Owner	Pose
Pippi	It had been a short run back to the Lair, with the fate of the red-clad brother weighing on Pippi's mind. She skids along one of the tunnels, nails scabbling against the stone and concrete of the sewer access as she bee lines it for the Lair.     "If I can pick up on his scent from when he left earlier, I should be able to track him, unless it's rained really ahrd -- or he rolled in someone else's deoderant. I /should/ be able to track him --" the smaller canine stream-of-conciousnesses, half to assure herself she could do it, half to re-assure Leo that they *would* find the missing brother.
Raphael	It's a good thing that most cops probably don't want to try or are ill-equipped to deal with a large metal being on a fast motorcycle, or maybe he had just gotten lucky with not hitting any speedtraps. If there was one thing Raphael knew right now, it was that he needed to get back to the Lair before Pippi and Leo. If they went hunting for him before he could stash his Nightwalker gear in his secret room... Well, he knew at the very least Leonardo would go ballistic. But they were brothers, right? How mad would they get at each other if his secret identity spilled out over such an incident? Raph had been brutal, and he knows better than to thing Leo will just give him a pass.     And so he speeds and makes it to his secret hiding room, skidding the bike to a halt in a perfect way against the back wall and quickly removing all the armor plating. He places it haphazard and pell mell, unable to spend the time to set it up the way he likes to right now and sealing the door shut as he dashes out. He checks himself, placing his mask back on his face and sliding his sais back into their proper place. Only after he's sure he's sealed the armor and bike securely does he survey his damage. Bruises, of course. He'd taken a direct Pippi hit, had Leo land on him, and had a trashcan lid chucked at him. Then the drop kick from the speedster... Yeah, he was beat up for sure. But he could explain that away. The only suspicious bruise is the one to the back of his head, and... well, he could cross that bridge when he got there.     For now, he travels his practiced route back to the Lair, limping slightly from a bit of strain thanks to Sersi's shenanigans.
Leonardo	The pace back home was a fast one, but not fast enough to outrun any motorcycles. On foot will never outpace something on wheels like that. Leonardo was concerned, if not suspicious, but something wasn't sitting right in his head after the encounter in the alley. "I'm sure you'll find it," he tells Pippi, but he sounds like he's all business right now. "Let's just get there and see what's what first." Taking all the shortcuts they know, they make excellent time. It's still given Raphael the chance to put things in the best order he can given the urgency of the situation. By the time turtle and dog return to the Lair proper, they're looking around for any signs of the red-masked brother. "Anything, Pippi?" Seems most of the others are still out.
Pippi	Pippi comes into the lair, out of breath as she wheezes, gripping her side. She'd had a rough day, and she lacks a carapace to protect her back.     "Need... a minute... breathing... hard..." she states quietly, and she sneezes, hard, and shakes her head out with ears flapping all over, Raphael getting a little exta time before she settles, and then takes a deep breath, sorting scents.     Splinter smells like tea, it clings to his fur easier than it clings to his sons. Tea and the vanilla smell of old books and the papery smell of TV Guides. Mikey smells like garlic and pizza and leather and wood. Donatello a slight electric burning smell, solder and leather with undertones of motor oil. Alopex has books and insence in her scent. Nemean was all male lion, with the undercurrent of gunsmoke that can't be shaken.     Leo smelled of sword oil and metal and leather, of sandalwood incense and Raphael, Raphael smelled like Grit. Leather and sand. And that's what she followed, pulling it like a thread from a tapestry as she turned and tried to trail Raphael -- perhaps only to run into him!
Raphael	Raphael is limping toward the Lair from his normal direction when he can hear something up ahead, coming... FROM the Lair. For the briefest of moments, he panics inside. Who's inside the lair right now? Is it all of his brothers, Splinter, and Pippi all waiting to berate him? Or... did he manage to shake them? Regardless, he doesn't change pace, only allowing a dull grunt of pain as his leg spasms a bit. He picks up another sound, nails on stone, before...!     "Whoa, Pippi, where's the fire?!" he calls ahead, trying to prevent a head-on collision. "Nothin's wrong at home, is it?"
