Act V

Mikey stood frozen for eleven seconds with his eyes trapped in that photo. She had the baby in one arm, and the other was obviously being used to hold up the camera as she leaned against…him, her face lit and smiling. And he stood with her, looking like a normal person, his eyes on her and softer than seemed possible. It made Mikey feel like physically sick. The ninja cleared his throat. "And…meeting adjourned." He let the picture—and it had to be a fake—fall from his hand without even bothering to see where it landed, and turned toward the door. He actually wasn't too worried. Shredder was a sick, lying monster. But this time, his lie was just too far out there. It was like he'd said there was a pack of giant leprechauns poised to take over the world, or that gravity was actually a myth and all the planets were about to fly off into space. Or that Keanu Reeves was a great actor. It just didn't fit with the conventions of sound reasoning.

"Wait."

Mikey kept walking. "Look, I liked The Matrix and everything, and he was good in Bill and Ted, but honestly…"

"Ryoichi." The Shredder's voice held something of a question and something of a command.

Mikey stopped but didn't turn. "I don't know what that word means."

"It is your name, a name I gave you sixteen years ago."

"False. My name is Michelangelo. In fact, that's Mr. Hamato to you. Wait, no, you know what? You don't get to call me anything at all. Just do your howl of anger thing in my general direction, and I'll get that you're talking to me. But whatever angle you're trying to play here is really, really stupid because it's crazy impossible. I give you props for your PhotoShop skills, dude, but if you ever mention my mom again, I will punch you in the throat. Now, are you gonna torture me or something, or can I go, or do I gotta escape or what? 'Cause if that's all…"

"She always called you Richie." Mikey stopped at this quiet statement, his hands clenching into fists at his sides. He turned slowly, almost against his will, to find those black eyes boring into him. "I chose a more traditional Japanese name for you, but she liked to call you Richie. She told me it fit you more soundly, though she could never give me a reason why she thought this." He looked away. "She was most likely right. It seemed she was always right when it came to you."

"Stop," Mikey said angrily. This man couldn't know that. Couldn't know what she had called him. Richie. Nobody…nobody knew about that. He'd never even told his family. Richie died with her.

"There was a song she used to sing to you. Perhaps you do not remember. You were very young."

Mikey's eyes widened. "No," he begged softly. He couldn't… "Don't."

"It was a song her father had sung to her in Ireland when she was a young girl. I can only recall some of the words." The man paused and spoke the lyrics softly. " 'Sleep, my child, and peace attend thee All through the night. Guardian angels God will send thee All through the night. Hill and dale in slumber sleeping…'" He stopped.

Mikey felt a sadness and longing and horror all rolling around inside him, even as he whispered, " 'I my loving vigil keeping. All through the night.'" He hadn't heard those words aloud since he was five. He bowed his head. This wasn't happening. "It's not true," he held stubbornly.

"It is."

Mikey raised his eyes, shook his head. "Even if it was, what the heck kind of difference does it make to you? What do you want?"

"The turtles and I are enemies."

"Doi."

"It is clear that we will not stop fighting until one side or the other has been defeated."

"Hey, if you think I'd ever even consider jumping to your side, I'm thinking you've been screwing your funny hat on too tight."

"You've been turned against me."

"By you. 'Cause you're evil."

"I knew you would not be swayed to join me so easily. But regardless of my feelings toward the ones you call family, it is not my desire to see your life forfeit because of a feud that is not your own."

"It is my own."

"If you face my forces in battle alongside the turtles, it is very possible I will not be able to protect you."

"That supposed to be a threat?"

"It is only a regret," he said, voice never matching the angry tones Mikey had heard before. "One of many. You have been lost to me for nearly fourteen years. It is not my desire to watch you fall."

"Touching."

"I would think that knowing what you now know, neither would you be so quick to wish for my demise."

"Dude, I've essentially seen you die twice. Didn't lose any sleep then."

The man just looked at him. "I was not your father then."

"You aren't now." Mikey grit his teeth, glaring angrily up at the monster who claimed to be his father. "She wouldn't..." He had to stop and take a breath. "It was always just me and her. Not you. Not ever you."

"I loved her. I loved the child that was ours. For a few short years, I had more than I had ever known could be possible for one man to possess. She loved me as well, enough to become my wife. I never stopped looking for her. Nor for you. If ever I had known that the face beneath that mask you wear belonged to my son…"

Mikey shook his head furiously. Too much. Too hard. Keep it light. Don't think… There was just no way. "Stop," he whispered. "I'm never gonna believe you. Whatever you say. She wouldn't love you."

"She did. More than I deserved. And I will never make apologies for that love."

And that was more than the teen could take. With a yell, Mikey lunged at the man. Fists and feet flying, he attacked without any clear plan besides making his enemy stop talking. Each punch was blocked by large fists.

"Ryoichi. Do not!"

