The Perfect Son.

Disclaimer: I don't own a single ninja kicking teenage turtle. I just borrow them.

Author's note: Are you people bored of reading how Leo doesn't want to remember? Well, I'm going kick it up a notch here- prepare yourself this ride is going get wild from here on in. Ramica

Chapter Thirteen- The Messenger

Michaelangelo:

We searched through Splinter's stuff, there was old scrolls, journals and other papers that we took a very close look at. A lot of these were on different fighting methods, stuff Hamato Yoshi had once written, herb remedies and the like. Some of the paper was so old and tattered that words were missing, or smudged from the ink getting wet at some time. But, unfortunately we didn't find anything that we thought could help Leo in it.

Don sighed, "I'll read over all of these more carefully, but from what I've seen none of it is going help."

Raph nodded, and we continued to clean up and organize the rest of our Master's effects, dividing certain mementoes between us and keeping aside some for Leo -in case he ever remembered our father enough to want them that is.

We kept our options open as Christine suggested, and she would come to visit us a few times a week and Raph or I would drill her in a few hand to hand skills in the dojo. We'd have long talks about Leo and things we could try to help him. But we still couldn't pinpoint where Leo's problem was, or what we could do to help him.

Leo now, refused to come down to the lair. He hadn't been down here since the night we had dinner and he watched our sparring session. It was as if, he really wanted to remove himself from us.

It was hard seeing Leo like that, it was almost as if Leo had died and some stranger had come in and taken over his body. He was someone we didn't know and though we tried to be his brothers and his friends I don't think he really wanted us for either.

Raph by now had pretty much given up on Leo, he figured until we had a plan, some thing that we could implement there was no need in wasting our time.

All we could do was wait on Leo and for him to decide that he was ready to take that extra step into learning who we were. Course Don and I still visited with Leo.

I tried my best telling him of jokes I had pulled on him and the others but as usually nothing rang a bell. But I refused to give up. I was not a quitter besides many times I had turned a no into a yes, just by constant pestering.

Raph was right about one thing, he was just as stubborn as he had ever been.

We all loved the competitions we were doing and were honing our skills even more. I began to think of ideas for all new moves, and after talking with Raph adding some of his wild impulsive moves. Then talking to Don to get his views on the technical abilities to see if these moves could be pulled off, the best place to use them, how to incorporate the moves into battle and so on. We began to perfect and practice these moves.

We gave code names to the new battle moves as Don had put it "Every attack, stance and what have you has to have a good name."

In some ways the three of us were closer as a family then we had ever been.

Raph didn't really take on the leadership role though, none of us had. Oh, Raph might step into it for a bit but for the most part he treated us as equals, accepting us on our strengths but trying to figure out ways to make us a little stronger where we were weak.

He gave us plenty of free time to do what we wanted, and though we couldn't turn to Raph with our problems -not like we could with Leo or Splinter. Raph would only listen to such things when it suited him. Or as he put it.

"When I'm willin' at listen to some bitchin you can bitch at me. But face it I'm better at bitchin then listening myself."

I guess, we were adjusting to life as it was now, accepting it for what it was worth and doing our best to ride things out and pull together in the way that a family should.

So time passed and we were stuck in a rut, or so it seemed.

One night I had gone out to see a movie, and was returning home, jumping roof tops. I realized the night was young and I hadn't been to visit with Leo for a couple days so I decided then and there to drop by Christine's apartment.

I reached in one of my belt pouches to get my cell phone to call home but it wasn't in that pocket. 'Oh great I must have forgot it at home.' I sighed and then shrugged, no big deal I could call home when I got to the apartment.

As I neared the apartment building I started to get a strange prickly feeling, a sense of something not quite right. Our Master had taught us to follow our instincts and hunches.

' A ninja is always aware of his surroundings. If something does not feel right around you, it could mean that there is danger near by. Heed, these warnings, my sons. Listen to them and be careful."

I paused and bit my lip debating about carrying on or going back. But if trouble was near Christine's apartment then her, or Leo could be in danger. I warned myself to proceed and keep to the shadows moving with extreme stealth.

Being raised and trained as a ninja meant that we did have sort of a sixth sense to us, and we relied on it.

