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SAINW with Donatello and Leatherhead. ", "writing": "Donatello looked down at the cold steel of his left hand. He was going to have to do some maintenance on it. The last few battles had taken a toll on the metal and it wasn’t gripping like it was supposed to. He hoped it was salvageable. He’d hate to have to build himself another one, again. Sadly, his repairs would have to wait and hopefully it would do what was needed today. \n\nThey had been fighting the Shredder for nearly twenty years now but it was no longer a private battle kept in the shadows. Try as he might, Donatello could not prevent the desolate future the Time Scepter had shown him. But, at least this time, his family was together. At the very least Donatello had been able to prevent the events that had led to them splitting up. \n\nHe and his brothers fought as a team and were united with others in the struggle to take back their world. He had seen friends and loved ones die. Hell, he had nearly died once. It was the same technology that had kept Stokman alive that sustained Donatello’s life now. He was more flesh than robotics, but he would be dead without them. At times, they gave him an advantage. \n\n“You ready?” Leonardo asked, drawing Donatello from his thoughts. \n\n“Yeah,” Raphael grunted. \n\nDonatello looked over his shoulder at his brothers. Their eyes were cold; they had all been through so much. He wasn’t the only one who had nearly died. They were all as he had seen them in his trip to the future. The only thing Donatello had managed to change was keeping them together. \n\n“Let’s do this,” Michelangelo said, the joy and playfulness long ago gone from his voice. It was hard to stay upbeat and optimistic in war, especially when you’ve see your heroes die. The Justice Force was the first target when Shredder attacked. If someone wants to take over the world, the best course of action is to take out the superheroes. Everything else fell so fast after that. Even Bishop. \n\nShaking his head to clear his thoughts, Donatello looked out over their target. “I’m ready.”\n\n“You all know the plan,” Leonardo stated. He waited for them all to nod. “Good.”\n\nThe plan was simple. They were to take out the main plant the Foot Clan used to create their deadly Karai Legion. It didn’t matter how many of those damned robots they took out if the Shredder could simply make more. No, they had to take out the source. \n\nSeveral other groups were targeting smaller plants that were used to build weaponry, but the Turtles were assigned to the main one. They had to attack at the same time so that the Shredder’s forces would be forced to break up. The fewer Foot Police each team had to face the better. \n\n“Now” Leonardo commanded, leaping from his perch and the others followed. \n\nThey each had several bombs on them and Donatello had gone over the best spots each of them should seek out to place them. He didn’t know the exact layout of the building but there were structural similarities in all buildings. A few well-placed bombs and the whole structure will come down. \n\nThey splint up when as they approached the building so that they could enter on different sides. Donatello was to enter the south side. His side didn’t have any doors so this was where his robotic hand would come in handy. \n\nScaling the wall, Donatello climbed to a second story window and used his hand to cut through the glass. Once inside, he knew he had to move fast. He moved through the building and made his way to the first level, looking for major support structures. \n\nHe had just placed his first bomb when an alarm sounded. Someone, somehow had been discovered. He would have to worry about it later. He had three more bombs to place before his part was done. \n\nTurning a corner he was met by a group of Foot Police. “Stop,” the leader commanded. “You are under arrest.”\n\nDonatello scoffed and continued running towards them. He had studied the Foot Police armor and knew all the weak points. There was a small gap at the neck for movement. A well-placed blade and the major artery was cut. The inner thigh and the under part of the upper arm were also unguarded, leaving two more major arteries vulnerable.