Author's Note: Like I said, this story isn't over...it's basically just beginning. So Donnie's bros don't really buy the story that he lost his memory for an entire week and just wandered back to the lair. Of course, he's not going to tell them the truth...but he's willing to tell Splinter the truth. How will Splinter react when he hears what really happened to Donatello? And will certain turtles eavesdrop on their conversation? Read and find out!


Chapter 7: Private Conversations

"Come on, Donnie! Where did you go last week after Spike attacked you?"

"For the twentieth time Mikey, I don't remember! In case you didn't realize it, that monster hit me pretty hard!"

"But I wasn't there when he hurt you! You gotta remember something!"

Donatello simply rolled his eyes before reaching over his desk and grabbing a spare test tube. Honestly, why wouldn't Mikey or the others simply let this go? Weren't they happy enough with him coming back home in one piece? Of course not; they wanted to know the exact details of what happened during his week-long absence. If he disclosed it with them that would possibly result in three angry mutant turtles breaking into an innocent young woman's apartment and all Hell breaking loose from there. So to protect his friend, he would just keep up the memory loss game until they gave.

He underestimated how persistent his brothers were, though.

"Mikey, if I remembered anything, don't you think I would've told you?" Donnie groaned in exasperation. "Look, the important thing is, I'm alive and I'm back. And right now, I REALLY need to get back to work on this retromutagen!"

Michelangelo kept his blue eyes on his brother for a solid ten seconds before he quietly sighed. "Okay, bro…I'm gonna start on dinner, okay? Gonna try and make some lasagna. I'll call you when it's ready."

When the orange-masked turtle exited, Donnie thought about what his brother could possibly do to that poor lasagna. He hadn't seen her fix any, but he was pretty sure Cheyloe's roommate Kaitlyn could fix up some that would be a thousand times better. Knowing Mikey, he would probably try to shove jelly beans or chocolate chips or algae and worms into the pasta dish, which automatically made his stomach roll. What would be next? Pizza cake?

"I think I should go out and get some real food…" The purple-masked turtle grumbled, opening a drawer in his desk and pulling out a box. Inside of it, unbeknownst to his brothers and Splinter, was a huge wad of cash he saved up for a long as he could remember. He especially didn't want Mikey to know about it or he would constantly hound on him for pizza money. Or Leo would take it to buy Space Heroes junk. Or Raph would take it just because. Either way, he wouldn't let them find it. He took out about twenty dollars and tucked it into his belt before closing the box and drawer. "Some pizza gyoza sounds good right now."

Donnie put up the chemicals in an area where the temperature wouldn't corrode them, then cleaned up the rest of his desk and made his way to the door of his lab. Once he stepped out, however, he suddenly found himself greeted by Splinter. "Oh, uh, hey Sensei? Is there…something I can help you with?"

"Donatello, you've been spending a lot of time in your lab." Splinter began. "About as much as when April temporarily cut ties with us. Is everything all right, my son?"

"Uh…everything's okay, Master Splinter. No need to worry!" Donnie lied, plastering on a fake smile.

The rat narrowed his eyes and his ears drooped ever so slightly. "Donatello…remember what I told you. It has been three days since your return…are you ready to tell me the truth? Or will you keep lying not only to your family, but to yourself as well?"

Donnie gave a bitter sigh and averted his eyes from his father. Did Sensei really have to make this so difficult? Then again, he did say he would talk about it when he was ready…but he had to make sure the conversation was private. He knew Mikey was in the kitchen, and he glanced over to see Leo and Raph engrossed in the television. Now was his chance. Offering a small nod of resignation, he replied quietly, "I'll talk, Sensei…but can we talk in private, please?"

Splinter nodded his head in approval. "We can…let us go into the dojo."

Donatello calmly followed his father into the dojo, making sure the door was closed and that none of his brothers caught on. He quietly walked over towards the large tree that served as a place of calming, apart from his lab, and took a seat by sitting on his knees, as usual. Splinter did the same, sitting face-to-face with his son in preparation for the conversation.

"Now, my son…please share with me what happened during the time you were missing."

The purple-masked turtle sucked in a deep breath. Calm down, Donnie…no one is listening outside…it's okay to tell Sensei. He won't go after her. Breathing out after holding it in, he cleared his throat and began to talk. "Sensei…after…Spike attacked me, I was pretty sure I was going to die. Before I lost consciousness, I saw someone approaching me. I only saw the boots, so at first, I thought it was April. But…it wasn't. I was rescued…by another human."

