Chapter 15: The Jig Is Up

A/N: So here's the next chapter as I promised you. I'm having a lot of fun plotting this story out, and it's coming easier to me than it has in the past. I want to thank all of those who have read and reviewed thus far. Your kind words mean the world to me and fuel me to keep writing this story. I hope you enjoy this chapter, too.

Disclaimer: TMNT and all related characters belong to Nickelodeon. I only own the plot and nothing more than that.

Raph ran out to his brothers to show them the text he'd gotten from A. Leo gasped as he took in his own image shoving Lynn off the water tower. If that wasn't proof enough to land him in jail, nothing was.

"Okay, that settles it," Leo declared. "I have to turn myself in."

"No way!" Raph protested. "There's no way you're goin' down for this!"

"Raph, here's the proof," Leo said. "If I turn myself in, at least I'm doing the right thing by confessing to the crime. If we wait, the police could come down here and search the sewers for me."

"Dude, you can't turn yourself in," Mikey begged. "Jail is, like, the worst. Have you even seen Beyond Scared Straight? I don't wanna see you with those criminals threatening to do stuff to you. You could be killed in there, bro!"

"It's a small price to pay to keep Robyn off of our backs," Leo said.

"But if you turn yourself in, we all have to because we were there, too," Don pointed out.

"No, you don't. You were trying to stop me, and I was the one who killed Lynn. None of you have to go down for me."

Raph growled. "Why the hell do you always have to play the hero, Leo?" he snapped.

"I'm not playing the hero!" retorted Leo. "I'm doing the right thing."

"Yes, you are!" snarled Raph. "You're tryin' to sacrifice yourself to protect us! It's just like that night with the damn Technodrome! You had to try and blow yourself up so we'd be safe! Well, I'm sick of it, Leo! You're not fucking Captain Ryan, bro! Don't do this to yourself! You're not carryin' this burden alone! We were all there, and so if you go down, we're goin' down, too!"

"I won't let you do this, Raph," Leo said firmly.

Raph growled in frustration and was ready to unleash a retort, but a voice stopped him.

"No one is turning themselves in," Splinter said firmly.

"Sensei, what are you talking about?" Leo asked him.

"You are not going to turn yourself in, Leonardo," Splinter answered.

"But, Sensei, you've always told me that honesty is important," Leo protested. "You want me to live a lie?"

"No, but you are not going to do this just because you feel you need to," Splinter replied. "Yes, you killed her, but it was in self-defense and not because you had any malicious intentions. Raphael, forward the message to Alison immediately. She will get to the bottom of this. In the meantime, no one is to go topside or outside the sewers, and no one is to turn themselves into the police." He shot a very stern glare at Leo as he said this. "We will let Alison and Jack handle this. They are the only lifelines we have." He turned and headed back to his room.

Leo sighed and went to his own room, and Raph and Mikey sat down to watch some TV. Donnie looked after his older brother, fear consuming him. He had to get to the bottom of this before Leo did something stupid, and Ivy was his only key to this. He ran to his room and turned on his computer. He logged into MyFace and messaged Ivy, saying that he had to contact her and that it was urgent. Then he waited, but she didn't come on. That was weird. Ivy usually responded right back to him whenever he messaged her. Then he realized that maybe she was busy or doing something else and would get back to him. While he waited, he checked his e-mail and got rid of the ones he didn't need and studied his notes on some new inventions. He waited for that telltale chime to indicate Ivy was online, but nothing came, and that unnerved him.

Deciding to leave his computer on in case Ivy came back with something, he sat on his bed and thought about all that had happened to him. His life had never been this messed up. Sure, they were ninjas and only dealt death when necessary, but even that had been hard for him to swallow. But this time, they had killed an innocent girl. She played with them, that was true, but she never had any intention of hurting them. It had all been a ruse, and they had been stupid enough to fall for it. And now, because of them, an innocent girl was dead. Lynn would never achieve whatever dreams she had had in her life. She would never call her parents again to tell them she loved them or get married. She'd never have kids or any sort of normal life. She was gone, and it was their fault.

Still, Leo couldn't turn himself in. Don called up a different screen and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Leo was in the dojo. Unbeknownst to his brother, Don had put a tracking device under his shell so that he could track Leo's whereabouts in case he decided to do something stupid like turn himself in. As much as he could see why Leo would want that, it would be too risky. They couldn't risk any of this happening to them now. He just hoped Ali and Jack would know what to do.

