A/N: So I mentioned the fact that I might try dabbling in a few 'What if' scenarios and fun little tweaks here and there to see how the story and characters would've been different.

This little AU Version answers the question of 'What if the Hamatos had found Leo instead of the bounty hunters?'

AU Version: Humans to the Rescue! Part 1

The rattle of chains and sharp thuds of powerful fists quickly pounding into a punching bag echoed through the otherwise darkened and empty training room. All of the lights were off except for one in the far corner, showing a single, solitary figure.

Sweat dripped down Raph's forehead, dampening his reddish dyed hair, but his movements never slowed. The punching bag shuddered and twisted violently as he easily worked through his routine, snapping his powerfully muscled arms which were bare with his cut off shirt, in rapid succession.

They were back at their base in New York City again. Funny how this place sometimes felt more like home to them then their birthplace and clan headquarters back in Japan.

Raph landed four quick jabs on the punching back, and then spun around to send it swinging with a kick.

But even so, the first few days after coming back to New York City always made him feel restless. Itchy. Brimming with unresolved anticipation.

He knew that all his family felt the same way, though they all dealt with it in their own ways. Donnie going through his lab and categorizing all the changes that happened while they were gone, Mikey running through the gymnastic equipment up in the gym. Personally, Raph found beating the stuffing out of something usually helped. The violent and repetitive actions were somewhat cathartic, and they helped when his tumult emotions threatened to overwhelm him.

As always, whenever they arrived back here, they were all wondering the same thing Would this time finally be the time? Would this be the visit when they finally found him?

Raph exhaled, and then reached out to catch the bag, steadying it and taking a couple of deep breaths, before raising his fists in front of him and starting again.

He still remembered when Donnie had decoded those documents from the EPF all those years ago. When they had first learned about Leonardo and what he had apparently become after he disappeared. It was still mindblowing to think that their lost pet turtle from so long ago had apparently somehow been... mutated? Was that the right word? Raph didn't completely understand all the mumbo jumbo in those research documents, but according to Donnie, apparently Leo had been turned half human. The bastards in the EPF had apparently at some point captured him, though he had eventually escaped and disappeared. There wasn't a lot of clues in the scant information they had as to what they had done to him in his time as their captive. But if they had touched a single scale on him...

Raph's workout grew more intense, his teeth gritted.

But yeah, the EPF's reports had traced the human DNA in him to their father. They had learned that Leo was somehow now biologically their brother and Master Yoshi's son. That's why the idiots had been stupid enough to try and kidnap their dad that one time. Raph gave a sneer as he landed a heavy blow. Which just proved that they were not only bastards, but idiots as well. They had sure been taught a lesson about messing with the Hamatos real fast.

He exhaled, slowing down slightly. The thing was, though, they all knew deep down that didn't matter who's DNA it was. Leo could have had the DNA of the pet store cashier, or some random homeless person, or anybody! It didn't matter none. He would still be a Hamato. All of the family was agreed on this. Raph wasn't exactly sure why they were so sure of that, or just what made them so adamant on that fact. All he knew was that somehow, deep down, they all felt... incomplete. They all felt the same empty hole deep in their souls, like there was an important piece missing in their lives.

Somehow, they just instinctively knew it.

They just knew that they had another brother out there somewhere.

Alone.

Possibly hungry and cold.

With nobody to watch his back.

Raph gave the bag an extra hard hit, his face twisting into a dark glower.

"Oh, hey! Raph! There you are!" a familiar voice called out, and Raph reached out to grab the abused punching bag, stopping its swings as he turned to see Casey and Angel walking into the training room.

"Figured we'd find you in here, boss." Angel moved over to flick on the rest of the lights, and suddenly the shadows were chased away, and the whole room was flooded with light, revealing the rows of empty exercise equipment. "Heard you were back from your Japan trip, and thought maybe we should stop in and prevent the quartermaster from griping our ears off later because he had to patch all the punching bags again."

Raph broke out into a crooked grin, genuinely glad to see the siblings. "Ha! Well, I keep telling Donnie we need to stop wasting money on the cheap ones. Not my fault that they break after a couple of real hits."

