I don't own the TMNT

A/N: Like I've said to some of my reviewers, social distancing at home has been crazy. Both of my older kids were getting online schoolwork and my tablet is the only thing with reliable internet. Therefore the thing has been lost several times, my keyboard lost, and my writing deleted accidently. Now they have been officially 'out of school'' for a couple of weeks, I've finally had time to rewrite this, though doing it for the third time is freaking hard. But at least my normal writing schedule will return and these chapters will come more often!

Hope that you like this chapter, I'm not completely satisfied with it but can't seem to copy the way that I wrote it the first time. Thanks for reading!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I sat down, my head in my hands and let out a long breath. We were so frantic in our planning, after all, this shit had to happen tonight. in eight fucking hours! I looked at the door to Don's lab.

This waiting sucked.

Splinter sneered at my lack of patience earlier, so it was more than a bit gratifying to see him pacing, fur puffed out like a pissed off cat.

Don was in there working on our last issue. One that was in the back of our minds the whole fucking time, that we couldn't figure out. Until four hours ago that is. He was working on the answer to two questions. How would I carry and conceal my gear and how would I get in with it. The gear itself was tricky. We had looked at it layed out before us. After going over the plan multiple times, considering all the possibilities, we selected the gear that I would need. However, when we laid it out on the table the truth dawned on us in true physical form.

Shit that was a lot to carry.

We were able to trim some of it down, but still needed the bulk of it, but fuck if it would slow me down, plus how the hell am I going to hide all that bulk? Splinter snorted and looked at me in derision. After all, he didn't need to carry all that shit. That fucking rankled. But whatever. Right now we needed to concentrate on the mission.

On my Mike.

And getting in. What a bitch. It was a very secure building. All the easiest ways would require me to slim down on firepower too much for the mission to be successful.

Don, ever resourceful Don. Of course he found a fucking plan for that. Gotta love him. His idea seemed to be straight from a movie. Getting in would be easier than we thought after he combed through all the details, found a way around, and took a page out of the oldest trick in the book.

He insisted on working on it by himself, however. Which made sense, in a way. After all, he was used to working in isolated concentration, plus my fabrication skills were complete shit, and part of this particular fabrication may seem...embarassing to him.

Fuck, he's not the one who had to wear the damned thing. Wearing it would be a complete bitch.

Just like I was, complaining about something like that when Mike and the others were still in there.

Mike...

I looked at the clock again. Seven hours and fifty five minutes. Damnit! My leg shook in a nervous twitch. I stared at my clasped fingers. My knuckles were white. Looking at the kitchen, I could almost hear his laugh. Fuck the wait, I wanted to leave now. I looked up across the room to see the dojo, remembering our heated sparring sessions. The bedroom, his hands on mine... Damnit!I wanted to get my Mike back, to save him! I wanted-

Suddenly the door opened and Don came out. He looked as exhausted as I was. We had all been up near 48 hours and it showed. Leaning heavily on his crutch, he let out a sigh. "I finished, it looks good but needs to cool off. Heavy, though, but all we need to do is to get you in and then-" His words were interupted by a yawn and he shook himself.

I winced at the sight, especially as I stiffled my own heavy yawn. My whole body ached. As much as I hated to admit it, we needed fucking sleep.

As if reading my thoughts, he looked at the clock. "Maybe...it would be good to get some sleep. At least a few hours. I need my brain to be sharp and you're going to be doing a lot of work tomorrow, both physically and mentally."

It was irrational, but I didn't want to sleep. Somehow it felt like a betrayal. Chewing on my lip, I tried to think of a reason not to. Maybe some aspect of the plan we didn't prepare for, or think of. But I couldn't think of a damned thing. That suit was the last thing on our list. But fuck if it didn't make me feel like a pile of shit, laying down for beddy-bye while Mike was going through who knows what.

But damned it all if he wasn't right.

We were all silent, solemn and tense. But we obeyed. Opting for chairs instead of beds we leaned back in the darkness.

In the darkness tears pricked my eyes, gripping the cloth of the couch with hooked fingers. I was never going to be able to fucking sleep. I was too goddamned tense. The most important mission of my life was coming. I was going to save my Mike, the one I loved. I had to do this perfectly otherwise he'd be lost forever. I needed him! I had to...

...

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I had schooled my brothers about Rhedd. After all if I hadn't prompted him with the right words, there's a good chance that he would have stayed in the background, thinking how wrong all of this was, without raising a word or a hand to stop it. He needed the encouragement, the right words to get the courage to take action. I answered their questions and went into details about it. However it opened doors that I had never considered.

Leo still seemed a little rocked by his outburst, the captivity seemed to have left him a bit raw. At my words about Rhedd, and how I had talked him into this position, he sounded surprised. "It seems like you basically manipulated him. And the foresight and the planning you did..." I could hear the note to his voice and knew that soon he would connect the dots. Raph too. Damnit.

Raph was the first to seize on it, and he did it with a laugh. "Mike, this isn't new, is it? You've been manipulating the hell out of us for years haven't you?"

Leaning against the bars, flexing my wrists on the shackles, I grinned, though they couldn't see it, and tried to brush it off. "I don't know what you're talking about my brother!"

Leo made a sound. Then made a curse. I could just imagine another thread of structure within him snap. That he, in his position, had never realized it. "Why?" My grin fell from my face and I gave my shoulders a shrug that again no one could see. Another sound. Before I could say anything he interuppted me. In his voice, I could almost hear the borderline franticness build up once more, but felt powerless to stop it. "Because we needed it. You diffused the tenstion. And you let us think that you were just a...you..." Suddenly the door swung open, interupting his speech before he could build himself up.

