A/N: Darkness awaits for those that read this chapter… so to even things out I added some much needed fluff. I rated this as (M) for a reason. If you aren't a fan of violence and other such topics, then why are you reading my story?
I'm loving the reviews! Trust me, I'm just as frustrated with two certain some ones as the rest of you are. I'm trying to get them to kiss and make up but they are surprisingly stubborn… I have said how much I love all you guys, right?
*)O(*
This was living hell. He couldn't think of anything worse. The way everyone crowded into the lab pushed him against her. His chest hurt but he was getting used to it. He hadn't been forced to be this close to her; even over everyone else, he could smell her. Sweet, soft, and warm next to him. He wanted so badly to reach out and touch her. To hold her again, to feel her lips against his. Even if all he got for it was a swift punch in the jaw. His whole body ached with want of just one thing… Her.
*)O(*
"You ready?" Donnie asked. His eyes were trained on her. She took a couple breaths before nodding. This was her first ultra sound. Cold gel was piled on her lower stomach. She could already see a change in her body. Her taunt stomach was stretching outwards just a little. It was enough that she didn't think anyone else had noticed. The wand that Donnie held above her stomach scared her. It was going to tell her how her future was going to play out.
The nervousness inside of her was eating away at the little bit of sanity she thought she still had. Smearing the gel and watching the monitor as his hand moved the wand over her stomach, Donnie focused not on her, but on the black and white reading. Everyone had gathered into the lab, cramming in to get the first look at the baby, or babies. The sound that came off the machine made her eyes water. She could hear them. Heartbeats, strong and fast, pumping away into her babies the nutrients they needed. Then came the image on the screen.
She'd never studied ultrasounds much but even she could see them. Or rather, she couldn't see them. There were three blobs on the screen that jiggled inside of her; two of them seemed to be connected to each other, wiggling simultaneously. She was taken aback for a moment. That wasn't what babies were supposed to look like. Then she remembered that she was carrying babies that would be just less than half turtle. She was going to give birth to eggs.
"Oh my god," Becca squealed, obviously instantly more excited than anyone else in the room. "That's so cool! Triplets!" She gushed, hurriedly reaching for Sara's hand. The word set off a chain reaction in not only Sara and Donnie, who was beaming at her, but in everyone else. Cheers broke out and if she wasn't in mild shock, Sara would have realized that Mikey spoke for the first time in almost a week, murmuring a hushed congradulations. Raph was patting Donnie on the back so hard that it was hard for her to maintain eye contact with Donnie. Donnie just grinned, somehow a little bit bigger, and pushed Raph away before leaning down and kissing her.
"Thank you," he whispered against her lips. She looked up at him then back to the monitor where the sight of her babies still played out on the screen. Tears welled up and spilled over her cheeks. She wiped them but couldn't stop them even if she wanted to. Any anger she'd felt over the unexpected pregnancy dissipated as a new love for her unborn children took root. She leaned up and kissed Donnie again. The chaos around them as their large family cheered was drowned out. Donnie pulled away, going back to examining the monitor.
"They're going to need their own room," Splinter announced. It had been a while since the guys had done any remodeling and Raph cracked his knuckles.
"A big one," the tender hearted brute added.
"We will need to make it safe for them to crawl around," Leo nodded in agreement.
"What things are they supposed to eat," Mik asked looking nervous.
"Three, that means three times the clothes," April said to Becca who nodded. The room was buzzing as everyone added in their own ideas and thoughts.
Sara turned away from all of them to look back at Donnie who was squinting and prodding her stomach in different directions. Then she saw what he was looking at. The two eggs that were jiggling in time with each other were conjoined. The movement was a good sign, and the area that she could see once Donnie adjusted the wand again calmed her nerves a little after the initial fright she'd felt. The area was tiny in comparison to the eggs themselves. Old knowledge of biology sprouted back up and she drew the conclusion that they were probably identical twins who were still separating completely. She relaxed herself into the hospital bed and took a few deep breaths. At the change in her heart rate, Donnie's eyes shot to her.
