Michelangelo jumped to his feet as soon as he heard the front door opening. He was relieved to see the bronze-haired man shuffle inside first, with eyes averted to the floor. Leonardo came in behind him, and caught Mike's gaze. His brother nodded reassuringly, and Mike breathed a little easier.
Brandon looked like he wanted to do nothing more than keep walking right past the living area, but he held his ground for several silent seconds.
"Bran, it's okay," Leo encouraged him. "No one is against you here."
"I know it shouldn't take me this long, but I need another minute." Brandon took a couple of deep breaths. "I'm sorry, everyone," he said finally. His eyes searched over the room, until he settled on the red-masked turtle who was merely observing him. "I'm sorry, Raph. I was wrong."
Raphael slowly rose. "My chin's not glass, Man. I'll be all right. In a way, I guess I kinda deserved it."
The man shook his head. "No you didn't," he insisted. "Things are changing more slowly than they should be but…I'm not ready to give up. I didn't mean what I said, about not needing you." Brandon glanced around the rest of the room awkwardly. "Now that I've made a complete jerk of myself, I think I'm just going to get out of the way."
The man turned to go down the hall, but Mike noticed that he didn't push Raphael away when the turtle followed him. Mike noticed that Director Kelley's eyes pursued Brandon and Raphael too, and he took the opportunity to study the man.
There was something about Kelley's presence that made Mike feel like he needed to sit up straighter and keep his mouth shut. I get the feeling he's mulling things over, and trying to see through everybody. Maybe that's normal for Kelley, but it makes me want to stay on my toes around him. Better to keep my big mouth shut and avoid saying the wrong thing.
Mike quickly looked away before Kelley's attention returned to the living area.
"Can someone tell me what's going on with Brandon? I've gotten to know the man a little bit, and I've never seen him look like that. Not even when the two of us were almost buried alive under Javits," Kelley said. "And what about your missing brother? I remember Greg mentioned that he'd been severely injured when we were back in Jamaica."
Leonardo moved to the edge of the couch. "You know that Brandon was kidnapped by members of the Akiudo. They hurt him. They tortured him in order to acquire information about us," Leo said stiffly.
Mike watched Kelley for a reaction. The man's shoulders stiffened, but he didn't speak.
"When we found him, he was in a state of psychological shock," Luke added. "They waterboarded him, repeatedly. Brandon has actually progressed some since then, but he's dealing with a strong form of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He hasn't been to the surface since he was rescued, by his own wishes."
"He's getting closer though," Leonardo chimed back in. "He left the Den tonight, and he hadn't done that yet either. At the same time, there's a very fine line between encouraging him and pushing him, and we need to be aware of it."
"No kidding," Mike murmured.
"I doubt he'd come after anyone else the way he did Raph, but we need to treat him carefully," Leo finished.
"Then Brandon is still recovering from whatever those men did to him." Kelley stared into space as he spoke. "And Donatello? You didn't mention him."
"He's recovering too," the blue-masked turtle said. "He suffered a bad head injury that's left him handicapped."
Mike's blue eyes narrowed angrily. "He's not handicapped, Leo!" he said heatedly. "Donny's gonna be fine!"
Leonardo glanced at him apologetically. "That might not have been the best way to put it."
"I don't think we should be talking about Don like he's broken," Mike returned. "He's still getting over what happened. That doesn't make him handicapped or stupid."
"That isn't what Leo meant, Mike," Luke said gently.
Mike folded both arms across his chest with a huff and looked at Kelley squarely. "Donatello is strong, Director. He shoulda died, but he didn't. He hung in there when none of us were sure that he would. It hasn't been easy, but he's coming back to us more and more."
He wasn't sure why Leonardo's phrasing of Donatello's condition angered him so much, but he didn't want to accept the label either. Saying he's handicapped is like saying this is permanent, and he'll never get out of that bed or talk again. As Mike fumed silently from his chair, understanding suddenly dawned in the back of his mind. I think part of me is scared that he won't get completely better, that nothing the docs do will be able to fix him.
"Unfortunately, Donatello was on his own for several hours after being attacked," Luke said carefully, eyeing Mike, and then returning to Kelley. "He suffered a severe rise in intracranial pressure, and ended up with a brain injury. His prognosis was very poor to begin with, and we weren't sure if he would even come out of the coma.
"Mike's right; by the numbers, Donatello shouldn't be alive, and he definitely shouldn't be functioning on the mental level that he is. He's still recovering strength and function, but his mind is as sharp as ever, and I think that's the most important thing.
"His speech was also affected, because of a lack of coordination between his breathing and his voice. It also hinders his ability to swallow, so he's kind of living off the IV lines right now," Luke explained.
The look in Kelley's eyes indicated that he was actually concerned, and Mike felt himself softening a little more toward the man.
"I'm not familiar with that condition," Kelley said. "Is there a therapy that can help him to talk again?"
