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-chapter 04-

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There was a common area with couches and seating just outside the hallway that led to Mike's place. It was a room that needed to be passed through in order to reach the stairs that led down there. It was there, in that sitting room, where he waited.

The main lights were off in this sector but the night lights were on; small LEDs that rimmed the ceiling and gave off a gentle, bluish hue. There was only enough light to see the center of the halls, so that one could walk through without tripping over oneself. It still left a great deal of darkness and shadow along the walls and in the crevasses of the larger rooms.

He saw the shadow bulge slightly from one end of the room and stop, waiting. Even though Raphael hadn't made a sound, he knew it wasn't necessary to. Leo had sensed that a person was sitting here and he was now watching, trying to assess who that sitting person might be.

Raphael decided to answer his question. "Hey," he said.

The shadow bent slightly again. "I'm just here to say goodbye to Taylor, before I head back." As an afterthought, he added, "You should… stay here, with them. It would make her really happy, I think." The shadow then moved forwards, towards the stairwell.

"April told me your little secret."

Leo stopped in his tracks, letting that sink in. He could only be talking about one thing. "If this is going to be another speech about how controlling I am, then you can save it. I need to get back."

"I uh…" He cleared his throat. He suddenly didn't know what to say. He stood up, pacing and pulling at the ends of his mask. "I just…" Stalling again, he turned abruptly, blurting out, "Look, I'm sorry. I shouldn't a said all that stuff before. And I dunno… I'm sorry for a lotta stuff. For being stupid, I guess."

There was no sound in the small room. He knew Leo was still standing there but he still couldn't be seen. Raphael went on. "Yeah, so she told me what ya been up to, 'bout the Nighthawks… 'bout everything. Gotta admit, it was pretty hard to swallow. And uh, I had to think about a lotta shit. And I don't like thinkin' about shit." He gave a gruff laugh. "But alright. It was never right to blame ya over Sensei. I guess I always knew it wasn't really your fault. I been more pissed that you abandoned us after he died. Or I thought ya did."

"I'd never abandon you guys. Even if you hate me, I won't."

"I don't hate ya," Raph said, adding, "I never did."

Leo couldn't see his brother in the traditional sense but Raphael could still feel his eyes on him. Sensing him, listening; feeling the currents of air change around him, hyper-aware of every nuance. He knew he was being studied.

"I know. I know you didn't. It was my fault."

Leonardo took a few steps closer, finally revealing himself in the cool glow of the lights. "I um…" He stopped, shaking his head a little. "I didn't handle it so well, when we lost Sensei. You blamed me, but I blamed me too. I just kept thinking, that if I'd done something differently…" He paused again, looking for the right words. "I couldn't face you guys. I thought the same thing might happen again, that I'd screw up and you or Mike might pay for it. I'd already lost Donnie," he said, faltering a little at his brother's name. "I thought it might be better to just watch you from the shadows. And look at you, you've both been doing fine. You don't need me to lead you."

"Huh." Raph crossed his arms. "If ya think this is us doin' fine, ya ain't been watchin' close enough."

Leo took a deep breath. "Listen, I know having Taylor back makes it seem different, it makes me long for the old days too. I'm sorry to see her come back to this. Unfortunately she's going to have to accept that that time is done. We're not a team anymore, we're not like we were, anymore."

"Well," Raph said, shrugging, "we don't gotta be what we were. We can do somethin' – new, I guess. It's never gonna be like it was, but I dunno, it might work out."

Leo looked taken aback. "Are you saying…?"

Raphael laughed a little. "Yeah, I guess I am. I mean, ya never really stopped bein' leader anyways, right? You were still there all this time, callin' the shots, we just didn't know it." He smirked. "Made me look like a total asshole over it too. So thanks. Ya haven't lost the knack for that, apparently."

Leo cracked the slightest of smiles. "You always did make it too easy." He stiffened up again. "Are you sure about this?"

Raph nodded. "Yeah. Even bein' here, with Mikey, and Taylor – I realize now how stupid we all been." He shook his head, clearing it. "How stupid I been. We never shoulda separated like we did, Mikey knew it. It was something Sensei was always big on, and I think now I see why. It ain't just about fightin', ya know?"

"I know."

