Raphael hadn't bothered to get Olivia dressed at the same time that the rest of the turtles had put on their clothes. The problem with not forcing the little one to wear anything on a regular basis was that Olivia wasn't fond of the extra burden when he or Karina tried to dress her. She'd squirmed so much when he'd first attempted it, that he decided to let it go for a while longer.
The red-masked turtle was so on edge, it felt like the smallest thing would be able to set him off. The way they were flying through the sewers on the Sliders reminded him of running haphazardly through a minefield. They'd already had to bypass another section of the tunnels due to a second cave-in. He was ready to escape the precarious confines of the tunnels.
A small portion of the tension in his muscles had relaxed as they traveled for a few more minutes of silence, without even hearing the pipes. Raphael's gaze rested on Leonardo. The blue-masked turtle had his back to him, but looked over his shoulder as Raphael's eyes lingered on him.
"You all right, Raph?" his brother asked.
He bobbed his head lightly as he brushed his hand over Olivia's shell. The little turtle was nearly asleep on his shoulder, and Raphael didn't want to disturb her.
Leonardo's glance shifted to Rebecca. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," she answered softly.
With a flash of guilt, Raphael realized he hadn't even questioned how the young woman was holding up. He was so consumed with protecting Olivia and whether everyone else on the surface was going to be okay that he hadn't been giving his present sister-in-law a thought. Rebecca was normally on the quiet side anyway, and not as quick to speak up as his own girl would be.
Shell, she didn't even complain about being separated from Mikey, and it's probably my fault Leo made him switch places.
"Sorry I got you cut off from Mike," Raphael apologized. "I really didn't mean to. I'm annoying everyone today."
Rebecca offered him a faint smile. "You're not annoying, Raph, you're concerned. I don't blame you for that. You're doing a good job with Liv, though. She looks very secure with you."
Raphael cracked his first real smile since before the tremor had started. "Nah, she's just a tough girl, Becky. A lot like some other women I know." He winked at Rebecca and she started to chuckle, but it cut off as quickly as it began. She took such a sharp intake of air that the red-masked turtle immediately shifted closer to her. "What's the matter?"
"Nothing," she said too quickly. "I mean, besides the obvious."
But the way her expression changed suggested pain, not fear.
"I don't buy it, sis. What's really going on? Is it your hand? I know Donny never got time to get a proper look at it."
She shook her head. "No, Raph, honestly. There's nothing wrong with me except for a little sea sickness."
That got Leonardo's attention. "Sea sickness?" the blue-masked turtle repeated. "Becky, you've been on the Sliders hundreds of times. We were on the ocean together, and you never suffered anything like that."
"Stress, maybe," she suggested. "Either way, it's no big deal. I just don't want to gross anyone out by throwing up."
Raphael made a scoffing sound. "That's ridiculous, Becky. Quit thinking like that."
Leonardo turned away from the control panel to dig into one of the bags. "Would some water help?"
"Please don't, Leo," she insisted. "We don't have a lot of supplies, and there's no telling what conditions we'll face on the surface."
"It won't kill us for you to have some," Leonardo said firmly.
Rebecca didn't refuse a second time, though Raphael suspected that she wanted to.
"Any idea how much further we've got to go, Fearless?" Raphael asked.
His brother went back to studying the small display on the control panel, then looked at the Slider in front of them. "We're getting there, Raph. I can't communicate these directions into an actual timeframe like Donny could. I'm sorry it's been taking so long."
Raphael snorted. "You say that like it's your fault or something, Leo."
The blue-masked turtle raised his hands helplessly. "Have you thought about getting Olivia ready to go topside?"
"Yeah," he answered with a hint of irritation. "It feels stupid to bother her when she's finally settled down. I should have forced her to get dressed before."
"Let me try, Raph," Rebecca volunteered. "I helped Karina wrangle her last time. I think I might have learned a thing or two."
Raphael's initial instinct was to assure her that he could handle it, but part of him felt like Becky needed something to do. He willingly handed Olivia over to her, and couldn't help grinning at the way the young woman cradled his little girl.
Mike's not the only one who loves this kid, he thought fondly, while he dug some clothes out for Olivia. When he looked back up, Olivia was stretching green fingers toward the water bottle at Becky's side, and the woman popped the sport-top open to give her a drink.
"Open up a little wider, Liv," Rebecca encouraged her.
The baby giggled as Becky fired a couple of small shots of water into her mouth. Her laughter quickly changed to protest as Rebecca pulled the soft fleece leggings over her feet.
"C'mon, silly," Becky told her. "You have to blend in like everyone else, okay? It's all right to stand out, but sometimes you have to hide too."
Raphael barely repressed a grin. He talked that way to Olivia too, taking the time to explain things although his daughter couldn't fully understand what he was saying.
"See, now you're getting a hood on just like your daddy," Rebecca tried to soothe Olivia as she kicked her legs.
Raphael noticed how the young woman was careful to avoid his daughter's long limbs as they lashed out. He knew from experience that Olivia was a lot stronger than she looked. Rebecca applied gentle pressure to the baby's plastron to keep her still long enough to get the sweatshirt over her shell.
Out of the corner of Raphael's eye, he saw a flash of green from the grating under which they'd just passed. From the way Leonardo quickly reacted with the Slider, it was apparent he'd seen it too.
