Basically, this chapter follows its name and counts down. So just know that the number of hours refers to approximately how much time they have left before zero. So close! We are getting so close! I am so excited!

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Seventy-two hours

By the time they had all gathered and settled down in the main room it was nearly ten o'clock at night. The turtles, Raphael included, where all rather startled by the gravity of Mona Lisa's statement. The hothead leaned over her shoulder and looked down at the picture in her hand, sizing up the human man thoughtfully.

"Why the shell does your father know her?!" He asked, sounding a little bit offended.

Mona Lisa frowned and stared more introspectively at the image. "I'm not sure."

The answering growl made her straighten and glare warmly at the hothead seated beside her. Despite his reluctance to do so, Leonardo felt that he had no choice but to intervene. "Now is not the time for this."

"I can think of no better time." Raph countered, smoothly.

Mona's tail twitched the way it always did when someone had gone too far. Leo grimaced and took a step back feeling like a melting candle trapped between two opposing flames. The lizard mutant's hand slowly lowered the image and she dealt the green-eyed turtle a glare that might have put even Master Splinter to shame. Shockingly enough, Raphael met it with a glare of his own and managed not to falter.

"Just what is your problem, Raphael?" She asked, that hurtful edge returning to her voice once again.

Michelangelo whimpered a little and clung to Donatello's arm. While Don had every desire to comfort his little brother, the current position would not allow him to step in if this little flare of attitudes turned into a row and that made him uncomfortable.

Raph tilted his head and Don couldn't help but notice the rather spiteful gleam in his brother's green eyes. He raised an eye-ridge. Whatever was going on here, they were all missing something. Raphael was never intentionally cruel unless something or someone had hurt him.

"Maybe I just want to make sure that you aren't hiding anything else that might be important information to one or all of us." The red-masked turtle growled lowly. The tension in the air was palpable, so thick you could slice it with a knife. Though Mona Lisa already seemed quite capable of slicing it with her fiery glare.

"Back off, Raphael, it's none of your concern!"

"Then who's concern is it?! Leo's?! I'm your boyfriend I have a right to be concerned!" He reached out to put a hand on her shoulder but she jerked away and hissed at him, her tail swishing between them warningly as though she were prepared to knock him off his feet. Raphael blinked, surprised, though it was obvious he was about to explode.

Leonardo took a deep breath and once again stepped between them, placing a hand on Raphael's chest to hold the hothead back.

"That's enough, both of you." He said, but the words that came out of Mona Lisa's mouth took it yet one step further.

"Maybe I'm not prepared to call you that anymore."

Any ounce of warmth in Raphael's aura evaporated. His body went ridged. He bowed his head and turned his carapace to her. Leo stared in shock, willing her to take back the words she had just uttered, but Mona Lisa wasn't looking at Leonardo, she was looking at Raphael.

"Call me whatever you like." Raph said slowly, some of his anger returning even though his voice was surprisingly calm and level.

Slash desperately hoped that Mona Lisa would say something, anything to rescind her earlier statement. The large, spiky turtle had seen that look of utter betrayal upon Raphael's face once before. He had hoped never to see it again. It was the same expression Raphael had worn the night that Slash tried to kill his brothers. Though Slash knew that this time it was so much more, he knew that deep down, at the most basic of basic levels...Raphael had once again lost a best friend. Only this time, that loss would ache more deeply and sting more fiercely than anything the young turtle might have experienced prior.

Master Splinter hung his head, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. I had feared this day would come. I only hope that both Mona Lisa and my son are strong enough to overcome it and repair the bonds that have been broken.

Suddenly, Raphael whipped around to face Mona and Leo, who was still standing between them, so quickly that the air made an audible swoosh as he moved. The emerald green turtle was at Leo's shoulder, glaring blankly at the lizard mutant. "But I won't be lied to, Mona Lisa. You know something you aren't telling us and as long as it affects the safety of my family and our teammates, I demand you tell it to me right now."

