Author's Note: I am very sorry for the long delay with the chapter. I'm very sorry about it, I just have way too many stories going on at the moments, on this site and on others. Well I finally managed to finish this chapter and I hope you all like it. Enjoy.
Chapter 30: Trust
A stunned silence filled the whole lab as all four occupants inside had to rub their eyes just to be sure they weren't seeing anything. But just staring at the screen and the green words displayed on the monitor more than confirmed. Finally, after so much trial and error, and so many attempts it was finally done. The password to their brother's computer had finally been cracked, and they now had access.
"We…we're in…we're in!" Mikey slowly said in complete surprise, but then repeated it in excitement. "I can't believe it, we finally got it!"
"Way to go Mikey, I can't believe you cracked it!" Raph congratulated his brother with a clap on the shell.
"You did really well my son," Splinter joined in as well, happy that something finally went their way for once.
The orange clad turtle smiling at the praise he's receiving, but yet fully knew that this was an effort that all of them accomplished. If it wasn't for his brothers and their help he knew that the answer wouldn't have be able to come to him. He wasn't to instill this in them, but for right now the moment they had been waiting for had finally come.
"Thanks guys, lets see what Don has on this thing," Mikey nodded as all eyes were now glued on the desktop, watching as it fully started. They couldn't help but chuckle as a purple screen saver is displayed, figuring that he would use his favorite color.
They then looked at the available icons that were displayed, reading each one of them. Some were labeled, "Blueprints", "Notes", "Medical Journal", "Family Health Records", "Security system".
"Man…I never knew Donny had such…heavy stuff on his computer," Leo spoke in a stunned tone, getting nods from the others. Normally when they saw their brother working on the computer they never really bothered to look at the desktop, so they never got to see the icons displayed on their. Now they're getting a look at their brother's work, and some of it included him.
"I know…when Don because the medic…I never thought he would have these records on file," Raph spoke next, eyes glued on the icons.
"Your brother is always worried about our well-being, it would make sense for him to have them like this," Splinter spoke with a sigh.
Mikey didn't say anything at all, curiosity now getting the better of him as he moved the mouse and clicked on the health records, earning surprised looks from his family.
"Mikey what are you doing?" Raph asked.
"I'm just curious," was all the youngest responded, eyes not leaving the screen at all. And just like that multiple folders appeared on a new screen box, all of them labeled by name.
Leo couldn't help but read them out loud even though everyone else could read it. "Leonardo…Raphael…Michelangelo…and…Master…Splinter?"
Both of the rat's ears folded back as his named was read on the computer, both eyes looking down at the ground. It wasn't really known to the three brothers that Don has been doing checkups on their sensei, and now they knew. They were now worried to check on the folder, but still they decided to leave it alone for now, mainly since it was their father's private records.
"Raph, what are you-" Mikey said as his brother took control of the mouse and clicked on Mikey's folder.
"I just got to see this," The red clad turtle responded as he just out shoved his brother out of the chair, much to the youngest dismay.
"Raph I think those are supposed to be private," Leo intervened.
"Come on fearless, I don't think Don would mind," Raph smirked as the folder turned into various journal entries.
"Raphael, listen to your brother," Splinter said after his second eldest clicked on a random file.
The red clad turtle sighed as both his eyes dropped, "Alright sen-whoa what is this?"
"What!?" the others asked, but then Raph started to snicker.
"What is it Raph?" Leo asked again as he now moved to look at the screen. After reading some text both of Leo's eyes widen. "Wow…Don really did that?"
"Did what?" Mikey responded in curiosity as he tried to look at the screen but interrupted by Raph's laughs.
"What is it?" Splinter now asked.
To finally quell the curiosity Leo then began to read off what was typed. "Michelangelo seems to be avoiding drinking milk after accidently drinking some that was three months old. Of course Mikey would do something like this, but it's bad for him to deprive himself of much needed calcium. In order to prevent this I've come to having to resort secretly slipping him calcium tablets. Over time he'll get the normal dosage he needs to get."
The orange clad turtle was perplexed at what he had just heard. It was then it clicked into his mind at past memories. A few of his candies, some food, and even drinks on and off had a chalky taste to them. At first he just passed them off as just his mind playing tricks on him, but now it made sense. How could he not see it that Don had secretly been drugging him. Well he could see his reasons, Mikey gave up drinking milk by itself after that incident when they came back to the Lair, after Leo recovered. But he's slowly getting back on it.
"Man, I can't believe Donny was being this sneaky without us knowing," Raph laughed.
"That sneak, the deception, and the lies," Mikey started to say dramatically, well almost too dramatically. "I can't believe he would do that!"
"Like the note said, Donny had his reasons," Leo responded as he took control of the mouse and exit out of the medical records.
