SAINW AU - Aftermath

"I asked because those callouses were certainly made from two, not one." Andrea smiled and stood up, "I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere, ya hear?" She patted his shoulder and pulled her hand away a little faster than intended at the shock, before heading off.

Donatello wasn't in his lab, so it was easy to slip in and go towards the back wall where she pressed the fake brick and the wall slid away. There were lots of weapons, from daggers to regular swords to even shields. This secret room also went back quite a ways. There were some stands that had pieces of armor.

In all technicality, these weren't considered 'relics' as in, centuries old relics. Yet, in this type of world, they were relics of a past that was demolished. Museums were no longer standing. All weapons long since confiscated by the specialty stores that sold things like switchblade knives. Hell, even the armor here was only as old as World War Two, no old samurai plating or anything of that sort.

Yet...

There was one sword that stood out among the rest and for the longest time it puzzled her. It had a peculiar song, like it had been forged from the soul in and old-time fashion while a lot of the other weapons in here were cold and silent, forged in factories. Taking it off it's hook, she felt the blue cords and held it close as she left the secret weapon room, making sure nothing was out of place before going back to Leo.

"Children are so fascinated by shiny things." She said in way of greeting as she took her previous seat, glad he had stayed like she asked. "None of us would have found this, but it is because children see things that we don't, in many ways, that as soon as they had come into their powers enough they could defend themselves long enough to slip away, we started taking Harley and Daniel out, and when we made a pact with Resistance Seven, Abigail joined us." She paused, and moved to sit next to him instead, "You have a bandanna to match your swords, don't you? Like Raphael and Mikey and Donny have?" she asked, hoping he would pick up on her specific use of words.

"Used to have. It's gone with the wind." Leo said gently as he tilted his head. "But we did learn weaponry from the same teacher, we picked weapons that'd use both of our hands too. Are you asking me to try dancing with two again?"

"Does this feel familiar to you? It's got a low hum, which is very rare for weapons to have because factories are too lifeless. This one had life breathed into it which shaped it and made it a treasure. Daniel found it on a scavenger run years ago. We kept it safe all these years." She took his hand and guided it to the hilt of the sword, then backed up so it wouldn't hit her as he maneuvered it with ease. To her, she knew it was his. The blue cording even matched the other one, even if it was more scruffy looking. All he could do was feel the weight of it to know.

Leo frowned as he felt the weight in his hands. He wondered if he could still do it. Andrea had quietly got up and was walking away now. She wasn't one to mince words, or was she one that said goodbye. He listened to her hum as she walked away.

He thought about the kink in Maddie's record and how Cassidy's never seemed to stop playing. He thought about Andrea and the events that turned her into what she was. He stood up and took the other katana with him. it was weird, to finally have two in his hands. It was weirder for him to feel himself move without thinking.

He could almost hear Master Splinter in the back of his mind, telling him what moves to do in order to go through the kata. He couldn't tell if he was doing it right, but the position of his hands and his body told him that he was. He listened to the familiar whistles of the katanas as they cut air. He thought about how close his brothers were during those times. He thought about the adventures that they had, that they still could have.

It didn't take long to finish the kata and he could almost see Master Splinter doing the bow to signify the end of training. Leo quietly bowed back, feeling a little foolish and a little confident even though he knew realistically he was bowing to a memory. Which was something Maddie was good at. He would have to find something that was good enough for the alter. Master Splinter deserved to be remembered for what he had done. For what he had taught and still was teaching even now.

He sheathed the Katanas, listening to the sharpness of the blade hit and whistle its tune as it went back home with a sharp sound. Coming home. He needed to really make a better amends. The better way to start was to find Raph. He hoped that the kink was fixed....he hoped Maddie was doing alright. He at least wanted Raph to be in a semi-good mood as he did this.

That he was glad that Raph came back.
~+~

Donny felt like a stalker, checking back once every hour to see if Maddie was back in her garage. He had this deep seated need to apologize to her, for his comment earlier. He had found it odd to see Andrea leaving his lab, looking like she was carrying something, but he hadn't gotten a good look before going back to his projects. An hour later and he was seeing Raph come back inside, and an age-old one-sided argument had struck him deep. Something had happened with Leo and Andrea, and seeing the second katana on his brother's back clicked pieces into place for Donatello, and even Raph caught on, going quiet real fast.

Don had decided to go back to his lab for a while. Let Maddie rest. He could apologize to her later. Yet, an hour went by and he was antsy again. He managed a half-hour more before he was back down the halls to the garage, a sinking feeling deep in his bones.

Sure enough, his instincts were right. He heard her screaming and ran into her space. She'd fallen asleep crying, he could see the dried tear streaks being replaced by new ones as he went to her side, and then he froze as a knife was held to his face.

