Late into the summer night, four brothers started to make their way home from Statin Island. And what, you might ask, are they coming back from? A Sixx: A.M. Concert that was being held by the CSI High School for their graduating seniors. The brothers had a great view of the show from the rooftop of the south end building, but it was after ten and they had a long trip ahead. Looking North-East, they jumped off and headed for Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.

"Let's cut through LaTourette Park. We'll make better time that way." The eldest of the four chimed as his brothers followed.

"Last one to the other side has to rub Master Splinter's feet!" Exclaimed the youngest as he quickly ran ahead.

"Not so fast shell-for-brains!"

Glancing over his shoulder, Mikey saw his two older brothers on his tail. The purple masked brother jumped on his head, leaping ahead of them, while the one that shouted ran past his staggering brother.

"Hey! That's cheating, Donnie!"

Leaping from tree to tree, the brothers laughed as their youngest struggled to catch up. It was a clear night and a great way to end a long Monday. Their race was short lived, however as the oldest stopped in his tracks and ordered for the others to do the same.

"What is it?" Raph asked, looking in the direction as his brother.

"A light." He pointed to a dim yellow hue seeping from behind the thick groves.

"This park is closed for renovations," Don said as a matter of fact, "someone must have just forgot to turn the lights off before leaving."

"Oh! Let's go check it out!" Mikey ran forward before his brothers could protest, "I wanna see what they're gonna add!"

Looking at each other with annoyance, the three took off to catch their brother and to stop him before he broke anything. Don was right about it being just left over equipment, didn't look like there was a soul around which put Leo at ease. It looked like they were clearing up trees around a small lake, but something seemed off.

"I don't like this." Leo was looking around at what was there, tents were placed around the water's edge and the biggest was about 15 feet from where he stood. Bulldozers, tree cutters, shovels, pick axes, and some small explosives were placed around them, he had a bad feeling. "We should leave."

"Oh, you're just over reactin'" Raph said, leaning against a pile of boxes, "no one's even here."

"Uh, guys?"

They turned to see Donnie holding a tent open, walking a few feet, Leo saw what his brother wanted to show them.

"Machine guns." Leo drew his katanas in that instant. Raph grabbed his sais, backing up he bumped into the boxes, causing them to tumble over, spilling out automatic rifles.

"Let's get out of here."

Donnie and Raph nodded in agreement.

"Wait," said Don, looking around, "where's Mikey?"

The three looked around frantically for their missing brother.

"Mikey!" Raphael yelled.

"Sshh!" Leo shushed his brother. "We don't know if this place is really empty!"

"Hey guys!"

They all looked around at where Mikey's voice had come from.

"Get over here, quick!"

"It's coming from in there." Don pointed to the large tent.

Weapons in hand, the three walked into the tent, surprised to see a giant hole in the ground and a staircase leading into the dark.

"Mikey, get out of there!" Leo quietly shouted down.

"Hurry up!" His brother shouted back.

Exchanging glances, Leo took the first steps, Don followed after with Raph looking around before going down. Small lanterns dimly lit the walkway, opening into a large room soon after. The guys looked around in shock at what looked like an ancient ritual site. Ancient scripts and pictures lined the walls, but the unusual part was the high-tech gear that was set up around a small stage.

"I need your help guys!"

They looked at their brother trying to pry apart what looked like ceramic figurines kneeling in the middle of the room.

"Mikey, what are you doing?" Leo grabbed his brother by the arm, pulling him away from the stage.

"They're alive, Leo!" There was horror and concern in his eyes and voice.

"What?!"

Michelangelo's words sent chills down each of their spines. Looking closer at the forms, his brother was right. Wrapped up in white bandages, the figures were anchored to the ground. Hands and legs bound in a metal braces, and a helmet that covered their faces, held up by thick wires, all that could be seen was their nose and mouth. That's how Mikey knew they were alive, their breathing was barely audible, slow and shallow. They were alive, but just barely.

"Donnie!" Leo turned to his brother, he was already at the main control station, typing away and figuring out how to release the four captives.

"Almost got it." Donnie said, focusing on his task. Hitting the last control lock, the four heard a loud clank as the wires and anchor unlocked, causing the captives to fall over with a loud thud.

