Hello, I finally got back into writing. I took a year or two hiatus because, let me tell you, writer's block sucks. I had all these ideas, but I didn't know how to express them. It feels great to come back. Anyway, thanks for reading! Oh yeah, this is set in the 2003 version. This was originally going to be a story on the seven or five stages of grief, but I decided it would be way too depressing.

The lair was quiet, which was odd for the occupants who lived there. The eldest, Leonardo, was on edge. He was worried about his youngest brother, who had been out longer than his curfew. Michelangelo was known to lose track of time if he was doing something he loved to do, but that doesn't excuse him for disobeying Master Splinter's orders. For the fifth time, he glanced at the clock that hung over the lair entrance. Only three minutes have passed since he last checked. Leonardo nervously rubbed his hands together and licked his beak.

"Have you heard any news so far?" Leonardo turned to see his second youngest brother, Donatello, leaning heavily against his bo staff while balancing a steaming cup of coffee in his hand

"You know you are not supposed to be up." Leonardo glanced up at the clock again. "Donnie, it's a quarter til two. You need your rest." Donatello sent a mock glare at his older brother. He thought this would happen. Donnie switched the coffee mug between hands to wave off his brother.

"Says the hypocrite. Leo, you out of all of us should be asleep." He knew his brother had been up with Master Splinter last night talking about Leo taking a trip to Japan to visit the Ancient One again.

"But that was different. I was consulting Master Splinter about how I could further my leadership skills. You were working on fixing the lair's security all last night. You need to rest." Donatello rolled his eyes. If his older brother was going to be up, he was going to stay with him.

"Cut it out Leo. He's my brother too." Leo snapped his eyes at Donnie. Was it that noticeable?

"Was it that noticeable?" Leo asked, voicing his thoughts. Donnie nodded his head with a small smile on his face. He moved over to his eldest brother and handed him the cup of coffee he had been nursing.

"It wasn't that hard to tell. If you look close enough, you can see the smoke coming from the floor because the friction you caused from pacing." Leo let out a small chuckle and took a sip of the coffee.

"Bleh, I hate this stuff," Leo said handing the bitter drink back to his brother. "How do you drink so much of this?" Donnie laughed and took the drink back from his brother. Once back in his hands, he took a long sip much to the abhorrence of Leonardo.

"You don't necessarily taste the coffee once it has been diluted by the sugar and creamer. Which reminds me, when Mikey gets back, I'll need him to go to the surface and grab me some more," Donatello said moving away from his brother to return to his lab.

"He wouldn't need to get some more if you didn't use so much of it!" Leo called after his genius brother with a smile on his face. He heard Donnie grumble something about "not understanding" before the lab doors shut. Once Donnie had returned to the lab, the worry had returned and Leo's pacing game resumed.

"This is getting me know where," Leo thought. He took out his shell cell and called April. He knew the red head would pick up even at this hour.

"Hello?" She sounded out of breathe.

"Hey April, is this a bad time?" He heard the sound of the bed creak and the slam of a door. Leo heard somebody on the other side talking to April and he smiled knowingly. "So I guess this is a bad time."

"No, no. It's not what you think Leo!" Despite the tension he was feeling, he let out a laugh.

"Of course it isn't. Anyway, I wanted to know if Mikey has come by at all tonight."

"Yeah, he stopped by a couple hours ago to help me make dinner for Casey and me then he left. Is something wrong?" Leo felt a cold sweat break out on his neck. He knew that the street gangs had become bolder lately and if Mikey had left April's a couple hours ago…

"He hasn't come home yet. I have to go." He hung up before the red head could respond. He briskly walked over to Donnie's lab door and immediately started knocking on the door.

"Jeez Leo. Give a turtle a minute," Donnie said opening the door. Leo sent an apologetic look to his brother, but his face hardened after.

"I need you to track Mikey's shell cell signal." Donnie sent a questionable look at his brother, but he noticed the expression on his face and immediately got to work. He speedily walked to his computer and typed in a couple numbers.

"What do you know?" Donnie hadn't taken his eyes to respond to his brother.

"April said that Mikey left her house a couple hours ago," Leo said. Donnie lips tightened as his fingers flew across the keyboard. Leo would have been impressed with his brother's brisk finger movements if the situation hadn't been dire.

"Okay, I have a lock. The signal is coming from on top of the ninety nine cent pizza shop. Last time moved was," Donnie's eyes widened and he immediately grabbed his duffel bag and his bo.

"Donnie what's wrong?" Leo was beginning to panic. He had never seen his brother so panicked since Donnie was usually calm and collected.

"The last time his shell cell was moved was about an hour ago. Knowing Mikey, he can't stay stationary for more than ten minutes. Put the pieces together Leo. Something's wrong." Leo didn't take a minute before he darted out of the lab and to Raphael's room. He jumped on the wall and he used the momentum to spring himself over the railing. He landed perfectly on his feet and ran to his brother's room. Once he entered, he fumbled with the light switch.

"Raph!" Raph didn't even budge. At this time, Leo wished he wasn't a heavy sleeper. Leo stormed over to his brother and started to shake him. "Raph! Wake up!" A fist shot out and Leo grabbed it before it made contact with his beak. He maneuvered the fist out of his eyesight and was met with two hazel eyes glaring at him.

