Thief in the Night

Ch. 4

The turtles and their Sensei had been working for hours, studying maps and looking up locations or any news on the Swift Terrorists. They found nothing news-wise, but they had an idea where Leo was. As far as they knew, Leo was with the Shredder, but they had no knowledge whether he moved his base or not. They were all making a plan, which made the turtles grow more and more anxious and restless, especially Mikey and Raph. Mikey was constantly asking when they were leaving, and Raph always tried to convince them to leave.

"We can't leave!" Donnie had pointed out. "It's daylight. If we go out with the sun shining, chances are that we all may get caught, and not by the Shredder either."

Mikey and Raph eventually accepted this, though, they were still anxious to get out. Leo was in trouble, after all. Who knew what would happen. Donnie estimated that this plan may take a day or two to take action, considering they'd need all the help they could get. But, Leo couldn't wait a day or two. He had to get rescued now.

But, the orange and red banded turtles obeyed, waiting for the plan to come together. They didn't like it, but it was best. But, the longer they waited, the more things were happening back at Shredder's lair.

Leo let out a grunt of pain as he got punched for what felt like the millionth time that day. He had no idea why they were beating him. They weren't even interrogating him. If they didn't need to know where the lair was, why were they doing this? He had been wondering these things all day.

Leo spit some blood on the floor from his busted lip and then looked up at the Shredder, who was smirking from under his mask. Leo could see the smile in his eyes. Shredder was enjoying this too much. He had come into Leo's cell every few hours and would stay in for about half an hour before leaving again. So, in just a matter of around twelve hours or so, Shredder had been in there several times.

"Funny how you will not break." Shredder laughed. "You will surely be broken as soon as I am finished with you."

Leo's head whipped to the side as he got punched again right in the cheek. He turned his head, staring at the floor, panting lightly as he felt a bruise start to form.

"Or, you may break after your brother arrives." Shredder added.

Leo's head snapped up, his eyes wide in terror, which then turned into anger. "Don't you dare!" he growled. "You leave my brothers out of this!"

"No can do." Shredder answered. "This is my plan, after all. As soon as I get all four of you here, your beloved Sensei will be so full of despair that he'll surely come to save you all. And when he does…" The man chuckled. "You'll get to see me decapitate your father right in front of you."

Leo gasped but quickly shook off the feeling of dread he got. He didn't want to give the Shredder the satisfaction of seeing him afraid. He said nothing, though his death glare told him everything Shredder needed to hear. If you hurt my family...you'll end up hurting worse.

"Tonight your hotheaded brother is next." Shredder said. "Which only leaves him twelve hours."

Leo did the math in his head, figuring out it was eight in the morning. He wished he could warn his brothers somehow that the treat was coming again. But, he couldn't. He was completely helpless in this situation, and that hurt him beyond belief.

Shredder laughed at Leo's saddened figure and he punched him again, this time under his jaw, causing Leo's head to snap upward. "Oh, it'll be so much more fun to hear two screams instead of just one." He then stabbed Leo in the arm, making him let out another grunt and a hiss of pain. He refused to cry out.

"You'll scream eventually." Shredder muttered, watching Leo bite his lip. He then turned, leaving the room with the two Foot that came in with him.

Leo heard the door slam shut and he lifted his head, looking at the now empty room. His heart raced, not because of the pain in his upper arm but because he wasn't the only one in danger now. He glanced over at his arm, watching the crimson blood trickle downward on his elbow pad, turning his sports wrap below the pad red.

Leo was petrified. He knew that if Shredder was determined enough, he'd get what he wanted, and that sure as heck wasn't what Leo wanted. The turtle sighed, hanging his head down, silently praying to himself that his brothers would be safe. He prayed that he would be fine too by the time Raph got here. He didn't want his brother to see him so battered.

He wanted to slap himself right then. WHEN his brother got here? No! He didn't want him here at all. Leo let out a huff, looking at his arm again. Before he could do anything else, he had to take care of this cut.

So, he did. He unwrapped the sports tape from his wrist, wrapping it around his arm, watching the blood seep through instantly. It wasn't much, but it would have to do. Now he had one less thing to worry about...for now, anyway. Too many cons piled in Leo's head and not enough pros.

Leo tried to stay positive, he tried to think good thoughts. But, those thoughts were becoming more and more saddening the more he thought about what could happen.

It was almost eight o'clock at night. Everyone at the lair had been working all day, trying to contact as many people as they could; April, Casey, the Mutanimals, anyone. April and Casey couldn't even help them if they wanted to due to school, and they couldn't contact the Mutanimals. So, that left them all at square one, which made Mikey and Raph even more frustrated.

