A/N: (Alix) Watching Hannibal Lector while attempting to write a fanfiction twists the mind…

ET: You poor thing. You were twisted before this anyway, so no harm done.

Mikey: I wanna watch!

Raph: Why don't you be in the movie instead?

Alix: Anyway, the title of this chapter is after the song by LostProphets (I believe it's spelled as one word…).

ET: Read on my little puppets!

Chapter 10: Wake Up

Donatello exhaled a long breath, standing before his family's old lair. Even after the mousers destroyed it, remnants of his home remained – he knew this because the turtle often visited the spot when he needed space (and believe it or not, Don needed some more frequently than his brothers might think). But now, he looked at it in complete disarray.

Their table, the bunk beds, everything that once was broken or battered, was now dust and ash. The nostalgic aspect of this sacred place was invaluable to him, and walking into his desecrated home, the turtle felt his heart jump slightly. He leant on the ground and delicately let his hand float above it, too afraid to touch it.

It made him want to scream.

All his brothers had a sensitive spot: Leonardo's sense of justice, Raphael's pride, Mikey's… insistent need to prove himself one way or another. And in a twisted way, Donatello's was his past. Simply looking at the turtle would not disclose such information, but the wiser knew better.

His gadgets and devices thrust Don into the future, into unknown territory, into danger. But even he needed a home base, some kind of solace when faced with an enigma he could not overcome. Clenching his wavering hand into a fist, Don attempted not to overwhelm himself with meaningless grief. After all, the thought seemed ridiculous – being sensitive to physical manifestations of his memories, especially when the person who was sensitive was infatuated with the future. Hypocrisy. That's what it was.

The thought shook him slightly, as he recalled precisely why he was here. Raphael – he was here for Raphael.

He massaged his forehead slightly, rubbing away all previous thoughts. No time to think of how Karai destroyed his "special place." Where Karai went afterwards was important, and Don had to reassure himself of this several times before the turtle found the strength to stand up.

Sighing, he reached into his bag for a magnifying glass. The device was primitive but necessary. He let his fingers wrap around the cold plastic handle as he trudged from one side of the lair to the other. Surely Karai's ninja left something behind. In Mikey's movies, all too often the enemy left behind ripped fabric with a hair or a leaf or some traceable substance native only to his hideout.

Hah, of course, this was not the movies or some cartoon or even a silly story written by a pair of witless fangirls. This was reality. And in reality, clues did not come so easily—

"Thought I'd find you here!" laughed a startling voice, making Don jump backwards and drop his magnifying glass. As quickly as surprise took hold of him, instinct replaced it, and the turtle snatched his bo staff, preparing to attack. He stopped, however, seeing Mikey's naïve smile and waving hands motioning silently, "I didn't do anything, honest!" Twisting his face with annoyance and tapping his two-toed foot, Don raised an eyebrow expectantly.

When no answer came other than Mikey's sheepish grin, Don sighed, turned so that his back faced his brother, and then knelt to pick up his magnifying glass.

Obviously irritated by his usually-charismatic brother's response, Mikey snarled back, "What? You think I don't notice when no one's in the lair? I'm not the only one who can't sleep because of Raph, but that doesn't mean I go off and do my own thing! What happened to doing what Master Splinter always preaches? You know…sticking together, being a family?"

At the beginning of his brother's speech, Don had no intention of listening. He focused all of his energy rubbing the grime off his glass, but upon hearing the earnest tone in his voice, the purple-sashed turtle stood to face Mikey.

"Yeah, Raph is in trouble and I'm just as concerned as you, but what gives you the right? You think you can magically find where he is all by yourself? You think Leo can defeat an entire army of elite ninja by himself? What about me? Honestly! I tried to be a logical turtle for once and patiently wait for morning to come…But listening to you and Leo leave separately... Did you guys even stop to think, "Hey, maybe Mikey wants to join in the craziness too"?

"Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't do something so stupid, but you could've at least asked… and… and besides, it was Raph's reckless personality that got him into this mess in the first place, so why do you and Leo insist on borrowing his traits? And, ok, Master Splinter was still in the lair, but he's as quiet as a mouse… and it's just so eerily quiet… it's just not right!" Mikey panted; he had tried to say all that in one breath but soon he added almost in a whisper, "You guys shouldn't leave me alone. I'm not useless, you know"

Don stared at him dumbly. At first he assumed Mikey was scolding him for leaving by himself; that they should act as a team, but the real message his brother was sending was "I'm alone without you guys," and Don found that irritating.

"Um, ok… That was a mouthful," Donatello finally responded. The two brothers exchanged glances, and an awkward silence ensued. Don realized Mikey had a fear of being alone a long time ago but never addressed it and now was certainly not the time. Not with Raphael in serious danger and Leonardo on a streak of vengeance. In many ways he just wanted to slap sense into Mikey and tell him that sometimes, just sometimes, some things were more important than him. Though, he supposed, he was equally at fault for being rash, and it was not the time for meaningless arguments either. "Are you done?"

His brother exhaled, much like Don had done earlier, and smiled nervously, "Yeah."

"Heh, it's all right," he returned the shallow smile, not that it was real, and continued, "I was just looking for some clues. Sorry to get you all worked up. Karai must've left something that we—"

"Um actually…" Mikey interrupted, twiddling his thumbs, "I saw Karai on my way here."

"What?"

"Yeah, in the sewers. She was crying…"

"Michelangelo!" Don yelled, his face inches from his brother's. Nothing screamed contempt like angrily saying someone's full name. "What's wrong with you? You know what she did to Raph, right? You should have… I dunno…. done something!"

"Like what?"

"Uh…"

"Exactly," Mikey said flatly. Don would have let his jaw go slack if he had time. That one word was probably the wisest thing the turtle ever said. "I'm not going to attack her by myself as much as I'd like to. This is serious. Leo really likes that girl, and I dunno what you're doing. But you and Leo running to opposite corners of the Earth is not going to get Raph back, or help any of us. Show some sense."

Don blinked. He had just been told off by Mikey… Mikey? Wait, Mikey?

"Well… she's probably still there, and the both of us could probably get her to tell us where Raph is. Follow me." Mikey bounded off, back to his cheerful naïve self, his brother following aghast behind him.

Leonardo ran building to building, suddenly realizing that he had no idea where he was going. His anger fueled his legs to continue, but logic nagged at the back of his mind – he did not know where his brother was. Plain and simple.

Karai came from this direction, but other than that, the turtle had no clues at his disposal. If he came in close proximity, then Foot ninja would follow him. He'd know he was close, but it gave away his most important tool: stealth. Quite a dilemma he had.

Soon he approached a wharf along with the river lapping up against it. Leo sighed vehemently; perhaps his anger took him a little too far. This was only in the physical sense, of course. The turtle, throughout his entire desperate sprint away from Karai, never second-guessed his actions.

Raphael had been right.

Karai was an insidious snake. A wench… a creature stuck between a rock and hard place that had chosen the wrong path. It was about time the woman took responsibility for it, and Leo would ensure personally that she got exactly what she deserved. He snarled and grimaced with a sense of sickening justice.

First Raph. Then Karai…