A/N: So, I had decided to have the Bugs in this chapter, before I ever saw the IDW issue with Baxter's bugs. I almost feel like they stole it from me. LOL! ^_^ I think Don's Bugs would be smaller than Baxter's anyway.

Also, sorry not a lot of the guys in this chap, but the next two are my fave in this fic! They really show off Raph and Cat's relationship to a tee.

"Damn it!" Raphael had been trying to pull himself free of the metal cuffs for the past hour, but all he'd succeeded in doing was aggravating his old shoulder injury and chaffing the skin off his wrists. He glared at the camera across the room from him. "Let us go!" He growled. "Or when I get free, I'm gonna rip ya people apart with my bare hands! Ya hear me!"

In the next room, Leo frowned at the wall. He could hear Raphael through it, but not well. There had to be some type of sound proofing between them. He took a deep breath, consciously trying to relax all the muscles in his hand. If he could only get one hand free, it would be all he'd need. His hand slipped another centimeter into the cuff. He wasn't entirely sure he could get his hand to fit through the narrow cuff. That didn't matter though. All he needed to do is concentrate. Mind over matter. Specific control over each muscle, joint, and bone. It was a painstakingly slow process. And every time Raph shouted, he subconsciously tensed. If Raph would only be quiet for a few minutes, I could get free. Who was he kidding! Raph calm down and be quiet. Yeah, that wasn't going to happen. Leo tried once more to tune out his brother and force his bones into unnatural positions.

On the other side of Raph's room, Donnie frowned at the door. Sarah was getting closer. The last thing he wanted was to put her in danger, but it didn't seem he had a choice. Every time he tried to send her reassurance through the bond, it was answered with a blast of determination and protective possessiveness. Sighing, he tried again to reason with his silent captors. He looked straight into the camera. "Who are you? What do you want with us? We weren't hurting anyone. If I could just speak with someone in charge, I could explain things to them." Once again there was no response. "I need to know if my brothers are alright. We are sentient beings. You have no right to lock us up like this." Still nothing. It seemed, either they could not hear him or they were completely ignoring him. In either case, every minute that passed brought his mate closer to danger.

They had just settled down to watch a movie when Mira had sensed fear again. This time she was not going to just let it go though, so she'd called her mother. The conversation had been rather odd to say the least. Then she'd asked to speak to K-three, which was also a bit odd. But her mother hadn't given her a chance to question her further.

K-three looked down at her, the phone pressed to his ear. "Yes. Are you sure everything is alright? Okay. Bye." He handed the phone back. "She sounded…distracted."

Mira frowned at him. "What did she want?" Before he could answer though, her phone rang in her hand. She looked down to see Shinta's number. A cold pool of dread began forming in her gut. Answering it, she put it back to her ear. "Hey, what's up?"

"Mira."

She instantly knew something was off by the way his voice cracked. "Shinta, what's wrong?"

"I screwed up. I screwed up royally. I…I don't know what to do…"

K-three gave her a funny look. "Why is Shinta calling you?"

She put up a finger, asking him to be patient. "Where are you?"

He let out a shuddering breath. "On a roof about a block from Amber's house."

She frowned. "Stay there. We're on our way." She hung up and started for the next room.

"Where are we going?" K-three could sense that his mate was now very worried. "What's going on?"

She pushed open the living room door and stepped inside before answering. "We have to go get Shinta."

"Get Shinta?" Kaz echoed from his place on the floor, where he'd been playing with Kara. "Shouldn't he be upstairs?"

Mira looked at the family with a guilty expression. "No, he's not. He left earlier to go see Amber." K-three opened his mouth, but she beat him to the question. "I didn't know he was leaving. He only told me after he was gone." She sighed. "I didn't see any harm in him going for a few hours. And he promised he'd be back in three."

Yoshi stood up. "You mean he took off! Again!"

Mira waved her hands. "Look, none of that matters right now. Something's wrong. We need to go get him." She met Star's worried gaze. "You'd better come along."

