I'm older now- another birthday has come and gone- and yet, Mirage still owns TMNT, Leatherhead, Honeycutt, Hun, and the Rat King (as well as that well-known phrase "everyone fears me- except the rats"). I own Baker, Tony, the unnamed Purple Dragon, and a whole lot of trouble IRL. heavy sigh

Cynosure

Leo sat, mentally holding his breath, as Splinter considered all that he had said.

Looking back over it in his mind, Leo was sure he had made his case in an adult manner, with just enough humility, no arrogance, and not one drop of pleading. He had rehearsed it enough times, even going to Raph for suggestions.

"I'm trying to get OUT of grounding, not get more."

Splinter sighed and looked at Leonardo. His son had made many excellent points and accurate (though, to Splinter, rather painful) statements regarding this entire situation. But he had done it in a respectful, calm, and "adult" manner. He must have practiced this speech with the same determination and single-focused dedication he devoted to his lessons.

So, how do I do this without "relinquishing" my parental authority in the eyes of the others?

"Very well," he voiced carefully, and Leo had to squeeze his hands to the floor to keep from becoming overly excited. "For two weeks- merely two weeks- you may go above ground with any of your brothers. You may travel the tunnels on your own, but I insist on your going with at least one of the others when you surface. I am adamant on that point. At the end of those two weeks, you will have fulfilled your punishment."

Leo took several careful breaths. Better than he had hoped, and yet still disappointing.

But he recognized the glint in Splinter's eye, the one that dared him to complain or protest or otherwise reject even this condition.

Leo bowed down to the floor, forehead touching the stone lightly.

"Arigatou gozaimasu," he said gratefully.

Freedom!

Splinter kept his face neutral as he called in the other three. He waited until all were arranged, then spoke.

"I do not want any of you above ground for the next few weeks," he said. "Karai and the Foot will be everywhere. They were too close the last time, and I do not wish another battle, especially in the sewers. I do not envision her sending them back in, but they will most definitely be watching as many exits as possible."

"What?"

Leo, wondering who had been rude enough to interrupt Splinter with such an outburst, realized that everyone was staring at him.

"I mean no disrespect," he said quickly, bowing. "Please forgive the outburst. But Master, we need to keep an eye out for them. If, as you suppose, they will not return to the sewers, we need to make sure-"

Splinter held up a quieting hand.

"There are ways to watch one's enemies, without exposing oneself," he told Leonardo, and then glanced at Donatello, who managed to keep the smug feeling he was experiencing from showing on his face.

"Everything is in place," he said, when Splinter indicated that he should speak. "Raph and I got it installed safely, and it's been transmitting fairly well. Also, Casey and April know not to come visit as they're probably being watched. Of course, we have no proof of that, but better safe than sorry."

Splinter nodded even as Leo suppressed all his turbulent questions that threatened to burst forth ("When did you install something with Raph? Where did you install it? Why wasn't I told, I'm the leader! Does this 'no going above ground for any of us' eat up my two-week baby-sitter requirement, or does it begin as soon as you give the all-clear?"). He did, however, finally manage to form a question relatively free of hostility.

"What does this top secret project do?" he asked, keeping his eyes carefully on Don.

Don allowed himself a smirk.

"Oh, it's fantastic! You know that listening device I put into that temporary place the Foot were camped out? Well, Raph and I installed an even more sophisticated one- INSIDE of the Oroku Saki Memorial Library! Right under their very noses!"

"No way! Dudes, you rule!" Mike laughed, slapping his brainy brother on the back in pride and congratulations and nearly knocking him forward. He made to do the same with Raph, but as his hand drew close to him, the older turtle, without taking his eyes from Splinter, blocked the move and then knocked Mike backwards onto his back. "Ow! Hey!"

"Michelangelo," was all Splinter said, as the youngest sat up, rubbing his plastron from the blow and the back of his head from its contact with the floor. Mike glared at Raph, then reseated himself, scooting closer to Don.

"And how will this help us?" Leo asked. "Do the Foot hang out in the library?"

Don looked at Leo, recognizing the tone in his voice. But he would not be the one to egg Leo on.

"Raph and I infiltrated the upper levels- where the Foot train."

"What? Are you two mad? They could have caught you! The security- how do you know they didn't see you? That place-"

"Leonardo!" Splinter snapped, and Leo shut his mouth- but everyone could see from the look on his face that he was not happy. Raph and Don had done something HE should have been in on! They had gone somewhere that HE should have led them too, had ENTERED the very place that HE had been grounded for by visiting the outside of it in the first place!

"We went that night, after Karai called in her men," Raph explained. He had known that Leo would not be happy to find out that he'd been left out of something that normally would have fallen to him. "We managed to get in while they was carryin' in the large number of casualties. The cameras was off. We even heard Karai order it. Guess she don't want no video proof of yet another defeat."

