Though the figure had run them every night for as long as he could remember, the tunnels seemed never ending. There was no sound except for the frantic splashing of hurried feet through the shallow water and the strained breathing from the small bundle in the running shadow's arms.
There was a small gasp, almost a squeak from the tiny form, and the splashes quickened, growing louder in the confined space and echoing forward around them.
"It's okay. 'S okay. Jus' keep on breathin'." The words were breathless and soft, almost becoming a plea rather than a command. "We're almost there. Jus' keep breathing."
Donatello was surfing the internet on his amped-up industrial-grade laptop looking for inspiration to start a new engineering project when a proximity alert blipped from the corner of the screen. Unworriedly, the bored genius clicked on the flashing camera icon and glanced at the security footage that came to life.
Just as he expected, it was only his older brother jogging down the sewer toward the lair.
What he wasn't expecting was to see him clutching a bundle of old tarp to his chest as if his life depended on it. Nor was he expecting the flash of tiny green feet sticking out from the bottom.
Don watched as his oldest brother and leader was lost from the camera's view. "Huh." He half rose from his seat, then paused, frowned, and sat back again.
"Huh." Processing… processing… This time he made it all the way to his feet and peeked his head out of the lab and into the main area of his home. Based on the speed his brother had been moving, he should be reaching the secret entrance just about… now.
The lair door was kicked in forcefully and the figure made a beeline toward the lab. "Donny! I need ya help! Right now!"
"Raph! What's going on? What's that?"
Before any other words could be exchanged, a green face popped out from the second-floor balcony. "There's my favorite brother! How was your run? Didja bring me anything? Whatcha got there?" The questions were fired rapidly one after another without any room for response as Michelangelo flipped over the railing and ran over to Raph to try to peer into his arms. The leader ignored him completely and bulled past him towards Donny.
"I found 'im in the old lair. Quick, Don! I don't think he can breathe no more!" This snapped the genius out of his confused state and sent him straight into doctor mode.
"Right, uh… bring him in here."
The door to the lab swung shut behind the two of them, leaving a very confused little orange-masked brother standing in the living room alone.
"Uh… Guys?"
"Okay, Raph. What have we got?"
"I honestly got no clue. I found him all alone on the floor by Master Splinter's old room. 'E was cryin' and gaspin' and there was no one around, and then he started screamin', but not like baby screamin' but real pain screamin'. Then he suddenly couldn't make no sound anymore he was just curled up there by the wall with his mouth hangin' open and his eyes glued shut." Raph spoke a mile a minute as he used a free arm to sweep all the papers and miscellaneous doodads off the exam table. He then carefully lowered the bundle and peeled away the hole-riddled tarp to reveal his precious charge.
"What the shell, Raph?" Donny took a whole three seconds to blink in shock at the tiny figure now lying in his lab. It was a tiny mutant turtle, barely the size of a human one-year-old. Its skin was a pale sea-foam green that would have been paler even than Mikey's had it not been covered in sewer filth and dust, and the shell was a dark, speckled brown. As Donny's mind tried to process what his eyes were seeing, the little turtle's shallow, gasping breaths made their way through his ears and snapped him back into focus. He was a doctor, and right now, there was a very tiny, precious life in need of his help. "Right, we'll talk later. Right now I need you to get a washcloth and a bucket of water." Raph nodded and breathlessly scurried off to the kitchen.
"All right, let's see what is going on with you, little guy." Almost hesitantly, Don reached out and touched the infant's face, wincing internally at the coldness of his skin before trailing down to his throat to take his pulse. "Mikey!" he yelled over his shoulder and jumped when he saw his youngest sibling standing in the doorway looking down at the table in shock. "Mike," he continued in a softer tone, "I need you to run and get the warmest blanket you have." There was no movement in the doorway. "That means now, Michelangelo!" And he turned back to the table.
An hour later the three teenaged turtles stood around the table where the youngest mutant lay wrapped in two fuzzy blankets and sleeping peacefully, though his breaths were still shallow and his eye ridges would scrunch up in discomfort every so often.
"So, Don. What's the verdict?" Raph was back in leader mode, having had time to calm himself since his frantic flight through the sewers.
