Leah sat with Donna, offering her a comforting shoulder. After the initial anger had worn off, Leah couldn’t sit back and do nothing while her sister cried. Eventually, Michelle and Rachael joined them and together they did all they could to calm their sister.
“He’s never gonna forgive me,” Donna sobbed as she wiped tears from her cheeks.
“You can’t play the pronoun game,” Rachael said. “You gotta say who you mean. There are several hes who are mad at you.”
Michelle swatted Rachael. “Not helping.”
“Raph,” Donna said. “Now, not only does his family know about the drugs but he’s being treated by Bishop. I was supposed to help him keep his secret and take care of him, but I failed.”
“He’d be dead if you hadn’t done anything,” Michelle pointed out. “Better mad at you than dead, right?”
“If you think about it,” Rachael shrugged, “if you guys had waited one more day, we’d all be right where we are now anyway.”
“Yeah,” Donna said with a sniffle. “Still. Like Rachael said, his brothers are mad at me too.” A new flood of tears washed down her cheeks and she buried her face against her knees. “They all hate me.”
“They don’t hate you,” Leah soothed.
“Exactly,” Michelle added. “They’re really mad at themselves for not seeing the problem and are deflecting those feelings on to you.”
“That’s… very insightful of you,” Rachael said.
Michelle shrugged. “I have my moments.”
“My biggest fear is what mother’s gonna say,” Donna mumbled.
“Yeah….” Rachael flashed her sister a smile. “I know that feeling all too well. Don’t worry, she doesn’t stay mad for long. Her bark is often worse than her bite.”
Leah leaned in and gave Donna a tight hug. “I need to go check on Tello. I’m really worried about him. Are you gonna be okay?”
“Go,” Donna said, nodding her head. “I’ll be okay.”
“We’ll stay with her,” Michelle said with a smile.
Leah passed Leonardo in the hall on her way to the lab. He must have just finished his shift with Raphael.
She could see in his eyes that he was worn down. She wanted to reach out to him but knew that it wasn’t the time. They couldn’t speak freely when they were still prisoners.
It was hard to imagine what he was going through. She had never seen one of her sisters at death’s door at least, not to the extent Leo has seen his brothers. Something like that tends to take a toll.
In the lab, Tello was diligently working. Leah stood in the doorway for a while, watching him. He was uncharacteristically steady.
“Did you need something,” Tello asked, without turning around.
“To see you,” Leah replied honestly. “I’m worried.”
“I’m not,” Tello said. “I don’t feel much of anything actually.”
“That worries me more,” Leah said.
“Don’t be,” Tello said, turning to look at her. “For the moment, I’m fine.”
“What about when we get home,” Leah asked. “Are you still going to feel nothing?”
“After this, we can’t go home,” Tello said as he returned to his work. “Raph and I will need to go to the Foot headquarters for treatment. Raphael is not done with his withdraws and I will crash hard when these drugs leave my system.”
The matter of fact way Tello was speaking caused tears to welled up in Leah’s eyes. “Are you going to be okay?”
“I should be,” Tello stated. “I have a print out of instructions to take to Dr. Chaplin. With Donna and Donatello’s help, they should be able to get me through it.”
Leah wiped the tears from her eyes and shook her head in disbelief. “Why did Bishop do this to you?”
“I believe it was to make me more complacent,” Tello answered. “Since I don’t really care about anything, I am willing to do whatever he asks.”
“You were willing to help him before he gave you the drugs,” Leah pointed out.
“I was a nervous wreck,” Tello said as a matter of fact. “I was on the verge of a mental breakdown and had contemplated suicide several times. Without the drugs I wouldn’t be able to function.”
“The sooner we’re out of here the better,” Leah said.
“I will be able to fish sooner without distractions,” Tello said.
Leah tried not to be hurt. She knew his indifference was because of the drugs but that didn’t stop the tightness from forming in her chest. “Alright.”
He didn’t say another word to her as she left the lab. Heartbroken, she decided it was best to rejoin her sisters and wait.
They sat together, silently comforting one another while the guys talked about what they would do next. After a few hours, Donatello entered the room with Raphael.
