inonebasket | (no subject)

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I knew that wall was gonna come down.

That's all Raphael remembers as he slowly, slowly wakes up. Splinter had sent them into teams of two on a scouting trip through the sewers; with all the monsters they've been (accidentally) making lately, they have to make sure that their home is secure. There should be only two entrances to the lair, and only those two ways to get to them. Everything must be guarded, any alternative routes must be sealed off. Mikey and Donnie checked under the water -since Mikey really can hold his breath the longest- and Leo and Raph went to secure the turnstiles and railway.

There had been a wall beginning to crumble further down, past where they park the Shellraiser. Leo was in one of his particularly bossy moods, those 'You should do what I say because I'm the leader and if you would follow my orders everything would turn out right' moods and that just makes Raphael feel like being contrary. So of course, when Leonardo tells Raphael not to mess with the wall, to just leave it alone and they'll come back with Donnie later and reinforce it, Raph just has to push his luck. He throws a rock, then another, and when Leo finally snaps at him and turns to leave, Raph punches it before turning away.

He doesn't remember what happened after that. Judging by how much his head hurts, Raphael thinks the wall probably collapsed, right on his big stupid skull. He's really not looking forward to the "I told you so" he's earned, so he fights waking for as long as he can until he can't ignore the throbbing any longer.

But then he sees the chain around his ankle. And he notices that the throbbing coming from his head isn't just because of what's probably a concussion; he's in a tiny cage, chained to the bottom of it, and he's being moved. It takes him too long a moment to realize he's probably in the back of a truck; he can just see past the bars of a small window, a thin strip of light that's probably from the back doors. It smells like that nasty petting zoo four blocks from the school.

A zoo transport.

Adrenaline shoots through Raph's blood, kickstarts his heart into thump-thumping against his plastron and he jerks up; the chain around his ankle rattles and he grabs at the bars.

A fucking zoo.

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Leo accepts the abandonment of his plan without a fuss, silently tucking the knife back against his wrist. At least they tried. He'll just have to come up with something else... but he regrets losing this window of opportunity. Their captors wouldn't have expected it at all; sending Raph out there would have worked, he's sure of it.

But now his leg hurts abominably from bracing his position; awkwardly, fighting his off-kilter sense of balance, he pushes himself to sit upright with his three uninjured limbs. His bum leg drags and he leaves it stretched out; it's not broken anywhere and he's pretty sure the bleeding has stopped, but the soft tissue damage is pretty nasty: an angled scrape on his thigh and a deep, blunt gouge on his calf - plus dragging scores down to his ankle from pulling himself free, but those are shallow - all underlaid with intense bruising. It had been a heavy wall; Leo can't see details in the dim light, but heat radiating from the bruises tells him they're still forming. He'll be fine, but he needs healing time, possibly stitches; and it really, really hurts.

Oh, good. Now Raph has a bug up his shell about the plan that won't even work. Precisely what he needed. Leo glares at his brother, just barely visible in colorless silhouette from the sparse light admitted by cracks in the van door. This isn't the time or place for an argument, but Leo has no information or resources to formulate a better plan just yet and his own temper flares. He's doing his best under insane pressure, and this is what he gets for his trouble?

"You think I WANT to stay here? I'm trying to make the best decision - for both of us! If I have to take a hit for the mission to succeed, I make that call. It's MY responsibility." Especially when his current condition imposes a liability, and stopping to help him might leave Raphael with his back unguarded against a single-hit take-down.

There's an unusual lack of argument coming from Raphael's cage after that. In fact, it's quiet for so long, it's almost like he's not even there.

He understands all the words Leo's saying. He gets it, he really does, because it sounds like a combination of the shit that comes out of that stupid show Leo watches and what Splinter keeps telling them as ninja, as his students, as soldiers. And fuck, Raph gets it. He knows that their dad and their teacher are almost two separate entities, that they're not just his kids. Even just from what's on TV, Raphael understands that aside from being mutated freaks, they're not...normal. That regular family dynamics don't apply to them.

And to be perfectly honest, he doesn't fucking care. All that loving and nurturing bullshit that kids are supposed to get? Well, that just makes them weak. Coddled. Turns out sissies and cowards and wimps. How Splinter does it, how he's raised the four of them, that's the right way. Of course it's the right way; look at them now. There's nothing in this world that can beat the four of them when they work together, save maybe Shredder, but that won't hold true forever. As they get stronger, Shredder stands less of a chance. Hell, Raphael is willing to bet if they had a showdown now, they might be able to take him.

