A/N: - Well, here we go, everyone. I haven't got any waffle to go through today…so enjoy the chapter and have a shell-of-a-lot of fun reading it. Please, please, please review for me – they make me very happy and I can't wait to read them.
As they forced their way through the thick undergrowth of the forest, their hopes of finding their little brother became more and more distant. They had already nearly run into seven booby traps and all seven times it had been the quick eyes of Donnie that had prevented there being a disaster, with his knowledge of how to disable traps without anyone getting hurt. But disaster had yet to strike – Leo was off in his own little world when he stepped on a blanket of leaves and fell into a deep pit, with a circumference of about eight feet and a depth of twelve feet. Cursing, he kicked at the wall of it and the soil crumbled and several handfuls fell in from the top.
"Leo!" Raph cried, running forward as his brother disappeared down a hole, fearing that there may be spikes or some other weapons pointing upwards from the bottom, ready to skewer anyone who fell in.
"I'm ok, Raph," Leo's weary voice called up, "you and Donnie keep searching for Mikey and I'll find my own way out."
"No, we can't split up – that's the last thing we should do," Raph threw a small rock down at his brother, hitting him in the head, trying to knock some sense into him.
"Raph has a point – we'll get you out first." Donnie agreed with his hot-headed brother and began looking around for ways to get their brother out when some voices were heard not far off.
"One of the traps has been triggered – Ronald and Ramakha just sent down the signal," one said.
"Right, well it's one of the ones around here somewhere…" the other replied.
"Crap on a crud," Raph swore, "what now?"
"Get yourselves out and find Mikey – I'll catch up; you have your shell cells, right?" Leo checked.
"Yeah," Donnie pulled out his. Raph also showed his and checked it was working and the two turtles disappeared quickly.
"Come on, Reginald!" the first voice, now recognisable as Roshiri's grumbled.
"Sorry – I thought I heard some other voices!"
"Oh, great…" Leo mumbled as he heard the footfalls of the two men draw closer. Unsheathing his Katana, he readied himself for a fight and when Roshiri's shocked face appeared over the edge of the whole, gun cocked and ready to shoot, Leo snarled menacingly.
"Look what we have here…" Roshiri's eyes glittered with malice, "do I shoot or do I not?"
"Roshiri – we promised them a week!" Reginald scolded his brother as his face also appeared and looked down at Leo.
"Yeah, but this low-life is intruding on our property, no doubt to kill us!"
"You don't know that!" Reginald snatched the gun off his brother and shot it into the air several times so there were no bullets left, "we promised them a week and that's what they'll get. And besides, why would he come alone to kill us when it's us who are after his blood along with that of his brothers?"
"I suppose," Roshiri grunted, shooting Leo an evil glare, "you need help getting out?" he offered stiffly.
"Yeah, that would be great," Leo replied sarcastically, an unannounced staring contest seeming to take place between him and the human as he was helped out of the pit.
"Now, explain what you are doing, trespassing on our territory?" Reginald inquired more warily now that Leo was out of the pit.
"Looking for the body of my brother…proof that he's dead."
"Oh," a note of sympathy almost registered in Roshiri's voice.
"So don't assume anything about me. And I'm not alone."
"You're not?" Reginald edged back a little.
"Donnie and Raph are with me – we need proof that both Marcie and Mikey are dead. We don't want to accept it yet." Leo cast his eyes to the floor to hide his emotion at the mention of his baby brother's plunge to his death on the forest floor.
"I understand…" Roshiri remarked sarcastically, "that is, I understand that you should get over it and use your head-start to your advantage."
"We will not abandon our brother while there is still a chance that he may be alive somewhere – we are not like you." Leo hissed the last five words so venomously that he spat a little, his face mere centimetres from that of Roshiri.
"There is little chance that he will still be alive," Reginald muttered, "It's a miracle you all survived the drop last time."
"We fell from a considerably lower height."
"Come with us – we will conduct a scan of the grounds. We didn't recover Marcie's body either so I think it would be a good idea. Then you can get out of here and finish your mourning so we can kill you sooner."
"What makes you think I'll follow you?"
"Because if you don't then I will detach your head from your body before you can even draw breath to scream!" Roshiri snarled in a low rumble.
