Three weeks passed and Leo had seen enough of the place that he had formulated a plan to escape. The humans had him on a daily schedule and he quickly fell into a routine. It helped him to regain his strength.
He was up in the mornings by 8, they brought him his breakfast, they had him relax in the yard for a while to let his food digest, then it was exercise time to keep him in shape. Exercise was just walking, of course, and some light weight lifting. After that he had lunch, an afternoon nap, more time in the yard, swimming exercises, a bath in the evening every few days, go back to his room and dinner, and then it was time to settle down with reading before bed at 9. And of course, Leo was only let out in the yard on nice weather days.
His captors had come in to examine the babies two more times. It was done weekly as Johnson had said it would be. Leo had resisted one more time and after the consequences the second time, he cooperated the third time. He hated being wrestled onto his back and held down. It put stress on him and the babies and that wasn't good for any of them.
It was the day for another exam. Leo was in his room when the humans came wheeling the machine into his room.
"You want to go through this again?"
Leo saw the needles ready and there were several officers standing ready should he try to fight or run.
"No." Leo said, and he laid back.
"Good turtle."
Leo still watched everything the tech did. He rested his hands on his chest.
The man put the gel on Leo's swollen stomach, turned on the computer and put the wand on his belly.
Leo did want to see them.
The man moved the wand around, looking for all four fetuses. He found all four, but when he got to the fourth, on Leo's upper left, he found that something was wrong with that fetus.
Leo saw a look pass the man's face.
The tech suddenly took the wand off Leo's belly and put it down and got up. "Make sure he stays that way." He said on his way out.
The head guard nodded as the tech left the room.
Leo was left wondering what was going on. With the guards in there, he wasn't allowed to move from his position.
Within a short time, the tech came back in with Johnson.
"Ok, show me." Johnson said, and the tech sat down and picked up the wand again and placed it back on Leo's belly. The gel was cold by now, making Leo shiver.
The tech moved the wand all over Leo's belly again until he came upon the upper left spot. Johnson looked carefully at the image on the screen.
"Play the hearts." Johnson ordered.
The tech played the hearts and he moved them all around again, but coming up to the fourth, it signaled a problem.
"What's wrong?" Leo asked nervously.
The tech and Johnson looked at the pregnant turtle, concerned.
"There's a problem, Leonardo." Johnson said.
"What is it?" Leo demanded. "Tell me."
"We can't find a heartbeat on the fourth baby." Johnson said.
"What?!" Leo shouted and sat up.
"Lie down, Turtle." The tech snapped.
"I want to know what happened!" Leo said through gritted teeth as he was pushed back down.
"That's what we're trying to figure out and we could if you would lie down." The tech said grumpily.
"Leonardo, please lie down." Johnson said, in an attempt to soothe.
Leo's breathing had picked up, but he laid back down, allowing the exam to continue.
After further examination, it was revealed the alien placenta had ruptured and the baby had died. Each of the babies had their own placentas created from alien DNA, but all the babies were mutant turtles.
"Leonardo, we regret to tell you that the fourth baby is dead." Johnson said in conclusion.
Leo lay there, shocked. This couldn't be happening!
"So what happens now, Boss?" A guard asked.
Johnson looked at the guard. "We have to take the baby out."
Leo's eyes snapped up at Johnson's words. "What?"
"We have to take that baby out, Leonardo." Johnson repeated, pointing to the spot where the dead baby was.
Leo got tense and raised himself on his elbows. "Don't do it, please."
"Leonardo, we've got to. If it stays inside your body, it will decompose and it could make you sick as well as possibly harm the other babies. And I need you well to be able to take care of the remaining three. There's always been a chance one of them would die. There are still three good ones." Johnson explained.
The tech had by now removed the wand off of Leo's belly. The scared turtle made a mad dash to get up and run, but the guards caught him.
"No! Let me go!" Leo cried out. Tears were in his eyes now at the news he had failed one of the babies.
"Take him to the surgery room immediately." Johnson ordered.
The guards nodded and pulled on Leo's arms, guiding him out of his room.
"NO! Don't do this to me!" Leo was yelling all the way. He still had gel on his stomach, but that was the last thing on his mind.
He was pulled to the surgery room and forced to get onto a surgical table where he kept on struggling. His arms and legs were tied down. Then Johnson and the ultrasound tech came in with the machine again.
