Disclaimer: If I owned the ninja turtles, I wouldn't be sitting here writing fanfiction instead of doing my homework, now would I?

A/N: I'm back! Did ya miss me? Okay, I know I wasn't gone that long…but long enough. Whatever. You may want to use this time to use the bathroom, get a snack, whatever, because this chapter is somewhat long.

"Kya! Kya! Kya!" The sounds of three voices echoed from the barn all the way into the farmhouse.

April pushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear, and set a plate overflowing with sandwiches on the wooden table. "Casey!" she called. "Could you tell the guys lunch is ready?"

"Sure," Casey said, coming into the kitchen from the living room. "Hey, you look…I dunno…"

"Stressed?" April sighed. "I've been really worried about them since…well, since Splinter passed away, and Leo and Raph aren't getting along…"

"I was gonna say tired…but I guess stressed works too." Casey said. "And don' worry 'bout Raph and Leo. They never get along." Casey grinned at April, then walked out into thechilly fall airto get the turtles.

Leo's concentration never wavered as he lead his brothers through every exercise they had ever been taught. Together they went through the basic motions, the warm up drills, and every kata they had learned since they began learning ninjitsu.

"Okay, guys," Leo said, having noticed Don's concentration begin to slip more than an hour ago, and Mikey looking downright tired. "Take a break."

Leo watched Mike and Don flop into the hay, exhausted, too tired to even talk to each other. Leo knew he was pushing them hard. He even couldn't help but wonder why they didn't just follow Raph's example and take off. He was glad they didn't though, because it had been a while since they had last done anything due to Mikey's leg, and it showed that they needed practice. He would kill himself before he let anything happen to his brothers.

Leo was satisfied with his brother's performance though. It was sloppy and slow at first, but soon it progressed to where it had stayed rock solid throughout their pre-teen and teenage years.

Lost in their own thoughts, all three turtles jumped with surprise as the double doors to the barn banged open.

"Hey guys!" Casey called loudly. "It's time for-"

"Casey!" Mikey groaned. "Use your indoor voice!"

"Yeah, well April says it's time for lunch." Casey said, unfazed, although his volume did lower considerably.

"Lunch?" Leo said. Where did the time go?

"Yes, Leo." Casey said, speaking slowly. "Lunch. You remember, that meal you eat in the middle of the day?"

Leo rolled his eyes. "I know what lunch is, bonehead. But it doesn't seem like we've been out here long enough…"

Don and Mikey looked at each other. Long enough?

Mikey opened his mouth to protest, but Casey beat him to it. "Long enough? You guys have been out here for six hours!"

"Without stopping until now." Don noted quietly.

Leo blinked. Had it really been that long? Now he was really surprised his brothers hadn't ditched him yet. "Well…"

A loud rumbling that could only be someone's stomach – most likely Michelangelo's – made up Leo's mind for him. "Okay," he said. "We're done for today."

"THANK YOU WHATEVER ALMIGHTY BEING IS UP THERE!" Mikey shouted.

"Indoor voice," Casey reminded him with a wink.

Casey led the way out of the barn, with Mikey and Don following. Leo stood for a few minutes, having fallen into the well of thought again. His eyes wandered over to the corner of the barn…Raph had helped him remake his katanas after the Shredder had pretty beaten him to a pulp, and destroyed his weapons.

That was one of the few times they had gotten along, and Leo regretted blowing up at Raph yesterday. His temperamental brother hadn't come home from his walk with Mikey yet, and that was yesterday afternoon. All Leo could do was hope he was okay.

Raph walked along a dirt path in the woods, that seemed to have been worn over a multitude of years. He dragged his feet, but he was in a much better mood than yesterday. Maybe it was because the sky was extremely blue with the sunshiningdown on him (although it was a little chilly)and it didn't seem right to be angry. Or it just might have been that he hadn't seen Leo in over ten hours.

Raph sighed, and looked up, watching some of the leaves get knocked to the ground by a squirrel. He knew he should be going home, that Leo would be going out of his mind with worry, but he didn't want to. It was quiet, with the exception of the occasional chirping of a bird. Completely unlike the city he was raised in.

