A/N: - Ok, shout-outs at the end this time – no nasty cliff-hanger this time, which is one good thing to look forward to! Enough drivel for now and I will let you read…and review – I appreciate every single one and I really enjoy reading them; they make me all warm and tingly inside and they have cheered me up several times in the past!
"We will keep our end of the agreement," Roshiri's voice was almost kind, but not quite.
"Our honour binds us to allow you sufficient mourning time for your brother." Ramakha added, his voice far gentler and more understanding that Roshiri's was.
"How long shall you give us?" Splinter sighed, his remaining three sons either not present or unable to speak.
"A week," Roshiri answered coldly.
"One week?" Splinter fought to keep himself in control, "for the loss of a son, brother and friend?"
"Roshiri…"
"No, Ramakha – I do not see why they should be allowed so much time when we have not yet even mourned for our brother!"
"Very well," Splinter agreed, "and now, I shall take my sons and return home." He left the room.
"You would give them no more time? Are none of you in agreement with me on this subject?" Ramakha looked incredulously at his three brothers.
"Sorry, I'm with Roshiri," Reginald shrugged.
"Me too – sorry, Ramakha," Ronald cast his eyes down to the floor, unable to make eye contact with his brother.
"One week – then we can finally get our revenge." Roshiri grinned maliciously.
"One week indeed…" Ramakha trailed off sadly.
"I am sorry for your loss – and sorry that my brothers would not bid you farewell, but to them the allegiance has already been lifted and they do not wish to tempt themselves into anything rash and honour-breaking." Ramakha shook the hand of each turtle, Casey and Splinter before kissing April's hand fondly, much to the disgust of her husband.
"Do not trouble yourself with it," Splinter inclined his head, "come, my sons, we must go home and grieve."
"Thank-you for all you and your brothers have done for us," April managed as the four turtles walked away in silence.
"Yeah, you guys aren't half bad considering you're related to Shredder!" Casey added in an undertone, but Ramakha heard him and smiled.
"I will have you know that we will not come after you – you had no major part in my brother's death," he saw Casey make to disagree and motioned for him to stay silent, "that my brothers shall know of. To them, you are irrelevant and do not deserve to die – take care of yourselves and good luck for your future, may it be a happier one than your friends are about to endure."
"Bye, Ramakha," Casey waved and he and April ran to catch up with their reptilian friends and their master.
"My sons, you will grieve for your brother, knowing that he is dead – and I ask of you, do not be pressured into going back to training too quickly," he glanced at Leo, "or to taking out your anger on others who do not deserve it," he looked to Raph, "or locking yourself away so that you do not need to face the outside world," he raised a furry eyebrow at Donnie. April and Casey had left about five minutes after they'd arrived back, deciding the turtles needed to be on their own for a while.
"Master Splinter…" Donnie spoke for the first time since the end of the battle, "how long do we have before they come after us?"
"One week."
"A week! That's it! Well, you know what? I hope they find us! I hope they find us and I hope we can rip them apart!" Raph snarled.
"Raph, stop…" Leo's soft voice interrupted; he sounded defeated, more so than any time before when they'd suffered greatly.
"No, Leo, I won't stop!" Raph stood up and faced Leo, who stayed sat down. Leo pushed him aside and made to walk out of the room but Raph whirled him round and went to punch him in the face, expecting his older brother to block the attack. But Leo didn't block it. A bruise had already begun to swell up just above Leo's left eye ridge, navy blue and ugly, yet another reminder of Raph's temper. Splinter stood up and put a hand on Raph's shoulder.
"Raphael, this is exactly what I mean – your brothers are hurting too, do not forget that, and you must not take your anger out on them!"
"Argh, does no-one understand me?" he went to leave the room. Donnie stood up and ran to his workshop while Leo stood face to face with his Sensei.
"I can't believe he's gone," Splinter's eldest son bit his lip, voice cracking.
