(jumps around) Guess what I saw! (pauses) No… not a ninja turtle, unfortunately… Actually I just say a double rainbow! Very pretty…

And… since you're all wondering why the heck I'm mentioning it, I'll just say there was no reason. Just wanted ya to know it was quite beautiful and I took a picture of it.

Now, I suppose I should get on with this chapter. (sighs) As of the twenty-eighth of last month, I've been working on this for a year now. Pathetic, isn't it?

Hope you like!

Oh, a little warning here. There's a wee bit of romance between Casey and April here in the first part. Nothing erotic, I assure you, but… if you find it sappy, I'm sorry. I'm not very good at writing romance, though I may try my hand at it someday.

Disclaimer: Yeah, I still don't own the TMNT. I live a very unproductive lifestyle. Maybe if I can get my lazy bum off of this chair I'll someday manage to sneak it away from Eastman and Laird. However, since I'm writing this chapter, I guarantee that ain't happening anytime soon.

&&&&&

As he and April moved deeper into the fancy warehouse, Casey was once again extremely overjoyed that he was lucky enough to even know a girl as smart as her. While he could use the Shell Cells for their primary use, he could never figure out some of the other genius functions that Don had installed, like the GPS function that April was using to find the guys.

But though Casey Jones wasn't quite the smartest man available, he honestly felt he and April were, as corny as it sounded, meant to be. Sure, they had their annoyances and disagreements with one another, but anyone could see the love they had for each other.

Of course, he and April were the only ones who wouldn't admit to this, not even to one another; despite however many times and ways they had shown their affection.

These thoughts were soon forced to the back of his head though as the power went out. For a moment, their progress was halted; the soft, green light illuminating Casey's outline and April's face as she looked back and forth between the two hallways they'd come to, fearful of any predators that may be lurking.

Luckily, the back-up power started up, dimly lighting the halls. Though with this reassurance, Casey nevertheless found himself being dragged back against the wall.

"What the heck are ya doin'?" he asked April, who had hidden the both of them against one of the many doors, a space that was hollowed out between the wall.

Peeking over the barrier, the redhead pointed towards the ceiling. "There's security cameras now." She whispered. "We can't risk being seen."

Poking his head out just a little too, Casey frowned at the camera. When they'd first come in, there had been none, along with any other form of security. Even for Casey, that had seemed a little odd.

Turning her back against the door once more, April tapped her chin in thought. "Knowing Stockman, he probably has a lot more stuff where this came from."

Casey, out of habit, took a hockey stick out of his golf bag. "But wouldn't the power outage have taken some of it out?"

April smiled up at him. "Perhaps, but not necessarily. With the back-up power, it could very well be working."

Sighing in frustration, the vigilante's grip tightened on his weapon. "So… are ya gonna do some long, techno thing to knock it out, or what?"

Laughing quietly, April shook her head. Surprising Casey, she then took of her shoe. "Actually," she said, turning back towards the camera; "until I can find a security room, I was planning on doing what you usually do when you're frustrated with something."

What that said, she took aim and threw her shoe at the camera. Dead on, it hit it perfectly, breaking the camera and knocking it to the floor. Cautiously stepping out of their little hideaway, April glanced up at the ceiling, searching for more cameras. Not finding any, she signaled that all was clear.

Immediately, Casey moved ahead of her, towards the broken camera. After hitting it with his hockey stick to make sure it was truly busted, he knelt down to the ground, retrieving April's shoe. Holding it out to her with a grin on his face, he extended it before her. Smiling back, she placed her foot into the shoe and onto the ground, her fingers delicately stroking the side of his face.

She was his Cinderella in sneakers… but without the evil stepfamily…and the godmother… or the pumpkin- though he had bought her pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving.

Remembering the guys, April looked back at her Shell Cell and turned to her right. "Uh… we better keep moving." She pointed a finger. "The guys should be this way."

As he moved on, Casey stood up, sparing the broken security camera a glance before catching up.

Damn, did he love her!