"Don't," Mikey commanded as he kept up, "call me that!" Every time he struck at the mutant, the block that met him felt like concrete. Mikey jabbed and ducked to kick at the Shredder's knee, but the huge man was too fast. Oroku Saki grabbed Mikey by the ankle, pulling him forward and then sweeping his other leg out from under him, controlling the fall. Mikey's back hit the wood floor, his arms pinned to his chest by a large hand. He was breathing hard, staring at the gruesomely scarred face of his enemy. Mikey struggled against the hand that held him, but it was useless. "She didn't love you," he seethed. "You're a killer. You…you probably killed her, didn't you? Just like you killed Tang Shin!" Shredder's face suddenly went hard, and his hand was suddenly drawn back like he was about to backhand the teen. "What are you gonna do?" Mikey yelled. "You gonna kill me, too? That how it usually ends for people you supposedly 'love', family man?"

"Enough!"

Helpless to avoid the blow, Mikey turned his head to the side. Except this one never came either. Instead, Shredder grabbed him by the front of his jacket, fisting the material in his hand, voice unyielding and flecked with something deeper than anger. "You speak of things you know nothing about. Now stop this," the Shredder said. "I never hurt your mother. I will not hurt you."

Those words by this man made a horrible, ugly feeling rise in Mikey's chest. "I don't believe you."

"You have no reason to. Nevertheless, it is the truth. Regardless of what you think of me, it is the truth. Whether or not you choose to accept it, my son," he looked Mikey in the eye, "it is the truth."

Mikey shook his head. "Let me leave," he breathed heatedly. "I wanna go."

The man paused for a moment. Then he slowly released his hold and stood. Turning, he knelt and picked up the discarded photograph in his large hands, holding it with a kind of reverence, like it was some kind of fragile, ancient relic. "I will not keep you here against your will."

Mikey arose from the floor. "You brought me here against my will."

"I had no choice. I only required that you listen. You have now heard all I needed to say. I believe when you have calmed down you will have questions, things about your mother and about myself, things you were never told. You may return with them when you are ready so long as you return alone."

Mikey couldn't believe it. The guy was just going to let him go. He was gonna drop this bombshell and then just let him go. No fight. No escape. He could just…go. "I hate you."

The man didn't react to the words at all. His eyes were still on that picture like he was a real person with real emotions and not the evil murderous ogre he was. "I know."

Chest burning, Michelangelo Hamato turned and walked to the door. With his hand on the handle, he suddenly paused. Closed his eyes. "What…" He stopped. He had to ask, couldn't go without knowing. He let out a breath, hating himself a little but not exactly sure why. "What was her name?"

The voice behind him carried no edge. "Olivia." The name was breathed gently like the whispers at a funeral. "Olivia Ivor."

Olivia Ivor. Eyes suddenly stinging, Mikey yanked the door open to see his nunchucks sitting there in the hall. He snatched them up and ran as fast as his legs would go. There was a window at the end of the hall, the glass missing, and Mikey didn't stop running. He vaulted out the window, catching himself on a tree, and swinging down until his feet hit the rocky soil below. And he kept running. With vision blurring and heart pounding and stomach aching, he ran and jumped, navigating through trees and across roads, and then up buildings and under bridges. He covered mile after mile, not feeling the hours pass as his feet automatically took him closer to the middle of the city, the precious pendant he now wore again bouncing against his chest all along the way. He had to get away. Had to get…home.

His feet suddenly slowed to a stop on their own, seemed like, in the shadows of an overpass. Home. To his family. His family who'd taken care of him for eight years like he was one of them. His family who'd done everything possible to make him one of them. But now…now he was…he was the son of their most hated enemy. And he couldn't even do anything about it. It wasn't fair. He felt hot tears well up in his eyes, and he leaned against a dirty wall as his legs folded under him. He sank to the ground, pulling his mask off over his head as fat, angry tears slid down his face. How? How do I tell them about this? He angrily threw his elbow back into the wall. What if everything…changed? It wasn't right. How could knowing something that had to have been true his whole life change everything? But it did. It really freaking did. For the first time in a long time, he wasn't sure what he'd find when he got home. They'll…they'll still want me, right? And Splinter. How could he look Splinter in the eye and tell him that his adopted son was really the spawn of the man who'd murdered his master? Mikey's breaths caught in his lungs as he tried to just breathe. He shook his head, elbows resting on knees, and ran his fingers through sweaty hair. Why is this happening to me? It's not fair. Why is this happening now?

The only answer he got was a roll of thunder. Mikey looked up. He hadn't noticed the clouds in the night sky. It was New York. Not like you could ever see the stars on a clear night. But if it was about to rain, the sewers would fill up fast, and it could be hours before he could get back to the lair. He blinked. What am I doing? I gotta see my brothers. They could be in trouble. Whatever else happened after, he had to make sure they were safe. He'd have to move fast. He'd check the pawn shop first. Make sure his brothers weren't there. He had to see them. Make sure they really were okay. He couldn't trust the Shredder's word that they weren't hurt.

