As someone who wants to become a writer I feel like my worst fear would be my computer crashing... Guess what happened? Yep, crashed. And now it's currently deep in the underground workings known as the tech department where computers and hard drives go to be put to rest. A moment of silence for my downed laptop...

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OKAY! On with it!

Chapter 3: Burning Souls

The sewers were silent save for leaks that dripped and water that surged through the city that never sleeps. Down in the tunnels where usually the sounds of running feet and talking voices would be heard, was nothing. No sounds to echo, no feet to splash the water, no brothers to scare away the rodents feasting on whatever they could find in the murky water and at the edges of every tunnel. It was calm, silent in ways it should never be.

Michelangelo was sitting on the couch propped up on both sides with pillows and covered in a salve Donatello had made. The worst of his burns were on the bottoms of his feet. He hadn't dared to look at the pads of his feet, too scared to see the damage even though Donatello had assured it wasn't as bad as it could have been. They both pulsed in tune to his heartbeat and stung horribly. In fact, his entire body hurt and stung like thousands of bees had attacked and left him for dead. He felt hot, grouchy, sour, too warm for his skin. Parts of his green skin felt like they were flaking off in patches but Donatello had assured him that it wasn't so. He'd said that with the salve it should plaster the skin down, hold its shape to his real skin so it wouldn't scar too horribly. If Michelangelo was feeling anything like himself he would have cracked a joke about how "chicks dig the scars, man" but he was too tired, too burnt out, it took too much energy to talk.

Across the Lair the front door was opened loudly - which was the only way to open it. Master Splinter had ordered Donatello make it so after Raphael had snuck out for the tenth time back when they were pre-teens and Raphael still wanted to go out exploring by himself.

Raphael threw his trench coat down beside the coat rack, toed off his sneakers, untied the sweatpants and took the hem of his sweatshirt to pull over his head. Normally it was a family rule to place all Topside gear neatly on the rack or in the chest beside it, but today Raphael didn't care. His hands hurt, his chest hurt. Fuck all if he didn't still smell of smoke and fire and his flesh didn't reek. He'd only managed a quick shower before running out to grab more supplies for Donatello who had run out after fixing up Michelangelo.

Still holding three large bags on one arm, Raphael made his way at a brisk pace over to Donatello's lab. He walked in to the same sight as when he'd left; Leonardo laid on the makeshift cot covered with wet bandages on his plastron and Donatello, eyes creased and bent over his computer. Leonardo's shell glistened where Donatello had obviously applied the special glue to help his shell knit back together.

Raphael shoved the bags at his smart brother, "Here."

"Did you steal it?" The not-quite firm and breathy voice of his eldest brother asked from the cot. He looked awful covered in bandages with his skin missing in places and clearly burnt in others. Donatello had said second degree burns on the backs of his legs and arms with definite third degree burns on the bottoms of his feet. His shell was cracked in several places and he was missing a small piece near the bottom. It wasn't noticeable, that was what Michelangelo had assured in a surprisingly calm voice when they'd been helped back to the Lair. Michelangelo had kissed his older brother's forehead and promised it wasn't easy to see. That was the fear as turtles - loosing a part of their shell. They weren't actual turtles so the shells were less of a home but all the same they were a part of who they were and to loose that part would be horrible, terrible. It was all of their biggest fear right after loosing a brother.

It scared Raphael to see his brother so clearly in pain with his body burned so horribly in some places that it made Raphael cringe at the sight. He was scared for his brother and fright made him angry. Angry with himself for showing such a rudimentary weakness. Angry that they'd been put into a situation like that at all. Angry that the firefighters had taken their sweet ol' time to get there. Just so fucking angry!

"It don't matter," he snapped. In truth, it didn't really matter if he'd stolen the supplies. They'd saved people tonight. People who would just as quickly run to the news with stories about masked turtles saving them from burning buildings. What was some stolen burn ointment and medicine for their troubles?"

"Raph," Leonardo sighed shakily. He thought they were over this, over having to explain to his hotheaded brother that stealing was wrong and it didn't matter if they needed it they weren't above anybody else. Leonardo cleared his throat, swallowed thickly and said, "We can't steal, it's not right. We scavenge, we search, but we don't steal."

