Guys! You are the best! Do you know that?! I'm blown away by the response on the story, and I'm so so glad that you're enjoying the story! As promised, an extra chapter because you are just the best audience a writer could ever wish for *hug*
4 weeks in.
"Leo?" I heard a soft voice ask, and I turn my chair around, facing the door leading to the hallway. Mikey was standing in the doorway, looking as out of place as almost every day.
"What's up?" I ask, trying to sound casual but even I could basically hear the doubt in my own voice. Mikey glances down at the floor for a moment.
"Can I ask you something about your mom?" He asks, shuffling slightly on his feet. I frown at the question, completely turning the chair until I was comfortably facing Mikey.
"Why don't you ask her?" I ask, I mean mom was downstairs right now, probably cooking already. I glance at the clock, no wait, it was barely 5 o'clock. But Mikey and I both knew that mom was at least home with dad. And I actually had no idea where Don and Raph were, probably hanging out with someone.
Maybe Donnie finally grew a pair and asked out April.
I shook my head, that wasn't a problem for now.
Mikey frowns slightly, looking at me with a guilty expression on her face. "I didn't mean Shen" He whispers softly. Oh…. oh. For a second I'm frozen, before the surprised looks forces its way onto my face. So he wanted to ask something about my biological mom. "I-I mean if that's okay… but you seemed so open before.. so I thought-"
"It's fine Mikey" I cut him off, standing up. "You just surprised me, that's all." I reach for the back of the chair, dragging it with me to the bed. He seems confused for a moment, but I just gesture to the bed. He seemed to get the message, closing the door and walking over to the bed before sitting down.
I sat down on the chair, making myself comfortable
"What do you want to know?" I ask softly, feeling a little bit of unease creep up on me. I was open about my family for sure, I had learned to live with that part of my story for a long time now, but that didn't mean it wasn't a sore spot at the same time.
"I don't know really" Mikey shrugs. "I just… I know Don told you about my parents" About them being dead. He stops himself, glancing at me. Shit.
"Mikey… I do, Don told me because he was worried and-"
"Leo it's okay" Mikey interjects, chuckling darkly. "I mean.. I knew he was going to when I told him, if I didn't want you knowing… you get the point" He continues, and for a second time I was frozen for a moment, not knowing what to say. Then I shake my head with a small laugh.
"I won't tell anyone outside this house, I promise that" I say, and Mikey nods absently, not even looking at me for the moment.
"Thank you" Mikey whispers, glancing up at me. "Do you hate your biological mom for leaving?" He suddenly asks. His voice was still soft, hesitance and fear in his eyes. As if he was afraid I would suddenly attack him for asking such a question. As if he feared he had overstepped his boundaries.
But the question in itself..
I take a deep breath. "I don't know how I feel about her really" I admit honestly. "I'm mad, and hurt that she left me for such a stupid reason. But she's still my biological mom, and I just can't be mad at her for some reason" I snort at the thought. It sounded so pathetic speaking it out loud.
I was mad, that wasn't a lie, none of it was a lie. I often wondered if I had done something wrong, I had even questioned dad for choosing my biological mom if she was such a person that would just leave her son alone with his father. I hated that she was gone, I hated that she left me.
But I also couldn't hate her at the same time.
"I get that" He mutters, drawing his legs to his chest.
"You hate your parents?" I ask softly, and maybe… just maybe I was hoping for some more information about them. All we knew about him so far was the fact that he had been in juvie for a year, wrongfully convicted, and his parents had been killed on death row.
"No I hate them" He mutters, not even looking at me. "I just don't know what I should feel… if this feeling is good… Is it bad that I hate them?" Now he does look at me, tears bubbling up in his eyes.
"I can't say Mikey" I whisper. "But if they were on death row I don't think you are a bad person for hating them"
"I was almost on death row" He retorts, but there was no energy behind the statement, his voice dull, empty and tired.
"But you were wrongfully convicted" Even if I had no idea what the story was, mom had promised me that she was telling the truth. And I believed her.
"What if they were wrongfully convicted as well?" He whispers, and the tears finally won the battle, trailing down his cheeks. "What if they had more time and got free" It wasn't even a question really, not a question that needed to be answered anyway.
"Do you believe they were innocent?" I ask, but Mikey immediately shakes his head.
"No I don't, I just… I don't know how I should feel. I hate them, I hated them the moment I realised they didn't just not love me. I hated them the moment I figured out what they did. But I allowed it to happen… and if I did, what right do I have to hate them?" He whimpers, wrapping his arms around himself.
I carefully stand up, walking over to him and sitting down next to him.
"Would you blame someone for not defending him or herself with a gun to the head?" I ask softly, looking at his eyes. The light blue eyes sparkled with confusion, and he shook his head. "Why?"
"Because they could die" He whispers softly.
"Would you blame me for not running into an almost collapsing and burning fire?" I ask, and he shakes his head. "Would you blame me for keeping quiet in a hostage situation?" Again, he shakes his head.
"No" The voice cracks ever so slightly, and so does my heart.
"Why?"
"Because you don't want to put yourself in danger" He answers, and I nod. "But what if Raph or Don were in that building?"
"I would try to save them, I would give up everything for them." I answer honestly, almost chuckling at the irony that Mikey managed to turn my argument around. "But Mikey, I have no idea what your parents did. But letting something happen because you didn't know better, or you were afraid of your own life.. doesn't make you a bad person. It makes you someone who wants to survive."
"But others wanted the same" He counters, and the sheer terror and guilt in his voice almost makes me tear up, but I bite it down.
