TSOTCTSOTC
Michelangelo commanded himself not to be baited by Scrubs, remaining in his chair trying to decide what to do next. Fortunately, the other, more helpful nurse stuck her head in the empty triage room. "Come on, I'll take you back. Since you brought her in, you're all the information we have on Miss Sanders. And Janet can't legally forbid you to be with her, you just can't make any decisions for her." She offered him a sympathetic smile and he followed her anxiously.
His nerves tempted him to ramble and crack jokes, but with 'Janet' lurking somewhere in the wing he couldn't risk drawing attention to himself. He didn't want to end up booted.
The nurse slid back a glass door to a tiny room, where Denim lay inside, tiny, unusually pale and appearing even more breakable than usual. There was stuff connected to her, he recognized the IV, Donnie had used one on him once. But he didn't know about the clip attached to her finger, or the black fabric wrapped around her arm.
"Is she okay?" he asked.
The nurse frowned. "I can't tell you anything. All I can do is let you sit with her."
Great. So he was good for giving information but not getting any. He gave the nurse a curt nod, before slumping into a chair beside Denim and taking her hand in his.
The nurse hovered near the door, stopping before sliding it open. She glanced over her shoulder in his direction. "I shouldn't even tell you this much, but I don't think it's fair how Janet treated you. Your friend should be fine."
TSOTCTSOTC
Zoe sat on the balcony holding Anton, stroking the back of his head and the ridge of his carapace. "Antonello, you're shaking. Are you cold?"
"No. It was real, Mom. My dream was real." He shivered and she slid her hand down his arm, rubbing it. Tiny goosebumps adorned his usually smooth emerald skin.
Zoe sighed, twisting in her chair to open the sliding door. "Raph?" she whispered, not wanting to wake anyone but knowing he'd be close.
"Yeah?" he answered, from inside the door. "Everything okay out there?"
Was Anton okay? He wasn't in any immediate danger. But her sweet turtle boy was trembling in her arms. He was terrified of something. "I don't know, yes and no? Can you grab him a blanket?"
Raph grunted his reply, and a few seconds later the well worn but adored red blanket that had been with them for so long was placed in her hand. Her fingers brushed his in the exchange, sending a thrill through her. "Thanks, Big Guy."
Raph said nothing, but lingered near the door and she didn't close it.
Her mouth curved upward as she draped the thin, soft fabric around their son. She held her mouth close to the side of Anton's head, speaking to him in a low, gentle voice, "Anton, do you want Daddy to come out with us?"
"Mhm," he mumbled his approval. "He'll keep you safe," he added, hopefully.
Raph took up the chair beside them, leaning close. "Wanna tell us about tha' bad dream? Or didya already tell ya Mom an' I missed that part?"
Anton shook his head. "Nah, I din' tell her yet. I just wanted her cas' they're gonna take her away." He wrapped his little arms around Zoe's neck, squeezing her tight. "An, I don' want'em to take her."
Zoe's heart sputtered, a mix of fear from her and frustration from Raph igniting the air surrounding them.
"It was just a dream, Antonello. Ain't nobody takin' yer Mom anywhere, ever." Raph spoke with such ferocity it would seem he was frustrated by the fact that he couldn't fight his sons nightmare.
Anton didn't answer, instead buried his head in Zoe's neck, gripping onto her like she might evaporate. She found herself struggling with her power, it wanted to bust loose, but not in the way Anton needed, not with comfort… but with panic. Instinctively, her eyes roved the building surrounding them, rooftops, sidewalks, windows… But she found nothing. Still she couldn't shake the sudden urge to get her family back inside.
TSOTCTSOTC
Denim groaned and stretched. Gradually her body was coming to life but it felt like all the moisture had been drained from her. Her skin might even be rubbing on muscle, and her stomach felt like it was puckering. "Mmpf," she grunted.
"Oh, good, you're awake! I'll tell the nurse!" Michelangelo leapt from his seat, and darted from the room before she could point to the nurses call button on her bed.
She'd woken up in hospitals enough times to know the scent before she'd even opened her eyes. Getting used to Mikey's outdoor voice, indoors, in a quiet situation on the other hand, still hurt her ears. He returned quickly announcing that they'd sent for the doctor. The nurse followed him in, checked her vitals and left as fast as Mikey had when she'd stirred.
"You okay, Blue Jeans? They wouldn't tell me anything because I'm me, but one nurse was nice enough to let me know that you weren't gonna check out on me." He let out a nervous laugh. "He-he, it kinda sucked there for a while."
