A Ninja's Dance
Chapter 7
The turtles were half way back to the lair when Donnie's shell cell began vibrating urgently in its special little pocket in his belt. He sheathed his bō staff, clicking the blue tooth headphone in his ear on as he did a double front flip over another roof.
"Don here."
"Don, its April. I have news, are you busy?"
Don sprung onto the landing of a fire escape, following his brothers as they swung down into a deserted alley way.
"Heading back now April. What's up?" He landed on the cold concrete beside Mikey, watching as Raph hauled the manhole cover away from the black hole below and the stank of the sewer rose up.
"Judith woke up. Just for a bit but she asked me a few questions about who I was and whether she had hit her head."
Leo dropped down into the sewers first, Mikey and Don jumping after him into the inky blackness. Raph headed up the back, holding himself steady at the top of the ladder and replacing the manhole cover before joining his brothers in the dark.
"April that's good news! Was she slurring, anything odd you noticed?" Don pulled a set of keys from another pouch in his belt a clicked a button. The sewer tunnel instantly filled with light as the sewer slider's engine turned over with a loud roar. Don stepped into the back tray and tossed the keys at Leo, who caught them without even looking up.
"Yeah, about the odd bit. I don't know if she actually remembered but she sort of mentioned that she kept thinking about turtles." April sounded a little unsure at that bit and Don frowned, sitting down as Leo took the drivers seat and put the slider in gear, starting for home.
"Hmmm, that's not necessarily a bad thing. It means her short term memory is still intact despite the high dosage…" Don set his bag aside and waved at Mikey to pass him their newly acquired, illegally appropriated, ex trading chip for the Purple Dragons. It was a plain looking grey back pack. Unremarkable in every way, except for its contents. "We're about twenty minutes away April. Give me the full run down when we get back ok?"
"Ok. Hey, before I go. How was tonight? Get anything out of it?"
Don caught the backpack Mikey had thrown at him and shrugged despite the fact April couldn't see him. "Maybe. Not sure yet."
April said her 'ok, bye's' and hung up. Don clicked the ear piece off and unzipped the backpack to take another look inside.
They had been so stupidly lucky tonight Don was just waiting for the other shoe to drop and something to explode spontaneously. Nothing 'lucky' ever happened to the turtles. Something as simple as heading out on patrol usually resulted in some intergalactic invasion falling at their feet and demanding to be dealt with.
Nothing ever just went smoothly…except tonight.
They had staked the trade site out for a good half an hour before someone had shown up, and when they had it had been blindingly easy to tell two things about them.
One, he was here to do a trade. This was made clear by the way the baggy pant wearing teenager had stopped dramatically when he spotted the van and fished a flashlight out of his pocket, lighting it up three times in the direction of the loading zone. Yep, signalling for the subtlety impaired at its finest.
Two, he wasn't a pro. Any pro knew that when you didn't get the returned signal from you intended trade-e you backed off in case something was wrong. This twerp stood looking confused, flashed his torch a few more times, then made the biggest mistake of his young life and crossed the street towards the van.
It was easy pickings. He even knocked on the van's window and held up the grey backpack he was carrying, calling out to whomever he thought was inside that he 'was meant to trade this for a black duffle bag'. Leo didn't have to say anything much to his brothers, they just face palmed before they jumped the poor kid and relieved him of both his bag and his story.
He was so shit scared of four giant turtles he gave everything up like a water fountain and declared he would move to Canada and never speak of this night again if they let him live…
Raph had suggested that this was a good idea. The kid didn't argue.
So they had walked away with the intended trade goodies and the knowledge that 'Peter Murphey' had been paid by some guy in a suit to take the backpack to this spot and then take the black duffle bag the 'tattoo'd people' would give him and lock it in a locker in one of the downtown train stations. He had been warned not to look in either bag and he'd get a hundred bucks out of it.
The Purple Dragon goons they'd taken down at the clinic had obviously been misinformed about meeting someone in another van, though considering how little information most of Hun's lackeys were given that wasn't surprising.
The turtles let the kid go with a warning to keep his head down and get out of the city for a while.
Everyone had been surprised at how easily it had all gone, but it was nothing compared to the surprise and confusion that had cropped up when they had unzipped the bag to see what the Purple Dragons had been trading for…
"So is there anything else in there?" Mickey asked over the dull roar of the sewer slider as they flew through the tunnels. Don carefully drew out one of the small round plastic containers from the bag and shook his head, examining the fungus growing along the outer rim of the plate with interest.
