5 Years and 2 Months since the Incident
Compared to the bright daylight above, the sewers were a dark and dank underworld. Water sloshed and rats skittered as faint footsteps echoed about abandoned corridors as the companions drew nearer.
It was one of the last things Leatherhead heard.
He felt his vision sink and close as he breathed just above the shallow water. Dark scales floated about him as they peeled off his skin. He lifted a claw to touch one, only to succeed in pushing the scale away, watching as it glided forward and past his sight in a lethargic velocity.
The footsteps skidded to a halt and a bit of cold water splashed over his tail. He wanted to look behind him and greet his friends, wanted to stand and steady his raspy breathing, but all he could do was twitch his tail in minimal acknowledgment.
"Leatherhead."
It sounded so faint, Michelangelo's voice, like some far off shout echoing over cliffs and clouds. It was the last thing Leatherhead could comprehend before fading into an uneasy pitch black bliss.
Mike gazed down at the limp form on his operating table. The yellow lights exaggerated fragile skin and splotches of oozing sores.
What on Earth had happened to Leatherhead?
The once fearsome alligator was a brittle heap of bone. He could see every pulse of every artery and vein under skin like wet paper – the I.V. had to be taped in place lest it tear through the blood vessel. Every bone, every thin muscle, and every arch of ragged breathing open for the world to see.
Leatherhead was deteriorating like a corpse.
It was true, Mikey had become the surrogate doctor for the family, but this… this was completely and utterly out of his capabilities. He knew how to break fevers and stop internal bleeding not to deal with this – this thing.
"Is there anything you can do?" Leo's voice was quiet, a shadow from the back of the room.
Mikey shook his head. "No. I," he glanced to his brother, "I don't even know what caused this. Donnie-"He sighed and shook his head more furiously, squeezing his eyes shut, "Leatherhead might be able to help, but for all I know, he doesn't even remember his own name."
Suddenly, the withered form growled softly. Leatherhead's tail swished, and Leo rushed over immediately.
"My – " The alligator's voice was like fingernails on a chalkboard, and Mikey had to lean in to understand the hardly coherent words, "my body… is… weak. But m- my mind… intact." Leatherhead let out a breath when he finished his sentence.
"What happened to you?" Leo said.
Leatherhead's eyes lulled to see the turtle as he drew in another breath. "Y'lynth-lynthian crystals…"
"What?" Leo's hands rolled into fists at his sides, "What about the crystals?"
Mikey glanced to the I.V. bag before looking back down at his friend. Leatherhead was rocking his head side to side in an attempt to shake it, his eyes fluttering in and out of focus.
"Leo." Mikey walked round the table to join his brother. He placed a hand on his shoulder and looked up and into those metallic eyes. "I think I know what it is."
Leo's face snapped to attention, his eyes wavering as if he were reading a book as he thought. "Yes?"
"Remember when Donnie had that second mutation?"
Leo shook his head, "But Donnie transformed. He didn't… deteriorate like that."
Mikey bit his lip and removed his hand. "I know, it's just… something he said about those crystals once." Not just said, wrote. Mikey had poured over Donnie's writings obsessively when he decided to inherit the doctor role… "They're toxic to us. Maybe Leatherhead got some in his system somehow and his mutation is outta whack."
They held a tableau for a few priceless moments, scratchy breathes and skittering scales the only noise that pierced the air.
Finally, Leo nodded his head. He folded his arms and let out a puff of air through flared nostrils. "Alright - That's half the battle." He placed a hand on the edge of the table, "So what do we do?"
Mikey shrugged with an apologetic smile, "I don't know."
Leatherhead grunted. And all attention snapped to him again.
"No need," Leatherhead said between staggering breathes, "jus'… k-keep me company."
"No." Mikey snapped immediately. He kneeled beside the withered form to look Leatherhead directly in the eyes, "I won't let you die."
Another silence. Another goddamned silence. Leo had once secretly relished in those few silent moments they used to share, but now, they clung to his skeleton like acid and scratched at his control. And this continual silence, he spoke up before it could shatter his statuesque form.
"We can't lose you too." Leo's voice came out as a thick whisper. He choked on the words he forced out, if only to curb the lethal silence of foreboding and ragged breathing.
And finally – finally – the alligator submitted. He was far too gone, far too sick, to heed the warnings that had sworn him to keep the turtles from danger for all these years. He couldn't fight them anymore.
