Fandom The New England Crytpid Society - A TMNT RP

[wytchcraft]

It was Donatello's humble opinion that lists where underrated.
His brothers didn't get the appeal. In fact, they actively mocked him when it came to his love for the humble list; Someone would dramatically clear their throat, mime putting on a pair of invisible glasses (nevermind that he didn't even own a pair of glasses) and, in a nasally mockery of his voice, proclaim "That's another one checked off the list, Fellas!", while fake checking the fake task from said fake list.
All this, while Donatello stood unamused with the actual list in his hands, bemoaning all the time they were wasting not doing things on the list.

Lists were effective. Lists were practical. Lists had saved his sanity on more than one occaision.
If Donatello focused on making a list, he didn't have to focus on Everything Else.

"Priority is water, food, first aid...ugh, ASPIRIN," A headache had settled smack dab between his eyes. Donatello pinched at the nerves in his beak, before carefully repositioning the precious bobby pins he was currently using for some minor breaking and entering. It was some kind of mom and pop restaurant-slash-general store. Donatello had cased the place for a good hour, making sure the streets were clear and the place was dead; or so he told himself. In reality, he didn't much look forward to robbing hard working people, but Bishop hadn't left him much of a choice.

"Goddamn fake-as-all-heck-sounding Farmington, in goddamn-all-the-way-up-the-fricking-coast MAINE," He heard the telltale click of the bobbypin sliding home. The back door eased open with only the slightest of creaks as Donatello muted his grumblings.

Think of the List.

The List would get him out of this. He just needed supplies. With some luck, there might even be a pair of car keys lying around.
Better to focus on the List than the Three Hundred and Twenty miles seperating him from home, and the single-minded sociopath of a man who brought him here. He could pull this off. Bishop likely wouldn't notice he wasn't in the van for another five hours, at least. Hopefully...

The turtle moved like a shadow, slipping into the establishment's back room. His eyes adjusted to the dim lighting quickly, and he could make out the dull metal sheen of appliances in the dark. Definitely a kitchen. With quiet, sure steps, Donatello got to work, not wishing to spend anymore time than he needed here.
"Water, food, first aid," He mumbled the words like a mantra, opening drawers and peeking into cupboards. "Definitely going to need to find a phone or a computer."

He continued to mentally compile the list as he searched, feeling much more at ease. It was a solid List. It was the List that was going to get him home. And at the very end of the list, the last thing left to check off after 'Evade the United States Government" and "Somehow traverse New England without a single soul seeing you", Don decided to put in a superfluous task, one that was just there to help him feel better after a List Well Completed;

"And when all this is over, I'm going to punch Agent John goddamn Bishop right in his stupid sunglass wearing face."

 

[hogwartsalumni211]

It was Donatello's humble opinion that lists where underrated.
His brothers didn't get the appeal. In fact, they actively mocked him when it came to his love for the humble list; Someone would dramatically clear their throat, mime putting on a pair of invisible glasses (nevermind that he didn't even own a pair of glasses) and, in a nasally mockery of his voice, proclaim "That's another one checked off the list, Fellas!", while fake checking the fake task from said fake list.
All this, while Donatello stood unamused with the actual list in his hands, bemoaning all the time they were wasting not doing things on the list.

Lists were effective. Lists were practical. Lists had saved his sanity on more than one occaision.
If Donatello focused on making a list, he didn't have to focus on Everything Else.

"Priority is water, food, first aid...ugh, ASPIRIN," A headache had settled smack dab between his eyes. Donatello pinched at the nerves in his beak, before carefully repositioning the precious bobby pins he was currently using for some minor breaking and entering. It was some kind of mom and pop restaurant-slash-general store. Donatello had cased the place for a good hour, making sure the streets were clear and the place was dead; or so he told himself. In reality, he didn't much look forward to robbing hard working people, but Bishop hadn't left him much of a choice.

"Goddamn fake-as-all-heck-sounding Farmington, in goddamn-all-the-way-up-the-fricking-coast MAINE," He heard the telltale click of the bobbypin sliding home. The back door eased open with only the slightest of creaks as Donatello muted his grumblings.

Think of the List.

The List would get him out of this. He just needed supplies. With some luck, there might even be a pair of car keys lying around.
Better to focus on the List than the Three Hundred and Twenty miles seperating him from home, and the single-minded sociopath of a man who brought him here. He could pull this off. Bishop likely wouldn't notice he wasn't in the van for another five hours, at least. Hopefully...

The turtle moved like a shadow, slipping into the establishment's back room. His eyes adjusted to the dim lighting quickly, and he could make out the dull metal sheen of appliances in the dark. Definitely a kitchen. With quiet, sure steps, Donatello got to work, not wishing to spend anymore time than he needed here.
"Water, food, first aid," He mumbled the words like a mantra, opening drawers and peeking into cupboards. "Definitely going to need to find a phone or a computer."

He continued to mentally compile the list as he searched, feeling much more at ease. It was a solid List. It was the List that was going to get him home. And at the very end of the list, the last thing left to check off after 'Evade the United States Government" and "Somehow traverse New England without a single soul seeing you", Don decided to put in a superfluous task, one that was just there to help him feel better after a List Well Completed;

"And when all this is over, I'm going to punch Agent John goddamn Bishop right in his stupid sunglass wearing face."

Rylie couldn't believe her rotten luck, she cursed to herself as Binx watched her with curious eyes as she screwed around with the modem of her wifi in her little apartment up the road from her family restaurant. She cursed softly when she noted that the cord was eaten to shit and she glared at her cat who looked at her with those oh-so innocent eyes.


"You're so damn lucky you're cute you know that?" Rylie asked him with a huff as she stood up and turned to her laptop with her half done research project, she still had to edit and send the project in to her professor and then she had to go and upload her latest blog post, she only had a few followers, a couple of hundred but that meant nothing on the internet. Rylie began clicking her pen frustrated as she tried to think of what to do, she couldn't exactly tell her professor that her cat messed up her wifi so she couldn't turn in her assignment….at least not again. Shit.


Rylie sighed and ran a hand through her brown hair as she paced the floor and started thinking of what she could do when she spotted her keys, Uncle Gerome had taken a few days to go on a trip with some buddies and left her the spare key in case anything happened to her moms and the restaurant had wifi…..


It couldn't hurt right? Not like she was doing anything wrong just setting up her laptop to finish her assignment. Having talked herself into it, Rylie threw her things together that she'd need and Binx crawled into her backpack clearly understanding that there was an adventure afoot and as she headed out she heard the little bell around Dagger's neck as he trotted up beside her and off they went. The restaurant was close, Rylie didn't even need her little vespa to get there as she walked the cool dark streets of her small town humming to herself as she did, only sound other than her footsteps was Binx purring and Dagger's little bell as he trotted beside her. When she arrived she unlocked the front door and slipped in letting Dagger slip in behind her before she closed and locked the door again. She took her bag off that held Binx and he crawled out and let out a low noise that usually warned of danger that had Rylie on high alert almost immediately as she slipped her coat off and tossed in a booth. Dagger was right beside Binx in a heartbeat and it was clear the two sensed something that Rylie didn't.


