Alive
Dawn forced him underground but Raphael continued to roam, restlessly choosing a path at random through the seemingly endless tunnels of the sewers. His thoughts whirled.
How am I supposed to make it through the day?
Jenna was alive. Her imaginary ghost no longer comforted his mind.
I gave up. I left her there... with HIM. What was I thinkin'? Why didn't I act? He's probably torturing her!
Desperate to find her, he didn't have a clue how to go about it. Donatello said that thing was a portal, so she could be anywhere. Literally anywhere.
The west coast... China... Heck, she could be on the moon for all I know.
Her surroundings hadn't helped. The white room was obviously some sort of high-tech lab, but despite a nagging sense of familiarity, he still couldn't place it.
Wish Don had seen it.
Labs were his brother's specialty. He might have identified something to narrow down the possibilities. But if he couldn't locate her—rescue her—there was another option.
Contact Karai. Propose a trade. Me for her. If the Shredder really is back, he'll jump at the chance to hold one of us. Hell, he'll wet himself in excitement if I surrender...
His phone buzzed on his hip. He glanced at the screen and frowned. There were multiple texts. Lost in his thoughts, he hadn't noticed the alerts. They started out innocently enough, Mikey's casual speech crossed effortlessly into such messages, but things escalated quickly. The most recent were only minutes apart.
'Dude, missed you at breakfast, you ok?'
'Covered for you at training.'
'You're worryin' me, dude. Where are you?'
'Leo's on the warpath. Call in soon, will ya?'
The last one, from Fearless himself, was a two-word command.
'Home. Now.'
Raphael groaned aloud, but he picked up his pace, lurching into a ground eating jog. He couldn't pursue his plan if Leo put him on lockdown. It didn't take more than fifteen minutes to return to the lair. He hadn't strayed all that far.
Expecting to be accosted as soon as the bricks slid open, he braced, but the main room was blessedly empty. He managed to reach his bedroom and was changing his stained mask before there was a knock on the door.
"Raph?" Leo called. "Open up."
Raphael waited a beat then jerked the door open just as his startled brother raised a hand to knock a second time.
"What do you want, Fearless?"
Leonardo frowned at the brusque question. His gaze flicked down the hall toward his own closed door and back to Raph's uncovered amber eyes before he responded.
"Don told me about what you saw last night. I want to know if you're ok."
The searching look Leo gave him made Raphael extremely uncomfortable. Not the normal irritation at finding him absent, nor the sort of understated disapproval he wore when Raph did something he didn't like. It was probing, yet full of compassion.
Guilt stabbed at him for even considering leaving his brothers, but if that was what it took to save Jenna...
"I'm fine," he deflected. "Just needed some air."
"You want to talk about it?"
"No."
The single word answer was so quiet and unlike him, Leo's head snapped up.
"Raph, I know the vision must have come as a shock—"
"Portal," he corrected in a rough tone. "Don said the window was a portal."
She's alive, brother mine. And don't you forget it.
"Right."
Leo agreed a little too quickly and Raphael stared hard at him.
"You don't believe me, do you?"
"I do... It's just- difficult to get a handle on."
Leonardo gave him a small smile but Raphael wasn't buying it. Leo was fishing for something. Afraid he might inadvertently reveal his thoughts, Raph did what he normally did in such situations; pushed his brother away.
"Whatever. You actually need somethin' or did ya just summon me home for shits an' giggles?"
Leo's face hardened and Raph instantly felt more secure. An arrogant pissed off Leo was familiar territory, but he didn't want to push it too far. He needed the leader to look after Jenna when she got free.
"Don gave you a pass at training this morning, but it doesn't excuse you from the rest of the chores today. We did your regular ones already, but the slider needs cleaning, that ought to make up for it."
Raphael groaned again, but Leonardo's face was set, a fair indication there was no getting out of it. Besides, he couldn't leave the lair to contact the Foot until after nightfall and if he completed his 'punishment' maybe Leo's suspicions would be appeased.
Idly, Raph wondered what kind of mess the genius made this time. He was always bringing home found objects; large and small. Most of them weren't very clean.