With a laborious sigh, Leatherhead spoke softly, "The muta…gen." Mikey leaned in closer, his breath ghosting over the pale snout, "Use it t-to… to cure. I-I-I have – formula written. Need… Need Mutag-gen to w…work."
"Where?" Mikey spoke with quick and fumbling words, "Where's the mutagen?"
"No!" Leatherhead suddenly seemed to come to life, his head shook and his body convulsed as he attempted to move. Deep in his throat, a growl formed, vicious like a cornered animal as the last of his resolve leaked into a feeble attempt at rage. "No!" He continued to roar quietly. "No, no, never!"
Mikey quickly jumped away from the violent jolting, but Leatherhead still managed to clip him in the jaw. He cringed and rubbed at the quickly forming bruise as scales continued to shake free from the alligator's body.
"Leo," Blue eyes darted to his brother, already beginning in an attempt to subdue the alligator. "Be careful," Mikey warned, "don't hurt him."
"No!" Leatherhead's voice was rising in volume and becoming more and more incomprehensible as Leonardo finally managed to pin him down. "I can't-" his tail thrashed violently and managed to strike Leo in the back of the head a multitude of times with a loud snap. "I can't give you to him!"
"Mikey!" Leo hissed, warning his little brother to intervene soon. His head was lowering and his eyes narrowed in strain but his hold only tightened.
And so, without a single cognitive thought, Mikey rushed across the lab with wide eyes, where he reached a certain old cabinet; the cabinet where Donnie had secretly locked all his experimental drugs in, out of the reach from prying hands.
And it was bolted. Mikey quickly scanned the room with his eyes. No time to look for the keys, long since lost in this maze of a lab.
He shook his head and narrowed his eyes. With a growl, he took a single step back before launching all his weight into a kick, praying this wasn't one of those indestructible locks.
And then instantaneous pain.
Leatherhead's incoherent ramblings and Leonardo's desperate grunts faded to the background as an unmistakable noise broke the air and a sharp burning enveloped Mikey's leg. But the lock broke, and that was all that mattered.
He yanked the cabinet open and rummaged through untouched things that covered his fingers in dust until he pulled out a little glass bottle filled with dark liquid.
"Mikey, hurry up." Leo's voice was strained through gritted teeth.
He let out a small victory cry and bolted back over to his medical supplies, all but ignoring his broken foot. With practiced precision, Michelangelo soon had a syringe in hand, filled to the brim with the stuff.
He rushed over and pushed Leonardo away before stabbing the shot into the fragile skin and emptied the contents into Leatherhead.
The effects were immediate and the giant body went limp. The room once again filled with unsteady ragged breathing as Leatherhead lay nearly motionless on the examining table.
And the tableau returned.
Clouded eyes shut and a brow furrowed as Leonardo finally let go of his grip. He covered his face with a palm and staggered backwards until he steadied himself against the wall.
Leonardo's breathing was a well of deep shaking and a hollowed throat.
Mikey's pain almost immediately tripled. He bit his tongue before a groan escaped and hobbled over to plop down next to his brother. He felt the sweat drip down his brow, grimacing as laces of shock tingled up the capillaries in his foot as if liquid pain and adrenaline were interlacing together.
"Sit down," he breathed, glancing at Leo. He straightened out his foot as Leonardo slid to the floor.
"I'm fine." Leo said, "Just a little dizzy."
"I guess I'm fine too, my foot just feels like the gateway to hell," Mikey said dryly, "Dude, I need to make sure you haven't concussed."
Leo ignored his brother and rubbed his shoulder, "I didn't know we had tranques."
"We don't," Mikey said with a humorless laugh, "that was concentrated liquid THC. Our buddy's high as a kite right now."
Leo's frown deepened, and he let out an exacerbated breath, "That was a dangerous gamble, Mikey. What if he became more agitated?"
"You would've done the same thing."
"I would've been able to handle it."
"I'm ninety percent certain you have a concussion." Mikey said seriously, concern and anger both biting into his voice.
"That doesn't matter right now." With some effort, Leo stood and crossed his arms, sightless eyes staring straight ahead. "How long does Leatherhead have?" Until he dies.
"…I- I don't know." Mikey replied honestly. "Days, hours maybe." He shrugged.
"I know where the rest of the mutagen is."
"What?" Mikey looked up at his brother, eyes wide.
"When you were getting the… drugs ready, Leatherhead said it." His head shook lightly as he thought. The alligator probably hadn't meant to say it, but he did, and that was that. "Bishop has it."
