I sincerely apologies for all the time it has taken me to come up with another chapter. I have a REALLY big exam coming up soon. It means everything for my education... Well, enough of my babbling. This part is NOT the end, though it could sound like it. And be ready - this is one of the longer chapters :)

Michelangelo looked up, seeing the weak light from the sun rising behind the tall buildings of New York. The air was still fresh from the rain the night before and it had washed all trails of the events away. Looking back, he saw his brothers coming closer. Leo had carefully placed Raph on his back, and Donnie was right behind him with the winged feline at his side. The youngest turtle smiled to himself. They were finally out of the damned building, all of them alive.

Luckily, Don had lent him his Bo for support as they walked home. The dizziness wasn't gone yet. Mike would know, as he had tried to jump into the air in a rush of pure happiness, when they had gotten out the door. However, it had only resulted in what looked like a clumsy excuse for a step going wrong and he had hit the ground.

"Mikey, take it easy," Donnie called behind him. His brother was smiling as well. How awfully awkward it seemed, all three turtles couldn't brush the smile off their face. The night had taught them a lesson - just how weak they actually were when once alone. But they had made it together, somehow.

The cat smiled at the sight, a small tear running down from her eye. It had been so long, since she had seen the streets and daylight. In fact, she couldn't even remember how long since it had been… The smile faded. What was she to do now? She had no places to go, no one to turn to. And if she had? She couldn't remember.

Leo stopped to look at her, biting his lip. Somehow, he knew what she was thinking. And so did the others, it seemed. Donnie looked from the cat to Leo, and soon Mikey stood between the two.

Words were not necessary at all. A simple look between the three made it clear what to do. Mikey's smile grew bigger, as he walked towards the feline with only the sound of the Bo hitting the pavement with small thuds.

"You know," he tried, scratching his head, "We don't live in a mansion, but there's always room for one more…"

The cat blinked, not catching it at first. It was unbelievable. The two stood, holding eye contact for a minute, until it was broken and the cat lunged herself at the turtle, nearly knocking Mikey off his feet.

"Thank you," she whispered, giving the turtle a big hug. This had to mean, that she wouldn't be alone anymore. There were no more dark cells in the future now, at least she hoped there wouldn't be.

Leo and Don simply looked at each other, as they grinned. Perhaps this was the beginning of a new life?

"So," Leo interrupted, "Should we get going?"

The cat got up, wiping the tears away from her eyes. She hadn't noticed that she had been crying. With a nod, she started walking beside Michelangelo to the others, as they started on their long way home.

It went slowly and without a word. Even though it was early in the morning, they had to be careful not to be seen, especially with the bright daylight hitting more of the city by the minute. It was even harder with a turtle lying on your shell and a mutant cat not knowing where to go. But they made it, after a long time.

Leo sighed. It was good to be home. He carefully placed Raph on the couch, making sure he wasn't hurting him and looked around the dark lair. It was quiet - too quiet. Donnie and Mikey had noticed it too. It felt wrong. Splinter would have been awake by now. Donatello walked to his master's door, knocking But as no reply came, he decided on sliding it aside to look at the room. It was empty. Donnie gulped, quickly looking back at the others.

"Where the heck is he?" Mikey finally said out loud, placing Donnie's Bo to rest on the wall. He wasn't feeling dizzy anymore, though he could still feel the pain from his head.

"Sensei?" Leo tried calling and awaited an answer, but none came. He tried again, but the silence remained. Don and Mikey tried searching the lair, but it was as if their farther had disappeared into thin air.

Leo grabbed for his shell cell, dialing their sensei's number. It was ringing… For some time, Leo just looked at the small device without a word. Why weren't he answering? Nothing was ringing in the lair, so the old rat had had to take it with him.

"How does this work?" a muffled voice suddenly replied and a lot of scrambling could be heard.

'Typical…' Leonardo thought to himself in amusement. Their master had never been good with that thing. He would probably never learn.

"Master Splint-" Leo tried, but the muffling got worse and another voice asked for the cell phone - a female voice.

"Guys?" April's voice replied, "Where are you, we've been out for hours looking for you!"

The three turtles gathered around the shell cell, a wide smile spread on their faces. That explained everything…

"We're home," Michelangelo cheered into the phone, but was pushed a little aside.

"It's a very long story," Leo cut through, sending his brother a glare. But he couldn't get mad at his reaction, not after what they had been through. His attention was turned back to the call, "We'll explain everything when you get here." April said goodbye and hung up, leaving the lair silent again.

