A/N: This is the second to last chapter. I'd like to take this time to thank you for all you're support and reviews as I really appreciate it. Upon saying that, I'll put your fears to rest and say that Bonesteel was the character death I was planning… I just wanted to freak you out by mentioning it earlier :P Sorry about the late update, but I was swamped with homework for the last two weeks, and now I'm on holidays so it shouldn't be too long till the last chapter is posted. Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed this story, and for those who celebrate it, I hope you had a wonderful Independence Day.
Chapter 31: Rest In Peace.
Silent as the night itself, the turtles and Silver continued to stare at the dead body on the floor. When the sight had sunk in, a smile of relief swept across their faces, though the expression disappeared when they witnessed Dr Welner and his wife's faces of sheer horror. Leonardo cleared his throat and spoke up. "I'm sorry for any inconvenience that was caused tonight. We'll now leave in peace," he said quietly. Together as a group they left in silence; carefully stepping over the lifeless body as they moved towards the fire escape.
As they headed up to the rooftop where they left the incubator, eggs and their other belongings, Leonardo figured that justice was in the end served that night. Revenge didn't necessarily mean that Dr Welner had to die, after all the Shredder wasn't killed but rather redeemed. Although Raphael thought that in some ways he had failed, in light of the coincidental turn of events, it seemed to Leonardo that Dr Welner would still suffer regardless. A dead body was now lying in his bedroom, and not just anybody, but rather a celebrity of the hunting world. Bad publicity would fill the headlines in just under a couple of hours. But it didn't stop at that. Because of the zoo's claims and Dr Welner's constant insistence to the public that the turtles and Silver weren't intelligent beings, it would be unlikely for the police to believe his story. Yet even if the proper authorities did believe the truthful events, Dr Welner would have to contradict himself and come clean with saying how they weren't completely honest to the media and public in the first place.
Leonardo still hadn't figured out what it would mean to them, or what difference it would make if the public knew how intelligent they really were. Leo knew that the zoo keepers thought they were smart, hence the tough and strict protocols involving sound proof glass and limited contact, insuring that no friendships, alliances or emotions of sympathy were produced. They had lied to the media and thus the public, mainly so they could cover up any future controversies or arising problems with animal cruelty or human rights. Although Welner, Yesmal, Quease and Aquel knew their true potential, a lot of them tried to deny it; whether it was the promise of a constant source of money and tourism or because they wanted to do their jobs in a detached state of mind, Leo hadn't decided yet. Yet he was certain on one thing; Dr Welner had a hard couple of months ahead of him, whatever he decided to do. 'It shall be interesting,' Leo thought to himself with a smile.
When they reached the roof of the building, Venus opened the incubator and checked to see if the eggs were still warm. "Are they okay?" Donatello asked.
"For now they are," Venus answered in a worried tone.
"So… what are we going to do now?" Mike wondered.
"Well, going back to China is fairly useless considering that Venus' old home has been demolished," Donatello assessed.
"Please, no more flying. I've had enough to last me a lifetime," Venus groaned.
"Agreed," Mike said.
"Well I guess we can stay in New York for a few days considering Bonesteel's no longer a problem. However… there'll no doubt be someone else to fill his place," Leo muttered softly.
"So we're going back to our old lair?" Mike asked out of excitement, wanting to visit the place he spent his teen years. Leonardo sadly shook his head.
"Other scientists know of that location," Leo countered.
"Come back to my place then," Silver offered with a sigh. All the turtles looked at the yeti in shock, surprised that he had actually made a generous suggestion.
"But… don't some scientists know where you live as well?" Leo wondered.
"Yeah, but I have more than one lair," Silver replied with a roll of his eyes.
"What, the one underneath Central Park?" Mike wondered. Silver shook his head. "The apartment in Queens?" Mike tried to guess where they were going. Silver shook his head again.
"I'm talking about the flat in Brooklyn," Silver said. "It's not that far from here," Silver commented in persuasion.
"What lair was that?" Don thought out loud.
"The one no one including yourselves knew about… Duh," Silver said while rolling his eyes again. With a shrug of the shoulders, the curious group of turtles followed the ape back down to ground level, and when Donatello had retrieved the Hog again, the herd of mutants set forth to Silver's secret and unknown lair.
