Disclaimer: I don't own any characters except for Joseph Fiffer and Venus' child… well… sort of…
Chapter 2: The Birth of Venus.
London, England. 3 months later: 5 ½ months after captivity.
Venus sighed softly and flipped over the page of the book she was reading. Her eyes briefly studied what the other two turtles were doing. Both males were sitting on the dilapidated couch they had found; one of the only things they had in their makeshift lair. They had also managed to come by a substantial desk and few other run-down chairs, but that was all. She quietly observed Leonardo meditating before skimming her eyes over towards Mikey who was also currently reading.
In a way, nothing had changed since they had been trapped in the glass prison. Talking was still the main form of entertainment. With all those months spent in captivity, the turtles had learnt to live life without a television, phone, computer, or anything else that was remotely 20th Century. Living underground in a large, cold damp sewer made things seem as though they were living in the time of the Industrial Revolution.
A small crackling sound was heard, as though a thick piece of paper had been rustled. Venus acknowledged the noise, but passed it off to be Mike turning one of the pages of his book. The sound returned. Venus looked up, positive that the noise didn't originate from Mike that time. A faint garble was emitted from the incubation box. Mike looked up from his book and Leonardo's eyes shot open, destroying his meditative state. As a group, they all rushed over towards the large egg that Venus had laid a few months ago.
Venus squeezed Leo's hand in both delight and excitement as she viewed the tiny green life form trying to break out of the eggshell. Mike's arms reached out towards the struggling hatching but Venus stopped him. "It's best not to help. It builds up strength this way," Venus advised him softly. All three turtles watched with keen and anxious eyes as the human-sized turtle flimsily pushed and grappled against the white breakable enclosure. When enough of the creature emerged, Venus sighed quietly with relief when she saw that it was in the form of themselves. The humanoid turtle had three fingers on each hand and a trademark wide mouth. The baby had gorgeous light blue eyes, but Venus assumed that like the little 'egg tooth' on it's nose, they would eventually disappear and change colour, as both Venus and Raphael had brown iris'.
The hatchling baby-garbled in wonder once again before the half-broken shell rolled to the side, making it easier to crawl completely out. Venus, Leonardo and Michelangelo watched through blissful tears as the tiny turtle squirmed, slowly getting it's two little legs - complete with two toes on each - out into the open. The three adult turtles took a moment to look at the hatchling's whole body.
"Congratulations! It's… a turtle!" Mike said happily.
Venus giggled at Mike's remark, knowing that he could never tell the difference. "It's a boy," she informed the other two wistfully. They curiously continued to watch as the little male slowly traveled forward, wriggling and sliding on his small plastron. Leo noted that the child was more developed than what a newborn human was as far as movement and body proportion was concerned, yet it was nowhere near as independent as a wild turtle hatchling.
The little reptile stopped moving to rest for a moment, allowing his head and blue eyes to bewilderedly search and gaze around at this new and foreboding world. Venus tenderly reached forward and cradled the lost creature in her arms. Curious and comforted at the same time, the small turtle reached out and wrapped his tiny hand around one of his mother's fingers. In an instant, all of Venus' worries disappeared, completely awestruck by the delicate and dependent little baby in her arms. A single tear slid down her cheek in happiness and loving gratitude.
Leonardo carefully took the baby from Venus' arms when she offered him. A proud smile spread across Leo's face as he stared at the baby's little perplexed face. All of a sudden, the turtle circled his legs around rapidly as though he had just learnt to use them. His tiny feet slapped against Leo's hard plastron looking as if the baby was kicking him. Michelangelo simply laughed at the turtle's antics.
"That's Raph's son alright. It's fighting with you already!" Mike joked, yet there was a hint of sorrow heard in his voice when he mentioned the decease's name. The baby stopped kicking, finding something else more interesting. His tiny hand reached upwards towards Leonardo's face. Leo responded by lowering his head, allowing the little turtle to curiously place a hand on the top of his nose. The blue wearing reptile smiled widely at the boy's cute open-mouthed expression, and gave a chuckle when the baby tugged on his bandanna tails.