"Well," Don broke the silence, "I guess we better get a look on that bruise, Mikey."

Mikey's face turned serious, as he looked at his brother motioning for him to follow him to the lab.

"M'kay," he hesitated, "But no stitches!" The young turtle trailed after Donnie, though it was clear that he wasn't very happy about it.

"You better go with them too," Leonardo told the cat, "Don needs to do something about the cuts." The feline tried to look down at where Shredder had hit her, but all she could see was the blood splattered fur and cloth. She carefully let a finger run over the cuts, sending the turtle a weak smile.

"I- guess you're right," she lowly replied. With a final nod, she went in the direction that Donnie and Mikey had went and left Leo alone with Raph.

Leo sat down next to the couch with a sigh, looking at his sleeping brother. There probably hadn't been anything he could have done to prevent the events of the night. Still, he had known that one day, things wouldn't go as smoothly as they used to. It had all been a matter of time - he just wished Raph would come to the same conclusion. Leonardo gently placed his hand on Raph's. He couldn't wait to see him awake. More than ever before, he actually wished for an insult coming in his face. He just needed… something. He gave his brother's hand a light squeeze and was about to pull his hand back, when Raphael stirred in his sleep.

"Raph..?" Leo whispered to his brother, waiting for his eyes to open. But it didn't happen. The turtle was still caught in his sleep. Leonardo withdrew his hand and looked down on the floor, seeing drops of tears hitting the ground through the unclear gaze. He could actually hear himself sob lowly, his breathing being short and rapid. He had been holding it back, all the deepest frustrations he had been building up through the night. And now it was all welling up inside him, now that he was alone.

Maybe it had all been his fault after all? If he hadn't let Raph go, he should have stayed with him, even though his younger brother didn't want him to - or maybe him following was the exact reason for it. How many times hadn't he lectured his brother about running off without a word? Leo couldn't remember. It had been more of a habit than an actual cause, that had kept him arguing with Raph over the last weeks about that small topic. And if he hadn't followed him, he wouldn't have held him back on the street, his brother could have disappeared before the Foot even saw him.

"Leo, are you alright?" a voice asked, making the blue masked turtle look up suddenly. Mikey looked down at his brother, a worried look printed in his eyes behind the mask. He just stood there, waiting for a reply - but their fearless leader was speechless. Mikey pondered. What would be the right thing to do now? With a sigh, he sat down beside Leo and just studied him without a word.

Minutes passed, as none of them knew what to say or do, until Leonardo finally broke the silence.

"It's my entire fault," he whispered, looking into his brother's shocked eyes, "Isn't it?"

Mikey gulped hard on that one. He hadn't expected his brother to take the blame, not for tonight's happenings. It had been nothing but fate leading them into the nightmare, but his usually clever brother seemed to be blind to the basic fact.

"Leo, no one is to blame but Shredder," he tried, placing a three-fingered hand on Leo's shoulder. He really struggled for something clever to say, but he knew he was going to fail miserably. He simply wasn't good at this. Still, the words didn't seem to sooth Leonardo at all. Tears still trickled down his cheeks, only to land on he floor among the rest of the teardrops.

"No," Leo sobbed, "I- I should have done something to prevent this. I should have…" his voice trailed off, and Leonardo rose from his place and turned his shell to his brother.

"I don't deserve to be alive-" he didn't get any further, before something stroke him on the face and almost made him loose his balance. His cheek felt like it was burning, like he had been hit hard. He starred at his brother in shock. Michelangelo had been quick enough to get up from his seat and slap him in the face. But it wasn't the usual face looking at him. Mikey looked angry, his fists bolted together in two tight knobs and his body was shaking.

"Don't say that!" he cried, restraining himself from just turning away and run out of the lair, "Don't ever dare saying that, Leonardo. Y-you don't know what we went through to find you. I thought you were dead, that I was never gonna see you again. Just-" Mikey wiped the tears away with his arm, looking his brother into the eyes. He felt like he was going to faint, that the air had been pulled out of his lunges. He could hardly say more…

"I need you." he finished with a hoarse whisper, closing his eyes and turning the head down. A vomiting feeling was frozen solid in his guts, threatening to come up, if the dizziness didn't knock him off his feet first. How he maintained his standing position was unbelievable.

Leo blinked. Had he ever seen Mikey so angry - or scared before? No, he would have remembered. In a moment of self-pity, Leonardo had forgotten that he hadn't been the only one suffering, that the night had been just as long as it had for him. Like eternal hours…

"My sons."

