The pieces won't pick up themselves.
Luna awoke with a nasty taste in her mouth that made her teeth itch and a groggy feeling in her head that made her want to burrow back under the covers and hide. Instead, she forced her blurry eyes to focus on the clock Don had given her. 6PM. She hated sleeping the day away. She hated the way the sleeping pills made her feel even more. But it was the only way she was going to recover.
She was still a long way from 100% but now that Leo wasn't shielding her, the dreams made getting solid sleep difficult, if not impossible. Not that Leo hadn't tried to resume his protective shielding but she'd absolutely forbidden it. He shouldn't have to suffer every time she closed her eyes. Don's sleeping pills and afternoon naps would have to do.
Just then Michelangelo poked his head in the infirmary door, interrupting her thoughts and bringing a smile to her face. His ever cheery attitude was always a balm to her frazzled nerves.
"Afternoon Sleepy Moon!" He teased as he came in with a tray that smelled of delicious, mouth watering things.
She had discovered early on, that Michelangelo was the source of all the incredible meals in this place. He loved to cook and the kitchen was his second home, after the spot on the sofa in front of the gaming machine. Since she'd awakened, he'd kept up a constant stream of excellent food and reassurance during her long recovery and she adored him for it.
She sat up as he set the tray in front of her with a flourish worthy of a french waiter, and waited for her to sample his latest creation. She didn't hesitate, shoving it into her mouth and nodding her appreciation.
He flopped down into a nearby chair and flung one leg casually over the arm while waiting for her to finish her meal.
"So," he began, rattling a small cup, "I've got your latest dose of pain pills here and after you have them we have a few hours to kill. What do you wanna do?"
"Any chance we could get outside and soak up some rays?" Luna asked without any real hope. She felt trapped in the infirmary, and feeling some of her father's power on her skin would be heavenly. But she really didn't expect that the answer would be yes.
"Hmm." Mikey thought for a moment, then brightened, "Well we could hang out in Donnie's lab for a little while. He has skylights in there."
Luna's jaw dropped. "He has skylights? This far underground?"
"Un-huh! And when the sun goes down in a bit, I can take you up to the rooftop and we can soak in the moon's rays too!" Mikey said. "Or should I say Luna-r rays?"
A smile lit Luna's face and Michelangelo basked in it. There was something truly uplifting about making Luna smile. Somehow it made him feel complete, like everything was right with the universe. He'd found himself spending more and more time with her and doing everything he could think of to make that smile appear.
It was why he hadn't thought twice about volunteering to stay behind to guard her when Leo, Don and Raph decided to set a trap for her attackers. Leo had been a bit surprised since Mikey was always up for a fight but to Mikey, it made perfect sense. Luna needed a distraction, and at that he was king.
She finished her meal and Mikey helped her carefully through several different rooms until they reached the long expanse that Donatello used as his lab. It was a room Luna hadn't yet seen in their home, and she was amazed.
The late afternoon light was streaming in, magnified by the refractive caps Don had created to enhance the effect. Sunlight washed over all the varied equipment, guilding the glass containers and reflecting off the impressive array of inventions lining the rear shelves.
Luna looked around in wonder. Experiments bubbling away, chemistry equipment, electronics, and tools cluttered up every flat surface in the room. The walls were lined with shelves, drawers, and containers piled high with unidentifiable odds and ends. One wall was completely filled with books; there was everything from the nature of the universe, to poetry to sci-fi.
As she stared around, trying to absorb it all, Mikey balanced her at a nearby table and went to empty a cozy armchair in the corner. He scooted it around, nudging it this way and that, until he was satisfied that it was directly under one of the tubes of sunlight.
He watched intently as Luna walked carefully over and sank gracefully into the chair. Like his brothers, he was terribly concerned about her recovery and she was still so fragile looking, he was afraid even a small gust of wind could knock her off her feet.