Donatello put his hand out without looking away from what he was doing silently asking for the supplies to get started on the worst of Leonardo's burns. Raphael handed him two of the three bags then walked across the room towards the refrigerator Donatello kept for his experiments that were temperature sensitive. He carefully deposited the warm ice packs into the freezer to freeze. He grunted at his brother in annoyance, a hard line across his mouth. Leonardo groaned inwardly putting one arm down on the bedding to help hoist himself into a sitting position. He wasn't about to have this conversation laying down.

"I gave you my... money. To buy medicine."

"Yeah Leo, I know. The money you made carving those stupid trinkets to sell in April's store." He put away the last of the ice packs then crunched the bag with his foot and kicked it up into the trash can. He turned back to Leonardo when he heard a sharp hiss and groan. Donatello had stood and forced their older brother back onto his plastron not wanting to upset his fragile shell or the delicate wet towels and bandages that were covering his body.

"They're not stupid," Leonardo huffed, a little bit of his teenaged self seeping through after he settled back down on the bed trying not to groan as the bedding touching his burned body. Raphael knew that Leonardo worked hard carving bits of wood into creatures and small life-like animals. At first he'd hidden his talent of carving almost anything with such intricate precision and design. He'd learned it in the jungles of Central America during his pilgrimage a few years ago. April had stumbled upon his stash of hidden trinkets by accident. It took a while but after figuring out that with the money he made off of the wooden pieces they wouldn't have to steal, Leonardo had finally let April sell them in her store.

"I gave you money," he said in a stronger voice, eyes pulled into an angry grimace.

Raphael came to stand in front of Leonardo and gruffly folded his arms. "Well for your information I didn't fucking-"

"Language Raphael."

Raphael fought hard to keep his voice even, to keep his anger at bay. He was tired, his body felt raw and his insides felt like fire had slid down his throat. But he tried desperately to keep his anger squelched.

"Whateva, I didn't steal it," he said finally, he scratched at his nose and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand then crossed them again. "I payed for it with actual money. I went in to the damn store and the guy stared at me 'cause I look like a freaking giant turtle even wit' all da shit on.

Leonardo opened his mouth to snap back but stopped as he shivered violently, his eyes closing and teeth clicking together rapidly. His shoulders went rigid and eyes creased in pain. He groaned brokenly with his mouth falling open inadvertently. His entire body was stiff and tense making him whimper. Donatello whipped around from where he was mixing his concoction of creams and salves to put on Leonardo's burns. He looked Leonardo up and down then stepped over to him quickly with his hands out to help lower him back to the bed. He gently ran his hands up and down his shell and the creases of his neck that weren't burned whispering nothings into his ear softly trying to get Leonardo to untense his body. He needed to stay calm. Raphael untangled his arms and jumped forward "Leo - I-"

"Shh Leo, it's okay. I know it hurts," Donatello brought out his soothing voice, the one he used when speaking to children or frightened people that caught glimpses of them topside. Without looking away Donatello reached over, grabbed a syringe from the metal plate next to the cot and flicked it once with his other hand. Leonardo whimpered again like a hurt animal then tensed further. The sides of his eyes were creased greenish-white in pain. It took all of Raphael's will power not to jut his arms out to his older brother and told him tightly to his plastron like he used to do when they were kids, to protect him, to make the pain go away. The anger that once sloshed through his veins was decimated in a flash, concern took it's place in the pit of his stomach.

"Little sting, that's it. It'll all be better in a second," Donatello said softly right beside Leonardo as he inserted the syringe full of clear liquid into the blue turtles arm. The liquid disappeared and with it so did the tension in Leonardo's body. He sagged down to the cot with one last groan before the whitened sides of his eyes smoothed out and he fell into unconsciousness.

Donatello sighed leaning against his lab desk after throwing away the used syringe. He wiped his forehead, bit his lip then turned to grab the salve he'd already made. He took two handfuls of the cream and rubbed his hands together.

"Raph, I think you should leave." He commentated over his shoulder starting to remove the bandages on Leonardo's feet and legs to begin covering them with the cream.

"I can help you in-"

"Go sit with Mikey, I can handle this," Donatello didn't take his eyes off of the slumbering brother but the tone in his voice begged for no argument. Raphael nodded and left the room without another word.

