TMNT are the property of Mirage; the series is the property of Mirage and 4Kids Entertainment; the comic books that I am taking to school are the property of me, and I hope my kids take care of them.

Next Few Days

Raph only had to get up once that night, when Mikey had begun another nightmare- but this one dissipated as soon as the brother in question put his hand on Mikey's arm and said, "Come on, bro- let's go home."

And Mikey quit dreaming his nightmare, and sighed, and fell back into a deep sleep.

Raph left the room just before Mikey woke up. It was an unspoken thing between them. Mikey tried to act normally- Raph made jokes about what was normal- Mikey tried to get on nerves and succeeded.

Mike met with Splinter and relayed to him in detail the night's previous nightmare; Splinter listened carefully, questioned carefully, and counseled carefully, and Mikey seemed more his old self afterwards.

But that night, everyone saw the hesitancy that Mikey was feeling about going to bed.

Nothing was said by Mike or Raph as Raph entered the room with the blankets, pillow, and sleeping mat from the day before. Nothing was said beyond "good night, bro" by either of them, and that night the nightmares- three in total- were quickly dealt with; Raph would put a hand on Mike's arm and say "Come on, bro- let's go home."

He is strapped to that table, and the cutting is starting-

Then a red fury runs a sai through Bishop's throat, another through his back, and tosses the twitching body aside.

"Come on, Bro- let's go home."

And he follows his brother wordlessly home.

"It's okay, Raph," he said the third night, before Raph could gather his gear. And with that he entered his room and closed the door.

Part of Raph was happy- now he could sleep in his beloved hammock instead of on the floor.

Part of him was worried that his brother was doing this despite still needing him. But he accepted it and went to his own room.

Mikey reminded himself, before going to sleep, of the way Raph killed Bishop in his dream- he repeated this "memory" over and over, like a mantra, with the "Come on, Bro- let's go home" as his chant- and the nightmare, when it came, was quickly dealt with.

More healing.

Don helped Leatherhead refurbish Professor Honeycutt. They managed to replace the arm that Bishop had destroyed, and improved on a few other parts of the body as well. They also made sure that he had a way to access Don's palm top that would require little effort or energy- no one knew just how important that skill would be in the coming days.

Splinter, rested if not quite healed just yet, ran training as if nothing had happened. But he could see that his sons were affected by this latest touch of Bishop's on their lives. He, too, felt that part of his very spirit had been injured by this- man.

Leo, always the one to throw himself into training, seemed to find more time than could be imagined in improving his skills. He studied the most deadly, the most difficult moves he could research.

But Raphael surprised his father the most- he spent more time meditating. And he spent less time getting angry at Michelangelo.

Splinter, also, began to realize that he feared something- he couldn't place a finger on it, but he feared something none the less. He would meditate, and some growing threat seemed to be nudging his conscious, tapping at his awareness. Was this merely a reaction to his treatment by Bishop? No, he was sure it was something else; a growing threat, but not from Agent Bishop. But he was not able to clearly define it as yet.

A few days after returning from the rescue of Splinter, the family, along with Leatherhead and Professor Honeycutt, met to discuss future protection.

"I don't like that Bishop was able to introduce something into the system to drive us out," Leo said. "Don, we must find a way to make sure that can't possibly happen again."

"Already working on it," he responded. "We've been busy blocking possible access to our living areas- nothing larger than a rat should be able to get through. That doesn't help us if Bishop introduces something smaller than a rat, but it's a start. We've also been examining the devices that created the disturbance. The Professor has managed to create a feedback program that has disabled any remaining pods- they can not be reactivated."

"Well, as you said, it's a start," Leo agreed. "What about new locations for us to move to if the Lair is compromised?"

Don shook his head.

"Still searching. There is the option of going further down, towards the Underground City-" he began, but Mike immediately objected.

"That place is too dangerous! I'd rather take my chances up here than go back to that place!"

"We may have no choice, Mikey," Leo tried to reason with him, but Michelangelo was adamant.

"No! It's not right! That place isn't safe! It's not the place for us!"

"Actually I agree with Mikey on this one," Raph put in. "But for different reasons. I don't like the idea of being driven underground. We're already underground, we've spent our whole lives underground. I don't favor going any further. I'm tired of hidin' as it is, but I definitely don't think we should go further down."

Splinter sighed.

"I also agree," he said slowly. "It is not right to expect you to do so. It is not right to always be hiding. If the decision were mine alone, I would take you all and move to this underground city, move to where we could never be found. But you are not children anymore. We must agree on a plan of action, and it must be acceptable to us all."

"I think we should keep the Underground City a viable option," Leo said. "A last resort- if it looks like there is no other option, we go there and regroup, we plan from there- not to stay permanently, but until we can recover and strike back."

They all thought about this. Put this way, it seemed more acceptable. They talked about it a bit more, then agreed- some more reluctantly than others.

"We have been trying to contact the Utroms," Honeycutt now spoke. "We've managed to exchange a few messages- rather incomplete but enough to alert them to our presence and to relay news of the Shredder. Once we get a working transmat beam up and running, there is always the option of going to the Utroms' home world."

