Happy Easter, everyone!!! Hope that y'all are still with me. My daughter is doing so much better now :) It is like having a different child. Now that things have calmed down a little here, I finally finished this chapter (and started on the next).

As always, I still don't own anything turtle or turtle related.

Chapter 21: Close Calls

Karai quickly entered the manhole and climbed down the ladder, a squad of foot soldiers followed. She ignored their requests that she remain in her car. She didn't care that she was knee deep in sewer water. She was closing in on her father's enemies and this would end tonight. That was all that mattered.

No more tricks. No more games.

She had them all, even their human friends.

The signal from the tracking device was strong. She signaled for her soldiers to spread out.

"We should be right on top of them," she hissed. "Look for secret entrances, foot prints…anything!"

She ran her gloved hand across the wall and searched for any loose bricks, or secret levers. Her patience was growing thin when she heard one of her soldiers call for her.

She turned and walked to where the ninja was kneeling.

"What is it?"

He pointed to some debris in water.

There, stuck in some sticks and leaves, Karai could barely make out a blinking, red light. She glared at the soldier, like it was his fault somehow, and pulled out the lid with the tracking device still attached.

"NO!" She dropped the lid to the ground and stomped it. "Ready the vehicles! We leave immediately!"

All of the soldiers scrambled to the manhole. When Karai arrived on the surface they were already in the vans and her driver had the engine running and her door open.

She slid into the back and had her phone out before the driver closed her door.

"Put the entire building on lock down," she hissed into the phone.

"Mistress?"

"No questions! Just do as I say. The turtles know that their brother is not dead. They will be back to retrieve him."

"We will be waiting, Mistress Karai."

She closed the phone and ended the conversation without replying.

"Driver, hurry!"

"Yes, Mistress." The driver nodded and pressed harder on the accelerator.

Raph glanced over his shoulder, panic knotted in his stomach. An alarm blared from the building.

"Hurry it up, guys," he yelled as he picked up his pace.

They ducked into the parking lot and hurried toward the van. Master Splinter appeared in the doorway. He was just about to exit the van and rush to meet them, but when he saw the expressions on their faces and the speed in their step, he stopped. He looked behind them to see if they were being chased, but saw nothing.

Casey shifted Leo's limp form to Raph and he rushed to the front of the vehicle. He quickly put on a white jacket and tucked his long hair into a white baseball cap. April gave him a worried look as he climbed into the driver's seat started the van.

"We gotta book, quick," he said. "They have alarms goin' off over there...I think they know."

April nodded and turned her attention to Raph and Mikey. They had just entered the back of the van and set their brother down in a spot April had cleared for him.

Raph slammed the door. "Ok, Casey...go, go, go!"

Casey didn't hesitate, he shifted into reverse and backed the van out of the lot. He threw it in drive and slammed on the gas. The van lurched forward and raced toward home.

April had pulled a blanket over Leo's form and was examining the wound on the side of his head. Splinter had returned to his spot beside Donatello and Mikey placed himself between his brothers, ready to help if April needed him. Raph had crouched down beside the back window, making sure they weren't being followed.

Mikey swallowed thickly when he saw that his purple clad brother was not stirring. "Wh-what's wrong with Donny?"

"I gave him something to make him more comfortable. He will wake up soon," April replied as she removed the dirty fabric from Leo's head and replaced it with a clean gauze pad.

"Does he know that Leo is alive? That we went back for him?"

April's lips pulled into a thin line and she shook her head. "I couldn't convince him."

She turned her attention back to Leo. "How long has he been out?"

Raph turned from the window and made his way to Leo's side. "Out? He was awake when we got him."

"Hey! Hey, Leo!" Raph gently tapped his brother's face. "Wake up, bro."

Leo's eyes fluttered open and he tried to focus on his new surroundings. It was dark and he could barely make out the figures that were hoovering over him. He could feel the rumble of the vehicle under him. He shifted and tried to set up.

