I don't own TMNT or UY.

Xxxxxx

I won't lie, I'd have felt much better if I coulda taken Mikey back to the shell-sub or something. He was really shook up and I was worried he wouldn't be able to handle himself when we get into a fight again. When I asked him if he wanted me to take him home, I was being dead serious. If he'da said 'yes' I woulda taken him to the shell-sub in a heartbeat, if only 'cause I didn't wanna run out on the others myself and couldn't take him the whole way. But at the same time, I'm glad he didn't. It was important he knew that this whole 'doing the right thing' thing came from himself, and not 'cause it's something Master Splinter made us do.

I didn't wanna stay in the tech-room or whatever it was very long. There was no other way outta there apart from the one door and I didn't like the idea of getting cornered. Then again, I was worried about Mike. When he told me what happened to him that night in the park he'd started to shake. I was kinda bothered by this and put my arm around him, but all that that did was freak me out a little more when I realised just how bad he was trembling. I didn't want him trying to fight an armed guard in this condition.

But we couldn't stay in that room. It was a death-trap waiting to happen. I waited for as long as I felt was safe, keeping Mikey close and letting him calm down as much as he could. If he wants to tease me later for acting like a paranoid mother then he's just gonna hafta do that 'cause I wasn't gonna let go of him till I knew he was ok.

Eventually I gave him a squeeze before letting him go, knowing we needed to move. I could hear an alarm outside the door start to blare. There was also some or other computer woman telling the guards there were intruders in the base. Namely us.

Heh. Sorry Leo.

I pulled the chair away from the door, opened it to make sure no-one was waiting outside before I took Mikey by the wrist and lead him out the room. We ran down the hallway, drawing our weapons as he headed in no particular direction.

Damn that Tibalt! Oh just wait till I catch up with him! I have a few things I'd like to discuss with that man! How dare he. How dare he act as if his opinion is even worth the dirt on Mike's shoes, as if he wore them! He ain't fit for Mikey to spit on, yet he thinks he can show up and degrade my little brother! I know I just gave Mikey the whole speech about doing the right thing and not slipping to the level of these people, but I'll tell ya right now, at this very moment I was so angry I knew that if I ran into that man in this passage I was gonna rip him limb from limb with my bare hands if necessary! How dare he! How dare he!! Mikey is the single most high-spirited person I know in every definition of the word! Hell he practically bounces off the walls regardless of what's happening in our lives at that moment! Then this guy shows up and thinks he can take a giant shit all over that! Oh just wait till I get my hands on him. Just wait!

"Raph you're going too fast!" Mikey dragged me back to reality.

In my anger I'd been speeding up my run and he was having trouble keeping up. I slowed, letting him keep pace with me again. He wasn't running his usual speed, like he was tired or something. I don't blame him. I don't blame him at all. Geez Mikey. Why d'ya have to get all deep on us? I wanted so badly for him to tell me what was going on with him so I could tell him whatever that guy said to him was wrong and he'd believe me and get back to normal. But with this I was completely lost to what I could say. I didn't believe what that man had said to Mikey for one second. Yeah he pointed out some bare basic technical "facts" about us and who and what we are, but it'd be insane to think we were still the same things we were before the whole green ooze incident. Whatever happened to us that day changed us more than physically. I mean I knew that! I dunno how to describe it. I just.. I feel it.

I knew we were more than what that mad had said. I knew goody goody Leo was, I knew Brainiac Donny was and I mean you'd be insane not to know wise-man Splinter was. And I knew Mikey was too. I knew it. I mean I can see it!

But this is just stuff I know. I can't put it into words and describe it or make sense of it. It's a different kind of knowing. I had no clue how to try and say it out loud, so I didn't know how to explain it to Mikey. I gotta sit down and talk to Master Splinter when we get home and tell him all of this. He needs to talk to Mikey himself. He'll know what to say. He's gotta know.

I skidded around a corner, making sure Mike was sticking with me as I looked around hurriedly.

"Raph look!" Mikey yelled out rather loudly, throwing out a hand to point ahead of us.

On the other end of a large stretch of hallway the passage forked into two directions. There was a large white sheet of metal bolted to the furthest wall ahead of us. On it were printed several plain, grey arrows, at least 20 of them. I couldn't read them from here, but each of the arrows had white writing embossed onto them.

"No way!" I said out loud. I couldn't believe our luck!

"It's a sign-post!" Mikey said excitedly.

Before I could stop him he bolted forward, running towards it eagerly. He was smiling broadly as his whole demeanour brightened up.

"Mikey wait! Not so fast!" I started to trot after him.

He didn't listen, running past the arches of the other passages that led into this one, focused on the directory.

There was a sound loud crack. Mikey stumbled and for the very briefest of moments I felt a rush of blood to my face as fear gripped me. However Mikey spun around hurriedly to see where the noise had come from. He'd merely been startled, not hit. From one of the side-passages a guard suddenly appeared, turned in the direction of Mikey and fired off a large number of rounds at him. Mikey yelped and barely managed to jump out of the way and around a corner of a different side-passage. Two more guards flooded into the hallway, both of them also focused on where Mikey had taken cover. They hadn't seen me yet.

