Questions
Molly POV
Some days you just want to stop everything and just sleep. I haven't found the time for that. After all of the things I've seen and done, I should know better than to expect everything to be normal. I think the turtles go through that same problem. I just hope April made a good choice in picking me to guide them into a better way. I'm starting to feel like I'm going a little insane.
Third Person POV
The next few days were agonizing. After an hour and a half of restless sleep, Molly had gone into work only to be bombarded with pleading from the higher-ups to take on three new patients. They stressed the importance with about as much clarity as a white out blizzard. She didn't like the idea of taking on new patients who had classified backgrounds. It was only supposed to be for analysis to see if there was anything off about them. She accepted under the condition that she receive a handsome raise and a month's worth of vacation days. Over the course of the next few days, three became ten. There was certainly something different about these patients but the lack of information and their secrecy made it a huge challenge. She stuck with documenting what she saw and theorizing possible diagnoses through subtle behaviors and a touch of intuition. Each person would be asked a series of standard questions and their responses would be carefully examined.
During all of this, she was working with Lexa to find loopholes in her insurance to cover the costs of the care she would need. Surgery and chemo were on the table. Lexa kept bringing up another option. She was offered to undergo a series of tests that could possibly kill off the cancer cells and make her stronger. Something Molly was against and she was adamant about making it clear to her sickly friend.
The climax of the hellish week happened Wednesday during a routine interview with one of the patients. An ex-marine named Ron who had been showing signs of increasing aggression. It was the same standard questions and he answered them monotonously, rolling his eyes.
"Something is bothering you." Molly broke from the scripted questioning, surprising him.
"This whole answering the same damn question day in and day out. What is it for?" He demanded.
"This is to see if there are any changes to your condition." Was the reply. "That is all I can tell you as we both know that any further information is classified."
"Yeah, classified." He growled. "They didn't tell us we would be going through this shit before talking us into it. "
"Perhaps we should take a break." Molly fought against her curiosity, knowing that they were being recorded. She was probably on thin ice for diverting from the standard questioning.
"Why? Am I not falling in line for you?!" Ron spat, flipping the table. Molly stood up quickly and backed away.
"I think maybe a little breather would be a nice change of pace." She spoke slowly, making sure her hands were in view so as not to cause any suspicion. He began to grab at his head and scream. Molly immediately turned and slammed her fist into a red button labeled, "Emergency." That was when he grabbed her from behind and slammed her into the ground. Her left wrist smashed against the leg of the over turned table and she could not stifle the yelp that responded to the radiating pain. He was on her with his hands on her throat. As the world became fuzzy, she could vaguely hear people crashing in through the door and Ron's maniacal ranting.
When she came to, Molly found herself on a stretcher in the infirmary. She quickly sat up and felt a wave of dizziness. With slow, methodical breathing, she stilled the swirling around her. Muffled yelling could be heard in the other room and the sound of banging. Her focus went to her aching wrist, now black and blue and very swollen. After painfully bending each finger, she was relieve to find them all functional. The door to the room opened and in walked her superior. A 50 year old man in a black suit with a grim expression.
"Molly, you're awake." He said approaching her and handing her a brace for her wrist. "They said nothing is broken. Just a sprain. This is for you"
"So nice to see you, Greg." Molly winced, mistakenly putting her weight on her left hand. She grabbed the brace and decide to put it on when the swelling went down. "Now, I would like an explanation on why he went from zero to homicidal."
"You diverted from the questioning." Greg sighed.
"Yes, but normally the reaction is not that severe."
"Are you sure you want to know the truth?" He asked cautiously. "You might not like what you hear and the more you know, the more valuable you are to us and the harder it is to leave."
"Just spill it." She said through gritted teeth.
"We have been testing a serum to make super soldiers. We partnered with E.P.F."
"Are you insane!?" Molly hissed. "That Bishop is a certifiable lunatic!"
"But he gets the job done. He saved the president for Christ sakes!"
"How convenient for him. So you mean to tell me that I have been analyzing super soldiers for side affects."
"Molly, I wanted to tell you but I didn't want you to turn this job down. We need your expertise."
"So you put me at risk?" She slid off the stretcher. "If I had know these were chemically caused abnormalities instead of organic, I would have approached more cautiously! I'm going home. Fortunately, I have the next four days off to rest so that I may be in better condition to return to this place that seems bent on killing me!"
