𝗔𝗨𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗥'𝗦 𝗡𝗢𝗧𝗘:

I originally had this concept on my old tumblr 5-ish years ago? Give or take. This is a much better, updated version of it.

𝗧𝗥𝗜𝗚𝗚𝗘𝗥𝗦: Mention of Death/Murder

"Just go in, cause hell, and get out," a man with long dark hair said, looking at the map of the large building that seemed to ever be looming over the city. Covering the city in a dark shadow that only he and his friends seem to notice. He cracked his knuckles, looking over at his redheaded wife before looking back at the large computer with the map of the lab laid out. He watched as four dots blinked to indicate their friends' location.

"That's the plan, moron," a gruff voice sounded. Casey didn't need to even look at the computer to know that was the voice of the red-cladded terrapin.

"Yeah, but with you four it's never quite that easy," Casey responded before his wife nudged him, handing over the one-year-old that was in her hands.

"Too much chatter over the air wave," the blue leader responded, April watched as the orange and purple dot went into a room. The blue and red dot stood in the hallway. April was the one that got intel about Stockman using the turtles' DNA, she did trust the source, but she couldn't trust that Stockman or the Shredder wasn't ready for the turtles. She wished she could be more helpful, but it was hard with a bump and a child in tow.

"Okay, the fire wall shouldn't be too hard to bypass," Donnie informed, sitting down at the large computer to erase any mention of their DNA while Michelangelo occupied himself in the lab. "Don't touch anything," Donatello warned, cracking his knuckles before Mikey heard the clicking-clacking of the keyboard. Mikey looked around the stark white room, for once, he was ignoring the liquid of what would most definitely kill him. The orange turtle came to a stop when he saw four tubes. Under each tube was the name of each turtle and a number.

"Uh, Don," Mikey called, rubbing at the fogged up glass of one of the tubes to see a human-sized baby turtle floating in some weird green goo. It wasn't like the ooze that made them who they are, it was different. "I think I found what we're looking for!"

"We're in!" Donatello cheered quietly, not hearing his little brother. He opened up the needed files, blinking. "Wait," Donnie frowned, his eyes scanning the data, he almost didn't hear Mikey walk up to him.

"You guys need to see this," Mikey repeated, trying to nudge Donnie away from the computer. Donnie tried to shoo him off, his eyes not leaving the reports he found. He couldn't risk misunderstanding any of this.

"See what?" A pair of voices said, one being their favorite redheaded human and the other being the oldest brother. Mikey groaned, yanking the lab chair and turned it around to force his brother to look at the four tubes. Donnie got up, wiping at the remaining three tubes to see that each tube contained a small turtle babe. "What's going on?" Leo questioned, his voice almost lowering an octave.

"You guys might want to come in here," Donnie pulled out his turtle phone and scanned the tubes, sending the image and the data back to his computer at home. He could hear April gasp over the com. She wasn't quite expecting children to be involved when her source told her about the stolen DNA. April was sure this was the exact reason her source had told her.

"Is that what I think it is?" April asked, "They made children?" She stared at the image sent to her. Leonardo walked their way, stopping beside his younger brothers. Raphael stayed near the door to keep a close watch, not exactly trusting himself around children.

"Yeah," Donnie responded, "these four are the last of what they had of our DNA." He stepped back, rushing back to the computer. "What started off as a cloning experiment turned into direct reproduction," he looked over at his brothers and saw a few confused faces turn his way. "They are half ours," he explained simply, "think of it like Superman and the first Superboy," only Mikey seemed to understand that reference.

Leonard walked forward, stopping in front of the tube. Leonardo - #12. Twelve child experiments. His gut clenched. This was wrong. Knowing the Foot and Stockman, he didn't have to guess what happened to the other eleven experiments, if they were still around. "These aren't the only ones," Leo added quietly, his throat felt like it was closing at the mere thought.

"There's the number nineteen by my name," Mikey said, stepping behind Leo. His voice sounded like he was in pain. Raph never left the door, trying to wrap his head around it all. "That's so many kids," Mikey almost squeaked, turning to face Donnie. Donatello sighed, placing his USB drive into the computer to copy the data. "Where are they, Don? Does it say?" Mikey's voice almost sounded like he was begging, the face Donnie made was telling him the exact opposite of what the youngest turtle wanted to hear.

