*Shout out to my friends and reviewers out there: Thanks for all the feedback. You're making this a lot of fun for me, and after all the work that goes into it...it's nice to see that people can enjoy it. Love you guys. ;)
Jenna only had the strength to obey Leonardo for a few minutes. She had long ago stowed their belongings further back in the bushes, while Rebecca held on to a struggling Olivia. She couldn't take much more of this standing around. As Jenna grew antsier, she could feel Rebecca's gaze resting on her.
"Becky, I can't do this," the raven-haired woman exclaimed. "I've got to go after them. I have to know he's okay."
Rebecca nodded willingly. "I'm with you, Jen."
"Leo told us to stay put-"
"The rules go out the window in a time like this. If you're ready to follow the guys, so am I."
"I could take Olivia for you," Jenna offered.
"I'm pretty sure my back can handle it, but I'll speak up if I need help. Let's just go!"
Jenna had mournfully watched the direction the turtles had gone minutes ago, which now seemed to be closer to an hour. She wasn't going to be able to run as fast as she could, or as fast as she wanted to. Becky wouldn't normally have that hard of a time keeping up, but she was handling the burden of the baby, and had been suffering some unusual pains over the last week or so.
Jenna was tempted to tell her to hand Olivia over again, but the little turtle was firmly plastered against Rebecca's chest, not bothering to squirm now that they were moving. When they saw stray people in the distance, Jenna and Rebecca gave them a wide berth, doing their best to avoid anyone getting a close look at them. More than once Rebecca shifted her body so that she would be blocking Olivia from strangers' view.
The further they traveled without picking up a sign of the turtles, the more Jenna felt like she was unraveling. She desperately wished her phone was working, so that she would have some clue of what was going on with the boys. It was a nightmare type of scenario that Jenna had dreamed of a hundred different ways over the years. Having the clan she knew and loved in great danger of discovery out in the open was bad enough, without her husband also being consumed by a flood.
As they continued traveling along the side of the road, an odd sight caught Jenna's eye, and made the young woman stop in her tracks.
"What's wrong?" Becky asked.
"The manhole cover." Jenna pointed it out to her. "It's ajar, see? The guys don't ever leave them that way. They'd never want somebody to get hurt."
The raven-haired woman bent down to try and maneuver the cover further off the opening, and she was surprised when it appeared to shift on its own. "What the..."
The manhole cover didn't make further headway, barely moving another inch.
"Becky, help me!"
The curly-haired woman put Olivia down in the grass, and she threw a glance over her shoulder at the baby as if pleading with her to stay put for a minute.
"Just help me move it, then you can grab Liv!" Jenna practically shouted, even though Rebecca was right beside her. "Now, on my count. One, two, three!"
Both girls grunted in near unison as they pulled the cover off the pavement. Jenna peered down the entrance on her hands and knees, while Rebecca hurried to catch the crawling baby. Jenna saw a long, slender shape retreat into the darkness of the sewer, and recognized the bo staff with a great shudder.
"Donny!"
The flood level had risen so far in the tunnel that it was almost meeting the bottom rung of the metal ladder. The water was mostly covering Donatello's shoulders, as he held onto the ladder like a lifeline.
"Jen! Get...my brothers!" He sounded incredibly winded.
"Donny, you don't have to go very far! Can't you try to make it? That water might still be rising!"
"It is still rising...I'm caught! I can't climb...!"
"What is it?" Rebecca called to Jenna. "Is he okay?"
"Donny's trapped; we need the others! Becky, please! Give me the baby and keep looking for them! I can't leave him like this. Hurry!"
The curly-headed woman only took the time to set Olivia in Jenna's arms before taking off running again.
"Jen?" Donatello's voice carried from underground.
She got back down closer to the entrance so that he would be able to see her. "I'm here, Don. I sent Becky to get them!"
"I'm sorry."
"Just hang on! You're not allowed to let go - do you understand me?"
"I hear you!" he returned.