Mike gently reached out and delicately took the hatchling out of Leo's hold. The adult giggled with childlike joy as the little turtle unexpectedly blew a spit bubble. Mikey pulled a funny face, only to have the tiny turtle stare at him blankly, not knowing how to respond. Mike giggled once again. "He looks exactly like us… just he's one-eighth our size. Kinda like Mini Me from 'Austin Powers 2'!… Of course, he'll need to build up a few muscles before he can pass off as a small clone of one of us," Mike babbled on, noticing the slightly flabby limbs.
"You watch too many movies," Leo commented with a smile. "So what are you going to call him?" Leo asked seriously, turning back to Venus. After kissing the top of his little, bald domed head, Mike gently placed the baby into Venus' cradling arms. The female smiled and stared at the life form she had created.
"You know, according to Greek myth, Venus' son was Cupid," Mike suggested.
"I'm not calling him Cupid," Venus stated simply but with a gentle smile. She continued to cradle the baby in her arms, gently swaying from side to side. "Look at him, he's not even crying. He's a little angel," Venus whispered softly.
"We could keep with the Renaissance artist theme. Maybe we can call him Giotto, or Titian, or Lorenzo…" Leonardo suggested.
"I already told you what I wanted to call him, back when we were trapped in the zoo… I'd like to name him Raphael. Not after the painter, but rather after his father… and the angel," Venus said with sentimentality. She sighed deeply as her eyes began to swell heavily with unreleased tears. "I can't help but wonder what his father would have thought of him… I wish he could have seen him," Venus cried, allowing herself to shed a few tears in front of Leo and Mike.
Leonardo gave her a faint smile. "I'm sure Raph would be proud of his son… I'll make sure of it," Leonardo whispered with saddened determination.
*****
The Pentagon, Arlington, Virginia, USA.
It was late. The mathematicians who worked in the room that surrounded Donatello's cage had all gone home. All except for one. Joseph Fiffer tiredly looked the mutant turtle in the eyes. Donatello's only response was a dejected shift of gaze to the floor. Joseph sighed at Don's desolate expression.
He'd been like this ever since his escape attempt. Don was slowly losing hope. He knew that The Pentagon was like a city in itself, and even though it would only take under seven minutes to walk from any two points, it was going to be quite impossible to escape without bumping into anyone. Not only was he lonely and greatly missing his family, but he was also angry; furious that he didn't have a clue on what he was helping the military accomplish.
The turtle frowned as Joseph handed him another sheet of jumbled and nonsense markings, hoping for him to discover a way to read it. "Donatello, please. Please cooperate," Joseph pleaded, pushing the piece of paper further into the cell. Donatello simply backed away with a stubborn look in his eyes. Joseph sighed once again. The human removed his arm from in-between the metal bars, taking the coded message back out with him. "What happened to you? You used to like cracking codes," Joseph wondered.
"Well I don't anymore," Donatello sharply replied back.
"Don, what's the matter? What's bothering you?" Joseph asked, becoming concerned. Donatello silently fumed for a few seconds. After months of being cooped up in a cage, Donatello was easily irritated.
"Who am I working for? Why am I in the Pentagon of all places!? I'm not going to cooperate unless you guys treat me fairly and tell me a few things!" Donatello crossed his stubborn arms and stared at the mathematician with impatience.
Joseph took a moment to prepare an answer. "There's a dangerous group of terrorists situated in an unknown location, though we have reason to believe that they're within the United States. So far, with your help, we've been able to prevent a couple of disasters, yet if we don't find out where they are, we fear that they'll eventually succeed," the human explained slowly, carefully monitoring Don's inquisitive expression.
"But why do you need me? I mean, why did you think that I, an animal, would be able to help?" Don asked, detesting his origins.
