A/N: Hope you laugh and then bang your head against a wall. :P
THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS! *hugs everyone*
Chapter 28: Truth
Kaiya couldn't sit still. Whether in her bean bag chair or on the sofa, she found herself shifting and grinning. Daddy didn't like that very much—he never did—so he sent mean looks across the family room whenever she moved. But why should they bother her?
Uncle Mikey was coming over!
And the best part? So were Mister Raph and Mister Don. To meet Mommy and Aunt Rina. Sure, Megan was already asleep, but Kaiya would tell her all about the visit come morning. Oh, she could hardly wait!
"You're supposed to be asleep, young lady," Daddy chided.
Kaiya craned her neck upwards so she could smile at the grumpy grown-up. "I can't sleep!" She laughed, mostly to keep her thoughts off the nightmare that had woken her earlier, then skipped towards Mommy on the sofa.
"Kai, baby," Mommy said in a gentle voice. "Do you…Have you already met these people Daddy and Uncle Hugh know?"
The little blonde nodded without hesitation. "Plenty of times. Uncle Mikey is lots of fun and Mister Don is really nice. And playing with Mister Raph is a lot like playing with Daddy."
"Is that so?" Mommy sent Daddy a weird look while rubbing Kai's pajama sleeve. Was she mad or amused?
"They both hate losing games," added Kaiya.
"I'm surprised," a low voice said. It belonged to Aunt Rina and she sounded very upset when everyone looked her way. "Kai's so excited, yet she managed to keep them a secret for months."
"Not without help," Mommy grumbled. Kaiya frowned, having noticed how Mommy and Daddy stared at one another before Mommy faced Uncle Hugh beside Aunt Rina. "You met them first."
"I did," Uncle Hugh answered while sending a nervous smile towards his wife. "Last September, they helped me with Nia's case."
"Miss Nia is nice, too," interjected Kaiya loudly. Why Mommy and Aunt Rina sent her funny looks, she didn't know, but what harm was there in telling the truth? "I met her at Miss April's farmhouse. Along with Silver Sentry, some cyborgs, a—"
"Hold it." Eyebrows lowered. Mommy raised a finger below the blanket wrapped snug around her. "When did you go to a farmhouse?"
"In March. We went to their birthday party!"
"I thought that was a camping trip."
Uncle Hugh scratched his neck, chuckling under Mommy's hard stare. "Uh, Blaine?"
"Naw, man. You dragged me into this mess, you explain."
Instantly, like someone had stepped on his toe, Uncle Hugh's dark face scrunched into a glare, his hand waving. "We've been caught, Blaine, but don't act like you regret anything. Rina, Jen, I'm sorry. We've lied. We've misdirected. Still"—the tall grown-up softened his voice—"the Hamatos deserve our support."
"Since when do strangers merit more support than you own wives?"
Kaiya cocked her head when Aunt Rina pushed back her wavy hair and wondered what 'merit' meant. It sounded like a Pokemon.
"It's not that simple, Rina," Uncle Hugh added with a sigh. "They do a lot for this city, and possess some of the bravest hearts I've ever encountered."
"So brave they don't even surface for recognition?"
"The spotlight isn't their way."
"Right; they're ninjas."
"They are!" Kaiya cried, not understanding why Aunt Rina's words sounded mocking. "They do so many cool things, and Uncle Mikey has even agreed to train me until Mister Leonardo comes back!" The child noticed her father all too late behind the sofa; she blinked at the hand he 'sliced' over his throat and blinked again once Mommy twisted in her seat to look at him.
"What training?" the older blonde asked.
"I'll explain later," Daddy answered, thin eyes set on Kaiya. He wasn't happy, was he?
"A lot of complications come with knowing them," Uncle Hugh said.
"Obviously."
"Marina, please." Uncle Hugh spoke softly and he touched Aunt Rina's bare elbow, although she turned away. "I never meant to hurt any of you, you know that. But what was I supposed to do? Give them up? Abandon them?"
