You thought the feeling was forever

And the stars were on your side

It was lovely while it lasted

But it wasn't meant to stay

Still, you let yourself get carried away

***

Raph has to practically shove his pouting brother into the building, and they both snap into ninja mode the moment they cross the threshold. Third eyelids close, helping to lighten the dark just a bit, and they do a once-over of the area, searching for any signs of movement. Donnie hurries forward to do a more thorough search, and Raph watches with exasperation as he seems to bounce around the boxes, appearing and disappearing like some stupid game of wack-a-mole. He definitely learned that from Leo.

He glances back to the door and the van, and a shuffle of movement catches his eyes. He freezes in surprise as he realizes the guard is awake and walking towards the door, and dives into the nearest shadow, waiting for him to enter the warehouse to find the mob lackies.

His brow furrows in confusion when he simply stops at his post next to the door, and leans against the wall, tapping the hilt where his gun hides. He remains like that for a minute or two more, and Raph is about to go seek out his brother when another man dashes at him, knocking him out and tossing him to the floor. His four cohorts come up behind them, and the first crouches to fiddle with the air before they all dash through the door one at a time.

Then, once a few steps inside, they vanish. Like they were never there at all.

...Which begs an excellent question.

He steps forward cautiously, scanning the area around the door. He spots a small black box of unknown purpose, but there's a camera-appearing lense on the end. After a moment of contemplation, Raph kneels and turns to look at the unconscious man that it's pointed at. Without taking his eyes off of him, he stabs the box.

Slick and forceful, it breaks through and probably slices plenty of delicate wires, rendering the box useless. The man flickers a few times before disappearing, and Raph's theory is confirmed. The whole scene was a hologram- an act, and someone left it here for a reason.

Someone was using it as bait.

Possibly for a couple crime-fighting mutant turtles.

It's a trap.

He jumps to his feet, and the bay door drops down in response, cutting him off from the outside. He dashes to it on pure instinct, slamming his sai into it with a frustrated growl, only to cut himself off when there's a faint hissing. He looks up to the vent above, a taintedly sweet smell reaching him.

He instinctively holds his breath and steps back, only to catch the tell-tale fwoosh of air. He deflects one dart, and then a second and third, abruptly recalling the brother that's with him and unaware of the danger.

His heart leaps to his throat and he forsakes ninja stealth as he charges for the crates. "Donnie!"

The darts seem to follow him, but after years of dodging laser blasts, keeping out of their reach takes only a small reserve of skill. His startled younger brother appears near the top of the stack, and he ricochet off the surfaces to reach him. "Raph? What's going on? Are you-"

He tackles him onto his shell, covering his mouth to hiss, "Fake robbery. Darts. Stay down."

Donnie nods, so he removes his hand, both of them crouching, surrounded by the thick crates that make a good makeshift shield. A moment of scanning, and then Donnie is nudging him to point out the camera facing in their direction. Raph spots the well-hidden dart guns, and pulls out his ninja stars, noting every location so he doesn't hesitate.

Donnie slowly removes his staff, whispering, "Think we can make it out?"

"Not the way we came in. This place is leaking knock-out gas."

"Like rotten-eggs?"

Raph shoots him a grimace. "What?"

"The smell."

He deadpans, because they have more pressing matters than comparing what the room's about to smell like. "No."

"Sweet?"

He sighs. "Sure."

"High concentration." Donnie's brows furrow. "We don't have much time. We need to get out."

No kidding, Einstein.

He turns towards the second floor, wondering if there's a window that they can shatter. He meets his younger brother's gaze and nods to the stairs. Donnie gets into a more flexible crouch.

"Hold your breath."

He bites back a retort. "Got it."

They leap, hitting the ground and gathering the attention of the dart guns. Donnie maneuvers himself in Raph's path, just enough to cover him as the darts go flying, but not enough to hinder his assault on the guns. They're taken out one by one, and Raph's amused by how easy it is.

