Disclaimer - Ah, gee, same ol' song; I Don't Own Them!
As for those who read chapter 30, thankies! As for those who read AND reviewed, big thankies. :0) These readers/reviewers are – Mewfem, Katana-Babe, Mikaela's Spade, BubblyShell22, Ramica, Chibi Rose Angel, Lunar-Ninja, Jessiy Landroz, Mahalove, Sassyblondexoxo, Kellie Fay, Leo Oneal, Tewi, Reluctant Dragon, Kaya Lizzie,
Okay, folks, I found it almost incredibly unbelievable that Leo hadn't yet run across couples 'doing it'. Funny that I would critique my own writing, eh? Still, it seems you found the idea plausible, though. I half expected at least one of you to challenge me on this, though, especially where the guys are in their late teens, early twenties, and not at all ignorant of the ways of the Big Apple. However, I guess if you count in Leo's honor-bound system of operating, one would easily, or could easily, assume that he would avoid areas that might espouse such encounters. Needless to say, it's possible that how he behaved with regards to these trysts was more shocking to him than the acts themselves. Still, a bit of naivety is always refreshing, isn't it, even though the topic of sex isn't so taboo here on Fan Fiction? It may be implied, but implied eating, for example, is still…eating. LOL Anyway, thanks for your support with this story; it's what's been keeping my focus with continuing this surprising missive. :0)
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Chapter 31 – Skedaddled.
It was about noon when everyone began to filter out from their respective sleeping quarters. Splinter was first. As he shuffled through his bedroom doorway, he yawned expansively, squinting against the soft lighting of the lair. It was obvious, even for that time of day, that it was still too early for him. Given the late-night activities his clan had weathered through, it wasn't too hard to understand, either.
As the aged rat ambled into the living room, his walking stick gently tapped along the concrete ground. He smacked his lips once, working his tongue around to moisten it, and then he made his way for the kitchen, a cup of hot tea in mind.
Coming out of his room about the same time walked Mike, then Donnie and Leonardo, as they emerged from theirs.
Almost as if on cue, Raphael slipped out from his quarters, the last car in the lineup of converted bedrooms and situated at the opposite end from Splinter's. He rubbed his arms as he walked towards the living area, trying to ease the soreness from them after having to execute the twenty back flips hours earlier. Although patroling would occasionally find him and his brothers a bit achy after returning to the lair, he seemed to be worse for wear this particular morning.
True to his character, though, Raph grumped as he found his way to the living room couch. Everyone else ignored him as they headed for the kitchen, allowing their brother to slump unchallenged into the worn furniture. Swiftly grabbing up the remote, Raphael then turned the television on and let his bulk relax into the back of the sofa. He sighed as he waited for the set to warm up, and, as he did, he glanced towards the kitchen.
His eyes racked over the scene where his three brothers and sensei were. He noticed Splinter fill the teakettle with water, place it on the stove, and turn on the burner. The rat then took a seat at the table, joining Leo and Don as they sat and talked amongst themselves. Splinter leaned against his cane, now, as he waited for the teakettle to announce itself.
While he did and while Don and Leo sons talked, Mike busied himself around the kitchen, prepping the coffee maker, before moving on to making breakfast.
However, almost as if sensing Raphael staring at him, Splinter turned his head and gazed over at his son, but only for a moment. Then, the rat turned back to study the teakettle once again, as flames licked along its base to encourage the water to boil.
Raph sighed and grumbled, turning back to stare at the television. He was still somewhat irritated with the way his father had treated him. Maybe he, too, had been out of line as far as challenging his sensei, but facts were facts. Raph was, after all, legal age as far as the human world was concerned. It was only because of their precarious existence that he remained in the lair at all. He realized that it would be suicide for him to find his own place, yet he still longed for his own home, where he could rant if he wanted to and do whatever, without his father's interference.
"How much respect is too much?" he griped to himself. "Where does it say that a parent can continue disciplining their kids, even when their kids are no longer – kids?" he continued to silently complain.
