This was a rat. A very large rat wrapped in a robe with black hair tied up into a samurai-style bun. He had large, dark eyes and a very long, powerful tail which swept from side to side in what was unmistakably repressed anger. It was all Belle could do to watch and wait for what this newcomer had in store.
"Agh! Master Splinter!" Donnie shrieked, the first of the turtles to notice his presence. At his cry, Leo spun on the spot, looking most unlike the stone-faced leader the two girls were used to at that point.
The rat Splinter took a deep breath, visibly fuming, and yelled, "Who are these women!? What have I told you about being seen above ground!?"
Leo's pupils dilated into pinpricks at the sight of his father and Sensei. He knew damn well that this was all on him. "Guys, take our guests into the back…" he hissed out the side of his mouth.
Mikey ushered the girls into a room in at the back of the lair, it sported many different sized televisions, assorted electrical equipment and even a couple of games consoles. Hope's eyes lit up, now this was her type of place. If it weren't for the dire scene they'd just left Leo in, she'd be positively buzzing with excitement.
"Sensei, please, let me explain." Leo dropped to his knees and hung his head as a sign of respect for the ninjistu master.
"You can explain nothing until you have answered my questions!" Splinter began to pace in front of his eldest son, his whiskers twitching in aggravation. "You leave here with intentions to free your brother in a silent-assault stealth mission, leaving myself under the impression that you would - not - be - seen! Alas!" He turned and stopped dead in front of Leo, one arm waving in frustration. He seemed to be looking anywhere but at him. "Alas, in walk two fully-grown young women - no blindfolds! - looking around as though they were in a surface-world gallery of some kind!"
"Man…" said Donnie, looking on from the interior of the other room. He could not help but feel bad for Leo, who always seemed to get the harshest punishments.
Glancing up at his younger son, Splinter finally looked down at Leo and asked, "Where was your brother? Who had captured him? Explain to me exactly what happened tonight including how these girls managed to come across you!" He began pacing again, his tail thrashing. "Do not leave out any details!"
Leo stared at the ground for a few moments in silent contemplation. He knew he'd made the correct judgement call, but how would he explain that to his Sensei? His tongue ran across his dry lips and he cleared his throat.
"We'd tracked Donnie to that building, and entered without a hitch. It was like you said, Sensei, silent-assault, a simple rescue mission," he paused, running his three fingered hand over the top of his head. "We just didn't anticipate that someone would have already freed him. By the time we got to him, these… women, well, they'd already found him. They'd already seen him… I-I made a choice."
He could feel his father's eyes boring into the back of his head and it unsettled him. He made a choice. Was it the wrong one?
"I made a judgment call, Sensei. We couldn't let them go, but…" his breath caught in his throat. He wanted to explain this strange new feeling that was tugging at his heart strings, however, he knew that this might lead to disaster. "I was doing my best in a bad situation," he finished firmly, his hands coming to a rest on his knees.
Through analysing Leo's explanation, his mind busy distinguishing the sincerity of his words, the old rat halted. Surely, he had interpreted his son's momentary hesitance incorrectly. All the same… just to be sure…
"Look at me, my son." He said, gently. Leo did, lifting his head in surprise at his father's change of tone.
The rat studied his face intently. Distantly, he recalled the hazy image of a quaint corridor with pictures hanging on the walls, and the shiny metal bars of a small cage. The little rat and his carrier turned and drifted into a door to the left. A stylish apartment. A small girl rushed over to peer at him, but the rat had eyes for the man who had retrieved him from the other place. He was conversing with a woman who had her daughters long brown hair, and he had an odd, happy gleam in his eyes which was reflected in hers as both kissed the others cheek…
Before Splinter could say anything, his three other sons rushed into the open, the two women trailing after them with uncertainty.
"Sensei!" Cried out Mikey as he came to a stop in front of the two mutants, "don't blame Leo, dude, he was only doing what any of us would've done. Anyway," he effortlessly took a hold of the two women and pushed them towards the rat, as some sort of offering, "speak to them yourself. They're not too bad!"
Hope instinctively pulled Belle behind her. She now felt some sort of obligation to protect her; after all, it was Hope's fault that they were in this mess.
"Look, this has been one of the weirdest days of my life," she began, locking her eyes into the beads of blackness before her. His whiskers twitched as she spoke, almost as if he was fighting back to urge to cast her aside. "But these… turtles… they got us out of there, I don't know why you've giving this one such a hard time, I believe he was acting in the best interests of not getting everyone killed," she added the last part facetiously, but soon recomposed herself. "It was our fault. If anything, blame us."
Splinter gazed at the girl before him, weighing the options placed for him. On one hand, these girls, if the words of the light-blonde were anything to go by, were grateful towards his sons for leading them out of trouble. That meant they were perhaps ready to accept their existence and make an oath to never speak to anyone. This reason, alone, was satisfactory enough to forgive his son and appreciate his judgement of them.
Then there was the fact that these two, very young, very obviously under experienced women had somehow managed to rescue his second-youngest son from the hands of his captor. That, thought the rat reluctantly, put himself and his family in their debt… quite inconveniencing.
Finally, and Splinter thought this was indeed the most pressing matter next to owing them for their trouble, there was his oldest sons apparent infatuation with one of the two ladies in front of him. The master's eyes darted between the two, one looking beseechingly over the shoulder of the other. He couldn't help but wonder, which one?