Raph snapped out of his reverie as his sharp ears picked up the soft crunch of pine needles being stepped on. He quickly leapt into a tree and concealed himself.

Raph's eyes narrowed as a very familiar blonde head and behemoth shoulders found their way into his vision. "Hun?" He whispered to himself. He caught sight of another familiar figure- "Karai." He growled. He knew why they were there. They were looking for the turtles. He leaned down farther to try and catch what they were saying.

Raph waited for the pair to pass, and then silently climbed out of the tree. He had to warn his brothers. Problem was, he didn't know exactly how far he had wandered away from the farmhouse. Raph sighed, took one more resigned look at the resident flora, and began to walk in the opposite direction from which he had come.

"Casey! Be careful with that." April watched nervously as Casey stacked wood in the fireplace. It was starting to get cooler out, and the nights were exceptionally cold- especially if you were cold blooded.

"Hey, I know this place like the back of my hand. Nothing's gonna-" WHOOSH! Casey jumped back as fire suddenly burst up into the fireplace. "Happen."

Leo ignored the activity in the living room behind him and continued to watch the dirt path leading into the woods. He jumped slightly as someone put a hand on his shoulder.

"Still waitin' for Raph?" Mikey asked.

"Yeah…" Leo said distractedly, still staring out the window. He had been standing there for an hour, and now the sun was starting to go down.

"He'll be fine bro. How much trouble can he get into in the middle of the woods?"

Leo turned to stare at Mikey, as if to say, You don't really expect me to answer that, do you? Leo sighed and turned back to the window.

Mikey shrugged, unable to get through to his brother. He would try again later.

Leo listened to Mikey leave, watching the dirt path. Nothing. Maybe he should stop being so paranoid and trust Raph to come home safely. Master Splinter did…didn't he?

Leo rested his head against the cool glass of the window. He knew that wasn't true. Master Splinter would wait up for any one of them when they went out, probably worried out of his mind.

Leo nodded to himself as he made up his mind. He was going to go look for Raph. Even if his brother didn't want to be found.

April looked up from her book as she heard the squeak of the door opening. Brows furrowed in curiosity, she put down her book and walked into the front hall. "Leo?" she asked, recognizing the katana strapped to his shell.

Leo stopped halfway through the door. "Did you need something, April?"

April shook her head. "No…I just…where are you going?"

"To find Raph." Leo said simply, and was gone.

April bit her lip. Leo had disappeared before she had a chance to tell him it was only going to be thirty degrees that night. April went to find Don.

Raph shivered for the third time that night. He had been tailing Karai and Hun for what seemed like forever. Whatever gizmo Karai was using to track the turtles must have been defective, because they were going in completely the wrong direction. And Raph was willing to help them along.

Crouched in a tree with his arms wrapped around himself, he watched them, listening carefully. It sounded as if Hun wanted to go back to the nice warm jet. Raph smirked to himself. Wimp.

"We've been looking for hours," Hun complained. "I still don't see why it can't wait till morning."

"Because a task has been set before us, and we must finish it." Karai insisted. "No breaks."

Hun crossed his arms, pouting like a little kid.

Karai said something else, and Raph leaned forwards to hear better. What he heard instead was a loud CRACK! And suddenly he was falling.

Landing on his shell on the frozen ground, Raph groaned as he opened his eyes. "Stupid tree branch…" he muttered. As his vision swam into focus, he realized someone was standing over him. "Hun!" he growled, leaping to his feet and fighting off the wave of dizziness that came with it.

"Look Karai, we found one of them at least," Hun said, advancing and cracking his knuckles.

Raph immediately drew his sais, and was shocked at how slow his reflexes were. Must be the cold…he thought a bit nervously. He got into a stance and waited for Hun to charge.

Leo shivered, his teeth chattering, but kept going on the path, calling Raph's name. Yes, I am an idiot…I should've worn a coat or something…But Leo was resigned to not turn back until he found Raphael.

"RAPH!" He called out again, his throat sore from the biting cold air. He was starting to get a weird sense of déjà vu. Suddenly he felt a presence behind him, and whipped around, drawing his katana.

