There's a bit of discussion about turtle anatomy after the break. Although it's not particularly graphic, I did debate leaving it out. In the end, I figured that it was better to keep it, just so that there was some explanation as to how Bishop pulls this whole thing off. I'm not a biologist or turtle expert, so I might have some details wrong. But, these are mutant turtles. They could never exist in real life anyway, so some suspension of disbelief is required to read these things to begin with! Anyway, if it makes you squeamish, have no fears. This is the only part of the story where anything like this is mentioned.
A half an hour later, Don's shell cell was brought to Bishop's office and wired into a secured government satellite phone. By the time Donatello called home, he was totally convinced that another invasion was coming, and his mind was already whirling with potential ways to stop it.
"Don!" Leo's voice called over the phone. "Where the shell are you? We've been looking everywhere! We found darts in the sewer, and...Just tell me that you're okay!"
"Don't worry, I'm okay," Don soothed. "Believe it or not, I'm at Area 51."
"Area 51! How did you get there?!" Leonardo barked.
"Bishop," Don stated plainly.
Michelangelo's tinny voice could be heard from nearby. "Well, duh."
"More words, Brainiac," Raphael growled.
"Right. So, Bishop or one of his goons must have found me in the sewer and nailed me with a tranquilizer dart."
"Rest assured, it was one of the goons. I don't do sewers," Bishop interjected.
"A goon, then," Don continued. "A goon nabbed me and I woke up in Area 51."
"Aaaand," Raphael prodded.
"And, I hate to tell you guys this, but from what I've seen, there is reason to believe that Zanramon has regained control of the Triceraton and that they might be gearing up for another invasion of Earth! Bishop showed me data from just prior to the last invasion, and it's matching a pattern that we are seeing again now. He's asked me to help him make sense of it."
"Why would he need you for that?" Michelangelo asked. "Doesn't he have an entire team working for him?"
"But, I've actually spent time with the Triceraton. None of the EPF can say that." Donatello ran a hand down his face, considering what to say next. The subject of his intelligence had always been something of a quagmire. His brothers knew that he was smart, but Don wasn't sure that they understood how unique his mind really was, or just how valuable he could be. Don didn't know how to broach the subject without bragging, and Bishop was of no help. The silence stretched awkwardly between them.
Finally, Leo spoke up. "You were kidnapped, Don. Do you honestly mean to tell me that you're buying into this story?"
"I heard the distress calls! I saw the data with my own eyes. I'm looking at a live satellite feed right now!" Donatello exclaimed.
"Distress calls and data can be faked, Don - sooo easily. I thought you were smarter than this!" Leo chastised.
"Yeah," Raphael agreed. "You've only been gone for a day. I thought that Stockholm Syndrome took longer than that to set in!"
"Is it really so hard to believe?!" Don spouted. "Why would Zanramon just let us off the hook after we embarrassed him like that? If he's managed to regain power, of course, he's coming back to settle the grudge!"
"Bishop is lying, Don! Otherwise, he wouldn't have felt the need to kidnap you and hold you prisoner!" Raphael cried.
Bishop cleared his throat. "To be clear, Donatello is free to leave at any time. While I may have brought him here against his will, I'm not going to force him to stay. He's not a prisoner here."
"Is this true, Don?" Leo asked.
"He... did say that I could leave, but… I have a duty here, don't I?"
"You serious, Don? Cause if you are, I'm coming too. Someone's gotta watch your back, cause clearly you ain't thinking right," Raph sputtered.
"Well, that's not happening," Bishop laughed. "Donatello is my invited guest, but if I see scale or shell of the rest of you hooligans, you'll be confined to a cell."
"Tell me that you're not seriously considering staying, Donatello!" Leonardo begged.
"I… they…" Donatello stammered. "The Triceratons probed my mind. Do you know how violating that was? They kidnapped me and almost April and Casey too. They put us on a prison ship! They almost destroyed Earth! Look what they did to Honeycutt! If Zanramon is back, we're not safe! Earth isn't safe! How can I turn my back on this?!"
"If you're really free, come home," Leonardo begged. "Research this on your own. If Bishop is so desperate for your help and the threat is truly dire, he'll agree to your terms. Do not stay there, Donatello!"
"I can't give Donatello access to my resources if he's not here on-site with me. It would be a huge security threat," Bishop explained.
"He's giving me access to SETI. I'd be working as part of a team," Don said weakly. In the back of his mind, he'd always wondered what he could do if he wasn't forced to work alone and in the sewer. He could create miracles out of a pile of garbage. Imagine what he could do with nearly limitless resources. "I can't. I can't ignore this, guys. I'm sorry."
