"It's gonna be okay, Megan. It'll be alright." April tried to sooth her, but inside, she was terrified. Oh god! Oh god! She's gonna loose the baby! What should I do?

Robyn grabbed her other arm, and laid a hand on her back as she helped April gently pull her to her feet and escort her to the couch. Megan had never been in so much pain, even after the Foot had beaten her so severely. She clenched her eyes shut, unable to bear it as she felt herself lowered slowly to the couch. April laid her head down on the arm rest and Robyn rushed off to find a blanket.

God, it's dying. I can feel it inside me, I can feel...

The blanket was draped over her, and a wet washcloth was gently dabbed over her forehead, cleaning off the beads of sweat that had gathered there. Megan continued to grip her stomach, curling herself up in the fetal position. Her friends stared down at her in concern as she took in ragged deep breaths, attempting to push some of the pain away. Her face had gone a ghastly pale, and April could have sworn her lips had a light tint of blue to them.

Robyn glanced at her worriedly and motioned for her to follow her to the kitchen.

"April, what the hell is happening to her?"

April shook her head. "I don't know." her voice quivered with fear. "I'm gonna call 911. Can you go stay with her and make sure she's okay?"

Robyn didn't answer, but instead, continued to stare at her sister. "Are you sure that's wise? Calling 911 I mean?"

April wasn't sure she understood. "What the hell else can I do? Megan could die if we don't get her to the hospital!"

Robyn nodded quickly. "I know. I just...I don't want anything to happen to the baby."

April looked at her puzzled. Wasn't that why she was calling the ambulance?

"I mean...since the baby isn't...normal."

Suddenly, April understood. If the doctors did too many tests, they might realize that there was something not entirely human about this child. It was true, it was still too small to tell what kind of embryo was developing in Megan's body, but from what Don had explained to her, the ambiotic fluid was probably unstable enough by now to reveal something out of the ordinary...

"It's a risk we'll have to take." she decided. Robyn nodded and rushed off to the living room as April began to dial.

The train rumbled on its tracks, across the small town of Galena, Illinois. This was the third train they'd boarded in the last twenty hours, and none of the hopping had been easy. Routine checks were performed at every station, and in the daylight hours, they were very susceptible to being seen. This was one time that Donatello was glad they were ninja. They had been nearly caught four times now, and each time they'd managed to fool the railway guard. He only hoped they'd continue to be so lucky.

Raphael was growing impatient. "Dammit Leo! Couldn't we have taken the Amtrack!? I mean, shit, my feet are killing me from all this damn running. 'Sides, we coulda almost been there by now!"

"And just how do you suggest we board that thing without all those people seeing us?" Leo was growing more and more aggitated by the minute. This wasn't exactly how he'd planned on spending the next few days. Even so, he was glad he caught on to their little scheme before they'd left. Something like this could be very dangerous, and with all those strange dreams he was having...

Raphael said nothing, only glared at his brother and went to the corner to mope. Donatello had been quiet most of the trip. His mind was on more important things - how to find Collin, how they would rescue the kid, how Robyn would react to seeing him again...

"Hey Donnie, wake up!" Mike threw an apple, hitting him square in the head, and watched as it bounced down beside him.

"Ouch! Mike!"

Mike just grinned and shrugged. "Just thought you might be hungry."

Raphael rolled his eyes and stared out the open doorway of the train car. As the white scenery whizzed by him, his thoughts turned to Megan. He wondered how she was doing. Was the baby okay? Something in the back of his mind made him worry, but he wasn't sure what it was. At first, he'd just dismissed it to nerves, but now he wasn't so sure. Dammit...if I could just find a phone, just call her...

Mike crept up beside him and sat down, laying a pad of paper in his lap, the pencil making scratching noises as he sketched.

"What the hell are you doing?" Raph asked him crankily.

"Sheesh! Look who woke up on the wrong side of the train this morning!"

Raph glared at him. "Look Mike, I don't need your sarcasm right now, okay? I've got a lot on my mind."

Mike glanced down at the drawing he'd begun of the house...her house. "Yeah? Well, you're not the only one..."