Denim rubbed her face, accidentally tugging on her IV. She winced and he cringed.
"Yeah, you're all kinds a hooked up to stuff. So just, uh, chill until the doc gets here. You feeling better at all?" He began to fidget with the buttons on the bed, moving it high then low, then the back up and down. "Is this better? Higher or lower?"
Denim sighed. "Mikey, I'm sober, but hungover, and I'm still nauseous. Do you mind not playing with that? Can you maybe play with the TV instead?"
He plopped down in a chair and reached for the remote.
A tall, lanky blonde with horn-rimmed glasses and a lab coat drew back the glass sliding door to Denim's tiny room. "How are you feeling, Miss Sanders?"
Michelangelo stopped what he was doing and looked at the woman. Internally Denim groaned. There she was, short, hung over, surely with smudged eye-makeup and rumpled hair but of course a gorgeous blonde walks in.
The blonde smiled, extending her hand to Denim. "I'm Doctor Page."
Denim forced up the corners of her mouth. A brilliant blonde at that. Of course.
"She's awake now so you can tell us! Is she gonna be okay? What's wrong with her?" Mikey near shouted, then dropped the TV remote, bent over to pick it up and almost bumped his head on the heart monitor machine.
Where she expected the doctor to reassure him that she was simply hungover, the physician didn't. Dr. Page looked at Michelangelo, then to her. "Forgive me, I know this is none of my business, but are you a couple? One of the nurses said you were."
Mikey grinned. "Yep, she's my Blue Jeans."
Denim braced herself, half expecting the doctor to berate them. It wouldn't change the way she felt about Mikey, nothing could. But there was only one truly mutant friendly hospital in New York and Denim hadn't been awake long enough to ask which one she was in.
Denim reached out and took Mikey's hand in hers. "Yes, why?"
The doctor winced then tried to recover. She cleared her throat and smiled at Michelangelo. "Would you mind giving us a moment?"
Denim didn't like the tone in the doctor's voice. She squeezed Mikey's hand tighter and he didn't move, a puzzled expression crossing his face.
"Why should he leave?" Denim asked. "I had alcohol poisoning right? I don't mean to make it sound like it's not serious. I get that it was irresponsible of me, but-"
"Actually, there's more to it than that. You were clearly intoxicated but not enough to cause the reaction you had." The doctor frowned. "I'd like to discuss your blood work with you, but I think we should do so privately." She looked at Michelangelo. "Please. She can share with you after I discuss some things with her."
Mikey squeezed Denim's hand a little too tight and looked to her for direction. The doctor was worrying him and that was reason enough for her to set the woman straight privately. She'd been enough trouble for one night, Mikey didn't need this too. She offered him a weak smile. "Could you call and check in on Alli for me?"
His big blue eyes darted from her to the doctor and back. "Uh- okay. But I'll be right back." He released her hand, and cast a slightly suspicious glance in the doctor's direction before he left.
The second the door closed Denim glared at the woman. "How dare you ask him to leave? We said we were together. He can hear whatever you have to say going forth. Do you understand me?"
The blonde's eyebrows rose, the set of her mouth grim. "You're pregnant."
TSOTCTSOTC
Karai zipped through the streets as Aries ran to keep up. He was by no means out of shape, but she was damn fast and in the mood to burn off some frustration left over even after their run in with the Purple Dragons. A lifetime with his sister had him trained to keep up with serpent speed, but she wasn't bothering making it any easier for him.
Part of the problem was that she knew he felt obligated to escort her home, like she couldn't take on any threat and come up on time, but Leo was wary for all members of their family, not just her, under normal circumstances. It went without saying that they were on high alert now.
What the fuck had happened? The night was supposed to be fun. A rare night out with the girls. Bringing Denim into the fold. How had it turned into an unmitigated disaster so quickly? She'd barely had time to get buzzed and was stone cold sober now. What the hell? Denim was drunk, but not THAT drunk. Zoe wasn't supposed to lose a fight to some trainee from a school they taught. And why wouldn't the AFH just leave them alone? Hadn't they screwed with her family enough already? It wasn't fair. She had not intended to end the night completely pissed off.
To his credit, Aries kept pace the whole way back to the apartment. Pushing open the door, she saw Medusa coiled by the couch, mother pacing with nervous energy and that pensive look her father got before he spent an ungodly amount of time in meditation. No matter what he or Leo said, meditation was never going to solve her problems.
