This time when Leonardo slowly crawled his way back to consciousness, he felt much more present. The lights being turned way down didn't hurt either. So, with no one else in sight, he decided to take stock for a moment. The ever-present full body ache that the Doctor attributed to neural trauma, still lingered, but was much better. Running his hand down to his lower plastron, he could feel some sort of bandaging over the gut wound that'd been slowly killing him in their mad dash up the hill.
Casey. Knowing that he'd never see his adoptive son again was digging a hole in his heart. He's safe. He's safe now. They'll fix it and he'll have the life he always deserved. This was the only thing that'd been keeping him fighting after the Krang found their last hiding place. For awhile now, the resistance leadership had known that they couldn't win. They just didn't have the resources to beat the Krang back, if they'd ever been able. Since then, Leo'd just been desperately trying to figure out a way to at least save his family. In the end, all he and his brother could do was make a last-ditch effort at giving Casey a future, and maybe just maybe, save everyone else too. Mikey…..
Grief was an old, unwelcome companion after decades of constant loss, but Mikey; Mike had always been there. From the beginning of their crazy lives, through losing Dad, Raph, Donnie and everyone else, one by one, Mikey'd been Leo's oldest, dearest friend in the end. And now he was gone.
What did you do Mike? A yellow flash? He had no other evidence, but Leon was absolutely certain that Michelangelo had done something to save his stupid big brother's life. I was ready Mike. I'm tired. Why can't you let me lie? He'd struggled with the urge to just lay down and die a few times over the years, how could he not? But a few things had held him back; mostly he wouldn't even consider abandoning the people he had left. There was also the burning need to try and make things right, to fix his catastrophic mistake.
Those weren't really issues here and now, but one old concern still kept him firmly convinced he couldn't end it himself. He didn't know what would become of him if he did. Years ago, a close encounter with one of the original Krang had ended with Leo being stripped of his powers, and with them, his connection to the Hamato Clan. Mikey'd always tried to reassure him that he was still every inch a Hamato, that he had nothing to worry about, but Leo wasn't so sure; and frankly he was too much of a coward to find out.
Now there was also the additional weight of Mikey clearly making a final effort to save him. He couldn't just throw away Mikey's last gift, Leonardo's own life. Guess I'll have to make the best of it and hopefully, when the time comes, I'll be good enough to pass muster. As if he could ever make up for setting off the obliteration of an entire planet's population.
Casting his eyes to the side, and finding neither was swollen anymore, he spotted his sword. A scuffed old blade that April'd found while hiding in a bombed-out museum. He could still see her beaming as she brought it out from behind her back, hair freshly shaved from getting stiches on the crown of her head. It'd been surprisingly sturdy, and a good replacement for his lost katanas. Staring at the hilt with red and purple masks woven together, he noted that he'd have to get himself some orange fabric to work into it as well. Silent tears ran down to his left temple as he felt a rush of gratitude to the Captain for letting him keep it near, even if they did put some funky locking sheath on it.
"Leonardo?" The Doctor's voice had the weepy turtle hastily wiping away his tears, Ow, as the AI came around the corner.
"Yeah Doc?" he answered, satisfied that the words came out even, unwavering.
"Do you need anything?" Actually.
"Could I get some water?"
"Of course." He ducked back out of the room, then after a minute, and some weird shimmery sound, came back in with a big glass of the cleanest water Leonardo had seen in years. The turtle couldn't take his eyes off it as the Doctor set the clear vessel on a side table, raised the head of his bed and then finally handed the glass over. It took every ounce of Leo's restraint to drink slowly, making sure his stomach was willing to keep the cold, fresh liquid.
Laying back, the slider revelled in feeling ice water flowing down his throat. Regretfully finishing the glass, he passed it back to his carer. "Thanks. Is it night time?"
"No, ship's night ended about three hours ago," the Doctor said, checking a panel on the side of Leo's bed. "But you were sleeping so well that I didn't want to risk waking you up." Apparently satisfied with whatever he read, the artificial man looked up with a smile. "How is that water settling? Stomach fine?"
"Yeah, Doc. Honestly at this point, it would take a lot to upset my stomach."
The Doctor's smile widened. "Well in that case, would you feel up to a short walk and a shower? There's a seat in the sickbay unit."
