Disclaimer: I don't own the TMNT. They're just staring in my own story. They aren't getting paid and nether am I. I do own however Jeanetta Patterson and Monica Patterson.
And a Thank You goes to Mikell for beta reading.
A/N: What nobody like? Come on…tell me do you like or what?
A/N: And here is part 2
XXX
The room was something out of a horror movie. One half of the room looked like a computer control station. They opened the thin glass door that led to the room. There was another room behind it that was very dark. The room that they entered had controls and screens lining every inch of the walls, from floor to ceiling. Every control panel had an extensive amount of buttons and knobs and gizmos on it. The screens in the room were the only sources of light, casting an abrasive orange glow over everything. They all displayed something different. There were lines that were drawing themselves across a grid. The room was deserted, but the low humming of machines mixed with soft, calm beeps and ticks gave off the impression of people moving and monitoring the various readouts.
Jean followed, her throat growing tight and dry as she stared, transfixed at the sight in front of her. She swallowed painfully at her dry throat, her rough tongue sticking to her palette. She felt compiled to take a closer look at the large cylinder.
The light inside was distorted and looked almost filtered in a way. The view on the other side of the glass was blurred and foggy. There was liquid inside. She could trace the vague form of some kind of being inside it. It looked bigger than she was. Jean could make out a head, and arms, and legs even a tail all curled against itself, like an infant. She looked a little closer. At first she thought the creature had tentacles or something, but upon closer inspection she realized there was some kind of tubing leading from the roof of the cylinder to the inert figure inside, like an umbilical.
Jean bit her lip as she placed a hand on the glass. It was warm.
She finally pulled herself away to take in more of the room. The room was deserted other than her and the turtles. The floors were plain and concrete. Pipes and wires lined the walls and ceiling before disappearing into the floor again. There were several large maintenance units against the walls with warning signs plastered all over them, as well as switches, levers and crude buttons, not doubt controlling the power or heat or something. There was grate was in the middle of the room. There was a red light mounted on the ceiling above the glass cylinder, a small cage around the light bulb. The light caused the liquid to show an eerie, crimson color to it.
"Jean. Over here." Leo placed a hand on her shoulder and steered her away from the cylinder. He led her over to where Don was.
He was staring into a thick glass cabinet. The selves were aligned with all sizes of boxes, small bags filled with all colors of liquid, tiny tubes. It was a mini pharmacy. "The files on Hille's computer say that the cure should be in here, but I've never seen a lock like this. I can't- I can't open it."
"How 'bout the good ol' fashion way?" Raph said as he came up behind them.
"Raph no!" Leo moved to stop him, but it was too late. Raphael rammed the end of his sai into the glass. But the glass just wobbled and shook Raph to the bone as he stumbled back.
Raph shook off the bone shaking pain and replaced his sai. "Damn what is that stuff?"
"Reinforced Plexiglas. Unbreakable." Don said as he shook his head at his hotheaded brother.
Leo glared at Raph. "What were you thinking? If it had broken an alarm could have been set off."
Raph shrugged, "What? We have been lucky so far. But of course this has been too easy. So, brainiac…any idea how ya going to break into this one?"
While Raph and Leo and Donnie were trying to figure out how to open the glass cabinet, Jean had backed away. Her head was pounding and her belly was twisting into knots.
Finally she let out a cry of pain and collapsed to her knees. Instantly arms were around her shaking body. Jean dimly heard Mikey call for his brothers. She felt herself rolled over to her side and Donnie peered into her face. He placed a finger to her neck and felt her pulse.
"Her heart is racing!" he said, shocked.
Jean was just about to open her mouth when the same oily and sharp scent invaded her nose. "Hille…" her voice croaked out before the blackness finally took her.
"Don, what happened to her?" Mikey asked worry in his voice.
"She's changing." the soft cold voice behind them had them spinning around to face Dwight Hille for the first time.
Jean was right when she said he was an unremarkable looking man. Tall and thin, with jet-black oily hair and watery grey eyes. He was dressed in the classic white lab coat. "I have to say that I'm surprised to see you," he said, tauntingly.
Faster then the eye could blink Raphael had crossed the room and had one of Hille's arms twisted behind him. Hille cried out at the suddenness of it and the pain from having his arm-twisted.
"Why should I help you…or her? You're all nothing but animals!" Hille snarled his light grey eyes glaring at them.
