Chapter 5: No Place to Hide

A/N: I'm back with yet another chapter. I want to thank everyone who has read and reviewed this so far. Your encouragement is the fuel I need to keep going as I continue this saga. So thanks a million for that. And now, let's get on to the next chapter.

Disclaimer: TMNT and all related characters are property of Nickelodeon. If I owned them, this story would probably be a whole movie since I couldn't condense it into just a half hour episode or even an hour.

Leo let out a sigh of contentment, happy to be closer to nature. Kirby had offered to take the Turtles, Splinter, and Miwa to his mother's farmhouse in Northampton. The Hamato family had agreed, and now Leo was in the woods, enjoying some quiet time to himself. The tea Murakami had given him the good night's sleep he'd been wanting, and that was awesome. Donnie wasn't thrilled with the idea and predicted that Leo would become addicted to the tea, but Leo had reassured him that the tea was safe.

The snapping of a branch caused Leo to stiffen. He pulled out his katanas, ready to defend himself against some kind of animal. Then a figure stepped into view and Leo tensed.

Lynn smiled at him. "Hey, Leo, nice to see you," she said.

Leo glared at her. "What are you doing here?" he demanded.

"My grandparents have a farmhouse here," she replied. "What are YOU doing here?"

"Our friend's father invited us to his mother's farmhouse," Leo answered.

"Good to know, and I suppose you're here to get away for a while?"

"Yeah, I am. But enough about me. I want answers from you, Lynn. Who are you? Where did you get those scars? Did you get burned in a fire, or was it some other accident?"

Lynn groaned. "My, you Turtles are nosy," she commented. "Your brothers asked me the same thing."

"Wait, my brothers talked to you? They never told me about it."

Lynn twirled a lock of her hair around her finger. "They didn't? That's bad. You're the leader, and they should always report to you. Well, I'm sure they had a good reason. After all, they wouldn't want you to go crazy on them again."

Leo tensed at her words. "Did they tell you about that?"

She shook her head. "No, they didn't have to. I know things, Leo. I know how much the whole drama with the fire has affected you. You haven't been coping well, have you? I saw Mikey at Murakami's getting you that tea. I know that Raph has taken over your role as leader. I know that Donnie's still worried about your sanity. And not only did they fail to tell you about seeing me, they've failed to tell you about other things, too."

"Like what?" Leo spat.

"Like how Raph tried to reunite Xever and his sister but she ran away. Or how about how Donnie kissed April's best friend? And how Mikey tried to befriend Xever's sister and got his ass kicked by a guy named Casey? Oh, and how about how Mikey's dealing with the loss of his beloved Oyuki to another man? Now, why do you think your brothers decided not to tell you all of this?"

Leo had no answer for her. He was hurt that his brothers had decided not to confide in him about any of this. Fuming, he decided that he needed answers from his brothers. He sheathed his swords and walked away from Lynn, ready to tell his brothers off for what they did.

Lynn smiled as she watched Leo leave. "See you around, Leo!" she called. "Tell your brothers I said hi."

Leo left her and made his way to the farmhouse. He found his brothers settled in front of the TV while Splinter, Miwa, and Kirby were reading books nearby.

Raph looked up when Leo came in. "Hey, bro, did you enjoy your walk?" he asked him.

Leo glared at his brothers, his blue eyes filled with anger. "Why didn't you tell me you guys saw Lynn?" he demanded.

"Why are you askin'?" Raph retorted.

"Because I just saw Lynn in the woods just now," Leo answered. "She told me you guys have seen her, too. Why wasn't I informed of this?"

"Because we didn't want to trigger another hallucination," Don said softly. "We just figured to keep quiet after we met her. We didn't want your nightmares to get worse either."

Leo laughed bitterly. "Oh, yes, let's protect Leo because he's crazy," he scoffed. "It doesn't matter that I have nightmares or anything else. You should have told me about this just like you should have told me about the other things you've been hiding from me."

"What are you talking about, dude?" Mikey asked him.

"I'm talking about how Raph tried to get Xever and his sister reunited, how Donnie kissed Irma, and how you, Mikey, tried to befriend Xever's sister and got beat up by some guy as well as the stuff you're dealing with regarding Oyuki."

"And since when have any of our private matters been any business of yours?" Don demanded.

"Yeah, we shouldn't have to tell you anything," Mikey added. "Wait, Donnie, you kissed Irma? Score one for you, bro!"

"Mikey, you're missing the point!" snapped Leo. "We're supposed to be brothers which means we share everything with each other."

"We didn't want to frighten you, bro," Raph said gently. "We figured if you knew about Lynn, you'd freak out that Robyn was back because she was sayin' stuff about us like she did the last time we met her. We just wanted you to think that was the last time we'd seen her because we knew it would drive you nuts."