"Here we are. Home sweet home," Silver mumbled half an hour later when they had finally reached their destination. The turtles looked around and were absolutely flabbergasted at the amount of jewels that were carelessly strewn across the floor and room.
"Are you sure this place is… secure?" Leo asked Silver, knowing how many humans would like to get their hands on the fair stash of riches.
"It's been years and still nobody has stolen my gold, so yeah, it's safe," Silver commented lightly before jumping over a couple of piles of jewels in order to reach his old bedroom door.
"Now who said crime doesn't pay?" Mike said with a grin, still surprised at his overly shiny and twinkling surroundings. As Mike, Don and Leo started to put down their bags of belongings, while Venus plugged in the incubator at the nearest electrical outlet she could find, Raphael looked to the floor and couldn't help but feel as though he had betrayed his family; going behind their backs to do something that they would never agree on. He felt horribly confused, not knowing what was right and what was wrong. Raph knew that he wanted to honour his father and he thought that avenging his death would have been the answer to his problems, but instead it created new ones. The boy shuddered when he remembered Dr Yesmal's facial expression when he had injured him, and although he was scared, feelings of grotesque pleasure upon seeing the scientist squirm were also mixed, which in turn made him more frightened of himself. Raphael was finally able to see what he was capable of, and a part of him didn't like it.
"Raphael, are you alright now?" Leonardo asked before they all settled down to sleep. The boy looked away, too confused with all the contradictory feelings he was experiencing to answer. "You don't regret what I did, do you?" Leonardo asked softly.
"I've failed…" Raphael whispered.
"Raphael," Leo started while he sat down beside the boy. "Revenge is a tricky thing. Killing isn't always the answer; there's always an alternative, and since all life is precious, killing can only be done sparingly otherwise you risk becoming heartless and lonely. You see, with revenge, instead of healing your own pain, you only inflict it onto others, and even if you do succeed, you still feel like you've failed because you've never truly overcome or accepted the truth. Raphael, no matter how many people you hurt, the past will always be the same," Leo lectured gently.
"But he needs to be remembered… Something has to be done," Raphael retaliated.
"And something will be done," Leo said firmly.
"Like what?" Raphael wondered.
"…I have an idea. I promise I'll make it up to you," Leonardo said seriously.
Central Park, the following night.
The coffee table's legs had been removed and the polish had been slowly but surely sanded back. After raiding Bonesteel's New York warehouse earlier that day, the remains of their deceased family member was finally theirs to keep. That night, a burial site was carefully chosen amongst the mulch that surrounded the serene pond in Central Park. It was a quiet and secluded spot; a place that Raphael would admire if he were still alive. Using a couple of shovels they had 'borrowed' from a nearby hardware store, Leo, Mike and Don set to work in digging a large hole that was deep enough so that no one would disturb Raph's grave. Although it was tiring work, no one complained as this was an extremely important task.
Together as a team, they each laid a hand on the bodiless shell and gradually lowered it into the dark depths of the earth. When complete, they all stood back and stared at the lifeless remains of what was once a great ninja.
No one had predicted that it would be this hard to bury a loved one. Everyone could only stare and remember the past. There were so many memories, yet they were just that, as nobody had acquired the vocabulary to turn those cherished images of the mind into words. No one could pour their heart into their mouth and verbally announce their raw emotions. So instead, they spoke with their hearts and relied on the silence to express their mixture of feelings. With a whirlwind of thoughts, they each experienced gratitude, thankfulness, sadness, grief and above all, love. The deep and heavy cloud of sorrow had been lifted from their conscience as they stared at the final resting place of Raphael, and although it was a morbid scene, not one of them could deny the strange sense of beauty that filled the air; a lingering soul was finally put to rest.
Little by little the large shell disappeared into the earth forever when Leo, Mike and Don started to replace the dirt. Sighs of relief were uttered when the surrounding mulch was swept over the grave, making it look like nothing had ever taken place that night. "Thank you," Raphael suddenly said to the others, breaking the stillness of the affair. The rest of the family gave him a small smile.
