And back in the game! No fear, no discontinued stories here!
Someone was jostling her very lightly, pulling her from the depths of unconsciousness. When she woke her head was pounding, her stomach rolling as she shifted. The heavy smells bombarding her didn't help. Something rich and smokey... and... greasy? She cracked an eye open, blurred vision taking a moment to adjust. High ceilings... if you could call them that, brick and concrete reinforced with steel. Where was she?
She turned onto her side slowly, wincing as pain flared across the back of her skull. A small white side table came into focus, with a box of half eaten pizza atop it, along with a remote control and a ... stick of incense that was perched upright in its brass holder, fragrant wisps of smoke coiling upward from the tip. Again she wondered over her location.
"Take it easy. You had quite a fall."
The voice was gentle, concerned, and she tried to remember what had transpired. The men in black. The bomb! And that... turtle guy... who'd saved her.
The young woman glanced toward the speaker, groaning when she came face to face with another reptilian looking individual. But...
"You're not him."
"If by 'him' you mean Raphael, no, I'm not. My name is Donatello."
This one, she noted, was slimmer, and perched on his blunt muzzle were a pair of glasses. Beyond that a strip of purple cloth. Slowly she perused her immediate surroundings, finding two others standing not far off. Orange... and blue. They weren't him either.
She cleared her throat. "The... the other guy... is he okay?"
Donatello straightened up. "Raph is resting. He was pretty badly injured, but he's tough... he'll pull through."
She recalled the sheer size of the one in the red mask, how he'd blocked the explosion with only his body. Yeah... he seemed pretty tough.
"Where am I?" the young woman asked, her throat dry and raspy. She licked her lips as she tried to pull herself into a sitting position.
The slender one reached out a steadying hand - a three-fingered hand, she noted absently - to aid her, but also to control the rate at which she moved. "Careful. Judging by the size of that goose-egg there's a good chance you got concussed."
He handed her a cloth wrapped icepack once she was upright, which she placed gently at the back of her head, wincing as she applied the slightest bit of pressure. The woman was then handed a bottle of water, which she accepted gratefully.
"You're in a safe place," the purple banded turtle said finally.
Swallowing a mouthful of water, she let herself sit for a moment in silence, taking all of this in. One of the other turtles approached her, his demeanor far more boisterous than the fellow she'd been speaking with up until this point.
"Easy Mikey," Donnie warned.
He nodded almost dismissively, kneeling down and gesturing to himself, "I'm Michelangelo, and the quiet one over there is Leonardo."
"I'm... Rae," she responded, her brain feeling muddled. She pulled the ice pack away momentarily, setting down her water to reach back and assess the damage with her now free hand. She winced. It was a big bump. A part of her wanted to take her long hair out of its ponytail, but the thought of pulling it out right now made her reconsider. Instead, she very carefully wiggled the band, biting back a handful of colorful epitaphs as the action made her scalp burn and her head pound. After a moment the pressure lessened, and she sighed in relief. That felt much better.
Leo stepped forward. "I understand you've been through a lot today, but it is very important that you keep everything you've seen to yourself."
She nodded slowly. "Yeah, okay."
He regarded her a moment, his expression seeming suspicious, like he was gauging how truthful she was being.
Sighing, Rae told him, "Look, I doubt anyone would believe me even if I did try to go public about all this. You've made it this long without being exposed, so obviously you do a good job of keeping out of sight. People would think I'm crazy if I told them I was rescued from some crazy gang by an enormous, bipedal turtle man."
He seemed satisfied with that answer, uncrossing his arms and taking a less threatening stance.
"How'd you get mixed up in all that anyways?" Mikey asked.
Taking another sip of water, she explained, "I was jogging... and just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, I guess."
"All things considered, you seem to be taking this quite well," Leonardo put in.
She shrugged one shoulder. "Honestly, I'm still not sure this is even real. For all I know I got hit by a car and this has all been some coma induced dream."
Donatello grinned. "Afraid not."
"Shoot."
Something started to vibrate against her hip, and she shifted to pull the phone from the pocket of her athletic pants. Glancing down at the screen, she swore under her breath. Her alarm was going off. "Damn, I didn't realize how late it was. I need to go."
"Not with that injury," Donnie argued, wagging a finger at her when she tried to stand. "You need to stay put a while longer and rest. Too much moving around right now would be asking for another fall."
"But I have to work," she insisted.
"Call in," was his instantaneous rebuttal.
"So now you're holding me hostage," she grumped. "I thought you were the good guys."
Donnie stood from the chair he'd been occupying. "No one can force you to stay. If you insist on leaving now we can certainly arrange it, but I highly recommend giving yourself the appropriate time to recoup."
