Held in Captivity

Chapter Two: The Silence

It had been only five hours since Raph was taken. And every minute that went by was more torturous than the last. Mikey hadn't moved from the spot he was in since Splinter had told his sons about the bargain Shredder had offered. Leo kept pacing back and forth, making his youngest brother even more uncomfortable. Donnie had been hiding in the lab. Most likely trying to come up with some strategy to better their chances of rescuing both Raphael and Karai.

Splinter said he needed absolute silence to make such an important decision and asked politely if the boys would stay as quite as possible. Mikey was itching to turn the TV on and fall into the magical land of Crognard the Barbarian.

Leo's pace picked up rapidly. Soon, he began jogging back and forth. Hoping deep down that Raphael would walk in and say something sarcastic and rude like.......

"Dude, could you be more pathetic?"

Or.......

"The older you get, the weirder you get."

But he knew that wouldn't happen. Because Raphael was no doubt either locked in a cell or being tortured by Shredder. No where in his deal did Shredder state that Raphael or Karai would come home in one piece.

Who would Splinter choose? Leonardo knew if he picked Karai, it would break Raphael. He'd never forgive his father. And if he picked Raphael, Leo was sure that Karai was a goner.

Or if worst came to worst, Shredder would manage to convince either of them that the Foot Clan would be there for him and they'd lose them to the enemy.

"Leo?" Mikey whispered, his tear stained eyes looked up to his brother.

Leo stopped jogging and looked at Mikey.

"What do you think Shredder's doing to him right now?" Mikey asked, wiping his nose.

"I don't wanna think about that, Mikey and you shouldn't be thinking about that. Okay?" The response came out much more violent than the leader had intended. But he didn't want Mikey to think about such horrid things. If he did, it may break Mikey's optimistic personality and right now, Leo needed Mikey's optimism more than ever.

"Sorry, I just don't want you to have to think about that." Leo sighed, walking over to his brother.

Mikey turned his head away from his brother and whimpered.

"Mikey, Raph's gonna be okay. You know how tough he is." Leo reassured, even though he didn't believe his own words.

"But we know Shredder! He hates Sensei! Why is he gonna stop himself from hurting Raph if he knows it'll hurt Splinter!" Mikey snapped. Leo's eyes widened. He never thought that one of his brothers being gone would do this to Mikey.

"I just want Raphie home." Mikey sobbed.

Raphie, Mikey hadn't called his big brother by his childhood nickname in years. But now, he didn't care. He just wanted his brother home. He wanted to be able to hug his hotheaded brother and tell him how much he loves him. Not have to worry about Shredder hurting him. But Shredder did have Raph and there was nothing Mikey could do about it.

"Mikey, please. Just lay down in his bean bag chair with your teddy bear and try to get some sleep." Leo pleaded.

"I'm not tired." Mikey whined.

"Yes you are. It's okay. I'll go get Raph's blanket if you want." Leo offered.

Mikey shook his head back and forth.

"I'll sleep in his room." Mikey whispered.

The youngest turtle stood up and walked to his big brothers bedroom.