New York City. A world of concrete, buildings, metal, stone, and glass. A city where falling rain rarely found its way into the soil and earth below like elsewhere in the natural world, but instead ran across sidewalks and filthy asphalt and down rusty metal grates to be channeled below in stone tunnels made by man.

That's why it was so rare a sight to see patches of nature in it's unaltered form. The surface of the small pond surrounded by trees and cat tails glistened in the moonlight as if diamonds floated on its surface. A lone bullfrog croaked out his song, trying to outsing the sound of the honking and trains off in the distance, and there was the faintest of splashes as a small pond turtle slipped from its perch on a half submerged branch into the water, causing soft ripples to mar the water's calm surface with a hundred shimmering rings.

Set into the side of a steep grassy slop leading down from the streets above, a large metal culvert loomed over the pond. The old metal edge of the circular opening was rusted and covered in a dripping thick coat of algae that hung down in stringy emerald sheets, and a small ribbon of water trickled out, sliding down the algae to drip into the water below in a rhythmic cadence.

Inside the culvert, deeper where the darkness hid all from the streetlights above, two white eyes appeared, narrow and dangerous as they surveyed the world outside of the sewer tunnel. These eyes were the eyes of a predator, a creature of the shadows, dangerous and silent. A creature who could strike fast and unseen, and then fade away like a ghost.

"Come on, Leo, it's clear! Move it, already!"

There was a surprised yelp, and the creature with the deadly white eyes was shoved out of the culvert entrance down into the pond below with a splash, shattering the peaceful silence instantly.

Leonardo sputtered with indignant rage up to the surface, wiping algae and mud from his blue clothed face. "Raph! That was completely uncalled for!"

"Ha!" the red masked turtle was obviously amused as he perched at the edge of the culvert. "That's what you get for being a slowpoke. We can't be feeding into those turtle stereotypes, you know."

"Don't worry Big Bro!" a third turtle cheerfully waved down at him from over Raph's shoulder. "I'll avenge you."

"What the...?!" Before Raphael could react, the orange masked brother playfully spun about, and, bracing his feet against his brother's shell, gave a great shove. There was another yelp and another splash, and then an angry, spluttering, "Mikey! I'll KILL you!"

"Ha! Serves you right!" Leo shot at him, already wading out of the water up to the shore and wringing out the tail ends of his bandana.

"Come on, you guys. I want to get the supplies I need before it gets too late." The fourth and final turtle, this one with a purple mask, stood at the edge of the metal tunnel as he carefully judged the distance from the culvert to the nearby shore. He then used his bo staff to make a smooth, calculated leap, gracefully catching an overhanging tree branch and arching his body to touch down lightly on the shore's edge without so much as getting a toe wet.

"Booyakasha!" There was a small tidal wave as Michelangelo cannonballed into the pond, and Donatello yelped as he got soaked by the massive splash.

"Mikey!"

"Oops. Sorry, Dee. My bad." Mikey gave a sheepish chuckle, bobbing in the water.

Donnie growled indistinguishable threats under his breath, trying to wipe the worst of the drenching cold water off. He was just wiping the worst of it off, when Raph pulled himself up onto shore next to him, then gave a great shake like a wet sheepdog.

"Oh, come on!" Donnie tried to shield his face as he was soaked again.

"Seriously, guys! We're ninjas, remember!" Leo put a hand to his head in frustration. "Can we at least act like we're on a mission?!"

"What mission?" Raph scoffed, ignoring the daggers that Donnie was glaring at him. "We're just going to grab some trash for Donnie's latest little project from a junkyard. Honestly, I don't know why you dragged us all along. You don't need us for that, and I have shit I was planning on doing tonight."

"Yeah!" Mikey floated up to shore on his back. "Like that brand new copy of 'Ultimate Titan City Rampage' for the Gamebox waiting for me back at the lair. I haven't even cracked open the plastic wrapping on the game case yet, and you drag me out here! Do you realize what a torture this is?!" He flopped onto the muddy bank dramatically.

"You'll survive. And don't swear, Raph. Even if it's not the most glamorous job, we need the practice, guys. We haven't gone on a mission together in far too long, and I don't want us getting rusty." Leo said without a trace of sympathy, reaching down to help his youngest brother up to his feet. He glanced over to the grumbling intellectual member of the group. "So, Donnie, where's this part you were looking for? I'm not familiar with this section of the city."

Donnie was wiping water off the screen of his tPhone. "You guys are just lucky I've waterproofed everything." he groused. He consulted the glowing screen, then straightened up, pointing up to the top of the hill. "The junkyard we're looking for should be up there. My sources say that a genuine astronmic conversion amplifier was dumped there, and if so, we need to find it! Those things were discontinued years ago, and are extremely difficult to find!"