Even though he couldn't see, Leo knew Mikey was making an 'oh' face.
"So," Mikey spoke quietly, thinking aloud. "We get the mutagen, we make the formula, we cure Leatherhead." He nodded slowly, "simple," he whispered, "and suicidal." And then suddenly his voice was getting faster and faster and louder and louder. "You might have a concussion, Leonardo. You can't possibly want to go now."
"Like you said," Leo spoke slowly and calmly, a terrible contrast to his brother, "He may only have a few hours. I don't want to take the chance."
"Then wait." Mikey pleaded. He wished he could stand and stop Leo, but with his foot… even a concussed Leonardo would be too much him. "Just a day, one day, that's it. Last time we went there, you came back blind! If you aren't at your best, you won't come back at all!"
But he wouldn't listen. Leo wouldn't listen. He shook his head and Mikey could see his hands ball into fists and his already clouded eyes haze with that all too familiar anger.
"Please."
"I'm sorry Mike."
"You can't go now. You can't, Leo." He was bargaining now, "At least wait a few hours, let me set my foot and then we can go together, all three of us."
"No." Leonardo didn't move, "You would just hold me back."
A broken foot didn't matter now, Mikey stood as straight as he could and looked Leonardo dead in the eye, wishing his brother could see his face. Instead, Mike let all his emotion leak into his voice as he spoke softly as he could, "If you die," he started, praying that Leo wouldn't see through the lie, "I don't know what I would do with myself. I – I could barely stay together with Donnie. If you die, it would kill me. I would kill myself. You got that, Leo? I. Would. Kill. Myself. And you'd be the one handing me the blade."
"I won't die," Leo let a hand rest on Mikey's shoulder, and that's when he saw it. That's when Mikey saw the crack in the veil of Leo's cold disposition; he saw the fearless leader fearful. "I'll take Raphael with me, okay? He won't let me die. Mikey," Leo's head tilted and he opened his mouth, frowning deeper, closed it, smiled, and spoke, "You need to stay here and take care of Leatherhead and Father. We'll be back by dinner. And we'll be hungry," He smiled a little bigger, even though Mikey could tell it was forced, "so make lots of food, we can have your favorite tonight."
"Is that your attempt at comforting me?" Mikey said dryly. But it did calm him down a bit. He let out a sigh and felt his shoulders sag in capitulation.
And then he remembered something. He raised his hands in a gesture for his brother to stay put, even though Leo couldn't see it. "Just wait one second, okay?" When Leo didn't make to leave, Mikey limped back over to the cabinet the THC had been in. He rummaged around for a little bit, certain there had been something…
"Aha!" He smiled triumphantly when his hand pulled out an inconspicuous prescription bottle. He wiped the dust from the label and checked it before nodding to himself. "Catch," He threw the bottle at Leo, who seemed to pluck it out of the air and tilted his head quizzically. "Take two before you leave, it'll help with the symptoms."
"Thanks," Leo nodded and opened the bottle.
"It'll take effect in about thirty minutes and last six hours, okay? After that, you're gonna crash and burn, so make sure you're out of harm's way by then." When Leo paused and seemed to eye his baby brother, Mikey continued. "Seriously, Leo, if you don't, you aren't gonna make it. Raph or no Raph."
With a single nod, Leonardo turned and left the lab – the only sign of injury in his graceful movements was a wavering so slight Mikey wasn't even sure it was there. He followed his older brother to the doorway and watched as Leo approached where Raph was sitting at the table, reading.
From where he was, Mikey couldn't hear their exchange, but after a few curt words, Raphael's mouth set into a firm line. He stood from his chair and patted Leo on the shoulder before moving to gather a few things.
It appeared they would be leaving soon, and Mikey couldn't help the feeling that formed a weight in his stomach as he watched Leonardo pop the pills into his mouth. Something was going to happen, Mikey knew it.
Author's Note: I'm so sorry! It's been forever since I uploaded. Just... I'm sorry! As a reader, I would hate it if someone waited this long to upload a chapter so I really, really do apologize.
On another note, for those who don't know, THC is the chemical in cannabis that gives you the high. But it's also effective as a high end painkiller (akin to morphine), as well as preventive measures for epilepsy and mental disorders, so yeah. It's effects are veritable, but in general, it calms a person down or agitates them.
But, uh, don't do that at home. Mikey was a bit of an idiot for using the THC in that sort of way...