"He can now finally rest in peace," Mike whispered in reply. "It took eight years… but at least, I guess, he can move on now," Mike continued.
"We can finally move on now," Donatello added as a correction.
"I'm glad we did this," Venus said softly, finally feeling as though her grieving process was complete. With a clear conscience, the turtle family headed off back to Silver's hideout, where the ape was waiting for them to return. Feeling the grass between his toes and the calm breeze on his face, Raphael looked upwards towards the sky and smiled at the heavens, hoping, just hoping, that his father had found peace and was smiling back down on him.
A few hours later, JFK Airport.
With nothing else left for them in New York, the turtles and Silver unanimously decided to move on. By now the news of Bonesteel's death had reached world headlines, and during the careful forensic investigation, Leeroy was taken into custody as Bonesteel's dealing with the black market had been discovered. To the public, Simon Bonesteel had lived life like a hero, but he died a villain. Currently all of Bonesteel's illegal trophies were being taken into customs, making the turtle family extremely grateful that they had received and found Raphael's shell before the authorities did.
There was a lot of controversy surrounding Dr Welner and Yesmal on what happened the previous night. Yet although to the turtles it seemed that their enemies were tied up and disposed of like a neat, little package, they knew that it wouldn't be long till someone else stepped up and followed their trail. Dr Yesmal could be considered a witness, and therefore the alert that the mutant turtles and the yeti were within the city could be sounded. It was time to say goodbye to New York and leave; never to return.
Hiding in a dark corner, the family watched as a figure wearing a trench coat and fedora approached them. "What flights are there, Don?" Leo asked, wondering what his brother discovered inside the building.
"Um, leaving within the hour is a flight to London, one to Paris, I think there's a flight to Canada as well. Going in the other direction, there's a plane going to Los Angeles and another to San Francisco," Donatello informed them.
"So what will it be?" Leo asked with a sigh.
"Sarah's in London," Mike said with a wink.
"What do you think Venus?" Leo asked for her opinion, wondering if she'd want to head back towards Asia.
"I think for now we should just get out of New York and America. I wouldn't mind going back to London, considering that we know the place so well. Just until we figure out something else," Venus came to a decision. Donatello nodded in agreement.
"What gate is it?" Leo asked.
"Gate twelve," Donatello answered.
"London it is," Leonardo announced. The turtle family started to walk over towards the area where their plane should be, but they stopped when they noticed that Silver wasn't following. "What's wrong?" Leo wondered.
"What gate is the flight to Los Angeles departing from?" Silver asked quietly.
"Gate twenty-three. Why?" Don replied.
"Are you thinking of going back home? To the Himalayas?" Raphael asked. Silver simply nodded slowly.
"There's nothing else for me to do," Silver said.
"You could come with us," Leo invited.
"Thanks but, I'll pass," Silver replied, not wanting to bother the turtle family anymore. "I think the answer for me is to go back to basics. I could live in any city in the world, steal to make a living, have all the jewels I could ever want, but… that will never save me from being captured again nor will it change the fact that I'm the last yeti. I've been thinking about it a lot lately, and I want to see if there's a better future for me out there. I mean, I've got nothing to lose as I could always come back to the city," Silver reasoned more to himself than to the turtles.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Venus asked.
"Positive," Silver said firmly. Leo gave him a small smile.
"Then good luck Silver. I hope you find what you're looking for," Leo said while he extended his right hand. Silver looked at it and smiled back.
"Thanks for everything you've done for me… Leonardo," Silver said while he shook the turtle's hand. Leo's smile grew wider when he finally heard his real name. After a couple more handshakes and a few waves, the two species went their separate ways.
London, England.
Sarah looked up from her costume design sketches when she heard a few consecutive knocks. Knowing that the sound didn't originate from the front door of her apartment, she curiously walked into the next room and stared out the window. She smiled at the group of grinning turtles standing outside on her fire escape.
"Hi guys! What are you doing here?" Sarah welcomed though she was still surprised at their sudden arrival.
"Thought we might drop by for a visit," Mike said with a wide grin. Sarah smiled and gave the turtle a welcoming hug. She was about to do the same with the others, but she stopped when her eyes focused on an unknown family member. "Oh! I almost forgot!" Mike said, forgetting his manners. "Sarah, this is Donatello. Donatello, this is Sarah," Mike introduced the two.
