Woulda had this up sooner, but life's not always fair and hit me hard so I didn't have the time or want to write. I hope to have all that behind me and finish my two fics soon. So enjoy the next chapter.

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Chapter 28

His head ached and his limbs felt heavy, bruised, and beaten. He didn't remember much after what happened in the warehouse. It was all a blur, only remembering himself hit the wall and black out. And Keith hated not knowing. He finally pushed his eyes open and looked around, not seeing anything it was so dark. The floor beneath him was hard and cold. His hand were shackled behind him, his feet bound as well. He had been like this ever since he had woken up a few hours ago. Then he was in pain, now he felt at least somewhat better. Somewhat. He knew he had failed the Shredder. And failure never brought anything good. It brought darkness, despair, and pain. Lots and lots of pain. He had been through this before, again and again. Yet tonight he had failed again.

Keith pulled at the binds to no avail. They were secure just like he knew they would be. They only rattled, breaking the silence of the small dark room. He closed his eyes wondering what his punishment would be this time. His stomach rolled at the thought of the last punishment he had to endure last time.

He had been strapped to a table with chains that bit deeply into his skin. The Shredder had given him 'the speech' about failure. About consequences. He hated the speech and he hated the punishments. One of these times he wouldn't be able to take it. He would either die or revolt. The latter having more dire consequences than he thought he might be willing to take. But he kept it in mind all the same.

The Shredder was still in the room, standing at the doorway. He made a motion. A ninja stepped forward and injected him with something. Then the table slowly lowered into a large rectangular pool of water filled with eels. Keith's muscles tensed as he hit the water, then relaxed. He could no longer move them as the eels swam toward him, slithering against his skin. His muscles locked up even more thanks to the injection. Electricity from the eels coursed through him as they touched him. He held his tongue for as long as he could. And that seemed like an eternity with the high jolts from the eels. After a long time, he couldn't hold it in any longer. And he screamed. One loud and long ear splitting scream.

Keith blinked out of his memory, shuddering at the thought of it. That was the worst one yet. Luckily he had forgotten most of his 'punishments'. Forgotten because he wanted them that way. It did him no good to think about them. But now, he couldn't help but think of the last time as he lay bound in the cool dark room. The silence seemed thick, thick enough to slice it with a knife. His skin still burned. And he didn't know why.

The door to the room creaked, opening and letting in a shaft of very bright light. A figure limped into the room, leaving the door wide open with it's harmful bright light to those who had been in darkness.

Keith squinted his eyes at the brightness, his already pounding head worsening. He blinked as his eyes slowly adjusted to the light. He looked at his visitor not surprised at who he saw this time. The Shredder. But he seemed to missing parts of his metal suit. And his left leg looked damaged. But Keith took no comfort in that. The Shredder was no less dangerous like this. Keith gulped.

"You have failed me once again Keith," Shredder spat, his eyes narrowed into slits.

Keith clenched his fists and kept himself from making a retort back. Whatever had gone down, it looked like the Shredder had barely made it out alive. Too bad. It would've been nice to not have to go through this. And he really didn't want to know what the Shredder had in store for him this time.

"If I didn't still have use for you I would've let you die in the explosion," Shredder growled.

"What explosion?" Keith asked before he could bite his tongue against the question.

Shredder glared. "I owe you no explanation." He seemed to smirk underneath that metal helmet. He came closer and picked Keith up by the collar. He dragged his gauntlet against the side of Keith's neck, from ear to shoulder.

Keith cringed as the blade slid across his neck from shoulder to ear, his skin burning hot, felt his own blood drip down his arm. The moment ticked by in agonizing seconds.

Shredder growled and threw him across the room. "That is just the beginning."

Keith hit the wall hard, head smacking against the cement wall, threatening to knock him out again. His gaze slowly shifted upward, watched the retreating form of Shredder walking out of the room, being replaced with four ninjas. The four Elite guard. Keith shuddered as they came near him, stood over him and glared, one of them snickering.

"Another mistake puke," the leader spat. "Come on boys. We have a job to do." He turned on his heel and left the room.