Casey grabbed one of the white towels embroidered with the Hamato sigil stacked neatly on a nearby shelf, and tossed it to Raph, who caught it easily and wiped down his sweaty face. "How 'bout you break some Purple Dragon skulls with us instead tonight? We managed to dig up some juicy dirt from some of our contacts, and they're apparently planning some big get together tonight."

"You got my attention." Raph gave a wolfish grin, draping the towel over his muscular shoulders. Spending the night out cracking heads with the disaster twins here was always a hoot. He walked over to a small fridge against one of the walls, opening it up and grabbing a bottle of water. "So what will we be breaking up tonight? We crashing a gang party, or stopping a robbery or something?"

"An ambush of some sort, it sound like."Angel shrugged, looking a bit bemused. "Apparently they've been having some trouble down in Port Morris area, somebody's been curbstomping them good whenever they try to work the area over. Word is that they're sick of it, and Hun has some sort of elaborate plan to catch whoever's doing it and put an end to it."

"Well, good for whoever that is. So there's vigilante in the area?" Raph was a little intrigued as he twisted the cap off the plastic bottle. "Somebody we know?"

"No, 'fraid not. We've put a few feelers out to see if we could make contact while you guys were over in Japan, but haven't been able to catch anything really worth anything." Angel admitted as she shook her head. "If there really is somebody out there harassing the street gangs, then we don't have any good information on who it is or what they want."

"Hm. Might still be worth checking out. It doesn't feel right to just let whoever it is get ambushed like that." Raph thought it over, and shrugged with a toothy grin. "And heck, if they've been causing Hun that much trouble, we might want to offer them a job and some official Hamato protection." Raph lifted the water bottle up for a deep swig.

"If anything, whoever it is really seems to know how to have fun messing with street punks." Casey snickered. "I swear to you, Raph, they're all totally freaking out over this! Get this. They're actually completely convinced that they're being attacked by some sort of creature that's half human, half turtle! Can you believe it?!"

There was a crunch as Raph accidentally crushed the plastic water bottle he was drinking out of, spilling water everywhere as he choked.

Several small insects and night moths swarmed around the yellow light set under the rusted metal plate of an old, sad streetlight, causing shadows to dance and pulse across the small paved lot nestled between three buildings, empty except for the garbage that littered the ground and a single white delivery truck parked there.

Hidden in the shadows and silently observing all of this, a dark figure sat crouched on the rooftops above, watching the abandoned lot through narrowed white eyes.

Leonardo sat as still and motionless as a statue, the cool city breeze not ruffling a single scale. Something was going on tonight. The very breeze swirling through the cool night air seemed to tingle with anticipation as the Purple Dragons were out thick tonight, tense with excited energy. It was obvious that they were planning something. Something big.

Leo knew that it wasn't really any of his business. He knew that, now of all times, he couldn't afford to attract unwanted attention. The best thing he could do was to leave the humans to clean up their own messes.

But then he came across two of the punks trying to break into a small mom and pop store, and figured eh, why not? It was easy enough to knock over a few garbage cans, make a lot of noise, and startle them enough so they scurry away in a panic.

But when he followed them to make sure they were actually done and not just going to try again, he overheard them getting a phone call, and they were alluding to that 'something', and whatever it was, it didn't sound good. And it really, REALLY wasn't any of Leo's business, and yet, for some reason, he still found himself here, sitting on a rooftop after following the punks to what he assumed was their hideout.

The figure remained absolutely motionless, but the white eyes narrowed ever so slightly in annoyance. Why? Why was he even doing this?

The white eyes immediately widened a bit as a child's frightened scream echoed through the area, and four humans burst out of the side door of a building, struggling with a burlap sack that sobbed and cried for help.

"Get her in the van!" One of the gang members hissed urgently. "Quickly, before somebody hears!"

Carrying the sobbing tied up burlap sack between them, they hurriedly shuffled over to the delivery truck. One of the heavily tattooed gangsters let go to quickly throw open the back doors, and they tossed the sack into the back of the truck with a thump. The sobs and pleas of a young girl continued to stream from the burlap sack.

