Author's note: We have only one more chapter of this fic before it is completed! The last chapter will contain a poem I made a few months ago. I couldn't wait to share it and now my chance is almost upon me. This first part of the fic takes place a half-hour earlier then the last part of the last chapter (just as the last chapter's beginning did). It's actually before the Shredder went to April's apartment and after he almost killed Leo and almost caused his eye perminient damage to give you a time-frame.

Disclaimer: don't own 'im. I just own the plot and my Donny action figure *hugs action figure* :D

Donny hung limply in his restraints. His whole body hurt. Shredder had his ninjas beat him every time they entered the cell. So far that had been three times already. He hoped Leo was okay. He didn't want his brother hurt because he got himself caught. It was always dark in the cell so he couldn't see anything. It was very disorienting.

At the click of the lock on his cell door, Donny straightened as best he could. He turned his head and closed his eyes just in time before the blinding light from the hall outside blasted into the room. He heard the door close before the first time since he's been here, the light was turned on. Donny waited for his eyes to adjust before he looked at his visitor.

The Shredder stood before him, waiting for Donny's acknowledgement before he began speaking. "You're brother is dead," He said as he held out the ripped and bloody blue cloth. Donny's eyes widened fearfully.

"Leo…" He whispered softly. Shredder tossed the cloth at Donny's feet before he left the room without turning the light back off. He was left to stare at his brother's mask and contemplate what Shredder had told him. He was not going to cry. He's done enough of that already.

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

It was a little more than an hour afterwards that Leo and Raph were forced into their cell and chained to the wall behind them. They were now hanging next to each other but unable to touch each other. Leo waited until the ninjas were gone before struggling against his bonds. He had to get free so he could rescue his brothers. He wasn't going to let them die like his father did. He couldn't. He didn't stop until he noticed the expression on Raph's face.

"Hey, Raph?" Leo asked, glad that the ninjas had removed the gag, "You okay, bro?"

"This is all because a' me," Raph muttered, "We neva woulda been in this mess if I hadn't a' left. It's all my fault…"

"Don't say that," Leo said, "Don't give up hope now. We need you, Raph. I need you. We have to get out of here so we can save our brothers."

"You don't get it, Leo!" Raph burst out, "Shredder was taking us out one by one. We wouldn't be separated like this if it wasn't for me! I made it possible for him to do this! It's my fault! Now he's got all of us…"

"We're not done yet," Leo said as he turned towards the door of the cell, "We can still get out of here."

"What makes you so sure?! What makes you so high and mighty that you can act as if nothing's wrong?!"

"I have to, Raph!" Leo yelled as he tried hard to hold himself together, "I can't be true to my raging emotions or…I don't know what'll happen! I have to be strong. I don't want to fall apart…"

"You can't hold it all inside either," Raph said then, "That's why I left in the first place. Worry about yourself for once in your life. You may end up being the only one alive after all this…"

"Don't say that either." Leo said, firmly, "Just stop thinking like that. We're still brothers and we're still ninjas. We can get out of here."

"How can you be so positive?"

"Because I know that when we work together, we can do anything," He said, "And yanno…I'll need your help. You'll have to help me with my new blind spot. I hate being half-blind…"

"That's your fault."

"I know," Leo said, quickly. "I let my rage take control and went ballistic. I deserve this but it doesn't make me feel any better."

"I guess I understand that more than anyone…" Raph said, "Fine, what's da plan?"

"Well since we're already channeling each other, maybe we can channel one of Mikey's specialties: pick-pocketing. All we have to do is wait for the ninjas to come back in here and grab the keys. Hopefully that won't be too difficult…"

"Hopefully…" Raph echoed before he looked at Leo with a smirk, "Maybe I should do it. You only have one eye to see with!"

"I bet I can still get those keys first," Leo challenged with a sad smile that didn't quite reach his only visible eye.

"Yer on, bro," Raph said.

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

When the lock clicked and the door opened, Raph and Leo were ready. They didn't know what the ninjas planned to do, but each was in a competition to gain the keys to the chains first. It didn't take long to find out the ninjas purpose. All of the ones in the room headed towards the defenseless Raphael and began beating on him. Leo could only watch and struggle fruitlessly against his bonds.