But this is something different.

He speaks up. And his voice is quiet and low, in a way he doesn't talk to Mike or even Donnie.

"You know what Splinter told me?"

Raphael. You are the most powerful, passionate and courageous of my sons. This is sometimes a weakness of yours when combined with your stubborn nature, but there is a strength in it too, when tempered with wisdom and humility.

"He gave me a job. My own responsibility."

You have difficulty following the orders of your brother, Leonardo. You must do as you are told, as ninja, but I must ask of you something a father should never ask. For this, I am sorry.

"He told me it's my job to protect you."

Leonardo will do all he can to keep you all safe. I must ask you, in return, that you keep him safe. He is your leader, but you are his guard. Do you understand me, my son?

All of you must return home.

"So I ain't leaving. Not without you." Raph hugs his knees a little tighter, tucks in close. He knows how hard it was for Splinter to ask that of him, could see it in his face. He knows they're growing up, because Splinter would've never asked him for something like that when they were younger. He's being trusted with something serious, something eternal, and by fucking God he's not going to let his master, his father, down.

Leo expects an argument. Yelling, escalation, push-back... it doesn't come, and the longer the silence stretches on the more it becomes clear that this is Raphael's thoughtful quiet. He's onto something important, something that goes as deep and serious as Leonardo's own drive to do everything and anything it takes to get his family through, and he listens.

That Splinter spoke with Raph in a similar capacity to the private direction he gave Leonardo, it surprises him a little. Of course Splinter has private words with them all, as their father, but when it came to team direction and handling missions - when it comes to the big picture - the pressure of it all makes the oldest sibling a little myopic. It's his job to decide which direction to go in, which risks to take, how to make sure his family gets home, and which sacrifices are acceptable. It's all his responsibility, and his domain.

Leadership is tougher than he ever could have imagined that day when he hopefully raised his hand and asked Sensei for the privilege. Sure, he gets to be the big hero and derives a personal thrill from that role, and the feeling when he points his brothers in the right direction and watches the elements fall into place despite the fluid chaos of battle - well, it's like magic. He loves it.

But when things go awry, no matter the reason, that's also his responsibility - for not anticipating something, for not having enough control over the team, for not having a contingency plan. It's his job to get them out, regardless, and when Splinter told him sacrifices may be necessary to complete a mission of global importance, Leo never for a moment contemplated that sacrifice would be made by anyone other than himself. Because coming back without one of his brothers would be a failure of everything he is, everything he strives to be... he couldn't ever put another team member, one of his brothers, into the meat grinder while he walked away. He would cut off his own shell first.

Leo didn't realize that maybe the same would be true for Raph. That his brother has a job and a duty, different from his own, but no less important. Maybe there's a reason deeper than simple battlelust why Raphael flings himself into combat ahead of the rest of them, why he catches them in mid-air even if it means taking a solid hit himself, why he barrels headlong into a lethal enemy when someone else is on the ropes.

"Okay," he replies with quiet acceptance. He can't argue with that, how could he? Splinter's word is law, but more than that, Leo hears in his brother's voice something he understands. They're so different, usually at odds and always competing, but there has always been an undercurrent that they share and Raphael is speaking that common language now. Leo finds it difficult to understand his brother a lot of the time, but he gets him, and he gets this. Even if he didn't, to reject Raphael's dedication to their father's instructions, and his incredible loyalty to Leonardo, would be dishonorable to them both.

"We'll get out of here together." He's really not sure how, but truth be told, he's a little relieved. Staying here alone, injured and woozy in the hands of curious humans, headed for a zoo or a science lab or who knows what - it's scary, mostly because he doesn't know what to expect. With the Foot or the Kraang, he had some idea of what to face, and although it wouldn't be pretty at least he could prepare. Here? He's planning blind, and although he's sure he can handle the situation (mostly because doubting himself isn't an option), it sure is nice to have Raph for backup.

Then the truck hits another bump, and this one doesn't threaten to throw them across their cages. The driver's maneuvering slowly now, and as Leo sits up straight and turns his head, listening for clues, the truck's brakes squeak and ease the vehicle into a stop. The cab rattles to the sound of doors slamming shut, and despite the lack of visibility Leo instinctively glances at Raphael as human voices become audible.