I immediately lunged at them, my sai gripped tightly as I gave a furious yell. I jumped one of them, throwing forward my sai and stabbing it into his side. He screamed loudly, but it was probably aided by shock as he went down. The other two spun to face me, their guns at the ready but Mikey, having seen my attack jumped from his cover and delivered a hard kick to the back of one of the guards' knees, knocking him over. I was about to focus on the last guy when I heard more shots coming from behind me. I turned and saw at least 4 more of them come at us from behind. I twisted around, focusing on them instead and sprinting back the way we had come, flinging both sai forward as I went. One hit a man in the stomach but the other flew long and missed its mark, clattering against the metallic wall and falling to the floor instead. I swore as I jumped, giving one of them a roundhouse kick before flattening myself against the floor to avoid the sudden blast of fire from one of the others.

I shot my leg forward to trip him up but had to abandon that plan when the second gunman still standing tried to hit me and I had to leap backwards and out of the way. Mid-jump I managed to catch a glimpse as to what was happening behind me. On the very far side of the passage several more men had made an appearance and were currently trying to subdue Mikey. The brief second I saw involved Mike giving one of them a very hard blow with his nun-chucks, knocking him out.

I was relieved to see he still had some fight left in him as I focused my attention back on my own attackers. I grabbed the sai that had actually hit one of the men and pulled it free from him. The man responded by giving a painful yell but I ignored him. He wasn't gonna try anything, I could tell. Or if he was he wasn't gonna be able to do much damage before I beat his head in.

I stabbed my weapon forward, catching one of the men's guns between the prongs and twisting it hard, causing the man's arms to cross over themselves before he was forced to either drop the gun or risk breaking his arms. When the gun fell from his grip I grabbed it with my free hand. I had half a mind to shoot and discourage the second man from making a move but, remembering the recent event, opted for throwing it at him instead, smacking him right in the face. He gave an angry cry at this and gave a few meaningless shots. I shot out a foot and caught the man I'd just disarmed in the jaw before I twisted myself around, retrieving my second sai before getting to my feet again and shooting out a fist, slugging the second one and flooring him.

I spun around to the last man still on his feet, ready to give him a finishing blow but froze when I came face to face with a a much smaller muzzle of a gun. He'd had a second weapon tucked away somewhere. Oh boy!

Before I could so much as flinch there was a deafening noise and I instinctively took a small jump back in fright. I breathed heavily, but I felt no sudden pain. The man still had his weapon pointed at me but had twisted his head around to stare wide-eyed at the other side of the passage. I quickly ran my hands over my plastron, patting it and making sure I was still in one piece. There was no wound, the sound hadn't come from his gun.

The noise came again, sharp and piercing. The hallway bled red as lights started to flash all around us, the noise now repeating itself in an evenly timed fashion. It was an alarm. I frowned to myself, twisting my head and risking a quick look around before snapping my attention back to the man in front of me. He was still distracted. I shot forward, grabbing his arm and twisting it, forcing him to drop the weapon. I started when one of the men I'd floored earlier staggered to his feet, grabbing hold of the man that'd received my sai in his gut and hoisting him to his feet.

Alert. There has been a malfunction in sector 3-11. All personal are to evacuate the base immediately. Repeat...

The robot voice spoke calmly as the alarm blared and the red light continued to pulse on and off. The men who'd gotten to their feet again were busy making a hasty retreat, away from the passage, completely forgetting about me. The last man pushed himself upright, took a few stumbling steps before he managed to break into a run. There was a sudden blow to the side of my head and I fell to the floor. The man whose arm I had still been gripping had elbowed me in the head, knocking me down before he made a break for it.

...malfunction in sector 3-11. A fire control environment is now being activated. Please follow the pre-planned escape routes assigned to your section. Repeat...

I hurriedly jumped to my feet again, spinning around to where Mikey had been. He was standing on the very far side of the hallway, looking around wide-eyed at the blaring alarm and the flashing warning light.

"I think it's time ta get outta here Mike!" I yelled.

He spun to face me. "Not yet! Look!" he pointed at the directory next to him. "We're close to the containment cells!! They're like a stone throw away!!"

I blinked, before I started to run towards him. "Are you serious?!"

"Yeah!" Mikey nodded eagerly, turning and running down the passage that forked to the right. "This way!! It's right down-!"

There was a sudden, loud noise, like something large and metallic shifting before a second alarm started to sound, shriller and slightly faster in pace. It was coming from the passage Mikey had just turned down.

I felt my breath quickened as I sped up. "Mikey!"

I reached the fork with a few last long strides and spun down the passage Mikey had taken, just in time to see a very large, very heavy steel door slam itself shut in front of me with a loud thud.

...sector 3-11. a fire control environment has now been activated. Please follow the pre-planned...

I slammed my fists against the metallic door, trying to physically break it down.

