It was their twelfth patrol in as many days and proved to be just as unproductive as all of the others.
That wasn't to say that thwarting some petty crime and a handful of felonies wasn't gratifying. It certainly was, especially now that Master Splinter allowed them to go topside with only a few minutes of lecturing on the subject of remaining invisible. What was even better was having a hotline straight to Police Chief Vincent.
Cleaning the city of crime was a lot easier when you had police backup. Even if you couldn't actually show yourself.
The purpose of the patrols wasn't necessarily crime fighting though, not in the standard sense. What the turtles set out to do each evening was to locate Bebop and Rocksteady.
Though the police had taken them into custody after Casey had handed them their butts, the pair of mutant miscreants had escaped. As unbelievable as it was, Bebop and Rocksteady had effectively disappeared from public view. Donatello had attempted to use his previous method of tracking the pair, but they had apparently shielded themselves, something that greatly puzzled the genius.
The turtle brothers were sure that without the Shredder's assistance, their two foes could not have fled the city. Several large, inexplicable thefts of food seemed to back that theory, but no matter where or how hard they searched, the turtles continued to come up empty.
There was also the small matter of Karai, Baxter Stockman, and the Foot clan to consider. They had also managed to disappear before the police could pick up more than a handful of the Shredder's minions.
Donatello had hazarded an educated guess as to the Shredder's whereabouts and Leonardo tended to agree. Shredder had gone to the Technodrome once Krang had arrived and had still been on it when the turtles had sent it back to whatever dimension it had come from. At least they, and the city, were rid of Shredder.
They were just preparing for their final run of the evening, one that involved a high rise and some free falling adventure, when movement on an otherwise deserted back street caught Mikey's attention.
Stopping to observe the lone figure, the turtles found their interest piqued by the person's furtive behavior. Dressed in jeans and an oversized hoodie which hid their face, the person kept turning their head as though trying to ensure that they weren't observed.
In the person's arms was a well-wrapped bundle, not much larger than a football.
"Maybe it's a bomb," Mikey hissed, watching with wide eyes and an overactive imagination.
"There ain't nothing around here worth blowing up," Raph whispered, though he remained focused on the figure.
As the person neared an alley they began to move faster and that's when the turtles realized from her gait that it was a woman.
"She's going into the alley," Leo said, moving quickly to keep her within sight.
They reached a new perch atop a building overlooking an alley after she'd turned into it. She'd taken only a few steps before it became clear that she was headed for a large garbage container.
"Great, we're watching someone take out their trash," Raph said. "It's probably empty booze bottles."
"Why's she acting so sneaky about it?" Mikey asked.
"Probably she's dumping illegally," Don said absently as he lowered his goggles over his eyes in order to get an enhanced view. "That's not much trash though, but it is exhibiting a heat signature."
When she reached the garbage container, the woman held the bundle against her chest with one hand as she used the other to lift the plastic lid. Then taking the bundle into both hands, she stood on the tips of her toes and dropped the bundle inside the container.
As soon as it left her hands, the woman darted off, running as fast as she could. In that same moment, Don lifted his goggles off of his eyes and jumped over the side of the building.
"Guess we're checking out the trash," Raph said as he leaped down after his brother.
Don was racing for the dumpster even before his brothers hit the ground. It took less than a second for them to understand his urgency; the wailing of an infant echoed inside the container.
Throwing open the lid, Don reached inside the dumpster as his brothers joined him. Don's height was an advantage, he could easily get his hands on the bundle and lift it out.
The baby had been wrapped from head to toe in bloody newspaper. Though its movements were feeble, its cries were strident despite the newspaper covering its tiny face.
Cradling the infant in one arm, Don quickly peeled back the newspaper. The infant's face was red from crying and Don automatically began to rock from side to side, gently bouncing the infant in an effort to soothe it. While he did so, he pulled back more of the newspaper.
Don's gasp alerted his brothers that something was wrong.
"What is it, Donnie?" Leo asked.
Blinking rapidly, Don snatched the pullover from Mikey's waist and covered the infant with it. "I've got to get back to the lair!" he yelled.
Don was running as he said it, heading straight for the nearest sewer access point. Bewildered, his brothers took off after him, though Don's long legs kept him out in front of them the entire way home.
Once they reached the lair, Don continued to move fast, blowing by a bewildered Master Splinter and entering his lab. Don had only recently closed off that section of the lair, explaining that for everyone's safety it was best if he could keep his experiments contained.
He'd never closed the door to the lab before, but this time when he entered, he slammed the door behind him. His brothers heard the lock turn and came to a quick stop.
"What is happening?" Master Splinter demanded.
Raph tried the doorknob and when it wouldn't turn, he banged on the door with the side of his fist. "Open up, Donnie! What's going on?"
Leo turned and went down on one knee in front of his father. "We saw a woman dump a newborn into a garbage bin. Don fished the baby out and then started running for home with no explanation."
Frowning, Master Splinter said, "We should not keep a human baby down here for any longer than necessary. Your brother should have taken it directly to a hospital and left it there to be looked after."
"We know that," Raph said, looking back at his father. "If we could get this door open we could tell Don that too."
Mikey snapped his fingers. "Hang on, I've got a spare key."
Dashing towards their shared bedrooms, Mikey started rummaging through a box of his things. With a triumphant shout, he held a key up and then ran back to the lab door.
"Where'd you get a key to Don's personal space?" Raph asked suspiciously as his younger brother fitted the key into the lock.
"I lifted Don's key and got April to make me a copy," Mikey said.
Leo joined them. "You do know that Don put the lock on this door specifically to keep you out," he said.
Grinning, Mikey snapped the lock back and opened the door.
The three brothers entered the lab and found Don standing before one of his work tables. He looked up as they approached, his expression denoting a touch of guilt.
On the table was a plastic storage box, the interior hidden from view by a couple of old blankets. A thin tube attached to a vein on the inside of Don's arm fed directly into the box.
"What are you doing?" Leo asked, his eyes wide.
"The baby has a birth defect," Don said. "His spine is so malformed he wouldn't have lived much longer."
"Then we should have taken him to a hospital," Leo said.
Don looked resolute as he disconnected the tube from his arm and reached into the box. "The baby was going to die; no hospital could have saved him in time. I gave him a transfusion of my blood in the hopes that the mutagen would heal him."
Taking the tube out of the box, Don set it aside and walked over to his brothers.
"Are ya' crazy?" Raph asked incredulously.
"What were you thinking?" Leo demanded. "If the hospital does blood tests, the mutagen is going to show up."
Master Splinter pushed his way past his sons and stopped in front of Donatello. "This was not the wisest decision you could have made, my son."
"I know," Don said, hanging his head. "I'm sorry, Father. I just couldn't watch the baby die. Not in my arms."
Taking a deep breath, Master Splinter nodded. "It is done. How is the child?"
There had been no sounds from the box for several minutes and Don appeared upset. "I'm not sure. I'm a little afraid to look because maybe I wasn't fast enough or the mutagen has to be pure to do any good. I just didn't have time to distill a batch of my blood."
A tiny whimper sounded from the box and Don spun around, striding back to where the baby was. Don immediately froze, his eyes glued to the box's interior.
"Don?" Leo asked.
The sound of his name snapped Don out of it and he folded the ends of the blankets down around the baby before lifting him out. Another whimper was followed by loud crying and a small green arm escaped the blanket and began to flail.
Cradling the baby, Don turned to show his brothers. The tiny hairless form had all the unmistakable characteristics of a miniature mutation, right down to the carapace where its unformed spine used to be.
Appearing disconcerted, Donatello said, "Congratulations. It's a turtle."
TBC….