#Tmnt whump

[tmnt-whump]

Note: Use whatever criteria you want to determine what "whump potential" means!

[taleeater]

Heavy Sleeper

I wrote like half of this at 3am 6 months ago and finally decided to finish it 😅

Generation: Bayverse, 2003, 2007 TMNT

TMNT Donatello x Reader

Pronouns: Gender Neutral

Warnings: illness, fainting, fever, IV

Tags: angst, fluff, illness

Summary: You overworked yourself past exhaustion helping Donnie with a new project. Not that you minded. Or noticed, until it was too late.

Word Count: 3229

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It has been a long night. …..and a long morning. You had been spending the last few days with Donnie occupied in the lab, helping him with some of the smaller, more detailed work on his new security device. While you were busy soldering pathways onto extra small microchips at the workbench, Donnie was typing away creating the programming at his computer. It required a high level of focus. Which, honestly, you usually didn’t have. However, this project had all your attention, and you had been happily hyper focused on designing the little golden pathways on those tiny green wafer boards for almost 3 days straight.

Donnie was extremely grateful for your help. But he was suspicious how his energetic little dove was being so quiet and still while they worked. The thought came to him a few times that he should go check on you again, but he was equally engrossed in his own project and kept getting sucked back into the work.

Your trick was: caffeine. You had discovered in college that if you drank caffeine on an empty stomach, you could stay extra focused for hours on end. Obviously, this wasn’t good for your health. Or your stomach. But usually you would finish whatever project it was you were laser focused on within the day, so the strain on your body wouldn’t last that long.

This was lasting very long. Very very long. And you had no idea of the passage of time. There was no sun peeking through curtains to inform you that you had worked through the night, or disgruntled roommate checking in to wonder why you hadn’t emerged all day. Donnie’s brothers were very well used to his overworking tendencies, so they paid it no mind he was only coming out for coffee and pop tarts. What they didn’t realize was that you were still in the lair, all assuming you had gone home after the first night. So none had thought to go in to check on the lab.

Here lies the dilemma. It had been maybe 64 hours since you had slept or properly consumed anything besides coffee and a singular package of pop tarts, frequently forgetting about the pile of snacks Donnie kept leaving on your desk. Your back was stiff, muscles sore, and your throat was starting to feel incredibly dry. But all your attention being on finishing your project meant all your physical awareness was finely tuned out.

Except that little tickle in the back of your throat.

It started maybe 5…. 6 hours ago. It was a little bothersome, making you clear your throat and drink a little more coffee to soothe it. But it kept coming back. The tickle started to become a little painful, and clearing your throat turned into small dry coughs. You were drinking more and more coffee to try and wash down the feeling or maybe chase away the dehydration. Your lips started to feel dry, then your eyes, joining in with your uncomfortably dry throat. By the time evening rolled around, your chest was burning terribly, and a migraine had started to thrum with your pulse. Having finished your pot of coffee maybe 2 hours ago and hadn’t bothered to go make more, you were thinking you just needed to get more to drink.

You took a small pause in your welding to push up your goggles and wipe at your dry eyes, when suddenly your vision blurred. For a second, you suddenly found your body lurching to the side off your chair before you caught yourself on the side of the desk.

‘Huh… that was weird. Maybe I’m just tired. I’ll go make more coffee.’

Donnie had been bringing you refills whenever he had gotten up to make more, but you had finished your pot twice as fast as usual. You moved to the side of your chair to stand, and your feet touched the ground with your full weight. To your surprise, your knees almost buckled underneath you, and blackness started to creep in the edges of your vision.

Your body felt weak, and your muscles ached. Keeping a death grip on the edge of the table, you took a slow step towards Donnie’s part of the lab, then another. You blinked rapidly to try and chase away the encroaching darkness creeping in your vision, but too soon your eyesight went dark, and it felt like your brain was shutting down. Internally, you were panicking and fighting to stay conscious, but all you could manage was weakly calling out for Donnie before you blacked out. You didn’t even feel yourself hit the ground.

Donnie, on the other side of the lab, had pulled away from his computer moments before to rub a hand down over his face. This line of code was driving him crazy and he couldn’t figure out where he’d gone wrong. He briefly heard the scrape of (y/n) pushing their chair away from the table, and expected to hear your footsteps head past him to the small bathroom in the back of the lab. He took a moment to flag this line of code- again, for further meddling later. The genius turtle had to admit he was reaching his limits on staying awake and figured it was time he took himself and (y/n) to bed.

But where was (y/n)? They hadn’t come in to greet him yet. Were they just adjusting their chair? That was when he heard it.

“d….don nie…” your voice called out weakly, strained, and barely above a whisper before he heard a light thud from the other room. Had you dropped something? He quickly pulled himself to stand and made his way to the other room to check on what it was you needed.

There. On the floor. You laid still and unmoving on your side against the cold floor.

“(Y/N)!!!!” Donnie exclaimed. Startled, he rushed to your side and dropped down beside you, pulling you into his lap. “(Y/n)! (Y/N)!!!!” He shook you slightly trying to rouse your attention, but your eyes were closed and your body fully limp in his arms. Unresponsive. Quickly, he felt for your pulse, sighing when he found it, but worried by the heightened pace. Donnie scooped you up into his arms and quickly carried you towards the med bay across the lair.

He made his way out of his lab and passed the living room where Mikey and Leo were watching a movie on the TV, and Raph was making a sandwich in the kitchen.

“Huh? Donnie? Is that (y/n)? I didn’t see them come in… are they asleep??” Leo asked when he saw Donnie rush out holding you in his arms.

“No time. (Y/n) fainted in the lab.” Donnie rushed out and speed walked through the clear plastic panels into the med bay, ignoring the startled ‘WHAT’ echoed by Leo and Mikey, and what sounded like Raph choking on his sandwich.

He laid you out gently on the padded white exam table, 3 sizes too big for you, and rushed around the drawers and cabinets. He acquired a stethoscope, thermometer, blood pressure pump, and various other tools to properly check your health and brought them over to the table beside you just as his brothers rushed in.

“ANGELCAKES ARE YOU OKAY??? Ow-“ Mikey rushed in pushing past Leo and Raph and dramatically ran to your side before Raph smacked the back of his head.

“Mikey, chill out. Give ‘em some room.” Raph growled out, trying to pull his dramatic little brother back while Leo stepped forward.

“Donnie, what happened to (y/n)?”

Donnie was now wearing the stethoscope and had the end pressed to the rise and fall of your chest as your breathing strained.

“Hmm… heart palpitations… lungs… crackling sound… that can’t be good.” Donnie was muttering notes under his breath, reaching up to place his hand over your forehead. He found a scorching hot fever and his heart sank. Only then did he turn to Leo. “We… we’ve been working in the lab the past few days… pretty intensely….” Donnie winched. “In hindsight, we did not take as many breaks as we should have. It appears (y/n) has collapsed from exhaustion.” Donnie’s eyes went downcast. He looked equally tired, but guilt was weighing heavy on his shoulders.

“They’ve been here all along?? We thought they went home days ago. Aren’t they usually the one making sure you’re eating and taking breaks to sleep?” The shock in Leo’s voice was clear. You were usually so doting with Donnie, cooking his favorite foods and dragging him off to bed with you to make sure he was well taken care of when he got too involved in his work. It appears this time the tables were turned. “They were helping you with a project? Have they been eating enough?” Leo pressed.

That seemed to have caught Donnie’s attention and he suddenly turned back to continue his check on you. “Yes, I’ve been bringing them snacks whenever I’d get up for coffee. They must’ve been weakened from lack of rest and dehydration…. I’m going to check their blood pressure.” Donnie wrapped the cuff around your arm, and started to inflate it when you started to stir.

“Huh… that doesn’t look good.”

Your eyes fluttered open and you took a deep breath. The bright lights making you wince and shut your eyes again. You moved to bring a hand up to your face but was surprised to feel the tug of something around your arm.

“Mmh? Donnie…? What time is it…” You stretched, confused as to why your body ached so much. Why was he looming over you? And his room was never this bright or cold.

“(Y/n)! Thank goodness… Darling, when was the last time you ate?” Donnie held your shaky hand in his and gently stroked his thumb over your knuckles.

“Hm…? The uh…. Pop tarts you gave me…”

Donnie sighed in relief, remembering he had brought you a package of pop tarts to set on your desk just that afternoon.

“Right after we took a nap together.”

Then Donnie blanched.

“Sweetheart… our last nap together was almost 3 days ago. What happened to the snacks I was leaving on your desk…?” He asked, trying to be hopeful. They had disappeared each time he had returned, so he assumed you had eaten them.

“3 days…? Oh…. Um… they were in the way, so I moved them to the bench for later…. I must’ve forgotten about them.”

Leo slapped a hand over his face. He was realizing you and his brother had more in common than he thought.

“Mikey, can you please go make some soup? Raph, please let dad know that (y/n) will be staying over for the next few days.” Mikey did a mock salute and rushed to the kitchen to make some light chicken noodle soup and Raph left to find Master Splinter in his plant room. Leo went to grab some clean blankets and a spare pillow from their storage room.

Your breathing was labored in the now quiet room. You turned your head to the side to rest against the cool pillow as you gazed up at Donnie with your shiny dazed eyes, cheeks flushed and red. “I almost finished the motherboard… just gotta… add the red and yellow wires…” You trailed off as your eyes slid shut. They burned with exhaustion and the light was hurting your head.

Donnie leaned in close and cupped your cheek gently, and pressed a kiss to your sweaty forehead. His brow furrowed with worry, but his eyes were soft with adoration. “You did an amazing job. I’ll finish it up later, you just get some rest. Okay?” His thumb stroked your cheek.

“Mh hm… don’t forget the… polyimide adhesive tape…’s under my jacket…” You mumbled as you easily slipped into sleep.

Donnie smiled at you. He loves you. He loves that you taught yourself engineering to help him out with his workload. But right now he was regretting it, seeing the heavy bags under your eyes as you slept soundly. He scrubbed a hand down his face and sighed.

When you learned that it was difficult for him and his brothers to do the delicate work of designing circuit boards for their tech, he was surprised you immediately showed interest in learning. He admittedly didn’t take you very seriously at first. But then you started joining him in the lab on long nights to study books you had checked out from the library on basic engineering, he taught you how to assemble his tech and how to solder and weld the machines together into things that would help them on patrol and repair things around the lair. He still remembers the first thing you’d ever made. The poorly soldered little metal band he wore around his right pinky finger.

Leo came back in with the blankets in tow. “Should we move them to your bed?” He asked Donnie.

“Not yet, I need to set them up with an IV to get some fluids in them first. I suspect they’re very dehydrated, on top of the general exhaustion.” Donnie was swaying in place. He looked exhausted, and Leo felt worry for you and his brother. It had been a long time since you last let him overwork himself to this extent. He blamed himself for not checking in on his brother sooner.

”Why don’t you go lie down? I’ll set up (y/n)’s IV and keep an eye on them.”

”But (y/n)….”

”-Would want you to rest.” Leo finished with a knowing smile.