"Donny!" the blue-masked turtle called. "Let's not worry about traveling too far inside the Park! We should bail while we still safely can."
"Agreed!" Donatello's voice carried back. "I'll watch for another opening!"
Raphael let out an anxious sigh. Finally. We've gotta get our feet on solid ground so we can look for our girls.
Mike was puzzled by Donatello's urgency as he started freeing their belongings. He'd been trying not to question him, but was curious about the way he was acting. He noticed that Donny's eyes kept returning to the water beneath them every so often in the middle of the other things he was doing.
"What are you looking at?" Mike asked.
"The water level is rising. It might not mean anything serious, but I'm ready to get out of here," Don replied.
"Do you want me to start gathering things up, Donny?" Jenna asked.
"No, leave it for the moment. Living things first, stuff after. Once you girls are on the surface, we can worry about getting our supplies up there."
"Then is there anything else I can do to help?"
Donatello shook his head. "Just stay calm. We're almost out of here."
The relief in Donny's voice made Michelangelo intensely grateful for that fact. The orange-masked turtle spied the upcoming manhole, and pointed it out to Donatello as his brother was fiddling with one of the grappling guns.
"Good," Don said under his breath. He replaced the device on his belt and took the controls of the Slider back from Mike so that he could maneuver the vessel into the ideal position. The purple-masked turtle waved to their brothers behind them to stop, then looked at Jenna. "Do you mind going first, Jen? Just yell if it's clear."
The raven-haired woman nodded, and accepted the boost from Donatello to get to the ladder, though Mike knew she didn't really need it. Years of self-defense training had developed Jenna's upper body strength a great deal. The woman disappeared from their sight for a few seconds, before her face returned at the mouth of the manhole.
"There are people in the vicinity, but no one's really close by," she informed them. "I don't think we can ask for anything better than that."
"No, probably not," Donatello replied, and threw a glance over his shoulder. "Rebecca, can you make it to our Slider?"
Michelangelo watched the young woman closely as she climbed over, noting that she appeared to be a little off balance. "You okay, babe?"
Becky nodded. "I'm fine, Mike. Are you gonna help me out of here, or what?"
He smiled at her playful tone, and she allowed him to partially lift her over to the ladder. Raphael joined them on their Slider next, clutching Olivia protectively against his chest. The red-masked turtle looked up, as if trying to process his next move.
"Tell you what, Chucklehead," he addressed Mike. "I'll go on up first, if you'll hand Olivia up to me."
"Will do, Raphy."
Once Raphael and the baby were out of the way, Leonardo hopped over to their Slider with a bag over his shoulder and Tiger in his arms.
"Leave the luggage, Leo, and we'll take care of it when the rest of you are up," Donatello suggested.
Tiger didn't appear pleased with the way Michelangelo nearly had to throw her into Raphael's waiting hands.
"Let's get started, Mike. Do you mind taking the ladder, and I'll hand things to you? We can create a chain gang. I'll start with the things on our Slider, then grab the stuff from the other."
"Sure, Don."
Michelangelo blinked rapidly in the light of day that filtered through the manhole, and caught his breath as he made his first trip to the surface. He knew he would have received some kind of warning from the others if there was imminent danger, but he couldn't help swiftly scanning their surroundings to be sure.
"Let her be, Leo." Raphael was motioning to Tiger. "She's gotta get used to sticking close to us on her own. You're not planning on holding on to her wherever we go, right?"
Michelangelo dropped one bag on the ground and watched Leonardo stop trying to herd the cat. The blue-masked turtle noticed him, and came over swiftly to the sewer entrance.
"I'll help too, Mike, so you'll only have to go halfway. Just hand me things from the ladder."
Donatello was ready to toss some more things up, but his steam didn't last for long.
Mike looked down from the ladder after he'd been waiting for close to a minute. "Don, what's up?"
The purple-masked turtle was crouched in the Slider as if he was frozen in time. "The water pressure seems to be increasing! I'm hurrying, guys!"
Leonardo bent further over the opening. "Don, I'd really like for you to get out of there!"
"We can't afford to leave anything behind, Leo, I just need a couple of minutes," he returned.
Michelangelo watched Donny leap out of sight to the other Slider again, and he glanced up at Leonardo. "I'm gonna help him finish faster."
Without waiting for permission, the orange-masked turtle dropped off the ladder onto the vessel beneath him. "Toss me something, Don!"
The purple-masked turtle stretched to hand him the cooler. "Don't throw it, Mikey, there are too many important things in there! Will you take it to the surface? There are only a couple more pieces to go up."
"Yeah, okay," Michelangelo allowed, and turned back for the ladder. He slung the strap of the cooler over his shoulder and climbed hand over hand to meet Leonardo. "Almost done, Leo. One more trip ought to do it."
"Wait." Leonardo's hand grasped his arm firmly. "Stop. Listen."
When Leo spoke in sentences of two syllables or fewer, Michelangelo tended to pay attention. There was a rapidly building roar coming from underground that reminded him vaguely of the wind.
"Donny, get out of there, NOW!" Leonardo's tone wasn't taking "no" for an answer.
The rate at which the roar increased was astounding. In the time it took for the orange-masked turtle to blink, it sounded more like resonating thunder. In the moment it took him to cry out, the powerful water was overwhelming the Sliders.