"When I first saw your mathematical equations, I knew that you were uncannily capable of doing such a task. You wrote down things that no human had ever seen before. At that point in time, we could crack the codes that we intercepted from the terrorist group, but it took us way too long. The military was ready to try anything new. At first we weren't sure how bright and capable you really are, so we gave you a few dud codes to crack and a couple of intelligence tests. When you started to cooperate with us, we began the real thing, giving you the proper codes to crack, which then led us to solve the whereabouts of the next terrorist target," Joseph explained more in depth.
Donatello remained silent, taking in every single word he was being told. "So Don. Please work with us. You're saving innocent people's lives," Joseph said softly.
"How do I know what you're saying is true?" Donatello questioned, voice low as if he was still comprehending his situation.
Joseph looked at him awkwardly, unsure whether or not he should tell him the next piece of information. "Don… If you don't cooperate soon… they're going to drug you. I'm telling you as a friend who cares about your well being. The Government wants results and they don't have time to muck around. They have threatened to start doing experiments on you, to make you more sociable, if you don't improve by the end of next week. Please Don, crack this new code. If you value your mental health then you will do this," Joseph pleaded, handing the turtle the piece of paper he held in his sweaty hand.
Donatello sighed and stared at the article about his family that was still sticky taped to the cage metal bars. Joseph noticed where his gaze lay. "You miss them, don't you?" the human questioned. Donatello moved his lonely gaze to the floor.
"Of course I do," Don whispered, feeling his eyes beginning to sting with bitter tears. Both of them were silent. Joseph was genuinely concerned with Donatello. It was his idea to include him with the code-intercepting and cracking program, therefore he was to blame or praise with every good or bad thing the turtle did. It only took a matter of days to become reasonably friendly with the overgrown reptile, and over the past couple of months, Joseph felt he had grown even closer to Donatello. He had to admit that he first saw Don simply as a secret weapon to use against the bothersome terrorists, but now after getting to know the mutant better, he could trust him like a friend and would respect his privacy, especially when it came to his family.
"Would you like to talk about it?" Joseph asked quietly, knowing that that sometimes made Don feel better. The turtle glanced at him, not really knowing exactly how much he could trust the human.
"Promise that you won't tell anyone?" Don asked, still unsure, but wanting to tell someone how he felt.
"I promise. You know that I'm good at keeping other's secrets," Joseph encouraged.
Donatello took in a deep breath before he began. "You know Raphael and Venus?" Don started.
"The female and the one who was…"
"Yeah, him," Don affirmed, saving Joseph from completing the awkward sentence. "Well… before I was taken away from the zoo, Venus learnt that she was pregnant with his child…"
In one moment, Joseph understood why Don was acting the way he was. "…I know that my family could really use my help in raising the baby. I just wish I knew what was happening with them. I don't even know if the baby's been born yet, or even how many children Venus is going to have, or how she's going to give birth, or… or if it's even a mutant, or what it's going to look like…" Don trailed off, sadly thinking about all the things that he was hopelessly missing.
Joseph sighed, slowly understanding the emotional pain that Donatello must be going through. "I promise I won't tell anyone… I really wish I could help you…" Joseph said with sincerity.
Don nodded and wiped a tear that had escaped from his waterlogged eyes. A small smile appeared on his face, feeling slightly better that he had told someone what was bothering him. He gingerly gave the page of coded messages a quick look over. "I'll have it done by the morning," he said softly, realising that he'd better get back to working. Joseph gave him an encouraging smile before leaving the turtle to do his magic.
*****
London, England.
A new kind of entertainment had been born. Leonardo, Michelangelo and Venus all sat in a circle, keenly watching the antics of the hatchling that wriggled around in the middle. The three turtles never knew how captivating babies really were until now.
Raphael, or as Mikey had already nicknamed, Lil' Raphy, continued to slide along the ground as his arms weren't strong enough to support his body weight and crawl as of yet. The adults smiled at Raph's baffled facial expressions as he slowly explored his brand new world. Mike laid down on his plastron, causing Raphael to let out a deluded baby sound, making the adults grin at his innocent bewilderment.