Luke inhaled sharply. "I haven't come across anything yet. I think it's one of those things we have to be patient with. I expect that the condition may very well reverse itself. There's nothing wrong with his vocal cords, so there's no reason to think that he'll never speak again."
Rebecca's hand closed comfortingly around Mike's wrist, and he turned to see her. The curly-haired woman's eyes weren't judgmental, but the serenity within them still made him feel bad for biting Leonardo's head off. He gave her a small smile before getting to his feet.
"I'm sorry, Bro," he told Leo. "I know I'm being sensitive about this issue."
The oldest turtle shook his head. "Its okay, Mike. We're all concerned about him."
"I think I'm gonna excuse myself, if it's all the same to you guys," Mike said. "All this talk about Donny makes me wanna go see him."
"That's a good idea," Leonardo replied. "We all need to make more of an effort where Don is concerned. He's feeling a little left out, and he needs to know that we aren't holding out on him."
Mike nodded at Director Kelley. "Nice to see you again," he said evenly, despite not really meaning it.
The orange-masked turtle wanted to see his injured brother, but he was also grateful to escape Kelley's probing eyes. Mike walked into the adjoining Lab, and was met by the sound of soft voices. When he focused on Donny, he realized that his brother was watching something on his tablet.
Mike dropped into a chair and spun it around as he rolled toward his purple-masked brother. "What are you doing, Bro? Not still fussing with the News, are you?"
Donatello shook his head, adjusting the tablet so that Mike could see the screen.
Michelangelo grinned at the sight of a dueling Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom. "Pirates of the Caribbean? Nice."
Donny shrugged, paused the movie, and lined the program down to bring up a text field. "It's a distraction," he said. "I can only handle so much of the News. I thought I heard Leo's voice out there. Did he bring Brandon back?"
"Oh yeah, Donny. Bran's okay too. He and Raph are probably kissing and making up as I speak."
That got a smile out of Donatello. "Great, Mikey. Now I'm stuck with that mental image."
Mike chuckled, but it felt half-hearted.
"Are you all right?" Donatello asked, obviously having noticed the lack of usual enthusiasm.
"Yeah, Don. There are just a lot of things to think about. The Akiudo's back, Kelley's sitting right outside that door, and nothing is normal," Mike said glumly.
His brother's gaze became somewhat unfocused. "I need to be looking for them, but I'm not sure where to start. I suppose the Courier Company would have a record of whoever set up the delivery of that phone to Greg, but I doubt that the Akiudo would have given them real information."
"You think they'd use a cover?"
Don nodded.
"Well, maybe there's something to track out of the cover," Mike suggested. "It's just like forcing you to walk more steps."
"I guess," he typed. "It's not like I have anything else to do."
Mike gave him a stern look. "Yes you do, Donny. You're supposed to be concentrating on getting better."
"I'm trying to do that, Mike, but I have to devote thought to this. The Akiudo are here, and they're not going away. What happened today is probably only the tip of the iceberg. They didn't even make any demands of Greg. Takashi just wanted to make sure we knew he was responsible for it."
"I don't get it, Bro. Why would Takashi play it like this? He doesn't care about New York City. He's wasting time. We're the ones he wants. Why doesn't he just tell us where to go so we can finish this?"
Donatello looked troubled. "From the conversation that Greg described, it sounds like Takashi wants to torture us first. He could have come right out and demanded that we appear, but he didn't. I think he's probably working up to it, and that could mean a lot of other people getting hurt first."
Mike stared at the floor. "Why does he have to hurt anyone else?"
"Takashi wants to do more than catch us, Mike. He wants us to suffer, and he knew that the deaths of innocents would upset us. This is a deliberate move on his part. That's why we can't wait for him to simply reveal himself to us. We've got to act on whatever information is available, to prevent him from hurting or killing anyone else."
Mike looked up bleakly. "You can't act along with us, Donny. I hate this."
"No, I can't physically," he replied. "But that doesn't count me out completely. I can research and I can hack. I can investigate all kinds of things electronically from here. Lives are depending on this, Mike. We feel a responsibility because he's here looking for us, but it's more than that.
"We've pledged to protect this city, and we've been there for them through all kinds of small threats and petty crimes. The stakes are higher this time, and the Authorities don't have a clue what's going on. We're the next line of defense. We're the Watchmen. We've looked after as many people as we could through the years. This involves doing the same thing that we always have, on a larger scale."
"Well…Kelley is in the next room, and he probably knows the Company that delivered the package. I should probably ask him about it. Are you sure you're ready for this, Don?" Mike asked seriously.
"I'm not sure of anything, Mike. But I don't want to see more people die, do you?"
Michelangelo shook his head soberly, but then gave his brother a smile. "You may have given rise to a new name."
"What are you talking about?"
"Watchmen; it's got a nice ring to it. I think we've kind of grown out of the whole 'Phantom' phase. Time to get a new calling card and leave a different impression."
Donatello gave him a wry smile. "Whatever you say, Mikey."