Being jostled against Raph's shell didn't exactly help her sore muscles, or the excruciating feeling of the shuriken embedded in her ankle, but it was better than dwelling on the fact that she had nearly gotten Mikey killed. Raph was practically flying after his brothers, close enough on their tails that she could hear the gasps and whimpers the youngest turtle was making. Donatello had assured them that he had discovered no evidence of spinal injury on Mikey and that it was safe to move him at some speed, but it must have still been overwhelmingly uncomfortable for him.

So lost was she in listening out for the littlest of the Hamato clan, she only realized they had reached home when she heard Sensei's voice, low and frantic.

"Michelangelo!"

April looked up as the large rat darted to the two sons cradling his youngest. Splinter, for the first time since she had met him, looked at a loss. His ears were flat against his head, his muzzle drawn up in something that looked like a snarl as he scented the air. His tail lashed in what April could only assume was agitation at the smell of blood.

"How…how did this happen?"

His tone was dangerous, but his paw was gentle as he laid it on Mikey's forehead. April opened her mouth to answer her sensei, but recoiled as his burning copper eyes met hers. Thankfully a small, wavering voice spared her explanation.

"F-Father…"

Master Splinter whipped around and knelt before his injured son. "Michelangelo. My son, I am here. Father is here."

He moved his hand until it was resting on his youngest son's freckled cheek, mindful of the scratches and bruises littering the lime green skin. There he rested, maintaining an aura of serenity as he gazed at the bleary-eyed turtle.

"Sen…sei…"

"Hush now, Michelangelo. Everything is alright. Your brothers and April are all unharmed," he said in response to Mikey's anxious blue-eyed gaze wandering around the room. "You must rest. Donatello."

"H-hai, Sensei?"

Splinter gave one final caress to Mikey's cheek, then stood with a sense of purpose. "Please treat Michelangelo's wounds to the best of your ability. Leonardo, kindly assist your brother. Raphael, set April down on the couch, then join your brothers. I will take care of April."

April's eyes widened. 'Take care' of her? What was Sensei going to do? Raph didn't seem to share her worries, as he gave her hair a gentle ruffle after he had placed her on one of the couches in the sunken area. She desperately wanted to ask him to stay, but he was already bolting after the slower forms of his brothers, who were carrying Mikey into the sterile environment of Donnie's workroom. She stared after them, longing to be with them still, and simultaneously terrified to see the true extent of Mikey's wounds. Yet another tear dripped mournfully down her face, sliding a salty trail down the side of her nose and resting, quivering, on her chin.

This wasn't supposed to have happened. She was supposed to go topside for an hour at most, then sneak back and slot in once more to the turtle-pile. Her brothers were supposed to be curled up together, sleeping peacefully, not fighting to save the life of their littlest member. The tears came faster.

"T-this…this is m-my fault."

A deep voice answered her, startling her terribly and making her hiss at the jolt to her ankle.

"I wouldn't say that. Both of you were foolish." Sensei approached, carrying a basin of steaming water in both hands, with first aid supplies tucked under his arm. He knelt at her feet and gently picked up her foot, wincing in sympathy at the embedded shuriken. He began to wash around the metal with a warm, damp cloth that smelled of disinfectant. It hurt, badly, but April was more concerned with Master Splinter's words.

"You should not have disobeyed my orders, April. Now you see why I was anxious to keep you safe down here. Michelangelo should have seen to it that you did not go up to the surface."

"But I p-practically forced him-"

Sensei held up a hand. "If he had thought a little more, he would have woken his brothers, or myself, to talk the matter through with you. However, Michelangelo has an inherent need to keep his family happy, one that I have spoken to him about on many occasions. That is his nature, though he does not

realize the personal risk. I am…" here, he paused again, ears flattened, head bowed. "I am…unhappy with the two of you. But, more than that, I am angry at myself.

"You did not choose this life, April. I have forced it upon you, for your own safety, but nonetheless, you are unused to the sewers. You are unhappy. I am sorry that I did not realize this. I am sorry that it took such extreme action for me to realize."