Donnie sighed and looked you over. Leo unfolded the blanket and draped it over you so you wouldn’t get cold. Donnie fussed with bringing the edge right up under your chin and fixed your hair. He didn’t want to leave you in here, but he knew Leo was right. He wouldn’t be much use to you if both of you collapsed from exhaustion, so he relented.

”Wake me up if you need anything.” Donnie stood up on shaky legs.

”Uh huh.” Leo put his hands on Donnie’s shoulders and led him out of the med bay.

”And I mean anything-“

“Of course Donnie, now go to bed.” Leo pushed him out in the direction of their bedrooms. Raph and Mikey in the kitchen watched as Donnie trudged and swayed towards his bedroom, and disappeared into the darkness swinging his door shut.

“Duuude. Do I gotta start hiding the coffee again?” Mikey said from where he was chopping veggies for your soup.

Leo pointed at Mikey, “No more caffeine for those two for a month!”

Raph grunted a laugh.

Leo had set up your IV, just like Donnie had taught him. After an hour and a half, your body had absorbed most of the fluids, so Leo felt satisfied enough to wake you up. He shook your shoulder a bit to wake you up. You were deep asleep. The soup at your bedside that Mikey had brought in had cooled to a safe temperature, so he wanted to make sure you ate something hearty before he sent you back to bed.

”Mmh?” You finally started to stir.

”(Y/n), wake up. You’ve got to eat something.” Leo coaxed.

Your eyes fluttered open and immediately winced at the bright light. Leo stood over you to shield your eyes from the overhead light as you adjusted.

“Where’s Donnie?” You asked a bit dazed, looking around. The tickle in your throat was now a scratchy and irritated pain. You coughed hard into your fist.

”He went to bed. Here, Mikey made you some soup. It should still be warm enough.” Once you had sat up he handed you the bowl.

“Try and eat as much of it as you can, so you can take your medicine.”

You hummed in response, stifling another cough. You balanced the soup in your lap and slowly ate, spooning the warm chicken stock and veggies into your mouth. It soothed your throat, and with a few more bites you felt less shaky. You ate slowly, but you managed to finish almost the entire bowl.

Leo looked pleased and handed you your meds to swallow. Mikey poked his head in through the door to check on you as well.

”How’s angelcakes feeling?”

You paused a long moment as you sipped at a glass of water.

“Better.” You croaked. You still felt absolutely dreadful, but, “the soup helped. Thank you Mikey.”

The orange ninja beamed. Raph also peaked in over his little brother’s shoulder.

Leo looked back to you and took the bowl and spoon from your lap. He checked your IV pack and saw that most of it was gone. Your eyes looked heavy again as your body begged for more rest.

”I think it’s time you got some more sleep.” Leo mothered you. He tried to lift the edge of the blanket to cover you as you lay down but your hand stopped him.

Your red rimmed eyes were distant, and you cleared your throat as you found your words. “….Can I go to Donnie’s room? Please?”

Leo couldn’t help but smile at the innocent request. “Sure thing. Come on-“ You sat back up and Leo removed your IV. He motioned for you to adjust yourself, and Leo wrapped you up like a burrito in the blanket before scooping you up and carried you out of the med bay.

Mikey chuckled and rushed over to open Donnie’s door for you and his brother.

”Special delivery!!” He called into the darkness of Donnie’s room. A groan echoed out as the exhausted purple turtle was woken up. Leo carried you in and Donnie scooted over to make room for you to be deposited on his bed.

”Thanks Leo… hey babe…” Donnie greeted you sleepily, sitting up in bed as he received you and untangled you from the blanket.

Leo quietly walked out of the room to give you two privacy, and shoved Mikey’s face out of the way so he could close the heavy metal door behind him.

You stifled a cough, and reached out for Donnie in the darkness. The purple turtle dipped down into your embrace, and smooched your flushed red cheek. His arms slid up your back, and he pulled you flush against him in a warm embrace. He patted around for the edge of the blanket, before pulling it up and covering the both of you. He sighed deeply as he relaxed again against the pillows with you wrapped up in his arms.

”Thanks for helping me….. but please don’t ever do that again.” He mumbled against the crown of your head.

”Do what?” You asked, already half asleep.

”Collapse.”

You hummed a little laugh and snuggled in impossibly closer.

”I’ll do my best…”

Donnie pressed another quick kiss to your head, and you both quickly slipped back asleep.

The End :]

[belleyellsaboutturtles]

me? starting a multichap rottmnt fic? it’s more likely than you think. and the first 2 chapters are already up! 

[maddys-nerd-blog]

ITS RESCUE TIME FELLAS

Only this is gonna have to be a two partner cuz apparently this was too long so I edited this to split into two parts 😅��

This is the one I’ve been most excited to share!! We get more Danny and Leo bonding, and we catch a glimpse of Danny’s past trauma with his own father that led him down the slippery slope of crime. I really wanted to establish the father-son bond that grows between these two in the final installment of the Familia story. I feel like over the grand course of the story, it’s Danny’s fatherly bond with Leo that grows the strongest, much like Mondo’s bond with Katie. Also I am NOT a fan of Rise Splinter, can you tell 🤣

General warnings of torture, blood, heavy cursing and violence!

NOW ON WITH THE STORY!!!

Ransom 4.5

A TMNT Crossover Short Story Fanfic

Part Four: Ultimatum

Three days passed before Danny knew it. Three full days of being stuck in this stuffy room with nothing to do but sit in a chair and stare at the same walls he’d been looking at this whole time. And three days of boredom that sapped him of all energy— he didn’t know how much longer he’d have the patience to count every crack and crevasse in the ceiling or hum ‘One hundred bottles of rum on the wall.’ Being tethered to one place for hours at a time didn’t help his already weary bones or bruised ribs. Danny’s arms yearned for freedom— they were stiff as a board, bones rigid, muscles tense, aching from being bound all day. His head was pounding nonstop, stress and anxiety festering throughout his brain. He was irritated and tired. He was hungry. He was exhausted.

But at least Leo was providing conversation.

“—and then Mom flipped the guy into the table like a WWE star!” Leo laughed. “It broke in half like a toothpick! She knocked his lights out! Pretty sure he had a hernia too.”

“Did she?”

“Yeah, but her comeback was weak! She was like, ‘I watch Jackie Chan on the regular!’ It was so lame! I could’ve thought of better!”

“Oh yeah? Tell me then. What would you have said?”

“Uuuuh… oh! ‘Better watch your fall!’ Or ‘Get dunked on!’”

Danny snorted, stifling a laugh. “Get dunked on? Really?”

“What? That’s such a badass line! I should know! I come up with cool taglines all the time!”

“Then ya gotta find yerself some new material. Ya sound like one of th’ Three Stooges.”

“I’m actually not offended by that. They were geniuses.”

He smirked. “They were. Best of th’ best, if I had a say so.”

“Do you like any other kind of comedy?”

“What kind we talkin’ about? Chaplin or Sandler?”

“UUUUUGH WHY DO OLD PEOPLE BRING UP CHAPLIN?”

“Hey! I’ll have you know Chaplin was a MASTER at comedy, there will never be anyone like him in our lifetime. Also, again, I ain’t old!”

“How old are you?”

“Forty-three!”

“I rest my case!”

The kid knew how to make him laugh despite everything, that was certain. Leo was true to his word about being a chatterbox— he didn’t know how to stop once the ball got rolling, rambling about adventures they’d gone on in Danny’s absence. It gave them something to do instead of wallowing in silence if the gags had been bound back in place. He was grateful for the conversation. It was helping him stay sane. Chatting about anything other than their current situation was better than stewing in the bitter quiet of this rickety building or continue to count cracks in the floor.

“What’s so funny?”

“Just— haha! Jesus, kid, ya really know how t’ make people laugh!” Danny cackled. “Yer Ma must love your jokes!”

“She does! She calls me ‘bromista’ but I’m not far enough in my Spanish to know what it means.”

Danny paused to catch his breath, ears twitching at the word. Straightening in his chair he translated. “Prankster. It means prankster.”

“You know Spanish?!” He could almost hear the excitement in Leo’s smile. “Wait, do you know it fluently or are you also learning?”

“M’ still learning. Italian’s more my style. Kat’s taught me enough t’ hold a conversation,” Danny tried to turn to properly look at his fellow captive but the ropes binding his torso sank into his chest, causing him to flinch. Mother fuckers. Pushing the pain aside he decided to continue. “She been teaching ya long?”

Leo hummed, thinking. “For about a year. I think Casey’s the only one who’s been making progress though, but I think it’s cheating cuz he’s been learning it already since he’s the only one who goes to school.” The slider tried to look at the yōkai, this time with eyes that shined with interest. “Hey, do you think Mom gives all of us different nicknames?”

Danny grinned. “I don’t see why not. She gives me all kinds of names.”

Snorting with bemusement, Leo asked “Like what? Cheese addict?”

Laughing softly at the jab Danny shook his head. “Not all th’ time. I’ll give ya points for creativity. She usually calls me Amor or Corazon.”

“Corazon… that one means heart, right?”

“Mm-hm. Amor means love.”

This caused Leo to giggle. Danny could see his shoulders start shaking from laughter. “You guys are so corny.”

“I’ll take corny over ‘cheese addict.’” Danny lightly teased.

“I thought you liked my puns!”

“I do, but cheese addict is a bit overplayed in my world. Ya got any fresh material?”

“Well, other than rodent based jokes I’m all out. If Don-Tron were here he’d…”

When the slider went quiet, Danny became confused. Momentarily he wondered if he’d said something wrong or hurt his feelings. That hadn’t been his intention. He looked over his shoulder to gauge if the kid was alright. “Everything okay?”

“Hm? Oh, yeah. Just… lost in thought I guess.” Leo responded, his voice turning flat. “Haven’t been missing this long before.”

Ya shouldn’t be missing at all, Danny thought with sympathy. Clearing his throat he spoke again. “Homesick?”

Leo paused. Three minutes went by before he answered in an even quieter voice. “… yeah.”

“Try telling me about your family, your real one. We came from the same dimension, right? Ya mentioned ya got brothers? A Dad?”

Leo went quiet again.

“Kid? C’mon, talk t’ me, don’t let yourself stew in those bad thoughts. It’ll kill your motivation.”

The slider was still for a minute, holding his tongue. Contemplating over what he was going to say next, Leo took a deep breath to better compose himself, then decided to try, “I do. An older brother, a little brother, and a twin. He’ll never admit it though. Back home we always try to stop crime and do some good in the city. There’s a human we’ve known since we were little, her name is April. She’s basically like a sister to me. I go to her for fashion advise, we bail her out of mischief: a win-win scenario! Sometimes we go out on the town just to cause trouble. Mike’s an incredible artist; he redid the entire lair with all this killer graffiti. Don’s always building something that could get him arrested and I pick on him for it, but…” he paused, tone getting lighter as if remembering his family fondly. “He’s probably the only person that understands me most days. They’re probably wondering where the hell I am. They probably think I got eaten by the Krang… if they haven’t been thinking that already.” He slumped into his chair, shoulders shaking slightly. “My Pops… he wouldn’t even notice I’m gone.”