"Nope." He said with a shrug. "Just sealed Petri dishes"
Mikey shuffled closer to get a better look. "That's gross. Why do the Purple Dragons want a bunch of dirty containers?" Don rolled his eyes and selected another dish from the bag, slipping the one he had been looking at back into its Styrofoam casing.
"They're not dirty Mikey, these are live cultures. What kind of live cultures I don't know, you'd think they would label them."
Mikey tilted his head. "Live what now?"
Don sighed, putting the sample back very carefully and re-zipping the bag.
"Live cultures. Scientists use these dishes, they call Petri dishes, to grow things like bacteria to figure out what they're made of and how they develop. Or to diagnose what's making someone sick."
"You mean those things could make us sick?" Mikey recoiled from the bag and pulled a face which made Don smile and shake his head with a chuckle.
"No Mikey…at least I hope they're not anything dangerous. None of them are stored in any sort of controlled temperature and there aren't any warning labels. Plus they're all sealed flawlessly. They must have come out of a lab somewhere." Don shrugged and set the bag aside, frowning at it. "I won't know until I get a chance to analyse them properly and figure out what they are."
"Uh huh, uh huh, I see. Anyway! Did April say anything about Judith?" Mikey nodded like he was interested then promptly changed the subject. Don chucked at his brother's obvious enthusiasm for cellular cultures and microbiology and leant back against the sewer sliders raised back tray.
"Just that she woke up and…" Don didn't get any further in his explanation. As soon as the words 'woke up' came out of his mouth Mikey was on his feet, eyes wide in disbelieving excitement.
"She woke up? Awesome! Why didn't you say anything earlier!" His smile dropped as something occurred to him and he nearly knocked Don out of the way as he pounced forward to the front seats of the slider. "Leo! Judith woke up! We have to get back to the lair uber fast bro! Step on it!"
Leo went to argue that they were going pretty damn fast as it was, but the words got stuck somewhere in his throat as Mikey leaned over and jammed the slider into the highest possible setting. The whole thing lurched forward and three out of the four brothers let out a garbled cry of 'Mikey!' to the disappearing tunnels.
They, thankfully, got back to the lair pretty close to unscathed despite Mikey's best efforts to kill them with unadulterated sound barrier breaking speed.
They were informed, briefly, about Miss Carters waking up and subsequently passing out again. That Miss O'Neil was indeed still with her and nothing much had changed in the last half hour. Everyone sort of scattered after that.
Master Splinter drew Leo away so his eldest son could tell him of their evening topside. Casey literally dragged Raph to the practice dummy to show him some new moves he'd been practising. Raph grumbled the whole way over to sack of stuffing and sand but even Mikey noticed the grateful smile as they began beating the crap out of the poor punching bag.
Don headed to Leo's room to check on Judith before he did anything else. He knocked, and when April had confirmed that Judith was indeed still out for the count he entered the room and did a quick check over to make sure everything was still stitched up tight and her vitals were normal. He worked fast, not wanting her to wake with him in the room and when he was done he drew April into the corridor for a proper explanation of everything Judith had said or done while she had been awake.
Just as he was finishing giving her the details of the medication Judith was on Mikey appeared, his face a mix of excitement and nerves. April and Don smiled at him, waving him over as he loitered near them, rocking back and forth on his toes. If it was possible for a turtle to bound like a deer, Mikey was bounding as he approached the last few meters to Leo's door.
He'd barely come to a standstill when his first question bubbled out of him.
"How's Jay?"
April frowned and raised an eyebrow. "Jay?" She asked quizzically. Mikey waved her question away and rolled his eyes.
"Judith. I gave her a nickname, took me all night to come up with something that sounded better than 'Dith' or 'Jude'. Anyway. How is she?"
Don chuckled and April smiled, tucking some hair behind her ear. It didn't surprise anyone that Mikey had renamed Judith already.
He liked naming things. It was his way of being affectionate. When they had been young he had been the first to start shortening their names. Raph had objected, until Donnie had commented that Raph sounded a lot more badass than Raphael. Mikey had been re-naming things with his brothers blessing ever since.
"She's doing ok Mikey." Don answered, still smiling as he patted his brother on the shell. "I have to get to the lab and analyse those Petri dishes." With that Don excused himself, trotting off down the runway to the stairs and disappearing from view. Mikey snorted.
"Talk about a braniac. Who wants to look at a bunch of mould anyway?"
"Beats me Mikey, but it might just help us figure out what Hun's doing" April laughed, heading back towards the door to Leo's room.
Mikey sighed dramatically and followed April, stopping just shy of his brother's room and craning his neck around to see through the door, effectively blocking April's path inside. April swatted him away playfully.
