A/N: Sorry for the wait! I'm so thankful for your feedback, keep it coming!

His world was a cacophony of sensory chaos. Hundreds of subway cars rumbled through his brain, the roar deafening him, their headlights blinding him until there was nothing but white. His flesh writhed on his bones, and somewhere under the crushing weight of the train screaming through his skull, his brain imagined the sensation was of a million tiny insects swarming just beneath his skin.

He tried to resist the panic enveloping him like a suffocating fog, but its icy fingers kept dragging him down onto the tracks as the train rolled over him. He was almost ready to surrender to it when a single clear note broke free of the senseless noise. It was familiar, and he clung to it, letting himself be lifted from the chaos.

Sensations started to recede into the proper corners of his brain as they stopped vying for dominance of his skull. The clear note sounded again. This time he actually understood it- and reality crashed over him, not as painfully as the chaos, but equally as disturbing.

"Raph!"

His eyes snapped open, and the blanket of white that dominated his vision dissolved slowly, revealing the horror underneath. Dark shapes took form a short distance away, launching themselves across what was only a blacker backdrop.

Raphael finally noticed the rocks digging into his knees as he knelt on the stony bank of a wide river. The wind coming off the water was cool and sharp and served to solidify his grasp on the real world.

The shapes finally made sense- to a point. Leo was there. The blue tails of his mask whipped behind him as he flipped and spun with all the control and skill wrought from 17 years of training. His swords flashed in the moonlight. Several figures darted around him, as black and elusive as shadows.

Who the hell?

One figure seemed to take notice of Raph's emerging coherence and started toward him, a long, glinting blade clutched in one black-gloved fist. He stalked closer, and Raph remained on his knees, feigning weakness until the shadow lunged for him, weapon held high over his head.

Raph met him in mid-air, and before the wraith could comprehend the quickness of his opponent's reflexes, he was lying face-down in the rocks, dead.

Raph fought the temporary blackness encroaching on the edges of his vision and ignored the pulse throbbing behind his temples from his sudden change in position. His hesitated only a moment as the blackness started to recede, and then rushed forward to aid his brother against the three remaining shadows.

As much as Raph and Leo fought each other, it was, fortunately or unfortunately depending on their perspective, more common for them to be fighting together against someone else. They easily settled into their well-practiced style of dual- combat, though, Raph had to admit, something felt different about it. They were well past the initial awkward stages of bumping into each other, stepping into a backswing, or tripping over one another's feet. No, it was as far from that as it had ever been. Maybe he just hadn't taken the time to notice it at Winter's headquarters, or maybe this was a new development…

Regardless, these guys were not as easily defeated as the one Raph had taken by surprise. Their training was well beyond the average Foot soldier. They looked kind of like the Foot. Then again, how hard was it to dress in black and carry a sword. He didn't see their insignia anyway, which was usually displayed somewhere on their person like a glowing target begging to be impaled.

Raph had only managed to draw one of them away from Leo, though his brother seemed to be holding his own against two. Considering that he had started off with four, two was probably a welcome relief. Still, he had to be tiring quickly. You can only mount an aggressive defense like that for so long before it took its toll on you.

Raph stepped up his attack, all vestiges of the battle that had raged in his skull long-gone. The shadow was on his heels. Unable to get past Raph's skilled guard, he was now hard-pressed to protect himself from the turtle's frenzied offense. Raph was pressing him back toward the water, a tedious and exhausting process, but steady. The shadow was good, but he hadn't prepared for the driftwood buried at the edge of the river. He tripped, and Raph took the split moment of unbalance to strike the deadly blow.

He didn't waste any time watching his opponent crash into the water, or the dark sludge now mixing with the current as it spilled from the lifeless body. Raph was already sprinting toward Leo, who had managed to severely maim one of the shadows with a deep slash to his thigh, but was struggling with the last. Raph landed a hard kick to the injured attacker's head, leaving him an unmoving heap as the turtle continued on the short distance to his brother.

The remaining shadow's sword was locked in between Leo's. He spotted Raph coming and leapt backwards, clear of the reach of Leo's blades. Outnumbered, he should have run, but he firmly planted his feet into the sand.

Fine then. If he wants to die, so be it.