"And besides, the day I can't get past a security camera is the day I hang up my reputation as a genius," Don said sincerely.

"Still, you didn't place it in her office," Leo persisted. "You said you placed it on their training floor. That's hardly the place to learn anything!"

"Actually, we placed it in their bathroom," Don said. "And we've already learned a lot."

Mike made a gagging sound.

"The BATHROOM? Ewww- so we gotta listen as the Foot take dumps and such? Gross! I can just imagine the kind of information you've learned: 'Hey, Bob! I don't remember eating corn for dinner last night!'"

"Michelangelo, twenty flips!" Splinter ordered, brows drawn together in that way they all knew too well.

"Mike has a point," Leo said. "What can you learn in the bathroom? You should have found a way to install it closer to Karai's place."

"Leo, it's not been twenty-four hours since we did it, and we've learned a lot," Don insisted. "Listening to the Foot as they discuss what's going on has already gotten us the information that Karai is planning a purge of her organization. There's still that infighting going on, and it sounds like she's blaming the warring groups for her latest defeat. I've already found out that one group is planning a coup. They're only waiting for the word from the head Elite Foot- you know, that guy with the cool hat? He was the one who was running the Foot that first time when we thought Shredder was finished."

"Yeah, and the other group, the ones loyal to Karai, are lookin' forward to killin' the 'gaijin' Foot," Raph chuckled, then he looked to Splinter. "We may not have to stay hidden after all if it all breaks soon."

"Never the less, we will stay below ground until it appears safe," Splinter decided. "We cannot put our hopes in such 'bathroom gossip'. But it would, as you say, be beneficial to us if it were to take place. Such a thing might even draw the attention of the authorities. Let us make sure that we are not the ones the authorities discover."

With that, they were dismissed- except Mike, who was ordered to launch into his twenty flips as soon as the other three left.

Leo did his best to keep from bolting from the room. He managed to maintain a normal pace as he exited- and then, once out of Splinter's sight, he was out the door and down the tunnels.

He would roam as he hadn't roamed in some time. He raced in no particular direction, he just had to get away, get away from the immediate hearing of his father and brothers, get away from the words that kept whining in his mind: I'm the leader! I should have led that mission!

Baker needed to contact his friend. It'd been weeks, and apart from the one brief message the Turtles had delivered for him, he had pretty much been cut off from the World.

When the Crocodile had warned him and the Android to stay hidden, that the Foot had invaded the system, he had briefly toyed with the idea of slipping out of the sewers in the confusion. He had been treated well, but he needed to go. He needed to move, to go back to what he'd been doing, to trying to make up for things.

He felt trapped by his need to stay hidden. This had been the safest he'd been since this entire thing began, and yet he longed to be gone, to be on the move, to be out of here.

I wonder how the soup kitchen's been getting along? I need to get back to it.

"Please, there must be some way I can contact my friend," he said again to Leatherhead and Honeycutt. The two exchanged glances.

"It really is not safe," Honeycutt said yet again. "This battle with the Foot Ninja makes it impossible for our friends to take you above ground. And phoning from this location is equally dangerous. Calls can be traced."

"My friend would not trace the call."

Honeycutt did not offer the opinion that he believed that she would. He merely reiterated that it was impossible at the moment.

Baker began to feel the need to pace. He had spent so many months on the run that he was going stir-crazy being cooped up like this.

Instead, he abruptly went to the room that had been given over to him, and sat on the bed, mind racing with so many plans that he could not focus on one for many minutes.

Eventually a simple plan made itself known. Leatherhead would be going to the Turtles place later. On the way one passed through a large draining junction, with many ladders leading upwards. One in particular terminated at an opening that Baker was pretty certain the Crocodile could not fit through. He would ask to go along, that he might talk with the Rat.

And on the way, he'd pause to tie his shoe. The Crocodile would do as usual, and walk on ahead, trusting the scientist to catch up.

And by the time he realized that it was not going to be as usual, Baker could be most of the way up the ladder. He was confident that he could out-climb the large mutated reptile, and then, through the opening, make for the closest ladder to the top, and he'd be street level.

"And I would come back, just to prove to them that they can trust me to keep quiet," he said to himself. "I just need to call her. I just need to hear her voice."

He sighed, laying down on the bed.

"I just need to hear ANY human voice."

"... and I was unable to catch him," Leatherhead finished. He was still angry with Baker as well as himself, but he was containing it. He bowed his head to Splinter. "I am so sorry."

Splinter laid a hand on the Crocodile's massive arm.

"We should not be surprised, I suppose," he said. "We should never have brought him here in the first place. I do not like the idea that, once above ground, he could find his way back. It is hard enough being on guard against the Foot."

"If the Foot find him, the pressure on us'll be off," Mike hopefully stated. Then he frowned. "Unless they decided that he might know the way back. Man! And I thought he was so brilliant!"

