*Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise.

*Author's Notes: Chapter 6 of 'Slash's Revenge' is here and it's my favorite chapter of this story so far. I'm really excited to share this one with you.

Thank you so much to every one of my readers, followers, and friends. Next month marks the second anniversary of me posting my very first story online (remember 'A Shell of Himself'?). I'm so incredibly grateful for the many wonderful friends I've made from this amazing experience. You are all such tremendous blessings. Thank you with all my heart. *hugs*

Okay, I'm getting super sappy, aren't I? I just wanted to let you all know how much I appreciate you. ='}

Humongous thanks to my awesome creative consultant/beta reader, Joanne N. Grey. ILY, girl!

All righty then! Onto the chapter . . .

Thanks for reading, everyone. ;)

CJ

Chapter 6 – Tough Call

Ten minutes…

It was now ten minutes past the time that patrol should have kicked off, but Raphael still hadn't heard Donatello come home yet.

Who knew just how slowly ten minutes could be?

As each minute ticked by, another knot looped in Raphael's apprehensive stomach. He was finding it harder and harder to convince himself that his genius brother had simply lost track of the time while rummaging through some random junkyard. Sure, Donnie tended to get caught up in his work every now and then, but it wasn't like the genius turtle not to call and check in with one of them if he knew he was going to be late. That's because Donatello knew darn well that any time one of them was late for patrol without justifiable cause, they would get an ear slit full from Leo almighty.

Raphael rolled his eyes just thinking about his older brother.

The three youngest turtles had all had the incredible misfortune of being on the receiving end of one of the fearless leader's infamous earfuls. Michelangelo especially! Out of all the brothers, Mikey had always been the one least likely to show up for something on time. The reason for that being he was much too easily distracted by shiny objects, ABC gum, things with buttons, small animals, and his own toes.

On the flip side, Donatello was the brother most likely to arrive as scheduled; far more reliable than his brothers in orange and red. He was also far more considerate, always calling to let someone know if there was even a slight chance he would be fashionably late. Probably because the mild-mannered, good-natured boy genius never wanted to worry anyone.

Well, apparently, he's okay with worrying everyone now…

The voices in the main living space of the lair were beginning to noticeably grow in volume, alerting Raphael that the rest of his family were also well aware that Donnie was now officially late. The temperamental turtle could hear that panic was starting to set in. Mikey's voice was now almost loud enough to be fully understandable, even through the thick walls of the lair. Over the course of the past thirty seconds or so, Raph had made out the words 'D,' 'totally,' and 'wigging.'

Much to the red-masked turtle's own discomfort, he had yet to hear the distinct ringtone of anyone's T-phone sing out. Not since Donnie had left. And that was certainly not for a lack of listening, because Raphael had been listening much, much closer than normal.

A half-growl, half-whine deflated out of the hotheaded turtle. He was presently sitting on the edge of his bed, staring down at the display of his T-phone, at a complete loss for what to do. If he were to call his genius brother up at this point, it would be a definite sign of weakness on his part. Even if the turtle in red didn't verbally admit to being wrong, calling Donnie's T-phone would be the nonverbal equivalent of doing so. As far as Raphael was concerned, phoning his missing brother would be like openly telling everyone he was a wimp.

Pfffttt!

Hamato Raphael was a lot of things, but a wimp was certainly not one of them!

The temperamental turtle wasn't about to let his little brother make him out to be some kind of wuss. After all, Donnie and his huge, pathetic, puppy dog eyes had already managed to make Raph look like a 'big jerk', as Mikey had so eloquently put it back in the lab.

Donnie was definitely playing this whole turtle in distress role to a T. The later he came home, the guiltier the hotheaded ninja felt. There was no doubt in Raphael's mind that his smartest brother was just dragging all of this out in order to make him to look bad and force him to cave under the pressure…

Nice try, Brainiac, but I'm not giving in.

Raph stayed immobile on the edge of his bed, glued down by his own stubbornness.

Another minute crept by, followed by several more.

Still, nothing.

Waiting had never been one of Raphael's strong suits and this particular time was no exception. The suspense was starting to tear him apart at the seams. Even worse was the remorse.

If anything had happened to Donnie because of him…

All of a sudden, Raph was struck by a memory of something he had said to Slash the night that monster had attacked all of them…

"Sorry, Slash… My brothers come first. No matter what."

