Summary: Some things can never be forgiven. Some things have to remain in the darkness.

Disclaimer: I don't own TMNT.

A/N: Written for the July 2017 Writer's Nexus Challenge "Captured".

The first thing he noticed was the sound of pipes dripping in the distance. The second was the musty smell and, finally the near complete and utter darkness. He groaned softly while sitting up. Running his hands over his face, he realized his mask was missing. As a matter of fact, all his gear was missing. He felt almost naked with a thin blanket laid across him. The room he was in was chilly and damp. The darkness was so complete he couldn't focus on anything in particular. Vague shadows seemed to loom up in the corners of his vision, but when he'd turn his head they would be gone. Growling softly to himself, he rose onto his feet to feel along the wall.

Hands outstretched, his fingers soon touched the smooth surface of bars. He was in a cell. He'd been captured. It was certainly an unexpected development and an unfavorable one for him. There was no telling what his enemy might do to him.

He cursed himself as memories began to flood back to him. There had been a battle. During the fray, someone had thrown a gas grenade at his feet. It had taken him completely by surprise. He didn't remember his enemy having such weapons. The gas had overcome him in mere seconds. He frowned. That was definitely something his team was going to have to work on countering when he got out of this cell – if he got out.

He knew his enemy well. And to be brutally honest with himself, he wasn't sure he could defeat him. His enemy had only grown in strength over the years. He still bore the scars of their last battle. There were other scars as well that were far deeper than his skin. They were the wounds that never healed.

He sighed moving away from the bars and into a back corner of the cell, using the wall as a guide. There were times he simply missed the person his enemy once was. There had been such warmth and love between them once. They had cared about one another and fought for one another. They had been brothers.

A light began to slowly illuminate the corridor before the cell. A figure moved there, silent as a ghost in its approach. But he already knew who it was by the ghastly shadow it cast. Forming his face into a scowl, he waited for the person to stop mere feet from the bars.

"I should kill you for what you've put me through."

He snorted. "Then, why haven't you? You obviously have me at a disadvantage. You could've killed me at any time. Why lock me up?"

"Because I do not want you to die. Not yet." His enemy tossed a bottle of water through the bars and a few pieces of bread. Then he turned away. "First you will suffer in the darkness after what you stole from me." And just as he'd appeared, his enemy was gone like a phantom.

The prisoner took little comfort from the fact that his captor's meager light had allowed him to see his surroundings for a moment. He was inside a detention cell, abandoned by the looks of it. He strained his mind to think of where such a place might be. They still had to be within the city, that much he knew. His enemy would not want to be separated from his followers for long. Which begged the question, why had he not taken him back to his home where he knew he'd be under far heavier guard?

Distantly he heard the scurry of small claws on the cement floor. Remembering his bread and water, he clumsily scrounged for them. He wondered briefly if they might be poisoned. No, he said he wanted me alive for now.

The tiny meal would be the last he would have for five days. In the dark he sat, his gut twisting with hunger pains and his mouth parched. In that solitude, the memories returned unbidden. As children they'd played together, rough housing and bickering as all boys do. In their teenage years, they had fought side by side - inseparable. They had known each other as only best friends could. Until that fateful day – the day they'd fallen away from one another.

In the lonely pitch black, he shivered. Why had they let that one thing come between them? Why hadn't he been strong enough to walk away? Been gracious enough to give his brother that one thing that would make him happy? He should have been able to hold his temper. He should have been able to see the pain his brother was in. But he hadn't. They had fought and all had been lost.

The minutes seemed like hours and the hours like days as they stretched before him. He could feel his muscles weakening. Finally, the dim light came again. This time it seemed far too bright. He shielded his eyes against the glare. No footsteps accompanied the light, but he knew his enemy was there standing just outside his cell. He wanted to jump up and catch him by the throat and force him to open the door, but his body betrayed him. The mere thought of springing to his feet, made his legs tremble with the effort.

His enemy remained silent. At last he tossed a bottle of water into the cell and one slice of bread.

So, this was going to be his game. He was going to slowly starve him to death. He watched the bread land on the dirty cell floor. Every molecule in him desired nothing more than to pounce on it and devour it in one bite. Determinedly he stood on shaky legs and lifted his head. He would not grovel like an animal.

His captor turned as if to leave without a word, and so he spoke out. His voice was hoarse from thirst and disuse. "What happened to us?"

"You know what happened."

"But why did it happen? You're my brother. We grew up together. We loved each other. You were my best friend."

His captor did not turn back to him. "That was a long time ago. You betrayed that friendship. You are no brother of mine." With that he was gone again.

Left alone in the darkness again, he fell back to his knees. Unable to fight the hunger any longer, he scrambled forward to find the water and bread. If he knew his enemy and he did, he would not return for many days. Although he wanted to drink down the water in one gulp and eat the break in two bites, he decided to ration it. But time passed so differently in the darkness. It was hard to tell when day or night even began. He ended up using the sound of a passing subway train to mark time. But that too was unreliable. He had no idea how long it was between the trains or if there was only one or many that passed by. They didn't sound very close either, they seemed to be a good distance away. Which meant he was not in a heavily trafficked area. As a matter of fact, he had not heard another voice his entire imprisonment, save that of his captor.

He slipped the last morsel of bread into his dry mouth. It was hard to chew and even harder to swallow now. Surely, they are looking for me by now. It won't be long and they will find me.

It was ten days before the light came again. He could feel his body slowly shutting down. He couldn't even lift his head from the cold floor as the shadow came close to the bars. "Still alive? Father would be proud of your stamina."

He turned his head slowly to stare at the familiar shape. "Why?" It was all his dry throat could manage and it came out barely over a whisper. All the while he watched his jailor through blurry eyes.

His captor crouched down just outside the bars, barely three feet from him. For the first time, he could see his eyes despite the darkness. They were both sad and cold. "You will die soon. You won't see me again." His captor stood and turned away.

Using the last of his strength, he rolled himself over and stretched out a hand through the bars. "Wait."

His captor paused a few feet away. "Such a sad ending for such a proud warrior."

"Mercy." The word struggled its way out of his throat and he hated himself for the weakness.

His captor spun to glare at him. "Mercy! You dare ask me for mercy! After what you've done! Did you show her mercy!" He growled. "You will die as she did, left alone in the dark." He turned his back on his prisoner for the last time. His brother was getting what he deserved. As he moved out of the holding area of the old subway station's security offices, he could hear his name being cried out from deep within the darkness.

"Yoshi!"

A/N: Man, this one seriously creeped me out while writing it! Like the whole freaking time!