A/N: Thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed thus far. I'm glad you're enjoying the story. Your reviews are truly inspirational and they help keep me writing.
Disclaimer: see chapter one.
The shell cell lay lifeless on the floor by Donatello's head. He couldn't get the last message out of his mind. They had eight hours of air left. Eight hours of air, eight hours to live. After that, hypoxia would begin to set in. And after that...
Donatello shook his head. He would not think about it. Leonardo and Michelangelo would find them in time. He knew they would. Raphael groaned in pain, bringing Donatello out of his thoughts. He reached over and touched his ill-tempered brother's arm. He resisted the urge to ask if he was okay. It would be a pointless question. Of course Raphael wasn't okay. He was slowly freezing to death, on top of suffering from blood lose.
"How are you holding up?" Donatello asked.
Raphael put a hand over his eyes. "I'm gettin' dizzy. And, I think I'm losin' feelin' in my legs."
Donatello swallowed hard. He reached down and touched Raphael's left thigh. He didn't move. In the dark, it was difficult to see the damage, but Donatello knew the signs of frost bite just by how the skin felt. The container was silent again, until Raphael's deep, labored breathing broke the quiet.
"Don't quit on me, Raph," Donatello whispered. "You can't leave me in here alone."
"Where are we even supposed to begin?" Michelangelo asked, waving his flashlight around the silent mountain.
Leonardo looked at the clock on his shell cell. It had only been ten minutes since the last time he checked, however, it felt like an hour. The countdown he had programmed into the device did little to calm his frayed nerves. He wished the seconds counted up, not down. Sensing his brother's distress, Michelangelo walked over to him and took the shell cell.
"Maybe it's better if I held on to this," he noted.
Leonardo nodded in agreement. "Good idea," he said. He looked around, shining the light of the flashlight around the snow covered area. "I guess we start where we first lost sight of Raph and Don."
He led the way, Michelangelo following like his second shadow. After a while, they split up and started looking for clues. Sadly, the only thing they found were the footprints of the search team that had been in the area earlier. Growling in frustration, Leonardo shone the flashlight around. Michelangelo did the same, passing the light over a cluster of trees. He froze.
"Leo, I found something."
He hurried over to the trees with Leonardo right behind him. He ran up to the closet tree and placed his hand against the trunk. His gloved fingers slid over marks that he knew to be made by Raphael's sais. Leonardo surveyed the surrounding area. The light hit a few scattered pieces of wood. He bent down and picked them up. Slightly buried in the snow was a piece of purple cloth, no doubt from Donatello's bo staff.
"This is where they were taken," Leonardo announced, getting to his feet.
"And we know they didn't go down without a fight," Michelangelo added.
The brothers shone the lights around. Off in the distance Michelangelo noticed what looked like drag marks. He tapped Leonardo's arm and headed in the direction of the marks. The drag marks were accompanied by various sets of footprints. Leonardo bent down to examine the footprints more closely.
"Dude, I feel like we're in a CSI episode," Michelangelo commented.
Leonardo smiled. "Yeah, me too," he agreed. "These prints are wider than the prints from the search team."
"So, creepy kidnapper dude had help?" Michelangelo asked.
"Looks like it," Leonardo answered, getting to his feet. He followed the marks with his flashlight. "The drag marks go off further up the mountain. Let's go."
The brothers followed the tracks up the mountain side. Little did they know, their movements were being tracked. Their tracker sat in a dark room and gazed at a number of computer screens. Some showed the activity of O'Neil and Jones, others showed the actions of Leonardo and Michelangelo, and the rest displayed the fading Raphael and Donatello. Brotherly love was so very touching. Though he couldn't hear what the turtles said, the figure could read their lips. He watched the screen that displayed Leonardo and Michelangelo.
"That's right, Turtles. Follow me into my trap."
The quiet of the room was broken when a door opened. Five tall robed men walked into the room. The man didn't turn around to acknowledge their arrival. He simply kept watching the monitors with an evil glint in his eyes.
"Is everything ready?" he asked.
"Yes, master," the robed figures answered in unison.
"Good. Let Leonardo and Michelangelo get closer. When they do..." The man chuckled evilly. "The fun will really begin."
Sorry that this chapter was short, the next one will be longer.
Reviews are welcome, flames are not. Let me know whether or not it's worth continuing.
