Wow! Thank you everyone who read this story! It is my rule to post stories regardless of the amount of hits, follows or reviews - but it is very motivating. Yes, we will be seeing Donnie in this chapter. Out of curiosity, does anyone find these chapters too big? I personally love long chapters.

As I had started to work on this chapter I thought I would try to work from all the brothers perspectives, not just Mikey's. It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be, but it certainly was good practice! In the end, after a rewrite or two (they let you know when you're writing wrong) I feel confident that I did them all justice. Enjoy!

Despite the interruptions of last night, Raph woke up like normal in the morning. Of course, normal for him meant slowly becoming aware of his surroundings, opening his eyes enough to squint at the clock and grumbling into his pillow while he waited for the rest of his body to catch up with his mind.

At least he had the satisfaction of knowing that Don also had trouble waking up in the morning. Only Mikey and Leo seemed to be able to bounce out of bed the moment they woke up. That is, if you could wake Mikey up in the first place.

A whimper came from under his hammock.

Oh. Speaking of Mikey...

With some effort, Raph twisted in order to peer over the edge of his swaying hammock him without falling off.

Unsurprising, Mikey's blanket was tangled up all around him. Raph figured his little brother had picked up the habit when they were kids to keep the others from stealing it from him. Mikey liked being warm, probably one reason he could stand hugging people to death.

Mikey twitched in his sleep as his face scrunched up in an unhappy frown. Another whimper was accompanied by the sleepy, raspy sound of his name.

"Raph..."

Raph could see that Mike was still asleep. It wasn't uncommon for Mikey to mumble out complete sentences; some made no sense at all and others that were surprisingly coherent. This, though, sounded distressed. Raph flexed his hands to make sure his muscles had woken up before twisting out of bed and landing next to his brother.

Kneeling down, he placed the back of his hand on Mikey's forehead. It was hot, possibly even hotter than yesterday, but it didn't feel burning hot. Still a relatively low fever then. Mikey shifted restlessly at the touch of his hand. Raph removed it, shaking his head, then placed it on his brother's shoulder and pressed on it firmly.

"Hey, Mike. I'm right here." He kept his voice low. He didn't want Mikey waking all the way up really, just enough to break out of whatever stupid dream he was having and fall back into real sleep. "Mikey."

Mikey mumbled something, a hand flopping in Raph's direction, his fingers curling as if searching for something. Making a noise of irritation but knowing how touch oriented his brother was, Raph slid his own hand into Mikey's and gripped it lightly.

Mikey's hands tightened around his in response and his eyes cracked open and looked up at Raph. For a split second Raph felt a flash of panic that he'd woken Mikey up. But then the younger turtle's eyes closed again, the distressed frown disappearing from his face as he took a single deep breath. Raph let out a breath of his own in relief. Dealing with a sick and feverish Mikey was always a practice in patience for Raph, no matter how much he loved the knucklehead. He didn't need to add sleep deprived on top of that.

Raph wiggled his fingers and extracted his hand out of Mikey's grip. The fact that Mikey didn't even twitch told Raph that Mikey was deep asleep. After tucking Mikey's arm under the blanket, Raph pushed himself to his feet, grabbed his sais from under his pillow and stumbled to the other side of his room where he put on the rest of his gear.

When Raph made his way down to the ground floor, he was not surprised to see Leo working on a set of katas, twin blades whirling to a whistle as he started upping his speed with each repetition.

Typical Leo. Even on a holiday he always did some form of practice - sometimes more than on a regular day. Raph barely held in a snort as he made his way to the kitchen. Sure, he'd probably do a little routine himself. But he enjoyed a break from the mundane workouts because t meant more time for other things. Like working on his motorcycle. Last time he had used it the brakes had felt a little stiff.

There was no Don in the kitchen; the coffee pot was empty and cold which meant the genius hadn't woken up yet. Hopefully Don hadn't been working late last night in his room, as he was known to do when Splinter suspended regular training for the holidays.

Stretching for the ceiling with a big yawn, Raph shuffled over to the coffee pot and starting going through the motions of cleaning it out and setting it up to make a new batch of coffee. Eventually the smell should wake up Donnie, where ever the genius was.

He had just pressed the button start the machine when Leo stepped into the kitchen. Raph shifted to give him room.

