Author's Note: Here's the new chapter, now this chapter is sort of mainly takes place at the lair, but believe me what I have planned for later goes with this. Enjoy.

Chapter 8: Time Flies

Things were silent as Leo sat in a chair in front of Donatello's computer inside the lab. His head resting on his hand as he stared at the lit up screen before him.

Password, the word on the screen showed. Leo thought of a few things of what it could be. Another word came to mind as he sat upright and typed.

"Utrom", enter.

Access Denied, the computer flashed in red, causing another sigh from the leaf green turtle, he then thought of another word.

"Mutagen, enter.

Access Denied, once again the computer showed. Heavily sighing Leo leaned back in the chair and tilted his head back.

Nearly one year…eleven months since Donny's capture and he's still out there in the Foot's hands. Nearly one year of worry, anger, fear for all of them. Their brother is still gone and they were out of options, and not sure how to continue their search. Yes, they never gave up their search. It took nearly three months to explore every single inch of the city, heck even another sweep of some points of interests but nothing.

This past year had been hard on everyone, nothing had been the same. Of course they returned to their everyday routines but they made a promise…a blood promise to never give up the search. That was Mikey who brought it up and they took part. After failing in locating him in the city they turned to another possible way.

Flashback

"Are you sure about this?" Leo asked, his brothers, April, Casey and himself were in the TV area. They had discussed their empty finding to their friends, which dishearten them. They've been through the city twice and still nothing at all.

"Yes…it may be the only way," April responded from her spot on the couch.

"But…we can't," Mikey spoke in hesitation, adverting his eyes as he sat on the armrest of the couch. "It wouldn't…be the same going back in there."

"We don't want to disturb anything in there," Raph seconded from his spot to the side, standing.

"I know it must be hard for you all but…Donny's computer may have something on there that can help us," the redhead responded.

"I know I may not be a tech head, but I agree with April here," Casey responded, next to April. "You know Don has all sorts of things and what may be on there could help."

Leo paced back and forth in silence, thinking about the situation. April suggested that they go into Don's lab and check on his computer for a few things. Their friend tried to hack back into the Foot mainframe a week ago but their security had been upgraded extensively and proved to be impossible for April. Something in his brother's computer could help them with that but the three remaining brothers had a problem with it.

Ever since Donatello's capture the three brothers hadn't step foot into their brother's lab. Saying it didn't feel right doing so, and left it alone. Now it was being suggested that they go in there and it's proving hard for them.

"My sons," Splinter's voice caught the attention of the three. "Ms. O'Neil and Mr. Jones are right about this. Donatello could have something that may prove useful, and I know you want to leave his things alone, for…personal reasons…but you may have to forgo those feelings."

"But…sensei it wouldn't feel right," Leo protested for the three of them. "It's Donny's lab and we rather not mess with anything and leave it as it is."

"I understand…but if you want to find your brother you may have to do things you don't want to," He stood calmly.

Silence was the only thing there as it made the three thing. They looked at one another and silently agreed on something after a couple of minutes. "Alright," Leo said.

The door to Donatello's lab slowly opened as a bit of light filled the subway car. Leonardo was the one who opened the door and his eyes peered inside. A feeling of sorrow hit him as the contents inside were revealed. Nothing in here had been touched since that night months ago. Slowly the three brothers walked in, the feeling only getting stronger the more they stood there.

Part of them expected to see their brother there, but the layer of dust that covered the place put out that bit of hope. All the pieces of a started project layed on his workbench, never to be finished. Leo's breathing hitched as he remembered the contents, he was the last one to see the last project that Donny was working on. And here it lay unfinished. Carefully they moved around the lab, they wanted to be careful and not touch anything, still wanting to preserve everything inside.

April came up behind them and saw the looks on their faces, she got what they were thinking. "We'll try to not to touch anything else," She responded, which they nodded at.

"Thank you," Leo said softly for the three of them. Still being inside the lab had their emotions out of whack. Parts of them trembling as they stood in the lab. All eyes then turned to the monitor on the other side of the lab. April walked over to the computer and pulled the chair out, looking over the machine, which had collected dust from no use over the months.

"Man, dusty in here," Casey said. That earned a glare from the three. "Too soon?"

"Just leave everything as it is," Raph warned, everyone then walking up to their redhead friend, who was booting up the computer.

