Chapter 11: Exploring Home

Day Fourteen

"Okay, Leo, the room for Dad is all finished and ready for him, and the last of the details are worked out. " Donnie said absently, tapping at a tablet screen as he finished up some last minute preparations. "Raph and I are going over to Japan to go get Dad and bring him over, but don't worry, Mikey will stay here with you."

"Which means you need to keep an eye on the blond goof for us, Leo." Raph added.

"Hey." Mikey playfully batted at his arm.

"I'm not even kidding." Raph whispered conspiratorially to me. "He's like a three year old sometimes. He needs lots of supervision."

"Hey!" Mikey swatted him again a little more forcefully.

Donnie cleared his throat, walking between them before the playful swats could devolve into an actual scuffle. "If all goes according to plan, we should only be gone a few days."

"You're going to finally get to meet Dad, Leo!" Mikey cheered, waving at me.

I honestly didn't really know how to feel about that. But I had come this far... just a few days more...

Raph sighed, looking between me and Mikey, and he turned back to his youngest brother. "Make sure Leo gets enough to eat. And run through his exercises."

"And keep up with your homework." Donnie added. "I will be checking that when we get back."

"Yes, moms." Mikey rolled his eyes. "Chill guys! I can be responsible!"

"Yeah, well, take care of yourselves while we're gone." Raph reached forward to pull Mikey into a hug, squeezing him tightly. After a second, he groped around with an arm and pulled a startled Donnie into the hug as well. I had the feeling that Raph really didn't like leaving family out of sight.

He looked up, and his hazel eyes met my blue ones, and his hazel eyes softened just a little. Then he cleared his throat and released his brothers, straightening up. "Well, we'd better get going. The planes are waiting for us."

Donnie nodded, and looked to Mikey, putting a hand on his shoulder. "We'll call you when we land."

"Don't worry, bros! I got everything all planned." Mikey grinned at them. "Leo and I are going to have such a great time, we won't even have time to miss you!"

"And that is why we worry." Donnie said dryly.

Day Fifteen

The room was dimming around me, indicating night, and I began to start thinking about where I wanted to scout out tonight. With Donnie and Raph gone, I wondered if the Stockman faction would make a move. I hadn't seen much of the scientist since that day almost two weeks ago, which was making me a little nervous. Maybe I should explore the lab down below...

I paused, then crouched as I heard the entrance doors slid open, then closed.

Who would come into my sanctuary this late? Nobody had ever bothered me this late before!

Letting the nictating membrane close over my blue eyes, turning them white and dangerous, I slipped into the plants and began creeping forward, trying to spot the intruder.

"Pst! Leo!" a familiar voice called out. "You in here bro?"

My eyes immediately blinked back to blue as I sat up, confused and concerned.

Mikey? Was he okay? Why was he here? Did he need help?

I quickly slipped out from the shadows of the underbrush to find him.

"Oh, there you are, Leo!" Mikey spotted me and perked up eagerly.

I approached him with a confused look. He didn't look like he was in trouble. In fact, he had a gleam in his blue eyes and an impish look stamped all over his freckled face.

I paused and suddenly wondered if I should be nervous.

"Here, I brought you a treat." Mikey reached around and there was a crinkle as he dug a colorful plastic bag out of his pocket in his sweater. He pulled out a gummy worm and tossed it to me.

I caught it easily and ate it, looking at him questioningly.

"Leo, bro! It's you and me, and I thought we should have a little fun." Mikey knelt down by me, eyes sparkling. "I have a plan, and trust me, it's going to be awesome!"

I eyed him.

"Come on." he encouraged, tossing me another gummy worm. He stood up and shook the bag enticingly, obviously trying to tempt me to follow him. "It'll be great, I promise!"

I hesitated for a moment, and then carefully followed the youngest brother, wondering just what he had planned. Then he led me to the secure double door, held his hand against the keypad to unlock it, then stood aside and held it open, gesturing for me to go through.

I stopped and looked at him like he was crazy.

Uhhh... where exactly where we going? And was this really a good idea?