"What do you 'ant Fearless? You betta have a damn good reason for 'wakin me up," Raphael grumbled while placing his pillow over his face. Leo snatched the pillow off of his face and ignored the murderous look his brother sent him.

"Raph, I need you to grab your sais and your belt. Mikey hasn't come home yet and Donnie traced his shell cell to that pizza place Mikey loves," Leo said while handing Raph's pads to him. When Raph heard Mikey, he immediately started to move. He grabbed the sais off of the table and placed his pads on his elbows and knees.

"Do you 'tink he's okay?" Leo stared at him; Raph nodded and ran out of his room. He jumped over the railing while Leo followed. Donnie was standing at the doorway already with a machine which was producing a low beep. Leonardo grabbed his katanas and met up with Donnie.

"This machine will help me locate Mikey's shell cell signature. As the beeping speeds up, the closer we are to his shell cell." Raph soon joined and immediately crossed his arms over his chest. His muscles were twitching with anticipation.

"What are we waitin' for? Let's go find da knucklehead!" Raph ran ahead. Donnie and Leo looked at each other before darting after their brother.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"How's the signal coming along, Donnie?" Leo said. Donatello glanced down at his machine and grumbled.

"We should be getting close. The machine's beeping is becoming louder." Throughout the dead sprint the brothers were doing, Raphael remained quiet. It didn't take a genius to figure out that he was worried for his baby brother.

In the distance, they saw the white sign that proudly exclaimed $0.99 cent pizza. The brothers slowed to a jog as Donnie moved ahead to scope out the area. The machine was now beeping very loudly. Donnie crept forward quietly, wary of any danger that would spring out. Leo and Raph followed, taking out their weapons as they got closer to the dumpster. Donnie put his machine in his bag while he jumped in the dumpster. He took the machine back out and started digging.

"G-guys," Donnie called. The brothers sheathed their weapons and jumped in the trash heap. What they saw made their hearts sink. In Donnie's hand was Mikey's shell cell cracked and speckled with blood. Raph growled and punched the dumpster. Donnie felt his hands shake and he dropped into the junk. Leo could only stare and he tried to get his thoughts together. He was the leader and he couldn't let things get out of hand. He needed to focus.

Leo took the shell cell out of Donnie's hand and squinted.

"Donnie, do you think you can tell if this is Mikey's blood?" Donnie took a shaky breath and nodded his head slowly.

"I would have to take it back to the lair to run a DNA test along with the samples I have on hand." Leo nodded his head and sheathed his katanas.

"Okay, let's head back to the lair. Do-,"

"What?!" Leo turned to Raph who had a deep glare settled on his face.

"We can't just jump to conclusions that this is Mikey's blood. When we go back to the lab, Donnie can differentiate if this is Mikey's blood or not." Raph shook his head angrily.

"Bullshit! The time we waste at the lab is time against Mikey; he could be lying out there, bleeding out." Leo felt obligated to scold Raphael of his swearing, but decided not to.

"Well were not going to get anywhere if we don't know whose blood it is. For all we know, Mikey could've kicked the guy's butt and this is his blood," Leo responded his voice slightly rising, gesturing to the phone. Raph threw his hands up in the air. Donnie knew to take a weary step back. When Leo's voice starts to rise, a full blown fight was soon to begin.

"That's your plan?" Raph said with a snide scoff.

"It's better than arguing here as we waste more time!"

"Why doesn't Donnie just go and we continue to search?" Leo shook his head.

"No, we all go together."

"Why? Donnie can make it back okay."

"We need Donnie for whatever step we make next."

"Leo?' The older brothers turned to stare at their younger brother. Donnie wasn't making eye contact. Instead, he was taking the battery out of Mikey's shell cell and was studying it.

"Let me go back to the lair to figure out the blood. I'm with Raph on this. We all don't need to hustle back to the lab. I can probably get this done in ten minutes tops. I'll call as soon as I find out the results. You guys continue to look for Mikey," Donnie said placing the shell cell in a plastic bag and depositing it in his duffel bag. Both eyes were on Leo now. Leo didn't like the idea of his younger brother going around without someone tagging along.

"Okay. But take Raph with you. I'll call Casey and have him come with me." Raph looked like he was going to argue, but he shook his head and started walking away with Donnie.

"Hey Leo!" Leo turned to see Raph with a tight expression on his face.

"Be careful. When we come back, I want to only have to find just Mikey, not you too." Leo nodded and jumped to grab the metal staircase. He pulled himself up and continued onto the rooftops.

IIIIIIIII

A light was shined in his eyes, followed by a loud slap; the sound of flesh meeting flesh. A sharp pain was registered on his cheek. Slowly, he opened his eyes, but immediately shut them, the light bothering his sensitive corneas.

"Hey wake up!" The sound was accompanied by pain again. He groaned and peeled open his eyes. His vision swam and he was tempted to upchuck, but held it down. His vision began to clear and he finally got a glance around the room. The room was dull with various chains and lights hanging. Rust was evident on the walls and a small hole in the wall was accompanied by a drop of water which dripped every so often.