The Lair smelled distinctly of smoke when Raphael entered into the main living room where Michelangelo was laid on the couch under a blanket, hands and feet covered snuggly with bandages to prevent infection. The orange turtle looked comfortable and Raphael debated about waking him up and helping him get to his room or just leaving him there but then Michelangelo shifted, his head moved to the side and he mumbled.

Nightmare. Raphael knew the signs, could see them starting.

Taking a deep breath and taking inventory of his own body, Raphael made the executive decision that he didn't have to strength or the patience to lug his brother up the stairs to his room. Grabbing another blanket, Raphael carefully moved his brother aside and slid in next to him being mindful of both of their bumps and bruises and burns. He settled down, shifted and jerked until he was comfortable then he lowered his brother back over so his head was laid on his shoulder. Then Raphael closed his heavy, gritty eyes more than ready for a good nights sleep.

"Your shoulder isn't the most comfortable place in the world," Michelangelo mumbled near his ear.

"Sleep shell-for-brains," Raphael grouched back with his eyes still closed. His hands were started to go numb now that he wasn't constantly moving or using them. They still hurt like hell but the pain was lessened.

"How are you feeling?" Michelangelo asked lightly.

Raphael let out a breath, "I'm golden"

They were both silent for a few minutes and Raphael dared to hope his brother had fallen asleep. But then Michelangelo smirked with his eyes closed, "Well actually you're green."

"Mikey!"

"Goodnight PonyBoy."

It was hours later that a chill seeped through the lair chilling it down to unnatural temperatures. Shadows moved and air swished colliding with each other and repelling at the same time.

Someone screamed. It was bloody and broken and horrible. Leonardo jerked away immediately on alert and ready to fight. His body hurt, he was sore, grit scratched his eyes and his feet felt like a blister had grown over the bottoms of both but the leader was ready to defend his brothers lives. He was ready to kick the ass of whoever had broken into their home. But it was silent. Donatello slept with his neck crooked at an uncomfortable angle at his desk, droll dripped from the side of his mouth while he snored softly. The lights were dimmed in his lab and the outside in the living area was dark. He could hear his other brothers light snores clearly in the quietness along with the sounds of rushing water over his head and the drops from a leaky pipe somewhere out in the distance.

Everything seemed fine, all was just as it should be but... Something was off. A bad feeling rooted itself in the pit of Leonardo's stomach uncomfortably. His eyes whipped around trying to take everything in, to find what wasn't right. He looked around Donatello's lab still flat on his plastron. The computer blinked a red and blue light every two seconds along with one of his many gadgets that pulsed green every five seconds lighting up the room. It was so quiet with only the sounds of distant water and breathing.

Leonardo held his breath listening. Something creaked inside the lab causing him to jerk violently. He cried out as he shoulder stretched tugging at his burned flesh. Stars danced in his eyes while he fought tears from sliding down his face. Pain, it was almost like he was stuck under that ceiling again being burned. It hurt, it licked and prodded now not only from his shoulder but his shell. His cracked shell. Leonardo cried silently.

"Can you hear me?" A voice asked. He tried to focus on the voice, it sounded small - like a child, a little girl. Was there a girl in here, in the lab? Was that who screamed?

Leonardo forced his eyes to open, to look around the room to see who had spoken but he saw no one. Just darkness and shadows and the blinking lights of Donatello's computer.

"I'm looking for my dad. Have you seen him?"

Again the voice whispered, louder this time. A flash of green lit up the corner of the room only for a second catching Leonardo's eye. A blue light flashed, then red. That's when he saw her. Only for a second there was someone, someone small with short hair standing in the corner. Then the light went away and it was dark but Leonardo had seen it, the person. Someone was in the Lair... There was a human in the Lair! His sluggish brain put the pieces together slower than his body. He was already half up on his knees by the time his mouth could jumble out coherent words. "Wha-who... How-how did you get in..."

"Have you seen..." The voice was just a whisper in his ear, barely there. A green light flashed fast lighting up the corner. The person - the girl he could see her clearer now. She was small, hair a mess and wearing a long nightgown. Her face was dark though, covered in something black with glazed over eyes and a mouth half open. "... my dad."

The girl put her dark hand out, her eyes big and cloudy and took a step forward closer to Leonardo before the green light cut out again.

