I do not own rights to the turtles or their world. Ron, Dorin, and the mystery girl are mine, though.
There, declaimer done. As both my return to writing after a LONG hiatus and my first fanfic, I hope this goes well. I have a very basic plan made for the story, but will let it have a life of its own and go where it takes me. I welcome critiquing, if kept civil, of course.
"It has been almost two years since the Foot Clan had forced us to leave our original sewer lair. The new home is great, with lots of space, power, a phone, but it just isn't quite the same. It is home and yet isn't. Plus, my favorite teddy was shredded and left behind." Michelangelo sat glumly remembering his old home and muttering to himself.
His brothers always hated it when their normally jovial brother got nostalgic. He'd gotten better about keeping it more private, but with Casey and April announcing their upcoming wedding and future, including making the turtles all uncles to their future children, Mikey had sunk into a funk that even had Splinter worried. Mikey wouldn't talk to his brothers about it, so Splinter had decided to try to find the source of his youngest son's depression. He quietly approached the sulking turtle in orange and sat near him. "What troubles you, my son?"
Michelangelo sighed deeply, having known this was going to happen sometime, yet hoping it wouldn't. "Master Splinter, do you ever wonder how things would be if the Foot had not destroyed our old home?" he queried without looking over at the old rat.
Splinter nodded slowly. "I suspected that was what your mood was about, my son. One cannot go through life living in the past. One always must remember it, for it is what made you, but you must keep looking to the future and what it holds. Wondering about how things could be different does little good. Why does the past haunt you so, Michelangelo?"
"I overheard Casey and April talking about moving into a bigger place so there would be room for kids when they have them. It reminded me of my childhood, made me miss the old place, the fun we had there," he said, lowering his voice as he whispered, "even my teddy."
Splinter rose and placed an old fatherly hand on his youngest son's slumped shoulder. "Perhaps a visit to the old place would do you good, my son." With a gentle pat, sure that his suggestion would be heeded, he shuffled away to let Michelangelo sort out his plans in peace.
Mikey just nodded reflectively, before what Splinter said fully sat in. "Wait, what? Visit the place?" His head popped up to look at the retreating father figure. "Why didn't I think of that? I mean, with the Foot gone now, why couldn't I go back there to check the place out? Maybe Teddy would still be there. Maybe it could be fixed! Yah, that's what I need to do… but I can't let the guys know, or Leo would try to stop me from going. Tonight, then, after the guys go out," he plotted, a grin on his face for the first time in days.
It was cold, so cold, and rain mixed with sleet had been falling for days. Pedestrians huddled in their coats and under their umbrellas as they scurried from one doorway to another. The miserable weather had everyone in the city more grumpy than their usual, even for New Yorkers. The people of the streets, the homeless, the hookers, even the dealers, huddled underneath any form of shelter they could find. The shelters and soup kitchens were packed beyond capacity, and still more crowded around outside, looking for any kind of warmth and shelter from the cruel weather. In the parking garages, the attendants and security officers had long since given up trying to run the street people out; more just kept coming. It was enough for the workers to do just keeping an eye on things to make sure nothing was vandalized.
In the alley behind Vinnie's Pizza, a figure climbed into the dumpster. Grabbing several half eaten pieces of pizza and a pizza box that hadn't gotten soaked yet, the person jumped back out and darted into the narrow space behind it. Wedging the box between the dumpster and wall, the person sat underneath and started to eat the scavenged food. Hair that had been hacked off at odd angles fell loosely around the sunken face of a young woman. She wore a tattered t-shirt and jean Capri's that were soaked through and torn in several places, showing cuts, scrapes, and bruises of various ages. Sitting under the makeshift shelter and shivering, her head suddenly snapped up at the sound of an approaching diesel engine. Stuffing the last bit of pizza in her mouth, she franticly scrambled out from behind the dumpster and further back into the alley. After emptying the dumpster, the truck lowered the dumpster and slid it back, bumping against the wall behind. Her face displayed her disappointment and frustration as her hiding spot disappeared. With a resigned sigh, she wrapped her arms around herself and shuffled out of the alley to look for a new shelter.
"Man, it's cold enough to make your nose fall off, but here we are, climbin' around under the streets, sloshin' though God only knows what disgusting things, while everyone else gets to stay nice and warm and dry. I tell you, Ron, it just ain't right!"
Ron looked over at Dorin as they started trying to clear out another grate in the drainage system that was clogged with debris, threatening to cause more flooding of the streets in the city. He and Dorin had already tried to clear it from above, but something was jammed in the opening so tight that they couldn't get enough leverage from that angle, which left them no choice but to go below. "At least we're out of the rain and wind, Dorin. Could be worse. Now, let's see if we can't pry this thing out."
Dorin grumbled some more under his breath as they both put their pry bars to work. Finally, after several minutes of struggling, there was small popping and scraping sounds and the thing broke free, sending a large gush of water splashing right into Dorin's face, much of it flooding down into his waders. "Aw, hell! That does it! I don't care what the boss says! I'm getting out of here and getting dry clothes before I do one more thing! And I'm getting one of those new slickers, too!"
Ron cringed, remembering the argument Dorin had gotten into about the shape of their rain gear this morning. He agreed that their gear was worn and didn't fit right anymore, but he also knew that there was a limited budget and he and Dorin didn't have the seniority to get the few new slickers that had come in. he quickly followed his partner as Dorin sloshed his way to the ladder and up out of the manhole. "Dorin, you know that we'll get more gear when it gets in. let's just go get a cup of coffee to warm back up and then get back to work. The sooner we finish this street, the sooner we can both go home and stay out of this mess for the night."
Dorin wasn't interested in Ron's placation. He continued to rant as he stomped to the truck and climbed behind the wheel. "Ron, either shut up and get in or I'll leave you to do the work alone!" He started the engine and put it in gear. Ron, not wanting to be left behind to either walk back or get a cab, shoved the manhole cover back in place and raced back to the truck as Dorin started to back up. He jumped in, and they headed back to base, neither noticing that the manhole cover hadn't closed properly.