Thank you for choosing to read my fanfic. I am very eager to have my writing read! :3 Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 1: To Understand

"You know what Leo?"

They were at it again. As if they hadn't caused enough strife in the family already, Raph and Leo just had to add more conflict. Good thing Mikey was still in bed.

"No Raph, I don't know what." Leo had furrowed brows, arms akimbo. He was ready to lecture. "And I really don't wanna know. I definetly DO NOT want to know what goes through that twisted mind of yours. You're such a hot head. Your nights as a vigilante have put you in danger. While you were trying to, as you put it, 'protect the innocent', someone was able to capture you on video. Video Raph! Video! Do you know what could happen if that tape had ever gotten out. Did you ever once, just once, think of the consequences? I can't believe you! I mean, UGH! This is just… You put yourself in danger. Put our family in danger, and apparently all you care about is yourself!" Leo placed a firm foot forward in finality.

Don huffed and pulled his welding mask tighter around his face. It wasn't the fights that bothered him, but the fact that his brothers completely disregarded him and Mikey. Poor Mikey, he'd always thought. If only they knew what this fighting does to you.

Don and Mikey were the closest of brothers and best of friends. Mikey was the youngest and was always open with his feelings to his older brother Don. Don remembered once, when he and his brothers were but turtle tots, Raph and Leo got into their first big fight.

For the one hour Master Splinter was out gathering supplies, Don and Mikey were enjoying one of their favorite shows on TV. The Justice Force. Don enjoyed this bonding experience with his brother and never let one second of it go to waste. Mikey was humming (out of tune) to the theme song when yelling caught their attention.

"You think you're better than me, eh Leo?" Young Raphael pulled out his custom sized sais and positioned himself into a fighting stance. Mikey and Don peeked over the top of the couch to see what was unfolding between their brothers. "I'll show yous whose top turtle around here! Argh!" He lept towards his eldest brother in an attempt to injure him. Leo rolled his eyes and calmly stepped aside then watched in amusement as his brother tumbled over his own two-toed feet and hit the cold and unforgiving sewer floor. The rest of Raph's brother chuckled at him. If he were warm-blooded, the losing turtle would have had cherry red cheeks due to his mortification. Instead, he just lay there, fists clenched to the hilts of his sais as if he were holding on for life itself. After about a minute, Leo, Don, and Mikey stopped laughing. Leo frowned. What if he'd really hurt Raph. Sure he could be a pain at times, but…

"Raph?" Leo's bottom lip quivered. He cautiously knelt beside his still brother. "Raph? Raph, I'm real sorry. Please stop this. You're scaring me." He shook his brother's should, and in return…

WHAM!

He got a faceful of fist. Raph was shaking with rage, and there were tear streaks running down his oversized mutant cheeks. This was a rare sight. Every one of the turtles had cried at least once in their life by now… except Raph. This disturbed Mikey to his core. A nauseating knot formed in his stomach and he feared his pizza would make a reappearance. He quickly attatched himself to Don and looked up with his innocent and childlike blue eyes for reassurance. His older brother patted his head and put a comforting arm around him, though he too was struck with fear. As for Leo, he stood holding his hand over the punched cheek and stared, shell-shocked, at his seething brother.

Raph tried to subdue a whimper as he stood up. He then pointed an accusing finger at Leo. "You. You think yous so much better than us just because your Master Splinter's favorite, right? You think yous can just order us around? Huh?" Raph shoved his brother back. "Huh?" Leo fell back onto his shell and stared at his brother in disbelief. Raph toook the opportunity and pinned his brother's arms to his sides with his knees. He posed one of his sais for a devastating blow.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!" Mikey cried and ran over to the pair. "Please stop Raph! Please! Please don't kill Leo! I'm sorry! " The boy's voice was skipping octaves crazily. It was almost impossible for Leo and Raph to understand what their poor discombobulated brother was trying to say. But, they were both at a loss for words when the orange clad turtle fell to the floor in hysterics. "I-I d-don't want anymore f-fighting! I-I'm sorry! Please stop!"