"When are we going up there, dudes?" Mikey asked, worry filling him. "Leo needs saving!"

"Soon, Mikey." Donnie answered. "Possibly in a few hours."

"Few hours?" Mikey whined. "Dude! The sun's down! Its already said 'see ya'! Can't we just go n-"

"No." Donnie sighed. "We need help. And as far as I know, we don't have any right now. If we don't have anyone to come with us by ten, THEN we will all go ourselves. Okay?"

"Okay…" Mikey muttered, nodding his head. He still wished that they didn't have to wait. He wished he could run out at that very moment. But, he stayed put, and Raph did too. Mikey went and sat next to Raph, who was looking at the TV again that night. He could almost see the wheels turning in his brother's head.

"Yo, dude, it's okay." Mikey said with a smile. "We'll get him!"

"What if Shredder already killed him?" Raph muttered, looking towards Mikey. "We can't just lose a leader."

"Leo will be okay, bro." Mikey answered. "He's a ninja, he's smart and he's strong. He'll get through it." He smiled wider. "I know it." Though, the orange banded turtle was trying to convince himself as he reassured his brother.

Raph let out a sigh, watching the news recover the event that had happened just a day earlier. Raph nodded his head slowly as he stood up. "I'm heading out." Raph said.

"Wait, OUT?" Donnie asked, looking up from the map he held. "Are you crazy? Those guys are out there!"

"A; they are waiting for us to come to them, 'cause why else would they have Leo and B; I'll be fine." Raph replied, patting his pocket to show that he has his T-phone, along with his weapons. "I'm just gonna get a look at the city real quick, get some fresh air."

"Alright." Donnie sighed.

"Try to only stay out for a half hour, Raphael." Splinter cautioned.

"Alright, alright, chill." Raph answered, holding his hands up. "I'll be right back." He then turned and jumped over the turnstiles and headed into the sewer tunnels, not knowing that he wouldn't return.

He went up the ladder, already feeling the cool of the winter night when he reached the top. He lifted the manhole cover, stepped out and slid it back into place. He then ran up the fire escape stairs, being as quiet as possible, as well as quick. He then stepped onto the rooftop and walked over to the edge, sitting down and staring at the city below.

People bustled about, trying to get home quickly due to the cold temperatures on their way. Taxi lights shined, people shouted, horns honked; there was lots of commotion. But Raph didn't mind at all. He was very used to lots of noise. He felt the cool breeze go by him, filling him with a sense of relaxation. It was nice, especially since he's been so anxious.

He pulled one knee to his plastron, watching the city lights twinkle from the tall buildings. New York truly was a beautiful sight, and he came up here a lot just to look at the lights, feel the breeze and listen to the noise. To him, the city was peaceful to him as meditation was peaceful to his Sensei.

He smirked, watching the city still. That was until he felt a chill go down his spine, a warning that he was being watched echoing in his mind. But who was watching him? He turned his head from side to side, seeing if he could find anyone hiding. When he didn't see anyone, he stood up slowly, his hand hovering over his sai.

"Hello?" he called out. "I know you're here!"

No one answered and no one stepped out, leaving Raph rather frustrated. The ninja sighed, crossing his arms. "Yo, I said I know you're-"

A group, who were the Foot, then quickly leapt out, knocking Raph to the ground. The turtle's head hit the hard ground, making stars appear in his vision. Raph managed to kick a few off strongly, making them fall on their knees near him. But before he could jump to his feet and run, a few more quickly dashed out, attacking.

Before they attacked, Raph could see how many there were, and that was quite a few, over twenty to be exact.

The large group rammed themselves into Raph, much to the turtle's attempts to fight back, which worked most of the time. They slammed him against a wall up on the roof, making the stars dance.

Raph swung his sais at them, hitting one in the arm, making the Foot ninja hiss in pain. But they then hit his head again even harder than last time, knocking Raph out cold. He fell forward, his sais falling out of his hands and clanking onto the rooftop.

The Foot ninjas looked towards one another, nodding their heads. One of them picked up Raph as if he were a worthless rag doll, throwing him over his shoulder, obviously not caring if he injured him. They then started to run, leaving Raph's sais behind them, along with the few knocked out Foot laying on the ground.

Raph had lost. It had happened so quickly, only a matter of a couple of minutes. And now his brothers had lost another. Another brother they had to save.

Author's note: Thanks so much for reading so far! I saw the reviews saying that Mikey didn't get enough roles and, don't worry! He will get more attention for sure :)