Wow! Thank you for all the kind reviews in the last chapter. :) I'm glad you liked it. Some of you thought that Leo would be the one to guide or soothe Mikey not the other way around. I'm glad I surprised you. ;D Anyway we have to return to the others as well. Let's see what they're up to…

As always enjoy the chapter and leave a review. Those always make me smile.

Chapter 10 : Lead

"Casey this is insane! None of them are answering. It's been already two hours since we've heard from Donnie." April lowered her phone from her ear when the line disconnected on its own for already the 20th time in the last hour.

She and Casey had been waiting in the warm house and occasionally checking up on Leo for about an hour when April started to believe Donatello and Raphael ditched them and continued the search without the needed rest. She wasn't angry like her appearance lead on. She knew the turtles long enough to know they would do anything for each other. A simple cold would never stop any of the brothers from reuniting with their sibling. The redhead was being extremely worried more than anything else. She knew the risk of staying in the freezing cold for too long. She clearly remembered Donnie frustrating about the same thing just before they split up in search of Mikey. He pointed out to everyone that the longer Mikey stayed exposed to the coldness the more chance there was that he might pass out from it and go into a state similar to hibernation. April was shocked to hear that. She had been so used to the boys' looks she didn't even think that their bodies would react to climate changes differently than a human. It made the situation that more serious.

When April called Don for the first time after a long hour at the farmhouse she felt her heartbeats picking up speed with each empty ring. She carefully listened to every beeping sound muttering and hoping to hear an answer. 'Come on. Come on.' But after a long while no one picked up and the line canceled on its own. This happened each time she tried calling any of the two turtles. Casey tried, too, but after a few disappointing tries gave up while April desperately rung call after call.

"Look, Red, maybe their phone batteries just died. That's always an option… Right now let's just focus on our part of the mission, " Casey tried to calm April down just enough to get her to breathe normally. He closed the van door after stepping inside and waited for April to crawl into the passenger seat next to him. They've been getting ready to drive off to the other side of the woods where they could continue the search. It was a hundred percent more productive than sitting on their asses waiting for Don and Raph to return against all odds.

They had packed an extra flashlight just in case, two warm blankets and a bunch of heat packs April magically found in one of the drawers. They wanted to be well prepared for the worst and they could use the heat packs for themselves if the need for it came. They had stuffed all the needed things into two small backpacks.

"If their batteries died, the calls wouldn't even connect in the first place," April scowled at the other teen as she sat on the seat and slammed the door shut behind her. Her gaze was piercing and if it was possible Casey was sure steam would be coming out of her ears.

"Hey, woah, calm down," Casey leaned away from her threatening look. "I'm just as worried as you but there nothing we can do about that. I'm sure the guys know how to take care of themselves. Let's just start searching for Mike, okay? It's already five in the morning. The day's gonna start in a few hours."

"Yeah… Sorry, I'm just…" she couldn't even find a word to describe the swirl of emotions that was making her stomach turn and her head hurt. She leaned her head back into the seat and gave an exaggerated exhale trying to calm herself down.

"Yeah… You're not alone," Casey said, understanding her without the need of words.

He turned the key behind the steering wheel and woke up the old engine. It chocked a few times before it started running properly and Casey slowly lead the van on the cart track that lead from the farmhouse property to the road. They drove in silence for about a minute before Casey broke it with a cuss.

"Crap!"

"What?" April jumped in her seat. She looked at the other unsure of what to expect.

"The tank's almost empty. We need to stop at a gas station but we'll have to turn around to get to it."

April exhaled. She had thought things couldn't get any worse. This was going to take away precious time. They had already stayed at the farm for too long. She gave another sigh as Casey started slowing down so he could turn around. That was when she remembered a small gas station not far from where they were. She had driven past it with her dad a couple of times when she was younger. It was well hidden between the trees and hard to spot when driving past it.

"Don't turn! There should be small station on the way. We can stop there. We just need to keep our eyes peeled, it's hard to notice."

"Sounds good." Casey stepped on the gas pedal again and speed the van through the thick forest. He drove above the limit but slow enough to keep an eye out for a station. After five long suffocating minutes April spotted the small construction.