Leo reached out for his brother. "Raph, it's alright, she already told me—" Again, Raph looked straight past his older brother at the lizard beyond, this time with a gleam of hurt in his eyes.

"—No, Leo. It's alright. As long as he demands to know." She said, flicking her tail at the word 'demands'. "My father knew her. I'm not exactly sure how. All I can remember is that they fought. I think that she was trying to..." Mona paused for a moment and looked away. "She was in love with him. She was trying to replace my mother. She wasn't fond of me, I think because I wasn't her daughter. My dad told her off. He broke her heart. Then...something happened. I was mutated and my dad was..." She let the sentence taper off, shaking her head a little to ward off the blurry memories and images that were surfacing. "...she took me. And after that..."

A few moments of silence settled over them. Slash was getting increasingly antsy as he could see that Raphael was straining, trying hard not to break composure. Finally, the hothead blurted out.

"Alright. Looks like the woman's connection to Mona's past is no longer needed. So we're free to do this your way, Leo. What's the plan chief?"

"Just because I think know what her connection to me is doesn't mean you can just kill her. There are other things I need to know and other questions that need to be asked!"

"Of course. Because the mad-scientist chick will definitely give ya honest answers!" Raph shot back.

The loud bang of a stick on the concrete made everyone jump. "That's enough, Raphael!"

Raphael whirled around and one of his sais flew across the room to land point-first in his punching bag. "It's not enough, Sensei! We need to make a plan now, before it gets any later! The sooner we act the higher our chances of actually taking this creep down! Once and for all. We have no idea whether or not she'll notice that they took something from her apartment or that she was being followed tonight! She may not be a ninja, but last time we underestimated her. This time we have to be ready."

Mikey shrunk back even further behind Donatello and the brainy turtle rubbed his baby brother's shell gently, hoping that this would all be over soon. While Raphael questioning Sensei's orders or arguing with Sensei's words of wisdom was normal, Raphael had never, ever, ever yelled at their father like that. Never. Leonardo, though Donnie couldn't be sure, he never was with the eldest, looked just about as horrified as they were.

Splinter stroked his beard. Disgraceful as Raphael's behavior at the moment was, the fact that the most emotional of his sons was already emotionally burdened made the old rat take the words more seriously than he might have under different circumstances. He hummed. He looked over at his eldest. "Leonardo, Raphael brings up a valid point. What do you propose?"

For a few moments, the leader was shell-shocked. He stepped forward and cleared his throat. "Well, I..." He mulled over Raph's words in his head. He stared his father resolutely in the eyes. "I think that Raphael is right, Sensei. We need to make a plan."

"We want in." Slash stated loudly, seeing that as his cue to join the discussion.

Leo nodded appreciatively. "Good. We'll need your help."

"You certainly will. I found this on the roof of the apartment building." Rockwell said, stepping forward and placing it on the ground at their feet.

"A blade?" Donnie asked, leaning forward.

Splinter's snout crinkled. "Bearing the mark of the Foot." He growled.

Before Leo could get angry at Slash for not revealing this information earlier, the giant turtle held up his hands. "But they might not be connected. There's been a lot of Foot activity in that area lately. It might just be a coincidence."

"There is no such thing as coincidence." Splinter grumbled lowly. "Now that she has joined forces with Shredder your adversary will be even more powerful. We shall need to call upon all the allies we can. Casey and April, included. I shall accompany as well."

"But Sensei—"

"No, Leonardo. If Shredder does come, he will target you and your brothers at your most vulnerable. I must go with you to engage him in battle so that he cannot do so."

"Perhaps Donatello and I can rig an EMP that would shut down all the Footbots within a certain radius. It might not help much, but it will give us an edge."

Leo's eyes flashed. He raised an eye-ridge at his smartest brother. "Donnie?"

Don blinked. "What?"

"Think you can do it?"

"Sure I can. And with Rockwell's help..."

"How long?"

