In the middle of the night, Sarina wakes to the sound of screams. She lurches up on her floor mattress, flinging the blankets from her body in the process as she whirls around to where Destiny is. The wolf mutant is screaming and lurching around in bed as if something is holding her down, tears rolling down her face as pleading whimpers fall from her lips like rain.
"No, please, no...NO! NO!" she shrieks, fighting against her blankets. "STOP IT!"
"Destiny?" Sarina asks. She gets to her feet and moves to the bed, hesitant. "Destiny, what is happening?"
Destiny keeps sobbing, rolling over to cling to her pillow as her screams diminish. "It's all me," she cries. "Please...not them...not him..."
Sarina grabs Destiny's shoulder and shakes her, her bright eyes flashing against the pale, sweating face of the mutant below her. "DESTINY!"
Destiny's eyes fly open and she goes still, her breaths haggard as her gaze darts to all corners of the room. She sits up, trembling, and finally meets Sarina's shocked gaze.
"You...hah..." She coughs, reaches for her throat, then startles in place like a groundhog when it spots danger. "Leo, the turtles...where are they?"
Sarina stares at her. "Sleeping, I believe. They had patrol."
"Are you sure that they're back?" Destiny demands. She leaps to her feet and heads straight for the door. "You can't be sure until you check. Shredder could've gotten them while they were out!" She nearly falls against the door as she grasps the handle, starting to breathe more heavily. "Oh, dear god, it's all my fault if they're dead and it's all because of me I started this I hurt them first Shredder wanted me to. He's waiting. He's biding his time and he was waiting but that could've ended and it'd be too late for all of us!"
She flings open the door only to find that Leonardo is already standing there, his eyes tired yet wide. Destiny inhales sharply, makes a soft sobbing noise, and collapses into his awaiting arms as another round of tears begins, only interrupted by coughing and desperate gulps of breath. Leonardo starts to murmur under his breath as he gently lowers the both of them to the ground, letting Destiny get her breath back and empty herself of tears as they rock slowly back and forth. Sarina can't stop staring as she inches to the doorway, just able to see that the other turtles have emerged from their rooms, all still sleepy but alert enough to show their worry.
"Ssh, Des..." Leonardo's voice rumbles in the disrupted quiet. "It's okay, nothing happened. We're all safe. You're safe." He keeps murmuring little messages with that same general meaning behind it.
"He chose tonight," Destiny sniffles, refusing to open her eyes as she nestles in his arms like a lost puppy. "He chose tonight and none of you were ready. He kept thanking me for all my help, he said it was me...I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."
"All just a dream, Des. Just a dream."
"I'm sorry...so, so sorry..."
"It's okay, we forgive you."
Raphael creeps forward. He keeps his voice low when he speaks. "Is it just me, or is this one worse than others?" he asks.
"Not just you, dude," Michelangelo utters.
Sarina wobbles in her steps as she hugs the doorway, eyes still casting flickering pools of light into the shadows. "What on earth afflicted her?" she whispers.
"A nightmare," Donatello answers, carefully moving to the cyborg's side while avoiding the pair on the floor. Sarina looks to him and his grave, tentative expression becomes illuminated. "Destiny has post-traumatic stress disorder, or at least we're guessing that she does," he explains softly, as if talking to a young child. "Her mind is wired differently than the rest of us and nightmares like this one are just a small part of it."
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Emotionless Mutation (Book Three)
Fanfiction"However, you say I am human in a sense, that my body is simply fused with the robot that I have been raised to believe I am. Could you teach me...emotion?" The Kraang tried to take over the city of New York twice, and only once did they succeed. Th...
