.
When Leo Met Mona
Chapter Fourteen: Venomous, Part 2
Leonardo awoke to being kicked in the leg. He and Mona had gone to bed early, at her insistence. A warm compress at his neck to help his sore throat, her with new claw marks on her leg that he insisted on cleaning himself. Once in bed, she had fully allowed his embrace and fell asleep pulled tightly against him. They had both slept soundly until Leonardo opened his eyes to see her struggling in her sleep.
As he held her against him, he tried calling her name. His voice was still little more than a rasp. She was openly fighting him now, still trapped in whatever nightmare that had her. Trying to keep her from hurting either of them, Leonardo rolled over, trapping her under his body weight.
That did it. Her eyes snapped open. But they weren't the round, golden-brown eyes he was used to. The whites had gone yellow, nearly glowing in the pale light from the hallway. The pupils were reptilian slits. Dangerous, feral.
She screamed at him. That monstrous, shrill scream he didn't think she was capable of making since her second mutation. But she proved to be more animal than he anticipated as she sank her teeth into his bicep. He jerked in pain, but remained calm and quiet.
"Ramona," he managed to whisper. "You're okay. You're safe. I'm here."
His bedroom door was flung open. Raphael's imposing form blocked out the light before he flicked on the bedroom switch.
"What the hell?" he demanded.
Struggling, Leonardo managed to keep Mona down and motioned him to stay where he was.
A moment more and Mona blinked. He eyes went back to normal and she spat out the taste of blood. Shocked, she stared at the deep bite wound on Leonardo's arm and then at his face with a certain horror.
"It's okay," he rasped.
She violently jerked from him and shoved past Raphael. She barely made it into the bathroom before heaving into the toilet. That horrible coppery taste of blood, it brought back flashes of memory. It made her sick to relive it. She heaved again and again until her stomach muscles ached. Then she stumbled to the sink, rinsing her mouth. Sick all over again when some red still came back from the spit.
Leonardo was there, standing in the doorway. Blood leaked thickly from several punctures. Mona heaved again in the sink, but there was nothing left to vomit up. Her head was spinning. It was her fault. She did that. Why did she hurt him? She never ever wanted to hurt him.
Raphael bodily pushed Leonardo into the bathroom and put the toilet lid down so he would sit. The three of them took up every ounce of space in that room.
"Come on, let's clean you up," Raphael said in a tired, dutiful voice. As if this had all happened before.
Mona watched, shivering, as the largest brother fetched a worn cloth from the cupboard and pressed it to Leonardo's bleeding arm. Why weren't they mad at her? Scared of her? Why weren't they yelling at her for what she did? She leaned against the sink, her knees barely able to hold her up.
Leonardo looked at her, concern all over his face. "Baby," he whispered in his raspy voice. "You're so pale. Come here."
She shouldn't go to him. She didn't deserve any sympathy after what she did. Yet, she was already crawling into his lap before she realized it. Her cold skin sucked up the warmth of his body as she curled around him. God, she hated herself. She was so mad at what she did. Horrified, mortified, grief-stricken. How could she have attacked him of all people? She pressed her face into his neck as tears welled in her eyes. She hated that, too. She never liked to cry in front of people. Especially in front of Leonardo's family. She only ever wanted them to see her being strong.
"Damn, she got you good," Raphael said as the deep punctures in his shoulder continued to bleed.
Leonardo gave him a hard look.
"What? She did! You didn't even see this coming."
"I'm so sorry," Mona whispered into his neck. "I don't know what happened; why I did that. I don't...it was all a blur."
"No one's blaming you," Raphael then said. "It's not your fault. No one goes through what you went through and comes out the other side the same. Leo's seen worse. He'll be fine." He pressed some thick gauze to the wound and began to wrap it.
"I trust everyone is okay in here?" Splinter asked as he appeared in the bathroom doorway.
"Yeah, just an accident," Raphael replied. "Nothing big. You can go back to bed."
Even though everyone was being so calm about what happened, Mona was still mortified. She wanted to hide in the deepest, darkest pit and never come out. But the moment she tried to remove herself from Leonardo, he tightened his good arm around her. As if afraid she was going to go hide from him. She wanted to. He would want to talk about it later when his voice recovered. She wasn't looking forward to that either.
"There, done," Raphael announced. "All wrapped up."
Splinter, seeing as his son had everything under control, nodded and disappeared back down the hall.
Now that his wounded arm was free, Leonardo wrapped both arms around Mona and tucked her head under his chin with a heavy sigh.
"It's okay," he whispered, his voice still barely there. "I've got you."
"You guys good, then?" Raphael asked. He suddenly felt like the third wheel, now that he had nothing left to keep his hands busy. "I mean, I know you're not good, but you don't need me to..."
He trailed off as Leonardo nodded at him in thanks, but clearly didn't need him for anything else. Raphael left the two to discuss whatever the hell that was that happened tonight. He wanted to get back to Donatello before his wounded brother decided he was going to get up yet again to investigate what was going on.
