Author's Note: Once again, another huge thank you to Ozlex, the beta reader extraordinaire...


When Don saw Leo slip through the door, he jumped up, letting out a huge sigh of relief. As Leo sat down at the table in the kitchen, Don bolted the door from the inside and joined them.

"It is done master," Leo said, respectively bowing his head toward Splinter.

"Thank you my son," Splinter replied. "Your brother Donatello and I have been discussing our current situation. It is quite grave."

"Yeah," Mikey groaned from across the room, where he sat with his foot up watching TV. "First problem is we don't have any food."

Leo gave Don a look, "There isn't any food?"

Don shrugged, "Not enough anyway. It was just me and Raph and all we had was a microwave. We have lots of noodles, some coffee and..."

Mike cut him off, "No milk, no pizza, no ice cream, no eggs, no nothing. Not even enough to cook anything... Trust me, I checked."

Don laid his head down on his arms at the table. "Look, it wasn't like Raph and I were expecting house guests, much less everyone to move in. We spent all of three days here. We still aren't set up yet."

"Guys, we have bigger problems to worry about, like who exactly we're fighting? That's the more important question" Leo said, making a fist and taking what the brother's called his 'power stance'.

"You mean who is kicking our tails?" Mikey called.

"Would you just get over here?" Leo yelled, exasperated.

"My foot hurts," Mikey complained, gesturing at it.

"Mikey…." Leo glared back. "Please?"

Mike, grumbling, hobbled over to the table and then gave Leo a stare. "So…Where am I supposed to sit fearless?"

Leo was about to reply, when Don stood up, looking beyond annoyed, and gestured with his good arm to his chair. Then he slowly climbed on top of the tiny refrigerator.

"So who exactly are we fighting?" Leo asked again.

"Robots," Mike said, stating the obvious.

"Right," Leo conceded. "And they were sent by whom? For what purpose?" He turned to look at Don, who shrugged.

"Yes, Leonardo," Splinter said. "Those are the most important questions, but I do not know where we will find answers. Our enemy is hidden, elusive."

"But we have too. Our survival depends on it." Leo asked.

"Our survival depends on living in the shadows," Splinter said. "That has not changed."

"But it has," Mike said. "We can't stick our noses out without being attacked. And what are we going to eat?" Mike asked. "A shadow can't get food."

"Mikey!" Leo said, reproachfully.

"No, Leonardo, Michelangelo has a point." Splinter said. "We have some major obstacles to overcome."

"Okay, so where do we find our answers," Leo asked.

"Don't you get it? Nowhere. There are no answers. There's nowhere to even look." Don said, sounding both uncharacteristically angry and utterly exhausted.

Leo gave him a puzzled look that instantly tuned into concern. Don's face was pinched and he was flushed. He was also holding his right hand in his left as if it hurt. "What's wrong with your hand?"

Don leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes before answering softly. "Burned."

Leo stood up and took his brother's hand into his own, noticing that the flesh was red and inflamed. Then for good measure he checked Don's forehead. It was almost as hot as his hand.. His whole body was on fire. Leo swore, "Can anything else go wrong?"

"Never, EVER say that," Mike said. "The answer is always yes."

Splinter rose and crossed to Don placing his furred hand on Don's forehead. "My son," he said sadly. "You must rest."

Don nodded and got down off the refrigerator. As his feet hit the floor, he started to cough so violently that if Leo hadn't been standing there, would have fallen to his knees.

Between Splinter and Leo, they laid Don down in the bottom bunk bed in his room. "Get some rest, little buddy," Leo said

"Why do you keep calling me that?" Don asked as Splinter left to get more blankets.

"Why did you get Mikey his own bed for over here?" Leo answered giving Don a knowing look.

They locked eyes for a minute before Don started to shiver and cough, breaking eye contact with a groan.

When Don didn't reply, Leo answered for him. "Same reason, only I have three little brothers. But seriously, I can't do this without you Don. You have to get better."

Not only did Don not get better, the situation grew steadily worse. The lack of food was bad enough. In the middle of the first night, Leo woke from his spot on the floor next to Don's bed. He wasn't sure what woke him at first, but then he saw Mike crawl down from his bed above into Don's bed below. Leo sat up and as the blanket dropped away, he realized how cold it was. He started to shiver.

Leo placed a hand on Mike's shoulder to let him know he was there, "Come on Mikey, you can't sleep with him. You'll get sick."

