Chapter 13: Howard-The Mutant

Minus nine years

A woman popped her blonde head around the corner into a large man's office.

"Senator Hernandez, call on line three. It supposedly important," the woman said softly.

"Yes thanks," Hernandez said softly, picking up the phone.

"Howard Hernandez," he sighed.

"Do you remember the promise you made?" a woman asked.

He paused before closing his eyes.

"Yes," he replied.

"He'll be at your estate in three hours," she said softly.

"Very well," he replied, carefully lowering the phone back into the cradle as the dial tone sounded, "I'm sorry you poor creature…I really am."

The Estate

"Howard!" a woman shouted enraged as he walked into the house.

"What is it Maria?" he mumbled.

"That poor creature! The rooms too small and its ill, we have other rooms, why can't you let it stay somewhere else in the house?" she snarled.

He paused.

"I didn't want him to be overwhelmed, the person who relocated him here said he wasn't used to such space. They said he was living in sewer tunnels and if he's sick tend to him," Howard replied as he pushed by.

Maria fumed before turning and storming toward the back hallway an carefully opening the door.

"Holla?" she whispered.

"Holla," a weak male voice replied before coughing, "where…where is…where am I?"

"Can I come in?" Maria asked.

"Si," he mumbled.

The door opened, spreading light onto a weak, tired, looking mutant turtle. His chest was wrapped in bandages and he shivered under the blankets as if cold.

"You are…safe…we…we didn't want to overwhelm you with the house. How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Pretty good," he managed weakly, head sagging down onto the pillow after he coughed.

"Alright you rest I'll come check on you around dinner time, or Howard will," Maria whispered.

Little did she know of the oath Howard had sworn and the horrors that would be done to this young mutant in light of that oath.

Two hours later Howard entered the room that Leo resided in and closed the door behind him.

Leo looked up and him and slowly sat up, expecting the same treatment from Howard that Maria had given him.

He was wrong.

The punch took him by such surprise that his head whipped back, connecting with the wall in a sickening crack. A low moan of pain escaped his lips. Leo shuddered and felt a flicker of fear rush through him.

"What do you want with me?" Leo managed, suddenly very aware of how weak he was, how fragile.

"Because of you my family is in danger, she'll be here tomorrow to talk to you. Until then you don't leave this room. You stay away from my family. Is that clear?" Howard asked.

Leo leveled a glare at the man, pulling every piece of stubborn pride he had together and pulled himself upright, shoulders squared, jaw set.

"Crystal," Leo whispered, "only one thing…who is she?"

"Oroku Karai," Howard replied.

A shiver of dread rushed down Leo's spine, but he kept his composure.

The next day he managed to stand in Karai's presence as she met his gaze with distaste.

That day he was forced to swear an oath to keep his family safe.

I will bow to Oroku Karai's authority,

Take her orders,

Take responsibility for actions she credits to me,

I will never contact another Hamato as long as I live,

Or they shall be killed.

I take the name of Hernandez,

I am a servant in the house Howard Hernandez,

I am unable to speak against his actions.

I will slaughter the family if he goes back on his oath to my mistress.

I am a member of the Foot, whose head is the Shredder, whose vassal is Oroku Karai.

I am now Leon Hernandez.

As a mark of his "loyalty" Karai had him branded with the mark of the Foot under his right arm, up close to the pit. Out of pure rage and determination Leon refused to make a sound as the brand was applied.

Karai had him beaten for this act of rebellion against her. But her smug grin never left her face, for she knew, as well as he did, that he would never risk the safety of his family. Even if it meant that he was forever kept from them.

It would be another month before he ever ventured out of that room, and during that time he barely ate, his already weak body dropping twenty pounds in four weeks. Maria smothered him with gentle love and careful kindness.

Leon pulled himself back and refused to socialize with them, Howard kept his oath. Leon was never comfortable there, he was never able to rest enough, to heal completely, nor was he ever able to stay at a healthy weight.

After a year, something changed, Howard started to be a little more kind to Leon. It made them both nervous. But it was a much needed relief, it lasted six months to which the family pulled Leon into the tight knit group.

Then it happened, by pure fluke, a member of the Foot saw Leon at a family outing with the Hernandez family, as he were a part of the family.

The order came the next night.

Howard and Leon could hardly believe their eyes, they tried to pretend that the order never came but when Karai arrived at dinner time the next day and killed the youngest child, everything came crashing into terrified focus.

Leon was forced to take his Katanas, forced to slaughter a family he'd come to consider as his own.

The cops found him kneeling in the center of the slain bodies, covered in blood, and clutching broken blades.

Everything ended in a shuddering of Howard's breath as a cop examined him.

Murderer…

There was no true trial, he was convicted and thrown in a cell, his future uncertain.

A/N: Well….sorry for the long wait guys, finals, being sick, and insanity of RL makes less time for typing. New chapter up most likely by tomorrow.