I do not own the TMNT and their aliases, K belongs to me: everyone else is up for grabs!

Chapter Twenty-four; Divided and Conquered?

Nightwatcher eyed the woman as she led K into a side room, trying to gauge her intentions. The woman's behavior reminded him of April when she was venting her concerns by gently nagging. Her movements and the way she carried herself were more Karai.

The man who seemed to be leading the meeting gestured to Nightwatcher's guards. "Lock up with other man." He ordered, then turned back to the suits.

Raphael grit his teeth behind his helmet when the man behind him shoved the rifle into Nightwatcher's back, "That way." From the tone, the guy was probably pointing. Not a bright idea when standing behind someone in a helmet and plainly limited field of vision. With a tilt of the helmet, Raph tried to communicate the obvious problem.

The familiar sound of someone getting slapped upside the head followed by a low, "Stupid." The American in the suit tsked and shook his head.

"Uh... to the... uh, right?" Nightwatcher's guard said. Nightwatcher glanced that way and moved toward a door on that side of the large suite.

The rest of the men continued to stare at him. Raph's fingers itched in his gloves. Even in full costume, all those eyes bothered him on a level he couldn't bury. His teeth continued to grind.

One of the Purple Dragon opened the door and stood back to let Nightwatcher through. Raph started forward, and was shoved from behind by the gunman's rifle barrel. The move would have been further irritating to him, but even with Raph off-balance there wasn't enough strength in the push to do more than make him finish his step short. The barrel skidded noisily over the gear covering Raph's shell and the Purple Dragon holding the door cursed. Everyone saw that Nightwatcher had been given an opening. Under normal conditions this would have been the perfect chance to lash out and take control. Instead, Raph merely turned a few degrees and grunted, "Yeh commin'?"

The punk was several shades paler than Raph thought healthy for humans. Raph barely had time to notice this kid was just one of those new Initiates before the Purple Dragon yanked the rifle away from him. "Don't let me see your face again." He ordered. The Initiate -former Initiate- scrambled for the elevator.

Raph turned again so that he could get a good look at the Purple Dragon. He sneered, but not at Nightwatcher. "I've had it with those kids." The Dragon grunted and pointed through the door with the rifle barrel. Raph walked through as casually as if he were an invited guest. As the Purple Dragon followed him the rifle barrel stayed pointed at the floor. It was clear that they both knew the thing keeping Nightwatcher prisoner wasn't the gun.

Nightwatcher surveyed the room as the Purple Dragon closed and locked the door behind them. It was a bedroom, there were probably more than one in a suite this size. A guard stood by one window, keeping an eye on the bed. The mattress had been removed from the bed and leaned up against a wall with the sheets and such pooled on the floor. A chair had been placed in the center of the bed frame with ropes securing the chair in place. A man was tied to the chair. Bruises and a nasty cut marred his face, dried blood smeared across his chin and staining what was left of his shirt.

"Hey, brought you some company." The Purple Dragon called to the man.

The man didn't bother to look up.

The Purple Dragon snorted. "Anyhow, soon as the boss gets done with his meetin' we'll figure out what to do with you."

"This ain't gonna be one of those long meetings where they get drinks after or somethin', is it?" The guard by the window grinned.

"Just get in there." The Purple Dragon didn't sound too annoyed as he waved Nightwatcher further into the room.

As Nightwatcher complied, Raphael smirked into his helmet.