The Utrom and the Alligator

Breakfast had been interesting to put it mildly but it hadn't stopped there. Mashimi had at first insisted they go to the park like they did every day, eager to play with Splinter and the little turtles outside. For obvious reasons Tang Shen had objected, which resulted in an upset little boy who refused to stop sulking until Splinter suggested they play here in the house. They had spent a few hours playing with Mashimi's blocks, building towers and castles. The little boy had been overjoyed at having Splinter as a play companion and the rat seemed happy exercising his hands and arms, experimenting with what he could do now. Tang Shen meanwhile had at first cleaned up the little turtles, removing the small amounts of food that had missed their mouths, then kept them occupied with simple games like peekaboo. Apparently they loved seeing her put on silly faces.

She had let them out of the basinet and watched them crawl around as they explored the living room, retrieving them when they wandered too far. They seemed rather mobile,and after a while of observing them Tang Shen thought they must be around a year old in human terms. When the blue ribboned one tried to stand up on his legs by grabbing the hem of her dress she was sure of it. He tipped over however, resulting in a bout of giggling.

Eventually Mashimi and the turtles tired of their games and while Splinter put the turtles back in the basinet, Tang Shen put her pouting son in bed for a nap. This gave her a couple of hours to talk with Splinter and she was surprised at how much he remembered from his life as an ordinary rat, how much he had understood from what was happening around his family, though he still had trouble putting it into words.

Yoshi called home at one point to ask her how she was doing, sounding very worried. She put him at ease by telling him everything was going fine and that neither Splinter or the turtles had they grown any more since he left that morning, nor were they in any discomfort and ended up telling him about breakfast, making him laugh when she got to the part of the ribbons. He had spoken to the Utroms he then told her and mysteriously added he would be bringing some guests with him this evening after dinner. It had been a short conversation really and left Tang Shen with many questions. Yoshi hadn't said anything that could indicate Splinter and the turtles could possibly be in any kind of danger, but he hadn't said anything to deny it either. This worried her.

The rest of the day had been just as hectic, though no serious problems came up. Mashimi even played with the turtles for a while, though he tired of his mother's constant reminders that he had to be careful as they were younger and much smaller than he was.

Dinner was much more complicated than breakfast and far from orderly, but everybody ate their share -some after more prodding than others- and Tang Shen felt satisfied about the whole thing. And it wasn't like she couldn't wash the many food stains out of her dress after all.

She was clearing the table while Splinter kept Mashimi and the turtles occupied in the living room when suddenly the front door opened. For a moment Tang Shen felt her heart skip a beat in alarm and her eyes flew to the little scene on the floor in front of the couch. But before she could think up any doom scenarios of a stranger walking in to see the odd beings, Yoshi stepped inside. Calming down instantly she reprimanded herself for her foolishness. Only Yoshi and herself had keys to the house, nobody would have been able to walk in like that, unless it was a burglar working at unusual hours. It wasn't dark outside yet, though the twilight indicated the sun was about to set.

Yoshi stepped to the side and opened the door a bit more to allow two others to enter after him. To Tang Shen's surprise one of them was a child bundled up like it was winter instead of summer. The other visitor she recognized as Captain Mortu, the Utrom who was more or less in charge when you didn't count the council. She had only met him twice, one time being at her own wedding, but she liked him.

Smiling she walked towards them as Yoshi quietly closed the door. She reached him first and gave him a kiss as a welcome. She then shook hands with Mortu who greeted her warmly, then bended over to the child next and was about to greet it when she caught a glance inside the hood of its jacket. Surprised her words didn't leave her mouth and the youth lowered it's head a little more to hide it's face.

Mortu, who had been staring at Splinter and the children noticed this and stepped forwards, placing a hand on the child's shoulder, "It's alright, Leatherhead, you don't have to fear Tang Shen." He glanced at Splinter and the turtles for a moment, "I'm pretty sure she will not be alarmed by your appearance by now," he added a bit dryly.

