"Raph, you still with me?"

Leo called, lugging the body through a crumbling breakfast nook. Just like everywhere in the old lair, the kitchen was a creepy, dark mess of concrete. His trusty flashlight spotted some busted appliances. The Frigidaire had survived.

"Yeah…" Raphael answered from the next disaster area, in what remained of the central living room. After finding some emergency supplies in the bathroom, Leo had left Raphael to guard their captive by candlelight.

The whole trip underground the prisoner had listened. Gathered information. Her ass was definitely planning something.

It was hard to hustle with the weight of a dead body on your shell. Leo put the flashlight down. Bracing the plastic wrapped body over shoulder with one hand, he gutted the fridge with the other. The moldy shelves clattered to the floor.

Rigor hadn't set in yet, whenever that happened, so he tipped the fridge on its back and squished the body inside as respectfully as possible.

His first girl. He imagined rifling through the pockets of her skin-tight jeans. Was she old enough to drive? Leonardo slammed the sewer-coffin.

"Raph?"

No answer.

Leo's boots crunched over rubble as he stumbled back to the central room. The candlelight flickered over some creepy Halloween prop, but it was just the good prisoner hooded and sitting on her heels.

Raph's pulse was a bitch to find. He had passed out leaning against the charred pizza box couch. What if the champ had fallen forward? Shit!

Leo hadn't thought of that. He needed to tighten his mask, but his hands froze in the air. Missing. The air blew through his lips.

The girl bristled.

Leonardo rubbed his brow raw. Raphael needed a miracle. Whatshername probably wanted medical attention. Bleaching the scene was a must. And, Dad.

Master never took insubordination lightly. It was a good day when Splinter offered a choice, like, a proper whipping versus some well-earned torture in the Hashi. Leonardo's jagged scars burned as his mind boiled it all down. Forget being gunned down in a hostage negotiation, or his shell ripped off on some examination table, Sensei gonna kill him.

Leonardo dug out his phone.

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Donatello fucking loved to dream, but what do you do when the sleeping part is a real snooze? An invention, of course! His patented goggles detected REM eye movements, then simply emitted little red flashes onto his eyelids. Not enough to wake him up, but after two months of nightly practice, his brain finally noticed the lights. His subconscious rejoiced. "You're dreaming! Sweet freedom!"

His WIP watch-phone vibrated like mad. Don punched the googles off his face. "G'ah!" Coming to terms with a rude two am awakening, he answered, "I was trying to REM, Leo."

His brother sounded like a mortician. "Raphael had an accident."

This was not a dream. Don swung his legs out of bed. "What? Is he okay?"

Now, Leo sounded like a mortician reading the obituaries. "No. We're at the old place. He's unconscious."

Donatello put his glasses on to hear better and yanked on the closest pair of pants. "What the fuck happened?" He fastened his fly.

"Don't tell Dad. Tell Mikey to bring zip-ties." Click.

Fuckin-click! "Fucking zip-ties?" Don tapped his wrist-phone. "Call fucking Leo." Straight to VM. "Fucker! Call Mike."

His brother had been deep asleep and said through a yawn. "Yo. Ja-mean to call me?"

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"You alright, Mikey?" Don splashed through the sewer and made fucking haste with his brother. They had opted for a run-and-slide route towards their old digs.

"It's a 'no' for me, Don." Michelangelo jogged backwards. He raised a can of OC. "Here's to: Leo got in a good combo, and it was lights-out for the ringer."

Best case scenario equals Fearless winning the fight. Donnie jerked his thumb down a backwash tunnel. "We'll be there in twenty as long as a-hundred-and-eighth is flooded."

Mikey hopped over a dead rat. "What do you think happened? I mean, those ties can't be for lil Raphie."

Donnie's brain refused to conjure up any whackadoo worst case scenario. "I can't wrap my head around it." The old rip-a-zip game got annoying for Red after a baker's dozen bound his wrists.

"Maybe Mr. Fung Shui saw some wires that needed organizing." Michelangelo had a knack for making his brother snort-laugh at the strangest of times.

