Step 2: Get out of the sewer
Oh man.
Oh man oh man oh man oh man!
Leo pounced down back to the bottom of the latter and scanned the sewer as far as he could see. Which wasn't much.
"Mikey!" Leo yelled and started down the way they had come. When he still couldn't see his little brother he took a quick right and darted down the darken tunnel, away he was not familiar with.
"Mikey where did you go?" He yelled once again. He suddenly heard a splash and a grunt. He darted towards the noise to see Mikey in the water, looking like he was wrestling with something.
"What are you doing?" He asked, looking over his brothers shell to see a cat stuck under some debris in the water.
"Leo help me!" Mikey said, trying to dig his little hands in the water. Leo stood for a moment more before helping his brother lift up the trash out from under the water which the cat had somehow got himself stuck in. With a little effort, they were able to finally clear it out enough to have the cat maneuver out and scurry off into the tunnels. Mikey huffed in pride and Leo looked down at him.
"What were you thinking? I told you to stay behind me." Leo said.
"I mean, technically I stayed behind you." Mikey responded with a grin. Leo groaned.
"Come on. Let's head back." He said, turning and making sure his baby brother was following him.
They made it about 50 feet or so till Leo realized he had no idea where they were.
"Uh.." Leo scanned the multiple entrances and couldn't remember lead back to the latter, let alone to the lair. Leo looked down at Mikey to see he was just as lost as he was.
"Where are we going?" Mikey asked. Leo needed to think quick, he couldn't panic yet.
"Uh, this way!" he pointed to the left and quickly dragged Mikey down the tunnel.
It felt as if they had been walking for miles, they were not meeting up with any landmarks Leo had recognized and Mikey was too little to remember anything important.
"Leo I'm hungry."
And speaking of Mikey,
"Leooooo, I want water!" Leo tried to ignore his brothers pleas.
"Leooooooooo!" Mikey whined. Leo growled and turned.
"Mikey I don't have anything! I can make you a sandwich when we get home!"
"When is that gonna be?"
"I don't know!" Leo's voice echoed in tunnels and immediately regretted it seeing the tears coming from Mikey's eyes.
"Wait, wait don't cry! I'm sorry I didn't mean to yell." Leo tried to comfort. Mikey wiped away the tears with his little fists.
"Are we gonna be lost forever?" Mikey said through his sniffles. Leo bit his lip.
"No way. We gotta get back or else Raph will eat all the cookies." Leo tried to brighten the mood. A small smile came on Mikey's face, reassuring Leo he still trust him. He patted Mikey's shell before leading the way once again to somewhere and hopefully somewhere he could recognize.
Leo leaned against the wall, feeling the strain in his tiny feet and huffed. He had no idea where he was going or how to get back. He looked back to see Mikey sluggishly following, seeing the exhaustion. He sat down against the wall and tried not to cry. Master Splinter was right, he wasn't ready to be a leader. He and Mikey were gonna be lost in these tunnels forever and it was his fault.
"Leo? You okay?" Mikey asked, sitting close and reaching up to help wipe Leo's tears away. Leo shook his head and smiled.
"Definitely. Just-just can't remember how to get out." he admitted. Mikey looked around the dark tunnel and his eyes sparkled.
"Why don't we go up top and see what's around? The lair is right under that old warehouse at the dock right?" Mikey asked. Leo felt like he had just been hit in the head with a pillow. Why didn't he think of that! Of course he knew more of what up top looked like more than the same walls in the tunnels.
"You're a genius Mikey!" Leo cheered jumping up from where he was. "I don't care what Donnie has to say you're pretty smart." He said leading the way to the closest latter.
"Thanks!" Mikey smiled then instantly dropped. "Wait what did Donnie say?" He hollard chasing after Leo.
They made it to the man hole and with everything he had, Leo pushed it off its hinge and to the side. He slowly popped his head out to see where they were to notice they were closer to the dock than he had anticipated. He suddenly got excited to see that the old warehouse was in eyes sight.
"Mikey were almost home!" He bounced out of the manhole and on the surface helping Mikey up.
"We gotta stay quiet and get through the construction zone to the next man hole and we'll be home!" Leo soon darted towards the warehouse with Mikey hot on his heels. He was so excited to finally be able to get home that he did not anticipate the large hole in the ground.
"Leo!" Mikey yelled as he watched Leo tumbled down in the dirt and mud.