K-three wasn't entirely sure what had just happened, but if Shinta needed them they would always be there. He frowned down at his spouse, hurt by her deception. She lowered her gaze, she had no way to defend her actions. She'd effectively lied to him. He turned on his heel, heading for the elevator. "We'll take the rooves." Yoshi and star hurried after him.

Mira finally lifted her head. "Ona, would you-?"

Ona cut her off. "Of course, go."

Kaz patted Kara on the head and kissed his wife softly. "I love you. We'll be back soon."

Mira met Katsu's eyes. "It'll be alright." Then she too was gone. Leaving him in the care of his aunt.

Ona slipped an arm around him. "Don't worry, honey. They'll be back real soon, you'll see."

It took nearly an hour and several broken driving laws to reach a stretch of dirt road, where Sarah finally said to stop. Cat pulled off the road into a cluster of trees and shut off the engine. "Well, we're out of road."

Sarah frowned in concentration. "He's here. Maybe a quarter mile north." She was already hitting keys on the computer. "Here's a satellite image of that area."

The others gathered around to look over her shoulder. Jamie shook her head. "That can't be it. It just looks like trees. There's nothing there."

Cat frowned. "Are you sure?"

Sarah nodded firmly. "Yes."

Cat straightened. "That's good enough for me."

"Well, it's not for me. We can't go charging in there, if we don't even know where we're going." April pointed out. "It could just be a vacant lot or someone's back yard."

Sarah rubbed her chin. "Maybe we're not supposed to be able to see it." She began hitting more keys.

Jamie leaned a little closer. "What do you mean?"

"Look." Sarah had adjusted the satellite feed to show infrared and heat signatures. Adjusting the signal strength a little more the square shape of a structure appeared. "It's underground."

Cat frowned. "Can you find them? Are they in there?"

Sarah nodded, already readjusting the signal to pick up only the turtles bio-signatures. The four waited impatiently for the signal to adjust. Three signals with their temperatures were clustered fairly close together. While a fourth was separated from the others. Jamie lifted a hand to her mouth to cover the worried gasp that left her. They could be hurting one of them at that very moment! "We need to go! Now!"

Cat caught her arm. "We're just as worried as you are, but we need to get a little more information before we try to get them out."

"I agree. And I know just how to get it." Sarah opened a compartment and pulled out a box. "Donnie's been working on something new. I call them Bugs, but he calls them Micro Surveillance Bots." She opened the box to reveal a half dozen tiny machines with wings that were no bigger than a fly.

April gave a little laugh. "Yep, I think Bugs fits them better."

Sarah frowned a little. "The problem is they haven't been fully tested."

Jamie eyed the little machines with tiny legs and wings. "Can we use them though?"

Sarah nodded. "We should be able to use the alpha program he installed. It's rather simplistic and hasn't been fine-tuned of course, but useable."

Cat picked one up. "Well, let's give them a try now."

Turning back to the computer console, Sarah pulled up the correct program. The Bugs began to fly, floating a few inches off the surface of the console. On one of the monitors six camera images were displayed. "Donnie said he wants them to be able to record audio in the future. But right now they can only shoot video." Pressing a few keys, the Bugs flew out one of the windows. On a separate screen the Bugs were being tracked, showing their progression towards the underground structure.

On the surface the area appeared to be a clearing within a cluster of trees and nothing more. But since they knew there was a building there, they knew what to look for. A vent lay even with the ground, which could easily be missed by someone unaware.

"That's our ticket in." Cat hoped the vent was large enough for them.

"April, you stay here and watch the controls. You can use the Bugs to help us navigate and avoid people inside." Sarah reached into a drawer and pulled out headsets. "We'll keep in radio contact." Switching on the communicator and the headsets, she handed one to Cat and Jamie. They each had to adjust them because they were way too large for their heads.

Jamie turned and took the bow and quiver from the wall. "I might be a bit rusty."

