First, I want to thank all of my reviewers. Your kind words have meant everything to me. I'm so glad this story has had such a great receptions. Now, i want to appologize for how long it's taken to get this out. I have been working on this chapter all week. I'm not entirely happy with how it turned out, but I'm not feeling my best, and this is the best it's going to get. Still, I hope everyone enjoys it.
After getting the injured turtle's skin cooled down, Donatello quickly administered the morphine. The family genius didn't make a big deal of it at the time, but he too was subjected to static-shock like psychic zap as he was applying the aloe gel to the inured turtle's overheated skin. Having seen Raphael's extreme response, Donatello was startled but not alarmed by the sensation. After giving everything a moment to settle, the purple-masked turtle discovered he was able to sense just where applying the aloe would provide the most relief. It was, to say the least, an odd sensation.
After getting their guest settled, the three turtles convened their family council around the kitchen table, where the suddenly ravenous trio finally had the opportunity to have breakfast.
"I guess we have a number of things to address this morning," Raphael said between bites of cereal. "First, what are we going to do with our unexpected visitor? Second, if we let him stay, what about that psychic thing of his? But before we get to either of those issues, maybe Donatello can explain how he came to the whole 'he's a slave' conclusion. That was kind of a jump, wasn't it?"
"You're going to laugh at me," Donatello warned, though the smile he was trying to hide revealed he was already laughing at himself, and would take such a reaction seriously.
"Probably," Raphael agreed, "but tell us anyway."
"It was a combination of things," Donatello said. "Part of it was all those scars. They made me thing about a psychology book I read a couple of years ago about victims of abuse. We certainly saw some of that, but his reaction was more extreme. So while that was rolling around in the back of my mind, our new friend did that falling on his face thing. This is where you're going to laugh at me, but it made me think about the movie The King and I. April begged me to watch it with her the other night while the two of you were out with Casey." After waiting for the laughter and teasing to die down, Donatello continued, "There's a fine line between abuse and slavery; in many ways the two overlap. It was the self-punishment that clenched it for me, though. Our friend didn't react like a victim, laying down and just accepting punishment; he proactively instigated the punishment, like a twisted version of Pavlov's dog. The master gets angry, and he automatically began the punishment to demonstrate he knew his 'place,' hoping to appease or mitigate the correction he was certain was coming anyway."
"That's just…sick," Michelangelo concluded. "How do we go about fixing it?"
"Before we even get to that point, we need talk about the whole psychic thing," Raphael said. "If we're right, we're not just talking about physical, emotional, and mental abuse and slavery, but psychic as well. Are we even prepared to take something like that on?"
"The mental connection's not so bad," Donatello said. He explained his experience from earlier that morning. "I was actually able to use the connection to figure out how best to help him, even with him drugged up and unconscious."
"So it doesn't bother you," the red-masked leader asked.
"Not in the least," his younger brother replied. "But this does lead us to the next question: do we want to take on the responsibility of helping this poor guy? It's not going to be a quick or easy fix, not given everything he's been through."
"Of course we're going to help him," Michelangelo responded with surprising fervency. "I think it's kinda our fault he's in trouble to begin with."
"How do you figure that," Raphael asked.
"Because he wasn't like this, with the cringing and bowing stuff, last night," the youngest explained. "He fought to keep us safe from Bishop, and then he risked his life protecting us from that explosion. But before that, there was all of Bishop's talk about 'the council's pet,' and his 'masters' not wiping out his compassion completely. If this guy's a slave, he was probably given very strict orders; orders he deviated from by saving us. That's couldn't have pleased his master any. So what if, in response, he was disowned or abandoned?"
"If he really is a slave, I'd have to think he'd be pretty valuable property," Donatello protested. "As highly trained as he is, I wouldn't think they'd want to just let him go."
"It all comes down to comic book logic," Michelangelo replied cryptically. When is brothers started to scoff, he went on to explain, "We all know about the psychic link between the stranger and both of you, so I ask you: why would someone want their slave to have such a powerful skill, unless it was meant to be a leash to keep him under control? So here you have this powerful weapon, carefully groomed and crafted and seemingly tightly bound to you, and unexpectedly it turns on you. In a comic book, if you're an evil sociopathic narcissist, you're not going to take kindly to your toy, your property, stepping out of line like that. For this guy, this type of character, there are two ways he can respond. First, he can use the mental bond to severely punish the slave, but if your trained killer is already fighting the leash, there's a good chance that's not going to work; at least not in the long run. Eventually, he's going to grow tired of the mistreatment and turn, violently, on his owner. The second option, therefore, is for the 'master' to abandon his pet."
"I'm not sure I see how that could be considered a punishment," Raphael said doubtfully.
"Maybe not to us, but what if you were a slave, beaten and brainwashed into believing your whole life's purpose is to serve your master? Your whole identity and self-worth would be based on that thought, so what would be worse than being rejected by the one individual that is the center of your whole universe?"
"That's…actually very insightful," Raphael told him. "But bro, you read way too many comic books, if you put that theory together that quickly. In any case, I don't think we'll get the truth of the matter until Sleeping Beauty is awake and more fully in control of his faculties."
"I guess that settles the question of whether he'll be staying or not," Donatello said ruefully.
"If nothing else, we owe him for saving our lives last night," Raphael told him.
"Besides, we can't let him go back to that monster," Michelangelo added with unexpected fierceness. "We'd serve him better by slitting his throat ourselves rather than sending him back there."
"Okay then," Donatello said, a little set back by his younger brother's fervent response. "I guess if we're all agreed we need to work out some logistics. First, where is he going to sleep once he's healed enough to leave the infirmary?"
"Why not give him the fifth bedroom," Raphael suggested.
"But that's…"Michelangelo started to protest.
"I know whose room it is," Raphael cut him off. "And that's why I think it's the perfect place for a turtle that needs to feel safe and protected. If this guy's as sensitive to psychic vibrations or whatever you want to call them, the feelings in our brother's room will have to feel life a comforting hug and a warm bath all rolled into one."
"Besides, basic psychology says individuals that have been victimized like our guy need to feel in control, and a very basic way to give him that is allot him some space that is strictly his," Donatello added. "He needs to be able to shut himself off or invite others in at his own discretion. Giving him the last bedroom will give him that."
The two older turtles waited with baited breath for their younger brother's response. This could be potentially highly traumatic. To their relief, and even greater surprise, Michelangelo simply nodded and said, "Leo would understand. I think he'd like being able to help our new friend like this."
"Well, if that's all settled, I guess we'd better go air the room out and make sure it's livable," Donatello said.
"If you can take care of that, there's one other thing I need to do," Raphael replied.
"Oh, and what is that," his next younger brother asked.
"Writing Master Splinter," Raphael said. "If we're adopting another member of the family, it's only fair we warm him about it before he comes home."
I have started the next chapter, but I'm leaving for my best friend's wedding on Wednesday, and I'm not sure I'll have it up by then. I will give it my best, since that is when Leo wakes up, and we start seeing some actual interaction among the brothers.