“Ya can’t believe that,” Danny’s brows shot up, shocked. “Don’t you and your Dad get along?”

Leo’s staggering silence caused Danny to stare at the teen with gnawing empathy. “Leo… do you and your father not talk?”

“… I don’t have much of a relationship with my Dad.”

If nothing else got to him, Danny was damn well sure that did.

“I mean… my big brother is more of a father to me. Pops never did anything with me growing up. I can only think of one or two times he actually remembered which one I was. Everything else was just Raph taking care of us when our dad forgot we existed. Don’t get me wrong, there were good times here and there. But ninety percent of my life my own father pretended we weren’t there. We weren’t his problem.” Leo sounded so downtrodden it broke Danny’s heart. “Raph made sure we were fed, that we had enough to eat, that our home was safe when Pops wasn’t awake to check, that none of us got left out. I was such an ungrateful idiot to him about everything before I ruined our lives by freeing the Krang. ‘When are you going to start trusting me?’ That was the last thing I said to him before…”

Danny remained quiet, letting the teen vent. But things took a turn when the slider started to get emotional; he’d begun choking up. “I just… damn it. It’s all my fault our world got wrecked by the Krang! I was so selfish and ignorant, I almost got my brothers killed! I made it about myself and my ego when I should’ve put my brothers and our home first! Things never would’ve gotten so bad if I didn’t screw up. Just like back home. Just like in space when we got captured by Zanramon, just like when Mom told me not to go out to the surface, just like Raph back at the lair. I don’t ever learn. My dad was right… all I do is screw everything up. If you never chased after me you wouldn’t be here. I…” Leo’s voice began to tremble, a sob squeaking out miserably. “I’m so sorry I got you into this. I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you.”

Silence took hold of him in wake of the kid’s weeping. What could one say to such a raw confession? Leo was young— only fifteen. How did he carry all this tremendous weight on his back? How could anyone let him do this to himself? How could his father not be there for his kid? He’d only known the teen for the better part of a year, but he’d already sacrifice his life for him. To think that this boy’s father wouldn’t do the same…? After all he’d done to prove himself?

Sour memories of his own childhood came to mind; Of a daunting presence towering over him as a boy, lecturing, scolding, half-empty bottle of cheap wine in hand. Hollow eyes staring right through him with bare hatred. A scowling face that almost looked like Danny’s, only his was more callous, detached from the young rat he’d carelessly neglected. It was an image that made him bristle, his fingers clenched into fists. Without thinking he spoke to break the silence. “I don’t have a good relationship with my Father either.”

Leo sniffled, the chair and his ropes creaking from a slight shift in movement as he attempted to look at the yōkai. “Y-you don’t…?”

“Nah.” Danny shook his head. “My father and I never had a stable relationship when I was your age. Ma passed when I turned twelve and it broke something in him. Told me I looked too much like her t’ ever speak t’ me. I didn’t wanna go into th’ family business, so he resented me for it. I always had bad role models growing up— I wanted t’ be like Clyde Barrow. I wanted t’ be rich and live a life where I had control of myself, be what I wanted. Truth be told I used t’ dream about bein’ a performer, one of those Fred Alastair types. My father never understood. Said I was delusional. Especially when I told him I was getting hired by Big Mama t’ make it big,” he scoffed under his breath, a light smirk playing at his lips with mirth. “He just about blew a gasket. Told me I was an embarrassment, I wasn’t th’ son he raised, I was better off dead than working for th’ competition. He told me ‘If yer gonna make this family look bad, ya ain’t welcome here.’ So… I left. And I never looked back.”

Leo, having grown silent to let Danny finish his story, sniffled as he piped up, “How old were you?”

“Seventeen.”

“… how long has it been since you saw him?”

“In person? Thirty-six years.”

Danny could almost feel the empathetic eyes of the slider peering over his shoulder. He didn’t need to look at Leo’s face to know that he was stunned. “I’m so sorry…”

“Isn’t a big deal t’ me.” Danny reassured. “I knew it was coming so I wasn’t too upset.” A somber chuckle escaped from him over the thought. “It made me laugh afterwards.”

“But…” Leo’s arms twisted around, trying to move, wanting to better look the man in the eye. “Did you ever regret it?”

He shook his head. “I kinda knew when I left that he wouldn’t give a damn once I was gone. He never made th’ effort t’ phone me or look for me. It was a part of myself I had to let go of if I wanted t’ move on. There were times where I thought I could give him a call, but… I’d get cold feet.” Danny sighed, long and hard, giving a small shake of his head to clear the resentment. “I found a better family in all of you, anyway.”

“I probably ain’t th’ best person t’ take advice from given my record, but I know one thing.” Danny looked back at the kid, trying to offer a kind smile. “Yer stronger than yer dad if he don’t see how important ya are t’ yer brothers.” When Danny didn’t get a reply straight away, he continued. “Ya wanna know something? When I met Kat, she would talk ‘bout how proud she was of her boys. She would tell me everything about th’ kids she was looking after. How brave and adventurous they were, how they kept fighting even when th’ odds were stacked against them, how they saved her from herself.”

“… she really talked about us that much…?”

“‘Course!” Danny twisted himself around as best he could manage, the ropes biting and pulling stubbornly into his arms from the motions. “You guys are th’ center of her world! It’s nothing but high praise! I could write up an entire novel’s worth of compliments she gives you. Ya might not realize it but yer mom loves all of you so, so much. If ya asked her for a thousand bucks she’d bring you diamonds. Ya ask her for a house, she’d buy you a castle. I bet if she could, she’d hang th’ moon and stars for you. All she wants is t’ make you happy.” The yōkai grinned, recalling the pride in Katie’s smile when she told him about the kids, about their achievements and their accomplishments. If there was any mother in the world that could be more proud of her children, she’d be the living example.

Leo giggled, a small sob stifled behind it. He swallowed, hesitating, gathering himself to properly breathe. “I-I didn’t think… I didn’t know we mattered this much to her.”

“You kidding?” Danny couldn’t help the incredulous tone in his voice. “I won’t be surprised if she breaks th’ doors down t’ this place t’ get you back. If there’s one thing we both know ‘bout Katie, it’s that she’ll stop at nothing t’ bring ya home. She’s gonna be here soon.”

The slider spared a small glimpse over his shoulder to look at the man, eyes beginning to dry. Gratitude painted his features as the grin on his face warbled. “… thank you, Dan.”

Danny offered the kid a gentle nod. “No problem.”

They sat in relative silence for five minutes. Leo started breathing easier, much to his relief. The turtle slowly raised his head, looking up as best he could to meet Danny’s gaze with a genuine grin. “Mom really cares about you too.”

Danny chuckled softly. “I know she does.”

“You love her?”

Danny’s smile turned softer. “With all I have.”

“… what’s it like? To be loved?”

There was no true way to properly convey his befuddlement. He never imagined he’d have this kind of conversation with anyone, let alone the kid he was looking after. It was a complicated topic depending on the person… and not everyone understood the gravity of it. Knew what it meant. Knew how powerful it could be.

So, with that in mind, Danny leaned back in his chair with a puff of air escaping him. “Sheesh… how do I explain? It’s… freeing, I guess. When ya find th’ person or people that accept all o’ who ya are as a human, mutant, yōkai, whatever… when ya find that connection with them, keep them close and never let them go… ya feel like th’ mystery of life is solved. It don’t gotta be romantic either. Platonic is th’ same. Bein’ loved by yer partner is one thing, but when a parent loves their kid…” the image of Katie hugging all her boys with one fell swoop of her arms, clutching them all tight, laughing as they returned the grand gesture instantly popped into his head. “They’ll die for them if it means they’re gonna be okay.”

Leo turned as best he could to look at the yōkai, teary eyed with a small, hopeful grin. “You think… I’m… worth being loved?”

“Kid,” Danny gave him a reassuring nod. “You’ve got a helluva family that loves you more than anything already. You’re pretty damn lucky t’ have them.”

“… hey, Dan?” Leo chirped.

“Hm?”

“… is it weird if I say you’re more of a father figure than my real dad?”

In three seconds, his heart sputtered with an emotion he hadn’t known in ages.

Danny thought he’d heard it all. He’d had all kinds of labels thrown at him over the decades. Freak. Animal. Thug. Hoodlum. Monster. Bastard… failure. His entire life he never thought he’d be the one to get out. Get away from his past. Clean the slate, stare anew, make something of himself. Hell, he never dreamed he would be in a place where a woman loved him, where her tsudo-kids accepted him, where he belonged in this ragtag group of people. Ever since he’d left Mama’s gang he thought there’d be nothing else for him out there. Nothing but cheap booze, a circus or a pauper’s grave.

But this…?

This, here, where this kid needed a stable father-figure in his life after his own let him down?

After he’d been hurt so often that he didn’t HAVE that kind of support?

… what kind of a man would he be if he were to repeat his old man’s mistake?

“No.” Came his steadfast response. He prayed Leo couldn’t hear how thick with tears his voice was. “No it ain’t.”

Behind him Leo went still, sobs trickling into a gentle rhythm of breathing. Despite growing quiet the slider seemed more at ease. Settled. Calm. Then his hand grabbed onto his fingers, holding on for dear life. “Thanks,” Leo murmured in the darkness. “For everything.”

His fingers gripped the mutant’s in return. Eyes burned with heavy tears that didn’t fall quite yet. “You’re welcome,” Danny swallowed down a sob. Clearing his throat the yōkai murmured back the the teen, “Try getting some sleep, ‘kay? Yer Mom will be here soon. I promise.”

Leo seemed more than happy to do so. He couldn’t get comfortable in the chair, neither of them could, but he did his best to stay upright enough to prevent his neck from cramping. “Can do,” the teen yawned. As he began to doze off Leo looked over his shoulder to the best of his ability, catching the subtle shake of Danny’s arms. With one more squeeze to the rat’s hand, the slider whispered something Danny would never forget.

“… thanks, Dad.”

**********************

A furious shout was what woke the two an hour later.

As sleep finally claimed the weakening barriers of his psyche it was robbed of him just as quickly. Jolted out of their stupor by the unexpected noise Danny was alert instantly, eyes darting for their prison door as it was swung open just as heavily, striking the wall with unforgiving force. Hun stood in the doorway to greet them, Leo’s phone clutched in one meaty fist, but the way he was holding it suggested he was making a call. There was a female voice screaming at him on the speaker.

It didn’t take a genius to know WHO was on the other end of that phone.

But his heart still skipped all the same, her name falling from his lips in one subtle breath. “Kathrine.”

“Guess who decided to give me a call and wake me up at three in the morning?” Hun grumbled, holding the phone ten inches away from his head as it started piercing his eardrum. “I didn’t know your bitch was so frustrating to deal with.”

Danny held his tongue. Perhaps Hun didn’t realize the opportunity that presented itself to the two of them— he hoped he was stupid enough to miss it. But Leo wasn’t. Thank the lord he was just as clever as his mother. One slight look over his shoulder— one undisguised glimmer of hope caught in the slider’s eyes— and he knew Leo understood.

