I do not own the TMNT
Welcome to the MOST annoying portion of Kit's story! I've reworked the following chapters more than I've reworked any portion of any story I have EVER written. I'm still not happy with it, so hate it if you want. It was a pain keeping this from being cliche when in fact, it's critical to Kit's personal decision making process.
Chapter twenty-nine; Conditioned Response
Kit's eyes were wide, ears stiff and alert as her whiskers. It was clear that she was trying to keep her fur from standing on end. She was spooked, and with good reason. Any person, even one holding only the slimmest remnants of their sanity, would worry in that situation.
"…don't find those in a dump. If they're in the dump they're not going to work, that's just the way it is. If he thinks for one second that I'll be letting this one go…" The threats that followed made Kit cringe slightly. "Hold still!" Donatello snapped. The mutant cat froze. After a moment to assure himself that she wasn't going to move anymore, Donnie continued peeling the bandage off her shoulder. Kit's eyes had crossed slightly and she was trying not to reach for her shoulder as Donatello continued to pull the bandage off slow and steady.
"A microscope is a precision instrument requiring specialized equipment to manufacture or repair. It'll take me months to figure out how I'm going to replace this one! Does he have any idea how far this will set me back in my work?"
"I'll talk, just make it stop." Kit whimpered. She squeaked loudly when Donnie removed the rest of the bandage.
"What was that?" Don asked, not having heard Kit's plea for mercy.
"Ow…" She replied, gripping her injured shoulder with one hand and blinking against the unappreciated stinging in her eyes.
Donnie glanced from Kit's shoulder to the tape on the bandage in his hand. "I'll have to remember to shave a wider area for the bandage to adhere to." He noted practically. Kit nodded. The bandage was tossed in the garbage and Don adjusted a nearby desk lamp to closer inspect Kit's shoulder. There was a patch of uniform black stubble through which pale grey skin was visible. The grey skin was further broken up by a couple of thin white lines and near the middle was a vivid pink area surrounding a nearly healed cut. "Looks like everything's healing up well." Don noted, gently inspecting the area. "The site is closed and scarring looks to be minimal. A light bandage for another couple of days and that should be it."
"Thank God." Kit murmured earnestly. She'd had almost all she could stomach of that tape.
"What?
"Thanks, good to hear." Kit covered.
Donnie reached into the first aid box and retrieved a gauze pad and medical adhesive, then turned back to his patient. He pondered as he performed the simple task of re-bandaging the shoulder, again seized with the desire to start asking questions.
Aside from the questions of her mutation, her life as a human, and all the others that everyone seemed to want to know, there were also the questions of the scars that had been revealed when Donnie was treating her injuries. How many did she have hidden under the fur? Were they from a lifetime of being a scrappy kid, or were they all new, or perhaps there was another explanation entirely? So many questions, but how to ask without offending her? Mikey had said it wasn't a big deal, but Mikey's name was mud at the moment and Don hesitated to take his advice.
Some tape stuck stubbornly to Don's hand. He grumbled something under his breath and stepped aside to peal it off. Finding medical supplies was hard enough, wasting what few supplies they could find was as annoying as… as… pesky brother's breaking your hard-earned microscope. No, not really, nothing topped that.
"EYA-A-AUGH!" Kit slapped her hands over her mouth to cut herself off from screaming some more or perhaps something more dishonorable –like crying. She jumped to her feet and spun around, ready to demand an explanation from Donnie but was surprised to find Donatello had one stubborn bit of tape on his thumb and was staring in shock at Mikey with a full gauze pad plus tape in hand.
"See? It's off!" Mikey said, smiling. "All done."
Donatello was too shocked to see the subject of his ire suddenly standing in front of him to react, Kit was in agony. Mikey was still smiling, convinced he'd done the right thing. "A quick yank is the best way."
Donatello was too shocked to see the subject of his ire suddenly standing in front of him to react, Kit was in agony. After several minutes Kit managed a growl. "Five second head start." She said.
Mikey's smile slipped. "What?"
"Time's up!" Kit leap-frogged the stool. Mikey might not have been a genius of Donatello's caliber, but he knew when it was time to flee. He did so now.
His path took him out of Donnie's lab, across the dojo including directly over Leonardo "Hey!" straight toward the kitchen only to turn at the last minute and make a full circuit of the lair's main floor. Confident in his speed, Mikeye risked a glance back over his shoulder. He nearly jumped out of his shell when he saw Kit still on his tail. She was starting to get winded, but there remained a dangerous fire in her eyes. Suddenly the lights went out and while there were still a couple stones left glowing around the lair the shift was enough that Mikey was blinded. Startled, he tripped on something unseen and when he tried to catch himself something plowed into his shell. The lights came back on just as Mikey hit the floor and revealed Kit triumphantly on his shell with a fist in the air, ready to strike. Donatello stood more or less innocently next to the master power switch.
Mikey let loose with a scream and Leo barely had time to utter a confused, "What?" before Kit swung.
"Yameru!" Kit froze.
Master Splinter's walking stick tapped lightly as he approached the young mutants.
Kit quickly slid off of Michelangelo's carapace and stood in a rough form of the attention required of his students. She didn't seem to know whether actually standing at attention would be appropriate or not so she settled for something close. Mikey was on his feet as soon as Kit was off his shell. He didn't bother with the position of attention as he knew his sensei well enough to recognize this was not a situation which called for such formality. Raph emerged from his room and Leo came a little closer from where he'd been practicing. Donnie came closer too. The turtles could all see what Kit couldn't; currently Master Splinter was certainly in his teacher mode, but not the stern disciplinarian so much as the guiding mentor.
"I see you have a grudge against Michelangelo." Master Splinter noted.
Kit ducked her head, ears drooping sheepishly. "I wasn't going to actually punching him." She mumbled. "Just smack him good."
Master Splinter's head tilted curiously. "I presumed you have been thoroughly punished for similar matters in the past?" He asked. Rather than annoyed or angry, he remained curious, almost as if this were a normal lesson within his training sessions.
"Yes." Kit confessed, her head and ears ducking a little further. Deep in his throat, Master Splinter made a thoughtful noise. The turtles exchanged looks, the longer this conversation went on the more confused they became.
"Donatello." Master Splinter turned to the turtle in question. "What instigated this dispute?"
Donnie considered his answer carefully. "Well Sensei, Kit and I were already mad at Mikey, then he snuck into my lab and tore off the bandage I'd just applied to her shoulder." Master Splinter, the teacher of four skilled ninja and a grand master in his own right, flinched. Kit grumbled something and rubbed at her shoulder.
"I thought you were taking it off! I came back to say I was sorry and… yeah!" Mikey argued feebly under Donatello, Leonardo, Raphael, and Kit's accusing glares.
Master Splinter considered. "Perhaps it would be best if you two continued your dispute within the dojo?"
Mikey scratched the back of his head, "You mean spar? With her?"
Kit recovered from her shock at Master Splinter's suggestion and shot Mikey a warning glance. "What's wrong with that?" She demanded.
"But…" the turtle seemed to consider his answer for tact, then chose not to use any. "She's a girl." The air around Mikey turned a noxious shade of yellow under the venomous glare Kit threw at him. Donnie covered his eyes with one hand. Leo made a mental note to lecture Mikey on not saying things like that. Raph grinned; this was going to be fun.
