Terribly sorry for the way this chapter got garbled into half computer code. It's fixed! Enjoy! The author's note I had before is gone now, though -_-


"I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves, everybody's nerves, everybody's nerves. I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves and this is how it goes"

Leo couldn't help but grin inwardly as Mikey mumbled the words to the most annoying song he knew. Or at least, the second most annoying song. Mikey had a way of turning the much dreaded "Friday" song into a hashi for the ears.

"I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves"

He'd been singing the same song just a few weeks ago while he and his brothers skateboarded through one of the bigger pipes in the sewers, right before he refused to go home…

"Come on Mikey, we're leaving without you!" Leo shouted behind him.

"You guys wouldn't leave me! What if I get kidnapped!?"

Leo scoffed and turned to walk down the tunnel. "Trust me, they'd bring you back."

He was beginning to wish he'd been right. So far, Mikey had indeed annoyed his captors to no end, but the guards had the added advantage of being allowed to use their stun batons whenever they wanted. And right now, he was wishing Mikey would just shut up so he wouldn't get shocked again.

That didn't mean he wouldn't take the small victory of Mikey getting under their abductors' skin, though. If they were meant to die here, they would die with honor, which was why he stood up as straight as he could and stared forward, determined not to look defeated, even if that's what they were right now.

Leo flexed his fingers, imagining himself kicking all of these dumb Foot Ninjas in the solar plexus or landing a punch to their throats. Especially after they shocked Mikey a few extra times for talking, not to mention how they'd mocked Donnie for wearing glasses while roughly stripping him of his tech.

Speaking of Donnie… Leo took a deep breath, turning his head to watch his other sibling. Donnie hadn't made a sound yet, aside from a few yelps when they'd shocked him. Leo wasn't going to fault him for those, of course. He hadn't been able to stay entirely silent himself.

He examined his brother through the grimy bullet proof glass, noting how pale he was starting to look. They probably all looked pale, now that he thought about it. He turned back to look at Mikey, silently comparing the youngest with the second youngest. Donnie was paler… way paler, and his breathing was starting to come in shallow wheezes that rattled shakily, tentatively, in Leo's ears.

He looked over at Mikey again, his features set in a facade of impenetrable stone. Donnie was starting to suffer, but he didn't want Mikey knowing it yet. There was no use frightening his brother if there was nothing either of them could do about it.

Facing forward again, Leo tried to keep his mind occupied with more positive thoughts. Donnie had trackers built into his gear, regardless of whether they were powered off, and that meant they still had a chance. Raph wasn't stuck in a cage. Maybe he'd gotten away…

Or maybe he was already dead, just like Sensei… Dad… The look in his father's eyes as he had scrambled to cut them off from his fight with the Shredder replayed over and over in Leo's head. His father would do anything to keep them safe, but this time it had all been for nothing.

Leo snuck a glance to his left again, watched as Donnie's head snapped back up from where his chin had been resting against his plastron. 'Atta boy, Donnie, stay awake. You can do it.' He whispered in his head. His brother took a few deep breaths, and Leo found himself wishing he could catch his attention, but Donnie just kept staring forward, then down at the floor as he lost the strength to keep his chin up. In fact, if he didn't know better, Leo would say Donnie was actually avoiding his gaze. He wasn't sure why, though.

He had been wanting to send Donnie a faint smile, a pat on the back that didn't require any physical contact. Despite the circumstances, he was proud. Proud of both of his brothers for being so brave, but he was especially proud of Donnie for willing himself to stay awake this long. For some reason, the blood loss was having a far greater impact on his bespectacled brother, and Leo wished he could tell him how proud he was that Donnie hadn't quit yet.

With a sigh, Leo closed his eyes, pushing himself to stand a little straighter. He took a deep breath, held it, let it out slowly, held it again. They had to get out of here, and soon. Maybe he could think his way out of this…

It wouldn't be worthwhile to pull at his bonds: that would only serve to weaken him further. He had already tried it multiple times earlier, when he had a little more blood and a little more strength in his body. The darn things wouldn't budge, no matter how hard he tugged at them. Maybe if he-

Leo wasn't sure how to describe the sound that derailed his train of thought. A shuffle, a gasp, more shuffling. His eyes were open immediately, drawn towards the sound, and he couldn't keep his mouth from opening in horror.

