A/N: No I am not dead and yes I know it's been a LONG time since I posted anything but life kinda got in the way :/ Enjoy!
Ch. 15
The mood on the Bat Plane was a humble one. They had been successful in their mission in rescuing Static Shock, but it was a costly one.
Donatello had to quickly triage the wounded. Batman, Robin and Static were the best off with minor scrapes and bruises. His own as well as Raphaels' could hold out until everyone else was taken care of. That left Richie, who was surprisingly alive but unresponsive, Leonardo who was losing a lot of blood from the stab wound in his thigh and Michelangelo who was also losing blood, though not as much, from the slice on his arm. But what really concerned Donatello about his orange banded brother was the condition of his heart. Michelangelo had taken a number of shocks, three times as many as any of them, and Donatello knew that there had to have been some damage done. What he didn't know was how much.
'There's nothing I can do about that right now,' Donatello realized, 'but I will have to address it as soon as possible.'
In full doctor mode, Donatello mentally organized what needed to be done.
Batman was just as quick and produced several medical kits.
"Great!" He said in response to being handed a med kit, "I'll Leave Richie and Static in your hands…if that's alright with you?"
The Batman only nodded his acquiescence and went to see to the two young heroes.
Raphael took a kit, "Whadd'ya want me to do?"
"Take Mike. His arm needs stitches."
Raphael nodded and started to walk away when Donatello stopped him and in a lower voice added,
"Keep an eye on his pulse and breathing. If either gets fast come get me immediately."
Raphael was surprised by the worry in his brothers' voice but he didn't question his brothers' orders.
Donatello was grateful that Raphael hadn't asked any questions even though he could tell his red banded brother was dying to do so.
Leonardo could barely keep his eyes open. He was so tired, but he knew it was because of the blood loss. He also knew that he needed to stay awake or risk never waking up again. The touch on his leg, gentle as it was, still set his nerves on fire and a small hiss of pain left his mouth.
"Sorry Leo."
"'S okay Don." Leonardo replied. "How bad?"
Knowing he wouldn't get anything accomplished until he answered his brothers question Donatello answered.
"Raph and I got off easy, Batman, Robin and Static look untouched, Richie is still unconscious and Mikey will need stitches…and an examination of his cardiac function will need to be performed in the near future."
Donatello didn't really expect his clinical explanation to go over Leonardo's head, so when his brother tried to sit up more to get a look at Michelangelo for himself, Donatello was prepared and carefully pushed him back down.
"He's ok for now bro, as long as things stay quiet until I can get those tests done. Geez Fearless, you always manage to get the worst of it don't you?"
Virgil watched the exchange with a mix of awe and hesitation. He didn't know much about these creatures but they did help rescue him and Batman seemed to trust them so they were ok in his book. But they were still intimidating.
"Fearless…that's a strange nickname. I've never known anyone to be totally fearless."
Virgil glanced at Batman during his statement, because everyone knew his reputation but not everyone has glimpsed the man behind the mask.
The four turtles laughed, grateful for the release. It was Michelangelo who answered Virgil's query.
"I'm the one who started it, when we were younger. At first it was meant as an insult. Leo was always the first to perfect a new move or try something new, even if it wasn't totally safe, and for a while we resented him for it. Raph was the one to turn it into a term of endearment. Leo was injured badly in a fight and he used the insult as a challenge to stay… to stay with us, to keep fighting. And called him 'Fearless' ever since." Michelangelo finished.
"Oh shell! Leo? Leo you need to wake up bro!" Donatello shook his brother's shoulders until light brown eyes met his hazel ones.
"Don?... I feel weird." Leonardo was confused. "What's happening?"
"I know Leo. You've lost a lot of blood. Listen, you have to stay awake, do you hear me?"
"…so tired." It was getting harder to keep his eyes open.
"I know bro, just…just hold on, ok?"
"Ok" was Leo's whispered promise.
"Don what's wrong?" Came Raphael's voice from his position beside Michelangelo.
"He's lost too much blood and he's going into shock. Don't worry, I got this." Donatello lowered his voice so only Leonardo could hear him.
"Your Deep Femoral Artery was nicked, so you've lost a lot of blood. I really want to give you a transfusion but-"
"But Mikey is my only match and you think it's too dangerous for him to give me blood."
"Yes, however, if I can stop this bleeding now, then you should recover on your own."
"Can you stop it?" The worry in the leaders' voice was not for himself but for Donatello. If he couldn't stop the bleeding then that would put the purple clad turtle between a rock and a hard place.
"Pressure alone isn't working and sewing it up would require me make an incision which equates to more blood loss and that would be counterproductive-"
"Don!"
"Yes?"
"You're rambling." Leonardo pointed out gently.
"Yes. Right. Sorry. I have to cauterize it." Donatello said straight forwardly.
"Great." Leonardo grumbled.
