OOOOO
A quiet night on the streets of New York doesn't exist.
Tonight was no exception. Despite the fact that the daylight had disappeared hours ago, cars still lined the streets and a random person was seen here of there. The busy sounds were constant, ebbing with an endless flow of energy .Though the noise might slow, the streets were never quiet.
The rooftops were another story.
Not much but the wind could be heard on the rooftops. The street noise below could still be heard from above but it was distant and the quiet atmosphere was useful, it wasn't the most important thing about being on the rooftops. It was the visability.
No one on the ground could see anything on the roofs.
Light azure eyes behind dark ebony glasses stared down at the shadowed alley below. To any other civilian it would look like an ordinary alley but this person, this shadow, knew better.
The figure glanced down at it's watch. 10:38. They were eight minutes late.
Suddenly, a loud clanging noise of heavy metal being scraped against concrete broke through the air and the shadowed figure jerked away from the ledge wary of the beings down below. Everyday people might not see lingering figures on the roofs but these…creatures… were different.
Their voices came from down below, richocheting up the walls with their high volumes, surprising the figure. For highly trained ninjas they were being quite reckless and out in the open. The shadow knew what they were capable of, it had observed them long enough now to know that it needed to be aware of the suroundings while operating around them. This act of carelessness was quite a surprise.
Quietly, the figure drifted further from the ledge of the buliding and pressed the mic button on it's headset.
"Targets in place for phase one and being observed." It whispered robotically. "Moving on to phase two sir."
"Excellent." A deep voice broke in on her fequency. "I expect you to treat them well Miss X. Oh, and give my thanks to Karai."
"Yes sir." The signal crackled and she reached up and turned the headset off.
She let out a soft cloud of breath into the frigid air and turned to face the ledge where the muffled voices came from. Smirking, she spun gracefully on her heels and began to walk away casually. The was nothing to worry about. Whithin a week those things would be flooded out of their home like mice and into her mousetrap. Within a week they'd be at her mercy.
A confident smile still visible on her face she took off at a dead sprint, leaving no trace of her existance behind.
She disappeared into the night like the shadow she was.
OOOOO.
"Why do I gotta wear these stupid clothes again?"
As Leo jerked Mikey's uncooperating arm through the sleeve of his coat he sighed in frustration. Mikey had a feeling if he asked that question again Leo might blow a gasket. He wasn't going to stop any time soon though. In his world there was no use for clothes and as long as he had to wear them Leo was going to hear about it.
"Because you're sick and running a fever." His brother stated emotionlessly for what Mikey guessed was the seventeenth time in the span of thirty minutes. Leo reached over and grasped the knit hat that Mikey managed to forget to put on earlier. More like he was avoiding it. "And we're going outside in cold temperatures. We don't need you getting worse Mikey."
Mikey muttered lowly, holding in a cough as Leo shoved his hat on his head. Darn Leo and his annoying persistance.
"Don, did you find those gloves?" Leo yelled out over to the lab as he straightened his hat.
Mikey grimaced as smarting pain pulsated through his head from the noise. His brain felt like it was trying to digest itself and the loud noises weren't helping.
"Not yet!" Don yelled back. Cue throbbing brain-eating headache again.
Mikey heard Leo exhale faintly as he sat down next to him, extending his hands over and began to zip and buttton his coat up like he was a hopless child. Mikey was too tired to protest. Shell, he was tired to do anything. He felt his eyes droop and found himself leaning against Leo as his older brother man-handled him.
Mikey felt Leo push his hat up and feel his forehead when he had finished with the coat.
"You still feel pretty hot." Mikey heard him whisper, anxiety dripping in his voice. Leo the mother-hen strikes again.
Mikey had been running a fever all day and the night before. It kept fluctuating up and down, even getting dangerous at times. Last night Don had even thrown him into the tub to shower him down in effort to bring his fever down. Now THAT had been fun. Mikey had a great time waking up from his sleep (not that he was really getting any though) to be thrown into a freezing cold shower. Yep. There was nothing better than an icy bath when running a high fever. Note the sarcasm.
Leo flipped his hand over to the backside as if he expected a different temperature. If he was expecting that, he didn't get it. He sighed like a disappointed child who recived socks for Christmas.
"I think we need to take your temperature again Mikey." Leo stated. Mikey's crazy fever was getting slightly ridiculous. One minute he'd be fine the next they'd be half downing him in the bathroom trying to bring his fever down.
Mikey's eyes stared listlessly into Leo's, half-lidded and dull with exhuastion. Leo moved his hand down and felt Mikey's cheek with the back of his hand. Just as much heat radiated off his cheek as his forehead.
"Found his scarf."
Leo almost jumped in surprise at the voice. He brought his hand away from Mikey and turned to find Raph standing behind the couch, leaning on it casually with Mikey's orange scarf in his hand. Leo held his hand out to take it.
"Here."
"Na, I got it Leo."
Mikey felt Leo shoulder him gently into a more upright position. Then he felt somthing wooly being wrapped around his face and neck. The voices of his brothers relaxed him.