Donatello shrugged, uncertain. He glanced over at Rockwell. The monkey returned the gesture. Don thought about it for a little while. "Couple of days."

The leader glanced at the youngest and the hothead in turn. "What about you two? How long do you need to prep?"

Mikey perked up a little and slammed his fist into his palm. "Anytime, bro! Michelangelo is ready! Booyakasha!"

"Raph?" Leo asked, turning to find that Raphael had moved almost halfway across the room to stand by Slash's side. He frowned a little as he saw that Slash had managed to put a hand on Raph's shoulder without the hothead shaking it off.

Raphael's face was mixture of emotions. The most prominent of them being frustration. With a deep breath, Raph met Leo's eyes. "I need a couple of days training to figure out where I stand in this whole thing. Besides, I wanna make sure I'm in tip-top shape to avoid what happened last time."

The hothead's words had all three of his brothers, and Slash, eyeing him worriedly. He brushed off their concern and silenced their whispers with a glare.

Leo nodded his assent. "Alright. Then we'll rendezvous at ten o'clock three nights from now.

"So roughly seventy-one hours and twenty-two minutes from now." Don said softly. Leo nodded again then turned to Slash.

"Slash, you and I can plan a couple of meetings before that so that we can make the necessary adjustments to the plan to accommodate you and your team."

"Of course." The large mutant turtle acknowledged with a nod. Taking that as a dismissal, he turned to the other Mutanimals and signaled them that it was time to go. They began to leave, but Leo's hand caught his shoulder.

"And don't go up top at all until then if you can help it. I don't want anybody going up without the rest of us there to back them up, understood?"

Slash nodded and raised his hand in a farewell as he disappeared into the dark sewer tunnels. Leo turned to his immediate younger sibling with stern fire in his eyes. "That includes you, Raphael."

"Relax, Fearless. I'm not going anywhere. Now I have training to do. So if you'll excuse me. I'm going for a walk in the sewers. I need a little space to get rid of the feeling of you breathing down my neck."

Master Splinter shook his head as he watched Raphael disappear into the sewers. His claws scraped across the concrete as he padded softly back to his room behind the dojo to meditate.

Leonardo watched his younger sibling go with narrowed eyes, but he knew that he better not pursue Raphael. Pursuing the hothead would only lead to further argument. If Raph needed some time...so be it.

"Leonardo."

He almost didn't want to acknowledge her call of his name. But he knew that the fault wasn't hers alone. Raphael had been acting emotionally and rather harshly. If the only way to get him to back off a little was renouncing their relationship, perhaps it was for the best, for now, of course. As soon as Raph took some time to see that it was really both of their faults everything would settle back to the way it used to be...

He hoped.

"Yes, Mona?"

"I'm ready to start now."

The leader's dark blue eyes rose to meet her earthy brown ones. "Mona, I need to start planning the—"

"And if I'm going to go with you, I'm going to have to be ready."

Mikey and Donnie eyed them curiously, tense and slightly nervous. "Um, bro, you're not actually going to bring Mona with us, are you? No offense, sis, but that's exactly what creepy scientist lady wants!"

Don hummed in agreement and added. "Yes, and she still has trouble with blades. Bringing her into battle could lead to a panic attack and—"

"That's exactly what Leonardo is going to help me with." She murmured softly refusing to meet their gaze. "I will be ready."

"We'll see." Leo said softly, though his voice rang through the silent room like a clap of thunder. Mona clinched her jaw tightly.

"I will be." She repeated, resolutely.

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Seventy hours

It wasn't until it was almost midnight that Raphael returned to the lair. He took a deep breath and walked in, keeping his face stoic, expecting to find at least one of his brothers waiting up for him. Alas, it appeared that none of them were. Though he'd never dare to admit it, he wished someone was. Then at least he wouldn't feel like the last living thing on the face of the earth. He sighed and allowed his shoulders to droop. He glanced around. The light in Donnie's lab was off, so it looked like even the resident brainiac had decided to get some rest. But...there was light shining from beneath the door of the dojo. Leo. His scowl softened and he dared to hope a little. Maybe Leo would—no, who was he kidding? Leo would just lecture him. He turned away, but paused and looked back. Shell...right now, even a lecture would be better than nothing. He moved over to the door and slid it open to peek inside.

