Donnie had just enough time to raised his staff to block the katana aimed for his head before diving out of the way.
"Baron's people?" Leo questioned. "What do you mean Baron's people?"
"Not the time for askin' questions Leo!" Raph yelled.
Donnie was more than happy not to answer that particular question.
In truth, he had never met Baron's men- and for that fact, he was glad- but he had heard more than enough from the higher up Foot ninjas and from the reports to know that they were dangerous.
They fought without hesitation, every strike meant to kill and it was only from years of training that the four brothers managed to evade the worst of the blows.
"Leo, we gotta do somethin' here!" Raph yelled. "We're barely makin' a dent!"
And it was true. However many they managed to incapacitate, there were more to take their place.
Donnie hadn't known there were this many men under Baron's hold.
"On me! Come on!" Leo yelled, slashing one in the shoulder.
Donnie glanced over his shoulder to see Leo, Raph, and Mikey begin to retreat before following.
They were shoulder to shoulder on the edge of the building, having backed up to it and then stopped.
Without warning, Leo suddenly jumped for the next rooftop, Raph and Mikey following almost instantly.
Briefly confused, Donnie quickly did the same, joining his brothers before the four took off running, jumping from building to building.
"Why didn't you say we were running?" Donnie demanded as he used his staff to deflect an incoming throwing star aimed for his head.
"I said 'on me'." Leo defended. "Mikey and Raph understood."
"They've fought with you before. How am I supposed to know what that means?" Donnie snapped, levelling his oldest brother with a glare.
Donnie immediately felt bad as the realization and reproach settled into Leo's face.
"So what's the plan here, Fearless?" Raph yelled, shoving an unobservant Mikey out of the way of an incoming attack. "We can't run all night long and these guys are not giving up."
Leo seemed to mule over their options, glancing every which way.
"We can split up." Donnie suggested. "Into groups of two or separate entirely. It would confuse them, probably long enough for us to slip out of sight."
Alarm was the first thing Donnie saw on Leo's face, resolution the second.
"No!" Leo snapped, the force of his voice almost bringing the three brothers to a stop. "No one's splitting up!"
"Well you better have a plan, Fearless. Because they don't look happy." Raph said.
"We can loose them in the sewers." Leo decided finally.
"You want to take them-" Raph started to yell, but Leo swiftly cut him off.
"The sewers around our old Lair, Raph." Leo explained. "We know it better than they do, we'll have the advantage."
Raph looked ready to argue further, but upon seeing the miniature army behind them, decided against it.
Donnie wanted to ask what Leo had meant by their old Lair, but thought that it might be a conversation for a later time.
"Dive capin'!" Mikey yelled as he removed a manhole cover and jumped inside.
"Bonehead." Donnie heard Raph mutter as he jumped in after Mikey.
Donnie looked around, trying to find anything identifying but failed. He didn't know how Mikey, Leo, and Raph could know these sewers so well.
"Come on! They'll be hot on our tails in a second!" Leo said and took up the front, leading the way. Which Donnie was grateful for because he certainly didn't know where they were going.
They all heard the sounds of a pursuit behind them, though thankfully it was a bit farther behind now, but it didn't ease Donnie's worry that much.
Donnie was about to ask just how much farther it was when they ran into a very wide, open space that had very obviously been a previous home. The ceiling had apparently been blown out and structures were either tilting- obviously ready to add to the instability of the place at the drop of a hat- or completely caved.
"This is your old Lair?" Donnie clarified. "What the shell happened to it? Did a bomb get dropped on it?"
"Sure." Mikey affirmed. "A bomb of rats."
"Rats?" Donnie questioned. "There's no way rats could've-"
"Later guys?" Leo said pointedly. "We're going to cave this place in when they get here, okay?"
"Cave it in?" Raph asked. "Leo, hate to break it to you, but it's already caved in!"
"There are still some structures that didn't break the first time." Leo said, pointing out said structures, mainly two domes on either side of the entrance that were cracked and tilting.
"Mikey, Don, on that one. Me and Raph on the left one over here." Leo ordered. "When they come in, we trap them in here. Understand?"
Each brother nodded and got into position, making sure to keep out of sight when the ninjas did run in a few seconds later.
Donnie counted around forty by the time that they stopped coming.
Neither Donnie nor Mikey needed to be told that now was the time and began to push, using their shells to help the already weak structure until it began to fall completely.
Mikey and Donnie heard the same thing happen to the left side but didn't bother to watch as they both dived into the sewers, landing safely in a puddle of dirty water and heard a splash beside them.