"Man, he out of it ain't he?"
"He's been off and on Raph. I think it's the fever."
"Don gave him some more medicine earlier, right?"
"I think so. His boots still need to be tied."
"I got it."
Mikey felt his foot being shifted around and he opened his eyes wearily in confusion. Leo was holding him upright and Raph was down by his feet, tieing the dreaded boots to his feet. Mikey always felt clummsy when he wore shoes.
"Do I gotta wear those?" Mikey asked, his hoarse voice scratching his sore throat. "It feels like you're tieing bricks to my feet."
"Yes Mikey." Leo seemed to be getting tired of being asked if he had to wear this or that.
"Whhhy?"Mikey whinned. He pulled his foot to the side out of Raph's grasp. He didn't like wearing clothes, sick or not.
"Because you decided to get sick at the most convenient of times." Raph growled sacastically. "Now shut up and stop moving your feet!"
"Raph!"
"What?!"
"Calm down." Leo hissed. His brother lowered his voice thinking he couldn't hear him. "Mikey's not processing things very good."
Of course he could. Mikey turned grumpily to Leo."I process fine! Stop talking like I'm not here. I've got ears Leo."
Leo sighed.
"If ya got ears use 'em!" Raph bellowed. "I said stop moving your feet, you numb skull!"
Mikey winced as his ears rang and stopped moving. Moaning he leaned forward and put his throbbing head in his hands.
"Raph, keep it down!" Leo hissed again. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw Leo smack Raph in the head lightly, earning a growl from Raph. "There's no need to wake up all of New York!"
"Yeah bro." Mikey muttered. He slumped backwards and leaned into the couch cushions, closing his eyes and tilting his pounding head to rest it on his Leo's shoulder. "My head's killin' me here."
That seemed to get to Raph. He lowered his voice. "Sorry Mike."
"S'okay." Mikey said breathily. As his head pounded he felt a wave of nausea roll through him. Mikey moaned again. What did he do to deserve this?
"What's wrong Mikey?" He heard Leo ask softly. His brother's hand was on his forehead again. "Do you need to go to the bathroom? Are you going to be sick again?"
"No. Not yet." Mikey said quietly. He wrapped his arm around his mid-section and winced."Can I have the bucket?"
Leo reached over and grabbed the bucket next to the couch and lifted it onto Mikey's lap.
Mikey had been stuck on the couch ever since he came down with the flu a day and a half ago. He had sacrificed to the porcilin god a total of four times already and Mikey knew there was more to come. If that hadn't been bad enough, the Foot had decided now was the perfect time to start scouting the sewers again for them. The Foot had been in the sewers all week and they had finally decided it was to dangerous to stay down in the sewers. Tonight the Hamato family was heading to April's and they were going to the farm house the next day to hide out until the search stopped.
Normally, getting past the Foot wasn't much of a challenge; they knew the sewers like the backs of their hands while the Foot knew practically nothing. Tonight though, would be a challenge and Mikey knew his brothers were worried. Dragging a sick turtle along was slow, noisey and dangerous. They couldn't leave him here though, esspecially when he was as sick as he was.
Suddenly, Mikey felt the nausea drift away and he sighed, relaxing. He moved the bucket to the floor and felt Leo rubbing his shell through his thick winter coat.
The temperature was cold enough that his brothers had broken out their own scarves for the trip. Mikey though, was to be bunddled up in the warmest clothing they could find around the lair. His brothers would never allow him to be out in this temperature with just a scarf when he had the flu. He wouldn't want to either. He was already freezing.
During the fall, when the temperatures were falling into the low forties, he had come down with a slight cold. His brothers had made him wear his jacket and scarf when they went on patrol. What irked Mikey though was that Leo had been sick with the same cold a week before and didn't have to wear anything on patrol.
Leo and Raph were mainly the ones to make sure Mikey was dressed warmly when he was sick. Don did too, but their little brother-big brother relationship was different. Having Don as an immediate older brother was like having a best friend that would worry about you and give you advice but wouldn't scold you unless you went way over the top. Unlike other older brothers *cough* Raph and Leo *cough* that would scold and boss him around without a second thought.
"Stop pulling your scarf down Mikey! It's there for a reason!" Leo exclaimed. He reached over and pulled it snug again.
"But it's scratchy!" Mikey complained. It wasn't really (well maybe a little) but Mikey had this weird thing about tieing things around his neck. Choking hazards and all that.
"I don't care! Keep it on!" Leo snapped back. His face was pulled taunt in annoyance. A face that was both scary and normal for Leo. He pulled Mikey's hand away from his scarf.
"Found the gloves!"
Don appeared in front of him, brandishing modified gloves for Mikey. He dropped them in his lap. Mikey glared down at them menacingly.
"I hate clothes!" He exclaimed as he grabbed the gloves and began to pull them on before realizing he was putting the wrong glove on the wrong hand. Mikey threw them down in frustration. "They're so…stupid!"
