A/N:I was hoping to finish this fanfic in one go, but I need encouragement. So you get it chapter by chapter as I settle on its completion. I might post up chapter 2 too. It's not until chapter 3 that I get unsure if I want it to remain as is. Anyway, enjoy!


"Musuko…"

"Sensei?" Leonardo felt a cold chill in the air as he frantically scanned the darkness pressing around him. It's frozen touch tightened against his skin, impending his every movement. "Where are you?" He defiantly pushed through the thick shadows as worry entered his voice. He could barely hear his words above the thick silence.

"Find me…" His sensei spoke in only his native tongue.

"I'm coming!" Leonardo waded through the sea of darkness. His arms moved wildly through the shadows as they became fluid. He kicked out, desperate to gain momentum. The current thrashed around him without direction, determined to keep him from his goal.

"Musuko!"

The voice rang with pain this time. A pain Leonardo could feel biting into him. It burned from the inside. Longing, confusion; it filled him. A wave of suffocating emotions that blocked out everything else. "No, father!"…

Leonardo burst from the dream with a gasp. He could still feel the despair coating his skin in a cold sweat. His eyes darted around the room without really seeing it. Nightmares were part of the job description, but this seemed different. It felt like a call for help. Why would his sensei need his help, though? He shook his head to clear his mind. It's just a dream. That's all it is.

He glanced over at a calendar hanging opposite his bed. Days were crossed out in red ink. He didn't have to read the scribbled note along the edge to know what it said. It was the date of Splinter's return. He reflected on the day, four weeks ago, when his sensei first announced his departure…

"I have your tea, sensei," Leonardo announced as he paused in the doorway of his sensei's room. His eyes lingered on the travel bag set up against the wall.

"Thank you, Leonardo." Splinter turned from the letter he was writing. "Please, come in."

Leonardo continued inside and took a seat on a vacant zabuton. He set the wooden tray table before him and poured tea from the porcelain kettle into two matching cups. His eyes kept returning to the travel bag in curiosity. "When are you leaving?" He finally asked as Splinter sat opposite him.

Splinter followed his line of vision, briefly. "Early tomorrow." He wrapped both clawed hands around his cup and gently rotated it a few times in silence, savoring the bitter aroma, before taking a small sip. "The Ancient One has requested my presence. I will be sending a confirmation as soon as I finish writing it."

"What does he want?" Leonardo copied his sensei with his own cup, the curiosity in his tone barely controlled. "You'll be going alone?"

"He did not say in his letter." Splinter looked up at Leonardo to answer his last question. "Hai. I trust you will do well without my guidance. You have already proven yourself a capable leader. My absence will not change that."

Leonardo turned away. "For how long?"

"Two months. I will send word to April-san if I must extend my trip, but I do not believe it will be necessary."…

Two months. There was still a whole month before he could logically worry. He exhaled with a sigh as his eyes slipped closed. His ears prickled for sounds of his brothers. He could do without them peeking in on him now. He needed to clear his head. It was only a dream. Splinter could take care of himself. He had decades more ninjutsu experience than Leonardo and his brothers. If only he could just shut that fear down.

He attempted to allow the tranquility of meditation to take hold of him. He slowed his breathing and focused on the peace he so desperately desired. Normally, this tactic worked. This time, however, images of his nightmare invaded his mind. He could still feel the deep longing to help his sensei. Pushing the worry aside only increased this feeling. He huffed in irritation as he pushed himself off his bed. There was no point in trying to go back to sleep now. The growing anxiety will only lend itself to more nightmares. Maybe some tea would ease his mind.

His footsteps were light across the floor of his room. He was careful not to make a sound as he opened the door. A quiet voice reached his ears upon stepping out onto the balcony overlooking the common area. Maybe he wasn't the only one awake at this hour. He frowned at the origin of the cheery tone: Michelangelo's room. Either he left his game on again or he's in for a stern talking to. Leonardo followed the sounds and opened the door to his brother's room.

