Ch 21 A Test Subject
"I feel like I swallowed a beach ball." Leo groused as he and Raph sat in Rockwell's waiting room. Rockwell had just finished his exam and now they were waiting for the results of Leo's new blood test. Raph watched rather amused as Leo continued to rub his rounded belly. "I never realized how quickly my stomach grew."
"Yeah." Raph chuckled. "It seems like one minute you were slim and then next…boom." He brought his hands out as though he was demonstrating an explosion
"Thanks for that Raph." Leo said dryly."
"That's because the eggs have turned and are ready to be birthed." Dr. Rockwell told them. "You could be laying them at anytime."
"Well I do feel like I need to start digging a hole." Leo quipped.
Raph's eyes widen at the image but he quickly pushed it away. "When do you think it will happen?"
"Hard to say." Rockwell said. He brought out a chart and scanned it quickly. "Only Leonardo will know when his body tells him."
"Are those my blood test results?" Leo asked watching as Rockwell frowned at the information.
"Yes Leonardo." He looked at him with concern. "And I am sorry to say, it isn't looking good." He watched as Raph gave Leo's hand a gentle squeeze when Leo's face fell. "The deterioration of your DNA has progressed rapidly." He explained. "I suggest we look into hospitalizing you in case the eggs become effected by what's happening."
"Why?" Leo looked up at him and his face clouded over with anger at the thought of having to be in the hospital. "I feel fine and would prefer to wait till I absolutely have to."
"We may need to induce labor if things get worse." He advised, picking up the phone. "I would prefer not to do that since it could put the embryos in shock before they are fully developed, but at least if you were in the hospital, we can monitor you there easier and if something does happen, we'll be able to deal with it fast."
Raph looked at Leo and saw he was shaking and attempting to push back tears forming in his eyes. He could sense the fear welling up inside his mate and he squeezed his hand harder.
"This is for our babies Leo…and for you." Raph pleaded with him. "If it's for the best, then maybe we should take you to the hospital and get you prepared." Leo looked into Raph's eyes and felt his heart ache when he saw the fear welling up in his mate's eyes that were also brimming with tears. "Who knows." He continued with a teary smile, trying to cheer Leo up. "By the end of this week, there may be three little turtle eggs sunning themselves by our window sill."
Leo sniffed and gave Raph a teary smile in return. He nodded and took a steely breath and turned back to Rockwell. "Okay, when should I be checked in?" He was trying so hard to fight the fear that he was certain was showing.
"I suggest you go home, get some things and I'll make the arrangements for you to be admitted to the hospital this afternoon. That will give you time to speak with your family and let them know what's going on."
"Everything's going to be okay Leo." Raph said as he watched Leo's face scrunch up with fear and tears began falling from his eyes. He brought Leo into a hug and soothe him as Leo tried to push down the sobs that threatened to erupt from his throat . "Everything will be okay."
Several minutes later, hand in hand, Leo and Raph walked out the TCRI building and toward the parking lot. Leo seemed to be in a daze as Raph led him toward the truck. They walked slow since Leo had a hard time walking due to the awkwardness of his body but also because both their minds were reeling with the idea of what was going on. They reached the truck and Raph turned to Leo. "I've spoken with Donnie, told him we needed to talk to everyone, so he'll be leaving in just a few minutes, he wanted to call Mikey and have him come home." Leo nodded but said nothing. He slowly walked around the truck as Raph climbed into the driver side.
As Leo was just about to open the door the sound of screeching tires distracted him and he looked up to see a large black SUV heading toward them at top speed. Raph turned to see the car about to smash into his side of the truck, instinctively he shut his door and scrambled to the opposite end just as the SUV quickly spun around and smashed it's end against Raph's door. The sudden jolt of the two cars coming together caused Raph to hit his head against the dashboard causing him to black out.