Leo's upper lip lifted slightly in a silent, angry snarl, and one hand lifted up to touch the handle of one of his well worn katanas.

Yeah...

This wasn't going to happen.

The four human gang members were just stepping back, laughing with one another and talking about some sort of ransom money, when suddenly a silent whirlwind of solid green shell and spinning steel blades dropped in the middle of them, quickly sending them screaming and running away in all directions.

Leo stood there a moment, watching them retreat as fast as they could. Strange. They hadn't even tried to put up a fight this time. But he quickly shook his head, and turned to the back of the van. He could ponder on their cowardice later. He had already wasted too much time on them tonight. For now, he needed to quickly grab the girl, drop her off at a police station or something where she'd be safe, and then get home.

He sheathed his blade, and quickly hopped into the back of the truck, where the tied up burlap sack lay against the back wall, still crying and begging to be freed.

"Hey, it's okay." Leo tried to soothe the crying child obviously tied up inside, but then jumped and whirled about as the truck doors slammed behind him, sealing out the light from the streetlamp outside and leaving him in almost total darkness. He snarled and threw himself at the doors, slamming into them with all his strength, but it was too late. He was locked in.

Outside the truck, he could faintly hear muffled cheers and yells, and there were several bangs against the solid metal walls as the humans outside pounded on them mockingly.

He backed up a step, a low growl rumbling from his chest, and then with a snarl, he turned and grabbed the sobbing burlap sack, ripping the fabric angrily. A child sized maniquin and a cassette player fell out and clattered onto the hard floor, the fake, recorded crying still playing through the speakers.

A trap! And he had just waltzed right into it! How could he be so STUPID?!

Leo quickly drew one of his swords and with a single slash of the blade, he angrily silenced the cassette player forever, cutting off the recorded cries of distress abruptly. Slightly cathartic, yes, but it didn't help his situation any. And a quick, agitated pace around the small enclosed space told him what he already expected. There was no way out. Even the small, vented window near the back had been boarded over.

His muscles tensed up and his scales prickled as the truck suddenly rumbled to life, and, after a moment, lurched forward, beginning to drive away with him trapped in the cargo bay.

He steadied himself, keeping his footing against the suddenly unsteady flooring as the truck picked up speed, and then turned to face the locked doors of the cargo hold defiantly. He gripped his sword tightly, glaring at the two closed cargo doors with his mouth pressed tightly into furious line and white eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Yeah, I know! The scaly freak fell for it hook, line, and sinker!" the young Purple Dragon gang member with spiked blue hair said excitedly into the cell phone pressed against the side of his face, obviously celebrating jubilantly in the passenger seat of the truck. "I can't believe it worked so well! Meg really nailed that recording! I can believe she took those acting classes as a kid!" He paused for a moment, listening to the person on the other end, and quickly nodded. "Oh. Yeah! Of course! Tell Hun we'll be at the garage in fifteen so he can see himself! We'll see you guys there!"

He hung up the phone, and then threw up his hands and gave an excited hoot. "We got it!" He drummed the dashboard with his hands rapidly, jittery with excited energy. "Oh man, I can't believe we actually got it! We're going to be famous!"

Next to him, the driver of the delivery truck, a muscled man with a bald head, was just as gleeful. "We're going to be stinking rich too! Imagine what some lab or something would pay for an alien, or whatever that thing is! Word is that Hun already has a contract with some scientist guys for some insane cash!" An eager grin spread across his face, slightly distorting the purple dragon tattooed across his cheek and forehead, and he reached over to playfully punch his companion on the shoulder. "I told you that Hun had our backs!"

"Ha! We're going to OWN this city!" the younger gang member celebrated, and then, laughing, he twisted around in his seat to bang at the back wall of the cab, yelling out. "Ya hear that back there, turtleman?! You're going to spend the rest of your freak life strapped some dissection table, while we'll be living up in the lap of luxury! That's what you get for messing with us Purple Dragons!"