When the last dart gun has a ninja star blocking the dart's escape, Donnie's staff stops it's whirl and they hurry for the stairs to the next floor. The moment that he trusts his surroundings enough to breath, Raph can't help from a wheezy comment. "That was... Too easy. These mutant haters- are... All tech, no strategy."

"The last ambush involved missiles, Raph." Donnie says after they pause to catch their breaths. It almost feels condescending, as if Raph wouldn't vividly remember the large missiles that fired at them in the middle of the city street. "And him wanting us alive possibly means something so much worse than him wanting us dead."

"This actually seems off-par from their usual. I thought we sent their ring leader away for good. What's Vizioso's game this time?" Donnie muses as he plucks the darts from his staff. Raph, not willing to admit that he has a point, makes his way to an open window that leads to a fire escape.

The window opens, but Donnie pushes him to the side before he can get out. His paranoid younger brother taps his staff on the walk as if to make sure it won't trigger anything, and Raph rolls his eyes, shoving him out. He gets to his feet as Raph grumbles, "Who cares? Probably broke outta jail or something and wants revenge."

Donnie frowns at this, because his recent actions probably made things between him and Don very personal, but Raph notes that he doesn't look particularly murderous.

Good. He'd rather Leo handle Donnie when he's off his rocker. He's more content to watch and see what comes of it.

They go up to the rooftop and Raph stops at the edge to set a foot on the parapet, looking down to where the fake guard once laid. He smirks, and heads to his younger brother. "Looks like our pining is over. We're getting our action, after all."

"Guess we really shouldn't have assumed that all villainy was gone for go- the pizza!" Donnie abruptly spins towards him, evidently horrified that they forgot their stupid punishment, and evades a dart that neither ninja saw heading for him, instead catching the dart that would have hit Raph.

He yelps, slapping at his arm as if to swat a mosquito, and then freezes.

So maybe they're not quite out of danger yet.

There's barely a second of pause, and then Raph is tackling Donnie for a second time that night, bringing him down as darts beginning flying overhead. They're coming from all directions, and that does not bode well, especially now that one of them has been hit.

"Not good! Not good! Not good!" Donnie gasps as they scramble to their feet just long enough to reach the fire escape, evading the darts and ducking into the offered shadows. They move to the ground soundlessly, and a van pulls up to block the streetway exit. They duck behind a dumpster to get a reading on the danger, and Raph feels a familiar defensive fury well up.

Raph watches the first man exit the back, and he's prepared to take him head on- he owes the jerks several deserved beatings- but then Donnie slumps against the wall just enough for him to notice, a notable hitch in his breath. Raph spins to face him, and his younger brother's eyes are glazed, staring at Raph as if he doesn't quite see him.

The beatings can wait.

"Come on."

He grabs his arm to yank him to his feet, and Donnie doesn't fight him. He hears the cries of the men as they dart out from their hiding place, but Raph pays them no heed, diving deeper into the alleys. Donnie's steps are heavier than usual, but he's as nimble as Raph needs him to be, soundlessly following his lead as they attempt to loose the kidnapping wackos.

They reach a dead-end, and Raph knows they can't turn back, so he does a desperate scan of the area. There's a small, darkened window possibly leading into a basement to their left, and Raph takes the opportunity, leading his younger brother to it and waiting till he's all the way in to follow his lead. He drops down, finding that it's a storage room, and crouching on the fridge as Donnie drops down on a couch, burying his head in his hands.

The room is covered in dust, so Raph's not worried about any unexpected interruptions. "Don?"

"Sedative." Donnie mutters in his hands. "T-Think so, anyway. Fast working. Mutant brand?" He looks up, groans, and then buries his head again. "There're two of you."

It was more of an 'are you okay' tone than a 'give me a run-down' one, but then again, for his brainy younger brother, both could satisfy as the answer. Raph is not satisfied, but he doesn't push, looking back out the window as voices register. He reaches through to drag an empty box over the opening, listening as footsteps enter the area.

"-see them?"

"-told you we should have all shot first!"

"Those weren't the orders!"

"We could have taken out them both!"

"You know what he said about to much tranq!"

