Alexandra woke up, her arms wrapped around her best friend as she slept peacefully finally from the horrible evening before. Alex sighed, trying to slip her arm free from her friend's honey hair to move off of Leonardo's bed. Peering outside the door she noticed Michelangelo had taken over watch, with Donatello fast asleep on the couch.
"Anything?" She asked quietly, making her way to the entrance of the liar as Mikey shook his head.
"Not a peep… I'm getting my hopes up here but, maybe we're in the clear?" He said, the inflection in his voice going up in the end as if Alex knew the answer to the question. Alex shook her head with a sad smile. Mikey always the optimistic, happy one of the bunch. She put her arm around the youngest's large, green shoulders, pulling his body into hers for an embrace.
"I hope so too Mikey…" She sighed, hearing the steady rap of stick against concrete make it's way up the steps.
"Morning Senesi." The two said in unison as Splinter smiled, putting a furry paw on Alex's shoulder.
"Come with me my child." He said, walking back down the steps as he leaned heavily on Alex's side. "We need to talk about last night's events." Making their way into his room the smell was welcoming and instantly made Alex's shoulders relax with ease. She sat down on the warm, fluffy pillows laid out around his meditation alter. The swirling smoke from incense Splinter lit one by one billowed up to the ceiling and around Alex, relaxing her mind and body as she breathed in the intoxication scents.
"My daughter, how are you feeling?" He asked, positioning himself and closing his eyes as Alex took another deep breath in.
"I'm, alright…" She said slowly as Splinter opened one eye to look at her. "I'm a mess." She sighed as he nodded his head, closing his eyes once more. "I wish there was more for us to do, something we could do. Hayley didn't mean it, or even should have got brought into this mess. I fuc…I messed up, bad getting captured and the guys just tried to help me and… It's all a mess."
"A mess can be cleaned." He said as she nodded her head.
"I know that Master but, is this mess able to get cleaned? We have that woman that supposedly saved Mikey and Donnie from a factory in another state! I can't even begin to wrap my head around that one… And we were in there for two days… And the vial…"
"Yes, Donatello spoke with me shortly about a formula Karai was going to inject into you? Are you alright, were they able to..."
"No sensei I was able to get away. I'm not positive what it was but, if it was from Karai I can only assume it's bad news…"
"We will gather ourselves and collect in a different location, the farm house."
"We were just collecting ourselves at the farm house, to come back here and finish this. For me train harder and be ready."
"You were not ready. It was my responsibility to see that and I did not, I am sorry my daughter." He said softly, hanging his head remembering the conversation with his eldest the day they left the farm house. The cold ground under his paws as he watched the lake start to slowly freeze, the water becoming unmoved and hard, much like the obstacles they faced now. The silence around him of the wood and winter sky, thinking and being so sure that his family would defeat such evil, hoping that it would all be over. "I am not a young rat my daughter. My mind is strong as my will but, my heart is heavy with regret."
"Why sensei?" She asked, moving closer and taking the old rat's paws.
"This is my burden I have put onto you, onto my sons. This evil that we've been fighting for far too long has consumed our lives in a way I wish would have never been…"
"But Sensei, it was apart of my life too. My father's, Casey's we fought with the purple dragons as well and…"
"That's how our lives got intertwined with each other and I am sorry that it happened in such a way, but grateful to have such people in our lives. My daughter, this fight may never end. We may be retreating, trying to become strong for decades, long after I am dead and gone and you may all still be fighting this war, my war and I do not wish that for you or my sons."
"That's why we need to end it…"
"Yes, but at what cost? I will not have your mind be pushed further and have your will be tested anymore that it has…"
"So, I am supposed to sit back and…"
"Never sit back, never watch as your brother's and family become apart of the dust and hate that these evils step through with dishonor. You will always get up and fight!"
"I will Sensei no matter what, but are we staying, are we going…"
"I wish I knew my dear…" He sighed, putting a hand to his head and rubbing it hard. "To keep you all safe and without harm is what I want most in this world but, I know that will never be. Not in this lifetime or the next."
"Sensei, may I tell you what I'm thinking we should do?" She asked softly as Splinter nodded his head, looked towards the girl with such worry and compassion in his beady, black eyes. "I am a fighter, always have and always will be and I will be damned if we rush off somewhere to hide. We will get better, wounds all heal in time and I am more ready than I have ever been.. I am ready to take on whatever they want to throw at us next. We all feel this way, I know if the guys were in here now they'd all agree. We need to end this, one way or another. We can't run to the farm house as a sanctuary every time we stub our toe. We need to stand and fight everything, everyone face on, weapons out." She said her fist pounding on the alter to make her message known.
"Maybe you are right…" He said with a sigh. "Leonardo, come in." He said over Alex's shoulder as Leonardo stepped into the room.
"I agree, we get Raphael ready and make sure he's healed and we head out again. They won't be expecting us and we know they're hide out. We have Eliza that was on the inside…"
"I already copied her keycard…" Donnie said from the doorway, as Leonardo looked over his shoulder at his nerdy brother. Splinter smiled, inviting the second youngest in as well with a wave of his paw.
