TMNT- Life Breathing- Chp 6

Life Breathing

Survivor's Guilt PT1

September 10th 2014

9:33 pm; Unknown Location
"This is unacceptable!"

The once crowded desktop that stood in the center of the lunar-lit office had been hastily cleared by one rough swoop of a tempered hand. The owner of the appendage clenched his hands into tight fists, facing the ceiling-to-floor windows with a rigid, tense physique. He released a slow, shaky exhalation as he attempted to alleviate his anger before talking again.

He took a deep breath, holding it for a couple of seconds before he began to speak again, the frustration in his voice only pacified by a few notches. He was pretty sure that he would begin to feel the full force of his anger again in the next few minutes but he managed to keep his emotions reigned in, "All I asked you to do… was get in, grab the child, and get out without waking the other occupants of the house. It was a simple, comprehendible order. It was a D rank mission--an effortless, in and out job-- and what do you do?"

The aggravated man spun on his heels to face the stressor that had set off his less than pleased attitude-- a mutant woman that stood before the newly vacant desk as if she were made of solid marble. She didn’t blink, she didn’t twitch… she didn’t even speak on behalf of her own defense. She just… stood there, as if all she could do was breathe and become statuesque on command.

"Not only did you fail to obtain the child but you murdered one of his guardians. That was not part of the plan! You were not conditioned to 'off' anybody, Carmen. We have other subordinates designed for that," His voice increased in volume, despite his efforts to keep his anger down to a minimum. How could he not be mad? He had had plans for the boy-- grand, extraordinary plans-- that would have greatly advanced his research in mutation and biological metamorphosis. The boy's basic configuration as a natural born mutant, as well as his unique DNA signature, would have thrown his work into a completely different caliber of scientific discovery. Now, capturing the boy would be next to impossible, considering the circumstances that had resulted in the failed kidnapping attempt.

There was also the fact that another mutant, the boy's mother, had been killed in the process. This didn't look good at all; this attack would be put under the category of mutant discrimination and, therefore, would be taken very, very seriously. Not only that but there was also the fact that the mother had been apart of the police department; law enforcement officers usually worked twice as hard at their jobs when one of their own was killed in their own home. So, with all of those factors thrown into the mix, there was no way that this little incident would be going away anytime soon....

"I am sorry, sir," The mutant woman final spoke back, her voice was smooth, direct, and... mechanical, almost robotic, "It was not my intention to resort to violence. The mother had already been awake and had attacked me. I had no choice but to engage in combat--"

"But you did NOT have to kill her. You could have knocked her out. You could have waited until she had gone back to sleep before entering the home. You only kill someone when it is a last resort and I can guarantee you that that was not a last resort situation," He all but yelled, pulling back his yelling voice and proceeding to holding his breath for a short number of seconds again. He leaned over his desk and pressed the intercom button on his office phone, a woman's voice almost simultaneously filled the room through the phone's speaker.

"Good evening, sir. What can I do for you?"

"Please collect Carmen. She needs to be brought in for her next treatment. I will sent her to you right now."

"Yes sir. I'll be waiting."

The man released his hand off of the button, glaring at the mutant across from him before waving her away with a flick of hand, "You may go. You're an eyesore at the moment."

The mutant, Carmen, bowed slightly before she turned fluidly on her heels and exited the office, leaving the nameless man to his own thoughts and frustrations. He turned to the window behind his desk once again, crossing his arms over his chest slowly as he gaze out onto the night-covered city that dwelled below. If only his more successful subordinate had not ran away and dropped off the map, he wouldn't have to deal with useless, disappointing substitutes that didn't know how to abide by their orders, no matter how simple or easy those orders were. He still did not know what had motivated his prized mutant to break free from his facility... but he knew that if the mutant didn't want to be found, it would be nearly impossible to find him. Even so, the man had several of his underlings out on the streets, keeping their eyes peeled for their missing comrade.

The nameless man sighed, shaking his head at the dilemma, "Hiro... where have you run off to?"

--

10:15 pm; Underground; The Sewer Home

"Ms. Sampson... isn’t--"

"Lara."

