Author's Note: Sorry for the wait, things have been busy with school lately. Well I managed to get this one up and it's the longest chapter I have so I hope the lenght makes up for that. Enjoy.

Chapter 9: Fresh Start

Tick, tock, tick, tock

The sound lightly echoed throughout the small room where Donatello sat in. He's currently in the usual room where he had his sessions with Dr. Adams. It had been an hour since the Shredder gave him the offer of getting out of this place, now he had to wait. Shredder said it would take some time to get his accommodations ready, so for now he had to wait for a bit.

Just before he would be taken back to Foot HQ there was one more so called therapy session that was going to be done here. Donny was ok with that, just like the other sessions he had.

Tick, tock, tick, tock

The sound kept on coming as the olive green turtle started at the metronome that had be set up on a small table on the side of the doctor. It was a weird pyramid looking device that has a stiff pendulum at the base that moves left to right and vice versa. As it moved it produced a weird ticking sound, almost like a clock. For the last few sessions the Doctor had set up this device for some reason. When trying to ask why this was, the only answer he got was that the sound it made was calming to him.

Tick, tock, tick, tock.

"Junko?" Dr. Adams spoke.

"What?" Don snapped out of the trance he was in. Apparently ever since the metronome had been introduced he couldn't help but stare at it most of the session. He would always block out everything around him, just focusing on the swinging pendulum and the ticks it made.

"I was just asking if anything new happened lately?" he asked, the clipboard and pen still in his hands.

"Well yes…I'm…going to be leaving this place and going back to the city," Donny responded as he leaned back in the chair, unrestrained. That's one of the things that had changed during these last few months.

As the months past and Don started to lose the fight inside of him, his captors found it ok not to restrain him during his sessions with Dr. Adams. They made sure that the turtle wasn't a threat to them or the doctor giving the sessions. "Really? And how does that make you feel?" the male asked.

"Well…good actually," Don responded as he looked at the floor. That was another thing that had changed over the months. During these sessions Don became more open and started to answer the doctor's questions, and talk about how he was feeling. Still he didn't tell him about some more personal things he didn't want to share. "It's a sign that all the torment I've been through…is finally coming to an end."

"All things must come to an end, and I think…"

Tick, tock, tick, tock

The sound of the metronome caught Donatello's attention once again. Looking at the small device his couldn't help but be transfixed by it, the whole world being blocked out and the ticking's the only sounds being heard. The doctor's rambling being turned out once more.

"Yes…" Don said for some reason, even though he wasn't sure why. Both eyes followed the weight as the ticking become more sound, and louder. And for some reason it felt as if things were going slower, like time was slowing down. Leaning forward he then-"

Clap!

Don was brought out of his reverie as Dr. Adams had clapped his hands loud once. "Paying attention Junko?"

"Oh…sorry," Don apologized, head shaking. "What just happened?" He thought to himself.

"It's alright," he reached over and turned the small device off, deafening the room. "Just remember what I said, and you should be fine."

"Uh…sure," Don responded sheepishly, he wasn't listening and didn't want to admit it.

"Well we're just about done here, you should almost be ready to leave in a minute," Dr. Adams spoke as he put the pen and clipboard down.

"What? Done already? But it didn't we start ten minutes ago? The olive green turtle thought to himself, confused as to what was going on. There's no way that much time could have gone by without him knowing. He wanted to ask so many questions but only one word came out of his mouth, "Ok."

Don rose out of his chair and just like that the door opened and two Foot ninjas came in and escorted the turtle out of the room, leaving the doctor alone in the room. The brunette remained seated in his chair as the door to the room finally closed. A few seconds later a hidden door opened along the wall and someone walked in.

"Well?" the person asked.

"It worked, he was transfixed on the device master, just like the other sessions," the doctor responded.

Oroku Saki smiled as he heard the news, "This is good news. Will he forget like we planned?"

"Yes," he nodded, standing up. "We will see the results later on, if things goes according to plan."

"They will, I know it," Shredder nodded.

The doctor then picked the notes he took back up, "I'll be sure to scan these and send them to you later."

"Noted, now I must be off, Junko would want to see me as we leave." Shredder then turned and left the room in the door he entered in, leaving Dr. Adam's alone once again.

