I walked into the control room about half an hour later, fully dressed and geared up...and the ring back on my finger. Everyone looked from where Jazz had their attention as he was laying out the layout of the building, to me. Shock registered on every single face, except one. Leo stood leaning against the far wall as I came in, and I caught the small knowing smile on his face before it quickly disappeared back behind his expressionless mask. The bond however, remained firmly blocked, he still didn't want me in there. You have no idea how much that stung.

I looked at the shocked faces around me and took a deep breath. "I'll do it."

"Thank fucking god." Cris mumbled. "Casey was about to insist on leading us in. If that happened I was going to go AWOL."

"I didn't see you volunteering." Casey snapped at her.

"Because I'm not suited for it." She glared back at him. "She got most of her training directly from Leo, you can't argue the fact she's the best one qualified, and the only one out of all of us. Even if her teacher is a big stupid ass at the moment."

"That's enough you." Raph told her.

"Bite me!" She snapped back at him. "He's lucky you got to him first! I wouldn't have stopped, Hide or no Hide!"

Marina looked from me, to Leo and back to me again, a little doubt on her face. "You sure you're up to it?"

"No." I told her honestly. "But I'm not going to just sit here and let you all go out alone either. Besides, it will keep my mind off of other things." I looked at Leo as I said that last part. He just returned it calmly, still wearing that mask. I finally just sighed and looked away before I started to tear up again. "I want to help, if you still want me too."

Raph walked over to me then, stopping right in front of me and gently lifted my chin up until I had no choice but to look him in the eyes. "Of course we do. I just want to know from you honestly, do you want to help? Or do you feel forced to help to prove a point?" He didn't need to explain exactly what point he was talking about, we all knew.

"I want too." I told him without hesitation. "I've always wanted too. I just never seem to make the best decisions when I do."

"You're not the only one." This time he did glare at Leo a moment before turning back to me. "Then, little sister, your help is more than welcome." He pulled me into a hug. "And don't let that idiot ever tell you otherwise." I just held on to him a moment, to get myself under control more than anything.

"What about the kids?" I quietly asked him.

"Blaster, Tony and Ratchet already agreed to watch them, so don't worry your pretty little head over it."

I just nodded and he let me go, but still kept an arm wrapped around my shoulders.

"And what about you, stupid?" Raph then shot at Leo. "This going to be a problem? Or is that self righteous stick in your ass out of the way enough to let this work?"

"All of you know where I stand on the subject." He replied calmly.

"That's not what I asked you, numbnuts! She wants to go, we all want her to go and you're the only one throwing it out there that you don't want her to go! Are you going to be able to function with her out there?"

"Do I even have a say in the matter?"

"You had your say, and look where it got us." Raph growled. "So, right now, no you don't."

"Then I guess I have no choice but to function."

"Good. Because I really don't feel like slapping you silly right now."

"Don't you just love these intense family discussions?" Will asked no one in particular. "Anyway, if things are all settled here, I suggest we move. One of you can fill Vicky in as we go."

"I'll do that." Sally said.

"Good." Will said, then looked at the two feuding brothers. "Then lets get going before someone has to get mended up before we even leave."

"Well said." Epps muttered.

.

.

-Focus.- Hide told me as we drove. -You're not leading a Seeker armada so get your head out of the clouds.-

'Sorry.'

-Don't be sorry, just pay attention.-

I sighed and pulled myself back to the discussion at hand. Leo wasn't riding with me this time, but Cris, Casey and Raph were. Hide did open the line so we all could take part in the discussion though. A discussion I was having a really hard time focusing on, as Hide noticed. Every time Leo's voice came over it sent a little jab in my heart. He could have easily ridden with me, he choose not too.

"So let me get this straight." Casey was saying. "The plan here is to get into this building. But we can't with our usual methods?"

-Right.- Donnie's voice came over from where he was riding with Marina in Jazz. -This is a very secure facility, and any tampering with any security systems will be detected.-

-Which will set off alarms before we even get in there.- Leo added from Bee. I just looked out the window to hide my pain from the others in the cabin at the sound of his voice, but I couldn't hide it from the vehicle whom the cabin belonged too. I felt his seat mold around me abit, trying to comfort me a little.

"So we seriously have to literally go in the front damn door?" Cris asked.

