A week later, Mikey shuffled around the liar. He paused to look at Don's lab, which still looked like a wreck even though the genius himself had left He walked to Raph's room, which looked just empty. Like his heart.

Mike felt angry, and jealous, and a thousand other things all at once. For the moment, the worst feeling was loneliness. So he found Leo, reading in his bedroom. Leo looked up when he knocked.

"Hey Mikey. Are you okay?" Leo asked.

Mikey didn't answer. He was anything but okay. It was a stupid question. Leo set his book aside.

"Why don't you come in?" Leo suggested.

Mike did, sitting down on a chair across from Leo's bed. "Do you know that part of this that sucks the worst?" Mike asked.

"What?" Leo asked.

"I'm the one who always gets left behind."

Leo's mouth dropped open, but he didn't answer.

"So what gives? Why is it, that the one turtle who can get along with everyone, the one who hasn't hurt anyone, the one turtle in this family that is the nicest, always gets shit on?" Mikey felt marginally better as he saw the shocked expression on Leo's face. But Leo recovered fast.

"I don't like it either," Leo said, sighing.

"Yeah, but you left like for two years. You didn't care so much then."

"That's not fair," Leo said. "It wasn't that simple."

"Neither is this. If Donny had to go, it should have been me who went with him. He needs me."

"He's needs all of us. We all need each other."

"No, you don't understand. Donny needs me. He's messed up right now. He hasn't worked in his lab in almost a month. And he and me… well, I'm the only one he'll talk too.."

"I know. That's part of the problem," Leo said

Mike's face flushed with rage. Problem? The fact that Don was close to him was a problem?

Leo must have caught the look, because he quickly amended, "According to Splinter anyway." Leo said raising up his hands in surrender.

"So this is the solution? Breaking up the family?"

"I don't think we're breaking up the family. I'm not saying I like it. But I think I get what Splinter is doing. Don and Raph are not close, but they're a lot a like."

"How?" Mike asked, incredulous. "They're like fire and water."

"That's a good analogy, actually. Let me ask you this… Can you get burned by water?"

"No," Mike said.

"You know better than that," Leo said. "Remember about five years ago, when you left the cover on a pot too long, you opened it and…"

"Yeah, I got burned," Mikey said, staring at the scar on his hand. "But if you're saying that Donatello is acting like that your dead wrong. He looked numb, not angry."

"Why is he numb?"

"I don't know. That what I've been trying to find out."

"I think I know."

Mike's stomach burned, Leo couldn't know anything, unless... "What did you do, hack his into computer and read his journal?"

"No, but I think I know him well enough to guess. Imagine you're blaming yourself for hurting your brother. Then image your father and other brothers are angry with you about it. But none of it was really your fault. How would you feel?"

"I don't know, guilty maybe?"

"Yeah guilty, but I'd bet angry too. And probably scared that another one of his gadgets will malfunction. And fairly useless because of his broken arm."

Mike thought about it a minute. It made his head spin, but it sounded right, somehow.

"So let's talk coping mechanisms…" Leo continued. "I meditate or practice. Raph beats in the head of the nearest street punks, and you play practical jokes, or skateboard or play video games. Don works. He builds stuff, fixes stuff."

"Which he hasn't been doing."

"Right, so he's stuck. He can't work through it. It's eating him and he can't get rid of it."

"If you know all this, why haven't you talked to him about it."

"I've tried a couple of times, but he's still too angry with me."

"But me…"

"Exactly."

Mike boarded through the sewers, heading toward the West Place, as Raph had dubbed it. It was a stupid name. Their new place was actually North of the liar. When Raph entered the room for the first time, it was filled with cowboy memorabilia. There were boxes upon boxes of hats, boots, belt buckles, and raw hide skins. Hence, the west place.

It was about a fifteen minute walk, which meant it took Mike less than ten on his skateboard. He had to admit it was a good spot. It was better hidden than the lair itself.

The door was damn near invisible. Mike had been there twice and still it took him ten minutes to find it. It's only distinguishing features were the hinges that popped out on the sewer wall. But even those were easy to overlook. The hinges were not standard door hinges. They were metal cylinders two and half feet long. They were covered in algae and they oozed something slimy.

The door handle itself was a rectangular hole in the wall, also covered in algae. It was the last place on earth anyone would want to stick their hand.

But Mike did, putting two of his fingers in and heaving the metal back. He slipped inside and the door fell shut behind him with a creak and whoosh of air.

The west place was smaller than the regular lair. It was roughly rectangular. The main room was over eighty feet long, but it wasn't quite twelve feet wide. Raph and Don had put in a makeshift kitchen on one end (a mini refrigerator, a microwave, and a table) and put a TV (a much nicer one than at the lair) and a couple of chairs on the other.