And there he was, bright-eyed and curious on the bed, laptop still up. Maybe he had watched even more of the security feed while Raphael was gone. That suited him fine. He had enough of the cruelty of humans and the violence they justly deserved.
"Everyone okay?" Donatello asked as Raphael came in.
He plopped himself on the bed. "Yeah, more or less. Just...something weird happened."
"With Mona Lisa?"
"Yeah. I dunno how it happened, but she bit Leo."
Donatello blinked. "She bit him?"
"Yeah, it was crazy. You shoulda seen her. When I ran in there, she was still clamped down on his arm. It was like she had gone feral. Her eyes...they were weird for a moment, and then she was herself again. It was like she didn't even know what she was doing, she looked surprised. She looked like..." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I dunno. I felt bad for her. She looked scared."
"And Leo's okay?"
"Yeah. She's got some sharp teeth, but it's nothing he can't walk away from. I just don't know why it happened in the first place."
"Maybe we can ask Leo about it later. We both saw what she had been through. It could have been a trauma response and something triggered her. They both seemed okay when you left them?"
"Yeah, I doubt she could do any real damage to Leo. It was just weird to watch. She wasn't even like that when she was in her other mutated form." He paused, remembering the fight between Mona Lisa and the other mutant that had nearly eaten his brother alive. "Or maybe, she was like that. When she had to be. When she was scared. We saw her lose her shit in the video, too, didn't we?
"Can any of us blame her?" Donatello asked in a soft voice.
"Probably not." Raphael moved further onto the bed and sat himself next to Donatello, shell to the wall, shoulder to shoulder. "You staying up?"
"Yeah, probably."
"I'll stay up with you. I don't think I'm sleeping anytime soon."
Donatello gave him a side eye. He knew as soon as the lair grew quiet again, he would have a comfortable Raphael sleeping with a head on his shoulder. But Donatello didn't mind. It was nice to have his brother with him tonight.
.
Michelangelo stumbled into the dining area with a heavy yawn and plopped himself down at the table where most of his family had already gathered.
"Man," he said with another yawn. "I hardly got any sleep last night. My girl kept me up on the phone for hours."
At his side, he could almost feel more than see Raphael's dark glare burning into him.
"What?" He paused and then noticed his other brother across the table, a thick bandage on his arm. "Damn, Leo what happened to you? Did you get that last night?"
Mona Lisa, who sat next to Leonardo, looked quietly down at the table. A plate of scrambled eggs sat before her. They hadn't been touched. She looked exhausted and heart sick, as if she hadn't slept the entire night. Leonardo looked worse. He hadn't bothered to put his mask on that morning, something unusual for him. He usually put himself together before coming to the table. Without the mask, his pale complexion and dark bags under his eyes were prominent.
"Did I miss something?" Michelangelo continued.
"I swear, Mikey, you wouldn't wake up if an entire subway train rolled through here," Raphael grunted.
"Are you all going out again today?" Splinter asked as he set a plate piled with toast on the table.
"We have to," Leonardo said tiredly. His voice was still little more than a dry rasp. "We can't stop until we've pushed all of them through to the second mutation. And then...I don't know." His eyelids drooped. We was barely managing to stay awake.
"I don't know if my feet can take another seven-hour tour through the sewers," Raphael said. "And you look like you'd be dead on yours, Leo."
"I'm fine," he insisted.
"Why aren't you setting traps?" Mona asked. "Or putting out some food to draw them to you instead of wandering all over?"
Raphael blinked at her. "Would that work?"
"I think so. They're mutants, but they're not intelligent like you guys. They're still animals. And they're hungry. Why wouldn't they follow the smell of food to you?"
"That's a good idea," Leonardo said, standing up. The action put a fine sheen of sweat on his skin. "We all know several places around the city that throws out expired meat. We each gather what we can and then find a place where we can set it up as bait."
"Perhaps you should let your brothers go," Splinter suggested. "You don't look well, my son."
"I'm fine," he insisted again, glancing at Mona Lisa and then away. "I'll be alright."
"You sure, bro?" Michelangelo asked. "Your shoulder looks really swollen. Maybe you should take it easy for a bit."
Splinter tried to touch the bandage and Leonardo shrugged him off, walking a few paces away to get some space.
"Hurry up and finish breakfast so we can go. If we can get topside before...before..." He swayed a bit, blinking as if the lights were suddenly too bright. "Is it really hot in here or is it just..." He couldn't finish his sentence before his eyes rolled back and the strength left his legs.
"Leo!" Mona jumped from her chair. She was too slow to stop his falling body, but managed to get her hands under his head before he cracked his skull on the floor. The rest of the family gathered around the delirious turtle.
Splinter immediately set about removing the bandage to inspect the wound. Leonardo's entire upper arm had swelled and the many teeth marks were a mixture of deep red and black.