He groaned again and tried to rub his hand on his face, but found he couldn't. He ignored the pounding of his head, looking down at his lower half. He was tied to what looked like a wooden chair; his wrists and ankles were bound to the legs. Blue and purple bruises littered his thighs and by the looks of it his right leg was broken. He whined in annoyance.

"Hello, little turtle." In front of him was a man in a tailored suit with a cool smile on his face, but that only made him nervous. He attempted to wiggle his way out of the bounds, but found it futile.

"I see you would like to escape, little turtle." The man let out a sardonic chuckle. "When my boys mentioned you were a turtle, I didn't think they were serious!"

He sent out a glare at the man.

"Now don't be like that. My boys inform me that there are more creatures like you. That means that the other ones will come for you. That might take a while, so I find this could be a good time to become acquainted with each other. My name is Jasper Albeit. Now, what's your name?"

He was tempted to scoff at the man and throw out a corny joke, but settled with an eye roll. Jasper let a small frown grace his features and strode closer to the turtle. He smirked and curled his hand into a fist, promptly striking him.

"Now, let's try this again. What is your name?"

Spitting out a clop of blood, he slowly turned to stare at the man, hatred burning in his eyes.

"Michelangelo. My name is Michelangelo."

IIIIIIII

"Okay, go to my drawer and grab the key with the MHO imprinted on it. The refrigerator in the back is the one you want. Last drawer." Raphael wasted no time in grabbing the key out of Donnie's desk and rushing over to the fridge. He inserted the key and was immediately shocked at the numerous files and cases.

"Donnie, you gotta be more specific!" Raph called over to his genius brother. Donnie was busy fiddling with his computer; he appeared to have not heard him. Raph rolled his eyes and started fumbling through the fridge.

"Be sure not to mix any of those samples. They were collected over the years," Donnie said without lifting his head from the computer.

"Oh now he hears me," Raph thought. He continued his search until he found a container labeled "blood sample-16." Raphael briefly wondered why his brother kept so many samples of blood on hand, but decided he didn't want to know the answer. He grabbed the container and brought it over to Donnie.

"Is dis what you wanted?" Donnie glanced and nodded. He took Mikey's shell cell out of the plastic bag and set it on the table. Raph visibly tensed at the sight of the blood. Donnie walked over to one of the tables and grabbed a metal scraper out of a new plastic bag.

"Okay, now I need you to hand me one of those petri dishes," Donnie said. Raph grabbed one of the dishes and slid it over to Donnie.

"Now, what is this going to do?" Donnie scraped the dried blood into the petri dish.

"I'm going to put this in the machine and test if the plasma and white blood cell count match up with the plasma and white blood cells of Mikey's last known blood samples. Also, the platelet count that was last recorded. The machine will show the results on the screen." Donnie opened the container and took the vial of blood. He got an eye dropper out of the drawer and quickly sucked some of the blood out of the vial. He dripped the blood into another petri dish and closed the vial.

"Now Raph, I need you to put these into that machine. When placed, push the button on the side and the machine will began to analyze the blood. This should take about five minutes or so, given that the machinery I have is pretty dated. The machine will beep when finished." Raph nodded and grabbed both dishes and placed them in the machine and followed Donnie's instructions. The machine began to vibrate quietly.

"My sons, why are you still up?" Both brothers turned to see Master Splinter standing in the doorway with a mixture of confusion and anger. The brothers looked at each other and sighed. Raph, being the oldest at the moment, moved forward to the rat, contemplating how he would go about his next words.

"Master Splinter, Mikey has not come home yet. Leo, Don, and I went out to search for 'im. We found his shell cell and Don is analyzing the blood on da phone to see if it matches the one he has here." Master Splinter's faced flashed to worry and he let out a soft sigh.

"Where is Leonardo now?"

"Leo stayed to continue his search. He called Casey to tag along with him to help." Master Splinter nodded his head and he walked away.

"My sons, please bring your brother home safely. I will be in the dojo meditating," Master Splinter said walking off, his cane exploding in the tense silence.

"Raph, can you do me a favor?" Raph glanced at his brother before taking out his sai to examine it.

"What is it?" Donnie sighed and started putting away Mikey's blood samples.

"I need you to go and get Leatherhead." Raph looked at Donnie incredulously.

"Don is dat such a good idea? I like Leatherhead and all, but-,"

"Yeah. I know what you're talking about. The last thing we need is Leatherhead to Hulk out on us. The thing is Leatherhead has shown that he has very useful tracking skills. Those skills could help us place a location on Mikey."

"What if he does Hulk out? Mikey was basically the only one who coulda stopped 'im."

"I guess we'll just have to risk it then." Raph stared at his brother. Donnie began to question if Raph would actually follow his order to get the temperamental alligator. Even as he told Raph to retrieve him, he began to doubt himself. Leatherhead is basically a part of the family, but Donnie didn't know how the alligator would react if he found out that Mikey is missing.