The deep red brown glowed with inner light as his eyes studied her. "Why are they wiggling like that?" She asked. She didn't know much about box turtle eggs, or how they formed. She hoped she wouldn't have to give birth to eggs that had hardened, but then again was worried about what it meant if the eggs weren't hard like they were supposed to be. "They'll stay semi soft for a while. They'll harden up a little probably around the time you give birth, but they will still be flexible and permeable. At least, I think so, that's how female box turtle's eggs are from what I've researched." Sara nodded. She couldn't expect him to know everything, not at times like this. She understood that a lot of what was going to happen was going to be new for all of them. The crease in his forehead bothered her.
"What is it?" She asked. Everyone seemed to zone in on her discomfort. Near silence fell over the room. "The eggs…" Donnie paused, probably trying to figure out how to say what he was interpreting. The pause, while she understood the need for it, made her want to punch him. She took a breath, preparing for the worst. "Are huge… but not in a bad way." Donnie sighed and rubbed his forehead with the hand that wasn't holding the wand. "I'm trying to say that, if they were human, they would be about two and a half, maybe three months along." Sara breathed. This was getting to be too much. Couldn't this be a little easier, she cursed silently.
"I-I think that your term will be shorter, closer to six months." Okay, so she was getting the crash course in motherhood. Chatter filled the room again. "So, will we be able to feel them move?" Becca asked. Sara's eyes snapped to Donnie. She hadn't thought of that. "I-I don't know." He adjusted the wand. "Right now they are attached by a little cord, can you guys see that?" Each egg was anchored to her uterus by a white little string on the monitor. "So Sara might be able to feel them move, but we might not." The frown in his voice made her heart skip a beat at the pain he must be feeling. It wasn't fair for him not to be able to feel his own children move.
Just then something happened that none of them were ready for. It was so alien to see it, even when she felt nearly nothing. The two conjoined eggs split apart, one knocking into the other as they rebelled against their attachment. The scene played out on the screen and if she hadn't seen it, she wouldn't have believed it had just happened. One egg took up the monitor and bumped into the wand, making it shift. The new view showed three separate eggs hanging by virtual strings. It was unnerving but settling at the same time. Her hand flew to her stomach and she recoiled at the slimy feel of the gel. Surprise echoed and she smiled. "Those two's middle names are going to have to be Leo and Raph," she teased as love spread through her veins again. Everyone but Leo and Raph laughed while the two mentioned seemed to blush.
Marcus fought his way to the front of the group and hugged her. Sara beamed until a growl startled him off her. Donnie was staring the man down. His pupils were large and intimidating for a moment before he blinked himself back into sanity. Failing to cover up what had just happened, Donnie coughed and went back to the screen, gathering as much information as he could. "He can growl all he wants, I'm still going to hug you," Marcus whispered to her. She laughed and joined in the humor at her fiancé's expense.
*)O(*
The lair was a flurry of excitement for the rest of the day. She was tired and would have called off if she'd been working at the pharmacy longer than a couple days. Yet, she was new, so she had to go in, or risk losing her job. She sighed as she pulled on her green uniform shirt. It was going to be a long night. Even longer, she grumbled when she caught sight of the orange bandana sticking out of the trench coat as she walked past Mikey in the garage, leaving the lair. He didn't say anything. He hadn't for a while. It didn't bother her, she told herself. He didn't want to talk to her, she didn't want to talk to him. It would be better if they could just be strangers to each other.
If that were possible then she would be able to heal. Eventually, she might even be able to call him her friend again. Then the newest part of her self pity reared it's head up. It yelled at her. That's all you ever were to him, maybe even less than that. He never asked you out, he never asked you to be his girlfriend. You just leapt for him. You didn't look both ways before crossing the street, don't get mad at the truck that hit you. She huffed her way to work. She couldn't see him, but she could feel him there. That only served to irritate her more. Still, she couldn't stop herself from casting one wishful look to him as he hid on the rooftop across the street.
