...Running out of clever ways to provide a disclaimer. Pretend I thought of one.

Enjoy!

"How's it going in here?" Donatello asked as he entered the lab.

"A lot better with your help," Elsie called over her shoulder. The turtle immediately returned his bo to its place on his shell and joined her at the table. "The information you gave us was a good start, but by my calculations we're going to need a lot more formula than just that one dart we made."

"How much more?"

"According to this," Mendel said, swiveling in his chair to face them, "about 60 gallons to completely eradicate the compound from his bloodstream."

"That's more than an oil drum!" Donatello exclaimed. "Do you have the supplies here to make that much?"

"No," Elsie replied. "We can make about 20% of it, though. We'll have to get the rest from somewhere else. We're mixing what we can, in the hope that it will stabilize him enough for now."

"A good plan."

All three scientists whirled at the new voice. In the doorway stood Agent Bishop, who levied a gun and pointed it directly at Elsie. He shoved Randy into the room before him, the hacker sporting a new bruise on the cheek.

"Sorry, guys," he apologized, joining them.

"Bishop!" Donatello tensed, but with the gun, he didn't dare move. Not yet. He could probably protect one of them from a shot if he had to, but without some back-up the odds weren't good that they would all get out unscathed, especially given Bishop's ridiculous and inexplicable strength and speed.

"Dr Elsie Chapman. Dr Mendel Craven. The pleasure is all mine," Bishop said conversationally. His words were eerily out of place, considering the otherwise coldness of his expression and the intimidating battle suit that was visible under his coat.

"You're right the pleasure's all yours," Elsie snapped. Her ire was up, and she was in no mood for games. "What are you doing here? Why did you attack us? What do you want?"

"All fair questions," Bishop quirked another half-smile. "But the first two must wait for another time. As to your third, I have a proposition for you."

"A proposition?" Craven asked, suddenly more indignant than afraid. "You shot at us, you poisoned Godzilla, almost got me killed, then you came back with an army, and now you want to talk? Does this make any sense?" he asked the world at large.

"We hang out with mutants and you're doing science with a giant turtle and you think a government agent cutting a deal is weird?" Randy asked, trying to make his voice light.

"I don't have time to waste with you," Bishop said, twitching the gun towards Mendel, causing him to gulp audibly. "You will listen to my proposition and then you will choose." The glasses hid his eyes such that it was difficult to tell which of the four he was looking at, but Donatello had a sinking suspicion that whatever decision Bishop was talking about would be his.

"We're listening," the turtle said, still not making any obvious moves but tensing with every second. Half a dozen plans whipped through his mind. None of them were good, but hopefully one would serve to at least get his friends out safely.

"Godzilla's transformation has been slowed, but it will continue. From what I have overheard, you have an antidote, but it seems not the resources to produce it. I can provide whatever quantities of chemicals you require immediately, thus preventing Godzilla from harming anyone or leaving the area before you are able to cure it. I will even permit you to produce your cure and administer it without interference."

"What's the catch?" Elsie asked.

"Donatello, you will join me as I vacate this area, and you will not alert your brothers as to the nature of our deal or permit them to interfere. I will require your word on your honor."

Don's stomach went suddenly cold even as sweat broke out on his forehead, and his tense muscles twitched. Go with Bishop? Alone? The possibilities were exponential for how dangerous that was, for what it would entail. For what Bishop might do to him.

"You're going to trade Godzilla's cure for Donatello?" Dr Craven was bewildered.

"What are you going to do with him after you leave here?" Randy wanted to know.

"That is none of your concern," Bishop replied, the smirk returning. "Do we have a deal?"

"No way!" The red-head's face twisted in fury. "We don't give up friends as ransom. We can get the chemicals we need without your help."

"Yes, but how quickly?" When Elsie didn't reply immediately, Bishop's smirk grew larger. "What will happen to Godzilla before then? Can you guarantee he won't leave here and attack a populated area? And don't forget, my team is here, and we can choose to make the process more difficult for you."

"Still, we're not just going to hand over…" Craven began.

"Yes, we are."

The only one not surprised by Donatello's sudden statement was Bishop himself. Elsie, Randy, and Mendel turned to him in shock.

"You don't mean that!" Elsie exclaimed.

"Yes, I do," and he sighed. "He's got us boxed in. The shot you gave Godzilla won't last much longer, and he'll start to mutate again. He could hurt all of you, and then waltz to the East Coast and do some serious damage to whole cities of innocent people before you have the chance to clear the outbreak virus from his system. We have to stop him now. There's no other way to get the cure fast enough."