He stood and swiped his sleeve over his face. Pulled on his mask. He peeked out from under the overpass, and he ran, listening only to his breaths and his heartbeat, focused on where he was going. His eyes scanned all around him as he went, checking for any followers, counting steps and making jumps. He doubled back a few times to ensure he wasn't being tailed, using everything he could ever remember learning about stealth, concentrating, working everything else out of his head. He knew his brothers thought he sucked at concentrating. And they were right. But right then it was either concentrate or sit down and sob his heart out again because if he let himself think too much he'd realize that he was scared out of his mind. So that last one was so not an option.

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It was nearing six o'clock in the morning when the three turtles came one by one down the ladder each looking their own version of defeated, angry, and worried. Donny was first down the ladder, quiet as he had been for most of the past few hours since they'd woken up one Mikey short. They were all wet from the water that was quickly filling the sewers, but Don couldn't really feel it. He felt sort of numb, and it had nothing to do with the cold water.

"This is a waste a' time, Leo," Raph said loudly as he stomped down the ladder above Donny.

"You know it has to be done. We've got no choice." Truly, the turtle in blue sounded every bit as thrilled with their situation as Raph. With the rain starting to come down, everything got slick—dangerously slick. Add that to the fact that the sun was just about to come up, and the turtles had to take a momentary retreat. "Give it four hours. Rain should be up by then. In the meantime, get some rest. It's not going to help Mikey if we find him and we're too exhausted to help."

Raph waited for Leo's feet to touch the floor before he was in his face. "If you think I'm just gonna lay back and get a little shut-eye right now, you're…"

"Raph, what do you want me to do? I know! Okay? I know." Leo met his brother's glare head-on, helplessness morphing into anger.

Raph returned the glare and growled his frustration as he jerked away from his brother, stalking off toward his room. Leo's hands were fisted, and he turned and hit the door that led to what used to be a maintenance closet, putting a large dent in the hollow metal. With what looked like a great deal of effort, he calmed himself and made his way to his own car, shaking his head at Splinter who'd appeared in the doorway of his room. The rat lowered his head and nodded. Donny watched all this from the landing, mind going to what kind of day they'd be having if not in the midst of a catastrophe. They'd just be about to wake up and file in for a light breakfast before practice. Mikey would be the last one in, muttering some random incoherencies. Raph would pop him on the back of the head. Leo would hand Donny his coffee while making some comment about how it was bad for him. There'd be smiles and eye-rolls, and someone would end up annoyed. And it would all be so normal. It was scary how easily normal could get so screwed up.

Donny wandered over to his father. He didn't really have anything to say, but he didn't quite feel like being alone. He figured Splinter had to feel similar.

"You should rest," the master said.

Donny nodded. "I know." He made no move toward his room.

The old rat smiled weakly. "Come. I will make tea."

As he listened to the familiar sounds of his father preparing the tea, Donny let his mind wander back a few years.

"Hey Donny?"

"Yeah?"

"How come Mr. Splinter's a rat?"

Donatello looked up from the old TV set he was tinkering with at the question. The little human was lying on his back on the rug in Donny's room, playing with one of the turtle's old Beast Wars action figures. The human was holding Optimus Primal up over his head, making quiet flying sounds.

"Uh…what do you mean?"

"How come he's a rat and you're a turtle?"

Donny had no clue where this was going. "Be…cause we were all born that way?"

Optimus landed on the little human's stomach. "No, but I mean, how come you're a family if you're different?"

"I told you he adopted us remember?"

"Why?"

"Because you asked me."

"No, but why'd he adopt you? Why didn't he adopt some rat babies and make them grow up?"

"Oh. Well, it didn't work that way. Splinter didn't make us grow up this way. We just did. We're special." The turtle thought it was kind of funny. The little human would barely say a word out with the others, but when the two of them were alone, it was question after question after question.

"Is that why he adopted you? 'Cause you're special?"

"I…" Donny paused. "I don't know. He adopted us because we needed him. Otherwise nobody would've taken care of us, and he couldn't let that happen."

"Why not?"

"Because…because he just couldn't. He loves us."

"How do you know?"

"He said so."

"Oh." Optimus fired a missile, and the little boy grinned. Donny figured the conversation was over with that. He was wrong. The little human reloaded the toy and pulled his face into an inquisitive frown. "Did he love you right when he met you or later on?"

"I don't know." Donny shrugged. "I was just a baby. Everybody loves babies."

"How do you know?"

"Because. That's how babies survive. If people didn't love them, they wouldn't take care of them, and since babies don't know how to do anything yet, they can't live by themselves. So adults take care of them until they can grow up and take care of babies themselves. And then those babies grow up and take care of more babies. And that's how we have so many people. And animals. Because everybody loves babies." He figured it was probably true. Sociologically speaking. It made sense anyway.

The little boy chewed his lip skeptically as he tried to work out how to turn Optimus back to beast mode. "Everybody does?"

"Mm-hm."

"Well when does a baby turn into not a baby?"

Donny shook his head exasperated. "What do you mean?"

The little human rolled carefully over onto his stomach, still fiddling with the half-gorilla half-autobot, and looked at Donny. "Well, not everybody has people who love 'em, right? So if everybody loves babies and everybody starts out as babies, then how old do you gotta be to not be loved anymore?"