"I'll go check the kitchen, you two stay here." Rylie said she knew the cats would probably follow her either way but the more she could keep them out of the kitchen the better, even though they were probably cleaner than Uncle Gerome the health department didn't really see it that way. Rylie grabbed a broom from behind the hostess stand and walked as quietly as possible towards the kitchen. Normally when she snuck into places she was good at being sneaky, if someone was pursuing her she could hide pretty easy after all she was short and thin for a college kid after all, she'd fit herself entirely in one of the cupboards once as a joke but she'd never really been the pursuer before.


"Hello?" Rylie called classic girl-in-the-horror movie moment but she knew if it was her mom, her mom would have answered her. If it was her sister….well she'd probably get hit in the head with a tomato or something stupid at any moment but she couldn't justify why either of them would be in the restaurant this late….except for maybe raiding pizza from the fridge that the staff got to snack on.

 

[wytchcraft]

Donatello sat in front of the open fridge, practically demolishing two slices of pizza to the relief of his hungry, grumbling stomach. By his calculation, He'd been out for at least a day, which put his last meal somewhere in the ballpark of Tuesday morning. As soon as he'd spotted the beautiful box of ambrosia tucked in the back of the industrial fridge, all thoughts of his list and priority of supplies went straight out the window. It didn't even matter that it was hawaiian. It was the best tasting thing he'd put in his mouth in his whole life; save for maybe the bottle of water sitting beside him.
It took a considerable effort not to inhale the last four slices. He forced himself to slow down and focus on the task at hand, considering the rest of the fridge's contents. If he had been hoping for ready-to-eat-and-easy-to-transport food to steal, he was sorely disappointed. Unless he planned to subsiste on a giant tub of pre-chopped veggies and raw chicken for the long trek home, he was going to have to look for an alternative.

Should have looked for a pharmacy,

Donatello sighed, going for more pizza. Fuck it. Today was definitely a three-slices kind of day. He chewed thoughtfully, leaning back against the cold metal counters as he tried not to fall asleep.
It was going to take what...eight to nine hours to drive back? Assuming he could get a car. And he could expect that time to double or triple if Bishop clued in to his little escape act. The longer he sat here, eating pizza and debating what to do, the faster that trap would snap closed around him. But he was already exhausted, shaky, dehydrated and sure as hell unequipped to march through forests and wetlands on nothing but three slices of pizza.
He was going to have to break into somewhere else. He was going to have to figure out something better. He was going to have to take a nap before he keeled right over.
The distant sound of something clicking open and the soft jingle of a bell made Don freeze in place.

He was going to have to move right NOW.
With less dignity than he would have liked, Don scrambled for cover, leaving the fridge door wide open and his small collection of supplies scattered around. He managed to get behind one of the big grease fryers, only briefly catching a glimpse of a slight, darkened silhouette framed by the doorway,

"Hello?" Called the silhouette. Donatello didn't answer. He didn't even dare peak out from the counter. Instead, his attention flickered towards the back exit. He'd have to cross the room to make it, and the woman would definitely see him. Don chewed the inside of his cheek making his choice. If he stayed where he was, he was as good as caught anyway.

On three. He'd make a break for it.
One. Donatello eased forward, planting his feet firmly.
Two. Eyes on the door. He was fast. Maybe he wasn't Mikey-fast, but neighter Foot Ninja nor Purple Dragon had yet to catch him on a good day. A human girl stood no chance.
Three- It was the pizza that was his downfall. That and the pounding ache in his head that chose the moment Don lurched for the exit, to be the moment the white hot agony spiked behind his eyes. The stumble wouldn't have stopped him, but the wet slices of pizza he stepped in sure did. In seconds, he was no longer looking at the door, but lying flat on his shell, squinting up at the 80's style popcorn cieling while an obnoxious bell rang in his ears.

"OWw!" It was the only thing Don could articulate. Otherwise, he might have articulated a bunch of stronger words.

 

[hogwartsalumni211]

There was a short moment where Rylie was pretty sure she was either going nuts as she wound up with her broom ready to whack the giant wall of green that headed her way...at least until it slipped on a piece of forgotten pizza (so much for that midnight snack) and for a brief moment she couldn't really process what it was exactly what she was seeing. It was actually a little embarrassing that someone who studies cryptids and true crime as much as she did have a hard time realizing that she was legitimately looking at a cryptid in her grandmother's kitchen.


Rather than use her broom for defense she turned it around and used it to flick on the light switch to get a better idea of exactly what it was she was dealing with as she slowly and cautiously approached, a giant.... turtle? ya shell meant turtle but what was with the mask? This couldn't be an elaborate joke from her sister right? Although when had Andrea ever had that good of a sense of humor? Nope. this had to be happening. Only proved further when Dagger strode in and poked his fluffy little head over the turtle cryptids face sniffing him and before Rylie could pull the cat away Dagger sank his teeth into his nose...area.

"Brat be nice." Rylie scolded the cat gently before she looked down at the cryptid for a moment, she'd heard him say ow so...could he talk?
"Um sorry about him.... he’s aptly named." Rylie said though she wasn't entirely sure why she was apologizing when he was the one who broke into the restaurant this late (early? who really knew at this point) Rylie wasn't really sure what to do about this other than to turn and dump Dagger back outside of the kitchen doors before turning back to the cryptid a whole mix of thoughts and emotions running through her head before she settled on grabbing the industrial sized first aid kit her mom had gotten for the restaurant from under one of the sinks and returning to the cryptid and offering her hand to help him sit up, she'd just seen him running at him and he looked....honestly like some kind of scaley from the internet but she wasn't going to touch that with a ten foot pole.

"Are you hurt?" she asked hoping he could actually understand her and even then she wouldn't really know where to begin looking to help him without any direction at this point, This was like the weird crap she would read in comic books, either the start of some really weird messed up horror one, which usually ended up happening in the middle of nowhere like they were which was also why the broom didn't go very far away from her side because she refused to be the dumb girl that dies in the first five minutes, or some kind of super hero origin story which she also doubted because if something like that were to happen in real life it had to be a lot cooler than making some giant cryptid slip on pineapple pizza in the middle of Maine. Although worse origin stories had appeared across her computer when reading pre released comics.


Rylie opened up the first aid kit and started looking for instant cold packs, she found one and cracked it over her knee before she made sure it was cold and offered it to him next. There wasn’t really a point to asking to many questions just yet, she wanted to make sure that A) he actually knew what she was saying and B) he wasn’t like concussed from the floor pizza…. could turtles get concussions? Seemed like the shell should have prevented that but- you know what Rylie don’t go down that road just yet. Focus.

 

[wytchcraft]

There was a steady ThumP, tHUmp, tHUMPing in his head. Donatello had thus far ignored it for the better part of four hours, but getting his shell handed to him by a box of pizza had kicked it up to eleven. It felt a lot like the one time Raph had gotten a bit too creative with his sais, and head shotted him in the forehead with the hilt; so much so he almost expected to see Raph's smug-if-concerned face hovering over him,
No such luck. He was taking too long to get up. God, he was so done, he just wanted to curl up and-

The slight buzz of the florescents was his only warning before the cieling lights flickered on. Panic stabbed into him anew as the turtle recoiled, doing his best to twist away from the human and waiting for the telltale scream. It was taking longer than expected, but maybe he just couldn't hear it over the godawful ringing in his head, the source of which poked it's fuzzy face against his nose in a blatant assault on his personal space.