Raphael wondered where that memory had been when he was placing all the blame on Donnie for what had happened to Spike.

How had that been putting Donnie first?

And how could Raph solely blame his brainiac brother for everything when he himself had been the one who had carelessly left Spike alone in his room with a container of mutagen?

If the temperamental turtle wouldn't have hastily taken that canister away from Donnie, Spike would still be Spike.

The more Raphael thought about the day of Spike's transformation, the more disgusted he became with himself. Even after he had been so cruel to Donnie that day, his little brother had still tried to protect him. Both of his little brothers had . . .

"Slash! You see? That's what real friends do! They stand up for each other! I'd rather be like my brothers than you any day."

Despite being badly injured by Slash's attack, Donnie and Mikey had had no qualms with risking their own lives to save Raph from Slash's onslaught. Yet, just three weeks after the incident, Raphael had repaid his second youngest brother by chewing him out and telling him that he was nothing but a screw-up and a walking disaster.

All without a shred of remorse…

And still, the last thing Donnie had said to Raph just before he had left the lair was that he was sorry.

Clutching his head in his hands, Raphael let out a growl.

What is wrong with me?

The hotheaded turtle couldn't take it anymore. The guilt was killing him.

He bolted out of his room and headed straight towards the edifying voices of Leo and Mikey.

It didn't take long for Raph's brothers to notice his presence. As soon as he stepped foot into the main living space of the lair, he was greeted by his youngest brother's screechy voice.

"Raph! Dude! Donnie's not back yet and he won't answer his T-phone! We tried it like a hundred times! Well, okay, maybe it was more like ten or twelve. But either way, he's still not answering!"

Making his way down into the pit of the lair, the hotheaded turtle took a few moments to assess the situation, much the way that Donnie would have had he been there.

Raphael could see the panic in Mikey's big, blue eyes and he could tell his baby brother was struggling to keep his emotions in check. While it wasn't unusual for Michelangelo to openly display what he was feeling inside, it was still hard to see him so visibly upset.

Then, there was Leo…

When Raph turned towards his older brother, he could see the poorly repressed alarm in Leonardo's normally steely, blue eyes. Fearless wasn't looking all that fearless. This troubled Raphael even more than Mikey's reaction. Leo was supposed to be the one who kept it together during times of crisis. Not the one getting all rattled.

"Where's Master Splinter?" Through squinted eyelids, Raphael glanced around the room, knowing that he had heard his father's return earlier.

"He's in the Dojo. I don't think he wanted us to see that he's worried, too. This isn't like Donnie, Raph." The anger that had resided in Leo's voice earlier in the evening was stripped away, replaced by apprehension. Raphael couldn't help but wonder if his older brother had a bad feeling in his gut, similar to what he himself had been experiencing, but the temperamental turtle's stubborn pride prevented him from asking.

"He's probably just at April's." It was obvious from the indifference in Raphael's tone that he was doing a much better job of concealing his anxiety than his brothers, but that didn't mean he wasn't just as nervous as them.

"You think we didn't try that already? She hasn't talked to him all night!" If there was any doubt that Leonardo was stressed out before, there was no question about it now. His voice had just sounded about three octaves higher than normal.

Thinking Leo was being a bit melodramatic, Raph quickly tried to downplay the situation.

"I'm sure he's fine. You two are getting your bandanas in a twist over nothing."

"Maybe you should try calling him, Raph." No sooner had Leonardo finished making his suggestion, when he started gesturing towards Raphael's phone, like the hotheaded turtle was too stupid to figure out what his older brother had meant by 'calling him.'

Raph let out a gruff snort before snarling out his response.

"If he didn't pick up for you or Mikey, why the heck would he pick up if I called him?" The red-masked turtle couldn't follow his older brother's logic at all.

Had Leo magically forgotten why Donnie had left the lair in the first place?

Did the words 'You're always screwing everything up, Donnie' not ring a bell?

"Just humor me, Raph. Please."

"Fine!"

Sucking in a sharp intake of breath through his clenched teeth, the temperamental turtle snatched up his T-phone and jabbed his thick fingertips into to the buttons much more aggressively than seemed necessary. He was treating the device as though it had wronged him in a former life or something.

Holding the phone up to his ear slit, Raphael waited impatiently. All the while, he glared daggers at Leonardo.