Splinter watched the two turtles standing before each other, none of them speaking or even looking at each other. The silence was abruptly cut off, as Donatello slid into the room. His eyes fell at first at his two brothers, and then he saw that their Sensei had returned. A smile spread on the purple masked turtle's face. Seeing the old rat with them was what proved them to be home.

Master Splinter walked closer to the three turtles, standing in the middle of the triangle they were forming. Even though, he didn't feel like they were alone. There was something, he couldn't make out…

Then, nothing could have prepared him for their actions. Not even if he had been told, would he have been ready. All three turtles lunged at him, almost dragging him to the ground by the weight of their hugs, or maybe even lifting him from the ground as they tried to hold onto him, wetting his fur with their tears. The rat was too stunned to move at first. So many vibrations of both sorrow and happiness seemed to fill the lair, as if something was unleashed from their minds.

Leo could barely breath, as he felt the warm fur on his cheek. Being the one closest to their sensei, and the one being pressed inwards by his two brothers, he could feel them all around him. He had been stupid to believe, he was alone, even the second he attempted to think that he didn't deserve them was foolish.

Mikey sniffed happily, squeezing his father tightly. His hand was placed on Leo's shoulder, but that wasn't distracting him. He felt like himself again, he so needed to laugh out loud. With another sob, he squeezed even tighter, as if he was trying to press that weird feeling out of his mind by letting it out on Splinter.

Donnie finally let go of the last emotions toggled up inside of him. Being around his family felt greater than ever. Not even when he had locked himself up in the small lab for days, had he ever had the urge to jump out and into the arms of his brothers and farther like at that moment.

But things somehow didn't seem whole - something was missing. Splinter's mind froze in one thought. Where was Raphael? Wouldn't he have felt it, if his son hadn't returned home with the others? And what kind of a father would he be for not knowing? As the turtles released him, he tried to look for his son in his heart. He could still feel him…

The three ninjas seemed to know what Splinter was searching for, as they stepped away from him to let him see the last of them on the couch.

Without a sound, Master Splinter moved to the couch and placed a hand on Raphael's forehead. A loud sigh of relief escaped his mouth. His son was out of danger.

"I… I believe we have a lot to tell you," Leo said, as he carefully wiped the tears away from his eyes. Splinter nodded and sat down in the chair near the couch, as his three sons sat on the floor around him.

Together, they started telling what had happened, all from each perspective.

"I still haven't found out, how you made the lights go out, as you attacked Shredder," Donnie looked at Leo, as they had finished their tale, "It would normally have needed some kind of timer…"

"I didn't do it," Leo exclaimed confused, leaving them in silence for a short moment.

"Perhaps it was the thunder," Mikey suggested with a shrug. Donnie thought about it. It could have been.

"And what happened to this feline?" Splinter asked, eyeing the turtles. Donatello got up from his seat on the floor and walked over to the small lab.

"We brought her with us," Leo explained and turned his head to see Donnie come closer with the winged cat beside him. She seemed a bit pale, as she got closer and looked at the rat.

Splinter studied her. It made sense, that feeling he had had of not being alone, when he had walked into the lair.

"You don't seem to feel to well," the rat quietly pointed out, making the cat blush a bit. Or maybe it just looked like "a bit" due to the fur covering the skin.

"Well," Donnie coughed, "Let's just say I've found someone more afraid of needles than Mikey…"

"You fainted!" Mikey wasn't late to ask, but his reply came as a short laugh from Don, that sounded like "Almost".

"Hey," the cat complained, "It wasn't that bad… okay it was, but…" The smiles didn't seem to seize, as she looked around, not even from the rat, though he quickly tried to drag the focus away from his children's amusement.

"Tell me, child; what is your name?" he asked, though the smile still played on his lips. He somehow couldn't forget all the troubles Michelangelo had caused with his fear of needles over the years, especially that one time, when Donatello insisted them on getting a vaccine for the flue.

"I," the cat looked down, "Don't have a name…" The words seemed to quiet the room for several minutes. It hadn't been a reply, which they had been ready for. How could you not have a name?

"Well, not to worry," Mikey stood up, acting precisely like his old self. Of course, his family could tell he wasn't truly himself, but it soothed them to see him so cheerful again.

"We have plenty of 'leftover-names'. And I think we have a name fitting you perfectly." Walking up next to the feline, he grabbed a soft hold on one of the white wings and folded it out. When folded, the feathers touched the ground. But now one of them was lifted up, and a small feather fell silently to the floor without anyone noticing.

With a wink, he readied his brothers and father for the upcoming name…