And again, huge thanks to my reviewers. It's so cool to have that many reviewers after so little time. You all rock, rock, rock my world and keep me going day after day. The hugest Thank You goes, once again, to Simone. Or Shimonu. ;3 You get it. Your reviews are epic. I really appreciate the effort. That's so super cool, and improving my fic, too. So yeah. You all rock.
And I'm glad that you all like the way I present Bishop. I have to fight the urge to just have him jump out of the window and die with every word I write, but it seems it's worth the effort. *blushes*
Leo: I'm for letting him die.
Me: Back into the casket, slave!

Our siblings push buttons that cast us in roles
we felt sure we had let go of long ago -
the baby, the peacekeeper, the caretaker, the avoider...
It doesn't seem to matter how much time has elapsed
or how far we've traveled.
[Jane Mersky Leder]

Silent Chambers - Chapter 4

Time: Unknown, Location: Unknown, In a box, Underground?

At first he thinks he is imagining things.

Maybe it is the enclosed space. The inability to move properly to keep warm. Maybe it's the cold stone underneath him, or the fact that they are not as warm-blooded as they would like to be. Maybe it's the loss of sleep or the realization setting in that until the others find them, they are truly busted.

Only when the air starts to appear in thin, white clouds with every exhaling breath, he knows for sure that it really is getting colder in the stone cube.

Well, this is definitely a change worth telling, he thinks not without a smirk. It can't have been more than half an hour since Leo finally fell asleep, but already the red-clad turtle is bored out of his mind. He has too much energy that needs to be released. Normally, they would've had training by now; he would maybe use his punching bag if he were at home. Do something, anything, instead of just laying here forced to stay still.

"Yo, Leo" he whispers and, when no reaction comes whatsoever, a little louder, "Leo! Wake up!"

With a flinch that Raphael more feels than actually sees Leo's eyes fly open. He instantly tries to sit up, only to hit his head on the too-low ceiling. Raph fights back a chuckle, but he can't keep the smirk out of his voice. "Watch your head, fearless."

With an angry growl, Leonardo sinks back to the ground. "Yeah, thanks for the warning" he mutters bitterly. Then he looks around. "Hey, is it getting lighter in here?" He blinks a few times when the first colors come back to him from the darkness. The white light is too bright, stinging in his eyes and momentarily blinding him.

"Yeah, an' colder" Raph adds. He tries to shield his eyes with his left hand and accidentally hits his brother with his elbow. "Sorry." The smirk is back on his face. Too bad Leo can see it now.

"Yeah, as if you really-"

The leader's voice is cut off when a dark, deep booming fills the small stone room. Leo can now see that the walls are actually painted a really dark red. The parts where Raphael's sai had hit the stone earlier are scratched; it looks like the work of a wild animal.

Then the strange sound is replaced by a voice, speaking with enough bass to send vibrations through their body. The voice is echoing by the walls and magnified a hundred times, or so it seems.

"And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: And God divided the light from the darkness."

The words are followed by a moment of silence until finally, unnerved, the two teenagers open their eyes and look around.

"What a creepy color", Raph comments the walls. His face splits into a wide grin. "I like it."

"You know what I like?" Leonardo grins as well, but for a completely different reason. "I like that once we get out of here, you owe me twenty dollars." He chuckles when he sees Raphael's grimace. "Well, it's your own fault really. It was so obvious that Bishop's God complex would get the better of him rather sooner than later."

"I bet he quoted Frankenstein before he quoted da Bible a thousand times already. We jus' weren't there ta notice." Raphael's tone is annoyed, but not angry. He actually enjoys spending a little brother-time - if it weren't for the enclosed space, the light hunger settling in his stomach, and the fact that he still needs to pee.

A tremor runs through him, and small goosebumps appear on his arms. "Hey, is it still gettin' colder?"

Instead of an answer, his brother exhales slowly, watching the white fog until it disappears over his head. "Yeah, I think so" he finally says. "I wonder what is going on. It should be daylight outside already. So instead of the cold, it should be warmer by now, should it not?"