Donny paused. He…didn't know. "What do you think?" he asked.

The little boy drew his brow together and pursed his lips as he either tried to figure out what it was he thought or just how to put it into words. "I think only parents love babies," he finally said. "And that's how Mr. Splinter knew he could be your dad." He finally twisted the legs around and held the completed gorilla up in triumph. "I did it."

Donny smiled at him. "You did. Nice." He thought a second. "So…Splinter doesn't love me because he's my dad. He's my dad…because he loves me." The ten-year-old turtle had never really thought of it before. He couldn't imagine what it would be like if the rat had chosen not to take the turtles in. Splinter had been there for him his whole life. It hadn't ever occurred to him that the rat didn't have to be.

The boy's eyes were already back on the toy. He gave a little shrug. "Prob'ly."

Splinter stuck his head in just then. "It is time for supper."

"We're coming," Donny assured him. Splinter nodded and moved out of the doorway. "Hey, Dad?" he called, suddenly needing to say something to his father.

The ninja master quickly reappeared, question in his eyes, probably because the turtles hardly ever called him Dad anymore. "Yes, my son?"

"Thank you," he said almost without thinking.

Splinter blinked. "For what?"

"I…um." Suddenly shy, Donny wasn't sure how to answer the question. "For…keeping us."

His master's eyes softened, and he seemed to understand what Donny was trying to say. Like he always did. "You are welcome, my son. Always." He bowed his head and left the room.

Donny smiled and looked over at the little human. The child's eyes went immediately back to the toy, but not before Donny caught the most unimaginably wistful expression reflected in those blue eyes. It isn't fair, is it? he thought sadly. That was the first time the young mutant turtle realized exactly how lucky he was.

Donatello was pulled from his thoughts as he thought he heard the ladder hatch close. He was immediately on his feet, trying to prepare himself for what would greet him if it had only been his imagination, and failing miserably. He dashed out of the room, hope building, and what he found nearly made him sag in relief. His little brother, soaked from head to toe, was sliding down the ladder. It took him a moment to find his voice. "Thank God."

Mikey turned toward him looking really really not dead. "Oh. Donny. Hey." Despite the light, casual greeting, the human looked relieved in his own right. "You okay? Everybody okay?"

Donny's eye ridge raised in disbelief as a smile built on his face. He shook his head. "Are we…?" He was up the steps in a minute, grabbing his brother. "You're okay!" He suddenly pulled him back, holding the teen in place to check him out. "Wait, you are okay, right? You're not hurt anywhere? Nothing?"

Mikey was nodding. "Yeah. No. I'm fine. I mean, heh, soaked. Probably got pneumonia. But fine."

"Master Splinter! Guys!" And within about five seconds, they were swarmed by Leo and Raph, both talking a mile a minute.

"Bro! What the shell happened? We were lookin' everywhere for you! What'd you do?"

"We were so worried! How did you…? Were you captured? They didn't…You're not hurt, right? Donny, check him…"

Mikey pulled out of their reach, hands up, playing it off real casual, but something didn't seem quite right with his eyes. "Guys. Hey, I'm fine. They didn't do anything to me. Swear. What about you? That stuff they shot you with… No weird side effects or anything, right?"

Raph snorted. "Not unless the major urge to kick some Foot ninja tail is a side effect." He crossed his arms. "But I'm pretty sure it's a pre-existing condition."

"Dang. You know our insurance won't cover that."

Don refused to let the subject change. "What happened to you, Mikey?"

Mikey quickly glanced down. "I…"

"My son." Mikey looked up in time to be folded into a hug from his father. "It is good to have you home and safe, little one."

Donny watched Mike's face. Under his mask, the young ninja was suddenly blinking and swallowing like he was about to come apart. "Mikey? Are you okay? What's wrong?"

Splinter immediately pulled back. Mikey dropped his head and rubbed at his eyes, pulling himself together. Don had been reading that kid's expression under that mask for years. And it was like the teen was trying to smile, but Donny could tell it was nothing like a real Mikey smile.

"What is it, my son?" Splinter asked.

"What? No, nothing. It's cool. Well, except I…I do have…news. Not good news. Actually, it's pretty crappy news. But…" He trailed off, eyes suddenly looking everywhere else except at them.

They were all quiet a moment, waiting. Then Raph prompted, "But?"

Mikey took a deep breath. "It's…it's the Shredder. He's not dead. Again."

A wave of shocked disbelief flew from each one of them. Leo shook his head. "That's impossible. What do you mean he's not dead? We all saw…"

Mikey winced. "Well, he's definitely…not as dead as we thought."

Donny shook his head, took a step closer to his brother. "I don't understand. You…saw him?"

"I did," Mikey nodded once. "Yep."

"So they didn't capture you; you…followed them?"

"No. Not really." The boy winced. He slid his mask over his head and busied himself with ringing it out, looking like he was trying really hard to keep his face neutral.

