Chapter Text
Casey groaned, catching the attention of the four mutants- and one yokai -in the room with him. They ran to his bedside as the boy woke up, eyes fluttering open yet staying half-lidded.
“Casey Jr!” Draxum half-yelled at the boy.
“Wh-Wha...t?” He croaked out, stumbling over the simple word as his throat burned.
‘Scared.’ His sensei chirped; pupils blown wide as tear streaks that almost seemed foreign on the turtle’s face ran down his cheeks. He was on his knees, beak just below the railing to the crude medical bed and three-digit hands gripping said railing tightly.
‘Worried.’ Followed the first, Donnie on his other side, eyes half-lidded and pupils pulled into slits. It was clear that the mutant was angry with him, but just as clear that he still worried for the boy, even with his brows furrowed and fingers twitching.
“Why didn’t you tell anyone!?” The yokai yelled once more, face twisted into a wicked scowl.
Casey croaked out a noise that could hardly be called a questioning noise, but it was none-the-less.
“About the blast.” He growled, poking Casey’s chest harshly. Said boy in question jolted and whined under the pain that the jab caused. Four, loud hisses filled the room.
Draxum was on the floor in an instant, Leo and Donnie holding him down and trying to claw at him. They were hissing and growling wildly at the yokai. It took almost all of Raph’s strength to pry his brothers off their creator, and more sweet-talking than Mikey has done since the war started to calm them down.
The two circled to be on the other side of Casey, glaring at Draxum as Leo returned to his sitting position.
“Apologies.” He said, heavy breathing emanated from the ram-like yokai. Casey had to remember that Draxum was significantly older than the turtles.
“You must understand that Casey is part of our bale, and the most protective of our young one is Donnie and Leo because of how much time they spend together.” Raph sighed out, running his digits through the boy’s hair. “So, I’d advise you to be gentle with him.”
Draxum nodded, taking a half step back with a hum.
“Since Jones is awake, do keep in touch if anything goes wrong.” He said, waving to his creations.
…
Leo let out a loud, pleased chirr as he pressed his beak to Casey’s cheek in a faux kiss. The boy in question grumbled, eyes fluttering open.
“He’s awake.” The leader said, straightening his posture.
“Good.” Donnie said, walking over with the scanner. He ran his fingers through Casey’s hair, helping him sit up as he prepared the scanner.
“The blast hit him directly in the chest from what you saw, right?” He asked, looking through the readings.
“There was a pretty big burn mark there, yes.”
“Let me see.” Donnie said, transferring the readings to the screen in the med-bay and walking over to the boy’s side. Casey’s eyes were clouded and glossy as he stared blankly up at his uncle.
Leo nodded, gently pulling the covers from the boy’s legs and inching his shirt off. Most of his chest was wrapped in bandages.
“Casey?” The softshell asked, snapping his fingers in front of the boy’s face. Casey blinked rapidly; blank, almost dead look suddenly gone.
“Y-Yeah?” He asked, sounding like he was punched in the chest, which he technically had been.
“I’m going to undo your bandages, okay?”
“O...kay...” The human nodded, pulling his ankles towards him to sit in a pseudo-cross-legged position. He flinched harshly when the turtle’s claws lightly grazed his heavily burnt skin as it cut through the bandages like butter. Leo let out a comforting chirr and nuzzled the back of his head lightly.
Donnie wasted no time in scanning the wound and sending the readings to the med-bay screen. He then did a full-body internal scan and sent those to sit side-by-side with the scan of the burn.
“Holy...” Leo whispered out, pulling himself away gently from the boy
“It says here that there's something spreading through his body starting from the wound.” Donatello muttered as Leo came to stand beside him, tapping the screen a few times in various places.
“Krang infection, maybe?”
“It looks almost like the one they infected me with. It could have some of the same properties.”
Leo nodded in agreement, the medical side of his brain staring holes into the underpowered piece of tech as he analyzed and assessed every possible route they could take for recovery.
“Casey?” He asked, turning his body halfway to glance back at the boy. Said boy in question looked up, a confused noise slipping through his slightly parted lips.
“How are you feeling?” Leo tilted his head slightly, walking over to sit on the medical bed in front of the boy.
“I’m... t-tired. Fatigue most likely” Casey forced out, wincing at the sound of his own voice. Coarse and rough. “And... a-and it hurts to breathe a little....”
“It can’t be fatigue from anesthesia, he’s been put under it more times than I can care to count for currently and has woken up the same as always. Energetic and ready to fight.” Leo pondered what it could be; eyes always trailing to the screen where the scans sit taunting him.
“Run the internal scan again, see how fast it’s spreading.” Leo commanded, walking up and stopping directly in front of the screen with his arms crossed. He traced the bright pink lines coursing throughout Casey’s body as he said, “If it’s this bad after only a few hours, then it must have spread more.”
The new scan pushed the other two aside, bright pink assaulted his vision as he compared the new scan to the old one. He glanced over to Casey’s mouth for a moment before turning back to the screen. From the scan, there was a large amount pooling in his mouth and neck area.
“It should be a variation of the one made for you, given these scans.” Leo said after a long pause. “And if that’s the case, then the whole ‘transforming the mouth’ thing may just be a side effect.”
“Casey, let me see your mouth.” Donnie demanded, sitting on the edge of the bed directly in front of the boy.
The boy in question nodded slightly, opening his mouth just enough for the giant mutant to stick his thumbs in and open it more. Roughly padded fingers trailed along slightly sharpened teeth and slightly elongated canines.
His thumb trailed along the boy's tongue, feeling the way it was slightly thinner than normal and almost seemed to split into two prongs, like it was slowly becoming forked.
Donnie sighed, taking his thumbs from the boy’s mouth and washing them. “It most likely is just a side-effect, we just don’t know how much his body will change. He’s only human, his body is much more fragile than ours.”
Leo hummed in agreement, sitting down by Casey. “You hear that?” He asked.
“Er... no?” Casey tilted his head.
“It means you’re on bedrest until you get better.” He poked his forehead lightly, pushing the boy back a little.
“But-”
“No ‘but’s, Junior.” Donnie growled at him. “As your legal guardians we have the right to care for you, you know.”
Casey rolled his eyes, pulling his hand up to his neck to lightly graze the bandages on his neck.
“How... How bad was it?” He asked after a long pause.
“Your flesh was barely hanging on and it was a strange purplish hue.” Donnie said, ruffing up the boy’s hair as he walked by. “I may or may not have taken a sample for study.”
Casey grumbled a quiet ‘ of course you would. ’ as he pulled his knees to his chest.