Fathers

Raphael was completely out of his depth. How the HELL was he supposed to deal with this? Slowly he pulled out his phone and pressed the 2-way button, then took his finger off it again. He didn't know what he was going to say.

Don and Mike packed up the rescue operation and took the gear back home. Neither of them discussed it but they both knew they didn't really want to be there when Leo found out what had happened to the girl.

When they didn't hear from Raph after a bit, however, Don began to be concerned. He pulled out his phone, pushed the 2-way channel.

"Raph, Raph come in." He called. There wasn't an immediate response, and he and Mikey traded worried looks.

"Raph, answer me. What's going on. Is Leo ok?" Don waited, but still didn't get an answer. "Damn it Raph! Pick up!"

"I'm here," Raph finally responded. "Um, can you guys come an get us? An' hurry, 'kay? Leo is..." there was a long pause as Raph tried to decide how best to end that sentence.

"broken." He finally concluded.

Don and Mikey hurried toward the fall. As Don rounded the last corner, he stopped with a sniff. What was that charred smell? He licked his lips nervously. The air didn't taste right either. He hurriedly clicked on the small lamp he'd brought and stepped carefully clear of the debris near the entrance.

As he stopped to examine the walls of the Fall, his mouth dropped open. What had done this? There were sweeping black streaks of soot swirled up the walls as far as he could see. The grate high overhead had been blown off and he could see the stars.

Don turned a slow circle, staring around in shock. The only clean space in the whole area was exactly in the center of the Fall, about 4 feet across and contained a distraught Leo and the tiny broken form of the girl.

He turned a questioning look on Raph, who stood not too far away, soot covered himself, and almost invisible against the wall.

"Sol" was all Raph said.

"Sol did this?!" Don exclaimed, staring around again. "He's not bright enough to see by!"

"Ya don't believe me?" Raph said, "Go to the tape!" And he tossed a slightly melted spy copter in Don's direction. "I think it caught most of it. "

Don suddenly couldn't wait to get back to his lab and see what was salvageable from the device, but his eyes kept coming back to Leo in the center of the space.

"How long's he been like that?" Don asked.

Raph looked back at his oldest brother who sat with the girl cradled in his lap, face tilted towards her, eyes closed. He looked like he was meditating, if you discounted the fact that he was covered in blood, with a terrible twist of grief on his features.

"Since the light show," Raph replied. "I'm glad ya guys are here, Donnie. I don't have a clue what to do for 'im. I would have said he didn't know tha' girl from Eve, but I think whatever Sol did to give him that memory, made 'em like family or sometin'."

Donnie wasn't sure what to do either. He'd never seen his brother suffering under anything this profound, and their father was out of reach for advice. He was still pondering, when Mikey interrupted.

"Uh, guys?" Mikey said, and pointed up. "What are those things?"

Raph and Don took a step away from the wall and looked towards the top of the Fall. Tiny points of golden light were blinking into existence up above. Hundreds of them.

"Fireflies in Manhattan?" Don wondered.

But they didn't behave like bugs, instead they fell slowly, gently drifting down like seeds upon the wind. They settled around the brothers and coated the floor. A breeze appeared from nowhere and began to tease them together into a small, whirling form.

Slowly, the form gained height and solidified into that of man. He was majestic, tall, and muscular, his clothing ancient in design. But most remarkably, Don could see through him.

He glowed with a soft golden light, and his shoulder length hair appeared to be made of flowing flames. He stood silently for a moment, his gaze locked on the small form in Leo's lap. As the apparition moved toward him, Leo opened his eyes and met its stare. His silent tears reflected in the growing light.

"I have not felt that powerful a Calling in a long, long time." the figure said. It's voice echoing with power. He measured Leo with his eyes. "Centuries perhaps. But now I understand...You are one of hers."

"Hers?" Leo replied hoarsely.

"Luna's" the figure replied, gesturing to the girl still nestled in Leo's lap. "My poor, sweet daughter."

It was obvious that this being was something extremely powerful. Don could sense the controlled menace and sheer force hovering somewhere behind the figure.

It gave off a feeling of pulsating heat, but it didn't burn. And that flaming hair...what was it? Don wondered.

He began mentally compiling a list of mythic beings, trying to make this figure fit, as another part of his brain was thinking "oh shit, here we are holding his daughter's corpse."

Raph was having much the same thought, at least about the corpse, and his hands were hovering near his sai, ready to spring if this strange glowing guy made any hostile moves. Don caught his eye and gave a microscopic shake of his head.

They should not provoke an unknown entity. He didn't even look entirely here, if his luminescence and transparency were anything to go by. Their weapons might not even make contact with it.

"She had been set a task." the figure said sadly, "and she cannot return to me until it is complete. But this is not a part of her trial." He frowned. "This is the work of another. One whose jealousy mars the very air around her."

He paused, angered. "I submitted to Zeus' will regarding her exile, but on this matter I cannot. I will not let this be her ending."

"You can do that?" a voice rang out. All eyes shifted to Mikey, who quickly looked down, sheepish about his outburst. "I mean...that would be awesome." he mumbled, taking a quick glance at Leo.

Surprisingly, the being smiled at this. "One of the privileges of being a god, young one." He replied.

"Through my powers light and life come to this planet everyday. Reconnecting my daughter to her celestial lifeforce is simple enough."

"She was to be denied this during her time on the mortal plain, so I cannot restore all to her. Zeus would not allow it, but a small thread should suffice." he concluded.

Raph glanced at his brothers, mentally trying to catch up. His brain stuck on the word god. Mikey was just smiling like an idiot, and Don had a look of calculation on his face, as if classifying an unknown species of bug. Leo remained perfectly still, though hope was growing in his eyes.

"I will awaken her, and heal her life threatening injuries, but more I cannot do." the god sighed. "She will have to suffer through the rest alone." he paused.

"Or perhaps not." the god murmured, His gaze hardened, as he turned back to Leo. "You are the one that Called when she could not. Sol did well in finding you. I charge you now with her new existence. Guard her, for I will not be able to intervene again. "

With that puzzling remark, he held up his hand and blew gently across his palm. The familiar bluish flame that was Sol appeared there, then zipped back down to orbit around Leo's head happily, radiating a rather smug pride.

"I cannot stay. My presence here puts her journey in peril." the god said. He walked up to Leo, who gathered the girl in his arms and stood. His arms tightened around her and he refused to relinquish her to her father.

The god merely smiled, kissed the index finger of his right hand and pressed it to her forehead. There was a small flare of golden light, and he dissolved into a thousand points of light that slowly faded out. Leaving one final reverberating thought.

"I miss you, my daughter."