Guess who's back, back, back. Back again, gain, gain. :) For those of you who don't know me, I'm MusicGeek764, nice to meet ya! For any old readers, I have returned! With a new story! Crazy what binge watching the second season will do to your muse. I fell behind right before The Manhattan Project, mostly due to RL stuffs, but hearing about the finally made me wanna catch up. And it was awesome! Seriously, this show just gets better and better. (Not to start anything, but I fully approve of Seth Green as Leo. Still kinda miss Biggs, though.) And the whole three months thing really kick started my muse, and here we are! But, enough of my ramblings! Onto the story!

Disclaimer: I do not own Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. They are owned by Nickelodeon/Viacom/whoever else owns them. I am not making any profit off of this story, so don't sue me.

Rest and Reflection

A strange feeling settled in the pit of Donnie's stomach as they officially left the city limits. They may have technically left New York for the first time when they traveled to Dimension X, but this felt different. He'd never seen the skyline of his hometown disappear behind him. He'd never traveled on Interstate 87. Heck, he'd never even been on an Interstate before.

Surprisingly, leaving New York City wasn't the strangest thing to happen to him today. It wasn't the Kraang invasion, or the fact that they'd just lost, meaning that New York was slowly being mutated into a new Dimension X. It wasn't even the loss of Master Splinter, though that still weighed heavily on him. The strangest thing was that Leo, his leader, his brother, was laying on the floor of Mr. O'Neil's old van, barely alive. Leo had always been the rock, the one who got up after every blow, who kept fighting. The fact he'd been beaten so severely that he almost died was shocking.

He still remembered the pure shock that had seized him when Leo went flying through the O'Neil's window, bruised and bloody. When he didn't get up, and they realized he was barely breathing, that shock turned into fear. It was one more horrible thing that was making up the worst day of his life.

City turned to suburbs. Donnie watched as Mikey tore his eyes away from Leo to look at the large houses. Donnie found them weird too; so large and spaced out, yet so short. It was completely different from the tall apartments and skyscrapers of New York that it was hard to believe that they were only miles from each other.

Raph, however, never took his eyes off Leo. Feeling almost guilty, Donnie looked back too, checking for who knows how many times to make sure Leo was still breathing. The slow rise and fall of the blanket covering him did little to ease his fears. Sure, he was still alive, but what if he never woke up? What if he did, but there was permanent injury? What if he was never able to fight anymore?

Stop that, Donnie. What if's will only make it worse.

Suburbs quickly lead way to forests and farmland. Donnie felt his eyes shit to the front two seats. Casey was driving, while April sat in the passenger side. She'd only spoken to tell Casey what exit to take or to remind him of the speed limit. He felt bad for thinking like this in the middle of everything, but he couldn't ignore the bout of jealousy rising in him, growing more intense the longer he stared. He didn't really want to hate Casey Jones, but there was a part of him that couldn't help it. Just like the part of him that couldn't help but love April despite him knowing she didn't reciprocate. And it didn't help that Casey just generally got on his nerves.

Leo snapped back into his head, and he felt that guilt again for taking his eyes off his brother. He looked back down, checking to see that the blanket was rising and falling, reassuring him that Leo was still alive.

But it wasn't.

"Leo. Leo!" Donnie cried, placing a finger to Leo's neck. Please let their be a pulse, please let their be a pulse. Raph, Mikey, and April all watched, tense with worry. Casey quickly pulled over and joined the crowd of stares.

"Stay with us, Leo," Donnie said, and he could hear April's breath catch. He wanted to comfort her, but he quickly snapped his focus back on his brother.

Then, he felt it; small, faint but most definitely there. The pulse vibrated against Donnie's finger, and he visibly relaxed. He felt the other do so as well.

"He's fine, false alarm," Donnie said.

"Did he stop breathing?" Raph asked.

"For a second or two, but he started up again pretty quickly," Donnie answered as Casey began to drive again. "Considering he started again on his own, their shouldn't be any lasting effects from a lack of oxygen. We'll need to monitor him though, in case it ever…" He trailed off, letting the sentence finish itself. This seemed to strengthen Raph's resolve, as he focused on Leo with an intensity Donnie had never seen out of him. It was different than the look he got during a fight, which was rage filled and powerful. This one still had power, but it managed to also be gentile as well.

Donnie looked at Mikey, who, uncharacteristically, hadn't spoken a word since they left the city. It broke Donnie's heart looking at his brother. He'd never seen the so carefree turtle look so downtrodden. He hopped that there was something at the farmhouse Mikey could busy himself with. It'd help him if he could feel useful.

Donnie really wanted to get to the farmhouse so he could start more complex first aid, things he didn't feel comfortable doing in a small, moving vehicle. The scare with Leo almost needing CPR made Donnie wonder if anyone else knew how to do it. He'd taught himself using online classes and old first aid books he'd found. Splinter had taught him and his brothers basic first aid so they could take care of wounds on missions, but he wasn't sure if Raph or Mikey knew CPR. And he had no idea if April or Casey had received any sort of training. He made a mental note to go over some basics once they were settled in the farmhouse. It'd be good to have some help taking care of Leo.

