September 26, 2007
I'd always enjoyed the sound of tiny drops of water after a storm. It's hard to find unless you're near a drainage system, and then it's even harder to find the source of the sound. It's the soft ping... ping... ping as the water hits the wet ground.
And I think I just found the best way to listen to that sound. The only difference now is that it's blood that fell to the floor, and not innocent, acidic, water.
"You have to stoop exceptionally low to hit an unarmed woman." I ground out. My jaw ached with the movement, but other parts of my body hurt more. My head was turned down so I could breathe, and I watched the metal flooring slowly stain red. The room was all one color of metal, except for a single window that looked out over New York City. There was a plus because it had a fire escape, which I would use at night to look over the city.
I slurped at the liquid that pooled in my mouth, and then huffed it out to let the blood fall from my mouth in a large glop. There was a loud splatter, not the simple ping that it had been. The blood splashed outwards once it landed, and some of it hit my hand. My fingers twitched away from the sudden warm liquid; I hadn't expected there to be so much blood. How much did the adult body bleed?
"I wouldn't do it if you just answered my question; why are you leaving Shredder's place?" Hun asked. Again. I swallowed thickly, and saliva and blood swam down my esophagus. I looked up from my place on the ground, and stared up into the silver eyes of Hun, who up until this point, I had considered somewhat a friend. A hulking, vicious friend.
"You Neanderthal, I've already told you eight times, I'm patrolling the city." I explained once more.
Hun grabbed the back of my stained, silver outfit, and lifted me into the air. With unneeded strength, he tossed me across the room with nigh a sound from him. My back slammed into the wall and knocked the breath out of me. I crouched as my legs hit the ground, and grappled at the wall to remain standing. Standing was better than hunched over, I had better defense when standing.
I blinked slowly to test my left eye. Hun had gotten my cheekbone at the beginning, and I could feel the swelling now, twenty minutes later. He'd also had fun with kicking, so my ribs were having some major heat waves, and if they were as bruised as I think they are, I'm out of training for a few weeks.
"Listen here, bitch," Hun growled out as he walked over to me. His hulking seven foot tall mass loomed over me in a very intimidating manner. "Before you met those stupid turtles, you never left the lair unless you were under orders of Shredder. And now, you're out nearly every night, disappearing into sewers, and scampering across rooftops like some fairy ninja."
I moved my left hand behind me and fingered the dagger I had. Karai gave it to me when I walked into the tower the first time, as a welcome home gift. I learned I had it before, because the turtles recognized it, but they didn't know how I'd gotten it before them. I hadn't pulled it out yet because Hun never stood close enough long enough for me to safely fight back, and I didn't want to lose it again.
"Well if you asked another question besides why I'm leaving the lair, you might actually get some answers," I answered, and spit at Hun's feet. I felt pleased when it landed on his shoe, and regretted it a second late when my ribs protested the force it took to create that spit. He'd bruised them pretty well.
Hun grabbed the front of my suit once more, and lifted me high above him. He pressed me into the metal wall, and I let my head fall back. I stared at the metal ceiling, and counted slowly. One... Two...
"You've got a smart mouth, it'd be a shame if I broke it," Hun growled. He grabbed my jaw in his enormous hand and forced me to look at him, and I glared at him venomously. I stuck my lower lip out and let the blood that pooled there fall out and onto his hand.
"Then you'll never get an answer," I responded. Hun yanked his hand away from me and shook my blood off of it. He came whirling back around with it, and once more hit my cheek. My head snapped sideways, and then I was dropped to the floor. Instead of standing like I'd managed last time, I slid down the wall. My legs sprawled out ungracefully, and my back curved in as I cradled my face with one hand. I looked up once more.
"Anata okāsan seikō iku." I said, too cowardly to say it in english but too angry not to say it, as I unhooked the dagger from its spot. Hun's eyes flared, because even though he didn't know Japanese, he knew I said an insult. I smiled after I made sure to get a good wipe of blood on my teeth to stain them red.
