Mr and Mrs Hamato

Chapter 15 - Something Stupid

They weren't at the lair, nor were they anywhere Dianne recognized. This place bore a lot of similarities to the turtle home. For example, the thief's quick eyes recognized some sort of main living room. In one of the huge spaces was a tall ramp. The smooth wood now burnt to a crisp. In fact, the entire room the three walked into was burnt to the ground.

The turtle brothers stalked silently, dragging the unconscious trio behind them; Seal, Fox, and Owl. Donnie hadn't spoken a word to Leo or herself. No one wanted to speak, especially the twins. Something about this place brought a great sense of pain in them. A memory that was just too hurtful to even bring up.

Dianne thought of them as very brave people since they still dared to wander in this ruin. She decided to ask them later.

Leo parked his heels, tapping his brother on the shoulder to tell him to stop. "Hmm... looks like a kitchen"

"It was a kitchen," Donnie answered Dianne quietly. The purple turtle ran his fingertips on a square table before smiling gingerly. The slider tied the spies to the table legs.

"Now, before we wake them up, let's do a little family meeting, shall we?" Donnie left no room to argue as he pressed his hands together and gestured for Dianne and Leo to gather around. "Can we make this quick, Don?"

Deciding to ignore Leonardo, Donnie turned to Dianne, "First query to you. What were you doing out there alone?"

She tried to look taken back at his sharp tone, "Nothing of importance. It was a personal matter that-"

"That you could not trust I nor any of my brothers with? Not even Draxum?"

The thief ground her teeth, "Draxum doesn't need to know. It's not like I was in danger or anything."

The turtle scoffed, "Really? Do you call a situation where you're almost getting stabbed in the throat, 'not dangerous'?"

"I can handle myself," Dianne turned her gaze to her feet, not wanting to meet the male's eyes.

Donnie pressed his fingers between his eyes, "We'll talk about this later. Any you, Nardo?"

The blue-clad brother immediately turned his eyes downcast. "Why were you stalking her?"

"Stalking? How many times- I wasn't stalking! I'm not going to explain myself since I'm pretty sure you heard everything," Leo retorted. Donnie sighed, "Sure... but either way thanks I guess. If you didn't jump in at the last moment..." Both of the turtle's sight drifted to their female companion. Donnie felt a heavy weight lift off his chest. "She's safe. That's all so thanks, brother."

Unexpected but not unwelcome, Leo buried his strong urge to hug Donnie so they settled with a soft nod.

"So.... how'd you find us?" the older twin asked.

Donnie raised his tech gauntlet, "My tracker. It has a new alarm system that notifies me whenever one of us leaves the safe perimeter of the lair. If someone exceeds the 5-mile radius, the tracker will ping me their location."

"Gasp! My hermano, are you actively stalking us?"

"It's my job, Leo. Anyways, why are you dealing with Big Mama's spies?" he and Leo turned toward Dianne. There's no point in lying if you've been caught, "Those three buffons found me first. I had some extra shadows following me during my evening walks and I soon discovered that they were disguised as humans."

Dianne fished out their cloaking broaches. "Big Mama wants to join the hunt and get the latest news on me. Apparently, Baron Ericson has lost his interest in me and Big Mama wants to try her luck on me. I've made a deal with the three, paying them a weekly bribe in exchange for information on everything 'Big Mama'. "