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Dec. 26th, 2008 10:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
aloneindarknes7Chapter Title: Chapter 9: Going Home
Author: Jordan Herbert
Warning: None, wow.
Pairings: Mikey!darkClone/Leo!darkClone, Raph!darkClone/Mikey, Don!darkClone/Don, Raph/Leo
Fandom: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Fast Forward)
Rating: Pg-13 for swearing
Word Count: 4,064
Chapter Summary: Mikey and Don are finally going home.
Author's Note: Okay, for everyone who was very upset with the last chapter, this chapter might make things better.
The lair seemed to echo every step that Rafieo took due to the stillness of the afternoon. In the past few days, the lair had actually started to feel like a home to Rafieo but now it was back to feeling like a cold hiding place and nothing more. He was a stranger once more to the walls surrounding him and the people housed in the same place.
“Hey, Rafieo,” Leon’s voice startled Rafieo and he dropped the plate he was holding. It crashed to the kitchen floor, shattering the plate and ruining any chances of eating the toast Rafieo had made. Technically, that was for the best considering the toast was more of a squared burnt piece of toast with a hint of bread-like features.
“I’ll clean it up,” Rafieo sighed as he began to pile the bigger pieces of ceramic into one hand. He picked up the spoiled food and, instead of letting it go to waste, popped it into his mouth, pieces of ceramic that sprinkled the grain product as well.
Leon knelt down to help clean up as well, making sure to throw most of the broken pieces away before Rafieo ate them as well. He cleared his throat before asking, “Is Mikey awake yet?”
Rafieo sighed loudly and stood up, the floor clean enough. “Kinda,” he shrugged and turned back to the stove to attempt cooking once again.
“What do you mean ‘kind of’?” Leon asked. He would have offered to cook but he was even worse than Rafieo at the stove, if that was possible.
“I mean his eyes are open but he ain’t saying or doing nothing.” Rafieo rubbed at his neck as he grabbed the last piece of bread and threw it into the pan still sitting on the stove. “He wouldn’t answer me when I asked if he was hungry, he didn’t smile when I tried to make a joke, hell, he won’t even look at me! All he’s done is pee and then go straight back into my room to curl up into a ball on my bed.” Rafieo’s shoulders slumped and he glanced over behind him at Leon. “I wish I never had brought him down here.”
“Rafieo,” Leon frowned and placed a hand on his brother’s shoulder for a moment. “Listen, things will get better. You need to be understanding and allow Mikey to grieve over his brother. It’s going to take a lot of time. Remember how you grieved over David when he died?”
“Yeah, but once I woke up I was better ‘cause I had a dream that he was in a better place.” Rafieo explained. “And that’s not the problem.” He rubbed at his neck once again and grabbed the piece of makeshift toast to flip it.
“It’s just that,” he sighed, “Mikey’s so happy and he forgives real quick and he’s always moving around. But now he’s not and it’s because of me.” He thumped his hand down on the countertop, creating an indent in the metal top. “If I had left him alone and only admired him from afar like I had been doing, then Mikey wouldn’t have been hurt by me so much. He’d still be a virgin and he’d still have his brother and he wouldn’t be acting so,” Rafieo paused as he picked up the toast that was slightly burnt but not as bad as the first piece had been. He sat it on a new plate and turned around to face Leon. “So dead on the inside,” he frowned. “It’s like I killed everything I loved about him because I wanted to love him.”
Leon merely frowned at his brother, unknowing of anything else he could possibly do or say to make his brother feel better. “I’m sorry,” He finally managed to get out. He remembered the time he spent with the four original turtles. The entire stay, Michelangelo had been bouncing off the walls and grinning like a loon. Leon couldn’t image him as any other way. It didn’t seem right.
Rafieo shook his head and sighed as he headed back to his room, new piece of toast in hand. “You don’t have nothing to be sorry about. I’m the one that’s sorry.” He sighed and entered his room, not even bothering to force a smile onto his face.
“Mikey,” he called out as he spotted Mikey still curled up on his bed. It didn’t look like he had moved since Rafieo had left. “Hey, Mikey, I made you some breakfast,” he offered as he sat behind Mikey on the bed. “Come on, Mikey, you have to eat something.” He insisted and forced Mikey into a sitting position.