Bea was bouncing around as Becca went to clock in. Unlike the past times she'd come in, it didn't seem like it was out of her normal energetic personality. "Nick called in sick, and I can't get the cameras to work, the technician can't come in until tomorrow, the button on the register is sticking so the security room won't stop dinging… Thank goodness you showed up. I don't know what I would have done if you'd called out too." Bea gushed for a moment before running around, trying to get things done that were left by day shift.
As a manager Bea seemed to be too lenient on the people under her when it came to responsibilities. The past two days there had been things left over that should have been done easily, especially considering that day shift had more people than night shift did. Bea brushed if off, saying that they had been busy, but Becca didn't agree. Working for her father had never awarded her any special privileges when it came to her duties, no matter how cramped her schedule had been.
Becca shook herself. Most people weren't like her father, most were kinder. Like Bea who took on other people's responsibilities with only a shrug and a smile. Then there was Mikey. He could smile through nearly anything and lift his family up all while keeping people safe from the evil around them. Her trained smile faltered as she thought of him. She shook herself. She was at work. She didn't have time for thoughts of home, of the pain inside that was eating her bit by bit.
A few hours passed and Bea was fiddling around with the cameras when the group from the other day came in. The giant of a man made her wary. His 'pals' were less than half his size, yet they still freaked her out. Their eyes darted, never standing still on anything too long. They reminded her of Leo when they were training. At that thought Becca placed a hand on the taser at her hip. She was a few steps away from the register and 'Faithful.'
Unlike the other night, when they had simply given off 'bad' vibes, today they were menacing. Their presence was unnerving and she felt fear creep up her neck. As they walked past her, she relaxed her stance, dropping her hand from the taser and turning away from them. She looked to the register, hoping to fix the button for Bea.
Someone grabbed her ponytail and yanked hard on it, pulling her over the counter's edge slightly. She screamed in surprise and fear. The pain was shocking and she reached up, trying to relieve herself of the person holding her. A giant hand tightened and she yelped. A face peered down at her as she struggled. Large and brutish with beady black eyes that seemed to cast away the light that was reflected from them. The smile on his face made her stomach turn. "Call for Mikey to come save you." He laughed and she felt the blood drain from her face. "Oh, yeah, she's the right one, alright." He laughed even harder.
She bit her lip as he pulled her across the counter, the edge cutting into her bent body. He had to be a Purple Dragon. He resembled the brute force she'd seen in the others, only magnified. Who were the people with him? They didn't seem to fit the bill of being PD. "Karai's gonna love this." He sneered as her body hit the floor harshly only for him to command her to her feet by another rough tug on her hair. She let go of her hair, giving up on relieving herself of the pain and reached for the taser. The giant tsk'ed at her and crushed her hand around the grip of the weapon.
She might have thought that she'd never wanted to use 'Faithful' before, but now she wished she had it in her hands. The pain of him holding her up by her hair and the force of his hand around hers was crippling. She never knew someone could have such powerful hands. She groaned as his hand released hers. The taser fell to the floor and she knew she was looking at her only hope falling away. One kick and he busted it on the far wall, the shattering startling her before she knew what he'd done to it.
"I'm kinda glad you tried that, it means you'll be more fun to break." Becca looked up, and up, to him. His eyes tore through her and made her feel naked. She tried falling to her knees, a last ditch effort to get him to loose his grip. The pain she caused herself made her gasp in shock. Her scalp felt like it was going to tear away from her skull at any minute. "Oh yeah, you're going to be fun." He laughed. Becca felt sick. His breath was hot on her neck and she nearly gagged. "I could be nice, as long as you tell me where they're hiding. Karai really only wants the redhead, Sara, I think she said her name was. Make this easier on yourself."
Sara, sweet, loud, caring, a bit overbearing, and most importantly, pregnant. Becca only had a small idea of what he and his friends could have planned for her, but it didn't matter. No matter what she wouldn't let them have Mikey, or Sara, or any of her family. The heat of his breath grew closer to her neck and she resigned herself to the pain she was about to endure. She yanked her head, her neck popping in the effort and opened her mouth, biting down on cheek that was next to her face. She bit and bit as he tried to pull her head by her hair. He'd yank and she'd lock her jaws harder until she felt the tear and blood filled her mouth. They both howled in pain. Him as she took a chunk of his cheek. Her as she was thrown by her hair into the counter.
