I'm ba-ack. Okay, enough kidding around, especially with a story like this. This is another SAINW story... much like my other one, really. Same story (because it's an episode), same background for Amelia, but with an added twist. I've been given permission by Solaris Prime to use his character Christopher Nova. Anyway, I don't think there's really much to say here because I think most everything you need to know is going to be explained. So, without further ado, here's the first chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own TMNT or any of the characters. Amelia is mine. Christopher belongs to Solaris Prime.


Thirty years of hell. That's what my brothers and I have lived through. Thirty years ago, Donatello disappeared without a trace. We all thought he was dead, made ourselves believe so. It was less painful than trying to hope he was alive. After he disappeared, everything fell apart. We lost our hope, our freedom, our family. Chris and I were the only ones who stuck together through it all. We had to. He needed me. Raph and Leo took off years ago, each going their separate ways. They were still in the city of course. No one could leave the city, or the Shredder's reign of terror. I hadn't seen or heard from my two eldest brothers since Master Splinter's death. Michelangelo left as well. We saw him every once in a while. Well, I saw him. Chris was blind, had been ever since we found him at age nine. Don had been working on an antidote to give Chris his sight back. Then he disappeared. To put my life in the simplest possible terms, it's gone straight to hell.

Chris and I would go down to the lair every so often. We probably shouldn't have. It only brought back the memories, the pain, and the realization that Don couldn't get us out of this. Sometimes Mike would be there, but not often. When he was, it was always nicer than it was when Leo and Raph still lived with us. The two of them were always butting heads about Master Splinter. Chris and I just couldn't stop the fighting. Despite the pain and gruesome memories, Chris and I were back again. We returned to the lair, to relive the times spent there. We were expecting the usual. We snuck in and were probably going to be caught by the Shredder's forces. We'd fight them off and escape with our lives intact. Neither of us could have planned for what I saw that night.

"Someone's near," Chris whispered, his voice barely audible.

I stopped dead in my tracks, as did my brother behind me. Pressing my back against the wall, I checked around the corner to see a five-foot tall mutated turtle. Under normal circumstances, whatever those were anymore, I wouldn't have found this surprising. Instead, my knees buckled and Chris had to catch me before I hit the ground.

"No," I breathed. Chris pulled me away from the corner, my back now pressed to his chest.

"What is it?"

"It's…" The image I saw flashed before my eyes. A pale green mutated turtle stood in front of the old garage. He wore a purple mask I hadn't seen in thirty years and carried a bo staff. "It's Don."

"Ame, that's impossible. You know that."

"How many purple-clad mutated turtles do we know?"

I pulled out of my brother's grasp and peered around the corner once more. Sure enough, it was Donatello standing there, and he was surrounded. My eyes narrowed at the Shredder's police. I'd lost my brother before. I wasn't about to allow that again. Donatello had his bo staff out and ready to ward off any attack The Shredder's men continued to advance on him, until I threw three shuriken in their path. Three more came from above at that exact moment.

"On the roof! Get a light on him!" a voice commanded from a loud speaker. They must have thought all the throwing stars came from one person. I'd already guessed Mike was there. He was the only other person who could have. "Fire! Open fire!"

I heard someone on the roof run across and jump into the old rusted car in front of me. He stuck to the shadows, just as Chris and I were. Just as we'd been taught. None of us used to listen when Master Splinter told us to as teenagers. Maybe we should have. As the Shredder's men jumped onto the car, they began firing as many rounds as they could. I knew they wouldn't penetrate Mike's shell. He'd been through this all too many times before. I pulled out a gun of my own and fired at the man with his back to me. He fell to the ground just as the hood of the car popped up, knocking the other man off.

I heard another man cry out in pain, but it quickly faded to a weak groan. Looking past the car, I could see that Chris had been sneaking through the shadows, slitting the throats of the 'police' as he did. I continued firing at the Shredder's men, protecting myself as well as my brothers. From where I was, I almost had a perfect vantage point. Donatello could only stare in shock as all this happened around him. Michelangelo leapt through the shadows and took down one of the police, stealing his weapon in the process. That was when my gun ran out. Thos things never had enough ammunition to finish a job.

I pulled out a pair of sais and ran out into the fight, killing more of the men who'd tried to attack Don. Just as we finished them off, a light from a helicopter flashed down on us. Mike shot at it, sending it flying into a building with an explosion. I took Chris' hand as Mike and I turned to face Donatello, though we were still in the shadows. He didn't look a day older then the last I'd seen him, when Chris and I were fourteen.

"Mikey, Amy, Chris! Am I glad to see you!" Don exclaimed.

"So, it's really you," Mike answered and the three of us stepped into the light.

"You came back," I murmured.

"Impossible," Chris whispered. His sightless eyes were wide in surprise. The expression on Donatello's face showed obvious shock, but I knew it wasn't due to the change in my brothers' voices. It was because of the condition we were in.

"Mikey! Y-Your arm! What happened to your arm?" Don asked. Michelangelo's left arm was gone from the elbow down. Had been for years. Chris was still trying to get over that fact. Don didn't have words for my appearance. I covered the right side of my face with my short brown hair. I'd kept it the same length all these years, mostly for practical purposes. "Amy…"

I scowled slightly. Trailing down the right side of my face were two long, deep scars. They ran on either side of my eye and through the corner of my mouth. I retained my sight, but lost most of the movement on that side of my face. Chris didn't know about those scars. I didn't allow him to touch them and find out. He didn't need that part of me imprinted in his memory.