Donnie had lost his footing and was now scrambling uselessly to get back to his feet. His arms were pulled up and behind him, and Leo could tell how difficult it was to breathe in that position by the panicked gasps that echoed around his cage.

No. No no no no no no no no. Come on, Donnie, get up. Get up! But no matter how many times Donnie pulled his feet forward in an attempt to get them under him again, they kept sliding back.

Leo's eyes widened and he gave up on being silent.

"Get up, Donnie!" he whispered, praying he wouldn't draw unwanted attention to his brother's predicament. "Come on, I know you can do it, just keep trying! You're almost there, just get up!"

He shot a glance at Mikey, who was straining to see past him, eyes wide. For once, Mikey was completely silent.

Leo turned back to the brother on his left "Get up, Donnie! Don't you dare quit on me, I know you can do this, get up!" Donnie had finally gotten his feet under him, but Leo was fairly certain he couldn't hear the words being spoken to him. He still wasn't standing. "Good, Donnie, just a little farther, come on, you can do it!"

He could see the muscles in his brother's legs quivering, even through the smudged handprints and scratches on the glass. All he had to do was push off against the ground and he would be standing again, but Leo was beginning to doubt whether he had the strength left to do that much, much less stay standing if he did.

"Come on, Donnie!" He was pleading, now. The sound of the alarm on Donnie's monitor barely registered in Leo's ears as he watched his brother slump completely, his feet dragging on the floor behind him and his knees a few inches off the ground.

He couldn't help but wonder if he had just witnessed his brother's last conscious moments. He just stood there for a second, eyes glued to his little brother's motionless form. Then the sound of raucous laughter filled the room.

The Foot Ninjas were laughing. At them. At Donnie. Leo saw money change hands, one of the soldiers begrudgingly paying off most of the others, and his vision blurred in a haze of red. They had been placing bets on who would collapse first. And most of them had been betting on Donnie. He wasn't sure what made him angrier: the fact that they had been betting on who would collapse first, the fact that they had been betting Donnie would collapse first, or the fact that they had been right. The injustice of it all bowled any rational thoughts over, and he let out a strangled howl of rage, balling his hands into fists that ached to pound the flesh of their sneering faces.

How dare they?

HOW.

DARE.

THEY.

Another roar of righteous fury and his strength poured back into him, just shy of the force needed to break out of his little pen. They would pay for this. If it was the last thing he did, he would make them pay.

"Calm down, you overgrown science fair project. Your… brother… isn't finished yet. He cannot escape to oblivion so easily."

Leo scarcely comprehended the words. He could, however, comprehend the steel eyed, derisive gaze of the scientist who had just stepped out of the shadows in front of him. The man's mouth twisted into a gleeful smile, eyes narrowed like a cat who has just sighted a mouse. Leo glared back, refusing to break eye contact with the monster of a human being in front of him. Sacks.

"Subject Omega requires a dose of adrenaline." He informed one of the scientists standing next to him. The scientist stepped forward, tapping the monitor on Donnie's cage a few times.

Leo narrowed his eyes, nostrils flaring with rage at the idea that they had labeled Donnie "subject Omega." He didn't have time to think about it though, as he turned his gaze on his unconscious brother, hoping that things weren't about to get worse.

Donnie's arms flexed, elbows bending shakily. Leo watched in one part horror and one part relief as his brother's head lifted up, eyes open. Barely. Donnie's right foot moved forward and planted solidly underneath him, followed immediately by the left. A moment later, he was standing again.

Part of him was glad that Donnie was standing again. Sacks had bought them more time to escape, more time to be rescued if there was anyone left to rescue them. In the same moment, the realization hit Leo in the gut like one of Raph's roundhouse kicks.

These scientists were going to drain him and his brothers of their blood. And they were prepared to keep their subjects awake for the entire thing.