That was Master Splinter's cue to intervene. He sympathetically scooped up young Michelangelo and caressed his head until he'd calmed down a bit. When the rat looked up from his weeping son he saw Lenardo and Raphael wearing penitent frowns. "I-I'm sorry Master Splinter." Raph bowed. "I don't know what came over me Master Splinter, I just… lost it." Master Splinter could see guilt and anger in Raphael's brown eyes. Part of the sensei was saddened, the other disappointed. His son was too young to hold such grudges. "I-I just gotta go clear my head." The young turtle darted out of the lair clenching his skull.

Nobody but Don knew that Mikey thrived on order. Although his messy floor (if you could even call it a floor) says otherwise, Mikey needed order for him to be at peace. He'd always expected that his brother would always be best pals. He never counted on them going at each others throats. Honestly, Don didn't think Mikey understood half of what was being fought over in the first place and therefore deeemed it stupid. Don had to agree with him there, but one thing he didn't agree with was Mikey's guilt. The seemingly happy-go-lucky turtle was actually covering up his deppressing thoughts to his brothers, and himself. Mike figured that his brother's fueding was his fault. He was responsible for everyhting else.

"Mikey! I Can't believe yous woke Master Splinter up! I's almost out of the lair!"

"Michelangelo, I am very disappointed in you. That was my favortie vase."

"Ugh. Mikey. We could have snuck up on them, but you just couldn't hold that sneeze in could you?"

"NOOOO! Mikey! That was my newest invention! Please, take your remote controlled plane and stay away from my lab."

Anyway, back to the current situation…

"You worry too much Leo! Dat tape is history. I-I made sure of it." Raph tried in vain to pierce his brother with a glare, but to his dismay there weren't itty bitty bits of green all over the place. "Besides, what are the chances dat people'd believe it anyway, eh? It's not like it would make national news." The mutnat shook his head. "I mean, come on. Giant turtles? People's gotta be out of there right mind to believe dat! I don't see what you're getting' so worked up about Leo. Y-You do dis with everythin'. Everthin'! If you think yous can do a better job at keeping our city safe, then fine, but unless you're willin' to cooperate, I's takin' my own orders." Raph huffed. That's all he had to say on the situation.

"I'm sick and tired of it Raph. Sick-and-tired. If you don't wanna be a part of this family, fine, then you can just march your shell right out of this lair. DO-YOU-UNDERSTAND-ME!" The blue masked turtle panted.

"Fine! I think I will! Who needs yous anyway?" Raph took a chunk out of his old punching bag with a swift left hook as he began his stride out. "And I ain't comin' back." He announced.

"Good." Leo crossed his arms.

Don couldn't take this any more. "That's it!" He yelled and threw down his mask. When Don quits his work, you know he's angry. Leo and Raph knew it too, and both puased to look at their brother. "Both of you are selfish creatures. How can you stand here and argue when you know it's tearing the family apart? I'd say that Raph and you, Leo, are disregarding this family's welfare!" His brothers were shocked. They'd never seen Donnie so upset. He was usually the calm turtle. Only once or twice has he ever blown a gasket.

"Me?" Leo glared. "I disregard the family's welfare? I'm trying to keep this family together!"

"And you're doing that by exiling Raph who, whether or not is a pain in the shell, is still a part of this family? And have you ever once thought about how you're bickering affects us? Have you ever thought about how we feel about your squabbles? Do you guys know what this does to Mikey?" Don spoke a little softer on the last sentence.

"Hey, since when does Mikey fit in to all this?" Raph asked. "Never once has he been a parta our fighting. Not once Don."

"Oh yeah? Mikey doesn't think so! Ever since the first day you attacked Leo, Mikey's blamed himself for all the subsequent fights. He sulks around the shadows of the lair trying to avoid you two after one of these. But, do you guys see him? Do you guys see the internal damage it's causing? No, you don't. But I do. One time, he even refused to watch reruns of The Justice Force with me because he felt he didn't deserve it. Mikey's too young to have all of this stress put on him." Don waved his arms around during the explination trying to convey the severity of it.

"Too young? He's our age Don." Leo stated.

"Maybe, but he's still the youngest, and has a sunny if also childish disposistion. You two are slowly eating through that disposistion like acid. I know. I've watched. Mikey's been pushing himslef away from everyone. He's building a mental wall. I seriously think he's in a bout of depression." The word 'depression' echoed through the lair.