"Hi," Don said weakly to the cat.
Chomp, the cat said to Donatello's beak.
It was hardly the worst thing he'd endured in the last twelve hours, but it still HURT. He shot up with a muffled yelp, clutching his head in both hands as he shot a glare after the scampering menace.

"Brat be nice. Um sorry about him.... he’s aptly named."

Oh, yeah.
He'd been CAUGHT...

Hands still fixed over his face, Don sat frozen for reasons that didn't involve his worsening headache, voice frozen in his throat. He must have hit his head, because an apology usually wasn't the first thing out of a human's mouth when they saw him. The typical reaction was usually 'AHHH" or "AGGHHWAH" or 'IS THAT A GIANT FROG???"

Even April screamed the first time she'd met them. He didn't take it personally.

There still wasn't any screaming. Don was so confused it took him longer than it should have to realize that the woman had in fact been trying to talk to him the whole time. He let his hands fall to his side, still tense as he watched the woman rummage through a nearby cupboard and pulling out the first aid kit he'd so desperately sought.

Concussion confirmed. Either that or she seemed to be trying to help him.

Why was she trying to help him?
He hated that distrust was his first instinct. She had to work here, obviously. She looked like she was younger than April, not that Don had ever been a good judge of that, and had learned quickly that women often prefered you didn't speculate. She was comfortable bringing cats here, which seemed like quite the health code violation;

And she also seemed to know her way around a first aid kit,
He blinked at the sight of the ice pack, feeling a sudden pang of homesickness. Raph had tried to pretend he didn't feel guilty for the dirty hit, but the fact that he went through the effort of getting him an ice pack wasn't lost on Don. Except, unlike Raphael, she actually knew to wait for the chemical reaction to kick in.

Don took the offered ice pack. "Thank you," He looked straight at her, trying to gauge her reaction as much as make up for the embarrassing situation. Even if he wasn't a giant mutant turtle, getting caught robbing a restaurant and slipping on a piece of pizza in your attempted escape was hardly deserving of an ice pack. Normally, it was deserving of a lot of yelling and maybe a call to the police. He debated trying for the door again, but found he didn't have the energy.

"Sorry for...all this. You're taking it surprisingly well, all things considering."

 

[hogwartsalumni211]

Rylie couldn't deny she'd jumped a little bit when he'd thanked her, she honestly hadn't been expecting this and if she wasn't so totally baffled she'd be freaking out excited by now but at the same time, turtle looked sort of rough. Probably still best to leave the questions for a little bit.

"Uh yeah I'm still figuring out if this is my cryptid dream come true or....well literally a cryptid dream," Rylie explained with a small laugh as she sat back a bit and glanced down at the pizza still caked to the floor though there had been worse things in this kitchen (like her uncle Gerome's date of the day) she'd still have to clean it up but it did give her a clue to what he was after, one thing her grandma had always raised her to believe was if someone was hungry, feed them regardless.

"If you're still hungry, I could try to whip up something fast?" Rylie offered him "Call it even for dagger at the very least and make it so my grandma won't kill me for not feeding someone if I ever tell her this story." Rylie said she stood up and moved to the walk-in to see what they had and try to think about what she could make quickly, only downside to being an authentic Italian-American family is that almost nothing was ever really fast. Good thing for her was, mum was good at teaching her some quicker methods of food including her favorite midnight snack of tomato soup and grilled cheese, easy peasy and especially good when there was garlic butter.

"So....not to sound rude but what exactly are you? Not often do you meet a talking turtle thing with a mask.....also what's with the mask? I'd think it would be pretty rough for a turtle to keep a secret identity." Rylie asked him her mind buzzed with a million different questions but she was going to force herself to ease into them. She didn't want to freak him out for starters and she wanted to make sure she actually remembered all of this in case she decided it was something worth writing about in her blog though she was pretty sure no one would believe her even if she took pictures at this point. Too convenient for the girl who studied cryptids and crime to actually meet a cryptid in a small town and especially one that potentially no one else had ever heard of.

Rylie found herself starting to really cook the soup before she even got an answer from him, hey if he didn't want any she'd have a study time snack so it wasn't like it was going to waste. Plus, the dude looked like he'd had a bit of a rough day, food always helped with that kind of thing but maybe that was just her grandmother worming her way into her head again.

"I guess technically question number three would be, what are you doing here? Because frankly if you were hoping to get money there isn't much you'd get. Mom made a bank run this morning and Uncle Gerome steals money from the register if he thinks no one is watching which, in a family-owned restaurant someone is always watching whether you like it or not."

 

[wytchcraft]

"Cryptid," Don snorted, "Yeah, sure. That's me. We kappa love visiting Maine in the spring. I hear the ocean is just above freezing this time of year," It occured to him a moment too late that sassing the person who was being very reasonable about his whole situation, was not one of his smarter moves.

He was starting to regret this turn of events. The best case scenario had literally landed in his lap, she was even pulling out dishes to make him FOOD (a deep seated urge to not impose tried to kick up and stop her, but the turtle fought it down) and yet Don still sat, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

"I-....Look, you definitely deserve answers. A few." He made several faces, trying to calculate just how much to tell her. Even trying to explain the mask ("Well, I wear a mask because in addition to being a talking turtle, I'm also a ninja, but my longstanding hypothesis is that dad had a hard time telling us apart as kids and color coded us") would likely just lead to more questions. Questions he really really couldn't answer.

"I didn't break in to steal money. I was looking for supplies. I'm just passing through, and absolutely no one needs to know I was here. No one can know I was here," Don emphasized. He hoped he looked like he knew what he was talking about, and not downright terrified at the idea of his existance being exposed, one innocent chat to grandma at a time.

 

[hogwartsalumni211]

Rylie rolled her eyes a little at his teasing about the Kappa bit
“What else do you call a walking talking turtle in a mask?” Rylie asked him raising a brow “Because unless this is a sign that lizard people are actually a thing opening a whole new door of conspiracy theories for the internet, I’m gonna go with cryptid so get comfy being lopped in with Mothman and Nessie.” Rylie told him plain and simple. She’d had discussions in a similar fashion with various other people so she was used to the peculiar topic however not the person she was arguing with.


“Besides, if you were a Kappa you’d be munching cucumbers not pizza.” Rylie added to him she listened as he continued on seeming to explain himself a bit, it made sense he couldn’t exactly just walk into a shop and buy groceries like she could, the world would flip out and if Sci-Fi movies were anything like reality people didn’t understand creatures that weren’t like them and ended up on dissection tables. (Little did she know how accurate her assumptions were) however when he emphasized that no one could know he was there she couldn’t help but laugh a little.

“Oh please, like anyone would believe the cryptid blogger had an actual cryptid fall into her lap. Way to convenient, no worries your secret is safe though I can’t say I won’t start stalking the internet for monster turtle sightings from now on.” Rylie said with a smile thankfully it didn’t take long for the soup or the grilled cheese to be done. She set one of the server trays with a few bowls and a plate with the little sandwiches and put them on the window to the server station before she turned to her unlikely guest.


“Can you walk?” she asked him “Not allowed to eat in the kitchen and I don’t want Binx and Dagger breaking stuff in the dining area for attention so we’re eating out there.”