"See, we're ready." Alex smiled as Splinter nodded his head. "We won't re-root our lives again for this."
Alexandra sat quietly on the edge of Raphael's bed where he still slept, peacefully. The swelling in his face was starting to lessen and the harsh marks on his wrists were wrapped carefully by Donatello in gauze. Alex ran her thumb slowly back and forth over his reddened knuckles as his hand twitched in hers.
"Morning sleepy head." She said softly as he opened his eyes slowly with a groan.
"How long have I been out?"
"About twelve hours." She shrugged. "You needed it."
"What's the plan?" He asked with a sigh, adjusting himself against the headboard of his bed as she helped him, laying next to him as her hands still rubbed over his.
"We're not leaving." She said with a shrug. "I talked to Splinter and Leo agrees that we're gonna stay here and not let this be a defeat…."
"So, we're gonna go back at it once I'm up and ready?" He asked as she nodded. "That sucks…" He sighed as she looked up at him with a confused look.
"It sucks?"
"Well, seriously Al. We were just there and got our asses handed to us for two days and we're just gonna stroll back in?"
"You're usually all gun-ho about the battle?"
"I guess I need more rest…" He sighed as she nodded, kissing his shoulder. "I'm just… so tired Al." He said as she nodded, sitting up to look at his face.
"I know babe… Me too but, we're ending it we're…"
"How many times we gonna say this?"
"Until its true?" She asked with a grimace as he sighed, nodding his head. "We don't have a choice."
"We do but, it's not a choice we usually make." He said, looking over at the nightstand at the empty glass, picking it up to see if there was any water left.
"Lemme get you somethin' to eat and drink." She said with a smile, getting from the bed and taking the empty glass. "Juice or water?" She asked as he shrugged. "Both?" She asked in a smile as he nodded. "OK, no prob babe, be back in a bit." She said leaning over and kissing his forehead.
"How's he doing?" Hayley asked softly, closing Leonardo's door behind her as Alex exited Raphael's.
"He's good, you?" She asked, tsking as she saw the girls swollen cheek and eye. Alex put a hand to her broken cheek as Hayley shook her head, removing her friends hand.
"Not anything more than I deserve." She sighed as Alex did as well, rolling her eyes.
"You're being ridiculous." She said as Hayley shrugged, following her friend down the stairs to the kitchen. "Help me cook, you're better at it than I am."
"Least I can do I suppose. Of course, they may think it's poisoned."
"You're getting annoying." Alex said as Hayley smirked a little. "Seriously, if we hated you, you'd know it. So, shut the fuck up about this self-pity shit and help me." She said handing Hayley a frying pan as Hayley nodded taking a deep breath in.
"You're right, I'm kind of annoying myself." She said rolling her eyes. "I'm just gonna wallow quietly." She said as Alex rolled her eyes again.
"Whatever floats your boat sweetheart, grab the eggs."
Eliza poked her head out of Donatello's room where she had been pacing all evening, hearing the sound of music coming from another room and the commotion of what sounded like happy tones. She walked to the railing, overlooking the living room and kitchen area, watching the girls Alex, Hayley and April cooking together and smiles on their faces. She sighed to herself missing the moments of times with her friends in England.
She started for the stairs slowly as April turned, catching the young woman on the stairs. Eliza stopped to make eye contact as April smiled kindly at her, nodding her head towards the kitchen.
"How good are you with a spoon?" She asked with a chuckle as Eliza shrugged.
"Much better with a beaker however, I have cooked a meal or two in my years at university." She chuckled as Alex smiled, handing her a wooden spoon.
"The sauce needs to be stirred so it doesn't stick." Hayley said from over her shoulder, sautéing some onions.
"I can manage that I believe." Eliza said, slowly stirring the red sauce in the stewpot.
"So, how did you mange to work for the big baddies?" Alex asked as Eliza sighed, shaking her head.
"Horrible judgement on my part I suppose? As soon as I saw those poor things being attacked and just… used as amusement I had to get them out…"
"And those things being Mikey and Donnie?" Alex asked, turning with her arms crossed as Eliza stopped stirring.
"I-I didn't mean it…"
"Don't worry, we all know it can be a little unnerving when you first meet the guys…" April said, giving Alex a scolding look before placing her hand on Eliza's shoulder. "But, they wouldn't harm a fly."
"Well, that's a little bit of an understatement." Mikey chuckled as he walked into the kitchen, looking over Hayley's shoulder at she added some mushrooms to her pan. "Smelling good Hails." He said with a smile as she gave a meek one back. "How ya feelin'?" He asked as she shrugged, staying as quiet as she could.
"Mikey, c'ere." Alex said, nodding her head towards Donnie's laboratory. They both entered as Donnie was completing the nametags Alex and April would need to get into the building from Eliza's keycard.
"What's up?" Mikey asked as Donnie looked up from his computer screen.