Much to the hotheaded turtle's surprise, his brainy brother actually answered.

"R – Raph…" Donnie choked on the word, as if it was a struggle just to get his brother's name out.

Raphael would have thought the strangled sound of Donatello's voice a bit strange if not for the bitter fight the two of them had had moments before the genius turtle had fled the lair.

Well, it wasn't so much of a fight as it was Raph yelling at Donnie and hurting his feelings…

Clearly, the smartest turtle was still upset over what had happened back in the lab.

Somehow, just hearing Donnie's voice over the phone washed away a majority of the remorse that had been eating away at Raph for the past hour or so. Now that the turtle in red had verbal confirmation that his missing brother was safe and just off pouting somewhere, he suddenly felt a little less sentimental over what had happened and whole a lot more like his insensitive self. Sure, Raphael still felt bad for what he had said to Donnie to make him run off, but the hothead didn't let something like a guilty conscience stop him from addressing his younger brother with his usual absence of tact.

"Donnie, where the shell are you? Why haven't you been answering your phone? You're late for patrol and Mikey and Leo are freaking out!" Even though, only seconds before, Raph had also been 'freaking out' over the fact that Donnie hadn't returned home yet, the temperamental turtle did an admirable job of stifling any residual trace of panic with his angry tone.

Raph was about to pat himself on the carapace for a job well done when the unspeakable happened.

"Hey, Raphael."

The gravelly voice that growled through Donnie's end of the line made the red-clad turtle's blood run cold and he nearly dropped his phone.

"S – Spike?" All of the air instantaneously expelled out of Raph's lungs, like they had been depressurized, while his heart came to a screeching halt.

If Raph gasping the name 'Spike' into his T-phone hadn't alerted Leo and Mikey to the fact that something terrible had happened, the horrorstruck expression on their hotheaded brother's face certainly had done so. Raphael looked as though he was about to throw up or pass out. Maybe both.

Less than a split second later, Leo and Mikey were beside Raph; both trying to get closer to their red-masked brother's phone, anxious to hear what was being said.

"It's Slash now, remember?" Came the croaky response.

Raphael gripped his T-phone so tightly in his hand, he nearly cracked the casing that housed the inner components of the small device.

"Yeah, how could I forget?"

That awful voice…

"Heh… never liked the name 'Spike.' Call me... Slash."

That ghastly night…

Everything about it still haunted Raphael's nightmares. When he closed his eyes, he could still see visions of Slash pounding his brothers into oblivion. He could still see every last angry mark that had littered their skin.

That sadistic monster had beaten them all within an inch of their lives without showing a single ounce of regret, and now –

Now, that sadistic monster had Donnie.

"Where are you and what have you done to my brother?"

As infuriated as Raphael was, he knew he had to somehow keep a level head for Donnie's sake, but he was having a difficult time clinging to what little remained of his self-control. He kept thinking about the night of Spike's mutation and how badly Slash had injured Donatello. Even though his immediate younger brother did his best to act like his sprained arm wasn't bothering him anymore, Raph could clearly see that Donnie still favored his left shoulder.

Just the thought of Slash attempting to practically twist Donnie's arm off made Raphael's insides come to a rapid boil. Adding further fuel to the hotheaded turtle's fire were the tears now streaming down Mikey's freckled cheeks and the mortified look on Leonardo's face.

It was taking everything in the red-clad turtle's power not to scream obscenities into the phone that he was trying not to crush in his bare hands.

"Me and Donnie boy had a little unfinished business to take care of. Isn't that right, Donatello?"

All Raph could hear in response from his genius brother was a small, hiccupped whimper which was nearly smothered by the sound of Slash's vile cackling.

"I swear, if you so much as scratched a scute on his plastron – " Raph purposely stopped mid-sentence, scared to death that if he let his temper spiral out of control like he usually did, the consequences of his actions would be severe for his little brother. Donnie was at the mercy of a vicious being that had already shown them that he had no mercy.

Out of the corner of his eye, Raphael could see that Leo had somewhat pulled himself together and was presumably trying to pinpoint Donnie's location via GPS. To Raph's left, he could see that Mikey was making a mad dash for the Dojo, no doubt to inform Master Splinter what was going on.

