AN: I was actually afraid I wouldn't make it in time for the Monday update! But here we go, fully beta-d and ready to rock. Any mistakes that remain are fully my own. I think I told you last time, but I am currently in the middle of moving. Should any updates be late, I apologize beforehand. Also, work. Ugh.

To those who replied: Thank you so, so much. I don't have time to reply properly right now, so I'll just save you some space up here. Elphaba- you know you're amazing. NJ7009- I'm glad I came around and that you like what you're reading now! It made me so happy to read your latest reviews! Thanks a lot! Elileo- ngh, thanks! x3 Bubbly- well you know I adore you already, but it made me squeal to see you dropped by and took the time to read. And last but not least, binditheskunk: Thanks for reading, I am glad you like it! To answer your question: I am currently updating every Monday and Friday. However, I am almost at the end of my pre-written chapters and I might have to reduce my updates to once a week once Uni starts. We'll see in time.

And um... sorry, but your question made me grin. I haven't used the term "yaoi" for so long I almost forgot about it. Let's just say it's a surprise, all right?

Disclaimer: Who am I even kidding here?

CLEANING UP

"Leo!"

Mikey practically bounced down the stairs and threw himself at his brother in a full-body embrace. "We were so worried! Like, Raph was all cuddly and Don was all strange and I was all sad and we all..."

"I get the basic picture, thank you," Leo said with a smile and detached himself from the youngest. "I'm glad to be back, too." He threw a cautious glance at Raph, who gave him a shrug in response. "Nice of ya to show up again, y'know, not hallucinatin'," he grumbled and looked away quickly. His amber eyes were dark with fatigue, and Leo wondered idly what his brother had been up to all night.

"Oh! Oh, Leo, I almost forgot!" Mikey interrupted him before he could make too much of Raph's words. He let the orange-wearing turtle pull him over to the sofa table to have a look at "something really important".

Usagi's swords were lying on the cleared glass surface, their sheaths and handles spotted brown and grey with dust and blood.

"We didn't know what to do with them," Mikey explained behind him. "I mean, can we just clean them? Are we allowed to touch them?"

It was a curious thing, the bond between a warrior and his weapons. They were like comrades in battle, the only thing you could safely rely on. Some said that the blades and stave had their own souls, ones that you should honor by keeping the edges sharp and the surfaces smooth. It had been right of the others not to touch them; but seeing the blades like this- seeing them stained- seemed worse in comparison.

"I'll clean them," Leo heard himself say, as if from a great distance. "He probably won't mind me handling them."

"Yeah," Mikey replied with obvious relief. "That's what I thought."

Leo picked up the swords with great care. The longer katana and the shorter wakizashi sword were perfectly balanced. He carried them into the dojo, sat down next to the weapon rack where they all stored their training weapons and selected some polish from their supplies.

The hilts were wrapped in soft green and black leather straps, not unlike the ones on his own swords. Leo couldn't help but notice that these looked newer. They were recently replaced; probably a result of too much use. He reminded himself that Usagi had been a skilled warrior long before any of the turtles had even picked their weapons. It drove a shudder down his spine to imagine what caused him to end up in their infirmary.

It must have been a far superior enemy, he thought by himself as he ran a soft cloth down the length of the katana's black sheath. That, or... an ambush.

Suddenly, he had quite a good idea what might have caused all this. Or rather, who.

He locked those thoughts away for later inspection and instead concentrated on the work at hand. Soon the sword sheaths gleamed in the soft light that spilled in through the dojo's domed ceiling, and the handles were spotless.

He didn't draw the swords. That would have been a definite invasion of Usagi's privacy. Besides, if he knew anything for certain, it was that the blades themselves were razor-edged and sparkling.

He didn't notice how much time had passed with him simply staring at the weapons in front of him until the paper doors slid aside and Mikey poked his head in. "Hey bro. Breakfast's ready," he called softly. Leo nodded and rose, picking up the swords and carrying them into the infirmary, where he placed them on the chair next to the bed before he followed the smell of bacon and eggs into the kitchen.

*T*M*N*T*

When Miyamoto Usagi woke up, he immediately knew he was drugged: Even though he could barely move, it didn't bother him much.

He looked around with bleary eyes. He was in a room, in a bed raised off the ground. Not a futon bed, then. He blinked at the brightness of the strange light source that shone off the ceiling; it seemed to burn without candles and hurt his eyes when he looked at it for too long.

There were tubes running down his side, leading from two empty transparent bags on a metal stand down to his arm. There were bandages over the point where they ended. He unraveled them to reveal two needles that had been stuck into his arm.

Drugs, his mind insisted. With a grimace, the ronin pulled the two needles out and pressed down on the entry points with a clean piece of linen until they stopped bleeding.

