Chapter Twenty-Six: Sad Leo, Happy Raph

Saturday night

Leo walked slowly one last time through the Lair before heading to bed, sadness seeping into him. It had been a weird day. When he and Master Splinter had gotten back to the Lair with the sleeping Don, it had been late—well, technically early, and Master Splinter had insisted on everyone sleeping. Leo had agreed, but first he'd set Don on the couch. He had bandaged all the little cuts and scrapes from the marathon of fights, and slathered arnica, an ointment that helps bruises and sore muscles to heal faster, everywhere else. This done, Leo had stared sadly down at his exhausted and beat-up little brother for only a moment before spreading arnica on his own aching arm muscles and heading to bed.

In the morning, Mikey's cautious calls for Don had woken Leo much earlier than his body would have preferred. Mikey had almost leaped out of bed to bearhug his oldest brother. Then, after Leo had told about his prison and rescue, and Mikey had caught Leo up on his rescue—including getting a piggyback ride he barely remembered—and events in the Lair since. Then the pair had decided that since Don and his medical knowledge wasn't awake, Mikey's question about whether he was allowed to put weight on his ankle normally today was best answered 'not yet.'

Then came a hushed morning of reporting to Master Splinter and hearing his version of things, and hanging out with a restless, bored Mikey. Leo had found a city map spread out on the little table with various items marking several buildings and routes, only one of which he recognized. His eyes widened when he read one scribbled note on a scrap of paper that simply read 'false lead—bomb.' Whoa. What have you been up to, Donnie?

He shook his head. Well, I guess I can add the building where I was kept. He fished around in the pen cup and found a blue… pom-pom? Yep. A pom-pom. One never knew what might be found in the Lair. With it,he marked the building where he'd been held.

He'd been tempted to go out and scope out the other marked buildings right then, but a) it was broad daylight above, and b) Don would probably freak out if he woke up and didn't find Leo, considering his state of mind last night. Leo had even woken up Don's computer just in case the file about their new enemy was still up, but the machine had a password. That's understandable, after several times bored Mikey tried to find a new arcade game to play online and nearly erased the hard drive, or whatever it was Don yelled when he found him there with the mouse hovering over a pop-up confirmation box.

Don had slept, hardly stirring, until early afternoon, when he started awake from a nightmare. He had been relieved all over again to see Leo, and after a cup of coffee and a bagel he was awake enough to talk about fighting an unreasonable number of Foot with the two brothers who were present.

"It's all kinda a blur now," he had said, shaking his head. "But at least I have a good excuse for moving like a two-hundred-year-old turtle with arthritis."

"Dude," Mikey had laughed, eyeing Don's myriad of bandaids. "You look like you just went hand-to-hand with a blender and it won."

"Thanks, Mikey. That makes me feel better about single-handedly defeating a skyscraper full of Foot and Hun's Little Brother."

And one zombie ninja turtle, Leo had thought.

After their breakfast-slash-lunch and more arnica for Don, the turtles moved to Don's computer, where he caught Leo up on all that he knew about the Gamer. Leo was skeptical about Saja's trustworthiness, much less her ability to fetch Raph back from a mystery realm, but Don shrugged and presented the reasons he had both decided to trust her and had been forced to trust her. Mikey, plopped on a chair off to the side, said little; he hadn't met her, but if his brainy big brother trusted this girl, he did too.

Leo had told him all that he knew about the Gamer from his imprisonment, and Don had slouched at his computer for a few hours adding these new hints and puzzling over the whole picture. But even with alternating between high-strength ibuprofen and tylenol, more arnica, and more coffee, Leo could see Don wincing at every little movement, and that he could stand to sleep for another fourteen hours.

So the blue-masked turtle had whipped up supper, which required a little creativity since no one had gotten groceries in a week. Mikey, still bored and restless, had been ecstatic to help by sitting and cutting up veggies.

Then after a sad, quiet supper and a bit of tv, Leo had escorted Don to bed. He'd nearly picked him up to carry him upstairs when Don sighed at the bottom, but figured all the jostling from being picked up would hurt more. Besides, he'd be embarrassed, since he was actually awake this time, instead of basically unconscious on his feet. Instead, Leo just helped him as best he could. As soon as he was as comfortable as he could be in his bed, Don fell asleep practically instantly.