A beeping startled him, and his heart leapt as he saw that he had a new instant message. He closed out his screen and put up his other screen. His heart sank when he saw it was Irma and not Ivy.

Irma: Hey, Donnie, you there?

Donnie T: Yeah, I'm here, Irma. What's up?

Irma: Just wanted to see how you were doing, that's all.

Donnie hesitated. As much as he wanted to tell Irma the truth, he didn't want to worry her about any of this. It just wasn't right for her considering all she had to deal with at school.

Donnie T: I'm fine.

Irma: Have you heard from Ivy?

Donnie T: Not yet. I'm waiting to hear from her, but she hasn't responded. She never takes this long to answer me.

Irma: Maybe she's busy.

Donnie T: Maybe, but something's telling me that's not the case. I just have this feeling that something's wrong.

Irma: You worry too much, Donnie. I'm sure she's fine.

Donnie T: If you say so.

Irma: Well, I can't chat long. I have a paper to do. I was just checking up on you.

Donnie T: I'm as fine as can be expected. Go work on your paper.

Irma: Okay, but let me know if you need to talk.

Donnie T: I will. Talk to you later, Irma.

Irma: Talk to you later, Donnie.

After Donnie signed out, he sighed. Then he concentrated on working on some inventions and fixing some things that he'd put off. At least doing that would keep his mind off Ivy until she answered him back.

Ivy never answered him, and that left Don feeling worried. He kept his computer on all night, but no trill came from it, and that made Don feel horrible as though something had happened.

22222

The next morning, Don was awakened by his door banging open, startling him from his sleep.

"Dude, you gotta wake up!" Mikey cried. "Something happened!"

Donnie tore out of bed and into the living area where the rest of his family was seated. The TV was on and tuned to the news as it always was.

"We have breaking news," Carlos Chiang O'Brien Gambe said. "A young woman named Ivy Jones was reported missing early this morning. She was at home on a visit and was last seen in her room. Sources are not sure if it was a break-in or if she ran away. Police are doing all they can to investigate this."

The shot turned to Ivy's parents who looked distraught. Her mother had tears running down her face as she faced the cameras.

"We don't know what happened," she said tearfully. "We were having fun last night playing board games and watching TV. Ivy seemed so happy and relaxed. Ivy, honey, if you've run away, please come home. We love you and want you here with us. If someone has taken her, hear my plea. Bring our daughter home. Whatever you want, we'll give it to you. Just please bring our baby home."

Carlos said more words, but they weren't registering to Don. All he could think about was that Ivy was missing. She had been taken from her room at night, and he knew who had done it. Robyn had taken her because she found out about their chat conversations. This was all his fault.

"Donnie, are you okay?" Leo asked, but his voice sounded far away as though it was coming from a tunnel.

"Donatello, sit here," Splinter urged. He guided his son to the couch. "Put your head between your legs."

Don did as Splinter asked, and the dizziness vanished. He sat up and looked at his brothers and father.

"Wait, was Ivy the chick you were talkin' to online?" Raph asked him.

"Raph!" Leo chastised, giving his brother a stern look. Sometimes Raph had no tact.

"Yes, and now she's gone," Don answered. "This is all my fault. I never should have talked to her. Now she's gone and probably going to die because of me!"

Splinter put a paw on his son's shoulder. "It is not your fault, Donatello," he reassured him. "What you did was a good thing, and you do have more information about Robyn than you had before. Do not blame yourself, my son."

"Yeah, this could have happened anyway even if you hadn't talked to her," Mikey piped up. "Or she would have gotten Ivy to do something else before getting rid of her."

Don was about to say more when his phone chimed that he had a text. He opened it, and his heart dropped when he saw who it was. This confirmed his worst fears.

Don't you hate it when things go missing? Looks like your bestie got misplaced. Now you better stop digging around, or she'll go missing for good. –A.

A/N: And another chapter is finally done! I'm so glad to be finishing this story up and getting closer to the end of it. So now Ivy's missing. What will Robyn have in store for the Turtles next? You'll have to read on and find out. In the meantime, feel free to leave a review and have a shelltastic day.