"What are you patrolling for?" He asked, calmer. I waited to see if he'd hit me again, and then I brought the dagger around and stabbed the back of his thigh as deep as I could go before he jumped. Hun yelled when the pain hit, and tumbled backward. He grabbed at the muscle I just stabbed, and cupped the wound almost professionally to stop the bleeding.
I stood up slowly, cautious of my wounds and the fact I wanted to keel over. I listened to the steady ping... ping... ping of blood falling from Hun's leg, and used it to center me. That felt reminiscent of Hitoshi. Hun glanced up at me, and then at the dagger in my hand, with a look of confused surprise. I took a slow and deliberate blink, and gulped painfully. I looked down at my clothed body, and peeled the top of the suit away to see some of the damage. I'll need someone else to help with these.
I looked back at Hun, feeling a little lethargic now. I brandished the dagger and corrected my stance.
"Listen here, Hun," I hissed. "I'm doing a little thing called mapping out the city. Ya wanna know why? I'm bringing back the Terror, and if you don't end your shitty actions now, you're going to be the first one on and off my Hit List. Then I'll kill each and every one of your Purple Fairy tales off the map..."
I took a moment to breathe deeply, because that short burst of talking winded me. Hun didn't speak while I did it, which was a little nice.
"And you seem to forget, I ended the turtles." I finished.
"They wouldn't fight you!" Hun shouted at me. I leaned towards him slowly, and flinched when my stomach muscles ached from the movement. I hooked the dagger under his chin and forced his head up, similarly to how he forced my head down just seconds prior. I looked at his jugular for a moment, and watched his pulse speed up. I remembered this from before the amnesia. The thrill of inducing fear into someone who always dished it, but never received it. I remembered the brief moment of grief in the action of murder, and then the moment of relief knowing I'd saved many lives ending that one person's life. It seemed so easy to do, but when it came to it, I couldn't imagine anything harder.
"Does it look like I care if they did or didn't fight me? You spent years trying to kill those green bastards, and it took me ten minutes. Shredder might even trust me more than you now, so imagine I walked into his room looking like this. He's not going to be happy to see his only light ninja battered and bleeding. And when I say who did it, oh boy I hope you're in another state." I threatened. I breathed deeply after that outburst as well.
Hun's eyes widened, which meant the threat got through to him even if I wasn't threatening at the moment. Maybe I was, how was I to know when standing against pain made you threatening. Maybe I should be on the floor unmoving like I wanted to be. I pulled away from him once I could muster the strength to move. I straightened my stance and tucked the dagger back into its pocket at my backside. I walked backward out of the room to keep my eyes on Hun and made sure he didn't do anything. When I got to the door, I whirled around and left as quickly as I could in my state. I had to get help, I was bleeding too much for comfort. I had to get to the turtles.
I left the tower and dropped into the sewers in a haze of pain. It was only as I walked through the sewer that I trusted my environment to walk slower. I followed the path I'd carved out over the last week all the way to their lair, and I looked around before I dared let the opening be known. I pressed my back against the sewer wall for relief, and grappled the brick for support as I leaned over for the hundredth time. It was nothing like having a pipe shoved sideways through you or being blinded by a three-inch laceration over your eye, but hell did it hurt. It hurt to breathe deeply, it hurt to blink, it hurt to swallow. I almost thought about doing something to cause adrenaline, because that was a natural way to numb the body, but the pipes I needed were just over my head. If I could just reach...
I landed on my back ungracefully and got the wind knocked out of me in the process. I didn't stop moving though; I kicked my way away from the closing brick and metal doors. I didn't want a leg caught in those jaws, I had enough to deal with.
"Liza?" A muddled voice asked. I let my head fall back and stared at the ceiling once I was safe. My stomach clenched from landing so hard on my back, and I rolled to my side. A large amount of heat went through my ribs, so hot it hurt. This was good, the floor was cool, and I could look at the twice broken Sewer Sweet Sewer sign from here. I could stay here, no force exerted on my body, in a place that had people who would help. Then again, Shredder would help. He would do more than help, he'd murder Hun, extinguish the Purple Fairy Tales, and wrap my wounds up nice and tight. But I liked it here, and it was too late to leave now.
"Donnie!" Someone coughed and then groaned. "Don, get down here!"