\n\nDonatello hated using bladed weapons, longing for the days when his simple bo staff was enough. But, if they wanted the war to end, they had to be willing to kill. It wasn’t wise to leave those, who would kill them, alive to try again another day. So Donatello took up the Yari, a straight-edged spear. It was a long range weapon which Donatello favored and it felt similar to his bo staff. \n\nThere were five Foot police and he plotted his way through them as he approached. The way they stood and held their weapons determined where Donatello struck. He struck low on the one in front and his blade slid effortlessly through the fabric and flesh. \n\nPivoting and spinning around, Donatello lifted his weapon and swung it in a high arch. The neck wound of the second Foot Police made a gurgling sound as the man tried to breathe past the blood filling his throat. Donatello followed through with the momentum of his swing, arching it back down to connect with the arm of the third man. The Foot Police’s arm was lifted slightly from the strike and Donatello lunged, the blade piercing into the momentarily exposed under arm. \n\nThree down two to go. Donatello ripped his blade from the Foot Police’s arm. The final two men were better guarded. They knew their weaknesses and guarded them well. The three he had already take out were most likely newer recruits and inexperienced. These two were seasoned and well trained. But Donatello was better. \n\nIf they weren’t going to give him an opening, he was going to force one. He dropped down and swept the legs out from under one, leapt up, bounded off the wall to land behind the other. As the one still standing turned to face him, the man’s inner thigh was briefly exposed. Donatello struck, bringing his staff down. With a quick twist of the wrist, Donatello pulled his blade back out, causing as much damage as he could. The final man was half way up when Donatello kicked him in the head, snapping his head back. \n\nThe man managed a groan before Donatello brought his blade down into his exposed neck. He hated that gurgling sound. Pulling his bloodied staff from his victim, Donatello turned and continued down the hall. \n\nHe pushed open a pair of double doors and found himself in the factory itself. There were three support beams in a row along the middle of the floor. He was in the center of the building. Jack pot. Taking those out would cause the whole structure to fall. \n\nDonatello dashed for them, placing his bombs as the workers rushed to get out of the building. They were innocents, people forced to do the Shredder’s bidding so Donatello did nothing to stop them from leaving. As long as they did not try to stop him, they were not his enemy. \n\nHe had just placed his final bomb when he heard a low rumbling behind him. With staff in hand Donatello turned, ready to strike and found himself looking up at someone he had long thought dead. “Kroki?” Donatello choked out. “Is that you?”\n\nScars covered Leatherhead’s body and his eyes were dilated in blood rage. Leatherhead lunged forward with his mouth wide open. Donatello barely managed to gather his thoughts and move out of the way before those powerful jaws connected. \n\n“Stop, please,” Donatello rasped out, facing Leatherhead. \n\nLeatherhead attacked, snapping his jaws once again. Donatello jumped out of the way, spun around and struck at several pressure points. Leatherhead fell to the ground, unable to move. Pulling duct tape out of his bag, Donatello taped Leatherheads mouth closed and bound his arms behind his back. He then injected Leatherhead with a sedative. \n\n“I’ve got to get you out of here,” Donatello mumbled, pulling his shell-cell out of his bag. He hit the button to open communication with his brothers. “Is anyone free to help me?”\n\n“I’m close to you,” Raphael answered. “I’ll be there in a few seconds.”\n\n“Okay,” Donatello replied before tucking his cell back into his belt. As he waited for Raph he pulled a scanner out of his belt to scan Leatherhead. His fears were confirmed when he found the tracking device imbedded at the base of Leatherhead’s scull. \n\nThere was no way Donatello would be able to operate on it safely here so he placed a jamming device over the spot and taped it down in hopes of disabling the signal. Leatherhead rumbled and shifted slightly but the sedative was taking affect. Donatello placed his hand on Leatherhead’s head. “You’re safe now. I’m gonna get you out of here.”\n\nRaphael entered the factory and looked around. His eyes fell on Leatherhead. “What’s going on, Donny?”\n\n“He attacked me,” Donatello answered. “Help me get him out of here.”\n\n“The Foot Police are flooding the building and you want me to help you carry Leatherhead out of here?” Raph crossed his arms over his plastron and looked down at Donatello, who silently pleaded back up at his brother. “Fine,” Raph said with a groan, dropping his arms to his side. “But if it gets bad, I ain’t gonna die trying to save him. We drop him and run.”\n\n“Okay,” Donatello agreed. He looked down at his watch. “We have three minutes left before the bombs go off. We better get going.”