I'm soooo sorry for the late update! I've been so busy the last few days, and I had testweek for over a week so I haven't been able to write much :( But I finally managed to get this chapter done!

TMNT

I was worried. No that wasn't the right word. I was anxious. I could practically feel my heart beating in my chest, my hands clamming from the sweat. Even if I didn't want to, my hands kept coming back to my wrists, where the rope has been cutting into my skin just a little over an hour ago. They were itching slightly but Donnie had treated them properly so they weren't really bothering me, apart from the itch that is.

But that wasn't the thing that worried me, no, it was the small turtle that was sitting next Raph on the ground. Leo was driving the shell-raiser, his face was left without any emotion but you could see his tense muscles, he was just as stressed and worried as I was. Don wasn't any better, he was acting really passive and his stress was just too obvious, not like I would blame him.

Raph had his arm around Mikey, pressing him against his own body to protect him. He wasn't looking at any of us and you could see how tense he was, his hands formed into strong fists. Mikey wasn't doing any better. In fact, he seemed to be the worst one around here. Which wasn't weird considering we were practically bringing him back to the place where he was experimented on for a full year. He had every right to be anxious like that. And if you really thought about it, it was actually pretty weird.

Bringing him back to those people. The people who had hurt him, kept him locked up for all these months, kept him from going back to his family. But I knew better than to think like that. Yes, we were bringing him back, but it was to help him. Seeing the people who had hurt you can be shocking, or traumatizing, but in Mikey's case it could help him. Seeing them all tied up, and vulnerable. Seeing that he is in control and not them may help him.

And at the same time that thought wouldn't stop me from worrying. We were bringing him back, I've seen the place. There was medical stuff all around the place, he is gonna freak out, I know he will. Seeing his scars when Donnie needed to look at them drove him to killing himself, or trying to. Even if he assured us that he didn't want to die, he still tried to when he saw his scars.

I had no idea how he would react, and maybe I didn't even want to know how he'd react. I just wanted to go up to Leo and tell him to turn around, go back to the lair and help Mikey from there. But I knew I was being selfish with that thought. We all agreed, Mikey agreed, Donnie did, Raph, Leo, Splinter. All of them agreed to do this. And we were going to end this tonight.

It took us about 10 minutes to get to the lab where I used to work. Mikey visibly tensed up when we arrived and he buried his face in his knees, that were drawn to his chest. His body trembled and shook but he never made a sound. Me, Leo and Don were the first ones to get out of the shell-raiser, immediately followed by Raph and Mikey. The freckled turtle was struggling a bit to get out of the shell-raiser but Raph helped him with the crutches.

No words were spoken as soon as we were out of the shell-raiser, in fact nobody made any sound at all. Getting inside the building wasn't very difficult. I knew the building, I knew about the working hours. Leo had used his katana's to slice through the locks. It was honestly scary seeing them like this. Their eyes were all white and all of them were focused, nothing able to snap them out of it. They all understood how important this was.

As we neared the lab section of the building I could see Mikey creeping a little closer to Raph, the tremors becoming more clear. Tears appeared in his eyes and he was clearly getting nervous. Though he kept his mouth shut, not allowing himself to make a single sound. He knew he couldn't, not now. Not until we had the ones responsible for his capture. Voices could be heard from the other side of the door, and I immediately recognized them.

The low and gruff voice of the bearded man, the one who tied me up just a few hours ago. The one who found me in the closet. And I could immediately feel anger building up inside of me. Raph and Mikey would stay outside the room while me, Leo and Don would take out the people inside. It wasn't safe for Mikey to come in immediately and someone had to stay with him. And these people weren't ninja's, they were barely a threat. The only thing that made them dangerous was the knowledge of their existence.

The rest was all a blur. I remember storming inside the room, following Leo and Don closely. There were 5 of them, 4 men and one woman but before I could even properly hit one of them, Leo and Don had already knocked them off their feet, tying them down. Gags were placed across their mouths and only then I allowed myself to relax, stashing my tessen and trying to slow my breathing.

I forced myself the calm down, to block out the thought that was now occupying my mind. These people, these were the ones that hurt Mikey and kept him from returning home. But the thing that angered me even more was the fact that I had either seen them around the building, greeted them happily, or I knew them. I talked to the woman, Grace, I've heard stories about the bearded man called Joe, I laughed with Adam. But I blocked out the thought, this wasn't about me.

"Raph" Leo called out with a blunt voice, looking down on the 5 captives with a hateful glare, practically ignoring his two brothers slowly shuffling in. On the far right of the group was Grace. I knew her, that was the worst part. When I first came here I was... well a stranger. I didn't know anybody, and all my co-workers were like really old. She was different. She was only 26 years old and she started talking to me, I liked her. And now I hate myself for liking her.

