7670/A Clandestine Meeting

A Clandestine Meeting
Date of Scene:	28 May 2019
Location:	An alley in Mutant Town
Synopsis:	The one where Leonardo meets up with FBI Agent Cody Garrett in secret
Cast of Characters:	Leonardo, Nemean

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Leonardo has posed:
It all began with a phone call, but not from any owned by the turtles themselves. Pay phones still exist in some places, Mutant Town being one of them. One evening, Leonardo went topside to dial the name and number Alopex left him with. Donatello's research suggested this was a real person, aside from the fact the man had come up in other news right around that time.

When the call was answered, Leo was a little surprised it was picked up so quickly but he got down to business quickly, giving a short explanation of who he was and explaining a desire to meet in person. A time and place was agreed upon: an alley in Mutant Town, around midnight.

The eldest of the turtles was there a few minutes early, dressed in a trenchcoat and fedora. Classic disguise.

Nemean has posed:
Mutant Town at Midnight. Okay. A bit cliche, but sure. Cody makes his way down there, not taking any of his Federal cars or anything, just his personal motorcycle. He spots the museum where this whole crazy adventure started as he drives past, parking his bike about a block from the alleyway and walking.

Once he steps into the alleyway he sees the figure waiting for him, trenchcoat and fedora and all, "I'm not going to call you Deep Throat." He says, as he walks towards him, "I'm guessing you're Leonardo?"

Leonardo has posed:
Sometimes the cliches are what they are for a reason. Besides, even with the trenchcoat in place, anyone familiar with the typical body shape can see he's on the short side, has a fairly large back, is somewhat green-tinted in what little can be seen of his face, and there are a pair of katanas sticking up in back of him.

"The funny thing is I've seen all the old X-Files episodes," Leonardo answers. "But yeah, and you must be Agent Garrett. Just so you know, my brothers are around the area, keeping an eye on things. You won't see them unless they need to be seen. That means nobody's going to bother us, but it also means they've got my back just in case. Know what I mean?"

His arms cross, briefly exposing a hand with just two thick fingers and a thumb, also green. "You can never be too careful."

Nemean has posed:
"Fair enough." Cody replies, as he steps close enough to make eye contact but not close enough that he could get cut down by a ninja sword or something, "So I'll be honest. I saw you and your brothers, very briefly, in the basement of the museum, fighting a guy in a metal mask, a shark and a giant bird."

He sighs for a moment and then continues, "Some part of me really wishes I hadn't seen that because ever since I did I've found myself wrapped up in all sorts of shenanigans with mass murdering vigilantes and mutant animals and secret ninja clans bidding on world domination. It's that last one that I'm seeking you out about, though."

Leonardo has posed:
The brim of the fedora is kept low enough, but Leonardo lets Cody catch at least a glimpse, revealing those eyes and a blue mask around them. The swords are in their sheathes anyway. Surely there's no such thing as a lightning-fast ninja turtle, is there? Then again, he wears no shoes and his feet sure don't look normal.

"That would be Shredder," he says flatly, distaste on his tongue, nothing added when it comes to Koya or Bludgeon. Those two are new to him as well. "Nothing but trouble."

He maintains a silence for the time it takes Cody to run through vigilantes, mutants, ninjas, and all, then he deadpans, "Yeah, once you've seen things like that you can't really go back, can you? Obviously...you weren't supposed to see what happened in the Museum, but my brothers and I were rescuing a friend."

Nemean has posed:
"I trust the rescue went well." He replies, "Frankly, all the information I have about all of this is from Alopex. She told me you probably don't trust her, but I'll tell you she seems to be doing everything she can to try to make amends for her past actions, for what it's worth. I know you don't know me from a hole in the wall but she wants to help. And look, that's actually part of the reason I'm glad you called...I've got something I could use help with, and I'm pretty sure it has to do with Shredder."

Leonardo has posed:
"We got our friend out, and we got out alive," Leonardo answers. There was blood the agent would have found, some of it Leo's own, but he healed. "So it could have been worse."

