I'm baaaaack! :D

It's wonderful what Spring Break can do for you :) I had plenty of time to relax and work on my stories! So, I give you the first of two multi-chapter fics I'm working on! :D

This fic is a little experiment of mine. I'm trying to get more in depth with the characters and explore the inner workings a little better. Also, I'm working on improving the amount of detail I use. And I'm trying to lengthen the chapters too.

This story, at the moment, is my pride and joy... And it's not even finished yet!

I have most of it written and know exactly where I want it to go, but I'm getting a little impatient and wanted to post SOMETHING, just so you guys didn't think i forgot about you. So I decided that posting the prologue wouldn't do any harm. :)

So here it is. The story takes place around the time of the 2007 movie, with some references to the 2003 series. And the twist? The stone generals never existed, but Leo still went off for leadership training and didn't come back.

A sort of AU, if will. (It's been bugging for months, so I decided to give it a try.)

Anyways, here's the prologue! Hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: The TMNT, in any universe, are not mine. Nor is the general idea for this chapter. Nor are the song lyrics. They belong to their respective owners.

Claimer: The idea for this story is mine. Please do not steal.

Prologue: Hope

"Hope dangles on a string, like slow spinning redemption, winding in, winding out…" ~"Vindicated" by Dashboard Confessional

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Here's, Mikey!"

Michelangelo landed gracefully on his feet as he came to a halt at the bottom of the steps leading down to the living room area of his home.

However, the only response he received was the beeping of the pinball game he and his family had sitting in the back corner next to the half-pipe.

"He-hello?"

Mikey let his baby blue eyes roam around the lair, looking for any sign of the rest of his family.

"Guys?"

The pinball machine beeped again.

"Anybody?"

The game made a chzwooping sound in response.

Mikey sighed as his big, bright smile turned into a frown. He threw his bag to the floor and climbed the few steps up to where the living room was.

"Whatever," he grumbled as he plopped down onto the sofa and turned on the T.V. "This place use to be fun…"

He leaned his head back on the couch as the news came on the television. He wasn't really paying attention, until something caught his ear.

"-viglante known as 'Nightwatcher'–"

Mikey looked up at the screen as the newsreporter interviewed some lady about the newest crime fighter in New York City. He grinned as memories flooded his mind.

"I remember how that feels!" he said, a large smile forming on his face. "Busting up crime syndicates! Sure, they had a bunch of guns…" Mikey jumped up onto the couch and flexed. "But they weren't like these guns!" He grunted as he flexed some more.

"Why do you do this to yourself, Mikey?" Donatello asked his younger brother as he came into the room, magnifying glasses resting on top of his head. He was slurping pop from a can through a straw in one hand, and a gadget of some sort and a screwdriver in the other.

Mikey looked up, eyes wide.

"Those glory days are over. Get on with your life. Concentrate on your work."

Mikey's heart dropped a little, but he kept a straight face and turned to get down from the couch, waving his hand in dismissal of his brother's words. However, a voice stopped him.

"Yeah, yeah. Spoken like a true has-been."

Mikey and Don, who was now sitting at the kitchen table, looked up at the balcony of their home to see their older brother standing there, gazing down at them.

"Well, look who woke up," Don scoffed.

Raph jumped from the second story to the ground floor and slowly walked over to Don. Mikey watched from the arm on the couch, finding his brothers' confrontation more entertaining than the television.

"I supposed you think that the 'Nightwatcher's' some kind of hero," Don accused.

"Beats sitting around doin' nothin' all day while dirt bags run free," Raph shrugged, picking up Don's empty pop can and crushing it in his fist, then throwing it across the room into the garbage.

"I would love to know what it is that you do that's so great." Don followed his brother's movements around the kitchen. "Or at least worth contributing around here. All you do is sleep all day."

"Yeah. I do nothing. You're right. You got me all figured out," Raph pointed a finger at his immediate younger brother.

"Well, I know you're rogue attitude has always been a source of contention to this team. You think fear is the best way to accomplish things but you're wrong!"