"Chill Leo, it's just us!" Mikey's voice cut through the dark air. Leo could see two shadowy figures behind a tree.

"Guys, what are you doing?" Leo asked his brothers.

"Making sure you don't freeze to death." Don said, pulling out a jacket and a pair of baggy pants from his duffel bag, identical to the clothes he and Mikey wore.

Leo did feel a lot warmer once he had the clothes on. "Thanks," he said, "But Raph's still out here…without the winter clothes."

"We know." Don said. "We're gonna help you look."

Leo smiled. "Thanks guys. Now let's hurry up and find him before we all freeze…even with the clothes."

They searched for another twenty minutes, parting ways and calling Raph's name, then joining together again, coming up empty.

"Something's gotta be wrong." Mikey said, looking around nervously. "We've been calling him forever…he hasn't been answering his shell cell, either."

Leo nodded in agreement. "We've tried splitting up…let's try sticking together now."

They walked together for another ten minutes, when suddenly Don stopped. "Leo…look!" One of Raph's sai was lying in the middle of the dirt path, glinting with the moonlight. Leo picked it up. "He's gotta be in this area. Spread out."

Leo waited until Mikey and Don had begun searching the woods to either side of him, then moved forwards into the woods. He looked behind every tree, leaving no leaf unturned. "I swear…if he's back at the farmhouse I'm gonna-" But Leo never got to decide what he was going to do to Raph, because at that moment he heard a very soft noise…almost like a moan.

Leo followed the noise, and almost fell over a tree branch. "What the shell?" Under further examination, he realized that the branch had to have broken off a tree recently. He continued to follow the moaning sound, until he caught sight of a shadowy figure lying on the ground.

Leo felt his heart sink as he got closer, and realized it was Raph. He seemed to be unconscious, although he was at least making noise. That was a good sign. "GUYS!" he called. He didn't have to say anything else. The worried tone in his voice spoke volumes.

Mike and Don appeared in seconds, both panting from the speed they had run to get to Leo and Raph quickly.

Don immediately knelt down next to Raph. "He's in shock." He said, pulling the extra clothes out of his bag and spreading the jacket over Raph like a blanket. "And…it looks like he had a fight with someone. See, he's all bruised and cut. The cold probably slowed him down while he was fighting…whoever it was."

Leo bit his lip in concern, still crouched by Raph. Mikey watched with a worried look in the background.

"Well, the only thing we can do now is bring him back to the house." Don said. With a little difficulty, he picked up Raph, and Mikey put the jacket/blanket back on him.

Leo let his brothers go ahead of him, and looked back towards the shadowy clearing of trees where they had found Raph, as if he was expecting someone to jump out from the darkness. Shaking his head, he followed his brothers.

April sat next to Casey with her chin on her hand, staring into space. The turtles had brought Raph in, battered and freezing, about an hour ago.

They had placed him on a couch which had been moved in front of the fire, and they hadn't moved very far from him since.

Leo's head jerked up as Raph started moving around. Watching him, he turned to his brother. "Donnie?"

"I'd say he's starting to wake up." Don said.

As if on cue, Raph let out an extra loud moan, and his eyes shot open. "Ugh…what happened?"

"We were hoping you could tell us, bro." Mikey said, as Casey moved off the couch to join his friends crowded around Raphael.

"I feel like I've been hit by a truck…"

"You look like it too."

"Shaddup, Casey."

"So…you really don't remember what happened?" Leo asked.

Raph blinked, trying to remember. "I was out walkin'…and…" Raph's eyes widened at the memory. "I remember now! I saw Hun and Karai, I was tailin' 'em. And then…uh…the tree branch broke, and I landed in front of Hun. I don't remember what happened after that."

Leo nodded. Good enough. "Shredder's looking for us."

Raph gave Leo a 'no duh' look. "Gee, ya really think?"

"Not now, Raph…" Leo sighed. "Look, it's late, we're all tired-"

"And cold!" Mikey added.

"-So let's just get to bed." Leo finished, looking around the room. All his brothers looked exhausted, not to mention what he looked like.

April nodded from the couch. "Guys, you all look really tired. Get some rest…"

Mikey smiled at her. "We will April. But you first."