Leo aimed for the sink. "How's Mikey doing?"

"Sleeping," Raph told him, then paused while Leo ran the water to splash his face and wash his hands. "His fever seems a little higher too."

"Poor Mikey." Leo snagged the dishtowel and dried himself off. He started to reach for his tea kettle but paused halfway through the motion. "Uh... does this mean no breakfast?"

"...Aw, crud." Raph dragged a hand over his face. Why did he have to wake up today?

Maybe there's a few twenties left in the money jar for take-out? Even as the thought came to him he dismissed it. It was still low from the Christmas party and Raph didn't think there was enough to feed them all. Better to save it for now; they'd survive without Mikey's cooking for a day or two.

At least he hadn't been up early doing a workout. He didn't bother stopping the smirk as Leo's stomach let out a little grumble.

~TMNT~

Donnie followed the wonderful smell of freshly brewed coffee and the sound of voices - Leo's and Raph's - down the stairs and towards the kitchen doorway. He yawned and scratched an itch on the back of his shoulder as he crossed the threshold only to stop and blink at the view in front of him.

Raph was in front of the open fridge door looking around inside, while Leo crowded close behind him, trying to see over Raph's shoulder and offering suggestions. A forgotten cup of tea was steaming on the counter nearby next to the teapot, evidence that Leo hadn't even finished his morning routine.

"What about eggs?"

"Only six of those, and that ain't enough to fill my stomach let alone yours."

As if in agreement, Leo's stomach let out a loud rumble. Raph snorted. "See, what'd I tell you?"

"Leave my stomach out of this, Raph. It doesn't know what it's talking about."

Was that humor Donnie detected in Leo's voice? Shaking his head at his brothers' antics, Donnie moved over to the coffee pot with another big yawn and checked the water level. Halfway filled already, less than a minute left to go before he could pour a cup. He headed for the cupboard where the cups were kept.

"Are you sure there aren't any leftovers?"

"Yes, I'm sure - see? Nothing there. I don't even think Mike made anything last night."

"Then what is there?"

"Geez, Leo, give me some breathing room here, will you?"

Raph shrugged his shoulders, clipping his shell on Leo and nearly catching his chin in the process. Leo backpedaled and ending up stumbling slightly, nearly bumping into Donnie just as Donnie was reaching into the open cupboard. Don quickly cupped his hand around the bottom corner of the cupboard door, pulling it slightly closed on his arm, to prevent Leo from banging his head.

Leo managed to catch himself on the counter before he got too close. He twisted around to look behind him. "Oh, good morning Donnie."

"Morning, Leo. Raph," Donnie replied as he fished out his cup and closed the cupboard. Raph grunted a greeting from the fridge, which he still had open. Don raised an eyebrow, glancing meaningfully between Leo and Raph still poking around and opening drawers in the fridge. "What are you two up to?"

"Breakfast," Leo told him, as though it should have been obvious.

Donnie gave him another look before moving back to the coffee machine which, was starting to gurgle on the last drops of water. "By keeping the fridge door open and letting out all the cold air? You know Mikey's going to be ticked if anything spoils in there."

"Just seeing what we can make for breakfast." Raph shot a glare at Donnie over his shoulder, then reached in and snagged something before finally closing the fridge. "Looks like there's some meat here that needs to get cooked up. Any suggestions on what to put in with it?"

He held up a package of beef round and looked between Donnie and Leo.

"Uh, why are we making breakfast?" Don asked as he poured a cup of coffee. Sliding the pot back in, he wrapped his hands on the almost too hot to hold mug and took a seat at the table. "Not that I'm complaining, really, but... Oh, wait. Mikey's movie marathon last night."

Now that he thought about it, he hadn't heard a peep from Mikey. But that wasn't unusual after his little brother stayed up practically the whole night watching science fiction and monster movies. Hmmm, perhaps today would be a good time to start some projects.

"Actually, he's sick," Leo corrected him as he picked up his tea cup and took a drink.

Donnie paused halfway through a drink of his own, blinking in surprise. "What, really? He was just fine when I left him watching his second movie last night..."