It wasn’t a suggestion; it beat sitting in a hot kitchen covered in old pizza. She’d clean up later on after she had her questions answered and her new Kappa friend was on his merry way to…well wherever he was from. Once out in the dining area she helped him into the booth where her laptop was set up and her cats were on the floor beside it waiting for her.

“Meet Binx, he thinks he’s a guard dog so don’t mind him and….well you met Dagger.” Rylie said gesturing to each cat and as if Binx was bent on proving Rylie’s point he sat up on his hind legs like a begging dog, Rylie scratched his ears for a second before she went and got the tray with the food and set a bowl in front of him and the plate of sandwiches in between.

“So, if you’re not from around here and are just ‘passing through’ why do you need to break into places for supplies? If you were just on a little adventure most would have the supplies they needed on hand.” Rylie pointed out to him

 

[wytchcraft]

There wasn't much Don could say in the face of her kappa reasoning save to mumble something about them traditionally having a dish in their head, not a mask. He certainly set himself up for that one.

"Mutant," Don finally said softly. "I'm a mutant. Nothing mythical. Just an accident of chemicals and good luck. And I'll have to ask you to forward any articles you do find to me. It's a pain in the shell having to keep ou-My existence off of the web." After a longer pause, he shifted the cold icepack into his other hands, not quite looking at her. "But thanks..."

He needed to shut his mouth. If he wasn't careful he was going to let slip something he couldn't take back. Strangely enough, he trusted the woman to keep his secret. The longer he sat and watched her work, cheerily chatting like he was just another customer, the more she reminded him of April; quick to adapt, even quicker to help. Going out on a limb to help strangers she barely knew.

His thoughts took a turn, and suddenly all Don could think about was April's antique store, positively flooded with Foot soldiers as he and his brothers fought for their lives and Leo barely hung on to his. The explosion that took the shop and nearly took all of them; He could still see April's devestated face, even as she fiercly argued that she'd do the whole thing over for them.

Maybe he was being paranoid. The situations where entirely different. He'd had to walk for a good two hours before he'd even stumbled on to the town, and before that, the van he'd busted out of had been cruising down the highway in the middle of nowhere, with nothing but trees for miles. He wanted to take assurance in the reality that Bishop would be looking for a turtle in a haystack as wide as the east coast, but fear his training wouldn't allow it until he was safe back home.

He never wanted to see that look on anyone's face ever again.

The clattering of a tray against the serving station startled Don out of the storm of his own thoughts. The kitchen was brimming with savory scents and despite the snack of cold pizza, his stomach rumbled in delight, much to his embarrassment. He followed the woman out of the kitchen, insisting on making his own way. If he all but collapsed in the booth from exhaustion, she was at least polite enough not to mention it.

“Meet Binx, he thinks he’s a guard dog so don’t mind him and….well you met Dagger.”

Don narrowed his eyes at the aptly named Dagger, "Charmed". The food was set on the table between him and his mysterious helper and it took every manner ever instilled in him by Master Splinter to avoid channeling the spirit of his baby brother and attacking the plate like they did him a personal harm. He paced himself with a sandwhich to start, even if he couldn't help finishing it a little too quickly. It wasn't just hunger, it was a damn good grilled cheese, and Don nearly fell over then and there of happiness.

Unfortunately, his new friend was a lot craftier than he gave her credit for. Blessed was the food, but it seemed to also serve as a trap.

“So, if you’re not from around here and are just ‘passing through’ why do you need to break into places for supplies? If you were just on a little adventure most would have the supplies they needed on hand.”

Don's hand froze as he reached for a second sandwhich. Normally, he was a skilled liar when he needed to be, but he found his brain making dial-up noises at the obvious goddamn flaw in his explanation.

"I had a bit of an accident..." Don said. "I was trying to avoid humans and I lost my gear. Trust me, I'm usually better prepared." Satisfied with the half truth, Don helped himself to a bowl of soup, eating at a more reasonable pace. "I've never been here before, and I didn't want to spend too long hanging around town in case I got caught. The restaurant was the first place I saw that looked like it might have what I needed. It wasn't my first choice," He said apologetically. "I don't like stealing. Not from hardworking people. And here you are feeding me after everything..."

Something seemed to click in Don's head as he looked at the woman, looked at the clock on the wall, and then looked at the laptop.

"Do you normally sneak in at 3:15 in the morning for the wifi?"

 

[hogwartsalumni211]

Rylie made mental notes of his replies to her questions, she thought it would be weird if she wrote them down as much as the little blogger/reporter in her wanted too. Nice to know he at least didn't seem like he wanted to rob little mom and pop shops. Big corporations she could care less about but this was just a tiny family business. However his next question threw her for a moment as she stuttered for a moment before she shook her head.

"Only when I have a paper due, my wi-fi shits the bed....and my uncle is out of town so he can't yell at me for doing so." Rylie said shrugging before taking another bite of her grilled cheese which reminded her, she quickly pulled the laptop over to herself and with a few clicks she submitted the assignment she'd been working on all week. Even with a mutant Kappa breaking into the restaurant her teacher wouldn't take it as an excuse even if she did submit proof of it.

"So what kind of accident are we talking here?" Rylie asked him quirking a brow as she slid the laptop to the side of the table again "Like Hikers came across your campsite and you had to run for a little bit because frankly unless that includes a tumble off a cliff you look a little worse for ware. No offense Kappa,"
Rylie was curious about what kind of trouble he was in, she was nosy like that and if she could offer any help she would. Plus easier to sus out the bull crap by asking questions, helped her know if she really should call the police rather than be gullible and believe everything she heard. After all, this was a mutant turtle who knew if she could actually believe a word that came out of his mouth but she'd choose to trust him until he gave her a reason not too.

 

[wytchcraft]

"So. You broke in," Don said with a lopsided grin. For better or for worse, he'd gotten caught because of shitty wifi. Part of him couldn't help but find that just a little bit funny. Besides, if the human was busy venting about her internet it took the focus off of his quickly crumbling story.

Please, just drop it...

It was certainly the most polite interrogation he'd ever been a part of, but that is largely what it felt like; an interrogation. He got the sense that the woman didn't believe him which- Fair, all things considering, but Don was running out of half-truths and excuses.

Alright, here's the real story. A crazy government man has been hunting me and my family for the better part of three months, and yesterday he caught me off guard in my favourite junk yard and when I woke up from the fight I badly lost, it was in a van, on a highway, in the middle of goddamn Maine.

"You know, I have a name. It's Donatello, not Kappa," Don said instead. "And it's been a rough day. I've taken up enough of your time anyway. I need to get moving before the sun comes up if I want to avoid anyone else..."

 

[hogwartsalumni211]

Rylie saw the comparison and the irony perhaps in what happened and at least had the courtesy to pretend to be offended though the slight smirk on her face was a dead giveaway that she wasn't actually upset

"I did not! I have a key, I know this restaurant better than I know myself thank you very much, I'd say it is my second home but really with how much time I spend here it's my first." Rylie told him and dipped her grilled cheese in her soup before popping the last bit in her mouth his mentioning leaving though had her rolling her eyes

"Okay couple of things First off, I don't think I can seriously call you Donatello without picturing the painter in a turtle suit so with your permission I'm either calling you Kappa or Donnie, secondly, You can call me Rylie since you already know my cat's names I probably should have started with that somewhere," Rylie said as she glanced down at the furbabies that were now happily curled up together though there was no mistaking the occasional lift of Dagger's eye as he observed Donnie to ensure Rylie's safety. It was sweet, they'd gotten into many weird situations before but frankly, this one took the cake.