Shivering with a blanket wrapped around him, Raph kept his eyes on the ground. He looked like death warmed over. His once vibrant emerald completion was a few shades grayer with dark circles under his eyes.
It wasn’t long before Tello joined them, followed by Bishop.
“Everything’s set,” Bishop said, showing himself to them for the first time. He was smaller than Leah had thought he would be. “Your van has been repaired and it’s waiting for you in the garage.”
He waited and watched as they collected themselves. “So, I was right in assuming that the two of you were a couple,” he said to Mikey and Michelle.
“It’s none of your business, but, yeah,” Mikey replied.
“Good.” Bishop smirked.
Mikey looked Bishop over. “Why would you care? What have you done?”
“I had her inseminated with your sperm,” Bishop answered, flatly.
“You did what,” Michelle demanded.
“I did this before I realized that Donatello had been stabilized and that I could simply get that information from you instead,” Bishop said as casually as if they were talking about dinner plans. “It was less messy than forcing you to mate. The procedure was done while you were unconscious.”
“You bastard!” Michelangelo lunged at Bishop but Leo stepped between then and held him back. “How dare you do that to us,” he cried as tears filled his eyes.
“I wanted your children,” Bishop said, unfazed by Mikey’s tone. “Now that I have them and a way to make more, I have no more need of you.”
Continuing to stand between them, Leo looked over his shoulder at Bishop. “If they are anything like us, they will see you for who you are and one day rebel against you.”
“There’s a contingency plan in place for that,” Tello stated.
“What does that mean,” Leo asked.
“Kill switch,” Bishop answered. “We don’t need to go into the details.”
“You’re a monster,” Mikey said through gritted teeth.
“I do what I must to protect this planet,” Bishop said, “at any cost. It’s time for you to go. Donatello two’s time is running short. It would be best if he was under a doctor’s care when the drugs wear off. This way.”
“There’s nothing we can do about it now,” Leo told Mikey before stepping back. “Let’s get to the van and leave this horrible place.”
Mikey drew in an unsteady breath and nodded. “Okay.”
Bishop led them to the van and didn’t wait for them to leave before heading back into the building. Leonardo assisted Raphael into the back and then walked around to the driver’s seat. Rachael joined him upfront while the rest piled in the back.
Raphael sat, curled up behind the front passenger seat, with Donatello at his side. Donatello called ahead to let the Foot know that they were on their way all while doing his best to keep Raph comfortable.
Leatherhead sat next to them, cradling the baby in his arms with Snow curled up in his lap.
Mikey and Michelle huddled together, doing their best to come to terms with what had happened. Leah’s heart broke for them. They had tried so hard to do the right thing and Bishop made their efforts pointless.
Donna sat in the back with her legs pulled up to her chest and her eyes fixed on the ground. It was going to take some time to pull her from her sorrow.
Leah sat with Tello, doing her best not to fuss over him. She watched his face as he stared blankly at nothing.
Judging by the movements of the car, Leo was going as fast as he dared. Leah hoped it would be fast enough. After several minutes of driving, Tello blinked away a tear. “It’s getting harder to breathe.”
“We’re almost there,” Leonardo said.
“I’ve filled Dr. Chaplin in on everything,” Donny said, reaching over to place a hand on Tello’s knee. “He’s gonna have everything ready for us when we get there.”
“What have I done,” Tello rasped as more tears fell.
Leah grabbed his hand. “Bishop was in control of you. None of it is your fault.”
“Oh god,” Tello called out and the floodgates opened and his body shook with uncontrollable sobs.
Snow began to cry, unsure why Tello’s mood suddenly changed. Leatherhead did his best to sooth her.
“I’m pulling in now,” Leo said as he took the last turn a little faster than he should have, causing everyone to brace themselves to keep from falling over.
As soon as he stopped the back doors flew opened. Tello had to be pulled screaming from the back of the van. Leah could only watch as Tello was strapped to a bed and rushed inside.
Another team then helped Raph, setting him in a wheelchair. “We’ve got you, big guy,” one of them said as they took him in.
Leah felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Leo standing next to her. He gave her a reassuring smile and led her inside. The worst of the nightmare was done but they still needed time to recover.