She was one of the people to hurt Mikey, she kept him here for months and I hated her for that. She was looking at me with pleading eyes but I glared back at her. I couldn't imagine her hurting Mikey, she was kind and loving. In the time I got to know her, I viewed her as an animal lover and a family person, someone who'd never hurt someone, I was so wrong.

"Scream and you're dead" Leo hissed lowly, venom dripping from his voice as he approached the humans. He was pissed, all of them were and I wasn't about to blame them. These were the guys that hurt their baby brother, these were the ones that had kept Mikey from returning home. And if Casey hadn't pushed me that night, he'd still be here, suffering from all their experiments.

Leo and Don weren't even careful with pulling off the gags, but as predicted none of them screamed, too afraid to have one of Leo's katana's up their throat. No, they didn't scream. Four of them didn't make a sound but the middle one, Joe, suddenly began to laugh. His head slammed back and a low giggle-like laugh escaped his throat, not even afraid of the four giant turtles that were surrounding him.

"What's so funny?"

I had expected Leo's katana, or at least Leo's voice. But I was honestly surprised to see Donnie's bo staff prodding at the man's neck, his eyes narrowed with hatred. The man however didn't stop, didn't answer but the laugh died down until silence filled the room. His eyes slowly trailed towards me for a split second, and then slowly towards Raph and Mikey, a grin spreading on his face.

"Not bad reptile, didn't think you'd have the balls to come back" Joe snickered, examining Mikey's form. Bandages all over his limbs, wrists and ankles, crutches under his armpits, his whole form tense and his gaze fixed on the bearded man in front of him, struggling to hide his emotions. I felt sick just standing here. I recognized all of them. I worked with them, Mikey had been so close the whole time. I trusted them.

"You were always the cry baby, 'Raphie help me, Leo, Don I need you' boohoo, look at me." Joe laughed like all of this was one sick joke. He was crazy. One hundred percent mad. He didn't even care about the possibility of dying, or he did a real good job at hiding it. But I knew him, I knew all of them. I didn't know him that good but I heard stories.

Ever since his family died in an explosion he'd gone crazy. He used to be a nice guy, working in a lab, cutting open animals. But after the death of his family he turned cold, and he didn't care anymore. He was like a second joker, didn't take anything serious. I hated him for that. I felt bad for him, losing your family couldn't be easy but that drove him to doing… this. He hurt Mikey without regret. And that was something I could never forgive.

"But you came back, and why? To see where I cut you open, how I broke- "

I winced at the words, he didn't even care. The only thing he saw was an animal, he didn't see the loving little brother I saw, that they guys saw.. He only saw his shell, his green skin. He only saw a rare animal, someone to make him rich. And he didn't even care. But before I, or the guys, could say anything Mikey did a step forwards.

"Shut up"

His voice was angry, his eyes were narrowed with loathing. Honestly, I had never seen Mikey like this. In the last few days he has been so quiet and un-Mikeyish. But even before all of this happened, he rarely cursed, and when he actually did curse it was bad. Like him burning himself on a frying pan and trying to get his mind off the pain. This time it was different.

The sentence was filled with anger.

"Can't handle the truth freak? Too cowardly to hear how I kept you from your family for a whole year" Joe snickered. The reaction was instantaneous. A strong hand wrapped around the hilt of a katana, green eyes were replaced by white ones and a blade erupted from Donnie's bo but again Mikey was the first one to verbally react.

"Mate" he whispered demandingly, holding up on of his crutches. I frowned slightly, the captives having the same reaction, I recognized it as Japanese but I had no idea what the word meant. Though the reaction was clear. The grips around their weapons loosened and they stepped backwards slightly. Whatever the word meant, it was a command. Ordering them to stay back.

"At least I have a family to come back to" Mikey hissed, raising his chin slightly but even despite his attitude I could see the fear twinkling in his eyes. The grin drained from Joe's face and the mysterious twinkle was replaced by a cold glare. And Mikey wasn't afraid of the glare, he continued to talk.

"You of all people should know how it is to want to be with your family but you can't be with them... The stabbing pain in your heart the moment you think about them but you endure it just to remember them. You should know... so why.. why did you..?" Mikey continued, his voice cracking and his face crumbling slowly.

"Why did you keep me here?"

An instant silence filled the room, the only sound that was left was the heavy breathing of Mikey. Glances were exchanged among the 5 people. For a second I allowed myself to glance to the right. Raph's eyes were practically burning with anger and it was clear he was struggling to hold back, to not to kill them right away. Leo and Donnie were both angry, furious even just like Raph.

