Sorry. TMNT are owned and operated by Mirage, 4Kids, Imagi, WB, and God knows who else- I just know that, as the list grows longer, my name still does not appear on it. Grant, Baker, Sonja, Mario, and Iwamatsu are belong to me.

Concilliabule- Part 2

Karai sat at her desk, regarding this woman. So she was the moving force behind this hunt for the missing Scientist. Karai inwardly sniffed at the agent's fashion sense- she was trying just a little too hard, it seemed to the Foot Leader, to appear as though she were used to such clothes- then Karai pushed aside these catty opinions and focused on the woman's words.

Hun, too, was studying Agent Grant, but not in the same manner as Karai. He was more interested in the subtle look that came over her face whenever she mentioned the late, lamented Agent Bishop. Oh, ho! I wonder why she truly wants this guy brought back?

He managed, however, to keep the smirk off his face as Grant finished up.

"And so, the situation has reached a highly critical point. I must have Dr. Baker at once! You say you know where he is, that he is with these mutant Turtles. Then go and get him!"

Hun and Karai exchanged looks; and the "brother" once again managed to keep the smirk off his face. Then they both turned their attention back to the woman.

"Agent Grant," Karai replied smoothly. "Your Agent Bishop knew where the Turtles were. I heard that he even flushed them out of the sewers at one point. Surely he left you this information. Why do not you, as you say, 'go and get him'?"

Grant frowned, but she kept all traces of anger from her voice.

"We never pinpointed the exact location. I gather that is what you are telling me as well. But you seemed to have run into them rather quickly in your last encounter- or so I have heard," she said, her tone slightly tinted with amused contempt. "In or near the same place as a previous failed encounter. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that their secret dwelling must be near that part of the river!"

Now it was Karai's turn to frown.

"You would be wrong to assume that, Agent Grant," she countered, and her voice held anger and no mistaking it; anger mixed with a healthy dose of contempt for this government agent whose job was to hunt down and eliminate aliens. Her father had been-

"My men and I- as well as my dear 'brother' and his men-" she continued, "have had many encounters with the Turtles all over this city. It does not take a rocket scientist to know just how large of an area we are talking about!"

Each woman regarded the other as if sizing up an opponent just before a match. Hun, meanwhile, sat back in his chair, enjoying the entire show.

"We need Dr. Baker," Grant repeated. "Stockman's work-"

"Stockman?" Both Hun and Karai involuntarily repeated the name forcefully, startled into physical response. Karai nearly bolted out of her chair, and Hun gripped the armrests of his so hard he threatened to break them.

"That hack? You've got that hack working for you?" Hun nearly laughed. "That freakin' brain in a jar is working for you?" He shook his head in disbelief; how could ANYONE in their right mind...

"That traitor? That kusottare who betrayed my father to your precious Agent Bishop?" Karai was saying at the same time, the expletive more than revealing the hatred that rivaled her emotions for the Turtles and their father burned for all present to see.

"Stockman's work has gone as far as it can without the knowledge of Dr. Baker," Grant replied as if the others had not spoken. "He's managed great things, but we need Baker to make any more progress."

It took Karai several minutes to regain her composure. She was seething at the knowledge that this- this- being- was still alive. HOW stupid she had been, when first made aware of his condition; she had actually felt pity for the scientist.

Now it was her desire to take the jar that the disembodied brain floated in and smash it to the floor, where she would stomp the thing into a jellied mess until her shoes were ruined and her vengeance was satisfied!

Finally she pressed a button on the console. She said nothing; there was no need. Within a minute the door opened and one of her most trusted servants was bringing in a tray with tea and three cups.

Grant graciously accepted the proffered drink, but did not partake of it. Hun, as well, took his own cup, but tea had never been his favorite. Only Karai seemed to enjoy the hot, bitter beverage; it at least helped to calm her down, to center her, to put her back in control of her emotions.

"Why should I expend more of my men in this pursuit?" she asked. "Why should either of us continue to help you out?"

"For protection."

Now both Hun and Karai laughed aloud, and for a brief second Grant was startled.

"Protection?" Karai, the first to recover, repeated. "You think I need your protection?"

And in her mind, briefly, she recalled the entire sequence of events from when she and Chaplin had been returned to Earth by the Utroms- and still her lawyers had not only managed to free the two of them, but no charges were filed! NO suspicion was harbored against her, despite the activity of her father's organization!

Hun, meanwhile, struggled to keep his face straight. While Bishop was alive he and his crew had managed to steal many things from the Government- things that Bishop himself was protecting- and NONE of that had ever come home to him! NONE of it!

Yet- it would be nice, he mused, to have friends in high places... very high places indeed...

"We know enough about both of your organizations to put you out of business permanently," Grant went on. "Frankly, I do not care about either of you or your activities. My group only has one mission: to defend the Earth from alien invasion. And the key to our work lies in the brain of our leader. Progress has been made- but we must do more!"