Raph launched his sai at the shadow, he swiped it aside with his sword easily, but left himself open to the lighting-quick attack from his left as Leo shot forward and came under his opponent's sword in a devastating strike. The last shadow fell, his eyes still open between the slits in his black mask.

Raph quickly retrieved his sai and scanned the area for any more hidden attackers before sliding it into his belt. Leo flicked his sword free of the dark stain of blood before replacing it in its sheath on his back. He was breathing hard, but remained upright and alert, his keen eyes studying his surroundings as Raph had moments before. Finally satisfied, he let out a long breath and turned to survey the carnage laid out on the beach before them.

"Who were those guys?" Raph asked, his breathing quickly returning to a resting state, though his heart still pounded in his temples.

Leo slowly shook his head, chest still heaving. "Maybe Foot…" He started, distracted, then turned on Raph, "What took you so long?" He snapped, though it didn't have the bite behind it to trigger Raph's defenses.

Raph threw up his arms. "I dunno. What the hell happened?"

Leo took a few steps forward and picked something up that had been hiding among the stones. He tossed it to Raph who caught it in one hand. The small cylinder was scorched at one end, but the block letters across the top were still easily read. "Stun grenade."

"Flash bang." Leo shrugged. "Same thing. You were closer."

Raph's confusion was evident as deep lines creased his forehead. Flash bangs? He was used to smoke pellets. He carried several in fact. They were a favorite of his. A small pop and explosion of harmless smoke served to create a distraction just long enough to let him get away from a pursuer.

But a stun grenade?

He had seen enough TV to know that they were used to incapacitate an opponent in order to capture them. They were the exact reverse of the purpose of his smoke pellets- also, much more technologically involved. He'd have to ask Donny for the details, but his homemade pellets were nothing compared to the thick steel casing and chemical components involved in an actual grenade. This was military grade stuff. Professionally made.

He was pulled from his thoughts as he saw Leo gingerly fingering the edges of a dark streak across his shoulder. Raph had only just noticed it and the accompanying black liquid trailing down his arm. "They get ya?" He asked, keeping his tone casual.

Leo rolled his shoulder a few times experimentally. "It's fine." He replied, an edge to his otherwise neutral expression. "We've got to find Mikey and Don. There could be more of these guys out there."

A pained groan from behind caused them both to whirl around.

"Almost forgot about that one." Raph growled. He swiftly approached the attacker he had knocked unconscious and kicked the weapon out of the shadow's weak grip.

Blood still trailed thickly from the gaping wound in his thigh, dripping onto the rocks below and pooling into the sand underneath. Leo was on his knees beside the figure a second later, brusquely inspecting the gash his sword had caused. "Artery." He murmured dejectedly. "He's got a few minutes maybe." He added, looking up at Raph who fought not to roll his eyes.

Count on Leo to mourn the guy who had tried to kill him five minutes ago. Raph crouched down by the man's head and roughly pulled the mask from his face. The turtle had to bite back his surprise. It wasn't so much a man- maybe a kid in his late teens. Straight dark hair fell over his pale forehead as glassy grey eyes narrowed in defiance.

"Who are you?" Raph asked, swallowing his shock and fighting to replace it with the anger he had felt only moments before. Kid or not, he had made the choice to come here.

An insane grin split the youthful face despite the pain he had to have been in. "You thought you won." He swallowed thickly before continuing. "You were wrong."

"Won what?" Leo demanded. "Just now?" His dark eyes searched the boy's face. "That's not it. What are you talking about?"

Raph was almost taken aback by Leo's rapid questions. He had, maybe hastily, he now figured, assumed that the kid was talking about the battle they had just fought.

The youth's face contorted in agony for a moment, but he went on, his voice tight. "There are more…"

"More of you?" Raph found himself saying. "Where? Who are you?"

But the boy was quickly slipping. His grey eyes struggled to focus on Leo. "You know." He whispered. Then his eyes slid shut, never to open again, though the shadow of a cruel smile remained on his lips.

Raph stared, and then suddenly leaped to his feet. "Know? Know what? What the hell, Leo?"

Leo just shook his head, unable to tear his gaze from the body even as he rose to his feet.

Raph had had enough of secrets from his fearless leader. His fragile truce with Leo was threatening to snap again. Their conversation from what seemed like hours, but was only minutes before rushed back to him. His hand unconsciously twitched toward the handle of his sai. "Leo!"

"We need to find Mike and Don. Now."