April paced the floor nervously and stared up at the clock. It was only six in the morning, but she could sleep no longer. She was really beginning to hate hospitals. It seemed like the older she got, the more time she spent in them, worrying about someone she cared about. The doctors should be coming out sometime soon to tell her the news. She just hoped it wouldn't be devastating. She hadn't gotten much sleep last night. These waiting room chairs weren't exactly comfortable. But she figured she might as well stay. It wasn't like she would get any more sleep laying in her comfortable bed at home.

Robyn returned and handed her a steaming cup. "Coffee?"

"Thanks." April accepted the cup and sipped it carefully, allowing it's warmth to spread through her as it went down.

"Did you get ahold of Casey?"

"Yeah."

"What did you tell him?"

"What else could I tell him? She practically begged me not to say anything to him." She took another sip of the coffee, as if its warmth would help ease the pain. "I told him she seemed to have some kind of stomach virus or something. That the doctors were still running tests..."

Robyn laid a sympathetic hand on her shoulder.

"I hate lying to him about this. Something this important."

"I know." Robyn said gently. "But I'm sure Megan will tell him when she gets out of here. He'll understand."

But April wasn't so sure he would. How could she keep lying to him about this? What if Megan lost the baby? What if...what if she died?

As if Robyn could read her mind, she said softly, "I'm sure she'll be okay."

April forced a quick smile, but the fear in her eyes told Robyn she wasn't being very optimisitic. "Let's hope."

"I just wish there was a way to get in touch with Raphael." Robyn sighed. "I'm sure he'd want to know..."

April nodded but remained silent, trying to choke back the tears that had already begun to fall.

"You know...you really hurt my feelings earlier..."

Raphael glanced at his brother, noticed the sincereness in his eyes, could tell he wasn't joking this time. Mike waited for a response, and when he got none, he continued to press the issue.

"Let me ask you something. Why would you think she would even consider..."

"Mike, just leave me alone, okay?" Raphael certainly wasn't in the mood for this discussion right now. His nervousness was growing. He could tell something wasn't right. He wished desperately that he had never agreed to make this trip in the first place. He hated being away from her, especially at a time like this, when she needed him so much. He couldn't help but worry. This was his first kid, and a miracle at that. The very first of its kind. Who could blame him for being a little on edge?

Yet, Mike continued. "Come on, Raph, you can't really think that I--"

Raphael glared at him. "I'm sorry, alright? Is that what you wanted? Now leave me alone!"

Mike frowned at him and looked away. "You didn't mean that."

He could see the genuine hurt in his brother's eyes, and his mood softened a bit. "Look Mikey, I lost my head the other night. I am sorry, okay? I just...I just need some time to myself right now."

Mike shot him a forgiving smile. "You're worried about her, huh?"

Raphael didn't answer, just laid his head back against the wall and closed his eyes, letting out a long sigh.

Mike stared down at the picture he'd created, remembering her. He pictured her clearly in his mind - the way she stood, the way she smiled, the way she broke his heart...

Raph opened one eye to glance at his brother, and noticed something in his eyes he hadn't seen since Splinter died. He gathered the blanket tighter around himself and scooted away from the wall to face him.

"Mike?"

The turtle glanced at him, but didn't say anything before shifting his gaze to watch the passing landscape outside.

Raphael wasn't sure how to approach this subject. He was only recently learning to open up a little himself. It was something he still struggled with, but to see Mike in pain was something that was almost unbearable. Afterall, Mikey was supposed to be the high spirited one, the one least likely to let life's disappointments get him down. He must have been really infatuated with her to be taking this so hard.

"You...wanna talk about it?"

Mike stared up at Raph, a little surprised at the offer. He was sure this had to be some kind of joke conjured up by his brother's twisted sense of humor, but after a moment of contemplating, he decided the offer was genuine.

"I dunno..." he said at last. "There's really not much to say. I approached her, she dumped me, end of story."

Leonardo, who had been sitting on the opposite end of the car, glanced up from his book. "What did you say?"

Mike turned to look at him. "I said she dumped me. How many times do I have to relive this?"

Leonardo frowned at his brother. "You said you showed yourself to her?"

"Well, yeah. How else could she have even known I was interested? One look at this green face, and--"

"Shit, Mikey! Why'd you do that? You don't even know this girl! She could be anybody..."