Grant sipped her tea, then set the cup down on Karai's desk.

"I can assure you, once we have Dr. Baker in hand, that none of the hard evidence Agent Bishop gathered about both of your organizations will ever see the light of day."

"Blackmail, Agent Grant?" Karai arched an eyebrow.

"An exchange, Ms. Oroku," she replied smoothly. "Merely an exchange of goods and services as it were. And- any possible attention that might draw the interest of local and government authorities to yourselves, would be deflected by myself and my organization."

"Protection racket, eh?" Hun chuckled quietly. This was a new twist on an old scheme. Pay up or we'll close you down- permanently! He looked again at Karai. "Well, 'dear sister'- it sounds like an offer we can't refuse."

Oh, I could refuse it, she thought, but she kept her countenance and inclined her head to Hun.

"Yes, 'dear brother', I suppose that there are many merits to this proposal. However, the fact still remains that we are searching for a needle in a haystack."

Agent Grant produced from her bag a brown envelope, opened it, and pulled out a sheet of paper with two photographs attached.

"This woman is an agent in another organization," she said, passing it over to Karai. "She is Baker's contact. She is the one who brings him whatever he needs. Follow her and you will find Baker."

"It's not that easy," Hun pointed out, giving the pictures a passing glance. He had known that Baker had help, but following that particular woman had been impossible. "Believe me, I know."

"Believe, me, so do I," Grant replied. "But I have recently acquired some information that should make it easy. She is meeting with Baker soon- in two days time, actually. I do not know the location, but you will see that her home address has been provided. I'm sure that you will have no trouble following her. Especially if you apply this to her car."

From the depths of her bag, Grant drew forth a small disc and a tracking device the size of a small cellphone.

"Even she won't discover this piece," the agent slightly gloated. "The best alien technology available. Undetectable by anything created by humans."

And Grant, as the other two examined the device, could not help but smile.

And then nothing more was said. The door opened, and out stepped Agent Donna Iwamatsu. She gave Grant a brief nod; they were familiar with each other, but there was no love lost. Grant had nodded in return, then been summoned into the Director's office...

"Agent Grant," Karai's voice cut through the memory, and Grant, blushing at her apparent inattentiveness, apologized.

"Agent Grant, we will do what we can," Karai continued. "But once we have obtained this man for you, we fully expect to be 'left alone'- permanently."

"I assure you, I do not break my word," Grant replied, rising from her chair. "Thank you."

And without further word, she left.

"Trust her?" Hun asked, slightly smirking; he already knew the answer.

"Of course not," Karai confirmed. "So, shall we do this together, or would you like the honor?"

Hun smiled hugely.

"Naw- I got plans I can't break. You take care of it- 'sis'." And then he, too, rose from his chair. "Comin' back to the party?"

Karai shook her head.

"Not yet. I need to make a few arrangements. I will contact you when we have Baker."

Hun merely nodded, then he headed back to the party. With any luck, the business man had not left yet. Hun so wanted that property!

Mike was carefully keeping out of trouble. He arrived for training on time, kept his clowning around to an acceptable minimum (i.e. enough to get noticed without getting grounded or pummeled), and stayed out of Don's lab to the point where the brainy turtle asked him if he was okay.

Mike had a plan, and he did NOT want to risk it by fooling around.

Splinter was going with Baker in a few days so he could meet up with his "friend". The Rat had been persuaded to let the scientist call the woman, and Don, remembering how Raph had told about her knowing about the scrambling device, was able to secure their phone so that the woman had not been able to trace the call.

Don knew this because he was listening in from his lab; he'd heard her cursing under her breath about "why won't this thing work?".

In any event, Mike was going out then to check out that foundry. That may not have been Victor- the Victor he had known- but he was convinced that the man controlling the rats was indeed the Slayer. He was going to prove it once and for all. And he couldn't do that if he were grounded.

But his "behavior" was not entirely lost on Leo.

Mikey, upstairs getting ready to come down, overheard Leo talking to Don. They were both directly below him.

"I think Mikey is up to something," Leo said to his brother.

"Gee, how can you tell?" came the sarcastic response.

"Hey, Don, I'm not a 'genius' like you, but even Raph has noticed that baby bro is not as annoying as usual."

Before the conversation could go further, the turtle in question dropped two water balloons he'd been planning to use on Raph directly onto the heads of the others.

The two stood there, sputtering and involuntarily shivering as the icy liquid wriggled into those sensitive and hard to reach places, the echoing boisterous evil laughter of Michelangelo fading away as the turtle vanished like a good ninja.

"You were saying?" Don said, wringing out his mask after using what dry parts there were to sop up some of the more irritating remnants of ice water.