Raphael stared at his purple-masked brother bleakly. He hated seeing Donatello upset, particularly when there wasn't anything he could do about it. He was relieved that no one had been hurt worse; Don was walking fine with a small limp, and the situation with Caleb was under control. Right now he was waiting along with his two younger brothers in the back sitting room for Leonardo and Greg to come back. They'd only been gone for a little over an hour, but even that seemed too long to Raphael.
The dogs shouldn't have gotten that far. If they didn't find 'em in the area, they're probably not out there anymore. The pessimistic thought lingered on the edge of his mind, and he tried not to envision what could have happened to Molly and Noah.
Mike was sitting on the couch next to Donatello, who had his foot propped up on the coffee table. The youngest turtle hadn't said anything, but his presence was tangible in the room. It had been almost three weeks since his first stem cell treatment, and things had gone smoothly as far as the docs could tell. The orange-masked turtle had experienced some initial weakness that had slowed him down for a few days, but the benefits appeared to outweigh the complications. Even his appetite was something he was willing to sacrifice.
Donny's excitement over the visual proof of the formation of new tissue was on par with the most excitementt Raphael had ever seen him. That had come two days ago, and they were supposed to be gearing up for the second round of the transplant before Thanksgiving. The stress of taking the next step was tempered with the joy of Victoria and Timothy returning from New York. This morning, however, the house was shaken with the attack through which his brothers had just fought.
Donatello carefully eased off of the couch. "I don't want to sit here anymore," he said quietly. "I'll be back in a little bit."
Don slowly headed through the hallway that would connect him to the Great Room. Mike's gaze tracked after him, but he let his brother go without a fuss.
"I wish I could understand some of this," Raphael stated in frustration. "Why would people want to reintroduce an animal like that where it could hurt someone, or even kill them? They would have killed Caleb if Don and Leo hadn't been there."
"Luke said they're supposed to be good for the environment, that they help control wildlife and all that," Mike offered. "They used to live around here anyway, before people killed them or kicked them off the land."
"There might have been a reason to do that." Raphael fumed.
"Don't think of it that way, Raph," Karina called from the doorway. "Wolves aren't man killers - they don't normally behave that way. This was a pretty huge exception."
Raphael looked at the woman questioningly.
"They're animals, Raph. You can't blame them for acting that way, any more than you blame the leopard for attacking Tim in the Congo."
"She was protecting her kids," Raphael interjected.
"The wolves could have had a significant reason to react in their minds too."
"Whose side are you on?" The red-masked turtle was feeling irritated, and those were the first words to leap to mind.
"I'm not on their side, Tortuga. I just don't think people need to go around shooting every wolf in the wild, just like you didn't want to kill the leopard in the rainforest."
Raphael's face softened apologetically. "I don't blame the guys for not wanting to kill the wolves either. But I don't understand the point of bringing them back when-" He cut off suddenly at the sound of sharp barking.
Mike got to his feet and went to the window with Karina.
"What do you see?" Raph demanded.
"It's Leo and Heff," Mike returned. "One of the dogs is running ahead of them. I think it's Noah. Leo's carrying the other one."
Raphael tensed immediately, hoping that Donny's new best friend was still alive. Karina went out the back door to meet them, and he held his breath until he heard the footsteps on the porch. Greg held the door for the blue-masked turtle, who was carefully handling Molly in his arms.
"Leo, how is she? Is she okay?" Mike squeaked.
"I don't know," Leo replied. "We found them curled up in a gap under a fallen tree. I don't think the wolves could get to them; they were too big to fit under there. Noah is walking just fine, but he wouldn't leave Molly. I'm going to take her upstairs and see what the docs have to say. They're not vets, but they'll probably still have some clue how she's doing."
Karina brushed Raphael's arm. "I'm going to get Don, and I'll be back."
"Okay, Chica."
The most frustrating part about being injured for Raphael was being forced to sit back and wait for people to come to him. No one was intentionally leaving him behind, but the ability to do nothing more than lay around was getting nauseating. He was relieved to see Marcus exit the back stairway another hour after Leonardo and Greg had returned.
"What's going on, man?" Raphael asked. "How is everyone?"
"Okay," Marc replied. "Caleb's stable. We gave him a transfusion, just to be safe. Don's stitches are under control. His ankle's still pretty swollen, but the wolf didn't have the chance to do serious damage."
"That's good news," Mike said. "What about Molly?"
"We're not sure. We stopped the bleeding, but we don't know how much she lost out in the forest. We'll keep an eye on her and see what happens."
Raphael nodded seriously. "Is Donny really okay?"
"Yeah, it's only a matter of making him stay off his feet. You know how he is. How are you feeling, Raph?"
"After everything that happened this morning, I'm surprised you even remembered my legs are messed up," he said sardonically.
Marc shook his head. "I'm not going to forget you that easily, Raph. Do you need anything? How are you handling your pain?"
He shrugged. "I'm not noticing it much today. 'Course, I could be getting used to it a little."
The man gave him a stern look. "Don't get used to it. I don't want to be forced to read your mind."
"You'll never be forced to read my mind, man. If something is bugging me, you'll know it," Raphael retorted.
"You'd better believe it, Marc." Mike laughed.
