Note: Leo's point of view. Again, same time, just in a different part of the building from Angel.

We were close, I could feel it. I shifted my katana in my hands, relishing the familiar power that resonated through them. The others were holding the guards off nicely, not even needing my help. I caught Raph's eye and gave him a silent signal.

I'm going to look around. You guys got everything here?

He nodded, turning back to the fight. I headed toward the back hallway that lead downstairs, listening past the sounds of the fight to the sounds of the darkness below. As I got deeper and the sounds of the light faded away, I began to hear other sounds: water dripping down the wall, a breeze moaning through the halls, and crying. Very soft, very weak, but it was there. Someone was crying. I took off, my covered feet padding down the concrete silently despite my bulk. She was here! But where was she?

"Angel?" I called out quietly. The crying stopped and the corridor was silent. "Angel, are you here?"

I slowed my step, finally coming to a stop in front of a dimly lit cell. My instincts told me she was somewhere inside, but I couldn't see anything at first. After a moment, though, my patience paid off.

"Who are you?" asked a weak voice, cracking from lack of use. My heart ached. Angel sounded terrified.

"It's me, little bird. It's Leo." I sheathed my katanas and crouched down beside the wall to her cell, reaching my hand through the bars and into the darkness. A tentative hand reached out, the pointer finger gently brushing my palm. I moved to hold her hand, but she jerked back into the darkness. Why was she so shy, all of a sudden?

"No, it can't be you." She stammered. I peered into the blackness, trying to make her face out, but she was shrouded in shadows. "You're all back at the safehouse in the woods. You're not even in the city."

"But we are, Angel. We came back as soon as we figured out you had been kidnapped. We've been looking for you everywhere. Please trust me." I pleaded, grabbing onto the bars with both hands now. We only had a few minutes before the others would be here and I needed to make sure she was okay.

"Whoever you are, believe me when I say I couldn't trust you even if I wanted to. They've broken me too badly to trust again." She sounded hollow, empty. Without a sound she stepped into the light just enough for me to see her face. I couldn't help but stare in shocked fury.

"What have they done to you?" I breathed, feeling the anger build up within me like a tidal wave. She looked like a walking skeleton, more fit for a haunted house than an actual person. I wanted so badly to reach out and pull her into my arms, to protect her from everything, to save her from the evils of this world. Nobody messed with my family this badly and got away with it. Nobody.

Angel hung her head, both proud and ashamed of her appearance. Suddenly, I couldn't take it anymore. I remembered the countless nights I had spent tossing and turning in my bedroom, fighting nightmares upon vivid nightmares, and realized now my fears had become a reality. But, unlike in my dreams, I could do something about them now. In one fluid movement, I unsheathed my katanas and brought them down on the metal bars at a steep angle. The hardened steel of my swords, combined with the force of my fury, bit through the thick bars like a hot knife through butter. The bars shuddered with their newfound freedom, then toppled to the floor. Angel shrieked and returned to the shadows, weeping uncontrollably. I stepped through the freshly-made hole, alarmed. I approached her cautiously as I returned my weapons to their sheaths.

Then, out of the blue, she came flying at me, throwing her arms around my neck and burying her head in my shoulder. It was then that I realized she was crying for joy and not out of fear or sadness. I wrapped my arms around her protectively, feeling a deep love for this young girl well up inside me. She may not be the same species as me, but she was undoubtedly family.

"It really is you!" She cried, holding onto me tighter. I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. And right then, with the fight going on up above our heads and the dark cell casting shadows on our battered bodies, I found a sudden peace as I held Angel in my arms, protecting her and shielding her from the evils that had plagued her for the last few weeks.

She was safe now. I was keeping her safe.