Chapter 16

"Residual shrapnel"

Bishop was pissed. He now stood staring at the sector A hall glaring at the blood spattered walls. How could his men fail him? How could four mutants come in and just tear through his men like this? And how the hell did that woman get one up on him? He had been around a long time. Longer than any of these boys whose blood now stained the floor and walls, and he could count on one hand the times anyone had gotten one up on him. The guards would pay for their stupidit y and discrepancy in following protocol, that Bishop would see to personally.

"What are your orders sir?" another, younger agent asked him.

Arayah Labelle held the entire experiment in her womb and the future of his department rested on the successful birthing of at least one of the hybrids. Bishop growled out his answer. "Find her."

"And the mutants?"

"If they interfere again.." Bishop paused to check that his broken nose hadn't started to bleed again. "kill them, bring me the bodies. Anything I need I can take postmortem." With that he turned from the hall. He needed to think, He needed to find the best way to face this challenge. He would search every darkened nook and shadowed cranny of this city. He will leave nothing and no place unsearched.

A grin spread across his face as he closed the door to his office. At least the turtles and the woman weren't failing in making his job interesting. Yes he would rise to the challenge they presented and he would crush them.

*scene change*

Lying on the couch Raph inspected the stitches on the nub that was left of his finger. He couldn't sleep. A certain green eyed beauty plagued his thoughts. Not as she had before, however. By the time they had gotten home Arayah had look distant, distraught, and so exhausted.

He had given up his bed so she would have a reasonably comfortable place to sleep, just as Mikey had given up his bed to the Joneses.

Raph thought about how she had looked as she sat on the edge of his bed. A place he had imagined her a thousand times. Though not like this. Pail, tired, void of that spirit that had made her eyes shine in such a captivating manner. She blamed him, and rightfully so. So, when she had asked him to stay he had been surprised. Having no desire to leave her, no matter his guilt or the state she was in, he had slowly made his way to sit on the bed next to her. Once there he had let her guide him to lie down, his heart threatening to break through the confines of his chest.

Raph dropped his hands to his chest as the thought of her warm body curled up next to him slipped into his mind. Her head on his shoulder, her slow rhythmic breaths that implied sleep. The thoughts that being next to her stirred in him, such as longing, relief, and worry for her, making it so he could not sleep.

So he now found himself lying on the couch listening to his brother's snores, and trying just as unsuccessfully as it had been before, to sleep.

He wasn't sure how long he had been laying there staring off at different irrelevant things as he tried to clear his head, but it was apparently long enough for the rest of the house hold to start stirring.

Leo could be heard making his way to the bathroom to shower.

Sliding his arm behind his head Raph couldn't help but find it surreal, the way they always just seemed to get up and start a new day as if they hadn't been just fighting for their lives the night before. They were honestly just used to it. It was how their lives had always been.

A loud bang sounded through the layer making Raph jump to his feet, sai out and ready, Mikey by his side equally as startled and ready for a fight.

The sound of bare feet padding across the floor drew their attention as Arayah made a bee line for the bathroom throwing open the door with another slam. She then wrapped herself around the toilet heaving up what little substance occupied her stomach.

At first Leo was disgruntled by the intrusion on his shower. But, when he peeked around the curtain, he couldn't help but pity the peakid woman that now rested her head against one of her arms in an attempt to not touch her face to the toilet seat.

"You alright?" He asked.

Arayah gave a slow nod before proving herself wrong and heaving into the toilet again.

Turning off the shower Leo stepped out as he wrapped a towel around his hips. Gently he pulled her hair back and placed a hand on her forehead to check for fever.

"I'm not sick." Arayah said hoarsely.

"You look sick to me." Raph said as he moved to the other side of her before looking up at Leo who simply shrugged.

"She doesn't have a fever." He answered Raph's unspoken question.

Mikey entered the bathroom holding a glass of water. "Here." He offered Arayah.

Sitting back and accepting the glass. Arayah shook her head again before taking a sip of the water, swishing it around in her mouth and spitting into toilet before flushing it.

"I'm not sick." She repeated as she started to stand. Three sets of hands were suddenly holding on to her in one way or another. All intent on making sure she was steady.

"People don't typically throw up unless they are sick Arayah… or drunk." Raph argued.

"I'm not drunk." Arayah frowned before pushing past Mikey to get out of the overcrowded bath room and make her way to the kitchen. She said a silent prayer for crackers and began looking through the cupboards.

The three brothers watched her for moment, exchanged worried glances then followed her to the kitchen.

Raph reached into a cupboard Arayah hadn't checked yet and pulled out a box of crackers then offered them to her.

"Arayah…" Raph started as she took the crackers from him.

"I'm not sick." She repeated. She took a deep breath and tipped her head back as she tried to stem the tears that were stinging at her eyes. "I'm pregnant."

"What?" Raph asked as he tried to process her statement.

Leo reached a hand out and placed it on Arayah's shoulder. "Arayah, what happened? What did Bishop do?"

"I'm gunna kill that mother fucker!" Raph bellowed as he assumed the worst, probably waking the rest of the house hold.

Arayah began shaking her head. "It's not like that… well not technically." Her tears refused to hold back any longer and one by one they began to silently slide down her cheeks. "I was drugged up a lot, but they took…" She took a deep breath in an attempt to keep calm. "I think they implanted something in me."

"It's called artificial insemination." Donatello said as he entered the kitchen. "I'll bet it's why he held on to you and let Raph go. To have a viable fetus Bishop would need DNA from two parties unless he was going to clone you. I can't think of any reason he would clone you… so, do you know where the other DNA came from?"