A plan.

Giving Leo an approving nod the teen smirked— mischievous, sly, all the makings of the spitfire rebel— before he reeled it back and replaced his bravado with a timid expression, appearing meek and nervous in the presence of the gang leader. “C-Can I talk to my Mom?”

Using the quivering voice approach, nice touch, Danny internally applauded.

Hun glared at the prisoner, annoyance in his gaze. “And why should I let you?”

“Cuz… I miss her,” Leo shrank in his bonds, sounding pitiful. “And… and I wanna talk to her. To my brothers. Please…?”

Danny didn’t miss how the boy still latched tight to his fingers behind him, trembling, the mask an unsung truth behind their scheme. But as he had done before the yōkai gripped his hand back to convey his confidence in the kid.

Ya got this.

Hun cocked a brow in bewilderment. The screaming on the phone only grew louder to the point Danny could almost hear the distinct sound of Spanish cuss words being slung at the criminal. He was grateful Leo couldn’t grasp a majority of the language yet, because the words that came out of that woman’s mouth almost made him turn scarlet. Damn, Kat, ya really were raised in New York.

When Hun wouldn’t budge, Danny decided to give the kid some backup. “His mother’s probably worried sick ‘bout him. Ya really can’t let her hear his voice t’ give him peace of mind?”

Leo’s hand squeezed his in gratitude.

Weighing the phone in his palm, frowning deeper the more Katie’s screams pitched into the air, the brute groaned angrily. Holding the device up, Hun gave the two of them a cautionary hiss. “Don’t even THINK about trying to warn her,” he whispered through grit teeth amidst the screaming rage of Kathrine. “You do, you die.”

Hun placed Leo’s phone on his leg— Danny had to wager a guess, he still couldn’t get a clear view over his shoulder. But it didn’t stop Katie’s verbal rampage from rushing through the phone in a tirade of oral vengeance.

“—Maldito hijo de PUTA! Cuando te ponga las manos encima, te romperé las rodillas y te romperé el cráneo—!”

“Mom…?” Leo chirped.

The screaming ceased outright.

There was a pregnant pause.

“Leo?” Katie asked, voice above a whisper.

Leo went stiff. Danny could barely see Leo’s expression, but he saw the way the poor kid’s eyes started to go glossy. “Mom,” he swallowed. “Mom it’s me.”

Any semblance of hesitation was shattered as the woman reacted. “Leonardo!” Katie gasped, sounding close to tears. She fought to control herself— he could almost feel the unbridled relief coming through the phone. “¿Mi hijo? Cariño, ¿estás bien?”

“Si,” Leo confirmed with a tremor in his voice, struggling to keep his composure. “Si. I’m fine. I’m okay,” he sniffed. “I’m so sorry, I was such an idiot, I never should’ve run away—“

“Leonardo, honey, it’s okay. I’m not mad. I’m just… I’m so glad to hear your voice,” Katie soothed him with ease. Danny was amazed by how gentle and comforting she sounded, how effortlessly she managed to keep the teen calm despite her own anxiety skyrocketing. “I’m here. I’m here, hon, I’m right here.”

Any kind of restraint the turtle showed previously went out the window the moment his mother’s consoling words reached him. Leo’s hands shook under Danny’s as the tears finally prickled his eyes. “You’re alright,” the man assured in a whisper. “Take your time, keep talking.”

Leo’s hands squeezed his hands so hard he felt the bones crackle. But, encouraged, Leo continued. “A-Are you okay Mom?”

“I’m the last person you should be asking that to, sweetheart,” Katie reassured softly. “I’m fine.”

“Is… Donnie?”

“He’s okay too. We got his medicine. He’s still sick as a dog but he’s breathing steadier now.”

Leo breathed a massive sigh of relief, sagging into his chair. “Thank god!” He breathed. Danny couldn’t help but grin, an extra weight lifted from his shoulders. That was one good piece of news to know. “What about Raph? Mike, Case, Jay?”

“Everyone is okay. We’re safe,” Katie soothed. “Are you hurt?”

“Kinda,” Leo sheepishly answered. He chuckled afterwards to lighten the mood. “But that’s nothing new given my track record.”

“Oh honey…” Katie sounded heartbroken. “I’m so sorry.”

Leo gripped Danny’s hand tighter. “That makes two of us…”

“Bromista, where’s Danny? Is he with you?”

Danny’s heart started hurting. Hearing her say his name was like honey to his ears. It had been a mere three days but it felt like three months— how could such a small thing make him emotional? “Yeah. I’m here,” he called. There was movement as Hun took Leo’s phone and brought it over to Danny, only now the human turned the speaker off and put the devise on his shoulder, Danny cradling it there as he pressed it to his cheek. This was harder with his arms tied.

Suddenly his chest started hurting even more. This was ridiculous, he shouldn’t be so nervous to speak to her. But at the same time… would she be cross with him? Would she blame him for getting the both of them captured? What was going through her head?

“Daniel?”

… There it was. One moment, one isolated moment between the two of them, it was almost enough to render him a hopeless pile of flesh and bone.

“Daniel?” Katie tried again. “Hello? Danny?”

“… hi, Kathrine,” he sighed.

Only she knew how to get him misty eyed.

“Dios Mio,” Katie breathed— if she hadn’t started crying whilst talking to Leo, her voice shook and wavered dangerously close to teetering over the edge. “Daniel, holy shit…”

“Hey hey, it’s okay,” he shushed, blinking back his own tears. “Please don’t cry. If ya start crying then I’m gonna cry, Leo’s gonna start bawling; we’ll all be emotional messes.”

“Hey!” Leo blubbered through a wry laugh.

In his ear Katie actually snorted. “Jackass,” she whimpered.

“Good t’ know I can still make ya laugh,” Danny smirked under his breath.

“You always do…” she sounded like she was trying to collect herself. “You always do.” Taking deep, calming breaths to steady herself, Katie swallowed down what sounded like a sob. “You okay?”

“I’ll live. You?”

“I’m fine.” Katie sighed heavily. “Just… fuck, Amor, are you hurt?”

“Just th’ usual on my end. Leo’s…” his gaze swiftly flickered from Hun to gauge if he were paying attention to his conversation. “… pretty much okay. Just misses th’ hell outta you.”

Katie took another shaky breath. “I miss the both of you,” she said after a moment of pause. “If Casey’s info is as solid as he says then we’re close to finding you. You guys will be home by sundown.”

“I think that’s th’ best thing I’ve heard in days.” Danny smiled. He closed his eyes to collect himself, to breathe deep and center his focus solely on her voice, picturing her face in his mind clear as the sky. “Leo’s gonna be happy t’ hear that.”

“What’s Hun doing? Has he tried to hurt you? Has he hurt Leo?”

“Not too much. Just me.” Danny briefly looked at Hun— the man was glowering at the yōkai with a certain level of quiet unbridled anger that could rival Mama on a bad day. His face was stuck in a permanent sneer, his hands clenched into fists as though prepared to start pummeling him if he’d begun saying the wrong thing. Hun was chewing at the bit, probably hoping Danny slipped and spilled his ulterior motives just for the excuse to knock his teeth out. Being watched like a hawk made giving Kat the clues she needed near impossible.

But he knew how to improvise.

“… baby,” he muttered softly. “Ya remember those Spanish lessons ya gave me?”

“‘Course, but what…” Katie paused. Then, with a sudden realization, she hummed slyly. “You slick bastard.”

“Ya get me?”

“Yeah.” Katie affirmed. “Have a handle on it enough to give me some information?”

“Alto y claro,” Danny spoke in Spanish easily— the puzzled expression on Hun’s face almost made him laugh.

“How many of them are there?”

“Tal vez doce.”

“What kind of place are you in? Does it look new, old?”

“Un almacén lúgubre. Quizás reconstruido a partir de un negocio textil.”

Hum squinted, suspicious. “What’re you saying?” He hissed.

“He feed you?”

“Sólo uno vez.”

“Do you know what he’s going to do once I get there?”

“The hell are you saying?“ Hun snarled, louder. He stormed over to the yōkai and got close— inches away from his snout as he bared his teeth. “WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?”

“I said yer a dumbass bitch with no taste,” Danny bluntly lied.

Thwack! Hum backhanded him hard across the mouth. The phone clattered to the floor.

“Hey!” Leo cried, struggling in his bonds at the sound. “Listen, jackass! You better leave him alone or I’ll—“

“Do what?” Hun challenged, cackling at the turtle. “Attack me? You can’t even lift a finger in your state!” With one hand he plucked the phone from the ground, turning the speaker back on to let Katie hear him. “All you muties are is a waste of resources and precious time! You pretend to be human so you can fit in! You’re not even normal enough to pull that off!” He circled the bound captives, a lion stalking his helpless prey. “Just pathetic excuses for fancy house pets that never learn their lesson.”

“Don’t talk to my son like that you ugly bastard! Leo, don’t listen to him—“

“Awww, what, you gonna start crying?” Hun put on a sing-song voice, taunting the poor kid behind him. Leo’s hands curled into fists beneath Danny’s hold, trembling terribly; signs of the steel-like resolve beginning to waver.

Danny looked over his shoulder to match Hun’s gaze, his expression shifting into a dark mask, baring bloodied teeth and showing off a set of fierce canines that appeared razor sharp under the dim light. His golden eyes glinted murderously, daring the bastard to test his patience. “They’re more human that you.”

“You think they’re human?” Hun sounded appalled. “These freaks are carnival sideshows! They’re monsters!” He gestured to the two prisoners with Leo’s phone. “They ain’t got a right to stick their noses in business that don’t concern them! The moment shit hits the fan, these things create more chaos! More problems! If it weren’t for them, we’d all be honky dory!”

“If it weren’t for these kids we’d all be fucking DEAD, moron!” Danny finally yelled. “Did ya all get selective amnesia?! Or did youse collectively get dropped on your heads?! They stopped an alien invasion! They saved thousands of people! They saved this city! I didn’t see YOU step up and fight back! They’re more human than all of you combined! THIS kid,” he nodded to the silent Leo. “Is th’ living example of bravery! Yer a sorry slab of skin that never contributed anything meaningful in yer life, so ya take it out on kids t’ make yourself feel better! Ya ain’t a real man— you’re a fanatical bully with a power trip kink!”

“HE’S AN ANIMAL!”

“HE’S A HERO, YOU FUCKING TWAT!”

Hun’s beady eyes looked as if they were turning red with rage. His hands twisted the cellphone furiously, thin lips curled into a maddening grimace. Good, let him get angry, let him focus his anger on him. Bide your time, maybe someone outside will hear the commotion and call the police.

“What?” He pressed his buttons again, trying to find a weakness. “Did I hurt th’ Big Bad Hun’s feelings? Guess ya ain’t as cutthroat as ya claimed t’ be.”

Hun put the phone down. The scumbag rounded on the yōkai, slowly reaching for something out of view behind him, his wider build making it hard to see what he was grabbing. “You’re gonna regret ever pissing me off.”

