Rating: T for occasional language. Also see other warnings.
Disclaimer: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and all related characters belong to Nickelodeon.
Summary: Bradford has always blamed Michelangelo for his misfortunes and especially for his mutation so when he manages to capture the young ninja, he's going to make sure he knows exactly what it's like. 2k12 AU.
Warning: Warnings for physical and mental torture in this story abound, as well as for implied and highly disturbing situations. Trigger warnings may apply for some chapters. There will not however, be gruesome details. Some things are best left up to the imagination.
Concrit, thoughts and comments always welcomed.
Minnie1015: MWAHAHahahaaaa and I will let you know what happened to Donnie as soon as I can :-) No, poor Mikey can't :-( Thank you :-)
T420000: Yeah, I've read and seen stories with terrible storms at sea and those are what inspired this. Heck, just early this year? Late last year? A container ship was caught in a bad storm not far from the Australian coast and while the ship survived, several of the shipping containers were dislodged and knocked overboard, losing so much medical supplies and other things. It was terrible and just goes to show it happens in real life too, as well as fiction. I'm glad you're on it and I hope things are still going well in regards to that :-)
BlingThing: That's good to know :-) Yeah, hopefully that's all it is XD Time-wise, they won't reach NY for another couple of weeks or thereabouts but chapter-wise, it''ll only be a few more chapters – ch 32. Still, plenty to happen in the meantime :-)
ViolaHarmony: The last thing Donnie wanted to do was leave Mikey but he felt he had no choice with how bad that storm became so fast... did I make such a promise? :-P Well, Donnie's my second fave character so... yeah :-P Yeah, Leo's terrified that finding the human doctor will bring them trouble but they really don't have a choice right now. Mikey's hurt badly and fading fast. Sans Donnie, it's their only choice...
How Much is that Turtle in the Window
ch 28
"Leo!" Raph repeated, his voice suddenly more urgent. Leo turned to see Mikey had slumped and wasn't stirring, even with Raph shaking him. Fear shone in his bright green eyes and Leo made his decision.
"Stay here, keep trying to get him to wake up," he commanded as he slid out from under the rope.
"What are you going to do?"
"Bring back the ship's doctor," Leo replied tightly. Raph stared at him in open betrayal but then his expression hardened and he nodded. He'd obviously realised what Leo had. "I'll be back as soon as I can," he promised.
"Okay, well be... be careful, Leo," Raph said, his eyes filled with something vulnerable that Leo couldn't quite identify.
Nodding, Leo pulled out his shuko spikes and then slipped out the door, careful of his footing with the still roiling ocean tossing the ship about under his feet.
The sky was still dark with clouds, the rain falling in thick sheets and the wind, if it wasn't for his spikes, it probably would've blown him from the narrow ledge he stood upon. Leo looked around for any sign of Donnie and seeing nothing, sighed, then began making his way carefully down the stack of sea containers to the deck of the ship below, keeping an eye out for danger the whole time.
Loose rigging whipped dangerously about and a couple of tarpaulins flapped loudly, held in place by only one or two knotted ropes. No one wandered the deck, obviously smarter than he, or... rather less desperate and he made his way along, digging his shuko spikes into anything he could for extra grip.
Finally, after what seemed like hours, he made the entrance of the ship and struggling with the door against the howling wind, managed to get inside and close it behind him again.
His sharp eyes peeled, he searched the corridor ahead, senses stretched for anything. There was nothing of immediate concern so Leo ran, snatching up a thick, hooded raincoat hanging up nearby and slipping it on. It didn't do anything to cover his feet and hands or face but at a distance, hopefully, it would be enough in case he ran into anyone.
By this point, he, Donnie and Raph had thoroughly cased the ship in the dead of night and they knew where everything was as well as they knew the tunnels around their own home so he made his way straight for the small medical bay.
It wasn't a huge ship, by cargo ship standards and therefore the crew wasn't that big. They weren't sure of the qualifications of the medic, whether they were just a nurse, field medic or a fully-fledged doctor and the room certainly wasn't equipped like a hospital but surely there'd be someone or something to help his smallest brother.
Mikey had been through so much since he'd been captured and Leo couldn't handle the idea of him going through all that only to die now. He had to take the risk and if worst came to worst and their presence was made widely known, they'd just have to abandon their shelter and seek better hiding in the bowels of the ship. They were ninja, no one would find them if they didn't want to be found but the big concern was Michelangelo. If he lived, and he would, Leo was determined, hiding him would be hard considering those manacles so badly hindering his movements.
A door opened ahead and Leonardo's eyes widened slightly even as he darted for cover. A man came out and looked his way as if he'd seen something but then turned and walked away and Leo breathed easily once more. Once the human was out of sight, he began running again.