"No more than us, I'm sure." Cat eyed the spare set of sai, running her fingers over the worn leather. She wouldn't know what to do with them. Instead, she took down a small dagger and snatched up a set of lock picks.

Sarah was busy stuffing things into the old duffel that Don kept in the van. She turned to them. "Ready?" The others nodded and they started to get out.

"Wait, that place is probably full of cameras. Even if you get the guys out, they may be able to find you later if they identify you." April pointed out.

A grin crossed Jamie's face. "No, they won't." She'd spotted something earlier that would ensure their anonymity. She opened a compartment and pulled something out. The three couldn't help but laugh as they tied the spare masks on. It was time to get their family back.

K-three had been all set to give Shinta a good lecture, but when they landed on the rooftop and he saw him sitting with his legs drawn to his chest, he decided against it. The kid looked like he'd been through enough.

"Shinta!" Mira rushed forward, wrapping her arms around him.

"What happened?" Yoshi asked as he lowered Star from his shell. The anger he'd felt on the way there had been washed away the instant he'd seen the look in his cousin's eyes.

Kaz frowned, squatting down beside him. "Hey, runt. You okay?"

"I'm okay." He said softly. He lifted his gaze to K-three. "I…I didn't mean to….I didn't intend to….It just shut off….and she…." He dropped his gaze to the rooftop and hugged his legs a little tighter. "She locked herself in the bathroom."

Despite his rather garbled explanation, they all understood what he meant. "Is your holo-projector broken? Let me see it." Mira put out a hand for it.

Shinta shook his head. "It's not broken. I forgot to charge it."

"So, let me get this straight. You left the lair without permission, after you were told not to. And you took a holo that wasn't fully charged to go see a human teenage girl. And now she's freaking out." K-three watched the teen nod dejectedly. "Oh, great! This is just wonderful! Leo is gonna kill me!"

"Kane!" Mira hissed. "He feels bad enough."

"No." Shinta didn't look up. "He's right. I messed up big time."

Kaz frowned, standing up. "Well, all we can do now is damage control."

Star took a step forward. "I can talk to her. She trusts me. I can explain things to her."

Yoshi looked down at her. "Hopefully she ain't called nobody yet."

K-three nodded. "How long ago did all this happen?"

"Less than an hour ago. I called Mira right after I came up here." Shinta looked away remembering the incident.

"Mira, you stay with Shinta. We'll see if we can fix this." K-three started for the fire-escape followed by Kaz, Yoshi and Star.

Mira kept her arms locked around Shinta as the others disappeared over the ledge. He finally turned to look at her with tears in his eyes. "I'm sorry. You trusted me and I did this."

She sighed. "Everyone makes mistakes and that's okay, as long as you learn from them."

He looked away, Amber's voice ringing in his ears. "Monster!" He took in a sharp breath. "I did."

In the alley below, the three turtles turned on their holos. They didn't want to scare her worse than she already was. They crossed the street and Star led the way to the back of the house. She had a feeling no one was going to answer if they knocked at the front. Star paused outside the door to look up at K-three. "What do we tell her?"

He sighed. "The only thing we can – the truth. But I want to talk to her, that way I can take responsivity for it."

Yoshi balled his fists at his side. That was unfair. "You shouldn't have to take responsibility for this. We started this mess."

K-three frowned. "We'll discuss it later." He looked back at Star. "Just get her to come out, so we can talk."

Star gave a solemn nod and they followed her through the door. Inside, the kitchen was still a mess and it looked like no one was there. But the bathroom door was still shut tight.

Star frowned. "I'll go talk to her."

K-three looked around. "Let's clean this place up, guys."

She knocked on the bathroom door. "Amber? It's Star. I know you're in there. Open up so we can talk."

There was a soft movement inside the room and the sound of the lock clicking. The door eased open just enough for Amber to peek out. Seeing that it was only Star, she grabbed her and pulled her inside. She immediately locked the door back. Star frowned at her friend's frenzied state. But before she could say anything, Amber turned back to her with eyes as large as saucers and grabbed her arms. "Star, Shinta was here! He's some kinda green scaly creature!"