Raph then drug Hille across the room and slammed the man into the Plexiglas. "Open it" Raph hissed in Hille's ear.
Still stubborn Hille shook his head. "No. Your life on is just a giant joke. You're nothing but a mutant animal!"
Leo started to intervene when Don shook his head. "Wait," he whispered.
"No?" Raph asked his voice dark.
Hille glared at Raph. "No. You too stupid to understand what I'm saying?"
Raph turned his head to wink at his brothers then as he turned his head back Raph began a slow, wicked grin. He turned the man around and brought his face up close to Hille's. "So…if an animal. Then I can do anything to you and it won't matter if I kill you. Anyway I want?" Raph drew one of his sai and brought it up to Hille's neck and pressed the sharpened tip into the man's neck.
Sweat broke out on Hille's forehead. "Wait! Stop! I'll unlock it! Just don't kill me! Please!"
Raph released Hille and he collapsed to the floor as Raph stepped back. He had used what Donnie used to use on them all. They all used to fall for it, more so than Leo, who usually saw right through it. When they were younger Don would use his fancy word play, and when Raph saw how it worked he began to try it. By then Leo was used to Don using the manipulation game and didn't fall for Raph's though Mikey always did and a few others. Although not usually known for subtlety, Raph knew how to manipulate as well.
"Wow. Raph used that trick you do Don. Reverse phy-phy" Mikey struggled with the word.
"Reverse physiology," Don said in a deadpan voice. He was kneeling beside Jean. "Hurry up. She's getting worse," he said as he held her now twitching body. He fur was matted with sweat and her body tried to curl up into a fetal position. Don looked back toward the man. Hille had gotten back to his feet and after giving Raph a glare he took out a long rectangle that had deep engravings on it. He pressed a small button on the piece of metal and it slid out. He then placed it into the panel and twisted it first to the right then all the way around. There was a hissing and then the glass doors slid back. Hille reached in and rummaging through the selves pulled out a needle and three small glass bottles. "I've been wanting to test this anyway. This is finally the time." he walked back to where Don and Jean were. He knelt down and stuck the needle into one of the bottles and then into another. Hille shook the syringe then took Jean's left arm and got ready to inject the clear liquid into her arm.
"Stop. What exactly will this do?" Don grabbed Hille's wrist tightly, stopping him from giving her the shot.
"I had this mixed up when I injected the virus into her. Since you are here you much have found out that the virus is mutinying her blood cells. This will stop the first stage of the mutation. The second," he held up the bottle of the pale yellow liquid, " is derived from the chemotherapeutic drug Vinorelbine. The original virus that I created is a lot like a mutinying cancer. The virus works by impairing mitosis after effectively attacking her 'normal' cells. I created the cure so that I could get her under control after she killed you four and you rodent father." Here he stopped and glared at them all.
Raph growled and moved forward but Leo grabbed the edge of his shell. "Let me at 'im Leo! I am sick and tired of all these bozos trying to kill us, experiment on us and using our friends!"
"So am I, Raphael, but if you kill him you will be no better than them." Leo said to his hotheaded brother.
Raph narrowed his eyes, now bright yellow in his anger at his brother, "All right, but if Jean don't get better I will rip his head off." he turned back to Hille, "You 'ear that, monkey boy?"
"Fair enough Raph."
Hille glared back at Raph and Leo, but he still swallowed in fear. He turned back and picked up Jean's arm again and slid the needle in and slowly injected the liquid.
Don held her as he alternated between watching Hille and Jean. About five minutes after Hille injected the liquid Don noticed something wrong.
"Something's wrong!" he shouted.
"What do you mean something's wrong?" Hille's voice rose.
Jean's chest heaved, and the sound of choking accompanied it. She began to thrash about her mouth wide open and her chest heaved even harder.
"Jean!" Don said.
Jean thrashed obviously trying to breathe. Don took Jean's pulse and shook his head in rage.
"Rapid...irregular pulse!" exclaimed Don.
Leo dropped to his knees beside Don. Hille scooted back and tried to back a run for it but Mikey was in front of him with a uncharacteristic growl and hard look in his eyes. He shoved the man back and Hille slammed into an unpliable surface. Hille froze and turned to look straight into yellow eyes that were set into a sneering green face.
Raph grabbed the man and held the skinny man as he turned back to watch Leo and Don work on Jean.
Leo was holding Jean flat on her back as she struggled and choked and gagged. Her eyes were still closed tightly. Her back tried to arch and her chest heaved again and then Jean collapsed horribly still.
