Too Late…
Leonardo felt his heart beat wildly as he heard Don's voice come out of his phone, saying quietly "We found her."
He was so overjoyed to hear it that he missed the carefully controlled tone of Don's voice and the sadness there. He practically ripped the device from his belt.
"Coordinates" he barked into it in a clipped tone. He finally felt back in control.
Don relayed them and sent a route to his phone that showed the shortest path to the level where she lay.
Raph hadn't missed it though, and he picked up his own phone and quickly texted Don for a status update. He didn't want to be blindsided by her condition. The response he received made his stomach turn and he suddenly felt empty, hollow inside. Don had only sent him a screenshot in reply, but that was enough.
There was no way in hell she was alive.
"Leo!" Raph called to halt his brother, who was now running full speed down the corridor.
"Let's just take a moment here, 'kay? I mean, uh, we need to be prepared, just in case, ya know?"
Leo had stopped at Raph's words. He looked over his shoulder and narrowed his eyes.
"Raphael, " he said formally, "This is no time for delay. She is grievously injured and every second we waste here, could be her last."
Leo turned and resumed his headlong flight down the tunnel, checking his direction every so often on the phone. Raph sighed and picked up his pace. He would be there to help his brother when the world came crashing down.
Leonardo was a stone's throw away from the Fall where she lay, when he began to feel that something was terribly wrong. He peered cautiously up the tunnel into the bottom of the Fall. It didn't look right. Could Don have somehow got the location wrong?
It didn't match his earlier vision. He could make out a large pile of debris in the center that blocked his view, but he couldn't see the girl. Sol was agitated as well. It moved frenetically around the corridor, bouncing back and forth between Leo and the pile of rubble, but Sol's little glow was not really enough to light the space.
Carefully stepping around the edges of the pile, Leo caught a glimpse of pale hair, and a scream suddenly reverberated through the Fall.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
He didn't even realize it had come from his own mouth. Leo lunged forward and snatched at the large wooden beam that lay across her chest. Adrenaline and panic fueled him, letting him wrench it off her body. He hurled it away, and it shattered into thousands of pieces against the wall, just like his heart.
Leo was too frantic to see Raph move in to free her left arm and lever the concrete off of her legs. He crouched over her and gently pushed back her hair, anxiously stroking her face.
"Wake up Sweetheart." he murmured, "I'm here. I'm gonna get you out."
His heart sank as there was absolutely no response. Leo fumbled for a pulse, but found nothing. He checked for breathing, holding his hand close to her mouth and nose. Still nothing. He felt dazed and dizzy. He couldn't catch his breath.
This wasn't possible. He couldn't have failed her. Not after what they'd been through. The devastation he'd been holding at bay, the trauma of the rape, and the physical pain he'd been fighting off to find her began to crash over him.
Leonardo clutched her body close, collapsing beside her in shock and pulling her into his lap.
"Noooooo." he moaned in a low, stunned, voice rocking her back and forth. Tears spilled from his eyes, soaking into his mask. He shook his head repeatedly, this couldn't be real. Holding her motionless form felt like the worst kind of nightmare.
Raphael crossed quickly to his brother, and knelt in front of him, waving away the little blue flame orbiting Leo's head as if it was an annoying insect. Tears in his eyes for his brother's pain, Raphael reached out to Leo and tried to take the girl from his arms.
"She's gone Leo," Raph said softly, "Give her to me. We'll take her home."
Anger and pain flared to life in Leo as comprehension returned to his gaze. He jerked her body away from Raph, and stared down at the beaten face and shattered body of the fragile girl in his arms.
Then the screaming began.
First it was just Leo's voice, torn with rage and pain. Loss formed into it's most primal form. Forcing it's way from his body. But the moment he began to scream, Sol went mad.
It began to pulse rapidly, heating as it became bigger and brighter with each flare.
As the screaming went on and on, Raph threw up his arms to shield his eyes from the fire and backed away across the Fall. He tried to force his way in again, to pull Leo to safety, but the flame had spun itself into a huge fiery whirlwind that roared up through the Fall, magnifying Leo's screams. It burned Raphael and pushed him back, pummeling him with debris.
Leo staggered to his feet in the center of the whirlwind, with the girl in his arms. Suddenly, the wind collapsed back on itself and crashed into him with physical force, engulfing his body in blue. Truly burning inside and out, Leo tilted back his head and roared a demand to the heavens in a strange language, raising the girl over his head as if in supplication.
The blue surrounding him solidified into a single beam, rocketing straight up the Fall. It shot out into the night, piercing the darkness with the brilliance of a shooting star and disappeared from view.
Silence fell. Raphael stood, frozen and wide eyed, across the Fall from his brother. He just stared as Leo slowly crumpled back to the earth, the girl held tight to his chest.