Maddie watched helplessly as a little boy was being carried by his mother. His mother was bleeding out, the trails of blood was thick and she could see that the wound was only tearing itself wider with every move she made. The additional weight on her back helped nothing. Finally she collapsed onto her knees her little boy tugging at her hair. A weary, tired smile and something being answered back.

Maddie pressed her hand against the glass. A mother who was trying to save her young was a common sad sight. Everyone tried to offer shelter, and those who managed it were always found dead within a month or so. “Shelter” was a joke. But she could offer it. She had the ability for it. Yet, she had a feeling that if she did it once, she’d do it again. Again and again, until there wouldn’t be room.

Who was more important her friends and family that she had within the walls, or a stranger who was losing his mother? The mother was on her stomach now, and her little boy desperately trying to shake her awake. There were people that were going to come down the streets. Utroms, soldiers of types, the Foot themselves. The Fire Breathing Dragons…

That boy was small too. Five years? Four years? Maddie shoved open the garage door. She grabbed the boy by the shoulder and yanked him away from his dead mom. “You got to run to the building behind me!” She shouted at him. “Go!”

The boy, scared witless, took off running. Maddie turned, about to go with him. About to tell him how to get inside. About to say something when she felt herself be shoved to the ground. She watched the boy run through the alleyway, passed the building that she had talked about.

She watched helplessly as he was shot down like a rabid dog.

“YOU LEAVE HIM ALONE!” She struggled and reached and-

There was someone green that was looking at her face, her knife just centimeters away from his cheek. She could see the red haze, and breathe in the orange smoke. She could feel hands gripping her. There was a cool breeze. Something didn’t belong here. His eyes were covered in a purple bandana.

“What did they do to you?” It was the only question that she had…the boy was dead and it was clear to her that she had been knocked out somehow someway. Probably just as she had struggled. Probably just as she reached for her knife…but if she had been captured, wouldn’t they have stripped her of her things? Did they think her knife was useless? No, Karai wasn’t that dumb…was she?

Clearly they wanted to experiment...but for someone to already be a victim of it made her blood boil and her stomach coil. She wanted to pull her knife away from him, but something told her to stay firm. He could be one of them...and not someone to be pitied.

"They stuck me with needles. Took my blood. Poked, prodded, cut and sewed. Schematics, DNA profiles, experimentation. Time, time, what is time?" Donny's eyes glazed in and out and he danced his fingers over her knife, felt the cool metal on his cheek. "Just another cut, another scar. What's it to me? What did they do to /you/?"

Maddie's lower lip trembled as she slowly brought her knife down. It sounded awful. It was awful. She looked him over and could see the scars. She could see the pain that he was in. For some reason the room was grey, and there were plants, but then the world turned back to orange and red. "I think they did the same thing." She said quietly. "Maybe worse. I know I...worked. My hands were always cut up." She looked down at them, and they weren't cut anymore. The floor was grey and concrete. There was smell of damp plants and soil. "I tried to escape and they..." She trailed off, no longer certain where she was. "Where are we? Fireside? The...underground? I'm...confused."

"Fireside. Your garage. You fell asleep crying. So this is your insomnia's face." Don took her hands in his and stroked over her palms with his thumbs, "I'd carve into the walls with screws and nails from my bed. I know what bloody hands are like." He moved and sat beside her, an arm around her back, rubbing it gently, "You escaped. Think about that. Your magic. You fought. You came home."

Maddie couldn't help but to burst into tears as she let herself be comforted. She came back, she came home. But there were so many others who didn't get that chance. "I c-couldn't save...an-any of them." She tried to wipe her eyes but more tears just fell down. She felt so guilty that she couldn't save, not even an innocent boy. Not a child to her name, not an adult that could have been a good ally. She watched them all fall and when she was captured and taken...she didn't' save anyone then either. "Wh-what good is m-m-magic if I c-can't use it t-to save some-someone?"

"But you did. You have." Don started rocking them minutely, just resting his head on hers and staring at the wall ahead, "Because of you, all my brothers are alive. You kept April's resistance alive with your sigils. They saved people, even if you couldn't see them do so. They kept up the good fight because no one could find them. Skeletons may be spilling out of the closet, littering the streets, but here we are. We're sitting here because you saved those that could be. There's no saving those who are already lost."

Maddie understood that. She nodded her head since her throat was too clogged up to say something. She hugged him tight, trying to keep herself together somehow someway. She cried for those she couldn't save, cried for her friends who she did save but were gone. She just let herself cry till she was exhausted, till there was no more tears left and all she do was cling. "I-I'm sorry." Her voice cracked and she hiccuped a bit to get her breath back into gear. "I-I know I did the right thing and I-I'm glad I saved your brothers."