"My son, go and rest – clean up your face and then rest." Splinter sighed; retreating to his own room to mourn for his youngest son, knowing that to grieve in front of his remaining sons would cause them even greater distress. Leo sighed but did not go to clean up the trickle of blood running down his face. Instead, he walked slowly towards Raph's room and cautiously opened the door.
"I do," he stated quietly, stepping inside.
"You do what?" Raph snapped back, surveying the mess that was his room; he'd already managed to throw several large objects around, even with one arm bandaged and in a sling, and his Sais were sticking out of holes in the floor.
"Understand you."
"I know," Raph got up and faced his brother, this time without anger.
"Do you?"
"I do," Raph managed a weak smiled, "you'd better clean that up," he mumbled, gesturing at the bruise.
"No, I'll leave it."
"Then I will have to clean it up," Raph grabbed his brother's arm and dragged him out to the bathroom. Once they reached it, Raph shoved his brother inside, "for once, Leonardo, you do not know what it best," he muttered sourly as he found some antiseptic wipes and cleaned the blackish bruise on Leo's face, with much protesting from his brother. Raph's hands had been filthy so there was a lot of dirt on the bruise and in the small cut that went with it. Even that, if left untended, could get nasty. Finishing with the wipe, he tried to get Leo to agree to have a pad taped over it but his brother just got up and left without a word. Swearing under his breath, using every colourful word under the sun, Raph kicked the wall a hundred times at least before stalking back to his room, furious at everything and with everyone.
In his workshop, Donnie was preparing a few essential items and putting them in a bag. As he zipped up the bag and slung it over his shoulder, he shut his eyes and whispered to no-one in particular,
"I'm sorry – this is just something I have to do,"
"What are you doing?" Leo's voice came from the doorway and Donnie's courage was dampened instantly by his eldest brother's appearance. Leo's arms were folded and his posture indicated that he was every bit his old self, but his face told a different story.
"Nothing," Donnie spoke hurriedly. He was scared by the dullness in Leo's eyes; there wasn't even a spark of happiness or hope in them and Donnie was spurred on by it. He never thought he would wish it, but he would give anything to get his big brother's bossiness and his domineering ways back, along with Mikey's warmth…and his life.
"What are you doing?" Leo repeated five minutes later, not able to bear the silence any longer.
"Nothing," Donnie's reply stayed the same as it had been before.
"You can't lie to me – where are you going?"
"Back to the Foot HQ," Donnie finally relented, sighing as he stared at the wall slightly to the left of Leo.
"Why?" his brother persisted.
"Because I need to search the forests; find out what really happened and whether Mikey is really…you know…dead" he hissed the last word so quietly and dejectedly that Leo could barely hear it. So this was how Mikey and Raph had felt when they'd thought he and Donnie to be dead – except this was different – Mikey was dead and the four human brothers of the Shredder really were now against them.
"You're looking for a body?" Leo's voice held wariness and sadness.
"Or something to show me the truth…I know you want the truth, Leo – I've seen it in your eyes." Donnie made direct eye contact with his brother, who stared back resolutely.
"Evidence, yes…I have to get evidence...but what if one of us is killed. So soon after Mikey's dead, the family wouldn't last. I'm not sure if we'll even pull through it this time!" Leo became more and more agitated with each word. Allowing a tiny smile to creep across his features, Donnie held out an extra, already packed, bag.
"I had a feeling you would come with me, even before you arrived here."
"You know me too well," Leo concluded, also allowing himself to smile briefly, before sinking back into the realisation that he'd just lost his youngest brother. And, although he hadn't even been anywhere near the edge when it happened, he couldn't help but think that it was his fault, in part even if not in full.
"And I also know that you will be blaming yourself for this for the rest of your life…" Donnie added quietly, seeing the sombre look on his eldest brother's face.
"Which is stupid," a new voice came from the doorway, weary with grief and eyes red-rimmed.
"Hey, Raph…" Leo mumbled sheepishly.
"You don't think you're getting this evidence without me, do ya?" Raph put an arm round Donnie as he packed himself another bag, "besides, Donnie, you wouldn't be able to tackle Leo in the state he's in – and you're in no better state."
