Author's Note: Very sorry this took so long, real life kept getting in the way for Glazier Blue and I and it was a killer trying to find time to do this. But here we are with the next part of the story. We hope you like it as we did the best we could. Enjoy.
Chapter 16: Price of Freedom Part 1
The journey home was in a hasty but uncomfortable silence. The three were somewhere between shocked, confused and traumatized cast a shadow over the relief they should have been feeling... Though the bizarre turn of events had ended in their favor, the cost may have been too high, as the three were reminded when taking a glance towards there still unconscious brother. Why had he not woken up yet? What more injuries had he suffered at the hands of the Rat King? Speaking of, the "unfortunate" turn of events that had left the Rat King to be devoured by his own rats was going to be enough to fuel their nightmares for a fortnight. Even having Donatello back, survival seemed to have left an icy cold and bitter taste in their mouth. This wasn't going to be something they could easily put behind them.
The three released a shaky sigh of relief upon reaching their homes threshold, but reality dictated that this wasn't over yet. As they entered the lair, something occurred to the youngest, stopping him in his tracks, "Wait!"
"What? What is it!?" Startled Raph still on high alert held a sleeping brother closer to his chest before shifting his stance into a more defensive position.
"Sorry..." Mikey held up his hands. "What about Master Splinter?" He said nervously. "What if he's…you know…still out of his mind?"
"I don't believe he will be," Leonardo shook his head, trying to remain positive. Their father had led them to their brother's location, and somehow turned all the rats on their King. It was only logical to assume that he managed to break the control that ensnared him. At the same time, what if it hadn't? Rk had been a powerful empath, somehow managing to take over thousands of primitive creatures' minds all at once, and even an advanced one like Splinters. Their father could still be trapped there. Abandoned in that web he saw on the spirit plane…. How could they free him from there? Or what if Splinters mind was just... gone?! Like he had died along with the Rat King and left a living body behind? Splinter may never wake up... Left in a veggie state... or worse... What if he was now just left as a barbaric primitive rat!? Leo almost jumped when he was brought out of his dark thoughts.
"But how can we be sure Leo." Raph muttered a little to defensively as he carried his little brother into the lair. As much as he really wanted to their father returned to them, skepticism wouldn't allow them the luxury just yet. The injuries they had all suffered would be a reminder of just how vulnerable they actually were in comparison to their father's deadly skill. Without his memories they would truly be lost.
"Even when he was acting like a rat, he still had enough tendencies… Just saying how do we know deception isn't one of them?" Raph stopping, feeling the need to push what he believed to be a legit point. His answer was an eerie silence that only affirmed his fears.
"I'm…with Raph on this one," Mikey couldn't help but agree. His right arm unconsciously rubbing his sling. Trembling at the phantom pain of his shoulder been wrenched from his socket. Though he knew it hadn't been Splinter really, it was nothing in comparison to the gleeful look on his father face when it happened. "In the movie's when the heroes just think it's over and it's all Happy Ever After, the bad guy always has a last ace card that could turn things around by tricking them."
"Accept the rat king is dead! That means Sensei … should be back... to normal..." hopefully. Leo shut the lair door like he was trying to slam out the 'doubt' and leave it outside, because if their fathers mind wasn't to return, it would be down to him to make the logical choice that no son should ever have to make. Master Splinter would be the first to tell him to always put the protection of the clan first. But Leo's moral compass didn't seem to want to point to logical right now. Then how could they risk releasing him? There was no way they could take him down for a second time. If he had retained his fighting instincts, he could avoid being pelted with the onions.
No! hold that thought! Donnie was the first priority, "Raph, can you take Donnie to the med bay and look him over? Try and wake him up. Mikey you'll come with me to check on Master Splinter."
"Uh… Leo no offence but I really don't want to find out if that is still fake daddy? Can't I take Donnie?" Mikey knew he wouldn't be able to handle it if his dad was never coming back, and he wasn't ready to find out yet.
This was answered with a dramatic huff from the red clad brother... "Mikey if you think you can carry Donnie with one arm, check him over and clean him up, be my guest," Raph spat holding the purple clad brother even closer to him. The statement clearly soaked in dangerous sarcasm, because the warning look said he would beat to death anyone who even tried to take Donnie off him right now.
Mikey thought better of it. It was obvious that Raph was needing a little more reassurance right now. The horrific image of Donnie being hanged had been etched into all their minds eye.
At that the two watched Raph disappear with Don into the infirmary repressing every urge to follow. Leo instead placed a comforting hand on his little brother. "He will be alright thanks to you Mikey. Besides I need you to hold the onions while I check over father."