Silence fell between them again, before Raph said, "So… is that it, then? Are we cool?"

Leo smiled, much wider this time. "Yeah, I guess we are." He held out an arm, palm up. "Peace?"

Raphael gripped his forearm and pulled in for a half-hug. "Yeah, peace. Heh."

Before Raph could pull away though, Leo said low, "And Raph – thanks for the save."

Raphael didn't say anything, he just wrapped his arm around in a full hug, gripping his brother tight. So many years, washed away in that moment. It had been so close there, in that war-torn building, thinking that Leo was going to die right in front of them, or at any point on the frenzied dash back to the base. If April had confided Leo's secret to Raph at any other time, it might not have had the impact. But after carrying his brother back, drenched in his blood, even hearing his dying apology there on the floor of that place – it had brought it all home. And as for Leo, just the fact that his family had come for him when all hope was lost; thinking for so long that he'd been hated, forgotten. That alone was enough to show him what a fool he'd been all these years.

As they parted, Leo tilted his head back and raised his voice. "You guys can come out now, I think we're done."

Taylor and Mike exchanged a guilty look. "How did he know?" she asked.

"It's the blindness," Mike grumbled. "Makes his other senses all crazy."

Mike and Taylor revealed themselves, stepping from around the corner. "You little eavesdroppers," Raph said, annoyed. Looking around a bit uncomfortably, he suddenly stretched, yawning. "Welp, that's enough f'me. All this touchy-feely crap's knockin' me out."

Mike elbowed his sister. "Look at him try to save face," he muttered. They giggled. Mike said, "Did you guys mean it? Are we really getting the team back together?"

There was a pause, before Leo said, "Well, yeah. I guess we are. We'll have to go over the specifics tomorrow, I think, but -"

"Hell yeah!" Mike exclaimed. "Dudes, we gotta celebrate! We still got a few beers – I managed to hide a few from Raph – and I got this modded version of Call of Duty: Ultimate War 57, where the soldiers are switched, so instead of playing as the Foot, you're blowing them away. I get player one though, calling it." He took off down the hall. "C'mon!"

"I get first!" Taylor called out with a grin. She followed in behind Mike.

Leo sighed. "You know, I really do need to get back. If we're going to do this, I have to settle things with the 'hawks, tie up loose ends… I can't just up and move in this second…"

Raph clapped him on the back. "Aw c'mon. Just look at 'em. You can't deny 'em this."

Raphael was right, it wasn't hard to see how pleased Taylor was and Mike was acting downright giddy. With another sigh, Leo gave in, following Raph into the corridor below.

~.~

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A few hours later found the four huddled around Mike's small (though to Taylor it seemed quite large, and not at all second-hand) television, shouting and drinking and carrying on as if there had been no years between. Leo gave a pass on the games, citing that he had no way to sense virtual enemies, but followed that up with the admission that he'd be more than happy to relieve Mike of some of his beer. With drinks in hand, he and Raph spent a portion of the evening on the other side of Mike's crawlspace, plotting out how they would rebuild the lair. Leo was especially interested in where the new dojo would be, and spoke of the equipment he could bring along to help furnish it.

It was strange, and not a little awkward in some moments, but it felt good. It felt right. For the first time in he didn't know how long, Leonardo felt some peace. He didn't know it for sure, but it was a sentiment he was sharing with his brothers. What Raph had said to him rang true; being here now, planning raids with the hothead, listening to the laughter of his younger siblings carry in from the next room – it was all reinforcing the idea of exactly how wrong it had been for them to split up in the first place.

Back inside, the video game session continued at full swing. After a particularly intense match, Mike found himself beaten again. "I dunno how you're so good at this when you haven't even played the other… what's it been, like fifty games since?" Mike looked at his sister with disgust.

Taylor grinned back at him. "The fundamentals are the same. There are a few more buttons on these things than I remember," she said, holding up the large, clunky game controller, "but it's sort of funny how these games don't really seem to have changed all that much."

