Nice cliffie, huh? Well, if you liked that, you'll love the one at the end of this chapter! Lol. ;) This one's a lot longer than the last two, and I plan on posting the next chapter soon after. Thanks for all the reviews! I'm having a lot of fun with this story (Too much fun, probably, lol). Hope you're enjoying it too!

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Chapter 3

If One of Us Goes Down

Part I

Leo woke to the sounds of screaming. His blood ran cold before he even realized why: it was his brothers who were screaming. His eyes snapped open to reveal his brothers chained next to each other across the room from him. There was an unfamiliar, suited man between them, taunting them and twirling Raph's sai in his hand. They saw his eyes open and faced him with tortured expressions. The man turned to him with an evil smile. His brothers began shouting, called his name and yelling at the man.

"Leo!"

"Leave him alone!"

"Don't touch him!"

Leo stared at the man who now grinned at him like a piece of meat. He realized that he felt very sore, looked down and was surprised to see bruises and abrasions covering his entire body. His eyes snapped towards his brothers, terrified that they too had been tortured. Their bodies were free of injuries, so some of his tension relieved itself, but judging by their faces he could tell that they had been tortured in an all-together different way. Leo could tell that it was going to be a long night. How the shell did such a good day get so bad so quickly?

"My name is Colonel William Stryker, of the EPF. I am a military scientist studying you and your family. Your brothers and I have been acquainted for quite some time now; it's good of you to join the party. We were anxious that you weren't going to show up," Stryker jibed cruelly. Leo looked again at his brothers, noting the haunted looks and tears in their eyes and the bloody bo and nunchucks at their feet along with the sai in Stryker's hand. He narrowed his eyes as he leveled his now furious stare at Stryker.

"You beat me with their own weapons in front of them?!" Leo shouted in righteous anger when he put it together. He was a little puzzled and very disturbed by Stryker's pleased little smile, quickly stifled, at his reaction. He's studying us, our dynamic, my leadership and brother statuses, our loyalty to each other and reaction to threats to each other. He's interested in me because I'm the leader and he wants to see what will break our bonds, or how far we're willing to go to maintain them. But he doesn't want me to know what he's doing. He wants my honest, natural reaction. He told them what he's doing just to torture them more. This man is dangerous, more dangerous to us than Shredder or even Bishop will ever be. This man will kill us in front of each other just to see how much it messes us up, maybe even just for fun...I have got to get my brothers out of here, Leo thought, terrified.

"Yes, I did. We had lots of fun, didn't we?" He mocked Leo's brothers brightly. They just stared at Leo, trying to communicate everything they were feeling and thinking with their eyes alone. Leo stared back, getting from Donny that he had figured out Stryker's plan and was working desperately to figure out a way to get them out of there, but was frustrated at his inability to do so, that he was terrified for Leo and their helplessness, that he loved him and would give anything for some brainwave that could get them out of here.

Mikey was crying because his kind heart couldn't stand to see his big brother beaten with his own weapons and he felt guilty and helpless on top of it and was trying to let Leo know that he was sorry and loved him and would follow him anywhere if only he could make a plan and let him know what to do.

Raph's blazing look spoke wonders about the anger and fear he felt towards this Stryker guy and everything he'd done to Leo and could do to him in the future and how horrible he felt that he couldn't run over to Leo and tear his chains to shreds, fighting their enemies back to back with him and getting their entire family out of there, that it wasn't him taking the beating instead, that he had ever said anything bad against Leo, that he was his best friend, and that it was killing him, like a fire burning at his insides, to watch Leo tortured with them all helpless like this, and that he loved him and would do anything to stop this.

Leo got all this and strengthened his resolve to survive this beating stoically, to not betray how horribly the torture might hurt his body, spirit, and mind, and to get them all out of this, somehow. With this mindset he braced himself for the torture, but he wasn't prepared for the pain, pain like nothing he had ever experienced, pain that helped him finally understand why some people begged to be put out of their misery.

Stryker stabbed Leo with Raph's sai in his leg, twisting the prongs a bit and sending white-hot surges of agony throughout his nerves and assaulting his brain. Leo arched away from the sai, wondering how it could possibly hurt this much. He'd been stabbed before, by a sai a time or two even, but it had never been anything like this. He just barely contained the scream, turning it into a strangled yelp in the back of his throat, as Stryker ripped the blades out. Leo could hear his brothers screaming at Stryker to stop, Raph loudest by far, but was much more focused on the throbbing in his leg and the sai in Stryker's hand, panting and watching Stryker as he drew back for another stab. Stryker pierced Leo's shoulder this time, then his side, careful not to hit anything vital, his brothers going crazy with terror, certain that this was the end, and finally slashing at his face, cutting Leo's mask and leaving a long diagonal scratch on from one temple, across the bridge of his nose, his cheek, and down his jaw that would surely scar. Leo was lucky not to have lost an eye. His bloodstained mask slipped to the floor, leaving his face exposed and bleeding. He growled, knowing that he had to be strong for his brothers, but he was terrified.