"And lastly, you can barely walk, and if I caught you someone else is bound to. Look, my uncle Jerome keeps a cot in the upstairs office for when his wife kicks him out, it's not the comfiest but you can crash there. The restaurant is closed on Wednesdays so no one is coming in tomorrow, give me a list of the supplies you need and I'll bring them back here. You'll get a chance to rest up and you won't have to go prowling around stealing from any other places that may or may not have cameras and are this close to the only cryptozoology museum in the country." Rylie said to him all it took was one leaked picture to a scientist and things were going to get super chaotic around here and particularly for him. This was a small town and nothing stayed secret in small towns for long unless it involved the whole town, to begin with but that wasn't something to delve into at this moment in time.

"Only person you'd have to worry about coming in would be my mom and she'd be here for ten minutes tops, she usually does the orders and forgets the clipboard upstairs or she forgets the passwords for a few of the accounts and needs to get onto the company computer to look at them since she's not allowed to do it from her home laptop because my uncle is a control freak but don't get me started down that road." Rylie said shaking her head a little bit she could really go on forever about the things she didn't like about her uncle and how he ran the restaurant when her grandparents weren't around but that would be getting completely off topic.

"Look, you're already here and if a piece of floor pizza kicked your ass there's no telling what a surprised lobster fisherman or a hunter could do to you. If you're paranoid about me I can't stop you there but I will give you the thought of if I wanted to hurt you, I'd have done it by now."

 

[wytchcraft]

It was never a good thing when someone started a conversation with 'Okay, Couple of things, first off-"; in his experience, those words were a good indication that no, everything was not okay, and there were more than a couple of things to prove that point. The turtle weakly opened his mouth, only to shut it quickly as Rylie (Always nice to know the name of the person currently giving him the dressing down of his life) took his sorry excuse, turned it over in both hands and promptly called it bullshit.

Mentioning the pizza was just LOW.

He very much wanted to tell her she was wrong. He lived his night to night existence in a city of 8 million, unseen. The only reason she caught him was because he was off his game, and if he'd been even been a fraction of his usual self, she would still be puzzling over an empty pizza box at this very moment.

But that was not what had happened. He'd been sloppy. Literally foiled by food. And now that his tired, sore body had a chance to sit and rest, his fight or flight had gone out the window. Every minor cut, ache or bruise was making itself known, in combination with the headache inducing effects of Bishop's tranquilizer.

Donatello was tired. And while he hated to admit it, Rilie was right.

"I....okay...." He said. The turtle's shoulders dropped and he seemed to sway slightly in his seat, blinking a few times to keep his eyes open. "I see your point. But I need to be gone as soon as the sun is down,"

Don wished it could be sooner, but realistically, it was a risk he would have to take. An errant glimpse in daylight could be just as bad for him as Bishop picking up the trail. Donatello forced himself to take a deep breath.

A day wouldn't kill him. Bishop didn't know where he was. It would be FINE, even if the mention of this supposed cryptozoology museum sent alarm bells ringing in his head.

Was that why he'd been taken so far from New York? Did Bishop have some kind of connection with that place?

It didn't seem to be the Agent's style, but Don had similar feelings about the whole state of Maine. Nothing made sense and he hated it.

"And I'm not paranoid about you. Well, maybe I am, a bit but you're helping me," He mentioned. Don caught sight of the two cats curled up together on one of the neighbouring chairs, where the one he assumed was Dagger, was busy staring him down. He maintained eye contact with the cat, even if he was too exhausted to be mad. "Like I said, it's been a rough day. If I have to trust you, I will."

 

[hogwartsalumni211]

That had gone easier than she honestly expected, Rylie was used to more people arguing with her even if she was right, something that often happened in a big Italian family she was learning. Rylie nodded a bit feeling surprisingly vindicated and she stood grabbing the now-empty plate of grilled cheese sandwiches and took the bowls from the tomato soup

"Alright it's settled, I'm gonna do these dishes and clean up the kitchen real quick. Go through that little hallway past the bathrooms and there is a staircase to the office upstairs. If you need a hand, shout." Rylie told him pointing down the little hallway she'd mentioned "Paper and pens are on the desk, write me a list." Rylie instructed him and she walked into the kitchen not waiting for him to change his mind and argue with her as she put the dishes in the sink and grabbed the broom for the second time tonight as she started sweeping up the mess, Rylie still had to wonder about her surprising guest. A mutant turtle named Donatello stumbles through the middle of ass crack nowhere looking like shit. She wasn't really a detective except she sort of was in a way but she'd say he was definitely in more trouble than he let on. Rylie knew she wasn't going to be able to get him to let her help or even if she actually was able to help as it was, she was already way in over her head as she tried to believe this whole night was actually happening but she also knew that she couldn't dream up a situation like this.

Rylie had plenty of time to ponder about everything that was going on, him wanting to leave so bad either meant that he was desperate to get away from something or maybe even someone but also could mean he had someone to get back too. Rylie knew that she usually got anxious when she'd been away from home to long because it meant that her family was going to be looking for her, as a teenager she'd gotten into trouble for exploring places she shouldn't and breaking into places for information on whatever it was that she was researching for her blog, those things she almost never worried about getting back home it was when she would sneak out with her friends to go swimming or hiking at night that she worried about doing something stupid that would prevent her from getting home, Donnie seemed to have similar energy to that so Rylie would keep that in mind and either keep an eye and ear out for anything or anyone unusual as well as watch her back. if Donnie was in trouble, Rylie knew she needed someone to have his back and somehow she felt that it was up to her but that might be because she was the one who found him like this.

When Rylie finished cleaning she did add a few extra dishes by making some extra munchies, slicing up some fruit and veggies (she couldn't help her own little sense of humor by adding cucumbers), and putting them on a plate with a pitcher of water and a glass before she headed up to the office to check on Donnie and retrieve the list.

 

[wytchcraft]

He really should be offering to help. Instead, Don nodded and decided to do as she said. Soon enough, Rylie disappeared into the kitchen with the remnants of their late night dinner, leaving the still shell-shocked turtle alone amidst the empty dining chairs, with two cats and an unattended laptop.

Surreal as it was, it seemed like everything was, for once, going his way. He wasn't quite sure how to feel about it.

You got LUCKY, said the internal Pessimist. What would LEO say?

Leo. His brothers would have noticed by now that he was missing. The thought made Donatello's stomach drop and twist as his fingers tapped an unconcious beat, eyes suddenly fixing on Rylie's laptop.
They deserved to know he was okay, God only knew what stupid thing Raphael was doing as hour 25 of Don's disappearances ticked without mercy on the clock.

What stupid thing would they all do, if they knew you were in Maine and Bishop was still looking for you?

Prepaid cell card. Don mentally added that first item to the list as he rose from the table. No, scratch that. He couldn't give Rylie THAT kind of information. Maybe he could just ask to borrow ten dollars? His headache spiked as Donatello slowly meandered his way to the upper office. By the time he got there, there was only one word he was able to write down before the turtle all but collapsed on the low cot, dead asleep.