Raph and Leo shook the dust and debris off and stood.
"Not a bad plan, Fearless." Raph said, hands on his sides.
"Was that a compliment?" Mikey asked him in a stage whisper.
"I think." Donnie answered back. He had known them all long enough to know that Raph's compliments were few and far between, more so when it came to Leo, who he seemed to have a natural feud with.
"Come on, let's hide out at April's until things calm down a bit." Leo said, pulling Donnie into a standing position.
Mikey limped slightly when Raph pulled him up, and assured them he was fine, but Donnie could clearly see that he was favoring his previously uninjured leg.
Mikey's unfailing talkative self didn't hesitate to start talking to them- or more or less himself- once they were on the rooftops.
"Man, if we got the old Lair cleaned up, it would be the best spot ever for skateboarding! Think about it! Or, better yet, it can be a place that Raph can go when he gets in one of his moods and doesn't want to be around us." Mikey said thoughtfully, dodging the hand that was aimed to smack him when Raph heard him.
"Nobody wants to be around you, Mike." Raph grunted.
"Besides Mikey, that's totally unrealistic." Donny told his youngest brother. "Raph's always in 'one of his moods.' He would have to live there."
"Oh, so you got jokes now too, Genius?" Raph demanded.
Donnie shrugged, trying to keep the smile off his face. "Tell me I'm wrong."
"You're not." Leo supplied and Raph scowled at the three-to-one attack.
Mikey made no effort to hide his laughter as they all jumped through a building's window, whom he guessed belonged to April as his brothers seemed so comfortable there.
"Guys!"
All four turtles turned toward the voice where April had opened her front door, a bag of groceries in hand and Casey right behind her.
"Oh, hey guys." Casey greeted them.
"I know I said you guys were welcome whenever, but maybe a warning every now and then?" April asked with a huff.
"Sorry April, something came up. I didn't have time to call you." Leo explained apologetically as he took the bag from her hands and began to put it's contents in their places in an attempt to be helpful.
"What happened?" She asked, immediately concerned and Donnie had to wonder just how long they each other.
"We got ambushed by the Foot, some new guys. They're off our trail but we needed to hide out for a little." Leo explained.
"Speaking of which, care to explain what you were talking about back there, Don?" Raph asked, turning to him. "About how they were Baron's men?"
With all eyes on him, Donnie suddenly felt squeamish but pushed it down.
"Baron was given a section of the Foot to train as his own years ago after-" Donnie was about to explain that Baron had garnered Saki's favor years ago, when it pieced together in his mind exactly how he had done so, and cut himself off. "They were still technically Foot, but Baron trained them to be elite. Best of the best. They don't fight like Foot much now either."
"Okay, so they're a better part of the Foot then." Leo summed up. "Why would Shredder send them after us now, though?"
Donnie shook his head, realizing that his brothers didn't know.
"No, Baron split off from the Foot. He wouldn't have been able to stay there but a day after-" Donnie waved his hand in a general direction. "-that all happened. He couldn't, Saki would have killed him."
"So you did have blackmail on him?" Raph asked with a smirk on his face.
Donnie laughed. "I couldn't really say 'yes' could I?"
"What was it?" Mikey asked, leaning toward him like a little kid interested in a story.
Donnie rubbed the back of his neck nervously.
"Do you guys remember when I knocked Baron out? At the warehouse?" Donnie asked.
Leo nodded for the group.
"Well, when we got back, Baron could've told him what I did and would've gotten me killed but he didn't." Donnie explained.
"Why?" Raph asked and watched as Donnie shifted.
"He was already planning to split from Saki, and he wanted me to help him after. Threatened to tell Saki if I didn't but he couldn't because once you lie to the Shredder, you better have a good reason. So he would've died too. After he tried to get you to do it for him-" Donnie motioned to Leo. "- I set up files that would incriminate him if I wasn't around to warn him against trying again."
"So you think Shredder saw them after you left?" Leo asked.
Donnie nodded immediately. "He did. I made sure."
"So Baron sent those guys after us? Not Shredder?" Leo clarified and then sighed.
"Great, now we got Shred-head and Baron to deal with." Raph grunted.
"If Baron is sending his people after us, it means he has the power to do it. It also means he holds grudges." Leo said. "That makes him as dangerous as Shredder. We need to find out as much as we can about him before engaging him."
Donnie nodded and Leo knew that he had assigned that task to himself.
