Author's Note: Hello there it's time for another TMNT story. Once again my partner in crime Glazier Blue and I present to you another collaborated story we both worked on together, just in time for the Halloween season. The tone of this story fit the month so we made this in order to give you something good to read. Although I don't think we'll finished by the end of the month, but still it's a good story. Originally this idea was a one-shot in my head, but we worked together and expanded and made changes to it and we have a good story for you all to read. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: This takes place during the 2003 series, just in case if you didn't know.

Chapter 1: The Search

Have you ever had the sense that you weren't alone? That feeling of unknown eyes upon you when you're sure no one was there? At least that you could see! Even when you were in the safe confines of your own home, or a place you find familiar? That was a feeling that most people in New York had been experiencing of late, as many just went about their day, ignoring it the best they could. Yet, as night settled upon this wonderful city, in the dark, those fears would suddenly make a person look over their shoulder, feeling someone or something watching them. Later they would just reassure themselves that they must be alone, when in reality they were anything but.

One of the little hairy spies in question was currently scurrying down the desolate street of a certain part of town. As the figure scurried, they made sure to avoid any lights as their destination came into view.

An Antique store.

Upon making its way to the front door, it quickly and easily managed to squeeze its body through a small gap to the side. Now it was silently making its way to the storeroom where it finally laid eyes on another lone figure, who was currently kneeling in front of a large copy machine, bag of tools beside him as he worked on the screws of the panels. Familiar olive-green hands grabbed the panel, pulling it free. From the inside of the machine a shadow covered head could be seen trying to peer inside, that is until one of the hands came up, holding something.

Unaware of the new eyes upon him, a simple click of a switch, light began illuminating from the hand, while also illuminating the face of Donatello. The purple clad turtle curiously looking inside the machine, trying to figure out why it was malfunctioning. Not too long ago a frustrated April had called him, complaining that her copier wasn't working. She had just pressed a button, but nothing had happened, except a sharp clicking sound, which had startled her. The digital screen didn't giving any indication as to what was wrong, and left her with no alternative but to call her resident genius for help, which the turtle was only too happy to do.

After checking the outside of the machine for any simple explanation he decided to venture deeper, seeking an internal cause for the malfunction. He was hoping this wasn't the case as it would take him much longer to fix it. April, meanwhile, had left him to it, hearing her phone from her apartment calling to her. This suited Donnie fine as he worked better alone anyway, but still wouldn't mind the company.

"Ok then, let's see what's in you," Don spoke to the machine like it was a patient awaiting diagnosis. Moving the flashlight further inside the machine, seeing all the gears, wires, and the like. It was all in bulk and messy, obscuring his view. No matter. As long as he doesn't have to fiddle with the wires, it would be fine. Especially after-

*Squeak!*

What was that?!

Automatically Don's spun around, quickly scanning the small, dim, room. There wasn't much to see, except for some coats, shelves and boxes with antiques his human friend needed to go through. The sound came out of nowhere, but the turtle shook it off returning his attention to the machine, shining the flashlight inside. Carefully he reached his hand into the darkness, hoping to feel anything that was out of place. "Please don't let it be the CPU, that will be a pain to replace!" Donatello whispered to himself as he continued. Shining the light further inside, seeing a piece that he could move. He could just about reach it when -

*Squeak* *Creak*

This time Donatello shot around, his ninja senses on alert, as he definitely heard something this time, accompanied by another sound. The same kind that would occur when someone was walking over a loose floorboard. His eyes locked onto the closed door, senses alert and muscles tensed, as he had to be ready to act for any uninvited visitor. Careful with every step, olive-green feet lightly moved forward over the wooden floorboards. Being as quiet as possible he closed the distance between himself and the door, eyes not leaving the large solid wood shielding him as his hand reached for the doorknob. He didn't know why but his heart had slightly started to pick up. There couldn't be anyone there, can there? They would have made more noise... and yet he knew it hadn't been a figment of his imagination -

*Beep* *Beep*

"Ack!" Don jumped again as a sudden unexpected lower pitched chimed in from nowhere. Looking around, he instantly realized what it was. Sighing in relief the olive-green turtle reached down into his belt accessing his shell cell, as it was flashing. On the screen was a text message from Leo.

"Checking up on me again big brother?" Donnie sigh but still smirked as he tapped on the screen.

"How are things going above ground? L"

Just a simple checkup, that was OK, but he hadn't been gone for that long, had he? He quickly started typing a reply, "The machine may have an internal issue, so it might take longer than expected." He pressed 'send' staring at the screen, awaiting a response. After a few seconds he saw that the message had been read, another minute passed before his brother was back.

"That's unfortunate, take your time then, but be careful on the way home."

Don shook his head at the last line but decided not to fight it. It wasn't worth the possible lecture he could receive upon returning, "I'll keep you updated." He added.

Sometimes Don could understand Mikey's "joke" referring to the two older brothers as 'Smother Hen's.'

Never mind. Placing his shell cell back onto his belt before returning his attention to the copy machine. Noise forgotten; as he hadn't heard it again. Holding the flashlight, he picked up from where he left off, not at all aware that the door had seamlessly opened, not making a noise as the oiled hinges moved quietly.

