Torn Apart

Chapter I

Written by the Torture Sisters (aka Takato Metallium, LilNinjaWolf, Shellbell 30 (me)

Plot: AU, dark, angst, Mikey and Donnie centric. Eight years ago, Michelangelo and Donatello left the lair due to unforeseen circumstances. Now, on the anniversary of their disappearance, Leonardo and Raphael have found them again…but it's not a happy reunion.

Disclaimer: We disclaim all rights to the TMNT; they belong to Peter Laird and a bunch of other companies we do not partake in. We only own the fic, the idea and not much else.

Author's Note: Dedicated to Takato Metallium as she is no longer in the TMNT fandom. She is a wonderful writer and I wish her well. She helped me through thick times and with the first two chapters of the story. Thanks to LilNinjaWolf for helping me co-write the rest of the fic with me. Oh this fic is going to get dark so if it upsets you please don't read. You have been warned. So don't come complaining to us because well say that there was a warning at the first chapter kay now Enjoy the story. I'll be posting this under Shellbell30. I thought long ago Takato posted this under the name Torture Sisters but alas I did not find it here.

Prologue: (Eight Years Ago)

"That's it, Raph! I've had it with you!"

Raphael stepped back, an unbidden look of shock on his face as the sai in his hand dropped to the floor. The eight-year-old mutant turtle watched, horrified, as Donatello helped their younger brother stand in spite of the wound slashed across his thigh and the blood dripping down his leg to the floor. Even though Michelangelo had pain written all over his face, the hatred in his eyes was unbearable.

"Mikey…Mikey, I…"

"Shut up," Don growled lowly, shifting himself so that Mike's arm was slung across his shoulders. "You've no right to talk, Raphael."

Leonardo stepped forward, hands raised as he tried to calm his brothers down. "Guys, come on. I'm sure Raph didn't…"

"Shut the Shell up!" Gritting his teeth Mikey spat out as he was starting to get weak at the knees. "It's always 'Raph this, Raph that' with you! Can't you stand up for us just once, Leo?" He sent a sidelong glance to his brother in purple. "I think it's about time we did what we were talking about doing, don't you think, Don?" He raised the hand that had been clutching his leg and tore off the orange bandanna around his eyes, throwing it to the floor in a splatter of blood.

"Wait, what are you…?" Leo looked up from where he was hunched over Raphael, horror dancing across his face as Don did the same, the purple cloth floating steadily to the floor to join the other.

Donatello straightened the both of them up, strengthening his grip on Michelangelo's wrist as he glared venomous hatred at their older brothers. "I agree. It's high time we left, Mikey. We're obviously not welcome here." The slightly taller turtle began moving the both of them over towards the entrance of the lair.

"Donatello! Michelangelo! You can't! Splinter…!"

"Shut it, Splinter Junior!" Don looked over his shoulder, wrapping his free arm around Mikey's waist. "Raphael went too far this time. I'm not staying around to watch my little brother continue to be hurt by him." A dark, malevolent smirk curled its way around the eight-year-Old's mouth, the expression making Leo shift a step back as he continued walking out of the lair. "Karma comes back to bite you, Leo. I hope you remember that."

And Leonardo did…

End of Prologue

Chapter One: Past Meets Present or Eight Years Later:

Leonardo jumped slightly as he was brought out of the trance meditation put you through, hands limp as two different color bandannas fell from his fingers. The orange one – part of it covered in dried blood – seemed to touch the purple-color cloth with one end, as though the material was telling him his brothers were still alive and together.

Raising a hand to scratch the back of his neck, he stood with a creak of his knees and walked out of the meditation chamber into the main den of the lair, his eyes instantly falling on his brother Raphael. The red-banded turtle was sitting against the pillar holding up the workout dummy, head in his hands and knees pulled up to his chest. Finding no sign of Splinter, who was most likely resting for the night in his room, he walked over and stopped a foot or two in front of Raph.

"It's been eight years, Leo," his younger brother whispered as Leonardo took up the lotus position across from him, concern written on his facial features. "May 10th. It's been eight years since Mikey and Donnie disappeared."

The older turtle looked away, bowing his head as he closed his eyes. "I know, Raphael…I know." He hated seeing the other mutant like this, a battered shell of his former self. "I take it you're going topside with Casey again, tonight?"