His brother stood in the middle of the tatami mats, holding his katana at the ready. Just one? Raph wondered briefly. What happened to—? That question was cut short as another figure leapt into view, bearing the other katana blade. Mona Lisa? But...the blades...

He watched as Mona chewed on her lip nervously and raised an eye-ridge. She's learning to face her fears. If she keeps going this fast, she's going to get herself hurt. Oh, what the shell do I care? He thought, huffing softly. The longer he watched, however, the more the severe downward curve of his mouth softened. He felt lost. She'd always been so close before. She'd always been right there, but now...she seemed so far out of reach. His eyes spotted a few new cuts that must have been earned during these intensive new exercises.

Why Leo? He wondered briefly. Why did she feel she needed to go to Leo for this? And why now? If I wasn't good enough for her wouldn't she have just come right out and said so? Maybe she just didn't realize it at first. Shell, why do I always have to screw everything up?! Why do I always loose control when it matters most? Damn it I probably screwed up any chance I had of winning her back, too!

He sighed and leaned a little too heavily on the dojo door, causing it to slide open rapidly. He almost lost his balance, but managed to catch himself. Two faces looked up at him, blankly.

"Just came to let you know it's past midnight. Might wanna get some rest for tomorrow. And...uh..." His eyes fell on Mona's arms once again. His voice dropped to a whisper. "You should clean and bandage those. 'Sewer isn't exactly the cleanest place to sporting injuries. Always gotta watch out for the little, innocent looking ones. Sometimes they're the ones that get most easily infected." He muttered almost incoherently. The longer he stood there, the lonelier he became. He felt like they were standing miles away and he was shouting into the sand-filled wind across a stormy desert. After he finished, the silence was deafening. He shifted uncomfortably. "I-I-I'll just—g-Goodnight." Raph turned and left as fast as his feet could carry him.

Leo turned to Mona Lisa. "Mona...I'm done for the night. Make sure you take care of those scratches before you go to bed."

She nodded and watched as he took off after his brother. Frustrating as Raphael had been lately...she hoped that the emerald green turtle was all right.

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Sixty-two hours

Mona Lisa was about to walk into the kitchen when she heard Mikey and Donnie whispering. She paused just outside the doorway and listened. "Did Leo tell you anything about how Raph was?"

"Just that the hothead wouldn't even let him in to talk last night."

"Think he'll come out of his room at all today?"

"If we're lucky, no."

Mikey paused and Mona could tell from the air that the youngest turtle was confused. "Why?"

"Do you like seeing Raph when he's upset?"

There was another pause, but this time it was a little bit more understanding. "I hate it when he tries to pretend like nothing's wrong, but he's obviously..."

"I know."

"Think he and Mona will ever, you know, patch things up?" Mikey's voice sounded small and almost scared.

"I don't know, Mikey. I really don't. They both seemed real upset."

"Think Raph's heartbroken?" Mikey asked even more quietly, sounding even more worried than before.

"I think that he's hurt and a little bit saddened by some of the things Mona said, but I don't think he's heartbroken because Mona never really said that she didn't care for him."

Mikey seemed to brighten a little at the reminder. "Maybe he has a chance then, huh, Don?"

"Maybe, Mikey. Maybe." Don answered with a hopeful little smile of his own.

Mona leaned her back against the wall leading into the kitchen, her hand pressed against her heart. She knew that what she'd said had hurt Raph. But if what Donnie and Mikey said was true than maybe...after everything had settled down...maybe. Despite all the anger, frustration and inner turmoil she was facing at the moment, Mona Lisa paused and smiled. Yes...perhaps in the more distant future...yes...she'd like that.

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How was it?