Something was telling me there was something BIG going down.

I didn't move forward or make any move until I was sure it was safe to do so. I crept from dark shadows to darker shadows. I held my breath and moved slowly so that I could keep my breath calm and still. I still hadn't seen anything though, and I was nearing Christine's place. It bothered me that all my senses, and training was screaming at me that there was danger in the area. But I heard and saw nothing to verify it.

It was putting me on edge, and I was hoping for anything to break the tension. I knew if the trouble was near Christine's home her and Leo would need help. The way Leo was right now, he was no use as security for anyone.

I was relieved when I saw Christine's apartment building ahead, the place looked as quiet and peaceful as the surrounding area. I saw her apartment and grinned. I was almost there.

The lights were off and I saw a window slide open and a dark garbed person step out onto the fire escape.

'A Foot Soldier!'

My mouth went dry and my hands clenched quickly reaching for my weapons tucked into my belt. The Foot must have seen us going in or out of Christine's apartment, or maybe they got wind that Leo was there. Either way, it really didn't matter.

They were there now, or at least one of them was, and where there was one there was usually others near by. Just because I hadn't seen any of our adversaries as of yet, didn't mean they weren't close by.

But this sure explained my uneasy feeling.

'But what about Leo and Christine?' I wondered. I carefully moved to a spot where I was a little closer and could get a better view of what was going on. I wanted to watch and see what happened.

Damn, I wish I had my cell I could sure use some back up about now.

The Foot Soldier looked down into the alley below the fire escape, he -or possibly she- nodded and then leaned into the window, moments later another Foot soldier emerged from the apartment a dark form slumped over his shoulder.

Christine had to be knocked out, I was sure of that much because she probably wouldn't lay so still and quiet if she wasn't. Then a larger Foot soldier emerged packing Leo, they were followed by about five other Foot soldiers.

Oh not good! This is not good at all. I can't help them, they'll capture me if I go running in there. If Raph was here he'd all ready be wading in but being impulsive just isn't going work here.

I fidgeted a little where I crouched as I silently weighed my options. Life I knew was short, especially if you fought as much as we did, you had to enjoy it while you could- seize the day and all that. But there was times when you had to be serious and put all fun and games behind you and this just happened to be one of those times.

I couldn't use the phone in the apartment the Foot would be watching it, just in case they could snare a couple more of us. If I left to use a pay phone I'd lose all track of where the Foot were taking Christine and Leo. I doubted they'd pack their prisoners far.

I looked down in the alley and saw a dark coloured van waiting rear doors open to accept the hostages and their captors. I'd have to try and follow the van and see where they were going.

We didn't know where the Foot had set up business since, we had killed Shredder. So, the only way was to keep an eye on the van, see where it took me, and hopefully get back home without getting caught. Then hope like hell they didn't move their prisoners some where else.

In New York city it wasn't too difficult to keep up to traffic, not from roof tops at any rate, you had a good view of the streets below, and you could continue to move while the vehicle was stuck behind a red light, stop sign or trying to cut through traffic.

The only problem was sometimes if you guessed wrong on the direction the vehicle was travelling you could lose it all together. I had the added difficulty of trying to insure that I wasn't spotted by any Foot Soldiers who might be out watching roof tops and seeing to it no one was observing the passing of the mini van.

I pushed that thought out of my mind, as the van doors swung shut and the few Foot soldiers who hadn't entered the van quickly scattered.

Okay, Mike you can do this, I assured myself doing my best to hype myself up for this challenge, 'Consider it one of the competitions we do at home. Stay out of sight, track the van to it's destination and don't get caught. Easy, right?

I somehow doubted that it would be half as easy as it sounded. Still, as the van moved out so did I.

Once the chase started I didn't stop to think. I had to act fast and rely on my instincts, while trying to stay out of trouble.

At one point I almost lost the van, when I headed in the wrong direction. I berated myself as I realized my mistake and back tracked quickly going in another direction. I was rather shocked when my corrected path brought me in line with the van I was looking for.

I told myself to pay better attention, and not to slip up again.

The van neared the waterfront area along the river and the warehouses down in that area of town, 'Why was it always a warehouse with the Foot?' I suppose with their large numbers they couldn't get much else.