Wait a second, that sounded like Leo. I looked up and over at the couch in their humongous living room. Leo was leaning over the couch where he had been sitting peacefully until I barged in. Fell in. His eyes locked on mine, and he murmured something. I think it was a curse word, but I was too far to hear. He attempted to get up and help me. He didn't last long, as soon as he got halfway he groaned, and fell back against the couch.
"Hey Leo," I whispered, and hoped he could hear me. I couldn't talk much louder, my throat was caked in blood. "Sorry about the mess."
Mikey left the kitchen not a second after I had spoken, and he zeroed in on me immediately.
"Liza?" Mikey asked. He looked really well considering I'd only been gone for a week. He had a bandage around his torso still, but it wasn't doing much else than to stabilize him when he walked. "Liza!"
Mikey made a zipline to my side and dropped his sandwich in the process. He fell to his knees with a harsh thud that I imagined hurt him, but he didn't slow down. He hooked one of his hands under my neck to cradle my head and pushed me onto my back carefully with his other hand. I turned with him willingly, even though lying on my back hurt against the floor. Don magically appeared behind him then, hands free of tools but fingers grasping like he had a tool in his hand. He crouched down beside Mikey when Mikey made room, and began brushing his hands over my face. I closed my eyes as he worked, and felt the flutter of his fingers over my eye, cheeks, and jaw. He went to my neck soon after for my pulse. It must be a bit fast, I did lose a bit of blood.
"Liza, how much blood did you lose?" Donnie asked. His hands roved over me to find out where the blood was coming from, and I moved to grab his hands.
"I'm fine, the bleeding stopped a while back," I whispered. Don made a guttural sound, and I felt Mikey move away. An arm hooked under my knees, the other under my head, and Donnie lifted me up. I didn't feel a jostle when he moved, but I could tell he did because there was wind on my face.
"Don?" A Brooklyn accent asked as Don walked briskly to his own room, and I'm welcomed back into the dark room that was Donnie's. There was a rapid speed of steps, and Raph appeared in the doorway.
"Raph, clear my bed," Donnie instructed. Raph walked in without a question, and moved papers and tools out of the way. He and Donnie proceeded to lay me down on the bed.
"What happened to 'er?" Raph asked as he methodically placed a pillow under my head. I looked up at him as he moved. I noted a very deep furrow in his brow, and his eyes were a deep shade of amber. He had his mask on, which I was glad to see. It was like the old him, beside the bright pink scar on his arm. They scar pink, that was interesting. Why were the rest of the scars green then...
"I don't know. Leo started shouting for me and I came down thinking he needed something. I found her like this at the door, Mikey was already with her, and Leo was trying to get up to see her." Don explained.
"Liza?" Raph asked me. I smiled in what I hoped was soothing and felt the dried blood around my mouth crackle. "What happened?"
"Hun's paranoid about why I keep leaving Shredder's place, and when I didn't give a good enough answer, he decided to beat one out of me. I wanted to let you guys know before I disappeared for a few weeks." I answered quietly. Raph's nostrils flared, and his jaw clenched.
"That fu-"
"Raph!" Don snapped. "Go get a wet cloth, we need to wash the blood off of her to see the real damage."
Raph looked at Don, and then back at me. His hand trailed down my neck, and he took a step back. Don grabbed a pair of scissors and walked up to my head. He pushed Raph towards the door when he didn't move fast enough for Don's liking, and said, "Now Raph."
Raph turned around to do what he was told to do and left the room. Donnie started cutting at my suit once he'd left. He cut his way down the front, and I raise my hands up, grabbed either side of the cut suit, and pulled it apart slowly as he moved.
"Sorry about the suit." He murmured to fill the air.
"It's fine, I was planning on getting rid of it anyway," I responded cheekily. Donnie laughed breathily while he curved the scissors upwards as he neared the curve of my chest.
"We have one of the silver suits you've left behind from prior visits." He offered. I move my fingers down with him, and grabbed another piece of the stretchy material and pulled it apart.
"That would work perfectly," I answered. Donnie nodded.