"You should eat something Mikey. We ordered Pizza" She said with a sideways smile.
Mikey grinned at the news, but looked a little conflicted as April stepped around him and slipped inside the room.
"Aw. But now I can't decide if I want to eat pizza or wait for Jay to wake up again." The jovial look on his face faltered slightly as a more serious thought occurred to him. "Say, April, is her being out of it and waking up in chunks ok?"
April shook his head at him from the doorway. "Don said she would wake up properly soon, fading in and out is normal"
Mikey nodded, relieved it wasn't a bad thing. He wasn't particularly medically astute and Donnie had always had trouble explaining to him how things worked without going all uber geek and losing him. It was something Mikey wished he was better at. Maybe this could be his chance to start studying up on some helpful facts, but that was for later, he pushed that aside for now and focused on April.
"Sooo…Guess Don filled you in on what happened tonight. About the Purple Dragons having a sketch. How much are you going to tell her?"
April shook her head slowly, looking concerned and more than a little annoyed about this most recent turn of events.
"I don't know. This isn't good news, I don't know how to explain everything without scaring her". April made a good point, scaring her was bad. Mikey thought they should avoid scaring her.
"Yeah. Not exactly the best circumstances to meet new people huh?" Mikey paused, rubbing the back of his head. "You think we'll get to meet her?" He asked hopefully, looking over the door with a hopeful sort of gaze. April just sighed and reached out a hand to touch Mikey's shoulder comfortingly.
"This is a lot to take in. It might be a while before she's ready to meet you guys without freaking out. Lets just start with making sure she's ok Mikey. Alright?"
Mikey sighed. "Alright. I guess I better let you get back to watch huh. Will you let me know if she wakes up again? Not just Don?"
April nodded and the door creaked as she went to close it a little more. "I will. Get something to eat ok?"
Mikey grinned despite the niggling concern for their new house guest and waited until April disappeared form sight before heading off slowly downstairs. The bounce in his step a little less bouncy.
He swung by the kitchen on his way to the couch in front of the TV, noting where everyone was so he wouldn't get caught snatching a whole pizza to himself. Then he meandered to the lounge room, plonked into his usual spot and devoured his stolen dinner with gusto, channel surfing. Although he ate with a little less gusto than usual maybe…and there wasn't anything interesting on to watch. Just news reports of some scientist's breakthroughs in genetics and how promising his work was.
Pfff. If Don was allowed up top in a real lab he'd run circles around all these supposed 'prodigal' scientists. Mikey refrained from rolling his eyes, shoving down the long standing annoyance that his brother was stuck in a hollowed out train car working with scraps.
If Don was given half a chance, he would change the world.
He sat for a few more minutes changing channels senselessly before he noticed April moving across the lair out for the corner of his eye.
He sprung up, it hadn't been more than ten minutes since he'd been at Leo's door. He went to say something but April cut him off by lifting a hand and giving a thumbs up.
"She's awake again." She said simply with a smile, waving an empty water bottle as explanation for her leaving Jay alone and hurrying to the kitchen. Mikey did a fist pump and gave April a thumbs up in return when she arrived back from the kitchen.
April laughed and disappeared upstairs, jogging back to Leo's room on the second floor. Mikey watched her go before he flopped back down on the couch.
This was good. Jay being awake was good. Maybe he would get to meet her. She would need something to keep her entertained while she was in Leo's room. There wasn't anything much in there as it was and Mikey knew the danger of being left alone in the dark and silence with your thoughts for too long.
He wondered what sort of music would she like. He reasoned he should probably update his songs list to include something a little more recent. It would be best he had a bit of everything prepared before he passed his beat up little ipod along to her. He wasn't sure she was a music fan, but to his mind it was the number one distraction when you needed to block the world out for a bit.
Mikey was going over his mental list of songs when he was shaken from his thoughts by April suddenly reappearing on the bottom floor of the lair again. He blinked at her and sat up, noting the very odd look on her face. Hadn't she just been up to Jay again? Why hadn't he heard her coming down the stairs?
Obviously Leo and Master Splinter were right, he needed to work on his Ninja hearing.
"April? Whats wrong? Weren't you just here a minute ago?"
April wrung her hands but kept her face as calm as possible.
"Where is everyone?" She asked simply, ignoring his question. Mikey frowned, standing up from the couch so he could look at her better.
"Don's still in his lab, Raph's in the Dojo with Casey and Master Splinter is with Leo meditating. Why? What happened? Is Judith ok? Do I need to get Don?"
April took a long breath before she answered, holding out a hand to stop the tide of his concerned questions.