While Raphael, Michelangelo, and Donatello keep watch over the neighborhood, the one in the alley frowns as Alopex is brought up. "Trust is earned through more than just one or two encounters. She was on the other side against us a number of times, but I can sympathize with what she's been through and I'm willing to give her the chance to prove herself, especially if she's serious about stopping Shredder. That's part of why I'm talking to you right now."

Even in the dim conditions of the alley, where light struggles to reach them, Cody may pick out a tilt of the turtle's head as if to say 'go on.' He has his undivided attention.

Nemean has posed:
"There's a shipment coming into the docks owned by the Gambini family. The shipment is being run by the Triads, and the intel I've gotten is that it's some kind of 'tribute' to The Shredder." He lets that sink in for a moment, before he continues.

"This isn't any kind of official FBI operation...My bosses, or at least their bosses, are probably in the Shredder's pocket at this point. That's why I'm reaching out to less...Traditional sources. I want to raid the shipment, keep it from getting into Shredder's hands, whatever it happenss to be."

Leonardo has posed:
Leonardo frowns. "That probably means weapons, drugs, some other type of valuable if one of the crime families is trying to bring in a bunch of stuff. That also means there will be people with guns, maybe even Shredder himself unless they're planning to transport everything somewhere else first," he says, thinking aloud.

Inching away from the wall, he begins to pace back and forth. "If you can't even trust that your own superiors aren't corrupted, that's pretty bad." And, less traditional sources of help don't come much more untraditional than a quartet of turtles skilled in the way of the ninja. "Do you expect your new friend to be there for this?"

Nemean has posed:
"Alopex is on board. So is the Huntress from Gotham." Cody replies, "I was hoping to bring you and your brother as well...We can take a bunch of thugs I'm sure, but at the same time I would never say no to extra hands." He replies.

"So to be frank, if you four want to help us, we'll be more than happy to have you."

Leonardo has posed:
Leonardo lifts the brim of the fedora and opens the front of his trenchcoat. Not a flasher, but he's giving the agent a better look at him. "In case it wasn't clear, we definitely look different than normal. I'm starting to realize that we probably can't stick to the shadows all the time, especially with others out there like us in some way. Shredder's built up too much power for us to do everything by ourselves." Of course, they'll be as careful as he can get them to be. Easier said than done.

"I don't think I know this Gotham Huntress," he admits, wondering, "What's your connection to the Punisher? We've crossed paths a few times, and I don't think he can be trusted."

Nemean has posed:
"Punisher saved my life, as weird as that probably sounds." Cody replies, "Can he be trusted? So far I don't know. He seems to be.." He rubs his chin a bit, "He's crazy, that much I'm sure of, but he seems to be crazy towards the criminal elements of the city. I disagree with his methods, but I owe him my life so I have helped him with a couple of things. I won't do his dirty work. I've made that very clear to him. I know he's tried to make a move against the Foot and wound up nearly dead for his trouble."

Leonardo has posed:
"He kills people who deserve it, in his eyes," Leonardo states. "Even if they're murderers or in the mob or whatever and belong behind bars for life or get the death penalty, killing them isn't his decision to make. That isn't something I think I can support." Would it change if it was Shredder in the crosshairs? If it was the difference between being safer and having to look over their shells every day?

Leo further says, "If he's there, I don't want to be thinking about whether or not we're going to have to try to stop him from going too far, even if he saved your life." At this point, he removes the fedora, then the trenchcoat, rolling it up. There's no question what he is now.

Nemean has posed:
"I'm not bringing him in on this one." Cody repliess, "As you put it, he's a bit too unpredictable. Huntress will kill, but she doesn't do it unless she has to. Me, I'm the same way. I'll kill to defend myself, but I won't go out of my way to do it."

