Raph’s room had two large, comfortable chairs in it where the Turtles and Splinter had spent their time sitting while they waited for him to wake up. Donny preferred the blue one over the green because it was suede and didn’t leave an imprint on his legs like the knitted fabric of the green one did. Raph currently occupied the blue one and Donny sat across from him, listening to the way Raph’s words were slurred and stuttered.
Don mentally took notes, asking Raph questions just to get him to talk, not settling for one word answers. He was confident that Raph’s speech problems were only temporary and that the more he worked the muscles required to talk the better he would get.
“You need to train yourself to do everything again, Raph.” Donny said as a matter of fact. “Just like you had to teach yourself to walk again, you need to teach your mouth how to form words again. You’ll be fine, so long as you keep at it.”
Raph nodded his understanding. He was leaning forward with his arms resting on his legs and his hands clasped together. He was tired from the rigorous workout he put himself through earlier that morning and the side effects of his pain medication.
Donny shifted in his seat. There was a shooting pain in his back that had been bothering him for a few days. All he wanted to do was sleep but when he heard that Raph was willing to talk to him he pushed his own problems aside to help Raph.
He rubbed his tired eyes, despite the fact that he had slept for ten hours and was grateful that at least he wasn’t nauseated. He needed to know his brother’s mental state before they left the Foot compound. If Raph needed psychological treatment, Donny was going to make sure that Raph got it.
“Can I ask you something difficult?” Donny asked, leaning forward to grab Raph’s hands. He was going to talk to Raph about this one last thing then he was going back to his room for a nap, he promised himself.
“Sure,” Raph shrugged and he unclasped his hands to grab hold of Donny’s.
Donny looked Raph over while he readied himself for the conversation he was about to start. He could still see the wounds that caused each scar, the image of Raph in a pool of his own blood still vivid in Don’s mind. The deep scar down the center line of Raph’s plastron was a bitter reminder of what was needed to save his life. He was just glad that he was spared having to see his brother opened up like he was being dissected and studied. But he couldn’t stop his mind from imagining what it might have looked like.
Donny swallowed hard and readied himself for the potential backlash. Raph’s emotions had been unpredictable as of late, which was to be expected. “What do you remember?”
Raph’s eyes moved down and focused on his lap. He shrugged, “N… not m…uch.” He took a deep breath and Donny could see the distant look in his eye as he tried to recall that night. “I f…fought with L…Leo. I s…saw some D…Dragons and w…wanted to b…beat m…my anger into them. Th…there was more th…than I f…figured.
“After I w…was stabbed on m…my left, I r…ran. S…someone w…was able to g…get my right as I r…ran past. T…the last th…ing I r…remember is Hun p…punching me in the f…face.”
“You don’t remember anything else?”
Raph shook his head and Donny felt somewhat relieved. Part of him hoped that Raph would never remember what had happened after that. Some things were best forgotten.
“T…there are… s…scars in places t…that make me w…wonder though,” Raph admitted and his grip tightened, pulling Don from his thoughts.
Donny felt his heart sink and he had to close his eyes while he sorted through his own emotions and thoughts. Raph had the right to know what happened to him but Donny wasn’t sure if he was ready to hear it yet. There was a reason his mind had blocked it out and knowing could set him back.
“I will tell you anything you want to know,” Donny said as he struggled to keep his emotions in check. “However, I think you should wait.”
“Maybe you’re right but I need to know.” Keeping his eyes on his lap, Raph choked out, “Did Hun rape me?”
Though he expected the question, it was hard for Donny to hear. Raph knew that some of his intestines had been removed, because they were damaged, and he has had enough time to look over his own body. He had probably seen the damage to his tail and penis and came up with his own conclusion, which wasn’t too far off from the truth.
Donny though out his reply carefully and Raph waited, without saying a word, though his grip on Donny’s hand continued to tighten. He could hear the stifled sobs that Raph was fighting to keep under control. The mind can often dream up worse scenarios than what was actually the truth, when left to its own devices.
So Donny decided to tell him, to end the torment. “Hun used an inanimate object to sodomize you. There is no evidence to suggest that he…, or any of the Purple Dragons, physically raped you.”
Raph took several deep breaths as he continued to fight to keep from losing control. “D…Does everyone k…know?”
