Thank you for all the wonderful reviews! I am currently working out finals week stress on my characters, which is why they're being tortured. However, I managed to update with two chapters; I wrote them as one and, when the word count began creeping towards the 10k mark, decided to break it up. It's also a thank you for being patient! Please critique my writing style; I want to get better in my writing. I've only been writing analytical essays recently, so I apologize if I sound a little stilted.
Chapter 9: Nightmares
Alexander screeched and bolted upright. Kiziah cried out and fell out of the bed, dashing under it in fear. The door banged open; Master Splinter was in the doorway, clearly still muzzy with sleep.
"Children… What is wrong?" The old rat walked into the room and groaned softly and he lowered himself to his knees to find Kiziah. She launched herself in the rat's arms; he stroked her shell soothingly.
Alexander was clinging to the ceiling, shivering and crying. Mikey appeared in the doorway, closely followed by Raph and Casey. April and Don were right behind those two. All of them crowded into the room and Raph climbed onto a chair to pry the pale turtle from his death-grip on the ceiling.
"I know, little one…" Raph murmured, gently unhooking his nephew's wing claws and holding him. Mikey held out his arms; Raph passed off the crying child to his younger brother, who took Alexander out for some cuddling.
"He just screamed," Kiziah explained, snuggling into Master Splinter's warm fur. "Why?"
It had been only three days since the adults had returned. Alexander had woken up every night, several times; no one was sleeping well. Kiziah was bewildered and scared; she hadn't been allowed to see her father and was worried he wasn't really behind the door her uncles promised he was.
Raph had taken to sleeping in the room with Leo; Mikey often refused to leave the leader's bedside. Don joined the two after the second night; all four now slept in the same room, though every morning only three would wake.
April and Casey had been doing all of the usual chores, including caring for the children. It was too early for the brothers to leave their leader quite yet; they were still in a very dangerous spot, Don knew, though Leo had had nearly all of the blood he lost replenished from his brothers' donations.
"He had a nightmare," Master Splinter explained. "They're scary dreams, and they can feel very real."
"About what?" April and Casey quietly left; Don and Raph glanced at Splinter and, upon receiving his nod, followed the two humans. Raph went to check on Alexander and Mikey; Don went back to the infirmary.
"We don't know," the old rat told the young turtle. "He saw something that frightens him very badly, and he is unable to free himself of that fear."
"Why didn't Daddy come? He's good at scaring away bad dreams," Kiziah said miserably.
"Your father cannot care for you right now, little one, but he loves you still. You have your uncles, and me, and Casey and April."
"I want Daddy!" Kiziah insisted, thumping her little fist on the covers.
"Kiziah, we do not hit things in anger," Splinter admonished. Kiziah glared at him sullenly and the aged rat sighed quietly. "You do not yet understand, little one, but you will someday. Now, go back to sleep. There are still several hours before you should be awake. Tomorrow is a new day."
Kiziah grumbled and crawled under the covers, turning her back on the rat. Master Splinter sighed quietly and shut the door behind him, leaning on it for a moment. The hall was deserted; his room was the next door over, and from the sounds coming from April and Casey's room across the hall, the two humans were sleeping heavily. Casey in particular sounded like a chainsaw, though April snored almost as loudly.
Splinter chuckled softly and went in search of his grandson. Alexander was crying into Mikey's shoulder; the adult was rocking him gently back and forth, humming in his chest soothingly. Mike spotted Master Splinter and gave him a silent plea for help.
Master Splinter gently took Alexander onto his shoulder; the young mutant sobbed quietly. "Shhh, little one. There are no monsters here." Though they do exist, the rat thought to himself.
"But they're h-h-here!" Alexander wailing, pointing to his head. Master Splinter moved to the couch and sat down; Mikey hovered.
"What monsters plague you, youngling?"
"That evil… evil man." Alexander hiccupped. "He… He hurt Daddy! Bad… Like when I got that splinter but badder."
Alexander had been the only one who saw what had happened in the few minutes the three brothers had lost track of Leo. He hadn't yet spoken of it, just sobbed after each nightmare into one of his uncle's plastrons until he finally fell asleep again.
"I know, little one. But your father will be all right soon; he just needs to rest and heal."