Don's eyes squinted as he emerged from the building from where he had been held captive. This was the first time in nearly a year that he finally saw the outside world again. Every time he had been moved from base to base the Foot would always blindfold him, which prevented him from seeing where he was. But now he got an eyeful. The sun was low, giving the sky an orange color, which indicated that it was setting and it's the evening time. The building is one story and painted so it could be camouflaged in the mass amount of trees that surrounded the clearing they were in.

The sounds of blades chopping the air came to him as he looked forward and saw a black helicopter already prepped for takeoff. It didn't take Don long to figure out this is his ride. The Foot that were with him escorted him, unrestrained, to the chopper.

As he walked Donny had the thought of running off, looking at the trees surrounding the area this forest would give him nice cover so he could escape. But yet he didn't know where he was or where anything is so running wasn't a valid option at the moment. Besides the Foot knew he wouldn't run, that's why he was left unrestrained.

Once he was right near the aircraft Don climbed aboard and sat in one of the seats it offered. To his surprise Shredder was already inside sitting across from him. "Wasn't expecting a trip in a helicopter, weren't you?" Oroku Saki asked.

"No…" Don responded as he sat back in the seat. Once the door slid close there were a couple of bangs from the outside and soon the craft took off. Don looked outside the window as they were slowly lifted off the ground. Finally after nearly a year he was leaving this tormented place, and the next part of his capture would start.

"Feel like talking until we get there?" Shredder asked.

"No…not right now," Don answered as his head leaned against the window, both eyes continued to look out of the glass.

Back in the Lair the turtles and Splinter anxiously waited for their two friends to arrive. Moments ago Leo received a call from April, stating that Casey found out something important and needed to talk to them in person. So here they are waiting for them to come.

"So why are we waiting?" Mikey asked as a yawn escaped him. He was taking a much needed nap before being woken by Raph.

"Because Casey found out something and April preferred to tell us in person," Raph answered.

"You think it could be about Donny?" the sea green turtle asked with a bit of hope.

"I don't know," Leo responded from where he stood. "It could be, it could not we just have to wait for them."

"Whatever Ms. O'Neal and Mr. Jones have to tell us must be important indeed," Splinter responded from his spot next to Leo.

"I know, but what's taking so long?" Raph asked from his spot on the couch. "If it's important why would they make us wait?"

"Be patient Raphael," the aged rat calmed his tempered son. "All urgent news will come in time."

"I know but what if-" His sentence was cut off as the doors to the lair opened and in came their two friends, which made all of them stand from their spots. They took a look on their faces and saw they both had a look of eagerness on them.

"April," Leo was the first to say.

"Hey guys, sorry for taking so long," Their redhead friend responded.

"What is it you had to tell us in person?" Raph asked, straight to the point.

April smiled as she gave the news, "We may have found out where Don might be being held."

"What!?" They all said out of shock.

"Where!?" Mikey was the first to asked, eagerness and hope sparking in all of them.

"Are you sure about this?" Leo asked after his brother, wanting to be sure. "Shell how did you even find out?"

"Easy there," April responded with her hands up, then turned to Casey. "Why don't you tell them what happened.

"Gladly," the raven head male responded as he took things from here. "So I was on my way out of town and-"

"Why would go out of town?" Raph interrupted with a raised eye. That was something that surprised all of them.

"I was getting to that," Casey responded. "You see I was getting bummed out at all the things that happened this past year, so I decided that maybe getting out of the city by myself wouldn't hurt. You know go to the farmhouse by myself to collect myself."

"And what did you find?" Splinter asked in a calm voice.

"Well as I was driving I saw a black van ahead of me on the same road I was taking. I don't know why but something told me to follow it and I did. I trailed them for about twenty minutes and it took me into the forest on an untracked road. Soon I found it stopped in a large clearing with a building set up."

"What kind of building?" Mikey asked, wanting some specifics.

"The kind that they wanted to keep hidden," He responded. "Now the van pulled up and wouldn't you know some Foot ninja came out. Right at the sight of that I booked it out of there, that's all I needed to see."

"So you're saying that Don might be being held outside of town?" Leo asked to be sure, also can't believe how stupid it was of him not to think of that. Having his brother being held outside of town is something they wouldn't have suspected.

"Positive," he nodded.