"Dude, its freezing. I'm going to get sick anyway," Mike whispered. "At least he's warm."

Leo sighed and let Mike climb in not admitting he was being selfish. With Mikey out of the top bunk, it gave him a place to sleep. The second problem was that they didn't have enough beds for everyone. Leo was camping out on Don's bedroom floor, and Splinter was trying to sleep in a chair. The third and newest problem faced by the turtles was apparently the lack of heat. Leo was finding this the most annoying problem as he lay shivering under his blanket.

The first and most important problem was the food shortage. They had enough to last maybe two days. And that was only if everyone would actually eat plain noodles for three meals straight though. Leo doubted it. Mikey was already complaining after one meal and Raph wouldn't be much better when he finally woke up.

The biggest problem was the identity and motive of their attackers. It wasn't until sometime the next afternoon that Mike, of all people, came up with an answer

"Hey guys," he yelled excitedly from the living room. "Come look at this."

Raph, Leo and Splinter made their way to the living room where Mike was watching television. A news broadcast showed a picture of one of their robot foes.

"… These robots appear to be the property of a man with the self styled name of Lord Lim. Lim is believed to be a native of Hong Kong, but has been operating in Jakarta for the last fifteen years as a drug and crime lord. His robotic warriors have been implicated in numerous crimes in New York, including theft, arson, and assault. They also appear to have been the cause to what residents believed was a minor earthquake. Citizens on the lower west side reported an earthquake yesterday, which authorities found was caused by an explosion in the sewer system."

A picture of their lair that came up. It was almost unrecognizable because it was entirely trashed. The couch was flipped over, the kitchen was completely blackened, and Don's lab looked like a junk yard. Leo was actually glad Donny was still asleep, so he wouldn't have to see the damage.

From behind them, Leo heard a mournful sigh followed by a deep cough and knew his brother wasn't so lucky. He turned and saw Don leaning against the door jamb looking like he had just lost his first pet.

"The explosion didn't cause any appreciable damage to any surrounding buildings, but we have to wonder why Lord Lim planned this senseless attack. A warrant is currently out for Lord Lim, who remains at large…

"That settles it," Raph said. "We ain't going back there."

"No," Splinter replied sadly. "This is our new home."

Don made a muffled grunt from the back of the room surveying the small space around him.

The newscaster continued her report, "As of yet, officials have not been able to disable or recover a robot. They feel that if a robot could be recovered it might provide valuable clues to the puzzle. If anyone has located a disabled robot, or has anyone other information, please contact the police officials..."

"So, who's going call the cops, dudes?" Mike asked, turning to look at them all.

"What? Call the cops… you've got to be kidding?" Raph said. "We don't have no information."

"Donny, Leo, and I stashed a robot behind the dumpster at April's building. I'd bet anything it's still there."

Leo's eye ridge raised as he nodded. "Yeah, we did."

Turning to look at Don still standing in the doorway, what he saw almost made him stop his question. Don was pale, his teeth were chattering, and he looked seconds away from passing out.

Asking anyway, Leo said "Do you want it…Or should we turn it over to the police?"

"The police ain't going to do anything that will help us," Raph growled, "Even if they go after this guy, they can't stop him. Not like we can."

"Raph does make a good point." Mike snickered, "Only happens once a year, but still valid."

Raph threw the nearest object he could at his little brother. Unfortunately it happened to be his sai. The three pronged dagger embedded itself in the cushion behind Mikey's head, narrowly missing his forehead by inches.

"Watch it," Mikey yelped. "I can't fight, I have a broken leg."

"Raphael," Splinter said sharply.

"Sorry sensei," Raph said, "and your leg ain't broken, moron."

"Like you would know, shell head," Mike shot back.

"Yeah, but Master Splinter says it's not, and so does Don, so shut up."

"So Don, do you want it or not?" Leo asked, turning away from them to look back at his other brother. Don wasn't in the doorway. Leo called his name, "Donny," Walking over to the door, Leo spotted his brother lying back in bed.

"You okay?" Leo asked, kneeling down next to the bed. Once again, Leo put his hand to his brother's forehead. It was as automatic as it was worthless. He knew Don was sick, he knew he would have a fever. He also knew there was nothing he could do about it. He hated that helpless feeling. He hated actually being helpless even more. Feeling his brother's head qualified as doing something, worthless, but something. Even though Leo knew what he would find, it still surprised him how hot Don was.