"There better be something on here," Mikey said, standing behind April. He couldn't help but take a look around the lab again as he waited.

"I know what you mean," She responded, waiting for the screen to turn on. It took a minute before everything turned on and a logon screen popped up, which caused some raised eyes and dismay to fill them. "Oh no, this requires a password."

"Why would Donny keep this password protected?" Raph asked out loud.

"Maybe there were things he wanted to keep secret," Leo responded as he turned to April. "Is there any way to get pass this?"

"Well, the only way would to hack into the system, but…Donny's real smart I doubt he would leave his computer without a good computer security."

"Well we wouldn't have any idea on what the password could be, so this may be the only option."

"I'll do what I can, but no promises can be made," April responded in a low but discouraged tone.

"Wait Leo, what if we got Leatherhead to help out?" Mikey thought of with a snap of his fingers.

"That's a good idea," the blue clad turtle nodded. "With him it should make things easier."

End Flashback

Access denied, the computer showed again as Leo sat back in the chair with a huge sigh.

The plan with getting Leatherhead to help was a good thought but it didn't work out. After getting the croc to the lair and explaining what had happened, of course Leatherhead was sadden at what happened surrounding his friend's abduction. He agreed to help, he and April were then left alone for hours in the lab, working on trying to hack into Don's computer.

"Dimensional", enter.

Access denied, Once again another failed password.

Time passed and soon the two exited the lab, but the news they had wasn't the one they had wanted to hear.

Flashback

"So?" Raph asked the two as they stood up and moved right in front of them. "Did you get it?" They were all anxious to hear what news they had.

The two were silent as they looked at one another, it was Leatherhead who delivered the news. "I'm sorry my friends, but Donatello's security measures proved to be impenetrable."

"I don't know how but Donny has so many firewalls, no back doors and too many security systems in place. It's basically like Fort Knox, the only one who could bypass the system is Donny himself," April explained, looking at the floor.

Leo sighed as he did the same, Raph placed a hand on his head as both eyes closed, and Mikey had a dishearten look.

"I'm really sorry my friends, There's nothing we can do," Leatherhead offered his apologies.

"What else can we do?" Leo was the first to ask, not wanting to give up hope.

"Only one thing," April responded, looking up at her friends. "Guessing his password."

"What," Mikey was the first to respond in a shocked tone. "But who knows what his password could be."

"I'm sorry guys, but there's no other option."

There was silence after that, none of them knew what to say. The reality of what they had to do began to become real. This was something they couldn't do, mainly because the password could have been anything.

"But even if we could guess it…It could take too long to figure it out," Leo explained.

"There's nothing else I can tell you…that's the only option," April responded sadden.

"Then…there's no hope?" Raph responded.

"No!" Mikey suddenly said, causing everyone to look at him. The sea green turtle had a determined look on his face as he explained his actions. "We can't give up hope, Donny wouldn't do that at all. We lose hope and then we won't ever be able to find him. We're not going to give up."

"But Mikey, guessing a password is nearly impossible," Raph tried to convinced in a reassuring tone, but his younger brother wouldn't have none of that.

"No, we're not giving up, and you two better not," Just then Mikey moved and grabbed his brother's Sai, much to the protest of his red clad brother.

"What are you-Mikey!" Raph shouted as he saw his younger brother take the weapon and used the tip to slice his hand open, which caused blood too ooze out. He then held his hand out, "Do the same and swear you won't give up."

Everyone was shocked at what they saw and heard, seeing the determination and the seriousness in their brother. He wanted them to make a blood promise to never give up their search.

"But Mikey-" Leo tried to say but was cut off.

"Do it!" that silenced them both but the determination kicked in a few seconds later. After a few seconds Raph grabbed the Sai and sliced his own hand, followed by Leo. Once cut and blood oozing out they then piled their hands on one another.

"From this moment on," Mikey spoke up, eyes not losing it seriousness. "We don't give up the search…Donny will be found one day. We will never give up, or lose hope. This is a promise made in blood and will never be broken no matter what. Do you swear this?"

"We swear," Raph and Leo said in serious voices.

End Flashback

Ever since that night months ago Leo, Raph and Mikey tried at the computer, inputting all sorts of Passwords but no success. They tried so many things they though Donny would use, heck they looked at all sorts of things in the lab to get an idea but still none of the things they thought of worked.