Raphael rubbed a hand across his face with a heart-felt sigh and stood, stretching. "I gotta, Leo. It's the anniversary…I thought I might…that maybe…"

Leonardo stood as well, placing a hand on Raph's shoulder – the only way of comfort he knew he could give his brother. "I know, Raph." He offered a small smile, his arm dropping from its raised position. "I'll be here when you come back; same as always. Don't worry. So will Master Splinter."

Giving a nod and a grateful but bitter smile, Raph picked his Sais up from where he'd placed them on the floor and walked towards the entrance of the lair, throwing a quick wave over his shoulder but not looking back. Leonardo nodded, as if reassuring himself that he would be here when Raphael returned, unsheathed his swords and began doing a slow kata to keep his mind off the one thing that plagued it constantly.

His brothers….

"I'm very flattered that you asked me to assist you in the Mouser test run, Doctor Stockman." April tried not to cringe as her lab coat and jeans were splattered with sewerage as she followed the scientist down through the underground of New York City, pushing the mineshaft cart ahead of her. "I just don't understand why we have to do it in the sewers. Couldn't there have been an old train yard or something that we could have gone to?"

"The council of New York only allowed us to do the testing in the city's sewers, Miss O'Neil," he said calmly, making a few adjustments to a remote control in his hands as they walked. "The system is like the maze back in the lab; it will be perfect for the test run."

Baxter closed the remote back up, flicking a switch to the side on with his thumb as he resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the younger lady. 'Stupid woman…doesn't even know half of what's really going on…' The darker-skinned man pulled a piece of paper from the recesses of his lab coat, unfolding it and running his forefinger over the directions. 'And if all goes well…he'll be pleased…'

April was too busy trying to avoid the rubbish and filthy water running in her path to notice him turning his head slightly to look at her out the corner of his eye, a dark smile gracing his lips.

'He'll be very pleased, indeed…'

Raising a hand, Stockman caressed a scar on his cheek – a faded reminder of his last failure – and shivered.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Leonardo knocked on the door to his father's room, a tray in hand with his usual afternoon tea resting balanced on top of it. Master Splinter always locked himself away at this time of year – Leo had always tried to tell his father that it was not his fault…that he himself and Raphael had long ago accepted responsibility for the departure of their younger brothers.

Pain rested heavily on Leonardo's heart as he awaited an answer patiently, mulling over the endless possibilities and alternate realities that could have happened that day eight years ago. It had been his responsibility to protect his brothers from enemies and from themselves; he had had every right to step in and stop Raphael from hurting Michelangelo that day…

And yet he had done nothing, nothing to earn himself the title of leader, older brother or Splinter's heir.

He sighed as he finally heard the croaked reply, straightening himself as he slid the door open with the toe of his right foot. The aged rat he called father, master and mentor sat in the middle of the room surrounded by candles on a cushioned mat that had been scavenged from the junkyard a few blocks away. The weary look on his face informed Leonardo that his father had – as he always did this time of year – been mourning the loss of his youngest sons.

"Master Splinter," the blue-banded ninja murmured softly, bowing his head in respect and for the simple fact that he did not want to meet his master's gaze. "I have brought your afternoon tea."

"Place it in down," his master whispered, equally soft and filled with immense amounts of bottled up pain. "And sit before me." Splinter waited until Leonardo did as he was told before speaking again, closing his eyes as he heaved a heavy sigh. "I sensed your presence on the astral plane earlier, my son. Tell me…you were trying to find your brothers again, weren't you?"

Leonardo looked up, startled at the fact that he had been found out before lowering his gaze again. "I try again, as I have tried constantly for the last eight years, Sensei," he murmured, closing his eyes. "I know Michelangelo and Donatello are out there above somewhere. I feel it…" He placed a hand over the center of his plastron-covered chest – where his heart lay. "…Right here. Sometimes it is faint…others, it is burning with rage…the rage I so rightfully deserve."

Splinter took a quiet sip of his tea, mulling over his son's words – he had always known Leonardo was the connecting thread between the four of the young mutant turtles, the very reason he had chosen the boy to be his rightful heir. It came as no wonder to him that Leonardo was still able to sense Michelangelo and Donatello, no matter how far away they might be.