MAP, the note said, while Donatello softly snored the midmorning hours away.
----------------
It was 7:45 exactly as Agent John Bishop strolled into the town of Farmington, wrinkling his nose in distaste.

This was not how he had been anticipating starting his day. THIS is why he rarely trusted henchmen. Stockman had sworn up and down that the entire operation was under control and when the scientist had delivered him the unconscious turtle, Bishop had almost, ALMOST, been impressed.

But of course the fool hadn't properly accounted for mutant physiology in his tranquilizer dose, and of COURSE, some fool had underestimated said goddamn mutant for the millionth time in a row. Sometimes it felt to Bishop as if he was speaking to deaf ears of this threat that no one but himself saw; Even with the proof right in front of everyone.

Locked in the back of a van, travelling at 95 miles an hour, stripped of everything but his shell, Donatello had somehow managed to wake up from a dose of horse tranquilizer, unlock his magnetic cuffs, break the electromagnetic locks of the van itself, and disappeared off into the New England wilderness without a single highly trained government operative noticing.

And if it wasn't for his insistance that someone tag the goddamn Animal instead of assuming everything was fine, he might have gotten away with it too.

Bishop considered the glowing signal on his phone. The tracking device showed the turtle's location very clearly, in the middle of a town restaurant. He frowned to himself as he adjusted his dark sunglasses. Perhaps Donatello had hoped that using the town as a shield might save him, in which case, he had no idea of the power of the US government.

As if on cue, the radio in his ear crackled. "Checkpoints have been implemented, sir,"

"Excellent." Bishop said. "The regional authorities will feed the story to the news. Act within the roles of your cover and remain vigilant. I do not want a repeat of the travesty that occured under yesterday's watch, Lieutenant."

He heard a brief gulp before the man quietly mumbled a yessir. Turning off the radio, Bishop double checked the tracker coordinates and approached the front door of the restaurant. There was nothing that gave any kind of indication that it was open, but through the windows, the Agent could spy a light on somewhere in the back. He raised his fist and knocked at the door, quite sure that the turtle wouldn't have left such a thing on.

This might wind up being a short manhunt.

 

[hogwartsalumni211]

It took Rylie a while to finish cleaning up, mostly because she couldn’t stop herself from pondering over the peculiar situation and what Donnie might have gotten himself into that started the whole thing as well as how she was going to keep him from being seen, Uncle Jerome would be back in a couple of days and the restaurant opened back up tomorrow so if Donnie needed to crash for more than twenty four hours she was going to have to figure out how to move him and that was going to be a problem in and of itself, how the hell did you move a giant mutant turtle?

Rylie shook her head choosing to play the situation by ear so she didn’t drive herself insane and she finished up the kitchen and headed for the stairs. When she’d managed to get up to the office and found Donnie passed out she just shook her head. And he thought he was going to make it far without resting, yeah right. Rylie found the list and when she saw the only word on it she tried not to laugh at it before she grabbed a pen and scribbled a few extra things down just to be safe.

• Hiking bag
• First aid kit
• Sleeping bag
• Bear spray
• Dried fruit?

The last one was a question mark only because she had no idea if a mutant turtle ate meat or if they were still vegetarian. She certainly wasn’t going to wake Donnie to ask either. She’d just made it back down the stairs when she heard the suspicious knocking at the front door and frowned, Dagger and Binx were up and she could tell by their postures that whoever it was, was not friendly. Rylie always trusted her cats instincts, particularly Binx since he had gotten her out of some bad situations more than she could count with her own reckless investigations. Without hesitating Rylie went to her bag and grabbed her pepper spray just in case, honestly Donnie was lucky she’d forgotten that she had it or the night would have gone a hell of a lot differently.

“Stay.” She commanded knowing Binx would and that Dagger would do whatever he did. Perks of cats that think they’re dogs. Rylie made her way to the front door and glanced through the frosted glass before she cracked it open just enough that the extra chain lock would keep distance between her and the creeper person that stood before her.

“Sorry sir, we’re closed on Wednesdays. Annie-May’s delectable diner around the corner should be open though if you need a bite to eat.” Rylie said making sure her whole body blocked any visibility inside the restaurant that the frosted glass didn’t. Already Rylie knew she didn’t like this guy he looked…Honestly just flat out creepy. Like the kind of guy that you found in comic books that decided ‘you’ve seen too much’ before either wiping your memory or feeding you to some alien species.

Ok the fact that her head went there first looking him over told her she needed to stop watching late night movies and reading creepy comic books for a little while. Unless she proved to be right then she was probably going to read them way more often and considering her peculiar guest up in the office? Rylie was pretty sure her comic book theories were not as far off as she would like to hope they were. There was no way a mutant and some creeper in a suit fell into her lap in the same day on coincidence alone.

 

[wytchcraft]

While Bishop waited, he turned his well-trained eyes to the restaurant. It looked to be of similar size to all of the other buildings along the quiet main road, part of the kitschy red bricked Americana that some people found inexplicably charming. The restaurant was between a block of businesses and tourists traps that all sat crushed together with their colourful signs, with only a small alley cutting it off from its rightmost neighbour.

He spotted some trash and recycling bins left out along the side. They were all placed neatly in a row, with the exception that some of the lids sat slightly askew. While he wasn't ready to assume more than some vagrant raccoon, the agent could also see how a desperate turtle searching for scraps might have searched the bins before making the decision to break into the closest place with supplies...

Hearing the click of a lock, Bishop returned his focus to the door. It opened barely a crack, illuminating the face of a young woman from behind the taut security chain.

She didn't seem very pleased to see him. In fact, she seemed quite eager to get rid of him, that chain staying firmly in place as she spoke through the narrow opening. It was the kind of behaviour Bishop expected from hardened city dwellers, not some folksy backwater. He filed that too away for later, as he did his best to stretch his lips into a smile.

“No need to apologize.” Bishop said smoothly. He flashed his identification. “I am with the federal government. I won't need much of your time, miss. I need to speak with the person in charge of this establishment. It's urgent.”

It was clear from his manner he expected her to simply gasp at the silliness of keeping the door locked, rectify the situation immediately and invite him inside to speak with whoever was in charge about doing a thorough sweep of the building.

There was very little in his tone that said he was used to things going any other way.

 

[hogwartsalumni211]

Rylie glanced at the identification and quirked a brow at him as he mentioned being from the government, way to coincidental to not coincide with Kappa coming over. Plus the fact that her comic book hunch might be right was a little alarming but she was good at playing things cool right now.

"That would be my grandparents and they're out of state right now as is my Uncle the manager. Currently I'm the only one here so I guess I'd have highest seniority for the moment." Rylie admitted leaning against the doorframe, she made absolutely no move to unlock the chain or let him in. Rylie had a mutant in the office why would she even consider that an option when they'd literally had the discussion of him being in danger if anyone found out? a government agent who looked like the poster boy for the real Men In Black was absolutely not setting foot in her family restaurant without a warrant. Rylie was young but she absolutely was not dumb, Rylie knew her rights- actually at this point she knew her Miranda rights by heart with how many times the local cops had brought her home growing up for investigating things she shouldn't be, now that she was older she did her best to plan her moves out carefully so as not to have any more run ins with the law that could get her into bigger trouble. It didn't always help but she definitely got into less trouble than she did when she was a kid and she was good at paying off any fines.