A quick glance at the balcony revealed the silhouettes of Zoe, Raph and what was probably Anton. She could sense Leo in the kitchen. It had always been that way. From the first moment she'd met him, she'd been hyper aware of his presence. It annoyed her to no end, that her subconscious seemed incapable of ignoring him. The best she could do was refuse to let him know it, though she suspected he had some idea. With a hiss, she made her way towards the kitchen, reverting to human shape.
"Is everything ok?" Apparently Aries had detected the less-than-subtle signs of mother's distress as he stepped forward, to wrap up her brimming agitation, in a solid embrace.
Just before turning into the kitchen, she caught Phoenix's response. A shake of her head and a smile as she patted his arm. "Nothing to worry over Lamb's Ear." Not entirely unexpected. Mother's independent streak was famous in their clan.
Also unexpected was Leo brooding at the kitchen table. She could almost see the wheels and gears turning in his head as he reviewed not just tonight's events but those of the past couple years, trying to see what he could have missed, done differently to avoid the mess they'd found themselves in tonight.
She spun a chair around and straddled it, knowing full well that there was nothing ladylike about the position in her current ensemble and was pleased to see Leo's train of thought skitter off course. "What's done is done. Let it go."
"But..."
"What are we going to do now?" She knew better than anyone that there was no changing the past. The only way to not drown in it was to keep swimming forward. Deal with the future.
He sighed. "We need to know if there are any more sleeper agents planted at the dojo."
She raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Gonna have April come in and vet them? We can buy her every flavor of Haagan Daaz afterwards to ice her aching head."
Leo chuckled. "Maybe start with something a little less confrontational first. Donnie can run some background checks on the students. I probably should have been having him do that from the start."
"Leo..." Her voice held a warning that told him to drop it and keep going.
"We still need to figure out who saved Zoe."
She rested her chin on her top of the chair. "Have a burning need to thank whoever it is in person?"
He frowned. "Possibly."
The Leo she'd first met would have taken it for granted that Zoe's savior was an alley. Time, life and family responsibility had chipped away at that naïve idealism. Oh that same drive towards dashing heroics and doing what was right, simply because it was right still remained. He'd always be too good to be true. Straight out of a storybook. But he'd learned caution as he'd grown up. Maybe some of that was her. Over time they'd bled into each other a bit. He'd taught her to believe that there could be justice and heroes in the world if you wanted it bad enough and she'd grounded his idealism in hard reality. They were probably better for it, but sometimes she mourned the loss of that innocent boy she'd met on the rooftops so long ago.
"Then we'll figure out who did it and I'll prep the stationary. Maybe you can make it a thank you candy gram when you deliver it." She gave him a wink and this time he fully laughed, wiping tears of amusement from his eyes as he stood. Great she was filling in for Mikey. That wouldn't do.
"Until I've got a solid plan for completing step one of that, I doubt I'll be able to let it go."
Well there was something she could work with.
"Maybe all you need is a little motivation." In a blink she was up and in front of him, grabbing the tails of his mask on either side of his neck to pull his face towards hers. She could feel him smile into the kiss as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her flush against him, igniting the fire between them.
Until the clearing of someone's throat doused it. Leo pulled back but didn't let go as he rested his cheek on her head. She, on the other hand, glared daggers into Aries's back as he started rummaging through the fridge.
He turned to meet her steely gaze with a roll of his eyes. "If I'm not getting any tonight, I don't see why anyone else should either."
TSOTC
The Phoenix held back, wanting to say, "Because they choose one person to get it from, that's why." But she only sighed in frustration.
While Aries did not seem to notice, Splinter did. He got up from the couch to put his hands on her shoulders and lead her to sit. "Is there something that you're not telling us?" he asked.
She shook her head, "No," she said. "I just want everyone home." Her strawberry blonde eyebrows came to a point at the bridge of her nose. "I wish April had come here."
"April is safe," Splinter said soothingly.
"No one is getting in or out of that place, Mama," Medusa told her. "You know that."
Anton needs a bowl of milk, the unbidden thought, the cadence of the words almost that of a poem.
"Zoe," she called through the open window. "Do you want a glass of milk?" Maybe she's the one who needs milk.