"No, no, Leo...settle down."

He recognized the female voice. It wasn't Karai.

April. It was April.

"Where..." he barely whispered.

"It's a'right, bro." Raph's voice this time. "We're goin' home...you're safe."

"Home...safe...NO! Don! They are leaving Donny!"

Leo tried to set up again. He ignored frantic shouts for him to stay down. He pushed against strong hands that tried to get him settled back down.

"No! Donny...he's...can't leave him!" His voice was strained and cracked.

Leo managed get upright, he grabbed Raph's arms. Panic surged through him and allowed some words to tumble out of his mouth. "Go...go back...Don...he's dead...they said..."

Splinter started to make his way to Leo's side and Raph opened his mouth to answer him. But it was April that wrapped her arms around the trembling turtle and whispered in his ear. She ignored the blood that was being smeared on her own face.

"Shhh, Leo," her voice was calm and soothing. "Don is alive. We have him."

Leo squeezed his eyes shut, a sob cracked in the back of his throat. He tried to shake his head. They had told him that Don was gone...that he was going to die just like his brother.

"They..they said..."

"They lied, Leo," April interrupted. "We are your family, Leo. We wouldn't lie to you. Open your eyes and look. Don is sleeping, he is right here."

Leo slowly released the grip that he had on Raph. He and Mikey moved to the side so that Leo could have a clear view of Don. Leo's glazed eyes scanned the outline of the form that was next to him. He couldn't make out anything but the shape of someone under a blanket, until he got to his face. Don's mask-less face was the only thing visible.

Leo let out a shaky breath and his body seemed to deflate as he sunk back to the floor. April and Raph gently guided him back down.

"No, Leo," April shook him slightly when she noticed his eyes starting to droop. "You still can't go to sleep. Not yet, Ok?"

"Heads up, guys!" Casey's voice rang out from the front. His eyes were locked on the line of black vans that was quickly approaching on the other side of the road.

Casey pulled his cap down further and kept his eyes forward. He held his breath as the vehicles passed them, screaming back to foot headquarters. Raph returned to his spot by the back window and watched as each one faded into the distance. He mentally counted them off. His breath caught when he got to ten and saw brake lights.

"Keep it cool, Case-man," Raph called to his friend. "We have brake lights!"

"It's alright, Leo," April pulled his blankets tighter when she heard the blue clad turtle gasp.

"They're turnin', dude!" Mikey shouted when he looked out of the window and saw the van nose it's way back toward them.

Everyone in the back of the van ducked down so they couldn't be seen. Casey took a deep breath and tightened his grip on the steering wheel when the van pulled beside them.

"I'm a delivery man, just a delivery man," Casey thought as he kept his eyes forward and tried to ignore the sweat that started to trickle down his face and neck. With a shaky hand he reached over and flipped the air conditioning to full blast.

He could feel eyes on him. Watching. He swallowed thickly and fought the urge to jerk the wheel and run the enemy off the road. Crash them and hurt them...like his friends were hurting. He took another deep breath and glanced in the rear view mirror. Raph was crouched by the back window. Raph nodded to his friend, silently telling him to keep it cool...that he was doing a good job.

Casey's knuckles were bleached as they tightened even further on the wheel. The eyes were still staring at him, it made his skin crawl. It seemed like the van followed beside of them for hours. Casey was almost getting dizzy from holding his breath. But after just a couple of minutes it merged left and turned on a parking lot.

Raph watched as the van raced back toward foot headquarters. He didn't say a word until the tail lights could no longer be seen.

"Good job, Mr. Delivery Man," Raph said.

Casey slowly released his breath through clenched teeth. He gave his friend a shaky smile.

"What do ya expect," he laughed. "They're stupid...they couldn't find their butts with both hands and a flashlight."

Raph nodded and laughed. "Let's go home."

April gave him a sad smile.

They were going home...all of them. But they were not out of the woods yet.