As expected, there wasn't any reply or responding noise from the back, but that didn't seem to bother the gang member at all. He continued to grin wildly, turning back around to lean back in his seat, putting his hands behind his spiked hair. "Cars, beaches, and babes, here we come! It's going to be the good life from now on!"

The driver noticed something in the side mirror of the speeding truck, and the smile disappeared, his brow instead furrowing in confusion and concern. "Hey. I think there's a couple of motorcycles following us. Ya see them?"

The spikey haired Purple Dragon immediately sat back up and leaned forward to look, narrowing his eyes at mirror on his side. "Oh, yeah, I see 'em. The hell? Who's that?"

The driver frowned, alternating between the road in front of him and the mirror. "You think it's the cops?"

"Why would they be chasing us though?! We ain't done nothing that concerns them!" There was a sudden rush of wind as the passenger Purple Dragon rolled down the window and leaned out a bit, trying to get a better view. The sleek, almost science fiction-looking motorcycles behind him wove through the sparse traffic with a fluid easiness."I don't know, man. Those don't look like cop bikes to me." He said loudly over the rushing wind. "The fuck, man! Who are they?!"

"I don't know. Some kind of military?" the driver cursed under his breath, glancing in the mirror again, ignoring his excitable companion as he suddenly gave a strange squeak. "They might've gotten wind of the freak, and figured they could poach it from us without paying us. You'd better call the boss and let... him... know..." He glanced back over towards the passenger seat, meaning to address his partner, and trailed off in shock when he noticed that instead of his fellow Purple Dragon, there was now a young, blonde teenaged boy dressed in ninja garb and wearing an orange mask seated casually by the open window instead.

"Hey there." the young ninja beamed at him, his blue eyes behind the mask sparkling with a friendly, mischievous air. He casually reached over and pushed the button to start rolling the window back up. "Did you know that's it's super dangerous to ride in a vehicle without buckling up? Anything can happen, dude!"

"Uhhhhh..." the driver stared at him, dumbfounded and obviously not sure how to respond to this.

"I just thought I should mention that." the strange teenager added offhandedly, then he shot the driver a crooked, knowing grin, pointing out, "Because, y'know, you're not buckled up either."

And before the driver could respond, he heard a tapping on the window of the door beside him, and turned to see a purple banded teenager hanging off the truck just to the side of the door, a long, dark-brown ponytail held by a purple tie fluttering in the wind. The door was suddenly flung open with a rush of air, and the orange ninja calmly reached over to hold the steering wheel steady as the bald man was grabbed and tossed out into the waiting arms of a third ninja following closely on a motorcycle, this one with a shark-like grin and a red helmet.

Donnie easily swung into the seat of the truck, acting as if they weren't currently barreling down a highway at high speeds, and slammed the door shut behind him. Mikey released the wheel to him and he took it in one hand as he buckled in with the other.

"Welcome aboard, Captain Dee!" Mikey said cheerfully, taking his Bo staff for him and settling it across his lap.

"Thanks Mikey." Donnie said absently, reaching over to adjust the mirrors.

"Well, that was surprisingly easy." Mikey commented, looking around the cab and twiddling his thumbs.

"It was the Purple Dragons." Donnie scoffed, reaching up to smooth out his ruffled ponytail. "What did you expect?" He shifted his hand and touched a button on his headset. "Donatello here. We've secured the truck, and are currently heading off to a more secure location. Status report?"

"Good job, boss." Angel's voice came through the headset. "We got the two Purple Dragon punks secured and tied up, and some of the guys even managed to snag a few more of their friends trailing behind. We managed to get the location of the dropoff where Hun is supposed to be waiting out of them. Want us to pay him a visit?"

"Hm?" Donnie seemed a little distracted, his eyes behind his purple mask kept constantly glancing between the road in front of them and the back of the truck. He shook his head and concentrated on the job in front of him. "Oh. Right. Well, I doubt that Hun will stick around once he sees signs that the heist went awry, but I still want Sally to take two dozen of the troops and check it out. Contact the proper authorities, surrender the Purple Dragons we've already captured to the police, and cooperate with them as needed. Keep us updated if anything unexpected pops up. Casey and Angel, take the rest of the troops and back off to a safe distance, keep an eye out for others Purple Dragons that might follow. Raph, follow us, I'm going to find a safe place where we can stop."