"What happened? I get that Hun did something, but what did he do?" Don asked. Raph walked back into the room with a wet towel and was instantly upon me to help clean me up. He started along my jaw, and instantly I felt little pulses of pain. I grabbed the cloth from his hand and took over. Raph looked at his empty hand and my face in surprise.
"You don't know where the bruises are. Help Don." I whispered. Raph traded places with me; I washed my face and he held the silver suit open carefully.
"The inside of my mouth is cut up, so as long as I don't move it too much the wounds shouldn't open again. My chest and ribs are bruised from the blows Hun inflicted. And my eye is swollen from a right hook." I whispered.
Don cut through the material at my stomach, and Raph spread the material far enough for me to get my arms out. I was aware of a 'Holy Shell' that was said, but I wasn't going to look down. I could feel the damage, I didn't want to see it.
"Liza, you need an ice pack," Don whispered. I saw him trail his finger over my stomach in my peripheral, but I didn't feel him touch me. Raph moved away without being told to and left the room again. It took me a second to realize he was getting the ice pack.
"I'm aware of that genius. That's why I came here." I said without ire.
"How can you breathe?" Don asked. He set the scissors down and put a hand under my lower back to lift me up effortlessly. I stood a little on the bed, pushed my hips up, and he pulled my suit down once he knew I was holding my own weight. We worked -slowly- together to get my suit off with the least amount of pain to me, and once we were done he put a blanket over my lower body.
"Easy. I use my lungs." I responded once all my breath wasn't being used to stay conscious. Donnie looked up at me with a disapproving glare, and I smiled a little. He looked back down at my stomach, and I was struck with a memory. No, not a memory, just something someone told me. A sentence from me to me.
"Why is it every time I come into your room, you end up seeing me naked?" I asked. Donnie looked up, startled by my question.
"I don't know. Why is it every time you get hurt, it's bodily damage?" He shot back.
"Ta remind ya, firs' time she came in, it was a bullet wound in 'er arm. Ya decided ta undress her then." Raph commented as he walked into the room with two ice packs. I raised an eyebrow at Donnie at that, and he ducked his head. We talked about that the second time I was here, but the opportunity to tease was too much not to use.
"Donnie?" I sang quietly.
"Place the packs on her upper ribs. Do you have a towel?" Don asked, successfully ignoring both of us. Raph brought one from behind his shoulder with a look that said, 'Do I look like an idiot?'
Raph walked up to me and laid the red towel across my abdomen. He places the ice packs on my ribs carefully and held them in place until Donnie could find a way to keep them down. Or until I could, because I still had to wash my neck. I pulled the cloth away from my face, and moved my mouth around to make sure all the blood was off. I'd gotten most of my face but the mouth proved to be hardest. The blood seemed to stick in every crevice on my lips, which made me paranoid. Don seemed to get that, and he left to get something.
Raph looked up at me then, with his eye ridge crunched down in worry. He turned his body parallel to me, and leaned over so he could have a good grip on the ice but still be comfortable. I felt the cold creep through the towel, and my ribs battled between hot and cold.
"Hi." Raph breathed, concerned. I smiled at his soft word now that we could talk.
"Hi," I whispered back. I rotated my jaw for any leftover blood. My mouth felt fairly clean, save for whatever water could do for me. There was no water nearby though.
I laid the rag on my neck so my hands were free, and felt the water droplets fall off the rag and onto my neck, where it tickled its way to the back of my head. Raph was exceptionally close, and I wanted to use that to my advantage. It probably wasn't the best time too, but I wanted to.
"Ya wanna take the-"
I placed my hands on either side of his head and tugged him towards me. Raph stumbled forwards with the motion, and his hands slid off of my ribs and onto either side of my body so he wouldn't fall on me. Raph stopped breathing, mouth on mine, eyes incredibly close. He blinked a couple of times, probably taken off guard by my move.
"No, I think this is better," I whispered against his mouth. He chuckled in the back of his throat, and tilted his head sideways so his snout stopped bumping my bruised nose. Ever so slowly, aware that my mouth was cut up and hurting, he pecked at my lips. He'd go for a small kiss, and then pull away to look in my eyes, and then do it again.
