Leonardo woke up violently, in what felt like an absolute panic.
"RAPH!"
It took a few seconds for the turtle to realize where he actually was, but even then, his pulse rate didn't decrease. He kicked the blankets completely aside, rather than bothering with untangling from them, and glanced down at his watch. It was just after 2am, and he'd probably only been asleep for about three hours. He had to get up - he couldn't just lay here now.
Leonardo couldn't get rid of the shaky feeling as he trudged down the stairs, and then tip-toed quietly through the living area, where Greg was asleep on the couch. He blinked a little rapidly to adjust to the light coming off of the Lab window, and then walked in without bothering to knock on the closed door.
Donatello was bent over the desk, leaning heavily on his elbow. He didn't seem to hear Leonardo walk in, or at least it didn't look like it. Jenna was asleep in one of the single beds in the Lab, having urged Luke and Katherine to take their room since Donatello wasn't sleeping anyway.
When Leonardo touched Donnie's shoulder, the turtle practically jumped a mile, then rubbing bleary eyes.
"Shell Leo, you scared me.''
"Don, what are you doing? You still haven't slept at all, have you?"
"Um..."
"It's been almost two days Donnie. Didn't Doc tell you to pack it in by midnight?"
"You don't understand Leo, I finally got in! I'm still working on covering my own tracks, while getting a good idea of his layout. There's so much left to figure out..."
"Donnie." He said warningly.
"Alright, okay. I'm almost asleep here at the desk anyway. But what are you doing up?" Donatello asked, peering at his brother more closely when he noticed how pale he looked. "Leo, what's the matter? Are you feeling okay?"
His brother shook his head sharply, now really not sure if he wanted to tell Donatello what he'd felt.
Donnie crossed his arms as Leonardo hesitated. "Bro, you've gotta tell me what's wrong."
"I was with him tonight Donnie." Leonardo answered, hardly above a whisper. "I don't know if it was a dream, or a vision...but it felt so real." He closed his eyes for a long moment, shuddering involuntarily. "Donnie, he's hurting him. I felt...it was the worst pain I've ever experienced before." He stopped to collect himself a second time. "We have to move forward in the next 24 hours, no question. Whether we're honestly ready or not makes no difference. I just have the worst feeling that if we don't get in there...like he's not gonna make it.
I can't explain it, and I can't ever remember feeling anything this strongly in my entire life. I know that you and Mikey have experienced something like it through the years...knowing something was wrong with each other, when you really couldn't have known. I don't think this is my imagination Donnie. I feel like he's fading."
His purple-banded brother was breathing in and out slowly, clearly trying to control his own reaction. "Sundown." Was the only word he could manage at the moment.
Karina was heading back from the bathroom and had turned in the direction of Splinter's old quarters, when she heard a peculiar sound. She turned on heel and walked toward it, catching the faintest glow of light coming from underneath a closed door. She knew the room - Leonardo had showed it to her on the official tour - she just wasn't expecting someone to be using it right now.
Karina pushed the door open lightly, only enough to make out one of the turtles absolutely venting. It was an ironic sight to see the soft-spoken and clearly intelligent Donatello so angry - and she stood back for a long moment as he seemed to throw his entire body into an all-out assault on the punching bag.
I don't know how that thing survives that kind of beating, Karina thought ruefully. Or how he does.
She had stood there for a few more moments, when she heard soft footsteps coming her direction. Jenna raised a hand slightly in greeting as she brushed past her, and walked straight into the room to approach Donatello.
She's got more guts than I do. But then, I've seen the way he looks at her. He'd never hurt her, or any of these humans for that matter.
Feeling somewhat ashamed for staying, Karina was still rooted to that spot as Jenna grabbed a hold of Donatello's shoulder.
"Hon, what are you doing?" She asked him.
He was breathing too hard to respond completely right away. "Have to...wind down."
"I see. This is calming you down?"
"It's wearing me out. So I can sleep. I have to be ready, we've gotta get Raph. We have to get him out!"
"What have you seen Donnie?"
"It wasn't me, it was Leo. He connected with him briefly earlier...somehow. He's not in good shape, not at all. We have to move before we lose him completely!"
"Donatello, come with me, and I'll help you calm down. This isn't the way to do it." Jenna told him, resting a hand against his cheek.
It was then that tears came. "Jen, I'm so scared, What if he's dyin' right now? I don't want to wait!"
She embraced him firmly, softly rubbing one of his temples. "If I can repeat something you told Raphael a few months ago...if you go right now, you'll only be making matters worse. You're in no condition to fight or think."
She was right. Now that the adrenaline had worn off, he was only left behind with exhaustion.
"Now come with me, and let's get you back into your proper fighting form."
Karina ducked away from the hall and fled into darkness, as Jenna walked Donatello back to the Lab. The woman pointed him to one of the single beds, and then crawled up somewhat awkwardly beside him, as he shifted to his side to make room for her.
"Close your eyes." She whispered, leaning her head directly over his chest. "Don't despair, it isn't over. Just let go. Go to sleep, and you'll be back on his trail very soon."
Around 7am that morning, Williams was grumbling something under his breath to Stolle's explanation for the second team of men that he'd hired.
"Why are we going about it this way?" The man wanted to know. "Seems like an awful waste of time."
"I've been over this with you Williams." Stolle told him, maintaining a patient tone. "As was the case with the Hunters, I'm only looking for a little insurance. We don't have tremendous numbers on our own, and you know that these creatures can handle themselves very well."
"But you've given us all the tools that we need!"
"I'm going to ask you to trust me again Williams. Trust that I know what I'm doing, and you'll have your vengeance soon enough."
"But why are you taking the homing beacon out of here?"
"Give it some real thought! I'm not about to reveal my real residence to the FBI Williams! Once we have the turtles contained elsewhere, and removed their own bugs, then it will be safe to bring them back here. I have everything in hand - I've planned carefully for these eventualities.
No one had wanted to enter the Lab that morning, not with Donnie and Jenna still resting. The atmosphere of the Den had become somewhat muted, as Leonardo had stressed to everyone else together the importance of their swift action before the day was over. He had tried to use the least scary terms he could come up with, but the dire stake of the circumstances wasn't lost on anyone.
Luke was fiddling with his own laptop on the coffee-table, doing a little background to check on Donatello's vitals coming from his implant. He just wanted to make sure everything was functioning alright, with the pure stress he'd been under for the last couple of days. As he was about to log out of the software, a curious signal caught his eye,
Hold up, wait...that can't be Raph's beacon. Can it?
He bolted upright off the couch so fast that Marcus gave him a funny look.
"What?" His friend asked immediately.
"I have a signal!"
"A signal of what?"
"Raphael! His beacon is transmitting!"
"What does it say Luke, what are you getting off it?!"
"Gimme a second." He responded, typing furiously. "Um...it's beaming a location to us, I'm definately getting an address. But as far as medical data...I'm coming up empty here."
"Why would that be?" Marcus asked with serious tension.
"It's probably because the device is no longer implanted." Donatello said from the doorway of the Lab, startling both men. "Check the variables on it Doc. I bet Stolle removed it from him completely."
Luke dug deeper into the physical conditions surrounding the transmitter, and nodded after a couple of minutes had passed. "I think you're right Donnie."
"What's the location?" Donatello asked quickly.
"It's some building off of Loop and 23rd. So I'm thinking...something in the warehouse district." Luke suggested.
Donatello shook his head slowly. "Stolle is trying to set us up - I'd bet my shell on it."