"You guys are impossible!" April said, although she was smiling broadly. "Alright, I'm going." Smiling and shaking her head, she made her way up the stairs and disappeared into her bedroom.

"Alright, sleepover!" Casey said happily, waving an arm in the air before he was bombarded with pillows.

"Casey!" Mikey said, already curled up on the floor. "Cool it."

Casey shrugged and climbed into an armchair where he would spend the night. Don got comfortable on some blankets next to Mikey, while Leo was as close to the couch Raph was on as he could get. Within seconds, they were all sleeping deeply.

Leo's eyes twitched, and he slowly made his way into the half asleep, half awake state of mind. His eyes still closed, he frowned. He was too hot. He kicked with his legs to kick off the covers, but then realized- there were no covers. What the shell?

Shrugging, Leo yawned and made to turn over. 'Leo. Leo! LEO!' Leo frowned in his sleep again. Someone was calling him? Couldn't they see he was trying to sleep? "LEO!" This time it was clear as a bell, along with someone shaking him.

Leo sighed and opened his eyes. "Okay what- oh my god." The entire front hall was engulfed in flames. Leo instinctively looked to the fireplace. The fire was still burning cheerily and safely in the grate. Leo felt the familiar sinking feeling again. Someone had set fire to the house.

Leaping to his feet, Leo realized it had been April and Casey shaking him. He looked around. His brothers were already wide-awake and on their feet. "We have to get out of here!" Don shouted to everyone else.

The front door was a no, considering the entire front hall looked as if it was about to collapse. April rushed to the back door in the kitchen and found it was locked from the outside.

"Okay…" Leo said, when April came back, frantic with the news. "Stay calm. I have an idea." Leo drew his katana, and flipped it around so he was holding it by the blade. Using the hilt of the weapon, he smashed it into the glass of the front picture window, causing it to shatter. "Everybody out!" he ordered.

Leo waited until everyone was safely outside before jumping out the window himself.

"Everybody ok-" Leo didn't get to finish his question as something smashed hard into his shell, sending him sprawling on the ground, and causing his katana to clatter a few feet away.

Leo twisted so he was back on his feet quickly. And he didn't like what he saw. "Hun!" Karai stood in the background, looking unsure.

"Hello, turtle." Hun said, cracking his knuckles for the second time that day. "We have strict orders, you know. I'm just glad we finally found you, so we can get out of this god forsaken freezing death trap!"

Leo said nothing, just narrowed his eyes and moved to get his katana.

"Oh no you don't, freak!" Hun growled, leaping in between Leo and his sword, and sending a punch towards Leo's plastron. Leo caught Hun's hand, and twisted it, letting go only when he heard the familiar sound of bone breaking.

"AAUUGH!" Hun cried, clutching his broken wrist. Leo took the opportunity to run over and grab up his katana. Once he had his weapon back, Leo leapt, sending a series of kicks to Hun's chest, making him fall onto his back.

Leo jumped onto him, and knelt on the upper part of his chest, preventing Hun from getting up. "Never. Ever. Even think about touching one of my brothers again." Leo growled.

Hun growled back and tried to reach up with his good hand to knock Leo off so they could continue fighting. Leo would have none of it. "This ends now." Taking his katana, Leo raised it above Hun's chest, and plunged it down.

Mikey looked away as he heard the 'whoosh' of Leo's katana slicing through the air, and Hun's last cry. He couldn't look. Mikey knew Hun was dead, but he still couldn't look. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and looked up to see Don. Mikey suddenly realized he was shaking- and not from the cold.

Leo stood up slowly, and grimly put his blade away before turning in Karai's direction. "That was a message for your master." He said, almost sadly. "Now get out of here."

Karai did not need to be told twice. She bowed slightly, then disappeared into the shadows.

Together, the turtles, Casey, and April watched as the house was burnt to the ground.

A/N: Oooh, intense. I scare myself sometimes. But oddly, I'm happy. Probably 'cause I finally finished this stupid chapter. Hah! Hmm…I was wondering, do you think I should bump the rating up? (right now it's the equivalent of PG-13)