"I think we need to call a family meeting." She said quickly. Mikey shut his mouth at April's serious expression, simply nodding as he set about helping April gather everyone into the lounge without another word.
Ten minutes later, with everyone seated, or in Raphs case pacing, around the couch April explained what had happened as calmly as she could. It was simple really, Judith had found the family picture on Leo's bedside table and she wanted to meet them. This was a good thing…kind of. Sure it was sooner than they had planned but at least this way she had asked to meet them. Not had it sprung on her.
April was met with silence after she finished and tension quickly built in the room. Several comments were passed between Raph and Leo and the vibe took a turn for the worse when what was quickly become a fight between the two escalated.
"How could you have missed that?" Leo demanded, face twisted in disbelief.
"Well I'm sorry Leo, next time I'm cleanin' ya room for a half dead girl I'll remember to completely remove any sign that we exist" Raph's glare was venomous and directed in full at his elder brother, no doubt disliking the way Leo was waving accusations around.
April attempted to step between the two warring brothers and stop the argument before it really got going.
"Both of you cut it out. We all missed it. I've been sitting in there for over a day. Don was in there, Mikey too. Geeze, even Master Splinter was in there checking up on her and he didn't see." She propped her hands on her hips, levelling them both with a disapproving stare. Leo glared at Raph, Raph glared some more at Leo, but the vocal argument did indeed end. "What matters here is that she wants to meet you guys, and she knows what to expect now she's seen the picture." April continued, looking from turtle to turtle.
"Miss O'Neil is right my sons. This is not the time for laying blame." Master Splinter's tail whipped back and forth as he spoke, a habit he had developed over the years that his sons knew meant he disapproved. "One of you must make your introductions."
Mikey sat up a little straighter in his seat. "Master, April said she wanted to meet us. As in…all of us"
Splinter shook his head and patted Michelangelo's shoulder.
"I do not believe she is ready to have all of you all in such a small room with her Michelangelo. Despite her words, perhaps she is trying to be brave in the face of the unknown."
Mikey frowned and slumped back into the couch, not saying anything but recognising that his father was probably right.
"I think Don should go then." He said after a seconds consideration. He knew he'd get shut down if he suggested himself to go, but Don was the next best option. "He's the one who can check to see if she's ok, and make sure she doesn't freak out too much and hurt herself"
Don looked over at Mikey and frowned, thinking. "I…don't know. I don't think she'll let me close enough to help her, but I suppose I can explain things better to her if she has questions about her injuries." He cracked his knuckles, a sign that something made him nervous. Raph cleared his throat.
"I'll do it if Don doesn't want to."
Leo snorted and shook his head at Raph's declaration, not saying anything but rolling his eyes. Raph rounded on him and shoved a finger into his plastron.
"What Leo? You got somthin' you wanna say?"
Leo knocked his finger away and sighed.
"I don't know if you're the right man for the job." He admitted, shrugging. Raph squared up and stepped into Leo's space, eyes narrowed.
"Oh and you are?"
Leo put his hands up and stepped back a bit from his brother. "I didn't say that, I just don't think you're attitude will help Judith right now."
Raph growled and went to say something but was cut off by the thumping of Master Splinter's walking stick on the ground.
"Enough!" Their master sighed and closed his eyes, taking a seat on the couch next to Mikey before he continued. "Leonardo is the eldest, he will make his introduction for this family. Donatello will accompany him and wait in case his skills are needed. I will have no more arguing. It is decided."
April and Casey exchanged glances, this wasn't going to end well for Raphs temper. Leonardo took a step away from his red clad brother and bowed formally in acceptance of his master's decision. Don stood, doing the same as a chorus of 'Yes Master' rose from the brothers.
Raph had snapped to attention at his father's formal address and bowed along with Leo and Don, but his hands were balled and shaking as he tried to contain the anger bubbling in his chest. Everyone stood together in silence as the pressure in the room built before April cleared her throat and gestured towards the stairs.
"I'll take you guys up and let her know you're there." She said with a small smile, turning on her heel and striding towards the upper level of the lair. Don and Leo nodded and went to follow her, Don diverting to his Lab to fetch his first aid kit as they hurried away. Raph watched them go with far too much tension in his jaw before letting out a long angry breath and headed off towards the kitchen, ignoring everyone as he stormed away. Casey sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.
"That could'ave gone better." He mumbled, eyes following the fuming Raphael as he disappeared into the alcove that served as the family dining room. Mikey made an odd noise that probably meant he disagreed.
"Nah, Raph didn't scream too loud and I didn't get punched. I think it went pretty ok" Mikey grinned up at Casey, propping his hands behind his head and leaning back further into the couch.