"Splinter's meditating, but he and Don want to talk to you after, so don't take too long."
Raph's blood chilled at the thought of facing Splinter while harboring a hidden agenda, then he hardened his heart. He would lie to his father if he had to. He'd left Jenna suffering for far too long already.
I won't betray the family, though. This will be a straight on trade. Jenna's freedom for mine.
But, maybe the situation wouldn't come to that.
Maybe Donnie'll figure out what to do next.
He nodded tiredly, grabbed a clean mask off the dresser and stumbled down the stairs towards the living room. Leonardo lingered in the hall to make sure he went in the right direction and Raph grumbled to himself. The leader was still on alert.
Michelangelo called a cautious 'hello' from the couch in front of the TV. He waved a grumpy hand in reply. He stumbled blearily into the kitchen, still rubbing his eyes, and tried to put Jenna out of his thoughts as he crunched his way through a bowl of cereal. It was past noon, but he didn't have the energy to make anything more complicated.
Basic nutrition accomplished, he headed straight to the supply closet; expecting this to be a dirty job or Leo wouldn't have assigned it. He opened the door and stared a moment. The buckets were missing and all kinds of items lay scattered on the floor. Someone had dug frantically through the contents.
Raphael peered around suspiciously and caught Mikey watching him with slanted eyes. Though the trickster immediately glanced away when Raph turned toward him.
"Hey, Mike," he called. "What happened? Where are all the buckets?"
Missing buckets usually meant Raph needed to watch every door frame in the lair for balanced pails of paint, or other nefarious contents.
You'd think he'd have outgrown that crap by now...
"Uh, Don's lab, I think," Mikey replied with a guilty start. "He, uh... Some experiment made a mess."
Raphael grunted. It figured. He gathered a couple of brushes and some cleaning solution before heading to the lab. He took a quick look around, wondering what exploded this time, but the room was spotless and the scent of bleach was overwhelming. He grabbed a bucket from the stack inside the door, wrinkled his nose, and left rapidly.
Mikey watched him cross the room to the walled area where the slider was parked and Raph fidgeted under his stare. Something was definitely up, but figuring out what required more brainpower than he wanted to give it.
Ignoring his younger brother, he poured water in the pail and climbed on the vehicle to survey the interior. Sewer sludge coated the floor, the rear seat, and the tray they used to tie down their gear.
Whatever Don brought home was big and covered with nasty.
Raph sighed, dumped cleanser in the water, and set to work.
Hours later, he finished scrubbing the floor—thoroughly sick of the smell of sewage mixed with pine. The two did not combine well. And there was another fragrance he noted about halfway through. A coppery tinge which, if he didn't know better, he might have sworn was blood.
Shaking his head, he grabbed a clean towel to wipe the final bits of gunk from the seams where the back seat met the floor. As he pushed the cloth into the corners, something sharp poked through, stabbing into his finger under the nail. He jerked back, waving his hand with a curse. Luckily, it didn't break the skin, but the prick hurt like hell.
Damn it!
Raph glared at the offending object. It was wedged in tight. Curious, despite himself, he pried it out with a screwdriver, wiped it with his towel, and held the golden thing up to his face for a better look.
Light caught on a blood red stone and gilded a small blue enamel flower.
Raphael clutched at his chest as his heart constricted painfully. His pupils dilated and he began to hyperventilate. He tried to call out but he couldn't catch his breath. Dropping to his knees, he seized at the seat in front of him, shuddering violently as his body struggled to cope.
His stomach rolled and he barely managed to stagger from the vehicle before vomiting all over the concrete floor. Gasping and panting, he squatted with his head between bent knees—
Until he recovered enough breath to scream.
Jenna shivered hard enough to shake herself awake.
For the past few hours, she could have sworn she heard voices. Voices which triggered swirls of blue, violet, and orange in her mind's eye. They argued quietly over her, but the words ran together into incomprehensible mush.
Something about telling somebody about me?
She fought desperately to hold onto them, but they faded in and out with her consciousness.
When she eventually came to and pried her eyes open, she found herself in near darkness—staring at a red brick wall. Her apartment had exposed brick, it was one of the things she loved about her industrial loft, but they weren't shiny or dark, and they weren't in her bedroom.