Arayah shook her head as she stared at the floor and nibbled at a cracker. "It doesn't matter." She whispered, she was already deciding on what she was going to do about the undesired predicament she found herself in.

Raph's attention went to Don as he considered what his brother was implying. He would have argued but it made sense, and with what they had taken from him… "It's mine." Raph stated surprised by his own words as the realization hit him.

Arayah stopped nibbling and slowly looked up at him. She just stared at him as if she was waiting for him to admit that he was attempting some bad joke.

He didn't however. Matter of fact he didn't know what to say, or feel for that matter. He didn't really think something like this was possible and so had never really entertained the idea. If he had it had been when April and Casey had brought their daughter down to meet the turtles. The thought would have been fleeting and quickly stomped down. But now, the idea of him… impatient, stubborn, impulsive, argumentative, sarcastic, and utterly flawed… being a father…the thought was utterly terrifying and yet he wanted it.

Arayah was shaking her head at him. "No, you're wrong." She firmly stated.

Raph found he didn't care for her adamancy. "What do you mean I'm wrong? You got some idea that makes more sense?"

He didn't understand. And how could she explain it? She didn't want to be a mother. Not in any way shape or form… ever. If this was just an abuse inflicted upon her, the byproduct of some faceless experiment, she could rid herself of it. No regrets, no thoughts of what could have been no concern for the lives that were growing inside, to plague her. But if they were his, an extension of her friend with all his wondrous qualities could she just end them? The two little souls that threatened to complicate further an already complicating relationship. Perhaps they would have his deep, expressive, brown eyes or that broken jawed grin. That undeniable passion, both fearsome and captivating… listing his qualities would not help her with the decision she had already made, nor did the pitiful look he was giving her now as she continued to shake her head at him. What was there for her to say to him? What was there to make this all go away?

No more to say on the subject and just wanting to escape from the weight that had been so unfairly thrust on her shoulders, she sat down the box of crackers and rounded the counter leaving the kitchen.

"What about the baby?" Leo asked as he watched Arayah walk across the layer, wanting to know there was a plan.

"Babys." Don corrected. "It is most likely they implanted more than one egg. And though it is possible for only one to be viable it is also possible that more will be… or none."

Arayah frowned as she continued toward the exit. The aspect of being pregnant at all was obviously not sitting well with her, add that what she was carrying wasn't human and the situation became even more unpleasant.

"Don't worry about it. I'll take care of it." she said as she opened the door and walked through it.

"What?" Raph wasn't sure where he thought she was going, but he sure didn't like what 'I'll take care of it.' implied. "Wait."

Arayah didn't wait. She didn't want to have the impending conversation she just wanted to walk away and try her damnedest to forget any of it had happened even though deep down she knew it would not be that easy.

Raph hurried into the sewers after her. "Arayah!" he bellowed for her attention, then catching hold of her arm he pleaded, "Wait, please."

He needed a chance to process all that had been thrown at him. An opportunity to sort through the mountain of conflicting and confusing emotions all stitched together with his guilt that had accumulated over the last few months. And here she was trying to just walk away with, what was very likely, his child or children. "So you really expect me to have nothing to say about this?"

She let out a loud sigh but stopped and turned to look Raphael in the eyes. "I don't want this, Raph."

Raph studied her beautiful face as he searched for the right words, for the one thing he could say to change her mind. "I didn't…" He took a deep breath. "I didn't think anything like this could ever be possible. And I can't just…"

"I DON'T WANT THIS." Arayah repeated stubbornly. "I don't want to be a mother, period. Of anything, especially a…"

"Freak." Raph finished her sentence for her, letting his aggravation show.

"Turtle. I was going to say turtle." She corrected in a softer tone. She ran her fingers through her hair in her agitation then tried to walk away again.

Raph's grip on her arm tightened holding her there.

"Let go, Raph." Arayah spoke in an exasperated tone. She was tired from the whole ordeal and the last thing she wanted to do was fight with him, she just didn't have the energy.

"I don't get any say in this?" The large turtle asked trying to keep his voice low.

"It's my body."

He took a step closer so that she had to crane her neck to keep eye contact. "It's my kid!" he bellowed.

In response she yanked her arm away from him and stormed further into the sewers, Raph calling after her.

"Arayah stop, Damn it."

She spun on him then, tears streaming down her face. "I didn't ask for this! Not for any of it! What they did…"

"I was there, remember! It wasn't just you, that was… used and humiliated. I didn't want this to happen any more than you did. But it did and just getting rid of this… of my…our…" His eyes began to moisten as he fought back a mountain of emotion that suddenly threatened to crush him. "Do you have any idea how special this is? I will never get this chance again, ever. I didn't really have it in the first place."

Seeing the tears welling up in Raph's eyes, a man that always seemed so strong, how small he now seamed. His words weighing heavy on her heart bringing more of her own tears to drip down her cheeks. Slowly she began to shake her head, she wasn't ready for this. She wasn't strong enough. "Raphael, I… I can't." The words were barely a whisper. "I'm sorry."

Unable to take anymore she ran from him.

Heart heavy and feeling as if a thousand jagged shards had penetrated strait through the armor of his plastron making every heard beet hurt and steeling his breath. Raphael slipped to his knees and for a little while just gave up on the world, letting all the anger, hurt, and fear he had held in over the past few days flow out in bitter sobs.