"…that way! Remember the plan? We discussed it back at the hut." Michelangelo's hushed voice greeted him, the owner unaware of his visitor. "No, no, no! It's Syfychick's. Be a team player, Arty. Trust me, she's got this."

Leonardo folded his arms across his plastron, giving the back of his brother's head a stern look. The light from the refurbished laptop was the only thing keeping the room from complete darkness. The clicks of the controller – Leonardo knew it to be secured twice over in scotch tape –echoed in the otherwise quiet room. After a few more minutes listening to his brother ramble off to people he could not hear, Leonardo silently approached him. A firm grip on Michelangelo's shoulder finally alerted the younger he was not alone.

Michelangelo jumped a little in alarm before pushing the bulky headphones off of one ear, a sheepish expression on his face. "Hey, Leo…"

"Do you have any idea what time it is?"

"Uh…" Michelangelo glanced back at his game while pressing the pause button on the controller. "I can't see the clock on full screen."

"The one by your bed is affected by that as well?" Leonardo glanced over at the mentioned digital clock with a deep frown. "It clearly reads two thirty-seven in the morning to me."

"I wasn't looking over there."

"Evidently."

"What are you doing up, then, hmm?" Michelangelo gave his brother a cheeky smile. "That's the only way you could catch me."

"You were not as quiet as you think you were." Leonardo's expression remained firm. "Turn the game off."

"Awe, come on! I'll stop at three, I promise. I just need to finish this boss," he begged, but Michelangelo's pleas fell on deaf years.

"Off. Now."

Michelangelo's eyes lingered on his brother's face for a full minute before he sighed. "Fine." He fixed the dropdown microphone to catch his voice better. "I have to go, dudes…yeah." He glanced at Leonardo. "Probably not for a while… Yeah, cool. Talk you guys later." He pulled off the headphones and carefully set them aside before turning the game off as instructed. "You're a killjoy, bro."

"Who are those people you're talking to anyway?"

"Met them through SuperQuest. We only know each other by our screennames, so don't get all mother hen on me. It's perfectly safe."

Leonardo raised a brow, unamused. "I doubt that."

"Fine. Have Don check it out if you have to." He turned off his computer and lied back in his bed. "It's not like I'm going to ever seen them face to face. I'm not stupid." He yawned and turned away from his brother. "You can trust me…"

I want to. Leonardo sighed. He pulled the blanket over his brother's relaxed form and moved the laptop to a safer place. "Good night."

"Night…" Michelangelo mumbled, already half-asleep.

Leonardo lingered in the doorway before silently leaving his brother to sleep. His footsteps carried him back to his own room; the tea no longer needed or remembered.


Light illuminated a medium-sized room once covered in shadows; a glass wall splitting it in two. The larger section contained the sole occupant in a habitat suitable to its species. The only visible door was located off the smaller section. It opened inward to the sound of a soft click. A young woman entered with her head held down. She was visibly trembling as she looked into the larger enclosure. She held a bowl in her hands as she hovered by the door. Her eyes quickly found the sleeping figure. All she could see of it was matted fur and a hairless tail curled around it. Its ear twitched as the door clicked close behind her. The young woman sighed in relief. Maybe the tales about the creature were wrong? It didn't look dangerous.

A soft murmured voice picked up at her small sound. She froze in an instant. The voice didn't sound like any animal she knew. It sounded almost…human. The woman shook her head in denial. No, that's not it. I just heard wrong. She smiled at that thought before tentatively stepping forward. The voice was clearer with each step. She froze once again. It sounded like structured words. It wasn't a language she knew, but it surely wasn't the sounds of an animal.

"…Musuko…Iie…Ikanaide…" The beast's tail twitched and curled like a snake. "Musuko…onegai…"

"No," The woman shook her head in disbelief, her twin braids swaying with the motion. She didn't mean to speak aloud. She just couldn't believe her ears.

The beast shot up with barely a sound, its front paws pulled up before him with its deadly claws ready to tear her eyes out. Its teeth bared as dark eyes focused on the young woman, burning her with their intensity. The animal side had awakened. The only thing human about it was its stance as it stared her down.