This is it; here they come.

"...-u think the female's awake yet?"
"Maybe, depends on their metabolism... -etty warm for reptiles."

Their captors don't know if the tranquilizer has worn off yet; Leo should pretend to be knocked out, the more they underestimate him the better an advantage he has. But his brain catches and sticks on one detail, and his beak scrunches with an incredulous frown.

Female?? Did they just say - do they think he's a girl???

Judging by the snort of laughter that comes from Raphael's cage, he heard that too. Unfortunately that also blows his cover, because the men crowded at the end of the trailer doors freeze and stare over in his direction.

Oh well. Not like it was that much of an advantage, right?

After a moment a couple of the men climb up into the trailer and lower a ramp before cautiously approaching Raphael's cage first. One of them calls from the doors, "Be careful with the male. He's got a lot of scars and muscle on him; probably fights more often than the female."

"You're damn right I do," Raphael snarls. They already know he's awake, no point in staying quiet. What he doesn't expect is the hoarse shout of surprise and scrabbling sounds as the men scatter away from the cages. He pulls himself up onto his knees and presses his face to the barred window on the side, trying to catch sight of them. Are they retreating?

"Holy shit!" one of them hisses, shoving at his companion. "They talk! They fucking talk! That bitch never said anything about them talking!"

A man with a tranquilizer gun -Raph hopes it's just tranqs- jerks the end of it in their direction. "Maybe she didn't know. It doesn't matter, Jones. We're getting paid to deliver them, not chat with them. Load up the male, then get the female."

A small part of Raphael delights in it every time they call Leonardo a girl, so he doesn't bother correcting them. Besides, hey, it's strategic, right? If they think Leo's a scared little girl turtle who doesn't like to fight much, maybe they won't expect him to kick their asses. ...and also it's hilarious. "Hey, why not open this thing up and let me walk to wherever we're being 'delivered'? I promise I'll break only like five of your bones."

The men ignore Raphael for the most part -one of them mutters, "Shit, this is really creepy now."- as they fiddle with the sides of his cage. Something like wheels deploy; the cage lifts up and sways. There's no room between the bars for Raph's hand so he doesn't bother, just glaring darkly at the men as they circle around the cage. Maybe he should get out a shuriken, stab them, but then he'd still be stuck in the cage...

They start to roll him toward the ramp and it occurs to Raphael that with a hard enough knock, he might be able to jar the door loose enough to kick it out. Raphael tries to catch a look into Leo's cage before they get too far, but he can't see his brother. Probably still pretending to be out cold.

Okay.

They hit the ramp and Raphael bunches himself in one corner before launching himself at the other with a roar. The cage rocks violently and the men shout, startled, and Raph slams into the side again to send it toppling over the edge of the ramp and to the ground. The trailer is high, a lot higher than he expected; the wheels are almost as big as he is, it's more like industrial construction equipment than a big rig, and when the cage hits cold stone and grass it rattles so hard that Raph almost knocks his head again. Would have, if he hadn't tucked in to protect himself. Even so it leaves him winded, but the door takes a crack when the cage bounces and Raph coils up his legs and kicks at it one, twice and it snaps open. He's still chained to the bottom of the cage, but there's enough lead for him to crawl out at least.

He fishes for his shuriken and hurls one almost before looking. It catches one of the men rushing for him in the leg and he goes down. One of the tranq guns makes a puff sound and Raph ducks. The dart sticks into his carapace, but not far enough to hit flesh and he grins, plucking it out.

He can't get far enough from the cage to fight. Welp.

So he grabs the cage, hefts it over his head with a grunt of exertion and swings it like a bat toward the nearest man. That startles the shit out of them and they back away; another fires a dart and Raph uses the cage to block it.

"What the hell do we do?!" one of the men shouts, panicking.

Raph swings the cage again and the man scrambles away; it's more of a standoff now, because the cage is fucking heavy and Raphael can't do this forever, but the men know that one hit from that cage and they're likely dead. They glare at each other.

There's a clatter from inside the truck and one of the men emerges, dragging a seemingly unconscious Leonardo from inside the trailer and halfway down the ramp. He has a gun, a real gun, pointed to the top of Leonardo's head. "Calm the fuck down, or I'm shooting your little friend here!" he snarls at Raphael.

"Oh man." Raphael lowers the cage, breathless from holding it aloft. "Wow, that is...a really stupid idea."