"Gotta love ya optimism Mikey, it's an inspiration to us all." Casey shot back, smiling despite himself before turning to follow Raph path out from the lounge room.
That left Mikey sitting alone with Master Splinter in the now quiet living room.
Mikey let out a sigh, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees. He glanced at his father out of the corner of his eye, opened his mouth to say something, thought better of it and closed it again. This happened a few times before Master Splinter 'hmmed' and spoke quietly.
"Is there something troubling you my son?"
Mikey twisted his bandanna tails between his fingers and nodded.
"Yeah. Why Leo? Don's the one who can fix her up and stuff if it goes bad."
Master Splinter opened his eyes and looked over at his youngest boy with a slight smile.
"When facing a situation like this, Michelangelo, sometimes it is not a question of skill but of spirit. While Donatello is indeed the most knowledgeable of your brothers, Leonardo has developed the calmest sense of self. His aura is that of control and strength…unless he is talking to Raphael. In which case all bets are off." Splinter chuckled and stood from the couch, scratching the fur under his chin in a contemplative manor. "Come, you have been neglecting your training and I see no reason for you not to catch up now."
Mikey blinked, looking up at his father with a mix of bafflement and shock. "At a time like this Sensei? How can you even think of training?"
"I find no reason for you not to utilise your time wisely while your brothers have other tasks they are attending to." His father frowned at him as Mikey stuttered to find something to say, anything that would stymie the need to enter the Dojo. He drew a pretty good load of nothing.
"What other tasks? Raphs sulking in the kitchen!" He threw in a last ditch effort at freedom and was met with a disapproving tail flick and a slightly annoyed look from his father.
"Raphael must learn to control his anger. He will be working on his meditation later when he has calmed enough to learn from it"
Damn. Escape route shot down in flames.
Letting out a pitiful little groan, Mikey extracted himself from the couch in the most unenthusiastic way he could manage, grumbling as he followed his teacher to the Dojo with slow, dragged steps.
Splinter's whiskers twitched in amusement at every sound of displeasure Mikey offered as they crossed the lair.
"It is no use my son, the more air you expel now, the less you will have when you attempt to hit me."
This caused some immediate distress and Mikey drew up short, eyes widening just a touch.
Wait…I thought we were just training. Kata's and stuff…"
Master Splinter slid the door of the Dojo open and raised a furry eyebrow.
"Michelangelo, sparring is a kind of stuff, and you are welcome to utilise the Kata movements you have learned during your training…" Splinter gave his son a sly look, tail swishing, "If you can remember any of them."
Raph was sucking down a mug of coffee when Casey finally caught up to him in the kitchen. He looked a lot like he was on the verge of an explosion, so his friend took a seat on the far side of the table, prepping himself to duck a flying coffee cup at any moment.
"So…" Casey broached after they had sat though a long stint of silence. Raph just growled and took another long sip of coffee. "You look like you need a beer"
That did it. That was it. Raph tipped over the edge and slammed the mug onto the table hard enough for the handle to snap off in his hand.
"I couldna done just a good a job as Leo. But no, wonder child has to get picked just for breathing. It's like the guy doesn't even have to work for it!"
Casey sighed at Raphs outburst.
Even after the whole brotherly bonding of the Winters Saga Raph was still preaching the same rhetoric. Casey could kind of see his point, it sucked that Leo got to make the calls, got to tell his brothers what to do. But there was another side to it as well, the stress of making the wrong calls, telling his brothers to do something that might end up with them hurt. Shouldering the responsibility in a fight was tough, even Casey knew that.
"Come on Raph, now ain't the time to be gettin' all tied up bout it. Take a breather."
Raph looked like he was going to start at Casey but then changed his mind and took a few long deep breaths.
"I know, I know, the weight of leadership and all that. Blah blah blah. Its just that this girl Judith, she got all worked up cause of me. Cause of somethin' I said. I ain't had the chance to make it right and even if she don't remember I gotta." He sat down at the table and sipped more from his mug, tossing the broken handle aside. "Then Leo gets the whole 'You will represent our family' crap and I saw red. S'like bein' told you just ain't good enough right to ya face."
"Yeah, but think of it this way. Leo's gonna get her all freakin' out and stuff, when you finally get to introduce your ugly self she'll be expectin' it." Casey leant back on his chair and propped his feet on the table.
Raph snorted, stretching out his legs and crossing his ankles. Most of the time Raph wouldn't have talked openly like this. It took a lot to work him up into a decent enough mood to get all share-and-care with his feelings. He and Casey just knew each other well enough, and had known each other long enough, to skip the wind up and hit straight at the point. It was refreshing when you had brothers who skirted some serious stuff to stop you blowing your top.
