Author's Note: Don't you just love it when writer's block decides to rear it's ugly head? Well, I finally beat it and have a new chapter up! This is by-far my longest chapter, and the next chapters may go along the same length. So, as you guessed it, the other turtles meet Cheyloe, and they get called out some on their behavior towards Donnie. Who will be the next to meet Donatello's not-so-secret friend? Read and find out!

Chapter 10: Hi There

"Donnie?" Leonardo knocked on the lab door as he called for his brother. "It's time to go out on patrol!"

"I'll pass tonight, Leo. Go on without me." Donatello's voice replied, the tone despondent.

"That's not an option tonight, Donnie. And you can't use what happened to Metalhead as an excuse."

Donatello instantly flinched at the utterance of the robot's name. Yeah…just the other day, he found a way to give Metalhead the gift of artificial intelligence. Metalhead proved capable of taking on all of them, which didn't exactly sit well with Leo. During their mission investigating missing mutants, Metalhead almost got them captured because of glitches, and that further infuriated his eldest brother. Even Donnie had to admit he thought about shutting the robot off…

That is…until Metalhead sacrificed himself to save them and the mutants captured by the Kraang…one of them being Mr. O'Neil.

He glanced over at a nearby shelf and stared wistfully at the robot's inactive head perched near a few tools. Right now, he didn't have the necessary parts to rebuild him; he couldn't bring Kraang droid pieces home with him every time they fought those nasty brain aliens. Maybe one day, he would have him repaired…and he would really like to show Cheyloe. Too bad he couldn't exactly bring her over to the lair, unless he wanted to get chewed out by everyone.

"…Fine." Donnie finally answered, pushing himself away from the lab table and grabbing his Bo staff. "But as soon as we get back, I'm back to work on the retromutagen, and you can't talk me out of it."

"Fair enough Donnie." Leo replied in mock defeat. Once the door opened to reveal his brother's face, he pushed joking aside and became serious once again. "But Donnie…you can always come talk to us…talk to me. Don't hesitate to tell me if anything's wrong, okay?"

The purple-masked turtle found himself surprised at his brother's remark. Leo never really offered him an ear to listen before; most of the time it was a 'listen up and shut up' attitude with everyone else, especially Raph and Leo. But he was taken aback by someone other than Cheyloe offering to talk to him. Maybe he could talk to Leo…maybe he could trust him enough to tell him the truth…but not while they were out on patrol. He would tell him when they got back, and hopefully in a place where Raph or Mikey wouldn't eavesdrop.

"…Thanks, Leo."

Leo smiled at his brother thanking him, giving him a pat on the shoulder. The blue-masked turtle had done a lot of thinking for the past few days, ever since he, Raph, and Mikey witnessed Donnie's interactions with his 'secret friend' from afar. It wasn't the fact that he had a friend on the side that bothered him. It was that Donatello trusted a complete stranger more than his own flesh and blood that bothered him. After they returned from spying, Leonardo began to question whether or not he had been a good brother lately. More and more of his attention had been diverted towards leadership, stopping Shredder and the Kraang, and Karai, especially Karai.

It even seemed lately he no longer saw his brothers as brothers…just teammates or followers. He already figured the change began the moment Splinter decided he would be leader. Sure, he would still tune into watching Space Heroes or SRMFF, or skateboard every once in a while, or play pinball on occasion…but his mind didn't exactly wrap around his family anymore. And now he had to suffer the consequences in the form of Donnie no longer able to talk to him.

Maybe tonight they could make things right.

"Leo, I've looked through the telescope a dozen times. There are NO Foot Bots or Kraang droids in sight! Can we go home now?"

"Donnie, we've only been on patrol for half an hour." Leonardo sighed, pinching between his brows. "Have some patience, something will surely show up."

Donatello scowled as he collapsed the telescope and shoved it into his belt. "Nothing is showing up tonight! I can already tell this patrol has been a huge waste of time! I don't know about you guys, but I would like to go home and get back to doing VITAL work on the retromutagen!"

"Donnie, I love you, bro…" Raphael began softly before contorting his face into an angry expression, "…But would you kindly do us a favor and SHUT UP!? Whining about patrol isn't going to make it end faster!"