\n\nThey flipped Leatherhead over and Raph grabbed him by the legs then started dragging him out. There were going to be a few bumps and bruises on the large crocodile but at least they were getting him out of the building. \n\nWhenever they encountered Foot Police the two turtles managed to fight them off. Donatello was glad that there were none of the Karai Legion around, at least none that were complete. The finished bots were all sent to Shredder’s main strong hold. After today, if Shredder is able to rebuild the factory, Donatello was sure that Shredder was going to start having a few functioning Karai Bots guard the factories. But if all went as planned, Shredder wouldn’t have time to rebuild the factories. \n\nOne day at a time, Donatello told himself. \n\nLeonardo and Michelangelo met up with them on their way out of the building. They both looked at Leatherhead but said nothing. Leonardo simply bent down and managed to carry Leatherhead’s top half and still kept pace with Raph. \n\nThey crossed the street amid a barrage of gun fire, ducking into the shadows as soon as they were on the other side. “Anyone hurt?” Leonardo asked as he set Leatherhead down. He looked down at his watch and then back towards the building. Closing his eyes, Leonardo turned away just as the bombs went off. “I hope there were no innocents in there.”\n\n“We all do, bro,” Michelangelo said, placing his hand on Leonardo’s shoulder. Other explosions could be heard in the distance, signaling that other teams had been successful. The bombs wouldn’t have gone off if they were not placed. \n\nLeonardo placed his hand over Michelangelo’s for a moment before turning to Donatello. “You’re not bringing him to the lair. We can’t even be sure that that is really him. Shredder took Bishop’s research, which includes his cloning technology.”\n\n“I know,” Donatello said, a little irritated in Leonardo’s tone. “I’m well aware of what Shredder is capable of.” He looked down at his long lost love and ran his hand over Leatherhead’s neck. “But I want the chance to make sure.”\n\n“For your sake, I hope it is him,” Raphael said, turning to face Donatello. He looked at each of his brothers. “We can’t stay here. He can’t take him to the lair. Where do we take him?”\n\n“To my storage unit,” Donatello answered, keeping his eyes on Leatherhead. “I have supplies there to last me a few weeks. I just need your help getting him there.”\n\n“Is there a tracker?” Leonardo asked. \n\n“It’s already taken care of.” Donatello turned Leatherhead slightly so Leonardo could see the back of his neck and the jamming device. \n\n“Lead the way,” Leonardo said, stepping aside to let Donatello pass and then taking his place at Leatherhead’s head. “Donatello,” Leonardo said, causing everyone to pause and turn. “I know you love him but if it is not him or if the situation looks hopeless…, I cannot allow him to… be a liability.” \n\nDonatello did his best to keep from crying. He knew he brother would not hesitate to kill him. “I understand.” Donatello led them to an old warehouse by the docks and then down a secret passage to a large underground room. The room was filled with technology and weapons Donatello had collected over the years. \n\nRaphael let out a low whistle. “You’ve got quite a collection, Donny-boy.”\n\n“You know I don’t like throwing anything away,” Donatello said. “Whenever I do, I discover a use for it not long after.”\n\n“What do you want us to do with Leatherhead?” Leonardo asked. \n\nDonatello pointed to a table on the other side of the room. “Put him up there. I need to disable the tracking device.”\n\nHis brothers did as they were asked and then stood back with weapons ready as Donatello got to work. After injecting Leatherhead with more sedative, Donatello moved the jamming device out of the way but kept it close. He then cleaned the area and made a small incision where the tracing device was located. \n\nIt was where he had expected to find it, in a location that made it impossible to remove without causing serious damage. So the best Donatello could hope for was deactivating it, by removing a few crucial circuits. \n\nAfter stitching up the incision, Donatello put an ointment on the wound and then covered it with gauze. He did one more scan over Leatherhead to make sure that there were no other tracking signals. Satisfied that Leatherhead was clear, he shut off the jamming device. \n\n“Help me move him again?” Donatello requested. \n\n“Just tell us where,” Raphael replied. \n\n“Back this way.” Donatello led them past selves stuffed full of technology to where he kept the containment chamber his brothers had used when he had gone through his second mutation. “Put him in there.”\n\n“I can’t believe you kept this,” Michelangelo said, placing his hand on the chamber. \n\nDonatello shrugged. “Now I’m glad I did. It’s useful again.”