Leo watched horrified as the SUV barreled toward them. He quickly backed away from the truck and ran as best he could toward the wall as far away as possible to keep from getting hit when he saw the two cars collide. He heard himself yelling out Raph's name and the sound of metal crunching against metal. He watched in utter shock as Raph was thrown against the dashboard as he scrambled to the other side of the truck. But when he attempted to run toward the truck, he was quickly grabbed from behind and a wet rag was placed over his mouth. He struggled to break the grip but the arms held him fast as they dragged him toward the SUV. Leo's vision faded as he felt himself lifted into the car and laid gently on the floor.
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Donnie walked toward the exit of the building. He had just finished speaking with Mikey who promised to meet them at the house within ten minutes. He was just about to call Splinter and give him a heads up when the sound of a loud crash came from the parking lot.
Donnie ran toward the back of the building and watched horrified as a black SUV came screaming out of the lot and down the street. Bewildered, he made his way toward the parked cars and broke into a run when he saw his brother's truck with a smashed in door. He ran up to the truck and saw the figure of his brother laying dazed on the bench seat. Raph was just starting to sit up when the passenger side door was forced open and Donnie assisted him in climbing out of the truck.
"Raph what happened?" Donnie demanded. "Are you okay? Where's Leo?" The questions flew from his mouth as he searched his brother's body and did a quick check to see if there was anything other then scratches and bruises.
"I'm…I'm okay Don." Raph mumbled attempting to stand up. He looked around and brought his hand to his head. "Leo?" He mumbled. "Where…I…I don't know…where."
"Sit still Raph." Donnie said, he made his brother sit down in the truck while he took out his cell. "You could have another concussion." He noted the blood that streamed down his brother's forehead "I'm calling the ambulance."
"NO!" Raph suddenly jumped up and once again began to look around. "Leo's gone!" He shouted. "Someone took him and I need to find him."
"We will Raph but first…."
"No Donnie." Raph ran to the driver's side of the truck and attempted to pull it open. "We need to go after whoever took him." He slammed his fist against the door when it refused to open.
"Raph!" Donnie forced him to turn around and look at him. "We'll find him." He told him. "But first we need to get home, get our weapons and Mikey. Stay here." He ordered.
Raph watched Donnie run back toward the front of the building. He slammed his hand on the top of the truck furiously. "Why the hell can't people just leave us the hell alone." He roared loudly. A few minutes later, the sound of a horn caught his attention and his eyes widen when he saw a rather large looking subway car round the corner.
The door slid open to reveal Donnie, Rockwell and Leatherhead sitting in various seats. "What the hell….?" Raph began as he cautiously walked into the subway car.
Donnie smiled proudly. "It's a fully functioning all terrain vehicle with…"
"Michelangelo named it the Shell raiser." Leatherhead interrupted, he was sitting in what Raph assumed was the driver's seat. "Get in Raphael." He ordered. "We will go to your home and get Michelangelo while Rockwell checks your head and makes sure it is nothing serious." Raph climbed in and Leatherhead got the vehicle in gear.
"Whoa Donnie." Raph said, sitting down and surveying the interior of the vehicle. "This is impressive." He smiled as Rockwell gave his head a quick look over. "When did you guys create this."
"We've been working on it for a while." Donnie told him as he tapped away on his computer. "It's being created for the military to be used in combat situations. It doesn't look like a tank and it can be used as a type of 'Trojan horse' so to speak."
"Why did Mikey get a look at it before I did?" Raph questioned sounding almost jealous
"Because he was here when we revealed it and you were on your honeymoon." Leatherhead explained as Raph nodded in understanding before his eyes widen in concern.
"My honeymoon? LEO!" He was becoming frantic and started swatting at Rockwell. "We got to find him!" Rockwell attempted to finish bandaging Raph's head. "Sit still Raphael." He said sternly.
"We'll find him Raph." Donnie said grimly. "I saw the license plate of the vehicle that smashed into your truck and tapped into the DMV records."