Danny blinked, dread rising. “Th’ fuck do y—“

CRACK!

Something hit him across the head.

Something hard, something metal. Heavy as bricks and being swung with the force of a battering ram. It happened so quickly he couldn’t see it.

His brain exploded with agony. Something in the side of his temple shattered, he was certain. Blood came flying out of his scalp and tangled into brown fur.

CRACK! It struck his back next, fracturing the bottom left of his ribs. His world fell sideways. Hun sent Danny toppling to the floor with a resounding crash, the chair crushing his bound arms underneath him with agonizing force. He couldn’t understand what happened to him.

“DAD!” Leo screamed.

“Leo?! DANNY?!” Katie exclaimed over the speaker.

Hun started kicking him in the depths of the stomach. He tried to curl into a ball to hide from the worst of the blows but they were unforgiving and brutal, coming one after the other. Stomping down hard on the chest and abdomen, as though he were trying to create as much internal bleeding as possible. Danny’s vision became a blur of distortion; everything warped and shifted off its axis, colors danced between a thin line of monotone. In the hands of the gang leader he held a long metal bar with a curved, sharp end. A crowbar? When did he bring—

CRACK! The next blow struck him on the collarbone, several more being delivered to his right eye. In mere moments it started swelling— Danny preyed he wouldn’t go blind. Blood erupted from his nostrils, clogging them, making it harder to take a breath without risk of choking. He could taste it in the back of his throat.

Katie was screeching at the top of her lungs venomously, chaotic static warping the high pitch of the phone on speaker. Leo sounded as if he were hyperventilating. The crowbar was brought down into Danny’s shoulder. The arm popped at the socket, dislocated. The next strike hit him square in the stomach. Then the knees. Then the clavicle. He grit his teeth painfully tight, trying not to give in to the anguish that ripped him in pieces. He sank his fangs into his tongue to in the point where he morbidly wondered if he was going to bite clean through and drown in his blood. Don’t scream don’t scream don’t scream don’t scream don’t scream don’t scream DO NOT SCREAM.

“DAD, NO!” Leo sounded ten miles away despite sitting above him, fighting like wild in his bindings. “HUN, GET AWAY FROM HIM, IT’S ME YOU WANT!”

“Not so funny now, huh?” Hun huffed, kicking the rodent yōkai in the diaphragm. “NOT SO CLEVER NOW, AREN’T YOU?!”

Danny returned that visceral bark with his own matching glare. Through bated breath he worked out the words, “B-Be hhere… allll… we-eek…”

With a dismissive click of his tongue, the human sadist weighed the crowbar in his hand, tapping it methodically in the palm with slow, calculated motions. Danny’s blood slathered the thick metal, the curve of the tool drip, drip, dripping in tandem with his heartbeat to the dirty floor. The scenery was eerily familiar. “Such a pity you didn’t last as long as I’d hoped. Since you’re so eager to get a head start on the REAL fun, I’ll let you choose. What should I break first, rat?” Hun hummed casually in thought. “Your back? Your ribs? Your legs? Your arms? Or,” Hun pointed the long metal bar at Leo. “His shell?”

Danny had never known such a bloodcurdling rage. He’d never felt something so guttural, so primal, so inhuman that began to ebb its way throughout his torn veins. The kind of strength that overpowered him in that moment as Hun pointed the crowbar at the turtle was so fierce it would’ve been enough to give him the power to rip himself free. But being so bludgeoned and battered, his willpower would have to suffice. “D-Don’t… you… daaare… touch… m-myyy… son!”

Hun, splashed with dark red blood across his face and shirt, pushed him onto his aching back, a foot planted on his chest to keep him pinned. His eyes stung with hot, burning tears. “Still not catching on. You don’t get to make those decisions. I do. You’re nothing but a mindless animal that can talk back. And animals that start to misbehave deserve to be shown. Their. PLACE!”

Danny squinted against the haze of moisture that clung to his eyelashes, watching as Hun raised the crowbar over his head with a sickeningly masochistic grin.

It came down too fast.

C R A C K!

It struck the top of Danny’s tail near the base of his tailbone.

Bone crumbled beneath the skin like sand.

And Danny finally shrieked like there was no tomorrow.

The sounds he made were animalistic in nature. He writhed, broken tail thrashing and kicking in vain, arms yanking against the ropes tying him down, tearing into his wrists and turning them bloody, screaming every swear in a hodgepodge mix of Italian and Spanish, cursing these pigs for doing this to him, how dare they, how dare they—

“LEAVE MY DAD ALONE! PLEASE!” Leo pleaded, sobs hitching within his throat from afar. “DAD, GET UP!”

Hun tossed the crowbar aside, his horrific work done. It clanged against the ground near the wall farthest from Leo. “Got nothing else to say, rat?” Without hesitation— or mercy— he ground the heel of his shoe into Danny’s broken tail. It only served to make the yōkai scream louder.

“STAY AWAY FROM THEM!” Katie roared. “I’M GONNA KILL YOU, HUN! YOU HEAR ME!? YOU’RE FUCKING DEAD!”

“You want them?“ Hun shouted loud enough for Katie to hear him, barking out a disgraceful laugh. “Come get them! I’d more than happy to get rid of your precious pets!”

Danny’s heart pounded hard and fast in his ears. Blood roared like an ocean in his veins. Despite being beaten within an inch of his life, despite his hearing being spotty, he caught those words and hung on like a vice.

Hun was baiting her. He was anticipating her razor thin temper going off.

He was using Danny’s pain as ammo to fuel her fiery fury and catch her off guard.

Hun would have Katie and the kids within the hour.

Without regard for his safety any longer, Danny hollered at the top of his lungs. “KATHRINE! ¡NO VENGAS AQUÍ! ¡ES UNA EMBOSCADA! ¡TIENE CHICOS CON ARMAS ESPERANDO A TI Y A LOS NIÑOS! OBTENGA A LEO, OLVÍDATE DE MÍ—“

Hun kicked him with unforgiving force in the throat, cutting him off; the windpipe crushed under the blow he coughed out blood this time, splattering across the man’s foot. Blind with pain the yōkai thrashed against his bonds with a renewed fervor but it was no use. Nothing he tried worked. He was trapped.

Helpless.

Useless.

Weak.

Pathetic.

“Come to the Harrison Textile Warehouse by eight o’clock tonight!” Hun shouted. “And bring all your freaks with you! Otherwise, I’ll skin the rat alive and use his fur as a new lining for my coat! And I’ll turn the terrapin into a hood ornament!” Hun marched over to Leo’s phone, where Katie still screamed for the mammoth to stay away from the two, and crushed it beneath his foot.

The silence following the call’s end was deafening.

Danny lay on his back in the chair, choking on blood that became too thick in his throat, filling his mouth too fast. His body twitched and shuddered in anguish, his hands unable to tend to any of the fresh gashes or bruises. But through all the immeasurable turmoil his body was currently experiencing, Danny glared ruefully at the human with a kind of darkness he’d only felt once in his life— when Katie had been mutated by Draxum, when that crazed monster had put his hands on her. Spitting the blood from his mouth the yōkai shakily growled, “Y-You d-du-mb f-fuck… Sh-e’ll nnnnever… fall… fer yer… b-bull-shit…”

Hun scoffed. “Sounds like she’s already got the memo.” He crouched down to Danny’s level, hands painted red as they sat on his knees. “And you two are going to be SCREWED.”

Leo struggled with a vengeance, fighting desperately to break loose of his ropes, vivid tears streaming down the kid’s cheeks. The slider grit his teeth furiously with vile rage as he yelled at the human. “YOU’RE THE WHO’S GONNA BE SCREWED WHEN I GET OUTTA HERE! I’M GONNA TELEPORT YOUR SORRY ASS TO MARS FOR HURTING MY DAD!”

“I’d like to see you try.” Hun smirked cruelly. Reaching up to his ear he pressed a finger to it and gave a command. “Someone come drag these pests downstairs to set up for the woman’s arrival! We’re gonna be having a family reunion!”

Danny blinked slowly, thin lines of red trailing down the side of his face imitating a ghoulish tear. He weakly turned his head to look at Leo, who still fought the confines of the chair and shouted threats at Hun. The edges of his blurred vision were tinted with fog so much he worried he was starting to succumb to a probable concussion… that, or something far worse. Brain bleed? Hemorrhage? No, he couldn’t leave Leo behind, he couldn’t allow him to get hurt, he’d break his oath to Kat if he passed out now.

He stretched his neck upward, grinding his teeth in excruciating anguish when he attempted to move despite being bound. Nobody was going to lay a hand on that kid. Not if he could still breathe. Not if he could still fight back to some extent. He’d rather die first that let these bozos harm his boy. “‘Eee-ooh…” he groaned in vain, straining his voice to try and reach the teen.

Leo froze, his face wrought with all types of emotions: panic, despair, terror, confusion. Every ounce of grief he’d had for the boy intensified once he noticed the kid weeping for his sake. “Dad…”

More blood gathered into his mouth. Gurgling the man spat it to the side to the best of his ability, head swimming with internal trauma. “M’… rrright… h-here…” he choked on the words, sputtering as air hitched into his lungs, struggling for the chance to breathe. “Nnnnott… go-goin’… nowhere…”

But something lurked out of the corner of his eye. Leo caught it. His eyes widened, struggling tenfold. “No, NO! D—“

Danny’s consciousness was robbed of him when the metal bar came down across the back of his head with the power to shatter bone…

And the world around him went black.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

DANNY IS NOT HAVING FUN 😂😂😂

Don’t worry for long, cuz Katie is coming to save them! IN THE SECOND PART 😅😂

Stay tuned!!

@queen-with-the-quill @tending-the-hearth @figuringitoutasigoalong @goldenflowerdragon @lameboobah @wasted-and-ready

[angelmichelangelo]

new mutant mayhem fic! spoilers ahead so don’t read if you don’t want the movie spoiled for you!

[eternalwhumper]

I am in my tmnt phase now so I will be posting tmnt whump along with my usual.

[whatup345]

LIKE FATHER LIKE SON LIKE FATHER LIKE SON LIKE FATHER LI

The whumpee had always had heaps of potential waiting to be nurtured, yet the whumpee refused to harness this. The constant denial of what they could be angered the whumper, the whumpee in their eyes was wasting their gift- so really, by capturing them they could finally teach them how to properly settle into their role. The whumper will mold the whumpee into what they were truly meant to be, whether the whumpee wants to or not.

[grey-viridian]

Twins Angst My Beloved

[whispering-about-the-tmnt]

Some headcanons regarding TMNT physiology

Over the years, I have come up with some headcanons regarding how I believe the Ninja Turtles' bodies work. I thought that perhaps it might be nice to finally share them with all of you.

These don't apply to all the iterations, of course, but they are pretty well universal in my mind, and I tend to incorporate most of them into my fanfics.

The Turtles (like leatherback sea turtles, echidnas, and some dinosaurs) are mesotherms, meaning they are neither warm nor cold blooded. They are, instead, in a middle-ground: they internally generate heat, but not to a constant temperature. In the Turtles' case, they will shiver when cold, and their bodies will not shut down right away when the temperature dips too low, though they may lose some energy and find it hard to concentrate.