"And the fact that you realise that, the fact that you feel guilty for surviving-" I whisper, shifting slightly. "That makes you a good person Mikey, you are a good person because you realise that"
Survivor's guilt they often called it.
"But-" Mikey starts, but I shake my head, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"No buts, I understand that you do not want to accept that yet.. and maybe you never will" I stop again, but Mikey doesn't speak. "But you need to know that you are a good person, you can't convince me you are not. So don't try" I finish, smiling slightly.
TMNT
"So what are we doing out here exactly?" A voice asks, squinting his eyes as he looks up at the bright sun.
"Investigating" Kurtzman spoke quickly, padding Luther on the back and walking over to the prison. His team followed him silently, walking into the prison as well.
"Investigating usually means a crime scene for us" Luther remarks, glancing at his team, who were equally as confused.
"LH does have a point there Jack" Jhanna smirks, but continued to follow her superior into another room. Jack stopped, turning around and gesturing to the screens that were in the room. There was a guard on the chair in front of the screens, but he stood up the moment they walked into the room.
The team walked over to the screens.
"How familiar are you with the Feltner family?" Jack Kurtzman asks, and both Luther and Tyler Rockwell frown at that.
"Are you referring to the Queen's kidnappings?" The latter asks, and Kurtzman nods at the question. "What are we here investigating them? I thought they were convicted already"
"They are, they are planned to be executed within 35 hours" Jack confirms. "But they have suspicions that they have not uncovered all the bodies of the girls, and want us to find out whether there are more before they are killed"
The Queen's massacre, it wasn't a name that properly explained what had happened all those years again. There wasn't a massacre after all, but with the amount of girls that had gone missing, it sure felt like one to the population of Queens, or anyone else living in New York City.
Everyone had been on edge, until they found out the ones responsible.
A couple had been arrested just a year ago, after having been on the run for 5 years. And they were quickly linked to all the kidnappings that had happened over the course of years. 12 girls in total had gone missing, all having the same particular characteristic. Blonde, blue eyes, and younger than 16 years old.
All of them mutilated, almost unrecognisable for the naked eye. Tortured, maimed, hurt before they were all killed. Bodies eventually found after an anonymous tip was left 5 years ago.
So yes, the team knew about the couple, knew what they were facing today. And that piece of information made it a little more clear why they were, as FBI, called in to investigate.
"This is the couple we are investigating, On the left screen you can see Shawn Feltner, 51 years old and on death row for the torture and murder of at least 12 girls. The middle screen shows his wife, Michelle Feltner, 35 years old. Also on death row for the same crimes as her husband" Jack told sombrely.
The whole team watched warily. The screens showed the two individuals, both in their cells. They were the bright orange outfits, and they still had their hair. But they looked miserable, pale, malnourished, but no regret was in their eyes.
Luther watched uncomfortable. He was still new to the job, just 24 years old, and visiting inmates on death row certainly wasn't something he had wanted to do in his first few years, or ever really.
Jack moved, gesturing to the last screen.
"And this is their son. Unlike his parents he had not admitted to killing those girls but the judges still convicted him. 7 voted in favour of the death penalty, 8 against. But he will be spending a big portion of his life in juvie, and then prison"
"I didn't know they had a son" Jhanna remarked, and Jack shook his head.
"They never released his name to the public" Jack explained. "Or admitted that there was a third person on the job, he is a minor after all."
"So what is the name of our last suspect?" John Bishop asks, and Jack glances at him.
"Mikey Feltner"
TMNT
5 weeks in.
"Shit Mike" Raph curses, frozen on the spot as Shen takes a short break from telling the story. "That's so fucked up" Raph runs a hand through his hair, taking a shuddering breath. He knew of the Queens massacre. Of course he did, how could he not really? It had been on the news everywhere.
Newspapers, online, on the TV, just everywhere. 12 girls, over the course of 2 and a half years.
I glance at mom, trying to blink the tears out of my eyes. But Mikey was worse, tears were cascading down his cheeks, and now not because of happiness. This had happened to him, this was his life just 2 months ago. Two months ago the only thing he could look forward to was being in prison.
Guards watching his every move, assholes like Tyler and Scott bothering him. And basically just suffering.
"Why didn't you defend yourself?" Leo whispers softly, and Mikey looks away in shame. A weird look crosses mom's face, and it was almost as if she wanted to say something.
"It wouldn't matter" Mikey mutters, voice laced with tears, and I could barely understand it. Leo's eyes softened, and he hesitantly twisted his body a bit so he was facing Mikey. "It wouldn't have made difference Leo… and I allowed to let it happen. I was … I was j-just so scared.. I-I wasn't allowed o-outisde and-" He broke into tears again.
That seemed to be the last straw Leo needed, reaching forwards and gently pulling Mikey against him. Mikey didn't protest, melting into Leo's embrace. The blond hid his face in Leo's chest, sobbing softly, and shaking like a leaf.
"'was s-so s-sca-ared" Mikey hiccups, and Leo shushes him softly, rubbing his back.
"I know" He just mutters, blinking the tears from his own eyes.
"Why did they release Mikey?" I ask softly, and Leo's eyes shift towards me. But he keeps holding Mikey tightly, the latter gripping Leo as if he would disappear if he didn't. There was a hesitant look on both mom and dad's faces, and mom's eyes flickered towards Mikey for a moment.
"I'm not entirely sure. The behavioural unit profiled both him and his parents. They managed to get Shawn to reveal the location of another girl's body but they also found both material and behavioural evidence that Mikey was the victim in all of this. And after 3 weeks they got him released"
I frown slightly, mom sounded uncertain, and the story was… too vague. But I just shake my head. I was just glad Mikey finally allowed mom to tell the story.
And for now, that was enough.