Blowing a raspberry, Rae weighed her options. If she did have a concussion, which the enormous lump on her noggin seemed to suggest, he was undoubtedly right. "Fine, fine, I'll stick around, but only for while. I can't afford to miss more than one day of work, I have bills to pay."
Pleased at her choice, the tall male offered, "We'll escort you home once you've had adequate time to recover. I'm sure this puts a damper on your day to day, but it's for the best."
Nodding, she settled herself into the couch more deeply and called her friend at work.
"Hey Rae."
"Hey Gabs. I fell and hit my head while I was jogging this morning and I'm supposed to take it easy today. Doctor's orders."
At the last comment she glanced up at Donatello, who smiled and nodded.
"Oooooh, dios mio! You alright, girl? Do you need me to bring you anything?"
Rae chuckled, "No, I'm being pretty well taken care of. But could you do me a solid and cancel my appointments for the day? See if they can do Sunday?"
"No problem, babes. I got you."
"Thanks Gab, you're the best. See you tomorrow."
Setting her phone onto the side table next to the pizza, she took up her water bottle again and had another drink. She glanced over at Michelangelo, who seemed to have shifted closer.
"Appointments? You sound important."
Leonardo scoffed at his sibling's prying. "She just had a near death experience. She doesn't need to be playing 21 questions."
"Actually," Donatello put in, "it might be a good idea to hold some light conversation. We need to ensure she stays awake and alert. I'll have a look at her in a moment, just washing up."
That was all the encouragement the orange banded brother needed, looking expectantly at their unexpected guest.
She laughed. "I don't know if I'd say important. I work at a tattoo parlor."
He was practically beaming. "No way! I'm an ink enthusiast myself, as you can see." He displayed his shoulder piece to her proudly. "What about you?"
Rae laughed. "I've got a few."
"Can I see?!"
She unzipped her sweater and slowly peeled it off, holding up her arms for his perusal. He was like a kid in a candy store as he moved around her, inspecting her pieces. He pointed at the tips of some designs that started near her clavicles and curved outward, disappearing into the neckline of her shirt.
"Where do those go?"
"Mikey!" Leo stepped forward and smacked his overly quizzical brother on the head. "Not appropriate."
Holding up her hand in a placating gesture, Rae assured him, "It's fine, really. I'm used to this kind of questioning."
She returned her gaze to Michelangelo, replying, "They go all the way down my ribs and onto my hips. I've got more, but I think we'll have to save those for another time."
The answer seemed to satisfy the curious male, and he stepped back as the taller of the lot returned and seated himself next to her in the chair he had previously occupied. In his hands was a small pouch. He glanced at the cluttered side table, asking his brothers, "Can you guys take your things elsewhere? I need this space."
As they cleared the area she watched them go, taking incense and pizza with them to what she could only assume were their rooms? Now that she was a bit more alert, she realized how big and unusual this place was. Water was pumping into a large pool from a massive pipe, and the air seemed to hold a measure of dampness. When she'd asked for their whereabouts earlier, she'd been given a somewhat evasive answer, and she imagined it was because they weren't quite comfortable disclosing their location to her. She had a few guesses now that she'd taken the time to study her surroundings, but didn't mention anything out of respect for their privacy. Instead, she went over the names of her hosts again, trying to keep them all straight.
"Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello... Raphael?"
He nodded. "You can call us by our nicknames, if you'd prefer. Much less of a mouthful."
"So... Donnie?" when he nodded in response, she asked, "Anyone else I should know about?"
He paused at that, glancing up at Leo in askance. When the other male nodded after a moment's consideration, he told her, "After we do a quick examination, we can introduce you to Master Splinter if you'd like."
Master Splinter? She nodded despite her confusion.
He untied the pouch and withdrew an otoscope, which was contained in its own ziplock back, along with a small flashlight. Grinning, he joked, "They don't make nitrile gloves in my size, unfortunately, But I assure you I'm fully sanitized. Mind if I have a look? I need to ensure the explosion didn't damage your ears."
Rae turned herself to the side so he could have easier access, remaining as still as she could while he examined her, and then turning to the other side so he could repeat the process on her left side.
"Everything looks okay from what I can see. If you don't mind, I'll do a quick check of your vision too, just to make sure you didn't damage any optic nerves when you hit your head." He allowed her to face forward again and shone the small light into one eye, and then the other, nodding when her pupils adjusted accordingly. She was able to follow the movement of his finger as well, another good sign.
Standing, he told her, "So far so good, but I sadly don't have access to the machinery for a cranial computed tomography. I highly recommend going to get one. My limited equipment can only tell us so much."
Rae, glanced around the vast room, trying to locate this other individual he'd mentioned. "And uh... Master Splinter?"
Mikey crossed the room in a series of showy jumps, ignoring the eye roll Donnie gave him. He offered her a hand. "Time to meet sensei."
Hope you enjoyed it, given the wait time. More to come soon!