That Which Prowls in the Dark of Night

Disclaimer: The TMNT belongs to Mirage and other people not me.

Chapter 17 Problems Resolved.

Low conversations woke Raphael. One of the voices he was sure was Casey. Laying there, listening to the murmur of voices, he was able to pick out Leonardo's voice and Donatello's. The last voice was feminine, and it only took Raphael a few more moments to identify the voice as Annie's. He could also hear Annie's thoughts whispering in his mind as well. That meant the spell on him was still in operation.

"He's waking up," Annie said calmly. Raphael finally was able to open his eyes. He looked up at his two brothers, Casey, and Annie looking back at him.

"How do you feel Raph?" Leonardo asked.

Raphael quickly gauged how good he felt, and compared it to what he was used to. "Still beat," he admitted. He noticed that they had moved him and Michelangelo to an air mattress. He sat up slowly, and looked down at Michelangelo who was next to him, still deeply asleep. All the burn areas had been bandaged carefully. Next to Michelangelo was Samantha looking like a small black panther with blue eyes. She sat there, curled up under Michelangelo's arm, purring. "How's Mikey?"

"About as exhausted as you were," Leonardo said, relaxing a trifle. Leonardo never relaxed completely outside the Lair, but when one of them was hurt he would never drop his guard. "He didn't even try to wake up when we got here. You started struggling, but Annie did something that put you back to sleep."

Raphael vaguely remembered trying to wake up. "I couldn't open my eyes. I wanted to but I couldn't. Annie calmed me down."

"You wanted to wake up, but your body wouldn't let you," Annie explained. "You just needed to rest. It took a lot of energy to beat back the dekabor and seal it away. That's why you two are tired. Most of that energy came from you guys."

"So you didn't use up any of your energy?" Raphael asked, his voice taking on a sour note. "You just used us like a pair of batteries?"

"Oh she used up hers too," Donatello quickly reassured him. "She passed out on the way back here, and only woke up long enough to help us inside with you two. She then went right back to sleep. She just woke up twenty minutes before you did."

"And I'm still feeding him energy," Annie complained. "Just because his spirit is back in his hands he's still bound by the spell so I can still send him power. He never went back to fighting me."

"You're what?" Raphael asked. Then he realized. That's why he could still hear Annie in the back of his mind, but why did she say that his spirit was back with him? It was only then that he noticed. Whatever she had placed in his hand earlier was still there. He had been unconsciously clutching at it the entire time. Curious he opened his hand and found inside the little red gold turtle pendant that Annie had cast a part of him into. Instantly he looked at Michelangelo again. There was no pendant around his neck. He was holding it. He looked up at Annie puzzled yet hopeful.

"The dekabor is gone Raph," Annie said with a smile. "There's no need for me to hold on to you any longer." Before he could say anything, Annie continued. "But if your smart you won't ask me to break the bonds just yet. I am feeding you with mage energy right now to help you recover. I'd do it for Mike too if I could. If you want to be freed now I can, but If I were you I'd wait until you felt more like your old self."

Raphael so wanted the spell off of him right then and now, but something Annie said caught his attention. "What do you mean you'd do it for Mikey if you could?" A bit worried he checked on Michelangelo. He seemed to be in an extremely deep sleep. Raphael put his hand on Michelangelo's arm and found it to be relatively cool. Concerned, he took a blanket that had fallen to his side, and placed it over his brother's shoulders.

"I don't have a direct line to Mikey," Annie reminded him. "I can't feed him energy directly, only through you, and I wasn't going to ask, but as long as I'm able too, I might as well help you recover."

Raphael wasn't sure if he should be grateful or resentful to Annie for feeding him her magical energies to recover, but Michelangelo was another story. He hated it whenever Michelangelo got hurt. Only when he was in recovery, did Michelangelo fuss and complain. Not that he didn't like having the others at his beck and call, but he hated being in pain. Donatello would sedate Michelangelo more often than Leonardo or himself, and for far less. Raphael and Leonardo would do nearly anything to keep Michelangelo happy and healthy. Both have them have taken blows to keep Michelangelo uninjured.

And if you want to help Mikey now, you'll suck up the magic and let Annie do her thing. Raphael sighed, and cursed himself under his breath.

"What was that Raph?" Leonardo asked.

"Nothing," he muttered back. Then he looked up at Annie and said to her. "Annie, if you can help Mikey wake up faster I . . . I guess I'll let you use me."

Annie eyed Raphael suspiciously. "You want me to?" She asked.

Raphael's eyes narrowed and he glowered at the young witch. "Do I have to tell you everything twice?" He snapped.