"Well excuse me, Leo! But I didn't see you chewing out Raph or Don when they went after Megan and Robyn!"

"That was different."

"Yeah? How so? Raph didn't know Megan when he found her..."

"She was hurt, Mike." Raph interrupted. "I had to approach her. It was the only way to save her life." He thought back to that moment again. He remembered meeting her for the first time, how she hadn't been terrified, how she'd trusted him. And now they were married, and she was going to have his child. For a moment it seemed almost like a dream, so unbelieveable...

Mike pouted. "What's it to you anyway, Leo? Just because you don't care about girls doesn't mean that I don't have a right to!"

Leo began to say something to the contrary, in his defense, but held his tongue. He decided to explain himself instead. "Mike, look, we all have to be careful right now..."

The others looked at him curiously, as if expecting an elaborate explaination for his choice of words.

"I've been having these...dreams. Something's gonna happen. Something big. I don't know who or what, but something's been getting into my mind, and I--" he stopped himself as memories of Splinter haunted him yet again.

"And you think she has something to do with this?"

"I dunno, Mike. I just don't know. All I'm saying is we have to be careful right now. We can't have people following us or spreading the word about us. We're in a very vulnerable position right now."

Don glanced up from the portable radio he was tinkering with. "I think Leo's right." he narrowed his eyes. "I feel something in the air. Something...unnatural."

Megan curled her fingers around the sheets and closed her eyes, taking a slow breath as she tried to push the fear away. The doctors had been prodding and poking her all night and into the morning. Now they had seemed to disappear, leaving her alone with her despair, the terror of what was about to come. She could still feel it, growing, moving around inside of her. It was still here with her, and that at least gave her some comfort. The baby wasn't dead, at least not yet.

She longed for Raph, longed to feel his gentle touch, to be held in his strong arms, to hear the reassuring words that everything would be okay. She felt so alone, and she wished more than anything that he would come back to her. She needed him now, more than ever before.

Something was happening to her. A change was taking place inside her body, and it frightened her. How long could this go on? How many days did she have until her body rejected the unborn fetus? How long would she have to suffer the pain? Would she even make it out of this alive?

She could hear hushed voices coming from the other side of the door. When April and Robyn entered, a feeling of relief washed over her, and she forced a weak smile.

April took her hand. "How are you doing?"

"Lousy." but she smiled, letting April know that she was at least feeling a little better.

Robyn brushed the hair back from her forehead. "The doctor said he'll be in shortly to explain everything."

Megan could see the look of concern on their faces, reflecting the fear she felt inside. She was so glad they were here with her though. She really needed the support.

"It's clear to me that we need to make this trip as short as possible."

Donatello nodded at Leonardo. "Agreed. We're just gonna get in there, find this creep, track him to Trevor, and then--"

"So that's the plan?" Leonardo frowned. "We're just gonna march right in there and steal the kid?"

"It's not stealing, Leo. Not really. I mean, he stole Trevor from her. He's the one who skipped town so she couldn't even visit him anymore. He took away her rights."

"So now we're gonna take away his? I just really don't think--"

"Exactly why we didn't want you to come." Raphael interjected.

Leo flashed him a dirty look. "Exactly why it's a good thing I did come." He turned back to Don. "Look, you can't just go prancing in there. You have to have some kind of plan."

"So what do you suggest then?"

"I don't know. Are you even sure this is the right place?"

Don nodded. "I've checked and double checked. I narrowed it down to five corporations in the state of California, and this is the only one that has a Mr. Cartwright as CEO. Makes sense too, moving that far north."

Leo nodded and thought about it for a moment. "So how do you propose we get in there?"

Don glanced at Raph, and both exchanged mischevious grins. "A little ninja magic should do the trick..."

"Look, it's been two days. She's doing fine now. I think it's about time--"

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Jones, but we simply feel it's too early. We want to keep her under observation for at least another twenty-four hours. Then, if everything looks well, we will discharge her."

April sighed. She had been arguing with the doctor for twenty minutes now, and it was beginning to be obvious that he wasn't going to budge. Forget it, she told herself at last. It's not worth the stress.

"Twenty-four hours then?" she pressed.

"If all is well...yes. But she'll have to come back in a few days for more testing."