Stryker laughed, threw the bloody sai aside, pulled a remote out of his pocket, and pushed a button and Leo's world exploded in pain as he was electrocuted through his chains. Pain that blocked out all rational though, every sense ablaze, all other feelings completely eclipsed by this white-hot agony. He tried to hold it in, clamping his mouth shut, his teeth tightly clenched together as waves of pain assaulted him. He had never experienced pain like this, didn't know that one physically could feel this much pain, as if it was amplified a hundred times over. It just got worse and a grunt of exertion and pain escaped him, followed by deeper, more agonized grunts and moans. Then Stryker pounded on the button again and the scream tore from his throat, echoing horribly around the room and assaulting his brothers' ears like physical pain. They shouted encouragement to him, threats, insults and begs to Stryker, but Leo couldn't hear anything but the crackle of the electricity, his own screams, and Stryker's laughter as the torture went on and on.

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Finally Stryker depressed the button a little more gently and the agony ceased enough for Leo's brother's words to get through. They were encouraging him, telling him how much they loved him, how proud of him they were, how they believed in him, how he was the strongest person they knew, the strongest, best person in the world in fact, the best brother and leader anyone could and has ever had, and how he could do this. They were howling with fury, angry, horrified tears escaped their screwed up eyes. He opened his eyes and smiled at them, taking their words in, relishing in the sound of their voices, the strength of their conviction, and their bravery, basking in their shared love. His brothers needed him to be strong, so he forced the pain away, finally able to focus enough to use the techniques his master taught him to get beyond the pain.

"Ok Stryker, what was that all about?" He said quietly, mastering the pain and functioning beyond it. "Why are you torturing us?" Stryker cocked his head to one side and gave a quirky little half-smile/half-frown.

"Interesting…Us? I'm torturing you Leonardo—" Stryker began, ceasing the flow of electricity completely in his curiosity. Leo hid the relief, willing his muscles not to give him away with their tremoring, his skin slick with sweat…It was like he could still feel it…he pushed it down.

"Don't insult me. I can see what you're doing, using their weapons, making them watch. What do you want Stryker? How can I make all of this stop and get my family out of here?" Leo asked, testing to see if the direct approach would get them anywhere with this new unknown, too exhausted really to be able to think of anything else, but desperate to keep this mad-man talking.

"Are you telling me you aren't even fazed?" Stryker asked, delighted, puzzled, and exasperated all at the same time. "As soon as you hear their voices you're reminded that they're here, that they need you, and you pull yourself together for them, because you feel compelled to, you have to, right? This is amazing. I'm not going to break you with physical pain, am I? You just beat the most physically painful torture available to the U.S. government with mind, or maybe just heart, over matter. So…the obvious solution, if I want to break you, is to break one of your brothers." Leo tried to control his expression, tried not to give anything away that would encourage this unacceptable outcome.

"No," Leo said, trying to sound like a true leader, calm, rational, coolheaded and callous, "they're strong and brave. Torture won't break them." Leo said firmly, doing everything he could to protect them. He realized his mistake the moment Stryker smiled.

"So I guess I'll just have to break them some other way," he sneered, pulling out a gun, cocking it, and pointing it at Mikey. Leo reacted without thinking, without feeling how every fiber of his physical being protested, numb to everything but what was going on in front of him. He saw everything in slow motion, focused, saw as Stryker's finger tightened on the trigger, saw as Mikey drew back against the wall in fear, as Raph and Donny's eyes widened into horrified expressions, as they strained against their chains, trying to stop what they knew was about to happen, crying out in negation.

"Mikey no!" Donny cried out in terror, straining wildly against his bounds, desperate tears already falling as he realized his brother and best friend was about to be shot before his eyes.

"MIKEY!!!" Raph screamed for his brother, twisting and pulling the chains taut, turning this way and that, straining towards his brother, desperate and wild with his utter helplessness to stop it.

"NOOO!!!" Leo pulled against his chains with a burst of adrenalin and the force of brotherly love. His shoulders and ankles popped out of their sockets and the skin was ripped off of his hands and feet as he wrenched them violently out of his rough metal shackles and leapt in between Stryker and his brothers. The gun went off.

The bullet caught Leo full in the chest, between the top of his plastron and his collarbone, directly over his heart. Blood exploded out of the wound, a small whimper of a sound escaped from Leo's lips, and he fell backwards violently against his brothers and slid down the wall to the floor at their feet. He looked down at the wound and the blood spreading out from it as if surprised to see it there before sluggishly flopping his head back to look up at his brothers. Their faces held a mix of expressions that he had hoped never to see: horror, fear, shock, grief and finally despair as they saw a trickle of blood leak out of his mouth, his eyes already glazing over, his chest a mess of blood.