"Mikey, what's going on? Why'd we get ambushed? What happened to you? You look like you're about to be sick." Donny was getting really worried.

"He's not dead. He's still gigantic. And…um. Wow. Here's something different. He's my…He…" He bit his lip and blinked. Cleared his throat. Then he reached beneath his shirt and took out his necklace, reaching behind to undo the clasp. He held it up. "He gave me this back."

Mouth open, not even sure what to ask, Donny shook his head slightly. If he'd thought to look, he probably would've seen similar expressions on his other brothers' faces, too.

"He, ah, he knew things. About her. And there was a picture, and…" He trailed off again. It was way too un-Mike-like.

"Hey." Leo slowly reached out and touched his shoulder. "What is it, buddy? Whatever it is, bro, it's okay. Just tell us what happened."

Mikey ducked his head. "It appears as though…Shredder was…" He bit down, and his eyes got suddenly shiny. "He says he's my biological…father." And saying that looked like it did something to him. In the shocked silence that followed, he winced, and his face started to crumble.

Raph let out an incredulous "What?"

"Mikey, that's not true," Leo assured him. "If Shredder said that, he was messing with your head."

"Leo's right," Donny said quickly. The turtle wondered why his little brother would even give a second thought to such an outrageous claim. "He'd do anything to screw with our family; you know that. It's not true."

The teen shook his head. His voice was so unsteady. "He knew stuff. He knew stuff nobody knew. Stuff I never even told you." He pulled his shoulders together. "He called me…Oroku Ryoichi." He about choked on the name. "And there was a picture and it was her and…and him, and I was a baby, and it was so wrong, but Donny, I think it was real." He started shaking his head, almost pleading. "I didn't know. I swear I didn't know before. I didn't ever know it was him." His eyes filled with tears, but not one of them fell as he stood up straighter. "But the guy…the guy that tried to kill all of us, the guy that kidnapped Splinter, the guy that…killed Master Yoshi…" He took a short, unsteady breath, eyes downcast, looking like…like he was bracing himself, steeling himself for something horrible that was about to happen. "I'm so sorry," he whispered. And it was obvious he was talking to all of them, but it was mostly for Splinter. "I'm sorry."

No one moved for a moment. Donny couldn't move. His mind raced in that way that made everything around him seem like it was so slow and unreal. This couldn't be true. It was too bizarre to be real.

Suddenly, Splinter took a step toward the teen. Mikey's head ducked lower. He's braced for…rejection, Donny realized. Does he think…? Oh, Mikey. The rat reached out and placed his hand on the boy's head. Mikey flinched—something he hadn't done in years—a jolting reminder all by itself of how his past was different from theirs. "Look at me," Splinter commanded softly.

His hand dropped to rest on Mikey's shoulder as the teen raised those tear-filled blue eyes, wide and wary and nearly terrified. Splinter's eyes were black and fierce as he said slowly, with all the strength and conviction he possessed, "You. Are my son. You are Hamato Michelangelo. This name I gave you, like my love, is yours for always, my son. My little one. Nothing will ever change this. For what is truth can never change."

And then those tears started to fall. "Dad…" Mikey whispered just before the hand on his shoulder tugged him into a gentle embrace. It was the last sound he made as he buried his face in his father's shoulder and his shoulders started to shake. It was weird…ironic…that it seemed like the only thing the normally boisterous young ninja did truly in silence…was suffer.

Don stood and watched, waiting. He heard a sharp intake of breath and saw Raph with fists clenched at his sides, fury building in his eyes. The red-banded turtle suddenly stormed off in the direction of his room. Donny looked at Leo who watched their brother go. The leader shook his head as his jaw stiffened. He patted Mikey on the shoulder. "It's gonna be okay, buddy." Then he took off after Raph, anger in every movement he made.

A minute later, Mikey pulled back, futilely scrubbing his wet eyes with his wet sleeve. He took a breath and looked at his father. "So," he asked. He looked kind of lost. "What do I do?" It was a question that kind of proved the young ninja wasn't really sure even what question to ask.

"Right now," said the master sagely, "you must go remove these wet things. It is unsafe to go around in wet clothes as you are. Especially after staying out all night. Go now before you come down with something."

The normal, matter-of-fact tone from Splinter surprised a genuine grin from Mikey. "Okay, okay. I'm going." His smile softened just a little. "Thanks."

Splinter nodded. "Go. When you return, we may talk more."

With a nod, Mikey turned toward his room, stopping as he looked at Donatello. The turtle smiled and held out his fist, and with a quirky half-grin, Mikey bumped his fist against it. "Welcome home, little brother."

A rare, sweet smile. "Yeah." The human's eyes trailed along the direction Raph had stomped off in minutes before, traces of worry only recognizable by those who knew him well lining the blue irises. Then he toed out of his shoes and peeled off his socks, gathering them up as he walked toward his room. Cleared his throat. "Probably won't be any hot water by the time I'm out of the shower. Fair warning, bro."

Donny shook his head. "Mm. Shocker."