The young woman stumbled backwards in terror, the dish crashing at her feet, spewing its contents over the floor. She found the door and blindly felt for a handle, her eyes never straying from the beast. It took too long for her to remember there was no handle. The doors were electronic. They only opened with a keycard that she wasn't allowed to handle herself. She was trapped with the beast. The glass separating them was too easy to ignore in her fear.

The beast snarled at the intended food before its gaze returned to the woman. A clawed hand pressed against the glass before it voiced a frustrated noise. It backed up as it scanned its surroundings. It never turned its back on the woman.

It was at that point, the young woman felt a stab of pity. The beast appeared upset that it was a prisoner. She was still terrified of it, but her need to comfort the animal outweighed her fear. She always had a soft spot for animals. She stepped forward a few paces. "Hey, it's alright. I know you're scared…" She paused when the beast looked at her sharply with cold eyes. She breathed through a spike of fear before continuing, "You'll get used to it, eventually. …I know it sucks. I hate to see animals caged up. You should be free. …But that's not my job. I'm just supposed to keep you fed and happy." She sighed as she turned away from the beast to clean up the mess she made.

She heard the beast shift behind her with a sound of distaste.

"It's good for you!" Her voice brightened. The more she talked, the calmer she felt. "The nutritionist put it together just for you. I don't know how it tastes, though. I don't even know what you ate before you arrived here. Maybe it's better, I don't know." She turned with the bowl filled with the grainy mixture. She pulled up on a handle attached to a small section of the glass to open a gap in their separation. The food bowl slid easily through it before she gently released the handle. "There ya go. Enjoy!"

The beast didn't move. The look in its eyes portrayed apprehension even as it glared at her.

"Come on, you have to be hungry. You haven't eaten since you got here." She sat down near the glass and smiled at the beast. "Go on."

The beast jerked its head back, stubbornly, its eyes remaining on her. It looked to be scanning her; judging her.

"It's almost like you can understand…" The woman sighed. "I'm just being silly. I think the same about my dogs back at home." She chuckled to herself, shifting awkwardly at the look she received in response. "I'll just leave this here with you. Would that be better? I know my cousin's cat won't eat when we watched him. He likes to eat like a funny little ninja."

The beast's ear twitched at the last. Its tense posture loosened, marginally. It was enough to convey that the creature preferred her departure.

The woman bowed her head. "I wonder what you're thinking right now. I know I would hate to be caged up like that. …But you'd probably eat me if I released you." A small snort followed her words. She wasn't so scared anymore.

"Iie."

The sound that escaped the beast was barely above a whisper. The woman almost missed it. She looked up, confused. "What was that?" After a moment of silence, she dismissed it for her wild imagination. "I'm…just going to go now." She stood and backed to the door. Without turning away from the beast, she lightly knocked with the back of her knuckles. Two sharp taps and the door opened behind her. She disappeared out the door before it closed.

The beast watched her leave before completely relaxing. He nearly slumped to the ground in exhaustion. His keen ears twitched towards the blinking red light just outside the glass: a camera. It was watching him. Always watching. But the woman had been right, he was starving.

He glared at the chosen meal in distrust. It disgusted him. His tail slid against the ground as he contemplated it. He needed to get his strength up. Only that thought propelled him forward. He grabbed the bowl and brought it with him to the other end of the cell. He scowled at the dish. For all he knew, it could be poison. I am their prisoner. He picked at the food. Yet that young lady did not treat me the same as the others. It is possible she can be trusted. He sniffed at the food before eating as little as he could get away with. He didn't know when his next meal would come. As he ate, he reflected on the dream he could barely remember. It felt significant, but he could not determine why. My memory is hazy. I hope it will not last. I need my wits to leave this place. I know I will be missed. …If only it was not such a daunting venture… He sighed as he curled up on the ground. He would rest for now. He needed more time to plan his escape. Without a clear head, he could do nothing but wait. He was patient. He knew his time would come.


A/N:There you have it. Now feed that review box! It needs energy to help boost my muse's spirits. ;)