Author Note: If ya could see SS right now, ya would see her practically bouncing off the walls with excitement and pride. . . I was nominated in 9 categories for the fan fiction awards! The story you're reading right now was nominated in Best Drama and Best Villain. I really wasn't expecting it at all and I'd like to thank the person or people who nominated me! And to wish my fellow nominees luck also. There are some excellent fics on the list that deserve the recognition.

This chapter is slightly shorter than most of the others, but there is good reason for it. I wanted to end the chapter at a certain point and I got to it sooner than I thought I would. I know, I updated faster than usual - don't get too used to it! And apologies to those awaiting the new chapter od 'In Too Deep' - had a couple of problems with it and when I got over said problems, I managed to screw up my keyboard (so much for the time I put aside to write the new chapter, huh?). It will be up by the end of the week, no matter what!

Hope ya all had a good Xmas and Santa brought ya everything ya wanted!

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Leo found Raph and Donnie in Raphael's room. Both of them looked up guiltily when he entered.

"Guys, have either of you seen Mikey?" Leo rubbed his forehead wearily, wondering why life had to be so difficult. "He's not in his room."

Raph shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe he went for a midnight run."

"Master Saki wants to see us in the morning. After the last training session we screwed up, he shouldn't be exhausted tomorrow."

"If ya so worried, go and find him," replied Raph.

"Yeah, I'm worried and you should be too! He's not been acting like himself lately, in case you hadn't noticed."

"He's just been having a tough few days," said Donnie, trying to placate the situation.

"Not that you'd notice," muttered Raph.

Leo's eyes flashed. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Can't ya work it out, fearless leader?"

"Listen hothead, if you. . ."

"GUYS!" Donnie raised a hand to shut the bickering pair up. "This isn't helping. Mikey can look after himself. He just needs to work off some steam."

Folding his arms, Leo glared at them. He wanted to blurt out that he knew what they were hiding and he'd kept their secret - but if he just announced it, Raph would go nuclear, accusing him of spying on them. Then they'd argue worse than ever, he'd lose thier trust altogether and nothing would be achieved. He had to pick his moment carefully. Instead of arguing the point further, he turned and stalked out of the room.

Don frowned. "Great Raph. Did you have to antagonise him?"

"He knows something."

"He does now! Between your baiting him and Mikey's little outburst, he's got to realise something's amiss."

Raph sighed, his anger dissipating. "So, what do we do about it?"

"I think we should tell him."

"You're not serious."

"Leo's smart. He'll know what to do."

"You're smart."

"Not like Leo. I know about things but Leo knows about people. He can see a way around problems, he'd know if Splinter's telling the truth and where else we can go for more answers - there's only so much I can find out of the computer and I've got everything I can think of. I don't know what to do from here. It's irritating me and I know it's getting to you. And do you think Mikey would have gone off like that if he wasn't being driven crazy too?"

"And if he goes to Saki?"

"Do you really think he will?"

"I - I don't know." Raph pulled out a sun and moon dagger and began twirling it around his finger. "Sometimes it's like we don't even exist bacause he's too busy playing Saki Junior, being the good little Foot Ninja. But have ya noticed he's been trying to do the brother thing lately? Even before Mikey found Splinter. I don't know what to think."

"I still think we should tell him."

"We can't do anything without talking to Mikey first."

"True." Donnie frowned. "I wonder where he is? It's not like him to take off without saying anything. I mean. . . he will come back, right?"

"He'll be back." Raph tried to look reassuring, but Don could read the tension in his face. "Mikey wouldn't just run out on us. Not in a million years."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Mikey was contemplating doing just that.

He sat on a rooftop overlooking the harbour, close to where they had fought the weirdo in the hockey mask, staring out over the city. There were so many conflicting thoughts in his head, he'd had to get out and think things through.

He was slow to anger and quick to cool off, most of the time. Going nuclear at Leo was a sign of how stressed he really was. Everything was so - fucked up. If only he hadn't told Yuriko he'd give the meals out, he wouldn't know any different. And what had it mattered? She'd died anyway. The extra half-hour it gave her to train made no difference at all.

He wasn't really mad at Leo. He was just so sick of the self-serving bullshit the Foot came up with and Leo spouted it most of the time. How they should be thankful to their Sensei, proud to be a part of the Clan. Mikey saw no reason to be proud, not when their Sensei was so brutal.