"Hey fearless, what gives?" Raph responded, caught off guard at this action. "I wanted to see what else this says." In all honestly Raph was curious as to what medical notes Don had on Leo and wanted to look further.
"Lets not waste time on here, remember we have important matters to look into," Leo responded with a serious expression now.
"Your brother is right," Splinter pointed out, siding with his eldest son. "We had a mission in getting into Donatello's computer, now that we accomplished it we best stick to the main reason for accessing it."
Raph heard this and then remembered the reason why they were here: To find out if anything in the computer can help them locate their brother. Sighing he nodded, "Yes sensei."
"I think I got something," Leo announced, gaining everyone's attention as the leaf green turtle moved the cursor over an icon labeled "Project logs". Clicking it another window opened and various file names, all of which seemed to be the name of projects.
"Well this isn't going to be easy," Raph commented as his eyes scanned the names, and according to the scroll bar there were quite a few logs to access.
"This looks promising," The eldest once again announced as he moved the cursor to the very top of the list, which was labeled: 001- Introduction. According to the list this entry seemed to be the only one with numbers at the beginning. Moving the mouse over the log he clicked it. Once again a new window opened, and the computer's media player started up.
Everyone then moved closer to the computer and gasped at what they saw appear on the screen. A picture of the lab they currently are in appeared on screen, and then Donatello moved on screen, sitting on his chair and is looking at the computer. By the looks of the lab on the screen there was hardly anything in it, meaning this must be when they first moved in.
"Hello, my name is Donatello, I'm the second youngest of four brothers with a father. Now we're not really a normal typical family, my brothers and I being turtles…and our father being a rat. Both way we're a good family and we love each other."
Everyone stared at the screen in silence, a bit touched by the words that the genius turtle is saying. Now they figured out that he started filming himself once he got settled into his new lab. They continued to watch the entry, seeing what else had been recorded.
"And wouldn't you believe it this place had a subway car already inside of it. May have been real dusty and full of dirt but I managed to clean things up and look at it in full, and I have to say it has quite enough space. After talking it over with Master Splinter and my brothers they decided to let me have this car and set it up as my lab….can you believe it my own laboratory!"
Everyone couldn't help but smile at Don's enthusiasm, now recalling back to that day after they moved in. Don was so excited about the subway car and after being giving permission he nearly shouted in happiness that it could be his laboratory. In no time they started to hear the racket of Donny working on his experiments.
"I just set things up but it'll get there," They watched as Don reached for the camera and turned it, showing the interior of the lab. Like he said it was mostly empty except for a few boxes, and small tools neatly set in place. Then it was turned to looking right at him again. "For now I'm going to use this camera to document all the experiments I'm going to do. Plus I'm going to upload all the blueprints and plans for them along with these logs. I have a feeling that this is going to be very helpful and a good experience…." And with that Don then reached forward and the screen turned black, indicated that the log ended.
A silence still remained as no one did anything, not sure what to do next. They had just watched the first and weren't sure if they should continue with the rest of look at one that perked their interest. All they knew is that an answer had to be inside of here.
Finally Raph then spoke while scrolling through the various logs. "Shell how are we going to find what we need? There's so many logs here."
"We do not know for sure my son," Splinter softly spoke as he looked at the screen as well. "But chances are we may need to look through them all."
"But, that could take a long time?" Mikey then said, eyes widening as he looked at his father, as did Leo and Raph.
"I know, but it may be the only way if we're to find if there is anything to help us."
Leo ended up sighing as he looked back at the computer. "Master Splinter is right, we spent so much time trying to get into this computer now we have to keep pressing forward. It's going to take a while, or not, but there's no other choice we have."
"I'll get some soda…and snacks," Mikey ended saying as he headed for the entrance of the lab just as Raph clicked on the next log on the list.
Don's eyes were purely focused on the test tubes in front of him, as he carefully worked with the liquids he had present. A long test tube holder held about five tubes, all with clear liquids except one, which had a blackish tint to it.
With a steady hand he grabbed a pipette and stuck it into one of the tubes, squeezing in some of the liquid into the holder and carefully withdrawing it. Sticking it into the middle tube he then squeezed a few drops into it, mixing both contents.
After coming back to his lab, thinking that Gavin would be there, the black clad turtle was surprised to find his lab empty. At first he thought that his friend was running late so he waited for a while. After five minutes he decided to give him time. After ten minutes he decided to do something to occupy his time, what better than doing some work he has been wanting to do. Now after nearly an hour he started to get a bit worried.
Sighing in confusion he then picked up the center tube and started to swirl the contents inside, further mixing the contents inside. "Where are you Gavin…you said you had something important to tell me, was it a lie?"