Raph stared at Don. "So who has him Don?" He demanded.
Rockwell let out a nervous sigh. "My rival... Falco."
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Leo blinked his eyes open slowly and looked around a white room. He attempted to bring his hands up to his head before he realized they were strapped to the bars of a hospital bed. "Ohhhh, this is getting so tiring." Leo moaned to himself. Looking around he realized he was in a hospital room and his legs were spread open and tied to stir ups. He was also stripped of his clothes and now wore a hospital gown. A different type of fear began to come over him and he struggled to get himself out of the bindings but it was useless. The straps around his wrist and feet were thick and doubled locked. Try as Leo might, he could not get his wrist or his feet free.
"You can struggle all you want." A familiar voice said. "But it won't do you any good."
Leo looked over to his left where a figure dressed in a black and silver ninja outfit leaned against the wall. "Karai?" His mouth gaped open and he again struggled to get his wrist out of the straps."Where are we? What are we doing here?" He demanded. "Why are we here?"
"Just lay back Leo." Karai smiled cruelly at him. "Everything will be all over very soon."
Before Leo could respond, the door next to Karai opened and Leo's eyes widen when a very large mutant Bengal tiger walked into the room, he was followed by a tall man with dark graying hair in a white lab coat and another much younger man with reddish hair also in a white lab coat.
Leo stared at the younger man and gasped when he recognized him. "I know you." He almost yelled. "You work with Donatello. You're...You're Dr. Chaplin."
Chaplin sneered at Leo. "DID work with him you mean." He responded.
"Why are you doing this?" Leo watched as Chaplin's face suddenly twisted in anger.
"You mutant freaks think you're so smart." He walked over to him and leered at him. "Do you know how furious I was when your freak of a brother was chosen over me to replace Dr. Stockman?!" He furiously yelled. "I worked closely with Stockman, I had all his knowledge of what was going on, more so then that pathetic Hamato kid. I'm ten years his senior and Rockwell chooses him!" His hands turned to fist and Leo feared he was going to start beating him. "So I came to someone who would appreciate all of my knowledge."
"Enough Dr. Chaplin." The other human pulled him away from the bed and smiled down at Leo, with an almost lustful gaze that made Leo desperately want to get away from. He placed his hands on Leo's plastron and smiled with anticipation as he rubbed his hand along Leo's stomach and made his way further down Leo's plastron, almost to his groin area.
"I was rather disappointed to find out the enhancing agent in your blood was not doing the job it was meant to do." The human told him. "But then to find out you were carrying eggs!" He laughed while his hands continued to inspect Leo. "Well, that was everything I needed and more."
"DON'T YOU TOUCH ME!" Leo screamed, struggling harder to get out of the binds. He growled as the human's hands gently prodded Leo's stomach and the human's face smiled gleefully.
"According to Rockwell, he could be laying the eggs at any time now." Dr. Chaplin told the other one.
"I don't want to wait til his body decides to give birth!" The human responded. "I want the eggs now! I want to begin testing on them now, start the experiments and begin verifying if the enhancing DNA was passed on to the embryos." He turned to Chaplin. "Prepare a hypodermic needle with Pitocin. We'll have the eggs within a few hours."
"NO!" Leo cried out anxiously. "PLEASE NO! YOU CAN'T DO THIS!" He attempted once again to fight himself out of the bindings but a strong hand was placed on his forehead and forced his head onto the pillow. "Rockwell said if you force labor you could hurt the eggs, send the embryos into shock!" Tears streamed down Leo's face as he was held down.
"Now now Leonardo." The human said to him. "We don't want to make things worse so I suggest you calm down."
"Who are you?" Leo demanded, watching as Dr. Chaplin made his way over to him with a needle in his hands ready to inject Leo.
"I'm someone who knows all about your father's research and I am determine to continue it." He said with a twisted smile. "You can call me….Dr. Victor Falco."