As his brothers readied themselves to go after Donatello, Raphael knew that his job was to keep Slash on the line for as long as possible. Not just to buy them more time, but also, to distract the psychotic mutant holding their smartest brother hostage. The longer Raph kept his former pet turtle talking, the less likely he would attack Donnie.

"You'll what, Raphael? You'll track me down? You'll kick my shell? Ha! I'd like to see you try. It seems to me like the last time we met, I pretty much mopped the rooftop with the four of you. Are you looking for a rematch, Raphael?"

"All I care about is my brother! Let me talk to Donnie, Slash!" It was a dangerous line Raph was walking, being so audacious. Slash could hang up and destroy or toss away Donnie's T-phone at any moment. He could just disappear into the night with Donnie in tow and there was nothing they could do to stop him from where they were at. That thought alone scared Raph half to death.

There was a chance that they might not ever see Donnie again if the hotheaded turtle said something to push Slash past his limits.

"I'm afraid Donatello isn't really feeling up to talking right now. He's had a bit of a rough night." The mock sympathy in Slash's belittling, sing-song voice made Raphael want to reach through the phone and tear the larger mutant's throat out.

"I want to talk to my brother! Now!"

It was at this point that Mikey returned to the main living space of the lair with Master Splinter following behind him in much hastier fashion than usual. The fact that even his father looked scared didn't help Raph's confidence any, that much was for sure.

"Oh, all right. If you're gonna get snippy about it… Donatello, your brother wants to talk to you."

It sounded as though there was some sort of struggle going on in the background. Raph guessed that meant that Donnie was refusing to cooperate. While this made the older turtle proud, it terrified him at the same time. His obstinate little brother was still ornery enough to put up a fight, but Raph knew that that persistence and tenacity were only going to tick Slash off.

The rustling sounds died down and the red-masked turtle heard Donnie let out a painful cry before his voice came over the phone again.

"H – Hello…" Somehow, Donnie sounded even frailer than he had before, if that was at all possible. Raph tried not to let that stress him out more than he already was, but failed miserably.

"Donnie! Are you okay?"

"R – Raphie."

Raphie…

That was something Donnie hadn't called Raphael for quite some time now. Not since they were little kids.

Hearing his brainy brother call him by his childhood nickname just about made Raph choke on a sob, but he quickly reminded himself that he had to stay strong for Donatello.

"Talk to me, Donnie." Driven by a strong sense of urgency, Raph's tone came out far more panicked sounding than he had intended. He didn't know how long he would be allowed to talk to his brother, so his patience was hanging on by a fraying thread.

The next words Donatello wheezed out made the red-masked turtle's world start to crumble around him.

"I… I'm sorry… I'm so s – sorry."

Raphael's breath hitched in his throat.

Donnie was sorry. Again, he was sorry! Raph had done all of this to his younger brother, and yet, Donatello was the one apologizing for the second time that night.

The temperamental turtle shook his head, utterly appalled by his own actions.

I'm the worst brother ever…

"No, Donnie… I'm the one who should be sorry. You don't need to apologize for anything, little brother. Got that? Now, tell me. Are you okay? Has he hurt you?" Raph's voice was much firmer than just moments before; only because he desperately needed to know the answer to his questions. The suspense was eating him alive.

"Y – Yes."

Raphael cringed at the vague response, praying to whatever or whomever might be listening from above that his brother was responding 'yes' to his first inquiry ('Are you okay?') and not to the second ('Has he hurt you?'). But the hotheaded turtle was only fooling himself. He knew darn well the answer was to his latter question. The sound of Donnie's voice and the way that he was panting heavily into the phone confirmed as much.

"How bad, Donnie?"

"R – Raph… you d – don't – "

"How bad, Donatello?!"

There was a brief pause and Raph could hear his genius brother fighting tooth and nail not to cry.

"'B – Bleeding p – prof – fusely b – bad," Donnie breathed out, barely audible. He sounded so much younger than the last time they had spoken. Back when Raphael had been so cruel to him.

The red-clad turtle's chest constricted around his aching heart, making it nearly impossible to breathe.

This was all his fault.

All his fault…

Donatello had left the lair because of the horrible things that Raphael had said to him and Slash had taken advantage of the situation. The hotheaded turtle should have gone after his genius brother the moment he had run off, but he had been too darn stubborn to admit that he was wrong.

Now, Donatello was in grave danger; all because of Raph's selfish actions.