"Oh, Mike's told me a lot about you," Sarah said as she shook his hand in greeting.
"Really?" Don was partly surprised.
"Yeah," Sarah said simply while admiring his eyes. When a short and awkward silence occurred, Sarah noted that the turtles were still holding their heavy bags. "Come in guys and put the bags down. Don't be scared," Sarah invited, breaking the atmosphere.
"Where can I put this?" Venus asked, holding the incubator in his hands. Sarah looked around the room before unplugging a lamp so the incubator could use the outlet instead.
"When are the eggs due to hatch?" Sarah wondered.
"In a few months time," Venus answered. Michelangelo bounded over once he had deposited the large black bag he had been carrying.
"The one with the 'M' is mine," Mike said with a smile. Sarah grinned back.
"It's cute," she humoured him. Sarah then noticed the two children standing aimlessly in the middle of the room. "And how have you guys been?" Sarah asked.
"Goooood," Diana answered in a happy, drawn out way.
"I'm fine. I'm happy," Raphael said, referring to the closure of grief he had experienced over the last two days. Sarah didn't know anything about it and simply smiled back to his response.
"So what do you kids want to do while I get dinner?" Sarah wondered. Diana grinned, pointed to the television set and jumped up and down in excitement, knowing how rare it was to watch one. Sarah and Raphael couldn't help but grin at her antics. "I know! I'll put 'Finding Nemo' on. Would you like that?" Sarah asked. Diana nodded, even though she hadn't heard of it before.
"That's a good movie," Donatello commented.
"Have you seen it?" Sarah wondered.
"Yeah, I sneaked into a cinema one night. It's pretty good," Don said simply while admiring her hair and fine features. Michelangelo frowned slightly when he noticed the looks being exchanged between Don and Sarah.
"I'll help you with dinner!" Mike suddenly announced, leaping at the opportunity to drag Sarah away. The human couldn't help but laugh at his optimism.
"Would you like to help out as well?" Sarah asked the mysterious turtle wearing purple once she had calmed down slightly from all the giggling.
"Nah, I'm not that good in the kitchen," Don said modestly.
"Yeah Don's not that skilled with cooking," Mike said quickly before pulling Sarah away into the kitchen. With a lonely sigh, Donatello plunked himself onto the couch and began to watch the movie with the two children. Leonardo and Venus soon joined him on the couch a while later.
Halfway through the movie, Sarah announced that dinner was ready. Diana whined when the DVD had to be paused, especially since they were at the turtle part of the movie. Nevertheless they were all extremely hungry, and none of them could remember the last time they had a meal this grand. Once the steaming piles of food were laid out neatly on the table, everyone served themselves and began to feast.
"I heard Bonesteel was killed," Sarah was the one to start the conversation. Everyone stopped chewing for a few seconds.
"Yeah, Silver killed him," Leo informed her.
"Who's Silver?" Sarah wondered.
"You know, that ape that was in the enclosure with us. He's Silver," Michelangelo told her. "Because Bonetseel was the one who caught him, Silver wanted revenge," Mike added, planning on telling Sarah the rest of the story later on in the night.
"Oh, I was just wondering if you guys had something to do with it because Dr Aquel phoned me earlier today," Sarah said. Once again, the turtles all stopped chewing.
"What about?" Leo wondered.
"She finished reading my thesis and she loved it. She says that she's going to include my research into their records about your species. Also, Dr Welner's lawyer wants to start gathering up information so they can prepare a case. Dr Aquel said that they might include my findings," Sarah said with a smile.
"Oh…" was all Leo uttered.
"Do you think Dr Welner will win?" Raphael asked, slightly wanting the scientist to be put in jail.
"I don't know, but his lawyer apparently said that he's got a lot of things to prove and explain. It'll be difficult for him, but he hasn't been charged with anything yet," Sarah said. "Oh! And Dr Aquel also said that you've made it into the Guinness World Records for laying the world's largest egg. They apparently weighed and measured them in Australia while you were stuck in quarantine," Sarah told Venus.