"Just check out with the doctor before going and make sure you fill out your part of the event report." Greg said, deflated. "I'll see you Monday morning."
By Thursday, the swelling went down and she was able to wear the brace. Though she was given a script for Percocet, she decided to stick with good old heat, cold and motrin. A scarf was wrapped around her neck to meticulously hide the bruising from her date with asphyxiation. She stepped into the lair, not surprised that the turtles were waiting for her arrival.
"What happened to your arm?" Donatello inquired. The bruising was still a fresh purple.
"Perks of working with the dysfunctional." She immediately changed the subject. "I figured we start with a mini group session, shall we?" They made their way to the media center where they held their group sessions. The turtles took their seats on the couch as Molly pulled a card from her purse. She handed it to the closest turtle, Donatello.
"What is this?"
"I'm sure you've noticed that I tend to keep my phone off if I bring it at all. I don't like my sessions interrupted." Molly began.
"Guess I'm special." Raphael crossed his arms over his plastron.
"Or unlucky." She pulled out the phone that rang during their session. "I give the number to this phone to a very limited amount of friends and patients. This is an emergency way of contacting me when in crisis. Not that I expect anything of the sort to happen with you four but the reality is this...Should it ever happen, you can't exactly dial 911. Don't call this number unless it is an emergency. I trust you know what that means. I don't want any prank calls." Her eyes as well as the other brothers' eyes shot to Michelangelo.
"What?" He looked around innocently.
"If you feel you need to meet but you're not in crisis, then text instead of calling"
"Fortunately, texting capabilities have just been installed in the shellcells." Donatello stated with with a smile.
"Any questions?"
"Is she alright?" Leonardo inquired.
"I figured knowing she is alive and well would be enough for you." Molly quirked a brow. "Perhaps you have to see her with your own eyes." She glanced at her watch and sighed. "I'll give you guys a choice. We either break up into our usual solo sessions or we go out on a little mission." The brothers looked among each other and began to smile one by one.
After a brief trip, to her apartment so that she could change into something more suitable for running on rooftops, they started off on Molly's roof. Donatello had mapped out the direction after she gave him the address. She started to stretched her legs getting ready for a workout she had not intended on being a part of this morning. Molly had informed Lexa that she would be dropping by with a surprise to ensure she would be home.
"Is she going to freak out?" Michelangelo inquired.
"It doesn't matter." Molly shook her head. "Her and Leonardo need to face each other to heal over whatever happened that night."
"I think a better question is: have you ever done this before?" Raphael asked. "Runnin' on roofs, I mean."
"Not really..." She furrowed her brow nervously. "How hard can it be...?"
The brothers eyed each other before they began to take off in the direction of Lexa's apartment. Molly followed now limber from all her previous stretching. The first leap was fairly easy, given the short distance. She landed in a crouched position and noticed that the turtles were already leaping to the next roof. Damn it. She picked up speed and leapt after the brothers. The next roof was a but more of a distance away but still doable. She had to think track and field. This time, she didn't pause and kept running. The others were better at this. Years of doing it certainly helped. She skidded to a halt before leaping to the next roof. This was a greater distance. Donatello and Michelangelo noticed her hesitation and waited.
"You going to jump or what, Molly-O?" Michelangelo called out.
"You got this, You got this..." She whispered to herself as she backed up. "Just go for it." She ran at full speed toward the edge and she felt all the confidence in the world until the last possible second. She held back slightly as she jumped, cutting her momentum. The balls of her feet landed on the edge of the opposite roof but her balance was lost. She gasped as she began to fall backwards. A three fingered hand grabbed her by the left wrist and pulled her forward to which she grunted in pain. She felt her head knock into the plastron of the one who pulled her to safety. Leonardo. She wondered how he got to her before the others reacted.
"Whew...You're a fast one." She breathed, as he released her wrist. She held it in her hand, flexing and unflexing her bruised fingers. "Thank you."
"Are you alright?" Donatello queried.
"I chickened out at the last minute." Molly confessed.
"I think it will be safer if she's with someone." Leonardo affirmed. "Raph."
"Of course, it's me." He grumbled lifting her up.
"I don't really think this is necessary." She argued indignantly.