"There!" she pointed out like a small excited child. Casey only stole a glance at where she pointed before forcefully turning and driving the van off the road and onto the station.

"Small" was the right word April used to describe the old building and the two fuel dispensers it had. It was amazing that the station hadn't been closed up yet. Who would even stop somewhere like this.

Casey and April were both surprised to see a truck parked by the other dispenser this late at night – early in the morning.

The two teens jumped out of their seats and wasted no time.

"You fill the tank. I'll go pay up," April said grabbing her dad's wallet out of the glove compartment before dashing into the store.

Casey didn't need to hear her say it twice. He already opened the door to the gas tank, unscrewed the cap and grabbed at the old gas nozzle beside him.

April skipped into the tiny store to find the small place crowded with three more men. A middle age cash register that was leaning on the counter with his arm and sleepily watched the other two, probably hunters, bicker about rifles and ammo. The two stood in front of the cashier clearly upset about something. One was a tall large man with broad shoulders and giant meaty arms and hair growing from everywhere. He looked like a stereotypical lumberjack while the other old man looked like a stereotypical gold miner. Skinny old frame with a wrinkly face and a long white beard hanging from it.

They stood facing each other and arguing about something April didn't even bother to listen to. She grabbed a bag of pizza flavored bread rolls and a bottle of water from one of the shelves on the way to the cash-register. She first waited in line behind the two but soon realized they were far from buying anything. She squeezed herself between them and tossed the bag of bread rolls onto the counter which brought the cashier from his half sleeping state. He looked at April as if he hadn't noticed her walk into the store a few second prior.

"Oh, mornin'," the man straightened himself up behind the counter as April settled down the bottle next to the bag. "What're you doing at a gas station this early in the day, kiddo?" He asked as he picked up the bag of bread rolls to charge. He didn't even have a scanner and simply typed the numbers into the cash-register.

"Just driving through with a friend," April shrugged off the question. She would have been more polite if she weren't in such a hurry. She tapped her fingers on the counter and tried to block out the two grumbling men behind her.

"Hmm…" the cashier hummed as he typed in the water price before lifting his head at her. "Is that all?"

"Gas, too."

"Oh, yeah! 'Scuse me. I've been listening to these two argue about rifle ammo and green fairies for already ten minutes," he explained as he grabbed a credit card April offered.

"No biggie," April dismissed it without a thought as she waited to punch in the card numbers.

"It was an elf, Francis!" the old wrinkly geezer yelled over April and at the cashier.

"I thought you said it was a turtle, dad?" The large man interrupted the cashier who already opened his mouth to say something. The large man's deep voice sounded very annoyed and tired. April wasn't paying attention and purposely blocked out their loud voices.

"It was a turtle elf!"

"Whatever that green monster was it wasn't real! You're just making an excuse for losing the ammo!"

"I didn't lose it and I'm not making anything up! I just realized we didn't have any while you were snoring in that tent like a giant pig!"

"Why you-"

The cashier finally gave April the bill and the small girl quickly grabbed the items from the counter and squeezed herself between the yelling pair. She sighed in relief as she walked outside the cramped store. The air inside was suffocating.

Casey was already waiting in the van ready to drive off. She opened the side door and climbed in. She dumped the bag and bottle onto the floor between her legs before closing the door.

"What took you so long, Red?" Casey asked as he already switched the gear and started to drive off.

"Some weirdos were talking about a green monster in the woods or something like that…" April answered her mind still full of worry for her friends. Casey suddenly stepped on the break which caused both of then to fall forward.

"What the heck, Jones!?" April yelled at Casey as he looked at her with furrowed brows.

"Green monster…" Casey repeated her words waiting for her to realize on her own. April's eyes widened as she realized what bothered the other. Green monster… Turtle fairies… How was it possible she overlooked something so obvious!

Without a need to say anything both of the teens jumped out the van and ran back into the store. They left the van doors open and the engine running. April stepped to the old bearded man and grabbed him by the shoulder without any thought of personal boundaries.