"Ok, then that's good enough for us," the blue clad turtle nodded.

"Can you remember the exact route?" Raph asked his friend.

"Of course, I wrote down the directions," Casey responded as he pulled out a folded up piece of paper.

"Then what are we waiting for, let's go!" Mikey spoke out, not wanting to wait around anymore.

"I agree," April said.

"My sons, I shall accompany you on this," Splinter spoke, a determined look on his face.

Everyone looked at the aged rat as Leo spoke, "Are you sure sensei."

"Indeed," He nodded. "If Donatello is there, I want nothing to interfere with us getting him back."

"Alright, then lets head out now," Leo instructed as they all headed to the elevator. Once they all piled inside the button was hit and they were headed to the garage.

The ride back to the city took ten minutes, maybe a little less as Don stared out at the city lights. The sun had set and now the city glowed up at night as the chopper he's in flew over it all. The ride had been spent in silence, Shredder nor did Don say a word as the turtle looked out the window the whole time. He found the glow of the lights calming in a way, even though he wasn't stressed about anything. Just one look and he felt good.

Foot HQ came into sight as they came closer and closer till they were hovering over the helipad. A couple minutes passed as the helicopter finally landed and the blades were slowly coming to a stop. Oroku Saki then opened the door and stepped out, turning and staring at the turtle. "Coming?"

"Yes…sorry," Don said as he moved and exited the aircraft. He looked around and didn't see any of the other Foot ninjas around. It was just him, Shredder and the pilot, who just exited the chopper and headed towards the door that lead down from the roof. "Where's…uh…" Don tried to say guards but wasn't sure what to call them now.

Almost like that Shredder knew what the turtle was thinking, "There's no need to have anyone guarding you. It's not like I can trust anyone of them."

"What's going on? Does he…trust me not to run?" Donny thought in surprise. No guards there meant that running away would be much easier but there has to be something else to it.

"Come, I'll show you to your room," Shredder turned and headed for the door the pilot took.

"Room? Don't you mean cell?" The olive green turtle responded in confusion as he followed.

Oroku stopped as he turned, a smile or grin on his face. "Oh no, you're under my watch now. There's no cell, you'll have a room like most of the people here."

"R-Really?" Donny couldn't have heard that right, his enemy is giving him better accommodations than the previous one he had.

"Yes, you deserve it," after saying that Shredder then opened the door and entered, with a confused turtle following behind him.

A few minutes passed as Shredder and Don walked down a neatly decorated hall. It was large, with a lush carpet with hardwood floors underneath. There wasn't a spec of dirt to be found at all, and along the walls were Japanese style sliding doors. There weren't many of them, they had passed only seven of them. They soon came to a stop at one of the doors as Shredder turned to his charge.

"This is where you'll be staying," his hand ushered towards the door.

It took the olive green turtle a second to realize that he was to open the door first. Reaching forward he gripped and slid it open, then walked in but his eyes widen as he saw the contents inside.

When Shredder said he would get better accommodations the turtle didn't expect it to be this much better. The room was larger than the cell he had, and the major difference is that it had actual stuff in it. The floor was hardwood that looked as if it was polished and had a large green rug in the center.

To the left was a small table with a few chairs set up, and on top of the table and saw a glass chess set. This set him off as odd since he wasn't sure who would play with him, but still it was a nice sight. Across from it was a medium book shelf, loaded halfway with hardback books. The titles couldn't be read on the spines, which could wait till later.

On top of it there were an assortment of candles, meditation candles to be precise. Years of seeing them in the lair made Don be able to identify what they are. The last thing inside almost made him cry out in relief. There is a bed, a soft looking bed. Nearly a year without one and he finally has one. The mattress is a queen size one, with a black comforter, and white pillows. The olive green turtle had an itch to just lay on it and just drift off.

"These quarters are usually for head officers but, I thought that this would suite you perfectly," Shredder commented as Donny looked around in surprise. He saw the look on his face and shook his head, "Is there something wrong?"

"Uh…no," Don snapped out of the observation he was making when Shredder spoke to him. "It's just…a lot to take in…I mean…"

"I know," he nodded. "After having nothing for so long and then be giving a lot, it's hard to take in."

"Exactly…" Don looked down at the ground. "Thank you." Donny mentally widen both his eyes at what he said.