A shower. An actual shower. Not some polluted tunnel stream. Not the edge of a frigid ocean. Not a damp rag. An actual flowing, clean water shower? "Doc, I would kill for a shower, I'll crawl if I have to." The Doctor laughed a little and started to help his patient up to his feet. "No theatrics required Leo. Let's just take it easy though. You've been through serious trauma, and I would imagine you'll be a little off balance without your prosthetic."
"Wouldn't be the first time Doc."
Ever so carefully, the two maneuvered Leo's legs over the edge of the biobed. Once his feet met blue carpet, the Doctor slid under a green arm and helped his patient upright. After a moment to acclimate to carrying most of his own weight again, they began slowly walking; the Doctor taking the lead. Two rooms later, they entered what Leo was actually surprised to recognize as a washroom. Though I suppose there's really only so many ways you can lay one out.
Figuring they may as well be efficient, the Doctor first helped Leo over to the toilet. One startling introduction to its built-in sonic cleaning feature later, the hologram was helping Leonardo to fully disrobe and sit on the wide shower bench. "Oh. Just a second." Leon was left a little bewildered as the Doctor abruptly left. He wasn't alone long though before his carer bustled back in and applied a water-proof adhesive patch over the electronic coupling for his prosthetic.
Given his reaction to the sonic cleaning, they'd decided that his terrapin tremor sense wouldn't tolerate a full sonic shower, so Leo was getting the warm water he craved. Picking at a few dry scales, he watched while the Doctor switched the shower unit from sonic to water mode, remarking that if his patient stayed on board, they would have to get him quarters with a bathtub.
"Ready?"
Leon grinned a little. "Let'er rip Doc."
With a low chuckle, the bald pseudo man turned on the flow, instantly warm, and handed over a bottle of body wash that most humans on board preferred. They spent the next few minutes tag teaming the job of scrubbing off ages of grime. The Doctor scoured his shell with a brush while Leo attacked the rest of his battered form. Gradually the water at their feet went from nearly black to progressively lighter shades of grey.
Leonardo's curiosity finally asserted itself. "So, what's this Federation that you guys keep mentioning?" All he could see of the Doctor now was one of the man's booted feet, water just running off his artificial form. "The United Federation of Planets." A geeky thrill ran through the reptile as he listened while enjoying his shell scrub. "Founded in the Earth year 2161 by four worlds, of which Earth was one. It is now comprised of over one hundred fifty worlds spanning eight thousand light years of space in what we call the Alpha Quadrant of the Milky Way Galaxy."
"Ok," he processed for a moment, "what would be the current 'Earth year'?"
"2377 AD."
333 years. I wonder where we would've been by now if the Krang'd never showed up? "That's about 300 years ahead of my time. … In my world, I mean." The scrubbing sensation paused for a second, "In that case, welcome to the 24th century Leonardo." The scrubbing resumed in wide, soothing circles. More questions bubbled in Leo's mind. "So, when you say worlds…?"
"Inhabited planets, moons, the occasional space station. There's even a couple nomadic species that live on board generational ships. Most worlds have one native sapient species; some more. Quite a few worlds are colonies that have grown to the point where they stand on their own. All of them have reached a certain point of technological and social development, then agreed to abide by the Federation Charter, in addition to their own local laws." He moved on to Leo's arm and left side where the turtle couldn't reach himself. "Member worlds still govern themselves and their own surrounding space. They send representatives to the Federation Council and in turn the Federation governs matters that effect multiple member worlds. Starfleet is the Federation's means of action; exploration, defence, disaster relief and the like."
At last, clear water was running into the drain between Leo's feet. "So, this is a Starfleet ship?"
Turning off the shower, the Doctor grabbed a couple towels, handing one over. "Yes. Voyager is an Intrepid class vessel, originally designed for long-range scientific exploration."
"Originally?" Leon asked, doing his best to get the towel into where plastron met scales.
"Ah. Yes. Voyager's situation is somewhat unique. How about we get you settled and then I'll explain further." They finished getting him dried off, then into a sickbay gown, "I'll send your things to be cleaned," and began shuffling out to the farthest recovery bed from the sickbay doors.
Blankets over Leo's legs, the Doctor dashed off again, this time to grab a mug of light soup. Leo fought an urge to chuckle as he wrapped his hand around the steaming hot offering. "You were saying about Voyager's situation?" he prompted before blowing across the surface of his breakfast.