“It doesn’t change how any of us see you,” Donny said, reaching up to thumb away the tears that fell down Raph’s cheek. “We are here if you wanna talk about it but please don’t let that be what breaks you.”
“I…’m gonna k…kill Hun,” Raph said through gritted teeth without looking up. “I’m n…not g…gonna d…draw it out, I’m j…just gonna k…kill him.”
“I believe you have the support of the whole family on that one,” Donny said, not hiding his own anger.
Raph looked up and scanned Donny’s face, surprised that Donny hadn’t tried to talk him out of it. His eye darted back and forth as he processed what Donny had just said.
As Raph’s expressing turned to one of relief, Donny managed to smile and nod. “That’s right. We all feel the same way as you do about Hun. None of us are going to ask that you let go of you desire for revenge.”
They all knew that desire gave him something to focus on and it drove him to get better, keeping him from falling into depression. Donny knew it was only a matter of time before it all caught up to Raph but until then they will encourage him. Even Splinter had said, though cryptically, that the world would be a better place with Hun gone.
“Thank you,” Raph whispered.
Donny stayed with Raph for several hours, helping him with his speech by talking through different problems. As they talked, it became harder for Donny to endure his own pain, though he refused to let it show.
By the time Raph was ready for his pain pill and some sleep, Donny had difficulties moving his legs. It took all the strength he had to hide it from Raph as he helped his brother into bed.
He managed to keep his composure as he walked back to the room he shared with Leatherhead. “I just need to lie down,” he told himself. “I’ve been under too much stress lately.” Much to his relief, the hallways were empty because he knew that if someone saw him, they would know something was wrong.
When he got to his room, he headed straight for the bed and fell into it. Curling into a ball he tried to breathe into the pain but it was only intensifying. Lying down wasn’t helping and only seemed to make the pain worse so he got up and started pacing the room.
Though he was still in a great deal of pain the walking seemed to help to alleviate it. His mind raced with possibilities and figured that he might have eaten something bad and that it was food poisoning.
With that in mind he headed to the bathroom to splash some water on his face. When he saw his own reflection in the mirror he was shocked to see how awful he looked and decided that he should go see Doctor Chaplin.
He turned off the water and reached for a towel then he was hit with a pain so intense that he dropped to his knees. Pressure built in his tail and he managed to pull himself up to sit on the toilet. “All of this over a bowel movement? What did I eat?”
He thought that maybe the Foot Clan couldn’t be trusted and that they had done something to him somehow. The only problem was that he couldn’t figure out why.
He had never felt pain so intense before and he just wanted it to end. He pushed and felt his cloaca stretch before hearing a splash, followed by relief. He moved to stand but something was still inside his tail. Looking down to see what it was, he saw a great deal of blood and something that resembled a cord coming out of his cloaca.
Confused, he managed to stand and, with great effort, turned himself around to look into the toilet. Time seemed to stop when his eyes fell on the creature that was in the water and was attached to the cord leading into his tail. How could something come from him?
His hands trembled as he reached down and pulled it out. Whatever it was, he was sure Bishop had put it in him but that didn’t mean that he was going to let it die.
It was small, weighing no more than three pounds and if he was honest, looked like a baby dragon. “Come on,” he pleaded with it when it didn’t move. “Don’t be dead.”
He turned it over in his hand and gently patted its back. It whimpered and moved then its chest expanded with its first breath. Wailing cries followed and it started to squirm. For something that was so small it had a loud cry.
Donny grabbed a towel and bundled the small creature then pulled it to his chest. He tried to tuck his tail and was reminded that the cord was still attached. He had a hard time wrapping his mind around what was going on and knew that he needed help if he was going to find some answers.
The problem was he was tired. He barely had the strength to remain standing let alone walk out of the bathroom. Fortunately he didn’t have to.
The door to the bathroom opened and Leatherhead entered in a panic as his eyes darted around the room. “What’s going on?”
“It seems that I had a baby,” Donny answered, still in shock. A wave washed over him and his eyes felt heavy as everything went black. The next thing he knew he was in Leatherhead’s arms as the large crocodile rushed down the halls.
Donny was turned in a way that the baby was nestled on him and against Leatherhead’s chest so it was safe from falling. He just hoped that he didn’t drop it when he passed out. Just to make sure it was okay Donny looked down and saw a pair of ice blue eyes looking back at him.
