Nalong - Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own the turtles. The OCs are my creations if you want to use any of them just ask. Also I make no money from this so please don't sue me. Also I don't own the story of the tortise(turtle) and the hare.

A/N: I was a little worried about the scene in the last chapter with Leo and Mikey, but it looks like those worries were unfounded! Thanks for the reviews y'all!

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It was still dark when the guards came and woke them up; rather rudely Raphael recalled. When the guards came in, two had gone to Donatello's bed and two more had gone to Raphael's. They yanked the mattresses from the beds and Don and Raph tumbled to the floor. Almost as soon as they hit they were on their feet and ready for anything, but they were annoyed with themselves for letting the guards get this far without being noticed.

Alejandro and Iris had snapped awake at the resulting noise and were out of bed quickly, but Ben was still asleep and had been the final recipient of the guards' little wake up call. The group was herded out of the barracks and led to a shower room. Donatello was well aware of what these had been used for in the past, but they had no choice. Hopefully it was really just a shower room. They were then handed small scrub brushes and a bucket of soapy water before being locked in the room with the guards outside. And to top it all off his headache was coming back. He tried to remember the last time he had something to drink and realized that it had been yesterday at breakfast. With everything that had happened since then, Don decided that he was probably dehydrated. Too bad there was absolutely nothing he could do about it just now.

About half an hour into their cleaning job Nalong returned.

"Good morning." He said to anyone who could hear. The five survivors whipped around to see him standing in the center of the room. Raphael shook his head at the guy's uncanny ability to pop out of thin air like that.

"Hello," came the automatic reply from the group on their hands and knees busily scrubbing the floor.

"I have a plan that can get the five of you out of here now." Nalong informed them. You are all powerful beings whose talents allow for this sort of escape.

"No." Donatello said simply.

"What?" Iris asked, shocked at the turtles response. "Don't you want out of here? I thought that last night…"

"Of course I want out of here." Donatello clarified.

"But we can't leave without our brothers." Raphael finished for him.

"Finishing each others' sentences. you guys really are close aren't you?" Ben was surprised.

"We go no where without Leo and Mikey." Raphael insisted. Don nodded in agreement.

"If you wait, this opportunity passes." Nalong warned.

"And eventually a better one will present itself," Donatello insisted, "one that will allow the escape of more that just the 5 of us, no one deserves to be here."

"Is this satisfactory to the rest of you?" Nalong inquired.

"I've passed up the opportunity before." Iris admitted, "What's one more?"

"Same here," Ben stated looking at Raphael.

"You guys are crazy, but I can't fault your reasoning. I too will stay." Alejandro finally agreed.

"You are wise." Nalong told them. "I shall be around. If you need me I'll know." He turned once again to Donatello, who he had evidently taken a liking to. "You will indeed be the source of a river." With that he was gone again.

"What is this? He's there one second then POOF he's gone! Who does this guy think he is?" Raphael asked angrily. "Popping in and out with his crazy talk of escape and never actually helping us, just giving us random cryptic compliments."

"I don't know. He did help us through the Course though." Donatello reminded his brother.

"Yeah, maybe so, but does that mean we should trust him?" Iris put in. "He's kind of strange, and not just in the giant reptile way." It took a moment before she remembered half of the people she was addressing were also giant reptiles. "Oh, sorry guys, I didn't mean any offence"

"None taken. To most people we are strange."

"Just don't let it happen again." Raph growled, scaring Iris, but he had a Raphael version of a smile on his face and Iris, recognizing it for what it was, smiled back.

"I'll try not to."

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An hour later the trumpet sounded, waking up the other prisoners. Donatello sighed as he tossed the scrub brush in the bucket for the last time of the morning. The showers were finally clean. He himself felt truly disgusting at the moment, but somehow had a feeling that wasn't going to change real soon. None of them dared take a shower when they hadn't been told to, even if they were in the room where that was a possibility. The guards returned and ordered the group to line up outside the door of the building to take their assignments for the day. The group issued a collective sigh knowing that they were going to be separated again. Donatello was tired, he felt slimy, he missed his brothers and to top it all off that stupid headache was back with a vengeance. He could just tell that today was going to be a great day.

Work groups came by and each group took one of the Course survivors. As dumb as these guards were they seemed to know better than to put multiple troublemakers in the same workgroup. Donnie had hoped that one of the groups would have someone from their first barracks that, if it wasn't Leo or Mikey, could at least get the message to them that Don and Raph were ok. But no such luck. Donatello was the last one to be taken away today and he wondered, with a certain amount of dread, just what his chore was going to be.

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When Steve woke for the morning he found Leonardo and Michelangelo had fallen asleep against each other. Once again he was reminded of just how young these guys really were. They were sound asleep and didn't notice as Steve got up to prepare for the day. After quietly waking both Eric and Annie from their slumber he turned to the turtles. He hated to wake them, but if he didn't they would be late and that would result in more punishment for them. He gently called their names, but that failed to rouse them. They had to be exhausted, emotionally if nothing else. Steve called them again, this time gently shaking their shoulders. Leo snapped awake and nearly took his head off before realizing that the intrusion was just Steve trying to get them up for the day.

The turtle apologized profusely, but Steve brushed it off saying no apology was necessary and that Leo was entirely forgiven. Leo woke Mikey and hopped down from the bed. He glanced sadly at the places where his other two brothers should have been sleeping and sighed, dropping his head and closing his eyes. Steve put a comforting hand on the young turtle's shoulder. He didn't know what to say so he remained silent. Moments later the trumpet sounded.

"How's about we set a goal today. No one gets taken to the Course." Mikey suggested more brightly than he felt.

"That sounds good Mikey." Leo responded sadly. "That sounds so good." The group headed out the door.

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"Mr. Jones, you are driving much too quickly."

"It's the freeway! You're supposed to drive fast. Besides, there's nothing here to hit!" Casey responded. "And I thought you wanted to get there as quickly as we could."

"Mr. Jones, this vehicle is not properly registered. If we get pulled over we have a very big problem." Splinter waited a moment for that to sink in. When Casey didn't slow down he tried another tactic. "Have you ever heard the story of the 'turtle and the hare'?"

"Uh, isn't it the 'tortoise and the hare'?" Casey asked a little confused.

"Not when your young sons are turtles."

"That must have been a bedtime favorite for years." April spoke up from the seat behind Casey. She had to agree with Splinter, Casey was driving too fast.

"Indeed it was, Miss O'Neil, indeed it was." Splinter admitted, there was a hint of sadness in his voice, but he quickly came back to himself. "Do you remember the moral of that story Mr. Jones?"

Casey hazarded a guess, "Uh, something about going slow?"

"Indeed," Splinter agreed, "slow and steady wins the race. It is advice you may wish to take to heart right now."

Casey let up on the accelerator.