"I found him in bed coughing and running a fever." Raph dropped the package on the counter and pulled out a cutting board. "Speaking of which, he's in my room sleeping and he seemed pretty warm to me. Mind to check on the squirt later?"

"Sure, Raph." Donnie knew it was better safe then sorry when it came to fevers, possible lung infections, and turtles that lived in the sewers. Even if they kept their part of the sewers clean. "Probably came down with something from all that running around he did last week in the snow."

"Probably. Not to mention all the running around he did afterward," Raph agreed, then tapped the package. "With that out of the way, I still haven't heard any suggestions here. Unless you two aren't hungry and don't need breakfast?"

Don snorted at the hopeful look that Raph gave him and Leo. Leo rolled his eyes and told his younger brother bluntly. "Not in your life, Raph."

"There's always a chance."

"A zero point zero zero three percent chance!" Donnie snapped back, then cocked his head to the side as he mentally went through breakfast ideas that was within the skill range of the three of them. While they didn't have the same finesse as Mikey, the three of them could manage. "Could throw in some fried vegetables."

Leo snapped his finger and straightened up, reaching down to open a bottom cabinet. "Hey, what about a noodle stir fry? I'm pretty sure there's some udon noodles down here. I can get those cooking. And I can manage the rest of the stir fry."

"I've got the meat." Raph sliced open the package of meat and pulled it onto the cutting board. "Leo, can you get a frying pan while you're down there?"

"Yeah, on it."

Donnie got up and opened the fridge. First he grabbed the carton of cream, noting how light it was, and poured some into his cup. Taking a gulp of his coffee, he placed the cream back in the fridge and decided to get the vegetables out. Coffee cup in one hand, vegetable bags in the other, he moved over to the sink just as Leo was finished filling up his pot with water.

"Leo, think we can do a supply run? I know we weren't planning to go for a supply run till next week," he said as he gave the celery and broccoli a quick rinse before shaking them dry. "But it looks like we're low on some of the staples already."

"Things have probably quieted down enough for us to go out and do some scavenging without running into too many crowds," Leo said in that slow voice that said he was thinking at the same time. "You think the stores will have done their inventory change by now?"

Donnie set the vegetables down in order to take a sip of coffee, thinking the question over quickly in his head. Normally the stores around their lair area restocked (and therefore, threw out in nearby dumpsters) items in the middle of the week. But there had been Christmas holiday last week and now New Year's weekend had just finished up... "There's a high chance of it, yes. Besides, the weather report says there's supposed to be more snow coming down in three more days."

"Better get it done today then, even if we don't get as much as usual," Raph grunted as he finished chopping. He slid the cut pieces into the pan that Leo had heating on the stove. The sound of sizzling meat filled the kitchen.

Donnie held out his hand to Raph, waggling his fingers and Raph handed over the knife as he kept talking. "Don't want to get stuck with no food and two feet of snow on top of every manhole within five miles."

Leo nodded his head as he handed Raph a wooden stirring spoon. "And I think we have enough grocery money set aside so we can always have April and Casey get us anything we can't find. Here, Donnie, let me cut those up. Why don't you go check on Mikey already?"

"Okay." Don handed Leo the freshly washed knife and the rag he'd been about to dry it off with, then pushed the vegetables toward his older brother before snatching up his cup of coffee. Hmm, half empty already. He moved back over to the machine and poured some more black liquid into it. A quick swing by the fridge and he had more cream mixed in and a can tucked under his arm.

"Don't burn anything while I'm gone," he remarked over his shoulder as he walked out of the kitchen. Raph's chuckle of amusement and Leo's exclamation of dismay followed him out.

"Hey! Yeesh, one time! One time and you guys never forget - not even Mikey!"

"Heh, and we always say he has bad memory."

"Only for things he doesn't want to remember. Reminds me of some other people in our family."

Donnie snorted into his coffee at the last comment that drifted out into the lair from Leo. Good thing the two of them were busy cooking or else he would worry about a minor disagreement flaring up before noon. As he moved towards the stairs he noticed Splinter standing by the entertainment corner, looking down in puzzlement at something on the floor but out of Donnie's sight.

"Morning, Sensei," Don called as he started up the stairs.

Splinter looked up, a smile on his face. "Ah, good morning Donatello. Tell me, is your brother Michelangelo up yet?"

