Disclaimer: I don't own the TMNT

A/N: Thanks for the reviews, peoples! I'm both happy and surprised that this story is doing so well, I honestly thought that it would kind of flop. I have some free time at work because everyone's leaving to get ready for the military ball except for me! My date's in the field plus I'm seven months pregnant so it's only me and a few others watching the clinic. Luckily it's Friday, no one want's to be sick on Friday. Here goes the next chapter. Thanks to Reijiro and SS for giving me an idea to start this chapter. Hope that you enjoy it!

Chapter 4

On the Hunt

Their vehicle had it's own odor to it. Had the distinct smell of diesel yet another, more organic one. Smelled similar to the french fries that my sons were so fond of digesting.

Of course this thought brought a fresh rush of heat to my face and a familiar straining to my eyes. I blinked back hard, and somehow managed to keep the tears at bay and the lump from my throat. There was no time for this. This was a time of action. Briefly I wondered if I could ever think about them again without having this sort of reaction. Well, hopefully I wouldn't have to 'live' with it for too much longer.

I hunkered down in the shadows behind the garbage can, waited for the street to clear completely, then flitted across the dim pavement with all the noise of a falling feather. Reaching the other side I immediately darted behind the nearest form of cover, making myself as small as possible. A car passed by, it's headlights bright. I was as immobile as a stone.

I waited for several moments of complete silence before I even flickered an eyelash. Unwinding my tail from around my feet I slowly crept down the alley along the wall. I saw thier vehicle. It was a large diesel truck. Two of them, plainly marked and dingy. Fit right into the night. I sniffed them lightly. French fries. No, cooking grease. For a moment I was puzzled until I remembered the latest project Donatello had planned, something he saw on a television show about trucks. Converting cooking grease into something that could work in a diesel engine. He had planned on using it to cheaply power his machines. Now, becuase of these people he would never get a chance to. My poor Donatello...

For a moment I saw him as I had found him in the Lair, flopped in the lab with his brain matter splattered on the walls...

Furiously I shook my head hard enough to see stars. I could not be doing this! I could not afford to! I was on a mission! I had made a promise! My sons would be avenged!

With cautious determination I continued forward, thanking the unique form of diesel fuel that helped me find them. They weren't my main adversary, but they were there. I could smell them in the Lair along with the others who had attacked my family. They would get thier just dues along with them as well.

Creeping past the truck I continued forward to the dingy door. No one was in the vehicles. I paused to feel the engine of the truck. The engine ticked tiredly and a faint heat had emanated from it. They could not have just come from the Lair, perhaps they had had other business in the meantime? My jaw clenched. Were they hired henchmen? Did they kill others in similar fashions? I could not stand for this, and I knew if my sons were here they would not either. These people must be stopped.

The one thing that puzzled me is why my main adversaries would need to use these people anyway. Perhaps I would find out upon entering.

Reaching the door I cautiously tested the doorknob with soft fingers so that not the slightest noise could be heard. It was locked. No matter. Pulling out one of Raphael's sai I inserted the sharpened tip into the keyhole. Slowly and patiently I tested the mechanisms, feeling for that pin. There, I found it. Gently I pushed it with the tip and let loose the spring. The lock clicked open. I paused for a moment, listening for any movement inside the door. There was none, no one heard it. Slowly I removed the weapon and returned it to it's place. With equally soft fingers I turned the knob and pushed the door open, waiting for a creak or whistle to come out of the hinges. There was none. I let out the breath that I did not know I was holding. Fortune seemed to be on my side at this time.

The moment I stuck my nose in the door I froze. They had dogs, more than one. Many. Now that the door was open I could hear the taps of their nails and the shufflings of thier snouts. This brought a new light on things.

Sniffing carefully to make sure that no one was around and that the dogs weren't in this room I slowly stepped inside. Immediately I could tell by the inner surroundings that despite the dingyness of the exterior these men were professionals. The interior was clean, well organized, and had the distinct odor of money. A good amount of money. Devices of various sorts were lining the walls. It all appeared to be very expensive and complicated. For a moment I pondered why such technology had been kept with such a simple locking mechanism, until I saw the flashing red light on the door to my side. I whipped around and saw a small box with a matching red light on the door I had just entered.

I was across the room in a flash of movement even as footsteps hurriedly approached the doorway. I had been standing in the room for less than a second. Hopefully I wasn't noticed.