Mike snorted. "You should write for one of the underground game feeds, those guys would agree. All's I got is retro stuff anyways. But if I had the cash…" He whistled. "The best rigs are all VR now. Full-body suit, you step into this sensory dep tank – it's pretty killer. One day I'm gonna get one." He paused a second, reaching for his beverage and knocking it back. That lust for technology, it reminded him of how he'd been, at one time, on top of all the latest games. And there was one guy who had made it possible. His genius brother knew the ins and outs of any machine, often fixing or modifying Mike's existing systems, or on a few occasions, even building one from scratch. He also knew the right places to pirate the software and that pretty much never left Mike wanting. Mike remembered how funny he'd thought that was; the fact that Don was a ninja and a pirate the fodder for quite a few jokes.

Sitting here now, with their family nearly intact, it was hard not to miss him. Taking another swig, Michelangelo pushed the thoughts away and handed the controller off to Raphael. "Hey," he suddenly piped up, "we should totally call April! She's gonna hit the roof!"

"Mikey it's the middle of the night, she's sleepin'!" Raph said.

But it was too late. He'd already hit the intercom, sending a very loud, very alarming buzzing sound through April's quarters. Almost immediately, she was there. "Mike! What is it, what's the matter!?"

"April, you're never gonna believe this – Raph and Leo kissed and made up, and now we're all gonna be fighting together again. They're both here, with me and Tay. We're just hanging out! Can you believe it?"

There was silence on the other end. Then: "Really?"

"Yeah!"

More silence. Then: "That's really great. I'm sure I'm going to be very excited about it in the morning. When I'm awake. Goodnight, Mikey."

"'Night, beautiful." He made a smooching sound into the electronic box.

If an intercom could be shut off angrily, then this was the one. Mike knew there was a speech in his future about the importance of using these lines for emergency use only, but right now he didn't care. He looked around the room at them. If you'd asked him last week if he'd thought he'd ever see Raph and Leo together again in the same room, he would have thought that crazy enough. But to have his sister here too, after thirty long years of absence? It was almost too much to conceive. It made him think of Donatello again. If Taylor could come back, why not Donnie? After all, they'd never known what had happened to him for sure. Maybe it wasn't too crazy to think after all.

~.~

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The weeks passed and the four set to clearing out what would be their new home. With the help of a few others, they managed to get the wall down and slowly the beginnings of a real lair started to take shape.

Leo was absent a lot in those first weeks, moving between the Nighthawks' compound and the new lair, though he made time to join them on the eastern supply raid Raph and Mike had been slated to do. The three of them, with Taylor accompanying, made short work of the half a dozen or so trucks without too much incident, though they weren't without help. At one point during the operation, when they had been laying down the last of the charges, Taylor was sure she heard the now unmistakable sound of drones, when suddenly the sound vanished. She would've thought the noise imagined, if she hadn't caught the exchange between her older brothers. When Raphael mentioned to their leader that he thought he'd heard enemy air support, the look on his face said he already knew the answer; Leo's smug expression in return just drove it home. Taylor was glad to see that the Nighthawks were still friendly, and she guessed that it wouldn't be the last time their two teams encountered one another.

But as time went on and they settled in to the now much larger, tunneled-out space deep below the southern Manhattan compound, Leo, though he'd become increasingly more likely to be found on or near the base, still seemed to keep his distance somewhat from the others. When he wasn't meeting with April and her contacts or monitoring the feeds, he was training solo in their new (or rather, the space that would be) dojo. Taylor imagined that he was probably just having some trouble adjusting to the new arrangements. But she wondered if there wasn't something else bothering him.

One evening, after an especially long and brutal training session, Leonardo stepped into their new common/living area where the others were gathered and watching the feeds. Sweating and still panting slightly from the workout, he said, "I need you all in the dojo."

When the three of them filtered in, Leo was there waiting. Their training area was large enough, only slightly smaller than the one Taylor remembered from before. They'd managed to lay down mats and move various bits of smaller equipment in, weights and practice weapons mostly, though Raph had been able to secure a sandbag in one corner. Leo stood in the center of the room with his arms crossed. There was no doubt to any of them, that whatever he had to say next was going to be big. He didn't waste any time getting to the point.

"I think we should reinstate our search for Donatello."

Immediately Raphael turned away with a sour look. Before he could open his mouth, Leo added, "I know he's alive, somewhere."

"Oh, you know what?" Raph turned on him. "Enough with that bullshit. No you don't know. None of us does."