Soft footsteps had entered the room. As the new figure approached the distracted turtle, a lithe shadow cast on the floor, blocking out the dim light as it approached him.

The genius turtle didn't realize right away until he was covered in darkness. Suddenly prompting him to turn swiftly, reaching for his bo-staff when-

"Donnie?" the familiar feminine voice rang out, freezing the turtle while refraining from jumping. Why was he so nervous tonight? His brown eyes quickly locking onto the owner of the voice.

"Oh, hey April," he gave a smile hiding his mental sigh of relief.

The redhead stood before him, a curious smirk upon her face, "I didn't startle you, did I?"

"What? No of course not," he said a bit too quickly. Shell! "You know what they say, in a store full of antiques, you tend to hear things," He smiled while remaining keeled on the floor by the machine.

April shook her head, knowing full-well she had startled him, but decided not to press it. She instead bent over, hands resting on her knees, "So, what's the diagnosis?"

"Nothing conclusive, I'm still searching for a root cause," Don responded as he reached in and moved one of the pieces out of the way, allowing him to see further inside.

"Do you think it's that complicated?"

"Possibly, but I'm hoping it's a loose wire or disconnected plug as it'll-" His light suddenly dissolved into darkness before flickering. His eyes rose with focus on the tool, smacking it some, the light continued to flicker, growing dimmer. "Aww, shell, the batteries are dying."

"I think I have batteries behind the counter if that helps?" April responded, thumb pointing at the door.

"Oh, that would be helpful, thank you." Donnie smiled. One setback would soon be solved.

"Just give me a minute," The redhead responded before turning and heading outside, but leaving the door open.

Meanwhile from another part of the building someone else was roaming the main floor of the antique store. The figure scurried along the wall. It had a good bird's eye view, not seeing anyone... Then it stopped as both ears twitched, hearing footsteps, suddenly prompting it to hide.

Quickly and silently, it seemed like a virtual Shadow within the building. April was humming to herself upon exiting the back room, heading for the counter with the register. Searching around the wooden counter, checking all the drawers, through the various papers and nick knacks positive she had put some batteries... somewhere! Kneeling down, she reached for the lowest drawer, yanking it out but finding it full.

"I know they are in here somewhere," She said to herself, hands rummaging through the pile, making a mental note to organize it later. Little did she know that piercing red eyes glowed behind her. It could smell her...and others she had just recently been stood close too.

Locking onto her form, a small growl escaped it. It moved forward, the redhead in its sight.

"AHHHHHHHH!" April's screams rang out through the building, startling Don, he almost smacked his head on the copier before immediately going into ninja mode.

"April!" he cried out, bursting from the back room, Bo staff in hand, searching for the source of the scream, ready for an attack... only to jump back as he saw something heading for him… a small ball of bluish grey fluff!

"Gyah!" Well, that explained the noise. Don stepped aside of the large rat as it scurried passed him. It ran a few yards away before turning back and looking up at the turtle with bright red eyes. Donnie blinked, slightly taken aback by its rather deliberate actions. Odd.

"Hiissss!" it sounded out in warning before turning around and running into the black hole of the basement.

Immediately Donnie looked to April, only for his guard to relax upon seeing her frantically dusting at her shoulder. "Ewww, that's the fifth one this week!"

"Rat problems I assume?" Donnie asked putting away his weapon.

"You don't know the half of it!" The human shivered in disgust. She could still feel the dirty animal on her shoulder, "They're a new breed, I am sure of it!" She cringed. "You saw it. I've only ever seen the brown rats, mostly in the streets, for a second at the most. I feel like these ones are hunting me down. And they're a bluish grey... and there so BIG!" She shivered again … " But it's those red eyes that freak me out! You live in the Sewers. Ever seen a rat like that before?"

"Can't say I have. At least not around here. But yeah, I've noticed there has been an increase," Don moved closer, leaning over the counter, relieved to see she was over her bout of panic. "Maybe it's a result of Stockmen's mousers not working," he couldn't help but joke.

April shook her head at that, already finding herself at her wits end, "I am so nervous now, I can't even go to bed without checking under the blanket first...I would call an exterminator... but then I would think about Master Splinter and then it just feels wrong." That was one of the downsides of knowing a large, humanoid rat, she ended up growing sympathy for the smaller versions of the ninja master.

"I am sure he would appreciate that. It's strange. He's a ninja master and yet he seems to have some primal fear about exterminator's. Can't even watch them on tv." Donnie shook his head, not wanting to go there. "You know there are other ways you can drive them out humanely."

"Really? I'm all ears. At this point I'll try anything," April responded going back to looking for the batteries.

"Just cut up some onions and place them in the areas you find them at," Don simply said.

"Onions?" April couldn't help but look up in confusion.

The genius nodded, "Yes, the odor from the onions is overpowering to their sense of smell. They won't go anywhere near where the scent is permeating around it."