When they thought it was hopeless they would look at the hand they made the promise with, seeing the area where they cut their hand would fill them back with the remembrance of the promise they made. They wouldn't give up, they promised and kept going.

"I promised…" Leo softly spoke to himself. "I won't give up." Just then the lights in the lair flickered for a few seconds before staying on. "Not again," he sighed.

That was another thing that happened during these past months. Things in the lair were slowly breaking down. First thing were the TVs starting to go out, then some of the appliances in the kitchen and now the wiring with the lights. All of these things went unfixed since they didn't know how to fix any of the stuff. This made all the brothers' think about how much Don did for them, and all the work he put into keeping the lair functional. They all started to feel guilty for not giving him much gratitude all those times.

Footsteps could be heard as someone approached him. "The lights are acting up again," Raph's gruff voice spoke.

"I know," Leo sighed, deciding to take a break from the computer. "What's Mikey doing?"

"Taking a nap, he was so tired that I suggested it," the emerald turtle leaned against the doorframe of the lab. "Just seeing everything here going to shell just makes you think, right?"

"I know," Leo turned in the chair as he faced his brother. "Just makes us think-"

"How much we took brainiac for granted," Raph finished in a low voice. "I never understood how much time Don had to put into keeping this place going."

"I know, and we only made his work much harder," the leaf green turtle looked down at the ground.

"Can't believe we didn't notice this until now."

"I know," Leo sighed as silence overtook them. The feeling of what Don did for them really hitting them. "And you want to know the bad thing?"

"What?"

"Donny never complained, there was some protest, but he never complained about this. At least never to us in person."

"He was never the one to hold a grudge, heck he never really got angry."

"And yet he continued to take all the repair requests we gave him...Like this one time all of our shell cells were broken. I asked Don to fix them but he kept saying that he was tired and wanted to sleep," His head shook, reliving the memory as some guilt filled him. "But no...I kept saying how we needed them fixed. In the end he did...pushing him further from getting the sleep he wanted."

"We all done things we aren't proud of...like me. He always waited up for me," Raph spoke, looking down at the floor.

"What do you mean?" Leo questioned.

"Sometimes when I go out with Casey and we get into fights with Purple Dragons they usually get some good hits on me. I come back home and Don's always there to treat my injuries...heck he evens stays up just to make sure I get in and if I need some patching up. I never really thought much of it...but now...I can't believe I did that to him."

"I know...and now he's gone."

"We'll get him back…" Raph said softly. "Once we do…we're going to change how things happen here. I don't want to add more to his workload."

"Yeah, I'm sure Mikey feels the same way…but before we can put any plans into motion for that we still need to get into Don's computer."

"I'm guessing you still haven't gotten close," Raph walked further into the lab.

"No," Leo shook his head. "I've been at it for an hour and still nothing. Plus I'm running out of things Don would use."

Raph sighed after hearing his brother's distress, what could he say about this? "We should have spent more time with him…we could have at least have got some ideas from him on what it could be."

"I know, I regret not showing interest in his projects or any of the other things he's interested in," Leo stood up from the chair. Right now a break sounded good. "It shows how little we know about him."

"I know but-"Just then Leo's shell cell rang, cutting the red clad turtle off.

Leo reached down and answered the call, but turned it on speaker, "Yes April, Raph and I are here."

"Guy's you won't believe what Casey found out!" April's spoke to them, apparently her tone held on of nervousness and a bit of…excitement?

"What is it?" Raph asked, wondering what it is they could have found.

"Well…it's…look it's more better if I we tell you in person. We're our way over now."

"Ok, we'll be waiting," Leo responded as the call ended. His leadership role then was put into place, "Go wake Mikey and tell Master Splinter. Whatever April and Casey found out it must be important."

"Ok, in it," Raph turned and left the lab. Leo remained behind for a sec before leaving as well, for some reason hope was slowly being restored.

Donny was on his hands and knees, panting as he tried to regain his breath. Body aching and tired he slowly made his way back to his feet as both eyes glared at his opponents before him. The same three Foot ninja that were playing the mind game by wearing his brother's colors and carrying their weapons decided to beat down on him.

As much as Don wanted to fight back he couldn't mount an effective defense since he had the elastic shackles around his ankles and wrists, which limit his movements. Oh how they took great pleasure in this, watching him struggle and crying out in pain as they were the once inducing it.