She hurried back to the room to relay the message to Megan. The girl smiled at her as she entered. "Good news?"

"Well...it depends on how you look at another twenty-four hours."

Megan sighed and laid her head back on the pillow. "There's gotta be more to it than that. There's gotta be complications or something if they're gonna keep me here that long. Oh god! Maybe they know! Maybe they're gonna--"

"Megan, don't talk like that." Robyn tried to comfort her as best she could. "This is a standard procedure for hospitals. They just wanna double check and make sure you're okay before they release you."

"But what if they find out..."

April sat down on the foot of the bed and spoke softly. "All they know is that your system is acting hay-wire. They said your ambiotic fluid appears to be abnormal, but that the baby is developing fine. In fact..."

Megan already knew what she was going to say, and decided to finish the sentence for her. "It's growing really fast." She pulled the blanket down, revealing a small roundness to her stomach that buldged up through the hospital gown, just enough to be noticeable.

Robyn's eyes widened as she stared at it. "My god! You're only two and a half months! I didn't start showing until at least my fourth month! How could--"

"The mutagen." Megan whispered. It had to be. It was the only explaination. This child had the same chemicals in its blood that Raphael had at the time of his mutation. That ooze hadn't wasted any time either. From what she had learned from Splinter, the chemicals had caused such a quick reaction, it had only taken weeks for the turtles to grow to three feet tall. Their growth had slowed down a little from there, but the initial transformation had been drastically quick.

Robyn stared at her in shock. "But what did the doctors--"

"They still don't know." April smirked. "Stupid doctors. You'd think with all this technology..."

"They don't know what it is yet?"

"No. I don't think so. All they know is that it's growing rapidly, and that it appears to be healthy. They're totally baffled. I guess they're chalking it up to a medical miracle or something, I dunno. They can't even tell if it's male or female yet..."

Robyn breathed a sigh of relief. "Look, after we get you outta here, April and I are going to take care of you. If this happens again, we'll be ready. We're not gonna let anything happen to you or the baby. These doctors don't need to know anything more."

Megan smiled. "Thanks guys. The sooner I get out of here, the better." She laid a hand on her stomach again, thinking about her unborn child. She wasn't fully sure what lay ahead, but she was determined to get through whatever came her way.

"Iiiifffff you're gooooing to Saaaan Fraaaancisco..." Mikey sang out happily. At least he was back to his old self again, even if only temporarily. But nevertheless, Raphael was starting to get irritated.

"Be sure to weeeaaaar some flowers in your haaaaiiir..."

"Mikey, can it, will ya? You're giving me a headache."

Mike grinned. "Hey, I'm only trying to prepare you for your visit."

Donatello chuckled softly, but resisted making eye contact with either of them. He didn't want to become part of the argument.

"Iiiiffff you're gooooiiiing to Saaaan Fraaaancisco...you're gonna meeeeet some gentle people theeeerrrre..."

"Mikey, I said shut up!"

But Mike only grinned wider and continued to sing. "For those who cooommmmme to Saaaan Fraaaancisco...summer tiiiime will be a love-in theeerrrre..."

Raph grumbled and turned his back toward him, trying to ignore the annoying lyrics. Why had they come here anyway? Didn't Donatello realize what this city was known for?

"In the streeeeets of Saaaan Fraaaancisco...gentle people with flowers in their haaaaiiir..."

"Mike..." Leo broke in at last. "Please...can we have a little quiet?"

Mike faked a pout. "Awww...I was just having a little fun."

Don chuckled again, hiding his face behind the radio.

Raphael glared at him. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing..." Don peeked his head up and smiled.

Leo walked to the door as the train slowed a little. "We're almost there."

Don rose to his knees in anticipation. Soon, he and his brothers would find Collin. He would get Trevor back for Robyn. He couldn't wait to see the joy on her face. She's gonna love me forever for this.

"Come on, gather up all your stuff. Get ready to make a run for it."

It was almost three in the morning when the train pulled into the station. Raph hopped down onto the tracks, noticing the tightness in his muscles, the tingling that ran up his legs. He stretched, feeling his body relax a little. It felt good to be on his own two feet again.