"Dude, what bit Leo?" Michelangelo demanded. "Did that mutant come back and get him? Did he get bit and I didn't notice?"
"It was me," Mona admitted softly. "It was an accident."
"Kinky."
"Shut up," Raphael said, slugging the smaller brother in the arm.
"This...this is not an infection," Splinter said, looking at a loss for what to do next. "I am not sure what this is."
"It...it kinda looks like a snake bite," Mona said. Then balked. "Am I venomous? Did the mutation make me venomous?"
"Can we get him into Donnie's room?" Raphael asked. "We can have him look at this."
"Donnie's not a medical expert," Mona Lisa complained. "You know I love him, but he's a computer guy who knows how to use Google."
"He's the best expert we've got," Raphael insisted. He and Michelangelo hefted up Leonardo between them and dragged him into the spare room.
Donatello looked up, expecting breakfast, not a delirious brother being carried to his bed.
He immediately noticed the swollen arm and said, "Wow, that looks almost like a snake bite."
"See?" Raphael said to Mona.
"I JUST said the same thing!" she shot back. "I think my bite might be venomous."
"Your reptile DNA is mostly komodo dragon and they are, in fact, a venomous species," Donatello said, inspecting Leonardo.
Mona Lisa put a hand to Leonardo's forehead. "This shouldn't kill him, though, right? If whatever I've got in me is deadly, we would have known in a few minutes. He's been fine for the last several hours before now."
"Probably," Donatello agreed. "Though he's not going to be happy or comfortable for a while."
"Does this mean they're all venomous?" Michelangelo asked. "All those mutants out there?"
"The ones with DNA of a venomous species, there's a good chance. The one who bit me clearly wasn't, but I would suggest staying away from the mouths."
"Mona gave us an idea to start using bait," Raphael said with a nod in her direction. "I think that will help with keeping away from the teeth."
She gave him a small smile, grateful to be useful to someone. For Leonardo, she was doing nothing but taking. Insisting he do something that hurt his throat. And now she had basically poisoned him. She put a hand on his sweat-covered brow.
"What does Google say we should do for venomous bites?"
"There isn't much we can do outside of using an anti-toxin," Donatello said. "And I never anticipated that that would be something we would need. Though I guess there's a first time for everything. All we can do is keep the wound clean and give Leo time to fight it. He's going to be sick, but as you said, I'm sure he'll get over it after a while."
Mona sighed and bent over, pressing her forehead to Leonardo's shoulder. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm always such a pain in the ass."
"I doubt he sees it that way," Raphael replied in that soft tone she wished he would use more often.
For his part, Leonardo moaned and rolled his head to the side, but seemed too delirious to know he was being talked about.
"So does this mean we can take the day off of mutant hunting?" Michelangelo asked hopefully. "Because I would still very much like to go visit my girlfriend."
Raphael grabbed his shell and began to drag him out of the room. "Come on, Mikey. Business before pleasure."
.
"This is way better than yesterday," Michelangelo said. "We need to keep doing this from now on."
At the moment, he and Raphael were hiding in a small alcove overlooking a wide-open space that seemed a perfect habitat for a giant reptile. It was warm and humid with a water supply floating past, but also plenty of flat, dry surfaces to rest. And in the middle of it all, a pile of expired meat fetched out of a few grocery store dumpsters left out as bait.
The two turtle brothers were also quite cozy, having packed drinks and snacks. Raphael scrolled on his phone while Michelangelo played an old Gameboy Color Donatello had refurbished for him one year for Christmas. Best mission ever.
"Yeah, we'll see if we can keep doing this," Raphael replied. "It's been nearly three hours and nothing. If sitting on our asses doesn't get any results today, you know Leo's gonna order us right back to walking the sewers for hours."
Michelangelo frowned at the mere mention of such an idea. "Yeah well, Leo's sick. Maybe we can get away with—"
Raphael clamped a hand over his mouth and he immediately stopped trying to make noise. Both of them sensed it at the same time. Something in their primitive turtle brains knew they were suddenly not alone. That they were suddenly in the presence of a predator.
It slowly heaved its length out of the water. A crocodile the size of which had not existed for a good 140 million years. Rows of wicked-looking spikes jutted from its back as the beast set about immediately swallowing chunks of meat whole.
"Look at that thing! It's like a dinosaur!" Michelangelo hissed.
Raphael had already gone into action, pulling a crossbow-like contraption from the duffel that contained the collection of mutagen. "Good thing Donnie made these things. We can take care of business from here."
He popped the cap on one of them mutagen canisters and set it into the device, pulling it back taunt. He aimed and pulled the trigger, easily hitting his very large target in the back flank. The massive crocodile only snapped its jaws in irritation and growled, then went back to eating. A few more swallows and the beast suddenly jerked and convulsed. With another snap of its jaws, it fled back into the water.
"Wait! No!" Michelangelo hissed when it disappeared. "Should we have let it get away?"
"You think we could have stopped it?" Raphael shot back.