Mikey looked up at him blankly and Rafieo frowned. “Come on, Mikey, please, just take one little bite of the toast.” He begged, “For me, please?”
Mikey actually moved a little on his own and Rafieo smiled widely as he held the toast out to him. Instead of reaching for the food though, Mikey wrapped his arms around his bent legs and buried his head on his knees as his body began to shake with sobs once more. Rafieo frowned and placed the disregarded piece of toast on the ground as he gently rubbed Mikey’s shell and whispered soft words to him.
“Its okay, Mikey,” Rafieo moved closer to him on the bed. “Let it all out, it’s okay to miss him.”
Mikey pulled his head away from his knees and wrapped his arms around Rafieo, clinging to him for dear life as he continued to sob desperately against his neck. Rafieo frowned and held tightly onto the trembling turtle.
“I’m sorry, Mikey,” Rafieo clenched his eyes shut to stop his own tears from falling. “I’m so sorry.” Mikey continued to sob.
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
Donald moved around the glass casing, inspecting the printed out charts with a grin. “Things are working out to my favor it seems.” He spoke aloud as the tank slowly finished filling with the odd green liquid, causing Donatello’s body to float, a breathing tube in place down his throat.
He gently traced Don’s face on the glass with his finger, smirking. “Now we just need to repair your brain and everything will be as it was. Your suicide attempt failed, Donnie; you won’t leave me that easily.” Donald chuckled and dropped the charts to the ground as he gripped the case.
“The moment you’re better I will make you pay for trying to leave me.” He growled furiously. “I’m going to implant a chip into your mind that will make you think that I am your only way of life. You will grow dependent on me and beg for any attention, good or bad, from me.”
Donald released the glass and stepped over to the keyboard attached to the case. “I gave you food, I gave you pleasure and pain, and I gave you your life back. Now I will give you back your greatest gift, your mind. I am your god, Donatello, and you will learn to love me for it.” He quickly typed away and the green liquid began to bubble.
“And you will learn to fear the thought of leaving me.” Donald continued to type, his six fingers flying over the keys at an increasing speed. He pushed the keys harder and harder, his anger starting to affect him. “You will pay.” He promised and looked up at the tank as his fingers continued.
Donatello was staring straight at him. Donald’s fingers faltered on the keys at the hollowed look and Don jerked in the case, his eyes widening with pain as his mouth fell open with a silent scream of pain.
“Shit!” Donald cursed and began typing again. “No, no, fuck, this isn’t happening. I will not mess this up.” He pounded into the keys and the ‘enter’ button stuck down. Donatello’s body began twitching and Donald slammed his fist into the keyboard as the body cased inside continued to spasm.
“No, damn it!” Donald roared and smashed his fists into the glass casing, shattering it. The green liquid pooled to the lab floor, Donatello’s body falling with it. Donald caught the motionless form and frowned.
“I’m not risking it,” he decided and gently moved the figure onto his bed, cradling it in his lap as he stroked the smooth cheek. “Your mind’s lost, Donatello,” he informed as the blinking eyes continued to look up at him. “Your god has failed.”
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
The day slowly dragged on. Michael and Leon were sparse around the lair; Michael had even retired to his own room for a few hours which was unheard of. All of his stuff had been moved into Leon’s room long ago.
“I’ve been thinking,” Michael stated as he stood in Leon’s doorway. Leon unfolded his legs from the lotus position that he had attempted while he had tried to meditate. He smiled at Michael, encouraging him to continue.
“Don’t you think we should contact the other originals?” Michael asked, causing Leon’s grin to disappear. “I mean, Rafieo and Donald screwed up really big now, Leon. They’ve raped and killed; we’re way far over our heads. We’re months old, we can’t handle this stuff. We have to do something.”
“It’s not our decision to make.” Leon sighed.
“You’re our leader, Leon.” Michael reminded. “You always have a decision to make; that’s your job.”
“This situation has been out of my hands ever since Rafieo agreed to follow Donald.” Leon explained. “We can’t do anything but sit and wait to see the outcome.”