"Uh…onions? Yes! that's helpful…I can be helpful," Mikey glad to be put in charge of the safety item. After that everyone settled into their respective tasks without further argument.
Upon walking through the lair towards their father last location, they felt an unexpected chill. Though they knew where they had left him, they couldn't help letting their eye's wonder to every dark corner of the lair. A place that had always been known as safe, was now tainted. Even Leo paled upon re-seeing his own blood on the ground from Raph's Sai had piercing him.
No! Donnie was home. The rat king was dead. Their father had to be free... he had to be. Leo and Mikey soon spotted their father, right where they had left him, restrained down to the medical cot. Their hearts pounding with every nerve on high alert. Leo taking the lead approached him first. "Do you remember where you put the onions?"
The youngest nodded quickly snatching up the bag with his good arm and unzipping the airtight seal with his teeth, holding them ready. He winced at the odor.
Leo soon closed the remaining distance. Holding his breath as he leaned over the figure, double checking that he was still strapped down. Even his tail was wrapped up and bound, and he was still blindfolded.
His still form was worrisome. If it wasn't for the rise and fall of his belly, he could be presumed dead, "S-Sensei? Can you hear me?" Leo said in a moderate voice. Mikey cringe with fear. Both waiting for any kind of violent reaction. Nothing happened, even after their breathing hitched. The two traded glances, "I think he's still out of it."
"I'm not fully convinced," Mikey whispered clutching the onions tighter.
"Why are you whispering?" Leo raised a curious eye.
"Because he might hear us."
"Mikey, we want him to hear us... and he's tied up."
"Oh... yeah. Good point."
Leo shook his head before looking back at their father deciding to be bold. His hand reached out shakingly. First, he undid the blindfold, then he gently lifted the eye lid before sighing in relief.
"No, he's still out... but his eyes have rolled up into the back of his head, so I can't see if there still red," He sighs sadly.
"So that wasn't at all helpful," Mikey added sarcastic.
Leo nodded in agreement placing the blindfold back, "I guess we won't know until he wakes up, he must be exhausted."
"Well, I am sleeping with one eye open and an onion under my pillow until I know he's back to normal," Mikey declared as his eyes started to water some from the odor.
"Hey!" Raph caught their attention as his head peaked around from the med bay.
"Hey... How's Donnie? Is he awake yet?" They both asked.
"No...I tried. He's out of it," Raph said glumly. "But you should see this."
Hearing what could be the first of a long list of their brother's injuries sent a pang of dread through the other two. With haste they made their way to the joining med bay room. In the harsh lighting they found the battered and bruised form of the purple banded brother lying on his side on the spare cot. It broke the brothers hearts to see him in such a state. But at least his plastron was rising and falling. But why hadn't he woken up yet?
"What's wrong?" Leo asked thinking the worse.
Raph's response was with a need to punch something. Preferably something moving with bandages and rotten skin and red eyes, but unfortunately, he had allowed the thousands of slave rats to rob him of that last satisfaction.
"We would need the scanner to be sure, but his arm is broken right in half and not in right place. It's a miracle it hasn't broken through the skin."
"Oh shell. Ouch! Thanks for that image, Raph," Mikey turning even greener than before, as Leo too looked on in mortification at the news.
Raph pointed to his brother's right arm, where the radius and Ulna bones were. Upon a closer look they could see it was jagged and out of place, showing the breaks.
"He couldn't even defend himself!" Raph sneered. "The Rat King is lucky he's rat chow, because I really want to rip him up!"
"Let's not think about him now," Leo trying to calm his brother. "We have to focus on helping Donnie, his arms going to need resetting."
"But…how?" Mikey chimed in with a guilty tone. "How do we deal with broken bones? Donnie always tried to teach us how to be medics... But I kind of skipped over all those lessons." He said looking at the ground shamefully.
"We all did. We always assumed Donnie would be there to do it for us," Leo added sadly. The three hung their heads. Donnie always got so into his lectures, It was the only time they would say he lit up. But the glint in his eye and the wide smile on his face always came with a lot of big, complicated, words or medical lingo they couldn't follow. They didn't have the heart to tell him they couldn't understand what he was saying. They had tried but soon lost interest. Here and now, the three silently promised that would change in the future, but that didn't help them at the moment. Regrets had arrived with vengeance. After all, who heals the healer?
"What about Leatherhead?" Mikey said hopeful.
"No. He said something about going scavenging and won't be back for a few days," Leo shook his head.
"So, there is nothing we can do! We are all just going to stand here useless while both our brother and father suffers?!" Raph spat voicing all three of their guilt and frustration.
"Raphie." Leo quickly stepping forward before he could launch into a rant. "We are just going to take one step at a time." He looked around the med bay trying to think of what that could be. Of course! "Donnie is going to need some pain relief when he wakes up. You can get the IV ready." Raph nodded, forcing a deep breath to calm himself.