"They work outside the law," the tanned grown-up said, gripping her upper arms. "As a cop, isn't it your place to bring them in? It would've saved us trouble."
"Believe me, it wouldn't have." Uncle Hugh shook his head before his kind eyes found Kai. "Things would actually be a lot worse if I had. Think about it: had it not been for Leonardo, Kai would've been alone in Black Lotus."
"Hugh!" Mommy yelled. She glanced over Kaiya then shook her head at Uncle Hugh. "We don't bring that up in front of her."
"He's right, though," said Kaiya, strained by memories as she twiddled her fingers. "Mister Leonardo made me feel safe. H—he let me sleep by him and promised to look after me. He even taught me that song…"
"The one I've been hearing you sing?"
Kaiya nodded towards her mother.
"They're heroes," added Uncle Hugh. "Despite not knowing you, they would sacrifice their bodies for your safety. Michelangelo proved that today, Rina. So please, keep an open mind when they get here."
"I still don't believe you, about them being mutants," Aunt Rina shot back flatly. "The boy I talked with sounded too much like a college punk."
"Right," Mommy said with a funny laugh. "The whole mutant part. Almost forgot that."
"We didn't tell you the truth to be funny," Daddy snapped.
"Sure, truth." Aunt Rina raised her eyebrow like she often did when she heard Kaiya tell a lie. So, did she really not believe them?
"Just wait until they get here," Kai told Aunt Rina, stomping a bare foot. "You'll see; they're—"
"Someone call for Hamato's Ninja Turtle Services?"
Kaiya's frown turned upside-down in seconds. While the grown-ups were speechless, she cheered her friends' names, whirling to meet them behind her. Uncle Mikey flashed a wink her way from the living room's other side, but was pulled back by Mister Don when he stepped forward.
"Mikey, manners," the purple-masked mutant said, eyeing the grown-ups.
Right; Mommy and Aunt Rina were probably weirded out a little, huh? Maybe Kai could help! With a nod, the little blonde spun and raced towards Mommy. She tugged the older blonde's moon-print pajama bottoms, pointing at the Hamato brothers.
"The light green one with the orange mask is Uncle Mikey," she said hurriedly. Mommy must've found them really interesting because she wouldn't shut her mouth, and her eyes were so wide, it was like she was standing by a pretty Ferriswheel. "Then—then the tall one, right? With the stick—"
"It's called a Bō staff, Kaiya," Mister Don butted in.
She sent a grin at his straight face. "That's Mister Donatello. He's the smart one."
"I'm the pretty one," Uncle Mikey added as Kai left her mother for Aunt Rina.
"And you see the dark, troll-like one with knives in his belt?"
"Who ya callin' a troll, kid?"
The little girl ignored the mutant's following growl and paused only for a second since Aunt Rina was so still. "That's Mister Raph. He likes to punch people."
"Actually"—Mister Donatello chuckled, tugging Mister Raphael back by his arm—"there's a lot more to Raph than his scowl."
"Yeah; deep down, Raphy Boy is all mush. Just ask Nia."
Giggling, Kai glanced over her shoulder, where Mister Raph gave his youngest brother a dry look.
"I got no problem punchin' ya in front 'a company, Shell-for-Brains."
"And this," said Uncle Hugh after a small silence, "is the secret we've been keeping."
No one else spoke for a long while. Why? Weren't Mommy and Aunt Rina excited? How could they not be? Kaiya pressed her lips together then faced the tanned grown-up who stood by the living room's main window.
Aunt Rina's thick eyebrows slowly rose higher and higher until her eyes finally moved from Mister Raphael. They landed on Uncle Hugh, rounder than usual.
"They're aliens," she said in a dead tone.
"Wh—what?" asked Uncle Hugh.
"There are aliens in the living room."
"Mutants, Rina. They were turtles."
"No"—Aunt Rina backed up closer towards the open closet and pointed two fingers at the Hamatos—"you see, things like that don't come from Earth. The only explanation is that they're aliens."