"Okay, seriously?" Donnie asked. "In my bed? I sleep in it."
Raph pulled away completely and placed the ice packs back on my ribs. I let go of his face so he could do what he needed, and laid one of my hands on his. The other one took the glass of water Donnie had gone to get. Donnie leaned over and picked up my head and upper back up so I could drink. Raph shifted and dropped lower to the ground so we could do it easier.
I felt the flakes of blood in my throat start to fall off, and my mouth started to feel sore again. That was good, it meant I was going to be able to talk again.
"Seriously Raph? In my bed?" Don asked while I drank water.
"She pulled me towards her while I was holdin' the ice packs ta her ribs. I wasn' going ta stop 'er." Raph answered, clearly not at all sorry he did it. Donnie shook his head in a "why do I bother" motion. I handed the cup back to Don when I was done with the water, and he laid me back in bed.
"Thanks," I whispered.
"You're welcome," He said easily, and placed the cup on his computer table. "Now, do you wanna know the damage?"
"Give it to me straight, doc." I agreed after clearing my throat. Raph chuckled, and looked up at Donnie.
"From sight alone, you have bruising all over the ribs. Bed rest will be the only thing to help them. You'll need a strong pain medication to help the pain. I'm pretty sure your mouth is good, considering you can talk and move it without it bleeding. Your eye should be fine, besides the massive bruise it's going to get in a while. If I had to say, you've got five weeks out of training." Don ticked off.
"Five?" I choked out, and coughed afterward. My ribs started to burn again as I coughed, and the ice couldn't stop this burn. Don grabbed my shoulder to tip me over and turned my head to the side of the bed so nothing could obstruct my windpipe. I covered my mouth and coughed into my hand to keep anything from getting on the floor. When I could breathe again, Don pulled my hand away to check it.
"Don?" Raph questioned. I also looked at my hand for any blood. I was happy to see none, because if there was some, that was bad news. "Liza?"
"I'm good." I soothed. I pulled my hand out of Don's. "No internal bleeding."
"Yeah, you have five weeks of bed rest. You can stay here-" Don started.
"Absolutely not! Shredder will hunt me down-" I started to say.
"You're in no condition to even stand! I'm surprised you even made it to the lair. I'm surprised you're not bleeding internally, or have anything broken!" Don hissed right back.
I puffed out my chest as I tried to stare Donnie down from my lying position. It wasn't working too well considering he was six feet tall now and his bed was three feet off the ground, but I had too.
"I can't stay here, no matter how much I want too. If I go back to Shredder's completely healed and healthy in a few weeks, I'm going to be beaten for not telling him where I went, and then questioned in one of his cells. I will be put under surveillance at all times, I won't be able to leave the building... and I won't get to come back," I whisper the last part. "It will be too dangerous to even think about going into the sewers. It's a gamble with Hun, but Shredder is on my side right now. If I go back when you allow me too, Hun will have had time to make Shredder believe him, and Shredder will. Don't you get it? I said it that night Raph made me remember. Even if you could help me remember, what good would it do? Shredder won't let me go. As long as he's alive, I am a danger to you. You're in danger. Leo, Mikey, Master Splinter, April, Casey, everyone you've ever met will be in danger."
"That's why there's a plan." Raph murmured. I dropped my head back to the pillow and stared at the ceiling.
"That plan is still months away. Until then, all of you and I are in danger. Constantly," I said. "Honestly, the only way to stay safe is to stay on Shredder's good side, and wait it out. Which means I have to go back to Shredder, Donnie."
I looked over at him with a semi-pleading look. Don stared back, and I didn't know what he saw on my face, but it was clearly enough to make him give up on his point.
"Ok. I'll let you go soon, just stay for at least one night so I can watch your wounds, and we have to have someone help you at least part of the way to the Shredder's." He conceded. I opened my mouth to deny that last request but stopped. He's right, I'll need help. The pain is always worse on the second day. I barely made it here, with collapsing every so so often, I'd never make it back.
"Okay... I can't ask for much more than that." I agreed. Donnie moved away finally, and Raph stood up again.
