Well, here it is. The last chapter I have written so far. I am working furiously on the next one, but due to complications with a change in internet providers I don't know when I'll be able to post it. Please hang in there with me.

Three Years Earlier…

A single torch lit the near-empty Jailhouse portion of Lord Oroku's dungeon. The light of the flame danced and flickered across Casey's face as he reached for his prize.

Almost…

Nearly…

There! His fingers brushed the rusty nail and it rolled into his grasp. The lean, muscular man sat up grinning like a kid on his birthday. He examined the nail and his grin widened to Cheshire proportions.
It was perfect; long, slender, and only partially rusted. Casey Jones immediately set to work picking the lock that chained him to the wall by his ankle.
His 'plan' was interrupted a few seconds later when the door to the Jailhouse opened. Casey pulled the key out of the lock and hid it in his fist. He couldn't help the relief he felt when the guards brought in another prisoner. It meant that they weren't ready to make him stand trial yet. Then he saw the prisoner and felt mildly ashamed.

The kid fought them the whole way in. Casey found himself smiling at the young turtle, rooting for him. Of course, he wouldn't win, but it had been a long time since he'd seen anybody willing to outright fight Lord Oroku's guards. Heck, he didn't even do it anymore. Not much anyways…

"Let me go! You can't do this! Let go a' me! What have you done with him?"

None but the other prisoner paid the boy's enraged screams any mind. They finally got his leg pinned down to get the cuff latched around his ankle. Casey's blood boiled when one of them gave the kid a quick kick to the head to daze him while the guards hightailed it out of the cell. As soon as he was able, the turtle was up and grasping the bars of the cell.

"Hey! Get back here! I ain't through with you yet! Tell me what you sick punks did with him! If he's hurt all of you are DEAD! Do you hear me? DEAD!"

Casey resumed attempting to pick his lock. After about five minutes of shouting the turtle sat down with his back against the wall, arms folded across his torn and stained gray tunic. Casey looked up at him every now and then, but he rarely moved from the same position- always staring at the door. Actually, glaring would be a better word. It was getting creepy.
Finally, Casey had had enough of this angry creepy turtle kid.

"Hey." He didn't mean to snap it. This kid had been having a bad enough day- or maybe night- as it is. He didn't need Casey making worse.

The turtle kid turned his head and noticed Casey sitting there. "Yeah? What do you want?" he snapped right back, giving Casey a glare. Casey decided then and there that the kid wasn't worth his time. It wasn't like he was still screaming anyways.

"You know what, never mind." He turned away and resumed his lock-picking. 'Kid can be creepy if he wants to. His business.'

"No. What were you gonna say?" the kid was trying to pick a fight and Casey knew it. He almost chuckled.
'Wrong guy kid. I could kick your ass any day of the week.' He thought, but said nothing. He wasn't the guy the kid was angry with and he didn't have the kind of time to take the bait.
"Hey, I'm talkin' to you!" the kid was persistent. 'Fine.' He thought 'Might as well make some conversation.'

"I was just gonna say that you look a little young for a 'public enemy'."
He didn't. Casey'd seen seven year olds cut purses and get away with it. He'd also seen them get caught. But talking about their age to these kinds of kids usually got them talking about something... except that this kid wasn't talking.
Casey looked over his shoulder to check on The Kid. He had leaned his head up against the wall and was staring up at the ceiling. Okaaaay…

"I'm not a 'public enemy'. Whatever that means." He said so quietly that Casey almost missed it.

The dark-haired man returned to his lock. "Sure. Wrong place wrong time, right?" he asked. He'd heard the 'innocent' song and dance before. Hell, he'd sung it.

The Kid jumped up. "I'm tellin' ya I ain't done nothin'! Nothin' but what's right! What am I supposed to do when men come into our home, saying things about our father, sayin' they're going to take him away from us?" The Kid was yelling again. He had Casey's full attention. This story had begun to sound too familiar for his liking; it was unsettling.

"You fight. And you lose. Lose somethin' anyways." Casey replied quietly, thinking of his own Day of Hell.
Silence reigned in the jailhouse as both inmates disappeared into their thoughts.