Four rooms connected to the main one. One was a bathroom, which as a bonus, was already hooked up with city water and it had a shower. Don had figured the men who worked down here must have wanted to clean up before they went home.

The other three rooms were just rooms. One obviously was an office of some kind, so Don had claimed it for his lab. The other two they changed into sleeping quarters. Don's room had a set of bunk beds and Raph's had his hammock.

When Mike walked in, Don was sitting at the kitchen table studying the parts of something which were spread all over the table.

"Hey, Mikey," Don said, looking up. "What brings you this way?"

He had a lot time to come for the answer to that question, which he knew would be the first out of either of his brothers' mouths. But he still didn't have an answer.

He just shrugged.

Don put down his screwdriver, "You okay?"

"Yeah."

"So yes meaning no?"

Mikey shook his head. "No, I'm fine. What's that?'

"It's a heater," Don said looking down at the tumble of pieces. "As much as I trust Raph, I don't want the place to go up in smoke or die of carbon monoxide asphyxiation."

"So you're working?"

"Yeah," Don said looking up meeting his eyes, which gave Mike more insight than the words. Don was working because he felt like he had too. He didn't like it and he was nervous.

"Where's Raph anyway?"

Don shrugged, "Off being Raph." He picked up a piece of the table and studied it.

Just then, the door creaked and then closed with a whoosh.

"Speaking of Raph," Mike said, turning to the door. Then he paled.

Don jumped to his feet and helped Raph stagger into a chair. He was a mess of blood. It dripped from his arm and leg and fell to the ground. There was a huge cut in Raph's arm that extended from his shoulder to his elbow. There was dagger sticking out of his thigh.

Don turned from him and raced into his bedroom, returning a moment later with bed sheets. He tore the cloth in half and then tore it again.

Mike was fingering the knife embedded in Raph's leg. He just about to pull it out when Don stopped him.

"Don't! Leave that there," Don said, pitching the rest of sheet to him. He wound the torn parts around the cut on Raph's arm.

"What?"

"You pull that out, he may bleed to death. I'll pull it out when we get home."

As they hoisted up Raph, who was half passed out, Mike realized that Don still thought the lair was home.

Don and Mike dropped Raph into a bed in the infirmary. Don washed his hands and grabbed his medical needles. Raph had passed out and Don kept it that way, with a shot of sedative. He started a pint of blood when Leo rushed in.

"What happened?" Leo asked.

"Jumped by the robots," Don said as he studied the knife in Raph's leg.

"That looks… awful," Leo commented turning from the dagger to Mikey. "Did he give any details."

"Yeah. The robots were pushing around a kid, and Raph stepped in to help," Mike told him. "The kid got away, but the robot took it out on him instead."

Leo shook his head, "How bad is it?"

Don packed off the knife in his brother's leg and had started to unwrap the rolls of cloth on Raph's arm. "Let me see."

Don looked it over, a sinking feeling in his stomach. "This one is deep. It's going to need a lot of stitches." He tossed the makeshift bandage aside and grabbed the thread and needle.

"Aren't you going to take care of the dagger first?" Leo asked.

"No," Don said and he punched his needle into the exposed muscle of his brother's arm. It took so many stitches that Don lost count after about 30. He pulled the last bit of skin together and stitched it down. He got clean bandages and wrapped the arm well.

He stared at the knife sticking out of his brother's leg for a couple of minutes in silence.

"What is the problem?" Leo asked.

"Just trying to gage," Don said. "Mikey, get another pint of blood and have it ready. Leo get bandages and pack it off as fast as you can once I get the knife out." Once they were in place, he said, "Here's hoping."

Don took a shuddering breath. He felt blind panic as he oozed the knife out of his brother's leg. Don dropped it on the floor and then helped Leo pack off the wound. It gushed like a geyser. Don grabbed his needle and tried to stitch the wound closed. He realized he would never be able to do it fast enough.

Swearing to himself, he found the blood vessel on Raph's upper leg. He pushed down with all of his strength. Slowly the wound stopped gushing.

"Mikey," Don said.

"Yeah."

"Do you see what I'm doing? I need you to do this while I close him up. Otherwise he'll bleed to death before I can get it done."

Mike looked a bit pale, but he nodded. It took a little meddling but eventually Mikey's fingers stopped the flow of blood into his brother's leg.

Don pulled off the bandages stitched as fast as he had ever done, putting muscles back together, rehooking a couple of small arteries. He did all of it while constantly watching his watch.

He gave two more big stitches. "Okay, Mikey, let it go."

"But you're not done," Leo protested.

"We have to get the blood flowing. I don't want him to lose his leg. Do it Mike."

Mike let go and a pool of blood starting oozing up around Don's fingers. "Not so bad," Don breathed. He put the rest it of back together and packed it off.

He dropped down in the chair, picked up the knife from the floor and threw it at the wall. It stuck in.