He then shook his head, wanting to rid himself of those thoughts, no he had no reason to think that Gavin would lie to him. They were friends and wouldn't hide anything from one another. Well Don may have not told him everything from his own life but he promised to tell him sometimes, so it wasn't hiding something completely.
"Either way, where are you?" he said once more as he corked the tube and put it back into the holder. Once all the equipment he used had been carefully placed back in its rightful place, he then used his chair to wheel himself towards his computer, hands instantly going to work typing his current notes.
"Even though he didn't show up I managed to make good progress with the chemical. Just need a few more works and then a test. Hopefully it'll work," He talked to himself once more, mind now focused on his experiment. He was still working on a formula that would help the user's increase their strength and speed temporary with a simple injection. He was so close to completing it, all thanks to the advance tech he had access to.
"I should stop for now…it's getting late," He said to himself once more as he saved his notes and exited his program. Just as he was about to get up there's a ringing coming from the computer, an indication that he has a message.
"What do we have here?" Don seated himself once more and clicked on the message, eyes then scanning through it and both eyes raising in confusion at what was written.
The dojo. Now. Do not be late.
-Oroku
Don wasn't sure, but for some reason he sensed a bit of anger behind the message, he wasn't sure but that's what he felt. Did he do something that would anger his sensei? He wasn't sure, mainly since things went good with his last discussion with him.
Not sure what to think he then got up from his seat and headed for the door. As much as he wanted to think this over more the message said to meet right now, and it would be real bad to keep his sensei waiting. Once out of the lab he closed the door, now making quick haste to the entrance of the labs.
The elevator dinged as the doors opened to the private dojo. Once the doors were fully opened don exited and turned left towards the sliding doors. Thankfully he was making good time to his destination, for being late at night there were hardly others awake or around so no one came on the elevator. Still every second that passed didn't suit well with him.
In one quick movement he reached and slid the door open, revealing a well lite dojo and his master in the center, back to him. Apparently his sensei wasn't moving, and for some reason he could tell he knew of his presence. A bit of a chill shot down his spine as he took a gulp and walked in, making sure to slide the door close behind him.
After taking a few paces forward, Don then took his usual position of sitting down on his legs and bowing his head. Now waiting for his teacher to address him for whatever reason he called him for. Right as he got comfortable his jumped a bit as Oroku sudden spoke.
"I bet you're wondering why you were called here," he asked in a voice deprived of any kind of emotion. Which made it hard to read what kind of mood he's in.
Taking another gulp he nodded, "Yes."
Silence filled the room for about ten seconds before Oroku turned, showing a mutual face, with both hands clasped behind his back. "Out of all the lessons I've taught you, there is one that I haven't yet taught. It's the most important of all. Now rise."
Now Don was taken back at the request, but knew that there was going to be a lesson. Yet the kind he would be learning he still didn't know, what could be the most important thing he hasn't learned yet? Sighing mentally he stood him, now eye level with his teacher.
"Fight me," Shredder suddenly said.
"What?" Both of Don's eyes widen as he heard this request.
"You heard me, do it," he once again said, voice still deprived of emotion.
"I…I…" The olive green turtle tried to respond, but is still too shocked at what he heard. His sensei actually wanting him to fight him? Automatically he knew he couldn't do it, mainly on the grounds that one, he knew that he could never raise a hand to his teacher that was one rule that he always followed. And two, he would most definitely lose the battle so why should he bother in doing so. "I…can't…"
Of course Shredder expected this, but tried not to show this. He needed to make a point right now, one that would determine the fate of his student. He needed to put up a tough appearance, "And tell me why you are going to disobey your sensei?"
Those words stung Don a lot, it wasn't that he didn't want to disobey, his reason firm and now he had to voice it. "Sensei I…just can't. I mean I know I can't beat you, and from what I remember is that I should never fight unless I know I'm going to win."
Now this caused Oroku to raise an eye, surprised at the answer his student provided. It was…actually a good answer, but he couldn't let him know this, the point he was going to make would be revealed in a bit. "Are you saying…that you don't trust me?"
"What? No that's not what I'm saying," Don quickly responded, eyes widen as he tried to make that part clear. "In all honesty you're the only one I trust right now."
"That's good to hear, but that makes me question you," and with that Shredder moved a foot forward and launched out his open palm towards his student.
Immediately acting on instinct Don then jumped back in time before his sensei's hand made contact. He moved back about ten feet and just as his feet touched the floor he had to duck as Shredder moved like lightning and prepared to deliver another strike. The turtle could only duck as that was the first thing that popped into his mind, which was a bad move.
Shredder followed his student's movements and grabbed his left arm, and pulling him back up to his eye level, heads only inches apart. "Junko, I've done so much for you during these couple of years. More than I have done for anyone else."