Splinter's eyes widened and his eyebrows raised. "…Another human?"

"Yes, Sensei, another human…a kind and compassionate human." The genius turtle clarified. "Her name is Cheyloe…she works as a nurse at a hospital. She patched me up and allowed me to stay at her home to recover. I could've been home sooner, yeah, but…"

"…But you were recovering from more than just physical wounds." Splinter finished.

Donnie moved his head in agreement. "The nights before the attack, I would always hear voices in my sleep…voices that belonged to the guys…and April. All of them would constantly berate me for my failures, and tell me what I do wrong. So, I…I couldn't go home just yet. I heard the voices again when I was unconscious…but Cheyloe's voice brought me out of it."

"This Cheyloe sounds like a very selfless person." Splinter noted. "One who is willing to look past your mutant appearance and see what is inside. My son…why do you wish to keep her existence a secret from your brothers?"

The purple-masked turtle bit his lip. "I know this is going to sound crazy and stupid, but if I told them, especially Raph, they would more than likely storm her apartment and interrogate her as to why she 'kidnapped' me. I don't want them to hurt her…"

"My son, despite how frantic your brothers have been regarding your absence…I do not believe they would lower themselves to harming innocent people…especially since this Cheyloe has in-fact saved your life." He closed his eyes and opened them, directing them to look into Donatello's eyes. "Donatello…Raphael took your absence the hardest. He feels that if he did not frequently tell Spike of your negative traits, he would not have attempted to end your lives. There was one instance…where he accused April of wanting you to be injured."

"He…what!?" Donnie asked in pure disbelief. "I knew Mikey told me Raph yelled at her, but I never thought he would say anything like THAT!"

"His emotions got the better of him, but April already held onto her own guilt. She blamed herself for your emotional state…she even admitted that at one time, she wished you harm. But now, she is making amends, as you know." Splinter got to his feet and kept staring at this son. "If you are comfortable, Donatello, and you believe her to be trustworthy…please allow me to speak with Cheyloe…so I can thank her for saving your life."

"S-Sensei…" Donnie stuttered, his eyes becoming watery at that remark. "You…you really mean that?"

The rat nodded warmly. "Yes, my son."

Donatello couldn't help himself as he got up and gave his father a hug. Splinter gladly returned it, relieved that he could see a more positive change in his son's spirit now that he voiced his concerns. Of course, at the same time, he could sense that, more than likely, they weren't alone…


"Donnie…he was with a HUMAN?" Leonardo asked in a hushed voice. "A human that WASN'T April?"

Raphael stared at the dojo door in shock before hopping back over the water and going to the couch. "I can't believe this! I mean…I knew he was lying when he said he didn't remember anything, but he was with some random human!? Why didn't he want to tell us!?"

"Didn't you hear him?" Michelangelo questioned softly, his eyes looking forlorn. "He thinks we would go after her and accuse her of taking him…"

At that remark, Raph unclenched his fists and Leo stared guiltily at the ground. In a way, Donnie had a right to think that. They weren't exactly very trustworthy with humans after the incidents of Karai's double-crossing, Timothy getting mutated, and April ditching them. Of course, what started it all was the infamous Chris Bradford incident. And concerning their behavior while Donnie was gone, they were at the point of almost jumping at random humans and demanding to know where their brother was. Well, Raph primarily, but they were all still guilty of thinking it. No wonder Donnie wanted to keep this mystery girl a secret.

"So…should we tell Donnie that we listened in and know about this Cheyloe person?" The orange-masked turtle suggested out-of-the-blue.

"No…that would just make Donnie mad and have less trust in us." Leo admitted. "He didn't want us listening in; that's why he only wanted to tell Sensei. We'll just keep it to ourselves for now…but…"

"But what?" Raph asked, crossing his arms.

The blue-masked turtle sat down and stared at the television. "I'm with Sensei…I want to find this Cheyloe and thank her for helping Donnie…though we should wait until he's ready for us to do so. We don't want him to not trust us ever again."

The red-masked turtle wanted to argue with that and just tell Donnie the truth, but he knew that, in a way, he was still recovering mentally from all of this. And to flat-out tell him that they listened in on a PRIVATE conversation would just steal the trust he had in them. Given enough time, he would come around and tell them the whole story…so they would just pretend that they didn't hear a thing.

