Chapter Text
Sunrise over the City started as a little smudge of periwinkle on the horizon. The sky gradually grew lighter as the sun climbed higher, taking on shades of pink, white, and yellow. At last, it rose above the horizon, spreading its light out over the river, along the streets and sidewalks, and up the sides of the buildings. When the light hit the billboard for the new luxury apartment complex opening soon, April, standing on the roof of her apartment building in her bathrobe and slippers, lifted the mug of coffee she’d very carefully carried up the fire escape in a toast.
“So long, terrible billboard.”
***
April rubbed her eyes and groaned. This story Burne had assigned her about student athletes raising money so they could travel across the country to compete in a national championship was just so dull. Sure, it was a feel-good story and viewers always loved those, but she was finding it hard to stay focused and keep her mind from wandering. She desperately needed an excuse to get away from her desk, so when Irma said she needed to go to the post office to mail a package, April offered to go along with her. Since it was so nice out, they decided to have lunch at a little cafe nearby and take the long way around back to Channel 6. Their route took them past the new luxury apartment complex, the same one that had the billboard up near their own building. Irma stopped for a moment to gaze longingly up at the tower.
“Man, how’d you like to live there?” she sighed. “Bet you’d have a spectacular view of the whole city.”
“Would be nice,” April agreed. “But I’m fairly sure the monthly rent for any of those units is more than my annual salary.”
“Eh, a girl can dream.” Irma shrugged and they continued on their way. As they rounded the final corner, they noted two black SUVs parked in front of Channel 6. “Huh, wonder who’s here.” It was April’s turn to shrug. They tried to casually peer through the windows as they passed, hoping it might give them a clue, but the tinted glass made it impossible to see anything inside. Leaving the mystery of the two vehicles behind, they passed through the revolving door into the building and headed to the bank of elevators in the back of the lobby.
Burne Thompson was waiting for them when they stepped off on their floor, standing in the middle of the hall with his arms crossed, a thunderous look on his face. “April,” he said severely, and pointed to the closed door of the conference room. April and Irma exchanged a look; whatever was in there was clearly angering their boss. She wasn’t sure what she expected to find when she opened the door, but it wasn’t a slim, dark-haired man in a well-tailored suit looking out the window.
The mayor turned around and smiled at her sheepishly. “Uh, hi.”
“Mr. Mayor?” April said in disbelief, closing the door behind her. “What are you doing here?”
“I wanted to thank you again for your help with everything after the State of the City.”
“You’re welcome. Again. But that was two weeks ago. And you didn’t need to come all the way over here for that.”
“I’d been hoping to catch you in time for lunch — have a mostly free afternoon. But you were already out. Oh,” he scooped up a bouquet sitting on the conference table and held it out to her. “These are for you.”
“You. . . brought me flowers?”
His face fell. “Do you not like roses?”
“Uh no, it’s . . . someone sent me some flowers a while back and it turned out I was deathly allergic. The memory kinda stuck with me.” The mayor’s eyes darted about, his expression turning more desperate and uncertain. He was still holding the flowers out. April took them, mostly out of sympathy. Something clicked for her as she cradled the bouquet in her arms. “Wait, are you here because . . . you wanted to take me out on a date?”
“Um. . .” He ran a nervous hand through his hair and looked down. “Not at first. But then I thought, maybe? In any case, wasn’t very successful, obviously.”
“Mr. Mayor — “
“Bryan, please.” He glanced back up at her, a hesitant smile playing about his lips.
April closed her eyes a moment and said firmly, “Mr. Mayor. I’m flattered. Truly. But, you don’t know me. You’re latching onto me because of what we went through together at City Hall.”
“You think that’s true?” She smiled but didn’t reply. He exhaled and leaned his back against the window, clasping his hands together. “Meeting people is . . . hard. And dating when you’re a public figure is. . . “
“Oh, I know,” she said, thinking about her own struggles with dating. “Trust me.” April felt for him. Perhaps it was because of what they had gone through together he felt comfortable enough to be vulnerable around her, to let the confident politician slip for a moment. April got the sense very few saw him as she did now, as a slightly awkward, somewhat lonely young man. She tore off a piece of the paper wrapping the roses and scribbled something on it with one of the pens someone had left behind in the conference room after their meeting. “Here,” she said, holding it out to him.
“What’s this?”
“My number. Give it a couple weeks. If you still want to ask me out, maybe text me next time instead of just showing up at my office.” He smiled at her gratefully and fished his phone out of his pocket.