"How soon do we begin the surgery?" The tech asked.
"As soon as we pinpoint where that baby is and we begin." Johnson said. "Get Leonardo knocked out first."
"NO! I won't let you take my baby!" Leo cried angrily, the tears now flowing down his face.
The men paid him no attention. This was the typical reaction of a 'mother' in their eyes, but the baby needed to come out.
Leo struggled to get loose. He knew he needed to get out of there now more than ever.
"How long do you think the baby's been dead?" Johnson asked the tech.
"Hard to say until it's out of the turtle's body." The tech replied with a shrug while he worked. "But probably not too long, or the turtle would be sick by now."
Johnson and some other men in the room got themselves wrapped in scrubs and washed their hands. Leo watched them. Then one of them prepared a syringe and prepped Leo's right arm and put an IV in the vein. Then another man put a mask on over Leo's mouth and nose.
Leo tried to keep his face out of it, but his head was held in place by another man. Then he was given the sedation drug.
The pregnant turtle tried to fight the sleep taking over, but it didn't take long for it to take him under.
The tech put the wand back on Leo's gelled belly and located the baby. It still showed no signs of a heartbeat.
After marking where the dead baby was, the tech turned off the machine and got out of the room to let the surgeons do their work.
Leo's stomach was cleaned off from the gel and was then sterilized for surgery.
Before it began, Johnson felt Leo's plastron and looked at his side in between the carapace and plastron.
"Wait. Before we open up the golden shell, though the stomach is stretching out, the turtle will make a faster recovery with an opening in the skin. His side is a good size to make an incision and get this baby out of him. It's not that big yet." Johnson explained his idea.
"He's your subject and patient, Agent Johnson. Whatever you want to do." A surgeon said.
"Sterilize his left side and move his left arm up." Johnson ordered.
"Yes, Sir."
Leo's left side was then cleaned up after his arm had been lifted above his head. With Leo asleep, he was turned onto his right side. Then surgical sheets were put over his body.
The head surgeon had a scalpel in his hand ready to cut while another by him was ready with a tool to suck up blood. Johnson was keeping track of Leo's vitals.
The head surgeon cut carefully into the flesh of Leo's side and went deeper. The other surgeon sucked up the blood that came to the surface.
The head surgeon felt around and opened up the wound in the turtle's side. He saw some internal organs, but going to the front of the belly, he reached in and found the fetus in its womb and his assistant cut off the womb from the other ones, and pulled the womb and baby out.
Leo's vitals were holding strong.
A third surgeon in the room came forward and took the baby from the head surgeon. He took it over to a table and began dissecting the womb. He cut it open and took the baby turtle out.
"What are we going to do with the baby?" He asked.
"It might still have enough DNA in it to be used. But I'm sure Leonardo's going to want to see it too." Johnson said.
"Are you going to let him see it?"
"I don't think it's a good idea." Johnson said. "But keep it on standby for now."
"Very well."
The head surgeon went on making sure everything was set to heal internally before sewing Leo's tissues and skin back up. Then he was turned back onto his back gently, to make sure that the other babies wouldn't be disturbed.
"He still has three good ones."
"Yep." The assistant said.
Leonardo was taken back to his room to recuperate.
Once back in the room, Leo's limbs were kept restrained until he could be trusted enough. He still had the IV in, a pulse monitor on one finger, and the oxygen mask on his face.
The stitched wound on his side was bandaged up. A gauze piece covered it, and then some pieces of tape were placed over it on the skin and some of the plastron to keep it in place. It was now set to heal. But Leo's mind was going to be much more fragile in this 'maternal' state.
….
Leo woke up a little later. He groaned. He felt he had something on his face and opened his eyes, blinking them to get them to focus. He tried to raise his hands, but couldn't. He began to struggle, moaning.
"It's alright, Leonardo. Hold still and I'll take it off." Johnson appeared in his field of vision.
"What happened?" Leo asked as the mask was removed. He raised his head and saw a swelling beneath his blanket.
"I'm sorry to say that one of your babies died and we had to perform surgery to get it out before it caused any problems." Johnson explained. He had been waiting for Leo to wake up.
It all came back to Leo. He couldn't believe it. Tears welled in his eyes.