"Maybe in another dimension we're aliens," Uncle Mikey said with a shrug.
"Please, Mikey," Mister Don butted in, "that premise wouldn't fly in any dimension."
"How would you know? Have you been to them all?"
"Don't act smug just because you've visited the most dimensions."
"Just sayin'. If we were super heroes in one, anything is possible."
"Guys"—Uncle Hugh waved for their attention—"let's lay off the interdimensional travel for now. We should consider baby steps."
"Why are there aliens in the living room?" Aunt Rina was acting so silly now. She wouldn't let Uncle Hugh near her and stayed as far away from the mutants as possible, like they'd bite. "Why? Are there aliens? In the living room?"
"Mutant turtles," said Uncle Hugh slowly. "Say it with me."
"Aliens."
"That's wrong."
"S—so th—these are the, uh, ones who helped you find Kaiya?" Mommy's words were soft and shaky, but she didn't move like Aunt Rina.
"Yes," Daddy answered with crossed arms.
"Okay…"
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Misses Williams, Misses Reese." Mister Don almost reached for the older blonde, except he paused after taking a step forward.
"Don't be rude, Jennifer," Mommy told herself. She gripped her knees tighter, licking her spread lips. "Don't be rude. Mother taught you better than that. So they're green. You're white. You probably look funny to them."
"Um, Misses Williams?"
A wide, clown-like smile spread over Mommy's face—wider than Miss Donna's and hers was scary wide. "I am Jennifer," she announced while pushing back her long, curly hair. "You are guests. Hello, guests."
"Hi," the Hamatos said in weak voices.
"Aren't they cool, Mommy?" Kaiya asked, jumping by her mother's side.
"Guests should be offered drinks," Mommy continued without glancing sideways. "Are you thirsty? Do you want a drink? I can get you drinks. Unless you're hungry instead. Oh, let me see."
"That's, uh, quite all right, Misses Williams," Mister Donatello started as Mommy left the couch. He went ignored, though, so the blonde grown-up shifted through several plates, crafts, and boxes on the coffee table until she found a round box.
Lifting it, she hunched her shoulders, saying, "Turtle Truffles?"
The mutants remained silent.
"Idiot," Aunt Rina scolded from the closet. "You don't even know if aliens can eat chocolate."
"We aren't—"
"Oh my gosh!" Mommy cut off Mister Raphael and took back the box by hugging it to her chest. "You're right; I could've poisoned them. Are you allergic? Do they"—her voice lowered to a loud whisper—"do they give you the runs?"
Daddy beat his face into his hand as the brothers took a step sideways, away from the tall blonde. "Oh my god, Jennifer."
"We have a lot to go over," said Uncle Hugh while placing a hand on Mommy's shoulder. He showed his smile around the room, stopping only when he came face-to-face with Kaiya. "And I think I know who wants to tell the story the most."
Hugh could tell Marina wasn't breathing properly, especially by the end of Kaiya's and Donatello's explanations. It worried him, but mostly because he feared the woman fought the truth before her. The last thing he wanted was for her to reject them, and his heart wrenched whenever she brushed off his attempts at comforting her.
'Damn,' he thought, hating how Rina wrung her pajama shirt's bell sleeves, 'Jen's handling things better. Okay, so she's addressing herself in third person to keep functioning. Still, it's better progress than…' The detective sighed then brought his attention to Donatello, who now sat on the sofa thanks to Jennifer's insistence.
"Oh, i—it's just you," Jen said after exiting the kitchen. She glanced at the tray of hot tea she carried then back at the genius. "W—where'd the troll and loud one go?"
Hugh snickered alongside Donatello; even Blaine had a snort in store as his wife set the tray on the cluttered coffee table. The curly-haired woman, however, showed no interest in being funny and glanced around, honestly looking for the missing duo.
"Kaiya took Mikey and Raph to her room," Donatello said. "She has a turtle collection, apparently? And wants to show it off."
"Yet she left you behind," continued Jen softly.
