Disclaimer: I don't own the TMNT
This arc is based off of the Original TMNT comics by Laird and Eastman, the 2k3 Cartoon series, and the 2k7 CGI movie.
Chapter 6: Sworn
"Sometimes the heart sees what is invisible to the eye." -H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
Tatiana turned her head to look at the sleeping terrapin beside her. He was lying on his plastron but turned slightly on his side; his head resting on her shoulder and his left arm wrapped almost possessively around her waist. Although his grip was still strong in sleep, there was gentleness in how his hand held her hip. She sighed, sadly looking over his sleeping frame and suppressed a shudder at the sight of his scars. Some of the injuries were still healing, some new, but the scars made her cringe. Over 60% of his body was covered in scars and they twisted his limbs. His leg worried her though and despite risking waking him, she gently pulled away as she sat up. Shade grunted sleepily, stirring and reaching for her before rolling onto his stomach completely. Tatiana breathed out a soft sigh of relief before proceeding to check on his right leg, flinching when she realized his leg brace was still on. Gently as she could she unbuckled it and pulled it off; Shade stirred hissing in pain as the leg was freed.
"Shhh," she soothed, gently stroking the edge of his carapace, cursing her moment of forgetfulness at letting him leave it on. While walking the brace supported and forced his leg to remain mostly straight. He had built it mostly himself to help prevent himself from needing a cane and then used it daily alongside strength training on the limb. He had only recently stopped limping except on bad days but when he tried to lay down or sit for too long with it on it usually caused the muscles in his leg to cramp.
Shade relaxed, easing back into sleep, as Tatiana gently massaged the leg, letting her fingers seek out and relax the cramping muscles. Shade made a soft sound of contentment but remained asleep. As Tatiana finished massaging the limb, she gently pulled blankets over his frame to keep him warm. Even with her layer of fur she felt the chill, he most certainly had to be cold. After she was sure he was asleep, she slowly got to her feet and slipped over to her kimono, easing it on before nervously stepping towards the shoji screens and the hidden door. As she reached the screens and moved them away, Tatiana glanced back to make sure Shade was still asleep before opening the door and nervously stepping out onto the platform.
What possessed her to look upon this prisoner? This mutant who had betrayed his own kind? The one named after the Father of Lies.
Tatiana wasn't sure but something in her wanted to know what he had done to betray Shade so severely. After all, Shade had saved her life, she only wanted to know a little about him and since he never spoke of his past this Lucifer was her only chance to know him. Despite this she was terrified. Lucifer was considered a true monster but no one really knew why and she feared risking Shade's wrath by breaching his privacy. It was then that she realized she had crept down to the last few stairs and she held her breath as she peered into the dim lighting to see the chained figure.
"You smell of my brother," his voice broke through the silence causing her to jump and give out a startled squeak, "Are you his-?"
Lucifer stopped as if not wanting to finish the sentence; even as he spoke to her he remained kneeling in the dark.
"Whore?" Tatiana finished for him, eyes widening in surprise when he flinched at the word.
"That's not the word I was going to use," he replied softly.
"No," Tatiana whispered, "I…no not like that. He cares about me and it eases his pain. I…I-"
"Do you care for him?" Lucifer interrupted softly, this time lifting his blindfolded head and tipping it towards her.
She froze as if shocked by the question and then looked down at her hands as if thinking. Lucifer sat still, head still tipped towards her but remained silent.
"I-I think so," she replied finally, "He seems so cold and angry but really he's very kind…he just rarely shows it. He…he just wants to be happy and I want to help him…is that wrong?"
With that question she looked towards the bound mutant before her staring at him as if she could see past his blindfold. The silence seemed to stretch for hours and Tatiana glanced up the stairs worriedly in case Shade had woken.
"No," Lucifer finally replied, "No I think it's alright…maybe…maybe you can change his mind. I fear I am too much in his rage for him to listen to me anymore."
Tatiana remained silent.
"What is your…name?" she asked after a moment.
"Lucifer," he replied with a sigh.
"Your real-?" She started.