"Not yet," Don replied, though in truth he wasn't sure. Raph had said Mikey was still sleeping, though. "Raph said he got sick last night. I'm on my way to check on him now."

"Ah." Splinter nodded, his shoulders relaxing. "That explains this mess. Very well."

With the height advantage of the stairs, Donnie could now see Splinter using his walking stick to carefully herd wads of kleenex into a pile. Shaking his head, Don hopped up the last of the steps, careful not to spill his coffee, and headed for Raph's room.

~TMNT~

He was trying to land the ship. But it kept sliding sideways and the asteroid in the viewscreen kept twisting and spinning like a maniacal spinning top toy.

"Raph," he shouted. "Do something about those engines!"

But Raph couldn't, he suddenly realized, as one often did in a dream. Because it had to be a dream, right? Raph was busy hunting down a bounty loose on board the ship. But wait, did Raph even have the right weapon? The bounty moved very fast! Wait, he was probably the reason why the ship was swaying side to side so terribly. He better help Raph!

He was out of the cockpit seat and running down metal hallways within the next blink. The hallways twisted and slanted sideways without rhyme or reason. Where was Raph? He thought Raph had told him to go left at the junction, but all that was there was empty cargo bays. They really needed to load up the ship at the next stop or else they wouldn't be making a profit. Wait, is that why Raph was trying to be a bounty hunter?

Where was Raph?

"Raph!" he called, only to have his voice echo back at him. Funny, he hadn't thought the ship was this big! The four of them took up a lot of room. Wait, had they already landed on the asteroid base? Maybe Raph had left the ship. He didn't like being alone in these halls, especially when he hadn't had time to ask Donnie to fix the lights.

Suddenly a hand grabbed his and pulled him into a room that was warm and wasn't spinning. In fact, for a moment it looked a lot like Raph's room with Raph standing in the center with his signature smirk, arms crossed.

"Mikey."

Mikey blinked.

Raph's room didn't disappear but instead of Raph standing in the center of the room there was Donnie, kneeling right next to him. His older brother had a hand on Mikey's shoulder and Mikey became aware of Donnie rocking him.

"Come on, sleepy head," Don said when he noticed Mikey's eyes were open and struggling to focus, that invisible smile on his face. "Time to wake up."

"Hey, Donnie," Mikey managed to croak out before letting out a cough. He winced as it set off a multitude of aches and pains from his throat to his diaphragm. Pushing himself up, he cleared his throat painfully and tried again. "What's up?"

Donnie eyed him critically and reached out a hand to touch Mikey's forehead briefly. "I'm supposed to be asking you that. How are you feeling?"

"Achy," Mikey replied without hesitation. He sniffed his nose and wiped the crust from his eyes under Don's watchful eye.

"I'm not surprised. You still feel feverish. Any trouble breathing at all, shortness of breath, difficulty coughing?"

Mikey shook his head gingerly. "Just stuffy nose."

"Alright. Let's take your temperature." Donnie dug into a pouch on his belt and pulled out a thermometer. He held it out to Mikey.

"Really, Don?" Mikey grumbled but took the thermometer none the less. "Didn't you already feel that I have a fever?"

"I want to know the actual numbers, Mikey," Donnie explained with a touch of exasperation. "Just put it in your mouth; it doesn't take that long. And give me your wrist."

With the thermometer in his mouth Mikey wasn't able to reply clearly, so he kept his mouth closed and stuck out his arm. Besides, his throat was hurting a little more from all the talking and he was more than willing to give it a break.

Donnie took his arm and placed a finger on his wrist, eyes narrowing in concentration. Mikey suddenly realized why Donnie had given him the thermometer. It was to prevent Mikey from piping up with random numbers to try and mess up the mental counting Donnie was doing. Mikey made sure to grumble wordlessly around the thermometer and was rewarded with a smirk on Donnie's face.

The thermometer beeped and Mikey took it out of his mouth, glancing at the number before handing it over to Donnie. Normal, low grade fever. "You take all the fun out of being sick."

"Says who?" Donnie reached behind him and pulled out a green soda can, popping it open and holding it out to Mikey. "The question is how you manage to have the energy to be mischievous at all."