"All the previous experiments either died or were killed," Donnie closed his eyes for a moment, not wanting to look at his baby brother when given the news. The number on the plaque doesn't even include the five clones they tried to make. Each and every experiment started off as eggs, and after they were hatched they were all forced to age up, if Shredder or Stockman didn't find something defective with them. The aging process killed the ones that Shredder and Stockman found suitable. "They are going to force these four to age up, and it's going to kill them," he finally opened his eyes, glancing at the data he had just read.

"Let them die," Raph called out, glancing out of the hallway. "Do you see anyone coming, April?" This was meant to be an easy mission. Fuck Casey for jinxing this.

"I'm still here," April looked at the computer screen, wiping away tears that surfaced. "Five, third floor but coming up," she cleared her throat as she held her stomach before glancing at the sleeping ginger in her husband's arm. April knew she was being emotional, but she couldn't help but feel sad for all those lost hatchlings.

"Let's clear this shit, destroy the work, and get the fuck out of here!" Raph called to Leo.

"We can't just let them die!" Mikey yelled, "You heard Donnie! They are basically our kids!"

"I don't remember fucking another turtle! Do you?" Raphael growled out, rolling his eyes when Mikey turned to Leo.

"Leo, if we keep them here they will either die," Donnie stated clearly, taking out his USB and sending his virus to shut down the computer for good. "The stress on their bodies from the aging machines will kill them, and that is if Stockman or Shredder doesn't find something wrong with them first." He stepped forward to the tube with his name, "This is just stasis ooze, we can get them out and move them safely." Raphael rolled his eyes, closing the door when April warned them they only have a couple more floors before the goons find them.

"We don't have time for this!"

"Raph!" Leo called out, trying to quiet his brother so he could think about this. He looked at his brothers, his wide blue eyes taking in the faces of each brother. Mikey was pleading. Donnie looked like he was trying to let Leo decide, but he didn't look away from his pod. Raphael looked… Scared. "Mikey, find something to put the babies in! Donnie, shut down the stasis!" Before Raph could protest, Leo sent his brother a glare. He knew very well that if they let these four die, that it would eat at each one of them. Even if Raphael was hiding behind his facade. It would be different if they were still eggs, but they're not. They're here. Alive. "Just watch the door," Leo commanded, grabbing the baby in his tube once Donnie shut down the stasis. Mikey ran to Leo with four cloth lab coats to wrap the babies in.

"We can't fight with kids on our back," Raph reminded, pulling out his sais as the footsteps got closer.

"No," Leo pulled out his swords, "but we can." He let Mikey and Donnie handle the babies.

"I can lead you to the exit," a relieved voice said over the radio, the boys almost forgot April was still in their ear. Casey stood beside her, rubbing her back with his free hand as he held their son.

"You're a doll!" Mikey replied, holding the box while Donnie put in the last child. "We got them, let's go!"

"You cannot be serious," Raph said, looking at the four sleeping babies in the makeshift cot. Donnie had said it would take a bit for them to wake up, they were in the sleeping pods for a while. Mikey ended up finding their old masks and made a make-shift bracelet for each baby, he said it was easier to tell which child was made with which DNA. Raph felt it was unnecessary, the sleeping girl with the red bracelet looked exactly like him. Even down to the shade of green he was, "They are meant to be experiments. Weapons. Toys!" He pulled his eyesight away from his daughter, her.

"It was that or let living beings die," Leo snapped, he usually snapped at Raph, but this time he felt a little more protective. When they stopped trying to make clones, they started using half of their DNA, making them half of their own. They may have not come about the way he had hoped, but that was his son. Sort of. Technically. His son was larger than the others, at least a week or so older. "It's bad enough they killed the other children. I will not," he spoke clearly, making sure there was no room for an argument, "allow these children to be pawns or killed. We'll take them in as our own."

"We are not meant to be parents," Raphael's voice almost cracked. He was not meant to be a father, let alone to something that looks so fragile. Raphael will break anything he can put his hands on, why would he want to risk that with a baby? His baby? He looked to his other brothers for some sort of support, but Mikey sat beside the babies, watching them. Donnie sat in his chair with his laptop, reading over everything they found. Again. With a sigh he looked at Casey who sat beside his pregnant wife and son. At one point Casey was terrified too, but now he looks so confident. It made the turtle feel alone. Made him feel like no one would be able to understand how detrimental his anger could be to the child.