\n\nThey removed the duct tape from Leatherhead’s wrists and snout before placing him in the chamber. Donatello closed the door, locking Leatherhead inside. \n\n“Would you like one of us to stay?” Michelangelo asked. The tone of Michelangelo’s question led Donatello to believe that what his brother was really asking is, ‘Would you mind if I stayed’. He had been close to Leatherhead in different ways than Donatello had. They were friends. Michelangelo had mourned their friend for as long as Donatello had when they thought they had lost him. \n\n“You can stay,” Donatello nodded. “Maybe together we can get through to him.”\n\n“We’ll leave the two of you to it then,” Leonardo said. He nodded to Raphael and the two of them headed out. “If you need anything….”\n\n“I’ll call you,” Donatello said, keeping his eyes on Leatherhead. \n\nMichelangelo and Donatello waited in silence for the sedative to wear off. Neither of them wanted to talk about the possibility that it wasn’t him or what they would have to do. Donatello fought the urge to cry. He couldn’t go through the trauma of losing Leatherhead again. \n\nSlowly Leatherhead regained consciousness. Almost immediately he entered into a rage, pounding his fists on the glass. \n\nFor three days the two turtles tried to get through to Leatherhead but he wouldn’t calm down. “I remember when you were like that,” Michelangelo stated as he slid his back down the wall to sit on the floor. He looked defeated.\n\nDonatello looked into the chamber. Leatherhead snapped his jaws and scratched at the glass. “Leatherhead didn’t give up on me then, I’m not giving up on him now.”\n\n“He doesn’t seem to remember who we are,” Michelangelo said with a pout. \n\nLooking over his shoulder at his brother, Donatello smiled. “Then I guess we will have to remind him.”\n\n“How?” Mikey asked, lifting an eye ridge. \n\nDonatello dug through his collection until he found all that he needed. He pulled out several computers, monitors, and stands. He connected the monitors to the computers, rigged them up on the stands and faced them all toward the chamber. \n\nOne by one he set each computer so play home videos of their family and set them to play continuously. “Remember, my love,” Donatello said, stepping back from his array. \n\n“Do you think this will work?” Michelangelo wanted to know. \n\nDonatello shrugged, “I don’t know.”\n\nThey carefully served Leatherhead food through the little slot on the bottom of the chamber. Donatello was relieved to see that Leatherhead was at least eating. \n\nThey eventually added a large standing mirror among the monitors so Leatherhead could see himself and hopefully remember who he was. There were times that Donatello caught Leatherhead watching him. Donatello would smile and speak softly to him. Leatherhead would only roar, snap his jaws or hit the glass in response. It was all starting to feel hopeless and Donatello stared to despair. He didn’t know how much more he could take. \n\nLeonardo visited every day and Donatello could tell that his patience was running thin. Donatello argued that Shredder had Leatherhead for nearly ten years. Leonardo replied that they didn’t have the resources to wait that long. \n\nOne night while Michelangelo slept Donatello stood in front of the chamber, looking at his love. “I don’t want to live without you,” he whispered. “This world isn’t worth it. But being with you would make it more bearable.”\n\nHis hand trembled as he reached out to the chamber door. “I need you to remember who you are, who we were.” He opened the door. “I love you, Kroki.”\n\nLeatherhead bound out of his confinement, crashing into Donatello. The noise woke Michelangelo. Donatello could hear him calling his name as he crashed to the floor. Leatherhead was on top of him and with is eyes shut tight Donatello waited for the fatal strike. \n\nSeconds passed and nothing happened. Did Michelangelo do something to stop Leatherhead? He could feel Leatherhead on top of him. He could hear the low rumble with each hot breath. Leatherhead was still alive. Slowly Donatello opened his eyes and looked up. \n\nLeatherhead’s head was tilted to the side and he was looking down at Donatello. His eye dilated and contracted as it searched Donatello’s face. “Kroki, please,” Donatello whispered, hoping that his pet name for his love would help to trigger his memories. “Come back to me.”\n\nLeatherhead’s eye contracted into a narrow slit. “My love,” he rasped out. \n\nWrapping his arms around Leatherhead, Donatello nodded and smiled through his tears. “Welcome home.”\n", "writing_bbcode_parsed": "Donatello looked down at the cold steel of his left hand. He was going to have to do some maintenance on it. The last few battles had taken a toll on the metal and it wasn’t gripping like it was supposed to. He hoped it was salvageable. He’d hate to have to build himself another one, again. Sadly, his repairs would have to wait and hopefully it would do what was needed today.