That got a laugh from his brothers and Casey. "You'd better do what the turtle says Annie," Casey said with a grin. "Sounds like Raph has some energy to burn anyway." Raphael glared back at Casey who laughed, and made a face at Raphael.

"Wait a minute Annie," Donatello said. "Didn't you say that you could borrow energy from us to help get everyone up to speed?"

"If you're willing," Annie said surprised. "If you trust me."

"You gotta understand them Annie," Casey said with a shrug. "They won't be happy until everyone's better. Hey, can I help too?"

"Sure," Annie answered. "You stand here between me and Raph, and put your hand on his shoulder. Don, you go sit next to Mikey, and give me your hand. Leo you sit between Raph and Mikey." When everyone was in position, she asked. "Everyone in contact?" When she got nods all around, she lifted her head to the sky, and closed her eyes. She chanted something that they didn't understand, but Raphael felt the difference immediately. It was like she had turned each one of them into a living energy source, and opened the floodgates between the six of them. He felt energy flooding into him from Leonardo and Casey, but along the line he knew some of the energy he was getting was simply passing through him to move into either Michelangelo or Annie.

Suddenly it was over. Casey and Leonardo dropped his hands. Raphael looked up at Casey who looked slightly worse for wear. "Ugh!" Casey complained. "I need an aspirin now!"

"Nobody said you had to help," Annie reminded him. Raphael's attention turned to Leonardo who looked fine, except Raphael caught him suppressing a yawn. Leonardo's attention turned to Michelangelo, who was beginning to stir.

Michelangelo seemed to be remembering the last few seconds before he had passed out. "Get . . . get in there you . . . " Suddenly he paused, and his face scrunched up with confusion. He opened his eyes, and looked at the group around him. "What happened?"

Donatello smiled gently. "Raph and Leo managed to save you from the dekabor, but doing that pulled all the energy out of you guys. Annie just helped us replace some of it."

Annie nodded with a smile. "Only one thing left to do." She knelt down in front of the air mattress. "Raph, hold the pendant out in your hands like this. Mikey, that mental rope you've been holding on for me it's time to let go of it now." As Michelangelo nodded Annie gently took Raphael's hands, and curled his fingers around the reddish gold pendant. "Take it back now," Annie instructed him gently. "It's yours."

Raphael closed his eyes, and took in a deep breath. He knew exactly what Annie wanted him to do. Concentrating, he did what he had been trying to do for the last few days. He pulled on the part of himself that Annie had stolen, and this time he was rewarded by a feeling of being filled. This felt even better than the energy boost Annie had just given him. For the first time in days he felt right. He felt whole! He opened his eyes and opened his hands. The pendant was still there, but now instead of red gold, it was an ordinary yellow gold turtle. Satisfied, he looked up at Annie. He knew he should thank her, but he couldn't bring himself too. After all if it wasn't for her he wouldn't have had this problem to start with.

Leonardo helped Annie to her feet. Raphael didn't wait for help and got up himself. He was more than ready to get out of there. "I don't know about you bros, but I could go for some eats. How about we go to Casey's and he can splurge for an early breakfast!"

"Great idea!" Donatello said

"Hey wait a minute!" Casey protested.

"Lets go!" Leonardo said. They all loved needling Casey.

"No, we can't go!"

They all turned and looked at Michelangelo still sitting on the mattress. He looked genuinely distressed. Before anyone could ask him what was wrong he said, "We may have solved Raph's problem, but what about mine?"

Raphael sighed and rolled his eyes. Leonardo and Donatello looked concerned. "He's right," Leonardo said. "We still have Mikey's premonitions to deal with."

Now Raphael was getting annoyed. "Maybe I'm just being stupid, but I wanna know. Why are Mikey's dreams a problem?" Before the others could protest, Raphael continued. "Think about it guys! Mikey stopped that dekabor from causing serious damage. I mean what if he hadn't had that dream that first night when I was going to Casey's? That dekabor would have swallowed me whole and then used me to get you guys!" Raphael turned to Leonardo. "He led you here and stopped me from breaking Annie's spells! He also led us right to the dekabor. That gift of his isn't a problem, it solved problems!"

"The problem is that we're not having the dreams, Mikey is," Leonardo said evenly.

"The dreams aren't under his control," Donatello reminded Raphael. "You know how he gets when he has one!"

"So all he's gotta do is get them under control!" Raphael said stubbornly. "Splinter says he can if he wants to."

"I don't want to," Michelangelo said accusingly. "I just want to stop having them."

Raphael was getting angry now, but before he could say a word Leonardo held up a hand to stop him. As Raphael seethed, Leonardo knelt down and went eye to eye with Michelangelo.

"Mikey, you know I'll do whatever you want to get rid of these dreams, but you know Raph is right. Can you look me in the eye now after everything you've done for us and tell us that you want to throw it all away?"

