(gasps) I haven't updated for three weeks! I am so sorry!

But I'm back! And here is the next chapter! Hope ya think it's good.

Now, maybe I should just wait to update this for a few more weeks-

(backing away from the pitchforks that were just suddenly shoved in her face) Okay… maybe not.

(pitchforks not leaving) I was kidding, guys!

By the way, in this chapter, there'll be a piece from a news program. It'll be in italics, as will thoughts.

Now, for the story!

Disclaimer: Let's see, I own a couch- (parents shake their heads) Oh. Well, I own a TV- (parents shake heads again) I bought it a garage sale with my own three dollars! (blank looks) Fine. But it is mine! I own my skin- (parents say something) What do ya mean you own it? I don't care if you paid the doctor bills; my skin belongs to me! To make a long story short, guys, I don't think my parents would let me own the TMNT, even if I could.

&&&&&

"What's that?"

Don lifted his head to see Silhouette standing by his side, looking at his work. She'd been here for the past three days and had quickly made it apparent that she was a very curious little person.

"Oh," he lifted up a small petry dish; "these are just some water samples from the East River."

She was wearing a thoughtful face. "What're they for?"

"Well, I was making some modifications to the sub when I found some weird bacteria in the water. It doesn't seem dangerous, but I've been taking samples from other water sources to study, just in case."

"Do any other places have the same bacteria?"

"I only have one more to check, but so far, no."

She grinned. "Cool. Can I help?"

Uh oh. Yes, Sil was very smart. She was also very talented in the medical field of science. But when it came to these matters, she could be as clumsy as Mikey. "Um, that's okay. I'm almost done, anyways."

"I could-"

"Hey, do I still have any gauze left?"

She blinked. "Uh, I don't know. Why?"

"Well, you never know what could happen. Just want to make sure I'm prepared."

"Oh. Okay. I'll go check." Sil turned and left.

Donny breathed easier. Sil was a great kid, but he wasn't yet sure if he was underestimating this project.

&&&&&

Sil walked by the dojo, where Leo was training alone. "Hey, Leo!"

He flinched, then turned around. "Hi, Sil. What're you doing?"

She shrugged. "Nothing. I'm bored. Don's afraid I'll break his stuff, so I don't got anything to do."

"Well, Mikey's looking for a video game partner. Have you tried him?"

Something was wrong. Sil had gotten to know Leo pretty good over the past few days so she knew when he was a little tenuous. It was probably the dreams. He'd had five last night, a new record. And they still didn't know anything about that boy.

"Leo, you eaten anything today?"

He didn't answer her right away. "No, why?"

"Raph's gonna catch on if you don't start acting normal."

Leo dropped his katanas and held his head in his hands as if it was made of glass.

"What's wrong?"

He looked at her suddenly, as if he'd forgotten she was there. "Nothing. Just a bad headache."

Sil looked at the clock. Through her hair, she could see it was only 9:30. She hoped the nightmares weren't starting earlier now. If they became unpredictable, Leo may never get a good night's sleep for a long time.

The girl turned back to him. "C'mon, Leo. Let's go. You need to relax."

He started to protest, but she grabbed his hand, dragging him with her. "C'mon!"

The ninja eventually went with her to the living room, where Mikey and Raph were finishing a video game.

"Aw!" Mikey began. Raph had just beaten him. Again. "No fair! Let's make it nine out of seventeen!"

Raph grinned and sat back. "No way, bro. Face it, I beat ya!"

"Fine." Mikey pouted. He immediately brightened up when he saw Sil and Leo walk into the room. "Hey, guys! Wanna watch a movie?"

Silhouette nodded. "Okay!" Leo remained lost in thought.

"Great! I'll just get this out of the way…" he began to unplug the video game station. The second he was done, the regular TV kicked in to a news station.

and that's today's weather. In other news, police are still baffled by the many fires occurring in the orphanages of the big apple. There have been a total of six within the past three weeks. Local authorities are positive that this is not a coincidence. In addition to that, over sixty of these orphans have not been accounted for, which ties in to the reports of the missing homeless children. According to spectators, about twenty of the homeless ready to be emitted into foster care have also gone missing, along with a Thomas Grigsby-

Leo's attention was immediately on the screen.

Mikey was rummaging through some videos. "Let's see, we can watch-"

"Mikey!" Leo shouted, "Be quiet! I'm trying to hear this!"

Back on the screen, the news had cut to a man, apparently the boy's father, who was explaining.

"Tom had gone out for a little bit to buy something for me, but he never came back."

A picture of a boy with red hair, freckles, and blue eyes appeared. The boy looked to be about eight. He had a small bruise on his chin and was wearing a dirty, blue turtle-neck.

"After two hours, I was pretty sure he wasn't coming back."

Sil didn't like the way this guy looked. And she could see that Leo didn't either. The broadcast switched back to the news lady.

If you have any information about Thomas Grigsby, please call the number on your screen. And now, let's go to sports, with-

Everyone was staring at Leo now. But he didn't notice.Back in his own little world, he just walked away.

Mikey turned to Raph. "What's with him?"

Raphael growled. "Nothing that he's tellin' us." He too left the room.