Donatello cleared his throat, adjusting his headset so he could hear his boss's voice a bit more clearly before he continued to slide into his raven black stealth suit, "Lara... isn't it kind of... uh... unorthodox for you to tell me that my department is receiving the funding before your official announcement to the company or the board?"

Lara sighed over the other end of the receiver, "Well I suppose... but I was just so excited for you that I couldn't just keep it to myself! I mean, you can't blame a girl for wanting to spread the good news. Besides, I thought that you would be glad to hear that you got the funding."

Donnie released a chuckle, adjusting his flexible, black gloves before he bent down to secure and tighten the strings of his boots, "Of course I'm glad. Hell, I'm ecstatic--"

"You don't sound like it..." She mumbled under her breath, a pout in her voice.

"--, really I am, Ms.--uh-- Lara. I just don't want you to get in trouble for telling me first hand information," Donatello said in a reasoning tone, standing up straight once again while fluidly zipping up the front of his suit. He tried not to grumble or cringe with annoyance at the flexible, somewhat tight fit of the dark ensemble that he was currently enveloped in, "You’re still relatively new to your position. Despite the errors of the previous CEO, the board is still looking at individuals of high positions as if they were under a microscope. That, of course, includes you."

"Che, don't remind me. Dealing with those tight-assed busy bodies is like dealing with a creeper,” she snorted, “They’re constantly blowing up my phone, they’re always, always asking me about my personal business—like it’s their business to know—, and they check my financials every week. Seriously Donnie, you’d think that I had some sort of criminal record with the way they get on my case. It's like they don't have lives of their own; they all need to get laid, that’s what…,” She paused, a shuffling of papers in the background filled Don's ears before she spoke again, "…Thank you for your concern though."

“N-No problem," Don said, successfully repressing a fit of laughter at her mini-rant. He still found it weird that Lara didn't act like a person in her position usually would. One wouldn't think that someone with her personality would turn out to be a successful and prestigious businesswoman that was good at her job. He had yet to see her in action though, "Thank you for telling me the good news."

He heard a smile enter her voice, "You are very welcome Donnie-boy. Heh... you know, I think that about 50% of your success had something to do with that sharp little number you were wearing on the day of the presentation. Oh, I wonder where you could have gotten it from..."

Don released a laugh, sauntering over to the lair’s mainframe computer in order to check the progression of the program updates that were currently displayed on the screen. All of the security programs appeared to be finished, now all that was left was the actual mainframe itself and all other interfacing devices, stations, and peripherals that he and his family possessed, "Thank you for that as well. Although, I don't think I’ll ever wear a suit like that ever again. How do business men do it?"

"Your guess it as good as mine. But, you do know that you got the vote of every, single female board member in that room, right?"

Don blinked at that, unsure of what, exactly, that meant. His hands began to glide over the large keyboard to the computer, making sure that all past data remained unaltered as all of the updates got closer and closer to being completed, "Uh... really?"

She giggled, "Oh most definitely. About half of them couldn't keep their eyes off your ass--"

Don nearly mistyped a stream of code, a blush suddenly invading his face, "W-W-What?"

"And the other half of them couldn't focus on your presentation, only on your smooth, laid back voice... but the men of the board were greatly impressed by your presentation though."

Don cleared his voice, his blush still burning brightly upon his face, "W-well... that's good to know."

"What? That women find your backside and voice attractive?"

Don sucked his teeth lightly, despite his bashfulness, "No. It's good to know that at least someone heard the presentation. I had been working on that thing nonstop ever since I found out my department had a shot."

She released a single chuckle, "I could tell. Your information was well organized and easy to follow. Even if most of the girls on the board couldn't stop looking at your physique, I'm pretty sure they heard at least something."

Don smiled at the compliment, "Thanks Ms.--"

"La-ra~" She swiftly cut him off in a sing-song voice.

"R-right… Lara."

"You're welcome," She paused slightly, a muffled yawn escaped her before she spoke again, "Welp, I'm about to turn in for the night. I shall see you tomorrow Donnie-boy."