The entire group wasn't together until that evening in the Great Room. It had been a quiet day that had left Raphael feeling down, but the soft smile with which Donatello greeted him was encouraging.
"How ya doing, Genius? How's the ankle?"
The purple-masked turtle sat down on the couch beside him, resting his wrapped ankle against the coffee table. "It's not bad, it really isn't. I can walk without any real issues."
"Take it easy, Bro. You don't need to be running around on it." Raphael peered at his brother as Donatello's smile didn't falter. "You look happy, Donny. What's going on?"
"Tim found the Battle Shell."
"No kidding! Is it in one piece?"
"Surprisingly, yes, for the most part. It ended up getting towed and impounded. Tim said it looked like someone had tried to break in, and failed. He got April to make a call on the registration, and he'll be able to pick it up tomorrow. I guess it was a random find. Tim's been actively looking for it over the last month, and ran across it by accident today."
Raphael grinned as he leaned against the couch. "That's great, Donny. That feels good to know."
His younger brother nodded. "It does, huh?"
"You still been watching the earthquake action on the computer?"
"Yep. Well, not today I haven't. Things have been quieter," he said thoughtfully.
"That's a good sign too, right?"
Donatello relaxed into another smile, and Raphael noticed him looking over toward the door. Leonardo was bringing Molly back into the room.
"Is this part of your new job description, Leo? Carrying the dog around?" Raph snickered. "Someone's encroaching on your territory, Don. What are you gonna do about it?"
"Molly's been recovering somewhat over the last few hours. We think she'll be okay; she just can't get around on her own very well," Luke provided as he entered the room.
Caleb was right behind him. "I appreciate you guys going after them." The older man sounded apologetic rather than grateful. "It was dangerous to do."
Leonardo shook his head. "Greg and I were fine, Caleb. The wolves headed for the hills. They weren't interested in another fight."
Caleb exhaled deeply as he sat down in a chair. "I don't see why they would have wanted to try again. You and Donatello were amazing."
Leo smiled casually. "That was nothing. We've seen more vicious wild animals than them, night after night on the streets of New York. The wolves were actually smarter than most of the criminals are. They only had to see one of their kind take a fatal hit before they got the heck out of there. Explain to us about these radio collars."
"Yeah, do that," Raphael requested. "Please tell us what the deal is with the humans putting the wolves back on the mountains."
"There have been projects like this one around for years. There were groups of red wolves reintroduced into the northeastern section of the state to roam both public and privately protected land. They've had moderate success in getting them to reproduce and thrive," Caleb told them. "You may have also heard of the larger scale project with reintroducing wolves at Yellowstone. There have been several other release locations considered, particularly in the areas where the white-tailed deer population is strong. Because the red wolves have been displaying a desire to stick to the lower elevations, it was decided to experiment with trying to release the grey kind in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
"As strange as it may seem to you, Raphael, it makes sense from the standpoint of maintaining a healthy ecosystem. When the deer population rises too high, there's the risk of them over-browsing the woodlands, starving in the wintertime, and also posing a threat to the roadways and being a nuisance to the general public."
"Still seems kind of weird to me," the red-masked turtle muttered. "What if they come back here? What are we supposed to do with them?"
"I'm going to make a call to the Foundation about the pack. They can track their movement if any of the other wolves are collared. They may need to be relocated again, or euthanized if their behavior is a pattern. That's the sad part about mixing humans with wildlife. It's difficult for animals that are bred in captivity to keep the right distance from humans when they're released. Unfortunately, it can contribute to aggression too."
"That's too bad," Donny said quietly. "I never expected to see wolves out here. I nearly thought I was going crazy."
"They can travel great distances. The wolves probably weren't even dropped off anywhere near here," Caleb mused. "In any case, thank you for your help, Donatello, Leonardo. You risked your lives for me."
"Don't mention it, okay?" Leo requested.
"Right, because risking your lives is a nightly occurrence where you come from, isn't it?" Caleb grinned.
"It sure feels like it sometimes," Donatello said dryly.
Molly raised her head from the oversized pillow on which she was laying, looking at Donatello mournfully.
"Oh, put her on the couch already," Luke directed. "She's officially a patient, so she gets special treatment."
Leonardo scooped the black and white dog off the cushion and carefully put Molly in between Don and Raphael on the couch. Caleb grinned as the border collie rested her chin on the purple-masked turtle's leg.
"I'm telling you, it's love," Leonardo asserted.
Donatello ignored him as he patted her head happily. "I'm just glad they made it, Caleb."
The older man nodded. "I never realized how attached I am to those animals. My late wife doted on them so much, and I used to ignore them. It's no wonder they don't listen to me well."
Raphael motioned to Noah, who was currently lying at Caleb's feet. "It doesn't look like you do too badly, Caleb."
"I'm living proof that someone can change, even if it comes a little late," he replied.
"Better late than never," Raphael returned. "Some people die stuck in the same stubborn state of mind, and don't even care how wrong they are. Shell, they even revel in it sometimes, huh, Leo?"
The blue-masked turtle made steady eye contact with him. "They do. It's pretty sad to see, but some people just flat out don't care. You're not one of those people, Caleb. Far from it."