Jenna shook again and curled into a fetal position, trying to stay warm. Moving hurt, but not as badly as the shivering.
Why am I so cold? Where am I? And why do I hurt so much?
The harder she tried to remember, the faster her thoughts slipped away. Her head pounded, her whole body ached, and her leg throbbed.
The sound of a door creaking open made Jenna shut her eyes again, feigning sleep. But she couldn't suppress the shivering. A cool hand checked her forehead and another blanket was added to her bedding.
I must have a fever.
Her shudders ceased as the blanket did its job, but the presence didn't leave. Whomever it was settled into a chair nearby and started humming softly under their breath. The voice was warm, male, and most definitely familiar.
Who IS that?
She didn't know too many guys in New York, and the few she'd dated since moving here weren't the type to care for her when she was ill. Besides, she knew this voice intimately. It warmed her as much as the covers.
Jenna turned cautiously to her back and hissed as it stung. An unfamiliar weight pinned her leg and something tugged on her arm. She cracked her eyes a bit. The pale light from a single lamp across the room scarcely reached her, but she saw an I.V. in the back of her hand.
Am I in the hospital? Did I have an accident?
This wasn't like any hospital she had ever seen. It was too dark. And there wasn't enough equipment. The bed was comfortable but far too close to the floor for any medical institution. The sheets were soft but worn and the blanket was a rough wool.
Fragmented memories echoed back to her. The run, Shredder, the Technodrome, and intense amber eyes that tugged at her soul. The nightmarish slog through the city's underground seemed particularly surreal and she would have dismissed the whole thing as some sort of vivid nightmare, except her pain was far too real.
Did the kidnappers find me?
She tensed at the thought, but this place appeared the exact opposite of all that frigid, white technology. But, where did that leave her? Confused and frightened, a muffled sob slipped from her lips.
The humming cut off abruptly.
"Don't worry, Jenna. I've got you," the voice murmured. "You're safe."
The cool hand returned to her forehead. She opened her eyes fully to see a heavily muscled arm extending into the shadows. It was green.
That should have made her more afraid, but once again what she felt was a strange sense of security. Her eyelids fluttered shut at his touch and a soft sigh escaped her. It was too hard to keep them open and this room was wonderfully peaceful, like home. Or at least how she always dreamed home would feel.
Nowhere I've ever lived felt this good.
She basked in the peace, soaking in the unfamiliar sensation of being cared for until it filled her entire being. Here, at last, someone wanted her.
A scream shattered her fragile equilibrium.
Michelangelo leapt from his seat in dismay, his posture rigid as Raphael's voice distorted with pain. The sound went on and on, echoing through the lair as he ran for the doorway, clutching his weapons in reflexive response.
What could Raph have possibly found to give us away?
All of them had examined the slider before they decided it was a decent way to divert his attention. They needed time to agree on the best course of action, but something had gone terribly wrong.
Raphael staggered through the door before Mikey made it halfway to him—a small golden item dangling from his fist. Mikey's gaze locked on it and he froze, caught off guard.
That's the... The girl upstairs HAS to be Jenna!
His brother stumbled and Mikey shook himself into motion, rushing to support him. He pulled an arm over his shoulder and half carried Raph to the couch. Leonardo dashed in as he held up the necklace.
"Where- Where did this come from?" Raphael demanded.
Before either of them could respond, a female scream sounded from upstairs.
"RAPHAEL! RAPHAEL PLEASE!" followed by, "NO! LET GO OF ME! RAPHAEL!"
Raph shot off so fast it was a second before Michelangelo realized he'd even moved.
Climbing the stairs three at a time, Raphael dashed upwards seeking the source of the sound. Adrenaline flooded his veins, jumpstarting his aching heart. That voice could have roused him from his grave, much less an emotional stupor. After Donnie's revelations about the portal, he would never ignore such cries again.
The noise came from Leonardo's room. He threw open the door, snapped on the light, and dashed inside—expecting another window. Glad, this time, his brothers were hot on his heels so they could see her for themselves.