Feeling ashamed for her first reaction Tang Shen smiled widely, "Yes, you do not need to be afraid of me, little one, I would love to see your face."

Hesitating a bit the child, Leatherhead, reached up with a gloved hand and pulled the hood of his jacket back to reveal a scaly green face. Tang Shen instantly recognized the reptilian look of an alligator even though she had never seen one in real life. She took a moment to take it all in, not just his looks, but the whole idea of there being more beings like Splinter and the turtles. There was an expecting look in Leatherhead's eyes however, waiting to be judged, and Tang Shen knew she would have to wrestle with her own thoughts later.

Reaching out with her hand for a formal handshake her smile increased, "Hello, Leatherhead, it is nice to meet you. My name is Tang Shen."

The alligator boy looked at her hand for a moment before he hesitantly put his own gloved one in it, looking back at her face, "Hello, Tang Shen," he said shyly, his voice sounding rather deep for a child, "You're very pretty," he added even shyer then, making her laugh in surprise.

But then she bowed her head, "Thank you, Leatherhead, that is very kind of you."

She then straightened up and motioned with a hand towards the couch, "Come on in, child, there are some people I think you'd like to meet." She reached her hand to him again, and as he took it after a moment of hesitation and with an encouraging nod from Mortu, she guided him to the others who had watched them with varying degrees of interest, Yoshi and the Utrom following them silently.

"Everybody, I would like you to meet Leatherhead," Tang Shen said formerly as they stood in front of the couch, "Leatherhead, this is my son Mashimi," she introduced the boy that had stood up and was approaching them curiously, then motioned to the others, "And this is Splinter, and, em, well, these are the turtles," she ended a bit lamely. She had been referring to them by the color of their ribbons so far and didn't think it'd be a good idea to introduce them like that.

"Hi Leatha'head!" Mashimi piped up cheerfully, already having accepted the odd looking boy who was green just like these babies. Splinter uttered a simple greeting as well. The turtles just stared back with a squeal and a giggle here and there at the attention.

"And I am Captain Mortu, though you may simply call me Mortu," the last unfamiliar presence in the room introduced himself.

"Mortu!" Mashimi immediately shouted but was hushed by his mother, so he returned his attention to Leatherhead who unlike the turtles seemed like a much better playmate. The boy grabbed his gloved hand and clumsily pulled him to his toys in a corner of the room, already chattering to the flustered mutant child who looked back over his shoulder at the adults for reassurance from Mortu. The alien once more nodded at the child, letting him know it was alright.

Tang Shen motioned to the couch for Mortu to sit down, then as he and Yoshi did, she sat down as well. It was only then that she remembered the stains on her dress, making her blush as she brushed at a particular large one on her skirt. Mortu noticed this and chuckled, "Please do not worry, ma'am, taking care of so many children must not have been an easy task. Especially not with special children like these."

Tang Shen didn't know what to say to this so she simply smiled and humbly cast her gaze down. Yoshi spoke up instead, "It was indeed the ooze from the canister that caused the change in Splinter and the baby turtles," he said, looking from Splinter to Tang Shen, who had picked up one of said turtles as he had been trying to pull himself up by her dress to attempt to stand again. She settled the blue ribboned turtle on her lap and indicated for Yoshi to continue.

It was Mortu however who spoke next, "It has obviously happened before. An accident that caused a young alligator to be mutated to what you see now," he said and looked in the direction of the two playing boys. "We have been trying to keep the substance away from any public contact,but we must still move it to a storage area. One of the canisters must have fallen from the transport yesterday in a near accident…"

"I saw that happen!" Tang Shen blurted out, remembering the truck and the blind man very well.

"Well, then you know it was an accident," Mortu said, then looked at Splinter as the rat looked down in thought, "This has only happened once so far…Well, twice now, but we do not know what effects it will have on an older…being," he finished delicately, making Splinter look back up at him in silence.