Unlike many other modern reptiles and amphibians, who have a three-chambered heart, the Turtles have four-chambered hearts (like mammals and dinosaurs) that are larger and stronger than average human hearts and located at the center of their chests.

While the average human blood capacity is around five liters, the Turtles have about seven. Much of the blood flows under the shell -- a remnant of their lives as ordinary turtles, whose own blood does so in order to warm them when they bask. This means that the Turtles could lose close to three liters of blood before dying, while a human would only be able to lose two.

Their blood is also highly efficient at clotting, but that also means that storing blood for transfusions is difficult, and so must be directly transfused from one turtle to another in emergency situations.

Owing to their extensive circulatory system, they also have a larger lung capacity than humans and more oxygen-rich blood, and so are able to hold their breath for extended periods of time without adverse effects. Other than this, the Turtles' respiratory system is very much like humans', utilizing a diaphragm to inflate and deflate their lungs.

Like regular turtles, they do not have ribs, but rather their carapaces and plastrons serve that purpose, and they have muscles under their shells that keep their internal organs right where they belong.

Also like regular turtles, their spines curve along the insides of their shells. A direct hit on the center of their shells, then, could cause damage to their spinal column and nervous system, but fortunately their vertebral shields offer a fair amount of protection, so it would take quite an impact.

The Turtles are highly resistant to most infections and diseases, which increases their immunological responses. They do not get sick easily, and they recover quickly.

While their scales are not apparent, they are integrated into their skin, making it tougher than human skin. It takes a very hard hit to raise a bruise, and it is difficult to cut through without a very sharp or pointed blade.

Their bones are similar to humans, but are more resistant to breaking. They also heal quicker and stronger if they are broken.

Their muscles are also very close to human-like, but they are stronger than an average human due to compensating for the extra weight they carry in their shells. Because of this, their ligaments and tendons are also tougher, and it is difficult for them to have a joint dislocated.

Their sense of smell is more acute than humans, but not to an extreme degree. They are also not as bothered by foul smells (though this has more to do with living in a sewer than their physiology).

Their eyes are a bit tougher and more resistant to damage than human eyes due to a protective membrane that covers them. They see a bit better than humans in dark places and underwater.

Their hearing is somewhat more attuned to lower frequencies than human hearing, and is not dependent on external ears but rather an internal auditory system (making direct damage to their hearing unlikely).

They are capable of being knocked unconscious, but it takes a significant impact. Permanent or lingering damage to their brains is unlikely due to their structure, and so they also do not tend to suffer the same side-effects that humans would in the same circumstances (nausea, memory loss, etc.).

Although their nutritional needs are similar to humans, they do not need to eat every day, and in fact can get by quite well without food for a week if necessary (though they won't enjoy it). When food is readily available, however, they will eat as much as possible to store up energy. Their metabolism does not slow down when they do not eat, so overexerting themselves when they haven't had any food for a while can burn them out suddenly.

Their sleep schedules are much like most diurnal animals, though they are able to stay awake for extended periods of time and can get by on little sleep, if necessary. There have been times when they have been awake for days on end, getting by on short one hour naps here and there. In general, though, they like to have a regular sleep/wake cycle.

Like other reptiles, the Turtles never stop growing throughout their lifetimes; however their growth is slow, topping off at about 1-2 inches every five years.

Does anyone have anything they would like to add to the list? I actually had fun compiling it!

[sad-leon]

firefight animatic for my lovely friend @remedyturtles [Spoilers up until Chapter 9]

unfortunately the last chunk of frames are incomplete and will likely remain that way as i have hit a massive mental brick wall -- probably an ugly mix of depression and burnout -- but I wanted to share my vision, so I edited what I had

Song Used: Dancing After Death by Matt Maeson

wish I had more to say but im dead on the floor,, sorry

[awjeezleapinglemurs]

Human!AU comic by @sketchyvvero on Instagram posted here with permission (mobile isn’t letting me link up their insta)

Go give them a follow their artwork is incredible and heart wrenching 🫠🥲😍

[tmnt-whump]

Note: Use whatever criteria you want to determine what "whump potential" means!

[taleeater]

The hero is bulletproof. Their s/o? Is not.

The hero rescues their s/o from a kidnapping/hostage situation. During the exchange, their s/o runs into their open loving arms.

A gunshot.

The hero looks down, a crushed bullet falls off their chest. Their s/o’s knees buckle and the hero quickly catches them. Their eyes wide as a trickle of blood runs down from the corner of their mouth. Red bleeds through the front and back of their shirt.

The villain laughs. They escape with the goods the hero had exchanged for the safe return of their lover. They never lied, their lover was safe when they returned them. That didn’t mean that’s how they had to leave them.

[indieyuugure]

Hey, Indie! :)

Would it be alright if we could get another sneak peak at the Mutation Situation? :) Totally get it if you're busy! Just thought I'd ask. :) Alllsoooo have any angst or whump panels you could show? :)

Hope you're having a lovely day today!

~ Melissa

Of course! I haven’t worked much on the actual pages much, but as for angst/whump panels, I do have one that I’m pretty sure you guys haven’t seen all the way yet.

Honestly should probably work more on the concept art and story boarding for TMS lol😅

Hopefully this is what you wanted, I’ve shown you guys almost all of the concept art and stuff for TMS at this point, guess I better start scribbling.

[maddys-nerd-blog]

HOWDY!! I’m back with my nonsense 🤣

In the middle of me working on the short story and getting it all finished, I had this whumptober one shot all done to share in the meantime!!

It’s a sequel of sorts to my previous whumptober short featuring my OC Lilium and ‘03 Donatello!! This one takes place during the episode ‘Space Invaders Part 3’, hence why some of the dialogue is true to the episode itself!

I hope you guys like this!! 😊

Electric

A TMNT 2003 One Shot

Whumptober Prompt: Electrocution

Never in a million years did Lilium believe she would find herself caught in the middle of a storm this dangerous. When she was a kid she’d read stories about Robin Hood, Hercules, Rapunzel; heroes who more often than not found creative and clever methods to escape the sticky situations they found themselves in. Fairy tales were her main method of escape from the madness in her life— a way to delve into the worlds of fantasy creatures, elves, hobbits, goblins and imps on quests to save the world. To make believe her life could be as fantastical, had it not been for the burden of a curse she didn’t understand.

Sometimes she wished she didn’t have her voice. Sometimes she wanted to give her power to someone who craved the glimmer and glam of fame, someone who could use it better than her. It was torture.

Donnie would constantly assure her that her powers were in good hands. “Better you than some guy who’d use it to take over the music industry. Or the world, given our line of work,” he jested in order to lift her mood one night, over a game of checkers. She thought he was right at the time.

But the storm came eventually. It always did.

And it came in the form of walking, talking dinosaur aliens rampaging the city, rounding up citizens and attacking anyone who stood in their way. They didn’t spare the lives of those unfortunate enough to get caught in the crossfire. Momma and Auntie had gone to help those in need, leaving Lilium in the care of her companions.

Which led to Donnie getting captured, and Lilium being taken along as a hostage.

The storm was never far behind her heels… and she wished it would just end her suffering.

*********************

Ten Years Ago…

“Don-Chan? What do you wanna be when you grow up?” Lilium idly asked, shaking the plastic snow globe to watch the glitter within shimmer down, gliding in the water to create the illusion of snowfall.

Donatello looked up from where he lay on the ground, having been hyper-focused on finishing his drawing of a Gundam robot, to regard his friend with a curious tilt of his head. “What do y’ mean?”

The girl, without looking away from the snow globe in her hands, asked again, “What do you wanna be?” Muted awe colored a round face as the glimmer shined, surrounding the miniature sculpture of a jolly Santa Claus in his sleigh. “A doctor?”

Donatello put his colored pencil down, sitting up to better rest on his knees, the small turtle still curious. “I dunno. Why?”

“At school we’re learning ‘bout jobs! Miss Hart asked me what I wanna be, but I didn’t know. So I wanna ask you what you wanna do too!” Lilium beamed, shaking her snow globe to watch the snow fall a second time.

“But I don’t go to school,” Donatello pointed out. “I don’t think I can have a grown up job when I’m older…” he looked down at his hands, where three digits on each appendage stood out like a sore thumb. “Sensei says the surface is bad.”

“But I’m from the surface and I’m not bad,” Lilium finally tore her eyes away from the little knickknack, bright and chipper. “There’s lots’a good things on the surface! Like cotton candy and the park and pigeons and Mommy’s favorite opera house!”

Donatello frowned solemnly. “And there’s lots’a bad people too,” he added. “Like people who don’t like things that’re different. Like… me.” He picked up a blue crayon, playing with it idly with a defeated sigh. “I think that’s why we live in th’ sewer. Cuz nobody will find us.”

Lilium hummed, conflicted, turning the snow globe in her hands a few times as though to think. The girl looked at him, then the globe, and she smiled. “Hey!” She thrust the trinket into his own hands. “Let’s play make believe! We can pretend we’re th’ things we wanna be when we’re grown ups!”

Donatello looked at the plastic knickknack, blinking with surprise as the girl sprang to her feet to run to the neon pink backpack she’d brought with her for the play date. She rummaged around to look for something, putting other items aside to the floor until she grabbed what she wanted. “See?”

Lilium held out a plastic green microphone. “I wanna be a singer!” She pushed a button on the side of the toy, a pop song playing sorely out of tune but the child didn’t take too much notice. “I’m gonna be like Belle on Broadway! Or I can be like Nancy Drew!” She posed like a detective holding a magnifying glass. “Elementary my dear Winston!”

“It’s Watson, I think.”

“Elementary my dear Watson!”

This got Donatello to start laughing. He only stopped when Lilium pointed her microphone at him, as if she were a news reporter asking a question. “So what d’you wanna be?”

Donatello paused, giving it some thought. Reaching out he took the toy from her, holding it in both hands as though he were going to sing. “… being an astronaut sounds kinda cool.” He spoke timidly. “And… a scientist. An inventor too.” He smiled a little. “I wanna make stuff that helps my brothers… and help my Sensei.”

Lilium’s eyes sparkled in glee. She sat down cross legged, giving the boy her full attention. “What would you make?”

“… a jet pack!” Donatello’s face turned excited at the idea, increasingly growing animated. “I can fly all around th’ world and do anything! Or, what if I make a gauntlet powered by solar energy?! And rocket boots! And a robot!”

Both children laughed so loud it echoed off the walls of the damp sewers that spanned everywhere around them. Sharing dreams in the endless junction of tunnels and pipes where emptiness roamed, two lively spirits basked in the joys of their aspirations and what they would bring one day. They laughed and laughed until their sides hurt, slumping against the brick wall behind them, wiping tears off their faces. Human and turtle sank into a comfortable silence as their laughter trailed off into a series of soft giggles, surrounded by their toys and coloring books, papers covered with brightly colorful creatures and monsters only children could think of. Had it not been for the fact that Donatello was a mutant, these innocent drawings would have been the basis of their imaginations.