There was another bandage covering his side. Slowly, the memory of a battle came back to him. He had been wounded, but someone had tended it. Usagi decided to leave these wrappings where they were for now. Instead, he carefully swung his legs off the side of the bed, took a deep breath and stood up.

The pain was there, but manageable. He was still shirtless and his white fur was stained in places; but there was nothing for it. He could clean up later. For now, he needed to find out who had taken him hostage- or offered him their hospitality. It was amazing how close these two had proven to be in the past.

His swords were lying on a chair next to the bed. He picked them up gingerly and ran a hand over the sheaths. Someone had cleaned them; they shone in the harsh white light as if they were ready to bite. They, just like him, had been taken care of. He could feel it in his bones as the soft leather wrappings melted into his grip like extended limbs.

Not captured, then. He put his weapons back for now. He could always come back to them later.

The room, now that he concentrated on it, was a strange kind of mess. One half of it, in which he was currently located, was clean to the point of spotless and smelled sterile. It held mostly metal shelves and drawers. But, as if someone had been following an invisible line on the ground, the other half of the room was... untidy. Not dirty, but cluttered with metal pieces and tools he did not know the name of, stacks of books and papers and humming, beeping... machines.

There was a photo frame on one of the tables. Usagi walked over to it and picked the wooden frame up with careful hands. Behind a thin sheet of glass, seven faces were grinning back at him.

Two humans, a humanoid rat, and four kame ninja.

No, not kame, he reminded himself. Just turtles.

Ah.

*T*M*N*T*

"Yes, we will," Leo said defiantly and crossed his arms over his plastron. He was looking sternly at his assembled brothers.

Mikey groaned. Don drawled out a sigh. And Raph...

"Get da stick outta your shell, fearless. 'S not like sensei is here to watch us." He pronounced the word shell like someone else would pronounce... well, something vulgar.

Leo's eyes narrowed. "And that means we should neglect our training because..?"

"You shouldn't exercise too much just yet", Don chimed in. "You had a nasty concussion and a bad fever mere hours ago, remember?"

"Yeah, an' speaking of concussions," Raph said nastily, "let's not forget that you knocked me senseless last night. From behind. With a stick. To the head." He leaned sideways to show the ugly bruise that currently adorned his left temple.

Leo shrank back from it. "That was an accident," he muttered apologetically. "I did have a fever." His shoulders slumped in defeat. "Fine then. Take the day off."

"You, too." This time it was Don's turn to look sternly at his brother who shrugged and refused to meet his eyes.

"Yes. Whatever. Fine."

*T*M*N*T*

When it became clear that his vest was gone for good, Usagi brushed himself off the best he could without straining his wound, put on his earband and left the room in search of the turtles.

He found himself in the main room of the lair. The circular pool in the middle of the den glittered in the sun that was streaming through windows high up in the ceiling. His eyes were drawn to the TV screens showing different news channels. He was momentarily mesmerized. Moving pictures in a box! Light without fire! Third Earth truly was a magnificent place.

The smell of sizzling meat and warm bread hung heavily in the air, but when he found the kitchen, it was already empty. His stomach growled as he slunk back. He was not ready to rummage through the turtles' kitchen shelves just yet.

He was aware that he was shuffling. There was no helping it. Whatever drugs he had been on up to now were clearly wearing off. Usagi risked a glance at his side while he leaned against a pillar to catch his breath. What he found was an angry red gash, but expertly stitched. It was longer than he had anticipated- the shuriken had not been that big- but not as deep as he had feared. Someone had smeared a sort of ointment on it that kept it from itching. Obviously, he was in good hands.

He pushed off the pillar and stumbled over to the staircase. Maybe he could find someone upstairs.

He didn't need to go that far. Before he had even set foot on the first step, a door opened and someone flipped over the railing.

The turtle landed in a crouch, righted himself and stretched his arms. He was wearing a red mask and sported a rich, dark green skin color. Usagi had seen him before, at the Battle Nexus Tournament, if only for a moment.

This must be Raphael, he thought. As politely as possible, he cleared his throat.

The turtle spun around, hands up in an aggressive defense stance. He was taller than Leonardo or Donatello, bulkier, and his arms were littered with scars that shone in the morning light. A close-range fighter, Usagi thought and found his theory proven right when he caught sight of the sai handles that protruded from Raphael's belt. A protector, too.

"Hello," he said and bowed as much as his wound allowed. "I am Miyamoto Usagi. I do not believe we have been properly introduced."

"Uh," the turtle answered and lowered his hands. "Right. Raphael. Hi." Then his eyes widened. "You're awake! Hey! Leo! Guys! Your pet bunny's up!"