As Mikey disappeared, Donny's smile faded as he looked at his father. Splinter looked lost in his own world for a moment, eyes far away. Then he returned Donny's gaze. "It will be all right," he promised, sounding like it was as much for himself as for Don.

Donny nodded. "It'll be all right," he repeated.

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Young Leonardo's eyes shot open as he let out a quiet gasp. He quickly sat up and realized he was in his own bed in his own little room, and as the reality of where he was set in, his pounding heartbeats started to slow a bit. He looked around, squinting in the darkness, as the images of monsters and bad men slowly began to fade from his mind's eye. Leo didn't have nightmares too often. Hadn't had one really in at least a year or two, which seemed like forever, so this one had really caught him by surprise and left him feeling anxious and agitated and…wrong. He knew nightmares were probably childish, and he was the oldest and should've grown out of them by now. Even so, he felt twitchy, and the idea of closing his eyes and going back to sleep right then held no appeal whatsoever.

The young turtle slid from his bed, silently stretching before crossing to the door. He didn't usually have nightmares, but occasionally he did have trouble sleeping, and running through a quick workout usually helped. This plan fixed in mind, Leo left his room and moved stealthily toward the dojo. As he approached, though, he thought he heard whispers. He slinked up to the doorway, and stopped, peeking in.

"So you guys are the henchmen of Dr. Furiosity! I guess I shouldn't really be that surprised. I heard the guy was getting' kinda desperate…kiyah!" It was that little kid. Drilling on techniques they'd been going through that week. "Guess your four-on-one just became a three-on-one, huh? Well, dudes, get ready to go to a two-on-one because you're about to get intro-ed to what I like to call… The Kick of Deathtiny!" And running through a little commentary to go with. Leo grinned as he watched. The kid wasn't so bad actually. Style was sloppy in some places, too stiff in others. But honestly…he wasn't so bad.

"And now with all your henchman totally—um…dispatched!—Dr. Furiosity, it's time for your reign of terror to end here! You and your evil sidekick Nurse Shots!" With that, the kid closed in on his new "targets," and while Leo watched, leapt into the air, bringing his leg around in a near-perfect arc, spinning 360 degrees. But the kid couldn't get his feet back under him in time, and he slipped and went tumbling to the mat, landing on his back. Kid sucked in a painful breath. "Ow," he whispered. "That was dumb." He laid there for a second. "Give me a minute, Nurse Shots. Your time'll come. The world'll be safe from your…evilry…ish…ness."

"You know, for the record, you probably shouldn't be moving around so much. Saving the world or not," Leo said casually as he stepped into the room, walking toward the young human.

At the sound of Leo's voice, the kid jerked and scrambled up, eyes going wide as they landed on the turtle. "I…I…I…" He looked so startled he could barely make his mouth work as he backed away. "I didn't mean to wake you up." He winced, eyes fearfully darting around like he was trying to figure out the quickest escape route. "'m sorry. I wasn't gonna…I'll leave and I won't ever…"

Leo held up his hands. "Hey, take it easy. You're fine. You didn't wake me up. I came looking for a little workout. Like you."

The little boy swallowed nervously. "You mean you wanna fight me?"

"No, no, no," Leo quickly assured. "That's not what I meant. I didn't even know you were in here. You know, you're pretty good at this. You look like you've got a lot of the basics down. We just need to tighten 'em up and work on your form a little."

The kid blinked and raised an eyebrow as his breathing slowed slightly. "We do?"

"Sure. C'mere." The kid looked suspicious, but he cautiously stepped up closer. "Okay. Let's start from the beginning, I guess. We'll run through some movements in the first kata I ever learned. First form's called Chi No. Means earth. And I'll see how you do with that. If you start hurting or you get tired, tell me. We don't need to overdo it and mess you up more, right?" The kid nodded, wide-eyed. "Okay. See if you can follow me. Like Simon Says without...Simon. Or…saying anything."

So for the next twenty or thirty minutes, Leo worked him through forms. The kid seemed familiar with the first three elemental movements of the Sanshin No kata, nearly mirroring the turtle even on the first time through. "You do this before?" he'd asked. The kid just shrugged. And while they went through, Leo would stop and correct and explain, straightening the kid's wrist here or nudging his foot into stance there. The boy would flinch slightly at the contact, but didn't ask him to stop, so Leo figured it was okay to keep doing it. That's how Splinter had taught him and his brothers.

"Okay. Time for a breather," Leo announced. He flopped down to sit on the mat, patting the spot next to him. The human kid sank down a couple feet away, looking a little worn out, but happy enough about it. "You're good. Keep practicing like this, and you'll be able to keep up with me and my bros."He eyed the little guest. "What are you doing in here, anyway? Couldn't sleep?"

Kid shrugged. "I guess. How come you're here? Don't you sleep?"

Leo gave half a laugh. "Usually." Between the surprise of seeing the human kid and concentrating on teaching, the nightmare had mostly rolled off his shell. "Had a weird dream. Woke me up. Working out sort of…helps me chill out, I guess."