It all came down to who he believed. Master Saki, who had brought them up and sheltered them, trained them, encouraged them. Or Splinter, an unknown quantity who appeared from nowhere and told them some stupid story with no proof, expecting them to buy it.

Mikey believed Splinter.

Maybe it was because of his scars. Maybe it was because of his unease with the Foot. Whatever the reason, he thought that Splinter was telling the truth. All the evidence so far pointed to him being honest.

Which left him in a quandry; what was he to DO about it?

His first instinct was to run. Get the hell away from Saki and live his life far away from the Foot, hide himself somewhere and hope they never found him.

But - there was his brothers. Sure, they hadn't been close in a long time, but recently they had been sharing secrets and it had made him feel more secure about his place in the mutant family. He had told Raph and then Donnie hadn't just helped them, he revealed he too had been going against Master Saki. If he just ran, he would be leaving them behind to face the music. And possibly Leo too, who knew nothing about what had been going on.

Not to mention what would happen to Splinter. Master Saki had been keeping him alive for a reason and Mikey believed it was something to do with the four of them. If he ran, then maybe Saki would do something to Splinter. But, if Mikey went back to Foot headquarters - maybe he could help Splinter in some way, free him.

Yeah. And maybe pigs would go airbourne. But he had to at least try.

The question was, how was he going to free the rat? Leo would have a plan, but Leo didn't know about Splinter. Donnie might be able to come up with something, but Mikey wasn't sure that he wanted to involve his brothers in some wild escape plan. What if something went wrong? It would be better just to break Splinter free himself and take off. Saki would suspect their involvement but Don and Raph were smart enough not to say anything and Leo's honest shock should convince their Sensei he had acted alone.

Mind made up, Mikey began devising a plan to free Splinter. Screw waiting around. Something had to be done.

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At that time of the night, the monitoring room was deathly quiet but the Foot soldier keeping an eye on the cameras was wide awake. Mikey leant around the door and took out a fukiya, arming it with a dart and shooting the Foot ninja in the back of the neck. A second later collapsed across the monitors and Mikey could continue unobserved.

On one of the screens Mikey could see some kunoichi watching television but the others showed no one hanging around. High security was in darkness and just to make sure no one could find out where he was in case the unconcious ninja was discovered, Mikey disabled all the cameras. It would take hours to get them back online and by the time they were, he and Splinter would be long gone. The door to the cell would pose a bigger problem. No doubt it was reinforced and the lock read hand prints rather than a simple numerical code. But Mikey had seen Donnie working on the lock back-up system and knew if he could rewire it, all the locks in the building would be rendered instantly useless.

Unfortunately, knowing where the damn circuits were located didn't mean he knew what he was doing. Quickly, he yanked a couple of wires and went over to the door, trying the lock. It still worked. Frustrated, he stormed back over to the circuits and pulled all of them, snapping several and pulling the rest out of their moorings. The lock on the door to the monitoring room bleeped quietly and disengaged. With a grin, Mikey went over and tried to lock it. Nothing happened. The system was dead.

So far, so good. But he had to be quick. He left the room and hurried through the skyscraper, making his way to maximum security. he passed no one on the way and was sure that he couldn't be observed now that the cameras were out of action. Still, he was careful. He might be reckless but he wasn't stupid.

Solitary was gloomy, the lights dimmed down, but high security was in almost total darkness. Mikey crept forward, wondering if Splinter realised that the door was now unlocked. How technologically savvy were rats? Maybe he hadn't realised, or maybe he was already long gone.

Only one way to be sure.

Ahead of him, he could see the door to Splinter's cell, closed. Was he still in there? Walking toward the door, Mikey stretched out an arm to push it, see if it opened. . .

"Your plan has failed."

Mikey whirled around and narrowed his eyes. His Sensei stood before him in full armour, the helmet hiding his face save for the eyes, which glared menacingly at the turtle.

"You rrecent change in attitude alerted me, warned me to be on my guard. And tonight, you have proved my suspicions correct. I took you in when I might have left you to die, trained you in the art of ninjitsu - and this is how you repay my benevolence? By conspiring with my enemies, undermining me? Michelangelo, did you really think you could get away with this - this insolance?"

As the Shredder advanced, Mikey let his hands drop to his weapons, faintly aware of a noise from the cell behind him - Splinter, banging on the door. It was still locked - his attempts at rewiring had failed somehow. Which left him to face the Shredder alone. And the Shredder knew that Mikey had betrayed him.

Dropping hisd hands to his belt, Michelangelo grabbed his chigiriki and prepared to fight.