Emotionless Mutation (Book Three)

Chapter 21: Lessons in Doubt

"Sarina! Sarina!"

Donatello shakes Sarina's shoulders desperately. She doesn't respond, her body limp. He gulps and lifts her into his arms, leaning down to listen for a heartbeat. When he hears one, he relaxes.

There's the telltale ringing of a metal weapon being unsheathed and Donatello looks up to find Raphael aiming a sai at Sarina. The purple-masked turtle's eyes widen and he makes a short, gasping noise as he clutches the unconscious girl closer to his chest.

"Raph! What are you doing?!" he nearly shrieks.

"You don't think that it's a little bit suspicious that the Kraang only showed up once she went topside?" Raphael asks. His chest heaves and his nostrils flare slightly, making him looking like a raging bull.

Donatello bats his brother's weapon away. "Put that away, Raph."

"She knew the Kraang were coming after her! She could've been a spy all along. Look at what she was capable of!" Raphael insists, gesturing to the destroyed Kraang. April's pupils dilate and she takes a hesitant step away from Sarina. "She said she was 'afraid of this'. What else could she have meant?"

"Stop it, Raph," Casey butts in. "You're scaring April, dude."

April opens her mouth, as if to defend the statement or refute it, but nothing comes out. She closes her eyes and grips her head, wincing as she brushes the cut that's still present. Leonardo moves closer to his family, face grave.

"We need to get out of here," he says. "The police and who knows what else will be here soon."

"Leo, we can't bring Sarina back to the lair. The Kraang had some way of tracking her and we all know it now. Don't pretend you don't know," Raphael says.

Leonardo looks down at Donatello and the purple-masked turtle immediately sees the doubt in his dark eyes. "No," Donatello says. "No, I'm not leaving her here. The Kraang will just come back."

The leader in blue releases a heavy sigh. "Whatever it is, we'll figure it out. Right now, Destiny and Mikey are injured and we're way too out in the open," he says. "We'll bring her back, but you deal with Splinter, Donnie."

Donatello stands, bringing Sarina with him. "Maybe...maybe the sewers blocked out the signal before," he suggests. "Maybe that's why they only attacked now."

Leonardo stares at him, sympathetic. "Whatever helps you sleep at night," he murmurs. He looks to the humans. "April, Casey, I think you should come with us. You two need patching up too."

April absentmindedly touches the blood on her face, then nods. Casey gives another quiet agreement as he wraps his arm around April's shoulders and leads her to the nearest manhole.

As Raphael retrieves Michelangelo, Leonardo hurries to the pile of bricks where Destiny is. She's curled into a tight ball, a grimace frozen on her face as she grips her bloody shoulder. Leonardo shoves a few bricks aside and kneels next to her, offering his hand.

"Come on, I've got you," he says.

She takes his hand with her good arm, but when he pulls her back to her feet, she immediately tips into his arms. She winces and blinks rapidly. Leonardo doesn't wait for her to say anything before he scoops her into his arms.

"Damn it," she mutters.

"Just hold on for a little longer," he says. "We'll get you fixed up."

The battered team disappears into the sewers, leaving behind only smoking remnants of a battle won.

-----------

Splinter isn't pleased in the slightest when he hears about the events of the evening. As he settles everyone in to be bandaged and cared for, he hardly takes his eyes off of Sarina. He says nothing yet, waiting for a better time. Until then, he busies himself with cleaning April's wound.