"Can I ask what this is in regards to sir?" Rylie asked him she glanced around him to see if there was anyone else with him, for the safety of the occupant inside she considered stepping outside to pretend that everything is normal-ish and that she was just a paranoid kid, if he checked her records he'd be given good reason as to why after all. But Rylie didn't like the potential of being out numbered when she had to keep the cats hidden too. Despite what anyone thought of them, guard cats were actually a thing. Binx and Dagger were living proof, even if Binx thought he was a dog. When Rylie decided it was more likely to take her chances she undid the chain and only opened the door enough to let herself out before she shut it tight behind her making sure to hear the lock reclick before she leaned against the frosted glass of the door, silently telling him that he wasn't getting in, plus if he tried to force his way in even as rural as Farmington was, there were always nosy neighbors ready to call the cops for whatever, kids on their lawn, that one leaf from their neighbors tree that fell in their yard, not cleaning up after their dog fast enough on the sidewalk- ya if you weren't a college kid around here you were usually a retired old person who had nothing better to do than sit on your front porch and spy on your neighbors or "accidentally" pick up packages that weren't well guarded. Life was weird up here but Rylie liked it. weird town for her really weird family.

 

[wytchcraft]

The smile looked more and more unnatural the longer it sat on the Agent's face.
It grew thinner and thinner, until it wasn't quite a smile at all, but a barely restrained grimace of annoyance masquarading as something more pleasant.

There was no respect for his badge, no yielding to his authority, and for a man like Bishop, who could brutally recount several instances where swift action meant the difference between success and catastrophic failure, it was entirely unacceptable. He swallowed the sudden, very real urge to grab the door handle and show the little girl behind it how useless that chain really was, instead dropping the pretense of civility all together and letting his voice run cold.

"What this is 'in regards to', Miss," Bishop said, looking down on her, "Is a dangerous criminal that has escaped federal holding and is now loose in your quaint little backyard. As of 0100 hours this morning, I have recieved several credible tips that he is somewhere in this vicinity. This man is responsible for grand larceny, kidnapping, and mass murder. A true monster,"

He studied her from behind his sunglasses. If she couldn't be charmed, she could be frightened, and Bishop was very good at being frightening.

"But rather than waste my time reciting his rap sheet to try to express on you the importance of this, I have a job to do. My team and I are currently sweeping all businesses and homes in the area and your cooperation in this manner could mean the difference between life and death. Do you understand?"

 

[hogwartsalumni211]

Rylie listened to him as he slowly went from trying to be charming to menacing, the mask was dropping and it was nothing Rylie hadn’t seen before. Her dad was a detective and dealt with people like that a lot, he’d always told her that people wore several faces, the one they showed the world, the one they showed in desperation, their true face and the face to get what they wanted.

Agent over here had slipped from the last into what Rylie suspected was the true face. The intimidation factor was something that made her nervous but she had a few different faces to put on too, like her stubborn face. And if Rylie Bartletta was anything it was definitely stubborn.

The rap sheet read off had her wanting to roll her eyes as well but she managed to keep it to herself, she had a hard time believing anything like that about Don and she considered herself a good judge of character for the most part. Plus the cats hadn’t eaten his face off and they were better judges than she was.

“Do you have a warrant Agent?” Rylie asked quirking a brow at him “because if you don’t you’re not stepping a toe in here,” Rylie told him plainly

“With all due respect Agent, you’re in New England, we’re not exactly the kind of people who just take authority lying down and if you’re going to be searching our town you’re going to need a lot of warrants” Rylie told him she knew her home town, hell Mrs. garret down the road had turned the secret service down when the president had visited town and asked to use her bathroom, when you lived in small areas where the police stations closed at 8 and chaos unfolded around 9 in all the most unpredictable ways (usually involving alcohol) you ended up with a strong sense of community and an attitude that said “fuck authority”

 

[wytchcraft]

The woman had moved herself outside and stood, an unimpressed, unimposed figure, in the shade of the doorway, uterly unmoved by the dire stakes she was so greatly ignoring.

While Bishop had dropped all acts of niceness, the woman had dropped all pretense of co-operation launching into a lecture on New Englander's and their supposed anti-authoritative stance that only made the agent furrow his brows and stand all the straighter.

She had guts, he'd give her that.

She was also hiding something.

"Rest assured, the proper documents will be in my hands by the afternoon," He replied cooly, fixing her with another unpleasant smile.

"We can revisit the matter of a proper search then. Since you ARE closed, as you've said, surely you won't mind answering a few questions,"

There was no concrete evidence, only a trail of breadcrumbs, and yet together they were starting to paint a proper picture.
The woman said the restaurant was closed, yet why was she here so early in the morning? Perhaps she was an early riser, and as she said, as the highest ranking member of the staff currently in town, there were probably a million and one tiny, insignificant details that went into the preparations for the next days service.

But her cloths were clean, if a little wrinkled. Like they'd been worn for some time or potentially slept in. And aside from the fact that Bishop had a hard time buying a young adult acting responsibly why the real adults were away, her reaction to his missive of the dangerous lunatic on the loose had been underwhelming; No shock, no surprise. Not even an 'Oh Really?"

She was acting for all the world like she knew he was lying.

"What time did you arrive at work this morning? You must have gotten here early, I'm sure, to do...whatever it is restauranteurs do," Bishop said dismissively. "Did you see anything out of the ordinary on your morning commute? Notice anything out of place, Miss..."

He'd already commited the restaurant name to memory and in five minutes of this conversation he could have everything he needed. But in the meantime, a name would certainly cut his wait time down to three.

 

[hogwartsalumni211]

Rylie could see she was getting to him and she tried not to let her amusement show on her face as she listened to him talk already trying to figure out how she was going to get around town without looking suspicious, she might have been able to pass off that she was going camping or on another cryptid hunt but that might have been shot to hell with the idea of a potential threat running around town. Who in their right mind would go camping after that? Maybe she could come up with some excuse and think on her feet about what to do after that but she didn't trust herself to come up with something believable to quickly.

"Barletta," Rylie injected out of reflex when he trailed off trying to find out her name "Rylie Barletta, I arrived around four this morning. My grandparents own the place and I was having trouble with my internet and needed to turn an assignment in so I used my spare key to let myself in and since I couldn't sleep I spent a little extra time getting some things done around the place." Rylie told him it wasn't a total lie, more half truths the better she supposed. She did spend a good portion of her time cleaning up after everything that had happened and she definitely did originally come in to mooch the wi-fi.

"See, I've got this problem with one of my cats where he thinks he's a dog and somehow finds a way to follow me everywhere so occasionally he follows me to work and we've had to shut down once or twice to ensure that everything gets back to the standards of an operating restaurant even though we are a pet friendly business and we've never had a bad health inspection so I'd say we're doing pretty good on that front." Rylie explained again it wasn't totally untrue, with a cat like Binx she was constantly cleaning around everywhere he went with her to make sure that no one got into trouble and they had pet friendly seating areas on a weather controlled patio out back for those occasions that people with service animals came in. Plus the bonus that her grandfather absolutely adored dogs and would often make treats specifically for their fluffier customers or volunteer at the local shelter when he got the chance to do so.