Mike pulled his jacket on and tossed his bag outside before climbing out. He noticed the temperature change immediately. "Hey, it's not so cold out here. No snow either..."

"What do you expect?" Don was the next one out. "This is California."

Leo hopped out and pointed toward the north. "Come on. Move silently. Keep well hidden."

The others nodded and pulled their hats down lower, following him into the night.

"Megan?"

"Casey?"

He sat down on the bed and grabbed her hand. "God, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, Casey, really."

He looked at her sternly. "What's going on with you lately? Being so sick, these stomach problems--"

She stared at him nervously. "You mean...April didn't tell you?"

He ran a hand through his shoulder-length hair. "No. She said you wanted to tell me yourself." His eyes narrowed. "So what is it, Megan? What's so important that she couldn't tell me?"

Megan swallowed hard, hoping that he hadn't noticed the guilt she was feeling. "It's...nothing really. I just..." she fought hard to hold his gaze. "I have an ulcer."

He stared at her in disbelief. "An ulcer?"

"Yeah, it's a pretty bad one, but they gave me medication..."

"An ulcer?" he repeated, skeptically. "That's what April was afraid to tell me? This doesn't make sense..."

"Well, the doctor said I should be able to go home later tonight." she attempted to change the subject. Apparently, it worked, at least temporarily.

"Yeah, I know. I'll be back later to pick you up."

She smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. At the rate her stomach was growing though, she wouldn't be able to keep it a secret much longer.

"Whoa-ho-ho! Look at those two guys!"

"Mikey, will you get down and keep quiet?" Leonardo reached a hand up, pushing his head back under the tarp. "You wanna get us caught?"

Mike shrugged. "Sorry, Leo, but you gotta see this!" He peeked his head out again, taking in the light of the morning. The sunlight that streamed through the bridge gave it an almost surreal quality. He had heard a lot about San Francisco and the Golden Gate bridge, but he had never imagined it would be like this.

"Oh geeze! Did you see that girl? She just--"

"Mikey, get in here!" Raphael grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back down into the truck's bed. "For pete's sake, can't you just do one thing you're told?" He was growing more irritated by the second. He really hated being here. This whole city gave him the creeps.

"Yeah, but..."

"Mike, do you realize that if this guy looks in his rearview mirror at the wrong time, it'll be all over?" Leo scolded.

Mike looked a little disappointed. "Yeah, but, I saw--"

Raph slapped a hand over his mouth. "Forget it, Mikey. I don't wanna know."

Megan was bored. Three days in a hospital could really do that to you. She was glad that Casey would be coming for her soon. There was never a time that she'd had to stay in a place like this until now. The whole atmosphere gave her the creeps. All the sterile smells, the itchy gowns, the sense of death that hung in the air...

Suddenly, she thought about Raphael. She wondered what he was doing right now. Had they made it to California yet? She would have loved to make a trip out there. She missed her old home. Yet, she was happy to be away from it as well. The old memories that lingered there still haunted her thoughts.

She wondered if Raphael was thinking of her, and almost instantly, she knew that he was. She could almost feel his concern for her, his worry. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, concentrating on his face, on the gentle sparkle behind the angry eyes. Raphael, she thought. The baby and I are okay.

The walk, make that run, to the hotel room had been all but pleasant. The sun was now shining brightly in the California sky, and although it was only about fifty five degrees outside, the turtles found themselves sweating profusely under the protection of the thick coats, hats and sweat pants they had brought along for disguises. But, luckily, like in New York, they had hardly been spared a glance.

Mike plopped his bag down on the bed and began to strip the articles of clothing off one by one, tossing them blindly across the room. Leonardo rolled his eyes as he laid his coverings neatly across the other bed.

"Mike, would you mind being a little neater? I don't wanna have to clean this place up..."

"No problem, bro." but he continued to make a mess, this time emptying the entire contents of his luggage all over the bedspread.

"How did you check us in anyway?" Donatello asked, trying to ignore the disasterous mound of belongings Michaelangelo was creating.

"Easy. I just gave her the name, slipped her the money and grabbed the key."

It never ceased to amaze Donatello how easy it was to fool humans sometimes. "She didn't say anything to you?"

"Nope. Although she did stare at my gloved hand kinda odd..."

