This is the first piece of fanfiction I've ever written and posted. It's not perfect; nothing ever is. But I hope you enjoy it anyway. Leave me as many comments as you like - tips, likes, questions, uncertainties, anything will work just so long as you're nice about it :)

Disclaimers of course: I do not own TMNT, but I do give mad props to Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman for starting this whole thing. Where my life would be without them, I do not know.

But here's my spring board off of their characters, so read and enjoy!

His chest ached. He could feel his lungs dragging in oxygen from every direction they could. The gash he had received on his left shoulder from Hun was bleeding profusely, but he had no time to worry about it. He was running faster than he could ever remember running, keeping his eyes on his brothers' backs as they all ran slightly ahead of him. Leo kept glancing back over his shoulder; either to make sure Donatello was still in tote or to check that the army of Foot soldiers sprinting after them hadn't obtained any more members.

Donnie could feel his throat tightening with the shortage of air. He cursed his lacking body in the back of his mind. His brothers were so much stronger than him, so much more agile; they could endure so much more, especially Raph and Leo. But this wasn't a battle between brothers to assess which turtle could run the fastest and outlast the others, this was a sprint-or-die circumstance in which, if Donnie did not sprint, he would die—or at least be overtaken by black-clad ninjas. It was sheer will and adrenaline that kept him moving; he had no other choice.

The four brothers leapt from rooftop to rooftop in the general direction of home but the purple-banded turtle had no idea how his eldest brother was planning to elude the swarm of ninjas in their wake so as not to lead any of them to their hideout. They were only blocks away from their favorite manhole cover-the one that dropped them only one tunnel over from the lair. But they couldn't stop there. They had to keep moving, keep running, lest they find themselves throwing a party for the Shredder in their own home. Donnie's cerebral mind skimmed through a million ideas a minute, but he could not focus on a single one of them, nor did he have time to go through the process of elimination, weeding out all of the flaws in each escape plan to figure the perfect one. As it was, Leo was the leader, not him—which, especially in moments such as these, was probably a good thing. He fully trusted his brother to lead them out of this. Leo had a knack for that.

The young turtle could sense the Foot closing in on his back. He caught a glimpse of something black out of the corner of his eye and snapped his head to the right. Michelangelo was feet away from making a jump across the next alleyway and there was a very determined Foot soldier right on his tail. Heart skipping, Donatello did not hesitate. He pushed his legs harder, speeding toward the immediate threat and reached behind him for his bo staff. Mikey jumped and the Foot ninja sprung forward. Donnie launched himself off the building and plowed midair into the soldier who was a flick of the wrist away from hurling a shuriken into the back of Mikey's head. Donnie's split second of relief immediately evaporated as he and the Foot soldier plummeted toward the cement ten stories below. Reacting on instinct, he jabbed his staff at the building closest to him and it magically got caught between the railings of the stairwell. The force of the abrupt halt jarred the Foot soldier that had been clinging to Donnie's shell and he fell into the shadows, leaving a sick and echoing crunch in the musty New York atmosphere as he came in contact with the cement. Donatello could feel his heart thumping hard on his ribs; the little muscle was always on red alert, always preparing, however reluctantly, to beat its last.

"Donnie!"

He shot his gaze up to the edge of the roof where Leo was standing, katana unsheathed, his expression shadowed but quite obviously concerned. Donatello could hear the familiar sounds of a fight ensuing. Raph and Mikey were holding off the Foot as Leo leapt down to the top stairwell and then paused to fight off the three or four ninjas that followed. They were about three floors above Donatello. He knew he couldn't just hang there while his older brother fought off the enemy to save him. He attempted to pull himself up but his arms were shaking, and the pain in his left shoulder was so intense that he was beginning to feel lightheaded.

"Hang on Donnie," Leo grunted, his shell up against the rail, blades crossed in front of him to hold off the last soldier's attack.

"I'm alright Leo," Donnie said up to his brother. "I'm coming." He started to swing his legs. He was going to jump to the rail below him and then make his way back up to the roof to aid his brothers. He would not play damsel in distress, not today. He would not be the weakest turtle, the weakest warrior.

A blur of black whizzed by as the Foot that Leo had just been cornered by was thrown down ten stories.

"I got you Don," Leo said, flying down the stairs.

Though he was mildly disappointed that Leo would be his rescuer once again, he was also very relieved that Leo would be his rescuer. It was better than being saved by Raph at least. Donnie just had time to reach out for his brother's hand when he heard the whistle of a flying shuriken. A flash of silver, and the blade sliced through the end of his bo staff, splintering off the part Donnie was clinging to. His heart beat exactly twice as he looked to Leo with wide eyes and felt gravity yank him down. He flailed his arms desperately, reaching out for the stairwell, but the moment his fingertips scraped steel, his left arm refused to work and he slipped backward, falling off course. The last thing he heard was his brother screaming his name.

"Donnie!"

