Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Okay, so this next chapter is going to be narrated by Raph, kind of like an interlude. Mike's narration can only inform the reader to a certain extent of what is actually happening in the story, so I've decided that it would be easier and quicker to set this chapter the way it is.

Chapter 3

The Meeting

We've been here for two days, I haven't seen Mike or Adrian since we arrived but I know that they are alright, I can feel it and right now I'm being led to the quarters of the Phoenix faction leader, alone, I know that I had ordered everyone to remain together and Don had reminded me of that when I agreed to the offer, they asked for me alone. Maybe I'm concerned that if we don't obey their 'requests' then they would stop giving Leo his treatment or maybe I'm doing this to show a sign of trust, not that I trust them but what choice do we have right now.

They haven't disarmed us, their sign of trust I guess and I only have one escort, if they think that this is going to make me lower my guard, they are seriously mistaken. After a five-minute journey through their compound we reach a door, my escort knocks once.

"Enter"

He pushes the door open and gestures for me to go inside, he doesn't follow me through but shuts the door leaving me alone with Jake.

The room is laid out neatly, it's Jake's quarters, his bed is tucked away in the far corner and a desk sits to the right, there are pictures on the walls showing the city how it used to look, all of New York's landmarks that now lay in ruin. His desk is bare except for a pile of papers sitting at one corner, he's sitting in the chair with his back to me, I move into the room and stand not too far from the chair placed opposite him, he turns and lifts his hand, silently asking for me to sit. I sit down slowly and wait for him to speak.

Jake is a hyena, dressed in combat pants and a blue sweater, his right cheek has a scar starting from the corner of his eye to his chin, it's a scar that I had given him.

"Hello Raphael" his voice is calm and friendly.

"Jake" I reply.

"I thought you might like to know that your brothers treatment is coming along nicely, it shouldn't be too long before he makes a full recovery" again he speaks calmly, damn it, he's throwing the ball into my court.

"Thanks for helping him, although I still don't know why you were so keen to lend a hand" it wasn't easy being nice to someone who tried to kill me three years ago, as if reading my thoughts, he replied.

"Raphael, can you not put the past behind you, as I have done. After all, you nearly took my head off when we last met and here we are, I'm sure that if I did not offer you any help your brother would be dead or dying"

If he was looking to piss me off, it was working, the mention of Leo possibly dying does not ease my nerves one bit. I glared at him, silently telling him that that was a low blow and he smiles at me.

"You don't like me do you?" he asks.

"What ever gave you that idea?" I retort but he merely laughs.

"Raphael, it is not my intention to anger you, I was simply stating the obvious, I haven't asked you here to tease you, I simply wanted to talk" he leans forward and places his elbows on the desk, clasping his hands together and resting his chin on them.

"So talk" he needed to get to the point soon.

"Very well, the reason why I have done what I have done is to save this city from a new threat, your brothers survival is important to me" his voice has dropped the calming tone, he was getting irritated by my short replies.

"Why would that be?" again, a short answer.

"Have you heard about the scavengers recently, they have successfully taken over two smaller factions in the past year, their numbers have doubled, if this continues then our factions alone would not stand a chance against them" he paused to give me time to think about it, I knew what he was getting at but I let him continue.

"I believe that the only way to destroy this threat is to join our two factions together, that way either the scavengers would think twice about attacking us, or should they be stupid enough to try then we will be able to withstand their attempt" he was serious about this, I could tell, I chuckled lightly feeling the irony of the situation, this is coming from someone who had spent the last few years trying to overrun us and now they were running scared.

"Do you think this is funny Raphael?" he spat sharply, "You think that you and that community are so invincible that nothing could touch you? If that is true then why is your brother laying in our infirmary on the brink of death?"

I didn't give him time to continue his verbal assault, in mere seconds I was up and over his desk, pulling him from his chair and pinning him to the wall with a sai to his throat.

"I think we've already figured it out that talking about Leo gets me a little upset, so if you don't want me to give you a matching scar on the other cheek, I would recommend that you get to the point" I spat angrily.

He winced at the pressure of the sai pressing into his throat, "Raphael, I'm sorry but these are troubled times and I admit that I am concerned, I shouldn't have spoken in such a way but I need you to listen to me for a moment, please" he wasn't scared, far from it, if anything happened to him then that would definitely sign all of our death warrants, I released him slowly and backed away, he relaxed and straightened out his clothes before picking up the fallen chair and sitting back down, I followed suit and put my sai away.

"I'll get straight to the point, your brother and I have been in communication with each other, he is well aware of the scavengers and their activity, I contacted him first about two weeks ago, not long after that he was attacked, someone must have known about our discussion and wanted to stop a possible merger of our two factions, no one here knows of our talk and I assume from your expression that Leonardo has not mentioned it to you either. Although given the timeframe I believe he didn't get the chance" he frowned at me, a look of sympathy on his face.

Leo wouldn't keep something like this from us, not his own brothers, I can't really tell if Jake is lying but that doesn't mean a thing, if Leo did know something about all of this then I would have to wait to hear it from him.

"If this is true then you know that I'll have to speak with him before this conversation goes any further, given our history I can't simply take your word for it" I replied.

"Understandable," he leaned back into his chair, "your brothers are in med lab one, I can arrange for you to see them"

"What about Donatello and Sam?" I wanted them to be there, I know Don would want to see Leo.

"I can arrange an escort to take them there but when Leonardo has recovered I want to talk again" that wasn't a request, I nodded once and he stood, I followed him to the door then waited as he quietly spoke with my escort who had remained outside. Then I followed him to med lab one.

I entered the room to see Leo lying on a bed with Mike sitting quietly next to him, Adrian stood at the door, he turned and bowed to me, it wasn't necessary but I returned the gesture then patted his arm. I moved further into the room and Mike stood, raising his finger to his mouth to tell me to stay quiet. Leo was moving and groaning, he had awoken from his short time in a coma and was now sleeping, Mike smiled at me and I smiled back, I was relieved to know that Leo was going to be okay and from the look on Mike's face he was too. We had been left alone in the room but there were still cameras that watched our every move, I didn't care about them as I walked over to Mike and flung my arms around him, patting his shell, he did the same.

"Good work Mike" I whispered.

"Hey, it wasn't all me but thanks anyway" Mike replied.

Still holding my brother I whispered, "When Don gets here, we need to talk"

Authors Note: There we have it, another chapter done, it wasn't really fast paced but now that Leo is awake it should get a little quicker, onto the reviews:

SPOOTYCUP: Okay okay, here's another chapter, happy? ;) Leo's awake kinda, so you'll get to see more of him now, enjoy! Thanks for reviewing :)

IN THE CLOUDS: Not very clever with the juggling thing, now there's four fics, I think :) Talk about coincidence, first Buslady's pet turtles and now this? I swear I didn't mean to kill you off, blame my muse ;) Which fanfic is it that you recommend? I'm curious, I'd love to read it :) Future Leo being a hermit isn't really something I could write, I like how Leo is at the moment and I think that given the circumstances he would be a lot like he is in this fic, considering that there isn't much left in the world. Thanks for reviewing :)

LIONESS-GODDESS: Oh definitely the Star Wars novels :) Hope you like this chapter too, see..... Leo's awake now and I was going to keep him out for another couple of chapters......... just kidding ;) Thanks for reviewing :)

PRETENDER FANATIC: Thanks, you think it's original? Really? Awwww, don't make me blush!! :) Anyways, I hope I've managed to keep Raphael in character with this chapter, I think he would be like that too ;) Thanks for reviewing :)