Thank God.

There, in the doorway, was Rhedd. His face was shrouded in a dark expression and I saw his hands trembling slightly. I smiled at him and shifted, carefuly to make sure that the chains rustled against the metal floor. Another reminder of my position. Sure enough he winced at the sound. "Hi! I was hoping to see you again before they shipped us off to who knows where. How is your son?

His face paled and for a bare second I thought he was going to puke. He bolted for my cage almost stumbling. His fingers pressing against the bars, his eyes wide. "I still don't understand," He said in a low voice, "How you can talk like that, after everything..."

I heard Raph make an angry sound and jerk in his cage. Damnit don't blow up on him! We talked about this! Thankfully, he quieted, though I could practically feel the effort it took. It did work to make Rhedd look at my brothers. He practically cringed as he felt my brother's eyes bore into him. They could act civil and calm, like we had talked about, but Rhedd's face was still one of the faces of their torturers, and you could probably see it in their eyes. Neither of them spoke, I suspected it was because they didn't trust themselves to be cheerful and forgiving after all this at Rhedd, I could tell that he was feeling that weight. Through the narrow slats of the bars, I was barely able to touch his fingertips. "Don't worry, they know you were only doing your job."

Finally Leo broke the silence. "You helped hurt my family."

Raph emitted a growl that I knew for a fact was quickly going to turn into a string of screamed expletives. Hastily I interrupted. "But he was only doing his job. For his son. His family." Damn I don't want to scare this guy off. He already has such a fragile state, in a way.

With an effort Rhedd wrenched his gaze away from my brothers and met my eyes once more, leaning his forehead onto the bars of my cage. "Stop it, please." He whispered. "How can I be doing this for my son, for my family? If they knew what I was..." He put his hand over his mouth and swallowed with a concerted effort, suddenly unable to meet my eyes. "I'm so sorry..."

I shifted again, again letting the sound of chains rattle through the air. "Hey, dude, it's alright. You'll get through this, trust me. Your son has a dad to be proud of. You'll see."

When his eyes met mine again they were swimming in unshed tears. "I was in the room for a conversation. Some family, filthy rich, were trying to buy you from the agency, you specifically. Apparently two of their sons were injured. The things that they talked about doing to you...I can't..." He shook his head and buried a hand in his hair. "I think that they are going to do it.."

Shit. The Devereaux family. Were we never to be rid of them? And yeah, I could just imagine all the fun little treats that they had in store for me. But I couldn't afford to think on that right now. What my ears perked at were sons, in plural. Hesitating, I decided to pry. "Um, I know I hurt one of the sons." Rhedd's eyes widened. Smiling I held my hands in a placating gesture. "He was trying to rape my girlfriend at the time." When he blinked I could see the honest belief in his eyes and relaxed slightly. "The other son was the one that caught us. But we weren't able to touch him. What happened? How'd he get hurt?"

Rhedd shook his head. "That crazy lady from the news, Tate, shot him in the head. He's a vegetable." I opened my mouth in shock at his words, then couldn't help my smile.

"FUCK yes!" Raph suddenly shouted, pounding the sides of his cage with his fists. Startled, Rhedd looked at him.

"He lured us to the rooftop by killing one girl and threatening to kill three others. After he had us, he killed them anyway." Leo's voice sounded distant.

All of this was clearly news to Rhedd. His eyes searched, but I know that my brother's faces were likely open books of honesty. I could tell he believed us. Suddenly he shook himself and looked, I mean really looked at the setup of my cage. "They're transporting your brothers to Cuba. I've heard of some of the things that they're going to do." Feeling the locking mechanism with his fingers his eyes met mine. "I won't let that happen. My son will be proud of me."

A wonderful feeling blossomed in me as I grinned wide and clear. ""Like Captain America."

Though he didn't smile, he gave a laugh, as if a weight had been lifted off his chest. "You and your brothers deserve to be free."

Suddenly tears formed at my eyes and I couldn't quite keep them in. Pressing my fingertips through the bars, he did the same so that our fingertips touched.

His smile faltered slightly and some of that uncertainty returned. "But doing this by myself is going to be hard."

This time I laughed. Damn I felt good! "Don't worry. You mentioned Tate? Well she's my girlfriend."

His mouth gaped open. "Seriously? But the news made her sound like a...um..."

I could just imagine. She was probably on America's most wanted. "Don't listen to them. Rhedd, trust me, she's good people and I love her. With all my heart." Slowly he smiled. "And my father is like us, only he's a giant rat. I expect they'll be storming the place anytime now."

It was a lot to process but he seemed to absorb the information. He looked at me with a bewildered expression. "Seriously? But they don't have a lot of time left. When are they coming?"

I shook my head. "I don't know, but I know that they are. And when they do. be ready. Because then you'll have your chance."

Rhedd's eyes searched mine for a long few seconds before I saw the resolve. Steeling himself, he nodded. "Ok. We'll get you out of here."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

All three of us seemed to wake up seconds before the alarm rang. In the darkness, we all sat up in the silence. Don was right, even though it was only a few hours of sleep, I felt charged. Slowly we started to get ready. Don charged his more powerful computers, allowing them to take their time warming up. While Splinter silently went through some stretches, Don turned towards my gear and looked at me. "You ready for this?"

I cracked my knuckles. "Its time to get them back. Let's do this."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A/N: Hope that you liked this chapter. Next chapter, the action is starting! I've already started on it, you can expect it in June. Please review, they are so inspirational!

And hopefully all social distancing will be ending soon, hats off to anyone who weathered it with their sanity intact.