Leo watched in shock as his younger brother reached out for the railing but could not hold it. He tumbled through the air head first, scraping by the stairwell. Shadows consumed him and Leo cringed when he heard the ringing clang of his brother's shell hitting the edge of a dumpster and then dropping to the cement. Panic seized Leonardo like the cold skin of a dead fist clamping down on his stomach. He finally found his mobility and jumped the remaining seven stories, kicking off the opposite wall once before landing solidly on his feet. He rushed over to Donnie, ignoring the stillness of three unmoving bodies lying on the cold cement of the alleyway, one of those being his younger brother.

Leonardo latched onto Donnie's shell and turned him over. Donnie's head lolled back, unsupported, his eyes were closed, mouth slightly agape, a trail of blood leaking from his nose. Leo felt sick. He could feel his focus pulling away from him, stretching out down a long blurry tunnel of fear; it took all he had to reel it back in. He looped his arm around Donnie's neck, supporting his head and pulled him closer.

"Donnie," he said. He could hear his voice trembling, echoing off the walls of the alley. He shook his brother gently, urging him to wake. "Donatello…Donnie." He shook him with more urgency. "Donatello!" he shouted, his heart in his throat. "Donnie answer me!"

He tried to remain calm, but the blood glistening on his brother's face was a hard factor to ignore. He had witnessed every one of his brothers take a bad hit during a fight that knocked them out cold. Even he had conked out during a number of battles. He refused to believe the worst. Donatello would be okay. They just had to get him home.

"Raph! Mikey!" he shouted, shifting around to pull his brother onto his shell. He gripped Don's wrists tightly and stood. The tails of the purple mask brushed the side of Leo's face as Donnie's forehead fell against Leo's shoulder. He could feel a drop of Donnie's blood crawling down his cheek. He gritted his teeth and did not turn his head. They would inspect Donnie's injuries later. The primary goal was now just to get him to safety. "We have to go now!"

There was maybe a five second delay, but for Leo it was much too long before he could make out the bulky silhouettes of Raphael and Michelangelo leaping silently down from the roof. Leo started running the moment their feet touched the ground; they followed and caught up quickly.

"Oh my god, Donnie," Raph exclaimed as he came up on Leo's right. There were grim bruises already welting up on his dark green skin and he had procured a nasty-looking cut across his brow, but otherwise he seemed okay.

Mikey, who came up on Leo's left, didn't look any worse, except that his skin had gone unnaturally pale as he stared wide-eyed at the turtle on Leonardo's back. "Leo…Donnie."

"I know," Leo grunted, trying to run as quickly as possible. Donnie's weight felt frighteningly lifeless. But Leonardo pushed it out of his mind and forced his legs to be stronger. He had to be strong. He had to lead. He had to save his brother. "Let's just get back to the lair."

Raph glanced over his shoulder. "But we've still got about ten o' those guys on our shells."

Leo ignored the sweat dripping into his already narrowed eyes. His biceps were screaming with strain. "We'll lose them in the sewers," he said through his teeth. "Give them less room to maneuver. You and Mikey can take them out…What did you do with Hun?"

"Beat the shell out of him, that's what. He's catching z's with his ninja buddies on the roof."

"Good."

"Leo," Mikey spoke, eyes still on Donatello.

"I know Mikey," Leo snapped. "Just keep moving."

The three conscious turtles were blurs of green with orange, blue, and red stripes, sprinting through the shadows under the exclusive fortresses of New York City, a small stream of soldiers in their wake. But the warriors would not stand to be harassed, especially not with the urgency of an injured brother on their minds. The moment Leo felt they were far enough from the lair, he ordered Mikey to pick up the pace and clear an entrance to the sewers while Raph fell back to hold off the onslaught of ninjas. Michelangelo skidded up to the nearest manhole cover and threw it to the side then wasted no time in doubling back to help Raph create a distance between Leo and the Foot. Leonardo was mere feet away from being underground when he realized he would not be able to climb down the ladder while his brother was unconscious and unable to hold himself up, much less would he be able to even fit through the hole with Donnie on his back.

"Raph!"

Raphael looked back, finished punching the lights out of the ninja he had by the collar and then ran full speed toward the manhole and jumped in. The moment he landed below, Leonardo eased Donnie off of his shell, held him with shaking arms over the hole, then closed his eyes and let go. Raph grunted and Leo opened his eyes to see that Raphael had successfully caught their unconscious brother and was taking off down the tunnel.

"Mikey, let's move!" Leo shouted. He threw two shuriken to the left and right, taking out the Foot soldier on Mikey's left and distracting the one on his right. Mikey high kicked the one in front of him then turned and ran to the manhole, jumping in without hesitation. Leo followed.

Once underground, he and Mikey led the remaining three Foot ninjas away from Raph's trail. They ran through the mucky sewage, turning one way and then another until they reached a dead end. Silently, and yet with full understanding of each other's intentions, they simultaneously split up and ran wide back up either side of the tunnel, each kicking off of the walls to land behind the Foots' backs. Mikey's nunchucks were a blur of orange and Leo's blades were hardly visible. They took their enemy out quickly, but it wasn't until the last Foot fell face first into the bacteria-infested water that Leo could finally breathe.

The exhaustion of the night immediately crashed down upon him and he sank a little at the weight of it, but he knew the night was not over yet.