Alright, another kind of short chapter. The OCs in here aren't all that important, they're just background characters. Paul has to come in later as a plot device.

Can you let me know how you're feeling about this so far? I would like to know if I should continue or not, or if it still needs to be worked on.

Whoop.

Raph gasped sharply in pain as he tried yet again to free his wrists. He could feel fresh blood running down his arms as a result of his pulling. He could hardly reach the floor now; his toes were sore from being stood on.

He had no idea how long he'd been in this place, but so far he'd heard two sounds that both seemed eerily similar to the subway over his head.

Which could only mean he was in the sewers.

Bright side, his brothers might know where to look.

Not-so-bright side, his brothers might not even think to look here.

Raph hoped it would turn out to be the former.

Ignoring the pain in his arms as best he could, Raph pulled down again.

...

Paul Johnson was not having a good day. When the captain requested an early meeting, rumors spread quickly throughout the station.

As a detective, he already knew the news. Disappearances had skyrocketed within the past month or so, and his partner was lead on the case.

He met up with Alex in the back of the meeting.

Alex sniggered to his left as the captain briefed the precinct on the case. "What's with the face?" He whispered.

Paul rolled his eyes. "Coffee's gone and I'm late. What else is there to be unhappy about?"

His partner nodded to the front of the room. "Well, this shit for one. Patrol car got called out by the pier last night, some kids found a body." He passed Paul a coffee from the chair next to him.

Paul accepted gratefully and took a sip before replying. "Match description?"

"You know it." Alexander shifted in his seat. "Coroner says she might as well have been in the sewers, had so many bugs on her."

Paul nodded. The captain finished her speech and dismissed the crowd. As they headed back to their desks, Paul's thoughts turned back to the case, per usual.

It wasn't everyday the entire precinct was invited on a case, but this was a big one. The news had started in on it a couple days ago, and if past patterns were correct, that meant the public was about to feel a whole less safe.

The targets were young kids, mostly girls from what they could gather. They all had a common trait: they seemed the type to runaway.

It was hard to find kids who didn't want to be found in the first place, and even harder to find kids who vanished from thin air.

They'd found old belongings on street corners, in alleyways, near the docks, you name it.

Paul had come to the conclusion it wasn't just one guy. At least two, maybe three people who were organized.

This last body was the third so far. They were similar in markings; all of them had signs of torture. Burns, cuts, bruises. Causes of death were different, one drowned, two sepsis.

Alex pointed out how bad sepsis was if not treated, and conditions didn't have to be horrible for it to set in. All it took was a little dirt and bacteria.

Captain Maria Stafford poked his head out of his office. "Hook, Johnson. Come here real quick."

Alex shot Paul a look that said 'oh, boy.'

They ducked in the door way and sat down at Stafford's desk.

"I'm worried about this case." The captain never was one for pleasantries. "There's some new evidence the coroner just called about."

"Oh yeah?" That made them lean forward.

Stafford nodded. "She says it's gotta be either the pier, abandoned building, or the sewers. Said something about particulates but she hasn't been wrong about this kind of stuff often, so I took her word for it."

Alex ran a hand through his brown hair. "You mean where the kids were before they died?"

Stafford nodded again. "I want you checking every abandoned building, every empty shipping crate on that pier."

Paul pursed his lips. "What about the sewers, Ma'am?"

"It's a maze, Johnson. I'll send a few men down there, but I'm not expecting them to find anything."

Paul nodded to himself.

This was going to be a long case, he could feel it in his bones.

Nov. 11th

Raph didn't realize he'd fallen asleep until he was awoken by a scraping sound. He twisted in his chains and growled low in his throat, certain this would be his chance to escape. It hadn't been too long since he'd closed his eyes, probably. Maybe a day. Maybe two.

Footsteps walked over to the table and he heard the movement of a chair being pulled out. Some paper rustled and suddenly Raph's stomach growled at the smell of food before him.

The footsteps made their way over to where Raph was hanging and a hand reached up near his face. Naturally, Raph growled as menacingly as he could in his current state.

The hand slapped him. It was a couple seconds before his brain registered what had just happened, and that was enough time for his gag to be released from around his face to hang around his neck.

"That all you got?" Were the first words out of his mouth. The second ones were, "You coward."

Matt tsked from somewhere to his left. When did he move there? Focus, Raphael.

"You've barely seen what I have to offer you. Me coming in to check on you after one and a half days is a mercy and a gift from me to you. And, I brought lunch."

"I don't want anything from You." Raph snarled. He could hear the sigh come through his captor's lips.

"So be it. But you will, one of these days. When the hunger comes too much to bear, or when your wounds become too much for your pain tolerance, you will beg me-"

"You got the wrong turtle, pal. I don't beg. Especially not from scum like you."

"Have it your way. All you have to do is ask for something, and I can give it to you." The footsteps walked back around the table and scraped the chair a minuscule amount.

"Then let me go so I can pound your puny little face is some more." A smile made its way to Raph's lips at the memory of seeing Matthew's face covered in his own blood.