"Look, you two! Boss only wants the one and he wants it alive! So let's go find it already!"

New panic is trying to get a choke hold on him, and he looks at his younger brother, letting the news sink in. The one.

Is Vizioso after Donnie? Not again! Last time was a fluke, but this time he's picking him out. He's targeting him. And all because Donnie just had to go try and take him out!

His teeth grit as a protective rage tenses his muscles, and he shoves the box away, earning his younger brother's attention. Donnie's eyes are dialated, but alert, and he gets unsteadily to his feet as he asks, "What is it?"

"I'm gonna lead them away." He snaps. "Stay here. You'll only slow me down."

"What?" Donnie gasps squeakily. "That's- terrible idea. We have... to stay together."

"You're drugged and I'm not having this argument with you." Raph growls, well-aware that Donnie will not hesitate to follow if he doesn't talk him down. "I can take care of myself."

"But!" His younger brother looks panicked; the worry, sedative, and fear leaving barely any white left in his eyes as he struggles to come up with an argument. There's no way he'll keep up- he barely looks able to continue standing.

He's being stupid, but he's also scared, and Raph feels some of his frustration flicker out. He slips off the fridge, moving to his side and sitting him back on the couch.

Donnie's hand wraps around Raph's arm to keep him from standing back up, clinging as he searches his face, and the hothead mutters, "I'm just gonna to lead them away, and I can't have dead weight. I'll be right back for you, soon as I get rid of these bozos. But you have to stay here."

Donnie hesitates. "No- fighting. Can't win. Just... Lead 'em away."

"Stay here, Don." Raph reiterates because he can't make that kind of promise.

Donnie relaxes his grip, slumping on the couch, and Raph hoists himself back onto the refrigerator. He takes one last look at his younger brother, glazed doe-eyes watching him anxiously, and then he slips out of the window.

He feels a bit guilty leaving Donnie behind, but it fades when he steps out of the alley and finds the dweebs searching for them. As always, he relies on instinct to lead him, and instinct demands a little payback.

Raph sprints up to the nearest mafia goon and round-house kicks him in the gut, launching him into two of his partners.

The rest look up at the pained cries, and Raph flashes the cockiest grin that he can muster with the anger bubbling in his gut, pulling out his twin sais. "You want a mutant turtle? Well, congratulations! You found one!"

He slides a leg back, sneering as weapons are lifted. "Here's your prize."

Like the untrained imbeciles they are, they aim for where he is, and not where he's going. A handslam of two empty skulls here, a bruised rib there, and Raph loses himself in the fury. To many emotions had been jerked about that night, and since the goons played a part in it, they could also play the part of his punching bags.

Plus, he's still sore over the 'kicking him when he was down' and then kidnapping his little brother fiasco, so that officially takes down two birds with one stone.

Nothing impulsive about it. Who says he has anger issues?

He tosses the unconscious form to the ground and watches him roll, dusting off his hands and turning with a smirk to see who is left. The confidence fades when he spots the abnormally large weapon resting on a goon's shoulder, and braces himself as it fires.

He's too close to dodge and he barely connects the dots that there's a net flying at him until the weighted endings are wrapping around his body, knocking him onto his carapace. He strains against it, limbs locked tight, preventing him from lifting his arms to cut through the stupid metallic rope- since when were nets made of metal? And hot?

They're steadily getting warmer, each woven strand burning into his skin, and he ignores the panic shooting through his being in waves. There are tiny zaps of electricity dancing across the restricting metal, pinches of pain across scales, and he can't breathe. There's movement, and his attention shoots to the goon that approaches with a small device, watching with growing horror as he slowly twists the knob.

The goon's messing with him. He's getting into his head, probably payback for hitting his friends, and he braces for the pain, because any minute he's going to knock him out and Donnie's going to be on his own- He ran off and left his drugged little brother alone in a human basement with a legion of goons after him after he'd just told him he had his back!

Nowaitdon'tDonnieNO-

"WAIT!" 

The knob jerks to highest setting.