"Okay, I'll go. Give me ten minutes." Raph said before taking off out of the lab and in search of Leatherhead. Silence filled the lair. Donnie moved to place the blood samples back in the fridge. After the task was done, he placed the key back in the drawer with the other keys. Once the key was back in place, the machine started beeping. Donnie speedily walked over to the computer to see it processing the information. The machine let out a final louder beep before displaying the results. Donnie quickly skimmed over the DNA structures and onto the results residing at the bottom of the page. His heart sank when he read in big bold letters "MATCH" at the bottom. He took a calming breathe and rubbed his hands along his face. Suddenly, the machine started beeping again and Donnie quickly looked up to see the machine processing more results. Donnie waited impatiently for the machine to finish. Finally, a loud beep filled the tense air and his eyes widened at what the machine displayed.

IIIIIII

"You need me to what?" Leo sighed and rubbed his hands over his face. He knew it was a bad idea to get Casey.

"I need you to meet me on the roof top on the ninety nine cent pizza shop," Leo said.

"Leo, you do know it's like three in the morning."

"I'm aware, but it's important."

"This isn't like some kind of joke you guys are pulling on me? Like what Mikey did to me last week?"

"That's why I called. I need help with Mikey."

"Did the knucklehead get himself in trouble with Raph?"

"No. He hasn't come home. He's missing." Casey took in a sharp intake of breath.

"What do you mean? He went home afta he left the house."

"He didn't return home."

"Well, why didn't you say so? I'll be right there!"

The line went dead and Leo placed the phone back in his belt pocket. He stood up and jumped off of the rooftop to the next building. He stood on the edge and peered at the city below him. The wind caught the end of his mask and he narrowed his eyes.

"Where are you Mikey?"

IIIIIII

Mikey breathed heavily as he struggled to breathe. He looked down as his abdomen and saw a few of his ribs poking out.

"Great. Broken ribs are not what I need right now." Mikey craned his neck and a sharp pain shot through his back and abdomen. He grimaced and he immediately went back to staring at the rusting wall in front of him. "If I don't get out of here sooner, I'm probably going to start talking to myself." The door to Mikey's holding cell opened and he immediately clamped his mouth.

"Okay Mikey. You have to act serious. No goofing off," Mikey thought. Jasper walked in with two of his men. Mikey immediately widened his eyes at the sight of the two brawny men, smiling cruelly at the young turtle. He recognized one of them immediately.

"You're the jerk who captured me," Mikey said. The brawny man glared and took a step forward, but stopped when Jasper raised his hand.

"Now, let's not be hasty. We are all friends here!"

"But boss-," Jasper turned his glare towards the man and he immediately got silent. The glare melted off Jasper's face as he turned to face Michelangelo.

"Hello Michelangelo! Good to see you again. Oh, what happened here?" Jasper got closer to the turtle to see the blue bruises on the turtles face and the ribs poking at his skin painfully. "I see my boys got a little…overzealous." Mikey sent a glare at the man.

"Hey boss. Check out his eyes." Jasper peered into Mikey's eyes, reaching a hand out to touch his face, resulting in Mikey jerking away from the man.

"Wow, is the whole whiting over of your irises something normal in your family? Well, actually, are you guys a family? I mean, are the other turtles your brothers or something?" Mikey remained quiet and his glare deepened. Suddenly, his head was jerked back and Mikey let out a cry of pain as he felt his ribs twist uncomfortably. The goon that had spoken before pulled Mikey's mask tails.

"Answer the boss when he speaks to you."

"Now, we don't want to be mean to our house guest?" Jasper studied Mikey as if he were a new toy, which made him squirm in his bonds. "Now would you be so kind as to answer my questions?"

"Yes, it is normal in my family and yes we are all brothers." Jasper looked delighted to see Mikey cooperating. Mikey was shocked at the hoarseness of his voice; it sounded like he hadn't drunken water in a while.

"Excellent. Now, how many are there of you?" Mikey felt relieved when the goon had released his mask.

"There are four of us."

"And what number are you?"

"Number?"

"Yes, are you the eldest or the youngest?"

"I-I'm the youngest." Jasper clapped his hands together in glee.

"Ah, so you are the baby of the family. I thought as much. Those baby blues of yours tell a lot about you. So innocent. How old are you?"

"Dude, why does my age matter?" Mikey smelt the goon before he heard him.

Leaning close to Mikey's ear, he whispered in a low dangerous tone, "Didn't I say to answer the boss's questions? I don't think you want us to get violent." The goon jabbed his thumb into Mikey's plastron and Mikey let out another cry of pain, tears springing to his eyes.

"Don't cry Mikey. Leo wouldn't, Raph wouldn't, and neither would Donnie."

"I-I'm fifteen." Jasper widened his eyes slightly and let out a low whistle.

"You are young, barely a teenager. It's okay Michelangelo. We'll take very good care of you until your brothers arrive." Jasper stood up straight walking out of the room with one of the goons following. The other goon stood back for a second to stare a Mikey.

"You better watch yourself freak. Next time you don't answer the boss, you won't be so lucky." Mikey sent him a 'are you serious' look. The last thing Mikey could remember was the goon's face shriveling into a look of anger and his fist before all went black.