They had been fighting the Shredder for nearly twenty years now but it was no longer a private battle kept in the shadows. Try as he might, Donatello could not prevent the desolate future the Time Scepter had shown him. But, at least this time, his family was together. At the very least Donatello had been able to prevent the events that had led to them splitting up.

He and his brothers fought as a team and were united with others in the struggle to take back their world. He had seen friends and loved ones die. Hell, he had nearly died once. It was the same technology that had kept Stokman alive that sustained Donatello’s life now. He was more flesh than robotics, but he would be dead without them. At times, they gave him an advantage.

“You ready?” Leonardo asked, drawing Donatello from his thoughts.

“Yeah,” Raphael grunted.

Donatello looked over his shoulder at his brothers. Their eyes were cold; they had all been through so much. He wasn’t the only one who had nearly died. They were all as he had seen them in his trip to the future. The only thing Donatello had managed to change was keeping them together.

“Let’s do this,” Michelangelo said, the joy and playfulness long ago gone from his voice. It was hard to stay upbeat and optimistic in war, especially when you’ve see your heroes die. The Justice Force was the first target when Shredder attacked. If someone wants to take over the world, the best course of action is to take out the superheroes. Everything else fell so fast after that. Even Bishop.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Donatello looked out over their target. “I’m ready.”

“You all know the plan,” Leonardo stated. He waited for them all to nod. “Good.”

The plan was simple. They were to take out the main plant the Foot Clan used to create their deadly Karai Legion. It didn’t matter how many of those damned robots they took out if the Shredder could simply make more. No, they had to take out the source.

Several other groups were targeting smaller plants that were used to build weaponry, but the Turtles were assigned to the main one. They had to attack at the same time so that the Shredder’s forces would be forced to break up. The fewer Foot Police each team had to face the better.

“Now” Leonardo commanded, leaping from his perch and the others followed.

They each had several bombs on them and Donatello had gone over the best spots each of them should seek out to place them. He didn’t know the exact layout of the building but there were structural similarities in all buildings. A few well-placed bombs and the whole structure will come down.

They splint up when as they approached the building so that they could enter on different sides. Donatello was to enter the south side. His side didn’t have any doors so this was where his robotic hand would come in handy.

Scaling the wall, Donatello climbed to a second story window and used his hand to cut through the glass. Once inside, he knew he had to move fast. He moved through the building and made his way to the first level, looking for major support structures.

He had just placed his first bomb when an alarm sounded. Someone, somehow had been discovered. He would have to worry about it later. He had three more bombs to place before his part was done.

Turning a corner he was met by a group of Foot Police. “Stop,” the leader commanded. “You are under arrest.”

Donatello scoffed and continued running towards them. He had studied the Foot Police armor and knew all the weak points. There was a small gap at the neck for movement. A well-placed blade and the major artery was cut. The inner thigh and the under part of the upper arm were also unguarded, leaving two more major arteries vulnerable.

Donatello hated using bladed weapons, longing for the days when his simple bo staff was enough. But, if they wanted the war to end, they had to be willing to kill. It wasn’t wise to leave those, who would kill them, alive to try again another day. So Donatello took up the Yari, a straight-edged spear. It was a long range weapon which Donatello favored and it felt similar to his bo staff.