The purple-masked turtle's jaw almost hit the floor at his red-masked brother's outburst, but he went back to wearing an indignant scowl as he retorted, "Well, maybe it could!"

"Guys, enough!" Leo shouted, holding his hand up and taking his classic leadership stance. "Look, we'll go a few blocks further this way, and if nothing appears, we'll go home. Fair enough? Good, then let's go!"

Donnie stood and tried to retort Leo's declaration, but at the very moment he opened his mouth, his brothers were already several feet ahead of him. Great…just like usual, his complaints and concerns went in one ear and out the other; he admitted though he was acting more like a whiny child for the past few days. He honestly didn't understand why he was being along the lines of hostile towards his brothers. Maybe keeping Cheyloe a secret was starting to affect his rationality… But it wasn't exactly like his brother had a great track record when it came to sharing personal feelings!

"Raph…you remember the plan?" Leo whispered to Raph as they ran across the rooftops.

"Yeah, and I reminded Mikey, too." The temperamental turtle whispered back, glancing behind him to see Mikey closing in. "We're almost to the place. We can't let Donnie figure out that this patrol was part of the plan, too."

"I know…let's just act natural." The eldest turtle nodded.

It wasn't long until all four turtles stopped their run and positioned themselves on top of an upscale apartment building. Leonardo immediately took his position near the edge of the roof, staring down at the streets for any possible signs of the Kraang or the Foot Clan. Raphael leaned up against an air conditioning unit, crossing his arms and closing his eyes, while Michelangelo pulled out his T-Phone and began playing a game of Tetris. As for Donatello, he just sat down, knees pulled to his chest as he handed his eldest brother the telescope, and rested his head in his hand, going into full-sulking mode. What a waste of time…a patrol that greedily ate away at the time he could be spending perfecting retromutagen, or rebuilding Metalhead, or figuring out the cryptic Kraang messages.

If he had been paying attention, he would've immediately recognized the building they were standing on.

It wasn't until maybe five minutes had passed that the red-banded turtle let out an overdramatic groan and crossed his arms, stomping around the asphalt of the roof. "You know Leo, I'm starting to agree with Brainiac over here! So far, no Foot Bots AND no Kraang are around! Can we just go home?"

"No Raph, we have to keep watch for a little while longer." Leo objected, crossing his arms behind his back and twisting his fingers. "It won't hurt any of us to stay and just get this over with."

"Listen to Leo, Raphie!" Mikey chimed in, at the same time focusing on getting the high score. "Sitting around won't make your muscles turn to Jell-O!"

Donnie found himself chuckling at that comeback; he hadn't heard Mikey shoot any like that for a while. In fact, he hadn't really enjoyed any of his brothers' jokes for quite some time, so this one seemed to have enough humor to win his enjoyment. However, that didn't necessarily mean Raph enjoyed it.

"Are you trying to call me FAT, Mikey!?" The red-masked turtle spat, stomping towards the orange-masked turtle. "I am NOT fat! This is pure muscle, you nitwit!"

"Dude, you've always been the biggest out of all of us." Michelangelo shrugged, groaning when he got a Game Over on his phone and stuffing it back into his belt. "Nothing to be ashamed of! I kept a lot of my baby fat for years, so it's not bad at all!"

At the sound of Leonardo and Donatello snickering, Raphael, even though he knew this was supposed to be an act, couldn't help but get hot-tempered about that remark. Well, if he got really mad about the remark, it would be much more realistic and Donnie wouldn't catch on to their deception. So he went up behind Mikey, glancing down for a split-second to make sure the balcony was there, and roughly kicked him in the shell, hard enough to make him fall forward. For the past day or so, Leo traced the GPS in Donnie's phone whenever he went out, and it came to this address. The eldest turtle even confessed that he secretly followed Donnie one night and saw which balcony he went to, so they came prepared. But Mikey fell forward and screamed, making Leo and Donnie dash out and try to catch him, to no avail.

"Raph, what is your problem!?" Donnie spat, looking at him with crazed eyes. "Did you just-"

The genius turtle was cut off by a dull thud from below; it wasn't the type of thud that came from falling over five stories onto the pavement. It was the thud of falling from about the same distance as from the first floor to the ground floor. Donnie looked to see his younger brother lying face-down on a balcony decorated with a few ferns and a set of lilies. Taking notice of it, his eyes suddenly widened and he swallowed a huge lump in his throat.