"You got a point there knuckle-head." He muttered.
Casey nodded at his own wisdom and contemplated the roof.
"I have my moments."
Leo followed April up the stairs, Don hot on his heels as they walked the well tread path to his room. They all stopped outside the door and Don fiddled with the first aid kit in his hands.
"Guess this is it." He said solemnly. "Better take off your weapons Leo, might scare her."
Leo looked confused then realised for the first time since they had gotten home that he still had his duel katana strapped to his back. He was so used to wearing them shrugging them off made him feel naked. But he did as Don suggested and carefully propped them by the door to the room.
April smiled at them both before opening the door a little.
"I'll let her know you're here ok?" She said quietly, disappearing into the dark room and leaving the brothers loitering outside.
"I know this is going to come back to bite me in the shell, but out of everything that's happened, this doesn't actually seem that weird to me." Don suddenly announced, leaning against the guard rail overlooking the lair. Leo glanced and his brother and laughed softly.
"Where did that come from?"
Don shrugged, smiling slightly at his brother.
"I just keep thinking that getting so tense over a human accepting us seems very…old school. Like it was the biggest thing to us a few years ago when we met April but now it just seems so...trivial in comparison to everything else we've been through. Its almost refreshing that the biggest thing we're really worrying about is whether or not Judith with freak out too badly when she meets us. Is that a bad sign?"
Leo shook his head in a solid 'no'.
"I get it. Now if she had been an alien leader-of-the-resistance from another dimension trying to escape a vicious military regime and any minute now their army was going to pour into the streets of New York, that would be a little more normal."
Donnie laughed and tried to stifle it when April reappeared from the room.
"Ok Leo, she's ready. Take it slow though ok" She kept glancing over her shoulder into the bedroom. Leo tried to relax his face, nodding to April and smiling at Don.
"Wish me luck." He muttered.
Don gave a mock salute, which Leo returned before he followed April into his room.
Despite how dark it was Leo's eyes adjusted quickly. Benefits to being a mutant included fantastic night vision and the ability to hold your breath for almost triple what a human could. His eyes went straight to the figure propped up in his bed amongst what looked like hundreds of pillows. He wondered where they'd all come from.
"Judith, this is Leonardo. Leo, Judith." April moved quickly to the chair beside the bed and sat down, leaving Leo standing by the slightly open door. Leo took a moment to properly examine Judith, trying to get a read for her before he acted. Master Splinter always taught them that knowing a person's intent would allow you victory, and while Leo wasn't aiming for victory per say, knowing how Judith was feeling would help him judge how far he could push, or what he could say.
Judith looked very petite in his bed, he figured that had something to do with all the pillows, but overall she wasn't a big woman. Her face was slim, but it flickered with shock before it twisted into an indistinguishable look as she stared at him from across the room. She was tense, her shoulders rigid and her hands carefully laid palms down either side of her on top of the bedspread. She was afraid, and trying to be brave.
Leonardo moved forward slowly until he was standing at the foot of the bed, making sure he remained face on to her and made no sudden movements.
"Hello Miss Carter." Leonardo finally broached when the silence got a little too loud. Judith blinked at him slowly and Leo could almost see the cogs grinding together in her head.
"Hello Leonardo." Her voice was scratchy and broken sounding, like she was on the verge of tears even if her face was carefully stoic. "Thank you for saving my life."
Leo offered a small smile.
"You're welcome Miss Carter. How are you feeling?"
Judith's hands had started shaking, Leo noticed because she had curled them up into fists so no one would see it. Standing closer to her let Leo read her face more carefully. The cut on her forehead had bruised up quite badly and it was creeping down from under the bandage stuck over the wound. Her eyes were firmly locked on him and her jaw was set so tight it looked painful. She was pale too. Far too pale.
"I don't know," She responded carefully. "Not that great."
Leo nodded, keeping himself steady so as not to alarm her. "My brother has given you pain medication. If you become too uncomfortable he can help you."
Judith didn't say anything for a moment before her eyes flicked to the door and she uncurled her hands.
"What are you? You and your brothers?" This question sounded a little more panicked and Judith noticed because she quickly firmed herself up and repaired the crack in her façade.
"We were born turtles and exposed to a mutagen when we were young. It made us into what you see before you." Leo answered simply, trying to keep his voice as gentle as possible.
Judith's eyes ran the full length of him for the first time since he'd come into the room and she nodded slowly.
"Ok. How…how long have you been…a mutant?"
Fair question.
Leo had to think about this one a bit. Birthdays just weren't a big deal down in the NY Sewers.