Mike pulled something unrecognizable out of the pile and held it up. "Ah yeah! I found it!"

"What the hell is that?" Raph stared at him in disgust.

Mike lifted the feathered object and laid it on his head. "It's an indian headdress, what do you think?"

Raph shot him an annoyed look. "Where the hell'd you get that thing?"

He smiled proudly. "At a costume shop. You like it?"

"Mike, take that thing off. We have to get going soon." Leonardo protested.

"This is what I'm gonna wear. It's too hot out for that coat and sweat pants."

The three of them stared at him in shock. "Mikey...you can't be serious." Don moaned.

"Oh yeah, as if that's not gonna draw attention..." Raph complained.

"Hey, don't worry. I have the rest of the outfit right here." Mike held up some strips of leather, leggings and a pair of mocasins.

"Mike..." Leo began.

"Oh, and I also brought a cowboy outift." He tossed the hat at Don. "See? This way, we can be real westerners. You know, cowboys and indians?"

Raph moaned as Don caught the hat and stared down at it like it had some kind of infectious disease.

"Michaelangelo, quit playing around and put that stuff away. We have to get ready for later..."

"You know..." Donatello broke in. "On second thought...I kinda like the hat..."

"I'll be back soon." Casey kissed April on the cheek and grabbed his coat. "Make sure you keep the doors and windows locked."

April smiled and gave him a hug. "You worry too much, Mr. Jones."

He returned the smile and laid a finger on her nose. "Yeah, well one of us needs to, Mrs. Jones."

After he left, April locked and bolted the door. "There, that should do it. No psycho's getting in this place." She smiled, but inside she was terrified. What if her stalker came while he was away? No, that was silly. There had been no evidence of anyone following her. They probably didn't really know where she lived anyway.

Robyn turned on the computer and waited anxiously as it began to boot. "There's this great web site on the computer that has flowers and cards and stuff. I think it would be great if we could get her something delivered. Sorta like a 'welcome home' present."

April nodded absent-mindedly. "Yeah, that would be neat. Say, Robyn? Do you remember when I told you about that creep who was sending those emails?"

Robyn looked at her curiously. "Yeah..."

"Well, I think I may be able to track him down and find out who's doing it."

"How are you gonna do that? Didn't you say that last email was sent from a hotmail account?"

"Yeah, which means it will be tricky, but Chris at work was showing me how to tap into--"

"You told him about the stalker?"

"Not exactly. I just told him that there was someone sending me prank emails, and I needed to find a way to figure out who it was."

Robyn watched as April grabbed the mouse and clicked on the email program. A nervous tingle ran down her spine as the program opened, revealing five new messages. April stared hard at the screen. Each one was sent from a different address.

"Is it in there?"

"Hmmm...I don't think so. There's no homtail addresses in here. There's one from Prodigy, two from Earthlink, one that looks like it's from a company..."

"Open it."

"Huh?"

"Open it."

"Why? It's not--"

"It doesn't have a subject. The rest of them do."

April stared at the file nervously. Robyn was right. This was just like the other two she'd received. There was nothing to distinguish its intent, and it appeared to be sent around the same time of day. Reluctantly, she clicked on the file, not daring to breath as it loaded on the screen.

"I still say you look rediculous in that damn hat!" Raphael grumbled.

Leo put a finger to his lips. "Shhhh! Just leave it, will ya, Raph?"

Donatello shot Raph a dignified grin and pulled the cowboy hat lower over his eyes. For some strange reason, he was enjoying this.

Mike gathered the coat tighter around himself. It wasn't that it was all that cold really, he just didn't want anyone to see what he was hiding underneath.

As the four of them tiptoed across the parking lot, Donatello felt himself shiver. This was it. In a few minutes, he would find Collin Cartwright's office. He would know for sure if this was indeed the man he was searching for. If so, he was going to make him pay for the way he treated Robyn. He would find the kid, and he'd bring him back to her. He could almost feel the tension in the air.

The corporate building loomed high above them, blanking out the stars overhead. Leo's eyes trailed up the side of it, making note of all the darkened windows that towered toward the night sky.

"Which floor?"

Don thought for a moment. "I'm not sure. Most of these corporations have the nicer offices higher up, so I'd say we should start from the top."