Leonardo screamed moving as fast as he could, his body spazzing. "Stay back!"

"Leo?" Someone asked from his side but Leonardo kept his wide eyes staring at the darkened corner.

"Stay back!" He yelled again grabbing for the swords that weren't on his back.

Suddenly the lights flickered on. Leonardo had to shield his eyes from the assault. He kept his hands over his eyes, heart racing and breath too fast as someone talked in his ear grabbing for his hands.

"What's wrong? What happened? Leo? Leo come on it's me, it's me, Donnie."

"Donnie?" Leonardo finally let his hand be guided away from his face and body be helped back to his throbbing plastron.

"Wha' happened!?" Raphael was suddenly at the door with Michelangelo at his side. Neither were bleary eyed even though they'd just been awoken from deep sleep.

"Someone in the Lair, heard them," his heart was racing, his chest moving fast from breathing so hard, Leonardo couldn't get his words out. Instead he pointed over to the now lightened corner. Raphael immediately went on alert, Michelangelo grabbed at the nearest thing - one of Donatello's practice Bo's - and held it close. Donatello wiped his head around looking over his lab for anything.

"Where?" Michelangelo squeaked feeling every tired muscle and sore body part. He was still too tired to fight.

"There's someone here?" Raphael tightened his hands into fists and growled.

Donatello looked at his oldest brother seeing his eyes glued to the corner and chest heaving.

"Leo, what did you hear exactly? Where did you see these people?"

Slowly Leonardo pointed at the corner. "There was someone over there. A girl. I saw her."

Raphael looked over at Donatello's worried eyes. Donatello flashed his eyes over to Leonardo categorizing him. Raphael walked slowly over to the empty corner looking around at the surrounding walls and crevices. He touched the walls with the backs of his hands and frowned when nothing looked out of the ordinary. "There's nuttin' here, Leo."

"No, no, no," I defiantly saw someone," Leonardo insisted shaking his head. Raphael looked up at the ceiling then got on his knees. Michelangelo came over to Leonardo to sit down next to him.

It took more than fifteen minutes for Raphael to call the clear that there wasn't anyone in the Lair. He'd searched around in all the rooms and the doors while Donatello looked back at the security footage to ensure nothing had been tripped before they reconvened back in the lab. By that time Leonardo had calmed himself and was regretting letting his imagination get the better of him. That was all it was, just a dream or his brain running away with itself.

"I checked the cameras," Donatello said. "And nothing was tripped."

"The doors are all secure,"Raphael nodded.

Leonardo looked down at the ground. Tired, sore, and angry with himself. "I'm sorry, must've been a dream or something."

Donatello smiled at his brother. "It's fine bro, it's been a long night."

"Hella long night," Raphael mumbled.

"Now I'm not saying I'm scared or anything," Michelangelo started from where he was covered in a blanket in Donatello's chair. "But if I was I would say that we should maybe, probably all sleep in here. Together... I mean I'm not scared but Leo! Leo's scared and we should, you know help him through this terrifying time by all sleeping in the same room." Leonardo cocked an eye ridge at his brother while Raphael crossed his arms and Donatello shook his head smirking.

"Fine, let's go get the blankets." Donatello started to walk away. "Don't move Leo." He called when Leonardo made the move to get up to help. Leonardo scowled at him pointedly before laying back down facing the door, his cheek pressed against the bedding. Donatello nodded once then turned and left with Raphael on his heels.

Michelangelo scooted his rolling chair closer to his brother until he could move his arm over to touch his shell. The glistening on the back of Leonardo's shell had dulled somewhat and the bandages around his arms feet and hands looked clean, not coppery with blood that had bled through which was a good sign in Michelangelo's mind. He started to hum a soft tune sitting back in the chair waiting for his brothers to get back. The melody was surprisingly comforting, soothing really. Leonardo's eyes grew heavy as his breath evened out. The grit that scratched at his eyes stung less as Michelangelo's humming voice filled his ears.

"Night Mike," Leonardo mumbled before his eyes closed to the sweet tune of his brother's humming voice.

If anyone would like to toss ideas around and brainstorm with either this story or any other then feel free to PM me (... And yes, that is a confusing way to say that I've run into that annoying thing called writers block) :)