TSOTC
Zoe, Raph and Anton all looked at Phoenix as if she were the one who'd had too much to drink that night. Quickly, Zoe pasted a smile on her face. Phoenix was the only mother any of them ever had, and being a mother herself she knew when something wasn't quite right. Anton's nightmare was one thing but with Phoenix in such close proximity, Zoe's gift seemed to embrace her mother's concern. Phoenix was so powerful that between them and April, Zoe didn't need to touch either of the two women to feel their emotions, she could simply tune in to them.
If only she had the ability to soothe more than just Raph and Anton. But Phoenix wasn't biologically tied to her and that was where Zoe's power ended. She could touch anyone and read their emotions, help them feel and understand what was already theirs but she could not control their feelings, not yet at least. As it stood, everyone had to do that on their own.
"Mom, I only drink milk when I eat chocolate. You know that."
Phoenix frowned and Raph tried to offer her his version of comfort. "Well don' look at me, I hate milk." He shrugged. "Ice creams okay though."
Anton squirmed in Zoe's arms, trying to get down. "I want ice cream!"
"Antonello, you're going back to bed." Zoe pointed in the distance between two buildings where the sun was well on its way up. "We all need to go to bed." Zoe stood and shooed him inside, toward Phoenix. "Give Grandmere a hug and don't drag my blanket. It's my favorite."
"I think you mean myblanket." Raph corrected.
Zoe scoffed. "No, myblanket."
Phoenix sighed.
"You're both wrong," Anton practically yelled as we marched past Splinter. "It's myblanket!"
"Go to bed and be quiet." Raph and Zoe said in unison.
Her turtle boy was guided by his grandfather, who whispered something to him on the way. She would like to know what it was Splinter was saying, she enjoyed listening to them talk. But a chill swept over the back of her neck and she grabbed Raph's hand, pulling him along with her into the apartment. She shut the door then closed the blinds.
"Is something wrong, Zoe?" Phoenix asked.
Zoe opted to sit on her worry for the time being, it was way too early and she'd yet to go to bed. She studied Phoenix for a moment. Everyone was accounted for and safe, although they'd yet to hear how Denim was doing at the hospital. Wait. "Not with me." She shrugged, catching Raph straighten at Phoenix's questioning. Even if Phoenix dropped it, he wouldn't. Awesome. But she could redirect the conversation. "Is it, maybe, Mikey you're concerned about?"
TSOTCTSOTC
Denim stared at the doctor who didn't seem to comprehend the ridiculousness of what she was saying.
"I wasn't sure if there was someone, else?" Dr. Page leaned forward a bit, her eyes widening as if prompting Denim to come clean about an affair.
Denim was laughing out loud, and hard, before she realized it. "That's - that's crazy. Pfft, ha ha ha, oh- my- that's funny. What a mix-up!"
The doctor stared at her.
Denim closed her mouth, tried to stop the great tide from rolling through her. She took a breath, her stomach flittering with another bout of giggles ready to erupt. "No- see, Dr. Page, Mikey brought me here because I drank too much."
Denim shook her head. "I just had a little too much fun last night."
The doctor frowned. "Ms. Sanders, I've got your blood work right here in your chart."
Denim locked eyes with the blonde, her voice frigid. "Well you've made a mistake."
"No. I can assure you we haven't." The doctor came to Denim's bedside, pointed to a lab sheet, a line reading HCG levels then another box check marked, pregnant.
Denim pushed the chart away. "That is someone else's blood work, there's been a mix up in your lab is all. I'm sorry, but there's been a mistake. I haven't missed a period. My boyfriend is a mutant, and this is just ridiculous." Her mouth set in a hard line. "And I haven't cheated on him."
The doctor reached out, placed a hand on Denim's shoulder. "I believe you, and this is a rare occurrence, but it does happen. It's happening more and more actually. Contrary to belief the mutagen in a mutants DNA adapts. I really don't know why everyone thinks this is impossible when the very existence of a mutant is. Think of it like a binding agent, a universal puzzle piece. If it can blend an animal and a human or two animals, or even a living creature to an object, why does everyone think it can't blend the offspring DNA of two species? I assure you Miss Sanders, It is possible," the doctor leaned forward, the scent of sanitizer wafting in Denim's nostrils. "It's also very, very dangerous. There's a ninety percent risk of miscarriage."
Denim glared at the doctor's hand on her shoulder and the woman removed it.
She scooted upright in her bed. "Listen- to – me," Denim enunciated, "I'm- not- pregnant. You've made a mistake." With a deep inhale and slow exhale she looked beyond the physician to where Mikey paced outside the door, fidgeting with his phone. "Now, if you'd please discharge me, I'm ready to go home."