"What's the matter Junko?" The one in blue mocked. "Can't fight someone who seems familiar to you?"

"You…are not…them," Don seethed, eyes narrowed.

"Maybe we should take this a step up," the one in red spoke, earning a nod from the other two.

"How could-"Both of Don's eyes widen as he saw the three take out their weapons. Fear started to grow inside of the olive green turtle as he watch them approach and he took a step back.

The orange cloth ninja then sprang forward the nunchucks but Don rolled out of the way and narrowly missed the blow, but had little time to react as the one in red charged with the butt end of his Sais. Ducking down Don then shoulder rushed him, knocking the foot back, but it didn't do very much.

Both eyes scanned as he saw the blue cloth ninja approaching, both katanas raised above his head. Thinking quickly Donny thought of something clever but it had to be timed perfectly. He then fell backwards on his shell and brought his feet up, stretching his legs so the elastic band was tight and in the path of the sword. Just like that the blade sliced through the cord, freeing Don's legs. Bending them he then used both feet to kick him back.

Flipping back to a vertical position Don was able to assume a proper stance, thankful now he could kick better. Now he needed to get his hands free. The three Foot ninja saw this and redoubled their efforts to beat on the turtle. The one with the Sais charged but Don ducked and grabbed the guy's hands and flipped him to the ground. Looking behind his shell he then did a leg sweep which knocked the orange cloth one to the ground.

His senses picked up danger and out of instinct he back flipped away, avoiding a vertical slash from the one in blue. Both eyes locked onto the ninja, keeping a watch on his next move.

"You think you're so clever Junko?" He brought the blades up, even with the mask on Don could see an angered look on his face. "You're so going to pay for that one."

As his allies recovered he charged at Don, making multiple slashes at the turtle but the olive green turtle kept on dodging, looking for a right opening. After seeing the blue cloth ninja do a forward thrust Don grabbed his arm and bent the elbow so the tip of the blade is facing down. Acting fast he managed to wrap the cord around the blade, all the while keeping hold of the guy's arm. Once he felt right he let the arm go and just as he thought the blade was brought up and sliced through the cord, freeing both of his arms.

'Perfect' Don smirked as he was now free and could fight effectively. He charged and jumped kicked the blue cloth one in the stomach, knocking him back. He then ducked and kicked up as the one in orange charged, hitting him in the gut as well. Standing up he saw a nunchuck flying at him but reaching up he managed to grab the weapon and punched the ninja's elbow, sparking a cry of pain before elbowing him in the face.

Don then could hear one of them rising to his feet, wanting to keep up his momentum he turned to strike him but froze as both eyes widen. Right there before him stood Leo, his older brother. Where was the Foot ninja just now? Both eyes closed as his head shook, thinking that his mind is playing tricks on him, but no. After opening his eyes he could still see Leo before him.

"What's going on…" he softly spoke in shock. This hesitation was enough of a distraction for the one before him to strike Don across the face with the butt end of his katana. He stumbled back as his body turned but then the sight of Raph came in his view. He watched as the emerald green turtle then kicked him right in the plastron.

Having the air knocked out of him Donny doubled over on the ground, on his knees and one hand on the floor trying to keep himself up. His head slowly raised but both eyes widen as he saw his little brother Mikey there as well. Pull the nunchuck back the weapon then slammed against Don across the face, knocking the turtle down.

Vision blurry Don turned on his shell as three blurry figures stood around him. Slowly the blurriness cleared up and his breath hitched as all three of his brothers stood there, evil grins on their faces. Don laid frozen as he watched them raise their weapons up and then brought them down.

Donatello gasped as both of his eyes open, waking up in a cold sweat and panting. Both eyes quickly looked around taking his surroundings as his heart was beating like crazy. Thankfully he found himself inside of his cell, apparently he fell asleep with his shell against the wall. "Only a dream…just a dream…"

Sitting up some more Don then started to rub the sleep out of his eyes. "Why does this keep happening," he whispered to himself. "Why do I see my brothers attacking me?" For a while now Don would be dreaming that his brothers were causing him harm, either by fighting or torturing him. The thought of those three colored cloth Foot ninjas came to mind, their constant mind games with his brother's colors and weapons were having the desired effect on him. Along with the other things that had happened to him.