The middle child hesitated before answering, "It's not too good. He is suffering from exposure. He must have been lying out there for a while, I'd say at least twelve hours, if not more, and the old lair hasn't had the heat running in years, and it wasn't that well insulated in the first place. But that shouldn't be too big of a problem now that he's starting to warm up. I'm more worried about how dehydrated he was, not to mention the bruises around his plastron and what I suspect is a cracked ulna in his right arm that I found after cleaning him up. An infection of the lungs is causing his difficulty breathing, but it hasn't gotten too bad yet, so I think it won't be too much trouble if we keep an eye on it. Bruised ribs probably aren't helping his case either. I have no idea how old he is; could be only about twelve months up to four years. He's so frail and malnourished that it's impossible to tell, and since there aren't that many books about Child Development in Mutant Turtles, I guess we'll have to wait until he wakes up to get a rough estimate."
"Will he be alright though?" Mikey asked with concern, bending over and rubbing a thick, green finger gently over the baby's creased forehead. The turtle's breath hitched and he leaned slightly into the touch.
"He should recover from the bruises and cracked arm just fine, and the infection shouldn't last more than a day or three. Keeping him warm will be important for a while, but I don't know about the longer lasting effects. He's obviously not been cared for adequately. The malnutrition might have suppressed him immune system, probably stunted his growth. I don't think his heart or lungs are working at full capacity either. Whether that means that he was born prematurely and nothing was done to help him finish growing, that is if he was actually born somehow, or something went wrong in his mutation."
"That's a scary thought…" Raph mused. "More ooze? Where from?" There was a moment of silence as the three of them contemplated this new development.
"Well," Mikey began after a time, "can we keep 'im?"
I wake up.
That's weird; I didn't think I would do that again. The monsters at the Place told me that the next time I went to sleep I would be dead. Dead is when you don't wake up no more. But I did wake up, just now, so I guess that means I'm not dead. Maybe.
And there are noises around me, and I don't think that dead people hear noises. Being not dead sounds like a good idea.
But noises aren't that good neither. Noises means monsters, and monsters means poking and yelling and hurting. Maybe if I pretend being dead the monsters will leave me alone and not hurt me no more.
"Hey, little guy." No. Nononononono… noises too close. Talking too close. Make it stop stopstopstop. I'll be good, I promise!
"You gonna wake up soon, buddy?" Nope. No waking. I'm dead, and dead means you don't wake up no more. Dead means no more hurting.
Then there is touching and I flinch away. Then I remember that I am supposed to be dead, and dead people don't flinch and I try to keep real still. But the touching isn't hurting. I peek one eye open, my left one because the Aprillady taught me the left and right sides and this touching feels like her touching, nice and soft and warm and not hurting.
I can see nothing because a green something is in front of my face, touching my head and feeling good and safe. Then the green something moves and I look up into a face. Look at that! It looks like mine!
"Raph, why were you even at the old lair anyway? I thought you told us not to go there anymore because the Foot knows where it is. It's too dangerous. And don't tell me you were just on a run."
"I was just on a run, I swear! I wasn't even plannin' on going close to there, but I thought I saw someone down in the sewers before I got to the surface and decided to follow 'em. After a while, I realized I was never gonna catch up and was gettin' ready to turn back when I heard the tyke cryin' and realized I'd gotten all the way over to the old lair. What was I supposed to do?"
"I don't know, call me maybe, Mr. Always-Keep-Your-Shell-Cell-On-So-I-Can-Find-You?" At this, Raph looked down and fidgeted a little before mumbling,
"Yeah, well, I might have possibly accidently left it…" Don raised his eyebrow.
"Really? Come on, Raph. Talk about hypocrisy."
"Shut it, Brainiac."
Don raised his hands in defeat. "Alright, alright, keep your shell on; I was just saying." A brief silence allowed a low murmuring from the living room to filter into the kitchen where they were standing against the counter. Mikey had barely left the child's side in the sixteen hours since his discovery. The past two had been spent gently prodding the sleeping bundle to wake up and speaking soothing words he hoped would make him feel safe.
"What are we going to do with him, Raph?" Donny continued. "We don't know anything about kids. Shell, we don't even know where about him. Why was he abandoned? Why was he at the old lair? In that case, why does he even exist? Mutant turtles aren't exactly that common an occurrence, and the last time we heard of anyone playing with mutagen was years ago."
"I dunno, Don. But we don't exactly know anyone willin' ta take in a mutant turtle baby, do we now? Are you suggesting we put 'im back where we found 'im and forget?"
"Of course not! Geez, Raph, what do you take me for?"
"Just makin' sure. Gosh, I wish Splinter was still here; he'd know what to do."
"Yeah."
Mikey was getting impatient.