"I have some pizza in the freezer if you want to cook it, Mikey. Since you guys are gonna be here for a little while." April offered the youngest, who immediately brightened at the mention of his favorite food.
"Yes!" He cheered. "I'm starving!"
Mikey ran over to the freezer and pulled out three large pizzas and started to heat up the oven.
"You're always starving, Mike." Raph muttered as he made to stand only to wince and sit back down again, obviously trying to not draw attention to himself.
Unfortunately for him, Donnie wasn't that easy to trick.
"What happened to your leg?" Donnie demanded, standing up and crossing over to him and kneeling beside him to get a better look.
"Back off, Don." Raph grunted, trying to shove him away, but Donnie was quicker and ducked out of the way before gently grabbing his brother's foot.
From the back of his ankle down was coated in redfrom a rather deep, jagged cut on his calf.
"When did this happen?" Donnie asked.
"None of your business Genius, now get-"
"-April, do you have any medical supplies?" Donnie asked, casually cutting Raph off.
"Um, I should have a first aid kit around here somewhere..." April murmured, deep in thought, as she started walking to the bathroom.
"Don, it's just a nick." Raph protested. "It's f-"
"Here Donnie." April said, handing Donnie the first aid kit that she had promised.
"Thanks." He said and opened the kit, mildly impressed with it's contents.
Along with several rolls of gauze, there was also disinfectant and fever reducer pills.
"You know this is excessive, right?" Raph demanded as Donnie wiped down the injury with the disinfectant. Raph managed to hide his hiss of pain but couldn't help the jerk his foot gave.
"Sorry, sorry." Donnie apologized as he finished disinfecting it and began wrapping up his ankle.
"Is this some kind of compulsion of yours?" Raph grunted. "Aggravating everyone when they don't want you to? I thought that was Mike's thing."
"Maybe it's a younger brother thing. Besides, I only aggravate you because you won't do this yourself." Donnie replied, motioning to Raph's now wrapped foot.
"It was fine, wasn't gonna kill me." Raph muttered.
"Oh yeah?" Donnie argued. "And what would you have done if it got infected? What then, wise guy?"
Leo shook his head as the two middle brothers argued and as Mikey kneeled next to the oven, rubbing his hands and licking his lips as he stared at the cooking pizzas.
"Hey Leo, can I talk to you?" April asked him quietly, silently motioning to the hallway.
Leo glanced back at the room's occupants.
Raph and Donnie were still playfully bickering, with Casey adding his two-cents in whenever he felt the argument was beginning to get too dull for his liking- which only further continued it- while Mikey alternated between staring down his food and laughing at the commotion.
"Sure." Leo agreed, matching her low tone.
The two of them silently filed into the hallway, trying not to make it too obvious what they were doing.
"What is it, April?" Leo asked quietly.
"So, I've been doing some research about, um, what I said back in the Lair. I've been trying to find out why Donnie doesn't remember anything." April began hesitantly, keeping her voice as low as she could.
"Yeah?" Leo asked, not entirely sure if he wanted to know what she had found or not.
"There was a bunch of research that I found about..." April glanced back at the room of people before lowering her voice again. "There's been studies that people held in captivity, after being, um-"
"Just say it, April." Leo forced out.
"I've seen studies about people in captivation that had gone through torture- they would do anything to survive, no matter what it was. Captors used torture to make them complacent to pretty much everything." April said all of this very fast, making sure to keep her voice low. "Leo, there's been proof that with enough torture, you could forget everything about yourself."
Leo tried to swallow the bile that rose in his throat, barely hearing it when April continued.
"Children are even more susceptible to it for, well, obvious reasons." April finished, looking back at the group. "Has he, well has he talked about-"
"No." Leo assured her, and yet somehow he knew that she was right. It made him sick to think about, but he couldn't deny what made sense. "No, he hasn't talked much about the Foot or Shredder at all."
April nodded thoughtfully.
"Come on," Leo sighed, telling himself that he would talk with Sensei about this later.
They both walked back into the room, trying to act as if they had never left it.
Donnie was the only one that seemed to notice, as Leo could see his eyes narrow at their entrance. but he didn't seem to give it much thought as he finished making sure that Mikey was as fine as he had said he was.
"I'm all good, D!" Mikey said with a grin, and then let out a loud "Whoop!" when the timer on the oven went off, signaling that Mikey's precious pizza was done.
Satisfied, Donnie sat down on the couch, looking exhausted though Leo hadn't noticed it before.