He knew in his heart that if Leonardo chose to pursue his affections for whichever, it would be most probable to end in upsetting him very much. Splinter could never ask that for any of his sons. All the same… he heaved a great sigh. His sons were getting older. And though he had as much right to forbid them from courting as their Sensei, he did not wish to fail in his duties as their father. That, unfortunately, he mused, included being supportive should his children embark on more emotional endeavours.
He sighed once more, stared into the eyes of the young girls and said, "Very well." They released identical breaths. "I hold no grudge against you, though you insist on being at fault for this evenings events. I do not wish to cast you from our home, as you have done us a great service. I expect Leonardo has already impressed upon you the importance of keeping our secrecy?"
Hope felt herself hanging on the majestic rat's every word. There was an air about him, like he silently demanded respect, but in a way that made her want to. The relief she felt was not just that of being welcomed into their home, but that of pure curiosity. Bishop had wanted one of these turtles for something, and she needed to find out what.
That was a mission for another day.
"Sensei, thank you," Leo bowed all the way down to one knee, to show his extreme gratitude. Next he turned to the women and finally gave them his best disarming smile. He gently took both their arms and guided them to a large pit area, that Hope could only assume was some form of lounge.
The others followed suit and they all took a seat surrounding the girls.
"We should probably introduce ourselves. Properly," Leo said openly, and began motioning towards each of the turtles. "Firstly, I'm Leonardo, eldest brother , and leader of our clan-"
He was cut short by a snort from the largest turtle. A scoff, followed by a grunt, told Hope and Belle that he neither approved nor cared for his brother's words. He stood tall, showing how much bigger he was than the rest and smirked at the girls.
The smallest of the four instinctively jumped up and placed himself between them. Testosterone was thick in the air, and he didn't want to embarrass his new friends.
"I'm Michelangelo, but my bros call me Mikey! That's Raphael, don't mind him, he's grumpy pretty much all the time, and you've met Donatello…" he ended, eying Hope knowingly.
Hope's tepid nod towards Donnie was the only indication that she had acknowledged Michelangelo's words. Belle subconsciously flexed her arm where Leonardo had touched her. Of course, he was perhaps even more surprisingly gentle than Raphael had been, but Belle was still not used to being touched by anyone other than a girl without her permission. The only men to her recollection that had ever touched her without her say were family members.
On another note, the animosity between Raphael and Leonardo was thick in the air. The former, who had shrugged off the larger turtle's interruption at first, was now carefully watching him from the corner of his eye. Raphael acted like he did not notice this. Perhaps sensing her eyes on him, Leo glanced her way. She gave him a small smile, which he hastily returned before looking back at the exchange of his brothers.
"Forget this noise." Raph turned and walked towards a set of TV's that stood behind him. "Donnie, I don' care if you just came back from the Titanic, tonight was s'posed to be movie night an' that ain't changin'."
Said turtle started walking towards him, but he was called back by Splinter, who beckoned him towards the room where he emerged, concern softening his features. Belle guessed that he would question him about his whereabouts and what had happened to him while he was gone.
Hope's eyes darted from one turtle to another, confusion etched on her face. Here were these huge, strange creatures, and they were talking about movie night, like it was the most normal thing in the world.
"Um… So now that everything is out in the open: you're mutant turtles, we'll keep your secret, etcetera, etcetera… can we please go home?" Hope addressed Leonardo, eager to get back to her lab and get started on some new theories.
In response, Leo locked his eyes on hers. His stern look dug deep into her, causing her to recoil slightly. Without saying a word, he departed the area, mumbling to himself.
The other two had begun arguing over which movie to watch, so Hope grabbed the opportunity to speak to Belle alone.
"I don't just want to sit and hang out with these guys…" she whispered, out of earshot of the others. "It's weird," she added as an afterthought.
"Weird?" Belle repeated with the air of talking about the weather. Her eyes, also, were trained on the turtles, who were now fighting over the control of the remote as well as the choice between Pirates of The Caribbean or Men in Black. "Of course it's weird. Neat, huh?" She added conversationally.
Hope gave no response, but looked at her disbelievingly. "Come on," Belle pressed, "So, it's 'weird'! It's fantastic! A lot of people, Bishop included, could say that they had the privilege of seeing and learning from a real, live mutant, I bet. But how many people can actually say they were friends with one? Or five? Buck up! Smell the roses! I'd rather do something 'weird' than something predictable." She said the last word with obvious dislike of the term.
All the same, Hope's statement had made her realize how awkward the situation might be if they stayed and interrupted the turtles' regular routine. Belle thought it would be ideal if they at least asked permission before intruding in their movie-watching. She caught Michelangelo's eye and then stood up to join him and Raphael, gesturing for Hope to go with her.
Hope watched Belle's golden hair bouncing away from her. She blinked a couple of times, her mouth agape in confusion. Perhaps her new found ally was just as strange as these mutants? In saying that, she was right; Hope could learn a lot from studying these creatures, maybe even sneak herself a sample to experiment on… Reluctantly, she joined the group.
"Hey, girls! We need you to help us with the movie decision," Michelangelo waved his hands over the two DVD cases and grinned up at them, looking for their approval.
They were really doing this? They were actually going to sit down and watch a movie with mutant turtles? Hope shrugged and admitted defeat, before pointing at the Men In Black case and smirking at Belle. "It makes sense," she reasoned.
"It does." Belle nodded sagely, smirking as well. "It'd be nice, also, to reinstate my faith in black-suited men. Mr 'Permission from the President' doesn't have anything on Will Smith!"