“But what if the outcome’s really bad?” Michael asked, his voice barely above a whisper. Leon didn’t answer him. Michael sat next to him on the bed and gripped his hand.
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
Rafieo switched the channel and threw the remote onto the couch cushion beside him. Mikey was in his lap and had been for the past two hours. He’d been staring blankly at the television and Rafieo knew he wasn’t actually watching it. Rafieo had tried to get Mikey to fall asleep but Mikey wouldn’t let go of his arm when he had tried to leave the room. Mikey seemed to be attached to Rafieo now.
He didn’t know what to do about it. Rafieo knew that Mikey was in shock over his brother’s death and that he was having a delayed reaction by clinging to another living soul. But knowing all of that didn’t help with dealing with any of it. Knowledge was not power in this situation.
“Mikey,” Rafieo shifted under the turtle. “I gotta go to the bathroom.” He lifted Mikey off of his lap and sat him on the couch as he stood. Mikey instantly stood and gripped his arm. Rafieo sighed and didn’t attempt to pry off the turtle’s grip; Mikey had one hell of a hold.
Rafieo walked to the bathroom and stood in the doorway. “Um, can you just wait out here?” Rafieo frowned. He really did not want to do this with Mikey watching. Mikey swallowed and slowly loosened his grip enough for Rafieo to pull away. It was the most of a positive reaction Rafieo had received all day.
He finished the natural bodily act and skipped washing his hands as he opened the bathroom door. Mikey instantly latched onto his arm and Rafieo sighed as he felt moisture against his arm. Mikey only seemed to cry now when he was left alone.
“Let’s go watch some more TV, ‘kay?” Mikey didn’t respond so Rafieo started back to the living room with Mikey at his side.
The day dragged on with Mikey refusing to talk or eat or react to anything other than the few moments that Rafieo had to dislodge him from his side. Rafieo had taken the quiet opportunity to think about what he could possibly do to help Mikey out.
Rafieo laid down for bed with, Mikey curled up by his side, and waited until the small turtle finally fell asleep. Once he was sure Mikey was sleeping, he slowly moved out of the bed and contained himself from moving back when Mikey’s face curled up and his legs kicked about slowly in his sleep.
“I’m sorry, Mikey,” Rafieo whispered as he knelt over the bed and watched the little turtle’s restless sleep. “I never should a brought you into this kind a life.” He frowned and reached out to stroke Mikey’s injured cheek from the other day. “I caused you pain,”
He rose to his feet and made his way over to his closet, resolute with his decision.
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
The next day seemed to show a bit of improvement. When Mikey woke up next to Rafieo in bed, he actually smiled. Rafieo smiled back but didn’t receive any answer when he asked how Mikey slept, only a frown then.
They held hands as they went to the kitchen to get breakfast, even though Rafieo was pretty sure Mikey still wouldn’t eat anything. Hopefully though, after going through a full day skipping any and all food offered, Mikey would be hungry enough to eat at least a little bit of something.
“Hey,” Michael greeted with a wide, forced smile as he turned around in his seat. “How are you feeling, Mikey?” He asked his little doppelganger. Mikey frowned and gave Rafieo’s hand a hard squeeze.
“Do you want me to keep the cereal out?” Leon asked as he shook the box in offering.
“Yeah, I’ll take some cereal. Mikey, you want cereal?” Rafieo asked looking down at Mikey with the question. Mikey smiled up at him and Rafieo decided to take that as a yes.
Then their door burst open, filling the room with smoke. The three clones burst into a coughing fit but Mikey held his breath until the smoke cleared, he was trained to know what to do in these sorts of situations, after all.
When everyone could see again, Leon was on the ground with Master Splinter sitting on his back, a finger held to a pressure point on his neck keeping him immobile. Michael was worriedly looking at the end of Raphael’s Sais which were currently pressed against his neck on both sides. Rafieo was unfortunately staring at the gleaming sword pointedly fixed between his eyes.
“Let go of my brother now.” Leonardo growled up at the clone. Rafieo gulped and looked down at Mikey. It honestly didn’t matter if he let go of Mikey’s hand, Mikey was still clinging to him. And then Mikey wasn’t.