Leo waits for opportunity, feeling the man's desperation in the way he grips, his concentration in the pressure of the gun barrel... There is a perfect moment to strike, that moment when an opponent sits undecided between one thought and the next; to strike when your enemy is thus unguarded is a sure path to victory, Sensei once quoted. And it often comes, Leonardo knows both from study and experience, when somebody thinks they've won; they relax their guard.

The cold nozzle against his head wavers as the man assumes his strategy paid off. It's the opening Leonardo has been waiting upon, and he strikes, one hand darting straight up and inside the human's guard, gripping his collar and yanking forward in a simple but effective maneuver. The gun goes off as it's knocked aside, an explosion of skull-deafening sound right next to Leo's ear; slamming into the ramp, the human lands flat on his back in front of his former hostage.

The man is heavily winded and his gun clatters to the ground, both lucky strikes; Leonardo is slow by ninja standards, taking long seconds to slide his tanto free and press it to the man's throat. It wouldn't pass muster against another trained warrior, but he's still fast enough, despite the sluggish response of his fingers and the ringing in his head.

"Nobody move!" Leo barks as adrenalin wages a pitched battle against the lingering sedative in his blood. He does his best to sound strong and uncompromising, but comes through a little desperate as well, which is less deliberate but genuine. This is a drastic move, but they're low on options. Raph needs out of that chain, and Leo's maneuverability is compromised; flipping the hostage situation provides remedies for both. So long as nobody calls his bluff, and so far, the humans are too shocked to do anything but follow orders. If Leo moves fast it might just stay that way and they'll be home free.

"Okay," he pants, trying to pick out the humans who appear least likely to try something stupid, "You - get the keys for that ankle cuff, give them to him," jerking his head towards Raphael, "And - you, bring out our weapons." The humans he singled out stare, unnerved, but they comply, one fetching a key and the other heading for the truck cab. Don't get paid enough for this, he hears one grumble.

So far, so good. Leo roughly tugs his prisoner's shoulder. "Get up."

As the human complies, Leonardo uses him for leverage, pulling himself up with one hand clutching the man's upper arm and the other braced around the side of his shoulder and neck, tanto held at an angle against skin. Try though he might to conceal his unsteadiness from the onlooking humans, Leo's prisoner couldn't possibly miss the way he relies upon support for his weight and trembles with effort to stay on his feet, or the wavering strength and control of his grip. The sooner this business is over with, the better.

Still - there's more to this situation than meets the eye. And this is an opportunity to get information that might not come again. Somebody sent these men, and that's bad news. "Who sent you to catch us," Leo demands to know, simultaneously shoving the human down the ramp and relying on him for support.

Raphael almost can't contain himself when the guy headed for the cab whispers, "Holy shit, the girl's a guy." He grins, because he knows it makes him both terrifying and because ha, ha ha ha, they thought Leo was a girl.

He can see his brother's not doing so hot, though. He could tell earlier, in the cage, but out here in the waning sunlight it's easier to tell. He's wobbly on his feet, probably from both that cut and the tranquilizer. Raphael has a pounding headache, but he's fought with worse. He's definitely the most fit out of the two of them right now.

"Hurry up," he snaps at the guy bringing over the keys. He glares at the men before slowly resting the cage down on the ground, keeping one hand looped around the bars in case he has to pick it back up and snatching the key away.

It's when he kneels down to unlock his shackle that it occurs to him that yeah, that was way too easy. There's a soft puft sound and something pricks his arm. He grabs the dart out of his bicep too late; his vision's already swimming. He glances over in time to see a man they hadn't seen before climbing out of the cab, dart gun in hand. Stupid. Stupid. He should've checked.

Raphael hits the ground face-first and the man who'd handed him the keys darts over to lock the shackle around his ankle again.

"Guess your hand's not so upper anymore, huh?" the man twists slightly in Leo's grip to glare at him from beneath his bangs as the other men pick up their discarded weapons and turn toward Leo. The driver with the tranq gun reloads and marches over to Raphael's side to nudge him with the barrel. He doesn't even twitch.

Edited 2013-11-21 03:33 (UTC)

So they've been kidnapped by some sort of tranq-wielding animal wranglers working for an as-yet-unnamed woman who sent her goons out specifically to capture them - whether they were after the turtles specifically or simply any mutant they could get their hands on is yet another entry in the "sure would be nice to know" column - possibly for a science lab or zoo or creepy private collection, but let's not forget what's really important here: the fact they mistook Leo for a girl.