However, despite the knowledge of how strong, both physically and mentally, the woman beside him was, he wished that she wouldn't have had to have seen what they found just a few minutes later.

&&&&&

Trying his best to reassure the kids, Mikey went over to them, wrapping a few that actually did the same in a surprised, yet pleasant embrace.

With all the incomprehensible horrors he knew they'd been through, the orange-clad turtle wished they hadn't had have to been exposed to more of these terrors, even if it meant their salvation from their persecutor, now fried on the floor.

As he was able to retrieve some breathing room from the frightened children, he turned his head, noticing Sil sitting placidly by the Slayer's body, lifting and dropping his limp hand with little enthusiasm.

"You okay?" Mikey asked her.

Quickly, she turned her head around to him. With a sad smile, she nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."

That was when Mikey realized that the young girl wasn't overjoyed with the Slayer's passing, as he'd almost, and ruefully, expected her to be from her outburst at him upon her awakening.

And though Sil, from what he knew about her, tremendously valued human life, whether it was in the form of a human or not, Mike understood that something had happened; this sudden change of attitude hadn't quite come on its own, or had resulted from the Slayer's death alone.

During these thoughts, Leo had moved over to Sil. Mike's older brother had a funny look on his face as he sat down beside her. He shook his head before looking back at her, smiling slightly.

Sil returned the smile in the same way as she had returned Mike's. She didn't say anything for a few moments, still fingering the Slayer's hand. Finally, she lowered it gently to the ground. The girl sighed. "He was younger than me, ya know."

Leo blinked, seemingly thinking about the statement. His eyes turned to the dead body lying before them. "Him?" he asked.

Nodding, Silhouette placed her chin in her hands. "Yeah." Raising her head, she stared at the ceiling. "He gave me a little piece of himself, as he was dying." She paused. "He… he really wasn't so bad, I guess. He was kinda like the rest of us, ya know? Caught in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Donny, who had been talking with Raph, now nodded at Sil's statement. "Only he was unlucky number one."

It was at that moment that two sets of footsteps lightly making their way in their direction resonated in Mikey's ears.

Gently, yet somewhat forcefully, Mike pushed the children back, drawing his nunchucks. At the same time, his brothers did likewise, turning towards the noise. Rising to his feet, Leo stood protectively over Sil, who, unsurprisingly, refused to move back and hide with the other children.

Fortunately for her, and the rest of them, for that matter, the two intruders turned out to be Casey and April.

Looking up from the Shell Cell she held in her hands, the redhead's face immediately lit up. "Guys!" she yelled happily, hugging Raph and Don, who were the closest.

Placing one tip of his hockey stick on the ground, Casey grinned. "We've been lookin' all over for ya!" Raph, having broken away from April, folded his arms over his plastron, a smirk on his face. Sheepishly, Casey put an arm over his shoulder and scratched his back. "Well… uh- okay. She's been trackin' ya. But," he raised a finger; "I drove the car, and I got us in here." He paused. "And I picked up her shoe for her."

Before Mikey could make sense of that last part, April gave a short scream at the sight of the Slayer's bloody corpse. Don placed a hand on her shoulder, turning her away, as Mikey leaped over the body in an attempt to block her view.

Curious, Casey moved in a bit further, looking over Mike to see what the problem was. Paling, he took a step back. "Who the heck is that?"

Raph shook his head. "It's a long story. You remember that Slayer we told ya about?"

Nodding, Casey waited for the rest of the explanation.

"Well," Raph began, cueing the child on the floor with his chin; "that's Stockman's version. Only his Slayer's only a kid."

Still sitting on the floor, Sil corrected him. "That wasn't his name, Raph." Sure that April was settled, Mikey turned to look at her. She gestured to the body. "Before… this, he called himself Curtis."

Mike raised an eye ridge at this, but didn't say anything. She had said that the Slayer- Curtis, had given a piece of himself to her before he died. Who was he to question what that piece contained?