"Where ever it goes, it's going to end up smaller. That's good, right?"
Raphael frowned at the channel of water floating by. With the size of that thing, even cutting it in half, it was probably still bigger than them. He found himself hoping it would somehow not survive the mutation.
.
With now two turtles sharing the bed in the first aid room, it was a very tight fit. Leonardo took up most of the space. He drifted in and out of consciousness while Donatello teetered on the very edge of the bed, keeping himself entertained on his laptop while monitoring Leonardo's condition. Leonardo's arm had swelled around the bite wound. Mona marked it with a marker to make sure the swelling wasn't getting bigger. So far, the swelling hadn't spread, though Leonardo still had a fever that kept him soaking the sheets with sweat.
Mona came in and out most of the day, stressed and guilt-ridden by his condition. Donatello noted that she kept acting like she expected either him or Splinter to get mad at her for what happened, though neither of them did. The old rat was sore from his tangle with the lizard mutant the evening before and hobbled around slowly. Mona split her time between making sure he was comfortable and tending to Leonardo.
Splinter retired himself for a mid-day nap and Mona came in with some sandwiches for Donatello. He noticed she still looked anxious and worried. Leonardo would hate to see her like that. But he didn't know what he could do for her. He had already assured her his brother would come out the other side of this just fine. He only needed some time to recover.
Leonardo made a rasping groan and he rolled his head from side to side, uncomfortable. Mona slid onto the mattress beside his head. She wiped his wet brow and he opened his icy eyes at her. His hand found hers and he let out another pained sigh. With her free hand, she lightly traced his face in soothing motions while she hummed in a low, rich voice. After a few minutes, Leonardo relaxed and drifted off to sleep.
Only then did Mona seem to relax a bit, too, when Leonardo no longer showed signs of pain. Yet, she still felt the gravity of it. She brushed the side of a wet eye with the blade of her hand, pretending she was fine. And when that didn't work, both hands covered her face as she bowed in on herself.
Donatello had silently watched her, half-eaten sandwich aloft in his hand. She had worked tirelessly all day taking care of three people without a single sigh or complaint. It probably hadn't even been three full days since they found her. She had survived nearly a week of absolutely horrific events, trapped in a cage. Yet, here she was working, taking care of others. Trying to take up as little space and as few resources as she could. It didn't seem right. She wasn't even his girlfriend and Donatello wished he could give her everything.
"Mona."
The hunched, exhausted form instantly straightened and looked at him, ready to act. "Yeah, Donnie. What can I get you?"
"I'm fine. I just wanted to see if you were okay."
There was a micro expression of something. It was too fast for Donatello to decipher its meaning.
"Yeah, I'm okay," she insisted with a smile. "I'm just worried about Leo. I don't like seeing him like this, even if he will get better." She rubbed his plastron and he shifted closer to her in his sleep.
Donatello watched his sick brother and then looked up at her. A part of him wondered how long she could keep going like this. A part of him thought he shouldn't have said anything, yet the words began coming out.
"I saw the security footage from the lab. I saw what they did to you."
Her brow twitched. She swallowed. "Was it...bad?"
"Do you not remember what happened?"
She eyed his laptop, knowing that footage was on it. "I don't know. I've been trying not to think about it. When I think about it too much, everything starts to taste like blood and I feel sick."
"Did you have a nightmare about it last night? Is that what happened?"
She didn't say anything. She was still staring at his computer.
"I have nightmares, too," he admitted softly. "It still hurts just as bad as when I dream about it."
The haunted stare at the laptop broke and Mona's gaze softened as she looked up at him. "I'm so sorry. If I had found you sooner, maybe I could have protected you. I think about it a lot."
Donatello stared at her. "You think about it..." He pinched the bridge of his nose underneath his glasses. "Look, I'm apparently really bad at this. I'm trying to make you feel better. I'm trying to make sure you're okay."
"Nah, don't worry about me. Trauma and I are old friends by now. And you know what? I didn't bring you anything to drink with your lunch. Let me get you something."
Flabbergasted, Donatello watched her go. She was already out the door by the time he found his voice.
"Getting used to trauma is not a coping mechanism, Mona!" he yelled at the open doorway.
When he received no response, he frowned as he remembered the conversation Raphael and Leonardo had at the lake house.
She will not be helped, will she?
Donatello looked down at his sleeping brother.
"I hope you're better at this than I am, Leo."
.
The rest of the day remained uneventful. After the large crocodile mutant came and went, nothing else showed up to the pile of meat that was growing more smelly by the minute. Both turtle brothers figured the appearance of the very large predator probably scared away anything else that may have thought about showing themselves.
It was nearly dinner time. Raphael and Michelangelo decided to wrap it up and call it a day. At least they got one mutant. Maybe the biggest of all of them. But as they were heading back, Michelangelo kept raking his flashlight behind him.
"You being paranoid now?" Raphael asked.
"I dunno, man. I just keep having the feeling that something's watching us and—shit!" Michelangelo jumped and dropped his flashlight.
