And Then There Were Five

Chapter 15: Free Bird

(Silvana's POV)

"Ugh. . ." I groaned, rolling over and feeling the stiffness in my back. The combination of fighting evil, and sleeping on a couch really took its toll on my neck and back muscles, plus my wings were tucked in an uncomfortable position. Without opening my eyes, I stretched and arched my back, pushing my legs out, but I wasn't able to stretch them all the way; something was blocking them. "Mmm, what. . ." I mumbled, rubbing my eyes and opening them.

"Morning sleepy head," Leo was sitting on the opposite end of the couch. His legs were what I was pushing my feet up against. Raph, Mikey and Donnie were still in the kitchen eating breakfast, but their eldest brother finished early to watch more Space Heroes.

"Morning. What time is it?"

"Just past noon," he answered.

"Oh man. I've slept over twelve hours!"

"That's okay."

"Do you know what day it is?" Donnie asked me, walking over to help me stand up.

"Of course I do," I smiled.

"Do you want me to take the bandages off now?" he asked.

"Well if you don't have anything better to do, it would be pretty great. I'm tired of my beautiful wing being defaced by this God-awful bandage," I joked.

"Well follow me then, madam," he smirked at me. I walked with him out of the main room and around the corner to his lab, leaving Leo to watch us go.

"Do you feel any pain at all?" the purple turtle asked, gingerly unravelling the bandage covering my wing.

"Nope." he worked in silence for a bit. I didn't realize how long the process of removing my bandages was, and I was growing impatient. "What's that?" I asked, pointing to a jar of orangey gooey liquid.

"That, is retromutagen," he answered as if I knew what it is.

"What does it do?"

"That involves a pretty long explanation. But I can tell you that my brothers and I became like this because we were involved in an incident containing mutagen," he explained.

"Oh. Okay. So then what happens if the retromutagen gets on you?"

"I honestly have no idea, and I don't want to find out," he looked at me sincerely, "there, that should do it. Don't be alarmed if there is some scarring," he finished, pulling off the last strip of gauze. I gasped in shock. There were around five feathers that hadn't grown back, leaving the tender pink skin underneath exposed. Donatello must have seen how shocked I was, and tried to cheer me up."I could make some artificial feathers to cover that spot for you, if you'd like," he offered.

"Thanks Don," I smiled, gaining some of my confidence back.

"Er, Silvana. . . ?"

"Yes?" Donnie rubbed the back of his neck, looking awkwardly at me.

"I've never met anyone like you. . ."

"Okay, and?" I was getting a bit anxious. What was he so nervous about?

"Well, I'd do anything to just to be able to see what your blood composition is like, if you'll let me?" was he asking to take my blood?

"So what are you asking Donatello?" I raised my chin and crossed my arms, my defensive instincts kicking in.

"It would only take a few minutes. . .if I could run a couple tests, maybe?"

"Tests, on me?"

"Well. . .yeah. . ."