"Hayley is a little… She's upset. She's very depressed about what she did and she's not going to be our normal Hails for a little while…"
"Why?" Mikey asked, crossing his arms over his plastron. "She didn't do anythin' wrong, they threatened her mother…" He said as Donnie nodded, walking over to the conversation.
"She's got to know that we're not going to feel any differently about her, or what she may or may have not done. She's family." Donnie added as Alex sighed.
"I know, but she's just…"
"It's Leo. He's giving her a hard time." Donnie said with a sigh, shaking his head.
"Why the hell would that matter? He knows she did do it…" Mikey started.
"Think about it Mikey. Our lair, our home something he's been protecting all of his life, all of ours lives was put into jeopardy by someone he loved and cared about. He is going to take this as a trust thing. It's going to take him a… Long time to trust her again. That's got to hurt her."
"More like devastated." Alex sighed as Mikey shook his head.
"Nah, that's not fair. Hails didn't mean it and Leo wouldn't…"
"Leo wouldn't what?" Leonardo asked as he stepped into the lab.
"Nothing." Alex said, meeting his eyes wrapped in blue for a moment before looking away.
"Right… Donnie, how are those cards coming?" He asked, moving past the small group to look at Donnie's multiple computer screens.
"Um, good Leo. They're almost done, just uploading the data onto the strip so we can have access to pretty much any door."
"Good. Once Raph is up and ready we'll get this done." He said as Donnie nodded, looking over his shoulder at his eldest brother's intense look. "After dinner we're training. That includes you Alexandra." He said, looking over at Alex as she nodded slowly, her lips pressed together tightly as she read Leonardo's hard disposition. He wasn't going to receive any wise cracks or backwards comments very well, not with that look on his face.
"Sure thing Leo." Mikey said with a nod as Leo looked at everyone slowly, before exiting the room and walking back to the dojo.
He looked over into the kitchen once, noticing the unfamiliar face of an enemy or alley he couldn't decipher that yet and the beautiful, heartbreaking face of someone he thought he trusted with his life, with his families lives. Now, he didn't know that either. He looked away, angry at himself for daring to look and thinking he wouldn't feel anything, angry that the Foot and Karai could bust through that door any second and they have very little of a plan, just angry.
"Um, I have forgotten… But, who is that one?" Eliza asked softly, looking over her shoulder as Leonardo entered the alcove that lead into the dojo.
"Um, Leo." Hail said softly as April looked at Hayley's face crumble slowly as she turned away from the turtle she loved.
"Raphael is the one that is harmed?" Eliza asked, as April nodded moving Hayley slowly out of the way of the pan and taking her spatula from her.
"Lemme finish this." She said softly as Hayley nodded, sitting down slowly at the kitchen table. "So, Eliza what exactly did you do for Karai?" She asked as Eliza sighed.
"Well, as I said before I studied reptilian species in Oxford and wanted to become a herpetologist and complete field studies. I was doing a wonderful experiment out in the rainforests of Japan with a group of scientists as an internship, then after our travels we went to a symposium here in New York and that's when I met Karai. She spoke of such wonderful things in the world of biology and testing…" She trailed off with a sigh. "However, I was unaware of what the testing was and to whom it would be on. This is where I started to question. Then, a couple nights ago, there was no saying no to her. I wanted to leave, go back to England I didn't care but, she wasn't having it. She told me I would lose my doctorate, that I would be the laughing stock of the herpetology world… But, enough was enough when I saw wave after wave of those horrible men fighting poor Donnie and Mike. I needed to get them out of there my reputation be damned. "
"Well, we appreciate that…" April said, sitting down with Hayley and Eliza as she told her story. "I just want to make sure that we were not followed, that you truly wanted out of Karai's plan and that no harm will come to us or my family." She said in a stern tone, leaning over the table to look directly into Eliza's eyes as she shifted uncomfortable under the gaze managing a nod to reassure this strong woman before her that she had no plans of hurting her family.
"W-Whatever you need from me, I am happy to give it." Eliza said with a nod as April smiled, reaching across the table for Eliza's hands and grasping them tightly.
"Thank you." April said, giving them a final squeeze before letting go. "Will you be able to sit with me and Donnie and go over the semantics of the building? Show us where it is, what entrance to use and who uses them?"
"Of course. I was only there for a short time but, I have a photographic memory."
"Good. That will at least give us the upper hand." April smiled, looking over at Hayley as she twisted her hands nervously in her lab under the table.
"That is if I didn't already expose us…" Hayley added in a sigh as April took her hand and gave it a small squeeze.
"You're the girl who's mother was threatened?" Eliza asked softly as Hayley hung her head. "I am so sorry you have been brought into this…"
"I was in this long before that happened." She said softly as Eliza nodded.
"So, you've known these… Guys for?"
"Years." April shrugged. "They're like my brothers." She said with a small smile.
"So, you've not been in relations with one?" She asked slowly with a grimace as April chuckled a little.
"No, no… Just friends." She said as Eliza nodded.
"Well, maybe I should go start helping Donnie on those keycards and leave you two pros to the actual cooking." Eliza said with a small smile as April nodded.