"You're the one that's got some questions to answer," Mike said harshly. "Where have you been all these years?"

"All these years?"

"You've been gone for over thirty years, Donatello," I answered.

"Thirty years? That can't be!"

"It is," Chris answered. "We all thought you were dead… How could you have just abandoned us like that?!"

"I didn't. I'd never abandon you guys. One minute we were all in the lair and the next minute, I woke up here. I don't know how."

"So, the turtle with the big brain finally doesn't have all the answers. Who'da thunk it? But we can't talk here. Come on," Mike answered.

I took Chris' hand in mine as Mike began leading Donatello away. We followed them through the city, keeping to the shadows and rooftops as much as we were able to. There wasn't a word spoken between any of us. Overhead, the Shredder's propaganda played as a blimp depicted a picture of his mast. It was his way of warning us that he was always watching. I figured he must have been a bad lookout, seeing as he still wasn't rid of my brothers or me.

"Serve the Shredder! He is your lord and master!" Karai's voice called through the blimp.

I scowled deeply. I hated the Shredder and Karai with everything inside of me. It was the Shredder who'd blinded Chris. It was the Shredder who'd killed Master Splinter. It was the Shredder who had destroyed my entire family. Chris' hand tightened around mine and I knew he could sense my anger. I sighed softly as the four of us came to a grate that led to the sewers. It was one of the very few safe places in the city, though 'safe' didn't truly exist anymore.

"Where are we going?" Don asked. I knew where, from the look in Mike's eyes.

"Taking you to Master Splinter," I answered. Michelangelo nodded.

"Are Leo and Raph with him?"

"You kidding?" Mike answered. "Leo and Raph aren't with anybody anymore."

With that, we all went down into the sewers. Chris released my hand, now that we were in an extremely familiar territory. The walk was silent once more, only the sounds of our sloshing footsteps breaking it. I found myself glancing at Donatello repeatedly as we walked. It felt strange to have him back after so long. At the same time, though, I was angry. He disappeared when he was so close to finding an antidote for Chris. I'd tried to complete his work, only to fail miserably. Because of my foolish mistake, any chance of Chris regaining his eyesight was lost.

I noticed the apprehensive expression on Donatello's face and frowned slightly. He was probably upset by Mike's comment. After walking for about ten minutes, we came to a manhole near the city park, where we'd buried Master Splinter after his death. I briefly wondered how Don would take the knowledge. After all, the rest of us were devastated when it happened. Chris broke down when we told him, since he didn't see it himself. That was a day that was logged in my memory for the rest of my life. Don exited the sewers first, followed by me and Chris. Mike came out last and covered the manhole.

"Where are all the people?" Donatello asked.

"You mean the ones that are still alive?" Chris retorted, alluding to Master Splinter's death. I doubted Don would catch that one. The four of us ran through the woods in the city park.

"They're forced to work eighteen-hour shifts in the Shredder's labor camps," I answered.

"No one's allowed out at night," Mike added. We stopped running as we neared a clearing, checking to make sure there wasn't anyone around to see us.

"What happened between Leo and Raph?" Don asked.

"Let's just say they got in a big fight a long time ago." Chris nodded, showing that there wasn't anyone to be heard and we quickly began running again.

Don suddenly stopped running as a strange, pale blue aura outlined him. My brow furrowed in confusion and Chris stopped when he heard my footsteps cease. I'd never seen anything like this before, and I'd seen my fair share of strange occurrences. Chris motioned for me to hurry up.

"What the shell?" Don asked as the strange aura disappeared. He shook his head and we began running again to catch up with Michelangelo.

"What was it?" Chris asked.

"I don't know," I whispered.

"When you never came back, Donny, well everything just… fell apart. We were a team. Without you, it just didn't work. Guess we really needed that level head of yours," Michelangelo said, resuming the previous conversation.

"Chris and I tried to keep them together, but it just didn't work. They'd start arguing over the smallest things. We're not miracle workers," I murmured. We'd finally reached our destination, coming out from behind the cover of the trees.

"Master Splinter?" Don asked. Mike pointed to the board that marked our teacher's grave.

"He's over there," I answered.

"No!" Don walked over to the grave and fell to his knees. "Master Splinter is… No!"

I looked over at Chris to see his hands clenched into tight fists. He hated the idea of Master Splinter being gone. After all, he's the one who'd taught Chris everything he knew to survive. I rested a hand on his shoulder, but he didn't relax. I couldn't blame him.

"Master Yoshi used to bring him here to the park back in the day," Mike explained. "It's not the safest place, but its' where sensei wanted to be buried."

"H-How?"

"A couple years after you disappeared, Master Splinter gave his life protecting us," Chris growled. I could see a tiny trail of blood dripping from his hands where his nails had broke the skin.

"I can't believe this place. It's all… so horrible."

"You'll get used to it," I answered. "Besides, what can you do? It's the way it is."

"It's not the way it was! Maybe I can't change the past, but that doesn't mean there isn't a way to change the present. We've gotta face the Shredder and take him down." Mike laughed wryly.

"We tried," he answered. "Too many times."

"We're going to try again, guys."

"You'd better have a plan, then," Chris told him.

"I'm working on it, but we're going to need Leo and Raph."

"That's a tall order, Don. But I think I may know someone who can help," Mike answered with a slight smirk.


There's one chapter done. For those of you wondering about the title of this first chapter, listen to the song "Hero" by Nickelback. That's where I got the inspiration for the title. Normally, I don't title chapters. Anyway, please R&R.