"I'm telling you, I can feel his chi. It never left the stream -"

"Ugh," Raphael grunted. "And enough with this chi crap. It don't mean nothin' against the real world. You been singin' this song from the beginning, but just 'cuz you feel like Donnie's alive, don't mean he is."

"I dunno," Mike cut in, "we didn't think we'd ever see Taylor again either."

Raphael spared a glance towards the girl who'd suddenly appeared back in their lives, seemingly from thin air. "Yeah well – if Donnie was alive all this time, then where the hell is he? Why wouldn't he come back?" He paced a few steps in a huff. "There's no way he'd abandon us, I'd never believe that. Not for a second."

"Maybe he's… in trouble. Maybe they got him locked up, somewhere," Mike offered.

"For thirty years?" Raph turned on him. "Gimme a break. You guys are kiddin' yourselves. He's gone. An' I made peace with that a long time ago. Maybe you should do the same."

He looked at his sister again and saw what his words had done. She didn't say anything, but her lip was quivering just the slightest. "M'sorry," he said, turning to leave. "But that's the way it is."

"Raph, wait."

Against his better judgment, Raphael turned around. Maybe it was the way Leo sounded, or the way Taylor had looked so crushed. Or maybe he too, was feeling the pang of regret at having lost their genius. Certainly their reconciliation and reminder that their team would forever be incomplete had opened that wound for him as well.

"I've got an idea," Leo told him.

Raphael just looked at him. Finally, he gave in. "Alright, I'll humor ya," Raph said. He added, grumbling, "Dunno what great idea ya got now, s'like ya forgot we already covered the whole damn city a million times."

Leo turned to his sister then. "Taylor. There was a time, I remember, that you used your telekinetic powers for something else. Instead of affecting objects, you made a vision appear to me. Do you remember?"

She nodded. She knew right away what he was talking about. An isolated incident and a strange one, to be sure. But they'd always known that her powers weren't always accurate and were often affected by outside elements, stress and emotional disturbances being the most common interferences. In the instance he was describing, she'd been lucky that such a thing was true. She'd been in trouble with the Foot, a fight that ended up with her bound and captured, ready to be shipped back to where, they never did find out. Tossed into the back of a van, she'd called out for her brothers, for Leo specifically, in her mind. At the time she hadn't known what possessed her to do it, other than raw fear she supposed. But somehow it had worked. Not only had Leo heard her cry, he'd gotten an image of where she was and they'd been able to come to the rescue. In addition, there had been other, smaller incidents where they used to joke that Taylor was using her mind powers on them, but nothing so strong that it could ever be confirmed. Except for that one occurrence. On that day they'd rescued her, she'd realized that her powers were capable of more.

"I think," Leo added, "that it can work between us because of our training. Sensei, in his wisdom, saw to train us extensively in the art of altered states of consciousness. None of us could master it quite like he could, but I'd say we're significantly more skilled than your average practitioner. I myself, have always been strong in walking the astral plane, which I think is why you and I had a connection that day."

"You want me to try with Donnie." She didn't sound very hopeful.

"It can't hurt."

Taylor took a deep breath and nodded. So it was up to her, then. After that day, she hadn't attempted to repeat the phenomenon, partly because the need for it hadn't come up, but partly because she was nervous in trying to tap into that power. Entering into someone's mind, creating a link between another's and her own was as scary as it was awesome, and she didn't want to risk something going wrong with one of her brothers on the receiving end.

So with little or no practice, Taylor didn't have much hope that it would work. Nevertheless, Leo was right – they weren't going to lose anything by trying. She asked them to follow her up to one of the base-owned rooftops, to a secluded area used by their people to monitor aerial attacks. There, under the awning of what looked from above to be nothing more than a large, rooftop garden, Taylor began to focus. She breathed in deep, letting the chill air sting her lungs and looked around the city as it was now, at the buildings she recognized, and at the ones she didn't. At the whole areas gone, obliterated by massive explosions and warfare, the subtle sounds of which carried up here even now as they stood high above. At the large, Times Square-sized video screens that flickered throughout the city, spouting the propaganda of the Foot; at the sheer presence of the Foot everywhere, in those symbols and billboards and crews of men building over the areas lost to war, trying to sweep away any and all signs of resistance. She stood there taking it all in, marveling at how different it all really was, the destruction and construction that seemed to be a constant in this dismal future.