Eliza walked over to the laboratory entrance and knocked softly on the door frame. Mikey smiled at her as he exited, with Alex right behind him. Donnie looked up from his computer with a smile on his face, turning it into a plain expression quickly. He scolded himself mentally as he watched the woman, stranger possible enemy walk into his personal space, his lab.
"April had told me you needed help with the blueprints of the facility your brother's were being held?" She asked as she took a seat next to him. He nodded, getting from his seat and grabbing a large folded piece of paper, opening it up over his medicine table.
"I have some of the layout already completed, from memory and what Leo had told me…"
"You completed this on just a whim?" She asked as she looked over the paper in amazement. "It's spot on." She said, tracing her fingers over the basement hallways that twist and turn under the cement enclosed building. "Ow…" She said softly, placing a hand to her forehead, above her nose.
"Are you alright?" He asked looking over at her as she furrowed her brow, nodding her head.
"Yeah, just a headache." She shrugged. "So, here…" She said pointing towards one of the laboratory rooms where she had made formulas with Dr. Chaplin on many occasions. "This is where they were putting together that formula."
"Do you remember the mixture of the formula, maybe if we get some of the contents correct we can run a simulation on my computer." He said as she bit her thumb nail, looking around the room for a moment.
"I remember most things, but that formula is just escaping me and I can't put a finger on why…" She said with a sigh, running her hand over her blonde head. Her bangs fell back over her forehead slowly as Donnie furrowed his brow.
"Do that again…" He said as she looked at him confused for a moment pushing her bangs back from her face. "Please, don't think me rude but, may I?" He asked, pointing towards her head as she nodded slowly. He ran his thumb over her temple feeling a small indent off of her eyebrow.
"Ow…" She hissed as he looked down into her eyes for a moment, silently asking if she was ok. "What is it?"
"It looks to be some kind of planted device…" He sighed as her eyes widened and her hands went to her temple.
"They put a bloody chip in my head?" She growled, pulling away from him and rushing towards his desk where she found a chrome tray, lifting it up to look at her reflection. "What the…" She said, pressing in on the indent and hissing again in pain. "You need to take it out!" She said, turning back to him as he looked at her scared, and shocked. "It could be a honing device, they could be searching for me! Oh, God…" She cried as tears filled in her eyes.
"What's going on?" Alex asked as she entered the lab to the commotion.
"I have a bloody chip in my skull! That's what bloody well is going on!"
"What?" Alex asked as she walked over to Eliza, holding her bangs back from her head. Alex softly ran her finger tips along the edge of Eliza's face and eyebrow feeling the indentation of the device and the hard surface of whatever was implanted there. "Jesus…" She said softly as Eliza's eyes filled more with tears. "Donnie, can you?"
"I-I-I'm not sure… I-I mean maybe? I-I would need you to be very still, a lot of damage can happen if you move and even if it is just superficial and just under the skin, you may lose a lot of blood…" He stammered as Eliza nodded.
"I'll get April…" Alex said as Eliza sat heavily in one of Donnie's computer chairs.
"This is what my life is?" She asked, tears filling in her eyes. "I should have bloody well stayed in England…" She said shaking her head as Donnie walked over to her. "This isn't your fault and whatever happens I want you to know that I forgive you and I hope you can forgive me as well."
"Forgive you for what?" He asked softly as she shook her head.
"I don't know… What I could have done, what I may have already have done. With that formula I don't even know what may come of it or with this stupid bloody chip in my head… I don't understand. I don't get into trouble like this… I've never…" She sobbed softly, putting her head into her hands as Donnie knelt down in front of her and put his large hands onto her shoulders. She slowly raised her head to meet his kind, warm eyes. He slowly reached his hands to her cheek, wiping away the stream of tears from it.
"Whatever I have to do, I'll help you." He said softly as she nodded.
"What happened?" April asked, kneeling next to Donnie and taking the damp girls cheeks in her hands. Eliza raised her bangs once more as April tsked, feeling her fingers softly around the indentation. "It feels just under the skin. It'll sting a little, we'll need to stop the blood fast." She said, looking over at Donnie as he nodded.
"I had actually just been online shopping and picked up this handy dandy little powder." He said, grabbing it from his first aid kit, tossing it in the air and catching it with ease. "Works really well on those nights Leo and Raph get a little too into training." He said with a smirk as Eliza winced.
"Isn't that for dogs?" She asked as he shook his head.
"Nope, for humans, promise."
"Yeah, we keep the kibble in the back." Alex said with a smile as Eliza gave a half-hearted laugh.
"I don't understand how I get myself into these messes…" She sighed as April and Donnie helped her onto the medicine table, removing the blueprints and folding them back neatly.
"You're with us now, our good luck just rubs off on people." Alex said with another smile as Eliza sighed.
"I'm sorry to be such a bother…"
"No bother at all, and you're helping us a lot…" Donnie said quickly as Eliza rolled her eyes.
"Helping by bleeding out on your medicine table? I bloody doubt it." She scoffed as April smiled.