She settled in, closed her eyes, and tilted her face up to the bright rays of light streaming into the lab, looking for all the world like a flower soaking up the sun. She let out a small, soft, satisfied sigh and relaxed completely for the first time in what seemed like weeks.
Mikey silently studied her face and he liked what he saw. He knew she was concerned about her effect on their family, but from what he'd seen so far, she was exactly what this family needed.
Michelangelo was exceptionally insightful and one glance was usually all he needed to tell him everything about a given emotional situation, including how to defuse it. But things had been going steadily downhill here, before Luna arrived.
His family had outgrown their home. Not in the physical sense, since the tunnels and rooms down here went on and on, but mentally. Each of them developed their own ways of coping but they all suffered from the same malady. Being trapped underground, hidden away from society.
Mikey kept things light and tried to keep his brothers in harmony, but lately even his best efforts were failing. With Master Splinter away and unable to advise them, the unity that they depended on for survival had been fraying rapidly. It pained him that no one else seemed to have noticed.
He sighed quietly and turned his attention again to the miraculous little goddess that had been practically gift wrapped and dropped in their laps. She was a god-send. He laughed a little at his own joke. She was a breath of fresh air, a new perspective that shook them up and made them start acting and thinking again rather than just going through the motions of life.
Then there was her new bond with Leo. It had taken awhile for Leo to explain it in a way they could all understand but it's meaning was astounding. It represented an entirely new phase of their lives. One that none of them had even dared dream of before now.
They could have mates.
The mere possibility was enough to make them all eager to help and protect her, even unto death. They sat quietly for a while, each contemplating their own thoughts, until Mikey's inner timer for quiet thought went off and he had to say something.
"What cha' thinkin about?" he asked, just to break the silence.
"What a great cook you are!" she shot back, and he laughed.
"Glad you liked it, but really, you looked totally unhappy just then, so unless my cooking gave you a belly ache, you were thinking about something else. What's up?"
"I'm worried about Leo." she admitted. "Donnie and Raph too!" she added quickly. Then, as if a dam had burst, more words she hadn't meant to share came pouring out. She couldn't seem to stop them.
"They are out there risking exposure to immortals with powers they've never even imagined, and it's all my fault." she said, agony clear on her face. "I should have tried harder to undo the bond that Sol created. I should have stopped it from seeking you out to begin with. Maybe it's not too late to untangle you. Perhaps I could get one of my cousins to shelter me and just disappear. I couldn't bear it if any of you got hurt."
or enslaved. Her mind added silently.
"That'd just hurt us in a different way, dudette." he replied quickly, his smile gone. "Leo would go crazy with worry and all of us would be out looking for you in a heartbeat."
He frowned.
"Maybe you're not used to it because you didn't need anyone when you were all god like, but now you're a lot more fragile. We can protect you. We want to protect you. You're our family now, Leo's mate, and we want to help you pick up the pieces."
At that, Luna's face pinched again with worry.
"I'm afraid of finding the other pieces, Michelangelo." She said, her voice dropping even lower. "I know they are out there somewhere, floating around like Sol. They are probably just as innocent and scared as it was before it found us. But what if, in their fear, they've bonded to others?"
She turned wide frightened eyes to his, her face pale with worry and distress. Michelangelo hadn't thought about her having more than one soulmate. He'd just assumed the other pieces would bond to Leo as well.
How many other pieces could there be? What would that mean for his family? Exposure to more humans? More immortals? And most important, would Leo, who had waited so long for a mate, be able to share her with a stranger?
He wanted to ask all these questions and more, but she was already too distressed. Instead, he asked a different one.
"How do they do it? The soul pieces, I mean. How do they bond with people?" .
"The Sols may be innocent, but they are powerful. They can see into the hearts and minds of the other beings they encounter. If someone meets their criteria, they may offer a bond. No one really knows what they are looking for, but once the bond is offered and accepted, it takes a god to undo it. Soulbonding is quite rare among mortals and unheard of among the gods themselves. I never expected it to happen to me."