Leo spares half a second to glare because are you kidding there are more important things to focus on here and also he does not look like a girl - does he?? - but that's before the situation collapses. Dammit, Leo KNEW something like this would happen if Raph couldn't get clear of the combat zone in short order, this is exactly why he wanted his brother to leave! He should've kept trying for that lock, should've taken a harder line with Raphael...

And now the situation is bad. In fact it could hardly get much worse; Raph is down for the count, Leo can barely stand and their trump card, their hidden weapons, has been spent for nothing, along with any element of surprise. What meager advantage Leo holds is temporary breathing room at best; there's no way he can carry Raph out on a half-mangled leg, even if he could stumble his own way through the lingering sedation - the limp weight of his brother would be difficult under normal circumstances. They aren't walking out of here. And even Leo can't be optimistic about the possibility of negotiating passage; the humans are only waiting for a clear shot and they will get an opportunity sooner or later.

"You're telling me," Leo grumbles in surly self-depreciation, uneasily tightening his hold as he edges backwards along the ramp and trying to take advantage of the protection afforded by the open trailer. This situation can't last. Even if Leo could hold out, barricaded with his hostage for hours, waiting for Raph to wake up would only do them so much good. And both the humans and Leonardo know that he's not going to get that far. Yet his other options are, what - to get shot? To give up?

Actually... With both retreat and victory out of bounds, surrender is not that bad of an idea. If he's going down anyway, he would be better off conscious and aware, alert for information they might need. It stings his pride but he's simply out of options; he has to do what's best for the both of them, and that means clinging to any advantage he can. Including consciousness. Leo would never consider the move in Raphael's sight, but his brother can hardly cuss him out for giving up while he's not awake to see it.

"Okay - okay! Don't shoot. I'm - I'm letting him go." Leo loosens his grip, reversing his knife-hold as he cautiously moves to release the human, and takes a balancing step with his good leg to adjust for the loss of support - then his foot slips at the edge of the ramp. He's lost his orientation along the angled platform, backing up with his attention elsewhere; now he's far closer to the lip than he expected.

With a startled gasp, Leo teeters to compensate, automatically reaching with his free hand for the nearest and only handhold: his former hostage. But the man isn't feeling friendly and he shoves the mutant away with a resentful slur; Leo yelps, flails wide - but he can't regain balance, slipping over the edge and scraping his injured leg on the way down. Before he can give voice to the pain the ground slams into his carapace, driving air from his lungs and resounding through every mangled or bruised muscle fiber.

Gagging, Leo twists to the side and grips his leg, but he doesn't have time to wallow in shock. He scuffles to sit halfway up the instant his shaking limbs will respond, instinctively searching for his weapon, but instead of his wayward tanto he finds himself quickly ringed by a half-circle of scowling humans, gun barrels glinting from the artificial lights illuminating the loading zone.

Leo blinks wide over one hand raised halfway in defense, breathing harsh. He's down, pinned, injured and unarmed - surely they wouldn't?

"Wait -"

Sorry Leo, but they would.

Pfft. A dart sinks into his shoulder. It's dangerous to double-dose someone with tranq -or dose someone with a concussion like the other one, for that matter- but they're too smart to leave awake.

It's weird, though; the male, uh, the red one, went down so fast. They'd switched to slow-acting light tranquilizers after the initial dose, just to make sure they didn't kill their prey. Maybe because of the concussion.

The men don't even wait for Leo to completely pass out before they grab him and haul him back into the trailer to stuff him back into his cage. They lock up his ankle, leave someone with a gun to watch over him as they vanish beyond the edge of the ramp.

"Can't believe these things fucking talk," the guard mutters, glancing over his shoulder when something thuds outside. He turns his attention back to Leo, keeping his gun ready but not level, until he hears screaming coming from outside. He rushes to the end of the trailer and peers out, then stands poised at the top of the ramp, like he can't decide whether to leave or stay. "Shit! Motherfucking- God damn it, shoot it! Shoot the fucking thing! She'll pay us just as much for one!"

The screaming and commotion continues outside- The man waves his gun at something beyond the trailer's view, then points it at Leo, then returns to the doors- Someone outside is shouting, "fucking shit- shit!" and there's sounds like a scuffle-

Then quiet.

