The Rising (final book of The Call series) ~ TMNT Fanfiction

Chapter 13: Driven by Love

Leo's POV:

"Are you absolutely, positively sure that you've got the location right?" I ask, and I can hear the strain in my own voice. "We need to know for sure."

"Positive," Noah responds, before I even end my sentence. "We're absolutely positive."

"Ya better be." Raph laughs. "'Cause last time we got sent to the wrong institution, Leo went loco." I don't say anything. I simply cross my arms and avert my eyes to the floor.

"Then let's get going," Mikey whines. "We can't wait all day."

"Mikey...just stay here until we tell you to, okay? It isn't like you'll be staying alone; you'll have Mallory, Emmeline, Rose and April here too. We just need to get some information and take down the guards. We can't all go waltzing in through their Headquarters; we'd for sure be seen," Donnie explains, but the orange-clad brother doesn't look convinced.

"If Leo and Donnie get to come with, then why don't I?" Mikey whines, crossing his arms. I feel my own arms cross over my chest out of impatience. Every second we waste is just another chance for the Dark Angels to hurt Lexi.

"Mikey," April says softly. "These are the Dark Angels we're talking about. Your brothers just don't want to see you get hurt."

"I can take 'em," Mikey insists, but he doesn't sound as demanding. "I swear, I can."

"We don't want to take any chances," I says, shaking my head. "We've only faced the Dark Angels a few times. We're hoping that we won't have to fight very many of them, but there's no such thing as being too prepared."

"Yeah, well when we did fight them, we kicked butt! C'mon, Leo! Please!" But Mikey's voice is drowned out by my stubbornness and I simply give him a pat on the back.

"No," I say firmly, turning on my heel and starting away. Raph and Donnie follow. I can hear Mikey's pleads start again, but I ignore them. We all know that Mikey could take a couple of Dark Angels; as the rest of us could. But he's the baby of the family, so it's automatically our job to look out for him.

"Okay, Fearless Leader. What do we do now?" Raph asks, crossing his arms.

"From what we've observed, there should be a hidden door."

"A hidden door? What is this, Scooby Doo?" I ignore Raph's sarcastic comment and feel the walls of the building.

"A portion of the wall you can push in, a loose brick...something." My hands push and the wall seems to shake. "I think I found it." After a few harder pushes, an uneven door breaks through.

"Nice job, Leo." Don pats me on the back and starts through the doorway slowly. I follow with Raph behind me. Moments of silence pass by. Those moments turn into minutes and eventually, we've been walking for ten minutes. Raph makes a lot of unnecessary, nonconstructive comments and Don and I try our best to ignore them. Finally—after twenty some minutes—we reach a doorway.

"Do you think this leads somewhere else? Like an actual place?" Raph asks, crossing his arms and tilting his head the slightest bit.

"We have been in an actual place," Donnie points out, rolling his eyes. "This just might happen to be the place they're hiding Lexi."

"That's good enough for me," I say, reaching for the door. But before I can reach it, Raph swats my hand away.

"Whoa," he says. "Hold on, Lover Boy. Like mentioned before, we can't just waltz in there."

"Why not?" I'm being irrational and I know it all very well. But I can't help but feel eager; eager to rescue Lexi...eager to get her back.

"Because we don't know what are behind those doors," Don insists, putting a hand on my shoulder. "We don't even have a plan, Leo." I stare at my brother absentmindedly for a few moments and then instantly reach for the door again. Donnie whacks my hand away again and gives me a look.