"It'll be over before you know it, and we can get back to working on those blueprints." She said, patting Eliza's pencil skirt covered knee.
"I have some numbing agent but, it's not exactly for incisions…" Donnie said with a grimace as Eliza shook her head.
"That's OK. Do you have any whiskey by change?" She asked as Alex smiled, clapping her hands together.
"Yes! Raph and I have stash in the kitchen!" She said rushing to the kitchen as Hayley got dinner ready.
"What the hell is going on in there?" Hayley asked as she stirred the pot of sauce as Alex reached under the sink and pulled out a bottle filled with amber colored liquid.
"Eliza has a chip in her head, we're gonna remove it." She said quickly as Hayley furrowed her brow, watching her friend rush back with the bottle.
"What?" She asked as Leonardo echoed her from the alcove. She turned towards him, looking away quickly as Alex stopped and caught eyes with him.
"Eliza has a what in her head?" He asked, walking with Alex to the lab as Eliza sat on the medicine table, her bottom lip firmly between her teeth as Donnie sterilized some razors beside her. "What's going on? Is it a tracking device?" He asked, stepping close to Eliza and examining her head as she winced back from him.
"I-I'm not…"
"I wasn't asking you." He said firmly as she stopped talking immediately. Donnie rolled his eyes at his brother.
"It's not exactly like she asked to have a chip put into her skull Leo." Alex said as Leo glared over his shoulder at her.
"Do you know what it is?" He asked Eliza as she shook her head.
"D-Donnie pointed it out to me I never even felt anything until he touched it. I swear." She stammered as Donnie sighed, pulling his brother away from the girl.
"Leo, she's terrified enough as it is, give it a break." He said softly to him as Leo nodded.
"Can you get it out?" He asked as Donnie nodded.
"It's not very far under her skin, just a small cut and I should be able to pull it out." He said as April nodded, cleaning Eliza's head with an alcohol wipe.
"Here." Alex said, opening the bottle of whiskey and handing it to Eliza. The scared woman took the bottle quickly from Alex, taking a large swig of the harsh liquor. "That'a girl." She said with a smile as Eliza grimaced at the taste, taking another swig.
"OK, whenever you're ready Don, please get this thing outta me." She said bracing her hands on the side of the table and gripping the metal in her hands.
Donnie placed the edge of his razor blade at the crease of the indentation on Eliza's forehead. April stood close by, rag in hand with the powder to stop the blood sprinkled over. He slowly pressed the blade into her skin as Eliza hissed, gripping the table harder in her hands. Alex walked over to the girl, grabbing her hands in hers as Eliza squeezed, her eyes clenched tight as the sting of the cut tuned into a dull throb and the warmth of blood gushing down the side of her face.
Donnie took a pair of tweezers and grasped the small devices from her flesh, pulling it out slowly little by little. April held the rag under Donnie's working hands to catch the blood from running all over Eliza's clothing. Finally, Donnie was able to get the device free from her skin, placing it on the table beside her. April pressed the rag tightly against Eliza's forehead, as the girl took the hold from April, putting pressure over her wound.
"What the fuck is it?" Eliza asked, as Donnie looked it over in the light.
"Can't really tell… But, I don't think it's a honing device. It's hard to say. Let me give it a wash and I'll let you know." He said with a nod, going over to his desk and putting the little metal device in some solution.
"If it is a tracker then why aren't they here?" Leo asked looking towards Eliza as she looked up to his harsh tone in a glare.
"I don't bloody know. I'm the one with the fuckin' chip in her head." She snapped as Leonardo nodded.
"Sorry, I just…"
"No, no… I'm the stranger here, I'm the one working for the how'd you put it, big baddies? I don't have a right to bark at you, you're just as confused and scared as I am…" She sighed, putting her head down on in her hands as April, helped her up off the table.
"Let's get you cleaned up a little before we put you to bed." April said softly, pushing Eliza's bangs from her face and away from the cut.
Alex came out of the lab walking over to Hayley in the kitchen and sitting heavily at the table. Hayley looked over at her long time friend and then the bottle Alex placed on the table. She smiled a little, turning around to the cabinets and pulling out two glasses, placing them next to the bottle as a silent gesture. Alex smiled as Hayley poured them both some alcohol in the small glasses. They both took a small pull from the glass, Hayley grimacing at the flavor as Alex chuckled a little.
"Dinner is done, I put a plate all ready for Raph in the microwave. I didn't know how long the surgery would be." She said nodding towards the cooked food as Alex nodded.
"Good, he's probably starving." Alex sighed, finishing off her glass and grabbing the plate of food to bring up to her resting man. Hayley smiled as she watched her friend go take care of her significant other, shaking her head to herself as she looked into the dark liquor.
"She takes care of her man…" She muttered to herself, taking another sip of liquor as Mikey came over to the table, sitting next to the sad girl.
"Dinner smells great." He said with a small smile as Hayley nodded.
"Help yourself." She said as he eyed her carefully.
"Not gonna eat?" He asked as she shook her head, raising her glass of boos. "You haven't eaten anything in days and you're drinking? You're gonna make yourself sick."