"Turtle, actually." Star told her softly.

Somehow Amber's eyes grew wider. "You knew what he was and you still let me go out with – that thing!"

Star glared. "Don't call them that!"

"What?" Amber blinked at her. "Them?...You mean Yoshi is one too!"

Star sighed. She hadn't planned on having this conversation with her friend this soon. "Yes, most of the family are turtles. Listen, they want to talk to you. You need to come out so we can explain."

Amber shook her head. "No! Those things could hurt me! Or you!"

Star clenched her jaw, desperately trying to keep her anger in check. "I said don't call them that!" She took a deep breath, trying to see things from her friend's perspective. "Look, you spent this afternoon with Shinta and most of the evening yesterday. And he never hurt you. They won't either."

Amber frowned. "He was pretending to be human though!"

"And how else are they going to survive, if they don't pretend to be human?" Amber looked away and Star put a hand on her shoulder. "I promise, nothing will happen to you. I'll be right there with you. Hey, have I ever steered you wrong before?" Amber shook her head. "Come on." Unlocking the door, she guided her towards the living room.

As they passed the kitchen, Amber noticed that it was spotless. In the living room, Yoshi and two others waited for them. Looking around, she was relieved that Shinta wasn't there. Yoshi and the two men looked human enough, but so had Shinta. She bit her lip nervously.

K-three watched quietly as Star coaxed the young girl to sit on the couch. He sighed. "Ms. Fisk, I'm sorry if Shinta frightened you. He would have never hurt you. He made…a mistake. Do you understand?" She gave a small nod. "Normally we'd want you to get to know us quite well before we'd let you know what we are. And we would have eased you into it, not…done it this way."

"You're turtles too?" Amber asked tentatively.

The three nodded. Kaz took a slow step forward. "Have you told anyone about Shinta?"

She shook her head. "No, my phone was out here and I was too scared to come out."

"And we're going to have to ask you to keep it that way." K-thee took a few steps forward, making sure she met his eyes. "Our clan has lived in this city for nearly sixty years and only a hand full of people know about us. And some of those people are not very nice. So, we're not asking this just for our sake, but for yours as well. It could be dangerous if someone found out that you knew who we were and where we were."

Amber didn't answer right away and Yoshi let out a small growl. "If you tell somebody about us, they ain't just gonna come after us but Star too. Now, you don't want that, do ya?"

Amber looked from Yoshi to Star's pleading eyes. "Please, Amber. Please don't tell anyone. Please don't take my family away."

Amber took in a deep trembling breath. "I promise I won't tell anyone about you, not even my parents."

The relief that flooded the room was palpable. K-three inclined his head. "Thank you."

Star squeezed Amber's hands. "Do you want to talk to Shinta? I know he'd appreciate it if you did."

Amber wrapped her arms around herself. "No, I don't think that would be a very good idea."

Star exchanged a look with Yoshi before turning back to her friend. "What time are your parents supposed to be back? Do you want me to stay with you until then?"

Amber shook her head. "No, they should be back any time now."

"Then we should be going." K-three headed for the back door with Kaz and Yoshi.

Star hugged Amber tightly. "If you ever need anything – anything at all – call me. Okay?"

Amber nodded against her shoulder. "Okay."

"Star." Yoshi called from the back door.

"I've got to go. Talk to you soon." Star gave her friend's hands one last squeeze before joining her spouse at the door. She had a sinking feeling, she'd just lost a friend.

Shinta watched as the others joined them on the rooftop again. He wanted to ask if Amber was alright, but he couldn't seem to find his voice. K-three frowned down at him. "It's time to go home."

Star touched Shinta's arm as the others turned away. "She'll be okay." He gave a small appreciative nod. Then they traveled home in silence.

A/N: Like I said the next two chapters are my faves! They were so much fun to write!