A/N: Italics are either thoughts or dreams
Chapter 3
In the present…
Five days, that's how long I've been here, where ever here is. I only know because she told me, probably as a tactic to squash any hope I hold of a rescue. In the beginning I put all my focus to find a means of escape, but it didn't last long after the torture started. Now, as I sit in my cell, my thoughts focus on stopping the pain.
When will it all stop? She hopes to break me, and soon I fear she will succeed. I don't know how much longer I can hold on and I don't know how much longer her patience will hold out. I refuse to give up easily. Defiance is my only way of fighting back. I will not give her ANY satisfaction, and when she looks into my eyes I know she can see the flame that refuses to be blown out…
In the past…
Leonardo woke up in a panic. His plastron heaved up and down with his rapid breathing and his bedding was soaked with sweat. He sat up and laid his head in his hands. That was the sixth night in a row that this nightmare woke him up. It was always the same…
He was standing over the dead body of the Shredder, his blood-stained katana at his side. He turned to look for his brothers and Splinter. He gasped and fell to his knees at the sight of his entire family lying in a large pool of their combined blood. He heard the corpse of his dead sensei speak to him, 'You have done it my son. You have ridden the world of a great evil and all it cost you was our lives' Leo sobbed uncontrollably into his hands as the living corpse laughed…
"Ugh" Leo grunted with frustration. That's not what happened, he thought. The Shredder is dead and my family is fine. They're all fine. I am not alone, I'm not.
Hit lashed out and punched the wall in a final outburst before he got his emotions under control. He looked at his clock and checked the time, "No way! It can't be 2:30 in the afternoon! Why didn't anyone wake me?"
He left the solitude of his room in search of some answers and some food. He suddenly realized that he was famished.
It wasn't long before he spotted Michelangelo sitting on the coach munching on popcorn and watching TV.
"Mornin' sunshine" he said with a smirk and patted the couch inviting Leo to join him. Leo sat down and grabbed a handful of popcorn.
"Why didn't anyone wake me?" he asked a little more harshly than he had intended. Without looking away from the TV Mikey answered, "Sensei told us not to. He said that you needed the rest."
They sat watching TV together and eating popcorn in silence. After a few minutes, Leo noticed that they were the only ones in the lair.
"Where is everyone any way?" he asked to make conversation with his youngest brother. He really needed to spend some more time with Mikey.
"Oh, um, Raph his topside hittin' the streets with Casey, Donnie went to raid the junkyard again and sensei went somewhere quiet to meditate or somethin'." He replied with a shrug.
"Well," Mikey said after another few minutes, "I'm due at Aprils', you wanna come bro?"
"Nah, I'm just gonna stay here and get in some extra practice." Mikey rolled his eyes at his brothers' response, "Suit yourself. Hey, I almost forgot, everyone's meetin' back up here for dinner, and April's supplyin' the pizza." He said grinning from ear to ear. It was Leos' turn to roll his eyes.
"See ya later bro" he yelled as Mikey left the lair.
At the junkyard…
Donatello was in his element, surrounded by other peoples discarded trash. He had already acquired quite the pile of what he deemed 'valuable flotsam'. Well, it was valuable to him at least.
He stared at his pile, scratching his head. "How the shell am I going to get all this home?"
He started to rummage though the pile and pull out the most needed items when got the feeling that he was being watched. He stood up and looked around, his senses on high alert. He could see nothing out of the ordinary.
He turned back to his pile when he unexpectedly felt a sharp prick on his arm. He looked down and saw a dart sticking out. He reached over with his other hand and pulled it out. Before he realized what was happening, he was surrounded by twenty or so Foot Elite.
He reached behind him and pulled out his bo, already feeling the effects of the tranquilizer. He struggled to stay awake and on his feet. He managed to stop one attack, before he heard someone from behind him speak,
"As much as I would enjoy watching your weak attempt at fighting the drugs and my men, we don't have the time. You have an appointment to keep." The man then pulled out what Donny recognized as a stun gun. His eyes widened in fear as the gun fired, then he felt the electricity coursing through his body and grimaced in pain.
The pain of the shock coupled with the drugs was too much for him and he lost consciousness before he hit the ground.
In an ally near Aprils' apartment…
Mikey knelt down next to the manhole cover and was about to lift it open when a loud crash made him jump. He grabbed for his chucks and was in a ready stance in a split second ready for an attack. He sighed with relief as he spotted a stray cat and a tipped over trash can.
"You scared me there for a sec kitty," he said as he stashed his weapons back in his belt.
"You should be scared" said a menacing voice from the shadows.
Mikey didn't even have the chance to draw his weapons before he was hit with a stun gun. He fell to the ground contorting with pain.
He heard the same voice talk to someone he couldn't see, "Yeah we got the orange turtle, and our last target is the red one."
Raph. It was his last thought as he slipped into darkness.
Nearing sunset on a rooftop…
She stood there staring at the three bound, unconscious turtles. "What happened to the red one? I said I wanted them unharmed." She said angrily to the man responsible for their apprehension.
"He put up a good fight and we did what we had to in order to capture him and bring him to you" She was appalled at the pleading in his voice. The turtle wasn't seriously injured she assured herself. He had sustained only minor scrapes and bruising.
"And what of his friend?" she asked of a different man. A wicked smile crossed his face as he answered, "Heh, heh, we let him survive the attack to serve as our messenger."
"I am impressed" she replied, "now all we need to do is wait for him to come to us."
A/N: As always reviews are welcome and encouraged