"But I'm bored." Mikey coughed again - hard - then snagged the nearby tissue box and blew his nose before accepting the can. "What else am I suppose to do?"

"You just woke up!" Donnie raised an eyeridge at him. "That's a new record, even for you."

"Yes, but I already know I won't be able to read any of my comics, I can't focus on the words long because of these itchy eyes - I am not scratching them, Donnie!" Mikey batted at Donnie's hand in irritation and dropped his hand away from his face with a grumble. "And if I try to play any of my games I'll end up losing so much I'll be in danger of being angry like Raph!"

"You goof." Donnie just laughed and shook his head, looking down at the thermometer. "Hmmm... a low grade fever for now and your pulse is normal. Looks like you just have the usual cold - let's keep it that way, yeah?"

"Agreed," Mikey replied fervently. He didn't want to be any sicker then he was already. He finished the can, his throat feeling better from the bubbly soda, and crumpled it up in his hand. Before he had a chance to toss it at random, Don took it from him with a pointed look as he pitched it in Raph's trash can. Mikey rolled his eyes in response. "Yes, mom."

"Don't forget it and I won't have to keep reminding you." Donnie tucked the thermometer away and stood up, offering him a hand. "Want to come on downstairs? Leo and Raph are making breakfast."

"Oh, yes." Mikey rubbed his hands together. "Drink! Food! Revive my soul!"

Then Mikey got to his feet, using Donnie's hand to help pull himself up, and his entire perspective changed. His nose started to itch and the ache in the back of his throat broke out in a coughing fit, which made his back and joints feel even more achy. He wobbled as he coughed, his energy and balance suddenly vanishing down some mysterious black hole and he latched onto Raph's hammock's support poles. As the coughing stopped, he looked up at Donnie, who had moved up beside him and was patting him on the back.

"I hate being sick," He told him miserably.

"I know." Don gave him one more pat. "Still hungry?"

Mikey actually thought about the question, turning it over in his mind and pointedly asking his stomach for feedback before nodding his head. "Yeah, a little."

"Good." Donnie tugged him towards the doorway. "Because I was going to make you eat something anyways. Still, I bet you'll feel a little better with some hot food in you."

Mikey and Don made it downstairs in time to hear a yowl from the kitchen.

"Owww! Klunk, you little troll!"

Mikey laughed. "So that's where Klunk went off to. Are they cooking meat in there? I bet they are."

There was another yelp, this one followed by a very Raph like snarl. "Klunk, quit it! Sheesh! Ow, okay, okay! Mikey sure knows how to spoil you - no, don't look at me like that, you little orange gremlin. If you're looking for more handouts, go find Mikey."

They walked into the kitchen in time to catch Raph scowling at the orange kitten sitting at his feet. The cat was licking his lips and blinking his green eyes innocently. Mikey snickered, deciding it would make a great comic picture. He'd have to draw some day. "Gee, Raph, don't you know cats are cute and cuddly?"

"He's your pet," Raph grumbled, turning back to the pan. "I'm not surprised he's just plain annoying."

"Awww, who's da Klunkers?" Mikey knelt down, held out his hand and tried to call the kitten but ended up coughing into the elbow of his other arm instead. Klunk responded, though, leaving his attempts to wrap himself around Raph's ankles and trotting over to Mikey instead, bumping his head against Mikey's fingers. He let Mikey scratch him around the ears for a second before sniffing at Mikey's fingers and, finding nothing of interest, looking up at his face and meowed insistently.

Mikey coughed again before cocking his head at the kitten. "What is it, Klunk?"

The kitten meowed again, wrapping around Mikey's ankle before nipping at the terrapin's calf. It didn't break the turtle's tough skin, but it tickled and caught Mikey by surprise - the kitten had never done that to him yet. He let out a yelp that turned into a squeak as he stumbled backwards only to trip over his own feet and sit down hard on his rear. He felt it all the way up to his head. "Owww, Klunk! Daddy's sick."

"Good little gremlin," Raph's voice rumbled in amusement, throwing him a smirk. "That's what he was doing to me."

"And me," Leo pipped up from where he was dumping the noodles into a strainer in the sink. "Even though I didn't have anything."

"Huh." Mikey pulled himself heavily into a nearby chair and placed his head on the cool table, mumbling. "He hasn't done that before... wonder what's gotten into him..."