The Doctor sighed a bit and perched on the edge of the next bed over. "Yes. Currently we are well outside Federation territory. About twenty-three thousand light years actually."
"That doesn't tell me much." Leo replied between sips.
The Doctor smiled sadly, "At our top speed, non-stop, without help, it will take Voyager approximately twenty-four years to reach Earth."
The slider stopped drinking. "Uhhhh….. you weren't kidding when you said long-range exploration."
"It's a very long story," the EMH hiked himself a little further back on the mattress, "in a nutshell Voyager and another vessel were pulled across the galaxy by an alien far more advanced than us. He was looking for something; grabbing starships and testing their crews for it. Unfortunately, he was operating out of the Delta Quadrant, approximately seventy thousand light years from Earth." Leo's dark eyes widened, calculating based on the ETA the Doctor had given him. "Going that far in a few minutes was devastating for both ships. A significant portion of each crew was killed. A few more were lost to the alien's testing process. In the end he didn't have the time, energy or really inclination to send us back. The other ship was destroyed in battle with some native hostiles, and their surviving crew joined Voyager. We've been making our way home ever since."
"You've been travelling for fifty-one years?" he was having trouble processing that, but the Doctor was already shaking his head. "No, only about seven years. We've found shortcuts, hitched a ride with a more advanced species now and then, even been able to temporarily connect faster alien propulsion systems to our own. We're always on the lookout for ways to shorten our travel time."
Leon's estimation of the Captain and crew went up several notches. "Well, if you keep going at this rate, you might get home in a year or two." He took another sip of his broth. "That's certainly always our hope. We've done fairly well for ourselves all told," the Doctor replied.
No kidding. Shaking his head, Leonardo continued working his way through the mug of mildly herbed soup, savouring the flavours. When he reached the bottom, he handed it back to the waiting Doctor. "Thanks, that was delicious."
"The Paris family chicken soup never fails." The Doctor called back, as he carried it to…. somewhere. Between the soothing scrub, a full belly and his own lingering exhaustion, Leo slipped into sleep, before the Doctor could return.
It seemed like no time before he roused again to the sound of voices in the Doctor's office area just next door. Opening his eyes, squinting against the lights at full brightness, Leo leaned up a bit to see the hologram talking to a blonde woman in a purple CATSUIT? Not what I was expecting with all the uniforms so far.
It didn't take the two long to notice him trying to sit up though and when they turned, he could see metal attached to her face. The locals exchanged a look and as the Doctor walked over, his patient focused on the woman that was now heaving up his arm, carrying the huge metal construct with no trouble at all. Ok, she can't be human. "Leo, glad to see you awake. Seven here has finished repairing your prosthetic."
After the Doctor helped him finish sitting up, Leon held out the hand she wasn't already holding to the blonde. "Seven?" She set his arm on the foot of his bed and reciprocated the handshake. "Seven of Nine."
Leo cocked his head. "Seven of Nine what?"
The Doctor smirked from where he was inspecting the mounting mechanism in Leo's arm and glanced up at her. "It is my Borg designation from when I was part of the collective," she began ignoring the Doctor's side eye. "In full I was Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix 01." Leo blinked a few times. "Ok well … I have no idea what you just said. Sorry."
One side of the woman's mouth quirked ever so slightly. "I do not believe this is the most opportune time the explain the Borg collective in detail, suffice to say that I am a human cyborg." She placed a hand back on the massive arm resting against his feet. "Your prosthetic is repaired. The internal wiring and some circuitry had been overloaded by an energy discharge. Are you ready to have it reattached?"
"Yes please."
With Leo's practiced hand joining in, it was a matter of minutes to essentially plug and play the complicated armature. "For the materials available, it is a remarkable piece of engineering." Seven commented, watching as Leo ran through a series of motions to make sure it was functioning properly. "Yeah. My twin, Donnie, made it for me." He said, running his living hand down the spiky metal. "Well," the Doctor interjected over the building sorrow, "even better then that it was repairable. I was thinking Leo, you've been asleep most of the day, would you like something to eat now?"
Leonardo grabbed the offered lifeline with both, ha, hands. "I could eat. More of that chicken soup?"
"Actually I was wondering what was on offer in the mess hall today. Seven?"