The boy sat slightly forward. "Was it a bad dream?" he whispered.

Leo shrugged. "Pretty bad."

"What happened?"

"Normal nightmare stuff I guess. Monsters. Bad guys. It got kind of ugly."

The kid's eyes widened. "You've seen monsters?"

Leo grinned. "Only in my dreams. No such thing as monsters."

The little kid frowned as it looked like he was trying to work something out in his head. All he said, though, was, "Oh."

Leo leaned back on his hands and grinned. "So what was that stuff you were doing when I came in?"

The boy suddenly looked down, hiding a shy grin. He shrugged. "It was…a kata."

"Not like any kata I've ever seen," Leo laughed without ridicule.

"It was…a new one."

Leo shot him a sideways glance. "A new one, huh?"

"Yeah," the kid decided. "I made it up."

Leo grinned. "If you make it up, it's not really a kata," he explained.

The kid pulled a face at the unfairness of that. "How come? All katas are made up by somebody, right?"

"Wh…" Leo stopped. The kid had him there. "Yeah. I guess. But…"

"It's funner to make it up, Leo." The kid was serious.

"Oh, yeah?"

He nodded. Then he grinned and stood up. "You should try one. It can't be one you already know. You just gotta…" His feet moved into stance as his hands went up into fighting guard, eyes looking past Leo. "You gotta see the bad guys. And they gotta be really bad, but not so bad that they're scary. And they're trying to attack you, 'cause…'cause they're a gang of orange thieves, and you're a rich orange farmer from…Africa."

"Don't oranges come from, like, Florida?"

Kid didn't even pause. "That's why these oranges are so special. And these guys are trying to take 'em. You gotta protect your oranges, Leo."

Leo shook his head, grinning as he stood next to the kid, mirroring his stance and following the boy's line of sight toward the invisible African orange thieves. "O-kay. Now what are they doing?"

"Well, there's a really big fat one with an ugly beard and one eyebrow and a straw hat. His gang calls him Dwayne Chuckles. And he's coming up at you, and he's gonna attack you. What're you gonna do?"

"All right…Chuckles," Leo said, feeling kind of stupid. "So he, being a fat guy and all, probably gets behind his fist, swinging from his shoulder with a lot of momentum."

"Yeah," the kid whispered with excitement.

"So I duck under," Leo did, "and come up to take him down with a flying round kick to the head." Leo leapt up in the air, executing the kick flawlessly. He landed. "And that's how we take down orange smugglers 'round these parts."He grinned at the giggling kid behind him. "How'd I do?"

"Good. There's one behind you!"

Leo turned, ready for action. "Quick, what's he look like?"

"You gotta tell me!"

"Um, he's real tall with huge muscles and a big tattoo right on his forehead. And he's coming at me with a…pair of scissors!"

The kid apparently thought that was hilarious. "What's his name?" he asked between giggles.

"Um…I don't know. Kevin?"

The kid dropped to his knees in quiet, barely contained laughter. "Get him, Leo!"

Leo managed to disarm the scissor-wielding maniac, and a lung-punch, palm strike combo laid the guy out. Leo decided he liked this game. The two kept playing, teaming up against orange thieves and evil carnival people and at one point an entire rogue faction of the U.S. Postal Service. They went on like that, making up stories, and giggling and training, Leo teaching the kid some new moves along the way as they went through their "katas." It had been almost forty-five minutes before Leo noticed the way the kid was walking. Leo stopped.

"Hey. You limping?"

The kid froze where he stood, looking caught. He looked down and shook his head. "No."

Leo shook his head. Kid was standing still at the moment, so technically he was telling the truth. "Okay, were you limping?"

The kid winced. "Sorry. I'll stop."

"What? No." Geeze, the kid thought he was in trouble for limping? Really? "No, I'm just saying we should call it quits for the night. I probably already worked you too hard as it is. And if you're hurting, I told you to tell me, remember?"

A tiny shrug. "Sorry. I didn't…I wasn't sure…" he trailed off.

Leo frowned. "You weren't sure about what?"

"It's usually better when I don't say anything. People don't get…mad as much."

"Yeah, well. Not too many people around. You can say stuff here."

"You're not mad?"

"I'm kind of annoyed." He gave a half grin to let the kid know he wasn't really. "I'll get over it. I'm pretty wiped out. 'm going to bed. You probably should go, too."

"'kay."

"'sides," he added. "If we don't get enough sleep tonight, we might be too tired to not be able to sleep tomorrow night." He grinned.

The kid looked up at him, confused, and then his eyes widened. "Really?" The turtle gave a shrug that was really more like a nod. The boy grinned. "'kay, I'm going. 'night, Leo."

Leo smiled and watched the kid make a beeline for the couch before the turtle headed toward his own room. "'night, buddy."

Leo watched Raph pound the crap out of a punching bag for a minute. The red-banded turtle looked like he was lost in it, throwing punch after punch after kick after kick. And finally, Raph pulled up short, standing still for a full second before letting out a quick, rage-filled shout, and flat out punching that bag. No form, no style. Just hitting something because he needed to see something else break before he did, looked like. Leo had had enough.

