Duplicity

"Du-plic-i-ty n. 1. Deliberate deceptiveness in behavior or speech. 2. The quality or state of being twofold or double." (The American Heritage College Dictionary)

AN. No real summary here. The title (and its definition) is your only clue to this story. Use it well and get ready for some wild twist and turns. I'm looking for a beta for this story; someone friendly who will serve mostly to bounce ideas off of and to be there to nag me for updates. This person will also be privy to top secret information on this story (But not all the secrets). Send a PM stating why you would be good for this job and how I can contact you. Thanks!

Disclaimer: The Turtles and all their friends are the property of Mirage Studios. I do not own them, but am grateful for the opportunity to use them in the unleashing of my own imagination.

Rating: This story is rated T for violence and battle related injury. Language is very mild.

Prologue

You don't know what you've got...

The lair was mostly quiet; a strange thing considering it was currently occupied by four young ninjas-in-training; and even stranger considering these weren't your average, garden variety young ninjas. At the tender age of nine, these boys were about four feet tall and each wore a different colored mask that covered the top of his head. However, were they to venture out of the sewers they had always called home and into the heart of New York City, few passers-by would notice their age, height, or the colors of their masks. It is far more likely that they would be preoccupied with the three fingers and two toes that the boys possessed on each hand and foot, respectively. They would also be sure to notice the large shell-like structures covering their backs and the hard armor-like plating that made up their chests, not-to-mention the fact that their skin, overall, was green.

But, these young mutant turtles were not about to go running around topside, at least not in broad daylight and certainly not without their father and sensei, a large mutant rat called Splinter, there to guide them. They knew better; and at the moment they were perfectly content to remain in their sewer home while Splinter was out. At least… most of them were.

Raphael peered out of the bedroom he shared with his brothers. He had grown restless in the hours since their sensei left and was more then ready to stretch his legs with a quick run through the sewer pipes that surrounded the lair. The problem, though, would be in sneaking out without any of his brothers, particularly not Leonardo, noticing.

Although they were all more or less the same age, the blue-masked turtle was considered the eldest. Out of the four of them, he was the most responsible; always doing his best in lessons and rarely, if ever, breaking any rules. For these reasons he'd been given the title of leader and was always placed in charge when their master was out. Leo was also the one who be sure to put a stop to Raphael's plans before he even got one toe outside the lair.

It was due to this that the red-masked turtle was being so wary. He knew that if Leo caught him, the chances of him getting out would be slim to none. He'd argue of course and they'd probably end up in a fight but he'd still end up staying home and having to wait for whatever punishment Master Splinter would deal him for trying to sneak out in the first place. This would be, of course, after Leo proceeded to tattle on him like the goody-goody little snitch he was.

One would think that knowing all this would dissuade young Raphael from trying to get out in the first place. But he was bored and his legs were starting itch. Raphael wasn't the sort to just sit around for hours upon end doing essentially nothing. He wanted to be active and, at the moment, being active meant going for a run; which brings us to his current predicament.

The lair was indeed quiet. The only sounds came from the television where Raphael's youngest (or so they considered him) brother, Michelangelo, was watching reruns of "Moonlighting" and from back in the bedroom were Donatello was currently tinkering with some contraption or another. Leonardo was reading on the couch; George Orwell's 1984 by the looks of it. Raphael shook his head. How a nine-year-old could read such a book was beyond him. Then again, he thought with a smirk, Leo just loves playing Big Brother.

Raphael took his chance. A quick glance back assured him that Donnie wouldn't be coming up from his invention anytime soon. Mikey was snickering as David Addison sang "Buses, all shiny and new. Come aboard, we're waiting for you," and Leo look like he was very deep into his book, his eyes skimming across the page at one hundred rpm's.

Employing every ounce of ninja stealth he'd been taught, Raphael crept across the living room quickly and silently. He was almost to the exit: ten feet… five feet… three, two…

"Where are you going?"

Shell…

Raphael froze mere inches from the exit. Behind him, Leonardo carefully marked his page and laid his book on the coffee table before turning to gaze at his red-masked brother over the back of the couch.

Raph turned a glare at the older turtle. "Out. What's it to you?"

Leo sighed and stood up, waking around the couch to join his brother at the door. Mikey, noticing the imminent confrontation, abandoned the television in favor of Leo's previous position on the back of the couch.

"We're supposed to stay home." Leo said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I'm just going for a quick run through the sewer. I'll be back in five."

"You're not going anywhere Raph. Master Splinter told us not to leave the lair. Besides, it could be dangerous."

"Dangerous? Yeah right." Raphael scoffed at the idea. The argument had barely begun and he was already sick of it. "What, now our fearless leader is scared of the dark and spooky sewers?"

Leo frowned. "Don't call me that."

"What, fearless? Why not? You always act like you're fearless."

"I do not. Just leave me alone."

"You leave me alone." Raph turned back to the door. "I'm goin'"

"No you're not, Shell-fer-brains!"

"Yes I am, Splinta Jr.!"

Leo opened his mouth to retort but Raph didn't hear what he said. He might not have said anything at all, because at that very moment he was cut off by a blaring sound that filled the lair, echoing off the walls in a deafening clamor that caused all three turtles in the living room to cover their ears.