April nodded finally finding the pack of batteries. As she mulled over the piece of information, as a thought came to her, "Is that why I never really see you guys use onions in your food?" She hands him the batteries.

"Kind of." Donnie took the pack before returning to the copier. April in toe. "They make a humans eyes water, just imagine what they do to a rat's! We don't use the regular white onions anymore. Growing up we didn't realize it was the strength of their smell that was keeping Master Splinter away from the kitchen for days. He was in a state before we figured it out. So, we just use sweet onions now, as their odor isn't as strong."

"Poor Splinter, but that is interesting," April not sure what to say about that.

Donatello changing the batteries to the flashlight, mouth forming a smirk as the new beam of light flowed the dark space inside the machine. "So just use some onions and you should be fine... Though it might take some time getting use to the smell in your room." He chuckled.

"Thanks Donnie that helps a lot," The red head nodded, knowing her turtle friend was usually right for just about everything.

"Hey what the -?" Don suddenly noticed something.

"What is it?" April asked kneeling down to see.

"I see something..." the turtle reached inside, gripping at something flimsy. He grunted some as he started to pull, already knowing what it was. Carefully he kept pulling feeling the object slowly loosening. With a small grunt his arm was pulled free, releasing the white crumbled piece of paper. "I think we might be on the right track to your problem."

"Is that paper?" April groaned in confusion.

He nodded not able to hide his smirk but was actually masking a large amount of relief of time saved. "Yep. The paper must have gotten jammed somehow."

April groaned, "yesterday I was trying to make a lot of copies all at once... I'm such a dope! I never even thought."

"Well, try it now." Donnie responded standing up. Two fingers crossed, he watched as the red head went to grab some more paper for the tray. Holding her breath, she pressed "copy." Immediately the machine hummed to life as the paper slowly started to vanish into the hungry machine. A smile quickly spreading across her face. It was the simple things in life that brought the most joy.

"It works!" She hugged the young turtle with delight.

"Guess it was a simple - er... fix after all." Don blushed at the contact; it had caught him off guard. He had fixed or built much bigger and more complicated things at home, but he didn't often get a hug off his brothers for his troubles... It was kind of nice though.

"Thank you, Donnie, you don't know how much you helped me," She thanked him again for the assistance.

"No problem, April," This time he returned the embrace, enjoying the contact. When they separated, he knelt this time to screw the panel back on. "Just be glad it wasn't a big problem."

He started to gather his tools and bag.

"Leaving already?" She asked.

"Yeah, Leo will be relieved to see me coming back sooner rather than later. You know how he hates us been above ground to long, even in familiar places." Don zipped up the bag and slung it over his shoulder.

"I can understand," She walked him to the back door. "Well, be safe getting back to the lair... and watch out for those rats. They don't seem as friendly as Splinter."

"I will. Night April." Don nodded opening the back door. Looking around he found the area cleared. Stepped outside, he turned to face her before vanishing into the shadows, "Call me if anything else needs repairing."

"Later Don," The red head smiled straining to see if she could catch a glance of the ninja disappearing up the nearby fire escape, scaling up to the building, before vanishing from sight onto the roof. Disappointingly she didn't. Donnie was a great ninja.

Donatello ran and jumped across the rooftops, home being his only current destination in mind. Part of him was glad for the early finish. He had a lot of work to get back to at home.

Getting that knocked out earned himself some extra time for his own personal projects and he was already itching to get started. Yet, when it came to repairs, it only reminded the turtle about one important fact.

Today was trash day!

His feet immediately came to a halt before making another leap, as a tempting thought crawled into his mind. On trash day it meant a trip to the junkyard, with fresh pile loads of disregarded goodies just for him. The possibilities of new, fascinating treasures waiting for him to dig them up was just too tempting. And honestly, he remembered he was starting to run low on parts. He only had enough spare parts to fill one storage cabinet. He always liked keeping a large stocked of... well everything! Just in case. The tec genius honestly didn't require much convincing of a detour on the way home.

Yet…

He did need to get back home, in order to settle Leo's worries…on the other hand, he had just text him a short while ago, saying he was going to be much longer. So, he did have an excuse, of sorts. Though Leo, and probably Raph wouldn't see it like that...that is 'If' they found out. With so many enemies, he was never allowed to go alone, and yet he never got a moment to really indulge rummaging while they were there, breathing down his neck, telling him to hurry along.

To shell with it! He could face another lecture... but missing out on getting a good haul of treasure trove was just too good to pass up.

Just half an hour would be long enough... 30 short minuets on his own. That's all he needed. They would never know. Smiling to himself, he decided to risk his brother's ire.

Shifting on his heels, Donatello changed direction now heading for the junkyard, already giddy with excitement. It felt like Christmas had come early just from the mere anticipation of waiting. Already he could feel that he made the right choice.

Besides, what could go wrong?

A/N: Hope you like. I bet you're curious as to what's going on right? Well we can't really say anything as that will be spoilers, but what I can say is that this will have a darker tone to it, and we hope it'll be enjoyable for you all. We're eager to hear what you have to say on this, and will try to get the next chapter up soon. Till next time.