"Wanna hear somethin' that might cheer you up?" Donny smiled down at her, "I think not only would Cassidy be glad you saved Mikey, but I think Andrea is secretly glad she was able to give Leo back his sword."

Maddie nearly started crying again, but this time out of happiness rather than sadness. "Cassidy re-really likes Mikey." She admitted wiping her eyes again. "Sh-she lights up like no other when he's around. I lo-love that he can ma-make her smile like that. I know he's hesitant about it though. Everyone is in this world. But Cassidy's stronger than me. She's always been the strongest. She'll ca-call you out." She looked at him a little happy. "I-I can s-save Sumiko too. Sh-she's my charge...I kn-know people are wo-worried about her."

"Sumi...yeah. I watch her shadow wander. She thinks she's so sneaky. Not to a fellow ninja. I don't have Leo's aura sight, but I see her." Don smiled, proud of himself. "It's good you're making her that camera. It'll give her something to do. Leo and Raph made another dent in making amends, too. An old rant that startled Raph when he realized what he was saying, and Leo walked away lookin' all smug about it. They're my brothers, alright."

"I...I can't even see her Don." Maddie stared at him in shock as she wiped the last of her tears away from her cheeks. "Even with all of my magic, I can't see her unless she wills it. I don't think /any/ of your brothers, besides Leo can see her. And let's face it, Leo has the aura sight, it's practically cheating."

"Leo is a dirty cheating cheater, he is." Don chuckled in amusement, but he tilted his head at Maddie with an arched brow, "Hmm. That is peculiar, isn't it? I dunno. Maybe I'm a bit more insane than I thought I was. Or maybe I'm meant to. I did face your knife like it was no big deal." He shrugged, "I'll look into it. I think it's time for you to just rest. Would you like me to get Raph? He's a comfort to you. Not suggesting anything, but you two could sleep beside each other instead. How long were you awake?"

"What do you mean?" Maddie frowned, "You saw me wake up...oh you mean how many days has it been?"

"Mmm-hmm. Go on, be honest with me. I'm sure with your magic the hallucinations don't hit you right away, either, so I can't do an accurate pinpoint just by that. I'll figure you out eventually, I'm sure." don nodded.

"I think it's been..." Maddie looked up at the ceiling. Time and her were always blurred. "I think it's been about...three days? I didn't start seeing Trevor or anyone dead so...but I did have a night terror of being captured so..." She looked distressed. "Maybe four? I have the same problem as you do with time Donny. I don't know most of where it goes."

"I think five. Three-four is where I start seein' things, which is why I told Leo and Raph to force me to bed. I think I might have to put down the same rule for you. Us insomniac mad scientists gotta look out for each other, yeah?" Donny patted her head and pulled away, "I'm gunna get Raph for you, okay? You better not go anywhere."

"Where would I go?" Maddie teased and watched him get up. "Hey Donny?" He turned and she tilted her head. "I'm sorry for what they did to you. I'm glad that you lived through that."

"I wouldn't call it living, but I'm here now, and so are you." Don shook his head, leaving the room.

~

Raph didn't take long to come in next, his eyes tired but bright with worry, and he stormed all the way over to her, "Alright, missy. We're gunna get so much shit for this whenever someone finds out, but yer comin' with me, ya hear?" He didn't even wait for her to respond, bending down and scooping her up into her arms. He easily held her in one arm while he shut off the lights and left the garage, "Not gunna let ya sleep on some damn cot when we could be in a real bed."

Maddie was a little surprised at the sudden grab and had wrapped her arms around his neck by instinct. The shadows gently bathed them as the lights finally went out and they walked up the hallway. She had wanted to giggle at the statement, considering that he was right. They were going to be teased endlessly for it. "Donny's thinking that we're going to have to add me to the list of insomniacs to chase down after a few days."

"If yer avoidin' sleep like teh plague then yeah, I'd say so." Raph adjusting his hold on her and bringing her closer, getting them up the stairs and through the halls to the room he'd chosen. It was simple still, no chance to personalize it yet, but the bed was comfortable which was what mattered. Kicking the door closed with one foot, he didn't bother with the lights as he went too lay her on it, "I feel like I'm carryin' mah bride through the threshold er somethin' 'n' we only just agreed to this whole thin'." He rolled his eyes and climbed in after her, having to roll onto his side to hook one of the pillows under his arm and then he used his other arm to draw her in, putting her head on the pillow as well, "Don just told me nightmares. Ya don't gotta tell me much more beyond dat unless ya want ta."