"Helping Casey busting heads, I did get a few sprains and broken fingers in my time. I can make splint." Raph feeling a bit more motivated to do as he was told.
"We can't just do a splint... It will heal wrong... but I guess it will do for now." Leo wiping his brow. They didn't even know if that was the worse of the injuries. He could have head trauma, hence why he wasn't waking up yet.
In truth they all knew what the only other option was. There was one other person in the lair that could treat Donnie right now.
"We need Master Splinter," Leo finally voicing it.
"Two problems there Fearless. He's still out," the rad clad brother stated. "Secondly what Donnie needs is our Master Splinter. But we don't know for sure if he's still the super psychopath puppet. And I am NOT letting him near Donnie until we know for sure." Raph stated matter a fact.
Leo ran a hand over his clever brother's brow while taking in his form. Donnie was alarmingly cold. His breathing shallow... Bruising around his wrist and ankles... and he could see dry blood in places. What had been done to his little brother? How scared must he have been?
"We need to assess father first... Raph can you finish cleaning Donnie up and check for more injuries," Anguish drove Leo's command. Raph nodded before leaving to get the bandages and splint.
"Leo?" A small voice turned his attention away from his unconscious brother. "Even if the Rat King doesn't have him trapped any more, he could still be different. What if... what if this mind invasion has damaged him in some way? what if he isn't the same any more... mentally I mean?" Mikey asked worriedly, really not wanting to hear the answer. "Sensei wouldn't want to... live like that." The smaller turtle couldn't hide the sob.
That one lone question brought Leo earlier worries crashing back to the realm of possibilities. This rescue was quickly turning bitter defeat. Just too many 'What ifs' to deal with, and a whole lot of nothing to help them after.
Leo didn't realize Mikey was crying until he saw the tears falling. Taking a deep breath, the leader placed his hands on Mikey shoulders before leaning his forehead against his, "Honestly I don't know." What else could he say? "But whatever happens we'll deal with it together... But my gut says father will be fine... in time. Donnie is also going to be... maybe not fine right away, but he will be."
To many things happened at once, and now everything was happening in slow motion. Splinter resisted the urge to groan as his physical senses slowly started to return to him. He became aware of something tightly pressing across his chest, then he realized he was unable to move his arms or legs. For one horrible moment he thought he was still trapped in the web, only... the restriction did not have the same sharp pain as before. Then he realized he was in a horizontal position rather than hanging, but the sense of calm was not to come just yet.
Upon his release, he hadn't turned his back upon the scene right away. No... Before mentally beginning his journey home down what appeared to be a deep dark tunnel on the spirit plane, the memories of what had transpired had follow him.
Sharing the body with the smaller rat while freeing the others had come at a greater cost than he imagined. He knew they would attack the Rat King. Maybe even kill him, but the eating him alive had been unexpected. The rat he possessed had joined the others when taking their revenge, and he had not been in a position to resist. Even now as he started to wake up, he remembered the taste of metallic and salt in his mouth as he bit down on the mutant man's flesh. The smell of rot burned his sensitive nostrils... Those images of what he had partaken in would stay with him for the rest of his life... What was worse, a part of him deep down, beyond his enhanced intelligence and spiritual enlightenment, his original primal instinct as a rat had enjoyed doing it!
For the other rats it had been revenge for their inflicted pain... For him it was for the suffering of his...? for his...? for someone else. Others he loved deeply, but currently couldn't remember who they were. He just remembered the love for them. The price it carried was a shame he could not simply leave behind with the smaller rat. Upon realizing his thrill Splinter had quickly left them to finish the deed, but as his other physical senses started to take over and find his way out of the darkness, he knew he had to repress the horror of what he had done, at least for now.
Time had been lost along with pinpointing his location. All he knew was his search was for the place he called 'Home' wherever that maybe? Was this Home? He remained stationary for a while, waiting for his body to catch up. Soon he felt energized enough to open his eyes.
Only to see only more darkness….
He refrained from panicking. There were too many other emotions to deal with, panicking about his location didn't seem high on this list. Soon enough he realized there was another pressure wrapped around his head. A blindfold!
That explains the lack of sight... and he appeared to be tied down too. Even his tail.
Why was he tied down? He wasn't still a prisoner of the Rat King, but he was a prisoner of someone? This wasn't making any sense…unless-
"Guys, he's moving!" Splinter's ears twitched. That voice was familiar. So familiar, coupled with a good, warm feeling, but he couldn't place it.
"He is?" Another equally warm voice spoke, but why did it carry a worrying tone? Why couldn't he recognize it…them - ?