Raph remained unfazed. "First of all," he said. "This 'team' you speak of? Doesn't exist anymore. And second of all…" He turned away for a moment, in which Don shook his head, but then snapped around and raised a fist in the air, pointed right at Don's face.

Don tensed up and jumped, knocking a tool off the table, waiting for the blow, but it never came.

"Raphael!"

The two arguing turtles turned their attention to the doorway, where their father entered from his room.

"Enough!"

Raph brought his fist down and Don relaxed, watching after him.

"I think I made my point," Raph chuckled smugly, walking away.

"That doesn't prove anything!" Don called after him. But it was no use. Raph left the kitchen and used the wall to help flip himself to the upper level, where he disappeared down the hall to his room.

"Why couldn't you send him away for training?" Don muttered, lowering his glasses and turned to his project.

"Donatello," Master Splinter scolder. Then his voice became softer. "His home has become like an empty shell. Each of your brothers have strengths and weaknesses. You must learn to be strong when they are weak, for if you cannot learn this then all hope for our family is lost." The old rat's ears and whiskers drooped as he got a somber expression on his face.

Don was quiet as he avoided his father's eyes. Master Splinter sighed softly and retreated back into his room, leaving Don alone. The turtles in purple tore off his glasses and threw them on the table, putting his head in his hands.

"Do you want me to go and talk to him…?"

Don jumped slightly and looked up to see Mikey looking at him from over the top of the couch. He had almost forgotten that his little brother was still present.

Don shook his head and grabbed the screwdriver that he had abandoned, fiddling with it in his hands.

"I don't think that will help, Mikey…" he sighed.

An uncomfortable silence surrounded them. When Don looked up next, he saw Mikey still staring at him.

"When do you think he'll come back?" Mikey asked quietly, eyes wide.

Don sighed again and shook his head. "I… I don't know…"

"Do you… do you think…" Mikey left the end of the question hanging, too afraid to say what he thought, but knowing that his brother knew all the same.

The purple-banded turtle looked at his younger brother, seeing the hope that still lingered on his young face. A hope that Don had abandonded when their eldest brother didn't come home from his one-year training period over seas. A hope that Raph had lost as soon as their brother had left that night. And a hope that Master Splinter was quickly losing.

But the hope in Michelangelo's face was still there. It had been there when Raph had become distant. When Don had turned away. When the letters stopped coming.

And Don couldn't. He just couldn't take away his brother's hope. Because even if he and the rest of his family had given up and were not even trying anymore, he just couldn't let that same fate happen to his one and only little brother. Because, if anything had happened, then the rest of them might need that last bit of hope to help them get through it.

"I think he's just fine, Mikey," Don said gently, forcing a comforting smile on his face. "He's just probably taking his time getting back. Probably getting us some souveniors."

Mikey looked at him for a moment. Really looked. And Don saw knowledge that had never been there before.

But, for the sake of his family, Mike nodded and turned around to face the T.V. Don stared at him for a minute, before sighing and turning back to his project. But his heart really wasn't in it anymore.

Don sighed again and looked at the balcony where he knew Raph was sitting in the shadows, listening. He looked at Mikey, who was staring at the T.V., but not really watching anymore. At the door to his father's room, where the old rat sat, meditating for his family.

Oh, how he wished things would just go back to normal. He shook his head.

Leo… he thought. We need you… Please come home…

Yes, I am aware that the majority of this chapter is the 2007. That's why it is merely a Prologue and nothing more. It's to introduce the characters and the struggle that they will face in the rest of the story.

Yes, I also realize that I do that a lot. However, the 2007 movie is my favorite, and I like the plot and character designs and development in it. So leave me alone.

Anyways, it's been bugging me for months. I'm really excited about this story, because I'm trying new things and I really like the way they came out.

I'll try to update on a regular basis and as often as I can, but I make no promises. I'm still insanely busy, and please keep in mind that this story still isn't completely written out yet. But I'll try my best.

(And what's this?! I actually proof-read it?!)

So please review! Easy on the flames though. I'm already under enough stress as it is.