Disclaimer – How much are those turtles in my story…how much money will they make me for free? Not a penny, or a quarter, not a nickel, or a dime…since they are owned by someone other than me!

And, that's it. Enjoy and thanks to all who are reading and for those who review:0) Be blessed.

The Temper That Almost Ate Manhattan

by reinbeauchaser

Chapter 8 – R.E.S.P.E.C.T.

Breakfast that morning was a quiet affair, with all members of the clan sitting around the kitchen table, bleary-eyed and sleepy. Soon after finishing his tea and toast, Splinter took his leave to meditate before practice began, leaving his sons to finish their cereal.

As their father disappeared inside his bedroom, three pairs of eyes turned to Raphael. These same pairs of eyes glared disapprovingly at him, yet no one said a word.

Raph, however, was far too sleepy to notice, though, and, so, finally, Leo broke the silence. "What got into you last night, Raph?" he demanded tiredly.

Raphael looked up from his bowl of cereal and gruffly replied, "Stuff."

"Just – stuff?" Mike grumped, "Com'on, bro, you trashed our room. Took the three of us thirty minutes to clean it up and I really resent the fact that you didn't have to do one frick'n thing!"

"Sorry, Mike, I'll make it up t'ya, 'kay?" Raph then leaned into his arm, wrapped protectively around his bowl, as his other hand spooned an overflowing portion of cereal into his mouth. Milk dribbled freely down his chin as he tried to ignore his brothers, focusing instead on his gradually diminishing breakfast. However, as a ninja, he knew when anyone was staring at him. He looked up then and, tired of their penetrating gazes, grumped as he wiped the milk from his chin with the back of his hand, "What d'ya want?"

Don knew that whatever it was bothering Raphael, badgering him would prove futile. "So, Raph, you gonna tell us what kind of story Splinter told you?" he asked, as he chewed his breakfast reflectively, "It's obvious he did, since you were in his room for so long."

Raph shrugged, swallowing his bite of breakfast, and said simply, "Just one of his lesson stories, s'all; nothin' important."

"Sure took a long time for him to say something unimportant," Mike remarked as he quirked an eye ridge. "You were in there for almost an hour!"

Raph growled, "Just can it, guys; I'm too tired to put up with yer questioning."

Mike's eyes sparkled suddenly as a thought occurred to him. "Yes," he mused to himself, "Don's right, Raph was gone for quite a while and probably sitting long enough to…" He then asked, his voice all saccharine sweet and lilting, "My, my, we are defensive, aren't we?" He smiled wide, winking at his other brothers, as he asked Raph, "Did yer tail go…limpy, RaphAel?"

Raph glared threateningly, "No, it didn't, and if you don't shut yer mouth, Mike, I'll rip yours right off your..."

"Ooo," Mike interrupted eagerly, "I think Raphie's tail did go numb, bros. Did it flop around?" and then Mike suddenly leapt off his chair and out of the way as Raphael tried to grab him, "Yes, yes, yes…" Mike chortled, "I believe it did, yes indeed!" all the while trying to stay clear of his brother's murderous hands.

Suddenly, Raphael jumped from his chair and gave chase, with Mike screaming like a girl, racing around the table, laughing and staying just ahead of his enraged brother. Don and Leo tried to stay out of harms way, lest they catch whatever backlash missed their youngest sibling, but they couldn't help but laugh, too.

Finally, and after Raph caught his impish brother and made Michelangelo's head one with his cereal bowl, Donatello remarked, "I think you guys better knock it off, before Splinter comes out to see what's going on."

Leo added for good measure, "And I would clean this mess up before he sees it, too, otherwise you'll be spending the rest of the day cleaning the lair!"

Raph growled in Mikey's ear, "And another mess for you to clean up, oh brother dear!" shoving Michelangelo's head further into the now empty cereal bowl. The turtle then left the kitchen and his brothers. "See ya in the dojo, bros!" Raph declared. He looked back once and then chuckled when Mike freed himself from the bowl, the top of his head thoroughly plastered with milk and bits of soggy cereal.

Don looked up at his youngest brother and smiled knowingly, "Seems you enjoy irritating him."