She nearly puked, she want to, oh so badly. She spit out the flesh at him as the men around him seemed to be waiting for something as he howled again. Her head rang, her scalp screamed, her mouth would never be clean again. Then she registered something else. A lump in her back pocket. Acting like she was rolling due to pain she managed to pull out the shell cell. She flipped it open and pressed the main orange button then squashed the rest of them as a hand yanked it away from her. "She called them."
"Good. They can watch as I make her mine. The other bitch should be with them." The growling of the giant froze her blood in her veins. Before she could do anything she was choked by her shirt as a tearing sound pierced the quiet that had descended. She tried to scramble away, to get some distance so she could run, but her air was cut off until the shirt gave completely away.
*)O(*
He hadn't made it far. Maybe a block or two… He'd stayed and watched her. The look she'd cast his way, pinpointing him in the dark faster than even his brothers could have, had rooted him in place. The large glass windows on the front of the pharmacy let him see her almost the whole time she was in the store. It was selfish, and probably a little bit more than stalker-ish of him, but he hadn't been able to pull himself away. Her smile made other people smile back. If the line was empty she'd even offer a little wave to people as they left. She zipped around the store like she'd worked there for months, not days.
It was torture, but he endured it. It was the only way to see her happy. He never got the chance to be part of the sparing moments in the lair when he'd hear her laugh. He'd walk too close and she'd choke on the beautiful sound, glare at him then force out smiles that made him hate himself even more. Nothing compared to the self loathing he felt when the distress signal from her phone alarmed on his phone. If he would have stayed just a bit longer, indulged just a moment more.
He sprinted across the roof tops, skidded to a halt on the same one that had been his perch just a while ago. His chest heaved. He made it just in time to see the lights go out. He cursed. If it was a normal day in New York he would have blamed a blackout, or even bad wiring. This was like a sign. Only the pharmacy was dark. He gritted his teeth. He couldn't see anything. His mind was fuzzy and dark when he saw someone, short and just a little thick running for the door. The street lights illuminated the figure for just a moment before blond hair was snatched and she was yanked back into the darkness.
A growl escaped him. Everything turned red. It had been Becca. The only thing covering her torso had been her bra, her shirt was gone. He didn't wait for his brothers, he couldn't. He started to disrobe as he jumped down to street level. He tore the binding material to shreds as he hurtled towards the doors. He kicked the over sized shoes off as he got to the front of the store. Here he could see just inside of the pharmacy. His pupils swelled then became pinpoints as he saw Hun and a group of men too small to be PD. Hun held Becca up on her tiptoes by her hair. She was facing him. Her face twisted as Hun did something behind her back. Her bra was torn from her body. Then the giant's hand went lower.
Mikey burst through the glass doors. His arms were sliced and cut open. "Mikey! Run! Run!" Becca yelled. His mind was too fuzzy to understand why she was telling him to go. All he heard was her calling for him. He howled. The two ninja, Foot ninja, who'd been ready to jump him were startled and gave away their positions. He couldn't process the severity of the situation. Somewhere he knew that the PD and the Foot had teamed up, but he couldn't care why. The only thing he knew was that Becca was in trouble and he had to save her. The ninja steadied themselves and leapt, trying to cripple him.
He didn't like bloodshed. If he had to, then yes, he'd do what he had to do. Normally he could just knock people out. There wasn't a drop of mercy in him. He grabbed one ninja by the throat, crushing his windpipe, dropping him and leaving him to suffocate. The other hit his shell, the attack bouncing off him. Mikey lifted his leg, kicking the failed attacker in the stomach and launching him into the wall. He didn't study the damage. There was no time.