Michelangelo looked away from Leonardo. "You guys don't understand! I don't want anything to happen to you guys, but I never know when they're gonna come, or what I'm gonna see, and every time I fight it I get these massive headaches! I don't think I can take another week like this."

Now Raphael felt guilty. Knowing he was right didn't make things better. He had forgotten that Michelangelo suffered through the nightmares. They were never easy for them, and all of them were always afraid that one night he might loose his grip on the real world.

"Annie, there's gotta be something you can do for him," Casey said.

Annie shook her head sadly. "I told you before. I can't change what he is. I can't make the dreams go away."

"Can you at least fix it so that Mikey can get control of them?" Leonardo asked. When she turned to him questioningly, Leonardo continued. "It didn't seem to hurt him as much when he used your crystal ball over there."

"It didn't hurt at all when I used Annie's crystal ball," Michelangelo said thoughtfully. "And it didn't hurt when I used the little one up in your room either."

"You used the crystal in my room?" Annie asked surprised. "By yourself?"

"Well Sammy helped me," Michelangelo said. Samantha jumped into Michelangelo's lap. Absentmindedly, he began petting her. "She didn't do anything to my head though. She just told me what to do and I did it."

Annie stared at Michelangelo for a few seconds, and then asked him gently. "Do you want a scrying crystal of your own Mike? That may very well solve your biggest problem with your gift."

"It will?" Michelangelo asked.

"If you scry on a regular basis," Annie explained, "the pressure in your mind won't build up and the visions won't be as intense as your nightmares have been. You'll know they're just a vision. If you do it like every week there's even a chance after a while you won't see things all the time."

"What do you say, Mikey?" Leonardo asked, "do you want to give it a try?"

Michelangelo still looked slightly skeptical. "Do you actually have a spare crystal ball?"

Annie laughed. "Leo, give me a hand for a minute," She said. Leonardo followed Annie back to the front of her shop. The others all heard some whispering for a few minutes then they returned with Leonardo carrying a large case. He knelt back down in front of Michelangelo, and opened it. Annie removed the silk covering to reveal about twenty small billiard ball sized crystals of varying colors.

"Man!" Michelangelo said in awe. He ran his hands over the stones lightly and some responded to his touch by lighting up. Raphael took a step back startled. He didn't expect magic to work for Michelangelo.

"Pick which one feels right," Annie said. "Don't be surprised if it's not what you expect."

Raphael saw a gleaming orange topaz and thought that was going to be Michelangelo's choice, but he closed his eyes as he ran his fingers over the crystals, and chose instead a gleaming blue green aquamarine. "This one," he said opening his eyes. The small blue globe flared to life suddenly and Michelangelo with no prompting stared into it. "Master Splinter's really worried about us," he said suddenly in a strangely detached voice. "We should go home soon."

"Yes I think so," Annie said with a smile. She gently pried the crystal out of Michelangelo's hands, and slipped it into a small bag of black silk. She got up to find a case for the crystal, and the others watched as Michelangelo seemed to wake from the trance the crystal laid on him.

"Huh?" Michelangelo blinked and shook his head to clear it. He looked up at Casey and his brothers who were smiling amused. "Okay what did I just do?" He asked. As he looked at their expressions he said, "I just saw something in that crystal ball didn't I?"

"Nothing we couldn't have guessed at," Leonardo said evenly. "It's time to go home guys."

"About time," Raphael said. "Let's blow this pop stand."

Leonardo was the last to leave the shop. As Annie handed him the box that held Michelangelo's new crystal Leonardo said, "He won't say it, but I will. Thank you for watching out for us."

"You're welcome," Annie said. "Don't worry I'll keep an eye on things from my end."

Leonardo knew that meant that Annie would watch for magical threats to them. Even if Michelangelo didn't foresee a problem, Annie would warn them. He bowed to her and followed his brothers out to the Battle Shell.

"So if we're going to your place that means you'll have to spring for breakfast!" Casey said as they took their seats in the Battle Shell.

"Don't bet on it Case," Raphael said with a grin. In his hands was Casey's wallet. "Look what I got!"

"Hey!" Casey protested. He began to try to chase Raphael around for his wallet. Raphael tossed it to Leonardo. Leonardo smoothly caught the wallet and gave it back to Casey after he snatched twenty dollars from it.

"Quiet you guys," Donatello scolded in a hushed voice. "Look."

In one of the back chairs with his feet propped up on the console Michelangelo sat oblivious to everyone, sound asleep.

Leonardo smiled. "Sweet dreams Mikey."

The End:

Okay Maybe not the end Epilogue coming soon:) Sorry no teasers this time:)