"I remember. Can I… see it?" Leo asked.
"I figured you would. I kept it on standby." Johnson said and then he pressed a button.
Leo raised his head as a bassinet was wheeled in.
"The baby is very tiny. Its only 16 weeks along, Leonardo. So don't be too shocked when you see it. We're not even sure if it's a boy or girl." Johnson said and he picked up a small toweled bundle out of the bassinet.
Leo had a worried look on his face as he saw the little bundle being brought toward him.
Johnson pressed another button on his remote. "You can move your hands now." He said. "But no attacking if you want to see the baby." The man stopped. "Deal?"
"Deal."
"Good." Johnson now brought the bundle close to Leo and Leo instantly raised his arms. He was supported by a few pillows. The bundle was placed into Leo's arms.
He looked down at the little face peeking out. It was nearly fully formed, but so tiny. It was only 4 to 4 ½ inches long. Tears welled and began to fall. This was his child.
Leo sobbed. "What happened that caused… him to die?"
"The placenta ruptured from its womb. Since you don't naturally have a womb, that's why you didn't know, and that's why we have to monitor these babies every week, to make sure they are alive." Johnson explained.
"Was it something I did?" Leo asked.
"We don't know." The man said. "I'll leave you alone for a while and when I come back, we'll get the IV taken out." Then he left.
Leo couldn't believe he was looking at his poor baby. It didn't have a chance in the outside world right now. He broke down, crying.
Being in this experimental place was so lonely for Leo and these babies were all he had for family, and he had lost one already.
When he caught his breath again, he asked, "Why did this happen to you, Little One? What did I do? Was this some sort of punishment for something I did?"
Leo then proceeded to open up the towel to take a look at the little turtle's body. He had to know what everything looked like.
It was hard to take in. Organs could be seen a bit through the wrinkly skin. The eyes were still fused shut. The hands had the same number of fingers, and the feet the same number of toes as him. Then Leo tried to see the little tail to see if he could see the sex. With it being so tiny, it was hard to tell, but Leo looked real hard. He recognized the color on the baby too. It seemed to have Raph's coloring.
As Leo looked real hard at the tail, to him, it looked like a female to him. "I guess you are my brother, Raphael's daughter. Even though you will never get to experience life with your father or me, I will still give you a name, Little One. I'll call you Rachel, a close name to your father's."
Leo wrapped Rachel back up. He gave her a kiss and broke down again.
…..
An hour later, the door opened back up again. Leo looked up. It was a couple of officers this time.
"What do you want?" Leo demanded. He clutched the bundle tightly to himself.
"We came for that little bundle in your arms, Turtle. And to get the IV out of your arm." One said.
"Go on and take the IV out, but you can't have my baby." Leo held her even tighter.
"Oh yes, we can."
The officers came forward without hesitation.
Leo tried to move away from them, but winced at the pain in his side. That gave the officers the perfect chance.
One seized the bundle in Leo's arms while the other grabbed Leo's wrists.
"NO! Don't take her from me!" Leo cried out.
The man who had seized the baby put it back into the bassinet and wheeled it out.
"Where are you taking her?! Don't harm her! Bring her back!" Leo continued calling out, tears streaming.
"Excuse me, her?" A voice said.
Leo looked angrily at the doorway. Johnson stood there. "Yes. It was a girl! Bring her back! What are you going to do with her?" He demanded angrily.
"Nice to know you could tell the sex. Well, she's dead, Leonardo. She will have some DNA taken from her like what was planned and being so tiny and not formed or alive, her body will be disposed of." Johnson explained.
"NO! You can't do that!" Leo glared and yelled angrily.
"Sorry, but it's going to be done, Leonardo. Now you need to calm down. You still need to take care of the remaining triplets. Stress is not good for them." Johnson said. "Hold him down and get the IV out."
"Yes, Sir."
Leo struggled as he was held down and the IV removed from his arm. Then the restraints were used to hold his arms down until the officers were out of the room, then he was released.
"Rachel!" Leo cried out. He slowly got out of his bed, being careful of his wounded side. He now saw it. He moved to the door and opened up the porthole in it.
"I want my daughter back!" But no one answered his cries.
Leo sat down on the floor and cried until he couldn't cry anymore.
Beta read with Applepye.