Long time since I've updated this. Life got in my way and I apologize. This chapter's a bit short because of that. Reviews are appreciated. They help me know people read this stuff and help me in that whole feeling bad about letting folks down when I don't get anything updated for a while. On a side note, I will be updating Codependency before the week's out. The new chapter is halfway done, I just haven't figured out which way to end it to better serve the next chapter.

The door was busted in and the lair was ransacked.

Worst of all, Splinter was gone. He was fuckin' gone. It wasn't like he disappeared inta thin air. Nah, he was taken. He was taken and it was that O'Neil bitch's fault.

I'd been thinkin' wit' tha wrong head all day cause of her and it'd gotten my father kidnapped. I had suspected someone was followin' me when I brought that O'Neil woman back here from tha subway station, but I was too caught up in how warm and soft tha skin on tha backs of her legs were as they dangled over my forearm while I carried her, and how good she smelled. It was her fault I'd been distracted. All of this was her fault, she shoulda never took what was mine in tha first place. If she'd never taken my sai, none of this woulda happened.

"We can't stay here." Leonardo's announcement came as I started righting our furniture and looking for any clues on who mighta taken our father.

"Where tha hell are we supposed ta go, Leo? It ain't like we can just check inta tha Hilton! 'Sides, there's gotta be something here ta tell who has Splinter, ta tell us what tha hell happened." I pushed through tha pile of blankets on tha floor that sensei usually sat in, they were kinda like his little nest.

It didn't take long for Mikey to join me, his face stained with tears as he picked up broken pieces of furniture and started inspecting them like he was fuckin' Sherlock Holmes or some shit. Fuckin' dimwit wouldn't be able to figure out what happened here if his life depended on it. I didn't say nothin' though, I just let him keep helpin' while Don stood near the door still.

He was leanin' on his bo staff with his eyes narrowed in my direction. I couldn't tell if he was scrutinizing me or tha mess. Either way he was looking for clues. He'd be more helpful if he did a little more than standin' and watchin'.

"Don't just stand there, shell-fer-brains, help me!"

His head titled ta one side and his cheek pressed against tha wood of his staff, "Did anyone see you, Raph? In the subway when you rescued April, did anyone see you?"

I shook my head no. What was I supposed ta do, tell him yeah? Tell him a bunch of dudes in pajamas and bug-eyed masks saw me spring out from behind a column in broad daylight before I kicked their asses? That I mighta been too distracted by tha news lady ta make sure they were all out cold and none of 'em followed me home? Or that I suspected I was being followed and didn't pay any attention ta it cause the fuckin' broad smelled too good ta take my focus from?

Leonardo looked up at me at that point, seeming ta be attempting ta read my features. I looked away.

"I-I don't know, it was dark in tha tunnels. I was tryin' ta make sure April was okay, I wasn't real focused."

Donatello scoffed, "Of course you weren't."

My chest swelled and tha broken chair in my hands went flyin' in his direction. He deflected it easy enough with his staff and continued on like I hadn't even thrown it in the first place. Fuckin' ninja.

"What were you doing in the subway to begin with Raph? Why were you even out in the middle of the day? What's your deal with April, were you following her?"

Mikey stopped his sorting at that moment, his blue eyes looking up at me in wonder as he clutched one of Splinter's blankets tight ta his chest, a corner of it coming up ta rub against tha tip of his beak. Leo's expression was just as curious but held none of tha accusations that Donnie's did.

"She had my sai. I went ta get it back." It was the truth, half of it anyway. I was gettin' pretty good at givin' up half tha story ta throw my family off my trail. They usually bought whatever I sellin' as long as they were sure I wasn't lying.

All of 'em except Donnie.

"You have anything else you want to tell us? You seemed to omit how you'd been following her in order to regain a weapon that sensei had told you to forget about in the first place. Then you didn't mention that you might have been followed. Anything else you want to tell us about today?" Donatello's eyes were narrowed ta little slits that I'm sure he coulda shot ninja stars outta if he wanted to.

