: Chapter 14:

"Wow…it's crowded for a small Brooklyn airport this time of year." Mikey tightened his orange scarf snugly around his mouth.

"How are we ever ganna find Denmark in this place?" Raph sighed. "For all we know the plane could have…"

I turned around sharply and glared at his frozen face.

"Nevermind. She's definitely here." He nodded.

"We'll need to split up if we want to cover any ground." Mike exclaimed.

"No, we stay together just in case Helmuth gives us a hard time." I waved my brothers on to follow me. Once we got into the main part of the airport though, I started to wonder if splitting up was a better idea. There were people everywhere, and I mean everywhere. You couldn't take 2 steps in any direction without bumping into someone.

"This is extremely claustrophobic." I saw little beams of sweat begin to drip down Michelangelo's face. He wasn't just being dramatic though. He tended to go a little crazy on us whenever he was in large crowds of people so I was hoping and praying he could stick through it because I really needed his help right now.

"Deep breaths baby brother. Deep breaths." Raph comforted him, which was rare by the way.

"If you need to take a break let me know." I told him.

"Not when my favorite niece is being kidnapped!"

"She's your only niece yah bonehead." Raph rolled his eyes.

"E46 leaving in approximately 5 minutes." A loud voice boomed over the entire airport, making some people freak out and start running quickly to board the plane.

"Yah think that's her flight?" Raph asked while I pulled out Den's passport.

"Yah…that's the one." I quickly shut the small blue book and slipped it back into my sash. "Let's go!"

We ran quickly past the crowds of people and pushed some out of the way if it was necessary. We kept a sharp eye out for anything that could lead us to the location of my daughter, but nothing. We were forced to stop when we reached our first obstacle.

"Boarding tickets please." A tall, well-dressed man held out his palm.

"Sir, I need to get past!" The level of urgency in my voice scared even me.

"I'm sorry; you are not permitted to enter without your boarding pass." He placed two fingers on the rim of his hat.

"Listen Pal!" Raph threw himself towards the man and grabbed ahold of his suit. "We've got a kid on that plane that aint supposed to be there. Now are yah ganna let us through or are we ganna have to let ourselves through?" I couldn't tell from the angle I was standing at but it looked to me like Raph had the tip of a Sai against the man's neck.

"Would you like to report a missing child?" He said calmly.

A crowd of people began to hoard around us so I tapped Raph's shell to get him to hurry up.

"Forget it." Raph dropped him and walked straight through security, causing an officer uprising. Mikey looked at me with a great deal of confusion then followed Raphael through the metal detectors. I went to join them but something sitting on a small side platform caught my eye. I examined it first then picked it up in my hand. It was a little, black metal fragment from something familiar looking, I just couldn't remember what it exactly it reminded me of.

"You're lookin for a girl?" I whipped around to a small, old lady who was sitting on a bench. She had two bags at her feet and a dull green scarf wrapped around her head.

"Yes…do I know you?"

"No, but I know you."

"Susan?" I walked up to her and sat down.

"Now you know me." she raised her head and looked at the ceiling through the pair of dark sunglasses she had on.

"What are you doing here Susan?" I asked her while turning and looking back to find my brothers.

"I don't want to miss the train." She smiled.

"This is an airport."

She pivoted in her seat and threw her hands into her lap. "Is that why the train never came?" She laughed softly. "But enough about me, why are you here boy?"

"I'm here looking for Denmark, your niece and my daughter."

"That's three people!"

I sighed at the fact that I was wasting valuable time sitting here talking, then again, I did walk over to her. "I'm sorry Sue, I'd love to stay but I have to find my daughter."

"Wait." She grabbed my arm as I began to walk away. "You sound like a man fixing to do a very bad thing."

"Well, it's my daughter life at stake and I'll do whatever it takes to get her back."

Susan tightened her lips and released my arm. "I try to imagine a life for a life. If you take one, you must also give one." Her little riddle made no sense in my spinning mind right now. I simply nodded and walked right through the metal detectors, even when the buzzer and flashing red lights went off.

::

"Stop!"

The security guard from behind us was screaming to the top of his lungs while the rest of his posse were pulling out their Taser guns and taking aim.

"Uh Raph?!" I said while making my legs run as fast as they could. "How does fried turtle sound to you?!"