"That would be against the agreement!" Leo gasped in disbelief.
"No…we agreed to give you one week's mourning but you are not actually mourning. You are trespassing on our property and we kill trespassers; so we're sticking to our rules of the Headquarters." Roshiri drew a blade and pointed it at Leo's throat. The blue-clad turtle scowled darkly and walked with the two human brothers.
"What the shell does he think he's doing?" Raph half groaned, half hissed.
"Going with them – we'll keep looking for Mikey. They've clearly forgotten about us, thank shell!" Donnie replied. He and Raph kept walking until they eventually reached the wall and could walk along the base of it.
"I'll climb up a little way and along the wall; there's a narrow ledge that sticks out for a while – I'll go along that."
"Ok, but be careful. We can't risk anyone else falling off this wall."
"Got it – you search the base and I'll search the actual wall itself." Raph began climbing, enjoying being able to give out the orders for once instead of having to listen to every word his older brother said.
"What in Shredder's name is he doing here!" Ronald exclaimed as Leo was escorted into the building, Reginald behind with a sword to his back and Roshiri alongside and holding a sword across the turtle's neck.
"He was trespassing with…his brothers! We didn't catch them!" Roshiri cursed inwardly as he remembered the remaining two turtles.
"The penalty for trespassing is death," Ronald smiled maliciously in Leo's direction, imagining how good it would make him feel to slit open the turtle's throat and watch him die a painful death.
"I hardly think this is fair," Ramakha sighed, "but he was trespassing and has broken HQ rules – lock him up!" he barked the last words quickly and harshly.
"What? No, you can't---" Leo started to protest but was silenced when Reginald scratched his right arm with a blade and Roshiri clobbered him on the head with the hilt of another. He was out cold in seconds, a trickle of blood forming a thin line down his face.
"That was a little cruel," Ronald shifted uncomfortably, looking apprehensive about his brothers' actions.
"Filthy lizard has to learn."
"Maybe so but, next time, don't knock him out quite so violently," Ramakha was knelt by an unconscious Leo, "he'll be out for a fair few hours now."
The night drew close and darkness fell across the forest and the building it surrounded, also falling across the wall, concealing Raph from Donnie's view.
"How's it going? Found anything? It will be pitch black soon so I suggest that you get back down here."
"Hang on, bro – down in a minute. Whoa!" Raph nearly fell but was caught by a strong hand and pulled up into a small cavern in the wall.
"Thanks," Raph breathed a sigh of relief as he leant against the wall. Rain was beginning to spit outside and Raph was grateful for the light of a small fire in the crevice, "so, do you live here?"
"No…I was waiting for help to arrive," a hoarse voice coughed in reply, "I've sprained my left wrist."
"You sound awful – hey, I have a brother that could fix you up no problem."
"We'd better wait until morning or we'll slip and fall," the stranger smiled in the dark; Raph couldn't see him but he still got the impression that this stranger knew something that he didn't know, "so…tell me a bit about yourself – what brings you to such a place as the Foot Headquarters?"
"I'm with my brothers – well, two out of the three of them. You see, one of them fell off this wall in a battle and so me and my other two brothers are here looking for him…in case he survived."
"Wait a minute – Raph?" the voice grew a little stronger and Raph's mind began to awaken and a memory stirred within him. He knew that voice all too well.
"Mikey?" he dared cautiously, crossing his fingers and hoping he wasn't hearing things and going mad.
"Shell, I'm glad to see you!" Mikey leapt at Raph and enveloped him in a fierce hug, keeping his left wrist safely out of the way so it didn't move too much.
"We thought you were dead! Oh, wait until Donnie finds out about this!"
"Donnie?"
"Yeah, as in your brother; techno-wizard, brainiac, boy-genius, remember?"
"Duh – I meant what about Leo?" Mikey's face was illuminated by the faint firelight.
"Oh…um, he got captured. They said he was trespassing. We'll get him later. But what about you? How did you survive?"
"I don't actually know. I was falling with Marcie and she grabbed something. I kept hold of her foot and managed to swing myself into this cavern – but she then fell off and into the forest. She was definitely dead because I climbed down to have a look but landed awkwardly on my wrist and sprained it. I found the body but heard voices and managed to climb back up the wall just before Marcie's troops arrived and collected her body. I've been hiding in here ever since," he finished with a weak cough.
