104Okay, he's going to get better soon. I can't keep him sick forever. Also- sorry about the length of this one. TMNT are the property of Mirage. I own the laptop this was written on.
Mikey carefully poured out the last of the milk into the four waiting glasses, trying to get every possible remaining drop from the container. When he was certain that it was finally gone, he threw the empty carton in the trash, then eyeballed the four glasses carefully, making sure that the last of this precious liquid had been divided as evenly as possible.
One glass looked just a bit too low, and another appeared to have a bit more than the others- with great care and precision, not to mention experience in living with three brothers, Mikey skillfully made the adjustment, and each glass finally had the same amount.
Of course, the "same amount" pretty much was a half a glass of milk per turtle!
Mikey sighed, dreading to have to tell Sensei that the milk was finally gone. Splinter had worried over it the past few days, as his illness seemed to grow worse.
They had assured him that things were fine. They had been rationing the milk, and Raph's original estimate of it lasting three days had been stretched out two extra days. But rationing can only go so far, and now they were going to down the last of the all-important, vitamin-filled, "strong bones-strong teeth-strong shells", tasty milk.
Mikey sighed, and called his brothers in to breakfast.
The eggs had run out the day before, and even if he'd had any left, this was the last of the milk, so he couldn't make pancakes. Today was half a glass of milk, and sweet rice. Mikey had remembered how Splinter had made the rice sweet for a treat, so he figured it would cheer up their breakfast.
There was still frozen meat, but Mikey had never cooked meat on his own. Splinter always took care of that part, and the Chicken Jumble they'd had that first night was made from the leftover chicken that Splinter had made before he'd gotten so sick. They could do without the meat.
There was plenty of canned and dry food to last them for many weeks, as Raph had said. They could have spaghetti with plain sauce for a meal. Soups would be the order of the day as well, helped out with rice instead of bread- that, too, had finally given out, and this concerned Mikey the most; it was the only thing Splinter had been truly able to eat without throwing it up.
"Milk's gone," Mikey informed the brothers as they sat down to breakfast.
"Well, we did a good job of making it last this long," Don said, but he eyed his glass regretfully. He loved milk as much as the others, but he was reluctant to swallow what was going to be the last of it for some time.
He looked at his little brother. Mikey, too, seemed to be contemplating the future without milk, as he gazed at his own few swallows waiting in his glass.
Don remembered Splinter telling them how they had gotten their love for milk. It was a food they didn't remember ever being without from little up. They may have had to eat less than fresh foods on occasion, leftovers and thrown away stuff scavenged from the trash bins of restaurants and grocery stores- sometimes they might have nothing at all to eat- but milk had always been plentiful and good and tasty and new.
Mikey was the main reason they'd all been introduced to milk in the first place. Splinter somehow knew that, living underground as they were forced to, the turtles would be deprived of natural vitamins that they would under normal circumstances absorb from the sun and such. He'd observed the children of surface dwellers drinking this stuff, both before and after he was mutated, and after the turtles had started to grow, he learned all he could about nutritious foods. Scavenging out of trash cans had been fine when he was a normal rat, and in the beginning when he'd first found them, but he needed good food for his growing sons.
That was when he'd started visiting the dumpsters behind local groceries, risking himself by foraging among the produce and damaged packages that the owners couldn't sell and wouldn't give away to the homeless, trying to find anything he could turn into suitable "baby food" for his hungry children. But milk was one item he knew he could not scavenge- what he did find was sour, old, and (trusting his instinct) dangerous.
Mikey had been the smallest for as long as they could remember, and Splinter worried because he didn't seem as strong as the brothers. When he suspected that Mikey's bones and shell were soft, he had made a daring decision- in the dead of night he put on an old coat, a pair of pants, gloves, and hat- clothes he would wear when scavenging topside in the dumpsters- took some of the money he'd been finding while hunting for food and supplies, and braved his way into an all-night grocery.
It was a terrifying first experience for the rat. Fortunately the place was deserted, and the clerk was sleepy and didn't bother to even make eye contact with him, but he still feared this venture as he purchased the large jug of milk and four small glasses with little animals printed on them. His heart raced a mile a minute as he put out the money and waited with growing dread for the clerk to make change, his ears sensitive to every little sound: the ice machine suddenly humming louder; the "ching" of the cash register; the scrape of the door opening, and the sound of several late-night revelers coming in to buy more beer for their evening celebrations.