"Mikey? Depressed?" Raph frowned. "Man, I never thought I'd hear those two in a sentence together." He slowly walked back towards Leo and Don. "But still. Leo can't just go and lecture us like that! I mean, we're not his property or somthin'. I just get frustrated with havin' to take orders from my bro. It would be understandable if it was Master Splinter, but not Leo. I'm through takin' orders. I'll make my own!" He declared.

"No Raph, you can't call your own shots because you let your emotions control your actions without thinking them through first. You'll just end up in another one of those videos and the next time you won't be able to stop it from making the news!"

"This is exactly what I'm talking about!" Don grabbed his head in frustration. "I told you to stop, but you refuse to cooperate! You don't understand what the rest of us feel."

"Don, calm down. We understand you it's just-" Don cut Leo off.

They think they could understand him. That was an insult. "You don't understand me." He snarled. "It's not just you two, but Mikey also, and even Master Splinter. None of you understand what I go through for this family. I can build whatever I want to the greatest extent but you take it for granted! I build the battle shell, the shell cycle, the shell cells, everything. And when any of you breaks something, who do you come running to? Me. You don't take care of my inventions. You act like all of them are replacable. Do you know how many times I've had to fix your shell cell for this week Raph? Could you just once be careful with it? And the shell cycle. You've blown out the tires three times this month. The junkyard is running out of things for me to fix gadgets with. I have to spend hours of my time to find useful items. You act like I'll always help, and never think once about if I'm doing something at the moment. Maybe, just once in a while, I'd want to build something for myself, but when I try you accuse me of neglecting my duties! The only reason you let me study what I want is for your own gain. It just, Argh!"

"Woah Donnie." Raph put his hands up. He had never realized before, but Don was a good three inches taller than he, the tallest of the four turtles. Standing at 5"5' he was pretty intimidating when he was mad, at least he was if you were only a 5"3' turtle. Mikey always teased Don about being the gentle giant, but Raph didn't realize the giant part until now. "When did this go from not understanding Mikey to not understanding you?" He tried to put a hand on his brother's shoulder, but the upset turtle shrugged it off.

"I'm sorry you feel that way Don, I had no idea." Leo sighed.

"No, I'm sorry." Don closed his eyes. "I'm going for a walk. I'll be back before the sun rises." The purple masked turtle picked up his bo staff and slid it between his shell and belt. Leo and Raph looked at each other in bewilderment as their ordinarily calm brother walked into the sewers. A prolonged yawn from the upper level balcony caused them to turn their eyes to their other brother Michelangelo.

"Mornin' guys!" He smiled his usual goofy smile. "Where's Donnie? He's usually up at this time." He lazily stretched his limbs and nimbly leapt to the ground floor. "Wonder what's on TV this morning." And with that he plopped on the couch to complete his morning ritual of watching old reruns of has-been cartoons.

Brianna hummed contentedly as she strolled down the street to her friend's house. The warm summer heat placed a warm hand firmly on her back and a gentle breeze fondled her chocolate brown hair. Finally, it was summer and her freshman year in high school was finally over. She lived in a quiet suburb in Georgia near the SC GA border, so summers were intensely hot. Luckily for her, her friend's, Hazel's, house was only a couple pf blocks from her house. She could easily walk there in ten minutes. Tonight they were having a sleep over to remember. Brianna hadd a backpack filled with her iPod Touch, Gamecube (she was thankful that it was tiny enough to transport), a few games, her laptop, her sketchbook and art supplies, and some snacks and movies. Although that sounds like a ton, in all actuality it wasn't as heavy as she thought it was going to be. She currently had her ear buds in, and she liked to turn the volume to almost maximum which meant the world around her was silent. Unfortunately, she couldn't hear as a car honked at her after the driver lost control.

She never even knew what hit her.

But one thing she did know when she woke up was that she wasn't in Georgia anymore. She was flat on her back and looking up at a sky with barely any stars. She frowned in confusion. When she tried to move she cringed; Briuses painted her body a bluish purple. Whimpers escaped her partly seperated lips. She knew for a fact that she hadn't been robbed because her iPod was still playing and her backpack bulged under her. She carefully sat up. This seemed like a normal alleyway except, there weren't any alleys withing fifty miles of her home town, and even then they weren't this littered with trash. And, the air was filled with smog causing her stomach to retch. She made a vomiting motion then slowly sat up. After she took her iPod out of her ears and packed it, she took it slow, and using the wall as a support, she stood up. Her legs felt like jello, kind of like the way she felt after gym class, as she moved her way towards the end of the alley.

