Rocky leaned against the brick wall of the alley and closed his eyes for a second. How did he get himself into these messes? He should've just kept his mouth shut about Bebop, but it was too late now. He was committed to going. Unless...briefly he considered running off, but where would he go? He thought back to the days just before Raphael found him. No, he didn't want to go back to that. Guess I'm stuck, then.

An old black pick-up truck pulled up to the end of the alleyway. Rocky took a deep breath, then quickly walked over, opened the passenger door, got in, and slammed it behind him. As he expected, it was a tight fit. Casey looked over at him, rather calmly under the circumstances. Geez, Casey thought to himself, after the turtles, nothing fazes me anymore. "You ready?" he asked, and Rocky nodded once. Casey waited for an opening in traffic, then pulled out into the street. As they stopped at the red light at the end of the street, a yellow sports car pulled up along side of them. The driver was bopping along to some song on the radio, but upon noticing Rocky, stopped and gaped. He tapped the passenger, who had to lean all the way over him to take a look.

Rocky growled slightly. "They're gawkin' at me."

Casey shrugged as the light turned green, and he pulled away. "You're somethin' to gawk at. Somethin' different. That's pretty rare in New York." Rocky turned to face forward and sighed. After sitting in silence for a few minutes, Casey glanced over at him. "You okay?" Rocky shrugged, and Casey decided not to pursue it any further.

After making the way across the bridge, Casey found a parking spot and got out of the car, then waitied as Rocky reluctantly opened the door and joined him. Spying the sign for "Visitors", Casey walked towards the building. He opened the door and ushered Rocky inside. Both guards behind the station took one look at Rocky and immediately reached for their guns. Stay calm, thought Rocky, recalling all the things Splinter had taught him. Keep your arms down at your sides. Open your hands a bit, so they know there's nothing in them. Smile slightly. Talk politely. "Hi," he said, from memory. "I'd like to see one of the inmates, please."

Casey looked over at him. This didn't sound like the gruff creature whom he had met down in the lair, or even the sullen creature he just drove over here.

The guards glanced at each other, and then looked back at Rocky. The taller one nodded slowly at him. "Who are you here to see?"

"Bebop...um, I mean, Bob. Bob Youngblood."

One guard guffawed. "Shoulda guessed that one." Once more, the guards exchanged glances. "I better check with the warden - make sure it's OK."

Rocky was upset, but he took a breath and smiled slightly again. "Fine. OK." As the guard radioed it in, Rocky looked over at Casey uncertainly, who smiled back a bit. Rocky began rocking himself on his feet a bit, nervously waiting. Casey took a seat on a bench, looking far more relaxed.

Finally the guard got his answer, and he turned back to Rocky. "One of us will have to escort you down."

Casey said, "That's cool. Look, I'll wait for you here."

Rocky turned to him, and didn't know what to say. He was expecting Casey to go down with him. "Um...OK."

The guard indicated a guestbook. "Gotta sign in first." Rocky stepped up and glanced it over. As he reached for the pen, he realized, geez, I haven't written anything since I got freakafied. I wonder if I still can. And I don't even know what name to sign. He carefully fit the pen into his oversized fist, then, sticking his tongue out in concentration, scrawled "Rocky Rodriguez", almost fitting it into the space provided. It wasn't pretty, but it would have to do.

"This way," said the guard.

The guard fell in step behind Rocky, except to open a few doors, and Rocky felt more and more like he was entering something that he wasn't coming out of. Finally, he was led to a chair across from a glass panel. Rocky sat down carefully - he didn't want to break the chair - and waited, trying to keep himself from freaking out. Relax, he thought, trying to remember what Splinter taught him. A few minutes later, a door behind the panel opened, and a figure appeared in the doorway. Rocky grinned. The figure was wearing a huge orange jumpsuit, and the pink was gone from his hair, but it was obviously Bebop. A guard more or less pushed Bebop out of the doorway and into the visitor room. Bebop looked back at him, snorted, then turned to face his visitor. His eyes instantly lit up. "Rocky!" he mouthed through the glass.

Rocky grinned and grabbed the phone. Placing it up to his ear, he noticed that it didn't quite reach around to his mouth, and he frowned.

"Don't worry 'bout it," said Bebop. "I c'n still hear ya."

Again, Rocky grinned goofily. "Hey-a, Bebop."