"Coochy coochy coo!" Mike cooed from his position on the ground. The baby blankly stared him in the eyes before suddenly giving the orange-wearing turtle a toothless little grin. "Oh, look at that! He's smiling! All his little gummy bits! Hello, Lil' Raphy!" Mike said excitedly, pointing to the baby that grinned in front of him. Leonardo scrambled over to observe the sight. "Oh… he's stopped," Mike said. Leo rolled his eyes and returned to his original spot around the circle. Venus giggled at Leo's pouting expression.
They watched as Raphael wriggled even closer towards Mikey, before stopping once again to weirdly look at his surroundings. Then, for seemingly no reason, the baby's face crinkled with disturbance. Raphael began to heave out small whimpers before letting out a huge wail. Venus immediately picked the little turtle up and cradled him in her arms while Leo worried about whether or not the noise would make it to the surface. Leonardo gestured for her to hurry up and calm him down.
Venus rocked him gently from side to side as a panicking feeling slowly rose from the bottom of her gut. She rapidly wondered what Raphael wanted. "Maybe he wants a diaper change?" Mike suggested.
"He's not wearing a diaper!" Venus answered, quickly becoming distressed.
"Well maybe he wants one," Mike said. Leo and Venus shook their heads. They decided an hour ago that they wouldn't buy diapers, mainly because it would be too hard to constantly change them with such a limited means of getting supplies, and also because it was unnatural for a turtle; slightly forcing the baby's legs to be splayed. They figured that they would take care of the situation like they would a dog, as degrading as it sounded, because it was much easier to simply grab a plastic bag and dispose of it instead of getting diapers from supermarkets. Besides, turtles didn't go to the toilet half as much as humans went.
Raphael continued to wail, causing Venus to quicken her swaying in hopes that it would calm him down faster. "Does he want to go to sleep?" Leo asked.
"Then why doesn't he just shut his eyes!" Mike answered, getting aggravated and worried about the volume of noise.
"What does he eat?!" Venus asked, voice full of concern. Leonardo and Michelangelo swiftly glanced at each other before helplessly shrugging. Becoming distressed that she didn't know what her baby wanted, she raised him higher to her chest. All of a sudden Raph stopped crying and started to suckle. Venus looked at the baby weirdly.
"I didn't know that they produced milk!" Leo said, reflecting the same confused face Venus had. Mike placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Leo… that's what breasts are for," Mike informed him casually.
"Yeah but… we're turtles. Reptiles. It's mammals that produce milk," Leo said, still completely bamboozled.
Venus quietly sat down on the couch, still holding the feeding baby in her arms. "Well… maybe it's because we're half human… At least I now know why I even have breasts…" Venus said softly. Mike started to snigger. Leo elbowed him in the stomach as a sign for him to stop acting immaturely. When they were quiet, Venus continued. "It does explain why my plastron has become thinner. Maybe it works like a selectively permeable membrane?" Venus wondered.
"Selecta-what?" Mike blurted out.
"Selectively permeable membrane. If you ever listened to Splinter when he taught us basic chemistry and biology then you'd know what it is," Leo lectured him. "Simply put, it's where only certain substances can cross through a barrier, while other substances cannot. So in Venus' case, only milk will pass through her plastron whilst blood and other things will not," Leonardo explained to Mike. The orange turtle gave Leo the impression that everything he had just said went straight into one ear and out the other. Leonardo simply groaned and returned his focus back to little Raphy and Venus.
When the little turtle stopped suckling, Venus instinctively helped to burp him. Afterwards, he opened his little mouth up wide and gave a long yawn before allowing his blue eyes to flutter to a close. Venus slowly caressed his tiny face with a finger as she sighed with contentment. Leonardo and Mike continued to look at the little hatchling with awe.
A/N: With two characters having the same name there is most likely going to be some confusion at times, but I'll try my best to make what Raphael I'm referring to as blatantly obvious as possible. For instance, if Raphael is crying, then one would think I'm referring to the baby. Also if Don is thinking about Raph, then obviously I'm referring to the deceased red wearing, rough and rude adult, as Don hasn't met the baby.