Donny accepted the shaky tea cup she offered then smiled. "I told her we had something we needed to talk about, as grown-ups."
"With me?" Words unsure, Jennifer joined her husband in an armchair. The officer helped situate her long body on his lap and once they were both comfortable, the woman added, "What about?"
"Kaiya," the mutant replied, frank. "And this goes for both you and Blaine."
"Donatello," started Blaine through a biting tone.
"We're telling the truth now, aren't we, Mister Williams? I want everyone on the same page from now on."
"Let's hear what he has to say," Jen noted while gripping her own tea cup. The pressure turned her knuckles white and her cleft chin shook, yet she lifted her head, prompting the genius to go one.
"You have an amazing little girl," said Donatello as he leaned against his elbow pads. "She's strong to have survived Black Lotus, and despite everything, she's still able to smile. Believe me when I say I want her safe and happy, but…"
"To keep her that way, she must remain involved with the Hamatos," Hugh concluded. Marina sent him a hard stare, although Blaine's glare is what caught his focus. "You know I'm right. And if you mention anything about it being dangerous, I'll point out that anything Kaiya does from now on is dangerous."
"Wh—what does he mean?" Jennifer turned towards her husband, bringing her tea cup closer.
"How much do you know about Kaiya's powers?"
The curly-haired blonde flashed Donatello a troubled look. "What powers?"
"You know about her healing, right?"
"Well, sort'a. It's a little abnormal, but—"
"It's more than that." Sighing, the mutant disregarded the warning behind the officer's eyes and continued after sipping his tea. "Her wounds mend in seconds. Even fatal ones."
"H—how would you know that?"
Blaine brought his trembling wife closer, so their gazes wouldn't meet. "Remember how she left the hospital so quickly?"
"I thought things weren't as bad as they seemed."
"No. They were worse…Sh—she should be dead."
"Blaine!"
"It's true, Misses Williams," Donatello interjected. When the mother faced him again, he swallowed thickly. "I didn't get a clear view back then, but Nia told me. And I saw the lab. She was in the epicenter of an explosion. Her organs were severely damaged and the amount of blood she lost would've killed anyone. But she survived, healed in a matter of days."
"Oh my god…" Jennifer's whisper held a severity that made Hugh sick and he leaned against the sofa to keep himself grounded from his flashbacks of being trapped.
"Between that, her speed and strength, she's considered a super human now."
"Speed? Strength?"
"Mikey's said she's lifted Hugh over her head before. He's also seen her run about ten yards in less than ten seconds."
"What? H—how is this even possible?
"A drug called Recro-12." Donatello's expression paled until he looked more gray than green. He opened his mouth, yet didn't speak again for several seconds. "It was being used at Black Lotus as a means to cure illness."
"Which illness?"
"All of them. A scientist named Lombardo had this grand idea that it would end all pain, even re-grow lost limbs. And she would be held in high esteem because of it. It was a good aim, I admit, but…it came at a high price that cheated many people out of their lives without their consent."
"I—I don't understand. You said the drug kept Kaiya alive, gave her these…powers."
Slowly, Donatello shook his head under Jen's wide eyes. "It worked and at the same time it didn't. It's hard to explain. Honestly, I'm not sure about the why. Only how it ended. Without getting technical, it added a marker to Kaiya's DNA, altered it."
"And this only happened with her?"
"No. My brother Leonardo and I were also exposed. It changed us too, but not to the degree of Kaiya."
"So you three are the only survivors?"
"Of that version. An earlier one kept infection from building up when their cyborgs were made, but anything bigger usually ended in—"
"Wait"—Jen half stood from her seat, glancing towards Hugh—"now cyborgs are involved?"
"How do you think all those impossible Little Red Robberies were executed?" the detective countered.
"Black Lotus was responsible for that spree?"
Hugh nodded at Jennifer. "Hence why it stopped when we got Kaiya back. The ones responsible can't really be held at fault, though. All they really wanted was a place where they felt accepted."