"Got it." Raph's voice came in over the radio, his voice tighter then usual. In the mirror, Donnie could see all the motorcycles except Raph's split off, two of them ladened with tied up Purple Dragons. Raph's bike instead moved a little closer to the truck, driving beside it protectively.

"Yeah. Oh man, I would give anything to see Hun's face right now! I bet he's so mad!" Mikey joked as he turned to look at the wall behind them. He bit his lip, and glanced at Donnie with some concern. "So... um. Do... do you think that Leo's okay back there?"

"Hopefully he's fine." Donnie kept his reddish brown eyes on the road ahead of them, flipping the blinker on and slowing the truck down, before turning onto a side road. "We caught the Purple Dragons and rescued him before they could really do anything to him." He swallowed hard. "The sooner we can get him out, though, the better."

Mikey nodded, and then couldn't help the excited, wide grin that spread across his face. He turned to Donnie with a look of almost disbelief on his freckled face, like he couldn't believe this was actually happening. "Donnie! We... we really found him! We actually really found Leo!"

Donnie couldn't help but match his eager grin, and gave an excited squeal of his own, gripping the steering wheel just a little tighter. "I know, Mikey! I know!"

Donnie managed to find a secluded alleyway nearby which he felt would be sheltered from prying eyes and safe enough, and, after ordering the troops to stay back and guard the area around them, he pulled the truck to a stop alongside the brick wall of a building, next to several dented and empty garbage cans.

No sooner had he put it in park then Mikey was throwing off the seatbelt, scrambling for the door and gasping out, "Leo! Leo, Leo, Leo, Leo!"

Donnie hurriedly turned off the engine and, grabbing his Bo staff, pushed open his own door, and hopped out, his booted feet landing easily on the dirty pavement of the alleyway. Raph was already there, pulling off his helmet and jumping off his bike, his reddish spiked hair slightly damp with sweat.

"Is Leo really back there? Is he okay?" Raph strode up to them quickly, his eyes flashing towards the back of the truck.

"I don't know. We haven't heard any noise or anything from the cargo hold yet." Donnie hurried towards the back doors. "I'm... I'm sure that if he's really trapped back there, he's probably pretty frightened right now, and trying to remain as quiet as possible."

"Well, come on, then! Let's get him out and make sure he's okay!" Raph followed right on his heels, concern etched on his face.

"Oh my gosh, I can't believe we're finally going meet Leo!" Mikey grabbed Raph's arm tightly, watching Donnie start unlatching the lock of the back door of the truck. He looked like he was going to explode from sheer excitement.

Donnie knew exactly how he felt. He felt like his heart was about to hammer straight out of his chest.

He carefully lifted the heavy latch and prepared to open the doors. At long last, after years of looking and searching and worrying and praying, they finally found their lost missing piece! They had found their brother!

The latch gave a 'clunk', and Donnie reached up to pull open the metal doors, when all of a sudden they exploded outwards, sending him tumbling backwards. All he caught was a flash of green scales and silver steel as a solid and powerful body shoved him aside, flying past him to lunge at a startled Raph, who barely got one of his sai up in time to block a side swipe from a katana, which was followed up by a spinning kick that Raph barely dodged.

"What?! Oh fuck! Wait! Hold on!" Raph gasped he desperately tried to grab at the green blur to stop him. "You don't-"

And that was all the words he was able to get out before a strong, three fingered hand grabbed his wrist, a shelled back was twisted about to press right under his arm, and suddenly he was being flipped over, right into a startled Mikey, leaving them both landing hard in a heap on the ground.

And then the green blur was gone, bolting away towards a brick half wall. The shelled figure paused at the base of the wall, and Donnie got a glimpse of two pure white deadly eyes glancing back at them for just a second, before the shadowed figure sheathed his katana against his shell and quickly began scaling the brick wall. Donnie realized with a sudden lurch in his stomach that they were about to lose their turtle brother again before they even met him.