"Okay, that sucked," Mike said, flexing his fingers.

Don shrugged.

"What are those things?" Mike asked. "And why do we keep running in to them?"

Don shrugged again.

"I suppose it's about time we figured that out. Before one of us gets killed." Leo said. "I'll call April and see if she knows anything. Let me know if you need me." Leo said as he left the room.

"Can you feel your fingers yet?" Don asked Mikey as he got up checked Raph's pulse. It was strong and steady.

"No," Mike said.

"It will just take a few more minutes and the tingling will be gone. Better than Raph bleeding to death. But I hate doing that. If you cut off the blood supply too long, it can cause tissue damage, meaning gangrene, meaning Raph loses his leg, or foot…"

Master Splinter walked into the room, looking weary, and concerned. "Is Raphael hurt my sons?"

"Yes sensei," Mikey said. "He was attacked by one of those robots."

"Is he out of danger?" the old rat asked, his eyes flicking to Don.

"I think so, sensei," Don replied with a half shrug. "I've done all I can."

"Which is considerable," he agreed. "Michelangelo, would you please leave us? I would like to speak to Donatello."

Don gave Mikey a longing look, begging him with his eyes to stay. But Mikey raised his eye ridge, shrugged, and left.

"Please sit." Splinter commanded gently. And so Don did, taking one of the chairs.

Splinter walked over and took Don's left arm in his own. He gently felt it up and down, along the break. "You have stopped wearing the sling."

Don shrugged, "It… um… stopped hurting, and I was scaling a wall, and I kinda needed it."

"It still needs more time to heal, as does the rest of you." Splinter said. He took some bandages and rewrapped it for him. "What is the extent of your brother's injuries?"

So Don told him as his father re-immobilized his arm.

"Then what troubles you, my son?"

"I did the best I could," Don said, lowering his head, "But those cuts were deep. They might not heal right. He could have permanent damage. Which for anyone else, probably wouldn't be a problem, but for Raph… it could be deadly."

"It is not your fault."

"But it is. If I were a better surgeon, I would know how to do it and it wouldn't even be an issue. And what if I cut off the blood supply to his leg too long? It could cause tissue damage."

"You did the best you could."

"But it's never enough." Don said, finally meeting his father's eyes.

"It always should have been," Splinter said. "You can never be anything more than what you are. It was a mistake for me to try to force you to be otherwise."

Don dropped his head and rubbed his forehead with his right hand. His father wrapped another bandage around his left arm. "I've always wanted to please you."

"If you want to please me, fix the television. My neck is sore from looking sideways. But pleasing me is not important. You need to find a way to live in your own skin, my son. Find a way to live with your mistakes, with your limitations, and with the displeasure of your brothers. Find a way to live with your father's anger."

Don raised his eyes to his fathers. They locked together for several moments as Splinter tied a last bandage around Don's neck as a sling. He saw anger there, but he saw love too, and understanding. Don felt his warm hand on his head.

"The world is as it is. Raphael will heal or he will not. It is out of your hands now. I will sit with him, my son. Clean yourself, eat, and rest. Consider that an order."

Leo found Donny and Mikey sitting in the kitchen eating. They both had showered. Mikey was pouring a bowl of cereal for Don who looked like a mummy with his arm wrapped from his shoulder to his fingertips in white gauze.

"What," Leo said, raising his eye ridge, "Did you get attacked by the bandage fairy?"

"Very funny," Don said. "Master Splinter rewrapped it. He thinks it needs more time to heal."

"He's usually right," Mikey said, setting the bowl down in front of Don. "He told you to eat and go to bed too."

"How do you know that?" Don asked and he fumbled with his spoon one handed.

"He told me to make sure you did it," Mike said smiling.

"Before you go to bed," Leo said, sitting down. "I found out a few things from April."

"What?" Mike asked between bites of cereal.

"These robots are all over the city. There have been hundreds of reports of them. Not many injuries related to them as of yet, but the city officials are nervous. They don't know what they are or why they're here."

"So no one knows anything?" Don asked.

"Seems that way," Leo replied, finding that hard pit in his stomach again. "Would you do me a favor Donny?"

"What?"

"Would you stay here tonight?"

"Why?"

Leo paused, he didn't want to mess this up. There were a hundred reasons he wanted Don to stay, including he didn't want Don all alone, to Raph might need him in the night. But it came down to one simple reason. "I've just have a really bad feeling, and I think we should all be together. Just in case."

Don studied him, his intense eyes holding Leo's gaze. "Okay," he agreed. "Mind if I crash with you Mikey?"

"Sure dude. But you have to go to bed now, because if you don't, Splinter isn't going to let me get take out for a whole month."

"Oh, come on, just one game of Mario Cart?"

"Mario Cart.. or pizza… Sorry Dude."