Now aware of the girl's presence, April moved forward to her, trying not to look at the body on the floor. "Sil…" She said, trying to smile; "are you all right?" she asked, crouching to her knees before her. "I'm so happy to see you; we thought you were dead."

"I'm okay." Sil said, smiling slightly and returning the hug that April then offered.

But it wasn't the same. That smile… Mikey looked up at Leo then, to see if he had noticed it. Sure enough, he had. The blue-clad turtle watched Sil sadly.

Before, Silhouette had this odd little smirk; it was almost a frown at the same time. The look was clever and a little mischievous, a perfect reflection of her. And now, this smile she was wearing at the moment seemed to be a mere shell of her former self.

A lot could sure happen in a day or two. Mikey just hoped that, within much more time, she would be back to her old self.

By now, April was up, examining the other children. After a few moments, she made a little call to the police.

And then he and his brothers finished their job.

&&&&&

This thought bothered him, but Donny knew it had to be done. As if it wasn't bad enough that the boy had died, after living through so many tortures, the last thing the purple-banded turtle wanted to do was remove all other evidence of his existence.

But still, it was something that could very well produce bad repercussions if it wasn't carried out.

Since they had quite a bit before the police arrived, Don suggested that they carry out a funeral for Curtis. Not a traditional burial, though. Since Stockman worked for Bishop, it was very likely that the mysterious man would locate the body and find a way to repeat Stockman's project.

So they burned him. They lit the Slayer on fire and watched his body burn. April took the children outside so they wouldn't have to see, trying to convince Sil to come along to, but the little girl would have none of it.

Instead, she told the ones who remained Curtis' story. As much as he'd expected it, Donatello found it to be much sadder than he'd originally thought.

When all that was left of the poor child's body were charred bones, the six of them moved out of the area. Then, with some retrieved smoke bombs, the turtles then blew up the area, demolishing all that had been left of Curtis and Stockman. After a few moments of silence, they joined April and the children outside the building.

Naturally, since this report had probably seemed fictive to the NYPD, not to mention the location being well out of range of the nearest donut shop, they hadn't shown up yet. While Casey kept a look out for them, they all said goodbye.

To his surprise, Donny was immediately bombarded by twenty-two little kids. A little five-year-old hugged him, his arms wrapped around the turtle's legs. "Thanks." He whispered.

Smiling gently, he tousled the little boy's hair. He didn't think that, even with every point of view here, he'd ever understand exactly how he'd helped these children, besides assisting in their escape.

Yet that's what he'd done for them. It was Raph had done for his little group, and Mikey for his. And then, of course, at one point, Leo had done the same for all of them.

Once his eldest-brother had been thanked, the only one who stood before him was a certain girl with long black hair. She smiled at him. "Thanks." She whispered.

Leo shrugged; looking a little tired all of a sudden. "No problem."

Sil looked down at her feet. "I have to go with the police…" She stated before looking back up at him. "How long will it be before I get to see you again?"

Shaking his head, Leo sighed. "I don't know."

Nodding, the girl stepped forward, leaning her head against his chest. "I'm gonna sound so stupid for saying this, but… I want you to know you're my hero."

Surprised by this comment, Leo said nothing. He put one hand on her shoulder and patted it, eventually getting a word out. "Thanks." He said softly.

Casey made his way back over to them. "All right, guys. The cops are comin' around the bend. You better head out."

Nodding, the four of them said goodbye before rushing over to a manhole cover that was positioned towards the back of Stockman's warehouse, just outside the gate.

Leo was the last one to go down. He turned around for a moment and waved goodbye to Silhouette, who stood facing him, watching them go.

&&&&&

He'd felt that something was wrong. It had started in the middle of that fight with Stockman, after he'd injected that digitoxin into the Slayer's body. Leo had just felt something… leave. And with its departure, it had taken something else with it.

Now, as they headed back to the lair, Leo felt completely drained. He had no idea where exactly they were, how long they'd been moving. The blue-clad turtle simply trailed behind his brothers, trying to make sense of things.