Don leaned his head on her chest. "She's not breathing!" he said. He began to work frantically to get Jean to breathe. Don's head shot up, his soft brown eyes hard and almost black. "I give you ten seconds to give her the counter shot. She's having a severe allergic reaction to the shot." He dipped his head back down and began to open her mouth,
Raph shoved Hille toward the medicine cabinet, "Ya better do as he says." Raph warned, his body shaking from holding his anger in.
Hille begin to sweat as he dug around to the counter drug. He found it and scrambled back to were Mikey was slightly pacing and Donnie was doing CPR, trying to get air in Jean's collapsed lungs. In one swift motion, he takes off the needle cap and stabbed the needle into Jean's stomach. He took out the needle and put the cap back on.
"Don, it's not working!" Mikey voiced as he watched for any signs of life.
"Give it a second!" Hille replied as Raph grabs him again and hauled to his feet. He tried to twist away but the turtle's grip tightened in a bone-crunching grip. He prayed that the girl would make it. He didn't know if the turtles would keep their ridiculous code of honor if she died.
"Jean, c'mon wake up!" Don said as he paused in the CPR. "Shell!" he cursed then began again. He did it at least four more times. Leo was pacing behind him, and Mikey was just staring down at them tears starting to form in his eyes.
"Jean, please!" Don said as he continued to perform CPR. "I'm not giving up on you, so don't give up on us!" He said, pressing down on her chest. He then went to blow into her mouth again, and once he did, Jean began to cough. Don's heart cracked as he heard her cry out in pain. He almost cried as she began to breath again.
"She's alive!" Mikey yelled.
Jean slowly opened her eyes and the first thing she saw was Don's olive face peering in hers. His brown eyes were wet with tears. After heaving a big sigh he pulled her into a hug, "I thought I lost you."
"I'm sorry," she whispered as Don held her. She felt herself slip into darkness.
Don laid her back down; after he did he whipped his head around to glare at Hille. "If I ever find out that it wasn't just a allergic reaction but anything else. " I will kill you myself.," he said coldly, a uncharacteristically, dangerous gleam in the purple-clad turtle's eyes.
"I swear. I must have been just a allergic reaction!" Hille said as he held his hands up. "I swear on my life!"
"You better." Raph growled as he shook Hille again. He began to say something else when the room shook. Raph dropped Hille and cursed. "What the shell was that!?"
Hille seemed to know though. He jumped up and looked around wildly. "Oh no. No, no, no, no! Not now not ever!!"
"What?! What is happing?!" Leo snapped as he drew his katanas.
Hille ignored him and ran to a computer and typed in a frantic. A hologram projection came up. The figure in a black coat was standing with a smug look on his face and hands behind his back.
"Great." Leo said as he glared at the man. "That's exactly what we need right now!"
Hille ignored him as he glared at Bishop.
"I warned you long ago Hille. You mess with me then I will mess with you. I have given you the warning. I told you to shut down all projects or face the consequences. You chose to ignore me. I know of the work that you have stolen from me. I chose to ignore it since you are brilliant in a stupid way. But you since you chose you ignore me in shutting down your work, I will shut it down for you. You have ten minutes." a cold smile appeared on Bishop's face before the projection disappeared.
An alarm started to blare. A second tremor shook, this time causing one of the robotic arms in the ceiling to groan and drop slightly, its support structure failing it.
"Bishop you BASTARD!" Hille yelled.
"Hille what's happening?!" Leo screamed frantically.
Hille's gaze was flitting around the room in panic before he turned it to Leo. "Bishop must've rigged the entire base to be destroyed!!"
Leo gave a furious growl, turned and led Raph toward Donnie and Jean. Mikey moved to follow.
"We need to leave! NOW!" Leo ordered.
"One second Leo!" Donnie gently laid Jean's head down and picked up the three bottles. He glanced at them then ran to the cabinet and did a sweep, tossing bottles and bags into his duffle bag then ran back to Jean.
"Are you able to carry her, Don?" Leo asked.
"Yeah. She's not heavy." he replied, already gathering her into his arms. Leo then made sure that they were all together before he broke into a run, heading for the nearest exit.
Xxxxx
They were heading back the way they'd come. Leo leading the way the base shuddered again as they ran. Donnie kept his eyes on the figure of Leo as he led them down the twisting passages, following his mental map back to the platform. Beside him ran Raph. He kept glancing back at Mikey who ran behind him to Donnie and Jean.