"No no No!!" I hit it again as hard as I could, fully aware of the growing pain in my hands as I did so. "Mikey!"

"Raph!" I heard him call back. It was faint and difficult to make out with the alarms and that damned electronic voice, but I could hear him.

"Mikey are ya ok?!" I yelled urgently, slamming my fist against the fire door yet again. That time it really hurt however and I clutched my hand, swearing loudly to myself.

"I'm ok!" Mikey's voice called back. I heard a dull thud coming from the other side of the door. "I can't... I can't get it open!"

"Shit!" I kicked the thing as hard as I could.

"Are you alright?!" I heard him call again. He sounded terrified.

"Yeah yeah yeah I'm fine!" I yelled impatiently, moving forward and pressing myself as hard against the door as I could. "Listen, what's it look like that side?!"

There was a short pause during which I tried to calm my breath and clear my head. This was no time to panic. I had to keep my cool. I had to think.

"There's nothing here!" Mikey called. "It's just a normal Hallway!! Like all the others!"

I turned to look over my shoulder, scanning the passage that forked to the left which now stretched out behind me. There was nothing to see, just another plain hallway leading to who knows where. I frowned deeply to myself, dropping my gaze as I tried to think of what we had to do. I raised my head again, turning to look at the directory beside me.

"Raph!" Mikey's voice called. It was sounding more and more panic-stricken. "Raph!!"

"I'm still here!" I called hurriedly. I bit my lip, very hard. I took a deep breath, held it for a moment then exhaled. "Mikey Listen! You're gonna hafta keep goin' down that way and find those containment cells!"

"What.. what about you?!" He called back.

My face twisted and my eyes narrowed at this. I knew he wasn't gonna like this, but I swallowed and answered. "I'm goin' the other way! Maybe there's another way ta get that side and we can-!"

"You're leaving me?!" Mikey yelled, his voice unnaturally high.

"Look I ain't got much of a choice!! Just keep goin' and try ta find those cells! I'll catch up with ya!" I called, raising my voice in mock anger.

"No! No!! Raph I can't do it!!" He yelled back. He sounded hysterical. "I can't do this by myself!! Don't leave me!! Raphie don't leave me alone!!"

"Mikey for crying out loud get a grip!!" I screamed at him furiously.

No reply came from the other side of the door. I panted heavily for a few moments, staring at the slab of metal in front of me. I swallowed, pressing the side of my face against it, trying to hear what was happening on the other side. I couldn't hear anything though, just the blaring alarm and the calm computer voice, repeating the same message over and over again. I drew a shaky breath, pulling a slight face to myself.

"Mikey?!" I called, unable to stand the silence. "Ya still there?!"

"Y...Yeah! Yeah I'm here!" He replied. His voice sounded shaky and broken.

I gave a short breath before I spoke. "Mikey listen to me! I ain't leavin' ya ok?! But we can't stand here chattin' through a closed door! We gotta keep movin'! I'll go this way and the first chance I get I'll join ya ok?! But I need ya to go down that passage and find those cells! You got it?!"

There was no reply. I waited for a few moments, chewing the inside of my cheek impatiently. When the silence dragged out too long I shook my head.

"Mikey listen! In those cells is Usagi's little boy! Ya hear me?! You just said he ain't that far away! Ya need ta go and find him! It's what we came here for! Usagi's countin' on ya! I swear I'll join ya as fast as I can but ya gotta do this! It'll be fine! The guards are runnin' like roaches! It'll be a cakewalk!"

I waited for a few moments, my hands placed against the cold steel as I tried to make out any noises in response.

"You can do this Mike!" I called. "I know ya can!"

There was a short pause before he finally answered. "A...alright! I... I'll go! But don't take too long ok?!"

I gave a snicker. "Hey! Where am I gonna go?!"

There was another pause and I felt a frown form on my face. "I won't be long! I promise!"

"I'm holding you to that!" Mikey called. He sounded better, more confident.

I felt relieved. "Good luck buddy!"

I pushed away from the wall, turning and moving to run down the opposite passage.

"Raph!" a sharp cry from the other side of the door stopped me and I turned back.

"What?!" I quickly pressed myself against it again. "What is it?!"

For a moment there was nothing before he answered.

"I don't hate you!"

I blinked to myself, taken aback. I felt the corners of my mouth tighten as I smiled.

"I know that!" I called back.

"Don't take too long!" He called. His voice sounded a little fainter. He was starting to leave.

I turned and ran down the opposite passage.

The alarms were still blaring, the woman's voice still loud in my ears as the flashing red lights lit my way. Chaos had erupted in the base. Why I didn't know, but I was hoping it had something to do with Don and the others. Maybe they'd found the portal and shut it down.

The entire place was screaming danger, yet I was smiling to myself as I ran.

Xxxxx

I am fully aware you guys probably want to tar and feather me at this moment ^^; all I can say is... I'm sorry. And I do promise it all comes together at the end... hopefully... if I can pull it off XD;;