"You're slowin' us down." Raphael jabbed before running onward. Molly figured his strength was what drew him the short straw in this situation. Jumping roofs with a full grown human was difficult enough albeit she was on the shorter end.
How did it end up like this? She lamented to herself. Among normal human beings, she was physically superior in agility. Her composure remained forever intact unless she chose to let it go. These turtles were like annoying little brothers and she was subconsciously warming up to it. I need to maintain professionalism from now on.
A few more rooftops and they finally arrived. Raphael gingerly put Molly down and they made their way to the fire escape. Midway down, she stopped at an open window. This was unexpected. Lexa couldn't have been expecting her to enter from the fire escape. She never made mention of it. A sudden jolt of panic ran up her sign and she slipped through the window.
"Lexa?" She called out, looking around. The apartment looked disheveled. Not a good sign. "LEXA!" Migrating from room to room, she opened any door there was to open, trying to locate her. Molly brought a hand to her head and tried to steady her breathing. No worthy amount of thinking could be done if she was too anxious. There had to be a clue.
"Molly." Leonardo approached her from another room.
"She's gone and it looks like she was taken." She explained to the lead turtle. She headed for the kitchen and studied the fridge. It was a habit of Lexa's to leave notes on the refrigerator for reminders. A notebook on the counter caught her attention. "That...idiot!" She growled. She ripped the page from the notebook and made a beeline for the window.
"Woah, hold on!" Leonard grabbed her by the arm. "What's going on?"
"Sorry to cut this short but you can't go with me where I'm going."
"And where is that?" Donatello inquired.
"Boys, there is a lot more going on than we know." She turned to the brothers. "What I do know is that this is connected to something close to home. I can't involve you."
"We're already involved." Leonardo asserted.
"And you could probably use our help." Donatello added.
"Yeah, we're here for you, Molly-O" Michelangelo chimed in. Raphael just grunted.
"It's more complicated than that." She sighed, rubbing her temples. "I work for a government agency and I have been psychoanalyzing and providing psychotherapy for their people. I've even been involved in covert missions to analyze possible enemy operatives. I recently found out that the agency has been working on a serum for super soldiers." She showed them the paper she had ripped out of the notebook. "That address leads to the lab where we do all of our experimentation. I think Lexa is going there."
"Why would she want to be a super soldier?" Donatello inquired.
"The serum probably has some thing to slow or cure her cancer. She told me that she was approached to test out a possible cure. I should have suspected the connection." Molly muttered.
"This doesn't make sense. Why would they want her?" Leonardo took the paper and looked over the address.
"She used to work at the agency until she disappeared suddenly about six months ago." She pursed her lips. "She only just returned a couple of months ago. She was relieved of her services due to her injuries and change of mental well being. She was just different. I think they mean to get her back. Lexa was a big resource and very skilled at infiltration. "If they give her the serum...it could cause more psychological damage..."
"We're going with you." Leonardo reaffirmed.
"I can't let the agency know that we know each other. They will try to hunt you down. They are working in conjunction with E.P.F." She explained. The turtles looked at each other.
"We've run into them a few times." Donatello grimaced.
"I know. I've interviewed a few agents who have encountered you. I put two and two together when I first started seeing you."
"So if you're with the government..." Leonardo frowned. "Are you the enemy?"
"I have no plans of giving you over to them. I'm not anti-alien. I'm not anti-mutant." Molly sighed. "I just work with and under people who are. You guys were a relief. That doesn't matter now. I need to find her and get her out of there before they turn her into something...horrible." She unconsciously rubbed her wrist and Donatello took notice.
"That injury wouldn't happen to be related to this, would it?" He questioned.
"Sudden aggression was a side affect." Was the reply. "I only began the psychoanalyzing the soldiers they assigned to me. I wanted to stay on to try to find a way to stop this. So you see, I can't be caught helping mutated turtles."
"I think we can make it work." The leader in blue stated. "I have a plan."
Author's note: A short one today. Molly is struggling with her professionalism with our favorite turtles I can't exactly blame her. I know this is going off tangent from the psychoanalysis of the turtles but worry not. She'll get back into it with them. With some new coping mechanisms, too. Please share the love and CONSTRUCTIVE criticism. I'm here to improve.
Update 12/21/15: Decided to add 1st person narrated intros to each chapter to give it the same feel as the 2003 cartoon.