"I don't wanna leave Earth," Raph said. "This is my home, whether the world wants me or not."

"I wouldn't mind going to visit," Don said, "but I don't like to think of having to escape Bishop by leaving the planet."

"My sons, I do not think this is a choice we will have to make," Splinter said. "Bishop is obsessed with 'protecting the world' from alien invasions. He is convinced that aliens live among us now, and he is determined to find them and destroy them. We are a problem to him, but not his main goal. Still, we must be prepared for anything. Our immediate concern is Shredder."

"Still nothing going on," Mikey said. "It's like they shut down and left town or something. We've not seen any Foot activity."

Leo shook his head.

"It's been too quiet. Whatever Shredder is planning with all the alien tech he's been collecting, I think he's ready to implement it."

Splinter thought about the feeling he'd been experiencing recently, but decided to wait until he could offer a more complete explanation that "I have a feeling".

"I want you all to be extremely careful," he said instead. "I would prefer that none of you go above ground- unfortunately, that is the only way to be aware of what our enemies may be doing." He sighed, still feeling that something was about to happen, but not willing to expound on further. The meeting broke up.

Leo hesitated, then followed Splinter to his room.

"Sensei," he spoke, kneeling down. "Sensei, I know that something is troubling you. Is it Bishop? I- I feel that I let you down, and I need to-"

"Leonardo, we have already been over this," his father kindly but firmly cut him off. "You cannot take the blame for what happened. You and your brothers are to be commended for your quick actions in rescuing me. When I first awoke in that place, I was for a moment convinced that you had been killed- but after a short time, I 'felt' that you were all safe. I do not know how, I only know that I could feel each of you touch my mind with stray thoughts. It gave me strength. And you all found that place so quickly, I truly do not have words to describe my pride in all of you."

Leonardo felt bad, like he had solicited these comments; Splinter had already told them that first night how immensely proud he was of them for their quick actions in rescuing him. Now here he was, hearing it again, and he felt embarrassed, as if still seeking approval.

Yet he still felt guilt that Bishop's men had been able to take his father in the first place. More than ever he was going to put an end to that being.

"Sensei, is it Shredder?" he asked, shaking his guilt and trying to return to his original question. "I know that we've been unable to find out anything recently. Mikey is right; it's like they've been swallowed up by the ground. Even the Purple Dragons are strangely quiet. The only thing we've heard is that there is some sort of celebration planned for the official dedication to the repairs to the city, but the date hasn't been finalized."

Splinter looked at his eldest and smiled.

"I do not know, my son. I do admit, I feel a growing dread, a darkness if you will, on the horizon of our lives- it grows stronger each time I meditate. But it is not clear to me just yet. As soon as it is, I promise I will tell all of you. But do not worry. Take care of our immediate needs. Make sure we are secure from any future attacks by Bishop- though I am convinced, for some reason, that he has a bigger goal in his sights at the moment. Something he said to me convinces me of this, but I cannot tell you exactly what it was that he said."

Leo bowed to his father and left.

Splinter sighed, and smiled.

Such sons!

More and more days went by, and the Lair and sewers were as secure as Don, Leatherhead, and Professor Honeycutt could make them without drawing the unwanted attention of city workers.

Mikey and Raph continued to keep an eye on what they knew to be Foot headquarters (Mikey always laughed at that term- it finally dawned on Raph just why, but it didn't make Mikey's laugh any less annoying whenever the words came up), though the rest of the City knew it as the business/residence of Oroku Saki, that most benevolent of investors who had done so much for the recovery of their metropolis. What a saint! What a noble man! What a blessing!

"What a load of shit!" grunted Raph, as he listened to the Mayor expounding upon his good friend Mr. Saki on the news one night.

"And we are pleased to announce that there will be a special celebration marking the completion of the repairs," he continued, glowing with pride. "The invitations have been sent out, and it promises to be a glorious event. It takes place two weeks from today. By rights, it is the City that should be holding this celebration, but Mr. Saki insisted on footing the entire thing himself!"

Raph hit Mikey with a cushion to get him to quit laughing at the choice of words.

"Enough already, Mike- it's not funny!"

"But dude-"

"Mikey!"

That night, Master Splinter held his Rememberal, the gift from the Utroms that contained their collective memories of his beloved Master Yoshi. He felt the need to think on this man, and wanted to spend some quiet time recalling their past together.

Instead, he began to witness things that were disjoined, but somehow important- he witnessed his Master's being honored by the Utroms, as they placed the insignia medallion around his neck; his death at the hands of Saki; the Utroms under attack by a strange invading force, losing the battle; an even stranger vision of Shredder standing like a giant among the stars, flaming planets in his hands-

Suddenly he was standing on a snowy mountain, across from Master Yoshi. No words were spoken as they bowed. Then, to Splinter's utter surprise, he was suddenly garbed as his master had been, dressed as a Guardian, wearing the insignia medallion that he had seen them place around his own master's neck. He looked at Master Yoshi, who smiled.

Suddenly Splinter understood. He addressed his master in Japanese, and bowed.

Yoshi smiled.

In his room, he opened his eyes.

"I will not let you down, my master- my father," he softly said aloud.