Raphael quickly spun around, raking the tunnel with his own light. "What? What happened?"
Then, deep in the tunnel, further back than most of the light could reach, the flicker from a pair of eyes reflected back at him.
"Shit," Raphael repeated, though his was more of a whisper.
"What do we do?" Michelangelo whispered back, his voice much harsher in tone.
"I dunno. I guess...we shoot it, right?" Raphael pawed around in his bag for the crossbow and a canister of mutagen. "Keep an eye on it while I get this."
Michelangelo took a couple steps forward to retrieve his flashlight, watching the two glowing orbs in the darkness. They began to bob, they began to get closer as he slowly reached down to pick up the light.
"Raph. Hurry up! It's coming at us!" he hissed.
"Hold on. Almost got it." Raphael fumbled with a canister and dropped it. He dug around for another one.
The mutant continued to approach, the sound of soft clicking now ticking its way in the shadows. Michelangelo reached for a weapon with his free hand, afraid he might have to fight before Raphael could get his shit together.
The mutant came even closer and the light picked up its form. Cartoonishly large eyes inside a flat head; bright yellow skin with brown spots. It blinked with one eye, then the other. The lizard chirped curiously, cocking its head to the side this way and that. It was the smallest mutant he had seen thus far, this one not even meeting his own height.
"Aww, he's just a little guy," Michelangelo announced. "I don't think he wants to hurt us, Raph. Maybe we should—"
"Got it!" Raphael announced and shot the mutant.
The second the needle entered the skin, the mutant screamed and began to thrash.
"Raph!" Michelangelo barked. "Why did you do that!"
"Because that's what we're supposed to do to them!" he shot back above the cries of pain.
"But look at him! He's already so small! He wasn't trying to hurt us."
Raphael covered his ears as the screams rose in pitch. He could feel them in his shell. The thrashing mutant began to change, began to shrink. In under a minute, the change was over and a much smaller lizard-like form was left on the ground, shivering and panting.
"There, it's done," Raphael announced. "One more down. Let's go."
He turned to leave and the softest, most pathetic squeak came from the mutant. The turtles looked back at the creature as it weakly tried to get up to follow them. It seemed almost desperate not to be left behind.
"Look at him, Raph," Michelangelo insisted. "How can we leave him? He needs us."
"Needs us to do what? We can't take him home. Not with Donnie and Mona there. We have to think about them first."
"That doesn't mean we can't help this one, too." Michelangelo walked toward the mutant.
"Careful, Mikey. The last one you thought was gentle nearly ate Donnie alive."
The little mutant visibly calmed as Michelangelo approached it. It was too weak to get up, but still tried to drag itself to the giant turtle.
"Nah, he's too small to do anything to us, even if he wanted." Michelangelo crouched next to the creature and ran his light over the yellow, spotted body. The mutant, while small, had an enormously fat tail. "I think he was a leopard gecko before he got mutated. They're usually kept has pets. Maybe this one was someone's pet, too." He held out his had and the mutant set his little face in Michelangelo's palm and made a soft sound of reptile pleasure. "I think he just wants a friend. Someone to take care of him."
By now, Raphael had dared to get closer, but still remained a respectful distance. "We still can't take him back to the lair. At least not with talking to everyone about it first."
Michelangelo removed the large hoodie he liked to wear around his waist. He tugged it over the little mutant's shivering body and then picked it up. It was now about the size of a twelve-year old child. "Okay, but let's at least take him somewhere safer."
Raphael sighed. Mikey always had the crazy, hair-brained ideas and he was practically trained to shoot them down as they came out of his mouth. But this time, what his little brother was suggesting felt right.
"Okay, so where do we put him?"
They had a section of the sewers where the brothers had set up an obstacle course for training as well as for having fun. They hadn't been there in a while, but it was still a reasonable place to keep a small mutant. It was fairly cleared of trash and wouldn't be flooded when it rained. By the time the two brothers reached their destination, the little mutant in Michelangelo's arms was fast asleep and seemed quite content to continue to be carried.
They found a snug spot in the corner where it could rest and they unpacked the rest of whatever food they had left.
"There," Raphael announced. "He's all tucked in and he has snacks. Now we can go back home."
Michelangelo hesitated. "But what about when he wakes up and he sees we've abandoned him?"
"He's known us for five whole seconds. I doubt he's that attached. We let him rest and when he wakes up, he'll move on and live his little lizard life."
"He's not a wild animal, though. Maybe he can't survive like the others out here. You could see how thin he was. And now he's so small. What if the bigger ones find him and eat him?"
Raphael rubbed at his temples. "What do you want me to do about it? This is the safest place we know of outside the lair. There's lots of small places here for him to hide. He should be fine. And I'll tell you what, if he's still here tomorrow, then we'll see what we can do with him. How's that?"
Michelangelo rolled his eyes. He was being placated and he knew it. "It's not your decision, Raph. I live there, too. I could bring him home if I wanted."