"Yay, I beat the ostrich," Venus said with a small smile. She knew all along that her eggs were the largest in the world, and she was glad that after all the pain she had gone through she was finally recognised.
"So what type of research did you do?" Donatello questioned.
"I basically studied behavioural patterns and compared them to a humans," Sarah summarised.
"Are you still interested in the sciences?" Don asked.
"I am, but I had to change career tracks after I freed your family," Sarah explained to him.
"So what do you do now for a living?" Donatello asked, quickly becoming acquainted.
"I'm a fashion designer," Sarah said simply. "Mikey told me that you're interested in science," Sarah commented.
"Yeah, mainly chemistry and physics. I'm good with mathematics as well," Donatello summarised.
"So where have you been hiding all these years? Australia?" Sarah wondered.
"Is it that obvious?" Don answered lightly, knowing that she had noticed his accent. Sarah grinned.
"I have to admit that I thought you were Irish at first," Sarah joked.
"Irish? That's a new one. I've been mistaken for being South African before, but never Irish," Don replied with a smile.
"Well it's not as though I hear the accent every day," Sarah said. "So how'd you end up in Australia?" Sarah wondered.
"Well, I was transferred from the zoo to the Pentagon, where I worked there for a few months, before my caretaker, Joseph Fiffer, released me. I then headed to Sydney, mainly because I thought the rest of my family was going to be there," Donatello answered.
"The Pentagon? What did you do in the Pentagon?" Sarah was extremely interested now, much to Mike's disappointment.
"Mathematical equations, code cracking, things like that. I would have been transferred over to NASA though had there not have been a huge surge of terrorist activity at the time. I think the Pentagon needed me more than NASA in the end," Donatello explained.
"Wow. That must have been a great experience for you… well, not great, but you know what I mean," Sarah corrected herself. Donatello smiled.
"Yeah, it was alright working there for a few months, though any longer I would have gone crazy," Donatello said with a smile.
"So you must be pretty smart then," Sarah figured.
"Only in science and mathematics," Donatello said modestly.
"Yeah, he still can't cook," Mike interrupted. The turtle in orange watched as Diana finished her meal and yawned in tiredness. "We should finish off the rest of the movie before the kids get too tired," Mike used his niece as an excuse to stop the conversation between Don and Sarah, feeling slightly threatened with how well they were getting on with each other.
"Oh yeah, we should," Sarah agreed while starting to collect the empty plates on the table.
"That was very nice Sarah," Don complimented as he handed her his plate. The human smiled.
"Thanks Donatello," Sarah accepted.
"You can call me Don if you like," the turtle said, feeling more and more relaxed around her. Mike's eyes narrowed.
"Uncle Mikey!!" Diana whined from her position in front of the television, wanting him to start the DVD again. With a sigh, the turtle got up from the table and started the movie once again.
"Where are we up to?" Sarah asked when she had packed away all the dishes. Before Michelangelo could answer her question, Donatello had already done so.
"We're up to where they meet Crush," Don answered. With a small smile, Sarah sat down next to Don, simply not seeing the gesture that Mike gave her. Slightly annoyed, Mike stood up and sat on the other side of Sarah, but it didn't make that much of a difference. All the way through the rest of the movie, there was a soft hum of conversation going on at the same time. By the time the credit's rolled, Sarah's head was tiredly resting on Donny's shoulder.
Mike looked at the time and then to Sarah. "I think it's time to go to bed," Mike stated simply. Sarah checked her watched and nodded.
"Will you guys be alright sleeping on the floor?" she asked.
"Anything's better than sleeping in the sewers," Leonardo commented.
"Thank you for letting us stay here," Venus said.
"That's alright guys," Sarah said through a yawn. "Well, I better go to bed. See you in the morning. Goodnight Mikey," Sarah said while she headed for her bedroom. Mike sighed with relief, momentarily thinking that he had simply been overreacting with Sarah's sudden fascination with Donatello. But his fear and anger quickly returned. "Goodnight Don," Sarah added a split second later. Mike felt his heart drop.
"Goodnight," Mike and Don answered at the same time.
"So what do you think of Sarah?" Venus asked Donatello.
"I think she's a really nice girl," Don replied.