I couldn't say I knew how they felt. I didn't have any siblings, I was never robbed of my little brother before. I never had to through such a loss. I never had to deal with the shame and the guilt that Leo was dealing with, the knowledge Donnie had about Mikey's death, the crushing loneliness Raph was experiencing. I never found out my little brother was still alive, only to find out he'd been experimented on. I couldn't know how they felt, I couldn't understand their rage and regret.

But in some ways the guys were like family. I viewed them as my brothers. Mikey was the little brother I never had. And it hurt me to see him like this, and knowing what happened to him in the last year. It was crushing and only the thought made my stomach turn in horror. I was already crushed, but the guys grew up with Mikey, it was like having a part of you being ripped away.

"We... we didn't know little one..." The man on the left side of Joe interrupted with a low voice, his eyes hopefully behind his glasses. His name was Adam. He was around 40 years old and he was a real nerd. He wasn't that handsome but very intelligent. He was the funny one, and I could always laugh around him. I would occasionally sit with him during lunch, just talking and cracking jokes along with the other workers.

And right now I felt sick just recalling those moment.

"Yes you did! You heard me that night when I spoke in my sleep... you were the one to muzzle me, you... you knew I had a family.. " A single tear made its way down Mikey's face but he quickly wiped it away, straightening his back slightly, anger making its way on Mikey's face. "I know why you did it, money, fame. Am I right?"

I already knew the answer, and honestly I shouldn't have been surprised but I was. The moment his head moved up and down I could feel the color draining from my face. yes. He was admitting it, he was admitting he did all of this just for the money. Mikey suffered all those months... for money. Because of the egocentric creatures humans are.

Raph growled low in his throat and did a step forwards but Donnie caught his wrist, pulling him back slightly. The red banded turtle whipped his head around in anger but Donnie simply shook his head, and somehow that was enough to calm Raph down though it was clear he wasn't happy with the situation, none of them were. Including me. Mikey's hands clenched, his body trembling as he opened his mouth.

"Kono yarou"

A shudder went down my spine and the guys seemed to have the same reaction as I had, wincing as the swearwords left Mikey's mouth. Even if I wasn't an expert in Japanese, I knew what the sentence meant. It was filled with anger, anger directed to the people in front of him. But especially to the man who was trying to act innocent. The one who muzzled him and was now trying to make up for it.

"How would you feel, if you can't see your family for over a year.. how do think I felt? I may be a freak but I still have feelings y'know. I can feel the pain, I can miss my family. You saw me crying and never did you pity me? You never thought about your own family, how it'd be if you can't see them anymore?"

Tears were now silently streaming down his face and the trembling never ceased. He was shaking, and clearly in pain, both mentally and physically and still he stood his ground. Adam shyly casted his eyes downwards, looking down at the ground in shame and regret. But I wasn't buying it and Mikey didn't even budge at the gesture.

"I... I'm sorry" He eventually stuttered, his voice barely above a whisper. My face twisted in anger and a loud growl erupted from Raph's throat, closely followed by a strong fist connecting with the wall, leaving a large crack in the wall and Raph grunting with pain.

"You're.. sorry.?"

It wasn't even a question. It was a statement filled with disbelief and anger. He was sorry for what he has done. He admitted his acts, hurting Mikey, keeping him from his family and the only thing he could say was 'I'm sorry'. Mikey had every right to question his statement.

"You're sorry?!" Mikey repeated himself, anger now dripping from his voice. "After all you did.. after everything you've done to me. You... " Mikey suddenly grew quiet, his eyes closing. Tears were still running down his cheeks and his breathing got uneven. The crutches beneath him started to shake a bit more and Don hesitantly did a step forwards.

The moment Mikey's eyes opened I knew something was terribly wrong. His eyes were filled with panic and were a faded shade of blue. It was like he wasn't even here, he wasn't even focusing. Tears were lingering in his eyes and his whole form was stiff and tense. Sweat was trickling down his forehead and he clearly becoming anxious, terrified even.

"Tell it reptile, tell your 'family' what we did to you"

Joe pushed, a cocky grin on his face. Mikey choked back a sob and hung his head low, gripping the handles of his crutches so hard until his knuckles were turning white, tears still leaking down his face. Anger was replaced with worry and Leo slowly walked forwards to his little brother, ignoring the whisper of protests coming from both Raph and Don.

"What are you waiting for freak?"

Leo carefully put his hands on Mikey's shoulder, squeezing it slightly in an attempt to calm Mikey down a little. The blue banded turtle stood tall and confident, glaring at the five humans in front of him, and for the first time in my life I was truly disgusted to be associated with humans. I hated what they did for themselves, they only cared about money and their own wealth, not caring about others but as soon as they were threatened they turned around, but I knew it was for the show.

"They know"

Mikey's reply was short and muffled. He was hiding something, something only he and those people knew. Something he didn't want to tell us. And Joe wasn't about to let it go. He was insane, he knew he was going to die. He just wanted to let Mikey suffer as much as he could.