Don shook his head.

"What do we do?"

"Wait for Raphael to report in," Splinter decided. As soon as the news had reached them, Raphael had been dispatched to see if he could pick up the trail. Leonardo would have been asked to go as well, but unfortunately he had not returned from his "run"- and he wasn't answering his shell-cell.

Splinter fought down the desire to revoke his son's privileges to roam the tunnels unsupervised- he had given his word, and Leonardo was not doing anything "wrong"- and pondered their options.

"We may have no choice but to give him up as lost," he said finally. "I doubt that, even if tortured, he would be able to lead anyone back to us. We must be even more on guard, however."

The sound of a ringing phone interrupted them, and Don was quick to answer.

"No luck," Raph's voice sounded loud from the device; Splinter could hear it from where he was sitting. Don cringed in startled surprise, then glared as Mikey cracked up laughing.

"Hold on," Don said. "YOUR brother set the volume on high- again."

"You and Leo are my only bros, Don," came the eardrum-piercing reply.

"HEY!"

Don adjusted the volume.

"There- yeah, I plan on it- yeah?- damn- really? Well, that's hopeful!- Okay- okay- I will- bye."

He looked at his father.

"Raph found his trail of sorts, but wasn't able to find him," he said. "But he found evidence that Leo had been that way. He wasn't sure if it was before Baker or after, but he's followed both as far as he could before he lost the trail. It looks to Raph as if Leo had run into Baker, and is now going with him. But Raph's not sure if Leo is bringing him back by some other route, or if they've surfaced. Raph's been up every ladder that leads to an exit along the route, just enough to scan the area, but he can't find anything that indicates if they exited or not."

Splinter nodded. If Leonardo had run into the scientist, he might have volunteered to escort him somewhere topside where he could phone his friend- despite his agreeing to stay below ground!

"If Leo went with Baker," Mike said, as if reading Splinter's mind, "he probably thought it would be better to do so. I mean, what if Baker was determined? I mean, I know that Leo doesn't like the guy, but I doubt he'd really hurt him, right?"

Splinter took a deep breath, as if calming himself.

"Donatello, please bring us some tea," he said as mildly as possible in response to Mike's defense of the eldest.

Don could tell that Splinter thought Leo had gone topside.

"We have no proof that Leo left the tunnels," Don pointed out. "Nor Baker for that matter. Leo could just be walking with the guy, trying to convince him to have more patience."

And if he isn't, I don't think I want to see what will happen this time. Maybe I'm finally getting over my anger with Leo, Don thought to himself.

Then, as he watched the telltale signs of Splinter's displeasure, he found himself wondering if there were any popcorn left. He smiled suddenly.

Nope- I haven't.

"Oh, Mike," he said, as he rose to go fetch the tea that Splinter requested. "Raph said to give you this." And he gave his youngest brother a resounding smack on the back of his head, and was followed out of the room by Mike's yowl of pain and cries of protest at such treatment.

"Master Hun? You ain't gonna believe this, but me and Tony are at that old foundry place, checkin' it out, right? Anyways, we're checkin' it out, and it's totally clean of graffiti and stuff- but we found some human bones!- Yea, I know what they look like- it's kinda hard ta mistake a human skull!- NO! NO, Sir, I wasn't disrespectin' ya! Sorry, Master Hun! Anyways, we found these bones, and so we move around careful, weapons out, ya know? And we ran into RATS! FREAKIN' THOUSANDS of RATS!- No, that's not the- see, they was being ORDERED to attack us!- Really, Master Hun!- That's the weirdest part of all. See, there was this freakin' MONSTER or somethin' standing there, pointin' at us, and then THOUSANDS of them furry bastards was chargin' right towards us!- no, sir, we ain't been drinkin' OR usin'! You know we're clean!- We shot a mess of them, but they kept comin'!- YES, we tried to shoot the guy as well, but he VANISHED! Literally!- Yeah, like the way the Foot Techs can! Only he ain't no Foot Tech!- We're still in the neighborhood, but me and Tony got the hell outta there as quick as- yes?- Yes?- Okay, boss- I mean, Master Hun. We'll take care of it."

Tony, still shaking from the experience, stared at his partner. Though the heater was going full blast in the car, the Purple Dragon still felt chilled through and through.

"What? We ain't gotta go back IN there?" he nearly whined. His partner looked at him, tempted to make fun of his frightened look- except he suspected that he, too, wore the same expression.

"Naw, we're ta get some equipment and set up an observation post. Hun wants to know more about this guy. He wants this foundry, but he don't need to draw the attention of the cops by goin' in there and makin' a scene."

"Damn. Things was much easier when we was just a regular old gang," Tony complained, as he put the car in gear and began the drive back to headquarters.

"I hear ya, bro. I hear ya."

Except the rats. They were his friends. His family. And he would protect his family at all costs.