TMNT are Mirage's. Baker is mine. Unruly teenagers belong to whatever parent can be forced to accept the responsibility.

Crankiness

The Sochin.

He never could explain it, but this was his favorite kata.

As Leonardo performed the smooth, deliberate, controlled moves that went from something that looked like a slow-motion gesture of the arms- only to erupt into a very quick and powerful kick or punch- he forgot all of his grievances and problems and hurts.

Mostly.

Arms extend- swing the left arm in an upward move to block, bring the right arm down to block- hold- move- double punch turn-

kick- pause- move forward-

And with each punch and kick, the word UNFAIR repeats itself like some childish mantra.

swish-punch!- UNFAIR! I'm not a baby! Turn- pause- double punch! UNFAIR!

After a few minutes of this, he sighed. Grabbing a bokken, he began the Kojo Gokui Goten. He really needed a partner for this exercise, but at the moment he was alone in the dojo, so he went through the five katas as if he faced an "opponent". As with the Sochin, it was a favorite exercise- and at first he was distracted from his attitude by the concentration needed to pretend that he faced someone else as he executed the moves: weapon held in both hands in front of him, pointing up at forty-five degree angle- move down pointing to floor step forward- swing up midway step forward- extend above head, prepare for sweeping swing-

NO FAIR! The wooden blade sliced the air as if it were his worst enemy!

Raph stood nearby, unnoticed, watching his older brother, reading his emotions. He knew that Leo had been angry the day that Mikey had been let off the hook; he couldn't believe, however, that Mr. Perfect Son was still holding onto this grudge! That sound more like Raph!

As he observed his brother turning his katas into something more, he thought about what they both had been going through with Splinter.

Raph, surprisingly, had been more and more accepting of the limits. Possibly the fact that it was so damn cold out had some influence for the moment on his normally rebellious streak; the fact that Casey and April were very much together a lot any more was another possible factor.

"Lookin' kinda pissed, Leo," he said easily, as he walked to the weapons rack and picked up a bokken, then positioned himself in front of Leo. With a nod, he signaled to begin, and the two of them launched into the practice properly.

Silence for several minutes. Raph was no slouch with the swords, though whether through long years of habit or else true joy he preferred his defensive weapons- the skill it took to use something that was basically for protection rather than aggressive combat- to use it with deadly force- that had appealed to something in Raphael, though he at first felt cheated when Splinter had chosen those weapons for him.

But he could, as the others could, fight with many weapons, and he did enjoy this kind of sparring with Leo sometimes. He never failed to surprise "sword-boy" at least once during a bout with the bokken or the katana.

Right now, it was just the katas of the Kojo Gokui Goten. Move, block, turn, step back, step forward, slow moves, fast moves, like a well-choreographed dance, the two of them kept at it, and Raph could see that Leo was finally concentrating on the actual exercise, not on his anger.

After a while, they both stopped. Leo looked a bit more relaxed.

"It's still not fair," he couldn't help saying, as he put both bokken back in the rack. "I mean, this is beyond ridiculous."

"I hear ya, but what are we gonna do?" Raphael asked, taking a few punches at the heavy bag as his way of winding down from the activity. "I mean, Splinter is going to do this. And until we can prove that he doesn't need to do this, he is going to keep doing this."

"Are you preaching tolerance?" Leo asked, incredulous. "Since when have you ever gone along with restrictions? You were just as eager as I was to escape; now you just seem to accept it!"

Raph shrugged between punches.

"I just figured that it wasn't worth putting Splinter through all that grief any more."

Leo stared at Raph as if he were mutating before his very eyes.

"Raph, don't you want to go visit Casey without him tagging along?"

"Sure," he replied, landing a particularly good kick on the bag with a "HA".

"So? Why haven't you tried to sneak out and hook up with him? You haven't tried anything like that in weeks." Leo, hands on hips, continued to stare in disbelief at his normally hotheaded brother.

"Well, like I said, I don't wanna stress Sensei anymore than I have been," he replied. "And 'sides, Casey is too 'wrapped up' in April- literally. The last time I managed to sneak away to visit without Splinter, I walked in on 'em- Ummmm- you know."

"Eww! What happened?"

"Well, let's just say that from now on I'm not welcome there without calling first," Raph laughed. "I'll tell you this much, however- they won't be doin' that in the kitchen again anytime soon."

