Randall found himself once again on the infirmary bed in the back. Blood had soaked the bandages.
It was a long drive home to the lair. But once there, Randall was carried down by Leo and Raph. He was in too much pain to walk now.
Don gave him a sedative to go to sleep and he was able to patch up the wounds a lot better.
The place where Bishop had taken a skin sample had been a little deep too and the belly wound was a little deep in the tissue, but nothing to where it would be harming the organs.
Don sewed up the skin and with some help, got Randall's middle bandaged up again. And for now, he would let him sleep off the sedative.
He had had wounds, but they weren't as deep to be critical, and the wounds had been bound up before there was any critical blood loss. So Randall was okay to not need an IV and heart monitor.
Don and Mikey told the others what had happened before they were taken. Randall had fought alongside them and never left them.
"I think Randall truly has earned the title tonight as one of our family." Splinter said.
"I think he has too, Father." Leo said. "He's saved us all in one way or another."
"I'll agree to that too." Raph said.
"He's like another brother too." Mikey added.
"And he's a great help around here." Don said. "His abilities are more than what we need to deal with our enemies. And we could continue to need to have him around. And he's told me how much he longs for a family."
"It's not too much to ask for in life." April said.
"And I'm glad he's only kept a business relationship with April." Casey said.
April elbowed him. She was glad for it too though. She had no problem being his friend, but she had no interest in him as anything else. Or being like an adoptive sister, like she was with the turtles.
Randall might have done some things in his past that were bad, but he had done things with this family that had made him a far better person now than he was in the past.
"I think we should let him rest for now. Let's all go to bed." Splinter said.
"I'll take the first watch." Leo said. "Don, you and Mikey go to bed. This happened to him as well as you."
"Come and get me if anything gets worse." Don said.
"Of course."
Everyone else went to bed. Leo sat down on a chair to watch over Randall. He was sure he was going to be fine. Leo was sure now that Randall knew how dangerous Bishop was, just as well as the Shredder.
And Randall had shown true potential in wanting to kill them both. He had already killed Hun. Well, at least Randall was showing interest in only wanting to get rid of the right ones.
A little after dawn, Randall finally woke up from the sedation. Leo was nearly asleep himself until he heard groaning. He sat up more fully.
"Randall, how are you feeling?" Leo asked.
"Tired. Sore. It took everything… out of me." Randall winced. His wounds were throbbing.
"You'll be fine. Just give it some time."
"How did they look?"
"They were deep enough to need stitches, but nothing too life threatening."
"Now what?"
"We'll take it one day at a time." Leo said. "But don't let those evil maniacs destroy you. It's alright to hate them, as do we. But we don't live to kill everyone. Usually only in the heat of a battle does it happen with us."
"Before being banished, I had never aimed to be a killer. I always obeyed laws. And I only tried to help our world."
"You can continue to help ours. Last night while your wounds were being treated, my father said that he does officially count you as one of our family. Do you feel like you can accept that honor?"
Randall's eyes lit up. "Why would it take him this long to say that?"
"He was just worried if you would properly fit in with us."
"Yes, I can accept that. I have wanted to belong somewhere all my life, with others that want me around." Randall said.
Leo smiled. "We'll talk it over later with everyone."
Not long after that, Don came in to see how Randall was doing.
Randall was helped to his feet by the two turtles so Don could take the bandages off to see how the wounds were doing this morning. And this was when Randall got the first look of what had been done to him.
Don had once again done a good job on stitches, but this was the second time within a short time that he had been injured and requiring stitches.
"These might be able to come out in just one week since they weren't as deep as the last ones." Don said.
"That's good to hear." Randall said.
There seemed to be a bit of sadness in his voice.
"What's wrong?" Leo asked.
"They never should have been able to get the drop on me."
"I know you have some abilities that we don't, but you can't stop everything that happens to us, or to you." Leo said.
"Did they ask anything to you what they wanted with us?" Don asked.
"No. At that time he seemed only interested in me. I never told him anything he wanted to know, and yet, he asked me if I was an alien."
"Bishop's obsessed with trying to protect Earth from alien life forms out there, claiming he wants an army of super soldiers." Don said. "There's probably nothing wrong with that, but the way he's going about it is all wrong."
"Yeah, we met some aliens, the ones that made us who we are today." Leo said. "And they are nicer than he is. All but one."
"I know you've told me of these aliens, but are you guys part alien?"
"No. It was just some ooze that was used to make their transmat to go home. It affected us and Leatherhead. We were all once ordinary animals before becoming mutants." Don said.
"Bishop said that my genetic makeup was different than yours, which of course, it would be. As I am not a mutant." Randall said.
"With you, I'm sure he'll want you back for more study, Randall, so you'll have to be careful whenever we deal with him and his cronies." Don said.
"I intend to be. And if I can, I'll get rid of him."
"He's not so easy to take down. Who knows what he does with himself behind the scenes, but he's no ordinary human." Leo said.
After they said that, Mikey came in to the infirmary. The three of them looked over at him.
"Hey, bro! You're up!" Mikey said happily.
Mikey walked over calmly as he knew his friend was hurt. He gave him a calm hug.
"You feel like having some breakfast?" Mikey asked when he let go.
"Sure."
"Something gentle, Mikey. He still has the drug in his system." Don said.
"Toast and eggs then." Mikey said.
"That'll be fine."
Mikey left. He went to get breakfast started. They were going to take the morning off for training today.
While waiting for the food to get finished, April was helping Mikey, the gang sat in the living room.
Splinter gave a little speech on how Randall was now officially part of their family, as he had earned it for helping them out so many times. Despite his past, he did deserve a family that cared about him.
At this moment, to Randall, this felt like an initiation into another fraternity, but this one was way better than the one with the RORs so long ago. As their initiation had not been so nice, involving something unpleasant.
"So, do you accept this offer to be one of our family?" Splinter asked.
"I've wanted this all my life, Splinter. No one has ever cared about me as much as what you guys have done for me. Yes, I'll accept the offer." Randall said. "And even back in the day when I thought I had real friends in my fraternity in college, they turned out to be nothing more than losers just because I made one small mistake and kicked me out. I just don't want to be kicked out for making small mistakes."
"We all make small mistakes. Raph does all the time, and we don't kick him out." Mikey said. He had come out of the kitchen to tell them breakfast was ready.
Raph gave Mikey a noogie. Mikey laughed. Randall smiled.
"Everyone deserves a family." Don said.
"And we may be one small bunch, but we are a family." Leo said. "And friends that we make usually do become like family members too."
"Thanks you guys." Randall said. "This means the world to me."
"Let's go have breakfast now, shall we?" Splinter said.
They all went to the kitchen for their food. There was a big pancake breakfast waiting. Randall only had eggs and toast this time. He didn't have a big appetite probably from the drug. But everyone else helped themselves.
Mike and Don might have had very little of the drugs left in their systems too from Bishop's commandoes darting them, but theirs was more worn off.
After breakfast, April and Casey went home. Randall would stay down in the lair for a few days. Don wanted to keep an eye on his wounds.
Randall would watch his friends train, but he was in no shape to do it himself at the moment. And even without the stitches, the internal muscles would still need some time to heal.
