I Just Wanna Be Yours

Battle Nexus: New York

        ~Normal POV~

     "All right, one more time," Donnie moved from beside me at the lab door to his desk. He observed the tech around my legs, the same wraps were around my arms as well. They were compression wraps to help with the trembling I felt, I could still feel jolts run down my body every now and then.

     My ankle flopped to the side with my next step; Almost made it that time, too. I felt a curse slip out of my lips quietly. Donnie's hand grabbed my wrists to stop me from dropping to the ground.

     "Are they not tight enough?" he asked, focused on making life easier for me. I knew he cared about my own well-being, but he wanted to make sure his tech would be good. He was set on making new tech that would be helpful and not hurtful like the collar.

     'They're okay,' I signed to him. This week wasn't for helping me get my voice back. We focused on that last week, but I still kept quiet to not hurt my vocal cords. My neck ghosted the feeling of the collar as I reached up to itch my neck, feeling more bandages around them.

     "Hey, no itching," he swatted my hand away gently. "They could get infected," he warned me, eyes softening as they met mine.  "C'mere," he said quietly, pulling me into a hug. My arms slowly raised to wrap around his back as his own rested on the small of my back.

     "What did I do to deserve you?" the soft-shelled turtle mumbled into my hair as he rested his head on mine. His lips pressed gently to the top of my head and I could feel his small grin. It was always a boost of serotonin for both of us when he would hold me close to him.

     "Knock knock," a voice called, knuckles rapping on the mouth of the sewer. It was April, she was coming to fetch the family to go on some sort of sightseeing/scavenger hunt for the day. "Time to go, lovebirds," the dark-skinned girl shot us a teasing smile before leaving out sight.

     I leaned against the desk as Donnie wrapped the bandages slightly tighter before he changed into the hoodie I had traded him for his signature purple one. He pulled my hand gently as he guided me toward the exit of the lair. My steps felt a bit easier with Donnie's assistance. I slid on a pair of slip-on sneakers that would be more comfortable with the bandages that reached the arch of my foot.

     We met up in the living room, the trio of turtles chattering excitedly about going to the surface during the day. Upon noticing us, Mikey sprinted up to me, wrapping his arms around me, but not as tight as he usually would. I stumbled back a bit, but the box turtle managed to keep us anchored to the ground.

     "You feeling any better? Are the gloves and bandages helping?" he asked excitedly.

     "A bit," Donnie translated my sign for the turtle. "We're making progress," he finished and my eyes followed the two dads already heading out of the sewer. Raph was the last one to climb up, being below me in case I lost my grip and he could catch me.

     April led us to the starting building where the rules would be explained to us. My mouth ran dry and I swallowed hard at how tall it was. My eyes darted to April who walked with a bounce in her step, excited to spend a day with the boys for the first time in a while.

     "You don't have to do this," Donnie said quietly to me as he noticed my hesitance to walk into the building.

     "Come on, slowpokes!" April called out to us and I heard a beeping noise that forced my body to tense and I urged myself to enter the building. I ignored the tremble in my legs, keeping my body still as I entered the elevator April was holding for us. I stepped to the back, keeping my eyes trained on the ground and staying silent.