"Man, we're going to get so much sweet swag tonight!" Mikey chortled gleefully. "I'm so ready! I even brought my Bag of Ultimate Holding +1, dawgs!" He held up a well worn and patched Hello Kitty backpack.

"Mikey, if you find anything interesting, of course you can keep it, but remember, the priority is to get Donnie that... um... astrometer converter thing." Leo reminded him.

"An astronmic conversion amplifier." Donnie corrected him.

"Blah, blah. Dig in trash, complete mission, get the rest of the night off." Raph started pushing Donnie up towards the hill. "Got it. Let's go."

"Wait for me!" Mikey scrambled up after them. He smacked a handful of mud on the back of Raph's head as he ran past him, and cackled with glee as Raph cursed at him and took off in hot pursuit, promising much bodily harm in rather creative terms.

Leo sighed, and followed the bickering brothers. He was their leader and now their sensei, but sometimes he felt like he was trying to herd cats. With most of their enemies defeated or gone, the brothers seemed to be wandering life without a purpose now. He was doing his best to keep everything and everybody together, but sometimes it seemed like an impossible task. He wondered what Master Splinter would've done with his brothers. He dearly missed his father, especially on nights like this. He had been such a pillar of wisdom and strength, and if he were still alive, he would most certainly be doing a much better job keeping the family in order then Leo himself was doing.

Leo shook his head and gave an extra spurt of speed to try and catch up. Letting himself go down that line of thought was never a good idea. All he could do, and all Master Splinter would've wanted of him, was to do the best that Leonardo could do. To be himself, and be the best he could be.

That was all he could offer his brothers, and they deserved nothing less.

"Remember!" Donnie explained as they walked amongst mountains of trash, trying to visually trace the shape of the item they were looking for in the air for them. "It's about the size of a bread box, it's red, and it'll have the words 'Astronmic Conversion Amplifier' written on the side."

"Yeah, yeah, got it." Raph waved him off, wandering off towards the corner of the junkyard that seemed to hold some interesting looking old muscle cars.

"Mikey, don't stick your head in there!" Leo scolded the youngest brother, pulling the filthy looking bucket off of his head. "You don't know where that's been or what was in it!"

A piece of paper stuck to Mikey's face, and he pulled it off, studying it for a second, before his light blue eyes brightened even further. "Dude! Leo! Look! Jackpot!" He leapt onto Leo's shell, wrapping his arms around his older brother's shoulders to hold the advertisement right in front of his face. "See! Papa Antonio's Pizza is having a limited edition pizza, the S'more Galore! And there's a coupon for it! Can we stop and get some after this?! Please? Please?!"

Leo sighed and pulled the paper out of Mikey's hands, holding it at a more acceptable reading distance then half an inch from his snout. "Mikey, this is dated over five years old. I think that it's probably expired by now."

"Aw. I could really go for a nice, hot slice of pizza right now." Mikey grabbed the paper back, looking at it mournfully, before licking the picture of the pizza.

"Stop that!" Leo scolded him, snatching the paper away. "We'll get some pizza later! Stop trying to test your immune system like that!" He sighed, then glanced up at Donnie. "If you help me keep an eye on Mikey, I'll go ahead and search the north eastern corner then, I guess."

Donnie nodded absently, scanning the area. "Thanks, Leo. Good luck. I really appreciate you guys helping me with this."

Donnie's brow beaded with sweat as he heaved, trying to flip the old, broken fridge over. Normally he wouldn't have bothered moving something so heavy and imbedded, but he had seen a flash of hopeful red underneath, and decided it was worth a look.

"Lift with the knees, not with the shell! And... here... it... goes...!" he huffed, and the fridge toppled over and slid down the hill of trash a few feet. "Yes!" Donnie scrambled over to the red object, then sighed in disappointment when he found an actual red breadbox. Not the electronic goody he was hoping for. He hoped that the others were having a bit more luck, he was practically salivating over the possibilities if he owns such an artifact as a rare astronmic conversion amplifier. Dependable Leo would be thorough in his search, of course. Raph, as much as he tried to act otherwise, would honestly keep an eye out for it. For all his bluster, the tough turtle did look out for his family. Mikey... well... if past experience had taught Donnie anything, it was that somehow, against all logic, it would be Mikey who would trip over it accidentally and find it without realizing it.

Speaking of the youngest, he probably should go check and make sure that he wasn't trying to eat the scraps out of a moldy old pizza box. He mentally pinpointed the location he had last heard the boisterous ninja at, and took a step in that direction.

