Disclaimer: Does anyone have any idea of how much money I would make if I did own them? That would be insane…

Author's Notes: Caution: More sappiness and tearfulness resides in this chapter. You have been warned.

And the Pieces Fall Together

Chapter Two: I Promise

I've never suffered from this before, all the added stress and worry is beginning to add up on me. My brother –my second youngest brother- is missing, taken from us by some… maniacal force with some form of evil intent. If it had been to lure us into a trap then… wouldn't the trap had already been sprung? Wouldn't we have received a threat on his life by now? But what if it's for an even darker reason? What if a scientist is right now dissecting him?!

I can't help but grit my teeth and glare at the ceiling in anger.

That'll be the last thing that scientist ever does!

I force myself to take a calming breath, forcing all the anger and hate out of my body. I need to get to sleep. I can't keep laying here glaring at the ceiling for most of the night only to spend all day trying to figure out what had happened to him and finally running all over the city looking for him. I'm going to make a mistake soon. I'm running my body too hard, forcing it to do everything and anything that I have been trained to do and even work past that limitation. I can feel myself wearing out but nothing I seem to do allows me piece of mind. Not while he's still missing.

I stare back up at the ceiling listening to the sounds of my sleeping home trying to use them to relax me into sleep. I can hear that annoying clock ticking away the minutes to a new day downstairs in the kitchen. The soft snores of my brothers fill the air. Occasionally I can hear the barest of creaks from Raphael's hammock as he shifts about. I can hear Michelangelo mumbling in his sleep about something that most likely has to do with video games or food. Perhaps both. I cannot hear Splinter save for the faintest whispers of his breath. This is almost like meditation. It's so relaxing and soothing knowing that they are all safe and sleeping deeply.

But there is a great silence filling our home as well.

There is no faint clacking of the keyboard as fingers fly over it faster then I have ever though possible. There is an absent of the hissing welder's arch or the rhythmic pounding of a hammer against metal. Even though he sound proofed his workshop long ago, you can still just barely hear what Donatello is doing if you listen well. My eyes seek out the glowing red numbers of my alarm clock. It's getting close to two in the morning. He should be heading to bed soon. I should be hearing his steps cross the living room and start up the stairs. I should be hearing a pen scribbling down any last ideas from his late night of work on a clipboard as he heads past my door. I should be hearing his door close and then his rhythmic breathing as he too finally joins the rest of us in sleep.

This is all so wrong…

Donatello, where are you?

I thump my head back against my pillow. I almost wish it was something harder but self mutilation won't help anyone right now. The key here is finding out what happened to Don. It was obvious by the evidence in the junkyard that he was attacked by someone and taken away but who could have done this? Again, a question that really doesn't have any answers. It's almost easier to think of who wouldn't have taken him. Anyone could have but to have required skill enough to take Donatello down in a fight? There are still too many to make a worth while guess at but revenge for his kidnapping can come after we've found him.

I should have stopped him. I heard him saying something about heading out to the junkyard but Sensei had told us not to each other. I though he had told Donnie too. I had been angry with him for breaking Sensei's orders and had ignored him as I meditated. I should have said something when he left. I should have offered to go with him. I should have told him to stay put. I shouldn't have started yelling at him in the first place! I should have- I need to calm down. Get all flustered about what I should have done isn't going to help me find Don any faster. I can figure this out. I just need to relax and focus. I mentally center myself and begin to focus on my breathing. In… and out… In… and out… In… and out…

Huh? I open my eyes and listen to my home again. Something isn't right. I let my hand slip out from under my blankets and trail silently down along the mattress to reach underneath the bed. My katanas are right there. I deepen my breath and let my eyes fall shut, giving off the appearance of a sleeping 'defenseless' turtle. No… it's not an intrude in the lair so who-

Another whimper and a sudden gasp reach my ears. Mikey. He had another nightmare. He's getting as little sleep as I have been of late. Of course I know what he's going to do now. He's been doing it ever since we realized Donnie had been kidnapped almost seven days ago. I shift over closer to the edge of the bed and pull down the blankets so that the space between me and the wall is open and inviting. I lean back and start what I know is a short wait for my youngest brother to bolt in here, terrified and out of breath.

-Break-

This is so wrong. The junkyard is never this empty and deserted yet I don't hear him. This is his favorite junkyard. He always comes here. It's the closest to the lair, it has all the right junk according to him and that Chinese take-out that is just down the street is delicious! Maybe after we find him we can get Leo to let us go have some. Mmmmmm… Kung Po and Beef Lomein here I come! Oh yeah, first thing is first. Drag Donnie away from his 'shopping' long enough to get me to help convince Leo and Raph for a little late night munchies.