She heard him cough violently as a wave washed over him.
"It's okay, Jen!" He panted a few seconds later. "I can hold my breath if I need to. Just not forever!"
"They can't have gone that much further! They would have stopped to search for you. Are you hurt at all, Don?"
"Not seriously, I don't think! I got jostled around, and I'm really cold and tired."
"You'll be out of there soon, Donny." Jenna did her best to sound encouraging, despite her own fear.
As the young woman settled down on the ground by the entrance, Olivia squirmed in her arms like she wanted to get free.
"No, Liv, sorry," Jenna said soothingly. "Can't let you go crawling off out here, or your Dad might have a few words for me, and your Mama..." She swallowed as increased anxiety crashed over her mind.
I hope Karina and Calley are okay. I hope everyone is okay.
She glanced back down the manhole, and didn't see the purple-masked turtle. "DONNY!"
Jenna held her breath until she saw a shadowed hand breaking the surface of the water, and latching onto the ladder. She felt tears rising as he emerged back into sight.
"Don, you have to hold on!"
"I'm trying," he emphasized. "The cable is dragging me under, it's getting tighter! Are they coming?" He sounded more tired than before.
"Yes, Don, you know your brothers. They won't waste any time - they'll be here soon."
Leonardo wasn't happy when his brothers insisted on dragging him up to the surface, and he was even more irritated when he saw Rebecca.
"What happened? You girls were supposed to stay put." He couldn't keep the slight edge out of his tone.
The blue-masked turtle was extremely worried about Donatello, and the fact that all he'd found so far were pieces of the Sliders. He'd even started taking brief dives to make sure that his brother wasn't lost under the surface.
The curly-headed woman was bent over partially at her waist, and it took her a couple of seconds to find her voice. "We found him!" Becky cried. "He's in trouble - he needs you guys right now! If you backtrack the same way, you'll run right into Jen!"
Hope leaped up in Leonardo's heart, and he forgot about being annoyed. He motioned with his head for his brothers to follow him, and no words were necessary. He didn't even bother trying to keep a pace that Rebecca could match; he knew the young woman would catch up with them. They'd barely traveled half a mile when he noticed a figure kneeling in the road. She looked enough like Jenna that he raced toward her, with Raphael and Michelangelo on his heels.
"Donny's trapped, and the water's still coming up on him, Leo! I can hardly see him!" Jenna clutched Olivia tightly as she backed away from the entrance to give the turtles room to work.
"It's going to be okay, Jen, we're already set up to do this! We'll get Donny out of there." Leonardo got down next to the manhole to see his brother barely keeping his chin above the water-line. "Donny, hold on! I'm coming!"
Leonardo hadn't bothered unhooking the harness from before, so all he needed to do was make sure that Raphael and Mike were supporting their end before he started climbing down the ladder. The flood was no longer a violent torrent, but a steadily rising tide that threatened to swallow his brother. With some difficulty he climbed over Donatello at the bottom, and dropped into the cold water beside him.
"Are you all right?" Leo asked swiftly.
"Yeah..." Donatello's fingers were clamped down tightly on the only rung of the ladder he could reach. "It's my grappling hook. I got tangled in the cable, and it's dragging me down. It feels like it's completely twisted around my shell, and I couldn't find the gun to release the cable. I can't reach..."
"Take it easy, bro, I'm going to get you out of this." Leonardo reached toward him underwater, and could feel the constricting coils of the cable. He could try to cut them, but without being able to see through the murky water, he could just as easily hurt his brother badly with the keen blade. "Donny, listen to me," he said calmly. "I'm going under. I'll look for the gun or the loose end of the cable, whichever I come across first. All I need you to do is hang on to that ladder, and don't let go. Understand?"
The purple-masked turtle nodded. "Be careful, Leo."
"I'll be back," Leonardo replied.
