Sir," TigerClaw kneeled before Shredder, "...the turtles escaped,"
A steel hand grasped the arm of a chair.
"...with Dr. (Y/N)."
Shredder stood, his eyes blazing.
"Find them!" He growled, "They CANNOT create a retromutagen. Do anything you have to to stop them, even if it means killing her. Maintaining power is more important than creating a new species of mutants at this point."
Tigerclaw bowed his head, "Of course, master."
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Donnie hummed to himself as he worked on his laptop, checking the security footage around the lair from last night. No signs of pursuit from Shredder appeared, so that was definitely a good thing.
He flipped the screen to show the security camera in your room, making sure everything was alright. He smiled softly as he saw you sleeping, curled up tight.
The next camera appeared, showing the outside of the lair. Nothing appeared unusual.
-
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You yawned as you shuffled into the small kitchen, hunting down for some breakfast before you went to work in the lab.
You searched the fridge, hoping to find something edible, but all you saw was empty cartons of orange juice and the occasional leftover takeout box. Your stomach grumbled in complaint, needing something to eat. Groaning, you swung open the freezer door, only to find -
"ICE CREAM MUTANT!" You shrieked, tumbling back.
The figure stared at you in confusion, wondering why you were so scared.
Leonardo came running in, his katanas drawn, "What is it?"
You pointed to the blob in the fridge, only to have Leo roll his eyes and put away his weapon.
"Relax, it's just Mikey's uh...pet."
"His name is Ice Cream Kitty!" Mikey's voice came from behind you.
You looked back up at the freezer, still a bit in shock.
Michaelangelo casually walked over and smiled, "S'up Ice Cream Kitty?"
The ice cream cat mewed in return.
You smiled slightly, a bit shocked from the freak of science, and backed away, "Umm...okay then. I'll be sure to not disturb frozen cream cat."
"...Ice Cream Kitty," Mikey corrected.
You nodded and made your way to the lab, forgetting about breakfast. You walked in and grabbed a pair of spare goggles, ready to start your first day of work.
Donnie was peering at his computer screen, madly typing away.
You smile slightly and glance over his shoulder, "What are you working on?"
Donatello jumped in surprise and looked up to see you smiling down at him, "Oh u-uh good morning Dr. (Y/N)! I was just uh checking the security footage from last night. I wanted to make sure that no one had followed us home."
You nodded and slipped on a pair of gloves, "You ready to get started?"
He quickly stood, "Right! Yes."
"And please...just call me (y/n)."
Donatello gave you a smile, "Of course."
~
One week later~
You peered into a microscope, watching the mutagen cells interact with a mixture of Lithium and Gallium. You sighed as the mutagen cells chowed down on the mixture, quickly devouring it like Mikey did with a piece of pizza.
"Formula 114 -failed." You muttered as you scribbled down the results in your notebook.
It's was late at night, almost 2 a.m., but you were almost sure this formula would work! Despite your efforts, it was to no avail; you had obviously failed. Your (h/c) hair fell out of its loose bun, spilling around your face. You sighed as you tucked a strand behind your ear and continued to take notes. You glanced over at the canister of oozing goo, seeing that it was running low.
"Um, Donatello?"
"Hm?" He mumbled, not breaking his concentration from his experiment.
"We're running low on mutagen...I'll need some more before I can do anything else."
He nodded, still focused. "Okay, I'll get some the next time I have a chance."
You quietly nodded and looked back down, reviewing your notes,
After a few minutes, Donnie looked up from his work station, seeing you write furiously in your notebook. Observing your reaction, he knew that the new formula had failed. He saw the dark circles forming underneath your eyes as you focused, blinking tiredly every so often. He glanced at the clock, seeing that it was late, and stood up.
" (Y/N), maybe you should get some rest...it's been a long day for you."
"Hm?" You glanced up from your notebook, seeing him watch you and quickly looked back down again, "Oh uh ...right...I will, after just one more trial."
He smiled slightly and walked over, watching you write.
"Which formula was this?"
"114," you replied, "The one you wrote...The results are actually pretty decent, even if the formula failed...the hydrogen bonds were finally stable, but that still won't be enough to keep the mutagen from eating it whole...Nevertheless, we covered some ground."
"I see...I'll try 134 next, it's relies more heavily on ionic bonding than anything else."
You nodded, biting the edge of your pencil as you glanced over what you wrote.
"You're hair needs to be up...you don't want to spill anything on it." He murmured quietly.
You didn't hear him, too caught up in your notes.
Suddenly, you felt two gentle hands run through your soft hair, pulling it back into a bun again. You pretended to ignore it, continuing to take notes.
When he was done, Donnie stepped back.
"There, one less fire hazard in here."
You set your pencil down and sighed, leaning back in your chair. "....Do you think will ever find it? It seems like no matter how hard I try, I'm always running into a brick wall."
"Well," he sat back down in his chair, "you know the say, you hit a wall-"
"You push through it," You quietly finished.
He nodded, "My point is, we can't quit now...thousands of people are counting on us, and if we don't help them...who will?"
You remained quiet for a moment, slipping off your glasses to give your eyes a break. "I just...my father would know exactly what to do right now....Somehow he would always find the answer to something...He was a genius...and what am I? A glorified lab assistant stuck underground, hopelessly looking for the unknown."
Donatello frowned and walked back over, putting a hand on your frail shoulder, "(Y/N)....we can do this, just don't give up hope..Once your hope is lost, so is your drive to do it."
You nodded and fell silent, feeling a yawn come on, "I-I better get to bed... I'll do the next trial in the morning."
"Right, um" he rubbed his neck awkwardly, "Goodnight, (y/n)."
You nodded and smiled slightly, "...Good night Donnie."
You walked out of the lab and down the hallway, hearing Donatello mumble to himself as he closed his laptop.
"A fire hazard, really Donatello?!"
You smile softly to yourself and shuffled off to your room, collapsing on your bed.