IIIIIIII

"So the blood sample is not only Michelangelo's but another man?" Leatherhead was leaning against the wall, a look of seriousness radiated off his rough stature. Raphael was nursing an ice pack on his arm. He had stumbled across Leatherhead during one of his nightmares. Thankfully, the wall had taken most of the damage.

"Yes, so Mikey managed to get a good hit out on the guy," Donnie said. "This actually helps us out a ton." Raph sent a questionable look towards his genius brother. Leatherhead and Donnie were staring at each other with determination on their features.

"Right. Wait, what do ya mean that it can help us?" Leatherhead seemed confused too. Donnie stared at Raphael for a second before walking over to his computer.

"You know the basics about blood. It has your DNA structure in it." Recognition dawned on Leatherhead's features.

"Yeah…," Raph said slowly.

"Well, think about it this way. The man that attacked Mikey most likely has some kind record since you usually don't attack a giant, mutant turtle without having some kind of motif behind it. So I think that he was part of one of the gangs. More specifically the Purple Dragons."

"How do you know that Donnie?" Donnie gestured over to a machine that was vibrating slightly.

"I ran it though the analyzer to see if I can find any particulates in the blood that can give off a location." The machine beeped and the computer started loading. A few seconds later, a plant popped up and several different charts. Leatherhead pushed himself off the wall and started reading over the results. Donnie joined him a second later, while Raph looked questioningly between the two geniuses. Relief seemed to wash through Donnie's face.

"You want to tell me what's goin' on?" Raph said. Donnie turned to the analyzer and started tinkering with the buttons on it. He machine gave off a whirling noise before the machine started vibrating again.

"The machine picked up traces of this,"-Donnie gestured to the plant on the computer, "plant. It's a specific type of aquatic plant that can only be found growing on very wet places. Also, the Purple Dragons base of operation resides by the docks."

"How does that help? That can be anywhere!" Raph began to feel the familiar rush of anger settle over him. Leatherhead stepped forward, his expression radiating tranquil.

"What Donatello means is that this plant can only grow in copious amounts of pollution, but also in a freshwater setting. What place in the New York area has copious amounts of pollen and has freshwater?" Raph eyes widened comically as the answer dawned on him.

"The Hudson? That means that they are keeping Mikey by the docks?" The machine beeped again and started feeding data to the computer. Once downloaded, a picture of a man popped up along with several spreadsheets.

"Correct. The problem is that there are a lot of docks around the Hudson. So that's why I thought it would be okay to pay our blood donor a visit," Leatherhead said. Raph and Donnie turned to the crocodile with confusion radiating off their features.

"You want us to make contact with him? Are ya crazy?" Raph said. Donnie threw a glare at Raph. Angering the nine foot tall crocodile didn't seem like such a great idea at the moment.

"Considering that Michelangelo's blood was mixed with this man's, it's pretty safe to say that he is already aware of our existence. Besides, he may be the only one that can give us the location of Michelangelo's," Leatherhead said.

"And what if he doesn't cooperate?" Donnie said. Raph smirked and twirled his sai in his hand.

"Then I guess we'll just have to be persuasive."

IIIIIIII

"What do yous guys know?" Casey and Leo were jumping from rooftop to rooftop in search for any traces of Mikey.

"No much. Donnie found blood on Mikey's damaged shell cell. He and Raph went back to the lair to analyze it," Leo said. Casey nodded and sped up a little. Leo followed, quickly out speeding the man. It had been close to half an hour when Raph and Donnie left. Leo was beginning to worry about them; Donnie had said ten minutes. He could feel the familiar sticky sense of worry bubble in his stomach. The only thing stopping him from calling Donnie was because Raph was with him and he knew when it comes to protecting the younger siblings, Raph turned menacing, especially if Mikey was involved. It made Leo wonder how Raph was as calm as he is now. Usually, he would be on the verge of a rampage like when Bishop had strapped Mikey down to gurney and almost cut him open with the buzz saw. Thinking about it made Leo run faster.

"Whoa, Leo slow down. I'm new to the ninja thing!" Leo looked behind him and saw that Casey was struggling to get onto the next rooftop. He quickly backtracked to the rooftop Casey was on.

"Sorry, I'm just worried is all," Leo said. Casey put a hand on Leo's shoulder and peered down at the young turtle.

"We all are. April was practically in hysterics when I told her Mikey was missing. We gotta stick togetha though. We're gonna get to Mikey and he will be fine," Casey said. Leo was taken aback by Casey actually being serious. Even when fighting, Casey was unfocused like Mikey.

"Thanks Case. I needed to here that," Leo said. Casey smiled toothily and took his hand off Leo's shoulder.

"No prob, bro. Now, how do you get to the next one?" Leo chuckled. The next rooftop was a pretty large distance from the one they were currently on.

"You jump," Leo said nonchalantly. Casey turned to him, panic clearly in his features.

"Do you know how far that is?!"

"If you don't think about it, you'll make it. You can always ride on my back and look like a timid kid instead of a vigilantly." Casey scowled and glared at the gap between him and the next rooftop.

"No way bro."

"Okay, how about this? On the count of three, you'll jump. That way you psych yourself up," Leo said. Casey took a step closer and quickly shuffled back.