They could hear Burne Thompson bellowing at some unlucky person out in the hallway while he saved her number into his contacts. He’d been going off at regular intervals since April arrived, and the mayor’s next comment confirmed her suspicion that it had been a frequent occurrence even before that.
“Your boss is um. A bit scary.”
“Well, you are monopolizing his conference room right now and that’s disrupting things,” she pointed out lightly. “But he’s mostly harmless. Lot of bark, not much bite.”
The mayor nodded in understanding just as his phone, still in his hand, chimed loudly. He frowned down at the screen. “Ohh shoot.”
April raised an eyebrow. “That doesn’t sound good.”
“Ahh, I have a meeting with a potential donor that I completely forgot about.”
“Donor for what?”
“The lighting project.” She looked at him blankly. “Public safety initiative, improving the City’s outdoor lighting infrastructure.” Her expression still didn’t change. “None of this is ringing a bell? Been a City Council priority for a while, even before I took office. Huge deal that we’re finally moving on it.”
“Ahh, politics isn’t really my thing,” she admitted. “Don’t really keep up with . . . I wasn’t even supposed to be at City Hall . . . That day.”
“Fair enough,” he said with a little laugh and straightened. “Guess I should get going. Thank you, April. For everything.”
April learned more about the mayor’s lighting initiative a few weeks later at a press conference to formally announce the launch of the project. It was supposed to be held at the gazebo in Median Park, but a thunderstorm predicted for that afternoon had forced a change in venue to one of the community rooms at the City Public Library. Vernon was out sick, so she had to be the one to cover it. Irma came with her to help with the camera and while April didn’t really need the help, she was grateful for the company.
She surveyed the assembled crowd while they set up their equipment, a mix of city officials and representatives from the private organization they would be collaborating with on this initiative. There were only a handful of people here she recognized. One of the city councilwomen caught her attention. Or rather, the man she was deep in conversation with did. Tall, broad shouldered, wearing an impeccably tailored charcoal suit that somehow managed to accentuate his athletic physique. He was turned so she couldn’t see his face, but even so she was fairly certain she would have remembered seeing him before.
“Wow.” Irma had no doubt noticed him too. “Might need to start tagging along with Vernon to more of these things.” April grinned at her friend, feeling her cheeks warm. Her amusement faded a moment later when someone she unquestionably did recognize approached them carrying his own camera and tripod.
“O’Neil,” Rod Landry greeted her.
“Rod,” she said tersely. It was their first time seeing each other since their heated exchange in the City Hall break room after being taken hostage – not that their paths had ever crossed that often before that. To her annoyance, he began setting up his equipment right next to them.
“What are you doing here? Thought this was Fenwick’s beat.”
“Vernon’s got the flu.” She was going to leave it at that and do her best to ignore him, but then she had a thought about how she could use his arrival to her advantage. “Rod, you know all the goings on at City Hall. Can you tell me who everyone is?” He gave her a quick rundown of who was in attendance, even naming the staff from the mayor’s press office. “And what about him?” April nodded to the man in the charcoal suit.
Rod glanced up for barely a second before returning his attention to his camera. “Never seen him before but probably that new donor they’ve been whispering about.” April was about to ask him what he meant when she heard someone calling her name. The mayor was waving to her from next to the podium that had been placed by the side wall, in front of a backdrop with the City seal. She left Irma and Rod to go and meet him.
“Mr. Mayor. Good to see you again,” she said warmly.
“You, likewise. What are you doing here? Thought politics wasn’t your thing.”
“My colleague is out, so I’m covering.”
“Ah well, lucky us. Here, let me –” he started to say, but was interrupted by an assistant that had just run over and whispered something in his ear. He grimaced and looked at her apologetically. “Sorry, be right back.” April made a gesture that she’d be fine, and the mayor left with his assistant. She looked around the room again and saw the councilwoman who’d been chatting with the man in the charcoal suit earlier was drifting over to another small grouping of city officials, leaving him alone for the moment. Seeing this as a perfect opportunity to find out who this mystery man was, she walked over to introduce herself.
“Hi,” she said, smiling brightly. “I’m April O’Neil, covering this event for Channel 6.”
He turned toward her and clasped her outstretched hand with his. April stiffened feeling the strength of his grip, the calluses on his fingers scratching her skin. But it was the pair of dark eyes she knew very well capturing her gaze that made her breath catch in her throat.
“Very nice to meet you, Miss O’Neil,” said Shredder.