"It is easy to get lost in self-doubt," Splinter responded, coming into the living room. Raphael listened to the click, click, click of his father's cane. It was easy for the boys to calm down in the presence of their father, he had always seemed to have enough wisdom. However, Raph wasn't sure his father could say anything that would make him ready. "Parenthood is terrifying," the old rat said, stopping short beside his youngest son. Mikey looked at his father before looking at the littlest baby with the orange bracelet. Donnie had said he just recently hatched, only a few days old. "But rewarding," Splinter promised, patting the top of his orange son's head before turning to look at the other turtles and their two human friends. In a way, Splinter was a father to all of them and now a grandfather to Augustus and the unborn O'Neil-Jones child. "Like any child, they will need guidance, understanding, and love." He looked at Raphael, silently telling him that he was capable, if he wanted to be. "You won't be alone, you'll have each other and me." Splinter continued, looking at the small ginger on April's lap, before looking at the four hatchlings.

"If you truly do not want her, I will take her in," Leo said to Raph, he was nervous too, but it would be worse to force Raphael into taking care of a child he doesn't want. Raphael almost sneered, not sure if he liked the thought of his brother thinking he didn't want her. He didn't want to hurt her.

"It takes a village, or something like that," Casey reminded, pushing himself off the arm rest. "We'll be here for you guys, besides, our little ones are gonna need some turtle friends of his own." Casey ignored whatever comment Donnie was making about his grammar and picked up Auggie from April's lap.

"Give me some time," Raphael grumbled, moving to lean against the wall. He wasn't sure how much time he could take when his child was already a living, breathing thing that exists somewhere outside his dreams.

"I think I'm going to name him Titan," Mikey wasn't usually the quiet one, but since they got home he had not left his spot by the hatchlings. He was so awestruck, watching each movement his son and niblings had made. He could spot the differences in each child. His son had a slight patch of a darker green over his left eye. Donnie's child was thinner and had a softer shell. Raphael's daughter and dark dots across her cheeks, they almost looked like freckles. Leo's son was bigger and a lighter green tone than the others.

"Like Tizaiano Vecellio?" Donnie asked, finally closing the laptop. "The Italian Renaissance painter?" Donnie got up, stretching, before he walked over to stand beside Mikey. The hatchlings should be waking up soon, it's been almost an hour.

"No," Mikey admitted, "Like Turtle Titan, but Tizz-ay-no works." He gave a shrug. "Can you write it down for me, so I know how to spell it?" Donnie sighed, correcting him on his pronunciation.

"It fits," April chuckled, texting Mikey the spelling. "Have you guys thought of a name?" April asked, looking at Donnie and Leo. She figured Raph hadn't thought of one, nor did she want to put him on the spot, her suspicion was proven right when he looked away. April and Casey had months to think of names before deciding to name Auggie after her uncle, and they still had time to decide for their unborn. The boys didn't really have time, the hatchlings were here.

"Luca," Donnie said simply, "From Luca Giordano," he moved to pick up his child carefully. Luca couldn't be much older than Titan. They slept so calmly. "If we're following the Italian Artists tradition."

"That one is so much easier to spell," Mikey whined.

"Sensei, could you name him?" Leo requested, turning to his father. It felt like a good way to honor his father, following the name tradition and allowing his father to choose.

"Hm," he hummed in response, turning to grab his kettle of tea to give him and April a cup of tea. "Domenico," he responded finally, handing a cup to the redhead before sitting down. He had always liked that name, the art Domenico was beautiful too. Beautiful, like his grandchildren. "Yes, Domenico is a fine name," given from Domenico Ghirlandaio. Splinter filled his own cup before looking at Raphael as he headed to his room. "Do you not wish to name her?"

"You name her," Raphael stated, turning to his father. He couldn't bring himself to name a child he knew he was unable to care for. He could hear her stir, his eyes threatening to look away from his bedroom door to look at her face again. "I don't know of any lady artists," he responded, going to his room.

Splinter sighed, walking to his granddaughter as she stirred her and her cousins awake. He reached down to pick her up, the hatchling in his arm squirmed a little before calming down to the sound of her grandfather's heartbeat. "Elisabetta is a beautiful name for you," he commented quietly, derived from Elisabetta Sirani. He gave a soft smile, quietly promising her love and safety. He knew Raphael loved his daughter, but he also knew Raphael was battling himself.