"No." Raphael stood firm. "We all live there. We talk to everyone before a decision is made. If you want to come camp out here with it all night, you can, but it's not coming home. Not until everyone agrees. Promise me, Mikey."
Michelangelo frowned, but begrudgingly agreed.
In truth, Michelangelo had half a mind to break that promise and sneak the little lizard in while everyone was asleep. That plot flew out of his brain when they arrived home and he saw Mona. She was moving from the medical room to the kitchen with dirty dishes when she saw them. She looked tired and threadbare, but still managed a smile.
"Oh, hey guys. Is the day over already? I didn't realize how late it was. How was it?"
"Not bad," Raphael answered. "We actually managed to get a couple. Your plan worked."
He paused and Michelangelo knew it was to let him bring up the mutant they had secreted away, but he just couldn't. She looked like she would crumble like a house built out of match sticks if one more weight was added to her shoulders.
"How's Leo?" was all Michelangelo managed to say.
"He's better. His fever broke, but he's been sleeping most of the day." She glanced back at the room. "Your dad's in there, too, if you want to go see them. Splinter's a bit sore today. They've all been taking it easy."
Raphael looked pointedly at the dishes she carried. "Have you been taking it easy?"
She smiled again. Raphael was learning to hate that smile. There was something disingenuous about it. "I haven't been doing anything crazy, just making sure everyone has what they need. Getting blankets, making sandwiches; that kind of stuff. No need to worry about me."
He wasn't buying it. "Okay. How about after you put those away, you go sit down for a bit?"
She glanced from left to right. "Sit down and do what?"
"I dunno, whatever you want. We could find you some books. You could watch TV."
"TV? Wow, I don't think I've legit watched TV since I was a kid."
That was such an odd statement to both brothers. They had enjoyed cable and streaming services since Donatello was old enough to figure out how to get such things in the lair. Raphael suddenly had the odd thought that Mona Lisa was better suited as a mutant. She was like a human that didn't know how to human.
"There ya go, you go watch TV. Mikey and I are going to take care of the family for a bit."
Mona Lisa continued on, almost in a stupor at being given a break. The two brothers made their way to the medical room where the rest of their family convalesced. Donatello and Leonardo were both in the bed, the former sitting upright with this leg propped up by a chair. The latter laying on his back, his skin still a little pale. Splinter sat in another chair at Leonardo's side, but he had a heat pad at the small of his back.
Looking at the scene hammered home the fact that Raphael and Michelangelo were the only two members of their family left that were in fighting form. If someone came for them, if the lair was attacked, they would be the only ones who could protect their home. It wasn't a good feeling.
Splinter looked up when they came in and he greeted them with a soft smile. "There's the rest of my boys. How was it?"
"Not bad," Raphael replied. "We managed to get a few. In fact, Mikey's got one that—"
Michelangelo was emphatically shaking his head. He wasn't going to bring it up. Not to his sick and injured family. He couldn't put more on their shoulders when he saw them all gathered like this. All in various states of healing.
"Mikey really liked the new plan," Raphael recovered for him. "I like it, too. It's safer and I think we're making progress."
"That's wonderful to hear. Safer is always better."
They could hear it in their voice. Their sensei was just as aware that the number of healthy family members kept dwindling.
"Have you guys had dinner?" Michelangelo announced, forcing a lightness into his voice. "I'll make food. We'll all chill and have a night in."
He exited toward the kitchen and Raphael left it as that. Maybe they would figure out what to do with the lizard mutant in the morning. If it was still there. There was a good possibility it would be gone by the next day and the issue will have solved itself. Right now, his main priority was looking after his family.
.
Raphael looked up from the TV when a bleary-eyed Leonardo came gingerly out of the extra room and glanced into the main area. Raphael was going to ask him how he was feeling, but Leonardo already turned and walked down the hall. Presumably to go sleep in his own bed. At least he was well enough to walk around, that was a good sign.
Mona Lisa came in from the kitchen and sat herself back on her spot on the couch between him and Michelangelo to continue watching the episode of "Friends" that was currently playing on TV.
"I just saw Leo go to his room," Raphael told her. "Looks like he's feeling good enough to walk around."
"Oh, that's great," she replied, eyes on the screen. "I'll go check on him later to see how he's doing."
A few moments passed and Raphael looked up as Leonardo again appeared, walking the opposite way toward the kitchen.
"Leo," he called out.
Leonardo paused to look at him, then saw Mona Lisa. He still looked a little pale, but walked steadily as he made a bee-line right for her.
"Hey," she greeted. "Were you looking for me?"
Without a word, he dropped to his knees before her and folded his top half into her lap as best he could.
She bent over him and rubbed his shell. "Do you still not feel good?" she cooed in a soft voice. "My poor baby." When he gave a little churr, she softly chastised, "No purring. You need to let your poor throat heal."
Michelangelo watched on with a bit of jealousy.