I was fairly certain that I was supposed to be in this room for a reason, whether to keep me safe, keep me a secret, or if I was really and truly supposed to be a pet in a zoo. What was Mikey thinking? There were so many problems with this! If I really was a semi-wild animal, as I was trying to make them think I was, it wouldn't be any stretch of imagination that I would take off and bolt the first time I was startled. And what would happen if I was caught out there, if the wrong people saw us? I could just imagine Stockman using this opportunity to ambush us out in the hallway, or Bradford coming up to cause trouble. I still hadn't found out what they were up to, and if we were attacked, I wasn't sure I could...

"Come on, Leo, it's okay." Mikey tried to reassure me with a boyish grin. "You're with me, and I won't let anything happen to you."

I hesitated and looked over at him. His blue eyes met mine, warm and earnest. He tossed me another gummy worm, then held up the bag and shook it, watching me hopefully.

I chewed on the gummy worm he had offered me, studying him with narrowed eyes. There was nothing but affection and excitement on the blonde human's face when he looked at me. If I refused, would he be disappointed? Hurt? I glanced behind me at the safety of the shadow-filled garden for a second. Then, sighing, I clutched my arm nervously as I slunk past him through the doors. They closed behind us, and, now feeling a little exposed, I looked around hesitantly.

Strange. I had been all over this compound multiple times, yet it seemed so different out in the open.

I could see that doorway to the left, where Yoshi's room was to be, was no longer covered in construction tap, and instead sat there, closed and waiting.

"Come on, Leo." I looked back to see Mikey give me a friendly smile and toss me another gummy worm as a reward, then back down the hallway, beckoning me to keep following him. "It isn't far. I promise."

I carefully followed him, determined to try and keep him out of as much trouble as I could in this foolhardy plan. Donnie and Raph were definitely going to strangle him for this when they got back if they ever found out.

True to his word, though, we didn't go far. Just at the end of the hall were heavily reinforced doors, beautifully decorated with the Hamato sigil and Japanese scenery.

Mikey typed a code into a keypad, and pressed his palm against a scanner, and the doors clicked and swung open.

"Welcome to casa de Hamato!" Mikey held opened the door for me, and I hesitantly stepped over the threshhold and looked around. Of the entire building, this was the one area I hadn't explored yet. The Hamato brothers' private quarters.

It wasn't at all I thought it would be. From the traditional and decorative doors, I had been expecting something more... ceremonial, but we entered in what was appeared to be a large apartment. The living room was huge, with a gigantic curved tv screen and a wall covered in DVD and game cases, as well as a large, comfortable looking couch, several overstuffed chairs, and cushions and pillows everywhere.

Mikey bounded past me to a stack of movies sitting on a coffee table, and he grabbed them, whirling about with an excited squeal to show me. "So look what I was able to snag for my favorite turtle brother!" He held up one of the cases and held it up in front of my baffled face. My eyes crossed as I tried to look at the movie art held up only inches from my snout. "Only the entire box collection of director's cut edition Space Heroes live action movies!" He pulled it back and hugged the pile gleefully. "What do you think, Leo? Eleven straight hours of two brothers hanging out, eating popcorn, and watching amazing Captain Ryan heroics in glorious HD, with all the latest special effects!"

I blinked at him. All this, just for a movie night?

Huh. I've never had a movie night before.

Suddenly we were interrupted by the Caramelldansen song.

Blinking, Mikey shifted all the movies to one hand and dug out his phone. He glanced at the screen, winced, and frantically made motions for me to be quiet just before he held it up to his ear and enthusiastically greeted, "Raphie! Bro! How was the flight, dude?" He listened for a second, then nodded. "Uh huh. Uh huh." He winced again and placed the movies down, moving over to the side of the room where a large, fancy hutch made of fine wood was set up. He reached into the apparently open top and pulled out a shallow bowl, hurrying to the kitchen. "Of course I remembered to feed Spike! Did you really think I'd forget?"

Curious, I moved over to the hutch and peeked in.

A well cared-for tortoise with a dome brown, star-patterned shell lay sunning contentedly under a lamp on a rock. The entire large hutch had been converted into a tortoise paradise, with live plants everywhere, a cozy looking cave, a warm rocks, and a wading pool with a small waterfall. It was basically a miniature version of my own sanctuary. That was unsettling.