"You doing okay, Mikey?" Donnie asked, setting a hot cup in front of him.

"Yeah..." Mikey heaved a sigh as he smothered another cough and pulled the cup towards him, peeking over the rim. As expected, tea. Probably from whatever Leo had decided to brew that morning. "Just tired again...Can't wait for - oh!"

He sat up and looked from Klunk to the kitchen corner. "Did anyone feed Klunk?"

Three older brothers looked at him blankly for a second. Then Donnie snapped his fingers and, after sternly telling Mikey to stay in his seat, hunted for the cat food. Somehow figuring out what was going on, Klunk abandoned trying to nip at Mikey in favor of hovering around Donnie, meowing loudly, as Don pulled out the new bag of cat food and filled the small bowl on the floor.

No longer having to deal with a kitten trying to trip them up, Raph and Leo put the finishing touches on the stir fry breakfast and within moments had it all dished up on the table. As Leo went to fetch Splinter from watching the morning news, Don grabbed cups and the remaining jug of milk from the fridge.

Mikey eyed the milk with longing but knew from experience that it wouldn't be pleasant on his rough throat. So he blew bubbles into his cup of tea, smirked at the annoyed look he got from Raph who was sliding into his chair, and took a sip. He scrunched his nose at the taste; some sort of mint tea that he probably knew the name of but wasn't going to make the effort to remember. He had to admit that it didn't hurt his throat and seemed to help ease the ache in his sinuses.

Donnie refilled his coffee before joining his brothers at the table, adding some milk to the black drink. He and Raph were already snarfing down when Leo and Splinter joined them at the table.

"Ah, Michelangelo," Splinter rested a hand on Mikey's shoulder. "I heard you were sick. How are you feeling?"

Mikey smiled. "Good morning, Sensei. I'm doing okay."

"Good to hear. Be sure to eat as much as you can for strength." Splinter patted his shoulder before moving to his chair, accepting the cup of tea Leo handed him.

As meals went, this one was relatively quiet. While they ate, Leo told Splinter that they would be going for a supply run. It was habit more then actually feeling hungry that allowed Mikey to eat the food on his plate. He made sure to compliment Leo and Raph on their cooking skills. Still, he only managed to eat half the serving on his plate and gave the rest to a more than willing Raph, who cleaned it up in seconds.

After the meal, Mikey made his way over to the entertainment area of the lair and curled up on the couch. The meal and tea had helped ease his sore throat and his fever was gone for the moment. But he wasn't feeling very energetic and that in itself was frustrating. He wanted to go on a supply run! Go skateboarding on the sidewalks and harass a hard working Raph. Heck, just having enough energy to go dig out some of his comics would be great.

Heaving a sigh, he dug around for the TV remote before remembering that Splinter had been watching the TV last. Sure enough, the rat had placed it in view on the coffee table. Grabbing it up with a foot, Mikey flipped it into his hands and turned the TV on. Turning down the sound - for once the sound seemed too much for his ears - Mikey flipped through the channels for a minute before settling on an early morning car show from some place in England. The indistinct chatter of his brothers and clattering of breakfast dishes was a calming background noise.

He was watching the show with his eyes half closed when Donnie and Leo came around a few minutes later. Leo leaned on the back of the couch and Mikey stirred, opening his eyes.

"Hey, Leo. Heading out soon?"

"Yeah. Anything special you want us to look for?"

Mikey rolled the question around in his mind. Usually this was his chance to ask for something that he did want but was a bit outrageous to expect while doing a quick dumpster raid of the nearby stores. But he was too tired to think of something good that would make his brothers shake their heads and it was also too much effort to think of something that had a chance of showing up. He shook his head. "Nah, nothing comes to mind at the moment... are all of you going?"

"Well..." Leo started.

"Someone should stay with him." Raph pipped up as he joined the group. "Keep him out of Splinter's fur when he decides he's too bored to sit around."

"Hey!" Mikey sat up and gave a half hearted glare at Raph. "I don't make trouble just because I'm bored."

"Oh, yeah? Then what was it you said last week when you pulled that stunt... I coulda sworn you used the word bored."