"My chest hurts. It makes it hard to breathe." Don said, tapping his chest. There was more there. Leo could tell by the tone of Don's voice and the look in his eyes.

"And?"

"I probably have pneumonia," Don said.

Leo knew he should know what Don was talking about, but he didn't. Splinter or Don always covered those areas. Whatever it was it sounded bad and he needed to know. "And that means what exactly?"

The voice who answered him was not his brother, but his father. "It means that your brother is very ill," Splinter said, appearing behind him and then helping Don sit up. He handed him a steaming cup of tea. "It has happened before, when he was a youngling. The dampness creeps into his chest, making fire there."

"What do we do?" Mike asked, standing by the door with Raph.

"Donatello must rest," Splinter said placing a comforting hand on his Don's shoulder.

"But then who is going to fix the heater?" Mike asked.

Raph, Leo and Splinter turned to him as one and glared.

"What?" Mike replied, the injustice clear in his voice.

"I got him for you Master Splinter." Raph said. He grabbed one of Mike's crutches and then the back of his bandanna. He pulled Mike out of the room by his head and his crutch. Mike protested loudly, but was forced to hop after him on his good foot. After they were out of the room, there was a heavy crash and Mike gave a yelp.

"I'll do it," Don said wearily attempting to get out of bed.

"No," Leo said automatically. "You rest we'll… figure something out. Maybe Raph can figure out how to put the heater back together. I mean doesn't he help you with the shell cycle every now and then?"

"No," Don protested. "Too much can go wrong. It could start on fire, or could let off poisonous gases."

"We will start a fire. It is what we did in the old days." Splinter answered. "Rest my son."

When Splinter and Leo left the room, Mike and Raph were wrestling on the living room floor. Rather one sided on Raph's part, but since he wasn't hurting Mikey, Leo didn't say anything.

"So should we recover the robot or not master?" Leo asked.

"Yes, my son. We also need food and supplies, and a metal barrel to burn garbage for heat. Tonight, you and Raphael, if he is feeling up to it, must go out. The barrel is the most important."

"That will also be the hardest to find. We can get food and recover the robot easily," Leo said thoughtfully.

"Leonardo, heat is our most important concern. Your brother's condition is far worse than he would have you know," Splinter said, looking sad. "When you were very young and this affliction struck your brother, it almost took his life. He never fully recovered and it returned, each winter for several years. It has not plagued him for nearly ten years. Its return now is frightening. It means your brother is as weak now as he was when he was child."

"But why? How did this happen?" Leo asked, turning to glance back at Don who had slumped back down into the bed, the half empty cup sitting on the floor next to him.

"I believe the answer lies in his head and his heart. When the mind is in turmoil, when the heart hurts, the body is weakened."

"What do we do?" Leo asked, ducking as a wildly thrown can shot just over his head.

"Keep him warm, help his body fight. As for the rest, if we can help him face his troubles we will. That is if he will let us in."

"Maybe Mikey?" Leo replied, not sure exactly what he was suggesting.

"No, Raphael," Splinter answered.

Leo gave him an odd look.

Splinter continued, "Michelangelo cannot help your brother find something he does not have. Nor can you. Only Raphael can help him."

Leo was puzzled, but he bowed to his Masters judgment and went over to break up the fight.


When Don woke up, he was burning up. It was so hot that he had to get away from his bed. He didn't know the time, but it must be late because Mike was snuggled up against him again. Don threw the blankets back over his youngest brother and then walked out into the main room. Raph was sitting in one of the living room chairs, watching the TV muted, with the captioning on.

"Hey," Raph greeted his brother quietly. "You feeling all right?"

"About the same," Don said, dropping down in the other chair. The short walk tired him out. He coughed, a deep cough which made his chest hurt. "Where is everyone?"

"Splinter and Leo went to look for supplies. They left me here to guard you two invalids."

"Not because you almost bled to death two days ago?" Don asked raising his eye ridges.

"That had nothing to do with it."

Don sighed before saying with laced humor, "The funny thing is that I actually think you believe that."

"I do. And you should too." Raph growled.

"Come on," Don said, with a half laugh that turned into a cough. "They probably fed you some line to get you to stay. It must have been good too."

"For your information geek boy, Splinter said he wanted me to talk to you if you woke up. That was why they wanted me to stay."