I was huffing slightly and I wasn't too sure if it was due to the round about running I had to do, as the van had taken a long way to get here -probably to throw off anyone who might be following them. Or if my fear for Leo and Christine was causing my heart to beat faster. Or maybe it was both.

The van slowed further and turned a corner between two of the warehouses. I paused to catch my breath, and to look around insure that no Foot was around, I was clearly heading into their territory now, if I wasn't all ready in it.

The van backed up to a loading dock of a decrepit looking warehouse, that had clearly seen better days. It had the look of having been abandoned for a long time, though when the large bay door open I could see a large crowd of Foot soldiers within.

"So the freak still lives. Once he tells us where we can find the others we will release him…INTO DEATH!" One Foot soldier yelled as he opened the van doors and must have seen Leo.

There was a roar of voices rising in agreement with his words.

Leo was shoved out and fell to the ground, he was trembling and shaking all over. It was all I could do to hold where I was and not leap to assist him. I could sense Leo's fear. He was terrified!

The soldiers pushed forward and tied longer ropes to the chains and ropes that bound Leo, then they dragged him along behind them, allowing the other Foot soldiers to kick him, or strike him with their weapons into the warehouse.

Christine was brought out and she was awake now, for she was struggling against the ropes that bound her. She was cussing and swearing at the Foot.

I gave a small smile, the only time I had ever heard Christine swear seemed to be when she was being attacked, as if she used it to fuel her courage, or frighten off her attackers.

The Foot Soldier who had talked about releasing Leo into death looked her over, as if he was seizing her up. My body tensed as he reached out to caress her face, she jerked her head around and tried to bite his hand.

I didn't know what she planned to do if she broke loose, there was far too many of them for her to defeat alone.

The Foot soldier laughed, "How pleasantly amusing. Keep her with the Freak for now," he decided. Then he struck her hard on the head and she crumpled.

I sprang to my feet, a low growl rising in my throat as I reached for my trusty weapons. I was determined to make that demon from hell pay for hurting Christine.

Something held me back though, and whispered in my ear that it would do me no good. I had to get to my brothers, I had to get help. That acting impulsively would gain me nothing. Someone had to tell Raph and Don and at the moment I was the only one who knew where the Foot were hiding.

I debated silently for a few minutes, as the Foot closed the bay doors and silence reigned in the night once more. Common sense prevailed. I turned away from the warehouse determined to get home, and hoping the other would be there and not out looking for me when I got there.

I noticed a few shadowy figures near by, and I did my best to avoid them- going well out of my way to make sure that they didn't see me near their home base.

For safety's sake I assumed I was being followed, and paused when I found a safe secure spot to fight from waiting for them to attack. When no one took me up on the offer I continued.

Due to the fact I wasn't sure about if there was a Foot soldier trailing me or not I opted to take the long route home and possibly lose any one who might want to follow me home.

I knew it would take longer, but I didn't want to bring trouble home with me.

By the time I realized I was probably being paranoid after seeing so many Foot and I headed for home, I knew without a doubt that Raph would probably kill me as soon as he saw me.

I found the nearest manhole cover and ducked into the sewers then tried to make up for lost time by taking a few shortcuts home.

I entered the lair and had Raph whirl around to face me "Where the hell ya been Mike? Don and I have searched the last two hours for you. We came home and found your phone in your bedroom," he fumed, "Christine and Leo have disappeared and you have been missing more then half the fuckin' night!"

"Raph I couldn't call. I would have lost them. The Foot they have Christine and Leo. I saw them, I followed them and I know where they are at." I rattled off quickly as Raph took a deep breath.

"What gives you…" he continued then stopped, "Wait you know where the Foot base is Mike?"

"Duh! Didn't I just say that! I would have called, but if I went to a pay phone I would have lost track of the van," I explained. "I had to know where the Foot were taking them."

"No one saw you?" Raph wondered his voice a little calmer now.

I shook my head, "No I think they were other wise occupied. I believe they want to kill Leo and I have no ideas what they plan for Christine," I fretted.

"Come on Mike we are going talk to Donny and make us a plan." Raph declared simply as we headed towards Don's lab.

TBC