Only, the harder he tried at that task, the more difficult it became. He was just tired, in a way he hadn't been in a long time.

Eyes half-closed; Leo leaned against one wall of the sewer. He felt dizzy, and his knees seemed like jelly.

Suddenly, Raphael was in front of him. His younger brother placed a hand on his shoulder, trying to steady him. "You okay?" He asked. To Leo, it sounded almost like he was speaking under water.

Leo closed his eyes, still trying to figure out what was so different about this sudden drowsiness compared to the others. Remembering, Raph's question, he answered him. "T'red…" He slurred.

Nodding, he felt Raph pull him up and place his arm over his shoulder, allowing him to support most of Leo's weight. "We'll be home real quick, bro." He told him. "Just stay awake a little longer."

Uncomfortably, Leo moved along with his brother, not taking in any of his surroundings. Their progress was slow, with his tired movements, but they eventually made it to the lair's entrance.

Abruptly, he noticed Mike and Don's presence, but only for a second. For that was when he realized what was different now.

For the first time in a long time, it was quiet.

&&&&&

Upon arrival at the lair, Leo quickly drifted off into sleep. The suddenness of his exhaustion was enough to roughly worry Raph; it reminded him of how he'd done the same thing in Stockman's laboratory, and nearly died because of it.

However, besides the fact that his older brother looked like he was going to be out of it for a while, he seemed relatively peaceful. No nightmares were interrupting his rest; his body temperature hadn't dropped to a dangerous level; he was still breathing.

And that was always a good sign.

With Leo asleep, Donny came over to them and took their blue-clad brother's other arm while Mikey opened the door to the lair. "What's wrong with him?" Raph asked as they moved on.

Donny shrugged- well, as best as he could while helping move Leo. "From the looks of it, I'd say he's just tired. Remember what the Slayer said earlier?"

Raph wrinkled his brow in thought. There were a lot of things Curtis had said, or thought. "Yeah… something about removin' his need for sleep?"

Nodding, Don continued. "I think that when he died, whatever he was doing to keep Leo awake was put to an end."

Seconds later, Master Splinter came out of his room. "My sons," he began, concerned, as he made his way towards them. "What has happened?" The old rat looked them over carefully. "Are you all well?"

Mikey smiled warmly at him. "Yeah, we're okay, Sensei." With his thumb, he pointed at the eldest of the turtles. "Leo's just tired."

Over by the couch now, Don and Raph eased Leo's sleeping form down across it. Their brother immediately turned over on his side and brought his knees up a little closer to his stomach.

Looking back up at Splinter, Raph raised his arms slightly before dropping them back at his sides, feeling a little tired himself. For the rat's first question, all he could think of was the same thing he told Casey. "It's a long story, Sensei."

Frowning, Master Splinter looked down at his walking stick. "Very well." He said. "Since it is late, I shall allow you to get some rest. But I expect a thorough explanation tomorrow."

"Yes, Master Splinter." The three of them said simultaneously. Unless you knew you could get away with it and had the means to do it, you didn't cross Splinter.

As he was leaving, the rat master turned back around. "It is good to have you home safe, my sons."

Smiling, they bowed to him.

However, when he was out of the room, Raph couldn't help but grin. I'm so sleepin' in tomorrow. A blessing or a curse, the red-banded turtle was not gifted with the best story-telling skills.

Stretching, Mikey yawned slightly. "Man, what time is it anyway?"

Glancing up at the clock on the VCR, Don answered him. "A quarter to four." He turned around to them. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm heading straight for bed."

Raph nodded. For one of the few times in his life that didn't involve life or death decisions, he had to agree. The three of them shuffled off to their rooms then, though Raph lingered for a bit.

He took a look at Leo on the couch. "Night, bro."

&&&&&

Soft, erratic noises whispered in his ears. Eyes closed, Leo frowned, not yet wanting to cross the bridge between sleep and awareness, and buried his head a little further into his arm and the material of the couch. It'd been a long time since he'd rested so well.

