Author's note: So here it is. The next chapter. Finally. This has a cliffhanger but it kinda worked better like this. Sorry. Don't hate me alright? I'll try to not leave it with you for too long.

Disclaimer: I down own 'em so don't ask.

As Leonardo and Donatello finished their dinner, April watched each carefully. She knew it must be hard on them both but Leo worried her the most. He didn't seem to be openly displaying any signs of the despair she had glimpsed on the rooftop, but she knew he was still feeling it only because she knew him. Don caught her looking at Leo and quickly got up to do something about their dishes as an excuse to get out of the room. April discreetly smiled at him in approval. Almost as soon as Don left, Leo's posture changed. He slumped forward slightly with his head bowed, eyed squeezed shut and fists clenched. That only proved to April that he was trying to spare his brother his pain.

"Leo…" April said, softly. She stood and walked around so she was sitting down next to him. "You can't keep hiding from your brother like this."

"I'm not hiding…" Leo whispered, quickly.

"Yes you are," April said, firmly, "Your hiding how you feel. Donny needs to see you are hurting as much as he is. It'll be worse on your brother if you keep this up."

"He doesn't need to see me like this," Leo said.

"You think he can't take it?" April asked with a brow raised. "You think he's not strong enough?" Leo's head snapped up at that, shocked she would say that.

"No!" He said with wide eyes.

"Then why are you hiding?" She said.

"I…" He breaks off before turning away from her completely. "You don't know… My brothers need me to be strong for them. If I'm not…"

"…What?"

"If I'm not… Who will they have to fall back on when it gets too hard for them? They need me. I can't fall apart in front of them. I can't do that to them. I just…can't."

"Is this to shield them or is this your pride talking?" April asked.

"Ah…is that a trick question?" Leo asked, turning back to her with a nervous grin. April smiled slightly at that.

"Leo, I don't want you to end up seriously breaking down because of this," She said, "Families are supposed to help each other. That's what they're there for. Don't block them out, okay? I can tell Don wants to help you. Let him."

"I can't," He said, "What I'm feeling…" He clenched his fist before he could continue, "…It lies too deep. I don't wanna hurt him. He can't know…"

"Alright," April sighed, knowing that by Leo's posture, any more pressuring will have him running out the door. "We're done talking about this…for now. You will have to talk to Donny, but we'll let it rest until you've got your emotions back in check."

Leo noticeably relaxed at her words, but he was still tense. April made sure he knew she would not let it rest. He knew her. She would eventually get past his defenses and he hoped when she did, he'd be able to handle the pressure…

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Donny sat, listening to their conversation. He knew it was invading on his brother's privacy, but he had to know for sure. He may have seen a glimpse of his brother's pain when Raph and Mikey left, but it seemed so unreal with the way Leo was acting around him. How could Leo do this? How could hide all this so well? He could tell by his brother's voice that Leo was close to breaking down right in April's living room! Still Leo was hiding the worst of it judging by the way he was talking. How could he act so different around him from when he's around April? What's so special about her that he shows his feelings to her and not him? They were brothers!

He barely noticed the subject change before he stood and walked away. He needed some air. By the time he made it to the roof, his legs wouldn't carry him anymore. He collapsed onto the hard cold stone. The wrenching in his gut came before his first tear fell. Why can't I help him? Why won't he let me in? I need you, father! You always knew how to make Leo whole again! He let the tears fall as lay hunched over on the roof. I need you…

He didn't know how long he laid there, but the tears finally ended, he noticed the moon had sunk lower in the sky. It was nearing early morning. He stood, but he knew he wasn't ready to show his face to April and Leo yet. He looked over the rooftops and sighed. Maybe a midnight run will do him some good? With a firm nod, he set off at a brisk pace and just ran. The gaps between each building were easily cleared without a second thought. It felt good to be out tonight: with the wide blowing through his mask tails and the adrenaline coursing through his veins. It cleansed him. All his worries melted away with the wind.

When he finally stopped for breath, he was almost to the other side of the city. He laid one hand against the brick wall of the building. He knew he should start heading back. Leo was probably worried by now. He didn't want his eldest brother worrying needlessly over him. He had enough on his plate right now. Donny walked away from the wall but regretted it almost instantly. Near the wall had kept him in shadow, but now he could be seen clearly by the hundreds of glowing red eyes of the Foot Ninjas. Donny backed up several steps as he pulled out his bo staff. Shredder stepped forward out of the shadows.

"So I found another one." He said. Donny's eyes widened at that and his staff dropped a few inches.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"So what he said is true," Shredder said instead, "You four are separated."

"What about it?" He asked, "What do you want?"

"To destroy you all until there is nothing left to save." He said. His Foot Ninjas surrounded Donny. Don glanced around at them nervously. Well I don't think I'll be returning anytime soon… He prepared for the fight for his life a second before they attacked. He already knew there were too many to fight. He was slowly getting tired from the long day and that coupled with the endless sea of ninjas he had to fight, he knew it was hopeless, but he fought anyway. Slowly, it got harder to block their attacks. His reflexes were hindered by his exhaustion. Each ninja he knocked down, two would take his place. He couldn't move his bo too well amongst this many when they had managed to get so close. He could only block and defend and even that was difficult. A kick to his gut sent him flying back against the brick wall of before. He slid down it with his eyes squeezed shut as he tried to get a decent breath of air back into his overworked lungs.

"That will do for now," Shredder said and Donny glanced up to see him standing over him. Shredder lifted Donny off the ground by the top part of his carapace. He responded by attempting to kick Shredder but power behind it was too weak to affect the metal-clad ninja leader. Shredder ripped Donny's mask off and then threw him towards his ninjas. Before he could attempt to get back to his feet, the ninjas had restrained him. Donny struggled, briefly, hoping he could somehow get free, before slumping in their hold, defeated.