They used to be a big deal. When they had been smaller and first found out about the celebrations that occurred on the day you were born, the four turtle tots had been annoyed and upset at their father for not celebrating their birthdays, but Master Splinter had begrudgingly admitted that he wasn't sure of the boys birth dates actually where. He then went on to say that if they wanted to celebrate like topside fleshies did they were welcome to pick their favourite day of the year.
So each of them picked their favourite date as their birthday. It took a while, because Mikey kept changing his mind.
At first, every one of the boys developed a mental calendar and count down to their birthday. Wish lists stacked up, and Master Splinters face got a little more pinched and tired as each four dates rolled around. They never got everything they wanted, but it was a special day. They didn't have to train on birthdays, they had cake and all manner of junk food and they played games for hours.
But slowly, the excitement dwindled. The question 'How old am I...really?' cropped up more and more and training became a necessity as enemy attacks bombarded the brothers. The games didn't appeal. There was nothing left to ask for that could be supplied into the sewers. Then Mikey got his job doing birthday parties and the celebrations were banned completely. Don still wasn't sure he could handle another piece of over sweet birthday cake without gagging. Now they just tried to celebrate their 'mutation day'.
"Our father says we changed around twenty one, maybe twenty two years ago." Leo finally offered, watching as Judith's brown furrowed in thought and she folded her hands together in her lap. "But we have no way to be certain. Things were...hazy, in the beginning."
Was that too much information in one go? Leo wasn't sure.
"Your father…is that the rat? Is he the same? A mutant?"
"Yes. He was touched with the same mutagen." Leo nodded.
Judith went quiet after that, alternating between staring at her fingers and staring at him while she contemplated what he had just said. Eventually, she looked up and met his eye fully, seeming to have decided her next line of questioning.
"Where am I?" She asked quietly. Her shoulders had relaxed and she was starting to look tired, Leo could almost see the energy leeching out of her as she tried to keep on track and process everything she was being told.
"You're in our home." Leo answered, giving her the smallest of smiles. He was skirting the issue, trying to quell the question without giving a really real answer. Judith frowned and raised her chin a little, her shoulders squaring off again.
"Yes. April said. But where is home?" Ah, damn. She picked it and saw through it. Leo debated telling her she was in their sewer lair but discarded that idea as the tactical equivalent of shooting himself in the foot and thought of something else instead.
"The corner of Eastman and Laird, downtown." He offered finally. Judith looked confused and Leo suddenly remembered she was very, very new to the city. He could have said anything and she wouldn't have had a clue where he was talking about. She seemed to realise this too because she didn't follow up with any other questions about where they were.
There was another long stint of silence before Judith asked a particularly difficult question.
"When can I go home?"
April glanced at Leo, who gave a pained expression, before clearing his throat. He turned back to Judith, answering her as carefully as he could manage.
"Not just yet. We have to wait until its safe, until the people who were chasing you move on." He said. This might be the hardest bit for her to take.
When they'd met April it had been a shock for her to see four giant turtles and their rat father. She'd been in danger and grateful for their help but she'd been able to return to her life pretty quickly after they'd solved her little Stockman problem. With Judith it was trickier, she was hurt badly, she needed to heal and she couldn't do that up top without being a target. Don hadn't given a dead set recovery time but Leo knew Judith wasn't going anywhere any time soon.
"Oh." Judith's face seemed to relax and for a moment Leo hoped that maybe his statement had gone over better than he had thought it would. Then he noticed her eyes. They had filmed with a thin sheet of tears that were fast collecting in the corner of her lids and threatening to fall. "How long will that take? How long until I can leave?"
Leonardo got stuck on her question, unsure as to how to answer it. He could lie, say it would be soon, but then 'soon' might just come and he would have to explain to her why she was still here. He doubted she trusted him as far as she could throw him right now, so lying might not be a good start. He could try and sugar coat it, but he didn't think Judith would fall for it. She seemed suspicious as it was, she was probably expecting for a half truth or a lie.
"We don't know." He said finally, clasping his hands together in front of him and dropping his head. "I'm sorry. We're doing everything we can, but until you're forgotten by the Purple Dragons it's not safe. Their boss has eyes and ears everywhere."
Judith nodded and the movement sent the waiting tears tumbling down over her cheeks. She sat quietly, head slightly down turned and didn't move to wipe them away. Leo realised she probably hadn't noticed she was crying yet.
She was probably in shock.