"I have failed him. In his eyes, that is who I am, the angel who tried to destroy the world he was creating. Therefore that is my name," Lucifer interrupted sharply, though his tone became gentler towards the end, "What should I call you?"
"Tatiana," she replied softly, "Shade gave me the name after he found me. Saved my life from a bunch of humans who were trying to rape and kill me…I can't remember anything from before that."
Tatiana shrugged slightly and blinked at the chuckle from Lucifer. His mouth was turned up in a wry sort of smile.
"He always enjoyed Shakespeare," Lucifer mused, "You must be quite beautiful for him to call you that."
"Everyone tells me I am," she replied softly.
"Could I call you Ti?" Lucifer inquired softly before grunting and bending over as a violent coughing fit wracked his frame.
Tatiana gasped and scrambled forward before thinking about it, quickly catching a hold of his shaking frame and steadying him. He sagged against her as the coughing stopped.
"You're burning up," she gasped, "I...I need to go…let me get Shade."
"He won't care," Lucifer rasped, shivering against her, "You better leave before he finds out you were here though."
"I can't leave you here like this!" She protested softly.
He moved to sit up, making soft pained noises as he pulled away from her, stumbling back towards the more shadowed area before collapsing there.
"You can and you must," He stated.
Tatiana sat where she was as if fighting an internal battle before surging to her feet and dashing toward the stairs.
"And Ti?" Lucifer rasped.
She stopped and gave him a distressed look before replying.
"Yes?" she breathed.
"Show him love…it's the only thing that can save him now," Lucifer requested.
With that Tatiana turned and scrambled up the stairs leaving behind someone she realized only now was not truly as evil as Shade would have led her to believe. She was closing the door and turning towards the bed when she smelled the smoke from a cigarette and grew still.
Shade was reclining, cigarette between his lips and watching her with a look so blank and dark it chilled her to her bones. His whole frame was likened to a feral cat who is knows that its prey is trapped but has not yet decided yet as to whether or not to let it live.
"Shade," she whispered, "I-I…"
"Did he speak to you?" Shade asked, closing his eyes and laying his head back onto the pillow before taking a long drag from the cigarette and blowing the smoke towards her.
"Y-yes," Tatiana whispered, then after moving towards him and removing her kimono she walked over and laid beside him, "But…I didn't believe a word he said…after all he's named after the Father of Lies."
He opened his arm to accept her as she settled beside him. Her hand touched his chest in a gentle caress as she fought to calm her racing heart and strained nerves. He stroked her arm with a finger before lightly touching her throat with the same finger.
"Good," he stated with such a tone that made her freeze, heart nearly bursting from her chest.
He moved his hand away from her throat before getting up and dressing. Tatiana for the first time truly felt afraid of him and at the same time she felt deepest sorrow. She was right, he was lonely and his pain made him defensive.
His leg brace glinted beside the bed as he got ready.
"Your brace…Oberon," she finished with a whisper.
He grunted and tipped his head towards her before turning. She blinked in surprise at the similarity of the motion that Lucifer had done earlier. They had to be siblings, the way they spoke, moved, and looked it only made sense and then there was the fact that Lucifer had called Shade "brother". His harsh gaze softened when he saw her face.
"No. Not you," he seemed to wilt as he said it, before moving to her, his bad leg tripping him up and causing him to half-fall half-kneel down to her. He cupped the side of her face before continuing, making Tatiana jump at the gentle motion.
"Don't you ever be afraid of me," he whispered, his one good eye drilling his heartbroken gaze into her own golden eyes.
"I…never," Tatiana replied, forcing a smile before cupping his face as well.
The smile that flickered across his mouth before he pulled away and finished getting ready, buckling his leg brace on after she gave it to him, was something that would reside within her heart forever.
As he left the room, Tatiana flopped back onto the pillows before turning and crying into her pillow. Because it was then that she realized how unbearably lonely and desperate for redemption Shade was.
Show him love Ti, it's the only thing that can save him now.
A/N: So we get another glance at Lucifer and come to understand Tatiana a bit more. Does anyone have theories about who is who yet? Please Review.
