Chapter Text
Chapter 2: Loosen the Chain
My name is Donatello.
In recent times, I've gotten used to wearing a lot of hats. Brother, Ninja, Medic, Getaway Driver, Technician…
And tonight?
SHING!
Tortuga Brothers, Personal SWAT Team and Professional Maniacs!
The truck lurched across the spike strip as it skidded, sparks kicking up as the tires slammed against the asphalt.
Leo clung for dear life, his stomach threatening to escape through his mouth.
"Oh SHELL-"
The spike strip worked a little too well.
Maybe reinforcing it with his own personal modifications was a little… much.
Donnie winced, biting the inside of his cheek as the tires squealed, the entire vehicle skidding as it finally came to a stop. Neither of them missed the chorus of voices that followed it either.
"Was that a siren, the girl in the back, Leo or the drivers?" Mikey asked.
Donnie pulled forward as the Battle Shell's headlights illuminated the truck.
The dazed drivers were slumped forward in their seats…
And clinging to the roof, his eyes wide, hand clamped over his mouth, was their eldest sibling.
As soon as Leonardo looked up, he ducked out of sight.
They exchanged a look.
"Leo." Mikey and Donnie deadpanned.
Mikey looked at him, with a wicked grin, his eyes gleaming with mischief.
"Do we HAVE to leave this between us?"
Donnie scoffed, elbowing him.
"Yes. C'mon."
By the time Donnie had grabbed his duffle bag and bo staff, Raph and Leo were already on the drivers of the runaway truck.
Thwack!
THUD!
"Raph!" Leo called over to him. "Remember Master Splinter's rule!"
"Yeah, yeah… none shall die!"
Raph growled as he opened the driver's side door. The man inside let out a rather loud scream as he came to, spotting a green face right in front of his own.
Raph's vivid green eyes gleamed in the dark before his inner eyelid took over.
The driver backed up, knocking into the man next to him in the passenger seat.
"OH GOSH, WHAT ARE YOU!?"
Raph's grin was broad, his eyes gleaming.
He was going to enjoy this. After that chase?
"Where-" Donnie came around the corner.
"Back of the truck!"
Raph jumped into the cabin, slamming the door behind him.
"You know, you picked a really bad night to piss me off buddy. What did that little lady do to you two pieces of SCUM?"
"IT WAS JUST A JOB! JUST A JOB-!"
Raph pulled out his sai.
The passenger tried to make an escape out the other side, only to be met by another green figure.
He wore an orange mask, the tails blowing in the wind, his eyes glowing white.
The driver scratched his chin, wondering where he had seen him before…
"Hey! Aren't you the Turtle Titan?"
Mikey's face lit up into a million watt grin.
"Finally!" His face fell, letting out an annoyed groan. "WAIT, I GET RECOGNIZED AND IT'S LIKE THIS? OH MAN-!"
"Mikey!"
"Sorry!" Mikey grimaced. "Seriously, if you had picked a better path buddy… I'll leave an autograph at least."
THWACK!
"AGH!"
oooooo
Donnie ran past Mikey, clapping his shoulder. It was a silent signal to not waste time.
Mikey nodded, swiftly moving in to tie up the drivers, looking over their clothes for any familiar logos.
"Hey… wait a sec…" He muttered as he moved one of their lapels aside. An oblong patch with a gold stylized "S" was on it. "...DON-"
He looked up. Donnie's mask tails disappeared around the back of the truck.
Mikey sighed as a weight sank into the pit of his stomach.
He had a bad feeling about this.
"Man… Did I have to get recognized by one of you guys?" He groaned.
"Don't feel too bad Mikey, at least he knew your cosplay." Raph snorted.
Mikey let out an annoyed chirp, clenching his fist.
"It's ALTER EGO, Raphael!"
Raph hopped out, twirling one of his sai.
"What'd you find?" He asked, seeing the tense look on his little brother's face.
"Oh nothing special…" He said in a quiet voice before saying in a hushed whisper-yell "JUST THE STOCKTRONICS LOGO!"
"WHAT?!" He looked over at where their brothers were. "Get in the car."
"Didn't have to tell me twice!" Mikey bolted for the Battle Shell.
Donnie was focused on the back of the truck.
He wasn't surprised to see Leo already there, peering inside with concern etched across his face.
Leo caught his gaze and pointed to the lock, which had a number pad.
"That's… extensive." Donnie narrowed his eyes. "Pretty elaborate for a kidnap."
"Hey, Don, heads up… Something wasn't… right. When I was on the roof, I grabbed her hand and got her to pull her arm back in… but her hand felt…" Leo trailed off.
