"Seeing Raph go down that way…it was like being hit in the gut with a sledgehammer. It wouldn't be easy to watch one of my brothers get crushed on a good day, let alone the evening we were having. On top of the fear I experienced for him, the fact that I'd just lost the only source of strength and encouragement which remained was unfathomable.

"Raph had been looking to me for answers and ideas to help us escape, while I'd trusted his sheer determination and muscles to pull us through in spite of the odds. When he got hurt…that hope went out the window. I was left virtually alone, and incapable of saving anyone…even myself.

"It's impossible to express how hard it was to have my brothers within my grasp, and possess no solution for rescuing them. I'm used to preparing for all kinds of scenarios…but I don't think anything could have prepared me to handle that."

The purple-masked turtle's fingers left the keyboard. He rested his elbows on his desk and hesitated, waiting for the sick feeling in his stomach to lift. Even the months that had passed between the horrible night they'd been set up until now weren't enough to separate him from the trauma of the experience.

He sniffed as tears threatened and lowered his forehead to his hands. I can't deal with this today. Donatello raised his head and stared dully at the computer screen. Black letters became jumbled on the white background as tears blurred his vision. I thought I was ready to go back there, and I'm not.

He dropped a hand on the mouse and guided the cursor to save what he'd been working on, then shoved the keyboard away from his seat.

Donatello's heart thumped wildly in his chest as he choked on the cloud of dust the debris field raised. He started to scramble to his feet before he was certain the last of the rubble had fallen, too concerned for his red-masked brother to remain on the ground a moment longer. The sharp pain of his leg faded into the background while he stepped over obstacles to reach Raphael.

He found the red-masked turtle flat on the ground with what was left of a support column across his chest. He checked for a pulse before he did anything else, cursing the "turtle luck" that'd landed them in this mess. After verifying Raphael's life signs, Donatello gulped a deep breath and tested his hands against the steel, checking the direction in which the beam would naturally travel.

"Raph?"

His brother didn't answer him, which left Donny in the precarious position of not knowing how badly injured Raphael could be before attempting to move the column with a little help from gravity. Attacking it from one side at a time seemed like the best option without anything else to go on.

The purple-masked carefully braced his right shoulder against steel, pushing the beam until the opposite end struck the floor on the other side of his brother. He used both arms to get off the ground rapidly, and nearly collapsed when his injured leg struggled to cooperate. With a frustrated growl he caught the underside of the column that was raised in the air, and pushed it away with all of his might.

Steel flipped end over end, coming to rest in another puff of dust a couple of feet away from Raphael. Don's relief over the rubble being removed was short-lived; there was no time to relax. He gritted his teeth as he forced himself to kneel, and his hands immediately went to his brother's chest. He applied gentle pressure to check for injuries and sensed an unlevel area within seconds.

Don bent lower to make the most of his light and focused on the center of Raphael's plastron. It was difficult to be certain of damage in the shadows, but what he felt with his hands didn't lie. His sternum is at least cracked, maybe fractured. Why am I even shocked?

Chills raced through his entire body at the understanding that he was completely on his own, but now wasn't the time to be self-indulgent. Slowly he took stock of the older turtle, searching for more injuries that weren't immediately clear. Having already checked his plastron, he began lightly probing his brother's skull.

Donatello felt blood when he lifted Raphael's head, and found an open gash around the back. He shrugged out of his jacket and pulled off his shirt. He wouldn't need all the material to bind the red-masked turtle's wound, but he had a feeling the rest of it would still come in handy. He sensed blood sliding down his own leg, and knew that his activity wasn't helping the injury.

He drew a knife from his belt along with only remaining packets of Quikclot. Raphael's wound would only require a little, and he would need to salvage more for his leg if he meant to keep going. Go where? This felt impossible when Raph was right beside me. There's no way I can move all three of them on my own.

Donatello banished the thought, because it wasn't going to help him. While he addressed his brother's head injury, a nagging feeling in the back of his mind kept reminding him about Mike's phone. I still have service. I can call the others, but what then? The only thing that would do is drag them into the death trap with us! God only knows if they'd make it ten steps into the building without being blown to pieces. That won't help us either.

Thinking wasn't working in his favor at the moment, so he focused on the small tasks he could accomplish. He was in the middle of tightening the knot of his homemade bandage when the red-masked turtle stirred awake with excruciating cry. Raphael's chest shuddered while he attempted to draw another breath, and his face screwed up with pain.

"Raph, easy!" Donny ordered as fiercely as he could muster. "Don't strain for breath – it'll only hurt worse!" He cringed when Raphael's chest spasmed and leaned closer to his brother's face. "Listen. Listen to me, you can breathe, but you have to be careful. Keep it shallow, just like I told Mike."

It took several seconds for Raphael to control the panicked response to waking up under such conditions. Then he opened his eyes and squinted under Donny's headlamp. "Too bright, Don…" he murmured.

Donatello reached up to his light and turned the focus of the beam another direction. "Sorry about that, but it's good to hear your voice."

"Good?" he repeated, confused. "How's it good? What the shell…" He clenched his eyes shut with a long groan.

"There were a couple more explosions," Donatello explained. "And you had to be the hero."

