A/N: I don't have steady access to internet right now, I will try to update at least once a week. I hope everyone is enjoying this so far.
6 Hours till landfall
The guys were soaked to the bone from the pelting rain. Raph placed the last sandbag on the wall. "Phew, made it just in time."
"What do you mean?" Leo asked wiping rain from his forehead.
"Well, look." Raph pointed at the street which was starting to have standing water already. By now most of the people in this neighborhood were gone. Even the Purple Dragons were nowhere to be seen.
Behind them Donnie cursed and everyone turned to stare at him. "The storm surge! I forgot all about the storm surge!" He turned running back inside and to the elevator they'd installed in the back room.
His brothers followed not understanding what he was panicking about. "Donnie, what's going on?" Leo demanded.
"I have to get back to the lair!" He shouted as he hit the button to open the doors. "Sarah, Mira, Master Splinter they could drown!"
Cat had caught up with them. Raph turned to her and squeezed her hand. "Stay here." He ordered as he followed Donnie into the lift.
Cat didn't have a chance to protest as the doors closed. When the doors reopened on the subbasement level, they were instantly standing in ankle deep water. "Hey, isn't this area normally dry?" Mikey commented.
"No! No!" Donnie shrieked. He could feel Sarah's panic swell inside him like a volcano.
Leo jumped into the driver's seat of the slider. "Come on!" The others jumped aboard. It was nearly a ten minute ride back to the lair. They would have to hurry. The slider sped along the tunnels for only a couple of minutes before it had to slow due to the debris and raging current. When the space between their heads and the top of the tunnel became way too close for comfort, Leo pulled to a stop.
"What are you doing!" Donnie demanded, already pulling off his seat belt.
Raph grabbed him from behind. "We can't get through there, Donnie!"
"Let go! I have to get to them!" Donnie fought off his brother's arms.
"There's too much debris and the current's too strong. We can't swim through there even the slider is having trouble." Leo knew how his brother must be feeling. His mate and child as well as their father, could very well be lost to them. "We can't get through here. We'll have to find another way."
Donnie suddenly gasped as if he'd been punched in the stomach. Mikey grabbed his shoulder. "Donnie, what's wrong?"
Leo narrowed his eyes. "Donnie, tell us what's going on!"
"It's Sarah she's hurt." He breathed through clenched teeth.
The brothers gasped. Leo came quickly back to business. "Are they alive?"
"I can only sense Sarah. She's unconscious, I think."
Mikey began to panic. "What about Master Splinter and Mira?"
"I don't know. I can't sense Mira the way Sarah can." Donnie choked back tears at the thought of his little girl drowning.
"If Sarah is alive I'm sure they are too." Leo assured his brothers. "Now we need to get to the surface, before we drown." Leo turned the slider and headed back the way they came. Spotting a grate that led into the subway, he turned the slider to break through. The trains had stopped running long ago, so there was no danger of being spotted or hit by one. The water here was quickly rising too and they were able to ride the slider nearly to the surface.
"Can you tell which direction she is?" Leo asked as they came to the top of the stairs.
Donnie closed his eyes. It was hard to focus. There seemed to be a buzzing noise inside his head. Forcing the noise aside he finally found the spark of fire that was always there. "This way!"
"What about Master Splinter and Mira?" Mikey ran behind his brothers.
"We'll just have to hope they are with her." Raph hoped with everything he was that he was right.
The water swirled around her in a cyclone all its own. Air, there isn't enough air! Her mind screamed as her body was slammed against debris and tunnel walls. Her head struck something hard and darkness started to engulf her. No, Donnie and Mira need me. But there was no way to fight the vail that fell over her eyes - a darkness blacker than night.
Suddenly air seared into her lungs along with other sensations – mud, grass, the bite of cold rain. The darkness however consumed her before anything else could be felt.
5 Hours till landfall
Raph was confused. How did Sarah end up in the warehouse district north of the garage? But yet that was exactly where Donnie was leading them. Their feet pounded the wet pavement as they hurried along the mostly deserted streets. Most of New York's residents had heeded the warnings and fled the city. "Donnie, are you sure you know where you're going?"
"She's just ahead." Donnie begged his feet to move faster. At last they came to a stop near a large ditch that was filling with water. At first they didn't see her. But then Donnie gasped and jumped into the ditch. He moved aside some debris and lifted a form from the thick mud on the far side. It was their turn to gasp as they realized it was Sarah.
Donnie struggled up the ditch's steep embankment to lay her on the cement. She was coated in mud and blood was trickling from a gash on the side of her head. Her long hair was matted with mud, blood, sticks and whole lot of other things. To any other person she looked awful, but to Donnie she was the most beautiful creature in the world at that moment. She was alive and breathing, what more could he ask for. Tears sprang unbidden mixed with relief and fear.