"Oh, don't tell Mikey," Leo, momentarily distracted, tried to rid his imagination of what was hinted at. "You know how he is about the abuse of rooms dedicated to food."

"Shit, I don't know who was more shocked, them, me, or Sensei," Raph said, with a final punch at the bag.

Leo frowned.

"I thought you said-"

"Yeah, for the moment I had escaped. But Don, that wonderful brother of ours, had planted a tracking device on me. Splinter was entering through one window while I was entering the other- we both got an unwanted eyeful."

Leo had a laugh at Splinter's expense as he followed Raph out of the dojo and into the kitchen. Once there, his initial dissatisfaction returned.

"How are we going to convince Splinter that he needs to stop worrying?" he asked, accepting a bottle of water from his brother. He studied the label rather than drinking, however. "I mean, we all agreed to kill ourselves on that space ship. And we took out Bishop. We've proven that we are not helpless. Yet..."

"Yet he had to save our sorry asses from the Foot," Raph reminded him. "And not a lot of Foot, I might add. You and me have whipped larger numbers then that. Now, I for one do NOT want to be in a position to have to have my Daddy fight my battles for me ever again. That's why I went and talked to him."

Leo looked up suddenly at Raph, who sat there calmly drinking a soda.

"Talked to him? Talked about what?"

"About behavin' myself until he thought I was ready to be set free once and for all," he responded. "And I intend on stickin' to it this time. You may not have noticed it, Leo- hell, I didn't notice it until a bit ago- but Splinter has been stressin' on this. During our talk he admitted that he was- well, afraid for us. But he's workin' on it."

Raph finished his soda, stood up and tossed the can into the box for recycling, then looked at Leo as if he were the eldest brother offering advice to his younger sibling.

"But I realized that my obsession with actin' like a kid tryin' to break free only made his obsession of bein' the overprotective parent that much worse. So, I've been behavin' myself. And it's paid off."

And he headed towards the door- alone.

"HEY!" Leo shouted, rushing from the kitchen to grab Raph by the arm. "Where the hell are you going? What do you mean it's paid off?"

"I'm going over to April's- invited and expected," he grinned, grabbing a coat. "Splinter said I could start going out again as long as I told him were I was going. And I intend to keep lettin' him know until he has finally let go of this need to shadow me. Later, bro."

And he left his brother standing there, mouth agape- with one more grievance against Splinter.

He'd managed to stay in this warehouse undetected for many days now. In fact, things had seemed to let up enough for him to finally make much needed contact with his friend, who was able to make a very welcome drop of supplies and money at one of their safe spots. Thank God its security was not compromised! His greatest fear was to go to one of these spots only to be captured.

He still imagined that he was being followed, and was afraid that if he appeared to be too concerned with who was possibly watching him, he would draw unwanted attention to himself.

In the safety of his "home" he unpacked the welcome supplies of a sturdy flashlight with batteries, packets of energy bars for when he couldn't get food, and a few bottles of water- this had been a nice gesture on his friend's part. He was able to get water in the warehouse- the bathroom still worked, including the sink, but the water did taste rather "off".

And now with more money, he could blend into the line that formed at the daily visit of the "roach coach" that catered to those who were working at the few warehouses still in operation and have at least one "hot" meal a day, as well as buy something for the evening. Hardly fine dining at its best, but hey, food was food!

Knowing that they would be looking for him among the homeless still, he'd managed to get (also from his friend) a change of clothing that would help him to "blend in" even better with the workers. There were so many, that it would be easy to mix. He'd tried twice before, and had met no problems, no questions, no "hey, where do you work?" They were hungry, tired men, only concerned with getting something hot to eat and then get inside out of this cold and eat it before the break was over; there was no time for idle chitchat.

Yes, he thought, making himself comfortable on the couch with the flashlight and a recent copy of the Times; things were looking calm for the moment.

"Mistress Karai," her assistant respectfully bowed. She motioned that he may enter, grateful for the interruption of this tedious paperwork! She doubted he would have any news, but as the days of dealing with legal matters as well as the "legitimate" business of running the memorial library turned into mind-numbing, boring weeks of endless meetings and files and forms and figures, she was growing increasingly restless and resentful- HOW had her father put up with all of this- this- bakabakashii paperwork?