Show 'em I ain't hallucinating.
What he didn't expect was to find Donatello frozen in the act of trying to contain a pale woman with dark hair—struggling to rise from Leo's bed.
The girl's panicked motions ceased as they came charging in the door. Raph's eyes riveted to her face as she turned. Her hazel gazed sent him reeling.
"Raphael," she said, softer this time. "You all right?"
She waited for his short nod, then her eyes rolled back into her head. She fainted dead away. Collapsing, she fell back on the pillows as Don tried to cushion her descent.
Raph began to shake as he staggered the few remaining steps to where she lay.
She's here. In the lair.
He dropped to his knees beside the bed, totally bewildered as feelings long suppressed collided with logic and left him completely turned around.
She's here! How the HELL did she get here?
Her hand was solid, warm against his fingertips. He could feel her pulse throbbing in the veins of her wrist. He took a deep breath, trying to bring some order to his wayward mind, and her scent hit him like a battering ram. The taint of sewage still clinging to her couldn't cover it. She smelled exactly the way he remembered. This Jenna wasn't a vision, a dream, or an illusion.
She's real. She came back! She called to me! Donnie is takin' care of her. It's not a trick. Jenna is alive!
"How— Where did you find her?" His voice was so choked he had to repeat himself. "Where has she been?"
He ripped his eyes from her face to question his genius brother who stood frozen on the other side of the bed. When Don didn't answer, Raph turned his gaze on Leo and Mikey, still in the doorway. Mikey held the locket discarded in the headlong rush up the stairs and his hand trembled slightly as he passed the necklace to Donatello. No one spoke, but all had tears in their eyes.
The others can see her! I haven't lost my mind.
Raphael peered once again into the face of the unconscious woman, then yanked her to him fiercely, wrapping his arms around her waist and wrenching her tight against his chest.
Donnie uttered a wordless sound of protest, reaching out a hand to prevent the motion, but he was too late.
A pain filled cry escaped Jenna's lips.
Raph froze. He pulled back slowly without letting go to examine her. Her skin was pale. Too pale. Almost translucent, and covered in bruises. A purple discoloration darkened the sensitive area near her eye and her cheek was swollen. An I.V. poked out of her right arm.
He twitched the covers back and swallowed hard. If he hadn't already lost his breakfast, the sight before him would have made him retch. The oversized t-shirt she wore concealed few of her injuries.
Her right leg was bandaged and confined in a splint. The bone must have pierced the skin for her entire shin and calf were wrapped. Despite the first aid, bright red blood seeped through. Her left arm and portions of her upper body were covered in gauze as well and the bruises continued everywhere he looked.
Raphael replaced the blankets and drew her more gently against him, tucking her head under his chin. He pressed a hand tenderly to the uninjured side of her face, holding her close, afraid someone would snatch her away again.
Internally, he raged at her condition, but there was no room for anger right now in his heart. Instead, he closed his eyes and bowed his head as tears rained into her hair.
"Jenna," he murmured, deep voice quavering, "where have you been?"
She whimpered, trying to respond to his tone. Her eyelids fluttered, but she didn't quite wake.
"I thought I'd lost you," he continued raggedly.
"Stay with me?"
The dazed plea in her soft voice nearly broke him. Her eyes were closed and her words slurred. She might not be aware of what is going on, but...
She's insane if she thinks I'm goin' anywhere.
Raph released her, only to rise and carefully pick her up. He seated himself in her place on the bed and leaned against the wall, setting her across his lap. Gingerly, he propped her injured leg to the side and pulled the covers up over her shoulders.
Jenna snuggled into him, shivering and shaking. He cradled her in his arms, creating a protective cage of iron hard muscle and bone, sheltering her from the world. Her feverish warmth soaked through his plastron, matching the feeling that burned in his chest.
He shot Donnie a worried glance as he delicately stroked her hair, soothing away the shakes until she rested limply against him. He relaxed somewhat as her breathing eased.
"Don't let go," she begged as the pain and blood loss drained what little remained of her energy.
Raphael leaned down and pressed his lips to her head, answering in a fierce whisper:
"Never again."