And the clerk had been slow slow slow!
But Splinter got his change and forced himself to leave at a normal, unconcerned pace, and walked casually across the street- until he got to the alley that had the manhole he'd come up through in the first place! Then he had run as if he were being chased!
The turtles were only a few months old, and had started walking and saying a few words. They were smart, however, and had stayed hidden in the burrow while Splinter was gone, buried under blankets piled in a corner. Indeed, when he made it back, they stayed hidden in fear- he was still wearing the coat and hat, and it distressed them to no end! When this "stranger" had miraculously turned into Splinter, they were not only relieved but highly impressed: Father knew magic!
Then he had presented them with little things he called "glasses" filled with what they called "white water".
Each turtle, holding the little glasses in their tiny hands, stared suspiciously at the "white water", unsure of what they were to do. Leonardo sniffed it carefully; Donatello seemed more interested in the container than the liquid it held; Raphael's face was screwed up in a comical expression of distrust; and Michelangelo was looking closely at the tiny pictures on his own glass.
"Come on, my sons. Drink it up!" Splinter had said, demonstrating with his hands and the old cup that he'd been using for whenever they needed a drink. "Drink it up, and grow strong! Strong bones- strong teeth- strong shells!"
So, trusting Splinter, they drank it up, slowly at first- and then in great gulping swallows! The white water tasted so good!
"More!" Michelangelo had chirped, milk dripping from his upper "lip", and the others echoed him readily, their own "milk mustaches" visible in the pale light of the candle that was always lit against the dark. Splinter'd refilled their little glasses again and again, and they'd filled their tummies with this delicious treat that Father had brought to them. They had never known such marvelous things existed. This must be the best thing in the world, and their father had gotten it just for them!
Mikey stared at his little glass with the pictures of the turtles on it, also thinking of the story. He still didn't know why Sensei had given him this particular glass. It's possible that he just handed them out, and Mikey had attached himself to it. All he knew was, this had always been his glass, and he wouldn't drink out of any other.
Raph picked up his and held it up to his brothers. His had little bears all over it, and like Mikey, he didn't know if it was deliberately his or he just ended up using it out of habit.
"Come on, guys! Let's make a toast with the last of the milk!"
"Yeah. No point in staring at it," Leo agreed, lifting his own duck-decorated one. "It's not gonna magically fill up, so we may as well drink it down."
Don's glass with the little bunnies joined the other two, and all eyes looked cheerfully at Mikey. They knew how he was feeling, for they felt that way themselves. They were worried. They were a bit scared. But they wanted to cheer up this brother who had been feeding them all this time.
"Come on, Mikey," Raph urged him with a grin. "Cheers!"
Mikey held up his glass, and they clinked them together.
"Strong bones- strong teeth- strong shells!" he smiled, and they drank down the last of the "white water" in one quick gulp.
"... and the milk is gone, but we can last without that," Raph finished reporting the inventory to his father.
Splinter, propped up in bed and looking weaker than ever, nodded, and sighed. They could get along, but he hated that they would have to. He worried that they would be without this most important source of nutrition.
"What are we gonna do about no bread, Sensei?" Mikey spoke up. "I don't know what to feed you. Should we try the rice again?" And he suppressed a shudder at the memory of what had happened when Splinter had tried to eat some plain rice earlier.
Splinter drew in a wheezy breath. This illness had settled in his chest, and the turtles were scared when he made that sound- not realizing that this was a sound that would frighten their father whenever the illness had settled in their lungs as well. He shook his head weakly, and smiled as best as he could.
"It is all right, my son," he managed to say. "I will be fine with just the tea. And I should be better in another day or two."
But he'd been saying that for the past three days. And he just kept getting worse and worse it seemed.
They'd been taking turns sleeping in the room with him just in case he needed something. He wasn't always aware of it, and when he was, it made him so determined to get better that he'd get up and try to take up his role as father, and would manage for a short time- only to collapse in a coughing fit, or nearly faint from the fever.