"I…did?"

"Why do you think you're laid out?"

"Uh…" Raphael cursed quietly. "You think I can get up?"

"I can't recommend it."

"But…" The red-masked turtle shifted his arms, trying to rise on his elbows. The simple action made him gasp, and his upper body trembled.

Probably looking at a bad fracture. Shell, he might even need surgery, but right now I'd settle for some dang pain killers…

"Raph, don't try it. You only end up hurting more."

Raphael didn't say anything. His body went completely still for a few moments, and then he resumed taking careful breaths. Amber eyes stared off into space without focus, and Donatello had a sinking feeling that his brother could already be going into shock.

"Raph? Do you hear me?"

"That's it then," he muttered.

"What's it?"

"We're not gettin' out."

Donny held his breath. He wasn't sure how to respond, but any kind of encouragement felt like it would be a lie. Finally he closed a hand around his brother's wrist. "You're not alone, Raph, and you're not going to be. I'm right here with you."

Raphael's gaze roved, searching for him. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do this."

"Do what? Help the rest of us? You've got nothing to apologize for, Raph. You're a great big brother."

"Wish I was better…or known what to do."

"Don't talk like that. You couldn't be better if you tried."

This time his brother intentionally looked away from him. "Check on the others, would ya? I'm okay, as long as I'm just lying here, right?"

"You should be, but you have to promise me that you won't try moving again."

"I won't," he answered. "Leo and Mike close by?"

"Only a few feet away. Raph, I'm coming right back."

"You don't gotta worry about me, Genius."

"That sounds familiar," Don said lightly. "You didn't let me get away with saying it."

"That's different."

"Why?"

"'cause I said it is."

The purple-masked turtle felt like laughing and crying at the same time. "Of course. I'll be back in a minute."

Despite his assurance to Raphael, it took almost a minute to get his bad leg to rise that time. He felt his brother's gaze the entire time, but did his best to ignore it.

Donatello hobbled the short distance to return to his other brothers, and settled down to the ground in between them. He gazed mutely at his orange-masked brother for a moment and then reached for his wrist to check the rhythm of his pulse.

It's gotten weaker in just the last few minutes. There's a possibility his body will succumb to shock faster than his internal injuries would kill him. Donatello wanted to kick himself for the negative thought, but he couldn't combat the condition his younger brother was suffering under.

"Mikey?"

He shook his shoulder gently, only to check if Michelangelo would respond. When he didn't stir, Donny sighed. It's not supposed to be like this. This can't be the end. They're just a stupid gang! We've survived earthquakes, fires, floods, jungles, the Akiudo, ALIENS – only to be taken out by some rotten hoods? His body shook with a sudden rage, but the anger was pointless. There was nowhere to aim the fury other than thin air.

He turned his head to look at Leonardo. In a way, I'm glad Leo hasn't woken up. He won't have to deal with any of this. He can rest in…semi-peace until the inevitable occurs. Donatello choked back a sob as he bent over his oldest brother's frame.

"Donny!" Raphael's call wasn't very loud, but the temporary stillness did nothing to hinder it.

"I'm coming!" Donatello took a minute to prepare himself for the battle of getting up, and dragged his unwilling limb underneath him once more.

His breath was heaving a bit more than before by the time he got to Raphael. "I'm here, Raph. Are you okay?"

"Don't sit down," his brother ordered.

"O…okay. Is there some—"

"Donatello, I got something to say, and you ain't gonna like it. But you also know I'm right."

"What is it?"

Raphael raised his head to see him better. "Don, we're stuck. You're not."

Don's eye ridges rose. "You're saying—"

"I'm saying, just 'cause we can't escape don't mean you should die with us."

The purple-masked turtle opened his mouth, but couldn't form a single word.

"You can get out, Donny. If there's anyone who can make it, it's you."

He found his voice with a mighty tremor. "No. I-I'd never do it at this point. You were right about my leg – it's already giving out—"

"But you've got enough energy left to try, Don."

Donatello shook his head. "I don't know where to go! There are probably traps everywhere! Even if I was in perfect shape, I doubt I would make it out of the Gym alive."

"But you won't know, unless you actually do it, Donny. If you stay, you'll die. If you go…you might make it. Think about our family…the kids! They don't have to lose all of us."

Donny hid his face behind his hands, not willing to let his brother see tears. "That's not fair, Raph."

"Ain't about being fair. It's not right for you to lie down and die with the rest of us. Not when you don't have to."

The weight of his brother's words made him feel a hundred pounds heavier, and he couldn't hold out from collapsing any longer.

Raphael cursed at him. "You keep doing that, and you won't be able to get back up! You have to keep going, Donny!"

He didn't answer him. Donny fingered Mike's cell phone and pulled the device off his belt. As he did, he remembered the small bracelet again. He withdrew the beaded band and watched the different hues of purple stones sparkle under his light.

"Donny?" Raphael's voice interrupted his contemplation of Charlotte's bracelet. "What are you gonna do?"

"I can't leave you guys, Raph," he answered hoarsely.

"Do you have another idea up that shell of yours? I'd love to hear it if you do."

Donatello hesitated, dropping the bracelet back into the pocket of his belt. "Only one."