Pulling his shit together, Don agreed and picked up the pace. "Race you to the one-oh-eight."

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Leonardo was on top of this situation and not forgetting anything. He stopped pacing. The body? Secure. The prisoner? For the most part. Raph? Kinda stable? Leonardo's thoughts racked against his brain.

His brothers were on the way. Leo pictured Donnie bursting in wearing a doctor's coat and enunciating, "Where's the victim?" Then imaginary Mikey appeared tapping the side of his head, reminding Leo, "La tortuga, bro."

Leo smacked his bonehead. How long until he completely lost it? The poor, mangled turtle! Left behind!

The room spun. The candlelight bounced off the hooded prisoner. Raph's body. His brother's chest. Rising and falling. Rising and falling.

It was quiet.

Leonardo needed his mask to hold it together.

"You."

The prisoner cocked her sleeve-hooded head.

"I'm gonna undo your wrists." Leo squatted behind the shivering girl. He rescued his mask grimacing at the angry, red indentations on her wrists. "You can take the hood off if you-" Want to? "-take the hood off."

Blue stained with dirt and blood, the mask ran through Leo's fingers. If he was being honest, it was a different color altogether. He cinched a dark knot behind his head.

The girl's hands worked to remove her head-sleeve. Bloody mouth. Sweaty face. That jacked up eye. She topped it all off with one crazy, matted ponytail. After a lot of blinking, the prisoner spotted him in the low light

She came out swinging. "Where's Gina?"

The question sank into his gut and shredded his organs. To save the clan, this turtle had to convince her he was a cold-blooded killer. One she could not cross. Pretend you're someone else, or some bullshit. Dark Leo.

She asked for it. Just like "Gina".

Leo didn't recognize his voice. "In the fridge."

The prisoner digested the info almost like swallowing a shard of glass. Monster-sized tears poured out. Hyperventilating. "You killed her." The teen rocked and comforted her body. Repeating. "You really killed her. You really killed her."

Tonight, this human had tortured and killed one turtle then permanently disabled another. But, something told Leo, after one look at her tooth and tears, Mikey would rocket-board the damsel to Bellevue.

There was nowhere in the bombed-out Lair to kennel the prisoner. Not even a closet to stuff her in. Wait. But, if she stayed quiet and still, the rubble and ruin offered plenty of hiding spots.

All he had to do was play to her fears. Remember how she reacted about taking the jacket off? Dark Leo's idea tasted like bile.

Leo rationalized it down his throat. Painless? Yes. Guaranteed surrender? Absolutely. Just this once?

After she submitted he'd hide her under that old rug, there. Then he'd be free to guard the lump, while Don and Mikey panicked over Raph and looked to their alpha for guidance.

The prisoner snapped-to as Leo strode over with heavy footfalls. Bending down, he whipped off the ankle sleeve and pulled her to stand.

"What are you doing?" Her face was priceless.

Besides committing to a dark role for the survival of the Clan?

"Open your mouth." See? Working already. The girl clammed up and stared at the floor. She squirmed as his thumbs kneaded into her bony shoulders. "Or, I'll do it for you."

It's a good thing he didn't enjoy toying with the prisoner. The tantalizingly slow way she hinged her jaw open. The way those eyes batted at him. Teasing him. She wanted to see what was coming.

His aim was perfect.

The gob of spit clogged the back of her throat. Her ass bounced on the concrete. Bubbly fluid ran down the girl's chin as she gurgling and fought for air.

Dark Leo wanted on top again so he planked over her quivering body. Everything was under control.

"Are you listening?" Leo made sure by thrusting a knee into her inner thigh.

The girl's choking gasp filled his belly with an alarming heat. Just a little while longer. She nodded with her eyes closed.

"From now on, you keep your mouth shut." He menaced her space until she cracked open her crazy eye. "Or, I'll put something else in there."

The turtle killer leaked out two tears of despair. Dark Leo nodded. She wouldn't make a peep. Leonardo was really good at intimidating people.

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To be continued! Thank you for reading!