“Leo!” Mikey cried out as he lunged at his brother, wrapping his arms around the eldest turtle’s neck. Rafieo smiled at the sight and was relieved to hear Mikey’s voice once more. He knew he would be all right. “I’m so sorry, Leo, it’s all my fault.”
Leo was still glaring daggers at Rafieo and his sword didn’t move at all. “It’s okay, Mikey, nothing’s your fault. We’re going to grab Donnie and then we’re going home.”
“Only after we make these scumbags pay,” Raph growled, making Michael flinch and whimper as the cold steel pressed against his neck.
Mikey sobbed loudly and hid his head in Leo’s neck. He whispered something so quietly that Leo could barely make it out at first. Then the words sunk in and Leo’s sword faltered, moving away from Rafieo, for a moment.
“Who killed him?” Leo growled as he pressed the tip back to Rafieo’s skin. Rafieo’s eyes widened and his mouth opened to defend himself but Mikey quickly tore himself away from the comfort of his older brother.
“I did,” Mikey admitted as he wiped at his eyes.
“Mikey didn’t kill yer brother.” Rafieo quickly spoke up.
“Wait a minute,” Raph stopped glaring at Michael for a moment to look over at Mikey. “What happened now? Who’s dead? And where’s Donnie?” Raph’s eyes widened as the situation sunk in; Mikey was crying and blaming himself while Don was no where to be seen.
“I’m gonna fuckin’ skin you all alive.” Raph growled and dug his Sais closer into Michael’s neck. Michael’s eyes widened but Leon quickly spoke up from his position on the ground.
“It was Donald’s fault,” He shouted. “Donald made your brother so miserable and desperate for death that Mikey was tricked into killing him. Leave Michael alone,” Leon growled.
“Guys,” Mikey still had tears streaming down his face. “These guys are all good; they’re my friends. Donald, he’s the one that, oh,” Mikey moaned miserably. “I wanna go home.”
“We shall,” Master Splinter nodded solemnly as he pulled Mikey into a hug, suddenly across the room at his son’s side. Leon hesitantly sat up a bit but his body was still being affected by the odd pressure point that was pressed. “But you must be brave, my son, and take us to your brother’s murderer.”
“I murdered him.” Mikey spoke against his father’s neck, comforted by the warm fur pressing against him.
“You would never do such a thing in a cruel sense of the word.” Splinter argued softly, trying to take the blame away from his son. “You would only help your brother get out of any situation you could. This Donald is the one who must have killed your brother mentally and emotionally. Take me to him.” Mikey nodded and pulled away from his father to go toward Donald’s room.
Raph and Leo followed the two, using the anger to overpower the pain they felt at hearing their brother’s death. They were ninja; they must act like it and revenge their brother. Only then can they grieve for the loss.
Michael ran to Leon’s side and helped him off the ground. Leon frowned and traced the new cuts that were slowly bleeding on Michael’s neck. Rafieo, though, followed the other turtles, still worried about what would happen.
Mikey pointed to Donald’s door and Raph quickly kicked it. If the door had been shut all the way, he probably would have broken his leg. Luckily for Raph, Donald had left the door slightly ajar, causing it to swing open with the force of Raph’s kick.
“Where are you, ya brother killing son of a…?” Raph growled out the question as he bared his Sais only to falter at the sight that greeted him. “Donnie?”
Leo and Splinter stood behind Raph in the room while they also stared wide-eyed at the sight. Mikey stood out in the hallway, holding onto Rafieo’s hand, but became curious when he heard Raph’s angry cry stop. He peeked into the room, Rafieo too, and gasped at the sight.
Donatello was alive. At least, in the breathing sense he was. He didn’t look like being alive in any other sense of the word.
Donald sat on his bed, Don limp in his lap and leaning his shell against Donald’s plastron. There was a blank expression in his eyes and drool slowly falling from his mouth. Donald smiled and wiped the drool away with a small handkerchief.
“What did you do to our brother?” Leo asked, anger in his eyes as he stared at Don sitting in his clones lap. He looked almost like a doll.