Within a couple minutes, he reached the medical bay. He peeked in the open door to see two men, one bandaging the other as he talked softly in Japanese. Not long later, the injured party was given a cold compress and sent on their way. The medic collapsed tiredly into a nearby chair and Leo edged into the room, closing the door behind him and locking it.
The human looked up, his eyes going wide as he saw Leo's green inhuman face.
[Please don't scream,] Leonardo begged urgently. [I won't hurt you but I desperately need your help.]
The medic swallowed fearfully but curiosity filled his intelligent eyes as he looked Leo up and down. [W-what are you?]
Leo pulled back his hood, [Mutant turtle. I promise I won't hurt you but it's urgent. My brother's been badly hurt. Head injury. He was hit at least twice by debris in the storm.]
[I'm not a vet, Turtle-san, I'm only trained to treat humans,] the man replied, voice still fearful as he openly stared at Leo.
[You're all we have. Please, will you come help him?] Leo pleaded desperately, bowing deeply to show both his respect and sincerity at how badly he needed his help.
[Where is he?]
Leo winced, still holding his bow. How could he tell him and give away their hiding place without having an answer first? What if he said no? What if he went straight for security or the captain?
[I cannot help if I don't know where he is, Turtle-san and I take it he is too injured to be moved or you wouldn't have come to get me.]
[That and no one else can know we're aboard,] Leo explained hoarsely. [We'd be captured or killed. I'm taking an unbelievable risk even coming to you now.]
[Stowaways, huh?]
[Not quite... My brother was cargo. He'd been captured by evil ninja and was being transported to America. My other brothers and I came aboard to rescue him.]
[And gain passage back to America,] the human replied in a knowing tone.
Leo shot upright, staring at him in surprise.
[Your accent is very good, Turtle-san but it still gives you away.] He smiled, picking up a medical bag and quickly checking its contents. [I am Asahi.]
[Leonardo,] Leo reciprocated with a small smile of relief. He pulled up his hood again, covering his face as best he could and moved to the door.
[Let me go first, Leonardo-san. Do not worry, if you and your brothers pose no threat, I will keep your secret.]
[Thank you, Asahi-sensei,] Leo replied in relief. [Ano… it might be best if we get some rope to tie us together. It's extremely treacherous outside right now.]
[No problem. There is a locker with some by the exit to the deck,] Asahi replied as he led the way.
As they ran, Leo pulled out his T-phone and rang, hoping that Raphael had the foresight to turn his on when he left.
"Where the hell are you, Leo?" Raph snapped as soon as he answered.
"On my way back with the ship's medic," Leo replied tightly. "How's Mikey?"
"Still won't wake up. He's pale, Leo, real pale and he threw up not long ago. Not that he had much of anything in his stomach to throw up with in the first place."
Asahi turned to look back worriedly. [We should hurry, Leonardo-san.]
Leo nodded and picked up the speed. "Just do what you can, Raph. We'll be there soon."
-:-
Leo watched as Asahi put down his equipment and collapsed against the wall of the sea container. It had been all he could do to keep Raph under control as they watched the medic hurriedly work on their brother, drilling a small hole in his skull to relieve the pressure building up inside.
[Will he be alright, Asahi-sensei?] Leo asked anxiously.
"I believe so," Asahi replied in deeply accented English, watching Raph warily as he did. "I believe we got back here in time but if we'd been much longer..."
Leonardo and Raphael exchanged terrified looks.
"He will have to be monitored, Leonardo-san and it would be best to do that in my sickbay."
"No!" Raph spat furiously, shooting to his feet to stand over the human threateningly. "Mikey stays here with us! Where it's safe!"
Asahi looked around wryly, trusting Leo to keep Raphael from actually doing anything. "This place does not appear safe or clean, Raphael-san. You do not even have adequate facilities should something go wrong. I can assure you if you bring him down, I will make sure no one else discovers him. I'll place the privacy curtain up. No one, not even the captain violates that."
"And if someone should ask questions about who is behind that curtain?" Leo asked firmly. "What then? What do you tell them?"
Asahi looked lost for a moment. "I'll just say it was one of my previous patients who I wanted to keep a closer eye on. That would be true as I did keep someone back for a couple of hours early on in the storm and it would certainly be true in the case of Michelangelo-san. One of you could accompany him. It would probably be wise anyway since if he were to awaken in the presence of a stranger, he might panic and start yelling."
Leo and Raph exchanged looks again, this time sad ones.
"The panic is likely," Leo agreed, pain filling his voice, "but the yelling... not so much. He's been made mute by something his captors did to him. We don't know why or how but he can't make a sound now."