She looked up as she pondered the question. "I believe Neelix said he would be serving vegetable stew." Crossing her hands behind her back, she continued, "The artificial dilithium tests will be resuming in the morning, I must review the data from our previous test before regenerating."
"Thank you Seven. Pleasant dreams." The Doctor answered, and she swiftly exited Sickbay. The hologram turned back to Leo. "I know Seven's a little abrupt but she's really very kind." Just like Donnie. "Well, if your arm feels good, would you like me to call down to the Mess Hall for a meal?"
"Uh sure. Could, .. could I get some more water?"
The Doctor smiled again. "Of course. In fact, if you feel up to it, I'll show you how you can get it for yourself." Thus followed the introductory course to replicators and making glasses of water appear out of thin air with technology. He could practically hear Donnie crowing and pointing his hands at Mikey yelling "In your face! Science for the win!" Cool glass steadied in TWO hands; he made his way back to bed much more smoothly than the last time.
Not long after he finished the glass of liquid nirvana, the Sickbay doors opened and a man that was definitely, 100% not human walked in. He looked about and as soon as his golden eyes settled on Leo, a giant, pointy toothed grin lit up the man's face. "Ah hello! I assume you're the gentleman this is for." He said, while hefting up the covered tray he was carrying. "Uh, if it's a meal the Doctor ordered from the Mess Hall, then probably, yeah."
The short, spotted man walked over and handed Leo the tray. "Tonight's special: vegetable stew, fresh bread and liola root tapioca pudding for dessert. Oh, and I'm Neelix." He said bowing slightly while holding his hands out together.
The slider laughed a little and gestured with the tray. "Thanks. Sounds great and I'm Leo Hamato. Pleased to meet yah." He set down the meal, lifted the lid and dug in. "Mm. This is really good, though, I have no idea what vegetables these are."
Neelix chuckled to himself grabbed a nearby stool and got comfortable. "Not surprising. They're native to this region of space, but they've been tested to ensure they're safe for the crew. Though I suppose we don't really know what's safe or not for you yet, do we?" he finished, suddenly concerned.
"If it's ok for humans it's probably ok for me. If not, I'm in the right place to find out," Leo waved his spoon to indicate Sickbay. "But it'd be kinda funny if I survived 20-some years of a literal apocalypse just to die to a vegetable." Be a pretty fitting end to the whole crap show too.
A few more mouthfuls later, "If it isn't rude to ask, uh, what are you?"
"Oh!" Neelix chuckled again, "No, no, not rude at all. I'm a Talaxian. I'm from Rinax, one of Talaxia's moons."
"Ok, and is Talax part of this Federation everyone keeps talking about?" Leon asked, ripping off a chunk of bread.
Neelix shook his head, golden mohawk waving back and forth. "No, Talax is here in the Delta Quadrant. I ran into Voyager not long after they arrived. Originally I just wanted to trade favours with them, then we wound up working together on something else and eventually I just ended up staying on board."
Leo blinked for a moment, chewing his stew-soaked bread. "But, aren't you leaving your people behind? Like, are you planning on getting off at some point or….?"
The Talaxian smiled a little sadly. "I left my people behind a long time ago I'm afraid." He looked down, shifting in his spot a bit. "We were conquered by one of our neighbouring species when I was a young man. In the process, they decimated Rinax, killing my family and most of my friends." Leo's eyes watered with echoed pain. "I wasn't willing to live under Haakonian rule, so I left. Worked a few different jobs over the years. I was a merchant when I met Voyager. My connections and knowledge of local customs were part of what I offered when I joined the crew." He grinned again and pointed to Leo's meal. "My cooking skills have been more of a long term contribution though."
Rapidly sinking into his own memories, the turtle grabbed onto the lifeline Neelix extended, "So you're ship's cook then?" He swallowed a few times, trying to force his throat to open back up. The hearty stew helped.
"Ship's cook, moral officer, quartermaster, occasional babysitter, I'm a man of many talents." Neelix replied, folding patterned hands across his middle.
"Humble too." Leo poked, trying to get a feel for the Talaxian's sense of humour. Happily, he chuckled in response. "That too. Well, I'm afraid I have to go. There are some things I need to prepare now for breakfast tomorrow. But welcome to Voyager Leo, take it from me, it's a good place to end up."