Author's Notes: A shorter than usual chapter this time around, with some Raph POV.

Thanks again for all the wonderful comments and encouragement. It makes me want to keep writing.

For those of you wondering about the promised Halloween fic I posted one a couple days ago "There's No Such Thing as Ghosts." It's just a little one shot, but I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out and I did enter it over at the Stealthy Stories Halloween contest, so that's pretty cool.


Chapter Seventeen

Raphael

I shouldn't enjoy this. I know I shouldn't, but I'm in the red place and shouldn't doesn't matter. What matters is the mission. What matters is getting information. Information this trembling, terrified lackey can provide. I tighten my grip on his narrow shoulder and slowly turn the tip of my sai where it's impaled in the brick right beside his head. He lets out a cry and part of me, deep down in the dark where I don't like to go, part of me enjoys it. They hurt my brother. This guy might have helped. They hurt my brother. They have to pay.

"Who did you steal the mutagen from?" Leo asks and I can't understand how he's keeping his voice so calm.

I give another curl of my wrist when the guy remains silent and grin at the resulting cry. Leo puts a hand on my shoulder, cold and deliberate and I dial it back. I shouldn't enjoy this. I swallow back the bitter taste of shame and struggle to keep an even face. There isn't time for that now. I can regret things later. Right now we have a job to do.

"I'm starting to lose my patience," Leo says in that same calm voice, like he's talking to a child. "And my brother here already has. Now, we can stop this. All you have to do is tell us what we want to know."

I know he's trying to good cop, bad cop this guy, but his words make me bristle. I shouldn't enjoy this, I don't enjoy this. I'm not always the bad cop. I'm not some animal he can let off the chain when he needs something less than honorable done. He's just as guilty as me. More so because he's pretending that he doesn't get some satisfaction out of hurting the people who hurt us, who hurt our brother. He's a liar. At least I'm honest.

"We…we didn't steal any mutagen," the guy stammers and Leo lets out his best disappointed sigh. "No! Honest, we didn't steal anything. We were just moving those containers. I had no idea what was inside of 'em."

Leo leans forward and narrows his eyes. No one would mistake him for good cop now. "Moving them for who?"

"I don't know! Honest, they don't tell me anything. I just drive the truck."

"And where do you drive the truck to?" Leo asks.

There's a lingering threat behind his words and if the guy knows what's good for him he won't try to lie.

"The old tannery on Norfolk," he cries before Leo finishes the question. "Some big shots in suits own the place. The logo on the boxes had a bird on it. I can't remember the name, or I'd tell ya."

Leo stays silent for a few seconds, never taking his eyes off the guy. I'm pretty sure he's going to start crying if Leo doesn't say something soon.

"All right," Leo murmurs with a sharp pull of his head in my direction.

I wrench the sai from the wall and let go of his shoulder. He instantly grabs his own arm with a whimper.

"Now, you're not going to tell anyone about this, are you?" Leo asks with a casual air.

"No, no of course not, I swear," the guy says, pushing against the brick wall at his back. "I won't."

"Good," Leo replies and he gives me another nod.

He turns and leaps up to the fire escape without another word. There isn't much else to say at this point. I think the guy knows we mean business. Just to be sure I level him with another glare before following my brother up to the rooftop. There are still a few hours until dawn, but I don't think the weather will improve with the rising of the sun. It's cold and dark and matches my mood. Leo is standing on the ledge of the building, looking off towards the south. His shoulders are rolled back and he balls his hands into fists at his side.

"Guys in suits. Must be the Kraang," I say, joining him at the building's edge.

"Maybe," he replies, flexing his hand in thought. "But the Kraang use TCRI as their cover."

I bristle and pace a few feet, not wanting to stand still. "Well, maybe they changed their cover. Does it matter? Let's go to the warehouse and beat some answers out of 'em."

I thought he understood. Who cares if it's the Kraang or not? They have to fix this and then they have to pay for what they did.

"We'll check it out first," he says with a resolute nod. "We can't help Donnie if we get caught."

That's the first time either of us have said his name since leaving the lair and it catches me off guard and I take a step back as if struck. The cold and the red place made it easy to forget why we were out here. Not forget, that's not right; bury. Work the mission, get the information, don't think about how they hurt him. Don't think about how he screamed or how his hand turned black and oozed. Don't think about how helpless you are to fix any of it.

"He's going to be all right," Leo says, but he doesn't sound as if he believes it himself and it makes my breath catch in my chest. "We'll go to the warehouse and we'll find someone who can fix this. He's going to be all right."

I nod, afraid to open my mouth. Afraid of what might come out if I do. He's already doubtful and my defeated thoughts aren't going to help matters. Work the mission. That's something we can do. That's the only thing we can do. I take off after him across the rooftops, grateful for the slight distraction running brings. I'm panting by the time we reach the old factory, my warm breath coming out in a dense haze on the cold air. Leo motions for me to follow and we slip across the ledge until we're perched on the building's roof.

