Disclaimer: I do not own the TMNT.

A/N: Inspired by Dlvvanzor's wonderful Teen Titan story: What if I told you.

Once again thanks to Random Passerby for keeping me on track. Sometimes I get so sidetracked with angst/character development I don't get to the actual back drop. Sorry for that, but while there's a slight inkling of angst, mostly get ready for a lot more on the shadow and what it leads to. Thanks RP, for pointing that out to me. And thank all of you guys for holding on as long as you have. But it's time for the angst to take a backseat and some action begin. Also a forewarning. School has eaten my mind, finals are coming up, so prepare for insanity!!

---

Day 12

The casts are off!!! And I'm finally free!

Over the past few days the excitement of getting them off has been almost nonexistent, but once they were off it was a whole other story. April barely got my legs wrapped before I was bounding for the door, with Don already out there waiting for me and Raph coming behind.

We still had a few bandages on but at the time it didn't matter because we were finally free and for a minute it felt like everything was right with the world. Once we got outside I think it took us a few minutes for our mental trains to come in, we were so shocked. I mean it's one thing to be allowed outside for an hour and someone has to watch you, but it's so different when you just get to be outside and you decide what you do, where you go and anything you want to do.

Dad only said don't get to wild. We agreed, but whether we had any intention of remembering what we agreed to was again a whole other story. Because finally we were free to go look for the shadow.

It was early morning when we started so we didn't suspect we'd see anything for awhile, but that didn't stop us from exploring and playing in the woods some. And even with freshly healed legs, I'm still faster than my brothers and can climb a tree higher than they can. Or maybe that's just cause I'm the most the flexible and slip through branches they couldn't.

Doesn't matter though.

Annoyed Raphy like nothing else though. Being beaten by me always does.

And being reminded about the times are even worse, maybe that's why I like brining up the battle nexus all the time. Sometimes it's fun to just be a little annoying.

After a few hours though of running around without any real object, Don finally got us calmed down and started talking to us about a few things. If we wanted to find out what the shadow was we needed a plan.

So I told him where I had seen the thing and also where Casey saw it as well. And then the next few hours were spent setting up a type of security system. It was pretty simple with just things from around the forest, and once we were done nothing looked any different.

But like all ninja traps, that's exactly what we wanted.

All over though there were things to alert us if something was coming without letting whatever was being detected know we knew.

Also Don had managed to find an old camera in a box in the attic. The flash was broken on it, but after some rewiring from good ol' Donny boy, it worked like a charm, without letting whatever know its picture was being taken.

I'll need to see if I can use that back home. There's nothing that stops brothers from pummeling me faster than blackmail. Though that can make them angrier. Raph has still sworn revenge from when he was asleep, I put some of April's make up on him and took a picture.

He said the only reasons he didn't kill me was because April was there (after her store burnt down) so she could be a witness, and that I had that picture. So I figure as long as I have the picture, my tails safe.

I hope.

But that's a story for another time.

Because right now our focus is primarily on the shadows.

It's getting later and we're all outside up in trees waiting for whatever it is to come by. I'm excited and nervous at the same time and…

…. …

Ok, can't breath, can barely write. Why am I writing? Oh yeah. Don't want to forget what happened.

Ok, take a deep breath and, the traps worked!

We didn't see to much or what they were, because they took off to fast but we did see them.

What happened was we were all in the trees waiting for them and then one of the signals went off. And when that happened we all turned our attention to the spot it was coming from and there below us was two of the shadows. One was smaller than the other one, and before I knew what I was doing I was working my way silently down the tree.

I remember Raph was telling me to stop, but I just wanted to get closer. Unfortunately they heard me and took off, with a roaring thud.

After that, I jumped the rest of the way down landed on the ground with my brothers behind me and took off after it. Why I don't know. I just wanted to see what it was so bad and curiosity has a way of getting into me and leaving no room for anything else.

I got a lot of scrapes and bruises from all the branches I ran through trying to catch up and a lot of slivers from all the trees I went into to try and find them. Whatever they were though they also stuck to the shadows and continued to run, blurring with it.

Raph was catching up with me and Don was in a tree overhead when I thought I was going to catch up with the smaller one. Which was nothing short of hard because whatever these things were, they were running fast.

I reached forward to touch the smaller one, which now looking back was stupid, but I didn't care. I just wanted to know what it was. What I found was a sudden thud making contact with my chest and sending me back a few feet.

Raph was still after the thing with Don, and until they saw the bruises when we go inside I don't think they realized I'd been hit. Not that that mattered because I was on my feet again and running harder than I ever had before, catching up and even passing my two brothers.

Again I was close, this time though I didn't reach out for the smaller one, but thankfully my older brothers reached out for me because throughout the chase, it had gotten darker and all I knew was to keep on running. Which I did even after the thuds got quieter. I just thought they were farther away now, I didn't realize they'd gone down.

And I almost followed them right off what I think was a type of slope or something like that. It was hard to tell in the dark. I just remember yelling out something and then before I went over feeling something grab my belt and strong arms grab the back of my shell. It turned out to be my brothers and we both wound up falling backwards in heap, just listening to the thuds get duller and duller until nothing was there.

"Mike, never, do that again." Raph hissed at me and smacked me upside my head. Then whispered "Glad yer ok."

Don seemed too shocked to speak for a minute after everything happened and in turn I had to help get him on his feet again. The last time we were here we didn't go very deep into the woods, and now that we know something is out here and there's something we might fall off of, that's probably a good thing.

But good or bad, we're going out again tomorrow.

April made a big fuss about my bruises but I told her they only looked bad. Truth is they don't hurt that much.

Even with that though I had to throw in some whining before Don would stop giving me that mother hen look he gives.

It was around eight o'clock when we got inside and up to bed and it was only a few minutes later that Don and Raph both fell asleep.

Leo didn't say much when we got in and I didn't say much to him either. I'm worried about him, but right now I feel like I have something to take my mind off it for awhile.

And for that I'm grateful.

Besides maybe when he gets better he'll come out to. We still have that camping trip to look forward to as well.

Seriously gotta wonder what in the world these things are! And tomorrow we're going to go see what's over that ledge.

Cowbunga

The Mikester

To be continued…

A/N: Well things are definitely picking up speed. Hope you guys like it. Please let me know. And once again, thanks Random Passerby, I'm really glad you told me that. And I don't take offense or it personally at all. I love writing and whatever critique I get I really try to take into consideration, go back and look at what they saw that I didn't. And I definitely see what you mean. Thanks for telling me.

Be blessed

your friend

innocent-rebel