Taylor concentrated on thoughts of Donatello, picturing him, pulling up memories of him. His appearance, his voice, his mannerisms and quirks; his lab and gear and the gadgets he often had in hand at any given time. She imagined him as he was in battle, swinging his weapon around with the ease of one who'd given himself over to the discipline of the bo staff, knocking back foes with the same amount of precision that they all shared. She could hear his laughter in her head, his excitement over one of his breakthroughs, his impatient-yet-amiable sigh when having to explain something that seemed so elementary to him.

She stood like that for nearly an hour, unmoving with her back to them, only her hair and clothes moving occasionally with the wind. Finally, Raphael was losing patience. Speaking low, he said, "Leo, this is stupid."

"Give her time, Raph. I know she can do this."

"It ain't right to put this kinda pressure on her. What if somethin' goes wrong?" He flicked his eyes over at Mike. Lowering his voice even more, he added, "Look, I didn't wanna say nothin' but she already almost brought a building down on top of us."

"Yeah, but she's also the only reason we got outta there," Mike said. "Give her a chance, dude."

Low voices or not, Taylor had picked up every word. But despite what they said or believed she could do, it wasn't going to happen. She was sure now, that she couldn't do it.

She couldn't do it.

She'd searched but there was nothing, not even a spark. Maybe she could try again another time, maybe she could practice… but she didn't think it would matter. She didn't know if it was her, or if Donatello really was gone, but Taylor was almost sure she couldn't reach him this way. And somehow she had to tell Leo and the others that.

She took another deep breath, reveling in the coolness of the night, the sharpness of the air invigorating to her, listening as her brothers continue to argue under their breaths. It was obvious that Taylor's return was what sparked the reformation of their clan. But she knew her presence alone wasn't enough to hold it together. It had sounded like there were more than enough reasons why they'd split in the first place, but she wondered at that, more specifically, she wondered when it had all started to break down. At first it had seemed like the death of their sensei was what sparked the decline, but now she wasn't so sure.

It was hard not to feel some guilt over it, since he'd gotten lost looking for her. But where she'd eventually returned to them, Donatello had not. And watching these last few weeks pass by, it had been difficult not to think of him. Having to commission outside help in the reconstruction of their lair had been bad enough, but every little thing it seemed like, from splicing some of the electrical lines to tightening up the leakier pipes, right down to figuring out the best and most efficient channels to have up as their main feed – all of these things and more, made the absence of their house engineer felt. She guessed that they all had to be feeling it, Leo most of all, hence his request of her now. But she couldn't do it. And without Donatello, she was beginning to worry what it would mean for them, that things might just head down the same path as before. Maybe it was naïve, to ever think that things could go back to the way they were.

The situation between Raph and Leo was heating up and the sound of it grated on her, a reminder of just how delicate their alliance was at the moment. This was her fault, she thought. If she could just focus, she could fix this. Leo thought Donnie was alive but Raph had a point, it wasn't very likely. Still, if she could get a clear picture of him, something – at least she could tell them something.

"So I guess your admission to follow orders only applies to the orders you agree with," she heard Leo say.

"What 'orders'?" Raph demanded. "If bein' one a your little soldiers means I gotta agree with every whim that crosses your skull, count me out."

Enough, she'd had enough. Listening to the two of them argue like this, knowing she'd let them down, knowing that she was only going to make it worse by having to tell them how doubtful she was that she'd ever get a fix on Donatello – it was enough. She shivered at the nip in the air and let her eyes fix on a nearby potted plant; forgotten perhaps by its owner, or a victim of the changing season, it was a thin, vined thing, creeping up along a wooden post stuck askew in the clay pot that served as its base. The leaves, what few were left, had withered to a muddy brown and as she watched, one more went with the wind.

"And what do you think it means to be part of a team?" Leo shot back. "Has living alone all these years made you forget how to show a little respect? If one of my men ever talked to me the way you do, he would've been facing exile."