"But there was red everywhere," Alexander protested. "A-a-and h-h-he was l-laughing." Splinter stroked the youngling's wings gently, encouraging him to talk. Everyone was curious as to how Leo had been skewered so thoroughly. "A-a-nd I was-s-scared…"
"I would be, too, young one. But you are safe now."
"Th-they found m-me o-once…" Alexander argued, hiccupping. "I'm s-sorry f-for run-ning a-a-away," he wailed.
"Shhhhh, it's okay. You are safe, and that is all that matters." Master Splinter started gently rocking the child. Alexander sobbed into his shoulder; Mikey stroked the little turtle's head as Splinter rubbed his shell, just like he had to his sons years ago when they had nightmares.
~Elsewhere~
Karai allowed a few proper tears to run down her cheek as the coffin was lowered into the grave. An honor guard stood close by; most of the people in the crowd were Foot soldiers, disguised as bereaved acquaintances. Not that there weren't plenty of those, too.
The coffin, she thought, was very beautiful; a wood so dark it was almost black naturally, with ornate carvings along the sides. It had been a closed casket funeral, due to her father's nearly decapitated state. Even in death he inspired fear, though; the Foot were not yet restless, but they would be soon. She would need to act decisively and root out deserters and betrayers before they gained a grip. There was also the cementing of the garage to arrange; the blood from both Saki and the turtle had left stains.
Once the turtles had left, Karai had had to act quickly. Still dazed from Michelangelo's nunchucks, she had undressed the bodies of a couple ninjas, slit their throats, and placed them in the pool of blood Leonardo had left behind. She then ordered a company to clear the rest of the garage and shot the driver, laying him out by the side of the car as though he had been surprised by the two naked men.
She had laid a few weapons about, remembering to make sure the marks on her father's throat matched those of the knife she laid next to his head. Saki had taught her to be very thorough, but she had still very strongly disliked slicing her father's throat open further to hide the difference between the Sai damage and the knife marks.
Her second task had been to clean herself up and call the police. They responded quickly to the hysterical woman sobbing over her father's dead body; she told them that the two naked men had shot the driver and then jumped her father as he was getting out of his car and slit his throat before killing themselves as well.
She was covered in blood because she had tried to stop the bleeding – a noble effort, the policemen agreed, but it would have done no good. They put a blanket around her shoulders and took her to the ambulance. A kind EMT handed her a card listing psychological services nearby while another police woman asked her if she had relatives to stay with.
The bodies were removed. The police agreed, for the sake of her father's image, not to do an investigation; both of the murderers were dead anyway. Her statement was written down, she signed it, and they left quietly, leaving two pools of blood and the card.
The city mourned for the philanthropist millionaire; each of the hospitals he had donated to sported "We remember the kindness of Mr. Saki" banners and promised to have a moment of silence in thanks to the man who provided dying children with a video game arcade, elderly people with motorized wheelchairs, and hospital staff with a gourmet chef team, paid off for the next ten years. Libraries he had funded and left pieces of his vast personal collection to were closed for the day; the mayor declared the funeral date to be a city-wide day of remembrance for all philanthropists that "had touched so many people with the kindness in their hearts."
Eat your heart out, Raphael, Karai thought as the priest murmured prayers. My father is a martyr, and you made him that. You furthered his cause more than you can possibly imagine, and you lost your precious Leonardo as well. She wondered who would lead the turtles now – surely not Michelangelo, the jokester who could no longer speak. Raphael was the most logical choice, but was he broken? Did Donatello have it in him to wage the war his brother had perpetuated? Karai resolved to hunt them down as quickly as possible, before they could recover; she had found the baby mutant near a tiny town, in the woods. Her ninjas would start there.
Finally, as the grave was being filled in, Karai took her leave. It took nearly an hour to get away from the well-wishers and offers of counseling and guidance. Underneath it all, she knew, everyone was thinking she couldn't possibly handle her father's empire of companies, stocks, and charities. Little did they know that was exactly what she had been doing for the past year.
Karai ordered her driver to take her back to HQ; she also put in an order through the online dining app Saki had had designed for himself for tomato soup and grilled cheese, to be delivered to her room upon her arrival. She needed a long bath to wash away the feeling of false mourning from her skin and the stench of high society women who thought they needn't be seen but smelled from miles away.