"By the way, what happened to your old Lair?" Donnie asked. "You never answered me."
"Robotic rats and Stockman, that's what." Raph grunted. "He sent those little vermin into our home and they caved the ceiling in."
"It's the first time we ever went above the surface." Leo added, leaning against the wall.
"I was working for Stockman at the time, and when I realized the Mousers weren't just for rats, he set them on me." April told him and Donnie perked up at that.
"The Mousers?" He asked. "I wondered why Saki got so angry when those things went bust."
"You knew about them?" Raph asked and Leo could hear the anger begin to simmer in his tone.
"Stockman told Saki that he could hunt his enemies with one push of a button." Donnie waved his hand around and rolled his eyes. "Saki wasn't very happy when it failed."
"Nice to know that you just sat around while our home was destroyed." Raph snapped.
Donnie looked over at him, his face impassive and unreadable.
"I didn't know who the targets were, Raphael." He snapped back. "And even if I did, I didn't know you then."
"So you have to know someone to help them?" Raph demanded, standing up.
Oh no, Leo thought.
Donnie stood up too, though Leo recognized his stance as more defensive.
"When I risk going to Roland? Yes, I'd like to know who I'm risking my life for." Donnie replied sarcastically. "This is pointless! It was years ago!"
"Yeah, we lost our home years ago!" raph thundered. "Because apparently you were too chicken to step in!"
"To step in?" Donnie repeated, visibly fuming. "Do you know what happens when you interfere in one of their missions? If you think Roland is bad, you don't want to know what else Saki has in those walls."
Raph took a step toward his younger brother, ignoring Leo's, "That's enough!" until he was face to face with Donnie.
"That's bein' a coward, Don." He hissed.
Donnie's eyes narrowed dangerously.
"Coward?" Donnie repeated, his hands balling into fists. "You remember when I knocked out Baron? When we got back to Saki, I was terrified out of my mind. That night, they brought me to Roland and tried to find something to use against you three."
Leo's eyes caught on the wrap that Donnie had still refused to take off around them and caught Raph looking at it too, suddenly looking slightly paler.
"So, yeah, Raphael. I have reason to be afraid of them." Donnie spat out angrily.
Raph's own fists were balled tightly as well and Leo feared a fight between the two was imminent.
"Enough you two!" Leo yelled, stepping between the two middle brothers. "He's right, this is a pointless argument."
"It wouldn't be pointless if-"
"Enough, Raph!" Leo snapped.
"Fine! Take his side!" Raph yelled and threw up his hands in anger.
"I'm not taking anyone's side, Raph!" Leo defended. "I'm just saying this is a pointless argument. It doesn't matter now."
"Does to me." Raph hissed. "Know what? Whatever."
With that, Raph stormed toward the window.
"Raph, seriously? You're gonna leave?" Leo demanded with a roll of his eyes, all too used to his immediate younger brother's temper tantrums.
"Yeah, I am Fearless." Raph snapped.
Donnie jumped toward him as Raph put his foot on the window.
"Raph, Baron's men are still out there hunting. Be pissed with me all you want, but it's not safe to go out there alone." Donnie pleaded, the fear obvious in his voice.
"I can take care of myself, Genius." Raph told him, glaring.
"So can Baron." Donnie countered. "You have no idea what that man's capable of. He's dangerous, Raph."
Raph seemed to stare at him for a moment before giving a disbelieving shake of his head.
"You're scared of your own shadow, aren't you?" Raph asked before yanking his arm out of Donnie's grip and jumping from the window.
"Raph!" Mikey yelled and made to follow, but Leo grabbed his arm and shook his head.
"No, let him cool off. He needs to blow off some steam." Leo said.
"But Baron-" Donnie started, but Leo cut him off, his tone soothing.
"Baron's men are in the sewers trapped under all that rubble. Raph will be fine. He's just in one of his moods, remember?" Leo said, trying for a joke.
Donnie didn't laugh, though. He didn't even move until Leo put a hand on his shoulder and guided him back to the couch.
"He'll be fine, Donnie. He does this all the time." Leo assured him.
Donnie didn't respond, choosing to instead sit back on the couch, eyes far away.
The sound of the oven's timer going off shook everyone as Mikey ran to get his food out of the oven.
"Guys? You might want to get some of this pizza before Mikey eats it all." April spoke up, trying to diffuse the tension.
Leo waited for Donnie to make his way to the kitchen, but the second youngest turtle seemed to be too deep in thought to even move.
