A Brother's Intuition

Facing Demons

"Stop this, both of you! This argument will get us no nearer to saving Raphael." Mikey interjected, making both of them quiet down.

"Sensei?" Leonardo asked softly, obviously turning to his father for guidance.

The old rat sighed. "My son, if this human is telling the truth about Raphael's condition, then I am afraid he is right. We must move immediately. We shall plan as we go along."

Leo's lip curled a little, resentful that this human had the audacity to come in here and tell him what was to be done about his brother. Of course Raphael's safety was paramount, but so was the safety of his other sibling and his father. A 'do it as we go' plan would mean increased danger for all of them.

"But how will we find out where Shredder is keeping him? Raph didn't have his t-phone and—"

Leo cut Donnie off midsentence as he sheathed his katanas and loaded some shuriken into the pouch on his belt. There was a razor sharp edge to the eldest turtle's voice as he turned to Casey and ordered, "Take me to the roof."

Casey bristled. "I'll do it, for Raph's sake. But I don't take orders from anyone! Especially not you!"

The eldest turtle growled and stepped into the human's space, but Casey Jones would not be intimidated. Casey even took a step forward to prove it to the mutant turtle. Leo bent down in Casey's face and whispered, "If you want to continue being friends with my brother, you won't have a choice."

"We'll see about that after we get him back." Casey retorted, just as confident. He broke eye contact, grabbed a bat from his golf bag, and muttered, "Follow me."

"I'm going with you." A feminine voice stated from the back of the room.

Four pairs of eyes turned disapprovingly at her. Casey, however, was impressed by her bravery and devotion to her friends. The human frowned as he realized that the mutants were not about to let April anywhere near the action if they could help it. Splinter was the first one to speak.

"Ms. O'Neil, we cannot possibly risk your life in this battle."

"Raphael is part of my family too. I will do whatever it takes to help you get him back."

Leo shook his head and help up a hand. "No. It's out of the question. You could be killed."

"And I couldn't have been killed last time I helped you save the city?"

Casey growled uncomfortably, making all eyes, human and mutant turn to him. "We don't have time for this. Every minute we waste is a minute Raph may or may not have. We need to go now."

"I'm going with you." April said resolutely.

Master Splinter sighed. "Very well. I sense we will be unable to stop you, April."

"Damn straight." She muttered.

Casey smiled a little bit. A woman after my own heart, he thought to himself. Then he snapped out of it, his fingers tightening around the bat in his hands. "Hang in there Raph, we're coming for ya, buddy."

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Where am I? Raphael thought slowly as he opened his eyes a little. He was being restrained on some kind of table. He hissed and shut his eyes again as he was immediately blinded by bright, stinging lights.

"So, you're finally awake." A deep voice rumbled out from the back of the room, behind the lights.

Raph snarled and did his best to fight the pain and stare straight through the light to where he believed Shredder's eyes were. "Fuck you." He growled.