"Um, guys?!" Mikey's voice called out, not his usual cheerful tone, but one filled with terror, fear, and the beginning of panic.

Donnie's heart froze for a second. Mikey never used that voice unless something was terribly wrong! He broke into a run, hurdling the trash barrier easily. "Mikey! What's wrong?! Are you o... Oh... Oh no..." he said with widening eyes as he found his youngest brother on the other side of a large mound of trash, close to a pool of foul looking water.

Mikey was kneeling in the mud by a pile of filthy golden fur. It was a dog, a golden retriever by the looks of it, wheezing and gasping for air. He looked up at Donnie with tear filled eyes. "Donnie! I found him like this! I think he's sick, dude!"

Cursing under his breath, Donnie quickly knelt down by the poor dog, looking it over with the practiced eye of a medical veteran. He quickly noticed the labored breathing, the stiffened muscles, and the glassy, unfocused eyes. This dog had probably ingested something poisonous. He noticed the liquid staining the fur on around the dog's legs and muzzle had an odd odor, and glanced up at the nearby pool of water.

"Mikey, get back!" He snapped, scooping up the dog and jumping back.

Mikey, confused, but seeing his older brother retreat, quickly followed.

"Those chemicals!" Donnie hissed angrily, gesturing towards several large rusty drums oozing a foul liquid into the water. "It's illegal to dump those! They're highly toxic, and could and will contaminate the whole area if not cleaned up!"

"Is that why the dog is so sick?" Mikey looked worried. "You can help him, can't you?! We can't just let him die!"

Donnie felt his breath hitch. There was no time for him to get back to the lab, and try to find a solution to counteract this poisoning. The dog would probably die before then. But maybe...

"Mikey, go get Leo! Now!"

He looked up, but Mikey was already gone, disappearing in the way only a trained ninja could.

Donnie carefully lay the whimpering dog down on a reasonably clean and flat section of ground and gave it a gentle pat. "Hang on, buddy. Help is coming." He noticed a collar in the fur around the dog's neck, and gently traced it down to find some metal tags and the broken end of a leash attached. He felt his heart sink further. This was somebody's pet. He was watching somebody's pet dog die before his eyes.

"Donnie!" He heard Leo's voice, and turned as the blue masked leader appeared next to him, Mikey close behind.

"Leo!" Donnie gasped, moving to the side to let his older brother assess the situation. "It's a poisonous toxin from a chemical leak. There's no time to get him back to the lair. The healing mantra's you used on us that one time for Karai's poison. Will they work here?"

Leo crouched down next to the dog, gently brushing back the filthy golden fur as he took a look. He gave a curt nod. "I can try."

Donnie took a step back, giving Leo plenty of room to work. The blue masked turtle settled into position, tucking his heels under him as he knelt. He took a deep calming breath, held out his hands in front of him, closed his eyes, and then began the chant, twisting his fingers into the various forms with each syllable. "Rin... Pyo... Toh... Sha... Kai... Jin... Retsu... Zai... Zen..." And then he repeated it, this time with more intensity.

Mikey clung to Donnie's arm, watching with large, doe-like eyes. Donnie gave him a comforting pat. "It's going to be okay, Mikey."

"Guys, what's going on? Is everybody okay?" Raph had noticed the commotion, and joined them. "Oh... fuck..." he breathed as he noticed the dog. "What's wrong with it?!"

"A very dangerous chemical spill over there." Donnie gestured towards the area the contaminated pool was located in. "And don't swear, Raph."

"But don't worry, Raph. Donnie says it'll be okay." Mikey said with conviction, hugging Donnie's arm even tighter. "Leo can heal him."

Raph put a hand on Mikey's head. "Of course, little brother. Leo's got this, no problem." he said in a serious voice.

Some beads of sweat were forming on Leo's forehead, and it was almost as if he had strain to push each syllable out now, the fourth repeat of the mantras. "Rin...! Pyo...! Toh...! Sha...! Kai...! Jin...! Retsu...! Zai...! Zen!"

With a fierce enunciation of the last phrase, Leo's eyes snapped open, and he clapped his hands onto the dog's panting side. A faint glow transferred from his palms to envelope the limp form, and then dissipated. The sound of the dog's hoarse breathing stopped, and Leo exhaled and sat back on his heels.

The other three turtles cautiously leaned forward, searching for any signs of life in the limp bundle of golden fur on the ground.

Soft brown eyes blinked open, and then the dog lifted its head up and looked around, obviously disorientated and confused.

"He's okay!" Mikey squealed, leaping forward to throw his arms around the dog. The dog gave a wag of its tail and woofed, licking Mikey's face.