The hoard that had materialized jumped him. He rampaged, knocking the tiny humans aside. If the chucks in his left hand connected with something, they did damage, broke bones. He lost sight of Becca. He spun, searching the dark for her. His ears worked just enough to pick out her protest. He couldn't see her, but he knew she was being pulled away from the fight. Then a bow came down on a ninja's skull. Mikey spun. Donnie was in the throng with him. Then Raph and Leo charged in. Taking a move from his older brother's playbook, he widened his stance, spread his arms, crouched and roared. The force of it made his throat feel like it was on fire, but it did it's job. Startled, many ninja dropped their guard. Becca screamed. Mikey pointed his body in the direction of her voice and charged. He barreled through the mass of bodies. He heard an answering roar, a familiar one. Raph was following him. When one of them got too close, Raph swooped in, knocking them away like they were flies until all the attention was on his older brother, leaving Mikey open.
Hysterical, Becca's voice reached him. His name, rushed, scared. The store was an obstacle coarse and he was a bulldozer. Nothing stood in his way. He pushed through a door that swung on it's hinges. Hun sneered at him. Becca was crying, yanking against the firm hold the menace kept on her. "Becca," he croaked.
"Sara, is Sara safe?" She screamed, her voice echoing in the small space. His brother's mate wasn't any of his business right now. She could hold her own. Becca, on the other hand, needed him. If he could have been sure that he wouldn't hurt her while like this, he would have already had Hun off her. "Let her go." He warned. Hun laughed, sick and twisted.
The man's hand came up from around her waist, squeezing her breast harshly. "I think she's starting to like me, why don't you try taking her away." Mikey thought he'd gone mad. Rage fueled by adrenaline was a murderous cocktail in his veins. He didn't remember crossing the small distance between them. Or if the feeling of snatching away Hun's hand and breaking his wrist was satisfying. He barely registered Becca enough to know that she'd leapt to the side, away from him and Hun. He had a clear shot.
His right hand was still holding the crunching mass that was Hun's left hand, so with his left, he struck out. It was clear Hun had anticipate a blow to his face. Nunchucks still firm in his grasp, Mikey slammed the blunt end into Hun's throat. Blood sprayed on his face as the whistling sound of air trying to pass through the mangled trachea filled the room. Quicker than anyone could have avoided, he slammed them into Hun's throat again. The force alone covered more of his face in plasma.
He'd never be able to describe the feeling of blood lust. He'd never be able to explain to anyone the amount of satisfaction he felt was he watched what little light there was, fade from Hun's beady eyes as blood gurgled out of his open, shocked mouth. It wasn't until there was some resistance that he even slightly noted that the second hit had embedded his nunchuck into the man's throat. Blood didn't gush or run out of his throat when Mikey pulled his weapon free, it seeped, simply trying to find an exit.
Triumphant, cover in his enemies blood, he turned to Becca. She was staring up at him, tears falling, hands covering her exposed flesh. He tried to rid himself of the red around his vision. He tried to clear his mind. Too much adrenaline, too much hurt, too long of not holding her. Somewhere he questioned if she would still want him after what she'd seen him do. Not even he had known he could be so vicious. Moments, breaths ago, he'd been the victor. Now he crumpled, falling to his knees in front of her, head bowed to her.
She'd been on the verge of something so terrible and sickening, and yet, she'd still cried out for the safety of another. She was the strong one. She was the one who put others before herself, no matter what. She was the light he'd tried to be for so long. He didn't want to live in the dark. "I'm sorry." He bowed, head touching the floor. "I'm so sorry." He'd failed to keep her safe, to never let anyone hurt her again. He'd made her witness him killing someone. Still, the red around his vision wouldn't fade. He couldn't turn it off. Everything was narrowing, coming to a finer point. Red faded to black and black swallowed every… except for Becca, yelling for him. Begging him, begging him to come back… to stay with her. Rule number one: the woman is always correct.
It was a weak, feeble attempt, even if he didn't say it out loud, but he smiled nonetheless. If she wanted him, he'd stay with her for the rest of eternity.
*)O(*
A/N: Oh, please, please, please don't kill me! Love you guys!