The second grabbed the chain between Keith's feet and pulled, dragging him feet first out of the room. The other two walked behind Keith, watching him closely, ready to hold him if necessary.

Keith twisted and turned, trying to pull his feet from the Elite, but it did no good. He slid right down the halls they dragged him through. He swallowed hard once they stopped. The lead Elite smirked and opened the door, taking half a step back. Inside he saw an electric chair, the eel pool, a steel table with sharp instruments near it, and a few other torture devices. He hardened his gaze and braced himself. The Elite jerked him inside, the door slamming shut behind the group. The air was silent in the hall, not a sound came inside the room. Minutes ticked into an hour, into two hours until... a blood curling scream echoed, breaking the silence of the hall.

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Leo drifted in and out of sleep. He no longer felt hot. He remembered a burning heat throughout his body as he tried to wake up before, but it was now gone. His right arm hurt, but also not as bad as before. He slowly opened his eyes and looked around at his surroundings. Things were a mess in this room. He could barely tell that it was the lab in their old home. "What are we doing back here?" he whispered.

He continued his search of the room and spotted Mikey asleep leaning against the wall near the door. He looked really out of it, like he could sleep for days. Rai leaned against the wall not too far from Mikey, also asleep, with Splinter a little farther down the wall as well. Don lay in a bed next to him. He his heart lurched when he saw all the burns on his brother, with some sort of white stuff covering most of them. What had happened to him? How had Donny gotten hurt?

"He'll be ok."

Leo's gaze snapped to the chair not too far away. Raph sat upright, looking dead tired. Leo didn't understand why Raph would pick a chair to sleep in when he was that tired. And his skin... He had burns just like Donatello. Why was all Leo could think at first. "You look horrible..."

Raph smirked. "I could say the same for you. You really stressed that arm of yours."

Leo shrugged and winced from the bruises he could feel on his body. He tried to ignore the growing pain in his arm. "You wouldn't have gotten out of there if I hadn't done anything."

Raph sighed. "I know. But we would've thought of something." He paused, seeming to struggle with his words. "I just didn't want to loose ya."

"You didn't need to lie to me to do that," Leo countered softly.

Raph blinked, staring at him.

"The note in April's apartment."

Raph smiled sheepishly. "Oh... that. Yeah well you would've come sooner if I'd told ya the truth."

"And that's a bad thing?"

"Only when you're hurt," Raph countered.

Leo shrugged. "Never stops you."

Raph chucked.

"How'd you and Donny get those burns?" Leo asked, not being able to hold back any longer. He just had to know.

"Getting Don out of the warehouse. To get out Don insisted he distract the Shredder. He ended up getting a cut in the side, both of us burned."

Leo's eyes widened. [i]No.[/i] He thought in fear. Why did Don have to get hurt? Once again his thoughts returned to Keith. How he was the one to let the man into their home. Leo swallowed hard. He had almost invited their destruction.

"Now hold on there Leo," Raph quickly said. "His side's stitched up and fine. The burns are from the warehouse blowing. Rai set some charges and Don detonated them. Too soon in my opinion. Some burning chunks of the ceiling and wall fell on us." Raph's words came a little faster, almost Mikey-like as he tried to reassure Leo that they would be fine. "Rai came back and helped get us out in time. We're all going to be fine ok?"

Leo nodded, relieved to hear all that. But it still wasn't right. He still felt guilty. It was his fault this had happened. Raph didn't have to say it. They all knew it. Leo knew they did. It twisted him inwardly as if it were a more harsh pain than his sliced arm. "Why are we here?"

"In the old lair? 'Cuz April said it's the last place they would look for us right now. Splinter agreed. But we still need a new home. One where the Foot won't know." Raph smacked on fist into his other hand. "And then I'd like to have some words with them."

"You'll do nothing of the sort," Leo growled. He glared at his brother. He wasn't going to risk loosing Raph. Leo carefully turned on his side, his back to Raph and tried to rest, but couldn't. He heard Raph huff and settle himself in the chair. Silence settled on the room. Leo couldn't sleep even though he was exhausted. His failure kept him awake. Running through his head, like an unwanted mantra. His fault. He had believed Keith and almost lost his family. Because of him. His action. His mistake.