Chapter 11: Fallen Brother

A/N: I know it's been a long time since I've updated this story, but in light of all of the violence against cops that I've been seeing on the news, I just had to do a chapter about it concerning Aubree and what it would be like if something like this happened to her unit. Thanks to all of those who have read and reviewed thus far. It means a lot to me, and I'm sorry for the delay. This just came to me, and I hope you enjoy it though it will be sad.

Disclaimer: TMNT and all related characters belong to Nickelodeon. I only own Aubree Hennigan and the plot.

There has been so much violence against cops lately, and I really was angry about all of it. It made me so angry to hear about the cop who was simply pumping gas when he was shot by a guy who just walked up to him. Or the cop who was chasing suspects in Illinois and was shot by them. I was sad for these people and their families, but it didn't really hit me until it happened in my unit. That was the day I lost it.

It happened shortly after my shift ended. I had just entered headquarters to clock out when I noticed that everyone was frantic. My brother, Ben, came up to me, a worried look on his face.

"Aubree, thank God you're okay," he said.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"One of our own was killed tonight," he replied. "We didn't know who it was, and I was worried it was you."

"Do they know who did it?" I asked him.

"Some punk kid who wouldn't take orders," he replied. "They're still trying to identify him."

I was angry about all of this. How could this have happened to us? This wasn't supposed to be the outcome, though we knew the risks. Every time I went out on a call, I always knew what could happen, but I never felt that anything else would go wrong. I was always confident that we would all come home safely.

But now someone was gone.

"I need to go home," I said.

"You want me to come with you?" Ben asked me.

"Sure," I said.

We left the precinct in silence until we reached my apartment building. I said goodbye to Ben and went to my apartment. Anger swirled inside me as I thought about what had happened.

I wanted to punch someone.

I turned on the news and the top story was about the cop who was killed. The news anchor then released his name and said it was Joe Garrison. I knew Joe very well and had always had a good camaraderie with him. We often told jokes to each other while on duty though I never had him as a partner. We nicknamed him "Sloppy Joe" because his office space was always a mess with food wrappers and papers scattered all over the place. And now that would never happen again. Joe would never joke around with me or ask me how I was doing. He would never get to talk to me and would never get to see his kids graduate high school or college.

I wanted to punch someone.

My computer beeped and I saw that David was there.

"Hey, sis, how are you holding up?" he asked. "Ben called me and told me what happened."

"Not well," I said. "I can't believe Joe's gone. He was one of my best friends."

"I know, sis, but he's not suffering anymore."

"He wasn't suffering to begin with!" I retorted. "He was fine. He had a whole life ahead of him and someone just needlessly took it with no regard for him or for us. Why is this happening to us, David? Why are people doing this to cops? Don't we deserve respect? Why can't Obama get off his ass and do something to stop this from happening?"

"I don't know, Aub, but there's really nothing we can do right now," he said. "Look, I gotta go. I just wanted to check on you. I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Okay," I said. I signed off with David and continued to watch the news as they moved on to the weather report. What did it matter if we were going to have a chance of thunderstorms. Why did it matter when a wonderful police officer was gone?

I wanted to punch someone.

A knock on my window made me turn around. Leo was standing outside, his face full of concern. I let him in and he embraced me.

"I heard about what happened," he said. "Are you okay?"

I was getting so sick of hearing that phrase that I did the only thing that came to mind. I balled up my fist and punched Leo. Granted, it wasn't the best idea, but it was the only thing that made sense to me, and I had to take my anger out on someone. Why not take it out on a skilled ninja?

Leo reeled back, clutching his cheek. "Ouch!" he yelled. "What was that for, Aubree?"

"It's not fair!" I yelled out. "He was someone's husband and father! He wasn't ready to die yet! He had his whole life ahead of him and someone just shot him! I hate America! I fucking hate this country where a President is seeing all this violence and doesn't give a damn about it! I swear, if I could find the asshole who did this to Joe, I would kill him! I want to kill him right now!"

"Aubree, you don't mean that," Leo said softly.

"Yes, I do," I replied. "I want to kill this guy."

"That won't bring your friend back," Leo told me.

"Do you think I don't fucking know that?!" I yelled at him. "I know it won't bring him back, but I want to do something to avenge his death! I'm tired of seeing cops getting gunned down for no reason! This isn't fair, Leo!"

He pulled me into an embrace. "I know, Aubree," he soothed. "I know it's not fair, but I don't think Joe would want you to go off on a reckless revenge hunt. I want you guys to get him, too, but that's no reason for you to lose your head."

I didn't answer and just continued to sob. I was tired of this whole thing. Why did it have to happen to such a good person? I cried for a while and then settled down.

"Do you want me to stay with you?" Leo asked me.

It would have been nice, but I wasn't in the mood for company. "No thanks," I answered. "I'd rather be alone tonight."

He nodded in understanding. "Okay. I'll come by and check on you tomorrow night. Will that be okay?"

"Yeah, that would be great."