"I don't think we are going to get far with that tactic either." I said, trying to focus on the task at hand. "If this place is as hush hush as it seems to be, they are going to know everyone who walks in that door. The RITC toaster trick isn't going to work here."

Cris actually managed a laugh at that one, no one else seemed to catch it though. There was a confused silence for a moment, before Cris took pity on them to explain it. "Cartoon episode. Casey goes barging into TCRI with a damn toaster to distract the guards for April so she can find the security room. Your battle cry of 'Give me toaster or give me death!' is one of the more iconic lines from the 2003 series."

"Did I at least mess the place up?" Casey asked amused.

"Yeah, that you did manage to do."

"How nice..."

"Back to my point." I interrupted. "I don't think we can just walk in."

-This is your gig sweetcheeks.- Sides said. Surprisingly he let Caitlin and Sally ride with him. He had offered Cris to ride with him too, but she had declined. Which shocked me more than a little. I was both grateful and a little upset about the fact that she missed out on a ride with one of her two favorites, just so she could be there for me. She didn't say it, but I knew that's why she did it. -Well do it your way.-

-Sweetcheeks?- Sunny asked him.

-Just trying to make her feel better. I don't like it when she's gloomy like you, Sunny.-

-Don't call me that!-

I just rolled my eyes.

"So how do we get you in?" Raph asked me.

I thought about it for awhile, then borrowed another idea from another series. "Donnie?"

-Yes?-

"Can you do me a favor? Can you look up any large shipments to the complex?"

-I'm sure I can, but why?-

"Because if you can find one with a large enough crate, I think I might know how to get us in."

-And if I don't find one?-

"Then use your awesome computer skills...and make up one."

-Okaaaay...let me see what I can do.-

.

.

"Casey! Get your damn hockey stick out of my face!" Marina hissed at him.

"And your big ass clown shoe off of my foot!" Cris added.

"I'm not sure if I should be offended or not on where his elbow is." Caitlin muttered.

"Don't blame me!" He snapped quietly. "This wasn't my crazy ass idea!"

"Is it always like this?" Sally asked, with a slight touch of amusement.

"Unfortunately." I sighed.

Donnie had to indeed use his computer skills to "make up" a shipping order. Then the guys had to swipe a delivery truck while the bots rounded us up a crate. And guess who was inside of the crate? Yup...us. Sideswipe thought it was hilariously funny as we all squeezed into the really too small thing. But it was the best they could come up with, or so Sides claimed. I was still of two thoughts on the matter.

Donnie then rigged us a simple latch to keep the lid on, that we could easily undo when we needed to come out, and Hide slipped us onto the back of the truck, which Jazz's holoform then drove to the building in question. Turns out we timed it perfectly as we rolled into the storage area right around the time most of the folks were shutting it down for the evening. They didn't even bother to open the silly thing.

So now here we were, inside of this crate, waiting for the last worker to leave so we could come out. And seriously getting fed up with Casey. And we were just getting started...

I knew the layout of the area well enough to know there was a parking garage next door, and that's where the rest of them were waiting for us. Still, we had to be very cautious here. This building was centered in the business district of a decent sized town, if we got caught the ensuing bot and turtle rampage would seriously draw some unwanted attention. I couldn't fuck this up. Very high stakes here, and we didn't even know for sure who this dump belonged too.

Casey peeked out of the crate to check on the last worker in the room. "Shit dude, go home already! Go get a hooker, a beer, something!"

"Still there?" Sally asked

"Still there." He grumbled in reply. "Wait...there he goes now." I could see the lights flick off from the small crack in the crate.

"Give it a few minutes." I said quietly. "Just in case he comes back."

"Why would he come back? I'm tellin' ya he's gone for the-" The lights came back on. "I'll be a son of a bitch..." Casey mumbled. "How did you know?"

I just shrugged. I just did.

We waited for a few minutes as the worker got what he came back for, then puttered around a little bit, then he finally left again.

"Your spider sense tingling this time?" Casey asked me.

"Nope."

"Good, lets get out of this thing and get started."

Carefully we slipped out of the silly thing and disappeared into the shadows in the back of the room.

.

.