"Ooh… Well." She said with a chuckle as Mikey rolled his eyes, getting up from the table and made her a plate of food. He put it down hard in front of her, making some of the food bounce from it. She jumped herself, looking up at him from the unexpected gesture.
"Eat." He demanded. "You may not be happy with yourself and some of us may be pissed at you but that doesn't mean we don't love and care about you. We're all under a lot of stress and this shit isn't helping anything. Eat the food and then go take my room to sleep it off." He said as she nodded slowly, taking the plate of food as stood from the table. Mikey put his hands over her cheeks, kissing her forehead softly as she felt tears start to prickle in her eyes. "We love you Hails." He said softly as she nodded, looking up into his soft, blue eyes. "Go get some rest." He said nodding his head towards the stairs and she nodded, taking her food with her.
"That was very mature of you Mikey." Leonardo said from behind him, waiting for Hayley to softly close Michelangelo's door.
"Well, one of us has to be." He murmured as Leonardo furrowed his brow and walked over to his little brother that started making plates for everyone.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Leo asked as Mikey snorted, shaking his head.
"Really Leo? It means that you need to get over whatever idea you have in your head of Hayley doin' anything other than tryin' to protect her own family. Something all of us would have done the same thing for. So, I'm not followin' why you are actin' all high and mighty as she kills herself feelin' like a bucket of shit."
"You don't know the whole…"
"You guys love each other. We aren't stupid, we see it, everyone knows you're together. You guys don't exactly hide it very well and, she's not exactly quiet my room is next to yours. So, you want to give me another reason as to why you're captain douchebag then go ahead." Mikey said, grabbing his plate and another for Eliza who was just emerging from the lab, leaning heavily on April's shoulder. "I got some food, I'll bring it up for you or leave it in the microwave?" He asked kindly as April gave him a soft smile.
"That's very kind of you Mikey." Eliza said, wincing as she tried to raise her pounding head. "Maybe after I've gotten some rest?" She asked as Mikey nodded.
"Of course. Need help?" He asked April as she shook her head.
"No, but if Hayley or Alex could scrounge up some clean clothes, I'm sure Eliza would like to shower."
"You can call me El." She said softly. "Or Ellie… Either or." She shrugged as April smiled with a nod helping the woman up the stairs.
Mikey entered the lab, putting the plates down on the desk as Donnie had his shell to him. Leonardo entered next pulling on his little brother's shoulder abruptly to turn to him.
"Jesus Leo, what the…"
"You don't know what she did or what she could have done. She put our family in jeopardy she, she disclosed the location of our lair, our home Mikey! Do you know what that means?"
"It means that I haven't slept all night because I've been keeping watch and an ear open for anything coming down those sewage pipes to protect our family, all of our family including Hayley." He snapped back as Donnie got from his chair, walking over towards the fighting brothers.
"Guys… This isn't the time." He sighed as Leo turned towards him.
"The device in her head, it was a tracking device wasn't it?"
"Its a brain scanner…" Donnie said softly as Leonardo and Mikey both looked at him in disbelief.
"How did the Foot manage to create something like that?" Leo asked as Donnie shrugged, going over to the tray of solution the device sat in.
"I'm not exactly sure... it's complicated. I think that's why she can't remember the formula, Karai implanted this to keep her from remembering important information. I'm not sure how much she'll be able to help with the schematics." He said with a sigh
"But she was able to remember her past and how she met Karai?" Mikey pointed out as Donnie shrugged.
"Possible elective wave input. Stimulating parts of the mind may have kept certain information for her to remember memories and such so she doesn't get suspicious however, information about them, the Foot, Karai maybe even about us." He said looking over at his brothers as Mikey scratched the back of his head.
"They can do that?" He asked as Donnie nodded his head.
"From the simulation I have run through my computer with all components of this chip it's what it is. And, I also have been working on something that will help us out if they are trying to find the lair. It's almost like a cloaking device that will hide the entrance to draining system that leads anyone here."
"Really, how'd you manage that?" Leo asked as Donnie shrugged with a small smile.
"Something I've been working on for years actually, incase we ever needed it." He said as Leo smiled, rubbing his little brother's head.
"You're a genius Don." He said as Mikey smiled too putting a hand on Leo's shoulder.
"I'm sorry bro, I know this is between you and Hails, I just… I don't want you to think that… I don't know, she meant it? That we can't trust her… ya know? But, I know that's something for you to figure out in your own time and…"
"No, Mikey you're right. We should be able to trust her and I am a little too harsh with her right now it's just… I need time to…"
"We know, and she knows." Don said, putting his large hand on Leonardo's other shoulder. "When you're ready she'll be there." He said with a smile as Leo nodded. "I'm gonna go see if Alex and April can help me set up the holograms out in the pipes and maybe a couple trip lines and explosives." He said with a cheerful grin as Leo chuckled a little.
"Eat first, then you can go play." He said as Donnie sighed and nodded his head, taking his plate with Mikey to the kitchen table.