"Delicious." He said in a really disturbing voice.

"Alrighty then." I rolled my eyes as we made a sharp turn that led us to a pair of double doors. "Now what?!"

"I bet you my shell those doors lead out to the runway!" Raph yelled as he pulled out one of his Sai and aimed it at the upcoming set of doors (we're still running by the way people). I watched him as he shut one eye and threw it at a tiny metal box on the wall.

"Ha! You missed!" I yelled right when the doors slid open. "Oh…"

"Suck on that baby brother." He held his hand out as we ran through the threshold and grabbed his Sai. You know, I always hated those things. I mean, there sharp, ugly, and just plan creepy looking! Me on the other hand, I've got the trustworthy nun-chucks that never fail! Plus, they cause minimal bloodshed, which is always a bonus unless you're Raph or a very angry daddy Leo.

"So now what?!" After another pair of doors slid open, my ears instantly popped from the sound of the planes taking off. "Oh gee I hope one of them wasn't Denny's!"

"It's not, look!" Raph pointed to the runway where a group of people were boarding a plane marked E46 on the wing. All the way at the back of the line was a disfigured walking clump of person being dragged by a huge muscular dude.

"Denny!" Raph slapped me as hard as he could once I yelled out. The clumpy person and a few people down the line looked at us. Most of them thought nothing of it but that specific group of people, made a beeline for the plane.

"Oh crap Come on!" Raph slapped me in the back of the head and started running for the people. After my brain turned back on and focused on the situation, my legs finally moved and took off after him.

"Raph!" The bulky figure called out, who now I can tell you, was 100% Denmark which means that muscular man was 100% her stupid annoying step-father, Helmuth. He wrapped his arms around her torso and pulled her back. A woman, who was standing next to the both of them, tried to cover Denmark with her body, thinking "Oh hey, they'll never find her here behind my big old body!" Let me tell you something lady, your dead wrong! You know why? Because Raphael was exactly point 3 seconds away from ripping your faces off!

"Den, reach out!" He called out to her and she tried her best to pull off the command but her stupid mother had to make it difficult! Thankfully though, Raph is pure ninja and managed to grab ahold of Den's little crooked arms. He somehow managed to flip himself over top of her and land on Helmuth's unsuspecting shoulders. (By the way while all this is going on people are running and screaming around bumping into me and causing all sorts of chaos). Humans these days, anyway! So Raph manages to pull his niece from Helmuth and set her free, for a short time anyway.

"No! You're ruining everything!" Helmuth somehow in the world was actually able to land a punch right in the middle of Raph's plastron. You know, this is actually a funny story, everyone knows I call Raph names and stuff, but one of the things I used to call him was 'hard abs.' I believe Helmuth learned that the hard way…get it? No? Ok!

So anyway, while Raph is standing tall and proud, Helmuth…hey, I think I nickname him Hell! So Hell is waving his hand around and squealing like a little girl.

"Get him Raph!" Den was over on the sidelines cheering on her uncle Raphael. I say she's stupid! What about me?! Am I not doing anything to help? Hey, watch what you say I'm narrating this thing for you.

"Den get outta here!" He yelled to her but unfortunately, someone got to her before she could react to this new command. Jillian grabbed her arms and pulled them behind her back, making Den scream and yell for help, again. I'm ganna kick Donatello's sorry ass once I get the chance. We could really use an extra pair of hands right about now.

So now came the tricky part, help Raph, or save Denmark.

"Mikey! Help Den!" Yah, Raph makes decisions for me sometimes.

"Hold on Den I'm coming even though you were trained for like 5 years and can't fight off your 40 year old mother!" I ran over to them with my Nun-chucks in my hands.

"You think I haven't already tried that!" She screamed. Since I was still a bit of a ways away I figured why not throw her a few tips. First, I digested the situation. Mmmmm I'd like to digest a slice of pizza right now. Sorry! Focus!

So Jillian was standing behind Denmark trying to keep her hands behind her back. "Den! Use your shoulder!"

She got the message and did a little jump so that her left shoulder clocked Jillian right in the nostrils. Ouch. Soon enough, the desperate mother let go so that she could now tend to her broken nose. I'm sure it was due for a fix anyway.

"Mikey!" Her smile went from ear to ear as I approached her.