Just as suddenly as it began, the sound ceased and utter silence filled the lair for a few moments. The three look at each other and then at the door to the bedroom before shouting in unison, "Donny!"

The purple-masked turtle sheepishly poked his head into the living room. "Hey guys! Did you call me?"

"What the shell was that!?" Raph exclaimed.

"Yeah, seriously dude. It sounded like Captain Kirk had just ordered a red alert or something," orange-masked Michelangelo said as he left the couch to join his brothers.

"Oh, that. That was just my new alarm system."

"Alarm system?" Leo asked. He wasn't aware that Donny had built and alarm system let alone installed one.

"Yeah. The last time we went to the dump I found some old motion detectors and security cameras. I fixed them up and added them to a few things I already had. Master Splinter and I set them up yesterday." Donatello was very excited about all this for obvious reasons. He'd been obsessed with electronics since he'd been old enough to take apart their first toaster.

"Okay. So why did it go off?" Raph asked. His ears were still ringing from the noise.

"Don't worry. I'm sure it's just Master Splinter on his way home. Eventually, I want to set it up so that any of us can turn it off on a panel outside the perimeter, but I don't have all the equipment I need yet. Hey, let's go see if the cameras are working!" He waved an arm for them to follow and dashed back into the bedroom.

Leo looked at his other two brothers. Mikey smiled and Raph just shrugged before the three of them followed their purple-masked brother.

Donny's area of the bedroom was littered with various gizmos and weird looking inventions. He tried his best to keep it organized and well… he, at least, knew where everything was. Tossing aside his sheet and a few notebooks he revealed and old, black and white television. Mikey, of course, noticed this immediately.

"Hey! Why do you get your own TV?"

Donny shook his head. "It's not a TV, Mikey." He paused. "Well… it is. But you won't be watching Star Trek on this one. It won't connect to any of the stations. Instead, I've got it on a direct link to my security cameras." He switched it on. The screen was divided into four sections, each displaying a different view of the sewers outside the lair. "Now we can see exactly who's coming." Sure enough, a few seconds later, movement appeared in the lower left box. But it wasn't what they expected to see.

"Um… That don't look like Masta Splinta." Raph said slowly.

The other's noticed this as well. "Hold on. Let me switch the feed." Donatello used a remote to change the channel. The other three boxes disappeared leaving only the bottom left which now filled the entire screen. The magnification allowed the turtles to clearly see about fifteen men dressed from head to toe in black. Several carried swords and various other weapons.

Raphael growled. "Humans."

"Ninja." Leo whispered.

"And they're coming this way." Donny confirmed with a glance back at the monitor.

Mikey worried his lower lip for a moment before asking, "What are we gonna do, Leo?"

Raph didn't give the blue-masked turtle a chance to answer. "We're gonna fight 'em of course."

"No Raph!" Leo insisted. "They're too many of them, and we aren't fully trained yet."

"You got a better idea?"

Leo thought for a moment. "We hide."

"I hate hidin'," Raph grumbled.

"So do I, But we haven't got a choice." He turned back to the monitor just as the last of the ninjas disappeared from the screen. "Don, how long do we have?"

"That camera is a good distance away from the lair. I'd say we have about five minutes."

"Alright, come on." Leo went back out into the main room, closely followed by his three brothers. A quick glance around revealed few hiding places. The usual hide and seek spots would be too obvious. There was a small storage compartment built into the wall directly across from the bedroom. When they were younger they'd discovered that they could all squeeze inside and still have room to move. That wouldn't be the case now, but he believed that three could still fit. It would be tight, but they'd just have to deal with it.

"In here." He opened the cupboard and gestured his brother's inside. Mikey crawled in closely followed by Donny, but Raph paused at the door.

"We ain't all gonna fit in here, Leo."

"I'll hide somewhere else. Just get in."

Raph wasn't about to go for this. "Leo…"

"Dang it, Raph! For once just listen to me!" The red-masked turtle froze as he looked into his brother's eyes. In that moment those eyes reflected something he could not remember ever seeing in them- fear; real, genuine fear, but not for himself. He was afraid for them. And suddenly, Raph was afraid as well. Suddenly, he felt as though everything he'd ever known was about to change.

"Please, Raph." Leo whispered. But his eyes said much more. "It's your turn to be the leader. Take care of them."

Raphael nodded slowly, keeping his eyes on his brother the entire, memorizing his features so that he would never forget them. And somehow he knew that this would be the last time he saw his big brother, for a very long time. Then he turned and joined his younger brothers in the tiny compartment.

Leo gazed in at his brothers for a moment and shut the door. An old bookcase stood near to the cabinet. The blue-masked turtle pushed against this, using it to completely block the hiding space from sight. Just as he finished, the ninjas entered the lair.

Raphael listened in silence, to the struggle outside. Leo was in trouble. He wanted to call out, to do… something. But he knew he couldn't. He had a job to do now.

To his right, Mikey was whimpering slightly. The red-masked turtle knew he was crying. On his other side, Donny was shaking but silent. They were both scared, just as he was. But there was nothing they could do.

A minute later the fighting ceased and they heard the voices of strange men.

"What about the others?"

"Forget 'em. The boss only wants one. Let's go."

And then there was silence.

…Till it's gone.