What have I done?

"Listen, Donnie! It's gonna be okay. You've just gotta hold on for a little bit longer. Can you do that for me? I promise you that I'm gonna find you soon. I won't let him hurt you again, little brother. And I swear on my life that I will make him pay!" Uncharacteristically letting his sentimental side show, Raphael's solemn vow was saturated with every last drop of conviction he could rally from within.

Sadly, the ninja in red's tone and words said one thing, but his conscience said otherwise…

Raph hated himself for lying to his frightened brother the way that he just had, offering him false hope merely to comfort him for a few fleeting moments. Raphael could hear the fear monopolizing what little voice Donnie had left, and as his big brother, the hotheaded turtle just wanted so badly to make his younger brother feel safe, if only for a second or two. And so, he had lied, knowing full well he had no chance of protecting Donnie from Slash. There was no way Raphael could get to his brother in time to stop that monster from injuring him any further.

However, there had been some truth to what Raph had said as well. If it was the last thing he ever did, the turtle in red would find Donatello and he would personally make Slash rue the day he dared to go after his little brother.

But, the real truth was, Raphael had not actually lied to his younger brother at all. That was because his solemn vow meant for Donnie had, in fact, been wasted on the evil beast holding the genius turtle captive. Slash's heckling voice coming through the receiver revealed that Donatello was no longer the one on the phone.

"Oh, that's so touching, Raphael. But you really shouldn't be making your brother promises you can't keep. You couldn't protect him before. What makes you think you can protect him now?" Slash's unspoken threat was not lost on Raph, causing his already queasy stomach to twist into additional knots.

Once again at a total loss for what to do, the hotheaded turtle glanced over at Leonardo with terror-filled eyes, hoping his older brother might provide him with some much-needed direction. Alas, Leonardo's broken expression only made things even worse. The leader in blue was supposed to have all the answers, but right now, he looked just as devastated as Raphael felt.

The red-clad turtle was about to growl out of spite when heard his genius brother's voice pierce through the tension building in the lair.

"N – No… S – stop! S – stop, p – please…"

Raphael was forced to listen on in horror as Donnie feebly pleaded in the background, and then, the temperamental brother heard what sounded like a slap. Two more slapping sounds immediately followed and Donnie's pleading abruptly turned into pitiful whimpers.

Hearing his timid, younger brother being struck made something inside of Raphael snap.

"Leave him alone, you sick, twisted – " But the hotheaded turtle wasn't allowed to finish his insult.

"Ah ah ah! You'd better watch your language, Raphael. Poor, impressionable little Michelangelo is listening, after all. Speaking of your little brothers, do you think that Donatello's arm is fully healed yet?" There was so much malice in Slash's tone, it made Raph's heart start to race with panic, knowing what the monster was readying to do.

"Slash, please! D – Don't do this! Please, I'm asking you… Please, don't hurt him!" The begging came without hesitation as Raphael's voice fluctuated up and down with emotions that he did not bother to hide. Not from Slash. Not from his father. Not even from his brothers. For the first time ever, Raph didn't care if they heard him sound weak or plead for compassion. At this point, he would have willingly gotten down on his hands and knees and groveled if it meant sparing Donnie from being tortured by the maniac on the other side of the phone.

Unfortunately, hearing Raphael beg only provided added incentive for Slash.

"So, who do you think this'll hurt more, Raphael? Donatello or you?"

A foreboding chill ran up and down Raph's spine as he realized what was about to happen.

Slash was going to hurt Donnie. Even worse, he was going to hurt Donnie and force Raphael to listen to it.

That had been Slash's plan all along; to hurt one of Raphael's brothers just to hurt him.

This was that monster's revenge…

Please, no! No! NO!

If someone would have dropped a pin at that exact moment, Raph would have heard it loud and clear, even over the sound of his wildly beating heart.

Then, an appalling cracking noise resonated in Raphael's ear slit, followed by the gut-wrenching sound of Donnie screaming in excruciating pain. It felt as though time stood still as the purple-masked turtle's shrill cries echoed throughout the lair.