He looked up at her, copper eyes swimming with emotion. "I am sorry, my child."

Stunned, April could do nothing as he gathered her into his arms. She was motionless for a few seconds,

and then flung her arms around him, burying her face into the soft, worn folds of his yukata.

"I was s-so frightened, Sensei!" she wailed. The entire story came pouring out of her; the trip to the surface, the visit to Mr. Murakami, the rooftop fight, everything. "He…he was so brave," she finished. " And…and I screamed, and they hit him and they threw him over!"

He hushed her, careful to avoid her injured ankle as he rocked them back and forth. "Hush now, child. It was a terrifying experience, but my son is alive. He would have been overpowered far sooner if you had given in to your fear and not helped him. I am proud of you both."

He gave her one last nuzzle, and sat her back. "Now, dry your tears, and we will take care of your ankle."

The table in Don's lab looked cold, sterile, and altogether unpleasant to lay his injured brother on. Leonardo grasped Mikey a little tighter as Don threw an old sheet over the table, and startled slightly as Raph cleared his throat meaningfully.

Don looked up, indignant. "What? It's clean!"

Thankfully, Raph threw up his hands and checked his attitude. Leo heaved his half-conscious brother up on to the table, and then hopped up himself, allowing Mikey to lean heavily on his shoulder.

"This okay, Donnie?" he queried.

"Mm? Oh, yeah. Just try and keep him awake. I don't want him going to sleep before I've X-rayed his skull."

Raphael raised an incredulous eyeridge. "Lemme guess. You have an app for that?"

"Hmm. Oh. No, I built my own. Once you strip 'em down, the Kraang tech has some pretty useful components. I managed to salvage the Kraang equivalent of a 30kV power supply, then it was simple to tune up an old X-ray tube-"

Leo's voice saved them from what was likely an incomprehensible blast of science. "Donnie, hurry it up. He's not doing so good over here."

Donatello moved seamlessly from tech-enthusiast to competent doctor in seconds, and twisted on his heel. Michelangelo was leaning more heavily against Leo, his lower lip quivering and big, glossy tears filling his eyes. As his big brothers looked on in horror, he sniffled, and the floodgates opened.

"Mikey! What's wrong? Calm down, buddy," Leo attempted to make himself heard over the loud sobbing, but didn't make much headway. He and Raph went into panic mode, fearing that their baby brother was taking an extreme turn for the worse. Thankfully, Donnie stepped in. Cupping Mikey's face gently in his hands, he shined a penlight into his brother's eyes, and winced.

"Yeah, that's what I was afraid of. Grade three concussion. That's why he's crying, guys, he can't help it. Happens sometimes with bad head injuries."

He released Mikey, who cuddled back into Leo. Raph shuffled indecisively, then joined them on the table, patting Mikey on the knee and getting a watery smile in response.

The rest of the examination passed in a blur for Leo, as he himself was exhausted from the physical and emotional upheaval of the night. Later, he would recall how scary Donatello's homemade X-ray machine looked as his younger brother positioned it over Mikey, the relief as Don confirmed that there was no skull fracture, just a bad concussion, and stitched the bloody wound.

He remembered all too clearly the way Mikey had whimpered when Don began to clean his injured hands, and the outright scream when the dislocated shoulder had been set. Their baby brother had wilted against Raphael when his wrist was set, but Donnie declared it for the best.

"To be honest, it'd be better for him to get some rest while I'm treating him. Now that I've ascertained that he doesn't have a skull fracture, it's safe to let him sleep." Donnie explained, moving on to clean and wrap Mikey's feet. "One of us will need to stay with him. I should probably-" he noticed the stony expressions on the faces of his brothers, and grinned ruefully.

"Or, y'know, we can all camp out in here tonight."

"…and we used to set up pretty far in, but then Dad got us lost and I thought we were gonna die…"

….

"…never put up a tent before, and the whole thing collapsed on us at 2 a.m.…."

…..what?

"…I swear, I never looked at a hotdog the same way…"

…Who?

