Raph awoke to see Leo standing over him.
"You okay?" Leo asked as Raph pushed himself into a sitting position.
"Yeah, I think so. Where are the others?"
"There in here, with us. They're both still unconscious."
Raph looked around the room. It was a small room, barely 6 feet across, maybe 12 feet long. He was sitting on a narrow bunk bed. Mike was directly across from him. An IV line ran out of his arm. Don was laying on his shell above him in the top bunk. There was a mask over his face, a blood pressure cuff on his arm, and a monitor on his hand.
Leo continued, "I think Don is going to be out awhile. You took two darts, he took five. The guards brought you in and dumped you on the bed. Don didn't show up for almost an hour." Leo paused, stood up, and paced the length of the room in five quick strides. "That was a long hour."
When Raph didn't speak, Leo went on, "When they did finally bring him in, they hooked him up to all the equipment. The mask is to make sure he gets enough oxygen, the blood pressure cuff takes his blood pressure every five minutes, and the thing on his hand measures his blood oxygen level. They told me to call for them, if either his blood pressure or blood oxygen drops."
"That sounds like they were trying to help him," Raph said, rubbing his head, which thudded with a dull headache.
"We are," said a voice from the hallway. "If the turtle in red would like a painkiller for the headache that he must surely have, just let me know."
"Who are you?" Raph shouted.
"Just a medic. Blue, has the orange one come around?"
"No," Leo said curtly.
"Has anything changed for purple?"
"No," Leo answered.
"I'll be back in another couple of hours to check on them. Until then gentlemen, I suggest you rest. It is almost midnight and his Lordship will want to see you in the morning."
"Who is his Lordship," Raph yelled, "And what does he want with us?"
"I'm not at liberty to answer the first question, and the second one eludes me as well. All I can tell you is what I was told, which was to care for your wounds and make you as comfortable as possible. I'm sure both answers will come in the morning. Now do you want anything for your headache?"
"No!" Raph shouted.
"Suit yourself. I'll be back in two hours if you change your mind. Good night, the ship lights will be dimming in a few minutes."
There was a clanking of footsteps as the medic walked away across the metal floor. Leo paced the room again. Raph rubbed his head. Leo stopped in front of him.
"I can help that," he said.
Raph nodded.
Leo took Raph's hand and squeezed the pressure points. After a minute, Raph's breathing slowed and his neck began to relax. Then Leo switched hands and held the other pressure point. Quite suddenly, the lights went out. Leo let go of Raph's hand and climbed in the bed over his head.
"Ain't we going to try something?" Raph asked just above a whisper.
"With Don and Mike unconscious?" Leo said calmly. "For the moment, we're stuck. But you remember what Splinter always told us before we went to sleep when we were kids?"
The words came to Raph as if Splinter was standing over him in the darkness, 'Sleep well, my sons. Tomorrow is a new day and will bring its own fate.'
Raph had barely registered that the lights came back on before the door banged opened. Several pairs of feet marched in and before Raph could move. When he sat up, two guards stood over Leo and him. One had a gun on him, the other on Leo. Another man, dressed in a white coat checked over Don and Mike.
The man murmured, "Ah, that's good." Raph realized it was the medic from the night before. The medic turned to look at Leo, "Purple is coming around. Once he does, he's going to feel pretty awful. Make sure he gets lots of water to drink."
"And my other brother?" Leo asked.
"Ah, yes. I've developed a theory about him. I believe that he is an a dormant state, almost like he is hibernating. I've been comparing the body temperatures of your brothers. Red's temperature was the highest, he came around first. Purple temperature was low when I first saw him, but it has recovered slowly through the night. Now he is just about the same as Red and he is waking up." As if on cue, Don groaned.
The medic continued, "Orange's temperature is very low. His body has shut down everything but the most important functions in order to heal the injury in his head. I don't think the head injury is serious. I had an X-Ray taken, and granted that doesn't show me much, but at least I can tell his brain doesn't appear to be damaged, or bleeding. I suggest that we slowly increase his body temperature to help him come out of it."
"But what if he's not ready to wake up." Leo shot back.
"Then he won't wake up. But if I'm right, bringing up his temperature will convince his body that it's time to wake up."
There was silence in the room for almost a minute.
The medic went on, "Orange is your kinsmen. I will not proceed without your permission."
"Do it," Raph said in a low growl.
The medic looked to Leo, who nodded slowly.
"Right then," he said brightly. He exited the room and returned a minute later with a blanket. "This in an electric blanket. Should warm him up nicely. We'll keep it on low for about ten minutes." The medic handed Leo a stopwatch. "After that, turn it off. We don't want to warm him too fast. If he tolerates that nicely, we'll turn it back on again for another 10 minutes. Does that make sense?"
Leo nodded again.
"Good, good. We'll take our of leave of you gentlemen. I'll be back in say half and hour. Breakfast should be arriving soon. Remember, do give Purple lots of water."
They left the room in a clank of footsteps. Before the door shut, one of the guards pushed in a cart loaded with food. There were three shelves. The top was loaded with standard breakfast food: scrambled eggs, pancakes, bacon, cereals, yogurt, and toast. The middle shelf had a wide variety of vegetables: carrots, lettuce, cucumbers, eggplant and host of others. The last shelf had all kinds of drinks, milk, juice, pop, coffee, tea, and a huge jug of water.
The medic's voice came through the door, "Make sure Purple gets lots of water. It wouldn't hurt if Red did the same."
Leo sighed, hopped down from his bed and helped himself to the scrambled eggs.
"You're just going to eat it?" Raph asked.