"How about to the count of ten?" Casey was met with a pointed look. "Okay." Casey shifted into position and Leo jumped to the other side.

"One." Casey shifted.

"Two." He began to take a running start.

"THREE!" They both yelled and Casey pushed himself off the rooftop. He went soaring through the air and landed on one of the staircases. Leo's eyes widened when he heard the loud clang of metal. He speedily walked over to the edge of the rooftop.

"Are you okay, Casey?" He was answered by a low groan. Leo chuckled when he saw his friend half way off the staircase.

"This ain't funny Leo. I ain't ever doing that again," Casey said sitting up and climbing the rest of the way to the rooftop. As he climbed, he could hear the laughter of the turtle and he bitterly cursed him. Casey heard the sound of Leo's shell cell go off. When he finally got to the top, he saw the serious expression on Leo's face.

"Yeah, we'll meet you there," Leo said hanging up the phone. He noticed Casey and turned to him, eyes burning with determination.

"What's up Leo? Did they find him?" Leo shook his head and Casey felt his heart drop.

"They have a lead on where he could be. We have to get to the dock quickly," he said. Casey wasted no time and followed the turtle into the night.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Mikey opened his eyes and was met with a dark room. He wondered how much time had passed since he had been taken and if his brothers knew he was missing. A metallic taste was the first thing he registered. He grimaced, recognizing it was blood.

"Okay, I need to get out of here," he said. Once he said that, he realized it was pretty stupid. Of course, he needed to get out of here. Now he knew why Raph called him stupid. He deeply missed his family right now, even Raph. He would gladly take several beatings from Raph then be here at the moment. A sharp pain shot through his body.

"Scratch that. I'd rather take three beatings from Raph then be here," he said with a slight chuckle. The lights in the room shot on. It took Mikey a second to adjust to the lights. In a burst of hope, he thought it was his brothers coming to save him, but the hope died when he saw the brawny guy form before with a bag on his shoulder. Mikey felt fear wash over him when he saw the knife in the man's hand.

"Hello freak. Good, you fear me," he said moving closer to the turtle. Mikey desperately tried to get away from the man, but the broken leg and bondages wouldn't permit him.

"I don't think you and I got properly acquainted with each other and since the boss doesn't know I'm down here, I feel like this would be the perfect time," he said and Mikey's eyes widened. The man stood in front of the turtle now. "I can tell that hitting you isn't going to do anything, so why don't we get a little more serious?" He grabbed onto Mikey's head and slid the knife on the side of his face. Mikey screamed as the pain washed over his body. The man seemed to smile with glee. He leaned in closer to Mikey, dragging the knife along his arm as he did. Mikey whimpered and shut his eyes tightly.

"I like the noise you made there. Come on, turtle. Scream for me," the man said whispering into Mikey's ear, plunging the knife into Mikey's thigh. Mikey screamed, this time louder. The man laughed darkly as he witnessed the blood drop down the turtle's face and thigh. He frowned when the turtle's eyes were still closed. He took out a second knife and ran it along the turtle's neck. Mikey's eyes shot open and he looked at the man with pleading eyes.

"That wound on your thigh looks a little serious. Let me wash it out," the man walked over to the bag he had carried in and rummaged through it. He brought out a bottle of alcohol and his face lit up when the turtle's shook his head fiercely.

"I just want to help you get cleaned up, freak," he said walking back over to Mikey. He unscrewed the bottle and took the knife out of the turtle's thigh. He loved the way he clenched his eyes shut. The man dumped the contents of the bottle onto the wound. Mikey screamed again as tears started trickling down his face. He couldn't take the pain. The man, once the bottle was empty, plunged the knife back in the turtle's thigh, marveling at the way the freak gasped in pain.

"Now, doesn't that feel better that your thigh is nice and clean?" Mikey couldn't even look at the man. He looked down as his tears mixed with the blood on the floor. His head was roughly pulled back again as the cut on his neck stung and his ribs screeched in pain.

"You're not good at listening are you? Wait, I forgot something. Your mask is dirty too," the man said. Mikey's eyes narrowed as he felt anger wash over him.

"Don't...touch…my…mask," he said angrily, but since his voice was hoarse, he thought he sounded ridiculous. The man narrowed his at Mikey before he grabbed Mikey's neck. Pain flared and his airways became restricted.

"I don't think you had the option to comment," he said. Mikey started seeing black spots as he felt closer to slipping into unconsciousness. After what seemed like forever, the man released his hold and Mikey greedily gulped in air. The man took the knife and cut Mikey's mask off his face.

"I'll take this as a souvenir, along with those toys you carried with you," he said. Mikey saw the man walk to the bag and deposit the mask in his bag. He took out the nunchakus to show them off.

"Those…are…mine," Mikey said between breaths. The man shouldered to bag and walked to the door.

"Really? Well they are mine now," he said turning off the light and closing the door behind him, leaving Mikey to sob in the silence.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"You sure this is the address?" Raph said. The three of them had been waiting outside the apartment complex for about twenty minutes. Raph was getting anxious, knowing that they were very close to finding their brother. Donnie and Leatherhead had been waiting, but they were both on edge at the moment.