Raphael allowed himself to glance once more at his father. Then, almost in sudden realization, he noticed how aged his sensei seemed. With the rat's back bowed as he waited for the teakettle's whistle, it was as if the master's years weighed against him. A momentary glimpse of future loss washed over the red-banded turtle, then, realizing that his father was not the young, strapping rat that had rescued him and his brothers so many years before. In that moment, it wasn't too difficult for Raph to wonder how much longer his father would remain among them. As it was, even for a mutant rat, Splinter had outlived his specie's life expectancy.
It gave Raphael pause about his behavior from hours earlier.
Maybe I ought to apologize to him, he ruefully considered.
Then, almost in defiance, Raphael huffed and then refocused his attention back to the television again, as the screen bloomed to life. The news was on and the usual blurbs about traffic, local events, and national, as well as international problems, took center stage. It effectively distracted the turtle from his introspection as he allowed his attention to be drawn into the newscaster's report. However, he soon became bored and began to channel surf through the various stations, hoping for something more interesting.
Finding none, the turtle clicked the set off, tossing the remote next to him, but remained where he was and closed his eyes for a moment. He couldn't help but recall, then, what happened hours earlier. He sighed with the memory of how he had begged for Beth's forgiveness and how Leonardo had stormed into the room, instigating the resulting fight. Actually, Raphael didn't want to fight or hurt his brother. Yet, he couldn't ignore the undercurrent of hostility that he still felt for Leo. He truly resented his brother, with the way Leonardo had postured himself through the years, especially with him. Then, suddenly, to disappear for hours at a time without telling anyone, leaving the clan wondering who was in charge, angered Raph quite a bit. Although Raphael would be the first to admit to enjoying leading his clan, his spirit truly soared better alone, and without his father's expectations.
Leading sure isn't what it's cracked up to be, Raph muttered.
In fact, he had been so disillusioned with his new role, that when they found Leonardo and discovered that he had amnesia, Raphael felt betrayed. Carrying his brother home, he had looked forward to Leo's physical recovery. Raphael anticipating going back to his old routine of scouring the rooftops, again, and knocking a few heads around for good measure, just to keep the local thugs in line.
But, Leo's amnesia had curtailed those plans. As Raphael sat on the couch and considered all of this, he realized that knocking Leonardo out had been an underlying attempt to rouse his brother's memory again. Ironically, it had worked, but to what end, if Beth's heart became collateral damage?
Thinking about her, Raph suddenly opened his eyes and looked towards the subway car that was Leonardo's. He wondered what was taking Beth so long to wake up.
By the time Mike had breakfast almost ready, it was now obvious to everyone else that one person was missing from their little gathering in the kitchen.
Beth.
As Mike scooped up the last large spoonful of scrambled eggs and dumped them into the serving bowl, he was the first to voice this concern. As he placed the filled bowl of eggs on the table, he asked, "Hey, what's takin' Beth so long to get up?"
Raphael had wandered into the kitchen by then, the aroma of breakfast – and freshly brewed coffee, enticing him to join the rest of his family. He had heard his brother's comment, though, and expressed a similar concern, "Yeah, I thought fer sure she'd be up by now."
Donnie looked over at the car in question and shrugged, "Maybe I ought to go check on her?"
Splinter shook his head, "No, Donatello, let me. She might be a little hesitant to come out, all things considered." He looked over at Leonardo and smiled, noticing a slight blush glowing along his son's cheeks. The master knew that their earlier chat had been most transparent for the turtle, and it was obvious that Leonardo still felt some residual contriteness. Yet, after his son had left his room room, Splinter had later sensed the discourse between Leo and Donatello. The master knew that some sort of commonality had formed then, and for that, he was grateful. It would have been more difficult for Leonardo had he felt alone with such matters.
Nevertheless, the rat knew that his sons would eventually develop an interest in physical intimacy with the opposite gender. Unwisely, he had hoped that it would not occur, counting on their mutation and obvious uniqueness to discourage such things. Just the same, it was now clear to him that to ignore such a topic as 'sex' had been unwise. As to what affect it would have on the clan regarding Leonardo's new understanding about himself was beyond the rat's insightfulness.
