A/N: - Sorry this has taken so long – been very busy, as usual – but here is the next chapter for my story. None of these chapters are particularly pleasant but this is probably one of the tamer ones – and, shock horror, nobody dies in this chapter! However, don't expect that to last in the next chapter! Now, read and enjoy and don't forget to review!

LEO'S POV – PRESENT TIME

That was it – two brothers gone in the space of approximately twenty-four hours. It hardly seems fair, does it? That someone's family should be taken so suddenly and so brutally without even a sign or word of warning, even the ability for a little more hindsight on my part; I still can't believe that it happened and it's been twenty years since that dreadful night.

If I could turn back the clock, believe me, I would – I would change everything that happened that night and a shell of a lot more besides. For that was to be only the first of a series of brutal attacks that would leave my family wrecked and eventually gone: the next part of my tale happened five years after Donnie and Raph passed on – fifteen years back from now.

15 YEARS EARLIER

"Hello, Michelangelo at your service," Mikey answered the phone cheerily, hiding the grief that was still eating at him from the deepest part of his soul to his physical appearance. Over the five years since the death of two of his brothers, he had become thinner, paler and there were permanent dark rings under his eyes. The only part of him that remained was the sparkle in his piercing chocolate coloured eyes and the jolly tone he managed to retain on his voice.

"Brother of Raphael and Donatello?" a gruff yet familiar voice cackled down the phone.

"Who is this?" Mikey asked, now worried. He was alone at the lair as his Sensei was out searching for bits and bobs to put in the lair while his older and only remaining brother, Leonardo, was out on his early morning training run.

"Don't you recognise my voice?"

"No…well, yeah…but why are you calling from April and Casey's number?"

"Why don't you drop by and find out – but I would be careful if I were you…" the voice was full of evil and Mikey could have sensed it from five miles off and it was then that he realised who it was speaking to him; the Shredder – the one responsible for the deaths of Raph and Donnie, the one to blame for the deterioration of his own physical and mental health along with that of his brothers, the one at fault for five long years of grief.

"Stay away from them," Mikey snarled down the phone.

"Too late for that…hurry up or you will be late also, as your brother was all those years ago…do you want their blood on your head?" Shredder laughed one final time before he put the phone down, leaving a stunned and panicked Mikey listening to the dial tone with no idea of what to do.

"Mikey?" Leo arrived five minutes later and had found his brother clutching the handset of the phone with terror visible on his pallid features.

"Shredder has Casey and April…" Mikey trailed off, casting his gaze to the floor. Leo tilted his brother's chin up and looked him in the eyes.

"This time, I will not fail – you will be there with me and we will beat him and avenge our brothers' death." Leo spoke with a fierce determination that would have roused even the most terrified of listeners into action, "let's go."

Hurtling themselves across the rooftops, Leo and Mikey's hearts were pounding and blood was rushing in their ears as they breathed quickly and harshly, determined to reach Casey and April before it was too late.

"Leo, we need to pick up the pace," Mikey gasped.

"I know – but we're going by the fastest route and I don't know about you but my legs are like jelly!" Leo panted in response.

"We can go faster," Mikey growled uncharacteristically and his feet moved even quicker, almost seeming to fly across the rooftops. Leo followed suit, feeding off his baby brother's energy and running just the little bit swifter to make the biggest of differences; those crucial seconds could be the deciding factors between life and death for their human friends.

Reaching April's apartment, the two turtles burst inside, panting as they tried to catch their breath. Shredder was stood over the bloodied body of Casey while April was tied up and huddled in a corner, sobbing, her eyes fixed on Casey, who didn't seem to be breathing.

"Let them go, Shredder," Mikey stammered fearfully on sight of his human friends in such a state.

"Well, well, Leonardo," Shredder cackled, totally ignoring Mikey, "I see you have brought the last of your brothers to be annihilated – how thoughtful of you to know that he would be next on my list anyway. Forgive me, for these humans were not meant to get hurt but this fool," he turned back and kicked Casey in the ribs (Leo thought he heard something crack), "thought he could take me down – I had to prove him wrong, didn't I? I know you would have done it if you had been challenged by one of my friends – you would have taken them down. So really, Leonardo, you are no better than I. How ironic…" he trailed off, studying the blue-clad turtle's face for any signs of fear or hurt but he found none, "not touching a raw nerve yet, I see? Perhaps you believe you will make it out of this alive? That's a little optimistic, I must say, but each to their own. Well, you already killed two of your brothers so third time lucky that you survive, eh? Ah," Shredder smiled crookedly under his mask, though Leo couldn't see his conniving face, and continued silkily, hissing and spitting the words out as though they were poisonous to utter, "I see you already blame yourself…well, I have a fun little fact for you – this time will be like the others and you will live your life knowing you killed them all! It's all your fault, Leonardo, every little thing that's ever gone wrong in your life was because of some stupid judgement or decision you've made. Why should such fortunes be reversed now?"