"Miss Carter?" He took a tiny step forward and Judith registered he was talking to her. She looked up, blinking through the tears. This seemed to startle her into noticing that her cheeks were wet and she wiped her eyes with her uninjured hand in surprise. Noticing her tears didn't help her in the least. It made it worse. The tears started flowing thicker and faster and she scrubbed at them.
"Sorry." She managed, starting to breathe a little heavier. April went to reach out to her but Judith flinched away. "Sorry." She repeated, not looking at either of them. Her breathing was getting faster with every passing second and turning quickly into sobs, which Leo could tell was putting her in pain. "Its just…everything…" She stumbled over the words and saying them seemed to make it even worse. If she wasn't careful she was going to hyperventilate.
Leo curled his fingers tighter together, steadfastly resisting to urge to get closer so he could comfort her. Touch her shoulder, reassure her, anything to make this whole situation easier for her.
"I'm sorry, could you go. Please? Could you both just go?" Judith sunk down into the pillows, still scrubbing at her eyes and trying to control her breathing. "I just can't…I don't…please just go."
Leo could see April was hesitating, not wanting to leave Judith alone to work through everything on her own but despite herself she stood and nodded slowly.
"Ok. We're going." April said, walking quickly to Leo's side.
Judith didn't respond past a jerky nod as April took Leo's arm to lead him out of the room.
"I'm so sorry Miss Carter. We'll do everything we can." Leo said softly, inclining his head in a bow before he left with April, stepping outside just as Judith gave a muffled sob.
Don was waiting outside and from the pained look on his face Leo knew his brother already knew how the conversation had gone.
"How is she?" He asked quietly. April sighed and shook her head, leaning against the guard rail of the upper level.
"Not good. But I mean, how good can she be? She just woke up in a dark room, in pain, with four mutant turtles telling her a notorious gang want her dead. I think she's finding it hard to take it all in."
Leo winced at the way April laid it all out there but couldn't say it wasn't an accurate description of the situation. Donnie 'hmmed' and stared at the first aid kit still gripped in his hands.
"Would it be wrong for me to put a mild sedative in her water?" He asked, turning to stare steadfastly at Leo's bedroom door. "It would take the edge off everything until she's better healed and isn't going to hurt herself just by getting upset"
Leo cursed softly at his brother's suggestion and started pacing. Of course, it would be terrible if she pulled a stitch because she was crying, or hell, breathing too heavily. Damn it.
"I shouldn't have told her she had to stay here with us." He muttered angrily to himself, pausing his pacing to rub at his eyes.
"Its ok Leo, you did really well. If it's any consolation she at least didn't seem upset because of what you looked like. I think she just let herself realise her life is upside down." April reached out and squeezed his arm reassuringly.
"Thank you, April." Leo nodded, rolling his shoulders and straightening up. "Anyway, better go tell the others how it went."
April nodded and glanced at the nearly closed door.
"I think I'll wait around here. I'll get Casey to come up and keep me company in case Judith needs something."
Don interjected here with a frown. "You sure, April? You've been on call all day, don't you want to go home?"
April just smiled and crossed her arms over her chest.
"This girl is thousands of miles from home in a scary place full of mutants, I'm not letting the only friendly human face walk out on her until I know she's coping with you lot." It was said in a friendly jovial way but the underlying message was clear. Leo and Donnie smiled despite themselves, both deciding not to argue. There wasn't much point anyway, if April had made up her mind, there wasn't any real way to change it.
"Thank you" Leo reached out and clasped April's forearm in gratitude before the two turtles turned and started off towards the bottom level of the lair.
"You know. I don't think this is going to go over too well with Raph." Donnie said when they were half way down the stairs. Leo groaned.
"Thanks Don, way to cheer a turtle up."
Don smiled and shrugged. "Its not what you think Leo, just don't tell him she cried. If you tell him she cried he's going to bring up that time a couple years ago when you made Renet the Time Lords Apprentice cry because you…"
Leo cut him with a glare and a huff.
"Don't. Don't say another word." He growled, cheeks going a deep shade of green as heat rushed to them. Don smirked.
"I was just going to say that if she hadn't gotten curious about what you looked like naked, like, everything out naked, things would have gone a lot better."
Leo made an odd noise, kind of like a dying cat, and hid his face.
"Two years, I go away for two years and you guys still remember these things?"
Donnie laughed and slapped his brother on the shell. "What are brothers for if not to make you relive your most embarrassing moments?"
End Notes: So. Mightily long chapter.
Because I do not believe everyone has seen the TMNT 2003 series.
Renet the Time Lords Apprentice appeared in: Time Travails, Return of Savanti Part 1 & Return of Savanti Part 2.
If you'd like to know her background you can look her up on the TMNTPedia or youtube those episodes.