"I know I know, I'm amazing."

While I was basking in my own glory, I failed to notice that her smile had dropped. "Mikey look out!" Before I could respond, a huge blow to the side of my head knocked me flat on my plastron. You see, this was the kind of thing Leo told me to look out for. If you get too caught up in yourself, you might just end up beaten. If you couldn't already tell, self-confidence was one of my uh…down points.

Great, so now Denmark was once again captured by a very angry German. "You should have never come here. Now the police will take you to a lab and dissect you just like they will to her in Germany!" He grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards the plane. Dissect her? I thought he loved her!? What kind of messed up world is this! What the hell happened to Raph?! Why am I still lying on the ground?!

I got up slowly and massaged my aching shoulder. When I looked over to where Raph had been, all I saw was a big, bulky shell lying there; it also looked like Leo decided to join the party, finally. I hope he had a good vacation not helping us!

::

"Raph!" Tracking the guys was a whole new fiasco in itself but when I finally saw the busted control panel, I figured they had gone this way. I ran through the doors out onto the runway where all Hell appeared to be breaking loose. People were running around screaming while officers tried to keep them from getting run over by the airplanes. Strangely enough, none of them tried to put an end to the brawl between Helmuth and Raphael. I called out his name as I ran straight for them but I made sure Denmark was safe first. I watched as she ran as far as she could from the fighting and stood watch at a safe distance.

"Raph!" I had a very bad habit of not making it to points of interest on time. I watched as Helmuth punched Raphael's neck and sent him plummeting to the ground. For a moment he just stood there and smiled but then he saw me coming and took off. "Raph!" I fell down at my brothers side and put two fingers against his already swollen neck. He was still alive, but barely.

"Mikey look out!" Denmark's cry out forced me to turn my gaze over to them. I looked just in time to watch my little brother fall to the ground as well once Helmuth sharply smacked him in the shoulder.

He grabbed Denmark and started to run towards the plane. "No!" I left Raph on the ground and started sprinting towards them, right out into the runway. I pulled out my swords and threw one right into Helmuth's leg, sending him and Denmark crashing to the ground.

"Dad!" She was stuck underneath his motionless body, trying desperately to break free.

"Den hold on!" I was almost there, so close to having my daughter with me again but something bad always had to go wrong. A huge weight pounded on my back, making me crash to the floor as well.

"You have the right to remain silent! Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law!" A deep voice called out to me as my hands were pulled behind my back and cuffed.

"No! You don't understand!" I tried to pull away only to be knocked right between my shell and plastron. As I lied there, deciding whether or not to beat these guys to a bloody pulp, Susan's riddle finally made sense in my head. My job was done. Denmark was safe. There was no need to fight anymore and hurt anyone else.

"Daddy!" One of the officers pulled Helmuth off her and helped her up off the ground. She ran right to me and dropped back down, cradling my torso.

"You know this man?" One of the officers asked.

"Yes! He's my dad!"

"Is that true sir?" He asked me. I smiled and sighed in relief.

"Yes, it's true."

"Please let him go!" Denmark pleaded with the officers. "That man was kidnapping me and he was only trying to save me! Wouldn't you have done the same for your kid?"

The one who was sitting on top of my shell shifted positions and sighed. "Only this once." I felt the cold handcuffs being removed from my skin and my jacket sleeves were rolled back down over my wrists. "I'm not going to file a report. You guys were lucky that our cameras are down for repairs." He hesitated and then tightened his lips. "You know, I saw you guys in action once."

I stood up off the ground and looked at the large, dark skinned man. "You know us?"

"Yeah, there was a hold up at a bank I was in and you guys were there saving the day." The other officers looked at each other and raised their shoulders. "I guess I owed you one."

"Well now I owe you." I held out my hand to him and he took it in his.

"I'll have this guy's files pulled up and he'll be arrested for kidnapping along with his wife who we just took in to the hospital for a broken nose. Your brothers…" He pointed behind him where both Raph and Mikey were up off the ground and heading towards us. "I would normally take them in to a hospital for examination but considering the odds…"

"They'll be alright." I smiled

The man smiled and tipped his hat. "Merry Christmas folks. Drive home safely." The officers put handcuffs on Helmuth and hauled him off.