"NOOO!!!" Donny screamed in horror and shock.

"Leo, NO!!!" Raph screamed in negation.

"LEO!!!" Mikey screamed in terror.

I never meant for this to happen…I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I never meant to abandon you. I love you. Leo said all of this with his eyes, his agonized expression, his small, sad smile. A tear trickled from the corner of his eye and down his cheek, dripping sparkling to the floor.

"Love you…" He managed to get out with his last gasping breath. It was not followed by another. His world went dark, his eyes rolled back in his head and closed, and his face paled and went completely slack. He rested on the floor with his shoulder and head propped up by the wall, his face empty, his body limp. He lay, clearly dead, on the floor at his brother's feet.

"No Leo! Don't leave us! LEO!!!" Don screamed, begging in terror and disbelief.

"Leo Nooo! Please Leo! NOOO!!!" Raph screamed in grief and denial.

"Leo no, wake up! Leo wake up! LEO!!!" Mikey begged, screaming for his big brother and unable to believe that he had just given his life for him, tears streaming down his face now screwed up in horror and grief.

His brothers cried, screamed, wailed. They struggled madly against their chains, twisting, pulling, and straining to tear through the cuffs, trying to escape as Leo had, willing to break their wrists and ankles if they had to, desperate to give him CPR, to do something, anything to try to save him, to undo what had just happened right in front of them.

Tears poured down Mikey's face as, even through his shock, he realized that Leo had just taken a bullet for him, just died for him. He couldn't handle all the grief, the horror of what had just happened, what was still happening and would never go away, plus the guilt and shock. It was me. Leo died for me. No. No. No. No. No. This can't be happening. Please Leo, please wake up. Please open your eyes and wink at me, let me know this is all part of the plan, that it's all going to be ok, like it always is. You're ok, right? Please big brother, you've got to be! Wake up! Please Leo, please get up! Please!!! But Leo didn't, and Mikey couldn't do anything, he couldn't even give voice to his pain as his face twisted and his mouth formed a silent scream that failed to get past the lump in his throat as he strained towards the limp form of his brother lying at his feet.

Donny cried out in dismay, begged Stryker to save Leo, or let them go and let them save him, please, please! This can't be happening. Leo can't be dead. Not like that, just like that, so quickly, so alive one minute and then…and then…no, he CAN'T be. Please Leo, please breathe, please get up. Please Leo, please God, please Leo, please God, please please please let him be ok, let him get up. He's my brother, the best brother, the best person in the whole world! He doesn't deserve this. He's too good! We need him! Please don't take him away from me, God, please, PLEASE! No, Leo, no…Donny sobbed, his face rigged in shock and horror; it felt frozen. Time felt frozen. Like there was nothing besides this moment, this reality: Leo's slack face, the small trickle of blood tracing a delicate red line down his pale cheek, his head lolled limply to the side, his chest still.

Raph stared at his brother, his most vital, his most passionate and brave, his most alive brother, his leader, protector, teacher, and guide, his best friend, now lying dead on the floor at his feet. He could feel it building in his chest, the horror, the pain, the grief, so palpable, so real. He could feel himself hyperventilating, could hear his brothers sobbing beside him, hear Stryker laughing at Leo's brave and selfless act, saying how stupid he was, could hear his own heartbeat drumming in his temple, and the heartbeat of everyone in that room except for Leo, whose was still and silent, a ringing silence in his ears, but all he could see was Leo, pale, still, bloodstained…dead. Leo…Leo! No, please no. Please, please please no…Leo get up, we need you! You can't just leave us like this! Don't leave us alone here! Don't leave ME alone here!!! Please, please Leo! LEO!!! Raph felt the emotions tearing him apart from the inside, felt the pressure building, felt the screaming sob as it forced its way from his tight chest through his throat and out of his mouth, long and loud and terrible in the pain it conveyed, felt the tears pouring down his face as he sobbed violently, heard them dripping onto Leo's still form below him, heard his own howling wails, the sobs, but all he saw was Leo, lying dead on the floor, completely unresponsive to his brothers' screaming, their tears dripping down on him.

Leo would never abandon them like this, never ignore their pain like this, if he were alive. He was the most responsive brother, completely sensitive to their needs, kind, giving, loving.

He wouldn't let this go on, unless he was dead…because he is dead…

Leo's dead.

They sobbed.

All they could do was sob.

Their brother…their leader…their friend and protector…was dead…

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(Don't kill me…just keep reading. I'm posting the next part right away (in a day or two) because it would be really evil not too! Please leave a review for this chapter, because it was a long time in the making and is probably my favorite of everything I've ever written. I hope those of you who don't like character death don't give up on the story, and I really hope you're enjoying it!)

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