Leonardo nodded in agreement. "Okay guys, let's start scaling these walls."

April ran to the living room and grabbed Shadow from the couch, gripping her tightly in her arms.

"Mommy...what's wrong?"

"It's okay sweety. It's okay..."

Robyn headed for the nursery to check on Christian. He was asleep when she entered, so she lifted him carefully, hoping he wouldn't begin to cry. Her attempts failed however, and he woke, whining softly. She cradled him in her arms, attempting to silent him so the stranger wouldn't hear.

They stared silently at the front door. Was someone really out there, or was this all just a really sick, demented joke? April took a deep breath, and decided to stand her ground. She wasn't about to let some low life creep frighten her off. This was her house, and she refused to back down.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. April and Robyn exchanged terrified glances.

"Sh...should I get it?" Robyn whispered, still clutching the baby.

"No...wait." April sheilded her with her arm, holding her back. "Who is it?" she called in a shaky voice.

There was no answer.

April set Shadow down and approached the door slowly. Taking a deep breath, she rose her eye to the peephole and glanced out into the dark. She couldn't see anything. She felt her heart skip a beat. Carefully and cautiously, she swung the door open, gasping as it revealed...emptiness. No one was there. She laid a hand on her chest, breathing heavily.

Frightened by the events, Shadow rushed off down the hall, toward the back of the house. "No, wait! Shadow, come back!" Robyn and April trailed after her, not about to let her out of their site.

"Oh my god April, look!" Robyn paused at the computer as April attempted to comfort the little girl. She rose a finger to point at the screen, her eyes wide with fright.

April felt her heart begin to pound in her throat as the computer screen flashed menacingly.

She let out a shriek, but remained in place, wrapping her arm around Shadow. "What do you want?" she yelled. There was no sound. Instead, the words on the screen changed, spelling out an answer for her.

"H...who are you?" Robyn yelled at the monitor.

As the words began to flash, April almost fell backward. "No! It can't be. My god!"

April clamped her hand over her mouth as she stared at the screen in cold terror. This was her worst nightmare, the most frightning of all fears. He had returned! But no, that was impossible! "Baxter!"

"Shit! Get down!"

Don dropped the file and ducked under the desk as a bright light flooded the room.

"Stupid car!" The man set his briefcase down on the chair and glanced up at the clock. It was already eight thirty. He'd been fighting with the engine for over two hours now. Sighing, he sauntered over to the wall mirror and ran a hand through his thining brown hair.

Don stared hard at the man, trying to get a better view of his face. Was this the guy who had made Robyn's life a living hell? He had to find out. As the man turned back around again, Michaelangelo ducked, hitting his head on the underside of the desk.

"Ow..."

Leo gave him a hard glare, telling him to be quiet.

The man paused for a moment, as if he'd heard something, but then quickly grabbed up the briefcase and left, turning off the light and shutting the door.

"Was that him?" Leo whispered as they crawled out from under the desk.

Don stood up. "I don't know. I couldn't see him too well."

"Come on, let's follow him!" Raphael snarled.

April clutched Christian in her arms, and Robyn held tightly onto Shadow's hand as they very carefully and cautiously searched the apartment, peeking out the blinds on the windows to see if anything out of the ordinary was lurking nearby.

April could feel her whole body shaking with fear. This had to be a trick. Baxter Stockman was dead. He had to be. Visions of the giant robot he'd used to come after her several years ago filled her mind again, and she closed her eyes, attempting to push them away.

Suddenly, the lights went out. April and Robyn froze, unsure of what to do next. April felt along the wall for the light switch and flicked it. Nothing.

"Shadow? Robyn?"

"Mommy!" she could hear the fear in the little girl's voice, and grabbed her tightly by the hand. "It's okay, mommy's here."

"April, I don't like this..."

They huddled together, their eyes straining in the darkness. A scratching noise, one that April found vaguely familiar, began to fill the room, growing ever louder. She thought long and hard about what it might be, but she simply couldn't place it.

"Baxter!" she called out suddenly. "What do you want from me? Why are you doing this?" But before she could even wait for a response, she heared Robyn's terrified screams echo in the darkness.

Chapter Five Coming Soon!

Lightning Crashes

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