Wait! "Blue…Orange?" Splinter thoughts rushed before he could fully understand them. "No, no, That's not their names!"
"Keep an eye on him, if he tries anything, we must put him back under. Agree?" Another familiar deeper, gruff voice had appeared followed by footsteps getting closer, but he didn't fear the presence.
"Red? I know him as Red, but that is NOT his name," Splinter's mind ran to fast to understand what Red had actually said. "I know these voices. I know who they are! But there seemed to be something... no... someone missing."
"M-Master Splinter…can you hear me?" The first voice spoke again. The tone was calm, confident…but uneasy.
The rat searched his memories, trying to remember who the voices belonged to…But almost everything was a jumbled. The Rat King attempted to wipe away his memories of those he loved, but he had held onto something. Why were they all fuzzy now?
"F-Father…please, is it you?" Blue called out again. He sounded near to pleading.
Father? Yes! He was a father… Their father? The Rat King vale was slowly fading away. He must speak out loud. He must show them that he was coming back to them.
"M-my sons…" Splinter spoke with a massive amount of strain. His voice raspy, but he could sense the relief in the room like a wave, but there was something else shielding it. Suspicion?
"S-Sensei…is it really you?' The second voice spoke he knew as orange…What was his name!?
"It could be a trick... Don't get so close," Red spoke in caution.
"No... Its him. I know its him! Sensei!" He heard Orange say... No... Not Orange!
"M-Michelangelo!…It is me," Splinter finally spoke.
A gasp! "Do you need more proof?" Blue indicating at Red.
"Pull up the blindfold. He's awake now, so let's make sure," Red said. At these words more memories flooded Splinters mind.
"Leonardo!" The name had automatically come out of his mouth before his mind had registered it. This was followed by another silence. He flinched when he felt fingers pulling at the blindfold around his eyes. Red was the first in his line of sight, and his name came out of the shadows along with it.
"Raphael... M-My sons..." The father could only manage a whisper as he started to lose the battle with his emotional turmoil... Two more face floated into view. Their eyes all matching the mix of hopefulness and fear. His children... Splinter had to choke back a sob... But now he was sure one was missing. There should be four! Tears sprang to his eyes as they silently glared at him, studying him... waiting for something to happen.
The light made his eyes sting. Everything was blurry. He wanted to squeeze them shut until they adjusted, but he refused to. They had to know that it was really him, when he blinked enough for his vision to clear, he heard the youngest whisper. "His eyes. I think he's ok."
"Father?" Leo said again edging close. Despite the emotion eruption taking place within him, Splinter forced a small sad smile. The warm and loving brown eyes of their father had returned.
"My sons…" Splinter said again a bit louder.
He heard the three gasps, he hoped it was with relief. He was sure he could hear their hearts pounding as fast as his.
Leo's lower jaw tremble as he tried to return the smile… That was the signal for all three to suddenly fling themselves on him. "Master Splinter!" They yelled, wrapping their arms around him.
"Oof!" Splinter winded at the sudden heavy impact on top of him, but he didn't care. He wished he could return the embrace. "My sons…I'm here…" The words came out in a muffle under the pile.
"Oh... Sorry sensei... Let him breathe guys..." Leo said still smiling like a Cheshire cat. He drew the three of them back just enough to stop crushing him without actually releasing him.
"W-We... thought... we lost...you!" Mikey openly sobbed. He couldn't even get the words out. They all just sort of jumbled together into a long infuriating roll of joy.
"You don't know how good it feels to have the real you," Raph to his credit look less tearful and more like he was just repressing the urge to cry like the big softy they all knew he secretly was. He just had to keep looking away, hoping they were fooled that he just had something in his eye.
"It's good to be back my sons," Splinter spoke gently letting his own tears fall. Tied down, he could only do so much to console them, but they seemed to have forgotten about that. In the back of his mind, it troubled Splinter what he had done to them for such measures to be taken. That was when the missing piece suddenly returned out of the blue, hitting him so hard, it made him gasp louder than the multiple turtles crushing hug.
"Sensei?" Leo suddenly alarmed as he noticed the shift from joy to dread.
"Donatello!" Was all Splinter needed to say to bring the happy reunion to a crashing halt. They now mirrored his expression. "Where is Donatello? Is he alright!?"
A/N: Hope you like. A nice reunion between the brothers and Splinter as they can check one horror off their list. Yet now that still leaves Donatello. Yet, remember Splinter did do a lot of bad things to his sons, and that is still weighing heavily on him. What will happen as a result? Well you'll have to unfortunately wait and see. Glazier Blue and I will do our best not to take as long with the next chapter. Tell us what you think so far. Till next time.