"…I agree." He finally spoke. "Let's just wait for him to bring her to us…"


Just as he predicted, the lasagna ended up being less-than-appetizing. Not really because Mikey decided to add Mentos to it, but because he let it sit in the oven too long and resulted in it burning. Donnie ended up being the first to volunteer to go get some pizza gyoza. Anything to get the smell of that food out of his nose. They were kind of surprised that he was the one to offer to get some; usually that would come out of Mikey. But he had another reason for wanting to be the one to go get the meal.

Now standing on a random rooftop and holding a large bowl with a heaping amount of pot stickers, Donatello glanced around until he saw what he was looking for. In the distance, approximately two blocks away, was an upscale apartment building, with a ground floor and four apartment floors. He spotted a balcony on the top floor and knew this was where he had to go…well, he had to make sure it was the right balcony.

Making sure the pot stickers were secure in his arm, he jumped the rooftops leading to the building. It was a good thing he told Murakami-san to make extras; he just explained to the chef that he had someone he wanted to surprise. Right now would be the time she would be home, but he would just be quick so his brothers didn't become suspicious. When he couldn't exactly reach the rooftop of the building once he got to it, he saw a fire escape and jumped to it. He carefully climbed it until he reached what would be the fourth apartment floor. He hopped onto the balcony and looked inside the window.

He recognized the kitchen and living room…good, he was at the right place. He opened the container and pulled out a smaller, separate dish containing about six gyoza; two each for all three of them. The genius turtle took a deep breath before knocking on the glass door and waiting for a response. Sure enough, after a moment, there appeared Cheyloe exiting the hallway and walking to the door.

"Donnie?" The brunette asked, opening the door. "Hey, what's going on? Still feeling all right?"

"Oh, I'm all right." Donnie replied, wearing a shy smile. "Listen, you know how you told me you've been to Murakami's but never tried pizza gyoza? Well…" He presented her with the small container. "Two for you, and two each for Anna and Kaitlyn. You know, since you've never tried them before."

Chey instantly smiled and took the dish. "Aww, thank you Donnie! That's so sweet!" She opened it up and sniffed it before picking one up. "Still warm…might as well try one!" She popped the pot sticker into her mouth and chewed, staying quiet as she took in the taste, before swallowing the morsel. "Whoa…that…was…delicious! You're seriously going to have to keep me from devouring Anna and Kaitlyn's!"

The purple-masked turtle instantly laughed. "Good, right? Well, Mikey didn't do so well with his attempt at lasagna, so I offered to go buy dinner. But, I thought about you and figured I'd bring you some as a treat…and a thanks."

"Donnie, no thanks are necessary." Chey insisted, wearing her signature warm smile. "I was just doing the right thing…well, what my heart told me to do."

"Well, the thing is…I told Master Splinter about you." Donatello admitted. "I told him what you did for me and, if it's okay, he wants to meet you sometime so he can thank you as well."

The brunette instantly blushed and held her hand to her mouth. "O-Oh, is that right? Wow…he wants to thank me? I guess I could find a time to come over-"

"Actually…if it's okay, I'll bring him here." Donnie offered. "I told him…but not my brothers. I-I mean, they got so frantic while I was gone I'm afraid if I told them about you, they'd accuse you of kidnapping me…a-and I didn't want them to hurt you."

"Donnie, I haven't met them, but I don't think they would go that far." Cheyloe replied, wearing a lop-sided smile. "You don't have to worry…but I can tell you're really concerned about it. Just talk to them about me when you're ready, okay? I'm sure they'll understand. I mean, they wouldn't attack innocent people, right?"

Donatello paused before shaking his head. "No…they're not like that." He looked up and offered his own smile in turn. "You should take up a job as a motivational speaker…you're really good at this."

Cheyloe just laughed. "You really think so? I don't know…I may consider your offer."

Donnie chuckled before noticing the clock on his T-Phone. "I'd better get home before dinner gets cold. Uh…talk to you soon?"

"Yeah, better not starve your brothers." Chey joked. "Yeah, call me anytime if you need anything. Goodnight, Donnie!"

"Goodnight, Cheyloe." Donatello bid farewell before hopping down onto the fire escape, making sure not to forget the gyoza meant for him and his family. Well, he still wouldn't tell his brothers about her right away…but if he gave it enough time, he would feel comfortable with coming clean to them. But then…he wondered how April would react when he told her about Chey. Would she be relieved…or would she show signs of jealousy? He really didn't want to think about it…