"Get away from him!" Leo growled low. The ninjas ignored him. They only stopped when Raph was covered in cuts and bruises. The ninjas left the room and the lock clicked behind them. "Are you okay, Raph?" Leo asked.

"Just peachy," Raph said before revealing the keys he held between his toes. "I win."

"I would've gotten the keys if they were near enough to me," Leo said.

"Sure bro," Raph said, sarcastically before tossing them towards Leo's waiting open hand. With only one hand, Leo managed to maneuver the key until it fit in the lock. When the lock clicked and his arm released, he moved to the next one until he was completely free of his bonds. He walked over and unlocked Raph before tossing him the key.

"Now we wait until they return to get out of here." Leo said as he glanced at the cell door. There was no handle on this side and no way to unlock the door.

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

About this time, Casey Jones managed to get his butt off the ground and drag himself out the door. He had given Raph enough time and wanted to see if April and the guys were okay. He arrived into a seemingly empty apartment. He stumbled around the trashed room until he heard muffled screams coming from the closet. He opened the door and April fell out of it.

"April!" He yelled as he quickly untied her and pulled the gag from her mouth. "Are ya okay, babe?"

"I'm fine," She said as she stood, "Shredder's got Raph and Leo now."

"We gotta do sum'thin' then," Casey said, savagely. "I ain't gonna let Shred-head win."

"I don't know if we can," She said, "I don't know where he took them."

"There's gotta be sum' trace of 'em. Let's go!"

"First I'm going to wrap up some of those injuries," She said as she forced him back into the couch. "You look terrible!"

"We don't have time for this, Ape!"

"You will be patient, Casey Jones!" She said, firmly, as she pulled out the first-aid kit. "Those cuts could get infected if left untreated."

"Hurry up, then," He said, grumpily.

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

When the two brothers heard the click of the lock, they stood to either side of the door. Raph looked more to be leaning against it then anything. When the ninjas entered the room, both brothers began knocking them out anyway they could. Soon all of them were out cold. Leo and Raph left the cell and closed the door behind them so it locked itself. Then they kept to the shadows as they went off in search of their brothers' whereabouts.

The first door they found and opened with the keys held all of their equipment, including Leo's katanas. Leo quickly removed the katanas and placed them in their sheath before strapping it on over his shoulder. Next, he grabbed his shell cell and dialed Casey's number.

"We're going to need back-up for this," He explained as he waited for Casey to pick up.

"Leo?!" Casey answered, "You okay, man?"

"Yeah, I'm with Raph," Leo whispered, "Did you get April?"

"Yeah, she's with me now," He said, "We're drivin' 'round town in da Battle Shell tryin' ta find ya guys."

"We're still in the building we were brought to," Leo said. He pulled the phone a little away from his mouth. "Raph? Do you know where this place is?" He held his hand out to Leo and the elder gave up the cell.

"We're in Alphabet City off of Avenue B." Raph said, "There's an old buildin' there covered in graphite next ta that homeless shelter where all da Aids functions are… Yeah, that's da place… Okay, I'll give ya back ta Leo now." He handed the cell back over to his brother.

"So, I want you here ready to pick us up," Leo said, "We're gonna find Mikey and Donny and we might need a quick get-away."

"Sure, Leo," Casey said, "We'll be there." Then they disconnected and Leo set the cell into his belt holder.

"Come on, Raph," Leo said, "We have a load more rooms to check." Raph nodded once before following Leo down the hall. There was a sound of footsteps down the hall and the two brothers instantly melded into the wall's shadows. Thankfully, the dim lights offered some coverage. The troop of ninjas didn't see them as they walked by. A few of them were talking to each other quietly in Japanese. Leo caught a few of the words they were saying and his eyes narrowed. As soon as they were gone, Leo grabbed Raph's wrist and tugged him in the direction they had just left.

