizing that he was indeed back home.

"Her main home is up near Saratoga Springs. I'm guessing that's where you were and why you were able to follow the Hudson River home. But she does come down to New York in spring and summer months for business opportunities and then heads home in the early fall." Don explained what he found.

"So you think she's come back here then?" Leo felt a surge of panic for a moment. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves.

"Very likely, yes." Don answered without noticing his brother's distress.

Leo nodded and focused on the positive side of this information. He knew she wouldn't be able to get a drop on him a second time and it meant that it would be all that easier for him to find her and his eggs. "Then it should make it easier to find her here in our own backyard." He smiled a little at the thought. "I'm going to get any eggs of mine that she might have back from her, no matter what it takes."

He wanted to become the subject of her nightmares and to be able to rest assured that he and his children were safe from that awful woman. Don's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

"I'm behind you all the way Leo." Don said, placing a hand on Leo's shoulder.

"Thanks for all your help, Donny." Leo smiled over at his brother. "Knowing that I have your support in all of this is helping to settle my nerves. I don't think that I would be able to do this without you guys."

"No problem." Don smiled. "We're family and we would never let you face this alone."
..............

Victoria and her men were indeed back in the big apple. She knew that it wouldn't be easy to find the turtles, but the ninjas would scour the city until they found signs of them. They really had no choice; Victoria wouldn't settle for less. She would have them search all night and every night if needed.

Victoria had a plan to see if she could get Leonardo to come out of hiding. She was sure he had made it back here by now. If he knew of the eggs he had carried, he might suspect there were more and come looking for them. This pleased her that she would get her turtle back very soon.

She walked into the room where her eggs were kept. Transporting them there was a task. They had to be kept at a constant temperature and they couldn't be jostled around too much. She talked to them often so that the little ones inside would know her voice.

"He will not have you," she whispered as she ran her hand over the smooth surface. "You are mine. But you will not have to live without him though. I will get him back for you, along with your brothers and sisters. I always get what I want."
...............

Leo and his brothers patrolled the city every night looking for signs Victoria was back in town. He knew he was pushing his brothers but none of them complained, not even Raph. They knew that he was worried about his children that were in her clutches. Who knew what she would do with them if he didn't get them back.

Leo also suspected that Raph was just as eager to find Victoria but for reasons all his own. He saw himself as the protector of his family and didn't like it when someone managed to hurt them. He was going to make Victoria pay for what she had done to Leo, one way or another.
.............

After many nights patrolling, Victoria's ninjas came upon the turtles running across the city and decided to follow to see where they went down. They stayed in the shadows and watched as the one in red lifted the manhole cover then held it open for the others to climb down before him. His eyes scanned the building tops and Victoria's ninjas had to duck down to keep from being spotted.

When they came back up, the red banded turtle was gone and the manhole cover was replaced. They stayed where they were, to make sure that the turtles were really gone. It was a good thing they did because after a few moments passed, the red banded turtle came out of the shadows.

After taking another look around, the red banded turtle lifted the manhole cover and entered the sewers.

The ninjas stayed on the roof and waited longer, just to be sure. If they screwed this up, they would have to answer to Victoria.

Two ninjas were selected to go down to the street and leave a note intended for Leonardo. The others stayed on the roof and watched.

The chosen ninjas were able to slip the note under the manhole cover without incident. They quickly returned to the shadows and the majority of the ninja ran along the rooftops to return to Victoria while two stayed behind to watch and wait to see if Leonardo got the message.

Down in the sewer, Raphael heard the manhole cover being lifted and stayed behind while the others went on ahead to hide just in case they were being followed. He stood, sai in hand, ready to fight anyone who came down.

But what came down to the floor from where Raph was standing was just an envelope. He looked at it with curiosity as he walked over to it and calmed down a little bit.

Tucking his sai back in his belt, Raph picked up the envelope and then he looked up at the cover. The lid was still in place. Evidently, someone had just thrown this envelope down here. He went back to the others and gave the signal that it was safe then they headed home.

When they got home, the turtles were finally able to see Leo's name written on the envelope. Raph turned it over in his hands and opened it as he sought out Leo.

Leo hadn't gone with his brothers tonight. He had stayed home needing to talk to his father some more and wanting to look after his eggs. As time passed, he started getting used to the idea of being a father and was actually feeling excited about it. It was when Donny had let him listen to the quick heartbeats inside the eggs that it really hit home for Leo. There was life inside the little eggs.

He was in the lab, speaking softly to them when Raph brought the envelope in. "Leo, this was dropped into the sewer and it's addressed to you. It's a ransom note, from Victoria."

That got Leo's attention. "Let me see it."

Raph handed it to him as his brothers and father joined them. Leo read the note out loud for the benefit of the others.

Leonardo,

I know you know that I have some precious babies of yours. If you don't give yourself up, they will be sold to science labs when they hatch. If you want to see them again, you will meet me.

Victoria

Then there was an address of where he should come in two days' time.

What the note said what she would do to his babies sent a chill down Leo's spine. He couldn't let that happen. In two days, a plan had to be come up with for him to get in and save his other babies.

"We'll figure this out, Leo," Donny reassured him with a hand on his shoulder. "We won't let her hurt your babies."