"Same to you. Sleep well."

"You too." -Click

Donatello sighed, pulling his headset away from his ear and placed it upon the keyboard of the Lair's main computer. He seriously didn't understand his boss sometimes; to him, she was an enigma, wrapped up in a riddle, surrounded by a mystery, and deep-fried in a conundrum. Based on first impressions alone, Lara seemed like the type of woman who carried herself with unmovable pride and had little to no tolerance for nonsense-- whether it be on her job or in her personal life. She looked like an alpha female through and through-- strong, independent... and extremely intimidating-- but then, she would start to talk to you and a completely different person began to shine through. She was... unique, quirky, and unpredictable. There was also the fact that CEOs-- he was pretty sure of this now-- didn't call their workers on a regular basis to just 'check in' on the family and/or give them good news about their job position.

... But, then again, this was his very first real job so he really didn't have anything to go on when it came to proper CEO behavior.

"Awww, was that your girlfriend Donnie?"

Donatello nearly jumped out of his skin when a familiar female voice vibrated directly next to his ear. He spun around so quickly that the back end of his shell bumped rather painfully into the keyboard terminal. He grimaced slightly, his eyes locked onto the jovial, golden brown eyes of his future sister-in-law, Mona Lisa.

The lizard lady grinned at his reaction, placing her webbed hands on her hips, her form dressed in a woman’s style version of what Don was wearing. She wasn’t able to do any ‘crime-fighting’, due to the fact that she was pregnant, but she was still able to do some surveillance from the Battle Shell; the more eyes on the team, the better, "I'm right, aren't I? Is it some kind of secret or something? I promise I won't tell a soul."

Don groaned, resisting the urge to face-palm himself, "First of all, please don't sneak up on me like that; I was in contemplation mode. You nearly gave me a heart attack, Mona."

"Oh, my bad," She said sarcastically, rolling her eyes as she took a step or two back from the turtle genius, knowing how he was when it came to suddenly limited personal space.

He glared at her half-heartedly before he continued, "Secondly, she is my boss, not my girlfriend. We are not secretly dating, nor are we entangled in a chick-flickish office romance. If anything, we are friends. Jesus..."

Mona giggled, "Someone's in heavy denial. Man, I can't believe Raph was right."

"...About what?"

"About the fact that you seriously need to get laid," She said, shaking her head sadly, "I've never seen a man so sexually frustrated in my entire life..."

"Sh-shut up," He grumbled, his blush came back with a fiery vengeance as his form swiftly turned back around to face the screen, "I am not discussing this with you."

Mona pouted, "Why not? Can't a sister be worried about her brother's love life?"

"No, she cannot," Don said curtly, internally rejoicing at the fact that all updating processes had finally finished, "Please Mona, just let it drop, okay?"

Mona was silent for a moment before she sighed, swiftly moving forward to stand directly beside Donnie, "Oh alright... but if you ever need me to set you up, I know this really smoking hot girl that's perfect for you. She's really into smart guys with muscles too."

It was Don's turn to roll his eyes as Mona nudged him suggestively in the ribs, "Yeah, I'll be sure to keep that in mind, sis. Now, are Mikey and Raph suited up yet?"

She tilted her head to the side, placing her hands on her hips again as she watched Donnie finish up on the updates to the lair, his fingers dancing across the keyboard as he applied each technological change with care, “I know Raphie’s already in his stealth gear but he hasn’t come down stairs yet… and I haven’t seen Mikey leave his room; I’m assuming he’s almost done too.”

Don hummed in thought, turning his head slightly towards his soon-to-be sister-in-law as he continued with his work, “Alright… can you go check on them if they aren’t down here within the next ten minutes?”

She nodded, smiling the genius as his mocha eyes slid to her reluctantly, “Sure thing, Donnie.”