"You've got your chopper," Randy put in.

"Which Bishop can probably shoot down any time he wants." Donatello gripped the edge of the table to keep his hands from shaking. Over and over he ran their scenario through his mind. They had to cure Godzilla and now, before he was lost any farther to the mutation. Any time, any second, he could turn on the turtles or Master Splinter or even Nick, the same way Donatello had when infected, and there wouldn't be a whole lot they could do about it. Godzilla would be a thousand times more difficult to contain than Don himself had been – it was only a matter of time before he escaped and hurt someone. Don couldn't let that happen.

"What makes you think this guy'll even keep this promise?" Randy asked.

"He will. He always does what he says he'll do. It's a weird moral thing," the turtle shrugged.

"Your family would never agree to this, Donnie," Elsie said. Mendel nodded.

"I know. And if there were any other way…" he trailed off. He scowled at Bishop's smile.

"You also know I can order every one of my men to turn on your family," the agent said, his voice like ice. "There's no escape here, no cover, no ducking into the shadows. If you attempted to flee with the other turtles and your sensei, it is likely you would succeed if you abandoned everything else. But you won't do that; with the civilians here, and with Godzilla, your family is trapped. The only way out for them is through me."

Don took a deep breath. He wished one of his brothers were here. Even if he had no choice but to agree, he wanted their input. Or at least to have a moment to meet their eyes, gain strength from them, tell them somehow what was in his heart. He could only hope they would understand. The HEAT team was just collateral in his family's war against Bishop, even Godzilla was collateral. It was his responsibility to protect them, to get them out of what he had inadvertently brought down on them. And if the worst happened, at least his family would have HEAT on their side, just in case.

"All right. You have my word that I'll come with you and my brothers won't get in your way." He drew his bo, and handed it to Elsie. "Bishop won't let you tell the guys about this yet, I'm sure. But when you can, tell them everything. I'm counting on them. I don't really want to be part of Bishop's carpool for long." He leaned over to the notes the two scientists had been working from and added one quick formula. "And this will help you get an even more effective antidote if you add this compound right before administering it to Godzilla." He tried to smile at her. "Take care of, well, everybody for me, okay?"

"I'll need to see that formula to know what to provide," Bishop's voice was cold and yet triumphant. Swallowing hard, the terrapin copied down the whole antidote from memory onto a piece of paper and moved to hand it to the agent.

"Don, you're crazy!" Mendel grabbed the turtle's arm. "You can't go with this guy! What if he decides to dissect you or something?"

"He probably will," Don replied, trying to keep his voice calm, and mostly succeeding. Mendel's eyes widened in horror.

"Then, why…?" Randy began.

"Because I've got no choice. It's the best way to protect my family, you guys, and Godzilla." He began moving towards Bishop again, his breathing getting tighter and the cold in his stomach growing with every step. And the wicked satisfaction on the agent's face was not helping his frame of mind at all.

"Donnie!" The anguish in Elsie's voice made him turn once more. The pain and fear and loss in the turtle's eyes slammed into her gut and she flinched at his expression.

"Tell Nick how to help Godzilla. Tell my family why I'm doing this. And tell them I'm sorry."

-==OOO==-

"What is goin' on here?" Raph demanded. "This is gettin' out of hand! How did they get all these guys here?"

"I don't know, but I'd sure like to find out," Leonardo replied, the three turtles settling shell-to-shell. Nearby, Master Splinter cleared a path and indicated that Nick should join them. He had proven himself able to fight one-on-one, but the scientist was totally outmatched when faced with more than a few opponents, and he wasn't quite in the same sort of shape they were – he was definitely getting tired. He was just as glad to have the turtles on his side.

"Hey! Look!" Michelangelo yelled.

At his shout, everyone turned. The swarms of agents who had been crowding Godzilla had backed off, as if a sudden retreat had been ordered. The giant lizard was swiping at the helicopter Monique was flying, and seemed not to notice his ground assailants' absence. Even the crowd that had been preparing to strike the ninja group relented. But his attacks were less and less effective, as though he were slowly succumbing to a tranquilizer cocktail at last.