Jean hadn't moved or opened her eyes, but the slow steady breathing showed that she was still alive. Don cradled her close to his plastron so he could shield her from anything that might fall or hit them. He made sure he had a good hold on her, resting her head in the crook of his neck and folding her arms against his chest so they wouldn't be exposed to any danger.
The circular lights in the ceiling seemed to have all burst their light-bulbs so that the only light was the slow flashing alarm, making the area switch back and forth between complete darkness and deep red. A robot voice was giving calm instructions on how the residence in the base needed to evacuate but it meant little to them.
Raph said nothing, a deep scowl on his face he ran, his teeth clenched.
They bolted from the room and somehow, managed to maneuver through the dark corridor and back into the lit passages of the base. Suddenly there was a loud explosion so strong it threw them against one of the walls. Don nearly fell over completely, wincing as he hit the side of the passage. He glanced down at Jean to make sure she was all right. She hadn't so much as twitched in all this time, remaining limp and still in his arms. Smoke began to fill the air and was getting thicker. They needed to get away from here.
Every few moments the base would shake and rumble, loud metallic groans echoing from deep within its structure. They had a scare at one point when the place gave a violent lurch and Hille ran past them and one of the fire doors broke free from the slot in the ceiling and crashed down on top of the man a foot or so in front of Leo. He stumbled backwards and away from the danger. Leo paused only a second as he looked down at the crushed man.
"Come on!" He urged them. "We need to get out here before this whole place blows!"
"What d'ya think we've been doin'?!" Raph snapped.
Leo led them onward, his eyes sharp as he looked around the area, taking sharp turns without hesitation.
Don could smell smoke in the air and every now and then smaller, more violent explosions of glass and the sound of flames erupting would punctuate the larger booming rumble of the base.
Each time the base shook it was louder and harder than the last.
As they ran they started seeing hallways blocked by rubble torn from the ceilings and walls. Some of them were littered with the cracked shells of machinery, electricity sparking violently among the wires and cables as glass littered the floor.
"Don!" A call from Leo stopped Don in his tracks.
He trotted forward until he was standing in front of Leo. He stopped, panting heavily as he caught his breath.
The platform in front of them was destroyed. An immense slab of twisted metal had crashed through the tunnel of the passage, crushing the metallic platform
"What's the hold up?!" Raph asked, catching up to them and stopping to look as well.
"Dude...don't tell me this is the way we need to go." Mikey said with a flat, shaky tone, not
taking his eyes off the scene.
Don took a small breath before he swallowed. "Actually...as a matter of fact..."
"Oh that's just great!" Raph spat angrily. "Fantastic!"
"Relax Raph!" Leo snapped at him,
"Don't tell me ta relax!!" He rounded on Leo, baring his teeth.
"Look just shut up for a moment and let me think!" Don snapped, looking around for an alternative route.
"Think about what?!" Raph yelled, his voice rising. "We're trapped!"
"Raph lay off him!" Mikey suddenly spoke up sharply, shooting Raph a serious glare.
Raph's eyes widened then he turned to snarl at him instead. "Aw shut up Mikey! No one asked ya for your opinion!!"
"Raphael!" Leo interrupted with a loud, commanding tone of voice. He glared icily at his brother. "This is no time to yell! We have to keep our heads."
Raph growled at him darkly but kept his mouth shut, taking deep, hoarse breaths as he tried to calm down.
Leo gave him a long, stern glare before he turned back Donnie. "Is there another way out from here Don?"
Don frowned, resting the tip of his muzzle on Jean's head as he thought deeply, his brow furrowing. His frown softened slightly as he stared down at Jean. "If the tunnel is clear we can climb up and out, but we only have…five minutes."
Raph began to grumble irritably.
"I'll check it out." Mikey spoke up. Without another word he walked into the passage and began to climb up. Leo and Raph followed and stared up in the dim tunnel half the lighters were out, but there were still enough. He was gone one minute before he dropped back down. "It's clear. All the way to the top. The lid thingy was blown off."
Everyone let out a sigh. Mikey began to climb back up, followed by Leo then Raph. Don was the last one. Raph held out his arms, his legs hooked around some bars. "Give 'er here."
Without a word Don passed Jean up to Raph. He then passed her up to Leo who passed her to Mikey. They continued to do this. Climbing up and passing her up along the tunnel. They climbed out of the tunnel just as the ground gave a deep shudder.
