A/N: Sorry for the wait! Enjoy!
Chapter 14
Donatello stared down into the emotionless face of his new friend, his life cut too short. He hoped to find some answers hidden there, just waiting for something to pop out at him, but no matter how hard he looked or how long he waited, nothing was going to change. He was on his own. A life and world altering decision rested on his shoulders. Help the Shredder to achieve his ambition of world domination or millions would die or he could refuse and watch as his brothers were killed and then most likely die himself, while the Shredder would still manage to get what he needed. He must have been staring too long because he thought he saw one of Richie's eyes twitch. Donnie blinked and looked again… nothing. His mind was playing tricks on him.
Stockman was gathering the tools they would need and the Foot soldiers in the room were gathering around all the other prisoners, 3 to each. That made 18 enemy ninja. Even if he could somehow get free, he stood no chance at getting to any of the others before he was forced to stop.
Donatello sighed, "I don't know what to do." He whispered to himself, not intending for anyone to overhear. Said he was surprised when the Virgil answered just as quietly,
"My Pops always told me that all anyone could do was what their heart told them was right."
'Sounds like something Sensei would say.' Donatello thought.
Stockman was now on the off the side of the table calibrating a nasty looking tool. Mikey would say it was like a scalpel on steroids or something to that effect.
"Turn him over," Stockman commanded. "The implant I need access to is at the base of his neck."
Donatello complied with the order. He turned Richie's body over as gently as possible and with the action, two things registered as strange in the genius turtle's mind. The first was that warmth met his touch where coldness should have been and the other was a lack of stiffness in the body. Rigor should have set in by now, and dead bodies didn't generate any heat, so why wasn't he cold? Donatello didn't know what, but something was definitely going on.
"Now we remove the implant without damaging it in the process. Better let my more nimble hands perform this delicate procedure. I won't need your assistance until the extraction."
Donatello rolled his eyes as Stockman bent over and made the first incision. Blood oozed from the wound and Stockman hastily wiped it away, mumbling 'can't see' and 'stupid mess'.
Donatello was floored. The absolute stupidity of Stockman was magnified tenfold in his mind. Any idiot knew that dead bodies did not bleed. Richie was alive!
Donatello was frantically trying to think of something, while keeping his outward expression neutral. If Stockman removed Brainiac's hardware that's connected to Richie's brainstem it would kill him, for real this time.
Suddenly the room was plunged into darkness.
"What is going on?" Stockman roared.
Red flashing emergency lights came on, followed by an alarm blaring in the hallway. Within moments, a female voice boomed over the intercom system, "Report to your emergency stations."
"Wow! She sounds pissed." Virgil commented.
Only one ninja hesitated as the others promptly followed orders, "Stay here and put him back till we return." He ordered Stockman, who looked ready to protest when the ninja just turned and left before the scientist could open his mouth.
Stockman huffed as he rounded the table and grabbed Donatello by the arm and roughly guided him back to his brothers, grumbling about pushy ninja the whole way.
IIIIIIIIII
He clenched his fist around the small metal object in his hand. He's been lucky he hasn't been discovered yet, but he has done this before. He'd been waiting for the opportunity to present itself and when the lights went out and the alarm sounded, he almost jumped the gun. The only thing holding him back now was the presence of the ninja, he wouldn't get very far… 'Report to your emergency stations' He couldn't believe his luck. Maybe things would work out after all. He waited till the room was empty except for their one 'guard', if you could even call him that. He readied himself and waited till Stockman was distracted with Donatello's restraints.
IIIIIIIIII
Donatello's mind was reeling. How could Richie be alive? The pressure point was a sure thing and it worked! There was no pulse, he was sure of it. No pulse meant no blood moving through the body, no pumping blood meant no bleeding from wounds. And what set off the alarm? He was very confused and so lost in his own thoughts that he didn't notice being led back to his brothers or Stockman messing with his manacles. He was so much in his own world that he didn't realize that he had been knocked back onto his shell until he was looking up at his brother reaching down to help him back on his feet.
"Mikey? How did you…?" He saw Stockman was knocked out cold.
Mikey fumbled with the strap to his muzzle before he could get the stupid thing off.
"Sorry Don, but you kinda got in the way when I tackled Stockman. Man I hated this thing. Not being able to talk sucks."
While he talked, Michelangelo unlocked Donatello's manacles on his hands and feet and detached the chain from the collar. Mikey went to remove the collar when Donatello grabbed his wrist,
"Don't, it's imbedded and I'm guessing your is too." One quick look confirmed his suspicions. "We're going to have to wait until we get out of here before I can remove these things."