"Yeah, and you should too. It's not drugged. They obviously want us all awake. We need to keep our strength up."
Just as Raph grabbed several pieces of bacon, Don moaned, a horrible throaty sound that made him sound like a duck.
"Easy, Donny," Leo said, grabbing Don's hand. "You're going to be okay."
"Then why does it feel like all my muscles turned to lead?" Don asked, struggling to open his eyes.
"You were drugged, over drugged really," Leo said. "Can you sit up, you need some water."
Don did so, but he was slow, like he was ninety years old. After he was in a sitting position, Leo helped him drink a glass of water. He put another glass in Don's hand, when he was sure he could hold it. Then he checked Mike and turned off the blanket.
The improvement in Mike was profound. He was no longer pale and his eyes were moving under their lids.
When the medic returned thirty minutes later, all four were awake. Mike was groggy, but talking and laughing. Don moved like a mummy, but he was moving. Raph still had his headache, which didn't improve his mood. And Leo was ever watchful.
Before the medic left, he said, "Your audience with his Lordship will be in 1 hour's time. Prepare yourselves."
"For what," Raph muttered as he left with his guards.
"I guess we'll find out," Leo said.
Fifty-seven minutes later, according the stopwatch that Leo still had, ten heavily armed guards showed up at the door of their room.
"Raph," Leo whispered, "take up the rear position, make sure they don't ruffle with Don or Mike. Donny, I want you behind me, like a shadow on my shoulder. I need to remember everything that is said. Mike, check for exits, possible weapons, anything that we could use to help us. Don and Mike, stay quiet. Raph, just be yourself."
The guards opened the doors and the gestured with guns that they should come out. They did, single file, Leo in the lead, Raph at the end. They were marched through narrow corridors and several sets of steps until they got to a door painted bright red.
They walked through the door and emerged into an enormous room. It must have been part of a cargo bay at one time. The ceiling rose 70 feet above them, the room as long as the ship was wide. In the direct center there was a raised platform, almost like a dais, with an ornate chair sitting directly in the middle. Sitting in the chair was a small Asian man dressed in a black jump suit. He studied them intently. To his right, stood another Asian man, dressed in military attire. The turtles were taken to the base of the dais. The guards backed off to a respectful distance, but they kept their guns trained on them.
The man on the chair stood, placed his hands together and bowed. Leo and Don followed the gesture. Mike followed their lead a second too late, and Raph stood rigid as a statue.
"Welcome gentlemen. Considering the effort I put into getting you here, it would have been nice to know that you would come yourselves. Would have saved me considerable expense. But that is no matter. You are here."
"What do you want with us?" Leo asked, a hard edge in his voice.
"Many things, to be honest," the man said, seating himself back in the chair. "You have technology that I want, but more importantly, you have someone who can manipulate that technology. You are gifted warriors and your skills would greatly improve my army."
"Like we would help you," Raph shot at him.
"I am many things. One thing I am not, is stupid," he said glancing between Leo and Raph. He extended a hand to the man standing on his left side, who placed a small device in it. The man in the chair fiddled with the controls and then suddenly, Don screamed in pain and fell to knees, clawing at the back of his neck.
Leo screamed, "Stop it."
Mike fell to his knees beside his brother.
Raph rushed the man on the dais. Before he made it to the first step, two blades materialized out of nowhere and crisscrossed around his neck. Raph froze as the steel cut into his skin.
The man, still sitting calmly in his chair, flicked a button. Don's screaming abruptly stopped. Don fell to the floor on his face, panting heavily.
Mike helped Don sit up. He was trembling all over, like his muscles had all turned into water balloons.
"As I said," the man continued. "I am not stupid. The purple one is the only one that I truly need. The rest of you are cream, so to speak." He gestured with his hands a couple of guards. "Take the purple one back to their room, tend to him. I want him ready for an interview this afternoon."
The guards moved forward and moved to grab Don out of Mike's arms. Mike resisted, knocking their hands away. With a look to the man in the chair, one of the guards gave Mike a sharp blow on the back of his head. Mike groaned and fell sideways. The guards grabbed Don and pulled him away.
Raph growled, but didn't move and Leo scowled deeply. They all watched as the guards dragged Don away. After they had left, Leo extended a hand and pulled Mike back to his feet. Leo put a hand on Raph's shoulder and made eye contact with the man with the swords. The man retracted the swords from around Raph's neck and Leo pulled him back. Then he stood in front of his brothers.
"What do you want with us?" Leo repeated his question.
"You are ninjas. Ninjas are mercenaries of the highest degree. I want your services. And since I could not hire you, I chose the only option available. We will discuss the specifics later. For now, introductions. I am Lord Lim. This is my lieutenant Mr. Wong. And you are?"
Leo crossed his arms across his chest and said nothing.
"Very well," Lim said. "I will simply refer to you by color. Take them back to their room."
When they arrived back, Don was lying on the bottom bunk, apparently asleep, with an IV running out of his hand. Leo knelt down beside him and put his hand on his shell.
"Donny, can you hear me?" Leo asked.
"Yeah," Don said without opening his eyes. Then in a whisper, he added, "I.. ah… can't tell you what was said."
Leo smiled, "That's all right. I don't I'll ever forget."
"What do we do?" Mike asked.
Leo exchanged a dark look with Raph. They both looked over at Don passed out on the bed.
"Nothing," Raph said, and gave Leo a nod. "We ain't going to do nothing."
"Yet," Leo added.
A/N: I know I said this two or three chapters ago, but this should really be done in 2 or 3 more chapters. Thanks for sticking with it. It will end soon I promise.