Slash's Revenge

Chapter 12 - The Blame Game

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

*Author's Notes: Thanks so very much to those of you still reading this story. I hope you like the new chapter.

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Chapter 12 – The Blame Game

By the time she pushed her way through the turnstiles leading to the lair, April wondered what was going to give out first: the thin grocery bag she was lugging around or her arms.

Before sneaking down into the sewers to visit her terrapin friends, April had stopped at a local market to pick up a few provisions. Those few provisions now felt as though they weighed at least ten times more than when she had left the shop.

Fortunately, the kitchen was finally in sight.

Her friends, however, were nowhere to be seen.

As soon as she stepped foot inside the lair, the petite redhead couldn't help but notice there was no one there to welcome her or offer to help with the groceries. The only thing that greeted her was the leaden sense of despair hanging over the old, abandoned subway station, just as it had been the past week.

Ever since they had lost Donnie...

April's huge, blue eyes threatened to flood with tears once again at the mere thought of her missing friend.

She still remembered the looks on all their faces when they'd told her Donatello had been kidnapped by the very same monster that had hurt them all so badly just a few weeks before. As they had broken the gut-wrenching news, Leonardo had fought tooth and nail not to cry while sloppy tears had spilled down poor Mikey's cheeks. But as hard as it had been to watch the youngest and oldest brothers' reactions, Raphael's had been the most painful to witness by far. April had never seen the hotheaded turtle look so devastated and utterly lost. His sorrowful eyes had remained fixed on his trembling, clenched hands the whole time.

Heart aching with grief, April let out a shuddered breath.

It had been an awful week. Each night the brothers came home without Donnie was just another day that turned into the worst one ever. April had been trying to help the family out as much as she could, including searching for clues during the day when the brothers couldn't go topside. She had even tried to tag along with them at night, but Leo refused to let her go with. He had claimed it was because Donnie wouldn't want them to put her in any unnecessary danger, but she knew that wasn't the real reason.

If what the brothers had told April of 'Slash' was true, common sense told her the longer it took to find Donatello, the worse condition he would be in, both physically and mentally. A chilling truth that Leonardo was also well aware of. Hence, the reason he was trying to protect her.

A part of April resented the fact that she was being treated like some fragile little girl, while another part of her realized that Leo was right to protect her.

She was already struggling to cope with her dad's mutation, and now, this?

It was all too much to bear...

Gnawing on her bottom lip that was already starting to quiver, the teenage girl stopped her forward momentum to stare over at Donatello's lab.

Of the four turtles, April was unquestionably the closest to Donnie, although this hadn't always been the case. His instant crush on her had made it rather awkward to be around him at first, but after getting to know the smartest brother, a tight bond had soon developed between them. She had grown to love Donnie, in a strictly platonic way, of course. She would even go so far as to say he was the best friend she had ever had.