Th r e s h o l d

Donatello

"Leo, you awake?" Mikey's voice is soft. Timid almost and I have to strain to hear him.

It takes Leo a while to answer. When he finally does, he sounds drained. Not exhausted anymore, just so very, very drained. I know how that feels, "Yeah, Mikey, I'm awake…"

"Don's awake too."

"Donnie?"

"Yep." I smile even though I know he can't see.

"Right…" Leo clears his throat and I can picture him going into leader mode, "So is everyone okay?"

Me and Mikey answer in the positive, and even Raph consents to a muttered reply, "Leo are ya really expecting an answer for that one?"

Leonardo doesn't answer, but I have a feeling he's glaring daggers. Or maybe not. We're all too tired. From the gas or the fight. I don't know which. Maybe a bit of both,

"So…" Mikey pipes up, "Any ideas?"

Mikey never gets an answer though because at that moment the van jerks to a stop. I'm tense. Waiting.

Waiting.

Waiting.

When the doors are flung open, I feel blinded. I can smell the stench of something being released into the air. Something almost familiar. A gas. I try not to breath but it's already much too late.

*0*

Leonardo

I open my eyes slowly, blinking at the darkness that once again surrounds me.

I can see the flickering of a candle. The shadows bounce off the ceiling. I'm staring up at the ceiling. It's grungy, like I'd expect a dirty motel room to look. Not that I've seen much of dirty motel rooms.

My hands are bound together though. With rope. Which is a novelty. Too used to Utrom technology by now.

I squint, struggling to my feet and trying to ignore the fact that this gas has knocked me for a loop every time thus far. As soon as I'm up, my eyes are drawn to the candle, sitting flickering in the middle of the room. Flickering and flickering.

Who's watching the candle?

Who's watching me?

I scan the room.

A girl. There. In the very corner. She's standing just outside the circle of light, her hands clasped together. I can't make out much. She's wearing rags, and she's pale, but other than that, I can't say.

Was she the one guarding me? Keeping me captive?

The answer comes swiftly. No.

Her eyes are kept down and when she starts to move towards me, I feel no malice. No evil intent. Of course. I could be wrong. I've been wrong before.

So I wait for her to attack.

But she just picks up the candle, not even flinching as the hot wax spills onto her hands, gestures to me, and walks away.

So I'm just supposed to follow her?

She seems to think I will.

Kind of unnerving. It doesn't faze me, but there is almost a sense of long-past routines, worked into the walls, into the floor. This place all but reeks of it. Reeks of a lot of other things too, but I'm not going into that.

I run my hands over the walls. The room is small, but if I missed anything I'll pick it up now.

There's nothing. No other doors. No windows. And the walls are sticky, The kind of sticky you get on the kitchen walls, when you've cooked without an extraction fan one too many times. We only got one of those a few years ago, when Donnie finally salvaged the parts he needed. So I know all about that fatty, sticky feeling.

But why is it here?

But I follow her anyway, because there's no where else to go. Escape is not an option until I've located my brothers. So we walk down the damp, miff corridor that smells like rancid fish.

After a few minutes, she stops.

It takes me a second too long to notice the men who have joined us. I curse the drugs in my system, feeling rough hands grab me and push me along, forcing me into a cell of some kind. It's hazy. Surreal. Maybe this is just one huge messed up dream, because this is just fantastic. No. Not really. The drugs haven't pushed me quite that far yet. I wonder about Mikey. About Don and Raph.

I fall to my knees as they shoved me into the darkness. The doors bang shut and there is the sound of padlocks and bolts being drawn.

"Brilliant…" I don't know why I felt the need to say that aloud. I just did. Venting. Turns out it was helpful after all.

"Leo?"

I am scary-relieved to hear Raph's voice. It means that at least one of my brothers is here, safe where I can watch them and stop any crazy stints from either parties.

Also. It's so damn good not to be here alone.

"Raph? Where are you?"

I hear him shift and I slowly get to my feet, making my way over to where the sound came from. My foot connects with something and I loose my balance, falling onto him.

"Graceful" Raph heaves me off him. I still blame the drugs for this.

"Urgh. Sorry."

"S'fine." He mutters, shifting into an upright position.

I settle down against the wall where he had been sitting. "So any idea where we are?"

I hear Raph sigh, "No. And before ya ask I don't know where Mikey and Don are either."

I feel my heart race with concern for my younger brothers. I pray they have been put in a cell like us. Nothing worse. Because I have enough faith in humanity's abilities to know the kind of sick things they can come up with. I flex my wrists, testing the ropes, but they held firm.

My eyes are slowly getting use to the pressing darkness in the room and I can make out the shape of my brother slumped against the wall as I scan the room. I reach out to get his attention laying my hand on his shoulder. My hand makes contact with a wet, sticky substance and I frown into the darkness. I move so that I am in front of my brother, staring at him in the poor light.

"Raph…what happened?"

He chuckles softly, "Whatcha think? I didn't go peacefully."

I shake my head, "Are you very hurt?"

"Nah, nothin' major."

I nod, gritting my teeth, biting my tongue, and returned to my spot against the wall.

One day, something's going to go wrong. And all those injuries we've got will seem like nothing. And Raph just doesn't seem to understand. Maybe he does, and just can't stop. Idiot. Don't know what I would do if I ever lost him.

So what did you think?