"Neither are you…" Leo trailed off uncertainly.
"I know," Raph smiled nervously, "I know."
"My sons, where are you going?" Splinter asked them as they left the lair.
"To find out the truth," Leo answered softly.
"I shall not stop you – but please, I beg of you all, be careful – I can lose no more of you…"
"Yes, Master Splinter," Leo bowed half-heartedly and his brothers followed his example. That was when he saw that Master Splinter had been crying; crying for the loss of his youngest. That meant that Mikey was almost certainly dead – now what little hope Leo had clung on to about finding his brother was gone, vanished in a few short and miserable seconds of looking into a Father's eyes.
Leo took several deep, shuddering breaths as the Foot HQ appeared in his line of sight. He bit back tears and, were it not for the comforting hands on his shoulders and the knowledge that Raph was there, ready to catch him if he fell, he would have almost certainly been dragged into a deep pit of depression long before now.
"Well, we're here," he forced the words out as smoothly as he could manage.
"Yeah," Raph gulped from behind him.
"What are we going to look for?" Donnie asked his oldest brother. Leo cast his eyes down to the floor, desperate tears welling up and spilling over. Shocked, Donnie looked to Raph but he too was crying. Through blurred vision, Donnie repeated his question, but more slowly.
"A body…" Leo whispered, regaining his composure as convincingly as he could manage and with as much determination as he could muster.
"And possibly Mikey's Nunchuks – I would feel a little better about it if we could get them back." Raph tried to hide the emotion in his voice. Mikey would never have let him live that down…were he alive to hear it.
"And we have to find Marcie's body," Leo added.
"Marcie's body?" Donnie sniffed.
"In case she's not actually dead,"
"Oh – well, what order do we do things in?"
"We look for Mikey first – chances are, when we find him, we find Marcie anyway. After all, they went…they went over the edge together," Leo struggled to talk about the death of his brother. The three of them shared a look and then strode into the forest the side of the path up to the Foot HQ that Mikey would have landed in.
"Ok, guys, we're looking for anything that might give us a clue as to the whereabouts of Mikey."
"And don't forget the Booby-traps," Donnie reminded them, grabbing Raph's arm and pulling him back as he was about to step onto a loop of rope that would have forced him up into the hair and hung him upside down.
"Right and please be careful," Leo pleaded with his two brothers, "you heard what Master Splinter said – and you can't tell me you didn't see the look on his face when he said that."
"I know what you mean," Raph sighed sorrowfully, "he looked as though he thought Mikey wasn't going to be found – and I think he knows something we don't."
"Like what?" Leo inquired, curiosity lining his features.
"Like he knows what happened to Marcie – and I think he thinks that we won't be coming back or something. He thinks we'll die out here."
"He was frightened," Leo spoke softly and hoarsely.
"Frightened?" Donnie even looked a little scared at that news.
"Frightened of losing any more of us. He said he could lose no more of us and he really looked like he thought he might." Leo finished his explanation.
"It's sickening…and I really don't know what I might do if I lost either of you – losing Mikey hurts way too much already." Raph looked worriedly at his brothers.
"I know – let's get this over with." Leo walked into the forest, his brothers following quickly.
A/N: - Here is your shout-outs and I hope you enjoyed the chappie – now review for me and I will respond in my next chapter: -
Leo Oneal: - Mikey has not re-appeared as of yet – but hold your breath because you may see a glimmer of hope soon.
Chibi Rose Angel: - Calm down – I certainly do NOT get a kick out of killing him – quite the opposite – I HATE doing it. But the fact of the matter is that he isn't actually…well, I'll stop there, shall I? ;-)
Spootycup: - Not hanging onto a rock…
Madvy: - Thank ye kindly for your review and you will find out the fate of Mikey soon enough.
BlueRaven: - I know Mikey's death is a nasty thing to do – but take note of my evil smiles and also take note that there isn't one here!
Lioness-Goddess: - Your reviews make me smile every time, even when I kill Mikey you still manage to make me laugh! Don't be too sad – there's still hope, for the moment.