He couldn’t take his eyes off of it. It was so small and helpless. He decided right there that no matter what it was, he was going to raise it.
Leatherhead carried Donny into the infirmary and called out for help. “Please. Something has happened.”
Doctor Chaplin rushed over, along with several other doctors and they all started to assess what had happened. Leatherhead was directed to place Donny on a bed and step back. Donny could see the reluctance in Leatherhead’s eyes as a group of doctors moved between them.
One of the doctors reached down for the baby and Donny instinctively pulled it away. “I won’t hurt it,” the doctor soothed. “I need to check it to make sure it’s okay. I also need to cut the umbilical cord.”
“Whatever it is, it’s just a baby,” Donny insisted, looking the doctor in the eye. “Don’t you dare hurt it. You bring it back to me.”
“I will,” the doctor promised, reaching down and, this time, Donny let him take it. As soon as the baby was pulled from his arms it started to cry and Donny reached out to take it back but other doctors were there to prevent it.
It was removed from the towel and the umbilical cord was tied off and cut. Another doctor had a blanked ready and wrapped the baby in it to keep it warm. One doctor commented on how the baby looked like a small dragon and another agreed.
Donny wanted nothing more than to get out of the bed and take it from them.
“I’ll run the test on it myself,” Chaplin promised as he attached an IV to Donny. “I also want to run some tests on you to make sure that you are okay. It isn’t natural for a turtle to give live birth.”
“It had to have been Bishop,” Leatherhead interjected, staying back but not leaving the room. “He did something to Donatello. He must have put that thing in him.”
“Whatever it is, it’s innocent.” Donny said again. He tried to stand when the baby was taken from the room. “Where are they taking it?”
Chaplin pushed Donny back down. “I don’t have the right kind of equipment to run the required tests on it in this room. It looks small. If it’s premature then it will need to be incubated. I swear to you, no harm will come to it.”
Donny regretted handing the baby over and started to feel panicked. He looked over at Leatherhead and pleaded, “Kroki….”
He didn’t need to say more. Leatherhead pressed past the surrounding doctors and placed a gentle kiss on Donny’s head before following after the doctors and the baby. Donny watched him leave and knew that no matter how Leatherhead was feeling about the baby he wasn’t going to let anything happen to it, for Donny’s sake.
The need to push had Donny bearing down again and one of the other doctors was there to collect the placenta as it emerged. “I want that studied as well,” Chaplin ordered and the doctor nodded then placed the placenta in a container then took it from the room.
After he connected Donny to machines, Chaplin moved to a supply closet and returned with a medical device that looked like a portable probe. “What’s that for?” Donny asked, even though he was sure he already knew the answer.
“I want to see if I can find where the creature gestated inside of you,” Chaplin answered, confirming Donny’s suspicions. “All the data I collect will be stored on this device for your review later.”
With a slight nod, Donny parted his legs so that Chaplin had easier access to his tail. He wanted answers and he had to trust Chaplin to get them.
With a push of a button the tip of the probe lit up. It was long and thin, made of a medical grade plastic with a long cord that attached to a small device with a display screen. Chaplin had an assistant coat the probe with a water based lubricant then he placed the tip just on the inside of Donny’s cloaca.
“Let me know if you start to feel any discomfort,” he instructed, without looking up from the screen. Not waiting for Donny to respond, Chaplin eased the probe in deeper. “You’re penis is where it should be.”
Donny had to bite his tongue to keep from snapping back at Chaplin. He was well aware that his penis was still intact. He had used it on Leatherhead just a few nights ago, so not only was it all there but it still worked.
Chaplin continued to explore the inside of Donny’s cloaca, moving the probe with a steady hand. “That’s interesting,” he mused. Donny watched Chaplin, waiting for him to further explain what it was that he had found so interesting. “It seems that there is an extra opening. The one further down, I am assuming, is your rectum. But this one here is not normal.”
Donny felt the probe go deeper and had to admit that there was something about it that didn’t feel right.
“It’s not very deep,” Chaplin stated. “The path opens up into a sack of some sort.” He held the device up so Donny could see. “My guess is that it is something like a uterus.” He pulled the device back down to look at it. “I’m going to switch to ultrasound.”