"I'm afraid we have not found a way to undo this transformation. This waste residue causes an instant mutation in the DNA that appears to be both stable and permanent."

Splinter looked neither happy nor sad at this information Tang Shen noted, just thoughtful.

"But as I said, we don't know the effects this may have on somebody a bit older, so I'd like you to come back with me, Splinter, so we may perform a few tests to make sure you are not in any danger."

Tang Shen felt alarmed at this, not wishing to let Splinter leave her sight. Yoshi saw this and tried to reassure her, "It will be alright, Tang Shen, the Utroms know what they are doing."

"Indeed we do, ma'am. Well, most of the time anyway," Mortu joked, but then cleared his throat when he realized Tang Shen didn't find it funny at all. "Truth is, we don't understand what exactly triggers this mutation. All we can do is study it for now."

Tang Shen nodded silently at this, though she still did not feel reassured.

"We can keep these children at our base as well where our people have been keeping young Leatherhead. It simply wouldn't be a good idea to risk letting the general public see them and start asking questions after all. Not to mention the danger this could put them in themselves. We Utroms don't walk around in these suits for fun after all, certain things simply must be kept a secret to protect ourselves from the ignorance of others."

This Tang Shen understood but she still hesitated as her eyes kept glancing at the little turtles crawling on the ground, her hands tightening their hold on the blue ribboned one on her lap.

"But…" she started hesitantly, not knowing how she was going to say this, or even entirely sure of what she was going to say, "There is no need…I mean, I know how busy you Utroms are with your own problems. Raising children, four children, is a very demanding task. It would not be fair to expect such a thing of you."

Tang Shen realized Yoshi was looking at her with his eyebrows raised up high and even Mortu looked at her questioningly. Splinter however was smiling at her confidently and this made her feel a little bit better, less foolish, and she took a calming breath.

"Mrs. Hamato, are you saying you want to keep these children?"

"Well…" Tang Shen glanced at Yoshi again, not really sure herself, she just knew that during the course of this day she had become rather attached to these little creatures and felt a need to protect them. Felt a love for them. Felt like they belonged here with her. A smile was starting to grow on Yoshi's face, half amused, half understanding.

"Yes," she finally said.

"I would love for these children to grow up in a normal family, but as I already mentioned, we must consider our, and their safety. I'm afraid you can not guarantee to keep them safe at all costs."

"Neither can you," Tang Shen found herself saying and couldn't stop herself from continuing, "Children need love and attention. And I'm not saying you can't do that," she added hastily, "but taking care of four young children, five counting young Leatherhead, at the same time is very demanding when you already have other pressing matters to keep you busy. I do not have a job, my job is to take care of my family. And I can take care of these other children as well. It may not be easy to keep them hidden, but we can do it…" At this she looked at Yoshi hesitantly, not wanting to make a decision like this without him, but found him smiling back at her and nodded when they made eye contact.

"I believe Tang Shen can do what she says, master Mortu, and you know I will always do everything in my power to keep the secret of the Utroms safe," Yoshi added more seriously.

Mortu was frowning now, or the face on his body suit was anyway as he regarded both of them carefully. And seriously Tang Shen noted while her heart beat rapidly with hope.

"Well, I suppose if we relocate your family to a safer place where you can keep these children hidden…" Mortu trailed off while he leaned back and stroked his chin deep in thought. "Then I suppose it could be possible..." He leaned forwards again and stared at Tang Shen with such intensity she found it hard to remember she was looking into the eyes of a robotic face.

"Are you absolutely sure you wish to do this, Mrs. Hamato? Tang Shen?"

She was nodding before he even finished speaking, her eyes on the little turtles crawling by his feet, "I am very sure, Captain Mortu."

A/N: I couldn't decide which of the two I should name this part after, Leatherhead or Mortu, so just put them both in the title :p One more (very short) part to go and then the "prologue" will be over.