"He wanted you to talk to me? What about?" Don asked, another hacking cough causing him to stop for a minute. In a hoarse voice he continued. "Have we ever even talked about anything other than cars?"

"We've talked about ways to get back at Leo when he's being a prick and we've figured out ways to take out Mikey."

"Yeah," Don agreed. "I suppose."

"Now we have a new one."

"What?"

"Splinter told me that I have to help you deal with your demons."

"You can't even deal with your own," Don said irritably. "Isn't that… I don't know… a bit hypocritical?"

"I can't deal? Who's the one coughing up a lung here?"

Don coughed again, causing the sore spot in his chest to burn.

"My point exactly," Raph continued. "You have demons and it's eating you up. Why else would you be this sick?"

"I don't have demons," Don said, rubbing his chest. Damn that hurt.

"Everyone has demons. Yours are different than mine, but you still have them."

"Like what," Don asked as curious as he was angry. Who the hell did Raph think he was? He and Don never talked, and Raph blew Don off as much as Don blew Raph off. They got along, but they weren't close. How could Raph know his demons? Besides, he didn't have any demons.

"Oh, you're pretty mad at Master Splinter. And if you aren't, you should be."

"What?" Don asked, turning to look at him in the flickering light of the television. Of all the things that Raph could have hit on, that one was totally off base. "Why should I be mad at our father?"

"Because you and me got the raw end of the deal. Leo and Mikey have always been his favorites. He tries to hide it, but we both know it. You and me are too much trouble compared to those two. Well at least you used to be, until you started pretending to be Leo junior. Let's face it though, if there is one thing you're not, it's Leo."

"What do you mean; I'm pretending to be Leo?"

Raph snorted, "Think back. You used to pull the best stunts like… Remember when we were ten and we got Leo stuck to the roof of the lair."

Don chuckled, remembering Leo caught in a block and tackle harness suspended two inches from the ceiling. He and Raph had left him there for over an hour until Splinter was due back. By that point Don wouldn't risk getting Splinter mad at him again, but Raph had agreed to take the heat for it. Leo had been particularly annoying that day.

Raph went on, "At some point, you stopped being you. And we ain't never got you back, Donny. The brother I used to hang with… Not Leo junior. I miss the one who has fun. The guy that sometimes comes out when it's just you and me working in the shop."

Don's gut twisted. Raph had hit home after all. He tried to suppress another cough which only resulted in it becoming a painfully drawn out event.

"So," Raph continued when his brother could breathe again, "What happened to you?"

"I conformed to social norms," Don sighed, his head dropping.

"What the hell does that mean?"

"It means that if I didn't start acting more responsible, Splinter was going to throw me out."

"He wouldn't have done that," Raph replied his anger gone as quickly as it had appeared. "I mean look at all the stuff I pulled."

"Yeah, but you were pulling kid stuff. The stuff that I pulled wasn't so childish. It's amazing I didn't kill myself before I turned ten. Do you remember all the times I went to the surface, alone, at night?"

"Yeah, that was awesome. That's the Donny that I'm talking about.

"It wasn't awesome. I could have been killed, or worse. Splinter caught me one night, and told me that if I didn't start acting more like Leo, he was going to throw me out."

"He said that?" Raph asked incredulously.

"Not only did he say it, he meant it. I was what…eight? Then he pulled the Spider Man line, 'To those gifted with great power, also comes great responsibility.' Do you really think that I enjoy learning all of this? Okay, a lot of it I do, but I mean, come on, what would be more fun, skateboarding with Mikey, or learning enough about water heaters to put one back together. Or how about learning about plumbing, do you realize how crappy that is, literally? One mess up and you're covered in…"

"I get it." Raph answered. "But it ain't the same now."

"How is it any different?"

"You're grown up. That makes all the difference."

"I would agree with you if we were sitting here by ourselves in our new place. If Mikey wasn't sleeping with me, and complaining about the lack of food. But we're still stuck with each other. It's a time warp. We can never leave and nothing ever changes." Don gave a long hacking cough that left him feeling exhausted.

"Just cause we're stuck here doesn't mean that nothing changes. It does. It always does. And now, you need to change."

Don coughed again, feeling like his chest was going to explode. "Why? Why do I need to change?"

"Because you can't be anything other than who you are. And trying to be someone you're not, the person that Splinter wants you to be, is killing you. Leo, Mikey and I be damned. You are Donatello. Be Donatello."

"That's why you've never bothered trying to get yourself under control," Don commented leaning his head back in the chair.