A bird calls off in the distance.

There's a rattle and Raphael's cage comes into view, rolled up the ramp by two men white-faced and grim. "Why didn't you shoot it?" hisses Leonardo's guard.

"Look, it wasn't gonna let him go. If we dosed it again it'd die, and we'd only get half the money." One man continues to roll Raphael's cage until it's next to Leonardo's. He's unconscious inside, much more bruised than he was a moment ago. "And now we got less people to split the share with."

"That's fucked up. That was Norm, you knew him."

"I knew he was a bully and a drunk, and he wouldn't have gotten grabbed if he wasn't such a moron. He's dead. Fuck switching trucks, we'll just change the plates. C'mon." The man claps the guard on the shoulder, and the three of them leave the trailer, roll up the ramp and lock the doors behind them.

A moment later, the engine rumbles to life and they're on the way again. It's a long drive ahead.

Leonardo fights the drug as hard as he can, but his fingertips are already going numb by the time he manages to brush the dart aside. Although he tries struggling on the way to the cage, the slow, listless gestures fail to warrant retaliation. In chains once again, he blinks resentfully at the guard; a valiant effort to push himself off the ground results in nothing more than the weak re-positioning of one arm.

But at the sounds of a struggle - unmistakably his brother in action - and the cries of shoot him, adrenalin joins the cause and Leo raises his head a couple unsteady inches, eyes bleary yet wide from alarm. As the situation evolves, out of sight and out of Leonardo's control, time moves as sluggishly as his leaden heartbeat; he waits in dread for the sound of gunshot, but it doesn't come. When the image of Raphael's cage finally reappears, it wavers in and out of focus; Leo's chin threatens to hit the floor but he clings doggedly to awareness as his brother comes into view, battered but intact. The humans hadn't shot him, although it had been a close thing, and they weren't gentle about the rest of it.

Leo would demand to know just what the heck happened out there, but even if such questions could be answered, he's long past forming words. He manages to keep his head tilted up, semi-conscious for long interminable minutes as the door closes and the truck moves once more, but the badly-ventilated darkness and the low noise of the road and the steady, inevitable pull of the tranquilizer drag him farther and farther down. His eyes roll closed and his jaw hits the ground, breath slowing as if the air has become too heavy to shift. Still Leo strives to remain awake and thinking, even if he can't move.

He wonders how far out they're being taken, and it worries him. At this pace, they might be out-of-state soon, if they weren't already. The further afield they go, the harder it will be for anyone to track them. And now, their advantages of hidden weaponry and surprise are nullified...

It's increasingly more difficult to think at all - and to breathe, Leo realizes, feeling the air slowly leak from his throat and the long, long pause before he pulls another shallow breath. His heartbeat thuds loud and slow, and he tries to open his mouth to gasp for more air, but he can't move that far. All he can do is listen to his heart slow as reality dissolves in a slow burn, blood growing stagnant and metabolism shifting into low gear.

He's very dimly aware of the light when the truck doors re-open, but barely feels it when he's prodded. Words filter through, but their meaning is elusive.

"Damn. Hope we didn't over-do it... I dunno if she - uh, he's gonna make it."
"As long as it's alive when we hand 'em over, we get paid and the rest is their problem. Now come ON, I wanna unload these things before one of these creepy things starts talking again."

Raphael is out cold for the entire drive and the unloading. The men wheel the cages out of the back of the trailer and through a set of double doors, arguing in whispers over cuts and what to report, what to ask for. Whether or not to ask for some kind of compensation for Norm's death. They shut up as they pass through a fourth set of doors and the cages come to a gentle halt.

"Just two? I heard reports there were four."

A woman with large, square shoulders draped in a lab coat crouches right next to Leonardo's cage and peers inside. Her eyes linger over the shape of his shell, the length of his limbs.

"We only found two down there, so we grabbed them and got out. We already got one guy dead, and that's just with two of them. The girl one's even got a busted up leg and the boy's got a knot on his head, but they're fine. Were conscious and talking and everything, which you didn't-"

The woman straightens up out of Leonardo's view. "Talking. Did you say talking?"

"Yeah, creepiest thing. Talking freakin' English, making demands, oh and killing Norm-"

"You're not to mention to anyone about their understanding of speech. Do I make myself clear? I'm going to write an addendum and you're going to have your supervisor sign it before I pay you a cent."