Oh no, this was…

"Ow, ow, ow…" Michelangelo chanted, turning on his side and clutching his knee. "Guys, I think I hurt my knee!"

"Come on, let's get Mikey and get out of here!" Leonardo commanded, but immediately stopped when he heard the door to the balcony clicking open. "Uh-oh…"

Donatello gulped again and practically smothered himself in the palms of his hands in dreaded anticipation; this had to a nightmare he would wake up from any minute now! If it was, why wasn't he waking up? He whimpered in a high-pitched tone as the door opened up and someone stepped outside.

"Donnie!?" A familiar voice asked as a woman stepped out and leaned in front of Mikey. "Wait…you're not Donnie. You're a lot smaller, and chubbier. Are you Mikey?"

As Cheyloe went to reach her arm out and touch Michelangelo's shell, Leonardo and Raphael took that as their cue to reveal themselves to her. They both made a jump for below, careful not to jump too high, and landed near the railings of the balcony, effectively startling the young woman into falling on her rear end. Donnie sat in his spot, debating on whether or not to come down and face his friend…and have to introduce his family. But his old fears came crawling back; what if his brothers considered her a threat towards Mikey? He could just see them…weapons raised…

"WAIT!"

Leo and Raph froze at the genius turtle's command, watching him jump down between Cheyloe and Mikey and unsheathe his Bo Staff. The moment he pointed it at them, they stepped down, taking their hands off the hilts of their weapons. The eldest brothers saw the determination in Donnie's eyes…the coldness…the fear. The last time they saw that look in his eyes was…

"Agh…guys, a little help here!" Mikey whined, until he took notice of the brunette. Baby blue eyes widening, he sat on his rear and flashed a smile, slicking back his mask tails. "Well…enchanté, mademoiselle. Michelangelo at your service."

Chey seemed to ignore his greeting, getting up and pushing on the surface of the staff, surprising Donnie and making him lower it. He looked into her eyes and noticed her offer a nod, telling him to put his weapon away and calm down. The genius turtle did just that before staring at his brothers.

"I suppose…I have some explaining to do."

"Well, the good news is you didn't break your knee caps. Those pads protected them well, but you still have some bruising. It should go away in a few days, though."

"Wow, you're a really great doctor!" Mikey awed before sticking a fork with a bit of food into his mouth. "And this is a really great…cheesecake?"

"I'm a nurse, actually, but thank you!" Cheyloe chuckled. "And yes, you got it right. But you should thank Kaitlyn for that; she makes the best cheesecake in the world!"

Leo took a drink out of a can of cola provided while Raph kept his eyes glued on Cheyloe as he ate another bite of cheesecake. Donnie sat awkwardly, poking at his own piece and tapping his soda can. This was the last scenario he wanted to come true; Cheyloe meeting his brothers. He knew it was a selfish thought, and he knew they deserved to know her and vice-versa, but he could just imagine the lectures he would be receiving when he got home. Raph would be the worst offender, judging by the stare he gave the brunette. He wished again that this was some sort of nightmare, even wishing for the demon April to pop up out of the ground and eat him. But it was Leo who decided to break the silence settling into the room.

"So, let me get this straight." The blue-masked turtle began. "After Slash beat Donnie up, you found him and took him here to treat his injuries, and then he stayed here for the week to recover? Was it really that bad?"

"That's right." Cheyloe affirmed. "Sprained arm, multiple gashes, split lip, blackened eyes, bruises, the whole nine yards. I was honestly afraid he wouldn't make it through the first night…but Donnie's a true fighter. He pulled through. Part of it has to be his mutant blood…but I think the majority of it was a strong will to live."

Raphael suddenly cast his green eyes onto Donatello, wearing an unamused expression. "And you didn't want to tell us about her WHY?"

"Yeah, D! Why keep secrets?" Michelangelo chimed in. "She saved your life! What would we possibly do to her?"

"Well, considering your track record with listening to me, and how you guys have handled the crap revolving around Karai, you wouldn't exactly be the first people I'd come to about this!" The purple-masked turtle blurted out.