He wondered just how far away this farmhouse was. They'd been driving for a little over an hour now, and April hadn't told Casey to exit the Interstate yet. He was itching to get out, get a good stretch, and work on Leo. The longer Leo just laid there, the worse Donnie felt. He blamed himself for a portion of this mess. If only he'd just listened to Leo when he'd said to get out! He wouldn't have gotten hurt, and they wouldn't have lost Splinter…

Donnie felt like crying when he thought of his Sensei. He'd always seemed undefetable, able to take on any opponent. The past few weeks had been rough for him, with the Karai thing, but he'd stayed so strong though it. He'd almost had Shredder beat… The ruthlessness way Shredder had beat Splinter, then just throwing him down the sewer drain like he was nothing still sent chills down Donnie's spine. It was a image that would never leave him.

They drove in silence for two more hours. Leo continued to breathe, but not one of the other turtles took their eyes off him. April looked behind every few minutes, and Casey even snuck glances when the roads where clear.

"Next exit. You'll take a right, then it'll be another 30 minute drive. I'll point out the driveway," April said to Casey suddenly, breaking the heavy silence.

"Got it, Red," Casey replied, merging into the exit lane. As they got off, the car slowed, but Casey still pushed the speed limit. No one said anything. These were backroads, rarely traveled, and they hadn't seen a single cop along the highway. It was doubtful they'd find one out here.

They got to the house quickly, and like April said, it was empty. They gingerly carried Leo up the stairs, while April filled the bathtub. They placed him in the warm water, Donnie knowing that this would help the healing process, then all but Raph left the room. Donnie knew that any argument to get Raph to leave Leo's side would be hopeless

Donnie, Mikey, April, and Casey all sat in the living room in silence. Donnie was glad that the water and electricity still worked, because it was obvious that the house hadn't been lived in for years. Something suddenly occurred to him.

"April, what are we gonna do about food?" He asked, breaking the silence. The look on her face said that she hadn't thought about that.

"The nearest town's about 15 minutes away. Casey and I can drive there tomorrow and get food. You'll need to tell us what you guys want, though."

Donnie nodded, and silence filled the room again. Donnie tried to not be too angry at the thought of April and Casey going out alone, but food was more important than his jealousy. Besides, it wasn't like he, Raph, and Mikey could just waltz into some grocery store in some middle-of-nowhere upstate New York town.

"While the two of us go out, the three of you could start cleaning up around here. This place sure needs it," April said, breaking the silence. Donnie and Mikey just nodded. April sighed. "I'm gonna go set up the bedrooms. I think we still have sheets," She paused for a moment. "I'll take my old room, Casey can take the one across the hall, and Mikey and Donnie can take the one at the end of the hall. That one has two twin beds instead of one, so you'll each get your own. Raph will have to take the pullout couch, or you three could rotate."

"Honestly, Raph'll probably just stay in the bathroom and watch Leo," Mikey said something, his first words in hours. Donnie though that it might have been a new personal record for him. In any other situation, Donnie would be celebrating the silence. But, now it was unsettling. He'd give anything for Mikey to act like himself again.

"Oh, no. Raph will sleep, even if someone has to take his place. We're not letting him stay awake until Leo wakes up. He'll get sick, and we can't afford to have two of you out of commission."

"Can we talk about all this in the morning?" Casey said, yawing. "Casey Jones needs some shut eye."

"He's right," Donnie agreed, ignoring the looks everyone gave him. "We've all had a rough day." Donnie heard Mikey mutter "Understatement of the year."

"We all need sleep. We'll talk in more detail about what needs to be done tomorrow. We can help you with the beds, April," He said, standing up, walking just a bit to quickly over to her.

"Thanks, Donnie. I'll show you guys the linen closet," She said, leading them upstairs. As they passed by the bathroom, he spotted Raph.

"You wanna go to bed, Raph?" He asked.

"I'm fine," Raph muttered back, not taking his eyes off Leo.

"Okay. If you need some shut eye, Mikey and I are at the end of the hall. One of us can take your place," He said.

"Okay. Thanks, Don," Raph replied, still not looking at him. Donnie sighed, then walked down to where April stood, handing Casey and Mikey sets of sheets and blankets.

Raph never woke any of them up.

Okay, confession time: This isn't anywhere near done. I know it's different from my normal "finish story, then upload" thing, but I wanted to get this out here. And it will get done, I promise you all that. I'm actually not sure how long it'll be, though it could be as long as I want it to (I do have an idea for the end, though), because this will be stories from different POV about the months they're at the farmhouse. Sometimes, though, they may reflect (get it?) and flashback to earlier times, like childhood (because we all love Turtle Tots!). I do have ideas about future chapters, and the second one's about done (there's a surprise there I think y'all will like), but I wouldn't mind suggestions of what you all would like to see. Only boundaries: 1. Keep it T rated and 2. No shipping. Sorry, not my thing for this fandom. Reviews that are positive or constructive criticism are great, flames are not. And I promise my authors notes won't be so long next time; there probably won't be an end note! See y'all then!