"We need to get them out of here." Leo said picking one of them up in his arms. His brothers agreed and followed suite.

"We need to get these things off them." Mikey cried. They were out of the excavation site and jumping through the trees as fast as they could. The figures were small in their arms but the braces that held them were heavy, no more than a good 30 lbs. for each piece on them.

"Who would do something like this?" Donnie looked down in his arms. Taking a good hard look at the helmet, he noticed something that made him stop in his tracks.

Above the bridge, they were crossing the wire links high above the busy road below, his brothers stopped and look at him.

"What is it Donnie?" Leo walked up to his brother, he was shaking.

"Blood." Leo barely caught the word over traffic below. "These helmets are screwed into their heads, Leo."

His brothers all looked down, Raph didn't see what Donnie was talking about but Mikey did, there was blood dripping down the nose and mouth of this person, it just made him run even faster. His brothers followed quickly, making their way across and into a nearby alley. Raph removed the sewer cap quickly as his brothers filed in. The needed to get home, and fast. Thoughts were running through each of their minds, Raph was getting more pissed by each minute. Mikey was on the verge of tears, for someone to do this to another person, it broke his heart. Leo was trying to stay calm as he led his brothers through the water filled tunnels. And Donnie was thinking about what he had back at the lair that can help.

Looking over the person in his arms again, Mikey noticed a button. It was just below the knees, thinking that it can release the legs, he slowed down to push it. A loud grinding sounded from the metal binding, his brothers turned and looked at him.

"Mikey, stop pushing things!" Raph yelled.

Before he could say anything, a low growl sounded from below him. The binding snapped violently to the ground with a heavy thud. And before he could react with delight, Mikey felt a sharp pain in his jaw. Coming to, he opened his eyes to see Donnie standing next to him looking at where he once stood. There in his place, standing shakily, stood the person he was holding not 5 seconds ago, looking over he noticed that it was a girl. She was breathing in sharply, he could tell it was taking all her strength to keep from falling. That's when he saw it, blood was running effortlessly down both legs from two perfect holes. Fear over took him as he realized what that grinding sound was.

Noticing his brother's reaction, Donnie opened his mouth to speak.

"This isn't what you thi-" He was cut off by the girl charging into his gut, causing him to drop the person in his arms. The impact released the hair of both of them, and loosened the bandages around the girl standing. She stood over the one on the floor in a protective manner, panting from her sudden movements. They could tell it was hurting her with every step.

"You have to stop!" Mikey yelled, concern was evident in his voice. But to no avail, she turned to face Leo who stood a mere foot from Donnie.

She charged again, Leo saw the attack coming and jumped out of the way quickly. She staggered, keeping herself from falling, she turned to Leo again. But she didn't get far before she was grabbed, Mikey held her from behind to keep her still.

"We're not going to hurt you!" She flailed weakly in his arms, trying to break free.

"We're here to help." Donnie said calmly as he slowly approached them.

She heard how close the two were, reacting quickly, she headbutted Mikey in the nose, he released her and she swung in Donatello's direction, missing a good measure. Not losing momentum, she threw a kick where Mikey was but he backed away long before. Both brothers looked at each other slightly confused.

"I don't think she can see us." Donnie exclaimed.

With that said, she leaped at Donnie, bringing her arms down like a hammer. Barely missing him, Leo saw that she was using the brace as a weapon for self-defense.

"You sure 'bout that, Donnie?" Raph said from the other side of his brother, he was standing next to the person Donnie dropped and was debating putting the guy in his arms down to fight.

The girl heard him this time and turned to Raphael. Growling maliciously, she charged at him directly. Like Leo, Raph dodged her easily, but she kept up with his movements, and swung her arms, hitting him square in the head. He staggered slightly, looking up to see her seconds before she landed a strong kick directly to his chest, launching him against the concrete wall and to the ground. Again, she stood protective of the person on the floor.

"She can't see us." Leo said to no one, Donnie heard his brother though.

"She can see the other three, put them down!" Donnie yelled, Leo did so quickly, but Raph was still trying to gather himself when she made a lunge at him.

"Raph!" Mikey yelled for his brother.