The small tortoise, Spike, opened his brown eyes, then slowly raised his head, blinked, and stared at me, obviously completely astonished and perplexed by the existence of a giant turtle face peeking over the edge of his world in at him.

The feeling was somewhat mutual. That could've easily been a tiny me in there, if that accident all those years ago hadn't happened.

...It was a weird thought.

"Uh-huh... Yup... Yeah, I know, I will." Mikey came back with a bowl full of freshly cut vegetables, holding the phone up to his ear with his shoulder and still listening. He gave me a friendly wink and reached in to set the bowl of food down in the enclosure for Spike. Then he turned and continued his phone conversation. "... Oh, you know, just a quiet night of watching movies. I got that new Space Heroes set I've been meaning to watch... Uh-huh... Yeah, yeah, I know. Healthy snacks and all that..."

Deciding I had enough of a personal existential crisis for now, I left the pet tortoise behind to eat, and decided to explore a little. It was weird actually being inside a human home, I had usually only observed them from outside through windows.

It was a far cry from the little Lair I had shared with Master Splinter. Reliable electricity, clean furniture lacking any tape or patches, no drafts or smell of sewer..., and despite everything being clean and functional, it still felt like a warm home. My attention was quickly grabbed by the weapons and Japanese scrolls lining the walls, obviously Hamato clan heirlooms, but I could also see pieces of the three brothers as well. Everything seemed to be tweaked or improved by little electronics and gadgets, from the over-complicated clocks on the wall to the elaborate setup of the entertainment center, obviously Donnie's work, and I noticed muscle building magazines, a set of small dumbells and weights set neatly on a shelf against a wall, and the well-used punching bag in the corner, which was all Raph. And it was obvious that the collections of anime figurines and the framed, hand painted pictures lining the wall were Mikey's handiwork.

Looking around, I ended up wandering into the kitchen. Boy, look at that fancy stove! That was a far cry from the rusty old portable stoves and hotplates I had scavenged, fixed, and broken over the years. And I didn't even know what all those kitchen gadgets did. There was a shiny tall black fridge, covered in magnets arranged playfully while holding up pictures, and papers with doodles on them.

Glancing at the pictures, I paused, then looked closer. I noticed a man in one of the pictures from when the brothers were quite young, a tall, handsome man with black hair and blue eyes. He looked at the brothers warmly. Was... was that Hamato Yoshi? I scanned the other pictures, but didn't see him in any of the photographs as the brothers grew older.

What happened? Where was he?

Next to the fridge, I noticed a matching black chest freezer. Curious, I opened it up and peeked in.

My eyes slowly widened.

"Yup...! I'll make sure to do that... " Mikey was sitting at a table pushed up against the wall, finishing up his conversation on the phone. "Tell Dad that I love him, and that Leo and I are excited to see him! ...You too... See you guys when you get back in a few days! Oh! And guess what?" He paused for a moment. "I wuvs you Waffie!" Then Raph must've hung up on him, because he broke out cackling, looking at his phone screen. He shook his head and began putting his phone away, then he suddenly noticed me peeking over the table's edge at him. "Oh, hey Leo! Sorry about that. Our brothers can a little overprotective sometimes."

My eyes level with the table's surface, I stared at him for a moment, then carefully slipped a flat, square cardboard box up onto the table's surface, put a hand up on it, and then there was a slight scraping noise as I slowly pushed the box across the table towards him.

"Hm?" Mikey reached over to pick up the box, examining it. "A frozen pizza?" He blinked, then broke out into a wide grin and looked at me. "Wait, are you asking me to make you some pizza?"

Hm, let's see here... How exactly did one pull off the 'puppy dog eyes'?

"Dude! Of course!" Delighted, Mikey bounded to the kitchen with the box in hand, and I followed him, watching as he pulled out a metal square appliance I assumed to be a pizza oven, pulling out the tray, opening the box, and putting the pizza in to cook. "You found our stash huh? We could live off pizza, if Donnie would let us!" He laughed, turning about to lean against the counter. "You're definitely a Hamato all right, bro!" He beamed and held out a fist.

I flinched a little at the unexpected movement.