There were five Foot police and he plotted his way through them as he approached. The way they stood and held their weapons determined where Donatello struck. He struck low on the one in front and his blade slid effortlessly through the fabric and flesh.

Pivoting and spinning around, Donatello lifted his weapon and swung it in a high arch. The neck wound of the second Foot Police made a gurgling sound as the man tried to breathe past the blood filling his throat. Donatello followed through with the momentum of his swing, arching it back down to connect with the arm of the third man. The Foot Police’s arm was lifted slightly from the strike and Donatello lunged, the blade piercing into the momentarily exposed under arm.  

Three down two to go. Donatello ripped his blade from the Foot Police’s arm. The final two men were better guarded. They knew their weaknesses and guarded them well. The three he had already take out were most likely newer recruits and inexperienced. These two were seasoned and well trained. But Donatello was better.

If they weren’t going to give him an opening, he was going to force one. He dropped down and swept the legs out from under one, leapt up, bounded off the wall to land behind the other. As the one still standing turned to face him, the man’s inner thigh was briefly exposed. Donatello struck, bringing his staff down. With a quick twist of the wrist, Donatello pulled his blade back out, causing as much damage as he could. The final man was half way up when Donatello kicked him in the head, snapping his head back.

The man managed a groan before Donatello brought his blade down into his exposed neck. He hated that gurgling sound. Pulling his bloodied staff from his victim, Donatello turned and continued down the hall.

He pushed open a pair of double doors and found himself in the factory itself. There were three support beams in a row along the middle of the floor. He was in the center of the building. Jack pot. Taking those out would cause the whole structure to fall.

Donatello dashed for them, placing his bombs as the workers rushed to get out of the building. They were innocents, people forced to do the Shredder’s bidding so Donatello did nothing to stop them from leaving. As long as they did not try to stop him, they were not his enemy.

He had just placed his final bomb when he heard a low rumbling behind him. With staff in hand Donatello turned, ready to strike and found himself looking up at someone he had long thought dead. “Kroki?” Donatello choked out. “Is that you?”

Scars covered Leatherhead’s body and his eyes were dilated in blood rage. Leatherhead lunged forward with his mouth wide open. Donatello barely managed to gather his thoughts and move out of the way before those powerful jaws connected.

“Stop, please,” Donatello rasped out, facing Leatherhead.

Leatherhead attacked, snapping his jaws once again. Donatello jumped out of the way, spun around and struck at several pressure points. Leatherhead fell to the ground, unable to move. Pulling duct tape out of his bag, Donatello taped Leatherheads mouth closed and bound his arms behind his back. He then injected Leatherhead with a sedative.

“I’ve got to get you out of here,” Donatello mumbled, pulling his shell-cell out of his bag. He hit the button to open communication with his brothers. “Is anyone free to help me?”

“I’m close to you,” Raphael answered. “I’ll be there in a few seconds.”

“Okay,” Donatello replied before tucking his cell back into his belt. As he waited for Raph he pulled a scanner out of his belt to scan Leatherhead. His fears were confirmed when he found the tracking device imbedded at the base of Leatherhead’s scull.

There was no way Donatello would be able to operate on it safely here so he placed a jamming device over the spot and taped it down in hopes of disabling the signal. Leatherhead rumbled and shifted slightly but the sedative was taking affect. Donatello placed his hand on Leatherhead’s head. “You’re safe now. I’m gonna get you out of here.”

Raphael entered the factory and looked around. His eyes fell on Leatherhead. “What’s going on, Donny?”

“He attacked me,” Donatello answered. “Help me get him out of here.”

“The Foot Police are flooding the building and you want me to help you carry Leatherhead out of here?” Raph crossed his arms over his plastron and looked down at Donatello, who silently pleaded back up at his brother.  “Fine,” Raph said with a groan, dropping his arms to his side. “But if it gets bad, I ain’t gonna die trying to save him. We drop him and run.”

“Okay,” Donatello agreed. He looked down at his watch. “We have three minutes left before the bombs go off. We better get going.”