"You saw a turtle fairy in the woods? Where exactly?" she tried not to sound demanding. She wasn't about to slow down now that she found the first lead since the beginning of the search. If the two were talking about Mikey – which they surely were – they maybe knew where to find him. Or at least they could tell where they saw him.

All three of the men were quiet and looked at the small redhead and the boy who stood behind her. The old geezer looked April up and down with narrowed eyes as if deciding what to think of her.

"It was a turtle elf. And what are ya? Some kind a nosy reporter?" he questioned at the end.

"Uhm, no…" April answered unsure of what to make out from that.

"Then why'd ya care?"

April didn't know how to reply. She couldn't tell they're looking for their lost baby brother who also happens to be a mutant turtle. To her surprise Casey pushed past her and started speaking instead of her.

"We're looking for a friend who got lost. We had a party back at the house and got a lil drunk and the guy just straight out walked into the forest. We've been looking for him ever since. He's wearing this stupid turtle costume that we found in the basement earlier in the night," he explained with no lies detected in his voice. April was speechless. Casey really knew how to act if he wanted to.

The old man looked at him suspiciously as if contemplating his words. "Aren't you-" he started to speak but was cut off by the giant lumberjack.

"Why don't you contact your parents or the authority?"

"Yeah, I rather stay alive, thank you," Casey deadpanned as if telling their currently made up parents was a death sentence. The man hummed in thought then spoke up again.

"Whatever you decide, kid."

"So where have you seen him?" April asked again as impatient as ever. She didn't want to waste any more time.

The old geezer decided it was his time to speak again. "We camped south from Plain Thicket near the river. The turtle came around an hour ago from the east and then disappeared in the direction of Buck Peak. But I'm sure he couldn't have gotten far."

Casey looked at the man like he was talking in another language. The weird names told him nothing. April on the other hand listened carefully. Her face brightened up. She knew the names of those hills. She had hiked in those parts a few times with her family. But the best part was that that was the exact part of the forest Raph and Don had headed in. They could find Mikey faster now.

"Thank you so much!" April beamed and grabbed a very confused Casey's arm. She dragged him down to the store entrance and disappeared without a trace. She didn't bother to care what the men would think about all of that.

They both ran back to the van and closed the doors behind them when April laughed with joy.

"This is amazing, Casey!" she exclaimed and fist pumped the air. "The guys are at the right part of the forest. This just increased our chances for like one hundred percent!"

"That's great, Red! Thank God at least one of us knows what the guy was talking about. I kinda got lost when he said they camped near a plane ticket…"

"Plain Thicket," April rolled her eyes, "is a small hill not that far from here. It would take us some time to get there on foot but if Donnie and Raph are where I hope they are then they could get there really fast," April explained hurriedly.

"If only we could get the guys to answer their phones…" Casey breathed out which caused Aprils smile to disappear.

She leaned back in the seat. She had been so excited to find out Mikey's whereabouts and that the little guy was still awake that she completely forgot about the unanswered calls. Uneasiness settled down in her stomach. She couldn't help but think that something might have happened to the other two brothers.

"I guess, we try to find Mikey on our own," April mumbled.

Casey nodded and grabbed the steering wheel.

"So where to?"

"The same way as before…" April looked through the side window and Casey drove the van back onto the road. The boy noticed his friend fidgeting with her phone. The ride was quiet like before but now the silence was suffocating. Casey inhaled a lungful of air as if he forgot to breathe. He looked at April's messy bangs falling onto her face. The eyes beneath them were tired and worried and there was also clear fear hidden behind them. She stared at the T-phone in her hands turning the screen on and off.

"It can't hurt to try and call again, you know. They might even answer, who knows."

April stopped fidgeting for a moment. She knew Casey was just trying to lift the mood like always but she couldn't help but feel miserable. She'd give anything to just know why Donnie and Raph weren't answering.

"Sure, Casey…" she smiled softly at the other teen and turned on the phone screen again. She searched her contacts for the purple masked turtle and pressed the call button. She brought the phone to her ear.

She breathed out a deep sigh as she listened to the first ring.