"…promise, just wake up, we'll go wherever you want…"

Who's talking?

"Mikey. Please. Please, wake up now. Please."

That…that's April! April, why are you so sad? Don't be sad, I'm…

I'm waking…up…

"Ungh…"

Pain, sharp and dull, throbbing and burning, washing over him in waves. A voice, anxious, fading in and out like the old radio Donnie would let him play with sometimes. A hand, warm and soft, settling on his forearm and stroking gently, up and down, up and down…

"A—April…"

Michelangelo cracked open one eye with a huge effort, and peered unsteadily at the blob that sounded like April. He could just about make out her red hair and yellow sweatshirt, and her voice kept fading into an unintelligible buzz. He caught one word repeated several times.

"Sorry…Mikey, I…so sorry…"

Mikey had no idea why she was sorry, but, "…okay…it's okay, April..."

Something warm and heavy fell onto his plastron, shaking and raining little drops of water on him. He tried to lift a hand to feel what it was, but the ringing in his ears reached a crescendo and everything faded out again.

It seemed like a brief blink, but the next time he opened his eyes, there was light gently illuminating his surroundings. It seemed like someone had lit dozens of candles, throwing a soft glow onto the various pieces of equipment in Donnie's lab.

Wait, Donnie's lab?

As unusual an occurrence as it was to actually be in Donatello's lab, let alone wake up there, Mikey didn't feel alarmed. His head was clearer than it had been in a while, and he could feel the sort of heavy numbness in his body that told him he'd suffered an injury of some kind. He thought back.

Were we on another Kraang hunt? Did I get nailed? Wow, I hope everyone else is okay!

His attention was drawn to a small snoring sound to his right. Sitting up was so not an option right now, so Mikey flicked his eyes to the side and saw a sleeping April resting her head on the table. She had her hand on his, and she looked exhausted. Concerned, Mikey tried to lift his left hand to give her a gentle shake, and gasped as an electric jolt of pain tweaked from his wrist up to his shoulder. He must have whimpered aloud, because the lights in the lab suddenly brightened, and he could hear Donnie's voice calling to him through the buzzing in his ears.

"—key? Mikey, buddy, don't try to move, okay? Just stay still, I'll give you some more painkillers right now. Man, I leave you for two minutes…"

Squinting through the black dots eating up his vision, Mikey managed to gasp, "Donnie…?"

He was rewarded by the sight of the familiar gap in Donatello's teeth as his big brother grinned broadly. "Hey, little brother. Let's check you over, okay? If you've messed up your stitches trying to move like that, I'll kick your shell."

"Seems like…someone…beat you to it, bro…"

Donnie's snort took the sting away from the needle being inserted into the crook of Mikey's elbow, though he still grimaced as it was taken out. "Dude, I hate needles…"

"Then it's a good thing you were out of it when I stitched up your head. Fifteen stitches. Thorough job, Mikey."

Mikey's eyes widened, and he gently disentangled his un-casted hand from April's in order to gingerly probe the back of his head, much to Donnie's displeasure. He could feel a thick bandage taped over the bumpy texture of a stitched wound.

"Wow. What…Donnie, what happened?"

Donatello's eye ridges creased slightly as he pulled a chair up next to the table Mikey was laid out on. "You don't remember?" He asked, sitting down with a wince that spoke of sore muscles. "You and April left the lair because she was feeling down, and you got-"

"—Ambushed by the Foot!" Mikey finished. "Jeez, yeah, I remember now, dude. That big guy totally clobbered me with a tetsubo, the jerk. And someone hit April with—April! Is she ok, Donnie?! Tell me she's okay!"

"She's fine," spoke a new voice, interrupting Donnie as he began to answer and causing him to roll his eyes. Leo hurried into the room, agitation making him clumsier than Mikey had ever seen him. The sound of the tray of metal instruments his older brother knocked over in his haste to be by his side made Mikey squeeze his eyes shut as it reverberated through his injured skull.

"Sorry, sor—agh, Donnie, I said I was sorry!"