Just as I dove under a nearby desk a series of red lights danced across the floor. I did not know the purpose of these, but they had an acrid, burning smell to them and even sent a faint whistle in my ears that no human could hear. Thely made me uneasy.

The lights came dangerously close to me but luckily my small flexible frame kept me close enough to the wall and under the heavy metal desk that I was not touched. With deft, silent fingers I loosened my robe. The footsteps had by now stopped and were now waiting patiently outside the door.

"I don't hear any screaming. Think it's a false alarm?"

I cocked my head at the voice coming from the door. My fur bristled. Perhaps one of my sons heard a similar voice before being brutally put to death. Sternly I struggled to calm my emotions as I continued to listen.

"Well, if it isn't then their chopped up like yesterday's leftovers. If it is then we just reset the system."

My muscles tensed as the lights waned and then finally went out with a subsonic 'blip.' There was very little chance that they would see me, the desk was very low to the ground and quite thick on three sides. I would catch them by surprise.

Two people walked in. All that I could see was their feet below their knees but I was certain that they were carrying some sort of weapon. I must be prepared for anything, as I had taught my sons to be. I watched the polished shoes go over to the door and puzzle over it.

"Now what do you suppose opened this up?"

The other man was silent for a moment. "Not sure. Might've been scared off by the lasers before coming in, lucky turd. Not here, that's for sure. But Jackson's sure going to get his ass chewed for not setting all the proper locks. This one was the only one that was picked. You see the marks? Yeah, he's going to get beat."

"It's not like we expected anyone to come here..."

"That's not the point."

There was silence as a series of beeps rang out and the door was closed. I heard more than one lock click into place. It took them several moments to set all these devices. Silently I slipped out one of Raphael's sai and a knife. There must be no noise. I cannot spoil this for my sons.

The two pairs of feet were no more than three steps back across the room before I sprang. I did not have the space or time to jump due to my hiding place, so I went for the nearest set of feet and, whipping the knife in my hand, slashed both of the tendons on his heel. He crumpled immedieately, only emanating a slight "ack!" I did not wait an instant. Immediately I sprang off my coiled feet in the same movement towards the other man and plunged the knife deep into his throat, slashing it from ear to ear. Blood spurted on my fur as I yanked the blade out and gravity pulled me downward. I landed directly beside the fallen man with the slashed heels and buried the knife up to the hilt directly between the eyes. Then the other man fell beside me, crimson blood spurting a sticky pool on the floor. I did the whole deed in one calculated movement.

Neither of them were dead instantly but they were also incapable of doing anything. I saw surprise flash in their eyes and a mouth gape open before the light left thier pupils and I knew that they were gone.

I felt nothing.

These men had somehow participated in the slaughtering of my sons. They recieved a kinder punishment than that was granted upon my family and I.

I was correct about their weaponry. Both carried assault rifles along with smaller firearms and blades. Propping my foot against his head for stability, I yanked the knife out of the man's head. His body moved limply with the movement but did nothing else.

Immediately I left the room, carefully sidestepping the large pool of blood under the slashed man's body. Other than his heels, the other man had had no time to bleed before he was gone. Less mess I suppose.

The hallway was deserted. I could smell the dogs at one end of the hallway, but no people. Voices emanated from the other end, however. So, moving with the shadows, I crept down the hall, hugging the near wall as I went.

"What the Hell's taking them so long? We gotta leave soon and meet the lady again."

"Her name isn't 'lady,' Jackson. You'd do well to learn some respect for our employers. Stop acting like such a newbie, newbie."

"Well, I just don't like this whole business. Did you see those green freaks? I mean, c'mon!"

"That's what we do. We dispatch people. That spray worked pretty well, though. Didn't leave any residue either. Besides, it was a realatively easy job. All we had to do was operate the guns, disengage an alarm system and the spray."

"Yeah. They sure fought like hellcats, though. But if we did such a great job, then why does she want us back?"

"Because we were hired to help her kill five targets. Not four. We still have one to go."

I admit I paused at the end of the hallway to listen to their conversation. Once again my fur bristled. I already knew that these infidels were involved in killing my family but hearing them vocally confirm it only enraged me more. I had to struggle to keep from snarling as I shook with rage. Listening to them talk, I hated them. To think that they thought that they could get away with this, and then hunt me down as well was infuriating. But I must find out what sort of spray they referred to. I shall make them tell me before I kill them.

Slowly I tuned my senses to the situation. There were more than two, despite me only hearing two voices in the conversation. But I had no way of finding out a precise number without inadvertently revealing myself at the same time so it could not be helped. This would be close range fighting. I tightened my grip on the bloodstained knife and the sai and tensed as a chair slid across the floor and a figure got up.