“I brought him back, didn’t I, Donnie?” Donald asked, getting the turtle in his lap to look up at him when his name was mentioned. “He’s mostly brain damaged due to the lack of oxygen flowing to his brain to feed it for a few minutes, but that can be fixed once he’s stabled enough. For now, he only knows his name. And he also knows that he’s going to be with me forever. Isn’t that right, Donnie?” Again the little turtle’s eyes drifted back to Donald’s face. For a moment, Don just stared up at the grinning face then slowly grinned back.
Don’s head lolled to the side a little and he looked at the group gathered in the doorway. He was still grinning even as more drool dribbled from the side of his mouth. Donald wiped it away once more.
“Oh, Donnie,” Mikey cried from the doorway as he covered his mouth. Don’s eyes fell on him and Mikey shook his head rapidly and turned to hide his face against Rafieo’s plastron. Rafieo rubbed soothingly at Mikey’s shell.
“Donald,” Splinter snarled as he stepped toward the bed. “You will hand over my son without a fight or else you will not live to see the next minute.” He threatened, his eyes digging into the clone’s yellow ones.
Donald gulped a little, nervous at the ferocity in Splinter’s eyes and the aura he could feel surrounding him. He was facing the wrath of a father.
“He needs me,” Donald whispered and wrapped his arms around Don’s small body. “I’m his everything. I brought him back to life. I can make him all better.”
“You took him away from his family. You broke him. You will unhand him.” Splinter challenged and stepped closer to the bed to grab his son. He slowly tugged on his son’s hand and soon had it linked with his own. “Let go of my son. Now.” Splinter bared his teeth and pushed his aura out a little bit more.
Donald physically recoiled from the anger aura and Splinter slipped Don out of the other’s lap to stand on his own two, wobbling legs. “Come, my son,” Splinter smiled sadly at his poor, unfortunate son and gently cupped his face as Don stared at him with unrecognizing eyes. “We shall go home now.” He looked over to his two sons that hadn’t been so damaged during the week and they nodded and hurried to Don’s side, helping to get him out of the room.
Don walked on unsteady legs and fell before he made it out of Donald’s room. Raph decided to carry him to save time. “Mikey,” Leo glared at Rafieo and gently turned his brother away from the giant, red turtle. “We’re leaving now.”
Mikey nodded and wiped at his beak as he looked at Don. “Right,” he stepped away a bit then stopped and turned back to Rafieo. “I hope you don’t think this is goodbye.” Leo and Rafieo both stared at Mikey, taken aback with the serious tone he was using. “You’re stuck with me now; I told you, Rafieo, I’m coming out of all this with a boyfriend, whether you still want to be with me or not.”
Rafieo couldn’t help the smile that bloomed on his face. He nodded and ignored the dirty look Leo was giving him. Leo pushed Mikey forward and the little turtle started out with Raph and their father.
“Mikey’s obviously suffering from Stockholm syndrome and I can assure you that this is goodbye.” Leo hissed. “If I ever see any of you four again I will strike you down before any of you lay eyes on any of my brothers.” With that said, Leo started out of the room as well.
“No,” A loud shout echoed throughout the lair. Donald bounded out of his room with a large gun-like weapon. “You aren’t leaving with my Donnie.” He hissed and aimed the gun. Leo stepped in front of the others and had his swords ready even though he was aware that a high tech gun would probably overpower his swords.
Rafieo bared his teeth as Donald walked past him. Donald was threatening Mikey and his family. He wanted to hurt them all. He wanted to hurt Mikey again. “I’m sick a this.” Rafieo shouted and quickly acted on his anger and grabbed Donald’s head.
Donald’s eyes widened and he tried to bring his gun around but Rafieo smacked his head against the wall. A loud thud was heard by everyone in the room due to the impact.
The gun fell from Donald’s hands and landed on the floor with a clatter. There wasn’t any blood on the wall so Rafieo knew Donald was merely unconscious, not dead. He inhaled deeply and tried to will the red seeping into his eyes away. “Leon, go grab that metal cage from the ship. That’s Donald’s new room.” He decided and stormed off to his room, ignoring all of the eyes on him. “I need ta calm down,” he warned as the red only increased in his vision.
Mikey grabbed Leo’s arm and his brother turned to look at him. “It’s over now. Can we go home?” He asked.
Leo nodded but didn’t sheath his swords. “Let’s go home.”