"I can't believe they put a bloody chip in my head…" Eliza sighed as she sat on the edge of Donnie's bed as April cleaned her wound.
"I can't believe that you can't believe they wouldn't do something this low and despicable."
"I suppose you're right. Ya know, you are a remarkable woman April. Having friends like these and staying with them throughout trials like this, I am only assuming you've seen worse…"
"Much worse…" April said with a small chuckle as Eliza smiled. "You're all cleaned up, I do need to add a stitch or two, are you going to be able too…"
"Is there still Whiskey?" She asked in a grimace as April nodded.
"Let me go get it, and try and see if I can find you some clean clothing." She said as Eliza nodded, waiting until April left the room to lay back on the soft mattress.
It was surprisingly warm and smelt clean, like fresh laundry. She turned into the sheets and took a breath in, looking towards the head of the bed and around the room, really for the first time. Last night she was too nervous memorizing the carpet. She never allowed herself to look around or get too interested in her surrounding that would then lead her curious mind to want to possibly snoop, leading them to believe she is not in fact who she says she is but is in fact an intel for Karai. That was the last thing she needed, four deadly ninjas and their deadly friends to think her anything buy an ally.
Eliza sat up slowly from the bed, minding her wound and knowing she could easily pass out from a head rush. She stood and walked over to Donnie's dresser, not filled with things you'd except like underwear or pants. He had different pieces of mechanical parts and tools scattered about the drawer. She smiled a little to herself, what else would he have a dresser for? She looked over the top of the old wood, scratched and stained from various tools and oils and stopped on a picture, framed nicely perfectly placed amongst the organized chaos.
"That was taken when we were all around sixteen?" He said softly, leaning against the door frame of his bedroom. Eliza jumped a little, placing the picture back down carefully where she had found it.
"I-I'm sorry I-I wasn't meaning to…"
"It's fine, I half excepted my room to be in less disarray then it already was." He chuckled as she eyed him for a moment. "Well, if I was alone in a strangers room, I'd want to know everything I could, as quickly as I could." He shrugged as she shook her head.
"I think I've learned enough about you and your brothers intrusively. I am going to wait now, hopefully for someone to tell me, willingly." She sighed, sitting back on the edge of his bed as he froze for a moment, taking in the image of her there. Perched perfectly amongst his sheets and his smell.
She looked incredible, even though her head was dark with dried blood, her once perfectly pressed blouse was wrinkled and bloodied too. He knew this moment of infatuation was the fact that she was a beautiful woman, not even counting the fact that she was intelligent too but, that she was amongst his things, in his room, in his space. Something he's never seen before. He slowly shook the feeling from his body and knelt in front of her, placing a first aid kit beside her on the bed.
"What's this?" She asked, giving him a small smile as he looked over her face. She was at least in her mid-twenties, and had smoked in her past. The small lines around her rose colored lips and creases at the corners of her almond eyes gave away her age and oral fixations. Donnie couldn't ignore the fact that she was beautiful, classically so. She didn't have makeup caked on her face, or black eye liner and mascara smudged from her tears. There was dark brown dried makeup under her eyes that rested atop her cheeks, mixed in with the dusting of freckles over the slope of her nose, making the crystal blue of her eyes intensify. The light pink blush of her cheeks was natural and beautiful against her tanned complexation. He couldn't really make out her ethnicity with her blonde hair and piercing blue eyes, but her skin was much darker than Hayley or Alex's, or April's. But, it was hard not to be darker than April.
Now, looking at her in his room, the darkened light different than the harsh fluorescents of his lab he noticed she wasn't all blonde. She had highlights over the top her head and under was a dark mahogany color matching the color of her eyebrows. She tucked her bangs and angled hair neatly behind her ear, the contrast of her hair along her smooth neck made Donnie shake his head in almost disgust of himself, that he had been examining this woman with such ferocity without her knowing. At least in hope that she hadn't noticed.
He had seen many beautiful woman come in and out of his life from being helped, saved, rescued, or even just in passing in the street as his bulky figure moved along them in the shadows. But, he was never able to get this close, in his bedroom with their smells intertwining together, making his stomach twist in ways that hadn't since he was a teenage.
"Donnie?" She asked again as his eyes snapped up to hers.
"Oh, um…" He cleared his throat and starting getting his items prepared. "This is the stitches kit." He said. "April is trying to find you some clean clothes."
"Oh…" She said softly, a small smile still on her face from his nervous behavior. "I hope you have a gentle touch." She said, trying to calm his shaking hands as he looked up at her from sterilizing the needle.
"I do… Um, also." He said holding up a bottle of whiskey as she sighed happily, taking it from him. "Even as gentle as I can be, this may help with the pain."
"Would you like some?" She asked, taking a swig as he shook his head.
"I don't drink, and I need to stay sharp." He said with a smile as she nodded.