They flipped Leatherhead over and Raph grabbed him by the legs then started dragging him out. There were going to be a few bumps and bruises on the large crocodile but at least they were getting him out of the building.

Whenever they encountered Foot Police the two turtles managed to fight them off. Donatello was glad that there were none of the Karai Legion around, at least none that were complete. The finished bots were all sent to Shredder’s main strong hold. After today, if Shredder is able to rebuild the factory, Donatello was sure that Shredder was going to start having a few functioning Karai Bots guard the factories. But if all went as planned, Shredder wouldn’t have time to rebuild the factories.

One day at a time, Donatello told himself.

Leonardo and Michelangelo met up with them on their way out of the building. They both looked at Leatherhead but said nothing. Leonardo simply bent down and managed to carry Leatherhead’s top half and still kept pace with Raph.

They crossed the street amid a barrage of gun fire, ducking into the shadows as soon as they were on the other side. “Anyone hurt?” Leonardo asked as he set Leatherhead down. He looked down at his watch and then back towards the building. Closing his eyes, Leonardo turned away just as the bombs went off. “I hope there were no innocents in there.”

“We all do, bro,” Michelangelo said, placing his hand on Leonardo’s shoulder. Other explosions could be heard in the distance, signaling that other teams had been successful. The bombs wouldn’t have gone off if they were not placed.

Leonardo placed his hand over Michelangelo’s for a moment before turning to Donatello. “You’re not bringing him to the lair. We can’t even be sure that that is really him. Shredder took Bishop’s research, which includes his cloning technology.”

“I know,” Donatello said, a little irritated in Leonardo’s tone. “I’m well aware of what Shredder is capable of.” He looked down at his long lost love and ran his hand over Leatherhead’s neck. “But I want the chance to make sure.”

“For your sake, I hope it is him,” Raphael said, turning to face Donatello. He looked at each of his brothers. “We can’t stay here. He can’t take him to the lair. Where do we take him?”

“To my storage unit,” Donatello answered, keeping his eyes on Leatherhead. “I have supplies there to last me a few weeks. I just need your help getting him there.”

“Is there a tracker?” Leonardo asked.

“It’s already taken care of.” Donatello turned Leatherhead slightly so Leonardo could see the back of his neck and the jamming device.

“Lead the way,” Leonardo said, stepping aside to let Donatello pass and then taking his place at Leatherhead’s head. “Donatello,” Leonardo said, causing everyone to pause and turn. “I know you love him but if it is not him or if the situation looks hopeless…, I cannot allow him to… be a liability.”

Donatello did his best to keep from crying. He knew he brother would not hesitate to kill him. “I understand.” Donatello led them to an old warehouse by the docks and then down a secret passage to a large underground room. The room was filled with technology and weapons Donatello had collected over the years.

Raphael let out a low whistle. “You’ve got quite a collection, Donny-boy.”

“You know I don’t like throwing anything away,” Donatello said. “Whenever I do, I discover a use for it not long after.”

“What do you want us to do with Leatherhead?” Leonardo asked.

Donatello pointed to a table on the other side of the room. “Put him up there. I need to disable the tracking device.”

His brothers did as they were asked and then stood back with weapons ready as Donatello got to work. After injecting Leatherhead with more sedative, Donatello moved the jamming device out of the way but kept it close. He then cleaned the area and made a small incision where the tracing device was located.

It was where he had expected to find it, in a location that made it impossible to remove without causing serious damage. So the best Donatello could hope for was deactivating it, by removing a few crucial circuits.

After stitching up the incision, Donatello put an ointment on the wound and then covered it with gauze. He did one more scan over Leatherhead to make sure that there were no other tracking signals. Satisfied that Leatherhead was clear, he shut off the jamming device.

“Help me move him again?” Donatello requested.

“Just tell us where,” Raphael replied.

“Back this way.” Donatello led them past selves stuffed full of technology to where he kept the containment chamber his brothers had used when he had gone through his second mutation. “Put him in there.”

“I can’t believe you kept this,” Michelangelo said, placing his hand on the chamber.