"Hey!" When there was no response, Leo jumped in and looped and arm through his brother's pulling the other turtle away from the bag. "What's your problem?"

Raph shoved him away, seething, too angry even to form words.

"Raph!"

"I'm gonna kill him!" his younger brother finally yelled. "I'm gonna freakin' kill him!"

Leo's face screwed up in horrified disbelief. "What? You're blaming him for this?"

"What do you mean I'm blamin' him for this? Who the shell else's fault is it, huh?" Raph squeezed his eyes shut for a second and then threw his fist back into the bag.

Leo shook his head. This wasn't like Raph. This wasn't Raph. Raph loved Mikey. That wouldn't change because of… "You don't really…. Raph, this doesn't change anything."

"Not for us, it don't. It sure as heck does for Mikey, though, doesn't it?" He threw another punch, the chains rattling on the bag. "Gah! I hate him!" He kept hitting. "Why'd he have to come back, huh? He just had to come back. Had to come back and ruin everything!"

Anger, red and hot, burned through Leo's veins. "Take it back, Raph," he ordered with deadly calm. "Now."

Raph looked up at him like he was just seeing him. "Take it back? What the heck are you talkin' about? We killed the guy! Twice! And just when everything's getting' back to normal, he comes in here and freakin' drops a bombshell on Mikey's head! How's that kid supposed to deal with this, huh?"

Leo blinked. Shredder. Raph was talking about the Shredder. The blue-banded turtle suddenly felt like ten kinds of an idiot and worse for thinking otherwise about his brother.

Raph wasn't done. "And you wanna know what else? You wanna know who else's fault this is?"

"Raph…"

"If I hadn'ta lost his locket, none of this would be happening right now, would it? Would it? Shredder never woulda known who Mikey was if he hadn't got his hands on that necklace. It don't make a difference to us, but Leo, you know it's gonna torture that kid. And Shredder's back, and you know he's gotta be up to something, and we're gonna have to stop him, but what are we gonna do, huh? We gonna ask Mikey to help us kill his own…" He bit off the last word and hit the bag harder. "I hate that guy!"

Leo could just watch. "Me, too," he said quietly. "Raph, it's not your…"

"Shove it, Leo."

Leo's jaw stiffened. "You shove it, Raph. You're right. This sucks. You want to feel guilty? Fine. You want to make this about you? Fine. Up to you, I guess. I'll try to explain to Mikey that you can't be there for him when he needs you most because you're busy kicking yourself for not being able to see the future or do the impossible or whatever it is you're bent on blaming yourself for."

"It's my fault!"

"I don't care!"

Raph was breathing hard. "Leo, Shredder's gotta have something up his sleeve. This whole thing is wrong—feels wrong."

"I know."

Raph shook his head. "Everything that happens because of this is on me, bro. We can't lose our family to this. We can't. I can't let us."

"We won't. And you're part of this family, too." Leo wasn't about to lose this brother to a bunch of unfounded guilt.

"This just…it shouldn't be happening, you know? Not to us. Not to Mikey."

"I know," Leo nodded. "I know."

"I'm gonna kill that guy," Raph said lowly, eyes going dark and dangerous. "I swear I'm gonna kill him."

Leo took a deep breath and ran his hand over his head. "Yeah, well. If it comes to that," he said. "Get in line."

TMNTTMNTTMNTTMNTTMNTTMNTTMNT

Michelangelo turned on the water in the shower, waited for it to heat up as he slipped his soggy shirt over his head, feeling kind of…spent. He'd never been on a real roller coaster before, but if the emotional kind were any indication, they must really suck. He paused, staring at himself in the mirror for a minute. Was it really possible? He looked at all the lines of his face, checking every feature for a resemblance to the now-disfigured mutant Shredder. His hair was really dark, almost black. His skin naturally light tan, but not dark enough to look really Japanese. His eyes were big and blue like his Irish mother's. His bone structure was fine, almost delicate-looking, and looked like it could possibly contain some Asian influence. Mikey sighed. "Well, still don't have the sudden urge to put on a metal costume and call myself the Blender."

He sat heavily on the toilet seat as the room started to fill with steam. When he was little, he'd always wondered about what happened to his dad. After his mom was gone, he'd always imagine his dad would be like some superhero or secret agent spy or something, and one day this awesome, strong guy would bust in and save him. Then he'd met Splinter. And Splinter had saved him. He got a whole new family with a dad and three big brothers that he loved more than anything, and everything that happened before he could forget because it was over and he was safe. Except for her. He didn't want to forget her. And now he had her name. Olivia Ivor. If that really was her name, he might have a chance to find out what his mind had buried all those years ago. No matter what he found, he had to know. Because whatever else he found, he knew she'd loved him.

Mikey took a deep breath and stood, setting his locket on the sink counter. "I'm gonna do it," he whispered, decision made. "I'm gonna find her." He had to. He looked at himself in the mirror and winced, knowing what he had to do. "This is not gonna go over well."