"Why hello there little missy." A voice hissed. A tall lanky boy with literally dirty blonde hair stepped in front of her. She looked up at the boy. He couldn't have been more than sixteen and when he smiled a yellow smile she could smell the alcohol on his breath which didn't help the already nauseating feeling in her stomach. He was garbed in a tattered leather jacket and jeans that sagged to his thighs, blatanly showing off his underwear. Brianna was appalled, especially by the numerous tattoos that lined his arms, one of them a strange lavender figure. She immediately turned and ran, but another taller and bigger built man entered the alley from the other end. He too had that strange purple tattoo. Her face paled. Were these gang members?

"Why hello there." The big man took off his baseball cap and bowed mockingly. "Nice to meet ya." He stood back up. He must've towered a good foot and a half over her and wieghed at least 260. He had greasy black hair that fell to his shoulder and cold icy blue eyes. Said eyes struck fear in Brianna and she could do nothing but shake helplessly in her spot. "That bookbag looks heavy." He asked faking concern. "Why don't you let me help you with it?" He reached his goliath like hands in her direction and she slapped them, but it had no effect. He drew his hand back slowly.

"Well, girlie won't cooperate will she?" The other boy put his hand on her shoulder which caused her to tense every muscle. It also hurt her sore spot there from the bruises. "That's so noble of you, but don't worry," He snatched the bookbag off her shoulders. "We don't mind." He and his goon pal snickered.

"Perhaps you can pay us back for holdin' on to it for ya." He brushed a suggestive hand up her thigh. She stepped back to get away but only managed to have herself pinned to the other boy's chest. He was decievingly strong. No matter how hard she struggled, it was impossible to get away. She tried to swallow back tears, but they fell anyway. "Aw, don't cry." The man put a thumb to her cheek and she tried to pull her head back, and the smell from the blonde haired boy made her take sporadic breaths. "It'll be over before you know. It'll feel… good." He and his friend laughed as if he'd just told a joke. He was never able to finish his laugh though because the next second he was out cold. He fell down to reveal a considerably smaller figure holding to what looked like Brianna a staff of some sort.

"Oh hell!" The guy holding Brianna instantly let go of her to pull out a gun. "Not you guys again!" The weird figure reached out and pulled her back behind him (at least she thought it was a him due to the muscles on its arm) in a defensive posistion. It was still too dark for Brianna to see who her savior was, but she was just thankful he showed up. "You, you'd better leave right now o-or I'll shoot!" The gangster threatened. It didn't seem to phase the dark figure, only provoke. In fact, it took an offensive step forward.

"You picked the wrong night to mess with me." Brianna's hero said. She did conclude one thing. It was definetly a male's voice. It was a nice soothing voice. It was calm yet harsh, and at the perfect pitch. Not too high, not too low, perfect.

The other guy actually made good on his offer and shot at the figure. Forgetting that Brianna was behind him, the figure stepped aside and the bullet made contact with Brianna's already hurting shoulder. She cried out and fell on her knees. Her head was pounding. She could feel her blood oozing between her closed fingers. Usually Brianna had to look at her own blood to pass out. This, this was already making her woozy. Her vision was a blur and all she saw was her savior dodging a few more bullets and then stuffing his weapon down her attacker's mouth. Once he was finished, her ran to her side and tried to get her to let go of her shoulder so he could wrap it up. She heard him say something but she didn't understand what came out. Thankfully, wonderful blackness came to her and she didn't feel the pain anymore.