"Don!" everyone scolded at once.
"If I can disprove it, I'll be home soon. And if it's real, you'll all thank me later."
"Don!" Leo yelled. "Don't do this!"
Don turned his shell to Bishop and lowered his voice. "We all know that Bishop isn't really so bad at heart. He does care about the safety of this planet, and… we've seen what he becomes."
"He's not that guy yet. And in that future, earth was free, so clearly it wasn't invaded by the Triceraton," Leo reasoned.
"Or we stopped it!" Don cried. "I can stop this! I can!"
"There's nothing to stop!" Raphael yelled back. "Don't fall for his tricks! Use that big brain of yours."
Donatello just shook his head. It wasn't worth fighting anymore. "I'm safe. I'm going to work here for a while, but I'll call again tomorrow if I can. I love you guys." He said it calmly, then hung up the phone. After all the yelling, the silence was deafening.
Bishop personally triple-checked Donatello's scans one last time. While he had become quite familiar with the turtles' unique biology over the past few years, he still couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to go wrong at the last minute. It was all just too good to be true - a perfect accident, just like the turtles themselves.
While Donatello and his brothers were indeed 100% male, their mutations had left them with some vestigial organs. Both male and female turtles have cloaca, which house, amongst other things, the reproductive organs. When the brothers were mutated, their male organs, while still internal, took on a far more human-like position and anatomy. However, the now-empty cloaca remained connected to their tails, which they kept hidden within their shells. Bishop didn't know why this was, but he assumed it had something to do with modesty. In his opinion, this was rather strange, considering that they walked around practically naked.
There was essentially no modification at all needed to convert the cloaca to something that could be used to nurture the embryos that Bishop had cultivated. He even had high hopes for a live birth. When the time was right, the babies should be able to exit through the tail, just as when a female turtle lays her eggs.
The pregnancy itself would need careful monitoring. Plastrons simply weren't designed to stretch, and there were various internal organs that may be in the way as the embryos grew into fetuses. Bishop was confident that he and his team could handle this. He had a fully equipped medical center at his disposal in case of an emergency. Donatello's body wouldn't know how to nurture the pregnancy on its own, but Bishop's top experts had carefully selected the hormones that would be needed and calculated how much to provide at each stage. It would be fine.
The one thing that Bishop and his team disagreed on was the number of embryos to implant. Each of them had been created through artificially producing and cultivating eggs, which carried varying amounts of genetic code from each of the four turtle brothers. Some would consider the science to be decades ahead of its time, but for someone like Bishop, it was nothing. Once the eggs were viable, Bishop used Donatello's own, naturally produced genetic material to fertilize them. He had harvested this when Donatello had been previously captured. Currently, Bishop was in possession of three viable embryos.
Bishop wanted to implant all three. In his mind, Donatello should be able to handle carrying triplets. Due to his origins, his body was wider and stockier than a human's, and he was exceedingly strong. He should be able to handle multiples without any deadly complications. Turtles carried huge clutches of eggs all the time, and according to Bishop's projections, these babies would be smaller than a human newborn. Turtles were notoriously slow-growers, after all.
Bishop's staff argued that implanting three embryos was foolish and that this first pregnancy should be considered a test run. They wanted one, maybe two implanted so that the turtle's reaction could be studied before attempting further pregnancies. But, Bishop felt they didn't see the big picture. The turtles were dangerous foes, this one in particular. But, Donatello valued life and family above all else. He wouldn't risk endangering the budding lives in his care. Therefore, a complicated pregnancy would only make him more dependent upon Bishop's care, and therefore much easier to handle. And, if Donatello suffered fatal complications, he could be kept alive artificially until the delivery. Then, there would be three new turtles to replace him - turtles raised to respect and obey Bishop's every command.
That night, as Donatello slept, his room was flooded with gas. It was a seamless transition between restless slumber and complete drug-induced sedation. Bishop's staff entered his room with a stretcher and transported him to the infirmary. He was given large dosages of anti-rejection medications, as well as the specially formulated hormones that would encourage his body to accept the pregnancy. Some minor modifications were made to his cloaca via arthroscopic surgery. Bishop's medical team then implanted all three embryos and returned Donatello to his room to continue sleeping as though nothing had ever happened.
The next morning, Donatello woke up feeling rundown, and sore in places that shouldn't be sore. He also had a bad headache that was flaring even worse than it had been the day before. Don had a little breakfast and a lot of fluids, in the hopes that it would help him to feel better. Given that he was being held captive, he was not above suspecting that something had been done to him in the night. When he took his morning shower, he examined every inch of his body but found nothing suspicious.