And they weren't the only ones being frightened by this illness. Splinter had spent a good deal of his waking time these past two days worrying about the survival of his sons if something happened to him. It preyed on his mind so much that the third night after the milk had run out, he woke Leo in the middle of the night with a dream.
"You have done well," he wheezed, startling Leo awake. He was propped up on pillows in the bed next to Sensei, who was also propped up to ease his breathing. "I am glad to see that you have taken such good care of your brothers all these years."
Leo looked at Splinter in the glow of the candle that they kept constantly lit at night. His eyes were open, and he was talking to someone in front of him!
"Yes, you have done well indeed. I can see that you all kept up your training without me! That must have been hard for you."
"Uh... Sensei? Father?" Leo tried shaking Splinter just a little, but Splinter didn't register the little son next to him. His focus was on an adult son standing before him in his hallucination.
Leo felt Splinter's head- burning up! He quickly reached for the bowl of medicine that Don had said was the best to control the fever.
"Father, you need to take this," he tried, but Splinter still didn't appear to listen. "Father?"
"All these years," Splinter repeated, shaking his head sadly. Leo felt like shouting for help. He stared at the bowl in his hands, trying to think.
"All these years, Father?" he asked without thinking, trying to figure out how to get his father to drink the medicine. He was startled even more when Splinter seemed to answer him.
"Yes, my son. I was so sorry to have left you all when you were so young, but you have done a fine job of raising your brothers as well as yourself. You have become fine warriors!"
Poor Leo was so confused as well as scared. Splinter spoke as if he had left them. So much of it made no sense, but that part seemed clear to the six-year-old.
Leo wanted so much to shake him, to make him wake up! He wanted to call his brothers for help- he wanted his father to be normal! What was he to do? What was he to do?
And then something started to glow inside his brain- something small and bright and insistent and very much "Sensei"- and he gathered his courage and looked at his father.
"Here is your tea, Father," he said, pressing the small bowl into Splinter's hands, and to his joy Splinter accepted it and drank it down!
"I am sorry that I left you all without any milk," he said after drinking the medicine. Leo gulped as he took the bowl and placed it back on the little table.
"It wasn't your fault, father," Leo said, taking Splinter's hand. "It just happened. It wasn't your fault. It was ours. We didn't take good enough care of you." He hardly knew what he was saying; but he somehow found words that seemed to get through to the sleeping Splinter.
"You took excellent care of me," he wheezed, now looking at Leo- and yet, Leo could tell that he really wasn't seeing him. "I was careless and let myself get too weak. Forgive me for leaving you all so young, with no milk to drink!"
His eyes looked as if they were about to close now. But he continued talking, as Leo tried to comfort him.
"Milk... I must go out and get more milk. The grocery store has plenty of milk for my sons. Michelangelo needs his milk, he is still so small... Donatello as well... Donatello and Michelangelo... Always make sure your brothers have enough milk to drink, Leonardo! Always make sure you drink your milk, Leonardo! It is good for you... remember, 'strong bones- strong teeth- strong shells'..." his voice faded as his dream shifted to the present, and his eyes closed.
Leo sat still, trying not to cry, still holding Splinter's hand.
Milk. He needed to get milk for Don and Mikey. Splinter said so. He would do as Sensei said; as Sensei does! He would go topside and get milk! He had to! His father was worried and his brothers needed milk.
He looked at his sleeping father. He had said much that Leonardo could not understand, but the last message had been clear:
He had to get milk for his brothers! It was his responsibility to look after them.
Much, much later:
He had dressed in the clothes that Splinter had brought into the Lair for them to wear during the winter when the place was cold. Splinter kept them in a special chest in his room, and Leonardo, after several sleepless hours of planning, had carefully rummaged out a good disguise. Now, in the glow of the candle they kept lit in Sensei's room, he studied himself in the mirror on the wall.
Large green sweater, black pants, rubber boots for walking in the water, and a hooded coat that zipped up enough to help hide his face. He looked at his reflection, and nodded. He could do this! He looked perfect!
He glanced towards the bed. Splinter's fever had dropped almost as dramatically as it had risen, and Leo could sense that he was sleeping peacefully. Even his breathing was better then it had been in a while.