"So your solution was to keep it a secret from me? When I have ever done that to you?"

"You kept our sis over there a secret," Raph pointed out.

"He's got you there, bro," Mikey added.

Of course they would bring that up. But Splinter had asked him not to tell them, and he had honored his father's wishes. "I'm talking about recently," he explained. "And Sensei kept Miwa a secret from all of us at first if you remember."

"You haven't kept anything from us, Leo," Don said. "It was stupid of us not to tell you about Lynn. But don't you realize that if we had wanted to tell you about the other stuff, we would have? Sometimes, there are things people want to keep private, and I know you feel the same way, don't you, Leo? You haven't shared everything that goes on with you and Madison because you want to keep it to yourself, and we respect that."

"And April never shared all of the secrets she knew about us to any of us either," pointed out Mikey. "How is this any different?"

Leo opened his mouth to answer, but he couldn't say anything. Mikey and Don had a point. The only reason the brothers knew of each other's secrets was because Kirby had given them April's journal and they had read some of it together. And though they had been shocked to learn of all the secrets, they took comfort in the fact that it was all over and that the journal would give them the answers they needed. It had been this very journal that Robyn had read to send her messages as A. They hadn't judged each other for the secrets and had forgiven one another for not talking about it.

"Okay, you guys have a point," conceded Leo. "But you should have at least told me about Lynn."

"We're sorry, Leo," Raph said, and the others echoed the sentiment.

"That's okay, guys. I understand why you didn't."

"So, what do you think is Lynn's deal anyway?" Raph asked. "She acts like she's known us forever."

"Yeah, that definitely doesn't sound right," added Don. "I mean, if she knew about April's case, she could get that from the newspapers or the Internet, but there's no way she'd know about us from that."

"Maybe it's really Robyn's ghost," suggested Mikey.

"Oh, come on!" scoffed Raph. "You really believe in that shit? She's not even transparent, and she doesn't float either."

"Then maybe Lynn is a reincarnation of Robyn," said Mikey. "You know, that she's reborn through Lynn."

"It could be a possibility, Mikey," said Leo. "She could retain certain memories,and if so, that would explain why Lynn knows so much about us. After all, Robyn found out about us through that journal."

"I think she's just pretending to know stuff about us and psyching us out," said Don. "She probably figures that if she keeps this air of mystery about her, we'll want to talk to her. It's sort of her way of luring us in."

"She told me you guys asked her about her scars," noted Leo.

"We did, but she wouldn't talk to us about it," answered Mikey. "Did you ask her about it, Leo?"

"Yep, and she wouldn't answer me either," responded Leo.

"That's because she's playin' with us by holdin' the answers over our heads," said Raph bitterly. "She knows we want answers, so she's doin' this so that we can keep playin' detective."

"It's a classic evil move," piped up Miwa. "She's doing this to bend you to her will. I saw Shredder do it all of the time with the Foot. He'd entice them by telling them they were good soldiers and that they were perfect for his organization, and when they asked him what it was, he'd tell them they'd get answers once they joined up. And by the time they did that, it was too late for them to turn back once they found out what was going on. Most of them fell for it and just did what he wanted them to do."

"And did any of them get out once they found out the truth?" Don asked her.

"Some of them did it quietly, but it was very hard to get out of the Foot," she answered. "The only way to truly get out was death, and that was the punishment for failure. There were some who did sneak out though, but they were hunted down and killed."

"Man, that's messed up," Mikey commented.

"It is messed up, but it worked," Miwa pointed out.

"So what should we do?" Leo asked her. He figured that since she grew up with an evil tyrant, she would know what their next move should be.

"You need to get on her good side," Miwa answered. "You all believe that she's really Robyn, and you're afraid of that fact if it's true. By avoiding her, you're letting her win. You need to show her that you're not going to play the game by her rules. Let her know you're not afraid of her, and she'll come right to you."

"I told her that if she didn't tell me about herself, then I wasn't gonna tell her about my problems, or any of your problems either," Mikey piped up.

"That's good, Mikey," Miwa praised him. "That's exactly what I'm talking about. Let her know who's in charge."

Before any of them could say anything, their phones went off. The Turtles pulled them out and saw that they had a new text message. As one, they opened up their inboxes and gasped as they read the message.

Did you really think I was gone? You know you can't get rid of me that easily. I'm always watching.—A.

A/N: Oh man, now it's really getting good. A is back and ready to mess with the Turtles again. So is A, Lynn, and Robyn the same person, or is Lynn someone different? Keep reading on to find out. In the meantime, feel free to leave a review and have a shelltastic day.