A/N+Disclaimer: I don't own TMNT, this is for fun, no prophet. The series belongs to whomever owns the at this period in time and at later periods in time. This is the only disclaimer that will be seen for I refuse to be one of those people who does it every chapter, and has it be so long that half of the word count in the story is purely the author having "conversations" with OOC versions of the characters. There will be A/N's though.

"We can stay for as long as we want. No one is around for miles." April said as she gave the only option the world allow us. There was hope in those words. A bittersweet kind of hope, but hope nonetheless. Mikey scooted over, firmly planting himself as close to me as possible. Instinctually I slung my arm around him as he curled into a fetal position.

Looking at the broken form of Leo the kid asked, "What's gonna happen now, Raph?"

Angry at myself I looked towards the roof of the unfortunately named "party wagon". For a second I searched for an answer. The kind that would make everyone cheer up. But that wasn't my job. That was Mikey's job, and when Mikey couldn't do it the job became Leo's or Splinter's.

Mikey was clearly… understandably taking a sick day since he was the one to ask. Then of course Leo and Splinter were… they were…

Deciding to go with honesty, the way I always do, I admitted something awful, "For the first time in my life I've no idea, little brother."

I hung my head in shame as I felt Mikey sink against me. As we drove on to a highway he said so quietly that no one but myself could hear, "I miss Master Splinter…"

If the old van had counted as it's own planet that would have been a universal truth. Opening my eyes I looked down at Mikey. I couldn't see his face as he had buried it within his arms. Tightening my grip around him protectively I looked over at Donnie, but he didn't look back.

His eyes were glazed over as he stared lifelessly at Leo. Guilt. The guilt in his expression was the only thing that indicated he was alive. Not wanting to look at him any longer I looked towards the driver's seat. Casey was driving, and April was resting against him like Mikey was to me. Deciding that I didn't want to see any of this I looked upwards again, sending my sight as far away from Leo as I could. Slowly sleep overtook both Don and Mikey, and eventually soft snoring told me that April had joined them.

I'm not sure how long it takes for someone to get from NYC to upstate New York, but I had a feeling it took us longer than it would have just a day before. When we first got into the traffic jam Casey had started speaking, somehow knowing I was still awake.

"One or two of the cars in front of us has some nasty scorch marks."

Upon looking into the rear view mirror he said, "The guy behind us doesn't look like he even has roof anymore."

By now I was watching him and noticed how his head tilted slightly, as if trying to make it less obvious he was looking at the car beside us, "This car doesn't look to damaged. But there's definitely way more than the safe amount of people. Even the driver has someone in his lap."

Had the others not been asleep he'd have probably yelled the last part. Eventually I heard the sound of wheels spinning. It wasn't like how it sounded when speeders were going through the city. It was a sound that reminded me of when the sewers would turn from a silent stream of human filth and into a torrent of traumatizing human excrements. As the sound got closer and closer I heard something splatter against the thin metal walls of the van.

"Either really smart, or really stupid.", I reasoned as the vehicle slowly passed us on it's off road trek. Casey nodded, but then he gasped.

"Dude, there were like, twenty people in the back of that truck!"

For a moment I tried to imagine what that looked like. I had only seen a truck once or twice in my life, turns out they're not too popular in the city. However, I was capable of seeing people literally piled atop each other, like a trash heap. They were probably clinging to one another, trying to prevent anyone from falling out. I was taken away from my depressing imagination when I heard Donnie stir. Rubbing his eyes he looked around for a moment. Seemingly forgetting where he was he tried to stand. Quickly I grabbed his discarded staff and pushed it against his plastron, preventing him from getting further than a crouch. The absolute last thing we needed was to freak out any humans. He blinked again, finally realizing where he was. He sunk back to the ground, legs now in a jumbled mess rather than the lotus position he had managed when he fell asleep.

"Has Leo…?", he asked with half lidded eyes.

"No." It was a double answer. "No, Leo didn't get any worse." and "No, he hasn't gotten any better."

Donnie nodded glumly, disappointed and relieved at the same time. He looked back up to me for a moment, "Can I?"

"I'm fine keeping watch." He smiled gratefully at me before dozing off again. As if in sync with Donnie, Mikey's form started sink again. This time the kid ended up at what I could only imagine was an awkward angle. Silently I adjusted my youngest brother so he was laying his head on my lap.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have lost my cool like that, but those peo-", I didn't let Casey finish.

"Were they different?"

"Huh?"

"The people in the truck. Were they different?"

Understanding my meaning he nodded, "None of them looked like they could be related…"

"Refugees.", I reasoned. Some humans actually got out of the city.

"Yup. Funny how silver linings work, huh?"

Bittersweet hope, but hope nonetheless, I reminded myself. The rest of the trip was silent, minus Casey waking April up after we'd gotten out of the freeway, and her subsequent directions. We didn't get there until the next morning. Donnie explained that we had to get Leo into a body of water. The three of us carried our oldest brother up the creaky, abused from lack of use stairs, as April lead us to the bathroom. After she filled the tub we carefully lowered Leo into the water, making sure his head stayed above water. All five of us stayed vigil that day.

A/N: This whole thing was inspired due to Raph's extreme, if somewhat subtle, personality and role change between the seasons. While I understand the writer's not wanting to do a whole season with a comatose Leo in a tub I feel like it was a missed plot that could have been very interesting in terms of character development.