"You're dead." I turned to Denmark who was beaming up at me with her adorable blue eyes. "And you're grounded, and no training for a month and no food for a year and no water for the rest of your life. Your ganna be one sad turtle missy."

"I missed you." She wrapped her arms around me and laid her head against my plastron.

"Alright, since you're so cute I'll cut it to no food for 11 months." I put my hand on the top of her head as she laughed.

"So who's first to whack the Denmark Piñata?" Raph rubbed his fists together as he walked up to us.

"Only if I get a nice metal bat to do it with." Mikey snickered.

"Oh you guys." She smiled "Hey, where's Donnie?"

::

"Well the prodigal daughter returns!" Donnie hugged Denmark as she hopped into the van.

"Where were you while I was being rescued?!" She threw her hands on her hips.

"What?"

"Donnie's a big sissy and didn't wanna help." Mike teased.

"Excuse me pizza breath? You think the surveillance cameras shut themselves off?" Don grinned.

"You did that?!" Raph looked surprised as did the rest of us.

"Come on, I'm not that useless." He gave a cheesy smile.

"No but your very close." Raph wrapped his arm around Don's neck and rubbed the top of his head with his knuckles.

"Hey Hey! I need that!" He smacked him away and pulled his seatbelt over his chest. "Home?"

"That's the only place any of us want to be right now." I leaned my head back against the wall and put one arm around my daughter to keep her from escaping again.

:: 2 weeks later

"Helmuth Louise and Jillian Louise were put on trial today after kidnapping a teenage girl and attempting to leave the country with her! Authorities say that if it weren't for her families' bravery and perseverance, she would be halfway to Germany by now."

"Hey guys look, I'm on the TV." Denmark pointed to the television set while her uncles walked over to take a look.

"Oh yeah look at that. Yah better not be on it again though kid." Raph gently slapped her head and walked away.

"I wonder what their ganna do with those pathetic excuses of humans." Don sat down next to her on the couch and crossed his legs.

"After about 3 hours of jurisdiction, the married couple was sentenced to 25 years in prison without the chances of parole."

"Eh, who would wanna parole those assholes anyway?" Mikey took another bite of his pizza and walked away to probably find Raphael and annoy him.

"I would, so I could stick them on sticks and parade through the town with their heads." Don nudged Den and smiled gently. "Babylonian style!"

"I approve." Den giggled.

"Oh you two." I shook my head and flipped the page of the newspaper. "I personally think they should be taken to the bottom of the ocean and crushed into little tiny cubes."

"Well that would do it Leo." Don laughed. I smiled and folded up the paper and laid it on the chair.

"Alright Den, come on." I stood up and stretched my arms.

"Where are we going?" She stood up abruptly and hopped next to me while I grabbed our coats from the closet.

"You'll see. But you have to promise me you'll go right to bed when we get back ok? It's already really late."

"I will!"

"Alright let's go." I handed her the jacket and slipped on mine. After treading through the sewers I found a good spot to go up to the surface. We climbed a fire escape and settled down on the roof with the gravel crunching underneath our feet. "I want you to see something." We waited for about 5 minutes for the clouds to clear and then suddenly, the sky was illuminated with the shining of the bright full moon.

"Wow! It's taking up the whole horizon!" I looked into her eyes and saw its reflection off them. Then, small, silver flakes began to settle down on her face and melt. The light from the full moon was shining off the snow, making it look like they were lighting up themselves. It was a perfect light show, and what better person to share it with than my mischievous daughter.

"I'm sorry dad, for being such a loser lately."

"You're not a loser, you can't be or else that would make me a loser too." I smiled down at her as she grinned.

"I love you daddy."

"I love you too, and don't ever think your loserness will ever change that." She gasped and slapped me lightly on the arm. "I'm just kidding sweetie."

"I know." She laid her head against my shoulder and shut her eyes.

I couldn't help but think of Master Splinter as we sat there quietly in the moonlight. He had one of the greatest gifts a person, or mutant, could ever ask for in life. If being a parent wasn't the best thing in the world, then I didn't know what was.

BOOOOYAAAAAAHH! That was so much fun! Thank you for reading! I hoped you looooved it! But if you didn't, that's ok! I'll have more stories uploaded soon! Once again, thanks for reading!