"Nearly a year here," he spoke again. "And I'm still here." The past year had been real hard on the olive green turtle. He knew how much time had passed because after a certain point his captors gave him updates on how long he'd been here. They must have thought that the constant reminder of time would break him, and slowly it was. The reminder of how much time had passed made him rethink of all that had happened.

Things turned downhill after that one day he gave into the pain and did as the Foot told him to. Since that day he gave in more, following the commands of his captors. He may have not meant what he said but still it hurt him a lot saying all those hurtful things. Guilt swelled up as he kept doing it, thinking in a way he betrayed his family, which hurt him the most. The pain had stopped but that was only the physical stuff, the emotional pain wouldn't leave no matter what. Things continued month after month as he continued to do as they said.

Most of the fight had left him as things continued, it went to the point that they didn't even chain him up anymore. They knew he wouldn't fight back or try to escape, Don knew there was no point anymore.

His head perked as the door to his cell opened, but some relief washed over him as he saw who it was. Shredder came into the cell, with no emotion on his face. Over the months a feeling of safety would come to the turtle when the Shredder would come. Whenever he was around all the tortures would stop, he would be fed, allowed to sleep and be checked up on by the doctor he brought in. Anytime the Foot ninjas would beat on him, Shredder would take them out, basically protecting them from him.

It was almost as if he was being nice to him, and treating him like any other person. This is why the sense of security was there when he was there. Part of Donny was glad to have it but another part inside him wasn't as trustful with what was going on.

"Hello there Junko," Oroku Saki said. Donny didn't flinch or react when Shredder called him by the new name the Foot gave him. He didn't know why he let him do so, or even tried to correct him. Maybe being called by that over and over again so many times he just gave up on it. "How are you today?"

"F..Fine…" Don answered for some reason. That was another thing that had been happening during his imprisonment. For some reason he felt like he could be open with the Shredder, almost as if part of him trusted his enemy. "Just…bad dream…"

"That tends to happened," he stood with his hands behind his back. "Hungry?"

"No…" Don responded looking down.

"Need to exercise your muscles?" Once again he received a no. "Something troubles you, right?"

"Don't want to talk about it," Donny nearly whispered.

"Alright then," Shredder accepted the answer. That was another weird thing, he never pried into what was wrong, almost like he respected the turtle's privacy. "Is there anything you want then?"

Donatello remained silent after hearing that question, not sure how to answer that. Still Shredder was patient for the turtle's response. "Please…just tell me what are you planning to do with me?"

"Nothing at all," was the response.

"Then why are you keeping me here?"

"For reasons I can't disclose right now. But I do have a new offer for you."

That perked the genius turtle, an eye rose as he wondered what his enemy could have to offer him? "What is it?"

"I look back at these past months and seen how you suffered because of insolent fools I trusted your life with, and I feel like changing that." He came closer and kneeled down in front of the turtle, almost as if it was a friendly approach. "How would you feel if I took you away from here…give you better accommodations?"

This offer caught Donatello off guard big time, he knew the Shredder was acting nice, but actually offering much better surrounding than the one he's in. There had to be something more to this, maybe a trick or something. "Why? What do you get out of this?"

"Nothing, I just want to make sure you're safe and no more of these corrupted men mistreat you."

Don remained silent after hearing the explanation, not sure what to make of it. It still sounded like something that sounded too good to be true, but yet the chance to get out of here was too good to pass up. Still he had to get all the facts in order, he may have been accepting to Shredder's kindness but he still had his sense of distrust with him. "Where is it at?"

"Back at Foot HQ in the city, your accommodations will be much better than this cell, plus you'll be able to have access to some of the other parts of the building," he explained, Shredder seemed to put a friendly tone when explaining this. It was working some.

Donny really thought about this, his rational side thinking of something. If he went something bad could happen that he didn't know about and that was a big risk. Yet if he declined he would remain here and be subjected to the tortures he continue to face.

"What do I do? I mean this offer is good, but there are still unknowns…But still he hasn't done anything to me so why would Shredder do anything now? Could be a trick, which would lead to something much worse…but…I can't stay here any longer…I can't…I don't want to endure anymore of this." He fought with himself in his head.

"Well Junko, what's your answer?"

Looking up Don stared into the friendly eyes of the Shredder, not able to read the look he was receiving. The offer made but his decision already made up. Nodding, "Yes…I accept."

A/N: Hope you like, things will get better from here, the ideas I have will finally be used. Till next time.