"Well, Sol didn't choose anyone until recently. The others could be holding out as well. I'm sure Donnie can come up with a way to search for them. Maybe they give off a weird energy or something he can track." Mikey was ready to say anything that would take that pinched and horrified look off of her face.
He looked around, hoping to see something to distract her with. He hated to see her wilting under the stress. Darkness had settled over the city while they were talking, perhaps now was a great time to distract her with the outside.
"Ready to see the stars?" he said, changing the subject abruptly.
The opportunity to be above ground after more than a month below, was too tempting.
"Only if you're sure it's safe..." she trailed off at his indignant expression.
"Of course you'll be safe Sleepy Moon!" He said, misunderstanding that her concern was for him. "I'll be there to guard you. Besides, Leo would kill me if I took you someplace unsafe."
"Ditto" she replied, but she said it under her breath so he couldn't hear.
Grinning hugely, Michelangelo scooped her up flamboyantly from the chair, and holding her in his arms, strode swiftly out into the open tunnels. Nobody knew them like Mikey did, and before she realized it, they were approaching what looked like an actual door at the end of one. Mikey keyed some numbers into a pad and it opened to what appeared to be the empty furnace room of an old housing tenement.
From the dust and debris, she could see the room was rarely used, but on the other side of it was the oldest elevator Luna had ever seen. It was the freight kind, the type with the gate you have to manually pull closed. It was dented and dinged and had a rather permanent looking sign on it that read "out of service."
Mikey headed straight to it, accessed another number pad, and the elevator roared to life. It's lights flickered, the gate rose up, and there was a great grinding of gears that clanked loudly. The hairs on Luna's arms stood up at the sound.
Mikey met her frightened gaze and winked.
"It's perfectly safe." he said, reading the thoughts on her face. "That's just one of Donnie's little deceptions to keep people from messing with it. I recorded the sound effects, and Raph said the lights should blink."
She laughed, appreciating the cleverness of her new family.
They took the elevator straight to the roof, and Luna couldn't stifle her excited gasp as they exited to a night full of stars. After weeks of being indoors, the sky looked incredible.
Mikey carried her straight to an old chaise lounge he used for stargazing and laid her gently on it. He watched as she settled back. Just as she had when basking in the sun down below, she closed her eyes and tilted her face to the sky.
A stray cloud had been hiding the large orb of the moon, but at that moment, it trailed away and the cool bluish glow hit her skin. At first Mikey thought it must be a trick of the light but soon he realized her skin was giving off an answering moon glow. A soft reflection of the larger light above.
Michelangelo knew she wasn't completely human but everytime he saw an example of her power it took his breath away. She was truly gorgeous and otherworldly, and he couldn't help comparing her to the unlikely heroines and female superheros he idolized from his comics.
She blew them all away.
He started guiltily at that thought, remembered he was supposed to be keeping his guard up and quickly moved his gaze to the scan the surrounding rooftops. He didn't want Leo to think he'd been careless with his mate.
They hadn't been on the rooftop very long, when Michelangelo felt a weird prickle on his skin. The air turned suddenly cold and he whirled around checking everywhere for danger. Shadows seemed to have sprung up from nowhere and were shifting in the moonlight.
He drew his weapons, and backed slowly across the rooftop toward where Luna lay.
"Um, Luna, sweetie, I hate to interrupt, but do you know what those are?" he said.
She opened her eyes as if startled, lost for a moment in her silent contemplation. Squinting she took in the shadowy forms swooping around them just outside her moonbeam glow.
"Those are shades." she said "Shadows of the dead that can't reach the afterlife without help."
"Are they dangerous?" he asked.
"Shades are harmless but something has them all worked up." She frowned. "They usually only get this agitated when..."
She trailed off as a ghostly howl rose in the distance and echoed around them.
"When there are wraiths about."