Okay, here is chapter one. Hopefully the plot will start moving along. As always, any tips or suggestions are welcome. Oh, and I should have mentioned this in the prologue, Professor Starcher was introduced in Deceitful Betrayal. The reason he has it in for Don is there.

I own a few things, but no ninja turtles...

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Chapter 1: Bad News

6:18.

The red numbers on the clock seemed to scream in the darkness. Raph grumbled and rolled over. Morning practice was at seven. He had two choices: roll over, go back to sleep and feel like total crap when he went to practice. Or he could get up now and have a light snack before practice and just slightly feel like crap.

When his stomache growled, that made his mind up. He groaned and roughly rubbed his hand down his face. He slowly got out of his hammock and stretched.

"This was going to be long day."

He started down the hallway and stopped outside his youngest brother's room. From the snores that he heard, Mikey was still sleeping peacefully. Raph thought for a moment to give the prankster a rude awakening, but then decided against it. A little peace and quiet would be nice. He glanced in Don's room and was surprised to see his genius brother sprawled in his own bed for a change. He must have been exhausted. He wasn't under the blankets and he was still wearing his gear.

Raph shook his head and chuckled. He made his way to Leo's door. It was closed. Raph put his hand on the door knob, he wanted to check on him. It had been several months and he seemed to be getting stronger...but he would still have nightmares. Raph couldn't count how many times they would have to run to his room when they heard him scream out in terror.

Raph swallowed thickly. He hesitated over the metal knob and then dropped his hand to his side. He hadn't heard anything, so he would just take that as his brother was having a good night for a change. He didn't want to disturb him if he was still sleeping.

Raph's small smile quickly faded when he stepped into the living area of the lair. The muted television was flickering in the darkness and he could make out the top of a head over the back of the couch. He stepped quietly to the couch and found Leo sleeping on the sofa, his head leaned against the back of the couch and his feet rested on the coffee table. He had an open book across his chest and there was a half empty cup of tea on the table.

"Distractions," Raph thought.

Raph stood in front of him and gently patted his shoulder.

"NO!" Leo gasped and his hand shot out and gripped Raph's neck tightly. He threw a punch with the other hand, that Raph blocked.

"Leo," Raph rasped out. He stood perfectly still to allow his brother to register the situation. To know that he wasn't in danger.

Leo blinked in confusion and his eyes slowly focused.

"Oh, God. Raph." He quickly removed his hand. "What...are-are you alright."

"Yeah, m'fine," he said as he slowly backed away. "Are you OK?"

"Yeah, um, you startled me...I guess I dozed off." His cheeks glowed red.

"S'alright, Leo," Raph said as he sat beside him. "I should know better than to wake anyone in this family with direct contact."

He chuckled. Leo gave a small smile and relaxed a little.

"But I think next time I'll just use Donny's bo and poke you in the side."

"That might be a better idea," Leo nodded. "What time is it?"

"Um, probably about 6:30."

"Practice is soon," Leo said as he stood up to stretch.

"Yeah," Raph agreed. "Um, bro, maybe you should take today off. You look exhausted."

"I'm fine." Leo turned to leave.

"But," Raph started, but Leo cut him off.

"I am fine, Raph. Really."

Raph let out frustrated sigh. He had been pushing himself since Don said he could practice again.

"I need to," he said over his shoulder and made his way to the kitchen.

Raph leaned forward with his head in his hands. These last few months had been so hard. Everyone was fighting their own demons. He touched the area around his neck, he wouldn't be surprised if it bruised. His brother's strength was definitely returning.

He has always been told that it was darkest before the dawn. But he couldn't shake the feeling that this darkness wasn't going to leave any time soon.

It was only going to get worse.

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Leo sat his empty glass in the sink and leaned heavily on the counter. His nightmares were not getting any better, and now he nearly took Raph's head off. His brother tried to laugh it off, but Leo knew that it wasn't Raph that startled him. It was a dream. The tortures that he could remember haunted him every night.

Leo shook the horrific thoughts from his mind. He moved to the refrigerator and grabbed an apple and a small container of yogurt. He thought that a little snack might help him to feel better. He sat his food on the table and fished in the drawer for a clean spoon. Raph was right, he felt exhausted, so he knew that he probably didn't look much better. But he had to get into a normal routine again...it was the only way to chase the demons away.

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Raph sat on the worn couch and surfed through the channels. Leo had been watching something on the history channel. He stopped on the local news and his heart nearly jumped out of his chest. Apparently this had been recorded yesterday, but there was Oroku Saki and his adoptive daughter, Karai, standing outside of the Museum of Science and Technology. They were saying something about him donating money and supplies to the museum.

Raph's blood boiled. New York had no idea what this evil man was capable of. And here they were, singing his praise. The money that he had donated was blood money, Raph was sure of it. Then the next thing that he saw would have floored him, if he wasn't already sitting down. There, standing behind Karai, in a dark coat and even darker sunglasses, was Professor Starcher. Raph thought for sure that Shredder would have killed the man, but there he was. Raph quickly turned the channel and glanced over his shoulder. Leo was still in the kitchen.

"Good," Raph thought. He wanted to talk to Donny about this, before Leo found out.

Just as he stood up to leave, Leo walked through the living room.

"Hey, Leo," Raph said quickly. "Where are you going?"

"Upstairs." Leo raised an eye ridge and took a bite of his apple.

Raph remembered the reason he had came downstairs in the first place.

"Are there anymore apples?"

Leo finished chewing his food. "Uh, I think. If not, there are some pears."

"OK."

Raph waited for Leo to start up the steps and then he went to the kitchen and grabbed a pear from the fridge. When he heard Leo's door close, he went straight to Donatello's room and shut the door.

"Donny," Raph called to his brother. "Don. Wake up."

Don rolled over an wearily looked at his brother.

"What's the matter?"

"We have a problem," Raph whispered.