Casey was brought out of his introspection by the thud of the main door's bolt. He swore under his breath and hid the nail again. He hadn't planned for a distraction. His little trip to la-la-land had taken up valuable time. Time he didn't have when every minute brought him closer to his trial.
The door opened and the kid was on his feet so fast that if Casey had blinked he would have missed it.

"Father!"

'Father'? He looked and sure enough, the guards were bringing another prisoner in. There was a distinct lack of familial resemblance, but Casey was fully aware that adoption was far more common than the census records would lead one to believe. The reunion didn't hold his attention for long, however. He was too busy glaring a hole through the head of the giant of a man who had just walked through the door.

John Hunter glanced at Casey and chuckled in amusement. "Well, well, well Arnie-boy. Look at you. What would your father say if he could see you now?" The Hun grinned cruelly as Casey swore and spat at him. "Your father was a good man, Arnold. He'd be rolling in his grave, don't ya think!" Hun's smile widened as Casey swore again.

There was a clang as the adjacent cell door closed, signaling that the new prisoner was secure. Hun nodded to the inmates. "Enjoy your accommodations. And Jones, I'm glad we could have this talk." He hit his palm with his fist, "I hope we can have another conversation real soon." Casey chose not to answer this, but if looks could kill…
The door to the prison slammed shut behind The Hun.

Casey glanced over to the other occupied cell. The kid was helping his father sit up against the wall. The rat may be covered in fur, but it was still easy to tell that John Hunter had done a number on him.

"Take it easy. I got ya. Let me help you." The kid was saying as he tore off a piece of his sleeve to wipe some of the blood from his father's fur.

Casey resumed lock-picking. It kept his hands busy and the memories away.

"My son. I am so sorry. This is my fault." The father said.

"Hey, I'm the one who had to jump in swinging." The kid tried to joke.

"No." his father protested "I knew this was coming. When Oroku acquired lordship over the mountain I should have sold the farm and taken all of you far away, out of his reach. But I was a stubborn fool; and now my sons must pay the price for my lack of judgment."

(three years later)

Raph looked down from his perch in an oak tree, scanning the forest for any signs of possible danger. The two children sat below him, taking a short rest by a stream. Satisfied that they had picked up no pursuers, he climbed down to fill his canteen.

"Mister Raphi-el?" Samuel whispered.

Raph smiled. "I'm just Raph kid. What do you need?" he asked as he knelt by the water.

"Oh. Okay. I was just wonderin'… how much further do we hafta go?" the little boy asked.

Dinah looked up from the water. "We can't go too far Mister Raph. Daddy won't be able to find us."

Raph closed his eyes. He had to tell them. It wasn't fair to keep them in the dark. He opened his eyes and Dinah was smiling at him. He swallowed. "Listen, kids, we need to talk about something." He said, curse his treacherous tongue. There was no way out now.

Samuel edged closer. "What is it? We've been tryin' real hard to be quiet like you showed us."

Raph smiled faintly, "Yeah. And you've been doing a great job too. This is something different. Do you remember when I told you that I was taking you someplace safe?" Both children nodded. "Do you know why?"

"You said that the mean men weren't going to get us again." Dinah piped up, proud of herself for knowing the answer.

Raph nodded. "Yeah. I'm trying to keep you safe from them. But… they're going to be looking for you. Those men don't like me and they're going to be very upset that I didn't let them take you away."

"Are you gonna get in trouble?" Dinah whispered, eyes wide.

Raph smiled reassuringly. "They'll have to catch me first. And I don't think I'm going to just let them catch me. That's another reason why they don't like me very much." Raph sighed. He needed to just get this over with. "Look. Those mean guys are going to be looking for you. And they're going to look in the places where they think you'll go. Your home is going to be the first place they look. If you go back there, they'll find you and they'll take you away again. I can't promise that I'll be able to stop them again." Raphael tried his best not to scare the children too badly, but he needed to make sure that they understood the danger they were in.

"We can't go home?" Samuel asked, lip beginning to tremble despite the brave face he attempted to put on.

"I wanna go home! I wanna see Debbie!" Dinah made no pretenses. Tears streaked down her cheeks, leaving wet trails in her fur as she sobbed.