Leonardo	"Take your time," Leonardo says to Pippi, resting a hand against her shoulder. "Just gather yourself and let me know what you can make out." Perhaps it's a couple minutes, maybe a little longer. Water is offered if she needs a drink, but soon enough they hear something. "Raph!" That's Leo's voice, which registers just before the hidden door out into the tunnels is slid open, leaving it very possible to bump into each other. Immediately, the head turtle gives his brother a visual once-over, looking for signs of damage. "Pippi thought you were attacked! Are you all right? Where were you?"
Pippi	Pippi skids short of crashing into the injured turtle, her amber eyes lighting up as she takes a deep breath: "OMIGOSHRAPH we fought against this metal armore dguy in an alleyway with this guy who threw a trashcan cover and this girl who made the winds kick up and this other girl who had like this crazy blue hair and Leo and I fought against the guy who was using chains and when I shoulder-crashed him three stories into the air I could smell your scent on him and I know you were fighting like THIRTY guys at once in an alleyway some weeks ago and I thought that if you fought them maybe he was their boss and something terrible coulda happened because he got away and I was super worried and was going to try and track you down--" she explains in a rush of a voice, miming actions like running her hands through her own hair for 'crazy blue hair' and whipping her arms around for chains and she grips her ears at 'worried and motions wide for tracking the poor Turtle down -- and she wheeeeezes a breath before she turns to Leonardo:     "I don't /think/, I /know/." Pippi states defensively, "That's the only way Raph's scent coulda been on him!"
Raphael	Not necessarily, Pippi. But Raph's not owning up to that. Not when he has a perfect out. "You mean that tin can asshole? Yeah, I saw him trying to stop this guy who was screaming that he was being robbed. He... well, he kinda won. I couldn't get a clean shot through the metal, and finally he just tossed me aside. Hit my head pretty hard, and ended up having to hobble back here." He shakes his head, looking at the ground. "Shoulda kept followin' him. If we'd hit him together, that bastard never woulda stood a chance, right Leo?" He offers a dry smirk, then tries to make his way into the Lair proper. "Sounds like you guys had quite the night too, huh? Trashcan Lid Guy, Wind Girl and Crazy Hair didn't freak out at seein' ya? Or did they just not see ya?"     He winces again, his leg shuddering a bit more intently. "Man, he got my leg pretty good with those chains."
Leonardo	As Pippi goes on, relaying everything they came across, potentially supplying Raphael with all the alibis he needs to get his own story straight, Leonardo turns attentive eyes toward his brother as he looks him over, top to bottom, head to toe. "The others are still off doing their own things, together," he remarks, putting a little point of emphasis on the last word. There are thoughts he's trying to sift through, leading to him growing very quiet while Pippi and then Raph handle the majority of the talking. "This is exactly why we have the buddy system in place, bro," he begins, but this is where he cuts himself off. If only Pippi hadn't already outed who else was on the scene, because something is still nagging at Leo's thoughts as he crosses his arms. "Oh, we were seen. It was pretty hard not to be," he does add.
Pippi	Pippi handled the majority of the talking by virtue of not shutting her yap, and when she does take a deep breath to refill her lungs, she gives a woozy sort of teeter, and glances bak to Leo. "See? I told you, he had Raph's scent on him because Raph was out on his ow--" sne pauses, her lips purse, and she crosses her arms.     "Yeah! This is precisely why we're supposed to buddy up when leaving, Raph! I coulda helped!"
Pippi	Pippi's tail gives a limp wag, "Also you totally missed me shoulder throwing someone three stories up."
Raphael	If only he HAD missed that.     He listens to the both of them, and in his mind turns everything over again. Was his alibi airtight? Without a witness, no. But it seems like they're accepting of his explanation. "Yeah yeah," he says, "I know, buddy up, travel in pairs, yadda yadda. I'll be more careful, alright?" He gives a half-hearted glare, but then offers another sardonic grin. "You worry too much, Leo. I'm here and alright, right? Ya know I can handle myself enough to always get home." He limps toward the couch, plopping down on it and groaning in relief.     "You'll do it again, pup," he says, "And I'll be there for it, alright?"