Donatello shrugged. “Now I’m glad I did. It’s useful again.”

They removed the duct tape from Leatherhead’s wrists and snout before placing him in the chamber. Donatello closed the door, locking Leatherhead inside.

“Would you like one of us to stay?” Michelangelo asked. The tone of Michelangelo’s question led Donatello to believe that what his brother was really asking is, ‘Would you mind if I stayed’. He had been close to Leatherhead in different ways than Donatello had. They were friends. Michelangelo had mourned their friend for as long as Donatello had when they thought they had lost him.

“You can stay,” Donatello nodded. “Maybe together we can get through to him.”

“We’ll leave the two of you to it then,” Leonardo said. He nodded to Raphael and the two of them headed out. “If you need anything….”

“I’ll call you,” Donatello said, keeping his eyes on Leatherhead.

Michelangelo and Donatello waited in silence for the sedative to wear off. Neither of them wanted to talk about the possibility that it wasn’t him or what they would have to do. Donatello fought the urge to cry. He couldn’t go through the trauma of losing Leatherhead again.

Slowly Leatherhead regained consciousness. Almost immediately he entered into a rage, pounding his fists on the glass.

For three days the two turtles tried to get through to Leatherhead but he wouldn’t calm down. “I remember when you were like that,” Michelangelo stated as he slid his back down the wall to sit on the floor. He looked defeated.

Donatello looked into the chamber. Leatherhead snapped his jaws and scratched at the glass. “Leatherhead didn’t give up on me then, I’m not giving up on him now.”

“He doesn’t seem to remember who we are,” Michelangelo said with a pout.

Looking over his shoulder at his brother, Donatello smiled. “Then I guess we will have to remind him.”

“How?” Mikey asked, lifting an eye ridge.

Donatello dug through his collection until he found all that he needed. He pulled out several computers, monitors, and stands. He connected the monitors to the computers, rigged them up on the stands and faced them all toward the chamber.

One by one he set each computer so play home videos of their family and set them to play continuously. “Remember, my love,” Donatello said, stepping back from his array.

“Do you think this will work?” Michelangelo wanted to know.

Donatello shrugged, “I don’t know.”

They carefully served Leatherhead food through the little slot on the bottom of the chamber. Donatello was relieved to see that Leatherhead was at least eating.

They eventually added a large standing mirror among the monitors so Leatherhead could see himself and hopefully remember who he was. There were times that Donatello caught Leatherhead watching him. Donatello would smile and speak softly to him. Leatherhead would only roar, snap his jaws or hit the glass in response. It was all starting to feel hopeless and Donatello stared to despair. He didn’t know how much more he could take.

Leonardo visited every day and Donatello could tell that his patience was running thin. Donatello argued that Shredder had Leatherhead for nearly ten years. Leonardo replied that they didn’t have the resources to wait that long.

One night while Michelangelo slept Donatello stood in front of the chamber, looking at his love. “I don’t want to live without you,” he whispered. “This world isn’t worth it. But being with you would make it more bearable.”

His hand trembled as he reached out to the chamber door. “I need you to remember who you are, who we were.” He opened the door. “I love you, Kroki.”

Leatherhead bound out of his confinement, crashing into Donatello. The noise woke Michelangelo. Donatello could hear him calling his name as he crashed to the floor. Leatherhead was on top of him and with is eyes shut tight Donatello waited for the fatal strike.

Seconds passed and nothing happened. Did Michelangelo do something to stop Leatherhead? He could feel Leatherhead on top of him. He could hear the low rumble with each hot breath. Leatherhead was still alive. Slowly Donatello opened his eyes and looked up.

Leatherhead’s head was tilted to the side and he was looking down at Donatello. His eye dilated and contracted as it searched Donatello’s face. “Kroki, please,” Donatello whispered, hoping that his pet name for his love would help to trigger his memories. “Come back to me.”

Leatherhead’s eye contracted into a narrow slit. “My love,” he rasped out.

Wrapping his arms around Leatherhead, Donatello nodded and smiled through his tears. “Welcome home.”
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