"Except for freedom. And after our first day together, I think you've shown me how untrustworthy you are."

Raph's eyes widened behind the blindfold. "You... kidnapped me, and now you're holding me hostage, for what? Not fame, you haven't taken my picture. You haven't asked me any questions. I'm beginning to wonder what the hell you get outta this deal."

"I get what I want."

"And what is that? A little torture victim all to yourself?"

"Yes."

The response chilled his bones. Raph hadn't expected that answer. It wasn't what he was used to. In fact, he felt like he was the one monologuing this time. It was a strange divergence from his usual path of getting captured and questioned about... anything, really.

Usually it was 'where did you get these weapons' or 'give me the location of your lair' or even, 'I'm planning on making a mutant army, blah blah blah...' This was definitely not the norm.

He shivered suddenly and uncontrollably. It wasn't nerves, it was cold. Too goddamn cold in here.

"Ya mind turning up the heat? I feel like it would be mutually beneficial."

"No heating down here."

Raph's mouth formed the beginnings of the word 'bullshit,' but there was no way he could say anything about Donnie's heating system, not when he didn't know how much this guy knew. It was entirely unpredictable how he would react.

At least then he might think of some unoriginal questions, he thought cynically.

But no. He wouldn't say a word about his brothers until they themselves showed up to rescue him, because there was a slim chance he'd be able to rescue himself this time. He'd tried the chains, mouthing off, getting close enough to hit the guy. None of it had worked so far, and the pessimist in him said he wasn't getting out on his own.

"You sure you don't want anything to eat?" The voice broke through his thoughts.

"From you?" He sneered. "Not in a million years."

"Have it your way." The paper crinkled and something else scraped off the table. It was metal, that much he could tell.

"Let's take care of that smart mouth, yeah?"

A blow to his chin forced his head up and back into the wall with a sickening 'crack.' He didn't have a moment for his brain to catch up with him as another, but longer piece of metal scraped across the table and he was hit in a downwards motion on his shoulder. Raph yelped in pain when he felt his already sore shoulder jarred worse than before. He was lucky to have moved his head out of the way in time.

Blood dribbled from his mouth down his chin and his feet scrambled to find some purchase on the ground before him.

"Is that-" He spit to the side. "Is that all you got? I been hit worse by teenagers."

Matthew exhaled sharply and went over to the corner for something else. It also scraped off the table, but this one sounded... familiar.

A sharp point began to dig its way into his stretched, sensitive, and exposed side, slowly. His breath hitched with every inch it was driven into his body.

It hit him then. It sounded like Leo's swords, or his sais. It made sense now.

The knife pushed deeper and Raph could feel his own blood escaping his body. He swallowed dryly and tried to form words in his head to project out of his mouth.

"Wh-what is that? S-some sort o-of sissy needle? I been tortured before... This ain't... that bad."

Matthew said nothing, and Raph wished he could see something more than blackness in front of his vision. The knife pushed deeper in a sudden and short movement, and it made Raph gasp in pain.

He heard Matt laugh softly through his nose, and Raph grit his teeth against the pain. He wouldn't give this asshole the satisfaction.

The pressure on the knife stopped once Raph could feel it start to get close to a rib. Matt's hand came away from the handle, and the small knife was lodged into Raph's body.

"Listen, I-I'm not a... a human pincushion... y'hear? Just... take out the damn knife... and I'll consider... killing you, ah, quickly." He swallowed down a wince and kept his expression as neutral as possible.

Matthew said nothing. He walked back to the table and grabbed his trash. It wasn't until he made it to the door that Raph knew what he was planning.

"H-hey! You can't, you can't leave me like this! You have to... You can't..." His feet scrambled again, but found nothing.

Matthew walked back over to Raph and reached up to his face. The fabric of his gag was pushed up from his neck to his lips, but he held them firmly closed.

Matt pushed the knife in his side deeper, and Raph let out a gasp and shook as the tip hit his bone and stayed there. Matt had enough time to put in the gag and draw his hands away before Raph could even think about biting him.

"I'll be back. Maybe next time you'll ask nicely."

Raphael finally pulled himself together enough to return with a muffled response. It took a couple beats for him to realize that Matthew had already left.

He shifted so that one foot was better able to find the ground to hold him up and blinked away tears that threatened to spill as the point of the blade lightly scraped bone. His readjusting had also torn the surrounding tissue open more, and blood continued to come with no sign of stopping.

The only thoughts going through Raph's head were 'stop, make it stop' and 'I'm gonna kill that son of a bitch' with one or two 'Leo, Donnie, Mike, where are you?' mixed in.

The gag soaked up the blood that had been dribbling from his mouth and now his tongue felt coated with it.

Raphael's stomach growled, and he still really had to pee.

...

I'm feeling the way that I'm feeling myself

Fuck everyone else

Gotta remember that nobody's better than anyone else, here

Do you need some time to think it over?

Look what they do to you

Look what they do to me

Must be joking if you think that either one is free, here

"My Name is Human" (Highly Suspect)