"Rocky! Damn, it's good to see ya!"

"Same here, buddy! You doin' OK?"

"Listen, Rocky, you gotta do sumpin' for me."

Rocky's ears perked up. This is what he came for! "Sure thing."

"You gotta talk to my lawyer. She says mebbe you can convince the judge why I was knockin' over dat store."

"Uh...'cause we didn't have nothin' left to eat?"

"Yeah! Exactly! If we can get the judge to un'erstand that we was in piss-poor shape, I might not have to spend so long in here."

Rocky nodded. "Sure. Where's yer lawyer?"

Bebop turned to the guard and spoke briefly to him. Turning back to Rocky, he said, "They'll getcha her card. Make sure ya call her, K?"

"I will," promised Rocky. "Promise." Again, Rocky grinned. Sure, he was in jail, but it was still good to see his friend again. "Man, I missed ya, Bebop. How ya doin'?"

Bebop shrugged. "It's jail, y'know? Could be worse. At least get three squares a day, and the other guys leave me alone." He held up his shackled wrists. "Gotta wear these all th' time, though, and dey got a separate guard jus' f'r me."

"Cripes, how come?"

"'Cause I'm stupid, I guess. When I first got in, soon after they pulled th' slugs outta me, they were sorta pushin' me around. I got mad an' pushed back. Now they're scared I'm gonna go bezerk on 'em."

"Don't, Bebop. I wantcha out and back wit' me."

Bebop smiled lopsidedly. "Yeah, that'd be cool. Jus' like it usedta be. Might be awhile, though."

"Don't worry. I'll talk to yer lawyer, and we'll getcha out soon."

"Thanks." Bebop considered Rocky for a minute in silence. "You're lookin' OK, Rocky. Tell da truth, I thought you'd be kinda lost wit'out me - I was worried 'boutcha."

Rocky snorted a small laugh. "Actually, you were right, sorta. I did kinda lose it f'r a few days. Didn't know what I was gonna do."

"So whadja end up doin'?"

"Y'ain't gonna believe it." Bebop shook his head, and Rocky went on. "I been shackin' up wit' dem turtles."

"What?!"

"Yeah, crazy, huh?" Rocky was so exctied to be talking to Bebop again, he began to ramble a bit. "They're...well, they ain't bad. Sorta nerdy, an' there ain't a lot to do there - no TV or nuttin'. But they got me a bed an' they feed me three times a day - 'course they don't feed me anywhere near enough, but I'm kinda gettin' used to it. Their leader - y'know, da one what killed da Shredder - he's a rat, kinda quiet, but he c'n kick major butt. He said he's gonna help me get a job 'n' everythin', but I dunno about all dat..." He suddenly noticed the look on Bebop's face, and sort of trailed off. "What?"

"Nuttin'. It's jus'...well, woulda been nice to know earlier on, huh?"

"Nice to know what?"

"Dat dem turtles was all right." Bebop snorted. "Then I wouldn't be in here, huh?"

"Oh." Rocky considered that a minute, and Bebop stood up.

"Look, I gotta go."

"Really? OK. Well, I'll talk to yer lawyer, Bebop."

"Yeah, you do dat," said Bebop, heavy on the sacrasm. "Y'know, if y'ain't too busy hangin' out wit' yer new friends." Bebop hung up the phone, nodded to the guard and walked off.

Slowly, Rocky hung up the phone and got to his feet. In a daze, he accept the business card from the guard, then headed out the door.

Casey fell in step with Rocky as he came out of the building. "Everything OK?"

"Uh. Yeah, I think so."

Casey shrugged and led him back to the truck. On the way home, he noticed that although Rocky was just as quiet on the way back as he was on the way out, it seemed to be a different kind of quiet. He seemed more lost in thought than depressed.

Casey dropped Rocky off at the alleyway, and Rocky gave him a mumbled "thanks" before slamming the door closed. He lifted the manhole cover, squeezed down into the hole (it was a tight fit), then made his way back to the lair. It was apparent the other mutants had already finished dinner - Donatello was doing dishes in the kitchen. "Hey. We left you some pizza - it's in the fridge."

"Uh, thanks. Mebbe later. Where's Splin'er?"

"In his room, painting."

"'s it...is it OK if I go talk to him?"

"Sure." Donatello put another plate in the drying rack. "Just don't sneak up on him - if you scare him, you can mess up his painting."