"Why did I thank him? There has to be something to this, I mean why does he give me a great room to stay in?"

"You are welcome Junko," Shredder nodded, but then saw a confused expression on the turtle's face. "Is there something wrong?"

Donny panicked a bit on the inside, he didn't want Shredder to know what he was thinking. But thankfully he's able to think of a good excuse. "No…I just feel…a bit tired."

"Then I'll leave you to rest, please remain in the room till tomorrow. I'll be able to give you a tour of the places you'll be able to have access to."

"Ok," Don nodded as he watched Shredder turn and walk out of the room before sliding the door closed.

Donny was now alone inside the room, nothing but silence filling the area. For the first time in a long time he wasn't sure what to do. The look from the room showed he had choices of what to do, something he didn't have for nearly a year. Still he was blown away at what he found inside. Out of curiosity he looked over the items inside, just to be sure these things were true.

He walked over to the table and felt it, the wood is smooth, and well crafty. A definite sign that it was high quality furniture. Both eyes scanned the chess set on top, it was a glass set that had clear and frosted pieces on each side. "Looks good." He said as he moved over to the book case.

Randomly reaching he pulled out a book with a navy blue cover. "Sun Tzu, the art of war," Don read the cover. Opening the book he found that the book is indeed real as there's printed letter on the inside. Closing it he returned it with the others, not bothering to check the others. Looking up he saw the candles atop the book case, ranging in a few dark colors.

Reaching he grabbed a forest green one and took in its scent, "sage." He identified the scent. These would be perfect for meditation, something he would explore later. Putting it back he then turned to the last thing in the room, the bed.

Walking up to it started at it, almost as if it was a new thing to him. Reaching down he felt the softness of the comforter and couldn't help but shed a small tear. "A real bed…it's real," he put his second hand on it as he then sat on it, feeling the softness of it. "I finally have a bed…after nearly a year…" His mind kept on be blown away at the things that were given to him, by his enemy of course.

"This…has to be-" His train of thought was interrupted as the door to his room slid open.

Looking up Don saw a light brown headed male. He looked almost six foot with a medium build and wearing a white lab coat. "Oh…sorry, I didn't think you'd be here yet," the guy spoke, not surprised at all at the sight of the mutated turtle.

Both of Don's eyes widen as heard the tone of voice of the guy, he wasn't surprised or shocked at his appearance. This threw him off in surprised, not sure why he would act like that. "Uh…I'm sorry but…aren't you surprised or shocked at my appearance?" Don asked as he stood up from the bed.

The guy walked into the room and closed the door, acting like everything was normal. "I read a lot, my imagination has expanded a lot so…I know there are many weird things out here in the world, and you don't surprise me at all."

"Oh," was all Don could say, it made sense. One who would read a lot could expand their imaginations and envisions horrors beyond what one would see that are printed on paper.

"I'm sorry for disturbing you, but I was in charge of getting the room ready, I might have dropped something I need in here, if you don't mind if I look for it?" the guy asked as he moved closer to the olive green turtle.

Ok, this guy is polite and that checked off in Donny's books. "Sure, you can look for it...uh…"

"Gavin, my name's Gavin," he responded with a nod as he held out a hand. "And you must be Junko?"

"Well uh…that's what they call me," Don shook the guy's hand.

"What do you mean?" Gavin raised an eye at that comment.

"Um…before all this my name is Donatello, but Don for short," he adverted his eyes.

"Oh…uh so what do you want to be called?" Gavin started to feel awkward at this, not sure how to address the newcomer.

"I don't care," Don responded. He wasn't even sure what he should be called anymore.

The brunette then felt as if he said something wrong, "Sorry…I must have said something wrong."

"No, no it's not that…I'm just confused, and no I don't want to talk about it," Don corrected once he realized what he did. He was confused at certain things, but didn't feel like sharing his problems with this guy. He didn't know him, so why should he?

"I'm sorry then," Gavin adverted his eyes as well before looking around the room before walking over to the book case. "It should be over here."

Don watched as the newcomer walked off and then followed him, "What did you lose?"

"A folded up sheet of paper that has some notes I written," he kneeled down and looked on the floor.

"What kind of notes?" Don asked, a bit interested now.