Leo sighed and got two plates, sharing a brief look with April as he did, and put a few slices of pizza on both.
He sat on another couch and sat Donnie's plate in front of him, but the genius turtle didn't even look up.
"Donnie, you need to eat." Leo encouraged. "He's just in one of his moods, Don. Like he always is, remember?"
Leo shook Donnie's shoulder slightly to emphasize his point, which seemed to shake him out of his stupor, and he took a few bites of the pizza.
Mikey started telling Casey all about his latest comics the rest of them were all but silent.
Leo's stomach turned uneasily, the previous conversation still running in his mind. Is that where his injury had come from?
"I think we should be good to leave." Leo said with a sigh. "April, Casey, sorry for dropping in on you guys. We should be good to get back now."
"Be safe guys." April said, glancing at Donnie who hadn't spoken since the argument.
Donnie launched himself from the window, landing on the nearest rooftop quickly, eyes glancing around him.
Mikey, all but oblivious to the tension, followed after his immediate older brother.
Leo sighed and launched himself after his brothers.
"Straight to the Lair, guys." Leo advised. "No stopping."
The brothers were silent through the run to the Lair, even when they got to the sewers neither said a word.
When they got to the Lair, Donnie headed to his room without a word.
Leo shook his head and started toward his Sensei's room as Mikey ran toward the T.V.
Leo knocked twice gently at his Sensei's door, waiting for the quiet, "Come in." before doing so.
Donnie couldn't stop pacing back and forth in his room, couldn't stop thinking about the argument between him and Raph.
It was his fault then, wasn't it? Because he didn't act, because he was too afraid of the consiquence of interference?
And because of that, his brothers lost their home.
He felt the too familiar guilt settle in his gut.
How many times had he ignored what the Foot were doing because he was afraid of what would happen if he interfered?
Raph was right. He really was a coward.
Donnie sighed and glanced at his door.
When Raph got home, he would apologize. Not that it would do that much good now, but he still had to try.
He just needs to get home, Donnie thought with a sigh.
Rage pulled him forward, an old friend helping him to cross from rooftop to rooftop without stopping, despite how long he had been at it.
And the thing was, he wasn't even angry at Donnie anymore.
Was he at first? Shell yes. He hated that his brother had simply stood by while his home was destroyed.
But even Raph realized that there wasn't much room for choice in the Foot.
No, he wasn't angry with Donnie anymore.
He was infuriated with Shredder. With the Foot. With Baron. For everything they had done to his brother to make him so afraid. For putting that fear in his head and backing it up with- no, he wasn't going to think about that. He was afraid that if he did, he might lose his lunch. He didn't want to think about what his brother had said, what he had meant.
He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't even realize he was being followed.
It was only years of training that allowed him to do it, only skill that allowed him to jump out of the way in time before the bladed end of a Kusarigama pierced the wall where his head had been.
"Oh you have got to be kidding me." Raph muttered before taking out his Sais and facing a very smug-looking Baron. "What do you want?"
Baron's smile widened slightly.
"Some of my men reported to have seen four turtles, and yet I haven't heard back from them." Baron's stare pierced through him. "Any idea what happened to them?"
Raph shrugged. "Maybe they fell off the face of the Earth. Who knows."
Baron smirked slightly.
"Where's the rest of your... brothers?" Baron asked, hesitating as if he doubted they were actually related.
Raph was instantly on alert.
"Why the shell would I tell you?" Raph snarled.
"Because if you do, I'll make this a lot less painful for you." Baron said, twilring his Kusarigama with ease.
"What do you want with my brothers?" Raph demanded, gripping his Sais tighter.
"For one, wiping your mutant scum off would be a favor for the world. And second, Donatello and I have an old debt he needs to make due on."
Raph let out a snarl of rage at the words.
"My brother doesn't owe you anything!" Raph yelled.
Baron merely grinned.
"Where are they, Raphael?"
But Raph merely shook his head, prepared for the inevitible fight.
"Never." He spat.
Raph was prepared for Baron's attack, enough so that he was able to dodge the incoming blade.
What he hadn't be prepared for was the not-so-light sting on the back of his neck before suddenly becoming much dizzier than he remembered being a few moments ago.
Dart, his fuzzy mind informed him.
He tried in vain to take it out, but his suddenly clumsy hands refused to cooperate. He vagualy felt his legs give out from under him.
"You should have known I wouldn't fight fair, Raphael." Baron chastised, but his voice sounded wrong, like he was hearing it under water.
His last thought before everything went black was of just how screwed he was.