I'm not even going to attempt to guess how long it's been since I updated on this, but here it is, at long last, here's the fifth chapter of Void.

Disclaimer: I don't own TMNT, they belong to Mirage (can I still say that, or should I say Nickelodean); all I own are Zarah, Philip, Sally Thompson, along with all other characters that belong to me, if you wish to borrow them, you can if you ask my permission.

Void: Chapter 5-Discoveries of a New Kind

The turtles had only started breakfast when Casey entered the lair quickly and unlike him, silent. A slight serious expression was on his features as he glanced around at the three turtle brothers present.

"Casey, ya bonehead, I thought ya were tryin' ta get some sleep after last night," Casey's eyes landed on Raphael as the turtle in question held a box of favorite cereal in his hand. The man shook his head.

He sighed, "My ma's cousin-in-law died three weeks ago." He looked at the floor, rubbing the back of his neck, unsure of what to say next.

Mikey stared at him, chewing on a huge bite of cold left over pizza while speaking, gibberish escaping through as words. Raph and Casey stared at the orange-banded turtle with blank expressions.

"Mike! Don't talk with your mouth full!" Leo cried out into the silence. Mikey swallowed, sending a sheepish grin.

"What in shell were ya sayin', Mike?"

Mikey glanced at Raph, then Leo, "Didn't Don start acting weird three weeks ago?"

Casey stared blankly at Mikey, while Raph and Leo's eyes widened.

"Oh shell…"

-~-~-~-~-~-~-

Sally had floated in silence, watching quietly as Donatello drew deep breathes, recovering from the flashback. These would hurt, as each one would crash over him, filling him before drawing back, saving others for another time, like an ocean, crashing onto shore, leaving sand, and taking it away.

A forever-repeating process.

She blinked when Don looked at her, a serious look on his features, "Sally, do you know how I disappeared ten years ago?"

The ghost blinked at the question, before stating, "All I know was that my partner found ya somewhere durin' a business trip in New York."

He sighed, rubbing his temples carefully.

Why can't that memory come back, the one I need most?

He tensed slightly when there was a pounding at the door, before he heard Raph growl, "Don! Open this door!"

"Why can't I get a moments peace around here?" he asked himself quietly. He blinked, before glancing around the room.

Sally had disappeared once again.

Standing up, Don made his way to the door, opening it staring at Raph blankly. The red clad turtle looked impatient, and before he could get a word out, a firm hand clasped onto his shoulder, yanking him from his lab.

"Raph! What the-What the shell are you doing!?" the genius turtle cried. Raph replied to the cry with a slight grunt, before yanking Don to the living area where Mikey, Leo, and Casey were standing around. Don struggled slightly in Raph's grip until Raph forced him to sit in the easy chair.

The purple-banded turtle blinked, glancing at his brothers with a nervous expression, and turned his gaze to Casey.

The ebony haired man sent him a sheepish look, and a nervous laugh escaped his lips, "Um…hey Donnie."

Don turned his gaze to Raph, "What the shell is going on here?"

Raph glanced at Casey, which caused Don to look at the dark haired man. The man cleared his throat before rubbing the back of his head, "I'm not sure how to ask this…"

-~-~-~-~-~-~-

It had barely been two hours since she had left the house, and they were at a gas station. Only minutes ago, did Lady Jones hand her a few crinkled dollar bills and told her to go inside and buy a couple of candy bars or something of the sort. Zarah, of course, just stared at the candy selection, blinking as her dark eyes scanned over Butterfingers, Hershey's Dark Chocolate, Kit-Kats, and the many other selections on those low rows of shelves.

After several seconds, she found her eyes glancing in the direction of the blue wrapper of a CRUNCH bar. Blinking a few times, she reached out, grabbing it.

"Hey, Donnie…have you ever had a Crunchie bar b'fore?"

"No…What is a Crunchie bar?"

She could feel her knees tremble, her eyes widening. The CRUNCH bar slipped from her grip, and she turned on her heel quickly as her stomach did several back flips. As the candy bar landed on the ground with a soft crack, her legs were moving her in the direction of the ladies room. Feeling her stomach lurch, a hand moved quickly to cover her mouth.

Deep brown eyes surrounded by a sea of purple flashed into her mind as her fingers grazed the doorknob.

Why is this happening to me?

Tears of pain prickled her eyes as the knob was twisted and the door was pushed hard enough for it to make a loud crack when it hit the worn white wall. She rushed to the closest stall and her mind went blank.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-

Splinter had joined the group, much to the insistence of Leonardo. All eyes were on Casey, who was still struggling with his question, unsure on how to ask it; Raph, for once, was being patient, noticing that whatever his best friend had to ask his brother had to be big in order for the man to be this anxious. Mikey, however, was the opposite of Raph, jittering in his seat, eyes darting back and forth from Casey and Don.

Several minutes of silence passed, before Casey's shoulders slumped and he sighed, "I'm really not sure how to ask this."

"Maybe you should tell Donnie what you told us," Mike suggested.

Don's eye ridges furrowed at the statement, turning his gaze towards Casey in a puzzled fashion. Casey, deciding to go along with Mikey's suggestion, straightened some, nodding, before stating, "Three weeks ago, my ma's cousin-in-law passed away in a car accident."

"Wait, what does that have to do with anything?" Don asked, staring at the man as if he grew a second head.

"Don, you started acting strangely exactly three weeks ago," Leo stated.

Splinter's eyes widened.

"Mr. Jones, if I may ask," Master Splinter interjected, "What is your mother's cousin-in-law's name?"

Casey turned his gaze to the aging rat, staring in confusion, before answering, "Sally Thompson."

Don's eyes widened.

No way, there is NO way that this is the same Sally Thompson has started to pop up in my lab.

Splinter hid his shock by nodding, as Don managed to regain his composure, repeating, "So, what does her death have to do with anything?"

Casey's lips formed into a straight line, before he sighed, "I'm not sure how to say this, but, apparently, Sally and her family knew you Donnie."

Raph, Mike, and Leo, who had been silent as the other three talked, felt their jaws drop in shock the moment those last three words slipped through his lips.

"WHAT!?"

-~-~-~-~-~-~-

"Zarah?"

"Huh?" she replied, reaching up to touch her temple, "What happened?"

Lady Jones sighed in relief, before stating, "You got sick, that's what happened." She touched Zarah's cheek with the back of her hand, her brow furrowing, "You don't have a fever. Zarah, are you feeling okay?"

Zarah blinked, finally realizing she was sitting on the bathroom floor in front of the stall she had ran in; Lady Jones was kneeling in front of her staring at her in concern. Zarah smiled, "I feel fine. I'm probably hungry, that's all."

Lady Jones stared at her skeptically for a few seconds, before sighing, "If you say so, kiddo."

PLEASE REVIEW!

Constructive Criticism welcomed!

I feel bad, I said I would try to update on A Message in Music (sighs sadly) well, I'll try to update on that next, along with DuoVoice, Risen Heroine and (I'm hoping) A Chance to Love 2.0.

Oh, there's also a chance (an itty bitty chance) that I will write a oneshot for either JONAS or Ouran High School Host Club, but I will be sure to update on a few of my TMNT fics before I even think about writing it.

Good news: The research paper for my full year project for school is almost finished; however, in January I'll be starting my product for it (which I can't wait). I'm also in a Microfiction class (for five weeks…well, four now) in school, so maybe my writers block will go away! (Knocks on wood)