"OK. Whadda ya do when ya wanna talk to him?"

"What do I...? Nothing - I just go talk to him."

"Isn't dere this thing where ya...kneel down 'r somethin'?"

"Oh. Well, that's sort of a formal thing, when we have something really important to talk about. But I wouldn't bother with that."

"'K." He started to head out, but then stuck his head back in the kitchen. "Um, thanks." Turning back to the hall, he took a side passage and stood in the entryway to Splinter's room. It wasn't very large - room for a futon, a small table, and a stool where he sat and painted.

Splinter looked up from his work and smiled. "Hello, Rocksteady." Rocky stepped into the room, knelt down and bowed his head. Splinter was surprised, but as always, he took it in stride. He put his brush down, pushed his stool aside, knelt down and bowed in return. Coming back up, he gently said, "What is it, Rocksteady?"

Rocky raised his head. "Um, I know the turtles sit like this when they got something special to talk t'ya 'bout."

"Yes?"

"First off, is it OK if I don't stay like this? My knees are killin' me."

Splinter supressed a laugh, but could not hide his smile. "Of course. Sit any way you wish."

Rocky swung his legs in front and crossed them. "Whew, that's better. Um, I got in t'see Bebop."

"Excellent. How is he?"

"Um, OK, I guess. He wants me t'call his lawyer - he thinks that'll get 'im out quicker."

"Then, by all means, do so."

"I will. Tomorrow mornin' - it's kinda late now."

Rocky rubbed the back of his neck uncertainly. Splinter knew there was more that he wished to say, so he coaxed him gently. "Please go on."

"He...well, Bebop was kinda...sore, like. Mad. Y'know, 'cause now I'm here and doin' OK an' everything, and he's stuck in jail, when all he was tryin' t' do was keep us goin'."

"Bebop must face the consequences for what he has done."

"But he was doin' it f'r me!"

"That does not matter. He attempted to rob a store, and he got caught. Certainly he knew he go to jail if he got caught robbing a store?"

"But...we hadta! We didn't have any choice!"

"Really? You did not have a choice at all?"

"Well, steal 'r starve. That ain't much o' one."

Splinter smiled slightly. "Consider your position now. Are you stealing?"

"No..."

"Are you starving?"

"No..."

Splinter's smile grew bigger. "So apparently, there was another way." Rocky opened his mouth to respond, but then thought better of it. Splinter went on, "You did not force Bebop to go rob the store. He did it of his own volition. There were other choices, but he chose to rob the store. Therefore he must face the consequences of his actions."

Rocky shrugged. "Doesn't seem fair."

"Yes. But perhaps there is a lesson to be learned from this, if you care to find it."

"Hm." Rocky made a move as if to stand up, but then suddenly checked himself. "Um, I kinda...got something else I wanna say."

"Yes, Rocksteady?"

"Um...I did a lot o' thinkin' on th' way home. Um, Bebop kinda made me realize that...I got it pretty good down here. Y'know, you guys take good care o' me - feedin' me 'n' all, and I ain't been really nice about it or nuttin'. An', um, I'm sorry 'bout that."

Splinter smiled. "All is forgiven, Rocksteady. However, it would perhaps be best if you apologized to each of the others, as well."

Rocky's face took on a very pained expression. "Geez, do I gotta?"

"Well, they have been the most inconvenienced by your behavior."

Sighing, Rocky said, "Yeah, I guess you're right."

Splinter smiled. "You appear to be ready to take responsibility for your own actions, as well. I believe it may be time to begin working on getting you a job."

"Really? How ya gonna do that?"

"I have talked with both Casey and April, and I believe it is indeed possible for you to re-enter the workforce. You told me early you held a job before...at a sandwich shop?" Rocky nodded. "And how did you find that?"

"Uh...I didn't like it much."

Splinter smiled slightly. "First jobs are rarely well-liked. Food service is perhaps not what you are best suited for."

Rocky snorted. "What th'heck am I suited for?"

"Consider, Rocky. You have strength above and beyond most humans. Certainly that might be exploited to your advantage. But I believe we need to work first on getting you prepared. Tomorrow, we will begin your training in earnest."

Rocky sighed. He didn't know what all that meant, but he had a feeling it involved a lot of hard work, and he was pretty sure he wasn't going to like it.