"Have you told them how much you tried to scream when we vivisected you? Your arms, your legs. When we broke your bones and-.." Joe started, causing Mikey to squeeze his eyes shut. But before he could finish his sentence another voice stopped him.

"Joe stop, you're only making them angry" The woman on the right, Grace, hissed at him. And suddenly I could feel myself getting angry again, she tried to act like she cared so we wouldn't kill her. I wanted to lash out right now, scream at her, all of them but I contained myself for Mikey's sake.

"Don't you see it Grace, they're gonna kill us anyways. They're here to revenge their littl' brother. we're dead anyways" The sad thing about his remark was the fact that he was actually right. He knew why we were here, he knew we were going to kill him, all the people who were responsible for Mikey's scars. Grace snapped her mouth shut and Joe chuckled lowly before fixing his gaze on Mikey again.

"Did you tell them how we broke and cut your tail?"

That was the last straw, the last thing that Raph needed. His neon green eyes were replaced by cold and white eyes. A horrifying roar erupted from his throat and he leaped forwards, fists held back and within second his fist connected with Joe's jaw. There was a sickening crack and Joe's head shot to the side, blood filling his mouth.

"Shinjimae, yatsume, saitei, iyarashii" Raph roared, striking Joe with every individual word. Blood covered Raph's knuckles and his eyes were still white, no recognition or emotion other than anger present. His lips were curled upwards, his teeth bared. Swear words, I didn't know what they meant but I knew that they were swearwords.

Leo did nothing, just tightening his grip on Mikey but Donnie charged towards Raph, wrapping his arms around Raph's body to keep him from striking again. Don didn't back down but immediately wrapped his arm around Raph's striking arm, preventing him from hitting the man again. Raph roared again, kicking out, attempting to get Donnie off of him.

"Doke Donatello!" Raph yelled, trying to strike the man again but Don held on, not allowing Raph to strike again.

"He isn't worth it Raph" Don softly said before whispering something in Japanese, too fast and too low for me to catch it. Raph growled but eventually nodded though it was clear he wasn't pleased with leaving the man alone and turned around, walking away from both Don and the humans. Joe's face was a bloody mess, blood dripping from his mouth and two teeth lying in front of him.

His eye was starting to swell and bruises were already forming on his face. And I was glad Raph did it, Joe deserved everything that Raph did to him, he deserved every bruise. He deserved the pain, the same pain he caused Mikey. Raph's knuckles were bloody, and one was still injured from the punch he delivered to the wall. Don was now standing next to him, a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"You know what's the difference between you and me?" Mikey suddenly said, his voice still quivering. "I have a family to miss, I have people who love me waiting for me at home. You're all alone, and you'll die alone" The comment made Joe narrow his eyes in anger, his joking character suddenly disappeared. I didn't pity him, not by a long shot. Maybe I would if he hadn't done all of this to Mikey, but he did.

"Make it quick, I don't want to be here any longer" Mikey added in a whisper, disconnecting himself from his oldest brother knowing Leo would need to do the job as the oldest. Instead Donnie walked over to Mikey, wrapping an arm around his little brother and leading him to the exit of the room. None of them looked back, knowing Mikey was at his end right now. His eyes filled with tears and his whole form shaking.

"No wait, April stop them! You can't do this!" Grace suddenly screamed, tucking at her restrains in an inevitable attempt to get free but the ropes were too tight. The others were trembling with fear while Joe was smiling through the pain. "You can't let them April, I have a family at home. Please April!" Grace continued, not ceasing her struggle.

I glared at her, not trying to show my doubt. Just seeing her, all vulnerable and tied up made me regret this decision. She did have a family at home, but so did Mikey. And she never regretted her decision to keep Mikey from his family for so long. He was scared, filled with cuts and marks. He was never going to be the same again. And that fact surpassed the fact that this was my friend, a human like me, a female who had an own family.

"Mikey had a family as well"

That's when I turned my back on my own kind, walking outside the room. I was immediately met by the sight of Mikey sitting on the ground, his head buried in between his knees and his form shaking as sobs escaped his throat. I had only a second to take in the scene before two strong arms wrapped around me, and I was pressed against Don's plastron.

Fresh tears started to stream down my face. I didn't even know why I was crying. I knew them, maybe that was why I was crying. I allowed Leo and Raph to kill them. I was okay with them killing my kind, and I was not okay with that. I wince when the cries of the people were silenced. The slashing and stabbing sounds coming from the room telling me one thing.

They were never going to hurt Mikey ever again.

TMNT

Mate- stay

Kono Yarou – something along the lines of 'you jerk'

Doke - get out of my way.