"And now they have that," added Donatello, straightening on the sofa. "Tabi and Sven returned home, and Mel"—the mutant grinned a little—"she came back to me."
"Uh, so…you're with a cyborg?" Jen asked carefully.
"Melody's not 'a cyborg', Misses Williams. She's my wife, and it isn't the weirdest thing to happen to my clan."
"I can't even imagine the weirdest thing that's happened to you."
The genius chuckled. "It's a list, for sure. On it is the basis for Recro-12. Its core came from my sister, Raph's wife. She's…not fully human."
"I—is she a mutant too?"
With a sidelong glance towards Marina, Donatello said slowly, "No."
Oh, dear. Hugh drew in a deep breath to prepare for Marina's next moves, if there would be any.
"She's half alien," the mutant followed up.
Yup, he had to move quickly. Hugh raced after his wife into the kitchen before she could reach the coat rack. His long arm scrambled to turn her around; but she violently opposed him, twisting any way possible so he couldn't see her face below her thick waves of hair.
"Marina, stop, please!" he cried while capturing her cheeks. She froze between his palms and glanced up with paralyzing brown eyes that kept them silent for a long moment.
"I—I can't do this, Hugh," Marina whispered.
"No, no, no, no." Hugh couldn't keep pleading from his tone. "Don't say that, please. I need you."
"So do I, Hugh. But knowing them, knowing…" The woman released a ragged laugh that shot a shiver up Hugh's spine and sunk his stomach. "I was wrong to insist. I'm sorry."
"You wanted to know who I was helping. Now you do."
"So that makes things better?" Rina tried shaking her head, except it seemed she barely had strength to stand. "The secrets were only part of the issue. Now the secrets are facts. That means nothing will change. You'll keep pouring time into them and your work. And that's all you'll have."
Hugh shook his head. He could see Mia before him, speaking similar words. They were haunting statements that'd lingered with him for over a decade and they burned in his mind to the point where his voice cracked.
"You're still going to make me choose?"
"Yes," the woman spat. "Why do you have to give all yourself to them?"
"I'm a cop, Marina. I need to help. We can do more good together than by ourselves."
"You wouldn't be by yourself."
Wiping his thumbs below Marina's wide eyes, Hugh brushed away her hot tears. "You can be a part of the team. Isn't that what you wanted?"
The woman tensed below her husband's hold, gaze darkening. "I don't know if I can handle that kind of team…"
No. She could. She just wasn't aware of it yet because of shock. That had to be the reason. She wouldn't leave him after learning the truth. Not after how hard he fought to keep the past from repeating. Not after all they'd been through….Right?
Like slow-moving gavels, Hugh's hands fell with an intensity that left him feeling sentenced. He had little mind to watch his wife grab a coat and head for the kitchen's exit, and even less mind to move while he struggled for oxygen through his tight throat.
'What was that saying? The truth will set you free? What bullshit.'
"Dammit, Hugh; aren't you listening?"
Blaine's voice pulsed through Hugh's head. He cursed while turning, glaring at the blonde man who'd entered the kitchen. "What's wrong?"
"The Hamatos split," the officer continued in an undertone.
"Why are we whispering?"
"Because Doughnut and Patterson just arrived at my doorstep."
"What the hell do they want?"
Blaine glanced aside—a potent action that signaled bad news. "They're here with a warrant for your arrest."
Speechless, Hugh glanced up from the snarling blonde. In the kitchen doorway stood two familiar men; one in blue, the other in black. They both wore smug smirks over their face as they approached and Hugh countered them with a snort.
Doughnut laughed when he revealed a pair of handcuffs, wagging his fat finger. "Hugh Mosi Reese, you have the right to remain silent. And for once, you may wanna exercise that right."
A/N: Kaiya's so happy Mommy and Aunt Rina finally know the secret. But...things just get worse from here on out.
Next up is "Off Guard". Mikey has a little chat with Mel then sets off to meet Hoshi. They have some matters to discuss. ;P