They began to run down the alleys, Raph leading the way, Leo behind him carrying Jean. Raph the down the street until they reached the alley Don had backed the Battle-Shell into. They hurried to the van pulling open the doors to the van and clambering inside before closing them behind them.
-----
Mikey sat himself in one of the back seats, his knees drawn up against his chest.
"Quick, over here!" Donny said, motioning to a seat that was pulled out flat. Leo nodded and hurried towards it. He crouched down and, as gently as he could, lay the girl down on it, making sure to be careful with her. Don was then right there looking her over.
"D..Don." Mikey stammered. "Oh... oh no.. ...she's... Is she...?"
Don was afraid that the slight rough handling up through the passage might've done more damage. His guts felt like they were tearing each other apart. Please don't be dead. I don't know what I'd do if you were dead. Donnie silently prayed.
As they stood in the van catching their breath, Leo stood up straight and began a once over on his brothers making sure they were unharmed. Once satisfied he let his shoulders drop and turned to stare at Jean with sad, hazel eyes.
Raph pulled a face and gave a sheepish shrug, not knowing what to say. He sighed, moving to take a seat.
Don saw movement and his head snapped downwards.
"Don…" the whisper was light.
Don blinked and felt a smile break out on his face, relief washing over him. He crouched down on his knees.
Jean raised a hand to her head and gave a long groan, pulling an almost annoyed looking face. She gave her head a soft shake before she opened her eyes, blinking a few times in the light.
Don watched her closely, taking note of every movement to make sure there were no signs of trouble.
"Hey." He greeted her gently.
She blinked at Don with a confused expression before she turned to look around, trying to see where she was.
"Welcome back to the land of the living." Mikey grinned.
Don let her go as she pushed herself to a sitting position, rubbing at her eyes. Don kept one of his hands on her back, keeping his gaze locked on her.
"We're not dead then." she said bluntly. Her voice sounded scratchy.
Leo nodded. "No. We made it."
"How d'you feel?" Don asked with concern, reaching out, taking Jean by the chin before squinting at her face, checking her eyes.
Jean blinked at him, a little confused but she didn't move. "Not so good,.. I feel sick to the stomach and my throat and chest hurts."
"Mmm." Don nodded, letting her go. He relaxed and gave Jean a smile. "Don't start running around too soon though ok?"
"I remember us trying to get into a plexie glass cabinet then all of a sudden there a sharp pain in my belly and I blacked out then I couldn't breathe." She turned to blink at Leo, frowning slightly as she tried to focus. "How long have I been out?"
"Not that long." Leo said.
Jean nodded, turning to stare at the ground thoughtfully. A deep frown formed on her face and then she tensed up, taking a sharp breath as she looked up again, her eyes widening.
"The cure! What has happened to it?!" she asked urgently.
Raph pulled a face at this, a lighter frown settling on Leo's face.
"We have it." Don said. "Hille began to give you the cure but you had a severe allergic reaction to the first dose. Then Bishop set the base to self destruct."
"What happened to Hille!" She asked, turning to Leo instead.
Leo paused. He had seen the worse of Hille's death. He began to tell her when Mikey spoke up.
"Hille's gone! Flatter then a pancake. He got squished by a door like a bug."
Jean's eyes widened and Raph growled and rolled his eyes.
"Mikey…be glad I'm too tired to pummel you a good one." he raised a fist and shook it at Mikey. Mikey just waved him off.
Don shook his head. "We need to get you home."
"We all need to get home. It's almost dawn." Leo said as she stood back up from on of the seats.
"Mikey's not driving is he?" Jean asked almost fearfully.
There were laughs as Mikey began to pout.
"No. I am," Leo said as he moved into the driver's seat.
Don moved so the he was sitting close beside Jean. He placed an arm around her as he bit his lip, his frown breaking as he stared at her with concern. "You really scared me for a while back there." Don said, his voice a little smaller than before.
Jean's smile dropped and she blinked at him for a moment. Don felt her shoulder sink as she gave him a guilt-ridden look. "I'm sorry Don. It wasn't like I planned that."
Don sighed, shaking his head. "It's not your fault. I just... I was really scared for a while."
Jean smiled again, more affectionately this time. "I'm all right Donatello. I had all of you with me…I had you."
They waited a few more minutes before Leo turned the ignition and started up the van. He pulled out of the alley and started driving them home.