Mike, his smile wide, took up a towel to wipe his head off, "Hey, gotta start the day off right, know what I mean? Besides, it's in our contract to bug each other." He shrugged, "We live a boring life, Don, what else is there t'do, anyway?"

Splinter had heard the ruckus from his bedroom, but he chose to ignore it, instead. After all his years living with four rambunctious teens, he had accustomed himself to their antics. Michelangelo would forever find whatever excuse he could to irritate his older brother and Raphael, just as eagerly, would reply with his own form of justice. So long as they didn't injure each other too much, though, the rat would allow it. He trusted his sons to exercise enough self-control by not inflicting serious injury.

Other than a few bruises, though, they teased each other as most brothers would.

Nevertheless, Splinter was relieved that Raphael had hesitated about sharing the story he had told him. In truth, it was a mild concern for the rat. He preferred to share his early experiences with his other sons himself, but he knew that they were closely-knit bunch. What one experienced, they all experienced.

However, where Raphael seemed reluctant to impart Splinter's early years with his brothers a moment ago, the rat relaxed and then slipped into his few minutes of meditation.

After his quiet time, Splinter headed for the dojo to await his sons. Soon after and much to the rat's relief, they filed in just as they did each morning, with Leonardo leading, Raphael next in line, followed by Donatello and then Mikey. The four turtles bowed to the mat, before taking up their positions.

As they did, the master quickly studied their body language and expressions, happily finding nothing amiss, other than their being a bit more sleepy than normal. His sons seemed as they always were, though, ready - if not eager - to expend some of their hyper energy.

Splinter then bowed in reply and released them to do their warm-up exercises.

The master continued to watch for any further signs that they might be distracted, or worried, but found none, and he couldn't help but breathe another sigh of relief. He had hoped that Raphael would guard what he told him, to know and understand that he had been a privileged audience.

So far, it seemed to Splinter, Raphael had indeed kept quiet about the story.

Then, each of them began their katas.

As always, Leo was perfect, Raphael was complaining and trying to best his older brother, Don was off in his own little world, and Mikey? Well, he was doing his best to goof off - without looking like he was goofing off – and failing miserably. Master Splinter had to remind him several times to keep focused, and that "a ninja is master of his environment!"

"Try telling that to my body, Sensei. I feel like I could sleep for week!" the orange-clad turtle complained.

"You must try to overcome these physical weaknesses, my son; for you might be called up on to go several days without sleep."

Raphael suddenly grouched, "Didn't know we were plannin' on joinin' the Marines, Sensei."

"Raphael!" his father declared, "you will now do ten extra flips after practice."

Raph growled and rolled his eyes, muttering under his breath, certain that no one was paying attention, "I can barely feel my arse and he wants me t'do flips?"

Mikey caught his brother's whispered comment, however, his voice half an octave higher as he teased, "Aw, poor Raphie's tail did go limpy!"

The crack of Splinter's walking stick struck the dojo floor, interrupting the youngest son's ribbing, "Michelangelo, ten flips for you as well."

Raph sniggered quietly when he heard his brother groan, "Serves ya right, bro!" he whispered between 'yips' and 'kyas'.

"Bet I can get Splinter to give you more flips!" Mike chided in the same quiet way.

Raph growled back a warning, "Not if you want to live to see lunch, you don't!"

In any event, things progressed smoothly enough in the dojo to belie the fact that anything had happened the night before – or even that morning.

The master's greatest fear was that Raphael would tell his brothers how their father's anger had put them in grave danger when they were so very young. The last thing the rat wanted was to lose respect in his sons' eyes. He knew it was every parent's nightmare to share such defining moments with their child, only to have the child resent the new, imperfect image of their parent. He hoped he had impressed upon Raphael that being perfect wasn't as important as doing the right thing and in an honorable fashion, even if it was after the fact.

As practice ended and after Mike and Raph did their ten flips, Splinter dismissed his sons. However, he vaguely heard Raphael ask Donatello something about using his computer. It wasn't a normal thing for his less-studious son to ask about, but the master shrugged it off and went back to his room. He had some scrolls to read and he wanted to add a bit more to his journal, to record his session with Raphael from earlier that morning. He always kept a diary of sorts, if only so that upon his passing, he would leave his sons with a personal account of his thoughts and feelings. He smiled, wondering how they would react to such insight and what he wrote in his journal. Certainly, there would be a surprise or two for each of them. Such are the memoirs of any parent.