"Mistress, we have news of this person called Dr. Baker," he said, bowing before her desk. "One of our operatives was fortunate enough to spot him picking up some supplies, and has followed him to the general area of his current location."

"The area?"

"Regretfully, there were many workers in the area, and our man was unlucky enough to lose him in the crowd, but he is positive that he must be staying close by. There are many empty buildings in this section. It is close to the river front-" Here, with her permission, he spread a map of the area. "There are many places that are still quite active during the day. The night, however, remains to be seen. What with the current state of the weather, it may be that a search would best be conducted during the late evening."

Karai studied the map. Why did this area seem familiar? Something nagged her mind; something she'd heard about on the news? No matter. This was their first lucky break in a while.

"The operative is to be commended," she said, and her assistant bowed in acknowledgment. "Have him and one other stake out the area. They are not to act until we are certain that he is indeed in one of these buildings. When they have definitely located him, we will move in and take him."

"Hai, Mistress Karai," he bowed again, starting to gather up the map; she, however, prevented him with a small gesture. She wished to study this herself for some few minutes. It was a relief to her mind to be doing something that required the kind of planning she was longing for- the escape from the tedium of the "real world" that had been her unfortunate legacy.

"Once confirmation is made, notify me at once," she ordered, eyes still on this map. "I may wish to be there when we have him in our grasp."

"Hai, Mistress."

Don was sitting in Splinter's chair, eyes on the door of his father. He had a happy, almost expectant look on his face as he continued to watch the door, as if something fascinating was about to emerge from that room.

Mikey, coming down from his room to watch a little television, noticed the attention that his brother was paying the door, and looked at this smartest brother in puzzlement.

"Dude, what's the interest in Splinter's room?" he asked, plopping down on the couch even as he reached for the remote and flipped on all the TVs at once.

With a swift movement, Don came out of Splinter's chair and hit the "mute" button of the remote, silencing the program even as he silenced his brother.

"Shh!" he hissed, eyes barely moving from the door of Splinter's room. "Leo found out earlier that Raph is off probation, and can come and go as he pleases as long as he tells Splinter where he's headed. I'm waiting for the fireworks to erupt."

"Don, seriously, you need help," Mikey said. "You still have these unresolved anger issues that you need to deal with."

"And what would you know about unresolved anger issues?" Don, momentarily distracted by Mikey, glared at the Turtle.

"Hey! I watch Dr. Phil!" Mikey defended, voice tinged with a touch of an indignant tone.

Before Don could properly reply to his obviously delusional brother, a loud outburst from Splinter's room caught both their attentions.

"What do you mean, I'm not ready?"

"Exactly what I say! I always say what I mean, Leonardo! You are not ready!"

"And Raph is?"

"Your brother has shown more maturity in this matter than you have! You continue to approach this matter in a decidedly immature way! And, DO NOT RAISE YOUR VOICE TO ME AGAIN!"

Silence- then the door to Splinter's room slid open under a lot of force, and Leo exploded forth. In several quick strides he was in the dojo, attacking the heavy bag in much the same way that Raph did when he was angry.

Splinter was right behind him, almost before Leo landed the third punch. Ears flat, whiskers quivering, and that tail lashing back and forth as if it were seeking a naughty turtle behind to spank!

Leo turned to face his father, desperately holding onto his temper. He just knew- he just KNEW- that he was going to do or say something that he would regret down the road but would be emotionally satisfying in the immediate moment.

Don just sat there, transfixed, wondering who would land the first blow.

And at that moment, Raph came bursting into the lair.

"Guys! I don't know what's up, but comin' back here I spotted a coupla Foot headed this way! I trailed them a ways to see what was up. Followed them as far as the waterfront- near that building where Mikey nearly became rat droppings! Anyone up for a little action?"

All eyes now turned to Splinter, who was still locked gaze to gaze with Leonardo.

"Yes," he said, eye contact never wavering. "Yes, I think you four should go and check it out. I do not like the fact that they even that close to us. Find out what is going on. But do not be careless."

"Hai, Sensei!" three of them chorused; only Leo had remained silent.

With great, great restraint, he kept all disrespect, all anger from his voice as he bowed.

"Hai, Sensei! We will be careful."