"You've gone too far this time, Shredder," Leo growled, lunging for his enemy with a fiery passion and a hatred burning so strong that his eyes alone should have seared a hole right through the Shredder's armour. He was fighting the Shredder alone while his youngest brother untied April and helped Casey to his feet; the man was barely breathing, let alone conscious. Leo noticed that the Shredder had not yet had any kind of back-up and his heart was in his mouth; the back-up would be back at the lair, ready to kill Splinter.

"Another mistake, Leonardo; leaving the rat alone in your lair when the bulk of my forces go there now. What a shame you'll be causing the death of the rodent as well as that of your three brothers…or maybe I'm lying. Maybe the back-up is here at the apartment. What do you believe, Leonardo? Do you send your brother and the humans back to your lair or do you keep them here and risk it? Decisions, decisions, decisions – what to do? What to do?" Shredder revelled in the turtle's desperate attempts to find some sort of hope to cling to or something that would tell him what was the truth and what was a lie…he couldn't tell right now. But he didn't have to decide; ninjas burst through into the apartment, weapons drawn and at the ready, waiting for a fight, "you take to long to make your decisions, Leonardo," Shredder sighed menacingly, "and now you will lose another family member because of your inability to decide."

"Never…" Leo snarled in a low voice, "We will beat you, Shredder, make no mistake about that."

"I don't make mistakes, young one. Unlike you, my mind is matured and the youthful foolishness and naivety are long gone, vanished with the blessing of wisdom."

"What wisdom do you possess, Shredder? My Sensei is wise – you are just conceited, believing yourself to have wisdom when really all you have is wild assumptions and threatening those whom you despise, blackmailing them – you have tact and malice, not wisdom – not of any sort."

"You useless fool," Shredder spat in the turtle's defiant face, sweeping Leo's feet out from underneath him, sending him crashing to the floor, "you dare speak to me like that? Now you will pay,"

"How can you possibly hurt me any more? You're taking away my family one by one and you don't give a damn – so how can you do any worse to me than destroy the one thing I value more than anything in this life?"

"You will see…HUN! Seize the youngest one – let us see how far Leonardo would let us go before he surrenders…"

"MIKEY!" Leo shrieked as his youngest brother was grabbed roughly from behind and Hun punched him in the side of the head, sending the orange-clad turtle reeling in pain, going dizzy and his vision blurring. Suddenly there were two of everything and Mikey could do nothing to help himself, temporarily dazed and at the mercy of Hun. April was helping Casey away, probably on Mikey's orders, and the two humans had not yet been seen. Leo tried to get to his brother but Shredder repeatedly blocked him and stopped him going any further. Hun was beating Mikey down over and over again; every time the turtle got an attack in edgeways Hun got in three more to make up for it, and Mikey didn't stand a chance.

"Shocked?" Shredder asked smoothly, sounding almost bored, "I took the liberty of training up my forces even further and now they are invincible – you will not beat them…not now, not ever, so I suggest you just give up,"

"NO, LEO, DON'T!" Mikey cried out, "DON'T LET HIM WIN!"

"Mikey…" Leo trailed off, facing another difficult dilemma. He could help his brother now by surrendering, but would Shredder let Mikey go or would he just kill both of them? Leo was confused, to put it mildly, and was fast losing the rational part of his mind that had always made him more responsible and less reckless than his other three brothers, especially more so than Raphael.

"Too slow, Leonardo," Shredder laughed as Hun bellowed and brought his foot down on Mikey's chest, several sickening crunches filling Leo's ears and causing him to gag. Mikey let out a blood-curdling scream that sliced the air. The youngest turtle writhed as he struggled to breathe.

"You cold-hearted---"

"Temper, temper," Shredder clamped a hand over Leo's mouth, hurriedly releasing the turtle moments later when Leo bit down on the unprotected part of the villain's hand, drawing a few specks of blood, though not any real damage, which Leo thought was a great shame indeed. Shredder roared and ordered his ninjas to disappear, leaving the baffled Leo, wounded Mikey and hidden April and Casey feeling lost and confused.

A/N: - Ok, there you go – review please! And here are the shout-outs for the last chapter: -

Lioness Goddess: - Oh, not this chapter – however, next chapter…um…yeah, you might wanna find some tissues or something happy to think of – shell of a lot of angst to come.

TMNTLover4Ever: - Thanks so much for your review, and I will be sure to check out your stories!

BlueRaven: - Here's your update! Glad your enjoying it and hope you liked this chappie!

Digimon Girl: - Short and sweet – thank you so much!

Shadowflame611: - I can't disclose anything too much – it could mean Mikey too, it could not….

Chibi Rose Angel: - Awww, you're making me blush! And I quite agree, everyone on is so nice and especially in this category – I know it took me by surprise how many have been reviewing my stuff.