Raphael, however, gave a loud snort. "Come on, stop coddling him. He's a grown ass adult. He'll be fine."
Mona did not raise her head from where she set her cheek on his temple. "I'll tell you what, Raphael, when you get poisoned, you will be allowed to be as needy as you want and I'll baby you like this, too. Okay?"
He snorted again, though this time it seemed more flustered, and looked away. "Fine. Whatever."
Mona continued to coo and fuss over Leonardo's form until it was clear that he had fallen asleep. Even then, she idly ran her fingers over his shell and shoulders in soothing motions. It was another episode over before she looked at the two brothers.
"Would one of you mind helping Leo to bed? My legs have fallen asleep."
"I got it," Raphael volunteered. "I was going to get up anyway."
He heaved himself off the couch and tapped his brother on the shell. "C'mon, Leo. I'm gonna take ya to bed."
As soon as Leonardo awoke and realized what Raphael wanted from him, he held Mona tighter and growled.
"Jeeze, what?" Raphael demanded. "She asked me to!"
"I can't feel my feet, Leo, you have to get up," she said softly.
The growling ceased and he let her go. It took a little bit of effort, but Leonardo pulled himself up and then offered Mona his hand.
She didn't take it. "No, I'm not going to bed yet, only you. You need your rest."
He frowned, but made no attempt to communicate through either a raspy voice or their turtle version of sign language. He looked down the hall and then back at her in a pointed manner.
Mona seemed to understand him just fine. "No, I'm not joining you. Last night I bit you, I poisoned you. I can't have that happen again. I don't know if your body could even handle it if it happened again."
He narrowed his brows at her and frowned.
"That's too bad if you don't like it," she continued. "Donnie said I can sleep in his room tonight. I'm going to be sleeping elsewhere for a while until we get this figured out."
Leonardo was vehemently shaking his head before she was even done talking.
"No, Leo, you're not changing my mind. When you feel better, we can discuss it. But this is going to be the arrangement for a while."
This time, Leonardo did sign at her.
"He says he'll sleep on the floor in his room and you can take the bed," Raphael translated.
Mona Lisa wanted to sigh openly at him. She knew this was more of his alpha male instincts making him possessive. Probably because he felt sick and vulnerable and needed her securely next to him. But she wasn't going to enable him this time.
"Is it because I'm going to sleep in Donnie's bed? You can't stand me sleeping in another male's bed? Do you want to take Donnie's bed and I'll sleep in yours? I can do that. I don't want you sleeping on the floor when you're not feeling well."
Leonardo narrowed his eyes, looking like he was considering the idea, but still didn't look happy. He began to sign again, but Raphael didn't wait for him to finish.
"Jesus Christ, Leo, just go to bed! We're trying to watch this show and you're being a pain in the ass!"
Leonardo blinked rapidly in offense. He looked like he was going to attempt to talk, but Mona stood up and put her arms around the barrel of his chest.
"I love you," she murmured. "I want you to get well. I want us both to feel it's safe to sleep tonight. So please go to bed. I really want you to take care of yourself right now, okay?"
Leonardo breathed out loudly then cupped her face in his hands. He opened his mouth to attempt to speak, but she cut him off with a finger to his lips.
"You don't need to strain your throat. I hear you, Leo. I do. And we'll figure something out. It just won't be tonight."
He let out another loud breath, but this one was a sigh of resolution.
Mona pulled him in for a hug. "Thank you. Now go to bed. You need to keep resting. I'll see you in the morning."
Leonardo held her, but his gaze was on his two brothers still sitting on the couch. The open space between them was reserved for his girlfriend and he did not care for that at all. He gave them a territorial look of warning over Mona's shoulder before retiring to bed.
.
That night, Mona regretted her decision. Donatello's bed was soft. His room was eclectic and cute and very Donatello. It also had dim night lights plugged into various outlets so one could still see where they were going with the lights off; unlike Leonardo's pitch black bedroom. It was quiet and cozy and warm.
Too quiet. Too empty. Too much light for her to see the foreign surroundings she had ended up in. Without any turtles around to distract her, her mind was forced to examine where she was, what she was, and how she had gotten to this point. She had been kidnapped, caged, experimented on. She had been treated like an animal, turned into a monster. She had killed with tooth and claw. She had tasted blood and felt true rage.
And now she was trapped. Trapped in a body that was no longer human. Trapped in the sewers, unable to show her face in the world she was so used to living in. Forced into having to rely on others for everything. And now, having to live with the experience of losing control of her mind and body and hurting the most important person on her life. He was not safe with her. No one was safe with her. She felt grotesque and used and small. Once completely used to sleeping soundly in a bed by herself, she now felt exposed and scared being alone. And she hated it.
It all crashed down on her and she cried. It took everything in her not to let out loud, violent sobs, but she didn't want anyone to know. So she cried as silently as possible. Every time she thought she was done, her brain would go through the cycle again and she would mourn and hurt anew. She cried until the pillow was soaked and her internal well ran dry. Then she fell asleep curled into a ball, falling in and out of sleep multiple times that night.