………….

Raphael stared at the monitor screen. He read the article that he had found a second time, and then again, hoping against hope that maybe, just maybe, he was reading it all wrong.

Unfortunately, he wasn't.

"Um, Don?" Raph asked, not turning his head towards his brother. He knew that Don was fixing some 'thingamajig on his worktable, but, whatever it was, Raph couldn't say, nor would he try. It was enough that Don knew what it was and even better, that he knew how to fix it.

"Everyone has a purpose, I guess," Raph muttered, "even if no one else has clueless what that is."

Don evidently hadn't heard his brother, though, which of course only encouraged Raph to repeat himself, this time a little louder, "Hey, BRAINAC! I need ya here!"

Don jerked his head around as if suddenly aware that someone had been talking to him. "Yeah?" he finally asked.

"Gotta have yer opinion about sumthin', so I need ya to stop what yer doin' and get yer shell over here."

"Hey, it's not necessary to insult me!" Don complained, "I can see perfectly well from where I am!"

"No, you can't, ya gotta get closer so ya can make sure of what I'm readin' here."

Don sighed, put his tools down, and pushed his chair away from his workbench. He stood up and then wandered the short distance over to where Raphael sat in front of the computer. "So, what do you want to know?" he asked.

"Read this," Raph ordered gruffly, jerking his thumb towards the computer screen.

"What is it?" Don asked and then he saw the website on the computer screen. After he read it, he shrugged, "So?"

Rolling his eyes, his red-banded brother knocked on Don's carapace, "Earth to Don, our father's a rat!"

Donatello looked at Raphael and shook his head, still not understanding, "And again, I ask 'so'?"

Raph pointed hard at the screen, tapping the end of his finger against the glass, and jarring the monitor a little, "Sensei was once one of THEM!" He stared now at the photo of a simple brown rat, with all its attributes printed out next to it in nice, neat lines. "It says here that it will 'eat just about anything if starved; even chickens or frogs, or…" Raph looked up at his brother, his voice soft and whispery, "turtles."

Don quirked an eyebrow and worked the inside of his cheek as he re-read the article. He then mulled over what Raphael had just said, and read the article again. Shaking his head emphatically, though, he swallowed and remarked as he looked at his brother, "It doesn't say that and beside, Raphael, no way would Sensei do that."

"Not now," Raph grumped, "but…when we were little, when he first found us in the ooze!"

Don became deep in thought about that. When someone suddenly rapped on the bedroom door, both he and Raph nearly jumped out of their shell in surprise. Raphael quickly positioned the mouse and moved the cursor over the minus sign, soon minimizing the web page. It dropped down and disappeared, showing Don's screensaver, just as Mikey opened the bedroom door. Both brothers breathed a sigh of relief, since they both thought that Sensei had come to check up on them.

"Hey, you've been in here all morning, Raph; what's doing?" Mikey asked as he stuck his head inside the room.

Raph looked at Don and Don shook his head as if to say 'no, don't, but then Raph turned back to Mike and waved him in, "Gotta see this, bro," and immediately brought up the web page once again.

Despite Don's attempt to keep him from coming further into the room, Mike managed to get around his brother anyway and sidle up next to Raphael at the computer.

"So, what'd ya find? Something interesting?" the orange-banded turtle asked.

That was when Raph said, "More than interestin', Mikey, ya gotta read this!"

As Mike finished reading, he shrugged the same way Don had and uttered the same "So?"

Sighing in exasperation, Raphael explained, "Our father is a rat, Mike…think about it…think about how small we probably were waaaaay back when Splinter first found us. Think about how hungry he might have been…" but before Raph could explain further, Mike had already imagined – and far to well, it seemed.

"YOUGOTTABEKIDDINGME?" he nearly yelled, and then he went unusually quiet, sitting down on the edge of Don's bed with a most horrified expression on his face. Breathlessly, he exclaimed, "Our sensei…could have…"

Raph nodded and finished that thought for his baby brother, "Yep, on the half-shell, bro!"