"That's true you are going to put a needle in my skull." She sighed as he grimaced. She took another long pull of the harsh liquor and shook her hair out of the way, putting her hands behind her. "Ok, go ahead." She sighed as he nodded his head. He took a moment, averting his eyes to her soft camel skin and slender neck that sloped down to her unbuttoned, disheveled blouse noticing the peek of nude colored, silky fabric he could only assume was her bra. He looked up at her face, trying to figure out if she had noticed his childish gawking but, her eyes were closed and lips were pressed together in a tight line. He pushed away his ridiculous feelings and started to do the job he came in here to do, to help this woman.
He started slowly, piercing through the skin of her eyebrow as she sucked in a breath through her teeth and clenched her fists in the bedding.
"It's only going to sting for a moment, and then you won't feel anything. Promise." He said softly as she opened her eyes to his. His face was close to hers as he still knelt in front of her watching his work carefully.
"You have beautifully kind eyes Donatello." She said softly, and out loud something she stunned herself in hearing the words leave her lips. "I'm sorry, it's the… Whiskey." She said, clearing her throat. "I don't mean to distract." She said, closing her eyes again and taking a deep breath in. Donnie did everything he could to not averted his eyes down from his work to the slope and silky fabric that lifted and relax as she breathed in deep. He shifted uncomfortably on his knees before her and continued to do what he needed, focusing on the needle in his hand, the puckering of her skin as it closed the opened skin together at her eyebrow. "So, how's it looking?" She asked, opening on eye as he smiled a little.
"I thought you weren't going to distract me." He said as she breathed through her nose.
"I am impatient. I mean, this is my face. Is it going to scar?" She asked, rolling her eyes at her vanity.
"It shouldn't after I put the ointment on it." He said, watching his work carefully.
"Thank you." She said softly as he smiled, looking at her as he put the needle down and grabbed a small pair of scissors to cut the excess thread.
"Don't mention it." He said as she shook her head.
"No, honestly…" She said kindly, grabbing his hand as he dropped the tools he was using into the first aid kit. "Thank you, you and your families kindness is beyond anything I've ever seen. It's truly amazing." She said feeling tears start to prickle in her eyes. "Sorry, ugh…" She said wiping the corners of her eyes. "That damned whiskey." She chuckled, shaking her head. "I guess being sleep deprived and then drinking wasn't the most intelligent thing I could have done. But, it doesn't change what I said." She said softly, searching for his eyes that did not dare meet hers. She tilted her head, placing her shaking hands on the sides of his rough, green cheeks. "Thank you Donatello." She whispered, as he took a deep breath, nodding his head as he started to get to his feet.
"I hope my bed will suffice for the evening." He said, clearing his throat as she smiled a little, looking down at the mattress she sat on.
"Yes, thank you… And, thank you." She said putting a finger to her newly bandaged stitches. "I think I should, wash up." She said, looking down at her clothing as Donnie nodded.
"Let me check on that for you." He said, opening the door and bumping into April as she entered his room with an armful of towels and clothing.
"Jesus Don, where's the fire?" She chuckled as Eliza smiled a little, and Donnie snatched the back of his head nervously.
"Uh, I was just um… Going to find you, where you were with the clothing situation…." He rambled as April chuckled a little, eyeing his nervous behavior with a shake of her head.
"I found everything you'll need. Towels, shampoo, conditioner, soap." April said, placing the first pile beside Eliza as she looked it over with a smile. "And, you looked more Hayley's size, she luckily had some clothing here, they're clean." She said, putting the folded clothing beside her as well. "Um, there is tooth paste and extra brushes in the bathroom for you. I keep a lot down here for these guys so they don't have to run to a drugstore…" She chuckled as Eliza did, half-heartedly, mostly watching Donnie's face as he shifted uncomfortably in his spot.
"Thank you April, I appreciate everything you are doing, really. And I'll thank Hayley tomorrow for her clothing." She said looking at the jeans and t-shirt on the bed.
"Sure, no problem. We'll leave you to it. Um, if you have any questions with the bathroom just give me a holler." April said, opening the door and waiting for Donnie to exit with her.
"I will." Eliza said, standing from the bed with everything in her arms now, smiling over at Donnie as he shifted where he stood.
"C'mon Don." April said nodding her head to the hallway as he looked at April and nodded, walking out of the door quickly. He walked fast down the stairs and into the kitchen, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge as April slowly walked down the cement stairs, her arms crossed over her chest and a knowing smirk across her face. Donnie chugged the water quickly, breathing heavily as April walked up to him, leaning her hip against the counter as she watched her friend empty the bottle. "So…" She said with a smile as Donnie rolled his eyes, tossing the empty bottle into their recycling bin.
"I don't want to hear it, or even know what you possibly could be thinking…"
"Don, it's OK. She's pretty, and she was alone with you in your room, close quarters, close up and personal." She said with a smile bumping her hip with his as he rolled his eyes and sat at the table.
"She could very well be our enemy." He hissed quietly as to not have his voice carry to the woman, in his room with the door open.
"She is obviously not. Want to go help her in the shower?" She asked in a giggle as Donnie rolled his eyes, getting from the chair and heading for the dojo.
"I'm going to train with Leo, as he asked." He said as April chuckled.
"Whatever you say stud."