"Ok, we have to get you out of here. I'll call down to Donnie and he can come up here and fix you up as best he can under the circumstances. Then we'll save Leo in the morning – he can handle himself." Raph crawled to the entrance of the small cave and called down, "DONNIE! GET UP HERE!"
"HANG ON!" was the reply. Raph heard his brother picking his way carefully up the wall and held out a hand for his second youngest brother to grab. Pulling him in, they both sat by the fire once more.
"We'll stay here until morning – and I need you to give someone a quick checking over for any serious injuries, though I think he's just sprained his wrist and caught a bit of a cold."
"Who?" Donnie asked warily.
"Hey, bro," Mikey leaned forward so Donnie could see him. The purple-clad turtle nearly jumped out of his shell and Raph had to grab him to prevent him falling backwards out of their temporary shelter.
"Mikey…you're alive!" Donnie grinned so widely that he closely resembled a Cheshire cat. He hugged his little brother and the three of them settled down to try and get some manner of sleep after Donnie had used one of his bandanna tails to wrap Mikey's wrist properly while Mikey told him of his survival.
Leo awoke in a cell in the middle of the night, groaning as he sat up. He had a lovely, dark-coloured bruise on the back of his head to match the one above his eye and he could feel blood caked on his face and arm from Roshiri and Reginald knocking him out.
"So you're awake…good." Roshiri's voice came from outside the cell, "just for your information, you have been out for at least five hours now. Here is some water," he threw a bucketful of icy water threw the bars, soaking the unfortunate Leo from head to toe and sending him into shivering convulsions from the shock, "I'll be back later." Roshiri sniggered, leaving the leader to his thoughts.
"Wait!" Leo called after the human, "any news of my brothers?"
"We're letting them off the hook this time – but the moment they decide to step foot on our territory again then they will be thrown in without questions and you will be killed instantly.
"Great, thank you so very much," mumbled the blue-clad turtle sarcastically.
"No problem," responded Roshiri snidely before slamming the door to the dungeons and clattering back up the stairs.
"Wake up, dudes! We gotta go find Leo!" Mikey shook Raph with his good hand and prodded Donnie with his feet.
"M'awake," moaned Raph, merging his words together.
"Ok, let's go find Leo," Donnie stretched and made his way to the entrance to climb out and down the wall.
"Wait, bro – there's another way to get in," Mikey pulled his brothers along behind him as he headed to the back of the cavern, "look; it's a tunnel into the dungeons of the Foot Headquarters. Cool, huh?"
"Very nice, let's get this over with." Raph grumbled and the group set off along the tunnel, carrying one of the larger branches that had been burning on the fire as a torch to see what lay ahead, up to six feet ahead at least, even if they couldn't see any further.
After about an hour and a half, they reached a large door above their heads; closed tightly but with no bolt – it was like a giant wooden manhole cover.
"Spookular, it wasn't closed last time. Last time it was slightly open and I could just about see through it into one of the cells – the little one at the end."
"Hmm, maybe Don and I can move it," Raph beckoned Donnie over and pushed up on the wooden cover. After several strained pushes, they managed to lift it, a startled yelp coming from above as a heavy weight was thrown off the cover, making it considerably lighter and easier to lift off completely. The three turtles climbed out and looked around curiously to see who had yelped.
"What the shell did you--- Mikey…" Leo trailed off suddenly, biting his lip. His baby brother was stood directly in front of him, as alive and smiling as he ever was, but Leo couldn't move – he was in total shock, "Mikey…" he said again, voice cracking.
"Hey, Leo," Mikey smiled gently, knowing how much of a shock it must be for his oldest brother, "um…why are you soaking wet?"
"Roshiri threw freezing water at me," Leo replied absent-mindedly, waving a hand to the side in a loose gesture to show that it wasn't important, "but how did you survive?" he asked, shaking his head and pinching himself to check he wasn't dreaming. Mikey related the story for the third time and Leo just nodded, dumbstruck, every so often to show he'd understood even if he wasn't taking a single word of it in.
"We need to get out of here," Raph climbed back down the hole after the story and started back along the tunnel.