"Graceful as a ballerina, arent'cha Leo?" Though Mikey didn't open his eyes, he would recognize Raph's 'Let's Annoy Leo!' voice anywhere. He felt two more warm presences gather at his left side, and cracked his eyes partially open to see all three of brothers next to him. He looked properly, and saw that, although they were all smiling down at him, their faces were tense and their eyes unhappy.

"A-are you guys okay?" He asked tentatively. The question made them exhale in a whoosh of breath, and Raph laughed shakily, knuckling his eyes with one hand and placing the other on Mikey's plastron.

"'Are you guys okay?' he says! Mikey, do you have any idea what we've been going through the past two days, waiting for your sorry butt to wake up? We just managed to get Sensei to go to bed, Donnie's been working practically non-stop, Spike's off his feed-"

"April hasn't left your side for more than five minutes," Leo said, rolling his eyes at Raph's inclusion of Spike. "She feels like it's all her fault, no matter what we tell her."

Mikey looked sadly at his human friend, then did a double take back to Raph. "Wait, two days?!"

"Yes. You suffered a pretty bad concussion, not to mention a large amount of physical trauma to your extremities. Your body put itself into a sort of 'suspended state' so that it could heal the worst of the dama-"

"Yeah, thank you, Donatello. What he's saying, Mikey, is that you're lucky to be alive." Leo's voice was deliberately stern, but the façade broke as his face crumpled. "We really thought…we thought you were dead, Mikey. When I came down that fire escape and saw you laying there, I…it was the worst, t-the worst thing…"

It was hard, seeing Leo sad and not being able to give him a hug. Mikey felt his own eyes welling up, and, with his voice catching in his throat, spoke to his brothers.

"I'm sorry, guys. I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to scare you, it's just…April, she was sad, a-and I wanted her to be happy, b-but the f-Foot came and…"

He started to sob quietly, overcome by the shock of being ambushed and waking up two days later in pain.

"A-and I was s-so s-scared, I didn't want a-April to get hurt, but there were so many, and I'm so s-sorry…!"

His brothers barreled into him as gently as they could manage; Leo cradled his head, Raph threw his arms around Mikey's plastron, and Donnie softly stroked his heavily bandaged feet. They had always huddled together when they were feeling unhappy; it had been that way ever since their infancy. Through his own tears, he could hear the muffled sobs of his big brothers, and realized just how desperate the situation had been.

"I'm so sorry, guys," he whispered once more, and they squeezed him a little tighter. Eventually, they separated, and saw April looking at them with a fond smile.

"A-April!" came the mortified yelp from both Raphael and Donatello, the latter blushing fiercely. April just laughed, and hugged Mikey herself, brushing off Leo's protestations that she should be resting her ankle with a muttered "I'm fine."

Two sets of blue eyes locked, and April and Mikey were silent for a long moment, drinking in the sight of each other alive and (relatively) safe. Then April's face broke into a giant grin.

"Hey, you," she said, wiping away his tears and placing a sisterly peck on his forehead. "Thank you…so much, for protecting me. And I'm so sor-"

"It's okay," he replied, interrupting her apology. "You don't need to be sorry, 'nee-chan. There's nothing to be sorry about, okay?"

April stared at him, her eyes wide. Then, she visibly relaxed, and palmed his freckled cheek with a gentle smile. "Okay."

Hugely relieved, Michelangelo let the yawn building up in his chest escape, much to the amusement of his brothers. The painkillers Donnie had given him earlier were dragging him down into a comfortable, warm cocoon, and now that the air had been cleared, he was more than happy to let them. The low, murmured conversation around him was a huge comfort, especially when a new, dearly familiar voice added itself to the mix.

The last thing Mikey felt before succumbing to a healing sleep was a whiskery snout nuzzling gently against his.

"Welcome back, my son."

A/N:Seriously, this fic was supposed to be about 2000 words. I don't even know what happened. But we're finally done with this little section! I am very much enjoying paddling in a fic-pool with the turtles!