Lost in the Fight

Chapter 13 - Finding Donnie

*Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise.

*Author's Notes: Here's chapter 13 of 'Lost in the Fight' and it's loaded with all kinds of angst. This one gets pretty emotional, but there's a little bit of humor mixed in as well. XD 

A huge thanks to all of you who have taken the time to read, vote on, and comment on this story.  Everyone has been so kind and I truly appreciate it. Also, thanks once again to my followers. You are awesome! =}

As always, if you are enjoying 'Lost in the Fight,' please continue to read/vote on/comment on the story. It means a lot to me. Thank you for reading. ;) CJ

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Chapter 13 - Finding Donnie

It came as no great surprise to any of them that the GPS coordinates had led their search straight to an abandoned warehouse. The dilapidated building was surrounded by several vacant lots and commercial real estate properties that appeared to be long forsaken just like the warehouse.

It also came as no great surprise that the area was enshrouded by heavy shadows due to a shortage of sufficient lighting. The only illumination in the vicinity was coming from the beams of the last quarter moon above, the glare of a handful of streetlights that had not been broken by vandals yet, and the glow of the city skyline reflecting off of the glassy surface of the lake the warehouse stood next to.

This place had 'bad guy hideout' written all over it.

Leonardo sighed to himself, knowing that if Donnie was with them right now, he would have no doubt been making fun of whomever or whatever they were after for their genuine lack of originality and cerebral prowess. In the back of the oldest turtle's mind, he could hear Donnie sarcastically complaining in that distinct voice that the genius turtle always used whenever he was irritated with something. Hearing that voice inside of his head made Leo miss his brainy little brother all the more.

Presently, a stack of decomposing crates and broken slabs of cement piled outside of the warehouse was serving as a temporary hiding place for the three turtles, although, for the life of him, Raphael could not understand why the heck a handful of highly trained ninjas needed to hide. Especially when it was the middle of the night and the lighting outside of the warehouse was scant at best. There were shadows all around the building that they could have easily cloaked themselves with.

Raph grunted in discontent for at least the eighth time since they had arrived at the warehouse just a few minutes ago. The turtle in red had already expressed his disapproval of crouching behind some heap of smelly old wood and concrete, but Leo had insisted that they find a safe spot to scope out the building and immediate area before making a move. The only reason that the hotheaded turtle had gone along with the whole 'hide and peek' thing was because he really didn't think it was a good idea to get into yet another argument with Leo right now. With what little remained of Raph's patience, he was afraid that he might flip out and strangle his overbearing older brother, or even worse, he might stick him in the eye with one of his sais.

Imagine explaining that one to Master Splinter, Raph thought to himself, cringing over the mental picture of his bossy big brother coming home with a sai projecting out of his head.

Raph turned and looked over at Leo for a moment, almost feeling a need to apologize for having such morbid thoughts, but when he saw that contemplative crease in his excessively analytical brother's brow, he quickly thought better of apologizing. No doubt Leonardo was absorbed in coming up with some sort of dramatic, elaborate, over-thought-out rescue plan that Raphael would hate.