After they finished, Michelangelo moved on to Leonardo. Donatello helped to support him while Michelangelo worked on Raphael's restraints.
"How'd you get a key Mikey?" Donnie asked as he helped Leo remove his muzzle.
"I lifted it from a Foot ninja during our…meeting…with Shredder. Didn't have the opportunity to use it till now."
"And you didn't even have to throw up this time!" Donatello commented with a smile.
"Dude, I still might." Michelangelo said in semi seriousness as he finished with Raphael's restraints.
"Never thought I'd say this to ya Mike, but I'm happy to hear ya voice." Raphael said after getting his own muzzle off.
"Can we save all this brotherly love for when we're far away from here?" Robin asked, sounding very anxious.
"Right." Donnie swiftly moved over to the computers and found the release commands. When everyone was freed he rushed back over to Richie and pressed some gauze on the open wound.
"What are you doing?" Virgil demanded.
"He has a pulse." Donnie responded disbelievingly.
"He's alive?" Mikey, Raph Virgil exclaimed in unison.
"I don't know how, but Richie is alive."
"We need to move. It won't be long before they realize the alarm is false." Batman announced.
"Ha! I knew you had a way out. You always have a way out!" Robin proclaimed smugly.
"How-?" Donatello was stumped.
"Virus on a delayed upload."
"Nice."
"It'd be nice ta get our shells outta here before they find out they've been duped!" Raphael snapped.
"Right. Remind me to geek out later."
Donnie went to pick up Richie, "I got him." Virgil said with an edge to his voice, but his tone softened, "Besides, we might need to fight our way out of here and without my powers, I'm all but useless."
Donatello nodded in understanding. Michelangelo used the same argument on Raphael and he reluctantly let his younger brother take his place supporting Leonardo. Neither were looking too great.
The turtles automatically turned towards Leonardo for direction, who tried to stand up straighter and on his own but his legs buckled. Michelangelo managed to catch him before he fell. Leonardo looked at his red masked brother, his eyes on the verge of pleading.
"It's ok bro, I got it."
He faced the others, "Right, so here's the plan. Me and Bats here are gonna take the lead while Donnie and Jr. take up the rear with the rest in between."
Batman smirked. Raphael reminded him a lot of himself, but he was a never this cocky. Robin glanced at Batman to see if they were going to follow this plan. Batman gave him a nod which slightly surprised the young hero.
"Mikey, you and Leo are going to be right behind us, got it?"
Raph didn't wait for an answer but turned towards the door and strode forward. Everyone followed, taking their positions without questions or fuss, something Raph would have loved to bask in, but he was too focused. He couldn't allow his mind to wander.
Raphael paused briefly at the door and raised his hands to where the pommel of his sai should have been. Shoving his pride away, he did something that has always been difficult for him to do. Asking for help. He gave the man standing beside him a sideways glance,
"So uh, do ya know the way outta dis place?"
Batman only nodded.
"You don't talk much do ya?"
"Only when necessary."
"Right, let's get dis show on da road." Raph said to himself as he opened the door.
The hallway was dark except for being bathed in red when the emergency lights flashed, but otherwise it was quiet and empty. Raphael took his cues from Batman and was never more than a step behind the Dark Knight. When they had to go up a couple of floors, they opted for the stairs because the elevator was to…confining and they would be essentially trapped if they were discovered.
The assent was going smoothly, even if it was a little slower than they would normally go. They had made up 5 flights with only one left when Michelangelo suddenly lurched forward struggling to hold up Leonardo.
"Donnie!"
Donatello rushed to his brothers' aide. After lowering Leonardo to the floor, Donatello check his vitals. His pulse was slower than it should be but it was steady.
"He's stable, just unconscious. Probably 'cause of shock and blood loss, but we need to get him home as soon as possible."
Without another word Donatello picked up his older brother and carried him up the last flight of stairs. Michelangelo didn't protest, which was saying something about his own condition. Donatello had a theory on what was wrong and if he was correct, time was of the essence for Michelangelo as well as Leonardo.
They finally reach the floor that held the exit for their escape, shutting the door to the stairwell behind them. The hallway they were currently in made a sharp left turn about 50 feet ahead. Batman was in the lead so he was the one to check out the next hallway. He immediately gave the signal for the group to halt.
"Whaddya see?" Raph asked in a whisper.