Checking his pocket to make sure that the money was secure, he turned to leave the room- and ran smack into Raph, who had come in on his way back from a middle of the night trip to the bathroom to see if things were okay.
"And where the heck are you goin' all dressed up like that?" Raph whispered, his face wearing a cross between a smirk and concern.
"I'm going out to get some milk and bread," came the casual reply. In fact, Leo had said it so casually that Raph for a second thought he was being sarcastic. But as his brother stared him boldly in the eye, Raph realized that he was dead serious.
"You can't! We promised Splinter! On our honor!" he whispered loudly, horrified at the fact that his crazy brother was going to actually break his word.
"I have to. Splinter is counting on me to take care of you all," he said with calm conviction. "He said so earlier. He said to make sure that Don and Mikey have enough milk. So that means go get it."
And he tried to get past Raph. But Raph blocked the door, knowing that he could do this because neither one wanted Sensei to wake up at that moment. Leo would not fight him for fear of waking Splinter!
"You're crazy! He never said any such thing!"
"I'm going, Raph. I have to. He put me in charge and said make sure they always have milk! I have to do this."
"You never been topside before!"
"Yes I have," he contradicted. "Once, when he went to get some milk at that all night grocery, he took me along and let me hide in the alley. I could see the door of the store. I watched him go in- there were people there, Raph! It was the bravest thing I ever saw! He just walked in and I could see him through the windows- he walked up to the place where the milk is, and picked some up, and paid for it, and walked out in front of those people, and no one noticed!"
And Leo, his voice growing louder with the story, sighed in admiration at the memory of his father bravely going among the surface dwellers, as if he was one of them!
"Watchin' him get the milk and you're goin' in to get the milk ain't the same," Raph pointed out sensibly- and also a little more loudly than he should have. "You ain't never talked to a surface dweller! You can't do it, Leo! I can't let you do it, and Sensei will kill us both!"
"He is counting on me to get the milk," Leo stubbornly insisted. "I can't let him down! Now move!"
"Sensei is gonna kill us both!" Raph kept muttering, still not moving.
"Raph, why is he gonna kill you? It's not like you're going with me."
"Oh, yes I am!" and he quickly and quietly went to the chest and rummaged out a pair of jeans, a dark sweatshirt, more rubber boots and another hooded jacket. Before Leo could do anything about it, he was dressed and standing by his brother.
"We are so gonna be dead," he muttered. "Well? Got the money? Let's get there and get back 'fore anyone catches us." And he quietly led the way out of Splinter's room. Leo, checking once to see that the money he'd taken from Splinter's little box on the dresser was safe in his pocket, followed, and the two of them carefully snuck out of the Lair, quietly closing the door.
They made their way through the sewers with the one flashlight and little talking- except for the chanting of some sort of prayer...
"Head down, don't make eye contact. Head down, don't make eye contact..."
The way seemed so long, through the dark, dripping tunnels; the squeak of unseen rats; the scurrying from the flashlight beam of seen ones; the sound of the water in the channel, much quieter now that it hadn't rained for so long; the ever present smells and sounds that they had grown up with- none of it registered with them. Side by side, as if attached at the shoulders, they kept walking, kept muttering- "Head down, don't make eye contact. Head down, don't make eye contact."
They reached the old, rusty, grime-covered ladder that led to the surface- and adventure- and milk-
They stood there, desperate to go up, but scared to make the first move. Their feet seemed to have become imbedded in the concrete floor; Their eyes, gazing upwards into the dark, focused on the faint outline of the heavy lid that held back the topside from them.
Raph was struggling not to shake as cold fear began to grip his stomach, threatening to make him either throw up or run crying like a baby- or both.
"Leo this is stupid! There ain't no way we can pull this off!"
Leo so wanted to listen to Raph, to turn around and make their way quickly back to the lair, lock the door, and never go out again. His stomach was knotted up, and he was finding it hard to take a deep breath. His legs were twitching with the desire to run away from this!
"Come on, Leo!" Raph urged- and then said the wrong thing. "Come on, this ain't like the toaster! It's okay to be scared of this! Let's get out of here!"
The toaster.
Grim determination, mixed with wounded pride, settled on Leo's face, and with his best dojo shout, he leapt at the ladder and scurried up as quickly as his rubber boots and shaking hands would let him!