Leonardo took a deep breath and drew one of his katana. As the blue-masked turtle dove under the surface, he felt the reassuring tug on the harness, reminding him that his younger brothers were doing their job. He stayed close to Donatello, running his palm over the metallic cable wrapped around him so that he could figure out where it led.
Geesh, he's not kidding. This thing couldn't get much tighter. But there has to be an end here somewhere.
Leonardo forced himself further under, fighting the natural inclination to float. He felt the jerk of something pulling his brother, and followed the motion to locate the source dragging Donatello down. The turtle felt around in the darkness, and was rewarded when the loose cable brushed his elbow. He carefully brought the razor edge of his blade down on top of the line, sighing inwardly as he sensed the cable give under his katana.
Leonardo pushed Donatello experimentally, and was relieved when his brother was able to move more freely. Leo shot for the surface, and gasped for the breath he'd been holding. "I think we're good to go, Don. Time to get out of here. Can you climb the ladder?"
Rather than answering him, Donatello yanked himself up by the last rung, exerting much more effort than he normally would have needed. With a loud grunt he made it to the second rung.
Leonardo shook his head when he saw the backpack and duffle bag still slung over Donatello's shell, amongst the remnants of twisted cable. "I don't believe it. You still saved that stuff?"
"No point in leaving it behind." Donatello sounded ragged. "It was right there with me. It seemed stupid to throw it away."
When he faltered on the next rung, Leonardo was prepared to catch him. His brother's form felt rigid in his grasp. "It's okay. I've got you."
Donatello released a shuddering breath. "Sorry. I'm doing my best."
"Donny!" Mike's voice was directly above them. "Leo! Are you guys okay?"
"Yep. On our way up," Leonardo called.
Raphael appeared at the mouth of the manhole. "Have you got a good grip on the ladder, Leo? Are we okay to let go of the lines?"
"Yeah! Go ahead and help Donny, would you?"
The red-masked turtle reached down to grasp Donatello, at the same time as Leonardo boosted him from underneath. Leonardo didn't realize how tense he felt until the relief of seeing Donny being yanked toward the surface flooded him. In the end it took a little longer to separate the younger turtle from the bags with which he was tangled because of the cable. Raphael had to cut the strap on the duffle bag to get it free, just so Donny would fit through the entrance.
Leonardo crawled up behind him, and grinned when he saw Jenna on her knees beside Donatello, holding on to him as if she'd never let go. He could read the exhaustion in Donatello's frame, but the purple-masked turtle was doing his best to hold up his trembling wife, cradling her head against his shoulder.
"It's okay. I'm all right. I'm okay," he told her quietly.
Leonardo cleared his throat apologetically. "Guys...we should get out of sight."
Michelangelo caught Donatello's arm as the turtle struggled to his feet, and Donny gave him a sheepish look.
"I lost your flashlight, Mike," he mumbled tiredly.
"My flashlight? Dude, you almost lost yourself! Don't ever do that again!"
"I didn't me-" Donatello cut off sharply at the way Mike grasped his shoulder.
Mike's brow furrowed instantly. "Did I hurt you?"
Leonardo came up on Donatello's other side to try and get a look for himself.
"It's fine. My shoulder got scraped up, along with everything else. Nothing to worry about. What are we going to do, Leo?"
The sudden forlorn note in Donatello's voice made Leonardo cringe.
"I'm not sure. I guess we'd better stick to the Park for now. We need to get a hold of someone."
"I have to get the phones working, and the scanner. I'm not sure what to do about the signal strength on the cells. I should be able to recalibrate them to take advantage of the satellites, but that only addresses our end of things. It won't do our friends any good unless they can get a signal too."
"Don, fifteen minutes ago I was starting to think we'd lost you. No matter what needs to be accomplished, it can't be any worse than how that felt," Leonardo replied.
"I'm sorry," Donatello murmured. "I'm sorry, bro."
Leonardo laid an arm around his good shoulder. "I'm only trying to tell you how relieved I am. Let's take this one step at a time, and find someplace to hole up."