“… hey Don-Chan?” Lilium asked again.

“Yeah?” Donatello quarried.

“… if we grow up to do th’ things we want, and we get t’ be famous or something,” Lilium sat upright to properly address him. “And we still remember each other… can we stay together forever?”

Donatello looked at the girl with confusion. “Forever?”

Lilium nodded. “When our dreams come true.”

The turtle smiled. Nodding vigorously he shot to his feet, eyes big and enthusiastic. “Yeah! We can be a team! I’ll make you music stuff and you can try out my gear! We can be just like Batman and Robin!”

“Yeah!” Lilium agreed. “We can do tons of stuff! We’ll change the world! I can help you too when I get my magic!”

“Promise?”

Lilium stuck out her hand. “Shake on it!” She nodded. “So that way it’s a real promise!”

Donatello, without missing a beat, shook her hand in return. “It’s a deal!”

Little did the children know that this promise would be held true, but not in the way they had been expecting.

*******************

Present Day…

Lilium grunted as she was carelessly chucked to the floor of this strange alien spaceship, turning her head just fast enough to avoid shattering her chin upon impact. Unable to shield herself from the initial landing, the Siren could only endure the cruel abuse from the towering Triceraton guards behind her. Their blasters were cocked and ready to open fire should she try to run or put up any resistance. The strange breathing apparatus strapped to her waist and the tube in her mouth helped get air into her lungs, but she couldn’t help but feeling like a fish out of water wearing it.

Groaning in pain, Lilium used her bound hands to try to push herself up to sit on her knees. The illuminated glow of her shackles stung her eyes, the cuffs magnifying her wrists together as though they had been fused with superglue, granting her limited mobility and limited access to use her arms, although she should be counting her blessings that they’d been bound in front of her rather than behind her back. The Siren hissed as an irritating ache pulsed throughout her chest. Damn, solid steel really did a number on your ribs…

Only a minute later a similar thud struck the ground, the difference being this landing was harder, thrown with more force. Joining her at her side, Donatello raised his gaze towards their guards with an expression of anger. His own hands sat in his lap, also cuffed, but Lilium knew for certain that regardless of being bound he could probably break bones and deal severe damage if he wanted to.

But one subtle glimpse spared in her direction softened his gaze, relenting. For now.

Once the guard’s attention was sent elsewhere he took the chance to properly shift closer to her, lowering his voice to speak. “Are you okay?” He murmured.

She nodded. “I think… nothing’s busted or sprained.” Doing a quick once over of the turtle she asked, “What about you?”

“Me?” Donatello chuckled under his breath, shaking his head. “It’s nothing I’m not used to. Probably just a few bruises. I’m fine.” She must have made some kind of somber face because he reassured her, “Hey, really. I’m alright. I can take it.”

“You shouldn’t have to…” Lilium protested. “I don’t want you being hurt.”

“I don’t want you being hurt either you know,” he countered. “This isn’t like the Purple Dragons or the Foot. These guys are pretty unhinged. The less they pay attention to you, that’ll be more than enough for me.”

The way he made it sound gave her goosebumps. What did he mean, exactly? If he brought the guard’s ire onto him, it’d be better? If they abused him, tossed him around, used him like a battering ram, or god forbid, tortured him… it’d be fine? Because he was used to it?

Because he thought it was fine?

Lilium’s hands shook. “You shouldn’t have to be,” she reiterated painfully. She grit her teeth to refrain from getting emotional, but ever the genius, Donatello could easily sense her unrest.

Reaching for her hands, his fingers gently wrapped around her own, thumb brushing across her knuckles with all the care he could offer. “You’ll be okay,” he promised. “Everything will be alright.”

“But I want you to be alright too,” she whimpered. Her fingers squeezed his with an earnest plea, voice tinted with remorse. “You don’t have to risk your life for me. You shouldn’t have to, Donnie.”

“That’s my job, Lily.” He murmured. “You’re my priority. Don’t worry about me; I can handle them.”

She squeezed his fingers again, tears prickling her eyes, burning and stubborn as her lips quivered. “Don-Chan,” she pleaded. “I need you to stay safe too. What would I do if I lost you?”

Donatello’s eyes softened significantly; she only ever used his nickname in times of stress, when she wanted him to listen to her. His hands, gentle and kind, gripped hers back. “Lily…” he spoke in a voice above a whisper. “You’re not going to lose me.” He slipped his hand free from hers, raising them towards her face. Soon he was tilting her head up by her chin, allowing her to better match his gaze. His expression was tender, nothing but offering consolation, taking extra care to ensure her safety before his own… it broke her heart. “I’m not leaving you. I wouldn’t needlessly put myself in the line of fire if it meant I couldn’t protect you.” Donatello sounded determined despite their predicament. “You’re one of the most important things to me in my life. I…” he faltered slightly in his words, as though struggling to find the right things to say.

“Donnie…?” Lilium mumbled, using her own hands to take both of his into hers.

He hesitated. “… do you remember when we were kids?” He asked. “When we promised each other we’d stay together forever?”

Lilium nodded.

“… the past couple days I was thinking about it.” His fingers held hers tighter. “Things were so much simpler when we didn’t have to worry about Shredder or Karai, or Hun, or any of this.” Sadness wasted over him, studying the small nicks and cuts traced across his hands, on Lilium’s palm. “Going through all of this the past year taught me something. A lesson I never learned until I came home from space the first time.”

His hands, still cradling her own, started shaking. “Time is fleeting. And if you waste it chasing down the demons in your life, you’ll never be happy. I’ve spent so many years trying to figure out what I felt for you. What that promise meant to me.” His voice was as delicate as glass, as if any moment the moment would be broken by the smallest sign of hesitation. But Lilium never shied away. Her hands still held on to his, fingers gripping both of his hands to offer comfort, to offer anything to give him the kindness he’d always bestowed to her. “You matter to me… and I never get the chance to tell you that.”

Lilium’s heart ached. The marks on her throat hummed in place of her vocabulary, the magic contained within stirring, emotions beginning to run rampant as the underlying implications of his words began to hit home. Is he trying to say what I think he is…?

“… Donnie?” She quietly chirped in the silence between them. “There’s something I wanna tell you.”

The purple masked turtle raised his gaze, holding his breath. His hands held onto hers a little tighter, as if preparing for whatever she was going to say. But before they could continue, a shadow loomed over the two like a bad omen, cutting their conversation to a standstill. Both teenagers snapped their attention up to the sudden appearance of the Triceraton with the pirate eyepatch. She vaguely recalled Donnie saying this one was ‘Mozar.’

There was a vicious sneer on his face, glaring at them with malice. Without a word of warning he seized Donatello— grabbing hold of the genius by his wrists with one mighty hand he yanked him off the ground, hoisting him off his feet like he weighed nothing. Almost instantly the turtle started fighting back, writhing in his grasp. “HEY! Let me go!”

“DONNIE!” Lilium shouted with alarm. She went to reach for him but the towering form of the Triceraton was too intimidating. He easily swatted her away, pushing the girl back into the awaiting hands of another guard behind her. His fingers latched around her arms and the claws dug deep, sinking into the skin hard enough to puncture through, drawing blood. She struggled and kicked her legs to wriggle free, but the cuffs clasped around her wrists refused to budge. “Put us down you creeps!”

“Listen, you pea-brained geckos! How many times do I have to tell you!?” Donatello cried, pinning a glare onto Mozar. “The Fugitoid! Is not! On Earth!”

“Our brains may be small, terrapin scum,” Mozar hissed, setting the turtle to his feet to drag him up the steps of the alter where a giant screen on the wall and a luxurious throne stood awaiting them. She didn’t miss how when his fist tightened around Donatello’s hands, bones started crunching. “But our tracking equipment does not lie.”

Unceremoniously he threw Donatello forward, the genius stumbling to correct his footing as he was presented to the man behind this insidious scheme. The Triceraton holding Lilium soon followed, but he wasn’t releasing her, much to the Siren’s chagrin as she continued to struggle feebly.

Mozar pointed to the screen overhead, showing the teenagers some kind of map that displayed a signal, with a trajectory course towards their planet. “The Fugitoid’s teleportation trail leads directly to your planet!” He accused.

“He was on Earth! But he’s not there anymore!” Donatello protested.

The man in the throne— a pompous, fickle tyrant with no patience for this charade of cat and mouse going by the name Zanramon— leaned forward in his seat, snapping back at Donatello. “Then where is he?!”

Donatello froze. His hands gripped into fists, his eyes falling to the floor to avoid meeting the brutal gaze of the madman. With a shake of his head he confessed, “I can’t tell you that!”

“Can’t?” Zanramon narrowed his gaze, his words cutting into the turtle with no chance to breathe. “Or won’t?”

Donatello fell silent. He turned away, refusing to comply to the dictator. Lilium could feel the apprehension in the air, the brewing tension that was about to break. She held her breath in fear for her friend, eyes darting between him and the mighty ruler with a crown made out of the suffering of hundreds he’d stepped over to obtain his power.

Zanramon huffed, sitting back, folding his hands under his chin as he beckoned Mozar forth. She hadn’t noticed the one eyed alien slip away, didn’t notice him retrieve something hidden from view. “Very well. We ‘pea-brained geckos’ will just have to extract the information from your oversized terrapin brain.”

The tension snapped. Lilium was dragged away, taken to stand at Zanramon’s side, as though giving her a front row seat of what was about to happen. “DONNIE!” The girl panicked, kicking and struggling as Donatello was taken by surprise, Mozar stepping in to place the unknown device over Donatello’s head.

From any other perspective it looked like an ordinary bicycle helmet. But as Donatello started to writhe, tried to reach his bound hands up to push it off, she noticed it covered his eyes, blinding him, a small panel on the top of his head lighting up as it began to charge.

And it activated.

Lilium gasped in horror when Donatello began to scream— sounds she never wanted to hear, terrible, awful, gruesome noises of anguish, unable to stay standing any longer, buckling to his knees as powerful surges of electricity rocked his skull and pierced through his brain. She watched helplessly as the turtle desperately fought to stay stable against the agony, but the pain overwhelmed him.

All at once, the screen behind her lit up. In a matter of seconds, Lilium could see snippets of his entire life being played out like a film for all those present to see. Her mouth dropped open in dismay as she began to watch his memories unfold before her very eyes; his childhood, his happier memories with his brothers, his Sensei, building the remote-controlled toy car he’d been so proud of, meeting April and Casey…

Lilium’s stomach twisted. This was horrifying. To have your brain trifled with as though you were a filing cabinet, people prying into your personal life to scan through the most cherished parts of your memories like they meant nothing…

“STOP!” Lilium screamed, struggling against the guard that still had a vice on her. “STOP HURTING HIM! PLEASE! WHATEVER YOU’RE LOOKING FOR IS GONE! HE DOESN’T LIE!”

Zanramon raised an unamused brow in her direction. “Oh? And how do you know?”

“Because he wouldn’t lie about something like this!” Lilium pleaded. “I swear, he’s not hiding anything! Whatever you want, it’s probably gone! Let him go! Please!”