Raphael looked up in time to see an attack coming down on his head, lifting his arms to defend himself, he prepared for impact. A loud clang rang out and echoed through their ears. Raphael looked up to see that she had been stopped. Glancing around at his three brothers looking on in shock, he looked again to see that the one that stopped her was the guy in his arms. Kneeling in front of him, the bandages were loosening off his torso, but that's not what he noticed, the guy was a girl.

Her arms were over her head, she caught the other girl's swing. He then heard it, a soft whisper coming from his small savior. The attacker growled slightly before backing away from Raphael. Shifting around on her knees, arms and legs still bound, the girl faced the turtle. Blood was dripping from her chin, but she was smiling slightly. Taking a deep breath, she blew softly on Raphael's cheek and shoulder. In all the excitement, he hadn't realized he was bleeding. Looking at his shoulder, the wound was healing, sitting up, he wiped the blood from his skin to find nothing underneath.

He looked again at the girl, she smiled sweetly before her mouth fell and she collapsed in his arms. He looked at his brothers for some explanation on what happened, but they were just as lost as he was. Their attention shifted, though, when they heard a thud. The girl that was attacking them moments ago, was on the ground, her adrenaline had run out. Blood was still pouring from her legs, Mikey and Don ran to bandage her up before continuing home.

In their lair, Master Splinter was waiting anxiously for his sons to return. Hearing a door open, he turned to scold the turtles but was stopped when he saw that they had a good reason for being late. Running to Donatello's lab, Master Splinter helped clear the tables for the boys to set down their injured damsels.

Donnie was rummaging through his tools while Raph ran for some hot water and Leo for more bandages and towels. Mikey explained everything that happened and watched as his father's face shared the same concern for the four girls that they had. Mikey saw Donnie come back with a first aid kit and a screw driver.

Fear was evident on his face.

"I'm sorry Mikey but this in the only way to get these things off them." Donnie said trying to steady his nerves for what he needed to do. Starting with the girl that Raph held, Donnie unscrewed the metal bindings from her arms. Blood flowed the moment he lifted the heavy metal, tossing it to the ground, he quickly began sewing up the holes in her arms.

Raph and Leo came in to help Don, however they could. Getting a wet rag and gently wiping the blood from her arms, Raph was getting angry at what he was looking at.

"Can't we just take them to a hospital? They're bound to have a better clue on what to do than we do."

Before anyone could speak, the girl placed her hand on Raph's arm. They all looked in shock, she was trying to speak but her words were lost in her throat. Shakily, she shook her head 'no' at the turtle.

"No." Leo placed his hand on his brother's shoulder as he looked at the girls. "I'm sure by now, whoever had them will have noticed their absence. If we take them to a hospital, word will get out where they are and our effort to save them would be wasted."

Raph hadn't looked away from her in the time his brother spoke. Her hand rested on his arm but we couldn't feel any weight to it, the only reason he knew at all that she was touching him was the cold blood that coated her hands. But that was all the strength she could muster as her arm fell back on the table and a breath slowly escaped her lips.

"DONNIE!" Everyone turned to their brother, Don was beside him in an instant. The girls breathing stopped, he had to work faster.

"Leo, there's a BMV on my planner next to my computer." Don was going as fast as he could to take the two small screws out her head and remove the mask. "Raph, grab those two gauze squares and get ready to apply pressure. The moment I take this plate off, she's gonna starts bleeding, ready?"

Don didn't look if his brother was before he lifted the mask off, Raph was ready, though. She was quickly bleeding through the gauze but Don was wrapping her head in the same moment. Leo came back with the mask and bag, Donnie took it and began squeezing air into her lungs. It worked. Her breath was still shallow but she was breathing.

Now comes the hard part, her legs. She was looking at Donnie, through the one eye visible behind the wrapping. She was scared, but not of him, of what he had to do. Don disabled the automatic release button, looked at her again with sorrow. She nodded for him to proceed and turned her gaze to Raph. She was trembling, looking at her eyes, Raph noticed their color, silver. They were gone quickly as she shut them against the pain, tears running down her cheek, she couldn't cry even if she wanted to and her body was too weak to flinch away from Donnie's work.