Donnie didn't look up as he focused on getting the door unlatched.
"Like what, Leo?"
"Like ours… Not exactly but it felt.. Similar."
What the?
Click!
Donnie gave a small hum as the lock popped open.
"Ready?"
"Ready."
Leo and Donnie pulled open the doors as the night air flowed into the truck.
Trash and debris were littered all over the back of the trailer, boxes, old papers, a tarp…
A small groan in the far corner caught their attention.
Donnie jumped inside, his movements silent along the cold metal.
He glanced down, spotting something brown poking out from under the tarp. He pulled it away, revealing…
"What the-"
His eyes widened.
Beneath it, dazed from the fall, was a girl.
At least, he thought she was. She was splayed out in a heap, a mix of some kind of aquatic creature and human.
She only had a hospital gown on and some sort of ID tag on her wrist.
A long tail trailed down the small of her back that ended in a crescent shaped fins.
As she let out a small groan, Donnie was shaken out of his stupor, kneeling beside her.
He brushed hair out of her face, revealing a short snout, small fangs poking out of the corners of her mouth. Her eyes were barely open, gazing up at him.
"Hey… Hey, easy… easy. Can you hear me?"
Her eyes closed as she tried to nod.
"Yeah, you got knocked around, didn't you?" He asked as he rolled her onto her back, looking her over. "Anything hurt?"
"Everything." She managed to mumble with a small grimace.
Donnie looked her body over, his mind racing at the various adaptations he noted but shook the cobwebs out of his mind.
His hands moved down her limbs, checking for any damage.
"Try to stay awake… Leo!"
Leo climbed into the truck trailer behind him, his eyes widening as he got a good look at the girl.
"Oh geeze…"
Donnie craned his neck, his eyes narrowing.
"You were right."
Leo moved closer, maneuvering over the amount of garbage surrounding them. He nearly tripped over a tire iron.
He looked right back at where his brother was with the shark mutant who was laid out in the recovery position.
He ran a hand down his face as his brain tried to catch up with what he was looking at.
He focused in particular on her hands as Donnie lifted her right wrist up, inspecting a tag attached.
"We just stopped… what? A mutant kidnapping?" He asked. "Or… what?"
Donnie's eyes scanned the tag, his breath hitching in his throat.
Subject #25
Age: 15
Cause of Death:
During the procedure, a complication occurred resulting in full respiratory and cardiac arrest. Resuscitation efforts failed.
Time of Death: 9:30 PM, 11/02/2003
He looked the tag over, trying to find a symbol, a logo… a signature, anything else that indicated where this girl came from.
Who would do this?
"She was an experiment… I don't think they expected her to live." He murmured, handing the tag to Leo.
Donnie went back to checking on his impromptu patient, brushing her hair out of her face. She was quiet but her eyes opened anew.
"Hey, with us?" He asked, his voice a quiet murmur.
"Sickos." He heard Leo mutter and he wasn't inclined to disagree.
The girl's eyes were wide, her mouth dropping open a little.
He gave her what he hoped was a reassuring look.
"You're… frogs?" She asked with a tilt of her head.
Donnie scrunched his beak up, chuckling a bit.
Her voice was tired. While he blamed it on the abrupt landing she had, it didn't hurt to be sure…
He dug into his duffle bag, taking out a penlight, shining it in her eyes. Her pupils dilated normally… large pupils that reminded him of a cat if he was being honest.
"I don't know how we keep getting mistaken for that but our amphibian lineage is greatly exaggerated." He joked a little.
"Hey!" She hissed a bit. "Sorry."
"Surprised you're not screaming if I had to be honest." He remarked. "Got a name?"
"L-Lorelei…" Her eyes widened. "You heard me."
Donnie's gaze softened, a gentle smile blooming on his lips.
He took one of her hands into his, squeezing it.
She gripped on tightly.
"We found you."
Those three words were like a switch as Lorelei's body went slack but her grip on his hand only tightened.
Finally… Finally, this horrible night was coming to an end. There was a light at the end of the tunnel.
Her throat was raw from screaming for her life, her body shook with exhaustion and aches…
Trying to lift her head was impossible.
Donnie steadied her as she tried to sit up, bracing an arm under her back.
"Easy, easy… You're okay." He looked her over. "...You will be okay."
Lorelei looked up at him, her eyes half lidded with exhaustion.
"Mn…"
Her heartbeat picked up as it hit her.
She looked past, Leo…
The truck was open.
A cold brush of night air blew into the truck bed, blowing their mask tails and hair around.
"Sunshine's the best disinfectant." my sister would say…
Lorelei inhaled deeply as the wind blew over her face.