"What's up?" Raph whispered. He did know Japanese as they all did but the whispered words were too quick to catch. Only a native speaker or someone who had been in Japan for some time could've caught it.

"They were talking about one of our brothers." Leo whispered back, "They didn't say names or any way I could determine who they were talking about but I know it wasn't us. They were talking about…beating him." Leo glanced at each door he passed, testing the handle, before moving on. He knew the door they wanted would be locked so he didn't try the ones that weren't. Eventually, he came to a door that fit the description. He stepped back and allowed Raph to use the keys to open the door. At the click of the lock, Leo's grin grew. "Those keys are definitely handy."

"Yep," Raph agreed before opening the door. Inside was dark but with the light from outside, the could clearly see the green skinned occupant that line within. It was still too dark too actually see the exact tint of the color, but at least they knew it to be their brother. Leo stepped inside without turning on the light and touched his brother's shoulder. The groan he heard in response told him the identity of the brother: Donatello.

"Hey Donny," Leo said as he tried to locate the cuffs that held his brother to the wall. "We're going to get you out of here."

"L…Leo?" Donny asked, confusion etched in his voice.

"Yes and Raph's here too." Leo said, comfortingly.

"He told me you died." Donny muttered.

"Shredder?" Leo asked and heard his brother mutter in the positive. "He lead me to believe you were dead too, but as you can see, we're both alive."

"He was trying to break our bond further," Raph whispered from the doorway were he was keeping watch. "He separated us and then took us down one by one. You may have been the first captured but you were not the first of us to go down at his hand. He got Mikey first." Leo glanced at Raph but didn't comment as he finally got Donny free. He had Donny's arm around his shoulder as he walked quickly towards Raph.

"Hey Donny?" Leo asked, "Could you keep a watch out on that side?"

"Why-?" Donny asked before he noticed the bandage around Leo's left eye, "Oh, okay." Leo shook his head before Donny could ask as they continued forward.

"Now ta find Mikey…" Raph sighed. He had his sais out as he lead them down the hallway. Leo helped Donny sheath his bo staff so he wouldn't have to carry it himself anymore. An alarm suddenly rang out and they merged with the shadows once again as more ninjas ran down the hall. "Do ya think they noticed their men locked up yet?" Raph asked over his shoulder.

"Most likely," Leo answered. "We'll have to be more careful from now on. Mikey might be harder to get to now."

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

Michelangelo didn't feel so good at all. He had already been feeling worse for ware from his first encounter with Shredder. Now Shredder sends his ninjas in every few minutes to make his pain worse. He didn't even care that he was still mad at Raph for leaving him behind twice now. He just wanted to go home. He wanted Leo and Donny too. At least then, the pain of his dead father and sensei wouldn't nag at him as it so often did lately. It would be a good distraction. Anything but this was welcome.

When he heard the door open again, he instantly raised his head towards the entrance. Maybe this time he would be rescued? Maybe this time it would be his brothers on the other side and they were coming to bring him home? The black clad ninjas that entered instead were not his brothers. His head lowered again as he waited for the beating. He was surprised when they never came. He looked up again and saw them guarding the door from the inside. Only then did he recognize that an alarm was screeching somewhere in the distance. Maybe he was going to be rescued but it was obvious that Shredder already knew of their presence. He hoped that wouldn't stop them. Come on, guys! Hurry!

The door opened again and he glanced toward it. The newest visitor caused Mikey's eyes to widen in a fear he tried to hide as he shrank away as much as he could. The Shredder stepped towards him and released Mikey's bonds from the wall.

"You're coming with me," He said as he grabbed the ends of the chains and pulled Mikey forward. Mikey stumbled at first on weak legs before he managed to try to keep up.

"Where are you taking me?" Mikey asked as he was practically dragged through the door and out into the hall.

"To your death," Shredder said with an unseen smirk. Mikey felt fear settle in the bottom of his stomach at that. He didn't like how this whole day was going at all. He just wanted to go home and sleep. He was still a little tired and the injuries didn't help. With the chains on his wrists, Mikey had to follow, but he wished there was some way that he could get away before the final blow.

Author's note: Please review people!