"I did nothing to stop Raphael that day," Leonardo continued, lowering his hand so it rested on his knees once again. "I should have. I was their older brother, their sense in all the childish madness back then. I make no excuses for myself, as I have said time and time again. It was no one's fault but my own and Raphael's. You needn't punish yourself so harshly, Master."

'Must we continue this dance year after year, Sensei? This dance of regret and heartache?'

"Yet it was my fault for teaching you how to use weapons in the first place." Splinter finally raised his head, reaching over to tilt his eldest son's up by the chin. Brilliant dark chocolate eyes looked at him from behind that mask – eyes that had once looked at him as though he held all the answers to the universe…

…Now those eyes only held the deepest sorrow…the deepest remorse.

"It came as no surprise to me that you and Raphael chose blade weapons. You two were always the most impulsive out of the boys I had raised. But to learn that Raphael had used his weapon against his own brother and that you had done nothing to stop him…" Splinter gave a shuddering breath and tried to suppress the tears as Leonardo looked away from him in shame. "…I should have stopped your training then and there. I should have taken away everything I had taught you about ninjutsu and left you ordinary boys."

"Then why didn't you, Sensei?" The eldest son sounded positively miserable, as though he was trying to keep his own tears at bay. Why must they continue through this conversation, year after year? In Leonardo's apprentice mind, he was being reminded of his failures to better strengthen his weaknesses, and not make the same mistake with Raphael and his brother's friend Casey Jones.

"Because I knew that you would one day meet your brothers again." The rat kept his face sullen as Leonardo's head turned abruptly to look back at him, shock reigning over his features. He had never given this answer, had always kept silent and waited until his son left without questioning again. Leonardo had made the motion to stand a mere minute ago, and now he had his attention once more. "I have seen Michelangelo and Donatello in my dreams at times in the past. No, not dreams; visions. They are well enough, but they are being lead down a path of hatred and rage. Their acrimony has been growing steadily, until nothing but the purest of evil has enveloped their souls."

"Why haven't you tried to contact them, Sensei?" Leonardo tried to keep his frantic voice to a minimum as all the while he seethed at his master. To keep such a thing from him and Raphael, especially when he knew of Raphael's fading sanity. "We could have helped them…!"

"I did once…" Splinter sighed and took another slow sip of his tea, head bowed again. Leonardo's aura had changed from one of sadness to one of hurt – hurt that his most trusted family member and advisor had kept such a secret from him. "Four or five years ago now, Donatello…he was not the gentle soul you once knew. His love and concern for Michelangelo's wellbeing was the only thing keeping his sanity intact, and he denounced me on the spot as his father. I could feel…he was trying so hard to keep his anger under control."

Leonardo was almost afraid to ask. "And…and Mikey?"

"He gave me a look of the utmost loathing from behind his brother's back as Donatello spoke to me. He didn't say anything but I knew…I knew that his childish personality had changed as well." Splinter raised a hand to rub his eyes with two fingers, sighing again. "From him I could feel his mind plotting vengeance the moment my back was turned."

He raised his head to look at his eldest son, worry dancing across his face at the possibility that Leonardo might do something rash now that he knew the truth. "That was when the young woman they were with told them they shouldn't be talking with…with vermin like me and that it was time for them to leave. I believe they referred to her as their sister. Karai."

The turtle sat back on his haunches, biting his lip as he leaned forward on his knees with his arms and closed his eyes. His hands clenched into angry fists, fighting back the want to punch his master for all that he had hidden from Raphael and himself. "We will get them back, Sensei," he whispered, shaking his head as he stood and looked down at the old rat. "They can't be too far gone that they won't feel anything when they see us again. I…I can't accept that they…that they…"

Leonardo never got to finish his sentence, for the wall of the meditation room collapsed on itself and he and his master found themselves surrounded by screeching small white robots. Even as he unsheathed his katana and defended his elderly father from them, one thing was running through his mind.

These had been sent by Donatello, as an open invitation to visit…

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Raphael grunted as he was thrown against the alley wall, hitting his shell hard enough to make falling onto his plastron hurt. As he tried to get up only to have a heavy foot press down onto the back of his neck with the force of a full mutant body behind it, he heard the voice that haunted his dreams as Casey groaned in pain somewhere to his right.