Raphael laughed. "Oh that's great. Exile? Really, Leo?" He laughed some more. "You musta been happier than hell, all those little dogs lickin' at your boots." He sneered. "'Cept I ain't one a your men, I'm your brother. You seem to a forgot there's a difference."

It was enough. Taylor turned around, ready to burst, to yell or scream or to tell them off, but the second she looked at her brothers she found herself unable to make a sound.

"What I haven't forgotten," Leo said, "is how much of a pain my ass you were. If you want the truth, it was more pleasant fighting beside you when you didn't know I was there."

"Cute." Raph's tone made it clear he didn't like to be reminded of Leo's spying on him. "But I gotta say that feelin's mutual. Maybe you're getting senile, you forgot how things work around here. Well let me bring you up to speed. First off, I -"

Raphael never got the chance to finish. "Guys," Mike breathed. "Look!"

Her eyes, an alien shade of purple and one of her most defining features (and if not mistaken for colored lenses, the only obvious clue that she wasn't of this world) were wide and unblinking, focused but away, seeing something they could not. She began to sway a little, entranced. Astonishingly, a dark presence emanated from the air around her and seemed to swallow her form. She raised her arms, holding them in front of her like a dancer, the darkness swirling about her, trailing along her frame like smoke, the thin tendrils of it teasing around her almost playfully. A small moan slipped from between her lips, a cold sound that ran itself along the spine.

Raphael made a step towards her before Leo's arm went out, stopping him. "Wait," Leo said.

As they watched, she began to levitate slightly into the air. The black essence surrounding her intensified, picking up speed and twisting around her in a violent storm, whipping her hair and clothing around her body. Mike looked at Leo unsure, but Leo's focus was solely on his sister. He could not visualize the incredible sight before them, but he could feel the raw power radiating from her, could sense her in the stream, searching, and knew that she was breaching contact with their lost brother.

All at once her body jerked and a pulse wave shot out from her, too light to do damage, but enough to knock the others back a step or two. Raphael started making for her again, before Leo stopped him a second time.

"Raph, wait!" Leo drew his sword and held it outwards, blocking his brother's path; not altogether threateningly, but enough to show he meant business.

"Leo she's in trouble, we gotta do somethin' before she demolishes the whole place -"

"Hold, brother." Leo, keeping his weapon steady, turned his head slightly in Raphael's direction. "Trust me."

A second wave shot from her, knocking over some of the nearby plants and junk scattered around, in addition to knocking both Raphael and Michelangelo off of their feet. They recovered quickly, the blast stronger this time but again, not enough to be dangerous. However, as the two of them stood back up, the environment around them began to shiver and shake, reminding both Mike and Raph again of the incident in the building where they'd found Leo.

"I dunno Leo – maybe Raph's got a point!" Mike said, ducking as various bits of dirt and debris began to rain down from the awning over their heads. Incredibly, a few smaller items on the ground actually started to levitate and hover in the air, waiting for what, Mike didn't want to know.

"Hold your ground!" Leo shouted.

They waited. The rumbling continued for several minutes, intensifying at a slow pace. Just as Raph and Mike were readying their next wave of protests, the small earthquake stopped. Still hovering in air, Taylor looked right at them and spoke.

"Donnie," she gasped. "He's alive!"

The wisps of smoke faded and her body sank to the ground abruptly, as did all of the hovering items around them. Mike got to her first, catching her before she fell too hard. Through the clamor of lumber and pottery crashing down around them, he asked her if she was alright. She ignored the question.

"He's alive, I saw him… I saw a – a lab… computers and… instruments, machines…"

"Where?" Leo pressed her.

"I don't know, he seemed… I think he's – I think he's hurt, or sick..."

She was sounding a little delirious, not a big surprise after what they'd just witnessed. Shaking her gently, Leo tried one more time. "Taylor, think now. Where is Donatello?"

She didn't say anything at first, but got a strange look. "A building," she said finally. "I saw a building – it was big. It had –" She paused, pressing a hand to her temple. Suddenly she jumped up, looking around the rooftop wildly, ignoring their warnings not to stray out too far. "There!" she shouted, pointing. "That building, the one with the large dragon at the top!"

The brothers looked at her in shock. "W-what? What did I say?" she asked.

"That's the Shredder's compound," Leo said. "Donnie's with the Foot."

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