He looked up at his eldest brother. "Mira…Splinter…" Leo immediately jumped down into the ditch followed by Mikey and Raph. The three dug through the refuse while fighting off the rising water and powerful current. They even searched along the bottom, but still found nothing.
"They're not here." Leo knelt beside Donnie. His eyes fixed on the limp form in front of him with worry. Donnie had managed to clean away some of the mud from her face and he'd found the gash on the side of her head, which he was pressing his fingers to, to prevent more bleeding.
Donnie looked at his unconscious mate. "She can find them, once she wakes up." Which he hoped would be very soon.
Raph looked out across the bay which lay to the east and what he saw horrified him. "Guys, we really need to get back to the garage."
Cat's cell rang and she jumped a little. The guys had been gone a while and she was starting to worry. A bit of relief washed over her as she opened the cell, only to have it dashed away. "Uh, hi, April."
"Hey, I was just calling to check on you guys. I decided to stay and thought maybe you should come up to my apartment. I'm on the third floor so I think it should be safe, at least a lot safer than the lair."
"Well, I'm at the garage, but the guys aren't here. They went back to get Splinter, Sarah and Mira." Cat looked at the wall of sandbags and realized that the water level had significantly risen. It was now at least a foot deep. "I'll tell them when they get back. It might not be such a bad idea. I'm afraid things may get a little hairy here."
April gave a hallow laugh. "With the guys involved, I have no doubt of that. Well, I'll be here if you need me."
"Okay." They hung up and Cat frowned as the water continued to rise. "Raph, where are you?"
Splinter moved as quickly as he could through the labyrinth of tunnels. But he was not as young or agile as he once was. It had been nearly thirty years since he had carried a small turtle through the sewers. Mira was crying and trembling in his arms. He was beginning to worry about her as he at last found a ladder leading to the surface. He struggled with the manhole cover and was able to move it enough to get them through. The cold water from the street above rushed down and threatened to dislodge him from the ladder. Gritting his teeth against the cold, he pulled them from the sewers to the safety of an alleyway. He was relieved to find the streets above deserted as he took refuge beneath an overhang near a doorway in the alley.
"Mira, it is alright child." He pressed her trembling form into his chest. "We will find your mother and father."
There was a little sneeze and for the first time Splinter realized what it was that had been bothering him. His granddaughter's scent had changed, she smelled of sickness. Laying his hand atop her head, he noticed she was also running a light fever. He needed to get her some place warm and dry. He looked around. It was difficult to tell exactly where they'd surfaced. He would have to find some landmark to get an idea how far they were from the garage.
His heart ached at the thought of dragging the child back out into the rain but he had no choice. The streets were beginning to flood, so the best bet was the rooftops. Untying his kimono, he pulled Mira inside it and retied it around them. It wasn't much but it would have to do for the moment. Beside him was a newspaper that was still mostly dry. Taking it, he made a tiny covering for the turtle's head. Mira's had quieted a bit, she was still trembling but the wailing had stopped.
Venturing out into the rain, he found a fire-escape to climb. "Don't worry my little one, we will be safe soon." Splinter gathered his bearings as he stood atop the roof. They were still more than three quarters of a mile away. Taking a deep breath, he began to sprint across the rooftops. It had been many years since he had gone a training run with his sons. Leonardo now carried the bulk of their training in his hands.
The old rat's body creaked and screamed in pain as he forced it to comply with his commands. They were still a half mile away when he felt something hit his head. He gasped as he felt another. Little Mira gave a cry in his arms. It was hailing and it was getting harder. Scanning the rooftop, he found a small shed. Luckily it was unlocked.
He sighed with relief as he closed the door behind them. Examining the contents of the small structure he found a few boxes, a bucket, and a broom.
"I'm cold, Sofu." Little Mira whimpered.
"I know. I will find something to cover you with." Still cuddling the little tot to him, Splinter went to the boxes. The first contained pots and pans, the second held books, and the third, to his relief, held clothes. The clothes were apparently for a very large man. Taking out a large sweater, he pulled Mira from his kimono and slipped it over her head. It literally swallowed the tiny turtle. He took the arms and tied them into a knot, effectively synching the fabric around her.
"How are you feeling, child?"
"I'm thirsty." Mira said drowsily, licking her lips. "I want Mommy."
Splinter's heart ached. Sarah had been swept away by the current. There was no way to know if she had survived. And if she hadn't, Mira would be orphaned for Donatello would likely follow Sarah into death. Splinter laid Mira atop the rest of the clothes and moved to the box of pots. He placed one outside the small shed's door in hopes of catching some rain water or even hail. He could at least provide his grandchild with a drink.
A/N: Sofu means grandfather. Poor little Mira, I hate when little ones are sick, they are just so pitiful.
Please if you like don't for get to write - a review that is!