With that he then shoulder threw Don a few feet. Once again reacting from his training once Don it the floor he managed to roll forward to his feet. Crouched he turned to Oroku, "I know, am I'm very thankful for what you done!"
"I'm not sure of that," he slowly walked over, now taking an irate expression. "I'm not sure if I can trust you as much as I could before."
"What?" That sentence stunned Don big time, enough to make him not pay attention as a blow to his plastron could be felt, knocking the wind out of him, stumbling backwards till his shell collided with the wall. Before he could even have a chance to slide to the floor Shredder's arm pressed against his shoulders, pinning in effectively.
Don groaned in slight pain as his eyes once again met with his master's. "This is hard for me to think Junko, you were actually becoming my prized student. How can I keep teaching you if I can't trust you."
The black clad turtle started to breathe a bit faster than normal, panic already setting in as he wasn't sure what to do. This is something he didn't want to happen and he had to convince his sensei otherwise. "You can, You can trust me…you have to believe me."
"Are you willing to prove that trust?" Shredder pressed more, pushing further into his shoulders.
Hearing those words Don nodded, knowing he could be proven trustworthy, "Yes…I can."
Once again those are the words that Shredder wanted to hear, but didn't let his pupil know this. He just kept looking him in the eye and putting up an image of him thinking it over. After a few seconds he let Don go, letting him slide to the floor, "Come with me."
Minutes passed in silence as Oroku and Don stood in the elevator, waiting for it to take them to an unknown destination. Well unknown to the black clad turtle as he was the one being lead. Both eyes looking at the back of his sensei's head, so badly did he want to ask what is going on but held his tongue, not wanting to make things worse.
After being told to go with Shredder the olive green turtle didn't hesitate as he stood up and followed him. They entered the private elevator and here they are now. Nervousness swelling up in the turtle's stomach since he had no idea how to show that he could be trusted. Would it be another contract? Or something even worse than that? He didn't want to think about it, but yet he couldn't because at any moment he could be asked to do something big.
The ding of the elevator brought him out of his train of thoughts, doors opening to an unfamiliar hall. Regardless of the un-familiarization of the area once he saw Shredder walk out he followed promptly, taking the chance to look the place over.
The hall is covered in grey, cold stone walls with many metal doors lining against both sides of the walls. Fear started to build up in the turtle as the thought of this place being a holding cell area came to mind. Did this place actually contain any prisoners? Why were they hear? And most importantly…is he going to be added to here?
Curiosity now really had its vice grip on him and he just needed to know what was going to happen. Taking a gulp he opened his mouth, "S-Sensei…where-"
"You will find out," he was cut off. After that silence came in once more as they neared the end of the hall, where a single door was. What made this one different from the others is that there was a hand and retinal scanner. From past experiences when there were high tech security systems like this in place then something heavily secretive must be here, but what.
They both stopped where they were as Shredder then placed his hand on the scanner, the machine humming to life as it scanned his palm. Leaning in forward the retinal scanner then scanned his eye, slowly identifying him as the correct person of access. Don stood back as the nerves continued to overtake him the only noise present it the humming of the machines.
After a few seconds the screens lit up as green, indicating that access had been granted. The door then swooshed opened, but Shredder got in the way of Don's view, cutting him off from seeing what was inside. "Come Junko, what you have to do is right through here."
His vision still being obscured Don nodded and followed behind, both eyes then raising as he could hear grunting coming from within the room. Once he crossed the threshold the door closed right behind instantly. It was then both eyes widen in shock at what Don finally found within the room.
The room itself looked like some kind of interrogation room, as the room was small, maybe at least fifteen by fifteen feet. Dried blood staining the walls with several chains hanging from the ceiling, and a drain in the center. But that was the thing that shocked him the most. There by the center wall on the far side of the room is a tied up person.
Two foot ninjas stood on either side of him, the captive kneeling on the ground, both arms tied behind his back and a sack over his head. The guy's clothes were partially torn and had some fresh blood staining the collar. He seemed to be gagged since all that could be heard from him is muffles.
In shock he then looked over at Shredder, "Sensei, what's going on?"
"This Junko, is your test, your way to prove I can trust you," turned from his student he then nodded to one of his ninja, who then grabbed the sack on the captive guy's head and started to pull it off.
Time seemed to slow down as the sack was removed, as more and more of the mysterious person's head is revealed both of the turtle's eyes started to widen in shock. In what seemed like minutes, only took a few seconds as the sack was taken off, revealing the face underneath to the turtle.
Don gasped as the face was finally revealed, and he was stunned at it, "G-Gavin!?"
A/N: Hope you like. Strange turn of events right? Well things are going to get much interesting from here. Believe me there are still some surprises left in this story. And once again I will finish this story, I promise you all that. Still if any of you have any questions please ask them, I won't mind answering them. Till next time.