Leonardo	Accepting, to a point. "I worry because I know how dangerous it is out there. Remember when I went ahead while I was out with Mikey and Nemean could have killed me? What if my plan once I ran into him didn't work?" Leonardo notes, gesturing with a hand out, palm up as they move inside and the door is slid shut again, safely closing them off again from the tunnels. "There's something I haven't quite figured out yet, though. The guy in the suit didn't recognize what I was." He leaves it hanging there for Raphael to touch on after concluding, "But your scent was on him." He awaits the explanation with an interested look on his face.
Pippi	Pippi, meanwhile, had gone ahead and grabbed a towel, wetting it and wiping her fur off. Luckily, thanks to the closely shorn 'velevet hippo' fur it's super easy to clean the smell of trash off her. She comes back out, throwing a warm, wet towel at Leo and Raph as well, for good measure, and putters about, limping slightly. First aid kit. Gauze bandages. She sniffs, and looks at her arm and mumble s"Musta been some glass in the trash." to herself as she putters, listening to the two brothers.
Raphael	Raph's heart skips a beat.     He had said that to make it seem like he was unfamiliar with the Turtles, and now...     "Ah, c'mon bro, that's easy. I was wearin' my trench coat and hat when I jumped him, and he didn't really take the time to look at me. I tried to break his armor, he flung me around, and before I could draw my sais he was gone. Speakin' of, I'm gonna need a new hat. It got really tight and I had to tear it off my head." He leans back, watching Leo intently as though daring him to call him into question.     He catches the towel tossed by Pippi, draping it over his leg.
Leonardo	Peripheral vision helps Leonardo snag the towel from Pippi out of midair, but he pays it little mind. The main focus of his attention right now is the turtle who could, to the untrained eye, pass for what could be his twin. Much of what Leo's looking to from Raphael has to do with his initial reaction to the observation, which ought to tell him something even if it's just a brief pause that lasts a moment too long. The excuse itself is almost secondary, and while it could pass the test for most...Leo doesn't indicate whether or not he believes it. He merely grunts out a 'Hmm.' "I'm sure you have an extra one around somewhere," is all he says, finally using the towel to wipe down a few spots where the trash was especially rotten or sticky. The response is almost worse than disbelief or acceptance, for it leaves open that very question for Raphael to concern himself with later. "I'm off to try to meditate. Glad you're safe. Good work, Pippi. Your nose is going to be valuable to us in the future."
Pippi	Pippi blinks as Leo excuses himself from the grouping, and she rubs the back of her head a moment, looking between Raph and Leo and she opens her mouth, as if to say something, raising one hand as she settles the towel over her shoulders, and then winces slightly, taking a deeo breath and letting it out in a huff, deflating slightly.     "Thanks, Leo." she replies, and she looks to Raph with a little concern     "I'm glad you weren't too hurt, Raph. We came back so I could try to track you down from the Lair..." she trails off, rubbing the back of her head, and she gives a slight grin. "Guess it takes more than one metal-clad guy to take down one of the Turtles!"
Raphael	Raph blinks. Leo's response is, true to form, far more worrying to the red-banded turtle than if Leo had called him out directly. Because it's just ambiguous enough to leave him vulnerable. Now he can't be sure if Leonardo has actually put the pieces together or if he actually believes him, and with that ambiguity...     "Yeah, whatever Leo," he retorts weakly, "Have fun, you stick in the mud." He turns his attention, pointedly, to his leg, at least until Pippi speaks up.     "Thanks, Pippi," he says, "And yeah, that tin suited bastard is no match for us! Just like Shredda..." He trails off, then stands up with a wince. "I'm gonna go sleep this off, pup. Don't stay up too late, and try and keep it down for L... Whatever."
Pippi	"G'night, Raph." Pippi states, and she goes to sit on the couch, looking a bit forlorn as she glances back and forth -- and then with a tongue-curling, tooth-bearing yawn, the mutant dog curls up on the couch just for a bit of shut-eye -- and promptly falls asleep.