Upon hearing Donatello's blood curdling screams, Raph's legs gave out from underneath him, no longer able to support his own weight. He did manage to lower himself down onto the couch, which was better than poor Mikey had fared. The moment the youngest turtle had heard Donnie's screams of pain emanating from Raph's phone, he had immediately pressed his hands over his ear slits and fallen to his knees in a semi-upright heap. He rocked himself to and fro, trying to drown the sounds out with his own crying. Leonardo somehow remained in an upright position, but he had to turn his back to his family. The sound of his smartest brother's suffering was overwhelming and the leader was fighting just to keep himself from either bawling like Mikey or tearing the whole lair apart like he knew Raph wanted to do. Master Splinter's eyes narrowed into angry slits and he remained eerily statuesque, tautly gripping the top of his walking staff as he listened to his second youngest child's voice start to go hoarse from screaming.

"Donnie! Donnie! DONNIE!"

Raphael's own voice was starting to give out from the strain as he continued to intermittently shout his little brother's name into the phone.

Never in his life had Raphael felt so helpless as he did right now. His genius brother was being tortured and all he could do was sit there and listen.

Just when Raph thought things couldn't possibly get any worse, he heard a loud, 'thud' sound and Donnie's screams unexpectedly came to a stop.

"Donnie? Donnie! Say something!"

The awful silence now hanging in the room was like a vacuum, sucking all the oxygen out of them. It was hard to inhale or exhale, let alone string a coherent thought together.

Raph was left to agonize over whether Slash had knocked Donnie out cold or done something much, much worse.

Then, Slash's grating voice cut through the sound of Raphael's labored breathing.

"Wow! I really enjoyed hearing your brother scream like that, Raphael. Did you?"

"YOU!" Was all that Raph could manage to get out.

"So, I'm guessing that that hurt Donatello a lot more than it did you, but maybe we need another demonstration, just to be sure. What do you think, Raphael? You wanna hear it again?" Knowing that the red-masked turtle had to be close to his breaking point after listening to his brainy little brother scream like that, Slash made sure his tone was extra goading.

"Y – You! You monster! You spineless coward! I will hunt you down and I will take you out! You hear me? TAKE! YOU! OUT! I'll rip your shell off! You… you – " All at once, Raph's voice failed him. His mouth hung open as if to say something, but the words did not come. His shoulders sank and his arms dropped heavily down onto his lap while he stared wordlessly at the T-phone in his shaking hand, clinging to it as though his very life depended on it. Out of the corner of his eye, Raph could see that Leo was speaking to him, but the only thing the hotheaded turtle could hear was Donnie screaming in agony, over and over and over again.

Make it stop! Please, make it stop!

Raph sealed his eyes tightly shut, trying like mad to block his brother's painful cries out. The sheer magnitude of the rage now coursing through Raphael's veins had caused him to lose any and all ability to function. There was only Donnie's voice and unadulterated fury. Nothing else could get through. That was all he knew. Save for those two things, the rest of his brain had completely shut down.

"Raph? Raph!"

Seeing that Raphael was obviously no longer in any condition to talk, Leo pried the phone from his volatile brother's rigid grip and promptly took over the conversation.

"What do you want, Slash? We'll do whatever you ask. Just don't hurt Donnie again." Ready to put his best negotiating skills to work, Leo spoke as calmly as he could, given the circumstances.

"Ah, Leonardo. I was wondering when you'd finally stick your nose where it didn't belong. What happened to Raphael?"

The grisly voice on the other end of the line made Leo's flesh crawl, serving as a painful reminder of the first night Slash had savagely attacked all of them, but the turtle in blue managed to suppress his anger.

At least for the time being…

"He's still here," the oldest brother answered flatly, determined not to let Slash get under his skin the way that he had gotten under Raphael's. Leonardo was well aware that he couldn't allow his temper to cloud his judgment, but that was extremely difficult when you knew your little brother was in the hands of a homicidal mutant.

"So… how have you been, Fearless?" The normally pleasant small talk was spoken in a highly unpleasant tone, demonstrating Slash's genuine lack of sympathy.

"I want my brother back, Slash! Now, tell me what you want!"

"You know, Leonardo, I like to think I'm a fair enough guy. Raphael… He took pretty good care of me when I was a regular turtle, so I'm gonna return the favor and take real good care of your brother here. Why don't you tell Raphael that I'm gonna keep Donnie boy as a little souvenir of our time together? I always wanted a pet turtle of my own." The condescension in Slash's raspy tone nearly sent Leo over the edge. The leader in blue was beginning to understand why Raphael had lost it. He was also beginning to understand what Raph felt like inside when he was overcome by a fit of rage, because right now, Leo wanted nothing more than to choke the life out of Slash.