But Silhouette knew what was going on. She knew why Leo felt that broadcast was so important.

One, the number of missing children from the fires and homeless kidnappings were practically the same as the screamers from Leo's dreams. But more importantly, they both knew that that missing boy was Tom.

&&&&&

Leo walked in no direction. Eighty-two. That's how many children had disappeared. That was the exact number.

And Tom? Things were starting to make sense now. He had said that Stockman had thought he was like the others, who Leo now knew were taken because they would not be missed. He'd thought Tom was like them. But why?

Leo stopped in his tracks. Because of the bruises. Because he looked homeless. Baxter Stockman had made a mistake. One that could be the key to his downfall.

But he just needed a little more information.

&&&&&

Raph rolled his eyes. Mikey had picked some poorly made, gunslinger movie this time. And it was getting rather boring.

Between him and Donny, Sil watched wide-eyed.

Raph grinned. He couldn't help it. This was going to be too much fun…

He waited until they got to a scarier part, then hit her in the back. The little girl let out a scream.

Raph started laughing. Don and Mikey looked at him, then at Sil, who seemed on the brink of tears.

She looked pissed, too. "You jerk!"

That only made Raph laugh a little harder.

She started to turn red, and then she looked at the other two turtles. "Can't we watch something else? Something without guns? Your samurai movies are pretty cool."

Raph, who had by now stopped laughing, said, "Why? What's wrong with gun movies?"

"Guns aren't what's bad. It's the neurotic people who use 'em that I'm afraid of."

"Ya got a point there, but when did you ever come in contact with-"

Her eyes narrowed in anger. "Did you ever hear about the shooting at the St. Lukes hospital last year?"

All three turtles shook their head.

"Of course you didn't. Only five people died. Two patients, a doctor, an intern, and the gunman himself. Guess who the doctor was?"

They didn't say anything. But their eyes showed that they knew. Her mother.

"That's right." She said. "And what about the intern? Wouldn't it figure that he'd be my brother. I lost my only two relatives on the same day. Thanks to a neurotic man with a gun."

She had started to cry. Raph looked at her sadly, regretting that the conversation had been brought up. "Look, Sil. I'm sorry-"

Sil glared at him, hugging her knees. "Oh, just shut up."

Then she turned to Don, and cried some more.

&&&&&

Sil had gone up to bed around ten. Donny couldn't help but notice how close she had come to Leo in the past few days. They'd become good friends. The purple-clad turtle just hoped she could help him with the apparent problem he'd been having.

His eldest brother hadn't been the same for a while now.

Donny wrote a few things down on paper, checking his studies. The bacterium in the water was interesting. It almost resembled human DNA at some points, but then quickly broke down into something else.

Behind him, Don suddenly heard a clanking sound and turned to see what it was.

No one was there.

He checked the time. It was about eleven-thirty. Time for bed.

Don walked over to his worktable to organize his things. But then, he noticed something. "That's weird." He thought out loud. He thought that he'd just finished looking at all the water samples, but apparently he'd forgotten one.

Picking it up, he noticed something else. He'd forgotten to label it. Weird.

He took the petry dish, and put it under the microscope.

&&&&&

Raph was climbing the stairs to go to bed. He could see Leo's room. Leo's still hiding something. He better tell me soon or…

Up at the top, he could hear Leo turning on the floor. Another nightmare? Raph felt tempted to go and peek. There was something wrong with his big brother. And he hated to be kept out of the loop.

The red-banded turtle was just at the doorway when a little figure appeared in front of him.

"Whatcha doin'?" Sil asked.

Raph blinked. "Nothin'. What're you doin' up so late?"

"I have to go to the bathroom."

"Oh." He looked at the little girl. She seemed so sad… "Listen, Sil. I'm sorry about your mom and bro. I didn't mean to-"

She shrugged. "That's okay." They began to walk towards Raph's room. "I just miss her. Sorry I called you a jerk," she grinned, "even if it is a true statement."

Raph punched her playfully in the shoulder. "That's okay, kid." He paused. "Hey, do you know anything about how Leo's been actin'?"

They stopped at his doorway. "No. Why do you ask?"

"No reason. You two've just been bondin' a lot lately. I was just wonderin' if maybe he'd told you something."

Sil shook her head. "Sorry. Can't be of much help to ya.""

Raph nodded. "Well, okay then. Night."

She waved. "Night." Then she walked off.

In his room, Raph thought about his brother. He'd have to talk to him again, that much was certain. Leo was hiding something, he could feel it.

But he didn't feel like thinking about this tonight. So, he shifted a little in his hammock, closing his eyes. In the next second, they were open again, and Raph was sitting up.

Sil had lied to him. She did know something, he was sure of it. She had been making sure that he didn't go in to see what was happening with Leo. He knew because she had mad one mistake in her little speech.

Sil had said she had to go to the bathroom. The bathroom was downstairs.

&&&&&

Sorry that was so short! Next cahpter will be much longer, I promise!

So, pretty informative, huh? I thought you guys might want a few more clues to the story.

Okay, next chapter, we won't be seeing too much action, but the one after… (grins) will be very important.

Please R&R!