DON'S POV (That means point of view for whoever didn't get it. I've been guilty of that once or twice :3)

"Aw shell." I cursed under my breath. This girl was loosing massive amounts of blood and fast. My three fingered hands were already covered in the red substance. I was trying to put pressure on the wound until I found something to bind it with. Come on Don. You've got a lot of ingenuity. What could you use as a bandnage? Something in mymind clicked and I knew exactly what to use. Using one hand, I miraculously managed to pull out the knot in the belt around my waist. My nerves were torn at the ends as I tried to patch up her shoulder. Once finished, I sat back on my knees and observed my handiwork. It would do for now, but is she didn't get immediate medical attention it could be serious, even fatal, and the closest hospital was two miles away. Even if I got the battle shell and tried to rush to the hospital, it would be too late by then. My only choice was to take her back to the lair. I knew it was a risky move with my relationship with Leo and Raph on thin ice. Leo especially would fuss at me.

Then, I realized I didn't care. It didn't matter what Leo did to me. A burning coal of anger made its home in my stomach. I huffed to myself as if it were the final statement in an argument. Quickly, I scooped the girl up and grabbed the backpack which was apparently hers and not the gangster seeing as it had purple butterflies on it. I highly doubted the purple dragons changed their mascot. After throwing one strap over my shoulder, I uncovered the nearest manhole and dropped into the sewers.

As I ran towards the lair, I tried to think of excuses to why I brought a human home. So far, I'd had no luck. I knew he would never excuse bringing a human home under any circumstances, so I just decided to wait the storm out after I'd gotten there.

"Ugh… ohhh." The girl stirred in my arms. She tensed up a bit, probably from the pain in her shoulder if I had to guess. She swallowed loudly and turned to face my plastron to get off her wounded shoulder. "Hurt…" She moaned.

Against my common sense I answered her. "We're almost there." I knew she couldn't hear me. She was sound asleep again. Her breath was shallow which had me worried. I'd hoped to get her to the lair before her condition worsened, but it seemed she was declining at a much faster rate than I originally thought. Thankfully I was approaching the lair and without stopping I pulled the third pipe on from the left from a series of pipes that were on the wall. The door opened up in just enough time for me to slide in and rush to my makshift lab area.

"Woah bro." Mikey sprung up off the couch. "What'da find in the junkyard that's sooo interesting?" He questioned. I hated how he always liked to put his beak into everyone else's things. Nobody ever shoved thiers in his comic books, though probably no one wanted to.

"Go away Mikey." I asked, or more so pleaded. I tried in vain to block his view with my shell. Alas, Mikey stayed true to his nature and let his big mouth go as soon as he found out what I had in my arms.

"Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh!" Mikey smiled mischievously and pointed an accusing finger at his irritated brother. "Donnie brought home a human!" He drew the word human out unecessarily and acted like a first grader who just found another kid who'd broken the rules. "Haha haa!" He laughed. "Dude, you know Leo's gonna be so pissed when he finds out you brought hom a-"

"Human!" Leo barged up the lab steps and approached his younger brothers. "You brought home a human Don! You're just as bad as Raph. No, you're worse then Raph! You brought an actual living breathing human into our home!"

"She won't be living an breathing much longer unless I operate on her Leo. I'm a lot of things Leo, but one thing I'm not, is a murderer."

"Ugh. I could've imagined Mikey doing something this stupid,-"

"Hey!" Mikey pouted.

"But you Don?" Leo looked at his brother in disappointment.

"Well I'm sorry me saving a life disappoints you Leo, but I won't let that stand in the way of doing the right thing." I said in a threateningly low voice. It meant I was not to be tested with. I had my mind set on something and nothing at this point could get in my way.

"What's all the ruckus? I'm tryin' to train here?" Raph walked over us. "Woah. Donnie. Is dat a human?" The tempermental turtle rubbed his eyes. "Yep. Dat's a human alright. Wow. I never knew you'd go dat far bro."

"None of you know me!" I spun around to face my brothers. They all jumped at my rebuff. "Now just go. Go. I've got to get her wound stitched up, and if any of you wanna stck around for the blood and gore then fine, but you are going to shut up and let me concentrate." I glared at them all before taking one sweep of my arm to clear off a lab table full of my notes. Carefully I set down the girl on the table. By the time I'd grabbed my medical tools, the others had cleared out.

I was thankful that the girl was wearing a tank top and I didn't have to rip her shirt. She probably wouldn't have been too happy if I did that. Although, I guess that any normal person would pick their life over their shirt. "Well," I sighed. "Here goes nothing."