Tomorrow, she knew, her grace period was over. Hun would be moving to take control of the Foot; some of the Elite would be fighting him for the position. She would have to whip them all back into obedience as her father did.
~Elsewhere~
"He needs to wake up," Don explained, turning a knob on a machine. "He'll develop blood clots at this rate. He's healing much slower than usual, but he still needs to move."
Raph grunted. He was bracing Leo, waiting for the drugs to wear off and the turtle to wake up. Don was expected fear, anger, and pain – lots of each. The last thing Leo had known was that Alexander was in the hands of the Foot, after all.
Don was also worried – silently, though – about the possibility of brain damage. Leo's brain had been deprived of oxygen for several minutes altogether. He didn't think the family could take it if Leo was brain damaged or even slightly addled. The brain activity on the monitor was suppressed, Don knew, but that could be because they were reptiles, or because he didn't know how the damn thing worked, or because Leo truly was mentally injured.
The feed stopped; Don waited, keeping his hand on Leo's wrist. The pulse was weak but steady; it would get stronger soon, he told himself.
Leo stirred; Raphael held his breath. The leader opened his eyes; they didn't focus. He looked at the bright light above him, unresponsive for a minute before slowly blinking and turning his head. Raph held him down firmly; Don warned that Leo might take a few minutes to "boot up," and once he did, he could injure himself badly if he moved too quickly.
"Leo? Leo, can you hear me?" Don asked, moving into his brother's range of vision.
Their brother blinked… blinked again… and opened his mouth. He tried to speak, but the only noise he could make was a croak. Don grabbed a glass of water on the bedside stand and held it to Leo's mouth; the turtle drank it thirstily. He finished another glass before refusing the third.
"Leo, how're you feeling?"
The leader blinked again, slowly turned his head to look at Raph quizzically. The red-banded turtle grinned a bit. "Hey, bro."
Don pulled Leo's attention back to him. "Leo, wake up a little more." The turtle blinked again and then furrowed his brow.
"D-Don?" Leo's voice was weak and scratchy. "Wh…what happened?"
"You got skewered," Raph told him. Don shot Raph a look of pure evil; Raph smiled sheepishly.
"I feel like someone fed me sugar again…"
"That would be the drugs," Don assured him. "We've kept you sedated long enough so that I could stitch your wound up as much as I could, but you need to move around or you could develop blood clots."
Leo's tail thumped; Leo blinked in alarm. "What was that?"
"Uh.. Yer tail." Raph lifted it so Leo could see. The leader just stared at it.
Don's heart started sinking; he could feel it somewhere in the vicinity of his knees. "Leo… What's the last thing you remember?"
Leo furrowed his brow. He'd had concussions and temporary memory loss before, and knew Don was probing to see if it was bad. It had to be, if he had a four-foot-long tail he didn't know about! "Um… Master Splinter went on vacation… He's due back in a week, though."
Don glanced at Raph; both winced.
"Leo… That was over a year ago."
Leo blinked in alarm; his wings opened and he yelped, both in pain and when they crossed into his view. "Do… Do I have… Are those… wings?" he asked very quietly, staring at the membrane hanging over him.
"Yes… Um… Let me explain." Don motioned for Raph to leave and sat down. The red-banded turtle went to find Master Splinter; Don was half-way through the tale of South Africa when the rat entered.
"Master Splinter!" Leo tried to get up but Don quickly held him down.
"My son, do not get up. Donatello tells me you are grievously wounded."
"In more ways than one, Sensei," Leo agreed. "He's just been telling me what's been happening these past few months…"
"I see." Master Splinter gently patted his son's side. "Be still and let him finish. We have much to discuss."
Don got to the escape from Alex and their flight home and then stopped, glancing at Splinter. Leo looked between the two. "What?" he asked.
"It would be best if he saw them," Master Splinter said, motioning for Don to get the children. Leo watched suspiciously as Don walked out the door. Raph and Mikey were outside; Kiziah and Alexander were in the living room. Don explained to Raph and Mikey what was happening; they each picked up one of the children. Both were told to be very quiet, because Daddy had a headache.
Don walked back in, Alexander perched on his shoulder. "Leo… This is your son, Alexander."