She kept checking the digital, glowing clock at Donatello's bedside. When it was a little after 4AM, she decided she couldn't do this any longer. She slipped out of bed and padded over to Leonardo's room. She had hoped not to wake him, but he stirred as soon as she opened the door.
They said not a word to each other. He raised his blanket in invitation and she gratefully came to bed and snuggled up against him. He tucked her into his chest, arms around her, and let out a brief rumble to let her know he was pleased to have her there.
Mona Lisa held him tight, as if he would be ripped away from her. She hated that she needed him, even though she loved him. It made her feel weak and pathetic. But it made her love him more that he was there, that his presence centered her. She was so grateful to have him. It made her tear up all over again; especially thinking about what she had done.
"I don't know what to do," she whispered, her throat tight.
"About what?" he asked, whispering back as he stroked her hair.
"About how I hurt you. I don't know how to make sure it doesn't happen again."
"I'm fine. I'm not worried about it. I just want you back here; back in bed with me at night."
She pressed her face into his neck. "But you were so sick all day. I don't want to do that to you again. Even on accident. It was different when it was just a bite, but with venom, what if I could actually kill you if the bite was worse?"
He curled up, wrapping himself tighter around her as if she would leave him. "You didn't. And I won't let it happen again, now that I know to be wary of it."
Mona pulled away, pushing against his chest so she could look at him. "No, Leo. I lost my mind for a moment. I barely remember what happened. And there were times in the lab I don't remember either. What if this is part of my mutation? What if I'm turning more animal? What if I will eventually turn into an actual monster?"
A few different emotions raced over his face. "I don't see how that could happen. You're fine right now. What happened last night was a trauma response. It's going to take some time to work through it. You need to give yourself that time. Let me take care of you for once."
Her breathing stuttered with emotion as she sucked in a breath. She didn't know how to be taken care of. The feeling was foreign to her. And, this night, she felt very unworthy of his care.
"But I hurt you." Her throat was so tight, it was hard to speak. She thought she was done crying before she dared come to his room, but her eyes watered once more. "What if I hurt you again? What if I hurt one of your brothers? Or your father? Or April? What if I kill someone? Why should I be taken care of? I need to fix this!"
Leonardo paused to take a breath, to hear more than just the words she was saying. She had left the door open so he could see her by the dim lights in the hallway. His voice sounded better after a day of resting, but it was still little more than a whisper.
"You must have had a rough night. You're spiraling. You're feeling sorry for yourself. That's not the Mona Lisa I know."
"This Mona Lisa is very different than the one you know," she whispered back.
He was already shaking his head before she finished. "No different at all. Still the same to me. But it's okay if it's my turn to support you. I know this feeling of hating when you don't think you're useful. I understand it. I've always felt like I couldn't do anything for you, I could only just be around. But now I am looking after you while you figure things out. It's something I've always wanted more of in our relationship. I've wanted to be what you needed. I've wanted to be able to take care of you. You don't lose value when you need someone's help. If anything, I love you more for finally being able to show you how important you are to me."
She reached out and cupped his face. He closed his eyes in bliss as she caressed him with the sides of her thumbs. How was it that he didn't know?
"Leo, you have been everything I've needed since the moment we met. You have been patient and understanding. You make me feel safe and loved. Whatever you thought you weren't giving me, I didn't need those things. I needed you."
One hand on her wrist, he lowered himself until their foreheads touched. "Can I kiss you?"
She paused. "Now? Even though I look like this? You want to?"
He made a soft, amused sound. "Yes, very much."
"But...but my face. And I've got weird lizard lips now and—"
His mouth sealed itself over hers, causing the rest of her protest to be nothing but muffled sounds. Then he pulled back, changed the angle of his head, and kissed her again. Long, thorough; fully open-mouthed. Then he pulled away as they both needed a moment to take in some air.
"You...didn't need to do that," she breathed, though she was flush.
"I'm not done," he insisted and began to pepper her face with more kisses.
She immediately squirmed under him at the treatment. "Okay, that's plenty. No more kisses."
"You need a few more."
Now she was giggling as he got more and more sloppy with his kisses. The grand finale was him blowing the wettest raspberry into her neck and she squawked like a startled parakeet and struggled against him under the blankets. He greatly enjoyed holding her tight against him as she wriggled.
They laughed together and then settled. Leonardo nuzzled his face against hers, this time less to mark and more just to get close.
"Feel better?" he asked.
"Yes. Thank you."
He pulled her in tight and pressed his snout into her shoulder. "No need to thank me, just stay. As long as you're right here with me, it will be okay."
Mona wasn't sure about that, but she let him have the last say. As long as she had him, life was better. He wasn't wrong about that. But as long as she was a danger to him and his family, she would have to be careful. It would be up to her to make sure she didn't hurt him or anyone else.