Third Person POV

Master Splinter beckoned his three sons over with his furry hand. After a few hours of meditation, he was ready to speak to them about their current behavior. "Come, my sons. We need to talk." Leo, Raph, and Mikey all sat criss-crossed in front of their sensei. "Listen my sons. I know you have all been walking on eggshells around each other. There is a great tension about you. I know that you believe you are ready to face the Shredder, but you are not ready. And, do not blame each other for not being ready, for all of you still need months more of training. It pains me to see my sons compete with each other so. You would do well to work together and try to live in harmony. Only then will I allow you to face the Shredder." His sons bowed their heads in respect. When Master Splinter only saw three heads bow, he became confused. "Where is Donatello? He is usually the first one to come when I call for you. Working on a new invention is he?"

The three brothers looked at each other, none of them wanting to betray their brother. N-No Master Splinter." Leo bowed his head once more. "Don… brought home a human." The three boys cringed, ready for one of Splinter's famous lectures. To their surprise, Splinter only sighed.

"I shall need to talk to him about the current situation. I will then deem if he is worhty of punishment or not." Master Splinter used his staff to push himself into a standing posistion.

"Wait Master Splinter!" Mikey stopped him mid-step. "Don's uh…"

"Fixin' what looks like a gunshot wound on a girl he found. It's pretty bad. I don't know if you wanna go in there or not I mean, that was a lot of blood spilling out of dat human." Raph scratched his head and frowned nervously. Oh, if Donnie got them all in trouble he was gonna kick his shell.

"I have seen blood before Raphael. It will be nothing of great significance for me to witness it again. I shall be back later so we may finish this discussion with your brother. In the mean time, I want you all to meditate on what you have heard and seen from today's events. We will also discuss ech of your thoughts on the matter when Donatello is finished as well." And with that, Master Splinter walked off.

"Donatello. What is this I hear about a human visitor in our home?" Master Splinter asked his son. Don looked over his shoulder with a guilty look on his face.

"I'm sorry msater. But, I couldn't just let those gang members violate her like that." His voice trailed off. "I know we're not allowed to ever show ourselves to humans, but isn't this an exception. I-I just couldn't fathom leaving a poor girl to die at the hands of vile gang members. Especially the purple dragons." He shook his head to clear his thoughts. "If you want to punish me, do as you wish, but please let me finish helping this girl. I don't want to have brought her here in vain."

"My son." Master Splinter laid a hand on his regretful son's shoulder. "Do not regret actions you have already commited. That will do nothing but harm your spirit. And your actions today were noble and you should not feel the need to repent for them. The greatest privilege in one's life is to save another. For this, I am proud of you. As for the outcome, we will just have to wait and see."

"Thank you master. That helps. A lot." Don felt something swell inside his stomach. The warm feeling of that comes from pleasing one's you love. That's all the strength Don needed to pull the last stich through the girl's skin. Finally, someone understood where he was coming from. Somebody understood his good nature and free will. That also brightened his face with a half smile.

"I am trusting you on this decision Don. But, there is one thing you must understand. If something does go wrong because of your decision, you will have to be the one to take responsibility for your actions noble intentions or not." The rat watched as Don turned and bowed before him. "I love you my son, and only wish that you follow your heart as long as it leads on the path of good."

"Thank you master." Don rose. "All we have to do now is wait for her to wake up and ask her a few questions. I'll return her back to the surface whenever the time is right. Thank you for helping me Master Splinter."

"Thank you for listening." Splinter beamed at his son. He knew Donatello didn't fully comprehend the extent of his love, but he did not expect him to. He was too young, and he would probably understand it in the distant future after he was gone. "Now come. Your brothers are waiting for you on the mat. Let us go and join them."

"Of course master." Don smiled and escorted his father down the stairs.

Was it good? Bad? A piece of crap that should never have been posted in the first place?

Mikey: I'd say it was a piece of crap. The total opposite of my fine slice o' pizza here! Mmmm...

Mikey! Get outta my outro! (takes the slice of pizza and roundhouses Mikey off the page.) Mmm... he was right. This slice of pizza is delicious. Review please! :) Oh! And one more thing. If there was just a random 'I' in the middle of the story, yeah, it just disappeared while I was typing so... yeah...