Now, after more tv with Mikey, who made half-hearted jokes, but went to bed without protest, Leo paced the Lair alone. I promised Don that Saja would bring Raph back today, he thought, even though I didn't know who Saja was at the time. And that Casey would show up too. I feel like I've failed him, even though both of those things are out of my control. If I had a way to go after them, I'd already be gone, and if I knew a way to help Don figure it out, I'd already be doing it… You two had better show up soon.

Leo sighed, glanced over the dim, empty Lair and turned into his own room. He turned to shut the door, then changed his mind and left it open. He would hear better if Don had another nightmare—or if anybody returned home.

Two hours later

"It's not yer fault, Ausla; I already told ya that. Now jus' make sure ya practice yer stealth skills an' yer grapplin.'" Raph could hardly keep from grinning like a dork. He was finally saying goodbyes before going home. Maybe. Assuming she really can teleport us like she says.

"Please, it's time to go; I can't wait much longer," Saja whispered from behind him. Raph glanced at her to see her face pinched and stressed.

The turtle nodded. "Well, my ride says it's time ta go." He looked at the raccoon standing with crossed arms off to the side, by his medical equipment. "Thanks again, Bren. I'll miss ya."

Bren nodded. Earlier they had said real goodbyes, and Raph could tell the raccoon really did think of Raph as a friend. Others had come by earlier too, as Raph slowly recovered over the course of the afternoon and evening. Bren had given him regular doses of the green liquid, alternating with food and water, and had guided him through stages of convalescence.

Now Raph still felt like he had just completed a marathon, but he could stand and even walk, albeit slowly. The medic had given him a few more precious green pills for tomorrow, but he said mostly sleep, food, water, and time would flush the last of the effects out of his system. Major physical activity was forbidden for three days; if he obeyed and rested, Bren thought he would be back to normal by the end of the third day.

As word got out in the Da'an base that the foreigner who had led the devastating raid on the Othila base was not only alive, but was recovering, Da'an warriors came into the base to gawk or thank him for his sacrifice. I'm not sure what's worse: being stared at for surviving, or being thanked, as if I got captured and drugged within an inch of my life on purpose.

Of the more discreet visitors was Grek, the wildcat, who asked for advice on how to lead a more successful stealth mission. Ausla rushed in right after him, apologizing profusely, and had to be reassured. Later came Vesuva himself, who greeted Raph respectfully as a fellow warrior. He frankly admitted that Raph going home was a loss to him and the Da'an effort, but bid him well for the journey and the tasks that awaited him at home.

Saja had already told him that she would have to teleport this evening, and as time wore on, her face showed increasing stress and perhaps pain. Raph hadn't asked why there was a time limit, but he did his best to be a good patient under Bren's direction and to recover. Twenty minutes ago, Bren had cleared Raph. Then came final preparations and a flood of final goodbyes and well-wishers.

Now, the girl cleared her throat. "I-I can't teleport with all these eyes watching," she whispered.

Raph caught Bren's eye and made a shooing motion in the direction of the Da'an. I guess I can translate for her, since I'm the one wearing two doohickeys. The one she's got just translates my words to her.

Bren nodded and raised his voice. "All right, our ally Raphael and the girl are leaving now. Everyone, please return to your duties."

With final words, the Da'an filtered out of the medbay, leaving just Raph, Saja, and Bren. Raph looked at Saja as she came up to stand beside him and jerked a thumb at the raccoon. "Can he stay?"

Saja nodded, her eyes anxious.

Raph made sure again that he had both his sais, plus the black-handled one he had offered back to Vesuva, who had graciously declined. "Keep it as a memento of your time fighting for the Da'an," he had said. Raph's hand bumped the forgnathu, and he glanced at Bren. "Uh, d'you want this? The Othila put it on me…"

Bren shrugged. "No need. We've never had a foreigner before. Give it to your brother Don who made the other translation device. Maybe he can improve his design."

"Thanks. He'll like that." Raph cleared his throat, suddenly nervous. He turned back to Saja. "All right. So, how does this work? Do I, uh, need to do anything?"

The Jior girl adjusted her bag, then took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

She lifted up both her hands. "Take my hands."