This wasn't a dream, though, and the voice that invaded his nightmares was laced with pure adoration for his older brother. But no; this voice wasn't laced with anything but utter hatred for every fiber of his being.

"I was hoping I'd have the chance to run into you, Raphael." Looking out the top corner of his eye, he gazed longingly at his little brother. No – it wasn't the turtle he had protected at nights when the other had a bad dream; it wasn't the one who used to believe everything he said as though it was the gospel truth.

Michelangelo bared his teeth in a savage grin as he brought his weapon out in full, Purple Dragon and Foot Clan tattoos proudly displayed on both of his lower arms beyond the black leather jacket he wore as his crew gathered to watch in glee. "I believe it's high time you pay for what you did to me eight years ago, dear brother," the younger turtle purred softly, eyes lit with a desperate need of revenge. The three-linked nunchaku in his hand was a mockery of the ones he had often hit himself with in practice back then. "Very high time."

"Mikey…Mikey please, listen to me…" Raphael coughed up blood as his neck was roughly shoved down by the foot at its back, surprisingly not snapping and killing him.

"I'm a decent turtle, Raphael," Michelangelo whispered, eyes showing hurt as the bitterness of their past came to surface while he linked his weapon around the red-banded ninja's neck and hoisted him up, pressing against him from behind just enough to remind him of his presence. "Unlike most I know. I'll give you a chance…just one chance…to prove you're sorry."

"Anything?" Raphael gasped out as the hard steel of the weapon was pushed against his throat, almost gagging him as it made his Adam's apple bob up and down without his consent. He couldn't believe he was resorting to groveling…to Mikey of all people. But he genuinely wanted to reconcile with his little brother, so much that he would go to almost any length to ensure it happened…

He felt lips brushing where his ear was supposed to be, were he human, and the voice that whispered to him was nothing like the hostile tone from before. "I'll say this quickly and I'll say this only once, so God help me you better listen, Raphael," Michelangelo hissed, tightening his grip on the steel in his hands to make it look like he was threatening his 'older brother'. "Donatello sent Stockman and another of his assistants down to the sewers with a new line of robotics; something he refers to as Mousers. They seek out and destroy rodents. I'll give you one guess who's he's going after, and Santa Clause hasn't set up shop under New York City to my knowledge."

Dark eyes widened in recognition beneath the mask he wore and he let out a choked whimper. "Master Splinter and Leo?"

"I don't want that just yet," he murmured, shifting his muscles so they would not cramp up or anything. "Don…Don hasn't had a good grip on reality these last five years. Father encourages it and I…I don't know what to do." There was a hint of desperation in Michelangelo's voice again, but this time it was out of concern for the only one he truly called his brother. "Go and help them, then run as far as you can. I know your friend has a family farm up north, stay there a while. Don will never forgive you for what you did eight years ago, and neither will I…but I just want you to do this for me. To save Don's sanity, so I can have the brother I love back and not the mad scientist walking around in his shell."

Raphael was suddenly released from the grip of the weapon around his throat, falling to his knees as a hand flew up to his neck. His eyes were wide as he felt blood drip down his chin from where it had come up into his mouth.

"Mikey…" Looking over his shoulder, he saw his formally orange-banded brother look down at him with the look of someone having just stepped in something disgusting, an ugly sneer curling around his usually playful features.

"I want you to run, Raphael," he purred, the sound barely audible over the cheers and jeers of his crew. "Run. Run away and never come back."

Police sirens sounded in the distance as the two brothers stared at each other – Raphael in shock and remorse while Michelangelo's eyes held nothing but hatred and desperation. Almost too late, Raphael leapt over to Casey's prone form and wrapped an arm around the human before giving the younger turtle one last look and jumping up to the rooftops as the police cars rolled around the corner.

As his crew retreated to the shadows, one of the recruits – Angel, his most trusted friend – looked at him out the corner of her eye. "Was that wise?" she whispered, purple pigtails falling around her face. "To let him know you care so deeply for Donatello?"

Michelangelo's grin became vicious again, bearing teeth as he looked back at her. "It's all a part of my plan, Angel. All a part of my plan." With one wave of his hand, the remaining Purple Dragons retreated although the human girl remained close to him.