"He's right; Splinter will be worried and he really needs to know that Mikey is alive as soon as possible," Donnie agreed. Mikey motioned for Leo to go first but his big brother shook his head and pushed Mikey forward before him, not intending to let the youngest turtle out of his sight for quite some time!
"So you're telling me that you have been in this cavern since Marcie died?" Leo gasped as they reached Mikey's cave once more, "And you definitely saw her die?"
"It was a serious mess, bro – but you remember what she said about killing you first when you commented on the Shredder rotting at the bottom of the ocean? I think her troops have taken on that job…"
"How'd you figure that one out?"
"I overheard them talking," Mikey answered simply, "they were discussing how to get us all at once and I have a little hunch that it involves you somehow."
"When does it not?" Raph glowered, clenching his fists.
"Easy, Raph, just calm down – it's not my fault I'm in such high demand," Leo joked dryly. Donnie bit his lip and withdrew a little, waiting for the inevitable fight to follow.
"Calm down? We are under threat from two groups, both avenging the death of a family member – you and Mikey are bound to be the prime targets as you are the ones who killed Marcie and her Father and were the ones who fought the Shredder for the last time. You nearly got yourself killed then and it's bound to happen again – and you're telling me to calm down?"
"Raph, just listen to me for a minute; I'm used to being in the firing line. I would rather it was me than any of you." Leo put a hand on his brother's shell.
"I wouldn't…" Raph trailed off grumpily.
"I know, but it can't be helped, can it?"
"It can!"
"No, Raph, it can't. I have made my decision not to let anyone else get involved if it's me they want to pick a fight with."
"Leo, you have to let us help you!" Donnie pleaded, "Or at least let us be there if they challenge you personally."
"You can watch from a distance if you must, but you cannot get involved unless something happens to me. If, for any reason, I get backed into a corner and give up – which is highly unlikely – then you have permission to step in. But let's concentrate on getting back home and telling Splinter that Mikey's alive before we worry about things that might never even happen."
"Whatever." Raph concluded sulkily, walking off in the direction of the nearest manhole cover. Leo rolled his eyes in exasperation before following at a brisk pace, still dripping wet. Mikey and Don shared the usual look they always had after one of Leo's fights with Raph.
"Something tells me that we can expect a shell of a lot of fights between those two in the next couple of weeks. They're even more immature than me when they fight, and that is most definitely saying something." Mikey wrinkled his beak at his purple-clad brother as their two oldest brothers disappeared down a manhole into the sewers, still hissing snide comments in the other's ear.
"I know what you mean; and they're completely unbearable to live with when they're like this!" Donnie sighed.
"Dude, it's so annoying – if it gets too much then I think I might have to smash a chair over their heads…I'll take Raph and you can beat Leo. That should teach them a lesson for fighting with each other."
"Nah, they'll never learn…"
"What makes you so sure?" Mikey surveyed his brother's expression with curiosity.
"It's Leo and Raph," was the simple reply.
A/N: - Ok, I hope you enjoyed that – I told you that Mikey wasn't totally dead – review for me please! Here are the shout-outs: -
Lioness-Goddess: - Recognise one of the nicknames Raph gave to Leo:-P Lol, thanks for your review and Mikey is back in the house! HIGH THREE!
Eldarsevenstar: - Consider your insanity ended…for the moment anyway! Leo and Mikey have a shell of a lot to worry about – not in this chappie particularly…but certainly as the story progresses…and you wait until you see what I have in store for Casey…
Chibi Rose Angel: - I'm so glad you like my story – and don't worry, I didn't think you were mad – I was merely expressing that I don't get a kick out of it :-P There's no cliff-hanger this time but I can't promise for the whole story!
Madvy: - Thank you for all the kind words, I really appreciate them! See? There's nothing to worry about for Mikey…yet.
BlueRaven: - Ah, the cruelty of an author…nasty thing, really! Thank you for your review!
Spootycup: - There's your closure! Hope you liked the outcome of that little worry – and no cliffie this time so consider yourself lucky because the lull is only temporary!
TBreader: - You're absolutely right – Mikey is not dead as you can see! Good observance there on your part!
As always, it's great to hear from you guys so keep them coming!