"Aww- we are so dead!" Raph growled, and followed his brother to the top.
They could hear the noises of the topside: cars, trucks, faint music! They struggled and struggled to shift the heavy manhole cover. It seemed to take an eternity! It was so heavy, so unyielding- and then unexpectedly it slid to the right, making a scraping sound that seemed loud enough for the entire city to hear!
They froze as the rarely seen night sky peeped at them from between the tall buildings that lined the inky alley. Smells of food, of garbage, of exhaust assailed their sewer-trained nostrils, but they fought down the desire to enjoy these as they had on those few occasions when Sensei had let them come this far on some rare quest to start exposing them to the world of the surface dwellers.
Leo closed his eyes and took several quick, deep breaths, then he scrambled out of the hole, keeping low to the ground, eyes on the opening of the alley. He didn't look to see if Raph was following; he naturally assumed. Stealthily he moved from the hole to the deep shadows, making his way behind the dumpsters towards the opening of the alley, swallowing down the bile of fear that was trying to climb out of his throat.
Closer and closer, he quietly approached the ever widening exit that would lead him to his goal. Now he could feel Raph next to him. Raph had moved so quietly that Leo hadn't registered his presence until he had barely touched his sleeve.
Now they were behind the dumpster that had sheltered Leo the night Splinter had allowed him to watch when he'd entered the store.
"Holy..." Raph couldn't help whispering. This was his first view of a grocery store in real life! The front of the building seemed to be all glass, and the place was full of light! So much light!
"Leo, you can't go in there! They'll see you! They'll see us!"
"Calm down! Look, there's no cars in the parking lot, and I can only see the person who works there," Leo attempted to reassure his brother as well as himself. "We can do this! All we gotta do is cross the street-"
"And not become turtle pancakes!" Raph hissed, as several cars and trucks went speeding by suddenly.
"Raph, we can do this!" Leo was begging his brother to back him up. He had to get that milk! He had to! And nothing was going to stop him! NOTHING!
With more determination than common sense, they held hands and stepped from the safe, dark anonymity of the alley into the harsh, illuminated night of the surface world-
And were suddenly confronted by a tall "someone" wearing a long, dark coat!
"And where do you two think you are going?" the gruff, hoarse voice croaked at them, causing them both to cry out in fear. Without one thought of their training, they turned tail and ran as fast as they could to the manhole cover-
- only to find that it had been replaced!
"You closed it?" Leo gasped in disbelief and fear, struggling to lift the heavy thing by himself.
"NO! How could I?" Raph was nearly crying as he, too, struggled to move this stubborn object that stood between them and home!
The tall figure in the long coat was slowly coming towards them. He knew that they had no where to go. He could take his time with these two foolish boys. And he planned on taking his time with them. Grim delight coursed through him as he slowly approached the two frantic boys struggling with the manhole cover.
Leo, looking up, gasped in fear, grabbed Raph's arm, and dragged him further into the alley- only to meet a walled off end. There was no place to hide, no one to call for help! Desperately he looked at the buildings, realizing for the first time how many windows were in them; how many surface dwellers were surrounding them! Would it be better to be caught by this stranger or yell for help?
"Leo!" Raph frantically squeaked, as the stranger appeared out of the shadows. They could hear him softly laughing.
Instinctively both turtles looked around, and each found something to grab as a weapon: Raph had a bottle, and Leo an old piece of pipe. Backs to the wall, armed with what they had, they did their best to remember their training, and took up fighting stances.
"I'm sorry, Raph, for letting you come along," Leo said, eyes never leaving the figure before them.
Raph, not taking his eyes off this being coming closer to them, nevertheless addressed himself to Leo.
"I coulda stayed home! I coulda told Splinter and stopped you!"
The figure came closer, closer, closer- then stopped just out of reach of their weapons. They had no way to get past him without a fight. They were trapped!
"I'm sorry, Raph!" Leo said one more time, tightening his hold on the metal pipe, holding it as if it were a bokken. "We'll be okay! We'll be okay! We'll be okay!"
"I hope we make it outta this alive," Raph growled nervously, gripping the bottle's neck tightly. "Cause I really, really, really OWE YOU ONE, LEO!"