He does take a look at the turtle once he fully removes the disguise, "So are you...One of Shredder's experiments like Alopex is? Or something else entirely. You don't need to tell me if you don't want to I know that's kind of a personal question to be throwing out there in our first meeting..Sorry.."

Leonardo has posed:
Leonardo's eyes narrow. "Self-defense is a different story. If I have no other choice, if I can't fall back or find another way, I'll do what I have to." This is easy to say, not as easy to do. The fact alone Cody is hearing this from him ought to say something about the turtles.

"Something else entirely, and I'll say I believe Shredder is using the same stuff that made my brothers and I, but he didn't make us. I think we gave him..ideas," Leo explains, something that leaves him looking and sounding troubled. "When are you hearing this thing might go down, and do you have any more specifics yet?" He's looking for information, something he can try to plan around. "If it goes well, I might have a lead for you in return."

Nemean has posed:
"All I know for sure is it's going down in the next few days, the Gambini family is providing security and the Triad is providing the heavy lifting. There should be a lot of bring names from both groups there, a lot of heavy hitters. They're scared of Shredder and want this to go off without a hitch."

"Do you have like...I dunno a smart phone or an email address I can send the info to? Even a dead drop point if you wanna do it cool classic spy style." He says, offering a grin, trying to break the tension a bit. This guy is way more intense than Alopex ever let on. "Do you know how much of the stuff he has? Or if it's gotten out elsewhere? We recently ran into another mutant that Alopex thinks may have been made in a way similar to her...And he obviously at least had enough to make the shark and bird."

Leonardo has posed:
"We'll do an e-mail thing. Donnie can set it up and it'll be ready by the time you have more for us," Leonardo says, meaning it hasn't been created yet, but his brother will take care of it and make sure it's properly encrypted to protect the location. "So write this down," he adds before making something generic up on the spot. Hopefully Donnie is listening in, so Leo doesn't forget it by the time they get back home. "Besides, it sounds like if you told your bosses anything about this, they'd figure out what you were up to and it would get back to Shredder. I'm guessing you don't want that."

He pushes away from the wall after having come to lean against it again. With the disguise gone, tucked in against an arm, the swords strapped across his back are easier to make out, and surely they're as sharp as they need to be. "Unfortunately I have no idea how much Shredder has access to. Any of it is too much." That there may be even /more/ out there that Shredder is responsible for leads to a sign. "That is not cool."

Nemean has posed:
"We'll need to do what we can to keep any that's out there out of his hands." Cody replies, before jotting down the address in his notepad, "If you happen to get any leads on it, I do have a contact who iss a biochemical engineer who can analyze it and tell us what it's made of, or maybe even where it's coming from.."

Leonardo has posed:
Leonardo nods, but before he can respond there's another voice from somewhere above. "Guys! Woody just texted to say our pizzas are ready! Let's go chow down, dudes!"

This is followed by a growled, "Can it, you dummy!" then a swat and an "Ow!" and a "Shhhhh! They're still down there talking! We're supposed to be looking out for trouble!"

The blue-masked turtle ends up rubbing his face with a hand. "Aaaand that would be my brothers telling me it's time to wrap this up. Sometimes you wouldn't even guess they're ninjas too."

Turning away, he lowers his voice but it somehow manages to carry up to the rooftop, "I'm coming! Just be quiet and meet up back at the place we talked about!" He glances over a shoulder and further explains, "Boredom. You know how it is. Be careful. We'll be in touch." He throws the trenchcoat back on, at least, and disappears further into the alley before the sound of him nimbly scaling a fire escape ladder can be heard, and the last thing Cody will see if he tracks the movement is Leonardo's form vaulting over the edge of the roof, disappearing from there.

Nemean has posed:
The agent watches as the turtle opts to leave. Pizza does sound really good, though. He rubs his chin for a moment, "I'll reach out to you guys soon. Once I know the time!" He calls out, before he turns away to leave towards his bike. Maybe he'll swing by one of his favorite pizza places on his way back to his apartment. The Turtles got him in the mood for it.