Thanks to Sapphire93, mav32, Kyaserin Marii, aroniiel, Rose of Hope, BubblyShell22, BigfootSighted, and merdeka21 for your reviews. It's great to know what you think of my story. Also, I'm really sorry it took me so long to update. Life is crazy! Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter.
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After helping Don upstairs to their room, Leo collapsed gratefully into his bed, moaning as he aggravated the bruise on his chest. Donny had stitched it up and told him to take it easy for a while. And for once in his life Leo intended to do just that. At least for a couple days…
Leo thought back over the events of that long day. Only now did it actually sink in that it had all been real. At the time, it had felt like another nightmare, but it had actually happened. He silently thanked everything he could think of that his brothers were all okay.
As much as he wanted—no, needed—to sleep, Leo found himself afraid to close his eyes. What if the dreams didn't go away? What if they were only made worse by the day's events. Leo shuddered as he thought about reliving the ordeal over and over in his sleep. He fought off a yawn, trying to stay awake despite the sleep that was steadily overcoming him.
Leo finally closed his eyes and was immediately asleep. Master Splinter was walking through the sewers, a few miles from the lair but definitely headed home. He seemed agitated about something, obvious by the violent lashing of his tail. He stopped suddenly and sniffed the air. Suddenly, he was surrounded by about twenty unknown ninjas; they were dressed similarly to the Foot but were bearing a different logo. The ninjas closed in on the old rat, preparing to kill…
Leo awoke with a start. "Not again," he moaned. He thought about the outcome of his previous nightmare and immediately became terrified for his master's safety. "Master Splinter…" he whispered, all thoughts of additional sleep forgotten. He pushed himself out of bed, again moaning as he pulled at the stitches in his plastron. But he had to find Master Splinter…
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Donny was dead to the world almost before he was in bed. He mumbled a thanks to Leo, not sure if he had even formed words or not. He slept soundly for a few hours before suddenly awaking with a feeling that something was wrong. Leo was normally the one who got such "feelings", but Don occasionally got them as well. He could count on one three-fingered hand the number of times Raph and Mikey, together, had had such a premonition.
Don painfully leaned over the edge of his bunk and peered through the dark at Leo's. His breath caught in his throat. Leo was gone… and his bed was a mess. Leo never left his bed in such a state, even if he was only up to go to the bathroom. He must have been really worried about something—or someone—to leave if like that.
Don thought about trying to hop down from the top bunk but quickly dismissed the idea when he remembered his legs. The only thing jumping would accomplish would be further damage to his legs and Don being just as stranded on the floor as he now was his bed. So that was out of the question. He held his breath, listening for sounds of Leo anywhere in the lair… but all he heard was Raph's loud snoring and the ticking of a clock.
So Leo was either asleep somewhere else or he wasn't in the lair; Don pushed the second thought from his mind, scared by the possibilities it held. He clung to the hope that his oldest brother had fallen asleep on the couch after a trip to the kitchen, or that maybe he was even meditating in the dojo to clear his mind of the stress of that day.
Don sighed and lay back down on the bed, accepting his rationales for Leo's absence. He was soon asleep, though the sleep was not nearly as restful as before.
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Raph had never welcomed sleep as readily as he did that night. His shoulder was throbbing and he had never felt so tired and sore in his life. But something seemed to be nagging his subconscious, even as he snored loudly. Something wasn't right.
He moaned as his eyes opened and he became aware of his surroundings. He was in his bed, under Mikey, who was muttering softly in his sleep, something about scaling pink and purple polka-dotted cliffs, whatever the shell that was supposed to mean. So Mikey was fine… What was it that was causing his uneasiness?
Raph thought how strange it was for him to be having this kind of feeling. This was usually Splinter and Leo's department, never his. And yet, he couldn't shake the feeling that someone was in trouble. He focused on each of his brothers' presences and decided they were all okay. There was a slight disturbance in Leo, but that was nothing unusual considering what they had gone through that day. Finally he focused on their sensei and decided that was who it was. He was in danger, but he seemed to be okay, and it didn't seem to be life-threatening… yet.
He tried to sit up in bed, but it was no use. He was too exhausted to move. He decided to stay awake and stay focused on his master's presence, ready to wake up his brothers if the danger became serious. But he did not stay awake long; the fatigue from the day's adventure was too much to hold off.
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Mikey slowly regained consciousness, his strange dreams fading away. He had been dreaming about something to do with pink and purple polka-dotted cliffs—strange, even for Mikey. He rubbed his eyes and glanced at his alarm clock; it was only 3:35 in the morning! He rolled over, gasping at the pain in his head, and tried to go back to sleep.
Suddenly his eyes opened again and his thoughts turned unbidden to Master Splinter. His brow creased with worry; the only other time he had felt like this was only moments before Leo came flying through the window of April's apartment. Maybe their sensei was in trouble…
But no, Splinter was on one of his spiritual journeys, and wasn't due back for a couple days. Mikey rubbed his forehead, trying to think of what day it was. Today, or rather, yesterday was Saturday, so… Master Splinter was coming home today! Maybe he was in trouble!
Mikey sat up a little too quickly and was soon lying on his shell again, trying to dispel the dizziness that had instantly clouded his senses. But it was no use, he was falling asleep again… His last thought before darkness consumed him once again were of Splinter and, for some reason, Leo.
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I know nothing really happened in this chapter, but I was mostly setting up for the next one, which should be pretty exciting. I'm not that good at writing action, but I promise to do my best, for my faithful readers and reviewers!