"Good. Raph, you can stay here with her, I have to check Leo and Mikey. They made a ruckus over Liza's appearance." Don ordered gently. Raph nodded in silent agreement. Don looked at me once again, and then left the room. Raph was silent for a few moments.
"How did ya get out? What did ya tell Hun?" Raph asked. I had to think about what I'd said to Hun. All I wanted was to get out, and I said the only thing that could possibly work. Why else would I be patrolling?
"Lay down with me?" I asked. Raph rocked on his heels, taken off guard by my question. He looked at the bed, then at my ribs. His eyes moved rapidly as he thought. He must have decided something because he let go of the ice pack and walked to the foot of the bed. The bed bent in with his weight, and he crawled up it slowly. He laid down next to me on his side, and rocked a little on the bridge of his shell. I was struck with how odd that must be for him, but he didn't complain about it.
He pulled me towards him, one hand out to put the ice packs back on my stomach and hold them there, and the other one hooked around me. I turned my body a little so I was on my side facing him as well, and put one of the bags of ice under me. I lifted my head when Raph moved his arm down, and laid it along his bicep, as my new pillow. Raph's other hand held the second ice bag to my side, and while it didn't look comfortable for him to keep his arm up for a long time, he didn't change the position.
I stared up at him, slightly face to face, and breathed in as deeply as I dared.
"I told him I was bringing back The Black Mask Terror," I whispered. Raph's brows furrowed, as did the corners of his mouth, but he didn't make many other movements than that.
"Did ya want ta? Were ya ever... goin' ta bring her back?" Raph asked quietly. I shook my head a little, and stared down at Raph's collar bone.
"No. I was going to let the Mask die. I don't want to kill people again. I don't want to kill anyone again..." I whispered quietly, for fear my voice would crack. I'd had the opportunity with Hun. I could have taken it, and beyond a short reprimanding, Shredder would have taken it. I had the blade against Hun's neck, and I couldn't do more than threaten him. The idea of taking a life... I don't know how I did it before.
"Ya didn't kill people. Ya killed monsters. Criminals. People who woulda raped, murdered, robbed, and tortured other people. Ya were a hero ta many." Raph told me soothingly.
"How would you know? I can't remember any of the people I saved, only the ones I killed. I don't know what I did besides what's on the news, and the news tells few good stories about me." I shot back. All I knew were the photos and videos that existed, and there weren't many of those. I was good at hiding, and surviving, and killing. I evaded the police for months, all photography of me was perfectly shot so my face was never seen, and even when I did run into trouble, like with Night Watcher, who kept finding me constantly, I got out alive. And I'd seen the stories of my victims. My mask. How did Hitoshi let a me have a mask with teeth so sharp they were their own weapons? Why did Hitoshi let me live a life of crime? What have I forgotten?
"Because that's how I met ya. Ya stopped a robbery, and got shot in the process." Raph explained. I looked at him then, full on lifted my head so I could look into his eyes. He stared back with an earnest gaze.
"That's how we met?" I asked in disbelief. The idea that he'd watched me kill people and was still here months later was... astounding. A love story for the ages if there ever was one.
"Yeah. Ya weren't happy gettin' cornered by me on the roof. Didn't show ya face, gave me an alias an everythin'. I bet that woulda been the last time ya let us meet if it wasn't for tha' bullet." Raph said with a smile. I put my head back in the crook of his arm as I tried to imagine it. Me in my black suit and mask, up against a green turtle with a red bandana and sais at his waist. I must have freaked at seeing him. Look at how far I've come.
"Huh. Can't believe I'm saying it, but I'm glad I got shot." I said, and then laughed a little.
Raph chuckled with me. He moved the bag of ice on me back in place from when I'd sat up. Quite suddenly, a yawn ripped its way out of my mouth. Raph tightened his arm around my shoulders, and squeezed me a little. My ribs twinged, but I didn't complain.
"Ya can sleep. Don will be back to check on us soon." Raph soothed.
"I'm going to need an outfit..." I mumbled, and shifted into a more comfortable position. I bet it was the blood loss, no one falls asleep as fast as I did.