"I work in the tech labs here, so they're notes for some of the projects we have here," Gavin stuck his fingers underneath the bookcase, checking to see if it somehow got under there. "It must have dropped when I set things up."

"What are you working on?"

"Sorry I can't disclose that, I signed a thing stating I can't…ah, here it is," he pulled out a gray folded up piece of paper. Before Don could ask the paper was then placed inside the inside pocket of the lab coat. "Thanks for letting me look around, this is important and I could get in trouble if I didn't have it."

"You're welcome…besides…Mr. Saki," Don had to stop himself from sneering since chances were that Gavin didn't have any idea that Oroku Saki was the Shredder. "You're the only friendly face I've seen in a long while."

"Really?"

"Yeah…it's been a hard year," Donny started to list off but didn't want to go into full detail.

"Well…it was nice to meet you then," Gavin gave a friendly smile, which was returned. "You know…if you're ever in the tech labs, why don't you come find me, it's nice having someone that actually that wants to talk."

"Sure," Don wasn't sure why he said that. He and Gavin just met and they were ending things on friendly terms.

"Cool, I have to go now. I'm on the graveyard shift and my break is over in a few minutes," he turned and headed for the door.

Just then a thought from earlier came to mind and before he could leave Don spoke up, "Uh Gavin?"

The brunette stopped and turned to face the turtle, "Yes?"

"When I came here earlier, Mr. Saki told me there weren't really anyone walking around at the moment. I didn't see anyone else as I entered so where are the guards and stuff?"

"Oh, at night many of the personal are either out or resting up. Contrary to popular belief security tends to be really light at night, depending on the area. They mostly have security at the tech labs, since they need to make sure no one breaks in."

"Oh, ok thank you."

"You're welcome," With that Gavin slid the door open and left, being sure to close the door from behind.

Donatello stood there in complete silence, still reeling from the bit of information that was explained to him. The security here is light, plus the fact that Shredder told him that there was no need to have anyone to guard him. From experience he knew parts of the layout of the building and if what Gavin said is true then…"This could be my chance…" Don spoke in complete shock.

If he's alone without anyone watching him them he can escape the building and make a break for it back home…after nearly a year he finally has a chance to escape. But yet what if it wasn't true, and he's caught on his way out. He didn't want to think what Shredder would do to him if he's caught, chances are he might go back to that prison he had been held before, and he couldn't let that happen.

But then he felt his stomach getting upset, placing a hand there his eyes squinted a bit as he thought about his home, his family. His breathing then started to quicken as flashes of the tortures he went through came to mind. The three foot that tortured him, but then they were replaced by his brothers, all three of them hurting him. "No...no, they wouldn't do that."

He shook his head and tried to take a step forward but his breath hitched as the dream he had eariler came back. Flashes of his brothers beating on him returned, making parts of his body hurt. "No...no..." he shook his head. The tortures flashed before him, but in every single memory the Foot ninjas were replaced by his brothers. No matter how hard he tried the image of his brothers stuck to him.

"Maybe...maybe leaving wouldn't be such a good idea," he said to himself, not like he was reacting to when he thought of his brothers. "Wait, maybe they're out on patrol...then I can see Master Spl...in...ter..." he said his father's name out loud but that was a big mistake. His breathing quicken again as he felt small burning feelings on his arms.

The memory of the times the rat kept bitting his arm returned, renewing that forgotten pain that he was forced to endure. Instead of a regular rat he pictured his father is the one biting him, over and over again. Both hands then clutched his arms, the pain of the bites returning as he fell to his knees. "No...I can't go...I can't."

This thoughts of escaping started to weaken. The thoughts of his brothers hurting him only discouraged these thoughts futher. "No...it wasn't them, it wasn't them," he kept telling himself over and over again. He wanted to escape but the memories swayed him away from those thoughts. But no, he knew his family wouldn't do that, it was all the mind games the Foot played that caused him to think like this. He had to go back, but he started to think maybe not now.

Still, who knows when he would get another chance at this, so now a decision had to be made. It took a bit of time, the memories of course adding into the mix. He soon found the answer, "I'm going for it." This was going to require all the stealth training he had been taught but he could succeed, he knew it.