"We heard ya the first time!" Raph said down by his feet. He was still tieing the boots.
"Well, they are!"
"Don do you have the thermometer?" Leo asked Don ignoring his complaints and struggles. "He feels warmer than earlier."
"Yeah." Don reached into his belt and pulled out the digital thermometer. He handed it over to Leo. "Here."
Leo took it and poked him in the arm. "Mikey I need to take your temperature."
Mikey sighed and opened his mouth. Leo slipped it in just as Raph stood from the ground, looking down at his handy work with his boots.
"Can you go tell Master Splinter we're leaving soon Raph?" Leo asked politly.
Raph nodded. "Sure."
"I need to go get my bag Leo." Don spoke up. "Keep an eye on the thermometer."
Leo nodded lightly as they ran off.
As they waited, Mikey struggled to pull the gloves on his hands. He didn't know why it was so hard for him to put clothes on.
"Do you need help Mike?"
He glanced up at Leo and shook his head in embarassment. Leo had already put half the clothes on him. Mikey was determined to at least do this.
"Alright." Leo said nodding.
As soon as Mikey pulled the last glove on the thermometer started beeping. Leo took it out of his mouth and read the numbers outloud. "101.6. A little higher than earlier."
Mikey grunted softly in acknowledgment. Leo put the thermometer on the end table.
"Is there anything you want to bring along Mikey?" Leo asked softly. "I'll go get it for you."
"My sketchbook." Mikey mummbled. "It's on my desk. Oh, and my pencils too."
"Do you want any comics?" Leo asked.
"No." He did but he wasn't going to let Leo mess with his collection. That would be a nightmare.
"Okay." Leo said. Mikey shifted away from him and Leo stood. "Just sit tight Mikey."
Mikey nodded wearily and yawned.
As Leo left, Mikey swung his legs up onto the couch. He laid down stiffly and rested his head on the pillow he'd been using earlier that day. Sighing, he closed his eyes. Maybe a short power nap would make him feel better. Of couse… he'd been sleeping all day and it hadn't done much.
Oh well. He wasn't going to miss out on a perfectly good nap.
Mikey yawned and closed his eyes. He was asleep almost instantly.
OOOOO.
Mikey didn't know how long he slept but sometime later he felt someone shaking him lightly. He opened his eyes to find Leo hovering over him.
"Sorry I had to wake you Mike." Leo said softly. "We're leaving pretty soon though."
Mikey reached up and rubbed his eyes. He sniffled gently as his nose started to run and he rubbed it in iratation. "How long was I asleep?"
"About thirty minutes." Leo reached over and grabbed the tissue box of the coffee table from where he stood. He threw them to Mikey.
"Thanks Leo." Mikey plucked a tissue out and blew his nose lightly. When he was done he tossed the used tissue on the ground where he was starting a little collection of them. He stretched his body over and set the tissues back on the table. "When are we leaving?"
"Within ten minutes." Leo replied. He looked at Mikey carefully. "How are you feeling?"
"Like…" Mikey seriously did think about it but his muddled tired mind couldn't find a good enough word. "…Bleh."
"You'll feel better when we get to April's." Leo said. "April said she's setting up the guest bedroom for you so you won't have to sleep on the floor or the couch."
"Where will Master Splinter sleep then?" Mikey asked, mildly concerned. Splinter always slept in the guest bedroom when they were at April's.
"I will find a place Michelangelo."
Mikey turned to see Splinter walking toward them with Raph trailing behind. Mikey sat up from the couch in respect though it made him light-headed.
"You must worry about getting well." Splinter said as he walked over to Mikey and sat down next to him quietly. He raised a hand and felt Mikey's cheek. Mikey leaned into his warm touch. "Your fever feels like it is rising again. I will make you some herbal tea when we get to Ms.O'neil's home."
"I don't need to take the bed." Mikey said guiltily, lowering his head. "I'm just a little sick. I'll be fine."
"Nonsense." Splinter said sternly. "You are ill and you need a good place to rest my son."
"Yeah, and "little sick" don't cut it Mike." Raph piped up gruffly. "I don't call having to shower ya down because yer fever's too high a "little sick" bro."
"Hey guys!" They turned to see Don walking towards them from the lab, his bag at his side. "I just called April and told her we're on our way."
"Then let's move out." Leo said, reaching over to help Mikey stand.
Mikey wobbled a little as he stood, his legs shaking like jelly. He was stiff and sore and a fuzzy dizziness made his head swim. He swayed slightly. Master Splinter was suddenly there on his other side, holding him upright.
"Easy my son." Master Splinter said comfortingly. "Take your time Michelangelo."
"Do you have him Master Splinter?" Leo asked from Mikey's other side.
"Yes my son."
Mikey could already feel sweat beginging to form on his face just from the effort to stand. He began to take a shakey step forward and felt someone take his other side.
"I can help for a bit. At least until we get out into the main tunnels." It was Don.
"Thank you Donatello." Mikey heard Splinter say.
Mikey only had one thought going through his head.
This is going to be one shelluva ride…