Zanramon stared at her, studying her, as if to gauge her emotions to see if she was also trying to hide the truth. Donatello continued to cry out and shake where he sat, the mind probe ripping him in twain, as his life was displayed against his will.

The dictator’s eyes flickered up towards the screen. A devilish smirk rose to the surface. “Oh! Look at that!” He seized her by the face, fingers digging into the soft parts of her jaw with a vengeance, forcing her to look as the memories took a shift. “I believe that’s you!”

Me…? Her stomach dropped as her attention became captured unwillingly by the screen. True to his word, Donatello’s memories began to show the moments of his life that contained her.

And what she saw drove her to tears.

They were brief, they were gone in seconds, but these were the parts of their lives that he held dear.

Meeting as kids. Becoming friends.

The promise they made.

Reuniting years later, eager to make up for lost time.

The day her curse became poignant, nearly destroying his hearing. Her sobbing hysterically in the aftermath, his hands holding hers, reassuring he was alright.

Falling into the pier, nearly drowning, flailing in the dark abyss of the Hudson. His face being the first thing she saw when she came too, how scared he looked.

A botched school dance gone to waste. The record shop. A jukebox playing ‘Brandy, You’re a Fine Girl.’ The two of them dancing the night away in the company of his brothers and April, unafraid of how badly they tried to keep up with the tempo and tripping over their feet.

The night on the rooftop. A blanket of stars. A repaired stereo softly playing some of Mandy Moore’s songs. His hand in hers, her voice quiet and timid. “I think I like you.”

But there were other memories. Ones she were certain were his and his alone.

Her head resting on his shoulder, asleep, as a vintage noir film played on the living room televisions. Casablanca, she recalled. His free hand reached up to brush the loose hair from her face, hesitant, unsure, as he spoke softly. “Is it wrong for me to love you?”

Her unconscious in a sterile hospital bed, hooked up to wires and tubes, breathing unsteady, sickly and weak, Siren symbols sinking deeper into her skin, spreading throughout her body as though they were weeds. His hands grasped hers, trembling, pleading. “Just hang on, I’ll fix this—“

Singing in his lab when everyone was asleep, practicing her auditions, his hands working on a new time watch as her voice grew in emotion. When their eyes locked again she giggled, blushing.

Looking down from the catwalk, hidden from plain sight over the school’s theater stage, watching Lilium’s first solo from afar. The moment she looked up and spotted him during the applause her eyes glistened with joy.

Pinning a set of bluebell flowers into her hair behind her ears, face bright and cheery, eyes brimming with affection meant only for him in a crowd of thousands.

And for these bastards to rip through his brain, to toy with his mind, to rifle through the most important parts of his past just for their own gain…

“YOU MONSTER!” She cried, tears streaming down her face as she pried herself free of Zanramon’s clutches. “YOU’RE AN ANIMAL! You have no right to look through his memories!”

“Tell me where the Fugitoid is! Then I shall grant him mercy!”

“I don’t know what that is! I don’t know who you’re talking about!”

Zanramon scowled. “So be it.”

The mind probe surged powerfully, making Donatello scream even louder. The horrible sounds he made would forever engrain themselves into the worst parts of her mind where night terrors would claim her. He continued struggling, wrists pulling in vain on his shackles that glowed the same bright blue of the mind probe’s main circuit piece on the top of his head, teeth grinding painfully as he fought for control. His body seized and shook under the force of the shocks, unforgiving zaps of electrical power draining his stamina each passing minute. He wouldn’t last long like this.

Something in the probe started charging once more, and Donatello’s screams turned into roars of anguish. His back straightened, fists clenched at his chest, fighting for freedom as the screen started showing memories of a robot. Even against the strain of torture, he tried to break through.

But the mind probe persisted, and he continued roaring in turmoil.

“STOP THIS!” Lilium screamed, tears blinding her to the display of gruesome torture. “LEAVE HIM ALONE! YOU’LL KILL HIM! LET HIM GO!”

But her pleas went ignored.

No matter how many times she screamed his name, begged for him to fight back, pleaded for mercy, they disregarded her presence as though she were a nuisance.

Donatello bared his teeth, struggling to rise. His head lifted aimlessly towards the ceiling, as if searching for something against the visor that blinded him. And with the last of his strength, he screamed for someone. “MASTER… SPLINTER!”

But in the depths of space, his cry went ignored.

Or… had it?

Lilium watched on in silent despair as Donatello’s body began to shudder tremendously, his voice failing, his posture slouching to fall in on himself. Unable to withstand the brutal anguish of the electrocution any further. His cuffed hands struggled to rise to his chest, clasped as though in prayer.

But the probe responded with a hellishly swift strike of electricity into the throes of his brain. And to Lilium’s horror, his body seized momentarily before the helmet sizzled, the panel on the top of his head popping.

And once the torture ceased, Donatello’s body teetered forward.

He struck the ground with a lifeless slam.

Lilium could bare it no longer as she tore herself free of the guards— their claws ripped through the frail skin of her arms, blood pushing through her sleeves. She couldn’t feel any pain. “DONNIE!”

She slid to her knees the moment she was within reach. Bound hands found purchase to his shoulder, grunting as she turned him onto his back the best she could. Lilium used her fingers to push the helmet off of him, wrenching the sickening devise away, throwing it down the steps to be forgotten.

But…

His face was unreadable. His eyes were closed. His mouth was slightly ajar. There were burns on the sides of his temple, dark spots singing his purple mask. A thick line of red slowly trickled down the corner of his lips.

He remained still as stone where he lay. Unmoving.

Lilium’s hands flew to her mouth, rendered speechless as a gasp strangled her throat. Unable to tear her eyes away from him, she reached down to shake his shoulder, as though willing him to respond, internally begging him to move, to speak, to react.

Nothing.

Lilium’s throat tightened. “… Donnie?”

Silence.

“Donnie…” she whimpered, shaking him with more force. “Don-Chan… please…”

Silence.

Her eyes burned. “Donnie…” she choked. Her voice trembled beneath the growing realization of what lay before her. “Donatello can you hear me?”

Silence…

“DONNIE!” Lilium shook him one more time, hands holding onto his shoulder. “Donatello! Please…!”

“Such a waste,” Zanramon scoffed from his throne. “I guess he wasn’t so smart after all!”

She refused to listen to the raving dictator. Her hands touched the frozen face of the genius laying still on the ground, desperately trying to wake him. He didn’t even flinch. “Donnie,” Lilium pleaded. “Donatello don’t do this to me. You promised! You promised!” She shook him again, tone rising with her grief. “Please! Wake up! Please come back! Your family needs you! The world needs you! You have so much to offer! Donnie please, WAKE UP!”

His lifeless face became hazy as her vision grew blurred. There was nothing but a fire that raged on in her eyes, burning, piercing her gaze with fury as the horrifying reality began to dawn on her. “Please…!”

This couldn’t be real. He couldn’t be…

He was the strongest person she’d ever known. There was no way he was…

Gone.

This can’t be happening, this can’t be happening, there’s no way he can be gone, he can’t be dead, he can’t be, he can’t, he can’t be!

White noise flooded her senses. She could no longer hear the self-entitled mockery of Zanramon. She could no longer hear the sound of the screen on the wall depicting unwavering carnage at the hands of Triceratons. Nor could she hear the slow progression of inhuman screams that came out of her, the despair and ruin of losing the person she trusted more than anything, the person she loved, the sobs that caused her symbols to fizzle erratically with a frenzy only spun by the thread of her pain, a spool endlessly rushing to cull the sullen loss. Deep inside her chest, her heart began to split.

Sobs wracked her frame. Vicious regret ripped her to pieces. Lilium shut her eyes tight, hands falling upon his plastron, curled into fists as though to stir him into consciousness, knowing he wouldn’t respond. “Don-Chan…” she whispered, trying in vain not to think of how still he was, how quiet he was, how his face was slack and unresponsive. “Don’t leave me…”

… what would she tell his family?

How could she face them? She couldn’t save Donnie, she hadn’t been able to help him. They’d never forgive her. She couldn’t blame them if they did. How could she ever forgive herself? How could she continue living with herself knowing she’d failed him?

I never got to tell him… I never got to tell him I loved him…

Why couldn’t I be faster? Why couldn’t I be stronger?! Why?! Why am I so slow?! Why am I so helpless?!

Why am I so WEAK?!

WHY AM I SO USELESS?!

WHY COULDN’T I BE THERE FOR HIM WHEN HE WAS THERE FOR ME?!

WHY CAN’T I—

“…h-he-y…”

The world stopped turning.

Air was ripped from her lungs.

Lilium’s face drained of all blood.

Her head shot up so quickly she thought she’d break her neck.

…

…

She met the unfocused gaze of Donatello.

His eyes— soft brown, foggy and unclear, were blinking slowly and half-mast. Any coherent thought in his brain was put to a standstill, the shock of his torture having run his thinking to a halt. The blood that had dried around the corners of his mouth still created a picture of indescribable agony… but despite all of it, he was fighting to smile.

A weak, lopsided grin formed on his face, bound hands a trembling mess as they attempted to reach for her. Against all odds he tried to talk again, although his speech was altered by stuttering. “H-h-he-yyy.”

Lilium’s face remained solid stone with stunned silence. The symbols somehow felt hotter, hotter, almost reaching a boiling point as she stared at him, millions of words, hundreds of apologies dying on the tip of her tongue.

There were no words she could utter for this miracle.

Donnie was alive. Donnie was alive.

Donatello had survived the impossible and he was breathing and he was talking he was alive he’s alive he’s alive OH MY GOD HE’S ALIVE!

Lilium threw herself at him once more, shackled hands clutching at his plastron. Her wails picked up in volume. Screams turned into helpless bawling. Magic sizzled deep in her throat. She couldn’t think of anything. She couldn’t even speak. She could almost feel his heartbeat, weak as it was from his horrible ordeal, thudding beneath her fists. Th-thump-th-thump-th-thump, skipping in a harmonious succession that promised an encore. His breathing was shallow, but he struggled to lift a pair of trembling cuffed hands to hold her face within his palms, body silently tremoring, reeling from the shock of being electrocuted so viciously, but he stubbornly clung to her like his life depended on it.

Her hair fell around him in a thick inky curtain of black locks that seemed to drape around her shoulders. His fingers held onto her face, a set of lazy eyes seeming to take her in, as though to tell himself she was real.

He spoke in a hoarse voice— too raspy, shredded from screaming, it would probably take a month to heal— but he still whispered all the same. “T-to-old y-ou… n-not go-ing… a-any-wh-ere…”

Her heart sang.

Her Siren symbols illuminated his face with bright pink hues.

And for the first time in hours, Lilium smiled back at him.

**********************

Tada!!! I hope you liked this!! I’ll hopefully have the short story done very soon!! 😊

@queen-with-the-quill @tending-the-hearth @wasted-and-ready @figuringitoutasigoalong @tmnt-tychou

[just-here-for-the-whump]

@whumpgifathon | Day 17: Comfort

Hugging

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