Huh? Where did those two go anyways? Oh right, Mamma Bear Leo and Papa Bear Raph wanted to spilt up and cover more ground this way. It's really a waste of time. We could just yell for Don, I mean he's gotta be here in the junkyard somewhere. Of course, usually he answers his shell cell in the first two rings. Maybe something really is wrong.

Okay Mikey, calm down. There is no big green, tentaclely, slimy monster that is here and has eaten your big brother and is coming after you. Besides if you're attacked by something just scream. Raph and Leo can play knight in shinning armor and I can wrap an old curtain around me and play the damsel in distress. Heh, heh… no, Raphie would have too much fun with that. Never mind.

Still, it shouldn't be this silent here. Donnie's never this quiet in the junkyard. You can always hear him shuffling around junk and trash and icky things and occasionally scaring away a random rat or too. It's not like he makes as much noise as when Raph sleeps but there's always that near silent noise you can hear in the background. Just a faint rustle that you have to be actively listening for to hear.

I don't like this. It's way too quiet here. Donnie's not here. I can't help but glance over my shoulder nervously and pull the Chuck Twins from my belt. There is something definitely wrong here. Where's Donnie? I slip deeper into the shadows of a junk pile as I skim around it. I wish Raph or Leo was with me. I would feel so much better if one of them had my back.

Hey there's that Jacuzzi I want but Don won't let me have. Something about getting it back to the lair with no broken bones. Raph was so carrying the tub last time, not me! He dropped it on my foot, not the other way around. Throwing a pie in his face should not have been an excuse to drop the tub on my foot. That hurt. Of course it meant two weeks of straight video gaming because I couldn't walk. I sigh, what I have to do to get a good gaming-thon under my belt.

There's something about the dirt here. It looks wrong. Like it's been kicked up or something. Thrown around. Weird. I wonder if a couple of cats got into a fight or something. Sure looks like it. But the fight scene looks too big. They must have really been going at it. Or maybe it as a dog fight or-

"Eep!" what was that? Oh, it was my phone. Why the shell did Leo make me put this thing on vibrate? I hate that. It always scares the shell out of me. At least Raph wasn't here to make fun of me sounding like a girl. "'Sup?" I ask into the phone looking at the dirt around me. Maybe the Professor got in a throw down with another bum? I hope he's okay.

"Did you find anything Mikey?"

"Nope, not a thing," Yeah, like really got into a fight. It looks like Wrestle Mania was filmed here tonight. I'll have to make the guys stop in and check on the Professor on the way home. This fight looks like it got a little nasty. There's some blood on the ground.

I can hear Leo sigh in exasperation. He gets to wound up over things. I'm sure Donnie is just fine and geeking out somewhere over something… geeky. But he still would have answered his phone, right? "All right. Meet us back at the van in a couple minutes."

Oh, so now that we're done here we'll go to one of the other ones? I did not want to spend my night searching the trash heaps for Don. There's a mega monster marathon going on right now and I'm missing this because of him. Just because he's mad at us does not mean he can make me miss my toons. He's so going to hear about this from me. After the show of course, "Sure thing Leo. Be th-"

Oh no… no… please not be what I think you are… "Mikey?" Oh shell… you are… you look just like his duffle… "Mikey what's happening?" Except his duffle isn't cut open like that… it's together and kind of whole… "Mikey are you there?" I should look inside to make sure. Well, the side's partially torn open so this could be easier then I thought. "Mikey?!" Oh shell… this is his bag! It has his stuff in it! Even that pigeon puppet he carries around! "MICHELANGELO?!"

Oops, sounds like Leo's having an ulcer. I have kind of been ignoring him but at least I have a good reason why. "L-Leo… I… I…" Don was attacked. That's what happened. He was attacked. He's not here now… and the blood… oh shell… the blood… He's hurt! This is all my fault! I did this! I-

"Mikey, calm down. What happened?"

"He was attacked… oh shell… Leo… this is all my fault… I… I…" What have I done? Oh shell, what have I done?

"Where are you?"

"Between the Jacuzzi and pile of cars… Leo, he's gone… he was attacked and now he's gone."

"Mikey. Breath. I'm almost there. We'll get him some help. Breath."

"You don't understand Leo!" I yell into the phone even though he can probably hear me without it. "He's not here! He's been turtlenapped!"

DONNIE! It's just my ceiling. It's just my ceiling. I'm home. I'm in bed. Is Donnie back? I gotta check. I gotta see him. Get off me! The blankets go flying and I'm charging out the door to my room and heading down the hall. I pause outside his door. It's still open. He's not here. He never leaves his door open when he's sleeping but… I peek over the railing looking for the lights in the lab or maybe the soft glow from his computers. Nothing. He's not here…

Donnie's still missing…

No… it's all my fault. I should've said those things to him. Then he wouldn't have left the lair. He would have stayed here or taken someone with him. He shouldn't have gone alone. I can't believe that he's gone. He's been gone for so long what if we're not going to be…

What if he's dead?