Leo stood on the roof of the parking garage next door as the sun finally sought it's well deserved rest for the night. His blue eyes focused on the building she had slipped into not too long ago. The delivery had went off without a hitch, mainly due to Donnie's computer skills and Jazz's smooth talking. But that fact did nothing to subdue the unease he felt. Not the unease of danger, not that he was ignoring the possibility something could happen, but from not being able to sense her. Granted it was by his own choice, but it didn't feel...right. It should, he felt he was doing the right thing, but it didn't. He was so tempted to lower his defenses, just so he could feel her again...so damn tempted...

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes to gather his thoughts and get his feelings under control. Now wasn't the time to deal with this, he had to keep his mind on the matter at hand. They were in there, alone, and they might need some help getting out. He couldn't be of much help if his mind kept wandering to her. How bad he had hurt her, how her desperate attempts to reach him pained him as he turned them away.

His gaze swept the building over and over, looking for anything that might pose them any kind of threat, even as his mind tried to rationalize the choice he had made. He loved her, that he did not deny. But did that love give him the right to keep pulling her into danger? Did that love make it ok to expose her to the likes of Bishop? Was it fine that she had been swept away from him by his enemies and hurt, because he was to weak to live without her? Simply put, was it fair for him to draw her into his life, and it's dangers, just because of an emotion? He had refused to see it, stubbornly tried to justify her staying with excuses. She would get better, he could train her and she wouldn't be such an easy target, she could learn from the past, it would never happen again. And then it did.

Was it so wrong of him to want to stop the cycle? To stop the pain she was facing? The fear? Even the name of those tormentors sent shivers down her spine, and that bothered him to no end. He didn't fear Bishop personally, more what he could do. She was scared to death of the man. She was scared to death of his counterpart. And now Shockwave had been added to her list of fears she just couldn't overcome. All because he was to weak to turn her away. He should have never of kissed her that night five years ago, should have never taken it even farther. But she had felt so sweet on his lips, so warm in his arms and so perfect in his heart. Even now he ached for her touch, to reassure her that it would be alright. Even if he knew it wasn't, nothing about what had happened to her was alright...nothing...

"They made it in." Raph told Leo as he walked up, startling the blue banded turtle a little. He had been so focused on his thoughts that he didn't even notice his brother approaching.

"Any problems?" He asked, trying once again to bring his mind to where it should be.

Raph just gave him a level look, slightly tinted with anger. "Why don't you ask her and find out?"

Leo sighed in exasperation. "Raph, you know why-"

"Leo stop it!" Raph snapped. "Don't give me your lame ass excuses. I'm not in the mood to hear them, and I'm still not over the fact that I want to beat the living tar out of you."

"They are not 'lame ass excuses'!" Leo flared back at him. "I have every right to do what I did!"

"So you say. But let me ask you this. Do you also have the right to dictate how she lives her life?"

"Of course not..."

"Then please tell me, fearless, what in the hell do you plan on doing when she just flat out refuses to sit in that damn protective bubble you want to put her in so badly? You saw what happened here. You told her you didn't want her to go out, and she went anyway. And you didn't even try to stop her."

"I'll have Donnie dismantle the portal if I have too."

"Leo, you and I both know you won't do that. That would mean the twins would have to be kept with us, and you wouldn't separate them from their mother. You love her and them too much to do that to them."

"I...I don't know Raph." Leo sighed. "For once in my life, I don't know what to do."

"Leo, if you were expecting her to just quietly let you walk away from her, you're wrong. She been through so much, before we even stumbled into her living room. And she has took everything that has happened after that in stride, for the most part. Yes she's scared and I can fully understand you wanting to keep that burden from growing. But she also loves you, and it's that love that keeps her going. Don't take away the one thing she depends on the most."

"Even if that one thing causes her more harm?"

"Leo, we all have our demons. Hell Cris still flinches when I twirl my sai the wrong way. Mikey's arm got so messed up he's going to have a nasty scar there for the rest of his life. First time we met Hun, he beat you to within an inch of your life. Donnie wouldn't go anywhere near anything revolving around Marina and Caitlin's injection samples for months, because he was so scared of accidentally reinfecting himself and Marina herself was in the cave with Vicky, in just as bad shape. Yet, I don't see any of you sitting on the sidelines. She's not the only one to have a near brush with death, we all have been there. And we all carry it around with us in some way. I'm not saying throw her under the bus, but maybe you should seriously rethink your reasoning. Because when you put it into your perspective that you are using with her, none of us should be out here doing this, and yet we all are." He put a hand on Leo's shoulder. "Think about it." He said before he turned to walk back towards the others.