--

Raphael didn’t know what it was about the room that kept on drawing him in whenever he stopped by their old humble abode. He didn’t understand the unconscious need to turn that knob and push that navy blue door open. Maybe he was a masochist, pulling the scab off of a large, nasty wound over and over again without being able to stop himself. Every time he entered that room, a little part of him hoped to see his leader—his brother—sitting next to his neatly made futon, taking up a meditative stance with incense burning or candles blazing. He had hoped that he would see those wise, golden eyes open and turn towards him, silently asking him what was wrong. He had hoped that the warmth and luster that used to reside in the room had stayed, providing with some reassurance to Raphael that his brother had once existed; that he had once argued, laughed, fought, and lived with them.

Sadly, there was nothing. There was no warmth or air that was so uniquely Leonardo. There was no burning incense or lit candles… and, worst of all, there was no Leo. All that remained was a clean, untouched room coated with a thin layer of dust and the echoes of memories both fond and frustrating.

Raph sighed softly, shaking his head as he slowly walked into the room, illuminated by nothing but the hallway light through the open door. He walked over and past his brother’s drawers, his hand slid absentmindedly over the surface of it, collecting dust against the pads of his fingertips. He grimaced at the small grey cloud that had stirred up because of it; he knew he was going to have a sneezing fit sometime later in the evening because of it… he just hoped that it didn’t take place during a fight.

“Raph…” The hot-headed turtle turned his head just enough to see Michelangelo standing in the middle of Leo’s doorway, a mixture of worry and slight melancholy etched into his usually happy looking face, “… You know that it wasn’t your fault.”

“… Heh… the hell it wasn’t,” Raph denied automatically with a humorless chuckle. His face had contorted into a scowl as his eyes narrowed at the other, as if daring his younger brother to repeat his statement, “If Leo hadn’t taken that blow fer me… If I hadn’t been caught off guard the way I was, then… then he’d still be here wit’ us.”

“Dude, it’s the Shredder we’re talking about,” Mikey challengingly reassured, stepping deeper into the room and towards his brother. At this point, Raph had turned his head back around, his bright colored eyes focusing in on Leo’s futon as if waiting for it to make a move, “You know, evil little alien in a metal suit? Terrorized us for seven years? Caught us with our pants down more than a billion times? There’s no way you could’ve known, Raph.”

“… but Leo had told me,” the hot-headed turtle said just above a whisper after several seconds of undisturbed silence passed between himself and Mikey. He turned to the far right of the room, spotting Leo’s twin katanas propped up against a makeshift closet made out of gym lockers, “... He had told me, Mikey—warned me, even—not ta go off on my own after the Shredda. He told me not ta let my emotion’s cloud my judgement… but all I could think ‘bout was Mona and… and Doe.”

“No one blames you, Raph,” Mike said, an uncharacteristic frown touched his sea green lips, “You were going to be a father; he was threatening your family… our family—”

“But I shoulda known, Mikey!” He spun around suddenly, a growl in his voice and a consuming sadness in his eyes; both caused the orange loving trickster to automatically cease talking, the young mutant’s form stiffening from Raphael’s outburst, “I shoulda known he was just tryin’ ta draw one of us away from the group. I shoulda… I shoulda thought it through. If I had just calmed my ass down… if I hadn’t run off like some sorta ravin’ lunatic—”

“How could you think it through, Raph?” It was Michelangelo’s turn to retort, regaining his confidence and stepping closer to the other, “He was threatening our family and you had the most to lose. Leo… Leo was only protecting his little brother.”

Raphael’s intense gaze only mildly lost its edge before he slowly began to  relax his neck, his head hanging a little as if he were submitting himself to his brother’s words. It wasn’t like he didn’t know why Leo did what he had done at that critical moment in time. Leo had always been extremely overprotective when it came to his family and his friends so Raph knew that the leader would have done anything, no matter what the consequences were, to insure the hothead’s safety.

But why did Leo have to give up his life for someone like him? A fearless leader for a ninja drop out? A model student for a reckless rebel? A legendary warrior for a hot headed brute?

It was hardly an even exchange…

----
A/N: Sorry for the extra extra long wait everyone. I’ve been going through a bit of a rough patch with my family as well as putting my life together, seeing as I graduated from college and am currently looking for work in my field. I’m a bit down but... hopefully I’ll get over that. Hope you enjoyed.