Leo stared, mouth open. Alexander sniffled as his father refused to acknowledge him; he opened his wings and took off from Don's shoulder, landing on the bed beside Leo as carefully as he could. "Daddy… Daddy, what's wrong?" Alexander was careful not to touch the bandages but tried to snuggle into Leo's plastron. Leo looked at Splinter, completely lost and terrified.
"Raph," Don called. The hothead came in, carrying Kiziah. The little one yelped with joy, forgetting her instructions to be quiet, and screeched "Daddy!"
Leo reacted violently; his wing shot out and clipped Raph in the head, knocking him over and pulling Kiziah off of him. He cupped both children under his wing and struggled to get up; Don leaned into him as much as possible without further injuring his shoulder. Master Splinter held his legs down, and Mikey stepped in to grab his tail.
"No, Leo, it's okay!" Raph said quickly as he got back to his feet; he remembered the screech that had nearly stopped his heart in the garage. "It's okay, bro." Leo stopped moving, breathing heavily; the little ones were scared and confused under his wing. "It's okay."
Don breathed out shakily; he had only seen that look in Leo's eyes once before, and it was not something he wanted to see again – ever. "Leo… That was a trigger. You got that injury when Alexander did the same thing…" Quickly, Don explained about the garage battle; slowly, Leo was starting to put his memories back in order. The screech had opened a floodgate, and he could feel a migraine pounding away behind his eyes but refused to let it interfere with rebuilding his recollection.
"I'm sorry," Leo whispered finally, curling his good arm around his children. "Kiziah… Alexander… I'm so glad you're safe." He nuzzled each; they churred happily and snuggled up beneath his wing, refusing to let go of their daddy again.
Don motioned for the adults to let Leo assure himself his children were safe; they gathered outside in the living room. "He just needed the proper trigger," Don explained. "His memory was hidden from him – though I wonder if he remembers how the Shredder managed to pin him like that…"
"That is a story for another time," Master Splinter said firmly. "For now, he must be assured that his entire family is safe, including his brothers. He will want you close until he feels he had recovered."
"It's going to be weeks," Don warned. "I don't know if there's nerve damage yet, but it's very likely. The sword nicked an artery as well; I had to suture that one, and many other blood vessles and muscle fragments. He won't be able to lift anything with that arm for at least two weeks, at the current rate of healing."
"We will see to it he heals quickly, then," Master Splinter instructed. "We have had a respite, but if Karai found Alexander near here, we may be forced to defend ourselves sooner than Leonardo can heal."
"We could move," Raph suggested. Don winced. "Ah don' likit either, but Leo's out fer th' count and we're still recovering. And we've got more'n just us t' worry 'bout now."
Mikey nodded; Don rubbed at his face. "Alright… We need to get off the map. I hate the idea of making Leo camp, but… That may be our only option."
"I'll bet those mountains hide some good caves," Raph suggested. Don chewed on his tongue, thinking.
"Mikey, start looking over some maps. Find a good secluded area. We'll see what Casey and April have to say first," Don suggested. "This is their farm, after all."
"Technically, it's Ma's," Casey interrupted, coming downstairs. "We couldn't help but overhear… Sounds like you've made your mind up."
"We don't want to put you in any further danger," Master Splinter explained. "And Leonardo cannot defend himself nor his family at the moment. Alexander's capture showed Karai that she was close, and she will be relentless in avenging the Shredder."
"Why dontcha take the RV?" the man suggested.
"You have an RV?" Don asked, blinking. "Since when?"
"Uh… Ever?" Casey scratched his head. "It needs a little repair, but it's nice an' cozy and made for off-road adventures."
"Where is it?" Don couldn't believe their luck – something was certainly watching over them. That, or Casey was just being a bonehead.
"Back in New York."
"Of course," Raph grunted. "Why wouldntcha store th' RV out here, doofus?"
"'Cause I didn't need it out here," Casey shot back good naturedly.
"Casey and I will go back to New York and get the RV. You guys get ready to move Leo," April suggested. "We'll be back as soon as possible." The mutants thanked them; the humans waved it off with their customary "anything for you guys," grabbed their jackets, and headed out into the chilly evening air.
Don set Raph to packing the bedding and materials to keep Mikey and the children occupied. Mikey set to boxing the years of canned, packaged, freeze-dried, and pickled food squirreled away in the basement. Master Splinter went to pack up the few things he had saved from the lair; Don went to check on Leo and gather the medical supplies.