"Well, maybe... but it was mainly out of curiosity!" Mikey scowled as he realized how weak that excuse sounded and lay back down with a huff. He just wouldn't be back up to standard until the sickness left him.

"Raph, Mikey..." Leo rolled his eyes.

Donnie reached over and felt Mikey's forehead. Mikey was surprised to feel Donnie's hand was cooler then his head. "Raph's right about one thing though. Mikey still has a fever running... why don't you guys go on ahead. I'll stay here and keep an eye on him."

"You don't have to," Mikey quickly assured his brother, while Leo piped up at the same time with an "Are you sure?"

Donnie straightened with a nod. "Of course. I can easily use the time to catch up on some other projects and repairs around the lair. If you take the Sewer Slider, you and Raph can still make a good haul."

Mikey let out a soft sigh of relief. He would have been just fine being by himself and Splinter would have been more than happy to take care of him. But he couldn't help but want at least one of his brothers around, to warm up the lair. Besides, Splinter had been using the downtime to explore and do some specific salvaging of his own.

"Aw, not the Sewer Slider. It's winter! Any water that thing splashes over the sides'll be freezing," Raph complained loudly, waving his arms.

"If both of you would just ease up on the throttle, you wouldn't have to deal with cold showers." Donnie said dryly. He crossed his arms and looked knowingly between his two brothers.

"Oh, well... heh, right, Donnie." Raph shifted his feet away from Donnie while Leo coughed and ducked his head slightly. "We'll go slow. Right, Leo?"

"Right. Uh, anything else?"

"I got the list, Leo; let's go." Raph tapped a fist against Mikey's shell before walking off. "Don't get inta any trouble, Mikey!"

Leo gave the couch a farewell pat before following after Raph. Splinter met them at the lair's main entrance with winter coats, hats and restitched gloves bundled in his arms. While Raph pulled his jacket on, Leo took a second to adjust his leather harness, sliding one of the ninjaken swords over so that both handles rested over one shoulder and recinching the straps. It made shrugging into his thick winter jacket and pulling them out a little easier even though it was not his preferred setup.

Splinter checked that the jackets fitted over their shells, tugging at the material of Raph's jacket where it had curled under itself on his back. Raph grunted and shrugged his shoulders, resettling the material as he pulled on his gloves. "Thanks, Splinter."

"You are welcome, Raphael. Now, be careful my sons. Keep watch of your surroundings and, more importantly, watch your footing."

"Yes, Sensei." Leo tugged on his gloves, then pulled a lever. The false wall covering the entrance to slid away. "We will."

Mikey coughed as the entrance rattled close again, rubbing at his nose. Don was there a second later, holding out the tissue box for him. He gratefully grabbed one.

"Anything I can get you, Mikey?"

"Uh..." Mikey paused to blow his nose. "Some more soda? And a blanket."

"Alright." Donnie set the tissue box down. "Be right back."

Donnie came back with one of the "living room" blankets tucked under his arm, a rag draped over his forearm, and a can of soda and bottle of water in each hand. Mikey took the blanket and rag readily, pressing the wet rag against his left eye but puckered his lips as Donnie set down the two bottles.

"I don't want to drink any water."

"Too bad, it's not negotiable." Don countered firmly. The look in his eye prevented Mikey from testing just how negotiable it was. "You need to stay hydrated as much as possible, so I want you to take a sip every... say every time a commercial comes on."

"But what if I turn off the TV?" Mikey had to point out, deciding to test the boundaries anyway. He set the rag down and picked up the soda can.

Don just looked at him and deadpanned. "I can wait. Can you?"

Drat, maybe he should have argued to have Raph stay with him instead. Raph was easy to pester and negotiate with. With Donnie, it somehow always came down to unspoken threats. Plus, Donnie was more than capable of waiting him out.

Just then the TV behind Don changed screens and Mikey couldn't hold back a groan as the commercials started to play. Donnie just smirked and raised an eyeridge as he held out the water.

Better get the torture over with, Mikey decided, so Donnie could go back to being a nice brother that pampers sick little Mikey. He snagged the bottle and took the smallest drink he could, wincing dramatically as it went down his throat. "There, happy?"

"Until the next commercial break."

Mikey let out another dramatic groan. Donnie just shook his head and went back to his computer station, ignoring Mikey's glare.