"No, wait! Please don't go!" Mikey gasped, struggling up from under a winded Raph. "LEO!"

"We're not going to hurt you, I promise!" Donnie scrambled up to his feet, desperately calling after the disappearing mutant turtle. "We're your family! We're the Hamatos!"

The second that he uttered that surname, the figure screeched to a halt, instantly freezing in place in a half crouch position on top of the wall.

Wait. That... that actually worked? Oh thank goodness. Donnie put a hand on the side of the truck for support as he tried to catch his breath and winced, feeling his bruised side. Oof. Well, so much for the myth that turtles were slow. He suddenly realized how lucky they were that Leo had been more interested in escaping then attacking. Despite the deadly katana blades strapped to that shell, the worst they got were a few scrapes and bruises. Leo obviously hadn't wanted to actually seriously hurt them in his escape.

The figure paused for a moment more, then slowly, hesitantly, turned around on the wall to face them. Only, instead of the cold and dangerous looking white eyes he had seen before, now two wide and uncertain sapphire blue eyes looked back at them. For a moment, the long lost brothers stared at one another, finally getting a full view of one another for the very first time.

Donnie could hardly believe his eyes. After so many years of having only the vague information listed in a few scientific documents stolen from the EPF to go off of, they were finally seeing Leonardo now in person! And he was so much more... more real then Donnie had ever imagined! He wore a few pieces of makeshift padding and armor around his lean but muscled limbs, as well as a belt with a few small canvas bags tied to it. His shell was strong and sturdy, yet somehow surprisingly flexible, allowing him to crouch in a cat-like state that one wouldn't think a turtle would be capable of. He was definitely a turtle, yes, but he was also more remarkably human like in appearance and expression then Donnie had expected him to be. Seeing his face better in the streetlight now, Donnie realized that somehow, despite the green scales and the broad snout on his turtle-like face, Leo kind of resembled their father in a way. He even could be described as somewhat handsome. Especially those blue eyes.

"Okay, new rule." Raph grunted, pushing Mikey off of him and standing up. "From now on, we give Leo a heads up when we're rescuing him, so he doesn't mistake us for his kidnappers." He cracked his back with a wince before reaching down to give Mikey a hand up.

Mikey took the offered hand, scrambling back up to his own feet. "It does always seem to go so much better when everybody's in on the plan and on the same page." he agreed amiably, then turned to wave at Leo. "Sorry about that, bro! Don't worry, we totally made sure those Purple Dragons regretted all their life choices tonight."

Still crouched on top of the half wall, Leo watched them with wide, blue eyes, his nostrils flaring and his body low and tensed up. From the way he was eyeing them, it looked like he really, really wanted to disappear into his shell. It was obvious from his body language that he must not have had very good luck when it came to interactions with humans in the past, and he wasn't quite convinced that this meeting would end up any different. But, for some reason, something about them was keeping him from just running away. For the moment anyways.

Donnie realized that they had probably only a short window of time to reassure him and explain themselves before he lost his nerve and bolted once more.

"I'm... ah, Donatello." Donnie offered, hoping to put him a little more at ease. "Hamato Donatello, eldest son of Hamato Yoshi and Chuunin of the Hamato Clan, if any of that matters to you. And these are my two brothers, Raphael and Michelangelo."

"But you can call us Donnie, Raph, and Mikey if you want." Mikey helpfully added cheerfully. "That's way easier. Is your name still Leonardo? Can we call you Leo?"

They looked at him eagerly, but Leo didn't answer him. Instead, he continued to study them uncertainly. His muscles remained completely stiff and rigid as he crouched, as if were prepared to spring away at the slightest hint of provocation. For a brief moment, Donnie wondered if their turtle-born, highly isolated brother could even understood anything they were saying.

But then he exhaled softly and lowered his head slightly, never taking his eyes off of them as he nodded ever so slightly. He licked his dry lips nervously as he eyed them. "What... What do you want?" he finally whispered in a surprisingly clear but low voice.