"Yeah that's great Don," Mike quipped before rolling over and turning his back on him so he could start going to sleep. Donatello stared at Michelangelo for a few moments, wondering what he had done to deserve such a sharp comment. Though no matter how long he thought about it, Mike still ignored him for the rest of the night.
When morning finally came, Michelangelo woke up early so he could start breakfast for the family. "Smells nice," Sarah commented with a smile when she finally emerged from her bedroom.
"We've got to figure out where we're going to go today," Leo said to the group, already planning ahead.
"Thinking of leaving London?" Sarah asked.
"We have to. We get spotted too easily in this city," Leo reasoned. "Do you happen to have an atlas?" Leo asked.
"I've got a world map," Sarah said.
"Even better," Leo smiled.
Once everyone had eaten their bacon and eggs that were beautifully cooked by Mike, Leo cleared the table and the whole family plus Sarah inspected the map in search of a new destination. "What about Paris?" Mike suggested.
"Do you know French?" Leo answered rhetorically.
"But a lot of people in Europe can speak the English language anyway, so the language barrier won't be that bad," Donatello reasoned.
"Except for France," Sarah said, remembering the troubles she experienced when she went over there for a short weekend holiday.
"What about Berlin then?" Mike suggested.
"Or Auckland, New Zealand," Don wondered.
"Tokyo would be alright," Venus suggested as well. They each looked to Leo who seemed to be deep in thought. When he didn't answer, the rest of the family kept on suggesting locations.
"Moscow."
"Vancouver."
"Beijing."
"Cairo," Raphael soon joined in.
"Perth."
"Rio de Janeiro."
"Johannesburg."
"Delhi."
"Kuala Lumpur."
"Rome."
"Istanbul."
"Silver was right," Leo suddenly interrupted their guessing game.
"What do you mean?" Mike wondered.
"When he said that the answer is to go back to basics," Leo said with his thoughts still drifting off.
"Meaning…?" Mike urged him to continue.
"No matter where we go, essentially every city is the same. Wherever there's people, there's the risk of being spotted," Leonardo summarised.
"But we need people to survive; to get food and shelter," Donatello said.
"And that's what the scientists are relying on. They know that we like to live in city environments," Leonardo had a revelation.
"So are you suggesting that we should live where there are no humans around?" Venus asked.
"Like Antarctica," Don said with slight sarcasm, causing Sarah to giggle with amusement at the concept.
"No, not that drastic," Leo replied. "Just a place where there's nature," Leo added.
"Unfortunately there aren't that many natural places left in the world," Donatello commented.
Leonardo looked down when he felt his daughter poke his leg. "What, what about Aff… Afreecar?" Diana suggested. Leo smiled.
"Heh, I think Africa's a little too wild for us," Leo said, picturing himself getting eaten by a lion or getting chased by a hippopotamus.
"Yeah, I'm still scared about that documentary Donny showed me years ago where a snake devoured an adult male antelope," Mike said, agreeing with Leonardo.
"Oh yeah, I remember. You couldn't sleep for three days after that!" Donatello chuckled along with Leonardo who remembered it as well.
"Well what about the Amazon?" Mike suggested once again.
"Jaguars," Leo reminded him.
"Anacondas," Don added.
"Caimans," Venus joined in.
"Spiders as big as dinner plates," Sarah added.
"Okay, okay! I get the picture!" Mike gave up. Just when someone else was about to suggest another ridiculous location, Raphael stepped forward, closed his eyes, and twirled his finger around. Blindly the boy pointed to an area on the map. Everyone gathered around to see where his finger had landed.
"That could work," Donatello commented.
"I think we've found our new home," Leo said with a smile, liking the location Raphael had picked.
"So when are you thinking of leaving?" Sarah questioned.
"Later on this afternoon," Leo said sadly, yet he knew that they couldn't burden the woman forever; they had to eventually find a suitable place to live.
"I'll really miss you guys," Sarah said quietly.
"You're always welcome to visit," Mike piped up. The human smiled once again at her green friends, wondering how long it would be until she saw them again. Yet deep down inside, she knew that they had to leave. Civilisation was not a place for ninja turtles to live.