There's a rumble on the street below and the tell-tale beep of a truck backing up. We're above the loading dock. The man driving has his arm resting on the window and even in the dim light I can make out the dragon tattoo covering his skin; Purple Dragons. I feel the anger start to build again and I grip the ledge to keep from vaulting over and pummeling all of them into the dirt. We have to do this smart. We can't help Donnie if we get caught.

"You're late! Again!" the cry is sharp and accusing and followed by the click, click of high heels on pavement.

I peer over the edge and catch sight of dark-haired woman in a suit, yelling at the thugs with no fear of retribution. She has a tablet clutched in her hand and I try to read anything on the glowing surface, but she's too far away. Leo has his spyglass out and I'm sure he's attempting the same thing. She's yelling and pointing and giving more orders before her first ones are even finished. She's in charge. She's definitely not Kraang and she's our target. She strides back inside and I can still hear the muffled sound of her voice drifting out from the opening of the loading dock.

"So, we're going after boss lady?" I ask, my hands still gripping the edge of the roof as if I might fall if I let go.

Leo lowers his spyglass and I see that tiny flinch at the corner of his eye. He's uncertain. He can't be. That's the last thing he needs to be right now. He's supposed to be our leader. He needs to lead. He needs to make a plan. We can't just sit around until morning. We have to do something. Who knows how much time Donnie has left. The thought stops me cold and my hands tighten until my fingers scrape along the bricks and there's a hollow feeling at the bottom of my stomach.

"We don't know what kind of security…"

"They're using the Purple Dragons," I interrupt him with a scoff that is sure to get under his skin. "How big a threat can they be? I thought you were with me on this, Leo. I thought you understood what needs to be done," I say, pushing away from the ledge.

I need to find the red place again. I need to get angry. I need to run from that hallow feeling that I can't shake. I need to fight this. I need to fight.

"I do understand," he snaps. He's losing his patience sooner than usual. He's at his breaking point. We all are. "But we can't go rushing in there without a plan, without knowing what's waiting for us. I know you want to punish these guys, Raph. So do I. But we can't be stupid about it."

The loud buzz of Leo's T-Phone against the bridge of his shell cuts me off before I can muster an angry response. He sighs and pinches his eyes shut before pulling the phone from his belt. He looks at the screen and sighs again.

"Mikey," he says.

Guilt flashes in his eyes and the hallow feeling returns to my guts. We didn't tell anyone where we were going. We just took off. We gave Donnie so much grief over the same thing only a few days ago and now here we are doing the same thing.

"How many times has he called?" I ask with a sigh of my own. The hallow space fills with a cold dread and I ask the question I don't really want an answer to. "Do you…do you think something happened?"

And by something I mean the unimaginable. Leo understands and his mouth sets in a straight line. He shakes his head but doesn't offer anything else by way of an answer. He doesn't have to. I get it. If you don't admit it out loud you can pretend it isn't real; because that unimaginable, horrible thing that neither of us will admit to can't be real. We're going to fix this. We've found the people responsible and we're going to make them pay. We can't be too late. That isn't an option.

Leo raises his phone to his ear and I watch his face for any indication of what our brother is saying on the other end. Mikey must be waiting for our call because Leo flinches at the sudden loud voice blaring out of the phone.

"Where the heck are you guys? I've been calling!"

"Is everything all right?" Leo cuts him off and doesn't answer the loud questions. "Is Donnie…" his voice catches and he can't finish.

I can't hear Mikey anymore and Leo's face isn't giving away any secrets. I resist the urge to grab the phone from his hand and shout at our little brother for answers myself. Leo closes his eyes and nods along with whatever Mikey is saying. He mumbles a quiet apology and an even quieter yes before hanging up. He stares down at the dark screen of the phone and I think I can see his hand shake, but I can't be sure. It's still dark out.

"Leo?"

All I can force out is his name. That's enough, he knows what I mean.

"He's awake," he says around a swallow that looks like a struggle. "Master Splinter wants us to come home."

The tremble to his voice is almost non-existent, but I've known him for as long as I can remember and that slight dip to his words does not belong. He didn't say he was all right. Just because he's awake doesn't mean he's all right. I feel my pulse quicken and panic turns to anger as it always does.

"Go home? Leo, we have a job to do. We're already here, we have to…"

"We have to go home, Raph," he stops me short of shouting and the tremble is gone and he's all business.

He's the stoic leader once more and I hate him for it. He was supposed to be with me in this.

"Is…is he all right?"

I don't recognize the voice as my own, but it must be because the words are tumbling out of my mouth and I can't stop them. I know he's not. I don't know why I want to hear Leo say it. I don't want to go home. I don't want to see my brother like that. I don't want to stand by and watch, helpless. I want to pummel some Purple Dragons and make the boss lady fix this before tearing the whole warehouse to the ground. I want to make them pay. I don't want to run home to Sensei with my tail between my legs with nothing to show for a night's work but an address.

"No…not entirely," he replies and I'm grateful he isn't trying to sugarcoat it for me. "But he's awake. We can figure this out together, make a plan and then come back here and make these people pay."

The flinch is back and he's with me. He understands. No one hurts one of our brothers and gets away with it.