"Yes, Raph. He could just be out right now," Donnie said twirling his bo in an effort to pacify his adrenaline. Leatherhead suddenly perked up and growled. Both Donnie and turned their attention to the crocodile and hoped he would not lose it now.

"What's up, LH?" Donnie said. His form of an answer came by pointing at car parking on the street. A large man stepped out and he was carrying a bag on his shoulder.

"Is that him Donnie?" Raph said. Donnie looked at the files and to the men walking towards the entrance of the complex.

"That's him. Frank Cooper," Donnie said eyes narrowing.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Frank stood at the door to his apartment. He inserted the key and threw open the door. He kicked the Chinese takeout boxes out of the way while depositing the bag on the table. Frank walked to his fridge and grabbed a beer before loosening his tie and sitting in the beat up chair in front of the TV. He screwed off the lid and took a huge swig. Suddenly, the beer was knocked out of his hands and hit the wall, shattering. Frank sputtered before looking at the ground to see the spilled beer and something that looked like an oversized fork with red cloth on the handles.

Frank reached into his pocket to take out his knife, eyes narrowing at the shadows.

"Come on, out! Show yourself!" Something knocked the wind out of him. A stick of some sort hit him in the gut, knocking him to his knees. The blade was picked up, away from his reach. Two figures grabbed him by the arms and placed him back in the recliner. Frank was greedily trying to get oxygen back into his lungs. He heard the sound of metal being picked up off the ground.

"Hello Mr. Cooper," the voice said. The voice was young, almost timid, and male. Frank looked up in the direction of the voice, but was only met with shadows.

"What do ya want, ya jackass?" He sputtered. He heard the whiz and he felt a pain on his cheek. Raising a hand, he touched his injured cheek and pulled it away to see blood. Next to him, the same metal fork thing was imbedded right next to his head. Fear began to build in the large man.

"Next time, I won't miss. I suggest you treat my brother kindly," another voice said. The voice was harsh and sported a Brooklyn accent. Like the first one, the voice was male and didn't have the same innocence of the first one. Frank glared at the second voice.

"What do you want?" He heard the floor creak and he looked towards it, his eyes widening in shock. It was like the turtle back at the docks, except this one seemed older and had a purple bandana on. He almost laughed at his luck. The turtle's features were angry, but wary, like he was afraid of what the man was going to do. Despite the situation, he smiled, happy that the turtle feared him.

"We want our brother back," he said. He heard the floorboard creek again and he looked over in the corner. He made out a rather big outline and he concluded it was the bookcase. The floorboards creaked again as if someone was moving across them. Accompanied by the floorboards creaking was the sound of a zipper.

"I don't know anything about this "brother" of yours. Now get out of my house," Frank spat. A roar of anger shocked him. The turtle in front of him jumped back, eyes wide. Suddenly, he felt an immense pain in his leg and he cried out. He looked down and saw the metal fork in his thigh.

"So you don't know where our brother is? Huh! You like to lie too, eh?!" Frank looked up and was immediately shocked at what he saw. Another turtle was in front of him. On his face was a red bandana and was the most menacing look he'd have ever seen. Compared to the other turtle's he had encountered, this one had no fear, just plain, full out anger. In the turtle's amber eyes, was blood thirsty vengeance.

"What is this then?" The turtle thrust the orange bandana in his vison. The bandana was torn and he splotches of blood on it. He saw the purple banded turtle gasp and was suddenly lifted out of the chair and slammed against the wall. A low menacing growl was heard and he made eye contact with feral green eyes. Frank was suspended in the air. He let out a whimper of fear when he realized that the creature in front of him was a nine foot tall crocodile. The beast's hand was enough to close around his torso. Unlike the turtle's angry eyes, the crocodile's eyes were wild, as if…it was going to strike.

"Please, let me down!" Frank felt bones break when the beast let out roar and slammed him on the ground. Frank whimpered and looked anywhere but the crocodile's feral eyes. The fork thing was pulled out of his shoulder and slammed into his shoulder. Frank howled in pain as the turtle creature snarled in his face.

"You like lying, punk? You like hurting kids? You just made a big mistake! You hear about those mutants running around? Well," –he grabbed the man's shirt and pulled him close "I'm the worst one."

"Raph stop! We need him still," the purple banded turtle pleaded. He had never seen his brother lose it like this before.

"Wait outside, Donnie," the red banded turtle said. The purple banded turtle's eyes widened and grabbed onto his brother's arm.

"Raph! Stop!" Raph wiggled his way out of his brother's hold and grabbed his weapon out of the man. Frank yelled and immediately tried to clutch his leg, but couldn't because of the crocodile still holding him.

"You see, when you touch my little brothers, "–he gestured to the purple turtle and the bandana still in his hands, "you mess with the older ones." Frank's eyes widened in fear and he vaguely remembered that there was another one of the turtle's. If this was one of the older ones, what was the other one like?

"Raph, please!" The red banded turtle turned towards his brother with a wild gaze. The purple flinched back and he walked over to his brother. "Please, I just want to find Mikey." That seemed to snap the red turtle out of his blind rage. He lowered the man and sheathed his weapon.