Raphael looked down at his feet, feeling as low as the dirt beneath them. He'd just made a little girl cry. And why? Because he wouldn't let her go home to her family, her twin. Who knew how long it would be before she saw them again, if ever. Just like Don and Mike. Hesitantly, he reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. She surprised him by rocketing into his arms.

"Mister Raphi-el? Where are we gonna go?" Samuel asked. He looked so very lost as he asked that question; Raphael could feel his stomach churn.

"Somewhere safe. I promise you that. Somewhere safe."

(Three years earlier)

"I ain't leavin' you!" Raphael exclaimed, clinging to his father's wrist as tightly as he dared.

The man bent over the chain on his ankle snorted. "You don't have much choice kid."

Raph frowned at the man. "Don't call me 'kid'." he muttered, trying to pull his foot away. The man just grabbed his calf with a surprisingly tight grip and dodged the kick aimed for his head.

"Raphael!" Splinter admonished his son for lashing out at his liberator. "You must do this." He said softly.

"I ain't leavin' you here." Raph said, more desperately, but just as determined. Splinter shook his head.

"My son. Do not break an old rat's heart. I could not bear to see you suffer in this place."

Raph frowned. "But you expect me to just be able to leave? Like that? I can't Dad. I just can't. What are you still doing here? I thought you were leaving!" He turned and yelled at the man who was still picking the lock of his shackle.

"Finishing." The cuff fell with a muffled clatter.

Splinter spoke again. "Raphael. Your brothers will be waiting for you. You must not let them down."
"Yeah, but you-"

"I can look after myself, my son. Your brothers will need you. I asked you to protect each other. That request has not changed." Raph looked down at the floor.

"Okay." He said and stood. "But I'm coming back for you. Don't make me promise not to. I'm going to get you out of here Father."

Leaving his father in that cell was the hardest thing Raphael had ever had to do.

(Three years later)

It had been two days of light travel through the woods, however even that was exhausting to little legs. Raphael wasn't surprised when he heard a whistle through the trees that could have been a bird call. He answered back in kind. All clear.

"Mister Raph? Why're you whistling?" A curious Dinah asked.

He smiled at her. "I'm talking to my friends. Telling them it's safe to come out now!" he raised his voice as he finished, earning him confused looks from the children.

When a bush off to the left started rustling and shaking of its own accord the kids jumped behind Raphael.

"Picked up more strays, Raph?" A boy with a shaggy crop of brown hair emerged from the brush.

"Your compassion warms my heart." Raph deadpanned. "I didn't hear you complaining two years ago."

Ty just hmphed and muttered something about more mouths to feed.

"Hey! Nobody complained when Case and I dragged your sorry butt to camp. We always got room for tax orphans. You know that." Raph growled.

"Yeah yeah." Ty waved him off. "I know. Now let's go get these kids settled. Oh, and you're telling Mrs. Jones where you were 'cause I ain't answering to her."

Dinah tugged on Raphael's sleeve. "Mister Raph? Are we safe yet?"

"Almost kid."

Raph guided the kids through the brush into a large clearing. Their eyes grew wide at the sight of the camp set up within and the people milling about. There were several temporary-looking huts scattered through the clearing and several more tents set up between those. The smell of food cooking had been wafting through the trees for some time now and the source was a large cooking fire being tended to by three women and a few younger girls. In the background, people ranging in age, size, gender, and species tried to look busy as they waited for the food to be done.
One man attempted to snatch a biscuit that sat warming with its brothers near the glowing coals… only to have his hand slapped away with a spoon by an older looking woman.

"Here it is." He said. "You're safe here."

Tyler walked up behind him. "Yeah. They're safe. But where are you going to go when Casey's Ma finds out you're back? We've been looking for you for three days."
Raph winced and knelt down next to the kids. "Okay kids. You go with Tyler here. He's going to show you around, get you some food. I'm going to go make sure that there's nothing dangerous around anywhere within a five mile radius. Okay?"

"Raphael! Where on earth have you been!" the voice rang out through the clearing.

Tyler nudged Raph's side. "Too late."

I hope that answers some questions. I was going to wait to upload this, but I want to make sure that it gets uploaded at all.