"You're welcome to come back and see tomorrow during business hours, we've got the best pizza in Farmington though you peg me as more of a fan of arracanto or maybe lemon risotto?"
maybe if she bored him enough with shop talk he'd wise up and go away but she didn't hold out much hope on that either. He was still here and she'd already told him that she wasn't open so she figured he was going to be there for a while and she definitely wasn't letting him in regardless.

"Rylie?"

Shit. Rylie poked her head around Agent Bishop to see her mother walking towards them, now Rylie might be in her twenties and living on her own even if it was in the same home town that she'd lived her whole life and generations of her family did but every italian knows to be afraid when your mother got involved in problems. Especially yours.

"What did she do?" Jennifer asked already sounding tired as she readjusted the strap of her bag, apparently she was here early to balance the books.

 

[wytchcraft]

Barletta.
Bishop thought the name sounded vaguely familiar, but he couldn't quite place it while greater gears were in motion. Unless he wanted to cause a scene, it didn't seem like he was getting into that restaurant. And causing a scene was the very last thing Bishop wanted to do.

The general public did not need to know the true extent of the threats he regularly foiled on their ignorant behalf, and the agent prefered it that way. It was easier to ply the mechanisms of government when there wasn't a reporter in your face complaining of civil rights.

Besides, Bishop couldn't deny that for all their monstrosity, the mutant turtles followed some type of code of honor. They didn't harm those who didn't rightly invite it, and the local police statistically killed more than he could ever attribute to their vigilantisms. He could admire their tenacity, if they didn't represent a greater issue at hand; a slow corruption of everything he ever fought for. An increase in the number of incidents, creeping towards an unknown singularity. A sense that there was something over the horizon that humanity would not survive.
Not without the shrewdest of them making the hard decisions.

Miss Rylie Barletta, one of the ignorant masses, was still prattling on about a cat that thought it was a dog, and nothing else of importance, and Bishop let her as he considered his options.

And then opportunity presented itself.

"You must be the proprieter," Said Bishop. There was no denying the woman who just arrived was Miss Rylie's mother, not with that tone of voice. Bishop revealed his credentials yet again, allowing the woman to take her time looking at it.

"Oh, rest assured, your daughter is not in any sort of trouble," Yet,

"I am working with the county sheriff on a sensitive matter. An official public notice will go out later today. Perhaps I will take you up on your offer for lunch," The agent said pleasantly, eyeing Rylie as he snapped his badge shut. "When you are open of course. Thank you for your time,"

With that, the agent withdrew, not at all sorry to leave Rylie in charge of explaining to her mother this whole sordid encounter. He truly wished to be a fly on the wall for THAT conversation. In the meantime, Bishop waited until he returned to the dark sedan parked around the corner, to radio back to his operations center.

"Get me Dr. Stockman" He ordered, "And put team five on rotation for surveillance-"

 

[hogwartsalumni211]

Jennifer eyed the credentials curiously as looking from the badge to the agent that held them, raising a brow
“Uh huh, We’ll be open tomorrow. Any other visitation you’d better have a warrant.” Jennifer informed Agent Bishop in a way that had Rylie smirking
Well there was a plus side, despite the fact that Rylie was positively panicking from the idea that her mother was about to find a Kappa in the work office at least she’d gotten rid of the creep of the week.

Jennifer unlocked the door behind Rylie and they walked in and she frowned seeing Binx who waited patiently for them
“Rylie you’re going to get us shut down if you keep letting him in here.” Jennifer said with a sigh as she turned to her daughter who was bolting the door just to be sure.

“What are you doing here anyway?”

“My wi-fi went out so I came to mooch the restaurants, made a midnight snack and spent a good portion of the night cleaning up afterwards.” Rylie told her and turned to see her mother already headed for the stairs and had a brief moment of panic hurrying over to stand in front of her mother blocking her path as nonchalantly as possible

“Hey! Uh how about some coffee before you get to work? Or hey, why don’t you go see how great I did cleaning the kitchen and I’ll get what you need from the office.” Rylie offered her Jennifer paused and stared at her daughter for a moment and Rylie knew the look far too well. Her mother was trying to figure out what was up with her, Rylie had the worst time hiding anything from her mother, she always had.

“Rylie Mae Barletta what did you do?” Jennifer asked her Rylie couldn’t stop herself from rolling her eyes, how was she in her twenties, living in her own apartment and yet her mom could still middle name her and she’d revert back to a teenager being caught sneaking in after curfew, even if that was mostly Andrea’s thing.

Regardless, Jennifer didn’t wait for an answer as she gently brushed past Rylie and headed up to the office as Rylie continued to panic, if her mother screamed and freaked out there was no doubt that the “agent” would be here in ten seconds flat and have a whole new mess of problems on their hands. Rylie hurried after her doing her best to try everything to convince her mother that everything was fine, there was no need to rush into the office, what could possibly be wrong?

But when Jennifer opened the door she was greeted with Dagger, sitting pretty and staring as if waiting for them the strange part, Dagger was the only one in the Office. Jennifer looked around and Rylie had to pause as she looked as well, a giant mutant kappa-turtle couldn’t just vanish into thin air could it? Invisibility wasn’t one of his mutant powers right? She assumed if it was he wouldn’t have needed to break into a restaurant after hours for food and supplies.

“Rylie Mae, I don’t know what it is you’re up to but I know you’re up to something.” Jennifer said with a sigh as she went to the desk and opened a drawer pulling out a book

“Make sure you clean the place thoroughly before we open tomorrow, if your uncle finds cat hair in the restaurant again he’s going to kill both of us.” Jennifer told her and Rylie simply nodded

“Yeah no problem.” Rylie assured her, Jennifer gave her one last weary look before she headed down and out

“And don’t let that man back in without a warrant or the sheriff ok?” she added and Rylie laughed

“I wouldn’t let him in on his own if he tried to pay for my college.” Rylie called back to her as she watched her mother go. With her gone it just brought up the next question, where the hell had he gone?!

“Kappa?” Rylie called trying not to be too loud so as to bring her mother back in
“Donnie?”

 

[wytchcraft]

There wasn't a single trace of Don in the office. The cot was too low to the ground to hide a mutant turtle and there were no closets, bureaus or furnishings sufficiently large enough for one to hide behind. The room looked exactly as it had the day before, with the computer humming idle and a soft breeze drifting in from the cracked window on the far wall.

A green, three fingered hand suddenly appeared behind the panes. It reached out from the side, hooked beneath the inch-high gap and pryed it open. Donatello stumbled through a moment later, trying and failing to make it look like he didn't regularly spend a good chunk of his time climbing through windows.

"I heard someone on the stairs," Don said, like that explained everything.
He was mindful to keep his voice down, tracking the sounds of Rylie's mother until the sounds of her footsteps faded into the background noises of the restaurant.

That was a close call.
He'd woken up with a general feeling that something was wrong, and it had taken him a stupidly long time to identify why, given ...well, everything.

The window had been his only bet, with seconds to spare. At the time, he'd been annoyed at the fact that there was no fire escape.
Right now, he was annoyed that there was no fire escape and that Rylie most certainly KNEW there was no fire escape
Don definitely had no interest in explaining how he managed to avoid the two-story drop.

He also definitely wouldn't had had that time, if Rylie hadn't given him the extra few seconds