(n.) a decisive moment in time that is fleeting, yet momentously eventful and incredibly significant... 'in the blink of an eye'

The color draining from Donnie's face and his hand covering his mouth in horror caught her attention. Without a word, Vienna rose and tread over to him, laying a hand on his shoulder and peering over at the screen.

"Entry one. Five days since capture." The young woman staring at the camera in the middle of the cell practically glowed from the hateful fire raging in her eyes. Her short, dyed hair was a mess, red lips smeared and mascara smudged. "Hamato Family, if you ever get hold of these videos, I want you to know the motives behind my rejoining the Foot Clan. I never intended to hurt any of you. You are all my family."

"Is that...?" Vienna didn't need Donnie's word to know the girl was Karai. Her eyes were reptilian, cold and icy, and where lacerations and gashes had appeared on her skin, scales had scabbed over her wounds instead of the normal, human process of blood coagulation.

"Get Leo," Donnie breathed, fast-forwarding through the feed with urgency now.

"Entry... t-two. Day fourteen." Blood dripped onto the floor from the multiple whippings on her back. Her face was thinner, cheekbones more accented than was healthy, hands spindly and muscles shaking. "Please help me. He's breaking me, I can't get out... I..." She screamed at a bang in another room off-camera, cowering.

Cowering.

That definitely wasn't like her.

He turned to say something to Vienna, explain to her that Karai wasn't one to beg for help, but the brunette wasn't there.

Right, she'd gone to get Leo.

She's so tiny, her feet probably didn't even make a sound.

He turned back to his computer, trying to refocus. Fast-forwarding through three more lashings, and the fastening of a muzzle around Karai's face to prevent her venomous bites.

"Donnie, you found something?" came the sound of Fae's voice as she and Leo hurried in behind Vienna.

"I found everything." Donnie beckoned the trio forward, clicking through the files. "My data tracked down the video feeds in the facility."

"Finally," Leo muttered under his breath.

"Watch it. You don't want your retinas clawed out," Vienna threatened, leaning down beside Donnie and tilting her glasses further down her face to scrutinize the videos, all business.

Her eyes were hazel in the screen's light now, he noticed. Funny, he thought they've would've turned green, for some reason.

"'Scuse me, Miss Genius 2.0, but aren't retinas in the BACK of the eyeball?" Leo brushed past Faline, blocking her view while he scrutinized Donnie's work.

"That's the point." Vienna leaned close, her nose nearly poking at Leo's cheek, to whisper in a foreboding tone, "The pain will be much greater if I need to dislodge something so deep in your head."

Faline couldn't hold back a small snort of amusement, which in turn was rewarded with a scowl from her boyfriend.

"Entry Three."

Audible gasps were heard from everyone at the sight of Karai. Her eyes were dull, lifeless, though her cadaverous frame still rose and fell with labored breaths. She had barely anything on - the weapon used to torture seemed to have torn her clothing to shreds. Where there should've been beautifully smooth olive skin, sickly purple bruises had bloomed. Where there wasn't torn skin and exposed, sinewy muscle, her skin had gone deathly pale.

The quartet of viewers counted the ribs, shaking like unstable cantilevers for her body.

She barely had the strength to sit up.

" I betrayed you all, to preserve our own lives, and now see just how toxic I am. But know that I never meant to hurt any of you, and that I will always consider myself honored to have called myself a member of the Hamato Clan, as short-lived as it was."

"Oh my God." Vienna trembled, grabbing hold of Donnie's arm and holding on for dear life, like losing contact with him would cause her to fall apart into hysterics.

"Donnie, track the signal." Leo ordered simply, stepping back and keeping his eyes fixed on the floor, his eyes glassy and disbelieving.

"Already have. I was right. They're holding her north of the city, in a warehouse two miles deviant from the normal commute route." The genius hit fast-forward through the scenes of torture that flashed across the screen.

"Get everyone ready," Leo said to no one in particular, hurrying out before anyone could stall him.

"She's dying," Fae whispered, her voice shaky. "We might be too late."

"Entry Three was a week ago, according to the readings." Donnie's own hands were quivering over the keyboard. "At least, that's when the videos made it into the storage system."

"What's the most recent one?"

His hand wavered on the mouse, scroll through frames and pressing pause.

Two days prior.

A still cell.

Karai didn't move, apart from the occasional twitch of her fingers and the movement of her lips, forming indecipherable sentences.