"Oh! Leo!" Mikey's eyes widened, and he quickly withdrew his hand. "Sorry, dude! I just acted without thinking, I didn't mean to startle you! I was just so blown away by the whole pizza thing, and I always brofist with my bros when they do something awesome. You know..." He held both of his fists up, and tapped them together, demonstrating a fist bump, before making a little explosion noise in his throat and wiggling his fingers in mock fireworks. "See? I wasn't trying to threaten you or anything."

I paused, then tilted my head. Mikey was risking a lot to try to make me happy, even making me pizza, one of my favorite foods and a rare treat for me. I... supposed I could thank him for that...

I looked down at my three fingered hand, balled it up in to a fist, and then hesitantly turned to him and shyly held it out.

Mikey inhaled sharply, his blue eyes widening.

Then, ever so carefully, he reached out and gently tapped his fist against mine, his pale human five fingered hand contrasting sharply with my green three wide fingers. Then we both spread our hands and wiggled our fingers like an explosion as we pulled our hands back.

"Duuuuude..." Mikey whispered reverently, looking at me, then down at his hand in awe.

That had been the first time that I had allowed any of the three brothers to touch me.

"Come on, Leo!" Mikey pushed himself off the counter and turned about to gesture eagerly for me to follow him back to the living room, as giddy as if he had just been handed a basket filled with fluffy kittens and puppies and baby chicks. "Let's get the movies going while we wait for the pizza to get done! And don't worry, I'm going to make you all the pizzas you want tonight, bro! And we can also make popcorn and have some ice cream with all the whipped cream and sprinkles, and, ooh! I'm pretty sure I have still have some Halloween candy lying around!"

Well, so much for that promise for healthy snacks he had made on the phone...

I followed him, eager to see where this night would go.

It was hours later, well into the early hours of the morning, and I was surrounded by empty plates with hints of pizza sauce and cheese still on them, eyes shining as I watched the credits start to roll on the giant tv screen. Oh, bravo! I had never expected the plot twist at the end when Captain Ryan's love interest turned out to be only a hologram programmed by the arch villain to manipulate him. I couldn't wait to see what happened next!

Eagerly, I turned around to watch Mikey put the next movie in, then paused when I saw him.

Mikey was sprawled out on the couch, his blonde hair sticking up everywhere as he snored softly, sound asleep with a box of milk dudes still in his hand.

He... looked so content.

I exhaled slowly, then sat back, leaning my shell against one of the chairs as I watched him for a long moment, the music of the credits playing in the background.

Mikey looked completely at ease as he slept, like he had no worries at all. He... he trusted me completely. I was a mutant turtle, a mere animal with human features as far as he knew, and I had been drugged and dragged off the street only two weeks ago. And yet... he felt comfortable enough around me to let himself become this vulnerable...

I swallowed hard, looking down at my three fingered hands, opening and closing them slowly.

I couldn't stay here. I didn't belong. I couldn't belong. Not in the human world.

But...

I... I didn't want to be alone.

I looked up at Mikey's sleeping form.

In just a few days, I would meet Hamato Yoshi. Then, like I planned, I would leave. I had no choice.

And... I would never see the Hamato brothers again...

I clenched my hand in a fist again, staring at it, then, taking a deep breath, I unfurled my hand and reached over, carefully placing it next to Mikey's hand resting on the couch. I sadly examined them.

Three fingers versus five. Scaley green skin versus smooth pale skin.

The contrast of a mutant monster's hand next to a young hero's?

Swallowing hard, I pulled my hand away, rubbing it ruefully.

The credits on screen finally rolled to an end, and the music stopped, before the screen went back to the title menu, showing an endless loop of the starship Dauntless flying through endless space.

I glanced around and noticed a blanket folded up on the back of a chair. I pushed myself up and walked over to pick it up, rubbing it between my fingers and feeling the warmth and thickness of it, before turning around. I gently took the box of candy from Mikey's sleeping hand and set it aside, before carefully draping the warm blanket over his sleeping form, pulling it up to cover him.

Mikey shifted a little, muttered, and then sleepily cuddled down deeper into the blanket.

I watched him for a moment, then turned and crawled into one of the overstuffed chairs, curling up into it and hoping to get a little sleep myself.

I gave Mikey one last look before I tucked my head down and closed my eyes.

For the first time in my life, a little piece of me wished I was human.

Maybe then I could have actually been their brother...