Mike could only stare at the computer screen, his eyes wide, his mouth dropped open in shock. Don, however, glared down at Raphael, who smirked up at his purple-banded brother. "One for all and all for one, bro – 'specially with somethin' like this!" Raph explained as he nudged his head towards the monitor.

"Ever think that some things might be better left unsaid and unknown, Raph? You know how Mikey is after those scary movies…and he sleeps in your room, so I think you'd want to make sure he didn't know about this!" Don now had a smile on his face, knowing that Raphael wouldn't be getting much sleep, not with Mikey's imagination going 'full tilt' for who knows how long.

Realizing Don was probably right, Raph grumped, but then sighed, "Yeah, but I don't think I'm gonna be sleepin' too much, myself."

Just then, Leo opened the door and slipped inside.

"Hey, who yelled?" he asked. He then saw the monitor, "What's that?" he inquired innocently, only to have Don suddenly wedge in-between his older brother and the monitor.

"Nothing, Leo, now get out of my room!" Don said briskly.

Leo looked at Donatello as if he were some stranger. He asked, half-smiling, "Where's my brother and what did you do with him?" Then, "How come you're so defensive? If everyone else is in here…what're you looking at?" Leo craned his neck to see what was on the computer, but Don managed to block his way, using his arms and hands to that effect.

"You don't want to see anything, Leo, trust me!" Don insisted sternly.

Chuckling, Leo feigned one direction, acting as if he was truly going that way. As expected, Don fell for it, only for Leo to then swiftly spring into ninja mode and whip around the opposite side. Once he succeeded in getting passed Donatello, Leonardo made his way over to Raphael and the computer.

"So, what's…this?" he scowled. He looked over at Don, who seemed reluctant to say, and inquired, again, "I asked, what is this?"

A firm tap on his carapace brought Leo's attention to Raphael, who explained, "It's about rats, Leo…brown rats…the kind we have in the sewer…the kind…"

Mike interrupted from where he sat on the bed, sounding almost as if he were about to get sick, "that found us in the ooze."

Leo perked up a bit, "Really? Cool. I've never even considered what kind of rat Splinter is," and he leaned over Raph's shoulder to read the article in question.

Don, meanwhile, realized his defeat and sat down on his chair by the worktable. He groaned because he knew how much Leonardo loved their father, how much he idolized him, how much Leo tried to be like Splinter. More to the point, he knew how much Leonardo was going to suffer when he found out that…

"NO WAY?"

Obviously, Don realized his older brother was able to add two and two a little quicker than Mikey or any of them had.

After a moment of collecting his wits, Leonardo asked Raphael, and not too happily, either, "What possessed you to even look for something like that, Raph?"

Mike and Don perked up a bit, both of them as curious to Raphael's reason as Leonardo was.

Raph cleared his throat, then and, mindful of how sharp his father's hearing was, quietly related the story Splinter had shared only a few hours before. He didn't tell them everything, but only focused on the part before Splinter had mutated. "And during practice, I thought about surfin' th'net t'see if it's true, that rats will eat anythin'," he finished.

Of course, it disgusted them to find out that their father had first considered dining on them – even though Raphael did tell them that Splinter had tried not to admit to such a thing.

After a long, collected pregnant pause, Leo was the first to speak.

"I don't think I can ever look Sensei in the eye again!" he moaned. He looked positively mortified, "How could he even think to do that?" he asked rhetorically.

"He was a rat, Leo, and hadn't changed yet, but still…yeah, very unsettling to think about," Don allowed miserably.

Then, Mikey spoke next. His voice was far older in tone than normal and soft with uncharacteristic wisdom, "We have to remember, bros, Splinter did save us. He did NOT eat us. We have to remember this, we can't think about how it might have been. He saved us, he raised us, and we are his sons," Mike stood up then, almost defiant, "We – have – to – keep – reminding ourselves of this fact and not what could have been."

Nodding their heads as one, the other three turtles agreed, but Raphael added, "But it does give new meaning to the word, r.e.s.p.e.c.t, doesn't it?"

Three heads nodded in unison, but Leo still sighed, "I never would have imagined, though…" with three voices saying as one, "Amen to that, bro!"

A/N – An epilogue will follow and then I'm done. :0)