inonebasket | (no subject)

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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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.