Raph offered a hand down to Leo, pulling him up to a standing position, then gave him a pat on the arm. "You did good, brother."

Leo gave him a weary grin. "Thanks, Raph. That was a tough one. I'm glad it worked."

Mikey laughed as the dog nuzzled his orange mask, skewing it at an odd angle so he had to adjust it back to see. "Can we keep him, guys?! I promise I'll take care of him and take him for walks and clean up after him!"

"Mikey, you don't even do those things for yourself." Raph pointed out. "A dog's a big responsibility."

"Besides, I think he already has an owner." Donnie knelt down besides Mikey and the now alert dog. "I saw some name tags on his collar. We should really get him back to his owners. I bet they're worried sick."

Mikey peered through the fur. "Huh. His name is Rouseby Woof." He patted the dog on the head. "Awesome name, dude!"

"Is there a phone number?" Leo asked him.

Donnie read the tags. "Yes, there is. Should I give them a call?"

Leo shook his head. "Not at the moment. First I want you to call the proper authorities and let them know about that chemical spill. If it's as dangerous as you say, we need to make sure that somebody knows to clean it up. Mikey, you and I are going to give the dog a good bath back at the lair, not only is he filthy, we don't want any of those chemicals to linger in his fur and get him or his owner sick later. Raph, get a hold of April and Casey, and see if they can meet up with us and help get the dog home afterwards. I'm sure two humans returning the dog will be a lot less complicated then four mutant turtles."

"Figures." Raph scoffed. "We do all the work, the humans will get all the credit."

"Hey, we're ninja, remember." Leo gave him a crooked smile. "We don't want the attention even if we weren't in danger of getting maced and tased by every civilian that we save."

"You hear that, Rouseby Woof?" Mikey said cheerfully, giving the dog a playful rub between the ears. "We're going to get you squeaky clean, I'm going to put a rockingly awesome bow so you look so fly for your peoples, and I'm even going to give you the grand tour of the lair! I'll show you all the best places that have the best smells!" He winked and leaned in secretively. "Spoilers, it's all my favorite pizza stains. Ooh, and I'll have to introduce you to Ice Cream Kitty!"

"Probably not a good idea, Mikey. I think Ice Cream Kitty needs to stay far away from Mr Woof." Leo shook his head. He turned apologetically to the tallest turtle. "Sorry Donnie, I know you really wanted that breadbox sized converter thing, but I think we need to head back. The sooner we get this guy home, the... better..." Leo trailed off, looking hard off into the darkness.

"Leo?" Donnie asked.

Leo shook his head. "Sorry, I could've sworn I felt someone watching us." He continued looking off in the distance suspiciously. "But it might've been nothing."

The other three glanced in the direction he was looking.

"I don't see anything." Raph frowned.

Leo shrugged. "Like I said, it's probably nothing." He tried to turn his attention back to the matter at hand. "As I was saying, we should get back to the lair. Our new friend has been through a lot, and shouldn't exert himself too much at the moment. Mikey, can you carry our furry guest back to the lair, or should we have Raph do the honors?"

"Wait, why me?" Raph protested.

"Because you shoved me into the pond earlier." Leo gave a smirk.

"Well, I am already carrying my Bag of Ultimate Holding +1, so I'll have to let Raph bear the burden." Mikey frowned. "Just be careful with him, dude."

"Oh, you guys suck." Raph grumbled as he bent down and hoisted the dog up. Despite his very vocal grouching, he was extremely gentle, though he did sputter and curse quite a bit as the golden retriever kept trying to lick his face.

They traveled the distance down the hill from the junkyard to the pond below, heading towards the culvert that would take them back into the sewers and their home.

"It's a shame really." Donnie mused, pausing to look down at the picturesque natural scene below from the culvert's lip. "There's enough chemicals up there to seep all the way down here. If left unchecked long enough, it'll kill everything in this pond."

"Well, we'll just make sure that it doesn't reach that point." Leo reassured him, then nodded his head towards the tunnels. "Come on, guys. Let's get this dog home."

They turned and walked away, disappearing into the darkness.

None of them noticed the very inhuman form watching them disappear from a tree further up the hill, close to the junkyard.

The creature watched the culvert for a while, staring into the still darkness. Then it leapt into junkyard and began searching the ground until it found what it was looking for.

Leonardo's footprint in the wet mud.

It traced the three toed print carefully with one clawed hand, and narrowed its diamond black eyes. Then it was gone, disappearing into the night.

Author's Notes:

The dog, in case you're wondering/worried, does not play a big part in this story. He's just there to set some things up and allow me to make references to one of my favorite novels of all time.