Oh! He could talk! Thank goodness! The purple chuunin rubbed the back of his pony-tail, explaining a little awkwardly, "Well, uh... We kind of found out that the Purple Dragons were planning an ambush to capture you, and so we came to, um... rescue you."

"Not that you seemed to need it much." Raph grumbled slightly without any real malice in his tone, brushing the dirt and grit off his outfit. It was obvious that he too was trying to ease Leo's tension in his own gruff way. "Seems to me like you can kick Purple Dragon ass just fine on your own."

"Leo. Bro. You're definitely going to have to teach us some of those moves, because MAN those were sweet!" Mikey beamed at the tense turtle balanced on the wall.

Their casual attitude and friendly manner seemed to perplex the mutant turtle. He blinked at them, and then nervously shifted his stance slightly on top of the wall. "No, I mean... What do you want with me?" he clarified. He swallowed hard, his blue eyes flicking up to them, studying them and trying to figure out their motives. "Why would you rescue me? What... what does the Hamato clan hope to gain from this? From me?"

"Dude, you're family!" Mikey said as if that were obvious. "We've been looking for you, because we want to make sure you're safe and okay and not hurt or in trouble!"

"You're a Hamato." Raph clarified. "Our dad adopted you all those years ago, didn't he? He named you, same as he named us. Doesn't matter if you're human, mutant, or alien. You're still one of us." His eyes narrowed slightly. "And believe me, we protect our own."

Poor Leo was looking at them like an oft- kicked dog being offered a kind hand, and he wasn't sure how to react to it. Donnie wondered just what Leo had been through in his life, and if the result was going be Raph making one of his infamous 'List of Names' when they learned more of Leo's past. Those 'Lists' had a habit of putting the Clan on bad terms with law enforcement and opening up legal headaches for their lawyers. He reached down to pick up his Bo off the ground, sheathing it on his back. Eh. That just meant Donnie needed to tag along with Raph as he began checking off some of those names. Just to make sure everything was done properly, of course.

"Leo." Donnie said gently. "Please believe me when I say that we don't want to pressure you into anything that you don't want to do, or feel uncomfortable with. We would love to get to know you, but if you need space, then we'll back off for as long as you need us to. But we need to know that you're okay. You're a Hamato too, so if there's anything that you need or want, the Clan's resources are at your disposal."

Leo's blue eyes flicked from side to side uncertainly, and his body flattened even further on the top of the wall as he worried his lower lip, studying them for a long moment. His face, at first so guarded, was now open and almost vulnerable in his uncertainty, and from it, Donnie could tell that an intense internal debate was going on inside his turtle brother's head. He seemed to be going back and forth between a somewhat fearful logical voice which was telling him to run, and a hopeful, lonely side which obviously very much wanted to believe them. And... underneath that all... Was that a slight undercurrent of desperation?

Donnie, Raph, and Mikey all waited with bated breath to see what their turtle brother would do, not wanting to push him away by being too clingy, but at the same time, desperately wanting to give him all the hugs. Oh please! Oh please oh please oh please, Leo! Please! Please be our brother!

Finally, after what seemed like forever, Leo exhaled and, looking incredibly nervous and cowed, he slipped down from on top of the wall, stepping back onto the pavement of the alleyway where they were standing. He looked at them, rubbing an arm for a second, and then quietly gestured for them to follow him. He turned and moved down the dark alleyway, slipping between two buildings.

Huh. Well, that wasn't really what Donnie had been expecting. Confused, he, Raph, and Mikey glanced at one another, but then, as one, they quickly hurried to follow.

Leo led them down a few side streets, around a corner, and then their turtle brother really had them scratching their heads in confusion when he knelt down and peeled off a manhole cover in the street and climbed down into it, disappearing into the darkness below.

The three human brothers gathered around the hole, peering in hesitantly.

"Uh... that's the sewers, dude." Mikey called down into the pitch black below.

There was a click, and the darkness below was suddenly dispelled by the flashlight that Leonardo was holding down at the bottom of the ladder. He glanced up at them, his face serious and somber, and merely nodded his agreement, before turning and disappearing further down the tunnel.