He gave me a kiss on the cheek before leaving the apartment. I appreciated his desire to protect me, but this just wasn't the time for him to be here. After he left, I had a few beers before collapsing into bed. I knew the days ahead were going to be hard, but this was the life I had chosen to live, and I had to deal with it no matter what.

22222

Joe's memorial and funeral were very hard on me. I couldn't stop crying as people made tributes to Joe. Ben encouraged me to speak, but I resisted at first. There was no way I was going to go up there and try to speak.

"C'mon, Aub, maybe it'll make you feel better," he urged.

With a sigh, I went up to the podium and looked at everyone who had attended the service. So many of my fellow cops were here, and I knew I owed it to them and to Joe to pay tribute to him.

"Joe was a good friend of mine," I began. "Every time I would come into the precinct, he'd always have a smile for me. During breaks, we'd joke around and poke fun at each other. I remember how his desk was always cluttered with junk, and that's what caused me to give him the nickname Sloppy Joe. He took it in stride of course, and he loved it. Every April Fool's Day, he'd play elaborate pranks that made us all very wary whenever we were around him. Joe was also a devoted husband and father. He would talk about his kids and what they did all of the time. He often encouraged me to get married and have kids, saying it was the best thing ever and that it would change my life in more ways than one. I always declined though because I never wanted to get married to anybody. Joe loved his job and was dedicated to the police force. Every day he would come in with a smile on his face, and if you were feeling upset or sad, Joe would find a way to cheer you up. You would forget all about your troubles just being around him. He was a great man, and it sickens me that someone would do this to him and to all of us. I hope that we will catch the person who did this and bring them to justice. We will make sure Joe's death will not be in vain and that we will continue to remember a good friend, husband, and father. I'll miss you, Sloppy Joe. May you rest in peace wherever you are."

My fellow officers gave me a standing ovation after my speech. I had tears running down my face, but I didn't wipe them away. I left the podium and made my way back to Ben who gave me a hug.

"Good job, sis," he whispered. "I know Joe would be proud of you."

I nodded and continued to listen to speeches until the memorial concluded. The funeral was even harder but I had already said my piece so I just listened as his wife and one of his daughters talked about Joe and how he was a good husband and father. Burying him was hard, but we got through it as we always did.

After that, our job was merely trying to find the jerk who did this. It was hard because there weren't a lot of leads. The Turtles promised to help as much as they could and dedicated their patrols to looking for any suspicious activity. As it turned out, we received a few leads that were pretty verifiable although one turned out to be false and a fabricated story. We didn't let that deter us and continued to investigate. As luck would have it, we were able to catch the kid who did this and put him in jail. He is still there now and will be tried in court in a few months.

I was happy that the kid was caught and though I wanted to confront him and beat him to a pulp, I didn't do it. In fact, I didn't confront him at all. But the next day, he gave an account of four guys in turtle costumes who infiltrated the jail and beat him up. That brought a smile to my face because I knew exactly who it was and so did Ben. Chief didn't believe him and ignored his pleas to hear him out.

When I went home, I waited for Leo to come, and he did. I smiled as he came into my apartment.

"How was your day, Aubree?" he asked me.

"Oh, it was interesting. I heard that a few guys in turtle costumes came into the jail and beat up the guy who shot Joe."

Leo pretended to be surprised. "Really? Wow, they must have had some guts."

"And a good tech genius who's good at disabling security cameras."

"You're not mad?"

I shook my head. "Of course not. I'm glad it was you and not me. Please tell me you beat him good."

"We did though I had to restrain Raph from going too far."

I laughed. "Yeah, I bet you did. I'm just glad he's behind bars."

"Me, too," Leo said. "I know this whole thing has been a terrible ordeal for you, Aubree. I hate seeing you sad."

"I hate being sad, but now that Joe's killer is behind bars we can move on and just go on about our business as usual. I know that's what he'd want."

"Did you clean out his desk?"

"His wife came and got some of his things, though we did leave a few things there to remind us of him. We just didn't want to leave it totally empty."

"I can understand that," Leo said. "Do you want me to stay here tonight?"

"Nah, I'm good," I replied. "But thanks for checking up on me."

"No problem," he said. "Have a good night, Aubree."

I embraced him and kissed him on the cheek before watching him disappear like the ninja he was. While this was the worst week of my life, I was happy that the case was closed and that Joe could rest knowing that his killer was behind bars. While I didn't believe in heaven, I did believe in reincarnation, and I had a feeling that Joe was out there somewhere raising hell in a different form. I knew that one day I would see him again, and it would just be like old times where we would hang out and have fun. With that last thought in my head, I fell asleep, hoping that the days to come would be easier.

A/N: So that's the end of another chapter. I hope you enjoyed it. It was a sad one, but it was one I needed to do in light of everything that's been happening recently. Sadly, the killers of the Fox Lake officer haven't been found as of this writing, but I hope that they will be found soon and brought to justice for what they did. I'm also thinking of doing a version of Aubree in the Nickelodeon universe which will be radically different from the adult Aubree but still has the same characteristics. So watch out for that if you want to read it. In the meantime, feel free to leave a review and have a shelltastic day.