"Come on, kid. You gotta wakey wakey. I want to meet my new lil' bro. Of course, Raph hasn't said anything like that yet, but I'm pretty sure he'll let me keep ya. It'll be great! I've always wanted a little brother. I'll teach you how to skateboard and be a sneaky ninja and we'll prank Donny together and run away before he can catch us. And we'll sneak out and get pizza without telling Raph and he'll get all mad and lecturey, but mostly because we won't bring him any, 'cause he'll know that I would never let anything happen to you because I'll be the best big brother if you'll just wake up." This continued for some time.
He had lapsed into a comfortable silence after a while and was just sitting by the couch on which the child was lying when the tot's face tensed and grimaced slightly.
"Hey, little guy," Mike whispered, leaning in closer. He frowned a bit when the baby tensed even more and seemed to hold its breath for a moment. "You gonna wake up soon, buddy?" He reached out a three-fingered hand and stroked the tiny forehead gently.
There it was! A tiny flash of blue and white shone from the pale green face before it was gone again. Mikey continued the scalp rub for a moment before pulling away. Then the eyes opened fully and looked up at him in obvious shock and surprise.
"Hey there. Welcome to the land of the living!"
It was the scream that first alerted the two in the kitchen that their little charge was awake. The answering scream from their youngest brother confirmed their suspicions, and the bellowing yell of "HE'S AWAKE!" was completely unnecessary. Raphael and Donatello rushed into the living room to find the child struggling against his blankets and Mikey trying rather unsuccessfully to prevent him from doing so.
"Whoa, hold up there, tiger. It's okay; everything's gonna be okay. You just gotta sit tight for a second and calm down for Big Brother Mikey."
The child had stopped screaming and was now staring up at the orange ninja with solemn attention, although he still hadn't stopped fighting the wrappings.
"Scoot over, Mike," Don nudged his brother out of the way and spoke to the child. "I'm going to take the blankets off now; you just need to sit still for second or you'll hurt yourself." Bright blue eyes latched onto his face and the child's movements lessened greatly, though did not cease completely. "Good job," Don praised gently, reaching for the blankets and noting with concern the way the child shrank back before going limp and watching with wide, glistening eyes. It nearly broke all three teens' hearts.
In no time, all the turtles, big and small, were seated in the living room, the smallest tucked away in the corner of the couch, looking like he was doing his best to become invisible to the larger turtles kneeling on the floor in front him.
Mike made the first move. "Sorry I scared ya, little man. I didn't mean to." He reached forward slowly to rub the terrified child's unsplinted arm.
Said child let out a squeaky "No!" and promptly tried to pull his appendages into his shell. Unfortunately, he only made it part of the way before he didn't couldn't fit anymore, leaving most of his arms and legs and the crown of his head sticking out. Mikey pulled back quickly.
"Hey now, it's okay. No one's gonna hurtcha here," Raph's gruff voice had a softer tone than the other two teens had heard in a long time. He leaned forward and scooped the trembling form into his arms, ignoring the increased shaking and the keening moan that started to emerge from the depths of the tiny carapace. "I'm just gonna walk 'im around a little until he calms down. You guys okay with that?"
"I'd really rather check on him—" Don started, then sighed. "Whatever, have at it."
"But I want to hold the little guy!" Mikey whined.
"Too bad," Raph retorted with a smirk. "I saw him first."
The me-monster is right by my face and I scream to make him go away. It works, but then it screams too and it is much much louder than me. It hurts my head and I shut up.
I can't move much because of the blankets around me, but I wiggle and wiggle until they start to fall off. I don't think the me-monster likes that very much because big me-monster hands try to tuck them back around me after it yells something else. Then it starts talking again and I look up at its me-face while still pulling the blankets away.
The me-monster must have called for backup because two more me-monsters show up! The purple one crouches down real close and tells me to hold still and I suddenly do, because the red one is looking mean and I don't want to make them angry and get hurt. So I just stare as the purple one starts touching the blankets too, but instead of making them tighter, it takes them away and I can finally move away as far as I can. There is a stick on my arm and I can't bend it too good, but that doesn't stop me from trying to hide in my shell when the first me-monster reaches for me again. I have gotten bigger than I was before, so I don't fit too well anymore. It just makes it so I can't see when one of the me-monsters picks me up and starts to move around.
I expect the hurting to start soon. It always does unless the Aprillady is there. But I didn't see her anywhere. My mouth starts to make noise and I can't stop it.
A long time passes without any hurting. Why? The me-monster is just holding me against its chest and humming, just like the Aprillady did. Maybe it knows the Aprillady?