Standing back up he moved to the door and slid it open, then poked his head out to have a look. The hallway is empty, a good sigh. Remember where the elevator is Don then took down the hall, making sure to keep his footsteps as light as possible. He couldn't hear anything, chances are it was a good thing or not. After a minute he reached the elevator and pressed the button. Automatically it opened and he entered and looked at the buttons inside.

"Good, it's for general use," looking over the buttons he found out that this particular elevator didn't go down to the main lobby. From what he remember there were forty stories to this building and he's on the thirty-eighth floor. This only went down to the thirty-fifth. He was going to need to find another elevator to take him the rest of the wait. Pressing the last button the doors closed and Don was on his way.

The elevator dinged as the doors opened, showing a large Japanese oriented garden. "What the?" Don spoke in shock as he saw this. Apparently this garden is outdoors, had a grass floor with a few small trees and even a small pond. This place is empty, so he's in the clear so far. He head then looked around as he tried to find his next place to go. Seeing a door way that led inside he then ran over, still being as silent as possible.

"Going somewhere Junko?" A voice spoke up, causing Don to stop in his tracks.

"Oh no," Don started to panic as he recognized that voice. Slowly turning around his fears were confirmed as he saw Shredder, sitting on a rock that was hidden. But then for some reason all that panic left him as he looked at Shredder. For some reason a feeling of safety filled him, he wasn't sure why in this case.

His enemy had an expressionless emotion on his face as he stood up, and walked over to him, "I find it disappointing that you didn't stay in your room."

"I uh…thought maybe a walk would help," Don lied, trying to not anger Shredder anymore that he was, if he was angry. For some reason it hurt him lying to him, it was almost as if he could tell him the truth without worry.

"You were trying to leave," The Shredder saw through the lie.

Don raised an eye at that comment, leave? Why did he say that instead of escape? "I was trying-"

"Nothing's stopping you," Shredder shockingly said, surprising the turtle.

"What?" the olive green turtle responded, surprised at what he heard.

"No one is keeping you hear, just you. So if you want to go, then go," he walked closer till he was only a couple of feet away.

"What are you playing at? Why just let me go?" Donny asked, really confused at what his enemy is saying.

"No game, strings, or tricks," he then patted him on the back of the shell. "But remember, if you want to come back, you can."

"I know this trick…once I leave your Foot ninjas will attack me, then bring me back."

"Then this should convince you," Shredder then reached into his pocket and pulled out a phone. He dialed a number and put it on speaker.

"Yes Master?" a voice spoke after it finished ringing.

"Allow Junko to leave the building, don't try to stop him," he spoke into the phone.

"What? But Master didn't-"there was some surprise and shock in the voice over the phone before it was cut off.

"I gave you an order, now follow it," Shredder commanded.

"Y-Yes sir…I'll inform everyone," the phone was then closed as Shredder looked back at Don.

"Do I need any more proof that there's no strings?"

Donny was stunned at what he heard, the phone call sounded real, but then that would mean Shredder is telling the truth. The thought of leaving now came to him but his body didn't move. It was like leaving now was wrong and he shouldn't do that. Part of him didn't want to leave the Shredder, still wanting that feeling of saftey he felt. Shredder had done so much for him already, it wouldn't feel right just taking off like that.

Still this wasn't his home, and if he didn't leave he wasn't sure what would happen. Plus he was basically given a chance to run without any problems. "I guess never look a gift horse in the mouth," Don thought as he backed up in silence and then ran for the door that lead out of the garden.

Shredder chuckled as he watched the turtle leave before flipping open the phone again and dialing a number. He placed it against his ear and waited for someone to answer. "Yes, I'll be coming down in a minute, have the car ready…there's something I have to go pick up," Oroku Saki spoke into the phone, was he saw the blinking light of the tracer on the turtle fade until it couldn't be seen anymore.

Donny flew through the air as he jumped from building to building, finally free. After leaving the Shredder he made his way out to the exit, and what his enemy said was true, no one stopped him from leaving. Shell he even passed a few personal who just looked at him but didn't do anything. This just made things weird as he realized Shredder told the truth and let him go.

"Why did he let me go? I mean after going through so much trouble in capturing me in the first place I doubt he would let me just leave like that," he spoke to himself as he continued to jump roof to roof. "I'll think about that later, for now I just want to get home." He landed on one building and walked to the edge, "Ok the manhole should be here-what?" Donny looked down in shock at the alleyway but there wasn't a manhole.

