Captured

First Capture - Donatello

 "What the hell, Leo? Why are we waiting?" Raph asked, his voice low but the tone no less frustrated because of that.

"Something feels 'off'," Leo responded in a whisper.

"Is that your way of saying your gut's talking ta ya'?" Raph asked.

Leo glanced at him and saw that Raph was sincere. "Yes," Leo answered. "Ignore the things that are visible and tell me your impressions."

Raph frowned but did what Leo asked, closing his eyes so that his other senses would take over.

"I think I know what you're getting at," Raph said after a moment, his eyes still shut. "It looks like we're alone up here as usual, but it doesn't feel that way."

Don and Mikey came over to join them and Raph opened his eyes.

"What's up guys?" Mikey asked. "Why did we stop patrolling?"

"Do you remember how Master Splinter taught us to sense the presence of others?" Leo asked. "How when you walk into an empty room it feels hollow, but when you walk into a room that is occupied by a living being it does not? It doesn't matter if you can't see the other person, your sense of the size of the room changes because now there is a solid, breathing form that is altering the density of the space."

"What are you two talking about?" Don asked.

"Echolocation. Leo thinks something's 'off' out here and my gut agrees," Raph said.

Mikey's head swiveled as he surveyed the surrounding rooftops. "I don't know how you get a 'feeling' from open space, but okay, I'm not gonna argue with your gut. What do you wanna do?"

Leo was silent as he thought about it; his brothers waiting patiently for his decision. Raph was feeling edgy now; the way he felt when he thought someone was watching him.

Don must have begun to feel the same thing because he dug into his bag and pulled out his night vision goggles. Leo delayed his decision while Don carefully searched the darkness, but when Don shook his head, Leo frowned.

"Split up," Leo said finally. "Donny, you go with Raph; Mikey come with me. Keep your com links open and check in at fifteen minute intervals. I think something is brewing and I want to be able to catch it before it gets out of hand. No hero's, no cowboys – we do this as a team."

The four brought out their headsets and once those were firmly in place, they separated into pairs. Fifteen minutes later each pair had covered several city blocks without seeing anything. When they each reported in, Leo told them to widen the pattern and remain vigilante.

Into their third loop, Don and Raph still hadn't seen or heard a thing. There was eight minutes left before they had to check in again, but both of them stopped searching for a moment in order to regroup.

"I don't know about Leo, but I've still got that strange feeling that we're being watched," Raph said, peering down at the street five floors below them.

"Your perceptions are a bit sharper than mine, especially out here," Don said. "I think it's just more quiet than normal and that's what is setting off your radar."

"Yeah maybe," Raph agreed, his brow furrowed as he continued to survey the street.

Don shifted his duffel into a more comfortable position before turning to walk away. "Let's go find Leo and Mikey," he said over his shoulder. "There's no point in patrolling if it's this dead."