She was sweating, perspiration beading on her forehead, despite the icy cloud that was blown from her mouth with each exhalation.

There was nothing on her. Only handcuffs, a muzzle, and her meager wrappings she'd worn under her armor. And even those were tattered rags.

Her cheek was bleeding incessantly, dripping like a sieve of red.

And on her shuddering sternum, the skin had bubbled, scabbed, and reddened. A large, ugly burn across her breastbone. A gruesome circle, enclosing a footprint painted with blisters onto her skin.

A brand.

The Foot symbol forever scarred into her flesh, speckled with tears that fell from Karai's sullen eyes.

"Donatello."

Hands forced his fingers back from the computer, shoved him away from the desk.

"Donatello, you're shaking."

The terrapin stared at Vienna, the sight of her supple skin and untouched features doing nothing to erase that terrifying image of Karai from his mind.

She cupped his face with her hands, her cool touch sending a shock through his body.

"Breathe," she soothed, tugging him close and embracing him gently.

He watched her, awkwardly bent to reach him in his seat, her small arms wrapping 'round him. Funny, April would've just left him to his thoughts. April would've set a comforting hand on his shoulder and then after awhile, slipped away. April would've-

No. Vienna definitely wasn't April.

And for the first time, he found himself preferring the bespectacled girl's tactics.

Donnie stood to alleviate her odd positioning, holding on with abandon and grasping her tiny, vulnerable body close. Her hair still smelled like acrylics, like the striking tinges had been dyed in with the paints she used. And her midsection was so quaint, he felt like he was embracing the air.

She hummed in delight - or perhaps it was another calming technique - and inhaled deeply. He wondered momentarily what scent she associated with him - one of engine oil and dried-on sweat from morning training? He hoped not. Something like the old books he had his nose buried in, or even the slightly burnt scent of welded wires and machinery.

He only wished his aroma wouldn't be too appalling to her nose.

Vienna pulled back, craning her neck up at him. "Better?"

Donatello swallowed hard, then nodded. "Better."

She couldn't find it in her to smile, though he distinctly caught her eyes turning bluer with his affirmation.

"The overdose of caffeine probably didn't help that precarious situation," he rationalized, his hand going to rub at the back of his neck sheepishly.

She reached up, pulling his hand from its usual resting place on his occipital region. "It's okay. If I'd known her like you do, I'd be freaking out too."

The terrapin glanced around, noticing the lack of a certain blonde's presence. "Fae left?"

"The moment she saw Karai's branding she'd bolted. That shape-shifting thing of hers is quite impressive. She moves SO fast in that leopard form."

"How... how long was I staring at...?" He only gestured behind him at the computer, too afraid that the screen may not have dimmed, and that the horrific depiction of Karai's mangled form was still on display.

"A good two minutes. Don't worry, I was shocked into a trance right there beside you. Took me a sec to realize you were hyperventilating."

"I'm sorry, I-"

"Don't be sorry. It's not like you can control anxiety attacks," she shushed him. "Anyway, I think we need to be preparing some sort of... treatment. For Karai."

"Right." Donnie knew there was much that still needed to be accomplished. Pinpointing a route. Cleansing medical tools. God, what about Karai's blood type? If he needed to operate, he'd need to find a supply. He thought he still had some O- leftover from Fae's appendix removal, but if that didn't match... and then there was the long, grueling mental recovery from months of torture and interrogation-

Vienna's cool hand pressed to his cheek, sending a shock down Donnie's spinal cord. "I can see those gears turning already. Don't get too ahead of yourself, there. What we need to focus on is how to get her out."

The jumbled mess of logic dissolved for a moment, as her hand retracted and grazed his collarbone on the way down.

"We should get started," she asserted.

"Yes." His hands seemed to be super-glued to the space below her scapulas, keeping her near.

Vienna let her lips finally part into a charming smile. "Want another hug?"

"That'd be nice."

And just like that, he was engulfed back into stasis. Her arms came around him, and for a moment, her perceptive actions set his mind at ease. There were no expectations for a moment, no standards to meet, and no fears to fight against. There was nothing but the two of them, and for that instant, nothing seemed more than enough.

This time, as she parted from him, Donnie offered Vienna a small smile, which of course, she returned with a giggle.

How was it that her optimism remained so contagious, even in the midst of THIS?

"We've got family to save," Vienna murmured.

"Let's get started," Donnie agreed.