Looking at the man in disgust, he turned to the crocodile, "Let him go, LH." The crocodile blinked and his eyes lost the feral green towards them, but still held the menacing look to them. The crocodile released his hold on the man. Frank sat up and winced as sharp pains went through his body. The red banded turtle looked at him and kneeled, weapon to his chin.

"Now let's try that again. Where. Is Our. Brother?"

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Leo and Casey were standing by the docks. Casey was casually throwing rocks into the water while Leo was mediating. They both heard the squeal of tires and turned to see the Battle shell pulling up.

"What took you guys so long?" Casey said. Nobody said anything as they went around to the trunk and pulled out a badly beaten man. Leo's eyes widened significantly as he jogged to him.

"Donnie! What happened to this guy? Why didn't you guys take him to a hospital?" Raph sneered as Leatherhead climbed out the back of the truck.

"My friends, this man has done unspeakable things to, Michelangelo," Leatherhead said pulling out Mikey's mask. When Leo saw the mask, his heart dropped and he turned to glare at the man. Frank flinched at the gaze; this must be the eldest one. Leo took a step to the man, but was intercepted by Raphael.

"Let him go, Leo. I took care of him," Raph said sending a glare towards him. Leo took a slow intake of breath, but nodded looking down. He noticed the bloodied weapons sheathed to his brother.

"Okay, which dock is it?" All attention turned towards the beaten up man. He shakily raised a hand to the dock in the middle.

"Let's go," Leo said unsheathing his weapons. Frank was about to limp off, but quickly found himself handcuffed to the pole.

"Nice try, bud. If this isn't the right place, I will come back and finish you off," Raphael said. Frank nodded and watched as the party moved inside the warehouse.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Mikey knew he was going to die. He had lost too much blood and it was getting harder to concentrate. He couldn't move; the pain was unbearable. He wanted to cry, but he found he couldn't. He was upset he couldn't say goodbye to his family to them in person. An idea struck him. He let a small smile grace his lips.

"Goodbye April. Thanks for letting me be your maid of honor and being the greatest mother ever."

He felt a tear fall from his face. Huh, so he could cry.

"Goodbye Casey. Thanks for always offering me weird advice and being such a great friend to my bros and I. Also, I am really sorry about the whole "dying all your clothes pink" thing."

"Goodbye Leatherhead. I never was able to find you a lady croc, but I'm pretty sure she's still out there. Maybe she's in Florida!" He chuckled to himself, but found it hard to breathe when he did.

"Goodbye Klunk. Forget what they say about man's best friend. You are a true friend."

"Goodbye Master Splinter. I love you more than anything. I'm sorry I never focused very much."

He felt more tears spring to his eyes at the thought of his brothers.

"Donnie, you are great. You always helped me and comforted me wen Leo and Raph would fight and I never properly thanks you for that. Don't whole yourself in the lab when I'm gone. Everyone needs the resident genius around. Leo, you are the greatest big brother ever! You always know what to do either at home or on missions. Thanks for always knowing what to say. No matter what, you were always such a great leader. I hope you and the Daimyo, his son, and Usagi will always be close."

His vision blurred and started to blacken.

"Raph, a lot of people probably think we hated each other. Haha, but you were my best friend. Even as crazy as you were, you always knew how to be a great brother. I think I'll miss you the most. Goodbye guys and I love you all."

"Mikey!" He raised his head towards the door then let it drop. He must be losing it; t almost sounded like Raph. He heard the banging on the door and finally the door collapsed. He saw five figures come in.

"Mikey, God. Mikey!" One of the figures crouched in front of him with eyes filled with worry. A sharp intake of breathe was heard and a low swear.

"Can you hear me Mikey?" A light was shined in his eyes, but he didn't acknowledge it.

"D-Donnie, is h-he-,"

"No! He's not, but he doesn't have much time! We need to get him home! Be careful with him though. His leg is broken and oh my gosh-," He felt someone prod the knife in his thigh.

"Don't touch it! It could injure him more." The bounds were cut from his ankles and wrists and Mikey fell this body fall forward. Immediately, someone caught him.

"I got you Mikey. I got y-you." Mikey looked towards the person holding him. He could make out the red entails and squinted his eyes.

"Raphie?" The hold on him tightened and he felt the body shudder.

"Yeah. It's me Mikey. It's me." Mikey let out a watery laugh and he felt the tears stream down his face.

"Let's get him back to the lair. He needs medical attention quickly. Leo, run back to the Battle shell and start an IV and prep the bed. Leatherhead, can you pick him up?"

"It would be my pleasure, my friend. Anything for Michelangelo." Mikey felt his body weight being shifted and the sharp burst of pain as his body was placed in new, stronger arms. Mikey made eye contact with Leatherhead and he let a smile grace his face.

"Hey, big guy," Mikey said resting a hand on Leatherhead's face. He felt warm droplets hit his face and he immediately recognized Leatherhead was crying. Mikey head lulled back and forth and the blackness began to increase.

"Thank you guys. For coming for me," he said before the blackness consumed him.

There will be another chapter! This chapter was for the suspense part. The next chapter was for the turtles to cope. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter so please review!