"No…that can't be…I know this is the place…or is it?" Don then looked around the area. Things seemed different in this area. "Maybe I got the wrong place, yeah that's it." Donny then jumped to another roof top and went in a new direction.

He stopped on top a new building a looked in the alleyway, "No!" he cried out as no manhole could be found. "I know it was here, it had to be!"

Something was very wrong, he couldn't remember the route home. He should have, there's no way he could have forgotten that knowledge. Panic started to fill the turtle as he realize this, how can he go home now if he couldn't remember the route?

"Ok Donny, think…we usually went north after…no it was east, or west? Which is it?" Both hands reached up to clutch his head. "No, this can't be right!"

He then jumped from building to building for the next few minutes searching for the manhole they usually took back to the lair, but nothing came up. Fear and more panic filled the olive green turtle as he realized that he indeed forgot his way home, he couldn't go back.

He soon found himself in one of the alleyways he checked, breathing heavily and heart thumping. Hands still clutched on his head as he let out a loud scream of frustration before his shell hit the wall and he slid down to the ground.

"Why can't I remember…I should know but…I can't," he spoke to himself. He knew that he's making a lot of noise and it could attract attention, but the turtle didn't care. The problem he's facing now is worse than being discovered now. "What happened…did Shredder know about this?"

Just then the sound of a car hit him as he turned and saw a black limo stopping right in front of the alleyway. Don didn't move as he saw this, what was the point if anyone saw him now?

To his surprise the door opened and Shredder came out of the vehicle, "How did he…" he said in a low voice, surprised that he knew where he was.

Oroku Saki then walked down the alleyway till he was a few feet away from the olive green turtle, "Something wrong?"

"What did you do to me?" Don accused with narrow eyes.

"I don't know what you mean," Shredder responded, putting on a good poker face.

"Why can't I remember my way home?"

"You can't? that's surprising," a surprised look appeared on Shredder's face.

"What did you do?" Don stood up, as anger build inside of him.

"I can honestly tell you that I didn't do anything to you."

"Then why can't I remember!" Donny shouted, getting angrier.

"Maybe you don't want to," he pointed out, which seemed to extinguished some of the fire.

"What do you mean?"

"Think about it, you've been gone for so long, someone who is so bent to get back home would defiantly remember their way back, but you don't so that must tell you something."

"What did you do?" Don asked again, but less angry.

"Tell me something, as far as you can remember can you recollect us doing anything to you?"

Donny opened his mouth to say yes but stopped as he searched his memories and couldn't recall anything. This wasn't right, he must have done something to him but there was nothing he could recall that indicated that something had happened to him, this isn't good.

"Besides, if your family was so important, don't you think you would remember your way back?" Shredder spoke up after seeing the turtle's hesitation.

Donny then thought about what he said and for some reason it was true. He wanted to go back, but yet he couldn't remember the route home. Another thing came to mind, He didn't see his brothers at all as he went building to building. If they were looking for him he would have at least been able to see them or any trace of them. Had they given up the search? Despair started to fill him as the facts started to rain true.

"I'm going to get back in the car and head back, if you want a ride them you can come. Or if you want to stay out here then you can, it's your decision." Turning around he then headed back to then limo, leaving Don behind, who started at the ground.

Opening the door Oroku Saki then got in and started back at the turtle, "You coming?"

There's a moment of silence passed as Don thought about it. He could stay out here and remain lost, or go back with Shredder and at least have a place to stay. How could he stay out here if he couldn't remember the way back to the lair? Heck did he even want to go back if his brothers gave up the search? Slowly he started walking over to the limo, much to Oroku Saki's delight.

The turtle then climbed in as the door closed and they took off. The ride would be one of silence, Don didn't want to say anything as he's in utter turmoil. Was Shredder's words true? Did he forget the way home because he didn't want to go back? While looking out the window he couldn't see the large smile Shredder had on his face, yes the plan had worked.

A/N: Hope you like, like I said in the last chapter things are going to go smoothly from here on out and the good stuff can start. Well maybe after the next chapter. I'll try to have the next chapter up soon, I thank you all for waiting.