"You accusing me of something?"

"What do you think I'm accusing you of, Raphael?"

Before I knew it my feet were marchin' in that little twerp's direction. He'd fuckin seen me, I was sure of it, but I wasn't gonna admit ta nothin' until he called me out.

I smacked his staff from in front of him and he stumbled as the body weight he'd been resting on it pitched forward a bit. But I didn't let him fall, my plastron was pushed up against his in an instant, shoving him back against tha wall. I pressed my beak against his ear slit, tha growl comin' from my throat sounding more menacing than anything he'd ever heard. "You got somethin' you wanna say to me, Donnie? If you got somethin' you're tryin'a accuse me of, you better make sure you got yer facts straight. You been tryin'a screw with me all day and I ain't up for it." I lowered my voice to a near whisper, making sure he was the only who could hear before I continued. "I'll rip yer fuckin' tongue out faster than you can blab about whatever the hell yer tryin'a accuse me of, Donatello."

My golden eyes were a blaze of fire as they bore inta his cool brown pools. Donatello didn't flinch though, instead he let his head lull to one side as if he was inspecting me like one of his damn experiments.

His hand came up suddenly and hesitated before it gently touched my cheek, "You've really lost it." His voice was soft, like he was realizing that I was goin' crazy. Shit, I'd told Leo that myself earlier in so many words.

I smacked his hand from my face so hard that tha sound of skin slapping skin echoed through tha lair.

"Enough! This isn't helping."

My head whipped around to Leonardo and my teeth clenched as a growl rumbled in my throat, "You ain't helpin' either. What do you wanna do, Leo? Hmm? I ain't runnin' from this. It's our home, I ain't lettin' nobody force me outta it just cause of some broken furniture. And if they wanna come back, let 'em. I ain't got no fear of this, Leo."

Leonardo's chest puffed out, he was challenging me with his words, "We can't organize our thoughts here, put together information and find our father if we're under the constant threat of attack. We don't even have any idea who took him or if he's even alive!"

I was on top of him in a heap of tangled, struggling limbs in a heart beat, but tha struggle didn't last long. My fingers curled around tha top ridge of his plastron, rocking him back on his shell quickly and with enough force ta smash tha back of his skull inta tha ground before pulling his face ta mine as tha tip of my sai pressed against his throat. His eyes crossed then clouded with confusion for a second before they focused on mine.

"...Raph," Mikey's timid voice behind me pulled me back ta reality. Donatello just stood there with his mouth hangin' open.

"My father is alive, you prick," I snarled in Leonardo's face. "You say anything opposite of that again and you won't be." I pushed off of him and stood as I tucked my sai away.

For some reason my head was reelin' and I closed my eyes ta get my bearings.

"Raph," Mikey started up again and his hand came to rest on my shoulder.

"Stop touchin' me." I smacked his hand away and opened my eyes, focusing on Leonardo as he stood up while rubbing the back of his head. "Sorry, bro. I'm just... tha stress of tha situation, ya know? I shoulda known betta."

Leo nodded his understanding, "I know." He was silent a beat as his fingers examined tha lump on the back of his head. "You think April knows who was after her? It has to be the same guys. They were after her, you showed up..."

"They followed you here. We left with April, they took Splinter in retaliation." Donatello summed up Leo's thought.

"Then doesn't it make sense, guys, to go back to April's?" Mikey's voice was still timid and he continued to rub tha tip of sensei's blanket against his beak.

My three brothers all exchanged glances before Donatello's eyes locked with mine.

He was asking me a silent question. I knew in my heart that he knew what'd I done earlier just by how he looked at me now. He needed ta know I'd behave myself if we went back to tha news lady's place tonight.

"Damn it, Don. Stop starin' at me and let's get goin' already."

He nodded and clapped my shoulder, "Let's not do anything else we'll regret today, okay?"

As much as I wanted to agree, I couldn't. I knew once I set foot back in that woman's house, looked at her freckled skin, and that fiery red mane of hair, I'd be done for.