I'm an animal, so why not put me in a cage?
Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo all stared in horror as the quickest way they could have used to reach their big brother exploded into flames.
Alarms blared, workers moved in a panicked run, extinguishing their fellow coworkers and whoever else that had been hit by the explosion.
Fire extinguishers and buckets of water were being exchanged faster than the speed of light.
Screams and yelps of pain and distress echoed through the docks.
“Well-” Raph started “-At least we got somethin’ ta keep us busy…” as a single, silent, tear fall roll down his cheek.
—-----------------------------------------------------------------In Brazil:
The world was shaking, moving, in a disturbingly grotesque way.
It was like his stomach had dropped, that rush feeling when you fall from a high place.
He felt himself shift lightly; left then right then down then right.
When Leo felt himself starting to regain consciousness, his hearing came back first.
He could hear voices; muffled deep voices. Leo felt panic setting in his veins, somewhere between relief and worry eating at him. Leo hasn’t heard other voices in nearly 5 months, the only person he had spoken to since leaving New York was Lars, he was probably in some sort of danger and he should definitely be worried but at the same time… He felt relieved to know that the outside world still existed.
Where was Lars?
Leo tried to move, lift his arm, spasm his muscles, ANYTHING! But he just- he just couldn’t.
He wasn’t sure how long he stayed like that, in the dark, limp, with only muffled voices of whoever he had graced with his company. What if this was all in his head?
What if he was imagining things again, there was definitely no way out this time, no soft breeze of gently lapping of nearby water to bring him back from the twilight zone. He was stuck.
So Leo layed there, a vegetable. Eventually; he regained his sense of touch and if Leo could have cried out, screamed or just made a sound in general, it could be the most painful sound you would have ever heard.
Every one of his nerves were on fire, his blood boiled, his skin itched and his bones had a deep throbbing ache. Leo’s limbs were bound to something hard and cold, forcing him into a fetal position, he could feel the painfully tight binds around his wrists, the gag in his mouth and the muzzle on his face. His whole face.
Again, Leo tried to move, to jerk himself away from the pain, to yell out for someone to to come and help him, Donnie, Mikey, his Dad, April, Raphie; Anyone! Anyone at all…?
Was this some sort of karma for all the shit he’d done in his pathetic life? Hasn’t he suffered enough?
Is what he would have asked if there was any room to feel bad for himself, pity.
Deep down inside of him was the truthful knowledge that he was an animal that bit and now he was paying the price, but even with all of this undeniable evidence, he couldn’t bring himself to succumb to it. He didn’t have the time.
Where was Lars?
The dropping feeling abrupt stopped, and after a brief moment, Leo moved.
None of his muscles had tensed, but whatever Leo was on had moved, and it was still moving.
The cold air almost made him shiver but whatever was keeping him in immoble had been preventing that for long before he was awake. In a way the cold air was comforting, a cool rush against his burning flesh. It was almost mercy.
Suddenly, Leo heard a loud curt buzzing sound, then a ‘whoosh’ and next thing he knew; hands. Human hands were all over him, hands on his arms, hands on his legs, hands on his head.
They roughly picked him up and half dragged him into an even colder area, Leo could vaguely make out some complaints about his weight, those comments were starting to hurt.
It was over faster than it had started. And now he layed alone on the cold metal tiles of a cold room, where no light could touch his skin.
Leo didn’t know what was happening or where he was. But he could tell he was in a room, the air was dry and he was cold, he’d only ever gotten cold once or twice during his time in Brazil but it was different, it was the kind of cold you would feel in a room with no heating, like a bathroom but cold.
After a while, Leo’s senses started returning faster, not as fast as he would have liked to, but returning non the less. He wasn’t grateful for it.
How could he b grateful, he went from dumb to in pain and immobile and now he was still in an immense amount of pain and all he could do is wriggle on the floor like a worm, a pathetic worm.
WHERE WAS LARS?
He wanted Lars, he needed Lars, where was he? Was he hurt? In pain? Lost? Leo couldn’t know, and that is what made him panic.
Leo wiggled and writhed, trying to free himself from his binds, it wasn’t enough but his effort had to count for something… Right?
Another second, another minute, another hour. It didn’t matter, all that mattered was that Leo was here on the floor being useless while he could be somewhere else, anywhere else, he could be helpful.
But he couldn’t right now. He couldn’t do it and his Sensei was going to be angry and disappointed, his brothers were going to give him those disapproving looks they always give him when he’s near them. He wants to go home, but he can’t disappoint his Sensei! He wants his Dad to give him one last hug before he has to leave. Leo wants his Dad, but he was never there.
Leo let out a strangled sob, tears fell down his face like a waterfall, the more he struggled the more pain he was in, the more pain he was in; the more he thought about how much of a piece of useless shit he was. No wonder his Sensei didn’t love him.
A fuzzy, reassuring hand, fell onto his shoulder.
Leo flinched back, hard, making him almost wail out in pain causing the warm hand to pull back, Leo keened for the warmth to come back, and it did, almost as fast as it left. The fluffy hand hesitantly stroked sympathetic circles into his shell as Leo harshly breathed through his misery.
He never wanted that hand to leave his skin.