Notes: It has been a very long time since I've written anything... hopefully not to rusty! Hope you guys like it!

Disclaimer: I do not own TMNT, the Nickelodeon does.

Disorienting agony.

The strange glowing substance, that was what was it brought. The well dressed men who had it were gone, a lucky break. Martial artist or not, he doubted he could have fought them off when the pain tore through his body.

Had minutes passed? Hours? Everything was fuzzy after his exposure to that... ooze.

Eyes still closed, he groaned softly. His limbs felt heavy and strange as he rolled over and pushed himself up on hands and knees as he opened his eyes.

Hamato Yoshi jerked back from the hairy arms and smooth hands in front of him. What manner of madness had happened? A quiet groan escaped his mouth as he looked down at furred form he now occupied.

Well, when he noted he felt fuzzy earlier, who would have guess he'd should have thought furry instead? The wry thought earned a cracked smile at the ridiculousness of it all.

Delicately reaching up to touch his muzzle, the newly mutated rat felt his brain kick into gear. He could panic later, but right now he had to think of what to do. His apartment had some items he could use, public transportation was out of the question so getting out of the city before dawn was not possible...

A strange sensation ran up his spine, like he had hit something, but he was sitting on his legs left the martial artist baffled for a second before a cry cut though his thoughts.

A child's cry.

Whipping his head around, the rat's jaw dropped. A back part of his brain noted the weird feeling was merely his... tail meeting an obstacle, and said obstacle was now flipped over and wailing.

An instinct long buried had him picking up the small green being and murmuring nonsensical comforts and apologies. The tiny form felt strange in his arms as the bawling subsided quickly.

Lifting the little one up to get a better look, Yoshi's eyebrows rose. The slight cool of the skin, unyielding hard surface made sense now.

Turtle.

Wide blue eyes danced above freckles as the young reptile happily gurgled and reached for the whiskers far from his reach.

The turtle wasn't like any he had seen before, not even the ones from the pet store he had just bought. The mutated rat's brain clicked, he had been carrying them when he ducked into the alley. If the ooze had changed him, perhaps it had an equally stange effect on them.

The three fingered hands dropped and the tiny turtle began to babble happily.

Ears flattened back as Hamato Yoshi lowered the miniature mutant to his lap. It would be easy to leave, but now he was not so sure. He had bought the four pets to ease the loneliness of the city, the longing for the family he had lost back home. Now he would be further cut off from people, for it was their nature to fear the different and unknown.

Leaving the atypical turtles here would not end well for them. Street hooligans might find them, police officers wouldn't know what to do, and if a student of science from any branch got one of them...

Peculiar as they were, no child deserved any of that treatment.

Shaking his head at the bizarre situation thrust upon him, Yoshi shakily got to his feet. Tucking Freckles into his arm, the rat scanned the area. Maybe not all of them had gotten exposed to the mutagen.

The first lay a couple feet away near the trashcan.

Slowly making way over on new legs, the martial artist used his free hand pick up equally small reptile. This time brown eyes met his as it continued to slobber on a discarded juice box. Snorting softly he tucked the new one next to Freckles before taking the colorful trash away.

Whining at the loss of its plaything, Yoshi noted a prominent gap in the young one's mouth before it became preoccupied with a new toy - the arm carrying him.

Not far from there lay the next quartet, and this one wasn't going anywhere.

Trapped on its back despite its best efforts the tiny turtle whimpered its distress and stared once Yoshi came into sight. This one too, had blue eyes, albeit a shade or two darker than Freckles. A small chuckle escaped the martial artist, finding tot's problem endearing.

Scooping up the third, who nuzzled into the arm of his rescuer happily, the rat shook his head. with Freckles and Gap taking up one arm, Norm (for he could see no immediate distinguishing trait) was going to make getting the last difficult.

Even further out near the alley's exit was the last. Not quite up to a crawl just yet, but making some headway the remaining reptile struggled towards the brighter lights. If only it knew the trouble it would find out there, it wouldn't be so eager to go there.

A few more steps, an the larger mutant knelt down and picked up the last turtle with his already full arms. It took some finesse, especially since Norm decided now was a good time to wiggle. This time, it was green eyes staring up as the young one seemed to shrink down in his arms.

Yoshi noted this one was missing a bit of shell, and decided Chip had been trying to pull its head into is shell, or something to that effect.

With all four now accounted for, it was time to move. The apartment could wait an hour or two, but hiding the little ones was a higher priority. Abandoned buildings were risky, the chance to run into someone or dangers of dilapidation were high. Roofs were too exposed, both to sun and anyone with vantage point, be it from a higher building or air travel were also to great.

Stepping on a manhole cover sparked the idea of going down, even it made part of him cringe. The sewer tunnels were built strong, and people less likely to go down there. Shifting his gaze towards the armful of turtle tots, Yoshi knew he was going to have to make two trips. After a moment of debate he decided to leave Norm and Gap on the back of their shells as he carried the more energetic two down. Treating Freckles and Chip the same way once he reached the bottom, the rat scurried back up to fetch the other two.

Making sure to pull the lid closed, Yoshi sighed when he finished climbing down and picking up the the others. Walking down the tunnel with both arms full again, the tall mutant began to wonder what he would do now. Find somewhere to leave the turtles, go to his apartment for supplies... and then what?

He was... changed, what would he do for himself? Where would he go? Would he stay with the strange children or leave them behind sooner or later? Looking down, all four sets of wide eyes were staring up with. Hopeful, maybe. Curious, definitely. Innocent, there was no doubt that they were.

A small smile crept on the new parent's face, taking things one day at a time for a little while after such a major change would be okay.