Because of me…

Oh shell…

I…

I-I…

I want Leo!

-Break-

He bolts back down the hallway towards my room as he has every night this week. He has to stop blaming himself for this. It's not his fault. We're all to blame for Donatello leaving the lair that night but no matter what anyone says to him, Mikey still believes it was all his doing. I've never heard such anger in his voice when he was yelling at Don that night but Raph and I weren't going easy on him either. If anything we were worst but you could see that it hurt Don more to hear Mikey say those things than if the two of us had.

The door's opened and closed before someone comes hurtling into the bed next to me. I let Mikey wrap himself around me, sneaking comfort and support. He even has his teddy bear with him. I have given up wondering if he realized he has it with him during his nightly checks and sudden sleepovers. It wouldn't make any deference either way. I clutch him close and use a free arm to throw the blankets over him to help keep him warm as he buries his face into my shoulder. He's crying, harsh sobs shaking him as he tries to press his entire body into mine. I reach up and begin to massage the back of his neck in an attempt to get him to calm down and breathe a little easier.

"It's okay, Mikey," I whisper into his ear trying to comfort him. If tonight is like every other night this week I know it's not going to help him. "Don't worry. It's going to be alright." I think that the only reason I'm still doing this is because it makes me feel better that I can at least try to comfort one brother. Raphael's barely talking to anyone unless he needs to. Even Casey's having a hard time trying to get him to loosen up a bit or at least do something more then grunt when he's being talked to.

"It's my fault… it's all my fault…" Mikey pounds a fist against my chest in frustration. There's no force in it but I still find the air being forced out of my lungs from the hit. "If I hadn't said those things… if I had just kept my mouth shut… he wouldn't be gone… he would be here!" Another harsh sob escapes him, choking off his self blame for the moment.

"We're all to blame for his disappearance, Mikey. You know that. We each had a hand in driving him out of the lair. It wasn't just you."

"Yeah, but I said what really made him mad… you could see it Leo… you could see it… he was so hurt… I knew exactly how to get under his shell and now… now… he's gone." He's calming down a little bit. His sobs don't have half the force that they did have. He's no longer pressing himself into me either. He's just laying there, relaxing into sleep again. He'll be here until I get up in the morning just like it has been this past week.

"Leo? Do you… Do you think Donnie's dead?"

What?! I can feel my eyes grow to the size of dinner plates. Is that's what's been eating at Mikey? He thinks Donnie's dead? Although it pains me to say this, he could be right. Seven days is a long time… it's possible that whoever took him did have the time to- NO! He's alive! Donatello wouldn't just give up on any of us. I refuse to let Mikey give up on him. "No, Mikey," I put all the determination into my voice as possible and squeeze Mikey tighter to myself trying to will my strength into him.

"But what if we can't find him?"

His voice is so small, so broken that I can feel tears prickle in the corner of my eyes. Stay strong, don't let him give up on Don. "We will Mikey. We're going to find him. I promise we'll get him back." I feel him nod against my shoulder even as he continues to cry silently against me. I stop rubbing at the formerly tense muscles in his neck and start to stroke my hand over the back of his head gently.

What feels like an hour later but can be barely over three minutes, Mikey is fast asleep against me. At least one of us will get a good night's sleep tonight. I don't even bother looking over at the clock. I know I won't get any sleep again tonight. Mikey's words are haunting me but I don't buy them. I just can't. Donnie's stronger than he appears. He would find a way to last while waiting for us to come rescue him. He knows we would never abandon him. He's still out there waiting for us to come and get him. And when we do, Raphael might have to pull me off whoever did this rather then the other way around.

Whoever did this will pay!

But first we have to find Don.

Revenge can wait.

I can't help feeling like I've failed him somehow. Don would have figured out what happened by now. He would have known where to look or would have been able to give me some more guidance and insight onto where he's being held. Raph is always referring to me as the leader but there are times I feel more like the figure head and Don is the one who's actually leading us. He always has the answer to our problems. He always knows what to do.

But what can I do right now? I don't even have a clue of what happen to him. All I know is that someone engaged him in a fight and beat him, taking him somewhere. But who and why? There are no clues to who his abductors are. No one's tried leading us into a trap or threaten us with his safety. Nothing. It's like he just vanished. The only other thing that vanished with him was his bo. That still doesn't make any sense to me. Most of our enemies try to separate us from our weapons if they capture us. Why would they take Don and his bo?

Mikey mumbles something about cheeseburgers and chocolate sauce in his sleep. I smile down at the top of his head. Despite his age and his detest for being called cute, Mikey is so adorable when he sleeps. But what if he's right? I frown as I think about it again. What if whoever captured Don really did kill him? I go back to looking at my ceiling, wondering about Donatello and if he was alright wherever he was.

I sure hope I didn't lie to Mikey…