"I'll go see what the hell's taking them so long." He groaned as humans often dow when they stretch.

Perfect.

I was a blur of fur as I darted out from the corner. The man standing was stretching towards the ceiling, his coat bunching up around his throat too much to allow a throat attack. Without conscious thought I went for the exposed belly that the movement provided. The knife plunged fast and deep at his side. I continued to run and whip it across the rest of his belly. I didn't even pause to look as blood and thicker things spilled onto the floor from the slash. Another man was lounging in a chair. He startled at the sight of me but didn't have a chance to get up. I buried the sai in his chest, right through the sternum where the beating heart should be. I yanked it out and continued without looking at the results. I already knew them.

The movement brought me within easy reach of the table. I slid across it, scattering everything on it's surface. Three more. By now one of them was halfway out of his chair. My feet hit his chest, knocking him down as the middle prong of the sai fit neatly into his left ear.

I was off of him in an instant, instinctively rolling as the first shot rang out. It hit just behind my tail. Gripping the sai in my hand I flicked my wrist and let it fly. It buried itself in his throat. His eyes blinked in surprise as he dropped his firearm and touched it, pain not even getting a chance to register yet. I flung the knife, which finished the job.

One more gun cocked in my direction but the distance was too great for me to reach instantly. Immediatly my fingers closed around the hilt of Leonardo's sword. Still making myself a moving target, the first bullet missed. With a graceful arc I swung the steel at the frightened man. He yelped in surprise as the pistol hit the ground with his hand still around the butt of it. It took him a moment to register just what had happened and actually had to look at the stump on his arm to fully realize it. When he did he screamed.

But I had no time for screaming.

Kicking him in the chest, I knocked him to the ground. Ignoring the blood spurting from the wound, I took a hold of his hair and yanked at it. "What is this spray that you speak of?" I demanded into his face.

The man was weeping like a child, fat tears spilling from his eyes. For a moment something in me suggested that I pity this man. Then another image, of a small, orange masked turtle crying because he scraped his knee, floated into my mind. Of another one wearing blue tearing up because he didn't get his first kata right. A red one yelping when he had inadvertently punched a wall and a purple wearing turtle bursting into tears when his latest project fell apart. They were all so young...

I tightened my hold on his hair and jerked it hard enough for his head to thump on the floor and repeated the question harshly. Screaming in both fear and pain he blubbered. "It-it's kinda like p-p-pepper spray, only odorless. We u-u-used it t-to distract th-them. It b-burns r-r-real bad."

By now he was pasty white and close to passing out. Michelangelo's face drifted into my vision again.

Grabbing the side of his head I twisted harshly. His neck crackled and his eyes lost their spark. Slowly I got up. Somehow, I seemed tired. Yet I had so much more to do.

There was a man, the one I disembowled, still alive on the floor, weeping dazedly. He clutched his intestines to his stomach, his face pale and his eyes listless. I put him out of his misery. I could not allow this to stand. These men were professionals in what they do, but were nothing when compared with someone trained in ninjitsu. If I dared to leave someone alive in my next battle like that, it could easily be my last. I had so much more to do...

Slowly I assessed my surroundings one last time as I retrieved the sai and the knife. I cleaned off all the weapons on the clothing of the fallen people. With equal slowness I left the room.

Somehow as I left the building and headed towards the familiar skyscraper it seemed more depressing. I had killed some of the men responsible for killing me sons. They killed others as a means to their living, so in a way I had saved many that night. But I was not used to fighting in this style. It dated back to the time before ninjas regained thier honor, the time where they were thieving assassins.

What would my sons think of me now?

My eyes welled up with tears at the thought. My sons. My poor sons.

I pictured them young again, running around the Lair and tugging at my robe for this and that. Those were hectic times. But I loved them, as I loved living with them until yesterday when they were brutally taken from me. My thoughts were hardened at that thought. I had made a promise, I would avenge my sons, no matter what it took. Then I would join them in the next world.

I only hoped they would find a way to forgive me for the sins I would be committing this day.

A/N: Not as much 'inner thoughts of Splinter' as I pictured when I started writing it, but it is kinda hard to put that in as he's slashing throats and taking names. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. There will be one or two chapters after this. I already have the ending planned out. I just need to figure out a way for him to get into the next place he will post his attack. Any ideas feel free to shoot them at me.

Toodles!