Donatello's Duffel (TMNT fan fiction)

Donatello's Duffel

Racing across rooftops during patrols, Don was always slightly hindered by the duffel bag strapped over his shoulder and more often than not he left it behind. Tonight for some reason it had seemed to beckon to him, insisting that Don take the bag despite the difficulties he knew it would cause him.

Sure enough, his brothers were outpacing him at every turn and Don ground his back teeth together. Even though they knew his bag weighed around forty pounds with all the things he carried in it, Raph and Mikey were not averse to teasing him about being slow. Leo never said a disparaging word; the Turtle leader understood the importance of Don's bag of tricks far too much to taunt him about it.

Don was more cautious in his jumps due to the bag's weight throwing off his center of gravity, so his brothers had already crossed to another rooftop at least ten seconds ahead of him. As he got ready to leap, a sound from below caught his attention and he skid to a stop.

Leo glanced back and saw Don turn away from them, heading towards the edge of the roof that would give him a view of the street below. Raising a hand, his gesture stopped his two youngest brothers. Pointing in Don's direction, Leo changed course and silently leaped back over to the building that the genius was on.

Raph and Mikey followed suit, their loud exuberance from earlier completely swallowed by that simple sign from Leonardo. They were no longer playful brothers; now they were ninjas on high alert.

Sliding up next to Don, Leo peered over the roof and witnessed what his brother was viewing. Across the street from the building they were on was a small neighborhood bank. A large black van without license plates was parked in front of it and four armed men were standing on the sidewalk. All four wore black from head to toe, with ski masks covering their heads.

A shrill cry echoed the one that had caught Don's attention and the doors on the back of the van were thrown open by a fifth masked man, who jumped out and dragged another man out with him. This man wore trousers and a pajama top, but no shoes; obviously having been pulled hastily from his bed.

The kidnapped man jerked to try to dislodge the masked man's grip, but his kidnapper spun him and slammed him against one of the van's doors.

"Try that again and you'll be minus one brat," the masked man hissed.

Behind them another masked man exited the van and began pulling children from the back, shoving them towards his compatriots on the sidewalk. Soon five children dressed in their pajamas were standing huddled together, all five quite young.

"Don't hurt my children," the kidnapped man begged.

"Do exactly what I tell you to and I won't touch 'em," the masked man said, twisting his hand in his victim's shirt and yanking him onto the sidewalk.

"My wife," the kidnapped man called, looking back towards the van.

The sixth masked man jumped back into the van and pulled the doors shut behind him.

"Let's make sure we understand each other, Smythe," the kidnapper who appeared to be the leader of the group said. "You're the bank manager and you can open everything. As long as you do so, none of the kids get hurt. If you take too damn long doing what you're told, your wife is gonna be lying face down in the gutter and she ain't gonna be breathing. Are we clear?"

"Yes," Smythe answered breathlessly, reaching into his pocket for a set of keys.

Leo spun away from the scene and kneeled down to confer with his brothers.

"Why aren't they worried about the bank's cameras, Donny? I know they aren't recognizable in those getups, but don't the camera feeds go to a monitoring company?" Leo asked.