Raph sighed and pulled a small flashlight out of one of the utility pouches on his belt, before kneeling down to swing down the hole and grab the ladder. "Come on." he grunted, climbing down. "Let's see what he wants."

Mikey waited until Raph had touched down and was standing on solid ground, before gleefully leaping down, bypassing the ladder altogether as a startled Raph swore and lunged to catch him. "Booyakasha!"

"This is so unsanitary." Donnie grumbled under his breath as he twisted about to climb down himself, reaching up to pull the man cover closed behind him.

Leo waited patiently for them, flashlight in hand, and as soon as they all made it down, he turned and led them further down through the tunnels. They wandered through a veritable labyrinth hidden under the streets of the city above, past flowing manmade rivers, climbing around pipes that had probably been laid decades in the past, and through surprisingly cavernous rooms filled with giant vats of somewhat questionable liquid. But Leo seemed to know where he was going and had obviously had some sort of specific destination in mind, so they followed him, curious to see just what it was he wanted to show them. Donnie supposed that, if one looked at it from a different angle, blindly following a mutant they didn't know hardly anything about down into the depths of the sewers was probably not a course of action that most sane people would recommend.

But they weren't concerned about Leo harming them in the slightest. They trusted him.

Eventually they found themselves walking through an area of the sewers that was less modern and maintained then the rest of the infrastructure they had seen so far, an obviously half forgotten and antiquated section of the sewer system that was seldomly used.

And, as Leo moved a cleverly placed piece of corrugated metal leaning against a wall to reveal a hole in the wall, ever so faintly, the three humans began to hear a rough, wet gasping noise from somewhere within, as if some creature was struggling to breath.

Leo exhaled, turned and gave them a pleading look, and waved them in.

The humans glanced at one another, and then moved past him to duck in through the makeshift entrance,

To their wonder and amazement, as they came out the other side, they found themselves inside stepping into a large, circular room that had been converted into a makeshift home. Everything in here was obviously salvaged, rebuilt, and repaired from some junk yard or another. There was a kitchen off in the far corner, with an old dorm fridge plugged into a scuffed up powerstrip and a camping stove, a bookshelf against a wall filled with tattered but well loved books, and a wooden table that obvious had a once broken leg repaired, covered in a blue piece of printed cloth and a vase with a few pretty fake flowers set into it.

Despite the patches upon patches on the sparse furniture, the mismatched old Christmas lights strung up for lighting, and all the duct tape everywhere holding almost everything together, somehow, it all still seemed... homey and comfortable.

And that's when they realized that the raspy breathing was coming from over in the area that was obviously some sort of living space. There, on an old army cot that had obviously been set up recently, an ancient looking mutant rat lay gasping for air under a layer of blankets.

"What in the..." Raph lowered his flashlight and gaped at the rat in shocked surprise.

"Wait? Another mutant?!" Mikey looked amazed as his baby blue eyes widened between Leo and the unconscious rat. "Is... is he your family too?! What's the matter with him?! Is he sick?!"

Donnie stared at the rat in disbelief. It couldn't be... Could it?! Their father's beloved pet rat... he had disappeared during the accident, just as Leo had, but... but Donnie never considered the fact that he too had also been... That he could be...

"Splinter?!" he finally wheezed out weakly in shock.

Both Mikey and Raph whipped their heads to look at him, and their eyes widened even further when they realized the implication of this.

Leo moved around them and stepped to the other side of the cot. "Yes." he spoke up finally, his voice quiet and low as he looked down on the sleeping elderly rat struggling to breath. He ran a three fingered hand over the fevered forehead. "But he's been so sick for over a week now, and he keeps getting worse. I... I've tried everything that I can, but no matter what I do, he hasn't been getting better." Swallowing hard, he carefully took one of the unconscious rat's paws, enveloping it gently in both of his three fingered hands, and looked up at them, blue eyes pleading. "Please... help him." he begged. "I swear to you, I'll do anything you want. But please, help Master Splinter."