"I can't be anything else. It's who I am. I ain't changing, not for Leo, not for Mikey, not for you, and not ever for Splinter."

"Then why do I have to change? You just said, be who I am."

"I did. But to be the way you are supposed to be, you need to change back to who you were."

"The one that nearly got himself caught and dissected? The one that almost blew up the lair more time than I can count?"

"Yeah, him, the guy that invented stuff because he liked to do it. The one who can remember any fact from any book he's ever read. The one who didn't take life so seriously and occasionally, actually enjoyed it."

"You mean the one who patches you up every time you get into a fight. The one who has to have all the answers all the time. The one that everyone expects to fix everything all the time. That guy, God you wonder why he takes life so seriously?" Don angrily coughed again, and this time some mucus came up with it.

"Now we're talking," Raph said.

Don just looked at him, totally confused.

"Why doesn't that guy have someone else help him huh? Why does that guy seem to think he has to do it all himself."

"Because no one WILL help me," Don growled.

"That's because you're an obnoxious jerk," Raph shot back.

"Is that what you think?" Don asked, his hands clenching into fists, hot anger pouring through his chest.

"No. Not at all. Leo maybe, but not you." Raph admitted coolly, with a smile on his face. "What I think is that you care too much what we think."

Don stared at him. His anger dropped away like water leaking out of a sink.

"Now, I'm really confused," Don said shaking his head as if to clear it.

"It's simple. You care too much about what they think about you. You care too much what Splinter thinks and Mikey and Leo. Yet when it's just you and me, we just are. Not that you don't bug me every now and then, you do. But when Splinter said that we live together, that was fine. I respect you, and I know you respect me, end of story. I stay out of your business, you stay out of mine… That's respect. When we work on stuff, like my bike or the vehicles, you aren't the answer man, you're just Donny. What they think doesn't matter."

"Of course it matters," Don said. "They're my family, my father and brothers."

"Does my opinion matter?" Raph asked. "I'm your brother too."

That stopped Don. Quite frankly, the answer was no. He didn't care about Raph's opinion, but why?

Raph answered despite Don's silence, "The answer is no, because with me you just are. I don't place expectations on you so you don't worry so much. It's time you ignored the other's expectation and let the rest of them see the real you."

Don gave another long cough.

"Now, if Splinter asks, you and I talked. I did what he wanted me to do."

"Splinter wanted me to be totally confused huh?" Don asked.

"No, he just wants you back. They all do. Me, I just want to watch TV."

"Then why is the sound off?"

"Cause my brother is sick and needs his sleep."

Don shook his head, coughed again and headed back to his bed that he was apparently sharing with Mikey. Raph was such an oddity, a mix of compassion and disinterest. But he was right about one thing. Don didn't care what Raph thought about him, he never had. He did care what Splinter thought, and Leo and Mikey. It was Splinter's anger that hurt him the most after Mike had been injured.

Sitting down next to Mikey, Don realized he was cold again. As hard as he tried he couldn't to stop his brain from whirling with Raph's conversation. It didn't make sense, but it also did. He wasn't angry at Splinter or Leo, but then again, he was. Suddenly he started to shake violently and couldn't stop. He wondered if that's why Raph always lost control, because nothing made sense. Half asleep, Mike rolled over.

"Easy, Donny," Mike mumbled sleepily. "Lay down. You need rest."

Don didn't move though and continued to shake violently. Mike sat up next to him and Don felt Mike's cool hand on his forehead. Don began to cough, huge swelling coughs that wracked his entire body. When he stopped, his mouth was dry and faintly metallic tasting.

"Come, on Donny. Lie down. You need rest."

Don let Mike pull him down and then felt a hand rest against his shell when the coughing hit again. It was all Don could do not pass out as the coughs raged through his body.

He coughed off the side of the bed, trying to control it, but he couldn't. When it stopped, there was more of the metallic taste in his mouth. Another coughing fit took the air from his lungs and he buried his face into a pillow. When it finally stopped, he lifted his head. The pillow was covered in blood.

Mike, sitting behind him went pale. "Okay, this is bad… RAPH!"


A/N: Thanks to everyone who is reading this fic! I appreciate your readership. I hope you enjoy it. By my last estimation, I'm about 3 - 4 chapters from the end. Things just have to get a bit worse... And Mikey has to recover enough to fight... can't leave him out of the final battle.