"About 2 dozen ninja blocking our way." Batman replied just as quietly.
Raphael barely managed to keep himself from swearing out loud.
"I guess we'll hafta double back an' find a way around 'em."
On his way past, Raphael caught the urgency in Donatello's eyes. No sooner had he opened the door then he slammed it shut again. This time he let the curses fly.
"Damn it!" He punctuated his curse with a fist to the door. Without turning around he informed the rest of the gang.
"They're comin' up the stairwell."
"We're cut off?" Mikey asked.
"Yeah." Raphael turned around, "The way out is at the end of that hall?" He asked indicating always full of ninja. Batman nodded.
"Of course it is." Raphael growled. "Okay, new plan. We," Raph indicated himself, Donatello, Robin and Batman, "lure 'em over here and pick 'em come off as they come around the corner. We should be able to defeat them that way. Mike, you're stayin' with Leo. Any questions? No? Good let's go, we only got a few minutes before they reach us."
During the short skirmish Raphael stole glances of their new allies and he had to admit, the kid had some good moves. Of course, the man who taught him was just as good as them, if not as good as Splinter. It didn't take long before the floor was littered with unconscious bodies. Raphael actually laughed out loud, his plan had worked. He headed back to help Michelangelo with Leonardo when he noticed the door opening. He threw his entire weight against the door.
"Okay, slight change in plans. You guys head out an' I'll be right behind ya."
"No way Raph, were not leaving you!" Donnie countered.
"You gotta get 'em outta here Don! I can't hold 'em back forever!" Raph said through gritted teeth. "I'll be right behind ya. Now go!" He yelled.
Raphael locked gazes with Batman and gave a slight nod , 'please get them out' he thought. Batman gave a small nodded return. He went over and carefully scooped up Leonardo and made for the exit, Virgil followed with Richie.
"Come on." Robin urged, trying to pull Donatello and Michelangelo by their wrists.
"Go little brother, make sure they're okay."
"You better be right behind us Raph." Donatello said as he reluctantly turned and assisted an even more reluctant Michelangelo. They rounded the corner and out of sight.
Just a couple more minutes and he'd join them. He just had to give them a good head start. Suddenly, the effort of them tried to get the door open to stopped. For a split second Raph entertained the thought that they had given up. 'Yeah right. They day they give up is the day I stop breathin' '
In the following seconds he grew concerned. Should he make a run for it now or wait to see what they were up to? Whatever it was, it can't be good but he decided to go ahead and make a break for it. He was almost to the corner when the door exploded off its hinges, flew through the air and slammed into his shell, knocking him flat on his face.
IIIIIIIIII
The group stepped outside and was met with a glow just occurring over the western horizon. They'd been in there for longer than they had thought.
They had made it to the roof and their ticket out of there was right in front of them. Mikey's eyes got wide with amazement,
"Whoa, the Bat Plane? Sweet!"
Everyone got loaded up with the turtles in the back while Batman and Robin got up into the cockpit.
"Where's Raph?" Michelangelo asked when they were all strapped in.
"Give me 5, if I'm not back, take off." Batman said Robin and then reentered the building.
The first four minutes went by in silence with 3 pairs of eyes glued to the door. Robin started the engines. The five-minute mark came and went with no sign of Batman or Raphael.
"Come on Batman, where are you?" Robin whispered, mainly to himself.
Robin waited another minute before he started lifting off.
"STOP! We can't leave yet!" Michelangelo shouted, followed by Donatello's, "Take us back down!"
"No. Batman's orders were to leave after 5 minutes. I already stayed longer than I should have…"
"Screw Batman's orders! He's still down there with our brother!" Michelangelo retaliated.
"Batman has reasons for every order he gives. I've learned to never discount them."
By this time there were 100 feet above the building and starting to head away. Suddenly a grappling hook snagged them.
"Friend or foe?" Donatello asked Robin, who looked out the window, "Friends."
Both turtles caught the plural form of the word and grinned.
"I'll get them." Donatello announced as he undid his straps and opened the door.
He outstretched hand and great relief flooded him when his brothers grabbed it. Donatello hauled Raphael up and embraced him. Batman pulled himself into the plane with ease and took over the controls from Robin.
"Never scare us like that again." He whispered firmly in his ear. Raph chuckled as they pulled apart,
"Let's go home."
A/N: I'm shooting for one more chapter for this fic! There is still some bit of excitement in store for the turtles so stay tuned!