For a moment, the three turtles found themselves simply staring. Like Don, they had only ever seen Godzilla on the news or the internet, or from a great distance while out for a run that was always immediately called short. None of them had his fascination for their mutant cousin, but he held them spellbound for a moment anyway. Even injured, obviously in some kind of distress, and not at his top form, his sheer power was compelling. He was within a city block from them, they could feel the heat of his flames and the force of his steps rumbling around them. Leo, Raph, and Mikey exchanged wordless glances in perfect unison, all thinking the same thing. They finally really got Don's geeky infatuation with the thing, and they understood how anybody who could keep Godzilla a secret and safe could probably be trustworthy, too.

Definitely more trustworthy that Bishop, anyway, whose men were becoming scarce on the sand. As the chaos began to fade, the hordes of agents began disappearing; it took a moment before the hatches hidden in the ground were apparent to the turtles, Nick, and Splinter.

"Looks like we've been sitting on some kind of military facility," Nick remarked. "This doesn't make any sense."

"Good old turtle luck strikes again," Raph grumbled.

"Where Bishop is, rarely do things make sense until it is too late," Splinter put in.

"Yeah! Like, who called the time-out?" Mikey asked.

"Who else?" Leonardo pointed with a katana. On the bow of the HEAT-Seeker, Bishop was apparently talking into his ever-present cell phone. He snapped the phone closed just as the last few agents disappeared from the sands. A moment later, the whole sandbar began to shake.

"Hang on, doc!" Raph called. Nick looked down to see the ground beneath him sliding away, but before he could even think about falling, a green arm was around his waist and he was flying through the air as a passenger on a pretty wild leap. Raphael set Nick down gently, brushing off any thanks as he turned back to the situation at hand. A platform was rising out of the sand, and on it were several barrels marked with the sorts of warnings the turtles had learned meant these were things better handled by Donatello.

As if the sight reminded them, the turtles immediately sought their brother. With the uncanny knowledge they always seemed to have of each other, all three turned their eyes in the same direction at the same time. And three hearts practically stopped with what they saw. Raphael felt as though his chest would explode.

"Donnie! No!"

Donatello's back was to them, but they could see from the set of his shoulders and the way his head was down that he was defeated – not physically in battle, perhaps, but defeated nonetheless. Something large had appeared behind the HEAT-Seeker from their position, and it took a moment for them to recognize it as a military submarine. Several agents were getting on board, and they seemed to be taking Don with them.

"Come on!" Leonardo roared, charging forward, fear biting at him inside.

Bishop looked down at the three turtles, one rat, and one scientist who were barreling in his direction and smiled again. So predictable.

"It was a pleasure doing business with you all," he called, waving a little. Whirling dramatically, he set a hand on Donatello's shell and gave the turtle a shove into the sub a step ahead of him. A heartbeat later, the door slammed shut, and the sub began to move away.

"Oh no you don't!" Mikey shouted, putting on a burst of speed. With a few bounds he crossed the last of the sand and vaulted up to the deck of the Seeker. He was about to launch himself onto the retreating sub, but a hand grabbed his arm. The youngest turtle nearly punched out the redhead who had stopped him, but his ninja reflexes caught him in time.

"You can't!"

"What do you mean, we can't?" Leo demanded, arriving just behind Michelangelo. Raphael appeared next along with Master Splinter. The mutant family had forgotten Nick in their panic, who was left to run the distance and climb aboard the HEAT-Seeker the non-ninja way.

"He…they made a deal." Elsie met their eyes, even as her cheeks flamed. She felt ashamed for being at all party to what she had witnessed, to a deal that might result in things she didn't even want to consider for her friend. "Bishop agreed to help us with Godzilla, even let all of us go, if Donnie went with him. Don said…he said it's what he had to do. He gave his word of honor that you wouldn't interfere."

The sub began to sink beneath the waves, picking up speed.

"I'm sorry," Elsie said, handing the bo to Raphael, who took it and gripped it like a lifeline. "He didn't think he had a choice. He said he had to protect us all, and he couldn't do it any other way."

"Argh! I don't believe it!" Raphael slammed his fist into the nearest object, which was the wall of the pilot house. "We can't let Donnie be taken by that rotten…"

"Stop it, Raph," and the naked fury in Leonardo's voice sent chills down everyone's spines. "If Don gave his word, we have to abide by that. For now. Tell us everything, Dr Chapman, including how to help Godzilla, if that's what's going on. But when we're done here," and his eyes narrowed, "we're going after Don. And word or no word, we're getting him back."