There were, after all, just some things too hard to predict.
As he considered these thoughts, Splinter stood up and made his way over to the subway car that Beth was using. Shortly, he found himself standing in front of the bedroom door. As he knocked gently along its frame, Splinter called out, "Miss Beth, are you awake?"
No answer.
The rat lowered his head, concentrated and then he suddenly looked up. Quickly sliding the door open, he discovered to his surprise that the room was empty.
Beth was gone.
The rat looked towards the car that housed the infirmary and the bathroom, but did not sense her presence there either. He furrowed his brow and wondered how he could have missed her leaving. He was a ninja master, after all. Then again, he thought bemusedly, he had been a very tired ninja master, where all of them had gone to bed later than normal. He knew that his sons were capable of slipping out undetected, especially Raphael, but for a mere human, who didn't have any stealth training at all, Splinter could only conclude one of two things.
Either Beth had tried very hard to leave the lair quietly, or the rat was surely getting old.
Splinter concluded that the girl had obviously tried very hard. He could not quite accept the fact that he was getting too old to notice such things. How his sons had missed her leaving would be for a later discussion, but for now, they had to find her.
Turning to face his sons, Splinter announced, "Our guest is missing."
"What?" Raph asked in surprise, "How'd…she do that without any of us knowin'?"
"I do not know, my son, but, nevertheless, she is missing!" his father reiterated.
"Humans!" Raph grumped as he threw his hands up in frustration, "Can't stay put short of gluin' them down!"
"Raph, knock it off," Leo ordered as he and his other brothers ran for their respective rooms, "However Beth managed to leave without any of us hearing her is beside the point. Those sewers are not for the uninitiated!"
Raph nodded agreement as he sprinted towards his room, realizing that his brother was right and, for the moment, he would shelve his attitude.
Leonardo quickly slipped past Splinter and into his quarters. He came back out a moment later with his two katana firmly entrenched within their scabbards along his back.
"Do you feel ready, my son? After all, even though your wounds are healing well, you are still not fully recovered," Splinter asked in concern
"Father, I have to find her," Leo replied, "If anything happens to Beth…" he sighed as his voice trailed off.
"Very well, Leonardo, but I do not want you to engage the enemy if you should sense their presence. Let your brothers handle any confrontations," the rat ordered
Leonardo asked, "But, what if they should need my help?"
"I cannot forbid you to help, of course, but…please try to be careful, my son."
"I will, Sensei."
Then, Mike, Don, and Raphael filed out of their rooms, with their own weapons at the ready, joining up with Leo and Splinter. Their sensei bowed to them and uttered a word of encouragement in Japanese, and they bowed in reply. Then, the four warriors ran as one to the lair's exit.
Leo called back to his father, "Sensei, should we bring Beth back or do you want us to take her to her apartment?"
Splinter thought for a moment and then replied as Raphael led the way up the ladder, "Right now, Leonardo, it is too dangerous for you to return her to her apartment. It is best to wait until dark."
With that, Leo nodded acceptance and then followed Mike up that ladder as his youngest brother trailed behind Donnie.
Considering how easy it was to get lost in the sewers if one was unfamiliar with them, the blue-banded turtle was determined to find the girl and bring her safely back to the lair. Leonardo just hoped that the Foot were busy elsewhere and not traversing the subterranean tunnels of New York City. The last thing Beth would need would be to have a run-in with them.
As Splinter watched Leonardo disappear through the opening in the ceiling, he heard the teakettle whistle its readiness. Confident that his sons would find Beth, the ninja master walked back to the kitchen, soon retrieving a cup from one of the upper cabinets. He sighed and hoped that his students' emerging maturity would not provoke too many problems. After all, for any of them to seek a mate with such limited resources, it would only complicate clan life as the rat had come to know it.
Splinter rifled through his collection of herbal teas, made his selection, and then placed the tea bag into his cup. As he grasped the teakettle's handle and then poured its hot, steamy water into his mug, Splinter thought about his sons again. He chuckled to himself, remarking as he shook his head in amusement, "I'm just thankful there are only four of them!"