Raphael narrows his eyes. "Ya think we are outside?" He scrunches his beak; for he has to admit that he didn't really think about their location in the last few hours. He thought of quite a few interesting ways to kill the madman Bishop, and he thought of toilets. Now it occurs to him that maybe he should have paid more attention to their surroundings.

"I am not sure." Leo sounds pretty certain despite his words, though. "I thought I smelled earth before. Well, now all I smell is ice, so I can't really tell."

Raphael faintly remembers that he smelled earth before as well. "Yeah, I think ya're right." He huffs, and it looks a bit as if he were smoking because of the fog coming out of his mouth. "This is crazy", he mutters and reaches out to touch the strangely red walls. They are cold enough to feel like a burn, and he quickly retreats. "You think Bishop wants ta turn us into turtle ice cubes?"

10:11 a.m., State: Unknown, Bishop's Office

The government agent's face is twisted with barely contained fury. God complex? The thought makes him ground his teeth. Those animals took bets on my behaviour? Well, let's see if you are prepared for this.

He slides down a small switch, lower and lower. With the camera above the turtles' heads, he can see Leonardo's teeth chatter slightly, and a diabolic smile shows on his face. His dark eyes, unblocked by dark sunglasses for a change, glint evilly. "Turtle ice cubes indeed", he whispers and chuckles as the switch comes down, down...

And stops.

Suddenly frozen, as if he himself had been hit with a freeze ray, agent John Bishop stares blankly at the screen in front of him. Then, ever so slowly, he lets go of the switch. It jumps back up to its former position. A small window appears on the screen, telling him that the temperature in his containment unit is rising again and asking for further commands.

Bishop closes the small window without so much as a second glance at it.

"As if I were to destroy your precious cells like that" he whispers to himself. In the cube, the two turtles simultaneously rub their hands, see each other's movement and laugh. Again, the agent grounds his teeth. "But you were counting on that, weren't you? You wanted me to act rashly." He chuckles, and it is a dark and bitter sound. "Not with me."

His eyes flicker towards the big clock on his wall. Quarter past ten. He smiles, turning his anger into delight. "Let's see how much fun you have once I am through with you", he tells the turtles, even though they can't hear them. "Once you are hungry and cold. Once your muscles are stiff and ache with every movement. Once you pissed into your very own prison. Let's see how human you are then."

His laughter echoes through the room, and the guards in front of the office doors suddenly find themselves praying that they will never make him mad at them.

10:15, NYC, Secret Lair

"What've ya got?"

Donatello used to find his baby brother's Californian accent kind of cute. Over the last ten minutes, he changed his opinion on that.

"Their shell cell signals can be traced back to a rooftop near April's", he answers and sighs. "After then, they just disappear. I don't have anything about that area. No cameras I can hack into. No news about a fight, or anything." He face palms for a moment before looking at his computer again. "I mean, we know that Bishop has them, but there is nothing about his men so far either. And they are not very normal-looking, now are they?" His fingers press some keys on his keyboard. "Maybe I can try and hack into the government's computers, but it will take time..."

"We don't have time, bro", Michelangelo insists. "Don't you, like, have a tracker installed into Raphie's biceps or something?"

It is meant as a joke, and the youngest turtle is surprised to see his brother's cheeks turn an odd reddish-green. "Wait. You installed a tracker in Raphael's biceps?" He bursts out laughing. "That's too good to be true!" Then, suddenly suspicious, he looks at his own arms. "I don't have one, though, do I?"

Donatello shakes his head. "I could try and use the thing, but I never actually tested it. It could, I don't know, shock him or something once activated."

"I believe that whatever Bishop is planning to do will be worse than a small electro shock." Splinter's voice is gravely and deep. Donatello has to glance only once at his father's worried face before his fingers fly over the keyboard again.

Suddenly tracking his brother's arm seems like a very good idea to him.