"We're lucky that Batman has a cauterizing tool in his first aid kits." Donatello said more to himself than to anyone in particular. Then he called over his shoulder at his red banded brother, "Raph! If you're done, I could use your muscle."
" 'Kay, just gimme a sec." Raphael answered as he finished the last stitch. "There ya go bro, good as new."
He gave what he hoped was an encouraging smile to his baby brother. Michelangelo frowned as he looked at his brothers' handy work,
"It's crooked."
Raphaels' smile quickly turned into a scowl. He knew his brother was joking, trying to hide how much pain he was in, but Raphael decided not to comment on that,
"Sit tight knucklehead. I'm gonna go help Don with Fearless an' I'll be right back."
Michelangelo nodded his acknowledgement as Raphael stood and joined the others. The plane wasn't so big that Michelangelo would really be alone, but out of all the brothers, he was the one who needs the company of others the most. Right now was not one of those times however. Despite his purple banded brothers' best efforts, Michelangelo had heard every word his brother had said to Leonardo. He was pretty sure that Raphael had heard also because his red masked brother had paused ever so briefly in the middle of a stitch. Michelangelo hated it. Why did they all find it so hard to tell each other what's going on? Secrets like this only end in arguments and bad moods all around. Michelangelo sighed. He couldn't really be upset with Donatello when he was just as guilty about withholding the severity of his own injuries.
He really didn't want to watch when Leo's wound was cauterized so he focused on Richie.
"How's he doin'?" He asked, hoping someone had an answer.
Virgil flicked his eyes up to the turtle in orange before returning his gaze to the blond teen,
"He's alive but we can't wake him up."
"Is he in a coma?" Michelangelo asked, concern for his new friend growing.
"No." Batman answered with confidence, "His brain is showing activity."
Batman turned off a little machine and started to take off round stickers Michelangelo recognized from the ER shows on TV.
"But it's like his mind is in overdrive. The readings suggest a level above that of a normal person. Almost like-"
"He's fighting!" Virgil exclaimed, "He's fighting Brainiac, or what's left of him, right now."
"How is that-" Michelangelo was cut off by Leonardo's hiss of pain.
He visibly winced but didn't look. Trying to hold himself together he tried again, knowing that Donatello was paying attention to their conversation.
"How is that possible? I thought Brainiac was destroyed."
"So did we." Virgil sighed. "But apparently he left behind some residual tech, kinda like nanobots, in his brain that were dormant until he…uh…died."
"There was no longer any resistance to Brainiac taking over." Batman clarified.
Michelangelo thought for a moment, then he thought of something.
"So how do we know if it's gonna be Richie or Brainiac that wakes up?"
Silence hung in the air for an uncomfortable amount of time when Michelangelo heard a bang. He looked over to see his purple masked brother shaking his right hand and a guilty look on his face.
"Dude, it's not the planes fault." Michelangelo said trying to diffuse his brothers' tension, but it didn't work this time.
"No it's not." Donatello replied," It's mine. I'm the one who…who." He couldn't even say it out loud. He clenched his fists at his side wanting to lash out, like Raphael often did but the ache in his right hand reminded him that this was not the place.
"It's not your fault either Donnie!" Michelangelo practically snapped as he stood and walked over to his brother…why was he so winded?
"Forgive me bro for channeling my inner Raph-" "Hey!" "-But you need to forgo this little pity party for now and focus on how you can help Richie."
"How?" Donatello looked so lost in that moment.
Michelangelo didn't really know how to answer his brainy brother and looked to Leonardo for help.
"Don, Mikey's right. This isn't your fault. You'll figure this out, don't over think it and it will come to you."
Donatello nodded and relaxed, but then a look of confusion grew on his face,
"Where're we going?" It was like a switch was flipped. Out of reflex hands went to where weapons normally would have been. Batman stood, seeing the panicked look on the turtles' faces and held his hands out in a placating manner.
"My place, the Bat Cave, its safe and secure, no one will disturb us there, I promise."
The turtles visibly relaxed, Leonardo spoke for all of them, "Right. Please excuse us. We aren't used to humans trying to help us."
"Yeah most that see us scream or feint. Unless it's our enemies, then they just try to kill or dissect us." Michelangelo added with a big cheesy smile, like it was a no big deal thing that happened all the time.
The Dark Night actually smirked, "Screaming and feinting I understand, but from our adversaries."
"We've been known to do that too." Raphael added with a proud smile of his own.
Donatello snorted, "Yeah we look so menacing right now that I bet if the Shredder were here he would be paralyzed with fear."
"Your biggest enemy is a kitchen utensil?" Virgil asked, barely suppressing a laugh.
"A kitchen utensil on some major alien steroids dude!" Michelangelo replied in all seriousness.
"And he's the one that's responsible for your visit to our city." Leonardo added.
"Oh." Was all Virgil could manage. Then after a moment he added, "Thanks for…ya know helping me and all that."
"You're welcome." Leonardo answered. 'I just hope the cost wasn't too high.' He added silently.
A/N: Well?