Now everyone in the kitchen fell silent. Donnie immediately clamped his hands over his mouth and wished he could fade from existence right then and there. Why did he have to say that? Why did he have to confess his biggest frustration over this situation? He prepared himself for a three-way tongue-lashing from his brothers, but instead…

"Donnie, you think because of our issues with Karai, we would attack an innocent woman?" Leo asked in disbelief. "What kind of turtles do you take us for?"

"Dude, yeah, Karai's made us trust people a little less…and Rahzar, too, but we would never hurt someone that saved your life!" Mikey argued, gesturing his hands towards Cheyloe. "Dude, she saved you AND she's letting us eat cheesecake!"

Raph suddenly looked down in shame before facing his brother, taking a deep breath. "If you want someone to blame for how you've been feeling, blame me. I always made fun of your feelings…and my beef with Karai basically made things worse. But, Donnie…give us a little more credit! We wouldn't just attack innocent people!"

"Well, you did think about it when Donnie was missing." Leo admitted, earning a glare from his brother. "But that's beside the point! Donnie…we're sorry we haven't been very trustworthy. All the mean comments I've made towards you…we've made towards you…I wish they could be taken back."

It was at that moment Chey began to chuckle. The turtles stared at her and wondered what exactly she had to find humorous, but instead of finding anything negative, they saw her smile warmly and address Donnie, "Donnie, what did I tell you? You had nothing to worry about! And even if they did attack, I know how to take care of myself. You saw it before, remember?"

The genius turtle laughed awkwardly, slightly sinking into his seat at the table, and rubbed the back of his head. "Y-Yeah, yeah…I get it now. I'm sorry…"

Once again, Leo felt like the worst brother in the world, and the worst leader. However, that would change. From now on, he wouldn't push his brothers' problems aside; even if he didn't agree with them on a subject, he would listen to them and offer the best advice he could. He also knew that rule would have to apply to everyone else; from now on, they would have to listen if someone had a problem. After all…Donnie listened, even if his mind was wrapped around April most of the time. Actually, ever since April came back, the blue-masked turtle noticed his brother was less focused on her…

"So…I'm guessing you spoke to Sensei and told him about Cheyloe instead?" Leonardo asked, leaning back in his chair and giving Donatello a serious expression.

"Uh…yeah." The purple-masked turtle admitted in a sheepish tone. "I spoke with him in private."

Of course, the other turtles already knew that, but they would keep that secret between the three of them until they could tell their brother the truth. For now, they would keep on pretending that the information was totally new to them and that they never saw Chey before in their lives.

"Then that means she has to totally meet Sensei!" Michelangelo declared, finishing off the last of his cheesecake and letting out a loud belch. He covered his mouth and added, "Excuse me…I have to show my gentlemanly side to our host."

"About that…" Donnie began, twiddling his thumbs and keeping his head down. "I don't want Chey to come to the lair just yet."

"Why?" Raphael asked in confusion.

The brunette suddenly remembered a conversation she had with Donnie before he went home concerning his father, and the same issue came about. "Oh…you want him to come here and meet me, right? I'll have to have the place tidied up then! You know I'll be available during the evening."

Donnie gave a nod and a smile towards Cheyloe before answering Raph's question. "Well, it's just…I'm not ready to introduce her to April or Casey yet…especially not April."

"What, you think April will be jealous or something?" The red-masked turtle jeered. "Have some more confidence in April!"

"No, it's not that!" The purple-masked turtle argued quickly. "It's just…and no offense to you, Cheyloe, but April might get mad and think I've been spending all my time with a friend instead of perfecting the retromutagen…you know, for her dad."

"Donnie, your life can't revolve around the retromutagen, and April should understand that as well." Leo insisted before letting out a sigh. "But we understand…we'll let Master Splinter know to come over here and meet Cheyloe. And once you're ready, we can even bring April and Casey over to meet her."

"Truthfully, here or your home is fine with me." Chey insisted, standing up and collecting the dirty plates to deposit them in the sink. "But my main concern is whatever makes Donnie or any of you the most comfortable. And if it's okay with your father to come over here."

Donnie offered a small smile and crossed his arms on the table. "I will say this...it wouldn't hurt to have some hot tea ready."