My arms and legs are starting to get sore from trying to hold them in my shell, so I let them fall out and curl toward my belly instead. Then I peek my head out just enough to see a big green shoulder right in front of my face. I think I like the green right there. It is a lot darker than my skin, but it is not white like the monsters in the Place, or black like the shadow-monsters there neither.
I look up a little farther and see the red me-monster's face real close to mine, but I don't scream like before. Instead I pull my head all the way out of my shell and stare into the brown eyes that are looking at me.
"Hello," it says and I feel the chest rumble against my stomach. It almost makes me giggle.
"Hello," I say back and the me-monster smiles all big. Too big. It's mouth is too close to my face and it's full of teeth and I push back a little.
"You feelin' okay now?" it asks and I nod because that's what bigger monsters always want. "My name is Raphael, but you can just call me Raph if you want. What's yours?"
Name? That's not a question that is usually asked by the monsters, and I don't know the right answer to this one, so I just duck my head back into my shell.
"Hey, none a' that, now." And I quickly pop out again; I don't want to make it mad. But all the moving makes me dizzy and my breathing starts to hurt a little. I sneeze and then freeze. I don't know if that will make the me-monster mad enough to start the hurting.
"Aww…" I hear from behind me and I try to turn around to see. I'm surprised when the me-monster lets me without any angriness. The other two me-monsters are still there and the shorter orange one wiggles its fingers at me. I don't know what is going on and my head hurts and I'm hungry and I just want my Aprillady! I start pushing against the arms around me and when they don't loosen I reach my neck out and bite the green shoulder by my face. That makes the me-monster let go with a yelp and I fall all the way to the floor. But it wasn't too far and I get up and run away.
I don't know where I am, and this doesn't look anything like the Place but I run through a doorway and go to hide under the table when another me-monster grabs me from behind and pulls me high up into the air!
"No! No No! Put me down! I don't want to! No hurting!" And now I am crying and I can't stop even though only babies cry and the white monsters always hurt me more when I do. I am squeezed tight in more arms and I can hear words but I don't pay attention. I just kick and wiggle and cry. I try to bite the arms but I am facing out away from the monster and can't reach far enough with my arms stuck to my sides.
And suddenly I am too tired and I can't breathe too well and I get even dizzier than before so I stop fighting. "I'll be good, I promise…"
"The little twerp bit me!" Raph was grumbling in the background while Mikey ran after the young turtle. Catching up just as he reached the kitchen doorway, Mike dove forward and scooped the tot up against his chest, facing outward with his arms pinned to his sides.
"No! No No! Put me down! I don't want to! No hurting!" The turtle was struggling fiercely and sobbing with all his strength.
"No one is going to hurt you! Calm down. You're safe and I'm not gonna let anyone hurt you ever again, I promise. Just settle down, lion cub and quit trying to bite me!" If anything the sobbing grew louder before it finally began to subside, replaced by slight wheezing interrupted sporadically by cute little hiccups. The child gradually stilled and fell limp in his arms.
The words when they came were almost too quiet to make out, but when he did, they nearly broke Mikey's heart: "I'll be good, I promise…"
They walked back over to the living room where the others were waiting, Raph nursing the emerging bruise on his collar bone and Donny looking like he was lost between horror and mirth as he looked between his two brothers, then down at the now docile bundle in Mike's arms.
"Hey, can you look up at me?" Donny addressed the now exhausted child. He looked up slowly, eyes still wet and swollen and lip trembling. "That's good. Now I want you to understand me. No one here—not me, not Mikey, and definitely not Raph—no one is going to hurt you at all. In fact, we want to help you get better." Don paused and watched the emotions flicker behind the blue orbs gazing into his own. "Do you understand that?"
The little mouth opened and closed a few times before finally speaking in a small voice, "No more hurting?"
"No more hurting," Mikey confirmed from his position behind him, causing the child to jump and crane his neck back to look into his face.
Raphael came over then and spoke, "We're gonna take care a' ya, keep ya safe, and make sure no one evah hurts ya again, cub. Ya got that?" A small nod and a sniffled were his only answer. "Good. Now if yer gonna stay with us, you need a name. Do you know your name?"
A hesitant shake of the head.
Raph felt the fury building within him, but he battled it down for the moment. "That's okay. We can just give ya one, tiger." The three teens looked to each for input.
"I want to call him Leo."
Daaaw. . . Just the result of a rare free night with no internet in the middle of midterm exams. Possibly just one-shot for now; me writing more anytime soon is completely dependent on my incredibly hectic schedule, unreliable mental state, and of course some proper motivation... :)