There's an awkward silence before the woman crouches down again. She catches Leonardo stirring lightly. "And this turtle is clearly male. Aren't you?"

The sedative sits heavy in Leonardo's system, turning his limbs into lead and making it impossible to accomplish much more than breathing. His brain, at least, manages to wake up enough to follow current events. It seems his eyes never fully closed, half-lidded and blurry from the drug, so he watches the blurry images filtering through with as much attention as he can wrangle, notes all the details he can muster and prays he can retain this information around the fog clouding his senses. It's difficult to focus and his head is spinning and his mouth tastes remarkably like a stale dumpster, but their escape might very well rely on knowing how many doors guard the entrance; so he thinks of Master Splinter whacking him over the head with a bokken and concentrates.

A lot of the conversation that washes past his cage, he doesn't need to hear, but what he remembers from earlier is confirmed. Raph... he killed one of the men, back there. Actually killed someone. Leo's held his brother back from using too much force, he knows that temper has always had potential to get out of hand, but he never really thought it would come to -

It's too much. He's got to remain focused on the here and now. These humans... Moreover, this woman. She doesn't want anyone to know they can talk? That means they probably don't have to worry about getting plastered all over the news, so at least there's that. But - why?

While he thinks the woman isn't looking, Leo works his mouth briefly and swallows, trying to gauge how much of his strength is online, which isn't much. He's frustrated when she notices, but really, he's already pulled the possum gig on the hired goons; attempting it now is to no advantage. He might as well engage. Clenching his teeth, Leo blinks hard and opens his eyes properly, focusing with determination on their new foe.

This is the person hunting his family; the one he's going to have to outwit. He needs to learn all he can, and tell her as little as possible. Except for the part about him being a boy of course, because that ought to be obvious; besides, she's already certain of the truth, and Leo has no idea how to dissemble otherwise. (Tie his mask tails into a bow? Flutter his nonexistent eyelashes? Yeah, how about No.)

He draws a breath to answer; it stutters into a cough as his body informs him he hasn't been pulling in anywhere near enough oxygen for hours on end. He breathes deep, licks his parched lips and tries again.

"Thanks for noticing... What do you - want with us," Leo manages, enunciating slowly and carefully around a tongue thick with dehydration. He can't quite circumvent the twice-drugged dizziness and nausea enough to raise his head off the fragrant cage floor, but by the time he's finished with his question the young leader has mustered a glare leaden with with unadulterated stubbornness.

The woman frowns at the way the words trip out of his mouth. "How many times did you dose them?" she snaps up, probably at the men. Whatever their response was must have angered her, because she pinches the bridge of her nose. "I told you to use that sedative sparingly. You could have killed them! Did you dose the one with the concussion?"

"Well yeah, he was killing a guy-"

"Idiots." The woman disappears from Leonardo's window and moves over to crouch in front of Raphael's cage. "And I'll note the bruising is inconsistent with a wall collapse. I suppose you took out your anger on him? Like animals?"

"What- hell no, that was us trying to get him off of Norm without killing him!"

The woman sighs. "It doesn't matter. If either of these two die, I'll expect a partial refund. I might withhold payment until tomorrow just to make sure." She returns to Leonardo's cage and addresses him directly. "I apologize for the conduct of my...colleagues." Her lip curls into a sneer around the word. "We thought you were wild animals. If I knew you could be reasoned with, this might have gone differently."

Raph... No, he can't die. Not from this, not from a bump on the head and a sedative overdose. He's far too tough, would never let himself get taken down by something so banal.

... Right?

But the fact is, Leo can't contemplate the alternative. Especially when it's already tough to breathe, never mind focus on getting a handle on their situation. The news that she would have reasoned with them if she'd known they could talk inspires cautious optimism, although he's still not letting his guard down. It might be a lie, to get him to relax.

Oh man, he's dizzy. Half of his body doesn't seem to be there; the other half is useless dead weight. It's a minor miracle he's managed speech. Leo breathes as deep as he can manage, struggling to force more oxygen to his brain and muscles and for a moment it seems to work; but as he strains to lift his head the world heaves and spins. Leo's eyes slide closed as frigid numbness grips the back of his skull, but he clings to consciousness with a grimace as his jaw scrapes flat against the floor.

"Didn't... answer my - question," he manages around shallow gasps, one eye cracking open to show a resentful slit of blue as Leo stubbornly watches for whatever clues her body language might tell him.

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