"Raph, I need you here." Donnie called, dropping a bloody screw on the floor. Unhinging the leg brace, Don quickly began stitching one hole as Raph kept the other from bleeding. His eyes shifted from his brother, to his hands on her leg, to her hands at her side. They were clenched weakly into fists, the pain she was experiencing right now, Raph couldn't imagine how it must be. Don was on his side threading the curved needle, he already wrapped the other leg and was preparing for this side.

"Don't you have pain killers or somethin'?" Raph asked his focused brother.

"None strong enough for them." Donnie said calmly. "And with them in such a weakened state, their body's might reject the medicine."

"We have to make due, Raph." Leo was cleaning up the blood from her body and the table, she lost a lot and they didn't have a way to replace it. And this was just the first of four, they had to do this three more times before they could rest.

Next was the girl Don held, removing the braces went a little smoother, but not by much. She bled less but that wasn't what Don noticed as he worked, she was cold, colder than normal and it continued to drop.

"Mikey, grab the heavy blanket from the dryer, quickly. Hopefully it's still warm."

"On it!" He was back in seconds, as his brothers finished wrapping her up. The blanket was still warm and the weight should hold the heat long enough to finish the other two.

All the while he worked on the third girl, Don was thinking what he was going to do about the forth.

"Leo, can you roll the x-ray machine over here?"

"Sure."

"What're you thinkin' Donnie?" Raph asked, skeptical.

"These screws were embedded in their bone," Raph had a look of horror and anger as his brother continued, "we removed these three by hand to reduce the amount of damage. But her, he looked at the one who attacked them, "hers were removed by force, and on top of that, she still fought against her own pain to try and save the others. I hope to God that I'm wrong, but with their body's already fragile and weak, both arms and legs will be broken."

Leo set the machine next to the last girl. Donnie set it up and placed the extended monitor over her body. Don hoped he was wrong, but there it was, plain as day. Her arms were fractured, and because of the brace, the bone was held in place. Her legs were another story, however. She kicked Mikey and Raph with the same leg. The force caused the bone to offset and there were multiple fractures in both legs.

"I don't have a cast small enough for her." Don had to stitch her legs before he could rewrap them. "I'll have to splint them-"

Leo was next to his brother with twelve pieces of thick balsa wood, they weren't the same length but that wouldn't be an issue, they were the right width for the girl. The pieces were cut to length and she was left with four pieces on each limb.

That was all they could do for them, as the brothers gathered in their living room, Don was first to break the silence.

"Their injuries are too severe for me." Donnie said slumping on to the couch. "They'll have to go to a hospital soon."

"What are their chances of recovery if we keep them here?" Leo asked.

"Honestly?" Don looked at each of his brothers before locking his eyes on the coffee table. "It will take months for the wounds to heal completely, and more for them to get their mobility back. We don't know who they are or who had them like that. A hospital will have better equipment and better staff, but admitting four girls at the same time with the same injuries to the same hospital will send up flags."

"Then we don't take them to the same place." Leo looked to Master Splinter, who nodded. "We wait a week before we take each to a different hospital. We might not be able to get any information from them, but we'll be able to watch over them as they get better. Keep our guard up for anyone suspicious, four missing girls are bound to have someone worried about them."

"One week." Don looked at the four on the tables. "I can do one week."

"Then it's settled," Leo got up and started for his room, "let's get some rest."

They nodded in agreement and started for their rooms, Don walked over to the girls one more time, to see if they were awake. Mikey had folded towels under their heads and brought a cover for each of them. Donnie was focused on stopping the bleeding that he just noticed that he covered their eyes back up. How long have they been unable to see? To be in the dark, to be in pain, at the mercy of whatever monster that did this to them. Just as he turned away, something caught his ear.

One was trying to speak, the one he carried.

"Th…thank….y-you…." Her words were barely audible, Don had to lean in just to catch them. He looked at the others, two had tears running down their face. She and the first girl were trying to smile. They were grateful for what they did. Don's heart broke at the sight before him. Who could do this?

"I'm sorry I couldn't do more." His words were soft and low.

"Come on, Donnie." Raph placed a hand on his brother's shoulder, he felt the same pain as his brother. "You need your rest, bro."

Don followed his brother away from the girls. There really wasn't anything else he could do. Tomorrow he'll go out and look for a way to help ease their pain. In the meantime, he just hopes that they can last through the night.


I got back into watching TMNT so please don't get mad T^T

RnR 3