"You said evil ninja when you came to get me," Asahi said, looking down at Mikey again, studying the etching in the metal of his paws. "I see he wears the Foot Clan symbol."
"What do you know of the Foot?" Raph growled suspiciously. He reached for a sai only to be stopped by Leo's firm hand on his wrist.
"Not much, only rumours and urban legends. Including that of other victims having been made mute by them so they could torture them in dense city blocks."
Leo felt the blood rush from his face. "Do you know how?" he asked, desperate for answers at last. If they only knew what happened then maybe Donnie could fix this and help Mikey! Then his heart fell as he remembered Donnie was missing and knowing he could do nothing about that right now, he refocused on Asahi. "Between that and the fact they welded those..." he choked momentarily as he thought about the pain his little brother had to have gone through, "manacles on him, he hasn't been able to communicate with us until very recently and only because our other brother started teaching him Morse Code."
"Yes, you did say brothers, plural, earlier. Where is your other brother?"
Raph growled again, not liking the nosy questions.
"We don't know. He left Mikey alone in the storm to try to find us and hasn't been seen since," Leo explained emotionlessly. He couldn't afford to crack right now or he'd never regain control of his emotions and that wouldn't help anything.
"I see, then... you know it's not..."
"Just shut up! You don't know anything!" Raph spat furiously, the fear making his voice shake. "Donnie's fine and he'll come back when it's safe to!"
"Raph," Leo murmured, reaching out a hand again only to be shrugged off.
Asahi nodded. Then, "As I said, rumours and urban legends. I cannot say what was done or if they were ever cured or even if it was anything more than bedtime stories to frighten children. Now, I must get back before someone starts searching for me. There are likely to be more injuries caused by the storm," he said quietly, tiredly pushing himself upright. "Please, bring your brother to me as soon as you can."
"Wait!" Raph choked out incredulously. "You can't think we can just let you leave knowing where we are!"
"I promised him, Raph. It's okay," Leo said firmly.
"Oh, because that incident with 'Hakuba-san' worked out so well!" Raph snarled, turning on Leo as he viciously air-quoted the man's name.
"That was different. He was Foot."
"And how can we be sure this guy isn't?"
Leo sighed, knowing full well he should have expected this. "We can't but he doesn't have the bearing of someone trained in martial arts and besides, I promised him and last I was aware, I was still the leader, Raphael."
As Raph stood seething, Leo turned to the worried-looking Asahi, "I'll help you get down again safely, Asahi-sensei."
"Thank you, Leonardo-san. As I said, bring your brother as soon as you can after dark. For his sake."
-:-
Once Leo returned again, Raphael stormed outside to search for Donnie, promising to be back at sundown and Leo slumped to the ground beside Mikey, watching him worriedly.
He hadn't stirred in all the time the medic had worked on him and Raph said he hadn't moved before that either. Leo closed his eyes in pain and reached out a hand, gently brushing his brother's forehead, relieved to still feel cool warmth emanating from him.
"You have to fight, Mikey," he said hoarsely. "I don't know what we'd do if we lost both you and Donnie as well as father. You can't leave me alone with just Raph. You can't!"
Leo breathed raggedly for several minutes, fighting back his roiling emotions to regain precious control so he could speak again. "Neither of us could take it, you know, being stuck with only each other for company... so please, you can't give up on us. We need you more than you could ever realise, little brother."
There was still no response but Mikey kept breathing, slowly, roughly and Leo drew in on himself, wrapping his arms around his knees as he watched Mikey simply breathe.
In and out.
In and out, small hitches here and there.
After a time, Leo found his head sinking onto his knees and his eyes sliding shut. He was so tired. Couldn't remember the last time he'd slept but it was more than a day ago. Even then, he hadn't slept much in the last year, not since Mikey had been taken.
They'd fought so hard to get to him after his astral cry for help but they'd been unsuccessful at every turn.
There'd been the ninja army at the two possible ports, blocking their attempts to get to the ships. Each time another ship was headed for Japan, whether cargo or luxury passenger liner, they'd tried desperately to board it, each time to be blocked by Foot patrols or highly increased security and feds investigating anonymous tips.
Then came the patrols keeping them trapped in the sewers.
The Shredder knew they wanted to rescue their brother and blocked them at every turn.
For weeks, they were blocked from even leaving their home for fear of discovery and for a time they were forced to resort to their old food supply of worms and algae. It was only luck and foresight that Splinter had insisted they keep up the cultivation in case of emergency. In the end, it was only Donnie's repaired turtle sub that allowed them to leave their home but even that was perilous as they discovered enemy patrols throughout the waters of New York.