It was a nifty little device indeed to be able to switch from camera to an ultrasound device. Ultrasound was useful to look at the organs past the ‘uterus’. Donny was fairly certain that he knew what Chaplin was looking for. If there was a uterus then there is a possibility of ovaries.
“Your testicles are where they are supposed to be,” Chaplin mumbled while tilting the probe. He moved it around, studding the images on the screen in his hand. “I don’t see any ovaries.”
“Then it’s possible that the… ‘uterus’ was implanted in me simply to house the creature,” Donny concluded. “But why?”
Chaplin shrugged, “Maybe Bishop needed a living host for it.” He pulled the probe out and set it aside before covering Donny with a blanket. “We won’t know until we get the results back from the tests. Get some rest. I promise that I will wake you the moment I have some answers.”
Donny didn’t want to sleep. He wanted to be with the baby. The image of its blue eyes looking up at him was all he could think about and its cries echoed in his head. It was so small and he needed to know if it was alright.
Even though he didn’t want to sleep, the exhaustion of delivery and the resulting shock had taken their toll. His eyes felt heavy and his attempts to keep them open failed. It was almost like the sandman was behind him, pushing his sleep magic through the back of his head.
The next thing he knew, he was waking up to the gentle touch of Leatherhead’s hand on his brow. He looked up into his mate’s eyes and managed a soft smile. “Oh, Kroki, I had the strangest dream. I gave birth to a baby dragon.”
“It was no dream, my love,” Leatherhead whispered back, placing the bundled baby in Donny’s arms. As Donny looked down at the slumbering infant, Leatherhead nuzzled him and said, “Only she isn’t a dragon. She is our daughter.”
Mouth agape in disbelief, Donny looked up at Leatherhead. “Our? Daughter?”
Leatherhead nodded, “Yes. She is yours, mine, and Raphael’s.”
“How?” Donny looked back down at the baby. “How is that even possible?”
“We’re not one hundred percent sure,” Chaplin said, announcing that he was also in the room. Donny looked up and saw that Splinter, Leo, and Mikey were all in the room as well, waiting to hear what had happened.
“My best guess is that, whatever it is that Agent Bishop had put inside you has the ability to take DNA and combine it into one creature. I think it is safe to assume that it is still functional so it would be wise to use precaution in the future.”
“Of course,” Donny nodded his understanding. It made sense. Bishop has been after the perfect soldier for centuries and the Turtles have proven themselves countless times against threats to Earth’s safety. If Chaplin’s hypothesis was correct, then it was safe to assume that Bishop had intended to breed Donny with his brothers to get that soldier and raise it to obey him. He probably had plans to breed Donny with his brothers like a puppy mill breeder treats his dogs, with one pregnancy after the next.
“Does Raph know?” Donny looked around at everyone in the room.
“He’s still asleep,” Mikey answered.
“We figured you would want to be the one to tell him,” Leo added. “And that it would be easier for him to hear it from you, given the fact that we don’t really talk about what happened that day.”
“Yeah,” Donny nodded then shifted his daughter so he could get a better look at her. Now that she was clean he could see that her skin was close to his color only a slight shade bluer. He unwrapped the blanket and noticed that the scales down her chest and stomach were shell like but not a solid plastron.
Sliding his finger between the blanket and her back he felt that the scales were the same as they were on her front, hard but not a solid shell. She had four fingers, like Leatherhead and three toes, both with sharp nails so Donny was already making plans to get her some mittens and socks.
Mikey walked up to Donny and looked down at the baby. “Can I hold her?”
“Sure,” Donny held her out so Mikey could take her.
“To think that I could have been one of her dads,” Mikey mused out loud. “If we hadn’t separated….”
“You’re still going to be a major part of her life, Mikey,” Donny smiled up at him.
“No, dude, you don’t understand. I am relieved. I’m too young to be a dad,”
Donny glared up at Mikey, “You’re still going to be a major part of her life.”
“Yeah, I’m gonna be the fun uncle with no other responsibilities than to make her laugh,” Mikey quipped. “I’m not changing any diapers. No sir.”
Donny chuckled and was relieved to see that his family was accepting of the new addition. He only hoped that Raph would be as receptive when he found out.