He shouted the last words, causing Usagi to flinch and frown at him. Pet bunny? Raphael had already turned back to him, an apologetic smile on his face. "Just teasin' em. No offense."

"None taken", the samurai replied cautiously. He was about to add more when the paper doors that he had noticed earlier slipped aside and Leonardo stepped into the hall.

He was just the way Usagi remembered him: Grass green skin, brown eyes behind a light blue mask that matched the leather around the katana hilts protruding from his back. His face lit up when he saw his friend stand next to the staircase.

"Usagi-san! I was so worried…"

"Leonardo! What were you doing in the dojo?"

That was Donatello's voice, coming from upstairs. He was leaning over the metal railing of the first floor, his dark brown eyes fixed on Leo's face which was currently a mix of relief and guilt. "Uh," he said sheepishly. "I was. Um. Sharpening my katana?"

A second turtle appeared in the doorway and squeezed past his brother. He was smaller and leaner, with an orange mask that sharply contrasted his dark blue-green skin. His eyes were blue and shining bright with mischief. "You are sooo busted!" He sung while he danced across the brick floor until he reached a door at the end of the hall. He waved at Usagi in passing before slamming the door behind him. A moment later, Usagi could hear water running.

He straightened when he realized who he had just seen. "That was Michelangelo," he said to no one in particular. "The Battle Nexus champion!"

Raphael groaned and for an unknown reason proceeded to slam his head into the nearest pillar. Repeatedly.

Leonardo was trying to creep away from the doors and in the direction of what the ronin assumed was the bathroom. Donatello, however, was already stomping down the stairs with far more force than necessary. "Hamato Leonardo, you will stop right there! Hello, Usagi-san, good to see you awake, you should really lay down- oh no, you're not getting away with this! I told you to pause training today! I told you! You agreed!"

The olive-skinned turtle rushed past Usagi and cornered his brother half-way to the bathroom, where he squared his shoulders and poked Leonardo repeatedly in the chest.

"I wasn't training! Not really! I was just… going through an old kata! An easy one, I swear!"

"With a concussion and fever?!" Donatello's arms slumped down to his sides. "I'm just worried," he muttered. With amusement, Usagi noted that Leonardo broke down almost instantly.

"I'm sorry, Don. I'll take it easy from now on. I promise."

"All right," Donatello muttered and turned around. "Now show our guest here the upstairs bathroom while I try to find some food in this house." Only now he seemed to properly register the rabbit warrior, who was still standing by the staircase. He bowed, quickly followed by Leonardo. "Are you sure you'll be okay, running around already?"

Usagi shrugged his shoulders. "Time will tell," he replied. He didn't know whether to be amused or irritated by what had just taken place. A normal ninja clan member would never speak up to their leader like that- but then, they weren't a normal clan. They were all family, he reminded himself. Things were different here.

"Right. Come on, Usagi, I'll show you the way."

The samurai managed about a quarter of the stairs on his own before his side started to throb and he had to take a break and catch his breath. Leonardo was by his side in seconds.

"Here. Let me help you." He slung one of Usagi's arms over his shoulders and supported his weight for the rest of the way. Usagi leaned against him when it became clear he was not capable of getting to the top on his own. There was a time for pride, he reflected, and a time when you should just shut up and accept other people's help. Clearly, these times fell into the latter category.

"Thank you," he said when they reached the wooden door that led into the bathroom. Leonardo opened it for him. Inside, the room was tiled white and held what must obviously be the toilet, along with a glass stand that Leonardo explained to be the shower.

"Towels are in here," he said and pointed to a drawer underneath the wash basin. "I'll go and fetch you some clothes. If you drop yours in front of the door, we will have them clean in no time." He briefly dissappeared while Usagi tried to figure out the way the shower worked; when Leo returned, he was carrying a grey T-Shirt and jogging bottoms.

"Those might be a bit wide," the turtle said, feeling suddenly and inexplicably nervous. There was something about seeing Usagi topless like that that unnerved him. "Uh. I'll just put them here." He balanced the stack of clothes on the wash basin. "Oh, yes, left is cold, right is hot, and hot is scalding, so watch that… Um… I'm sure sensei won't mind you using his shampoo, just be careful with your wound so you won't aggravate it. I'll… see you when you're done. Just call if you need anything."

Usagi waited politely while Leonardo muttered his way out of the room and closed the door behind him. Then he opened the aforementioned drawer to find a stack of colorful towels that were fluffy enough to stick to his fur. He stripped and put the remains of his stained clothes into the hallway in a neat stack before he stepped into the shower and turned one of the little wheels.

Left is cold, right is hot…

He turned it all the way to the right and almost yelped when the scalding water hit him. It felt heavenly to be clean again after what felt like ages, and he lost himself standing in the beam where the water beat down on him in a million droplets and pearled down his fur.