Stay focused, Leonardo. You have to keep it together for Donnie's sake…

"If that's what you want, then take me instead. I promise to go with you willingly if you promise to set Donnie free." Based on his family's rather nervous expressions, Leo could see they all had strong reservations about his suggested course of action, but no one actually put a voice to their objections. That was probably because they were all still in a state of shock, having just heard Donnie being physically tortured over the phone.

"Heh! You always were a bit of a drama queen, Leonardo. I never liked that about you. Come to think of it, I never really liked anything about you, period," Slash stated bluntly, not mincing words. There was certainly no love lost between him and Leonardo.

"I assure you, the feeling is mutual, Slash. But that's all the more reason to take me up on my offer. If you hate me that much, wouldn't you rather hurt me instead of Donnie?" At this point, Leo would have done anything to protect Donatello, including sacrificing himself. The blue-clad turtle just wanted to get his already injured little brother away from the monster holding him hostage.

"Tempting, but I already have exactly what I want, Leonardo. Donnie boy will make a much better pet than you ever would. So loyal, so obedient, so deliciously weak. I'll break him as easily as that stupid twig he calls a weapon. And there's nothing you can do to stop me." Every word of Slash's response burned Leo's insides like a highly corrosive acid, but the larger mutant's next comment soon sent the turtle in blue into full-fledged panic mode.

"Time to say goodbye, Leonardo."

Horror seizing hold of him, the fearless leader finally realized that his brother's kidnapper had absolutely no intention of giving Donatello up, and now, Slash was about to end the conversation.

"Please, Slash! Don't do this! Don't hang up! Let's talk about this!" The oldest turtle's grasp on his normally unshakable self-control was slipping away fast and he found himself begging, much like Raphael had done earlier.

Slash was going to disconnect the call and take off with Donnie who knows where. The larger mutant didn't want to bargain with them, nor did he want lure them into a trap or another fight. He just wanted the genius turtle as his prisoner.

Shaking his head from side to side, Leonardo's mouth fell open into a silent 'no' of sorts. Denial rapidly setting in like the deadliest of poisons.

Slash's plot for revenge was to take Donnie away from them, permanently. In that malicious beast's evil and depraved mind, he had pieced together that the best way to hurt the brothers was to take one of them out of the equation, and he was absolutely right.

Nothing could have hurt them more than losing one of their own.

This can't be happening! This can't be happening… Leo thoughts were now bordering on hysterical.

"Oh, I think we're done talking, Leonardo. You know, this really is a flawless plan. Not only do I get to destroy Raphael by hurting Donatello and taking him away, but as an added bonus, I get to hurt you in the process. Plus, I'm sure this'll seriously traumatize that whiny baby brother and rat master of yours, too. This is just too good!" The giddiness in Slash's tone was like a cold slap to the face.

This monster was taking pleasure in their pain.

"Please, Slash! Please, let him go! I'm begging you!" Voice cracking with emotion, Leo blinked around the heavy tears pooling in the corners of his sapphire eyes.

"Not gonna happen, Leonardo. I already have the perfect cage picked out for him and everything. Donatello is mine now and it's time to take him to his new home. I'd let you say goodbye to him, but he's sort of unconscious right now. I think I might've hit him in the head a little too hard. Oops! My bad. I guess I'll have to tell him you guys said 'bye' when – I'm sorry… if he wakes up. Sorry for your loss, Fearless. Give my regards to the rest of the family."

And then, just like that, the line went dead.

To be continued…

Author's Note: Ouch! I do believe this just may be one of the most painful cliffhangers I've ever written. Especially since I now have to tell everyone that I might not be posting an update for a while. It will all depend on my real-life schedule and whether I decide to continue with the story or not. I'm really sorry for making everyone wait, but I'm going to take some much-needed time off to see the world. Disney World that is. XD

As always, please take a moment to favorite, follow, like, reblog, review, and/or comment on this story if you want me to continue with it when I get back from my vacation. I would really, really love to know if you are enjoying the story and what you thought about this chapter and that cliffhanger. Your feedback means the world to me.

Thank you very much for reading this and any of my other stories. I am so grateful to all of you. Take care. ;) CJ