Night wind I'll say is second.
"We should get going." Leo said, making his way for the exit. "With the ruckus we made the police are more than likely to show up at any minute." He looked back at Lorelei. "Is she okay to be transported?"
Donnie looked down at Lorelei.
"She seems alright to me. Can you walk at all?"
"I don't think so." Lorelei glanced to the side. "Everything is too sore to move."
"No worries."
Without even a moment to react, Donnie stuffed his equipment away in his duffle bag and lifted Lorelei into his arms as he stood up. This elicited a small squeak of surprise from the young girl, her tail twitching a bit.
"S-Sorry, did that hurt?" Donnie asked, worry in his eyes.
"N-No just wasn't expecting that." Lorelei fought down a blush.
Why am I getting flustered over being bridal carried!? I've done it a billion times during theater class!
"Phew… Alright, just being sure." Donnie's smile returned as he started to walk out of the truck, being mindful of Lorelei's tail and making sure it didn't hit anything.
Lorelei opted to hide her face against Donnie's shell, still fighting down the blush that threatened to creep its way out.
Leo waited for Donnie to catch up before continuing to the Battle Shell.
"So, should we take her to April's or the lair?" he asked.
Donnie hummed in thought before giving an answer.
"April's first. She'll have some things I think our patient here will need. Then we'll take her to the lair afterwards.
"Roger that. You want me to drive?"
"Yes please. I don't trust Mikey or Raph to drive the Battle Shell."
"Um…"
Both turtles looked down at Lorelei.
"Yes?" Donnie asked.
"I… didn't get your names…" She muttered.
"Oh! Woops, where are our manners?" Donnie grinned at her. "I'm Donatello but feel free to call me Donnie. The guy in blue is Leonardo."
Leo gave his own smile, nodding.
"Though most call me Leo."
"... Like the artists…?"
"Yeah, long story. Master Splinter can tell you later." Leo gave a wave of his hand. "Uh how do you feel about rats by the way?"
"Oh… um, my brother had a pet rat growing up. He was cute… that count?"
Leo and Donnie looked at each other for a moment before shrugging.
"Eh, close enough." Donnie looked back at her again. "Just… be open minded, okay?"
Lorelei blinked before smirking.
"After the night I've had being saved by frogs I think I'm open to anything."
Leo snorted.
"Oh, sassy. Raph is gonna love you."
"Though correction, our dear shark." Donnie smirked back. "It's turtles."
He hopped into the Battle Shell, the moon light shining off him for a moment.
"Ninja turtles."
oooooo
Raph and Mikey looked up as Leo jumped in silently, Donnie following suit, closing the doors.
Mikey was leaning back in the driver's seat, his arms folded behind his back, a grin on his face.
Leo crossed his arms, leaning over.
"What?" Mikey asked. "I'll drive."
"Out."
"Why do I have to!?"
Leo raised an eyebrow.
Mikey drummed his fingers against the steering wheel before letting out a low click.
"I BEG YOUR PARDON!?"
"Eeep! I mean, I was just keeping your seat warm for you bro!" Mikey grinned sheepishly, before scrambling to vacate his seat.
He nearly knocked Leo over to get out of his way before he could catch him.
Raph snorted as Leo slipped into the driver's seat.
"Setting a terrible, example to Spica-chan."
"Uugh… He knows better… Anyways, we got her…" Leo's voice softened, his grip on the steering wheel tightening.
Who did this?
"How's the girl?"
The leader's grip on the steering tightened.
"She's a shark." Leo deadpanned.
Raph's head snapped to the back, his eyes widening.
Donnie was sitting with Lorelei. She was curled up, her long tail hanging down at the floor, her head on his brother's shoulder as he tried to help her relax. Mikey was giving her… a different look.
Lorelei looked back up, her eyes lighting up as she spotted his mask color.
"Wait, were you on the motorcycle!?" She asked, perking up a little.
He smirked, raising his head higher.
"You know it."
"Thank you!"
That… felt different.
They helped a lot of people but not too many… said that. Keeping to the shadows or people becoming frightened when they stepped into the light.
His gaze softened a little.
"No problem. Got a name?"
"Lorelei…"
"Raphael."
Mikey plopped down into the seat across from her, giving her an easy going grin.
"I'm Mikey!"
"And we are getting outta here!"
The Battle Shell sped off, leaving the drivers and the truck long behind them.
It was time to make their next stop.
Leo pulled onto the next street.
Raph raised an eyebrow.
"We need to get her some clothes." Leo whispered. "Call April."
"Say no more."
He pulled out his Shell Cell.
"She'll be getting all that needs to get back on her feet."