"So far, everything is going as planned." Shredder said, causing Donny to look up at him. Shredder still held Don's mask in his hand. He frayed it with his gauntlet before tucking it in his belt. "Take him away. I want him bound and blindfolded. If he cries out, silence him. No doubt the others will come to his rescue soon." Donny's heart filled with dread at those words. So they were going to use him as bait and he couldn't do a thing about it. He was defenseless now. He still tried to struggle as they dragged him away, but as he knew already, he was too tired to do a thing. All he could do was watch.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

April was the first to notice Donny's disappearance. She had thought he was in the kitchen still, but upon noticing he wasn't, she turned back and told Leo. After he heard, Leo quickly searched the rest of the house before taking out his shell cell and just staring at it. He was trying to decide if he should call Donny or not. He had no doubt that his brother could take of himself, but he never disappears like this without informing anyone. It worried Leo, but Donny could just want some privacy.

After thinking about it for a few minutes, Leo finally pressed down on Donny's speed dial. It ringed for a good five times before it was answered. Before Leo could say anything, the voice at the other end had him frozen.

"Hello Leonardo," Shredder said at the other end.

"Where's Donny?" Leo asked, his voice sounding choked.

"Why don't you meet me and find out?" He asked. Leo's eyes narrowed.

"How do I know you even have him?" Leo asked.

"I have his phone."

"You could've just taken it and Donny managed to get away."

"Fine, you want proof?" Shredder asked, "You'll get it." He heard some movement before Shredder's far-off voice said, "Talk!" There was no response then a muffled noise and a familiar grunt of pain. "Talk!" Shredder's voice repeated.

"Donny?" Leo whispered into the phone.

"Don't…come…" Donny's voice whispered; his voice filled with pain, fear, and sorrow.

"Donny, are you okay?!" Leo asked, but he wasn't answered by his brother.

"You will meet me," Shredder ordered. "I'm sure you can find me." Then with a click, he hung up. Leo listened to the silence at the other end for a few minutes before he finally hung up himself. He slowly walked towards the window of the shop before turning and palming his face as he retraced his steps. He clenched the fist to his face before letting out a grunt of frustration. The sound attracted April to his side.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"Shredder's got Donny. I gotta get him back." Leo said as he met April's eyes.

"Alone?" She asked. "You know it's near impossible."

"Yeah, but I have to," He said.

"What about Mikey and Raph?"

"I don't know…" He said as he turned away, "I don't think Raph wants anything to do with me right now."

"Call them. They will want to help."

"I call Casey," He said, "They're probably there." He dials the number quickly and waits impatiently. Casey answered quickly with a whispered greeting.

"Is Raph and Mikey there?" Leo asked.

"Raph will kill me if he found out I told you, but yes," He whispered.

"Could you tell them Shredder's got Donny? They can follow his tracking signal. I'm going to face Shredder myself." Leo said. April made a worried noise behind him but he ignored her.

"Face 'im yerself?" Casey asked, "What are ya thinkin', man? Ya can't do that! Ya could end up dead!"

"Don could end up dead if I don't," Leo said with narrowed eyes. "Just…tell them, alright? I may need back-up."

"Fine."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

About fifteen minutes later, Leo arrived at the destination marked by his brother's cell signal. He drew his katanas and slowly looked around himself. He knew the Shredder had to be near. His suspicions were proven correct when a cloud of arrows shot out at him. He quickly dodge rolled out of the wall and used his katanas to block the rest.

"It's great to see you came as expected of you." Shredder's voice said. Leo turned quickly to see Shredder standing off to the side a bit watching him. Leo moved into a fighting stance and glared down his opponent.

"Where is my brother?" He asked of Shredder. In answer, Shredder removed the tattered purple mask from his belt and tossed it towards Leo before signaling to his ninja to bring forward the snapped bo staff.

"Make of it what you wish." Shredder said with an unseen sneer. Leo glanced at the items before picking up the mask, clenching it in his fists.

"I know you have him," He growled, "Let him go!"

"No," Shredder said, "Unless you want his corpse." Leo felt a wrenching in his gut at the words, but he held it back so it would not show on his face. He's already lost his father, he wasn't going to lose his brother too.

"Give him back alive or I will kill you right here." Leo said as he leaned forward slightly, ready to make the strike.

"You really think you can kill me, Leonardo?" Shredder asked with a careless wave of his hand, in an instant, a katana was placed in that hand.

"You have no idea what I'm capable of now," He says, almost demonically, "You killed my sensei, I won't let you kill my brother as well!"

"Then you'll have to kill me now, won't you?" Shredder said, tauntingly. "Because your brother is as good as dead." Leo roared in rage before charging at Shredder. Shredder easily blocked the attack before kicking Leo hard in his plastron. Leo fell back and used his katanas to block Shredder's sweep of his katana before performing a roundhouse kick. The kick only managed to allow Leo to back away enough to get back to his feet before blocking Shredder's katana again. Shredder's gauntleted fist around the katana pierced Leo's wrist, forcing him to drop his katana and then Shredder's katana pushed hard against the remaining enough to force Leo back. In a quick, almost unexpected motion, Shredder's katana managed to get past Leo's defenses and slash across Leo's face. Leo backed up even further, dropping his other katana as he clenched the long wound right above his eye. His mask fell free with the cut, but Leo didn't notice. He was too busy trying to stop the blood flow clouding his vision.

"And now you die." Shredder said as he raised the katana above Leo's head…

Author's end note: Like I said before, don't kill me okay? My fight scenes may be lacking but I guess this is still good. Especially 'cuz I got to what I wanted. Please review and any threats will delay the next chapter 'cuz I'm evil like that.