But it was too late. Groaning, Leo rolled over onto his other side and opened his eyes. He found Mikey sitting on the floor, to the left of the couch, remote in hand, watching television.

His little brother looked up at him and grinned. "Hey, bro." He raised the remote and looked at the TV for a second before turning back to him, somewhat guiltily. "Sorry. I was trying to keep it low, but I guess it's probably better that I woke you."

Yawning, Leo sat himself up. "How long have I been asleep?"

Mikey checked the clock. "Um… twenty- maybe twenty-two hours."

Leo blinked. He felt like he'd only taken a catnap. "Really?"

The younger turtle nodded. "Yep. You were out like a light."

Massaging his right foot, which had fallen asleep, Leo yawned again. "I'm still tired."

"Don figured you'd be. You missed out on what- three months of sleep?"

Nodding, Leo placed his foot back on the ground. "Something like that."

A commercial break came on. With it, a little light bulb seemed to go off over Mikey's head. He shot up. "Hey, I better get you something to eat. Don'll murderlize me if I don't."

A few minutes later, he returned from the kitchen with a bowl of soup and a slice of pepperoni pizza. As he handed the items to Leo, he sat down on the couch, now that there was room. "Eat up, bro." He said happily.

Though he didn't feel all that hungry, Leo did as he was told, finding his appetite halfway through the chicken noodle soup, He and Mikey spent the rest of the night, or early morning, he didn't know; watching a few movies that were on television.

When they spoke, neither mentioned the events at Stockman's warehouse. It was nice.

And eventually, bored by some old sitcom reruns, with a full stomach and a clear head, he fell asleep again.

&&&&&

Hands behind his back, ever-present frown on his face, Agent Bishop calmly walked through one of the metal hallways of the laboratory he had provided for one of his more recent employees.

It was so easy to get past police these days. Bishop and his men hadn't even needed to confront the security teams to get in here, though the building was closed off to everyone except for the investigators and a few patrol units. He supposed that even if he had have had to face them, he could've easily have gotten here.

All sorts of power came with high government positions.

Stopping in front of some of his men, who, though he hadn't made a sound, immediately turned to face him, he waited for the details of the situation. Impatient, Bishop narrowed his eyes, prodding them. "Well?"

One of the recruits nodded his head. "We've found the robotic suit, sir. According to the life support functions-"

"I don't want to hear about the life support functions. I know about them already. Doctor Stockman designed them to maintain his mortality for a week." He raised his head slightly. "Was there any damage?"

The man stuttered. "W-well, we don't think so. The outer body seems to have suffered electrocution, but it doesn't appear to have reached his inner suit."

Bishop grinned grimly. "Despite his arrogance, Stockman is, without a doubt, an intelligent man. He was wise to use those non-conductive metals we salvaged from the Ragon wreckage two months ago for the interior of his robotic body."

For a few minutes, Agent Bishop watched as his men moved some of the rubble off the rest of Stockman. When they were done, he nodded his head. "Retrieve his brain and come back to headquarters." He turned around and made his exit. "Stockman wanted his body, so that's exactly what he'll be getting."

&&&&&

So everyone may know, this does not imply that there will be a sequel! Honestly, if it took me this long to finish this story, then I'd be in my thirties by the time the sequel was finished!

With that said, (drops to her knees) please don't kill me! I know everyone wanted Stockman dead, but I couldn't do it! I'm the crazy person who finds amusement in his arrogance; he's my favorite bad guy! I had to keep the pun going- I couldn't kill him.

(Avalon and Rest in Peace pop up) (Pi whimpers) I know! Don't make me feel worse! Besides, (sniffs) those were tragedies. They were meant to have character deaths, even if they were of our favorite turtles.

So, once again, please, for the love of God, don't kill me! If you do, then this story will never be finished, and we're only one chapter away!

(lets out a sigh of relief) Thanks for putting down your weapons. Now, if it's not too much to ask, would you please review? No flames, please!