Once they left, they hadn't been able to return home and had to hole up with April and Kirby O'Neil for a time. In the end, after multiple attempts, they only managed to get to Japan by first leaving New York by road and travelling to another port in another city, far from their home. But they'd been determined to get Mikey back and refused to give up.
It had finally paid off. They'd found him at last, hurt, abused and seemingly amnesiac but they'd found him nonetheless and now here he was, his life in danger once more after having lost their father and with Donnie missing, most likely dead.
Leo choked in pain and tried to suck up his feelings. He couldn't let them loose. Not now. Not if he wanted to hold it together for both himself and Raph... as well as for Mikey.
He didn't know what Mikey had been through, his brother refused to talk to them and it hurt so much not knowing. At least he'd finally begun opening up to Donnie but Donnie was gone and he and Raph had trouble understanding him with their limited Morse.
"Mikey..." Leo whispered, his heart aching terribly, "please open your eyes and look at me. I'm still here. I won't leave you, I promise but I need you to do your part and fight to stay with us."
There was still no response and Leo sighed miserably. He looked up and over at the mattress blocking all the crates and other things from flying at them. The ocean had died down more as the wind quietened and Leo bit his lip, contemplating if he could risk searching behind it. If nothing else, they could do with some water. Just then, the ship listed again, not like earlier but still dangerously enough that Leo had to grab hold of Mikey to stop him sliding about.
He sighed miserably in defeat. Asahi-sensei was right. They needed to get Mikey to the infirmary but the risk of getting him there... He looked up, staring at the door and willing Raph to return but the door didn't open and no one came swaggering in.
-:-
"Ran into the doc down there," a familiar voice said harshly, startling Leo and making him shoot upright to look tiredly into Raph's own baggy eyes. "He gave me these and reminded me to bring Mikey. Said the rush seems to have died down for the infirmary."
Leo's gaze dropped to take in a couple of water bottles, blanket and another raincoat. He eagerly reached for a bottle, uncapping it. Then turned and gently tried to pour some into his unconscious brother's mouth.
"Let me," Raph growled. "You drink. You need it too."
"Thanks, Raph," Leo rasped tiredly.
"He moved at all?" Raph asked as Leo worked on draining his bottle.
"No... Not at all," Leo replied once he'd swallowed. "Did you find any sign of...?"
"No..." Raph muttered darkly and he carefully poured a small amount of water into his insensate brother's mouth. He sighed in defeat. "Much as I hate to admit it, I think the doc's right. We need to get Mikey to him..."
"I know," Leo closed his eyes in pain.
"I don't trust him, Leo..."
"But we've no choice," Leo finished glumly. "It was take the risk or watch him die and he would have. Even if Donnie was here, he would have died without outside help..."
Raph nodded miserably. "It's dark enough now, though it's still hairy out there. We should wrap Mikey in the blanket to hide him and take him down there now."
"Agreed," Leo replied dully, immediately clambering to his feet. He and Raph worked on getting their brother wrapped securely in the blanket and then each put on their coats, Leo the one he picked up that morning and Raph, the one he'd been given not long before. Then the two carefully positioned Mikey on Raph's shell, tying him in place and carefully made their way out and to the infirmary with Leo scouting the way ahead.
Asahi stood instantly upon seeing them and directed them to lay Mikey on the cot, pulling the curtain around as soon as he was settled. There the medic worked on hooking Mikey up to the limited medical equipment as Leo and Raph anxiously watched.
"I have asked my friend to help by keeping out of sight, just in case anyone asks questions."
"Wait! You said you wouldn't tell anyone about us," Raph snarled. He whirled furiously on Leo. "I told you we couldn't trust him!"
Leo glared accusingly at Asahi.
"I did not tell him about you, just asked him to help and that it was important for an undisclosed passenger," Asahi quickly assured. "While not common, we have had secret passengers in the past, who I have taken care of out of necessity. He will help and keep the secret, thus allowing me to tell anyone else who asks that it is he who is being kept in here."
"Alright," Leo reluctantly agreed. "However, I will be staying here with Mikey." Raph made a noise of protest and Leo looked up with a tight smile. "Keep looking for any sign of what happened to Donnie if you can but please, be careful and stay out of sight."
"Yeah, okay but call or message me to let me know you two are okay. I'll turn on the T-phone for a few minutes at the top of every hour."
Leo nodded. "Just be sure to keep it on silent."
Raph snorted indelicately and left, leaving Leo to watch over their ailing brother as Asahi worked on caring for him again.
-:-
Sensei – a term of respect for people like doctors and teachers, among others.
Ano – basically um
